This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.
Chapter 4: What a Girl Wants
Back in Knothole, Rouge had been given a bed at the hospital and was recovering from the poison in her system. Slowly she was regaining consciousness, but was still very weak.
"Hey there Sweet Thing."
Rouge looked over to see Shadow standing next to the bed.
"Oh no, it's you again."
"Nice to see you too."
"Haven't you tortured me enough? First you try to steal my rings, then you so rudely interrupt my shower." Rouge then looked down and noticed her clothes were missing, but she was wearing a hospital gown. "Then there was the meeting with a holographic and very rude princess, followed by my being hunted down and almost roboticized."
"If I said 'I'm sorry', would it help?"
"No."
"Then I won't bother."
"So why are you here? To make sure I don't blab anything to Robotnik? Or perhaps you're here to humiliate me some more?"
"Neither, I'm asking you if you'll join us."
"What? Is this a joke?"
"Absolutely not." From behind Shadow came a female voice, and Sally walked in, followed by Geoffrey. "We still want your help. Besides, thanks to a little bit of acting, Robotnik thinks you're one of us anyway."
Geoffrey added a funny comment. "I played a mean Othello in the high school play."
Shadow glanced back. "To be, or not to be?"
"That's Hamlet."
"Who cares? Shakespeare was a hack anyway."
"Would you two be quiet?" Sally stood next to Rouge. "Look, we still want you to help us."
"What? You must be joking. Why would you want my help after I tried to sell you out to Robotnik?"
"Because we can still use your help. We still need someone who can collect rings quickly and efficiently, and you fit the bill."
"And how do you know I won't try to sell you out again?"
Sally looked back. "Shadow?"
Shadow stepped forward. "Because if we catch you going anywhere near Robotropolis, I will personally tear off your wings and feed them to you, and that's just for starters."
"Point taken."
Sally moved in front of Shadow again. "We'll give you sometime to consider it. If you refuse, Shadow will take you out of the Great Forest and you can be on your way, but you are never to return."
At this point, Rouge had little to say, so Sally, Shadow and Geoffrey left the room.
Rouge folded her arms behind her head, considering their offer. She half wanted them dead after they humiliated her earlier, but they also saved her life. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad after all; perhaps she could get more out of them than they bargained for.
The next morning, Rouge headed to a nearby river for a bath; unfortunately, this one would be under armed guard. It was bad enough when Shadow was watching her, but now she had two guys watching her. On the other hand, she wasn't worried that these two geeks might decide to rush her and have their way with her.
Their orders were to watch Rouge and make sure she didn't try anything funny, such as trying to run or fly away. But when you're a woman with an incredibly well developed body and especially well endowed breasts being watched by two strange guys while taking a bath, just about every movement to wash while hiding your assets seems funny.
The pair tried to keep serious, but lets face it, Rouge is hot.
Eventually they were joined by a third who signalled them to leave. They soon left after giving a brief report.
Rouge didn't notice the change as she had kept facing away from them, but every so often, she would take a look back just to make sure they weren't closing in on her. She noticed they were gone and replaced by one.
"Seems you can't get enough of me."
Shadow smirked. "I guess not."
Rouge quickly checked her clothes that were on a rock directly in front of her. Content that they were safe; she continued her bath. Quickening the pace, now more than ever she wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.
"So, have you decided?"
Rouge tilted her head slightly. "You mean whether or not to help you?"
Shadow didn't have to respond for Rouge to get the answer for that question.
"I don't know; I've never been involved in a war before. Although I want to get Robotnik for what he tried to do to me, I really didn't appreciate the way you used me, despite the fact that you were right not to trust me." Rouge sighed.
"You're not the only one who had that decision to make."
"You? Now that I think about it, it seems strange that someone like you would be taking on this role, fighting for a good cause, you seem more like me, looking out for #1."
"At one point, my petty desires were all I wanted. Then came Robotnik. He destroyed the only thing I knew; I guess in some sick way, I owe him for that. Because of him, I was left distraught and directionless. Soon after, he would hurt me again, this time, I responded with rage."
Shadow paused as he recollected the two fateful events that turned him from his hatred of Sonic and into the fold of the Freedom Fighters. Rouge had stopped washing herself and simply sat in the water, waiting for Shadow to continue.
"Eventually, I found myself back in Knothole. Here, everyone had felt just like I did, like everything was lost."
"It was when Robotnik killed Sonic, wasn't it?"
"Yeah. They felt as if they had all died when they saw Sonic's body. I realized, not just yet, but I soon realized that we were very much alike. I would soon have my own reason to hate Robotnik, and I understood the depression they felt. So I helped them."
"I never had anything to take away."
Shadow looked at her.
"When I was young, I didn't have anything, I was just a poor little girl. I never knew my father, he left when I was a baby, and my mother was hardly the picture perfect model of a loving woman."
Rouge stifled a tear.
"She was a piece trash, more concerned with her latest boyfriend or a bottle of cheap booze than her own daughter. To her, having a good time was more important than your own flesh and blood. She was nothing more than a piece of ass for any good-looking guy with a bank account. I don't even remember her name, and I'd kick myself if I ever did. I hope she died in a gutter!"
Shadow looked on, trying to consider what Rouge had told him. A strange thought crossed his mind. "Are you making this up?"
Rouge demeanor changed very quickly. "Actually yes. Her name was Lisa and she was a very caring person. But I never knew my father, that part was real. He left us shortly after I was born, and mom tried her best to raise me, but we were still very poor. As I grew up, I promised myself, I wasn't going to let any dumbass jerk me around, and I was going to be rich. I learned fast, and soon was able to scam anybody around, no one was going to get the better of me."
"So, you wanted dominance and money."
"Yeah, to make up for all the things I put up with before. I deserved it."
"That would explain your good storytelling. So, just what did Robotnik offer you?"
"He said that he'd leave me alone if I collected as many rings as I could. He didn't need them, but he knew that you guys did. He also promised me a big bonus if I ever found Knothole for him: Jewels, gold, silver; whatever was leftover from Mobotropolis after he took over. Then he said he wanted you, he'd give me anything I wanted if I just found out about the source of your power, or better yet, to deliver you to him in person."
"Hmph. I'd say he was biting off more that he could chew with that request."
"Well, I was beginning to wonder if he would deliver, I've had a few bad run-ins with people like him; it didn't help much when you turned the tables on him."
"I couldn't let him get the better of me you know."
"I'm going to get him for that, no one backstabs me. Although I am still surprised that you came back for me, despite my being a spy."
"We didn't come back for you, we needed the parts from that 'roboticizer'." Shadow chuckled a bit. "But your being a spy didn't matter, we would have saved you either way. Besides, I knew who you were working for; so the opportunity came up to really frazzle him, and convince you to join us instead."
"You knew the whole time I was a spy?!"
"Not in the beginning, but they say it takes a thief to catch a thief. I am very untrustworthy, so when I made the proposition to you to help us, you set every one of my alarms off. At the other river, when I snagged your clothes I found the communicator that Robotnik had given you. We listened to your conversations with him before the meeting."
"You really are incredible; I didn't suspect a thing, you seemed like every other jerk I ran into."
Shadow smirked. "I'm not normal, so most people have a tendency of getting the wrong impression, least of all how cunning I can be, especially since it was Sally's plan to begin with."
"I'll have to congratulate her later."
"I don't think she goes for that 'boot kissing' bit you seem so keen on."
Rouge gasped in horror at the statement, though much less after seeing the coy smile on Shadow's lips. "I don't kiss anybody's boots. Which reminds me, just how did you get my communicator out of my shoe?"
"You had the communicator on for receiving transmissions, I didn't have to open your shoe to find it, or to get its frequency."
"Such an amateurish mistake." Rouge grinned at her previous error. "You're as sneaky and conniving as I am. We'd make an interesting team."
"'Interesting' would be the right term I suppose."
"Why don't you blow this joint, we could be great. With my talent and your powers, we could become the richest people in the world."
"I have little use of money or luxury. Besides, unlike your story, I wasn't bullshitting you. I have found a place here, and I'm not leaving until Robotnik is defeated."
"Well, a girl can dream."
"But you do have a point, we could be quite the pair. You said it yourself, I am rather like you."
"No kidding." Rouge thought about it. "So, are you really going to make your proposition again, knowing full well that I cannot be trusted?"
"I think we can trust you now, to a point. Even though we don't have anything to offer you, other than we won't stab you in the back if you don't."
Rouge giggled. "Well, that's almost enough, but you do have something that I want."
"And what would that be?"
"I, the great Rouge the Bat have three desires: Gold, jewels, and…" Rouge turned to face Shadow, and stood up, letting the water only come up to her knees. With her right hand, she motioned Shadow to join her.
{Would I actually go for some hot chick standing naked in a shallow pool of water, taunting me to join her?}
Shadow leapt in. "Hell yeah."
Although the conversation between the pair was supposedly private, from behind some bushes, someone had taken notice.
Bunnie quietly pulled away from her roost. "I'm gonna kill that little whore."
