TW: Loss of Limbs (Flashback)
Stay safe ya'll!
High on her pedestal, she had a long way to fall.
There was a certain irony to the title of 'Best Thief in the World' - generally as a professional in the field, a low profile was necessary - having your name broadcasted everywhere was generally a sign you weren't good at staying hidden.
Yet, in Rouge's case - her renown was a further testament to her skill. Her face and name were well-known, her tactics recorded - and yet, she never failed. She always left with what she wanted, always able to evade capture.
Lucky streaks always had to end, though.
Lights flashed.
"Rouge the Bat! You're under arrest!"
"Let me get this straight... instead of arresting me, you're offering me a job?" She asked with suspicion.
"Your unique skillset is highly valued, you'd be much more valuable to us as an asset rather than another rotting mouth we have to feed in a cell." The old man on the other side of the desk pointed out,.
"So I'm getting special treatment?" She asked lightly, leaning back in her chair. "Who am I to turn it down then?"
"Don't think it's going to be some walk in the park, young lady. We'll be whipping you into shape." There was a growl edging his voice.
"Of course you will." Rouge nonchalently shrugged.
The man straightened himself up in his chair, broadening his shoulders. "Let's see how you fare after one week in bootcamp, aye?"
"They wanted me here because I was so good at my work - why on Mobius did they think I needed all that bootcamp training?" She sighed on the couch of the break room, helping herself to one of the chocolates on the nearby coffee table.
"Maybe because you needed lessons in the basics - like conduct, basic morality, respecting your peers-" Topaz began to list off impatiently. She was a human, short for an agent - but the size of her nagging mouth made up for it.
"And I learnt all that and more, dear Topaz." Rouge informed her. "Which is why, out of respect for you - my dear ally, I have to point out how awful your haircut is and how much it unfortunately makes you look like an old lady." She spoke condescendingly, a smug smirk creeping up her lips. "Doesn't help you're graying too..."
The other agents present snickered - and Topaz's face grew furiously red. "H-hey! There's no room for that attitude when talking to your superiors-!"
Despite being her first step into the militaristic world, far from her comfort zone - it would be the last, fleeting moment of normalcy she'd get to experience before everything went wrong.
Alarms began to blare.
She woke up hours later to a ringing in her ears.
Choking on ash, she slowly scrambled to her knees, weaving between chunks of rubble on the ground with pulsing, screaming muscles. She squinted through smoke, panting as she was desperate for clean air.
Her hands were quivering, making it hard to get a grip on anything around her.
"There is someone here!" She heard a man cry out in relief, although everything sounded muffled in her ears.
Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted up to feet - a glimpse at his uniform told her he was a soldier.
"What- what's going on-?" Rouge gasped, tired and bewildered.
"We're trying to figure that out- there was a ship in the sky- i-it appeared out of thin air! It slipped past the base's detection, and before we knew it - the base was blown up!"
"Wha-?" Rouge needed to lean on him for balance, blinking rapidly as she tried to process what she was hearing. "Where's that ship now-!?"
"We don't know!" The man snapped, his voice cracking. "But that's the least of our worries now! Look-!" He pointed out to the distance, and Rouge turned.
Between the crackling flames littering the expanse ahead, sillohettes loomed on the horizon. Their shapes were bulky and large - imposing as they began to make their approach.
"Some kind of... mechs?" Rouge questioned in disbelief. "This- this has to be a nightmare! It has to be!" She almost tripped as she was yelling.
"Please!" The man tried to get through to her. "I know where the other survivors are - we have to go before those things come after us!"
She wanted to run as fast as she could, away from everything - but she feared her body may give way any second. She didn't feel any pain, but everything was cold and numb despite the roaring of fire closing in on them.
Glancing around with a helpless gaze, her eyes drifted to a face in the rubble - causing her to suddenly start pushing away pieces of metal and stone to reach them.
Topaz's blank, glazed eyes stared up at her - and the bat quickly bent down and held up two fingers to her neck.
No pulse.
Rouge wanted to faint.
"It's just us now." The man said gently. "And we have to go-" He reached for her arm so he could tug her back up.
"TWO REMAINING G.U.N. SOLDIERS - MUST ELIMINATE."
The robotic voice caught them both off guard. Rouge was fast enough, spreading her wings and quickly taking flight.
Her companion wasn't so lucky.
A beam of red energy shot his way - large enough to set his body ablaze - and in a single flash, to disintegrate him into nothing but dust, not even giving him the chance to cry for help.
Rouge covered her mouth as she let out a horrified screech. No, that man - where did he-? No! He wasn't gone just like that! "No..." Rouge let out, lowering her hands and staring at the spot he had once been standing in.
"ONE REMAINING G.U.N. SOLDIER - MUST ELIMINATE."
Sirens wailed in the distance.
The bat, frozen, yelled. Desperately willing her body to move - just a damn inch!
The robot aimed, and fired.
The agony was excrutiating as her arm erupted, snapping like a twig and flaking off into ashes. The end of what remained seethed and throbbed, as though set alight. She didn't even realised that she had fallen back onto the rubble.
Instead, she screeched at the top of her lungs, tears cascading down her face as her crimson blood begun to create a boiling puddle for her to lay in. Her body remained limp, there was no escaping now. Choking on her cries, she struggled to see through the water clouding her eyes.
The robot loomed over her, the claws of its hand ready to reach down and tear her apart.
"OMEGA! Enough." A voice called, and the robot slowly backed away. "Splendid work..." They continued. "But I want this one alive... let her soak in it. Let her witness the full glory of my takeover in the moments she has left..." His cackles echoed through her cries, her body jerking with sob.
"UNDERSTOOD. SHE WILL WITNESS THE TRUE GLORY THAT IS THE ROBOTNIK EMPIRE."
Darkness began to take hold, wrapping her up and slipping her out of conciousness.
Rouge sat up - shaking with heavy breaths.
Heaving a sigh, she fell back onto her pillow - but her heart continued to vigourously pound in her chest.
She spared a quick glance at the lemur laying next to her, seeing that she was sleeping soundly.
At least one of them was.
Silver, rather ungracefully, landed on his butt on the stone platform - causing him to wince. The lady on the bench stared down at him with wide eyes.
"Are you okay, dear warrior?" She asked with concern.
"Uh- me? I'm fine-" Silver slowly stood up, knowing the soreness would die down. He was mainly confused at how she addressed him, and well - her existence in general to be exact. She was... she was an echidna, right? But how was that possible? He opened his mouth to begin asking her questions - but she continued on.
She clasped her hands together. "I did not mean to install fear within you, I come in peace!" She insisted.
"Oh- Uh, yeah okay-" Silver stuttered out. "What's going on exactly-?"
"You are lost, but not without a purpose." She closed her eyes. "Fragments of the old timeline remain, such as we."
"You... you know about the timelines?" Silver questioned eagerly. "Do you know how we sort this out then?"
To the hedgehog's disappointment, she shook her head. "There are many opposing forces in the way." She explained. "But I will be relentless in my pursuit for answers. I must continue my search here, for the answer is most likely to lie within the broken - the remains of this realm-"
She was losing him quite quickly with the flowery way she chose to speak. "Right...? So, what is this 'realm' then?" He asked her.
"Before you lies the discordant remnants of what time once was..."
As Silver stared at her blankly, the echidna seemed to catch on to the fact that he wasn't really understanding. "The passage of time in which you are most familiar with - this is what remains of it."
"You're saying... this... is the old timeline?" Silver's voice cracked with confusion. "How does that make sense? The timeline was changed..."
"Overwritten." She corrected him, standing up and meeting his eyes. "No matter how hard they could try, they would not be able to dissipate life as it once were - merely conceal it underneath a veil of deception."
"Like... a blanket. The new timeline is like a blanket covering the existence of the old. I knew my analogy was accurate!" Silver exclaimed, perhaps a little too gleefully for the situation at hand. Realising this, he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "So um, in theory all we need to is... tear off the new timeline?" He suggested, unsure of himself.
"In a metaphorical sense." She agreed. "But the task is not simplistic, we must battle the corrupt to seize the ability to steer ourselves on course."
"Eggman and the Time Eater..." Silver slowly nodded. "Sonic's working on gathering the Chaos Emeralds in the new timeline- Oh wait, you don't know who that is-"
"No, I do." She responded to Silver's surprise. "I am familiar with all of you, Silver."
"Oh, um - that's kinda surprising-" Silver scratched his head. "I don't know who you are though-"
"My name is Tikal. It is a pleasure to speak with you, time travelling saviour." She gave him a curtsy.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you too, Tikal." Silver bowed in return, as it would be rude not to return the formalities.
The echidna brought the conversation back to their blue-furred companion. "Sonic is continuing his pursuit of the emeralds in hopes that it will aid him in his battles, but there are some battles he cannot reach. Henceforth, it is a journey I pray that we shall embark on - if you would accompany me thusly."
"What does that journey entail exactly?" Silver asked.
"Even I am uncertain, all I know is that... I'm running out of time." She held out her hand suddenly. "As I understand, this is a modern gesture - a symbol of a pact. Do you wish to shake on your cooperation?"
Silver stared at the hand, before sweating a little, looking at her with uncertainty. "Last time I worked with a mysterious stranger to save the world... a lot of bad stuff happened." He said regretfully. "How can I be certain I can trust you?"
Tikal looked slightly taken aback before pondering the question, she looked out at the nearby railtracks before returning to the conversation with her answer. "My heart stands with the modern idelogies of your people. Sonic knows me... knows the person I am. The next time you commune with him, he will be able to make you understand that my intensions are good and true."
The hedgehog didn't exactly have a reason not to believe her on that. He slowly sighed, still hesitant about following the strange lady and working with her - was she truly looking to work with him, or simply use him as a tool for her own ends?
He didn't really have a choice.
"Okay." Silver finally said with a nod. "I'll follow you until I speak with Sonic, and then he can tell me whether I can trust you or not." He spoke firmly.
"I have gratitude to you for taking this leap of faith." Tikal dipped her head. "This endeavour will be much easier with the two of us." She added with a smile.
"Hopefully." He offered up with a shrug and small grin of his own. "So... you seem to know more about this place more than me, if this is the old timeline then - this should be the world I'm most familiar with - right?"
Tikal shook her head. "Different, yet the same. Things are simply best described as... upside down."
"Huh?" Silver tilted his head.
"Reality was broken in the crossfire - the fragments are... not as they should be." Tikal tried to elaborate, before pointing slowly up at the sky.
Silver wordlessly gazed towards where she was pointing to, and his eyes suddenly widened - for a moment, it could have been easily mistaken for a bird in the sky - but taking more than second to examine it would clearly show the shape in the air was flapping uncontrollably.
It did not have wings - but it did have fins.
It was a flying fish.
"I... think I get what you mean now..." Silver slowly realised.
A couple of days after Rouge's injury had healed fully, the gang were ready to set off on a supply run that Tangle had planned a few days prior. The agenda of the day was obtaining some new clothes - everyone was wearing old garments that were wearing down with holes in them, making it clear that replacements were needed. It was a simple task to allow the group to get back into the swing of things before they hoped to start their hunt for the emeralds.
"Obnoxiously large travel backpacks - check!" Tangle pointed to the bag on her back.
"Check!" Sonic added, pointing to his own and returning her grin.
"And insiiiiide - binoculars, first aid kit, torches-?"
"All set!" Sonic gave her a thumbs up.
"Awesome! And finally..." The lemur bounded over to the bat that was sitting on a boulder. "... one grumpy transport bat!" She poked her lighly on the cheek, obviously meaning it in good humour.
Rouge grunted, and it was a good enough answer for Tangle as she hopped away. Sonic looked at her a bit more carefully, Rouge's eyes appeared... a bit red, as much as he wanted to her question her on it, he imagined Rouge wouldn't be too amused. Instead, he offered a simple smile.
One she did not return. Oh well.
"Beautiful night, aye?" Tangle pointed out - and it was. The stars softly twinkled in the dark sky above, acting as a comforting source of light. "Perfect to commit some robbery." She added.
"Hah!" Sonic chuckled. "Guess you could say that-"
"You guys gonna hurry up or what? It'll be morning if you keep chit-chatting - and I don't think daylight robbery is the ideal choice here." Knuckles pointed out from behind them. Sonic couldn't even hide his grin if he tried - Knuckles was getting more comfortable with the gang, meaning his old personality was beginning to shine through - something that Sonic was very grateful for.
"Is daylight robbery ever ideal?" Tangle asked.
"If you wanna rob a house, yeah - generally you'll have better luck robbing a house in the day when the homeowners aren't home than you would trying to sneak in at night when they're asleep-"
Rouge cut off her own explanation as everyone in the group gave her strange looks.
"You asked..." She grumbled.
"Rouge's criminal past aside-" Knuckles folded his arms. "Try to stay safe, okay?"
"Of course we will!" Tangle assured him. "We're rested up and better than ever for any challenges we might face!" She informed him eagerly, punching the air with excitement. "Sure you don't wanna come with?"
Knuckles nodded, affirming his choice to stay. "I still have my duty to guard the Master Emerald - I will journey with you when you intend to go after the emeralds, but otherwise, I will remain here to do my job."
"We getcha, Knux. Just try not to miss us too much." Sonic gave him a brief wink.
"Ha! What's there to miss? I think I'll be too busy enjoying the peace and quiet without you." The echidna smirked.
How great it was to hear the echidna's humour once more.
"Well if that's how you feel about us, maybe we won't come back." Sonic pouted, pretending to be offended.
Knuckles' eyes grew wide with alarm. "Uh- hang on! I didn't actually mean that-!"
Eh, his sarcasm detection needed work.
"Heh, of course we'll be back - where else are we gonna get delicious food from?"
Realising they were still joking, Sonic saw as Knuckles' muscles relaxed. "Oh, so you see me as some sort of personal chef? Caretaker?"
"Hmmm... nah, you're just the guy we bunk with so we don't have to pay any rent-"
Their banter was interrupted with Rouge coughing into her fist. "Weren't you the one pointing out the fact we need to hurry up?" She asked Knuckles.
The echidna stepped back in embarrassment. "Right- Sorry for... distracting-"
Sonic made sure to give Knuckles a carefree thumbs up to show that he wasn't really bothered like she was.
"If we're actually ready now, we can take off."
"Yes, ma'am!" Tangle gave a salute. "Rouge's strength is in her legs, Sonic. So what we do when we wanna fly with her is that we form a kind of chain, holding onto her legs - it's awesome! Stand on top of my shoulders-!"
Little did she know that Sonic was very familiar with the flying technique - it was how he, Tails, and Knux got around. "You got it!" The hedgehog said, hoisting himself up on top of her. For someone so lean, she was surprisingly strong and sturdy. Sonic reached up and grabbed hold of Rouge's boots as she flew above him, and with Tangle's grip secure on his own legs - they were ready for take-off.
"See ya later, Red Riot!" Tangle called back down. "We're gonna bring back a cool haul, just you wait!"
The echidna merely waved, amused by her remarks as the two made their way higher in the sky.
...
After some time of soaring through the skies, the island grew smaller and smaller as Sonic glanced behind him.
"Isn't it weird how the pollution kinda just- stops?" Tangle asked - bringing Sonic back to his senses. As they were floating towards what had to be an invisible boarder. On their side, it was a clear night sky - filled to the brim with stars, but ahead of them lied a sky with no stars - but visible smoke.
"There's a forcefield around the island." Rouge explained. "It blocks it out."
Sonic narrowed his eyes... there was never such a thing back in the old timeline, he wondered why it was here now.
"Are we... gonna be able to get through it?" Tangle asked uncertaintly.
"Yep, I've tested it out myself, it's not that strong against physical forces - it's really just keeping out the smog and all that shit." The bat explained.
That... explained it, he supposed? Perhaps it was Angel Island's way of preserving its beautiful nature - was Knuckles doing it passively somehow? Or was this the work of the Master Emerald? He assumed the latter.
When Rouge approached the invisible barrier, she began punching - and Sonic and Tangle watched in awe as the area grew green and flickered - showing what the bat was truly punching at. After a few punches, they watched as the green barrier shattered - and they were able to fly through.
Sonic made sure to turn his head back, watching the green shield illuminate, patch itself up - and then seemingly vanish out of sight once more.
"Very easy to break through..." Sonic spoke to himself.
"Makes ya wonder why Eggman never touched the place." Rouge said.
"Yeah... yeah it does." Sonic agreed softy.
The ensuing flight was uneventful; there wasn't even a sight to gaze at beyond a dark, smoke ridden abyss that concealed the ground below and the stars above.
To be frank, it didn't get any better when they were able to see the ground - all he did was find himself staring down at the roofs of miserable, dull buildings - the only thing remotely exciting being the shape difference between them. Instead of a rectangular factory, you might just be able to spot a dome one!
"I was gonna suggest a game of 'I spy' but- well, I don't think there's much point to that, heh-" Tangle laughed, a little uneasily.
"No kidding..." Sonic achknowledged.
The lemur had her hands tied as she was holding Sonic's legs in the chain, so instead extended her tail - a tuft of fur poking out at the end of it, acting as a finger that pointed below. "That's the warehouse, Rouge!"
"I know." The bat replied.
"It's big." Tangle said. "Dystopia hell aside - I don't get why warehouses have to be the most boring buildings to look at. Like come on, get creative! Hire a designer! Instead they're shoved on the end of a city looking like a big pile of... blah-"
"Real articulate of ya there, Tangle." Sonic smirked.
"I don't know how else to describe it!" She giggled.
"I getcha, I getcha." Sonic assured her. "Thing is are you sure we're even gonna find anything worth bringing back to base with us? Have you seen the clothes everyone's wearing in this city? Rags made out of the same material as those bags in sack races from kindergarten..." Sonic shuddered, his time in school had been brief - and he'd hated every second.
"That's what the peasants wear, which our buddy Eggman over here considers to be 99% of the population but that's beside the point. The other 1% of people are the rich, living in the capital of Empire City 'cause they kiss Eggman's butt and give him money - some of the factories here are dedicated to making clothes for the elite - then they're shoved in this warehouse and then shipped out on a train to the city." Tangle explained. "So really it's a Robin Hood situation, we're stealing from the rich and giving back to the poor!" She grinned.
"Wouldn't have it any other way." Sonic claimed, it was hard not to share in her enthusiasm.
"Unless you guys wanna be spotted, I suggest you hold off on the talking for now - I'm landing us down on that block of flats across, we'll figure out our next move once we're able to survey the area."
The two understood and fell silent, allowing Rouge to land them down on top of a neaby roof, allowing them to be out of the line of sight of any robots on the ground, and lending them a clear view of what was going on outside this warehouse.
Egg Pawns were heaving large crates onto their backs, walking in a motonous single file line to the right.
"Headin' to the train station..." Tangle whispered to herself, and then began rubbing her hands together mischievously. "Little do they know of our schemes..."
"What exactly is the strategy here again?" Rouge asked in her own whisper.
"After some long and hard thinking that took approximately 5 seconds - I thought we could do a hit and run! Beat up these bots around here, open up the crates - take what we want, and flee the scene! We're hitting 'em hard and fast, before they can do a thing about it!"
Rouge blinked, dumbfounded. "I shouldn't... shouldn't set my expectations too high, should I?"
"Come on, Rouge! We'll be fine!" She assured the other girl. "Just follow my lead!"
Perhaps Sonic wasn't as apprehensive as he should have been, but he remained unbothered - having faith that the task at hand was simple and his friends were more than capable of carrying it out - it's not like Egg Pawns were a challenge, after all. The hedgehog showed his neutral stance with a shrug, and simply awaited for a signal to move in.
It didn't take long.
"Move out!" Tangle exclaimed, leaping down off the roof and landing down on the ground - not on her feet, but the end of her tail that also smashed an Egg Pawn to pieces. She then proceeded to use her tail as a spring, bouncing up again and pounding yet another robot down to its remains.
Sonic followed quickly, jumping up into his signature blue ball and rocketing down at an Egg Pawn, effortlessly crushing the bot before jumping to the next, yeilding the same result. The speed of which he was barrelling into his enemies lit his veins up with adrenaline - oh how good it felt to just kick ass again.
As Sonic untucked, he saw Rouge glide down. With both elegance and ease, she threw a kick at a robot - sending it flying like a helpless rag doll right over the warehouse itself. Sometimes, he forgot how strong she was.
"That's it!" Tangle called out to even Sonic's surprise. How easy was that? "Let's get these crates opened up and nab what's inside!" Knowing there was little hope in her arms being able to pry off the wooden lids, she used her much stronger tail for the job - after a momentary struggle, the top of the crate popped off - and Tangle peered inside.
"Oh boy... those aren't clothes-"
Sonic stood beside her. "Nope, those definitely aren't clothes-"
"They're fucking bananas." Rouge announced from beside them. "Now instead of gawking at them, we can get these other boxes open and maybe they'll have something useful inside-"
"On it!" Tangle scrambled to another crate, and Sonic just gave a nod - dashing to the nearest. He had no way of getting them open neatly, so he resorted to simply smashing the crate to pieces with a homing attack and allowing the contents to spill out onto the floor.
Books littered the floor around him, and Sonic glared closer at the covers. All of them were the same - they all had his stupid face. 'The Memoir of Dr. Robotnik - the world's greatest genius!'
Not to mention the title font was legitimately comic sans. "Ew..." Sonic let out, picking up one of the books with the tips of his fingers, allowing it to dangle. Maybe he should take one, it might be therapeutic to burn later.
"More bananas?!" He heard Tangle call out, irritated as she had opened her next loot.
"Here! Clothes here!" Rouge then yelled, and the two sprinted over to her as fast as they could. Sonic arrived first, promptly removing the bag off his back and setting it down - reaching into the crate at rapid speeds. He grabbed all of the plastic packages he could - not really knowing the types of clothes that lied within - they felt warm and bulky at least - like hoodies and jeans. They were more than enough.
Tangle joined him in this process and Rouge stood scanning the surroundings. "Make this quick, Rose has likely got robots coming this way... if she's not gonna be ariving herself-" The bat said.
"All set." Sonic said, zipping up his backpack before shoving it on his back - now considerably heavier than it was before, but nothing he couldn't handle. Tangle was done with hers shortly after.
"Got it! See? Knew we could get this done-!"
Things were far from over.
The trio heard a thud that caused them to step back, something had hit the ground hard. They all looked down, and Tangle gasped.
The body of a blonde wolf lie limp. She was bruised and scratched on the parts of her skin that were visible, and she could have easily been mistaken as unconcious until she tried to roll herself over with trembling breaths.
What appeared to be a mask had rolled across the ground before stopping as it made contact with Sonic's shoe.
"Wait, is that..?" Sonic blinked with recognition. "The masked girl from the festival?" He pointed out. "The one Amy was chasing?" He didn't hesitate, immediately stepping forward - only stopping when Rouge grabbed hold of his arm.
"We've completed our mission, Sonic. That's her problem, let's get out of here before shit hits the fan-" She urged him impatiently.
Sonic only gave her a frown of disgust before pulling his arm away - joining Tangle as the lemur rushed over to help too.
"Oh gosh, are you okay!?" Tangle asked her.
"Fine." The stranger replied in a monotone whisper as they gradually sat up.
"What's going on? How did you-?" She answered him before Sonic could finish his questions.
"A beast has been chasing me." She told them.
"A Spooky?!" Tangle exclaimed.
Sonic had admittedly forgotten all about them. The memories of the injuries they had left behind on him however... that memory was still fresh. Sonic balled up his fists. "Then we've gotta take care of it." He said with determination.
After a second, Tangle nodded to him. The wolf scrambled for her weapon on the floor - and fired.
A blue beam soared past them and they followed the direction it was heading in with their eyes, their eyes widened as they saw it made contact with a bear-like beast - half the size of the tall apartment blocks, towering over the heroes.
The shot did nothing.
Its red eyes gleamed, and instead of fur - the creature's body consisted of murky, purple scales - almost allowing it to blend into the night. Before the heroes could decide what to do next, they were swept off their feet by a roar that kicked up a massive gust of wind.
They yelped in pain as their backs collided with the warehouse walls before they fell to the ground. The wolf girl whimpered and hissed, using her hand to grab hold of her shoulder.
"Are you okay-?!" Tangle asked worriedly.
"Dislocated... shoulder..." The woman gasped out. "Agh-!" She grunted as pain jolted through her.
"Guys!" Rouge snapped. "We need to get out of here - this is a fight we can avoid-!"
The oversized bear brought its two hind paws down on the ground, causing the concrete to crack.
"Um, lady-" Tangle began with a smile, trying to soothe the wolf. "We assure you that we're on the same side here, you'll be safe with-"
"Oh for goodness sake, ditch the girl and hurry up!" Rouge snapped to Tangle.
The lemur stared back at her with an open mouth. The ground trembled under the bear's weight as it begun to charge towards them.
She chose not to follow the order, instead wrapping the wolf in her tail and standing up straight. "Sonic, get on." She told him in a icy tone that he wasn't prepared for, he stood on her shoulders quickly - and Rouge wasted no time in flying up. As Sonic grabbed her legs, they immediately took flight again - just barely missing the claws of the beast that swiped at them in the air.
The group landed down on the steps of the altar, and Knuckles began to walk down to greet them. "You guys don't seem to be bleeding anywhere, I'm assuming things went well?" Knuckles asked.
"Sorry Knuckles, got someone injured here for you to take a look at-" Tangle told him regretfully, stretching out her tail and gently setting the wolf down on the step in front of the echidna. Knuckles bent down to his knees, observing her body before identifying the jutting lump on her shoulder.
Knuckles frowned for a moment before grabbing her shoulder. "Sorry... this is going to hurt." He warned the wolf.
With the twist of his hand, a crack sounded out as the wolf's shoulder was moved back into place. "Aaaaah-!" She screamed initially, before being able to take in deep breaths. After a moment of this, her trembling eased up. "Thank you." She whispered to him quietly.
"It's okay-"
"Where do you think you're going?" The burning hot rage coursing through her blood was building up seizing the reins.
All heads turned to Tangle - who in turn was addressing Rouge as she had begun walking down the altar's steps.
Rouge paused and looked back. "What does it matter?"
"Are we gonna talk about what happened back there?" Tangle folded her arms.
The assertiveness coming from the grey lemur was unusual, causing Sonic and Knuckles to exchange a glance of worry - yet an undeniable curiosity.
"Didn't plan to." Rouge shrugged. "Come on, don't make a pointless drama out of it-"
"No!" Tangle cut in. "We're not glossing over this! You seem to have forgotten all that we're trying to do - what we stand for! We're trying to take down the Empire to save lives. Yet here you were - ready to abandon someone that needed our help! That isn't what heroes do!"
"Are you- are you seriously trying to lecture me on this?" Rouge fully whipped herself around, pointing a finger at the lemur. "I've never claimed to be a hero, alright? You're the one beliving in fantasies! Believing a bunch of pathetic, delusional rebels can hold hands and defeat the Evil Empire!"
"Then if you don't believe we can a difference - why are you here with us?!"
Rouge's shoulders heaved with laughter. "Hahahaha! Tangle, I made it so fucking clear, on day one of meeting you - I had no interest in being a charity! But you clung to me like a damn leach! You picked up every random person you could off the streets-!"
"And you took them in with me!"
"Because you didn't give me a choice!" Rouge fired back. "I finally made an ally, someone who could fight - someone who'd be useful to me! I put up with your antics because I needed you but now I'm struggling to see what benefit you even bring-" Rouge stepped up closer to her. "All you're doing..." She began to speak in a dangerously quiet whisper, "... is dragging innocent people into a fight they can't win, because you believe in plucky, fictional prophecies... all you're going to do is lead them to their deaths, Tangle. Just. Like. Mighty."
"STOP!" Tangle exclaimed, suddenly pushing Rouge. The bat fell off balance, somehow managing to save herself from tumbling by landing on her knees on a step. The bat winced as Tangle continued her tirade. "You always do this! You try to make me feel guilty for doing what's right - I'm- I'm not apologising for that anymore! You always make me feel bad... because whenever I'm trying to do the right thing, it's an inconvenience to you! An inconvenience to what you want..." Tangle's eyes were glassy as they began to fill with tears. "All you care about - is getting revenge for your arm. Everything else doesn't matter. At all. You wanted to kill Sonic because you were paranoid, and you wanted to abandon that girl because it was the easy option - compassion just... it isn't even in the equation, is it?" She accused.
"I've always said that my goal was to kill Eggman, never once have I said anything different-!"
"And you'd burn every bridge to do it!" Tangle yelled. "You'd- you'd-! If I was no longer useful to you, you'd just leave me to die - wouldn't you? You'd leave all of us to die!"
"Now you catch on - only took you like, a year-" She remarked sarcastically. "Because, guess what Tangle, welcome to the fucking real world!" Rouge glared at the lemur. "People are driven by their own selfish desires! Especially me! I'll be honest with you, I don't know what else you were expecting teaming up with a thief! All I want to do is kill Eggman - I don't care what happens to everyone else, I don't care what comes after - everything could burn for all I care!" She claimed.
"How could you be so selfish?" Tangle choked out, bewildered as she made sure to not let a single tear drip free. "How can you feel no shame? You're disregarding people's lives over a grudge! Something that happened years ago!"
Rouge's eyes became ablaze with anger, but instead of arguing back - she held back her response, biting her lip.
"You bring up Mighty like you cared about him... but you never did. You only care about the day he died because it was a day that someone got the better of you, outsmarted you - you only care about things when they're a hit to your ego!" Her anger was quickly simmering down into a gentle sadness. "I used to- I-I admired you, you know that? I thought you were so cool... and strong... that you never let anything get to you, now I realise you just don't care at all."
"Are you going anywhere with this... psychoanalysis?" The bat asked dryly.
"Since I'm apparrently the only one that cared about everyone here, that I'm the one who started this whole thing - then these people, these survivors by my side - it's my responsibility to protect them." She glared. "The last thing I want to do is force you away... I just want you to understand where I'm coming from, where we are coming from-"
"Then that's where we differ, Tangle. Because right now, I think this is finally the perfect excuse for us to part ways." Rouge said coldly. "You guys are a hinderance more than useful tools... so what reason do I have to keep you around?"
"Guys-" Sonic abruptly cut in. "There's no need to break off from each other like this-"
"I think it would be the better option for everyone here." Rouge countered. "You guys can go around listening to the ghosts in your heads, and I'll be working towards achiebing my goals - with no one else holding me back."
"Then why waste your time?" Tangle gritted her teeth. "Just go. Just... go."
A prideful smile crept on her face, one that could only really be described as punchable - in some sort of twisted way, she percieved she had won this debate. "Gladly. Good luck on your fantasy endeavours."
With a flap of her wings, she took flight. Tangle watched her go, gulping down the lump in her throat. Gradually, the lemur turned around and faced the two guys - Knuckles' expression was hard to read - but there was some sort of lingering annoyance lurking behind the neutrality. Sonic's eyes were wide and his ears were down - he seemed... saddened.
They had wanted her to stay, hadn't they?
"I'm- Oh gosh-" Tangle's voice quivered. "I don't know what I've done I- I'm so sorry-"
Mwahahahah!
I took a bit longer to release this chapter because I was recovering from the big bad sickness, my brain was f o g. But I have come back and served up some delicious drama mwahahha!
TO RECAP: Rouge is haunted by nightmares, Silver and Tikal have teamed up in the In-Between to do... something, Silver himself doesn't really know - man is going with the flow, and finally what was supposed to be a supply run finally allows the londbuilding tension between Tangle and Rouge to erupt.
Rouge is gone from the team... but they might just have a new friend in Whisper.
NEXT TIME: Amy gets to experience the joys that Empire City has to offer. The gang has got to figure out what on Mobius they do now without their team strategist and let's be frank - main functioning brain cell, meanwhile Rouge herself shakes hands with a green stained glove as shadows begin to awake...
Once again - BLESS YA'LL FOR ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT AAAA Love you guys so much! Comments and critiques - always open! I love hearing from ya! But for now, I'll see ya later :)