Complications
Part 1 of 3
Discovery of Dying Devotion
He unhurriedly came to a halt as the building was in sight.
The square base stretched out before him, possessing turrets and weapons of different sizes. Its thick, grey walls were tall, seeming every moment like search towers in the sky, thickly clotting the clouds in a dark, dreary haze. Along the line, held the front of the military vicinity, was the observatory, and, most likely, above it, was a walkway, presenting dim illuminations that barely lit in the night. Multiple men strode about it, all dressed in their respective G.U.N uniforms, only few of them witnessing the intruder, keeping their guard up for possible penetrations. The moment the searchlight lit up the ice on his spot, guns were aimed.
'Cake.'
He smirked at the challenge, cracking his fists as he took a few, simple steps forward, ignoring the use of his skaters that melted the frosty floor.
Footsteps were all the foolish humans needed to commit hostility.
BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!
Stray bullets fired front-wise in direction, causing sudden side-steps and dodging of the year. They followed in pursuit, never leaving his unique, flaming trail as it was born.
Crimson eyes flashed a look behind, seeing rocket-launchers firing and allowing multiple missiles to chase his every step. And, with that, he swerved to the side, avoiding one as it smashed into the ice, melting it severely as he shook his head in disgust.
He wasn't disgusted of nature being destroyed… oh, no. It was the fact that he was traveling on thin ice as it was.
Skaters stopped, skidding across the frozen liquid, and turning to face the incoming threats. They verged left, then right, finding them to be nothing but homing missiles.
'Humph. Seems they've thought this through… for once… Pity their intelligence will only go so far.'
A faint light crackled in his hands, as he silently mumbled two words, forming that of sharp stick, and eventually, a spear.
He forced it forwards, amazing the crowd watching, as it smacked bang into a missile, reducing it to a mere dusk cloud and ash.
Before he witnessed it being over, the small crack beneath him flicked and widened, trying to envelop the hedgehog into the watery, freezing depths of the water.
The dark frown on his muzzle showed he paid no mind.
He turned, kick-starting his hover-skates once more as the crack followed, slowly backed up by another projectile of persistence. His legs veered him different directions, trying to drive off the homing shot as the fissure absent-mindedly tracked him. Growls erupted as he turned sharply to the right, pushing himself up a ramp, which bent in a circular way, leading him back to the ground. The missile trailed him, heading towards his red streaks and to the opened crack below.
Before it could do so, however, the hedgehog recalled his hand in mid-air, yanking out a green emerald from his quills. A moment passed, and it glistened faintly before blinding him.
"Chaos… CONTROL!"
And then, the humans saw no more of the wanted hedgehog.
s-S-s
"Hm…"
The woman placed a white, gloved finger on her chin, which formed a small, sophisticated smirk. Her eyelashes batted mischievously at the glass, blue orbs peering at the object with admiration and lust.
Her brow lowered to her eyes, as they scanned the panel below, seeing numerous buttons about it.
"Trying to lock me out, now, are we?" she smiled. "Well, you can't lead a lady away from her treasure for long."
Her boots clattered along the floor as she stepped closer, inspected the glass, and then stepped backwards.
Observing wasn't such a bad idea, as represented by the big, obvious, neon, 'ALARMED,' sign.
Rolling her eyes, she murmured several words to the amateurs that were attempting to hide things from her.
This was a pretty simple method for G.U.N… And despite her grip on wanting gems, she was still having difficulty restricting herself from them… especially since this was G.U.N she was taking from.
But didn't they practically owe her? Rings just weren't enough.
She wanted diamonds. She wanted gems. She wanted…
A Chaos Emerald.
A puckish smile formed bolder on her muzzle, as she took a few more boot-steps closer, hands on top of her cat suit as she leered at the mechanism. Her eyes rolled slightly to the side, playfully, as if eyeing the corridor behind her to which she had once entered.
'Just a hold. Just a few more peeks. Maybe I'll just test out their system, and tell them how to fix security? Or, not…'
Without hesitation, her fingers tapped the buttons quickly, already figuring out the password in one shot.
PING!
Her password?
*T-O-W-E-R-S. *
The thief shrugged.
"Where's the challenge? You can't give a woman stale make-up." She sighed longingly, "I just don't get where all the creativity comes from, these days. They could at least make it more complicated."
She pouted childishly, bored.
"It should be around here, somewhere…"
At that voice, the bat-girl stopped. Her violet-charcoal-ish wings folded in, as she turned her head, sensitive ears pricking at the noise, which told her the suspect was a corridor away.
One thing about Rouge, she didn't like getting caught… unless she was feeling a bad-girl.
Today, she wanted to be a sensible one.
Adrenalin rushed through her veins, as she turned back to the emerald in front of her, red in color, grabbed it hastily, and looked up at the ceiling, scanning for a getaway.
"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! CHAOS VICINITY BREACHED! ALERT! CHAOS VICINITY BREACHED!"
Pupils dilated in blue irises, as red lights blared, and the bat turned heel, looking at a stack of boxes.
"Uh, oh. Time to get outta' here."
She dashed forward, climbing up them, and then, finally, reaching the peak. She looked up, seeing pipes and wires about. Above her, a vent made itself known, and flicked her features to that of determination. Her leg raised, then fell, until…
BANG! CLATTER!
She proudly smirked at the contraption as it fell numbly to the ground, its screws ripped out and not given any such mercy. She jumped, gripped the edge, and did a handstand to pull herself up swiftly, before landing in a crouch and seeing the ventilation system ahead of her.
She gave a look below, seeing if anyone was actually in the room, or following her.
Silence.
Except…
Tap, tap, tap…
Her ears perked at that noise, as she had heard it countless times before, though, she couldn't place it.
"What blasphemy is this?!" came a voice, dark and dripping with that evil characteristic. The voice was surprisingly deep, not that Rouge cared.
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap…
'Whoever it is, they're getting closer to the Chaos Emerald stand…' Rouge mused to herself, self-righteous about the fact that she got the sacred gem, first.
"Someone's obviously been here before us, Doom," came another voice, this one dark, but mysterious; his tone was actually quite calm compared to the other's.
A groan. "I do not wish to hear you state the obvious, Shadow."
Her breath got caught. "S-S-Shadow…?"
She hadn't seen said hedgehog for weeks, possibly months. He'd just kept to himself so much lately, that he'd hidden himself totally. Rouge knew he had a hiding place somewhere, but the back of her head told her not to venture into it, else risk an angry hedgehog, not a calm one.
A silence dawned, and then, she heard two more footsteps.
She stayed there, reluctant to the fact that she should leave. Her head ducked slightly, and her eyes watched through the hole as jet shoes came into view.
Long legs.
Spiky tail.
Fluffy chest fur.
Black, flicked-up quills.
Crimson streaks.
…Blood red eyes.
She stopped dead then.
Blue and red eyes clashed, and then, the hedgehog realized just who she was.
Those eyes stared at her, coldly, and then, they narrowed.
And the lights… the red lights were still flashing, making both the figure's frightening stance and Rouge's want to leave much greater than before.
He stepped closer, arms by his side, until one rose to her being.
At first, she thought he was going to help her down, but even she knew Shadow wouldn't be such a gentlemen at times like this, especially with the alarms raging like mad.
His eyes moved down, slowly, towards the emerald in her hands.
Then, she realized what Shadow wanted.
The Chaos Emerald. He was the one after it. He wanted it, from her. Now.
That was it. He was giving her the easy option.
Rouge blinked, tilting her head.
"What is it, Shadow? Have you obtained the emerald?" came that echoing voice from behind the Ultimate Lifeform.
Something inaudible was mumbled, and Shadow stepped closer, unevenly spreading his feet as he stared at the female above.
She was a friend, thus, he still held some respect for her. Any temper he had, he had to withhold it a little.
"Rouge."
He pointed to the emerald, and then at the palm of his raised hand.
She stared at him blankly, unable to say anything.
"Now…" he let his left hand fall, and then clenched it. "Please."
Rouge narrowed her own eyes, disbelieving the hedgehog was siding with someone who obviously seemed evil, (Yeah, the deep voice was kind of a hint for her,). The hedgehog she knew, was the one that went by his own rules. That went by his own pursuits. That went by his own direction. That didn't follow orders.
To her, it sounded like he was a dog, fetching emeralds for the big bad. She didn't like to think that, since she knew he was better than that. A hundred times better. And even though she had no idea of the situation, she didn't want to hear a reason.
It wouldn't matter if this person was trying to, "save the world," or something. Getting Shadow into a mess like this involving stealing Chaos Emeralds normally wasn't good. It reminded her too much of Eggman's manipulation schemes, and she wasn't fond of them.
"Shadow…"
"Give me that," the ebony one said, barely able to keep his calm tone in check. "Rouge, give."
She stared at him hard, hurt in her tone, "Do I look like a dog to you, Shadow?"
He scarcely moved his eyes to the right, (somewhat nervously, the bat guessed, actually surprised,) and then back at her. "Please, Rouge. Give me it. I need it."
Before either one could respond, a purple, octopus creature emerged into the thief's view, sporting a big, bulging, orange eye.
And, of course, she recognized this creature.
He was the one responsible for the recent attacks on Westopolis. Aliens… he was like. He sent them down.
She remembered how it was described to her: flames burning everything, and yes, even everyone; guns shooting at the repulsive creatures and humans; children screaming as they were evacuated, being forced to leave their homes; people trapped under rubble, eaten alive by re-spawning black creatures; millions of casualties were still waging. She hated that description. She hated it so very much.
And she hated Shadow, right now, for doing what the wretched thing said.
She glared at the aforementioned creature, Black Doom's Eye.
"What…?" the eye looked at the light in her hands, and then to the charcoal one, comprehending the matter at hand. "Shadow… This is no time for making friends with the pathetic mortals… Get the Chaos Emerald. Now. That is your objective, is it not, traitor?"
The black one growled at the order, "I've been loyal this far, Doom. Don't push me, or I'll have to snap that straight line of loyalty in half."
'Loyal…?' Rouge was disgusted at that statement; 'Shadow isn't supposed to be loyal to anyone… not like that! In a way that he'd be ordered around! Told what to do…'
She shook her head, feeling repugnance forming at the sight of the hedgehog. Her narrowed eyes shaped into a determined yet upset structure, as she spat at them both, uncaring as to whether it hit them or not.
"I'm sorry, Shadow," she began, coldly, and not sorry in the least, "but you'll have to get through me if you want this!" And with those words, Rouge turned heel, scrambling hurriedly down the vent before Shadow could say another word to her.
He eyeballed the hole in the ceiling, and then closed his eyes, grimacing, "And I'm sorry for what I'm about to do."
s-S-s
Hey, guys.
I just wanted to do a small story to get my hands up and typing. ^^' I'm planning for this one to be short, 3 chapters at least.
I haven't written many Shadouge stories, (Or any at all… .) so, why not now? :3
Anyway, I hope you enjoy what's to come and what's already here.
Any reviews would be greatly appreciated, just to know if someone's actually reading it. :d
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story; all characters go to SEGA.