That's right! Double upload! :D
Shadow fidgeted in his seat in the meeting hall.
The Commander was in the front of the room, talking to all of the GUN agents about training this week amongst other things. Everyone was quiet and attentive, some were even taking notes on their computers or note pads. Overall, things were relatively relaxed as it should.
Shadow wasn't feeling that way, however.
He had just wet his diaper a little under an hour ago. Normally when a toddler would use their diaper or pull up, they would tell their mother about it. But Shadow was no toddler! Even though he was wearing a diaper, there was no way in hell he would ever act so childish…
...is what he would've said before he ended up wetting himself.
Now, he was just waiting for this meeting to be over so that he could get a new diaper! Or, y'know, he could simply tell Rouge the issue so that she could handle it.
The hedgehog glanced over to the bat, who was sitting right next to him, and saw that she was on her phone. He bit his lip and gently tapped her on the shoulder.
Rouge turned to him and whispered. "What's up hun?"
Shadow gulped before whispered, almost inaudibly. "Um...I...kinda…"
"You what?"
"Uh…" his face was burning. "I...I sort of..."
The bat raised an eyebrow before realization struck, her eyes going wide. She then smirked slyly. "Speak up~!"
Shadow gritted his teeth, glaring at her but still blushing. "You know…"
"No I don't. You need to put it into words hun~!"
His eye twitched. "I'm gonna kill you once all of this is over-"
"Rouge. Shadow."
The Mobians looked over and noticed the Commander was standing right by them. Shadow looked at the table while Rouge grinned sheepishly.
"Explain to me why you two are talking?"
Everyone's eyes were on them now and Shadow had never felt so embarrassed. He plopped his head on the table while Rouge answered the question.
"Well you see Commander. Shadow and I were just talking about...uh…"
"Nothing important." Omega finished. "Our greatest apologies Commander Tower."
"It's alright Omega." the human stated. "Go out in the hallway and continue your conversation. Then, head up to my office."
"Affirmative."
The machine grabbed the two Mobians by their hands and walked with them out of the meeting hall.
Once they were outside, the robot closed the door and stared daggers at the bat. "Why were the two of you horseplaying?"
"We were not!" Rouge snapped before she turned to the other Mobian. "Shadow just-"
She stopped when she noticed he was gone. Her turquoise eyes scanned the hall but there was no sign of Shadow anywhere. She was about to tell Omega but he was already on the move. The bat quickly followed.
~I~I~
Shadow had hidden himself in a bathroom stall.
This was the worst day of his life. Not only was he stuck wearing a wet diaper and got in trouble by the Commander, but now he was sobbing and he couldn't stop himself! He tried to when Omega had taken them into the hallway but it didn't work.
Why was he so emotional? He had no problem keeping his composure when he was having the nightmares! Maybe he should stop taking the medication, then the dreams would end and life would go back to normal. Sure, he would be fearful about the night terrors but that would be better than tarnishing his image.
He sniffled sharply as a knock sounded from the bathroom door. He tucked himself further into the stall, making sure his entire body was on top of the toilet seat before exclaiming in a broken voice.
"Go away! Come back in an hour!"
"It's Rouge and Omega." the bat's voice hollered back. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine…" he tried to sound normal that time but it didn't work out so great. "Wait for me upstairs…"
"No way hun. We're waiting out here for you."
Shadow pouted before burying his face in his huddled knees. He continued to sniffle and sob until he heard the bathroom door open. He wiped his eyes as he heard heavy footsteps and looked down to see Omega's mechanical feet.
"I'm in here Omega…" the hedgehog stated with a sniffle, getting up and opening the door to the stall he was in.
The robot looked over Shadow for a second before glancing around the room. His metallic eyes looked at the floor before turning back to the hedgehog.
"Do you mind if I change your diaper on the floor?" the machine asked as the hedgehog noticed he was carrying Rouge's duffle bag. "I would suggest a table but there isn't any in this room."
The Mobian nodded, wiping his eyes harshly.
Omega nodded, gesturing Shadow to lay on the floor. He complied albeit nervously, causing the robot to reassure him.
"Do not fret, Rouge is outside to make sure no one comes in."
The hedgehog sighed a little and nodded as Omega got to work. He rummaged through the duffle bag and pulled out an clean diaper, plastic pants, wipes and baby powder. Gingerly, the robot used his long metal fingers to grasp onto Shadow's sweatpants and pull them down.
Shadow immediately broke down as the smell of urine reached his senses.
"Goddamnit…!" he hissed, causing Omega to stop as he was about to remove the dirty plastic pants.
"What's the matter?" he asked, sounding as concerned as a robot could. "Did I hurt you?"
"No! It's just…" Shadow whimpered, trying to calm down but failing. "Just...this! Why am I so fucking emotional!? I'm not a goddamn baby! I'm the Ultimate Lifeform! I'm Shadow the Hedgehog! I shouldn't be like this! I shouldn't be...so...so vulnerable and childish!"
The hedgehog screamed, sounding like a mix of a sob and a growl. Either way you looked at it, he was clearly upset. And it only made matters worse when he started crying again. Not bawling, just sobbing uncontrollably into his gloved hands.
There was a knock on the door and Omega turned to it.
"Is everything alright in there?" it was Rouge. "Want me to come in?"
"We're alright." the machine answered. "I can try to console him."
"Alright, I'm putting an out of order sign I found from the girls' bathroom nearby on the door! That way nobody can bother you two! I'm gonna go talk to the Commander, okay?"
"Understood."
As the bat's high heeled strides were heard walking away from the restroom, Omega turned back to Shadow. The hedgehog was still a mess in more ways than one since he was still emotionally upset. He sighed and leaned in close to the Mobian.
"Shadow...listen to me."
He sniffled and looked at the machine with broken eyes.
"I am a robot, created for the use of destruction." Omega stated, ripping off the plastic pants. "I was made to tear things apart, to hurt people, to kill. I was made with no feelings, nothing but stoic understanding and anger. Those two things are the only things I can comprehend in terms of emotion. You...cannot expect to be just like me."
Shadow blinked away his tears and stared at Omega with wide eyes.
"What you want to be is something malleable. Something that people could bend to their will. Something inanimate and inhuman. You don't want to be that way. Because that is not who you are.
"What you are is...human. You are just as capable of having emotion as any other being on this planet. Beings that were created out of love and were bred to feel all these varying emotions and die knowing that they've made an impact on this world, whether good or bad. It's all up to them."
Shadow stared at the floor, feeling small tear droplets sliding down his cheeks. But he didn't wipe them away this time. He let them fall and sighed as Omega's words started to sink in.
"And Shadow," the hedgehog blinked as his teammate used his metal finger to lift his chin so that the two stared eye-to-eye. "I admire that."
Shadow blinked. "Really?"
"Affirmative…" he finally started untaping the dirty diaper. "When I worked with the Doctor and I was initially tasked to watch over you, I thought that that would be the only thing I did before being scraped. But you and Rouge let me come along with you to the outside world. Not only because I wanted to get revenge on Eggman but because I wanted to know what it felt like to be out and about. Being able to annihilate what I like, being able to fight the doctor on this team..."
The hedgehog smiled. "I guess you could say that you're happy now, huh?"
Omega turned to Shadow and nodded, a glint of delight in his eyes. "...affirmative."
"I'm glad."
"As am I." The robot's eyes then shifted to the hedgehog's nether region and added. "But I am not very happy about the rash you have received from the diaper…"
The Mobian grumbled. "Goddamnit…"