The Heroine

Books

With a slew of well-aimed punches, he jammed the door to the point where it hopefully couldn't be reopened. They glared at the door as the Spider slammed into it from the other side. Both both sigh of relief as they don't need to deal with that thing at all anymore.

"I hate spiders." They muttered.

"Agreed." They turned away from the door and looked around and seconds later, they scowled irritably and slapped their own forehead hard.

"I don't believe this." Knuckles frowned at them questioningly and they pointed forward.

"We're right where we need to be." Knuckles let out a weary sort of chuckle.

"Of course we are." He sighed heavily.

"That explains the spider."

"Some guard dog." They muttered. They followed knuckles through the well-lit cavernous room. It was filled with shelves and boxes and baskets and crates and many other forms of storage, all full of items that Robotnik had stolen. This was why they were here.

"Remember not to take anything that isn't yours." Knuckles warned over his shoulder as they parted ways.

"Obviously." They began rummaging through the contents of a cardboard box for Knuckles's book while simultaneously keeping an eye out for their own lost treasure. Finding nothing of interest, they moved the box and looked through the one beneath it. They opened it up... And instantly started laughing.

"Oh my god, Knuckles, you've gotta come see this!" Knuckles hurried over, a concerned frown on his face.

"What?" Still laughing, they lifted a very large, bright purple dress out of the box. Stitched into it's chest in fancy cursive was Robotnik's full name: Gerald Robotnik. Knuckles busted up laughing at the sight of it. They grinned at him.

"Who knew Egghead wore a dress?" Knuckles wiped a tear from his eye and smiled at their ridiculous nickname for the man.

"Maybe someone made that to insult him."

"I really hope so. I bet it ticked him off."

"I bet. The opportunity to see him in a dress would be too great to pass up."

"Got that right." After that brief interlude, they tossed the dress behind them and they resumed their search. They emptied a third box, then a fourth, then a fifth.

'All junk.' Picking up a small white plastic basket, they dumped it out.

'Not one book.' They tossed the basket aside and peeked into yet another box, then sighed.

'Of course this one's full of 'em.' They thought as they pulled the books out one by one. Most of them were school books, they realized with a deep frown.

'Robotnik doesn't want people to get smart. That's why he shut down the schools. Ignorance makes it easier for him to control people.' He piled the books back into the box.

'I've gotta return these.' They thought seriously as they scooted the box across the floor to a place where they could find it later. With that, they continued on. Half an hour later, Knuckles's voice carried over to him from the other side of the room.