IMPENDING DOOM

12

✥
TWELVE
Impending
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៚ ROUGE WAITED FOR A LONG TIME. A very long time. She didn't really know what she was waiting for. Shadow was no doubt taken or completely lost. He barely knew his way around the apartment, let alone the world. But still she waited. Just in case.

She had gone with Robotnik to Montana, but did not give him the Emerald, much to his annoyance. Nevertheless, he told her the locations of the other ones, excluding the three (and Master) Emeralds that Agent Stone had purloined from "that pesky porcupine" like the sneaky devil that he was. He showed her the tracker he had invented and wrote down the coordinates to the final three: red, purple, and silver. They were scattered all about the planet; one was in Japan, one in Iceland, the other in the outskirts of Ohio.

"And how am I supposed to find these in a day?" she had asked him.

"Don't you have any rings?"

"Yes, but the world's a big place, Doctor. I don't have Chaos, so I can't personally track them down to the exact grain of sand they're buried in."

The human reluctantly gave her his tracker, then growled in frustration and stomped off. Rouge took that as her cue to leave. Alone, she tossed a ring and went to Japan, where she explored the beautiful sakura forests for a few hours until she'd found the silver Emerald. She immediately went to Ohio next, finding the purple Emerald right away, scarcely hidden in an immense cornfield. She stole a bag of apples and returned to Agent Stone's apartment very tired, anxious, worrying and pining for Shadow.

She clumped on the sofa, three Emeralds in her possession, stuffed in a cloth bag she'd stolen from the farm; she had eaten two apples and put the rest in the refrigerator. The night passed into day, the sky red with the comet, and she slept. When night came again, there was still no sign of Shadow.

She ate another apple down to its core, dumping said core in the compost bin, and returned to mope on the couch, dreading the trip to the cold, cold mountaintops of Iceland.

Thankfully, she did not mope or dread long.

She felt a split-second surge of Chaos energy, one that came and died before you could snap your fingers. A hand touched her shoulder. She didn't jump. She grabbed that hand. She knew that hand.

"Terios."

"Diana."

She released a long, long sigh.

He joined her on the couch, practically glowing. He looked healthy, fit, vibrant. Alive. His wrists were naked and his hands were bare, revealing a curious birthmark upon his left hand. She touched it, traced it, loved it. He let her, no longer flinching beneath her touch.

"How did you sneak in here without me hearing you?"

He answered her by teleporting to the armchair to the top of the bookshelf and back at her side again.

"Bloody hell," she said, mimicking his accent.

A ghost of a smile came and went on his face. He took her hand. "I apologise for being away. I was in the outskirts of the world, training." He looked at his empty wrists. "This is a first. But I do believe I have it controlled enough as to not harm anyone by mistake."

There was a pause, an unspoken but.

". . . I don't think I can kill him," he whispered.

"Who said anything about killing anyone?"

"But he must die. He's a monster, Diana. He will feast on the humans. He will not stop. I am strong, but he is stronger. Maybe if I knew more, or had proper training . . ."

"That's what the Emeralds are for," she whispered. "I give them to you, you make a wish. Ding-dong, the wicked witch is dead."

". . . A wish?"

"Mhm."

He was quiet. She then explained the legends and stories from her planet, told him everything he needed to know.

"I can make a wish? Any wish?"

The unspoken insinuation was clear. Can I wish her back?

". . . I can't say, for I don't know."

His nod was very slow. He changed the topic. "The remaining Emerald . . . Have you found it?"

"Yeah, but it's gonna be hella cold and I know the tracker won't work. Humans are so behind in their technology compared to what we have on our planet." She handed him the device so he could see the coordinates.

"You do not need a tracker when you have me," he said. He looked before handing it back.

"Oh?"

"Fetch your coat, Rouge. We'll be leaving shortly after dawn."

Shadow took her hand and kissed it before leaving the room, venturing into the kitchen for something to eat. Meanwhile, Rouge looked out the window to the dawn barely breaking, horizon just blushing pink. The sun would be visible in at least an hour to officially mark the Dawn of the Final Day. Soon the sky would be red. The murky mass of the comet was visible, ominous, like a black sun.

In half a day, the devil would arrive. They might die. The world might cave in.

They had half a day to find the last Emerald, the red, hidden somewhere in the snow-kissed mountains of Iceland.

Rouge didn't have a coat, so she stole one of Agent Stone's, albeit much too big. She didn't care. She sat in the armchair and waited for Shadow, who took his sweet time, which she was glad of.

When he returned to her, he was also sporting one of Agent Stone's coats, seeming smaller than he actually was. She admired him for a moment, standing there, handsome and perfect.

"C'mere."

He did, falling to a bended knee at her feet.

"Closer." So he did. "Are you afraid?" she whispered.

"For the first time in my life, I think I am not. Perhaps because I have nothing to lose. My mother is gone." He released a quiet sigh. "I will defend this world to my last breath—for Okaasama."

"That's very noble of you."

"I vowed that I would." He took her hand. "Are you afraid?"

"Yes."

"That's okay."

"I know."

"I will do all that I can to protect you, Diana." He kissed her hand again, straying a bit longer than usual. "The akuma will die before he even breathes in your direction."

Rouge squeezed his hand back, managing a small smile, a sad smile.

"Come closer."

Uncertain, he did. Their faces were so close. His eyes searched hers, so full of rage, so broken, yet so curious and innocent at the same time. An interesting blend, the same as his power, both sides of Chaos.

Rouge kissed him. A perfect peck on his perfect lips. Her lipstick left no mark. She pulled away, turned away, walked away, but he snatched her wrist before she could get too far. His ruby eyes were suddenly wet.

"I, I don't know what this means," he shivered. "I don't understand these . . . These feelings you just gave me."

She cupped his perfect face in her hands and kissed the tip of his forehead stripe. She heard his pulse triple, unaware that this was what she used to do.

"You don't have to understand it. Just know that it's real."

Rouge kissed him again on his lips and left the room.

Thirteen hours remain.