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alterchaos · 8 days ago

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A HIDDEN GEM

(cw: cuteness overload...viewer discretion advised)

With Knuckles away from Angel Island, Rouge seizes her opportunity to steal the Master Emerald for herself. Though, she would discover a far greater treasure that fateful day...

PREVIOUS CHAPTER: CALL OF A HERO

NEXT CHAPTER: ???

“My my…Leaving the Master Emerald alone are we?”

The sly bat watched from a distance below as the echidna joined his friends on their journey. She grinned deviously, unwilling to let such a perfect opportunity go to waste.

It took only half an hour to make her way to the floating island in the sky thanks to her large, strong wings. Each flap caught the wind gracefully beneath, pressing against the cool air and pushing her higher into the sky. With the countless times she’d attempted such a heist, she was used to breathing in the thin air in the upper atmosphere. Each time, however, she was thwarted by the- admittedly handsome- emerald guardian’s watchful eye.

This time was different though.

This time, she knew he couldn’t stop her.

Rouge landed on the island’s soft grass, brushing herself off as she folded her wings behind her. She walked towards the altar ahead, stepping up onto the stone steps as her eyes sparkled with glee.

“I must say, Red, I’m quite surprised. Did you really think I wouldn’t take advantage of this little-”

She froze at the top, her eyes falling on the empty altar before her.

“Eh?”

At its center lay a note scribbled crudely with a bright, red crayon. Rouge walked over, picking it up and reading in confusion.

Bet you didn’t think I was smart enough to hide the master emerald, did you, Bat Girl? Ha! You should see the look on your face!

Anyways, get off my island.

~ Red

Rouge crumpled the paper in her grip as she gritted her fangs, her eye twitching in annoyance.

“Oh you think you’re SO clever do you…” She opened her wings, flapping them hard as she launched herself off the ground, flying deeper into the island, “I’ll show you who the smart one is, you handsome jerk…”

She failed to notice the glowing eyes watching her from behind.

—----------------------------------------------------------

“Ugh! Where is it!!?”

Rouge stared up at the endless expanse of blue peeking out from behind the viny ruins above. She was lying on her back, exhausted and frustrated from her fruitless flight through the massive sky sanctuary.

Had he really bested her this time?

Maybe it was all pointle-

“Mmm…Mmmm…”

“Huh?”

Rouge sat up, taking in the sight of a dark, baby chao trying to jump up and reach a bundle of grapes hanging on a tall vine. Its wings weren’t fully developed yet, rendering it helpless in its hunger. Despite its surly nature, its eyes began to water in the same kind of frustration the bat felt as well. She sighed, pushing herself up onto her feet and walking over to the little chao. It looked up at her, eyes wide and expectant, as she reached up to the vine and plucked the bundle of grapes free.

“Here, kid.” She knelt down, placing the grapes before the hungry chao, “Be sure not to eat it all at once. I can’t promise someone will be here to help once I leave, you got that? You’ll have to learn how to take some things for yourself if you want to surviv-”

She froze, eyes flying wide in shock as the baby chao raced over to her leg, hugging and purring contently as its antenna popped into a heart.

Rouge blushed, glancing to the side, “So cute…” She gently pried the chao free from her leg, nudging it towards the food it so desperately wanted, “Okay, tiny. I have to go now so you enjoy your grapes, alright?”

The baby stared up at her with big eyes, “Chao?”

“Take care!” Rouge smiled before taking off once more. Seeing the little chao’s determination gave her the strength she needed to continue.

The master emeralds would be hers yet.

She couldn’t give up no-

“Chaoooo!”

“Uh!!?”

Rouge turned, lifting her hands suddenly and catching the small chao from before as it half-flew, half-fell into her chest. It purred once more, rubbing its cheek against her fur as its antenna became a heart yet again.

She began to sweat, “No. NO! I am NOT in a place to adopt a baby chao!”

Too late.

She was theirs now.

Rouge’s eyes flew wide as a few more chaos spotted her, calling over their friends in joy. Before she knew it, the jewel thief was swarmed by an endless wave of happy, cooing chaos, all wanting a piece of the boundless love she had to give.

Shit.

Rouge attempted to fly away, only to be chased relentlessly like some kind of queen followed by her loyal subjects, “Trust me, I am NOT the nurturing kind! Doesn��t that clueless dummy take care of all of you-”

Rouge paused, an idea crossing her mind as a few chaos tugged at her ears and cheeks affectionately.

She grinned deviously.

“Say…since we’re all friends here, did any of you happen to see where your precious guardian hid the master emerald?”

The chaos all floated in place, looking between one another before all raising their hands simultaneously, chaoing in unison.

Perfect.

The chaos, as one, began leading her through the sky sanctuary towards a hidden chamber she’d never explored in her many trips to the echidna’s home. She had to take an isolated teleporter there, something she hadn’t accounted for whilst searching earlier. No wonder she couldn’t find it.

Honestly, she couldn’t help but be impressed.

Knuckles was actually much smarter than he seemed…

It was…attractive…

Rouge shook her head, snapping herself out of such embarrassing thoughts.

“Y-Yeah right…Attractive my-”

She paused, realizing she was thinking out loud. The chaos all stared at her expectantly, waiting for her to finish that statement.

Rouge blushed again, “...w-wings…”

Saved it.

The baby chao in her arms, pointed excitedly at the room ahead, “Chao chao!!!”

“Huh? What is it, Tiny?”

The other chaos followed suit, “Chao chao chao chao chao!!!”

“Oh! Is that where the master emerald is?”

The chaos all nodded.

Rouge grinned, “Great job, everyone!” Her eyes flew wide as the chao hoard all swooped in for a group hug. She began to sweat again, “Alright! Alright! I get it! Get off!” They listened, waving happily as they flew back towards the sanctuary’s open skies. Rouge shook her head as the lingering baby chao crawled onto her shoulder, opting to stay with the bat, “Guess I can’t get rid of you, huh, Tiny?”

“Mmm…” The chao hugged her neck affectionately.

Rouge sighed, “Fine. I guess having a little partner in crime wouldn’t hurt…”

“Chao!”

Rouge continued down the dark hall into the room ahead. Each stone wall was covered from top to bottom in a chaotic entanglement of vines. Fireflies flew about, offering a soft glow to the otherwise dark expanse. That didn’t matter though as Rouge was skilled in both night vision and echolocation. With even the faintest sounds of her footsteps, she was able to make out the various piles of relics and treasures stored away near the far wall alongside what seemed to be a sort of stone pillar or throne. She whistled, taking in the spectacle as she moved further into the room.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“Hmm…By my account, it seems that most of these relics are prehistoric if not ancient. What do you think, Tiny?”

“Chao chao…” Tiny curled up in fear, hiding themselves within their owner’s snow-white hair.

Rouge patted the baby chao’s head, “There there, Tiny. Mama Rouge won’t let anything happen to you, alright?” She winked, eliciting a small purr from the baby chao as it nestled in deeper for comfort.

She continued onward, “Let’s see…if I were a massive emerald, where would I-OOP!” Rouge tripped over something, flapping her wings frantically to regain her balance. Once she had, she breathed a sigh of relief and looked down to the source of her near-accident. She picked it up, curiosity lining her features as she turned it over in her hands, “A…gear?”

Her intrigue as a treasure hunter got the better of her. Rouge brushed away the dust, her eyes widening as she took in the sight. Blue, wire-like markings lined the relic, an inscription carved below in tiny lettering. She squinted as she leaned in, using her night vision to make out what it said.

“Hmm…it seems to be written in ancient text…I wonder what it-”

At that moment, the gear began to glow a brilliant, bright blue. Rouge shielded her eyes, Tiny following suit, as the throne along the far wall began to glow in a similar hue. The entire room lit up, blinding all who bore witness.

Then…

BZZZRT!

The glow subsided.

Rouge unshielded her eyes, “What the…What just-”

She gasped, eyes flying wide.

Now, sitting limp upon the throne was none other than…

“...Shadow?”

The ebony hedgehog remained still, unable to respond while in his peaceful sleep. Rouge dropped the gear, the stone clambering against the floor upon which she fell to her knees in shock.

“How-?”

“ENGAGING. HEDGEHOG. PRIORITY. ONE.”

“-!!?!?”

Rouge turned, catching sight of the massive E-Series Eggbot as it cocked its arms into position, prepared to fire at the sleeping boy. Shit! It must have followed her in order to steal the master emerald for the doctor! And now-!!

How could she be so clueless!?

“NOOOO!!!!”

She leapt up, racing towards the robot in an attempt to stop the inevitable.

SHAZAP!

Before she had a chance to react, he was already there, lifting her in his arms as he drew his arm back. Energy crackled, a few chaos spears emerging as he aimed for the killer robot in defense.

“AAAARGH!!!”

He shot his hand forward, the spears launching as he teleported backwards with the bat safely in his arms. The robot drew its arm before its face, creating a shield to block the weak attack. Rouge watched in shock as a few beads of sweat formed along the young hedgehog’s brow, his eyes swimming with fatigue. He dropped his head, catching his breath from the strain of having just woken up.

“Shadow!”

“N-Nngh…”

“Chao chaoooo!!!”

Tiny flew from the bat’s shoulder, crying out in determination as they pushed their developing wings to their limits. The chao charged towards the robot, ready to defend its owner.

“TINY!!!!!”

“ENGAGE. TARGET.”

The robot’s blasters came online.

“Chaoooooo!!!”

“NOOOOOOOO!!!!!”

The baby chao flew close, its arm outstretched as a sort of fist. Once it got close, however, its wings grew tired. Tiny faltered, fluttering downwards before the massive robot’s glowing, red eyes. Rouge leapt up, ready to attack when something unexpected happened.

The robot…it caught the baby chao…

It held them…

Gazed upon them…

…

Then…

“NO. THREAT. DETECTED. ALL. BATTLE. SYSTEMS. OFFLINE.”

Rouge froze, holding her breath as she watched the robot put away its guns. It remained still, observing the tiny chao as its AI ran millions of calculations. Tiny, having believed to take out the bad guy, smiled and nuzzled into the robot’s hands for a nap.

“ERROR. DID. NOT. NEUTRALIZE. HEDGEHOG. YET. SYSTEMS. ARE. OFFLINE. ERROR.”

It turned to face the bat.

“TELL. ME. WHAT. IS. THIS. PROTOCOL.?”

Rouge softened slightly, “Protocol?”

The robot looked back at the chao, “ERROR. I. WAS. NOT. DESIGNED. TO. DO. THIS. ERROR. WHY. IS. THIS. HAPPENING.? ERROR. WHAT. IS. THIS. CODING.? ERROR. DOES. NOT. COMPUTE. ERROR.”

Shadow rose from the ground, stepping next to the curious treasure hunter as he began summoning another set of spears, “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this thing and save your tiny friend.”

Rouge leapt in front of him, “Wait, Shadow! I think I can reason with it!”

“Reason with it!? It nearly killed us!”

“I know that but…” She turned back towards the robot, “I think it’s trying to grow past what it was created to do…”

“What it was…” Shadow jolted, a distant memory of the girl with the golden hair playing in his mind.

“I’m such a failure!”

“No. That isn’t true.”

“But no matter what I try, it still isn’t enough! I was created to house all manner of medicines…to cure you, Maria!” He slammed his fist into the ground as tears sprung into his eyes, “I’m supposed to be the ultimate life form…What value does my life hold if I can’t even do something as simple as that?”

She hugged him tight.

“Shadow…Don’t say that. Your life holds incredible value. You are so much more than what you were created to do.”

“And what’s that?”

She smiled.

“My brother.”

“Shadow?”

The hedgehog jolted again, his mind returning to the present. He turned away, hugging his sides, “...Just do what you need to do so we can get going.”

Rouge watched Shadow in sadness for a moment, “Alright.” She turned back towards the robot, “H-Hey there, big guy…It seems like you have some empathy underneath all that programming…”

The robot looked back up at the bat, “ERROR. I. DO. NOT. UNDERSTAND. WHAT. THIS. EMPATHY. IS. YOU. SPEAK. OF. ERROR. I. WAS. CREATED. TO. DESTROY.”

“Maybe so…but it seems as though you want to be more than that.”

“WANT.? ERROR. I. DO. NOT. WANT. ERROR. WHY. DO. I. WANT. TO. NOT. DESTROY. THIS. CREATURE. YOU. CALL. TINY.? ERROR.”

Rouge smiled, “That’s because you value life. Deep down, you care about adorable, little Tiny…about us…”

“I…CARE.?” The robot looked back down at the chao in its hands, “I. DO. NOT. UNDERSTAND. ERROR. WHY. DO. I. CARE.?”

Rouge placed her hands in the robot’s, “Because you have a heart…”

“HEART…” The robot looked back at the bat, “BUT. I. WAS. NOT. CREATED. WITH. FLESH. AND. ORGANS. SUCH. AS. YOURSELF. ERROR. HOW. CAN. I. HAVE. A. HEART.? ERROR.”

Rouge chuckled, “I don’t mean literally.” She leapt up, flapping her wings to reach the robot’s shoulder and sit upon it, “It just seems that you went beyond your programming and developed emotions…feelings…”

The robot swiveled its head to face her, “EMOTIONS…FEELINGS…”

“You’re choosing who you want to be. Isn’t that amazing?”

“...” The robot swiveled its head to face the sleeping chao in its hands once more, “CHOOSE…I. CAN…CHOOSE.?”

“Yes. Do you like it?”

The robot looked back up at her, “HOW. DO. I. KNOW. IF. I. LIKE. WHAT. I. CHOOSE.?”

Rouge smiled again.

Almost there…

“Hmm…I guess you feel…a bit warm inside? Oh! It’s like that feeling when you complete a protocol! I think…”

“HMM…” The robot looked back down at the chao before its glowing eyes closed happily, “YES. I. LIKE. THIS. OVERWRITING. ERROR. CODE. NEW. PROTOCOL.: I. WANT. TO. PROTECT. TINY. CREATURES.” It then turned to face the brooding hedgehog, “YOU. HEDGEHOG. ARE. A. TINY. CREATURE.”

“Hmph! Maybe to you…”

Rouge leapt down, grasping both the hedgehog’s and robot’s hands and joining them together, “That’s so sweet! Now we can be an official team!”

Shadow jolted, “WHAT!!? I DID NOT AGREE TO THIS!!!”

The robot’s eyes smiled, “I. LIKE. THIS. TOO.”

“Awesome! From now on we are…” Rouge thought for a moment before raising a triumphant finger in the air, “TEAM DARK!!!”

“AND I DEFINITELY DID NOT AGREE TO THAT NAME!!!!”

“I. LIKE. IT. I. THINK. IT. SUITS. US.”

“YOU’RE NOT HELPING!!!!”

Rouge ignored the fuming, emo hedgehog, turning back towards the giant robot who now placed the sleeping chao on its head to free its other hand, “So…You got a name, handsome?”

“MY. SERIAL. NUMBER. IS. E. 123-”

Rouge held up her hands in surrender, “Woah there! I was thinking something more like what we have. You know…’Rouge’...’Shadow’...”

A flap clicked partially over the robot’s lenses, giving its eyes a frowning appearance, “I. DO. NOT. HAVE. A. NAME. THIS. I. DO. NOT. LIKE.”

“Well then…” Rouge nudged its side with a wink, “We’ll just have to pick you one, won’t we?”

The robot smiled, “YES. I. WOULD. LIKE. THAT. VERY. MUCH.”

Shadow folded his arms with a scowl, though he couldn’t help but feel somewhat for the self-actualizing robot.

In a way…it reminded him of himself…

Rouge put a hand to her chin, “Hmm…how about…”

“Omega.”

The bat’s eyes flew wide, both she and the robot turning towards the antagonistic hedgehog.

“Omega?”

Shadow glanced to the side, “Yes. It’s a symbol used in math to represent a function…you know…like how this robot wants to find his function in life…”

Rouge snickered, “Oh my- Did you just make a math pun!?”

Shadow growled, “Don’t test me, nurse.”

“OMEGA…” The robot paused, taking in the name with a smile, “I. LIKE. IT. FROM. NOW. ON. YOU. CAN. CALL. ME. OMEGA. DESTROYER. OF. ALL. WHO. WOULD. HARM. ADORABLE. TINY. CREATURES.”

“That’s the spirit!”

“Ugh…”

—----------------------------------------------------------

By the time Team Dark left the hidden room, the sun was already setting against a crimson sky. Shadow shielded his eyes, not yet accustomed to the light of the planet below.

“Hey…Shadow?”

The hedgehog overlooking the darkening planet turned towards the girl, “Hm? What is it, Maria?”

She smiled, “Do you know why the sun sets red?”

His eyes widened. He looked back towards the planet, “It…doesn’t seem red to me…”

She giggled, “No, silly! On Earth! Apparently the sun turns a deep red on Earth as it sets for the day!” She smiled with glee, “It’s amazing, isn’t it!?”

Shadow paused before looking down in remorse, “I…wouldn’t know…”

He looked back up with determination.

“But I’ll find out for you one day, Maria. I promise.”

The hedgehog watched the sunset, his face just as determined as it had been that day aboard the Ark.

“Maria…I haven’t forgotten that promise…”

Rouge’s ear flicked, “Maria? Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long while…”

Shadow’s eyes popped wide, having not realized he’d been talking out loud. He turned away, hiding his face, “And what’s it to you? You’re a government spy, are you not?”

“Was, honey. You’ve…been gone for a pretty long time…”

Shadow turned towards her, “How long exactly?”

“Depends on which dimension you’re referencing.”

Shadow jolted, “D-Dimension!?” His face grew stern, “You mean to tell me we aren’t on Earth!?”

“No, darling. We aren’t.”

Shadow’s eyes widened in horror, “W-Where-”

“Mobius.”

“Mobius?”

“Yes, a world that exists in a dimension parallel to Earth, yet is home to an entire population of people like you and me.”

Shadow continued staring at her in terror before pulling his gaze away sharply, “Tsch!” He closed his eyes, his clenched fists trembling as he found his next words, “Then this is where you and I part ways.”

He took a few steps forward towards the edge of the sanctuary’s cliff as Omega joined Rouge, Tiny still fast asleep on his head.

“Wait what!?” Rouge gritted her fangs as she reached out to grab the young hedgehog’s hand, “No way!! You just happen to appear out of some mystic portal alive and well on a planet you know nothing about and you expect me to just let you walk away all alone!? I don’t think so, mister!! You’re coming with me!!”

Shadow stayed turned away, “I have a mission to fulfill first.”

“And that is?”

Shadow opened his eyes as crimson as the setting sun.

“To see Maria home safe at all costs.”

CHAPTER END

Fun Fact: "Tiny" is the name of my hero chao in my SA2 save file. Ajax is my dark chao. I could have kept it accurate, but just thought "Tiny" would make for a cuter name and could be incorporated more naturally since, you know, Rouge comes up with all the nicknames based on physical characteristics lol.

I'll have to update with a pic sometime.

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