Part 1
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Rouge opened her eyes to several dim lights in a cave. She squirmed around trying to break a set of surprisingly strong yellow rope.
"Oh hey." Knuckles winked at Rouge. "Long time no see."
Amy rolled her eyes and Rouge glared at Knuckles. Then a wicked smile formed on Rouge's face. "How's that foot treating you?"
Knuckles winced, then covered it with a snicker. "Better. Thanks for asking." He took off his shoe, showing a scar on the bottom of his foot.
"Ok, we. Put your dirty feet away." Amy held her nose before turning back to Rouge. "All right Rouge. What do you want this time?"
Rouge looked back and forth between Knuckles and Amy, taking a few minutes to weigh her options. Then she shrugged. "Sonic. I'm sure you'd be glad to have him off your hands."
Amy almost looked ready to agree before speaking. "You know, you'd be surprised. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's nice to have someone around who's easy on the eyes." Rouge's jaw dropped; Knuckles facepalmed muttering a few curse words under his breath. Amy shrugged giggling. "Hey, what can I say. I'm complicated."
Rouge regained her composure. "So. What do you guys plan to do with me?"
After a few minutes, Knuckles decided to leave Amy alone with Rouge. Apparently they were having "girl talk," whatever that was.
Tails went to do some more work on Sonic, while Knuckles rested. He still hadn't fully recovered from his injuries, so Amy was still the best fighter available to take Rouge down. Even with her injuries, she was still a better fighter than Tails. At full health, she might be even better than him. Though that came down a question of skill vs. strength. Knuckles wasn't sure which was more valuable in a fight.
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Part 2
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Shadow ran through a blurred countryside of green fields, brown forests, and gray mountains. Asphalt bounced thudded under his feet as he ran, deep in thought. That time traveler, Silver, was supposed to be sent home when the future got fixed, so him still being here wasn't a good sign. Chaos had been sealed away, but he knew it was only a temporary fix. Because if the future was still in ruins, it meant Chaos would escape. It had before, so it wasn't that surprising. He had to find a way to seal it permanently. The only issue was, he had no idea how to destroy it. Tikal had sealed it in that "master emerald," so maybe it could destroy Chaos as well. Of course, if it was anything like the chaos emeralds, its power could be stolen. Maybe that was an option.
Launching it into space was also a possible option. Shadow suspected the creature could survive in space. Though, it might not be able to get back to Mobius anyway. Of course, that required firing the master emerald into space. When he'd suggested it to Tikal, she was firmly against it. Even Silver, with his experience of the future thought it was a bad idea. They mentioned something about the energy of the world, but he had no idea what they meant. They just kept saying about that emerald keeping everything alive.
He never believed in that sort of mumbo jumbo, but the way they talked about it. It was like they had experience with it, like they'd seen a world without the master emerald. That's the part that scared him. If they'd really seen the world die, seen everything go extinct, that was different. Stories and myths were one thing, but if two different accounts on an event were around, then he might have to take it seriously. Of course, the real reason he was against the launch of the emerald, was a possible escape by Chaos.
He wasn't sure what the effect of speeds over mach 23 would have on the emerald and Chaos. That unknown just wasn't worth the risk. At least there was time to think about the situation. Chaos probably wouldn't be escaping for a while.
He kept running as the green and brown went away and the flat landscape gave way to buildings. The buildings got taller and closer together as Shadow had to dodge between cars in the street. He ended up climbing a building and jumping between the roofs of skyscrapers to avoid traffic. He laughed as a familiar wind blew past him.
Eventually he got to the tallest building in the city, jumping off. He dropped from the sky, slowing down as he kicked off between buildings. He had to limit his speed below 50 kilometers per hour to keep from breaking any glass, but it was still fun to fall with style.
He kept jumping. Kick, drop, kick, drop, jump, fall, land, roll. The buildings started shrinking as he got further and further away from the center of the city. Soon the skyscrapers shrunk down, getting smaller and smaller until there were normal sized buildings.
Then they changed to houses and apartments. He kept going until he came to a familiar neighborhood, stopping in front of a simple white house with a steep slope to its roof. He walked up to the front door, and knocked.
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Part 3
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Dr. Robotnick had just finished talking with chief Oran, when he heard a knock on the door. He went to the door, opening it to see a red and black hedgehog. An inferno raged in his eyes above a strong smirk. "What's up Doc?"
Oran looked past Robotnick. "Oh, Shadow. Good to see you."
"Officer Oran." Shadow raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"
"Actually, it's chief Oran now. Ah, never mind that. I don't want to intrude on your visit." He smiled heading out the door. "Enjoy your vacation. From what I've heard, you really earned it this time."
Shadow waited until Oran was out of ear shot. Then he turned to Robotnick. "All right Ivo, what's up with Oran. Something seemed off about him."
Robotnick sighed. "Some things have happened while you were gone." Shadow raised an eyebrow as the doctor motioned him to the kitchen table.
They both sat down and Shadow looked around. "Hang on, where's Sonic?"
"That's what I wanted to talk about. He-he went rogue, completely off the grid." Shadow kept his eyebrow raised, but remained silent. Robotnick continued. "He joined Knuckles and broke Amy out of prison. He also broke someone named Tails out of Argon."
"Any property damage or assaults?"
Robotnick shook his head. "Now that you mention it, no. He hasn't actually damaged any property. Assaults on the other hand..." Then Robotnick thought about it. "Actually, I don't think he's seriously injured anyone. But he did knock out a few security guards."
Shadow nodded. "I see, anything else." Robotnick shook his head and Shadow stood up from the table.
"Wait, where are you going?" Robotnick asked.
"I'm gonna go find my little brother." He walked out of the room, heading for the door.
"Hold on, Shadow. You don't know what you're getting into."
He gripped the handle, then let go. "If you want to tell the rest of your side, fine. Otherwise, I'm talking to Sonic." He turned to Robotnick, waiting for a response. After a minute of staring at each other in silence, Shadow turned away, opening the door. "I'll listen when you're ready to talk. But for now, I guess I'll talk to Sonic."