Sonic the Hedgehog

Rabbit Hole

About twenty feet above the tight tunnel Rouge is currently drilling through, violent vibrations and the sound of mighty explosions erupt above her, much to the bat's confusion. It's obvious her teammates have made contact with an enemy, which encourages her to dig even faster. It might be beneficial to both her and Mobius if she were to "accidentally" let the emerald fall into the hands of GUN or a local task force, but she pushes the thought away. She's too far into this rabbit hole to risk getting on Eggman's bad side.

I've gone my entire life without getting attached to a job. Can't start now.

Finally, her arms begin to tire slowly, but she refuses to let this treasure escape her grasp. Especially with her allies counting on her. She holds her breath to protect her lungs from the excess of dust created from the destruction of solid Earth the bat powers through. From her memory, she can't remember a time she's ever dug this hard.

Rouge has begun to tune out the constant explosions and yelling on the surface when much to her shock, an ear-piercing BOOM rattles her insides and nearly blows out her eardrums. A flash of yellow light floods into the hole she's in, and the mountain trembles from the blast.

With the loud noise and flash of light, the jewel thief nearly missed it. But its mere touch was unmistakable from the gravel and rock around it. The chaos emerald. Its white, perfect glow dazzles her eyes. Determined to escape captivity from its beauty, Rouge grabs onto the mysterious gem and pries it from the cold earth that has held it for so long. Her wings spread out and the bat hurriedly shoots up from the tunnel and into the light above.

The first thing she sees upon emerging from the ground is the sheer amount of damage the mountaintop has suffered. Craters everywhere, snow having somehow melted away to light frost- it's clear a great battle took place while she was busy. E-123 Omega stands away from the hole, at the edge of the mountain, overlooking something or someone that Rouge can't see at the moment. She holds the emerald in the air and yells for her ally's attention.

"Hey, Omega!" She calls out. "I got i-!"

Her heart drops the moment she feels the weight of the priceless treasure leave her palm. Quickly, she looks up at the sky and spots the thieves almost immediately. They certainly weren't who she was expecting. The pink hedgehog she cornered back in Metropolis now holds the emerald tightly in her hand as she uses the other to wield her large hammer. The yellow fox holds her by the shoulders, using his tails to fly.

These kids don't quit. Rouge can't help but think, admiring their courage and persistence. But NO ONE steals a treasure from ME.

Like a rocket, the spy shoots after the pair, certain she'll reach them well before they can escape her range. Evidently, the fox has this same realization as he turns in her direction and stares in fear at the rapidly gaining bat.

Another thing the young fox failed to predict, much like Rouge's speed, was his reliance on a guardian angel. A red blur crashes into the spy mid-air, knocking her out of the sky and sending her tumbling down the mountainside. Rouge manages to stop herself on a ledge and in front of her, the attacker lands. Someone else she recognizes and certainly wasn't expecting to see again.

A mighty, undeniably angry red echidna looks down on her, his fists clenched.

"Pick on somebody your own size, bat!" he says in a low growl.

Rouge grins and gets to her feet, cautious not to make any sudden moves that would provoke the warrior to attack.

"Well, don't you play rough," she remarks. "And here I was thinking you'd learn your lesson after challenging Shadow."

"So 'Shadow' is the name of the one who bested me," Knuckles realizes, fuming at the mention of him. "I'll keep that in mind for our rematch."

"Aren't you adorable?" Rouge says, as she secretly grabs a fist full of snow.

Even with his tough look, the echidna's blushing cheeks don't go unseen by Rouge, further solidifying her statement.

"Sorry to bail so soon, darling, but I have an emerald to steal back," she says. "Catch'ya later."

She gives the confused warrior a wink before launching a snowball at his face. In his moment of brief blindness, Rouge spreads her wings and flies off, staring down at Knuckles who stares back.

...