Crumbling

Rouge, The Wave, and an Echidna

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to remind you of a few other characters in this story. Letsss check in on those guys.

xxx

Normally when Rouge was on the job, she didn't blink an eye until she got what she was after. However, having just finished a high-profile assignment in which the entire planet was almost destroyed, she wanted a little time off. She didn't want it, she needed it. Stress could ruin a great body like hers, and Rouge wasn't about to let that happen.
Sonic and his little fox friend could wait until tomorrow.

She was lounging on a beach chair in the sand. Getting out in the sun was nice every now and then; she brought her heart-shaped sunglasses to do just that. As she lay back trying to remember what that echidna's torso looked like when she saw it reflected off the master emerald, the loud rushing sound got between her and her thoughts.

Rouge sat up, ticking down her glasses so she could look over the rims. The sight of the giant wave made her leap out of her chair with a yelp. The thing was higher than the trees- it looked like it was up in the clouds. And it was about to hit.

I don't think I can fly out of here fast enough. Was it better to find cover? Or to leap into the air, possibly to fly directly into the oncoming wave?

"I guess it was too much to ask for a day off" mumbled the bat, taking a nervous step backwards.

Suddenly, under Rouge's feet, a pair of white gloved hands burst from the earth and grabbed her around the ankles. She had been expecting an assault from above, not below, and so uttered an undignified yelp when the hands stole her through the ground. Knuckles was, of course, the culprit; it seemed he was looking out for her again. He released Rouge after pulling her down.

"Come on, this way!" He said, pointing further down the tunnel, which was only dimly lit by the hole he had just made.

With the approach of the deadly wave, Knuckles' first thought had been to seek shelter underground. Fortunately, Rouge was already on his radar, as he had been actively seeking her out before the tidal wave ruined everything.

"This tunnel goes up and into an enclosed cave, we'll be fine there."

He'd reached the point in the tunnel that turned a sharp vertical, so Knuckles dug his fists into the dirt and began to climb. With a few flutters of her wings, Rouge followed closely behind. The heavy sound of water echoed eerily overhead, and a few droplets dribbled through. Rouge's heartbeat quickened a little and she looked to her companion; he didn't say anything, but he'd heard it. The wave must have been bigger than he had thought.

Before long, the two of them were in a small rocky enclosure lit with glowing crystals that shot out from veins in the rock.

Acting decisively, Knuckles walked over to a wall and wound back his fist. He thrust it with a grunt into a crack that had formed between the flat wall and a large protruding rock.
The impact snapped the large crag of rock off the wall and Knuckles caught it and lifted it above his head, turned, and crammed it into the hole they just entered from, just as the water was beginning to bubble up into the cave.

Rouge was watching closely, and a little eagerly, as he labored. There was no knowing what would happen to the others, but she hoped they were safe. Probably Shadow would be able to outrun the thing. What did she have to worry about? He'd slammed into the planet and still walked away practically unscathed. Then Knuckles turned on her, and scattered her thoughts.

"Now that the wave isn't a concern-" he began, patting the dirt and pebbles off his gloves. "Where's my master Emerald? I thought you gave up 'treasure hunting'!"