Eggman slowed down as the mansion came into view, causing the rest of the group to follow suit. They slipped into the nearby bushes, as the doctor climbed out of his Egg Walker.

Louise slid off of Motobug, as Eggman pulled out a small gem, which then produced a holographic map of Mott's manor. The noble looked on in interest, fascinated with the projected light. She reached out to touch it, only to see her hand pass through the model.

"When I was talking with Mott earlier this evening, I took the liberty of mapping out his home. In case I had to resort to a strike, of course," he hastily added, as Shadow pointed to a second floor window.

"This spot seems to be left unguarded, and its nearest the servant's quarters," the hedgehog noted. "Rouge can get Louise and I in there."

Eggman nodded in approval, as Louise suddenly spoke up.

"Siesta won't be in there. Remember, she's Mott's mistress. If the rumors are true, then he's not going to hesitate in..." her voice trailed off, as the noble's face reddened.

"Then we need to make sure she isn't in Mott's quarters in the first place," Rouge said, patting Louise on the back.

"Don't touch anything, until we have the girl." Shadow ordered the bat, as she returned a childish frown, sticking her tongue out at the hedgehog.

"Spoilsport..." she whined, as Shadow pointed to a third story window.

"This one will be harder to get in. But if your map's correct, then Mott's room is right across from it."

Louise nodded, as Rouge looked at the projected height.

"It's a little harder to pull off, but I think we can manage," she said, stretching her wings. "Hopefully you aren't as heavy as Omega."

"I heard that!" the robot shouted, as Eggman disabled the map, jumping back into his Egg Walker.

"We will keep in touch over the radio. If something goes wrong… get creative." he said, exiting the brush, with Omega in tow.

"Wait!" Louise called out, causing both doctor and robot to stop.

"The guards stationed there… don't hurt them, ok?" she commanded, earning the tiniest of smiles from Shadow.

"I've adjusted my laser blaster to fire non-lethal rounds. They'll be burnt and dazed, but they won't die from their injuries," Eggman replied.

"Weapons have been adjusted to maximize casualties while minimizing fatalities!" Omega replied.

"He means that he'll injure them, but they'll live," Rouge explained


"What's that?" A guard asked, as a strange glimmer in the road caught his eye.

"Who knows? Let the hellhounds deal with it," another guard lazily replied.

"Yeah. We aren't paid enough to chase after every little sparkle that comes our way," a third added, drinking from a wineskin.

The first guard nodded, as the glimmer grew brighter, and suddenly erupted, rushing towards them.

"Intruder!" the guard shouted, hitting the ground as the light shot past, tearing the wall behind them apart.

"Surrender, and we might spare your lives!" a voice called out, as two strange metal golems stomped onto the grounds. One had a strange, bald man riding it.

"Destroy the golems, and bring that man before Mott!" The guard shouted, as man and beast rushed forward, eager to destroy them.


Louise held tightly on to Shadow's ankles, as Rouge silently lifted them both into the third floor window. The noble nervously gulped, realizing that the ground below looked so dizzingly far away.

Shadow pulled her through the window, as Rouge extinguished the candles, pulling Louise close to the wall.

"Why did you do that?" she whispered, indicating the candles.

"To give us an advantage. I'm a bat," She pointed to her ears. "I can navigate in complete darkness."

Louise stared at the bat, puzzled, before choosing to ask her question later.

"Can you tell if anyone's coming?" Shadow asked, as Rouge nodded, her ears twitching.

After a minute, she shook her head.

"We're clear. But there's someone in the chambers. Male, I'd say about 5'6", and about 240 lbs, walks with a cane."

Louise looked at Rouge in shock.

"That sounds like Mott, but how..."

Rouge pointed to her ears.

"I can hear his heartbeat. His clothes are landing against the floor, so I'd guess that he's changing right now."

Shadow gritted his teeth.

"We don't have much time. We might be able to intercept the target before she arrives."

Rouge nodded, as the trio set down the halls, descending to the second floor.

Suddenly, Rouge yanked Louise back, as Shadow clung to the wall.

"There's someone around the corner," Rouge explained, as Shadow crept up to the edge, and with a quick move, brought his hand down upon the nape of the man's neck, catching the falling body so that no sound was made.

Louise was amazed. He had done it so fast, so efficiently, almost like he did this regularly…

Just who were these people Eggman worked with?


Eggman targeted a group of guards, launching another volley of laser blasts, knocking them out cold.

Omega, his non-lethal ammunition spent, charged at one guard, knocking him out with one mighty blow of his forearm.

One of the winged Hellhounds leaped upon the robot, who threw the animal into a nearby column.

As the dust cleared, Eggman surveyed the carnage.

Almost all of the guards had been incapacitated or forced to flee. No one was killed, just as the doctor had promised.

"Well, Omega..." he said, cracking his knuckles before grabbing the controls of his walker. "It's time for the fun part: let's start on the manor."

"Affirmative. Beginning destruction of the building!" Omega replied, unleashing a salvo of rockets from his wrist.


"Wh-what's going on?" An enraged Mott shouted at one of his servants.

"There's an intruder. He's riding some kind of high-level golem. I've never seen anything like it before..."

Mott stared skeptically at the servant.

"Why haven't they taken it down yet?"

The servant panted as they both ran towards the front entrance.

"We've tried. He and another golem tore right through our defenses. There's no one left!"

"What?" Mott shouted. Whoever this intruder was, he obviously had some high-power Earth magic. Could it be Fouquet?


"Looks like Eggman and Omega have the count distracted," Shadow noted, as he braced against another explosion.

"What are they doing?" Louise demanded, falling on her face from the shockwave.

"They're creating a diversion. Omega must've disabled all of the guards, so they're going after the next target: the manor," Rouge said, helping the noble onto her feet.

"Omega stopped them all that quickly?" Louise gasped. Even for a golem, there was no way that thing could dispatch so many so quickly.

"His original purpose was to contain me, should I go rogue," Shadow said, quickly dispatching another guard as they came upon the servant's quarters.

Louise now stared at the hedgehog. What kind of threat did he pose to warrant such a strong guard?

The trio entered the quarters, seeing only a young girl, black-haired and maybe only a little older than Louise.

The girl cowered away from the three in panic, tripping over her red maid dress in the process.

"Wh-who are you?" She squeaked, as Louise approached her.

"It's all right..." she said soothingly, kneeling down to the girl's level. "We're here to retrieve you, Siesta."

Louise stared hard at Siesta, as the maid returned the glance.

"Who are you?" she demanded fearfully.

Louise contained her smile. The maid didn't recognize her with the suit and helmet. A thought crossed the noble's mind: if she wasn't recognized, she didn't need to behave like a noble. Maybe she would keep up the disguise… just for a little longer.

"We've been sent here by my-I mean Dr. Eggman," Louise explained, as a series of letters flashed across her visor, forming into a paragraph.

"Dr. Eggman sent you?" Siesta questioned, staring at Shadow, who approached the timid girl.

"Yes. He's distracting Mott so we can get you out of here," he said, grabbing her hand.

Louise's eyes widened. Did her familiar really do that?

"Uh, Siesta, listen…" she began, catching the attention of the maid, "Dr. Eggman, he's granted you honorary citizenship in the Eggman Empire. This means that you're not allowed to become Mott's misstress!" she said, trying to contain her emotion.

Seriously, for a fictional empire? Her familiar was insane!

Siesta blinked in disbelief for several seconds, as Shadow once again took her hand. Turning to Rouge, he nodded.

"Don't take too long getting out of here," he warned, as the bat merely shrugged, grabbing Louise and pulling her away.

Shadow pulled out a strange, green gem, easily the size of Louise's combined fists. As soon as she saw it, the noble felt a strange… tugging towards the gem, as if it was connected to her in some way.

"Chaos… Control!" the hedgehog shouted, as a burst of green energy shot out from the gem, enveloping both Shadow and Siesta, and, with a loud "POP", they were both gone.

"What happened?" Louise shouted, astonished.

"Shadow used Chaos Control to teleport themselves out of the manor. We've completed our mission," Rouge said, rubbing her hands gleefully.

"Now, let's see what kind of treasure we can find in Mott's room!"


"The target is clear of the manor. We're returning to base!" Shadow called across the radio, as Eggman smiled.

"Excellent. Rouge, I know you've got our new recruit in there. You'd better not be stealing Mott's jewels."

The bat made a groan.

"Oh, come on, Doc! I've worked so hard not to steal his treasure! Besides, I'll share some with you!"

"Wha- Retrieving Siesta is one thing! But stealing from a noble? It's what a low-life like Fouquet would do!" Louise objected.

"It's not stealing," Rouge defended, "It's… creative rearrangement. After all, why should Mott have all the riches?"

Louise sighed.

"Don't bother talking her out of it," Eggman told the noble, "She won't listen."


The bat and girl slipped into Mott's chambers, finding a large, ornate desk along one wall. Rouge immediately started to look behind paintings.

"Every rich man has some vault hidden behind a painting. It's a stereotype!" the bat muttered, as Louise opened the desk.

Maybe, the noble reasoned, if she helped the girl, they could get out of here faster.

Then again… wouldn't that make her a thief?

But, nobody recognized her in this getup.

Just like Fouquet...

Louise pondered this dilemma as she rifled through the drawers, stopping on a stack of letters bearing a seal she had never seen before.

Intrigued, she read through the open letters, her eyes widening as she continued to read them.

"Rouge!" she called, as the bat dropped next to her.

"What? You find any valuables?"

Louise indicated the letters, and explained the contents.

Rouge's mouth broadened into a sinister smile.

"Oh, that's more valuable than any treasure here! We've got to tell Eggman about this!" she exclaimed, activating her radio, explaining what they found.

"Excellent work, the both of you! Now, get over here and let's end this situation once and for all!"


Mott approached the door, as the portal was blasted off its hinges, a bald man in a metal walker entered, tailed by the red metal golem and a strange person in a black suit and helmet. The count couldn't make out the person's identity.

The man exited his walker, as Mott let out a roar of anger.

"You! You have some nerve coming back here! Assaulting a noble of high standing such as myself… Do you realize the consequences of your actions?"

Eggman frowned.

"I am Emperor of the Eggman Empire, Omega here," he said, pointing to the robot, "is a hired guardian, and she," he pointed to Louise, "is my ambassador. As we are here on a diplomatic mission, we claim immunity from your laws!"

He smiled, "Surely a noble such as yourself understands diplomatic immunity."

Mott's mouth fell open. Sure, he had heard of nobles being given immunity when visiting other lands, but there was no way this man was a noble!

"Siesta is mine! Immunity or not, you simply cannot take my rightful property!"

Eggman laughed.

"I wouldn't dare touch your property. However, I wonder what would happen if these," he pulled out a collection of letters from his coat pocket, "made their way into the Royal Family's hands."

Mott's eyes widened in panic, but he quickly regained his composure.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I wonder what the punishment for treason is..." Eggman wondered, as Louise brightened up.

"I believe it's death," she answered, turning to Mott. "Slow. Painful. Death. But, being a noble, I'm sure you already knew that."

Mott gritted his teeth, preparing to raise his cane.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," Eggman warned, indicating Omega, who retracted his hands to reveal two wicked-looking barrels: gatling guns.

"Those guns shredded through your guards. They'll kill a noble just as efficiently.

Mott carefully sized up his opponents, before dropping his cane.

"Very well, what do you want?"

Eggman placed the letters back into his pocket.

"If you bring me Siesta, I will make sure these letters are never seen by any other official of Tristain," he ordered.

Louise raised her eyebrows in shock. He was willing to disregard a plot against the crown for the sake of this girl? Had he no loyalty?

Then again… he wasn't native to Tristain…

"Fine… Just don't let them see those letters!" Mott hastily replied, calling his servants to retrieve Siesta.

After several minutes of silence, the guards returned.

"She's gone!"

Mott turned around in panic.

"What?"

"Nobody has seen her!"

Eggman rose in anger.

"You find her, or else the deal's off!" he roared, unnerving Louise.

"You have twenty-four hours! I suggest you start looking! If she isn't here when I return..." he tapped the letters for emphasis, before stomping out in his walker, Omega and Louise quickly following suit.


"Why did you do that?" Louise asked, as the three headed towards the academy. The Motobug bumped along the road as they traveled at a much more leisurely pace.

"Simple: I thought Mott might have some secrets he may not want known, but I didn't count on it. Since Siesta was already secured, I figured we could use these letters for leverage, in case he tried pursuing us. Think about it: I basically own a noble!" Eggman laughed at the irony.

"But you're using blackmail to control him. That's… disgusting!" the noble replied, as Eggman's face turned serious.

"More disgusting than what Mott was planning on doing to Siesta?"

Louise fell silent. It was a good point.

"No..."

Eggman nodded.

"There will be times in life where you don't have a good choice. You need to learn to make the one you can live with."

Louise brightened in understanding.

"You mean like with Siesta. She could have been left as a mistress, or you could have done something about it, even if it meant getting the wrath of a noble."

"Correct. And with the blackmail. Yes, it's bad, but if I didn't use it, Mott would have come after us. Now, he can't without his secret being exposed. It's not a good choice, but it's one I can keep on my conscience."

Louise stared at Eggman for several seconds. Perhaps her familiar really was as wise as she had hoped for…

"I would have liked to have flattened his home, though. The man needs to update that place."

In and instant, the hope was shattered.


A/N: Ok, another chapter down. I hope you guys enjoy it!

And before anyone asks: This is just the first half of the battle. Remember: Mott's reputation and title are on the line. Desperate men do desperate things! Of course, you'd know, wouldn't you, Ivo?

Eggman: I have no idea what you're talking about!

Louise: Let's just move onto the questions, ok?

Fine… I get no respect around here… no respect!

Xavex, don't worry, I have no plans at this time to introduce some Chaos abomination. But Eggman's still toying with Louise's power, so there's no telling what will happen…

Eggman: THIS TIME I WON'T FAIL! *ahem* moving on: Eggman Nega better not show up! This is my world now! MINE! I don't care if he's from another dimension or my future descendant, if he shows up, I'm eliminating them! THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!

Louise: Wait… so is he your descendant or from a parallel universe?

Eggman: Even Sega's confused on the matter.

Louise: oh…

Eggman: Moving on. Lucian Naruto, yes those three can ruin my holiday here in Tristain, but we do have a truce going on. After all, I'm their only hope to getting home.

Shadow: You better be working on that… *glares*

Eggman: *shudder* And, yes, if that certain someone were to appear, I swear, I will go on a rampage throughout this entire story! I may even hold the author hostage!

Hey now, don't drag me into your little vendetta!

Louise: Well, of course I'd love the bike! My familiar made it! It moves faster than any horse! As for giving it to me, it's natural for a familiar to present gifts to their master, especially if it pleases them.

Eggman:…

...Wow, nothing to say about it?

Eggman: Not really. At least she enjoys it.

Louise: And that Zerbst better not touch it! I might sic Omega on her.

Omega: You do realize that I am not your familiar and, therefore, do not need to follow your commands.

Louise: … Damn it!

Although… I would love to see Kirche try to charm Omega…

Everyone: NO!

Spoilsports… Anyway, moving onto Guest. Yes, it is a cute picture…

Louise: *cracks whip*

BUT we don't really do Yuri pairings… Sorry, it's honestly not my style. But maybe…

Louise: *picks up Derflinger*

OK! OK! BAD JOKE! Honestly, I need to quell this issue between you and Kirche. Not necessarily as a romantic pairing… Louise, please put the rocket launcher down…

Rouge: Sorry that the author can't close this for now, he's playing "dodge the rocket" with Louise. At least he's being a good sport about it. So, I'll close this out saying that, again, the battle is only halfway finished. I mean, what's Mott going to do? Next chapter: Desperate times call for Desperate measures!