Freezing and unsympathetic wind rushed past my quills as my pupils remained glued to the opened window. I wasn't really looking at anything in particular, but it made me feel safer, almost as if I was pretending I was completely alone in the car and not with my beautiful bat-friend and a total stranger. The cab drove about as fast as I would expect after persuading the driver with a larger tip if he got us home as soon as possible. I could still clearly hear my friends soft whimpers as she tried to hold in any more tears until we got home. I felt bad… Really bad. I should not have bellowed the news In front of the whole airport, but I was just too shocked to control the outburst. After that "subtle" loss of control, I tried to remain as calm and collected as possible. Rouge really did not deserve for me to yell in her face as I did. So, I tried my best to console her until her cries ceased. By the time she had stopped, the few folks that had come over to so "graciously" give their condolences had moved on. Sometimes, I wish people would just mind their own business. We exited the airport only to be stabbed with the sharp cold winds of the surrounding area.
I continued to glance out the window again before rolling it up. We seemed to have left the airport area and were now rushing through what seemed like an endless forest.
Adevăr was really an interesting country with its woods completely stacked with wonderfully scented oak trees and pillowy green forest floors. I say pillowy because there were many villagers who swore you could sleep on the ground if you needed to without much discomfort. The beach to the south was completely the opposite. It was filled with elegant palm trees, neatly organized as if someone had carefully organized each individual tree and silky white sandy beaches that all the families flocked to in the late spring and summer. Then there was the main "city", if you can even call it that, centered right in between all of these separate biomes. This is where most of the folks lived, the five hundred of them or so. It was a tiny country and was partially uninhabitable to begin with, making an expansion a complete impossibility. However, some people had other ideas.
That man would be the legendary creator Dr. Ivo Robotnik. He was quick to snap at anyone who dare not call him by his full title. His visions for the future of Adevăr were said to be boisterous, possibly misleading, but hopeful. Most of the citizens feared him in a way I cannot quite describe, but I suppose I will try. They knew that he was not too much of a threat in his current state. He had fallen into a deep whole, mentally speaking, most likely caused by his own enormous IQ. Some even suspected he might be completely delusional. He had an evil-genius-who-could-take-over-the-world presence about him, but deep down inside he was fairly underdeveloped as an adult. His little judgment and idolization of a perfect future clouded his perfectionism and ingenuity more often than not. In other words, he was a scary-smart but emotionally underdeveloped kid with big ideas, a big ego and an even bigger motivation. Some people even rumored that his childlikeness was just a personality trait versus a psychological flaw. Either way, this countries various flaws had eaten him whole and spat him back out with a collapsed psyche, practically destroying what little credibility he had left. Whether it was his actual personality or trauma, I can safely say that I could relate. My childhood, or lack thereof, had also made interpreting emotions challenging. Unfortunately, though, it didn't really matter anymore who he was because he was no longer with the living. In a way, I wish I could have gotten to know him better. I wish I spent more time listening to his views and knowledge. That brain may have had very little social skills, anger management, and filter, but if you sat down with him for an evening, he could teach you even the hardest to learn math problems while also showing you how to create ice sculptures at the same time. He was surely a genius of enormous proportions and sadly a genius who will not be remembered as much as he deserves.
I sighed a little as the taxi driver muttered that we had arrived at our destination, my house. I thanked him politely before putting in my deposit plus a little extra in gratitude for driving as fast as was allowed by law.
I grabbed Rouge's arm before tugging her gently. She shook a little with her pupils still very much dilated in shock. At this point, I was a little irritated. Whether it be the lack of sleep or something more suspicious, she rarely had panic attacks such as this. I mean Ivo's passing is very unfortunate, but she looked downright terrified. Like the ghost of the estranged doctor will come to haunt the city.
I continued to tug her until we were out of the car and in the driveway of my house. She was a frequent visitor to my humble abode. In fact, many mobians of the gossiping variety suspected that we lived together.
My house was just on the outskirts of town, right where the forest met the beginning of the cityscapes. I loved being secluded and yet still very much close to all the action. It was in my nature to be a "loner", as Rouge would say herself. However, I didn't necessarily hate people, at least not on paper. It's just most people weren't… How do I put it gently… Real enough for me? They were all show and very little honesty. I would much prefer someone just to tell me how it is then to play silly little mind games. And then there was the king of mind-games himself. A great hero that had "outclassed" the rest, Sonic the Hedgehog. Even I knew (with the little interaction I had with people) that he had his finger neatly and carefully wrapped around the primary functions of the country. An "ambassador", they called him. But, I knew better than to trust that smirking face. I had overheard many comments from G.U.N. officials claiming they had to be careful not to overstep the boundaries put in place by the overzealous hedgehog. If push came to shove (and without a doubt neighboring countries would be quick to reconsider), he would send a fully armed battalion to the opposer and quickly take them out before anyone could ever suspect that anything even happened. I mean speed was his thing and surely he put that to good use. It always made me uncomfortable - giving that much power to a manic kid with his sporadic finger gently hovering over the nuclear detonation button was something that sent shivers down my spine. I suppose Sonic was a good kid, to some extent, even if he seemed to have the emotional control of a gerbil on cocaine, he did at least seem to have a good heart.
I continued to drag Rouge and our luggage into my house as she had become surprisingly easier to move then seconds prior before plopping her on the sofa of my living room. Everything was nice and clean, exactly how I left it and I took a second to inhale the scent of my familiar abode. Sadly, I couldn't really appreciate the state of my living space as I knew I had to uncork the champagne and the drink in question being Rouge. I knew she needed to let all of her worries and fear out. Was I mentally prepared for it? Absolutely not. Was I exhausted beyond expression and wanted nothing more than to pass out on my soft carpet? Absolutely. But, it was the least I could offer the quivering bat after having that complete meltdown earlier.
I quickly sat down next to her, placing my hand on her shoulder and sucking in a deep breath.
"Rouge… I understand you are very upset. Let me get you some water, and we can talk this out. Just promise me there will be no more screaming." I spoke clearly yet calmly before noticing the slight shaking of her body.
As I had suspected, something must be really bothering her. This was very unusual for my cool and cocky lady-friend, and I was not in my best interest to rip into her right now and make her feel worse than she already was. Normally, I would have tried to convince her to snap out of it but with that look in her eyes, though, I decided to push the desire aside. Something felt very off, something I hadn't really thought of. She glanced down at the ground below the couch and pursed her lips together before speaking in response.
"I know this must seem quite unusual for me, but here me out. I am actually not that shocked about Ivo's passing. I knew this would happen eventually…" She staggered a little before pushing her back against the couch cushions and glancing up at me with her teal eyes continuing to quiver.
"What do you mean? I think it's a pretty huge surprise since he had so much security on staff. His robots protected him up until this point… Here. Let me get you some water before we continue." I responded suspiciously before deciding to stand up and get Rouge a glass of water and tissues to wipe all of the smudged make-up off her face.
To be honest, she kind of looked like a sad clown, which was, in fact, hilarious but I attempted to keep my composure and continue to take what Rouge said seriously. Obviously, something had thrown her off her game. I quickly paced over to my beautiful kitchen, not even needing to turn on the light because I knew where everything was so well. I quickly opened one of my beautiful wood-stained cabinets and grabbed a clear glass before placing it under my water faucet. As the water flowed into the cup, I heard Rouge shuffling closer to the kitchen.
"The security was designed to protect him against everyone but we all know there was one person who could break-in at any time… I think you know who." She gently rested her hip against the archway between the kitchen and living room with a more serious and not as terrified look.
I waited a few seconds, going through my thoughts quickly and attempted to identify what she was trying to say. I did not know any of Ivo's enemies or even the government that could get past his security system. I mean the only person that ever was able to get through was… Wait.
"Absolutely, no way! Sonic would never hurt Ivo let alone kill him! I mean they absolutely fought, but Sonic would never have the guts to hurt Ivo, let alone kill him! What is wrong with you?" I erupted, almost insulted by the very idea that Sonic would hurt the evil mastermind.
They did have some kind of rivalry, but it was similar to Sonic and I's relationship. We raced, battled, and even beat each to a pulp, but Sonic would always stop before any real damage was done. He was very considerate of everyone and always made sure I, and everyone else, was safe. There were many times where Sonic could have ended the doctor, but he didn't. How dare Rouge suspect that someone like Sonic with a huge reputation to uphold would ever do something so drastic.
"I know. That's why I am so afraid." She peered deeply into my eyes, and I quickly looked away in disgust before walking over to her and aggressively handing her the glass of water.
"Look… You are clearly looking into this too much. It was probably just an accident or, worst-case scenario, a suicide. There is no way that Sonic could have the guts to take Ivo out." I scrunched my eyebrows as Rouge's previous sentence left a bad taste in my mouth.
Here we think that Sonic killed Ivo when it was something probably much more obvious. Sonic is probably drowning in grief, or at least in shock, and Rouge proclaiming him as a likely suspect is just disgusting.
"You haven't seen his dark form Shadow… No one has except Ivo. But there was one time where Ivo told me about how awful it was. The terror in his eyes was enough to make me want to puke. He had to have been terrified of what dark Sonic would do if he got his hands on him at the wrong time and now he is dead." Rouge said sternly as she could obviously see I was not happy with what was being said.
I gulped slightly as I collided my hand to my face in frustration. This woman was not listening to me and I was about ready to just end the conversation and go to bed. I had enough.
"What would be Sonic's motivation then?" I yelled defensively as I swung my arms out to indicate how ridiculous this entire theory sounded.
"I don't know… Sometimes, people just snap, Shadow. It happens. You have seen it with your creator. Please, promise me you will not go see Sonic until we are sure that whatever happened wasn't his doing! I do not want you to get into a battle with dark Sonic. I have no idea if either of you will come back in one piece." She commanded fiercely before grabbing my shoulders and pulling me close to make very close eye contact with me.
This was extremely uncomfortable… Having her this close to my face was making me feel extremely anxious. If not, a little sappy. I was about ready to just lay my head on her shoulder and let her win this argument. I was getting tired of fighting.
"But Rouge…" I looked deeply at her but still not really sure this was the right thing to do.
"Promise me!" She shook me a little before yanking me into a deep hug.
I sighed internally as I prayed she wasn't reading my mind. I was so exhausted that I actually wanted physical attention for once in my life. This certainly wasn't like me, but everyone once in a while, I couldn't handle anymore conflict.
I gently rested my head on her shoulder as I could feel one single tear fall down my cheek. I wasn't ready to admit my need for comfort but I surely felt like I was close. This wasn't the first time I had felt this with Rouge but I tried to keep it to a limit to prevent her from getting any funny ideas.
"Ugh… Fine, fine... I promise. I need to get rest anyway…" I responded in defeat as I knew there was no way of winning her over.
Her arms released me from my comfortable prison as she let them dangle to either side of her body. She seemed to have been satisfied with my acceptance of defeat as she looked up with me with a slight smile.
"Good… Your right. We both need rest. I know when you start getting cuddly with me that it's time to call it a night. I suppose I got my Christmas present early." She replied with her smile moving to a smirk as she forcefully poked my cheek in amusement.
I glared at her in slight disgust as my eyes rolled to the side.
"Your lucky I don't have my normal energy or else I would have bopped you on the head for saying that." I concluded with my own slight smirk before watching her laugh in response.
I had to admit, Rouge was right. Whether Sonic committed a crime is kind of unimportant right now. I need to know what I'm getting myself into before I jump in. Although, some part of me kept telling me that I was running out of time.
Rouge yanked my arm, forcing me to follow her out of the kitchen and back into the living room. It was at this time that I heard a familiar ding emanating from the pocket of my leather jacket. Rouge alarmingly looked at me before urging me to look at what caused the ding. I ran over to my coat, which still remained on my couch. I quickly pulled my phone out of my jacket and glanced down at it before seeing notification of a message…
"There's no way…."