A/N - Sorry this is a day late. I've been super busy over Christmas and didn't take my laptop away with me.
Thanks so much for all reads, reviews, faves and follows! =D
Chapter Nine
Amy yawned as she stepped into the living room, still slightly damp from a shower. It had not helped. After encountering Infinite's odd tower building, she'd been unable to get back to sleep, and had tossed and turned until her digital alarm clock had threatened her, minute by minute, to go off and disrupt any sleep she might actually manage to get.
As she reached the sofa, a coffee appeared in her bare hands. She caught Infinite's amber-tinted gaze as he flopped onto the sofa, leaving enough room for her to settle down beside him.
"No sign of Whisper?" she asked.
"Not so much as a whisker," he replied.
"Huh." Amy sipped her coffee and sank back against the sofa. "I was expecting her back. I hope she's okay."
"She'll be fine!" Tangle exploded into the living room, bounding towards the breakfast bar. "She'll just have come across something awesome and be writing about it! Or she turned into a hotel instead, or something."
Infinite lowered his head into his hands with a groan. "It is much too early for you."
The coffee machine whirred to life and Tangle turned to fire a beaming grin in their direction. "Hey! That serial killer struck again last night! Maybe that's what she's lookin' into?"
"Really?" Amy raised an eyebrow, and Infinite visibly paled.
"Yeah! Check it out!" said Tangle. "It's all over the news."
Sure enough, it was. 'Beatdrop's Heartbreaker Strikes Again.' Amy's coffee cooled as she read over the article. A video game streamer by the name of DotMatrix. Found dead at his computer desk. Locked apartment. Everything tidy, not so much as a fingerprint left anywhere except where his folded hands were touching. They didn't even wait to run an autopsy. It was done in a matter of hours, and the results were now in. Murdered, just like the rest of the fake suicides.
"It seems a bit further out than the previous ones," Tangle explained. "One of them posh apartments on the edge of the city."
"Posh apartments?" Amy asked.
"Yeah, you know them! Tall things with a big round roof that's meant to provide shelter from the rain. But it's useless, given how tall the things are. You get soaked anyway."
Hot coffee sloshed over Infinite's cup onto his lap, causing Amy to yelp with surprise.
Tangle turned back towards them and laughed. "Whoa! What's your problem, big guy? Falling asleep on us?"
"I just lost my grip, okay!" he snapped.
He set the mug down on the table and rose to head towards the bathroom. Amy put hers down beside his and followed after him, leaving Tangle to watch after them with an amused air.
Before he could lock himself in the bathroom, Amy squeezed in after him and pressed her back up against the door. The jackal merely stood there, staring at his reflection in the glass of the shower door.
"What's wrong?" Amy asked.
"That's what I was building, wasn't it?" He slumped back against the wall and rubbed his muzzle beneath his mask. "That tower block…"
Amy thought back and nodded. "Now that you mention it…"
Her voice wavered, and he noticed, leaning his head back against the tiles. "It's me, isn't it? I'm 'The Heartbreaker'."
"We don't know that."
"I went out last night for peace and quiet," Infinite went on. "I don't even remember coming back! How else do you explain all this?"
Amy closed her eyes and sighed. "I don't know, but there must be a reason. Maybe whatever is making you tired has something to do with it?"
He lowered his head and his shoulders shook. "I'm finally out of that wretched place. I'm finally free… I don't want them to lock me up again…"
She moved from the door and placed her hand on his arm. "They won't. I won't let them."
He scoffed, but said nothing, letting his hands rest on her sides. Pulling her into him slightly as if he wasn't entirely sure he wanted the contact.
"We'll get to the bottom of this, okay?" she said.
He nodded, his nose brushing her quills. "Thank you." A small pause passed between them as he trailed a thumb along the fabric of her dress. "I think I need to shower this coffee off me."
"Then I'll leave you to it." She cracked a smile and pushed herself back from him, and he let his hands fall to his sides. "Try not to worry too much. Okay?"
He glanced away from her, lips pulled down in a frown. Of course it was easier said than done. But what else could she do?
As she turned from the room, his voice froze her. "Do you think it's me, Amy?"
She glanced back at him, her smile melting away. He couldn't even meet her eye.
"I honestly don't know," she said.
He closed his eye and sank back against the wall. Not what he'd wanted to hear.
"But I want to believe it's not," she said. "I think… if it is… you're being controlled in some way."
He idly scratched his arm, staring at the opposite wall. "Controlled, huh?"
"It makes sense," she said. "You were definitely not yourself last night. Not until I managed to 'wake' you. And you did tell me that if someone were to get hold of a piece of your Phantom Ruby they could abuse your powers. Could it be done in this way?"
"I've no idea. The previous Phantom Ruby wasn't flesh and blood like I am."
"So we don't know enough about it, do we?" Amy shrugged. "But from what you told me, and how tired you are, it sounds like that's what could be happening. I don't want to believe you're the killer, Infinite, but if someone is controlling you then we need to find out who it is and stop them."
He turned to look at her, his lone eye chilling right through her. But she knew the anger wasn't aimed at her. Instead, at the fictitious puppet master tugging his strings. She hugged her arms around herself, silently imploring him not to go on another rampage. The anger melted away as he pushed himself from the wall and reached for the shower door.
"I'll leave you to it," she said, slipping out of the bathroom. "But please… don't do anything foolish?"
He gave her a sideways glance, reading her. Then he said, softly, "Of course I won't."
...
The crime scene for DotMatrix was an array of baffling potential clues.
Silver stood in the middle of his kitchen, staring at the worktops as his mind worked like a computer to process the scene. All the contents of the victim's kitchen cupboards had been removed and stacked along the worktops. Small towers almost reminiscent of a city. And around Silver on the kitchen floor, some items lay scattered. So whatever the killer had been doing, it hadn't lasted and had toppled over at some point in the night. One thing was for certain, though. The killer was no longer trying to mask his murders as mere suicides. Sure, the killing method hadn't changed. Locked room. Crushed heart. Absolutely no trace on the victim's body. The entire apartment scrubbed to within an inch of its life to remove any evidence and leave the place in a pristine, almost surgically clean, condition.
But now, with the murders being uncovered and released to the public, the killer had begun to change his tactics. If Silver had encountered such a scene in his first investigation, he'd have put it down to one of two things. A deliberate kill, or insanity. He was beginning to question both, and not at all from the victim.
Blaze coughed a few times as she joined him in the kitchen, wiping her hands on her dress. "The bathroom is also spotless."
"Any clues?" Silver asked.
She shook her head slowly. "No. But it's been cleaned so much it's like walking into a wall of bleach fumes."
Silver looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. Then turned back to the stack of groceries.
"What do you make of this?" he asked.
She crept over to them, careful not to knock a single one out of place. A thoughtful noise left her throat and she inclined her head on one side.
"If I were to guess," she said, "it looks a lot like the northern part of the Beatdrop Capital. This tall one here could be the entertainment tower, only without the giant pixel character sticking out of the side of it. And these structures opposite would be the department store."
Silver's blood turned cold as his previous worries flared back up. "How did you leap to that conclusion?"
"It's obvious. The 'department store' is even laid out like a donut, just like the real one. Even if this crude representation has been built mainly out of baked bean cans."
Once again, Blaze had worked out an obscure clue. As Silver eyed the structure, it did begin to look a lot more like a city. The varying heights of the towers, the spaces left open around flat packets meant to resemble parks.
Silver stepped over a fallen can of soup to reach the other side of the kitchen. The other structure placed on the worktop. If Blaze was right and she was standing by a representation of the northern part of the city, then this one opposite should be south. Sure enough, Silver found himself examining a crude re-imagining of Beatdrop's southern district. Not all of it, however. It would have been a feat to fit it all on a narrow worktop. Just like the north on the other side of the kitchen, the grocery-model had a residential area. But it was also quieter. Quaint. Parks and a little piece of woodland, along with a river carving its way through it before it merged into the suburbs. The killer had even made that river, using a trail of fusilli pasta.
"I don't know how yet," said Blaze. "But I'm starting to think he's left us a bit of a map to point to his next target."
"I don't know how this is going to accomplish it," said Silver. "He can't even fit the entire districts onto this worktop."
"Maybe that's the point?"
"Well… north side. South side. And I'm going to guess that one by the sink is the west?"
A quick search of Blaze confirmed that yes, it was indeed the west. All that was missing from the killer's little model was the east. They currently occupied that, so it had likely been deliberately omitted.
Silver left the kitchen, stepping over every item left on the floor, to make his way back to the bedroom. DotMatrix was no longer at his desk, but it had been left in the exact state it had been found in. Neatly organized. Dusted and polished. The only traces of DNA from Renga himself. Black and purple hairs, that Silver had collected on the off-chance they might contain some trace of the killer.
"Silver?" Blaze called from the hallway.
He turned back towards the door, spotting the cat crouching as she stared into the kitchen.
"Did you move anything?" she asked.
"Of course not."
"Not even on the floor? You didn't catch it with your boot?"
He shook his head as he joined her. "Why do you ask?"
"I think the items on the floor might be a clue."
"Really?" He stood beside her and gazed at the array of items strewn across the laminate floor. "I thought they'd just fallen off the tower blocks he'd been making."
"No." Blaze shook her head and pointed. "Look. They're laid out like the hands of a clock."
Silver wanted to ask her what on earth made her think that. But he decided to give it the benefit of the doubt. If Blaze was right, she'd move further up his suspects list. And he deeply didn't want that. He needed her to be wrong.
But the longer he looked at it, the more it began to look like a clock. The wide, round pie tin in the middle of the kitchen. The various cans lay out around it. Not end to end, but definitely in two straight lines. As if they'd been meticulously put there just for that purpose. One of them longer than the other. Both of them pointing towards two separate districts. North, and west.
Silver felt his heart sink.
"I can see what you mean," he said. "It's like he's trying to point us to which district he's going to strike next."
"My guess is on the west one," said Blaze. "And the hands? Eight o clock."
"Where have you got 'eight' from?"
"The big hand is pointing to the north. That has to be twelve, right?"
"It would make more sense if twelve was the one directly opposite this door."
Blaze shook her head. "On a clock, if you hold it right to see the time, twelve is at the top. The northern point of the clock."
Silver sighed deeply and took a step back from the kitchen. "Well, I think I shall also note down quarter-past-eleven, too, just to be on the safe side."
He removed his phone from his pocket and took some photos of the kitchen, feeling his heart sink even more with each one.
It couldn't be Blaze. It needed to not be Blaze.
"The question is," he said, "what is the target? It could be north or west. Big hand, or small hand."
Blaze stood back up again and smoothed out her dress. "Perhaps there's another clue in his bedroom? That's where they found him, and so far every case has had a clue in the room the body was located in."
Silver tucked his phone away and followed her. Another thing nagging at his mind was how the killer was getting into these homes in the first place. Each case was a locked room. That meant they were either appearing out of thin air, or finding another way in and out. Or… they had some sneaky way of locking the doors.
Some form of energy to manipulate the lock. Psychokinesis… or heat from fire. No… the latter would leave traces. He'd seen for himself the state Metal Sonic had been reduced to after getting caught in Blaze's attack.
Blaze moved around the bedroom while Silver watched, musing over the locked doors. A hair pin. A piece of string used to flick the lock from the other side of the door. Some kind of electrical interference.
"Something that could point to the west or north districts," said Blaze.
She had her back to him, eyeing the neatly organized shelves. Various games that DotMatrix was famous for playing. She lifted one of them down.
"This is a life simulation," she said. "He mainly played action games."
Silver took a few steps towards her, keeping his eye on the game she'd found. She flipped it over to examine the back.
"Set in a school," she said. "Teaching Academy. 'A simulation where you are the teacher. Handle your rambunctious class of students throughout their various years, from kindergarten all the way to their masters degree. Their grades are your score. Aim to be the best teacher the world has ever seen.' It sounds quite fun, actually."
Silver was too busy with his computer, searching through the library of every game DotMatrix (or, to use his older alias, RengaCharming) had ever played. No such simulation was listed.
"Is there anything inside the case?" he asked.
Blaze opened it then shook her head. He wasn't sure if the disappointment on her face was faked. He hoped it wasn't.
"There is a school in the west district," he said. "A big one. It handles students of kidergarten age up to college. Not university, but… it's the only school like it."
"There isn't one in the north of the Beatdrop Capital either," said Blaze. "I think we might have found our next target."
"I think you might be right." Silver tucked his computer back into his trench coat pocket. "The question is, 'who'?"
"And 'when'," said Blaze. "All we have right now is a time."
Silver nodded slowly, keeping his eyes on the cat. "And I hope you don't take offense to this, Blaze. But I am going to request you never leave my sight."
She blinked a few times, lowering the game case to her side. "Why?"
He grimaced and hunched his shoulders. "Because… you seem to have a knack for uncovering these clues much faster than I do."
"You still think it's me?" she gasped.
"I don't want to think it's you," he said. "And if you are innocent, you will have no problem with proving that to me."
The cat's eyes turned livid, but she let her arms relax and folded her hands before her, still clutching the simulation game.
"Okay," she said. "If it will prove to you my innocence, then fine. I'll stay with you. I won't leave your sight."
"Good." Silver nodded and turned from the room. "I have a spare room you can use."
"I thought you didn't want me to leave your sight?"
He faltered in the doorway and a chill ran down his spine. He could feel her staring at his back, her eyes boring into him like a pair of heat lasers.
"You're right," he said. "I guess we'll have to think of something."
Of course, that meant he'd never be able to sleep. He was rapidly beginning to question how efficient this would be.
"We can start by hanging around the school," he said. "Keep a watch on the place throughout the day. Or maybe issue a warning to increase security?"
"That sounds like a very good idea," said Blaze. "But can we keep tabs on everyone? This killer is clearly professional."
He shrugged at that and pushed himself from the room. "I guess we head back and start thinking. Bring the game with you. There may be more to it than just a title and a premise. I want to search that disk perchance there is any hidden clue on it that might point us to the exact date and time."
"And once you've proved my innocence?" Blaze's words froze him.
He shuffled with unease and shrugged. "Then I'll owe you an extensive apology."
...
It was dark, but the main road winding through the Beatdrop Capital was still busy. Although not moving. Groups of Mainframers stood watching the animated billboards as Eggman's mustached face peered out at them.
'I know everyone in the Beatdrop Capital is frantic,' he said, 'but I can assure you security measures are being put in place to catch this criminal. Drones will be increased in number, Striders and Drifters alike. I shall also increase GUN patrol in the areas. Mark my word, we will stop this Heartbreaker, and put a preemptive stop to any imitation crimes throughout the entirety of Mainframe.'
Shadow stood in a damp doorway near the mouth of an alley, crimson eyes narrowed at the doctor. Rouge shuffled beside him, checking over her belt pouch.
"He's got them all wrapped around his finger," she said.
Shadow grunted. "You would know. You used to work for him."
'I've already begun to increase security,' Eggman went on. 'Nothing suspicious has appeared on my cameras yet, but when it does, Mainframe will be the first to know. The more there are searching for this killer, the faster he'll be apprehended.'
"Or 'she'," added Rouge.
Whatever else Eggman had to say was drowned out by the siren of a Strider Drone. The crowds parted on instinct, letting the lanky robot strut its way down the street. Its blue bulb of an eye scanned left and right, lighting up the alley like a streak of lightning. Shadow and Rouge ducked back into the doorway, narrowly avoiding its probing gaze.
Then it was gone, continuing its patrol along the busy road. Its siren fading away into the night.
'…likely to be someone just looking for attention,' said Eggman. 'But we needed the world to know that we won't stand for it. All eyes on the lookout for anything strange! And if you see anything, report it to your nearest GUN soldier or Egg Pawn.'
Eggman swiftly wrapped up his recording and the screen flickered back to an advert sporting a beaming image of Honey the Cat. The crowds parted, drifting in all directions, and the drone of voices filled the air. Mostly relaying Eggman's emergency bulletin.
"So he's increased security?" said Rouge. "I guess I'd better scope out all them hidden cameras?"
"You do that." Shadow crept out from their hiding place, searching the alley for any sign of Eggman's drones. "I'll keep an eye open myself."
"So what's the plan, handsome?" Rouge hopped from the step to land behind him. "Are you still off on another crime scene investigation? Or has Eggman put you off?"
"He could never put me off."
Rouge pouted and leant back against the wall, but it vanished when Shadow narrowed his eye at her.
"He's increasing security, Shadow. If you keep wandering these streets alone, you might-"
"This is more important. I'll take the risk. Besides, I can always Chaos Control away."
She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. But seriously, if anybody sees you-"
"No one will see me."
"It's only been a day since that cat's body was found!"
"Exactly." Shadow tugged the cuff of his glove to straighten it. "No one will be there."
"Shadow, please. Give the detectives time to put the clues together before you go snooping around a fresh crime scene. Something might come up that can help you help them!"
"It would take too long. They've no time, no date, just some hazy location and about a thousand potential targets!"
Rouge shook her head slowly. "These things take time. This killer is leaving convoluted clues. They'll get there."
"They didn't the last time. I'm the one who uncovered the target." He jabbed a thumb into his chest. "You pointed out yourself that I managed to find the killer's next target before that bumbling detective. If I can find the next one, I can stop this murderer!"
"Fine," said Rouge. "Go and snoop. Just don't get caught."
"I won't get caught. Stop worrying."
"If you want me to stop worrying then take me with you," she said. "I can keep a lookout while you…" She waved a hand at him. "Do whatever it is you plan to do."
"No. It's too dangerous."
"I used to be a GUN soldier. I can handle myself."
He stared at her for a moment, his expression softening. Then he grimaced and shook his head. "I'll meet you where we agreed."
"So I'm not coming?" Rouge had barely got the words out when Shadow vanished in a flurry of computer code. She tutted and folded her arms in a huff. "Apparently not."
Shadow manifested on the opposite side of the road to the upscale apartment block. Its round disk of a roof spread out around it like a parasol, still dripping from the day's rainfall. Trails of binary drifted from him, vanishing into the air like steam. Usually normal, but something about it seemed off somehow. Something blue reflected off a large puddle pooling at the edge of the road, dragging his mind from that computer code. He looked up to see the blue eye of a Strider Drone probing the street. He ducked back into the adjoining street, pressing his back flat against the wall.
No siren. Not needed if the street isn't crowded. Had it seen him?
The Strider lingered, scanning the spot Shadow had previously occupied. It crouched on its long legs, turning its slender neck to peer down the street. Shadow's heart raced as he watched it, the intensity of the bulb changing with its focus.
Whether or not it had seen him, it was definitely looking for something.
It straightened, and red and green lights flickered on the sides of its head. Another blue bulb lit up on Shadow's right and he spotted the head of a second drone rising above the lower buildings. Great, they were communicating.
Shadow grimaced and tapped into the Chaos Network, riding it over to the other side of the road. The apartment block. The correct floor. When he exited it, he was sprawled on all-fours on a laminated floor cluttered with soup cans.
He pushed himself up, absently wiping his hands on his chest. He could still see the Strider Drones outside, probing the street he'd been lurking in. Two of them, their tiny communication lights flickering as they silently exchanged information.
Yes. One of them had clearly seen him.
He screwed his eyes shut momentarily and turned to take in the kitchen. A convoluted clue. He'd read all about that one. It gave them a location, and a potential time. But that was it.
He left the kitchen and made his way towards the bedrooms. Two of them. Both shut. He tested one and found himself in a tidy room. A small laptop lay folded beside a bed lined with black bedding. It wasn't Renga's room at all. He remembered he'd had a room mate. A binturong with long, black fur. Reginald, if Shadow recalled right. Or 'Reg' for short. He remembered some of their duet games. 'Renga and Reg Play…'
Shadow shook his head sharply and turned from the room, but froze when he noticed something sparkling on the chrome of the handle and lock. A little old fashioned, but upscale places often hearkened back to simpler times. The sparkle was almost flower-shaped, cast by some yellow light from the crack in the blinds. It drew his eye right to the thumb lock. Why hadn't this been looked into before? Each crime had been in a locked room. That meant whoever it was could either come and go without having to physically lock the door, or they had a means to do so without touching it.
Shadow shoved the door closed with his foot and frowned at the lock as if it had just challenged him to a fight. How might one lock it without touching it? It would take a lot of planning and forethought to use a tool. One that could go undetected. Had anyone even examined the locks for signs that they might have been picked?
But indoor locks didn't need to be picked with a wire. They were either card panels, or thumb locks. With the latter, all you had to do was grab the lock and twist it, then voila! It was locked. The other side would need a screw driver to open, and that would leave traces. Scratches. Ones that could be dated.
He lifted his hand towards the door handle, and a strange red glow surrounded it. The lock jerked to the right, locking him in the room.
His heart leapt and the haze vanished in an instant. He stared at his hand for a moment, then the lock. Then something snapped into place.
"Psychokinesis," he said. "Whoever is doing this doesn't need to physically touch anything!"
He reached for the lock to try it again, but that haze failed to appear. So he grabbed it, turning it back to the left.
His ears twitched as he picked up a whispering voice. Urgent, yet too quiet to make out.
Then footsteps.
"Yeah, it's weird coming back here." The voice was faint but it was followed by the sound of a door opening. "But I have to. I won't be a moment, I'll grab my-"
The bedroom door opened, and Shadow found himself staring into the red eyes of a long-haired binturong. Matching looks of surprise and terror crossed both their faces, and Shadow stumbled back from the larger male.
A fair-haired wallaby stood behind him and before Shadow could stutter any explanation, she let out a shrill scream.
In a panic, Shadow tried to reach out to the Chaos Network. But it wouldn't hold. Instead, pink mist surrounded his body and whisked him from the room, throwing him onto his back in the thorny bushes of Beatdrop Park.
'Shadow?'
A whisper. His fur bristled as a chill ran down his spine and he twisted to spot whoever it belonged to. But he was alone. The park was empty. A breeze washed over him, broken by the rustling leaves and thorny branches of the bramble.
Great. Now he was jumping at the wind? It wasn't as if anyone could have followed him if even he didn't know where he was going!
He let out a groan and placed his hands over his face. Spotted. By Strider Drones, and now by Renga's room-mate. How could he have been so careless? He could see it now. Very soon, all of Mainframe would think he was the 'Heartbreaker'. The Beatdrop Capital's serial killer. And if people hadn't already been looking for him before, they certainly would now.
And as for Rouge…
Shadow felt his heart shatter. Everyone would think she was a conspirator. Aiding the killer with her famous stealth skills. He spread his fingers to peer up at the sky. Stars. The clear constellation of the Hope Flower peering down at him. His eyes stung with tears and he screwed them shut as that night in that very park came back to him.
No. He wasn't going to let this happen. Rouge had helped him, they'd looked out for each other for over a year. Now he'd messed up, and he was going to protect her with every fiber of his being, even if it killed him.
...
What luck.
Rouge chuckled to herself as she crouched on the roof of a casino. A small robot dog barked and yapped, bouncing on its toes as it eagerly awaited its handler. The twin-tailed fox she'd learned went by 'Tails' followed after it, checking over his phone. If she'd not heard the dog, she wouldn't even had known the soldier had been in the casino.
She spread her wings and glided over to the opposite roof. The fox's ears didn't so much as twitch. He pocketed his computer and followed after the dog, silently. Almost as if the robot wasn't even there.
Rouge frowned at that. She'd seen other pet owners, and they would chatter away to their animals (or robots). But Tails didn't utter a word.
She followed him along the roof as he rounded a bend in the road. Then he did something she hoped he wouldn't. He hailed a cab.
Rouge groaned under her breath and fluttered into the air. Now she had to take the risk of following a vehicle?
The small, black hover-car glided along the road away from her, sticking to the busy main streets. Rouge remained above it, keeping her eyes and ears trained on the car. The place was riddled with Strider Drones and Drifters. Rouge swerved to avoid them, trying to remain in their blind spots. It wasn't easy. One particular Drifter pushed her into an alley and she had to follow the car by sound. When she came out of the other side, the small plane-like drone was still lurking, looking for her, and there was no sign of the cab.
She was about to give up when she spotted it turning into the road beside her, almost as if it were doubling back the way it had come. She twirled to follow after it and almost dropped from the sky with surprise when it pulled into the entrance to an old warehouse.
Tails climbed out, followed by his dog, and the cab drove off. The soldier glanced left and right, the robot copying him. Its huge, bulb-like eyes lit up the street until its handler shushed it. The lights blinked out and he waited a moment before opening the shutter on the warehouse.
Rouge tapped her lip as she searched over the building. She couldn't very well follow him. She needed to get the sneak on him. A vent or a window she could use… When she came up dry and the shutter started to rattle back into place, she zipped from the sky and landed before it, rolling into the warehouse.
The dog let out a surprised yelp, but Tails didn't so much as flinch. He stepped back from her, his cold eyes trailing over her body as he tried to assess her threat level.
The robot dog growled, cutting between her and its handler.
"All right," she said, pushing herself up and keeping her hands raised. "I found you. Now I've got a question for you, fox."
She sucked in a breath as the fox retrieved a gun from somewhere behind him. Then she noticed a weapons rack. She'd been too preoccupied keeping the fox and robot in her sights she'd failed to notice that. He aimed the rifle at her, narrowing his eyes.
"Wait!" she gasped. "I'm not here to fight you. I just have some questions!"
"You're allied with Shadow," he said. "I am to apprehend you both."
He fired, and Rouge leapt aside, leaving the dart to rattle off the stone wall. Another dart skimmed her ear as she ducked with speed that surprised even her. If she was going to get him to co-operate, she seriously needed the upper hand.
She leapt at him, aiming a crescent kick. A flash of light erupted from the gun's handle, forming a shield around his hands. Her foot bounced off it, sending a shockwave of pain up her ankle. She grunted and keeled back from him, corkscrewing to avoid another dart that skimmed her muzzle with its feathers.
"Wait! Please!" She flipped herself higher into the air, drawing the fox's aim with her. "It's your tranquilizer. It's done something strange to Shadow! His powers are malfunctioning!"
He lowered his weapon then, inclining his head on one side. "Malfunctioning?"
Still no emotion on his face. No sympathy. No worry. No fear. If anything, she'd simply intrigued his inner scientist.
"Explain," he said.
Rouge looked between him and his weapon. "I will if you'll stop shooting at me."
He stood his rifle on the ground beside him, leaning on it like a walking cane. "You have five minutes."
A loud ticking sound filled the room, and Rouge realized with some alarm that it was coming from the dog. It sat watching her, its tongue lolling from its mouth, clearly impressed with its own little joke.
"Okay." Rouge landed and smoothed out her jumpsuit. "Shortly after you hit him with your tranquilizer, he's had this weird pink mist appear around him. I don't know if that's what's directly interfering with him, but it throws off his Chaos Control, making his teleporting completely unpredictable."
"Is it still ongoing?"
"I believe so. It's very intermittent."
"Then it's not my darts."
Rouge's mouth flapped open and closed as she stared at the fox's cold, emotionless face. "He has… regenerative properties. Maybe that's interfering with whatever you coated them with?"
"The drug I use to hamper someone's abilities affects chemicals on the brain and does no harm whatsoever. Therefore his regeneration wouldn't counter it. And the affects would only be temporary." Tails paused and shrugged. "Besides. I used no such means to apprehend Shadow. I used a tranquilizer. Not a detaining drug."
"Then if you knew that all along, why not tell me outright it had nothing to do with this?"
"Curiosity," said Tails. "A hunter has to understand his prey."
Rouge let out a nervous laugh and made her way towards the shutter. Tails lifted his weapon again, but Rouge wagged a finger.
"You gave me five minutes," she said. "I still have three and a half left."
"I gave you five to explain yourself."
"Really?" Rouge feigned surprise by covering her mouth. "I thought it was five for you to stop shooting at me. I guess we've reached a misunderstanding?"
Tails lifted the sight to his eye and aimed, and a small red dot appeared on her left shoulder.
"Oh dear." She let out a small sigh. "Surely a gentleman wouldn't-"
The robot dog let out a series of rapid-fire barks. Its bulb-like eyes lit up, flooding the warehouse. Tails lowered his gun to attend to his dog, dropping to his knees.
Rouge took that opportunity to grab the shutter's base and pull. A long groan escaped her throat as she heaved it with her hands. But it wouldn't budge.
Then she became aware of a voice. One that didn't belong to the fox. She turned her head to look over her shoulder. He was still crouching beside the dog, who's eyes projected a holographic display. A news broadcasting. One that was filled with Shadow's face.
"No," she gasped.
Tails looked up at her, and she found herself becoming increasingly scared by how impossible he was to read.
"It looks like your friend has been listed as the killer," he said.
"It's not him," said Rouge. "He was investigating!"
Tails stood up straight, still clutching his gun, this time at his side. "I believe you."
Rouge's jaw dropped. "You do?"
"I don't believe the criminal returns to the scene of the crime."
He adjusted his weapon to his shoulder, and that red dot appeared again. Rouge's blood turned cold and she slowly rose to her feet, lifting her hands. Confined to this small place, with no visible windows to escape through… she'd soon tire of dodging his attacks.
"However," he said slowly, "I do believe the pair of you would be safer with me than mobbed by Eggman's troops. Don't you?"
He fired.
...
Please R&R! =D