Chapter 14: The Power of Greed

She knelt by Knuckles as she watched Catnap. She stood now with her back to her old rival, calling out to the world: "Animals and people of Mobius!" Her voice echoed across the horizon. "My name is Catnap, and I am the most powerful creature in the world!" Rouge looked down at Knuckles, willing him to wake. "I am the master of the Master of chaos! I am the master of all elements surrounding it! And now, I am the master of the world. I OWN you! You all belong to me! The greatest resources, the most precious of treasures, and the most beautiful of materials!" A pause. "Don't bother resisting. Because if you do… I will squash you like bugs."

Rouge didn't doubt it. She didn't doubt any of it. The greed had not only corrupted Catnap, it had empowered her. Even Robotnik in all his genius wouldn't be able to stop her. Even Sonic and his friends, with all their good, couldn't stop her. She looked again at Knuckles. He was proof of that.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered, frowning, her chest tight. "What have I done?"

Catnap turned around. "It's about time you get out of my treasure cave, Rouge."

Rouge didn't have the courage to correct her, to say whose it really was.

"Or I'll start with you for the squashing."

Rouge got up. "Catnap…" she tried, but her rival held up her hand.

"I'll be giving Angel Island a visit. I'll see if it's a good location for my new emerald castle! I expect you to be gone when I come back. And I expect you to leave all the treasures here."

She had to trade her treasure for her life. She decided the trade was fair. She watched Catnap fly off with the levitation of the radiation gem she still held tight to. She sat on the Master Emerald like some sort of hovering vehicle. The rest of the chaos emeralds were left behind at Rouge's cave, but Rouge was certain that the Master Emerald would notify Catnap if anyone else touched them.

Rouge wondered if she could take Knuckles or if Catnap counted him as one of her treasures. She placed a hand tenderly on his charcoal cheek, then turned to go. With a sad glance at her former home, she walked toward the entrance of the cave. Then, just before taking off to who knew where, she stopped, looking down at the yellow chaos emerald. The one that reminded her of Tails.

"Poor kid…" she whispered. She had betrayed his cheerful trust.

She looked back at Knuckles. Why had he called her by name for the first time ever after she stole the gem? She had betrayed him, too. She had caused whatever this fate was, even if it was Catnap who implemented it.

She had been a coward.

She fell to her knees, clenching her fists in the dirt that remained beside the chasm. When she closed her eyes, she saw Knuckles struck with the power of the Master Emerald. She opened them and turned toward that yellow gem again.

She won't be a coward again.

She had to fight. As hopeless as it was, as impossible as it would be to defeat the mighty Master Emerald and its new master… She had to try. She owed it to Tails. She owed it to Knuckles. She owed it to all of them, who saw her as one of them.

She reached out toward the gem, hesitated, then clutched it in her hand. "You with me?" she asked it. It sparked in answer.

She scurried around her cave, gathering the rest of them, knowing that at any moment, Catnap would return in a rage. She let them arc above her, using them first to fix her home, then preparing to use them against her rival.

.

It took awhile for Catnap to return, and she had no idea Rouge had taken the gems… not until she entered the cave and saw they were missing. "What?!" she cried. "Master Emerald! You were supposed to tell me if someone stole them!"

"Looks like you've still got a lot to learn about how to use the Master Emerald!" Rouge stepped forward, beams of colorful light shifting around her. Her courage was growing. If Catnap didn't know how to use it, maybe Rouge had a chance to beat her after all. "Chaos emeralds, show me your power!" she called.

"Master Emerald, command them!" Catnap shot back.

Rouge felt hopeless again. I'm not match for her… She repeated. Not with the power of the Master in her hands…

But the Master Emerald did not shine. It did not glow. It didn't even flicker.

Rouge's emeralds, however, obeyed her, attacking the cat and causing her to yelp and cry out.

"MASTER EMERALD!" she wailed.

Rouge looked on in shock. The emerald wasn't listening. Why wasn't it listening? Did she need the chaos emeralds for it to listen to her? That didn't make any sense. They didn't rule it… It ruled them.

Catnap began to fight back with only radiation. But one chaos emerald was no match for six. "Master Emerald!" she begged again. But the huge gem did nothing to help her.

Rouge took the opportunity to bring Catnap to her knees. "Give it up!" she said, looking down at her.

Catnap held out the Master to her.

"And the other one," Rouge insisted.

Catnap clutched the chaos emerald, the purple one she favored. Then, with a sigh, she held it out too.

Rouge took it.

"I don't understand…" Catnap whined.

Rouge brought the Master Emerald to Knuckles, where just the touch of the green gem restored him to life. From the place it touched his fist, a neon green light washed over him, returning his natural color.

"Why?!" Catnap was still wailing.

"Because you're not its master," Knuckles said, holding onto the emerald that was his charge.

"But it listened to me!"

He smiled. "No. It didn't."

"But I… you…"

Knuckles stalked toward her, and she stepped back, terrified. "It listened to me. I tricked you, cat. You thought you had control of it. And because of that," he gestured to the chaos emeralds around Rouge, "you left behind the chaos emeralds." Then, he turned and looked Rouge in the eye. "And I knew Rouge would know what to do with them."

"You… what?" Rouge asked.

"You took the chaos emeralds against her and the Master Emerald… exactly as I planned for you to."

"But… I…" She snapped out of her shock. "You moron! What if I didn't?!"

Knuckles shook his head. "But you did."

"But I almost didn't! I almost ran away!"

"But you did," he repeated.

She stared at him, incredulous. But that's when she realized… Knuckles trusted her. Somewhere between the picnic and the moment he turned to coal, he decided to trust her. She blushed despite herself, but to hide it she turned from him and repeated, "Moron…"