I Am...All of Me

To Catch a Bat (Sequel to Undecided Path)

A/N: Just a quick snippet on how Rouge got caught after trying to steal the Scepter of Darkness during '06. I guess this is more of "Rouge-fic" but I hope you enjoy!

Snowy Peak Base, White Acropolis

    Rouge swooped down from her hiding spot and landed gracefully on the metal floor of Eggman's latest base. She had successfully bypassed the security system and infiltrate the building, but something still didn't add up to her. She had been inside the base for several hours, and there was no sign of the evil genius, only a few robots scattered here and there. The lack of hostiles was seriously throwing her off, but she decided to wait before calling Shadow. The doc could simply be out doing who knows what, and she had the place to herself. The idea was unlikely, but it wasn't impossible, in her opinion. The only problem was that she still had no idea where she was supposed to be going in order to retrieve the stolen relic, but it wasn't something a little hacking couldn't fix.

    She grinned slyly to herself before flying down one of the winding corridors, searching each room she passed for a computer. After several minutes of searching and dodging robot scanners, she found a room that contained what she needed. Her gloved fingers flew effortlessly across the dusty keypad, pleasantly surprised the doctor had not changed the passwords since she had switched sides.

    "Ah ha! Here we go," she said to herself and memorized the directions. Once she was sure she knew the way, she logged out and turned off the computer before she flew out of the room.

   Her wingbeats were completely soundless as she  sailed above the patrolling robots and out the view of any security cameras. The lack of interference was something she was grateful for, but a nagging voice in the back of her mind told her it was just a little too easy. Regardless, she glided effortlessly along the last hallway before reaching a sealed door.

    "Oh, doctor," she laughed to herself, "you are so predictable nowadays."

    She quickly typed in the required key code, and the large metal doors slid open, grating on her sensitive ears. The room was dark, and the pearl-colored bat pulled something out of her breastplate. It was a simple pair of night vision spy wear. And while she could have used her echolocation, Rouge really didn't want to damage any sensitive equipment until the job was done. The single lens bathed her right eye's vision with red as it illuminated the room, along with the motion sensor beams crisscrossing over the floor. She rolled her eyes and fanned her wings so that she flew over the beams, and she finally spotted what she was looking for.

   In a surprisingly elegant glass case rested a strange scepter, which appeared to hover in midair. It was primarily glass with a dark purplish-black liquid swirling inside it. The top was fashioned like an iron dragon outstretching its wings with its tail looping several times around the vial in a threatening visage. However, it wasn't even long enough to reach her elbow.

With a fanged grin, Rouge pulled out a miniature blowtorch and proceeded to cut a large enough hole for her to pull the enchanting item out. Once the circle was made, she pressed another button on her torch, and five long thin metal prongs unsheathed and held to the loose glass as she pulled it away. Slowly, she extended her free arm into the case and pulled out the scepter. As soon as it was secured to her waist via clip, she replaced the item with her personal calling card and gently reset the glass. But as she turned, her wing tapped the glass, and the cut pane teetered off balance. Rouge's eyes widened in horror as it fell and shattered on the ground.

    The room was flooded with red light and sirens blared, forcing her to cover her large ears. She instantly took to the air and attempted to fly out the way she came, but the doors slid shut and sealed her inside. After several panicked moments of looking for another way out and being unsuccessful, she pressed the call button on her communicator. Instead of contacting her partner, the words "No signal" flashed across the small screen.

    "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!"
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  Eggman's attention was momentarily drawn away from navigating his colossal airship to the notification flickering at the corner of his main screen. Someone had broken into his base and attempted to steal his latest treasure. A sinister smirk morphed on to his face. No one would be able to get in or out of that room with his latest security system, and he decided he would look into it after his little excursion and punish whoever broke in, or at least remove whatever was left. With that thought in mind, he resumed piloting to his next destination...Soleanna.