A/N: On time today! Woot woot! Again, thank you to everyone who's been keeping up with me here, guest reviewers, regular reviewers, and all you lovely folks! I really appreciate your support! :)

Shadow breathed as best as he could through his exhausted and dust-coated lungs. Each breath pleaded the hedgehog to cough; to rid his lungs of the dust that had entered into his system. Shadow's eyes moved to the Egg Carrier wreckage on top of the flattened cave, visually explaining to him what had been causing the cave to tumble down on top of their team.

"Eggman, you bastard," he growled, his low voice hoarse. Shadow fell into a bout of heavy coughs, almost unable to stop himself. As he continued to choke on the dust that caked his throat, the hedgehog forced his screaming muscles to pull him up again, into something that resembled a standing position. He wobbled drunkenly to the former cave's entrance, and caught himself when he began tipping over.

For a split second, Shadow looked back. Rouge was unconscious again, unmoving, except for her chest that rose and fell steadily. Turning back to the landslide, Shadow's anger, guilt, and tiny sliver of hope refilled him. Each emotion took over, constricting around the hedgehog's mind until it formed a pulsing rush of adrenaline. Shadow cried out again and tore at the rocks with bloodied hands, cursing every time his fingers slipped or something fell on his shoe. Every part of his body begged him to rest, to stop, to breathe. Shadow ignored their exhausted whispers and kept pulling and tugging at each individual stone that laid between him and Omega.

The stones fell one by one, some as big as Shadow's hands, others mere crumbs. Shadow felt his head pounding, beating like a heavy bass drum. The blood rushed to it; Shadow's face and ears burned with a seething red anger that swirled around his mind like storm clouds. Normal breathing was nearly impossible as he tried to force the heavy pieces of nature to bend to his command and save his crushed friend.

A faint heartbeat taunted the hedgehog, sounding its alarm in his ears. Shadow ignored it. He wanted to ignore every ounce of pain; every sign of exhaustion that circled around him. The face of Omega flashed in his mind, intact and what Shadow perceived to be happy. Shadow's head started beading with sweat, and he became heavily dizzy within seconds.

"No," he whispered to his head, "don't fail me now . . ."

The hedgehog's knees buckled. He couldn't feel himself slowly tipping forward. His hands, still slave to routine, kept tearing at the rocks that blocked his way.

"Come on," he breathed. Another cough escaped his throat. "Come on!"

The dizziness loomed over his head, threatening him with a sinister grin. The hedgehog let out another sound, something resembling a sob, this time much quieter.

"Please, Omega . . ."

His forehead gently fell against the sharp rocks. Shadow could feel the warmth of new blood dripping down the sides of his face. The sweat stung the cuts.

"You metal bastard," he murmured, gasping in gulps of dusty air. "You stupid metal bastard."

A deep voice, this time not his own, barraged Shadow's eardrums. He didn't bother looking behind him to see who it belonged to. Two strong hands suddenly gripped his shoulders.

"Shadow!" the voice called, "Shadow, you okay?!"

The hedgehog turned and used the remaining bit of his strength to push away the figure.

Vector stumbled backwards.

"Hey, Knuckles, we found them!" Vector yelled, "Over here!"

Espio was at Rouge's side, gently elevating her head.

"Rouge is unconscious," he said in a calm yet alarmed voice, "She's still breathing, but barely."

"Hurry, Knuckles," Vector called, his voice far more urgent than that of his teammate's, "Follow my voice! Can't ya hear me?!"

"It's impossible not to," Espio muttered to himself.

Vector caught a swaying Shadow in his arms, holding him carefully.

"Shadow's not looking so good, either," he announced, "he's got blood and bruises all over him!"

Knuckles, Silver, and a now conscious Jet came scrambling over, all creating a commotion. Shadow felt a warm burst of Chaos Energy pulse through his body. Knuckles felt the same thing.

"I knew I felt something before!" the echidna yelled, "It was coming from Shadow!"

"My emerald was . . . shattered, you twit," Shadow retorted between gasps. "How?"

"I brought one!" cried Knuckles in return, holding up the red Chaos Emerald, "You never know when one of these babies will come in handy!"

Shadow felt his body "recharging" itself. He set his feet down on the ground and pushed away Vector's arms. Once he regained the energy to stand up again, he stumbled back to the cave's entrance and started tearing at the rocks again.

The search party stared at him while Knuckles went over to Rouge to check her condition. They watched Shadow as he ripped away the rocks from Omega's smashed body.

There was another commotion as he tipped again. Vector, Jet, and Silver caught him and tried to help him stand up again. As he got his balance back, Shadow resumed his digging.

"Shadow, what are you doing?" Silver inquired, both concerned and confused, "Are you trying to get back in?"

"Doncha geddit?" Vector exclaimed, "Omega's missing! He could still be stuck in there!"

Silver looked hurt for a second, and then it registered in his mind what Vector had said.

"Do you mean—Omega-"

"Ugh!" Vector threw up his arms in exasperation. He moved alongside of Shadow, who didn't make eye contact with the crocodile as he pulled rocks from the pile.

"Shadow, you should really stop," Vector urged, attempting to pull the determined hedgehog away from the cave, "You look awful and I'll bet you feel awful, too!"

"Shut up," Shadow snapped, still not looking at Vector and pulling away from him again.

"No," the Vector insisted, "get away from there!"

"No!"

Vector lifted Shadow up, wrestling with him as he tried to break free. Like a child, Shadow kicked and yelled and cursed to get his own way.

"You're gonna hurt yourself!" Vector warned, "Stoppit!"

"Shadow, I'll move the rocks and then we can find Omega, okay?" Knuckles suggested, standing up after examining Rouge, "Don't worry, I'll take care of this."

Shadow answered with a murmured cuss. Rolling his eyes, Knuckles ran up to the side extensive pile of rocks and started moving the pieces with ease. Silver joined him and moved the heavier rocks with his telekinesis.

"I'm sure Omega's all right, isn't he?" Silver asked, ever hopeful.

Knuckles lifted another rock without an answer. As he threw it aside, the echidna caught a glimpse of something yellow beneath. Frantically, he dug to where the yellow was, and unearthed a single robotic arm.

"I don't think so," he mumbled in reply to Silver.

"Huh?"

"Espio! Jet! Help me out here!" Knuckles called, "Vector, you hold down Shadow!"

Espio and Jet ran over and started digging at the rocks. After a few minutes, they were able to find a crushed robot and friend at the base of the pile.

Shadow heard their quiet murmurs of awe. He didn't want to see what his teammate looked like . . . but at the same time, he could manage one peek.

It was too much. All that was there were millions of scattered shards of metal and the skeleton, held together by broken bits of metal plates. A labyrinth comprised of thousands of split wires let off spurts of colored sparks. Some pieces had been pressed into the ground by the rock slide. The only things that appeared completely intact was the skeleton, one arm and a single, dimmed LED eye.

Shadow squeezed his eyes shut. His eyes were starting to burn.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit, you idiot . . ." he mumbled, wishing to get the image out of his head.

Vector, who was supposed to be holding Shadow down, also had his eyes fixed on the robot's destroyed body.

"Holy Mobius . . ." the crocodile whispered.

Everyone was in the same state of shock as they looked at Omega's body. Some had barely even known him, but had known him well enough to think of him as not a piece of machinery, but a friend. One of them. And a part of Team Dark.

Shadow's anger suddenly turned into irritation.

"Well, what the hell are we standing here for?!" he yelled, "Help me get him back to HQ!"

"Shadow, we'll handle this!" Knuckles said, grabbing Shadow by his arms and holding him back. "Don't use up any more of your energy—you need rest!"

Everyone protested as the hedgehog stomped over to Omega and carefully lifted the heavy frame, putting it over his shoulder.

"Don't tell me what to do," Shadow shot back in reply. Pieces of metal jabbed into his skin, piercing open what had just been healed. The hedgehog gritted his teeth and forced himself to move forward.

"Take Rouge back to her house," Knuckles muttered to the Chaotix. They nodded and proceeded to gently carry the bat and journey back to her place. Only Silver, Jet, Knuckles and Shadow remained.

"Shadow . . ." Knuckles said with a warning tone.

The hedgehog said nothing in reply. He only continued to trudge along with Omega on his shoulders.

"Shadow!"

Still no reply.

"Shadow, come on . . . give up your pride for one damn minute, will you?"

"Getting awfully preachy, aren't we?" Shadow snarled, short of breath. Knuckles pursed his lips, his temper flaring.

"You're obviously hurt!" cried Knuckles, "You need to know when to take a break!"

Shadow stopped. The search party looked at him, hoping that he was coming to his senses. However, they didn't see the grin on his face.

"Chaos Blast!"

Everyone reeled backwards with a sharp cry. Shadow chuckled to himself.

"You're right; that Emerald did come in handy," he called back to the three confused Mobians. Only seconds after did his head start violently spinning again, dizziness overcoming his mind. "Uhnn . . ."

The weight of Omega's body pressed even more on the hedgehog; the wiring and metal shards stuck him like needles. More warm blood trickled down his back and sides. The robot's frame threatened to fall on top of him. Shadow stopped and set down the frame, hoping it all stayed in one piece. A final wave of dizziness swirled around Shadow's mind, until he started seeing spots start speckling across his eyes.

Knuckles ran up to the collapsed hedgehog.

"I told you," he mumbled. "Come on, guys, let's get these two some serious treatment."

And with that, Knuckles, Jet, and Silver left behind the wreckage of the Egg Carrier to take Shadow and Omega to a more comfortable place.