Sonic the Hedgehog and every other character owned by Sonic Team is owned by, well, Sonic Team, just like all of Piper's OC's are owned by Piper.

The Ultimate Life

70 years ago...

Rouge the Bat ducked expertly beneath the huge missile aiming right at her, the very air rushing through her clear white fur as it whizzed past. More rockets and other nuclear weapons were also shot at her, some getting knocked off-course by the wind her open wings were making as they rose and fell slightly. They were not moving as quick so she would ascend off ground level, however, but at least it would prevent her from sliding over if she needed to do a sharp turn. The whole point of the procedure was to avoid aerial combat altogether, as Kareena suspected the bat used it too many times to be recognizable. It would do no good if the opposition would realise her real reason for staying with them, then instantly defeat her because of knowledge of her battle strategy.

'Sly girl, Kareena... Reminds me of me...'

Rouge's thoughts were broken, however, by a huge rocket heading straight for her. Thankfully, the sharp turn she had been expecting to make saved her from total annihilation.

'WHAT THE -!'

The bat looked back, stunned at the weapon as it continued on its danger path, until harmlessly hitting the blast-proof wall at the far end of the room. Sleek and full of acidic liquids and explosives behind its metal frame, it was easy to tell that it was the dangerous weapon of all. It was shot from a huge soundproof sniper rifle, which made it completely silent and even then it closed in on its victim at an alarming rate. The acid burned right through you, never stopping until you were a smouldering pile of ash ready to be swept away by a janitor's broom. Rouge just hoped that none of her body made contact with the head. It was made of full metal and shaped like the top of a grappling hook. The spikes curved down and then back up, as if a bodybuilder had bent the ends right round. It caused complete agony when it shot through a part of your body, especially if it was a tender part, like a wing. Shortly after, it released the acid. Even if the acid were seeped from the body, trying to get the hideous thing out would hurt even more, leaving you with a very big hole. After a few more twisting and turning, the treasure-hunter finally made it to the other side of the huge room, quickly scanning the metal block on a stand, as if waiting for her to come. She found it completely harmless, as all other blocks that she had to crack open were.

'Almost finished... just need to get the treasure and I'm outta here!'

Another missile shot over her head, making her ears fold back to muffle the vibrations in the air. Quickly, she made it to the box, trying to dodge the rockets that were still intent on taking her head to the other side of the room. Deftly, she felt along the corners of the box, looking anxiously for a weak point that she would be able to pull through. After pacing around the box several times, mostly to avoid being in the line of fire, she found it. Swiftly, she flipped her pocketknife out of her dress pocket and brought it slicing down through the slit, until one corner of the box was open. After several moments of jerking and slits from the knife, she had the contents splayed out in front of her. She looked up at the window, about to smirk at Kareena, but what she saw was completely different.

'So much for 'this level will be a bit more complex and you'll have to act fast or you'll be –' agh!'

A grappling hook missile was quickly descending towards her – and she had no way of escape!!!

Rouge's green eyes slammed shut, while her ears automatically folded, waiting for the end...

Everything seemed to have stopped. The sound, the missiles, everything was gone. Just silence remained. Now why was that? Slowly, an eye opened, followed quickly by another. The red flashing lights that had previously winked at her during the 'fireworks display' had changed back to their original pools of white light, just dimly keeping the room visible. No more weapons had been fired towards her, while others that had been travelling through the air had just dropped lifelessly on the floor. Standing in the centre of the room was a black-haired girl in her late-teens (that's 18 if you don't know) with half of her hair dyed a dark green. She had an extremely pale face with cold grey eyes that flashed annoyingly in the night. Everywhere she went, a serious look was plastered on her face, unless she completed something really evil, which would drown her into peals of maniac laughter. The leather suit that she sported hung closely to her body, the leather gloves and boots hiding her hands and feet. Rouge had to admit, even though she was a Robotnik, Kareena had style.

"Once again, Rouge, your task of retrieving the controller for the guns has failed. Just remember that there could've been a Chaos Emerald in there, and if there's no Chaos Emerald, I won't be very happy. And we know what happens if I'm not very happy, don't we?" she scolded in a typical dark tone.

Rouge hung her head, knowing how reckless she must've looked.

"Yes, Kareena, I know. Sorry."

Kareena turned on her heel and left, the metal underneath her boots clacking on the floor as she strode out of the room. Rouge followed still cursing inside of her second – instinct behaviour. Strictly speaking, the white bat wasn't one of Kareena's slaves. Rouge could storm out of the base at the very second and it wouldn't really matter to the teen. After all, you never get a run-of-the-mill robot call their Master by their first name and never get punished. It was just that Rouge was eternally in debt to Kareena after the government realised that she had secretly been stealing priceless jewels. If it wasn't for Eggman's heir, she probably would still be lounging around with nothing but steel bars to stare at. After all, how could Rouge turn down an offer of full-time spying and full allowance for stealing jewels? The two entered the Computer Room, Rouge falling into step with Kareena.

"But really, Kareena, I can't complete every mission you set me. No one can, not even Sonic the Hedgehog! I mean... you've got to be... invincible!!!" Rouge cried, not taking great care with her choice of words.

Kareena suddenly stopped, her already pale face whitening even more. Her eyes were wide and disbelieving. Slowly, her mouth opened and let in a small gasp.

"Kareena?"

The girl quickly broke out of her trance and raced to the plasma computer, falling into the chair and typing rapidly on the keyboard. Rouge just stared. What was with her? The bat slowly approached the already huge computer screen, standing next to Kareena. Her hands were just a blur and the continuous sounds as her fingers hit the keys caused Rouge's ears to go crazy. Suddenly, the concealed fingers hovered over the keys, still with wide eyes. The bat glanced at Kareena and, as her eyes averted to the screen, she also gasped at the sight. There, hanging open in a large file box, was a picture of –

"Shadow! But... he died!" Rouge stuttered, staring back at the teenager.

"He never..." Kareena paused in her sentence for a second, before bringing up a second box.

It showed a picture of the same Shadow, although this one was a lot different than the one before. For one, his fur was a lot more ruffled than it previously was, and his quills had lost their sticking – up form, drooping down like Sonic's. But they had grown so long, that the tips brushed against the floor. The hedgehog's eyes had lost their cold look and now bore a somewhat content sparkle. But the one thing that caught Rouge's eye was something she had never seen before...

Shadow... with a big grin on his face...

"His location was found shortly after he had fallen from the ARK, and for proof this picture was taken from the spy unit. Naturally, I came across it after looking at my family's legacy –."

Rouge knew what that meant.

Shadow...

Professor Gerald Robotnik, Kareena's Great Grandfather, had been the creator of the 'Ultimate Life Form' Project: Shadow. But something wasn't right. If G.U.N had found out that Shadow had survived the fall, then how come she had not been informed? She had been the Agent assigned for the ARK case, so it was only natural that she would be the first to know.

"But how come –."

"They had already caught you before the news had been found. That was the reason you were not assigned taking the photos; you were locked in a jail cell around that time. But that is not important right now. What matters is you bring him to me. He is living in White Jungle, somewhere near Mystic Ruins. Kill any other person there. I will be waiting for you with your next assignment."

Rouge blinked rapidly, taking a minute to let it all sink in. Her! Kill Shadow!! Not a chance!

Well, not if she didn't have a choice...

The white bat strode out of the room, her facial expression not transforming to show her sorrow.

'He seemed so happy on that photo... Why do I have to do this!'

As she walked back through the training area that she had previously been fighting in, she kicked a nuclear warhead fiercely. She thought of not doing it. Maybe she could run away to a distant location and presumed to be dead?

But Rouge knew in her heart, she couldn't...

And with that, the white bat stepped out of the base and disappeared into the night, leaving nothing but a single tear on the ground and the words she had thought she heard Kareena say in her wake.

'The Ultimate Life...'

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