Sonic the Hedgehog

Surprise

Illuminating the evil genius's grinning face with a yellow, bright glow is the sixth chaos emerald held proudly in his gloved hand. No longer awed by their ancient light, Eggman's excitement comes purely from the ever-higher probability of his plan's success.

Once his impossibly magnificent creation absorbs the yellow emerald's power, it'll just need one more of the seven gems to fully be operational. The phantom ruby. Its boundless potential outweighs that of all of the chaos emeralds put together. Its wielder will be the first being in existence to know true power... and that privilege can only be reserved for one man.

Standing before the Doctor in the large Control Room after yet another mission success are Rouge and E-123 Omega. Their third teammate is currently regaining the energy he completely exhausted back in Scrapyard. The pondering bat can't get the image of that final chaos blast out of her head.

Those emeralds... they seem drawn to him... Rouge internally observes, a finger on her chin. I never really connected the dots, but... is there a link between the two? His chaos abilities have to have something to do with it. Should I ask him?

Her wandering thoughts are put on hold once Eggman finally addresses the two standing below his elevated chair.

"Is this a recurring thing now? Do one of you have to be unconscious after an operation? Well, at least this time, you actually completed said operation."

"I am forever grateful for your thoughtful recognition," Rouge replies, her blatant sarcasm not being lost on the Doc.

Though, the phrasing of that sentence does remind him of someone. His hairless brow furrows once he realizes that specific someone is missing.

"Have either of you seen Metal Sonic?" Eggman asks, looking down at his two hired subordinates.

"I dunno," Rouge nonchalantly shrugs. "We heard a lot of explosions back there. It could've been Shadow, but some didn't sound like any of his chaos attacks. It may have been the enemy."

"But why hasn't Metal returned yet?" Eggman sits up, gripping the handles of his chair. "If Sonic caught up, then, don't tell me..."

Unexpectedly, the hovering chair starts descending to the floor. Once the two touch, Eggman hops off his self-made throne, and he wistfully approaches the right side of the see-through, rectangular window fully wrapped around the room. He places a hand on the glass, watching as the grey clouds speed by in a blur.

"Was he actually bested?" He wonders again. "There's just no way- he couldn't have been. Not my greatest ally..."

He lowers his head, lost in contemplation. Rouge is unsure how to react. Is this the same man she's been answering to these past five days? Feelings shouldn't be part of the equation for him.

Breaking his burning gaze at his creator, E-123 Omega turns around and walks to the room's exit. The slightly bewildered spy decides to join him, aware that this isn't the best time to ask about her pay.

Besides, for once in her entire life, there are more pressing matters.

...