COUNTDOWN TIL SELF-DESTRUCT : 5 MINUTES 28 SECONDS
. .
Rouge recoiled as the ceiling collapsed in front of her. She had just squeezed into the safety of a fortified doorway to escape being buried. Over and over she called out for her missing friends and Knuckles' name, especially. Her fur was sooty and could only be identified as bright white from where the sweat of her hands had washed some of it away from her face as she wiped at her eyes. Desperately, she hid herself behind her wings and shuffled through the hot debris, the sounds of fire crackling and the walls groaning were the only things she could hear and it frightened her.
She knew Shadow would be angry with her for doing this but she hadn't been able to stop herself; the thought of losing Knuckles was too great of a fear. She couldn't live on Angel Island and raise a child by herself and take on the responsibility of guarding the Master Emerald alone!
There was no way! That wasn't her lifestyle at all.
Maybe she should have considered this before agreeing to marry Knuckles but it was too late now. Perhaps she had made an awful mistake and really should have just remained single. It would have been so much less complicated if she stayed unattached, like Shadow.
A pair of arms wrapped themselves around her at that moment and she shrieked in horror. Until she realised that these were arms she knew. Arms that broke walls and threw cars around but were gentle enough for her to sleep in when she wanted to.
The sudden feeling of safety chastised her thinking. She HAD made the right choice. There WAS a reason she had married the most infuriating echidna on the face of the planet.
Knuckles pulled her away from the walls and shielded her with his body as another piece of building came hurtling down behind them.
"Rouge!" he coughed. "What, are you crazy!? The whole place is on fire!"
But just because she was glad to see him, didn't mean she was any less angry with him.
"I can see that!" she shouted. "And where in Dark Gaia's country do you think you are right now?"
"You shouldn't have come in after me!"
"Why not? Tell me why not?"
"Because you..."
"Are pregnant. Yes, thank you for that! Thank you very much for reminding me of something I ALREADY know!"
Another wall caved in and Rouge buckled as she tried to dodge, crying out in pain and hugging herself as she attempted to get away. Knuckles instantly took her in his arms and held her close and away from the damage.
"Are you alright?" he gasped. "Are you hurt?"
Rouge blinked tears and hung her head. "...I don't know."
The echidna picked her up carefully and hopped over a heap of scorching hot metal.
"...I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear. "I'm sorry for yelling at you."
"When?" Rouge sniffed, trying to breathe through his red fur. "Now? Or way back when we first met?"
"...Both. Hang on." He ducked under a collapsed support beam and ran. He didn't stop running until there was a less likelihood of something falling on his head. He was close to the hanger. "Everything okay?" he asked when it was quieter, stroking her head in a soothing manner with his large hand.
She had stopped silently shedding tears but she was still glassy-eyed as she refused to look at his face, instead fixated on his white moon crest.
"...I... Knuckles I... I don't..." She coughed again.
"Just breathe. Here." Knuckles lay her down for a moment to rub her back and he pressed his lips to the top of her head. For a moment, neither said anything. "Guess you've been feeling a little left out..." he said. "...Is that why you came?"
"...I'm one of the Allies too, you know," Rouge murmured, breathing a little better now.
"I do know, it's just..."
"I know. I was being stupid. Thought I could do more than I actually can."
"No, you weren't being stupid." Knuckles picked her up again to move on. "Don't know why I thought you'd want to take things easy even with... you know." Rouge leant against his chest again. "It's just... believe it or not, you're important to me. And, I'm not gonna lie, the thought of being a dad was... It was great. I couldn't figure out if you weren't happy about it or not so I didn't say anything but I- I just wanted you both safe."
Rouge released another hot tear. "Now I've probably gone and lost it..."
"You don't know that..." Knuckles told her firmly. "Come on... Let's get you outta here."
- - - - -
Marine saw them coming first.
"Hey Clacker! Get a move on!" she called to Knuckles.
"Where's Shadow?" Knuckles called out as he ran. Shadow appeared in the door to the helicoptor - the rotors were spinning quickly now and it was hard to hear above the noise. Knuckles saw him instantly. "Shadow! Take care of her."
The dark hedgehog took one look at Rouge and leapt to help, Omega a quick second behind him.
"Where's Sonic?" he asked as Knuckles reluctantly handed his wife over to her faithful teammates.
"I'm about to find out," Knuckles replied, checking to see if the other Allies were all on board.
They were.
"You can't go back there by yourself!" Shade shouted from her seat, watching as Knuckles turned away.
"We have the Tornado," he explained. "Get Rouge to a hospital and get out of here!"
Christmas Isle was going to be history.
- - - - -
COUNTDOWN TIL SELF-DESTRUCT - 2 MINUTES 17 SECONDS
.
It was odd to see Amy standing on the wing of the Tornado where Sonic traditionally stood but, with Sonic being made to take refuge in the safe passenger seat, there was nowhere else for her to ride.
"Come on Knux, where are you?" Tails mumbled to himself, firing up the Tornado's engines and turning towards freedom.
In the distance, he heard the motors of the helicopter and, a second later, the aircraft was seen rising into the air. The Babylon Rogues were long gone and the G.U.N helicopters were all gone too, evacuating people to safety.
The tiltrotor climbed higher into the sky and Tails felt pleased to know that they were all safe and he watched it turn and fly off towards the mainland.
The four friends were the last ones on the island now. That was when Amy gave a shout; Knuckles was dashing up the hill towards them.
1 MINUTE 5 SECONDS
"Taxi!" he called, leaping at the wings of the Tornado and scrabbling up clumsily, mentally apologising to Tails for the dents he was causing.
"Mind the gap!" Tails announced, pushing his plane to move along the dew-drenched grass.
Amy gripped the other side of the plane wing with her legs and gave Sonic one final check.
The blue hedgehog was staring balefully over at the island, at the hamlet down below and its merry little cottages and then at the factory.
The burning factory.
He had been born here, on this island, once. Maybe in one of those merry little cottages. Maybe in another merry little cottage.
Maybe he hadn't been born at all.
10 SECONDS
"Goodbye," Sonic murmured as the plane lifted off.
- - - - -
The factory blew.
The island was ripped apart.
Sea water claimed the land.
Down went Christmas Isle.
It belonged to the ocean now.
All the old robots that were kept inside.
They belonged to the ocean now.
Had E-102 Gamma been there?
If he did, he belonged to the ocean now.
...
...
...
"But not I. I do not belong to the ocean."
...
...
...
Sonic's eyes widened.
Far away, Metal Sonic hovered in midair watching the Tornado fly away.
At his side stood Metal Knuckles.
On his shoulder sat the Tails Doll.
"Until next time," Metal called out telepathically. "My friends and I will be waiting."