Noon was upon them.
The hedgehog was grateful for the abundance of clocks lining the walls and generally being placed in every room. Being underground had a distinct disadvantage in the fact you couldn't look outside and see what time of day it was. It hadn't even been two full days yet, and he already missed the wide and bright expanse of the blue sky. He was glad that Rouge wanted him on this mission.
He had been told to stay in his room and wait to be collected. Of course, he could understand Rouge's apprehension to allow him near everyone else - but the isolation was getting to him a bit. While he had been rescued by her, he did feel somewhat like a prisoner - especially in that tiny, bare room that didn't even contain a bed.
"You ready?" The bat called out, and Sonic's eyes perked up.
"You bet!" Sonic assured her. He desperately wanted to get out as soon as possible so he could run - feeling the cool wind blow against his face, to see the world fly by. However, he didn't wish to come off as too eager - so he walked up to Rouge and was surprised when he saw Tangle right next to her. "She coming with?" Sonic asked.
"Yeah..." Rouge seemed a little exasperated. "She was insistent."
Tangle, on the other hand, was a little smug. "It took a lot of begging, but I can be persistent! You need someone to watch out for you two, right?"
"Well, it can't exactly hurt to have backup." Sonic acknowledged with a shrug, hoping he could bring an end to this slight conflict before any bickering could start.
"All we gotta be is efficient." Rouge said as she was already walking ahead, and Sonic and Tangle were now falling in stride. "So let's just get this over with, shall we?"
"Yes, ma'am!" Tangle cheered.
Sonic eyed the bat's neutral, somewhat dismissive expression before his eyes made his way down and caught sight of a holster on the bat's hip. It contained a dagger.
Huh, he had never seen her fight with one before.
Down the hall they finally came across a ramp leading upwards to a door - but nothing like the wooden ones in the underground base. This one was large and made of stone, but the points of interest were in the details. There were thin lines of gold across it forming geometric shapes. There was no way this sort of thing was natural, so he wondered when this would have been made - and he was even more curious about where he actually was now.
Rouge held a hand to the door... but she had bent down to do it, touching an area nearer the bottom right corner. The hedgehog's brow rose as she did this, but he knew she wouldn't do that if there was no point to it.
The gold lines all lit up, glowing softly. Stunned, Sonic watched as Rouge stood herself back up and the door was sliding open - letting in all the light from the outside world and forcing the hedgehog to close his eyes.
"Wha-?" Sonic let out, waiting a moment and opening his eyes just slightly as to not blind himself. "What kind of a door is that?"
"Not sure." Rouge told him. "I got here and just found it - it's some sort of secret door. Might be ancient tech? Considering where we are."
Finally able to open his eyes fully, Sonic realised he was staring straight at Mystic Ruins - untouched, same as it always was. The hedgehog smiled.
"I guess the world has its secrets." Sonic responded to what Rouge said, but was mostly struck by the familiar sight. He couldn't help himself - he suddenly took off, weaving in and out amongst the ruins of the temples of old, relishing in the freedom, breathing in the crisp, cleaner air that was a far cry from the city, feeling infinitely more alive as though energy flowed through his veins.
"Haha!" Sonic finally grinded to a halt after running around in circles, facing two very confused girls - but he still kept grinning like an idiot. "Fresh air and a run! Nothing better!" He declared, hands on hips.
Moments passed in awkward silence until Rouge smiled lightly. "You act as though you've been let out a prison after a decade. Don't tell me my hospitality is that bad." She teased, and Sonic couldn't help but let out a little laugh.
"Rouge wasn't kidding when she told me you were fast!" Tangle exclaimed in awe, her mouth forming an 'o' shape. "I mean- you were there, I saw you there and as soon as I look- boom! You're on the other end of the ruins! I don't think I even got the chance to blink..."
"Heh, as I've said - you ain't seen nothing yet." He brushed the tip of his nose with a smirk, couldn't a man indulge himself in praise now and again?
"He may be fast, but he's also the one holding the mission up with his running sprees. I'd prefer it if we got moving instead-" Rouge begun before getting interrupted by an enthusiastic hedgehog.
"Of course! My bad. I can hold one of you in my arms but the other will need to hold onto my back so I can run us over-"
"Nuh-uh." The bat shook her head, and the other two looked at her in confusion. "I don't want you running around these ruins, not like that. If Robotnik's picking up energy spikes he'll trace it to here and discover our hideout. This is the only one I've been able to find so I can't afford to screw this up - you feel me? It's either this or melting in the deserts of Chun-nan, if that isn't already overrun by factories..."
Sonic hadn't even thought of that, and he felt bad instantly. "Oh, right- I'm sorry-" He rubbed the back of his head. "I won't do that again-"
"Thank youuu~" Her tone immediately switched to nonchalant again. "You can start running when we're closer to the city - but otherwise, I'm going to need you to go slow while you're in this jungle."
Slow - what an awful word.
"You got it." Sonic said regardless. The three of them would head on their slow trek through the jungle and it ended up being better than he had initially thought. The state of Station Square easily made him uneasy, so seeing all the greens, the colourful flowers in bloom, and the birds flying over head filled him with a comforting contentment.
He thought nothing of it when he heard rustling up ahead, but for whatever reason - Rouge halted in her tracks. He caught sight of her ear flickering, and her complexion growing paler.
"Shit..." She let out in frustration. "Not one of those things again..."
Tangle gasped. "A Spooky?"
Rouge groaned, and Tangle seemed to accept this answer as a confirmation as she bit her lip. "Uhhh... am I supposed to know what you guys are talking about?" Sonic asked, narrowing his eyes.
"There's a monster up ahead. A big one by the sounds of it." Rouge said.
"I call them the Spookies!" Tangle then piped up. "They're these weird monster creatures with some glowing red and purple features... big teeth, a whole lot of strength, I've seen them straight up trample people before..." Her voice grew weaker as she recalled these memories. "They showed up just a few months after the Empire came to be... but they don't seem to be anything to do with them. In fact, whether you support the Empire or not.. they're everyone's common enemies. Robots take them out all the same."
Not even knowledge of an entirely separate timeline could help him figure out what those things were, and it made his brow furrow. "I... see." What could those things possibly be?
"We're quite lucky to have Rouge on our side, with those big ears - she can hear stuff like this from far away!" Tangle said, pointing to the bat's ears, a gesture that Rouge chose not to remark on.
"If you talk much louder the thing will hear us." Rouge pointed out. "And if you're gonna be sloppy enough to bring one of those things upon you... I might just leave you to deal with it on your own." She smirked, but in all honesty - her eyes just never seemed to have the same humor, he wondered whether it was truly a jest or not. Was Rouge just sterner in this timeline? Is that why she came off this way? He supposed she would have to get more serious if she was leading this rebeliion.
They knew to fall silent from that point on, their footsteps light.
Rouge brought them to a bunch of bushes once the monster was in sight. Sonic couldn't help but gawk at the sight - it was a massively oversized spider, the hairs covering its body being the same width as Sonic's leg. While he didn't have a phobia, he couldn't help but shudder at the way it sporadically moved its legs, circling around the area. Its eyes were well-defined - they were glowing red and had reptilian, narrowed pupils. The fangs dripped with purple ooze, and on its belly - there was a swampy green patch.
"Eurgh-" The hedgehog let out.
"That about sums it up," Rouge agreed, keeping her voice low. "I know I didn't want you using your powers around these parts... but there's no way we're gonna win this fight without using all our tools at our disposal. You're free to run."
Thank God.
"Tangle, you know what to do." She nodded to her, and Sonic caught sight of Tangle's determined smile. "Sonic, you keep the thing focused on you. Tangle will trap it and I'll attack from behind."
"Heh, so I'm the distraction? Guess I need to show off then!"
"How charming. She gave a slight snigger. "You better live up to all the hype, do your thing." Rouge slipped back into the bushes and seemingly disappeared - the woman's stealth work was truly admirable, as were her strategies. Sonic would of course oblige Rouge's orders and dash straight in front of the monster.
"Over here, you overgrown arachnid!" Sonic called up to it, smirking.
Predictably, the spider immediately turned to face him. It lifted up one of its front legs, ready to bring it down upon the hedgehog and dig the sharp end through his skull. Sonic sidestepped effortlessly. "Woops! Missed me!"
It tried again. The same result occurred. "Missed me again!"
On the third attempt, Sonic waited until the last possible second - and yet he remained unscathed. "Oops, almost got me!"
It hissed at him, loudly, he felt spider spit in his face. "Come on man, I'm going easy on you here!"
The thing finally decided it was time for a different tactic. For a moment it was still, before suddenly unleashing a large volume of purple ooze from its mouth, spraying everywhere near the hedgehog. Thankfully, he managed to avoid it all - not even a single drop tainted his fur. Sonic was about to make another quip - but words evaded him as he caught sight of one of the most magnificent things he had ever seen.
It was undoubtedly the lemur's tail - it had shot out from the bush... and it was long. It kept longer in fact! It wrapped itself around all of the spiders legs, coiling around them several times before it tightened - bunching all of the legs together. The monster became unsteady, unable to stand so it slowly began to topple - giving Sonic plenty of time to run back and put a bit of difference between them as the spider landed down with a tremendous thud - one that caused the ground to tremble.
Tangle stepped out of the bush and giggled with satisfaction, her tail still had its tight grip on the monster. "Good going!"
Sonic could feel the stars in his eyes. "That's so cool-" His voice was filled with awe.
"Oh - heh! Thanks-"
Both of their heads turned at the sound of a rustle. The bat had leaped out from a collection of trees behind the spider - prepared to land a kick on its back for a final, devastating blow. At least that's what should have happened.
Instead, Rouge found herself landing on something entirely different - a gigantic hawk bird swooped to intercept the attack, and so Rouge found herself colliding on its back. The creature had the same piercing red eyes as the spider and had jet black feathers.
Rouge's expression was baffled as she was now riding atop the creature as it screeches. "Where did you come from?!" Rouge yelled. "Can't I get an easy kill for once?!" The bat and the bird flew off into the distance before much else could be done.
"That's not good-" Tangle gulped, then addressed Sonic in a rush. "So basically like- the Spookies have this like magical force field thing that is really hard to break through - but Rouge has enough kicking strength to usually do that sort of thing just fine! Hence the plan. But now we've just gotta keep hitting it and hitting it until we can break through-!"
"You keep hold of it then! I'll hit it with all I've got." Sonic turned back to the monster, and was ready to jump into a homing attack, but then he heard a scream.
"AAAAH!" Tangle clutched her shoulder, panting for breath. Sonic noticed the purple ooze had made contact with her body. "It burns-! Rouge keeps telling me I need to look at my surroundings-!"
He then saw how Tangle's tail was retracting back in as she was now unable to focus, but this meant the spider was getting free from her grasp.
"Tangle! You don't wanna be in the way when it-!"
The spider's first free leg was already trying to strike at Tangle, and Sonic dashed towards the lemur. He wanted to scoop her up and get her to safety but there was no time for that. Instead, he shoved her as hard as he could out of the way - but unfortunately, he received the attack instead.
The spider's sharp leg grazed deeply against the back of Sonic's right leg. "GAH-!" The hedgehog stumbled, unable to stand as his wound stung harsher than anything he'd ever felt before. He could smell the blood from his wound.
Tangle, from her position on the ground, was safe - but she was staring up at Sonic in horror. "Oh gosh- I-" She gritted her teeth, bringing herself to a standing position. "Sonic!"
"Don't worry- about me-!" The hedgehog exclaimed through what was quite frankly agony, but there was a monster to kill. He tucked into a ball, launched himself up, and homing attacked the spider on the top of its head.
And again. And again. And again. And again!
He felt something akin to glass shattering, was that the invisible forcefield? One more.
He felt his quills get covered in the warm, thick blood of the creature as he broke through its skin. He shuddered, but jumped all the way down to the ground. Sure enough, it was dead - the haunting red eyes were now closed, and it didn't move an inch.
"Tangle, you alright?" The hedgehog asked, limping over to the lemur.
"Yeah, I'm fine- you aren't though! That's a nasty gash, your leg is covered in blood! I-I think Rouge has a first aid kit so just wait a moment-"
"Rouge!" Sonic exclaimed. "Is she okay?"
"I don't know! She and the bird flew off I-"
Both of their heads turn when they caught the spider suddenly glowing a slight red, and then - the whole monster vanished, floating away in a pile of sparkly red dust that disappeared into the sky. "Yeah they uh- they do that-" Tangle exclaimed, still in shock over Sonic's wound.
However, both of them would be greeted by a relieving sight. Rouge stumbled out of the bushes, twigs and leaves in her hair, and a few cuts here and there on her face, but nothing too major. "Stupid bird... how didn't I hear it earlier- Woah!" Rouge stopped talking to herself as soon as she saw the other two. "You guys had it rough I see..."
Tangle wasted no time in making sure Sonic got the help he needed. "Rouge, can you get a bandage on Sonic's leg? I don't think he can afford to lose much more blood-"
Rouge jogged over. Sonic remained standing, grimacing on the occasion as his right leg ached and pulsed. She bent down, pulling out her first aid kit. "Ugh... that's a nasty one." She remarked as she laid eyes on the wound. She began to wrap a bandage around it. "You look like you've been burned through your sleeve Tangle, get an ice pack on it."
"Right-" Tangle said with some embarrassment, picking up an ice pack and holding it to her shoulder. "Is Sonic being okay?"
The bat sighed. "He's not gonna die, I'll say that much."
"Heh-" Sonic laughed despite the pain. "It'll take a lot more than this to kill me." Sonic was aware of his own freakish defense and endurance, able to take some of the heaviest hitting blows as through they were merely a slap in the face.
"All done." Rouge said, standing up. "I imagine walking's difficult now, let alone running - you sure you gonna be able to do this?" The bat asked with a skeptical head tilt.
"Of course." Sonic kept his voice firm. "Not like it's a broken bone or anything. I can still walk."
Rouge blinked. "Your funeral, hon... I wouldn't want to walk with a wound like that, it must hurt to just take a step."
"It's pain I can live through." Sonic assured her.
"Please tell us if it gets too much for you." Tangle pleaded.
"Don't worry, I will." He wasn't quite as stubborn as Knuckles.
"Well now... I suppose it would be unfair to hurry this along so- take five I guess? Ten?" Rouge shrugged, comparably much more calmer and chill than Tangle.
"Actually, Rouge? Can we talk? Just us two?" Tangle asked.
"Sure." Rouge responded slowly, the two fell at each other's side and put a significant amount of distance between himself and them, they were no longer in earshot. Sonic wasn't even curious about the matter, he was just glad he managed to save Tangle's life today.
"I... don't think he's Project Shadow."
"Tangle..."
"I'm serious! I- look, that injury? He got it because he saved me! If he was evil and just pretending to be our friend then why would he let himself get hurt? Wouldn't he want my to die instead?!"
"Tangle." Rouge cut in, exasperated. "Naivety is a cruel thing, don't let it affect your judgement. Sonic still gains a lot of things from saving you! He obviously did that to earn our trust, and is now making you feel like you owe him something out of guilt - which he sure as hell will use later."
"I don't see it." Tangle insisted. "I know why you have your suspicions, I was suspicious of him too at first! But the more we've spoken with him - the more sincere he's felt! He suffered a massive injury for my sake and even after that he was concerned for even your safety!"
"Well clearly that wound was a consequence he's willing to live through. Think about it - no normal man would say he could still carry on doing this mission with that kind of injury. Clearly he made a 'noble sacrifice', knew that it wouldn't actually bother him that much, and he'd still get to reap the benefits of our friendship."
"I just- Oh I don't know- It was just so selfless of him-"
"Tangle..." Rouge smiled gently, placing a hand on the lemur's uninjured shoulder. "You're optimistic, and you're always wanting to see the good in people. That's an admirable trait to have, hon... but sometimes bad people do good things only when it suits them. And I'm afraid this is one of those instances. He's just... too good to be true, ya feel me? I have experience in this stuff, Tangle. I can read people."
"I... I suppose you are the smarter one... when it comes to this stuff, and most other things-" Tangle sighed in defeat.
"No need to get all self-deprecating now." Rouge shook her head. "You have other things you bring to the table."
"I guess so."
"Either way, I made sure I tied the bandage around the wound loosely, he's still losing blood under there. Ideally, I want him to pass out on the way to the city so we can kill him without hassle while he's knocked out."
Tangle wrapped her arms around her body, hugging herself and looking down, eyes downcast. "Yeah, that makes sense."
"Negativity doesn't suit you, sweetheart." Rouge told her. "No need to be so glum, remember that we're doing this to keep everyone else safe." Rouge finally turned her back to the lemur and was walking back to Sonic. "How ya feeling now?!" She called out to the hedgehog, Tangle slowly following behind.
"Good evening, Emperor." A young, two-tailed fox bowed before his leader. "I wish to bring something to your attention."
"Yes?" Robotnik did not look at the boy as his back was turned, he was in his chair observing a large screen, scrolling through rapidly to find the measly piece of data he was looking for.
"Energy levels in our factories are slowly depleting, Emperor. Especially in our more remote locations. I have reason to believe our main battery is likely the cause." The fox straightened himself up, his posture was formal. Robotnik deserved no less.
The older man groaned. "Then do what you must to get that imbecile to be useful, Miles."
Miles grinned, showing his teeth as he fought back a giggle. "Of course, my Emperor. I'll pay him a visit and make sure he gets back to work."
"Good. Now leave, I'm busy."
"Of course, my Emperor." Miles wasted no time in leaving as requested.
Sonic, Rouge, and Tangle fight a spider and bird monster - and Sonic saves Tangle's life! Now Tangle doubts Rouge - thinking Sonic couldn't be evil. Seems like Rouge managed to convince her in the end though... somewhat. Also Robotnik and Miles? What were those two talking about? Yes boys, yes you did just get to see Tails for the first time in this timeline! A short and sweet introduction, and I can't wait for him to play a bigger role later on.
What are those monster creatures? Will Rouge successfully murder Sonic? What is this 'battery' Miles spoke of? You'll be finding out soon :) Shit's getting good from here and I'm very excited for the next chapter! I hope you'll enjoy it.
I listened to Vandalize while writing this chapter, straight banger - I can't lie. Frontiers has me hyped now.
As always, feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you to everyone who has shown their support so far! But for now, see ya later! :)
