The Trouble with Rouge

Chapter One

It had been a very strange morning for Knuckles the Echidna from the Floating Island. Knuckles was a simple sort of fellow who liked to follow his set routine and look hard. Usually he would polish the emeralds, check they were at full power and following this a hefty three hour training schedule in martial arts. Break for lunch followed, then a check of the emeralds once more and a five hour stint surveying all the island's individual zones. He was happy with his routine and hated anyone disrupting it.

So imagine our echidna's surprise to find himself wandering around in a dank, cold and dark cave with Rouge the bat, a female acquaintance who enjoyed stealing his emeralds.

"This better be worth it Rouge… I'm an echidna not a mole you know, I don't make a habit of scrambling around in the dark."

"Stop complaining Knuckie you'll be the one thanking me when we get there."

Rouge the bat had appeared with the highly untrustworthy news that a scroll belonging to the echidnas was rumoured to have turned up in the Mystic Caves.

"And what exactly would be doing there?" Knuckles had replied.

"No man is an island Knux. The echidnas must have traded goods with the world below at some point and I bet you didn't know the Mystic Caves used to be a diamond mines. The old colony that existed there probably traded jewels for the scrolls. So I would imagine it contains some pretty important information," Plausible but something about Rouge's story didn't quite add up.

"Of course I'd be quite happy to keep the scroll for myself but well I felt like I owed you one from the Ark, call it a permanent debt repayment."

So despite the feelings of paranoia and mistrust Knuckles had followed the bat to the Mystic Caves. To add to the sense of unease which he felt about rumours of the caves being haunted the echidna was sure they were being followed.

The Mystic Caves were said to be one of the first zones containing civilization on Mobius. Hundreds of years with mazes of underground tunnels and honey combed chambers. The green and yellow ivy had twisted itself around the metal struts Robotnik had planted more recently although this too was over fourteen years ago. The rusty remains of defeated badniks littered the landscape and the few remaining lanterns flickered, casting eerie shadows.

They had reached the mouth of a much larger cave and began to descend into the dark depths. Rouge relied on her bat senses to guide them through but Knuckles was almost blind, he was also desperately trying not to hold Rouge's hand by accident.

"If you stick closer to me you won't fall over as much," She teased.

"I can manage," He grunted back.

There it was again Rouge thought, the extra pair of feet tracking behind them. No matter, she was almost back and then she would be able to resolve this whole ugly mess. Ahead of them out of the darkness something began to glow. It grew with such intensity that the two companions both began to shield their eyes against the glare.

"GET DOWN!" Rouge yelled diving for the floor.

As the ball of light smashed into the air above them Knuckles could only make the faintest outline of a dark figure some two metres ahead. He felt around for Rouge but she wasn't nearby.

"What the hell?" Rouge cursed as she could feel her arms being pressed awkwardly behind her back. She tried to wrestle free but her captor's strength was astounding.

"Nice to see you Fiancée," A male voice hissed in her right ear.

"Scaris," She replied grimly. "Been a nice long while."

"Spare the chit chat Rougie we've got some unfinished business."

Rouge smiled and kicked the bat's shins smartly to free herself. The next second Scaris was hurdled over head and landed painfully on the cave floor.

Knuckles stopped dead and listened intently. He began to shake his head in disbelief – what on Mobius was going on?

"We need to go," Rouge growled taking him by the hand and plunging into another chamber on the far left. They continued to head left, then right and then left again before finally coming to a stop to catch their breath.

"We're meant to be looking for echidna scrolls," Knuckles choked. "What the hell is going on?"

"There's no scroll Knuckie."

"NO SCROLL!"

Yes, it was turning out to be a very strange morning indeed…