A/N: I shouldn't be doing this at work but, I FINISHED THIS JUST FOR YOU YEN.

It's been sitting here for years the author being unsure if whether or not she wanted to continue this crazy story which has definitely outgrown its original purpose, but alas. Here it is.

This literally feels like a mini story within a story like holy shit it's long.

For clarity reasons, the year this story takes place in is 3237.

Chapter 11

"Temples of the Ages" by Limpethe Coy Rodeth, published year 2449.

"It's been over 60 years since the last deployment of young scholars and archaeologists stepped foot into the jungles located in the far south of Mobius, myself included. Only being there once gave me no credibility enough to write a book about such a place, a place I've been enamored with since my young college years... but my chance came. I was worn and old, time taken it's toll on me like many of my long gone friends, not so young and vibrant anymore, but my enthusiasm was anything but dead.

I hope this to be my last journal entry before I step foot into those jungles again. My words will be read not through a journal kept within the lowest draw of my study, but a book. A book to share all I've come to learn about the temples in the southern jungles."

...not the most original way to introduce a written documentary but it did perk his interest. It was difficult to find books this old. Being published almost 700 years ago, he'd gone through great lengths to snag it from the antique museum it resided in. It's value probably worth more than any sensible person could afford.

Borrowing it however, was priceless.

Quickly skimming through the table of contents, he searched for what part of the book spoke about the Mystic Ruins in particular. Back then there were far more structures within the old continent. No where near as dangerous as the Mystic Ruins in particular and were unfortunately very prone for their jewels and statues being stolen or broken.

The homeland of the Knuckles clan however, was an exception. At least back then it was.

He made sure to brace himself for whatever nonsense he hoped not to find before turning to the page in where the study of the ruins began.

"I was hesitant to make a chapter of this location, for it's one of the few structures I must admit, I know little about. So very, very little. However, that is precisely why it is my favorite. And so, we continue on...

The Mystic Ruins has time and time again been labeled as one of Mobius most ancient temples that's still fully standing in our modern world. It's perimeter going almost completely untouched by the hands of outsiders for thousands and thousands of years. Though abandoned and inhabitable due to its still hostile environments it's still managed to draw the attention of archaeologist, like myself, weak to the seduction of it's unspoken antiquity, from across the globe. But alas, even the most cautious and experienced of our kind can't stay within its glory for too long without losing one to many from our research groups. It's not uncommon to find the remains, both recent and not so recent, of poor souls who attempted to step foot within the site, unaware of it's dangers.

The Mystic ruins have been one of many key monuments intertwined within the historical study of the disappearing race of echidnas. It being the only fully intact collection of monuments left within these part of the jungles, who's relics haven't been stolen."

'Hmm...inaccurate, but nevertheless, the ignorance is understandable.'

"However, it's ability to remain unscathed isn't the only reason behind historians obsession with this particular location. There have been rumors, that the echidna's who lived within the Mystic Ruins thousands of years ago possessed a powerful energy source that proved to be so strong, it stroked fear into the hearts of clans surrounding them, their reputation being an infamous one among their own kind.

Such a thing can and has been dismissed as no more than an urban legend, surely to be laughed about with peers who are uninterested in the speakings of the supernatural. However, with more and more text from the ruins of the neighboring tribes being recorded, translated, and put into order, historians are beginning to take these 'myths' under much more speculation.

More than once has the reputation of the echidna's in the Mystic Ruins been written into the history of other clans. Descriptions baring the similarities to the words "unnatural" and "imbalanced," to "unrefined and reckless to possess the blessing". At first it was thought, maybe this power source could relate to one of their many gods, these cultures well known for worshiping things like the moon and the earth. It could be argued that whatever power source there was rumored to be could simply be our sun, the powerful star that grew their crops and helped them cultivate an agricultural base.

Mind you, there is no concrete proof of this assumption.

This motivated me to understand more of the picture that we seemed to be missing. It didn't help that not everything recorded within the structures was strictly one language. Unlike many of the other civilizations in this area of the world, their dialect seemed to make up of a mixture of different languages; many we could not even recognize. This lead to countless mistranslations on our part and took years to fix and "correct."

Crippled with our inability to translate, we were slumped with doubt that there was anything we could do but wait for a breakthrough with our linguists, in hopes they could find something. I however, was more interested in taking matters into my own hands, looking closer at everything that was presented to me.

There must had been some clue we perhaps was missing. Dissecting these cultures was never easy. It was always a proven struggle for even our greatest of minds… but this, this feat felt almost impossible to decipher.

Months passed and it was getting more and more haphazardness to stay even within the outskirts of the ruins. Though it gave us plenty of time to explore our options and explore our region. I didn't notice at first, but there was something definitely off with this side of the continent. It'd always bothered me how in the outskirts of the ruins, there were small scrambled structures that seem to have no place within the ruins themselves. Almost everything was where it had always been, no missing pillars, no caved in walls, nothing to indicate any misplacement of their structures whatsoever. So where exactly did these extra pieces come from?

And why were they located so close to the sea. What purpose was there to place these structures where it directly cuts off into a 800ft drop of a cliff at the very edge of the continent. It seem impractical, sloppy even.

Then it dawned on me, perhaps we couldn't find what we were missing simply because it no longer existed.

An archaeologist biggest enemy is mother nature after all, it ruins old civilizations leaving them to crumble with the age of time. Earthquakes, volcanoes and sinkholes notorious for swallowing up the cities of old.

My first theory was that perhaps that was the case here, not through any of those mentioned natural disasters, but perhaps the splitting of the continents. There were handfuls of islands scattered all across these waters, pieces of land that had broken off and separated into the sea. It was possible within this part of the world, which had remained completely isolated for thousands of years that such a thing could had happened without anyone noticing it.

My theory was of course debunked and dismissed for I didn't have the skills to prove such a thing. However, a couple years later, after finally being able to translate just a bit more of this strange mixture of a language, it was quickly theorized that though what we have been able to understand from this location is very small, there was a huge significant part of the recorded history missing. There were gaps, large ones in fact, far too wide to be able to place any kind of educated guesses or assumptions. It was beyond odd that a place we've considered untouched by the outside world could have any missing pieces to it.

No indication of anything being stolen, covered up or re-written. The information we were looking for just wasn't there.

That was when my theory was finally revisited, finally being taken into consideration. Though it took a team of absurdly enthusiastic geologist to prove me once again, wrong.

While there were definitely islands that had broken off from the continent in that region, it would take millions of years to actually perform such a thing, years before we mobians were even existing on this planet, including the echidnas.

However, even if my theory was incorrect, they did discover that while it may be utterly impossible for apart of the landmass to had broken off only 4,000 years ago, there was still apart of the continent that should had been there, but wasn't.

I am no geologist and take no interest into the profession myself, so for my sake and as well as your own I will simplify the results of what their team had discovered.

A piece of the continent was missing.

It wasn't any of the neighboring islands and it hadn't sunken into the ocean like some mythical fairy tale world of Atlantis either. While within the topics of fairy tales however, let's move on into my second theory, one that hasn't and probably will never be proven wrong or right.

An urban legend which had made it's appearance just a few decades before my exhibition. The obscurity that has become to be known as, the Floating Island."

Eyes as bright as tinted starlight widened, his mouth parting in disbelief as he reread that sentence over three more times.

There were sightings of the floating island even this far back into history? Everything else he had read also mentioned the island in their studies, but it was understandable enough considering that rest of the books he's read were only dated less than a century ago. This book was 788 years old.

Not even he hadn't seen Angel Island around that era, it vanished off the face of the map for millennias.

"Years and years of debates between historians and archaeologists, merely arguing over the existence of the island. It too was thought of as a myth, something that was nothing but a rumor made by an mediocre obsessive newbie seeking a dream catch. An island floating in the sky, such an abstract idea that was completely impossible. It was only when newer technology had been introduced to help record our findings did we actually ever see proof of the island that floats in the sky.

Year 2413, was the first time someone caught the island in an actual photograph. Needless to say, it caused an absolute up-roar."

There was the picture beneath the paragraph, dated that year. The island was barely present, but the jagged rock bottom of the floating landmass stuck out from the cloud the rest of it was hidden in.

"This was the first and last picture ever taken of the island, it's whereabouts never to be found afterwards. No one has actually ever step foot on it. It has no distinct pattern on how it circulates the globe so it is not predictable enough to track, and even if it was, this was the first actual proven sighting of the island in history. How it even manages to levitate itself is the biggest mystery of all.

I assume the island is much like the Mystic Ruins; booby trapped to the teeth, many of them dangerous and fatal. If this is true, this will further prove my theory that the same echidna's who dwelled within the Mystic ruins also resided on the island as well; if that is the case, then the island could also be where this clan hid away that power source and rest of it's history, from the clutches of the rest of the world."

A brow raised in amusement, compared to the pile of manuscript documentaries he'd read so far this particular archaeologist seemed to at least be edging towards the right direction.

"There's no way to prove it however, with no records of what's actually on the island itself. This unfortunately is only mind speculation.

Nobody knows where the floating island originated from.

…if it was the Mystic Ruins however, this could explain a dozen missing pieces to this puzzle.

It would also help explain the ridiculous life spans the echidna's had. Though discredited due to the disappearance of their species, it's been proven that this peculiar race of Mobians were able to sustain much longer life spans than any other select group of Mobians on this planet. This particular group in general, exceeded even those greatly outrageous spans of time.

But somehow, in some way, the echidna's still managed to become registered as a declining species all together. Whatever was left of this specific tribe was mysteriously wiped out, taking the remainder of their entire species with them."

Ah, there's the error.

"Whatever happened to cause the abrupt end of this ancient echidna empire was never recorded. Never written, not even in the tombs or walls of their dead. Mentions of war is not uncommon, but it is unlikely that a war was what caused the decline of these civilizations. Historians find it incredibly hard to believe that it was possible they could have killed each other off, or vanished within the blink of an eye.

However, when it comes to this clan in particular, judging by the hostile environment of the ruins and infamous reputation with it's neighboring clans, we are more portioned to believe that because of their vicious savagery and barbaric tendencies, they brought conflict among their brethren and therefore-"

"-saw to their own early demise by the hands of their kin." Roka sighed and flicked the side of the page out of his hand, a look of pure disdain stretching upon his face. Almost every single book, no matter how decent or horrid, led to that exact same out take. It was a shame, he had such high hopes for this Codeth. Far more credible than any of his fellow archaeologist, but still flawed enough to walk right into that false pretense…

...or perhaps he was the one who began this trope. This was the oldest book he'd read, clearly considered highly credible and valuable enough to be put into a museum.

The book was left to rest on his lap as the lights from the fluorescent lamp flickering across the pages held between his tense fingers. The ivory echidna rested his chin on his hand, eyes boring into the wet fog clutching to the other side of his window. His eyes were red from days without proper rest, small bags starting to form on his usually flawless face. Fatigue and agitation weighed heavily on his eye-lids as he allowed himself to glance at the pages once more, scanning through it carefully.

In the beginning, he believed that there was something he could learn from these determined archaeologist and historians through their studies on the Mystic Ruins, perhaps highlighting something he hadn't been able to catch onto himself. He was no historian and he was far from a skilled archaeologist.

But even then, without those particular skills he knew so much more than what these writers claimed to think they knew and by god they were so, so wrong. While the last one was at least credible and partially correct in his information, openly admitting from the start that his knowledge of the Mystics was slim, he eventually began to follow down the same road those other dreadful books did.

They made a mockery of their cultures, blinded by their relics and antiques and near-sighted due to that language barrier. The most they'd been able to translate correctly from any of their cultures was during the end of the reign of their kingdoms; barely enough to be considered a small fraction of their history. Though Roka knew to an extent, it would be impossible for an outsider to be capable enough to understand any part of history left by their ancestors, especially the clan of the ruins.

The dialect of the texts written in the Mystic Ruins was tricky, literally untranslatable if you didn't know your share of dead languages. Centuries upon centuries of merging and diluting into other cultures, the language of the Knuckles Clan changed every couple hundred years, bit by bit. They were a clan of mutts, distasteful and considered an oddity among their kind, holding the blood of different echidna clans from all across their side of the globe. Before the great decline, they were notorious for merging with other groups.

Such a thing was considered taboo in their time, the mixing of echidna's from the far East and to the far South; even the Northern tribes managed to sneak their way into their gene pool.

Clans were known to stick to themselves. They only really called upon each other when they were in need or too celebrate; or, most frequently, the occasional discussion in how they shared territory. There were no mixing of the blood lines and no stepping of the borders within their tribes. If there was such a thing it would be dealt with by the chieftains for political means, the betrothing of their children meant to strengthen bonds and secure allies. But even then, that wasn't something that happened too often.

The Knuckles clan had earned a name for themselves among their brethren. Not a very good one, but still better than the bunch of brutish warriors they'd turned into during the last of their days.

If separated and dissected, you could find almost 21 dead languages from that one clan. Languages that the rest of the world, including the remaining echidna's had all but forgotten; left in the past for time to consume.

It made their dialect almost un-recognizable and this was coming from Roka, someone who wasn't even an outsider to begin with.

Still, with what little the archaeologists of these modern times could understand, how they even managed to get this much of this information was beyond him. He knew for a fact the guardian would never open his mouth to such prodding, outwardly expressing his displeasure with speaking about anything that related to his island.

Though Roka knew that even if he wanted to, the red-head himself didn't seem to know much about his own clan more than anyone else did. There was no one else on this planet still alive that knew more about the Knuckles clan... than Roka himself.

He couldn't remember why he thought he could learn something from the people who couldn't even correctly understand their dialect. Most of these books he'd read through already were piles of garbage. Though relieved, this didn't help him in his search for answers at all. Nothing was made clear to him and if anything, things just seem to make less of any sense the more he read.

Especially, that last book.

He may have not learned anything new from this Dr. Codeth, but what he did figure out was that Angel Island hadn't just reappeared a couple centuries ago. It's been revealing itself for almost an entire millennia.

This was what made the echidna more confused than anything. There had to be something he was missing, something he must had overlooked that could explain...

-why exactly was there anyone still alive on Angel Island.

Knuckles couldn't be a part of the clan that lived in the Mystic Ruins all those thousands of years ago, it just wasn't possible. He refused to believe it. Sure, there were survivors of the Knuckles clan after Chaos had destroyed the tribe, but only a small few. That small number of echidnas didn't even get to live on the island for very long after the massacre.

There were no survivors, his own clan and a collection of others had made sure of that. They'd exterminated whatever there was that was left of the Knuckles clan and made certain that no one remained. That the island in the sky was left vacant and free to disappear from existence.

Tired eyes drifted to the photo of the accused that was pinned to his wall. The frowning echidna was leaning on a street lamp, dressed in dark jeans and sweat hood that complimented his moody attitude. The words "Hot Mess" printed on the front of it.

He sure was.

"You shouldn't concern me as much as you do, guardian." A smile threatened to form at the slight quirk of his lip.

He really did wish that this could be all fun and games. Roka for once was actually beginning to enjoy himself, and it'd been a long time since he'd actually been able to do so. Knuckles was a handful but he didn't dislike his company. He was quick to become fond of once you shaved off a few layers of ice and peculiar bashfulness. It was obvious that the echidna was genuine in his actions, not pretending to be the aloof and withdrawn character he was. There was much about him that Roka found endearing. He was the first echidna Roka had met from outside his own tribe in centuries.

Of course Roka wanted to get to know him, befriend him. He wanted that the moment he'd laid eyes on him.

Unfortunately, the situation surrounding Knuckles right now was not one to be played with.

Knuckles apparently does not only live on the island but he is the Guardian of said island and guardian of the Master Emerald.

The Master. Emerald.

A power force that had laid dormant since the beginning of their creation, a precious gift from the stars, literally spanning over thousands of years without being touched or tampered with. That powerful gem, now responded to a short-tempered, hot-headed awkward young adult, who has no idea who he is, where he came from or how he even received the title 'Guardian' in the first place. Clueless as he may be, he can still manage to wield the power of an uncontrollable, dangerous, deadly gem that has the ability to destroy an entire continent if not a planet.

And he wasn't even on the island as of right now!

For millennia's there hasn't been a single person in history who have been able to command and control the gem, not even the tribes of old. It's a supernatural and powerful life force that acts completely on its own whim... so what in the hell was this Guardian business?

How was it that Knuckles was able to control one of the most destructive forces on the planet?! It's impossible. When the Knuckles clan was destroyed, fellow clans along with his own had hoped and prayed for years upon years for that island to stay within it's perch, high in the sky away from the hands of other mobians. Safe from the embedding rage that the Knuckles clan had triggered from it. The gem is more than capable of protecting itself; the massacre of the Knuckles clan demonstrated that.

So why the hell was it, that all of the sudden now it needed a guardian? Above all, why Knuckles of all mobians? Of all echidnas?!

There must be a reason why he was chosen to be the emeralds guardian, especially since the emerald didn't even need a guardian to begin with! Everything about this boys existence screamed un-natural to Roka.

He was determined to figure out as much as possible before he reported any of this news to his own clan. The uproar it would cause… he could only imagine the distraught and fear on the elders faces when he relayed the news.

Roka couldn't bring himself to ever see Knuckles as someone dangerous… but he didn't know Knuckles. He didn't know where he came from and neither did the guardian himself.

There was something seriously wrong here.

"Is that an actual frown on your face?" Startled out his thoughts, the echidna groaned when he remembered he did have company over to entertain. Roka dragged a hand across his face, an attempt to wipe the tiredness away from his eyes and looked over to his guest. His brows furrowing together at the wet trail that was being left on his oak floors.

"You must have me mistaken with someone else. This face is far to charming to be graced with anything other than a smile." His companion scoffed and plopped himself into the seat next to him, not hesitating to throw his legs up over the side of the armchair. Still wet and now leaking all over his love seat.

"You got too much sass for anyone to honestly consider you charming." The hedgehog flipped his glasses on his face before reaching back to tie his damp hair back into a braid. "You found anything in that book yet? I know I said take your time with reading it, but I gotta get it back before the weekend rolls around."

"Kindly remove yourself from my chair. You're getting it wet." He rolled his eyes. "I'd rather give you the one I'm sitting in, it at least won't soak in the smell of your body wash."

"You know, just for that smart ass remark I'm gonna stay right where I am." He sure was rolling his eyes a lot today.

"Don't you have employees to bark orders at Ahdren, or do you just like my company-"

"Ah ah! Don't go there. What I say about the name?" He pointed a finger accusingly at him. "We only use my name when in the comforts of my own home!"

"We are in mine?"

"Does not count. Use my sur-name at all times unless under my roof. You know this! I forbid it!" This time the echidna didn't hold back the exaggeration of his sigh, slumping back in his seat in annoyance.

"You are such a drama- fine! Fine! Kosa?"

"Yes dear?"

"Why are you not at work?"

"Why are you not at work?"

"Because my director seems to have taken refuge in my home and won't let me leave until I return what I've kindly borrowed." He raised the book from his lap. "Which I still have three days to go over, that I won't be needing." The dejected look on the echidna's face said it all.

"Didn't find what you were looking for I take it."

"No. No I did not." He sighed. "I just managed to find myself three steps further from where I originally was." Kosa could admit, the echidna looked ragged for wear. While he's gotten use to seeing the echidna at his not to primp and proper over the last few years, it was hard to believe that his friend had got this stressed out over a book.

"Hnn… is there anything else you needed for me to confirm for you? Perhaps… an uh, different book?" He questioned. "One with pictures and written in a language that I can understand?"

"Kosa…"

"Perferably one that I don't have to charm a beautiful museum director for? Because while she was rather stunning, I don't think I could survive another night in her bed. Her husband is absolutely terrifying you know and I have no intention of becoming injured all over a pretty face."

"Really?" Roka deadpanned before turning completely in his seat and leaning over the armchair with a sweet smile. "Not even for mine?"

Kosa only responded with a snort. "Who'd you think I was talking about?"

"Tch, boo. Fine, have it your way." The wet hedgehog barely managed to catch the book when it was thrown his way, almost falling out of the seat to make sure it didn't touch the floor. "It's outrun it's usefulness to me anyway."

"Can you not do that!" He yelled, panic all in his voice. "Do you have any idea how much money I'd have to pay if there was even one dent missing in this thing?!"

"Far more for whatever it's worth I assure you." He raised his arms high above his head to stretch out the kinks in his muscles he managed to gather. It's what sitting on a chair for four hours could do to you. He didn't miss the way his friend eye'd the line of his body appreciatively and perhaps… drew it out longer than needed just to enjoy to having distracted the buoyant hedgehog in his chair. Without another word, he swiftly stood up from his chair and blew out the candle on his window.

"Turning in? It's pretty early."

"Yes, I'm afraid it's required. These books have exhausted me and there's much I have to think about for tomorrow morning." Then he paused and smiled suggestively, before leaning against the entryway to his study. "You however, are welcome to join me anytime my friend. I'm willing to stay awake an extra few hours if you make it worthwhile."

Kosa looked at him in disbelief for a few seconds before smirking back at him. "I've just finished bathing myself and now you wish for me to get dirty again?"

"Only if you want too. It was merely a suggestion." Roka smiled knowingly and drifted away from the room. "My room door will be unlocked if you change your mind."

The damp mobian was left grinning in the middle of the quiet room, propped in one of Roka's favorite chairs and soaked to the bone. He tilted his head on the back of the chair and let a loud exaggerated groan before hastily pulling off his glasses. "Got dammit."

The apartment was oddly silent around the middle of the afternoon. The T.V was playing but the sound was turned down rather low. Heat poured in through every open window of the complex, giving the forgotten greenery swaying from the ceiling the much needed sunlight they'd been starved of. One glance at the vacant living room cause his brows to scrunch together in confusion. Knuckles would usually be up and about by now, exercising, making a mess of his kitchen, skimming through T.V channels, or just sunbathing on the sunniest spot of his flat.

The living room had to be the guardians favorite to be in of the house due to its large windows and open balcony. He once came home to the echidna taking a literal cat nap beneath his marble table in the living area, sprawled out on his back and snoring loud to wake the dead.

Perhaps he'd taken Shadow's note of advice on making use of the squashy mattress he blew more than a couple grand on about a couple years ago, but never used. Passed out while Shadow's tablet lay loose in his grip.

After finally figuring out how the electronic worked it took little to no time for the guardian to become obsessed with binge watching shows... cooking shows at that.

More than once did Shadow come home to see the redhead sprawled out on his bed with the tablet either on his chest or knocked to the floor. Shit, he'd specifically went out of his way to purchase a case for the damn thing just so it wouldn't break. Though when he stepped in the room, instead of finding his, hopefully undamaged tablet on the floor, what he did find... was a bird.

...a live bird. A pigeon, if you want to be specific.

Perhaps Knuckles had left the window open before going to sleep, leaving the room open for curious little critters like this one to stroll in.

Though what he didn't expect was for the echidna to not only be very awake but seated at the window sill of his bedroom, his legs pretzel-ed in front of him and holding a lap full... of fucking pigeons.

Knuckles had invited an entire flock of pigeons into his bedroom.

"I opened the window while I was eating lunch and well..." He'd stopped listening, instead he was counting how many birds were currently flapping around his room, not counting the few that escaped into the rest of the apartment when he opened the door.

Pigeons! Of all the ridiculous things he could of walked in on. By the way the other was biting his lip he knew how guilty he was. Even though the sight of Knuckles covered in bird feathers with pigeons flapping all around his face and trying to find purchase on his head was endearing... the bizarre nature of all this was enough to leave him winded. Odd as it was... the professional in him couldn't ignore such a composition. "Conflicted as I am, I'm not in the right mind to deal with this. Not without coffee."

"Yeah, I think we're out of that." He shrugged, as if he didn't have birds all over him. Shadow deposited his bag onto the floor softly and began to clean the dust off the lens of the personal camera kept around his neck. "I've started drinking the stuff like water. Vanilla bean is probably my favorite." The photographer sighed.

"That's not healthy mind you. It's almost worrisome how easily your body just soaks up caffeine. I had half a mind to make sure I had the ambulance on speed dial in case you made yourself sick." Shadow remarked before turning the device on and began deleting some of his previous photographs to make room for Knuckles. While they weren't bad, nothing could replace the tranquil clash of setting he'd stumbled upon. Knuckles, even when not on his island, still seemed to bring out it's qualities around him. For one, turning his bedroom apartment into some form of a giant nest.

"You're one to talk. I've seen you drink at least six cups of coffee in only one sitting."

"Caffeine is incredibly necessary for my daily performance, without it I'd doubt I'd even function." He said kneeling down to find better angles. "What's your excuse."

He watched Knuckles scrunch up his nose as if trying to think of a comeback. It was cute, so he quickly snapped his camera up to capture it. Luckily his flash was automatically disabled. "Yeah, I got nothin." Now that the echidna's attention was back on him, he narrowed his brows. "What are you doing?"

"Taking your picture." Another snap went off and the hedgehog wordlessly shifted more to the left, noting how more of the sunlight was shining on that side. It got even better when Knuckles turned in his direction, lighting those eyes in a way only the sun could truly compliment.

"Really? Right now? But I'm not even done up or anything." A faint ouch left his lips and he quietly began scolding the bird that had randomly pecked is nose. Shadow felt the side of his lips curling into a smile.

"You don't need to be done up for every picture. Pretty enough on your own terms as it is." The echidna blushed and he caught that picture too. He puffed his cheeks, pretending not to be pouting.

"Don't call me pretty." He almost hadn't caught it, but Knuckles didn't sound like he was offended in the slightest. It made the smile hidden behind his camera widen, and continued to take pictures of his friend.

It'd been awhile since he'd had an actual domestic relationship with anyone and this set up here that they had... it was nice. A bird flew pass his head to join the hurdle of flying rats in Knuckles lap, the red echidna grinning and maneuvering his arms to make more space for the cooing creature. "Are you like this with the animals on your island as well?"

Red shoulders shrugged at the question, causing one of the birds on his head to slip down onto his shoulder. "Occasionally. The birds are especially annoying. No sense of personal space, just pluck everything right out from under your nose whether you're eating it or not." That grin was starting to make him weak in the knees. "They're pushy bastards."

"You don't dislike them." He stated, going back to taking pictures. Exceptionally pleased when he caught the guardian while he began petting one of the birds that kept trying to jump onto his chest from his lap. Shadow had never really seen pigeons react so energetic, them being city creatures and all. Even with the parks resident bird feeders amidst, the pigeons kept their distance; only coming close to nip food out of the feeders hands. But now here with Knuckles, these jumpy creatures were literally draping themselves all over him.

"They grow on you after awhile."

He nodded and adjusted his camera once again. "Smile for me."

The side of his mouth twitched. "You know my forced smiles come out weird."

"Yeah, you're right. Makes you look constipated." That earned him a laugh, which also guaranteed a smile; he caught it at it's widest moment.

"I can't believe you've taken this many photos of me." Shadow frowned; this was exactly the reason why he was hesitant to let Knuckles look through his personal portfolio. However, it was only fair considering most of the pictures in the stash were of the echidna himself. Though, judging by the way he was frowning at the folder laying in his pretzeled lap, the guardian didn't seem impressed.

"It is what I 'kidnapped' you for." Knuckles nose scrunched up even more.

"Well yeah, I figured that much but I didn't think you'd have a personal stash of my portraits Shadow. Let alone so many." A false look of horror took over his face. "That's creepy. Stalker creepy."

A snort. "I can't stalk you, you live with me."

"Next thing I know I'll find some weird shrine of me in your closet." Knuckles shivered and smirked teasingly. "Now I definitely don't feel safe living with you. How long till I earn enough money to get my own place?"

"As if you would even know how to pay rent in the first place." Shadow rolled his eyes, but couldn't fight the grin tugging at his lips. "Your safety is the last thing you should worry about with me of all people." He said snatching the folder back. "All I do is take your picture. Especially since we're grossly behind on any professional work I had planned for you this month. It'd be a shame to waste what time you have left with me." He sipped more of his drink. "So I'm taking all I can get."

Knuckles frowned at the reminder; he had almost forgotten that he'd be leaving the city soon. Part of him more than happy to return to his own home, another was dreading the closer they got to the day of his scheduled departure. He was quick to blink his gloomy expression away when he started to feel Shadow's stare linger too long.

"Taking without my permission mind you."

"With your permission, actually." He didn't hide his smirk this time. "You forget, you signed a contract not to long after your spontaneous first job. Consenting to any pictures we take of you, which includes-" His rose his hand and pointed his thumb towards himself, "-myself."

Knuckles frowned and glanced towards the folder that'd been snatched away from him. "You're being awfully suspicious. I don't see why you need so many, it's literally just me over and over again."

"They're just personal photos Knuckles." He shrugged, further narrowing his eyes at him. There was honestly no reason for him to be so cautious. Unless... "You do know I don't plan on showing them to anyone."

His arms crossed against his chest. "I don't believe you."

"I'm not one to lie." He smiled, his hands coming up as false surrender. "Honest. Rest assured these photos are for my eyes and mine alone." He paused. "Though to be fair, people would question more my motives than yours if I showed them I've been using my pass time taking pictures of you trying to eat cereal with a fork instead of working."

Knuckles did a double take. "You did what?! You're lying. I didn't see that one in there."

"Oh I have it." Smirking, he lazily gestured towards his camera and tapped the edge of it. "I just haven't printed that one out yet."

"Why you little-" His face colored and he huffed angrily. "That's it! Gimme that camera!" Shadow was unprepared for the echidna to lunge at him, caught in the middle of his own laughter. His giant hand shoved him into the couch like he was nothing, knocking the breath out of him all at once. Blinking awestruckly, he didn't think to hide is device from his reach before it was snatched away from him.

"Your reputation exceeds you." Shadow said, now understanding firsthand why the rest of his team called him the muscle of the group. Lifted up on his arms, his face paled watching Knuckles click various different buttons on his camera, no doubt trying to figure out how to delete footage. "Knuckles give it back. You don't even know how to work it." Voice treading on the fine line of annoyance and exasperation. The grin on the others face though, set off alarms in his head.

"Won't need to know how to use it if I break it."

He gaped at him. "You wouldn't." He said with a shake of his head. "You awful creature."

"Then delete my photos!"

He groaned. "Must I? They're my favorite ones of you."

The echidna squinted and grumbled. "Only because you catch me at the worst possible times. Doing stupid looking shit."

"So you knew it was stupid before you tried it?"

"That's not the point! I was testing things! It was an experiment!"

"Uh huh." Shadow rolled his eyes. "I believe that just as much as I believe when you wanted to see if the toaster could toast a cheese quesadilla. I have that too by the way."

"WHAT?!" Bad move, bad move! Now he really looked like he was contemplating smashing it.

"But not all of them are like that!" Knuckles still gave him that look that, indicating that he didn't believe him. He sighed. " Here, let me sit u-" He paused mid sentence, as if his words caught in his throat, causing one of the brows on Knuckles face to rise in question. The red echidna didn't even appear to care that he'd placed himself on top of Shadows thighs. His legs sprawled on both sides of his hips, effortlessly pinning him down into the sofa. Knuckles had never gotten this close into his personal space before. He flickered his eyes upward and held his gaze for a few silent, awkward moments. Patiently waiting for some type of reaction or removal. Knuckles just stared at him quizzically. The lack of response resulted in his lips curving up into a small grin. "Or, you can stay there instead. I don't think I mind either way." The exaggerated almond shape of Knuckles eyes widened further than they already were.

Was he- was he flirting with him?! Now of all times?! His whole body stiffened and he took a couple seconds just to look down at where he was sitting. He could tell by the heat rising on his face that he'd started blushing.

Oh..

Shadow and Knuckles both had a thing about personal space, a quiet mutual agreement that gave them both what they wanted. Their privacy. For a moment, he'd forgotten those boundaries between them even existed. The playfulness of their bickering reminding him of his disputes with Sonic. Rough housing and man-handling each other, they'd always got awfully close when their fussing became physical. However, recently that rough-housing came accompanied with flirting and on some cases, inappropriate touching. Something Knuckles told himself he didn't much care for. At least... when Sonic did it.

Flirting was something that if done by anyone else the guardian would have reacted sourly. When it came to this hedgehog though, he couldn't find himself to really mind. Shadows flirting was never vividly suggestive, so the remark was actually an unexpected stretch from him. Suddenly, those butterflies he hadn't felt for quite some time made themselves known again.

Thinking that he was attracted to Shadow for some reason bothered him. It made the butterflies in his stomach flutter all much more. It was different to admit someone was attractive than to actually be attracted to someone. Hell, Rouge was attractive and he could admit that much, but was he attracted to her? No.

Shadow was attractive and he could also admit that much, but was he attracted to Shadow?

...he wasn't ready to answer that question. Knuckles didn't even realize he'd was staring down at him until another hand rose up to grab at his wrist.

"W-What?"

The change was slow but gradual, the playful softness of the others face nudged away whatever discomfort tried to rise from all this physical contact. He didn't bother stopping Shadow from maneuvering them over to where he was laying on the sofa and Shadow was leaning over him. "Are you malfunctioning?" He grinned. "Did I finally override your circuits?"

Knuckles lips parted to say something but nothing came out. Instead, he lowered the camera in his hands to his chest and averted his eyes away from the other. He was unprepared when the photographer sighed and rolled his eyes in a manner that was almost uncharacteristic for him with how exaggerated it was. "You know, you are probably one of the most awful people I know for anyone to have a crush on."

...this time he was 100% positive his brain had short-circuited.

"I-I... you- what?! What's that supposed to mean?" Shadow chuckled, the soft laughter doing horrifying things to Knuckles nerves. There was a lot of concern for how comfortable the echidna felt with the other hedgehog leaning over him like this. He was embarrassed yeah, but didn't find himself wanting to protest whatever… this was.

"Knuckles." He looked back at the other when his name was called; noticing that the playful grin of his was gone. He looked cautious and calculating, the softness of his eyes though… almost gave him away for what he was going to say next. "I want to kiss you."

…the awkward silence that followed the question was not doing him any favors. Did he just ask what he thought he asked? "What?" His voice came out in a whisper, breathlessly dumbstruck by the question.

Shadow gave him no other explanation, his hand moved to steady itself above Knuckles shoulder to become eye level with him. "May I?"

Knuckles was dumbfounded on what to say, not expecting for Shadow to actually ask permission for it. Whatever happened next depended solely on his answer right here, so Knuckles… he had to think. He had to think hard.

He liked Shadow... he liked him a lot. They got along surprisingly well for two people who didn't know one another just a year ago. He liked how Shadow enjoyed doing mundane tasks with him and just having him as company wasn't as weird or uncomfortable as it used to be either. He liked how they could talk for long periods and at the same time, enjoy the quiet together for even longer. He enjoyed how the other took interest in what he had to say and unnecessarily going pretty above and beyond to make sure he felt right at home here… in this big previously empty looking apartment with him.

The fridge was always full of fresh berries and tarts that the hedgehog thought he would like, he always remembered to pick him up something on the way back from wherever he'd gone. He'd even gone the extra mile of purchasing an oil diffuser so that the apartment would smell more like home to the guardian, the fresh scent of sandalwood and subtle pine. He could be brash and annoyingly pushy in a way that did irritate Knuckles… but not too badly. In light of that pushiness, he was very attentive and didn't hide how observant he was of the echidna. Almost to observant sometimes but it proved to be worth letting go since that's how he'd managed to figure out what he liked and what he didn't like. He didn't remember telling the hedgehog much of anything directly, he just knew.

...and if he was to be completely and utterly honest with himself, he did find Shadow attractive. How could anybody not when he had eyes like that, along with that sharp smile that managed to peeked out occasionally. Bonus points for having the one of the most enticing scent Knuckles had ever really smelled on a person. It was light and thick at the same time; the longer the photographer had spent time in his own apartment, the more like Shadow it smelled. No more of that smell of vacancy and dust.

…but all of this still didn't tie down on how to answer that one simple question. Did he want to kiss Shadow?

Knuckles looked up at him; and I mean really looked at him. At the calm crimson eyes that fixed him with a patient stare. How they steadily flicked all across his face, from staring into his own orbs to looking at the red tint of his snout and then the slight part of his lips. The way Shadow was looking at him was a complete difference from how he usually did, not any of that calculative admiration… but fondly, eagerness and want.

"Yea." Words traveled on an airy breath that the hedgehog barely caught, but the enthusiasm in the guardians eyes gave him more confirmation than was necessary. "Go for it."

Their faces got closer, the couch groaning at the shift of weight as the hedgehog descended onto him; crowding him into the couch. There was a pause before their lips met. The photographer giving him the option to push him away if he had changed his mind… but all Knuckles did was nod again, determined see this through whether he liked it or not. When Shadow's chilled lips finally pressed against his own, Knuckles didn't know what to brace himself for. He had never been kissed before, it being something far too intimate to let slide with just anyone but what he got was much nicer than anything he'd expected.

There wasn't any immediate aggression, it was a curious dance of intimacy moving at the pace of a smoldering fire. His lips tingled beneath the others, accompanied by a pleasant and quiet hum resonating from the hedgehogs throat; it made the flesh of his lip tremble. Here, pressed underneath the other, he suddenly managed to be aware of the almost absurdly out of place things. Like how neither of them had their eyes open, how neither of them breathed since they'd locked lips and how his body began to heat up after just being pressed against another one for a rather short period of time.

He wasn't even aware of his own legs spreading to make room for him until he felt Shadow slip in between them.

Their lips separated from each other for a moment, the hedgehog looking down at him just to make sure that he wasn't the only one who enjoyed that. Knuckles didn't give much of a response and his muted staring making Shadow more nervous than anything. "Was that alright?"

Knuckles was only capable of giving him a small nod. There was really nothing more to say at this point. For a moment everything they've done together, everything they've shared finally all came together within his brain… this all made a weird amount of sense. He'd expected to feel some form of discomfort with how quick this all had escalated. From their first fight, to practically living this odd type of domestic lifestyle and now this. Kissing on the sofa while the T.V played Knuckles recorded cooking shows in the background… it was weird how all of this actually tied together and how he was just now realizing it.

Knuckles didn't expect to feel so at ease with this revelation. His shoulders slumped without any form of tension, hands still cradling the camera to his chest. Shadow's hands left from their position to cup his face with a tenderness he had never expected from him.

It was why when one of those thumbs pressed against his bottom lip to tug it downward, he let it. His heart was beating hard enough for rhythmic thump to reach his ears and nearly lurched right out of his chest when Shadows teeth caught the fat swell of his bottom lip. When his tongue lapped over his teeth and gently coaxed him to make way for it, he did exactly that. The concept of swapping spit was so disgusting to him, the sounds of it alone made his face burn in shame… but he couldn't find himself being disgusted with letting Shadow's tongue enter his mouth.

That was the beginning of unknown territory and he didn't even have enough time to rethink his decisions before Shadows hand buried itself into his spines to fit their mouths together.

It was at that point where Knuckles didn't hesitate to break through is passiveness. He moaned and with that moan his arms wrapped tight around Shadow's mid-section, pulling him down with a strength the hedgehog was still getting use too.

Shadow's arms gave out at the sudden grab but encouraged him even more to move his mouth against Knuckles own. Tongue lapping every part of his mouth he could reach. He tilted his head to deepen their kiss even further, the hand on Knuckles face keeping a firm but gentle grip of his jaw; making sure to tilt Knuckles face up to his. They were hot in their clothes already but this… this newfound heat was different. It traveled all the way up Knuckles thighs to his spine and across his back. It was a kind of heat you couldn't rid yourself of by pulling off a couple garments here and there. It made him squirm beneath the photographer, a pulsing need surging in his body to press up more into the attention Shadow was giving him.

He got the other to moan at the press of their bodies together and was completely unprepared for Shadow to respond by rolling his hips into his. It sent shivers up from between his legs and throughout his entire body; his next moan louder than the rest. He liked how that felt. He liked it a whole lot, so it was no surprise that the next thing he did was lock his thighs against Shadows sides to keep him there.

Shadow moved his hands to grab at his thighs. It gave him the leverage to rock his body into the echidna more and wasn't surprised when Knuckles tore away from their messy kiss with a gasp.

He let out a ragged moan when they parted lips once again, the separating smack of their wet lips spurring him on rather than disgusting him like he'd previously thought. The rocking didn't stop either, if anything it got even bolder. The guardian was determined to spread his legs all the wider, not giving it a second thought to bare himself to Shadow. Giving him as much access to his most intimate of areas as he wanted. His lip had become the next victim of his teeth and couldn't help peeking his eyes open if only too get a quick glance of the hedgehog above him.

Shadow was looking as him as if he was contemplating a million different ways to take Knuckles apart; his stare so intense that even he felt overwhelmed from the tunnel vision attention he was giving him. He didn't know why he'd whispered Shadows name, unaware of how needy he sounded. Almost as if he was begging for something.

The look of pure desire on Knuckles face was enough for the hedgehog to let out an appreciative groan of his own. He knew surface level that Knuckles was attractive but seeing him like this, red-faced and needy just from kissing alone was like seeing a whole new perspective he hadn't accounted for. This was the Knuckles he could put his hands on, touch and feel. The Knuckles who he could manage to make his face go just like this. The one who was whispering his name in a silent plea, to continue what he had started.

…suddenly, Shadow felt self-conscious.

This had all escalated so quickly, he couldn't even remember when was the last time he'd had someone beneath/or above him like this and so quickly at that. Things went from sharing their first kiss to him practically dry humping the echidna on the couch. It was both a disappointment and blessing that they both still had clothes on, because Knuckles bended for him far too easily. Not one protest left the guardians lips, not even when they hardened and began pressing their clothed arousals together.

It was spontaneous… too spontaneous for him to be comfortable with. "Shadow…" Knuckles brought him out of his thoughts with a call of his name. The echidna's hand sliding down to where he had a grip on his thighs and resting over it. "Don't stop."

"Are you sure? We've never…" He paused, frowning at his own lost of words. "Well, I've never… things usually never go this fast for me." Knuckles brows narrowed in confusion.

"Wha-?" He said, loosening his arms around the others waist. "What do you mean?"

He felt the shame rise up to his face, staining his cheeks into a red tint. This by itself through Knuckles for a hell of a loop, he hadn't seen Shadow blush before! Not like this! "Is it really okay for me to be touching you like this, when I haven't even asked you out on a date yet?." Knuckles face blanched.

The sudden loss of expression on the guardians face almost had the photographer pulling away from him. Concerned that perhaps that wasn't the best thing to say.

…but then he busted out laughing. "BAHAHA!" Shadow jerked his head back at the sudden burst of laughter, his face scrunched back up into annoyance. He didn't see why the other was laughing, there was nothing funny about what he said!

"Is that honestly what you're worried about?!" Knuckles snickered. "Really?"

"Do tell me where you found the humor in this, because there was nothing humorous about what I just said." The tone of his voice made it known that he was more than annoyed by the situation, but the way Knuckles smiled up at him was enough to toss most of that to the side. It was hard to stay angry when the target of your affections is smiling up at you like that.

"We've practically been living here together like this for the past few months and go out together all the time… and you're here worrying about taking me on a date?"

Shadow took a moment to think about it and responded back with a shrug. "It's only proper."

"Oh my god, Shadow… move, let me up." In an instant the hedgehogs hands were off his body. He moved back from his place between Knuckles legs, ready to move back to the other side of the couch if needed, but the echidna had other ideas.

Soon as he was free to move, he pushed himself up only to follow the photographer in his backwards decent. Fluidly plopping himself onto Shadow's lap once again, but this time intentionally. "Knuckles-" He was cut off by the others arms wrapping around his neck. The echidna was looking down at him with a strange fondness that blew away any tension or hesitance that was left in his body.

The guardian was looking at him as if he was waiting, eyes narrowed at him as if there was something Shadow should be doing. That was when he returned the embrace and wrapped his arms back around Knuckles waist.

The guardian responded with a nervous smile and leaned down press their foreheads together. Swallowing nervously, he began to whisper against his face. "I…" Shadow looked up at him expectantly, leaning up to press another light kiss against his lips. "Don't do that, you're distracting me." He said so with a breathless laugh, one that would of made Shadow weak in the knees if he were standing. This was all so strange, even for him as well. He was always so impassive when it came to holding intimate relationships like this, he doesn't know what it is about Knuckles that makes his confidence waver… but it's thrilling; and worrisome. "I don't mind this, what we're doing right now."

Shadow nodded. "Okay."

"You don't have to take me anywhere to convince me to like you because I already kinda do." The photographer let out a breathless 'oh' in response, his arms holding onto the others waist even tighter at the confirmation. "Yeah… so just kiss me again, okay? Before I lose the rest of the nerve I used to climb in your lap like this."

Shadow's gaze went back down to his lips, a light grin already quirked on his face. "It was a rather bold move of you."

"Ugh… dude. Really?"

"Would have been awkward if you ended up landing on something that you didn't intend to sit on." The innuendo wasn't vague enough to fly over Knuckles head and the hedgehog was nowhere near prepared for the response Knuckles was about to give him.

"Do you see me complaining?" His eyes widened once again and looked back up at the guardians face. Knuckles found it hard to keep being as brutally honest as he was but it all pulled through for him; because Shadow didn't waste another second babbling after that.

He kissed him again, this time hard and with intent. Their eyes fluttered closed together, tongues this time more aware of where they were going but not necessarily what they were doing. With his hand fisted into the fabric of the shirt covering Knuckles back, he used the other arm to wrap around his hips and pulled them flush together. Their crotches met intentionally this time. Nothing prepared Shadow for the way Knuckles moaned against his lips. The sound alone was enough to set him off, not even counting the slow rocking Knuckles had begun to do in return, chasing those fleeting sparks of pleasure.

His head went back as he lost himself within the pleasure grinding against Shadow's produced, displaying almost none of his previous nervousness. Shadow took the opportunity to kiss along the underside of his jaw. He gasped again, hand digging into a thick mess of black and red spines. That was all the permission Shadow needed to bite into the softness of Knuckles face.

The next moan was muffled behind bitten lips but Knuckles hips became more insistent. The grip he had on the hedgehog's spines was borderline painful, losing track of his own strength with them rutting together like this; Shadow couldn't bring himself to care any. Occupied with kissing and nipping at the surface of Knuckles jaw, only pulling back to look at his handiwork. Pure possessiveness, a quality Shadow had more than once admitted that he definitely had, just heightened ten fold.

"We shouldn't take this too far Knuckles." He was saying it more to himself and not the other. Though the guardian still groaned at him. "I'm not sure either of us are really prepared for the next part of this yet. Especially since we haven't even began to discuss-" Knuckles grabbed his face and mercilessly squished his cheeks together to prevent him from saying another word.

"Alluva sudden now you want to be talkative. Geez, for both my sake and yours, shut up Shadow." Shadow took no offense, since he was swiftly shut up with another kiss.

Outside of the entrance to the Historical Museum of Mobius, Roka stood directly behind their conversating group in front of him. Consisting off his boss and the beautiful museum director they were returning the book too; few associates that the model didn't recognize. He'd introduced himself to them before however, so felt no need to insert himself into their conversation. He didn't miss the longing glances the museum director giving him though, not by a long shot. Originally, from his understanding Roka was the one she was originally interested in, nothing short of surprises there. He'll admit, it'd seem probable. She was one of the more beautiful mobians he has come to meet face to face with; no doubt she knows of her own charms too… but unfortunately for her his taste in bed partners lied elsewhere.

He felt bad for using his friend to do damage control for him, making it so he wouldn't have to reject the beauty. However, with the exception of the womans husband, he was sure Kosa didn't mind in the slightest of ways. He appreciated being able to have the spotlight taken off him for once and awhile for he was able to focus on what truly needed to be addressed.

His gaze kept strictly transfixed on the building establishment behind them. It was truly a pity that none of his findings had reigned successful, but the echidna remained determined. He was confident that with a little more digging, he would be able to find the answers he was looking for. But it wasn't in there… and it definitely wasn't in anymore 'Historian Masterpieces.'

He needed to get on the Floating Island himself.

Roka felt a cold shivering chill go through his entire body. Just the mere thought of it sent goosebumps rolling straight down his back. All the current clans knew that stepping even one foot on the island was forbidden. Just its presence alone was considered to be one of the worst of many bad omens. Years and years of conditioning couldn't help but feed fire to the fear buried in his gut… but within there also led excitement.

Eagerness.

He'll get the echidna to take him to the island, perhaps as a token of friendship after inviting Knuckles into his own establishment. It would only be fair and the guardian seemed like the type to strive for fairness more than anything.

A/N: No they don't have sex, if they did I wouldn't had deprived the readers of those juicy details. I'm going to be honest I have a lot of chapters and lore especially planned out for this story. But it's so long I feel like I'll never get around to finishing it.

Plus I launched a lot of other stuff while this one was on standby for like, how long? So yeah.

Anywho, I don't have a full next chapter ready but here's a snippet of what I'll be planning to put into it.

Next Chapter:

"I don't see how what we do together is any of your concern." He wasn't succeeding on keeping the sneer off his face. "But if you must know, we've taken a short hiatus from our projects. They've been postponed so currently we're enjoying the free time."

"If you don't got nothing for him to do down here then why ain't you call us so that we could take him back." Sonic's frowning face got closer the more he closed the gap between them. Shadow didn't care for other people taking up his personal space and definitely didn't appreciate how Sonic knew this but decided to ignore it. "You can't keep him leashed up like some personal pet asshole, that's not how managing works."

Deep breaths Shadow, deep breaths. You can do this.

"Firstly, back out of my face Sonic." He sneered. "Now, I'm not playing games with you. And these little intimidation methods you're trying to use to interrogate me isn't going to work out well for you."

"Wouldn't have to do it at all if you'd just be decent enough to give me back my friend instead of treating him like some shiny new toy."

"Knuckles is his own person, who is free to go wherever he pleases. Don't get mad just because one of those places never happen to be near you."

"Oh-hoo burnnn. Put some ice on that shit kid, cause it's gonna be hurtin for weeks. What's the name of this guy you've been spending all your time with? Knuckles?" There was no measured amount for the disdain that rose in Shadow's entire being at hearing that voice. "Weird name for a model don't you think, Knuckles. Tch, who's mom would name their kid somethin like that. Definitely not the favorite offspring of the litter, if you get what I'm sayin."

But yeah folks that's all. Big plans no time to execute them.

I doubt anyone's still following this tbh. But if you are thank you, I appreciate you so much for staying tuned into to me and my weird publishing schedules.

Also, LOVE YOU YEN. THANK YOU FOR PLANTING THE SEED OF INSPIRATION IN ME TO FINISH THIS DAMN THING. I HOPE YOU LIKED IT AND THAT IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT.

now gimmie my damn 50 dollars ya schmuck