A/N: For those of you who saw this story being announced on my profile, remember that tiiiiiiiny bit of Shadouge I mentioned? Well, keep an eye out for it. (I'm looking at you, dear friend of mine . . . you know who you are. ;) ) Also, since I know many people are probably getting ready for school, updates might be more frequent from this point on. Maybe. All righty, carry on! Special thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing thus far-you guys are awesome! :)
"Explain to me again why we're out here," came a reluctant grumble from the green hawk, "I didn't catch it all."
Knuckles whirled around angrily and seized Jet's shoulders, frustrated by everything that had taken place, including the hawk's lack of awareness of the situation.
"We . . . are looking . . . for . . . Team . . . Dark!" Knuckles slowly and loudly recounted, "I won't explain everything again!"
"Hard to tell when you're always yelling," Jet mumbled, just loud enough for Knuckles to hear as he released the hawk's shoulders from his fists.
"Hey, cut it out, you two!" Silver scolded, getting between the two of them, "We're not here to battle!"
"The hedgehog has a point," muttered Espio, who was just as irritated as Knuckles, "this is too serious a case for us to be arguing. Is this where you wanted to take us, Knuckles?"
Knuckles broke his searing stare from Jet's eyes and looked in the direction where Espio was pointing. The Egg Carrier sat even more precariously on the mound of grassy rock, still creaking and smoking. Vector's eyes widened in awe of the wreckage.
"Good thing it hasn't exploded y—mmf!"
Espio clamped his hand over Vector's snout, pinching his jaws together.
"Don't even think about it," the chameleon hissed, "You know what kinds of things happen when you open your big mouth."
Vector's eye roll came complete with a muffled sigh of exasperation.
Knuckles stepped towards the Egg Carrier, and then turned to look at the mediocre search party he'd scraped together. They weren't much, but there weren't many others who could aid him in the search. At least, not the girls and younger ones, who were watching over and taking care of Sonic. The group looked back at him, eager and anxious.
"I don't know what we'll find," Knuckles started uneasily, "We don't know what happened to anyone who was involved in this crash besides Tails, myself, and Sonic. So, uh . . . don't be too surprised if you see something . . ." his voice trailed off as he tried to find the right words.
"Unpleasant?" Silver chimed, hoping to help.
"Yeah," Knuckles replied. "But let us know if you do. So, look around, and try not to touch anything unless it'll help someone get out from underneath a fallen piece or something."
With that, everyone broke up and began to scour the area for a sign of someone familiar. They started around the outside of the Egg Carrier, peering through bushes in case anyone had been flung out of the vehicle.
Espio, being the careful reptile he was, tiptoed gracefully along the side of the mound and checked through cracked windows and in the nooks and crannies of the outer shell of the Egg Carrier. While he squinted through a shattered window, his foot gave out as he stepped at an angle on a rock. His shoe slipped out from underneath him, but the ninja's reflexes overtook him and he stretched out his arms behind him. Espio fell into a back walkover and skillfully flipped out of the way as a small avalanche followed him down the mound. Vector was the first to notice as the rocks slid down and came to a halt at Espio's feet.
"You okay, there?" the crocodile asked, looking over his companion for any sort of wound.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Espio responded, slightly short of breath.
Knuckles came running over, especially since he was particularly jumpy that day.
"What happened?" he inquired, a mixture of panic and excitement rising in his chest. "Did you find something?"
"Nothing of importance," replied the chameleon in a mumble, "I only noticed that there was a fair amount of blood on the walls inside there."
Knuckles relaxed a little, but gritted his teeth all the same.
"It was a rough struggle to get out," he growled, glancing at his bandaged forearm as he answered, "but thanks anyway for telling me. If you see anything else, please come to me."
"Roger."
The search party looked for another sign—anything-to find that someone was okay. They searched for two full hours, only finding scraps of metal, broken machinery spewing sparks, and insects making homes in the open spaces of the vehicle.
"Is there any possible way we can get inside?" Silver asked as the group gathered for a small break, "Maybe there's someone trapped in there."
"Just how are we gonna do that?" Jet barked, irritable, "The whole thing's probably going to tumble down on top of us if we touch it!"
"It's been shifting even without someone touching it," Espio pointed out, "Jet may have a point."
"Naturally," Jet muttered.
Silver's face fell, crestfallen.
"Well . . . Knuckles, do you have any ideas?"
Everyone looked hopefully at the one who'd organized the search party. He didn't dare bring his eyes up to their faces, so he continued to stare at the ground.
"Maybe we should try to dismantle it," he suggested. "Little by little, we might be able to take it apart. We'll need to balance it out just right, though."
Everyone gave the echidna blank looks.
"Any objections?" he asked quietly.
"That's a ridiculous idea!" Jet squawked, "The whole thing is practically defying the laws of physics as it is!"
Before he got a chance to finish what he was saying, Jet gasped along with everyone else. The metallic creaks grew louder and dust flew up from the bottom of the Egg Carrier as it started to shift again.
"Outta the way!" Knuckles cried, shoving along the search party, "Come over here! Hurry!"
Frantic yells ensued, but they were engulfed by the sound of the groaning metal of the Egg Carrier as it tipped over. Loud cracks filled the air, and the airship started to break the mound in half.
"Holy Mobius," breathed Silver as the group watched the ship, "Those cracks are huge."
No one replied, as they were all just as in awe as Silver. They watched, hopelessness bubbling in everyone's chests. Except Knuckles'. He gave the Egg Carrier the evil eye as though it were just another monster to battle.
"You haven't won yet, Eggman," he snarled under his breath.
Once again, Shadow found himself, Omega, and Rouge running for their lives through the endless tunnels of Mystic Cave. The deafening sound of walls and the ceiling crumbling echoed throughout every stony corridor. When the horrible tremors started again, the hedgehog's only concern was Rouge. The moment the ceiling began to drop rocks on Team Dark's heads, Rouge's eyes grew wide with horror, and she mumbled something about zombies attacking. Therefore, Shadow pulled her arm and decided to drag her along as they ran.
"Damn!" Shadow screamed as he screeched to a halt at a dead end. The rocks falling from the ceiling were beginning to get bigger. "Quick, over here!"
He pulled Rouge along again, and turned around to find that a pile of rocks was gathering at the entrance of the tunnel they'd just entered. With a yell of effort, he cried to Omega to help him move the rocks before they blocked off the entrance completely.
Rouge stood behind them, nervously pacing and putting her arms over her head to protect herself from the falling rocks. She had sense enough to look at the ground rather than up, and to stay put, until she thought the rumbling had stopped and she peeked at the ceiling.
Shadow stopped dead when he heard a cry break through the sounds of the tunnel falling apart.
"Rouge!" he roared, suddenly overwhelmed by adrenaline. "Omega, get these rocks out of the way!"
The hedgehog spun around to see three rocks menacingly piled on Rouge's legs, arm, and wings. She lay on the ground, unconscious.
Without hesitation, Shadow threw his body weight against each rock, battering himself up in the process. But he didn't care—now that Rouge was more vulnerable, she had to be protected. And he'd already failed in that.
Shadow managed to get every rock away from the bat, who woke up as the rumbling came to a complete stop. She bit her lip as she tried to get up.
"Don't move," Shadow mumbled, "Let me take a look at that."
Rouge's eyes were wild with an emotion that Shadow couldn't recognize. It was difficult to tear his own gaze from hers, but he did nonetheless and examined her wounds.
Something hit Shadow in that moment—a chill down his spine. It had been a while since he'd experienced a shiver overtaking his body, and seeing Rouge's injuries was the first time in years since he'd gotten that feeling. One arm appeared stuck to the ground, the skin flattened to the stone and blood oozing from long gashes on either side. It was obvious to tell where the bone had broken—a small but sharp white edge protruded from the skin, unprotected by flesh.
Rouge's legs weren't nearly as bad, being bruised and bloody, but nothing had been broken. The wings were a different story, however. Each one had been mangled; a twisted a bloody mess behind her. Shadow bit the inside of his lip.
"Medical supplies are running low," Omega informed him, "we may not have enough to heal her completely."
Shadow's lips twitched, as did his ears, until he got up and spat out a colorful array of curses. He cursed the cave, he cursed G.U.N., he cursed Eggman, and he cursed himself. Bitter anger filled his entire being.
Omega, knowing that Shadow's actions were not solving anything, immediately began to wrap Rouge's wounds and attempted to heal them using the last few drops of various ointments and telling her to swallow a few painkilling pills. Rouge remained completely quiet, once again thrust into a state of shock.
"You are no help," Omega said sharply to Shadow, who had just finished a violent fit of throwing his fists against the walls, "The least you could do is help me to place a bandage into place across her wounds."
Shadow panted, and then brought his blood-red eyes to Rouge. He'd never been so protective of her before; she never really needed protection from anything. She'd been so tough and gritty, until the one day he snapped. Everything went downhill, and now Rouge was vulnerable and weakened, unable to reason.. He clutched his thumbs in his fists and stepped towards the wide-eyed bat, who was breathing in heavy sobs. The hedgehog knelt down at her side. He could feel his lips quivering; another new sensation.
"Rouge . . ." he started off quietly. No response came. "Rouge, I'm . . ."
Omega stood up and watched Shadow intently, his own robotic heart beginning to soften. It wasn't very often one witnessed the hedgehog giving an apology. Pride was his first reaction to anything. And now . . . it seemed that was about to change.
"I'm sorry . . ." whispered Shadow, "I'm sorry for being a screw-up . . . and for traumatizing you."
Shadow searched the eyes for a sign of forgiveness, of acceptance. But all he could see was empty fear. Something distant. Clearly she wasn't present with him in that moment.
Omega gently pulled Rouge into a sitting position, holding her up as carefully as his giant fingers would allow him to. Shadow, still looking into the teal eyes, slipped his hand over Rouge's unbroken one. He lowered his head and gritted his teeth.
"I'm so sorry."
The moment caught him by surprise when the unbroken hand turned itself around and closed around Shadow's rough fingers.
"Data banks state we are reaching sea level," Omega calculated as they got back on their feet, "An exit cannot be too far off now."
"Good," Shadow said, "We're getting closer."
Rouge was limping, but she had insisted she was fine to walk, showing something a little more normal for her. Perhaps her mind was healing . . . maybe.
"I heard them again," she said, in an almost completely normal voice, "the bells. Do you think we're underneath a church?"
Shadow shook his head and decided to play along.
"I doubt it," he answered as he ripped a vine out of the way, "There's no churches in this jungle."
Rouge shrugged.
"There might be graveyards," she said, "Or just a few graves. "
Shadow winced at the mention of graveyards. Now was not the right time to discuss death, nor did he want to think about it. So he simply grunted in reply.
The Team crossed another dangerous-looking wooden bridge; Shadow led the way. Rouge limped across and nervously looked down below, where there was a 200-foot drop. She let out a small sound from her throat, but Omega scooted her along.
"There is no threat to worry about when I am behind you," he assured her, "Should you fall, I will catch you."
Rouge chuckled nervously as she stepped to the other side.
"Ahh . . ." she breathed, "Sturdy land."
"Not just yet," Shadow mumbled, his eyes distant and fixed. The red eyes were wide with awe, maybe even excitement, and his heart skipped a few beats in his chest. Omega looked in the same direction to see what the hedgehog was staring at.
From that direction, a tiny beam of light reflected off of Omega's metal body.