Theme 4: For You
Beneath the rosy evening sky was an air of tension between two teams…
From across the rocky terrain they stared at one another, a railroad seeming to divide each side – stretching as far as the eye can see. Their postures, their expressions… to anyone who happened to be a passerby would be able to tell: something was about to go down.
As the western wind blew and tumbleweed rolled across the landscape, Sonic smirked, his hands resting upon his hips. It couldn't be because he was happy, none of them were at the moment. Something must of came off as amusing – that only god knows what – and Espio was certain of a smart-alecky remark, knowing the blue blur all too well. The hedgehog took a step closer to the train tracks with the same look plastered on his face.
Ever so casually he spoke, "You stole from us… Care to explain why?"
The chameleon's mien did not mirror Sonic's, however. It remained serious as he firmly stated, "The reasons for our actions are of no concern of yours, Sonic."
"You stole from us." Sonic repeated, his tone the same as before. "I think it very much concerns us."
"Well, think nothing of it."
"Heh… that's really all you have to say?" For a moment, Sonic looked down at the ground beneath him, his arms folded over his chest. "I'm not someone who's easily pissed off – which you already know, Espio. But lately, the two of you have been really pushing my buttons…"
"Oh? I'm sorry… I haven't noticed." Espio flashed a smirk at the blue hedgehog.
Of course, it hadn't took him long to come up with a witticism, seeing as the hedgehog's smile hadn't faltered one tiny bit. "I didn't think so, seeing as you were a little too busy running around with your boyfriend." A cocky grin was made on the hedgehog's muzzle, as if claiming his victory early.
But that remark wasn't enough…
"So tell me, Espio: what's it like having a boyfriend?" The same grin was shot in Silver's direction, which silently dared him – or Espio – to react in one way or another. "But then again; heels, long hair, girlish demeanor… Maybe the right word I'm looking for is girlfriend…"
Tails, on the other hand, didn't appear to approve the gesture. "Sonic… stop." Sonic only stood there, watching the two of them with the same mocking smile on his muzzle. Espio's own smirk had been long-gone, however he made no movements towards the other pair.
Although Silver didn't take kindly to the snarky comments. He shook violently with anger, while holding up a tightly clenched fist. "Why you…" Espio had to hold the hedgehog back from sprinting towards the other side of the railroad.
Sonic still didn't stop, however. "Why you thieves couldn't have collected your own rings is beyond me. You, Tails?" he looked back at the fox behind him, who shifted his gaze to the ground with his hands behind his back. He must have agreed with the statement, the chameleon thought. The hedgehog returned his gaze to him. "Did you not see the amount of rings lying around?"
"I did… before you took them all."
"Not much of an excuse…" Tails murmured. "Especially since we didn't take all of them."
"Point is… what's done is done." Espio said, hoping it would end the argument.
But…
"No… Point is; you're both dirt bags." Sonic snarled. "You jumped us for Rings that you could of collected yourself. But it's not even just that… I would of willingly gave you some Rings if you were truly that desperate, and all you would of had to do was ask! But instead… you attacked us and ran, like bastards. And to top it all off: you just insist on blowing it off like it's nothing."
"Sonic…" Espio's scales had a reddish hue blended within. His throat felt tight; already offended from afore, but repentant from the words thrown at him.
Sonic huffed, turning away from the pair and gazing up at the sky. "At this rate, you're no better than Eggman…"
Silver, squirming to break free of Espio's grasp, desperately tried to march his way to where the blue one stood. "Don't you dare compare us to him… We are nothing like neither of those vile crooks."
" 'Neither'…?" Tails inquired, looking over at Sonic with a raised eyebrow.
"Thing is, neither of you know the real reason why we needed those Rings so badly."
"Then tell us why you stole our Rings… and I mean your 'real reasoning'." Sonic said, crossing his arms once more. Tails remained silent, mirroring the blue hedgehog's posture. Silver had stopped struggling and looked back at Espio, who dropped his gaze to the ground.
After another silent moment, the silver hedgehog finally spoke. "It's not like you can get them back anyway."
"What does that even mean?"
"It means they're gone." Espio snapped.
"Gone where?" Sonic returned.
"Forget it, Sonic…" Tails sighed. "We can always go collect more Rings."
"Y'know what, you're right Tails." his emerald eyes never left the chameleon's golden eyes, however. "We can always go and collect more Rings… So why not use this time to teach a couple of thieves that stealing is wrong?"
"That's not what I meant!"
"Then battle me. It was my idea in the first place." Espio stated firmly to Sonic. "Leave Silver out of this."
"It's my fight too!" Silver barked. He grabbed a firm hold of the chameleon's wrist. "If anything; I'm more involved than you are, Espio."
"Stop it!" Tails shouted. "This is senseless!"
"I find it appropriate." Espio stated, his gaze never once broke from Sonic's.
"That's something I can actually agree on with you." Sonic said wryly.
Their tiff had fell short when small tremors began traveling throughout the field. Silently, all eyes began to search frantically for its origin. Each shake became more vicious than the next as it was beginning to have sound. However, it sounded nothing like an earthquake…
But instead; giant footprints.
It became louder as it approached from behind the boulders. The four of them suddenly found themselves within a shade, which could not have been the cause of clouds or any sort of trees.
Nonetheless, each pair of eyes looked up.
Towering over them was an enormous automaton with an appearance of a bull. It's metal being red; it's snout, head, neck, and the top and bottom of its legs, silver; most of its body, and small outlines of yellow. At the top of its head was a rectangular window, revealing a mischievous and grinning man watching them from within.
The window elevated all the way up, his expression remaining the same. He chuckled. "By the looks of things; there's a party going on. How come I wasn't invited, hmm?"
"This isn't a joke!" Silver shouted, pointing up at the scientist. "We have unfinished business!"
"Guess that goes for all of us." Sonic said, looking up at Eggman Nega then at Silver. "Round two?"
Espio and Silver exchanged assertive glances. "Let's go."
"Perfect. Allow me the honor of starting us off." Eggman Nega lowered the window completely before hitting the controls on the machine. The mechanical bull slightly crouched and rubbed one of its hind "hooves" against the dirt.
…
From the time they left Neon Palace to where they are this very moment they had been walking. Neither had slept, or took any sort of rest.
Since before sunrise, and during noontime, they spoke with the other casually. They got to know each other a little more, and the chameleon got to learn more on the situation at hand. According to the silvery hedgehog himself: Eggman Nega plans to unleash the Ifrit upon the current world to destroy it. And it so happens that he was also looking for Chao as well as Chaos emeralds.
The purpose for the Chao, however, is so the Ifrit could consume them to become invincible.
It became self-explanatory as to why Silver was collecting Chao in the first place.
A little further into the dry canyon was when the hedgehog began to slow down, huffing and puffing. Espio, already ahead, noticed he no longer heard a second pair of feet following him and stopped. He turned around to find Silver bent over with his hands on his knees, breathing hard.
The chameleon walked back over to him. "Are you okay?"
It took a minute for the hedgehog to answer. "I… just need… a minute…" Slowly he pulled himself into a fully standing position…
…Only to lean all the way forward…
"S-Silver!" Espio caught him before he hit the ground with him. The hedgehog was atop of him in his arms, pale and seemingly drained in the face. "You don't look so good…"
"My powers… are almost exhausted…" he panted, shaking as he was on all fours. "I'll need Rings to power myself back up…"
"Then collect Rings we shall… and with haste." Silver looked up at him, lips partly opened as if somewhat in-shock. The chameleon looked down at him with a soft and reassuring smile.
After another stolen moment, muffled voices were heard from nearby. They both exchanged curious glances before crawling over towards a boulder. As it appeared; Rouge, Sonic, and Tails were together. The bat seemed to have asked for help with something, in which the blue blur agreed to without hesitation.
"Alright Tails, let's go round up some Rings."
"Thanks, boys. I'm counting on you." Rouge said, before flying off in one direction, as the other duo sped off in the other.
Espio turned around and sat against the rock, now facing Silver. He grinned. "By the looks of things, we may have our work cut out for us."
Silver cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well… Sonic and Tails are also collecting Rings, right?" Silver nodded. "We can cut them off, then take the Rings from the afterward."
"And how do we go about doing that?"
"Simple, we'll follow them." Espio pulled the hedgehog up with him, putting his arm over his shoulders to prop Silver against him. "We'll wait for the right moment to snag the Rings from them."
"But they're fast, especially Sonic. We won't be able to catch up to them like this." the hedgehog said while jerking his arm.
"Are you able to walk, then?"
He nodded. "I'll be fine." he pulled away from the chameleon, although wobbling in the process. Espio gave him a concerned look, he smiled nonetheless. "Don't worry, I'll manage. Besides, we're still in a race against time."
Espio nodded. "Very well, then. They're likely to have split up to collect as many Rings as possible. I'll trail after Sonic."
"Okay."
"…Be careful."
"You too…"
He flashed the hedgehog another smile, before talking off to chase after the blue blur.
"We will have those Rings… one way or another…"