“Come on, Toní,” said 13-year-old Scarlet Lupin II as she (in her native Marseillean tongue) scolded her younger brother, Arsène Lupin V, whom she called “Toní” to separate him from their legendary (yet marred) lineage when alone, “We haven’t got all day!” The 6-year-old bat complained, “But, Scarlet, I don’t want to do this. What if we get caught??” Scarlet scoffed, “Please. A true Lupin never gets caught unless it’s part of a grander plan.” Toní rolled his eyes at her as they flew over the moonlit rooftops. “That’s what Father said every time he got caught, and look what happened to him.”
Scarlet frowned and said, “You are not Father, and neither am I. He’s useless. If he cannot reclaim the family legacy, it’s up to us.” Toní frowned harder, as he hated it when she badmouthed their father, even if she was right, to an extent. “Besides,” Scarlet continued, “this heist isn’t just practice, it’s to help Mother pay off Father’s debt. Lord only knows how she’s managed to do it up ‘til now.”
Toní halted in his aerial tracks at the mention of that, clearly disturbed. Scarlet flew back when she noticed this. “Toní, what’s wrong?” With an uncomfortable expression, he quietly said, “Scarlet…I know what she’s been doing to pay off the debt.” His sister became concerned. “What do you mean, sweetie?”
“Every Tuesday, I think, she sends me off to Grandfather’s to play, right? Well, last time, I didn’t go. I hid in the linen closet of Mother and Father’s bedroom. Soon, some men came by…and she took them there…” Scarlet didn’t like where this story was headed. “That’s enough, Toní.”
“One of them said that this visit would cover ‘another 20% of the debt’,” he continued. “And then…they started kissing her…” Scarlet frowned harder and said, “I said enough, Toní.” The child continued, captivated and disturbed by the memory of what he saw. “She was pushed onto the bed, and…”
“Stop…”
“The noises they made… Mother was so loud…”
“Enough!”
“She liked it so much-”
“I SAID ENOUGH!!”
Scarlet’s scream was so loud it woke up the entire block, forcing the two bats to quickly resume their trip in silence. Eventually, they arrived at their destination, the Louvre itself. They were now disgusted as well as nervous, though Scarlet hid it better than her little brother. To her, his sordid story made too much sense.
She herself had seen her devastatingly fetching mother in the act with their father many, many times, and the noise was all too genuine. Hell, one drunken night, as she flippantly told Scarlet how babies were made, she straight up added that the only reason she was still married to her “otherwise useless husband” was because of the sex. Such information was awkwardly comforting, as she wanted her parents’ marriage to stay sacred, though now it seemed that her father’s failures knew no more bounds.
“Listen to me carefully, Toní,” Scarlet hissed, “You must forget what you saw.” Toní argued, “But I can’t, sis!”
“You must!” she continued. “Remember the reason we’re here. This is the Louvre, one the most famous museums of fine art we have here, housing pieces assumed to date back to the First Great Civilization! Do you have any idea how much publicity there would be if there was a theft? And by a Lupin?! Our family name would be redeemed! Father would be motivated to improve, and Mother can stop seeing those...awful loan sharks.” Toní nodded, as even he understood the positive implications of this mission. “I know, Scarlet, but…what if we fail?”
She scoffed again. “As I said, a true Lupin never fails.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rouge slowly awakened from her dream with a somber feeling. It had been years since she’d dreamt of that night. The night where everything changed…forever. ‘Par Dieu... Why did everything go so wrong? I had that heist planned perfectly, but then Toní…’ Rouge felt her eyes water again but shook her head fiercely, her now long hair swaying to and fro. “Non. No more tears for the past. If-If Shadow can move on, so can I.” She nodded her head, flapping her wings in determination.
Her wings…?!?
It was then that Rouge noticed that her wings had been reattached, as if they had never left her body. Moreover, the other wounds the Calamity Baroness had given here were gone as well!
“The Baroness!!”
Rouge remembered what had gone down and flew upwards to survey the area. All possible evidence of the Baroness’ presence had been erased. No damage to the Master Emerald or its shrine could be found. No bloodstains, either. As she flew back down, she saw an empty container, which she recognized upon closer inspection to be a Heal Unit. “Hmph. No wonder I feel so rested,” she sourly noted. She also saw another Heal Unit (this one unused) right next to it.
Rouge crossed her arms and thought. All this time she thought the Calamity Baroness was a fable. But, if she’s real, that means the stories about her are, too. And if she did make a formal return…the possibilities made Rouge cringe in fear. “Well, all the more reason to make sure she doesn’t have to.” That being said, she decided to continue her mission to protect the Master Emerald…and that meant finding the original guardian. With her fangs poking through her frown, she activated her updated Treasure Scope and, with it, calculated the trajectory from where she kicked him to the most likely point of landing. Rouge sighed as she grabbed the spare Heal Unit (its purpose being obnoxiously obvious) and followed the coordinates. “Why does everything in life have to be so hard?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Knuckles the Echidna awoke groggily. He surveyed his surroundings and tried to think of how he got here. Plenty of foliage, the scent of swamp mud and a lot of broken trees from his position onward. ‘Oh, that’s right. Rouge sucker kicked me, and all the way to Azure Lake Zone.’ Even the spring switch he installed for competition (which broke his fall) was busted. ‘I swear, when I find that bitch, I’m gonna-’
His threat was interrupted when he realized something. He couldn’t move his legs, or his arms. In fact, he couldn’t move ANYTHING. ‘What the hell?! I’m…I’m PARALYZED!!’
Scarlet frowned and said, “You are not Father, and neither am I. He’s useless. If he cannot reclaim the family legacy, it’s up to us.” Toní frowned harder, as he hated it when she badmouthed their father, even if she was right, to an extent. “Besides,” Scarlet continued, “this heist isn’t just practice, it’s to help Mother pay off Father’s debt. Lord only knows how she’s managed to do it up ‘til now.”
Toní halted in his aerial tracks at the mention of that, clearly disturbed. Scarlet flew back when she noticed this. “Toní, what’s wrong?” With an uncomfortable expression, he quietly said, “Scarlet…I know what she’s been doing to pay off the debt.” His sister became concerned. “What do you mean, sweetie?”
“Every Tuesday, I think, she sends me off to Grandfather’s to play, right? Well, last time, I didn’t go. I hid in the linen closet of Mother and Father’s bedroom. Soon, some men came by…and she took them there…” Scarlet didn’t like where this story was headed. “That’s enough, Toní.”
“One of them said that this visit would cover ‘another 20% of the debt’,” he continued. “And then…they started kissing her…” Scarlet frowned harder and said, “I said enough, Toní.” The child continued, captivated and disturbed by the memory of what he saw. “She was pushed onto the bed, and…”
“Stop…”
“The noises they made… Mother was so loud…”
“Enough!”
“She liked it so much-”
“I SAID ENOUGH!!”
Scarlet’s scream was so loud it woke up the entire block, forcing the two bats to quickly resume their trip in silence. Eventually, they arrived at their destination, the Louvre itself. They were now disgusted as well as nervous, though Scarlet hid it better than her little brother. To her, his sordid story made too much sense.
She herself had seen her devastatingly fetching mother in the act with their father many, many times, and the noise was all too genuine. Hell, one drunken night, as she flippantly told Scarlet how babies were made, she straight up added that the only reason she was still married to her “otherwise useless husband” was because of the sex. Such information was awkwardly comforting, as she wanted her parents’ marriage to stay sacred, though now it seemed that her father’s failures knew no more bounds.
“Listen to me carefully, Toní,” Scarlet hissed, “You must forget what you saw.” Toní argued, “But I can’t, sis!”
“You must!” she continued. “Remember the reason we’re here. This is the Louvre, one the most famous museums of fine art we have here, housing pieces assumed to date back to the First Great Civilization! Do you have any idea how much publicity there would be if there was a theft? And by a Lupin?! Our family name would be redeemed! Father would be motivated to improve, and Mother can stop seeing those...awful loan sharks.” Toní nodded, as even he understood the positive implications of this mission. “I know, Scarlet, but…what if we fail?”
She scoffed again. “As I said, a true Lupin never fails.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rouge slowly awakened from her dream with a somber feeling. It had been years since she’d dreamt of that night. The night where everything changed…forever. ‘Par Dieu... Why did everything go so wrong? I had that heist planned perfectly, but then Toní…’ Rouge felt her eyes water again but shook her head fiercely, her now long hair swaying to and fro. “Non. No more tears for the past. If-If Shadow can move on, so can I.” She nodded her head, flapping her wings in determination.
Her wings…?!?
It was then that Rouge noticed that her wings had been reattached, as if they had never left her body. Moreover, the other wounds the Calamity Baroness had given here were gone as well!
“The Baroness!!”
Rouge remembered what had gone down and flew upwards to survey the area. All possible evidence of the Baroness’ presence had been erased. No damage to the Master Emerald or its shrine could be found. No bloodstains, either. As she flew back down, she saw an empty container, which she recognized upon closer inspection to be a Heal Unit. “Hmph. No wonder I feel so rested,” she sourly noted. She also saw another Heal Unit (this one unused) right next to it.
Rouge crossed her arms and thought. All this time she thought the Calamity Baroness was a fable. But, if she’s real, that means the stories about her are, too. And if she did make a formal return…the possibilities made Rouge cringe in fear. “Well, all the more reason to make sure she doesn’t have to.” That being said, she decided to continue her mission to protect the Master Emerald…and that meant finding the original guardian. With her fangs poking through her frown, she activated her updated Treasure Scope and, with it, calculated the trajectory from where she kicked him to the most likely point of landing. Rouge sighed as she grabbed the spare Heal Unit (its purpose being obnoxiously obvious) and followed the coordinates. “Why does everything in life have to be so hard?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Knuckles the Echidna awoke groggily. He surveyed his surroundings and tried to think of how he got here. Plenty of foliage, the scent of swamp mud and a lot of broken trees from his position onward. ‘Oh, that’s right. Rouge sucker kicked me, and all the way to Azure Lake Zone.’ Even the spring switch he installed for competition (which broke his fall) was busted. ‘I swear, when I find that bitch, I’m gonna-’
His threat was interrupted when he realized something. He couldn’t move his legs, or his arms. In fact, he couldn’t move ANYTHING. ‘What the hell?! I’m…I’m PARALYZED!!’
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