Time for the big titty bat lady.

It's the middle of the night. The National Gemstone Museum is abandoned with the exception of a few guards keeping watch over the invaluable jewels on display there. Extra attention is placed upon a huge, jagged, rod-like diamond at the center of the museum. Or at least, there should be more attention placed upon it, as the guards are too busy reading magazines or playing cards to bother. One of them glances up from his reading just in time to see someone walking towards the diamond.

"What the-?"

"What's goin' on?" the other guard asks.

The figure isn't human, but a more like a humanoid bat. A very feminine bat with a pronounced bust, pearl-white fur and a black jumpsuit. Two bolt-like wings stick out of her back. It's Rouge the Bat, and this is her job: stealing precious gems of any size and any kind. She presses her palms against the glass encasement, setting off the alarms automatically. She isn't bothered by the high pitched sirens and continues staring.

"Hello, gorgeous. Let's get you out of there."

With a kick, she slashes through the glass, slicing a perfect diagonal cut that opens the case. She takes the gem into her fingertips and looks it over lovingly.

"What a lovely necklace you'll make for me..."

Finally, one of the guards has seen enough. "Lock it down, trap it inside!"

The lead guard hits the buttons that seal up any exit there could be with a sliding steel door. He stands from his seat and points to the room's exit.

"CENTER ATRIUM, GO! GO! GO!"

The three guards rush to the center atrium with their guns drawn, pointing wildly once they arrive there, ready to take down the invasive bat.

"HANDS UP!"

But no one's there. The diamond is gone, and so is Rouge.

"Where'd it go?"

He notices a card left in where the diamond was. It's black, shiny as could be, and has a black bat on the front. Printed are the words "Thank you".

"Thank you? What the fuck's goin' on here?!"

"Captain, look!"

They look up and see a circle cut out of the skylight. Rouge is already gliding away from the scene, ogling the gem in her hand.

"You're no Chaos Emerald, but you'll do...for now."

Episode 11: The Beautiful and Mysterious Thief Rouge

Passage written by: Sonic the Hedgehog

Chris, Tails and I went out to look for emeralds in the X-Tornado, just as we would every day. Or rather, Chris and Tails looked while I relaxed on the hull. I remember fidgeting with a baseball we used in the game a few weeks prior. I'd become a fan of baseball myself since then. Chris and I played a lot of catch, and Chuck taught me all the rules and strategies. I don't know what it was, but I found it relaxing to watch. It was exciting, but not too exciting, probably 'cause it has so many breaks in play. I was hoping Chris and I could get to a Diamonds game or two with Chuck sometime in the summer.

I was as calm as a seaside wind while Tails and Chris were anxious over the lack of Chaos Emeralds showing up on the radar.

"Anything now, Tails?"

"Nope. Starting to think we might have gotten all the emeralds that ended up in Station Square."

"You said that they're always nearby each other, right? So they've got to be around here somewhere."

Tails had tilted the plane sideways without warning me. I felt my back slip down the metal and the ball roll out of my hand. I gasped and dug my claws into the sheet metal, ending up below the plane, hanging on for dear life. I caught the ball in my mouth, tasting the bitter leather and silky string.

"Sonic! Uh, uh, where-where'd you go?!"

I'd have called out to Chris if it weren't for the sphere gagging me and my heart rate spiking like crazy. I'd have to talk to Tails about warning me before they make any sudden turns like that.

In Washington, the President was meeting with his advisors, all of them watching the news. Scarlet Garcia was reporting from the ransacked museum.

"For the third time in two weeks, a museum has been robbed in Station Square, and this one might be the costliest yet. The National Gemstone Museum says an unidentified creature stole the most valuable diamond in their possession. Museum security was unable to stop the creature and claims it left some sort of a note in lieu of the stone. Some have speculated that the creature may be the same species as Sonic the Hedgehog, but this remains only speculation."

President Remington shut the TV off and slapped the remote down with a loud sigh.

"Great, as if we already didn't have a mad scientist to deal with, now we have a master cat-burglar on our hands."

GUN Commander Colin Passer stood and faced the President. "We can deal with this later, sir, we have to focus on stopping Dr. Eggman. He's the greatest national security threat of this generation. Arrange a meeting with the Senate Majority Leader, we have to declare war immediately."

Senior Advisor Christina Cooper chimed in. "War won't do us any good if we lose. Our best technicians say the Doctor's technology is anywhere from 25 to 50 years ahead of ours. That, and the last thing the people want is another forever war."

Jerome Wise, the Chief of Staff, disagreed. "Damn what they want, if he isn't put into the ground, he'll kill millions, tens of millions!"

Cooper put her hand up to calm him. "Now's not the time for fearmongering, Wise."

"It's not fearmongering if it's a fact!"

"Alright, shut it, you two!" That was Donald Hartley, the voice of reason in the oval office, the and Director of the CIA.

"Mr. President, why don't we ask the hedgehog for help?"

That got the attention of everyone in the room, especially the President. "The hedgehog?"

"Every time Eggman's attacked us, Sonic makes him look like a fool. He's probably had more than just the few scraps we've seen so far, and it doesn't appear as though he's ever lost, considering he's still alive. He knows the enemy much better than we do."

Passer scoffed. "Yeah, ask the alien for help, like he's any less dangerous. What if we make him mad or somethin'? We've gotta have a plan in case he goes rogue."

"Better that than let Eggman take over the world. Besides, it looks as though he's become friends with the family he's staying with, especially the boy. That alone gives us some leverage over him. I don't think we have any reason to worry, but if does go rogue, I'm sure a bullet will do just fine. As fast as he is, all we need is just one good shot to bring him down."

The President paced around the room for a moment before turning back to Hartley. "I suppose it's the only thing we can do. They're looking for the Emeralds, aren't they? Passer, set up a fake one to lure him in. Once you've got him, bring him to me as soon as possible. Worst case scenario, maybe we get that jewel thief instead. And do it quickly, we don't have time to waste."

Passer, while he disagreed on principle, nodded begrudgingly. "Yes sir, Mr. President."

At Station Square High, Chris is in his math class working on an assignment. It involves solving equations and and connecting each question to its answer with a line, which would form a picture in the end, with each question having two answers. A sort-of connect-the-dots using arithmetic. Chris was blazing through it, so he helped Danny, who wasn't particularly good at math. About three-quarters of the way through, Danny realized what it was they were drawing.

"Looks like...a diamond. Weird."

Chris didn't think this was weird, knowing his teacher and the shape of the "diamond". It matched right up with the silhouette of a Chaos Emerald. This was a subliminal message to him from the teacher that he knew what Team Sonic wanted. This was, for all intents and purposes, a warning. Mr. Stewart came up behind them and confirmed this.

"Good observation, Danny. Although I had an emerald in mind, not a diamond."

Danny, hearing the word "emerald", turned to Chris. "Aren't you and Sonic looking for emeralds? Do they look like that?"

"Uh, I remember exactly, they don't let me see them very much."

"Really? Why not, what's you lookin' at them gonna do?"

"They're fragile, I don't wanna mess them up or anything."

They said all this knowing Mr. Stewart was right behind them. Chris played dumb, because while Mr. Stewart wouldn't buy it, perhaps those listening in would. The teacher bent down and gave them some valuable information.

"Y'know, I heard a rumor that they found an emerald over in Sotherby. It's in some old abandoned building. If you want it, you should check it out tonight, the government's gonna be there by tomorrow to recover it."

Chris knew this was a trap. Why else would Mr. Stewart, a government agent suspicious of Sonic, tell them this? But Danny, who didn't know the truth, immediately became excited.

"Dude! We gotta check it out! I've been wantin' to meet Sonic anyway!"

"Danny, I don't know, I don't think they're OK with strangers coming with them."

"You're still a stranger, aren'tcha? I mean, come on, you've only known them for what, couple'a months?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

Stewart spoke. "Alright, guys, keep the chatting at a minimum. You'll have lunch time to talk about it."

They relented and went back to working. While somewhat insulted by Danny's last quip, he agreed to let him come over after school, introduce him to the team, and ask them about letting Danny come along on the Chaos Emerald search.

Unknown to them both, Rouge the Bat was waiting just outside and caught everything Mr. Stewart had told them.

I'd just come back from a run. It was about 3, which was when Chris would get home from school. It had become a tradition for me to be the first to greet him, and I was used to him coming home alone. So I was a bit surprised when another boy was walking alongside of him. I hopped down from the roof and walked up to them.

"Hiya, Chris!"

"Hi, Sonic." We bumped fists and I turned to the other kid. "I don't think we've met before. What's your name, pal?"

"Name's Danny, I'm one of Chris' friends."

"Danny? That's right, Chris talks about ya a lot. Nice to meet ya, I'm Sonic." I shook his hand, and he immediately told me about what Stewart had told them.

"I came to help look the emerald."

"Uhh...you what?"

Chris came up a bit closer. "Mr. Stewart told us that they found an emerald in Sotherby. He...wanted to come with us, if that's OK with you."

I shrugged. "So long as you don't get in the way, I don't mind. We'll have to see if there's enough space in the Tornado, though."

I brought the two of them into the garage where Tails was working on the Tornado with Chuck. Amy was reading a book with Cream nearby. Chuck recognized Danny immediately and walked up to greet us.

"Why, hello, Danny. What brings you here?"

"Wanted to meet Chris' new friends."

"Sure thing. I see you've already met Sonic. The fox on the plane is Tails..."

"Hi!" Tails happily waved to him and went back to working.

"Then we've got Amy."

"Nice to meet you, Danny!"

"And Cream and Cheese."

"Hi, Mister!"

"Chao!"

Danny waved back at them all and got right to talking. Right away, I could tell he was much different from Chris. Danny was an extrovert, loved making new friends and had was a motormouth. Chris was the opposite of that. While they talked, Chris turned to me and whispered into my ear.

"He doesn't know about Mr. Stewart yet."

"He's that spy, right?" I took the hint to keep my voice down. Danny didn't know about Stewart's true identity.

"Yeah. Do you think it's a trap?"

"Maybe. But we won't know for sure unless we check it out. We can't risk just leaving an emerald right out in the open."

"I'm just worried that Danny might get hurt. If the military's waiting, I don't know what they'd do to him."

"Not gonna let that happen. Promise."

Chuck broke up our conversation with a question.

"Sonic? Did you hear about the jewel thief?"

"The jewel thief?" I had a bad feeling about this.

"There's some creature going around stealing precious gems from museums. They're saying it looks like something from your planet."

"Does it fly?"

"That's the rumor. It's leaving behind weird 'thank you' notes, too."

That's all I needed to hear. "Rouge."

Amy and Tails perked up when I said that. Chris turned his head around to me. "Who's Rouge?"

"A bat-burglar. She tries to steal the Chaos Emeralds all the time so she can turn 'em into jewelry."

Tails hopped off the ladder. "But how could she even be here? She wasn't with any of us when Chaos Control happened."

"Eggman had the Chaos Emeralds, didn't he? She was probably in his base tryin' to steal 'em."

Danny's complexion darkened. "Is she dangerous?"

Amy stood up with her hammer. "She definitely can be. But don't worry, we'll keep her away from you both if she shows up. The last thing I want is for her to have the emeralds. That, and she isn't exactly PG-13..."

Sonic waved his hands anxiously. "Let's not get into that, Amy. Point is, we're not gonna let her near you. Now, we've got to get going if we want that emerald. Tails, put Sotherby in the navigation system. Amy, you mind riding outside so Danny has a seat?"

Amy dropped her hammer and brought her hands to her face. "Not at all! Especially if it means I get to ride with you, Sonic.

"Yeah, yeah. Now, let's go!"

We loaded up quickly and took off even faster. Tails hooked the plane to the right to get us on track to Sotherby. From inside, I could see Danny's face light up and his adrenaline skyrocket. For him, this was like a rollercoaster on steroids. Chris groaned, looking a little embarrassed for his friend.

After just a few minutes, we were closing in on Sotherby. Chris said the emerald was in an abandoned building. Problem was, there were two of them on Tails' radar. One on the left and one on the right, and the Chaos Emerald wasn't reacting to either one. We decided to take a guess and went to the one of the right. What we didn't know is that a certain bat was watching us on the ground.

Down below, Rouge waited in the trees, watching the X-Tornado closely. She knew from watching the news that Team Sonic was in the cockpit. She decided that she would go for whatever building they didn't choose, not wanting to be seen by them. Worst case scenario, Sonic has the emerald and she can just steal it from him.

"Time to move." She takes flight, staying close to the ground as to not be caught, and eventually making it to an old factory building. The machinery was rusted and coated in dust and cobwebs, the glass shattered and cracked, and debris coated the floor. She strutted in and saw something glinting in the sunlight near the middle of the building. She flew right towards it excitedly, believing she had guessed right.

But when the object revealed itself, it was nothing more than an orb of cubic zirconium. "What's this? Wait..."

She stood up, and realized that she had gotten too greedy, and fell right for a trap. "Don't bother hiding anymore."

A whole squadron of dark, heavily armed soldiers kneeled before her with their sights set right on her, their floodlights nearly blinding the bat.

"You're going nowhere." It was their leader, a short-haired woman, slightly shorter than Rouge, with no helmet. She carefully moved towards the bat with handcuffs ready. As soon as she took one of Rouge's hands to restrain it, the bat did what she did best; flirt.

"Someone's into SM."

"W-what?!"

The soldiers barely held back their laughter as the woman blushed profusely.

"SHUT IT! COMMANDER!"

Said commander, also giggling, pulled himself together and faced his co-leader.

"Don't bother with the cuffs." He approached them, holding his rifle at his side. Rouge shrugged smugly.

"Do whatever you want with me, not like I've got anywhere to be."

The commander's cold stare couldn't pierce Rouge's ego. "You're not Sonic."

"I'm not blue, last I checked."

"So you know him?"

"I've dealt with him before. I'm Rouge, Rouge the Bat."

"Rouge the Bat...what a second, are you the one who robbed the Gemstone Museum last night?!"

Rouge crossed her arms and continued smiling. "Possibly."

"Well, we didn't catch Sonic, but getting a crook like you off the streets should do just fine. Cuff her, Topaz."

Rouge huffed indignantly, knowing this was another roadblock between her and the emeralds.

EYECATCH CARD

Name: Rouge the Bat

Nicknames: Rouge, Bat girl

Species: Bat

Gender: Female (MTF) (She/Her)

Height: 6 foot 1 inch (185 cm)

Weight: 195 pounds (88.5 kilos)

Age: 27

Special skill: Screw Kick

Likes: Jewelry

EYECATCH CARD

Name: Eliza Anderson

Nicknames: Topaz

Species: Human

Gender: Female (She/Her)

Height: 5 foot 10 inches (178 cm)

Weight: 140 pounds (63.5 kilos)

Age: 27

Special skill: Spying

Likes: Combat

We searched for the emerald well into the evening, when the sun was low enough that the sky turned orange. But still, we couldn't find anything like the building we were looking for. It didn't help that this town was mostly abandoned, would've been nice if Mr. Stewart was more specific.

Chris and Danny were clutching the stomachs in agony. Hours of being cooped up in a cockpit were getting to them.

"God, I'm starving."

"Me too, Danny."

"This is why I told you to eat before we left," I gently chided Chris.

"I wasn't hungry when we left!"

"Alright, alright, we'll just look a little longer. I could go for a chili dog anyway."

None of us knew what Rouge was doing back in Washington.

It didn't take long to get the bat into the oval office. Remington wanted to meet her so he could make an in-route with the Gaians, and he felt Rouge would be of better use roaming free than being locked up. Rouge wasn't pleased with the hospitality of the place.

"You know, if you're gonna drag me in here, least you could do is get me a cup of coffee."

Topaz scoffed. "You better watch your mouth, like it or not, we're the only thing standing between you and a bullet!"

"My, my, you're a fiery one, dear, all I asked for was a cup'a joe, is that so wrong?"

The commander butted in. "Topaz, just get her a damn mug already."

The woman groaned and dropped her shoulders. "Yes, sir", she said with a tint of anger. She walked to the coffee machine and quickly filled the mug up.

"Topaz, huh? That's the name of a gem, isn't it?"

Rouge was interrupted by the door opening. The President, Hartley, and Jerome Wise walked in. The very sight of him caused Topaz to nearly spill the coffee, with some of the hot drink scalding the back of her palm. She held back a screech and set the mug down quickly to wipe herself down. The President sat at his desk and faced the bat head on.

"So, Rouge the Bat," the President began.

"That's me." She crossed her legs and rested her head on her palm.

"I suppose you'd like to know why we've brought you here instead of Prison Island."

"Yes, I suppose I do. Why don't you tell me?"

Wise hated her tone. "You have a lot of nerve to speak to a President like that."

"What do ya want me to say? 'Take me to your leader'? 'Thanks for arresting me'?"

Hartley broke it up. "Nevermind that. Listen Rouge, we have a proposition for you."

"You do?"

Remington took charge again. "We're creating a task force to deal with our Eggman problem. Seeing as you're from his planet, you must know who he is."

"I was trying to steal his Chaos Emeralds when I was sent here. Big doofus, that one. What's your point?"

"You know him much better than we do, and he's the biggest threat we've faced in more than half a century. We want you to join us as an agent and insider, someone who can tell us everything we need to know about Eggman and how we can beat him."

"And what's in it for me?"

"I'll make sure you don't face any charges for your recent 'adventures'. And don't worry, the money you'll be making will allow you to get your hands on any gem you want...legally. Do we have a deal?"

Rouge thought for a moment.

"If I go along with them, I'll have any gem I want and I can get closer to the emeralds. What's the downside here?"

She got up and stretched out a hand. "Sounds good to me, Mr. President. That is, if I get to keep my diamond."

"Just promise to keep quiet about it."

"Works for me." They shook hands, and Rouge's new line of work began.

The sun had gone down and we'd arrived at the last stop, an old abandoned factory. Tails, Amy, and I looked around for anything emerald-like, but the place had been picked clean. Amy slammed her hammer down on a tin-can to let out some frustration.

"All that hard work for nothing. Let's face it, guys, there's no emerald here!"

Tails agreed. "Looks like that Stewart guy was lying."

I had different ideas. "Or Rouge got here first."

"Sonic?" It was Chris, and he sounded like he'd just woken up from a nap.

"If we're done looking, can we please just go home?" His stomach was growling and his eyelids fluttering, barely able to stay open. Danny didn't look much better, but was pacing around to hide it. I decided their health was worth more than anything right now.

"Jeez, you look rough, kid. Alright, let's head back. Danny, you mind staying over at the manor for the night? I don't want you walking home like that."

He lazily gave me a thumbs up. "It's cool, I stay over there a lot."

I nodded and followed everyone back into the X-Tornado. Tails kicked on the afterburner so the kids could get home and get fed faster. We walked in at the perfect time, Ella had just finished making dinner. Chris and Danny wolfed down some fried chicken, which earned them a reprimand from Ella to eat more gentlemen-like. Even though it was only 8, they both went to bed right after dinner, with Danny setting up a sleeping bag on the floor of Chris' room.

I could tell Chris liked having Danny over. Maybe it made him feel like he had a brother, like he wasn't alone. It was probably the same feeling he got from us being here. I wasn't tired just yet, so after making sure the two of them were falling asleep, I went out for a late night run across the state to clear my mind a bit. Rouge being here wasn't surprising, but it still worrying. She wasn't a villain, but she wasn't a hero either. She'd do anything to get those emeralds, and while I'd rather she have them than Eggman, it wouldn't be any good to have the world's most powerful gems turned into jewelry.

I decided to sleep in a field that night, pretty far out from Station Square. I'd get up early so I'd be home before Chris and Tails have to get up. As much of a social butterfly as I am, even I need a break here and there.

Cream and Cheese had gone outside to do some late-night flower picking. They promised Ella it would only be for a few minutes, then they'd go straight to bed. There were a few daffodils they saw before dinner that looked especially pretty, so the small rabbit shined her flashlight around the yard to find them.

"I thought they were around here somewhere...maybe..." She eyed a bush and looked behind it. What she saw caused her to gasp and fall onto her back. She was looking for daffodils, and instead, she found a yellow, Gaian-like robot unconscious on the ground.