Chapter Twenty-Four

Shirley took a step back, taken by surprise by Omega's declaration. The robot scanned her silently, he could tell she was processing what he told her.

"I represent beauty?" She asked.

"AFFIRMATIVE."

The woman stammered, "Well, uh... Er... That is... I mean... You could have said that about... Do you... do you actually mean that? You actually think I represent beauty...?"

"I CANNOT DENY THAT YOU ARE A VERY PRETTY HUMAN BEING AND THERE ARE NOT MUCH WORDS TO DESCRIBE HOW YOUR BEAUTY MAKES ME SEE HOW YOU REPRESENT BEAUTY." Omega intoned, "BUT I STAND BY WHAT I SAID, YOU REPRESENT BEAUTY..."

"Wh-What sort of beauty do I represent? The beauty of the world? Or the beauty of a human female?"

"BY ALL TECHNICALITY, YOU REPRESENT BOTH. YOU REPRESENT HOW THERE IS BEAUTY IN THE WORLD AND YOU REPRESENT THE BEAUTY THAT NO ONE CAN RESIST, THE KIND OF BEAUTY THAT LEADS TO HUMAN MALES FALLING FOR HUMAN FEMALES! IN MY EYES, YOU ARE THE EMBODIMENT OF BEAUTY AND THAT IS REFLECTED IN THE WAY YOU ARE DESIGNED!"

Shirley laughed, "Omega, I'm not a robot."

"SHIRLEY, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN! I WAS NOT SAYING YOU ARE A ROBOT..."

"Well..." She approached Omega, "You are quite honest and I do love a compliment, especially coming from a big and handsome battle robot who defected from Doctor Robotnik..."

'Warning: Did she just call me handsome?' Omega thought.

Just then, he noticed that Shirley's hand gently grasping his hand. The robot couldn't feel anything, but this move was nearly... unexpected.

"I think I'm liking you more." He heard her say.

"ARE YOU INDICATING THAT YOU ARE FEELING SOME SORT OF ATTRACTION TOWARDS ME?" Omega asked.

Shirley seemed to blush. "Er, well..." She replied, "I didn't say..."

Just then, Omega's sensors went haywire. He turned around and so did Shirley, they watched as a massive wave of water rolled towards the beach. Omega scanned the tidal wave and his readings indicated this was no ordinary wave, there was something else at play, and the waves were heading in his and Shirley's direction... and TOWARDS STATION SQUARE!

"What in the world?!" Shirley exclaimed.

"INITIATING PROTECTION MODE!" Omega buzzed.

He moved in and swept the swimsuit-clad female into his hands, taking her by surprise. And then, Omega ignited his rockets and flew off the beach. He ascended high into the sky, heading towards Station Square, just as he saw torrents of water erupting from the streets.

Omega scanned Shirley's emotional state and noted that she was shocked and pretty scared. He held on tight to her, making sure that he didn't drop her into the streets below as he heard people screaming. Omega hovered over the skyline with his human acquaintance in hand and set down atop the roof of a building.

The battle robot surveyed the chaos, watching as water flooded the cracking streets and emerged from the drains. People were scurrying, trying to get somewhere safe. Omega heard Shirley yelp and turned to catch her just before she fell off the building. He held on tight to her, detecting the vibrations as the waves tore at the foundation and part of the building crumbled.

"CHANGING LOCATIONS!" Omega declared.

Without another word, he picked up Shirley and flew off the building before it collapsed into the streets. He watched as water burst out of various windows, pouring into the streets below like waterfalls.

Omega carried Shirley to another rooftop overlooking Station Square, making sure that it was stable enough to not fall into the flood below. He set the human down, made sure he was alright, and then flew off and headed into the chaos. Omega found a pair of kids caught in the water and picked them up, carrying to the rooftops of an apartment building.

He then went back, picked up an elderly man just before he sank, and carried him to another rooftop. Omega detected drops of water landing on his hulking body, but he did not touch the water. He carried a man in a suit to another rooftop and inspected the chaos, checking if there were other people in need of help.

'I need to make sure that Shirley is alright.' He thought.

Omega conducted a scan, detecting that plenty of people had managed to get to safety while others were lost in the flood, and then, he flew back to the roof where Shirley was located. Shirley was sitting back, her hat lying next to her, while she ran her fingers through her hair.

"You were pretty good." She remarked.

"ARE YOU HURT?!"

"Not that I know of, I feel fine, thanks to you." Shirley looked at the city, "Too bad Station Square's all wrecked, but something tells me that wasn't a tsunami..."

Omega looked at the city grimly. "THAT WAS NO TSUNAMI!" He said, "WHAT JUST UNLEASHED A FLOOD ON THE CITY WAS NO FORCE OF NATURE. ROBOTNIK MUST HAVE OBTAINED ALL THE EMERALDS DESPITE HIS DEFEAT, HE HAS GIVEN THEM TO THE ONE HE WAS GATHERING THEM FOR!"

"Who? Use who?"

Just then, Omega and Shirley heard glass shattering and the sound of more water running. They turned and watched as something emerged from a building many meters away from their current position, made entirely of water. The building crumbled and a humongous beast with green-eyes, a watery body, and blue skin emerged.

Watery tentacles rose around the monstrosity and the beast threw its head back to the sky, letting out a shrill roar that echoed across the ruins of Station Square.

Chaos had been unleashed!

And with all seven Chaos Emerald, the entity had achieved its ultimate and most powerful form; Perfect Chaos...