Through the Looking Glass: Chapter 1-C
Rouge: Chapter 1
"Are the emeralds in the slots?"
"Yes, doctor."
"Good! This will be great, indeed!"
The bat looked at the little centerpiece of the circular room she was in. There were seven slots for each of the Chaos Emeralds, three of which were filled with the powerful jewels as she beheld the larger slot meant for the Master Emerald once they finally acquired it. She then looked around, the grey metallic walls and the window outlooking into a white room providing a rather grave atmosphere for the place she was sure she would do most of her work in.
Rouge and Dr. Robotnik had been preparing the device that would wipe all semblance of individuality from people once Eggman secured every location he could. The doctor was rubbing his chin, the other hand grabbing one of the coat-tails of his red coat (a mannerism Rouge never noticed before) as he was lost in thought. The bat shrugged, wondering why she had to install the three Chaos Emeralds that he had into the machine, and then she decided to ask the doctor about this.
"Why are we installing the emeralds, anyway?" asked the bat.
"Other than the one I left you as a consolation prize?" asked the doctor in reply.
Rouge scoffed at this, a dismissive hand gesture accompanying her short chuckle. "I know I'm going to have to turn that one in when you have all the emeralds," she said simply. "I'm just wondering what the other three emeralds need to be installed there for."
"Why do you think?" asked Dr. Robotnik with a wink. "To test it, of course!"
This reply surprised Rouge greatly, and it showed in her facial expression as her eyes went just the slightest bit wider. She kept her cool in front of the doctor, although she was still brimming with questions as she looked at the doctor.
"Test it?" asked the bat. "But why would we need to test it?"
"To make sure it's functional!" replied the doctor. Rouge swore there was something in his voice signifying anger, but she thought nothing of it.
"But, doctor, don't you think it's already going to function well?" asked the bat, probing as close as she could in the hopes of not bringing him over the boiling point.
Robotnik simply shook his head, adjusting his goggles on his face as he glanced at Rouge disbelievingly. "Do you think I'm not good enough?" he asked leeringly.
"No, doctor!" replied Rouge quickly. "I'm just wondering; you know, you have an IQ of three hundred, shouldn't it already be a guarantee of success?"
The doctor visibly took a deep breath to keep himself from blowing up. "That IQ never helps me against that hedgehog," said Robotnik cooly as he began to pace the room. "This plan is going to work perfectly, and if that hedgehog has anything to say about it it'll be that I've finally triumphed over him! And if it means I test my methods of taking over the world to the point where I know it'll work, then damn it, I'll take that route!"
Rouge nodded in reply, noting the slight jerks in the doctor's hands as he moved around. She simply walked over to the work table she had installed and began to fold it into a manageable size.
"I see..." said the bat. "But doctor, don't you think this is a bad idea?"
The doctor chuckled softly before turning to Rouge, shaking his head with his long bushy moustache following his every move. "Of course not!" he said. "Are you suggesting that my methods are faulty?"
Rouge almost replied automatically, but checked herself and shook her head. "No, Dr. Robotnik," replied the bat.
"Good," said the doctor, chuckling. "I was afraid I would have to dock your pay for a second there. Now, I want you to fetch me that two-tailed fox!"
The prison room was a little depressing. Usually, Rouge avoided it like the plague to avoid Sonic's insults, but a part of her avoided it also because it was such a depressing space to be in.
Yet, as she walked in there again, she found the cells-- no, even that was generous-- cages to be as depressing as ever, what with how close the space was and the fact that each cell held two people. Sonic glared at the bat from his cage where he was in constant physical contact with Amy Rose, the aqua hedgehog's emerald eyes seething with hate and anger. Tails and Cream were both seen in the same cell just a few feet away, Tails glaring at Rouge in a similar fashion as Cream tried her best to stay away from the bars. Again, the metal walls were no help in making the place cheery, and coupled with the light glow from the bars of the cages, the walls actually gave a very eerie effect within the room.
"What the hell do you want from us this time, bitch?" asked Sonic angrily, barely able to control his disdain for the agent.
"Whoah, calm down, blue," replied Rouge, pulling an electronic key out of her cleavage as she advanced to Tails' cage. "I'm just getting Tails out of here. Robotnik's orders."
"Fuck him!" spat the blue hedgehog angrily. "What the hell does Eggman want from him?"
"Testing," replied Rouge distastefully. "He's going to test his latest idea on Tails."
"Damn it, Rouge, get a grip!" shouted Amy from where she stood close to Sonic. "Don't you think this is a bad idea?"
"What?" asked the bat with a shrug. "I'm just here for the money!"
"Yeah, and you turned your back on the rest of us!" shouted Sonic angrily. "You turned your back on Tails, Cream, Amy, me, Knuckles, Shade... Hell, you turned your back to Shadow! To Shadow, of all people! I thought you two were inseperable!"
"Mr. Sonic is right!" added Cream, a little calmer than the blue hedgehog but still quite angry. "You can't just betray us all and expect us to say nothing!"
Rouge sighed, flashing the key against an electronic pad, this resulted in the cage door opening rapidly. Sonic shot an angry glance at Rouge, trying to resist the urge to touch the bars while keeping himself from accidentally shoving Amy into the bars as well.
"I'll be honest, I don't think it's such a good idea," said Rouge. "And more likely than not it's going to fail like all his other plans have. But you know how things roll."
"Profits?" cried Tails angrily as Rouge's hand dove into his cell. "No! You can't let him push you around like that! You're letting him push you around! I'll guarantee your profits won't be worth your guilt in the end!"
The kitsune briefly resisted against Rouge's attempts to grab his arm. Unfortunately, this ended when his arm hit the cell, which automatically gave him an electric shock. The fox retreated his arm back, just within swiping range for the bat. She then yanked Tails out of there, and then the cell door closed behind him.
"I know..." said Rouge with a shrug. "But that's the way life goes, kiddo."
"Hey!" shouted Cream angrily, having to resist the urge to grab the bars. "You can't just tell him that! You meanie!"
Rouge simply turned around, hauling Tails behind him.
"Hey!" shouted Sonic's voice from behind her. "You get back here right this--" here, Sonic got zapped by the bars of his cage, "OW! second, you bitch!" Sonic was shocked again by the bars, "OW! You're going to be getting a lot of hell from Knuckles when he--!"
But by this time, Rouge had left the room, her grip on Tails' wrist hard as she did her beast to hide her injured pride at the blue hedgehog's nasty statements. The truth was, his comments more than anything else bit into her conscience rather hard, but she grinned and bore it.
"You're no worse than Eggman!" shouted Tails as he was led down the hall by Rouge's iron grip. "I think you're worse!"
"Don't start, Tails," replied the bat, tightening her grip on the kitsune. "I already disagree with the doctor as it is; don't make me feel any more guilty about it than I have to."
The kitsune shook his head angrily, attempting to jerk his arm free from Rouge's grip but finding himself unsuccessful. "Then you're still wrong!" he replied. "You know it's wrong, so why are you working with him?"
Rouge said nothing, and so she carried the struggling fox to a door that Robotnik had directed her to send Tails to. With another swipe of the electronic key that she had held in the hand that was not holding Tails in place, the door opened with a slight hiss.
The bat then threw Tails into the room, knowing he would not go if politely asked. Rouge then quickly shut the door, trapping the kitsune in the room right within Robotnik's viewing range. She then returned straight to the control room, where she noticed Robotnik watching Tails banging on the door. Rouge, seeing this, shook her head at the futility of this gesture, and faced the doctor she worked for.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Rouge, the doubt evident in her tone of voice.
"Of course it is!" replied the doctor. "Now, watch my genius in action!"
With this, the doctor pushed a red button on the console in front of him, his gaze directing itself to the top of the room.
A green energy began to build up from an antennae that had been installed at the top of the room. The green was so prominent against the grey metallic walls that for a second all seemed to stop, with Tails looking behind him. When Rouge saw the fear implicit in his sky blue eyes, she knew instantly she would regret her decision, and she looked away right before the green energy radiated throughout the room. There was a slight sound of an engine roaring, and then all was silent as the green dissipated from the room.
When Rouge finally found the courage to look back, she saw Tails standing stock still by the door, no longer trying to break free of the wide prison he had been put in. His eyes now lacked any signs that pupils had been there, which greatly disturbed the bat. Robotnik looked on the kitsune almost madly, and Rouge could have sworn she had heard a deranged chuckle under his breath.
"Jump."
It was then that Rouge noticed a microphone istalled onto the control board. The doctor's index finger was depressing a small button just underneath where the microphone was, and the doctor was grinning. The bat turned her head just in time to see Tails landing from a jump he had apparently done.
"Jump."
The second time Robotnik said the command, Rouge's eyebrows rose in disbelief as Tails jumped up into the air, the yellow fur providing a stark contrast against the metallic walls.
The doctor depressed the microphone button, smiling broadly as he looked to his assistant.
"Most excellent!" replied the doctor. "We'll begin more extensive testing tomorrow."
I hope it's not too extensive... thought Rouge. The only thing she did was to nod in agreement with the doctor.
"Of course," she said before exiting the room. "I'll see you tomorrow."
And with this, the bat left the room.
Suddenly, the memory of the honey bear she had met in her dream the night before came to mind for some inexplicable reason. She suddenly realized that Banjo had a point in saying some of the things that he said before Rouge had woken up that morning. Her memory of the dream was also very bizarre; instead of remembering faint bits like she would with every other dream she had, she remembered every word, every gesture, every sight of her dream right down to the multi-colored void that she and Banjo were suspended in. Knowing this, she looked back on the room she had just exited and shook her head.
There's no way in hell I'm telling Eggman about my dream... she thought, topaz eyes widening slightly as she moved down the hall. I'm still going to work with him for profits, but that dream is never going to get mentioned, ever.