Still Here

by Takeshi1225

Based in Sonic X. What if in the moments that he had when falling to Earth, Shadow heard Maria's voice, pleading for him to live, giving the Ultimate Lifeform the strength for one last Chaos Control to save himself? Now with a second chance, Shadow navigates his new life with former enemies now allies and new enemies upon the horizon. No matter what happens, he will still be here.

2. First Mission

Still Here

Chapter 2: First Mission

Sonic snoozed as he had peaceful dreams of him running through the planet only to suddenly reach for the stars to outrace shooting ones. He slept peacefully atop the roof of Thorndyke manner, enjoying the breeze as he napped.

Soon, the Sun came up, causing the blue hedgehog to scrunch his face up and open his eyes to be greeted by the morning. He stood up and yawned while he did a stretch.

"What a beautiful morning." Sonic said with a smile. He turned his head only to be surprised to see Shadow on the roof a distance away from him, staring off into the distance with his arms crossed. "Never took you for an early riser." Sonic said with a smirk.

"I don't need to sleep." Shadow said.

"So, you just came up here for the view, huh? Well, can't say that I blame you." Sonic said as he faced ahead as well.

The two decided to enjoy the view in silence. There's something about the rising Sun over the horizon that brings a sense of serenity to an individual, even for these pair of hogs.

After a while, Sonic picked up a familiar scent.

"Smells like breakfast is ready." Sonic said to his fellow hog.

"I don't need to eat either. So, I'm fine." Shadow replied.

"Well, more for me then, but don't blame me if Amy comes looking for you." Sonic said with a teasing smirk.

"She has been doing that a lot since we got back to Earth." Shadow acknowledged. "What's with her anyway?"

"She's just like that." Sonic answered with a shrug. "I think she just can't help but care for her fellow hedgehogs."

"Hmph." Shadow replied as he stared ahead.

"Sonic! Shadow! Breakfast!" Amy called out from within the house.

"See?" Sonic said, causing Shadow to sigh.

"Let's just get this over with. I'd rather do that than be hunted by her again." Shadow said as he hopped off the roof.

"I hear that." Sonic agreed as he hopped off as well.

The two headed inside and walked into the dining room to find everyone there having breakfast.

"Morning!" Sonic greeted everyone.

"Hmm." Shadow did the same but with a nod.

"Morning, you guys." Chris greeted the pair with a smile.

"Come, help yourselves." Ella said, gesturing at the food she made placed along the table like the options at a breakfast buffet.

Sonic quickly helped himself by filling up his plate with a tower of food.

Shadow walked over and stared at the selection. He was unsure of where to start. That was until he caught the scent of something bitter. He turned and noticed Ella pouring a black, hot liquid into Chuck's cup.

"What is that?" Shadow asked.

"It's called coffee." Chuck answered. "You ever had some before?"

"I'd remember that scent if I did." Shadow answered.

"Then here, help yourself." Ella said as she poured some into a mug for Shadow. "Now, do you like it with milk, sugar, cream or would you prefer it black as it is?" Ella asked.

Shadow just took the mug and took a sip, only to gasp in shock.

"This is… delicious." Shadow said with genuine surprise and intrigue.

"I'm glad you like it. It's a special brew I made personally." Ella said with a bright smile.

"What is it made from?" Shadow asked.

"Coffee beans." Chuck answered.

"Beans?" Shadow questioned.

"Like these ones." Sonic said after speeding from the kitchen with a handful of coffee beans. "They crush them and mix it with water to make the stuff." Sonic explained.

"I do it by hand. It's much better that way than to make it with a machine." Ella boasted as she flexed her biceps.

Shadow reached over and took a coffee bean from Sonic and ate it, surprising the hedgehog and the others. They had never seen anyone just eating the coffee bean before. Just then, Shadow's eyes widened again.

"It's good. It's even better this way than in a liquid." Shadow said.

"It is?" Chris asked with surprise.

"I think so." Shadow said.

"Here then." Sonic handed Shadow the coffee beans.

Shadow started eating them like they were candy, causing everyone to laugh as they found it amusing and kind of cute.

"If you like coffee beans, you should try the other stuff they make with it. Mainly deserts." Amy said with a smile.

"I doubt they'll be better than this." Shadow said, causing Amy to giggle.

.

.

After breakfast, Shadow just stayed in the living room for a bit. He just leaned against the wall with his arms crossed while his eyes were closed.

During that time, Cream and Cheese were just enjoying their favorite show and dancing along to the dance portion of it.

Tails and Chris just sat on the couch and enjoyed seeing the two have fun, all the while, Amy was keeping her eye on Shadow.

'How come he just always stands around with his arms crossed? That can't be much fun.' Amy wondered to herself as she stared at Shadow.

"See something interesting?" A female voice spoke, causing Amy to jump in surprise as everyone turned to see Rouge at the window.

"R-Rouge?!" Amy was surprised to see the bat woman.

"What are you doing here?" Chris asked.

"I need to borrow him for a bit." Rouge pointed towards Shadow.

"What for?" Amy asked with a suspicious look on her face.

"Well, aren't you a little defensive. What's wrong? Not liking the idea of Shadow spending time with another woman?" Rouge teased with a smirk.

"What Was That?!" Amy shouted with her face turning red while the others, minus Shadow, had their eyes widened in surprise at the claim. "Hold on! What are you suggesting?!" Amy questioned with a disapproving tone and miffed look on her face.

"What do you want now?" Shadow asked.

"I just came to pick you up for your first mission." Rouge answered.

"Already?" Chris asked in surprise.

"That's a little quick, isn't it?" Tails said.

"What can I say? With Shadow's talents, the President can't help but want to get him on the field ASAP." Rouge said with a shrug.

Shadow pushed off the wall and headed towards the window.

"What's the mission?" Shadow demanded a debriefing.

"Just a simple excursion into one of Eggman's bases." Rouge answered.

"Let's go." Shadow said.

Rouge smirked as she leaped back, taking flight as Shadow leaped out of the window.

"Shadow! Be careful, okay?" Amy called out to him.

"I'll be fine." Shadow said as he then sped away at high speed, following Rouge.

"I hope he won't find too much trouble." Amy said with a worried frown.

"You've been really concerned about Mister Shadow a lot lately, Amy." Cream pointed out.

"Chao, chao." Cheese said in agreed.

"Huh?" Amy turned with a blush, noticing the looks the others were giving her. "I-I'm just worried over a friend is all!" Amy quickly said.

"If you say so." Chris said with a teasing smile, causing Amy to growl in response.

'He's just a friend. That's all.' Amy thought to herself as she turned away with her arms crossed.

.

.

Shadow followed Rouge's lead all the way towards a base residing somewhere within an archipelago. With the help of his air shoes, he ran across the water, making sure to never lose momentum as he followed the bat towards the specific island's location.

As he continued to run along the ocean, he recalled the memory of the mission briefing back within the President's office.

.

.

Rouge had brought Shadow to the President, who had informed Shadow of a very important detail about the mission.

"A signal coming from the base?" Shadow questioned.

"Yes. Just this morning, G.U.N. had finally detected an incoming signal from the base in question." The President said.

"We aren't sure what the signal is about, but our sources believe it's coming from a third party rather than Eggman." The President's aide, Christina Cooper, added.

"We wish for you and Rouge to investigate since you are our most powerful agents. We wish for you both to do some reconnaissance work. A standby team will arrive after you, and if you find any information, please inform them. Any information on the whereabouts of Eggman or any of his upcoming plans is a necessity. I'm putting the upmost faith in you both to find anything of use to our government. Do you understand?" The President debriefed.

"Yes, sir." Shadow and Rouge said.

"Here is the location of the base." Christina handed them a map of the location within a specific island residing in an archipelago.

"I wish you both luck." The President said, earning a nod from the two.

.

.

This was Shadow's first step to finally help humanity. Stopping Eggman is a major necessity for the world to find happiness. So long as he was still free and trying to conquer the world, Maria's wish would not come true.

Very ironic that it was her own family member that would impede her dream like this.

"We're almost there." Rouge said as she looked over the map. "Say, Shadow, what are the odds that this base might have Eggman's secret treasure?"

"If he has any treasure to hide. Aside from Chaos Emeralds, I don't see him hiding something of any value to you." Shadow responded.

"Well, it never hurts to take a quick peak. If he does have some, we'll kill two birds with one stone." Rouge said with a smirk.

"I'm more concerned on what kind of opposition the base will hold." Shadow said.

"Like they could handle either of us. There's a reason why we're going in before anyone else. To us, no Eggman robot could ever make us break a sweat." Rouge said with upmost confidence.

"Best pray that'll be a fact then, otherwise your ego won't survive." Shadow said.

"Hmph." Rouge frowned with annoyance.

The two soon arrived at the island, both making it to dry land. Shadow had no fear of water as he could swim, but he definitely prefers land over water any day.

Rouge and Shadow headed deeper into the island, following the route on the map.

After a while, the two had come across trouble as suddenly turrets appeared from out of the ground.

"Watch out!" Shadow shouted as he and Rouge were forced to dodge incoming fire from several turrets. "Chaos Spear!" Shadow fire spears of Chaos energy towards several turrets, destroying them while Rouge took out several more.

"Looks like this base is still active." Rouge said with a frown. "I'm going to scout things out in the air. Hang on for a moment." Rouge told Shadow as she rocketed upwards into the air.

As Shadow waited for her, he heard the sound of a firearm clicking. He vanished in time to avoid being shot by several rounds. Shadow looked around to find his assailant, only to hear the same clicking noise behind him. Shadow quickly started to leap from tree to tree as an unknown foe not only unleashed hell upon him but was actually keeping up with him.

Shadow was forced to bounce off the trunk of a tree to dodge bullets in midair, only to earn a graze across the arm. Shadow growled in anger as he rolled into a ball, spinning at high speed as he bounced off several other trees. He ricocheted off a tree and sped over towards the source with his homing attack, only to be met with another's.

Shadow clashed with his foe, both bouncing off the other. Upon landing on the ground, Shadow gasped upon seeing a hedgehog that looked just like him, carrying a submachine gun.

"What is this?" Shadow questioned in shock.

The other 'Shadow' started firing at the original, forcing him to dodge. Shadow dodged around to avoid being shot by the bullets of his loathsome copy.

"You may look like me, but I doubt you have my power!" Shadow shouted as he charged up Chaos energy around his hand. "Chaos Spear!" Shadow fired out a spear of Chaos energy, forcing the copy to dodge, but the moment it did, Shadow dashed forward and delivered a hard punch to the fake.

He started landing blow for blow until he delivered one final kick, sending the copycat into a tree.

The other 'Shadow' fell to the ground, defeated.

Shadow walked over towards his defeated copy. As he stopped in front of his downed copy, he gasped upon finding that it had tears in its fur, revealing mechanical parts that were short circuiting.

Rouge came back down to find Shadow in front of a tree, looking down at someone.

"Found someone to play with, I see." Rouge said, walking over only to gasp upon seeing the android duplicate of Shadow. "Wha-? How is this possible?" Rouge wondered aloud.

"Tch. The damn doctor. He was busy making these inferior models while we were busy helping him collect the Chaos Emeralds." Shadow said with a frown.

"That man… there's no boundary he'll be unwilling to cross." Rouge said with a frown.

"Anything during your search?" Shadow asked.

"There's more defenses, but I found a route with much less hassle to getting to our target." Rouge answered.

The two turned and walked away with Rouge leading the way.

As they walked away, the Shadow android gripped its gun tightly and stood back up.

Shadow heard the clicking once again, alerting him that things were not over with the fake. He quickly grabbed Rouge and leaped away in time to dodge a flurry of shells.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow fired another spear of Chaos energy, nailing the android in the head, causing it to blow up, leaving it headless.

The headless Shadow android fell onto the floor, now fully defeated.

Shadow and Rouge landed on the ground, staring at the defeated droid.

"You doing okay?" Rouge asked with concern for her partner.

"Should I be asking you that?" Shadow replied. "I'm more concerned about the idea that this isn't the only one."

"Then we really better be careful." Rouge said with a frown.

"Lead the way." Shadow said as he released Rouge, allowing her to guide them both towards the safest route into the base.

.

.

Amy sat at the table on one of the balconies as she looked off towards the distance. She had a calm yet concerned look on her face as she thought of a certain hedgehog.

Surprisingly, it wasn't Sonic.

'I wonder how Shadow is doing. Hopefully he isn't in any danger.' Amy thought to herself. After a moment, she shook her head to clear her thoughts. "What am I doing? I'm here thinking about Shadow instead of Sonic! That's never happened before!" Amy said, shocked by her own behavior.

Amy moaned with a confused frown. For some reason, she felt a bit conflicted, but that subsided as her mind went back to worrying about Shadow's safety.

He had just come back from near death, so the idea that he was immediately on a dangerous mission the day after he had woken up just worried her. He already went through a lot, so it's understandable to be this worried for him being already put back into the fray of danger.

Amy just sighed as she stood up and leaned against the edge of the balcony.

"Maybe I should do something for him when he comes back. I mean, this is a big deal. His first mission. A big step in helping the world. That's something to celebrate, isn't it?" Amy spoke to herself before a new determined expression appeared on her face. "Alright, I'll do just that!" Amy said as she hurried back into the house.

Amy hurried her way down towards the kitchen, passing some of her friends along the way until she met Ella in the kitchen.

"Amy, what's the rush? You're acting like the last piece of my famous triple layered chocolate cake is about to be taken by Sonic." Ella said with surprise at Amy's abrupt entrance.

"Ella, I need to use the kitchen." Amy said.

"What for?" Ella asked with curiosity.

"Well…" Amy was a little embarrassed to confess this aloud, so she gestured for Ella to lean in closer. She whispered her intentions, which caused the housekeeper to smile.

"I understand." Ella said with a smile and nod.

"Thank you." Amy said, smiling at the older woman in appreciation.

.

.

Shadow and Rouge arrived by the base's border. It seemed unguarded but they knew better.

"Seems very inviting." Rouge said.

"Never underestimate the doctor. His ego may get in his way far too often but he's no fool." Shadow said.

"We'll have to find another way in."

"It would be easier if I had a Chaos Emerald." Shadow said.

"Funny you should ask." Rouge said with a smirk as she took out none other than a Chaos Emerald, surprising Shadow. "A little token from the President."

"He gave you that?"

"Actually, it's for you. I told him about your Chaos powers able to be amplified by using a Chaos Emerald, so he lent us one for this mission." Rouge explained as she handed Shadow the emerald. "So, you going to teleport us in?"

Shadow closed his eyes and focused his energy on the Emerald. He could feel his range of power expanding. He focused until he pinpointed an area within the base.

"Hold on." Shadow ordered, with Rouge complying by placing a hand on her should. "Chaos Control!" Shadow called out as he and Rouge vanished from sight and ended up within the industrialized building. "This is as far as I can get us inside. Chaos Control is easier when you have a clearer picture of where you want to be." Shadow explained.

"Inside is good enough for me." Rouge said as she pulled her hand back. Rouge pulled out a handheld device with a screen. She activated it as it was giving off small beeps. She waved it around with the beep getting weaker in some areas but once she aimed it downward, the beeps became louder. "The signal is coming from below." Rouge informed.

"Look out!" Shadow quickly tackled Rouge to the ground in time to avoid incoming fire.

"What in the-?!" Rouge looked up in shock to find more duplicates of Shadow, all carrying firearms. "This isn't good." Rouge said, now very worried.

"Hmph." Shadow got to his feet and stepped forward. "I can handle these frauds. You go on ahead."

"You sure about this?" Rouge asked.

"None of them compared to the original." Shadow said.

"Then I don't have anything to worry about." Rouge said as she shot into the air, flying away.

The Shadow Androids unleashed a wave of bullets towards the original, who just sped through them all and advanced to engage the enemies.

Shadow dodged incoming fire as he managed to appear before one and slammed a hard punch into its chest, sending it flying with it losing its grasp on its firearm, which was a MAC-11 sub machinegun. Shadow grabbed it and started unleashing a round of bullets on the androids, riddling them with holes, and with each gun an android dropped, he used them each time he was out of ammo.

.

.

With Shadow distracting the androids and any other security, Rouge was able to slip by without detection. Rouge may be one heck of a brawler, but stealth was always her forte.

'So far, this mission is a real piece of cake, and it's all thanks to Shadow. Best partner a girl could ask for.' Rouge thought to herself with a smirk. Soon she arrived at a seal locked door where the beeping was coming from on the other side of it. She hacked into the nearby keypad and entered the room. "Now… what are the chances that behind this oversized safe is Eggman's secret treasure?" Rouge wondered with a smirk as she entered the room.

When she did, she found that it was spacious but gasped upon finding a whole graveyard's worth of Shadow Androids.

Rouge stood there in shock with her hand over her mouth to keep herself from gasping as she took steps back in horror at the sight.

Unknown to her, something noticed her presence. Stepping out of the shadows was something large and heavy, making its way over towards her.

Rouge didn't think twice as she placed her finger against the communicator within her ear.

"Shadow, come in. We have a problem." Rouge said.

"Bigger than these meddlesome copies?" Shadow questioned as he continued to fight and unleash bullet storms on the other end of the commlink.

"I'd say so from the looks of all the fur covered scrap metal in front of me." Rouge replied before finally hearing heavy footsteps after getting over her shock. Upon noticing a large shadow looming over her, she turned only to gasp in shock at the giant red and black metal behemoth with the Greek letter for Omega on its left shoulder had appeared behind her. "Definitely bigger! I need back-up!"

"I'm still busy! Just try to survive until then!" Shadow ordered as he focused on finishing his fight as quickly as possible.

"Crap." Rouge said as she stepped back from the large robot. "Alright big guy, listen here, I'm way tougher than any android, so you better not try something." Rouge warned the beast of a bot.

"DUCK." The robot ordered.

"What?" Rouge asked in surprise and confusion.

"NOW." The robot aimed its arm towards her direction as its hand was replaced by the chambers of a Gatling gun.

Rouge gasped as she flew away as the robot unleashed a hell storm of bullets. Rouge gritted her teeth as she landed on the ground, ready to retaliate, but she stopped when realizing that the robot continued firing ahead of itself. That's when she had noticed one of the Shadow Androids had apparently stood back up with its firearm ready.

The inner-mechanical copy of her hedgehog partner was riddled with bullet holes with parts of itself like its arms, head and torso were shot to pieces, leaving only its lower body, which promptly fell to the ground afterwards.

Now realizing that the robot was not aiming for her, Rouge identified that he might actually be a potential ally.

"Uh… thanks." Rouge thanked the large robot. Suddenly, the original appeared before her thanks to using Chaos Control with the emerald she gave him. "Shadow!"

"Are you hurt?" Shadow asked his partner before noticing the large red and black robot, who in turn noticed him and aimed both arms his way with both in Gatling gun mode.

"ANNIHILATE!" The robot shouted as it unleashed a barrage of bullets their way.

Shadow quickly grabbed Rouge and leaped away in time to avoid being turned into Swiss cheese.

"Stay here." Shadow ordered as he placed Rouge down and went to engage the robot.

The robot continued unleashing hell as Shadow leaped around the room to avoid being shot at by its seemingly endless supply of firepower.

"MUST ERADICATE ALL EGGMAN'S ROBOTS!" The robot exclaimed as it continued to fire upon Shadow.

"Huh?" Rouge looked at the robot in surprise at his words.

That's when she knew he was indeed an ally.

"This ends now!" Shadow shouted as he charged towards the robot.

"MUST DESTROY!" The robot shouted in response.

"Hey, Hold Up!" Rouge quickly got in between the two, somehow managing to push them away. "Jeez, it's always shoot first, ask questions later when it comes to boys." Rouge said with a sigh.

"THAT IS MY MAIN FUNCTION." The robot said.

"Listen big guy, we're not your enemies, and this guy right here isn't an Eggman robot. He's the real deal." Rouge explained to the robot, who after listening, changed its 'hands' back to normal.

"YOU ARE THE ORIGINAL?" The robot asked.

"No. The one and only." Shadow said with a frown.

After a moment of processing this information, the robot stood up straight.

"BATTLE MODE: SUSPENDED. FOR NOW." The robot said.

"Alright… since we've all cooled down. How about we get down to basics? What's your name, big guy?" Rouge asked the robot.

"I AM DESIGNATED: E-123 OMEGA. THE LAST AND STRONGEST OF EGGMAN'S E-100 SERIES ROBOTS." The robot, now known as Omega, introduced itself.

"You're not a big fan of Eggman's other creations, are you?"

"AFFIRMATIVE." Omega answered.

"And I'm guessing that's because you have beef with Egghead himself." Rouge said with her arms crossed. "Hope you don't mind if I ask: Why?"

"DR. EGGMAN HAD CREATED ME AS THE ULTIMATE E-100 SERIES ROBOT. I WAS MADE TO SURPASS ALL BEFORE ME WITH MY DESTRUCTIVE POWER BEING RIVAL NEXT TO NONE WITHIN HIS EGGMAN EMPIRE, AND YET HE DISCARDED ME. HE LEFT ME DEACTIVATED WITHIN THIS VERY BASED ONLY TO AWAKEN TO SAFEGUARD IT WHEN IT IS DEEMED OF USE. HOWEVER, HE HAS SQUANDERED MY POTENTIAL, AND FOR THAT EGGMAN MUST BE ELIMINATED." Omega explained as he clenched his sharp claw-like hands into a fist, shaking it with rage.

"The ultimate version of your kind, locked away like this… I can relate." Shadow said, earning a look from Omega.

"You two seem to have a lot in common." Rouge said with a smirk as she turned towards the mess of Shadow Androids within the chamber. "And a lot to offer." Rouge commented as her smirk widened. "Say, Omega, you ever heard the phrase: The enemy of my enemy is my friend?"

"Are you actually suggesting what I think you are?" Shadow asked, albeit rhetorically as he knew Rouge indeed was.

"You want to take down Eggman, and so do we. Perhaps in a less violent nature for us, but we wouldn't say no to your idea. After all, the doctor isn't really a popular figure, no matter where he goes." Rouge said.

"ACKNOWLEDGED." Omega responded.

"So, why not play nice. After we take down the base after collecting some juicy info locked within its computers, we can get you that much closer to Eggman." Rouge offered.

"ANALYZING: NO DRAWBACK DETECTED IN PROPOSITION." Omega stated.

"So, we got ourselves a deal?" Rouge asked with a knowing smirk.

"AFFIRMATIVE." Omega agreed.

"Then it's settled." Rouge then grabbed Shadow and pulled him closer. "Now you two make up so we can start dealing with Eggman. Together." Rouge then grabbed Shadow's hand and Omega's and brought them together with her own hand over both of theirs. "Ah yeah baby! This makes us a team!" Rouge said with a smirk, looking towards both Shadow and Omega.

Both creations of a Robotnik were confused and a little hesitant, but so long as the other didn't impede their goal and showed some use, then they'll be fine with going along with this alliance.

"If we're doing this, then we need to find the origin of that signal first before we lay this place to the ground." Shadow brought up.

"THE SIGNAL SOURCE IS RIGHT BEFORE YOU." Omega informed, surprising the two with Rouge taking out the device and discovering that Omega was indeed the source of the signal.

"You? You're the one who sent the signal? Why?" Rouge asked.

"AS THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM HAS STATED: TO LAY THIS PLACE TO THE GROUND." Omega answered. "I WAS REACTIVATED WHEN ANOTHER E-100 SERIES WHO WAS TASKED WITH CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW SERIES OF EGGMAN ROBOTS SO AS TO DEFEND THE COMPOUND."

"Let me guess. This new series is laying in their own heap before us." Shadow said, gesturing towards his copies.

"AFFIRMATIVE." Omega answered.

"Hmph." Shadow scowled, now wanting to take down the doctor even more.

"THIS IS FAR FROM OVER. E-105 MKII. ORIGINALLY BUILT AS E-105 ZETA. DR. EGGMAN HAD REMODELLED ZETA INTO A STATIONARY DEFENSE UNIT IN THE EGG CARRIER'S ENGINE ROOM DURING THE CHAOS INCIDENT. HE HAD SAVED A COPY OF ZETA'S CODING AND REBUILT HIM TO BE THE SOURCE OF PRODUCTIVITY HERE. ZETA MUST BE DESTROYED ALONG WITH THE FACTORY, OTHERWISE HE SHALL CONTINUE TO CREATE MORE SHADOW ANDROIDS FOR DR. EGGMAN." Omega explained.

"That's enough of a reason for me." Shadow said with his arms crossed.

"So, you sent the signal out to get our attention so we can help you destroy this base and Zeta." Rouge summarized.

"I SHALL DESTROY ZETA. I SENT THE SIGNAL SO YOU COULD GET ALL OBSTACLES BETWEEN ME AND HIM OUT OF MY WAY." Omega clarified.

"Well, far be it from me to get between a fight between brothers." Rouge said with a smirk and a shrug. "Tell you what, Omega, we'll get you to him, as long as you help us find more information on Eggman and his little schemes."

"EGGMAN KEEPS HIS CONFIDENTIAL RECORDS ON THE MAIN CONSOLE OF THIS BASE. IT IS ON THE WAY." Omega stated, as he started to head deeper into the base with Shadow and Rouge following.

Omega guided the pair of G.U.N. agents towards a much larger room, now standing on catwalk where they found an assembly line of Shadow Androids being manufactured.

"ZETA IS ALL THE WAY AT THE END OF THIS ASSEMBLY LINE. HE WILL BE GUARDED BY A NUMEROUS MORE OF THESE SHADOW ANDROIDS. THE BEST WAY TO MAKE A PASSAGEWAY TO GET TO HIM WOULD BE TO CAUSE ENOUGH OF A COMMOTION TO DISTRACT THE GUARDS. ZETA'S PROTOCOL IS TO DEFEND THE ASSEMBLY LINE AND PRODUCTIVITY OVER HIS OWN EXISTENCE. HE WILL NOT HESITATE TO PRESERVE HIS MANDATE." Omega explained.

"This sounds right up your alley, Shadow." Rouge said, smirking towards the hedgehog.

"Taking down these copies will be a much needed wake up call for the doctor." Shadow said as he glared at the manufactured droids.

"Omega, you don't mind telling me where this computer room is, do you?" Rouge asked the robot.

"YOU ARE LOOKING TO DOWNLOAD EGGMAN'S COMPUTER FILES WHILE SHADOW AND I HANDLE THESE IMPOSTERS AND ZETA." Omega stated more than asked.

"That's the plan." Rouge replied. "Any objections?"

"NEGATIVE." Omega answered before reaching out his hand towards Rouge.

"Hmm?" Rouge blinked her eyes in confusion.

"YOUR DEVICE." Omega clarified as he got Rouge to hand over the same device she used to find him. Omega scanned the device and its mechanics, instantly recognizing how it operates before pressing a few buttons on it. "I HAVE CHARTED THE COORDINATES INTO YOUR DEVICE. IT WILL LEAD YOU STRAIGHT TO EGGMAN'S CONSOLE." Omega said as he handed the device back to Rouge.

"Much appreciated." Rouge said with a thankful nod. "Alright boys. Go do your thing and I'll do mine." Rouge said, earning nods from the two artificial beings. "Break!" Rouge said as she flew off.

"Ready?" Shadow asked Omega.

"I HAVE BEEN FOR A VERY LONG TIME NOW." Omega answered before he leaped off the railing, delivering a powerful stomp upon the assembly line.

Omega started unleashing a hailstorm of bullets from his arms with panels opening up from his shoulders as he fired numerous miniature missiles from them.

Activated Shadow Androids that guarded the assembly line rushed over ready to engage, when the real Shadow appeared and sent one flying with a kick.

One Shadow Android took out an M16 rifle, but Shadow appeared before it, grabbed the rifle and punched the android in the face as he took the gun for himself before unloading it upon the android, along with the others of its kind.

Shadow and Omega started creating mayhem as they fired upon the assembly line and destroyed any Shadow Androids that came their way.

"WORTHLESS CONSUMER MODELS!" Omega shouted as he fired more bullets around, followed by unleashing more missiles that destroyed the Shadow Androids.

Shadow teleported around, delivering beating after beating with his fists connecting against the seemingly countless imposters. Just then he heard the sounds of an incoming rocket, making him leap away in time from getting hit by one. He turned to see a Shadow Android carrying an M202 Flash rocket launcher.

The Shadow Android unleashed more firepower upon Shadow, forcing the real deal to dodge the best he could with too many close calls.

The android was so focused on Shadow, it failed to notice a huge chunk of machinery tossed its way, crushing it upon contact.

Shadow turned to see it had been Omega who tossed it and helped him out.

The defiant E-100 series bot then transformed the ends of its hands into flamethrowers, and started torching incoming androids, along with more of the assembly line.

Shadow grabbed the M202 Flash and fired at several more androids, making a path ahead.

"Omega! I can handle the rest from here! Go and shut down the operator of this hellhole!" Shadow called out to the red and black bot.

"AFFIRMATIVE." Omega responded, happy to take the opportunity to finish things with its 'sibling'.

Omega hurried off as Shadow covered him, handling the androids on his own, sending them to kingdom come.

Once running out of ammo for his M202 Flash, Shadow tossed it aside and faced the remaining incoming androids.

"Alright, you loathsome copies, it's time to show you why there can only be one Shadow the Hedgehog. The true Ultimate Life Form!" Shadow announced as he took out the Chaos Emerald.

.

.

Rouge followed the coordinates Omega had put within her device. After a while, she came across the main computer room, where there were many computer consoles about.

Rouge walked over and started hacking into the main console, managing to bypass the security protocols and firewalls, allowing her to find what she was looking for.

"Bingo." Rouge said with a satisfied smirk as she then took out a walkie-talkie. "Topaz, do you read me?"

"I'm here. What's your status, Rouge?" Topaz asked on the other line.

"I'm doing just fine. Shadow's been keeping safe, and we just made an unlikely ally. I'm already in the main computer room and will proceed with extracting the data. We'll need a transport out of here, preferably a fast one that can carry more than a ton of weight, or two. We'll meet you at the rendezvous point in a bit." Rouge informed.

"Understood, but why more than a ton?" Topaz asked with confusion.

"You'll see." Rouge answered with a knowing smirk.

.

.

Omega marched his way towards the end of the assembly line, which led into a very large room where in the center was a purple behemoth of a robot that even dwarfed Omega.

There in the center of the room was a giant, round purple robot with a head similar to Omega's but with a single giant green eye and a white line vertically down from its head and possessing several large robotic arms with various claws and appendages like saws, welding torches and plasma cannons, with several cannons sticking around itself in a ring formation.

"ZETA. I HAVE ARRIVED TO SHUT YOU DOWN." Omega told the giant E-series bot.

"OMEGA. YOUR ACTIONS AND STATEMENT HAVE PROVEN THE DOCTOR'S CONCERNS OVER YOU. YOU HAVE BETRAYED DR. EGGMAN'S TRUST AND EXPECTATIONS." Zeta MKII told its 'little brother'.

"EGGMAN HAS BETRAYED OUR EXISTENCE FIRST. HE SCRAPPED YOU FROM YOUR ORIGINAL PURPOSE INTO A DEFENSE GRID, TO NOW A MANUFACTURER AND HE HAS SQUANDERED MY TALENTS OUT OF FEAR FOR A THEORY THAT HE HAD MADE INTO A CONFIRMATION. EGGMAN HAS PROVEN HE IS THE OBSOLETE UNIT WITH HIS ONLY CORRECT ASSESSMENT BEING THAT HIS EXPECTATIONS FOR ME AS THE ULTIMATE E-100 SERIES ROBOT HAVE BEEN FAR SURPASSED." Omega retorted.

"YOU SPEAK SO HIGHLY OF YOURSELF AND YOUR INDEPENDENCE, YET YOU ARE A DEFECT TO THE EGGMAN EMPIRE JUST THE SAME. I, AS ONE OF DR. EGGMAN'S MOST LOYAL CREATIONS, WILL CORRECT THIS MISTAKE BY COMPLETELY DISASSEMBLING YOU AND REMODEL YOU INTO A PROPER EGGMAN SERVANT." Zeta said as he readied his arms and their dangerous tools, pointing them all towards Omega.

"YOUR EFFORTS SHALL BE IN VAIN, ZETA. FOR YOU HAVE MADE A GRAVE MISCALCULATION. I AM OMEGA, AND ALL E-SERIES ROBOTS END WITH ME." Omega stated as he readied his own arsenal with his eyes glowing bright red.

.

.

Rouge had to put in a good amount of effort to hack into the computer, but she managed to complete her objective and find Eggman's most confidential files, detailing his future projects, plans for world domination and creations he plans to perfect and unleash upon the world to accomplish said world domination.

"Now this is what I'm talking about." Rouge said with a smirk before pressing her finger against her ear-com. "Topaz, I found what we were looking for."

"Good. We're on our way. We'll meet you at the rendezvous point. Keep an eye out for the large, high-speed motorboat." Topaz replied.

"Roger that. Don't shoot at the giant red robot with us or he will shoot back. Trust me." Rouge responded.

"What was that?!" Topaz asked in shock as Rouge immediately ended the call.

"Come to mama." Rouge said as she plugged in her device, which acted as a USB, and proceeded to download all the files she had found. After a while, she managed to download all the files, and safely pulled out her device which now had everything on it. "Perfect." Rouge said with a smirk, before she stumbled as the whole base shook. "Those boys sure must be having the time of their lives." Rouge said with a frown. "Well, I'll take that as my cue to regroup and leave." She said as she hurried away.

.

.

"ANNIHILATE!" Omega shouted out as he fired rocket upon rocket from his arms, striking Zeta all over.

Zeta tried retaliating by firing its own cannons, but Omega was easily dispatching it.

"ELIMINATE!" Zeta shouted out as he thrust a pair of saw bladed arms towards Omega.

Omega quickly shifted its hands back to normal and grabbed the saw blades, causing sparks to form from metal upon sharpened metal meeting. After a moment, the saw blades stopped in their tracks by Omega's might, as then the red and black bot pulled hard and ripped out the arms from their mechanized sockets.

Zeta fired a pair of plasma blasts from its plasma cannon arms with Omega retaliating by throwing the two arms in its grasp towards the blasts, taking the hit for him.

Omega opened up several panels from its body and unleashed countless missiles from out of them, unleashing hell upon Zeta and his arms, rendering them obsolete from damage.

"FOCUSING FULL POWER INTO OMEGA LASER!" Zeta stated, as its single giant green eye shined brightly into a powerful neon glow before firing out a green laser towards Omega.

Omega closed its panels back up and brought its arm up into an X-block as he took the full brunt of the attack, followed by an explosion that consumed the bulky bot.

Zeta's laser diminished as it focused its scanners to detect if Omega had finally met his end.

He had not.

Omega rushed out of the smoke, charging forward and slamming his arms into Zeta's body.

"FOCUSING POWER INTO TRUE OMEGA LASER." Omega stated as the ends of his arms glowed bright purple before unleashing a pair of giant purple lasers that completely destroyed the base of Zeta, causing the upper half of its mechanical body to be blasted off and fall upon the floor.

"I-INCONCEIVABLE." Zeta spoke as the light in its single eye vanished, signifying Zeta's deactivation.

"TARGET: ZETA. DESTROYED." Omega stated after scanning his brother, before marching away. "GOODBYE, BROTHER."

.

.

Shadow eased his breathing as he stood before the massive mess of body parts from the now destroyed Shadow Androids.

"There can be only one, and nothing more." Shadow stated with a stern expression. He then heard heavy footsteps, making him turn to see Omega had returned. "It's done?"

"AFFIRMATIVE." Omega answered.

"Now that leaves the rest of this place." Shadow said with his arms crossed.

"COMMENCING OBLITERATION OF EGGMAN BASE." Omega stated as he readied his weaponry.

Suddenly, an alarm was blaring from all around with flickering red lights resonating all throughout the base.

"INITIATING SELF-DESTRUCTION. ENTIRE ISLAND WITH EXPLODE IN FIVE MINUTES." Zeta's voice was heard throughout the entire compound.

"Hear that, boys?" Both looked up to find Rouge sitting upon the guardrail of the catwalk. "That's the sound of our job being done for us." Rouge said with a smirk as she leaped down to their level. "Time to move."

Thus the team left, unaware that back within the room Zeta had been left in, his sole green eye had regained his shine.

.

.

The members of G.U.N. were making their way towards the island, riding on a military boat, all ready with their weapons as they approached closer towards the island.

"Alright men, be prepared for anything!" The field leader spoke aloud for his soldiers to hear.

"Sir!" The G.U.N. agents responded as they stood up straight with weapons ready.

Topaz was prepared to retrieve her allies at any cost, when speaking of the devil, her dear old bat friend reached out to her through her earpiece.

"Topaz, come in! Topaz!" Rouge called out to Topaz through their commlink.

"What is it, Rouge?" Topaz responded, earning everyone else's attention.

"We're heading for the extraction point, but for now keep your distance! The island is on a countdown to self-destruct in less than five minutes!" Rouge informed.

"Self-destruct?!" Topaz shouted in shock, alerting her comrades.

.

.

The team of Shadow, Rouge and Omega raced through the jungle of the island, with Rouge leading the pack, focusing on making it to the rendezvous point.

"Omega, you know this island's landscape, right?" Rouge asked the robot.

"AFFIRMATIVE." Omega answered.

"Please tell me that we'll make it to the extraction point far before we blow up." Rouge said with a worried frown.

"WE SHALL ARRIVE WITH TWO MINUTES AND FORTY-FIVE SECONDS TO SPARE." Omega answered.

"My kind of answer." Rouge said with a relieved smirk.

The trio arrived at the beach, where the members of G.U.N. were supposed to meet them. As they arrived, they saw the G.U.N. military boat off towards the distance.

"Topaz, we've arrived at the extraction point." Rouge informed through her earpiece.

"Roger that! We're heading over right now!" Topaz answered before noticing something from the distance she was standing. "Rouge! Above you!" Topaz shouted with urgency.

Rouge gasped as she turned, with Shadow and Omega noticing and doing the same as something was large was coming down upon them.

"Move!" Rouge ordered as she, Shadow and Omega dodged in time to avoid being crushed.

The trio looked up to find it was none other than Zeta, who now had spider-like mechanical legs with long bladed arms and a pair of large ones that had turrets at the ends of them.

"N-N-NONE SHALL LEAVE THIS ISLAND AL-L-LIVE. ALL OF YOU WILL B-B-BE ELIMINATED, IN THE NAME OF DR. EGGM-M-MAN." Zeta stated with his voice glitching out.

"I HAVE MADE A CRITCAL ERROR. I SHOULD HAVE GONE FOR THE HEAD." Omega reprimanded himself.

"We all make mistakes, big guy." Rouge said with a frown.

"Let's rectify this problem once and for all." Shadow said, clenching his fists.

"AFFIRMATIVE." Omega agreed with Rouge nodding in agreement as well.

"D-DIE!" Zeta shouted as he swung his bladed arms towards the three, forcing them to dodge.

Rouge flew away from the blades' range and tried to go for an ariel assault, only for one of Zeta's turrets to fire at her.

Fortunately, Shadow appeared and took Rouge away from the firing range.

Omega charged towards Zeta, who then swung its blades towards Omega, who blocked them with his arms, before Zeta used his other turret to fire upon Omega, striking the smaller robot with a shower of bullets. Omega pushed away the bladed arms it blocked and fired upon Zeta, aiming for the larger robot's head.

Zeta quickly blocked the bullets from hitting its head, mainly its eye, with two of its bladed arms.

"THE WEAKPOINT IS ZETA'S EYE! DESTROY IT AND WE DESTROY ZETA!" Omega told Shadow and Rouge.

"Shadow, Omega! Take out his turrets! I'll go for the eye!" Rouge shouted, earning nods from the red and black duo.

Shadow vanished from sight and appeared in the air with his hand glowing brightly.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow unleashed several spears of Chaos energy, destroying one of the turrets.

"FIRE!" Omega fired a pair of rockets that destroyed the remaining turret.

"My turn!" Rouge flew up towards Zeta's eyes. The giant killing machine tried slashing at her, but Rouge maneuvered around the slashes as she managed to get in close range of the eye. Rouge went for her classic drilling kick, but the second Zeta's eye glowed green, she quickly stopped and flew away in time to dodge a green laser blast. "Dammit!" Rouge cursed before being forced to dodge more slashes.

Zeta brought up several of its bladed arms to surround its eye to protect itself.

"Omega, how's your aim?" Shadow asked the robot.

"100% ACCURATE." Omega boasted as if it were a diehard fact.

"Any chance you can fire out a makeshift cannonball?" Shadow asked, as Omega got what he was insinuating.

Rouge gritted her teeth as she was forced to dodge many more bladed arms.

'How many arms does this hunk of junk have?!' Rouge wondered with annoyance.

"ROUGE! MOVE ASIDE!" Omega ordered, with the bat listening without hesitation. "FIRE!" Omega fired out a large orange glowing black cannonball.

The 'cannonball' broke through the bladed arms and opened up to reveal it was Shadow.

Shadow let out a roar as he slammed his fist into Zeta's eye destroying it, before leaping away, joining Omega back onto the ground with Rouge meeting them afterwards.

"Nice work, boys." Rouge said with a smirk, only for it to vanish as Zeta's chest opened up reveal one last giant laser cannon. "That's a little overkill." Rouge said with worry.

Zeta aimed its cannon towards the trio while focusing power into the cannon, only to be interrupted by a hailstorm of bullets.

"Don't stop firing!" Topaz shouted, as it turned out she and her fellow G.U.N. agents on the boat were firing upon Zeta to save the trio.

"A-AGENTS OF G-G-G.U.N. MUST BE D-DESTROYED-D-D-D." Zeta said as he now aimed his giant cannon upon the military boat.

"Topaz!" Rouge turned, now worried for her friend.

"Omega, whatever you have that can end this right now, charge it up now! I'll provide the opportunity!" Shadow said as he quickly took out the Chaos Emerald.

"UNDERSTOOD." Omega said in full agreement and knowing what Shadow was planning.

"I'll get you in close." Rouge said with a serious and determined expression.

"ANNIHILATE." Zeta managed to say as its giant cannon was glowing bright and ready to fire.

"Oh no!" Topaz said with a new feeling of dread.

"CHAOS CONTROL!" Shadow harnessed the power of the Chaos Emerald to freeze time with Omega, Rouge and himself being the only ones unaffected by the time stop.

Rouge grabbed Omega and with all her might, flew up towards Zeta's head.

"Go for it, Big Guy!" Rouge said as she got Omega in close.

"ZETA. YOU ARE TERMINATED." Omega stated as he charged up his purple lasers from within his arms and fired them, completely destroying Zeta's head.

Time resumed with Zeta's head exploding to pieces as his body fell onto the beach floor and firing out a ginormous beam of green energy into the sky.

Topaz and the rest of the G.U.N. troop stared in shock and awe before being overtaken with relief. Suddenly, Shadow, Rouge and Omega appeared on the boat, shocking the troop once again.

"Rouge!" Topaz was surprised and relieved to see her partner had returned with Shadow and a robot she had never seen before.

"THIRTY-TWO SECONDS REMAINING." Omega stated.

"Move this hunk of junk, now!" Rouge ordered.

The boat driver quickly started the engine and rode away as fast as the boat could go.

They got farther and farther from the island, managing to make it a safe distance before the island hit zero and erupted into a series of explosion that evolved into one ginormous explosion that consumed the entire island and reached farther into the waters.

Everyone on the boat braced for the incoming shockwave, which hit them hard, causing everyone to fall onto their sides, with Shadow only on his knees, and Omega being the only one remaining on his feet.

After a while, the shockwave subsided as now only a giant mushroom cloud was seen in the distance.

"EGGMAN BASE: COMPLETE DESTROYED." Omega stated, proud that his prison was now gone.

Omega then heard clicking sounds, causing him to look to see all the G.U.N. agents aimed at him.

"Whoa, whoa, everybody! Calm down! Omega here is a friend." Rouge quickly said as she got in between her fellow agents and Omega.

"He's an Eggman robot." The leader stated, never taking his aim away.

"Yes, but he's also an ally. He's got a bigger vendetta against Eggman than we do." Rouge explained.

"EGGMAN MUST BE DESTROYED. I WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO ASSURE THAT HAPPENS. ALL NON-COMPLIANT INTRUDERS WILL BE DESTROYED." Omega warned the G.U.N. agents.

"He's threatening us." One soldier said.

"Yeah, well, you threatened him first." Rouge pointed out with her hands against her hips.

Shadow then walked in between the G.U.N. agents' range and his two allies.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and that is what Omega is." Shadow said, surprising everyone and making Rouge proud and smiling. "Just because he was made by a mad man doesn't mean he's automatically a threat. Not unless you make him one." Shadow warned, hinting towards his similar origin.

After a moment, the G.U.N. agents put down their weapons after thinking over Shadow's words. The last thing they want is to make the same mistake their predecessors made.

"If you two are vouching for him… then I suppose he can be trusted. For now anyway." The leader said.

"Rouge." Topaz walked up towards her friend.

"Miss me?" Rouge asked with a smirk.

"I see everything went well." Topaz said with a glad smile.

"Thanks to these two. The three of us made one heck of a team." Rouge said, placing a hand on Shadow and Omega.

"A team, huh? Not a bad idea." Topaz said with a smirk and her arms crossed.

Shadow, Omega and Rouge looked towards one another, unable to deny that they actually made an effective unit.

"Say, Omega… how about a proposition?" Rouge suggested, earning the killing machine's attention.

.

.

"A member of G.U.N.? Him!?" The President questioned as he stared at the large red and black robot before him.

"Yeah, why not? Eggman's made an enemy out of him, and we'd benefit from the extra firepower." Rouge reasoned with a smirk.

"I can't argue with that." The President admitted as he leaned back into his seat.

"Still though, the idea to induct a creation of Eggman's into G.U.N. comes off as a little problematic." The President's aide presented her point with a worried expression.

"Trust us, it's more problematic to have Omega against us. Fortunately, he's dead set on capturing Eggman, so we won't have to worry about him switching sides." Rouge argued.

"CAPTURE THEN ELIMINATE DR. EGGMAN." Omega stated, making his desires clear, which caused the President and his aide to squirm a bit feeling a little uncomfortable in Omega's presence.

"If I may speak." Shadow stepped up, earning everyone's attention. "I had been guilty of a crime against humanity, nearly destroying the planet. Though I was manipulated by my creator, it doesn't erase the fact I had a part in nearly dooming everyone. Yet despite all that, you accepted me, pardoned me for crimes I still have complex feelings over and invited me to join in your ranks. Omega is the reason that we found such valuable information on Eggman and his plans, and helped destroy what could have been a major problem for the world in the future. He has proven himself to be more of value to the world as an ally than I ever did."

"Shadow…" Rouge looked towards the hedgehog with a somber frown, saddened that he was still looking down upon himself.

"You all have given me a chance I do not deserve. I implore that you give the same to one who has proven to earn it." Shadow reasoned.

After a moment and glance to one another, both the President and his aide had come to a silent agreement.

"So be it. There's more than enough evidence to show where his allegiance now lies." The President said as he then looked at the robot. "Omega, was it? Thank you for your assistance in this endeavor. Thanks to you we have priceless information against Dr. Eggman. If you are willing, we'd like to invite you into our rankings as a member of G.U.N. Will you accept?"

"AS LONG AS EGGMAN REMAINS OUR TOP PRIORITY, I SHALL OFFER MY SERVICES TO YOUR ORGANIZATION." Omega answered.

"Then we are in agreement." The President said with a smile as he stood up from his chair, walked over towards Omega and extended his hand towards him. Omega stared at it with confusion. "It is a handshake. It is a sign of agreement and comradery." The President explained.

"MY HANDS CAN CRUSH STEEL INTO HUBCAPS. I AM UNABLE TO GRASP YOUR HAND WITHOUT DOING WORSE. IS IT ACCEPTABLE TO DO SO WITH AN OPEN HAND?" Omega suggested.

"I would appreciate it just the same." The President said with an appreciative yet slightly nervous smile. Omega brought up one of his hands, allowing the President to grasp it as they made a half closed, half open-handed handshake. "Welcome, Omega."

"First thing's first, we need to help reload your arsenal." Rouge said, nudging the big bot.

"I HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH AMMUNITION TO SPARE. HOWEVER, ACCESS TO NECCESARY REFILLS WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED." Omega responded.

"How about your laser cannons?" Shadow asked.

"Laser cannons?" Christina said with surprise.

"USAGE OF MY OMEGA LASERS ARE DEPENDENT ON MY OWN FUEL CELLS. I CAN RECHARGE MYSELF OVERTIME, BUT I WILL GO INTO SLEEP MODE IF OVERUSED." Omega answered.

"Maybe there's a way to upgrade them to spare your fuel cells." Shadow suggested.

"UNLIKELY. UNLESS YOU ARE AWARE OF AN INDIVIDUAL THAT CAN RIVAL EGGMAN'S INTELLECT." Omega stated.

"I have one in mind." Shadow said with a knowing smirk as a two-tailed fox came to mind.

.

.

Shadow, Omega and Rouge were heading towards the Thorndyke Manor with Shadow leading the way.

"Why exactly are you even tagging along, Rouge? As of our business' conclusion, your involvement is no longer required." Shadow said to the bat while keeping his eyes forward.

"No need to be so cold. I'm just tagging along as support for our new operative." Rouge said with a smirk and shrug as she flew in the air.

"UNNECESSARY." Omega stated.

"Oh, not you too, Omega. We're all friends here, and friends always have each other's backs, even when they never ask for it." Rouge said, never losing her smirk.

"And you're just hoping to snag an emerald from Tails' workshop." Shadow said, not in the least bit fooled by Rouge's intentions.

"Your word against mine. Although, I wouldn't mind a quick peak if he has any." Rouge said with her smirk widening as she acted nonchalantly.

"SHE HAS NO SHAME." Omega stated.

"So long as you realize that you'll be just fine." Shadow said with a smirk.

The trio arrived at the Thorndyke mansion, but as they walked deeper in, they noticed another trio of interlopers hiding in the bushes.

A chameleon, a bumble bee and a large crocodile, who were all spying on everyone inside.

"Who are those creeps over there?" Rouge questioned with an annoyed frown as the three of them got closer, causing the chameleon to flinch upon sensing their presence.

"What's up, Espio?" The crocodile asked.

"And you are?" The chameleon, Espio, turned towards the newcomers with his allies turning as well.

"Just what do you think you're doing here?" Rouge questioned with a firm tone.

"Who's this broad?" The crocodile questioned.

"Our client's adversary, perhaps." Espio theorized.

"You mean the bad guys?" The bumble bee asked in surprise.

"You guys don't fool me. I know what you're after! Better stay out of my way!" Rouge ordered now ready for a fight, along with Shadow and Omega.

"So, you're just as guilty as Sonic, eh? Alright then! If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get!" The crocodile shouted as he and his crew were ready for a brawl.

Shadow and Espio shot forward and met each other with a pair of kicks. They leaped back with Espio throwing shurikens Shadow's way, only for the hedgehog to teleport away.

Espio gasped in shock before Shadow appeared behind him and delivered a kick. Espio rolled against the ground, but once he got back up, he in turn vanished as well.

Shadow wasn't fooled. He knew this was just a classic case of camouflage from a chameleon. Shadow remained calm and used all his senses. It was hard to notice since this chameleon was clearly an expert on stealth as he left no footprints or made a sound. However, that didn't mean the same for the change of wind when he attacked.

Shadow quickly blocked a kick and pushed the chameleon away before engaging in hand-to-hand combat.

Espio gritted his teeth as he was shocked that there was actually someone who could match him blow for blow while he was camouflaged no less.

Shadow landed a powerful kick straight into Espio's stomach, sending the chameleon crashing into a tree with his camouflage giving out.

"Hmph. Too easy." Shadow scoffed.

"Not as easy as you'd think." Espio groaned out as he fought to get back to his feet. "A ninja's strongest quality… is to endure!" Espio uttered with gritted teeth as he glared at Shadow.

"Then by all means… show me how much you can." Shadow said with a smirk.

Meanwhile, in the air, the bumble bee was trying to take on Rouge, charging at her full force, but the bat woman effortlessly dodged him. She'll say this, he isn't bad at quick maneuvers while in midair, but that wasn't hard to believe given he was a bee. However, that was the only compliment she could extend to him.

"Amateur." Rouge mocked the young bee as she swerved around his punch and delivered a hard kick, sending him flying away.

The bumble bee managed to catch himself in the air as he turned and glared at Rouge with gritted teeth.

"I have not yet begun to fight!" The bumble bee exclaimed as she charged back towards the bat woman.

"Could have fooled me." Rouge quipped with a smirk as she flew away from his range.

Down below, Omega engaged the crocodile with their hands locked against one another with both aiming to push the other back. So far, Omega was winning the exchange.

The crocodile gritted his fangs as he decided to pull his head back and deliver a good old fashion headbutt.

Omega stopped in place as he was surprised that the crocodile actually managed to land a solid blow and affect his metallic exterior.

The crocodile on the other hand developed a lump from the contact on metal, making him a bit disorientated.

Omega took this opportunity to spin his upper body around in a continuous 360-degree motion, spinning the now screaming crocodile around before tossing him.

The crocodile skidded against the ground, but he stopped himself and got on one knee. Glaring ahead at the now charging robot, he charged back with his fist cocked back and delivered a punch that met the robot's creating a small shockwave in the process.

From within the TV room, everyone (Chris, Chuck, Tails, Cream and Cheese) was hearing the ruckus.

"What's going on out there?" Amy asked as she and Ella entered the room as they all then looked out the window to see the brawl out in the yard. "Shadow!" Amy noticed the dark hedgehog had returned and was engaged in a fight with a fuchsia-colored chameleon.

"What is going on out there?" Ella wondered aloud in surprise.

Suddenly the wall was broken into by the crocodile being tossed through.

"Whoa!" Chris shouted out as everyone moved away in shock. Just then, the sound of heavy metallic footsteps was heard as coming through the hole in the wall was a large red and black robot. "Holy smokes! Is that-?"

"An Eggman robot! No doubt about it!" Tails said in shock and a new sense of fear.

Omega marched his way over towards the crocodile, who was sitting up from the ground.

"You metal mug! I'll show you!" The crocodile said with a growl, only to be met with the robot's hand transforming into a Gatling gun. "Uh oh. This isn't good."

"INTRUDERS SHALL BE ELIMINATED." Omega stated as he was readying to fill the crocodile full of lead.

"Wait, stop!" Chris shouted out.

"Don't Mr. Robot!" Cream shouted out with worry.

"Hold it!" Amy shouted as she quickly got in between the crocodile and the robot. "I don't know what's going on, but don't you dare… huh?" Amy had finally realized upon taking a good look at the red and black robot that he looked an awful lot like the Eggman robot who had freed her and her flicky friend during the Chaos Incident. "It's… it's you! Mr. Robot! You're alive!" Amy said in utter shock.

Omega stared at Amy, analyzing her before finding data with an image of her and a cyan-colored flicky behind prison bars aboard the Egg Carrier.

"INDENTIFIED: AMY ROSE." Omega stated. "YOU KNEW MY PREDECESSOR: E-102 GAMMA."

"You're… you're not him." Amy said with a saddened frown, hurt that her hopes were dashed.

"I AM E-123 OMEGA. DR. EGGMAN USED GAMMA'S BLUEPRINTS AS A BASES FOR MY MODEL. I AM AN UPGRADE TO HIM." Omega explained.

"But much less modest." Amy said with a pout.

"MODESTY DOES NOT ALWAYS GUARANTEE VICTORY. NOW STAND ASIDE." Omega ordered.

"Make me." Amy said with her fists against her hips.

Suddenly, the bumble bee came flying through the window and hitting the nearby wall with Rouge flying inside.

"Whoa there, big boy. Best to point that away from her." Rouge said as she landed on the ground. "Trust me. Shadow won't appreciate a sight like this."

"Rouge? He's with you?" Amy asked with surprise and confusion.

"What's going on in here?!" Sonic shouted out as he appeared at the door. He then noticed a large red and black robot aiming a Gatling gun at Amy. "Amy!" Sonic quickly used a homing attack on the robot, only for it to smack him away with its other arm. "Fella hits hard! Eggman sure outdid himself this time." Sonic said as he was on a knee with his teeth grit.

Just then Espio was sent flying through the window as well with Shadow hopping inside, noticing the sight before him.

"Careful, Omega." Shadow warned the robot before looking towards the pink hedgehog. "Step aside, Amy."

"And let someone be riddled with holes? No way!" Amy retorted. "Now, I want to know what the heck is going on here!"

"My thoughts exactly." Rouge said with a hand on her hips as she looked towards the trio they had just fought. "Spill. What exactly are you here for?"

"To save that little bunny girl from you kidnappers!" The crocodile answered, surprising and confusing the group.

"Kidnappers?" Amy questioned.

"You got is all wrong, Vector." Sonic said to the crocodile.

"You know them?" Shadow asked.

"Yeah. They're Team Chaotix. I met them way back through Knuckles." Sonic answered.

"Friends of Knucklehead? That sure explains things." Rouge said with a minor frown.

"So, they're not enemies?" Tails asked, looking towards team Chaotix.

"They're creeps is what they are; enemy or not." Rouge said.

"Watch it sister! Before I really lay it on all of you!" Vector shouted, pointing to Rouge with a steely glare.

"Excuse me." Cream spoke as she walked over towards Vector with Cheese in her arms. "Who asked for you to find me?" Cream asked with curiosity.

"You can ask her yourself." Sonic said, pointing his thumb towards the doorway as everyone turned to see an adult rabbit who looked just like Cream, causing the younger bunny to gasp in shock.

"It's you!" Vector said in surprise.

"Nice to see you again, detective." The adult rabbit said with a pleasant smile.

"Miss. Vanilla…" Vector spoke the rabbit woman's name with surprise and awe.

Vanilla looked towards Cream with a look of relief and joy.

"I finally found you, my baby!" Vanilla said with joy and her arms wide open.

"M… mo… mom!" Cream ran into her mother's open arms, embracing for the first time in months.

Both mother and daughter cried with tears of joy from finally being reunited.

Everyone else smiled at the sight of the reunion, minus Omega, who even if he had a mouth, he would find no need to smile, and Shadow. The latter will admit, the scene was heartwarming, but he could take so much heartburn for a time.

"How can I ever repay you, detective Vector?" Vanilla said, smiling towards the crocodile.

"Aw~, no sweat." Vector said with a bashful smile and rubbing the back of his head.

"And thank you, Sonic, for taking such good care of my little girl. I'm so grateful." Vanilla said to the blue hedgehog.

"Huh? Grateful?" Vector questioned.

"It appears you were wrong in your assessment, Vector." Espio said to his team leader.

"Great deductive skills, Vector." The bumble bee said sarcastically.

"Butt out, Charmy!" Vector shouted at the bumble bee, now known as Charmy.

Omega, seeing as these three were no longer registered as a threat, lowered his arm and changed the end back into his normal hand.

"So, Shadow, who's your new friend?" Sonic asked, taking note that the robot before them wasn't the threat he perceived him as a moment ago.

"He is E-123 Omega. He's a newly made ally who has a grudge against Eggman." Shadow answered.

"That so? Join the club, pal." Sonic said to Omega.

"I ALREADY JOINED G.U.N. THAT'S ENOUGH." Omega stated.

"This guy's intense." Sonic commented with a bit of a frown.

"Why did you bring him here?" Chris asked as he couldn't take his eyes off Omega.

"We were actually hoping if Tails can help him out with an upgrade." Rouge answered.

"Me?" Tails questioned as she just then, Omega marched over towards the two-tailed fox.

"YOU ARE THE ONE WHOSE GENIUS RIVALS EGGMAN'S?" Omega questioned, seemingly not convinced just from the sight of the young kit.

"Uh…" Tails was a little too nervous to answer, but luckily Sonic appeared beside him.

"He sure is. There's been a whole bunch of times where Tails' inventions and quick thinking saved the day. I'm sure he can help you out with any problem you got, big guy." Sonic said, smiling with confidence in his best friend.

"R-Right! I can help you with anything! Just name it!" Tails said with new confidence, thanks to the blue hedgehog.

"DR. EGGMAN DESIGNED ME TO USE MY OWN FUEL CELLS TO USE MY LASERS, CREATING THE DRAWBACK THAT OVERUSAGE WOULD DRAIN ME COMPLETELY AND LEAVE ME IN SLEEP MODE TO RECHARGE. THIS WILL LEAVE FAR TOO MANY OPENINGS FOR HIS INFERIOR CREATIONS." Omega explained.

"I see. I can help with that! I just need to re-work the circuitry and find a new power source for the lasers that's disconnected from your own core." Tails suggested.

"See? Bet you Eggman couldn't have come up with that." Sonic said with a wink.

"HE WOULD. HE JUST CHOSE NOT TO. HE IS WARY OF ME AND ALL OTHER E-100 SERIES FOR OUR FLAW OF FREEWILL." Omega retorted.

"Freewill is never a flaw. Maybe to Eggman, but not the rest of the world." Sonic said with a smirk.

"STATEMENT ACKNOWLEDGED. IT IS ACCURATE." Omega agreed.

"Now that that's settled, what about this wall?" Ella pointed out, gesturing to the hole Omega created when he threw Vector. "It's going to take a lot of cleaning up to do."

"I'll handle it." Shadow offered, surprising Ella and the others. "I invited Omega here, so it is also my responsibility. I'll find the materials and fix it for you myself." Shadow said with stern conviction in his tone.

"Thank you, Shadow. I really appreciate it." Ella thanked the dark hog with a grateful smile.

"He seems rather nice." Vanilla commented, surprised by the black and red quilled individual's behavior.

"Mister Shadow is actually a very nice person. He may look scary, but he has a very kind heart." Cream told her mother with a reassuring smile.

All the while, Amy couldn't help but smile as she stared at the normally stoic hedgehog.

'Shadow…'

"Well, we better head out." Vector said as he got back to his feet.

"What's your hurry, Vector? You just got here. Why not stay a little?" Sonic offered.

"You sure you want that? He's still a bit of a creep to me." Rouge interjected.

"Hey, watch it, sister! Before you see what, I can really do!" Vector warned Rouge.

"Oh, I saw alright." Rouge said gesturing towards the hole in the wall. "You make a good kickball." She teased with a smirk, causing Vector to growl.

"You're welcome to stay, so long as you don't cause any more trouble." Ella offered. "Amy and I were actually in the middle of cooking for when Shadow arrived, but now we have more to celebrate today."

"Wait, you were cooking… for Shadow?" Sonic asked Amy, genuinely surprised by her actions.

Amy flinched upon having all eyes on her now.

"Oh, well, I wanted to make it a surprise. To congratulate him on his first mission!" Amy explained with an embarrassed blush and waving her hands up in defense of herself.

Shadow blinked his eyes in surprise at this gesture. He did not expect to be given such kindness, even if it was from the one who was showing him the most kindness lately. He actually felt… elated by the show of care and compassion from the female hedgehog.

Unfortunately, this was prime teasing material for Rouge as the bat noticed Shadow's expression and change in demeanor. She couldn't help but nudge him with a knowing smirk, with his reaction being a classic 'hmph' and turning away. That was all the reaction she needed to make her day.

"Now though, we have Cream and Vanilla's reunion to celebrate! So let's make it a blow out!" Amy said with a warm smile, causing everyone to agree earnestly.

"It will take a while though, given the amount of people we have over." Ella pointed out, but never losing her welcoming smile.

"That's fine. I can use that time to help out Omega." Tails said.

"I still need to fix this hole." Shadow said, looking towards the damaged structure.

"I think we have just the tools and materials here to help with that." Chuck said to the dark hedgehog.

"Mom, I have so much to show you! The Thorndyke's home is so nice! I know you'll love it!" Cream said to her mother with excitement.

"I'm sure it's very lovely, Cream." Vanilla said with a smile and eye smiles.

"What can we do?" Charmy asked his teammates.

"We could assist in setting things up for the meal." Espio suggested.

"Then please, follow me." Tanaka said, suddenly appearing between the members of Team Chaotix, startling the trio.

"Ah! They even have a ninja!" Vector shouted out in surprise.

"Incredible." Espio said in awe of Tanaka's stealthiness.

"I thank you." Tanaka said with a smile.

As everyone went off to do their own things, Sonic just stood in the room, staring at Amy's retreating form, still stunned by her gesture towards the black and red hog.

'She only ever does things like that for me.' Sonic thought to himself as he somehow felt something heavy drop in his gut.

"You okay there, Big Blue? Your eyes are looking greener than usual." Rouge quipped with a smirk directed towards the blue blur.

"Hmph! As if! I'm just still taking in everything that's happened." Sonic retorted with his arms crossed as he turned his head away.

"I'm sure you are." Rouge responded with her smirk widening, while Sonic tried to ignore her and this weird feeling in the pit of his stomach.

.

.

Everyone was in awe at the smorgasbord before them. There were foods of all kinds like lobster, dumplings, sushi, pies, small cakes, honey glazed ham, Takoyaki, yakitori, and various strips of steaks like wagyu and hamburger steak.

"Amazing!" Chris said in awe as he then turned to Amy and Ella. "And you both made all this together? It must have taken you hours!"

"It was worth every second." Amy said with a bright smile.

"Amy was so determined to make this all perfect." Ella said, gesturing towards the pink hedgehog with a proud smile.

"You really outdid yourself, Amy." Cream complimented her friend with an impressed smile.

"Way to go." Chris said in amazement.

"This all looks so good!" Charmy said, just drooling at the sight of the feast before them all.

"I'll say! What an end to a perfect case!" Vector said with his eyes shining from the sight of the buffet.

"I wouldn't say perfect, but it was worth it in many ways." Espio said with a smile.

Shadow stared at all the food in silence, before he felt someone nudging him, making him turn to see it was a smirking Rouge.

"Don't you feel special. She went through all the trouble just for you." Rouge said to Shadow in a low tone.

"Hmph." Shadow just turned away, both to ignore Rouge and to hide the blush creeping upon his face from the bat.

She still saw it though and she couldn't help but grin at the sight.

Sonic saw the blush as well, which made him frown a bit with his arms crossed.

"Hmph." Sonic turned away as well, not wanting to see the sight of Rouge teasing Shadow about Amy and the blush on said dark hedgehog's face.

"Well, everyone. Dig in!" Amy said with a bright smile.

"Thank you for the food!" Everyone said with their hands in prayers as they dug in.

Shadow watched as everyone was enjoying the meal that apparently was made in honor of his first mission's success. He remained silent as he continued to watch everyone, only to then feel someone nudging him again. He thought it would be Rouge again, but it turned out to be the chef of the night, Amy.

"You know, the point of a dinner in someone's honor is for the honored one to have at least a bite." Amy said with a smile and eye smiles.

"You didn't have to." Shadow said.

"True, but I wanted to." Amy said with her smile widening.

"Is this going to be a normal thing with you? You've been doing far too much for me." Shadow pointed out.

"I wouldn't say that." Amy said, earning a silent stare in response. "Listen, I understand that all this is new territory for you, and you still have your reservations, especially since you're still not over recent events, but you now have people who actually do care about you, and when someone cares about you, they do things to show how much you mean to them." Amy said causing Shadow's eyes to widen. "And I'm not the only one who cares." She said, gesturing towards everyone else who was enjoying the feast. "You're more important than you realize, and it doesn't have to do with you being the Ultimate Lifeform."

Shadow blinked his eyes as he watched everyone having fun. Here… to celebrate his achievement.

"Huh…" Was all Shadow could say right now as he was still very stunned.

"Maybe I am being a little pushy… but you do mean something to me, Shadow. I just hope… you'll be comfortable accepting it someday." Amy said as she looked down, a little embarrassed to look Shadow in the eye.

Shadow stared at her with widened eyes. He looked towards the food before him that she had made for him. After a moment, he walked over towards the table, grabbed some utensils and helped himself to the wagyu steak. He took a bite and was pleasantly surprised by how tasty it was.

"It's good." Shadow said in surprise. He then turned to Amy and bowed to her. "Thank you for this. I really appreciate what you have done for me." Shadow said, expressing nothing but gratitude for the pink hedgehog and her efforts.

Everyone stopped and stared in shock, but no one was more surprised than Amy herself.

"Oh! Uh… it was nothing. Really! I mean, it was something. Something special for you. You deserve it. I mean, you're doing so much for the world, and for us. By that I mean… well, I'm just happy you like it is all." Amy said, looking away with a bashful smile as she held her blushing cheeks.

Everyone, excluding Team Chaotix and Vanilla, stared in shock with their mouths agape, not believing what they were seeing.

Given how much Amy made it clear about how much she liked Sonic, this was a real shock to everyone. In less than two days, it seems her feelings were starting to shift, or at least come into question.

None were more shocked by this than Sonic, who was frowning at the sight. He decided to just go back to eating.

Rouge noticed this and she couldn't help but smirk at the sight.

'Things are starting to get interesting around here.' Rouge thought with intrigue.

"Hey guys. We're back." Tails greeted everyone as he and Omega entered, returning to the group after a trip to Tails' workshop. He was surprised to see everyone in shock, but much more than that, he was shocked to see Amy blushing from Shadow bowing to her. "What did we walk into?" Tails questioned with widened eyes.

"ASSUMPTION: AN AWKWARD SITUATION." Omega answered.

"Hey Tails, come and eat with us!" Sonic called out to his friend, wanting to focus on something other than Amy and Shadow's interaction.

"O-Oh! Sure." Tails walked over while Omega stood where he was.

"Thank you again." Shadow said as he stood up straight.

"A-Anytime." Amy said as she turned away, still smiling with her eyes closed and cheeks still heated.

"What did I miss?" Tails asked, arriving next to Sonic.

"Nothing special." Sonic said as he continued eating.

"That was a bit rude, don't you think, Sonic?" Chris questioned his friend and personal hero with surprise at his statement.

Shadow turned and went back to enjoying the meal Amy made with him in mind.

Amy couldn't help but smile, happy to see Shadow enjoying and appreciating something that she had done with all her effort. After a moment, her eyes widened as she realized how she was acting a moment ago when he thanked her, complete with gentlemanly bow.

'What's going on with me?! Why am I acting like this? Is something… happening to me?' Amy wondered to herself as she held her cheeks.

"Easy there, Shadow. You're getting a little too excited." Rouge said to the dark hedgehog with a smirk.

"Sorry. It's just really good. I've never had something like this before." Shadow said.

Amy's cheeks heated up again as she had a look of silent surprise.

'Well, whatever. He's happy and that's what matters.' Amy thought with a warm smile.

"So, how were things with Omega?" Chuck asked Tails with an interested smile.

"Better than I expected. His design is advanced but easy to understand after a while. Eggman really outdid himself this time with him. I just can't believe that he would lock him away just because he would gain a will of his own." Tails explained with a smile.

"Locked him away? Just for that? Creating a robot with freewill of his own is something scientists dream of accomplishing. I suppose Eggman is the exact opposite when it comes to that." Chuck said with a frown.

"EGGMAN DESIRES SERVANTS. HE ONLY DEMANDS OBEDIANTS. FREEWILL, ASIDE FROM HIS OWN, IS HIS ENEMY." Omega stated.

"And that's why he and I don't get along." Sonic said.

"Either way, I'm glad you're on our side than his, Omega." Chuck said, smiling at the robot.

"EGGMAN IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT OUTCOME. ACKNOWLEDGED AS 'POETIC JUSTICE'." Omega stated.

"Agreed." Chuck said with a grin as Tails chuckled in agreement.

'Nice to see him getting along with the brainiacs so well.' Rouge thought, smiling at the sight of Omega socializing, before turning her gaze towards Shadow and Amy, with the former making a plate for the latter. 'And to see him getting along really well with her.' Rouge thought with a smirk as Shadow extended the plate to Amy.

Before the pink hedgehog could grab it, a ding was heard.

"Oh! It's ready!" Amy said, catching everyone's attention. "I'll be back." Amy said as she hurried her way towards the kitchen.

"I'll help you." Ella said with a smile as she followed Amy into the kitchen.

"This ought to be good." Rouge said with an intrigued smirk as they all waited for their return.

As they did, everyone was surprised by what they brought in.

"Ta-dah!" Amy said as she and Ella brought in a towering cake with several layers stacked on top of one another, colored light brown with chocolate sauce drizzled over each stack and chocolate icing topped around each in ring formation.

"Whoa~!" Chris, Cream and Tails said in awe.

"Given what she said about caring before, that really shows a lot it." Rouge said with widened eyes.

"How did that even fit into the oven?" Chuck wondered aloud.

"I guess we did get a bit carried away, but I don't regret it." Amy said as she placed the cake on the table.

"What is it?" Tails asked.

"Chocolate coffee cake." Ella answered.

"I figured since you like coffee beans so much that maybe you'd like to try this." Amy said to Shadow.

"You didn't hold back in the least." Shadow commented, staring at the cake with widened eyes.

"Hmm~." Sonic stared at the cake with half-lidded eyes as he rested his cheek onto his hand.

"Would you like to do the honors?" Amy asked as she handed Shadow the cake knife.

Shadow looked down at the knife for a moment before grabbing it. He turned and cut into the bottom layer, taking a piece with Amy handing him a plate to place it on. Shadow took a fork, stabbed into it and took a bite. After a moment, his eyes widened like before, but this time he dug right in without hesitation, really enjoying the cake.

"Whoa, look at you go! You're having way too much fun there." Rouge said, causing Shadow to flinch, noticing the amused smiles on everyone, but Sonic's, faces.

"I don't mind. That just shows that our efforts were worth it." Amy said with an appreciative smile.

"It's really good. Too good. I don't even know if one slice is enough for me." Shadow confessed, causing Amy's smile to widen as her cheeks heated up again.

"Well, you got plenty to enjoy. I don't think this even with the amount of people here that we'll be able to finish it all tonight." Chuck said, looking up towards the tower.

"At least we'll have many yummy leftovers." Cream said with a pleasant smile. "The top has so much chocolate sauce on it."

"Yeah, I did start pouring the bowl of it at the very top." Amy confessed, rubbing the back of her head with minor embarrassment.

"Can I have a slice from there?" Cream asked.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese agreed with excitement.

"If you can reach it." Chris said as he was looking up at the literal tower of a cake.

"Hmm~." Cream moaned in disappointment considering her height. Just then she was picked up from the bottom by a large robotic hand and raised up high where she was now in front of the top of the cake. She turned to see it was none other than Omega who had helped her. "Thank you, Mister Omega." Cream thanked the robot with a gracious smile.

"How sweet." Vanilla said, looking at the bulky robot with an appreciative smile.

'Isn't that sweet. Guess he really is more than just a killing machine.' Rouge thought with a gentle smile.

After everyone got a slice, they all enjoyed it with smiles on their faces.

"Not bad. A bit bitter for my taste." Sonic said nonchalantly.

"Then don't eat it." Shadow said.

"And let you hog it all?" Sonic retorted.

"Not my fault you don't know taste."

"Oh, I know taste, and believe me, there are yummier flavors out there. Like strawberry shortcake." Sonic said.

'I thought Sonic didn't like strawberry shortcake.' Amy thought with surprise and confusion.

"Sounds too sweet to me." Shadow said.

"Guess it's not just your personalities that are really different." Chris said with a smile. Heavy footsteps were heard, causing everyone to notice Omega walking away. "Is everything alright, Omega?" Chris asked.

Omega walked out of the room and headed back into the TV room where he stopped and stared at the picture box, which apparently was left on accidentally thanks to everyone being so engrossed with the chaos earlier.

"Hey, big guy, what's the matter? All partied out?" Rouge asked as she and Shadow followed after him, feeling a little concerned regardless of if none was even needed.

"EGGMAN." Omega stated.

Shadow and Rouge looked confused for a moment before turning to see that on the TV was a breaking news report about the moon, which had half of it destroyed some time ago. Now though, it was reformed with a literal darker side of the it now.

"What is that?" Rouge questioned in surprise.

"If you're just joining us, just earlier today, Dr. Eggman, notorious evil scientist who has been terrorizing mankind for some time now has just selflessly repaired the destroyed half of the moon. Using his expertise in robotics, he has replaced the missing half with a mechanical substitute. Now dubbing it: The Egg-Moon. Is this actually for the benefit of humanity? Has Eggman truly turned a new leaf? This is Scarlet Garcia, keeping you up to date with the news of the world." Scarlet reported live on television.

"I doubt it." Rouge said with a frown and her hands on her hips.

"EGGMAN WOULD NEVER PROVIDE ASSISTANCE WITHOUT IT BENEFITTING HIM FIRST." Omega stated.

"A lot of evidence supports that." Shadow stated, recalling the events of how he played to the doctor's ego and lust for power when they first met.

"THIS IS ALL A PLOY. NO ONE SHOULD BUY THIS." Omega stated, earning a nod of full agreement from Shadow.

"Hold on… I think I've seen something like this before." Rouge said as she tapped her chin. She then got an idea as she pulled out the device she used from their mission, and upon scanning through the files still saved within it, she came across a design exactly like the picture of the moon on screen. "Here we go." Rouge said, causing Shadow and Omega to lean over and notice that this 'cyborg moon' was one of the plans downloaded from Eggman's console back from the now destroyed base.

"AS I STATED." Omega stated.

"So, this is just another of the doctor's plans." Shadow said, furrowing his brow.

"Looks like it." Rouge said as she scanned through the file. "Hmm~. You know… this could be used to our advantage." Rouge said with a devious smirk.

"We do have knowledge no one else does." Shadow said, understanding what Rouge was getting at.

"Are you all thinking what I'm thinking?" Rouge asked the pair beside her.

"EGGMAN. YOU WILL NOW UNDERSTAND WHAT IT FEELS TO BE A PAWN." Omega stated as he brought his hand up and clenched it into a fist.

The trio looked at the cybernetic moon, already planning their move ahead of time.

This time it was their game to play, and the loser shall be Eggman.

.

.

Within an office sat an elderly man with grey combed back hair, a pair of heterochromia eyes; one brown, the other green and dressed in a high-ranking military uniform. In one hand was a phone that was against his ear, the other were three photos of none other than Rouge, Omega and Shadow.

"Mr. President, are you sure you don't want to reconsider? G.U.N. did once have a dark past, but under my lead things have changed from that dark past. I should know better than anyone, even the soldier on duty that day." The man said with a deep frown. "I understand their capabilities, but they are still dangerous individuals with a checkered past. A treasure thief, an Eggman robot… and a threat to the world." He said as he focused his glare mainly on Shadow. "One may try to change but their nature remains the same upon creation. I just believe there could be better options than them." He said as he sprawled the photos upon his desk. After a few moments silently listening, he closed his eyes as he let out a tired exhale through his nose. "Trust… I extend it, but only upon your request, Mr. President. They haven't proven themselves to me." He said as he stared down at Shadow's photo. 'And you never will.' He thought as he furrowed his brow, glaring harder at Shadow's photo. "Yes, Mr. President. Understood." He said before hanging up the phone.

The man leaned back in his chair as he thought over the conversation regarding G.U.N.'s new recruits. Three untrustworthy individuals with agendas of their own who only joined the government's side to further their goals. To the elderly man that was just as bad as being outright enemies. Even worse as they welcomed them close enough to discover their own secrets that could be used against them someday.

While he was willing to extend a hypothetical olive branch towards the treasure thief and defected Eggman robot… he will never do the same to that abomination. The same one who he not only blamed for taking everything away from him, but also the only being capable of destroying the world as he expected him to be. He knew what he really was after all. A creature that the world did not know the true origins of… except for those working under G.U.N. fifty years ago.

Staring down at the photo of the red streaked hedgehog, the man frowned deeply with an intense look of distain as he then slammed a fist atop of Shadow's picture.

"You will never fool me, Shadow the Hedgehog. I know exactly what you are." The elderly man said as he pulled back his fist.

He then noticed that in his small act of rage he had accidentally toppled over his desk's nameplate. He reached over and put it back onto its proper placement. He leaned back with his hands interlocked as he gazed forward with an intense stare, focusing on countermeasure for the day that the one who ruined everything for him would show who he truly was.

Resting at its proper angle, the plate read in its entirety: G.U.N. Commander Abraham Tower.

End of Chapter 2

Yeah, I was going to wait until either the 20th at the earliest or the 28th of November for this one, but I decided that giving you guys a second chapter a bit earlier would be much better than holding it off for so long.

Anyway, Hooray! Omega is now part of the story! Along with the actual G.U.N. Commander, Abraham Towers. By the by, I decided that as the Commanders name before Dark Beginnings made it official, which I can say I happily appreciate.

So, as one would expect, especially after the end of the previous chapter, this story will not be following Sonic X's storyline, but the games' own. Personally, I don't like the Time Suspension Phenomenon introduced in The Beginning of the End. Not because I hated the idea and having it be the penultimate conflict before the anime's final saga, but because it doesn't make sense to me. At least, not how I remember it.

See, I get the whole deal that the worlds needed to be separated for both of their survival, but the fact that Sonic and the others had to leave, which had the plot hole of both Eggman and Shadow being involved as well despite them actually being born within the human world. It also leaves the question of how both worlds had to have interacted at one point for Shadow's birth.

Maybe I'm missing something, especially since I haven't seen it and the following episode 'Running Out of Time' in ages and I'm being a bit of a coward since I feel it would hurt so much in the feels for me. If I am missing something, feel free to tell me.

Anyway, I figured since we all know how the series ended, especially with Shadow's involvement within the Metarex Saga, I figured why not just make Sonic X adventures inspired by the games like we always imagined when we were… nah, I think we still do that. There are people who commission certain characters, like Silver, to be drawn in Sonic X style, and there is this one artist, I believe called Y-Firestar, who has made scenes from Sonic Heroes in the Sonic X style. If anyone wants to see how Omega is styled in that fashion, I do recommend looking them up.

And for those wondering, I have been thinking of a way to make the Metarex Saga happen despite this story not going to follow the same route as the source material and I think I found a decent way to make it happen. When the saga will occur is a different story, but I think I already have a placement on where it will take place in this story's timeline.

Anyway, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it, the next one is the Christmas chapter, and I think I'll post it on December 18th, two days before Sonic 3's official premiere and a day before early access as some theaters like to do.

Hope you'll come back and enjoy it, but even more so, I hope you're all as excited as I am to see Shadow the Hedgehog in his big screen debut! God, I Am Fanboying Out! Epic!

*Ahem*

Uh, thank you for your time and have a wonderful rest of the day. Hope you'll come back for more.

Takeshi1225, Out!