Lava Reef - That Brooding Feeling

[Lans]

Knuckles stormed down the tunnel from the surface, still fuming over the events above, but really a little scared. His island had been transported to an unknown location, some weird little(yet LOUD) squirrel who he'd never met claimed to know him, and Amy was acting, and looking, realy weird. None of it made any sense and it was really freaking him out.

[Sipp]

Amy kept running after him, visibly tired now. He had much longer legs than her and she was having trouble keeping up, but she kept doinh her best, breathing heavily as she kept running after him.

"Kn... nu....ckles...!!" she huffed, "P-please... don't... le..ave me..."

[Leda]

Ray trailed behind them, struggling to keep up. As his legs were shorter than even Amy's, the task was especially difficult. "Knu.... Knuckles!!" the boy sobbed, stumbling slightly amongst the volcanic rocks. "Amy!! W-WAIT--"

The unstable rocks suddenly gave out beneath him, plummeting the little squirrel into a dark cavern. Though the impact had jarred much of his consciousness, his pained wail floated up to the surface on its own.

[Lans]

Knuckles stopped, muttered to himself a bit, then turned around. In a moment he'd brushed past Amy, dropped down the hole Ray had fallen in, threw the wailing kid over his shoulder and climbed back up to the main tunnel.

[Leda]

A low rumbling sound began to fill the air. It didn't seem to be coming from anywhere along the path... Actually it sounded like it was within the walls.

Which, in fact, seemed to be the case. All of a sudden the rocks of the nearby tunnel wall broke loose, and a white bat hit the ground hard. A loud shriek filled the air; she'd landed on her broken wing. Rouge quickly rolled onto her other side, but her shoulder and arm disagreed with that, too. The bat gasped desperately for air before releasing another bleat; her body resonated so strongly with pain, she didn't even realize she was not alone. At least she had stopped, in any case.

[Lans]

Knuckles immediatly set Ray down when he got out of the put, and rushed off to investigate this new disturbance...especially since he recognized the voice behind that yell. Moving quickly through the fammiliar tunnls, Knuckles quickly found the side passage whee Rouge had fallen.

"Bat girl, is that y-" He stopped short as he came within sight of a very battered, and very topless, Rouge.

".....uhhhhhhhh....Hi there," was all he could think to say.

[Sipp]

She didn't even notice the new arrival. She was by Knuckles's side, looking up at him with eyes that were very quickly watering.

And then, in a small voice: "...why... ... why won't you say anything...to me what did I do....?"

And she started crying.

[Leda]

Ray, recovering from his own tumble, quickly skittered over to Amy just as she began to break down. Already in and out of tears himself, the squirrel let out a whimper and hugged her tightly.


Meanwhile, Rouge had only just noticed the presence of other people. She struggled to get up, but even just getting upright proved to be a challenge, as the long fall had aggravated the severe injuries to her right wing and left arm. Eventually she at least made it into a sitting position; her body trembled terribly, and though she did make an attempt to cease her crying, the bat was unable to make it fully stop.

Finally she looked up at Knuckles, her eyes red and swollen from crying so hard for so long. Wiping the fresh tears from her dirty face, Rouge made her best attempt to calm down enough to speak, then said in an unsteady voice, "H... Hello.... D-d-do you.... *sniff* kn-know the... the way out?"

[Lans]

Unfortunatly for both girls, Knux couldn't respond right now cause his brain was still on hold. So instead he just stared at Rouge, grinning like a big red idiot.

[Sipp]

Amy huddled with Ray, still crying. She hugged him just as tightly, rocking them both a little.

[Leda]

Even though her ears had already been folded backwards, Rouge now pressed them firmly to her head and cringed beneath Knuckles' grin. She suddenly didn't feel safe at all around him; who would make that kind of a face when someone was in such desperate need of help?

"Ah-I..... s-sorry.." the bat stuttered, laborously climbing to her feet. Rouge attempted to say something further, but her throat tightened up, and all that came out was a sob. She longed desperately to be in Rob's arms. At least when he was around she felt safe, injured or not.

Can't worry about that now, she solemnly reminded herself, supporting her broken arm with her uninjured one. Wheezing in a few more breaths, Rouge again wiped her face and began to carefully -- very carefully, as she was terrified of again losing her footing -- make her way along the tunnel and away from her onlookers.

[Lans]

Luckily turning away from them allowed Knux's brain to reboot and allowed him to focus on something besides her chest, like say the grevious injuries. "Rouge, wait!" he called heading to cut her off, "What the heck happened to you?"

[Leda]

Rouge recoiled with a short yelp as Knuckles planted himself in her path, finding herself with an additional shudder on top of her pained shaking. This man's strange behavior had begun to wear on her already frayed nerves; had she not already known that there was another version of herself, the fact that he'd known her name might've caused her to break down completely.

The bat gulped once, in an attempt to steady her voice. "I... *sniffle* Ah-I guess... y-you know the... th-the other me..."

[Lans]

Knuckles just scowled at that answer, "Don't you go weird on me too, I'm getting enough of that just from Amy and the loud kid over there," he said with a nod at the two. His expression softened then. "Look, what happened? Why are you up here half naked looking like Eggman sat on you? ...And how did you even get up here with your wing like that?"

[Leda]

Still panting gently, the bat rested in what minor way she could against the cavern wall; between her pre-existing injuries and her subsequent fall, she was feeling incredibly winded, and looked ready to collapse any minute.

"You don't.... y-you don't.. understand..." Rouge wheezed. "This is.... Mobius. Not y... your world." She paused for a deep breath, wiping her muzzle and brushing her fingers through her none-too-fluffy bangs. "You got here.. through a p-portal. The.. The portals c-connect our worlds... And..... this world is... at war..."

Rouge stopped, though there was more to explain. Simply standing up and talking felt like such a huge exertion, and if she didn't pause to recover, she was sure she would pass out.

[Lans]

Knuckles just shook his head, not understanding what she was saying, mostly cause she was wheezing so hard she was barely audible, but mostly just adding it to the list of weirdness that had happened today.

However there was no denying that she needed help. "Look, whatever," he said, "You don't need to be running around like that," he told her, before scooping her up into his arms and carrying her. "You two," he said to Amy and Ray, "Head straight down this tunnel til you reach the intersection, turn left and keep going until you reach the room with the big glowing emerald. March!" he barked, before also heading along the route he had just described, towards the emerald chamber at the heart of Hidden Palace.

[Leda]

Being carried by a strange man wasn't usually at the top of her things-to-do list, but given the situation, Rouge didn't have much of a choice. All of a sudden she was off of her feet and swept away in protective echidna arms. Had it not been the pain of her injuries, she might've felt some relief.

Instead, the bat found great difficulty in trying to avoid further aggravation of her ailments, and before she could sufficiently shift her position, the pain overtook her consciousness. Rouge's dirty, bruising face slumped against Knuckles' shoulder as she fainted.


Meanwhile, the young squirrel yelped and tightened his grip on Amy as Knuckles barked his order. Though he quickly forgot the instructions given, Ray held tightly onto Amy's hand and scurried after the echidna. "Coming!!" he cried after him. "J-Just don't leave us!!"

[Sipp]

Still crying, Amy skittered after them, holding onto Ray tightly.

[Lans]

Knuckles led the way into Hidden Palace, and from there, into the emerald chamber. The Master Emerald still sat on the middle altar, as if nothing had happened. For a moment, he considered using its power to heal Rouge...but then he remembered that the problems today had all pretty much started BECAUSE of the ME, so he decided against it.

Instead he headed over to a small alcove. After returning the emerald to, and repairing the damage hidden palace had taken all those years ago, Knuckles had added a small section which he had basicall made a small bedroom in. There was a hammock slung against the far wall and it was there that he carefully set Rouge down in, mindful of her broken wing as he did so.

[Leda]

Aside from a short, unconscious moan, Rouge never stirred as she was delicately brought to rest in the hammock. In the brighter light of the emerald chamber, the several layers of mud, blood and dirt could be distinguished in her fur. Between the many locations of her battle with Metal Sonic, the prison cell, and the fall through Lava Reef, hardly an inch of her pelt still shone through in its usual snowy white. Even so, bruises could already be seen showing up where she'd taken an especially hard impact, most potently around her face where Metal had forced her into the ground. Probably the most confusing to an onlooker would be what looked like electrical burns.

Her broken right wing had been splinted, and splinted well, by Silver; however, the mending of her left shoulder and forearm was sloppy at best, as Rouge had done them herself as the circumstances allowed. Each wound had been wrapped as best as she could manage with a purple cloth -- the remains of what had previously been her shirt. Though the injury to her slender forearm had not broken the skin, it ached horrendously, and beneath her wrapping had already begun to swell and bruise. Further examination would probably be needed to confirm whether the bones were broken or merely fractured.

Really, it was her shoulder that drew the immediate attention; having been the first injury Metal had dealt her, it'd had the longest amount of time to get worse. Rouge had already cleaned it once, and wrapped it as tightly as was within her power, but even so she'd bled through her dressings; Metal Sonic's talon had penetrated her flesh straight down to the bone. It would only be through a miracle that the gash would not harbor infection unless it was given medical attention.


Eventually, the children managed to arrive in the emerald chamber as well, having taken a bit longer with their shorter legs. Ray panted softly for breath as he and Amy came to a halt; he remained tethered to her at the hand. "Kn... Knuckles?" he squeaked nervously. "Ah-I'm.... I'm hungry..."

[Sipp]

Amy was quiet. Still crying, but quietly. She kept her head down and stayed still.



Meanwhile, Shortcake had entered Lava Reef, looking around nervously. He would probably be in the emerald chamber... but she couldn't bring Nicole there. She turned back to the other girl. "Pl-please s-stay h-here, muu, I-I'll g-get h-him."

[Lans]

Knuckles just sighed, going over to a nearby cabinet and pulling out a couple pieces of fruit, tossing one each to the two kids. He then rifled throughit some more, coming up with a couple of clay jars which he took with him as he moved back over to Rouge.

As he looked at her for a moment, he noticed that she looked different for the first time, the most obvious difference being that she had almost entirely white fur, and not just on her head. And also another glance at her chest (*blush*) revealed a slight...difference there too.

However he shook his head and returned his focus to the current task. She was hurt, now was not the time to start fantasizing. Opening one of the jars, which gave a strong alchol-like smell, he took a small swab, swirled it around in the contents before moving to her wounded shoulder. He hesitated a moment before applying the aniseptic, but since she was out, he couldn't exactly warn her that this might sting a little, and started cleaning her wound.


Up in the tunnels, meanwhile, Nicole just nodded, taking a seat on a boulder as she let SC go find Knuckles.

[Leda]

Taking a seat on the sparkling floor, Ray quietly began to eat his apple.

Luckily for Knuckles, Rouge remained unconscious for most of the procedure. It wasn't until he was just finishing up that the bat winced herself awake, her shoulder throbbing with germ-killing zing. But as her wing quickly began to protest any unnecessary movements, she made no real attempt to get up.

Rouge gazed half-warily up at the echidna; he was apparently nursing her injuries, which would lead to the quick conclusion that he meant her no harm, but it would be foolish to completely trust a total stranger. Biting her lip through the sting of her shoulder, she quietly said, "...Thank you.... ....Um... What's your name?"

[Lans]

"Knuckles," he replied, staring determindly at his task, to avoid looking...elsewhere. "And I take it you're not Rouge the Bat," he said, recalling what she'd been trying to say back in the tunnel, "...Though you are A bat," he added.

[Leda]

Now came the difficult part: trying to explain this extremely bizarre situation. Rouge stewed over how to start this conversation as her caretaker moved on to properly dressing her shoulder. He seemed so focused on his activities, however, she wasn't certain she'd be able to get his attention.

"Um... Well.... Rouge is my name... But I'm -- oww! -- I'm not who you think I am." The bat paused for a deep breath. Hopefully he'd believe her on the first try. "You're currently in a world called Mobius, and you got here through a portal that -- ah-aoww!! -- links your world to mine..." Rouge paused for a moment to see whether or not he'd respond favorably, adding a second or two later, "So you see, I... I'm this world's Rouge the Bat."

[Lans]

Actually considering everything that had been happening lately, that actually made sense. "I see..." he glanced over at Amy and Ray, "Well that certainly explains the rugrat and 'Amy's' unusual behavior..." He frowned. "Besides this nasty shock that we have counterparts over here, I thought your Princess agreed to keep the portal under control? Not zapping random people, and islands, all over the place!"

[Leda]

Rouge's brow furrowed. "I think you may be misinformed..." she replied thoughtfully. "As far as I know, Princess Sally wouldn't have known about this either, let alone been able to control it... This problem only just recently turned up, and it seems to be completely random. We don't work with the princess' group often, but we share information. I think she'd have told us about this if she'd known..." The bat bit her lip and whimpered as Knuckles tightly tied off the final bit of bandage on her shoulder.

[Lans]

"Sally? I'm talking about Princess Blaze! Purple cat? Guardian of the Sol emeralds? Kinda moody?"

[Leda]

The bat peered up at him quizzically, until slowly shaking her head. "No... Our monarch is Princess Sally of the House of Acorn. She's a squirrel... Well, ground squirrel... I've only met with her once, but, she seemed very calm and collected to me."

[Lans]

"...Ok, now I'm confused again," Knuckles said, sitting down on a nearby stool. "You're saying that the island is in a different world...but not Blaze's world. ...Just how many freakin different dimensions are there anyhow!?"