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Rouge is going to have a stern talking to with GUN when they finish this fight. Of ALL the times for GUN to mind their business, they choose the ONE moment that Sonic and his team actually need the backup. Not only that, the one time Commander Tower takes a vacation is when this happens. None of the other higher-ups care enough about Mobians to send help. Rouge has no doubts in her mind that whoever Tower appointed as temporary commander doesn't give a rat's ass about Team Dark— and by extension, Team Sonic. She'll definately be bringing this up as soon as her Commander gets back.
Rouge can't keep up with all these damn flying robots. Those stupid buzz bombers are hoarding around her like she's their queen bee. And in any other situation, she might be flattered. But her whimsy has long run dry. She's acutely aware of the little bodies nestled in between the rocks on the side of the battlefield: Amy and Tails. It hurt Rouge deeply to see her sister-in-arms and their genius little fox go down. If Rouge had only been able to see Tails falling, maybe she could've caught him, but instead that responsibility fell to Sonic, way down on the floor. And as much as she hates to admit it, she fears she may be Eggman's next victim. She's up against Sonic, Knuckles and Shadow! Rouge is confident in her abilities, don't get her wrong, but a stamina test with those three (plus a robot) would easily put her to shame.
She has what they don't, though: Eyes in the skies. It was her and Tails against the flying hordes, but the little man's out, so all the pressure is on her. And boy, is she feeling the pressure! She doesn't remember the last time she's been this stressed. Even flying above all the robots, she still can't see anything. It's just a sea of metal. She scans at every break she gets, looking for something to give her the doctor's whereabouts. A glimpse of peachy skin, a moustache, hell, even his annoying laugh would be helpful right about now. But she gets nothing. She doesn't even have time to get frustrated, because robots are flying at her once again, and she's back to dodging and slinging bombs. Bombs, which she's running out of. Fuck. That's never good. It's not a true fight without bombs at her disposal.
She hears Knuckles and Sonic talking below her, a pathetic try at a quip falls from the hedgehog's mouth, and Rouge can tell he's trying to save face, looking brave for everyone else. It's admirable. It's cute— she can see why Shadow adores him.
She's distracted from her teasing thoughts by a glimpse of something slipping through the crowd, bigger than the average badnik. Is that— it's the doctor's eggmobile!
"I SAW HIM! That bastard!" Her voice is shrill as she screams, already diving to follow the cowardly doctor, but she's stopped by the sight of missiles coming towards her at full speed. She squeaks, looping out of the way, but they follow her. Homing missiles. Gaia, why! She knows how to deal with them well enough, thankfully. She lets them criss-cross each other's paths, crashing into each other with an explosion of fire in the middle of the sky. She whips around, scanning for the stupid eggmobile, but it's disappeared from her sight. She lets out a truly agonised groan, exhaustion and pain exploding in her shoulders and back as she flaps her wings. They're starting to give up on her; she's pushed too far. She's truly grateful for her wings, for the amount of abuse and weight they endure, but she knows she won't get much more use out of them without resting. She lowers herself to the ground next to Sonic, her breath coming in quick puffs as she adjusts to standing. Her wings drop thankfully behind her, and it's then that she can truly feel the ache of overexertion.
"Honey, I don't know how much longer I can fly," she admits regretfully. She idly kicks and punches the badniks as they approach; might as well help out while she's down here.
"You've done plenty, Rouge," Sonic smiles, but his eyes are sad. Stressed. She wants to hug him, but they don't have time for that. Rouge knows she's done a lot, but despite that, there's still more to do. There's always more. Eggman doesn't want this battle to end until they're all motionless on the floor.
She stretches her wing; they shake with the force. Then, her eyes drift upwards once again, eyeing the new wave of bee robots that are headed towards Knuckles. She sighs, and with a quick wink, she's off again, into the skies where she belongs. She's beating her wings as fast as she can, but it takes her too long to get to her echidna. The seconds feel like hours. By the time she gets there, the buzz bombers are relentlessly shooting at Knuckles. He can't defend from both above and below, so she takes over, stress gnawing at her chest. Has her chest always felt this tight in battle? Whatever, no time to ponder about potential bodily anomalies.
She whistles, harsh and grating, and the bots' attentions shift nearly instantly. They start assaulting her instead. Laser bullets fly by her head as she weaves, leading them away from the busy echidna and higher into the skies, where she can pick them off without them going after the boys beneath her. She's finding it slightly hard to breathe, but maybe that's just the panic really settling in. Their position in this battle isn't good; it can make anyone stressed, including cool and confident Rouge. Her chest hurts a bit more, too, though. Peculiar.
She starts the dance for the hundredth time today; twirling, kicking, punching, smashing. She gets halfway through when her wings stop functioning. It takes her a second to realise they won't beat anymore, and then they go limp completely, making her plummet from a height beyond the clouds. She flails briefly, her heartbeat sounding in her ears. She doesn't know what to do— she's falling! She desperately wills her wings to work, and for a second, she's floating, before they give out again. She doesn't even scream. Everything and every person she's ever loved flashes through her mind, a sad attempt to soothe her terror. Shadow, Omega, Knuckles, Amy, Tails. It keeps going, showing her moments from every birthday celebration and night out on the town. The seconds slow down, and she feels like she's in one of Shadow's chaos controls.
She and Blaze doing pottery, their pretty dresses getting ruined with clay. Silver's first time seeing a Polaroid camera and taking a blurry picture of her, smiling that bright, adorable little grin of his. Espio playfully fighting her while waiting for information to upload onto their flashdrives. Cream calling her 'Miss Rouge'. Vanilla's baking. Sonic and Knuckles playing volleyball while Shadow yells critiques from his place under the umbrella. Quiet nights at Club Rouge, when all her friends gather around the bar and tell stories about their recent adventures. Each one is a stab through her heart. It does its job, though. She feels oddly at peace. Accepting of her situation. Is this what they mean by 'your life flashes before your eyes'?
The sky is quite beautiful, she realises. It's sunset. They've been fighting since mid-morning. The orange and red spill out from the sun, painting her face in a golden light. Purple peeks out from the horizon, bright and welcoming of the night ahead of it. If she looks closely, she can spot the first stars appearing. As well as the ARK, somewhere far in the distance.
Distantly, she thinks about Maria. How strange. Despite having never met her, Rouge feels a deep love for the golden child. Maybe it's because of how Shadow speaks of her; she was his light in the darkness, the only one who treated Rouge's baby brother like a person.
Wait, if Maria was Shadow's big sister, and now Rouge is Shadow's big sister, doesn't that make Rouge and Maria sisters?
That's a nice way to think of it. Maria is her sister by proxy. Rouge wonders if she'll finally meet the blonde when she dies. They'd paint their nails and trade stories about their baby brother. She can't wait.
And Shadow, Gaia- her Shadow. She's so happy she finally got through to the grumpy hedgehog. He's worth it, so, so, worth it. She'd do it a million times over if it meant finally seeing Shadow smile and laugh. If it meant seeing him fall in love with the world and the people in it. And he chose to share that with Rouge! How lucky she is!
Rouge has seen so many beautiful things on this earth. Maybe it's time to close her eyes and rest for a second. She's so worn out from the battle. She knows it's not over yet— she can hear the fighting below her, coming slowly closer as she falls. Oh, she's falling. Right.
She can survive a fall from this height; she's done it before. She might break a bone or two, but that's the price to pay for falling when she should be soaring. So, why does it feel like the end? Her eyes slip closed without her permission. She feels her heart frantically pounding against her skin, yelling at her, louder, faster, harder, and then, suddenly, it stops altogether.
She slips into a blissful state of silence. It's like a void, empty no matter where she looks. She tries to walk, but it feels like she's going nowhere. Her feet aren't even touching anything. She's floating, serene and alone, but she doesn't feel lonely. She doesn't mind it here, wherever here is.
Slowly, though, a figure cuts through the blackness. Rouge can't make sense of it. It's glowing, blue and gold blobs in her tired eyes. The figure giggles, soft and calm, and all the tension from Rouge's body melts away at the sound. She knows this person; she doesn't know how, but she does.
The figure speaks, then, a high, feminine voice,
"Your heart must've been really tired, huh? It's okay, you're tough! You can make it through, I just know it." Her voice floats all around Rouge, bouncing off invisible walls and echoing through the endless space. Rouge blinks, well, she thinks she blinked? It's hard to tell here.
"I'm tired," she complains into the void like a child, "I want to rest."
The voice coos, soothing and low,
"I know, I'm sorry. You can rest later, but not here," The figure is kind in its insistence. It's less of a demand and more of a plea. Rouge knows she should listen to the figure, no matter how strange this entire interaction is. Rouge's not-body feels like it's on fire suddenly. Jolts of lightning flow through her veins, flickering against her skin. She's not supposed to be here. Something, someone is calling her back. She nods, posture straightening up,
"Alright. I'll rest later." She confirms, voice filled with a previously missing determination. The figure seems happy at this, and it starts to fade back into the darkness, but one final line is whispered, barely making it to Rouge's ears,
"I can't wait to meet you, too, big sis. But not yet, our brother still needs you," She smiles as her light disappears. Rouge nods, and then, as if being dumped into ice water, her eyes fly open.
Omega is hovering over her, and a tingling sensation is lingering in her body. She can't speak, she can't find her voice. Her eyes scan Omega, confused and tired. Did she pass out? She must have. Omega, despite not being able to show emotions, somehow looks terrified. The way he holds Rouge, gentle instead of tight like his usual grip, has the bat questioning.
"YOU ARE AWAKE." Omega's loud voice blares. His eyes scan Rouge, top to bottom, over and over again. She nods, then instantly regrets it as a killer headache makes its presence known. She instead closes her eyes, leaning her temple on the cool metal of Omega's body. The robot makes a choked noise,
"DO NOT-" the robot starts, but cuts himself off with some sort of robotic whirring. Rouge doesn't have the energy for this right now,
"Thanks for the save, 'Mega. I don't even remember fainting," Rouge mumbles, pushing more into Omega's cold. The robot jolts, standing with her cradled like glass in his arms,
"FAINTING." The robot repeats, almost incredulous. Rouge nods, too weary to continue talking. She peels her eyes open to look around at the battlefield, and her eyes land on Shadow, Chaos Energy spilling out of him like water. His signature golden rings are missing. Ah, so the situation's that bad. Omega keeps her close to him, picking off any wandering badniks. He can see Knuckles and Sonic defending the safety nook, so she knows Amy and Tails are good. She lets her eyes slip closed again, deeming the situation 'under control'. She doesn't notice herself drifting off until Omega jostles her,
"DO NOT FALL ASLEEP." The robot nearly pleads with Rouge. She groans, but complies, opening her eyes once again. Shadow's taken down the huge mech, that's great. She doesn't see Knuckles around; that isn't as good. Did exhaustion finally catch up to him? Sonic seems to be protectively circling something, so if she has to hazard a guess, that's Knuckles on the floor. Shadow sends out a huge wave of energy, blasting any last robots out of commission. Rouge watches with a hurting heart as he collapses into Sonic's arms, the battlefield growing silent for the first time in hours. Her brother, always sacrificing himself for them. She needs to talk to him about self-worth again, it seems.
She's about to instruct Omega to carry her over, but Eggman's voice rings loud, and his stupid eggmobile finally makes its appearance.
"Bravo! It looks like The Ultimate Lifeform finally put his title to use!" Rouge wants to punch his face so bad. It seems like she's not the only one, too. Sonic stalks up to Eggman, slow and steady and wholly unlike himself. Omega starts tentatively walking closer to Shadow, and Rouge can see Tails and Amy limping out into the open, too. Knuckles sits up, rubbing at his face groggily before standing as well. All eyes are glued to Sonic as he stops in front of the Eggmobile, and then, in a blue flash, he's leaning over Eggman, collar grabbing him. Rouge's eyes fly open as Sonic's voice echoes,
"Give me one good reason not to kill you." Okay, that is the LAST thing Rouge was expecting. Everyone's basically bundled together now. Amy and Knuckles are huddled with Tails in the centre, eyes wide as he watches his brother. Omega doesn't bother putting Rouge down; he instead crouches so Rouge can reach Shadow. Her hand lands on his shoulder, gentle and slow, and he leans back into it, concern shining in his eyes.
Sonic reels back a fist and decks the doctor in the face. Amy lets out a gasp of surprise, and her embrace around Tails tightens.
"I said, give me one good reason not to kill you, right here, right now", Sonic repeats, voice icy and steely, unlike anything Rouge has ever heard from the hedgehog. He's holding the doctor's throat, now. Rage is flowing off Sonic in waves as he rambles,
"-You wanted to hurt them, to watch them fight until they were worn out, then kidnap them, or worse, kill them-"
Shadow's hand grabs at Rouge's, and he turns painfully to look at her,
"He's gonna kill him," Shadow whispers, eyes wide. Rouge doesn't want to believe it, but deep down, she knows that if someone doesn't step in, Sonic's rage will overwhelm his love. She nods, expression grim.
"The doctor went too far. I need to-" Shadow stands shakily, despite the protests falling from Rouge's lips,
"I'm going to talk to him. He- he'll regret it. I won't forgive myself if I don't step in." Shadow sighs, and whispers 'Chaos Control' under his breath. In a brief flash, he's no longer beside Rouge. Instead, he's behind Sonic, a gentle hand on the blue blur's shoulder. What they're talking about, Rouge can't quite discern, but she sees Sonic's hand tighten around Eggman's throat before releasing the doctor.
He takes a gentle hold of Shadow instead, leading him off the Eggmobile and onto the floor. Eggman is quick to flee after that, and as soon as he's out of sight, Shadow collapses again. Sonic goes with him, holding him close. Then, those usually kind green eyes look up, and widen as they spot everyone staring. Sonic scans everyone's faces, pain etched into his own, and then tears coat his eyes as he buries his face into Shadow, ashamed.
Tails begins to walk forward first, followed quickly by everyone else. Rouge finally wiggles out of Omega's (oddly) caring hold, and she stalks forward with the rest of them. She lets them all get situated around the two hedgehogs, and she takes her place as 'big sister' at the very front, facing Sonic. He's crying into his brother's fur now, but he's silent, refusing to let any sounds out. Rouge coaxes his face out, watching his terrified and guilty expression. He's...scared. Of Rouge. Of how she'll react? How silly. Rouge can't help but love this stupid little hedgehog. She cradles his face, cooing sadly, all her own pain and exhaustion forgotten,
"He pushed you too far, baby. Don't blame yourself for anything. The doctor brought that upon himself." She soothes him, watching his face crack in pain. He shakes his head, but Shadow speaks up, stopping him,
"You did well, Sonic. We've got you now," Shadow's voice is rough, but loving as ever. That's all it takes for Sonic to start sobbing loudly. It's unashamed and tired, and Rouge is so happy the boy's finally letting it out. Everyone nuzzles closer, providing support on all sides as Sonic cries. Rouge can't help but press a kiss into the blue quills, listening to his breath stutter and skip as he inhales through the sobs.
Eventually, they have to move. Knuckles takes Sonic, Omega takes Shadow, and they begin their trek through the darkness to the nearby village. The mood is peaceful, a hugely stark difference from the rest of their day. Their stroll through the forest is relaxing. Rouge takes the opportunity to vent out her frustrations with GUN,
"Seriously! The one time we need them!" She grumbles, arms crossed. Her back is still sore as all hell, but she can walk just fine, unlike Sonic and Shadow. Shadow had initially tried to stand, but Omega shut that down instantly, scooping him up as he complained. Again, another odd move from the robot. He'd usually never question Shadow's strength; he'd rather wait until Rouge instructs him to carry the hedgehog.
Amy nods, her justifiable anger rising,
"I mean, Sonic doesn't really get along with GUN, but they're allies! They should've sent support! We're lucky we made it out alive." Amy scoffs. She's still limping, with an arm around Tails, helping support her. The kit's head injury seems to be mild, thankfully. He apparently puked a couple of times and was fine.
"Though, watching Sonic go psycho on Eggman was badass!" Tails giggles, drawing a gasp from Shadow,
"Language, little fox. Your brother will kill all of us if he hears that foul mouth," Shadow chides, though the fond smile on his face is telling. Amy bursts out laughing, loud and charming.
"Says you! I've heard you literally cuss out a pot of pasta for not boiling fast enough!" Amy cackles. Rouge can't help but chuckle along, her slightly delirious laughter infectious. It's in this haze of joy that she thinks back to Omega. The robot's been quiet. Too quiet. Rouge remembers waking up, seeing Omega looking down at her, holding her, refusing to let go. She turns to him, laughter dying down,
"Hey, Omega? Are you okay?" She asks, eyebrows furrowing. Shadow looks at her, then up at the robot carrying him, confusion in his eyes. At the question, Amy and Tails quiet down, curious as well. Omega doesn't answer.
"Heyy? Megs? You with us, big guy?" She asks again, turning to face him properly. His head moves slightly, staring at Rouge with a piercing gaze.
"I AM FINE." He answers blandly. More monotone than usual.
"I thought you'd be bragging about all your kills by now," Shadow pipes up.
"I DID NOT PERFORM MY TASKS ADEQUATELY. I AM RE-ASSESSING MY MISTAKES, AND I WILL ADJUST ACCORDINGLY." Rouge frowns at that,
"No- Omega, you did great, man!" Tails pipes up, voice supportive. Omega just shakes his head,
"I FAILED MY MOST IMPORTANT TASK. I FAILED TO-" The robot stops speaking, stops moving, his gaze suddenly far away. Shadow frowns as well, gently tapping Omega's face.
"Hey, you there? Are you injured? What did you fail to do?" Shadow's always been known to show concern for Omega, and this strange behaviour from the robot is setting both Team Dark members on edge. Everyone's stopped at this point. Even Sonic, with his half-lidded eyes, is peeking out from Knuckles' shoulder to see what's going on. As if he's been rebooted, Omega's eyes flash briefly, and he responds,
"IT IS NOT IMPORTANT. I WILL IMPROVE, AND IT SHALL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN." The robot's eyes linger on Rouge before he starts stamping forward again, setting the journey back in motion.
Rouge has always been able to read Omega in a way most others can't. He's a robot; he has no facial features, nor emotions, technically. But he's developed the ability to feel and care. He loves Rouge and Shadow; that much is obvious. Rouge has found her own little way of understanding the war robot. So when she rethinks all of his behaviour, she traces it back to her fall.
Did...was Omega scared? Sure, Rouge falling from insane heights is a bit of a terrifying experience, but she's fine! She's up, walking and talking. So why is her robot brother so freaked out by this?
Unless.
Did something else happen? Something Rouge isn't aware of? She did pass out during the fall. Maybe she got dog-piled by badniks after she landed or something. But— still, that wouldn't freak Omega out. He's a tough cookie to crack. Hell, Rouge didn't even KNOW he could crack until now.
She'll ask him later. She's quite enjoying the chatter that's starting back up. She can see the lights of the village beckoning them in, warm and comforting against the dark of the night. She strides forward with a grateful sigh, walking alongside Omega and Shadow,
"Well, I'm beat, boys. I hope they have a good bathtub somewhere in this village. Mama needs a soak!" She laughs with a wink. Shadow rolls his eyes, blindly pushing her away with a badly concealed laugh. She can feel Omega's eyes on her, but if that helps the robot feel at peace, then she'll deal with it.
Omega cannot stop looking at his bat companion. He's a robot; he's never experienced fear or grief before. But when Sonic yelled out to him that Rouge had fallen, his focus shifted instantly. He scanned the horde of inferior robots, looking for some sign of the bat he calls a friend. He saw her heat signature, and he fished her out of the pile of badniks. Only for her heartbeat to be missing.
Omega has never bluescreened like that before, and he never will again. Looking for Rouge's pulse had been the worst couple of seconds of his metallic, unfeeling life. It was as if he truly felt what it's like to be made of flesh and bone. To have a soul and a heart. And he felt his newfound heart break into tiny little pieces as Rouge's limp body dangled in his hold, unbreathing, unmoving. It's pure instinct, programmed into his literal motherboard, that made him shock her. He shocked, and he shocked again, for good measure. Electricity flowed through him, his lifeblood, the very thing that makes him move, and it flowed past his metallic fingertips, crossing over into Rouge's body, making her convulse. He was giving his lifeblood to her. For the first time, he found himself hoping. Hoping that he'd given enough.
Then she gasped a breath, eyes snapping open, wide and panicked. Then was the first time Omega E-123 had ever felt relief. And what a feeling it was. Her heartbeat was back, frantic but there. Her eyes roamed over Omega, becoming aware of herself.
"YOU ARE AWAKE."
Now he walks through a forest with his friends, Shadow cradled in his arms, Rouge walking beside him. And he feels. He feels more deeply than he's ever felt before. He thought that brief moment of terror would go away, would fade back into nothingness, and he would be back to himself. But it hasn't. Rouge is still in the back of his processing centre, lifeless and still. He doesn't like this. This...feelings thing. It's gross.
Shadow pats his face, and he looks down at his companion— the Ultimate Lifeform, held in his robotic arms, like a child. How do they put trust in Omega? How do they allow him to handle their fragile, breakable bodies?
"Omega, you're gonna overheat with all those thoughts. Relax." Shadow mumbles, concerned. Why has the Ultimate Lifeform always shown him concern? It's one of the only things Omega's vast knowledge hasn't been able to figure out. He's just another robot— granted, the Ultimate robot, but nothing more. So why does Rouge insist on keeping him around? Why does Shadow still touch him gently, knowing he can't feel pain anyway?
"Omega, calm down." Shadow instructs again. He nestles closer to Omega's cold, uncaring metal, sighing happily as the cold penetrates his fur.
Rouge laughs next to him, having a quiet conversation with the echidna. It soothes Omega's frayed wires. She's alive. And no one can ever know she died. However brief that death may have been, it still happened. Rouge the Bat died under Omega's watch. He understands enough about emotions to know that the information would unnecessarily distress everyone. It already stressed Omega himself, and he's not even meant to feel stress. No, Omega silently promises to himself, he must keep that secret until he rusts and becomes one with the earth again. It's better for everyone this way.