Metal Shadow looked down at him. His voice was surprisingly smooth. "Your reason for stealing the Chaos Emerald?" "What? This thing?" Ro looked down at the large red emerald tucked under his arm. "Um... I need it for a science project." Blank stares. Ro took a step back, the back of his foot bumping into the door. "I'm surprised you managed to make it this far." The Metal Shadow hummed. "But I'll be sure you don't finish whatever treacherous plan you and your colleagues have." "What?" Ro blinked. The door opened. Ro staggered forward, looking over his shoulder at the group of Low Keepers that dragged in his friends. "H-How!?" Ro looked back to Metal Shadow. "... You're a lot dumber than you look. You do realize that there are cameras everywhere and that our staff does inform us when somebody threatens them or gives a false name? Did you really think that Neon Central Station Central Tower didn't have the basic security?" Metal Shadow's voice was steady, but Ro could feel the sarcasm in its rhetorical question. "I mean..." Ro shrugged. "We should have expected this, honestly," Finch grumbled. Eqlips struggled in the restraints that the Low Keepers had put them in. "It still sucks! We were so close!" "Shut it! You three will be taken to Sage to be interrogated, and after that..." It paused, "You can probably guess what will happen to you." "Three?" Ro said under his breath and looked back at his friends, confused. Sonar was nowhere to be seen. Three Low Keepers approached him, restraints and weapons drawn. One of them leaped at him, but Ro jumped out of the way. Swiftly kicking another one her ran to his friends, about to use his powers to rip open their restraints. A sharp shock went through him. His body went limp, yet his muscles still felt rigid from the shock. Ro fell to the floor, dropping the prized gem. The emerald fell to the floor and rolled a few steps. Ro shakily reached for it, but a Low keeper grabbed it. The emerald seemed to dissolve in his hand. A faint red glow outlined him. A robotic chuckle echoed behind him. Looking up from his place on the floor, he could see Metal Shadow standing beside him. One clawed hand was outstretched as if it was just touching somebody. "Did you really think that was going to work? You should have stayed in school." Metal Shadow started walking away. Its footsteps were nearly silent. "Take them in. And be sure to keep those cuffs on the feline." The keeper who had absorbed the Chaos Emerald grabbed Ro by his cuffs with a nod. He forced Ro to his feet and began leading Ro and the other Low Keepers that had his friends out the doors. Ro struggled as much as his body would allow. He felt like his energy was being drained. Something about these cuffs... were they like inheritor rings? Just really powerful inhibitors? It didn't matter what they were. They stopped him from using his powers. Ro looked over to Finch and Eqlips; their cuffs were normal. It was clear that the keepers knew more about them than Ro was comfortable with. "Wait. The emerald." Metal Shadow's voice made the room freeze. Slowly, Ro looked over his shoulder to the keeper who had him. His mask completely hid his face. He had long navy blue quills. Wait. SONAR!? What in Dark Gaia was he doing!? Sonar quickly unclasped Ros' cuffs and cursed under his breath. Ro swiftly grabbed one of the Low Keepers that held onto Finch and tossed him to the one who held Eqlips. Ro quickly used his rapidly returning power on their cuffs, releasing them. "Stop them!" Meral Shadow ordered. "Damn it, my shoes!" Sonar huffed, running into the hallway and returning a few seconds later, his boots in hand. Ro watched as the navy blue, disguised hedgehog slammed the back of the boots onto a low keeper who tried to shock him with a taser. Ro hissed as somebody grabbed him. With a swift punch, he hit the low keeper right in the nose. Ro ran towards Eqlips and Finch, who were fighting their way through the crowd to the windows. Sonar was close behind him. A Low Keeper on an extreme board came down, blasting them. Eqlips jumped at them, grabbing the side of his board, throwing it off balance and causing them to fall off. Eqlips quickly got on it, pulling Finch onto it with her. She looked over at Ro and Sonar and yelled, "Let's get outta here! Get on one!" Ro nodded and, with a quick use of his power, controlled an extreme board and brought it to him and Sonar. The Low Keeper on it was taken aback by this, unable to react before Sonar punched him off the board. When Ro glanced back to Eqlips and Finch, the two of them had flown directly into the window. The glass shattered, and they dropped down. "Hurry on!" Sonar pushed him along to the broken window. Before he had time to think, they were leaping out the window and onto their stolen extreme board. Wind whipped at them as they fell. The buildings below started to rapidly get closer.
Ro stiffened as he felt arms wrap around his torso tightly. To Ro's surprise, Sonar was leaning into him and holding him close. Suddenly, the extreme boredom leveled out, and they were actually horizontal, unlike before. Sonar's voice yelled over the rush of wind, "Do you not know how to use one of these!?" "Do you?" Ro called back, feeling the bored tilt as it turned. "Better than you do, clearly! You almost killed us!" Sonar retorted. Ro then realized that it was Sonar who was steering them. Maybe it was for the best. Ro's ears flicked at the sound of other extreme bords behind them. Ro swallowed. "Since you're so good, then lose them! And maybe find the other two while you're at it!" "Fine!" Sonar hugged him tighter. Ro would have been more flustered if they weren't suddenly diving into traffic. Cars whooshed around them, and somehow Sonar avoided them. With a sharp turn, they went into a dark alleyway in the undercity. The glow of neon lights was gone, the only light coming from above and reflecting on trash and pollution below. Another sharp turn that nearly sent Ro flying sent them down a different alleyway. Ro could hear a few of the extreme boards behind them getting closer. It was clear that they had lost a large majority of them. Ro quickly spoke, "Go in between those buildings!" Ro pointed to the small gap between two metal-lined buildings. "Are you serious!? There's no way we'll fit!" Sonar snapped. "Trust me!" "... Ugh, fine!" Sonar turned them to the small gap. The sides of the extreme gear scraped against the building, but it made it through. Ro put his arms out and, using his powers, closed the space behind them. The sounds of crashing let Ro know that his plan worked. Once free of the small gap, they angled skywards and flew on. As they maneuvered through the city, avoiding areas with patrols, they looked around for their other companions. "I can't believe that worked." Sonar breathed. "Honestly. Same here." Ro laughed. "So you were just guessing..." Sonar mumbled. "Basically." "This is why I don't have faith in your judgement." "Pfft- You trust me so much, don't lie!" Ro looked over his shoulder. Forgeting how close Sonar actually was. His masked face was only a couple of centimeters away from his head. Suddenly, Ro became all too aware of Sonar's tight grip on him. "Mhm, sure." Sonar didn't seem to notice. It was hard to tell since his face was covered. Ro looked away, feeling his face warm. An unnecessarily giddy grin was growing on his face. A silence fell over them as they continued searching for Finch and Eqlips. After a while, they decided to head to the Blight District. Going as high as they could, they started making their way to Finch's tiny home. Just as they were landing on the fire escape that was connected, Eqlips opened the window and waved at them. A wide smirk on her face as she saw them. "No wonder you two took so long!" Eqlips cackled, "You dirty dogs~." "What are you yapping about?" Sonar scoffed as they landed. Then he finally realized. As quickly as that grip had attached to Ro, it was pulled away. Ro stumbled off the board, an empty feeling where he was hugged filling the space. A crash echoed as Sonar tossed the stolen vehicle off the side. Eqlips stepped aside so that they could climb through the window to get inside. "Are you just going to keep that outfit?" Finch looked over from where he looked to be cooking something. Sonar took the mask off, a red hue on his grumpy face, "Maybe. I mean, it fooled Metal Shadow." "How did you even get that?" Ro raised an eyebrow, gesturing at Sonar as he took off the Low Keeper uniform. Sonar glanced to Finch and Eqlips before looking at Ro, "Long story. I'll tell you later." "Dinner will be done soon. After that, we should get some sleep." Finch called. "Yummy!" Eqlips licked her lips. Ro fiddled with his hands. "Um, Eqlips. How did you do that?" "Do what?" Eqlips tilted her head. Part of Ro wanted to retreat. Something about her cheery self seemed to dull. "Get us in. Like, they were about to kick us out, and it seemed like you scared her into... letting us in." "Oh, that? Acting. Anyways, I'm going to take a quick shower!" Eqlips walked over to a drawer and picked out an outfit that looked similar to her other one. Quickly, she went to the curtained-off area and shut the curtains. Sonar made a sound behind Ro. But when Ro looked over, he was walking to the kitchen, already in his usual getup. Ro shrugged off his uncertainty and walked to Finch to get his own serving.
