Rouge was fed up.
Completely.
Totally.
Fed up.
With an annoyed sight, she smashed the face of the closest badnik, sending it toppling in a wall. She was running low on energy and wanted nothing more than to sleep. Yet, there were more and more badniks coming their way. They had been at it for a while and the Doctor had yet to show himself. Another dead end. This base was just another decoy.
For two months now, Team Dark had been searching for traces of Dr Yvo Robotnik. The man had unleashed yet another one of his creations on Mobius and it had backfired. Again. So Team Dark had been tasked by G.U.N. to either find him, of find a way to reverse the damaged that had been done by his latest creation. The Resistance was also counting on them to find something.
So here they were, searching the twelfth Eggman base in eight weeks. So far, they had managed to find badniks, more badniks, broken down equipment, computer with empty data base and, you guessed it, more badniks.
Smashing two more robots with a kick, Rouge took a second to take a look to her left and make sure her teammates were doing fine. Shadow had his pistol in hand, shooting targets and smashing those that came too close with punches and kicks. If the Hedgehog was down to using weapons, that meant he was running low on energy as well, which could become a problem if they were not careful. Omega was shooting everything that moved and wasn't organic. He was the only one on the team who seemed to have an ounce of energy left.
She focused her attention back on her side of the Playground, as Omega had named every badnik infested bases so far. Deciding enough was enough, she tossed a couple explosives in the heap and turned toward the boys.
"I'm done here boys! Let's get out of here!"
"IN A MOMENT. I MUST EXTERMINATE ALL EGGMAN ROBOTS"
"Do as you please Omega, but I'm getting out of here. I need some fresh air. You coming Shadow?"
The dark Hedgehog shot down a couple more badniks with a huff and nodded his assent. The two mobians made their way out of the base leisurely, knowing their Walking Arsenal of a friend would be just fine. Shadow put his weapon away, not even taking the time to reload it. Rouge threw him a look, and he grunted in annoyance.
"What?"
"Won't you at least take the time to clean it?"
"Yeah. Later."
Rouge chuckled. She knew him well enough to know he always took proper care of his weapons. This was just one more proof that Shadow was just as tired as she felt. They wandered outside and found a spot where they could sit down and take a breath while they waited for Omega to be done inside.
Both mobians sat under a large oak tree, sharing a comfortable silence. After a while, they stopped hearing explosions and gunfire, signaling Omega would be on his way. Shadow stood up wearily and offered a hand to the ivory Bat, helping her up. As much as they wanted to rest, they first needed to check the base, then find a safe spot to hide. Just then, they could get some much needed rest.
"You're just as tired as I am, aren't you?"
A tired grunt was her only answer. Just then, Omega showed up. He took a look at his two friends and stopped moving, observing them silently.
"What is it Omega?" grunted Shadow.
"YOU TWO NEED REST."
"No shit." Grumbled the dark male, turning toward the other side of the base, where they suspected the computers to access the data base would be.
"Shadow…" Sighted Rouge. "Indeed Big Guy, we need rest, but we need to finish here before we can move out and get… Whoa! Omega!?"
She shrieked in surprise as Omega grabbed her by the waist and deposited her on his left shoulder. Shadow jumped in surprise, but wasn't fast enough to avoid being grabbed as well.
"Put me down Omega!"
"ULTIMATE LIFE FORM IS TIRED. SCANS REVEALED A LOW LEVEL OF ENERGY. CARRYING YOU WILL BE MORE EFFICIENT. AND QUICKER."
"Are you calling me slow?!" growled Shadow.
"YES. NOW STOP SQUIRMING."
Rouge could see the moment Shadow decided it wasn't worth it to fight the robot and let Omega drop him on his right shoulder. After all, he was right, not that Shadow would ever admit it. Rouge watched them with fondness.
Omega went back inside the base and quickly found a computer they could use. Rouge got down and started searching for anything that could be of use. Five minutes later, she found something.
"Ha shit."
"What is it?" inquired Shadow, who was now leaning against Omega's head.
"Found another base, it's quite close to this one. And here I was hoping we could call it a day and head back to HQ tomorrow."
"Anything about this base?"
"No, only its location… Huh. Wait a minute. There's something. It's encoded, give me a moment… There! It used to be a lab!
"THEN WE KNOW WHERE TO HEAD NEXT. ANY PLACE BETWEEN HERE AND THIS PLACE WHERE YOU TWO CAN SLEEP?"
"Not really. It's only a few kilometers away. We could get there before dawn if we leave now."
"Then let's go. I'll head ahead to scout. Meet you there."
With that, the Hedgehog hopped off Omega's shoulder and took off into the night. Rouge let out a frustrated sight and turned back to the computer. After making sure there wasn't anything of worth left, she entered a few lines of code. She tapped her communicator to send a message to tails, back in the resistance HQ. The kit would know what to do to destroy the data base permanently.
"Alright. Let's go Omega."
The former badnik offered his arm to the Ivory Bat and she went back on his shoulder. They went into the forest toward the next base. Hopefully this one would have something worth the two months they'd been searching.
Shadow was exhausted. He was currently perched in a tree, surveilling the base situated down the hill, just over a couple hundred meters away from his position. The sun would be up in a few minutes, but he couldn't care less about the sunrise. His watch beeped twice, signaling Rouge and Omega were close to him. Without lowering down his binoculars, he answered her call.
"Shadow In. What's your position?"
"About a kilometer south-west of the base landmark I sent you. Anything interesting?"
"Thermal googles haven't shown anything unusual so far. I'm currently North of the base, on the cliff, approximately two hundred meters from the back of the base. There's a tower that seems promising. Single window at the top, I can see computers and several lab equipment."
"This could be a good entry point. What about security?"
"The usual."
"Alright. Let's get in formation boys."
"Roger. Shadow out."
Putting his binoculars away, Shadow dropped to the forest floor and headed toward his team. A short moment was all he needed to get to Omega. They came up with an infiltration plan, as well as a backup plan, in case they were detected before they wanted. If everything went according to plan, Rouge would infiltrate the tower using the venting system while Shadow would do the same in the warehouse situated on the West side of the base. They would get to the data base, retrieve all relevant information, contact Tails, then be out before anyone, or anything, realized they'd even been there at all. Then, it would be Omega's turn. The party could begin and they would blow up the place.
Shadow made quick work of entering the warehouse. However, he made sure to check for anything either suspicious or useful before continuing farther into the building. He came across multiple storage rooms, but found nothing so far. He was getting tired and wanted nothing more than to get the fuck out of here and sleep. His temper was getting horrible and it took all he got not to snap at his teammates. It had been a long while since he'd felt so tired. Granted, he hadn't slept in over a week, but that was the norm while on missions. He felt like shit, and he didn't understand why he felt like that.
At some point, his watched beeped, a sequence of two rapid beeps, and one slow.
"What did you find?"
"Something Tails will want. Blueprints. Loads of them. Some for old prototypes we've seen in the past, but many of them are unknown to me."
"Good, finally something useful. Anything else?"
"Let me check. What did you get on your side?"
"Nothing so far."
"Well, at least we got some… holy shit!"
"Rouge? What did you find?"
"A prototype for a mech powered by chaos energy."
"The Doctor has many of those."
"No… Not like this. This one doesn't need a Chaos Emerald to function."
"What?"
"This mech can leech the ambient..."
Shadow shook his head suddenly, then pressed a hand to his face and rubbed his forehead. He could sense a migraine forming. Sighting, he opened a new door to peek inside and found himself in the entrance of an observation deck. On the floor below was a lone robot. At about three meters high, the robot looked to be slender in shape, compared to all the bulky robots Eggman was so found of.
The Hedgehog took a moment to observe the robot, painted in bright red and yellow, similarly to Omega. Then Rouge almost yelled in his ear piece.
"Shadow? SHADOW! You need to get out of here! Now!" shrieked the Bat.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Weren't you listening? This mech can leech the ambient chaos energy! Get out now! The more energy it absorbs, the more powerful it gets!"
"Huh… Fuck. Too late."
While Shadow had been busy not passing out because of Rouge shrieking in his ear, the red and yellow robot had silently moved behind him. Shadow had turned around, only to be now face to face with the barrel of what looked like an energy gun. A chaos energy gun his mind provided.
Alarmed, the Hedgehog shouted before jumping out of the way. Unfortunately, the mech was fast and adjusted his aim consequently, shooting the ebony Hedgehog in the chest. Shadow crashed hard on the lower floor and let out a string of curses. He made it quickly back on his feet and jumped out of the way. The mech made a dent in the steel flooring where Shadow had been a mere second before.
Meanwhile, Omega was on the move, having been on the communication this entire time. He was met by Rouge at a junction on the first floor, both of them following the sound of the fight. They got to the observation deck in no time and had to dock in order not to get it by one of Shadow's Chaos Spear. Rouge took to the air and tried to kick at the robot's head, missing by several centimeters.
The Chaos Mech turned its attention to Rouge and prepared an attack. Omega saw his opening and sent a missile directly in the back of the other robot, disturbing its aim. It missed Rouge, who dived to check on Shadow.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm not injured. But this thing is leeching my energy. And fast."
"We need to get you out of here."
"No. The faster we destroy that thing, the better. I can't use my Chaos technics against it. It absorbed my Chaos Spear."
"Shit."
Rouge didn't get to say anything else as Shadow Jumped to push her out of the way of a volley of bullets. Growling in frustration, Shadow got his pistol out and reloaded it in a blurry of movements.
"I'll get its attention. You and Omega come with a way to destroy it. Its armor is solid, you won't be able to dent it with normal physical attacks."
"Then your pistol won't do much either!"
"Distraction. Now move."
The Bat moved away of her friend and he leaped back in the fray. Shadow shot the propulsor of the enemy bot to get its attention and went in the opposite direction.
Rouge went back to Omega, who had stopped firing bullets toward the badnik. Together they plotted a way to get the badnik down rapidly. The longer they fought, the stronger it would grow, and the weaker Shadow would get.
Both of them got in formation around the Chaos Mech, ready to take it down.
The three meters tall robot was fast. Usually this wouldn't have been a problem for the Ultimate Life Form, but he was exhausted. Shadow had to find a way to end this fight, or he would pass out. From the corner of his eye, he saw Rouge and Omega get in position and knew he had to get out of the way. He shot one more time at the mech to keep its attention on him and, just as Rouge was making her move, he propelled himself as high as he could, out of the way of Rouge's attack.
With a powerful High Kick, she managed to move the bot towards Omega, who had an attack powered and ready to hit. The Walking Arsenal shot a mighty plasma beam that melted the front of the enemy's armor. Rouge kicked the plating off of it and was about to hit it a third time, but the mech backhanded her the side, sending her crashing in a wall.
"Rouge!"
The Chaos Mech was closing in on Rouge and Shadow knew he couldn't get her in time without Chaos Controlling. He concentrated his energy and warped in front of the mech, punching it away from Rouge, who was just getting up on the floor. When his fist connected with the open front of the tall robot, Shadow felt his energy being forcefully syphoned out of him. The Hedgehog shouted in pain, then fell to his knees, vision dancing.
"Omega, finish it!"
"AFFIRMATIVE! HANIHILATION!"
Omega launched several missiles towards the now revealed weak spot and the mech exploded, damaging the structure of the building. Pieces of the ceiling started falling off and Omega went immediately over his teammates and shielded them from the falling debris. A beam came crashing down, and Omega pushed Rouge and Shadow out of the way. Unfortunately, the beam crashed on his shoulder, damaging his right side.
"Omega!"
"ORGANIC MEMBERS OF THE TEAM MUST GET AWAY."
"Not without you!"
"NO TIME TO…"
"CHAOS CONTROL!..."
Knuckles had just come back a couple hours ago. He had been out with a team to recover some resources for the Resistance. They had been able to locate food and several components they would need to do the maintenance of their equipment. The mission was a success and everyone was in a good mood. He and his team were currently enjoying a well-earned breakfast when he sensed a disturbance in the ambient energy. He knew immediately that someone was Chaos Controlling inside the base.
However, Blaze was faster than him to react and directed everyone to move out and be ready to react. Then, Team Dark materialized midair in the middle of the break room. They went down crashing on a table and Knuckles distinctly heard Rouge's cry of pain in the middle of the panic.
"SHADOW!"
Blaze took charge and went straight to the Bat, moving her away from her unconscious teammate.
"Get me medical supplies! And I need Amy here asap!"
"Someone, get Tail! Omega needs help as well."
Between Blaze and Knuckles, Rouge and Shadow were taken off the broken table. The Cat lead the distresses Bat to a chair and started to check her for injuries, while the Echidna carefully moved the Hedgehog to the lone couch they had in the break room.
A few hours later, everyone had calmed down. Omega had been moved to Tails' workshop where the Fox kit was already doing repairs on him. Rouge had been examined by Blaze and was given the okay to go get some rest in the barracks. However, Shadow was still unconscious. The dark Hedgehog had used his last reserves to get his team out of the base and had sustained some injuries during the fight. Amy had noticed he had a nasty bruise on his chest she could see he had broken a few ribs as well. She would have bet he had some internal injuries as well, if his pained expression was anything to go by.
Rouge couldn't sleep, so she went for some fresh air on one of the balconies. Looking at the clear night sky, she got lost in her thoughts. She was worried about her boys, yes, but she knew they were both safe and in good hands. That wasn't what was preventing her from finding sleep. Yet…
"Something on your mind?"
"Hey Knucks." Rouge smiled.
They stayed in a comfortable silence for a little while. Then Rouge spoke quietly.
"Shadow loves stargazing. It was one of the few things we enjoyed during the last two months. There was never time for much. We moved from base to base, and each one ended up being deceptions. The last one was the only one promising, but everything got destroyed before we could get anything. I couldn't contact Tails to retrieve the intel."
"Rouge, Shadow was in danger. You did the right thing."
"I know… I'm still pissed. We didn't get the bloody intel and Shadow almost got killed…"
"At least you destroyed the prototype. It won't be able to hurt anyone else."
"Yeah…"
"Now why don't you come and get some sleep?"
"I can't sleep…"
"Why not? You are clearly exhausted." Asked the Echidna, confused.
"I miss them. It's silly… I literally spent the last two months with them. Shadow and I were even driving each other up the walls at some point. And yet, I miss them and can't sleep."
"Go to Omega. We can't move Shadow, but at least you can go to Omega. Tails has a cot in the workshop."
"Thank you Knuckles."
Rouge kissed him lightly on the cheek and went back inside, for once not realizing how flustered she had made the red Echidna.
She went straight to Tails' workshop and grabbed the blanket on the cot. The Bat then sat on the floor beside the robot and leaned in his side. She didn't even acknowledge the Fox, and fell asleep to the reassuring noise of Omega's wires.
Omega looked down at his friend for a while and back at the Fox in front of him.
"ASKING FOR PERMISSION TO MOVE." said the bot, in as low a voice as he could.
"You can move around Omega. I'm done with the repairs on your lower body. I need supplies for your shoulder and arm though…"
"ACKNOWLEDGED. FOX KIT IS DOING A GOOD JOB. I THRUST YOUR ABILITIES."
"Thanks!"
"I REQUIRE ASSISTANCE TO MOVE ROUGE."
"She looks exhausted, but she's asleep now. Do you really want to move her?"
"AFFIRMATIVE. I ONLY NEED ASSISTANCE TO GET HER IN MY ARM."
"Okay, I'll help you."
Blaze went to check on Shadow sometimes during the night. It was her turn to do the night rounds, since Amy had done it the previous days. When she entered the infirmary, she was surprised to see a bed had been moved back at the end of the room. It didn't take long to see why.
Omega was sitting on the floor beside Shadow's bed, like a silent vigil watching over his team. Somehow, Rouge was sleeping beside Shadow on the small bed, her face tucked in his shoulder. The Hedgehog was squeezed between the two, making him look smaller. However, he no longer wore a pained expression. Instead, he seemed as relaxed as she had even seen him. Her eyes met Omega's, and he flashed them a pale yellow, as if acknowledging her presence, but not wanting to disrupt his the two mobians sleeping peacefully.
The Cat approached the bed and quickly checked over the bed's occupants. Shadow grunted a bit, but otherwise didn't make a sound. Just as she was moving back, she saw him turn his head toward the Bat and inhale deeply in her hair, relaxing even further. Smiling softly, she waved to Omega and exited the infirmary, closing the door softly with a click.