Ultimate Life Forms

Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: Missed Opportunities

"You didn't tell him!" Rouge shouted at Shadow as he paced around her room. "It was the perfect opportunity!"

"I know," Shadow only felt more frustrated with himself and Rouge was certainly not helping. "I know, but…it's not the right time…not now."

Rouge placed her hands on her hips, giving Shadow a disbelieving look. "Oh really? If it's not now, then when will it be the right time?"

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be worrying about so much."

"You know what I think?"

He might as well humor her. "No, Rouge. What do you think?"

"I think you're not telling him because you're afraid he'll reject you. He's your second chance at having a family again and if he pushed you away, you'll be you'll be completely alone again."

Shadow came to a sudden halt, his back to Rouge. With quick strides, he headed for the door, visibly upset.

Rouge instantly regretted what she said. As a straight forward person herself, she simply couldn't understand Shadow's thought process and why he was spending so much time beating around the bush. "Shadow, wait." She followed after him, grabbing his arm. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for."

"No." Shadow gave a sigh. "You're right. I just don't want to face my biggest fear right now. I'm only coming up with excuses as for why I'm not telling him."

Rouge put her arm around Shadow's shoulder with an encouraging smile. "Don't worry. You'll get another chance soon, I'm sure." Her gaze softened as pulled her arm across from Shadow's back to grasp his shoulders, facing him directly. "Besides, even if the whole world turned on you, you'll always have me. I'll follow you to the end of the world and back."

"Thank you, Rouge." It wasn't often Shadow smiled, but he couldn't help himself. It was nice to know there was someone looking out for him. Gently removing Rouge's hands from his shoulders, he continued walking.

"Where are you going?" The white bat asked, curious if Shadow intended to reveal the truth to his brother right now.

"The doctor wants me to get another chaos emerald. It'll be a good chance to clear my head and think this through. I need to make a personal stop while I'm at it."

"Do what you need to do, Shadow."

"That's Rouge's handwriting for sure." Knuckles confirmed as he finished reading the letter. He was all too familiar with it after reading all the thank you notes the jewel thief would leave for him after stealing the master emerald yet again.

"Do you recognize where this picture was taken?" Tails asked hopefully. It was the only lead they had at the moment

"I doubt it." Amy answered on behalf of the echidna. "The green couch is the only clue we have as to his location. There could be thousands of those in Station Square, assuming he's still even in Station Square."

Tails knew it was true, but he still couldn't help but feel upset.

Seeing his frown, Knuckles gave the fox kit a playful punch. "Don't be like that. We know he's still alive and wherever he is, Rouge is with him. She may be annoying, but she gets results."

"All we can do for now is keep searching for Scourge. We'll find him." Amy said hopefully. "Eventually."

Tails opened the door to his workshop with a large yawn. After sharing the note with Knuckles and Amy, the three of them had spent most of the day searching for Scourge, unsuccessfully.