ARAAT5: Resurrection

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A Rose And A Thorn 5: Resurrection

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Harley: Disaster Master, Crazy Ivan, don’t use my review section as a place to chat and compare WMD. If you persist with it, I might just have to block anonymous reviews so that you have to sign in every time.

Froggy: Now, it’s time to catch up with what Mirage has been doing since she changed history (slightly). Try to see the amnesia as a plot device, rather than a technical thing. In other words, don’t ask questions.

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Chapter Two: Where Are You Now?

Mirage lay back on the horrible smelly sofa, counting fifty Ring bills. A lot of them. She'd been living in this bachelor's apartment for about two weeks now. Living with Team Chaotix hadn't worked. After about a week of living with them, Mirage had felt cramped and uncomfortable. She and Espio had not gotten back together. Or from his point of view, together at all. The spark hadn’t been there, and you couldn’t simulate fleeing for your life from a crazed megalomaniac. Perhaps it was better this way.

And she couldn't bring herself to live with Shadow and Amy; that would just be too weird…

So after some discussion, she'd moved in with Sonic. It felt seriously freaky. The blue hedgehog seemed to have forgotten his past life on ARK completely, and perhaps that was for the better. That was why she hadn’t mentioned the letter yet.

But she liked Sonic. He was easygoing, he didn't ask uncomfortable questions like, “Whose blood is that on your jacket?” and best of all, he wasn't single. And he didn't talk about fashion. Or makeup. Or anything else that was stupid and sissy. Plus he had some pretty good connections. He still felt like a kind of little brother to her, but now that he was 22 years old, she was growing out of that way and just thinking of him as a damn good friend.

As she thought this, the apartment door swung open, and the blue hedgehog entered, Rouge closely behind him, returning from their date that night, "Oh, hey Mirage!" Sonic said cheerfully, partly surprised to see the hedgecat there. With her job, there was no telling exactly when she would leave or return, "What's up?"

"The sky?" Mirage suggested, swinging her legs off the couch, "How was the date?" she asked him, eyeing Rouge and her waistline briefly, then dividing her attention between Sonic and the money she was counting.

"The date was great. We had a blast,” the blue hedgehog replied, winking at her, "And... whoa." His eyes widening slightly, the hedgehog took a step closer to get a better look at the money, whistling as he estimated the total amount. "You must have really impressed someone."

"Let us just say they needed some bastard alive," Mirage held out about half of it, "Here, I owe you for leeching off you like crazy the last two weeks. It should pay for another few weeks to come, as well."

Sonic was tempted to say that no, she didn't owe him anything and to keep the money. But then the thought occurred to him that he was late with the rent, and since they were both sharing the same apartment... Smiling, he gratefully took the cash, "Thanks a lot, Mirage!" he said with a smile.

Mirage turned to Rouge, "And Rouge, you look... healthy." She raised an eyebrow, "How is life in the investigation department?"

"You know our work is confidential," Rouge grinned, "We're still investigating GUN for what they did to Shadow. Turns out that the upper echelon CLAIMS they didn't know nothing about it, and since Shadow shot that bastard Colonel, and we can't find the Professor, we got no proof."

"Bugger," Mirage stated, "Anyway… do you want me to give you two some space?"

Sonic was frustrated with their inability to do any harm to GUN, to bring the criminals responsible for the horrible experiments on Prison Island to justice... but those thoughts quickly faded with the hedgecat's next question. "We wouldn't mind,” he said with a grin.

"Okay," Mirage snatched up the rest of the money and walked out the door, suddenly popping her head back in, "I will be back in a while... but I will see you soon!"

"Later, Mirage!" replied the hedgehog, waving to her as she left.

Rouge turned to Sonic, "Now, where were we?" she asked him softly. Mirage's words hung in her head though. Even that tube-bred hybrid was getting suspicious... was it time to actually admit it?

"I think right here..." he replied softly, giving the bat a slight smile as he leaned in to kiss her lips, wrapping his arms around her and lightly scritching the base of her wings. The hedgehog seemed oblivious thus far or at least ignoring the issue. But Rouge knew it couldn't last.

She kissed him for a long time, but before they could degenerate into passionate groping, she broke it, "Sonic... I haven't been completely honest with you," she said softly.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Sonic whispered, his fingertips lightly on Rouge's cheeks.

"Sonic... you may have guessed... or not... I think almost everyone else has..." Rouge swallowed, "You see, a couple of months ago... I was real busy what with the government calling on me about some stolen files... I missed a couple of days of my Pill... I didn't think anything of it and we... well... you know..."

The hedgehog nodded and swallowed slowly, still gently running his fingertips along her face, "You're pregnant,” he stated, "I... I guessed so, but I didn't want to say anything..."

"I didn't mean for this to happen..." Rouge stammered, "I’m sorry, Sonic… I meant to get an abortion but by then it was too late…”

"It’s ok,” he said quickly and nervously, looking unsure, "We'll... we'll get through this, Rouge. You and I, ok?"

"But Sonic, I've never been pregnant before!" Rouge said, "I... I can't... I don’t want to be a mother, I'd be awful at it!"

"D-don't say that. You don't know that..." replied Sonic, although he technically wasn't disagreeing with her. He wasn't very confident in his skills of raising a child, either.

"I mean Amy... look at her! She loves kids!" Rouge sat down, "I can't stand them... rude, noisy, messy, expensive... I... I should have thought more before telling you..."

Sonic sat down heavily beside her on the couch, at a loss for words. He was going to be a father. That thought kept running through his head, over and over, and it scared him. He didn't know the first thing about being a father! Oh sure, he pretty much raised Tails, but the kid was smarter than he was!

Rouge opened her mouth to tell Sonic not to look so down, maybe she'd have a miscarriage or something, but she couldn't do it, "I... I'll go home now," she said quietly, "I... see you, Sonic. I love you."

"I love you too, Rouge,” Sonic said, giving the bat a slight smile. As she turned to go, a jolt ran through the hedgehog, "Wait! You - you don't have to go,” he said in a rush, standing up.

"I need to go home... to think..." Rouge said softly, “Get my head straight. Stuff like that.”

"Oh, alright..." mumbled the blue hedgehog, again sitting down, "I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

Rouge kissed him on the lips, "I love you," she said again, with a mischievous smile that made her seem more like her old self.

The smile was contagious; Sonic couldn't help but smile back, "Love ya too,” he said with a wink, relaxing against the couch.

Rouge walked out of the door. She was only halfway down the road when she met Mirage. The hybrid hadn't really gone out - she was just sitting on a wall, "I did not think you would be very long," she smiled thinly, "How did he take it?"

Rouge glared at the hedgecat, then sighed, "He took it okay," she replied, and walked off.

Mirage got back onto the pavement and returned to the house, opening the door with her own key.

Sonic, deep in thought, nearly jumped out of his skin when the door opened, "Mirage!" he called out in recognition, his heart trying to slow down, "Oh, hey, welcome back."

Mirage shrugged and sat down, picking up the remote for the television, "Come on, I want to watch the news, I might have made it."

Sonic sat back and smirked. "I thought your job involved avoiding the news."

"It was pretty noisy - the guy would not come until I removed his right kneecap," Mirage replied, "But hey, he can get a new one in hospital prison." She turned on the television, and began flicking rapidly through the channels.

Sonic winced. Mirage did have a ruthless streak in her that made him uncomfortable at times... must be her feline side coming through. She was even now flicking through the channels so fast that it was almost impossible to tell what was on each channel, "How can you tell what's on?" he asked her.

"I can tell," she said confidently. The channel flicked briefly onto a news bulletin about an attack on Central City, and continued to change.

"Wait!" said Sonic suddenly, gesturing towards the television, "Go back! I thought I saw something..."

"Too late, we are into the mid forties," Mirage told him, "We will have to go all around-" They reached a different channel with an almost identical report. Sonic snatched the remote away from her at sonic speed, and they watched the report.

They saw burning buildings and firemen rushing around. Ambulances driving back and forth, people covered in cloth being carried away on stretchers. And there were armed men everywhere. Looking closely, Sonic could see a GUN symbol among the rubble. "What the Hell?"

"That looks NASTY," Mirage observed, "It looks like an army invaded or something!"

Judging from the report given, it sounded as if everyone was confused as to who really was responsible for the carnage. All that was known was that a GUN base had been attacked and utterly destroyed. Casualty reports were still coming in.

Mirage continued to watch as she realised what area had been wasted, “Central City - Amy and Shadow live there!"

Sonic immediately got to his feet, "We've got to go there and see if they are alright,” he told the hedgecat.

"Wait, if I get a call from my contractors I will get paid for it," Mirage pointed out. She wasn't being unkind; she just thought logically. And logic could seem cold and cruel.

"Now, Mirage!" the hedgehog said in surprise. He couldn't believe that she could think of money when her brother could be in danger. Maybe another of those feline traits.

"Look, if something bad has happened to Shadow," Mirage stood up, "It is hardly going to be something you can beat easily. And it looks like it is all over anyway-" She spoke too soon though; as the presenter was describing the damage, there was an explosion, hurling a parked car straight into her and the camera, "Okay, let me get my camera and cellphone." She began searching for them.

Sonic stood by the door, his arms crossed over his chest, impatiently tapping his foot. "I'm waiting..."

"Okay, okay!" Mirage tugged her camera out of the couch, and looked around for her cellphone. It started ringing, and she found it under a pile of newspapers, "Oh, hey," she said, jogging out the door, "No, I have not heard the news... Actually, yes, it would be going out of my way to investigate," Mirage added, "But if you added another couple of grand into the picture..."

Sonic jogged alongside the hedgecat, rolling his eyes as she spoke to her Contractor. He didn’t know who they were, but he did know that she charged them a lot. Yawning and looking at an imaginary watch, the blue hedgehog decided this was talking too long. Grabbing onto her arm, he told Mirage, "Time's up!" And then he took off running, the feline trailing behind him.

Mirage hung up and held onto Sonic's wrist, "Argh," she said.

Sonic was silent as he rushed down the streets, through the city, down highways, through a forest, quickly making his way towards Central City, dodging all obstacles in his way.

"I have to get up high!" Mirage shouted at him as they ran, "Slow down and let go!" Doing as she asked, Sonic gradually slowed down to a pace that was safe for the feline and let go of her. Still running, Mirage headed to a two-storey flat and climbed rapidly up to the roof, heading for the center of the destruction.

Sonic took the long way around, jumping over debris and navigating the streets at ridiculous speeds for any living creature.

Jumping from roof to roof, Mirage constantly expected to see some sort of army, or a huge robot. But all she saw was people running. She followed the general direction they were running from, and switched on her small, digital camcorder, filming the devastation.

And in the midst of the devastation and people scrambling around, she saw a lone figure standing in the rubble, little more than a wraith as its features were hidden in the thick smoke. The person glanced around at the devastation calmly. Far too calmly. And then suddenly, the being snapped its gaze towards her, a single red light piercing the smog.

“Hey! Hey, you!” Mirage shouted at the shadowy figure, “Cannot you see this place is dangerous?!”

The figure continued staring up at her, and she had the creepy feeling that he could see her a lot better than she could see him. The red light that was in the place a right eye should be burned brighter for a moment and then disappeared as the figure spun around, something swishing behind his head, and took off into the devastation.

Where the hell did Sonic go? Mirage thought, looking around briefly, following the figure, camera in hand, He is the planet's resident hero! If one man did this much damage, sure as HELL I am not going taking him on without knowing what he can do first!

Almost on cue, the hedgehog skidded to a halt beside Mirage, "Hey there!" he said loudly, "Did you see anything suspicious?"

"Yes, him," Mirage pointed down at the shadowy figure in the smoke, "And please shut up, I think he knows I am following him."

"What? Who?" asked the hedgehog who peered over the edge of the roof, looking around for whatever she had seen.

"There! In the smoke, you dip!" Mirage tried to see into the smoke, but the figure had disappeared, "Damn you, you made me lose him!"

"You sure you weren't just seeing things?" the hedgehog asked and was immediately sorry that he said it.

"Sonic, I may be crazy, but I am not a schitzoid," Mirage snarled, "There was somebody down there and he looked up at me, I am sure of it."

Sonic shook his head, "Well, whoever it was, he's gone now. We should check on Shadow and Amy."

"Oh, okay..." Mirage grumbled, and jumped down from the two-story roof easily, landing lightly on her feet.

Sonic leapt off and landed beside her, not quite as steady with the landing, but still up. He then politely offered his hand.

"I can run myself," Mirage told him, scowling slightly, "I am almost as fast as Tails, you know."

"If you say so,” the hedgehog replied, taking his hand back and running towards Shadow and Amy's apartment at his ‘jogging’ speed, "You’d better keep up!" he called out with a grin

Mirage was trying to keep up with him, and she was already sweating. But she was just too damn stubborn to admit that she was losing - and it happened almost every time too. Fortunately they ran into Shadow and Amy halfway there, before she could be humiliated too badly.

Shadow skidded to a halt in front of them, putting Amy down, "Sonic, Mirage... I can guess the reason you two are here,” the dark hedgehog stated.

"Well, actually I was just watching television and the explosions reminded me I have to buy more Semtex," Mirage said dryly, then changed her tune, "And whoever did all that must have had a lot of it, and a lot of friends."

"Somebody who’s got a grudge against GUN, probably,” Shadow spoke, far more seriously than his sister, "Somebody with little or no moral restraint, either. I'd almost admire him." Emphasis was put on the 'almost'.

"I'd say this was Eggman's work," Amy spoke up, "But Eggman's a terrorist - he likes people to know it's him. And besides, he'd oversee something this big personally. He wouldn't leave it in the claws of Egg Pawns."

"No, it doesn't stink of Eggface,” Sonic agreed. Shadow nodded his head and glanced at the rising smoke.

"I saw someone," Mirage volunteered, "I got him on video camera, but with all the smoke in the way it is not going to help anybody much. Whoever did this is going to get away with it for a while - which is weird."

"What do you mean, weird?" Amy asked.

"You do not blow up this much shit just to get away with it," Mirage explained, "You do it to get noticed. So that everybody knows who you are."

She looked at Shadow, who nodded, "He does want to be caught, but not yet,” the dark hedgehog added, "This pretty lightshow was to get our attention and to intimidate us."

"I hate the waiting game!" Mirage snarled, and stalked off.

"Me too,” Sonic grumbled, again tapping his foot, "Why can't this guy just show himself and get it over with?"

"Sonic, whoever this is probably want to get everybody worked up and jumpy," Amy said calmly, "By being so... so... well, whatever, you're playing right into their hands."

"Aw..." he whined, "That's no fun..."

Shadow smirked and snickered, "Psychological warfare,” said the dark hedgehog, tilting his head slightly, "This attack was to get our attention, to make us jumpy and worried about the next attack. That’s what terrorism is all about. However, one can only be alert for so long until it takes a toll on you, wearing you out. And then, when we are tired and bored and unable to stay alert any longer... they strike again."

Amy sighed. Shadow had pinpointed it all quite clearly. And really, there wasn't an awful lot they could do but wait, which was going to get on Sonic's nerves something awful - he'd be doing nothing but whine about how the world wasn't in danger until the next attack- "Wait, where did Mirage get to?" she asked suddenly.

~~~

Harley: Yeah, where did she get to?

Froggy: Hey, it’s April Fools Day tomorrow! You know what that means!

Harley: Yeah! It’s my mum’s birthday!

Froggy: Oh, forget it...