A/N: Wait . . . what is this nonsense? Two chapters up in one day? Smileaway, what's going on here?
Ahh, I guess I'm not as patient as they come. ^_^" I was a bit anxious to get this chapter up . . .
Rouge bid Knuckles good bye as he walked out of her home. She was shaking with excitement, anxiety, and fear. What was going to happen to Omega? Who else should she tell about the mission? What would she do next?
Another knock came at the door. Rouge figured she must have been a pretty popular girl if so many people were coming to visit her.
"Who is it?"
"It's me."
The voice was deep and somehow sounded both exhausted and panicked. Rouge's ears perked up.
"Shadow!"
She threw on her coat and opened up the door. Sure enough, Shadow stood there, soaking wet from the rain. The bat threw her arms around him, happier than ever to see him. Taken aback, the hedgehog awkwardly put his own arms around the bat, patting her gently on the back. He was careful not to touch her mangled wings.
After a moment's embrace, Shadow cleared his throat went back to being serious.
"Rouge, we have to go to Tails' place right now."
Rouge's bliss suddenly sank into a feeling of despair. She could feel her heart drop to her feet.
"Why?" she asked, concerned.
"It's Omega. He wants to see us. Now."
Rouge nonchalantly looked down at her hands. They shook insanely as the bat recalled Omega's efforts to save his teammates.
"You—you mean . . ."
"Rouge." Shadow's voice was low and stern; he hoped that Rouge knew what he was talking about. He hoped for her to be mentally present at least once more. Just for the team. With one hand placed carefully on her shoulder, Shadow searched her eyes for a spark of concern, of worry, of panic.
And he found it.
"Let's go," she said, her voice sounding like it was before the mission—confident and strong.
Shadow brought her outside, where a motorcycle was parked in the lot.
"I thought your motorcycle broke?" she asked, confused and now doubting the return of her memory.
"This is a different one," Shadow mumbled. "Get on, and hold on tight."
Rouge obeyed him. Shadow zoomed down the streets, swerving around cars and in and out of lanes. Cars honked at the speeding hedgehog, who said and did nothing in response to their annoyed reactions. The bat held on tight around her teammate's chest. She could feel the fur that rested underneath his chin; it was still damp. Her heart pounded in her chest, its pace quickened by adrenaline. Sheets of rain fell from the sky, accompanied by cracks of thunder and lightning. Rouge squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to push away images of their team without Omega away from her mind. Something nagged her that those images were no longer figments of her imagination. Nevertheless, she retained a single sliver of hope.
Shadow skidded to a stop on the motorcycle, practically throwing it to the ground as they arrived at Tails' house. They ran to the door to find everyone from Sonic to Silver standing in front of the house, all with large and sad eyes. All except Tails, and a certain robot.
"Move!" Shadow yelled at the crowd of Mobians. Hesitant, everyone parted to give him and Rouge a clear path to the door. Shadow stopped for a quick moment, turning to Rouge and pursing his lips. The bat nodded and held out her hand to Shadow. He accepted it and held on, almost wishing that she wouldn't let go. Pulling himself together, Shadow turned around and rushed inside, Rouge following closely behind.
Shadow and Rouge stopped dead in the doorway of Tails' lab. As if they'd just entered a hospital room, a sudden feeling of uneasiness overwhelmed them both.
"Shadow! Rouge!" Tails called, looking up from a large computer screen. "Omega's over there. He's . . . well, he doesn't look quite the same . . ."
Shadow's eyes traveled to a single red light that caught his attention. The light sat on top of a massive tangle of black and red wires and machines, all connected every which way. Anything familiar about the robot, save for a single arm and his red eye, was gone.
"His power supply is extremely low," Tails warned, walking up to Shadow, "I'm afraid I don't know how else to charge him with his main power source crushed. I've hooked him up to a temporary one, but it doesn't look like it'll do too much good. He started talking a little bit, and he wanted to see you guys right away."
Shadow nodded and looked back at the mess of wires and single robotic arm that was attached to it. Rouge, being a step ahead, stood directly in front of what was left of their teammate and held his metallic arm.
"Bring . . . th-the Shadow . . . creature," Omega spluttered, his voice box crackling like radio static. Rouge turned around to face Shadow, and beckoned for him with a hand gesture. The hedgehog hesitated slightly. For some reason, he could just barely bring himself to approach his friend. Boldly, he shook off the uneasiness and strode up to what was left of the robot.
"H-have I . . . protected you?" Omega asked as Shadow came closer.
Shadow and Rouge nodded.
"We're fine," Shadow mumbled, "What about you?"
"Mission completed," Omega droned, "Protect."
"That won't be your last mission, you know," Shadow said, "We can find a way to bring you back to normal, you'll see."
"N-not possible," Omega stated, "Power supply . . . m-malfunction. C-cannot be of any . . . more use."
"Stop talking like that," Shadow snapped, "You're going to be fine, you'll see."
"Yeah, Omega, you're going to be fine," Rouge repeated, "Just give us some time, and we'll figure this all out."
Omega stopped talking for a moment, but his single eye continued to glow. He seemed to be looking for the right words to reply to his teammates.
"Do n-not worry," the robot crackled, "We w-will always be . . . a team."
Shadow licked his lips nervously.
"Of course we will," Shadow agreed, "just wait until we fix you up. Then everything will go back to normal."
". . . loading memory," the robot droned. Omega's machinery began clicking and whirring until a faint recording started playing from a small speaker. It was Rouge's voice.
"Aw, yeah, baby! This makes us a team!"
Shadow and Rouge stared deep into the robot's only eye.
"What . . . ?" the hedgehog murmured in confusion.
Another recording started playing—Rouge's voice again.
"Even if you believe that everyone in the world is against you, know that I'll always remain by your side."
Shadow's eyes started to sting as the recording ended.
"Omega, stop that," he demanded with a quavering voice.
Omega lifted his only robotic arm with a creaking sound. He outstretched it to Shadow.
"R-remember that," the robot said softly with a crackling voice.
"Don't you dare," Shadow growled, his eyes swimming.
The red light started to flicker.
"Omega!" Rouge cried, tears already beginning to drip down her cheeks.
"T-to quote the f-famous Vulcan," Omega's voice box spluttered, "I-I have been . . . and al-always . . ."
Shadow shook his head fiercely.
"Omega, I swear," he hissed.
". . . will be . . . y-your friend."
"Please don't leave us!" Rouge begged again, her voice breaking.
The little red light flickered more, until it came to a stop, glowing faintly.
"Protect . . . each other . . ."
Shadow's breath quickened. His heart raced in his chest as he foresaw the inevitable. Before he could hesitate, Shadow blurted:
"Omega, wait! I'm sorry for all the times I treated you like crap!"
The red light faded out, and all sounds of machinery powered down.
Shadow's eyes burned with rare tears that tickled his cheeks as they rolled to his chin. He gently placed his fingers between Omega's outstretched ones. Rouge had her hand on Shadow's back, letting out small sobs herself as Shadow gritted his teeth at the floor.
"I-I'm sorry," he whispered.
A/N: And I'm sorry, too, guys . . . especially to those of you who had high hopes. :( You have my permission to throw things at me. *braces myself*
Also, Star Trek reference . . . in case anyone was wondering about the "famous Vulcan" thing.
I've got one more chapter planned after this, just to let everyone know!