E-123 Omega was waiting for them on the ground. All they had to do was jump at the right time, and meet him at the base of the flare he'd send out at exactly eleven o' clock AM. Simple. Too simple.
"This is Sigma Alpha three, and we're en route. Everything's a go." The pilot of the GUN helicopter muttered into a walkie talkie as Shadow and Rouge went over the steps of skydiving again.
"So once you open your chute, give me the thumbs-up. We'll take it from there. Got it?" Rouge asked.
Shadow nodded.
"Good."
"Alright, agents. Ready?" The pilot asked, his voice nearly a yell to be heard over the vehicle.
The two Mobians slid on their parachutes and got into position next to the open door. "Ready." They both replied.
"You're safe to go."
Neither one of them went. They were both nervous. It was, after all, their first time skydiving on a mission. Rouge took a deep breath and Shadow cracked his knuckles. "On my mark." The black hedgehog told her.
"Okay."
He began to count to three. "One, two, three!"
They both jumped, and were soaring toward the ground at incredible speeds before either one noticed.
"You okay?!" Shadow shouted over the wind.
"Yes!" Came the reply.
"Stay with me, alright?!" He grabbed her by the wrist, so that they wouldn't drift apart. After they were about three thousand feet from the ground, Rouge called out, "Okay, open your chute!" She pulled her main handle and Rouge's parachute opened safely. She gave Shadow a thumbs-up in the split second before he passed her in the air, showing that everything was working fine.
Shadow quickly began to do the same, before he got any lower. He pulled the main handle on his parachute.
But nothing happened.
Relax. He told himself. Count. They said to wait three seconds in training. One-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand.
But again, nothing happened.
"Dammit!" He screamed. Rouge was still far above him, but he imagined she was looking down with alarm. "This won't be the end of me!" He yelled at the wind. "What's my altitude…?" He checked his altimeter. Shadow was still above a thousand feet. There was time to try and fix this. Trying desperately to remember what the instructor had said, he found his main parachute cutaway handle, on the right side of his rig, near his chest. Shadow pulled with all of his might, and the useless chute was discarded from his person.
Okay, uh, backup parachute…
His shaky hand found his backup parachute deployment handle and pulled, again, with all of his might.
Nothing. Again.
"SHADOW!" Rouge yelled down to him, seeing that both of his chutes didn't seem to be opening. She had to blink tears out of her eyes to see clearly. Was it from the wind or the fact that Shadow was now going to hit the ground at a hundred and fifteen miles an hour? What did it even matter? He was surely going to die.
Suddenly, her walkie-talkie sounded. "Rouge, it's Shadow." He sounded scared and out of breath.
"Yeah?" She tried to choke back her sobs, but she was just as scared as he was.
"I'm free-falling."
"I know, Shadow…"
"Rouge?" There was a pause. "It was a pleasure serving with you."
"No, Shadow, please-"
"You can't see me, but I'm saluting right now. You gave me a great past few years, friend."
"...Goodbye, Shadow…"
There was another pause before he replied, "Goodbye, Rouge."
Shadow took his thumb off the "speak" button and set his left hand back out in skydiving position. His right hand remained in a salute. The tops of trees looked severely close now. The clearing they were set to land in looked nearly tangible from his altitude.
"So this is really the end, isn't it, Maria?" He whispered, hardly even able to hear his own voice. "See you soon."
Rouge watched him hit the ground.
-XXX-
Bright, bright lights. Everywhere. Too bright for comfort. Ebony eyelids flew open. "He's awake." Said an unfamiliar voice.
Shadow looked down at himself. He was in a hospital bed. Somehow, someway.
"This can't be real…" He muttered. Then he looked up and saw Rouge, standing at the foot of his bed with a doctor on her right. She was holding a bouquet of flowers, and her eyes were sparkling.
"It's real, Shadow." She replied, the happiness evident in her voice.
"But… My parachutes… They didn't open. How is that possible?"
She slowly walked over to him and sat down on the side of the bed. A smile appeared on her face as she said, "Let me answer that question with another question. Does being the Ultimate Life Form sound familiar to you?"
He probably would've smiled one of his rare half smiles, if his face had allowed it. But Shadow was in a lot of pain, once he began to think about it.
"On the other hand, you do have two broken legs and one broken arm. And a lot of bruises."
"Ugh…"
"Shadow?".
"Yeah?"
"I'm really glad you're okay. These are for you." She held out the flowers for him to see. "I'll leave them here." She got up and set them on a bedside table. "So, I don't think I'll ever go skydiving again."
She smiled at Shadow. It reminded him of Maria. He remembered truly thinking that he was finally going to meet up with her again, but then realized that he really didn't want to just yet. There were other things in life to live for, anyway. Like Rouge.
"Me neither." He agreed.
"I'll be right back." She announced after a little while, beginning to walk toward the door.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
"To get a vase and some water for those flowers."
He looked over at them. "They look alright for now. Sit with me a little longer, would you?"
Her smile became a beam of excitement. Shadow had never asked her to stay with him before. "Sure." She sat back down on his bed.
"What ever happened to the mission?" He asked.
"E-123 took care of it. He's got things under control, don't worry." There was a brief silence before she asked, "So, how are you feeling?"
He gave her a weak thumbs-up. Rouge laughed. "Good."
"What's so funny?"
"If you ask me, that thumbs-up is long overdue."
Shadow looked out the window, imagining the clearing where he almost safely landed.
"At least you got one in the end."