Sonic: Atonement
Chapter 12: Island Temple
"I just sent you the coordinates for the next chaos emerald. Start heading that way now." Max said to Zero through his communicator.
"I see it. Guess I shoulda brought some bug spray, huh?" Zero joked dryly.
"Well the faster you get in and out the less you have to deal with 'em."
"Thanks for the words of motivation, unc." Zero replied before boosting forward.
Max had traced the location of the next chaos emerald to a jungle island way out in the ocean. It took some time and some money to get a small crew to charter a boat way out here, but now that they had touched down, Zero was eager to stretch his legs and get right to work.
The greenery was thick and lined with many trees that Zero had to weave through. He was barely able to move in a straight line; he kept having to sidestep back and forth to avoid breaking his face on any tree trunks.
"These are some huge trees. Nice to see so much untouched nature." Zero commented as he continued running.
"Might be a good place to retire when this is all over." Max commented.
"Now you're thinkin'," Zero chuckled. "Then I'll really need to bring some bug spray." He added.
"Focus on the mission, kid, will ya?" Max said to get Zero back on track although he did so while masking a faint chuckle under his breath.
"I got it, I got it...hold on one sec, unc. We got company." Zero said.
As Zero ran by a creek running within the forest, he noticed someone with bat wings gliding above him. Curious, he decided to boost ahead to get her attention and, sure enough, it wasn't long before she swooped down and landed smoothly on the ground.
"Hey there, handsome. What're you doing out...? Wait, sorry, I mistook you for someone else. You look a lot like a good friend of mine." She said with a surprised chuckle.
"I see. Well, I don't know you at all. I'm surprised to see anyone else out here in the middle of nowhere." Zero commented as he stood up straight and stuck his hands in his jacket pockets.
"Took the words right out of my mouth, cutie. The name's Rouge. What's yours?" She asked, offering a handshake.
"I'm Zero," He nodded and shook her hand. "What're you doing here?"
"Treasure hunting – same as you, I'm sure." Rouge presumed, smiling as she rested her hands on her hips.
"Not exactly. I only have one thing I'm looking for towards the center of the island." Zero clarified.
"The temple?" Rouge guessed.
"Looks like we're after the same thing." Zero stated to see what her response would be.
"If that's the case, why not work together? So long as I get the jewels I'm after." Rouge offered with a wink.
"Hm...deal." Zero replied with a nod and a faint smile.
"Good, because last I heard, we might run into some unwelcome company here on the island, especially as we get closer to the temple," Rouge brought up as she flew into the air just high enough to peer over the trees. "But you look like you can handle yourself."
"I do well enough. It's on you to keep up." Zero said, getting ready to run again.
"Oh I can handle myself too, darling, don't you worry. We're going this way." Rouge said, pointing in the next direction to go before flying ahead.
Zero wordlessly boosted forward through the dense forest again, sidestepping trees left and right to keep up with Rouge's guidance. She was keeping her path straight to make it easier for Zero to keep pace with her from below.
"I think I see something through the clearing up ahead! You ready?" She asked.
"I'm all set!" Zero called back.
"Keep a watchful eye on that girl, Zero. I'm not sure who she is but she's definitely looking to take advantage of you here." Max advised him from within his earpiece.
"Is she going in the direction of the emerald?" Zero asked quietly.
"Yes." Max answered simply.
Zero reached the area that Rouge was talking about. The trees moved out of the way to reveal an ancient temple with pillars stretching up and baring carvings of what appeared to be a snake-like creature. Zero's eyebrows furrowed as he boosted towards it, running up to the top of the steps leading into its entrance.
"This is not what I was expecting to see." Zero commented, stopping at the entrance to let Rouge catch up with him.
"I don't know what you were looking for then," She said as she landed next to him. "This temple used to belong to the ancient Echidna tribe back before they got pushed back to Angel Island. If there's two things the Echidna tribe specialized in, it was power and jewels." She explained.
"Interesting. You seem pretty well researched on it." He commented.
"I do know some people, let's say," Rouge said with a smile. "Well I know what I'm looking for but I'm not sure where it'll be. So I'll let you lead the way, big guy." She gestured to the entrance of the temple.
"Hm...thanks for the help." Zero acknowledged with a nod. He took a moment to fix his gloves before running inside head first.
Almost immediately, the hallways inside the temple dipped underground, twisting here and there to gradually lead him lower and lower. And as they went deeper and the lighting got darker, Zero found it harder to figure out where the next path to take was hidden.
"It's getting real dark real fast in here. I'm surprised you haven't run into anything yet." Rouge said, beginning to slow down now. Noticing this, Zero came to a stop for her.
"I'm surprised you're having issues getting around. Aren't you supposed to be nocturnal?" Zero quipped.
"Ha ha, very funny. It's rude to leave a lady at a time like this, you know." Rouge pointed out to redirect the conversation and spare herself a little.
"Hm, come on then." Zero cracked a smile and offered his hand to her. She took it and they began to cautiously look around together for the pathway leading further down. As they continued on together, Zero found himself feeling weirdly at ease with Rouge's presence despite her eccentric personality.
"It's hard to imagine what the ancient echidna tribe might've used this temple for way back when." She commented to break the silence.
"Hard to say. Perhaps a tomb? Or a home base?" Zero guessed.
"Sad to see that there's only one left. They probably could've taught us a lot about the emeralds."
"Yeah...so you know about the chaos emeralds too, huh?" He observed.
"As an enthusiast of all things fine jewels, obviously." Rouge said with a prideful scoff.
"Hm," Zero chuckled to himself. As they reached the next room, they were greeted by a soft ethereal light glowing dimly just ahead of them. "Speaking of which..."
The two of them found that a chaos emerald was floating in the center of a large open room lined with ancient echidna hieroglyphics. They both entered the room, eyeing each other oddly as they approached the chaos emerald.
"Well well, what do we have here? Come to mama." Rouge said with a grin as she reached for the emerald.
"Uh uh," Zero flicked her hand away. "I'm taking the emerald."
"What?! Hey, what makes you think you can just claim it? If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have even found this place!" She pointed out.
"Yeah I would've, just not as quickly." Zero argued with a shrug.
"I came all this way for it! It's rightfully mine!" Rouge declared.
"Yeah, and what do you think I came all this way for?" Zero pointed out.
However, their bickering was cut short by a strange rumbling that shook the entire temple. A large drill suddenly burst through the wall. As its spinning slowed, a robotic arm shot out the side of the drill, crossing in front of the pair and snatching the emerald away.
"What the?!" Rouge shouted in surprise.
"Haha! The emerald is mine!" They heard Eggman's voice laugh through a speaker system. The arm retracted back into the drill with the chaos emerald now stored away.
"Eggman?! Where are you?!" Zero shouted, his eyes widening in realization.
"Who are you, hedgehog?" Eggman asked dismissively.
"My name is Zero. I'm the hedgehog who's going to kill you." Zero answered in full seriousness.
"Hahaha! So you finally decide to show your face! Well well, Zero, let's see if you can make it out of this temple alive!" Eggman cackled.
Eggman's drill began to spin again at full speed. It suddenly shot forward directly at Zero and Rouge. He jumped in surprise, grabbing her and yanking her out of the way. The drill sped past them and into the wall on the opposite side of the room, disappearing into the earth again.
The temple began to rumble again with much more force. Zero and Rouge looked at each as they quickly realized what was happening. The temple was going to collapse on top of them if they didn't get out quickly.
"Grab onto me." Zero quickly grabbed her again. Rouge allowed herself to be scooped up by him and gripped his neck tightly.
"You remember the way out, right?!" She asked worriedly.
"Uhh..." Rather than answer, Zero just started boosting forward.
Zero weaved frantically through the halls of the crumbling temple, working his way back up. Having to retrace their steps in the heat of the moment wasn't the hard part, but the pressure of trying to get himself and Rouge to safety as large stones were falling from above them was making it hard to breathe.
"Go left here!" Rouge shouted, looking ahead and pointing to the next pathway upwards. Since the temple was falling around them, more light was beginning to peek in through the cracks, making it easier for her to see and try to help out.
"I got it I got it!" Zero slid into the sharp left turn, almost coming to a full stop before boosting forward just in time to avoid being crushed.
He rushed around to the top floor only to find that most of the floor leading to the way out had already caved in. Zero paused for a moment to assess what to do next. That's when Rouge let her feet hit the floor and readjusted herself to grab onto Zero's back.
"Make the jump! I can carry us the rest of the way!" She shouted quickly.
"Huh? You sure?" Zero looked back at her.
"No! Just go!" She urged him.
With no time and no other options, Zero held onto Rouge's arms and boosted forward with her in tow. He made the leap towards the exit, sailing over as much of the expanding chasm below him as he could.
That's when Rouge took over, grabbing him from under the arms and throwing him forward while the momentum was still on their side. Zero went spinballing out of the temple. Rouge wobbled for a moment before regaining herself with her wings. She dove out of the temple entrance just as it all came crashing down.
The two of them tumbled on the grass and looked up to see the tall pillars of the temple coming down on top of itself. The entire structure disappeared into the underground passageways that had been compromised by Eggman's drill, leaving only a pile of stone walls and rubble.
"That was too close..." Rouge said with a sigh.
"Are you aright?" Zero asked worriedly, getting up to his knees and crawling up to her.
"I'm alright. Just need a moment to catch my breath." She answered with a small nod...
To Be Continued...