Rouge flew low to the ground alongside Ivo as they made their way to the transporter room. The doctor, thankfully, didn't sustain any major injuries. Unlike Maria, he seemed to be made of steel, staying resilient with a remarkable constitution.
It both relieved her and filled her with bitterness.
Once they reached the room, the doctor leapt out of his mech and made his way to the console, tapping away at the keys and muttering under his breath. Rouge stayed back, looking over the screen, giving her wings one final flap before relaxing them at her back. A few programs flickered to life, and then an image of an empty hallway came into view.
Ah. Ivo was double-checking the camera feeds.
"He said the observation deck… which should be around…"
The image changed a couple of times before the sight of Sonic, a fox in a walking plane, and the pink hedgehog who had accidentally embraced Shadow on the island flashed before their eyes. It seemed as though the group was, indeed, heading toward the reactor.
"There they are," Ivo murmured, crossing his arms. "And no Knuckles in sight… I wonder where Shadow chased him off to?"
Rouge had no response, so she stayed silent.
The doctor switched displays to a map of the ARK, with the stern in a bird's eye view. A few sections on the colony's starboard side were lit up, and Ivo seemed to think that was very interesting indeed.
"This is strange… It's showing energy readings from two separate Chaos Emeralds!" With a huff, one of his hands raised to fiddle with his moustache, and Rouge puzzled over this new bit of information. How could there be eight emeralds?
But it seemed Ivo had an answer ready. "Did they really think they could trick me with that fake emerald?" he scoffed, and Rouge blinked in surprise. How did they manage to find or create a fake Chaos Emerald? These kids couldn't be that old at all, so how could they pull something like that off? For the first time since the mission began, Rouge was beginning to feel out of her depth. She hadn't anticipated a fake emerald, and who knew what other tricks their uninvited guests had up their sleeves. She turned away from the screen, taking a few steps, determined to clear her head and refocus on the task before her. It wouldn't do to start doubting herself now.
She was the Ultimate Lifeform. She needed to start acting like it.
"Wait, Rouge!" Ivo called after her, halting her footsteps. "I'm the one who should be telling them the end is near, not you!"
Rouge glanced at her feet; she had almost stepped onto the transporter platform. It seemed as though Ivo thought she was ready to go and make quick work of the intruders.
Rouge wished that had been the case.
"Now is the time to end this long, drawn-out battle and mark myself a place in history as the ultimate genius!" Ivo continued as the bat stepped away from the transporter. In turn, the doctor made his way back into his mech, and the loud, heavy footfalls clamored in the small, quiet room as he stepped onto the transporter. "If something happens to me, I'm counting on you to finish the job!"
The bat swallowed and nodded, still not saying a word. This was it. This was the final obstacle before she could grant Maria's dying wish. She couldn't stop now.
"Hurry! The moment for attack has come! It's now or never!"
With that, Ivo transported himself up to the colony, leaving Rouge behind to observe the feeds and plan her backup strategy.
On the surface of the colony, Shadow marvelled at the technology keeping him firmly on the ground, as well as that which allowed him to breathe. He kicked at the rocky surface, watching a small cloud of dust rise and then settle back down, and whispered an amazed 'wow' under his breath. How did such incredible technology exist as far back as fifty years ago? Just how much advanced tech existed that was kept hidden from him and everyone else?
A noise made his ears perk up, and he looked above to see a gliding red figure grab a green shard out of the air. Shadow's mouth dropped open as he saw Knuckles the Echidna keep running and jumping around, scaling large steel beams and high platforms, fiercely resolute in his quest to reassemble that emerald…
Did he seriously punch it so hard that he sent some pieces into orbit?!
Shadow shook his head, banishing the thought from his mind. The last thing he needed was to start admiring the knucklehead's strength, and then start comparing it to his own lackluster force, and then go down the rabbit hole of remembering that there wasn't many special things about him, and-
And that meant that he would have to get that emerald! It would be his greatest prize, and even greater proof of his excellence! Shadow the Hedgehog would go down in history as the one who reclaimed an ancient echidna treasure!
Maybe then… Maybe then he would stop feeling so terrible all the time.
Maybe people would like him.
Shadow growled, bearing his teeth, in an effort to refocus himself and stop wallowing in that stupid, pointless, disgusting self-pity. He was a pro, damn it! Cool as cool can be! And he was about to prove it!
With that in mind, he started up his shoes and shot up one of the beams, coming to a stop in front of Knuckles, who blinked hard in surprise.
"Shadow? What are you doing here?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Shadow drawled, smoothing back his spines. "I'm here to pick up the rest of my emerald. How kind of you to find those pieces for me."
"This again?" Knuckles groaned. "For the last time, this isn't just another forgotten run-of-the-mill treasure you can take! This is my history, my legacy, and I can't let anyone steal it!"
"Blah blah blah." Shadow rolled his eyes and raised a hand, clapping his fingers to his thumb in a parody of a mouth yapping on and on. "History's in the past, Knuckles, over and done with. That's why it's called 'history'. Get with the times already." He smirked, winking at his rival, who reddened at the attention. "Maybe then you'll find something better than a lonely island with a big rock?"
Knuckles' face twisted in rage, and it was almost enough to keep Shadow's mind off of his own astounding hypocrisy.
"Talking to you is a waste of time," Knuckles growled, words that put Shadow off more than anything else. The echidna hunched over, fists at the ready, and Shadow knew that a fight was inevitable. He sighed, resting one hand on his hip.
He hated fighting Knuckles. As much as he would rather eat a live scorpion than admit it, just one good punch from the echidna could put him down for the count. Not to mention, the guy was built like a truck, and sturdy like one, too. As usual, he would have to outmaneuver him, which would be a challenge on this high, thin terrain. If he led him down onto lower ground, he would have more room to do some fancy footwork. It was his best option, and so he took out a shard of the Master Emerald and swung it in front of his face as a taunt.
"Fine then. You want these? Come and get 'em."
With that, he backflipped off of the beam, landing gracefully on his feet with a few rocket-powered thrusts from his shoes. Sure enough, Knuckles had leapt after him, gliding down with ease and a look of cold resolve in his eyes. The first punch came whistling through the air, but Shadow was quick to dodge it. Then the next, and the next, and the next. This was the other annoying thing about fighting Knuckles; the guy just never tired out! Shadow could run circles around him with no problem, but when it came to a test of stamina, Knuckles still had him beat. The only way to win against him was to outsmart him or overwhelm him, but unfortunately, no bright ideas were coming to Shadow at that moment.
I should have come up with a plan, he thought as he ducked under one particularly punishing punch. Unfortunately, he didn't have much time to plan after checking the feeds and reading those notes about… Rouge…
The next punch came too close to comfort, and Shadow growled, hating how he was getting stuck in his head when he needed to be in the moment. This was his only shot, and he was blowing it!
No more thoughts about Rouge. No more thoughts about how he kept screwing up. No more comparing himself to Knuckles, and Sonic, and everyone else who had talents and friends and-
The ground opened up below him, and Shadow dashed up a beam onto a thin platform before he could fall. Glancing down, he saw the metal floors split apart to reveal a pool of fiery lava.
Why the actual fuck was there lava on a space colony?!
But it was no joke; already the heat was rising, sweltering against Shadow's face, making his eyes water and sweat pool below his fur. He lifted his head, feeling the air around him cool, but unfortunately, right across from him on the beam was Knuckles, panting lightly after his climb up. Shadow was at the worst disadvantage now, and frustration boiled over until he couldn't keep it in anymore.
"Stop fucking around, and give me back my emerald!" he yelled, while Knuckles yelled back the same, albeit with less colorful language.
"I've had it with you!" Shadow thundered, clenching his hands into fists. "No matter what trouble I go through, you just won't give up, even though I've proven more than once that I deserve that emerald more than you!"
"No one deserves it!" Knuckles protested. "It's a piece of my culture!"
"Yeah yeah, your birthright. Big fuckin' whoop. So you inherited the thing, it doesn't mean you've earned it!" Shadow snapped back, hating every word that slipped through his lips but refusing to back down. "I've done so much to prove myself, but you don't listen! Nobody listens! Nobody cares because all anyone thinks about is what they want and what they can do with what they're born with!"
The anger was fading from Knuckles' stance, replacing itself with confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"I was born with nothing!" Shadow screeched. "Nothing at all! I've had to do everything I could for every last crumb, and I'm done hearing shit about 'heirlooms' and 'history'. Fuck those! Toss it all into the trash! All that matters is right now! That's all that ever mattered!"
He stomped his foot, partly for effect and partly because he was so angry with himself, with Knuckles, with everyone… but his foot missed the mark, catching on the edge of the beam. Shadow felt his stomach swoop upward into his chest and his heart stop as he lost his balance and plummeted into the burning air, unable to save himself.
I'm going to die?
I'm going to die…
Shadow closed his eyes, indignant fury and defeat battling in him until water formed at the corners of his eyes. Of course. Of course this would be how it ends. He would die as he lived.
Just another piece of garbage.
Then something wrapped around his wrist, and his arm felt like it was going to pop out of its socket, and he wasn't falling anymore. Shadow's eyes blinked open, tears dropping embarrassingly onto his cheeks, revealing a blurry red figure hanging from the beam, the last thing separating him from certain doom.
Shadow closed his eyes again, face twisting in pain as he realized that Knuckles had saved him.
He would almost rather die.
But he was pulled back up onto the beam, steadied by two strong hands, until he smacked them away. "Don't touch me," he snarled, earning himself an exasperated sigh in return.
"You don't have a single grateful bone in your body," Knuckles muttered. "Besides, I was saving the Master Emerald, not you."
Chaos, he might as well have just held him in place and punched him, and even that would have hurt less. The tears made a comeback, welling up until they fell with no care for dignity, and Shadow knew that no matter what he did, how clever he acted, how good he looked, how confidently he portrayed himself…
...he would always be garbage.
"...Are you crying?"
Knuckles sounded far away, maybe uncomfortable, maybe disgusted, and Shadow couldn't bear to be around him anymore. He took out his three shards of precious gemstone, worth more than his life, and thrust them at the echidna with as much vitriol as he could muster.
"There! Take them, and fuck you!"
With that, Shadow sprinted away, down the beams onto solid ground, away from the lava pit, wiping his eyes. He needed to get away, needed to get far away before he realized what he had done and regretted everything all over again.
Knuckles didn't follow.
Shadow didn't expect him to.
It hurt, anyway.
Next chapter: Eggman threatens the safety of multiple children and Sonic gets the worst of it.