The Mystic Ruins were a place of wonder and mystery, despite the fact that they currently held only a fraction of their former glory. The ancient tribe of echidnas once inhabited the area, and built great temples and palaces. Although most of the beautiful architecture was gone now, one of their most important buildings still existed in ruins deep inside the jungle. The echidnas were for the most part extinct. Only one of them still existed, but the sole member still lived nearby, on the floating island above the ruins, guarding the tribe's prized object, the Master Emerald. The Master Emerald was a powerful gem that had the power to cancel out the effects of the Chaos Emeralds. For this reason, it is craved by people of good and evil alike.
Sonic ran down one of the many mountains that surrounded the ruins, and came to an abrupt stop as he reached level footing.
"What's my time, Tails?" Sonic asked his friend. Tails and Rouge landed nearby.
"Was I supposed to be keeping time?" Tails asked. Sonic didn't respond.
"Why didn't we just take the train?" Rouge asked Sonic. "We could've got on free with my governemtn pass."
"Too slow." Sonic told her.
"The lab is just up those stairs." Tails pointed to a large set of stairs taht lead to a large blank area, with a small workshop. Tails walked up the stairs and motioned for Rouge and Sonic to fallow.
The lab was dull and dark. Various machines were scattered about. It wasn't clean either. Oil and dust were everywhere.
"Nice place." rouge said sarcastically as she kicked an oil can under a small couch that was near the door.
"I don't come here much anymore since I got my new lab in Emerald Town." Tails reminded Rouge. Sonic sat on the dusty couch.
"Don't sit there, Sonic! That's filthy!" Rouge complained. Sonic shrugged. Tails walked over to a large computer.
"This computer will get us a reading of all of the chaos energy nearby." Tails explained. He typed in a few things on the keyboard and motioned for Sonic and Rouge to look at the screen.
"So, what does it all mean?" Rouge asked.
"Well, I'm only getting a reading for six of the seven emeralds. The diamond one, or the one Shadow had when he vanished, isn't givng off any sort of signal."
"Damn! What is powerful enough to block an emerald signal?" Sonic wondered aloud.
"It's even stranger that I'm getting a reading from seven other objects emitting chaos energy." Tails explained. "But what could have chaos energy and not be a chaos emerald?"
"Let's check it out! Can you pull up a map to see where these other signals are coming from?" Sonic asked. Tails nodded and typed in a few more things that made no sense to Sonic or Rouge. A large map came up.
"According to this, they are all in one spot, arranged in a circle in a place called Gimme Shelter." Tails informed his comrads.
"Where the hell is Gimme Shelter?" Sonic asked.
"That's Doctor Eggman's base, over in Night Babylon!" Rouge shouted. "It's right by my club."
"Great! Let's go!" Sonic was about to dash out the door when Rouge put a hand on his shoulder.
"Not so fast, blue boy. We're taking the train. A lady like myself shouldn't have to use energy when not on the job." She winked.
"Fine. We can take the train right into Central City, and then walk to Night Babylon." Sonic had a plan.
"Maybe we should find another Chaos Emerald first." Tails suggested. "You know, then we could Chaos Control away if we get into trouble. We are going into Eggman's base."
"Shouldn't we hurry though? I hope Shadow is okay..." Rouge was concerned.
"Shadow will be fine, wherever he is." Sonic assured her. Rouge knew he was right. Tails got a map of where the other six chaos emeralds were on his computer.
"The closest one is in Windy Valley." He told Sonic.
"I'll get it. You two stay here. I'll be back before you know it." Sonic told Rouge and Tails.
"Perhaps I should be the one to go and get it. Afterall, I do have a knack for finding jewels and gems." Rouge reminded him.
"Yeah. You're right, Rouge." Sonic gave her a thumbs up. Rouge smiled, walked outside and closed the door behind her. Tails looked out of the small window of the lab and watched as she took to the skies. Sonic sat on the couch again.
"Does the shower in this place still work?" Sonic asked.
"It should." Tails responded, not looking away from his computer screen. He was still typing.
"Cool. I'm gonna get clean real quick before Rouge gets back." Sonic took off his shoes and socks, got up and headed for the small kitchen area. The small kitchen was filthy as well. Coffee stains were everywhere and the table had what looked like dusty scrambled eggs on it. There was a small bathtub in there also, along with a toilet. Sonic stepped in and turned the hot water dial. Nothing happened.
"Yo, Tails!" Sonic hollared. "Can you come in here for a sec?" Tails walked to the shower.
"Nothing is coming out." Sonic pointed to the shower head. As soon as he did, a black slime shot out all over Sonic. It continued to run for a few seconds before clear, clean water flowed.
"Sorry. I guess the pipes are clogged. I haven't used it in awhile. Sonic frowned and motioned for him to leave. Sonic pulled back the cutain and continued with his shower. Tails returned to his computer.
"What's my time, shug?" Rouge asked as he came though the door. Tails turned to her.
"Why is everybody asking me that?" Tails was annoyed.
"Whatever. Let's go. I have to open the club soon." Rouge reminded him. It was about seven o' clock now and it was dark outside.
"I guess we can go whenever Sonic is out of the shower." Tails told Rouge.
"Oh! He's finally cleaning? Good!" Rouge didn't approve of Sonic's sloppy lifestyle. Right after he said that, a large cloud of steam flowed into the room, and Sonic stepped out, quills plastered to his head with water.
"Hey, Tails, did..WHA! ROUGE! A LITTLE PRIVACEY!" Sonic shouted as he ranback into the shower. Rouge laughed loudly as she turned to the door of the samll lab and waited outside.
"He's kind of cute..." Rouge said to herself as she looked around the mystic ruins. it really did look mystic at night. But she knew that it wasn't Sonic she wanted. She had her eye on Knuckles, the last remaining member of the ancient echidna tribe. Plus, he had the master emerald, and she wanted that more than anything. Shadow was of interest too. She was into Shadow before Knuckles. The president sent her to research Shadow, a project she didn't mind at all. He was mysterious and unique, much like herself. But Knuckles was a more realistic goal. And Shadow was ruthless, and often violent, While Knuckles had proven he could be a gentleman. And she couldn't imagine herself with Shadow anyway. After seeing what he was created from, she knew right then that getting involved with Shadow in an intimate way would be a bad idea. But she still cared for him. Fate seemed to bring them together. They've teamed up many times in the past, not by will, but because they had too. The Hot Shot incident in the Security Hall, The Egg Emporer at the Air Fleet, The Guard Robots in Gimme Shelter, There were just to many to count. But Knuckles was fun. He didn't mean to be, he just was. She enjoyed playing mind games with him, and flirting with him. Sending him mixed signals. He was her toy. And she knew he was tough on the outside, which is what she liked about Shadow, but on the inside he was sweet and concerned. Concerned about his deceased family. She wished Knuckles was coming with on this trip, but she knew it was easier for her to deal with him and Shadow seperatley.
"That girl is faster than I thought." Sonic said, his cheeks still red with embaressment as he dug through some boxes in one of the lab's closets. Tails was sitting on the couch. Sonic was looking for some new socks. He kept some of his things at Tails's lab because he often spent the night there, especially when Eggman was at large.
"Found 'em!" Sonic grabebd a pair of white socks out of the box and sat next to Tails.
"I suppose I need to clean in here." Tails admitted.
"Meh." Sonic put his socks on his feet, and then slipped on his shoes.
"How do my quills look?" Sonic stood up and modeled for Tails.
"Fine." Tails answered, not wanting to say anythign that may make him take longer. Sonic and Tails walked out the door to join Rouge.
"It's about time." Rouge giggled.
"Let's go, We're going to miss the train!" Sonic blushed. The trio headed down the stairs and over to the train departing for Central City.