Torchwick is pissed as he limbs into the small airship. He gestures to the pilot to take off as Neo, and Bane join him with Rouge all tied up. Adam leaps into the ship a minute later, Eggman already having fled in his own usual way.
"Well that was a disaster," Roman says sourly once the ship is a few hundred feet off the ground.
Rouge squirms in her bonds, scowling. "Was blowing up the Dust really necessary?"
Adam frowns, "I lost track of my surroundings."
"Oh?" Roman puts on a too-friendly facade, "Well I guess that makes it alright then. We only have five of those, but losing one is an honest mistae so let's Live and Learn... NOT!" Roman glares hatefully at Adam, "Animals, the lot of you!"
"Yeah, you're so much better." Rouge rolls her eyes. "What's with Overlanders thinking they're so much better than everyone else?"
"Do kindly shut up," Roman says as he points his cane at Rouge, a gun sights flipping up from the bottom. "There's always more hostages."
Rouge rolls her eyes, and looks at the carnage below.
Neo walks up to Roman, and puts her arms around his middle with a discouraged look. Roman sighs as he puts his can sights away, "I know, I know, the big scary tin can hurt you." He strokes her hair then glances out the side of the ship.
Roman grins, and drags Rouge to her feet. "My dear, time for you to be of use." Then he puts his cane to her chest, and pushes her out of the ship while the pilot rockets away.
Rouge's eyes widen, and she shrieks as she falls.
Suddenly, she's caught, flying back up.
Her eyes widen more, looking at who had saved her.
Sonic winks as they lose momentum, falling.
...
Weiss walks into the living area provided to team RWBY with a big smile. Ruby looks up from her lunch of roast beef sandwiches with a side of cookies, and Blake lowers her book.
"The Commander has cleared us to take individual simulation combat assessments," Weiss reports. "With the use of Dust."
Ruby cheers, and cuddles her collapsed Crescent Rose. "Finally, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking!"
Shadow warps in, a large thud resounding when Omega hits the ground.
All three girls jump, and Ruby even screams a little.
Shadow looks at them solemnly, before pointing to Blake and walking away, dropping Omega's arm next to Omega's body.
Blake looks very confused, but follows him as the other two fuss over Omega, shouting for a mechanic.
"He says he hasn't forgotten about you." Shadow turns to her once they're far enough from everyone.
It takes Blake a moment to realize who he's talking about. "Well that's not cryptic at all," she says sarcastically. "He always said the two kinds of people he can be bothered to remember are real friends, and those he needs to kill... Wait..."
Blake glances back, and then at Shadow, "Where's Rouge?"
Shadow reaches into his hair, and pulls out Neo's frozen umbrella still attached to Omega's hand. "He said it was a fair trade." He deadpans.
Blake is thrown for a serious loop. Part of her wants to ask how he fit that in his head, but the other is too worried about Rouge to care. "Do you know if... Did he…?"
"No. Her heartbeat is still going." He raises his glove and rolls his cuff, revealing an advanced watch that shows various things, but currently Rouge's condition. "Her heart rate's high, she just survived a great hazard." He frowns. "Something's preventing me from tracking her, though."
Blake kneels with a focused look, "Like what? If it's a jamming device maybe I can help get through it."
"Too much Dust, I think. An entire crate of it was destroyed." Shadow says.
Blake sighs, "You would have to talk to Weiss then... I'm sorry Shadow. Towers has agreed to Combat Test us for field work, so if he clears us then I promise we'll get her back.
Shadow nods. "In the meantime, my team is down a fighter." He rolls down his sleeve. "Whoever passes the test with the highest score will be put on my unit."
Blake looks down, "I see... Though in all honesty I don't see us seperating from the team, any of us."
"And I respect that. However, now both of our teams are down one member, so I need one of you so we can get your partner back." Shadow says.
Blake nods, "Alright then. Weiss!"
The platinum blond looks up, and Blake asks, "When is the assessment?"
"As soon as we're ready," Weiss calls back.
"Go. I will take Omega to repair bay." Shadow walks over to the others, picking up Omega.
A few female GUN soldiers, one a Mobian rabbit, raise their swords when Ruby enters.
Ruby waves, "Hi! I'm Ruby Rose, and I'm going to do my best to show my stuff without putting you all in the hospital." She pulls her weapon off the back of her hips, and unfolds it into gun mode.
Their eyes widen, and they go into fighting stances.
Ruby shifts into her fighting stance, "So is there a starting bell, or should I just go whenever?"
The starting bell sounds as soon as she asks, and the girls charge with a yell.
Ruby fires straight down, jaunching herself in the air as she fully unfolds her weapon into a scythe. Then she whirls on them, knocking them away with the back of her weapon rapidly as she comes back down.
They fly away, but when they hit the ground they roll quickly to their feet and charge at her again.
Ruby fires behind her, flying at them swiftly, then stabbig the blade in the ground so she whirls, kicking them this time.
The girls are knocked aside, but one of them recovers and slashes at Ruby from behind.
Ruby vanishes before the sword connects though, leaving a swirling of Rose petals to take the hit. Then Ruby slams bothe feet into the side of her head.
The girl yelps helplessly.
As the girl hits the ground, panels open in the walls, and giant techs bigger but leaner and lighter than Omega step in, starting to fire at her.
Ruby whirls her scythe to block their first barrage of rounds, and then fires in their direction to send herself flying back. Then she kneels, putting her weapon away before dashing at full speed around the room. Her slipstream stirs the room with a flurry of Rose petals, lifting the robots off the ground into a localized tornado.
Shadow watches with Weiss and Blake through the one way glass, watching Ruby go.
Ruby zips through the tornado, grabbing the GUN agents that got swept into it as well. She pins them to the wall with her scythe, leaving them there to hold on as the robots are tossed about end over end.
Ruby then runs up a wall, and with a shout she launches herself across the room, spinning so that with her hood she looks like a red drilling dart. She lands on the opposite wall with enough force to make it crack in a spiderweb pattern, and then leaps up to cling to the ceiling.
The tornado holding the robots redirects itself, slamming them against the wall, and bombards them with anything not nailed down in the room.
Shadow nods. "She passes."
Blake smirks, "She did the same thing to team JNPR during a food fight."
"I have noticed something, however." He warps away.
Blake, and Weiss share a confused look, then Blake volunteers to go next, grabbing a few clips of ammo for her sword. Ruby yanks her scythe from the wall, releasing the GUN agents.
Before the two can swap however, Shadow warps into the room and kicks Ruby hard, catching her by surprise.
Ruby skids across the ground, grateful for the dark leggings under her skirt as she land spread-eagled. She frowns at Shadow, "What the-?!"
He takes a fighting stance. "Now for your challenge. Beat me, and you will join my team for one mission to find your sister."
Ruby gets to her feet, and then smiles as she puts her weapon away. "Sorry, but I already have a team. If anyone can find Yang, it'll be us."
"Fine, then, humor me." He smirks and shoots at her, throwing a punch.
Ruby yelps, and Shadow's fist goes through a flurry of Rose petals. She appears behind him, yanking his feet out from under him with her scythe before knocking him against a wall with the back of it, the end of her gun part pressed to his chest.
"Will you cut that out?!" She frowns childishly at him.
He smirks and grabs her gun before warping it out of her hands.
Ruby looks down at her empty hands in horror, "WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY SWEETHEART?!"
"She is unharmed. Unlike you if you don't fight back." He rams his feet into her chest.
Ruby lands on her back, and then yells as she grows a punch at Shadow. Even by normal human standards it's pitiful.
Shadow huffs, knocking it away. "I knew it."
Ruby sighs, "So I'm not great without my weapon, I'm plenty fast enough to make up for it."
"Not in this world."
Ruby pouts with a grumble, "Can I have Crescent Rose back now?"
"No." Shadow pulls her to her feet. Then he moves next to her, taking a fighting stance. "Copy me."
Blake clears her throat, "I'm sorry, but can training wait? The sooner we all pass this assessment, the sooner we can search for Yang."
Shadow gives her a look that could be seen as soul freezing. He then states, "Fine." He makes Ruby's weapon reappear, giving it back. "We will work on your hand to hand later." The way he said it suggested it was a command, not a request.
Ruby nods, and walks out of the room. Blake seems unfazed as she loads a clip with different colored Dust rounds into her sword.
Shadow walks to the side and leans on the wall, crossing his arms as the room is reset.
Blake stands in the middle of the room with her arms at her sides, waiting for something in the room to make a move.
The girls attack first, slashing at her.
Blake waits until the last second, then jumps back while leaving a hollow after image of herself to take the hit. Then she draws her sword, leaping forwards quickly to take tow of them down with precise slashes.
The last one slashes her from behind with a yell.
She drops to the ground, slashes him into the air, and then kicks him away.
The robots activate and start firing at her.
Blake dodges nimbly with inhuman grace, and then works her way close enough to charge the first one head on. She blocks rapidly, then slices off its head, then the next diagonally through the torso, and the next symmetrically. Obviously the way she uses her sheath in tandem with her sword the sheath too is a slicing blade.
Shadow suddenly jumps in, Homing Attacking her.
Blake feels him coming with her Aura, and dodges with a backflip that makes him miss her head by mere centimeters. He does succeed in taking her bow off as it catches in his quills, but Blake doesn't even notice as she morphs her sword into a gun then blasts him with Ice Dust point-blank.
Shadow grunts, taking the blow as he lands on his feet. He then smirks as he holds up her bow for her to see.
Blake looks shocked, her kitty ears now on full display.
He then suddenly warps behind her, slamming a kick into her rear.
Blake grunts as she rolls, and when she gets up she leaps, leaving an afterimage to distract Shadow while from above she slashes wildly. Purple arcs of energy fly at him while she soars backwards through the air, landing on her feet.
Shadow warps again, landing in front of her and swatting the weapons from her hands as he kicks her in the stomach into a wall.
Blake grabs him by the quills, forcing herself to suck in a breath as she knees him in the face, then kick him to the side with a heel.
He warps to his feet before he hits the ground, rubbing his nose. He spots a drop of blood on his glove, and smirks. "Very good."
She storms over, snatching her bow back, and tying into place while giving him a harsh look.
"You have passed." He states, not phased by her look.
Blake says nothing as she gets her sword.
Weiss steps out next with a smile, "I suppose it's my turn at last?"
"Indeed." Shadow steps to the side again as the girls step in again and the room resets.
Weiss holds up her rapier, taking a fencing stance. When the bell starts she spins the wheel of dust on her sword so it ignites the blade red, and slashes. The space between them ignites in fire, and Weiss uses a Gliff to propel herself over it. She lands between two of her attackers, more dancing than fighting as she takes them both down with rapid strikes.
Shadow watches her with interest.
The robots roar to life and launch Dust grenades at her.
Weiss flourishes her sword like a wand, and uses Air Dust to make a force-field to protect her. Then she makes a wide Gliff Circle in front of herself with six glowing points. She brings her sword down, and those points arc through the air, colliding with each robot, and restraining it in a smaller Gliff circle.
Finally Weiss touches her sword, and waves her fingers making a series of white Gliff Circles, one of which being underneath her. She propels between them swiftly, striking the robots with her sword until they are all out of commission. She then pants as the Dust all fades away.
Shadow then kicks the butt of her rapier, sending it stabbing into the ceiling before he slams a Palm into her stomach.
Weiss takes a second to recover, and then goes for a kick to his throat.
He throws his hand up, catching her heel and throwing it up high, making her lose her balance.
Weiss lands on her behind, her skirt flaring for a moment so Shadow ends up catching a glimpse of lacy white, and blue striped panties. Weiss groans as she climbs back to her feet, taking her best unarmed defensive stance.
Shadow smirks and throws a half-assed punch at her, just to see if she was as bad as Ruby in terms of defence.
Weiss deflects the punch, and jabs Shadow in the gut... Which makes her wince as she backs off, holding her fist tenderly.
Shadow smiles and throws a regular punch at her, aiming for her shoulder should she miss.
Weiss dodges, and tries to kick him in the face.
He catches the kick instead of deflecting it, slowly raising it up higher and higher, her skirt lifting more and more.
Weiss has to hop on one foot to keep her balance. "Alright, quit it!"
He smirks and suddenly jerks it up high, making her do a somersault. Weiss lands on her front, giving Shadow a dirty look as she gets back to her feet.
"You all have passed. Meet me and Towers in the briefing room for your clearance." Shadow states, warping away.
Weiss stares up at the ceiling. "…At least get me my sword back!"
Suddenly the base rocks with an explosion that wiggles her sword loose.
Shadow warps back. "Change of plans, come with me." He dashes out the door.
...
Nobody in the base has any idea what is happening. Cameras are shutting down systematically, moments after a blur of something, or a flash of fire.
Blake, Ruby, and Weiss all stand with Shadow, awaiting directions.
Omega stomps in, his arm still unattached but his ejected hand replaced. "DETECTING LARGE DUST DEPOSIT." He drones.
Ruby nods, "Then we should handle it, where is it now?"
"NEGATIVE. DUST DEPOT CONTAINED INSIDE TINY VESSEL, METAL UNDER AN ORGANIC COATING." Omega steps forward, lumbering to the door.
Ruby frowns, rubbing her head. "Why does that sound familiar...?"
Weiss raises an eyebrow, "Why would it? I mean Dust can be seen into clothing, even infused into one's own body, but the metal coating?"
"Armor?" Blake shrugs.
Ruby sighs, and turns to Shadow, "Can we get any cameras to follow Omega?"
"He has some mounted in his eyes." Shadow rolls his wristguard up again, pressing a few buttons and brining up a holographic camera of Omega's vision.
Omega lumbers down the hall for a few minutes. Up ahead the hallway connects to another at the side like a T. Soldiers rush up ahead, and after a few gunshots mixed with shouts they go flying back.
Omega turns his hand into chaingun mode, droning, "IS LETHAL FORCE AUTHORIZED?"
At that moment a slender girl with ginger hair, and a pink bow steps calmly around the corner. She wears a dress with long sleeves, but stops at the tops of her thighs. Her black stockings are so long however you would never know it. She turns her freckled face up towards Omega, blinking Emerald eyes.
In the surveillance room Ruby shrieks, "Penny?!" Weiss, and Blake look gobsmacked as well, and Ruby shouts, "Don't shoot! She's a friend!"
Penny tilts her head as she eyes Omega's missing limb. "Why are you not repaired?"
He looks at it as well. "I WAS IN THE PROCESS OF REATTACHING IT WHEN YOU ATTACKED THE BASE."
Penny smiles, "Well the men in front should have let us in, it was very important I get here."
"...US?" Omega seems to tilt his head.
"They do not appear to be in this sector either," a man's voice announces before moments later he speeds into view at the end of the hall. He's dressed like an explorer with glasses, and a thermos that he pauses to drink out of.
Weiss shouts, "Omega, do not engage! That is Professor Oobleck, our teacher! A fully trained Huntsman!"
Omega turns his gun back into hand mode. "DISAPPOINTMENT METER RISING."
Penny looks down at his hand, and then takes ahold of his arm, "Perhaps when you're fully repaired, okay?" She smiles up at him.
Oobleck frowns, "Miss Penny, now is not the time to be making nice with the enemy!"
Penny looks back, "Enemy?"
"Yes, enemy," Oobleck says firmly. "That is why you were attacking this base of operations, was it not?"
Penny shrugs, "The men out front wouldn't let me in when I asked, or told them it was important. They even pointed guns at me."
Oobleck pushes his glasses up higher on his nose, "...And that is what you told them, word for word?" When Penny nods the professor sighs, "My dear those were guards... Just doing their job."
As Penny takes on a look of understanding Oobleck addresses Omega, "Dreadfully sorry for the ruckus. My progress was somewhat lagging behind that of my companion here, and I arrived to see her on the assault. Acting quickly I believed she had discovered team RWBY was being held by hostile forces. Please accept my apologies, and then I will be on my way with my students."
Shadow glances at the three girls. "You vouch for these two?"
They nod, and Ruby explains, "Penny is still kinda learning how the world works so you need to be a bit patient with her. And Professor Oobleck is... Weird... But reliable."
Shadow nods. "Your students are stationed here until we can return them home. Unless you have a safer place for them?" He asks Oobleck.
Oobleck sets his mouth firmly as through Omega he says, "Do not take me for a fool, we are foreign forces, and this is obviously a military installation. Common sense would be to study us to see if we threaten your society, and to see what we have to offer once you are certain we are not a threat. However I cannot allow this as the repercussions would be dire, much like giving the Knights of the Round Table means to produce their own nuclear bombs. Therefore we must depart at once before more damage can be done."
Shadow glances around for Commander Towers before stating, "Take them."
Oobleck nods, "Thank you for your understanding, I am relived we could settle this without further violence, unintentional as it was."
Weiss, and Ruby head out to meet with Oobleck. Blake pauses, looking back to Shadow. "Shadow... We're finding Yang, and going against Torchwick. If I hear even a rumor about Rouge you have my word we'll find her."
Shadow nods, and tosses her a communicator. "Good luck. And keep in mind that in all of the confusion, you three ran away. My mission will be to find you and bring you back."
Blake smirks, "Good thing I was holding back in that assessment." Then she bolts after her team.
Shadow watches them leave, turning and walking away, thinking of a valid explanation as to how the three girls escaped.
Omega waves to Penny. "NEXT TIME, I WOULD LIKE A COMPARISON OF POWER."
Penny snaps a salute, "I'm combat ready anytime!"
Omega nods, and turns to follow Shadow.
...
Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and Yang arrive back at Tails' lab, Yang's gear a bit beat up from her ditching it during a fight.
Yang sighs, "Sorry about your Shovel Claws, Knuckles."
"It's fine. Tails can fix them good as knew." Knuckles smiles.
Yang passes the claws to Tails, and then inspects her gauntlets. "I could use a tune up on these... Tails, got any tools I can borrow?"
Tails nods. "There's a toolbox over there." He motions to one.
Yang opens it up, getting an oil cloth, and a set of Alan Wrenches before she starts taking her gauntlets apart on his coffee table.
Tails tilts his head, watching her do so. He pulls up a chair and watches her clean it.
Yang glances up as him as she lubricates her weapon parts with the cloth, "Yeah... Sorry again about earlier. You're younger than Ruby, and beating up monsters..."
"It's fine." He smiles. "It... was a good hug..."
Yang gives him a crooked grin, "How old are you anyhow?" She uses a small Alan Wrench to twist a screw back into place.
"I'm twelve!" He puffs his chest out with pride.
Yang drops her tool, and hangs her head, "...I think I was better off not knowing, I feel like a pedophile right now..."
"Hey, Mobian years are weird." Tails laughs. "If you ask a dog Mobian how old they are, you're going to get a different answer than asking a cat Mobian."
Yang looks up thoughtfully, "So how close to adulthood does that make... You know what, don't answer that, it's not happening again."
Yang shakes her head to rid herself of the memory as she finishes putting her gauntlets together. She smiles as she fires an empty chamber, and then loads the last of her Dust into them.
Tails tilts his head. "Aren't gauntlets like that a bit unstable?"
"Nope," Yang says. "They're perfect for me, I should know since I built them."
"Wow!" He whistles. "So I assume they're to pack your punch?"
"More like to add to it," Yang smirks. "You saw me working those shovel claws."
Tails nods. "Yeah, you worked them harder than Knuckles does! Say, I can boost the power of your gauntlets, and reduce the consumption of them as well if you would like!"
Yang looks her weapons over, "Huh... Well... Alright, but I need to be the one to make the adjustments. Not that I don't trust you, but the reason we forge our own weapons is so we know exactly how to fix them if they break."
Tails nods. "Okay! Come over here!" He stands and dashes excitedly into his lab.
Yang hops up, and follows him curiously.
He pulls out a small device. "Normally this would go into my power cannon, but mine is in good condition so I don't need this."
Yang takes it, uses it to replace a Dust bullet. "Got a target?"
Tails smiles and presses a button on his workbench, a target appearing.
Yang takes a few steps back, and punches at the target.
Her Dust impact blasts through the target, blasting it off its hinges.
Yang gives a wolf-whistle as she blows the smoke off her gauntlet. She then ejects the power cell so Tails can look at it, "How'd it hold up? Am I going to have to go through these like bullets?"
Tails studies it. "It can stand it. But I think you should put in a power regulator since it doesn't run off of Chaos energy."
Yang shrugs, "Okay, but what does that do exactly?"
"You know how you made the canisters fire the one direction so it doesn't explode and take your hand off? This is so if it does, well... it won't take your hand off." Tails explains.
Yang frowns, it's not much of an explanation, so she says, "I doubt it could anyhow. Huntsmen have a special talent for each of them called a Semblance. Mine turns physical force into energy, so if I forget the regulator all the energy flowing back during the recoil will make me stronger every time I fire these."
"And severely injure you hand. Like, if you broke your arm, I'm sure you would get a huge increase in power, but you'd only have one arm to use it." Tails explains. "The regulator is so the pain will increase your aura, but not do damage that will permanently injure you."
Yang rolls her eyes, "A giant robot smashed me through two concrete highway support beams, and then punched me through a third. I didn't so much as get cut, so trust me I can take it."
"Did it do that in this world?" He asks suspiciously.
Yang shakes her head, "No... Why?"
Tails smiles. "Just seeing. If your hand gets blown off, I warned you okay? You can't blame me. Promise?"
She frowns at him, and he can tell she's getting ticked off.
"...Gimmie the damn regulator," she growls, hand extended.
He smiles innocently and pulls it from his spare parts, offering it to her.
She takes it, putting it into her gauntlet, "And for the record it's not pain that makes me stronger, it's force." She puts a hand to his forehead, and shoves him across the room into a rolling chair. "Like that much force I could use to put someone through a wall."
With that she stomps out of the lab, putting the same upgrades into her other gauntlet. Her eyes are red as she sits on Tails' couch, picking up the remote.
"Ow..." Tails whimpers.
"Um... was she like that with you?" Amy blinks.
"I didn't push any buttons." Knuckles shakes his head.
Yang takes a deep breath as she puts on some Tom, and Jerry, watching the typical game of cat and mouse as she reigns in her temper.
"Hey gang! I brought a guest!" Sonic skids to a halt, setting Rouge down.
"Sonic!" Tails and Amy run up to him, hugging him.
Yang doesn't even glance back, just taps her finger on the couch in an annoyed sort of way.
Sonic blinks. "Woah, you brought one too."
Rouge looks at her, surprised. "Yang Xiao Long?"
Yang perks slowly, and looks over her shoulder, "Uh... Do I know you...?"
"No." Rouge shakes her head. "But, the rest of your team has been found."
Yang hops to her feet, "You're with GUN, aren't you?"
She nods. "Yes. But please don't punch me."
Yang cracks her knuckles slowly, and grins. "Where's my sister?"
"Back at the base. And if you hurt me, that's all you'll know." Rouge stretches her wings, glad to be untied.
Yang vaults over the couch, grabs Rouge, and slams her against the wall with a raised fist.
"No head games," Yang says firmly. "No demands, and no half-truths. I put up with a lot through this last week so as a bit of advice... Do. Not. Mess. With. Me."
Yang's eyes burn red while sounds like crackling flames sound off in her hair, "So tell me exactly where to find my sister, or we can try this again after you're out of the hospital."
Rouge is deadly calm, simply smirking. "I have to deal with a homocidal black hedgehog fifty times stronger than you. You have no idea what I've been through myself this week, so don't you start. You want your sister and your team? Calm down and play nice."
"Wrong answer," Yang growls, and lifts Rouge by the neck, rearing back her fist.
Knuckles grabs Yang's shoulder. "Yang. Breath. Rouge won't deal like this. I know it."
Yang shuts her eyes, and the sounds in her hair slowly quiets. She lowers Rouge to the ground, and steps back.
"Knuckles," she says quietly. "That island... It gives you lots of time to think... And you know what I thought about while I was there?"
"Chaos, Knuckles..." Rouge gasps, rubbing her neck. "Get your girlfriend a leash!"
Knuckles hesitates, ignoring Rouge. "...Hugging your sister again?"
Yang nods as she sits in a recliner, her elbows on her knees, "Beacon academy has an initiation for all entering first years. They launch you off a cliff into a forest infested with Grimm, and you have to go all the way through it, then back on a mission to retrive a relic, for us it was chess pieces."
Yang laces her fingers together, "At the temple we were attacked by a Deathstalker, and a giant Nevermore... Ruby tried to prove herself by taking on the Deathstalker all on her own when she didn't even stand a chance... The Nevermore kept me from getting to her, and the Deathstalker... If Weiss hadn't stepped in when she did..."
Yang puts a hand over her eyes as her shoulders tense, "My sister was inches from being killed right in frot of me, literal inches... And now she's here, and I'm not there to make sure she's safe. She could be ripped apart by Grimm, she could be captured by whoever sent those androids to attack Angel Island, she could be in some lab run by GUN where she's under a scalpel so they can figure out how Aura works..."
Towards the end Yang's voice starts to waver, it's obvious she's had this going through her head for quite some time.
Rouge sighs. "And this is exactly why I said to not punch me. She is fine. She helped the government by giving them access to her Dust rounds and effectively F-ed up our military. Shadow and I have been doing everything we can to make sure nothing happens to your team. And since I know you're going to flare up unless I have proof, here." She reaches into her cleavage and pulls out a USB drive, giving it to Yang.
Yang takes the little flash drive carefully, and picks up a laptop nearby. She has a little trouble opening it without help, but manages. She finds the port on the side, plugs in the drive, and opens it on screen.
It turns on, showing Ruby talking with her mouth full in the cafeteria talking to Blake and Yang about how weird it was that the facility was all military, but the food wasn't icky and freeze-dried like the movies.
Yang gently puts a hand to her mouth, staring at the screen as tears collect in the corners of her eyes.
Knuckles hesitantly places his hand on hers comfortingly.
Ruby then looks at the person holding the camera. "Hey Rouge, why are your boobs so big for a midget?" The feed cuts right there.
Sonic and Amy appear to be dying, trying hard not to laugh out loud.
Yang shuts her eyes, settig the laptop aside as she pulls Knuckles into a careful hug, her eyes pressed into his neck. "They're okay," she whispers. "They're really okay..."
Knuckles says nothing, softly petting her hair and making sure to not take any hair off.
Yang sniffles quietly before letting him go, and wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry... I've just been scared for a long time now..."
"It's okay." He smiles. "Sonic's like that with Tails."
Yang winces, and looks up at Tails, "Sorry... About earlier..."
Tails pouts. "I'll accept that."
Yang take pity on him, and grabs his arm, "C'mere you little know-it-all." She pulls him into his lap, facing away from her as she hugs him.
He blushes, but smiles happily, his tails wagging.
Yang chuckles as she looks over to Sonic, "You must be the big cheese I heard so much about."
"I suppose so." Sonic scratches his ear. "I just got here. I was held captive in an inverse fishbowl by a waiter in a bowler hat."
Yang tenses, "...Did he have a cane, ginger hair, and a serious ego?"
"Uh... yeah?" Sonic tilts his head.
Yang balls her fists, and turns to Knuckles, "We just figured out who sent the robots. Roman Torchwick, big time thief turned terrorist with affiliations with the White Fang."
"He must be working with Adam Taurus then." Rouge frowns. "He was there when they kidnapped me."
Yang mutters to herself, "White Fang... Adam... Blake mentioned him during our last mission. She used to be a member of the White Fang, and he was her partner-slash-mentor. He was there when she deserted them."
"Well, this is peachy." Rouge frowns. "We need to get to GUN."
Yang glances at Knuckles, and sighs as she rests her chin on Tails' head. "...Sorry Rouge, but you're going to have to tell GUN I'm too busy helping defend Angel Island. With the attack there recently, and me being present, I had to stay to help protect it."
Rouge blinks. "You don't want to get your team here to help?"
Yang smiles as she puts Tails down on the floor, "You know where to find me, and you've done a great job of keeping them in one piece so far."
Rouge smiles. "Alright, I'll do that."
Rouge looks at Knuckles and winks. "This one's a keeper."
Knuckles blushes and sputters. "D-don't be like that! We're just friends, and she's an Overlander!"
Sonic gags, coughing. "Ah Chaos... deja vu again..."
Yang playfully knocks Sonic in the side of the head with her fist. "Hey, if you see a girl with a red hood, and a big scythe... Help look after her, would ya?"
Sonic smiles at her. "I'll see what I can do." He grabs Rouge, and runs away.
Yang leans towards Amy, "And if you see her, she might be fast enough to hold him down for you." Yang winks with a giggle.
Amy's eyes widen, and she runs after them. "Sonic, wait up!
Yang puts a hand over her mouth as she laughs, and looks at her gauntlets. "Hey Tails, those power cells, could you make me a few more of them? I mean yeah each one holds... How many shots exactly?"
"A lot. Just give them time to charge when you can, and you can treat them as infinite." Tails smiles.
Yang smirks, "Great, so if I replace every Dust Round in these with those power cells then I'll never have to reload... Interesting. I have two now, and each gauntlet can hold about twenty rounds. Think you can hook me up?"
Tails hops to his feet. "I'll get started now!" He runs to his lab.
Yang smiles as she holds a hand out to Knuckles, "Still got that gadget to take us... back?"
She blinks as she looks him in the eye. She had almost said it would take them home, but that doesn't make any sense.
He nods and sets it down on the floor, setting it up.
Yang watches him work while she crosses her arms, lost in thought. Rouge's teasing running through her head in a loop. Perhaps... she had been on to something?
