Okay… So a Manic chapter and you know what that means. Halo's in charge! I'm going to be honest, I didn't really LOVE this chapter, but it's still good. I think part of the reason is I just think Manic is being an idiot. But enough from me, let's turn it over to Halo.

So, looking back on this chapter after we finished it, we found that a certain, 'Havoc' (you'll meet him next chapter) had decided to go and be the funny man and change a few words. We were literally about to publish, when Era discovered the offending words. We are happy to report that we have destroyed any traces of his handy work. I also need to excuse myself for a moment so I can go tear him limb from limb. (You'll find out about him next chapter… CLIFFHANGERS!)

Comments!

Agent BM- Thanks!

Wafflesbelike-NYANCAT- My brother always explained it as, and I quote, "It's magic. Shut up and let me watch my movie." I kid you not. [Era: My 7th grade science teacher was the first person to point out the lightsaber thing to me… so I wasn't that smart or a stickler for the details.]

gwencarson126- 1. I love it too! 2. Glad to hear you think so too. 3. Actual best ship. 4. Here ya go!

Autumn- Oh, I scare Oceanera all the time, it's not that surprising. (;

Quantum27- That's kind of the reason we ship those two, because that thought will always be floating in the back of your mind. It's going to get annoying, probably.

ultimateCCC-... Um… they've never met. I don't see how that counts as a reunion…

Action!

Matthews POV:

It was Friday- poker night- and I was supposed to be playing cards with Ears and Tony in Curtis's living room. Usually, I'm not too bad (I cheat, by the way. I know that's no surprise but just thought I should mention it), but tonight I was really getting creamed. But I couldn't help it- I still couldn't stop thinking about her.

It had been three days since my encounter with Rouge, and I still hadn't been able to find her. I figured out a few of the most likely places she might be in the city, but had only been brave enough to check out one, with no success. And can you blame me? That girl is scary, dang it!

And interesting.

I mean, the way she was able to fight, you didn't see that often in women who weren't on the martial arts channel. If I hadn't been the subject of pain, I might have congratulated her. Not to mention that she wasn't bad-looking either. I really respect that she didn't feel like she had to pile makeup all over her face or wear next to nothing to look cute. Didn't see that every day (at least not in this neighborhood).

Thanks to my wandering thoughts, I lost another round along with twenty bucks. Great.

"Come on, Maniac, what's up with you?" asked Ears from across the table. "Usually, you clean up on poker night. S'going on?"

"What?" I said, snapping out of my thoughts. "Aw, nothing."

"Man, we know you're lying." said Curtis, setting down his cards. "Seriously, what's up?"

"Uh…"

"Here, lemme guess. It's a girl, ain't it?"

My face must have given me away, because all the guys at the table started laughing.

"First guess! I can't believe this!" laughed Curtis. "So, who's the lucky lady?"

I mumbled something about not wanting to talk about it. If these guys ever heard about me getting beaten up in an elevator by some girl I thought was hot, they would never let me live it down.

"Come on, man, tell us! Is she hot?" asked Tony, setting down his cards and grinning.

I cracked a smile. "...Yeah."

"Didja talk to her?"

"You could say that."

"Wassat supposed to mean? Either you talked to her or you didn't."

"I talked to her."

"Didja get her number?" asked Ears.

"Uh, no."

"Chaos, Maniac, why not?" he demanded.

"Uh… must've slipped my mind." I lied. Well, technically it wasn't a total lie. I definitely wasn't thinking about calling her when she had me in that headlock.

Curtis threw his hand down and called for us to pay up, much to the displeasure of the group. After we forked over the cash, he glanced at me, "What's her name?"

Eh, what's the harm in telling them her name? "I think… it was Rouge. Weird name, huh? Cute girl though, so who cares."

Everyone froze, their eyes just staring at me, a look of horror and shock etched on their faces.

"...What? Was it something I said?" I asked, confused.

"Dude…" said Curtis, slowly. "Did you say Rouge was the girl you met? Rouge the Bat?

"Yeah… is that a problem? And how'd you know she was a bat?"

"Oh Chaos…" said Tony, banging his head on the table. Ears buried his face in his hands, muttering to himself. Seriously, what was I missing?

"Did any of you date her or something? Are you guys worried about me flirting with your ex? 'Cause-"

"Dude, you don't flirt with Rouge, let alone even talk to her. How the heck did you run into her?"

"I may have… tried to pickpocket her. Didn't work. "

"Of course it didn't work! How are you even alive?" shouted Curtis, standing up suddenly and banging his fist on the table, his expression frantic.

"Hey man, I don't even know who this chick is. How was I to know that she'd beat me to a pulp?" Oops.

"She beat you up? For real?" asked Ears.

"Oh, don't ask so surprised, Randall." said Curtis, exasperated. Woah. He called Ears by his real name. This was getting serious. "What would you expect Rouge to do? I can't believe this. I cannot believe this."

"Dude, who the heck is Rouge?" I burst out.

All went silent again. Then Ears started laughing.

"You don't know?" he asked between breaths.

"No, I'm just asking to see if you know. Of course I don't know who she is, that's why I'm asking! All I know is that I'm about to swipe her purse and boom! I'm caught in a headlock and she's forcing me to say uncle! Whaddaya want from me?"

Curtis seemed to pull his racing thoughts together and began to explain, "It's just that… the fact you don't know about her is, like, insane. Dude, she's a GUN agent."

Wait, what?

Ears interrupted, "Ya know, she was a thief before that."

"Yeah, yeah," Curtis waved his hand aimlessly, "I was gettin' there."

"Woah, woah, woah, hold up-" I asked. "She's a GUN agent?"

"Uh yeah, where have you been?" said Tony. "It was big news when she got busted for that one job a couple years ago, and then she completely went off the map. Next thing we knew, she pops right back up, 'cept this time, she ain't interested in any of her regular jobs."

"Whaddaya mean?"

"I mean that she wasn't stealing jewels anymore. At least, not normal ones from what I hear. And she ain't swiping 'em for herself either- they're all for GUN. And then when some… eh, associates from her crime days try and get her back in the game, she rats 'em out to the cops without even batting an eye."

"So remind me again why I'm not allowed to go near her?"

Curtis stared at me incredulously. "Dude, she is literally the best professional thief and spy in Mobius. She's stolen more in her career than this entire city is worth."

"And that's supposed to turn me off?"

"What's supposed to turn you off is the fact that she can kill you in fifty different ways if she decides she don't like you. It's a miracle you're alive, man." said Curtis. If he hadn't been so serious I might've laughed.

"Oh come on, Curtis! Yeah, she beat me up pretty good, but I don't think she intended to kill me," I said, leaning back in my chair.

"The point is, Matt, she could've," said Curtis, sitting back down. "If she felt like it, she could've taken you out, right then and there."

I thought about that awhile. It definitely wasn't hard to picture Rouge tearing some poor sucker apart if she got ticked off. But… call me crazy, but I just didn't feel she'd do that without a heck of a good reason, and some random street thief wouldn't count as one. Maybe I did get a read on her after all.

"Yeah, I guess," I said half-heartedly. "But-"

"No. No buts, Maniac," said Curtis firmly, narrowing his eyes. "If you ever come across Rouge again, for your own safety, there are some very, very important rules you need to follow."

"Wha-"

"Number One," he interrupted. "You do not flirt with Rouge. You do not ask her out. You do not make eye contact or physical contact. You do not attempt anything that could be considered the slightest bit romantic.

"Number Two, you do not steal from Rouge. I don't care how much you want to; you've already seen how she deals with pickpockets and it ain't pretty."

"And Number Three?" I asked.

"Number Three, stay far, far away from her. If you see her on the street, walk in the other direction. If you ever find out where she lives- by accident, I hope- avoid that place at all costs. Seriously dude, Rouge may be cute and all, but she is frikkin' dangerous. You got lucky this time- but I wouldn't count on getting lucky again."

I could tell that Curtis was dead serious- but I still just had this feeling. Deep down, I knew Rouge wasn't all these guys were making her out to be, I just... knew it. But I also knew that Curtis and the guys had my best interests at heart, and they weren't trying to steer me wrong on this.

Erg, why was life so confusing? I shuffled in my cheat cards into my hand and threw them down face up, mumbled "Fold," then stalked out of the room, grabbing my knapsack and heading out the door, only smiling a little when I heard, "When were you going to tell us you had a royal flush?!"

It was late, about ten o'clock, and the city was lit up once again. I breathed in the warm night air and tried to clear my head. Why did everything have to be so… frustrating?

I calmed down quickly and tried to think through my options. I could take Curtis's advice and avoid Rouge altogether… or I could take the riskier route and keep trying to find her. I felt this pang in the pit of my stomach whenever I thought of her; I wanted to see her so bad, and I didn't know why.

I usually trusted my gut, and so far, it hasn't steered me wrong. This time, my gut was telling me to go along with my original plan: find Rouge.

I smiled to myself. It was time to do what I do best: break the rules.

I spent the whole next week focusing on trying to find where in the world Rouge could be. I had already checked the uptown area where that one building had been, but I couldn't remember exactly which one of the buildings we met in; they all looked the same to me (hey, at least in the ghetto area, the graffiti adds a little personality to the neighborhood). I checked every public phone book in the city archives- nothing.

There was the chance that she was an out-of-towner, but I doubted it. Anyone living in an apartment complex that fancy just for a visit was either a billionaire, or completely out of their mind. Rouge seemed well-off, but she couldn't be that well-off.

Man, this was hard work. I wasn't used to having to actively research, well, anything. Usually, if I need to know the dirt on someone, I just stare at them for about two seconds and I'll have all the information I need. Is this how normal people found out things about other normal people? If it is, I obviously haven't been missing anything.

Partly because I wasn't finding anything and partly because I was getting bored out of my mind, I decided to re-check out the area her building was in. I wandered around for a while, aimlessly searching for a white female bat.

It must've combed the area for hours, and shockingly enough turned up empty-handed. I was standing in an alleyway between two buildings and about to call it quits- then I saw her.

I didn't notice her at first- she was just another face in the crowd. I flicked my eyes in her direction, then whipped around as I realized just who it was. She was making a beeline for a towering white penthouse building. So that was the one! Can't believe I missed it.

I trailed behind her, slowly quickening my pace to catch up to her. I had been practicing this moment in my head for a week, this was going to be awesome. Slightly demeaning, granted, but it would... probably be worth it.

As soon as I had jogged up directly behind her, I slipped my hand into her purse, pulling out a thick wallet. Just as I had anticipated, her hand whipped around and seized my wrist, pressing her talon-like nails into my flesh. I felt her twist my arm around behind me and winced as she slammed me face-first into the side of a brick building. A few pedestrians gave us a stray glance, but she had dragged me into the alley between two shops where we were mostly hidden from the public eye.

"Newsflash, douchebag-" she hissed into my ear, pressing me harder against the wall. "You just chose the wrong girl to mess around with. Think you're so clever to try and rob me? Think again." She shoved me onto my stomach, my face making contact with the rough asphalt. I was beginning to have second thoughts about this plan. Oh well, point of no return.

Rouge kicked me hard in the side (sheesh, were her high heels steel-toed or something?), and I felt the wind get knocked out of me. I worked up the strength to turn over on my back, grinning up at her despite the throbbing pain in my arm and stomach.

"Ever get Deja vu?" I asked, raising my eyebrows impishly. Boyish charm, don't fail me now.

She glared down at me and as we made eye contact, I could feel myself getting my first read on her: she recognized me.

"You!" she snarled, grabbing my shirt and lifting me up to her eye level.

"Me." I replied, showing off the pearly whites. "Long time no see."

"What, you didn't learn your lesson last time? Or do you enjoyme beating the tar out of you?"

"Hey, if you're the one beating me up, I don't got any problems with that." Another reading: she was confused… nope, not confused. Just repulsed. I can work with this.

"So lemme get this straight," she said slowly, her eyes narrowing. "You… like getting beaten up."

"Well, no, not generally," I said. "I just like it when it's with you." She gave me a strange look, like she couldn't decide whether to be disgusted or amused. Then she punched me in the face. That works.

I rubbed the tender spot on my lower right cheek where the blow had landed. That girl hit hard, dang it. And before I could think of something charmingly witty to say, she proceeded to punch me again, this time on the left cheek.

"You say you like to have your butt kicked, huh?" she growled. "Well, call me your fairy godmother, 'cause I'm about to make your wish come true."

"Ooh, are we doing pick-up lines now? Cause I'm not a photographer, but I can picture you and me together." My wide grin only spread wider as I watched her try and process this.

"...Are you flirting with me?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, you started it."

"Really."

"Yup, I could definitely tell you were hitting on me just now."

I could feel her temper soaring; her pupils had dilated and her nostrils were flared, but I could tell that I had caught her off-guard. Whatever she was expecting from me, it wasn't this.

Rouge's fist thrust into my gut, hurling me backwards against the brick wall. I felt briefly dazed, but the grin on my face never faltered. Trembling a little, I got back on my feet to face her. Her body posture had stiffened somewhat and I noticed that her breathing had become short and quick. She had thrusted back her shoulders slightly, and her tightly clenched fists were raised in a loose fighting stance.

"Who are you and how in the name of Chaos did you find me this time?" she demanded, seizing my shirt collar again and pressing me against the brick wall with one hand, the other raised threateningly, mere inches from my face. "Answer me!"

She was doing a good job of trying to intimidate me, but I had anticipated her trying this. But the little I could glean from my readings (it still took a lot of effort to read into anything but her emotions), she was still more than willing to beat me unconscious and leave me for dead. Nice girl.

"Woah, woah, woah, hold it, tiger-" I said, raising my arms in surrender. "First of all, the name is Matthews. Or you can call me Matt. Or Maniac. Honestly I don't care what you call me. And second of all, I'll have you know that I found you completely by accident. Mostly."

"What's 'mostly' mean?"

"Well… I may or may not have been trying to find you for like a week. I was seriously about to give up today though, 'cept just as I was gonna call it quits you walked right by me. And that purse looked awfully tempting."

Rouge didn't speak as her eyes scanned me over. Her face contorted into a condescending sneer and I could tell she had written me off as some random weirdo. That's cool. Happens all the time.

"Listen and listen good, freak show, 'cause I'm only gonna say this once." she growled. "You obviously don't know who I am-"

"On the contrary, doll face, I know exactly who you are."

"Nevertheless," she sneered, her cheeks beginning to redden; whether it was from fury, makeup or fluster I couldn't tell. "You're the biggest nitwit I've ever met if you think that you can flirt your way out a well-deserved bashing."

"Oh, I don't think that at all. I'm just doing it for fun."

"So... everything flattering you just said was a lie."

"Not so. Everything I said was true, I just enjoy pointing it out."

Rouge stared at me again for a minute before dropping me. She turned her back and was about to walk away, when out of nowhere she delivered me a hard kick in ribs, then speed-walked out of the alley. I was left alone on the ground, clutching my side and reeling with pain.

'Mission Accomplished', thought our hero as he rose triumphant. Sure, he had once again succumbed to the shame that is getting beaten up by a girl, but he had completed his goal- now, to move on to step two: asking her out for a romantic evening. Shut up, this is gonna be great.

I got up and walked back to the downtown area to snag a good waiting spot in the free charity clinic; I didn't feel so good after that beat down. Turns out I had three slightly bruised ribs and a cut lip. Nothing too major, but it still hurt.

No matter. I'll live. The point is, I had an objective. Something to work for that wasn't re-breaking the local record of how many misdemeanors I could commit in twenty-four hours. The ice was broken and I had gotten her at least a little bit interested- at least enough that the next time we meet, it won't be nearly as painful on my part.

Maniac out.

And there you have it! The first of many chapters concerning Manic's shameless at flirting. You'll find that Rouge will begin to have a change of heart later on (aka, she figures out that no matter how many times she beats up this idiot, he'll always be coming back for more if it means he can 'hang out' with her). He'll also still find it next to impossible to read Rouge on anything but emotions, which are the easiest thing to read (combining his mind-reading thing with observing body language and facial expressions and the like, it's only moderately difficult).

Another little bit of clarification- Manic does not have any malintentions concerning his relationship with Rouge. He's not one of those pervs who steals the girl's heart, has some one night stand, and then ditches her for the next girl foolish enough to fall for him. No. Just NO. Manic hates people like that, and so do me and Era.

But anyway, review please!

[Era: Okay then, I don't know if I'd do the flirting that way (but then again, I don't know how to flirt. And if you think I'm joking, I'm not.) but it was still rather amusing. Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter!]