Whoa! Whoa. Before you read, I just want to notify you: Adventure portion of this fanfic starts chapter 5. So, if you're not one for hurt/comfort or angst, steer clear of the earlier chapters.
This disclaimer was here so I don't have to rate this fanfic T, because it's still mainly K+, just the beginning's sort of intense.
BTW, don't own any characters. (Even though that won't hold up against a lawsuit)
He woke up in a cave.
His fur was wet and matted, from blood or sweat he couldn't tell. He tried to move his limbs, but they were shackled. The chains clanked against each other as he tried to move.
He smirked.
No chains can hold me, he thought, and with one swift move, he brought his arm upward.
The metal cut into his skin, drawing blood.
He hissed. How is that possible? He tried again, straining as hard as he can against his bonds. He increased the force, fully expecting for the links to snap, or the chains to come ripping out of the ground. No luck.
He stopped, panting. He swallowed the dark, metallic taste rising in his mouth. He tried to stand up, but the chains weren't long enough, and he fell back down, kneeling in exhaustion. Impossible.
A brief flutter of light fell on him from above, and he raised his head. There was a small hole far above him in the ceiling, and in it, a silhouette of a bat.
"You," He snarled, struggling to get a better look. The bat jumped down and landed with a soft thud, her boots tapping quietly against the frozen earth.
"Yes, me," She cooed, batting her lashes. "Happy to see me, Knuckles?"
With a growl, he lunged forward again, only to be held back by the chains. He didn't bargain for his safety, nor ask about his friends. He had just one question.
"Where is the Emerald?" He roared, leaning forward as far as he can, baring his teeth. Her white fur shone in the moonlight, and her large ears twitched.
"Oh, this silly little thing?" She drawled seductively. She pulled back a curtain that he didn't see before, and behind it stood the Master Emerald. Its rich, vibrant green shone through the cave, and he could finally get a good look at his captor. Rouge.
He looked around. There was a small pot carved into one wall, as well as several shelves of boxes. A small furnace stood in one corner, and a pile of bushes and leaves inhabited another. Flashes of light shone from everywhere, from the half-closed boxes to the pile of brush to the walls. The roof above was littered with stalactites, filled with semi-precious gems. A place only a treasure-hunting bat could love.
He looked back to the Emerald, and realized with horror that there were two holes puncturing the beautiful gem, and from them, snaked two links of chain. The Emerald's energy flowed through the metal…
…To his own chains.
She used the Emerald's power to trap him.
She settled down on top of the furnace and watched him curiously. He sat down, hard, feeling defeated, and turned away from her. Mentally, she hissed. The ground was permanently frozen, and sure as sure, he didn't come from a particularly cold climate.
"You'll freeze if you stay like that," Her voice drifted from behind him. He showed no reaction. He didn't need to be told. He felt the cold tendrils of cold snaking through his body. His thin echidna fur wasn't made for this temperature. Involuntarily, he shivered, but quickly covered it up as anger.
"Didn't know you had a home," He rumbled, a taunt in his voice.
"Everyone needs a place to store their treasure," She said nonchalantly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He resisted the urge to look backwards, didn't want her to see how miserable he was.
Instead, he turned to face the Emerald. It filled him with a sense of security, knowing that it was here and not out there, wreaking havoc on the world. Rouge got up and flapped over to the Emerald, leaning on it, her legs crossed. "Beautiful, isn't it?"
Blinding fury turned his vision red, and with a yell, he punched the ground. He expected an earthquake, or an avalanche, something, but nothing happened. He looked in dismay at his hands, then ran them over the two holes in the ground from his knuckle barbs.
"Permafrost. Nice thing to counter against an angry echidna," She remarked, striding forward just so he couldn't touch her, but close enough to glare into her eyes.
She didn't seem fazed. "This whole place is Knuckles-proof," She sighed, "there's no point in trying to break out."
She tapped a claw gently on a chain, and he lunged for it, only for the chains to hold him back.
This is going to be fun.
"Why am I here, Rouge?" He spat. "Robotnik doesn't think so highly of me, does he?"
She shrugged. "Who knows? He wants you here so you won't take the Emerald back, and as bait."
"Bait?" He echoed uncertainly.
"Sonic will come looking for you."
He let out a bitter laugh. "I live on a floating island. It's not like Sonic comes visiting. Even if he did, it's not like he cares what happens to me." He glared at her just a second longer, and turned away.
At this, all the fight went out of him, and he retreated as far as he can in the other direction.
He could feel her stand there, watching him with those cold, calculating eyes of hers.
It was a long while before she rose into the sky, drew back the curtain and blocked off the skylight with the whispery rasp of rock against rock.
He was left alone in the dark and cold.
He shivered again, and this time, he couldn't stop.