She was running down the alley...
She flung herself against a wall as a sentry robot flew past, its gears humming. Panting quietly, she then raced onward, swirling around a corner. Stumbling, but still continuing onwards, she ignored the wailing of the alarm. She needed to get out of Metropolis.
Her brown fur would have gleamed in the spotlights, if it hadn't been muddy with dirt - and not a little blood. She'd have been stronger, faster - if she'd been rested, and her injuries swept away. But it was no use wishing for things she wouldn't get.
Shade the Echidna risked a glance behind her as she raced out of the city, using the back ways as much as possible. All seemed calm, or as calm as it could be with an alert. There didn't seem to be any of the robots she'd bumped into earlier chasing her, at least.
Of course it was at that moment that she smashed into something, or someone, in front of her. She backpedaled, then relaxed marginally as she saw who it was.
A black hedgehog, the red streaks in his fur and his tan muzzle blackened by ashes and grime. His gloves, like hers, had been torn to shreds long ago, although the bands of metal around his limbs, and his hover blades, had survived. He wore a smirk, and his eyes flickered with grim amusement. "Late, aren't we?"
She opened her mouth to retort, but was struck silent as Shadow glanced over her shoulder. His smile vanished. "Hurry! Go, go, go!"
They vaulted over the fence, just missing a robot's burning laser shot, then streaked away into the night.
Tails' head snapped up as the two Sapients burst into the Cyclone, Shade clutching at a small, twisted circuitboard. "You got it?"
"Well, of course I did. What do you take me for?" Shade tossed it over to the fox, who caught it in one hand and dropped it on his desk, the returned to fiddling with some wires.
Knuckles poked his head out of his room, then growled as he saw the duo. He stomped into the control room and slumped into a seat. "How much longer are we gonna stay here anyway? We've been stealing bits and pieces from that damned Eggman for almost two months already!"
No one deigned to reply. Evidently that question has been asked many times already. The red echidna subsided into inaudible grumbles, and then there was silence.
Tails nudged a wire gently into place. He recieved a small shock for his troubles. Blowing on a finger, the orange Sapient reached for the circuitboard and connected it into the mess that was the spaceship's onboard computer. Then his voice broke the quiet. "Shadow, pass me that ionic compensater, would you?"
The hedgehog blinked, startled out of whatever thoughts he had been having, then handed the fox something that could only be described as a something. At the exact same moment, Shade yawned and stretched. "I'm tired." (Knuckles muttered something along the lines of "Well, obviously.") "I'll go kick Rouge out of the bed and call it a night."
She stomped over to a door in the corridor, then shut it behind her. There was some obvious sounds of squabbling, then the silence returned.
Shadow dozed. Tails fell asleep over his work. Knuckles kept watch. A blue blur returned near morning, dropping off something else to tinker with, then retired.
Tommorow - or rather, later today - they'd do it again. Someday, they'd be able to open a wormhole and return to the Twilight Cage, get their alien allies, and maybe convince them to help.
Until then, Robotnik reigned.
{fin.}