The motorcycle roared as Shadow swerved through city streets on it, his bat companion sitting behind him. Omega used his own turbo drive to cruise alongside the hedgehog's motor vehicle, keeping up with him at a steady pace. Shadow had hoped that the motorcycle would have drowned out Rouge's voice, but her complaining was remarkably loud, winning over the bike.
"I tell you, they just don't care about their employees anymore!" she yelled as Shadow turned a sharp corner, partially in attempt to scare her out of talking. Much to the hedgehog's disappointment, it wasn't working. "They really oughta take our health and well-being into consideration, y'know? Let us recharge."
"Omega and I did recharge; it's you that's the problem," retorted the hedgehog with bared teeth. He applied the brakes and came to an abrupt stop at a red light.
"Well, excuse me for not being made in a laboratory," she muttered in reply. Omega pulled up at the side of the bike and turned his head towards his partners.
"Take the next exit to Route 99," he calculated, "and continue straight on from there."
"Route 99 . . ." Shadow pictured the road in his mind's eye and watched for the light to turn green. Once the color flashed to life, he sped out of the intersection. This time, Rouge was caught off-guard and her eyes widened with a slight pang of terror.
"All right, I get it," she shouted, "no need to drive like a bat out of hell."
"That bat should go back from where she came so she doesn't affect my driving," Shadow yelled back, smirking. The hedgehog smiled as he felt a little blow on the back of his head.
"You'd better watch yourself, buster," she said warningly.
"I request that you halt your incessant bickering for a moment," Omega interrupted, "Both of you will fry my circuits. Refrain from any disagreement from this point on."
Both of the Mobians were rendered speechless by Omega's scolding. They continued the journey without another word to each other, heading straight down Route 99.
Soon enough, the traffic thinned out until the motorcycle and Omega were the only vehicles left on Route 99. Rouge kept an eye on her surroundings as they passed by in an instant. Trees and some farmland were the main sights to see as they drove past. Occasionally Rouge glanced up at the sky, but it was just blue. There wasn't a cloud to be seen; not for miles around. Only blue with the blinding white glow of the sun. Naturally, she wondered what a Chaos Emerald would look like in the shining sun. Her thoughts of jewels were cut off by the driver.
"Crap!"
Before Rouge could ask what was wrong, the motorcycle began to sputter.
"The old boy's out of gas?"
"Looks like it," growled Shadow, "Omega, where's the nearest rest stop?"
"On the right," Omega answered immediately, pointing to a little gas station and picnic area. Shadow slowed his pace and pulled into a spot to pump gas into the bike.
"Damn bike doesn't work like it used to," the hedgehog grumbled as he stuck the nozzle into the tank.
"Oh, quit your whining," Rouge said as she leaned up against the motorcycle, "it's been a long time since it's seen any action."
"It is highly recommended that we run an inspection on the motor vehicle," Omega droned from behind.
"Well, it's a bit too late now," Rouge chuckled, "how much farther do we have to go?"
"We have approximately forty-five minutes until we reach our destination from this point," the robot computed.
"Great. This thing better hold," Shadow muttered as he held the pump in the gas tank.
"It will, don't you worry your ultimate little head." Rouge took one of Shadow's quills in her hand and tugged at it playfully. Shadow's head fell back slightly as she pulled and let go. He glanced over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow, watching the bat carefully. Rouge shrugged and examined the area, looking over at the small convenience store next to the gas pumps. Curious, she went inside to browse the selection, hoping she could buy herself a bottle of soda or something. The cashier at the counter, a young ferret with huge blue eyes, stood upright as the bat strutted through the automatic door.
"Good afternoon," he said with a wide grin, "is there anything I can do for you, ma'am?"
"No, no, I'm fine," Rouge mumbled as she walked up the snacks aisle, "just looking."
"Well, if you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask."
"Thanks," Rouge said, eyeing the young ferret suspiciously. Upon perusing the aisles, she came across a row of refrigerators for the energy drinks, water bottles, and soda. Tapping her chin, the bat yanked open a stubborn door and pulled out two plus-sized water bottles for her and Shadow.
The little bell on the front doors jingled, signaling the entrance of another customer. Rouge peered around the shelves to see who it was, although the cashier's suddenly intimidated facial expression had already given away who it was.
"Do you need something, big guy, or is the old grump giving you a hard time?"
"Shadow has not spoken a word to me, if that is the 'grump' you are referring to," Omega said from the other side of the store, "I had only hoped to find something of interest in this exceedingly tiny establishment."
The bat let out a sharp breath through her nose.
"Like what? Not too much interesting stuff besides snacks and drinks and some other stuff."
A flash of light abruptly blinded Rouge. She blinked twice, once again staring at the robot, who was inquisitively examining a shiny blue flashlight.
"There are some items of interest here," he argued, "these places hold little meaning to me, but at the same time I find them to be rather intriguing."
"Of course you do," the bat replied under her breath as Omega put down the flashlight and began to skim through a puzzle book with his large fingers. Rouge stepped to the counter and placed the two water bottles down.
"W-will that be all?" the ferret asked with a slightly trembling voice.
Rouge nodded.
"That's it."
As he scanned the water bottles, the cashier watched Omega closely, feeling threatened by his largeness. Rouge sensed that same feeling every time she took Omega places; everyone seemed to radiate the same intimidation.
"He's harmless, kid, I assure you," Rouge said as Omega knocked over a display of souvenir pens, "just a klutz."
The ferret nodded quickly, avoiding Omega's red-eyed gaze.
"Th-that'll be ten rings," he uttered. Rouge handed over her rings and received a receipt and the bottles of water. "Have a nice day."
"Thank you," Rouge replied, turning to her teammate and gazing at him with a look of sarcastic pity. "Now Omega, pick up those pens, please. Can't Shads and I take you anywhere?"
"The previous mission has left me with less orientation," he defended, "I apologize for any damage I've caused."
"No harm done," the ferret said, stepping out from behind the counter, "I'll get 'em, don't worry."
Rouge and Omega thanked the ferret one last time and stepped through the automatic doors.
Shadow still stood by his motorcycle, but he poked a thumb in the direction of the park next to the store. Rouge frowned and looked off to the side he was pointing at, and she realized what he was indicating.
Team Sonic had also stopped at the same place, so that Tails could fix a small technical problem on his trusty plane. Sonic and Knuckles lounged at a picnic table, both leaning back with their arms supporting their heads.
Team Dark walked over to the picnic table as quietly as they could. Omega had the biggest disadvantage when it came to that task, given his size and overall clumsiness. Together, the three figures blocked out the sunlight from Sonic's and Knuckles' closed eyes. Both of them frowned.
"It got dark, didn't it?" Sonic asked, opening one eye to check the source of the blockage of light.
"Hey, hon," Rouge said as Sonic sat up in alarm upon seeing Team Dark towering over him.
"Oh, man, you guys sure know how to scare the shoes off a poor, unsuspecting hedgehog!"
"Our pleasure," Shadow grunted. Sonic, suddenly feeling unnaturally uneasy after seeing Shadow, went over to Tails to check on his progress.
Knuckles didn't open his eyes, but he detected the strong smell of Rouge's perfume.
"What're you guys doing here?" he asked, continuing to keep his eyes shut.
"We were headed out on another mission," Rouge answered, "and we stopped for gas for the motorcycle. What about you, hon?"
"Ahh, Sonic dragged Tails and I out here to check out some weird thing that we think is Eggman's work."
"Oh?" Rouge raised an eyebrow inquisitively, "What's he doing now?"
"Sonic said he's hanging out by Mystic Cave, or at least that's what he thinks. I don't know; I haven't been paying close enough attention myself."
"That happens to be exactly where we're going," Omega said, "the G.U.N commander sent us."
"I'm sorry," Knuckles mumbled, fully conscious of their last embark, "well, is there any chance you might be able to help us out?"
"Why don't we make that the other way around?" Rouge asked, sitting on the picnic table's seat and placing her boots on Knuckles' lap, "You help us complete this mission, and maybe G.U.N will give us a hard-earned vacation."
Knuckles raised an eyebrow and removed Rouge's feet from his lap, shooting her a look of skepticism."That's great. What's in it for us?"
"Mmm . . ." Rouge sighed, pursing her lips, "I'll think about it."
"You'll get a gold star," Shadow remarked with no enthusiasm. "But we'll have to see if you're qualified enough to get one with a smiley face."
Knuckles growled.
"That isn't funny," he muttered under his breath.
Sonic appeared behind Shadow and winked at Knuckles.
"It was pretty funny for a guy with almost no sense of humor," the blue blur said in attempt to startle Shadow. When he saw no reaction, Sonic shrugged and walked around the dark hedgehog. "So we're all going together, then?"
"Guess so," Rouge responded, barely missing the look of contempt that Shadow shot at his blue faker.
"Sweet! Lemme go tell Tails and we can head out, all right?"
Sonic didn't give anyone a chance to answer before he sped off to tell the little fox about their company for the trip. Tails looked up from his plane to see Team Dark standing by the picnic table, and then waved. Rouge nodded in reply, Shadow crossed his arms, and Omega stood completely still, off in his own little world.
Once Tails had finished patching up the minor issues that the plane was having, Team Sonic and Team Dark headed back onto(or above) Route 99.
"Hey, how about a race?" Sonic teased Shadow as the dark hedgehog mounted his bike. Sonic tried to hide a snicker as Shadow shot him a murderous glare and took off towards Mystic Cave.
"Well, look what I've caught on my radar."
The tall figure stroked his extravagant facial hair with gloved fingers, watching a giant screen in front of him. Six Mobians flew by the screen, all going in the same direction. "Oh, they're in for quite a treat this time."
Eggman pointed to his new line of robots and spun his chair around.
"Everyone line up and prepare for battle! Move out!"
Every robot saluted their creator before marching out the door of the huge vehicle. The doctor chuckled as he glared at the screen.
"I certainly hope you've prepared yourself, Sonic," he warned the screen, curling a fist, "you and your friends are mine, and this time-"-he tapped his fingers on a big red switch- "you won't escape me."