Mystic Cave entrance was hidden, for the most part, in a jungle. It was difficult to find it manually, but Eggman's mad genius at robot design and engineering proved useful as they arrived at the entrance successfully. The GPS-like system in Eggman's hovering vehicle was no flop. The cave appeared to be a gaping hole in the ground, nearly covered entirely with greenery and whatever small creatures happened to be dwelling there.
Eggman glanced over at the robots that held the members of Team Dark—none of whom were conscious. Team Sonic was being contained in his newest weapon, all just as unconscious as Team Dark. The doctor smiled at the picture of success that he saw before him. It felt so good to have finally won, to have beaten six of his most hated opponents. They had been the only ones in his way whenever he had plans, and now they were gone. The doctor chuckled uncontrollably to himself. He could finally say it without a sarcastic reply—Nothing could stand in his way. Nothing and no one.
"Nothing," he whispered, "Nothing . . ." The mad doctor laughed again, clenching his fists as though struggling to contain his elation. He couldn't stop. The bliss, the satisfaction, all morphed together to create a gnarled feeling in the doctor's mind. Everything was coming together—and it overwhelmed the doctor's mental state until it took over completely. Put simply, Eggman had lost his mind to his success. Meanwhile, his robotic minions all looked downward, as though mourning the loss of their master's healthy mental state.
Eggman attempted to get a hold of himself. Tears streamed down his eyes as he giggled insanely, trying his best to force his senselessness down and back into his throat.
"Throw them in," he said with a breaking voice, "now. I want this entrance . . . I want it . . . Blast, what was the word-"
"Covered?" one robot suggested, timidly stepping forward.
"Ah-ha! Yes, yes, throw everything you can over the entrance after they've hit the bottom . . . rock bottom . . . heh, yes, yes, yes . . ."
The robot minions all nodded simultaneously. The two that had been clutching Shadow and Rouge tossed them down carelessly into the pit that was Mystic Cave. Eggman listened as the limp figures hit the bottom with muffled "thud"'s. The doctor stifled a cackle, his only speck of sanity left holding him back from another fit of deranged laughter. He snapped his fingers, beckoning three robots that had been holding Omega captive with their claws.
"Firearms . . . he can't . . . no, uh . . . boom-boom?" Eggman stuttered to his minions.
"E-123's firearms have been disabled completely," one robot stated, "strength has been decreased by approximately 45.006796 percent."
"Ah, excellent, excellent. Remind me to give you . . . a raise," Eggman said, spreading his arms as he found the right words, "but first, you must complete your task! Throw him in, the disloyal backstabber."
"Yes, master," the robots chimed. They pushed themselves to lift up E-123 and let him go as their arms were up. Omega's metal body didn't go too high into the air, but rolled down into the hole and fell with a crunch.
"Ah-ha ha ha!" Eggman chortled, "Oh, my, my . . ." He wiped another tear from his cheek and barked a sudden order at his robots. "You know what to do next, you rats!" he rasped, "Cover it up!"
The army began to obediently locate boulders appropriately sized for covering Mystic Cave's entrance. There couldn't have been a more solemn silence from an army of E-series robots.
Shadow's nose twitched. A small pebble bounced off of his face and landed near his head on the smooth stone ground. He groaned slightly as a sharp pain shot up his back.
"Holy crap," he murmured, "where in the hell-"
The ceiling of the cave came into focus, as well as the light coming from the entrance. Shadow's ears picked up a voice and the sound of metal grinding against rock. The image of Eggman crushing Sonic's legs suddenly flashed through the dark hedgehog's mind for an instant.
"Eggman," he breathed, trying to bring his voice to a yell. "Eggman!"
His shout barely came across as a whisper. Shadow was still frozen to the ground. He watched as two robots pushed a boulder over the cave's entrance.
"You fools, it's much too small!" Eggman's voice rang out. Shadow registered in his mind what this meant, and, despite his aching limbs, stood up and quickly scooped Rouge's still unconscious body in his arms. He dodged the boulder just before it bounced off of a protruding wall and slammed to the ground where Shadow and Rouge would have been.
Shadow's arms creaked under the weight of Rouge. She wasn't that heavy, but the hedgehog's entire body had been weakened completely after the battle. He labored to breathe, taking in as much air as he could before releasing it again.
"Ugh . . ."
Shadow's arms faltered as he carefully set down Rouge. She twitched slightly, and then spoke as if she was still asleep.
"Th-thanks."
Shadow pursed his lips and nodded, even though Rouge wouldn't have seen it. Another thought crossed his mind.
"Omega!" he cried very faintly, "Omega . . . where . . . Omega!"
Out of the corner of his eye, the hedgehog caught a glimpse of a mass of metal sputtering and sparking. Thankfully, the boulder had only just missed the robot. Shadow ran towards Omega and examined his features, checking to see if anything was severely damaged. Shadow recalled the shock absorbers in his that had been installed just recently. They had done a good job of keeping the robot almost completely intact, save for a few crunched pieces in his legs and his side.
"Omega . . ." Shadow uttered, "C'mon, wake the hell up . . . come on . . ."
Eggman's voice rattled Shadow's ears again.
"Perfect! Lay it over the top!" he shouted, "Let them rot in this cave!"
"No!" Shadow screamed, or what he thought was a scream. "You'll never get away with-"
The rock covered up the light that had been streaming in. Shadow stood motionless, having difficulty processing what had just occurred. Rage gripped his insides until it burst in the form of a roar.
"Damn it all!" he bellowed, punching the boulder that had fallen into the cave with every ounce of strength he had left. The hedgehog ignored the immense tingling pain in his fingers and sank to the ground. "Damn you, Robotnik . . . damn you and your lousy pieces of crap . . ."
Rouge had begun to stir. She moaned slightly as she heard Shadow's mumbled curses. Shadow heard the small sound and limped to the bat, who was still flat on the ground.
"Rouge, are you . . . are you-"
"I'm fine," she snapped, "don't touch me."
Shadow backed off. Rouge got to her feet and brushed herself off, attempting to get any dirt off of her outfit and boots.
"Oh, my head . . ." she moaned, "where are we?"
Shadow gazed at what used to be the entrance.
"Mystic Cave," he spat, "Eggman's doing."
Rouge sighed heavily and placed her face in her palms.
"No, no, no . . ." she muttered. She released her face very suddenly. "Where's Omega?"
The hedgehog nodded in the direction of the robot. Rouge ran to him and began to knock on his metal exterior. "Omega?"
No reply.
"Omega, wake up!"
When she was countered with a harsh silence, Rouge opened up the robot's back panel and searched for the tiny "reboot" button. When she located it, the bat jammed her finger into it and held it for a long three seconds. Omega made a few beeping sounds, and then his eyes started to glow again.
"Thank God," Rouge breathed as Omega came to. "How're you holding up, big guy?"
Omega hesitated before spewing a series of static-like coding from his voice box like one of the fast voices at the end of a commercial. Rouge and Shadow jumped back at the sudden cacophony.
"Geez," Shadow breathed once Omega stopped, "Is he . . ."
"That . . . I think it was normal . . ." Rouge stuttered, unsure of anything.
"Omega!" Shadow called from where he was standing, "Omega, are you all right?"
The robot lifted himself up and slowly pivoted his torso to face his teammates.
"System recovery successful," he stated, "Memory restored. Data banks filled."
"Oh my gosh, you had us worried, buddy!" Rouge sighed, relieved.
"Firearms disabled," Omega said. "I . . . I regret to inform . . ."
Shadow and Rouge exchanged concerned glances. Rouge was the first to react, shushing the guilty-looking robot.
"Hey, it's all right, big guy. That's okay. We still love ya."
Omega's head creaked as he lifted it, seemingly brightening up at Rouge's words.
"Communications have been cut off," the robot continued, still making observations, "Service unavailable."
"Ohhh . . ." Rouge groaned, both from this news and the pain in her wings, "what in the world were they thinking, giving these to us if we wouldn't be able to contact them?"
Shadow paid no attention to Rouge's question and Omega's hypothesized answer. He instead looked around at the cave. They were in a smaller chamber, and there were two paths—one on the left, and the other on the right.
"We should start looking for an exit," the hedgehog said, "so we can get out of here as soon as possible."
Rouge peered into the darkness that was Mystic Cave.
"No thanks," she responded in a falsely cheerful tone, "I'd rather stay here. You two go ahead and come back to tell me when you find the way out."
"Fine. You can let the spiders eat you alive then," Shadow replied, throwing a glance over his shoulder. Rouge pictured thousands of arachnids crawling all over her skin and collectively absorbing her insides through their fanged mouths. She shivered.
"Ugh. Lead on, then, O dark hedgehog."
"Thank you."
For a while, Team Dark walked through the narrow tunnel. There were a few very old lanterns that only dimly lit the path, each one laced with spiderwebs and caked with dust. Every now and then, Shadow peeked over his shoulder to check on his teammates. The journey was mostly silent, save for an occasional sarcastic remark or complaint from Rouge.
"My wings must have been crushed!" she said, "What did Eggman do, throw us in here?"
"I'm in just as much pain as you," Shadow replied, gritting his teeth, "nevertheless, we should move on so we can get medical help as soon as possible."
"Omega, don't you have a first aid kit or something with our other supplies?" the bat inquired.
"We packed very few bandages, considering everyone assumed this mission would be much shorter and easier," he responded, "I apologize."
Rouge exhaled loudly through her mouth, her irritation becoming more evident. Shadow rolled his eyes.
"We'll be out of here in no time," he muttered, "just bear with me for a bit, will you?"
"How can you be so sure?" Rouge demanded, "We've been in here for hours! I can feel my muscles deteriorating!"
Shadow stopped walking, causing Rouge to bump into his back. He flinched as she bumped his bruised spike.
"Omega, how long have we been walking through here?" he asked.
"Approximately fifteen minutes," the robot answered. Shadow couldn't help but shoot Rouge a smug look. The team continued to march forward. Not another word was exchanged for another fifteen minutes as they traveled through the winding rocky tunnel.
Rouge was lost in her own thoughts, until she hit a halted Shadow in front of her.
"Shadow, why are we stopping?"
The words hadn't even escaped her mouth before she saw why the hedgehog had stopped walking.
"Holy Mobius . . ." she breathed, her green eyes wide with awe.