7. Borrowing a Weapon
Rouge checked to make certain the bug was transmitting. She'd reattached it to her boot before setting out to the beach, and was now back on her preferred outcrop, watching Sonic, Tails, and the Gizoid sparring. Movement on the opposite end of the beach drew her attention and she turned to identify the pink hedgehog, Amy Rose, jogging up the beach. Perfect, she thought. She'll run Sonic off, and then I can take the Gizoid from Tails. Sonic told it to listen to me yesterday, so if I wait until he's gone, no one can countermand that order. Aloud, she said to the bug, "All right! He's finally given it permission to listen to my commands. Now all I have to do is steal that robot, and then we can be off to the Marauve Gallery for some thieving lessons." She tsked, and continued, "But those guys are always hanging around it . . . . That'll make things a little difficult," she shook her head, did these people really believe that a spy could manage to do anything if she talked to herself this much? "Hmm." Sonic, Tails and Emerl had come closer, and Amy was almost at the opposite side of the outcrop. As usual, no one looked up, which was why Rouge preferred this particular rock; it was taller than the rest and she could sit in plain view and rarely be seen. Rouge smirked as Amy caught sight of her blue hero and called to him in that piercing wail of hers. Sonic panicked at the sound of his self-appointed girlfriend and predictably fled, leaving Tails and the Gizoid to bear the onus of her company. He gabbled something before he left that the bat didn't quite catch, but she thought he'd told Emerl to listen to Amy. That might complicate matters, but the day she couldn't handle a lovesick twelve-year-old, she'd retire. She moved closer to the edge of her rock and spied on the children below.
"Sonic?" Amy turned around, twice, as if expecting the escaped hedgehog would suddenly reappear. Then she noticed the big golden robot next to Tails. Actually, slightly in front of Tails, who appeared to be trying to hide behind it. "What is this thing?" she asked, circling around it.
"That's Emerl," answered Tails, who was clutching the white tip of one of his tails in both hands.
"Emerl?"
"It's his pet project," the cub explained. "His baby." Rouge saw him flinch, realizing his mistake an instant too late.
"Baby?" gasped the pink hedgehog. "Sonic's?"
The fox cub gulped, twisting his tail in his hands while the other coiled behind him. "Well, yeah, it's sort of like that," he temporized.
Amy wasn't listening. "Oh, Sonic," she swooned, clasping her hands in front of her chest. "Oh my gosh! He's already practicing for our little one," her eyes widened at a new thought, "I wonder if this is a sign that we'll be married soon. I can't believe it! My dream is about to come true!"
"I, I don't know about that," stammered the fox cub, gaping at the girl. Rouge, watching from above, was nearly choking in her effort not to laugh. Crushes were a normal part of growing up, but really! Surely she'd never been that besotted. And the poor fox boy, who clearly was expecting to get pounded any moment - which the girl would, if anyone implied Sonic wasn't madly in love with her, and Amy swung a mean hammer.
Poor Tails' words did, in fact, rouse her ire. "Did you say something?" Amy demanded, switching from dreamy to furious in an eyeblink.
Tails backed up fast, flicking his tails into readiness behind him. "I, I should go look for Sonic. I'll see you later, OK?" He was already in the air, tailicoptering away before he finished speaking.
Left alone with the robot, Amy turned back to Emerl. She looked him over again and said, "Hello. I'm Amy. I'm your new mommy!"
Emerl, who probably had no idea what the word meant, was enthusiastic as always. "Mommy! Mommy!"
Taking candy from a baby? Or a baby from Candy? sniffed Rouge as she dropped to the sand. "Finally," she purred, "here's my chance."
Amy turned at the sounds behind her. "Rouge," she said with clear distaste. "What a pleasant surprise! What dirty little deed are you up to now?"
"Why you little–" the bat started, although in truth she was more amused than angry. Jealousy over Sonic, or simple scorn for my perceived morals? Or lack of them, more like. She shook her head. "I have a little business to take care of with that robot over there. Emerl, let's go!"
"Let's go! Let's go!" cheered Emerl and managed a decent pace across the sand to join her. He had definitely improved since that trip to Angel Island; they must have acquired a Chaos Emerald for him there.
Amy stepped between them, flicking her wrist so that her trademark mallet appeared in her hand. "Hold it! Where do you think you're taking my baby?"
"Wha–" Rouge gaped at the pink hedgehog in disbelief. "I think you better go get your head examined, dear girl." She couldn't seriously believe Sonic intended this robot as a - could she? And even if he did, that it would make a difference . . .
"Hey, you looking for a fight?" demanded the girl, stepping forward and bringing her hammer up to a ready position. Rouge gave ground, still incredulous at this turn of events. Not that she was frightened by the child, but it was simply ridiculous. Making a sudden decision, she skipped back another step, turned it into a backflip, and darted forward on wing to slip around Amy and grab the Gizoid's shoulders. She was amazed (and relieved) at how little he weighed - about half what a dokan his size would have weighed - and instantly modified her plan. Instead of boosting him onto the rocks, out of Amy's reach, the bat simply flew off with him. Since the Gizoid had been given no orders to the contrary, he didn't struggle, but allowed her to carry him off. Amy gave a wail of dismay, but Rouge had flown away over the rocks deliberately; the hedgehog would have to either climb over or run around them, by which time the robot and the bat would be well out of sight.
Chuckling to herself, Rouge finally set Emerl down near where the 'daylight' business district of Central City merged with the nighttime 'business' district. The appropriately- if unimaginatively - named 'Club Rouge' was in the nighttime section, of course . Most of her patrons were only interested in alcohol and impressing the opposite sex, so lack of imagination was hardly a business flaw. Besides, a few did appreciate the pun on Rouge and rouge, even if each of them thought he was the first person to ever make the connection. The women probably got the joke more often, but none of them had ever bothered to comment on it to the proprietress. Rouge wondered if Boris was there yet. He was the club's manager; her job as a government agent, plus her periodic treasure-hunting trips, made it difficult to run a business. Her youth and height were also problematic at times; since she barely topped three feet, humans tended to treat her as even younger than her eighteen years. Boris was also stealing about five percent of the take a month - he had originally ranged between two and fifteen, depending on the month, until Rouge sat him down and informed him, while toying with the jeweled dagger that was her most recent acquisition, that he could level it off at five percent so she could balance her books, or get reported to the police for embezzlement, which he'd already been fired for twice. And unlike his prior employers, Rouge had all the proof needed to take him to court for it - he'd been so certain that his absentee, young, female employer wouldn't notice, that he hadn't covered his tracks as well as he should have. Rouge didn't particularly mind the loss; she had all the money she needed, and it guaranteed that he couldn't pick up and leave, for fear that she would report him. And except for that little flaw, he was an excellent manager.
At any rate, they needed to get to the Club, first, and she was leading the Gizoid in that direction when a mechanical voice sounded behind her.
"Target locked," grated the ambushing robot.
"Ha?" the bat spun, and the first glimpse of red and black in the shadows made her think the attacker was Omega. "What's your problem?" she demanded, although she guessed he might have mistaken Emerl for one of Eggman's robots. Omega had a grudge against his creator and intended to eliminate all of the Doctor's other creations in revenge.
"Initiating battle mode," came the reply, and as the attacker stepped out of the alley, she saw that it wasn't Omega after all, although there was something vaguely familiar about it. It was certainly neither one of the currently ubiquitous Egg pawns nor a Phi, though.
"Amy! Amy!" cried the Gizoid, although whether he was calling for assistance or warning, Rouge didn't know. Nor did she particularly care.
"Oh come on! Give it up, will ya?" She snarled at the red robot. In reply it fired a pair of guns at course, she wasn't there any more, she'd already taken wing. Emerl, to her surprise, followed, although he had no wings that she could see, or even a mechanical alternative like jets. So the battle was joined.
It didn't last very long. It became quickly clear to Rouge that the attacking robot couldn't aim its guns higher than about 45 degrees from ground level, even though it could spin rapidly on its axis. This enabled her to keep directly overhead and put her steel-toed boots to good use. The Doctor generally put the controlling computers in the heads of his bipedal robots, even though an internal unit might be less easily located and harder to damage. Emerl didn't seem to have picked up her kicks yet, after swooping around a bit, he landed and did a Sonic-style kick or two, ignoring the sharp 'ping' of the attacker's bullets ricocheting off his exterior. Abruptly, the red robot folded in on itself and went still.
The bat landed beside it, eyeing it warily. It was definitely an E-series robot, but more primitive than E-123 Omega. The paint was damaged in several places, but there was an E-10 blazon, with the last number damaged. A 2 or a 3, perhaps? Rouge shrugged. "Come on, Emerl, let's get going."
But as she turned to leave, the red robot suddenly rose up again. "Initiating battle mode." it droned, again.
"Give it up, will you?" answered Rouge. This time the reply was a grenade launched at her, but that couldn't target her at a steep angle either. This time Emerl tried to employ several of her kicks, but there wasn't really room for both of them to stay out of the danger zone. Rouge ordered the Gizoid to attack from the ground, and he did just that; dropping into a crouch and duplicating the red robot's guns to shoot back at it. In short order she and Emerl had put it down again, and this time the mech was rocked by an explosion as it collapsed. Fortunately, Rouge was circling at that point and Emerl had actually landed the last blow, because she doubted she could have shrugged off the terminal explosion as easily as the Gizoid did. "Come on!" she informed the remains (from a safe distance), "What did I ever do to you?" She decided it was really 'dead' and walked away. "Hmm." Except for the red and black paint and the E-series number, it looked like the standard Guard Robos that were sold by Robotnik Inc. "That Guard Robo looked a lot like Omega,"she mused, then waved to the Gizoid. "Oh, well! Let's head to my place in Night Babylon!"
First, however, she took a look at the door the Guard Robo had apparently come through. Scratched into the filthy bricks above the doorway were the words, 'Gimme Shelter'. The door, although superficially dirty and peeling, was clearly far too well constructed for the surrounding buildings, and when the bat laid a cautious hand on the red paint she could feel the faint vibration of motors or machinery beyond it. Carefully scrutinizing the surrounding wall, she found a loose brick that pulled away to reveal a standard Eggman keypad, complete with the man's mustached logo. With a snort, Rouge replaced the brick; she'd remember the location but wasn't interested in it right now. Beckoning Emerl again, she returned to the mouth of the alley
Before they got there, Shadow appeared in a blaze of blue light. With a sharp gasp, he dropped to his knees, clapping his hands to the side of his head. Frowning, Rouge hurried toward him, wondering why, if he was so Ultimate, he couldn't remember that his powers weren't up to being used after that attack he'd had. First the Black Comet collapse, then his two failed battles with the Gizoid, and now this?
But he was already straightening up, and rather than pained, he looked dazed, as if he'd been awakened suddenly from a sound sleep. He moved past Rouge without apparently seeing her, focusing on Emerl like a man lost in the desert might focus on a mirage of a lake. "This," he murmured, so quietly that even the bat could hardly hear him, "this is what called me."
"It's the Gizoid," said Rouge sharply, rather annoyed at being ignored. Besides, he certainly ought to know what the thing was - he was the one who'd told her how to reprogram it! "A legendary weapon," she added, when he continued to stare at the robot.
Suddenly he started, turning to look at her in surprise. "You . . . Rouge. What are you doing here?"
He's drunk, she thought. She'd seen that often enough at her club, the slowed reflexes and the slightly unfocused gaze. No, not drunk, it's more like he's drugged. She'd seen that too, although no one who came into her place under that influence was ever allowed back in. And anyone caught actually using was promptly handed over to the authorities. Some things she couldn't ignore, not if she wanted to keep her job with the government. But she wouldn't have thought Shadow vulnerable to most drugs, and he didn't seem the type to use them, anyway. His life may have been rough, but he clearly preferred to face things head on, not try to escape them."Hey, I've got information sources everywhere," she said casually. "There's nothing I can't find out about if–"
"You said it was a weapon?" he cut her off. Suddenly he stared around wildly, as if expecting to be attacked.
Thinking fast, Rouge wondered if the agents that had sicced him on the Gizoid knew how much he knew about it. Hoping that they didn't, she helpfully filled him in, as if he knew nothing. Not that he seemed to be listening, he had a deer-in-the-headlights look. "You'll never change, will you? That robot, Gizoid, is known as the 'Ultimate Being'. Just like you, except he's four thousand years older. I heard the Doctor was hiding something really big, and I guess this is it–"
This time it was an alarm that cut her off, and a perfectly concealed door opened up to disgorge a squad of Guard Robos. These were the standard model Robotnik Enterprises sold to banks, warehouses and other businesses interested in security guards that never slept; as she'd thought, except for the uniform grey color, they were identical to the red robot she'd fought earlier. "Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!" came the chorus of mechanical voices.
"Dang!" swore Shadow. Rouge giggled, in spite of herself. He glanced at her. "What's so funny?"
"It's been a while since we fought together like this!" Which had nothing to do with her giggle - which was at the idea that even a squad of these robots could take on her or the Ultimate Life-form separately, let alone together - but she was still cognizant of the bug on her boot. She wished she knew if anyone was listening; she hated to think she might be wasting all this acting on a dead circuit.
"Just don't get in my way!" said Shadow finally.
"You too!" she agreed, but she was more worried than she let show. He was still moving as if he were underwater, and seemed to be sensing things at a remove, which was not a good way to go into a battle. And it was nothing at all like earlier, when he'd been fighting the Gizoid: then he'd not been using his Chaos powers, or not as much, but his own motions had still been as quick and precise as ever, despite his atypical lack of stamina. But the guards opened fire and there was no time to ask or to worry, merely dodging and darting away from missiles and rays or into range for a bat-bomb or a kick. She dimly noted that Shadow was making full use of his Chaos powers, but had no time to see more than that.
It was no easy fight, but the Guard Robos were so thick on the ground they interfered with each other, and as with the red one, their guns had a restricted range above the horizontal. Abruptly Rouge found herself and Shadow in the clear and dropped next to him a moment, stretching one wing that had been heated if not quite burned by a laser. The alarms ceased as her feet hit the ground, and the dark hedgehog flinched as if he'd had cold water flung on him. "Hey, not bad," she commented.
The scarlet eyes blinked, then tracked towards her, and then he grunted and staggered as a bullet slammed into his side.
"Shadow! What happened? That was just one of the Doctor's random robots!" Rouge was appalled; Omega might take Shadow down, or Metal Sonic, but they were elites, not this run-of-the-mill trash Eggman sold off to anyone with money.
"It's nothing," Shadow started , but then was struck again, even as he started to dodge. He went to his knees, gasping, as a trail of blood began tracing the crimson stripe along his outer arm, matching the fur it was soaking.
"Hey, Shadow!" Rouge shook cautiously at his other shoulder, but got no articulate reply; the dark hedgehog merely hissed through his teeth. Two of the robotic guards were still active and approaching, although only the one who had shot Shadow still had a functional gun. "This isn't good," said the bat. She gave Shadow another shake, but whatever was wrong with him, he didn't seem to be shaking it off.
"Intruder," grated a robot.
"Shut up already!" she snapped at it and kicked it into its companion, hard enough to take them both down. They really weren't anything that even the little rabbit would have trouble with; there was no way the stupid machines should have hit the Ultimate Life-form. "Oh, well," she decided, waving Emerl over, "I'll have to take you to Club Rouge." The dark hedgehog didn't reply, slumping further and shaking his head. "Hey, Shadow! Can't you even walk on your own?"
Shadow gave an uncertain lurch, possibly trying to stand, possibly not, and collapsed on the pavement. Rouge looked around sharply. The Guard Robos were in pieces and there were no passersby to interfere or assist. She started to order the Gizoid to pick up the dark hedgehog, then changed her mind. "Emerl, keep guard," she ordered. "Walk alongside and protect us from any attackers." She hauled Shadow up, noting that he did indeed weigh twice what the robot did, for all he was four inches shorter, and wrapped his uninjured arm over her shoulders. He didn't seem quite conscious, but he managed to stagger along beside her. Eternal youth and health, she thought. That's what he was designed for. I wonder if a hospital would know what to do with him? The first shot that had struck him had grazed his side, leaving more of a burn than a puncture, and the second had gone though the muscles of his upper arm. I'll take him to the club first, and call an ambulance from there, she decided, if it looks like he needs one. He said something once about how he could heal better if doctors didn't interfere with him, but I'm not sure if that was physical healing, or mental. She set out through Night Babylon, glad that it wasn't yet night, because even she didn't like walking these streets in the dark. Emerl might be able to fend off attackers, but he didn't look threatening enough to ward thugs away from attacking in the first place.
They reached Club Rouge safely, and as she led Shadow and the Gizoid around back, the hedgehog collapsed completely. She left him a moment to unlock the door, then picked him up and let the three of them in. She plopped her burden as carefully as she could onto the couch and checked his wounds. The graze on his side had turned from angry red to pale, and was already regrowing a haze of dark fur. The injury to his arm looked worse than his side, but once she cleaned the blood off, she could see that it was also healing. After a few moments' consideration, she decided that a bit of antibiotic cream shouldn't hurt, so she applied some and bandaged Shadow's arm, then tucked a blanket around him. "We're here!" His eyes flickered behind their lids, but he showed no signs of rousing. She muttered to herself as she cleaned up the first aid supplies, more blowing off steam than truly angry. "I can't believe that he'd fall down right in front of the door! Having me carry anything that's heavier than jewelry? The nerve! I'll never do this again! Not even for all the jewels in the . . . well . . . ." She looked at him again and remembered her shock at seeing that sleeping face in Doctor Eggman's base, when everyone had believed him to be dead. Rouge shivered slightly. Was he breaking down somehow, either through a miscalculation of Gerald's or something that had happened while in the Doctor's possession, or Black Doom's? There had really been something not right about him in that alley. She sank down in a nearby chair with a sigh and started to kick off her boots. "You're still alive, right, Shadow?" She shook her head. "He's not bad looking, but . . . ." What would people think if they saw her dragging unconscious bodies around?
Shaking off her ridiculous surge of fear, she put the bug back in the shielded drawer and took Emerl down the hall to her private training room. The room was floored with padded mats and various pieces of gym and fighting equipment stood around the edges. Dragging a weapon rack away from the wall, she revealed a false door with about a dozen different locks and several electronic alarms attached. Switching the alarms on, she started teaching the Gizoid to pick locks and crack security codes, trying to block thoughts of her new houseguest from her mind.