Disclaimer: Once again, I own nothing.
"How are we gonna get down there?" Amy asked, looking down toward the cavern, a small hint of fear evident in her voice.
"I could fly you down," Rouge offered, "if I remember correctly, Cream can fly down on her own, but I'll have to make another trip down with the cat."
"I can take care of myself," Blaze responded bluntly.
"Alright then," Rouge said, skeptically before jumping off the side of the cliff dragging Amy along with her, despite the terrified screams from her passenger. Cream soon followed with her chao in tow, using her ears to slowly glide down the cliff side. Blaze was the last one to depart, she ran off the ledge and gracefully swan dove toward the canyon floor. When she neared the bed of the ravine, her hidden burden surfaced in a burst of flames emanating from her shoes, acting like thrusters and allowing her to gently land on her feet. The other girls stood in awe at Blaze's show of talent.
"What?" She asked impatiently, crossing her arms.
(And once again...) Meanwhile...
Shadow and Omega had been tailing the group of girls with Rouge in their midst. They had taken Rouge's hint ("We found it" if that was unclear) and flanked around to the opposite side of the canyon, out of sight.
"Rouge, we're in position, just grab the Emerald and get out of there," Shadow ordered through his com-device, "we're wasting time." Shadow then turned to Omega and gave it its orders, "prepare to fire, we're gonna level this place," he said grimly.
"Orders confirmed, Shadow," Omega's mechanical voice replied, just as its legs began to fold up into its body, stabilizing arms reached out from its waist and gripped the ground in preparation of unloading the massive payload of weaponry that was emerging from its upper body, "awaiting mark."
All of a sudden, Shadow's com came to life in his hand, exploding with the sounds of battle. Rouge's voice was heard above the fray, "I have the Emerald, I'm coming topsi-" She was cut off by a burst of flames, the force of which, Shadow could feel from the top of the canyon. He could barely make out the voice of one of the girls through the com, addressing Rouge, "You have one last chance, give me the Emerald and I promise I will not reduce you to a smoldering corpse," the voice growled, threateningly.
To say Rouge's response was over-dramatic would be an understatement, "Oh, I wish someone big and strong were here to save me!" Shadow sprung to action.
"Omega, I'm going down," Shadow jumped off the ledge and angled himself toward the cavern. Missiles shot past him and imbedded themselves in the roof of the cavern, with a loud boom that echoed throughout the valley. Shadow expertly dove through the opening left by the ballistics and caught himself using his airshoes' thrusters gently landing on the cavern floor.
The cavern was filled with smoke, illuminated by the light filtering down from Shadow's entry. The smell of burnt wood overwhelmed Shadow's senses as he swept his surroundings, looking for his "distressed" teammate. He finally found Rouge's silhouette and walked over to stand by her.
"Shadow?" came a surprised voice, which Shadow immediately recognized with a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"Blaze?" he said, looking around frantically for her through the slowly clearing smoke. He saw the faint outline of her body, then the silhouette, then her colors began to slowly show through the smokey veil; her lavender fur and her stark white muzzle. He could see the look of confusion on her face, but it slowly faded and gave way to her usual cold, emotionless stare as the realization of the situation dawned on her.
"You're working with Rouge, aren't you?" She asked him, directly. Her voice mono-tone. Rouge looked at Shadow in surprise, realizing that he somehow knew Blaze.
"Yes, I am," Shadow slowly replied mono-toned as well, returning her cold glare. The smoke was almost completely dissipated, then. Amy appeared next to Blaze with her hammer out, apparently just finding the group and prepared to fight.
"A mission's a mission, hun'," Rouge said, addressing the two girls, "you can understand that, right?" Blaze ignored Rouge's comment, keeping her attention focused on Shadow.
Her eyes narrowed, "you will fight at her side?" She asked him. Shadow slowly nodded in reply, his ruby eyes never leaving her amber ones.
Rouge smirked, "you better step aside now, sweetie, before you get hurt."
Amy, who was busy trying to decipher what had happened in her absence, suddenly burst to life, "We're not going anywhere until Blaze has the Sol Emerald, right Blaze?" she said, wielding her hammer dangerously. Blaze responded by getting into a fighting stance, slightly lowering herself to the ground and enveloping her fists in flames, while still having the unspoken staring contest with Shadow.
"This is gonna be fun," Rouge said tauntingly, as Shadow slowly and reluctantly, prepared to fight for the Emerald.
The next chapter is going to be the big showdown between Team Dark and Team Rose and, in case you were wondering, I did NOT forget about Omega.