Chaos Born

Escaping In Under 5 Minutes

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.