Sonic Origins

by Ri2

How did Sonic get his super speed? What made Amy fall in love with him? How did the Chaotix become detectives? Why is Rouge both a secret agent and a gem thief? How did Cream and Big meet their pets? Silver the Hedgehog needs to know the answers to these questions, and far more, for the future might depend on it...

7. Rouge's Fable

Let's get to it! This chapter is one that's been requested by a few of you readers for quite some time, so I'm happy to finally get into it. I hope it was worth the wait. Enjoy!

Also, I'd like to give a big shout out to tzening, who's started a TV Tropes page for this story. Everyone give this guy a hand, and go check it out if you haven't already. The guy's done an INCREDIBLE job all by himself, and any help maintaining the page would be appreciated.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.

…

"How I got into the jewel thief and espionage business, eh?" Rouge the Bat repeated, a sultry smile forming on her face. "Well, that's not a story many people know. So far only Shadow and Omega know the whole story out of everyone here, and even Knuckles only knows a few parts."

"I do?" Said the confused Knuckles.

"Yes, probably because you never actually asked for the whole story," Rouge said, looking annoyed.

Knuckles blinked. "I was supposed to?"

"That's usually the sort of thing a good boyfriend would do, so yes," Rouge growled.

"Oh. Sorry," Knuckles said self-consciously.

"So why do Shadow and Omega know?" Tails asked.

"Because they're my teammates and I trust them implicitly. That, and they helped me out with something involving my past a little while ago, so they kind of had to be brought up to speed on everything if they were to be of any help to me in resolving the matter," Rouge said.

"Man, that was one heck of an adventure," Shadow recalled fondly.

"I-GOT-TO-KILL-THINGS," Omega said happily.

"You guys had some huge adventure and didn't invite or tell me about it?" Sonic asked, looking hurt.

"We have lives and adventures outside of you, blue hedgehog. It's not like EVERYTHING we do has to revolve around your exploits, after all," Shadow said flatly.

"IT-JUST-SEEMS-LIKE-IT-DOES-SOMETIMES," Omega added.

"I guess so…" Sonic admitted reluctantly.

"Are we going to hear about this big adventure you went on without us?" Tails asked.

"I'll get to it, yes," Rouge promised. "Anyway, it all began many years ago, in a distant land, when I was a little girl not much older than Cream."

"Oh boy!" Cream squeaked.

"A distant land? You mean you didn't grow up on the streets, poor and destitute, constantly struggling for food and safety and eventually resorting to thievery to drag yourself out of that life and ensure you'd never be that helpless again?" Amy asked in surprise.

"What? Where would you possibly get an idea like that?" Asked the startled and offended Rouge.

"Isn't that how all skanky jewel thieves who love to show a bit too much skin and cleavage get their start?" Amy asked.

"The Hard-Boiled Private Eye Network implies as much, yes," Vector agreed.

"How dare you! I've never been poor a day in my life!" Rouge shouted indignantly.

"Huh? But if you don't need the money, why do you steal things?" Sonic asked.

"For the thrill of it, naturally. There's also another reason, which I'm getting to," Rouge said, glaring at Amy. "Growing up on the streets… Honestly! What, were you going to accuse me of selling my body just to provide for myself next?"

"N-no, of course not!" Amy stammered, flushing in an obvious lie.

"Selling your body? You mean like donating organs and other parts to hospitals to help sick people?" Cream asked.

There was an awkward pause. "Um… Yes, Cream, that's exactly what she meant," Espio said slowly.

Cream gave him a half-lidded look. "That's not what she meant at all, was it?"

"No, it's not," the chameleon admitted sheepishly.

"It's another one of those things I'm too young to understand just yet, isn't it?" The rabbit pressed.

"Yes, it is," the chameleon agreed.

Cream sighed. "I'm really getting tired of those…"

"So, it all started in a distant land," Mighty prompted. "Which one?"

"Fangsylvania, land of eternal darkness," Rouge said promptly.

Everyone stared at her. "Fangsylvania? I've been all over the world, but I don't think I've ever been there…" Sonic murmured.

"You wouldn't have. It's a place you can only get to if you already know where it is," Rouge said.

"Ah, a magical country, then," Blaze realized, her interest piqued.

"I'd think the 'land of eternal darkness' part would imply as much," Mighty said.

Rouge nodded. "Pretty much, yes, though probably with a bit of a different atmosphere than yours."

"I am intrigued. Go on," the cat queen said.

"Fangsylvania…The name sounds vaguely familiar…" Tails murmured.

"And kind of ominous. 'Land of eternal darkness?' Seriously? Doesn't sound like a very nice place…" Charmy muttered.

"It's a wonderful place!...well, for the kinds of people who live there. You might not like it quite as much," Rouge admitted.

"I've heard stories about that place, but I thought they were just that, stories," said the surprised Amy. She shuddered. "And not exactly nice ones, at that…"

"Don't most of the things we run into turn out to be from stories thought to be just stories?" Knuckles pointed out.

"True," Amy admitted grudgingly.

"I assure you, those stories are mostly…well…okay, just a little exaggerated," Rouge conceded.

Cream gasped. "You're from a magic kingdom, Ms. Rouge? Does that mean you're…a princess?"

Amy snorted. "Please, like a princess would go around stealing jewels and dressing like that!"

"Actually, I am a princess," Rouge said.

Amy did a double-take. "Wait, WHAT?!"

Cream squealed in delight, stars in her eyes. "Wait, seriously?!" said the astonished Vector.

"Didn't see that coming," said the surprised Tails.

"Knux, why didn't you ever tell us?!" Sonic demanded.

"I had no idea!" the echidna protested.

Rouge's eye twitched. "Knuckles, I told you I was one!"

"When you said I should treat you like a princess, I thought you meant figuratively!" Knuckles argued. Rouge sighed and facepalmed.

"You're…you're a princess?" Amy whispered, dumbfounded. "No…no way…there's no way you can be one!"

Rouge frowned. "You know, I'm getting a little tired of your not-so-subtle implications that you don't think very much of me, Amy. I am indeed a princess…next in line to the Throne of Night, first daughter and heir of Blanc the Bat, Sovereign of all Fangsylvania, Master of Monsters, Queen of Night, Empress of Darkness, and Supreme Ruler of all Vampires."

Everyone stared at Rouge incredulously. "You're a vampire AND a princess?!" Vector shouted.

"Yep," Rouge said.

"Your mother's name is Blank?" asked a confused Charmy.

"No, Blanc. French for white, just like my name is French for red," Rouge explained.

"Ohhh. And here I thought you were named after a line of makeup or something," the bee said. The bat rolled her eyes.

Cream squealed even louder. "But that's… Actually a lot easier to swallow," Amy admitted.

"Why, because she's a bat?" Mighty asked.

"For shame, Amy! That's an unfair stereotype and you know it!" Tails scolded the hedgehog.

"What? No, it's because of how she dresses and acts," Amy said.

"Oh. Yeah, I can see it," Tails admitted. Everyone else nodded in agreement. Rouge frowned at them.

"She's a vampire?! Did you know this?!" Sonic asked Knuckles.

The echidna nodded. "Yeah."

"… And you never thought to tell us because…?" Sonic prompted.

Knuckles blinked. "Because it's not a big deal, is it?"

Everyone stared at him for long moment. "Not a big deal," Espeo said after a moment. "Your girlfriend is a vampire and it's not a big deal?"

Knuckles shrugged. "Well yeah, why would it be?" Rouge cooed and kissed him on the cheek, convincing him he'd said the right thing.

"Awww, that's so sweet!" Amy gushed. "…Unless he's being stupid."

"It's Knuckles," Sonic pointed out.

"Ah. Right. Stupid," Amy said.

"Hey!" Knuckles said indignantly.

"… Knuckles, do you actually know what a vampire is?" Tails asked after a moment.

Knuckles nodded. "Yes, it's what Rouge is."

"And that is…?" Tails questioned.

"You know… This," Knuckles said, vaguely gesturing at Rouge, who smirked and posed seductively. "Leathery wings, big ears, fangs, echolocation, power over darkness, a thirst for blood…"

"Knuckles, those are all things common to bats, except for the last two," Tails said patiently.

Knuckles looked confused. "What are you talking about? Rouge can do those last two things."

"Yes, but most bats can't, because not all bats are vampires," Tails and said very carefully.

Knuckles stared at the fox for long moment. "They aren't?"

"No," Tails said.

"Oh," Knuckles said. "Oops." Just about everyone facepalmed, including Rouge, who was both astounded at how uninformed and oblivious her boyfriend was about her species and disbelieving that she was surprised by this. "Well… I'm still not sure I understand why it's a big deal."

"Which is very sweet of you," Rouge said, kissing the echidna's cheek.

"It's a big deal because vampires aren't like normal Mobians. They're ageless, incredibly strong, nigh-unkillable supernatural beings who feast on the blood of the living to sustain themselves because they have none of their own, on account of being undead," Tails explained.

"Undead? Well, of course she's undead, if she were dead she'd be a corpse!" said the confused Knuckles.

"Undead isn't the same as being alive," Blaze said.

Knuckles gave her a confused look. "It's not? But the name implies it's the opposite of being dead! Why don't they call it something else?"

"Like what?" Blaze asked.

Knuckles scratched his head. "Like…uh… Okay, I've got nothing. Wait… Rouge, you don't have any blood of your own?"

Rouge raised an eyebrow. "No. Why did you think I drank yours all the time?"

"I… Always assumed it was some sort of kink of yours," Knuckles said in embarrassment.

"Ah, so that explains the weird hickeys…" Vector murmured in amusement.

"Well, it is, but it's also my primary way of feeding myself," Rouge said.

"But… Your heart…" Said the confused Knuckles. "Doesn't that need blood or something to work?"

"Feel it," Rouge said.

Cautiously, Knuckles placed a hand on her chest. The more dirty-minded of the group tried not to think too much about that. The echidna's eyes widened in shock, and he jerked his hand away. "I don't feel anything!"

"That's because I don't have a heart. Just a solid core of Dark Power animating my body," Rouge explained. "It's one of the biggest things separating me from being alive like the rest of you and being… Well, what I actually am."

"So you've got a black heart, or are heartless, more or less? Figures," Amy muttered to herself. Rouge glared at her.

Knuckles stared into the distance for a long moment. "Whoa," he said finally.

"Is this a deal-breaker?" Rouge asked in concern.

Say yes say yes say yes say yes, Shadow thought to himself.

"I'm, uh, I'm not sure," Knuckles admitted, scratching the back of his head. "I don't think it is, but… I need to think about this for a while. And maybe learn a bit more about what a vampire actually is, instead of what I thought they were."

"That's fair," Rouge said as Shadow grunted in disappointment. Omega patted him on the shoulder sympathetically, nearly knocking him over.

"How did you not know any this? You have a television! You visit the surface all the time! Vampires are ridiculously popular in all forms of media!" Vector said incredulously.

"My reception isn't always that good, and I don't usually pay much attention to horror movies," Knuckles confessed. "And it's not like I spend a lot of time seeing movies about vampires when we're on the surface, anyway."

"I took you to a vampire movie last week!" Rouge said.

"I thought it was a comedy considering how often you pointed and laughed at the screen—whenever we weren't making out, anyway-so I didn't really think about it too much," Knuckles confessed sheepishly.

"Well, that movie was hilariously inaccurate," Rouge admitted.

"Wait… But if you're a vampire, how come you're okay being out in the sunlight without bursting into flames or whatever?" Asked the confused Espio.

"And can you spark-" Cream started eagerly.

"Cream, darling, I love you dearly, but if you finish that sentence I'm afraid I will have no choice but to lock you in the deepest, darkest dungeons of my Castle, where you will be tortured constantly in new and inventively ever-changing ways, each more horrific and awful than the last, for the rest of your natural life, and then quite a few decades if not centuries beyond that as we prolong it through unnatural means, before ripping your soul out of your body and enslaving both it and your lifeless husk to serve me forevermore," Rouge said calmly. Cream yelped and turned very pale, shivering in terror.

"Rouge, that was rather excessive, don't you think?" Amy accused the bat.

Rouge sighed and massaged her temples. "Sorry, but the S-word is a bit of a sore spot for my kind."

"Yeah, I suppose I'd be pissed off by that kind of thing too if a story portraying hedgehogs like…well, that came out," Sonic admitted. The others nodded in reluctant agreement.

"You have a Castle?" Charmy asked.

"Of course I do, I'm a vampire Princess! What kind of undead royalty would I be without one?" Rouge scoffed.

"Fair enough," the bee said.

"You still haven't answered my original question," Vector pointed out.

Rouge chuckled. "Darling, my kind has been around for a very, very long time. Long enough so that we have more than a little influence on what all the stories say about us. Do you really think we'd allow our weaknesses to be public knowledge? We've polluted the well of folklore and legend for so long that any grain of truth about our vulnerabilities will be completely unrecognizable from the lies."

"Wait…but, then doesn't that mean you're also responsible for the idea that vampires spar—er, do that?" asked a confused Amy.

"It was supposed to be a joke, okay?! We never thought it would become so popular!" Rouge snapped, flushing. "And the idiot responsible has been punished appropriately, I promise you that…"

"That… Actually makes a lot of sense," Tails admitted. "Not only does it why vampires are so popular, but also why there's so many different conflicting takes on what powers and weaknesses they have in the media and older stories."

Espio nodded in agreement. "Like how jiangshi can be defeated by taking off their left sock, putting a graveyard toadstool in it, and throwing it in a river."

"…Seriously?" said an incredulous Charmy.

"Magic has strange rules. It makes as much sense as anything else!...or, on the other hand, it could be a story made up by vampires to make fun of us… which would imply vampires have an alarming amount of control over society and may in fact validate some of the more crackpot conspiracy theories out there," the chameleon said darkly.

"Then does that mean the Ancient Aliens guy might be right?" a horrified Charmy asked.

"No, he's just a moron," Espio said.

"But…wait, the Black Arms left some ruins here thousands of years ago, and then there's Bablyon Garden-" started the confused Knuckles.

"Doesn't mean he's not a moron," Espio said firmly.

"I always figured it was because there are different kinds of vampires," Amy confessed. "And so different rules applied to them."

Blaze nodded in agreement. "That is how it works in my world, yes."

"You have vampires in your world? Wait, of course you do. Stupid question," Amy said with a roll of her eyes.

"Really? What are they like?" asked an interested Rouge.

Blaze shrugged. "There's a wide variety. Some are friendly enough. Others…are not. The unfriendly ones don't last very long in my kingdom."

"I can imagine," Rouge said in amusement. "In any event, there may be other types of vampires in this world…or there might not be. I'm certainly not going to tell you that much. I may trust you guys, but not that much."

Blaze nodded. "Perfectly understandable."

"So…okay, you're a vampire princess. Weird, but given some of the rest of us, that's not saying much," Mighty said. "But how does that lead to jewel theft and spying?"

Rouge rolled her eyes. "I'm getting to that! It all started many years ago, when I was a child living in my mother's palace…"

…

It was night in Fangsylvania. That was nothing new, though. It was always night.

Glittering stars twinkled coldly in the pitch black sky, arranged in strange and unfamiliar constellations unlike any mortal astronomers had ever seen. The moon was huge and red as blood, a long black slit running down its surface to give it the impression of a huge crimson eye staring balefully down at the world below.

And what world did this eye behold? A land enveloped in shadow and darkness. Jagged mountains jutted from the ground to encircle the realm from horizon to horizon, looking eerily like the gargantuan fangs of some monstrous, antediluvian horror. Forests of twisted, leafless trees, their gnarled branches reaching skyward like the claws of the damned. Deserts of glittering white sand so pale it could be mistaken for snow…or the ground-up bones of uncounted millions. Vast bodies of water so still and dark they were perfect mirrors of the night sky above, the stars and moon reflected perfectly in their surfaces, to the point where one could easily be forgiven for fearing that if they tried to swim out too far they might fall forevermore into the deepest darkness of space… And they might not be entirely wrong to believe that. Villages so ramshackle and decrepit that, even though all the lights were on in the windows, one would get the impression that they were ghost towns…which was exactly what they were, in more ways than one. Cyclopean pillars and statues of strange, nightmarish figures rising from the ground, like petrified Giants. Gargantuan bones, holdovers from some monstrosity so big and ancient that even the mighty dinosaurs would've ran in terror from it littered the land, ghoulish cities rising up around and built upon their pale arches and spurs. Wails and moans and screams and howls and roars echoed across the land, so that while the night was dark, it was never silent, and always full of terror.

And in the center of this dark realm was the Castle. Taller than any mountain, larger than any other man-made edifice, it rose up and up towards the sky, wall upon wall, battlement upon battlement, spire upon spire, a citadel so great that it cast all the land around it into even deeper shadow, the embodiment of every Gothic architect's fevered imaginations or dark lord's wet dream mashed together and turned up to eleven. Hideous gargoyles lined the walls, their lidless gazes staring constantly out at the world below. The entire structure seem to be carved from jet black stone, screaming faces etched into the bricks and slabs of rock, the mortar holding them together an unsettling shade of red. Stained glass windows dotted the great structure, the light blazing from within shattered into countless colors and causing parts of the castle to seem to radiate a discordant corona completely at odds with the pitch black smoke pouring from the thousands of chimneys and creeping out like dark mist from numerous orifices. It had four great gates lining its base, each resembling a massive monster carved from stone, their huge fanged mouths serving as portals, evil red light shining from their eyes. The towers rose and rose, some built atop each other, others intertwined around one another, all reaching, striving, for the stars above. Perched atop the castle's center and apex rose an immense statue resembling a nightmarish mix of bat, dragon, and demon, its six great wings stretched outwards, its four claws reaching out with great beacons blazing in them, its long tail curling around the smaller spires below it, its fanged mouth opened in a fierce snarl, red light burning in its eye sockets and shining outwards across the land. It was so tall that it almost seemed to reach the moon, and perhaps it was a trick of the light or some supernatural phenomena, but occasionally what looked like a drop of blood fell from the moon and landed in the sculpture's open mouth, flowing away into channels and aqueducts spread throughout the monumental fortress.

And from her perch on a balcony high up the side of the great statue, a young Rouge the Bat stared out across the countryside, smiling in awe at the beauty of the land which would one day be hers.

…

"Whoa," said an amazed Sonic. "Okay, I've definitely never been there before." He grinned. "But now I want to. Sounds pretty cool!"

"It sounds like many of the other vampire dominions I've visited in my day," Blaze commented. "Most of them don't have castles that big, though. Even mine isn't that large. I wonder if I should be jealous."

"How did you make something that big?!" Asked an incredulous Mighty. "That's bigger than most cities!"

"Yeah, even Sauron'd feel Barad-dûr was inadequate in comparison," Tails agreed.

"It wasn't that hard, really. It just required a few thousand years of unceasing labor, the blood and soul sacrifice of a few million thralls, and liberal use of dark magic," Rouge said breezily. "Having a mostly immortal, tireless, and totally obedient workforce and the ability to raise the dead to serve you makes long-term construction projects a lot easier. And of course, we're still adding to it. Every ruler has a responsibility to bring something new to it. I have a few plans for a new wing or two once I'm in charge…"

"That's not exactly the kind of magic kingdom I was envisioning," Cream said timidly.

Amy snorted. "Well, it's a kingdom ruled by vampires, of course it's going to be a dark and horrible place!"

"Hey now! Dark it may be, but horrible? It may look that way to you, but to the people there it's practically Paradise!" Rouge said, offended. "From my perspective, it's your lands that are drab and ugly. And have way too much sun."

"I guess it's a matter of perspective," Espio conceded.

"Like how to us absolutely anywhere would be better than the apartment we're stuck in, but to the cockroaches and other horrible things infesting the joint it's the best place ever?" Vector asked.

"Pretty much, yeah," the chameleon agreed.

"And just who does live there, exactly?" Knuckles asked. "More vampires?"

"And other things," Rouge affirmed. "As I'm sure you've noticed, Fangsylvania isn't… Quite like the rest of this world."

"The strange constellations, the eternal night, and the fact that the moon was practically a giant red eye crying blood pointed to that, yes," Tails said.

"Was that blood?" asked a disturbed Cream.

"It was, and it's absolutely delicious. Anyway, it's a realm both here and… Not. It's a sort of in-between place, halfway between the world you know and… Somewhere a lot less pleasant," Rouge said. "A place that gives even us creatures of the night shivers. At the same time, however, that other place is the source of much of what makes us… Us. You know all those stories of bogeyman? Of things that hide in the closet or under the bed, the things that go bump in the night? Well, they're real. All of them, and Fangsylvania's where they all come from."

Cream turned very pale and clutched Cheese very hard. "… I think I'm going to sleep with the lights on for the rest of my life now," she said very quietly.

"Probably a good idea," Rouge said.

"So… Things like ghosts, werewolves, fish men…?" Charmy asked.

"Just about every monster that's ever had a story told about it in film or print or word-of-mouth exists there, yes," Rouge said. "And one day, I shall rule over all of them."

"Well, that's a cheery thought," Vector said half-jokingly, looking somewhat nervous.

"So… Does that mean we should be worried about a possible future war against monsters or something?" Sonic asked seriously.

Rouge laughed. "To what end? We have no interest in taking over the world. After all, if we ate everyone who'd be left for us to feed on? In fact, a case could be made that we already rule the world. Or did you think the popularity of horror and monster movies and especially stories about vampires were just a coincidence?"

"… Well, that's worrying," Tails said after a moment as they all digested this unsettling idea.

"Wait, so you're saying your people may already rule the world?! But how come nobody's noticed?" Mighty demanded.

"One of the advantages of immortality is being able to play the long game. There are easier and subtler ways to conquer the world if you're very patient about it then constantly wasting time and resources on robot armies or airship battalions," Rouge said.

"That's probably true," Blaze admitted. "However, I'm not exactly good at 'subtle' when it comes to most of my conquests, which has pissed off more than a few ancient cabals that have been allegedly ruling the world in secret for millennia. It's practically a hobby by now."

"Your family rules the world? Should…I be trying to stop you, then?" asked an uncertain Sonic.

"Why?" Rouge asked, looking honestly perplexed.

Sonic blinked. "…Because according to you, the world is being secretly controlled by a race of blood-drinking deathless supernatural beings?"

"And? Are we doing such a terrible job of running the planet that it needs liberation?" Rouge asked.

"W-well…you…it…could be better…" Sonic murmured, a little flustered.

"It could also be a lot worse," Rouge pointed out. "Besides, it would be hypocritical of you to criticize us when you're perfectly fine with your girlfriend conquering her planet."

"She has a point, beloved," Blaze said, looking amused.

"Yeah, yeah," Sonic grumbled, turning red.

"Wait, so… If you're immortal… Then… How old are you?" Asked a confused Knuckles.

Amy gasped. "Knuckles! You can't ask a lady her age!"

"I can't? Why not?" Asked the confused echidna.

"Because it's rude, that's why!" She snapped.

"And I'd lie about it anyway. Let's just say that I'm still fairly young as far as vampires go, and you're probably much older than I am, Knuckles, considering how long ago your civilization was wiped out and you were born," Rouge said.

"Oh," Knuckles said.

"Wait, wait… So… Let me get this straight… Knuckles is immortal, Rouge is immortal, Blaze is immortal through some fruit thing she hasn't explained yet, Shadow is immortal….Am I missing anyone here?" Vector asked.

"ME," Omega said.

The crocodile frowned. "Do you count?"

Omega shrugged. "I-DON'T-SEE-WHY-NOT."

"Right. So… That makes five of us who are immortal-" Vector continued.

"Actually, Cheese and I are immortal too," Cream spoke up.

"What? Since when?" Asked the startled Amy.

"Since I defeated the Goblin King Jared and became Queen of the Chao," Cream said.

Everyone stared at her. "When did this happen?" Asked a dumbfounded Charmy.

"A few days ago," the rabbit said.

"And you didn't mention it because…?" Tails asked.

Cream shrugged. "It didn't seem that important, really. And I didn't want to brag."

Blaze shook her head in amusement. "Cream, you are something else."

"Is that a good thing?" the rabbit asked nervously.

"I should think so," the feline said warmly, much to Cream's relief. "I wouldn't mind hearing about that story another time, though."

"Sure thing!" Cream said cheerfully.

Sonic scratched his head in disbelief. "… Does everyone go on adventures without me?!"

"Our lives don't revolve around you, Sonic," Shadow repeated.

"Though it kind of feels like it does at times…" Tails muttered.

"So, anyway, that means at least six—er, seven—of us are immortal, and the rest aren't. That doesn't seem very fair!" Vector complained.

"Actually, in the FYOO-CHURR thanks to the use of breakthroughs in medical science and life extending technologies that haven't been invented in this era yet, death has become little more than a scary story we tell to frighten children, so I suppose I count as well," Silver spoke up.

Vector threw his hands upwards in exasperation. "Great, and a fat lot of good that does us now!" Silver opened his mouth as if to say something, hesitated, and then shut it.

"Hey, wait, if Rouge is going to be the next Queen of the vampires and apparently secret ruler of Earth… Does that mean that if she and Knuckles get hitched, he'll become King?" Charmy wondered.

Everyone paused to consider this for a moment. "… Well, there's a horrifying thought," Shadow said.

"Hey! I could make a good King!" Knuckles protested.

"No you couldn't," Espio said.

"And how do you know that?" Knuckles asked indignantly.

"If you can't be bothered to go more than day without the sacred artifact under your charge getting stolen or broken, do you really think you're ready to have the responsibility of running an entire planet?" Shadow asked bluntly.

"… I could grow into it…" The echidna said lamely.

"Like you've grown into being a great Guardian of the Master Emerald, after being at it for centuries?" Blaze asked pointedly.

"… Shut up," Knuckles grumbled.

"It's a moot point anyway, if I were to marry Knuckles, he wouldn't be King. My chief consort, most definitely, but not King," Rouge said. "Absolute power concentrated in one individual at a time is how we vampires do things. In more ways than one, in fact."

Blaze nodded in understanding. "Understandable. It is much the same in my kingdom…but I myself am debating on what role Sonic will take should we ever wed. My initial inclination was to just name him my consort, but… Given that he is apparently King of some (literal) storybook realm called Camelot…"

"So I might be King someday? Awesome!" Sonic said eagerly, hiding his trepidation at the idea of getting married. He paused. "Wait, does this mean I'm gonna have to do paperwork? I do not have the patience for paperwork. At all."

Blaze chuckled. "Don't worry, beloved, that's what we have bureaucrats for, so we can do actually important things like going on adventures and crushing enemies beneath our heels while they take care of the minutiae."

"Sweet," Sonic said in relief.

"Him? Marry HER?! Not on my watch…" Amy growled.

"You know, Blaze has a lot more to offer Sonic than you. A kingdom, endless adventure, a partner who could truly be his equal, possibly immortality… Why should he choose you over her?" Charmy commented.

"Because only I can give him TRUE LOVE!" Amy declared.

"No, I'm pretty sure she can give him that too," Espio said.

"LIES!" Amy shrieked.

"So I'm not going to be King? Darn," Knuckles said dejectedly.

"It's for the best, Knuckles. You probably wouldn't enjoy it anyway," Shadow said, trying to hide a smirk and failing. "You'd have to make public appearances all the time, and give speeches, and kiss babies and the like. You don't do well with crowds, and you're not fond of little children."

"Yeah, that's true," Knuckles agreed.

"I'm a little child," Cream said in alarm.

"To be honest, Cream, there are times when I look at you and get the willies," Knuckles admitted. Cream pouted, causing the echidna to shiver.

"So, Rouge, does that mean your father is just your mother's chief consort or something?" Tails asked.

Rouge paused. "My…father?"

"Yeah. You know, your other parent? I mean, it's not like your mom had you all by herself…" Mighty trailed off. "Or…did you? I actually have no idea how vampire reproduction works."

"I didn't even know they could reproduce. Figured they just bit people to make more and that was that," Amy said.

"No, no, we can reproduce, though it's not easy due to being…well, not quite alive," Rouge said distractedly.

"Then who was your father?" Tails asked.

Rouge stared into the distance for a long while before shrugging. "You know, I don't actually know."

"Huh?" everyone except Shadow and Omega said in surprise.

"How can you not know? Or does your mom sleep around so much it's impossible to tell who it is?" Amy sort-of sneered.

Rouge scowled at the pink hedgehog. "I never asked, and she never brought it up. Nobody did. It was never really important, I suppose."

"How can not knowing who your dad is not be important?!" Charmy, who didn't know anything about his parents except that they didn't want him, demanded.

Rouge shrugged. "My mother is Queen of the Vampires, and she's all that I've ever known. That's enough for me, really. I never wanted or needed a father growing up, Mother and everyone in the castle did a well enough job of raising me; I had no shortage of surrogate parental figures. If he wanted badly enough to be a part of my life, he'd have been there. But he wasn't, so…" She shrugged again. "Perhaps I'll ask Mother sometime who my father was. Perhaps I won't. While I suppose I am mildly curious now, ultimately, it's not something that matters to me very much."

"I just…I just don't get that…" said the bewildered Charmy.

"Some people just feel differently about their parents, I suppose," Espio said.

Shadow nodded. "I never had a mother. Just the Professor and Maria. I think I turned out okay…more or less."

"…That's…very debatable," Vector said. The black hedgehog scowled at him.

"Dad hasn't been a part of my life for years…I don't miss him, honestly," Amy admitted.

"I'm glad my Dad wasn't part of my life," Knuckles said bluntly. "He was a jerk."

"I've never had any parents. I never needed them, but…I suppose it might be nice to have some," Blaze said wistfully.

"Well, um…my parents might be willing to oblige, if we, you know…" Sonic muttered with a blush.

Blaze smiled gratefully. "Thank you, beloved. That is very much appreciated." Amy growled.

"I guess…" Charmy said, not looking like he liked it very much.

"While all of this is fascinating, it doesn't get us any closer to learning the reasons behind Rouge's line of work," Silver prompted.

"Right, right. Back on track," Rouge agreed with a nod. "So, there I was, sitting on my balcony and gazing out at the kingdom that would one day be mine…"

…

Young Rouge leaned on the railing of her balcony, chin resting in one hand as she stared out at the darkened landscape spread out before her. Although still very young, even for a vampire, she was already quite beautiful—everybody said so, and while yes, they kind of had to, Rouge was self-aware enough to know it was true—and signs of the ravishing knockout she would become once she fully matured were already self-evident in her soft snow-white fur, elegant fangs, strong and graceful pitch-black wings, deep blue eyes, shimmering shoulder-length hair, and the way she was able to carry herself with such poise and confidence that made it clear to all she was the most important thing in any room she entered, and you had better be aware of it. Her figure had yet to develop-much to her dismay- but even so she felt she looked quite lovely in how she filled in her black spidersilk blouse and skirt, embroidered with intricate patterns of bats, signs of power and protection, and black diamonds; a pair of werewolfhide slippers providing her delicate feet with comfort and a few rings, a skull necklace, and a hair adornment resembling a pair of bat wings spreading from the back of her skull the only jewelry she felt like wearing that night.

…

"Excuse me, but was all that really necessary?" Blaze interrupted.

"Yeah, that was basically just you gushing over how pretty you used to be," Amy complained.

Rouge scowled. "Used to be? I'm an immortal vampire princess who will forever be young and beautiful, I think I can afford to be a little vain if I want."

"If only the rest of us could be so lucky…" Vector grumbled jealously.

"Anyway, this is my story and I can tell it any way I want…but I suppose I was digressing a bit," Rouge admitted. "Anyway…"

…

A wistful smile graced her lips as she looked out at the dominion that would one day be hers to rule, her vampiric eyesight allowing her to make out fine details of the countryside miles away, all the way out to the Demonfang Mountain Range which encircled Fangsylvania. If she so chose, she could focus on any one of her future subjects in any of the towns and cities and villages dotting the landscape and observe them as if she were only feet away from them, even at this range. She didn't feel like being a voyeur at the moment, however, and was content to take it all in from a broader perspective.

One day, all this will be mine, she thought with a thrill of delight and anticipation. Oh, she knew it wouldn't be for quite some time, decades if not centuries––her mother wasn't weakening or getting any older, and it would be a while before she decided to step down- but Rouge could afford to be patient. After all, time was the greatest commodity an immortal could possess. All good things came if you waited long enough.

"A lovely view, isn't it?"

Rouge glanced away from the vista as a cloud of (non-anthropomorphic) bats swarmed down from the sky, shrieking and chittering loudly. They swirled around her a few times, causing her to smile in delight as their leathery wings brushed against her face, before they flew away, looping about in the air again before coming together just a few feet away from her, their wings and claws interlocking into a single black, writhing mass…

Which then stilled. The bats slowly parted, but as they did so, they were no longer bats, but a pair of great black wings, darker than the night sky and seeming to have bottomless depths and volume. The wings were attached to the back of a tall, elegant, and impossibly beautiful bat bearing a clear resemblance to Rouge if she were much older—or perhaps Rouge bore a clear resemblance to her, if she were much younger?-wearing a floor-length gown of a crimson material that looked as if it were made of blood turned to fabric, hugging her incredibly curvaceous hourglass figure so tightly it might as well have been a second layer of skin, long slits in the sides going all the way up to the hips revealing flashes of her very shapely legs that seemed to go on forever, ending in a pair of black slippers with grinning demon faces on the tongues and gilded bat wings swooping back from the heels. The shadows seemed to rush to her side, crawling up the length of her dress and solidifying into black swirls and sigils forming strange patterns across her body, which only seemed to accentuate her curves. She had an incredibly low neckline—practically a v-shaped cut in the upper part of her gown going down to her navel—offering a tantalizing glimpse of her ample cleavage, as well as the black bat-shaped mark that seemed to be burned into her bone-white fur in the stretch of exposed flesh between her neck and bosom. Her gown was sleeveless, exposing her long, slender arms, ending in tapering fingers with nails more like claws, each digit adorned with a ring that had a differently-colored jewel resembling the skull of some monster or demon. Her hair was long and black in contrast to her white fur and red garment, tumbling down her back all the way to the ground, a complex golden ornament resembling a four-winged bat perched atop her head, between her large, pointy ears. A pair of elegant fangs poked out from her sinfully red luscious lips, which were usually formed into an amused or seductive smirk but were now in a warm, fond smile. Her eyes were a pair of red burning dots in a pitch-black field, and usually fixed into a stare that could arouse one into bottomless terror and/or desire and strip all the secrets of a soul so that they lay defenseless before her baleful, pitiless gaze…but those eyes held no terror for Rouge now, nor had they ever. And why should they? For this was none other than Blanc the Bat, Sovereign of all Fangsylvania, Master of Monsters, Queen of Night, Empress of Darkness, and Supreme Ruler of all Vampires….

And her mother.

…

"Wow. That's your mom?" Vector whistled.

"And here I thought you were hot as hell…" Espio murmured.

"Yep. That's a vampire queen, all right," Blaze said, speaking from experience.

"I can see where you get it from," Amy commented.

"I'll choose to believe you're referring to my stunning good looks and fashion sense and not what I suspect you actually mean," Rouge said with a sniff.

"Rouge, your mother is…um…I mean…y-you look a lot like her," Knuckles stammered awkwardly.

Rouge smiled. "Thank you, Knuckles. As clumsy as that compliment was, I appreciate that." She grinned. "And if you think she's fine, let me assure you that I have yet to fully mature. Once I have, well…" She chuckled as Knuckles turned even redder.

Mighty tried to comprehend this. He failed. "I think that level of sex appeal is impossible for mortal minds to imagine."

"I can imagine it," Shadow said.

"You're not mortal," Tails pointed out.

"True," the black hedgehog admitted.

"Your mother is very beautiful, Miss Rouge. I'm sure you'll look even prettier once you become Queen!" Cream said encouragingly.

"Why thank you, Cream. And I'm sure you'll be one hell of a knockout once you grow up, too. After all, just look at your mother," Rouge said, rubbing the rabbit's head fondly.

"Yeah, just look at her," Vector said, eyes glazing over as he started to drool. His teammates grimaced.

"Okay, I hate to ruin the mood, but I feel like I have to address the elephant in the room. Rouge, is your mother evil?" Sonic asked bluntly.

"Sonic! That's not very polite!" Amy hissed.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" asked the perplexed Rouge.

"She's an immortal vampire with a list of titles that would make a Dark Lord blush, secretly rules the world, has her own kingdom of darkness populated by monsters, lives in a very evil-looking castle…" Sonic listed. "I'm aware I could be stereotyping here, but those are usually the marks of a bad guy."

"He has a point," Blaze admitted. "Quite a few villains in my world match that description as well. Then again, so do a handful of my allies…"

Rouge frowned thoughtfully. "Is my mother evil…? Well, she's certainly never called herself a villain, though that doesn't mean much since lots of wicked people never admit they're evil. I don't believe she's evil, but she's my mother and I love her very much so I'm hardly unbiased. Her subjects both love and fear her, but they're monsters and I'm not sure ordinary humans or Mobians would feel the same way. I won't say she's 'beyond good or evil,' because most of those who claim that pretty much are evil. I share many of the same beliefs and morals as her, and intend to follow her example once I take the throne, so…do you believe I'm evil, Sonic?"

Sonic considered this. "I don't believe you're evil," he said finally. "But I wouldn't exactly say you're good either. I mean, you've done lots of good things, but…"

"Also a lot of bad, very little of which I regret," Rouge agreed. "Neither does my mother. You may be unambiguously good, and guys like Eggman unambiguously evil, but not everyone else can be neatly placed in one camp or another. I suppose you could say we're gray, but if we're a lighter or darker shade may vary from day-to-day or in the eye of the beholder."

"The same could be said of us, as well," Shadow said, indicating himself and Omega.

"I'VE-HELPED-SAVE-THE-WORLD-LOTS-OF-TIMES, BUT-I-ALSO-KIND-OF-WANT-TO-BLOW-IT-UP," the robot agreed.

Sonic mulled this over for a few minutes, and then shrugged. "Well, that's a good enough answer for me. Heck, my girlfriend's also either an evil overlord or a benevolent god-queen depending on who you talk to in her world, and if I'm cool with that, I suppose I can be cool with this, too." He frowned. "Of course, if you or your mom ever take a turn for the black, I'm coming for you."

Rouge chuckled. "I would expect nothing less."

…

"Mother! You're back!" Rouge squealed in delight, before remembering that princesses were not supposed to squeal in delight, coughed, and more politely said, "Er, I mean, Mother, welcome back. How was your trip?"

Blanc did not walk so much as glide across the floor towards her daughter, chuckling as she tousled Rouge's hair affectionately. "It went rather well, thank you…and you may relax, daughter. In formal company I expect you to behave like the royal you are, but when it's just the two of us you may act as you wish."

What Rouge wished for at that moment was to hug her mother, and so she did.

…

"Awww," everyone cooed.

"This is a side of you we've never seen before, Rouge," Amy commented in surprise.

"Yeah, you don't even act that way with me," said the amazed Knuckles.

Rouge shrugged. "I was a very affectionate child. And what can I say? I really love my mom." Those present who had mothers nodded in understanding.

…

Blanc returned the embrace, wrapping her arms and folding her wings around her daughter, and as darkness enveloped them both, the rest of the universe seemed to blip out of existence, and for a moment, nothing existed except for mother and daughter.

But sadly, the moment could not last forever, and Blanc's wings opened up again, exchanging one darkness for another. "You never answered my question," the elder vampire said to her daughter.

It took Rouge a few moments for her to realize what she was talking about. "Oh! Yes, very much so."

Blanc nodded and turned to look out at the land stretching out before them as well. "I have lived in this land for thousands of years, but this view has yet to fail to take my breath away. All of this will one day be yours, Rouge. Everything from the tip of this castle to the outermost peaks of the Demonfang Range. Everything the blood-red light of the moon touches is ours."

"As is the world outside," Rouge pointed out.

Blanc nodded. "Yes, but it's of a lesser priority. Most of what happens on Earth is, ultimately, important to us, but your first concern must always be for Fangsylvania. It is the seat of our power, the birthplace of our species, and the homeland of all monsters. This land is first and foremost your responsibility. The outside world can govern itself for the most part, and only rarely requires our direct intervention. Fangsylvania, though…Fangsylvania shall always require our guiding hand, lest the myriad monsters here tear themselves apart. That is why you must always strive to ensure the safety, prosperity, and well-being of its people, for if they are happy, they're less likely to try to kill each other or overthrow you."

Rouge nodded in understanding. It was pragmatic and perhaps a little cynical, but that didn't mean it was wrong. "Have you learned the names of every settlement in our great land?" Blanc continued.

Rouge nodded. "Even the ones not on the official maps."

"Good. And have you also learned the names of every inhabitant of every settlement?" Blanc asked.

Rouge hesitated. "Ah…"

Blanc chuckled. "I jest, daughter. I know you have yet to reach that point in your lessons."

"Oh," Rouge said, mollified. "Do you know the names of every inhabitant of every settlement?"

"I do my best to, as well as the names of everyone who does not live in a settlement, and many others besides," Blanc said.

"That must be a lot of names," Rouge commented.

"Millions," Blanc agreed. "And I know many other names aside from that, and a great many other things as well. These are things that you, too, shall learn in time."

"How am I supposed to remember all of that?" Rouge wondered.

"You are of the royal bloodline. And you are immortal. You have not only the time, but the ability to learn and retain everything you will need to know to be Queen one day," Blanc said. "That does not, of course, mean that it will be quick or easy. It will take you many years to learn everything. Fortunately, we have time."

Rouge nodded. It certainly seemed daunting, but put like that, it didn't seem so bad. "And when are we going to start? I mean, I'm already learning a lot already in lessons, but not what I feel like I'm going to need to know to rule one day."

"Don't underestimate or devalue what you are learning now," Blanc instructed her daughter. "You'd be surprised by how often a tidbit or fact you learned when you were small might come in handy even hundreds of years later. Especially because what you are learning now will serve as the building blocks for your more advanced education further down the road. So even though you might not necessarily enjoy doing math, or listening to boring history lectures, it will help prepare you for the even more advanced math and logistics that comes from running a kingdom, or sitting through an incredibly dull council meeting without nodding off." She paused. "Or at the very least, learning how to sleep with your eyes open. You have no idea how useful a skill that is until you're on hour fifteen of that windbag Ghoulstav's never-ending filibusters and you had to miss sleep last night filling out paperwork to make sure that the mummies get enough bandages to keep them from raiding hospitals in neighboring provinces for more. I should really get around to setting a limit on how long those can go on…"

…

Blaze nodded in agreement. "Truly a valuable skill for any great ruler. It is not an easy technique to master, but one well worth learning. My esteem for your mother rises by the second, Rouge."

"I've tried it a few times, but I keep snoring too loudly, and nobody falls for it," Sonic complained.

"We can work on that, beloved. If you do become King, you may need to do it one day," Blaze said.

Sonic's face twisted into a grimace. "Can't I just let you handle all the boring stuff while I go out on adventures?"

"No, because I like going out on adventures too, and it would be very rude for you to go on one without me," Blaze pointed out.

"Yeah, that's true," Sonic said, glaring at his friends, still somewhat resenting that they had apparently gone on loads of adventures he had never even heard about. The nerve!

…

"In any event," Blanc continued. "I do believe it is time I showed you something very important, and taught you one of the most valuable things you will ever need to know to be Queen."

Rouge's eyes lit up in excitement. "Really?!"

Blanc nodded. "Yes, I do believe you're old enough." She stretched out a hand, and suddenly a cloud of shrieking, chittering bats appeared from thin air, swooping down and gathering in a thick mass of writhing darkness a few meters in the air over the side of the balcony. The center of the dark mass throbbed and suddenly contracted outwards, revealing a stone staircase, winding downwards, burning torches lining the walls. "Come," Blanc said, spreading her wings and levitating into the air. Rouge spread her wings and flapped them a few times to rise up beside her mother (she had yet to learn how to levitate) and together the two vampires glided over the side of the balcony and into the portal, which shrank closed behind them, the bats scattering off in all directions.

Rouge glanced around the stone chamber they found themselves in. It was plain, unadorned and unremarkable in every way, and, aside from the staircase leading downwards, there seemed to be no other way out. "Are we still the Castle?" She asked warily.

"We are," Blanc confirmed.

"I don't believe I've ever been in this part," Rouge said, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "It's so… Dull. Even the servant's quarters look better. Heck, even the dungeons are more interesting than this, and less… Generic Castle-y."

Blanc chuckled. "That is because we are in a very old part of the Castle, one of the first places finished when it was constructed millennia ago, though there have been quite a few renovations over the years in the part where we're going to."

"Also a part I've never been to," Rouge guessed.

Blanc nodded. "Indeed. Of course, the number of places you haven't been far outweighs those where you have been. This is a very large castle, Rouge, and very ancient. I've lived here all my considerably long life, and even I am not certain I have explored every inch of it, though I do my best to know where everything is and keep the maps up-to-date."

"If this is a very old part of the castle, and there's no way in or out via portal—which, I suppose, only you or a very select few can open—I can only assume that whatever's down here is very important," Rouge mused. "It can't be the Crypt of the Elders, I've been there…" She closed her eyes and sniffed the air, ears twitching. "I don't smell paper or blood, and can't hear any screams or moans, which means we aren't in one of your private libraries or dungeons, and I don't sense much magic beyond our own and the ambience of the castle save what feels like a powerful seal further down so we can't be in one of your artifact storehouses, which leaves…the family vault, or something similar."

Blanc nodded. "Very insightful, daughter. Yes, we are indeed going to see the vault."

His eyes gleamed. "I've always wanted to see the vault! If even half of the stories I've heard about the things in there are true…!"

"I can assure you, what lies within are nothing less than the greatest treasures our family possesses," Blanc said with a chuckle. "However, while that is indeed what I wish to show you, there is a lesson I must impart on you as well. Come."

She started down the staircase. Every set of torches she passed briefly flickered and went out, only to reignite once she passed. Rouge quickly hurried after her mother, not wanting to be left behind. "What do you want to teach me?" Rouge asked, intrigued. Unlike most of her tutors, whenever her mother wanted to teach her something, she usually took her somewhere or showed her something that would cause the lesson to stick in her mind better than if she just read about it in class, like that one time when she transformed the two of them into merpeople so that they could spend a week living in the Sea of Sorrows and get a better understanding of the culture and livelihood of the creatures that dwelled in it.

"What are our family mottos, Rouge?" Blanc asked.

"Gemmis nostros omnes mundi—all the world's jewels belong to us—and Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc-We gladly feast on those who would subdue us," Rouge recited from memory.

…

"Yeah, that first one definitely sounds like the sort of motto a family that produced you would have," Sonic said.

"Wait, isn't that last one the Addams Family motto?" Charmy interjected.

"Where do you think they got it from?" Rouge asked with a smirk.

…

Blanc nodded. "Correct. May I ask why you put the jewel one before the more intimidating one?"

Rouge blushed. "Well… I've always had a fondness for jewels…"

Blanc chuckled. "As do I, but your instincts were more correct than you know. Many people believe our original motto was the one about destroying our enemies and the jewel one came later. They are wrong. It is the other way around."

"Really?" Rouge asked, intrigued.

Blanc nodded. "A love for Gems has run in our family for generations… Of course, the motto isn't really talking about pretty stones. There are more kinds of jewels in this world than the ones that can simply be dug out of the ground, polished up a bit, and set in jewelry."

Rouge narrowed her eyes. "We're speaking metaphorical gems here?"

"Precisely. Which leads into the lesson I which to teach you," Blanc said, glancing at her daughter. "Rouge, what is the source of my queenly power?"

Rouge blinked and looked at her mother in surprise. Was that a trick question? She opened her mouth to give the answer that first came to her mind… Then paused, realizing that it probably was a trick question. She frowned in thought for a moment, trying to come up with an alternative answer, but none came to mind. Finally, she gave in and spoke her first thought, which she was already certain was wrong. "The Dark Heart?"

Blanc smiled and touched the bat marking on her chest, which pulsed faintly. "No. The Dark Heart is the source of my power, yes, but not my queenly power."

"There's a difference?" Asked the confused Rouge.

"Oh, indeed," Blanc said. "The Dark Heart grants me many abilities. It allows me to effortlessly wield Dark Power without jeopardizing my sanity or soul. It allows me to raise the dead, and bend the minds of millions so that they become my obsequious slaves and thralls, their every thought and wish dedicated to fulfilling my every desire. It makes me virtually immortal and invincible, the most powerful vampire alive, able to shatter entire continents with a wave of my hand and engulf the world in eternal darkness… But does any of this make me fit to rule a country?"

Rouge considered this for a moment. "No, it doesn't," she realized. "The Dark Heart may be the source and embodiment of our royal family's Demon Imperial Power, the proof of our right to rule… But it is not the sole thing upon which our reign is based. If our kingdom were ruled solely out of fear that you would use the Heart's power to annihilate anyone who defied you, it would eventually collapse on itself, like most petty dictatorships."

…

"I'm sorry, but… What's this about a Dark Heart and Demon Imperial Power?" Blaze interjected.

"Yeah, both of those sound kind of ominous," Mighty said.

"Especially if even half the things she claims she can do with it are true," Espio agreed.

"The short answer is that it's an artifact that has been in my family's possession for generations. In fact, in many ways it's the source of all vampires, and many other supernatural creatures. My oldest ancestor was the one who found the Heart, became the first true vampire, and founded our line," Rouge explained. "We call the power it infuses us with 'Demon Imperial Power' because it's a cut above the Dark Power which regular vampires and other supernatural beings can utilize, and only we can use it without being destroyed, which we use to 'prove' our legitimacy to rule the creatures of the night. There's a bit more to it than that, but I'll explain when the time is right."

Blaze nodded. "Very well. And may I complement your younger self on such insight? My own reign is also based on something more than just my power over fire and the Sol Emeralds."

"I suppose it would have to be, if it's lasted as long as you've implied it has," Rouge said. "Not, however, as long as my dynasty."

Blaze narrowed her eyes. "Perhaps."

…

Blanc nodded, a pleased smile on her face. "Correct. The source of my queenly power is not the Dark Heart. It rests in two simple concepts… 'wealth' and 'knowledge.'"

"Wealth and knowledge?" Asked the puzzled Rouge.

"Indeed. It shouldn't be that much of a surprise, really. Its basic economics and statecraft," Blanc explained.

"How so?" Rouge asked.

"Let us begin with wealth," Blanc said. "In this world there exist many different kinds of resources. Some are necessary for survival-food, water, blood, and so forth. Some are desired because they provide energy, like oil, Chaos, or Dark Power. Others still have no value whatsoever except for the ones we arbitrarily give them, such as money, or the jewels we so love."

"Jewels aren't arbitrary!" Rouge protested.

Blanc raised an eyebrow. "Rouge, they're really nothing more than pretty rocks that we crave for no other reason than because they're shiny and we are told by society that they are to be valued. Similarly, money is really nothing more than bits of metal or paper, and yet we believe they are important because we say they are. That does not mean they have no power, of course. Many things only have power because people believe they do. Religion. Politics. Economics. Society. Stories. Even love and family. They are things we tell ourselves are important because they give our existences meaning. Could we live without them? Certainly. But our lives would be far less interesting or fulfilling, wouldn't they?"

"But...aren't you saying those are all lies, then?" asked the confused Rouge.

"Oh, certainly. Which isn't a bad thing at all. An entertaining lie is often preferable to the mundanity of reality," Blanc said. "But that's a lesson for another day. Today, we learn about wealth and knowledge. So, as I said, there are important and valuable resources desired by many. The rarer and harder to find a resource is, the more valuable and desirable it becomes. So, if a person were to have a larger amount of that resource than everyone else, she in turn would be regarded as valuable or desirable, and a great many people will be willing to exchange goods and services for that resource. Money, of course, is the simplest and most logical example: we have a great deal of it, accumulated through thousands of years of careful collecting, investments, and savings, and a great many people are willing to do whatever is asked of them if we offer enough of it. It is what keeps our staff and servants employed. It is what pays for the fine luxuries we take for granted. It is what leads to the construction of castles and cities, the formation of armies, the upkeep of nations. Loyalty, either genuine or induced by mind-control, is all well and good, but money is a far more reliable way to ensure someone's servitude. That is not, of course, to say that everyone who serves you will only be after your wealth and power-I have many close friends who would follow me even if I paid them nothing-but they will be few and far between, and while you should keep them close, remember that everyone else will need incentive to remain loyal to you. This is the power of wealth, Rouge: the ability to control others through possession of a valuable commodity." She glanced at her dress. "And to be able to simply buy just about anything you might ever need. It's very easy to become extremely powerful if you can simply purchase all the incredibly rare and expensive materials you could ever desire to cast the biggest spells, build the strongest weapons, hire and train the best soldiers and workers, and so on. The smallest ring on my right hand is probably worth more than most countries could afford if they saved up for a hundred years. I could throw a trillion Rings out my window and it wouldn't even make a tiny dent in our net worth. I could buy and sell every nation on Earth a dozen times over and still have enough left to purchase real estate on a few other planets. That is how rich we are."

"I see…" Rouge murmured, awed.

"And wealth can also be used as a way to keep more recalcitrant and/or important subjects, or people outside our realm, under your thumb," Blanc continued. "Nearly everyone has a price, and it's usually money. We do not rule the world by directly enforcing our will on every single person in it, which would be impossible. No, we control the people who control everyone else, and money is one of the most useful tools to ensure that control. That is not, of course, to say that greed is the only motivator, though it's the most frequent one-politicians always need money for something, and the already rich always desire more-but there are many other reasons a person might require money. Perhaps they are in poverty or debt and need a helping hand. Perhaps they have medical bills to pay for a loved one or a mortgage to pay off. Perhaps they have a charity or cause which is floundering and could use a shot in the arm. In all these situations, a little extra cash can always be useful, and the recipients will be more than happy to repay the favor...as long as you ensure they remember who gave them the help they needed and remind them that you can always cut off the cash flow should they fail to treat you with the appropriate gratitude. Always remember, Rouge, even if a person cannot be bought directly through greed, their sense of altruism can be just as big a weakness. Even a good man will need money for something, if not for themselves, then for others. A few Rings slipped in the right hands at the right time can change the course of history."

…

Everyone paused to digest this for a few moments, alarmed and uncomfortable looks on their faces.

"...That's...no way...it...it can't be that easy to control the world...can it?!" asked an incredulous Knuckles.

"Well, actually...it kind of is," Tails admitted. "It's how the rich and elite become the rich and elite and stay that way. It's how basic economics and supply and demand work. It's how organized crime can stay in power and avoid the authorities. And it's how governments can be influenced more by the one percent than by everyone else. Or have you never asked where a lot of the money to fund political campaigns and government programs comes from? Taxpayer Rings can only account for so much."

"Mother…does donate a lot of money to charities and other things…and we often have very important and powerful people over for dinner…" Cream said uneasily.

"But that's...it can't be right! Blaze, you run a huge empire, and you don't do it like that!" Sonic protested.

"Yes, but remember that I don't do subtle," Blaze pointed out. "The vampires are fine ruling the world from the shadows, which requires a more delicate and refined touch. I don't bother with that because I want everyone to know I'm the one they all answer to." She shrugged. "Blanc's style of leadership is different from mine, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily wrong. Everyone has different ways to rule. And besides, it's not like I'm exactly a pauper either. I'm more than willing to exercise my wealth in ways which I believe will benefit my kingdom if I think it's necessary."

"And that's probably why Eggman's never tried anything like that," Mighty agreed. "He's too loud and egotistical."

"And stupid!" Charmy added.

"Yes, and that," Mighty agreed grudgingly, reluctant to agree on any point with the Chaotix.

"But...but it can't be...I mean...there's no way any amount of money could buy me!" Sonic protested.

"It could certainly buy me," Espio said.

"Espio!" Cried a shocked Vector.

"Vector, we are so poor that homeless people point at us when we walk down the streets and laugh. If we don't get some real money soon, Charmy's going to get eaten by a loan shark. At this point, I'm more than willing to sacrifice the few morals I have if it means actually getting a paycheck," Espio said flatly.

Charmy raised a hand. "I second that! Especially the part that means I don't get eaten by a shark."

"C'mon, guys!" Vector pleaded.

"Sorry, Vector, but virtue doesn't pay the bills," Espio said bluntly.

"You say that no amount of money would ever be able to buy you… But what if the money wasn't for you, Sonic? What if it was for someone else? What if someone you cared for was badly hurt, and you needed a considerable amount of money to help them?" Rouge asked.

Sonic hesitated for moment. "I… I'd ask for Tails or Cream to spot me, I guess. I know they're good for it, and I'm not too proud to ask for help in that regard."

"Sure, if something like that ever happened, I'd be happy to help," Tails agreed.

"Me too," Cream said.

"You could rely on me as well, beloved. I have very deep coffers, and if the medical technology of your world were no good, perhaps the healers of mine would suffice," Blaze offered.

"I might lend you some cash…though I'd want something in return," Shadow added.

Sonic smiled gratefully. "Thanks, guys. It's good to know you have my back."

"Which is all well and good, but would you not feel even a little indebted to them?" Rouge prompted. "Sure, they'd certainly SAY you don't need to repay them, but deep down, you'd feel like there surely had to be SOMETHING you could do to thank them for their generosity, right?"

Sonic grimaced. "Well… Yeah… I guess…"

"Which is exactly what would happen were someone else, say, me, to lend you the money," Rouge continued. "Except I'd be a bit more…insistent on repayment. Remember, Sonic, not everyone is as fortunate as you to have wealthy friends who are happy to give you anything you need with no strings attached. Some people have to look for… Other sources for aid. And in doing so, they put themselves under the power of that aid. It happens all the time, and not just with those who work for my mother. You may not like it, that doesn't change the fact that it is, in part, how the world sometimes works." Sonic clenched his fist, but had no remark. Rouge glanced at Amy. "That reminds me, don't you have a charity or two that isn't doing so well?"

Amy snarled. "Maybe, but there's no way I'm going to accept any money from you! Not after everything you just said!"

Rouge shrugged. "All right, just remember that I offered. When the debt collectors are knocking down your door, you may reconsider taking the high road."

"It's a rubbish charity anyway," Shadow said flatly. "It's not like penguins need sweaters."

"Maybe not, but they look so cute in them!" Cream squealed. Everyone considered this for a moment, and then reluctantly conceded that she was right.

"On another note, am I the only one astonished by just how rich Rouge's mom apparently is?" Mighty asked.

Blaze shook her head in amusement. "You are not. My own kingdom is incredibly prosperous, but nothing on that caliber."

"My family isn't anywhere near poor, but I doubt we could manage something like that," Cream agreed.

"Well, that's what you get for having a family that's been saving and investing money for millennia," Rouge said cheerfully.

"Exactly how old is your family?" Sonic asked.

Rouge shrugged. "We've been around since before the first stories of vampires existed."

"There have been stories of vampires or vampire-like creatures since at least before the rise of Babylon," Tails said.

"The Garden or the civilization?" Amy asked.

"Both," Tails said.

"Yeah, we existed for at least a thousand years before that, if not more," Rouge said smugly. "We've been around since before the ancient echidnas were anything more than a bunch of brainless, fight-happy thugs."

"So, not too long ago, then?" Mighty joked.

"Hey!" Knuckles snapped.

Vector whistled. "That's quite a lineage."

"And more than enough time to build up a pretty big nest egg," Espio commented.

Rouge chuckled. "Well, just one of the many perks of immortality."

"Speaking of which…if your kind are immortal, how's the whole 'heir to the throne' thing supposed to work, exactly?" Tails asked. "Did your predecessors get bored and retire to make room for the next generation, or do you have to kill whoever's on the throne to take their place, or…?"

"I'll explain later," Rouge promised.

...

Rouge nodded thoughtfully. "And knowledge?"

"Why, I would think that would be self-evident, Rouge," Blanc said. "One cannot do anything in this world without knowing how to do it, after all. That is what schools are for, and tutors, and lessons. To teach a person the things she needs to advance in the world, to excel at her chosen profession. An alchemist cannot turn lead into gold without knowing some basic chemistry. A programmer cannot create a new operating system without knowing how to code. A physicist can't make a grand unified theory without a grasp of how the universe works. An assassin can't kill someone without knowing all the possible ways to end someone's life. An accountant can't handle people's money without being good with numbers. A Sorcerer cannot create a great work without knowing how to cast a basic levitation spell. And a Queen cannot rule her kingdom without knowing everything there is to know about it. Every town and village and city and settlement. Every tribe and culture and race and species and sect. The way they interact with each other, for better or for worse. How the geography works, and what place is important historically or has some magical relevance, who lives where, who used to live there, what can grow there, and what can't. Its history and how it shapes the nation as it is today. What people want, when they want it, what they eat, what they worship, who they love, who they hate. What projects need approval, and what don't. The annual budget and the best way to keep from going over it while at the same time keeping your coffers full without overtaxing the citizens. How best to play the various petty squabbling nobles against each other by exploiting age-old grudges and feuds absolutely nobody cares about except for those involved to get the result which is most ideal for yourself and for your kingdom. More than anything else, a kingdom is made up by its people, and a good ruler must know what motivates and drives them to ensure they can be made to work together for the greater good… Whether they like it or not. Manipulation is an indispensable tool for any leader's skillset, and the first step to manipulating someone is to know them inside and out. This applies on both an individual and national or even global scale."

"Which…is why you do your best to know who everyone in Fangsylvania is, so you know the best way to control them," Rouge realized.

…

"Gee, that isn't even the slightest bit creepy or sinister," Charmy snarked.

"The Imperials don't seem to care too much that Nicole's constantly watching them," Tails pointed out.

"Yes, but they practically worship that computer as a God," Espio countered.

The Fox shrugged. "Maybe they feel the same way about Blanc in Fangsylvania?"

"Some do, others don't. Mother's ways of learning things about people aren't as obvious as cameras everywhere, and by this point everyone's pretty much resigned themselves to the fact that she somehow knows everything about them before they even meet her," Rouge said. "It adds to her mystique. They chalk it up to just another one of her many powers, and see it as another reason to fear and/or revere her."

"Is it?" Cream asked.

"Partially. Also, she has spies everywhere," Rouge said.

"Yeah, sorry, but I'm not entirely convinced that your mother's not an evil overlord," Sonic deadpanned.

"I have spies everywhere and you don't think I'm an evil overlord," Blaze said.

"You do?" Cream asked in surprise.

"Of course she does," Amy sneered.

"Well, yes. How else am I supposed to obtain accurate knowledge of what's happening throughout my realm and beyond?" Blaze asked.

Sonic faltered. "Well, that's… I… Oh, never mind."

…

Blanc nodded. "Indeed. Which isn't to say it's not borne partially from compassion, or at least to give the appearance of compassion, which in many ways is just as important—after all, in many ways, we are the mothers of the nation, and a true mother should know and love their children—but that doesn't mean it's not still a useful way to better understand what's going on in your nation and the best way to steer it in the way you choose. As horrible as this may sound, always keep in mind that a good chunk of politics requires manipulating everyone around you to a certain extent, otherwise you'd never be able to get anything done, and everyone else will just walk all over you to get what they want."

"Plus, we're vampires, we kind of do it instinctively," Rouge said.

Blanc chuckled. "Quite. Anyway, while it's important you do your best to learn everything you can about your subjects, most of it will probably never be needed except on a more general level. Remember, there are millions of them and one of you, so trying to control each and every single one of them directly is completely unfeasible. For the most part they're fine with what they have, and don't really care so much about what's going on in the wider world so long as it doesn't adversely affect them, so will go along with whatever you tell them to do if you coach it in terms that can convince them it's worth their while, which is still manipulation, but in a more general, everyday sense, and is no different from how any politician controls their constituents. Even so, it's better to have that knowledge than not to have it. You never know when it might come in handy. For instance, while you'll be able to generally control people through proper use of propaganda, public displays, decrees and laws, big shows of power and other more subtle channels, there will always be certain individuals you may need to…lean on a little more heavily to get the results you want. And your knowledge of the people around you will help you to know how best to make these certain individuals do what you want them to."

"By using wealth," Rouge said, recalling the previous lesson.

"A good thought, but that's not always the case," Blanc said.

Rouge blinked. "What? But I thought-"

"Money is usually the best way to control someone, but it's not always the only or best way," Blanc said. "And that is where knowledge comes in. Like I said, to manipulate someone, you need to know them inside and out. Almost everyone in this world has a 'lever' which can be used to control them, and with proper knowledge and understanding of that individual you can figure out what it is. For the general populace, that lever is something like national pride, or faith, or lower taxes, or promises of better housing and prosperity and the like, something that appeals to the masses. On a more individual level, however, it's often something else. Something like-"

"A loved one?" Rouge intuited. "Is that why we sometimes host the children of other nobles and lesser rulers for a while?"

Blanc paused, then gave Rouge a serious look. "Yes. A family member or loved one is often a useful lever. However, Rouge, I strongly urge you not to rely on it too much. It's all well and good to hold noble offspring 'hostage' for a time as a show of good faith—there's precedent for that sort of thing all around the world, it's been going on for thousands of years to ensure peace between neighbors, and it's not like they're in any real danger—but if you start threatening people's families to make them do what you want, you're no different from a common thug or despot. We're vampires. We're better than that, or at least we like to think we are. I would recommend you only do something like that as a last resort. You don't want people constantly fearing that you'll take their families from them, after all."

…

"Okay, I guess that's a few points in the 'Not an Evil Overlord' column," Sonic said grudgingly.

"All this talk of manipulation is awful. Is that really the way to go about running a country?" Cream asked uncomfortably.

"To be fair, a lot of what she's saying is how politics work," Tails said. "She's just a bit more into it—and honest—than most politicians are about their tendency to manipulate everyone around them."

Blaze nodded. "As I've said before, this is not the method in which I rule my domain. While I do try to know as much about those around me as I can, I'm not very good at being subtle—although I have people who are better at it and do it for me-I do my best to be blunt and honest with everyone I deal with, which many of those under me find refreshing compared to other rulers, who would do nothing but go around and around in circles without saying anything of value." She shrugged. "On the other hand, this could also be considered a kind of manipulation, since it makes them like me and be more receptive to doing what I want."

"A case could be made that, on some level, all forms of social interaction are a kind of manipulation," Tails agreed.

"I don't buy that," Sonic argued.

"Would you say, then, that you don't try to manipulate everyone around you?" Shadow asked.

"Of course not!" Sonic snorted.

"You just proved his point," Tails said.

Sonic blinked. "Huh?"

"You said you don't try to manipulate everyone around you. In doing so, you're trying to convince everyone to think of you in a specific way. That's manipulation, really," Tails said.

Sonic was dumbstruck. "But…but I wasn't trying to…I didn't mean-"

"Not all manipulation is conscious, beloved. Pretty much everyone does it without thinking about it. All the time," Blaze said. Sonic blanched at this.

"But that's terrible!" said a shocked Cream.

Shadow shrugged. "It's just how it is. And to an extent, people want to be manipulated, or why else would they always fall for hucksters and liars or keep voting for the wrong people to lead them? Like Rouge's mother said, an entertaining lie is often more appealing than the more mundane reality."

The rabbit grimaced, but did not have a counter for this. "My optimistic outlook on the world seems to be dying the more stories I hear."

"GOOD," Omega said callously.

"Hey, is that why Knuckles always falls for everything?" Vector wondered.

"No, I'm pretty sure he's just stupid," Mighty said. The others nodded in agreement.

"Hey!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"Most of this stuff is going over my head. Do we really need to discuss it?" Charmy complained.

"I admit it's a bit much, but it's important for you to understand why I am the way I am and how I got into my current professions," Rouge explained.

"Continue," Silver urged.

…

Rouge nodded in understanding. "Okay, save threatening people as a last resort. What would you suggest, then?"

Blanc shrugged. "Any number of things, really. Most of the time it's best to be subtle. Appeal to their vanity, convince them that the thing you want to them to do was their own idea. If they are of a more generous and altruistic bent, tell them it will help people. You should also never discount the power of sex appeal."

Rouge pouted. "Which I currently lack."

"Your sheer cuteness is a good placeholder until your body develops some more. I've seen the sorts of things you can get when you just look at people with those big, beautiful blue eyes of yours, and I am no exception to your charms," Blanc chuckled. "Anyway, both sex appeal and cuteness are very useful ways to get what you want. It's astonishing the amount of people who will crumble and give you what you want if you smile at them the right way or flash a little leg. You don't even need to promise anything, the tantalizing possibility of getting somewhere is more than enough to bend most red-blooded males –and many females—to your will." She glanced sharply at Rouge. "Speaking of which, you are not to flash any leg until you actually have legs worth flashing, of course. You don't want to attract the…wrong kind of attention."

…

Everyone glanced at Cream. "She is very cute," Amy said thoughtfully. "I can see where Blanc's coming from."

"Yeah, she is," Charmy said dreamily.

"It's a good thing she's too nice to use it to make people do what she wants…well, not too often, anyway," Sonic joked.

"She's probably gonna be a real looker like her mom when she grows up, too," Vector said fondly.

"And even then, she'll probably be too nice to take advantage of it in the same way Rouge or her mother would," Espio agreed. "Well, intentionally, anyway."

"I suppose I should be offended, but that's pretty much right," Rouge admitted.

"I certainly hope so," Cream said. "And maybe it means I'll finally understand all these things everyone else's dancing around whenever I'm in earshot. Am I right in guessing that 'attracting the wrong kind of attention' is one of them?"

"Yep," Shadow said.

Cream sighed. "Of course it is."

…

"What you must remember, however," Blanc continued. "Is that not every method of manipulation you possess will work on everyone you come across. That's why it is imperative you have adequate knowledge of that person and what will or will not work on them before you attempt to control them. That's why I consider knowledge to be one of the two pillars which support my reign instead of manipulation. Manipulation is an incredibly useful tool, but if you stake absolutely everything on it, not only will it make people wary of trusting you, there's a good chance everything will collapse around you if you find yourself in a situation you can't work around. It is better to be regarded as a chessmaster than simply a manipulative bitch."

"I'm not very good at chess," Rouge complained.

"You can be taught. Anyway, there is one other kind of lever of control I've yet to mention, one which makes knowledge of the person you're trying to manipulate even more important," Blanc continued.

Rouge perked up at this. "Oh?"

"For most people, you can use subtlety to control them. For others, you can use money. And for those for which neither will work… There are secrets," Blanc said.

Rouge blinked. "Secrets?"

"Many people—especially the wealthy and powerful, whom you will probably be working your hardest to keep under your thumb- have a secret. Something they cannot, will not, allow anyone to know under any circumstances," Blanc explained. "A certain fetish or proclivity which is highly frowned upon. A crime they committed in their past or are continuing to commit now. An infidelity. A whole second family they keep separate from their first one. A crime committed by a loved one they've done their best to cover up. Hidden shames and sins which, if they were to ever see the light of day, would ruin their careers and quite likely their lives. And if you were to know these secrets, these things they cannot allow anyone else to know…"

"Then they will be willing to do absolutely anything you ask to make sure you never tell anyone else," Rouge realized.

"Correct," Blanc said with a smile.

"Isn't that blackmail?" Rouge asked.

Blanc laughed. "Darling, of course it's blackmail. After everything else I've just told you, is it really that big a deal?"

"I suppose not," Rouge conceded.

…

"Aaaand there's some more points back in the Evil Overlord column," Sonic muttered.

"Blaze, you don't-" Vector started.

"I don't, no," Blaze said. After a pause, she admitted, "I do, however, have people who do, who make it their business to learn anything useful regarding those who might be either a threat or an asset to my kingdom. I largely turn a blind eye towards them so that I can retain my image and maintain plausible deniability should they ever be caught doing something they shouldn't."

"Aha!" Amy crowed triumphantly. "You see, Sonic? She IS evil, to do something like that!"

"Actually, Amy, most governments handle the messier side of running a country that way," Tails informed the pink hedgehog.

Amy blinked in surprise. "They do?"

"Yes, you don't think the President of the United Federation knows—or wants to know-even half of what GUN is doing behind his back, do you?" Shadow said. "Despite what the conspiracy theorists say, the entire government is not, in fact, out to get you. Just parts of it."

"…That doesn't exactly make me feel reassured," Espio said.

"It wasn't supposed to," Shadow said.

"I don't understand. What secret could possibly be so bad that it would ruin your life if anyone found out about it?" Asked a confused Cream.

"Your family doesn't have any dirty secrets?" Espio asked. "I mean, you are pretty rich…"

"Yeah, and rich people usually have tons of skeletons in their closets," Mighty said.

"No! Nothing bad!" Cream protested. "And why would we have skeletons in our closets outside of Halloween, anyway?"

"That's not what that…oh, never mind," Tails said.

"Maybe you do and your mom just hasn't told you because you're not old enough?" Amy suggested.

Cream shook her head angrily, ears flopping about. "No, she…she wouldn't do that!...would she?"

"Well, considering we're keeping you from knowing things because you're not old enough, I don't see why not," Shadow said.

Cream opened her mouth…then paused, frowning. "…Mommy doesn't like me talking about Daddy when there are other people around. I thought it was because she was embarrassed or something or because she usually doesn't like to talk about him, but…given who he is, then…maybe she…" Her face paled. "Oh. Oh my. That would count, wouldn't it?"

The others exchanged concerned looks. "Cream, exactly who is your father?" Blaze asked in concern.

Cream started to speak again, hesitated, and shook her head. "I…I think I'll wait until it's my turn. This is Rouge's story, anyway."

Rouge nodded in gratitude. "Thank you, Cream. Anyway…"

…

"All right, I can see how all that would be useful in ruling the kingdom… But what if something happens that CAN'T be solved by throwing money or blackmailing it?" Rouge asked.

"Like a natural disaster? Well, that's pretty easy, just pour money into disaster relief, use your knowledge to choose the right people to clean up the mess and rebuild-" Blanc started.

"I was referring more to supernatural beings," Rouge said.

Blanc raised an eyebrow. "Technically, darling, we are supernatural beings."

"More supernatural than us, then. The kind that don't live in or respect civilization as we know it, come from other dimensions, desire to destroy us and possibly devour our souls…?" Rouge prompted.

Blanc laughed in surprise. "Oh, them? Rouge, if anything, they're easier to deal with than the travails of bureaucracy."

Rouge blinked. "How so?"

Blanc shrugged. "All things like that can do is kill you and consume your soul. Which, after spending week after week rejecting moronic bill after moronic bill, might actually be welcome. The thing you must remember, Rouge, is that the entities you mention are all bound by specific rules which govern their behavior and determine what they can or cannot do, in contrast with mortals—or 'lesser' supernatural beings like ourselves- who have a lot more leeway. It's a necessary drawback of the phenomenal cosmic powers they possess. It's why genies must grant wishes to whomever rubs their lamp or ring or other object, why demons have to make at least a show of honoring any deal you make with them instead of immediately double-crossing you and taking your soul, why the Fae can be held back and bound by so many seemingly silly and harmless commonplace objects, and why the Great Old Ones and those like them can't just wake up or break out or enter our reality whenever they wish but can only do it when the circumstances are exactly right; and the stronger they are, the more complex and rare those circumstances are. If you know the rules governing these mighty beings, then you can manipulate them to your advantage to make sure they will not be a threat to you. Over the millennia, our lineage has collected a great deal of information on how to handle such creatures. We have hundreds of prewritten contracts written by the finest legal minds that have ever lived to make sure we can make any wish or deal we desire without any loophole that could potentially screw us over. Should I ever find myself in a Fae realm, I know all the rules about how things work there, what to avoid, what to seek out, and the True Names of a number of extremely powerful fairies who would be beholden to show me the way out where I to call upon them. If I were to die and go to Hell, I know twelve dozen different routes of escape to more welcoming planes, as well as the names of over a hundred demons whose loyalty we have bought in one way or another who would come to my assistance if summoned, including a number of Archdemons and Dukes of Hell. And if, by some chance, I were to wind up in Heaven, I know ways of commanding several of the angels there, who are not really as different from their devilish kin as they might wish. I know the coordinates of several other dimensions, what lives there, and how to get back to our world from them. I know the locations of almost every sealed evil or extradimensional horror that can access our reality, what is necessary to free them, and what can be done to banish them back. Additionally, I know the identities of several of the high-ranking cultists who worship such horrors—or demons—and their addresses should they need to be…dealt with. Heck, I even know all the thousand names and faces of Nyarlyathotep, including his true, secret name which only he knows, or so he believes!"

Rouge's eyes widened in amazement. "That's… A lot of information."

"We've had a long time to gather it," Blanc said.

"How the heck am I supposed to remember all that?!" Rouge demanded.

"Your memory retention and capacity will increase with age," Blanc assured her. "Also, we've made sure to write everything down somewhere for the sake of redundancy. And if you can't remember it or find it anywhere, you can just wake up one of the Elders, they'll know it."

Rouge considered this for a moment. "Okay, that's how they can be beaten with knowledge, but what about wealth?"

Blanc shrugged. "Not all of the information on how to properly deal with these beings is easy to come by. Incredibly rare tomes, hard-to-find ingredients and components, scholars of Eldritch lore only willing to part with their hard-earned knowledge for proper compensation…being rich might not necessarily be able to control beings like those, but it helps get you the tools you need to do it. And if all else fails, I suppose you could just recruit some heroes to take care of it should a problem arise, and if they fail you can still fall back on the power of the Dark Heart, because despite the importance I've placed upon wealth and knowledge, ultimately they might not always be able to solve everything, and you must be willing to get down and dirty and take care of things yourself when necessary. Of course, I would recommend using it only if absolutely necessary, because while it's incredibly powerful, relying too heavily on using the Demon Imperial Power on beings like those might attract attention from…the entity it draws its strength from, and it might not be happy about it, much like a dog may eventually grow tired of a flea biting it and shake it off."

Rouge grimaced. She did not like to think of herself as a flea. Seeing her expression, Blanc quietly said, "You must always remember, Rouge, that for all our power, no matter how superior we may seem compared to other beings, there will always be things out there far stronger than us. And while the information we've collected over the ages will help to repel such beings, that doesn't mean they can't still destroy you if you aren't very, very careful. It can only take one slip-up and it's the end of the world, and that can go for politics as well as dealing with almighty supernatural beings."

…

"Very perceptive. That is something I must remind myself every day," Blaze said.

"THERE-IS-ALWAYS-A-BIGGER-FISH," Omega agreed.

"Fish?" Big asked, glancing up from the punch bowl.

"No, Big, not real fish," Sonic said. Big immediately lost interest and resumed fishing.

"I'm not sure what impresses me more, the fact that your mom knows so much stuff- and by definition, you will one day too- or that in spite of it all, she's still worried it might not always be enough," Vector commented.

"I'm more terrified myself. I had no idea there were so many things out there that could so easily do us harm," Espio said.

"Ignorance is bliss, I guess," Amy said.

"Not really. While it allows people to live their lives more easily if they have absolutely no idea just how close they are to total annihilation every single day, the downside is that when things like this crop up, they have absolutely no idea whatsoever how to handle it," Shadow said.

Tails nodded in understanding. "Ignorance can be a double-edged sword. Then again, so can knowledge, in this instance."

"She mentioned that the Dark Heart draws its power from… Something. What's that about?" Mighty asked.

"Is it anyone I need to beat up?" Sonic asked a little too eagerly.

"I'll explain later. We probably digressed enough already," Rouge said. She paused, and then added, "Plus, Sonic, you've already beaten him up once, you don't need to do it again."

Sonic blinked. "Huh? I have?"

"I'll explain later," Rouge repeated.

"One last digression, actually. Blanc mentioned some guy called Nyarlyathotep. This is the third time we've heard that name," Espio said. "First Mighty fought him, then those Gizomochao cultists mentioned him, and now your mom knows about him. Who is he?"

"That's a question I'd like to know the answer to myself, actually," Mighty said.

"You fought him but you don't know who he is?" Knuckles asked.

Mighty shrugged. "All I really know about the guy is he's some sort of evil Eldritch Abomination thing who was trying to wake up ANOTHER evil Eldritch Abomination thing, and that's about it. I asked Illumina about it before I woke up, and she said there are some things I'm better off not knowing, things that give even her nightmares."

"I'm aware of this entity. He has visited my realm a number of times in the past, although I've never had the misfortune to encounter him directly," Blaze said. She smirked. "Or rather, he never had the misfortune of encountering me."

"I wouldn't be so cocky around him. Nyarlyathotep is seriously bad news," Rouge said warningly.

"I beat him," Mighty said. He paused. "Well, okay, I had the help from like a ton of other dreaming heroes, but still."

"I think that kind of proves the point," Amy said.

"There exists a pantheon of cosmic horrors called the 'Outer Gods,'" Shadow began.

"Why are they called that?" Cream asked.

"Because they exist completely outside of reality as we know it, and are far more powerful than pretty much any supernatural entity we've ever encountered," Shadow said. "For example, remember how Mighty beat Cthulhu, or rather, his dreaming self?"

"Yes," Mighty said. "I was there."

"Well, Cthulhu's the High Priest of the Outer Gods," Shadow said.

It took a moment to digest this. "…Wait, the Outer Gods are so strong they've got another god acting as High Priest?!" asked an incredulous Vector.

"WELL, THAT-DEPENDS-ON-YOUR-DEFINITION-OF-'GOD.' CTHULHU-HAS-WORSHIPPERS-AND-A-CULT-OF-HIS-OWN, BUT-THEN-AGAIN-SO-DO-MANY-OTHER-POWERFUL-ENTITIES-BOTH-WITHIN-AND-WITHOUT-OUR-UNIVERSE, WHETHER-OR-NOT-THEY-ARE-DESERVING-OF-THE-TITLE. BLAZE-SAID-SHE-HAD-WORSHIPPERS, BUT-ALSO-ADMITTED-SHE-ISN'T-QUITE-A-GOD," Omega said, nodding at the feline.

"I'm definitely not quite mortal, but…divine?" Blaze shrugged. "Depends on who you ask."

"But for the sake of simplicity, yes, we'll say that the Outer Gods are so strong their High Priest is a weaker god," Shadow said.

"…Holy crap," Vector said, visibly spooked.

"I reeeeaally hope they aren't going to get back at me for messing with their High Priest," Mighty said with a nervous gulp.

"If they haven't now, they probably never will. They don't care about things like that the same way we do," Shadow said. He paused, and then admitted, "Then again, they also see time differently than us, so it's possible that retribution will occur, but not for a very long time."

"That is not even remotely reassuring," Mighty said anxiously.

"I think it might be in our best interests to avoid drawing attention from such beings. Sonic, you might want to dial down on beating up Eldritch Abominations for the foreseeable future," Espio said.

"I will make no such promise," Sonic said firmly.

"Are they stronger than the Ancient Walkers?" Knuckles asked.

"I don't know, actually," Shadow admitted. "There's more information and records on the Outer Gods than there are on the Walkers. Perhaps that means the Walkers are stronger and even more 'outer,' or maybe that they're just more reclusive. Regardless, the Walkers are, according to Tikal, not malicious and have no interest in destroying worlds or interfering in the affairs of lesser beings unless it suits their inscrutable desires. The same cannot, however, be said of the Outer Gods. They are, at best, jerkish or apathetic. At worst…" He meaningfully did not finish the sentence.

"Nyarlyathotep is their servant, a lesser horror who is capable of existing in our reality without being summoned, able to travel planes and dimensions at will. He is a trickster, a shapeshifter, a fiend who revels in chaos and misery and delights in bringing ruin to all he encounters," Rouge said. "While the Outer Gods are largely incomprehensible, his malice is far more defined…and petty. If the Outer gods are to us as we are to ants, Nyarlyathotep's that obnoxious kid who loves frying anthills with a magnifying glass."

"He's also supposed to be the embodiment of the 'soul' of the Outer Gods, whatever the heck that means," Shadow added.

"His job is… You know how Galactus always has a herald who he sends out to find new planets for him to eat?" Rouge asked. "That's essentially Nyarlyathotep's job, when he isn't causing trouble for the hell of it. His task is to prepare worlds and universes for the coming of his masters, often by awakening and freeing lesser abominations, which usually makes it easier for the Outer Gods to cross over due to all the chaos and weakening of the fabric of reality. Whenever a cult arises or some plan is set into motion to release or summon such creatures, it's a sure bet that Nyarlyathotep in one of his many guises is probably responsible."

"So…does that mean Eggman is one of this guy's forms, or…" Vector asked.

"Unlikely. It's more probable Nyarlyathotep's the one who keeps putting the idea into Eggman's head that it would be a brilliant idea to try to free and take control of an ancient horror and that it totally won't backfire this time," Shadow said. "He's probably not even aware of it."

"….Huh. You know, that actually explains really well why he doesn't seem to have any form of pattern recognition…" Sonic murmured.

"Is it weird that I'm now actually feeling kind of sorry for him?" Charmy asked.

"I'm not," Espio said flatly.

"So yeah, that's who Nyarlyathotep is," Rouge said.

"Yes, that fits with most of what I have heard about him. Thank you, Rouge," Blaze said.

"Now I'm even more afraid of retribution," Mighty said timidly.

"If anything, you should be proud of yourself for beating him! Doesn't sound like he's an easy guy to handle!" Sonic said.

Mighty perked up at this. "Well, yeah, when you put it like that...I guess I should be pretty pleased for taking down someone that bad. Guess that helps put me more on your level, right, Sonic?"

Sonic laughed and clapped his friend on the back. "Yeah, but remember you've got a long way to go before you've caught up to me!"

"I'll work at it," Mighty assured the hedgehog. "I've been out of the game and feeling sorry for myself for too long. No more fuck-ups. The next time something big goes down, you can be sure I'll be right there helping!"

"That's the spirit!" Sonic said encouragingly, a wide grin on his face.

"Back to Nyarlyathotep...I understand why Rouge might know about this guy, but how did you know who he was, Shadow?" Tails asked.

"The Professor did some research on him while studying various ancient legends and prophecies of destroyed civilizations, believing that Nyarlyathotep was a common thread linking them all together," Shadow explained. "Also, we have a few files on him back at GUN."

"Do you think he's going to be behind that 'Nightmare Green' thing you mentioned?" Cream asked.

Shadow hesitated for moment. "It's… Possible, yes."

"I don't suppose you feel like sharing what this thing is?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, like Tails said, ignorance is a double-edged sword," Knuckles said.

"Yes, but so is knowledge," Shadow said darkly. "Ask all you want, but until you get proper clearance, I'm not talking."

"Please, Mister Shadow? Just a little hint?" Cream asked, giving the black hedgehog her biggest bunny-rabbit look. (Like a puppy-dog look, only cuter.)

Shadow faltered for a moment, then sighed and said, "Silence will fall. And that's all you get."

There was a sharp inhalation of breath from Tails. "Does that mean something to you, Tails?" Blaze asked.

"It…it might. I can think of at least two possibilities, neither of them good," Tails murmured, an alarmed look on his face.

"And what are those possibilities?" Espio asked.

"I'd…rather not say, in case I'm wrong…" Tails said uneasily.

"Well… Maybe Silver could-" Charmy started.

"No," Silver said flatly. They waited for clarification. He didn't say anything else.

"Well, I guess that's the end of that," Sonic grumbled.

"Let's resume my story, shall we? We're almost at the good part," Rouge said.

"Finally," Amy grumbled. Rouge scowled at her, and then continued.

…

"Now, a test, to see how well you've learned what I've told you. Let us say, hypothetically speaking, that the Werewolf Duke were planning a rebellion-" Blanc began.

"That's hypothetical?" Rouge asked with a raised eyebrow.

Blanc chuckled. "Point. Okay, let us say, hypothetically speaking, that the Werewolf Duke were planning a rebellion and the coward had actually worked up the courage and brains to go through with it. Using wealth and knowledge, how can you prevent a civil war from breaking out without requiring any direct intervention or use of Demon Imperial Power to eviscerate that flea-bitten mongrel where he stands?"

Rouge considered this for a moment. "Well, the first thing that comes to mind is killing him. Cut off the head, the snake dies. If I can't kill him myself, I can arrange an 'accident.' Hire an assassin, or maybe bribe a frustrated member of his household staff or even a family member to do the deed." She frowned. "Of course, that might not actually resolve anything. After all, sometimes the snake is a hydra, so cutting off the head would just make things worse. If he were to die, someone else would become the Duke of Werewolves, and there's no guarantee that he would be as easy to read or manipulate as the current one."

Blanc nodded. "Very astute. What other course of action would you try, then?"

Rouge considered for a moment. "Wars and rebellions are rarely started or caused by a single person. There's lots of other factors involved, all blending together and boiling up until an eventual violent release. So, I need to find a way to lower the pressure, mitigate those factors to prevent war, or at the very least, push it further down the line. The Duke can only foster rebellion if he's able to get funding and support from his people and other like-minded individuals. Cut off that funding, make his people no longer want to go to war, and he's powerless."

"Very good. And how would you go about doing that?" Blanc asked.

"I'm assuming that I can't bribe or blackmail the Duke into giving up in this scenario—too easy- but that doesn't mean I can't do the same for his supporters," Rouge said. "My spy network and awareness of my kingdom would help me to locate those hidden backers, figure out their weaknesses, and learn what I can do to convince them to withdraw their support from the Duke. As for his people… I need to understand what arguments and propaganda he's using to convince them that going to war would be a good thing and counter it, either by using propaganda of my own to slander the Duke, make it clear how if they rise against me they'll probably all die horribly, or…pass legislation and divert funding to correct whatever problems the Duke is blaming me for, convince them I'm a ruler who cares about their needs. That sort of thing."

Blanc nodded in approval. "Good, good. Now… What would you do if it turned out the Duke had obtained some incredibly powerful artifact or weapon that might have a chance of matching the Dark Heart's power, or was in cahoots with a supernatural entity with a grudge against you?"

Rouge thought about this for a moment, then laughed. "Seriously? That would just make things even easier! Werewolves are always going on about how they're such proud, strong, honorable warriors who don't need to cheat by using magic or making pacts with dark forces! All I have to do is tell his subjects what he's up to, and they'll do my dirty work for me and tear him apart themselves."

"And if he uses his increased powers to lash out at them?" Blanc asked.

"That'll just make them even angrier, and not only give me an excuse to send in my forces to take the Duke out, but make the werewolves more amenable to following a leader more loyal to me in the future," Rouge said. "And if he still manages to overpower them, and there's no other option…then I can take to the field myself, using the Dark Heart as a weapon of last resort."

Blanc nodded, smiling proudly. "Excellent. You seem to be getting a good handle on how to think like a clever monarch."

"So my answers were right, then?" Rouge asked eagerly.

Blanc shrugged. "There's rarely just one answer for a problem such as this, Rouge. You hit on several I would have thought of myself, but did not think of several other possibilities. That's fine, though. You're still young, and have time to learn how to see all the angles and options available to you in any given situation." She glanced at her daughter. "Which is why, after today, you're going to begin your intermediate level of lessons and training. I believe you have demonstrated sufficiently that there is no more you can learn with your current curriculum."

Rouge's face lit up at this. One more step towards a crown of my own! She thought ecstatically.

"Ah, I believe we have arrived," Blanc said as they reached the bottom of the staircase.

Rouge blinked in surprise, then frowned in suspicion and glanced back up the stairwell. How odd, that the staircase had been just long enough to receive this lesson in full… "Mother, did you do something to the stairway to make sure we wouldn't reach the bottom until we finished this lesson?"

Blanc smiled enigmatically. "Perhaps. Or perhaps it is simply a very long stairwell. Come."

Rouge followed her mother out of the stairway and into a small antechamber with a surprisingly simple wooden door at the other end with a gargoyle face placed above it, eyes shut. "This is it?" Rouge asked in surprise. "I was expecting something… Fancier. And more secure."

"It is rather dull, isn't it?" Blanc agreed. "Unfortunately, the monarch who commissioned the creation of this vault had somewhat simpler tastes then you or I, and trying to replace it is far more trouble than it's worth. As for secure… It may not look like much, but trust me when I say that not even the end of the world or the destruction of this Castle down to the very last brick would affect this door or the chamber behind it, and if anyone who is not of the Royal blood attempts to open the door, they will be destroyed on the spot."

Rouge glanced up at the gargoyle, sensing a watchful presence from it despite its closed eyes. There was powerful magic at work here, now that she knew to look for it. "I see."

Blanc stepped aside and gestured at the door. "Go ahead. Open it. Our family's greatest treasures lie within."

Rouge's eyes lit up. Mind racing with fantasies of the sorts of wonders in the room beyond—piles of gold and silver heaped to the ceiling, glittering jewels of every size and shape and color-Rouge reached for the doorknob…

And hesitated, noticing the cryptic smile on her mother's face. Was this another test?

A silly question. Of course it was. Her mother wouldn't have spent the whole trip down here lecturing her on the importance of wealth and knowledge if she were just going to show off the family's riches, right?

Wealth and knowledge…wait a minute…

Rouge took a step back and turned to face her mother. "There's nothing in there, is there?"

Blanc shook her head. "On the contrary. There's quite a lot in there. Our family's greatest treasures."

Rouge narrowed her eyes. "You said 'treasures.' Not wealth or riches or money or anything like that. 'Treasures.' You were very specific about word usage. And there are a lot of things that could be considered 'treasures.' Let me try that again… There's nothing of any actual monetary value in there, is there?"

"Again, on the contrary," Blanc said. "If we were to ever sell what's in there, I'm certain we could make quite a pretty penny from it… Not that we ever would, of course. But that's not what you're asking me. You're asking me if there are any piles of gold and silver heaped to the ceiling or glittering jewels of every size and shape and color, and the answer to that is no."

Rouge's eyes widened in astonishment. "But… Then where is it?!"

Blanc chuckled and spread her hands. "Why, in banks, of course. And tied up in stocks. It's safely invested and stored away, like any smart person would do. Oh, that's not to say we don't have any treasure rooms lying around where we keep objects of specific significance—pragmatic though we are with our cash, that doesn't mean we can't be vain, we're vampires after all-but this isn't one of them."

"But… Then what's in there?" Rouge asked in confusion. "Rare tomes? Powerful magical artifacts?"

Blanc shook her head. "No, all of our books are either in the Castle libraries or in more secure storehouses elsewhere where I don't have to worry about someone accidentally stumbling upon and reading a forbidden text that could end the world. Same for the more dangerous artifacts. What sense would it make to keep them all in the castle, where someone might be able to snatch them up or set them off all at once in the incredibly unlikely event that we were invaded or a thief got in? After all, it's one thing to live near a nuclear reactor, but another to live inside it!"

Rouge frowned as she considered this. "Okay, I guess that makes sense… But… If you rule out money, and books, and artifacts and the like… What could be left?"

"See for yourself," Blanc said, the smile on her face growing wider.

Rouge glared at her mother in annoyance, and then reluctantly opened the door, revealing…

The bat blinked. "I'm aware that we walked down a long way to get here, but are we actually at the very top of the Castle?"

"No, dear, whatever would give you that idea?" Blanc asked in amusement.

"Because I suddenly feel like I've walked into someone's attic," a confused Rouge said as she and her mother entered the room.

The analogy wasn't one hundred percent accurate—the space they were in was much larger, neater, and well-lit than the average person's attic—but it still had a bit of the feel of one given that most of the things in the chamber were, well…not junk exactly, but the sort of old and worn things people lock away when they're no longer needed and eventually forget about. There were shelves and shelves of knickknacks, books, old toys, and trinkets. Old paintings and statues of bats resembling Rouge and her mother were scattered about, leaning on top of each other or hanging from the walls. Very old but exquisite and extremely ornate and beautiful dresses and suits in fashions that had gone out of style centuries if not millennia ago hung on mannequins or clothes racks. Antique furniture was organized in matching sets, and there were a sizable number of thrones and rocking chairs. There were slightly faded tapestries and blankets and curtains draped over larger objects that didn't seem to be there for any reason other than to have something draped over them. There were rows upon rows of commemorative plates, some of which had matching silverware. There were so many old dressers and armoires and cabinets that they had been stacked into a vast towering edifice reaching the ceiling, an uber-cabinet, if you would. Strange contraptions resembling flying machines or submarines torn from the pages of da Vinci's notebooks dangled from the ceiling next to Chandeliers of varying styles, as well as a stuffed alligator with big goofy vampire fangs and a long cape.

…

"Okay, that's not what I expected," said the perplexed Vector.

"I did," Blaze said, intrigued. "I think I see where this is going."

"Well, don't spoil it for anyone else, okay?" Rouge asked.

…

Blanc sighed in delight, twirling about to take everything in. "Ah, it's been far too long since I was last down here, Rouge. Isn't it wonderful?"

"What… What is all this?" Asked the confused Princess. "It's… It's all…stuff!"

Blanc pouted. "Stuff? That's rather rude, don't you think? Why, you might as well just call this old thing a faded piece of cloth, or this nothing more than a ratty old child's toy, then!" Blanc said, holding up a tattered blue blanket dotted with white dots to resemble the night sky in one hand and a fat old bat doll with bite marks in places and stuffing leaking out of it in the other.

Rouge gasped. "Those… Those are…!"

"Your favorite blanket when you were much younger? And your dear old companion, Fangface? Good to see you haven't forgotten them," Blanc said as she handed the blanket and stuffed animal to Rouge, who rubbed her face in them, luxuriating in their familiar scent and texture.

"It's been so long since I last saw either of these," Rouge said, voice filled with wonder. "I'd almost forgotten about them… I thought you threw them out, or something, because I was too old for them!"

Blanc snorted. "Throw them out? Daughter, you dragged those things from one end of the Castle to the other. You cried whenever I pried them out of your hands even for a moment, even if just to wash them! I lost count of the number of times I had to stitch them back together because of the wear and tear and your accidentally ripping them apart with your developing vampire strength…How could I possibly discard something that brought my daughter so much joy and happiness? And that's not the only thing from your past that's here…or have you forgotten your first crib?" the elder bat asked, patting a nearby crib of mahogany with a mobile of stars and moons and bats and eldritch signs dangling over it, several of the bars splaying outwards from a gaping hole in the side.

Rouge's eyes lit up when she saw her old resting place. "I remember that… You had to move me into a stone one because I kept chewing my way through the bars!"

"We've got that went down here, too," Blanc said, patting the second crib, this one made of stone, also with a large hole smashed through several of the bars. "When you broke out of it when your strength came in, I decided it was time to move you to coffins. And yes," she said with a chuckle, gesturing to several small coffins, each larger than the last, lying in a row next to the cribs. Some of them had holes in them as well. "We've got them down here, too."

…

Everyone stared at Rouge. "What?" The bat asked defensively.

"Sorry, I'm just trying to imagine you as a baby," Amy confessed. "It's kinda hard."

"Suddenly, I find you a lot less intimidating now that I know you went around everywhere with a blanket and a stuffed animal," Espio said.

"It must've been so cute!" Cream squealed.

"YOU-SHOULD-SEE-HER-BABY-PICTURES. THEY-ARE-ADORABLE," Omega said.

Rouge laughed nervously, starting to think this may have been a mistake. "Then I guess it's a good thing all my old photo albums are back in the Castle, right?"

"ACTUALLY, I-STORED-THE-IMAGES-IN-MY-MEMORY-BANKS-AND-CAN-DISPLAY-THEM-WITH-MY-PROJECTORS-" Omega started.

'Right! Back to the story!" Rouge said very loudly.

…

"Wow… I haven't thought about those days in years…not since…well, not since I outgrew them," Said the awestruck Rouge, clutching her blanket and doll to her chest. "But… What are they doing down here?"

"Why, the same thing my first blanket and stuffed doll and crib and coffin are doing down here, and that of my mother's, and hers, and hers, going back for generations. Why we have photo albums, old toys, wedding dresses, collections of snow globes and trading cards, and more. Why we have Great-Uncle Vlad's collection of severed heads, or cousin Nosferatu's capes, or good old Great-great-grandpa Drac's baby fangs. Why we have everything you see around you, all these wondrous pieces of history! Tell me, Rouge, what is the most valuable thing an immortal can possess?" Blanc asked her daughter, whirling about to gesture at everything around them.

"… My first impulse is money or power, but I'm guessing that's the wrong answer," Rouge said after a moment.

"Correct. Money and power are all very important things, Rouge. As I've impressed upon you, wealth and knowledge are very important things for any ruler can possess… But they are not for the person wearing the crown," Blanc explained. "There is a difference between the you-who-is-Queen, and the you-who-is-you. It can be a hard distinction to make at times, but one you must always be aware of, and make time for, lest you lose yourself solely to the throne and become a prisoner of your own power, as much a slave to your position as the thralls are to you." She glanced at her daughter. "The thing about being an immortal is that you have time enough for everything. Enough to make and lose dozens of fortunes, to the point where you eventually take it for granted. Let's say you lose everything due to a stock market crash, a series of bad investments, or some other financial disaster. Heck, maybe even the entire kingdom crumbles around you and everything you've built falls to ruin. Yes, it's tragic, but so what? You made it before, and you have more than enough time to make it again, just like there will always be time to learn new things, and for many of the things you were once absolutely certain were true to be disproven and changed. So, while important, they cannot truly be classified as treasures, especially since so much of it is, ultimately, fleeting. What, then, is the most precious thing an immortal can possess?"

Rouge thought, and thought hard. "…Companionship?" she asked after a moment.

Blanc blinked in surprise, then paused, considering. "…Huh. I hadn't thought of that, but yeah, that's a good answer. Not the one I was expecting, though…"

"But isn't having friends and family around you very precious?" asked the confused Rouge.

"What? Ah, well…yes, those are all incredibly important," Blanc admitted. "However…the problem is those important people might not always be there."

"Why not?" asked the confused Rouge.

"Well, the problem is…if they're mortal, you're going to eventually outlive them," Blanc said bluntly. "And even if they're immortal, that doesn't mean they'll always stick around. Maybe they decide they want to go off and do their own thing for a while. Maybe they'll come back, maybe they won't. Or maybe your friendship, your love…falls apart. The sad truth is that not all relationships last, no matter how much time or work you put into them. That isn't an argument against having them, of course—being with others is always important, nobody in this world should ever be alone—it's simply a fact of life. People sometimes just grow apart, and it can be hard to make time for loved ones when you have to run a kingdom. Some can make peace with that. Others…can't." She sighed. "It's one thing to say 'friends forever' or 'eternal love,' but… Forever is a lot longer than most people realize, and what seemed like a sure thing when you were younger might not look the same a few hundred years down the line. Oh, that's not to say such things don't exist—most of our ancestors found lifelong love, and many of the friends I knew when I was younger are still around now- it's just that not all of them can go the distance. Even I will not always be here for you…once you take the throne, I shall go to my rest in the Crypt of the Elders, and while you can come see me whenever you wish…it will not be the same."

Rouge bit her lip and looked down, realizing this for the first time. She'd always taken it for granted that her mother would always be there, but… Once she entered the Crypt, it would all change, wouldn't it?

…

"...That was a little depressing," Knuckles commented as a somewhat glum mood fell over them.

"That...that can't be right, can it? I mean, all of us...we can't eventually stop being friends someday, can we?" Cream asked desperately.

"Yeah, and I'll always love Sonic!" Amy agreed.

"'Always' is a lot longer than you might think. Take it from me," Blaze said with a hint of sadness. Sonic gently touched her shoulder, and she shot him a fond look of gratitude.

"The sad truth is...people sometimes just grow apart," Tails said. "Just look at Sonic and Mighty. They used to be best friends and super-close, but then...well, things happened, and they fell out of touch. It wasn't because either of them did anything wrong, it just...happened." Sonic and Mighty glanced at each other guiltily, and then looked away uncomfortably. Now it was Blaze's turn to touch his shoulder, and his to smile in thanks.

"What happened with us and Mighty counts as well," Espio said glumly. "We used to be friends, but then, due to a stupid decision, we...aren't."

"You can say that again," Mighty muttered bitterly.

"And not all families stick together, either. Just look at what happened with Amy's dad," Vector pointed out, causing the pink hedgehog to wince. The crocodile's face sagged. "Or my mom…"

"Or my parents, who abandoned me for no reason," Charmy grumbled.

"I'd say that voice was a good reason," Shadow said flatly.

"Shadow!" cried an aghast Cream.

"What? It's terrible!" Shadow insisted.

"IT-GRATES-ON-MY-AUDITORY-SENSORS," Omega agreed.

"Gee, thanks, guys," Charmy snarled.

"And if that could happen to them...it could happen to us as well someday, maybe," Tails said unhappily. "It's not something we like to think about, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. Some relationships stand the test of time. Others...don't. I mean, we'll probably be okay, but...well...none of us know what the future holds. Except Silver, and he's not talking."

"Nope," the psychic time traveler said.

A silence fell over the group as they contemplated the possibility of an eventual end to their circle of friendship as time went on and their lives took them in separate directions. Directions not everyone could follow, what with most of them being mortal and others not.

"Wait, Rouge, are you saying that when you take the throne, your mom's going to die?!" Charmy asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

"What? No, of course not," said the startled Rouge, secretly grateful for the shift in topics. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Um…well, you said she's going to 'her rest' in a crypt, so…" Tails pointed out, relieved to be discussing something slightly more palatable, even if that something was the potential death of Rouge's mom.

Rouge rolled her eyes. "We're vampires. We like sleeping in coffins. For us, a crypt wouldn't be a burial place so much as, well, a retirement home!"

"Ohhhhh," everyone said.

"But then why would everything be different when she goes down there?" Asked the puzzled Cream.

"It's… A little hard to explain," Rouge said, biting her lip. "The Crypt is where all the past rulers of Fangsylvania go once they pass the throne on to their heirs. There, they enter a sort of hibernative fugue state. Their dreaming minds, no longer bound by the affairs of state, are free to explore other realms through the astral plane, accumulating limitless knowledge and wisdom from worlds beyond our own and having all sorts of incredible adventures unlike any we could possibly comprehend."

"Oh, like Tikal!" Knuckles said.

"Yes, except they still keep their bodies," Rouge agreed.

"Hmm, I wonder if they've ever run into each other up there…" Amy mused.

"It's a possibility, though they've never mentioned seeing any echidnas. Then again, I've never asked," Rouge admitted. "Maybe I'll do it next time I'm home."

"Don't they ever wake up?" Asked the concerned Sonic.

Rouge shrugged. "Why would they want to? After running a kingdom of monsters and most of the world for centuries, a peaceful retirement and indefinite vacation is the least they deserve. Compared to the sorts of things they get up to in their sleep, there isn't much left our world has to offer them, anyway. In fact, to them, the world they once knew might as well be a dream, and the worlds they see in their slumber their reality."

"Yeah, I kind of felt like that for a while after I finally got out of my coma," Mighty admitted.

"Which isn't to say that they cannot be spoken to or visited," Rouge continued. "As they slumber and explore, their subconsciouses fuse together into a sort of 'gestalt' entity we call the Elder Mind, born from the combined wisdom and experiences of all the prior rulers of Fangsylvania. When in dire need—or if they just feel like visiting their relatives for a friendly chat to see how they're doing-the ruling monarch can visit the Mind to ask for advice, guidance, or interesting stories about the sorts of things they've learned. When my mother goes to her rest, her mind will join the collective. That is not to say that she will be assimilated, or will suffer ego death or anything like that… It'll still be her, but it'll also be everyone else, too. When I go to visit her, I can speak to her individually, or the Mind as a whole. She will still be there for me, but… Well, it won't be the same."

"That's kind of sad," Knuckles said.

Rouge shrugged. "All children must outgrow and move beyond their parents eventually. That's just how it is."

"Even me?" Cream asked timidly, frightened at the idea of leaving home and her mother behind.

Rouge chuckled and rubbed the rabbit's head affectionately. "Don't worry, dear, you won't have to worry about that for many years to come."

"So… Something about that doesn't quite make sense," Vector said. "Your family's immortal, right? So… Why step down at all? Why even bother with heirs, when you can just rule forever?"

"Three reasons. One, ruling a nation, let alone an entire world, is exhausting, and sooner or later you'll be good and ready to hand it over to someone else," Rouge said. "Second, if you don't eventually hand it over to your kids, they might get impatient and try to take it themselves, which leads to all sorts of problems. And third… While the Dark Heart grants incredible power, it also… wears at you. Eventually, it becomes a burden too great to bear, and so it is time for a younger vampire to step up and take it so the elder may rest and recuperate. I shall inherit the Heart from my mother, rule for hundreds if not thousands of years, and when I tire of it I shall pass it onto my child, and enter the Crypt to rest beside my mother and all who came before me."

Sonic glanced at Blaze in concern. "Is that something you're ever going to have to worry about?"

The cat shook her head. "The source of my power works… Differently from this Dark Heart. It is not a burden I must bear, rather, simply a part of me that I've long since grown to accept." She shrugged. "I may change my mind someday, of course… After all, I have a very long time to do it in… But for the moment, I've no intention of stepping down or passing my power to somebody else once I've taken over my world." She frowned. "I'm not even sure I could, anyway."

"We're really going to need to hear your whole story at some point," Espio said.

"You will, in time," Blaze promised.

"But right now, we're still on my story," Rouge said. "Anyway…"

…

"However, even if people you care for eventually go away, they aren't completely gone. They still leave you with something important… The same thing that everything in this chamber represents," Blanc continued. "And have you figured out what that is?"

Rouge frowned thoughtfully, looking down at the blanket and doll in her hands, recalling the warm rush of feeling and recollection that had shot through her upon being reunited with them, all the fun times and grand (for a child) adventures she'd gone on with them. She looked at her old cribs, and mobiles, and coffins, and other toys and dresses and books and pictures and other things she realized she recognized from her childhood, things that she had not seen in quite some time, had all but forgotten, but now were pushed to the forefront of her mind, along with all the emotions and experiences attached to them..

And in that moment, she knew the answer. "Memory," she said.

Blanc nodded. "Indeed. Memory is the most important thing for people like us. Long after the people or things we care for are gone, we still remember them and what they meant to us, and those memories can serve as a warm comfort in the darkest of times, a source of strength when we need them most. Everything in this vault was at one point or another precious to a member of our family, and remains so because of the powerful memories and feelings attached to them. Our triumphs, our tragedies, our loves and our friendships, our many experiences and adventures both fantastic and domestic, or even just fun hobbies we took great pleasure in when we weren't spending all our time running a kingdom. Those objects are preserved here, so that when we need a break from being Supreme Ruler of All we can come down here and think back fondly of times long past, so that we can have the strength to go out and make more precious memories to be preserved here for the sake of ourselves and those who come after us." She paused. "Well, that, and also so that none of these objects can be used against us. Sympathetic magic is a very powerful and ancient form of sorcery, and there are a lot of people who could do us a great deal of harm if they were ever to get their hands on any of this. That's why we rarely throw things away…."

"Doesn't that make us hoarders, then?" Rouge asked in concern.

Blanc chuckled. "No, dear, poor people are hoarders. We're rich, which makes us collectors. Totally different."

"Ah, of course," Rouge said.

…

"Wait, is that really the only difference?" Amy asked.

"Pretty much," Vector said.

"Yeah, just like how poor people are crazy but rich people are eccentric," Charmy said, rolling his eyes.

"That vault sounds lovely, Miss Rouge," Cream said. "We have a pretty big attic and storeroom of old things as well, but nothing on that level."

"Well, my family's had a lot longer to collect things like that than yours, so it's to be expected," Rouge said.

"Do you have anything like that, Blaze?" Mighty asked.

Blaze shook her head. "I have several trophy rooms honoring my many victories and conquests over the centuries, but… Nothing quite like that. Not a whole chamber of memories, anyway. I suppose, again, it might have something to do with my style of ruling being different from that of the vampires… Or maybe it's just that I'm less sentimental, and place lower value in objects and trinkets." She made a face. "Or maybe it's because I have fewer truly 'precious' memories, and not too many objects I can associate them with, save my trophies."

"That's kind of sad," Knuckles said sympathetically.

Blaze shrugged. "It is what it is. I'm just not that kind of person, I guess."

"Well, I think you're perfect just the way you are," Sonic said. "And if you don't think you have too many 'precious' memories, then we'll just go out and make some more!"

The Royal feline smiled gratefully. "Thank you, beloved. It's good to know that I have someone like you by my side." Amy fumed and gnashed her teeth.

…

"Every object here has a story, pertaining to one of our ancestors," Blanc continued.

"Do you know them all?" Rouge asked in awe.

"I do," Blanc confirmed.

"What's that?" Rouge asked, pointing to a snowglobe on one of the shelves.

"A memento of Great-Uncle Virgil's trip to Vegas. I believe he was banned from the city after burning down a casino by accident, killing a major crime family, and turning several dozen hookers into ghouls which he brought back with him," Blanc said. She chuckled and shook her head. "Always had loads of fun on vacations, Great-Uncle Virgil…"

"And that?" Rouge asked, pointing to a large metal table with very sturdy looking restraints on it leaning against a shelf.

"Part of the equipment used to create the first Franken, during one of the biggest lightning storms in history," Blanc explained.

"And that?" Rouge asked, pointing to a skeleton of what looked like a demonic pterodactyl dangling from the ceiling.

"The remains of your Great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Marduk's beloved pet Soarin, whom he was forced to put down after he developed a taste for vampire flesh," Blanc said. She shook her head sadly. "He was never the same after that…"

"And that?" Rouge asked, pointing at what looked like an incredibly ornate solid gold Egyptian sarcophagus covered in jewels and precious stones.

"A gift from the mummies to celebrate your Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather Bleu's wedding," Blanc explained. "He tried sleeping in it, declared it to be the best Coffin he'd ever slept in, and slept in it for the rest of his reign, and would have taken it with him to rest in upon entering the Crypt if it weren't against tradition."

"Can I try it?" Rouge asked.

"Maybe another time," Blanc said.

"And that?" Rouge asked, pointing at an absolutely gorgeous black dress glittering with black diamonds and black pearls and a lot of other black things.

Blanc sighed wistfully. "That's the dress my Grandmother wore at the ball where she first met Grandfather. It was love at first bite. By which I mean, of course, she bit him, he became a vampire, and they got married soon after."

"Wow," Rouge said, impressed. "You really do remember all of their stories!"

Blanc shrugged. "I've had a lot of time to memorize them."

"Is there anything here of yours?" Rouge asked.

"Certainly. In fact, my most precious treasure is down here. Would you like to see it?" Blanc asked.

"Would I!" Rouge gushed enthusiastically.

"Then follow me. We'll take the scenic route," Blanc said, heading off into the shelves.

They spent a merry few hours down in the vault, slowly meandering their way through the labyrinth of memories. Blanc would occasionally stop to tell Rouge the story behind a particularly interesting object, which the young vampire listened to rapturously. From all the books she'd read, stories she'd heard, and even talking to the Elder Mind on the few occasions she'd gone down to chat with the gestalt consciousness, she'd always imagined her ancestors to be dignified, noble vampires, the perfect embodiment of all the glamorous myths and legends about her kind. But if even half of the more embarrassing stories Blanc related to her daughter were true, they were a lot more goofy and flawed and, well, Mobian than they'd wanted anyone to know, which led Rouge to wonder if part of the reason all these things were down here was so that nobody else would know about some of the more humiliating things that the past rulers had gotten themselves involved in. Rouge found that she rather liked learning about all the stories that had been carefully excised from the official biographies, it made her ancestors feel more like real people than idealized legends. Not even Blanc was immune from this, as she related a few more personal tales that made both of them blush and cause Rouge to look at her mother in a whole new way. Would she get up to even a fraction of the antics her mother had been involved in by the time she was her age?

Finally, they came to a stop in front of a tall object covered by a sheet. "Here we are, daughter," Blanc said proudly. "Beneath this sheet lies my most precious treasure."

"What is it?" Rouge asked excitedly.

"See for yourself," Blanc said, stepping aside.

Rouge eagerly whipped off the sheet, revealing…

A mirror. A large, full-body mirror held between a pair of posts. It was plain, unadorned, and the glass slightly tarnished. "What's the story behind this one?" Rouge asked, having learned by now not to judge by appearances. Even the most humdrum and mundane of objects in this vault could have a tale attached to them that could have her rolling on the floor in laughter, or double over in great, heaving sobs.

"Oh, this thing? It's just an old mirror that your Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandmother had a fondness for and would sometimes spend hours posing in front of to get the perfect 'Vampire Queen' look down," Blanc said. She glanced away in embarrassment. "She's not the only one…"

Rouge blinked in confusion. "Huh? But I thought you said this was your most precious treasure."

"What do you see when you look in the mirror?" Blanc asked.

"Uh… I see my reflection," said the confused Rouge. Blanc nodded and said nothing. After a moment, Rouge's eyes widened. "Oh…OHHHHHH…"

Blanc glided up behind Rouge and bent down, putting her hands on her daughter's shoulders so that both of them were looking into the mirror. After moment, the elder vampire said, "I said before that while family and friends are wonderful things, they may not always be there. That does not, however, mean that you shouldn't go out and get some anyway. Even if you eventually part ways, you will always have the memories of your times together…and, when you have a child of your own, the knowledge that you've brought something absolutely irreplaceable into this world." She glanced down at Rouge. "Far too many powerful people consider their children as nothing more than extensions of themselves, tools they can use to obtain even more power and secure their legacies. Never, ever treat your own child like that, Rouge. While I love being Queen, and take great pride in all the things I've done for Fangsylvania, you are my greatest achievement, and when you have a child, make sure they know that they are yours."

Rouge's vision grew blurry. She had to blink several times to clear the water that had suddenly formed in her eyes. "I will, Mother. I promise."

…

Amy sniffled, eyes watering. "Okay, am I the only one who has a sudden urge to call her mom and tell her how much she loves her?"

"No, I feel like that too," Cream said, tearing up. Everyone else who had a mother nodded in agreement, not a single one of their eyes dry. Everyone who did not have a mother fidgeted awkwardly and couldn't help feeling somewhat envious.

Charmy, however, was just bitter. "I don't, considering my mom abandoned me because she hated my voice," he grumbled.

"And my mom's in another dimension, and I might never get to meet her," Knuckles complained.

"LIFE-IS-ROUGH," Omega said unsympathetically.

"I don't tell my daughter I love her as much as I should," Blaze said suddenly. "She knows I do, of course, but… I should tell her more often once I get back home."

"… Wait, you have a kid?!" Mighty asked incredulously.

"Yes. I never mentioned?" Blaze asked in surprise.

"NO!" everyone except Sonic, Tails, and Cream yelled.

"Oh. Well, I have a daughter," Blaze said. "And now you know."

"Sonic, were you aware of this?" Espio asked Sonic.

The blue hedgehog nodded. "Yep! I've met her lots of times. Sweet kid. Well, some of the time. She's a real chip off the old block!"

"Aha!" Amy declared, pointing at Blaze. "I knew it! Sonic, she's cheating on you! She doesn't love you at all, she's just using you!"

"Actually, if she already has an offspring, wouldn't that mean that she's cheating on her current spouse with Sonic?" Shadow asked.

"Well, that's assuming she's actually married. Remember, Blaze herself has mentioned she's been around a very long time. Her daughter could be from a previous marriage decades or even centuries ago," Mighty pointed out. He paused in thought, then said, "You know, Sonic always was into older women…"

"Oh, shut up, you," Sonic mumbled in embarrassment, turning red.

"Close. My daughter Honey is adopted, but she's been my daughter for a very long time. Ever since before I took the throne, in fact," Blaze explained.

"… Okay, there's got to be an interesting story in that," Charmy said, intrigued.

Blaze nodded. "There is. And I shall tell it when it is my turn."

"So…if Honey is adopted, does that mean you've never been married, or…" Shadow asked.

Blaze looked uncomfortable. "Sonic… Is not my first love. I've been married before, but… It didn't end well. I would rather not talk about it." She smiled fondly at the blue hedgehog. "However, I assure you that none of my past lovers held a candle to Sonic. Not a one of them was even half the man he is."

Amy side blissfully. "Yeah, he's the best, isn't he?" She paused, then did a double take when she realized, to her horror, that she'd actually agreed with her rival.

"Aww, thanks, Blaze! You're the best, too!" Sonic said, kissing the cat on the cheek and causing her to blush and Amy to seethe.

"Is that the end of the story?" Silver asked Rouge, trying to get them back on track.

"Almost," Rouge said. "There was one more thing my mother had to tell me…"

…

"When you are a little older, many years from now, your first great trial shall begin," Blanc said, still looking at their reflections. "I shall send you out into the world, beyond the Demonfang Range. The lion's share of your power shall be sealed before your departure, and a glamour placed upon you so that none of my enemies will be able to find you or recognize you even if you should walk right past them. A body double shall take your place to make everyone think you're still here, of course, and certain…other countermeasures shall be taken to ensure your safety from most other dangers. I would rather not go into them, lest they lose their power and thus render you vulnerable."

"You're sending me away? But why?" Rouge asked.

"Outside my shadow, you will have a chance to thrive, and experience the freedom you are denied living in these Castle walls, both as a Princess… And as the Queen you shall one day become," Blanc explained. "But this is not simply a long vacation for you. Using only your wits and the skills and abilities which I shall leave you with, you shall amass a fortune and gather a sizable amount of information on the people and world around you to prove that you understand how to accumulate and utilize wealth and knowledge. You may use any method or vocation you wish to achieve these goals. There are no wrong answers, and no single path to success. After 100 years abroad, you shall return, and if I deem your efforts satisfactory, you will move on to the next level of your training."

"And if my efforts are not satisfactory?" Rouge asked cautiously, trying and failing to hide a tremor in her voice. Go to the outside world, and handle a task of this magnitude, all alone? While she'd always wanted to see the world outside Fangsylvania, to do so all by herself, without her considerable powers to protect her, was a rather frightening prospect. And to complete this quest, as well…

"They shall be," Blanc said calmly. "You are my daughter. I have every confidence that you will not only succeed, but excel my expectations." She smiled and hugged Rouge from behind. "I suppose it must seem like a lot of pressure, but it will prepare you for the even greater trials of ruling the kingdom. And do not worry yourself… You have many years before I shall send you away. Years in which you will grow, and mature, and learn everything you will need to know to succeed on your own."

"Even so… 100 years, all by myself, far from home… And you…" Rouge said nervously.

"I do not look forward to the prospect of being apart from you for so long either," Blanc admitted. "But you must learn to be self-reliant, to take care of yourself on your own…because you will not always have me to lean on. And besides, what are a measly hundred years to an immortal?"

"Still a long time…" Rouge said quietly.

"That it is," Blanc agreed. "But I believe it to be the best way to prepare you for your future role… And for you to get a better understanding of the world outside, the world which we rule in secret." She smiled and nuzzled her daughter's cheek. "And besides… Whenever you get lonely, think of me, and remind yourself that once it's all over, you will have a home waiting for you, and someone who loves you."

Rouge sniffed, trying not to cry again. She was a big girl, dammit! "O-okay. I…I promise I won't let you down, Mother."

"You never could, daughter," Blanc assured her child. She gently turned Rouge away from the mirror. "Now, let's put those serious thoughts of the future aside for the moment. Come, take a look at this clown wig here. I assure you, the story behind it is as hilarious as it is horrifying…"

Rouge's smile returned as her mother related the grisly and gut-bustingly funny story of how Great-Great-Uncle Victor defeated the King of the Killer Klowns in a joke contest. Yes, the prospect of leaving home for a hundred years and being rendered mostly powerless was rather daunting…but it was still a long way off, and ultimately, it might not be so bad after all. Every bird had to leave the nest eventually, and besides, it would give her a chance to make more memories to stow in this Vault, like all those who came before her.

And then, once she had a child of her own, she'd take her down here, and tell her her own stories, and show her the mirror, and make her feel like she was the most important thing in the world. To do any less would dishonor her mother, the greatest woman she knew.

…

"After that, time passed. I grew older, trained, had all sorts of experiences I don't feel like relating, and eventually, my mother sealed most of my powers and sent me to the outside world," Rouge continued, smiling at the enraptured looks on the faces of her audience. "I won't relate the sorts of adventures I had in my early days trying to adjust to a world where the sun is shining and there aren't monsters everywhere, or at least, not in plain sight. That's a story for another day. After a great deal of deliberation, I eventually decided that while I could use my considerable intellect and education to get a high paying job just about anywhere and start making my fortune that way, I decided it would be much more fun to become a jewel thief, because I'd always been a fan of the stories of mysterious and glamorous Phantom Thieves, those stylish rogues who always adhere to a code of honor, only striking at the most high-profile targets and making sure to alert authorities of their plans ahead of time, just for an added challenge."

"Oh yeah, those are the coolest!" Charmy agreed.

"Did you ever have any Great Detective rivals who swore to catch you whom you had a sort of flirtatious game of cat-and-mouse with?" Vector asked eagerly. "I love those sorts of things."

Rouge sighed. "Sadly, no. There were a few that tried, but…none of them measured up, in the end. A pity, I wouldn't have minded one of those myself…"

"Did you ever manage to steal any landmarks or time periods or languages or other impossible, nigh-abstract things?" Cream asked excitedly.

"No dear, that's Carmen Sandiego. Unfortunately, while I'm good, I'm not that good," Rouge lamented, much to the rabbit's disappointment. "Well, not yet, anyway. Anyway, even with my vampire powers significantly weakened, I was still more than capable of breaking into just about any security on the planet and slipping out unnoticed, and in doing so embarked upon a very profitable and enjoyable criminal enterprise. I've stolen from museums and galleries and vaults all over the world, amassing a tremendous amount of money in stolen goods, many of which I never sold, keeping the treasures I felt the greatest pride in stealing for myself. I got a rather sizable fan following, with people worldwide wondering where I'd strike next, and how I managed to pull off heists so flawless and audacious it left crime enforcement everywhere looking like Incompetent fools. You'd be surprised how many people jokingly guessed that I might be a vampire!

"And then, I attempted my most daring robbery of all: to steal a Chaos Emerald from the secure vaults of the GUN Fortress! And there I finally met my match, and was caught and arrested by GUN Commander himself, and so my career as a world-famous Phantom Thief came to an end…"

She grinned. "Or at least, that's what I wanted everyone to think."

It took a moment for everyone to realize her meaning. "Wait, are you saying… That you let yourself get caught? But why?" Asked a confused Amy.

Rouge chuckled. "It's simple, really. Thanks to my lucrative career as a jewel thief and the extra profits my nightclub side business was raking in-"

"What is it with vampires and nightclubs, anyway?" Tails interjected.

Rouge shrugged. "It's a place of business that's open all night, attracts lots of vibrant healthy young people, and lowers their inhibitions enough so that even the lowliest of vampires can feed on them with ease. It's a perfect setup, really. Plus, it's fun."

"Fair enough," Vector said.

"I dream of the day when I'll be able to go to a nightclub without having to use fake ID," Charmy said.

"Anyway, thanks to my criminal enterprise, nightclub, and careful management of the stock market I was raking in the dough, so was demonstrating quite well that I'd mastered 'wealth.' 'Knowledge,' however… While my underworld contacts were able to supply me with a great deal of information about people and operations in both high and low levels of society, I didn't believe it would be enough to satisfy and impress Mother," Rouge explained. "So, I got a brilliant idea. I broke into GUN, and instead of making off with the loot—which I could easily have done if I really wanted to-I allowed myself to get caught, and then, rather than go to trial, I cut a deal. I'd already made it clear over the several years I've been operating as a master thief that I had a skill set and talents that might be of… Considerable use to an organization like GUN. So, rather than rot in prison, I became a secret agent, allegedly working for the government in exchange for expunging my record, putting me in the perfect position to learn a great many things I would not have been able to otherwise, things which I'm not even certain Mother knows." She grinned. "And of course, none of them suspected that while I was spying on their enemies for them, so too was I spying on them, and I know much, much, much more about them than they would be comfortable with."

"… That's actually pretty brilliant," Amy said grudgingly. The others nodded in agreement.

"And exactly what sorts of things have you learned?" Asked an intrigued Blaze.

Rouge grinned. "I know where all the nukes are kept, and the codes to activate them. I know the locations of every secret GUN base worldwide, and every undercover agent. I know about all of their secret projects, including their attempts to reverse-engineer Eggman's technology or Doc Blue's Genesis device."

"Wait, what?!" Tails exclaimed in horror.

"Oooh, Doc's not gonna be happy about that…" Sonic growled darkly.

"I know of countless terrorist plots to throw the civilized world into chaos, as well as the intentions of… Other powers not necessarily of this world," Rouge continued. "I know just how many times our planet has been on the verge of destruction, only to be saved by the smallest of fractions… And only a handful of those times were because of Sonic."

The blue hedgehog blinked. "I'm not sure what to think of that."

"Not everything revolves around you, blue hedgehog," Shadow said bluntly. Again.

"I know the names of all the President's mistresses, as well as how many children he has out of wedlock and where they can be found," Rouge said with a smirk.

"What?! But that can't be right, he was elected on a family values platform!" said the shocked Amy.

"… And you believed him?" asked an incredulous Mighty.

"Yeah, whenever politicians run a campaign based on something like that, they've always got something dirty on the side, it's textbook!" Vector said.

"… Well, now I know for sure I'm not going to vote to reelect him…" Amy grumbled.

"Mommy never voted for him," Cream said proudly. "She voted for the other guy."

"Actually, the other guy was a shape shifting alien," Shadow said. He paused. "Who, in retrospect, might actually have been a better leader than the current President."

"I miss our old President," Sonic complained. "He didn't back down when Eggman threatened to blow up the world or aliens invaded, and was pretty cool about me jumping into his car and Shadow trying to assassinate him once or twice. Plus, he took a picture of us on the White House lawn! Shame about the heart attack…"

"It was poison, actually," Shadow said.

"It was?!" The horrified Charmy gasped.

"Yes. We took care of it, though," Shadow assured the others, who were clearly shocked.

"WITH-EXTREME-PREJUDICE," Omega said, clenching a fist.

"Oh. Well… Good," Sonic said, somewhat unsettled.

"Who was responsible?" Knuckles demanded.

"A quasi-governmental conspiracy made up of several of the top members of the armed forces and executive and legislative branches. Don't worry, they won't ever be a problem again," Shadow said.

"BECAUSE-WE-KILLED-THEM-ALL! IT-WAS-LOTS-OF-FUN. THERE-WAS-SO-MUCH-BLOOD-AND-SCREAMING," Omega fondly reminisced.

"…Er…right," Tails said uncomfortably.

"Sometimes you scare me, Mr. Omega," Cream squeaked.

"GOOD," the robot said proudly.

"Anyway, I also know things so secret that only GUN Commander knows them…well, he thinks he's the only one," Rouge said, getting them back on topic.

"Like what?" Vector asked.

"His real name, for one. Abraham Tower," Rouge said.

"… That's actually a pretty cool name," Mighty admitted. The others nodded in agreement.

"He has an actual name? I always assumed his mom just named him 'GUN Commander,'" Knuckles said in surprise.

"Why the heck would you think that?" Vector asked.

"My mother named me Knuckles and my brother is basically Kneecaps. If something like that could be our birth names, why couldn't 'GUN Commander' be someone else's?" Knuckles reasoned.

"… That… Makes far more sense than it should," Shadow said after some thought. The others nodded uncertainly.

"I also know his greatest shame," Rouge said with a juicy grin. "In his office, he has a secret closet. When nobody's watching, he opens it up, puts on the Shadow costume he has hidden there, and cries."

Everyone stared into space for a long uncomfortable moment as they struggled to process that image."… Okay, that's really freaking disturbing," Sonic said.

"I'm never going to be able to look at that guy the same way again," Vector said.

"I'm not sure whether I should be feeling sorry for him or intensely embarrassed," Cream confessed.

"Go with embarrassed. I know I was," Shadow said with a shudder of revulsion.

"So!" Silver said loudly. "That's why you became a jewel thief and an international spy. To impress your mother and become a better future Queen of the vampires. Very informative! Now, let's try to forget that mental image we all just had and move on to-"

"Hold on a moment," Blaze interjected. "I think there's one more question that needs to be answered. Rouge, you've hinted a few times that the source of your family's power, the Dark Heart, it is connected to… An entity of some sort. Care to elaborate?"

Rouge perked up at this. "Ah! Yes, I forgot. The Dark Heart draws its power from Dark Gaia."

Everyone started in alarm at this. "Wait a minute, Dark Gaia?! As in, the Dark Gaia that ripped the world apart, scattered monsters all over the world, and turned my darling Sonic into a big hairy monster with stretchy arms for some reason?! THAT Dark Gaia?!" Amy cried incredulously.

"I never really understood the deal with the arms," Sonic complained.

"And he's not your darling, he's mine," Blaze interjected. Amy hissed at her.

"How is that possible?! Or… Safe?!" asked an incredulous Tails. "Those who are possessed by Dark Gaia's power inevitably give into their darker emotions, unless they've got a pure heart like Sonic's!"

Rouge raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to insinuate something, Tails?"

Tails flushed and stammered. "N-no, I-I didn't mean, ah, th-that is to say, um-"

Rouge burst into laughter. "I'm just joking with you. I know my heart isn't even remotely pure."

"It's pure something, all right," Amy growled under her breath.

"And besides, who's to say I haven't already given into my darker emotions? Remember that I'm a vampire, and the sorts of things that entails," Rouge pointed out.

They considered this. "The lady makes a good point," Vector admitted.

"It'd certainly explain a lot of things about the way she behaves. And dresses," Espio agreed.

"Is there something wrong with the way I dress?" Rouge demanded.

The Chaotix stared at her for a long moment. "Nope," Vector said.

"Nuh-uh," Charmy said.

"Not even remotely," Espio agreed.

Rouge grinned lasciviously, causing them to flush. "Good. Glad to see we're all in agreement on that."

"Rouge, your family's sacred artifact draws power from an ancient evil that routinely destroys the world?" asked a shocked Knuckles.

"YOURS-WIPED-OUT-YOUR-ENTIRE-CIVILIZATION-AND-SPECIES," Omega pointed out.

Knuckles considered this. "Point. Guess I'm not really one to judge in that respect. Glass houses and all that. "

"That still doesn't answer the question of how you got Dark Gaia's power in the first place!" Tails yelled, trying to get them back on track. "Or aren't running around attacking people and stuff, driven mad by its dark energies!"

"Tails, I'm a vampire and come from a nation of monsters that have haunted the nightmares of cultures all over the world for thousands of years. Think about that for a moment," Rouge said.

Tails did. "Oh," he said.

Rouge nodded. "Yeah, the major difference between us and Dark Gaia's spawn is we're civilized—to an extent—and have other, more refined ways to sustain ourselves or channel our more negative impulses. Well, the smarter of us do, unlike those dumb mutts…plus, I look way better than those critters."

"You do at that," Knuckles agreed.

"So, how did you get power from Dark Gaia?" Sonic asked.

"Well, you have to remember, the battle you had with it was rather unique," Rouge began. "Most of the time it awakens to destroy the world, Light Gaia doesn't appear to fight it until after it's already shattered the planet and wiped out pretty much everything already existing on it. As I'm sure you can imagine, the resulting battles between the two ancient Titans are pretty cataclysmic, and not just limited to the center of the Earth. The last time the two Gaias dueled, a sizable chunk of land got saturated in Dark Gaia's blood after it took a pretty nasty blow from Light Gaia. After Dark Gaia went back to sleep and Light Gaia remade the world, that piece of land remained soaked in dark energy, warping it and all the creatures in it, giving rise to the primordial ancestors of all monsterkind. Thousands of years later, one of my most ancient ancestors, one of the first true vampires, found a fragment of Dark Gaia's body that had been broken off during the fight and discovered how to harness its power and residual connection to the sleeping horror, turning it into the Dark Heart and using its power to unite all monsters under his reign and establishing Fangsylvania."

"Interesting…" Blaze murmured.

"That… Actually explains a lot," Tails said, intrigued. "Like why you became a werehog after taking in a bit of Dark Gaia, Sonic!"

"It does?" Asked the confused Sonic.

Tails nodded. "If Dark Gaia's power was able to mutate the animals in prehistoric Fangsylvania into the ancestors of the monsters of today—vampires, werewolves, and so forth—it only stands to reason that exposure to that same power could artificially transform a modern Mobian into a similar creature!"

"Much like Chaos energy was able to turn you from a basic fox into a Mobian," Sonic said, eyes lighting up in realization.

Tails nodded eagerly. "Precisely! I wonder if there's a connection… Perhaps this 'Dark Power' is on the same energy spectrum as Chaos, but on a different wavelength?"

"And it also explains why so many of those monsters of old are reputed to only come out at night, too," Espio commented. "Dark Gaia's monsters can't stand the light of day, so naturally neither could any creature changed by its power, hence why Sonic shifted back to normal whenever the Sun rose."

"But Rouge is standing right in front of us, and the sun doesn't seem to be bothering her any," Charmy argued.

The chameleon frowned. "Hmm…good point… Either I'm barking up the wrong tree, or she must have some way of protecting herself from the sunlight…"

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell us which it is?" Mighty asked.

Rouge shook her head. "Nope! But you're right about most of the other stuff, though. My kind has always favored night to day, and while some of us can tolerate the sun more than others, it's when darkness falls that we really come into our own. It's part of our heritage as descendants of Dark Gaia."

"But… Then what happened when Dark Gaia woke up recently?" Amy asked. "Did that affect you or your people at all?"

Rouge made a face. "It did," she admitted. "We'd known Dark Gaia would awaken eventually and made contingency plans for it… But we didn't expect it to wake up this early thanks to Eggman, so were caught rather flat-footed."

"What happened?" Cream asked in concern.

"The Dark Heart started overloading due to Dark Gaia's awakening, and it nearly overwhelmed Mother," Rouge explained. "She was forced to shatter it to keep it from destroying her and half the kingdom, but was rendered comatose as a result, the fragments scattered to the far corners of Fangsylvania. The Duke of Werewolves decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to fulfill his lifelong dream of overthrowing my family and seizing the throne for himself, then taking advantage of the increased power he and all the other monsters got as a result of Dark Gaia's revival to conquer the world overtly—no more ruling from the shadows—and cast the Earth into an age of eternal darkness and terror."

"Oh my," said a shocked Cream.

"Wait, but didn't he know that once Dark Gaia reconstituted itself there wouldn't be a world left to rule over?" Vector asked.

Rouge rolled her eyes. "The Duke of Werewolves is ambitious, but not smart. He probably assumed that monsterkind would survive the world's end due to our affinity with Dark Gaia, or figured that since Dark Gaia was woken up prematurely and fell apart it wouldn't be able to pull itself back together anytime soon. And to be fair, if Eggman hadn't expedited the process, he might have been right…"

"Stupid Eggman," Sonic growled.

"I was also affected by the surge in Dark Power. The seal on my power was broken, and I found myself assuming a somewhat more monstrous and feral form whenever the Sun went down," Rouge continued.

"Oh, like me!" Sonic said.

"Yes, except I was still drop-dead gorgeous—granted, it was more of a savage, wild beauty-and I didn't have stretchy arms," Rouge said.

"Speaking of which, do werewolves usually have stretchy arms?" Tails asked.

"No," Rouge replied.

Sonic scratched his head in puzzlement. "Then why the heck did I?"

The bat shrugged. "Search me."

"I don't suppose you can show us what you looked like?" Espio asked.

"Certainly. Omega?" Rouge asked.

Omega's eyes lit up, projecting a hologram of a creature which was clearly Rouge, but…not as they knew her. Rouge's altered form bore some slight resemblance to Sonic's werehog form-bigger, hairier, more muscular, with claws and fangs-but there the similarities ended. Where the werehog had been burly and monstrous, Rouge was graceful and elegant, the shaggy white fur covering her lithe, muscular frame accentuating her natural curves-made more pronounced by her transformation-rather than obscuring them, marred only by a black bat-shaped mark in the space between her neck and breasts. Her feet had become talons, and sharp, dainty claws grew from the end of her fingers. Her wings had become much larger and blacker, and a second, smaller pair grew out from further down her back. Her hair had grown out into a long, shaggy mane spilling down her back between the wings past her waist. Her fangs had grown, and were bared in a fierce, yet amused smirk, and her blue eyes had turned red, staring out at them with a half-lidded stare that was equal parts seductive and hungry.

Vector wolf-whistled. "Damn! And here she thought looked good already!"

"Hey, that's my girl you're talking about!" Knuckles said indignantly, although he couldn't put too much heat in it because he was too busy staring at the hologram.

"…Yep, that's definitely a creature of the night," Tails said, licking his suddenly dry lips.

Sonic stared at the hologram for so long that Blaze started to feel annoyed. "… Why couldn't I look that good?" He complained.

Amy gasped. "Rouge! How could you?! You're naked! Cream, don't look, it's indecent!" Cream, who had been staring at the hologram in wonder, yelped and quickly covered her eyes with her ears.

Blaze blinked in confusion. "What of it? Most of you are naked already."

"No we're not, at the very least we're wearing gloves and shoes!" Charmy pointed out.

Blaze stared at the bee blankly. "But that's… That isn't… Oh, never mind."

"I think they've seen enough, Omega," Shadow said with an amused smirk.

"I-DON'T-GET-WHAT-THE-BIG-DEAL-IS. SO-WHAT-IF-SHE-HAS-LARGE-MAMMARY-GLANDS? WHAT-DOES-THAT-HAVE-TO-DO-WITH-ANYTHING? I-DO-NOT-UNDERSTAND-ORGANIC-STANDARDS-OF-BEAUTY," Omega grumbled as he shut the hologram off, much to the relief of some and the disappointment of many.

"Due to my mother's state, I was recalled to Fangsylvania to assume the throne until she could recover," Rouge continued, inwardly chuckling at how everyone had reacted to the appearance of her alternate form. "I asked Shadow and Omega to come with me for moral support, and because I felt that I could depend on them to be by my side and have my back no matter what, since the troubled political climate the Werewolf Duke was instigating made it a little tricky to know who else I could trust."

"Which is how we learned of her true nature and past before the rest of you, of course," Shadow said.

"She never told you about it before?" Mighty asked.

Shadow shrugged. "We didn't ask. It didn't seem that important. We'd figured out she was a vampire a while ago, but we assumed that if the rest of her past were something she wanted us to know about, she'd tell us. We didn't see a point in prying."

"Another reason the two of you are my very best friends," Rouge said affectionately. "In any event, things looked pretty bad by the time I got home. The Duke had not only managed to rally all the werewolves to his banner, but also convinced the Franken, Mermen, Mummies, Gorgons, Mandrakes, Gargoyles, and a few more to join his cause. While many others-such as the Dragons, Nagas, Mermaids, Ghosts, Giants, Goblins, and of course my other vampiric kin-still remained loyal to the throne, others were either taking a neutral stance or waiting to see if they might have a chance to strike out and establish dominions of their own. Civil war was all but inevitable. Even with all the training and experience I had under my belt at that point, I knew it would take a lot of effort to keep the country from falling apart, and I was positive diplomacy might not be an option for much longer. I didn't think even Mother would be able to handle the situation without everything going to pot!"

"And to make matters worse, the Duke and several others started scouring the land for the fragments of the Dark Heart, believing they could use its power to take the kingdom for themselves," Shadow added.

"AND-THEN-THE-ALIENS-ATTACKED," Omega said.

"Yes, and then the aliens attacked," Shadow agreed.

Everyone stared at him blankly. "… Wait, what aliens?" Charmy asked in confusion.

"Why, the Black Arms, of course," Shadow said.

Everyone stared at him blankly again. "… But, um, didn't you, you know, KILL the Black Arms?" Sonic asked slowly.

"Yes, I specifically remember you blowing up their comet with the Eclipse Cannon after slaying their leader in single combat while the rest of us were paralyzed due to the nerve gas being spread around the world," Tails agreed.

"That wasn't all of them," Shadow explained. "Before Black Doom came to Earth, he left a secondary hive mind named Black Death behind on the last planet the Black Arms conquered in case of an emergency. When I killed Black Doom and destroyed the Black Comet, Black Death sensed it, piled his army into his own comet—creatively named the New Black Comet—and headed for Earth to get revenge."

"… Black Death? Really?" Asked a skeptical Mighty. "Are they TRYING to sound like cliched supervillains?"

Shadow shrugged. "Hey, I'm not the one who named him that."

"THIS-IS-WHAT-HE-LOOKED-LIKE," Omega said, projecting an image of a black-skinned alien with three yellow eyes wearing very ornate red, gold, and blue hooded robes covered in sun and moon markings. He also didn't have a lower body, for some reason.

"Huh. So basically, Black Doom but with fancier robes, different eyes, and no horns," Espio commented.

"Pretty much," Rouge said.

"Why do all the Black Arms leaders we know of lack lower bodies? What's with that?" Sonic wondered.

"There's a biological reason, but it's kind of complicated," Shadow said.

"How… How the heck did we not notice a SECOND alien invasion?!" Asked an incredulous Vector.

"They had a cloaking device, they focused their efforts on Fangsylvania because their scanners picked me up there, and because everyone was so busy dealing with the planet getting shattered they didn't have time to notice threats from outer space," Rouge explained.

"They were understandably intrigued by the Dark Gaia monsters wandering around, sensing the power and potential within them. They captured a few and, using their alien science and magic, were able to infuse some of their own troops with Dark Power, creating the deadly Pitch Black Arms," Shadow continued. "As a result, once they entered Fangsylvania, they felt drawn to the fragments of the Dark Heart, realizing that they could use it to bolster their own power and become strong enough to kill me and dominate the world."

"The Duke of Werewolves found out about them and offered to form an alliance with them, reasoning that their goals were similar," Rouge said. "He wanted me dead, Black Death wanted Shadow dead, and since the two of us were working together, it made sense for them to work together as well, especially since it would make it easier to retrieve the pieces of the Dark Heart. Naturally, both of them were planning to betray the other once they got what they wanted."

"Naturally," Blaze said.

"Typical supervillains. Unable to ever work together without betraying each other," Espio said in disgust.

"Well, at least that makes things easier for the rest of us," Charmy pointed out.

"With the addition of the Black Arms, all pretense of a diplomatic solution failed, and war broke out, despite my best efforts," Rouge said sadly. "All of us were forced to enter the fray in a desperate attempt to save my kingdom, and the world. Although I probably should have stayed in the castle and directed all matters from afar, I wasn't ready to allow others to do all my fighting for me just yet, so I used my skills in espionage and subterfuge to infiltrate enemy strongholds, assassinate or abduct enemy leaders and persons of interest, perform sabotage, gather intel, and reclaim stolen fragments of the Dark Heart. I also had several run-ins with a vampire/treasure hunter named Belle the Monitor Lizard, who's part of a family line that's been trying to kill mine for generations and was hired by the Duke to inconvenience me. That was annoying. Don't bother showing a picture, Omega, I don't want to see her face again."

"I-LED-THE-LOYALIST-ARMIES-FROM-THE-FRONT, ENGAGING-THE-FOE-IN-SWEEPING-BATTLES. I-PERSONALLY-KILLED-THOUSANDS, BOTH-ALIEN-AND-REBEL-ALIKE, AND-HAD-EPIC-DUELS-WITH-ENEMY-GENERALS. IT-WAS-GLORIOUS," Omega said, eyes gleaming with joy.

"And I did what we hedgehogs do best: launched daring one-man guerilla assaults on enemy bases, slaughtering soldiers, destroying superweapons and monsters, and generally throwing up a big enough fuss that it would divert attention from Rouge's own activities in the field," Shadow said smugly. "I also found myself dealing with a new rival… Eclipse the Darkling."

"… Eclipse the Darkling. Really?" Mighty asked skeptically.

"I told you, I didn't name him!" Shadow protested.

"Who or what was he?" Sonic asked, somewhat incensed that Shadow could have a rival other than him.

"A Black Arms super soldier, the self-proclaimed 'Ultimate Alien.' Think of him as me, but without the hedgehog DNA. Black Death created him to surpass me, well aware that the armies of his kind had not fared so well against me in the past and figuring that a creature more like me might have a better chance of taking me down. He was my equal in speed and strength, and was able to boost his powers to insane levels by utilizing the abilities of his 'Dark Arms,' essentially the Black Arms version of the Wisps. And yes, Mighty, I know how it sounds, but I didn't name them, okay?!" Shadow snapped.

Mighty raised his hands defensively. "I wasn't going to say anything!"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Anyway, we clashed many times over the course of the war, often dueling over pieces of the Dark Heart," Shadow continued. "However, while Black Death wanted me dead, Eclipse felt differently. Since we shared the same blood—what with me being half alien and all-he felt like the two of us shouldn't be fighting at all, and kept trying to convince me to switch sides and join my 'true family,' calling me 'Brother.' Naturally, I had no intention of betraying my friends or planet-"

"Again," Knuckles deadpanned

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Yes, echidna, again. However, I could not bring myself to hate Eclipse. I saw a lot of myself in him, and felt a sort of kinship with him, and on some level started to think of him as—if not a brother—then at least a worthy adversary and rival. Maybe even more than you, Sonic."

"…HEY!" Sonic shouted indignantly.

"He pushed me to my limits in ways nobody else has, in the process showing me how to utilize new powers and abilities I hadn't even known I had by 'awakening' the latent power in my alien blood," Shadow continued, ignoring Sonic. "Quite invigorating, really."

"HE-LOOKS-LIKE-THIS," Omega said helpfully, projecting the image of an alien about the same size as Shadow into the air. He had eyes with black sclera and orange irises and a white muzzle with yellow teeth and no nose. His overall body was black, but he had red marks around his eyes that went over the top of his head and onto his crest, and red tips on the wing-like growths at the sides of his head. A red collar-like growth was present on his upper torso and shoulders, and his forearms were also red with spikes emanating from them. His legs had red markings resembling boots, except that his toes were black; his long tail started out black and then became red, ending in a had three fingers on each hand and two toes on each foot, and also has the scaly skin of most Black Arms.

"Wow. Pretty cool-looking," said an impressed Charmy.

"And not as ugly as most other Black Arms, either," Amy agreed.

"I can see what you mean about him being like you but without the hedgehog DNA. I do see a resemblance," Tails agreed.

"So that's the 'rival better than me?' Hmmph, he doesn't look so tough…" Sonic grumbled, clearly envious. Blaze smirked in amusement.

"Ultimately, after many battles, and despite our best efforts, Black Death and the Duke managed to get all the fragments of the Dark Heart," Rouge went on. "They then tried to betray each other. Surprisingly, the Duke's scheme worked first, and he managed to claim the Heart for himself, mortally wounding Black Death in the process. However, since the Duke's blood lacks the affinity for Demon Imperial Power flowing through mine, he was unable to control the Heart's power, and it went out of control, turning him into a horrible monster."

"Yes, that tends to happen sooner or later in cases like this," Blaze commented.

"Inevitable, really," Sonic agreed.

"Why do they never learn?" Tails lamented.

"Of course, we later learned that Dark Gaia achieved its Perfect form at about the same time, so that might have had something to do with it as well," Shadow added.

"As he died, Black Death revealed he'd only done all the horrible things he'd done because he had been desperate to find a new home for his dying species (well, that and get revenge on me for killing Black Doom), and begged Eclipse—and me—to save what was left of the Black Arms. I agreed, and we incorporated the Black Arms into our forces," Shadow said.

"Wait, what? Why?!" Amy asked. "They were evil aliens who tried to kill you like a bunch of times and take over the world!"

Shadow shrugged. "Several reasons. One, I'm trying not to hold grudges anymore. Two, I'd learned to stop hating the Black Arms after accepting the part of me that's alien and forming a bond with Eclipse, so felt like I should try to save that part of my heritage, since…well, it's not like there are exactly a lot of Robotniks left for me to commiserate with other than Eggman, so they're kind of the only other blood family I've got left. Three, I understand what it's like to want a home of your own. Four, lots of horrible creatures are able to share space in Fangsylvania, even after doing all sorts of nasty things to each other in the past, so even a race of invading aliens have a chance to find a place to belong. Fifth, they had some pretty impressive technology which could be useful in the future, but only those with Black Arms DNA can use it and since it'd be impractical to rely solely on me for it it would be useful to keep a bunch around."

"AND-SIXTH, WE-COULD-PUT-THEM-ON-THE-FRONTLINES-TO-TAKE-THE-BRUNT-OF-ENEMY-ATTACKS-TO-SPARE-OUR-OTHER-TROOPS," Omega said cheerfully.

"That too," Shadow said.

"I thought you said you were trying not to hold grudges. That sounds awfully petty," Amy complained.

"He's trying. I'm not," Rouge said smugly.

"Those poor aliens," Cream said sadly.

"Don't worry, enough of them survived to form a breeding population," Shadow said.

"I thought they reproduced through cloning or something," Sonic said.

"I never said it was a big population," Shadow said.

"As the Duke began to metamorphose into a horrible giant monster, our new joint alliance—made up of not just the monsters on our side, but the Black Arms and many of those who'd once sided with the Duke—marched on the Duke's twisted fortress, and found our way blocked by a massive army of mutated werewolves, warped by the Dark Power and Black Arms science," Rouge said.

"I-LED-OUR-FORCES-TO-VICTORY-OVER-THE-HORDES, CLEARING-THE-WAY-FOR-THE-OTHERS," Omega reported.

"While Omega and the troops kept the Duke's minions occupied, I infiltrated the shattered ruin of his fortress and managed to remove the fragments of the Dark Heart being used to power his cocoon before he could finish his transformation," Rouge explained. "Naturally, this caused him to emerge from his chrysalis as a grotesque unfinished giant monster, but one that was at least killable."

"Been there, done that," Sonic said.

"That does happen an awful lot," Knuckles agreed.

"They really do never learn, do they?" Tails asked.

"Not in my experience, no," Blaze said.

"The three of us then used the power of the Dark Heart to transform into new Super forms, since we didn't happen to have the Chaos Emeralds handy what with a certain SOMEONE running willy-nilly all over the world trying to fix them because he was stupid enough to walk right into an Eggman trap and cause them to lose their charge,," Shadow continued. Sonic glowered at him. "I became the mighty Black Shadow, utilizing the full power of my alien blood. Rouge became Nightwing Rouge, experiencing a taste of the power she would one day wield as Queen of all vampires. And Omega became Alpha-Omega the Destructor, a being capable of annihilating entire countries with his limitless firepower."

"IT-WAS-BEAUTIFUL. I-HAD-SO-MUCH-POWER. IF-ONLY-I-COULD-HAVE-KILLED-MORE-PEOPLE-WITH-IT-WHILE-IT-LASTED," Omega lamented. "HERE-IS-WHAT-WE-LOOKED-LIKE." His eyes lit up, projecting an image of all three members of Team Dark into the air, transformed. Shadow now resembled Eclipse, trading his fur and quills for scales and horns, his muzzle now a mouthless, noseless blank white space beneath smoldering alien red eyes, a third of which had opened on his forehead. (He had not, thankfully, lost his lower body, and had in fact grown a longer tail.) Rouge's fur had turned pitch-black, her wings had enlarged and she'd grown a third pair, all six of which were now not only dark as night but looked like they had stars and galaxies swirling in them, and her mane had grown even longer and shaggier, like her mother's but wilder. Omega's colors had inverted, there was an Alpha symbol on his right shoulder to match the Omega on his left, he'd grown four more massive clawed arms, and a radiant metal halo bristling with heavy firepower was mounted on his back. All three were pulsating with a dark aura and had black bat marks on their chests, and were rocketing skywards towards what looked like some hideous gray and red-furred fusion of dragon, insect, and octopus with five snaking necks ending in snarling, foaming wolf heads with far too many eyes and mouths.

"That's a lot of new Super forms," Knuckles commented, impressed and awed by how beautiful Rouge looked.

"I've had more than that," Sonic said, trying to hide his jealousy. "And I totally did the 'Dark Super Mode' thing first with Darkspines Sonic…"

"Yeah, it's not that special," Amy growled, not even bothering to hide her envy.

"That's an ugly bastard," Vector commented, referring to the mutated Duke.

"Yes, not like any werewolf I've ever heard of," Espio agreed.

"Eh, Cthulhu was worse," Mighty said.

"Your wings were so pretty, Miss Rouge!" Cream squeaked.

"Yes, I kind of miss them…" Rouge said wistfully.

"Looking good, Omega!" Charmy complimented the robot.

"So Dark Power can transform machines as well? Intriguing…" said a fascinated Tails.

"That's certainly a more pronounced transformation than what usually happens when we enter a Super state...then again, considering the different power sources utilized, I suppose it's not much of a surprise," Blaze commented.

"Together, we engaged the transformed Duke in an epic battle in the sky, eventually slaying him at about the same time Sonic and Light Gaia defeated Perfect Dark Gaia, saving Fangsylvania and perhaps the world," Rouge recalled fondly. "Dark Gaia returned to his slumber, causing the levels of Dark Power around the world to drop back to normal. We then returned the Dark Heart to my mother, awakening her from her coma. I was worried she'd be angry at me for letting things get to the state they had, but after she was filled in on everything that had happened, she congratulated me on handling the situation in the way that I did—even if I'd risked my life a little more than she was comfortable with, the results spoke for themselves, and the people loved me for putting my life on the line for them instead of simply sitting in my high tower and letting others do the fighting for me, which would certainly make it easier for them to accept me as their future ruler-assuring me that she wasn't sure she could have done a better job in my place, and offered to let me come home early to begin the next stage of my training. She even offered positions in her court for Shadow and Omega in return for the services they'd rendered to the realm." She shrugged. "Obviously, I turned her down."

"But why?" Cream asked. "Wasn't that what you wanted?"

"It was," Rouge admitted. "But I'd grown rather fond of living in the outside world, and wasn't quite ready to come home yet. After all, my century deadline hasn't come up yet! Although I told Mother it was because I didn't want to break tradition by coming back ahead of schedule, she understood why I was really doing it, and let me come back to your world until I was ready."

"That was very nice of her," Charmy said.

"That wasn't the full extent of her generosity, either," Shadow said. "Both Omega and myself received titles and land confiscated from the Duke and the traitors who sided with him, though we really only own them in name only, since neither of us particularly feels like governing anyone, and left our estates in the hands of capable stewards, though we still receive most of the profits they produce."

"I-OCCASIONALLY-CHECK-IN-ON-THEM-TO-LET-THEM-KNOW-THAT-IF-THEY-ARE-NOT-DOING-A-SATISFACTORY-JOB-I-WILL-DESTROY-THEM," Omega said.

"I've allowed what's left of the Black Arms to settle on my land, since, understandably, the rest of Fangsylvania's a bit leery to have them around," Shadow said. "Although I'm technically their leader now—my transformation into 'Black Shadow' cinched the deal—Eclipse rules them in my absence, and I have my Eye on them to make sure they stay in line."

"Literally. He has a third eye now as a result of the whole 'Black Shadow' thing. Calls it Shadow's Eye. And yes, Mighty, that was his idea," Rouge said with a smirk, causing Shadow to roll his eyes.

"…You have a third eye?! That's so awesome! Can we see?" Charmy asked eagerly.

"No, because it's in Fangsylvania," Shadow said. "It can separate from me, just like Doom's Eye could from Black Doom."

"Did Black Death have an eye, too?" Cream asked.

"Yes, Death's Eye, but it died when he did," Shadow said with what almost sounded like remorse.

"Okay, is it genetic? Is just an alien thing to give yourselves names like that?" Mighty asked. Everyone ignored him.

"Wait, so...why do you still have legs, then?" Amy asked. "If you're the new three-eyed Black Arms leader and all?"

"I-it's complicated, okay?" Shadow mumbled, looking embarrassed. "Let's just leave it at that and move on."

"So anyway, that's what we did during the whole Dark Gaia crisis," Rouge said.

"Wow. Quite the story," said the impressed Tails.

"And I missed out on it!" Sonic lamented.

"You went on an incredible adventure of your own during all that," Blaze pointed out.

"Yeah, but I still feel like I missed out!" Sonic complained.

"The world doesn't revolve around you, Sonic. We can have our own adventures without you whenever we want," Shadow reminded the blue hedgehog bluntly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Sonic grumbled.

"But you're right, it was quite the epic adventure," Shadow admitted. "And if it were ever to be adapted into a story or video game or something like that, it'd probably be called Shadow the Hedgehog 2 or something like that. That's a good name, I think."

Rouge frowned. "Wait, why would it be named after you? It took place in my homeland and revolved around me! The main villain was a longtime nemesis of my family! If anything, it should be called Rouge Adventure!"

"Yes, but it also followed up with the subplot regarding my heritage and choosing what kind of person I want to be from my previous solo adventure and the Black Arms, whom it's already been established I have a connection with, featured prominently as antagonists. Plus, I got a rival and lots of character development, while you did not," Shadow said.

"I got lots of character development!" Rouge protested angrily. "My backstory was revealed to my closest friends, and I learned that I could trust them with my deepest darkest secrets! I had to deal with politics and war and getting over my fear of disappointing my mother and being a strong leader in my own right! It was about me getting that much closer to being worthy of the title of the future Queen of the vampires! Plus, I so too had a rival! Remember Belle?"

"I thought you regarded her as more of a nuisance than an actual rival," Shadow said.

"Well, yes, but still!" Rouge huffed.

"What happened to her, anyway?" Tails asked.

"Oh, she died," Rouge said breezily.

"I-DID-NOT-GET-ANY-CHARACTER-DEVELOPMENT. I-JUST-KILLED-THINGS. I-DID-NOT-GET-ANY-RIVALS-BECAUSE-ALL-MY-ADVERSARIES-DIED-AFTER-THE-FIRST-TIME-I-ENCOUNTERED-THEM. IT-WAS-FUN. THERE'S-LOTS-OF-GREAT-STORIES-AND-GAMES-ABOUT-PROTAGONISTS-WHO-KILL-LOTS-OF-PEOPLE-AND-GET-NO-DEVELOPMENT-WHATSOEVER, SO-I-DON'T-SEE-THAT-AS-A-BAD-THING," Omega said. "WHY-CAN'T-IT-BE-CALLED-OMEGA-ADVENTURE-OR-SOMETHING-LIKE-THAT?"

"Because it wasn't about just you...then again, it wasn't about just Shadow or myself, either," Rouge admitted reluctantly.

"Okay, okay, I'm willing to compromise," Shadow said. "How about Shadow the Hedgehog 2: the Adventures of Team Dark?"

Rouge threw her drink in Shadow's face. Omega grabbed a table and hurled it at the black hedgehog, knocking him over. "I'll take that as a maybe," he said weakly.

"How come you never told us about any of this?" Amy asked.

Rouge shrugged. "You never asked. Plus, I didn't really think I could trust you all with my full backstory at the time."

"But you do now?" Cream asked hopefully.

"Yes, because while I was telling you my story I was subtly using my vampiric hypnosis to plant a suggestion in your subconscious to make sure you'll never tell anyone else about this," Rouge said smugly.

There was a pause as everyone processed this. "… Not cool, Rouge!" Mighty said angrily.

"I feel so violated!" Charmy cried.

"BITCH!" Amy shouted.

"You don't trust us with the truth?" Knuckles asked indignantly.

"Considering how easy it is to trick you into doing just about anything? Yeah, I think this is a safe precaution," Rouge said.

"...Fair enough," Knuckles conceded.

"But what about the rest of us?" Vector demanded.

"You three are so poor I'm fairly certain you'd sell any juicy information just to make a quick buck," Rouge said flatly. "As for the rest of you… You're right, you probably wouldn't tell anyone, but that's a risk I can't take."

"Gee, glad to see how much you value our friendship," Amy grumbled.

"This is as much to protect you as me. There's a lot of people who want me dead, and if they knew that you knew anything important about me, they might try to use you against me," Rouge argued.

"And it also ensures that if any of us are ever captured by said enemies, nothing they can do will make us talk, no matter how hard they torture us," Blaze noted.

"That too," Rouge admitted. "Honestly, I don't see why you're surprised. I thought I'd made it clear that I'm not a hero, or always a very good person. Be thankful I didn't use my powers to plant any other suggestions in your minds."

"How do we know you haven't already?" Tails asked suspiciously.

Rouge grinned. "You don't." Everyone groaned.

"Should we be more upset about this?" Espio asked.

"Eh, to be fair, I kind of expected something like this when she told us she was a vampire," Vector admitted. "She's right, we shouldn't be surprised."

"And aside from that, it's possible she also hypnotized us into being okay with her hypnotizing us," Mighty commented.

"Which might explain why I do not feel any great urge to immolate her for daring to violate the sanctity of my mind," Blaze agreed, a scowl on her face. "Well played, vampire."

"Anyway, if we're willing to forgive Shadow for nearly destroying the world twice and switching sides a ridiculous number of times during the last invasion, I guess this isn't that big a deal," Sonic said with a shrug.

"I don't suppose anyone would be willing to lend me a hand?" Shadow asked weakly from under the table. He was ignored.

"Wait…hypnosis…aha! That explains it! Rouge is always able to steal the Master Emerald from me because she's been hypnotizing me into letting her!" Knuckles declared.

"Actually, no, I've never needed to hypnotize you even once before now," Rouge refuted.

"…Not ever?" Knuckles asked.

"Not ever," Rouge said.

Knuckles sagged. "Oh."

Deciding not to mention that, due to his psychic powers, he'd been able to resist Rouge's hypnotic powers, Silver spoke up. "Thank you for all that, Rouge. It was as much a detailed insight into your psyche and the philosophy of your species as it was a look at your history and what shaped you into the person you are now. It was also a pretty cool story, especially the latter bit, which I would not mind hearing about in greater detail another time. And now, I do believe it's time to interrogate our other immortal incredibly powerful monarch of ambiguous moral quality. Blaze, feel up to telling us your story?"

Blaze sighed. "I had hoped you would save me for later, but… I knew this would happen eventually. Very well, if this is my time, it is my time."

"Are you sure about this, Blaze? You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Sonic said in concern. "I mean, it happened in another dimension, and Eggman Nega can't do anything to affect it… Can he?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not…but just as Rouge believed it necessary to place a geas on us, so too is this is not a risk I am willing to take," Blaze said firmly. She nodded at Silver. "Ask away, time traveler. But be warned: my tale is not short, nor is it for the faint of heart." Cream looked at her friend in concern. She'd always known Blaze's childhood hadn't exactly been a happy one… But just how bad had it been, anyway?

"All right," Silver said. "Blaze, how did you become queen of your empire?"

…

Aaaand done! Wow, sorry that took so long. Again. And considering that Blaze is the next one, it might take even longer. As Blaze said, her story isn't a short one.

So, who would you guys like to see give their origin after Blaze? Cream, Big, Fang, the Babylon Rogues, or Sticks?

Also, please check out the TV Tropes page for this story if you haven't already. Tzening's done a great job, and it's worth looking at.