A/N: Okay, I really don't know what I was thinking. I generally don't like horror, don't watch horror, don't read horror. But apparently, it seems I can write horror.
Long story. Has to do with a really great series of graphic novels called "Serenity." But either way, there's a good chance I'll take this story down after a few weeks, 'cos I'm not exactly proud of it. But it's Halloween, so here goes nothing.
So, I'll only say this once: I don't own Sonic and Co.!
"Status report." Shadow's voice crackled over the communicator.
"Mission success," Rouge called back. "Target acquired, exit successful. I'm on my way to the rendezvous point."
"No more of the calling cards, I hope," warned Shadow.
"Of course the calling cards," Rouge laughed in return. "You know I appreciate flair in presentation!"
"You're making us easy to identify, Rouge."
"Deal with it. Now are you coming to that rendezvous point or not?"
Rouge flicked off the communicator in the middle of Shadow's acerbic reply and launched swiftly off the ground. Spreading her wings, she skimmed lightly down to where she and Shadow were supposed to meet.
"So where's the chip?" he asked as she landed before him. Humming mysteriously, Rouge dug into one pocket, then the other.
"Don't play games," warned Shadow uneasily. "If you've lost it—"
"Don't get your inhibitor rings all in a twist," breezed Rouge. "I'll suppose I'll just have to summon it out of thin air." She began to ostentatiously roll down the cuff of first one glove, then the other. "I've got nothin' up my sleeves, I've got nothin' up my sleeves . . . "
"Rouge, stop clowning around and give me the chip."
"Can't a girl have any fun?" huffed Rouge.
Shadow's sharp glance was all the answer he needed to give. Rouge scoffed and waved one hand in lazy dismissal, and the chip suddenly materialized between her first and second fingers.
"Ah, here it is! And here you go."
Shadow took the chip without a word, but his eyeballs made a complete counterclockwise circuit of their sockets.
Off-duty, Rouge winged merrily down the night streets of Central City. The evening was young yet, and warm, so people still strolled the downtown streets, window shopping or holding hands with their significant others. Rouge pulled to a halt when she spotted Amy and Blaze observing some handbags in a shop window. Silently the bat landed and stepped up behind them, then placed a hand heavily on either one's shoulder.
"And what do you think you're doing?"
"Eeek!" Amy gave a little scream as she and Blaze both jumped and whirled around.
"Rouge!" Amy said breathlessly, laughing. "Don't ever do that again, or I'll bring out the hammer!"
Rouge chuckled. She loved making her friends jump now and then, especially since nobody ever got the drop on her.
"Evening, girls. Anything interesting going on?"
"We're only browsing," shrugged Blaze. "Care to join us?"
"Nah," grinned Rouge. "Seeing as my company terrifies you that much."
"You're not funny," protested Amy good-naturedly. "Don't tell me you've never been scared in your life."
"Even if I was, you'd never know it," Rouge replied. "You can be sure I wouldn't scream like a six-year-old."
"Oh yes you would!"
"Oh no I wouldn't. I can't scream at all."
"Come on!"
"Seriously. I've tried, when I was mad. My vocal cords just don't stretch that way."
"Now I really want to try scaring you," murmured Amy. Rouge tossed her head carelessly. She wasn't bluffing; she really hadn't ever been able to scream in the traditional sense. It was probably connected to her voice, which was unusually deep on the female spectrum. Frankly, she was more than a little proud of lacking the ability to scream. Even though it was annoying sometimes, not being able to scream out one's frustrations, it also felt like lacking a certain brand of weakness.
"Anyway, good luck, girls," Rouge breezed cheerfully. "I think I'll drop in on the Knucklehead. And of course, that lovely little pebble he's always guarding . . . I feel like a chase tonight."
Waving, she turned to take off, then suddenly glanced back.
"Oh, and if you run into Shadow, do tell him where I am." A wicked grin flashed ever so briefly across her face.
"Rouge!" scolded Blaze. "It's absolutely shameful the way you play those two against each other. Have a heart!"
"Oh, but that's just it," said Rouge. She tapped the heel of one boot against the ground, her fists on her hips. "I do have a heart, and I don't need it in any more pieces. So I'm not going to give it away to just anyone. If some poor sap out there is really eating out his heart for me, he can say so, and then, believe me, he'll have my undivided attention."
"Is that so?" said Blaze drily.
"Mmmm-hmmmm." Chuckling, Rouge spread her wings and took off. Instead of taking a course reasonably parallel to the ground, she instead swooped higher and higher. Blaze and Amy squinted upwards, watching her almost become a tiny white speck against the night sky. Suddenly, just before the two Mobians turned away, something happened. Rouge's climb slowed, her wings seemed to lock, and she abruptly sank into a headlong plunge earthwards, her body twirling rapidly as she picked up speed.
"Rouge!" Both girls screamed this time. Just when it seemed that violent death was inevitable, Rouge snapped her wings fully open, executed several tight somersaults in midair, and landed neatly upon her feet. She dusted herself off and laughed heartily at Amy and Blaze's still-horrified expressions.
"How d'ya like that death spiral? Realistic, huh?"
She barely had time to take off again before Amy's hammer crashed down where she'd just been standing.
"Rouge, you are HORRIBLE tonight!" Amy hollered after the retreating bat. Blaze shook her head in morose agreement.
"I pity Knuckles."
Rouge was still smiling devilishly when she touched down on the edge of Angel Island. Her general gleefulness only increased as she silently approached the pyramidal shrine of the Master Emerald, on foot. Ah, Knuckles. The grumpy echidna was probably snoring away underneath his precious Emerald right now. Rouge chuckled softly to herself. Frankly, even she didn't know if she came here more to make passes at the stone, or at its guardian. Quite probably neither temptation was stronger. Knuckles was hotheaded, stubborn, gruff, most often unfriendly—but also pretty cute. Besides that, his quick temper and much slower mental processes made him endlessly fun to tease. Ah, but then again, that rock . . . that glorious agglomeration of succulent green crystalline solids . . . Rouge licked her lips, realizing her mouth was going dry.
She reached the top of the shrine, and sure enough, Knuckles was sleeping the sleep of the just. Rouge stood for a moment and let her gaze flow over the Master Emerald. So beautiful . . . so very beautiful.
Rouge had a discerning taste in jewels. She wouldn't just jump at anything that glimmered. Well . . . okay, so maybe she would. Even Shadow sometimes laughed at her mental fixation with "pretty shinies," and her friends would tease her by wiggling anything sparkly under her nose and watching her tense up like a fascinated kitten. But that was just a preliminary reaction; after all, you couldn't find jewels if you didn't have an eye for their sparkle, could you?
Once the coruscating object in question had been locked into Rouge's radar, she would assess it with a very critical eye. She despised all imitations, of course; she didn't even care for synthetic diamonds. But even in the realm of genuine precious stones, she had her little idiosyncracies and personal preferences. She prized rubies over diamonds, sapphires over rubies, emeralds above all else. Size was attractive, but it often compromised purity, which she valued more. Thus Chaos Emeralds were her passion, for their brilliance, their flawlessness, their size, the mysterious power that charged through her veins whenever she touched one.
But if Chaos Emeralds were her passion, the Master Emerald—good heavens. The Master Emerald was her obsession. Her idée fixe, her dream and her vision. Not only the world's largest gem, but its most flawless, most regal, and certainly its most powerful. Perfection. Just looking at it gave her chills of reverent awe—as well as pangs of supreme desire. It would one day be hers. That was a fact written into the very fabric of the universe, at least as far as she was concerned. Not that Knuckles agreed!
Ahh, Knuckles. Her gaze swept to him, and a silent twitch of amusement rippled through her. Silly, silly echidna. Sleeping here like a sack of year-old flour, his hands tucked under his head and tangled in his dreadlocks, a small dribble of saliva trickling inadvertently from the corner of his mouth. Silly thing. He could be stuffed in a sack and tossed off the floating island before he even had a chance to mumble "Wha?!", and then where would his dear Emerald be? Let alone the ease with which someone could just stroll off with the jewel and leave its guardian snoring until morning—or at least until he was awoken by the jolt of the island falling out of the sky.
But Rouge wasn't one for such tactics. Although the Master Emerald burned bright in her heart, there was little pleasure in obtaining it so easily. Hard work makes the result more precious by a hundredfold, and she almost felt as if the Master Emerald's great power would insulted if she . . . just walked off with it. Besides, there was just something about Knuckles. Compared to the pure, radiant attraction exuded by the Master Emerald, the echidna's appeal was a coarse and somewhat homely one. Yet somehow, it was just as delicious.
So it was settled, then. She would again torture herself pleasantly by keeping the Emerald at arm's length. Tonight she would play with Knuckles.
The echidna woke to the prodding of a heart-tipped boot.
"Rise and shine, sweetheart," sang Rouge, grinning. Knuckles snorted and blinked up at her groggily.
"Wh—wha?"
Rouge stepped back, her hands on her hips.
"Are you aware, Knuckie, that you drool in your sleep?"
"Huh?" Suddenly the echidna came all the way awake and bolted upright. "Gettouttahere, batgirl!"
"Awww, I'm happy to see you too."
"Scram! You're not getting the Master Emerald this night, Rouge."
"Oh, who says I came for the stupid Emerald?" asked Rouge sweetly.
"Don't play games, batgirl. Make one move towards my Emerald and I'll make you regret it for weeks."
Deliberately Rouge took a sidestep closer to the Master Emerald, regarding Knuckles with a mock-innocent question in her eyes.
"Rouge," grated the echidna, his voice scraping a low note. He stepped between his mystical charge and the bat who had designs on it. "Back off."
Smirking, Rouge feinted slightly to the left, causing Knuckles to swing aside to block her. Pulling back, she feinted right, then left again, watching as Knuckles swayed tensely to match her movements. She drew back again and hesitated, surveying the warning look in those purple eyes.
"Hmph," she murmured, relaxing as if in defeat. The instant Knuckles let down his guard even the slightest bit, she dove towards the left, then at the last second twisted right and whisked around the guardian. Smirking, she waited for Knuckles to whirl on her before very deliberately whacking the back of her hand against the slanting side of the Master Emerald.
"What now?"
That tore it. Knuckles exploded into fury.
"Okay batgirl, now you've done it!"
"Catch me if you can!"
Rouge's wings clattered as she sprang off the edge of the shrine. Knuckles plunged off the edge of the pyramid's top step and locked into a glide, skimming after her. Rouge actually had powered flight, however, so she got a good head start on him. By the time the echidna landed on the ground, Rouge was whisking into the woods nearby. Growling, Knuckles plunged after her.
The chase was exhilarating, but somewhat one-sided. Rouge darted swiftly among the trees, skipping above and below branches nimbly. Knuckles came crashing after her, mowing down vegetation and growling.
"Rouge!" he bellowed, stopping to shake his fists at the jungle in general. "Come out right now!"
"Whatever you say, Knuckie."
Rouge abruptly swung upside-down from a nearby tree, almost bumping noses with the startled echidna. Before he could properly react (by leaping backwards into a bush, of course), she was already whisking out of sight again, laughing. Following grimly, Knuckles stumbled into a small clearing, where nothing grew except mats of low vegetation.
"Rouge!" he hollered, turning around a few times. "Stop hiding, batgirl! I don't have all night!"
Rouge was pressed back against a tree nearby, shaking with silent laughter. The thrill of hide-and-go-seek never quite wore off—not when you were as good at it as she was. She could feel a joyful mischief bubbling in her heart, spilling over and tickling in her stomach. Life was good right now.
"Come out and fight, why don't ya?!" bellowed Knuckles.
"Over here!" sang Rouge, stepping from behind the tree and waving. Knuckles lunged; after that it was only a matter of swinging lightly aside and letting him plow past her. He stumbled onto a sharp slope and tumbled headlong down, finally splashing to a halt in a small jungle pond.
Rouge struggled to stifle her laughter as a very wet and muddy echidna clambered to his feet and struggled to slosh out of the shallow water. Poor Knuckles was apparently too furious for words by now. Aw, she'd give him a break for a while. She left Knuckles to climb out of the pond and swooped rapidly back to the Master Emerald shrine.
"Batgirl!" she heard a faint voice trailing off behind her. "Get back here!"
Yeah, right. Not likely. As she touched down lightly at the top of the pyramid, she again caught her breath at the glimmering beauty ensconced in a simple stone framework. Oh, what a shame that this gorgeous gem was all alone . . . such a king among jewels should have a vast retinue of lesser jewels to pay it homage.
Well, that issue could be easily fixed. Rouge knew of a whole stash of jewels that were just dying to meet their soon-to-be supreme ruler. She glanced over her shoulder hastily; no sign of Knuckles yet. He must still be dashing through the woods to catch up to her. And she had checked before boarding the island—it was currently floating over a desolate mountain range. Nobody would be hurt by the island's fall when the gem was taken. Perfect opportunities like this were not to be carelessly discarded . . .
Rouge deftly hustled together two cloth slings. Slipping them underneath the Master Emerald, she took the ends in her hands and flew above the giant stone. Her wings began to flap, faster and faster, humming with exertion. The Master Emerald had a weight to more than match its size and brilliance.
Knuckles suddenly came exploding from the jungle nearby. His eyes were wild with desperation and fury.
"Rouge! Don't you dare!"
Rouge merely flapped her wings harder, anxious to lift off before Knuckles got to the top of the shrine. He was already scaling the stairs like one possessed.
Her timing was perfect. The Master Emerald groaned and lifted off its supporting framework just before Knuckles dove onto the top platform of the pyramid. The minute the Emerald became airborne, a tremor seemed to pierce Angel Island's very core. The island hovered for the tiniest instant, then began to plummet, fleeing from under Knuckles' feet. Even as he threw himself at the Master Emerald, he fell away from it. Plunging downwards along with the island, he stretched out a hand desperately towards his kidnapped treasure.
"Rouge! Give it back!" His cry echoed against the mountains flanking the island—mountains that, to him at least, now seemed to be rushing upwards. Rouge only laughed.
"Sorry, Knuckie! Mine now!"
"Don't—"
"Finders keepers!" Rouge called down tauntingly. "Cry baby cry, stick your finger in your eye!"
If Knuckles made any reply, it was lost through the rapidly widening distance between them.