SONIC HEROES: THE SERIES
Part 1 of 3: The Bat Colony Saga
Chapter Ninety-Two: Legends of Blood, Part 1
The scene opens to a castaway village far from the reaches of the modernized world. But this village no longer needed to be concerned of the outside world. Mounds of heavy smoke rose from the homes of the villagers, who were all scattered across the streets and their home, soaked in puddles of blood. The entire incident was a massacre, which was left with only one survivor. A younger teenaged boy with spiky grey hair and piecing gold eye crawled his way out of a dark alley – he was covered from head to toe in blood. The young boy panted, looking over his shoulder back into the alley.
"You are a strange one."
The young boy jumped back in surprise. The human raised his hands in defense when a new character suddenly appeared before him. He was a tall crimson bat appropriately eighteen years of age with a pair of lengthy black wings. He wore a suit of lightweight scarlet armor with a flowing black cape and a dark symbol on the shoulder of his armor. The unknown bat glanced at the young boy before turning his attention back into the alley. Against the shadows, he could spot several bats of different shapes and sizes – each of them presented some form of gash that led to their deaths.
"Wow, I'm impressed." The bat said honestly. "I have never known a person to take on a swarm of Bat Colony soldiers single-handedly. Not anyone alive, anyway. What did you say your name was?"
"....." The boy remained silent.
"Oh, I get it." The bat nodded. "You're a mute. Well, I know I'm going to get in trouble for this, but I'm thinking of letting you go. Just be sure to lay low for a while in case anyone else tries to get some revenge."
The silent teenager eyed the crimson deviant, slowly backing away. After taking two steps away, the savage human declared that it was safe and scurried away on all fours. For the briefest moment, the unknown savior watched the silent human vanish across the border of the village. Then he witnessed two shadows flying across the ground. The crimson warrior turned to face two more bat of his species. One was a few inches shorter than the red bat and was a female with ocean-blue fur, clad in sapphire-blue armor with a flowing black cape. The second bat was taller than the others with grassy-green fur, wearing reinforced, emerald armor with a flowing cape as well.
"What happened here, Rogue?" The female questioned.
"Very messy business, Siren." Rogue answered nonchalantly. "Apparently, we had a few stragglers that decided hang around for a while. They were caught off guard by the villagers and both sides were slaughtered."
"You know I can tell when a person is lying." Siren said coolly. "Your voice becomes only a tad lower when you lie."
"Rogue is in trouble." The large bat sang childishly.
"Shut up, Phantom!" Rogue snapped. "What do you guys want? I'm still working on the mission that Commander Syix gave us."
"That's good news." Siren commented. "Because the commander wants us to return to the Colony."
"What?!" Rogue exclaimed in shock. "What for?!"
"The queen has returned to her kingdom." Siren said cryptically.
The scene alternates to a wide valley hidden beneath a large row of mountains. The large valley contained a number of untouched plant-life with a wide sweep of tall trees clustered around a gigantic lake. For reasons unknown, human have never really tried to modernize the valley as they usually did with new land – animals preferred nature the way it was. And seated in the glade around the lake, two well-known characters sat side-by-side, enjoying each other's company. There was only nine days left until the wedding would take place, giving a Knuckles and Rouge little time to plan ahead.
"You know, this place isn't half bad." Knuckles commented. "How did you know about this place again?"
"I don't know – Instinct?" Rouge shrugged. "You've got to admit, this place isn't a bad idea for a honeymoon resort."
"At least then, I can – I mean, we can finally get away from that spiky-haired, blue annoyance."
"That right." Rogue said amorously with a soft growl. "Just you, me, and with none of our little stowaways!"
The engaged couple narrowed their eyes with intense anger and looked back over their shoulders. Charmy was buzzing around the air in an annoying fashion, Storm was trying the jump for a piece of fruit hanging from the tree, and Omega stood motionless. But when Rouge's irritable snap distracted him, Charmy accidentally pointed his stinger toward Storm's backside, who proceeded to jump above the trees. The large albatross eventually came down and landed on the Omega, who immediately activated his gatling guns in reaction. Knuckles quickly pulled his lover down to avoid the shots and Charmy barely survived as the bullets formed his outline on the tree.
"That was awesome!" Charmy cheered hyperactively.
"I don't believe it." Knuckles groaned as he and Rouge sat up. "We just wanted to be alone for a few days since we have been living with you guys for a whole year. What are you three even doing here anyway?"
"I thought you were going on a super cool mission." Charmy said optimistically.
"I was trying to prevent the escape of the young bee unit!" Omega stated.
"I was lonely." Storm said pathetically.
Just calm down, knucklehead." Rouge said, grinning deviously. "In over a week from now, we'll have a long time for a little...fun."
"Too bad it doesn't come soon enough." Knuckles said gruffly, pushing back to his feet. "I'm going for a walk to calm my nerves."
As he walked into the forest, he could hear a small part of Rouge's screams as she berated the trio. But as the echidna guardian brushed his way through the canopy of trees, he began to allow his mind to wander away from him. Rouge may have thought for this trip to be a vacation, but Knuckles wanted to use it to think. He was the one who proposed to Rouge nearly a year ago, but there were some times when he regretted his hasty actions. He was a guardian and she was a thief. He wanted to protect the Master Emerald and she wanted to steal it. But when it came down to it, there were more differences between them than the echidna guardian had first imagined.
"Ok, so we are exact opposites." Knuckles thought desperately. "But opposites attract....right?"
Knuckles wasn't truly convinced. Fortunately, his mind was distracted by a sudden snap coming from the bushes. At first, he would have thought it to be Rouge or the others. But Knuckles, who was trained in detecting familiar Chaos Energies, could sense that the heroes were still back at the lake. The guardian echidna tightened his fists and raised them in preparation for anything that would come. Several long, agonizing moments passed in silence until...
"Hmm...Impressive defense." A voice echoed.
That was all Knuckles need to make his move. The guardian echidna spun around and struck one of the trees in its core, splitting the mighty oak down the middle. He caught sight of a figure trying to make its escape, but captured a pebble in his hand and flung it in the creature's direction. The rock made direct contact with the creature's wing, forcing the figure to lose balance and drive towards the ground. Knuckles cautiously approached the grounded creature as it slowly forced itself back it its feet, clutching the bone of its wing. Now imagine Knuckles, who had never met another bat other than Rouge, when he came in contact with Rogue.
"Hey, not bad." Rogue compliment humorously. "You must have some skill if you were able to touch me."
"What are you doing here?" Knuckles asked; his fists still raised.
"I could ask you the same question." Rogue responded. "This valley is specifically controlled by my colony. And since you do not have permission to walk these grounds, you are trespassing."
"Listen, I just came here to think." Knuckles glowered.
"Well, you'll have plenty of time to do that in the afterlife." Rogue hissed.
The armored bat jumped forward, pulling back his weight to throw his legs out. Knuckles effortlessly pushed the attack aside, which turned out to be what Rogue had planned. As his feet were pushed aside, Rogue pressed his hands into the ground and spun his entire body around for a second strike. Reacting quickly, Knuckles brought up his arms and blocked the attack with his forearms, but was still pushed to the side. Afterwards, the armored warrior pushed himself up and caught the wind beneath his wings, allowing him to remained airborne. This provided Rogue with the advantage as Knuckles could only remain on the ground, forced to throw objects from below. Rogue effortless dodged the pieces of wood and pebbles and stuck out his foot to kick off of the echidna's face.
"What's the matter, mole?" Rogue taunted. "Can't keep up?"
"Why don't you come down here to make it a fair fight?!" Knuckles roared.
"You think I'm stupid?" Rogue laughed. "I know you could beat me on the ground. Rule #4 of combat: Always play to your advantage."
"You're nothing without your little flying trick." Knuckles stated.
"That may be true." Rogue admitted. "But let's see just how well you deal with this."
The armored warrior took a quick turn and made a swift dive for the echidna, but this suddenly fell into Knuckles' favor. All of a sudden, the guardian echidna grabbed a nearby tree and ripped the oak from the ground – roots and all. Rogue was clearly impressed by this feat that he failed to notice Knuckles swinging the tree until it had already made contact. Rogue was tossed through the thick brush of leaves and smacked into one of the oaks – a sharp snap echoed. Pushing himself up, the armored warrior realized that his left wing was bent out of place.
"Damn, that hurts like hell." Rogue cursed.
"Looks like your grounded." Knuckles joked; Rogue groaned in embarrassment. "What?! I'm not Sonic!!"
"You just got lucky, mole." Rogue proclaimed defiantly. "I can promise you that it won't happen a second time."
"What are going to do without your wings to save you?" Knuckles questioned.
The crimson bat did not give the echidna his answer, but moved his hand towards his shoulder. A latch was heard un snapping, surprising Knuckles and the armor was slowly removed. When the armor was discarded, Rogue seemed noticeably thin for his age, but seemed physically fit for battle. He wore grey fingerless, black boots with silver outlines and red laces, and an aquamarine belt with small packs tied around his waist. Knuckles also noticed that he took a momentary glance to his left wrist, which was grabbed by a small rope bracelet with multi-colored beads.
"Ah, that's better." Rogue sighed in relief. "I should have a better advantage like this."
"You think losing a couple of pound will give you a better chance?" Knuckles questioned.
"I don't know." Rogue grinned wickedly. "Why don't we find out?"
And with that, Rogue blurred out of sight and reappeared behind the guardian echidna. Knuckles, who has had experience fighting Sonic and Shadow, turned swiftly on his heels and captured Rogue's fist into his own. The winged warrior was clearly surprised at his opponents speed, but was swift to recover. Rogue swiped his foot upwards, jabbing boot into Knuckles' chin. The echidna guardian had unintentionally released him, which left himself open for Rogue to jab his fist into the echidna's stomach. Knuckles staggered backwards in a dazed state, giving the warrior bat one last opportunity he need. Rogue kicked off the ground and, thought his wing was still injured, wrapped them around his body like a cocoon. The winged warrior began spinning around at a rapid pace, giving him the appearance of a black drill.
"Screw Wing!!" Rogue screamed.
Knuckles noticed that the attack had a vague similarity to Rouge's signature Screw Kick technique. The echidna guardian threw out his hands in hopes of capturing the attack much he does with Rouge. But the cocoon of wings was too smooth for Knuckles to capture, which allowed the bat to pierce his defenses. The strike went deep into the echidna's chest and flung him backwards past the forest and returning to the clearing. The heroes gasped in shock once their proud leader was flung from the trees and collapsed near the lake.
"Knuckles!" Rouge cried, dropping near her fiancé. "Come on, Knuckie. Please get up."
"Rouge...." Knuckles groaned.
"What happened to the red mutt?" Storm asked; a large vein appeared on Knuckles forehead.
"Thermal sensors detects hostile life-form!" Omega announced, revealing his gatling gun. "Standing by for counterattack."
"What if it's a scary monster?!" Charmy screeched, causing Rouge to smack him upside the head. "Ow...."
"Watch out for this guy." Knuckles hissed painfully. "He's very fast and stronger in close combat. We should have Omega fight from a distance."
"Enemy location confirmed!" Omega announced, throwing out his gun. "Target discovered 5.3 meters from current location."
"Actually, it's much closer than that." Rogue voice echoed.
Immediately following, Omega unleashed a shower of bullets into the tress, knocking off some of the branches. With the ballistic assault, Rogue was forced to leave his cover in the trees and landed on the ground – his injured wing was bleeding. And when the wounded warrior looked up, Omega's gun was pointed directly at his face.
"Hey..." Rogue said coolly. "What's going on?"
"Target apprehended!" Omega stated. "Waiting for further instructions."
"Whoa, hold up there!" Rogue exclaimed. "What's all this for?! I was just defending what's mine!"
"You hurt knucklehead!" Charmy shouted; Rogue sniggered. "What give you the right to do that, meanie?!"
"Like I said, I was just defending what's mine." Rogue repeated. "This territory belongs to..."
But the crimson warrior trialed off when he locked eyes with the female bat holding her fiancé. While Rogue seemed to be at a loss for words, Rouge seemed equally as shocked as he was. But Knuckles, on the other hand, didn't seem too happy with his lover staring unblinkingly at his attacker. Rogue raised his left hand up – Omega cocked his gun in preparation – and showed the beaded bracelet to the group. The heroes gazed at him funny, but that was before Rouge took off her right glove, revealing an exact replica of the beaded bracelet.
"Rogue?" Rouge asked nervously.
"Rouge?" Rogue responded.
"Oh I don't believe it!!" Rouge shouted happily.
The female bat quickly left her lover's side and pushed Omega out of the way. Rogue jumped up to his feet and opened his arms to embrace Rouge tightly. Storm and Charmy stared at the two with their mouths gaping while Omega just stood motionlessly. Knuckles, on the other hand, seemed pissed beyond belief. Why in the world would Rouge be hugging the person who nearly put him into a comatose? After a quick moment, the two bats separated.
"Rouge, I can't believe it's been ten years since we've seen each other." Rogue laughed excitedly; his eyes momentarily dropped to her chest. "Looks like you finally filled out just like you wanted. Dreams do come true, huh?"
"Dreams?" Storm repeated.
"Hey, I was a kid back then!" Rouge exclaimed embarrassingly.
"Yeah, back when she was a kid, she was flat..." Rogue said before Rouge elbowed him in the gut. "Anyway, what have you been up to all these years?"
"Why don't you take a look for yourself?" Rouge said as removed her remaining glove. The white bat grinned with pride as Rogue's caught sight of her engagement ring. "That's right; you're looking at a married woman."
"But you're not married yet." Storm said pointedly; Rouge stomped his toe. "Yow! What'd I do?!"
"That's...great." Rogue said halfheartedly, which only Knuckles seemed to notice. "I'm very happy for you, Rouge."
"Thanks." Rouge smiled, replacing her gloves. "So what have you been up to?"
"Believe it or not, I've actually been put on a mission to bring you back home." Rogue stated.
"Back home?" Rouge said confused.
The scene alternates to the highest mountain within the valley, where the heroes were forced to climb up the rocky surface. Because his wing was still injured from the fight, Rogue was forced to walk with the rest of the group as they traveled further up the mountain. Rouge was offered a chance to go on ahead, but refused so that she could stay and talk with Rogue – Knuckles wasn't pleased by this. The guardian echidna stared at Rogue's backside spitefully as he and Rouge were talking animatedly between each other. Storm, who was climbing with Knuckles as they carried Omega, seemed to notice this rather quickly.
"Hey, you ok, bud." Storm asked worried.
"I just don't get it." Knuckles grumbled. "This guy is only back for two minutes and Rouge wants to spend all her time with him. That guy tried to kill me over an hour ago."
"They were childhood friends." Storm reasoned. "They haven't seen each other in over ten years. If me, boss, or Wave were separated for that long, I'd want to enjoy all the time we have together."
"I guess you're right." Knuckles pouted. "Man, I can't believe I said that."
"Said what?!" Charmy shouted randomly.
The two powerhouses were surprised by the bee's sudden outburst and accidentally released their grips on the mountain. It took them another twenty minutes to climb back up. Finally, once they had reached near the pinnacle of the mountain, the group of six stopped outside a large opening to a cave. Judging by the echoing noises emerging from it, they tunnel was massive and occupied.
"Welcome, Rouge." Rogue said joyously. "To your birthright."
The heroes followed their new alley into the cavern, where they were met with a monumental surprise. What they expected to be a small tunnel was actually a gigantic cavern that seemed to spread out through the entire mountain. But the biggest shock came from those who occupied the space. Other than Rouge, no one had ever seen another bat in the world. But now they could see over a hundred of bats flying and cluttering around the cavern – this was their way of socializing. Of all the heroes, Rouge seemed to be the most surprised.
"I never realized..." Rouge said softly.
"That there would be other like you." Rogue and the heroes looked over as Siren and Phantom landed. Both bats seemed pleased by their appearance and kneeled to before them. "The bat species has been keeping its existence for many years out of fear. But now our dream of rejoining the world will become a reality, Mistress Rouge."
"Mistress Rouge." The female said pleasurably. "I like that sound of that. You people know how to greet a lady."
"That's not what they meant, Rouge." Rogue chuckled lightly.
"The term comes from your own heritage." A new voice sounded. "Much to be expect from the daughter of our greatest leader."
Siren and Phantom both stood up and split apart to present a path for their leader. He was a tall white bat with snowy-white hair close to Rouge's color and piercing gold eyes. He wore a flowing red coat with the colony symbol printed on the back, black boots with purple sidelines, a pair of deathly-black gloves, and a black locket hanging from his neck. Without warning, the man throw his arm over Rouge's shoulder and embarrassed her tightly. The female hero felt uneasy about being hugged by a stranger.
"It's good to see you again, child." The bat said kindly.
"Thanks...uh..." Rouge said uncertainly.
"This is Commander Syix." Rogue explained, much to Rouge's relief. ""He is in charge of keeping our colony safe...and he's also your uncle."
"My uncle?" Rouge repeated.
"Her uncle?!" The heroes exclaimed simultaneously.
"That's right." Syix smiled. "Your father, General Rynod, was my brother. He was a proud leader that led our colony to broaden its horizons. Unfortunately, an unwarranted attack on our kind killed your father before your birth. With his death, we were forced to retreat back to our original nesting grounds."
"That's so sad." Charmy sniffed.
"Oh, forgive me." Syix said, just noticing the heroes. "I didn't see you guys there. You must be friends with my dear niece."
"In a way." Knuckles said strictly, pointing to the others. "This is Storm, Charmy and Omega. And my name is Knuckles the Echidna." He eyes glanced over to Rogue. "Rouge's future husband."
"So you're an echidna?" Syix asked; his smile faded. "I heard you were the last of your kind."
"I thought that, too." Knuckles nodded. "But it turns out that it was only my tribe that had suffered all those centuries ago. Our rivaling clan has survived for thousands of years. They just made the wrong choices."
"I am so sorry to hear that." Syix said in a hollow voice, turning to his trusted elite. "Well, you all must be weary from your travels. Rogue and the others will show you to your sleeping chamber while I introduce Rouge to her heritage."
"Gee, thanks, mister." Charmy said happily.
"Rouge, are you going to be all right?" Knuckles asked cautiously.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Rouge said with a pleasing smile on her expression. "These are my people and I am a queen here. You boys go off and enjoy yourselves. Your majesty has a lot of living to catch up on."
Knuckles didn't seem convinced, but reluctantly followed Rogue and the elites down the stone stairway. The echidna looked back to his lover for a moment before she was out of view. The elites led the heroes down to the lowest part of the cavern, which took a long while to travel because most of the heroes couldn't fly. All the while, Phantom began telling the heroes stories about the colony's biggest exploits in its history, which Rogue and Siren were fearful for. Fortunately, he did not reach the subjects of their recent raids.
"General Rynod was said to be the greatest leader in our colony's history." Phantom continued eagerly. "When he took over, that became the turning point of our people's lives."
"What happened?" Storm asked excitedly.
"General Rynod led our people out of hiding." Phantom stated. "He gave us the courage to travel to the outside world and make the Bat Colony known around the world."
"Wait a minute..." Knuckles murmured thoughtfully. "Bat Colony..."
---Flashback---
The scene returned to South Island, shortly after the reunion between the family members. Gale was sitting between Sonic and Aleena with his youngest child, Stream, sitting in his wife's lap. The hedgehog family was faced against the other members of the Sonic Heroes and Seven Seas Crew. However, Jet was still trying to put some distance between himself and his father, and Kyira and Nyrox were still missing. Gale had just reached to the end of his latest story of when Accel and Mech joined the crew.
"Man, I can't believe mom thought you were trying to trick her." Sonic said in awe.
"Hey, Naga was a crafty snake!" Aleena excused.
"So what happened next?" Tails asked.
"Shortly after I left, some guy named Rynod arrived." Gale continued. "He tried to take over South Island through a political takeover. Unfortunately, because Aleena wasn't married, she couldn't officially be queen. That when the Bat Colony made their move."
---End Flashback---
"I remember now!" Knuckles shouted, catching the others by surprise. "Rynod tried to take over South Island so that the Bat Colony could control the world!" He glared at the elites. "And you knew this, didn't you?!"
"It looks like our secret is out." Siren said coolly. "Then I guess we no longer need to continue this charade."
Without warning, Rogue spun around and kicked his foot into Charmy's tiny chest. The impact shot the young bee into Storm, who collided with Omega to drop them down the nearest tunnel. Knuckles tried to counterattack by thrusting his fist into Phantom's face. But much to the echidna's surprise, his namesakes went through the emerald bat as if he wasn't there. Phantom turned around and grabbed the echidna's wrist – his hand was solid – before throwing him down the tunnel with the others.
"Hey, what was hat for?!" Charmy yelled.
"Logical probabilities have detected solution!" Omega announced. "They had brought us her to separate us from Rouge!"
"That's right." Phantom nodded. "She doesn't need scum like you hanging around."
"What do you want with her?" Knuckles growled.
"It would be such a waste to tell you." Siren stated. "Seeing as how you won't be around much longer."
The heroes quickly tried to get back to their feet, but it was in vein. While her partners covered their ears, Siren tilted her head to the ceiling and opened her mouth to release an earsplitting shriek. The heroes, with the exception of Omega, dropped to the ground clutching their ears. However, this was not Siren's intentional plan. The powerful shriek shattered the ceiling of the tunnel, causing the cave to collapse over them. The last thing Knuckles saw was Rogue's enraged glare before everything fell into darkness.
A hidden secret leads to an impending disaster. Will the Heroes be able to survive the unexpected attack? Will Knuckles find a way to save his love? And what does the Bat Colony need with Rouge? Find out on the next Sonic Heroes!
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