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: Hmmm... lacking in actual quality reviews this week. People are getting lazy. Suppose I was like one of those assholes on ff.net who said “I’m not putting up another chapter unless I get five reviews!”

Froggy: Or worse, suppose we didn’t already have chapters ready to update regularly?

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Chapter Seven: Emergency Meeting

Tails settled on the couch next to Knuckles, and looked around at the crowded room. The hastily called meeting was being held at Sonic's house, and as well as himself, Knuckles and Sonic, Shadow, Amy and a very sour looking Mirage were also there. He cleared his throat, "Okay," he said, wishing his voice didn't sound so nervous, "I've called this meeting because the Master Emerald has been stolen, and Angel Island is now wallowing about 50 miles offshore. Rouge stole it, and she was not alone - a cyborg echidna who called himself Quilla was also there. We have to decide what to do next, a solution that doesn't involve storming Rouge's club and beating the hell out of her." He glared meaningfully at Knuckles.

Knuckles said nothing, grumbling in anger and embarrassment, staring at the floor. Sonic blinked and leaned forward, Tails having his full attention, "Hold on a moment! Rouge stole the Master Emerald?"

"Yes," Tails said, "Sonic, she's been trying for years. What makes you think that she'd stop trying now?"

"Well, she's with me now! She knows I wouldn't approve! Are you sure it was her?" the hedgehog asked his old friend.

Tails rolled his eyes, "I saw her, Sonic. Right before she kicked me in the head. Rouge is a jewel thief, and nothing you do or say is going to change that."

"But... but..." The hedgehog sighed, and it was Sonic's turn to look at the floor in shame. Tails was telling the truth, of course. Sonic could never accuse him of lying.

"An echidna cyborg,” said Shadow next, altering the course of the conversation, "I was under the impression that Knuckles here was the last of them."

"Well, it looks like he isn't," Tails said, "He said his name was Quilla and he talked to Knuckles to distract him while Rouge stole the Master Emerald. Then he knocked out Knuckles and left with her. I don't know what his real motivations were."

The red echidna mumbled, still looking at the floor, "He claimed that he was an experiment from the ARK and that he is my father, but... I'm not about to believe anything that jerk says."

Shadow raised an eyebrow, "Another experiment?" he asked, "I don't remember any echidnas aboard the ARK..." Although, considering that was coming from Shadow, it wasn't saying much.

"Do you think he's the echidna who trashed Central City the other day?" Amy asked.

"Unless there are two of them causing trouble, I'm sure he is,” replied Shadow. Glancing over at his sister, he asked, "Mirage... you were the first of us to see him. What do you think of him?"

"I think I could not care less," Mirage said, uncharacteristically sulkily, "I only came to this damn meeting because I live here."

Sonic frowned. That didn't sound like the Mirage he lived with. Something was up, "Hey, what's the big deal?" he asked the hedgecat.

"No big deal," Mirage lied, fingering her Emerald Shard, "He visited Club Rouge a couple of times. I saw him there. He is crazy."

Knuckles snorted, crossing his arms over his chest, "No arguments here!" the red echidna spoke.

Shadow shrugged, "Like any others from the ARK, this Quilla was hurt by GUN, and now he wants to hurt them back. Asides from the emerald theft, which we can put an end to with a visit to Rouge, I don't see what the problem is. It’s not like he is targeting the whole world..."

"You're acting as though his actions don't affect us!" Amy pointed out, "He hurt Knuckles and we don't even know why! For all we know he could be working with Eggman, with a vendetta against GUN as a cover."

"I know he's working with Eggman,” was Shadow's reply, "How else would he get those mechanical parts? But I get the impression that he doesn't intend harm to any of us. I say we just stay out of his way. If it weren't for you and Eclipse, I'd be doing the same thing as he is right now."

"I say we track him down and beat on him until he tells us what the hell is going on here," Mirage said flatly, “It is probably easier than trying the same thing with GUN," she added.

"Um... works for me,” Sonic said, not nearly as enthusiastic as usual. He was worried about Mirage; that Quilla guy obviously did something to her to piss her off.

"If GUN's hurt him, wouldn't it be better to gain his trust than make an enemy of him?" Amy asked.

"I would rather be on his good side than his bad,” Shadow admitted, nodding, "Perhaps we should gain his trust."

Sonic looked less sure that this would work. Knuckles was obviously opposed to that notion, "I say we just beat his face in and be done with it!" he growled.

Tails shook his head, "We can't just hurt him to get what we want!" he protested, "That would make us as bad as he is! We have to be reasonable!"

"Reason does not seem to work with him," Mirage pointed out, "He called me a clone... a freaking CLONE!" her fist slammed onto the table and her face showed real emotion for the first time since the meeting had started.

"A clone?" Shadow looked curiously at his hedgecat sister, "What do you mean? What does he mean? How could you be a clone, and of whom?"

"He called me a clone of me!" Mirage yelled, forgetting that she hadn't intended to tell anybody about talking with Quilla, "He poured out some drunken bullshit about me being dead and said GUN was using me as a tool! I do not even work for GUN!"

"Hey, calm down!" Sonic said, trying to get his friend to chill, "He's probably confused, and... if Eggman gave him those metal parts, he's probably being lied to," the blue hedgehog shrugged, "Maybe gullibility just runs in the family."

Knuckles looked up with wide, angry eyes, "HEY!"

"You are saying that bullshit he spouted about being Knuckles' father could actually be true?" Mirage sneered magnificently, considering that she was the red echidna's mother.

Sonic gestured towards Knuckles, saying, "Well, it’s not like there are a lot of options to choose from."

Shadow smirked, "All things considered, Quilla's story is likely true. I don't see how else Knuckles here could have come to be. Of course, that lends the question of who his mother is."

Knuckles looked back and forth to each of the others present, "You don't actually believe his crap, do you?"

"The guy is obviously crazy," Mirage stated, "Maybe he thinks he is telling the truth. A desire for vengeance can seriously fuck a body up." She glanced meaningfully at Shadow.

The dark hedgehog glared right back, "Yes, we know,” he told her, "I also know from personal experience that he could be confused or only remembers part of the truth. We shouldn't automatically condemn him." Mirage was hiding something, and he knew it. He could see it in her eyes.

"There's always option three," Tails pointed out, "Maybe Eggman made him. He could make him think all these things."

"Eggman's grasp on the biological isn't that good,” Shadow said with a shake of his head, "But the doctor did build his mechanical parts. Tails, do you think he could have implanted something in Quilla that would alter his thoughts?"

"It's certainly possible," Tails admitted, "But mind-altering devices usually fail under the incredible power of the mind. Sooner or later he'd regain free will, work out what happened, and then... well, Eggman's life wouldn't be worth spit. It would be easier for him to work with what's there. Sort of like when he tricks Knuckles."

"I got past that, ok?" Knuckles said, defending himself, "Never trust a thing Eggman says; I get it now!" Sonic couldn’t help but laugh. Knuckles whirled around to face him, "Hey, cut that out!"

"Sonic, stop laughing at Knuckles," Tails told him, "Knuckles, stop letting Sonic provoke you. We've got three options here, guys - this guy is either telling the truth, lying, or crazy."

"I call crazy," Mirage said calmly.

"Lying,” grumbled Knuckles.

"Telling the truth, or at least the truth as he knows it,” spoke Shadow.

Sonic sat back and said, "I don't really care either way. We just have to stop him from all this killing."

"I agree with Shadow and Sonic," Amy spoke up, "But I wish Rouge was here. She could tell us what she knows."

"She's too busy gloating over MY emerald!" Knuckles growled, squeezing his hands into fists.

The blue hedgehog sighed, "I'll talk to her about it."

"So," Mirage spoke again, always to the point, "What are we going to do about him? And I would just like to remind you 'heroes' that I have got a contractor who might not agree with your methods of dealing with a homicidal maniac."

"I'd tell your contractor where they could stuff their job,” Shadow growled quietly, but he quickly calmed down again, "We should confront him and talk him down if we can. Fight and capture him if we must."

"That sounds logical," Amy agreed, "But how are we going to find him?" she asked.

Shadow smirked, "Follow the screams."

"It would be better if we could find him before he causes trouble again," Amy said.

"Any bright ideas how?" Tails asked her sharply. She looked a little subdued, "Okay, we've got a game plan, and it's not a very good one. We have to wait until he starts causing trouble until we can talk to him. Who's going to do the talking?"

"Mirage will,” Shadow answered, volunteering his sister, "Call it a hunch, but I think he's most likely to listen to her."

"I do not think he is going to listen to me," Mirage said quietly, "He seems to hate me and I think it has got something to do with the clone bullshit. Why cannot Knuckles do it?" she asked, her voice a whine.

"Because the only talking I'm going to be doing is with my fists!" Knuckles snarled. He never was good at doing the reasonable thing.

"Well then, what about Amy?" Mirage suggested, dodging the job, "You have done great work with Shadow."

"Mirage, why are you trying to avoid him?" Amy asked the hedgecat.

"She's avoiding him because she remembers him from the ARK,” answered Shadow.

Mirage looked sulky again, "That is confidential information, you know," she said, pointedly.

Shadow leaned closer to his sister and said quietly, "Look, Mirage... I know that you know more about him than any of us. I can see it in your eyes. You're hurt that he doesn't think that you are who you know you are. You can help him, though."

"His name is also Project Midnight. He was made on the ARK. And he died there," Mirage said. Pain flickered in her red eyes, "I saw him die. That is as much as I remember about him right now, although I am sure I should remember more," she said truthfully.

"It’s obvious that he remembers you, in a way,” Shadow continued, "You just have to make him know that it’s really you. Eggman is probably doing everything he can to manipulate and control him, and one of the best ways of doing it would be to convince him that GUN has cloned the very experiments that they killed."

"Look at it this way," Mirage told him, "Say that somebody walked up to you and told you that you were a clone - a copy, a lie, a goddamn fake! How many of their bones would you break?"

Shadow jerked a thumb towards the blue hedgehog and simply stated, "Ask Sonic."

The blue hedgehog grinned and told Mirage, "A lot."

"I do not want anything to do with this guy," Mirage stated, "I do not want to remember him, I do not want to be anywhere near him. It hurts, okay?" She looked at the floor.

Shadow slowly nodded his head, "Okay. We can't make you face him, but I hope you rethink this. It could mean the difference between him living and ending up dead."

"You be careful, Mirage,” Sonic told the hedgecat, "Don't do something stupid, like pissing off the wrong people."

"It is they who had better be careful," Mirage snapped, "If they had been straight with me in the first place we would not be having this problem regarding whether Quilla is crazy or not."

Sonic raised his hands defensively and didn't respond. He was quickly learning that he did not want to get on Mirage's bad side.

"So we've got a plan. A shaky one, but it’s a plan. I'll try to talk with Quilla, and I'd like Amy here to help me. Maybe we can calm him down and make him see reason,” Shadow said, "I do have a unique perspective on his situation."

Not so unique, Mirage thought, but didn't say it. She didn't want to talk about Quilla; didn't want to discuss him in any way. All she could feel when she thought about him was an empty, aching void.

"All we can do is wait," Tails spoke up, "I guess I know now how Sonic felt now... kinda helpless."

~~~

Sonic walked out of the apartment, eyes on the ground, fuming quietly. He was mad. Rouge stole the Master Emerald when she damn well knew that he wouldn't be happy about it. She didn't even tell him about it. The blue hedgehog took off running, his destination: Club Rouge.

When he entered the club, it was a chaotic mess. There was broken glass all over the place, and Rouge and a couple of waitresses were busy sweeping it up. The bat looked up at him, "Oh, Sonic, thank god you're here!" she cried out.

Sonic's angry expression didn't leave. He barely noticed the broken glass, stepping over it and pointing an accusing finger at the bat, "Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded.

"You mean about the Master Emerald?" Rouge asked him, "Well for one thing, I knew you'd try to stop me."

"Of course I'd try to stop you!" Sonic told her, "Knuckles is a friend of mine, and that emerald is his."

"No it's not! It's mine!" Rouge replied, "Or at least it was. Eggman came by and took it from me! I suppose you're happy now..." She sat down and sipped something from a glass.

"Eggman!" Sonic groaned and rubbed his face, "Aw... why does he have to mess everything up?" The blue hedgehog paced across the room, "Look,” he said, "It's not yours, no matter how much you want it. The emerald doesn't exactly belong to Knuckles; it’s his duty, his life! Why can't you just leave it alone?"

"But it's totally unappreciated all alone on Angel Island!" Rouge insisted, "I mean, nobody to admire it, nobody to take care of it... it should be on display in my collection!"

"There's a reason it’s up there all alone!" Sonic shouted, "No one should admire it! It would be better if people didn't even know about it!"

"Well, I know about it!" Rouge told him, "And it seems that everybody knows about it by now! I can't go up there on my own now I'm pregnant, but some guy came along and said he'd help me get it if I did him a favour! I just wish he'd offered to help earlier!”

"Yeah, I know,” said Sonic, glaring at her, "The psycho who has been attacking GUN. What were you going to do, Rouge? Hide the thing and hope I didn't find out?"

"Well, uh..." For the first time, Rouge looked confused, "I've never actually had it before... I always had so much trouble actually getting it that I didn't think about what would happen when I had it. I guess I was planning to deal with you when you came around. Can't you see it my way? It's the biggest Emerald in the world! I deserve it!"

"What have you done to deserve it?" Sonic asked her, "You took it from its protector! Just like the echidnas did in the past! Do you know what happened because of that?"

"Uh... no," Rouge said finally, "It never seemed very relevant. I wasn't going to use it for evil, Sonic! You know that I don't want to rule the world!"

"I know that,” Sonic replied, nodding his head, "But the Master Emerald is too dangerous. The reason that Knuckles guards it is because its power wiped his people out."

Rouge looked sulky, "Well if you're going to be that way about me trying to take the Master Emerald, maybe I should just stop trying to take it! It's hardly like it's safe up on Angel Island anyway - Eggman comes along every other week to try and take it."

The blue hedgehog sat down beside her and sighed, "It was wrong for you to take it, Rouge. But it bothers me even more that you didn't tell me. I thought we were together, you know?"

"We ARE together," Rouge told him, "But I don't have to tell you everything that goes on in my life! If I'd LIED to you, that would be a different matter. But I didn't."

"Yes, you did,” he replied softly, "You stole from a friend of mine and didn't tell me. That's as good as lying."

"No it's not," Rouge insisted, "I didn't tell you I hadn't. What do you want me to do, report to you every time I want to step outside?"

Shaking his head in disgust, Sonic stood up again, "You stole from my friend. You knew I would be hurt by it, and you did it anyway. That sure tells me where I stand, doesn't it?" Glaring at her, the blue hedgehog began to walk away.

"What? What does it tell us about where you stand?" Rouge called after him, and stood up, "Come on! I would never take anything you cared for away from you!"

"You'd rather have some stupid rock than me,” the hedgehog replied, still walking away.

"What?! What did I do to you?! It was Knuckles I took the Master Emerald from!" Rouge shouted. Like most anti-heroes, she was incapable of seeing the big picture, or realising the consequences of her actions.

Sonic spun around, not quite understanding how she could misunderstand such a simple concept, "That's the point! You stole from Knuckles!"

"Yeah, but Knuckles is an idiot!" Rouge insisted, "You say so yourself just about every week!"

"Well... yeah, he is,” the hedgehog said sheepishly. It was true that he thought Knuckles was the most gullible person alive and reminded him that every chance he had, "But he's still my friend,” he explained, "Wouldn't you be mad if someone stole from me?"

"Well... I guess so," Rouge said awkwardly, "But that would be your business, unless you asked for help."

"But you would be mad, right?" Sonic asked, "Knuckles is a friend and friends don't like when other friends get stolen from."

Rouge looked even more confused, "Sonic, I love you. If I'd thought you'd get so mad about all of this, I'd have..." she hesitated, "I'd have... um..." she seemed a little lost, "Told you... afterwards..."

Sonic sighed and smiled slightly, saying, "You should have told me before. But that's better..." The hedgehog stepped closer and pulled her into a soft kiss, "I guess it doesn't matter now. Eggman has it."

"I swear, Sonic, I didn't mean to hurt you," Rouge told him, "I guess I'm just not very good at looking at the big picture..."

Sonic smirked. He’d managed to get Rouge to feel ashamed of taking something that wasn’t hers. It was a start, "It’s ok... I know you didn't mean to hurt me at least."

"And now I've messed everything up and I nearly lost you," Rouge looked unhappy, "And I lost the Master Emerald and Eggman probably has a big plan... it's like he knew it was here!"

"Well, you did work with Quilla, and we're sure that Quilla works with Eggman..." Sonic mentioned helpfully.

"Yeah, I know... and I gave him co-ordinates for where the officials of GUN meet during an emergency..." Rouge moped.

"You what?" Sonic asked, his eyes widening. Holding onto the bat's shoulders, he told her, "Rouge, he's going to kill them!"

"Well, I figured that he'd get wasted before he got twenty feet into the base," Rouge said, "Have you ever seen the real GUN Fortress? From the inside? It's like a building somebody converted into a war machine!"

Truth be told, no, he hadn't seen it. Very few people ever got to. All the same... "I know, but this guy wiped out a whole GUN base on his own,” he explained, "He's got a chance of pulling it off."

"I'm serious, Sonic," Rouge said, "That place is crawling with GUN everything. If you want him to actually survive, you're probably better off convincing him not to go in at all."

"I would, but I don't know where he is,” the hedgehog said with a shrug, "Did he mention someplace that he would be?"

Rouge thought hard, "He dropped me off here and then, since it was time for the bar to open, he came in and started drinking. I was kinda busy gloating over the Master Emerald, but the last time I saw him, he'd passed out on the pavement outside."

"Maybe he'll come back to the club. It could be the only chance we have to face him, before he does something else,” said the blue hedgehog. Somehow he doubted it, though.

~~~

Harley: Well? How’s that? I’m tired. But I wasn’t tired when I wrote it. And go on, read my other stuff! Like Prison Island Break! I don’t even know how long that’s going to be!