Sonic eXcluded
I do not own Sonic, Tails, Amy etc. Douglas Smicktor is my character, so you no use.
Intro
The Station Square Natural History Museum is located on the outskirts of Station Square, about 10 minutes away from the old Diamond Stadium. One of the most famous and well respected museums in the world, it showcases some of the great treasures and art works of the known world from the past, present, and future.
But to one pair of sparkling eyes, it was just another ugly building that had what she wanted.
Tapping a button on the small piece of technology she held in front of her right eye, she was able to magnify the image projected to her, zooming in on the museum.
'Hardly any external cameras...' She made a mental checklist as she looked over the complex. 'Ho signs of motion detectors... No guards on patrol... This is pathetic, and I'm not just talking about the paint-job...'
She raised the device away from her eye, returning her vision to normal. A sultry smirk formed on her lips. It was almost as if this place was begging to be robbed.
In one fluid motion, she kicked her feet away from the tree branch she was hanging from, curled her body up in mid air while tucking the eye-piece away into her body suit, then spun out and took to the air with a hard flap from her wings.
Gliding effortlessly above the treetops, the bat was in the air, and on a direct course towards the museum.
In the museum's security room, two men were sat at a table, playing a game of cards while another sat reading a newspaper by the CCTV monitors.
"Don't forget that it's only a couple of weeks away from the next big SSC Pay-Per-View event: The Royal Brawl!" The DJ's voice said from the radio. "Ya gotta wonder if TMG can hold onto that championship belt, and what about this 4GOT10 guy? It's like he goes out of way to try and make people hate him, but all this talk about him and that blue hedgehog has got to be messin' up his plans! Anyway, that's something I'm looking forward to! You're listening to SSFM radio, I'm your host Jun Senoue and check out this next track from a real crazy group called, get this, 'Crush 40'! You believe that? Anyway, they're gonna be big, and this song's called Into The Wind!"
"Okay... I pick age." The first guard at the table said.
"Ha! Chuck Thorndyke!" The second guard said, putting his flip-card on the table.
"Shit!" The first guard threw his card, Knuckles, down onto the table. "That's five times in a row now!"
The third guard looked up from his newspaper. "You win again Yuji?"
"Of course! I always win! Even when it all goes wrong, I'm always right!"
A small flashing light brought the third guard's attention to the monitors.
"Huh?" He questioned looking at the image on the screen.
Someone was in the main exhibition room, and was walking towards the display case in the centre of the room. To the guard, the intruder was also wearing wings.
"Guys, take a look at this!"
"What is it Takashi?" Yuji asked, as he and the other guard walked over.
Before he could answer, the intruder had jumped over the barrier surrounding the case, setting off the motion alarm. A red warning light began flashing out in the display room, along with a siren.
"Is that... A bat?"
"Looks like it Kazuyuki!" Takashi stated
"One of those creatures from the news?" Yuji asked. "How did she get in?"
The bat seemed to put a hand on the glass case, moving it down as if she was feeling the large blue gem inside it. She giggled, taking a step back away from it.
Suddenly she leapt up, turning her body in the air and lashing out with a sharp karate kick, before landing on the ground again. She flapped her wings, and the force of the air caused the top half of the glass case to begin to slide downward, before smashing into the floor.
"She's taking the exhibit!" Takashi exclaimed, watching as the bat easily removed the gem from the remainder of the case.
"Initiate security lockdown!" Kazuyuki stated, pressing a button combination on the security desk.
The bat sighed. She guessed this place replied on internal security, as it's main defence. Far too predictable.
'If they wanted to keep this so badly, they should have made more of an effort to stop me getting in!' She thought, giving the gem she held a kiss.
Her eyes glanced to the sides of the room as heavy metal barriers came down at the entrances, blocking off access to the hallways. Similar guards then came down on the windows on the walls of the room.
"Oh my!" She sarcastically gasped, mockingly putting her free hand on the side of her face. "How will I ever escape?" The bat held up the gem to her eyes, gazing at her own reflection. "They must want me all to themselves... How selfish!" She giggled again. "Sorry to disappoint you boys, but this lady's not one to wait around..."
"Hurry up guys! The room's this way!" Takashi stated, running down the hallway with the other guards.
"Why? It's not as if she's going anywhere!" Yuji replied. "In this case, she becomes a dead pigeon!"
"What?"
"No! A dead ant!"
"You know Yuji; recently I've noticed that you've lost it..." Kazuyuki said.
"Here we are! Draw your weapons!"
The heavy guard slid open, and the three guards stormed into the room, their handguns ready to fire.
"Freeze! Raise your hands!" They ordered.
"What? No!" Yuji said.
"The room's empty!" Kazuyuki stated, running over to the other side of the room. "Where did she go?"
"Calm down you guys!" Takashi walked over to look behind a statue at the side of the room. "She must be around here!"
The three guards cautiously made their way around the room, carefully checking any possible area where the intruder might be hiding in.
"Damn, she wrecked the display case too..." Yuji said, stepping over the broken glass. "Huh?" He noticed something in the case.
Stepping over the barrier, he picked up a small playing card placed on the stand where the gem had been just moments before. It was the Queen of Hearts, but there was a black silhouette of a female bat as the main picture with a pink heart chest-plate. The card was also signed with a lipstick kiss that said 'Thanks boys! XXX'.
"Some kind of calling card?" Yuji questioned.
"Guys!" Takashi exclaimed, pointing up. "Look!"
The other two guards looked up, and their jaws all hit the floor in collective shock. The large glass dome that made up the ceiling of the room had been cut into, and the word 'ROUGE' was spelled out.
Flying over the rooftops of the city, Rouge smiled at the gemstone she held.
"Well, it's no Chaos Emerald, but you'll have to do for now..." She said to it. "With Sonic and his chump friends around, they shouldn't be too hard to grab!"
Episode 11 - Sabotage Espionage
"And once again a reminder of our top news item today: There are still no positive leads in the extraordinary theft of the world's biggest natural diamond from the Natural History Museum right here in Station Square last night..." The news anchor said on the TV screen. "Police authorities have stated that they are investigating links between this robbery and a recent spree of thefts from jewellery stores and similar establishments all over the local area. SSTV News has been told however that is likely to have been the work of at least TWO rival gangs of criminals due to differences in method of entry and getaway, although nothing has been confirmed at this time..."
"Sonikku?" Amy opened up the hatch into the loft, holding a freshly made pizza. She looked around for the blue hedgehog, but only found Cream and Cheese watching the news. "Isn't he here?"
"Mr. Tails went out to look for Chaos Emeralds with Mr. Sonic and Mr. Douglas, Miss Amy." Cream said, turning around in her beanbag to look at her.
"Chao!" Cheese added.
"Oh..." The pink hedgehog said, disappointed. "Well... If Sonic isn't around, then I guess we'll just have to share this ourselves, won't we?"
"Wow! Really?" Cream asked.
"Ella's been teaching me all kinds of cool recipes, and I don't see why I should let this go cold!" Amy replied with a smile.
"Chao-Chao!" The Chao happily agreed to the idea.
The Tornado X flew over Station Square, with Sonic spinning a baseball on his finger as he sat on top of the glass that covered the rear passenger seats. Tails was calmly piloting, checking the Chaos Emerald every so often, while Douglas sat behind him, looking down at the city below.
"You sure that detector of yours is working Tails?" Douglas asked. "I mean, if it doesn't work and this whole thing crashed like it did when you went near that emerald at the Stadium..."
"Nothing's even 100 positive to work, but the tests I've done indicate that there's a good chance we will pick something up if in range..."
Tails turned the craft to head towards the beach area of the city. Sonic, because he wasn't paying attention, nearly fell of the side of the glass he was on and has to scramble to keep his balance. Thus the baseball ended up smacking him on the forehead, and he lost more balance.
"Unfortunately, you have to be really close to it before anything is detected..." The kitsune added.
"Sorry man, I'm just a little edgy..."
"Why?"
"Well, Eggman's got one; we've got one, so there's five still up for grabs... Somehow I just don't like those odds... That and I'm getting hammered with questions about you guys, and the emeralds, and whatnot..."
"Is it hard?"
"Not so much hard, as like annoying, you know? I'm startin' to question who I'm hangin' out with, outside you guys I mean, in case they're just after info..."
"What do you mean Douglas?"
"It's just... Well... Mainly it's with me and Topaz..."
"...Somethin' wrong?"
"I hardly see her around so much now, and it's been happening ever since she stared hanging out with us all, add to that the fact she's in the army... I'm not sure I can trust her to be honest..."
Douglas glanced over his shoulder, then looked back properly. "Hey, where'd Sonic go?"
He opened up the glass around him a little, looking around the craft.
"Yo! Blue Blur! Where you at?"
Sonic had one hand holding onto a handgrip on the underside of the Tornado X, and the other holding onto the baseball.
"I'm starting to see why Doug doesn't like baseball so much..." He thought, trying hard not to pay attention to the ocean below.
"You are all some of my top and most trusted advisers..." The President said, speaking to the assembled people in his room. "Which is why I speak from the heart as a person, and not off the head of this country when I say this: We are at a critical limit right at this very moment in time. Dr. Eggman is threatening the well being, and the future of our great nation, and I simply cannot run the risk of letting this madman launch another attack on Station Square, or anywhere else."
"We all share your thoughts Mr. President..." The President's aide said. "But comparing out top military capabilities against Eggman's machines, do we realistically stand a chance?"
"Well?" The President looked at the man only known as Commander - the highest ranked member of G.U.N.
"Mr. President..." The grey haired man, with one eye green and the other blue, spoke. "We've had some of our top scientists look at some of the reclaimed machinery at our Prison Island facility... And I'm not going to lie to you Sir. His technology and weaponry far surpasses not only this country's current arsenal, but I'd go as far as saying that of perhaps most of the world combined."
"That may be so..." Christina Cooper stated. "But we can't just let sit by and do nothing!"
"Face it, we need Sonic's help."
Everyone turned to look at Mr. Stuart, who seemed to have a glint of promise in his eyes.
"...Go on." The President said.
"Sonic and his friends have been the only ones that have beaten Eggman. I even saw first hand how Douglas Smicktor-Thorndyke, who's been associated with Sonic, defeated an Eggman machine. I'm not suggesting that we get Sonic to reveal his 'secrets of success' to us all, but..."
The President got up, and looked out the window behind his desk, thinking over what had been said.
"Any other suggestions?" He asked, not bothering to look behind him.
"Until we can figure out how to copy Eggman's technology, no." The Commander replied.
"...Do you think that Sonic will agree to help us?"
"He understands our language Sir." Christina said. "He's been seen talking to the Thorndykes as well as others. There's no reason to believe he would not at least listen to a request."
"So you're just going to walk up to wherever this hedgehog is and ask for help?" The Commander sneered at the idea.
"Not exactly, but I have an idea in mind..." Mr. Stuart said.
"...Fine. Make whatever arrangements necessary to get it done." The President said, still looking out the window.
"With pleasure Sir." Mr. Stuart said, with a smile.
"Douglas!" Knuckles stormed into the wrestler's room, locking eyes with the human watching the wide screen TV.
"If it's about Amy, I swear I think she's over you now. Chicks go through stages like this, so that pimp told me anyway."
"What have you done with my grapes?"
Douglas looked over at the echidna.
"What grapes?"
"MY personal stash of grapes!"
"Oh yeah, that." Douglas turned back to the TV screen. "I heard Mr. Tanaka saying you were gonna be rationed or something after all the times you went crazy after eating lots of them."
"Until I get back to the Master Emerald, I need something to preoccupy my time here, and I am not getting into another debate with that blue idiot about how things used to be 'back in the day'!"
"First off, everything was awesome back in the day, generically. Secondly, there's plenty of stuff to keep you occupied that doesn't involved grape-induced highs."
"Like what?"
Douglas pointed to the screen.
"Chuck managed to detect this transmission-thing in outer space a while back, and somehow he was able to use that to access any CCTV camera in the world. Uses satellites, or cable or something."
"Weren't all the satellites destroyed a while ago?"
"Not for the purposes of this fan-fic."
"Oh. Wait, what did you say?"
"Anyway, the point is you can see into zoos, museums, and all that kinda stuff. But I mainly use it for this."
He flipped over to an another channel.
"Recording the shower rooms of the NFL cheerleaders."
"...I can see the potential..."
Douglas' 'phone went off.
"Have fun." Douglas tossed the remote to the Guardian as he walked out of his room, answering the 'phone. "Hello?"
"Yo Doug, it's Tom here."
"Hey, what's happening?"
"Somethin' you might be interested in." Tom replied, adjusting his sunglasses as he sat on the park bench. "One of my old tag-partners works as a trainer at the SSC Training School, and he overheard Mr. Stuart talking about some Chaos Emeralds."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, and I know how you have 'nothing' to do with that stuff, so you wouldn't be interested in knowing that there's been reports of a 'weird red emerald' at the old Scrap Brain industrial factory just out of town."
"Damn, I must have missed that; I didn't hear it on the news."
"Me neither. But you know how Stuart is a friend with your army girl Topaz, so maybe she slipped him some classified info or something."
"...Yeah, some shit like that. Thanks for the heads up dude; I'll check it out. Unless you wanna tag along..."
"Thanks man, but I'm cool. Got a couple of interviews later today, so I'll catch up with you at the show tomorrow all right?"
Tom hung up the phone, before getting up and walking away. He therefore missed seeing Rouge popping her head out from the tree she was hanging in.
"Careless talk costs emeralds I'm afraid!" She said. "You never know what gossip you might pick up when you 'hang around' for long enough!"
She pulled her head back in, before flying out of the tree and into the sky again. She however also missed another eavesdropper to the 'phone conversation, who's only indication of being there was the shine of the sun on his fanged tooth.
"Well Douglas, if my memory serves me correctly, that old factory should be somewhere at the end of this road." Chuck pointed the end of a dirt trail on the map. "A lot of them were torn down and replaced with trees after the stock market plunge in '86. Historians call it the 'ACM Effect'."
"Yeah, great, but where is that factory then?" Douglas asked.
"When the companies went out of business, the old names didn't mean anything, so they are listed on the maps." He shrugged. "We'll just have to look for ourselves."
"All right! I'm on my way!" Sonic announced, before rushing out of the door."
"WAIT UP! Oh that god damn SON OF A...!"
"Relax! You'll catch up with him." Knuckles stated. "He'll probably get lost anyway."
"Okay, so who's up for a flight out to the emerald then?" Tails asked happily.
"I'm in." Douglas nodded.
"Me too!" Amy said.
"Chuck?" The fox asked.
"No thanks..." Chuck waved a hand. "I just have an extra portion of pudding, and I'm feeling a little over gassy."
"Why, why the HELL did you think we needed to know that?" Douglas exclaimed.
Knuckles shook his head. "Let's go guys..."
His arms folded across his chest, the blue hedgehog looked at the road sign in front of him. A large blue sign was on a wooden post that had the words 'FACTORY' on it. Underneath, a red arrow pointed to the road on the right.
"This isn't exactly a drain on the brain!" He stated out loud. His ears perked up; hearing the sound of the Tornado X. He turned around to see the craft in the sky, heading towards his position.
Up in the Tornado X, Amy was sat behind Tails, while Knuckles and Douglas took up the rear seats.
"This is one of your best inventions yet Tails..." Amy said. "But are these television screens and extra sound speakers really necessary?"
"It was another of Douglas' ideas!" The kitsune replied.
"Hey, the speakers are friggin' awesome! You can hear Deftones echoing down the whole of Main Street!"
"That was you?" Knuckles questioned.
"I deny all. Anyway, the TV screens let you catch up on like, news reports and stuff so it's extra useful!"
"Then why did you have me put in those DVD players and games consoles as well?"
"Because that's the kind of stuff they do on Pimp My Ride! Have you seen how cool that stuff is?"
"Douglas, I hardly think that..."
"Just wait to we gets the hydraulics in this thing!"
"Look! There's Sonic!" Amy stated, pointing down at the blue hedgehog waving at them, before taking off down the right-hand road at the T-junction he was standing at.
"That must be the way." Tails smiled, turning the craft to follow after him.
The trees and bushes rustled from the speed at which Sonic left down the road, still shaking as the Tornado X passed over head. When it had left and the rustling died down, the arrow of the sign fell off the post.
Instantly, Rouge the bat leapt out from the bushes laughing to herself.
"They took the bait hook, line and sucker!" She said to herself, flying down the left-hand road, the actual route to the factory.
It was only a short flight until Rouge caught sight of the old factory gates. Casually, she landed on the ground in front of them.
She tilted her head slightly, bemused by the rusted iron bars of the gate and the two rotten planks nailed into them that had 'KEEP OUT' spray painted onto them. Looking past them, the factory itself looked to be in worse shape.
Every window was at least partially smashed, if not gone completely. Empty barrels and wooden crates littered the compound. There were sheets of metal hanging loosely from the walls and the whole place looked like it could collapse at any moment.
She sighed, placing a hand on her hip. 'The things a girl must do for her emeralds...' She thought. 'I can't imagine how dirty it'll be in there!'
Taking to the air once again, she easily flew over the gate, and up onto where a pane of glass would have been.
Looking down, she saw a factory that obviously hadn't been in operation for years. Machinery was rusted and broken, tools were left scattered and covered in cobwebs, and the air was stale, almost to the point of being dead.
She jumped down with a flip, her high-heeled boots coming down on a metal walkway with a clank. Despite the fact that it was a bright day outside, it was very dark inside, almost in-keeping with every other aspect of the factory.
Cautiously, she walked forward along the walkway, looking around her. There was something very odd about this whole situation that she couldn't put a finger on.
Out of the corner of her eye, a glint caught her attention. Looking down, a small ray of light was shining down from a hole in the roof, and onto the dusty factory floor. In the middle of the circle of light, there was something shining off the sun's rays.
Jumping over the railing, she dropped down to the ground, kneeling in the sunlight. She smirked, about to pick up the shining object...
The click of a gun, and a barrel placed against the back of her head.
She knew that sound, and knew the only person it could belong too.
Fang.
Spinning up in a back kick, the gun was knocked up into the air. Fang flipped backwards, glancing up at his weapon, before landing and staring at the bat, now poised to attack him. She jumped up; a foot aimed straight at his chest.
The weasel dodged to the side as the bat landed. She turned around, ready to strike with a chop, but Fang blocked it, and retaliated with a fist of his own, connecting only with thin air as she ducked down and knocked him off his feet with a leg-sweep.
She stuck out with a stomp, but Fang rolled to the left side. She tried again, but this time he moved to the right. A third attempt seemed on target, but was anticipated as he caught he foot. Twisting her foot around, he caught her off balance as she fell to the ground. Leaping up to his feet, he rolled and caught his gun in a kneeled position, putting it back in its holder.
Rouge returned to her feet, and the two stood nose-to nose in the centre of the ray of light, staring straight into each other's eyes.
Suddenly a bright light blasted out right into their eyes, causing them to shield their vision. Similar spotlights were activated on the other sides of them, so four were shining on them both.
"Set-up..." Fang grumbled under his breath, lowering his hand to see a number of armed army officers, all pointing their assault rifles at them.
"Tricked you and me both..." Rouge whispered back. "Just like old times..."
The weasel smirked, looking at the bat who winked back at him.
"Hope you guys can back up those guns you're pointing..." Fang announced, looking around the troops. "'Cuz it looks like you're compensating for somethin' else!"
"I'd say..." Rouge said, folding her arms and looking unimpressed. "Young boys, who can fire nothing but blanks!"
"Freeze!" Topaz shouted, slowly moving forward from the shadows, her gun pointed at the two furries.
"What are we, ice cubes?" Fang questioned.
"Put your hands in the air and don't move!" The army officer ordered again.
As Topaz moved closer, she pulled out some handcuff from her pocket.
Rouge smirked, as the human was about to put the 'cuffs on her. "You know, I'm not usually into bondage honey, but maybe in your case I'll make an exception..."
A shocked blush came across her face, followed by sniggers from the surrounding army troops.
"What are you all laughing at?" Topaz demanded angrily. "Stop that! That's an order!"
Fang moved to beside the bat, and whispered in her ear.
"Wouldn't that be weird?"
"What, with another girl?" Rouge asked, raising an eyebrow at the weasel.
"No, an overlander."
The bat shrugged her shoulders. "Don't see why not. I mean, you would, right Nack?"
He let his namesake shine through a smirk. "We know each other FAR too well..."
"Captain!" Topaz shouted out.
"Ahem... Men, ATTENT-ION!" A voice ordered, making all the troops cease laughing at stand straight.
"So submissive!" Rouge put on fake shock. "Maybe they like it though?"
"Maybe you do..." Fang stated, and received a light punch in the arm from the bat. "What? What I say?"
"You two - shut up!" Topaz snapped. "And don't try anything!"
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of leaving!" Rouge fluttered her eyes at Topaz, purposely trying to irritate her. "We've not even been introduced
properly!"
"You guys makin' us feel so welcome an' all..." The weasel added, picking up the shining item that attracted their attention in the first place. "Aw, what? Just some cheap coloured glass..."
"Forget the handcuffs." The captain of the troops stated, moving forward. "State your names!"
"Rouge, Rouge the Bat." The female furry stated, adding a wink directed at the troops.
"Fang the Sniper." The weasel answered, tipping his hat as a greeting.
"Hey! You were the weasel that was at the Diamond Stadium for that game against Eggman!" The captain recognised.
"What ya know? I'm infamous on two planets now!" Fang smirked.
"And you, I'll bet you were the one who stole the diamond from the National Museum, aren't you!" He demanded, pointing at the bat.
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not..." She teased. "Who wants to know?"
"Hmm... We may not have gotten Sonic, but maybe this isn't such a bad discovery after all..." The Captain said.
"Not as if we can go back to the President empty handed." Topaz pointed out.
"President huh?" Rouge said. "Interesting..."
Flip Card 1 – Rouge the Bat
Full Real Name: Rouge the Bat
Nickname(s): Bat-Girl
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Likes: Gemstones, jewels, treasure, sexual intercourse (and most things relating to), Chaos Emeralds
Dislikes: Being beaten to gemstones, jewels, Chaos Emeralds
Identifying features: White bat, wears black body suit with pink heart chest plate, white gloves, high-heeled white boots with pink hearts on front, excessive amount of make-up
Flip Card 2 – The President –
Full Real Name: President Dan E Limam
Nickname(s): The President
Gender: Male
Age: 57
Likes: Being calm and relax, a healthy economy, favourable popularity polls
Dislikes: Fear, worry, protests, interviews
Identifying features: Grey haired man, slightly large, has many lines in forehead cause by worry and stress. Can be found in presidential office.
Part 2
"Tails, we've been following Sonic down this road for hours!" Knuckles stated, very annoyed.
"Knuckles is right, does Sonic even remember where we're going?" Amy asked.
"I don't know..." Tails said, looking down at the speeding hedgehog, who seemed to be looking around him quite a lot. "This is very confusing... What do you think Douglas?"
"I think Sonic's having one of his idiot days, we need to stop and get some food soon, and that the third game is the best in the Silent Hill series." Douglas said, concentration on the game he was playing through the built in consol & TV. "Infinite machine gun baby! Yeah!"
"I agree with the first two things he said." Knuckles said. "Especially Sonic being an idiot."
Topaz and the Captain stood at attention, dressed in full parade uniform, behind the two chairs, in which sat Fang and Rouge. There were in the presidential office, waiting for the arrival of the President himself.
"This guy can't be that important if he keeps us waitin' this long..." Fang said, bored out of his mind from waiting.
"You will remain quiet unless spoken to by the President!" The captain stated. "And show some respect!"
"...Bite my spring-tailed ass." Was the weasel's reply.
"What did you say?"
"Cool it Nack, we're not exactly on home turf here..."Rouge said, looking at the tips of her gloved fingers.
"Yeah yeah..." The weasel replied, slumping into his seat.
"Besides, you two are terrible hosts." The bat stated, looking up at the humans. "What does a girl have to do for a cup of coffee around here?"
"More like who..." Fang mumbled under his breath, pulling out a toothpick.
"Do either of you two understand the exact situation here, and the position you're in?" Topaz demanded, obviously frustrated with the lack of respect.
"I'm just a beautiful lady being held hostage!" Rouge answered, shrugging her shoulders. "You're just a mean, and old, kidnapper..."
"O...OLD?"
"Ha!" Fang exclaimed, putting the toothpick into his mouth, on the opposite side to his namesake.
The Captain sighed. "Topaz, I mean, Ma'am, maybe it would help ease the situation to get the... 'Lady'... A cup of coffee."
Topaz gave the captain a death glare, before giving one to Rouge. Through gritted teeth, she turned and walked over to a coffee machine on the other side of the room.
"I didn't sign up for this operation to serve drinks to some smart-ass bat!" She swore under her breath.
'Her name's Topaz...' Rouge thought. 'Named after a jewel... Interesting!'
At that moment, the doors into the room opened, and The President entered, followed by his Aide and Christina Cooper.
Distracted, Topaz looked over her shoulder, and accidentally poured coffee onto her hand instead of into the cup she was holding.
"Ah!" She exclaimed, as she dropped the cup and it's contents onto the polished wooden floor.
"Agent Topaz, this is hardly the time for refreshments." Miss Cooper stated.
"I'm, I'm very sorry Mr President, Sir!" Topaz quickly apologised as she began mopping up the spilt coffee with some napkins.
"You two are Rouge and Fang, am I correct?" The President's Aide asked.
"Hi!" Rouge smiled, leaning back in her chair and waving.
"The one an' only." The weasel replied, tipping his hat in a greeting.
"Hmm... For two people in your situation, you seem far too relaxed."
The bat only shrugged her shoulders.
"No offence to your President, but I've been through way worse than this..." Fang looked up, removing the tooth-pick.
"We'll cut to the chase: We have a proposal for you both." Miss Cooper said.
Rouge cast a glance to the suited woman, as if indicating she wasn't impressed.
"What kind of deal we talkin' about here?" Fang asked, sitting up in his seat.
"I'll cancel criminal inquires into the robberies you have committed, including the diamond theft I'm informed you carried out, in return for you working for myself." The President stated.
The bat raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, but being a secretary isn't my style."
"We mean, as in a secret agent under direct orders from the President himself." Christina stated.
Fang whistled, adjusting his hat. "Whoa, whoa whoa there! You serious?"
"Secret agent? Why, that's such a natural step-up from being a jewel thief!" Rouge stated sarcastically
"Don't secret agents like, put their lives on the line like all the time?" The weasel wasn't sure about this.
"And what do you mean you'll 'cancel the inquires'?" The bat asked. "Won't people get suspicious?"
"That is not for you to worry about." The President's Aide stated. "We'll take care of that."
"I need an answer, are you in or not?" The President asked.
Rouge leaned back in her chair, resting a hand under her chin as she thought.
'Working for the government... Being a secret agent, it'll be easier to get information about the Chaos Emeralds...'
Fang put the toothpick back into his mouth, scratching his nose.
"It means workin' for the man... But these guys got big bucks, plus it'll get the cops off my back..."
"Well?" Christina asked.
"I'm in." Fang answered.
"Don't see why not." Rouge added.
"Excellent." The President said, standing up and extending his hand. " I look forward to seeing you in action."
Fang stood up first and shook his hand, smiling. Rouge was about to do the same when a thought crossed her mind, making her stop just short.
"Say, does this mean I have to return the diamond?" She asked.
"Uh..." The President was unsure of what to say. "Well?" He asked, turning to his Aide.
"Um..." Was his reply.
"The case will be put into stalemate..." Christina quickly answered. "We'll be able to arrange it so the diamond won't need to be seen anymore."
"Ah, of course!" The President smiled. "You see?"
Rouge smiled. "Absolutely, Sir."
"Cheap-ass sign!" Douglas cursed, pulling the signpost out of the ground and throwing it into the bushes.
"But the arrow pointed to the right... I don't get it." Sonic explained, holding the arrow of the sign in his hand.
"All right, all right! Let's just get going to this place and check it out, it's getting late..." Douglas said, walking back to the parked Tornado X.
Sonic scratched his head, tossing the arrow over his shoulder before taking off down the correct road to the factory.
"We are approaching the target zone; all units prepare for action!" The co-pilot shouted back into the 'plane.
The soldiers all took the helmets from under their seats and strapped them on. Fang pulled out his gun, loaded up the chambers, then clicked the weapon into place, ready for firing.
"You boys all look so nervous!" Rouge teased. "You need to relax..."
Topaz took advantage of the bat talking and locked a golden wristband around left wrist. At the same time, the Captain put a similar band on Fang's right hand, the one that held the gun.
"Hey! What gives?" Fang demanded, looking at the band.
"Nice try of a peace offering, but this isn't my style." Rouge said.
"That's a bomb." The Captain stated.
"SAY WHAT?" The weasel said, looking wide eyed at him, then the wristband.
"A little insurance policy for this mission. Both Topaz and myself have remotes to control them. Just a press of a button, and they'll explode."
"Screw that! Gets it off!" Fang started shaking his arm wildly around in attempt to get it off.
"Once the mission is over, we'll deactivate them and they'll come right off. Don't blame us, we just don't know if we can trust you yet."
"How rude!" Rouge said, turning her nose up at the Captain.
"What's the matter, you like jewellery don't you?" Topaz said, smirking as she adjusted her helmet.
"Diamonds are a girl's best friend, not shrapnel." Was the bat's reply.
"Well, just do as you're told and we won't need to do that, will we?"
"Speaking of this... Thing..." Rouge tapped the wristband/bomb. "It's disgusting! Bad quality, poor taste... Say Topaz, this wouldn't happen to be one of your favourites, would it?"
"Wh... What do you mean?" Topaz demanded, a blush coming to her face.
"It seems to match your personality, that's all. Straight forward, to the point, looks kind of old..."
"Okay, that's it! Press the button, right now!"
"Now I see why I got control of Rouge's band..." The Captain started to said, before he suddenly found a gun pressed into his mouth.
"Let's make one thing clear, and you can tell your President this as well: As long as you're paying me big bucks and stickin' to your end of the deal, you can trust me better than ya own blood. But try and screw me over, like THIS!" He held tapped the wristband. "You'll find yourself lyin' six feet under."
Fang pulled his gun out from the shocked Captain's mouth.
"Oh, and if I'm gonna 'blow up', I'm takin' you with me soldier."
"We are arriving at the target, repeat: We are arriving at the target!" The co-pilot announced.
"I... I see!" The Captain stated, regaining his composure. "To your positions troops!"
"There is nothing here!" Knuckles stated, punching a hole straight through a barrel. "We came all this way for nothing!"
"It's hard to see anything here anyway; it's way too dark." Tails added.
"So, were given the wrong information?" Amy questioned.
"Maybe someone played a big joke at our expense." The Guardian stated, walking over to the group.
"Dunno guys. Maybe, or maybe not..."
"All right guys..." Douglas slid his way between to pipes, walking towards the others. "What you make of this?" He tossed over something, which Sonic was able to catch.
"What is it?" The blue hedgehog asked.
"Dunno what its real name is, but guys on the TV use it all the time for lighting effects. Reflects the light more than normal glass so you get extra shine."
"This is what we came for?" Tails questioned.
"Looks like we became victims of a made-up rumour." Douglas said, spitting onto the ground. "There's nothing of interest here. We're probably the only ones who been here since it closed down."
"That's Eggman's base all right." Rouge confirmed, as she, Fang and the rest of the secret service team crouched in the undergrowth, looking up at the tower of 'Eggman Island'.
The Captain took out his binoculars, and looked at the tower.
"We're well aware of that fact Rouge..." Topaz stated.
"Where's the entrance?" The Captain thought aloud, looking over the tower again.
"You guys don't know much about Eggman, do ya?" Fang smirked, standing up.
"Oh, and what do you suggest?" Was his reply, looking at the weasel.
"Give me that rope!" Rouge said, snatching a length of rope from one of the soldiers. "I'll show you how it's done."
With that, she took up into the air, flying towards the tower.
"She'll blow our cover!" The Captain exclaimed, reaching for the remote for the bat's wristband.
"Cool it." Fang was still smirking. "She knows what she's doin'. Let's move."
The weasel started to head towards the base of the tower. The Captain looked at Topaz, who simply motioned for the troops to follow.
By the time they arrived at the bottom of the tower, the rope was waiting for them, providing a way up the tower. At the top of the rope, Rouge winked down, giving the thumbs up.
Fang returned the thumbs up, before beginning to climb up the rope.
"Eggman always has unlocked doors on a couple of levels up..." The weasel explained as he climbed, talking to the troops following behind him. "Makes it easier for his repair 'bots to get in an' out."
"But won't we be detected?" Topaz asked.
"At this time he leaves his computers to look for Sonic an' his buddies. Anythin' super fast, or flying a fancy 'plane will get noticed. Your 'plane wouldn't have gotten noticed if it was on fire!" He glanced over at them. "No offence, you just ain't up to enough to worry him."
Inside the tower, the group quickly moved in deeper, with Fang and Rouge leading the way.
"This is the way..." Rouge stated, pointing down a corridor.
"Hold up a second!" The Captain said, grabbing the bat by her arm. "Where exactly are you leading us?"
"Honey, I know my way around here." She replied, in a 'matter-of-fact' way. "I've slipped in-and-out of here plenty of times without being noticed."
"What about you?"
"I ain't dealt with the Doc for a while..." Fang replied, propping up his hat with the end of his gun. "But I know my way around here. It ain't that hard to figure out."
"Besides..." Rouge said, pulling her arm free from the Captain's grasp. "With this little bomb of yours on me, I'm not exactly in a position to lie, am I?"
"...Hold on..." The Captain press a button on a device on his leg, and an outline of Eggman's tower showed up, showing the route they'd taken so far. "All right, lead on."
As Rouge and Fang led the way once again, the Captain's device acted as a mini map, automatically tracking and drawing the route they were taking as they began to use a combination of side passages and main corridors to work their way further up the tower.
Up in the main control room, Dr. Eggman peacefully slept in his command chair with his feet up on the control desk. Today had been a relatively uneventful day, since all his projects had been coming along nicely and without any problems.
The Doomsday Project was on schedule, although having to first construct an underground bay for its production was trickier than he first thought. That was the least of his problems for it. Building, then launching it was the true task.
Another project of his was the 'Mobile Egg Fort'. A little something that was inspired by the conflict that eventually produced the Tornado X. What had failed for him in that battle was a lack of offence and defence on his part. He needed something that was not only fast in flight, but also powerful in battle.
Other projects, such as the Silver Blur, and the E-100 Series, were also coming along fine. He'd even managed to easily rebuild two of his father's earliest creations, but hadn't gotten around to powering them up yet. He had his new and reinforced Energy Amplifier read to kick-start them back into life, but hadn't gotten around to it yet.
But all these things were of no importance right at this moment, since Eggman was having a lovely dream about killing Sonic slowly by dropping bricks on him, one at a time.
"All right, the map of the complex is almost complete." The Captain stated, looking at the display of his device. "Next, we need to know where the main engine drive is located."
"The say what now?" Fang said.
"Engine? I'm not interested in some dirty engine." Rouge replied.
"We need to find it soon; it'll be too light soon to carry out any kind of operation." Topaz pointed out.
"So none of you two know where it is?"
"What would I do with a main... What ever ya called it... Anyway?" The weasel said, shrugging.
"All right men, we'll move out and retreat before it's too risky. Let's go."
The troops began to move back down the way they came, and Fang was about to follow when Rouge grabbed his arm.
"Wait a sec..." She said, something down a side corridor catching her eye.
"Huh?"
"Halt men!" The Captain stated. "What are you two waiting for?"
"Let me check something else, just in case..." She said looking down the corridor.
"I'm not letting the two of you check anything out by yourselves!"
"Oh, I'll only be just a few seconds..."
"I'll go with her." Topaz stated, moving over beside her.
"...All right. Switch remotes Topaz."
The Captain took out the remote he held, before switching his with the one Topaz had.
"Fang, lead us out of here. You two, be quick about it. We don't have much time left."
"Sir, yes Sir!" Rouge mock saluted, which annoyed Topaz.
"See ya outside." Fang tipped his hat, before leading the Captain and his troops out.
"This is it!" Rouge stated, motioning to a heavy security door.
"Great, how do we get through that?" Topaz questioned.
"Pretty much like this..." The bat sharply kicked at the door, and a second later the door collapsed in on itself.
Flying over the rubble, Rouge looked around the large room as she landed.
"This can't be the drive room!" Topaz stated. "There's no engines, or any kind..."
Rouge paid no attention to her, locking onto what she came here for. The Chaos Emerald sitting in the Energy Amplifier in the centre of the room. She flew over to it, and pressed her hands against the glass, looking down at the emerald.
"It's so gorgeous!" She whispered to it, unintentionally letting her hand slip down and activate a switch on the control panel, marked 'ROBOT KICK-START'.
"Rouge, what's going on here? This is no Drive Room, and what is that thing?" Topaz pointed at the Energy Amplifier, not noticing a side door open up, and robotic eyes stare out at her.
"This is..."
Suddenly, a long metallic claw came out of the side door, and grabbed Topaz by the waste, hoisting her up in the air. He shocked screams were just enough warning for Rouge to avoid a second claw aimed at her, which grabbed nothing but thin air.
The bat flew up into the air, and watched as two machines emerged from the shadows.
The first robot, the one who was currently holding onto Topaz, was a small green robot on tank-tracks. The empty claw retracted completely into its arm, before being replaced by a sharp drill, similar to the one acting as it's nose.
The second robot was far taller, and looked almost to be a humanoid chicken, but had arms instead of wings with fists.
"You DARE to invade the great domain of Doctor Robotnik?" The chicken announced. "HA! A-HA-HA-HA!"
"Yeah, you two are gonna be in DEEP trouble now!" The tank added.
"Help!" Topaz exclaimed.
"Who, what are you two?" Rouge demanded, not quite sure what she was seeing from two misfit robots.
"We are the infamous Super Sonic Search and Smash Squad! The SSSSS! I am Doctor Robotnik's loyal servant, Scratch!"
"And I'm Grounder! And we're the Super Sonic..."
"I just said that, bolt-head!" The chicken shouted at his robot partner.
"You did? Geez, sorry Scratch. I'm just trying a little harder so the Doc doesn't get mad at us like last time and smash us up with that mallet."
"Oh, I'm sure he's over that now... Hey! Look out!"
Rouge was spinning around in the air, heading towards the two SSSSS machines.
"Tornado Whirling Kick!" She called out, targeting them.
"What'll we do Scratch?" Grounder asked.
"She's a bat! Bat's fly, and so did that Tails guy! So this should work!"
Scratch took a deep breath in (even through robots don't need oxygen), before unleashing a version of a cockerel's morning call that was more like a high-pitched screech than anything else. It was in fact painful to hear, so much so that it forced Rouge out of her attack, making her cover her ears to try and block out the noise.
Not only was Topaz forced to do the same, but the noise was so loud that even outside the tower, Fang and the troops were forced to cover their ears.
"What is that sound? An alarm?" The Captain shouted out.
"That ain't no Eggman alarm, that's for sure!" Fang shouted back.
Eggman himself fell right out of his chair when the noise reached the control room. He stumbled back to his feet, pulling himself up using the control desk.
"What the hell is that noise? If it's Bokkun playing with the rockets, he better have a very good explanation for this!"
Rouge dropped to her knees, still clutching her ears in pain.
"Such a violent noise!" She exclaimed under her breath, slowly getting to her feet.
"Scratch!" Grounder said, now wearing ear guards (even though he had no ears), changing his free drill into a microphone on a long cord. "Use this!"
"Right you are Grounder!" The chicken took the mic. "Turn it up to the max!"
The tank's front opened up, revealing an amplifier, which automatically turned it's self up a few notches.
"Do-Ray-Me-Fa-So-La-La-LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Scratched screamed into the mic, producing an even more painful sound than before.
Rouge called out in pain again, falling to her knees.
"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Topaz screamed out. "My head feels like it's about to rip apart!"
Eggman looked up at the control monitors, while covering his ears.
"Someone's activated the Robot Kick-Start in the Energy Amplifier room! Something must be wrong with the Chaos Emerald!"
He quickly pressed a button on the panel. "Security E-13s should do the trick!" Then, another button made a small elevator cubical appear out of the floor. He stepped inside it.
"Hopefully I can get down there before too much damage is done!" He said as the elevator lowered.
"I need... To do something!" Rouge said, straining against the noise.
Behind her, a door opened and an E-13 robot appeared, firing it's guns into the room. Rouge leapt out of the way of the shots, and nearly hit Scratch, who hid behind Grounder who in turn quickly changed his mic into a shield.
"What's are those things?" Scractch asked, watching as another robot entered the room, and fired off some missiles aimed at the bat.
"I dunno, but I don't like them!" Was the robot's reply.
Rouge managed to dodge the missiles, which ended up smashing into the floor, leaving a gaping hole. Topaz blinked, looked at the whole, and saw a huge engine down below.
"The drive room!" She exclaimed.
Rouge jumped up, using a wall to leap off to gain more height, just missing another set of missiles aimed at her. Landing on the ground, the E-13 robot again fired its guns at her. Using a series of back flips, she avoided the bullets until she flipped right over the missile firing robot, which was struck by a flurry of bullets.
The machine sparked, it's circuits ruined, and released missiles aimed at no particular target. The first missile struck an Eggman back up machine that just entered the room. The second hit directly into the Energy Amplifier.
Rouge gasped in shock, seeing the cloud of smoke from where the machine had been.
"The Chaos Emerald!"
"Come on Grounder, let's get out of here!" Scratch said, fearing for its life.
Grounder released Topaz, who fell to the floor gasping for air, and returned its arms back to drills. Scratch jumped into the tank's arms, and the tank revved up its tracks as hard as it could, taking off out of the room through the smoke.
Rouge rolled over to Topaz.
"We need to get out of here!" The bat stated.
"How? These robots are crazy!" Topaz replied.
An idea flashed into Rouge's mind as another missile smashed into the wall.
"Topaz, unlock this wristband!"
"What?"
"Just do it!"
Topaz nodded, pulling out the remote and pressing the unlock button. Rouge pulled it off, and ran along the floor, avoiding another wave of gunfire from E-13. Jumping up from the wall again, Rouge threw the wristband down as hard as she could at the machine, sending it crashing into the eye sensor it it's 'head'.
Now blinded, the robot ran along the floor, colliding and knocking over the missile-firing machine.
"Hurray Topaz! Detonate the bomb!" Rouge shouted.
Topaz didn't need telling twice, thumping down the big red button on the remote. The wristband then exploded, taking a small chunk of E-13 with it. The robot sparked for a moment, before collapsing.
"Are we far enough away from those robots now Scratch?" The tank asked.
"Don't talk, keep going!" The chicken replied, as the rushed past a large man who was running in the direction they'd just come from.
Grounder put the brakes on, stopping sharply, and sending Scratch into a stack of barrels by accident.
"Scratch! I think that was the Doctor!" Grounder said.
Pulling itself free from the barrels, the chicken stood up. "He's in danger! It's our duty as loyal subjects of his repulsiveness to protect him at all costs! Back the way we came Grounder!"
The missile firing robot sparked again, before finally unleashing the entire payload it had left up into the air.
Rogue quickly knelt beside Topaz, picking her up in her arms.
"Let's go!" She said, before taking flight with her.
"Here we are!" Eggman stated, about to storm into the room, before he was forced to duck as Rouge flew out with Topaz.
"Out of the way!" The bat shouted as she escaped with the human.
"Sorry!" Eggman called back. "Hey, wait a second! GET BACK HERE INTRUDERS!"
At that very moment, the missiles all impacted back onto the two remaining machines, triggering a massive explosion that Eggman couldn't avoid.
"What's going on in there?" The Captain demanded to know, looking up at the tower through his binoculars.
Suddenly, Rouge, carrying Topaz, flew out of the doorway they'd used to gain access to the tower, followed shortly by a large ball of flame and smoke that exploded around the tower.
Fang took of his hat, scratching his head with his gun.
"...Damn!" Was all he had to say, and was all he needed to say.
"Th...Thank you Rouge..." Topaz said, looking at the bat who'd just saved her life.
"You can thank me by not being so heavy next time." Rouge replied, flying back towards the troops.
"...Of all the...!"
Eggman coughed and spluttered, clearing away the smoke as he stumbled into the remains of the Energy Amplifier room. He was completely covered in dust from the explosion, and was still dazed from its effects.
"Doctor! Don't go in there!" Scratch shouted, running into the room with Grounder. "There's... Oh-oh..."
"Doctor, you look kinda different." Grounder noted. "Besides all the dirt... Hey look!"
Grounder changed a drill into a hand, and picked up a small gem. Turning the other into a feather duster, he brushed the dirt of it. "Wow! A pretty green jewel!"
"Oooooh! It's shiny! He'll love it!"
"Here you go Sir!" The tank handed the Chaos Emerald to Eggman, who took it, before collapsing.
"...You bucket-brain!" Scratch scolded his team-mate. "He liked it too much!"
"Excuse me, Tom?" Mr. Stuart asked. "Do you know where Douglas is?"
"Yeah, over there." Tom pointed to the man slumped at the table by the catering stand.
"Uh, thanks."
Mr. Stuart walked over to him, and gently tapped him on the shoulder.
"Douglas? Hello?" He shook him a little. "Hello?"
Douglas snapped awake, sitting bolt upright.
"NO DEAL!" He shouted, attracting looks of confusion from the other wrestlers around.
"Uh... Douglas?"
"Huh? What? Oh, sorry Mr. Stuart..."
"You know, you should try and get a good night's sleep before you have to wrestle the next day." Mr. Stuart said.
"Sorry, sorry Sir. I was on a bit of a wild goose chase all of yesterday."
"Oh?"
"Got redirected away from this old factory, spent most of the evening looking for the place, and when we got there..." Douglas covered up a yawn from his mouth with the back of his hand. "...Nothing."
"You were looking in an old factory? What for?" Mr. Stuart asked.
"...Treasure hunt." Douglas said, as if he's planned for being asked that question. "Would have won if any of my team could read a map properly."
"Treasure hunt?"
"Yes Sir, that's what we all agreed the excuse would be, and I'm sticking to it."
A silence followed, one that was awkward.
"Please don't fire me." Douglas said, before collapsing onto the table, asleep.
Next Episode Preview - Voice-Over by Douglas
We heard a Chaos Emerald was way out of town in a field, and it seemed Eggman had heard about it too! But that's not all. While we're fighting over the emerald, there's an even bigger battle going down at Eggman's base!
Next time one Sonic eXcluded: All Out War Part 1 - Chaos Theory! Don't miss it!
