Knuckles and Rouge

1 - The Bat and The Echidna

As the mysterious Floating Island towered over the sea right by the mainland of the world of Sonic the Hedgehog, its guardian, Knuckles the Echidna was sleeping the night away in front of the landmass's crown jewel (literally and figuratively), the Master Emerald.

Said guardian was glad to be back where he belonged considering the world was still healing from the mad scientist, Dr. Eggman's, latest attempt at world domination.

He would leave his friends to easily deal with most of the aftermath.

Of course, Eggman wasn't the only threat to the Emerald. Not by a long shot.

---

Indeed, a face very familiar to him was hidden away in shadow, eyeing the green jewel lustfully. This intruder took the form of a rather buxom batgirl with a keen eye for treasure.

"You will be mine this time, you beautiful Emerald, you..." Rouge the Bat cooed.

Strictly speaking, she was an agent of GUN (Guardian Units of Nations), and probably should have been on the clock carrying out missions as payment for her...less than lawful life choices, but it was not as if they needed to know about this little getaway...

Especially not a certain "Ultimate Life Form" and killer robot.

Cutting her way through the trees, her anticipation was building to a fever pitch. She could almost taste it! She had to actively try and calm her nerves. She couldn't afford to have the final obstacle to her goal waking up, now could she?

Seeing him snoring away as she performed a quick flyover of the scene was enough to confirm her suspicions.

Her smile faded momentarily as she saw a few nests of innocent animals on her way to the other side of the island where she'd enact her plan.

Sorry, little guys. You just happened to pick the wrong place to build a nest on. I'll try not to do too much damage...

Digging into a case on her utility belt, she got out a pair of capsule-like bombs, and upon finding a nice, deserted spot, took aim, threw them, and flew away.

---

 The sudden explosion jolted the echidna from his slumber. It was a mere instant before he saw the plumes of smoke and flame choking out the night sky. With an anxious glance back at the object it was his duty to guard, he ran off, promising himself that he'd take care of this quickly.

He got all the wildlife he could to safety as fast as he could, though regretfully, not without casualties. The smoke inhalation he had to deal with added extra urgency to his steps.

Strangely though, the smoke and fire seemed to be fading as fast as it appeared.

Wait a second, he thought. No real fire could burn itself out that quickly...

That's when the truth began to dawn on him. His suspicions were justified once he stumbled on two broken pieces of tech that looked awfully similar to capsules.

His temper was the next thing to catch fire as he crushed the remains in his fists.

"ROUGE!"

---

The perpetrator barely paid attention to the raging shout echoing from miles away.

She was too fixated on her prize situated inches from her to care.

"Sorry, Knuckles, you just made this all too..."

A sudden blinding flash of light was the only notice given of the Master Emerald's instant disappearance into thin air. Rouge's jaw went slack as she watched.

"...easy."