Rouge: All characters used here are property of their respective owners. Except for me. I belong to no man. (wink)
A prinny slowly made its way down the hall, quickly jumping aside as a pair of yoshis came tearing around the corner. The two dinos were neck and neck, sprinting like mad toward the dining room door.
"WHEEEEEEE!" shouted Flonne, being daring enough to have taken her hands off the yoshi. Colette had her eyes closed, enjoying the feel of moving at the yoshis current speed, and Riolu had climbed onto her shoulder, and looked like he was cheering.
With no warning, the yoshis switched to brakes, sliding down the hall while making the sound of screeching tires, and leaving behind rubber marks from their shoes that were joined by flames from the resulting friction. When they came to a full stop, both had their noses just barely touching the door of the dining room.
(I won!) cheered the first yoshi.
(No way, I won!)
(Are you kidding? I didn't even see you in that last stretch, you were so far behind!)
Because neither of the angels spoke the language of the yoshis, they were unaware that the dinos were arguing. Both hopped off their mounts, heading through the door. "So, what do you think we're having?" asked Colette.
Flonne shrugged her shoulders. "I just hope it has lotsa sugar."
Turning around at the sound of the door opening, Kawasaki smiled wide. "Oh, good morning ladies! All ready for breakfast, I see!"
"What is it? What, what? Tell me!" exclaimed Flonne, quickly becoming more excited by the second.
"Cinnamon rolls!" the Dream Land chef replied.
"Yay! I want seven!"
Colette smiled. "I'll have eight, please!"
Flonne glanced sideways at Colette before adding, "And I want a big glass of, um…chocolate milk! No, two!"
"Three glasses for me! Um…what is chocolate milk, anyway?" Colette sweat-dropped as she asked.
'Oh, so she wants to fight, does she?' thought Flonne, giving her best impression of an evil little smile, though it came off far more as cute than evil. "And I'll have, um…I know! Give me a glass of the icing, too!"
'Icing?' Colette silently wondered. "Me too, please!"
Kawasaki quickly rushed into the kitchen to work on preparing the girls orders as they continued to go back and forth, each trying to out do the other.
Meanwhile, back out in the hall, Game was approaching the dining room, with Amy still in his arms. "We're almost there…"
The pink hedgehog snuggled against him some. "You're so sweet to carry me like this."
Game smiled wide, though it vanished as he rounded a corner and took in the sight left over from Flonne and Colette's race. Not only was there evidence that there had been flames, and a fire extinguisher used, but the yoshis fight had reached the point that they were throwing eggs at each other.
The pair sweat-dropped as they looked over the chaos. "Sorry Amy, looks like I have to take care of this…" He delicately set her down. "You head on in and get all settled, ok? I'll be in as soon as I'm done here."
Amy nodded and walked toward the door. As she did, the prinny from earlier came rushing past, holding the fire extinguisher that presumably had been used in the hall already. "D00D!" it shouted in fear as a stray egg slammed into it, causing it to explode.
Game looked at the yoshis, now very concerned. "Guys, just what kinda eggs are you using? He had twelve-hundred HP left!"
Amy took one last look back at Game before pushing open the door and entering the dining room, noticing a pair of girls sitting at one of the tables, still in the middle of their heated competition.
"And I'll have two of that, too!" declared Flonne.
"I'll take two also, please!" replied Colette.
'Whoa, who are these two? And what are they all uptight about?' wondered Amy to herself, continuing to listen.
"Whatever you want, I can cook anything in a jiffy!" shouted Kawasaki from the kitchen.
"Fine, then I'll just have whatever you can make in the next five minutes." stated Flonne in a matter-of-fact way, crossing her arms in satisfaction.
Colette looked nervous for a second, but recovered. "I'll take whatever you can make in six minutes!" she called out, smiling in a way that seemed to say 'top that'.
Amy sweat-dropped again as Flonne leaned toward Colette a little. "SEVEN!" the fallen angel yelled.
"EIGHT!" Colette shot back.
"Um…excuse me?" Amy timidly asked, trying to get the girls' attention.
"FIVE! …Wait…" Flonne sweat-dropped as she realized her mistake.
"Yay!" cheered Colette. "Eight's more than five, I win!"
Amy spoke a bit louder this time. "Excuse me?"
"Fine, I'll just have twice what you're having!" retorted Flonne.
"No, I'm gonna have twice what YOU'RE having!" Colette countered.
'Ok, patience running thin…' thought Amy.
Flonne leaned a bit over the table as she went on. "Well, I'll just have three times your two times!"
Colette followed Flonne's example and leaned a bit over the table as well. "Then I'll have four times your three times my two times…wait, what?"
Flonne thought for a second. "Um, I'm really bad at math, but I think that means 24 times…"
Colette put the question aside. "You know what? It doesn't matter, let's just eat until we can't eat anymore, and the winner is whoever ate more!"
"Fine!" Flonne quickly agreed, suddenly noticing something. "Hey, why'd it get dark?" The two turned just in time to watch as Amy brought her hammer down on the table, causing what food was already on it to jump up and spill all over both angels. "Heeeey! What was that for?"
Amy huffed. "I've been trying to get your attention for awhile now, don't you know it's rude to ignore someone?"
Flonne sweat-dropped while smiling nervously. "Oops! Um, I'm sorry, I guess I didn't see you there…"
Amy took one last heavy breath while putting away her hammer. "Now then, I was wanting to ask: what are you two arguing about?"
Flonne paused before sheepishly admitting, "I don't really know."
"I forgot too…" Colette shyly added.
Amy slightly rolled her eyes in annoyance. "In that case, my next question is: what's for breakfast?"
Flonne ignored Amy, having become too interested in trying to lick some icing off her elbow. Colette was the one to answer. "The chef said cinnamon rolls…I hope there's more since all we had are kinda dirty now…"
Suddenly becoming aware of exactly what her actions had lead to, Amy sweat-dropped. "Um…I'm really sorry about that…"
"Nah, being dirty is kinda fun!" Flonne cheerfully replied, clearly having no clue just how wildly such a statement could be misinterpreted. "Come on, I know I can beat you both at…um…Colette, what were we doing again?"
"Um…having breakfast, I think?" replied the angel.
'What's with these two?' Amy nervously wondered to herself.
Flonne smiled wide. "Oh, now I remember, we were gonna see who could eat the most."
Colette smiled as well. "Oh yeah! I can!"
"We'll just see, then! This is gonna be so much fun!" the fallen angel shot back.
Amy took a nervous step backwards. 'Ok, Amy…just say nothing, and slowly back away from the crazy people…'
Colette rose from her seat. "Let's get some more food and get started!" Flonne got up as well, nodding happily. Amy, meanwhile, found herself a seat on the far side of the room from the two.
As the two began to haul several plates pilled with cinnamon rolls back over to their table, Flonne mentioned, "I'm having so much fun here, aren't you?"
Colette nodded. "I sure am! I'm so happy I was invited to come here!"
"Me too." stated Flonne as she set down a plate. "There's so much to do, and I met you!"
Amy's ears perked up a little as she listened to the conversation. 'Wait…they were both invited, too? Is this hotel only by invite or something?'
Colette added another plate to the table. "Yeah, I'm really glad I met you, too! We're gonna be best friends!"
The two finally took their seats again, satisfied that the amount of food on the table would be enough. Flonne practically shoved her face into a plate, eating like an animal. Colette wasn't willing to follow that example, so she settled for shoveling the rolls into her mouth as quickly as she could by hand. After several seconds of tearing through the food on her current plate, Flonne paused to snag her glass of icing and began to chug it down. It was hard to miss that her whole face was now solid white from having been shoved into the plate of icing-covered rolls.
Suddenly, Riolu hopped up onto the table. He could sense Colette's desire to win through her aura, and was now intent on helping her. Before Colette could even respond, the young pokemon had picked up a plate of rolls, forced her mouth open, and begun to dump them in, albeit with some difficulties.
"Blo flair!" Flonne managed despite her VERY full mouth.
Riolu looked at her and 'barked', grabbing a glass of milk and beginning to pour it down Colette's throat. Her neck could be seen pulsing a bit in front with each gulp, Riolu almost forgetting to stop long enough to allow her to breathe. Meanwhile, having no intention of losing, Flonne used her tail to grab her glass of icing and pour it into her mouth while using her hands to shovel buns in as well, her entire body now covered in the sweet, sticky icing.
Colette and Riolu both growled, and Colette snagged another plate while Riolu grabbed another glass. While Colette dumped buns into her mouth, Riolu poured milk in on top, which happened to make chewing and swallowing the buns easier, so Colette was able to tear through this plate's worth with no problems. But Flonne still had a trick up her sleeve, and in a fit of pique, she threw herself onto the largest remaining pile of buns on the table. 'Feeding frenzy' would be the only phrase to come to mind if one were to look into her eyes right now…assuming you could see them through the icing covering her.
Looking as though he had been struck by inspiration, Riolu jumped down from the table and rushed off into the kitchen. While he was gone, Colette did her best to keep up with Flonne's eating rate. As for Flonne, she paused in her eating just long enough to let out a burp that rattled the foundations of the hotel. Her desire to eat as much as possible was preventing her from noticing that her expanding gut was beginning to push some of the food off the sides of the table.
Colette had just begun to use her entire arm to rake the buns into her mouth, while reaching for another glass of milk, when Riolu reappeared. He was carrying a hose, though where he got it was unclear. Rushing over to a vat marked 'icing', he quickly hooked the hose to it, then he rushed over to Colette, offering her the other end. Flonne had been too busy eating to see Riolu at first, but had noticed him now, and was beginning to move herself toward Colette, intending to take the hose for herself.
Riolu quickly made sure Flonne couldn't reach it, then jammed it into Colette's mouth, rushing back over to the vat. Taking a firm grip on the valve, he turned it until it was completely opened. Colette's eyes widened a bit as the raging torrent of icing began to gush into her mouth and almost effortlessly slide down her throat…she almost didn't need to even bother with swallowing! As she quickly gulped down the sticky white fluid, she was beginning to feel a slight strain in her already pushed to the limits belly.
Flonne reached out again, taking a weak hold on the hose. Colette still intended to win, so she quickly bit down on the end in her mouth, not letting go. As she held on, her eyes slid shut, but not because she was trying to keep the hose in her mouth…it was because her tummy was in a good deal of pain as of this point. Flonne began to tug at the hose, now acting out of gluttony rather than a desire to win. In a clumsy attempt to get the hose for herself, Flonne fell off the table and right onto poor Colette's stomach, causing her to release the hose with a yelp of pain.
The hose began to flop about freely, spraying icing everywhere. Riolu saw it leave Colette's mouth and shut the valve as quickly as he could, but it wasn't fast enough to prevent the entire room from becoming covered in the stuff…Amy had ducked beneath her table just in time to avoid becoming part of the mess. Colette was able to keep herself quiet, but her face alone showed the level of pain she was now in between stuffing herself and Flonne being on top of her. Noticing, Flonne weakly called out, "Medicine…please…?"
A moogle hurried out of the kitchen with two glasses of what looked like water, offering them to the girls, his eyes as big as his pompom due to his disbelief that they'd eaten so much. Flonne quickly drank one glass, then helped Colette drink the other, the look of pain in her face fading a little, but not going away just yet. Flonne smiled, her stretched tummy flopping onto her legs as she exclaimed, "That…was…a blast!"
"Y-yeah…that was fun…" Colette weakly replied. Her tummy was now big enough that her bellybutton was easily exposed, her shirt no longer able to reach down far enough to cover it even when her arms were down. There were several visible stretch marks on it as well, and any movement of it was curious due to the nature of the icing inside it. Flonne's own tummy was close to the size of Colette's, though a bit smaller, and had much the same curious texture and movement. Her red undershirt was also beginning to rip a good deal, it was something of a wonder it hadn't torn off yet.
Amy slowly climbed back out from under the table where she had found safety from the icing-spraying hose. Looking around at the mess in the room, her gaze stopped as she took note of the other two girls, quickly turning away. 'I…I think…I'm going to be sick…ugh…'
Colette took a look at her swollen midsection. "I guess the chao garden's gonna have to wait a bit…I feel like I can't even move, I'm so full!"
Flonne smiled wide. "I think it's kinda nice. The pressure sorta feels good. And the ground is a lot softer than it looks, I feel like I'm sitting on a cushion!"
Colette sweat-dropped. "Um…F-Flonne? You're actually…sitting on me."
"Oh. Should I move? …I don't wanna move, can I stay?"
Colette blushed a bit. "S-sure."
Flonne cheered happily while looking herself over. "That was the best meal I've ever eaten!" She gave her tummy a happy pat, causing it to wobble from side to side, tossing some icing off itself in the process.
"That was the BIGGEST meal I ever ate…I didn't even think that it was possible to eat so much…"
The door to the dining room opened as Game finally entered, wiping the last piece of an eggshell off of himself. He immediately went stiff, however, when he looked up and saw both the mess and its creators. "G-girls…what happened here?"
"Breakfast competition." explained Colette. "Um, come to think of it, who won, Flonne?"
Game blushed a bit. "Well, looking at you two, I'd have to say that Colette won."
Colette cheered while Flonne groaned. Meanwhile, Game's actions weren't going unnoticed by a certain pink hedgehog. 'W-why is he looking at them like that? And why isn't he looking for me?' she mentally inquired.
Game's blush deepened a bit as he went on. "You two must be really…full…want me to, um…" As he spoke, Amy's hands were slowly tightening into fists, thought they quickly relaxed as he finished, "Call some yoshis for you?"
Colette smiled brightly. "Oh yeah, I forgot about them! We can ride them to the chao garden!"
Game nodded. "Wouldn't want you exerting yourselves on a full stomach."
Amy was continuing to watch from the far side of the room, her mind still ranting away. 'H-he's just doing his job, right? Th-there's no need to get worked up, right? Right?'
"That would be so nice of you!" Colette replied to Game's remark.
Game pulled out a device and pushed a button on it. "They'll be here any second."
"Thank you! Um…" Colette paused, turning toward Flonne again. "Flonne? You're gonna have to get off me if we're going to the chao garden…"
The fallen angel smiled nervously. "Oh yeah, sorry! It's just so comfortable here."
'I bet it is…' thought Game as he took another look at Colette's stuffed belly.
The two girls worked their way to their feet as a pair of yoshis, different from the ones before, walked in. (I JUST took a bath!) the first complained upon seeing the girls.
(She looks delicious.) the second replied, licking its chops a little, but knowing better than to try and eat a guest.
The two angels quickly climbed on. "C'mon, Colette! I wanna see the cute chao!" called Flonne, anxious to get moving. Colette nodded and got onto the other yoshi, and the two headed out, Game finding himself unable to resist taking a good look at Flonne's oversized, bouncing rear as she went out the door.
By now, it was all Amy could do to not walk over and make use of her hammer…though she wasn't sure if it would be more effective to use it on Game, the angels…or both. 'WHY? Why is he looking at them like that? Those two shouldn't be going to the chao garden, they should be going to take baths…and maybe boxercise some…' Her mental rant was finally brought to a halt as Game turned back around and took note of her, walking over.
"Sorry about that Amy…I figured I should…do something…" he explained.
Amy quickly forced herself to calm down and smile. "U-um, it's ok!"
Game slowly took a look around. "They…sure ate a lot, huh?"
The female hedgehog looked ready to throw up. "P-please…don't say…that word right now…"
"Why? Wh-what's wrong?"
"I-I'm sorry, but…after everything I just saw…even the thought of food is…" She didn't finish, shivering hard.
"So…you don't like eating much?" asked Game, his eyes momentarily having a you-just-ran-over-my-puppy look to them.
"It's really not so much the eating itself, it's just…they ate like…well, to be frank, like pigs!"
"Oh. Well, th-that's fine, I guess they did make a little mess…"
"LITTLE mess?" a new voice inquired. Turning around, game saw that it was Steel, who was standing in the doorway, looking the room over. He finally stepped further in, to better survey the damage. "Just what the Heckran happened in here?"
Game chuckled nervously. "From what I understand, Colette and Flonne got into an eating competition."
Steel sweat-dropped. "This whole mess was made by just those two?"
Game pointed at the vat, which still had the hose attached to it, while getting closer to Steel so as to keep his voice down to prevent Amy from hearing. "I think THAT'S the real cause here. Remember? You put that there in case a guest were to come along and say 'I think I'll jam this hose in my mouth and see what happens'." After a long pause, he somewhat reluctantly added, "I apologize for calling that idea dumb…"
Steel took a look at the vat and smiled. "So it actually worked? …Go figure…" He took another quick look around. 'Huh, that's funny…Roll said she'd be here, and I don't see her…maybe I should go check on her again…' he thought to himself. "Well, I think I'm gonna go look for Roll, so I'll leave you two alone for now." He turned around and headed out the door, turning in the direction of Roll's room.
Game turned back to Amy. "Are you gonna be ok?" he asked, completing the thought he had started before Steel had walked in.
"I think so…I just don't wanna be around food right now…" replied Amy.
"W…well, let's just move on, ok?" he asked, his face having become a little pale at the concept of a girl that didn't want to eat.
"U-um…are you ok? You suddenly don't look so good yourself…"
"It's…" He paused to sigh before saying, "It's nothing."
'Then why did you sigh?' Amy asked within her mind. "Well, if you're sure…"
"You wanna do something, or…something…?" Game asked nervously, desperate to find a way to change the subject.
"Well, we already saw the chao garden…what else is there?"
Game began to think, trying to come up with something Amy might like that wouldn't lead to the topic of food. However, his thoughts were cut off as his watch began to vibrate, a small red LED inside it beginning to blink. With an annoyed sigh, he sadly stated, "I…I gotta go, Amy…"
Amy was clearly taken aback. "B-but…you just got here…"
"I-I know, I'm sorry…but I guess this is important, or something…" Game sighed yet again as he turned around and headed for the door.
As he left the room, It was all Amy could do to stop herself from bursting into tears. 'Was earlier…just some kind of mistake or something? Why is he leaving…?'
Meanwhile, back in the control room, the door was nearly ripped from its hinges as Steel flew through it on the warp star. "GREYMATTER! SHUT OFF THE PORTAL MACHINE, NOW!"
The Galvan quickly began to do so. "What's going on? I heard the alarm, but-"
"Just cut the portal's power, now!" Steel quickly took a seat at one of the terminals, beginning to type furiously. "Come on Game, where are you…?" he growled to himself as he worked. A few seconds later, Game drudged in, clearly not thinking about whatever the current crisis was. Glancing at his friend, Steel quickly asked, "What is with you?"
"Just…nothing, just…"
Steel cut him off. "Good, then. 'Cause someone's trying to steal the Chaos Emeralds!"
Game immediately snapped out of his bad mood. "Huh? B-but without them-"
Steel nodded. "Right. The portal's the only way out, so the thief's gotta come back here. I'm working on finding out who it is right now…"
Game scratched his head. "Well, who's got access to this sort of technology? I mean, the contract blocks magic, so it has to be tech."
Steel continued Game's thought. "AND it would have to be someone from a dimension WE already accessed…which kinda rules out anyone from Colette and Flonne's worlds, so it's gotta be from Roll or Amy's…" Steel suddenly cut himself off, a look coming over his face that seemed to say 'bingo!'.
"Dr. Wily?" asked Game.
"Come on, surely if I can get it, you can too. Amy's world, Chaos Emeralds, thief…"
Game's eyes widened. "You don't mean…?"
"Calling up bio. Rouge the Bat: a pick-pocket expert with an eye for all gems, the Chaos Emeralds are at the top of her list. She works for the secret services in Sonic's world…and has also worked with Eggman before…bet he coulda sent her here somehow…"
Game took a look at the image displayed for Rouge. "Well, if it's her, then I wouldn't be surprised if she's already figured out that we killed the portal…we should get looking."
"True. But we gotta be careful. She's a bat, which means she can fly, and she seems to have excellent climbing and digging abilities, according to this. I have the warp star, but what about you? If she tries flying…"
"I got it covered, ok? You check the upper levels, I'll search the lower ones, and Greymatter, if she comes in here, lock her in and call us, ok?"
The small alien nodded. "I also overwrote your passwords on the portal, so now only I know the one to reactivate it. And I'll stay deep in the machinery where she shouldn't be able to reach me."
"Good. Now get going!" exclaimed Game as he rushed out of the control room.
Steel quickly pulled out the warp star and rushed up into the hotel's higher levels, silently pondering to himself about where to look. "Let's see now…if I were a thief that knew my only exit was gone, I'd hide somewhere until I could escape later. So…where would be a place I likely wouldn't be found?" He paused as he came to a stop in front of door that was metal, as opposed to the wood doors located everywhere else. It had something of a vault door feel to it, and had four words engraved on the front: Power Room – Employees Only. "Yeah, seems like the best place to me."
He quickly opened the door and slid inside, looking around. The room was large, and circular shaped. Standing in a circle were seven pylons, one for each Chaos Emerald, and each of which was sparkling, despite the Emeralds being missing from them. Above where each Emerald was supposed to sit was an energy siphon, all of which had shut down. It was an automatic response to the Emeralds being removed, to ensure the machine wouldn't be damaged by trying to draw power from nothing.
Steel noted that the room was deadly quiet…that kind of deadly quiet where you could hear a pin hit the floor on the other side of the room without even trying. He quickly ran what he'd seen in the bio back through his mind. 'I'm gonna be up against a bat…she's probably able to see in the dark better than me right now, and her hearing's probably better than mine right now, too…' He pulled out his remote, activating a flashlight feature on it and beginning to look around.
From behind one of the pylons, a figure was inching its way into a better position for an attack. 'That's right, look the other way for just a second longer…' she thought as she prepared herself.
Steel deactivated the flashlight function, but readied a different one, his eyes moving to one side as though he were trying to look over his shoulder without turning his head. 'Who's the dumb one now?' he thought as he stood ready.
The figure took another look at her soon-to-be victim. 'I only get one shot at this, gotta make it count. …Ok…go!' In one quick, elegant move, the figure dove off the pylon and rushed Steel, gliding toward him effortlessly. But she was taken a bit aback as Steel quickly hopped to one side, causing her to miss. He flicked the remote, and a twisting beam of blue light snagged her by the foot.
"Gotcha, bat girl!" Steel declared happily.
"Sorry, but I like to play hard to get." replied Rouge, performing a roundhouse kick that tore the remote from Steel's grip, the beam disappearing in the process.
Quickly searching for a way to keep Rouge in his sights and also get the remote back, Steel smiled, and also secretly reached for his phone to send an alert to Game. "Interesting. Ya know…I kinda like girls that play that game. Maybe you'd like a little challenge?"
Rouge smiled naughtily. "I don't take you as the type to like threesomes."
"Oh, threesomes, eh? Would that be two boys or two girls?"
"Oh, I don't know, what do you like?" Before Steel could respond, she slipped into the shadows, now hidden from his view again.
'Where'd she go?' he thought as he quickly looked around, and took advantage of the time he now had to reach for his fallen remote, continuing to talk in the hopes of getting Rouge to reveal herself again. "Personally, I'd prefer two girls…though I kinda think all or most guys are that way…" As he begin to stand from retrieving the remote, he gave a slight cry of pain as Rouge swooped in and planted her foot in his backside, flipping off him. "So, I guess someone likes to play kinda rough, huh?"
Rouge batted her eyes almost playfully. "You know, I think it's just so sexy when a man overpowers me. Too bad I'm not gonna find that here, huh?"
"Ya know, I kinda think I could surprise you there. Maybe you'd like to give me a fair chance?"
"Why not?" the bat replied, shrugging as she stepped into the middle of the room, clearly not perceiving Steel to be of any threat to her.
"Really? I most defiantly must admit, it's really sexy the way you can handle yourself so confidently."
"Sorry sweetie, but it's too late to kiss up."
"Oh, I'm not kissing up. We both know we're after the same thing here in the end. I just like to give an opponent proper credit." Even as he spoke, Steel was slowly inching his way closer to her.
"Well, no amount of 'credit' is going to get these back, you understand?"
Steel ignored the remark, continuing his own train of thought as he slowly got closer to Rouge. "You know, I've heard about you before, Rouge the Bat. And there was always one thing I knew I'd ask if I ever got the chance to meet you…"
"Really?" asked Rouge in a tone that dripped of uninterest. "And what's that?"
"Why do you want the Chaos Emeralds so badly?"
Rouge scoffed. "Do I need a reason? Everything shiny in the world is MY property. It's as simple as that."
"Just thought I'd ask-" Steel cut himself off as he again flipped out the grapple beam from his remote, this time snagging her wrist and yanking her toward him. Rouge took advantage of the momentum to deliver a powerful drill kick, though Steel managed to hang on to the remote and pull her in again, grabbing both her wrists with his hands. "I really shoulda seen that coming…" he growled, referring to the drill kick.
Rouge smiled in her usual way. "So should've I. After all, EVERYONE wants to be close to little old me…"
Steel quickly twisted, forcing Rouge onto the floor on her back and getting above her, holding her down. Not even the slightest bit of worry or fear crossed her face, though. "So then, who else has had the honor of being this close to you?"
"That's none of your business. A lady never brags about that sort of thing." With a quick wink, she almost effortlessly managed to roll out from under Steel.
"Ok, enough of this already…" Holding his remote steady, Steel activated the beam sword function on it, the blue blade of light giving some extra illumination to the room.
"Aww, how cute. And what are you going to do with that, bore me to death?"
"No. It's quickly becoming clear to me that you're too good a fighter for the old 'pin and say uncle' routine, so I guess that means I'm gonna have to beat you up a little first."
"But you'll have to catch me!" Rouge pointed out, flying up onto one of the pylons.
"Let me guess, you think being up high is a problem for me." Steel grinned while pulling out the warp star again, hopping onto it.
Rouge sighed in annoyance. "So now you think you can fly better than me? Aren't we macho."
"I never claimed that. I'm just saying that flying doesn't take you out of my reach-range."
"Well then, prove it."
Steel paused for a second, then rushed Rouge at full speed. Unprepared for how quickly the star could move, Rouge took the hit, the star slamming into her midsection. Steel found himself momentarily distracted by the rather noticeable bounce this caused in Rouge's…'endowments'…but quickly shoved the thought aside. The bat landed at the base of the pylon, and Steel rushed in, ready to use his beam sword.
"Alright, you're a little better than I though…" Rouge admitted as she quickly readied herself for the next attack, nimbly ducking and jumping over the sword as Steel swung it. The whole time, she never broke eye contact with him.
"You're a bit better than I heard as well, it seems." Steel quickly pressed a button, combining the remote's sword and grapple functions to create a beam sword with a bending blade. This caught Rouge off-guard, nicking her cheek, though she didn't flinch.
Rouge gave another naughty grin. "I can go for hours." She quickly preformed a sweeping kick, trying to knock Steel off his feet. Steel easily jumped over her leg, pulling something out of his exclamation-mark-block backpack, and keeping it hidden. "More toys, huh?"
"Maybe…" Steel replied. Suddenly, his clothes changed colors, his shorts and vest becoming red and his shirt becoming white.
Rouge raised in eye in curiosity at how this was supposed to help her opponent. "Not bad, but I really think the blue was a more honest color for you."
"And my favorite, but you see, the thing is-" Steel cut himself off again as, with no warning, he slapped his hand against the exposed skin on Rouge's arm, releasing a fireball at point-blank range. Rouge screamed in pain and backed off, clearly having no idea that such an attack was coming. The wound looked to hurt a lot, as it was still smoking.
Steel had no intentions of stopping now, though. He quickly rushed her on the star again, swinging the sword like a baseball bat, making solid contact with Rouge's gut. She flew backwards into the wall, slamming into it HARD. She quickly got to her feet again, trying to recover from having the wind knocked out of her. Steel rushed her one final time, this time sliding off the star, standing on her toes and holding her wrists against the wall. "I wonder if anyone else ever got to see you like this…" he mused aloud, grinning a little.
"Nnng…n-never!" the bat girl shot back, trying to free herself from Steel's grips.
"Mind if I ask you something a tad personal?"
"W-what?" Rouge growled, staring into Steel's eyes with a look of defiance.
Steel leaned a tiny bit closer to her before asking his question. "Have you ever been kissed?"
Rouge's eyes widened by the tiniest bit for just a split second before she began to thrash in an attempt to get free. "Oh, you better not…!"
Steel was silent for a few seconds as he focused on not losing his grip on Rouge. "Oh, calm down. I was just kinda curious, that's all. And I don't think you can blame me, considering the way you were acting toward me."
"I'VE been acting toward you?" she exclaimed in disgust. "Don't…make…me…laugh!" In between each word, Rouge finally worked her way to freedom, first getting one foot out from under Steel's. She then planted said foot into his chin and kicked him away, quickly smiling in satisfaction, and noticing that his clothes had gone back to their usual colors. "My turn now, little boy."
She rushed toward Steel, who recovered in time to try and swing at her with his sword, but she easily jumped over it, landing just as his swing finished. She went for a roundhouse kick, surprised when Steel actually caught her leg, clinging tightly to it. Rouge lashed out with her other leg, making very solid contact with Steel's head, and yet, despite the pain it caused, he didn't release the leg he'd caught. "Nnn! Persistent, aren't we?" she stated angrily.
Steel didn't bother with a reply, instead lunging forward, causing Rouge to fall over. He fell on top of her legs, quickly adding the second to this grip and hugging them tightly, not wishing to have any more trouble from them. "Let…let go!" shouted Rouge, trying to twist her legs free.
"Not a chance! You seem to base all your attacks on kicks, so I won't give you that option!"
"And you base your attacks on this, so we're even." Rouge held up Steel's remote, which she had somehow managed to snag from him when she'd been pushed over. Steel was silently grateful that the sword function had deactivated. "So I guess we're not gonna get anywhere, now are we? Why don't you just let go of me, and I'll leave your little toy by the door as I'm leaving?"
"Sounds like you forgot that we're actually NOT even. You still have the Chaos Emeralds, too…"
"Exactly. And I'm going to keep having them, so why don't you just-" She cut herself off as Steel squeezed her legs hard. "Nnng! Alright, now I'm angry!" She wound up and chucked the remote at Steel's head, since she had no idea how to work it. But Steel didn't even flinch as the device bounced off his head.
"I guess I shoulda warned you that everyone around here says I'm practically famous for my hard head…"
Rouge noticed a shift in how Steel was holding her legs, and it almost felt like he was pulling on them. "Just what are you doing?" she demanded.
"Getting rid of your weapons. Say bye-bye to your boots!"
"Not if I can help it." She quickly rolled to one side, but Steel rolled along with her, not losing his hold on her this time. "Let…GO!"
"MAKE ME!" Steel shouted back, tugging hard on one her left boot. Rouge suddenly twisted her foot, losing both Steel and the boot all at once. "Well, I'll take one over none." Steel tossed the boot he'd claimed into his block backpack.
Rouge glared at him angrily. "Don't think you've won, I lead with my right anyway."
"True, but…" he paused long enough to recover his remote. "I think things are a bit more 'fair' now." Rouge stood her ground, continuing to glare. "Come on, no matter how much you want those Emeralds, I doubt you're interested in leaving with only one boot. Not to mention, after having you pinned against the wall earlier, I bet I could pass it off as you running away if you leave without beating me." He smirked a bit.
Rouge was silent, rubbing her cheek in the spot where she'd been nicked before. Steel took another look at the place on her arm where he'd hit her with the fireball, then went on. "And it might be hard for you to convince anyone otherwise…a nicked cheek, a burned arm, a missing boot…maybe I can even claim I DID kiss you."
"I…I'm not falling for it!" growled Rouge. "I know what you're trying to pull, and it's not going to work!"
Steel noted the sound of a familiar, goofy laugh from somewhere outside of the room before he continued. "Aww, is tough, intimidating Rouge SCARED of me?"
Rouge clenched both fists, her eyes looking ready to burst into flames. "…I…am going to shut that big mouth of yours PERMANTLY!" She quickly dove at Steel, gliding with her wings. But Steel was ready, and stepped to one side while reaching out and grabbing a wing, using it to force her into the ground. He then sat on her back, pinning her wrists to the ground.
"You were saying?" he asked, now much more sure of himself. From outside the room, he could hear a voice say 'C'mon, I don't have time for this, leggo!'. Rouge's ears perked up at the sound, she had heard as well. Steel was distracted for a split second, thinking about how cute Rouge's ears looked, but quickly shook it off, realizing he needed to keep her distracted. In a mocking sort of way, he asked, "What's wrong, Rouge? I thought you said you liked to be overpowered."
Rouge didn't even bother with a comeback, but shoved one of her wings into Steel's face, trying to get him to let go of her arms. But the result she got was not what she expected…with no hesitation, Steel opened wide and bit down on the wing. Her eyes flashed with pain and she shrieked, her voice so high-pitched as she did so that it was seriously hurting Steel's ears. She began to thrash like a bucking bronco, determined to get Steel off.
Suddenly, Game came bursting into the room, with Ed clinging to him. "Ed, get OFF! I have to he-"
He was interrupted as Ed got a look at Rouge. His eyes widened as he shouted, "THE MUTANT KEESE LORD OF SECTOR B-24 HAS INVADED!"
Rouge stopped her struggling long enough to look at Ed. "What did you just call me?"
"RELEASE HIM, EVIL ONE!" Ed charged, and Steel found himself getting hit with 120-odd pounds of lump at a good ten MPH. He went sliding to one side, hearing Rouge scream bloody murder. Spiting, he realized her problem…when Ed had hit him, he actually bit off the part of her wing that was in his mouth at the time.
Steel pulled out the remote, activating the sword again, and swinging at Rouge as she got up. She avoided the sword easy enough, but got plowed down again as Ed tackled her, apparently having every intention of assisting in the battle against the 'mutant keese lord'. Game popped the Bullet Bill blaster out of his block, beginning to circle-strafe around, watching for a good shot. As Rouge stood again, Steel gave her a blow from his sword, and she went down again as Ed jumped on her yet again.
'Ow, my ears are still ringing…wait…' Steel hit upon an idea at his thought. Meanwhile, with the strength of ten lumps, Ed seized Rouge by the wrists from behind and held her up. Steel quickly pulled out his yoshi-whistle while Rouge struggled against Ed.
"Let go, you thug!" she shouted.
"Never, wing-ed harpy of evil-ness!" insisted Ed.
Steel took as deep a breath as he could, then blew on his whistle with all his might. Rouge began to scream as though she were being killed, and in his surprise at her reaction, Ed released her. She stumbled forward a bit, covering her now slightly bleeding ears in a vain attempt to block out the sound. "There!" shouted Game, firing his blaster. The Bullet Bill hit Rouge head-on, and quickly carried her over to the wall, smashing her into it as it exploded. She dropped to the ground like a rag doll, out cold.
Ed gave his trademark goofy smile. "The evil one has fallen! The age of noodles begins anew!" He began to dance around the room in his joy.
Steel and Game walked over to Rouge, Steel noting her injured wing. " I am NEVER gonna get the taste of that thing outta my mouth…"
"Sorry I wasn't here sooner." Game mentioned as he snagged the Emeralds from Rouge.
"Eh, I had some fun without you." Replied Steel as he almost ripped the other boot off Rouge's foot, tossing it into his block as well.
Game snickered. "I thought you were an F.A., not a foot fetishist." he teased.
"I think her boots are designed to make her kicks stronger, so I want them off her feet before she can wake up." He then quietly added, "Besides, who says you can't have more than one fetish?"
"Oh, remind me to get lumpy here a doggy treat or something, who knows what woulda happened without him."
"AMEN." replied Steel, shaking his head hard for some unknown reason. He then took a good, long look at Rouge. 'Now, what to do with you…'
Ed suddenly appeared next to him, also looking at Rouge. "I say we keep it as a pet! I always wanted an alien, but mommy said no."
Steel's eyes lit up a little. 'A pet, huh?' He turned to the brainless Ed-boy and smiled. "I think you may have something there, Ed. But you should really go find Eddy now, ok?"
"Am I a good alien hunter, Mr. Steel?"
"Yes, um, very good…in fact, why don't you go tell Kawasaki that I said to make you some buttered toast?"
"HOORAY!" Ed turned and skipped off, grinning wide.
Steel yanked Rouge's gloves off and threw them into his block. "Um, do you think I should frisk her? Wouldn't want any nasty surprises later."
Game looked at Steel, then at Rouge…namely, at her chest, then back at Steel. "We both know what you really mean by that…"
Steel grinned sheepishly. "But seriously, I don't want her pulling out a file or something and escaping…"
"I guess you're ri- wait…escaping?"
Steel grinned, a hint of evil in it. "This little devil gave me a hard time before you two showed up, I intend to return the 'favor'…"
Game gulped. "Steel…where are you going with this?"
Steel wasn't really paying attention, as he dug through his block and pulled out some chains. "These should work just fine."
"Steel!" exclaimed Game in an astonished tone. "We can't do this!"
"Who said anything about 'we'?" Steel asked, while pushing a button nearby that made a table of sorts rise from under a hidden panel in the floor.
Game switched to a firm and serious tone. "Steel, we're taking the bat back where she came from. It's not right to hold her against her will. I mean, we're not the police."
Steel scooped Rouge up and set her on the table before answering Game. "Oh, my bad, I'll just get some police…oh wait, that's right, there aren't any in this dimension. Look, if she got in here on her own once, she can do it again, so just sending her back won't solve anything."
Game could feel his list of available arguments get severely shortened by the undeniable fact Steel had just pointed out. "Well, all I know is that I wouldn't like it if someone strapped me down and did fetishy stuff to me."
Steel rolled his eyes. "Bite me. Look, she deserves to be shaken up a little…you weren't here to see how the first part of that fight went down."
Game growled. "Fine…but I'm checking on her, ok? And you'd better not hurt her."
"Deal. But I'm gonna use locks only I can undo, mostly to keep you from letting her up too soon. I don't wanna have to fight her like that again."
Game went on. "You also have to pay for potions to treat her. If you're gonna hold her captive, you're at least gonna be humane about it."
"I intended to do that…especially her wing, that was an honest accident…"
"…Can't you at least let her walk around the room?"
Steel nearly fell in surprise. "Um, did you forget that this is the Emerald room? If she's allowed to move freely in here, she'll try to take them again. I'll let her up once I know she'll leave them alone."
Game silently thought everything over. 'I feel awful about this, but…if we ever reach the point where she 'leaves the Emeralds alone', that means she's over her gem obsession, so…it's a GOOD thing, right?'
Steel spread Rouge's arms to the side and began to chain down her limbs, one by one. Afterward, he pulled out a clean rag and began to clean the bit of blood away from her ears. "I've got this under control, so why don't you go talk with Amy or something?"
Game set the last Emerald in place. "I guess. I mean, she did seem a little…off…when I had to rush up here, anyway…"
Steel nodded. "Go on, champ, this little devil ain't goin' nowhere." Game slowly headed out of them room, shaking a little as he did his best to not think about what sort of things Steel might have in mind for the jewel thief.
What DOES Steel have in mind for Rouge? And what's going to happen between Amy and Game now? Find out...next chapter!
