Episode 49: The Chaotix Interrogation

In a small dark room, it seems that there is nothing inside, but what looks like a chair and a table. However, there are also four figures in the room. Suddenly, the light turns on, revealing Vector the Crocodile who turns on the switch. Knuckles and Julie-Su stand on the other side of it. Sitting on the chair next to the table is Rouge the bat. She uses her wing to shield herself from the light.

"Alright then, lady. Let's take this from the top," Vector says.

"Is this how you treat everyone who comes in looking for help?" Rouge sarcastically asks.

"Only those with a reputation like yours," Vector answers.

Rouge turns to Knuckles and says with a smile, "You're the head of the Chaotix, right? I'm sure you could make all of this go away."

With his arms crossed, Knuckles says, "Not likely."

"According to Sonic, Eve, Tails, and Cosmo, you popped out of a Warp Ring right outside of Freedom HQ," Vector says.

Flashback:

Earlier today, Sonic, Eve, holding Shun in her arms with Jazz sitting on her head, Tails, and Cosmo hanging out at Freedom HQ. Cosmo picks some flowers with Tails while Sonic and Eve are sitting next to a tree.

Cosmo turns to Tails with a bouquet of flowers, "What do you think of these flowers?"

"They look very nice Cosmo," Tails says.

"Cream has taught me to make them into flower crowns, so I'm gathering a bunch of them," Cosmo happily says.

Tails says and his muzzle turns a little red, "That sounds nice."

At the tree, Eve and Jazz are playing with Shun who has a ball while Sonic is relaxing.

"It sure is a nice day. Of course, after what happened a week ago, we could use a break," Sonic says.

Eve starts to feel sad, "Yeah. I hope Connery is living in peace now."

"Yeah,"Sonic says, sadly.

Suddenly, above Freedom HQ, a large gold ring appears over the sky. Then something flies out of it and crashes into the ground. Hearing the loud thud catches everyone's attention in surprise. Everyone quickly sits and gets up and turns to see Rouge the bat on the ground, and a Warp Ring grows smaller and lands on the ground beside her. Sonic and Tails help Rouge up as she feels a bit dizzy.

"Rouge, what happened?" Eve asks.

"Its… it's a long story," Rouge answers.

Flashback Ends:

Vector holds the paper and says, "You never explained to them what happened, so we like some answers."

"Nack wouldn't loan me his marvelous queen. A girl has to get around somehow," Rouge firmly says with her arms crossed.

"Warp Ring technology is exclusive to Angel Island. How did you get gone?" Julie-Su sternly asks.

"Why should I tell you?" Rouge sternly says.

"You came to us for protection. We can't do anything until we know what we're up against," Knuckles says.

Rouge leans back on the chair with her arms crossed behind her head and her legs crossed as she places it on the table.

She says, "Clever. It's nice to see the lamp isn't the only bright thing in the room," Rouge says.

"Maybe you'd like a security lamp for your own cell?" Vector sternly questions.

Rouge stands up and slams her hands on the table, "The Kingdom of New Mobotropolis and Knothole have taken to imprisoning the innocent?"

"Innocent, she says. As soon as you showed up, someone stepped forward to give us some dirt on you," Vector says, holding a file with Rouge's name on it.

"Who?" Rouge asks, sternly.

Flashback: An Hour Ago

In one of the interrogation rooms, Mighty and Ray stand on one table while Espio guards the door. Ray holds a pad and pencil so he can take notes.

"We really appreciate this. Everything will be confidential," Mighty says.

Sitting on the other side of the table are Eve, Nic, and Fiona.

"Sure. Eve… I… um," Fiona says, feeling uneasy.

"We don't exactly have a stellar past, either. It's cool, Fiona," Eve says.

"Don't worry Fi, I'm here with you," Nic says.

"Thanks guys," Fiona says.

Then explains, "Rouge is the best of the best. A spy, a thief, a fighter… it doesn't matter. Nic and I ran into her a few times…"

"Like what?" Ray asks.

"Well, remember when Eve took part with me and Nic in an Illegal Fighting Tournament. Before we met her, we took part in a different one and she defeated both of us. She also beat us out of practically every treasure and ancient artifact we come across… and other illegal methods," Fiona says.

"Such as stealing, and other kinds of stuff," Eve suspected.

"Yeah," Fiona sadly says.

Flashback Ends:

Vector places Rouge's file on the table, "And so, you were involved with a lot of shady stuff. Working for the president of Station Square of the United Federation might be one thing, but there's plenty of others looking for you."

Rouge crosses her arms, "Fine. I'll fill in from what I was last here. Deal?

"Deal," Vector says.

Rouge sighs and says, "Scourge and I escaped via Warp Ring. It was sent by a madman named Dr. Finitevus. He wanted our help in return for the rescue. We helped him break into Eggman's Egg Vineyard. It turns out he had a lot of your enemies captured and other Mobians trapped inside. They all seem to be alive, but knocked out due to the loss of energy. Dr. Finitevus rescued the Destructix, since the Master… Mammoth Mogul had deserted them, they joined us. Finitevus brought us back to a base guarded by some ancient robots called Isaac. He wanted to steal all of Isaac's data, but most of it was corrupted or erroneous. I mean, it was guarding a frozen corpse. Can a robot go insane? Anyway, Finitevus was looking to control dozens of ancient missiles. When I found out he planned on using them… I ruined all of them. He didn't like it. So I stole one of his Warp Rings and came here."

She then turns to Knuckles with a smile, "See? I can be a good girl."

Julie-Su is displeased the way Rouge is looking at Knuckles.

"Were you followed?" Knuckles asks.

"Probably," Rouge answers.

Outside of Freedom HQ, Fiona, Nic, and Eve are around the area to get some air. Fiona is still feeling glum about earlier.

"Cheer up, Fi. You did good back there," Eve says.

"I know, but… I guess I'm still a little nervous about talking about my past, especially for everything Nic and I did," Fiona says.

"I guess it's understandable, but that's all in the past now," Eve says.

"And you got us to help you get through your past," Nic says.

"Hey girls," A voice says.

The group turns their heads to see Sonic.

"Hi Sonic, so did Rouge say anything?" Eve says.

"She said something and it might not be good," Sonic says.

"What is it?" Nic asks.

"Knuckles told me about what Rouge told them and there might be a possibility…" Sonic says.

He then stops to notice Tails standing in front of a tree and looks nervous.

"Hey, Tails! You got your tails in a knot or something?" sonic asks.

"S-Sonic… I'm sorry… They just snuck up and…" Tails nervously says.

"That's enough," A voice says.

Suddenly, Sleuth comes out from behind holding Tails' tails with one hand and has a gun pointed at him with another.

Sleuth says, "Hello, Sonic and Eve."

"Sleuth!" Eve angrily says.

Nic holds out her gun, "What are you doing here?

Sonic says, "I don't know how you escaped Dr. Eggman, but if you don't let Tails go right now, I'll…"

Suddenly, something pounces at Sonic at top speed, and passes the girls.

"Sonic?!" Fiona asks.

The next moment, Sonic finds himself rammed into the tree by Scourge.

"Ready for Act two, wimp? Scourge asks with a smirk.

"Anytime punk," Sonic says.

The next moment, Sonic and Scourge speed past everyone to have a showdown.

Eve angrily says, "Scourge is here too."

Sleuth sighs, "I told him to hold back."

"You can let go of Tails. What do you want?" Fiona sternly asks.

"I'm here for a traitor… and something she stole," Sleuth says.

"This is coming from the guy who sold the Freedom Fighters to Robotnik," Eve sternly says.

"You know you could act more civilized about it," Fiona says.

"Aww, but where's the fun in that. Besides, we know that you won't give us Rouge so easily," Sleuth says.

Then presses his gun to Tails head, "And you know what will happen if my orders are complied with."

Nic holds out his gun, "I'm not gonna let ya hurt the little fox while I'm here."

"Hold on, maybe there's a way we can work this out without the violence," Eve says.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Fiona asks.

Then turns to Sleuth with a stern look, "Listen Sleuth, you may have Tails, but you're still in an area full of powerful Freedom Fighters and Chaotix. There's a way we can all advise the violence, if you're willing to make a compromise."

"What do you have in mind?" Sleuth asks.

While Eve is taking to Sleuth. Sonic and Scourge continue to fight against each other. They both speed up a tree.

Sonic grabs the top, "Now that I'm not glad to kick your butt…"

Then Sonic kicks Scourge in the face, "But what's the occasion, Scourge?"

Scourge then lands on another tree, "First… a little revenge against you…"

Then he punches Sonic in the face, "Now that you don't have a shadow to hide behind."

He then slams his foot on Sonic causing him to slide on him down the tree.

"Second… I'm going to have a little fun with Eve again. I love to pick a fight with her. Your sister is much stronger than you," Scourge says.

That ticks Sonic off.

Sonic spin dashes Scourge into a tree, "Leave my sister out of this!"

Sonic then grabs Scourge and is ready to punch him in the face.

"Just be glad that Shadow isn't here, he'll give you a pounding worse than I'm going to do," Sonic angrily says, and is going to give Scourge a black eye.

Suddenly, someone shouts, "Sonic!"

Sonic and Scourge turn to see Eve and the girls. Fiona has Tails close to him.

"It's okay. I made a compromise with Sleuth," Eve says.

"Compromise?" Sonic says, confused.

"I told Sleuth the Chaotix were questioning Rouge. He says that if we take back the Warp Ring from her, he'll leave us alone," Eve says.

"I have my word for her. Don't make her a liar, Sonic,"Sleuth says.

"Hold that thought," Sonic says.

Then speeds off.

"That was quick," Scourge says.

"With four hostages, it ought to be," Sleuth replies.

Eve sternly says, "You better not be referring to me as your hostage."

"Course not. I know you're willing to take me on. Interesting that you have some good looking friends, especially the fox girl," Scourge says.

Fiona whispers, "Is he hitting on us?"

"He's a sleaze, so try to ignore him,"Eve whispers.

"I can tell he's way different from your brother," Nic replies.

Sonic then returns with the Warp Ring in his hand.

He gives it to Sleuth, "Here's the Warp Ring. Now beat it!"

"With pleasure," Sleuth says.

"Later, sweet thing. Hope we'll have time for another fight," Scourge says, and winks his eye towards Eve.

Eve clutches her fist in anger.

Sleuth tosses the Warp Ring and it opens. Then Sleuth and Scourge leave through the Warp Ring.

Sonic turns to Tails, "You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry," Tails says.

"It's cool," Sonic says.

"What was that all about. He looks like Sonic and I don't like that creep the minute I saw him," Fiona says.

"Is he like this with all of the girls?" Nic asks.

Eve groans, "Yes. One of the times he came, he pretended to be Sonic and practically hit on every Freedom Fighter girl in New Mobotropolis."

"The only reason why that plan became a bust because he was hitting on Eve. Sonic likes Eve as a sister, and she got him to confess what he did," Tails says.

"Really? Smart move," Fiona says.

"Yeah. However…" Eve says.

She then smashes her fist at her other hand and angrily says, "When I get my hands on Scourge! I swear I'm going to kill that creep!"

Sonic, Tails, Fiona, and Nic look very nervous about seeing Eve looking so angry. In fact her body is surrounded by Chaos energy that is like fire.

"Wow! Eve is really on fire now," Fiona says.

"Come on, let's get back to the city before Eve explodes," Sonic says.

"I am not going to explode," Eve says, trying to remain calm.

The five Mobians then head back to the city.

Back in the interrogation room, Knuckles and Vector leave the room, leaving Rouge and Julie-Su inside.

"That was a waste of time," Knuckles says.

"Chill, Knux. At least we got some info on Finitevus," Vector says.

Rouge turns her head with a smirk as the boys leave the room. Suddenly, Julie-Su, kicks the chair away, causing Julie-Su to almost fall.

Rouge stands up as Julie-Su grabs Rouge by her arm with pure rage in her arms, "Listen up, Rouge. I see you eyeing Knuckles. He's the only person to make me feel like something other than a soldier. He is my soulmate and my equal. But if you try to take away someone that precious to me, I'll show you how good a soldier I can be!"

"Cute," Rouge says, grabbing Julie-Su's dreadlock.

Then says, "Listen up, sweetie. I specialize in stealing precious things. Sometimes for others, but mostly for me. And I've never gone empty handed. You're welcome to try to stop me. After all, if he's so true to you, you have nothing to fear right?"

"Let me go, you conniving…" Julie-Su angrily says.

Rouge then kicks Julie-Su in a stomach and throws her on the table, causing it to break.

Julie-Su tries to get up, but Rouge presses her foot on Julie-Su's chest.

"I'll let you in on a little secret. I may have my eye on Knuckles, but… there's someone else who caught my eye, and I think he's more for me," Rouge says.

Rouge then thinks about the only other person who has caught her eye: Shadow the Hedgehog.

Rouge then gets her foot off of Julie-Su and walks out as she says, "I look forward to our visit, Julie-Su…"

Rouge then closes the door behind her and leaves the room.

Sometime later, Knuckles heads inside the communications room of Rotor's workshop. Rotor has finished with some repairs and other maintenance.

Knuckles walks in and says, "You said my father, called Rotor?"

"He's on the main screen right now, Knuckles, but I don't know how… there's no signal. There's an energy signature, but nothing with any frequency I recognize," Rotor says.

"Don't worry about it, Rotor. The Chaos Energies are hard to explain. We Guardians are pretty good at using it for anything, though," Knuckles says, walking past Rotor and to the main screen.

Knuckles walks to the main screen to see his father.

"Dad," Knuckles says.

Then Locke replies, "Son."

Knuckles says, "I didn't know we were allowed to use the Master Emerald to make long distance calls."

"If you were able to perform your duties you could too. This is precisely why I contacted you. You need to return home," Locke says.

"What is it? Is something going on?" Knuckles asks.

"I'm afraid that our people are suffering. You must return home to help us out," Locke says.

"What happened? I thought the Dark Legion were helping while I was dealing with the problems here," Knuckles asks.

"The Dark Legion is caught in their own civil war. Lien-Da commands the flame legion. While an unknown echidna is now Grandmaster of the frost legion," Locke says.

"What? You don't know who it is?" Knuckles asks, shocked.

"I have been too busy to investigate," Locke says.

"Right… our people come first…" Knuckles says.

"That, and the Master Emerald also needs protecting. What's more, the Brotherhood is still missing, and it seems Moritori has disappeared as well," Locke says.

"What? Did you find any leads?" Knuckles asks.

"No. I cannot find them without your help," Locke says.

Knuckles groans as he rubs his head, "There are too many things going on. Mammoth Mogul and Ixis Naugus attack us, and The Ancient Walkers have been destroyed thanks to them. Eve might be the chosen wielder from that prophecy. And there's a possibility, Finitevus is up to something because of Rouge's testimony. And now I'm hearing about the problems on Angel Island. Things are getting crazy here."

Locke takes in everything Knuckles says, and it sounds like his son and his friends are dealing with difficult times as well.

"Sounds like you had a lot of questions and that needed some answers," Locke says.

"You don't know the half of it. That's why I need to talk to you. I was planning on taking Eve to the island to talk to you about her and her Sword might be the key to the Great Harmony on that tapestry," Knuckles says.

"What gave you that conclusion?" Locke asks.

"I know you and the other Brotherhood including myself, are aware that because of Eve using the Master Emerald sword she became connected to the Chaos Force. She even used the chaos Emerald and Master Emerald to transform. Around a week ago, Eve dreamed that she met Aurora, the echidna goddess you told me about when I was little. She talked to her and warned me and her about what might happen if we don't act, but it was too late to save the Ancient Walkers," Knuckles says.

"Aurora, you say?" Locke asks.

"And that's not the half of it. Eve also talked to her. She told her to be careful when the Great Harmony comes, but she doesn't know when. Eve agrees that she'll come to the island so we can discuss more with you, but it seems I'm able to let you know ahead of time," Knuckles says.

"I see," Locke says.

"Julie-Su, Mighty and Ray will accompany me and Eve to the island while the rest of the Chaotix remain here in the city," Knuckles says.

Alright. I'll meet you at the Mystic Ruins and then we will…." Locke says.

Suddenly, the screen begins to get static as Locke tries to say, "… Eve….Island… sword… Emerald."

"Dad? Dad, are you there?" Knuckles calls out.

Suddenly, the main screen gives out.

"What happened?" Knuckles, asks turning to Rotor.

"I… I don't know," Rotor says.

Rotor walks to the main computer and types on the keypad.

Rotor calls out, "Nicoel… Nicole, can you get the connection back online…"

"I… bzzz…. I… ha-bzzz…" Nicole says.

"Nicole?" Rotor says, concern.

Rotor and Knuckles become concerned about what is happening. Something is wrong with Nicole and it's affecting the main computer screen and possibly other systems around the city.