Yo! Here's the next chapter, and Rouge's first boss battle!
Disclaimer: I don't really own anybody in this chapter.
Day 2, 9:30 AM
Rouge had quickly and easily gained entrance to the huge vault. She was now contacting Snively, Scales joining in on their radio conversation. "What is it, Rouge?! What's so goddamn important that you had to pull me away from blowing out the brains of a hedgehog, a Chao, and a fat man?" Snively screamed over the line. Rouge winced, her sharp hearing amplifying Snively's yells. "Doctor, I just called to tell you I'm in the vault. The Super Emeralds will soon be yours." There was a pause. "Oh, okay then. I'll let you off, for now. Scales, what do you have to report?" Snively barked. "I'm almost to the old prison. I've been planting bombs all over the jungle." Scales replied. "Were you seen?" Snively asked. "Only by a few dozen guards whom I disemboweled immediately after." She said calmly. "Alright. How much further until you reach the armory?" Snively asked. "I estimate five minutes, Master." Said Scales. "Excellent. Set the timer for; let's say, thirty minutes. Rouge, can you get the Super Emeralds out of the vault before time runs out?" asked Snively. Rouge smirked. "I can probably get all three Emeralds in five minutes. I'll see you both on the southwest point of the island." She cut off the line and started the treasure hunt.
Stage 8: Security Hall. Mission: Steal the 3 Super Emeralds in 5 minutes.
Rouge was in the corner of a massive chamber, towering high up. The center of the area was a giant metal tower, going up past many platforms, ledges, and one floor. Lining the room were three levels of big safes, each color-coded. The bottom was red, the middle was yellow, and the top was blue. There were plenty of robots roaming around the room, and some really big fans placed in pits in the floor. As Rouge started towards the central tower, her treasure sense acted up. She looked to her right and was surprised to see the red Super Emerald lying out in plain sight, floating right above one of the floor fans. Thinking this would be simple, Rouge glided off the end of the pit, trying to go down and grab the jewel. Unfortunately, the current from the fan kept juggling her above the Emerald, keeping her from dropping down to the red jewel. Getting an idea, she spun into a drill drive, pushing through the current and grabbing the Emerald before being sent back up by the fan. Thrilled, she glided out of the current and landed somewhat close to the tower. She went forward and was almost run over by a Rhino. She kicked it apart and kept moving. She walked around the tower and saw a pulley that would take her to the top floor of the hall. However, she thought she would take a look at the safes first to see if there was anything near them. Walking over to the closest wall of safes, she felt her senses go off. They pointed to a closed safe right behind a large falling weight. Even if there was a way to suspend the weight, she didn't have a way of opening the safe. Disappointed, she went back to the pulley and grabbed it, going up and reaching the top floor. She jumped and glided from the pulley and looked around. Behind her was the rest of the tower, going up a bit before ending in an open platform with two very high walls made of bars, and a few crates. Scattered around the floor were some large boxes full of spare parts for robots and moving laser beams. Rouge carefully wandered around the room, rolling under lasers whenever possible and killing the Rhinos that tried to attack her. When she was getting close to a switch on a yellow platform, Rouge's senses went off near one of the large boxes. She looked up, avoiding the lasers, and saw the purple Super Emerald floating above her. Running around the beams, Rouge climbed on the nearest box, jumped off the top, and glided into the Emerald, grabbing it. Only one more to go! Too bad she didn't know how to open the safe or stop the weight. She only had three minutes left, now. She wandered around the top a bit, eating up more time. She saw a switch on a red platform and wondered if it had anything to do with the safes. She hit the switch and used the same pulley as before to get back to the bottom floor. She was happy to see that all the red safes were now open, but the weight was still falling in front of the necessary safe. She started to despair, then saw a spring on top of the weight. Curious, Rouge climbed up the wall of the tower and glided to the yellow level of safes. When the weight had risen to her level, she dropped on and waited until the weight was at the top of its ascent. Once she did, she bounced off the spring and hurtled through the air, landing on a beam near the top of the room. She saw a spring in the middle of the beam. She bounced off it and flew right up to the ceiling, hitting a switch that had been directly over the spring. As she fell, she started to glide back to the bottom of the room, hoping she didn't run out of time. She saw the weight was suspended in the air, motionless. She grinned and dropped to the ground, running in to the safe behind it and grabbing the light blue Super Emerald, ending the level.
(STAGE CLEAR. RANK A.)
Rouge put the Emerald away. "I've done it! And I still have about a minute to spare! Now to get out of.huh?" Rouge blinked, her treasure senses going off. She had all the Super Emeralds, but there was still something here. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she followed her senses and was surprised to find it was on the very top of the tower. It must be something very good to warrant being detected from this distance! She used the pulley to get to the top floor, then climbed up the tower, her senses indicating it was at the very top. Not noticing she had run out of time, Rouge got to the top and saw a green jewel that was slightly smaller than a Super Emerald but looking exactly like one lying in the center of the room. She couldn't it believe it. It was a Chaos Emerald! What was one of those doing in GUN's possession? She shrugged and walked to the middle of the room, picking up the Emerald. She wondered why GUN would just leave important treasures like these out in the open. She checked her watch and was surprised to see she had passed the five-minute mark. "Damn! Looks like I lost my bet. Then again, I did grab the Supers before I hit the mark. So I guess this doesn't count." She headed for the edge of the tower. "I'd better get out of here. The bomb's probably been armed already. I'd better get a move on!" Just as she was about to jump down, she leapt backwards as a large machine suddenly flew up. It looked exactly like the Hotshot Scales had defeated, except it had no legs. Instead, it only had some powerful jets. Rouge backed away, nervous. Apparently she had triggered some sort of silent alarm. "Uh oh." She murmured. Maybe she shouldn't have taken time to get the Chaos Emerald. The pilot of the flying mech radioed his superiors. "This is R-1/A Flying Dog of Scorpion Troop calling in. Have spotted the bat trespasser. Sensors indicate she has possession of all three Super Emeralds and the confiscated Chaos Emerald." "Copy that. Retrieve the Emeralds at all costs." Said the voice at the other end. "Roger. Over and out." The pilot started flying towards Rouge.
R-1/A FLYING DOG
The flyer soared around the tower, firing his machine gun at Rouge. The gem thief started running as the bullets hi the floor behind her. She tried hiding behind crates, only to see them shatter from the gun's fire. Getting an idea, Rouge ran over to one of the bar walls on the side of the tower and climbed up it. The pilot couldn't aim his machine gun up, so was forced to keep firing at the ground while Rouge was safe on the wall. Frustrated, the pilot stopped flying around and started to open his missile bays. Knowing what was going to happen, Rouge let go of the bars and started gliding for the flyer. After a few seconds, eight missiles launched from the boxes on the flyer. Rouge swerved in the air, gliding past the missiles and ramming her spiked fists right into the cockpit, cracking it. She fell to the ground and started running as the Flying Dog started retaliating with machine gun fire. She ran across the floor, dodging the bullets, and climbed up the bar wall to safety. After a few minutes of struggling to get his walker to point upwards from near the base of the wall, the pilot moved back a few yards and started to open his missile bays. Rouge let go of the wall, started to glide a bit, and launched into a drill drive when she was over the flyer, damaging the cockpit some more. She fell down and started running as the Flying Dog started his machine gun tirade again. She quickly dodged the bullets and climbed to safety on the bar walls and waited for the flyer to start shooting missiles. She was surprised when the pilot moved back a bit and started aiming the laser cannon on his underside, a laser sight coming out as the cannon began building power. As the sight started moving up the wall towards Rouge, our thieving heroine realized she was in trouble. She dropped from the wall and started gliding around the flyer, moving closer with each circle while outmaneuvering the laser sight. When the cannon had reached its maximum capacity, it fired a ridiculously huge laser blast that was bigger than the thing that had fired it! Once the laser had fired, the pilot started to open his missile bays. Rouge glided towards him, smashing into the cockpit and cracking it some more. She dropped tot he ground and broke into a run as the Flying Dog once again began firing machine gun bullets. Rouge climbed up the bar wall, knowing the pilot would try to use the laser again. She was right. The energy ball started forming at the cannon's nozzle and the laser sight started moving up towards her. She instantly started gliding straight for the Flying Dog, fully aware that the laser sight was locked on to her. As the laser was almost fully charged, Rouge was positioned over the cockpit, above the cannon's range of fire. As the pilot started moving back, Rouge started a drill drive, hitting the cockpit and causing yet more cracks in the cockpit. It would only take one more hit to finish the job. As she dropped to the ground, Flying Dog started charging up the laser cannon again. Rouge ran for the wall and climbed up it, not taking a minute to stop seeing as how the laser target was almost on her, and instantaneously started gliding. The cannon reached maximum capacity and fired, the laser blast just missing her as she passed over where the target system had seen her mere milliseconds ago. She continued gliding as the pilot cursed and tried to fire the cannon before it was charged properly, and smashed into the cockpit one last time, shattering the glass and killing the pilot. He slumped back in his seat. Rouge quickly glided off from the flyer as it crashed to the ground, a smoking wreck. Rouge smiled, victorious. "Well, that takes care of that." She said. "Now to get out of here!" Just then, a feminine computer voice came on over the P.A. "Warning. Vault security guard terminated. Initiating lockdown." A heavy blast door slammed shut over the vault's only exit, the sound of its closing echoing all throughout the Security Hall. Rouge had only one thing she could possibly say. "F#$%!"
Rouge has gotten four precious jewels in this heist, but at what cost? Will she be able to escape before the bomb goes off? Find out next time!
Day 2, 9:30 AM
Rouge had quickly and easily gained entrance to the huge vault. She was now contacting Snively, Scales joining in on their radio conversation. "What is it, Rouge?! What's so goddamn important that you had to pull me away from blowing out the brains of a hedgehog, a Chao, and a fat man?" Snively screamed over the line. Rouge winced, her sharp hearing amplifying Snively's yells. "Doctor, I just called to tell you I'm in the vault. The Super Emeralds will soon be yours." There was a pause. "Oh, okay then. I'll let you off, for now. Scales, what do you have to report?" Snively barked. "I'm almost to the old prison. I've been planting bombs all over the jungle." Scales replied. "Were you seen?" Snively asked. "Only by a few dozen guards whom I disemboweled immediately after." She said calmly. "Alright. How much further until you reach the armory?" Snively asked. "I estimate five minutes, Master." Said Scales. "Excellent. Set the timer for; let's say, thirty minutes. Rouge, can you get the Super Emeralds out of the vault before time runs out?" asked Snively. Rouge smirked. "I can probably get all three Emeralds in five minutes. I'll see you both on the southwest point of the island." She cut off the line and started the treasure hunt.
Stage 8: Security Hall. Mission: Steal the 3 Super Emeralds in 5 minutes.
Rouge was in the corner of a massive chamber, towering high up. The center of the area was a giant metal tower, going up past many platforms, ledges, and one floor. Lining the room were three levels of big safes, each color-coded. The bottom was red, the middle was yellow, and the top was blue. There were plenty of robots roaming around the room, and some really big fans placed in pits in the floor. As Rouge started towards the central tower, her treasure sense acted up. She looked to her right and was surprised to see the red Super Emerald lying out in plain sight, floating right above one of the floor fans. Thinking this would be simple, Rouge glided off the end of the pit, trying to go down and grab the jewel. Unfortunately, the current from the fan kept juggling her above the Emerald, keeping her from dropping down to the red jewel. Getting an idea, she spun into a drill drive, pushing through the current and grabbing the Emerald before being sent back up by the fan. Thrilled, she glided out of the current and landed somewhat close to the tower. She went forward and was almost run over by a Rhino. She kicked it apart and kept moving. She walked around the tower and saw a pulley that would take her to the top floor of the hall. However, she thought she would take a look at the safes first to see if there was anything near them. Walking over to the closest wall of safes, she felt her senses go off. They pointed to a closed safe right behind a large falling weight. Even if there was a way to suspend the weight, she didn't have a way of opening the safe. Disappointed, she went back to the pulley and grabbed it, going up and reaching the top floor. She jumped and glided from the pulley and looked around. Behind her was the rest of the tower, going up a bit before ending in an open platform with two very high walls made of bars, and a few crates. Scattered around the floor were some large boxes full of spare parts for robots and moving laser beams. Rouge carefully wandered around the room, rolling under lasers whenever possible and killing the Rhinos that tried to attack her. When she was getting close to a switch on a yellow platform, Rouge's senses went off near one of the large boxes. She looked up, avoiding the lasers, and saw the purple Super Emerald floating above her. Running around the beams, Rouge climbed on the nearest box, jumped off the top, and glided into the Emerald, grabbing it. Only one more to go! Too bad she didn't know how to open the safe or stop the weight. She only had three minutes left, now. She wandered around the top a bit, eating up more time. She saw a switch on a red platform and wondered if it had anything to do with the safes. She hit the switch and used the same pulley as before to get back to the bottom floor. She was happy to see that all the red safes were now open, but the weight was still falling in front of the necessary safe. She started to despair, then saw a spring on top of the weight. Curious, Rouge climbed up the wall of the tower and glided to the yellow level of safes. When the weight had risen to her level, she dropped on and waited until the weight was at the top of its ascent. Once she did, she bounced off the spring and hurtled through the air, landing on a beam near the top of the room. She saw a spring in the middle of the beam. She bounced off it and flew right up to the ceiling, hitting a switch that had been directly over the spring. As she fell, she started to glide back to the bottom of the room, hoping she didn't run out of time. She saw the weight was suspended in the air, motionless. She grinned and dropped to the ground, running in to the safe behind it and grabbing the light blue Super Emerald, ending the level.
(STAGE CLEAR. RANK A.)
Rouge put the Emerald away. "I've done it! And I still have about a minute to spare! Now to get out of.huh?" Rouge blinked, her treasure senses going off. She had all the Super Emeralds, but there was still something here. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she followed her senses and was surprised to find it was on the very top of the tower. It must be something very good to warrant being detected from this distance! She used the pulley to get to the top floor, then climbed up the tower, her senses indicating it was at the very top. Not noticing she had run out of time, Rouge got to the top and saw a green jewel that was slightly smaller than a Super Emerald but looking exactly like one lying in the center of the room. She couldn't it believe it. It was a Chaos Emerald! What was one of those doing in GUN's possession? She shrugged and walked to the middle of the room, picking up the Emerald. She wondered why GUN would just leave important treasures like these out in the open. She checked her watch and was surprised to see she had passed the five-minute mark. "Damn! Looks like I lost my bet. Then again, I did grab the Supers before I hit the mark. So I guess this doesn't count." She headed for the edge of the tower. "I'd better get out of here. The bomb's probably been armed already. I'd better get a move on!" Just as she was about to jump down, she leapt backwards as a large machine suddenly flew up. It looked exactly like the Hotshot Scales had defeated, except it had no legs. Instead, it only had some powerful jets. Rouge backed away, nervous. Apparently she had triggered some sort of silent alarm. "Uh oh." She murmured. Maybe she shouldn't have taken time to get the Chaos Emerald. The pilot of the flying mech radioed his superiors. "This is R-1/A Flying Dog of Scorpion Troop calling in. Have spotted the bat trespasser. Sensors indicate she has possession of all three Super Emeralds and the confiscated Chaos Emerald." "Copy that. Retrieve the Emeralds at all costs." Said the voice at the other end. "Roger. Over and out." The pilot started flying towards Rouge.
R-1/A FLYING DOG
The flyer soared around the tower, firing his machine gun at Rouge. The gem thief started running as the bullets hi the floor behind her. She tried hiding behind crates, only to see them shatter from the gun's fire. Getting an idea, Rouge ran over to one of the bar walls on the side of the tower and climbed up it. The pilot couldn't aim his machine gun up, so was forced to keep firing at the ground while Rouge was safe on the wall. Frustrated, the pilot stopped flying around and started to open his missile bays. Knowing what was going to happen, Rouge let go of the bars and started gliding for the flyer. After a few seconds, eight missiles launched from the boxes on the flyer. Rouge swerved in the air, gliding past the missiles and ramming her spiked fists right into the cockpit, cracking it. She fell to the ground and started running as the Flying Dog started retaliating with machine gun fire. She ran across the floor, dodging the bullets, and climbed up the bar wall to safety. After a few minutes of struggling to get his walker to point upwards from near the base of the wall, the pilot moved back a few yards and started to open his missile bays. Rouge let go of the wall, started to glide a bit, and launched into a drill drive when she was over the flyer, damaging the cockpit some more. She fell down and started running as the Flying Dog started his machine gun tirade again. She quickly dodged the bullets and climbed to safety on the bar walls and waited for the flyer to start shooting missiles. She was surprised when the pilot moved back a bit and started aiming the laser cannon on his underside, a laser sight coming out as the cannon began building power. As the sight started moving up the wall towards Rouge, our thieving heroine realized she was in trouble. She dropped from the wall and started gliding around the flyer, moving closer with each circle while outmaneuvering the laser sight. When the cannon had reached its maximum capacity, it fired a ridiculously huge laser blast that was bigger than the thing that had fired it! Once the laser had fired, the pilot started to open his missile bays. Rouge glided towards him, smashing into the cockpit and cracking it some more. She dropped tot he ground and broke into a run as the Flying Dog once again began firing machine gun bullets. Rouge climbed up the bar wall, knowing the pilot would try to use the laser again. She was right. The energy ball started forming at the cannon's nozzle and the laser sight started moving up towards her. She instantly started gliding straight for the Flying Dog, fully aware that the laser sight was locked on to her. As the laser was almost fully charged, Rouge was positioned over the cockpit, above the cannon's range of fire. As the pilot started moving back, Rouge started a drill drive, hitting the cockpit and causing yet more cracks in the cockpit. It would only take one more hit to finish the job. As she dropped to the ground, Flying Dog started charging up the laser cannon again. Rouge ran for the wall and climbed up it, not taking a minute to stop seeing as how the laser target was almost on her, and instantaneously started gliding. The cannon reached maximum capacity and fired, the laser blast just missing her as she passed over where the target system had seen her mere milliseconds ago. She continued gliding as the pilot cursed and tried to fire the cannon before it was charged properly, and smashed into the cockpit one last time, shattering the glass and killing the pilot. He slumped back in his seat. Rouge quickly glided off from the flyer as it crashed to the ground, a smoking wreck. Rouge smiled, victorious. "Well, that takes care of that." She said. "Now to get out of here!" Just then, a feminine computer voice came on over the P.A. "Warning. Vault security guard terminated. Initiating lockdown." A heavy blast door slammed shut over the vault's only exit, the sound of its closing echoing all throughout the Security Hall. Rouge had only one thing she could possibly say. "F#$%!"
Rouge has gotten four precious jewels in this heist, but at what cost? Will she be able to escape before the bomb goes off? Find out next time!