CHAPTER 7

SPLIT

Meanwhile, Margaret, Shadow, and Rouge stood in front of a tall whiter tower in amazement.

Shadow couldn't help but to stare up and at. "Are you sure that girl ran in here?"

Margaret nodded, "I'm positive. This must be their base of operations."

Rouge couldn't believe the Silver Fangs would have such a huge headquarters. "Wow! They're headquarters is so much bigger than ours!"

Shadow's ears flopped down, "Maybe we are losers."

"Come on you two! We've already lost sight of her. Let's get Vector and Tonya and get out."

Shadow and Rouge made a nod in agreement.

With hesitation, Margaret slowly opened the entrance door and was surprised that it was unlocked. She looked over to them once again with an uneasy look. "Be careful. We're walking into their turf now."

With caution, they all walked inside and saw that the inside was even bigger than the outside it seemed.

Rouge had her mouth hung open while she was staring at the distant ceiling and walls. "Wow this place is huge!"

Margaret sighed and turned to the two. "If we stay together, we'll never find them."

"So we have to split up?" Shadow suggested.

The crocodile made a small nod, "I'm afraid so." She then arched an eyebrow when she saw Shadow holding Rouge in a loving embrace.

"Oh, Shad", Rouge had spoken softly. "Be careful."

He held her hand and kissed her forehead, "I always am, babe."

They held each other tightly.

"I love you, Shadow!"

"I love you, Rouge!"

Margaret began shaking her fist around in annoyance, "And I would love to get moving!"

Shadow formed a smirk, "What's wrong, Margaret? Can't remember the last time Vector held you like this?"

She blushed in embarrassment and anger, "If you value your life, then you better keep your mouth shut you, little punk!"

"Heh, whatever." Shadow faced his lover and gently kissed her on her soft lips one final time and began to part from them. "Well, I'm out of here."

Rouge and Margaret watched him walk off down one of the hallways with no worry crossing his mind it seemed.

"Wow, he sure makes his goodbyes last doesn't he?" The crocodile said as she stared at him walking away.

Rouge formed a confident smile towards her, "That's Shadow for you. The ultimate being of Mobius. Shadow the Hedgehog."

Margaret then realized that after coming all this way while putting up with Shadow, that he wasn't such an annoying idiot after all. 'Shadow...the Hedgehog.'

Down in the prison cells, Vector was still trying to calm Tonya but he wasn't having any luck.

"Tonya, stop this right now!" Vector shouted as he saw her take out her fan blades.

"No!" The cat then positioned her fans at the not so sturdy bars. "I'm getting out of here now!"

"But, Tonya!" Before he could stop her, it was too late.

Tonya had already chopped the bars in half with her anger in frustration.

He stood up and turned to her in disappointment. "Tonya, why did you do that? I told you to..."

"Vector", she spoke in a low voice. "What happened in these last couple of days...it...it all hurt me so much. I had been lied to, heartbroken, and now...I just couldn't stand the situation I was put in any longer." She looked up at him with sadness, "Vector, I..." Before she could say anything else, she was pulled into a sudden hug.

"I know Tonya", he spoke. "You don't have to say another word. We'll get out of here. You'll see."

She looked up at him while he was hugging her and made a nod.

Later somewhere in the Silver Fangs base, Rouge was wandering around the bright white hallways. She looked around her because of the quietness and emptiness of the hallway. "Okay", she murmured. "Where exactly am I? This place is so huge, it just seems like I'm bound to get lost in every direction." She sighed, "Why did we have to split up? We were all doing so well together." She then stopped in her tracks when she heard soft sobbing and soon a red fox with wavy black hair came across her at the other end of the hallway. "Huh?"

The fox didn't take her hands away from her face because she was trying to hide her tears. "Oh, Sky", she sobbed. "Why?"

"Sky?" She spoke softly and had wondered if she knew Sky.

The fox was startled by the voice and took her hands away from her face and saw a white bat resembling to Sky except it was a female.

"You..." Rouge had spoke. "You said Sky didn't you?"

The fox wiped her tears away and stood in a fighting stance. She knew that the strange bat had somehow knew Sky which was maybe connected to her being part of the Chaotix. "Yeah and what of it?"

Rouge's heart filled with anger and sadness again. She still couldn't believe that Sky would lie to her and hated him for doing it. "Sky", she murmured. "Where is he?"

She had no idea why she wanted to see Sky and didn't speak of Vector and Tonya. "Wha-what?"

"Sky!" She shouted. "Where the hell is he!"

The fox smirked because of her stressful attitude. "You want to see Sky huh? Well..." She held up her fists. "You'll have to get past me."