Believe it or not, Scratch was still stuck on Angel Island, tied to that tree in Wario's underwear. Fortunately for him, he was a robot, so he didn't have to worry about basic needs like eating. However, even then, it was still a little draining for him to be tied up there for so long.
"Aw, man..." Scratch moaned, "I'm never gonna get outa this. I'll never see the Death Egg again, or Dr. Robotnik, or all those little annoying Egg Pawn things... Sigh... I'm gonna be stuck here forever..."
Suddenly, Scratch heard what sounded like a drill behind him. But, it wasn't just any drill. It sounded very familiar... Turning around the best he could, Scratch saw it was, indeed, an old friend of his.
"Grounder!" Scratch shouted, "Is that really you? What are you doing here?
"Robotnik told me to go and find you," Grounder explained, using his drill-hands to cut the undies that were binding Scratch, "He said you would be somewhere on Angel Island, and he even gave me a small aircraft to make it easy to get here! So, dare I ask exactly why you're tied to a tree in someone's underwear?"
"It's a long story..."
Scratch was interrupted when they both heard a loud boom nearby. Walking over to investigate, Scratch and Grounder found an unconscious Bowser lying in a crater!
"Say, isn't that the monster that went on a rampage through the Death Egg?" Grounder asked.
"Yeah... Although I think he joined forces with Robonik afterwards. But what's up with him just randomly crash landing here?"
"I dunno. Should I take him back to Robotnik, also?"
"Wait a second... 'I'? How about 'we'? Just because you rescued me doesn't mean you can take all the credit for saving that guy!"
"Alright, fine. Should we take him back to Robotnik?"
"Much better. I'll take the head and you take the feet."
Even though Bowser was quite heavy, Scratch and Grounder managed to lift him up off the ground somewhat easily, and they began to carry him as best they could back to Eggman, thus reuniting the two villains...
It was almost midnight at Keelhaul Key, and everyone was sleeping soundly on the beach. The only ones awake were a couple of Toads guarding Flavio's merchant ship. But, in the shadows, two forms moved through the darkness, only one of them aware of the other's presence.
"Hmm... One of Flavio's ships..." Ms. Mowz mused to herself, peeking over some foliage to observe the beach, "So, I'll bet that it has lots of pretty little badges for me to steal! Sigh... all in a day's work for a world-famous thief!"
Ms. Mowz leaped out of hiding and quickly, yet quietly, ran across the sand towards the boat. Meanwhile, Rouge was crouching in a tree above where Ms. Mowz was hiding originally, watching her every move.
"Hmph! All she wants to steal is badges? How dare she use my title for such a petty crime! I'll show her!"
Rouge jumped from the tree and, using her wings, glided over to Flavio's vessel. Once she reached the side of the ship, she dug her feet into the hull and began to scale downwards towards one of the portholes. Peering inside, Rouge watched as Ms. Mowz began her heist.
Two toads were marching around in where the cargo was stored on the ship. The boxes pilled right up to the roof of the room, making it almost like a labyrinth to navigate. However, the toads were use to it, and were quite comfortable making their rounds. Even when one of the toads returned to the starting point and the other didn't, he wasn't too worried.
"Huh? Where'd he go?" the toad pondered to himself, "Eh... He probably got lost in all the cargo. It happens to the best of... OPH!"
The toad stumbled for a minute before falling over. Behind him was Ms. Mowz, who had knocked him out with her bare hands.
"Heh, when you have the element of surprise, even a weak hit, if struck in the right place, can knock a foe out," Ms. Mowz commented, "now to find his partner."
Ms. Mowz, despite never having navigated the cargo hold previously, effortlessly ran though it, trying to find the other toad patrolling the area. She found him, all right: he was lying unconscious on the floor!
"What the?... Did he just fall to sleep? No..." Ms. Mowz investigated the body and found some marks around his neck, "Someone did a sleeper hold on him! But who? Certainly not me..."
Glancing upward, Ms. Mowz saw the form of a bat hanging from the ceiling! Upon realizing that she saw her, the bat dropped down in front of Ms. Mowz.
"What? Who are you?" Ms. Mowz stuttered in shock.
"I am Rouge the Bat," Rouge answered, "The treasure hunter, Rouge, and the world's greatest thief."
"Hey, what are you saying? I'm the world's greatest thief, not you!"
"Heh, very likely," Rouge remarked sarcastically, "I am, indeed, the greatest thief. That title does not belong to some little rat with a heart-shaped tail wearing a mask!"
"WHAT? WHY YOU LITTLE... I am NOT a rat, I am a mouse, and how dare you insult my tail! It takes me two hours with a curling iron every morning to make it do that!"
Ms. Mowz did what any raged-filled woman does: She slapped Rouge across the face. Rouge retaliated, however, by delivering a sharp kick, sending Ms. Mowz sprawling across the room and into one of the high-piled stacks of boxes.
"Oh... NOW you're gonna get it..." Ms. Mowz growled as she immediately got back up and ran towards Rouge again. As she was running towards her, she began leaping around everywhere, trying to disorient Rouge. Rouge, however, being a thief herself, wasn't easily confused, and quickly located Ms. Mowz and gave her another kick in the face. This time, when Ms. Mowz slammed into the boxes, she knocked a tower of them over, making a large commotion.
"Oh, great! So much for my cover!" Ms. Mowz cried, "Well, I'm not staying here any longer! Farewell! I hope you enjoy getting captured!"
Ms. Mowz began to run towards one of the portholes and attempted to jump out. However, Rouge prevented her in from doing so by grabbing onto her tail. This angered Ms. Mowz even more, so she turned around and slapped Rouge so hard, it knocked her to the floor!
"DON'T TOUCH THE TAIL! You're going to mess it up!"
"Like I really give a crud about your tail!" Rouge yelled as she got back up onto her feet, "When I'm through with you, you'll be lucky if that's the only thing that's messed up!"
While the battle of the thieves was going on inside the ship, the commotion it was making was slowly starting to wake up everyone who was sleeping outside.
"Whoa... Wha iz it... Mornin' already?..." Wario groaned as he slowly came to, "And I was in the middle of a good dream about those Chaos Emeralds too..."
"Huh? What in the blazes is going on aboard the ship?" Bobbery pondered as he got up and looked towards where all the noise was coming from.
"Mr. Bobbery?..." Cream asked, "Are we being robbed?"
"OH NO!" Flavio shrieked (like a little girl), "THE MERCHANT SHIP IS BEING ROBBED! AND THE HOUSE OF FLAVIO'S FAMILY HEIRLOOM IS STILL ON BOARD! IF THE THIEF SEES IT, IT'S SURE TO BE STOLEN! WE MUST STOP HIM!"
Falvio, still in his pajamas, began racing towards the ship. Everyone else, including some toads, quickly followed. Meanwhile, back inside the vessel, Ms. Mowz and Rouge were still battling it out. Although the two thieves sometimes broke up and tried to employ stealth tactics, the majority of the fight was up close and personal.
"Let go of my wings, you rotten rat!" Rouge yelled as she attempted to fly.
"Not until you stop grabbing my tail!" Ms. Mowz retorted, "I swear, if you mess it up, I'll have it permanently done at the salon, and you'll be paying for it!"
"WHAT? Stop whining about your stupid tail! I don't care!"
Rouge then kicked Ms. Mowz and was successful in making her let go of her wings. However, as Rouge began to fly higher, Ms. Mowz grabbed onto her leg and brought both of them down to earth. They landed square on one of the boxes, shattering it, and revealing its contents. To the surprise of both of them, a radiant, blue, crystalline star fell out of the box and onto the floor.
"What on earth is that?" Ms. Mowz muttered, "Is it... One of the Crystal Stars?"
"A Crystal Star, hmm?" Rouge began, "Sounds like something quite valuable! Surely you wouldn't mind if I take it..."
"Don't you dare!" Ms. Mowz screamed as she leaped towards where the star laid. Unfortunately, Rouge got there first and claimed it.
"My, my, I thought you only cared about badges... Why would you want this?"
While Rouge was tossing it up and down in her hand, Ms. Mowz noticed something even more shocking: The 'Crystal Star' looked like Muskular!
"Wait! That isn't a Crystal Star!" Ms. Mowz cried, "That's one of the Star Spirits!"
"Crystal Stars... Star Spirits... Whatever. It's mine now!"
Rouge was about to leave and Ms. Mowz was about to attack when the doors to the cargo hold suddenly opened and in walked Admiral Bobbery, Flavio, Wario, and Cream (with Cheese, naturally).
"IEEE!" Flavio shrieked, "IT'S TWO THIEFS! AND THEY HAVE THE HEIRLOOM!"
"What the... Ms. Mowz? What are you doing here?" Bobbery questioned.
"Oh my, Cheese... What's going on?" Cream mumbled worryingly.
"Chao, chao..." Cheese replied in equal confusion.
"WOO-HOO! CATFIGHT!" Wario shouted, "Where'd I put my camera?"
Upon seeing that they were both caught, Ms. Mowz and Rouge both began to play 'the blame game.'
"She started it!" Ms. Mowz yelled, pointing at Rouge, "She was attempting to rob the ship and I was trying to stop her!"
"WHAT? You were the one who snuck in to begin with!" Rouge retaliated, "And just so you could steal a bunch of stupid badges!"
"Badges are not stupid! Besides, you were just about to make off with that Star Spirit... Crystal... thing!"
"Are you saying this is all my fault? Listen, hun, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't even have been involved in all this!"
"Alright... That does it..."
Ms. Mowz and Rouge began to duke it out again, much to the dismay of Bobbery. When he turned to see what the others were doing, he didn't feel much relief: Flavio was still crying over his heirloom, Cream and Cheese were covering their eyes, trying to avoid seeing such violence, and Wario was busy using his video camera to record the entire fight. Frustrated, Bobbery, being a bob-omb, lit the fuse on his head and began to walk straight towards the brawl. By the time he reached it, the fuse had just about run out, and he exploded... literally. This immediately got everyone's attention, especially Ms. Mowz and Rouge's.
"How about we do this in an orderly fashion, hmm?" Bobbery began, seemingly unharmed at all from the explosion, "What happened here?"
Ms. Mowz and Rouge, both of whom were completely covered in ash, didn't reply. They stood there for a moment, still in prettifying shock from the explosion, and suddenly fell over unconscious!
"Hmph... So much for that idea, I guess..."
"Hey, man, you messed up my movie!" Wario complained, "And I was gonna sell on the streets for big bucks, too... Jerk."
Flavio ran over and claimed back his heirloom, the Emerald Star, and gave it a big hug.
"Whew! Flavio thought you were a goner! But you are safe, and Flavio is relieved."
"Gee, does that freak always refer to himself in the third person?" Wario mumbled.
"I wonder what Rouge was doing here, Cheese?" Cream asked.
"Chao, chao..."
"Wait a sec," Wario interrupted, "You knew who that bat bozo was?"
"Well, Mr. Sonic told me a few stories about her, but not much else."
"Oh, great. Another humanoid animal I have to deal with..."
"Mr. Bobbery?" Cream continued, ignoring Wario's remarks, "What are we going to do with Ms. Rouge?"
"I don't really know," Bobbery replied as a few toads began to lift the bodies of the thieves "I guess we'll keep her and Ms. Mowz locked up in separate rooms until we return to Rougeport, where they will receive a fair trail."
"Phff... Yeah, right..." Wario muttered under his breath, "Methinks that any place that has a hangman's noose as the centerpiece in the town square probably doesn't have 'fair' trails..."
Sir Grodus looked out into the bleak, emptiness of space. He was still plotting his revenge on the Shadow Queen. If he could resurrect and bring her under his control with an Emerald Star, would he still have to provide a female sacrifice for her to possess? If so, the challenge would be even greater. Princess Peach would certainly never return to Rougeport after what happened to her last time, so he would need to find another woman to use. Perhaps someone from the other world that had combined with the Mushroom Kingdom?...
Suddenly, Lord Crump appeared on the communication link's screen again, interrupting Grodus' thoughts. After giving the X-Naut salute, he debriefed his situation.
"Hey, Gro-dude!... I mean...Grodus... erm... Sir Grodus..."
"Shut up, fool, and tell me what has happened. Did you find Flavio and his 'heirloom'?"
"Uh, right. Well, we tracked down Flavio to Keelhaul Key, but we really can't attack until he sets out again, which is probably tomorrow, as best as I can guess. Of course, we can't attack in broad daylight, so we'll have to wait until tomorrow night."
"Very well, just make sure you claim the Emerald Star! Oh, and one more thing..." Grodus added, an evil grin forming on his face for the first time in a long while, "We can't have anyone know what we are up to. Destroy the ship, and leave no survivors."