Author's note: Call this an alternate universe. There would be a lot of elements used in this story that does not exist in the games, nor in any other of the Sonic continuities. Yet, this would be close enough to tie in with the things already seen in the game storyline. Note that this story will be heavily dependent on these two main games, Sonic 3 and Knuckles and Sonic Adventure. I have always thought that the origin of the Echidna tribe was intriguing. Yet, it needs a little more depth. Some exploration on this back story would be interesting. Some elements from other continuities, mainly Archie and Fleetway would be used as well, but not as much. Timeline to this is about a month and a half after Sonic Adventure but just before Sonic Adventure 2.

Disclaimer: Sonic and co belongs to SEGA/ Sonic Team.

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Thief Rivals

By The Enormous Orange

Timeline: Somewhere between SA1 and SA2

Universe: Alternate SEGASonic

PROLOGUE

SET-UP

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"He wants to see you, Miss."

"Really?"

Crossing her arms, she stayed in the shadows, standing in a safe distance away from him - a brief silence crept between them. Their eyes met but each of them suspected something from the other.

"You don't need to hide yourself, you know," he teased, a soft light from a lamp post nearby touched his white feathers, casting an unspoken eeriness in him as he gave her an intimidating grin in his beak. "There is no one else here." Rough, that was the best word she could find to describe his voice.

"I prefer to take proper precautions."

The only response he gave her was an unsympathetic shrug. He turned around and showed her his empty hands. "See, no weapons." Yet, this did not convince her to confront him under the light.

"What about the rest of your men watching us here? They don't need to hide themselves. I know they're here."

"Let me assure you, we are the only Mobians standing in this dark alleyway."

Persistent, was not he? "Regardless, I am not going. Tell that weasel I want nothing more to do with him."

He turned his gaze back on her and said, "Miss Rouge, you're making my job difficult. I am just his henchman."

The situation seemed laughable. "I am through with him. You're just wasting your time." This was enough. She angrily spun around and stomped deeper into the shadows.

"Don't you want to know more about the emeralds?"

The mere mention of the emeralds caught her attention. "Emeralds?" she quickly turned her gaze back on the albatross. "What do you know about the emeralds?"

"They are fine gems, aren't they?" the albatross said, grinning. "Rare stones, but immeasurable power surrounds them, particularly…"

"The Master Emerald," she finished. She had spent years tracking on the large gem. There used to be a great phenomenon surrounding this emerald when it was first heard in the public. There were many legends describing this mystical stone. Its power. The wars that it brought to its people in ancient times. The God of Destruction that was famously described as the living god who lived in this great gem. Many had given up their jobs to dedicate their lives in finding this great legend. Yet, little evidences had been found to support the existence of the Master Emerald, resulting in the majority of the treasure hunters giving up their missions to find it. However, Rouge had not given up in her little hunt. It had been years since she heard of the great gem again. This resulted in her being interested on how the albatross got his knowledge about the Master Emerald.

"Where did you hear about it?" she asked. "I'm surprised that someone like you would be interested in the Master Emerald. Heh, wouldn't you be better off using that muscle of yours patronizing your victims?"

"Oh, no," he answered. "Rest assured. I'm not interested in any of those gems. What can a couple of rocks do for my work? If you want to know, it was my boss, who first told me about this. He knows that you're interested in them. He is willing to provide you the information you need."

The mere mention of the weasel made her frowned. "How does he know that I'm interested in this emerald?" she demanded.

"Why, my lady. He just knows."

Why am I not surprised?

"Don't play dumb on me," she said, sounding a little angry. How could she have not foreseen this? "He has been watching me, hasn't he? I told you. I'm through with him."

"Miss Rouge, he just wants to talk. It has been six long years since you left the gang. You were a traitor to the clan. But, he has forgiven you and would like to invite you back to his club for a drink. He has information about the emerald that you may be interested to know."

Anger bubbled within her. Rouge did not want to have anything to do with the albatross, nor the weasel. However, she could not help losing her control. Not only had she just recently found out that there had been people stalking her, she had been dubbed as the traitor for leaving the gang. Feeling offended, she yelled, "Do you actually believe I have chosen to leave the gang to pursue my passion? What else did that weasel tell you?"

"Not much else," said the albatross. Something was amiss. She suspected that there might be more than what he had told her so far. "However," he continued, putting his right hand into one of his pocket trousers and carefully took out a Chaos Emerald. It was a shiny stone, about the size of his palm and it illuminated a beautiful shade of green.

Rouge stared wide-eyed at it, half frowning; half in awe of the shining gem. She stretched her hand to touch it but the large albatross quickly withdrew the emerald from her reach.

"He is willing to give it to you if you could come," he said.

Rouge sighed. She was ready to turn down the invitation but her temptation was far too strong. Her obsession for expensive jewelries had been one of her main weaknesses. Crossing her arms, Rouge thought carefully. If she agreed to accept the invitation, not only would she be able to get her hands on the green Chaos Emerald, she would also receive some important information about the Master Emerald, particularly its whereabouts. However, it could very well be also a trap.

With a heavy sigh, she finally nodded.

The albatross smirked, "A good woman can never turn down a good emerald, can she? I must admit. You do have good taste."

Without saying a word, she swung her hand and snatched the emerald from the albatross' hand.

"You better keep your end of the bargain. I'll have a drink with him but this emerald is mine. A drink and that's it. No funny business," she said.

The albatross merely grinned and said, "Don't worry. We are men of our words."

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It had been more than an hour since the albatross took her to the meeting place. It was a small pub, located right at the dark corner of a narrow alleyway, where drug dealers, smokers, and prostitutes were common to find. She was told to grab a seat first and help herself to a limitless amount of free drinks that was offered to her by the albatross as she waited for him to find his boss. She had refused to take anything that looked or smelled alcoholic and had merely taken a sip of apple juice from an orange glass, filled with tiny cubes of ice for a refreshing feel. The clock that hung above the shelf behind the counter that she was sitting next to showed half past eleven in the evening.

Throughout her first hour of wait, she had been approached by numerous furries, most notably weasels, who had either offered her free drinks or the opportunities to dance on the floor with them. She was not in the mood to do either and had graciously declined the offers. In places such as the pub, it was dangerous to accept offers from complete strangers, particularly those who had their eyes set on women. Rouge knew better and was avoiding such offers whenever possible. However, there was one particular hedgehog, a drunkard, who had caused her more problems than she would have otherwise tolerated.

He had offered her a cigar, which she quickly declined, explaining to him that she had stopped smoking a few years ago. Unfortunately, the hedgehog was not willing to leave her just yet. He took a seat beside her and had asked her for her name and contact number. When she refused to answer, the hedgehog chose to ignore her growing annoyance and started talking. She did not grab much on what the hedgehog had said but she heard, along the line, something about drugs, money and women.

Within seconds, she felt a tingling sensual touch on her lower back. Her ears quickly perked up. She swung her legs around and kicked the hedgehog's stomach. The inertia of the impact plunged the hedgehog to the other side of the counter, crashing onto a shelf of empty bottles and glasses. Several of the empty bottles were smashed into a million shards. The shards cut through the hedgehog's skin, resulting in several bloody wounds that went across his face, arms and legs.

The music stopped. The crowd stared and gasped at what they saw. However, her newfound fame had not bothered her a single bit. She went on tending her apple juice, stirring the drink and took a sip from it, ignoring the stares and the whispers. She heard the hedgehog groaned, while at the same time, cursed, mostly with words like 'damn' and 'shit!' coming from his mouth. He staggered up to her and lifted his clenched fist, attempting to strike her. However, he quickly stopped at what he was doing when he saw her calmly withdrawing a small pocketknife from her back and aiming its sharp edge toward his eyes. With a frightened look, the hedgehog hurriedly withdrew from his fight and staggered out of the pub - his face was flushed with a thick colour of red, feeling partly embarrassed and partly angry with the whole mess that he was in.

The event that night had sent a strong message to the men who dared to approach Rouge; they were better off leaving her alone to her own business. From there on, no one else had dared to bother her. However, it had left Rouge feeling even more annoyed and impatient than before. It was close to midnight. Yet, she was still left in the pub alone waiting for the albatross to appear.

She rested her arms on the counter and tapped her right fingers onto its wooden surface, creating a rhythmic pattern of waves.

"Miss Rouge," she heard someone calling her name. Recognizing the rough voice, she spun around and saw the large albatross. Near beside him, a purple weasel stood proudly with his trademark hat on his head and a leather belt worn around his waist, equipped with his favourite sniper, type 97 sniper rifle, grinning at Rouge with his huge fangs. He was tall for a weasel, only a head shorter than his henchman. He held a small cigar at his right hand, branded Winfield. The smell of the cigar filled the air and it caused Rouge to cough several times.

"Hello there, batgirl," the weasel greeted, with an obvious hint of a Brooklyn accent to his voice. With his cigar placed firmly at his mouth, the weasel inhaled deeply and puffed out the smoke, further polluting the already suffocating air. "Yer lookin' finer than ever."

Rouge, covering her mouth and attempting to fan away as much smoke as she could, replied, "And you're looking as despicable and disgusting…'

"Come now, Rouge," said the weasel as he reached for his hat and took out a box of cigarettes out of it and offered her a stick. "It has been six long years since I last saw ya. Surely, this would be a good time for us all to sit back and talk things through."

Refusing to take any of the cigars, Rouge firmly pushed the weasel's hand back to him and said, "Sorry, Nack. I don't smoke anymore."

Nack merely laughed. He flicked his burnt cigar off his hand, and said, "I dun believe this. The glamorous Rouge, has stopped smoking? Yer turning soft, my dear. Surely, ya can't possibly give up a good piece of cigar when ya see one."

She crossed her arms and retained her frown.

"Fine, fine. Your loss."

The weasel took a new cigar out of the box and had it lit with his lighter.

"Someday," Rouge said, shaking her head as she watched the weasel inhaling the cocaine and puffing it out, "your tobaccos are going to kill you."

"Relax, batty. I am not addicted to it," said the weasel with a cool, unshaken voice. "A few cigars here and there can never hurt." He stretched his hand and used the tip of his index finger to tap on his cigar, letting out a few pieces of its burnt part into the air. With his strong Brooklyn accent, Nack yelled, "Storm!"

"Yes, boss?"

"Go get yer own drink, while I attend to this lovely guest of ours."

The albatross silently nodded and he obediently left.

"He's Storm," explained Nack, noticing the obvious hint of curiosity in Rouge's face. "He's my best henchman around; young, loyal, obedient, reliable, perfect for any kind of jobs that I give him."

The answer did not amuse her. Rouge knew better. "Don't you mean jobs that involve stalking and terrorizing victims?"

Nack shrugged. "Say whatever ya want, batty. But, it's legal."

Rouge could not believe this. The business in dealing with drugs and cigars and the fact that there was this pub that had been used to support all of this…. This was not the only place that she knew that practiced such acts. The casinos, some videogame stores and a secretive underground base, where the must formidable criminals could be found…

Many of the illegal activities took place in these locations, prostituting, drug dealing, smuggling cigars and illegal loaning. This fact had been widely known in the public, particularly among the police force. Yet, nothing had been done to control these areas. Rouge suspected bribing and corruption. As she had often heard, these people owned the police. She remembered what Nack had said to her before, "What good a couple of laws can do to us when we have money?"

"Ya looked occupied, my dear. How about a drink?"

Rouge snapped her thoughts out of her mind and saw Nack offering a beer for her. That too she declined. She noticed that the weasel had taken a seat next to her, though he had kept a safe distance between them.

"Batty," said Nack, shaking his head in disbelief. "Yer turning soft. What is the matter? Ya have been living way too long with those law-biding citizens?"

Rouge felt partially annoyed with the comment. She pushed the beer aside and softly but fiercely hissed, "You perfectly know what had happened six years ago. Your henchman has told me that I left the group. What else have you told him?"

Nack shrugged. "That yer a one gorgeous babe," he whistled. "It seems like ya haven't changed a lot since ya left. Yer looking as beautiful as always, only sexier."

"If you dare touch me one more time," Rouge threatened, taking out her pocketknife and aimed its sharp edge toward the weasel. "I'll kill you."

"Fiery as always, eh?" said Nack coolly. "That is what I like about ya. But, relax. Ya have my word. We're here to talk. That's all."

Rouge relaxed a little and she withdrew her pocketknife. However, the bat chose to remain cautious. "Your henchman has mentioned about the Master Emerald. What do you know about it?"

"I know its whereabouts."

The bat's ears tensed. "Where?" she demanded.

But the weasel did not directly answer her. Instead, he devilishly smirked at her and moved his index finger, side by side; telling her that there was a price to pay. "Ya dun think I'm just goin' to tell ya straightaway, do ya? After all, the Master Emerald is a rare gem to keep. It could fetch me an excellent price if I could have it as my own."

"Don't you dare," Rouge threatened. "That emerald is mine."

"It is yers," said the weasel, placing his beer on the counter and pushing it toward Rouge. The glass slid a little and it stopped in front of the bat. "If ya could drink this..."

Rouge looked at the glass and hesitated. It had been a long time since she had touched any of this. The glass was half-filled, with a big piece of ice cube in it and a sliced lemon, half inserted, at the side edge of the glass. She took off the sliced lemon, held the glass close to her nose and smelt it.

"When have ya become so cynical?" she heard the weasel asking her. "I can't possibly do anythin' to my old comrade, can I? Ya have my word. There is nothin' in there."

Finally, Rouge took a huge gulp and finished the beer. She could have sworn that she heard a round of applause from Nack.

"Very good," he commented. "It appears that ya have not lost yer touch, yet."

"Alright, Nack," said Rouge. "I have done my part of the deal. So, where can I find it?"

"Ya have heard about Angel Island, haven't ya?"

Rouge hardened her eyes. Seeing that there was no reply coming out of the bat's mouth, the weasel continued, "Just this mornin', I wuz told by my men that they have heard of a rumor about an old fisherman livin' around this area, proclaimin' that he have seen a floatin' island out at sea two days ago. I wuz quite curious about this rumor. So, I have sent Storm to check on this matter. Accordin' to him, the old toad has seen the island about ten miles from here, at the east side of the town, out at sea. I thought this piece of information might be a value to ya. So, I have sent my men to find ya."

The answer though did not amuse Rouge. "That's far too broad. I need a better and more specific description of its location. You are not helping."

"At least," said Nack coolly. "I have given ya a basic idea on where to look."

The frown in her face did not leave her. "How reliable is the source?"

"That old dud is partially senile, but he knows what he is talking about."

Great. Sarcasm. This was just what she needed- a source of information coming from a senile toad…. He could very well have recalled the location of the island wrongly and she had doubts that Nack would be this honest to her. Yet, this was the best chance she got.

"I could lend ya my cruiser," Nack offered. "It ain't gonna be easy to get there without a proper transport. The sea had been pretty rough for these past few days."

Wow, that was something new. Since when had the weasel become this generous? Rouge could not help but feel suspicious with the sudden generosity that the weasel was giving her. She grabbed hold of the weasel's leather belt and pulled him forward. Ignoring the strong alcoholic scent of tobacco from the weasel's mouth, she glared at him and made an intense eye to eye contact with his eyes. "What's your motive, Nack?" Rouge snarled. "Why are you suddenly helping me?"

Despite her annoyance, Nack remained calm. "Cool it, batty. This is just for old time's sake."

"If this is about trying to lure me back to the gang, forget it!"

"Whoever says that I want you back. No one is forcing you."

Rouge growled. For a moment, there was a dead silence between the two mammals. Rouge remained furious, whereas Nack remained calm and relaxed.

"I trust that you will keep your word," Rouge finally said, letting go of the weasel's belt. "Keep your cruiser. I will fly there."

Furiously, she took out a 50-dollar note out from her pocket and slammed it onto the wooden counter. "Keep the change. I don't need free drinks from a weasel like you."

Without saying another word, she stomped out of the pub and disappeared within the dark shadows of the alleyway.

A sly smirk went across Nack's face. What a fiery lady she was.

"I can't believe you've just told her!"

Nack sensed a new presence in the pub. "Feelin' jealous, my love?" he teased.

"No," said the newcomer. "I just think you're stupid." She walked out of the shadows and stood under the limelight, exposing her purplish feathers and shiny, cobalt eyes to Nack. Though she lacked the curvy figure to that of Rouge's, she was just as attractive, wearing a white tube top that covered only half of her upper chest, exposing her slim belly, a pair of white trousers with a bit of a violet flare on their bottom, and a white bandana, adorned with an exaggerated large pair of golden-coloured sunglasses.

"Why don't we get the emeralds for ourselves?" she lamented. "Just think, Nack. Think of the price that we can get if we possessed those emeralds for ourselves. We'll be billionaires!"

Nack sighed. It was a wonder how he had managed to tolerate her constant nagging all these months when they were together. "My dear," he said sternly. "Duncha even know what these emeralds are?"

"Of course I know what they are! They are the Chaos Emeralds. Rare stones that worth billions!"

"They are more than just money, Wave," Nack explained.

"Oh, really?" said Wave in disbelief, crossing her arms in annoyance. "What makes you think that you know more about the emeralds than I do?"

"Because," yelled Nack, raising his voice as he frowned at the swallow. "I have seen them before!" The yelling that she received from Nack had caused the swallow to remain silent. She disliked being yelled at. However, she knew better than to mess around with the weasel.

"They contain infinite chaos energies, Wave. They are much more powerful than yer regular power rings, so powerful than they can even provide a tiny speck of their energy to a man the power to destroy an entire city! I have seen this happen before," Nack explained, recalling the time when he had witnessed a blue hedgehog, who had borrowed such energy from the Chaos Emeralds, transforming into its shiny golden self, bursting with a huge amount of energy, to destroy the Death Egg.

Yet, all he received from Wave was a laugh. "Don't exaggerate. How could those things be this powerful? They are just mere rocks!"

Nack gave Wave a stern glare. The swallow became silent when she saw that his expression had not changed.

"Are you serious?"

Nack nodded.

"Then, why the hell did you tell that batgirl the location of those emeralds!? Surely, we could get those emeralds for ourselves and make ourselves flirty rich and powerful!"

"It's not as simple as ya think, my dear. Those emeralds…. They are hard to find." Furthermore, they were cautiously guarded by a certain red echidna that the weasel had grown to despise. It was he who was responsible for causing the weasel to become blind on one eye. The weasel had yet to find some way to get his revenge back on the echidna.

"Hah," Wave lamented. "Do you actually think that I am incapable to find them? I am much smarter and resourceful than that old girlfriend of yours!"

"Dun think too lowly of her, Wave," Nack explained. "I have known her far longer than ya do. She is an experienced treasure hunter and is far more capable in findin' those emeralds than ya can ever be. Leave the job of finding the emeralds to her."

"And what? We let her take the emeralds for her own keeping?"

"No."

Nack walked up to Wave and whispered to her ear. As she listened, Wave's grin grew wider and more sinister.

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It was well early in the morning but Rouge had lost count on the time she had spent flying across the sea to find the floating island. It could have been more than an hour, maybe two, or maybe even three. The night had not been pleasant as it started drizzling when she left the mainland and there were strong winds blowing opposite the direction she was heading.

Other than the terrible weather, the flight had been pretty uneventful. Miles and miles around, only water was in sight and this dull scene was starting to bore the bat. She tried looking up the sky for a change of scenery. However, the night had been cloudy and she could see no stars twinkling in the night- only a blanket of grey clouds covering the cobalt sky. Hell, she had not even seen a single speck of any floating island.

She had doubts finding the Master Emerald. Perhaps, this had been a cruel joke all along. Her fists clenched angrily at the mere thought of it. Had she been foolish enough to believe such fairy tales coming from a sly weasel, especially a weasel who had been known as a thief and a fraud? After all, would not have Nack kept the information for himself if he had known that the story was real?

She made an option to do one more final checking before she decided that this was a mere waste of time. She opened her mouth and unleashed a high-pitched sound wave and waited. If there was any object ahead of her, she would be able to hear its presence through the echoes of the sound wave that she created.

A minute passed. Yet, she heard nothing. Sighing, Rouge made a u-turn, deciding that it was time to head for home. However, a few seconds later, a soft echo entered the bat's ears. At first, she was surprised. Then, her excitement grew.

With her newfound energy and enthusiasm, Rouge increased her speed and flew toward the direction where she heard the echo. A small smile spread across her face when she saw a tiny speck of silhouette ahead of her.

The closer she flew to the silhouette, the clearer its shape became. There was no doubt about it. It was the floating island that she was seeing. Heh, maybe, she had been wrong about Nack. For once, the weasel was truthful.

Minutes passed before the island virtually came into a perfect view. There was a high mountain right at the centre of the island. At the foot of the mountain, she could see patches of fresh greenery, rainforests, flourished with majestic, exotic plants and colourful flowers. The floras were things that she had never seen before, huge mushrooms, tall trees, and flowers so beautiful that no words could ever be used to describe them. She was in awe with the beauty of the nature and Rouge was at loss for words. It was definitely different from the dull view of the sea.

Suddenly, Rouge heard a faint beep behind her. She turned around and gasped in shock when she saw a flying robot, which resembled the shape of a bee, charging directly at her. Quickly, she did a back-flip, dodging it in a near nick of time.

She held her breath and watched its movement carefully.

Slowly, the robot turned around and faced her with its glowing red eyes, sending a fearful chill throughout her body. Where had it come from? Its overall appearance looked eerie, yet strikingly familiar to her. Although she did not know what it was called, she had heard about this robot before. Dubbed as the king of flying robots, these badniks were known as the deadliest flying robots of its time- equipped with a wide range of weaponries in them, ranging from deadly lasers to missiles. Dr. Ivo Robotnik, a widely-known brilliant and yet, slightly insane, scientist, was the one behind these creations. He had used them for his own evil intentions. However, the project had been sealed a long time ago and it had been years since anyone saw another of this type of badnik. Hence, the presence of one right now greatly surprised her. However, this badnik that she was looking at right now looked different from it predecessors. It was far more streamline, quicker and looked tougher. She doubted that the good ol doctor was the one behind this.

She suspected Nack. However, she was certain that not even the weasel himself would be this brilliant enough to hack through one of the doctor's minions and programmed it for his own usage. Nack had always hated machines and preferred using brute force over mechanism. This simply was not his style.

She did not have the time to think things through. The badnik started firing chains after chains of missiles at her. The bat swerved around the sky in a zigzag pattern, leaving behind trails of black smokes, as the missiles exploded behind her. However, her speed failed to match the speed of the missiles and the last chain of the missiles exploded in front of her face. Thinking quickly, she shielded herself with her wings to block off the impact. Although she was barely unscathed, her left wing had been scraped.

Rouge moaned. She looked around and could see nothing but thick, black smokes all around her. As the smokes cleared, Rouge panicked when she saw that the robot was nowhere in sight.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw a blinding flash forming behind her. However, it was far too late. The moment she turned around, the badnik emerged out of the light and it dashed right at her and directly hit her gut with its stinger, resulting in the bat screaming in agony and vomiting out fresh blood from her mouth. The impact sent the bat spiralling down toward the floating island and crashed landed onto the thick branches of the forest trees before hitting the ground with a sickening thud. Her scream pierced through the night sky with the company of a lightning flash, followed by a loud thunderous boom, above her. She weakly coughed out more blood and slowly and painfully drifted off into a deep unconsciousness. She had a final look at the badnik glaring down at her before her vision blurred and eventually, blackened.

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"Marvellous." A sly smirk spread across his face as he watched a live video of Rouge plummeting down to Angel Island through a flat screen that hung across his office wall, opposite his wooden desk. Behind his desk, the weasel leaned on his chair- one hand hung over the back of his chair and the other, holding a half-burnt cigar- and took in a great amount of cocaine into his mouth and puffed out the smoke. "This is simply wonderful."

He turned his head to look at Wave, who had been sitting on the far end of his desk, with one leg on top of the other, swivelling around her necklace, adorned with a small, sphere-shaped, red metal device, worn around her neck. Wave posed a shrewd look to her face, which was half-hidden in the shadows due to the dim limelight of the office room. "I have never known that you would be this vicious," the weasel commented. "But, I like it."

Wave's smirk widened. She liked it when her boss was happy. It meant that she was a value to Nack. "Like I said," she bragged. "I'm far more capable than that old girlfriend of yours."

Nack remained silent. His sly smirk eventually dissipated. He knew well enough not to give Wave too much credit. Although Wave had proven much of her usefulness and her loyalty to him many times before, she had been known to be impatient, egocentric, stubborn and overly confident in her abilities. So much so that she would often go against his plans in favour of her own style in handling any tasks that Nack had assigned her to do. The last thing he needed right now was finding out that Wave had decided to mess around with his plans to pursue the Master Emerald in her own technique. Knowing her, he would expect Wave to take the initiative in searching the Master Emerald herself rather than waiting for Rouge to locate the gem for them. He gave a dead serious glare at Wave and warned her, "But, remember, Wave. We need her alive."

Wave, though, remained indifferent. Her sly smirk never dissipated. "Don't worry, Nack," she reassured as she lay on the table and placed her arms around the weasel's neck, flirtingly moving her hands from the back of his neck to his shoulders. "I perfectly know what I am doing," Wave seductively said. "After all, both you and I know just how 'precious' that batgirl is to you. I wouldn't want to see her dead now, would I?"

She moved her right hand away from Nack and held up her metal piece. Using her thumb, while completely ignoring the live video behind her that continued to flicker and expose her evil intentions, she pressed its centre.

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Upon receiving its signal from Metropolis, the flying robot shot out a laser beam from its stinger and struck a nearby cliff, resulting in a catastrophic explosion and a landslide, almost burying an unconscious victim alive.

Satisfied, the badnik flew off the island and disappeared within the thick grey clouds of the night sky as it headed back to Metropolis. As it did so, the sky continued to pour, accompanied with a blinding flash of lightning, followed by a loud thunderous boom that pierced through the night sky.

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