A/N: Requested material for bearvalley3365! Hope you enjoy. :)
And the song referenced is ELO's "Wild West Hero." Very pretty tune!
Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic and Co., or the song.
Eventually the darkness changed. Instead of darkness without thought or consciousness, it became darkness with a musty, smoky smell, and a throbbing pain between the ears.
I must have my eyes closed, thought Shadow blearily. But although he opened them as wide as he could, he still didn't see a thing. He didn't feel anything covering them . . . wait, why couldn't he move?
Soon he realized that his wrists and ankles were tightly bound. Not just bound any which way, though—bound back-to-back to Rouge's wrists and ankles. The "stagecoach robber" must have caught them looking through his ammunition!
Well, that answered one question. But where were they? It couldn't be nighttime; it was too dark even for that. And there was something that felt like gravel underneath him . . . Maybe Rouge could shed some (metaphorical) light on the situation. Her night vision was no better than Shadow's, but she did have echolocation.
"Rouge," called Shadow, and noted with surprise that his voice echoed strangely. This was getting unnerving. Where in the world were they?
He tugged at Rouge's wrists and called again. Eventually she groaned and stirred slightly.
"Owwwww, my head. Wh-what the—"
"Wake up, Rouge," said Shadow. "The stagecoach robber must have tied us up somewhere. Can you figure out where we are with echolocation?"
"Who needs echolocation?" said Rouge, still sounding a little dizzy. "It's dark, it's echoey, and it smells like the inside of a chimney. We're in a railway tunnel."
"Right." Shadow fought back the urge to growl at missing such an obvious conclusion. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"
"No . . . oh my gosh, I hope we didn't miss the stagecoach holdup! We have to warn everybody! Oh gosh, do you think they've started it yet?"
Suddenly Shadow laughed grimly.
"No, no, they haven't started it yet. There was supposed to be the visit by the steam train first, remember?"
A moment of silence.
"You know, it might be a good idea to get out of here," said Rouge at length.
"You think so?" Definite note of sarcasm there.
"Blast it! I don't know if I can get to my file with my wrists tied like this."
"Forget the file, I can break these ropes easily," said Shadow. "But it would probably hurt."
"Do it," said Rouge. "I'm a big girl, I can take it."
"Thought you'd say that," said Shadow approvingly. "Arteries turned inwards, then."
Setting his teeth, he drew his hands apart forcefully. The rope dug hard into both their wrists for only a second, then snapped loudly. The echo from that sound had only just died away when there suddenly came another sound: the chugging of a locomotive.
Swearing under his breath, Shadow reached down and began to tear at the ropes binding their ankles. Rouge snatched her file and rapidly sawed apart the rope binding her wings, then switched her attention to the ankle rope as well. The train's headlamp glowed feverishly in the distance, while a deafening racket and choking smoke far preceded it.
"Got it!" barked Shadow, as the last rope shredded to bits. "Let's go!"
He grabbed Rouge by the wrist and shot down the tunnel, with the train howling just on their heels. Rouge couldn't keep up with Shadow's pace; she kept stumbling, and they weren't drawing ahead of the train at all. Spreading her wings, she lifted off the ground and let herself glide. Their speed picked up significantly.
"How long is this tunnel?" growled Shadow.
"There's the light at the end!" called Rouge.
They soon shot out into the afternoon sunshine. Shadow wasted no time in diving off the tracks—which wasn't really the best move, because the tunnel led straight to a high trestle bridge, with open space on either side.
"You're lucky my wings are free," sighed Rouge, as the train thundered by to their left.
"Let me go, I need to get back to the village fast!" said Shadow impatiently.
"Well, I'm coming with you! That guy has a gun you know!"
Nodding resignedly, Shadow dropped to the ground and took off in the direction of the village.
Back at the Wild West village, the train arrived in all its clanking and whooshing glory. Everyone crowded around it, the tourists looking on while the actors played their various parts—all except one. One fellow in a long black coat and a hat pulled tightly over his ears kept sidling up to the front of the train, eyeing the cowcatcher.
"They must have escaped somehow," he muttered angrily. "We're in for it if they manage to get back here!" His voice seemed to change slightly. "Best make a getaway now." A slight pause, and his voice changed again. "But what about the next show? People will get suspicious if the stagecoach robber suddenly doesn't make an appearance."
Growling, he shuffled off to the costume department.
Suddenly there was a roar of wings and jet shoes, and two small hurricanes bowled the man over. A furious brawl began—the guy was no slouch when it came to fighting. It didn't help the matter that he suddenly broke in half, and each half continued to fight even more viciously than the unified item.
Shadow kept a cool head as usual. He tussled his half of the fellow in Rouge's general direction, then tangled him up in the black coat (which was now much too long).
"Rouge!" he hollered. "Throw your half over here, could you?"
Rouge twitched one ear to show she had heard, then pulled back and kicked her half of the villain sideways, so he fell over the other half. Meanwhile, Shadow drew back his hand.
"Chaos . . . SPEAR!"
There was a blinding flash of light, and both halves of the contestant fell over, unconscious.
"Had to get them both—only had enough Chaos energy for one shot," shrugged Shadow. "Hope it wasn't a bother?"
"Oh, not at all," said Rouge politely. "You're too kind."
"What's going on here?!" bellowed a voice. A horde of tourists and actors and the manager were all running over to see what had happened.
"This guy was going to use real bullets for the stagecoach holdup!" said Rouge.
"These guys," corrected Shadow, as both halves of the villain began to groan and stir. He tugged the coat unceremoniously off them. A gasp went up from the crowd—it was two more Mobians! A panda and a gorilla.
"Oh, sweet Mobius, no," groaned Rouge. "Noah and Spencer! Did you really have to follow us here, too?"
"You know these . . . creatures?" spluttered the manager.
"Unfortunately," growled Shadow. "They're brothers, and partners in crime. They're always showing up everywhere on Mobius, poking their noses in where they aren't wanted and generally doing their best to get themselves jailed. We've dealt with them half a hundred times already, and let me tell you, we're heartily sick of them."
"How do you suppose they got here?" asked Rouge.
"Same way we did," sighed Shadow. "And that's the way they're going back, too."
"G.U.N. is going to have a lot to say to you two," scowled Rouge, glaring down the groggy Mobians.
"Hold it!" warned the manager. "You can't just cart these two off like villains without any proof! What if they're innocent?"
"Fine," said Shadow impatiently. "I'll keep an eye on these two clowns. Rouge, go show them the bullets, would you?"
Nodding, Rouge dove off to the costume department, followed by the manager and a crowd of other people. The manager went through the stagecoach robber's gear till he found the ammunition case.
"These are blanks," he said grimly, looking up.
Rouge didn't bat an eyelash.
"Let me see," she said lightly, digging into the chest where the actor's costume and equipment were kept. Within seconds her fingers discovered a secret panel in the back of a drawer. She pulled it out, and a cascade of bullets rolled into the drawer.
"Great jumping Jehosophat," breathed the manager. Rouge blew out her breath disdainfully, tossing the secret panel aside.
"Amateurs."
A while later, the Earth branch of G.U.N. came to take Noah and Spencer away. The stagecoach robbery was cancelled, which did not at all bother Shadow and Rouge—they weren't too keen to wear those costumes again.
"I can't thank you enough," said the manager gratefully. "I can't imagine what kind of a horrible tragedy that would have been. You two are an amazing pair."
Shadow shrugged smugly and folded his arms in his usual manner. Rouge spread her hands, grinning.
"What can I say? We make it our business to be epic."
The two Mobians stayed with the village for the night. In the evening, the actors lit several large campfires and gathered around them, playing banjos and guitars and singing cowboy songs. Rouge and Shadow stayed by a smaller fire to the side, Shadow lying back with his hands tucked under his head, Rouge gazing drowsily into the flames.
"That's not even classic Western, that's the Electric Light Orchestra," muttered Shadow, as the guitarist announced his next number.
"Oh, hush. It's a good song," retorted Rouge.
Shadow rolled his eyes and dropped the subject.
"Good to have some action again, huh?" remarked Rouge at length.
"I guess so. I was getting bored. It's been too long since I've Chaos Speared anyone."
"Lucky dog," sighed Rouge enviously. "You get to break your end of the deal, and I don't get to swipe anything."
"You could always swipe those costumes."
"No way! Bring up those costumes one more time, and I'll feed the bonnet to WidowMaker."
Shadow chuckled under his breath, then yawned. The guitarist's voice was giving out, and it seemed he only had three strings on his guitar, but otherwise the night was peaceful and star-flecked.
"Same stars as on Mobius, aren't they?"
"Mm-hm. You know, I could get used to life on the range," said Rouge contentedly.
"But not the bonnets, eh?"
"No. Not the bonnets."