Somewhere in an alternate dimension, there existed an ornate, marble-plated palace sitting in silent splendor, its owner hidden deep within its bowels.
The silence was broken by two screams; one male and one female.
Knuckles hit the ground with a thud, the shock of his materialization out of thin air not allowing him to catch himself. Rouge, having wings, had the luxury of a much more graceful landing.
Shaking off the impact, the Guardian quickly began to sense familiar vibrations in the air…
He took off running only for the bat-girl to cut him off, eyebrow raised. "Hold it, Mister. Do you even know where you're going?"
"Get out of my way," He snarled, eye twitching. "I'm heading straight for the Emerald!"
"I know you've got some sort of 'Emerald Radar' buried inside that thick skull of yours, but it won't help you find your way around some castle in another dimension!"
He crossed his arms and sighed, attempting to bite back a sarcastic remark. Like it or not, she was right. "Then what do you think we should do?"
"I'm going to go gather intel," she explained "You can come with me if you're actually capable of being quiet."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
The bat-girl simply shook her head, muttering something to herself. "Just try to keep up."
She flew off. Scratching the side of head, he followed her.