Rouge was desperately trying to justify her actions.

After the ARK incident, the CIA had given her a lengthy
'vacation'-- for a job well done, they said-- one they actually
expected her to spend recuperating. The president himself had
asked her to stay away from Robotnik and anything involving
the ARK until she was reassigned to.

As for Robotnik, he hadn't contacted her since. He certainly
wouldn't be expecting her in his base, snooping around.

Getting into the doctors base had been easy enough, and hacking
his was childsplay. For a brilliant scientist, Robotniks security
systems were laughable. No wonder the hedgehog always
bested him.

The documents she was currently copying, however, were a
testament to Robotniks genius. They were schematics for an
android so unique that Rouge could only just grasp the
complexity of it. There were androids out there that closely
mimicked living things, but nothing on this scale. Nothing.

The precise blueprints, engineering references, and technical
information may have gone over her head... but Rouge knew
exactly what this machine was. What is was for.

Now all she needed was to find him.

Popping out the portadisk, now loaded with information that she
was sure would come to good use later, she logged off the
terminal and walked away. Carefully avoiding the multitude of
robots and keeping out of the range of its security cameras,
Rouge made her way through the base. Passing hallways, storage
rooms, and bunkers of all kinds, she investigated every nook and
cranny.

It was in a rather inconspicuous room filled with half-built
machines and battered boxed of parts that she found the capsule.
With a sly grin, she tugged off the heavy canvas cover that hid
it.

She had disobeyed her employer, the president, and risked
suspicion from her target... but it was all justified.

Rouge had just found the payoff.

- - lament - -
Fanfic by Jixie 2005
Sonic © SEGA

The capsule was easy enough to open. How to awaken its contents,
she wasn't quite sure. Rouge was puzzling over it when a loud
crash interrupted.

She turned around in time to come face-to-face with an E series
robot, it's weapon aimed right at her. Doing a quick double-
take, she realized that it wasn't aiming at her but at the
capsule behind her.

"Must eliminate all Eggman robots!" the robot announced. Rouge
stood her ground, unsure if it would wait for her to move... or
if it'd just shoot through her. She didn't get a chance to find
out.

The Shadow android tackled her, putting them both out of the
robots aim. It started shooting wildly and Shadow dodged the
fire, dragging Rouge along with him. He ducked behind the capsule
and dropped her ungraciously.

"Stay here."

It was hard to stay put. Not wanting to miss any of the action,
she peered out from behind the capsule and watched. At least she
didn't have to figure out how to turn the Shadow android on.

He darted and wove, avoiding each shot. The robot was determined,
however, and did not let up. Rouge hadn't noticed it at first,
but now she saw that it was covered in a thick film of dust. It
must have been sitting for quite a while.

Shadow looked as if he was about the charge the robot, and the E
robot raised its arms to attack. "Must eliminate all Eggman
robots!" it barked again. Suddenly things clicked into place and
Rouge knew she had to stop them.

Jumping out from behind the capsule, she threw herself into the
middle of the fray. The two stopped hesitantly. She dared either
of them to ignore her. "Quit this nonsense."

"Bat-mobian. Warning: you will be shot if you continue to stand
in the way," the robot intoned.

"That thing is going to kill us," Shadow said blandly.

"No one is going to kill anyone." Turning to face to robot, she
looked it up and down. "Do you have a name?"

"Introduction: model E-123 Omega, serial number BADNIK00538725."

"I'm Rouge," she offered. "What is your purpose?"

"Objective: to protect warehouse room 32-B from all intruders."

"Then why are you trying to kill him, and not me?"

The E-123 raised its weapon, then lowered it. If it was possible
for a robot to look confused, this one did. "Must eliminate all
Eggman robots," it repeated weakly.

Rouge furrowed her brows in confusion. There was no reason
Robotnik would build a robot that would destroy his other
creations. Then again, she knew the robots had some degree of
free will. Was it possible this one had turned against his
creator, as some of the other 'defective' E models had in the
past?

"Why do you want to destroy Eggmans other projects?" she asked.

The E-123 seemed reluctant to reply. "Rouge," it addressed her,
"Statement: E-123 Omega, serial number BADNIK00538725, has
been abandoned in warehouse room 32-B for 5,043 hours, 7.3 minuets.
Eggman has forgotten it. New objective: destroy all Eggmans
robots for this negligence."

Grinning wildly, she glanced from Shadow to E-123. "Well, you can
leave him alone then. Shadow was created by Dr. Gerald Robotnik,
'Eggmans' grandfather. Right Shadow?"

The hedgehog stared at her blankly. "Who?"

"Never mind," she said quickly. "See, we want to 'eliminate
Eggmans robots' also. You can help us E-123."

"We do?" asked Shadow.

"Rouge. Statement: Omega is preferred."

Nodding, she turned her attention back to Shadow. "I take it this
means you can't remember anything." If she was lucky, Robotnik
hadn't programmed any crazy objectives or homicidal tendencies
into Shadow either.

"Yes. How do you know my name?"

"I knew you before the accident," she explained. Before he could
ask what accident, she grabbed his hand and the E-123s. "Shadow,
Omega. We're all looking for Robotnik. We should look for him
together!"

"Agreement: it will be faster to work together."

"Whatever, lady."

It was hard to contain her excitement. "Aw yeah, baby! This makes
us a TEAM!"

The two stared at her in disbelief. Rouge shrugged it off; if
these two were going to be such killjoys, she'd just have to make
up for the both of them.


They had been hunting down Robotnik for several days, with no
signs of the crazy doctor. Rouge had taken a liking to Omega, the
robot was almost child-like in its innocence and honesty. Shadow
showed no signs of memory or deranged programming, but his
attitude was intact, exactly as Rouge knew him... without any
mentions of the dearly departed Maria. That was a relief.

Rouge almost danced when they finally cleared out of the lost
jungle. She was never really the 'woodsy' type, and it was nice
to be headed back towards civilization. She was day dreaming
about doing a little 'gem shopping' when Shadow suddenly stopped.

"Hey," he said, looking at something off in the distance.

Her good mood was dashed when she saw who was heading towards
them. It was Sonic and his two-tailed tagalong... and that
echidna. They seemed to be in a hurry.

"That hedgehog," Shadow was starting to sound a little anxious,
"he looks..."

"Yea yea, he's your stinking long lost twin."

"I have a brother?"

Rouge slapped her face. "No, I was just kidding. Let's get out of
here before they see us."

The trio changed course and tried to avoid being spotted, but it
was too late. Racing ahead of his friends, Sonic approached them,
grinning like a maniac.

"HEY! Talk about being stubborn and full of surprises- if it
isn't the black hedgehog himself!"

Shadow fixed Sonic with one of his infamous blank stares. It
changed into a look of apprehension when Sonic stepped closer, as
if he was about to give him a pat on the shoulder or something
like it. Rouge stepped between the two, just in time for Tails
and Knuckles to catch up.

"Is it really...?"

"Sonic! How--"

"Long time, no see boys!" Rouge cut them off. If Sonic and crew
were running around like this, they were probably hunting for
Robotnik. In that case, she didn't want them getting in the way.
"Too bad you came all this way for nothing. We'll take it from
here!"

"What?" Knuckles sputtered. "What are you talking about, thief?"

Omega stepped forward, raising its weapon. "Objective: sensors
locked on Eggman. Warning: non-complaint intruders will be
destroyed!"

Sonic folded his arms across his chest, tapping his foot in
irritation. "Duh. We haven't had much luck finding him. No point
in fighting, we have a date with Eggman too."

"Well then, it'll be a date to -die- for." Shadow had the barest
hint of a smirk on his face. Rouge stared at him in surprise,
either he was joking or he'd just delivered one of the hokiest
lines she'd ever heard.

"Hey!" Sonic countered, determined to top Shadow off with
stupidity. "That's MY line!"


As irritating as it was, Rouge was not surprised when the banter
degenerated into a fist-fight -- or rather, a quill fight. She
and Tails were smart enough not to get involved and Omega stayed
out of it at Rouges order.

In honesty, Sonic, Knuckles, and Shadow were all just about
equally matched. With the advantage of greater numbers on their
side, Sonic and Knuckles should have won the fight. They might
have, had they actually cooperated. Their inability to work well
together meant that the display of male bravado ended in a draw.

This was fine by Rouge, although the boys seemed unhappy about
it.

After a while they reluctantly agreed that all six of them
searching would yield better results. Planning out territories
so they wouldn't cover the same ground twice... something they'd
already inadvertently done... they headed off in opposite
directions. Rouge was hoping they wouldn't meet up again.


The Egg Emperor had been a real pain to defeat, and Rouge was
feeling frustrated with the whole situation. She knew that Sonic
and his dumb friends- including that obnoxious echidna- and some
looser detective group were also looking for Robotnik, and that
none of them were any closer to when they'd started.

Needing a distraction, she started checking out the base. No
matter where you were there was always treasure to be found, and
Rouge was just the person to find it. It was Doctor Robotniks
personal flagship, surely there were things lying about that
would provide some interest (and if she was lucky, cash).

Shadow found the idea dreadfully boring, and left to hang around
for them out on the deck. Omega stayed with Rouge, following her
like a big robotic puppy dog. She skipped past the areas they had
fought in; they'd already been pilfered of anything valuable.
She and Omega meandered around for a while, digging through
storage rooms, hacking computer, and blowing up any robots they
came across.

...and then she stumbled into the room.

"How did I miss this?"

Nothing in Robotniks notes or plans had hinted at it. The Shadow
android design was so complicated that it seemed impossible to
mass produce. She didn't understand, as easy as Robotniks
computer had been to hack, how she'd missed any reference to
these androids.

"How could he do this?"

There were hundreds of capsules. They were lined from one wall to
the other, each of them identical. Rouge groaned with
frustration; this was... unbelievable.

She'd known that Robotnik designed and built an android, one that
perfectly replicated his Grandfathers creation. She'd known that
Shadow could never have survived the fall to Earth, that the
current hedgehog must be a machine. She just hadn't known that
Robotnik made more than one.

A lot more.

Peering into one of the capsules, she shook with disgust. What
were they going to do? It was bad enough Shadow was an android,
how would he react to learning he was one of hundreds? Hadn't
Robotnik ever heard of 'too much of a good thing'?

"Damn you, Eggman!" she snarled, kicking the capsule.

Omega watched her from the doorway. Rearing up, it locked its
firing mechanism onto the nearest capsule.

"Must eliminate all Eggman robots. Prepare to destroy immediate
area!"

"Omega..." The robot watched her, waiting patiently for her to
move out of the way. Rouge headed for the door, pausing in front
of the E-123. "I... haven't told anyone, but Shadow is a robot.
Please don't tell him. And..." No, she was only making things
worse. "Never mind. I'm sorry I said anything. Blow this mess up,
Omega, and lets get the hell out of here."

She ducked under Omegas arm and strolled out of the room. Its
head turned to see her leave. "Rouge. Observation: cloning
requires an original to create the copy. Hypothesis: the Shadow
outside is the original these clones are based off of."

"They're robots," Rouge corrected sharply, and instantly
regretted using such a harsh tone. She glanced over her shoulder
at Omega. "I'm sorry. The real Shadow is dead."


She wished she could say it was magical. That it happened under
the star filled sky while they were covered in a blanket of cool
spring air and moonlight, a scene from a young girls romance
fantasy.

It happened nothing like that.

Rouge left Omega to wreak destruction on Robotniks base and went
outside where Shadow was milling about. "That was a huge waste of
time," she said, throwing her hands in the air. "I might as well
go look for the Master Emerald, since that irritating echidna is
here."

Shadow snorted and gave her a bemused look. "Some things never
change, do they?"

Unable to stop the blush, Rouge looked away. "Emeralds are a
girls best friend," she muttered, trying steer the topic away
from Knuckles.

Her mind drifted back to the androids, and Shadow. Was it
possible Omega knew something she didn't? After all, he'd been
locked in a separate room with this Shadow. It made sense that
this one was a prototype of some sort, but she almost wanted to
believe that...

...that it was really Shadow, flesh and blood.

In retrospect, she wasn't quite sure what motivated her to act.
It was some twisted determination to find out if he was a machine
or not. She reached out and grabbed him. After all, a realistic
android could only be so realistic.

Shadow had the decency to look surprised, but made no attempt to
stop her. It didn't take long for the unexpected groping to
become more intense, and she found herself exploring with her
hands, touching...

And then they were on the ground. Rouges bodysuit came off with
only a little bit of hassle. No moon, no stars. Only the hot sun
and the wind, and Eggmans flying base underneath.

Physically it was a pleasant experience. Shadow was agile and
well equipped and Rouges body reacted in all the right ways. He
fucked like he fought, with a grim and quiet determination. She
half expected him to call out Marias name, but when it was time
all she got was a primordial grunt. Rouge had wanted something
special-- this was empty sex, insensate and unfeeling.

She was surprised how much that hurt.


Two nights later, Rouge got as close to her starlight fantasy as
she could have hoped. About halfway through the dream Shadow
turned out to be Knuckles, and somehow that made it... even
better...

A blood-chilling scream woke her abruptly. She sat up, heart
racing, the dream all but forgotten. "Chaos!" she cursed, jumping
to her feet. "What happened?"

After discerning they were not under attack, she glanced at her
teammates. Omega was standing alert while Shadow lay prone, eyes
wide and slightly glazed. She approached carefully.

"Shadow..."

On hearing his name, the hedgehog sat up, somewhat uneasily.
"Where am I?" he asked, bewildered.

"We're just outside of Westopolis. What happened?"

The question was met with a blank stare. "I... I don't know.
What...?" he shook his head, as if trying to clear it.

Rouge sat down beside Shadow. She wanted to hug him, to console
him somehow, but when she reached out he pulled away from her
touch. "Shadow," trying to sound frightened as possible, "hold
me."

He relented, and she took advantage of it. Hoping that any
contact would provide some comfort, she rested her head under his
chin and listened to the unnaturally fast heartbeat.

Although he couldn't remember anything from the past, it was
haunting Shadows nightmares. Rouge decided that could only mean
one thing. Omega was right.

Android or not, he didn't have any feelings for her. Shadow only
cared for two people... himself, and a young human girl who died
tragically.

"You're crying," he observed.

"They're happy tears," she lied.

Fin