Rouge The Bat: Mature Goddess

Rouge and Tom have been married for twenty five years and nine months
as of this chapter.

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June tugged her shirt down, stomach puffed out despite her best efforts
to keep it covered. She was doing well, her pregnancy moving normally.
The twins awaited their snacks, which she gathered quickly. Teal and
Slate were at work, Tiff was at work and Rouge and Tom were ready to
leave.

"We're going," Rouge said, peering into the kitchen.

"Okay, sis. They'll be fine with me."

"But will you be fine?" Rouge asked.

"yeah, yeah... look, I'll call someone IF something happens. IF. Now,
will you get going? I'm pregnant, I think I can deal with being alone
for a couple hours!"

Hugging her younger sister, Rouge left the mansion, Tom staring the
car. She was worried. Worried constantly for her sister, worried why
she'd been requested by someone she barely knew.


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The entered the building. Sonic and Amy were sitting, waiting. Tails
was flipping through magazines. "Rouge!" He stood. "I ran a check on
the artificial lung yesterday."

"Yes, I know..." Rouge had heard about it. "Tiff wouldn't shut up
about it, how her father's doing so well."

"Yeah. He's lucky. Anyway... about your sister's pregnancy. If you
don't mind, I'd like to also run my own independent tests."

She was stunned. "Miles, my sister's pregnancy doesn't-"

"Listen to me!" he shouted. "The science behind what they did is solid.
But it's not a procedure done very often because it costs so much.
And same-gendered parents? Never done before! All I'm saying... I want
to double check all test results. If something DOES go wrong and they
don't even know what they're looking for..."

She nodded. "I'll tell June. But this is going to make her worried..."

They went silent as Knuckles entered the waiting room. Karen was with
him, their little daughter following close behind. "What's the
deal here?" he asked.

"No clue," Sonic said. "We were told to come here."

Rouge was still fuzzy on the matter. "Clara... that old cat... what does
she want with us?"

"She asked for me, too," Tom said. "By name..."

The door opened. The wheelchair pushed out, an old, graying cat in
glasses looking at them. Shadow pushed the wheelchair. "Shadow..."
the bat greeted.

"Everyone..." Clara was old, her voice straining to even talk. "Please,
follow us. I will explain why I called you here..."

Their desire to find out strong, the group followed as Shadow pushed
the old cat into the lab. The room was lined with papers and
chalkboards. Tails took immediate notice of the contents. "You can't
be serious..."

"Then you recognize what this means?" Clara asked.

Tails knew enough. "These equations... they're all technically correct.
But... no."

Sonic asked, "Tails?"

"These..." Miles closed his eyes. "This is beyond me. Beyond anyone
I know of in the field of science. I feel like I'll get a headache if
I look at this too long. I'm not sure I can even understand some of
this! Clara... who did this?"

Silent, she pressed a buzzer. The side door opened as a large figure
entered. Tails was in absolute disbelief. "HIM? He's.... he's an
IDIOT!"

Big the Cat smiled. "Perhaps."

"Yeah, I remember him," Sonic muttered.

"The guy who talked to his pet frog. Had a fishing pole, right"?"
Knuckles vaguely remembered Big's role in the Chaos incident.

Rouge was indifferent. "Never met him."

Clara picked up a book. "That man is NOT Big the Cat. It's in these
pages..."

She recognized the book. Rouge knew it well enough. "The book of...
stories. Please tell me this doesn't have ANYTHING to do with all that
back then. I can't handle that."

"It is connected, I'm afraid, but this one is benevolent."

Big noticed Knuckles. "Ah. The one I have been waiting to meet."
The fat cat walked forward, touching a hand to the echidna's forehead.

Everyone watched Knuckles drop the floor.


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The blackness cleared. His head still hurt but he was awake. "Knuckles!"
Karen's shout cut through his ears.

"AH! A LITTLE quieter..." He shook his head, clearing the cobwebs.

Big danced. "He's awake! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you!"
He was his usual self. "Uh oh, I need to find Froggy!"

"Your pet frog is in his enclosure," Clara stated. "Go feed him."

Big bolted from the room. "Okay... so he's back to normal." Knuckles
rubbed his temples. "Where's Sonic?"

"They had to leave," Rouge said. She gave a look towards Shadow.
"Clara explained what happened. I think..."

"The Yith? You know about them?"

They were shocked. "You... you remember what you saw?" Clara was
in complete surprise. "That's not possible... Big doesn't remember."

"Wait..." Rouge was puzzled. "What's going on? Tell us!"

"Yeah, come on. You had us worried, you know?" Karen said.

"That one... he came here to find me. He crossed dimensions to find me.
It was... where's Tails?"

Clara answered, "in the other room. Still examining the markings and
notes."

"Good. That's what that one wanted." Knuckles remembered every detail.

Shadow wasn't impressed. "I read that story. The Yith were killed long
ago."

"They can jump through time itself," Clara explained.

"if you don't like it here, then leave," Rouge muttered. The two stared
at each other.

Tom took her hand. "Not now..."

Knuckles ignored them. "They can jump through time like we'd walk
down a street, but that one had to really try to get here. He showed
me their city."

"Pnakotus." Clara knew the name well.

"Yes." he continued, "and their downfall. They were like my ancestors.
Thought nothing could stop them. Then those things killed them. Left
only a few who escaped through time."

Tom was confused. "Wait, if they can travel through time, why didn't
they just go back and save themselves?"

Knuckles explained, "they knew what was coming but they knew that they
couldn't alter time without bad things happening! They just wanted...
they came here to try and leave us something useful. To help me
understand more about my past, and what happened to the old tribe.
And..." He looked them over carefully. "The warning. The beings that
destroyed them most likely don't exist in our dimension, but if
they do... I know how to kill them if they ever show their faces.
Anyway... where's Sharon?"

Karen said, "they have a daycare here for the employees. I let her go
there so she could pass time. I'll go get her."

Watching his wife leave the room, he turned to Clara. "I need a minute
with them."

"Of course... I'll be in the next room." Twitching the control stick,
she wheeled herself out of the room.

"Now... Shadow? Anything you want to say?" The black hedgehog ignored
him. Knuckles let out a faint grunt of disapproval. "Fine, I'll say
it. The Yith told me what Shadow did."

"What Shadow did? What do you mean?" Rouge asked.

He said, "I think you know..."

"You can't mean..." She sighed. "How'd it know?"

"They're an omnipotent race beyond us. That doesn't matter, does it?
Shadow did something bad." Knuckles asked, "Shadow?"

"Fine. It doesn't matter now... what's done is done."

Rouge became angry. "Shadow! You slept with my mother! You left my
sister with her! I tried to forgive you but- I'm sorry, it was just
too much."

"I have to take her side on this, Shadow!" the echidna scolded. "But...
Rouge, just try. I know you're stubborn but at least try! Not that
I can blame you, but still..."

She gave in. "Shadow... you have to start. Tell me you're sorry for
what you did!"

"I am. I've been questioning my own judgment since you found out."
He turned away. "I got twelve GUN agents killed because I was careless
and now they don't even trust me. I was responsible for them and let
them down. It's why I'm here. Clara is old and sick. She needed an
assistant. I took an easy job."

"Sick?" Tom asked. "She's old but-"

"She's dying," Shadow said. "Cancer."

Knuckles decided to keep on topic. "Shadow messed up. He's sorry. But
Shadow... seriously, get a girlfriend or something! I don't even know
what you're up to anymore! No one does. Find something to do with your
time instead of this idiotic moping around!"

"Hmph." Shadow wasn't amused. "I'm immortal. I don't date!"

"Really?" Rouge smirked. "There's an employee at the casino which
might be- no... you couldn't deal with her."

"Tell me," he demanded.

The bat turned away. "No. You said you weren't interested!"

"Tell him or I will," Tom ordered.

"Okay... Knuckles, you know the one."

He said, "yeah. The one who left the island. The one into motorcycle
racing and fist fights! Cytheria!"

"Fist fights?" Shadow was intrigued.

"Maybe that's what you need," Rouge said, "someone more your type.
Maybe that's why you weren't into me, I was a bit too refined....
my mother, on the other hand, was rough and didn't have any inhibitions.
A bit like my employee..."

Shadow was interested in the challenge. "Very well. Tell me where I can
find her!"

"Oh, no," Tom blurted out. "That's not how you get a woman's attention.
Anyway... I know her. You walk up to her with your usual attitude,
she'll bust your nose open."

Shadows eyes cocked wide. "She works at Club Rouge?"

"Security detail," Rouge explained. "But I'll talk to her. Let her
know. See if she's interested."

"Very well," Shadow said. "I will be here if you need to contact me.
Now, if you will excuse me, I need to see if Clara requires my
assistance..." He left the room.

"Hmm... you think that's a good idea?" Thomas asked. "Cytheria's a bit,
um... scary?"

"We WERE a bit happy when she left the island," Knuckles agreed, "but
maybe if Shadow gets his butt kicked it'll do him some good. Hmm....
better go find Karen and Sharon. I really need to get back. See you
guys later!"

As Knuckles left the room, Tom took Rouge's hand. "That went rather
well."

"Maybe..." Rouge was suspicious. "Although... I wonder if that being
really told Knuckles what was going on."

Tom felt it too. "I know... I think he tricked us into telling him.
Whatever. We need to get home."


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The living room door peeked open, the twins spotting their parents
immediately and rushing them. "Yes, we're home!" Rouge said. "Come on,
let go!"

"Took long enough," June remarked.

"Yes, well... we got a bit caught up," Tom explained.

June said, "I know. I called down there. Oh, sis, I gotta go see Miles
Prower tomorrow."

"What? You talked to him?" Rouge was a bit worried. "I think he's-"

"Chill, sis," June said. "Just wanna make sure, okay? He's got a point,
this hasn't been done before." She tugged her shirt down. "I wanna make
damn sure my baby's gonna be fine. Now, Teal and Slate are in the
kitchen and Tiff's in the shower."

Setting her purse down, Rouge smiled. Tom said, "come on, we should
change."

She looked up at him. "Carry me?" Picking her up, Tom cradled his wife
gently. "Mmmm... Tom?

"Yes?"

"Think we can take a few minutes to get romantic before dinner?"

"I think we can. Just a few minutes, though."

Leaning in, she gave him a kiss on the cheek.