Rouge hovered meticulously over the Master Emerald's altar. Usually that read-headed rat Knuckles was guarding it. This time around, however, Knuckles wasn't there. That was extremely rare. Though she did find Knuckles' absence unsettling, Rouge descended and looked around. Still, there was no sign of Knuckles. Rouge smiled and decided to take full advantage of this absence to at last steal the Master Emerald. As Rouge approached the Master Emerald, it began to flash and glow hectically. "Woah," Rouge wondered out loud, "what's going on?" It continued to glow brighter, and Rouge began to hear a chant emerging from the Master Emerald.
" The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart. The heart is the controller. The controller serves to unify the chaos. "
"Hey," Rouge began, "isn't that the chant Knu-" She was cut off by an enormous flash of blinding light. Rouge had to look away to avoid becoming blind as a bat. When the light dimmed out, Rouge turned to look at the Master Emerald once again, only to find a female echidna standing in front of it.
"Oh my!" the echidna blurted out, "I did not expect to find someone else guarding the Master Emerald." Rouge eyed the newcomer.
"Who are you?" she asked suspiciously.
"My name is Tikal," answered the peach-furred echidna. "May I ask who you are?"
"I'm Rouge," Rouge replied.
"Well then, Rouge," Tikal said, "may I ask what you are doing here? If I am not mistaken, is not Knuckles the one entrusted with the responsibility of guarding the Master Emerald?" Rouge scoffed.
"Who said I'm here to guard it?" Rouge asked. "Maybe it isn't as obvious for one as naïve as yourself, but I'm here to take it."
"What?" Tikal asked, "Why would you do that? Surely you understand its purpose and importance."
"I do!" Rouge cheered as she clapped her hands excitedly, "It's purpose is to sit in my house and brighten the place up with it's beauty!"
"No!" Tikal responded, "that is most certainly not its purpose. Long ago, the gods realized that people were using the chaos emeralds for evil and created the Master Emerald as their plan for restoring order. Should the chaos emeralds' power fall into the wrong hands, the Master Emerald could negate it. And apparently," Tikal continued as she looked around Angel Island, "it is now being used to keep this place aloft." Rouge yawned.
"I didn't ask for a history lesson," she mocked. Now it was Tikal's turn to scoff. She was greatly infuriated by Rouge's selfish ignorance. "Watch your tongue! The Master Emerald delivers justice upon those it deems seamy, and you are not giving it a very good impression! If you failed to keep up with my explanation, let me simplify it for you. This emerald not only was created to keep this island floating, but also to stop people like you!" Rouge merely sighed.
"If you don't get out of my way, I will remove you myself," Rouge threatened.
"Such selfish barbarity!" Tikal yelled before ducking under a kick from Rouge. Rouge attempted several more kicks, each which were successfully dodged or blocked by Tikal. Tikal retaliated with a thrust kick. Rouge caught it and flipped Tikal over, kicked her away, and ran after her. When Rouge attempted an unsafe standing split-kick that left her open, Tikal countered with a palm strike. However, she strengthened it further with a bolt of energy at her palms. It sent Rouge sprawling away. The Master Emerald suddenly flashed. Tikal turned to Rouge from a distance, wondering if she was unconscious already. As Rouge got up and opened her eyes, she knew something was wrong right away. Everything was dark. Had the Master Emerald created a void around her and Tikal to ensure no nearby animals were hurt in their battle? Suddenly, Rouge felt a powerful thrust kick hit her in the stomach, and she was knocked away even further. Rouge got up by cartwheeling away and felt her foot kick Tikal in the process, but she could not see it. Yet she knew Tikal could see her, otherwise how could Tikal have run up to her and kick her?
"Wh-what did you do to me?" Rouge asked in horror. Tikal looked at Rouge in pity, knowing that Rouge could not tell the sympathy in her face. Tikal masked her pity with harsh words. "Blindness best suits a bat, I suppose," Tikal mocked. "The Master Emerald has an ironic punishment for you, does it not?" Tikal asked the bat that now had collapsed to her knees in tears. "It seems to hope that perhaps by being blinded, you can see the error of your ways." Tikal decided to show a bit more of her sympathy. "I truly am sorry for what the Master Emerald has done to you. In any case, I will not defy its judgment. Good luck." And with that, Tikal went to search for sonic and his friends, leaving Rouge to sob herself to sleep, but not before swearing revenge on Tikal.