Years later

?
"Hey! Hey you!"

Sonic opened his eyes, let out a long yawn, and took a glance down from the rooftop he was on. It was a couple of cyborgs, 3 of the Zeti's goons looking to cause trouble. A red fox, the apparent leader of the group, addressed him again.

Fox Thug
"We've been looking a long time for you! The boss is gettin' tired of your little antics, blue boy!"

Sonic
"Well, congrats. You found me. I've been looking a long time for a nap, so if you don't mind, I'd like to get to it."

As he was about to lay back down, one of them decided to throw a brick right at Sonic's head. It really shouldn't have missed, but not even the lowlife's advanced computer systems could've counted for the hedgehog's speed. In half a second, he was down on ground, and one of the thugs was down for the count.

Bear Thug
"Hey! Where'd he go?"

As soon as he finished the sentence, Sonic's foot slammed into the bear's head with a loud thud, followed swiftly by a sweep to the legs. The fox tried to point his blaster at the blur in front of him, but as he tried to pull the trigger, he realized there no longer was one to pull.

Sonic
"So, are gonna let me have my nap, or do I need to kick your butt too?"

The fox just nodded and ran back to the inner city as fast as he could. Sonic chuckled for a bit, and readied himself for his nap before remembering that he needed to get back to something himself.

Sonic
"Rouge is gonna kill me…"

A few seconds later, he entered the dilapidated building where Rouge the Bat and Mighty the Armadillo stood inside, waiting for him. Rouge in particular seemed quite annoyed.

Rouge
"You're late. Again."

Sonic
"Hey, I got sidetracked!"

Mighty(Smiling)
"You always get sidetracked. I'm starting to think you like the Zeti's goons chasing after you."

Sonic appreciated his friend's comment, but didn't laugh out of fear of ticking Rouge off further. Rouge sighed and started the meeting.

Rouge
"Never mind. Look at this."

She pulled out a map of District 13, really more of a single giant supercity in how it was laid out, with multiple red Xs around the outer limits. Sonic and Mighty expected her to point somewhere in that area, but instead she placed her finger smack-dab in the center.

Rouge
"We need to strike here. Soon."

Mighty
"WHAT?! The inner city?! That's suicide!"

Rouge
"I know, it's dangerous, but hear me out. I've been hearing a lot of buzz through the network lately, and almost all of it has to do with a major shipment coming in soon. If we could take down that shipment, it could really loosen the Zeti's grip on the district."

Mighty
"...How major we talking?"

Rouge
"Major enough for them to station two of their most important scientists at the capital, apparently."

Sonic
"What the heck could be important enough to send two bigwigs out here?"

Rouge
"Honestly, who knows. But whatever it is, we should at least check it out."

Mighty
"And if it's big and dangerous enough, take it out."

Rouge
"Right. If my intel's correct, most of the security systems should be down for maintenance six days from now. We should be able to get in and get out without being detected, for the most part."

Sonic
"Uh, Rouge? In case you hadn't noticed, I'm pretty much public enemy number one around these parts. How am I supposed to get in without anyone noticing?"

Rouge gave him a sly smirk.

Rouge
"That's the thing, Big Blue. You're not."

…

...

Sonic and Mighty
"OOOOOOHHHHHH"

Rouge pointed at a passageway on the map.

Rouge
"You think you can make a big enough distraction to get the guards away from there?"

Sonic
"Like you need to ask."

Mighty
"Nice to see we have a plan. One question though, how are we gonna get inside the inner limits?"

Rouge
"Sonic can pretty much make it in by himself, but I'll see if I can convince my contact to get us some transportation."

Mighty seemed satisfied with this answer, as he nodded in response, then looked around quizzically, as if he was looking for something to do. Sonic had been starting to zone out for a little bit, and was tapping his foot in antsy anticipation.

Rouge
"Alright. You can go. I'll go talk to my contact."

Sonic immediately zipped outside, likely to finally get that nap, and Mighty went to his room to meditate. Rouge put the map up, and started on her way.

.

.

.

About half an hour later, Rouge made it to the usual meeting spot. She'd had to set up the meeting on a short notice, so she wasn't entirely sure her contact would even show up. She luckily didn't have to wait very long, as she soon heard his familiar accent.

?
"So...ya lookin' for a transport, are ya?"

She looked over her shoulder at the cyborg. He was hiding in the shadows, as he always did, almost as he was ashamed of his appearance. Still, he was just as arrogant as he was when she'd known him before Robotnik's takeover, so she couldn't be sure. The only things he couldn't hide were his two glowing red robotic eyes he'd acquired since.

Rouge
"You honestly should have expected I would. You're the one who told me about the security systems in the first place."

?
"'Ey, I only gave you wot y' asked for, mate. Ya want more, it'll cost y' extra."

Rouge
"sigh Alright. How much?"

?
"Well…"

He attempted a smirk, but with his emotionless eyes, it ended up being more intimidating than he intended. At least, she hoped it wasn't intentional.

?
"I've 'erd they got a jewel up there they keep locked up tight. Must be real valuable for 'em to keep it at the capital."

Rouge
"And you want me to get it for you, right?"

?
"Considrin' yer history, couldn't think of no one better."

Rouge
"Alright, I'll be sure to pick it up while we're there. Now, about that transport."

?
"Heh. I ain't got nuttin' at the moment, but I could prolly get somethin' set up in time for yer lil suicide mission."

Rouge
"Why don't you just loan us that fancy little bike of yours? It's not like you're using it."

?
"Oi! Nowun touches Queenie 'cept me!"

Rouge
"Aww, not even for your old friend?"

?
"Acquaintance."

Rouge shrugged smugly. She'd known he wouldn't let her even come near his bike, but it was always fun to tease him.

Rouge
"Oh well. But you'd better have that transport ready."

?
"Yeah, yeah. Now getoutta 'ere."

With that, the cyborg slunk back into the shadows. Rouge watched the spot he disappeared from for a bit, then she looked towards the sky in preparation, at the looming ball of death that had plagued the sky for years.

Rouge
"I hope this works…"

And that's chapter 1! A bit dialogue heavy, but the action should be ramping up soon! Anyone familiar with a certain weaselly bounty hunter should be able to figure who Rouge's contact is, and this isn't the last we'll see of him. I worked on ideas for this chapter alongside the prologue, which is why I managed to get it out so soon. The pace will probably slow down from now on, but I'll try to be somewhat consistent.

Next time: Whatever happened to Dr. Robotnik?