Quick note: As I've said in the first chapter, certain characters that aren't a part of the main games(Example: IDW characters) might have different backstories, as we will find out here. Other than that, enjoy the chapter and leave a review if you feel like it. Criticism and feedback are always a pleasure to read.
Chapter 6: Boiling Point
Planet Hymn: Seven Years Ago
"Hello, students of science, future geniuses. I am Doctor Malbery, head chief scientist of research at your school, the University of Hymn." Dr. Malbery's light-toned face is projected on the screen in an auditorium, the elephant looking brimmed with excitement, like the youthful students filling the room. "As you all might be aware, our planet is in dire need of repair. Circulating energy pouring into a sacred world like a plague, and not enough scientists to run around and fix the issues all at once. But that is when you come in. At this university, you'll find your mark as a great inventor. And your generation will tackle the problems with an upbringing that cannot be quelled." In the audience, sits a young and eager platypus. This was Starline before he claimed his title as a doctor. He watched Dr. Malbery with stars in his eyes. Perplexed by the greatness he could achieve.
Campus: One Month Later
There were many students around Starline who excelled at mixing fluids and chemicals to create complex compounds, which gave the teachers a good impression of them. Starline, on the other hand, seemed to be more interested in mechanics, preferably robotics. Without effort, he would make simple contraptions that interacted by passing school supplies like balls from one to the other. While he seemed proud of his work, the teachers didn't pay any more attention to what he had to offer, leaving him without critique or a chance for recognition. Although, two snotty raccoons scoff amongst themselves, quietly making fun of Starline's invention. Later, outside the class, the raccoons follow Starline close to his dorm, where they then trip him, causing Starline to drop his invention to the ground, shattering it. This made the two raccoons laugh out with even more hysteria. "Oh, did we destroy your little buddies?" Starline boils with rage, and in a vain attempt to push the bullies back, he is smacked back down to the ground in an instant.
"Leave him alone!" A girl cries out. The raccoons turn to see a duck with her arms crossed in a demeaning way. As one of the raccoons approaches her, she whips out a spray bottle and points it right at him. "Don't come a step closer. This bottle is filled with a chemical agent that will melt your skin away like butter in a microwave." Not wanting to find out if that was true, the two bullies run away, leaving the duck to help Starline back on his feet.
"Were you really going to disintegrate them?" Starline asks.
"Oh, no this is just water. But I can make an agent as I described."
"I did not need to know that. But thank you anyway." Starline kneels down to collect his broken stuff, with the duck looking a bit downhearted behind him.
"It's awful what those two did."
"It's fine. All they destroyed was junk anyway."
"I don't think it's junk." The duck says, trying to sympathize with Starline. Starline stops what he's doing and looks the duck in her eyes. He gathered that she genuinely felt bad for him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."
"Alicia." She responds. "And if it is ok, can we compare notes? See, I'm inept to do what you can do. I can only mix other elements with each other. So if we collaborated, I think we'd make a good team." Starline says nothing but gives a warm smile with a gentle nod. Later, in an empty classroom, both Starline and Alicia study together throughout the whole day and night. Discussing enthusiastically about countless scientific topics and events, and when they get tired, they fall asleep in the classroom and wake up to continue their conversations. Although, the janitors and teachers would get annoyed at them using the space during closing hours. Throughout the course of the semester, with Starline's robotics, and Alicia's chemistry, their projects were almost revolutionary.
Meadow: One Year Later
Starline and Alicia lie next to each other in an open meadow, staring into the blue sky. Seeing Planet Wisp blissfully orbit close by. Speaking of wisps, many of the inhabitants from the neighboring planet have also enjoyed themselves here too. Playfully interacting with Starline and Alicia. Off in the distance, Alicia spots a wisp trapped under a small boulder. Both she and Starline come to the rescue and free the wisp. However, after freeing the alien, there seemed to be some long chasm scaling down deep into the ground. Starline and Alicia look in awe, surprised to see such a dark and lonely path under a bright meadow. Suddenly, the ground below the two gives way, and they both plummet far down. Fortunately, a pond at the bottom saves them from a bad death, but they have no way out and the only way to go was forward.
Starline leads the way until an ominous orange glow emits light through the path ahead. They both look forward to seeing a gemstone ingrained into the rock, radiating an almost mirage effect around it. Starline is enticed by the sight and is fascinated by the effects of the gemstone, which later, Alicia came up with the name of the 'Warp Topaz' to it. More time has passed, and in Starline's apartment, both he and Alicia run brief tests on the topaz. They've noticed that even the slightest of electrical currents can cause the warp topaz to react sporadically. But over time, they've found a way to use the energy more efficiently and conjured short-distance portals when activated. This was the breakthrough they needed to rise amongst their fellow classmates, and when they presented their discoveries to Dr. Malbery, he seemed fascinated by its effects.
Lab: Three Years Later
Starline and Alicia got the funding they needed to run more tests on the warp topaz. Soon, they could find a way to make a portal anywhere in the world at any time, making transportation, movement of resources, and other nuances feel more innovative. But before they could make the breakthrough they needed, disaster struck the planet. Starline watched on the news as the ghoulish purple energy that was corrupting his planet was building up in mass, and erupted out of the world's surface, leaving a twenty-mile hole leading to the core of the planet. Time was now running short for their planet, and a solution had to be made. And despite the arguing Starline made to save his project, it was terminated by Dr. Malbery himself, after saying that the portals would not help out in any, 'long-term benefits.' However, Alicia was chosen to lead a research team, discovering that the powers from the wisps helped counteract the corrupting energy on their planet.
Starline's reputation was gone, but he was proud of Alicia. Her journey to Planet Wisp would undoubtedly give her a breakthrough, and save the planet… How it was all cut short… On the night that Alicia was sent on a shuttle to Planet Wisp, the planet disappeared in a flash, leaving no trace of the planet behind. The effects were substantial and devastating. A shockwave enveloped Planet Hymn, leaving anyone in the air to a doomed fate. Starline was fine, but he never saw Alicia again, once she took off to the sky.
Starline's Apartment: One Year Later
Starline was all alone in this bleak world. There was no hope to hang onto anymore, even though Planet Wisp had miraculously returned, their powers couldn't be used in time to save their planet. There wasn't much time left at all, and the cities have gone into chaos. Starline, at this point, was waiting for the end. His prized gemstone, mantled on a glove and stored away in a glass case, was what he was known for. A loud and low rumbling vibrated the whole city outside, and Starline looked out his window to see an unfamiliar flagship enter from orbit. The ship had nine wings pointed to the back, with thrusters at the end of each one. The overall design was narrow and pointed, with a large cannon positioned at the nose of the ship. Starline rushed out of his house, taking the warp topaz with him.
Awaiting outside the landing zone of the flagship, the planet's government officials, army, and scientists await the ship. As it lands, the doors open, and silhouettes two of people emerge. One was a lanky and plump human in a red jumpsuit, and the other was indistinctive due to their hooded cloak. The hooded figure nudges the human to speak up. "Greetings citizens of Hymn! I am Dr. Eggman. I know many of you are confused, but most of you are afraid. Your planet is on the brink of destruction, and I can offer a haven." Eggman said in an unassured way. But the hooded figure presses Eggman to continue.
"Keep going. You don't want to ruin your first field trip with us, do you?" The hooded figure spoke out, leaving Eggmanlittle choice in the matter.
"I have the material needed to build a new home. But I'm in need of an assistant. One with a genius similar to mine not just in ingenuity and design, but in mechanics and robotics." Out from the crowd of people, Starline pokes his head out. But the gazing crowd swallows him back in, as they hover around Eggman, begging for him to choose them. Starline was lost in the hoard, being bumped around like a ragdoll. He was going to lose his chance… again. He couldn't accept himself if he failed again. If he couldn't break through, what more did he have to live for? The anger and desperation filled inside him, and he began to resort to his last option. He equips the glove containing the warp topaz, and he zips himself out of the crowd and in front of Eggman, immediately impressing the doctor. Eggman and the hooded figure closely eye the gemstone in Starline's hand as he introduces himself.
"Pleased to meet you, Dr. Eggman. I'm Dr. Starline. I'd hope you would consider the possibilities we can go to if you chose me." Eggman grins maliciously and extends his hand to Starline's.
"Well, what do you say, Dr. Starline?" Starline reaches out and shakes Eggman's hand.
Space Station: Central Tower: Present Time
Back in the present, Starline is seen pacing across the room, biting his thumb as a sign of nervousness. Just then, Eggman enters through the blast doors, covered in oil and soot. "Where have you been?" Starline asked, with his frenetic manner controlling the way he speaks. Eggman nonchalantly sits down on the chaise, wiping his forehead with a rag to cleanse the sweat.
"I needed a new failsafe if the hedgehog interfered further with the plan."
"Nevermind Sonic, are we going to have something ready when she gets back?"
"No… And we're never giving her anything again." Starline was now confused, but it didn't overshadow the anxiety he'd been experiencing. He was wondering why Eggman was doubling back so suddenly.
"The mech isn't ready, and it won't be anytime soon with all these distractions." Eggman stands up with an assured pose.
"But you see, they don't end with us. She will be distracted with that runt, Tails. If we both double down our efforts on the mech, it'll be up before they even know it." Starline looked uncertain, but he still held onto faith that Eggman was right. Before the platypus even knew it, Eggman's hand extended down to him, offering salutations. "Make your people proud, Starline. Become a revolutionist, like me." Starline, after a moment of thought, shakes Eggman's hand, once again.
Space Station: Maintenance Hub
Sonic had ventured far from the warehouse where he faced Dr. Eggman and Starline. Turns out there was a whole other world right below the city. Not exactly in a literal sense, but the lengths of detail were astonishing. Sonic was in awe at the circuit-like foundations that were forming the grids around him. Unfortunately, he couldn't gape long at his surroundings, since vulmechs flew around on patrol, whizzing past the blue blur more than enough times to make traversing through this hub a tedious process. Although Sonic wanted to get back to his friends pronto, he wasn't worried that they'd be in much trouble without him. He knew that both Tails and Knuckles could handle themselves if they got into any more issues.
Sonic was perplexed by his current predicament. Finding a way through all this was a bigger maze than the sewers, but he knew something had to be important here. After checking if the coast was clear, Sonic springs back into the open and tries to make out if the series of tubes and circuits lead to anything. However, he found himself admiring the design of the whole grid, disturbingly so, he might add. Something about the patterns didn't scream Eggman, at least not in its entirety. 'Guess Starline included a bit of his design philosophy.' Sonic thought. Just then, an idea popped into the hedgehog's head. The tubes above him transport what he believes are supplies to other hubs of the station. 'Reckon it's time for a little ride.' Sonic parkours and wall jumps up to the nearest tube, and with a forceful kick, Sonic cracks open an entrance.
Sonic curls into a ball and enters the tube. In an instant, he is forcefully moved through the tube by a gale of air, causing him to move radically fast across the entire grid. However, Sonic was quite enjoying this ease of speed, laughing and howling with excitement.
Space Station: Outer Hub
Sonic is shot out of the tube via a chute leading into a storage room. With the level of speed he is traveling, he can't quite control himself in midair as he tumbles into a storage rack, followed by the other supplies that came from the tube. Sonic pries his way out of the rubble and gets back on track. He races to the door of the storage room and finds himself in a reactor room. Around the center of the room were vulmechs stationing control panels, and monitoring the core. However, Sonic keenly eyed what the true power supply of the place was. Contained in a thick sturdy glass, sure enough, was a chaos emerald. Fully intact and with no diluted pigmentation. Sonic was bewildered at how this was even possible, with the original shell of the chaos emeralds being siphoned in its entirety. Sonic speculates that Eggman could've created a replica for the energy he stole to reside in. At least that's what Sonic concluded.
However, now was not the time to ask more questions. With the advantage of surprise, Sonic is able to fully dismantle two vulmechs before the rest begin to open fire on him. Wasn't a problem for the hedgehog though, as he's now gotten used to the vulmech's order of attacks. Within a few more seconds, Sonic finishes scrapping the last of the bots. "Well it was fun at first, but you guys have become a little bit predictable-" An enormous thud catches Sonic off-guard. He failed to notice the head of a giant hammer hurling towards him in time to dodge the attack. Sonic is sent flying into the walls and trickles down to the floor, severely hurt. He looks up to see a towering new mech hovering above him. It had a similar sleekness in armor compared to the vulmechs, but this one resembles more of a sumo wrestler than anything. It begins to wind up another slam with its battle hammer, but Sonic thinks quickly and swiftly dodges out of the way.
Sonic tries to counter-attack with a spin dash at the giant's belly, but the armor was too robust to crack, and the hedgehog bounced back like a rubber ball, and into the containment glass holding the emerald. With the glass destroyed, the chaos emerald falls to the ground next to Sonic and an alarm is triggered. A blaring voice echoes from an intercom. *Attention! Attention! Core has been compromised! All units to your stations!* Sonic knew that there wouldn't be much time left before more surprises showed up, and the giant he was facing right now would only stall him further. But there was one option left.
"Haven't tried this in a while. Oh well, here goes nothing!" Sonic grabs hold of the emerald beside him and holds it close to his chest. The giant's hammer rises and begins to descend down to squash Sonic in his place. Sonic raises the emerald high up into the air, shouting at his loudest. "Chaos control!" A ray of flashing lights envelops the room, blinding the giant to a halt. Sonic is absorbed into the light, and in a flash, disappears into the air.
Space Station: City
In the middle of the city road, a bright beam of light manifests. Appearing from seemingly nowhere, Sonic warps into the streets. He touches his chest to see if he's still here and in one piece, before sighing in relief. "Could've ended worse." Sonic holds out his hand, staring at the chaos emerald. It still glows as bright as it did before. "Figure that makes you the real deal, huh?" A part of Sonic wanted to be at ease since he was back in the city, but here he was still a fugitive and he had to be on the constant move. However, something wasn't right. The last time he was here, there were loads of flying cars above. But now the 'skies' were completely cleared. Buildings that were active before, now appear vacant. It's like everyone had gotten up and left. But he would've seen or at least heard all that happen. He wasn't underground for that long, and he seriously doubted a whole city in space evacuated prior to his return.
The other scenario made itself clear just then, as a distant explosion catches Sonic's attention. Maybe people were in hiding since there seemed to be a battle going on nearby. However, Sonic couldn't stand by and wait for it to dissipate, so he zooms off toward the explosion. It wasn't long until Sonic started seeing the remnants of many fallen vulmechs scattered across the streets. As he came closer to the combat, more and more debris and scrapped vulmechs lay wasted, with the sound of fire becoming prevalent. Sonic spots a large group of citizens wielding wispons, firing at hoards of vulmechs. Within said group, Sonic makes out Tails and Knuckles, who are taking cover from the chaos. The hedgehog speeds toward the two and soon arrives at their side. "What's going on here?"
"Sonic!" Tails yells. "Where have you been?"
"Somewhere surprisingly tamer than this. Guys, how is it that I left for an hour and you both have launched a rebellion?"
"We got dragged into it!" Knuckles shouts, yet his cries are drowned out by the large amounts of gunfire. The heat of battle was reaching its boiling point. Even with the valiant effort of the citizens of the space station's city, the sheer number of vulmechs vastly outweighed the fight, overwhelming the resistance, and locking them behind cover where there was no chance to fire back. Numerous rebels retreated from the frontlines to find concealment of any kind. Some were lucky, others weren't. Sonic couldn't just sit tight and watch the onslaught, he had no choice but to propel right back into action, engaging the vulmechs head-on. Not wanting to leave their friend to fend for themselves, Tails and Knuckles join the fray too. In hindsight, it might have been better to talk about a plan beforehand, since Team Sonic had blindly pushed forward into this chaotic mess.
Nonetheless, their inspiring charge encourages other rebels to reenter the fight. Their suppressive fire and utility correspond well with each member of Team Sonic's moves. Combining the fire wispon with Sonic's gust of wind as he runs, they both form a flame gale that almost instantly melts the vulmechs. With Knuckles' shockwave flinging the bots up in the air, they are helpless to defend against the upcoming bolts of lasers from rebels assisting at the backlines. Finally, Tails' aerial maneuverability, coupled with swift and precise strikes with his gadgets and laser cannon, makes the vulmechs only see a nuisance floating in the air, promptly distracting them long enough for other rebels to finish them off. The tides were turning until loud stomping arose from the nearby distance. The vibrations from the trampling instilled fear within the rebels, causing them to freeze until one of them had the urge to shout. "Behemoth!"
Turning the corner and into sight, was another of those sumo-like mechs that Sonic had recently encountered. In fact, Sonic quickly noticed that this one was a different model than before, meaning that the whole station could be riddled with these things. Sonic hadn't really taken the time to acknowledge how massive this thing actually was. Towering over four stories, with its hammer not shying away from the same height. Its slick stainless steel armor cultivating its bold inelegance. The rebels, without questions nor hesitation, open fire upon the Behemoth. But its armor is too thick for the wispons to penetrate. The Behemoth's defense was downplayed by its sluggish speed, but it was soon made up for by its devastating power. Each swing of the hammer practically breaks the sound barrier, and when the hammer slams to the ground, it almost feels as if an earthquake has started.
However this time, Sonic had a plan. He races back to group up with Tails and Knuckles first. "Ok, so I've faced this lad before. Didn't go very well. I don't think we'll be able to get through his armor the usual way, but I got something in mind. Knuckles, how much would you say you could lift?" The behemoth was on a rampage, nothing could halt its advancement now. Its unfaltering rush causes the rebels to retreat and cower from it once more. Just then, in a flash, Sonic teleports with chaos control onto the Behemoth's shoulder and slouches against the giant's head. He twirls the chaos emerald in the air and catches it. "Mind if I come to tango?" The behemoth tries to swat Sonic away, but he dodges at the last second and runs up the thing's head. He tilts his head down in front of the Behemoth's eyes. "Woah there buddy let's not get ahead of ourselves."
As the giant tries to sway Sonic away, it leaves Tails a chance to fly to one of the Behemoth's hands sneakily. Tails latches a chip filled with countless wires onto the back of the hand, and once activated, it sends an electrical shock that constricts the Behemoth's finger joints, causing it to drop its hammer. Now, both Sonic and Tails keep the big boy distracted, letting Knuckles rev up his big attack. Knuckles grabs hold of the fallen hammer with all his might. Knuckles struggles to budge the weapon, but with one more heave, he lifts the hammer up and rests it on his shoulder, enduring the immense weight. Knuckles uses the last of his strength to leap up in the air and wind up a devastating attack with the giant hammer. The Hammer crushes through the Behemoth's belly armor, sending shards and oil of the mech flying all over the streets. That catastrophic attack was enough to send the mech falling down, finally deactivated.
The rebels cheer at the defeat of the Behemoth, and the retreat of the remaining vulmechs. Knuckles lets the hammer go out of his hands, and lies on the ground exhausted. Sonic and Tails come to his aid. They pick the echidna up together and rest him on their shoulders. "That was one heck of a swing, huh?" Knuckles asked his two friends, to which they both eagerly nodded. Suddenly, a crowd of rebels starts to pick up the three, carrying them around in a cheerful parade. Team Sonic can't help but enjoy this moment themselves. Meanwhile, at the remains of the Behemoth, a hatch bursts open and it is revealed that the hooded figure had been piloting the mech the whole time. Without being spotted, she runs to the shadows of an alleyway, but doesn't leave the area and instead waits nearby, eyeing Tails. The rebel crowd set the three heroes down.
"That was amazing! You're really strong!" One rebel said, making Knuckles fluster and blush.
"Eh, it was nothing, really." He bashfully responded.
"No, it was great!" "You shouldn't doubt yourself." A couple more rebels spoke up. Soon the whole crowd swarms around Knuckles, making him awkwardly try to escape, but to no avail. Sonic watches close by, and Tails cleverly stands far back from all of them, to not get caught up like Knuckles. However, he unknowingly separated himself from the rest of the group, and the hooded figure begins her approach from behind the fox.
"Hey! Where's the pilot?" Everyone's attention shifts to a single rebel at the head of the destroyed behemoth, viewing the empty cockpit inside the mech.
"Pilot? Those things had pilots in them?" Sonic said, shocked that someone was in there the whole time. He wondered where the pilot was now. Just then, the hooded figure takes her chance and grabs Tails from behind. On her hand is a glove that holds a pair of tubes that exit out from the palm, and she covers Tails mouth with her hand to not make him scream. A gas briefly spews out of her glove, which knocks Tails unconscious. Fortunately, Tails was able to let out a small gasp before collapsing, which Sonic noticed and turned around to see what was going on. He looks on with horror as he sees the hooded figure begin to leap away with Tails. Scaling the buildings with elegant ease. "Tails!" Sonic screamed. He springs to action once again in a blind rage and tries to homing attack the hooded figure. However, the hooded figure whips out her bo staff and smacks Sonic away.
The other rebels get the gist as Sonic hits the ground and they open fire on the hooded figure, making her have to maneuver around a bombardment of wispon ordnance. Despite her agile movements, she is unable to avoid all of the collateral and a piece of debris shattered from a building disrupts her balance for a second. But that second had been enough, as Tails slowly wakes up from the debris disturbance and assesses his situation. He places another shock chip on the hooded figure and activates it, causing her to scream out in pain and let go of Tails. Sonic runs to pick up Tails and places him under the protection of the rebel crowd. Sonic then signals Knuckles to join him to face the hooded figure, which at this point, she had barely removed the shock chip and regains her stamina to focus on her enemies. "Ugh, and I really thought that today was my lucky day." She casually says in front of Team Sonic and the mass of rebels, who were now ready to fire at will again.
"Just who are you? And what do you want with my friend?" Sonic demanded, yet the hooded figure didn't seem to be all that interested in the blue blur at all, but just irritated to talk to him.
"My name has no meaning to you, menial hedgehog." The hooded figure retorted. She reaches far into her cloak, scrambling for something. "But… Our calling card might have some semblance to you." The hooded figure tosses a medallion to the ground in front of Sonic. Upon taking a closer look, Sonic is surprised to see the symbol of the nine tails engraved on the pendant. This person, standing in front of Sonic, was the culprit behind Sonic's fears and worries. For a year, he dreaded the thought that there was another party lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike. And now… she stands before them all. "Hmm, I guess since you've come so far from home, you deserve a smidgen of truth." The hooded figure lifts her hands to her hood, and with teasing ease, pulls back to reveal her face.
She was a fox, an arctic fox in fact. Glistening white and smooth fur, with faint sky-colored stripes across each cheek and around the rim of her pointy ears. Light blue eyes and pale pupils, conveying an enticing gaze. "I am Vulnter, captain of the Abyss Voyagers. We… Have been watching you for a long time."
Station Square
It was a sunny summer afternoon down in Station Square. The citizens of the city have recovered well since the destruction of the chaos tower. Thanks to many of the brave helpers who wandered in the windswept dust to help out those who were trapped in the debris. One of those helpers was Amy Rose. Although, she wanted to get past that point admittedly, as the whole situation was stressful in of itself. Amy spent a good amount of her time detoxing since then. Spending whole days doing nothing except relaxing in the golden rays of the sun. Occasionally she'd bring some friends along too. Today was no different, as she sat at an outside table of a restaurant under an umbrella. She seemed to be expecting someone, and to her delight, that someone came. Rouge listlessly sits across from Amy, with her mood heavily contrasting the enthusiastic pink hedgehog.
"Are you well, Rouge? You seem a bit down." Amy asks with concern. Rouge takes off a pair of sunglasses to rub her eyes, revealing layers of bags underneath them. "Oh my. What has G.U.N. made you do?"
"Oh, these? Ha! It's nothing." Rouge proclaims as she immediately grabs a coffee pot from the waiter's desk behind her, and pours a heaping amount into her mug. "Just crunching hours at the office, that's all. Hardly anything to be concerned about." Rouge reiterates. Amy doesn't seem to buy it, but she changes the topic regardless.
"I see, well we don't have to talk about work then."
"Yes, thank you. I can't ever describe my gratitude for inviting me out today. It was much needed."
"Don't mention it." A long awkward silence ensues, with Rouge dunking down the last of her coffee and pouring herself another refill.
"Hedgehogs, they love disappearing, don't they?" Rouge suddenly blurts out.
"What?"
"You get what I mean. Sonic always runs away. Silver returns to his future. Shadow…Well, he has his ways of disappearing." Rouge chugs her coffee down again. "Makes you remember that life gets kinda boring without them."
"Well, when you put it like that… Then yeah, I guess you're right." As Amy tries to lighten the mood with her cheerful voice, Rouge's focus zones past her and out onto the streets. She spots a squad of G.U.N. soldiers conversing in the open. She found it strange that if these soldiers were supposed to be on patrol, in response to the recent incident regarding the chaos tower, then why were they wasting time just standing around talking? Rouge wouldn't admit it to Amy now, but she had been overclocking her brain to overanalyze every piece of information she's received from Tower. She, Shadow, and James had pulled a twelve-hour shift yesterday examining evidence based on their hooded culprits, trying to find another lead to catching them. Rouge hasn't properly had the chance to reset her brain back to normal mode. So when she sees something off, it remains so until she can get to the bottom of it.
"I will confess, I am a bit worried for Sonic right now." Amy continued. "I haven't heard from him in a while. I hope he's doing alright." Rouge blocks what Amy is saying and watches as the squad of G.U.N. soldiers all nod to each other and enter a nearby alley. "Rouge? Are you alright?" Rouge snaps back in an instant to respond to Amy.
"Uh, sorry, yeah. Still a bit sleepy here."
"We don't have to be here if you want."
"No, I'm fine, ok? Don't let me ruin the vibe. It's just us two catching up, ya know? No reason to-" Rouge gets sidetracked again when she sees the alleyway light up with a turquoise radiance. At this point, too much was going on for Ruge not to get involved. "Amy, stay here." Rouge jolts up and makes her way to the alleyway, leaving Amy bewildered as to what Rouge was so fed up on. Right before Rouge enters the alley, she could hear a new, yet familiar voice yell from within.
"Disarm it!" The loud command causes Rouge to hug the wall before entering. As she peers in, she is stunned to see who appears at the end of the alley. The telekinetic hedgehog, Silver, is seen restraining four G.U.N. soldiers in the air, leaving the last one kneeling down next to a wall, tampering with some device attached to it. "What's the hold-up?" Silver yells at the kneeling soldier.
"I-I-I wasn't instructed how to disarm it, just how to activate it." Suddenly, the beeping from the mounted device starts to pace faster, causing alarm amongst the group of soldiers. Rouge steps forward into the alley, confronting Silver.
"Silver! What are you doing here?" Silver turns around to see Rouge, but he is horrified almost immediately.
"Rouge! Get out of here there's no time!" The beeping of the device stops repeating and relays a constant high-pitched sound. Silver attempts to use all of his energy to create a hefty shield around the device. Right afterward, the device implodes into a fiery ball of destruction. Silver concentrates harder, trying to keep the shield from breaking, but cracks soon emerge from the surface of the barrier. Soon, the shield breaks, and the explosion that follows devastatingly envelops the alley. Rouge, who is still standing at the end of the alley, is caught in the blast. Rouge falls hard on the ground, losing her vision as everything starts to turn white. She could hear people funneling around her, trying to keep her lucid and calling out her name. Soon, she falls into a deep slumber, and can no longer hear them at all.
To be continued…