Live and Learn

Chapter 13: ARK-ing Up the Wrong Places

Outside Space Colony ARK-
Cannon Countdown: 1 hour 26 minutes

"This is all Sonic's fault!" Knuckles growled angrily, exploring the outer area of the Space Colony ARK where the Master Emerald pieces were strewn (and also where Rouge secretly was). "The hatch busted open, the Emeralds fell out, he says-" he changed to a high pitched voice. "-Oh! No sweat! They're only pieces of the Master Emerald that can't mean anything to Knuckles at all!"

He punched a nearby space rock- it was space dust within seconds later. Knuckles softened up the tiniest bit.

"Well…I guess taking control of the ship didn't work as planned either…"

But he wasn't going to admit that to Sonic.

"Anyway…I've finally got the emeralds! Not too bad!"

Now with the final piece in the area claimed, Knuckles now knew what it was time to do- confront Rouge and get the rest of his emerald back. But, where was she? She could've been anywhere, and it was highly unlikely that Rouge was even anywhere remotely close-

And then, out of nowhere, Rouge swooped in. She had been watching Knuckles from one of the station's towers, waiting for the right moment to strike. She was here for the same reason as Knuckles- to get the other half of the Master Emerald. Knuckles nearly stumbled at her sudden presence, but regained his composure quite quickly and struck a battle stance.

"Long time no see treasure hunter," she began, a bit flirtatiously. "Did you find MY emeralds?"

Knuckles barked out a fake laugh. "Ha! That's a good one, "YOUR emeralds". Talking to you is a waste of time."

"Very well. If that's how you want to play, I will take them from you!"

"Hand over those Master Emeralds- give them to me!"

Knuckles dove at Rouge with a massive fist, Rouge easily sidestepping and countering by kicking Knuckles down.

"Over my dead body."

"Well that can be arranged!"

Rouge barely had a moment to widen her eyes as Knuckles gave her a nasty uppercut, sending her flying several feet into the air. She cried out, landing hard on a beam above. As she tried to regain herself, Knuckles climbed up and jumped right beside her, preparing to kick her in the side. Rouge grabbed his foot and pushed him backward, making him lose his balance and slide off.

"Hmph, take that!" she hissed.

"Nah, I'll just give it back!"

"Huh-"

Knuckles had cleverly saved himself by latching into the side of the beam, but now he swung himself up and kicked Rouge and sent her flying once again.

"Unh…"

"Had enough?" Knuckles grunted as he approached, cracking his namesakes. "All you have to do is hand over what's rightfully mine. You haven't seen what I do to people who take my stuff!"

He then cringed as he recalled how he thought Sonic and tails had took his Emerald (more than once) and did some devastating damage. It was all made worse when it turned out they didn't after all…

Sensing a temporary moment of weakness, Rouge performed a sweep kick on Knuckles and effectively swept him off his feet. He went rolling along the beam, ending up sprawled out across it. Knuckles' eyes flickered, but his vision was clear enough to see Rouge use her drill spin move on him.

"No! Not the face!"

Rouge at least listened to his wishes- Knuckles instead received a harsh kick to the stomach. Literally having the wind knocked out of him, Knuckles instantly sat up with a "poomph!"…and in return was punch in the snout.

"Augh!"

"Had enough?" Rouge snickered, mocking Knuckles' tough guy voice. "All you have to do is hand over what's rightfully mine!"

"I do not sound like that- I mean, er, SHUT UP!"

Rouge continued to laugh lightly as Knuckles stood back up.

"I have no choice but to fight now!"

"Oh, so that wasn't fighting before?"

Knuckles swatted hopelessly at Rouge, who acted like she wasn't taking this fight seriously. The very second Knuckles stopped his pathetic attempt to hit Rouge, she gave him a kick that was probably the equivalent to any uppercut Knuckles could dish out. As Knuckles skyrocketed, he grabbed his jaw and murmured, "MAN that woman has a mean kick on her."

Rouge gave a wink and a wave. Knuckles stuck out his tongue.

"Now where did she go…" Knuckles mused to himself, now that his rival had mysteriously vanished. He cautiously jumped to a lower beam, ready for anything.

Apparently he wasn't ready to be kneed in the head, because that's exactly what Rouge did to him. He fell forward, luckily gliding back to safety after catch sight of the pit of lava at the bottom- the floor had opened up!

"Now you've mad me mad!" she huffed. Knuckles jaw dropped due to being completely dumbstruck.

"What did I do?"

"Besides uppercut me into the sky, you didn't wave back to me- you stuck your tongue out at me!"

Knuckles was still appalled. "How old are you?"

"Do you not have any manners on how to treat a lady?"

"I have manners- just none that deserve to be wasted on you!"

Rouge kicked Knuckles square in the head, knocking him over the edge once more. The echidna grunted and gripped the edge once again, but this time, Rouge jabbed her heel onto his hand.

"Yargh! OW!"

Knuckles let go so fast, not only did it send him dropping instantly, but it also managed to flip Rouge over! Rouge collided with a nearby wall, but thank goodness for her it also stopped her from falling too. Her legs were wobbling from the intensity of the moment. Rouge blinked and gazed fearfully over the edge.

"Oh no…he fell…and he still had the emerald pieces with him!" she got down on her knees and stared into the lava, as if expecting Knuckles to just pop out or something. "Still…talk about a cruddy way to go out…"

While she gazed downward, Rouge didn't notice Knuckles silently glide up behind her.

"Now witness my power- take this!"

"Wha-"

Rouge felt like she was being zapped by lightning with that punch! She skidded along the beam, yet still miraculously refrained from falling off. Knuckles stood in all his glory, even daring to give a sideways smile.

"You underestimate me, Bat Girl."

Rouge stomped her foot, furious that she left herself open to be target, then spun around.

"There's not much to underestimate…get ready!"

"Get ready for- WHOA!"

Knuckles was blasted into the air by Rouge's mysterious move, which was a spherical wave of shadow. He started peculiarly at where it was, pondering more about the fact about how Rouge was even able to do that, but then again, how was he able to create lightning?

"You know I mean business! I'll be taking those Master Emerald shards now!" Rouge exclaimed, somewhat maliciously. Knuckles raised an eyebrow but stood strong anyway.

"I must protect the Master Emerald!"

They threw themselves at each other, Rouge kicking furiously with knuckles blocking at the same rapid pace. He grabbed her and shoved her back- she spun around and sent him flying. He flipped back up and aimed for the stomach, she punched him in the face. Knuckles staggered back, but not before giving Rouge a kick of her own.

"Uh, wow."

"Taste of your own medicine, eh?" sneered Knuckles. Rouge clenched her fists and bared her fangs.

"I wouldn't be talking!"

"Ooh, scary, with the fangs. I can do that too!" Knuckles growled, also showing off his canine teeth and snarling. "Now get away from my Emeralds!"

Highly insulted, Rouge charged at Knuckles, Knuckles quickly doing the same. They crashed into each other, one receiving a blow dealt by the other, before landing harshly on opposite side of the center beam. Both of them skidded against the metal, both receiving scars and bruises from that most likely. Knuckles was quicker to get up, but Rouge was faster to compose herself. Both, however, were huffing out of exhaustion and glaring daggers.

"Stop fooling around, and give me back MY Emeralds!" they both yelled.

"What are you babbling about?" Rouge snapped sharply. "You call yourself a hunter? Attacking a lady…shame on you!"

"What kind of lady goes around stealin' gems anyway?" Knuckles shot right back.

"Those belong to me!" Rouge continued to insist, running toward Knuckles once again. However, her foot was partially off the beam, causing her to slip and fall toward the lava pit below. "Waaaahhh!"

Time seemed to stop for Rouge. A thousand thoughts rushed in her head, yet they were going by so fast, she could tell one from the other. She closed her eyes, hoping to make the drop more bearable. A picture of the Master Emerald flashed in her mind, then Knuckles.

"…I don't know what to think right now…" she sighed within her mind.

As she braced herself for a fiery death, Rouge suddenly realized that she wasn't falling. Daring to glance up, she saw Knuckles dangling from the edge by one muscular hand, the other gripping hers as her lifeline.

"What in the world?"

"I…I've got'cha…"

Knuckles helped Rouge back up to the beam, and for a few moment they were left standing, gazing at each other…until Rouge realized he was holding her hand and swiped it away.

"Keep your hands to yourself!" she scolded. "Don't touch me!"

Knuckles folded his arms to prevent any more punches. "Is that how you say thanks to someone who just saved your life?"

Rouge bent down a little and stuck up her nose. "Hmph. "Saving my life". Don't think I owe you one! You just wanted to hold my hand! That's why you "saved" me! Or you were trying to be fresh…"

"What do you mean "fresh"? Talk about ungrateful!"

Rouge smiled in her flirtatious way and folded her arms too. "You're such a creep!"

Knuckles' eyes twitched at the lack of a response, but he quickly shook it off and shook his fist instead. "This isn't a joke, you know. Think what you want, Bat Girl. I was saving the Master Emerald!"

Still, Rouge softened up the slightest bit at Knuckles' tone- somewhere, just beneath the tough exterior, Knuckles was somewhat hurt.

Rouge sighed. "No matter what you say, it still sounds crazy." That you saved me.

She cast her hand out, apparently tossing her well-collected Master Emerald pieces at Knuckles. They landed with a clash on the floor, Knuckles staring awestruck at them.

"What?"

"Fine. Then just take them."

That way she said it actually sounded…normal. Knuckles took note of that- no hatred, no flirtatiousness, no anything. Just a plain old how Rouge would casually talk. Wow, what a development!

"They stink like echidnas do."

Nevermind. Knuckles bent down and started adding Rouge's pieces to his own.

"If that's what you thought, you should have given them to me in the first place!"

Rouge watched with somewhat interest as Knuckles magically fused the pieces back together, forming the once grand Master Emerald in all its splendor. She was slightly amused as to how Knuckles hugged it while he was "checking it over".

"Finally," he groaned, more in relief than in exhaustion. Knuckles glanced up to Rouge staring, the latter quickly turning away and stubbornly saying, "What?"

Knuckles gulped, then picked up the emerald. "I'm sorry…if I hurt you."

As at a speed that would make Sonic at least clap his hands, Knuckles bolted. Rouge stood, phased, not saying anything to Knuckles. Not that she could, anyway. Thinking about the impending doom headed toward the planet, Rouge looked up toward the ceiling.

"We should get going…" Rouge trailed softly, folding her arms. She started running off in the opposite direction as Knuckles, but not before stopping to genuinely smile over her shoulder.

ARK Research Lab-
Cannon Countdown: 45 minutes

"Darn! Why do they always have to leave a sweet, little, innocent girl like me alone?" Amy asked herself.

"Well, well, young lady…is there something I can help you with?"

Amy gasped and whirled around to the voice referring to her. Eggman was in his walker with a huge gun pointed at her. She let out a high pitched shriek. "Dr. Eggman!"

"If you value your life, you will tell me where Sonic and Tails are!" he said in a low, malicious tone. He had made his way through the entire ARK just about, and had found hide nor hair of Sonic or Tails. But now that he had Amy…hm hm hm, that made things a lot more easier!

However, Amy didn't need to say anything because Tails by far chose the wrong time to bust in…

"Uh, this is a bad time, huh-"

"Tails!" Eggman seethed, aiming the gun at him now. Amy screaming, catching attention of Tails.

"Amy? What happened?"

"Eggman's holding me hostage!"

"You look pretty fine to me-"

Eggman returned the gun's aim toward Amy. She whimpered and ducked her head down while Tails instantly went to call Sonic.

Inside Space Colony ARK-
Cannon countdown: 33 minutes

Sonic was walking into the cannon control room, listening to Tails give him precise instructions.

"Ok Sonic! Now put that Emerald…"

He was suddenly cut off.

"Tails?"

A gruff voice suddenly replaced Tails'. "Tails, tell Sonic to meet you at the back of the research facility, now!"

Tails shut that voice off and tried to talk again, but was cut off once more. "Sonic, Amy is-"

"I-I didn't get that Tails! What's happened to Amy? Tails!"

The communication device went dead, causing Sonic to squeeze it with frustration before bolting to find Eggman.

"Hahahahaha!" he heard the mad doctor's voice echo through the ARK. "You'd better come here, if you want to save her life!"

"I don't know who to be mad at!" Sonic grunted to himself, now tearing down the glowing, futuristic halls of the ARK. "Eggman for taking Amy, Amy for just getting caught, Tails for leaving Amy behind, or me for also being a bit of a jerk and leaving her behind…"

Hm. He'd go with Eggman. Pushing his contemplating thoughts aside, Sonic jumped up, grabbed a red pipe, and slid down an entire hallway. Might as well make the most of this trip.

"All right, better focus…this place can have anything…"

Sonic entered a mega-futuristic-looking room with a blue blob creature dominating over everything, even daring to try and strike Sonic with one of its tentacles. Sonic was obviously fast enough to sidestep out of the way, but he also accidentally tumbled into a large red switch. Apparently this switch reversed gravity, because Sonic was now walking on the ceiling.

"…cool!"

He curled up into a ball and rolled down the length of the ceiling, ;luckily helping him avoid the eye-lasers shot by another blue creature. Sonic uncurled, jumped up, kicking it in the head, and carried on. Right behind the creature was another red switch, which Sonic figured reversed the gravity back to normal again.

"This place is kinda sweet…"

Sonic took interest in the neon green wall, slight zero gravity, and all the gadgets lined about. Of course, it wasn't exactly the easiest place to get a straight-up, breeze-through, high-speed run, but it was interesting all the same!

He grabbed into a series of hooking, taking him to a higher level of the ARK. Nothing was in this particular area except a suspicious looking glass covering. And what was the glass covering? Nothing. Sonic gave it a simple knock before flat-out punching and shattering it. He poked his head it…and was instantly sucked upwards in a tube. It did two loops, took a nose-dive, and a somewhat sharp turn upwards. Sonic popped out the other side of the tube, which by the looks of it was completely on the other side of the ARK.

"Now that is the way to get from room to room…"

He hit a near-by gravity switch (no pun intended) and returned to the ceiling, now racing overhead. Sonic was easily able to avoid a pit of acid below (which he almost thought was going to fall on him when he realized it would be more likely that he would fall into it) and grind a red pipe, which was doubly awesome since he was upside down.

"What do we have here?"

The pipe lead to yet another room, this time with three switches to change the direction of gravity either back to normal, to the left, or to the right. He chose the right, gravity shifting to the right wall now. Sonic ran down the side of that wall without having to build up momentum, then grinded down via another pipe. Sonic ended up in yet another room, this one with another pole overhead. He grabbed onto it and used it to slide down, just like previously.

"Sonic! What are you doing? There's no time for games!"

Sonic rolled his eyes at Eggman's latest outburst- if he hadn't chosen the farthest possible place to meet him, he'd be there already! Nevertheless, Sonic jumped into another transport tube and ventured to another section of the abandoned Space Colony.

"Woo hoo! I have got to say, these things are fun!"

"Emergency. Emergency-" the warning sign broke off was replaced with Eggman's. "Well done, Sonic, but you'll never get out of this room alive!"

Sonic exited the tube and bulged his eyes out. This room was impressive…and he had the feeling gravity was extremely twisted in here. He was also praying it was the last room before he reached Eggman- Amy, and somewhat Tails, were in danger!

"All right, let's do this."

Gravity shifted, he was walking on a purple platform. It shifted again and he was on a green one.

"Whee. How exciting. Oh well- that just means it's easy!"

Sonic kicked another switch, allowing himself to be moved to a yellow platform, followed by a blue one.

"You're too slow- she WILL die!"

"Eggman!"

Now suddenly furious, Sonic curled up into his ball form and started charging up an excessive amount of light.

"Ready…GO!"

Like a pinball Sonic shot from place to place, literally nothing but a blue blur.

"Darn it Eggman…this whole wide ride has my mind so confused…I have no idea what's going on and you keep throwing more problems to deal with at me! You may be evil, but seriously…this is getting to be too much to handle."

He landed in front of missile aimed right for a green glass wall. Sonic activated it, shattered the wall, and located the entry to the research facility. As Sonic headed over, something suddenly stuck out in the back of his mind.

Whatever happened to Shadow?

. . .

Eggman, Amy, and Tails all turned to the door when Sonic opened it, the hedgehog bearing a snaky smirk on his face. Eggman remained emotionless and kept his gun's target on Amy.

"Let's take care of business first, shall we Sonic?" he asked, almost too politely. "Hand over the Chaos Emerald, slowly, and then we'll talk about your girlfriend…that is, if you really care for her."

Sonic maintained his smile as he pulled out the Chaos Emerald, thinking secretly to himself. "Handing over the fake Emerald, I can kill two birds with one stone!"

He gave a quick glance to Tails, who returned with an even quicker nod.

"Put the Emerald down right there and back off!" Eggman ordered. Sonic shrugged and walked forward.

"You've turned into a big time villain, Doctor!"

Eggman ignored the comment, staring intently at the destined spot for the Chaos Emerald.

Within seconds later, Sonic was trapped in a containment chamber.

"Whoa! ?"

Eggman was ecstatic at this moment, but he did his best to conceal it. "You thought that you could trick me with that fake Emerald, didn't you?"

Tails' eyes showed thoroughly that he was shocked. "So…how'd you know it wasn't the real one?"

"TAILS!" Sonic snapped, slightly sharper than intended. Eggman just gave a low chuckle.

"Because you just told me, Fox Boy!"

"…"

"Now, for a little space ride! Capsule clears for the colony. BAM!"

"S-Sonic!" Tails cried. Sonic just folded his arms and smiled.

"Hey. It's okay. You're in charge pal, all right? I'm counting on you Tails. And Amy, take care of yourself."

Both of them were on the verge of tears, but Sonic stood strong and confident, even though he literally was about to meet his doom. He gave them one last thumbs up before Eggman prepared the final notion.

"Farewell, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

With one firm press of a button, Sonic the Hedgehog was sent spiraling into space, Amy rushing to the window and crying out, "Sonic!" despite the fact nothing could be done.

The capsule detonated in a huge red explosion, Sonic the Hedgehog along with it. Tails remained frozen while Amy literally threw herself against the window.

"Farewell, Sonic…my admirable adversary…"

Amy shook her head, tears falling left and right.

"Sonic…he's gone…"

. . .

Shadow casually glanced outside of the window of the ARK, seeing the capsule blow up like a firework.

"I guess he was just a regular hedgehog after all…"