Sonic opened one eye while casually reclining on the back of the Tornado 2 to view whereabouts the duo were. Upon seeing the dusty red sands of the Mystic Ruins, he sighed. "Come on Tails, can't this thing go any faster?" He asked.
"Without a chaos emerald, no" Tails groaned, obviously annoyed. After the incident three months ago where Eggman's cannon successfully fired using the energy of the emeralds they were officially declared weapons of mass destruction by GUN, the lead military force on Earth, and sealed away in GUN's bank vault, watched by Omega and Shadow. It had often been suggested that this be done a long while ago, but it was recognised as being a last ditch effort at saving the world by allowing Sonic to become super, and therefore the emeralds were kept in special locations across the world. Tails had harnessed the energy of the emeralds to power his plane and was usually given one for his acts of heroics.
Sonic continued to survey his surroundings, checking Tails' workshop just in case any of Eggman's robots were still around. Usually Eggman was hatching an evil scheme every few days but no one had heard of him since their last encounter.
The plane dived downwards slightly, now inches away from the train between the Mystic Ruins and Station Square. People waiting at the station waved up at him happily, to which he gave an unenthusiastic wave back. He was constantly getting recognised by people; after all, how many blue anthropomorphic hedgehogs were there on the planet? He could hardly hide from the fame that surrounded him. He shut his eyes once more as soon as the clear Plexiglas tunnel began to shield the train tracks. "Sonic, I've been thinking" Tails began thoughtfully. Sonic sighed at his rest being interrupted. "With Eggman being quiet, I don't really need to have my inventions. So what if I marketed them?" Sonic sat upright, quite surprised.
"Uh, it's up to you Tails" He said after a moment of thinking, returning to his reclined position "Don't you think we suffer enough hassle now we're at a celebrity status? I think we should just lie low. You're not struggling for cash, are you?" Tails shook his head frantically then, unaware if Sonic had his eyes closed or not, said
"No, I was just thinking that sharing the technology might be useful, that's all..."
"Again, I don't control you Tails. Do whatever you think is right. Just don't expect me to be hanging around your place if you release anything" Sonic chuckled, dropping back to sleep.
Since Sonic and Tails (Among their other friends) had gained free access to anywhere in Station Square, the tops of most buildings had been tailor-made into landing pads for the Tornado 2 just for pure convenience. It was unbelievable how many places Sonic and Tails would visit; only last week Sonic had been asked to open the newest chili dog shop in Station Square that owed their name to him, "Chili Hogs"
It was quite true that Sonic and Tails had become exceptionally popular after their many escapades. It started when Sonic saved Station Square from the God of Destruction, Chaos, and escalated with honours from the President of America when Sonic stopped the Earth from being destroyed by the Space Colony ARK. Whenever Eggman hatched a plot, Sonic shivered at the opportunity of being interviewed by another magazine after Eggman's defeat.
The Tornado 2 touched down on the landing pad of the Station Square hospital roughly, causing Sonic to be awoken abruptly by being thrown off the back of the plane and skidding on his behind, grasping onto the side of the building for dear life. Once Tails had ensured the safety of the plane he rushed towards Sonic and grabbed his hand, pulling him upwards. "I'm still working on a soft landing" He blushed. Sonic growled. Tails had been driving the plane since he was 5; surely he knew how to land it by now? At the stairs near the landing pad was a smartly dressed lady with glasses and long blonde hair. "Mr Prower?" She asked with intent, knowing it was indeed the fox she was looking for. "Hello" Tails said politely.
"And you're Mr... Hedgehog?" She asked, looking at Sonic. He laughed; people always assumed Hedgehog was his last name. Being an orphan, Sonic never even knew his last name. "Sure" He smiled.
"Right this way" The woman guided them down a staircase into the building.
Sonic had always hated hospitals; not only were they cramped and full of slippy floors to inhibit his speedy movements, but he hated the way everything was so artificial as opposed to his usual woodland habitat. They were guided through a few white corridors (All identical to Sonic, who yawned in boredom at the fifth corridor) and eventually into a ward. "Miss Prower is through here" The blonde woman said, pointing to a room with the shutter down on the door. "Thank you, miss" Tails smiled as she walked away. He swung the door open to reveal a white bat lying in the bed in front of him, looking a degree paler than usual and distinctly less stunning through lack of makeup. "Thank God you're here" She said breathily and with a groan. "Rouge?" Tails said with a questioning tone instead of the aggressive tone Sonic used afterwards. "Sorry to surprise you like this" Rouge coughed "The nurses said only relatives could visit me. I didn't know who else I could turn to" She turned to look at Sonic who merely glared back. "Sorry if I've taken time out of your schedule, hero" She smiled. Sonic stayed stern, but lessened his glare. "It's fine Rouge. I just don't know how I can be of help. What's wrong with you?" Tails asked. Rouge sighed deeply.
"It's hard times for me..." She began, looking nostalgically at the window.
"Cut the crap" Sonic snapped, much to Tails' surprise "You've been under Knuckles' care for at least two months. No 'hard times' in paradise. You chose to go into prostitution" Tails ears pricked up. He'd been completely unaware. "Listen hero, treasure hunting is an expensive habit. Knuckles doesn't have the technology I need, or the money to buy it. And GUN dropped me as an agent after Shadow wouldn't co-operate with me" Rouge moaned.
"You could just stop" Sonic said bluntly, raising his voice.
"It's an addiction" Rouge put up an iron defense "Can you just stop running?"
"I'm not selling my body to fund new shoes, am I?"
"Stop!" Tails cried, cutting the argument short. Both Sonic and Rouge fell deadly silent. "I just want to know what's wrong" He murmured.
"Last night while I was..." She looked at Sonic who reminded her of Tails' age with a widening of his eyes "...out walking, I was attacked by something"
"Something?" Tails cocked his head to the side.
"Yeah. The doctors just say I have chest cramps from the fall to the floor. But it's bigger than that. I can feel something eating away at me. I'm in agony" She rolled around for exaggeration. "I blacked out and woke up here. I thought you were smart enough to be able to tell me what it is" She smiled at the young fox who blushed in embarrassment. "Well, I have an x-ray at the workshop. Maybe I can check out what's wrong? A second opinion?" As he said this Rouge clapped in delight. "Tails that would be wonderful!"
"I'll be as fast as I can" He smiled, walking out of the door.
"Thank you Tails" She smiled. Sonic went to follow him, but was alerted by a coo from Rouge. "Where do you think you're going, hero? I've got a job for you too" Sonic turned and gave a tiny snarl at her. "If you please" She added. Sonic sighed.
"Fine" He took a seat on one of the un-comfy chairs in the room.
"I need you to tell Shadow I'm sick" She said plainly. Sonic raised an eyebrow.
"Are things cool between you two now?" He asked completely in the dark on the situation. She shook her head. "That's why I want him to come. I want to make my peace with him"
"Come on Rouge, you're not dying"
"It feels like it" She snapped "And what if I do and we never made any peace?" Sonic pondered it, then stood up. "I'll see if I can persuade him" He said, walking out.
"Thanks hero" Rouge said sweetly "You know I mean that, right?"
"Hm?" Sonic turned around, confused.
"You really are a hero" She beamed at him. Sonic let his guard down for a moment and smiled, then walked out.
Sonic dashed across the city rooftops with skill and agility, only stuttering once to quickly guess the length of the jump from the roof of the bank to the train station. After ignoring all thought and leaving the jump to dumb luck, he dashed across the Plexiglas roof that shielded the tracks. The circumstances of Rouge's hospitilisation were suspicious, and for a moment Sonic questioned whether Eggman could be behind all of this, but ignored it; Eggman was evil but kept his enemies close, recognising Rouge as a useful asset on more than one capture attempt. In addition, Eggman wouldn't do something so petty after three months. His plan was sure to be much bigger. As he approached the end of the track at Mystic Ruins he flipped into the air and dashed to the left towards a rock formation that (rather obviously) hid the GUN safe. Sonic stood in front of the formation, tapping his foot a couple of times, then sank down into the ground on a small disc device.
After watching the Earth travel before him for a few seconds he emerged in a jungle decorated room in front of a large safe. Shadow and Omega immediately sprang into battle positions. Sonic merely waved at them. "Hey guys" He said smoothly "Long time no see" Shadow grunted a greeting back while Omega returned to a statue like position on Sonic's right, backed up against the safe. "Why are you here?" Shadow asked, his back turned to Sonic while he paced around the room. "Rouge is sick" Sonic announced. Shadow stopped pacing momentarily, then continued. "Tell me something I don't know. She's been sick for a long time"
"No Shadow, she's actually in hospital. She got attacked by something and got knocked out" Shadow turned to look at Sonic. "Why should I care?" He mumbled "She can die for all I care" Sonic sighed.
"Aren't you over that yet? She's apologised"
"I was compromised" He spat "Because of her I could've lost my job. It took an awful lot to convince GUN it was her fault" He paced more aggressively.
"And was it?" Sonic asked, enjoying winding Shadow up.
"Of course. I wouldn't walk into such an obvious trap"
"But you did..." Shadow shot a glare at him "...Besides, your job at GUN is so valuable to you that you'd risk a friendship for it?" Shadow considered this for a few seconds.
"My job at GUN is important. I promised Maria to keep the humans safe and anyone who compromises that is my enemy" His voice grew louder and louder as he spoke.
"Calm down" Sonic said, attempting to comfort him by patting him on the shoulder. Shadow nudged him away. "Look, Rouge needs you. Didn't Maria tell you to take care of everyone? Wouldn't she want you to go see Rouge?" Shadow swiftly punched him in the gut.
"You didn't know her!" He roared "Don't pretend that you did!" He regained his cool and Sonic fell against the rocky wall, attempting to keep himself upright. "I would recommend you leave, Sonic" Omega said in his robotic voice "We will duly check on Ms Rouge's illness when we are off duty" Sonic nodded at him to show he understood and climbed back onto the disc, shooting upwards.
"We're not going" Shadow said to the machine, leaning back and shutting his eyes.
"Whatever the situation may be between you and Ms Rouge, it must be settled if she is in a critical state" Omega replied "I will analyse her state of health and judge whether or not we should stay" Shadow grunted again, giving up any argument with the robot.