Sonic: The Madness

Rouge was curled up in the hospital room, sitting silently in the chair. She
was watching him die. No. She heard the long wailing beep from the monitor. His
heart had stopped. Thomas Adriani was dead. She ran to his bed. "Tom? TOM! NO!
Wake up! LIVE! You can't die on me..."

"It's over," the voice said. Shadow stood in the doorway. "Now I can be yours."

"What? Shadow, he's... he's dead. Don't you care?" she yelled.

"Why should I?" he replied. "You've been staring at me for some time. You want
me. You think I'm handsome and attractive. Forget him and come with me. It's
what you want. You don't really have a choice now."

"NO!"

She woke up. No hospital room, no Shadow. Just her apartment. The lights were
off, the illumination from the city's nightlife the only highlights in the
dark. "Tom? Wake up!" He woke as she shook him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, still half asleep.

"Please," she said, "please touch me. Just... let me know this isn't a dream."
He took her hand. With his free hand, he stroked her ear. She placed her hands
on his chest.

"You don't look so good, what happened?" he asked, confused.

"It's... nothing."

He stared at her and said, "no, something happened. You had a bad dream, didn't
you?" She nodded her head. "It was that... red guy. He freaked you out too bad,
I swear I'll... tell me about it." She shook her head 'no'. "It can't have been
that bad. Tell me."

"You were in the hospital... but you died. You didn't wake up... and-"

"It didn't happen! I'm here! I'm not dying. Whatever was wrong with me,
the doctors said I'm fine. I know how it feels... I had to watch my father die
of liver failure from his wine habit. My mother died of a heart attack from the
stress. I know death is painful, but I'm not dying. I don't know... you must
have been in a living hell watching me in there, but it's over! You're through
that, now... think good, happy thoughts. Stop thinking about the pain, its over.
Why don't we go to bed? I'll help you get those boots off and we'll lay down in
that nice bed and get some real sleep."

Standing, he tried to pick her up. "Umm..." he struggled slightly, finally
hoisting her. "OW!" He set her back down.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "It's..." he rubbed his right shoulder. "I think I
hurt my arm throwing red guy to the ground. It's funny, I used to be able to
lift crates of grapes and bottles all day without hassle, now... I guess I let
myself go," he said.

"I'll get something for that," she responded.

"Wait."

Rouge asked, "what is it?"

"Can I ask you something?" Tom replied.

"Of course."

"It's... am I inconveniencing you somehow? It's just, I've noticed you've
changed your personality. You gave up your interest in jewels, and I- no, it's
stupid, forget it."

"No, it's okay," she replied.

"Well, you have become a bit more... submissive. I mean, you had a certain...
dominative personality when I met you, and you've softened a lot. I know you took
charge last night when- and I enjoyed it- but I don't want you to think you have
to change who you are to make me happy. I like you as you are. And I like the
attitude you wear. It's very sexy."

She sighed. "I guess I do put on a certain demeanor around most people. But I
feel different when we're alone. I guess I have been forcing myself to be a bit
nicer though. I was that way with Shadow, too. But you're right, I should be
myself," she said.

"That's what I wanna hear! I'll get some ice or something for my-"

She pushed him back down to the couch and gave him a hard kiss. "Sit down and
shut up. I'll take care of you," she softly spoke.

"That's what I-"

she kissed him again to silence him. "I said sit down and shut up. Be a good boy.
Speak again, and it won't be a kiss." She gave him a sly, almost evil smile as
she headed to the kitchen.

Rouge located the pain medications. NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION in big letters
almost ruined her mood. Opening the freezer, she found the cold pack she'd used
before, after many GUN missions and thefts. Taking it to him, she wrapped it
around his shoulder. "You can talk now."

He kissed her back. "I like you being dominant and all... but I'm not totally
submissive. I'll give as I get," he explained.

"Well, you do have a bad side after all. I can see this relationship won't get
boring," she responded.

"Not tonight though. This glacier on my shoulder is killing the mood."

"I understand," she said. "I'm not putting out for you every night, either, as I
said, I don't have sex. I make love. I want you to be in the proper mood."

He shouted, "yes, ma'am! And after last night, who wants something quick? I
liked it, three hours of emotional bliss."

She took his hand, leading him to the bedroom. "It's late. This tight suit isn't
very... sleep-worthy. I'll change and we can get some real sleep." She grabbed a
small shirt. "Hmm... no, I'll change right here." Rouge gave him a sinister look.
"And we're starting you on a workout program. I'll build your muscles back up.
For you, and... for me. Eye candy, yummy!"


-------------------------------------------------

Knuckles found the older gentleman. "It's past midnight, shouldn't you be
asleep?"

"SLEEP!?" Herb yelled. "I'm too wired to sleep! They blew up MY HOUSE! I'm not
gonna sleep for a week! I'm gonna read over what I was able to salvage tonight,
then in the morning, I have to hit the bank and take out all my money. THEN, I
have to go to a store and buy new clothes, because I am WEARING every stitch I
now own! Then... someone else about business."

He grabbed his cane and paced the room. "I didn't get much but it's enough... I
hope. Where's Shadow?"

Knuckles replied, "wandering around. He's been a bit distant with me."

"That's understandable. He was in a car explosion, which he took rather well I
think. That, and you did admit to trying to punch out a friend of his. Be
thankful to be ALIVE at this point in time, my boy. He'd have killed you for
that if I hadn't stopped him."

Knuckles shook his head. "He told me what was going on. I... I want to help!"
he shouted. "I- I can't sleep thinking about what I- I could have seriously
hurt her! I never trusted her but still, she was being sincere this time and I
just..."

Herb tapped his cane to silence the echidna. "You want my help. Your body is
strong but your isolation has left your mind weak. You have a good heart, an
honest soul, but you don't interact with others very well. They tried to take
the Master Emerald once and you stopped them. They targeted you through your
dreams and made you more violent than normal.

"You are arrogant, untrained, unleashed, and that, my boy, is your failing. If
you can face what you are, face what you will become, and challenge yourself,
then you can be saved. I can only do so much for you. They cannot taint those
who have a strong will. Give me time, do as I say, and I can strengthen your
mind and preserve your soul!"

"I'll do it!" Knuckles shouted.

Herb said, "good! You have the will to break from the influence of this great
evil! Give me your gloves. They're your dependence, you rely on them too much.
Give them to me. when you are ready, you can have them back."

"My gloves?"

"YES BOY!" Herb screamed. "You do without them. You should use them to supplement
what you are, rather you use them to define yourself! I told you to trust me! If
you aren't willing to face yourself then you will lose!"

Knuckles pulled his gloves off and threw them down. "Good. Ivo has books on
this flying heap. You do know how to read, right?" Herb asked. Knuckles nodded.
"Good. Find a book. Any book, and read it. You have worked your body, now work
your mind. Read it, understand its meaning. GO!" Knuckles ran off.

Westwood tapped the button on the comm-panel. "Ivo! I'm out of coffee!"

The reply took some seconds. "What? I was asleep, was this necessary?"

"You have a flying battleship loaded with robots and guns, you have to have more
coffee too! I'm out!" Herb shouted.

Ivo was furious. "No. I'm not giving you more coffee. All that caffeine isn't
good for you! I'm not letting you kill yourself! I'm going back to bed, you do
the same!"


-------------------------------------------------

The door kicked open as the cane strode across the floor. "Westwood! Didn't
expect to see you!" Vector greeted.

"We heard about your office last night. Hard to believe," Espio remarked.
Westwood stopped at the desk. A wad of bills landed dead center as Vector's
eyes widened.

"Someone tried to kill me. They blew up my house and my car. They'll try again.
Find whose responsible, and I want NAMES!" He turned away.

Espio asked, "got any leads?"

"Just one," Herb replied. "They took that Chaos Emerald in Westopolis yesterday.
Oh, and your lives may be on the line if you take this case, just so we're clear
on that. If you can get that Chaos Emerald back from them, it'll be worth extra."

Espio sighed. "Where can we reach you?"

Herb tapped his cane lightly. "Ivo Robotnik's flying fortress. It's the safest
place for me right now."

Vector slammed the desk. "Eggman! That cheapskate STILL owes us for a job!"

Herb turned his head. "Oh? Funny, he's never skipped paying ME for the jobs I
did... I'll see what I can do."


-------------------------------------------------

The four met on the bridge. Westwood asked, "any luck finding your friend?"

"No," Knuckles answered. "But I believe he was racing the Babylon Rogues."

"Doesn't matter, we can't find him," Eggman sighed.

Herb thought it over for a second. "From what I understand, Sonic is a hero and
an adventurer. But also predictable. I guarantee you, Ivo, if you make a scene
he'll beeline right for you. Oh, and Ivo, I promised the Chaotix you'd pay them
what you owe. I'd do it. We're business rivals, but I don't want to get on the
bad side of that crocodile. Keep them happy. They'll try to get the stolen Chaos
Emerald back for us."

"Are you positive this... Coo-loo cult is behind this?" Knuckles inquired.

Shadow corrected, "Cthulhu."

"I don't care if you call him Nancy!" Herb shouted. "NO! No, I am not sure. For
all I know, the Chaos Emerald theft and my apartment blowing up are unrelated!
I've certainly ticked off my fair share of people in 30 years! But it FITS! A
horror from space crashes in a well. It drains the life from the land. It matches
PERFECTLY with the story from a book I found on another Earth with a different
history! It has to be the same entity! And I... I've never..."

He sighed. "Shadow, I need to meet with the President about this, outline what's
going on. I doubt much he'll believe me, but... can you get me a meeting?"

"I'll see what I can do."

"Good," Herb replied. "Ivo, start planning a way to get Sonic's attention. Make
it noticeable. And resist the urge to hurt him. I know it'll stress you out,
but we need him. Not like I can stop you if you don't listen to me..."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Eggman shouted.

"This... this is not what you wanted out of life!" Westwood fired back. "You
grew up wanting to be like your grandfather. You wanted to be a good scientist,
a man people looked up to! This... now you're an aging criminal who lives on a
flying death ship because he's wanted by the governments of the world!"

Eggman was mad. "As if you got what you wanted out of life, old friend."

"FINE! No, I did NOT get what I wanted! I had ambitions in life too! I wanted to
be a race car driver! Also wanted to be a dinosaur when I was five, but... no, I
didn't get what I wanted. I became a lonely man with no life who chases invisible
things for money! But I don't complain like you did, old friend! I lived with the
cards life dealt me, and I do what I do well! Knuckles, you stay here and help...
Eggman plan his surprise. And see if you can get the Master Emerald to find the
Chaos Emeralds while we still have a chance. Shadow, come with me!"

Westwood stomped off, Shadow following. Knuckles looked around. "Who is that
guy, anyway?"

"Oh, Herbert... we were childhood friends in school, long ago. We... maintain our
professional differences. I guess he is right, in a way... no matter. Where are
your gloves? I didn't think you ever took them off!"

"Oh," Knuckles pouted. "He took them from me, said he'd give them back when he
can TRUST me... guess I can't blame him."


-------------------------------------------------

Rouge stopped Tom at the clothing store. "You need new clothes. Not those
business suits you have, some real clothes. Good shirts, some pants... sweat
pants. Better athletic shoes. Umm... we'll worry about tight jeans when I get
you on a decent workout program."

"What?" he asked. "Are you staring at my-"

"No!" she shouted, blushing. "Now, you get shopping. I have some of my own
shopping to do, I'll meet you in a half hour."

"Why are we in the capital to go clothes shopping?" he asked.

"Well, I thought you needed some sun. And I have a day planned for us. Besides,
I know a good clothing store here that caters to... my kind of buyer." "You have
lots of good clothes already," he stated. "Yes, but..."

She gave him a wink. "It's... for you, tonight. Now get going, a half hour!"

He entered the store. As he left sight, she tugged at the envelope in her
glove. In ten minutes, she reached the White House. Shadow sat in the waiting
area. "Shadow?"

"Oh, Rouge..." he muttered.

"What are you doing here?"

He looked at her. "Westwood wanted a meeting with the President. I arranged it."

"Oh? Where is he?" she asked.

"He had to use the restroom. I could ask the same of you, but something tells
me... you never told him you work for GUN."

"That's right," she muttered. "I'm resigning. Today. I won't endanger myself,
I won't... put him through the same thing, or worse."

"You're changing your life for him, then?" Shadow remarked.

"No. He told me not to do that. He likes me being in charge. And... our personal
life isn't your business. But, we're equal. This is my decision. Tell me, Shadow,
what do you think of this? Do you envy Tom? Would you..."

His expression turned. "What? No, why would I? I DID save his life at the risk
of my own, when I had no business doing do. Maria would never have forgiven me
otherwise. I wish both of you the best. That's why I'm here."

She smiled. "I heard about the explosion. Is this... that bad?"

He nodded. "You would be best to stay out of this if you don't want to get hurt.
Westwood wants you out too. And for what little it's worth... Knuckles is sorry
for what he did to you."

She asked, "Knuckles?"

"Yes, he's helping us. Westwood doesn't trust him, but he said he can help
Knuckles. I think he IS jealous, but he'll have to deal with it. After all,
he had numerous chances to be yours, as I understand."

She checked her watch. 1:30 "I have to go. Thank you, Shadow. And whatever
you're doing... good luck."

She entered the office. "Agent Rouge. On time, I see. This sounded important,"
he said.

She tossed the envelope on his desk. "My resignation from GUN." Pulling the
communicator from her glove, it joined the letter on the table.

"Why? I'm not sure I understand..."

She looked away. "I've found someone special. And I can't put myself in danger
anymore."

"I see." The President took the envelope and tore it up. "What are you doing?
This isn't negotiable!"

"I'm not accepting your resignation... I'm going to do something better. I'll
mark you as an inactive agent. You won't be called upon for anything, but you
will retain access to information files, in case you need them. And you will
have the full support of this nation if you are ever in any trouble. I wish you
and your special someone luck. You were a good agent."

She closed her eyes and breathed in. "Thank you. Can you do one more favor for
me?"

"Of course," he replied.

"Shadow the Hedgehog is meeting with you. Please, listen to what he has to say."
She opened the window and flew out.


-------------------------------------------------

"YES! We did it!" Herb shouted as their craft entered the flying fortress. "I
don't know why but the president listened to us! And he agreed to help!" Herb
was almost dancing. "Well have full access to GUN files, and in the event of
something big, GUN military forces! Shadow, my boy, you did it! Oh, and Ivo..."

"Yes?" Eggman asked.

"I got the president to agree to something. A full pardon and deletion of all
crimes on record. IF, and I man IF, you play along. No taking over the world,
no littering, no NOTHING! You have to play this one honest, old friend. The
President wasn't too happy with you for threatening to blow up his country, you
understand, so don't mess this one up. I can't help you if you mess up!"

"We have our plan ready to lure Sonic out!" Eggman shouted.

"Good" Herb answered. "I'll notify the president of our plan so he won't unleash
the dogs on us... let's get going!"


-------------------------------------------------

Rouge sat with Tom at an outdoor cafe in the capital. Tom was sucking down a
well done steak. "Tom... I know you haven't been eating well, but cool it a
bit, huh? You need to gain some weight, but I'm not letting you get fat!"

"Oh?" he smirked. "You've had three pieces of cherry pie already!"

She looked down at her plate, frowning a bit. "So I have..."

"If you want my butt to look good in a pair of jeans, I expect yours to look
good in a bikini! I give as I get!"

She dangled the shopping bag from her finger. "Don't you worry about that, I've
got something here you'll love. Speaking of which, I assume you took my advice?"

"Yes," he replied. "Nice easy clothes. Pants that don't need a belt. My
parents, they... they led a rich lifestyle. They didn't like comfy clothes,
they wanted to look the part."

"You had issues with them, didn't you?"

He pushed his plate away. "They were a bit strict."

"Oh... but I thought you liked me being assertive?" She dangled the bag again,
looking at him with a sly expression.

"This is different," he pointed out. "You're assertive, but you let me do the
same. With them, it was their way! But you..." He leaned in close to her, and
with a faint whisper, "for example, your ears are so sensitive, I can whisper
all kinds of dirty things to you and no one will even now."

Her teeth showed through her devilish grin. "Bad boy... I'll have to punish you
for that." He closed his eyes for a brief moment. Pulling a small box from his
pocket, he handed it to her. She opened it. "Is this..."

"You wear those gloves a lot. I thought a bracelet might look better," he
explained. "You don't have to give up jewels. They look nice on you. You've
been wearing my necklace a lot, and..." She pulled her gloves off and slipped
the bracelet on. "I know I can't get you earrings because piercings might mess
with your flying, so I got you something just as nice."

"Oh, Tom..." she admired it. "You didn't have to..."

"I know. But I wanted to."


-------------------------------------------------

"There he is!" Tails shouted, his Extreme Gear flying above the ground.

"Wonder what Eggman's up to this time?" Sonic wasn't sure, but it was sudden.
Leaping form his board, Sonic tore into a robot. It fell apart quickly. "Hey,
what the...?"

Amy pushed one of the robots over. "These robots aren't even real," she commented
as the head rolled off.

The three turned to face Eggman. "What? Shadow, Knuckles? What's going on?" Sonic
asked, bewildered.

Westwood stepped forward. "Sonic the Hedgehog. I finally get to meet you."

"Who are you, and what are you doing here with Eggman? Why the fake robots?"

Herb tapped his cane, turning to Eggman. "Less than an hour." He approached the
three. "Sonic... and you must be Tails, the boy genius." He looked at Amy with
an expression of confusion. "I don't know you, I'm afraid." She seemed to take
visible offense.

Sonic wasn't having it. "Eggman! Shadow... will someone tell me what's going
on?"

"Of course," Eggman muttered. "We need your help, and thought this the fastest
way to get in touch with you."

"Yes," Herb muttered. "Knuckles and Shadow have agreed to help, I would hope you
do the same. We need to save the world. I know you and Ivo have teamed up before
in the name of the greater good. This isn't about your rivalry, this is about the
world!"

"Eh, I don't know..." Sonic looked the newcomer over suspiciously.

"Fine. I thought you would be up for the adventure of your life, but I guess I
was wrong. I'm sorry to have wasted your time. Come on, men, lets go. Leave
SONIC to whatever he was up to. He doesn't want to help an old man." He turned
and started walking away.

"Hey, wait!" Sonic was anxious to find out what was going on.

"This is IMPORTANT, Sonic!" Knuckles shouted, frustrated with the hedgehog's
attitude.

Sonic sighed. "Okay, I'll play."

"Me too," Tails stated.

"I'll go too!" Amy shouted.

"Good, good..." Herb turned to them. "Well, I don't know about you," he said,
pointing at Amy. "I'm not sure I should involve a kid."

"Hey, I'm a kid!" Tails pointed out.

"Er, right... I guess in the situation we face, I'll take all the help I can get.
Come on, we're going to Ivo's flying fortress, it's the safest place for us right
now!"


-------------------------------------------------

Rouge grabbed Tom's arm and dragged him to the door. "Come on, that movie I
wanted to watch is gonna be on soon!"

"Oh, right... we should be in time!"

Opening her apartment, Rouge led him in, the two sitting on the couch. She
grabbed the remote, flipping through channels until she found it. "It hasn't
started yet. I'll get us something to drink!"

Grabbing two sodas and glasses, she joined him in front of the television.
Handing him a glass, she said, "you don't HAVE to watch this with me... I don't
know if you're into old romantic films..."

"I don't mind," he replied.

"You seem agreeable to everything I want to do..."

Placing his glass on the table beside the sofa, he explained, "It's my parents.
They... all they ever did was fight. Both of them. I... I'd heard they were an
arranged marriage. Money and land between the families, as it was. I think the
only time they ever... well, you know... was when I was conceived. They put on
a good face for the business, but behind closed doors... BAM! It was like a
wrestling match between wild bears every day in that house!"

"I understand," she replied gently. "You don't want to fight with me. I
appreciate that, but still, I'm not going to get mad if you don't want to do
some little thing with me! I've seen this movie twenty times... tomorrow.
You'll pick what we do. I won't help you decide! I said I was going to make
you stronger. Muscles, and mind... You're the best jewel I have, but you're
still rough. I can polish you."

Pulling her close, he rested her head on his shoulder. "Okay, okay... your
movie's starting, you gonna look at me all night? We can get lost in each
other's eyes later!"

"That's a little better," she replied. "Speaking of which, you don't have to
accept my requests to make love every time, you know... I know I probably ask
it a lot, bats are just like that, and I know humans aren't like us, so-"

"Rouge... think what you want, but I would have to be INSANE to turn you down!"
he shouted. "It's the one thing we can both really enjoy and both put some real
effort into it to make each other happy!"

She commented, "you definitely aren't lazy when it comes to that..." "Shhhh...
your movies starting, naughty talk later!"


-------------------------------------------------

In the sky, the group gathered in the main room. Herb worked the view screen.
The first picture was of the winery. "This is the Central City Winery, where
this began. A creature from another dimension invaded here. Shadow and I defeated
this abomination." He clicked the screen. "This is the Westopolis Museum. A cult
associated with this evil stole a Chaos Emerald in broad daylight with
explosives!" The screen clicked again. "My apartment. They blew it up to get rid
of me. Shadow saved my life."

"Okay, so..." Sonic was confused.

Herb clicked the screen again. A painting of a green winged monstrosity loomed
over them. "This, my boy, is Cthulhu. A great evil, beyond your imagination."

Sonic eyed the picture. "Ha, doesn't look so tough to me! Looks like Rouge on a
bad makeup day!"

"HEY!" was shouted in unison by Westwood, Eggman, Shadow, and Knuckles.

"Fine," Westwood replied. "Imagine all life on Earth ending to this horror.
Imagine all happiness, all emotion, every dream, every desire, every precious
moment in our lives ending suddenly in a torrent of hatred and madness as mankind
claws itself apart! I don't need your smart mouth, my boy!"

Sonic was embarrassed. "Sorry about that. Go on..."

"A cult is trying to awaken this monster, and if they succeed, we are all going
to die. Or only hope is to stop it. They have a Chaos Emerald. I do not know how
many they will need, but assume all seven!"

Knuckles stepped forward. "We have one ourselves, plus the Master Emerald! I
can null the Chaos Emeralds if necessary, but we should try and obtain as many
as we can ourselves to make sure they fail!"

"Right, Knuckles. Have you had any luck?" Westwood asked.

"Not much," the echidna apologized. "Something is blocking my ability to track
them. I located the one we already have, and one more." Knuckled pointed to a
world map. "There, a small island two hundred miles south of my island.
Uninhabited. We need to get there before anyone else!"

Westwood tapped his cane. "I'm afraid that island is NOT uninhabited. An
echidna society lives there."

"What? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Knuckles was showing his anger.

"I would have but they are a private people. They splintered from your tribe
long ago, ashamed of what your tribe did. They favor technology. They don't
have a chief, but rather an elected leader. I studied with them about the history
of the Chaos Emeralds, Chaos, and the Chao at one point..."

He cleared his throat. "I fear I must take partial responsibility for the Chaos
incident, Ivo had hired me... no matter. I know the current mayor of the tribe.
We will have safe passage into the island."

Knuckles shook his head. "So... I'm not the last one..."