NOTE: this Chapter is narrated my Rouge. It was written by my cousin, Leah Crego

Chapter 5: Femme Fatale

"That stupid Echidna!" I yelled as I was walking down the back streets of Casinopolis. Now I was going to be in trouble with Eggman! I was getting more and more nervous as I approached Eggman's house. It was the weirdest house in the whole city. On the outside, it was a dump. The bricks were cracking, there was graffiti all over the walls; talk about low class! The inside was different. A three-million dollar chandelier was hanging in the foyer. A grand staircase made out of mahogany went to the second story, works of art worth millions of dollars were placed throughout the house. I guess Eggman didn't want to be conspicuous about his fortune on the outside.
I walked up the broken stone steps to the condemned looking house and knocked on the door. The slit on the door opened and I saw the robot doorman's eye.
"Password!" screeched the robot.
"Shut up and let me in, it's Rouge!"
"Access denied! Please give correct password or you will be terminated!"
"I would like to see you try you piece of crap!"
"Access denied, this is your last chance! Give correct password or be terminated!"
"Fine! It's 'Eggman is the coolest, smartest guy in the History of the world'"
"Access, granted!" yelled the annoying robot as the door swung open.
"I swear, I gag every time I have to say that damn password, tell your master to change it already!"
"Does not compute!"
"Of course it doesn't, now where is Eggman?"
"He is down in the conference room talking to his under-bosses, do not disturb him!"
"Oh, he'll be expecting me! I have a thing or two to tell him about his little horny chicken named Storm!"

"Ah, Rouge! Welcome back, I assume your mission was fruitful?" said Eggman in his faux polite voice.
"It would have been, if Storm would have stayed on his side! He tried to get fresh with me!"
"Tsk, tsk Rouge! I gave you one mission, all you had to do was break into the Station Square Jewelers after your little performance. You just had to steal six diamonds! Is that too much to ask? Besides, you know Storm, he was only teasing you!"
"Well, all of that 'teasing' caught some unwanted attention from that Echidna- boy!"
When I said that, Eggman's face turned red with anger.
"What Echidna-boy?" Eggman said, clenching his teeth.
"Storm didn't tell you? Oh, I get it! He was so embarrassed that he got the shit beat out of him that he didn't tell you!"
"Shut the hell up, bat-lady! I would have taken him down if he didn't take me by surprise!"
"A loaf of bread would be able to take you by surprise, you halfwit!"
"I'm warning you, bitch! One more word out of you and I'll-"
"Shut up, both of you! I need to think!" Eggman blew his casket.
"Rouge, what did this echidna look like?"
"He was thin, muscular, and gorgeous in a very annoying kind of way. He had red fur and dreadlocks!" Oh my God, I was rambling about that stupid Echidna!
Eggman quickly took his eyes off of me and glared at Shadow.
"You told me he was dead! You said that the gas I paid a small fortune for would kill him and that vile hedgehog!"
"I said it could kill them. There were factors that weren't in the original scenario. We were outside, the gas was diluted by the oxygen. It did knock them out long enough to escape with the emerald."
"True, I guess I must commend you for that. But how are we going to deal with the Station Square Detective Agency?"
"That's a hard one, Eggman!" said a high-pitched voice.
We all turned around and saw Wave standing in the doorway.
Wave the swallow, an Underboss in the R. Gang. She was in charge of the weapons manufacturing when Eggman was out on business. She was very smart, and very maniacal. Her sociopathic qualities and intelligence allowed her to become an underboss despite the fact that she was a woman. I can tell that Storm hates it, because a woman holds an equal position as he does. I do admire her to some extent, she doesn't take lip from anyone (she even yells at Eggman if she's in a bad enough mood).
"Wave, nice of you to join us!" Eggman said excitedly.
"Yeah, yeah! I had to take a break from operation Thunderbird, so I decided to see what was going on down here"
"We were just talking about how to get rid of the three thorns in my side that make up that stupid Detective Agency!"
"Well, Eggman… it seems impossible to beat them. They seem to dodge every curve you throw at them!"
"Wait… that's it! Wave, you are almost as much of a genius as I am!"
"I would like to think I'm more of a genius than you. Wait, what did I say?"
"You said they dodge every curve we throw at them, right?"
"Yes, but is that genius worthy? I simply stated a fact!"
"All this time, I didn't think of this. It's been in front of me this whole time!"
"Spit it out, already! I have to get back upstairs!"
"We haven't been throwing the right kind of curves at them! Mwahaha! I am the smartest person in History!"
Eggman was never the modest type, as you can see.
"I don't understand…"
"Basic Biology, dear Wave. The 'curves' we will throw now are the curves of a beautiful woman!"
"Me? Eggman, I can't, I have work to do!"
"Not you, silly girl! You aren't the right type of woman!"
Eggman stared at me as he said that. I started to understand what he was saying.
"Absolutely no way in hell!"
"Rouge, you are the perfect person to do it! If Knuckles came to your rescue like you said he did, he obviously had feelings for you! Use those feelings against him!"
"I am not some cheap whore, Eggman! I'm not doing it!"
"If you do this, I will give you the Chaos Emerald after we're done with it!"
My heart skipped a beat. If I had that Chaos Emerald, it could mean good-bye slums and hello richville!
"What would I have to do" I asked, hoping not to get too thorough of an answer.
"Just use that feminine charm to get answers out of him! Haven't you read the Story of Samson and Delilah? Find his weakness. We need to find his theoretical long hair and clip it!"
"Alright, I'll go! But this is the last time I do something like this!"
"It's a deal! There is a walk-in closet on the third floor with some nice outfits. Pick the one that you feel would get the job done. You have heard your mission, you may now begin!"
"Great!" I yelled trying to hide my anger as I headed out of the door.

I was having second thoughts as I was walking down the dark streets of Station Square; the biggest reason was the outfit Eggma-… I mean, I picked out. It was so short and constricting that I thought the whole world could see my everythings! I wanted to wear something classy, but of course Eggman picked the most whorish outfit out. To top it all off, it was really cold out!
I finally made it to the address Shadow gave me. I didn't believe it, the place looked run down! Why can't Eggman just come here himself and finish them off? Oh well… his loss, I'll have the Chaos Emerald all to myself once they are done using it. I walked up to the building almost skipping I was so excited about the emerald. I was almost up the steps when someone stopped me.
"Hey, dollface!"
I turned around to see who dared to call me that. It was a very burly (but very ugly) Doberman thug.
"Excuse me? You better watch yourself before you get yourself hospitalized!" I yelled.
Sometimes I speak before I think; but I am a strong independent woman damn it!
"Watch it, lady! Either you give me your purse or I'll give you a ride you'll never forget!"
"How about I give you a face lift?"
He walked up to me and grabbed my $600 purse… big mistake! I roundhouse kicked him square in the face and he flew down the concrete steps.
"Don't you ever touch a lady's purse, crater face!"
"You bitch! You'll pay for this!" he yelled as he ran down an alleyway, tail between his legs.
I brushed myself off and walked in the door, proud of myself for defending the honor of women everywhere.

Of course, I had to climb 400 flights of stairs in high heels! I knew I was a hot mess by the time I got up to his floor. I was out of breath, my feet hurt like none other, and I was still freezing from wearing nothing more than the purple sheet Eggman called a dress! I thought that my whole mission would be ruined, all I had to do was seduce a man into telling me his deepest and darkest secrets; I've done that many times before. This time though, something felt different.
Shadow told me he was in room 6. I walked down the hall until I reached his room. I started to knock, but the door opened on its own. I looked and saw that the door frame was broken, like somebody slammed it with great force. I casually walked into the apartment. It looked like a typical man's place, a pigsty! There were clothes placed in random places, unwashed dishes in the sink, and there was the most cluttered desk I'd ever seen. One thing I didn't see, was the Echidna.
"Hello?" I yelled. No answer.
"Hello? Is anyone ho-" I tripped on a misplaced boot before I could finish my sentence.
I quickly got up and brushed myself off. I was sooo glad nobody was in the room; that would have been totally embarrassing!
"Hey, what are you doing in here?"
Damn! He totally saw me fall! I turned around to speak to him; but when I saw him, my jaw dropped.
He stood there, dripping wet with nothing but a towel around his waist. He was a perfect specimen of a man! Strong arms, perfect chest muscles, a very handsome masculine face. I guess I missed all of that back in the dark alley.
"I-I-I…"
Oh my God, I couldn't speak! That had never happened to me, I always had that effect on men! I remembered what was at stake, so I mentally slapped myself in the face.
"I just realized how badly I acted back at the alley, and wanted to properly thank you!"
"Can't you knock? I almost broke my neck jumping out of the shower! I heard someone yelling, and thought it was a robber or something!"
"Well, the door was broken, so I let myself in. Don't worry, I'll make it up to you.
I promiscuously walked over to him and pushed him on the couch. I had him! He was looking at me with those lustful eyes. I started to get on top of him (He smelled so good I could have died). He seemed to be in conflict with himself as I drew closer to him, his eyes were staring off into space for several seconds. He looked at me once again, and threw me off.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa little lady! I'm not that kind of guy!"
"Oh my Goodness, you're gay aren't you?" Of course, all of the gorgeous men are!
"No, I'm not gay! I'm just old-fashioned. I need to know a girl well enough on an emotional level to do that kind of stuff. Or at the very least know her name!"
For some reason, I took offense to that. I thought he didn't like the way I looked.
"Well, if you think you're too good for me I'm leaving!" I yelled as I stormed out of his apartment.
"Wait a minute!" I heard him yell as I reached the stairway.
"Get bent!" I screamed back.
I stomped down the stairs and muttered profane words until I reached the building's front door. I angrily opened it and slammed it hard.
"Who does he think he is? He is missing out on the best girl in the city! He is such a jerk!" I was screaming it to the world.
Out of nowhere somebody grabbed me and pinned me against the building wall.
"Hey dollface, remember me?"
It was the Doberman I beat down earlier that night, and he had company. There were four other Dobermans behind him.
I kicked the bastard off of me.
"So you think you scare me now? You get beat up by a woman and you bring four of your friends? Real tough, crater face!"
He was so pissed off at my comment, that he threw me to the ground.
"Don't worry, we'll go real slow!" the Doberman whispered in my ear. The other four pinned me down.

I felt helpless, I thought I was done for. I closed my eyes and waited.
"Get the hell off of her!"
I opened my eyes and looked around, it was the Echidna! He ran towards us and punched the leader Doberman in the jaw.
"Lay another paw on her, I dare you!"
The Doberman leader got up off of the ground and got in Echidna-boy's face. That's when he got his gun out and pointed it at old crater face.
"I suggest you and your mangy-ass groupies go smell each other up somewhere, or I'll shoot you where it hurts!"
Crater face backed up, and called his gang off of me.
"This isn't over, not by a long shot!"
They walked away in shame and defeat.
"Let me help you up…" he said in a soft voice.
He looked like he was in a hurry to get dressed, because all he had on was a pair of pants.
"No, I can get up myself!" I yelled as I pushed him away.
"You were following me! Are you stalking me now?"
"No, bat-girl! You left your purse in my apartment when you stormed out for no reason! First you yell at me for saving you back in the alley, then you try to apologize by trying to seduce me, then you yell at me, and now you are bitching about me saving you… you need your head examined!"
I felt really dumb; he came out to give me my purse, and I accused him of stalking me.
"Well, thank you!" I said, quickly snatching my purse out of his hand and started to walk away.
"You're welcome!" He yelled angrily.
I turned around and saw him walking back to his building. I couldn't understand him, he was different than every other man I had met. Was it just an act, though? In my experience, men act sweet so they can manipulate you into going to bed with them. Somehow he seemed genuine, though.

"Well? Did you learn anything?" Eggman asked eagerly.
"No, he didn't fall for it!"
"What? What do you mean? Did you not try hard enough or something? Speak, bat-girl!"
"I tried as hard as I could! He didn't want to do have sex!"
"How could that be? Is he gay or something? We have been thwarted by a gay detective all these years!"
"No, I don't think he's gay. Apparently, he has to get to know the girl before doing the nasty"
"Well then, I guess you'll be that girl!"
"What? Absolutely not! You agreed that I wouldn't have to do anything like that again!"
"You didn't succeed in your mission, Rouge! If you don't do this, no Chaos Emerald.
"…Fine, I'll do it. But I'm not dressing up as a cheap slut this time!"
"Agreed, now, get a good night's sleep. You need to be looking your best tomorrow!"

Strangely I felt happy about going on this mission, and not because of the Chaos Emerald. I felt something warm inside me, it was a new sensation...