By RocketDarkness
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this fic, though I own the fic itself. I also own the word "Meh". Use it and pay the fine of many moneys. Please note this may or may not be the actual first chapter, as I'm lazy and want to see what others think of the basic premise before I continue. Reviews are GOOD.
The small, blue speck flew
through the air with exceptional speed, its buzzing engine drowning out
much of the three passenger's conversation. On top of the Tornado, Sonic
and Knuckles relaxed on the wing as Tails piloted his homemade contraption
towards the ever-nearing Floating Island. The warm sunlight, coupled with
the cool breeze made the flight very relaxing.
"Hey, Sonic, if you
trust me with these emeralds, then why are you and Tails escorting me?
You know I can make it there myself…" Knuckles shouted over to Sonic, who
was lying on his side, propping his head up with his left arm. Sonic opened
his eyes, and glanced over at Knuckles before responding.
"Just in case you
get tricked again…y'never know, Dr. R might convince you that I'm simply
creating a false sense of security…"
Tails chipped in.
"Yeah, like the past two times!" Sonic and Tails suppressed a laugh. Knuckles
simply sighed, as he knew they'd never let him forget those events. 'What
was I thinking?!'
Sonic cut into his
thoughts. "Plus, would you like to go back with exactly every single
person in the world thanking you five million times each!? I'll lay
low for a while, thank you very much. At the very least, get the emeralds
to a safe place so we never have to go through tha—" His rant was interrupted
by the Tornado suddenly jolting, and then exploding into millions of pieces.
The shockwaves blasted Sonic away from the now-totaled plane, his first
thought of the safety of his friends. 'Where were they…?' he wondered,
not realizing he was now in a freefall. He screamed, falling all the way
down to the Floating Island. The last thing he saw were the eight jewels
tumbling down in all directions.
---
Sonic opened his eyes,
and found himself staring up at the clear sky. He could hear the sounds
of nature all around him. He looked around cautiously, trying to figure
out what happened. Sonic saw the lush vegetation of the Angel Island Zone
around him, and saw that a particularly soft bush was used as his makeshift
pillow. He realized with a jolt that the Tornado had been shot down. 'How
could I have survived? And where're the others?' He jumped up, and to his
surprise, his body was not sore at all. Sonic did a quick once-over quickly.
No major injuries, or anything. A miracle? Anyways, there were more important
matters to attend to. "TAILS! KNUCKLES ANYONE!?"
Sonic continued to
shout their names out loudly, wandering around the area where he had awoken,
in case one of them had brought him here. At that moment, he heard a rustling
sound in the bushes. In an instant, he stood behind the offender, without
alerting to his own presence. He watched warily as whomever it was step
out into the clearing, muttering to herself. He gasped. It was Rouge
the bat, the one and only! She inspected the area where Sonic was resting,
and then wandered off in the other direction. Questions immediately popped
into his head: 'What is she doing here? Does she know where Knuckles and
Tails are? I bet she's after the emeralds again…already? Hey, where'd she—'
Sonic's train of thought was cut off as he was grabbed roughly from behind,
the assailant's arm around his neck, and a touch of cool metal at his temple.
The smooth texture of the arm's covering was a distinct contrast to his
body's heat. Sonic froze, knowing he was unable to do anything.
"What do you think
I am, a tourist attraction for men!?" Rouge's voice barked in his ear harshly.
"I'm not a spy for nothing, you know!" She took the weapon down from his
head, and let him squirm out of her hold. He was blushing, obviously not
expecting something like that from her. "I saved you, y'know. If it weren't
for me, you'd be a blue splat on the ground." She reinforced this by imitating
him with her hand, bringing it down and making a little splat noise.
"Do you know where
Tails and Knuckles are?" Sonic asked immediately. Her ears perked up at
the mention of Knuckle's name.
"No, I didn't see
them. They're probably fine. Unlike you, they can survive long falls."
"Well, have you at
least seen the Emeralds?" She stared at him, contorting her face into an
expression of exasperation.
"No, I'm on vacation.
Of course I saw them! In fact, I've found all eight."
"Eight? But there's
only—oh, the Master Emerald!"
"Yes, the Master Emerald.
I was paid to retrieve all eight of them after they "convinced" you to
let them go. You're just lucky I didn't turn you in, G.U.N. probably wants
you dead."
Sonic gasped, shocked.
"You're working for G.U.N.? Why?"
"G.U.N. is a part
of the government. Normally they don't interact with all the normal government
bureaus, but I guess my gem-hunting prowess must have given them a reason
to request my services. Naturally, I have no say in the opinion. Government
orders. It pays the rent, right?"
"But…you know that
G.U.N. is up to no good! What are you thinking!?" Sonic shouted, clearly
worried that G.U.N. now had possession of the emeralds. With a long leash
from the government, who knew what they could do…
Rouge looked away,
not responding. "There's…nothing I can do. It's my job."
Sonic snorted loudly.
"Yeah, well my job is to get those emeralds back. So are you gonna help
me, or do I have to use force, bat?" Rouge laughed.
"You think you can
fight me? You may be fast, but you're not trained in the art of fighting."
She tapped her boot on the ground, mocking him.
"Oh, that's it!"