"Happy birthday, Rouge!"
The bat looked in mild surprise at the cupcake in front of her, clustered with six lit candles. Maria's smile glowed in the soft candlelight, while Professor Gerald observed from a safe distance. Rouge hesitantly held out her hands, watching closely for any warning signs that Maria would start to get tremors, but the cake landed evenly in her hands, and Maria was fine.
"You didn't have to do this for me."
"It's your birthday, I had to get you a cake!"
Rouge chose not to remind her sister that she was never truly born. Instead, she looked at the dessert with interest. It looked oddly perfect, unlike most of the things that came out of the kitchens whenever Maria was involved, with the exception of the frosting being off-center.
"I ordered it from Earth," Maria explained, surprising Rouge. "Because I heard that Earth-made snacks taste different and can last a lot longer thanks to preservatives. They're not healthy, so I'm not allowed to eat any…"
Rouge felt a pang of guilt at that.
"...but this isn't for me. It's for you! So hurry and blow out the candles and make a wish!"
Rouge stared at the candles, feeling an odd sense of wonder. Six years. Six years since her creation was finalized and she was woken up. Six years of rapid growth and maturation, of training and learning, of embracing her role as…
As…?
What was she supposed to be, again?
She blew out the candles and made a wish, but what she wished for remained unclear. Maria grinned and Professor Gerald stepped forward, plucking the half-melted candles from Rouge's cupcake. "It's a milestone year," he remarked, wiping the excess frosting from the candles. "You may remember when I told you about your rapid maturation rate of three-to-one?"
She did not.
But she nodded with perfect clarity and certainty.
"We engineered you to grow in body and mind at a rate three times that of the average human," Professor Gerald explained anyhow, for the man did love to explain and reexplain until he was out of breath. "This was to ensure your quick adjustment into our world. That means that even though you've been among us for six years, you have the body and brain of someone eighteen years of age."
"Eighteen years?" Rouge echoed, looking at her cupcake again in wonder.
"That means you'd be an adult," Maria realized.
Rouge glanced back up at Maria; despite being an 'adult', whether that truly meant something or not to someone like her, Maria and Professor Gerald and all the rest of the humans on the ARK were much larger than her. "Does that make me the older sister, then?" she asked.
"What? No way! I'll always be the big sister, no matter how old you get!" Maria's bright blue eyes closed as she stuck out her tongue at Rouge, completely unbecoming of a fifteen year old girl, but it made Rouge smile.
"Okay then… Big Sister Maria."
That made Maria giggle, a sweet sound that sent another pang straight to Rouge's core. "Don't forget it, Little Sister Rouge!"
The bat was still smiling as she took a bite of the cupcake, and her eyes widened in amazement. She could taste it! Well and truly taste it! She looked back up at Maria and Professor Gerald, and Maria's giggles turned into pure laughter at the bat's incredulous expression.
"I asked them to make it as sweet as possible, since I know your tastebuds don't work like everyone else's."
"That was to ensure a lack of pickiness in your eating habits," Professor Gerald explained, and Maria's affectionately exasperated glance at him told Rouge that this was likely something he had told them several times. "A lack of taste derives less enjoyment from food, but it also means you'll be less likely to have preferences and go hungry from a lack of options."
Rouge kept chewing until the sweetness flooded her mouth and the pasty was little more than mush on her tongue. She was reluctant to swallow, but she had another question to ask, and it was improper to talk with one's mouth full. The sweet taste managed to linger as she spoke again. "Professor? Is my being eighteen years old the milestone you mentioned?"
"Aha, clever girl! Well done, Rouge, I'd forgotten." The professor cleared his throat as Rouge took another bite of the sweet, sweet cupcake. "As you know, Rouge, you are essentially ageless, or at least, you will be once you cease maturation. Your rapid growth was something we projected sustainable only for the first few years of your life. You remember the many years in which you ate more than three times your weight in food in a single day?"
Rouge did not remember, yet her head nodded up and down again.
"Such growth requires a lot of energy to maintain. Ordinarily we would use a Chaos Emerald, but…" Professor Gerald frowned and Maria frowned with him, and Rouge felt herself frown as well, despite once again having no memory of what happened.
"As such," he continued on, "we figured that six years was the maximum we could sustain this growth. From this point on, your growth should continue on as the average person's does, with a one-to-one ratio, and your body and brain will continue to mature until fully developed at twenty five or twenty six years of age."
Rouge paused in her chewing, contemplating this. Six years old. Eighteen years old. The beginning of the rest of her life, until she reached a point of agelessness…
Amazing how some things made so little sense, and yet were perfectly easy for her to accept and believe.
Then, the world around her changed.
The vast expanse of space stretched out in front of her, out the window facing the world below, and Maria, pale and frail-looking, stood next to her, her exhausted eyes looking brightly at the Earth.
"Rouge… What do you think it's like on Earth?" she asked, voice weak but still full of wonder.
"The professor said his life's work is dedicated to all of those who live down there. He once told that the reason for his existence was making people happy through the power of science."
But wait… Didn't he create weapons? Didn't he create…
"Rouge…" Maria sounded so sad, and Rouge…
"Big Sister Maria… I just don't know anything anymore. I often wonder why I was created, what my purpose is for being here. Aside from…"
She looked away from the endless void of space, over to the girl who looked like a simple cough would be enough to knock her over, and then back to the window, resting a gloved hand on the glass.
"Maybe if I go down there, I will find the answers. Maybe…"
Her voice trailed off, and for a moment she looked down at the blue planet, so far away and so full of mysteries. She heard shifting beside her, and she looked back at Maria, who looked down at the world with such a forlorn expression that Rouge's heart broke.
"Maria…"
Her gaunt face turned to hers, and then…
Everything changed again.
Maria's face was the palest she had ever seen, drenched in sweat, with clumps of blond hair plastered to her forehead as she heaved breath after heavy breath, and Rouge screamed and cried out and slammed her fists against the glass dome surrounding her.
"MARIA! MARIA!"
"Sayonara," she wheezed, and Rouge saw red bleed out all over her dress as Maria's eyes struggled to remain open, "Big Sister Rouge…"
"MARIA!"
"Hey."
Rouge gasped, jolted out of her reverie which had only served to pose more questions than it answered. Her hands flew to her head, massaging at her temples as she tried to make sense of these new memories that had resurfaced… but she only felt sorrow and shock and an overwhelming sense of loss and uncertainty.
What was real anymore?
"What's up with you?"
Rouge's hands lowered as Shadow walked up next to her, glancing down with poorly-veiled interest at the sight of Earth so far below them. Just like Maria had-
No. Don't compare them.
"It's a headache," she lied. "If I use Chaos Control too often it takes a toll on me."
"Shame. An ability like that sure comes in handy."
He sounded remarkably calm now, considering he was certain he was about to die only minutes ago. Rouge considered that he might be practiced at hiding his true thoughts and feelings, though instead of an all-around poker face like Rouge had, he just distracted others with boasting and flirting and an outgoing, spunky attitude.
The thought was saddening.
"Anyways… I guess you want me to say 'thanks' for saving me and stuff."
"Do whatever you want to do."
Shadow exhaled through his nose, glaring at her. "Wow, and here I was, all afraid that I was being the ungrateful one!"
Rouge frowned. "I wasn't saying that to be dismissive. I was saying that you can apologize if you want to, regardless of what I want."
Color flooded Shadow's cheeks and he stared intensely at the window in front of him. "Oh. Sorry."
Silence descended on both of them, and Rouge had no idea how to break it. The few memories she had all involved someone else speaking to her, first. Rouge didn't need a full grasp on her past to understand that she wasn't a good conversationalist.
Luckily for her, Shadow seemed to find keeping his mouth shut impossible. "So a headache, huh? That sucks. How many times did you Chaos Control down on the island?"
Rouge pondered it over. "Once to get to you in the vault. Once to bring us up here. And a few times to try to locate Sonic."
Shadow hummed, once again failing to hide his interest. "Why were you looking for him anyway? Fighting him wasn't the priority."
"I felt a new Chaos Energy signature and wanted to make sure it wasn't the final emerald," Rouge replied. "I never expected to find someone with similar abilities as myself."
Shadow hummed again, seeming satisfied with the answer, but he paused, cocking his head to the side and observing his reflection in the glass. "Shit," he swore under his breath, and Rouge watched in mild fascination as he took out a small tube of some sort. With the side of his glove, he wiped at his eyes until the blue marks were gone, then opened the tube and applied new blue markings to his eyes with a steady and practiced hand. Once he was done, he tilted his head from left to right, observing both eyes and making sure they were even before recapping his tube and putting it away.
When he lifted his eyes back to Rouge, he seemed unnerved by her curiosity. "What?" he demanded, quills spiking up defensively.
"I didn't know you painted your markings on," she replied truthfully.
Shadow blinked, staring back at her. "Yeah. It's makeup. Just like yours." At Rouge's blank stare, he huffed, crossing his arms. "Your eyeshadow? You know? The red on your eyelids?"
"I didn't paint that on."
Shadow's arms dropped to his sides. "You're kidding me."
"No, that's always how I've looked," Rouge explained, and when Shadow didn't look convinced, she lifted one finger and swiped it over her closed eyelid before holding it forth for him to observe. A pristine white-gloved fingertip stared right back at him, and the look on Shadow's face was…
...Why did Rouge have the urge to laugh at just how livid he looked?
"I can't fucking believe this!" Shadow roared, and the urge to burst into laughter only intensified, and Rouge couldn't hold back a small smile. "I try so hard every day to look amazing, and your damn makeup is fucking hardcoded into your fucking DNA! Fuck this! Fuck you! I can't believe this shit!"
As Shadow continued his impassioned tirade about the personal attack that this evidently was against him, Rouge felt the treacherous bit of fondness she had for him grow. Unable to stop herself, she reached out for him, and as her hand landed on his head again, Shadow stopped moving and ranting, stuttering out a few confused noises as Rouge stroked from his forehead back to his spines.
"Wh… Why do you keep doing that?" he demanded weakly.
"Because you enjoy it."
"Sh-Shut up!"
Rouge didn't respond, but her hand kept gently patting him, and Shadow seemed to melt at the kind touch. She wondered if he ever had something like this, someone to show him physical kindness and camaraderie, if he really was a lost and confused boy with no one to look out for him. If he never had a… a…
"Big Sister Rouge…"
Rouge closed her eyes as the pain returned in full, and she bit back the urge to smack herself for indulging such a stupid idea. She was no one's sister anymore, big or otherwise. She was on her own, with a mission to fulfil and-
"Why did you stop?"
Rouge hadn't noticed that her movements had ceased when her thoughts had overcame her, but Shadow's vulnerable little whisper made her instinctively start up again.
I'm an idiot. The biggest idiot in the world. I'm sorry, Maria, I'm sorry that I keep getting in my own way. I still remember what I promised you. I swear I haven't given up yet.
The sound of metal creaking brought the two of them back to reality, and Shadow jumped as far away from Rouge as possible before Ivo walked in, seeming no worse for wear. "Everything is ready to go!" he announced.
"It is?" Shadow said, sounding surprised. "Are you sure? We've only got six Chaos Emeralds."
"That's more than enough for the demonstration," Rouge replied, voice returning to its businesslike monotone as she made her way towards the doctor. "So let's get this show on the road."
"Someone's eager," she heard Shadow mutter from behind, but she decided not to pay attention. She had already given him too much.
She had made a promise to Maria long before she had met Shadow, and this demonstration was crucial.
From her spot by the cannon's control system, Rouge watched Ivo's announcement with cold anticipation. As he pontificated, declaring him the ruler of a new empire, Rouge waited for her cue to start the cannon, her fingers itching to poke at the console, change the coordinates, and shoot directly at the world below them.
But she refrained, and when it was her turn to act, she charged up the cannon, and once it was ready to go, she fired it.
With her screen taken up by Ivo's broadcast, she didn't see when the beam of energy collided with the moon, but a loud cackle from the Professor's grandson told her that the demonstration had been a success. She tuned out the last of his speech, the part where he made his demands and started the countdown process, and looked back at the control panel, eyes roving over the six gems embedded in the core.
"Soon," she murmured, before turning away.
Next chapter: Shadow locates the last emerald and contemplates his next move.
