Just the three reviewers again! Thank you for your dedication! Shout outs to Hawk, AlexJ and emzhao07010.
Omega fans! This might be a bit of a spoiler, but I took some liberties with the killer robot. I made him bigger and deepened his voice significantly. I think I described it pretty well, but if you want to google Sovereign talking to Commander Shepard from Mass Effect, or Freckles from Red vs. Blue, that's in the range of what's in my imagination. As always drop a review! Let me know what you think!
You know it! Don't own it! Enjoy!
With Espio off doing whatever secret ninja training he did to prepare for an extended stealth mission, the rest of the team found themselves with a free day. Tails and Knuckles dug into plans for the basement and didn't look like they'd be coming up for air anytime soon. Sonic ate breakfast, packed a lunch and said he'd be back in time for dinner then proceeded to rattle the windows by hitting mach speeds within seconds of exiting the house, which left Shadow, Rouge and Maria to their own devices.
"I dunno about you two, but after all the stress and planning, I just want a nice long bubble bath," Rouge said, fussing with her wings a little.
"I can get you back home without much trouble," Shadow volunteered. "But, where have you been keeping Omega? I'd like to make sure he's not feeling too left out of the action."
"That's a good idea," Rouge said. "It isn't a good idea to keep him in storage for too long."
"He'll be pleased to hear that he'll be getting some action soon," Shadow said. "And…"
"And what?" Rouge asked, trying not to smile at the way Shadow's ears went back. They weren't flat to his head, but it was telegraphing his uncertainty, and it was hard to remember that he was supposed to be the ultimate life form when he looked that adorable.
Shadow turned to Maria. "He's been a friend to me," he said. "I'd like you to meet him."
Maria's smile was akin to the sun coming out from behind clouds. "I'd love to meet your friends, Shadow!" she said.
"What is this?" Rouge scoffed, putting her hands on her hips. "Omega gets a proper introduction, but I don't?"
"That is not my fault," Shadow said, crossing his arms. "Or did you forget that I had a bullet in my shoulder at the time?"
"I sure seem to find you unconscious a lot Mr. Ultimate Life Form!" Rouge said, leaning forward. Then in a fake aside to Maria, she said, "He's not as tough as he'd like everyone to think he is."
Shadow smiled suddenly. "Hmm. What was it that you were telling me the other day?" he said. "Knowledge is power? Then I have one word for you…"
Rouge was starting to look worried.
Shadow took a breath. "...Knu-."
The bat leapt like a panther, and clapped a hand over Shadow's mouth. Rouge's blush was so intense that it was showing through her fur, and her ears were quivering with indignation. "Alright! Fine! You're the ultimate life form! Can we go?" she said in a rush.
Shadow chuckled darkly as he gently shoved her off, and offered a hand to Maria in preparation to make a chaos jump.
Rouge still looked flustered and just a little vexed, but she still took Shadow's arm when he offered it. "I should never have taken you under my wing," she huffed. "I will remember this!"
"I'll check my email for a doozy," Shadow said, still smirking. "Chaos Control!"
Rouge's house was a curious mixture of not what Maria was expecting and exactly what she was expecting. The casino on the main floor had the girl glancing around in shock and surprise, but the glittery decorations and rainbow lights flashing from the disco ball struck her as exactly Rouge's kind of venue. There was a set of stairs behind a hidden doorway that led up to a penthouse set up. It had every luxury imaginable, and the whole thing had Maria thinking of the pirated spy movies she'd managed to get her hands on.
Rouge tossed her keys down on the shiny granite countertop and shrugged out of her coat, already looking far more relaxed than she had been over the past few days. "I'll be in my room," she said. "And I don't intend to emerge for at least three hours. Shadow knows where everything is anyway, so make yourselves at home, though I expect you may want to visit Omega right away."
Shadow nodded. "Enjoy your… bath," he said
Rouge shook her head with an amused smile, and disappeared behind her door.
"Come on," Shadow said, taking Maria's hand and leading her over to a section of wall.
She was about to ask him what they were doing there, when Shadow put his finger on a bit of gold scrollwork and pressed. There was a click, and the wall shifted back and slid open to reveal an industrial sized elevator. Shadow led her inside and pressed the button for the basement.
"Oh wow! It's just like in the spy movies!" Maria crowed.
Shadow looked away from her. "I tracked those down," he said. "I watched them when I missed you most." A sudden look of shock crossed his face, and he looked up at her with wide eyes "I need to show you Star Wars!"
"That sounds exciting!" Maria said. "Just the kind of movie I was never allowed to watch… Don't run Maria, you need to keep your heart rate down! Don't stress about education now, we can do this when you're cured! Don't do anything interesting, whatsoever, but wear this bubble wrap!"
"...That you can't even touch because you might get sick," Shadow added. "I did find some of those things to be unreasonable."
"You still agreed with a lot of it," Maria said, pointing an accusing finger at him.
Before Shadow could answer, the elevator stopped and the big doors slid open on inky darkness. The light in the elevator suddenly struck her as too frail, and it somehow acted to emphasize just how dark it was down there.
Shadow stepped confidently out of the elevator and because he still had hold of her hand, Maria had to follow. "Shadow?" she asked, feeling very glad that she wasn't down there alone.
"Omega?" Shadow called into the darkness. "There's someone I'd like for you to meet."
Maria almost held her breath.
A deep rumbling synthetic voice sounded in the darkness further into the basement, and her skin prickled as her arms broke out in goosebumps. The booming sound of his voice was one she felt in her lungs. "Disengaging stealth mode," Omega said.
Maria could hear the whir and whine of servos and hydraulics, and a set of perfectly round red eyes appeared, glowing in the dark, but not enough to show her what she was looking at. Those eyes were at about eye level with a human adult of average height, but then, with another set of whirs and a clunk of metal against concrete, they rose another three feet.
"Shadow the Hedgehog detected," Omega rumbled, and began to approach, his progress measured in menacing clunking footsteps.
Maria's heart was in her mouth at this point, but Shadow wasn't flinching so neither would she. As Omega drew closer, she began to notice his outline, the light from the elevator glinting off polished metal. Her first impression of Omega was a towering humanoid shape with panels of red, black, yellow, and sharp gleaming steel.
The mech stooped towards her, offering his right hand which made her think of steel claws.
Maria was really only able to get her hand around the tip of his forefinger. "It's nice to meet you, Omega," she said. "Thank you for being friends with Shadow!"
Omega seemed to freeze, and Maria wondered if she'd done something wrong, but at last he spoke again. "Tiny human girl detected," he said, still remaining absolutely frozen. "Unable to move. Requesting assistance."
Maria let go of him at once. "Oh, is something wrong?"
Shadow began to laugh. "Thank you for trying to be gentle, Omega," he managed to say. "But you don't need to be quite that cautious."
"TINY HUMAN GIRL DETECTED," Omega insisted. "Adding to protection priorities at rank: one. Error. Title name required."
Shadow was still trying to control his laughter, and Maria felt her shoulders loosen. This was the most she'd ever seen him laugh in a single moment. "This is Maria," he said. "This is the sister I told you about."
"Conflicting facts. Data override, entry complete." Omega said. "Updated data required. Maria Robotnik, marked as deceased."
"A lot has happened," Shadow said. "Let's sit down and I'll tell you the whole story."
On the top floor, in the jacuzzi that dominated a corner of the master bathroom, happily cocooned in lavender scented bubbles, Rouge had to set down the remote to her TV before she dropped it, she was laughing so hard. The screen on the TV was set to the security feeds in the basement which let her watch Maria's first meeting with their pet killer robot in HD and with the added benefits of dolby digital 5.1 surround sound.
The basement was far less menacing when the lights were on. It was a bit of an odd conversation. Omega didn't say much, in fact he was completely silent, but his red optics were trained on Shadow as the hedgehog gave him the brief version of the events.
"Espio will be making his move on Mt. Freedom tomorrow," Shadow said. "So we're taking today to rest."
"Situation understood, updating operating parameters… complete," Omega responded, then those red eyes began to gleam brighter. "Inquiry: Will this unit be included in the full frontal assault?"
Shadow nodded. "It's looking more and more likely that will have to be our plan," he said. "It would be stupid not to put your firepower on the field."
"This is acceptable," Omega said and the menacing light faded back to its normal glow.
"Is the projector down here still intact?" Shadow asked him. "Maria hasn't seen Star Wars."
There was a whir as the yellow hood that protected Omega's optics swiveled sharply towards Maria. That menacing gleam was back.
"Unacceptable," The robot rumbled. "Required debriefing with movie title: A New Hope. Device projector is in status: functional."
Rouge joined them a few hours later just before they popped in The Empire Strikes Back, wordlessly handing buckets of popcorn to those who could eat it. Placing a cushion against Omega's flank, she settled in, though a good deal of her attention was on Maria, taking in the girl's reaction to the major plot twists. Shadow would be forever thankful to her for getting a close up video of Maria's reaction when Darth Vader said that famous line…
"No, Luke. I… am your father."
They ended up having to pause the movie.
There was a lot of indignant stuttering before she stood up and yelled at the screen. "You just cut off your son's hand! You are the most terrible father in the galaxy!" Then she plopped back down next to Shadow. "Turn it back on, I need to see the rest!"
Rouge paid for eastern take out for Return of the Jedi, which was a regular enough occurrence for the organic members of Team Dark, but it definitely felt far more special that evening.
It was getting late by the time they finished the last movie, and they bid Omega a good night, before going up stairs. Shadow decided he wanted to stay the night in Rouge's penthouse and used chaos control to pop in at Tails workshop to inform them and grab some things for his sister, which left Maria alone in the living area where a large fluffy faux fur rug lie innocently on the floor.
Maria had long since shed her socks and shoes during the movie marathon and she stepped tentatively onto the rug, sighing at the feel of how it cushioned her feet. It was like standing on a cloud and she couldn't help but kneed her toes into it with the gleeful thought of how many germs she was probably picking up at the moment, and how she didn't need to worry about that anymore.
"Enjoying yourself?" Rouge asked from the kitchen.
Maria jumped and turned, casting a guilty look at the bat for having been caught in such a moment of indulgence. She could feel her face going hot. "I'm sorry," she said. "We didn't have anything like this on the Ark. I probably shouldn't-."
"No, no! Honey, that's what it's there for!" Rouge said. "A lot of the textures in this house are here because I liked the way they felt! And I saw the Ark. It's nothing but bare steel walls and metal grid walkways. Nothing soft about it, but you probably had your stuffed animals at least."
"Stuffed animals?" Maria asked doubtfully. "That… that sounds kind of violent."
Rouge's mouth dropped open in shock, her eyes wide. "Not even… Oh, honey! You stay right here! Auntie Rouge is gonna fix this okay?"
Maria could only stare at the bat in complete bewilderment. "But-!"
"Don't you go anywhere!" Rouge said, pointing sternly at her as she snatched up her keys. "I'll be right back!" She practically ran out the door.
Shadow's phone rang, and he hesitated over Maria's nightgown in confusion. Hardly anyone ever called him. He fished the device out and scrambled to answer it. It was Rouge… Maybe there was something else Maria wanted?
"Hello?" Shadow asked.
"Shadow!" Rouge said urgently. "What's Maria's favorite animal? This is very important."
Shadow instantly thought of how long Maria spent looking at pictures of cats. "Cats," he said, but then a thought occurred to him and he looked up in dread. "Rouge? What are you doing? You know we're not in any position to keep any pets."
"Not what I'm planning darling," Rouge said. "Thanks for the info, I'll see you when I get back."
The line dropped with a downward chime. Shadow stared at the phone. Get back? He grabbed Maria's nightgown and chaos controlled back over to the casino.
Maria was looking as shocked as he felt.
Neither of them were quite sure when Rouge was going to get back, so they began getting ready to go to bed. They were both a bit startled when Rouge barreled back in through the door. She had a shopping bag in one hand labeled Douglas. White tissue paper spilled out over the edges of the bag.
Shadow saw it and his eyes widened. "I should have thought of that," he said.
"Well, now you have ideas for the future," Rouge said, coming over to press the bag into Maria's hands. "Just to make sure you aren't alarmed, no cats were harmed in the making of this plushy."
Maria frowned at Rouge in confusion and began to pick at the white paper hiding the contents of the bag. Soon enough she reached in and pulled out a very soft looking tuxedo cat with golden eyes. He was sporting a thin diamond studded collar that did not look original to the manufacturing.
Shadow shot Rouge a look, but still. Maria's expression…
Her blue eyes had gone soft and open, her mouth slack with awe. She was so quiet that Shadow could hear that she'd forgotten to breathe.
"Th-this is the nicest thing I've ever owned," Maria managed to say after a little bit, and she gently hugged the kitty, rubbing her cheek against the fur. "He's beautiful!" The girl stood and Rouge found herself captured in a hug, right along with the kitty cat. "Thank you!"
Rouge's expression softened and there was a suspicious wetness to her eyes, but she blinked it away. "You're welcome, honey," she said. "Now, we have a bit of a day ahead of us, so you sleep well, alright?"
"You too!" Maria said, and turned to go to Shadow's room.
Rouge sighed and her expression changed abruptly to one of concern and discontent as she watched Maria go. "It wasn't just you, was it Shadow," she said. "You'd never guess just looking at her, but that little girl had a rough time of it."
Shadow could only nod in agreement.
Rouge turned to go.
"Rouge," Shadow said, and the bat looked back at him. "Thank you."
Rouge smiled and nodded silently. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Maria was still cuddling her new kitty when Shadow crawled into bed.
"Did you have a fun day?" Shadow asked and Maria nodded.
"This was the best day ever!" she said quietly.
"Good," Shadow said and curled into her side.
They were both quiet for a few minutes but Maria turned her head towards him. "Shadow," she whispered. "I can feel you thinking."
"Sorry," he said. "Something you said back in the warehouse stayed with me. You said…" he hesitated and Maria shifted a little so she was facing him a little more. Shadow took a breath and continued. "You said that even on board the Ark, your life expectancy was only ten years, and that you had a theory about how you lived longer. Something to do with me?"
"Right," Maria said her expression turning serious. "Do you remember how I would get really sick sometimes? The ones where Grandfather was sure my time had run out? I asked for you, every single time, and you would cuddle with me, no matter what shape you were in. Then… my condition would improve, and no one had an explanation for it."
"The doctor always said it was your Robotnik spirit," Shadow said. "But I liked to think it was because we were together. There's no real explanation for either."
"I think there is," Maria said with a small light of excitement in her eyes. "I never got to really test this, but the more often we were together, the better I felt. And I got directly exposed to your blood more than once, but I never seemed to get sick from it."
"That always puzzled me, too," Shadow said.
"You'd never hurt me, right Shadow?"
Shadow sat up a little to look her in the eyes. "Of course not," he said.
"I know," Maria said, rubbing his ears reassuringly. "You'd do everything in your power not to… and I think your unique biology reacted to your will accordingly. I… can't back this up, because I never did manage to find Grandfather's notes on you, but that's not the only thing I have either."
"What else is there?" Shadow asked.
Maria smiled mischievously. "Do you remember that argument we got into about your chaos abilities?" she asked.
Shadow raised an eyebrow at her. "Which one?" he asked.
"My argument was… sometimes you could get into this mind frame, and if you were agitated, you'd have a thought, and your chaos would just… make it happen," Maria said. "You always disagreed with me."
Shadow was about to echo his sentiments on the subject that he'd expressed last time, but hesitated. "You might have a point," he said. "The Freedom Fighters had you tied to a chair, and I was just thinking about how much I didn't like the ropes and they just… disintegrated."
"Oh," Maria said, and began to scratch around his ears. "That means you were pretty angry, huh."
"I was," Shadow admitted. "It means you're probably right though… Where were you going with this?"
"Oh right," Maria said. "You can do things with your chaos energy that's completely on instinct for you. I'm thinking that could also have affected my life span."
Shadow nodded thoughtfully. "I did hear a lot of lectures about how closely intertwined life is with chaos energy," he said. "They can't even begin to say which came first."
Maria smiled. "So you really were a bit of a cure for me," she said. "If you think about it."
"You're amazing," Shadow said, rubbing his forehead against hers.
She giggled quietly and said, "I know."