Shadowless World

Rouge Attack

Midmorning, Sonic excitedly darts from here to there, in the heart of Station Square. Giddy with commentary, he zooms to Shadow.

"Wow Shadow, this place is great! Didja see that rocket that just blasted off into space? That was like, right here in the middle of the city! I do have a question though. What's with all the Eggman propaganda? His robots are everywhere."

Shadow freezes and suddenly grabs Sonic's arm.

"We should go back to the apartment. They have cameras everywhere. Ugh, what was I thinking?!"

He takes off, pulling Sonic along with him.

"But wait, Sticks, er, I mean Shadow, you're being paranoid!"

They stop at a hill top.

"Nice view from here," Sonic observes. "That bridge in the distance looks familiar."

Shadow tries to be kind but stern. "Sorry to rain on your parade but I already told you, this place is horrible. I've recently concluded, we're in an alternate reality where I didn't survive that battle with the Biolizard. Black Doom came and only Eggman's army was able to stop him. After the war, the doctor used mechs to rebuild everything. Now he's in charge and no one wants to stand up to him because they think they owe him something."

Sonic scratches his head.

"So even though it looks like fun, this place really is just like Robotropolis."

"Its worse," Shadow tells him, "no freedom fighters."

Out of the blue, Rouge torpedoes at them. They narrowly dodge her as she grunts.

"YAH!"

Sonic hops next to Shadow, exclaiming, "What the snap?"

"Sorry, Shadroid, but this robot you've befriended is a threat to the empire. I'munna have to scrap him and you too, if you get in the way. No hard feelings, kay?"

"Ha! Come on and try it!" Sonic beckons.

Rouge takes a swing at Sonic but he's way too fast. He spin attacks her, knocking her to the ground with a painful thud. She gets up, brushes herself off and attempts to go hand to hand with him but can't land a hit.

Shadow becomes annoyed and yells, "Chaos Spear!"

Rouge is struck hard and tumbles down the hill. Feeling sorry for her, Sonic hurries to see if she's okay. He kneels to her in the grass.

"Ouch, that had to hurt. Need a hand?"

She sits up, rubs her head, then gawks with a gasp.

"What eye candy! I really don't wanna fight you but I have orders from Dr. Eggman and..."

Shadow zooms between them.

"You'll have to fight me first, Rouge."

Rouge gasps again, her eyes suddenly water.

"Why do you sound so much like the real Shadow?" she asks, with an unusual brokenness in her tone.

"Because I AM the real Shadow!" he replies, remorselessly.

Rouge shakes her head in disbelief.

"But you died in space. Are you both aliens?"

Sonic puts his hands on his hips and smirks.

"Psh, aliens. Come on. I'm Rugged Sonic, he's Valor Shadow, your world's all screwed up, so we somehow teleported here and yada yada yada... gotta save you from Dr. Eggman, Dr. Robotnik, Snively, whoever's in charge of this drab dystopia."

Rouge smiles hopefully as Sonic and Shadow lend her a hand and help her stand. At the touch of Shadow's hand, its clear to her that he's definitely no robot. She holds his hand close to her heart and says...

"Shadow the Hedgehog, I knew you weren't dead. I'm so sick of Dr. Eggman calling the shots. I've done a bit of teleporting, myself. I found that damn fourth Chaos Emerald, floating around in Saint Canard of all places. Eggman thinks I'm on his team but you know what they say, once a spy, always a spy."

She manifests a white Chaos Emerald from her hammer space and submissively hands it to him.

"It's all yours, old friend."

Sonic is impressed by the jewel.

"Wow, that's one fancy-looking gem. Lemme guess, it's super powerful too, huh?"

"It is," Rouge confirms with a wink.

Sonic blushes.

"I knew you were too pretty to be one of the bad guys. Or was that a sexist assumption?"

She shrugs.

"A little, or just naive. Gosh, you're both a sight for sore eyes. Rugged Sonic, huh? I'm Rouge the Bat. Sorry about dumping you over that super bridge the other day."

Sonic tries not to fixate on her boobs.

"Ehem, it's cool. Water under the bridge. No pun intended."