Chapter 10

Rouge clung to her perch in the dark edge of the ceiling. The two men below her had no idea that she was there and had been listening to them for the past half hour. Not that they had anything interesting to say. The tall one, Reganold, was furious that his wife kept making plans with her girlfriends on his days off. His friend Thomas wasn't helping matters by casually suggesting that perhaps Reg's wife wasn't meeting with friends at all, and that she just wanted an excuse not to be at the house alone with him.

Listening to the minute gossip of guards was an old habit for Rouge. In her early days, the private lives of people and their little dramas provided some entertainment during her long stakeouts. However, over the years, all the conversations started to sound the same and she saw the same dull faces beneath every helmet.

Tonight was no exception. Rouge had taken her position just as the janitors had finished cleaning the night before. For nearly twenty hours she had waited patiently in her perch. A master spy and thief had to master patience but even for Rouge a stakeout this long wore on her. "I'm telling you Tom." Reg said with an exasperated sigh. "I think it might be over for us. Do you think I should ask for some extended time off so I can patch things up with her?"

Tom let out a bark of laughter. "Ain't no way you're getting time off from Mr. Goldstone. You'd best just pack your little lady up and send her away now. The fat cats upstairs don't give a rat about your personal life." This rebuke caused Reg to deflate into his chair. Tom cheered him up by handing a cup of coffee. "Drink up, ain't no point in crying over spilled milk."

"Yeah.." Reg said as he took a sip. "I suppose you're right." The door to the office burst open. Three men in black suits strolled inside. Though the room was sparsely lit, Rouge's eyes allowed her to see clearly. Two of the newcomers were strangers to Rouge but she knew their leader. Goldstone's son.

"You two. Get out of here." He snapped. Tom and Reg jumped up to obey their master. As soon as the guards left, the door was slammed shut and locked. "We've lost contact with my father." Jeffry Goldstone said. He did not sound concerned for his father's safety, only annoyed.

"You think it's the storm? They may have interfered with his radio?" One of his lackeys mumbled.

"Storm season is over already idiot." Jeffrey shot back. "No, no, something's happened to him. It must have been the natives, they must have survived the storms somehow."

"That's impossible." Said the second grunt. Unlike his partner, his voice was cold as ice and calculating. "The Storm Breaker we purchased from Dr. Eggman was sending twenty foot waves onto that island. Not to mention the blights mother nature herself provided."

"I don't know." Jeffery said with a defeated groan. "My father should have contacted us by now. We will have to send more soldiers after him, but I'm up to my eyebrows in checks owed to mercenaries already."

"There is…that other option." The cruel man whispered to his superior. Rouge's ear twitched. Jeffrey's expression changed. He looked suddenly afraid.

"My father made it clear that was off the table."

"Your father is not here. You are in charge of Goldstone Incorporated now. You saw the power for yourself. Just a fraction of that could be used to terrible effect."

"We don't want to destroy the island." Jeffrey insisted.

"Of course not. But perhaps flattening it out would not be so bad, it would make it easier for our construction crews."

Jeffery scratched his chin. "Maybe…but…buying from Dr. Eggman was one thing…this…Emperor…something about him unnerves me."

"Your father did not build the world's largest company by being timid. Fortune favors the bold after all."

Jeffrey nodded absently. "Yes…well…alright then. Let's give it a few days first. Let me send more people after my father…if we are still having trouble then…" The thought proved too terrible for Jeffrey to finish. "Leave me." He said. Not needing to be told twice, his grunts left the room. Alone, Jeffrey walked towards the desk near the double paned windows and looked out over the city. Even from this high up, the flashing lights of the strip streaked onto his face.

"It's so crowded." He whispered. "We are like ants, climbing over each other, desperate to stay in the sun."

Silent as a shadow, Rouge climbed across the ceiling. A streak of city light momentarily revealed her creeping above Jeffery, but she stole back into the darkness before he noticed. He turned from the window, took a key from his pocket and unlocked a box on his desk. From it he drew a stack of papers. He pushed the various ledgers aside and folded out a large set of blueprints. It was an island, retrofitted into a massive metropolis dotted with surrounding suburbs. "Goldstone city…" He muttered. "What a joke."

Jeffrey turned to a small photograph on his desk. Rouge could just barely make out the image of an older woman. She had a kind face, but her smile was solemn. Jeffrey pushed back the photo to reveal a piece of paper taped beneath the frame. He opened it and Rouge saw a design for another island. It was drawn in crayon, crudely as by a child, yet sophisticated in its intent. The city was built into the trees, supported by and supporting the environment around it. "I'm sorry." He whispered as he crushed the drawing up and tossed it in the trash. Jeffrey took his papers and placed them back into the lockbox.

After wiping his face, he turned and made to leave the room. Rouge dropped to the floor without a sound. Quick as a flash, her hand slipped into his pocket and stole the key. Jeffrey left his office without a clue.

Rouge the Bat stood tall and stretched her back. It was stiff and sore from waiting still for so long. But patience has its rewards. She thought as she danced the key on her fingers. Rouge returned to the desk. Curious, she took the image of the woman and turned it around. Written on the back of the frame was "Terressa Goldstone." His mother? Rouge wondered.

However, that was not the information she was here to steal. Rouge fitted the key into the lock and retrieved the folder filled with documents. She double checked that they were the ledgers for the planned Goldstone city and then smiled. Footsteps echoed outside the door. Jeffrey must have realized he had forgotten his key. The door burst open and Rouge flew to the safety of the ceiling. Reganold and Thomas entered with guns held high. Jeffrey followed behind.

"I had them in my pocket." He insisted. They walked forward as Rouge slipped over their heads. She landed by the open door, turned back to her searchers. Their backs were to her so they missed the little kiss she blew them before disappearing into the night.

"Well done." Commander Smith said as he shuffled the papers on his desk. "This is everything we needed to know."

"I always aim to please." Rouge said with a twirl and a bow.

Commander Smith grunted. Man was said to have two humor bone's but Smith must have had his removed at birth. "There is no proof here that they were working with Eggman but there is enough to charge them with multiple crimes."

"Charges that will stick?"

"Of course not." Smith said with a growl. "The Goldstones are untouchable but that doesn't mean they are untrackable. As long as we can stay one step ahead of them, we can prevent them from doing any real damage."

"And what about this Emperor? That is quite the lofty title. I'm not sure your president would like to hear that someone is going around calling themself that."

"Sounds like another freak like Dr. Eggman." Smith cracked his knuckles on his desk. "Ever since he broadcasted himself all over the world, copycats and would-be maniacs have risen up everywhere. Most of them bark more than bite, but who knows. It doesn't matter, whatever the threat, GUN will be ready."

Rouge shrugged. "You boys sure do like to talk a big game."

Smith shocked her by smiling. "It's not talk when I have operatives like you."

"High praise. So what about my payment?"

The Commander reached into his desk. He withdrew a gilded box and handed it over to Rouge. She opened it and was immediately blinded with the shine of a dozen shimmering gems. "Very nice."

"What do you do with all your treasure anyway? You sleep on it like some hoarding dragon?"

"A lady has her secrets." Rouge quipped with a wink.

"Never mind that. There is more where that came from, if you're interested."

"Who's the target? Another rich kid?"

Commander Smith shook his head. "Dr. Eggman."

"Him again? What's he up to this time?"

"We don't know. That's the problem. We haven't been able to track his movements in months."

"Perhaps he's reformed."

"No more jokes." Smith snapped. "This is serious. If the doctor has gone underground we need to know what he's up to. The days of him hiding in the shadows while he builds his doomsday devices are at an end. This order has come straight from the top. The president refuses to let another disaster like what happened with the Eclipse Cannon happen ever again."

"What disaster? Everything worked out alright."

"The madman blew up half the moon!" Commander Smith leaned forward to impose his size over Rouge. "Listen to me. The president has had enough. We aren't waiting for Sonic and pals to save us anymore. We want to know what the doctor is up to. If he is building something big then we have to go after him before he strikes, no more playing catch up."

"O, is the president tired of watching a blue hedgehog steal all his glory?"

"This is about national security, not pride."

"It's always about pride." Rouge said dismissively. "Which is exactly why I will take this mission. Generals and spies aren't so different you know. We both like to test ourselves against the next great threat."

"Very well." The Commander rose and ushered Rouge over to a wall sized monitor. "We know the doctor has a base somewhere within the Mystic Ruins. The foliage and tree cover makes it difficult for our drones to pinpoint a precise location. Recently, we've picked up a lot of noise from the area."

"Noise?"

"Explosions, gunfire, blaster fire, massive electric pulses, the works. We don't know what he is up to, but something is happening at that base. Your team is going to find out what."

"Team?" Rouge, nearly choked on the word. "I work alone."

"Not this time, it's too dangerous."

"I can handle it."

"It's not a discussion Rouge, you either go as I say or not all."

"Whatever." Rouge allowed. "Well what's his name then, who is the operative you're sending with me."

"Their name. They work as a team. Code name; Chaotix."