By RocketDarkness
Chapter 5
A/N: Yay, we're finally off the Floating Island! Now...ONWARDS, TOWARDS PLOTLINE!
That hedgehog never ceased to amaze her with his abilities. One minute, he was struggling to keep his balance among the tremors, and the next, he tears across half the island in less than a second. At least, that's what she thought when Sonic simply appeared in the back of her personal little aircraft as they prepared to take off from the island, landing on top of Tails and the still-unconscious Knuckles, clutching some small object in his left hand. As he stood up, grinning widely, Rouge realized what he was holding in his hand.
"Thank the Goddess for the Chaos Emeralds!" he said exuberantly, holding the jewel up for everyone to gaze upon.
"How did you get that Chaos Emerald, Sonic? I thought they were left in the Hidden Palace when we had to evacuate," Tails asked, curious as always.
Sonic blinked, a clueless expression on his face as the question ran through his mind. "I don't know. I saw light reflect off of something under a bush, and I felt drawn towards it. Though I guess you you could say it's in my blood."
Rouge decided not to ask when she realized that she wasn't keeping her mind on taking off. Returning her view to the window, she discovered she only had a few precious feet of runway--if you could call a dusty road that-- left. Yanking hard up on the controls, She managed to get the plane off the ground in time, albeit roughly. Her three passengers were knocked to the floor in a heap of blue, red, and orange body parts. And that was when it all changed to green. The engines on her jet froze. 'Chaos Control?'
That option was quickly dropped as she realized, by looking out the window, that the plane was now moving backwards, as if some sort of mystical force was pulling them back. The island pulsed dark green, energy radiating throughout the cragged underside of the tropical paradise. For a glorious second, everything ceased to work. And then, without warning, the Floating Island exploded in a blindingly neon green flash. The sheer force of the explosion was deafening, shockwaves sending Rouge into a sightless, soundless tailspin.
--
Rouge screamed in terror as she felt her stomach being twisted into a knot. At least, she thought she screamed. There was no way to be sure. It dawned on her that she was still gripping the controls to the now out-of-control plane. Instinctively, she jerked up on the controls, regretting her decision as she banged her head violently upon the ceiling of the makeshift cockpit. Wincing, she pushed the other direction. It was then she realized that the plane was upside down. Finally catching her bearings as best she could without sight or sound, she quickly righted the stray plane. The dull ringing in her ears subsided. While her vision was still whited out, she had enough guile and foresight to have a handy little gadget installed on the vehicle. With a flick of a switch, high-pitched sound waves were projected from the plane. While it wasn't true sight, Rouge was more than able to navigate now. With a sigh of relief, she continued back to the mainland.
--
As the jet touched down on a small section of seemingly solid land on the coastline, Rouge let out the breath she was holding ever since she got on the plane. She slumped in her seat, content to finally be back on the ground. She unclipped her safety harness, and slid down the chair until only her head remained on the seat. She stared at the ceiling, glad her vision was finally returning. A blue blob eventually appeared in her field of vision. It spoke to her. "Hey Rouge, you ok? Your pupils look very...washed out."
"Sonic? Is that you? How can you see already?" She reached up in the air and grabbed his face to make sure it was him, and not some disturbing vision problem. Or hallucination. The blur grew hands, and removed her hands from the blob's face.
"Yes, it's me. And what do you mean how can I see already?" Rouge realized that her weaker eyesight would be much less accustomed to such bright light as opposed to a hedgehog or fox.
"Sorry, I'm just temporarily blind. Nothing to worry about," she said, half sarcastically.
"You want to get out? We already got Knuckles outside, and you haven't moved since you undid your harness about a..." Sonic glanced down at one of his arms. "About half an hour ago."
'I had been out of it that long?' Rouge thought, raising an eyebrow involuntarily. She squirmed her way out from under the dashboard awkwardly and back onto her chair, then stood up. Stepping over her seat, she held onto Sonic's shoulder as he walked through the very small cargo hold, and out onto the beach. The heat from the sun was a direct contrast to the air-cooled airplane interior, and it caused her to yawn, then stretch. Squinting, she surveyed their surroundings as she walked slowly down the metal stairs. The beach seemed deserted, except for them. However, despite the calm, almost nonexistent winds, the waves pounded against the shore harshly, a stark contrast to the peacefulness of the rest of the area. Palm trees swayed gently in the breeze. Tails had propped Knuckles up against one such tree. He sat cross-legged, leaning against another nearby plant. Upon seeing Sonic, he waved him and Rouge over.
"Hey, Knuckles is coming to, Sonic," Tails said in a slightly hushed voice. Knuckles began to stir, mumbling incoherently. Sonic knelt by his side, and began to shake him gently to wake him up. After a few seconds, he shot up, breathing quickly from something. He glanced around wildly, as if looking for something.
"Where's the Master Emerald? What happened? Where are we?" Rouge glanced at Sonic, biting her lip. Sonic glanced to Tails. Tails shook his head, not wanting to be the bearer of bad news. Rouge sighed in exasperation. If they weren't willing to say it, she would.
"Knuckles...we had to abandon the island because...well, you see..." Damn. This was harder than she thought. "...the island exploded!" she finally burst out. Knuckles sat, staring at her and blinking slowly. What he did next shocked everyone. He put his face into his hands and began to cry quietly. This burst of emotion was a revelation. None of them had ever realized exactly how much his duty to his ancestors truly meant to him. Sure, they all knew it was important in one way or another, but they never imagined he'd break down like this. Rouge hesitantly reached for his heaving shoulder, and squeezed it gently, hoping to comfort him in some way. Her touch, however, jolted him back to the present. He turned his head to stare at her face, eyes full of hate. His brow furrowed, then in a burst of rage he jumped to his feet and swung blindly at the bat. She stepped aside, shocked.
"Knuckles, calm down! There's nothing you could..." She ducked a fist, then continued. "...do!"
"It's all your fault!" Knuckles shouted, continuing his blind attack. "You could have done something!" Rouge backed away quickly, concentrating on calming her enraged friend down. After one particularly sluggish left hook, Rouge tried to grab his arm to restrain him, only to realize her mistake as his right fist caught her square in the jaw. Now on the ground, she touched at her injured jaw lightly. Even the slightest touch caused her to wince in agony. She was distracted from her pain by the dark shadow of the echidna standing over her. His eyes looked her over, still narrowed to a slit.
Sonic spoke up. "Knuckles, there was nothing anyone could do. Not Rouge, not Tails, not you, not I." Knuckles held his piercing gaze. And then, as rapidly as he turned on Rouge, Knuckles was bearing down on Sonic through the air. Sonic, however, was prepared, and ducked at the last second, throwing his hand up to grab Knuckles' right leg and bring him crashing down on the sandy beach with a thud. Knuckles reacted by entering a spin, causing Sonic to be flung into the air. Sonic, however, was used to being in the air and landed on his feet deftly.
"Sure, you can save the world, but you can't save my Emerald. Is that how it works? Eh, Sonic?" Knuckles shouted harshly. With that, he turned around to where Tails was still standing by the tree and lashed out with his foot, catching the unprepared fox in the gut. Tails collapsed, coughing and struggling to pull in air. "And you! You couldn't do anything to stop the machine, either! It's your fault!" Knuckles began to shout at him, but suddenly found his arms locked by Sonic.
"Calm down, Knux! What's your problem? You can't just hit Tails like that! I swear, if I didn't know you better you'd be dead already..."Sonic held Knuckles tightly as he kicked and squirmed, trying to get out of Sonic's grip. Finally, after several minutes, he calmed down, breathing heavily. Sonic let him go cautiously, leaning him up against another palm tree. He promptly smacked Knuckles on the back of the head. "That's for attacking my friend!"
Knuckles stood up, wiping his eyes clear of any remaining tears. "I have to go. I can't stay here with you, not without this dishonor hanging above my head..." He turned, and began to walk off, out of the clearing.
"Knuckles, wait!" He turned around. Rouge handed Sonic a small sack, then ran after him, slowing as she came closer. "I know you want to get back at G.U.N., but you don't know where to start. Let me help you. I want to get them back for using me just as much as you do." She grinned at him, and for the first time since they landed on the Floating Island, Knuckles smiled back.
----
"So, now what, Tails? Any ideas?"
"We should help, but I don't think there's much we can do right now. Come with me back to the Mystic Ruins. I've got some serious stuff to show you."
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A/N: Sorry it took so long! School is starting up, so I've got my work cut out for me. Just bear with me, and remember, I like reviews! And email! And anything! AIM is RocketDarkness, email is rocketdarkness@yahoo.com . See ya!
POINTLESS FACT! I accidentally called a few of the chapters "Mystery of the Seven Gems", as opposed to "Jewels." Surprised no-one's noticed it, but oh well.