Do You Believe in Ghosts? (Triple S x Reader)

Scorched

The cat dragged (Y/n) into one of the bunkers and down a flight of stairs before she finally slowed down and dropped her, Rouge's sultry voice following the pair. 

"Well, you don't look half as burnt up as I thought you would have," the bat commented. "I mean, he grabbed you, didn't he?"

"It aches," (Y/n) said, rubbing her neck. Rouge studied her with a frown, that part accented by the drooping part of her face. "That was...not exactly how I thought that would go." 

"Well, how did you think it would go? That he'd sit down to have a nice chat with you? What did I tell you?" the bat snapped. 

"Rouge, stop," Blaze said, shutting her eyes. 

"That...well...it was a lot different with Sonic," (Y/n) said after a moment. "Sure, he jumped at me, but he calmed down rather quickly, quickly enough that I could at least talk to him." 

"Shadow doesn't talk much anymore," Rouge said. "Unless he's begging us to let him out." She looked away. 

"That is curious," Blaze murmured, tilting her head as she looked at the (a/t). "The burns you suffered from him are already fading, and they weren't that severe." She glanced at Rouge. "This proves her point, Rouge. She is immune." 

"And pathetic," the bat shot back. (Y/n) winced. The words stung, but they were true. And she was afraid that because of it, she may not be able to get close to Shadow. They'd never had to drag her away from Sonic in the freezing zone. She could handle him on her own. And it wasn't as if he'd been trying to actually kill her, which had seemed to be Shadow's main motive. Or at least bring her close to death. 

She tuned back in to the conversation right as Blaze was asking her if she wanted something to eat. "You must be tired," the cat said. "And you took quite a hit from Shadow. We may want to take a look at that." 

"I feel fine," (Y/n) said, though when she tried to stand, she slid back to the floor. "Okay...maybe I'm a bit tired." Rouge snorted. 

"Stop trying to play it tough," she said. "Even I know when to admit I've been beat." She turned around, marching down the hall. "I'll get something started." 

"Come on," Blaze said, helping the (a/t) to her feet. "There's a spare room down here." 

"Why...why are you here?" (Y/n) asked, stumbling. 

"What?" 

"Why are you here? With Shadow. From what I've heard, Silver had a friend. A princess, a cat. Isn't that you?" Blaze sighed. 

"Yes." 

"Why aren't you with him?" 

"I felt my abilities were better served here in a more familiar territory. Though, they don't do much good in containing Shadow. Not much does if he gets out." 

"Has he ever? Gotten out, I mean." 

"Once. That's where Rouge got her burns from. When this all started, she had managed to round him up before he reached the city; Omega was with her and they managed to get him down, both surprisingly unscathed. 

"Tails sent blueprints from the freezing zone to help us build a containment facility for him. Before that we were keeping him in what was left of the local jail house. That's where he got out. He almost killed her." And by her, (Y/n) assumed Blaze meant Rouge. 

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. 

"It's not your fault. You were busy surviving." 

"Things look awful here. Is there anyone still alive?" 

"Most of the surviving citizens are actually underground in a neighboring city. The monsters occupy that space more than around here. This city was hit harder than a lot of others since Shadow was nearby." Blaze reached over and grabbed a doorknob, pushing the door open and helping the (a/t) into what she assumed was her room. 

"Rouge will be here in a few minutes with something to eat," the cat said. "I'll be back to look at your head and your burns. Try and get some sleep if you can." Before (Y/n) could protest, the cat slipped out of the room, the door clicking shut behind her. 

Turning away from the door, the (a/t) walked over the bed and flopped down on it, sucking in a deep breath. Her head was pounding, but, moving around that, she still forced her spirit out of her body, rubbing her eyes once she was free. 

"Are you alright?" Tikal asked, putting a hand on her charge's shoulder. 

"I'm fine."

"(Y/n), though you are immune to ghost attacks, you are not immune to physical attacks. You know this. You quite possibly may carry injuries from your meeting with Shadow." 

"Which was a disaster, by the way." 

"I know." 

"He's crazy." Tikal only nodded. "Like, how on Mobius am I supposed to get close to him if he's just going to beat me into a pulp every time? It's not like I can fight him - I never took any type of class that taught me how to fight a hundred fifty year old hedgehog!" 

"I know," Tikal said, sounding rather miserable. (Y/n)'s ears slowly lowered. "If only I had been more prepared." 

"What do you mean?" 

"The protocols I was given for guarding the pure spirit were vague. My mentors who gave them to me were confident that this would never happen, that disturbed spirits would never have the strength and power to rise up to the mortal plain." The echidna looked down, then back up at the (a/t). "But I know enough. I can teach you how to defend yourself so when you next face Shadow the Hedgehog, you will be ready." 

~

(Y/n) was startled back into her body just as Tikal would have hit her over the head with a stick. Things didn't really hurt in the secondary realm - most of the time, anyway - so their sparring sessions would be intense and fast paced. 

Rouge had come into the room much later than Blaze had promised, but she had brought food and seemed much less hostile than before. "You sure you're fine?" the bat asked, ghosting a hand over the (a/t)'s forehead. "You were out cold." 

"It's a little hard to explain," (Y/n) responded. Rouge said no more, only handed her a bowl of soup and some rolls to go with it. "Are you...are you okay?" 

"Of course," her companion said, shrugging. "I mean, as good as can be in a world that's always on fire keeping watch on a hedgehog who wants nothing more than to steal your soul and watch you suffer." She took a breath after her rant. "No, I'm peachy." 

"I'm sorry," (Y/n) whispered. "I really am trying." 

"I got the sense knocked into me by Blaze. Yes. I know you're trying." The bat sighed. "There's really nothing left of Shadow in there. He's...he's gone. I wish there was something you could do, but even with your fancy immunity, you can't get close." 

"I have to try." Rouge gave her a sideways glance. "I know I can. I need to do something to him, take his spirit out of his body." She waited for a beat, waiting for the inevitable snarky remark from the bat. 

However, instead of that, the former agent looked down at her hands, then up at the wall. "Omega can get in there briefly," she said after a moment. "Blaze has been putting him under pressure and updating his systems with directions from Tails from the freezing zone, so he's got about five minutes in there before he starts malfunctioning. If that's enough time for you to do what you need to...." 

"Plenty," the (a/t) assured her. Rouge looked at her, momentarily unreadable, before a smile lifted her lips slightly. 

"You know, you're not so bad," she said, standing up. "Eat that and get some rest. I'll fill in Omega and in the morning, we can put your plan into action. Sound good?" 

"Of course," (Y/n) said, giving her a nod. 

"Alright, I'll get out of your fur." Then Rouge was gone, leaving the (a/t) alone once more. She picked up the bowl and quickly ate the soup, setting the rolls aside for later. Then she slipped out of her body once again. 

"Rest is for the weak," she said dryly, rolling her shoulders. "Alright, Tikal, where were we?"