28Hola mis amigos!
Yeah, I guess I kinda owe you guys this chapter. I've been a bit of a slacker. I've just been so busy with my school work and trying to prove myself that I forgot about my story life. You know, being a junior and all is a bit harder than you think. And this is only the start of the 2nd semester. .-. Erm, anyway, so I'm trying to get my game back by giving you guys a new chapter every first day of the month (as today is the 1st of March), instead of some amount of months apart. So hopefully this will go well. If not, slap a chicken. My old Youtube self came out for no reason.
Anonymous Reviews:
Christian Ape99: Um, well okay then. Hope your day is going mighty well then!
Sonic characters belong to Sega.
Zera characters belong to Me.
Ready, set,...READ AND ENJOY THIS HARD WORK!
Chapter 23: Messed Up
"Kid, Kid~" Oh great, now she was hearing things. She hated hearing Voice in her head, and now on the outside. "Kid, come on, wake up! We need you!" And now it was telling her about the 'we' again...in a feminine voice?
"Wait, am I sure that this is Voice? Or...the other being?...No, she sounds familiar to me..." "Rouge? Is that you?" Zera was mumbling. She was tired. She now knows not to think all of her opponents were below her. She now knows that they're capable of something more.
"Oh, thank the stars! I really thought you were down for the count. Are you okay? Nothing broken?" Rouge asked her. Even though her eyes were closed for the moment, she knew Rouge had a worried look on her face.
"Rouge, leave the poor girl alone. She doesn't need to be mothered right now. She's probably pissed and wants to rest. I know I want to..." She looked to her left to see Knuckles gliding next to them, and his face was definitely pissed and tired looking as well.
Wait a minute, next to them? She looked down and let out a loud yelp like she never did before.
"Rouge! Why couldn't you let us have this conversation when we were, per say, ON THE GROUND!" She shouted, clutching onto Rouge's hands.
"Hey, struggling would make us both drop to the ground like a stone. And trust me, that's going to be a long way down. Not trying to scare ya or anything." Rouge had to surpass a giggle. She didn't think that she would ever see the day that Zera would freak out over something so simple. It's just flying, she should be use to it with all of the copter rides to a cell by now...Of course, she was guessing that.
"Me? Scared? Rouge, that surely has to be a joke. I'm hardly scared. I just wasn't expecting us to be flying especially at this kind of height!" She dared to look down again. Everything on the ground looked like a little picture...or she could barely see it.
"I'll try to believe that Hun..So you're just not use to flying?" She questioned the female hedgehog. She didn't need to look at her to know she was throwing glares at her.
"No, I'm perfectly fine with flying. More than you could ever be too bat...I know-nevermind..." Zera lowered her voice after insulting the flying mammal. Now Rouge definitely had a question that had to be answered later. "So um, where exactly are we headed? I don't need to find myself in another situation that I might not of been able to get out of." Zera mumbled.
"I'm so glad you asked, and even said that. We are going to the most beautiful and my favorite place in the world.: Angel Island."
"Angel Island? Where angels live? I'm pretty syre they won't like me. Not like I'm a threat..." This time Knuckles looked at her strangely.
"Um, I can assure you that my island is angel free. It's just me, nature, and my Master Emerald. I'm the guardian you know." Knuckles said proudly. Rouge, despite herself, snorted.
"Um, not to start acting like 'that' kind of girlfriend, but don't start acting like you are all high and mighty. I like you better when you're too stunned to even talk." She commented Knuckles, now a bit of red on his cheeks and he couldn't say a word. "See? Just like that you're adorable!" Knuckles grumbled something that probably wasn't pleasant to the ear. Zera smirked.
"These guys are quite interesting when they're together...and when they are having their little fights even." It must of been fun, to have someone to poke at and you can get away with...She still didn't understand the word 'love' and it's ties, but she'll learn it one day. And she was determined to, in any way possible. It was just one of her secret dreams. She wanted to feel normal for once in her life. Not feel like a crazy threat to every living thing in her path. She knows she's good...somewhere. She just had to find it and let it out.
"There it is Zera. The majestic Angel Island!" Rouge announced like a game show host. Zera looked up again and she did make a face she would never admit to as she saw the floating island, the most amazing thing she might of seen in her entire life. The trees were bright with life and color, the water looking ever so pure and fresh to drink and possibly even swim in. Even the waterfalls, that dipped and fell perfectly off the island, and once the water met at a certain point faded into mist. Gorgeous.
"Knuckles, you're island is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life." Was the only thing she could say. Knuckles shot a look at Rouge then tried smiling down at Zera.
"Why thank you very much Zera. Not everyone appreciates how I keep my island." Knuckles said as they were soon getting ready to land. Rouge, just a bit getting fired up with the insult, fired back.
"Hun, how do you keep the island is great, that I can assure you. Your house, on the other hand, is a much different and dirty story."Zera snickered as Knuckles let himself speed away, lower to land on the island were he disappeared from their faraway view. Rouge did not like being ignored. "HEY! Get back here Knuckleheas!" She said as she shook a fist at her elusive boyfriend. She felt lighter when she did that. Her face suddenly became pale.
"Uh oh..." She looked down and nearly screamed in fear.
Zera was falling to her doom.
"OH SHIT! OH SHIT! ZERA HANG ON!
"TO WHAT?! Came her quick and pissed reply. "AND WHY DID YOU LET GO OF MY HAND?! YOU KNEW HOW TIRED I AM!"
"YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO BE TOO RELAXED! I THOUGHT YOU DIDN'T LIKE TO DO THAT, YOU LOVE KEEPING YOUR GAURD UP!"
"CAN YOU JUST STOP ARGUEING WITH ME SO YOU CAN ACTUALLY SAVE ME AND HAVE THIS ARGUEMENT LATER?!" Okay, fair enough point, Rouge tried to dive to catch up with Zera before she splattered. She was so close, she was almost in reach of a hand, when Zera's body picked up speed. She couldn't keep up.
"ZERA!" "Oh chaos, oh man, the Groters are going to kill me, then Big Blue, hell I'm pretty sure Shadow would even try to kill me." She looked back at the falling Zera and surprised to see her calm... "Maybe, once again, she's use to something like this..."
"falling to my doom, yet again, on cue.." She looked under her to see the island coming up at her quite fast. "Well, I guess I gotta save my own ass from someone's stupidity for the 100th time of my life." Quicker than lighting, she curled herself into that famous hedgehog ball.
And she bounced off the forest floor like a bouncy ball.
"What in the name of-what is going on?" Rouge now flew faster to meet up with the others.
When she caught up with them however, she only for a small moment felt like Liah did. Her new best friend, was in the arms of her boyfriend. Awkwardness was on both of their faces, but they were still close in contact of each other.
"10...seconds." Rouge all but growled to the two. Knuckles, knowing of the consequences, wasted no time in talking.
"Rouge, she practically bounced in front of me. When she finally uncurled, I had to catch her! I did it without thinking! I held out my arms and I caught her-...well, in the style you see before you.. Please don't kill us..." Knuckles had to say it cutely. Rouge's face might of still been twisted, but her body relaxed.
"Okay...I believe you Knuckles. I mean, I know you would never cheat on me and everything, plus with the fact that Zera is in love with Zeren," said female hedgehog was red in the face with fury and probably embarrassment when she growled at the bat," But I'm sometimes protective of you, and I don't need someone trying to take you away from me..." And maybe for the first time in forever, she lost her cool self I a moment and looked away bashfully.
"My Rouge? Bashful?" He glanced down at Zera for a second who was occupied at staring at Rouge. "This girl is magic or something. Things really seem to happen when she's around.." But, he was still touched by what Rouge said. She really cared about him, no matter what he did. He smiled slightly. "Oh Rouge-"
"Sorry to interrupt this...whatever you call it moment, but we're running for our lives here, remember? I don't want to rush you guys, but just reminding you that we're actually on a schedule here, so." Zera said impatiently, her one foot tapping in the air. It would be tapping on the dirt if she was on the ground and not in the red echidna's arms. The couple flashed red on their faces and nodded in agreement. "And put me down King Kong, this contact has gone on for far too long!" Zera exploded, which made Knuckles just flat out drop the girl. She made an un-amused face at him.
"Sorry. You just startled me." He said as he tried to help her up. She pushed away his helpful hands and got up herself. She dusted off the back of her pants, then looked at the Guardian again.
"No need to apologize. I shouldn't have had an outburst like that." She said quietly. Knuckles was about to say something when Zera started to speak again. "Now, where is your house Knuckles? I'm guessing we'll be hiding out there for the time being until we think of a new plan, for backup, or both?"
"She's a bit of a know it all...And can still leave an odd print on someone's life..." He thought. "Um, yea, pretty much. it's just around the corner actually. Come on." Knuckles ushered the females to follow him. With giving each other a glance, they walked behind the red head.
"So Knuckles, how exactly do you get to school on time when you live all the way up here?" Zera questioned after a couple of minutes. Knuckles eyes the path for a moment, then walked around the spot he looked at. Rouge and Zera followed him actions, puzzled looks on their faces. He noticed them and chuckled awkwardly.
"Well you see, when Eggman first crashed here to take my Master Emerald, he had set all these traps for intruders, or better yet Sonic and I. After defeating him, I decided to take everything of his off of my island. I couldn't take down the small base that I never knew existed till later. Tails turned it into his 'personal space' or something like that. But all the traps, I took down, dug up, and destroyed. Well, at least most of them. What we just avoided was a land mine..." To prove it, he found a rock, and chucked it at the spot. At first nothing happened, but seconds later a small explosion blew the three back a couple feet. Zera stood up quickly like nothing had happened and looked back at Knuckles helping Rouge up. He noticed her staring.
"Oh right. To answer your question, thank the boy genius. He knows I don't like technology unless I seriously need to use it. This is one of those moments. He gave me a small teleportation device so I can teleport to where ever I please." He then lifted his right glove a bit so she could see the device.
"It looks like a watch."
"I know, but trust me, it can do some wonders... Don't let Tails know that I said that. I may like my way as the others say 'old school' way a lot, but in a small way I'm opening up to technology." Knuckles said, and continued walking. Rouge chuckled to herself, and followed her red hero, Zera trailing behind them silently.
Jungles, forests, whatever you call this place, can make you go insane when you spend quite a bit of time by yourself..." Of course, Zera knew that, regardless that you had to be somewhere to be insane... You can become insane anywhere...through isolation.. "Glad I turned out this way.." She muttered to herself.
"You say something Zera?"
"Nothing."
XxX
"Well, here it is. Home sweet shack." Knuckles said in what appeared to be happiness. Zera looked up. They were standing just in front of the stone steps that led up to Knuckles pretty impressive shack...Or what he called a shack. It was probably the size of a one story modern day home. That were on thick stilts. Small ones, but they were still noticeable and surprisingly very strong.
"Amazing Knuckles..." Zera really was in awe a lot today. "Did you make this place yourself?" She asked. Her answer, was a glare from Rouge, probably the worst facial expression she ever got from the albino bat. She then glances at the red guardian himself to see how he felt about the question.
He practically looked crushed, and Zera regretted everything.
"Knuckles, I-"
"No no, it's quite alright Zera. You're still knew to all of this, and our lives..."" Knuckles sighed, and looked back at her. "If it wasn't obvious now, most of this team don't have families. Or they do, but they drifted away from them for the thrills and adventures. My family? Well, that's a different story... I'm basically the last living guardian of my family... I was the last echidna...My family, before they perished, they made a special hut for me since I was next to be the guardian of the Master Emerald... After things happened, I finally decided to make some small changes. So, yes and no to your question. They did the outside, and I did the inside.." Knuckles then started to climb up his stairs, Rouge right behind him, and Zera slowly walking behind the couple.
"That's sad...no, that's horrible... To have your entire race, gone before your very eyes... Though there is something that is odd about that... I would ask, but there already was tension between us, and I don't need it to get any worse..." Zera thought. She picked her hand up to realize they walked inside.
Knuckles was telling the truth. His hut might have been old school, but the inside sure was more like a bachelor pad. A nice little kitchen. though there was no fridge or microwave. Just a back in the day kind of stove. The living room only had a couple of couches and a small coffee table.
"Don't mind the living room, it isn't quite finished yet. Tails wants to touch some things up the next time he comes here...Well, the next time he comes up here when our lives aren't in serious danger.." He glanced at Zera for a moment. "You don't seem so well at the moment Zera. Are you feeling alright?" Knuckles asked her. Indeed, Zera's body wasn't looking all that powerful. It looked weak, and shaggy. Zera blinked, like he wasn't talking to her.
"Oh yeah, I guess I forgot I was in pain. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's just a bruise or something along those lines." Zera said ever so casually. Rouge, didn't feel so sure about that. No one can be that indestructible but a god... Maybe she wasn't one, maybe she was one... There is a lot about her all of them didn't know.
"Either way, we should check just to make sure you're all right... That was quite a showdown we had back there.. We can't risk you getting injured." Rouge pointed out. Perhaps the albino bat was right. It wouldn't hurt to check...
"Actually it could... I would heal myself if I didn't use a good amount of my energy earlier today..." Zera sighed. "I guess some things can't be helped. Alright, where should I go for treatment?"
"I think you can go in one of the bedrooms. Check the one on the left, I'll be right back with the medical supplies." Knuckles directed as he walked over to the kitchen. Zera walked back to where the bedrooms were. There were two doors on the left, and one on the right.
"You should have been just a tad bit clearer Knuckles..." Zera grumbled. She just went to the doo closest to her. It was nice, a simple room. A small bed with a lamp bedside. "Knuckles really likes to stay simple... Simple is his style." She decided to just sit on the bed instead of laying on it.
"Don't need them both having a panic attack on me, then have Zeren wigging out on them without mercy and-" She stopped herself. "Zeren.." She finally remembered that he was the cause of all of this. He...betrayed her. "No, he wouldn't, wouldn't dare to! He promised me... that he would never break his promise to me or betray me..." Zera kept saying to herself, trying to deny everything and that it was all just another nightmare she was seeing.
"He didn't mean to!" Rouge's voice rang in her head. She knew she couldn't trust Liah, but Rouge...she was her right hand woman, her girl as Rouge would put it. She would never lie to her, not even to spare her feelings.
"Well, maybe she should've done that instead so I don't feel like...this." Zera didn't know what she was feeling (besides being pissed beyond compare) or how to even describe how she felt. "and I know Voice is just going to pop up any minute and say 'I told you so. You should always listen to me. I'm just here to help you child~." She almost chuckled at how well she was doing the bodiless annoyance's dialogue. Only,
Voice never came to her.
She didn't hear it's 'comforting' voice and talk. Her head just felt so numb and empty..
"Sorry that took so long." For the first time in her life, she was disappointed that it wasn't Voice talking to her. It was just Knuckles finally coming in with the first aid kit. "I still have to clean out my cabinets too, and all just to find this little thing. And of course Rouge had to have an argument with me again about it so-" He paused when he saw Zera's face. "Hey, are you okay?" He asked her.
"Hmm?" She blinked. "Oh yes, I'm fine. Let's just get this over with." Knuckles stared at her for a brief moment. She looked back at him. "Come on, I would have thought you wanted to get this over with quickly or else Rouge would take this as an advantage to remodel more than just that kitchen and living room." She said slyly. It may have taken a few seconds to reach and sink in, but Knuckles eyes widened in horror as he finally got what she was hinting.
"Alright, let's get started! Please lay down on the bed for me. Trust me, I won't do anything weird." He instructed her, while starting to open up the kit. She was a simple order, it was still an order and she still hated taking orders.
"Trust me Knuckles, I know you wouldn't. I know you dear me more than you like me. In that sense." Knuckles' face curled into a more...tensed one. It's scary that she guessed that so well. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She was still laying down, eyes facing the ceiling. And yet, he still felt like she was looking at him without even looking at him.
"You're right, but you are also wrong. Yes, you do give me some discomfort... but I know there's a goodness in your heart... You just... have a hard time showing it. I can understand...I was once like that...maybe I still am, but better than before..." This time she did turn her head so she could see him. Did he honestly say that?
"Perhaps there is...but I wouldn't know...Now then, let's get this over and done with so Rouge won't have a fuss on us if I started to bleed to death or something." She exhaled a small yawn, and even Knuckles had to admit that it was cute... In her own way of course.
"Sure, sure, what ever you say Sleeping Beauty." Knuckles said as he dragged the chair closer to the bed. Zera rolled her eyes at the poke, but continued to ignore him none the less. He lifted her arm so he could see what the damage was.
He screamed. In the manly way of course.
Zera wasn't phased by the scream. "If just little things freaked him out, then how was he going to react if I just-"
"You have some bones poking at your shirt."
"I'm guessing that he got to something medical that he couldn't handle." Rouge chuckled to herself. Knuckles is a man of many strengths. Playing good doctor, wasn't one of them. He got so use to being the medicine man and patching Sonic and a few of the others plenty of times, he just felt weird around that kind of stuff. "It's like he's squirmish around blood." Rouge couldn't help but chuckle again.
It was until Zera scream did she stop.
"What...was that?" Rouge was acting like there was someone else in the room who was going to answer her question. Every fiber in her being wanted her to back there and check on them; her boyfriend, her friend. But maybe it was wise to stay where she was sitting. "Knuckles is a big boy and can handle himself...and hopefully Zera..And Zera is more than...capable, to control herself. It's fine... I can trust them...by themselves...alone together in a kinda small room..."
The next thing that came from the room was another scream then a quiet yelp, followed by a loud bash.
"THAT'S IT! I'M CHECKING THEM!" Rouge shouted to no one in particular. Maybe it was to them, as a warning she was going to catch them in the... whatever act they're doing back there. She got up, and tried to walk over to the room door quietly. Just about to enter
When a knock came from the front door.
She was forced to stop. She looked at the front door, the door she was standing in front of, and back to the other door. "Looks like someone doesn't want me to find out what's going on..." She grumbled as she made her way to the door.
"Wait a minute, what if that's G.U.N? Surely they would have remembered a giant floating island. Who can forget it at all? Then again, they wouldn't just knock politely as if they were having tea with the Queen...Hmm..." Rouge flapped her wings silently so the ones on the other side couldn't hear her get closer to the door. Luckily the peep-hole is hidden to the people outside. She let out a sigh of relief as she saw it was her friends. Shadow, Sonic, Tails, and Joey. She opened the door to let the fellows in.
"What took you so long to answer the door Rouge?" Joey asked in annoyance as he plopped himself down on the couch. Rouge glared at him softly.
"Oh, I was just hoping I would have been able to help the people that were risking each other's life this afternoon. I think you could have waited a good 3 extra minutes, right? I mean, no one was chasing you up here were they?" Rouge was in no mood for Joey's stupidity. She had a right to be snappy at him. Joey raised his hands up in surrender.
"You know I was just messing with ya girl.. Besides, I was asking a rhetorical question.." Joey started to fade out as he was ending his statement.
Shadow rolled his eyes. "Rouge, where are Zera and Knuckles then?" He surprisingly asked. Shadow wasn't the one who would ask if anyone was okay. That was Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. The albino girl eyes her best friend for a moment.
"I could ask you the same thing about Zeren." Rouge stated. But she knew why he asked. He sensed something was wrong. Hopefully not so serious like the world is falling apart... "or worse, Chaos Emeralds no longer exist!" "They're in the back...The first room...I was going to check on them, but then of course you all had to show up... Why?" She laid that question on the table. Shadow didn't answer her, only looked at the suddenly nervous kitsune before he walked away to go look for the other two. Or something.
"Yeah Tails, why don't you tell the nice bat lady what's going on?" Joey said, a certain kind of smirk on his face. Tails looked like he wanted nothing more than to kill the dark red echidna right then and there. He turned his head slightly and instantly regretted it. Rouge was in his view, and for some reason she was looking very unhappy. They didn't do anything bad, did they?
"Um...well you see Rouge, we kinda decided to...scatter." Tails said shyly. Sometimes, Rouge scares him when he let her. This was one of those moments. "Ever since you left, things were chaotic. I don't know what you guys caused or did, but it sure made everyone panic. We thought that that was the best time to move ourselves away from G.U.N since they're distracted trying to keep the people under...something. I didn't think that you guys would come up here, I was hoping you would be at the club...So when I saw that you all were, I guess it was for the better..."
"Then, how did you know that we were all up here?"
Tails looked so uncomfortable that his cheeks were starting to glow. "Tails had put a tracker on Zera." Sonic said finally, looking at his little brother, then at the bat.
"What?! Tails, why would you do that?! Do you not trust her or just being a mega stalker?"
"NOOOO!" He shouted. The whole house was dead quiet after that shout. "It was quite the opposite actually... I was worried about her..." He said quietly, "It might have only been a few days since I've known her, but I'm suddenly protective of her. Yes, she may be older but she's younger in mind. That's the main reason I want to protect her. She can get lost in this world like a little kid, and we wouldn't be able to find her... I don't want to lose her, not now, not ever..." It was touching. He did that all in good nature. He does her, just not the outside world.
"Awwww~ you love her! That is so cute, even though it's still kinda creepy. Why didn't you tell her this when you gave her her things?" Rouge asked as she had purposely glomped the embarrassed fox as she suspected he put her tracker in here gifts. He always felt weird when someone like her hugged him. He tried to shake her off but it was no use. Rouge's love hug is unbreakable. He sighed.
"You know how she feels about that kind of stuff: She hates it to the bone. If she ever found out about it, she would kill me.."
"Don't worry foxy, your girl wouldn't hurt a hair on your cute little head. You're innocent and maybe even penitent."
"Maybe..." He made a face when he finally realized what Rouge was hinting at the last two times. "And I don't like her like that... She's like a big little sister to me. And I don't want Zeren or even Sonic coming after me." Tails said, knowing that would let Rouge let go of him and go straight for-
"SONIC!" Rouge squealed while Joey yelled.
"TAILS! Ex nay on an imaginary crush-ay!" Sonic hissed. Sonic didn't even have time to retreat to the room where his friendly rival, rival and girl was, for Joey had tackled the poor hedgehog. And Joey doesn't let his prey escape him so easily. "JOEY, GET OFF OF ME YOU ASS!" You never hear the blue blur curse. Only when he got pissed or in a situation he couldn't handle. This was both of them. Ohh~ Rare.
"ONLY UNTIL YOU STOP HITTING ON MY GIRL!"
"WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING AT ME?! SHE ISN'T ANYONE'S GIRL, AND I'M NOT EVEN HITTING ON HER!" Sonic retorted. He stopped his thrashing around when he noticed Joey's eyes were calm again.
"Then...what was Tails saying?" He said slowly. His hold on Sonic did lessen, but only a tiny bit.
"Tails meant that I would do that for 2 reasons: She's too old for him. I don't want my little brother making bad choices in his life. Dating is one of them, sorry little buddy. And... I had an imaginary crush on her. OW OW WAIT, LET ME FINISH!" Joey stopped strangling the blue hedgehog again, "But that's the point: imaginary. I thought I could like Zera, but I also realized that we both wouldn't want to be like that... Plus, she's pretty scary and knowing me she'll want to kill me every 10 minutes." He chuckled lightly, hoping if not praying that it would make Joey release him permanently.
"Just let him go, Joe, He's not worth it." Rouge said gently.
"HEY! I'm worth plenty, thank you very much!"
"Do you want to live or not Blue?"
"May you all please keep it down? Someone's trying to take a... dare I say, cat nap." Shadow's voice came out of nowhere. Everyone turned around to see Knuckles, looking like he just lived through a horror movie. Shadow was standing perfectly calm, though his eyes looked a bit... tired. It was who he was holding surprised them all and kept them quiet.
Zera was in his arms like a little girl, half asleep.
"Awwww~." They couldn't help but aww in perfect unison.
"DON'T aww! You'll make her angry..." Knuckles stated. Shadow gave him a look, almost his look of warning. "I'm only saying the truth here bro."
"Why, what happened?" Rouge of course was the first to ask.
"You don't even want to know. It's messed up, and I forbid anyone besides Shadow and I to step into that room. It's Zera's room now." He mumbled. That's when Zera started to stir, and lids open lazily to reveal tired silver irises.
"Shaduu...why you...oldin' me?... Pu me down..." Zera said. She looked so tired, so out of it, so... on drugs.
"YOU SEDATED HER?! WHAT THE HELL MAN?!" Joey shouted.
"HOW DID YOU GET THE DUCT TAPE OFF OF YOU?!"
"YOU HAD TO DUCT TAPE HER MOUTH?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"
"I believe I told you all to be quiet. Yelling near and around a sedated person is just a wrong thing to do." Shadow said, somehow keeping his calm even though was spelling out murder. Zera, ears now flattened against her skull, snuggled deeper into Shadow's fluffy chest fur. Either in annoyance or fear. Probably the first.
"Sorry..." The group said apologetic-like.
"But seriously, what is going on with you there?"
"This is what happened." Shadow said plainly. He gently turned the young girl in his arms slightly so the others could see her other side.
All they saw were plenty of bandages.
"She apparently broke a couple of ribs in that important 'mission' you guys went on." Shadow's eyes hinted of where he put the air quotations. Rouge snorted then opened her mouth to make a comment. "Let me finish bat. She told us she wasn't able to use her healing factor for she was too weak to do so. Zera allowed Knuckles and I try and stick the bones back correctly until she was strong enough to do it herself. Hence, the bandages on her side." He finished, then tried walking back to Zera's room.
"Nuu Shabuu...I wanna stee..."
"No no little one, you need to be resting. Perhaps in a few hours you can come out and play..." Shadow said quietly. His voice was so calm, it was almost sweet and kind. And that's what made it scary.
"Wow... That sent chills up my spine, and flat to my shoes... Shads never that kind...Er, scratch that, he's never kind or sweet or anything like that. I bet he doesn't even know what those words mean or if they even existed..." Sonic commented.
"Yeah... Never thought I'd see the day... Did you Rouge?" Joey asked the female albino bat, who somehow grew a smirk along the way of the conversation.
"You don't need to know what I'm expecting of that multi hedgehog. I'll be (mostly) proud of him no matter what he does." She said, then glanced at Tails. "So Fox boy, where is he?" Tails gave her a confused look.
"What are you talking about Rouge? No, who are you talking about?"
"Oh don't play dumb kid, I know you know who I'm talking about." She started to glare at him.
"Oi, Rouge, leave him alone. If he says he don't know, then he don't!" Joey stood next to the smaller boy. Rouge wasn't letting him off that easily, "Besides, dumb is the last word to call him-"
"It's alright Joey, I actually do know who she's talking about. And it kinda should be obvious who it is..." The young kitsune mumbled. His face looked...troubled. Rouge smirked.
"And do you know when he'll be arriving? You know, for my sake. And possibly for this house's sake as well." Rouge added quickly. Tails actually glared at the elder female.
"He said he would arrive shortly we did. So he shouldn't be a moment too late."
"Excuse me, but would someone care to explain what in the world is going on?" Sonic, very curious to see what kind of debate is going on between these two. His foot began to tap in impatience.
"Duh Blue, we're talking about Zeren..and Espio. I gave him an earlier dingle to leave the school to come up here. We need someone to help calm down the cute little demon known as Zera. Cause Zeren sure isn't doing a hell of a good job. Doing quite the opposite." Tails sighed at Rouge.
"You could have worded that a bit more...nicely."
"Why would you say that Rouge? I thought Zeren was keeping it cool with Zera." Knuckles asked his girlfriend.
"Rouge, please don't-"
"I'm glad you asked Hun. You see, Shadow and Joey had kept this all on the hush hush, but I can break my best friend, so I can get whatever kind of information I would like. Apparently not so long ago, our cute 'couple' had gotten into a fight. Both verbal and physical. Didn't end so well for them, or even for my boy and Joey." Joey of course blushed when his name was mentioned.
"Rouge...that wasn't-why would you say that? No one was talking about it."
"Sure, but everyone need to know and they have the right to. We have to be updated on our little dear.. We don't know that one day she might-"
Of course the knock at the door scared away the dramatic moment that was building.
Nobody felt like mobbing to let the newcomer in.
Of course that didn't matter since the door opened and the new guy walked in.
"You make me come up here, and you won't even bother to open the damn door? I was hoping you would all have manners by now." It was none other than that dashing purple chameleon, Espio. He had on his grey tie from work, and his beautiful amber eyes looked annoyed.
"Thank you Espio, where would we be without you..." Rouge said sarcastic- like. He eyed her down then looked at the others in the room.
"Something doesn't... feel right." Espio studied everyone. Force of habit when you're not only a detective but a ninja. He decided to break the ice."I'm guessing the news is taking some time to sink in." Espio stated. Tails instantly looked at Espio.
"Yeah, I guess... But, how did you-"
"Rouge," He said. "When Rouge called me earlier to get up here, she just had to tell me what... went down between my student and Zeren... I didn't particularly care, but I do have to be informed of what my student does..." He said, then decided to close the door and sit next to Tails. Tails of course looked at him reading in-between the lines.
"So what you're basically saying is, you don't care about Zeren?..." He said softly.
"It's not that I don't. I just prefer to look at the bigger person." Joey had to point out. Espio's face looked more annoyed than when he walked in the house.
"Ha ha, you're so funny, Joey." The chameleon said dryly. "You know what I mean. Zeren can't destroy the world if he got mad, now can he?" Espio retorted. Joey's smile vanished. He didn't even know it appeared." This really isn't the time to joke around Joseph. And I know I have your attention since you hate being called your full name." And indeed, 'Joseph' was not glaring at him. "We have some good people down there who are risking their own lives and many other things, just for this girl. And that includes us." Sonic saw where he was going with this.
"Great job Joey, you got him to scold us!" It's not that Sonic didn't care, but he felt like a little kid when he was getting yelled at, even when he didn't do anything!"
"But," He tried to continue. "It's all for a good cause. Great even. We're doing more than just saving another innocent person. So much more..." Espio stopped himself, as if he was waiting for something.
"Anything else, your all mighty holy one?"
"Yes, study. I've heard some talk from the other teachers that a certain few of you aren't..as to what they were hoping or expecting..."
"Don't you dare look at me or Sonic again Es! I hate that little trick you do about us..." Joey grumbled at his elder.
"Wow Es, you really radded out your teacher friends. What would they say if they found out you were the one who told their students their dirty little secret." Rouge asked. For the first of today, Espio's lips stretched into his smallest of smiles.
"Well for one, I'm only telling them the truth and second of all...I don't have friends..." He said simply, avoiding any stares Rouge could give him by looking at the door.
And silently thank Chaos when it knocked before Rouge could even say or even think of a smug remark.
"Ohh~! I think I know who that is! I'm getting the door so Tails sit your butt down!" Rouge rushed up to answer the door, forcing the fluffy kitsune to sit back down.
"Rude..." He mumbled to himself just as Rouge opened the door.
"Why Orange, how nice of you to come! The party isn't the same without you~." She said sweetly. The orange boy of the hour gave Rouge a concerned look, now knowing something is up. But, at the moment he was too tired to care. But not tired enough to be wary of his surroundings. You could never be wary when you're around Rouge.
"I don't know what you're up to Rouge but please, just leave me out of it..." He said, plopping himself down on the ground since there weren't many seats or room left.
"I'm assuming you have some news to share with the rest of us." He looked up at Espio, eyes slightly perplexed. Surprised even.
"It's chaos..." He said. "I'm lucky to be up here in one piece... Which isn't what I can say for down there..." Zeren actually looked out the window, as if he would actually see the damage of his beautiful home.
"It's...bad out there, isn't it? All because of us?" Rouge said gently.
"Sure, you, your boyfriend, and Zera had endangered not only all of us, but now everyone living here!" Even his shouting sounded tired. Knuckles kept quiet while Rouge made a shocked gasp. "I don't know what you guys did to set G.U.N off, but you did a damn good job pissing them off."
"Zeren...what exactly happened since we left and what is happening down below us?" Sonic now asked. The town, the people he was honored to protect... Were all probably suffering, scared and confused, wondering where their blue speedy hero was. All he was doing was sitting in style at his best friend's house above them, blinking dumbly since they had no idea what to do or even have a plan of action. Best heroes ever to live.
Sonic's stomach twisted with guilt and pain. He never felt so useless, so helpless...So weal. And these guys stopped them before, why not now?
"I don't know exactly what's going on through G.U.N, but I was able to stick around for the outcome.. Their army showed up, even though they know that Zera isn't down there. But it wasn't for her... It was for everyone else... They wanted to cause a panic... And boy did they do a great job of freaking the fuck out of people... No fatalities or major injuries. Just panic I've accounted for. And don't worry, our guys and Mum are fine if you were wondering about that part Joey and Sonic." Zeren said, looking up slightly at his brother and friend. Sonic's face flooded with relief, but the rest of him was still slumped in some kind of depression. Joey's face remained unchanged, but everyone knew that Joey was relieved that his family was alive and well.
"You didn't explain what exactly happened that made you come up here so...beat, yet." Tails said. He had been studying the male echidna while he was talking, feeling weird since that was what the chameleon would usually be up to.
"Hmm? Oh right. Well... I was kinda attacked. Now now, don't panic, I'm fine.. I didn't use my powers... like that... I was just defending..." Zeren sighed, showing that this was the stressful part of the discussion. "You see, after Rouge and Knuckles ran out, I figured you two were up to something that didn't involve a couple day. It involved Zera. I didn't want you guys compromising anything or in the process of hurting Zera, so I went back for her. But by the time I got there, Uncle Noah said you already came by to pick her up. Surprised he did that with no questions asked..." His face went dark for a moment, then reverted to his more...depressed face.
"And then it all happened... So fast... They attacked the bar with no warning. The guys and I escaped, but I'm not too sure how the club handled the beating... Or Mum's place..." This time Joey's face broke into terror. "Joey, the diner got attacked but Mum was brave enough to lead J and the other employee's to Zeren quieted down, face now pink and eyes looking at Sonic and Tails nervously.
Tails caught on immediately. "Please don't tell me-"
"Ehehe yeah, they're all at your place." Both owners had shocked faces, but the younger one was growling. "I'm sorry, that's just how it all ended. They needed a place to hide until we fix everything... Don't worry, I laid down the rule. They could not enter the lab, your rooms, or raid the fridge. This wasn't, doesn't mean, I left them defenseless-"
"You let them in the defense room, didn't you?" Sonic said. Sonic knew how to defend himself and the kit, no question about it. Defending a building is a bit harder.
"I hid the keys at least!" Zeren whined. "Anyway, some soldiers tried to attack me but I gave them quite the...beat down.." He snickered to himself at the memory. "I took a transporter watch, sorry Tails, and here I am!"
"Wonderful story Zeren, truly it is. Tell it again, start with when you let complete strangers come into my house." Tails said, face now emotionless yet hard. Zeren sighed.
"C'mon Tails, they aren't complete strangers! You know my mother and a couple of the workers! You wouldn't let them die on the streets, would you?" And he ended it with his classic pouting face. No mere mortal (besides his family and probably even Zera) could say no to it. Tails started to squirm under the stare.
"Gah!" He flinched when Zeren had crawled to him, "O-of course I wouldn't let them die, I'm not that kind of fox... Just as long as nothing in my lab is missing or destroyed and my house is in one piece.. they can stay..." And he squeaked when he got stuffed into a hug.
"Oh, thanks Tails, you da man!...kid...fox..." He let that trail go then let go of him since he knew how he felt about hugs and being called a kid. "So, where is she?"
Zera... It was obvious that it was Zera he was talking about.
"Why should you need to know?" Joey said. This isn't the first time Joey was glaring at his brother.
It was just the first time that he had meant it.
"Joey, why would you ask me such a stupid question?" The younger of the two asked. Joey actually growled at him.
"You know damn why! You messed up our girl!" Oh boy, Joey couldn't let the subject go. Zeren, had a look of anger and surprise on his face. And he already knew who to blame.
"ROUGE, STOP FILLING HIS HEAD WITH SHIT!" He really hated when this happened. Joey is almost as gullible than Knuckles was.
"Hey, my logic is true. You may not of hurt her physically but today on the battlefield, it showed you got her on the inside..."
"What in the-...you told her about the so called betrayal, didn't you?" He was full on pissed off. He was hoping, praying, that no one was going to tell the dimension jumper the misunderstanding. Rouge's smile started to form a slight frown.
"Me? Why I wouldn't dare to! How dare you accuse me of such a thing. I was actually defending you... It was Liah who said it to her..." Zeren's face immediately paled out. "After I picked up Zera, those G.U.N creeps and Liah confronted us. And during our time together, Liah exploded with you betraying Zera to her... I had to keep telling the poor kid that you'd be thanking me for at least trying to clear this all up..." She huffed in annoyance as she made a fake pout.
"Rouge... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you... I'm just under a lot of stress..." Zeren said. Rouge looked back at him and her pout disappeared. It is cute when Zeren apologizes. Mainly because it doesn't happen as often. But she only nodded at him.
"It's fine, you didn't know kid..." She paused. "So...what are you going to do?" He sat staring at the bat for a good 3 minutes. Maybe he was...concentrating?
"I'm... going to talk to her..." He stood up.
What?
Everyone was frozen. Was he being serious? The stupid kind of serious?
"Zeren... you should reconsider that idea... Now isn't exactly the best time to-"
"Espio, chill out, I know what I'm doing." He started up to the room that held his little demon princess, though he paused after a moment to look back at the group. "And if I should not make it back Joey, tell Mum I lover her and you can have my stuff...Mom gets the money though." Joey only grinned halfway.
"Oh no child, you need to chill out. Zera isn't in the best state to talk to. I suggest you leave her alone and let you both get some well deserved rest." Espio's view had lost it's soft edge and was now full of nothing but anger.
"Sorry Es, but this has to be done..." And he just walked out of the room with no regrets or thoughts to look behind. Espio looked about ready to pop. They were all silent, until-
"1o bucks says he'll end up with something broken besides his heart!" Joey said out of nowhere.
"Joey!"
"Deal! 10 bucks says he'll end up with a happy heart and a friendship united once again!"
"Rouge!"
"Hey, I can't help a few things. I only know that the next ten or so minutes will be the quite interesting show we've been waiting for."
:Y Okay, so I couldn't do this on the first day of the month, but I came pretty dang close. I'm doing this on my 10th snow day (which is kinda of a piss off) and just finished it while I should've been doing some work. XD Heh, but this story is more important so I hope you enjoyed it this time! It took a lot outta me.
# of pages: 34
# of words: 8,786
I'll see you all next month! Things are really starting to heat up! Trust me, you don't wanna miss the next bunch of chapters. Later bros! ;3