The golden sun started to set on Station Square, painting the sky a beautiful pink hue. After spending the majority of the day investigating the metropolis' busy streets and buildings, Fang and Rouge were exhausted. After all, Nic could have been held somewhere in the city, right? Wrong. There was no trace of her at all. Now the two gazed in awe at the grand sunset from a grassy hill just outside of the city. Both were lying on their backs enjoying the view, save for Fang, who had a worried look in his eyes.

"Ah, the sky is so beautiful in the evening, don't you think?" Rouge flipped over onto her side, and stared at Fang. She noticed something was wrong because he sat up as she spoke as if he were deep in thought.

"What's the matter?" Rouge asked, frowning.

"We combed through the entire town, but Nic wasn't anywhere! Haven't you realized that we spent HOURS looking for her? It's almost nighttime of the first day! 48 hours might seem like a long while, but when you have a life in danger, it goes by much faster." Fang snapped. He was right; if Nic was all the way in the desert, they did not have much time to waste.

"Relax, weasel! We can cover a lot of ground in the time we have left. Live a little!" The bat laughed.

Fang sighed, disregarding Rouge's advice. "How much further do we have to go until we get to the Sand Ruins?"

"I'd say at least fifty miles." Rouge guessed.

Fang groaned. "We have to leave right now, then! That's not an easy distance to travel in a little over a day." He stood up and was about to walk away when an ear-splitting gunshot rang through the air. Rouge was staring at the smoking patch of ground in front of her face, and she was turning pallid from fear. A shiny bullet lay in between the blades of grass.

"Well, now we should leave!" Fang grabbed Rouge's hand and pulled the stunned bat off the ground. "Someone's trying to shoot us!" He dashed ahead, expecting Rouge to follow.

"Like who?" Rouge asked as she caught up to him. "I don't see anybody."

Fang remembered the note Robotnik had left on the fridge. 'I also have two men out looking for you. Two men that hate you with a bloody passion. Two men, and a machine…you figure it out.' Who were the two men who hated him, and what was the machine?

"I'm not sure. All I know is that whoever the fuck they are, they are hiding somewhere. Perhaps in the trees…but we can't stick around to find out!" As he ran, the weasel noticed the trees around the area were starting to clump together until they formed the beginning of a forest. Though, that was not all; the trees and foliage started to get bigger and bigger. Soon, the trees towered overhead like gigantic green toothpicks. It made Fang feel small and insignificant in their presence.

A few more bullets were fired, all of them missing the intended targets. Fang and Rouge scrambled into the safety of the forest undergrowth.

"You think the police are on to us? After all, you killed those officers! I, for one, refuse to go to jail again." Rouge crossed her arms and continued to blather about her time in the 'big house'.

Fang eyed the large trees surrounding him. Someone had to be following them, using the forest as cover.

"…and then there were the disgusting jail uniforms! Augh, the black bars on them made me want to-" Suddenly, a muscular arm wrapped around Rouge's middle, and before she could scream for help, a sharp knife was held up to her neck.

"Be on your guard, Rouge." Fang turned to the bat, only to see that an all-too-familiar man had grabbed her. "It's…it's you! I thought I…" He stammered, and stared in disbelief at the man.

"Ah, Fang the Sniper! We meet again. Surprised to see me?" The Hunter grinned, showing off his ugly teeth.

"I thought I killed you! I saw you lying on the ground!" Fang recalled what had happened at the slaughterhouse.

"Hey, it's the weasel!" A voice shouted from the tree above. A man with glasses and a lab coat was pointing at Fang.

"Shut up, Joshua! Don't get into my business!" The Hunter growled, glaring at the man.

His face looks awfully familiar. Is that the guy from the store? Fang thought. Yes, it did look like the 'fan' who had asked to take his photo!

"Hey! You're the wise ass who blinded me with that damn camera!" The weasel yelled.

"Ehehe…" Joshua sported an innocent look on his face. "Yeeaaaah."

"Good, good. Now that we are all aquatinted, I'll get on with my threat!" The Hunter held the knife closer to Rouge's neck, until she could feel the blade against her fur. She looked up at Fang with a face that seemed to read 'Help me, goddammit!'

"Let go of her!" Fang reached for his pistol, and aimed it at The Hunter. "I won't miss my shot this time!"

"You really think that'll work a second time? Think again, weasel." The Hunter smirked, and watched as Fang grew angry.

Little did he know Rouge was planning her escape! The bat took the heel of her foot and kicked it backwards right into the man's crotch while he was not paying attention.

"AUUUUGHHHH OH MY FUCKING GOD OWOWOWOW!" The Hunter dropped the knife and fell to his knees in pain. "YOU BITCH!"

Rouge winked at him, and blew him a fake kiss. "Sorry, but that's how I play. Dirty." She snickered, and walked over to Fang's side. "Do the honors?" She motioned to the cringing Hunter.

"I thought you'd never ask." The weasel loaded his pistol, and started to fire rounds at The Hunter's head so the man would actually die this time. Joshua could only stare in horror as The Hunter's camouflage outfit and blonde hair were stained a dark blood red. Too bad he did not have any weapons with him to fight back.

The tip of Fang's gun leaked smoke from the shooting, so he brought the pistol to his face and blew on it. He turned to the trembling Josh and smirked. "Wanna be next?"

The scientist said nothing, but instead ran away from the scene screaming.

When Josh disappeared from view, Fang and Rouge started laughing hysterically.

"Oh my God! That was great!" Rouge clapped. "He's as full of holes as a hunk of Swiss Cheese!" She kicked The Hunter once more, flipping him over. He remained motionless.

"No, you did better. I mean, you kicked him in the balls! That was genius!" Fang tucked away his pistol. "Maybe there's more to you than meets the eye."

"Maybe." Rouge started strolling ahead, leading Fang like she was supposed to.

Hmmm…if The Hunter and that Josh guy were the two men Robotnik mentioned, then where is the robot? Fang thought, nervously checking his surroundings. He tried to get his mind off of the question gnawing at his head. "So, where are we, Rouge?"

"I think we're somewhere in the Green Cave. People say it's a large forest and a cave." Rouge shrugged. "I happen to agree with them. I've been through here many times; once for an Extreme Gear Grand Prix."

Fang tagged along behind her. "Extreme Gear? You raced?"

"Yep." Rouge nodded. "I didn't win, but it was fun having the men gawk at me in my racing suit."

---

The two walked on for a couple of hours until the evening light filtering down from the treetops faded. A single star lit up the night sky, along with the aid of the sliver that remained of the crescent moon.

Fang and Rouge were sitting side by side, watching the moon cast its pale light on the forest.

"This is the only rest we can afford to take, Rouge. To make sure we both don't fall asleep, one of us will need to stay up. Then we can switch out from time to time." Fang gingerly removed his hat, and placed it on the ground beside him.

"I'll stay up first. Heck, you need more rest than I do. Bats are creatures of the night." Rouge did not seem bothered by her decision.

"You sure?" Fang asked.

"I'm sure." The bat nodded.

"Fine. Just wake me up in a few hours, okay? Once we've both done a rotation, we'll head out again." Fang rolled onto his side, and closed his eyes. She's not half bad. Within a few minutes, he was sound asleep.

Rouge smiled. "Sleep tight." She laid back and stared at the moon again. I'm thinking that it was a good idea to join him on this expedition.

---

The rotation came and went. Fang and Rouge set out again as the hours climbed into the AMs. Rouge was just as awake as ever, her eyes gleaming brightly in the darkness of the night. Fang, however, wasn't as awake as she was. Most weasels were nocturnal, but he seemed to be the exception.

As the night turned into dawn, Rouge noticed she could no longer hear Fang's footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw Fang curled up in a gigantic leaf.

The bat walked over to him, and pulled him out of his makeshift bed. "Sigh…I can't just leave you here, can I? It's your sister we're after." Rouge thought for a moment before coming to a conclusion. She opened her wings, and grabbed Fang by his arms. With a strong push off the ground, she took off into the air with her cargo. At first, she struggled to keep herself balanced. Fang was weighing her down.

"Jesus, he's gotta lay off the desserts." She mumbled, and flew away into the morning sun.

---

An hour later, Metal Fang approached the area Rouge had left via the jet packs installed into his shoes. He skidded to a halt when he reached a folded leaf lying in the dirt. There was no sign of anyone or anything around.

"Dr. Robotnik said they would be here." The robot quickly scanned the area for coordinates. "According to my calculations, two organic organisms were here precisely 60 minutes ago. Since they are not in the vicinity anymore, I should return to-"

A beeping noise sounded, and M.F. glanced at his arm. A small television popped out and Dr. Robotnik's face appeared on the screen. "M.F., Joshua and The Hunter are falling down on the job. I thought you were with them!"

"No, they were too slow for my tastes, so I abandoned them. Though, I ran into Joshua on my way through the jungle. He seemed frightened by something, but before I could force him to talk, he ran away like a little pansy." Metal Fang shrugged.

"Augh. I saw that coming." Robotnik put his palm to his face and shook his head. "No matter. Have you found the target yet?"

"I managed to process coordinates to where he is headed. Apparently, he is not alone…" M.F. trailed off.

"Oh, so someone else joined the party? I guess you can add another person to your death list now." Robotnik cackled. "Follow their trail!"