A/N: Hey, all. My apologies for not updating last week-I was away and was therefore unable to post this chapter. So I'm really sorry if I left you all hanging like that. :S Also, this chapter will be a long one. I apologize again for my disorganization.
Above ground, the forest remained as green and lush as before. A fresh rain had just soaked the leaves and exotic flowers that scattered across the floor of the forest. Above the cavern's entrance was a smoking, wrecked mass that once was Eggman's newest Egg Carrier. The ground beneath it was cracked and crumbling under the weight of the precariously placed vehicle.
Suddenly, the Egg Carrier's weight shifted. The starboard side leaned to the right more, threatening to tumble on its side down the slope that was raised above Mystic Cave.
"Soniiiiiiic!"
The voice was cracked and high-pitched, full of desperation.
"Sonic, where are you?!"
Fur matted and limbs bleeding, Tails emerged from a cloud of smoke billowing from the Egg Carrier's right wing and collapsed to the ground in a heap, his breathing irregular and shaky. Tears formed in his eyes as he fathomed the unfathomable fate of his big brother.
"Please . . ." The little fox pleaded with no one, praying for a miracle. He wondered how he'd even survived the crash in one piece, let alone at all. Tails let out little sobs as he rose and limped away from the wreckage as it creaked more. His lips and voice quavered every time he spoke. "Anyone, please, help . . ."
When he was a good distance away from the smoldering Egg Carrier, Tails threw his battered fists against a mossy rock, attempting to convince himself that everything would be fine. Sonic wasn't dead, he just wasn't. There must have been some way that he got out. Of course . . . wouldn't he have been around to save his best friend; his little brother?
Tails stifled another sob and ignored the throbbing pain in his hands. He covered his face with his fingers and blinked the stinging tears back.
"Sonic . . ." he whispered, hoping to hear the sound of a rushing spin dash behind him, or the fearless and confident big-brotherly voice to console him and tell him everything was going to be a-ok. But the little fox heard nothing except the various bird sounds and his own shaky breathing.
Tails' ears twitched excitedly when there was the sound of rustling greenery behind him.
"Sonic?" he mumbled hopefully, his head whirling around to see what was there.
"Well, sorta . . ." replied a deep and grim voice. "You okay, buddy?"
Knuckles wrestled with the leaves of the wild bushes until he broke through them. Tails gasped faintly as his eyes moved to the bloodstained blue mass in the strong echidna's arms. Noticing the terror in the fox's bright blue eyes, Knuckles sighed.
"Don't worry. He's still alive and breathing—just unconscious. We'll just need to get him back to safety and seek out some medical attention."
Tails, as any child would be, was speechless. He pressed his lips together in order to hold back more sobs, but this time they broke through with little effort. Knuckles shook his head.
"Eggman really must have lost it this time," he muttered. "That was quite a risk he took."
"Did you find him at all?" Tails whimpered, his voice breaking.
"No . . . not a sign of him," Knuckles whispered. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open in realization. "What happened to Team Dark?"
Tails looked around, as did Knuckles. They called the names of the members, imagining wild and horrible theories of what could have happened to them.
"Shadow!"
"Rouge!"
"Omega!"
No response came. Knuckles grumbled and set down Sonic to throw his fist at the ground angrily.
"Damn it, Eggman, what did you do?!" he screamed. Tails, still shaken, moved close to Sonic and checked his vitals. Still breathing . . . pulse pumping . . . yes, he was definitely still alive.
"Knuckles," Tails called as Knuckles hurled curses from his mouth, "What should we do?"
The echidna stopped his swearing and panted. He tasted a droplet of sweat as it fell into his mouth.
"We gotta find them," he growled, "even if they're all under that wreckage. We should leave no hedgehog, robot, or bat behind, whether they're alive or-" Knuckles stopped himself there. He couldn't even bring himself to think that Team Dark was dead. Two were basically immortal, but the other one . . .
"Call someone," he said suddenly, "you take Sonic back to Amy's or something. We'll form a search party." The echidna set his jaw, determined. Softly, he added: "We gotta find her."
Tails raised his eyebrows.
"Them." Knuckles corrected himself. "After we take Sonic back, I'm going to look. We have to be careful flying him around; he's got some pretty serious injuries. God only knows how he got them."
"I'm not ready to find out," Tails said, shuddering as he gingerly scooped up Sonic and tried to put him over his shoulder. Knuckles helped the little fox to carefully hold the blue blur in his arms and they both flew off, in order to get Sonic to safety. As they disappeared into the distance, the destroyed Egg Carrier shifted its weight again, cracking the rocky ground beneath it even more until a deep crack formed underneath it. As many clichéd lines go, time was wearing thin.
Even as the cave's ceiling started crumbling again, Rouge was quiet. And not even in the good way—she was deathly silent as the team moved forward through the cavern. Shadow had regained his consciousness and decided on finding the exit of the cave, and since then, Rouge hadn't said a single word.
The Team wove through narrower passageways and crossed over dangerous bridges laced with greenery. The vegetation was beginning to grow thicker as they ventured on—thick enough for Shadow to think back to those jungle adventure movies where the main hero needs a rather long knife to slice a path through the plants.
"Omega, did we happen to bring some kind of sword?" he asked nonchalantly, mostly thinking aloud.
"Now is not the time for fencing, Shadow creature," the robot replied coolly, "I would win in a heartbeat nonetheless."
Shadow smirked at the robot's sarcasm.
"I mean to cut down these plants," he explained.
"I will move to the front and take over that responsibility, Shadow," Omega said, stomping his way towards the front of the line that the team had formed. His metal hand retracted into his arm and a long pair of hedge-clippers replaced it.
Shadow raised an eyebrow.
"How long have you had those installed?"
"For fifty years," was the dry response. Shadow knocked on the robot's back to get his attention as he snipped through a thick leaf with ease. "Yes?"
"Big guy, are you . . . feeling all right?"
"Never better," Omega droned, continuing to slice through the vegetation, "I happen to be the most content robot in the world."
"You certainly aren't acting the part," Shadow mumbled, "We should all take a breather."
"I am the most powerful of the E-Series robots; I require no such-"
"Just sit down and go into hibernation," Shadow scolded, recognizing the familiar "I am the most powerful" speech that seemed to be locked into E-123's memory.
Omega didn't sit down, but he did go into hibernation mode. Once he had shut down, Shadow sat down against the wall and put his hands behind his head in a relaxed position.
"Something in him is definitely malfunctioning," Shadow said.
"Helpful," Rouge snapped, sounding much like her old self, "'Something is malfunctioning'."
"She speaks," Shadow replied indifferently.
"I'm not going to check Omega's panel until you move back further."
Though his eyes were closed, Shadow's eyebrows contorted themselves in a way that indicated shock, then awareness.
"I understand," he said suddenly, unable to help sounding a little bitter, "I get why you don't want me near you. But we're a team."
"For now, we are," Rouge said, "but once we get out of this cave, I think I'll quit my job at G.U.N."
Rouge stepped over to Omega as Shadow took a few paces back. She opened up the panel and began fiddling around with the wires.
"Look, I know I upset you, Rouge. But we've gotta stick together. Omega would be devastated if you left."
No reply. Shadow gritted his teeth.
"Rouge, you're the one who formed this group. Do you not remember? You wanted everyone working together. As a team."
"I'm also the one who got you angry to the point of murderous," she retorted after a moment of thought.
"That's besides the point, Rouge. We're moving forward, not thinking about things that have already happened."
"And I suppose my trauma is being left behind as well? It's not that easy for a mortal like me."
The hedgehog bit his lip.
"You have to understand, Rouge. We . . ." Shadow shuffled his feet and swallowed, ". . . we need you. No matter what happens, we need you as much as we need Omega."
Rouge didn't bat an eyelid as she closed up Omega's back panel, perhaps a little harder than need be.
"Ha! The Ultimate Life Form and the Ultimate E-Series robot need me? A little old jewel thief?"
Shadow shook his head.
"You said you wouldn't leave us," he reminded her quietly.
"I'm the one who wouldn't shut up for this entire trip. I couldn't stop complaining, and now look at us! The entire cave is collapsing on top of our heads!"
Shadow eyed Rouge with an odd look. Her train of thought had started to get lost on the tracks, and some pieces of the rails were missing.
"Please, just . . . not another word." Rouge held up her pointer finger and immediately looked away from the black hedgehog. She sniffled slightly.
"You have to stop putting yourself down . . ." Shadow whispered, reaching for his friend. He wanted nothing more right now than to be able to console. To be sensitive. To have feelings, for Mobius' sake. For once. Rouge pulled away as he reached for her.
"Not another word," she repeated, tears in her eyes. "I don't want you to touch me."
Shadow pursed his lips and suddenly felt irritated. He pushed back the feeling as best he could and lowered his outstretched hand.
"I want you to know that you can trust me," the hedgehog said with a low voice, "even if it costs me an arm and a leg to get you to believe it." With that, he turned towards Omega. "Now, what did you find in him that was wrong?"
"Uh . . ." Rouge fiddled with her hair, running her fingers through it as though she were brushing it. "The thingy isn't attached to the . . . the thing."
Shadow's mouth hung open slightly. Rouge stood there, drawing circles on the ground with her shoe.
"Helpful," he hissed, "Do you want Omega's software and memory to rot?"
"N-no, I don't. I forget what those cables are called, is all."
Shadow looked closer at the panel and found that one cable was dangling loose when it should have been plugged in to another one.
"The anti-malware cable isn't plugged into his main system . . ."
Rouge nodded, though her eyes showed the faintest hint of confusion.
"Come again?"
"Rouge, he's developing viruses in his software because these two wires weren't plugged in."
Rouge scoffed.
"Omega can't get the stomach flu, he's a robot."
"Wh—don't play around, Rouge, now is not the time."
"I'm dead serious."
Shadow was beyond words at this point. The emphasis on the word "dead" made Shadow wince, though he couldn't figure out why. He plugged the virus protection cable back in and flipped the robot back on. Once he'd powered up, Shadow shut the back panel and took a step back.
"Omega, could you please scan Rouge's mind again?"
Rouge jumped back in alarm as Omega stared into her soul with his red eyes. After a series of calculations, Omega pulled Shadow aside.
"She has developed post-traumatic stress disorder," the robot calculated, "And, if I'm not mistaken, a lingering case of schizophrenia. Delusions and hallucinations may ensue immediately. I suggest we tread with caution as we venture out of this cave."
Shadow put his hand over his eyes. Rouge was, in a sense, fading away.
"I should have guessed," he growled, "and there's no way to help her?"
"Negative. Not with the resources here. The trauma has also caused some slight memory loss."
"I noticed."
"We must seek out medical help as we return."
Shadow was about to reply, when suddenly Rouge's face appeared next to his. He yelped in surprised and jumped back.
"Holy—you scared the-"
"Sorry," Rouge said, "I just thought I overheard that I've lost something."
Shadow stared into her eyes. The teal jewels that glittered in the large white spheres revealed a sense of innocence; of curiosity and madness. The spark of aggression and fearlessness was no longer there. Shadow broke his gaze and opened his mouth to attempt to tell Rouge what was happening.
Rouge held up her hand, having other thoughts.
"Say no more. I lost the diamond from the Mobian Museum of History in Central City. Been looking for it for a long time now."
Shadow was now taken aback.
". . . What?" he questioned softly, not in a dangerous tone, but one of concern.
"My diamond," the bat replied with all seriousness, "Thanks for offering to help me find it, but I think I can handle this myself."
Shadow had no words.
"Diamonds are a girl's best friend . . ." Rouge sang with wild eyes, "Oh, she and I were friends. No one could separate us." Her head suddenly snapped up. "Do you hear . . . bells?"
Shadow shook his head and gave Rouge the longest and most sympathetic look he ever had. He had seen her sugar-high before, but this . . . this was ridiculous . . . and extremely alarming.
"They're pretty close," Rouge said, "maybe if we follow them they'll lead us to the light!"
Shadow pursed his lips. He couldn't speak anymore. His throat had gone numb as words he wished to say were stuck in it, but would have been wasted on Rouge's mind.
"At the end of the tunnel! Outta here . . ."
Omega tried to calm her extreme excitement and began to attempt reasoning with her broken mind—not an easy task for a robot. Shadow, though he would have been better for the job, sat down and buried his face in his hands. Somehow, he couldn't help but bare his teeth at the ground a curl his fists in frustration. A sickening feeling of guilt overpowered the rest of his emotions, causing his hands and stomach to violently tremble. If only he'd been able to control his anger that day.
Damn it all, he thought as Rouge's incessant babbling continued behind him, just damn it.