A/N: Gahhhh, one day late. :S I'm really sorry, guys; things have been crazy lately. On another note, I've been really excited for this chapter, so I hope you like it! For everyone who's been reviewing and I haven't replied to your most recent reviews, thank you so much for sticking with me up to this point! I'm so happy to have such an awesome audience! :) You guys rock!

Omega glanced back at Shadow. The hedgehog stood motionless, save for his chest rising and falling with—dare he even think it? - excitement.

Rouge squinted in the same direction, the same beam of light catching her eye.

"Christmas lights?" she mumbled, still thinking about the church.

Shadow barely heard her say it.

"There's no sense staring at it!" he cried, almost in hysterics, "let's get the hell outta here!"

As Shadow was about to take a step forward, Omega clutched his teammates shoulder. Shadow looked at the metal fingers, and then into Omega's red eyes. "Well? Come on!" he snapped, "We're almost free from this damn nightmare!"

Something didn't seem right to the robot. Omega's sensors on his feet, though dying, picked up the slightest vibrations coming from the floor of the cave. A massive cloud of dust, barely visible, appeared in the distance of the cave behind Team Dark, accompanied by an increasingly loud rumbling.

The robot turned to find Shadow's horrified and crushed expression.

"Run," the robot said loudly, "Run now!"

Shadow grabbed Rouge's arm and Team Dark bolted towards the light as the ceiling from deeper in the cave rapidly crumbled to the ground.

"Stay back!" Knuckles screamed as he pulled an unconscious Jet from under a rock slide pile. The hawk had been searching for any member of Team Dark, when he stepped on the wrong rock, triggering an entire avalanche to tumble on top of him. Now, the Egg Carrier wreckage was splitting the ground underneath it, groaning and creaking horribly. The sound of metal grinding against rock pierced the air, and the search party watched from a distance with mouths agape, and some with ears covered.

"Hey, wait, what if Team Dark was in there?!" Silver cried over the noise, "We gotta see!"

Knuckles wasn't moving. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was irregular. Silver ran to him, waving his arms frantically.

"Knuckles, what are you doing?! Let's go!"

The echidna's eyes snapped open. He'd sensed the faintest trace of Chaos Energy present in the area, but not in the Egg Carrier. Almost as if he were mining for something, the Energy was coming from underground. The sensation left Knuckles very suddenly; as quickly as it came.

"There's no one in the Egg Carrier," he said with trembling lips as Silver tugged at his arm.

Everyone looked at Knuckles with panicked eyes. Silver's eyes were more frantic than the rest.

"Whaddaya mean, no one's in there? How do you know?" he yelled.

Knuckles' head jerked up and he stared, horrified, at the Egg Carrier.

"They're underneath it."

Shadow, for a split second, could feel a tiny pulse of Chaos Energy from above. He paid it no mind, though, considering it was gone within seconds and he didn't have time to think. The team sprinted for the light, and Shadow refused to tear his gaze from it. They were coming close, so close, to freedom. To fresh air and sunlight. He was determined to get them back to that normal life, to where they belonged.

"Rouge, hang in there!" he yelled over the cracking and grinding coming from above them. The bat nodded, frightened by the sights and sounds, and gripped Shadow's arm with all of her might.

Omega sparked as rocks started pouring over his metal body and denting it, coming unnervingly close to his interior. He dodged as much as he could, but nothing—not even the cave's wrath—could stop him from sticking to his teammates.

Shadow kept his eyes on the light. It was getting brighter, and all they had to do was climb a bit to get there. As he was running, he felt his hand being yanked backwards as Rouge tripped slightly.

"Rouge!" he yelled as the bat recovered from stumbling. She smiled weakly, only to change her expression to one of terror as she looked back into the structure as it tore itself apart.

"I forbid you to look in this direction," Omega said sharply as he stretched his arms out to help Rouge up, "Keep running; I implore you."

"I've never run a marathon!" she called back, her voice breaking, "I have no training for endurance!"

Shadow pulled, perhaps a bit too hard, on her arm and they continued forward. Omega stole a glance behind him as well, as rocks rained down on him and Shadow and Rouge. He watched as Shadow cried aloud, a mix between pain and effort, as the pieces of the ceiling mercilessly clawed at his head, arms, and sides. Rouge didn't utter a sound besides slight gasps for air as she ran, her lungs taking a beating. Shadow just kept pulling at her arm, thinking about nothing but escaping the blasted cave.

The light was just up ahead—it was a steep climb to the top. Shadow glanced back at a panting Rouge, who had her head down as she struggled to breath correctly. Wasting no more time, the hedgehog used every last bit of strength he had, all provided by adrenaline, to lift her by under her shoulders to the rock above him. She looked confused for a second, until she saw Shadow straining to get to the same rock, and something clicked her mind. It wasn't much, but she felt a short familiarity with the hedgehog and outstretched her hand to his to help hi, reach her. Without thinking about it, Shadow grabbed it and pulled himself up. Rouge squeezed her eye shut from the surge of pain in her arm.

Shadow yelled at Omega to use his boosters to reach the platform he and Rouge were on. The robot did so, though the boosters were nearly shot. He clambered to his feet as his boosters sputtered with smoke and sparks. Shadow took a glance into the distant cave area. More dust erupted from that area, and it inched dangerously close to the Team. A single rock fell as the hedgehog wasn't paying attention, landing on his foot. He cursed loudly, but he didn't have time to turn around—not before Omega forced him to face the other way.

"Move," the robot stated simply.

Shadow took Rouge's arm again and helped her up to the next few rocks embedded into the wall. Omega used his booster to get his teammates to the top, calculating the amount of time it would take for the cave to completely collapse.

One minute . . .

Shadow's breath was cut by another sharp gasp of pain as something dropped on his head. He guided Rouge forward as she stumbled around the platform, exhaustion creeping into her muscles. He could finally see the source of the light—there was a hole in the wall, and a small amount of green could be seen through it.

"We're almost there!" he yelled, "We're going to make it!"

Omega looked behind them. The dust cloud had caught up with them.

Forty-five seconds . . .

"Omega, help me break this wall!" Shadow cried.

Omega pounded against the wall with strong metal hands, and then noticed what Shadow was doing. The hedgehog was throwing his weight against the wall, and his body was becoming weaker and weaker. He threw himself against it less and less, until the hedgehog gasped for air as the cloud closed in on them. Soon, the only sign that Shadow and Rouge were there was the sound of their lungs attempting to be rid of the thick dust in the air.

Twenty . . .

Omega looked for his two teammates, who were both faltering to the ground, weakened.

Fifteen . . .

The robot brought his arm across his metal chest.

Ten . . . Nine . . . Eight . . .

He charged at the wall once, cracking it slightly.

Seven . . .

He charged at it again. Dust started pouring out from the cracks.

Six . . .

It cracked more and more, until some pieces started falling, the chunks becoming bigger and bigger.

Five . . .

Omega used himself as a battering ram one more time, opening a gaping hole. The sunlight coming through blinded his teammates, and they both shielded their eyes.

Four . . .

Omega listened to the violent coughs coming from both of his teammates. In that moment, he only had one goal . . .

Three . . .

To protect.

Two . . .

The robot brought both of his arms behind the backs of his teammates and shoved with all of his might towards the opening. Shadow and Rouge practically flew out, landing hard on soft grass under the strong sun.

One . . .

Shadow's adrenaline rushed again as he heard rocks falling and scraping against metal. A roaring landslide toppled over Omega, trapping him under the entrance in a pile of sharp and heavy rocks. A shower of sparks burst from the few spaces between the rocks that crushed the interior workings of the robot. Shadow could hear his heartbeat in his ears. Everything in his body went completely numb - he couldn't feel the pain that should have been throbbing throughout his entire body. Trembling, the hedgehog let out a long cry from his burning lungs, his deep voice carrying through the entire forest.

"Omega!"