Look away, quickly!

Rouge quickly turned her head. "Oh geez, that was close. Not a wise thing to hypnotise yourself on the eve of your greatest caper ever." Storing the jewel in her pouch, she sat down and thought about her options. Right now, two people topped the list of girls she wanted on her side.

Princess Sally Acorn, current ruler of Knothole Village. Normally, Rouge wouldn't bother with her. After all, Sally never crossed paths with her. But this wasn't anything personal. Rouge had always dreamed of being a rich and powerful queen. And if she could reduce Sally to a mindless ****, it would be too easy to convince her to sign over all ruling power to the thief.

Then there was Tikal. The spirit inside the Master Emerald. It's one thing to be a queen, but quite another to be a goddess. She knew the echidna had a weakness towards emeralds, so the chances of her hypnotic gem affecting her were high. But if she was wrong, Rouge might end up an offering for Chaos, the water creature sealed inside with Tikal. The thought of what that demon would do to her sent shudders down the bat's spine.

She drummed her fingers along the table, thinking....