paixaorpg | Worst vacation ever [Active]

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Worst vacation ever [Active]

Character(s): Rouge the Bat, Knuckles the Echidna
Content: Rouge's arrival in Paixao, which isn't complete without a meeting with her future rival.
Setting: Joutenheim Gate
Time: Early evening
Warnings: Snark and potential lies, but shouldn't be anything major.

A nap, that was all she had wanted. She didn't think it was an unreasonable request after coming home from a difficult assignment. Yet, it seemed like someone disagreed with her because when she opened her eyes once more, her apartment had changed drastically in appearance. In fact, she would even hazard a guess that she wasn't anywhere near her home anymore. Her groggy and shocked mind jump started a second after that registered with it. Wherever she was, she needed to figure out how it had happened and fast.

This couldn’t be the doing of GUN. They weren’t stupid or skillful enough to stage something this elaborate. Chaos Emeralds couldn’t have played a part, especially since that would mean Shadow would have had a hand in it, too. While their relationship was mostly business, she’d like to think that’d mean he’d have the decency to wake her up before teleporting her off to some unknown location. That meant some outside force must be behind this, but what? And what did they have to gain by tossing her here?

Composing herself took no time and she made her way towards the line of people. Unfortunately, questioning the locals outside yielded only the same information that she gathered from the brochure. She had wound up in some city named Paixao with no reason or explanation as to why or how.

Rouge rolled her eye as she stepped away from the group, new electronic journal in hand. If she couldn’t find anyone useful or informative wandering around, she’d have to give the device a whirl and see what she could gather on it.

"What kind of sorry excuse for a..." her muttering trailed off as her attention suddenly focused on the scene before her. If anything could be said about this place, it was that there was enough glimmers and sparkles on the outside alone to keep her attention. Information would come first, but afterwards she'd have to give some of these buildings a more private appearance.

Irritation gave way to curiosity as she continued inside, stopping a little ways to inspect the architecture. She ran her hand down the side of the building. The style wasn’t unfamiliar to her, but any names of cities that were designed like this didn’t come to mind. Her eyes remained focused on the building, though her ears stood alert, listening for anything potentially interesting. In a place like this, there must be at least one person who could explain things to her. Hopefully she’d find them sooner rather than later.

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Knuckles had been sticking around outside of the city, only venturing inside the domes to check the journals for news and get food. He never did like cities, preferring instead to keep to himself and guard the Master Emerald. Unfortunately, being that there was no Master Emerald here (at least that he could sense), this made for a very annoyed Guardian. On the sort-of-maybe bright side, at least Sonic was here. The knowledge of a familiar face, even if it was that of his rival, gave Knuckles an odd sort of anchor. Already, he and SOnic were getting along much better than they normally did.

Lost in thought as he was, Knuckles still noticed the bat walking into the city. He was sure he didn't know her, but she looked to be from his world, so he walked after her. "Hey!" he called, "did you just get here?"

If worst came to worst, at least he was sure she wouldn't annoy him as much as that little green idiot had.

That voice... Immediately, she turned around to face him. Things were making even less sense if he were here, too. At least she wasn't here by herself and maybe that stupid echidna could make himself useful for once. He wasn't the brightest, but he did know how to fight and in a worst case scenario, it could easily come down to a battle with whoever was in charge.

"Wonderful, you're here, too," she said with a hint of sarcasm. "I got here less than five minutes ago."

Enter confusion here. Knuckles blinked, trying to think of whether he had seen the bat before. She looked older than him, and others rarely set foot near the Emerald (especially if they knew what was good for them). Was she a friend of Sonic's? No way; he would have mentioned her at least, wouldn't he? On the other hand, he and Sonic still hadn't really talked much.

He mentally shook himself, finally managing to do more than look at the girl as though she had mistaken him from someone else. "Do I know you?" he managed.

...Wait. He didn't recognize her? Either something strange was going on here or he had hit his head hard enough to make him forget. Knuckles wasn't exactly smart enough to think to play dumb and plan something out. This had to be genuine. Which meant that while he was a familiar face, he didn't know anything about her.

Perfect~

Rouge was never one to look opportunity in the face and ignore it, even in such a pressing situation. The fact that she was at a disadvantage right now made this even better. Sarcasm vanished and was replaced by disappointment and sadness. "...Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were a friend of mine." To say she was sorry to her rival pained her, but it would be worth it in the end.

... How many echidnas did this woman know? Knuckles crossed his arms suspiciously, giving a little frown. "I doubt I really look like anyone you know, lady." Especially given that Knuckles was, as far as he knew, the last of his kind left alive - but never mind that. Maybe she was disoriented or something - Knuckles had definitely been more than a little confused when he ended up there.

"... So are you new here?" Okay, so Knuckles was as socially talented as a rock, but she really did seem to be from his home world...

Ignoring his first comment, she went on to answer his first comment, though, she mentally noted with irritation that she already had. "Yes, I only just arrived." Here, she took a step closer to him, putting on her best damsel-in-distress look. "You will help me out, right?"

Acting like this to Knuckles of all people was taking a toll on her pride and she wasn't sure how much longer she wanted to keep it up. But she didn't know anything about this place and asking him for help was better than some stranger. At least with him, she knew what she was getting into and how to push his buttons to get the response she wanted. Pretend to be weak now and later, she could easily change her tune.

Call it irritation and outright confusion, but Knuckles had outright forgotten. Stupid of him - and despite his gullibility, Knuckles wasn't actually stupid, not most of the time. He growled in irritation, partially at himself and partially at the weird situation. "Sure," he said, somewhat dismissive, "why not?" After all, even Sonic had helped him when he first got to the city, and he should return the favor.

It didn't occur to Knuckles that Rouge was playing him; having grown up alone he expected honesty from others. While that naive view had cost him a few times, he still had no real reason to let go of it. "What's your name?"

May as well get the introductions out of the way.

This was turning out to be just as easy as she thought. Now she had a tour guide and someone who likely knew more about this strange place than she did. As long as he didn't find out about the type of relationship they had back home, she'd be set.

"You can call me Rouge, handsome~" She winked at him and closed any major space they had between them, moving to stand by his side.

Knuckles didn't know everything, of course; he was largely unaware of the Organization and didn't really know about Maleficent and her allies, given that they'd simply taken over the city and pretty much stayed silent afterward. He did, however, know his way around the city and knew where Sonic was staying.

He blushed at the compliment, his gaze suddenly darting to the ground shyly. He never was good when it came to talking to girls, and it showed - however, he coughed and looked back at Rouge. "I'm Knuckles."

"It's nice to meet such a gentleman~" That sign of shyness was all the encouragement she needed to continue. Her hand reached down to take his and tug lightly on it as she stepped towards the city. "Now, I'm sure you know all the best places. Care to show a lady around~?"

Even if he didn't remember her, he certainly did act like the same Knuckles she knew. She wondered just how flustered she could make him before they would have to part ways.

... Okay, that had never happened before. Knuckles allowed himself to be pulled along out of sheer shock, the blush on his face only growing. He would never understand girls; they were crazy. "What do you wanna see?" he managed, just barely keeping the fluster out of his voice.

He didn't really like this, but he'd already said he'd help her; there was no backing out of it now.

"Eventually, everything. But right now, how about we find a nice place to eat~ We can use the time to talk and get to know each other." She glanced back at him and smiled. "I'm sure you're very fascinating~" Of course, she didn't plan to stop pulling him along. As much as she wanted to learn about this place, pestering the echidna was taking priority, and everything else would sort itself out soon enough, if she had any say in it. Besides, he was more than capable of composing himself and taking the lead. Well, maybe, she thought, keeping her smirk out of his line of sight.

"Uh, sure," he managed, striding in front of the bat so she wouldn't see that his muzzle was as red as the rest of him. "Sure." He knew that one of the cafes was nearby; it would only be a short walk. "There's a cafe about a mile from here, if you don't mind the walk," he replied - he didn't really like places where one could sit down and eat; he preferred his meals quick and alone. Still, there was no Emerald to guard here, and even the Chaos Emeralds weren't anywhere to be found (or the Rings, or the Zones).

"Not at all. I do trust your judgment~ You wouldn't make a lady walk so far unless it was a worthy place, right?" She didn't believe a word she was saying and she couldn't be more grateful for ability to act. It would be difficult to keep up this persona whenever he was around and there was always the chance of being caught, but that was always half the fun. If he did catch her acting out of the 'ordinary,' then she was sure she could lie her way out of it.

Knuckles, in the meantime, was completely oblivious to Rouge's conniving. Not only that, but he didn't even know her, and far be it from Knuckles to mistreat a girl he had never met before. "It's pretty good," Knuckles replied, shrugging. He looked back at her, his flush faded. "It's not as far as the other places, either." Knuckles would have been happy with some fruit, water and bread, but he couldn't say the same for the girl - whose hand he was still holding.

What. Knuckles hurriedly let go of the bat's hand, embarrassed once more. "Sorry."

My, he was shy. "For what~?" It took all her willpower not to have her hand grab his again, just for the sake of his reaction. "If I didn't like it, I would have moved it myself." Rather than snatch his hand, she sped up her pace so she was closer.

This was a game she was sure she'd never tire of. As long as he kept reacting this way, she couldn't imagine finding herself bored of teasing and flirting him, even if she didn't consider him her type.

And again with the blush. The Guardian looked away, his pace quickening slightly. He may know more about the Master Emerald than any other living being, but he knew jack and squat about girls. He rarely, in fact, spoke to them, preferring to keep to himself in his duty. And here was this bat, acting very strangely.

Maybe she was just being nice, grateful to have a helping hand in this strange place. Yeah, that must be it. Knuckles remained silent and continued to walk.

Silence? Unsurprising, but not something she felt like dealing with at the moment. There were topics they could be discussing besides hand holding and where they were going to eat.

"If you don't have anything to talk about, you could start to tell me about this place. An introduction would be grand." Hopefully he wouldn't sound like the travel brochure. Knuckles was resourceful and if he had been here for any length of time, he must've found something interesting or useful about this place.

Oh. Right. The newcomer probably wouldn't appreciate being left in the dark. Knuckles looked back at Rouge and gave a short nod. "The guards must've told you this place is called Paixao, right? Well, this city seems to be some kind of cross-roads, since people from a lot of other worlds are brought here. We don't know how, either." Knuckles grit his teeth for a moment, irritated that he had been separated from his Island and his duty so abruptly. "Anyone you see who doesn't look like one of the citizens is probably an outsider." He gestured slightly, indicating the carbon copies of people with the same blond hair and blue eyes.

"From what I've seen, the folks here aren't too eager to even walk outside the city, and the guards get pretty upset if you try. There's not much outside, though, and the journals don't work outside of the domes." THat, of course, was a source of frustration to Knuckles, who dislikes cities and civilization in general.

"...Other worlds?" That would have been evidence for her earlier idea of him hitting his head if she weren't actually here in this strange world with him. "Does anyone know why the citizens are so strange here?" She prided herself on being able to adapt to things quickly, but even she was being unnerved by the people here, especially after he had made her notice them again. They weren't useful at the gate and she doubted they were now, so she had blocked them out once she had found him.

The more she learned about this place, the more she disliked it. How in the world was any of this even possible? After she learned the basics of the city, she'd have to take a look outside. Even if he claimed there wasn't much there, she wanted to see everything for herself.

"Yeah," came the reply. "I know it sounds crazy, but..." he trailed off, shrugging. "And to my knowledge, no one knows why they're all the same. It could just be a regional trait or something, but my gut tells me there's something wrong here. There was a giant monster called 'Sin' not too long ago, and smaller monsters roaming the streets. They seem to be gone, though." Knuckles hadn't wasted his time talking to the citizens after the initial frustration of suddenly finding himself in the city.

The Guardian didn't particularly like this place so far, and he still wasn't inclined to. Even so, he was stuck until he could find a way out of here.

"Monsters?" Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. Part of her wished he was one to lie about such things, but there wasn't a reason for him to and none she could think of to not believe him. "I can see why they need to drag tourists here."

So, she would have to deal with annoying residents roaming the streets and the possibility of monsters appearing. She could defend herself just fine, but if this place could draw others to it from different worlds, who knew how strong the creatures here would be. Being nice to her rival suddenly held new advantages. Though, hopefully she wouldn't be here long enough to need to call in a favor.

With a sigh, she shook her head. Maybe she shouldn't have taken that nap.

"Yeah. That big one was pretty nasty, but he's been destroyed." Knuckles grinned, remembering the exhilaration of their battle. Sure, he had ended up pretty thrashed, and sure, the fight had destroyed a good chunk of the city, but it had gotten fixed (even if the city seemed to have shrunk). Better than that, no one had been killed.

Mistaking Rouge's sigh for worry rather than exasperation, Knuckles looked back at her. "Don't worry," he said, sounding as reassuring as a socially inept echidna could sound, "Sonic and I have this place covered, and you can call for help over the journals if you need to."

Her ears perked up at Sonic's name. "The Blue Wonder's here, too?" That was a surprise. It'd be good to get in contact with him. If he remembered her, though, he could spoil this bout of trickery, unless she talked to him about it first. Maybe she could get him on it, too. It'd be a long shot, but better than letting her work go to waste. But if he didn't remember her...

Tricking him would be harder and no where near as useful. She'd just have to watch what she said around Sonic until she knew what she wanted him to believe about her.

And there it was. Now Knuckles knew Rouge was from his world; everyone knew Sonic's name there. Come to think of it, a lot more people were (unfortunately, he thought) learning Knuckles' name since he had formed the Chaotix. Luckily, the echidna doubted he'd reach the level of fame that Sonic had, which meant he'd have more of a chance to guard his damn Island and the Master Emerald. "Yeah," he replied, "Little Boy Blue's around." And as full of himself as ever, but Knuckles kept that to himself, at least for the moment.

Thanks to the pace the two of them were keeping, it shouldn't be too much longer until they reached their destination.

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