Rouge The Bat: Mature Goddess

Rouge and Tom have been married for twenty three years and nine months
as of this chapter.

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It was June's first day. A simple task, scan in paper documents to be
recorded in the computer files. It was her first job.

"Doing okay back here?" It was Tiff.

"Yeah," June responded, a bit bored. She'd been at this for an hour.
Still just a trainee in the GUN records room, her tasks were simple,
representative of one with only basic security clearance.

"Break time. Go on," Tiff said.

Checking the clock, June stopped her work. Looking into Tiff's eyes,
she paused. Tiff reminded, "after work. Keep it business here. We're
the government, big business, okay?"

As she walked past the desk, she saw Teal, wheeling in a fresh cart
load of boxes. "Great, more work... yo, Teal, what's with the
chocolate milk?"

Balancing the bottle on the cart, Teal had forgotten about it. "Coffee
machine's broken," Teal explained, "I'll get my caffeine wherever I
can."

Punching the code to open the door, June made her way to the elevators.
Her work outfit was uncomfortable, sterile. Already, she had dirty
thoughts about her and Tiff taking them off when they got home.

She noticed something odd. Thinking quick, she ran, flying, tackling
the individual without a word. Content that he was down, June reached for
the security alarm.

Teal was pulling the empty cart when she heard it. Unclipping the
holster latch of her pistol, she ran, cautiously, gun ready. Spotting
two troops, she joined them, the three proceeding carefully. "JUNE!"
Teal saw her aunt, pinning down the old janitor. "What's going on?"

"I saw him doing something funny!"

"What, exactly?" Teal asked.

She replied, "I don't know, I think he slipped something into the wall."
They looked at the wall itself, which appeared to be solid.

"False alarm," one of the troops said.

"June, that's Bob, the old guy who cleans! He's not up to anything..."

June was sweating. "I know what I saw, Teal!"

The second troop silenced the alarm. "You didn't see anything. Sorry
about this, Bob, she's new here."

"It's okay," the old man said, a bit shaken.

"Teal? You believe me, right?" Ready to cry, June was afraid. Afraid her
new job was ruined, afraid her credibility was in question.

"I... I don't have rank here." Holstering her handgun, Teal had no
choice but to let the old man go.

They heard the sound of footsteps along the metal hallway, echoes growing
short as they approached. The Commander of GUN and three elite soldiers.
"What's going on?" he inquired.

"False alarm," the troop said.

"But I SAW...." June shouted, tears welling in her eyes.

Ignoring the ranking troop, the Commander asked, "saw what?" June
said, "I saw him slip something into the wall, I know it!"

"Very well," he responded, eyes close to the wall. He spotted a thin
seam in the metal itself. "Okay... then this man won't mind being
searched if he is, in fact, innocent..."

The Commander knew the old man, but to him, something wasn't right.
"I... I have nothing, of course..." Bob muttered, taking a step back.

It was then that Teal heard it, the footstep. It wasn't right. "I need
to see your shoes!"

The Commander was quick, grabbing the old man's arm. "Please, I insist!
Shoes, now!" Frightened, the janitor stooped, taking his shoes off.

Collecting them, Teal checked the soles. "This one's too hard," she
explained, tapping on it.

June saw it. "There!" She pointed to a small
spot on the side.

Finding it, Teal hit the tiny switch, the middle of the shoe sliding
out a thin tray. Holding up one of the tiny discs it contained, she
said, "spy bugs!"

The old man was broken. "I needed the money..."

Turning to the elites, the Commander ordered, "get a team down here to
get that wall apart! Get that bug OUT of there, NOW! As for you two..."
he said, pointing to the two troopers. "You were going to let this go
without fully checking it out?"

"But sir, he's-"

"I don't care. ANY, and I mean ANY threat is to be taken seriously! Now
get him to interrogation!"

Examining one of the devices, he found it to be a very thin data
recorder that could wirelessly leech off nearby signals. "probably
doesn't transmit data. These would have to be collected. Why didn't
scans detect them?"

"I think the shoe's lined with metals that block any scans," Teal said.

"Ah, Teal. You found this out?"

"Actually, she did," Teal explained, pointing to June.

"Well done for your first day here!" June was happy. She felt
important.

"Now... Teal, begin standard bug sweep procedures. You know them by
now."

"Yes, sir!" she shouted, running off to begin her assignment.


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Rouge was proud of the twins. Violette and Rose were practically
inseparable now, playing together. The twins were bonded. "My happy,
precious little girls..." Picking them up, Rouge held them tight.

"Mommy loves us!" Violette shouted.

"Mommy, I'm hungry!" Rose said.

The two girls only had basic vocabulary but it was enough for now.
"Okay, dear, I'll get you your sippy cups..."

"I'll do that," Tom said, entering the room. "You have a phone call."
Rouge, setting her girls down, reached for the nearest phone. "Not
that phone," Tom said, "the video phone in the study."

Rouge knew of only one person who would contact her on that. She made
her way to the study.

"Commander..."

"Rouge. I see you're doing well," the GUN Commander greeted. "But I
didn't call you for social business. Your sister has been a big help to
us in cracking the mystery behind the people smuggling the spy
bugs in. She caught one in the act this morning."

"Wow," she said, "and only her first day. I'm proud of her... but you
didn't call me for that."

"Of course," he replied. "Our interrogation indicates he's not working
alone. I don't know what to do. I have the facility on silent lockdown,
no one exits or leaves but it's not been announced. I don't want
anyone else in this building to know we're on to them!"

She was curious. "Who was it?"

The Commander didn't want to say it. "Robert Hodges. I believe you knew
him once..."

She was stunned. "Yes, he was a janitor there when I was active. I
never would have thought he'd be involved... how'd he smuggle the
devices in?"

"His shoe had a concealed tray with a lining to mask it from bug
sweeps."

"Well, then," she said. "Its simple... search everyone's shoes!"

"That will take time, but... we have no choice, do we?" Wiping his
glasses, he added, "your daughter and sister are beyond all suspicion,
and I have little reason to suspect involvement of the woman who works
in the records department."

Rouge blurted out, "Tiff is my sister's lover. No need to try and
make it sound different."

"Of course... those three I don't suspect. You may have been a thief
but you were loyal to your government and I would doubt those three to
be any different. However... no one else is beyond such careful
scrutiny. Not even..."

She knew who he meant. "Rouge, is there ANY reason that Shadow the
Hedgehog should be removed from my list?"

She wanted to defend him, defend her old friend, but her mind recalled
what Shadow had done. Sleeping with her own mother ten years ago and
keeping it quiet. "I can't say that. I'm sorry," she apologized, "but
Shadow always had his own goals. I doubt he's involved but make sure.
Check everyone. I have two of my family in there and a third who's
practically family. I want them to be safe."

"I'm doing my best," he said. The screen went blank.


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Every employee and soldier in the base had to be checked. The team
running the tests was small, limited to Teal, the Commander himself and
only a small handful of elite high-ranking soldiers that had been
cleared. They had kept it secret why everyone's shoes were being
inspected, though they received a fair number of odd looks and
arguments about it.

The shoes were bad enough, of course, but checking all loose personal
belongings was taking more time.

Teal picked up the lipstick tube, carefully touching every bit of the
casing, the button pressing in to pop the bottom loose. Pulling the
sleeve off, she found a storage rack with two unused spy bugs.
Dumping out the purse, she found identification, handing it to the
elite. "Go get her," she ordered, the guard stepping into the next room
and cuffing the woman.

"Sweep found six planted bugs already," the Commander stated. "And we
have four in custody, with five of the placed bugs accounted for."

"Well, she wasn't the sixth, "Teal said, showing him the container.

"Right... the women's locker room is done. Men's is next." The
Commander led Teal to check all lockers. One by one they sorted through
everything in each.

The shoe opened. Teal counted four devices, two slots. "I think we have
a seventh bug somewhere still!"

"Sweep's not done yet," the Commander said, "they'll find it." Checking
the wallet in the locker, they stepped out. "You."

"Me? But..." the man said, stunned. "Look, can't be me, those aren't
even my shoes! What's that sticking out of them?"

Their suspect was in his workout clothes, no doubt why his office suit
was in the locker. "Wait!" Teal shouted. Looking the storage shoe over,
she bent down to look at the shoes their suspect had on. Checking
the tags, she said, "sizes don't match. He's wearing size eleven, this
is eleven wide..."

They looked the room over carefully. One of the men was wincing,
sitting with his feet off the floor. "Shoes too small? Detain him!"
Before anyone could do as ordered, the man bolted, tackling the
Commander to the floor. Elbowing one of the guards, he took the gun,
taking pot-shots as he ran. "Damn!" Teal helped her boss to his feet.
Unclipping his radio, he said, "all GUN soldiers be alert! We have an
escapee! Male, tall, red hair, armed!"

Gathering whatever troops were with them, they ran through the
halls. The spy was pinned down in the entrance hall, but had enough
firepower to keep GUN at bay. Taking cover, the Commander muttered,
"we'll never be able to take this guy down while he's still got
ammunition left!"

"I have an idea," Teal spoke, "not a good one but..." Without waiting
for confirmation, she flew to the ceiling and quickly dashed across the
room. Pulling her pistol, she was quick to aim. The bullet passed
through her target's arm, rifle dropped as blood sprayed from the
wound.

"Clear!" one of the troops shouted as they rushed him, securing the loose
weapon. "Medical team to the front entrance!"

"Sir! Shadow the Hedgehog is requesting to be allowed inside!"

The Commander, content all was under control, ordered, "let him in
but keep a FULL watch! He's still not been cleared!"

Troops lined the entrance, weapons ready. The door unsealed as Shadow
stepped in, followed by Miles Prower. "Sir," he greeted.

Behind them wheeled in a tall cart with a man strapped to it. The
man was old and instantly recognized. "Ivo Robotnik?" The GUN Commander
was shocked.

From behind, Robotnik stepped. "No, that would be me," the old man said.

Confused, Teal asked, "then who's that?"

Robotnik explained, "this is Eggman Nega... he comes from an alternate
dimension. Seems he has been here for some time."

"He's been behind the spy operation," Tails explained. "Our equipment
at the lab picked up on the signal he was using to received pirated
radio transmissions from GUN. Seems he was rather angry that his
spy plans were busted, but it was trivial to follow his signal. I found
Shadow and we were able to bring him in."

Taking almost no interest in the situation, Shadow simply said, "I'm
going to fill out the necessary reports," walking away.

Eggman Nega was furious. "Of all people to go good, you, Eggman,
had to ruin my plans here..."

Angry, Robotnik swung his cane, striking Eggman Nega. "Do not call me
that anymore!"


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"I'm so proud of my little sister," Rouge shouted out, hugging June.

"Hey, what about me?" Teal seemed a bit offended. "I had to go
sweeping for bugs, inspecting shoes all day and then had to shoot
one of the spies!"

Hugging her daughter, Rouge said, "you did good, too!"

"Yeah, they get all the credit." Tiff was mad. "I had to sit in GUN
lockdown for six hours in the dungeon while everyone else got go
have the real fun! Six hours of securing files!"

"Aww, don't be mad, Tiff, I'll make it better..." June wrapped her
arms around the bat girl, inviting her to their room.

Tom put his hand on Teal's shoulder. "You doing okay?"

"Just fine, dad, why?"

"You DID shoot someone," he said.

She replied, "yeah, in the ARM. I'm fine, dad!"

"Just... if you aren't, come talk to me, okay?"

Flying up, Teal hugged her father. "Daddy, you worry too much!"