Sonic Forces (Revision)

*Chapter 6: Lost, Then Found

The soft calling of his name caused the blue hedgehog to look up. When he did, a gasp left his mouth.  He was sure none of his friends were alive, even assured of it, but here sat Rouge. He turned the solemn look he had into a smile and softly exclaimed, "Rouge? I can't believe it! You're okay!"

Pushing herself off the ground with a groan, the bat nodded. "Likewise." With the hedgehog more open, she could see even more of the scrapes and gnashes. It was worse than she thought. Quite honestly, the fact that he hadn't bled out was extraordinary. "I may be fine, but are you okay?"

The question lingered in the air for a moment. After a few seconds of silence with the only sounds being that of the creaking metal, the azure hedgehog replied, "Other than the pain, I'm doing well. I mean, well enough for being in a prison cell." His ears flicked a little as Sonic placed his cuffed hands on his legs. Even when the glowing blue chains grazed his legs, he didn't wince from their electrical shock.

Raising an eyebrow, the bat seemed quite shocked. With everything Sonic had been through, he seemed to be handling everything quite well. As she pressed her hands against, Rouge tried to see if anything gave. There had to be a scrap of metal or subtle crack she could exploit. At least, so long as she didn't severely injure her kicking leg. It was already aching enough as it was. Taking a step towards the glowing bars, the albino bat gave a listen. "Hm, not a fatal voltage, but getting shocked by one of these would not be pleasant."

The azure hedgehog looked down with a sigh. Of course, he knew that. The first thing he did once he was thrown in here was run for the exit. He just didn't know those bars would come down. Shaking his head a bit, he stared at his wrists. "Believe me, I've tried every possible way to get out of here." He shook his wrists, attempting to pull them up. A long chain clanked, obstructing any further movement up. "So much so, they had to chain my arms to the ground."

"Hm," The bat stated. Why the hands? Although Sonic's legs were battered and bruised quite badly, they didn't seem exactly broken to her. "Well, this place must not be entirely hedgehog-proof, especially if they chained you." She felt the wall again before giving a sigh. "How did you remain so hopeful being here?"

As he softly clanked the glowing chains, the hedgehog looked up, biting his lips. "What do you mean?"

Rouge sighed and sat down, leaning on the bench Sonic was currently sitting on. Although it did seem safe to touch the chains if Sonic could, the bat's ears told her otherwise. "To tell you the truth, I never actually expected to survive this mission for this long.  I just wanted to feel as though I was helping, especially since both of my teammates are gone one way or another." She grabbed her knees, gripping them tight as her wings folded behind her. "Ever since I found out Knuckles was creating a Resistance; I'd been working some of the more dangerous jobs. Gathering intel, breaking into secure Eggman bases, even learning whatever I could about this Jackal."

The azure hedgehog suddenly shook a bit. His breathing became heavier. When his chains began to clank from the shaking, Rouge shot up to check on him. "Sonic, are you okay? Did I say something wrong?" The azure hedgehog didn't respond. "Sonic?"

Once his breathing had become normal, the hedgehog gave a sigh. "Yeah, I'm fi-" Something outside the cell caught his attention. It was a small red streak bursting towards them. Once the streak slowed, the hedgehog gave a slight gasp. "Is-is that a wisp?"

As she followed his gaze, the bat gasped as well. "Why yes, it is. What do you suppose he's doing here...wait. If a wisp is here, then that means-" She gave a wide smile, ecstatic to what this meant. They were being rescued! But then, the Jackal's words to Knuckles and Amy set in. Rouge's smile slowly caved. He was expecting them. If they wanted even the slightest chance to escape, they had to do it now. "This gives me an idea." She went over toward the glowing bars. "Hey, could you do us a solid?" Spitting out some wisp gibberish, the little red guy nodded. "Great, see if you can find some way to turn off the bars."