Distant Shadows Chapter 1 – Problems Arise
Me: Well, time to get back into gear.
Shadow the Hedgehog: This is your second fanfiction, correct?
Me: Yup, that it is.
Rouge: Jeez, why don't you give it a little time between fics?
Me: I did, but 's had so many things bringing it into Read Only mode lately I couldn't take waiting anymore. Besides, I'm finally in the mood to write this story!!!
Amy Rose: #Chases Sonic through the background# SOONIIIIIIC!!!
Me: ... maybe bringing her into the Author Commentary Area with Sonic was a bad idea...?
Sonic: NAW, YA THINK?!!
Flashback: 2 Years Ago, Egg Fleet
Rouge grinned as she entered the Holding Bay of Eggman's head ship, Final Fortress. After successfully defeating the Egg Emperor, Eggman's final mechanical monstrosity, she had felt it was time to claim her rewards from his ship and leave. "Now let's find that secret treasure..." Only seconds after arriving in the room, Rouge gasped, her eyes wide. Surrounding her were hundreds of capsules, similar to the one she had found Shadow in. Each one carried an identical copy, a clone, of the black Hedgehog. The doors into the holding bay opened behind her as Omega stepped in, the sound of metal clashing with metal eminating from every step it took. "Prepare to destroy immediate area."
Rouge turned, beginning to leave the room. She came to a stop, sighing and looking to Omega. "Hey, Omega... Did I ever tell you that Shadow is a robot, and..." She lowered her gaze to the floor and ears back against her skull as she said this, quickly shaking her head and bringing her eyes up again. "Oh, nevermind... Good luck!" As she passed Omega, the machine-man spoke, as if trying to comfort her. "You know about cloning..." Rouge came to a halt as she heard this, turning her gaze over her shoulder as Omega continued down the room, it's hands sinking into the gauntlets and bringing out it's Gatling Guns. "The original must exist somewhere."
Rouge grinned a bit as she heard this, then did a sort of salute as she exited the room. She walked to the edge of the Fortress' platform, coming to a halt beside Shadow. "All this for what? Nothing!!! I might as well go look for that Master Emerald since that irritated ECHIDNA is here..." As she said this, she and Shadow started to walk down the platform, Shadow beginning to chuckle softly. "Heh, some things never change, do they?" Rouge huffed a bit, then grinned, crossing her arms. "Whaddya saying?! What else is a famous Treasure Hunter supposed to do?!"
The Present: 2 Years Later, Club Rouge
Rouge sighed as she lay back on a sofa. It had been relatively boring lately, mainly due to the fact that Shadow had left upon his own will six months ago to "try and find purpose for himself", as he had said. She had no jobs from the President, so she was there to tend to her club, watching people gamble themselves silly. She looked down over herself, for the first time really noticing that in this time of peace, even her attire had changed. She wore a sparkling red dress that ran straight down to her ankles, a slit cut from the base up to her thigh area on the right side. The slit gave view to black stockings that fit to her legs' forms perfectly. Matching red high heels were resting beside the sofa, ready for her to slip into at a moment's notice if she needed to deal with something. Upon her arms, from her elbows to her hands, she wore red gloves, also fitting to her form. She gave a gentle sigh, shifting her attention from security monitors to the ceiling above, thinking to herself. 'I haven't seen Shadow since Emerl was destroyed... No jobs from the president, and almost no hassle from any of the Casino-goers...'
She sighed, sitting up and sliding her feet into her high heels. She then stood, walking to the Executive Elevator and entering it, heading into the Sub-Basement level she had secretly put in. As the elevator arrived and the doors slid open, she walked into the hidden area, looking over countless treasures that she had plundered over her years as a Treasure Hunter. She walked to a box filled with rings and gave a gentle sigh. She lifted out a ring made with Onyx and Ruby, running her thumb over it as her ears lowered, still lost in her thoughts. 'Shadow, when will you come back...? I can take care of you here, you don't need to find a purpose...'
Rouge blinked, hearing screaming upstairs. She narrowed her eyes, setting her ring back in it's box and rushing over to a wardrobe made of Mahogany. She stepped out of her high heels and opened the wardrobe and slipped out of her dress, pulling out her old battle outfit. She'd worn this particular one when she had met Shadow, and when she had learned of Emerl. She slid into it, sighing as she felt the black latex of the suit hugging against her curvaceous figure. She stepped into her boots, tapping them against the ground as she heard the metal picks built into them banging against the cold concrete floor. She grabbed her white gloves from the wardrobe and dashed to the elevator, putting them on as she went. "Whoever's making trouble in my Club is really gonna get it!!!"
Just three minutes later she arrived on the lobby floor, her eyes scanning the casino floor. She found her culprits, three robots, gray in color, resembling Chaos Gamma. She cracked her knuckles, walking forward. "Eggman's flunkies, huh...? I'll teach him not to screw with my casino!!!" Rouge charged forward, jumping up in the air. She came into a Drill Dive straight on top of one of the Chaos Gamma's, plowing straight through it. She jumped back as it exploded, making sure she wasn't caught in the blast. The remaining two shifted their attention to her, holding up their Gatling Gun arms. "Assault and destruction CGC ( Chaos Gamma Copy ) Unit 2 verified. Assailant acquired as new target. Beginning battle mo---"
The unit flew back, slamming straight into a wall from the impact of a powerful kick. Rouge intended to make sure that these robots would pay, intent on dealing with this quickly instead of letting the robots run their mouths. She turned and flipped forward in the air, bringing both heels down on the other unit's head. It stumbled back, it's cybernetic eyes caved into it's body. "You chose the wrong day to mess with me!!!" Rouge brought her left leg back in the air and thrust it forward, straight through the 'bot. Unfortunately, this was a move she would soon regret. She tried to pull her leg back, but grit her teeth as a sharp pain ran through it. She looked into the hole she had created, finding her leg and boot caught on a sharp pipe within the copy. This left her immobilized as the robot blew up, sending her flying back, crashing through multiple slot machines until she came to a screeching halt on the floor, coughing up blood. It was a miracle she hadn't lost her leg, or her life, in the explosion, but she was in no condition to fight anymore.
Rouge forced herself up into a sitting position, holding one arm as she bit down on her bottom lip, trying not to concentrate on the pain. The explosion had incinerated all of her clothes, save for the metallic picks upon her boots. Her eyes shot wide as she heard metallic foot steps against the carpet floor. She looked up, narrowing her eyes. The CGC Unit that she'd kicked into the wall earlier was still in fighting condition, and lumbering towards her, it's arms shifting themselves into electrified talons. "Target acquired. Commencing destruction." The CGC jumped into the air and thrust it's arms forward towards Rouge. Rouge grit her teeth, turning her head to the side with her eyes shut tight as she waited for the final blow.
She heard thrusters coming from another direction right out of no where, and then the sound of metal slamming into metal. She opened her eyes to find E-123 Omega holding the CGC copy in it's hands. "Worthless consumer model!" As it said this, it ripped it in half, throwing the halves into a corner as he watched them explode. It looked to Rouge, scanning her for damage. It then brought out a Chaos Emerald and handed it to her. "Use it's power to restore your physical status." Rouge blinked, nodding and harnessing the Chaotic Energies in a way that Shadow had taught her 7 months ago during the Emerl Incident. She stood up a moment after, covering her chest and crotch area with a slight blush. She was healed, and very happy that the robots had driven out all her customers. "U, uhh..."
Omega looked to Rouge, it's red eyes glowing lightly as it fell out of it's Battle Mode. "Do not be embarrassed. As a machine, I have no interest in the bodies of you organic creatures." Rouge sighed, nodding as she thought to herself. 'But that doesn't mean that anyone who gets their hands on the tapes from the security cameras won't... I'll just destroy them later...' She sighed, looking to the Executive Elevator. "Come on, let's go upstairs and talk about this before the police get here to investigate..."
About a half hour later, Rouge walked out of the bathroom in her room above the club. She sighed, wearing a snow white robe tied shut about her waist. She felt much cleaner now that she got all of her blood and the ash from the explosion off her body. As she rubbed a towel up and down her hair to dry it off, she raised an eyebrow to Omega, who was standing silently in the corner. "I doubt you came to my club just to save me or say "Hello", so what's the occasion, Omega?"
Omega walked forward, it's chest plate opening up and revealing a built in monitor. "This is a transmission that I received approximately 3 days ago from a being that is not registered within my data base. It came with specific instructions stating that you were to view this..." As Omega said this, a video played. There was a figure hanging in chains as the video began to clear up, obviously the creator of the video having had issues bringing it into focus. Rouge gasped and dropped her towel, her eyes wide as the video cleared up and transmitted a clear image. "Sh... Shadow!!!" Shadow grit his teeth as he was hung up by his wrists in the video, dangling in mid-air. There were lacerations and other injuries dotted across his body.
A figure walked on screen, wrapped in a black cloak. "Rouge the Bat. I am sure that you know the figure behind me is none other than Shadow the Hedgehog. No doubt that, after careful observation, it would seem that you two share a close relationship. If you want your friend here to survive any longer, I'd suggest you listen to my demands. On Saturday at Eleven O'Clock in the evening, you're to come to the ruins of Prison Island. There, I will speak to you of my conditions on his safety, and possible return... Refuse, and you'll only receive his head on a platter... I hope to see you there, Ms. Rouge. Oh, and, bring Omega with you... You'll need at least one ally for the conditions I've set..."
Rouge grit her teeth as the video ended, then dropped to her knees, slamming her right fist into the ground. "THAT BASTARD!!!" She growled, shuddering in a mixture of rage and sadness. It suddenly made sense as to why Shadow hadn't even stopped by using his Chaos Control. He couldn't. Rouge stood up, her eyes narrowed into a glare she'd never worn before. Rouge turned, walking to the elevator, Omega following behind her. Rouge reached the Sub-Basement and hurried to the Mahogany wardrobe she'd kept her other outfit in, revealing many that were identical to it. She dressed quickly and pulled out her Treasure Scope, latching it around her right ear and bringing the scope over her right eye. She also wore her Iron Boots this time, dual equipped with the Pick Nails. She meant business, and no one would stop her. "Omega, come on..." Omega nodded, following after her in heavy footsteps. Rouge grit her teeth as she thought to herself, her fists clenched tighter than ever before. 'Whoever you are, you won't get away with this...'
Rouge: Let me guess, you don't know who that guy is yet...?
Me: How'd you guess?
Lan Hikari: #Waves his hand in the background and walks forward# You always seem to think up these guys last minute, huh?
Me: Yup.
Sonic: So are the rest of us gonna make a debut sometime?
Me: Most likely. I plan to incorporate every Sonic character from the games into this.
Knuckles: What about the Chaotix?
Me: ... eeehhhh...
Team Chaotix: What was that?!! #Gets ready to attack#
Me: OKAY OKAY!!! Jeez, I'll consider it!!! Anyhow, that's it for this chapter ladies and gents!!! See ya next one!!!