Chapter 6: Siblings
SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG TOTALS GUN MILITARY BASE!
ALL POLICE FORCES ORDERED TO INCAPACITATE AND CAPTURE THE EX HERO.
That was the headline in the newspaper Rouge the Bat had woken up to on this drizzly Thursday. Though Shadow had a history of creating Chaos among GUN forces, Rouge still found it hard to believe Shadow would attack the military unprovoked… that and the friendship she felt for him. But still she was worried for him. Shadow had a knack for getting into trouble when he least needed it. Maybe I should call up Omega and MS and… NO! Helping Shadow escape from the authorities would only get the cops on her faster than ticks on a monkey. She needed something to take her mind off Shadow. She did what any girl does in such a situation: go to the mall. And so there she sat in the food court, reading the paper; which she tossed disgustedly on the table.
The paper had made out Shadow to be a blood-crazed maniac. After working with him on Team Dark for a year and a half, she knew that was the farthest thing from the truth. Although, had she seen Shade's handiwork, she might have known the only real mistake in the paper was the perpetrator.
Rouge slowly reminisced back to when they were a team. As she relived her memories, she pulled out a picture of Team Dark. There was her, trying to be attractive, Omega with his trademark fist and the newly reformed Metal Sonic scowling. And last was Shadow, giving a rare smile.
"Nice headline, huh?"
Rouge was very unceremoniously brought back into reality. There was a stranger sitting at her table, reading the paper. A few blue spines poked up over the top of the paper.
"Sonic?" she asked.
"Wrong," said the stranger, and he brought down the paper. He looked like Sonic, but he wasn't. His quills were a darker shade of blue and where Sonic was tan, he was white. His eyes were crystal blue. "Name's Blizzard."
"Riiiiiiiight," Rouge said, "I'm not interested, if you're gonna spout pick-up-lines."
Blizzard laughed. "You've got me all wrong, darlin'," he said in a slight Texan accent, "Ah'm not here fer a good time. Ah need yer 'services.'"
"Services?"
"Mah 'intel' tells me yer the best damn jewel thief this side o' the west coast."
"That's right."
"Ah'm goin' ter save you a lotta time and cut to the chase. Ah need the Chaos Emerald at the museum, and ah need it quick," he tossed a bag onto the table, "that's yer advance. There's triple where that came from, if you pull through fer me."
Rouge picked up the bag and opened it, and then her eyes almost popped out of her head. The bag was filled to the brim with diamonds. She looked up to acknowledge him, but stopped. Blizzard was gone.
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Rouge did not know she was being watched. High up towards the ceiling, on one of the rafters, a black hedgehog watched her get up and walk away. Shade had obtained a bit of clothing, since his release three days ago. He now had a long trench coat along with his shoes and gloves. A pair of sunglasses stuck out of the pocket. The previous owner of these items would not miss them very soon; he was lying in an alleyway, his head on backwards.
Light footfalls announced Blizzards presence. "Ain't she a looker?" was all the greeting Shade got.
"Nice to see you too, little brother," Shade grunted.
"Ah, c'mon. Ah know you want 'er in the crook of yer arm."
"She's not my type woman."
"Yer type of girl is the kind lyin' dead in some alleyway."
"She is a sexual object to you, she's a tool to be used for me."
"Tools have sev'ral uses."
"Let me rephrase that. She's expendable."
"Yer just coverin' yer ass, cuz you know she'd just pass you right over."
"If I wanted to have her, which I don't, she would be mine in an instant."
"Oh really, how?"
Blizzard suddenly did a kick-flip backwards and landed with the beam between his legs.
"The same way I made you smash your balls," Shade growled.
"Remind me to kill you," Blizzard said from behind clenched teeth.
"Noted." Shade pulled out the Chaos Emerald he already had and began to spin it on his finger like a basketball. No longer was it blue and radiant; it had become dull, grey, and cracked.
"Why don't we start breakin' stuff now?"
"Our strength alone isn't enough to bring this world to its knees. We must be nine again. But we can start early, if we have Voltage."
"Start early?"
"I think we should give the world a little appetizer of what we can do before we get serious."
"Ah thank yer right."
"People fear lightning and thunder. So they are most definitely going to fear my little brother." Shade gave a smile and clasped the Chaos Emerald in his hand. In a flash of black, they were gone.