A/N: Well… I was wrong about that time estimate of this chapter. I'm writing this at about 11:oo… so I'm gonna try not to fall asleep halfway through. Okay… I'm thinking only one or two chapters left, after this, so it's almost over (sniff)!! My goal is 50 reviews by the end, and I'd love some help with that… Thank you for reading!
--LA
P.S: Malam is pronounced May-lum :) just so you know.
Last night I had a dream that I owned Sonic… then I got attacked by Dobermans 0.o….. Then I was hugging George-Michael from Arrested development (which I don't own either, but is one of my favourite shows for sure xD)… although that part's kind of irrelevant. The point of this disclaimer is that I do not own Sonic.
The television's reception flickered until the screen showed only a black-and-white mass which reminded Rouge of a swarm of monochromatic bees. She shut it off with a sigh.
"That's her." Whispered Pella, crouched in a tall, snowy fir tree and peeking through the apartment window. Malam looked up at her from the base of the tree.
"You're sure? If we get the wrong one you'll be replacing the fish."
The mouse gulped and nodded.
"I'm sure. I saw her with the red one a few nights ago."
"And you're sure he likes her?"
"Positive! I could tell by the look on his face… but he's too shy to tell her."
The cat furrowed his brow.
"How can you tell just from his face?" He said in frustration. It was crucial that this was the right person.
"Girls can tell these things." Pella said, rolling her indigo eyes. "So are we going to get her? We're lucky the snow stopped."
Malam didn't answer for a moment, but then nodded.
"Let's go."
He shot up the tree without a sound and landed on the branch beside the mouse. He pushed a finger on his lips to silence her, then quietly walked along the tree limb with perfect balance. When he reached the tip of the branch, he skilfully leapt to the windowsill.
Pella followed, but not nearly as gracefully.
"Ready?" Malam said in a barely audible whisper. Pella nodded, looking determined. The cat held up his hands and counted down on them from ten, mouthing the numbers. When he reached seven, a heavy stone lifted in a black mist parallel to their heads. At four, it slowly backed away from the window until it was almost at the tree. When the cat put down the final finger, the rock sped through the air gaining momentum until it hit the window, smashing it on impact.
The cat and mouse jumped into the apartment. Rouge screamed and threw the remote at the intruders. A black web surrounded it, and it reversed directions. It struck the bat's head with such force that she was knocked unconscious.
"That was easier than I thought it would be." Malam said. More darkness engulfed Rouge's limp body and she lifted into the air and out the window, followed by her captors.
"Well," Amy said with a yawn, Hina asleep on her lap. "We should go, Sonic."
Everyone was drowsy from a full day, and Knuckles had left hours ago. Sonic did not hear her at first because he was concentrating on not wincing from the growing pain in his eyes. His vision had become even worse, and he had lost all peripheral vision to blackness.
"Sonic?" She said clapping her hands. This woke Hina, and snapped the blue hedgehog out of his trance.
"Err, yeah." He said, shaking his head. Hina yawned, and slid off of Amy's lap, crawling over to Tails.
"Hey, sleepyhead. Time for bed?" he said, lifting her onto his lap. She yawned and nuzzled into his chest.
"I take that as a yes." Amy said with a laugh.
"I think we're both going to bed." Tails said, rubbing his eyes and blinking.
"Night, Tails." Sonic said, trying not to show his symptoms. Everyone said their goodnights, and the two hedgehogs left.
Tails gently placed the sleepy baby in her crib.
"Are you ready to try sleeping without your nightlight?" he asked, though she was sound asleep. Watching her, he clicked the little light off so there was darkness. Instantly, Hina opened her eyes and began to scream and bawl. After a second, the gem on her chest began to glow warmly, and the baby was comforted. Tails flicked the light back on, and she hushed. Apparently, she had not outgrown her phobia of darkness.
"Alright… so you're still afraid. But what did you do there? You made light."
Hina giggled drowsily, pointed to her chest and fell back asleep, the rock still emitting a faint glow. Extremely slowly, Tails shut the nightlight back off, bracing himself for Hina's cries. They, however, didn't come. The rock began to glow stronger, until it was brighter than the nightlight.
"Well," He said in surprise, "I guess you don't need this any more." and tossed the light into a drawer on his bedside table. He hopped onto the bed with a yawn and snuggled under the many comforters until he dropped off to sleep.
Rouge opened a drowsy eye, a bruised lump on her forehead aching. She groaned and stood up, but her head bumped something hard above her. She rubbed the spot it hit and sat back down. The ground felt dirty and damp, but it was too dark to see anything. In fact, it was so pitch black that Rouge couldn't tell where she was, even with her bat eyes adapted for darkness.
She crawled along the grimy floor until she bumped into what was apparently a wall. The wall, however, had a strange feeling to it. It didn't feel quite hard enough to be made of regular building materials, and seemed almost slightly spongy. She followed the wall until she hit another, then paused.
"She's awake, Malam." whispered a female voice from outside the walls. All of a sudden, the darkness lifted, and Rouge realized that she was sitting in a dark cave. She saw two other people in the room; a cat and a mouse.
"Don't move." The cat growled, pointing to her. The bat was terrified. There was something about his fur, his pale eyes, that scared her. She took a shallow breath, her head still aching.
"What's going on?" She asked, feeling slightly proud of how confident she managed to make her voice sound.
The cat grinned at her.
"You, my dear, are bait."
Rouge looked indignantly at him and eyed the fish tank.
"Bait? Couldn't you just get worms for that?"
The mouse suppressed a giggle, and Malam shot her a nasty look.
"Not for the fish. For your redhead friend… the others too."
'Knuckles!' Rouge thought in distress, trying not to show her fear.
"Is that so? And why do you want him near you? His temper is a threat to himself and others."
The mouse rolled her eyes.
"I know you like him. It's not that hard to tell, since you're not exactly secrete about it."
"Hush, Pella." The cat said sternly. "Now come on. We've got to go show off our new friend."
Suddenly the darkness returned around Rouge, but this time not as walls, but as a cocoon tight around her body. It was hard to breath, and her elbow was stuck in an awkward position. She felt herself raising up, though she couldn't tell how fast or high.
"No one could miss that." Pella said, eyeing the slender silhouette in front of the moon which cast a shapely shadow.
"Let's just hope the echidna is chivalrous enough to come save his fair maiden."
"What about the hedgehog, Malam? Won't he try to-"
"Oh, don't worry about him." The cat said with a wicked grin "I took care of him. In fact, it should be setting in any moment now…"
A/N: Sorry about this chapter. I know it's not written too well, and it's split into like fifty parts, not to mention short… but I did it last night and I was tired, so cut me some slack. Since there are only a few chapters to go, please put your heart and soul into your reviews :3 .!
--LA
