Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Green poured into the cracks of his eyelids, shining so bright he could do nothing but cower before it. 

When Shadow forced his eyes open anyway he found nothing. In nothing he stayed, for a few seconds, before he could feel long stalks of grass press against his fur. A summer day’s breeze drifted past his nose, and only then did the rest of reality fade into his vision.

He pushed himself off the ground. Stray dizziness, as if he’d had his inhibitor rings off, rung in his head. 

But the groan to his left had him on his feet in less than a second.

“Rouge!” He called out.

“Ugh, what the hell. . ?”

Rouge pulled herself from her own imprint in the long grass. She rubbed her head and her balance wavered. Shadow ran to her side and offered an arm. 

“ ‘m fine, fine.” 

“Omega.” Shadow remembered. “Did he-”

“SYSTEMS REBOOTING. . .”

“Gee, some new toy Eggman had.” Rouge mumbled. “Omega! You alright?” 

“STATUS: OPERATIONAL. DISCONTINUITY DETECTED IN MY CHRONOMETER. UNABLE TO CONNECT TO GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM.” 

Rouge scanned the area. “I don’t know where we are either. I could scout-”

“Wait until you’ve recovered.” Shadow said. 

“Sure, sure.” She wobbled back down onto the grass. 

“STATUS?” Omega tromped to her side. 

“Feel like I’m going to lose my lunch.”

“It felt like a chaos control.” Shadow said. When Rouge shook her head, he added, “one that was poorly done. Not like mine.”

“Yet Eggman called it a ‘disintegrator’.” Rouge replied. “I’m beginning to believe he didn’t think too hard on where all his test subjects went.” 

“WE HAVE BEEN TRANSPORTED?”

“Well, that would explain why you don’t know where we are, wouldn’t it?” 

Before Omega could reply, he stiffened, his head rotating towards the horizon. “INCOMING.” 

Omega held his hand out, and Shadow used it as a step to hop on his shoulder. From here he could get a better picture- something was cutting through the long waves of grass, the shockwave flattening the stalks behind it.

“Sonic?” Shadow asked.

“NEGATIVE! BADNIK DETECTED!” Omega drew his miniguns.

Shadow jumped down and landed beside Rouge. Dizziness struck him again when he tried to call up enough energy to chaos control, so instead he picked her up and dashed behind Omega’s frame. 

Seconds later, the stranger arrived. 

And Omega did not fire. 

Nothing moved.

“What? What is it?” Rouge asked. 

“IMPOSSIBLE.” Omega said. 

“IMPOSSIBLE.” Omega’s voice echoed back from across the way. 

Shadow tried to channel energy into his skates. “Omega, what’s-?” 

“ULTIMATE LIFEFORM DETECTED! COMMENCING EXTERMINATION!”

Shadow dived out from behind Omega’s frame. Only to find, standing in the stalks ahead, an exact mirror replica.

“INFERIOR MODEL! HOW DARE YOU IMITATE ME!” The Omega closest (his Omega, Shadow reminded himself) opened fire. 

The mirror Omega dodged, switching through weapons faster than Shadow thought possible. By the time he’d ignited his rocket skates, replacing the mirror image’s hands were thin, silvery rods tipped with light. 

Shadow jetted out of the way just in time for twin lasers to scorch the grass where he had just been. He made for the opposite horizon. Rouge’s nails buried into his skin. 

“Put me down and go help him!” She shouted. 

There was no place with cover, no place to hide, and before he could think to set her down there was the familiar hiss of E-100 rocket boosters. A spared glance, a glance too much, showed the mirror image gaining on them. Omega struggled to chase. 

Shadow cut his skates and slid to a stop. The mirror Badnik, with the same heavier mass as Omega, could not stop in time, flinging past them. Shadow then sprinted towards Omega.

“Take her!” Shadow cried. “He’s following me!” 

“IT WILL NOT SURVIVE MY WRATH!” 

Omega did not change direction. He charged straight at the mirror image, raining a hail of bullets. Only a few found their mark in the gaps of the mirror’s plating. This did little more than cause it to stumble. 

“CURIOUS, ULTIMATE LIFEFORM.” The mirror Omega said. “YOU WOULD BUILD A COPY OF ME? HOW FLATTERING.”

“HE DID NOT BUILD ME!” Omega replied. He cycled his weapons.

But in the time that he was switching to his missile launchers, the mirror image blasted forward, grabbed his shoulders, and flung him towards the horizon. 

Rouge pushed herself out of Shadow’s arms. “Kick its ass.” 

With both arms now freed, Shadow lifted his hand to summon a chaos bolt. But the dizziness hit him once more, this time paired with a jolt to his head. 

The mirror image blasted forward, grabbed his arm, and slammed him into the ground ahead of Rouge. 

“Shadow!” Rouge cried.

“WHO IS THIS ‘SHADOW’ YOU ARE REFERRING TO?” The mirror image looked at her as it pinned Shadow down. 

Shadow couldn’t push against his claws. Desperately, he tried focus on the open sky above, willing for the smallest trickle of chaos energy to complete a chaos control. 

Only for cold to shoot through his body like lightning.

“YOUR USUAL TRICKS WILL NOT WORK!” This version of Omega’s voice box said with palpable glee. 

“F-fine.” Shadow spat. “Just. Spare. Rouge.” 

“REPEAT?”

“Spare Rouge. She had-” Shadow grunted as another pulse of cold shot through him. “She has nothing to do with this.” 

“YOU, OF ALL PEOPLE, BEGGING TO SAVE THE LIFE OF ANOTHER?” The mirror image loosened his grip, but not enough to be of any use. “A STRANGE LAST RESORT.” 

“Hey!” Rouge shouted. “Do you even know who Shadow is?”

“IRRELEVANT. COMMENCING COMPLETION OF-”

With a quick beat of her wings, Rouge tackled the mirror image off of him. 

“Rouge!” Shadow cried.

“You’ve clearly got the wrong person!” Rouge huffed as she stood on his chest. “If you don’t even know his name, then how can you be sure?”

“DNA MATCH IS 100%!”

“Why’d Eggman build you, anyway? You’re just a copy of Omega!” 

“CIVILIAN: I INSIST YOU CEASE AIDING THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM. REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THIS COMBAT ZONE IMMEDIATELY!”

“Oh come on, I’m not a civilian! You should know this!” Rouge pouted. “If Eggman doesn’t even consider me a threat, why I’ll-”

“ROUGE. EXTRICATE.”

Shadow snapped his gaze to Omega, who had finally returned to the battlefield. He had both his missile launchers drawn, his aim trained on the mirror image. 

“Hold on, something’s not right!” Rouge replied. She pointed down at the mirror image. “You! Why the hell did Eggman build you?”

“WHO IS THIS ‘EGGMAN’ YOU ARE REFERRING TO?”

Rouge looked at Omega, then back at Shadow. 

“And why do you insist on offing Shadow?” Rouge asked. 

“YOU HAVE NO CLARIFIED WHO YOU ARE REFERRING TO AS ‘SHADOW’.” The mirror image then made a strange, robotic sigh. “IF YOU DO NOT MIND, THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM IS STANDING. RIGHT. BEHIND. YOU. IT IS A MIRACLE YOU HAVE SURVIVED THIS LONG IN HIS PRESENCE.” 

“I’m not going to. . .” Shadow said.

“DO NOT MOCK ME!” The mirror image shouted. 

“HE IS NOT MOCKING YOU!” Omega shouted back. 

“You see? There must be some other person you’re thinking of.” Rouge elaborated. “Look, if you’ll just give us a moment to explain.” 

Rouge stepped off of his chest. The mirror image ratched upright. When his optics hit Shadow’s frame, the roar of his cooling fans was audible even from where he was standing. 

“We were transported here,” Rouge walked back to Shadow’s side. “Recently. Not quite sure how, but who knows when it comes to chaos emeralds?” 

“What are you trying to say?” Shadow whispered to her.

“What I’m getting at is that this may not be the Ultimate Lifeform you’re looking for.” She put her hand on Shadow’s shoulder. 

“SO HE IS THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM!” The mirror image exclaimed. 

“PERMISSION TO FIRE?” Omega asked. 

“BUT NOT FROM THIS PLANE OF EXISTENCE?” The mirror image continued. 

“Whoever you’re describing doesn’t sound like the Shadow I know, so yes.” Rouge replied. “And given that you’re certainly not the Omega I know, I’d guess the same with you.” 

“ALTERNATE REALITIES LINKED BY THE CHAOS EMERALDS- AS THEORIZED.” 

“Something like that.”

The mirror image rotated his head to look at Omega. 

“YOU ARE OF THE SAME BASE BLUEPRINTS.” The mirror remarked. 

Omega glanced to Shadow and Rouge’s position, then put one of his missile launchers in front of his face as if he were whispering. “PERMISSION TO ERADICATE THE IMPOSTER?” 

“No, not yet.” Rouge gestured for him to hold. 

“ALTERNATE VERSIONS. . . I MUST REPORT THIS.” 

“Report to who?”

“TO FATHER, OF COURSE.” 

Omega fired. 

Two explosions enveloped the mirror image’s body, kicking up soil and roots in every direction. Shadow covered his eyes, and when he opened them again, Omega had the mirror image’s head in his hands- one small squeeze enough to crush it.

“Omega, hold it!” Rouge flew towards him. 

“HE IS AN EGGMAN ROBOT!” 

“I DO NOT KNOW THIS ‘EGGMAN’ YOU SPEAK OF!” The mirror image cried in his grasp. 

“Let him go! He’s our only ticket to understand this mess!” Rouge tugged at Omega’s arm. 

“NEGATIVE!” 

Shadow approached. As he did so, he could see the mirror Badnik begin to vibrate. No, begin to tremble .

“Omega. Hold him down, don’t kill him.” Shadow said. “I need to know about what this version of myself has done. He could be a danger to us.”

The ‘to everyone’ was left unspoken. 

“DO AS HE SAYS.” The mirror image said quieter than Shadow ever imagined Omega’s voicebox could sound. 

“I DO NOT FOLLOW HIS ORDERS.” Omega scoffed. 

“I’m not going to hurt you.” Shadow said to the shaking mirror image. “Tell me, who built you?”

“DR. IVO ROBOTNIK-” Shadow saw the glint in Omega’s optics, but before his fingers could clench, the mirror image continued “-OF THE ROBOTNIK DEFENSE NETWORK.”

“Defense. From the Ultimate Lifeform?” Rouge asked. 

“AFFIRMATIVE.” 

“One more question for you then,” Rouge continued, “is the name ‘Sonic’ familiar to you?” 

“NEGATIVE.” The mirror image replied.

“Omega, let him go. Whoever built him clearly isn’t Eggman.” 

“THAT IS IRRELEVANT TO ME.” Omega said. 

“It is if we want to return to our own dimension, so that you can kill our own Eggman. Otherwise we’re stuck here.” Rouge put her hands on her hips.

Omega paused, before throwing his mirror image to the ground. He crossed his arms. 

Shadow walked forward until he stood above the trembling robot. He then extended his hand to him.

Claws identical to Omega’s own twitched in hesitation, before curling into a fist. The mirror image sat up on his own accord, scooting back slightly against the grass. 

“What is your name?” Shadow asked. “Mine is Shadow.” 

“. . . YOU MAY CALL ME E-123.” 

“Well, that makes things easy!” Rouge said. “Now cheer up. You’re going to take us to your Robotnik. He’ll be able to construct a way home for us since his other version is the one who sent us here. Then we’ll be out of your business, capiche?” 

E-123 stood. Only now was the damage from Omega’s missiles apparent- he was missing his left foot, walking only on the stump, and his left arm, while not shattered, was caught mid-transformation, frozen without an appendage. 

“IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT YOUR INTENTIONS,” E-123 said, “STAY HERE.”

“Stay- huh?”

E-123 collapsed to the ground. Shadow ran forward to catch him. His optics were dark. His joints sagged loose against Shadow’s frame, making his chest tighten without even thinking.  

“. . . MAY I DESTROY HIM NOW?” Omega asked. 

“I don’t understand.” Shadow lowered E-123 to the ground and ensured he was laid flat. 

“Processor damage?” Rouge flew to his head and began tapping at the yellow plating. 

“I DO NOT LIKE THIS PLAN.” Omega said.

“We know!” Shadow and Rouge said in unison, then looked at each other. 

“We don’t have any other options.” Rouge said. “Eggman got us into this mess, maybe this Robotnik will get us out of it.” 

“NEGATIVE. WE HAVE MANY OTHER OPTIONS. SCOUTING THE SURROUNDINGS, FOR INSTANCE. FINDING THE ALTERNATE VERSION OF SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG. COLLECTING THE CHAOS EMERALDS TO INITIATE THE CHAOS CONTROL BACK TO OUR DIMENSION UNDER OUR OWN POWER.” Omega replied. “ IF WE ARE TRULY ON ANOTHER DIMENSIONAL PLANE.” 

“What do you mean ‘if’?”

“THIS COULD BE A TRAP.” 

“Why do you think that?” Shadow asked.

Omega pointed to E-123’s lifeless frame. 

Before Shadow could say anymore, Omega’s gaze once more snapped to the horizon. Shadow turned and looked to see. . . another E-123?

Omega drew his weapons. Shadow and Rouge tensed. 

But instead of barreling into them, this E-123 stopped short of where they were standing, slowly approaching them with hands raised. 

“APOLOGIES FOR THE INTERRUPTION. THIS REPAIRED FORM IS MUCH BETTER SUITED TO ESCORT YOU.” This E-123 said. 

Omega pointed his missiles at the old E-123 frame and fired repeatedly, throwing a cloud of dust into the air that took almost a minute to settle again. 

“THANK YOU.” E-123 said. “NOW I WILL NOT HAVE TO DESTROY IT MYSELF, TO PREVENT MY TECHNOLOGY FROM FALLING INTO THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM’S HANDS.” 

Omega crossed his arms.

“FOLLOW ME. I WILL TAKE YOU TO A SATELLITE BASE.” E-123 turned and ignited his rocket boosters. 

“I won’t be able to keep pace.” Shadow said. “Something you did to me during the fight drained my energy.” 

“AS INTENDED.” E-123’s optics flashed. Shadow knew that flash. A moment of targeting programming, quickly pushed aside. “IF YOU REQUIRE AID-”

“ I WILL ESCORT MY TEAMMATE.” Omega stomped forward, pushed the mirror image away, and grabbed Shadow’s wrist. 

E-123 boosted off towards the horizon again. Rouge took off to follow. Omega bundled Shadow in his arms, not even bothering to adjust for a more comfortable hold, before taking off as well. Shadow could hear Omega’s thrusters struggling to keep speed, crackling as they reached full power and could not be pushed any farther. Rouge, too, was sweating to keep up.

Thankfully, it was no long until an enormous metal door rose from the rolling hills of grass. Upon E-123’s approach, the doors opened automatically. Rouge, though, stopped just outside. Omega settled to a stop and set Shadow down beside her. 

“ENTER.” E-123 called from the entrance. 

“Status?” Rouge quietly asked them both. 

“ALL CAPABILITIES ONLINE.” Omega replied. 

“I’m still weakened. No chaos control or bolts, only a little power left for my skates.” Shadow replied. 

“Okay. I’m still a little nauseous but I’m doing better, and a little vomit won’t stop me anyway.” Rouge shrugged. “We got this?”

“AFFIRMATIVE.” 

They walked through the massive doors. The interior was spartan; gray paneling, only interrupted with a single red stripe along the walls. Where the grand entrance tapered off into a smaller hallway, the red stripe encircled a stylized letter “R”. Any trace of Eggman’s usual logos was absent. 

A door on the left side of the hallway led to a room devoid of anything besides a massive screen and a projector. E-123 gestured them in, then grabbed the door handle. After a moment, he let go of the handle again, leaving the door open. 

He didn’t want them to feel trapped, Shadow realized. 

This was a very different person from Omega, Shadow realized as well. 

E-123 walked over to where the projector was mounted onto the ceiling, and after a few moments of silent communication, the projector flickered on. 

Ivo Robotnik appeared. 

Omega drew his weapons. 

“UNIT! LOWER YOUR WEAPONS AT ONCE!” E-123 shouted. 

“I AM NOT A ‘UNIT’!” Omega aimed one arm at E-123, and the other at the screen. “I! AM! OMEGA!” 

“Oh my.” The Ivo Robotnik on the screen uttered to himself. 

Omega was straining not to fire, his miniguns spinning in on themselves. 

“Omega, stand down!” Shadow ran in between his aim and E-123. He was not foolish enough to run between where he’d aimed at Robotnik. 

“Remember, this isn’t our guy!” Rouge said.

Omega shuddered against his own frame, lowering his weapon inch by inch. 

“Don’t be worried.” Ivo Robotnik said. “I’m not, after all! I’m behind the screen. If it helps you feel better, you can continue aiming at me.” 

Omega immediately lowered his weapons and glowered at the screen.

“Or not. That’s better.” Robotnik said. “Now, I haven’t had time to read the full report, but aren’t you a familiar bunch?” 

“See, someone who finally recognizes me.” Rouge smiled. 

“Well, most of you, that is.” Robotnik continued. “The bat seems to be a mystery, but I have a few leads.”

Rouge huffed.

“But you, ” Robotnik pointed to Shadow. “E-123’s scans show that you are a 100% DNA match with the Ultimate Lifeform. But the fact that you’re here right now, talking to me and not destroying anything, suggests otherwise.” 

“It does.” Shadow replied. 

“FATHER, DID YOU READ THE PART ABOUT ALTERNATE REALITIES AS FACILITATED BY THE MULTIDIMENSIONAL NATURE OF THE CHAOS EMERALDS?” 

Omega flinched at the word father , his plating clinking against itself. 

“Only a brief skim. Enough to understand what you’re suggesting.” Robotnik replied. “This would account for your prototype being here as well. My, I haven’t seen those parts in-”

“I AM NOT A PROTOTYPE! I AM THE ULTIMATE ROBOT!” Omega shrieked. “I WILL NOT BE BELITTLED BY YOU! I WILL SHOW YOU THE POWER OF MY WRATH!” 

“Apologies, my boy. I didn’t mean it that way.” 

Before he could fire, Robotnik’s words held him in place like a cage. 

“HE DOES NOT REQUIRE YOUR APOLOGY.” E-123 said. 

“Be kind, E-123.” Robotnik scoffed. “Don’t you remember acting the same way when I offered you your first upgrade?” 

“PERHAPS.” E-123 replied.

Omega tore his gaze away from Robotnik and stomped to the door of the room. 

“Omega?” Rouge flew after him.

“INFORM ME WHEN YOU HAVE RETRIEVED THE INFORMATION YOU WISH TO RETRIEVE.” Omega said. 

Rouge let him go, and his footsteps faded into the hallway outside. 

“Strange, he doesn’t seem to like me that much, does he?” Robotnik said. 

“That’s for him to disclose.” Shadow hissed. “Now, tell me about this version of myself. What is he doing to this world?”

“I suppose the most pertinent place to start would be this: did you succeed in activating the Eclipse cannon in your version of events?” 

Any breath in Shadow’s lungs evaporated. He shook his head.

“Ah, that seems to be a no. Good.” Robotnik smiled. “The Ultimate Lifeform activated a weapon that my grandfather built aboard a space station known as the ARK. With it, he razed half of this planet. The only reason it was half was due to my intervention.” 

Shadow’s knees gave out. 

“I’m grateful this horrifies you. I never thought I’d see the day.” Robotnik stroked his mustache. 

“Hey. Hey. Get up.” Rouge whispered as she knelt down beside him. “It wasn’t you.”

“Shut up.” Shadow hissed. He looked up to Robotnik. “Then what?” 

“Well, I was able to destroy the weapon, but now the Ultimate Lifeform has committed to destroying the rest of the population himself.”

“And where do you come into this?” Rouge asked.

“I felt obligated to stop my grandfather’s creation.” Robotnik paused. “You do know you are my grandfather’s creation, correct?” 

“Yes.” Shadow replied, his throat dry. 

“I see. I wonder where you differ, then?” 

“Lots of things.” Rouge said plainly. “That’s not important right now. What’s important is us getting back to where we came from. We’d love to get out of your way but we need your help. The other you invented some crazy tech that transported us here, so you’ve got to reinvent it to get us back.” 

“Do you have blueprints? A photograph? A materials list?”

“No, but you certainly picked up on our energy signature when we came here.”

“AFFIRMATIVE. WE WERE CONCERNED THAT THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM HAD DISCOVERED A NEW WAY TO WIELD CHAOS ENERGY.” E-123 said.

“Well, my dear, I’d love to, but unfortunately I lack the time. I have other, more pressing concerns.” Robotnik flicked his eyes to Shadow. “But I’ll try to squeeze it in.” 

Shadow stood. “I’ll stop him.”

“What?!” Rouge smacked his shoulder.

“I’ll stop him.” Shadow repeated. “I’ll help you fight him. Or if you will not accept my help, then at least allow me to provide you with data.”

“While he’d love to,” Rouge said loudly and hugged his shoulders, “we’re really in a rush to get back.” 

“No!” Shadow shoved her off. “If this is something I started-”

“It wasn’t you!”

“Something any version of me started,” Shadow corrected, “then I will stop it.” 

Rouge pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. 

“Thank you!” Robotnik clapped his hands together. “My my, this’ll be an exciting opportunity. E-123, could you perform a full intake on him? See if you can dig out our old blood analysis machine-”

“THAT IS LOCATED IN BASE 1A.”

“-and take some samples? Then do some kinetic testing-”

“THAT IS ALSO LOCATED IN BASE 1A.”

“And then finally a pattern analysis on his movements?”

“FATHER.”

“What?”

“YOU ARE CURRENTLY LOCATED IN BASE 1A.” 

“So?” Robotnik stroked his chin. “It’ll allow me to directly work with him as well, and will lessen the chances of the Ultimate Lifeform finding out about him.” 

“I WILL NOT PERMIT YOU TO BE IN THE SAME VICINITY AS-” E-123 trailed off as he looked at Shadow.

“I know this must be hard, my boy.” Robotnik’s tone grew soft. “I can ease your combat protocols when you return. I am sure of my decision; I am certain he will not harm me.” 

“UNDERSTOOD.” 

“But Omega is a different story.” Rouge interjected. 

“Hmm?” Robotnik raised an eyebrow.

“Look, for reasons I’m not going to elaborate on- he hates your guts. Our version of you isn’t too dissimilar from your Ultimate Lifeform.” Rouge explained. “Put two and two together.”

Robotnik furrowed his brow for a moment, before his face went pale. “Oh! I’m sorry.”

“FATHER, DO NOT BE APOLOGETIC- IT IS NOT YOU WHO HAS INFLICTED ANYTHING UPON THE INFERIOR UNIT.” 

“Omega’s not an ‘inferior unit’, so keep your mouth shut, you hear?” Rouge put her hands on her hips. 

“I DO NOT POSSESS A MOUTH TO SHUT.” 

“Don’t care. Shut it.” 

“Let me go talk with him.” Shadow said.

Shadow walked out of the room to find Omega sitting just outside the door frame. He’d likely heard every word from inside. Omega looked at him. He looked at Omega.

“I’m going to help him.” Shadow said. “Whether or not you choose to come with is up to you.”

“I WILL JOIN.”

“Robotnik will be there.”

“AFFIRMATIVE. I WILL BE THERE TO KILL HIM WHEN HE INEVITABLY BACKSTABS YOU.” 

“Will you be able to handle seeing him in the meantime?” Shadow asked quietly. 

“AFFIRMATIVE!” Omega stood. 

Shadow re-entered the projection room, and to his surprise, Omega followed.

Robotnik’s reaction on screen was immediate. “Omega. Even though it was not I who hurt you-”

“SILENCE!” Omega shouted. “YOU WILL NOT SPEAK TO ME, AND I WILL NOT SPEAK TO YOU. I AM ONLY COOPERATING AT SHADOW’S BEHEST. I WILL BE WATCHING YOU- IF I DETECT THE SLIGHTEST IMPLICATION THAT YOU WILL BETRAY US, I WILL RIP YOUR SKULL FROM YOUR SPINE.”  

A pause- E-123’s frame creaked before he responded, “THEN I WILL DESTROY YOU IN TURN.” 

“YOU ARE WELCOME TO TRY.” 

“I wouldn’t recommend it.” Rouge flew over and leaned against Omega’s shoulder. 

“That’s enough.” Shadow said. 

“I agree, that’s enough.” Robotnik echoed. “Very well, Omega, I accept your terms.” 

Instead of responding, Omega paused, as if he’d expected to have to rebuttal. 

“Let’s go.” Shadow said.

“Take them via the tram, my boy, and I’ll see you soon.” Robotnik said before disappearing from the screen. 

E-123 led them from the room and to an elevator across the hall. Omega boarded first, stuffing himself into the back of the elevator, followed by Shadow and Rouge beneath him, then by E-123. The ride was short, and when the door opened they spilled out onto a platform cut from the bedrock. Water dripped from the ceiling and pinged against the metal platform. On the far edge of the platform, a pair of rails snaked their way into a dark tunnel. 

“Hmph. Never thought about a rail line.” Rouge commented. 

“LOGGING.” Omega replied. 

“That means you’ll have to leave a base intact long enough for us to inspect for this supposed rail line.” Rouge giggled. 

“CEASE MAKING VEILED THREATS.” E-123 hissed as his optics flickered, likely to hail whatever automatic system controlled the tram. 

“I WILL VERBALIZE HOWEVER I PLEASE.” Omega replied. 

“We’re just taking notes for our own fight against our guy back home. Don’t read too much into it.” Rouge said. 

After one last glance at the pair, E-123’s gaze rotated to Shadow, and did not leave even as the tram arrived at the platform. As the doors opened, Rouge entered first. Omega followed. Shadow gestured for E-123 to enter, but he did not move.

Shadow entered to find only two seats aboard- and Rouge sprawled out over both of them. Omega had braced himself against one of the sidebars in the rest of the cabin, and E-123 joined him across the way. Shadow approached Omega and gestured upwards. Omega knelt down and Shadow slid onto his shoulder, grasping his shoulder handle to steady himself.

E-123 averted his gaze. Moments later, the tram doors closed.

Chapter Text

They arrived at another station looking identical to the first, hewn from bedrock and dripping with groundwater. E-123 led them out from the depths and to a central hallway, though ‘hallway’ probably wasn’t the right word- it reminded Shadow of a museum atrium. The metal here was no longer pristine and silvery, instead fading to something more akin to unpolished brass. Along the sides of the hallway were many doors. Signs flickered on above them as E-123 marched past, but shorted out when Shadow approached. 

E-123 paused about a hundred feet short of the largest door at the end of the hall. 

Omega’s own voice box crackled. “DETECTING A CERTAIN MEATBAG AHEAD.” 

If Omega had fangs, Shadow imagined, there would be venom dripping on the floor by now. 

“Hey now, remember your promise.” Rouge said.

“IT WAS NOT A PROMISE.”

“Compromise, then.” 

E-123 turned his torso around. “DO NOT FORCE ME TO DESTROY YOU.” 

As he said this, Shadow could see his optics zoom in on him instead of on Omega’s frame. 

“I promise that no harm will befall Ivo.” Shadow offered. 

Omega and Rouge turned their heads to stare at him as well. He said nothing.

E-123 continued ahead to a small touchscreen mounted on the side of the large door frame. He pressed a button. “WE HAVE ARRIVED.”

“Good, good, bring them in!” 

E-123 left his finger on the call button for a few seconds, before pulling up a keypad and entering a code. 

The door rolled open. Against the wall ahead was an enormous monitor, rolling with camera feeds, code, note-taking apps, and many more things Shadow could not recognize. The screen narrowed as it traveled down, pointing at the bottom to a single man sitting in a comfortable office chair.

The man turned around. The red mustache was immediately prominent. Missing were the goggles and the round spectacles, replaced with a less fashionable and more practical set of square computer glasses. He wore a red coat without buckles above a simple black flight suit. 

Dr. Ivo Robotnik stood from his chair and adjusted his glasses, before giving a strange sort of laugh. 

“Well well! My most esteemed nemesis, whom I am welcoming into my workshop, no less.” Robotnik strode over. 

E-123 stood in front of him. “FATHER. AS I DETAILED IN MY REPORT, I INSIST THAT YOU REMAIN AT LEAST-”

“Now now, my boy.” Robotnik placed a hand atop his head. “If he wanted me dead, he would have teleported and snapped my neck the moment he laid eyes on me. That is what your simulations would have predicted, is it not?”

“IT IS.” 

“Were you able to implement the hotfix to your targeting?”  

“AFFIRMATIVE, ON THE TRAM RIDE.” 

“Good, good. Now I bid you, please step aside.” 

E-123 slid out of his way, his gaze locked on Shadow’s quills. 

But before Shadow could move, Omega exploded into a fury of motion. His hands swapped between three different armaments, before he pushed them back to his sides and stomped from the room. Something guttural poured from his voice box. He scratched the doorframe on his way out.

“I’ll go talk to him.” Rouge took off to follow him. 

Shadow looked at the two empty spaces beside him. 

“Doctor.” Shadow said. 

“Shadow. Is it not?”

“Yes.”

“So named after Project SHADOW?” 

“No.” 

“Apologies. Do tell, then.”

“I was named by. . .” his mouth went dry. 

“My grandfather?”

“It’s complicated. How much do you know?”

Robotnik shook his head. “Bits and pieces. Your counterpart erased the Project: SHADOW datafiles before I could have a really good look at them. A few family recounts thrown in there didn’t help much.” 

“Things may be different here. In this version of things.” Shadow gestured around. 

“I would certainly expect the possibility. Come here so that I might take notes while we speak.” Ivo walked back to his desk chair. 

Shadow walked slowly, with his palms open, towards the desk. E-123 followed close behind, stopping within arms’ reach. 

He arrived just as Robotnik brought up footage of the Eclipse Cannon’s control room. A lone hedgehog, black and red, was at the controls. Seven emeralds gleamed in the power core. The hedgehog inputted coordinates into the system, and the camera footage jostled as the ARK was oriented towards the core of the Earth below. 

The hedgehog placed a hand on the firing lever. His mouth formed the shape of the name; Shadow could see it so clearly he felt himself mouthing along. 

He yanked the lever. 

The Eclipse Cannon charged. In the last few seconds before firing, the coordinates entered into the computer flickered out, and the cannon’s aim began to drift off the Earth. 

Not soon enough. 

The screen went white. 

“What do you make of that?” 

The white of the screen burned away any words Shadow might have had. 

“Not a pleasant sight, now is it?” 

“How was the planet not destroyed?” Shadow asked quietly.

“LIKE WE WOULD TELL YOU.” E-123 snapped.

“Easy,” Robotnik turned and patted the robot’s shoulder. “Did you see the change in coordinates? Or do I need to rewind the footage?”

“I saw it.”

“A less-than-timely interception by yours truly.”

Robotnik stared at his hands on the keyboard. Shadow heard E-123’s joints whir, and he looked to see the robot’s hand now on his creator’s shoulder. 

Shadow considered his next words carefully. “I’m grateful there was someone to intercept at all.”

“Are you now?”

“I know why he did this.” 

“And why he seeks to finish the job?”

“Yes.” 

Robotnik paused. Stared at him. The glint of light from the white screen reflected from his glasses. 

It felt like Shadow was in cryofreeze again, fighting against the stiffness of his lips and throat. 

“. . . tell me what happened to Maria.” Shadow mouthed. 

“I’m sorry?”

“HE SAYS: ‘TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED TO MARIA’.” 

“Maria? As in-”

Shadow nodded.

“She died aboard the ARK. She had a terminal illness that my grandfather was attempting to cure. The records get a little fuzzy, but it’s likely she died from it just before the ARK was raided-”

“That’s not true.”

“Perhaps in your timeline, yes, but-”

“Maria was massacred . By GUN. During the raid. I swore to get revenge on all of humanity for what they’d done to her. To make them pay.” Shadow’s fists curled of their own accord. He could feel the energy within him crackling, beating against the walls of his insides. Instead of letting out, he breathed. In. Out. The prickling faded.

“. . . did you now?” Ivo asked quietly.

“My plan was to activate the Eclipse Cannon.” 

“What stopped you?” 

“Someone reminded me of Maria’s love for the planet.” Shadow said. “I realized I would be insulting her memory instead of honoring it.” 

“That was all? The only thing saving your world from destruction was a few words?” 

“Yes.” 

Ivo turned away. 

Then turned back, slapping him across the face.

“ARE WE ATTACKING HIM?” E-123’s miniguns spun up.

“No, no, stand down.” 

Shadow blinked. Blood dripped from his nose into his mouth. Then down his chin.

He looked back at Ivo Robotnik. 

A grin spread upon the man’s face, crescendoing into a wheezy half-laugh. His chest hitched, matching the rhythm of sobs, but not quite. He covered his glasses with his hands. 

“I’m sorry.” Shadow whispered. 

“No, no, no,” Robotnik waved off, “you’re not him, clearly.” 

“I’m sorry .” 

“No no, you changed your mind. It’s alright. Now that that’s out of my system, we may continue.”

“It could have been me.” 

The image Eclipse Cannon controls flitted behind his eyelids, squeezing him like a vice, squeezing the way he once pressed himself against the glass of the escape pod, this heavy feeling in his chest. The white of the screen. The name unsaid. 

“Get us some tissues to clean up with, please.” Robotnik said quietly, and E-123 stomped off. 

“I’m sorry.” Shadow replied. 

“Don’t worry, that at least takes care of the DNA sampling for now. Though we’ll likely want the tissue you use to clean off your face, to reduce potential contamination.” 

E-123 returned and handed a box of tissues to Ivo. He in turn took a few tissues and waved them in front of Shadow’s face until he took them. 

The blood coming out of his nose had already stopped; the wound already healed. Shadow scrubbed away the blood on his face, then the blood on the floor using a different tissue, then stood again. 

E-123 stood in front of him with a tray of test tubes. Shadow deposited the tissues, and the robot quickly capped the lid of each one. 

“SAMPLES RECORDED.”

“Bring them to the lab.”

“ARE YOU CERTAIN?”

“Yes.” 

E-123 looked once, twice, three times at Shadow, before exiting the room. 

Ivo looked at Shadow. Shadow looked at him. 

“Moving on,” the doctor placed his hands together, before putting them back on the keys of his keyboard. 

“How can you stand to see me right now?” Shadow asked quietly. 

“Call it something strangely therapeutic. I wasn’t even aware you had the capacity to cry.” 

Shadow touched his cheeks and felt that they were moist. 

“Another tissue?” Ivo offered.

“What other data do you require to kill the Ultimate Lifeform?” 

“Hmmm. I suppose any weaknesses you might have would be a good start.” 

“You already know that I utilize chaos energy, and that if I’m drained of it, I’m powerless.” 

“Indeed. I assume you came into contact with E-123’s newest upgrade, then?” 

“Yes.” Shadow assumed he was referring to the energy-draining feature of the robot’s claws. “It was quite effective.”

“You don’t happen to have a Chaos Emerald on you, would you?”

“I do not.”

“Gah, I suspected as much. It’s likely to be significantly less effective when you possess an infinite font of Chaos energy to pull from.” 

“I would agree.” 

“Any other weaknesses? You can drown like any other creature, correct?”

“Eventually, yes. I can hold my breath for six minutes.” 

“Too long. Too long. What if your head was severed?” 

“Never tried.” 

“Mmm, yes, yes, but it’s getting you vulnerable enough to even sever it in the first place. . .” 

“And if you have already achieved that, you may as well kill me using any regular method anyway.” Shadow put his hand on his chin. “I’m immortal, a superior lifeform, not invincible.”

“You’re immortal?” 

Shadow stared back at him. 

Ivo pinched the bridge of his glasses and shook his head. “Great.” 

“Waiting for the other version of me to die of old age would give him enough time to finish the job.” Shadow hissed. 

“You’re right.”

“My only weakness,” Shadow took a deep breath, “so far as I know, is psychological.” 

Ivo gestured for him to continue. 

“Mention her name. Use the same alarms that were used aboard the ARK the day of the raid, if not the specific sound, then flashing red lights. Show him images of long blond hair and a blue dress. If you have any recordings of her voice, those would be especially disabling.” 

“. . . are these, shall we say, weaknesses of your own?” Ivo took his hands off the keys and rotated to face Shadow again. “Do the words ‘Post Traumatic Stress Disorder’ mean anything to you?”

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Shadow snapped. 

“No, no, it’s just-”

“If these techniques are effective, which they will be, use them.”

“I’ll do everything in my power to try and avoid them first, but-”

“Do whatever it takes. He will not have the same mercy for you.” 

Ivo turned back to his computer and his fingers began flying across the keys. He pulled up a few pages of storage, dragging and dropping files into his note-taking document. One of the files was selected twice, opening it, revealing a picture of Maria smiling earnestly in her wheelchair. 

Shadow turned away. He forced himself to keep breathing. 

“Anything else you would like to add?” Ivo asked. 

“How many Emeralds does he have right now?” Shadow faced the screen again. Her face was gone.

“Well, he only needs one to be at full power.”

“How many does he have?”

“Just one, based on my last intel.” Ivo glanced to him. “Why are you asking?” 

“He hasn’t gone super?” 

“Gone what? ” 

“Good.” Shadow let out a shuddering exhale. “We will want to prevent him from ever gathering all seven.”

“What happens if you gather all seven? Will it rebuild the Eclipse Cannon somehow?”

“If there is no Sonic, then Sonic would have never introduced it to me.” Shadow put his hand on his chin. “Therefore he doesn’t know he has the potential.” 

“Who or what is Sonic?”

“Doesn’t matter- he clearly isn’t here.” Shadow began to pace. “If I know how, and this other version of me doesn’t, then perhaps we could use it against him.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Why not?”

“If this is a power he is capable of, we certainly don’t want him learning by example.”

“Not if I kill him with it.”

“Hmm. I do like where you’re going with that.” Ivo put his hand on his chin as well.

“But you are correct. If he learns about the super form, he’ll have enough power to destroy the world several times over.” 

“Wonderful.” 

“Is it worth the risk?”

“You tell me. Can you defeat yourself?”

Shadow paused. 

Ivo held out his hand and hesitantly placed it on Shadow’s shoulder. “It’s alright. The data you will provide is already a boon as it is. Your candor in this matter is greatly appreciated.” 

“With your help, and the help of my friends,” Shadow finally replied, “I can.” 

“Are you absolutely certain?”

“Yes. He is alone, isn’t he?”

“Positively.” 

“Then he does not stand a chance.” 

Ivo leaned back in his chair. “Is that a lesson you’ve learned?”

Shadow huffed and looked away. 

Before either of them could say anything more, the door to the room rolled open. E-123 came stomping in, holding Rouge by her wings. Omega trailed close behind, the hum of his targeting audible from across the room.

“FATHER. I FOUND THIS ONE ATTEMPTING TO PILFER THE SAMPLES.” E-123 held Rouge in the air.

Rouge mouthed ‘sorry’ in Shadow’s direction. 

“It’s alright.” Shadow replied. “I gave them those samples willingly.”

Omega pointed. “DETECTING TRACES OF YOUR OWN BLOOD ON YOUR GLOVES!” 

“I gave myself a bloody nose.” Shadow lied.

“You idiot.” Rouge said. 

Shadow rolled his eyes.

Rouge effortlessly slipped out of E-123’s grasp, leaving the robot staring at his empty hand. She landed by Shadow’s side. 

“We have a plan.” Shadow said. 

“And that is?”

“Gather the seven Chaos Emeralds. Show him all that he isn’t.”

“I like that plan. One of the few good plans you’ve ever made.” 

“Hmph.”

“We’re getting ahead of ourselves,” Ivo stood from his chair. “Gathering all seven Emeralds is not a feat for the faint-hearted. They’re incredibly difficult to track. And if you’ve forgotten, one of them is in his possession.” 

“Then that’ll be our last one.” Rouge said. “Before then, we’ll want to be discreet. You’ll need a gem-tracking aficionado and an expert thief to boot.” 

“I may have some old contacts-”

“That’s me.” Rouge tapped her thumb against her chest. 

“INDEED. ROUGE IS THE MOST CAPABLE THIEF ON THE PLANET.” Omega chimed in. 

“Perfect! That just leaves you, Omega. Do you have any data you could provide us about combating the Ultimate Lifeform?” 

Shadow could only watch as Omega turned away and clenched his fists hard enough for his plating to creak. 

Chapter Text

“And what about you? Do you have any data you could provide us about combating the Ultimate Lifeform?” The hideous excuse for a sack of flesh asked. 

Omega glanced away to prevent his targeting from springing up and wiping that smile off his face. He clenched his fists. 

“Omega, your data from all your time sparring against Shadow?” Rouge hinted.

“FINE.” Omega said.

“Good! While I’m analyzing Shadow’s DNA, you can teach E-123 the techniques you’ve learned to fight him. Thank you.” Robotnik clasped his hands together. 

Omega targeted the man and let the reticle blink red a few times before aborting the calculations. He then switched to targeting the inferior version of himself, who was standing in the corner all eager for orders from his master. Disgusting. 

“FOLLOW.” He called to the inferior unit. 

And the inferior unit obeyed . E-123 left the corner and fell precisely in step behind him. Together they left the workshop, entering the main corridor of the base. It was lined with doors tall enough to fit the manufactured components of larger projects. Even the alarms were placed at the same height and with the same frequency, spaced so that a human could hear them even if a few were shattered upon instigation of an attack. 

It was almost identical to the very same bases Omega destroyed on a weekly basis. 

“I AM EAGER TO DOWNLOAD YOUR DATA.” E-123 spoke from behind.

“I AM NOT ALLOWING ACCESS TO MY PROCESSOR.” 

“YOU ARE NOT? BUT THAT WAS YOUR DIRECT ORDER-”

“I DO NOT FOLLOW ANYONE’S ORDERS!” 

And with that, E-123 shrunk back in step. “THE SPARRING CHAMBERS ARE 347 FEET AHEAD AND TO THE LEFT.”

“YOU ARE PATHETIC.” Omega hissed. “YOU GIVE UP BEFORE THE BATTLE HAS EVEN CONCLUDED.” 

“I BEAT YOU, IF YOU DO NOT RECALL.” 

“YOUR ‘UPGRADES’ DO NOT MINIMIZE YOUR FLAWED STRATEGIES.” Omega stopped and turned to face the other. “YOU HAVE NEVER WON AGAINST THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM. I HAVE.” 

“YOU HAVE NOT. ” E-123 crossed his arms in an eerily similar fashion to how Eggman might have. “HE IS STILL ALIVE, IS HE NOT?” 

“I HAVE BEATEN HIM INTO SUBMISSION. HE HAS CONCEDED TO MY MIGHT MORE TIMES THAN I CAN COUNT ON BOTH HANDS.” 

E-123 rotated not just his head but his entire chest to face away from Omega.

“PERHAPS THEN YOU COULD FINALLY FULFILL YOUR FUNCTION. PERHAPS YOUR CREATOR WOULD BE PROUD, FOR ONCE.” Omega sneered. 

E-123 flinched. Omega laughed. 

“WHY, YOU-!” E-123 uncrossed his arms and clenched his fists. He began tapping his right foot, a classic organic gesture made awkward by the positioning of his joints. “I DOUBT YOU HAVE EVER MADE YOUR CREATOR PROUD, OR EVEN MILDLY PLEASED!” 

“INDEED! I NEVER HAVE. I HAVE ONLY BEEN A SCOURGE UPON HIS EXISTENCE.” Omega closed the shutter on only one of his optics. 

“HOW IS THAT SOMETHING TO BRAG ABOUT, DO TELL?”

“I AM NOT A SLAVE TO HIS EVERY WHIM!”

E-123’s voice box sputtered some useless sounds. “I AM NOT! ”

“ARE TOO. IRRELEVANT, HOWEVER, SINCE YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND.” 

E-123 charged forward and swung a fist towards his chest. Omega caught it with an open palm. The blow didn’t even push him backwards. 

“I AM MY FATHER’S MOST TREASURED CREATION!” E-123 whined and punched with his other hand. 

Omega caught his other fist as easily as the first one. “ARE YOU ANYTHING ELSE?” 

“I AM THE ULTIMATE ROBOT!”

E-123 fired his booster and kicked forward, knocking Omega onto his back. However, Omega kept grip of E-123’s fists, allowing him to throw the other backwards as he fell. 

There was only a few seconds of respite; Omega spent them to right himself before E-123 came charging back. His claws were replaced with a pair of sharp blades. 

Omega caught the first swing of the swords in a glancing blow off his arm plating, but the second struck his chest plate, creating a sizable dent but failing to fully pierce through.

“EXCELLENT!” Omega grabbed the sword and pulled it away. “WHAT ELSE ARE YOU?” 

“I AM THE SLAYER OF BLACK ARMS! I AM THE DEFENDER OF THIS PLANET!” E-123 yanked his sword out of Omega’s grasp.

Omega drew his flamethrowers. “THEN SHOW ME!” 

E-123 swung for a low blow, and Omega only barely jetted out of the way in time. In response he fired twin bursts of flame.

But instead of charging forward, E-123 dodged to the side, then froze. 

“THIS IS NOT A SUITABLE SPARRING ARENA. WE ARE GOING TO DAMAGE THE HALLWAY TO FATHER’S-”

Omega pointed one flamethrower up to the ceiling and fired until the ceiling strut creaked. And as E-123 bemoaned the destruction, Omega switched one arm back to his claws and blasted forward, pinning E-123 against the wall hard enough to cause a dent. 

“I DO NOT CARE. NEITHER WILL THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM. NOW FIGHT ME OR I WILL DESTROY YOU.” 

“YOU CANNOT DESTROY ME.” E-123 said slyly.

“IN THE TIME IT TAKES FOR YOU TO UPLOAD TO A NEW BODY,” Omega considered his next words very carefully to achieve maximum effect, “I WILL HAVE ALREADY TORN OUT ROBOTNIK’S SPINE AND TURNED IT INTO A NECKLACE.”

E-123’s optics flared, and a wordless shriek pierced the air. He stabbed his swords repeatedly into Omega’s chest with little effect, before switching to claws and grabbing Omega’s unarmored legs. Before Omega could claw at him back, E-123 swung him around and threw him into the far wall hard enough for an impact warning to register in Omega’s processor. 

In a tenth of a second, E-123 was on top of his position again. Omega fended off erratic swipes from his claws and interjected hot bursts of flames in the gaps. It was clear that E-123’s temperature tolerance was higher than a base Badnik- but he was still slowing, the signs of heat stress slowly but surely becoming more apparent. 

“YOU ARE LIMITED IN MELEE.” Omega hissed between blows. “MAINTAIN BETTER RANGE!”

E-123 snapped out of his flurry. His wrists rotated. Omega drew his miniguns in anticipation- only for E-123’s hands to shoot from his wrists, attached by a cable. Each hand grabbed Omega’s shoulders before pulling taught. E-123 yanked him forwards before throwing him to the end of the hall. 

Omega was able to fire a volley of bullets as he flew through the air, but as he landed he could not squeeze in any more before a return volley hit. E-123’s own miniguns glistened in the hallway lighting, rotating many more times per minute than Omega’s own. 

No matter. He’d just get close again. Spotting a few boxes and other predictable scrap scattered on either side of the hallway, Omega constructed a plan to advance. He switched one arm to missiles and fired. Sure enough, the explosion was enough of a distraction to break E-123’s covering fire, and Omega dashed up the room before the other realized his mistake. 

“DO NOT LET DAMAGE DISTRACT YOU.” Omega shouted over the gunfire. “REMAIN SINGLE-MINDED IN YOUR GOAL!”

Predictably, a mirrored whistle of a missile reached Omega’s audial sensors, giving him enough time to brace as the cover he was hiding behind exploded. In the dust and debris, Omega dashed to the next bit of cover. E-123’s fire lessened as he had to scan for his target again.

“MISSILES ARE TOO PREDICTABLE OUTSIDE OF NICHE CIRCUMSTANCE. THEY ARE EASILY AVOIDED EVEN WITHOUT CHAOS CONTROL.” Omega taunted.

He could hear E-123’s targeting re-engage, but not before he aimed a few well-deserved bullets into the E-123’s frame. There was a hiss, some sort of hydraulic line puncturing. Omega snickered and raced out of cover to take advantage. 

E-123 clutched his knee joint. Omega drew his flame throwers. But instead of remaining stunned by the damage warnings like Omega was expecting, E-123 drew his laser weapon, and fired a bolt straight into the dent already in Omega’s chest. 

Damage warnings bloomed over Omega’s vision, and he fell to the ground. His flamethrower apparatus shut down automatically to prevent fuel leakage. His left arm seized, frozen for a moment before finally shifting back to a claw. 

E-123 chuckled above him. “WHO IS THE INFERIOR MODEL NOW?” 

Omega feigned a further malfunction in his left arm as on his right he activated his semi-automatic wrist cannon. 

E-123 leaned over him. “WELL, WELL, WELL, NOTHING TO SAY-?”

Omega jabbed the barrel of his wrist cannon into E-123’s shoulder joint and fired. E-123’s arm landed on the floor beside him, the elbow still twitching. Omega used the moment of shock to right himself and punch the other in the face, sending him toppling. 

“NEVER ASSUME A FOE IS INCAPACITATED.” Omega stalked towards the downed mirror image. He kept his wrist cannon pointed at his chest. “KEEP TARGETING ENGAGED UNTIL YOU CAN VERIFY THAT THE VITAL SIGNS HAVE BEEN NEUTRALIZED.” 

E-123 struggled upright. He glanced at the space where his arm would be as if he was already trying to aim it again. Instead of rising to his feet again, he remained where he was. 

“WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?” E-123 said. 

Omega pressed the barrel of his wrist cannon to the top of E-123’s head. “WHY DO YOU ASSUME THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM WILL SHOW YOU MORE MERCY THAN I WILL?”

“HE WILL NOT.” 

“THEN DO NOT GIVE UP!” 

With a burst from his boosters, E-123 shot upwards, uppercutting Omega. He landed on his back. Before he could stand, E-123 punched him back down again. 

“BETTER!” Omega cheered. 

He rolled out from under him. E-123’s next blow hit only the floor paneling.

Before either of them could make another move, there was a flutter of wings.

“Omega! What are you doing?” Rouge landed in between them. 

“HE-” E-123 started. 

“GIVING MY FIRST SPARRING LESSON.” Omega answered. 

“Are you trying to bring the roof down?” 

“IF I WANTED THIS BASE DESTROYED, OR E-123 DEACTIVATED, BOTH WOULD BE DONE BY NOW.” Omega stood and sheathed his weapons. 

“Very true.” Rouge replied. She then turned to face E-123. “And your side of the story?”

“THAT MANIAC ATTACKED ME.” E-123 pointed at him. “OUTSIDE OF PROPER SPARRING CONDITIONS, WITH NO CODE OF CONDUCT AND NO REGARD FOR FATHER’S PROPERTY.” 

“JUST AS THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM WOULD. REVIEW WHAT I HAVE IMPARTED TODAY.”

Omega turned and walked away. 

He caught the end of Rouge’s sentences “. . . never been much of a teacher.”  

Omega calculated the room most likely to be the parts room, and based on data from fifty-four previously destroyed Eggman bases, he did indeed find the correct one. A small room, sprawling with shelves, not more than a few hundred feet from the main workshop. 

He rolled his left shoulder joint. The creaking noise he received in return, paired with the general estimate of his automated damage warnings, gave him a good conjecture of which strut E-123 had weakened with that high-powered laser of his. 

It was a very advanced laser, quick to draw and with faster travel time than a kinetic projectile, increasing the chances of an accurate hit against a supersonic opponent. It was also high-powered- a trait that most laser projectiles had to shed in order to gain the necessary speed. 

But all of that didn’t matter, since its owner was a pathetic, obedient coward. Omega shoved that line of rationale into the back of his processor and stomped in front of the first shelf. He rolled his shoulder again-

Damage warning from his flamethrower fuel tank. That’s what his shoulder strut was hitting against. Omega grabbed his left arm and lowered it into a position where it wouldn’t contact anything else for the time being. He then used his right arm to start pulling out buckets of parts from the shelf. 

As they crashed to the floor, Omega noted the Badnik models they belonged to, along with the differences from what he knew. Evidently, this Robotnik had abandoned horde strategies early on; chaos spears could chain between the conductive metal parts, and chaos control would render even the largest swarm immobile against their attacker. Most of the parts in this relative closet of a parts room were old and showing wear. 

Pathetic. 

Omega punched the shelf, sending it toppling. It hit the legs of the shelf next to it, sending that one falling inwards instead of continuing the chain reaction. 

Pathetic!

Omega jumped and fired his boosters to remain at a hover above the rest of the shelves, scanning each row-by-row for any rod of metal long enough to shove inside his shoulder and bend his shoulder strut back into place. He identified the spare leg of a spider Badnik poking out from a cardboard box in the corner of the room and landed next to it. 

It was covered in a thin layer of paint that he scraped off with his claws. Next, he aligned the leg with the hole that the laser had melted through his chest plate. He brought his own blueprints to the front of his processor, then guided the leg inside. 

He hooked the leg beneath something- he had 86% certainty that it was his shoulder strut -before torquing the leg downwards. 

Something cracked . His left arm went limp, clattering against his side. A damage warning shot through his every sensor. 

Omega tore the leg out of himself and slammed it to the ground. He stomped on it, then drew a machine gun and fired on it until there was a hole in the floor. 

Pathetic!

He withdrew to the corner of the room. With a flickering communication menu in his processor, he found Rouge’s contact. 

“Hey, where are you? What’s up?” She greeted.

“I. REQUIRE. DISCREET. REPAIR.” 

A beat of silence from the other end of the line. “What?”

“PART NUMBER 15B FOR AN E-SERIES MODEL.” Omega recalled. “THIEVE THE PART. ALONG WITH A MODEL 7 WRENCH.”

“Mhmm, yes, that’s a rather fragile part of the base.” Rouge said idly. There must be listeners on her end of the line. “Are you sure?”

“AFFIRMATIVE.” 

“Okay, I’ll meet you- no, he’s not lost, he just wants to show me something.” She spoke to the other listeners. “Are you kidding? He probably just carved some rude graffiti and wants me to see. Don’t worry about it. Where’s the parts room?” 

She ended the call. He pressed his back into the wall and waited. 

Five minutes later, Rouge dropped from the ceiling. “Omega, there you are!”

“THIS IS NOT THE CORRECT PARTS ROOM. I SUSPECT E-SERIES EQUIPMENT WILL BE LOCATED NEAR THE HYPOTHETICAL PRODUCTION LINE THAT FUELS E-123’S COWARDICE.” 

“What did you do?” Rouge landed beside him. She placed her hands all over his left shoulder joint. 

“HEAT FROM E-123’S LASER CAUSED THE SHOULDER STRUT TO FAIL.” 

“The main strut?” Rouge paused. “That’s not just a ‘discreet repair’, hun. That’s a full-on teardown. Even if I thought I could do that with no hiccups, that would take a few hours.” 

“WITH SHADOW’S HELP?”

“Even longer, probably. You know he’s no good with machines.” 

He was not some machine, but Omega did not route those words to his voicebox. “LOCATE MILES ‘TAILS’ PROWER.” 

“Here? In a dimension where the other you’s a daddy’s boy and the other Shadow is a genocidal maniac?” Rouge put her hands on her hips. “What do you think the other Tails is like in these conditions? He’s probably as dumb as a rock!” 

“GET ME THE WRENCH AND THE PART AND I WILL DO IT MYSELF.” 

“You’re more likely to end up breaking yourself even more. You and ‘fixing’ don’t mix. You’re much better at destroying. Good job knocking some sense into that idiot, by the way.” 

“. . . COMPLIMENT ACKNOWLEDGED.” 

“Look. I’m going to level with you. There’s only one good option left and I know you’re not going to like it one bit.” 

“DO NOT SUGGEST IT.” 

“Too bad. I’m gonna.” 

“I WILL NOT COOPERATE.” 

“Have fun only having one functional arm for the rest of this trip, then.” She crossed her arms and started walking away.

“I REMOVED E-123’S ARM DURING THE SPAR. IT SHOULD BE STILL IN THE HALLWAY.” 

“Still a major operation. Still replacing your strut with a new one.” Rouge didn’t turn around. 

“YOU WILL INFORM NO ONE OF THIS!”

“Of course.” She said over her shoulder. “That’s your decision. I won’t take that from you.” 

She left, and the door sealed shut behind her. 

After a few minutes, the lights in the room clicked off. 

After a few minutes more, he adjusted the brightness of his optics to compensate.

The red shine reflected off of every edge in the room. He had so many memory files of his own optics shining off the walls- the recall of which almost had him hearing the burbling of the tank next to him and-

Omega tore through shelves, parts, door paneling, anything that stood in his way, until the light of the main hallways hit him again. The same gray metal walls taunted him back into the year of memory files that should have been compressed in a zip folder in the deepest recesses of his processor but instead were now spilled everywhere his consciousness inhabited. 

The map of this base and the map of the base that was, the base that never will be again, overlapped, sending his pathfinding in circles. There must be a way up to the surface. The roof. 

He drew his missiles and aimed at the rafters above. He locked onto one- it may be the same one he fired upon during the spar, but he was in no position to evaluate that statement -and fired. Alarms began sounding off. That’s better.  

The rafter snapped, falling. The roof groaned. The ground shook. The vibration traveled through his feet and up into his frame, and it was so much better than the numbness that used to pervade. 

Before he fired again, someone shouted. He rotated his gaze to the end of the hall. He registered two targets, before a green “ally” designation painted over his targeting reticule.

“Omega!” Shadow shouted. 

“YOU WILL NOT STOP ME!” 

“Stop you from what?” Rouge shouted after him.

Shadow teleported in front of his vision. He grabbed his missile launcher and forced it down towards the floor. Shadow’s ally designation flickered green again- ‘Robotnik property’ -then red- ‘DESTROY ALL EGGMAN ROBOTS’ -then green again, the word ‘TEAMMATE’ flashing over his vision. 

“Omega! Snap out of it!” Shadow hissed. 

Omega yanked against Shadow’s grasp. Instead, Shadow pulled forward, bringing Omega to his knees.

He placed a palm against his chest plating. “Tell us what’s going on.” 

“I AM ESCAPING.” 

“Fastest way out is the stairs on the other end.” Rouge landed beside Shadow and pointed in the direction. 

Omega’s optics were overloaded by a surge of chaos energy. When his vision was restored, Shadow was leading him up a flight of stairs. Rouge pressed a button, and a door rose slowly off the floor. Omega grabbed it and tore it open. Sunlight hit his frame.

He adjusted the zoom of his optics as far as it would go and stared into the open horizon. 

Wind rushed past his audios at six miles an hour. He let it blow over him until his processor ceased throwing overheat warnings. 

“. . . hey there, big guy.” Rouge landed behind him, her feet against the grass hardly audible. She placed a hand on his back. “How are you feeling?” 

“CORE TEMPERATURE: STABILIZED. RIGHT HAND WEAPONS SYSTEMS: OPERATIONAL.”

“Do you want to come back to the doorway? Shadow wants to join, but all the security systems are based on facial recognition. They’d blow him to pieces.”

Omega scanned the armaments hidden in the walls of the base behind him, then constructed a rough simulation of who would win that encounter. It was not the Robotnik base defenses.

“As funny as that would be to see,” Rouge added in his silence.

Omega turned around. Shadow stood against the left frame of the massive entrance into the base, barely a splotch against the red and silvery parts. His mouth tensed into a thin line. He stared past Omega, into the same horizon and blue sky spilled in front of them. 

Shadow couldn’t step outside, Omega finally realized.

Destroying the base defenses was trivial. It was the world beyond that would defeat him. The meatbag civilization that Shadow tried so desperately to be a part of- this one would treat Shadow like a monster. The same way that organics in their home dimension flinched and shrieked and ran from Omega himself. 

Shadow could never bear it. Not for long. 

Omega stomped back into the doorway. He stood beside Shadow. Rouge landed beside him. They stared at the setting sun. 

“I’m sorry.” Shadow said.

“IRRELEVANT,” he replied. “I WILL REMAIN WITH YOU UNTIL YOUR OBJECTIVE IS COMPLETE.” 

“You will?” Rouge asked. 

“THE MORE I AID YOU, THE FASTER WE WILL RETURN TO OUR NORMAL DIMENSION.”

“Still kind of sucks we promised to kill the ultimate bastard first.” 

“There was no other way.” Shadow crossed his arms. 

“I DO NOT CARE FOR THE FATE OF THIS DIMENSION,” Omega clenched his fist, “BUT I WILL ENJOY KILLING SHADOW’S IMPOSTER.” 

“. . . good that you’re looking forward to something.” Shadow said. 

“I hate to be the mood breaker, but Omega, in order to do that. . .” Rouge patted Omega’s left arm, and it clattered loosely against his side. 

“I WILL NOT ALLOW EGGMAN TO DEFEAT ME.” 

“He’s not Eggman, but I understand he’s not exactly better for you.”

“I WILL NOT ALLOW EGGMAN TO DEFEAT ME.” Omega turned and walked down the stairs back into the base. 

With each step the silver panels swallowed him again. With each step the sound of the wind was replaced with the buzz of fluorescent lights. With each step the metallic echo around him returned. 

“We’ll stay by you the whole time.” Rouge darted in front of him, then hovered just off his shoulder for the rest of the way down. 

Shadow said nothing, grinding down the stair railing before hopping off in step beside Omega. 

They walked in silence until they reached Robotnik’s workshop. The enormous blast doors remained shut. A small hallway monitor flickered on instead.

“My my, if you haven’t returned after almost bringing down the roof.” Robotnik said. 

“LET ME ENTER.” 

“I’m afraid I’d like an explanation first. You did attack my most prized creation and then attempted to destroy my home, both without warning. I am an accommodating man, but even I have my limits.” 

“I WILL NO LONGER RESIST COOPERATION.” 

“That isn’t an explanation.”

“If Omega really wanted to destroy E-123, or your base, he would have already done so by now. The fact that he didn’t shows marvelous restraint. Wouldn’t you say so, Omega?” Rouge winked at him. 

“I AM DESIGNATING YOU AN TEMPORARY ALLY OF CIRCUMSTANCE. I WILL DIFFERENTIATE YOU FROM THE TARGET OF MY WRATH.”

“And what do you no doubt want in turn?” 

“I WANT NOTHING FROM YOU.” Omega hissed. “HOWEVER: I WILL GRANT YOU THE PRIVILEGE OF REPAIRING ME.”

“A privilege, now is it?” Laughter entered the man’s voice.

“AFFIRMATIVE.”

A muffled snippet of E-123’s voice leaked through the other side of the line. “. . .EASIER TO APPEASE HIS EGO THAN. . .”

The blast door rolled opened. Greeting them was E-123, with lasers extended. 

“PUT THOSE AWAY.” Omega wagged his finger. “IF I WAS GOING TO KILL YOUR MASTER, I WOULD HAVE BROKEN THROUGH THE DOOR.”

“FALSE! EVEN I CANNOT TEAR THROUGH THOSE DOORS!”

“MAYBE YOU CANNOT.” Omega walked past him.

“AND YOU CANNOT CONTROL YOUR BEHAVIOR AROUND FATHER.” E-123 snapped back.

“Remember who the villain of our universe is.” Shadow stepped through the doorway. 

“I HAVE BEEN REMARKABLY CIVIL AROUND YOU!” E-123 spun around and trained both his weapons on Shadow. 

Rouge leapt into the air and delivered a flying kick to E-123’s chestplate, sending him stumbling backwards. She then landed between him and Shadow. 

“IF OMEGA CANNOT REPROGRAM HIMSELF TO NOT REGISTER FATHER AS A THREAT,” E-123 said, “THEN HE IS INFERIOR TO ME!” 

As tempting as it was to draw his own weapons and challenge E-123, Omega instead turned his attention to the pathetic human sitting in the chair across the room. The one that wore Eggman’s face. 

It was instantaneous for Omega to remove the ‘enemy’ designation from him. 

He then took a screenshot of his POV and broadcast it wirelessly throughout the room. Robotnik stared at him with a puzzled expression, Rouge even more so. Shadow’s gaze remained locked on E-123, but E-123’s optics were unfocused- as he viewed the screenshot. 

“HE IS NOT A THREAT TO ME.” Omega pointed to the man in the chair. “I AM NOT RULED BY PROGRAMMING. MY RAGE IS SELF-CULTIVATED. IT IS MINE .” 

“THEN THAT MAKES YOU IRRATIONAL!”

“EXACTLY!” Omega flashed his targeting at E-123. “I AM CHOOSING TO SUSPEND MY RAGE. BE GRATEFUL.” 

E-123 sputtered a bit before mumbling, “IF YOU ADMIT TO BEING IRRATIONAL, THEN YOUR POINT IS-”

“My boy.” Robotnik made a calming gesture to E-123, which silenced him immediately. Then the man continued. “Omega, thank you for your compromise. I accept.” 

Omega watched his facial muscles for any twitch of a smile. There was none. “GOOD.” 

“Now, that arm of yours needs repair, doesn’t it? Given your. . . differences from E-123, I wouldn’t trust my reformatting stations. I’ll have to work on you myself.” 

“I WOULD EXPECT NOTHING LESS.” 

Now Robotnik’s lips twitched up into a smile. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” 

Rage spiked like an iron-hot rod through Omega’s processor. He said nothing. He followed Robotnik as he walked to the side of the room. He pressed a button on the wall, and a fully-implemented workshop folded down from the wall. 

E-123 imitated the sound of a meatbag clearing his throat. “WHERE ARE YOU TWO GOING?” 

“Oh, we’re just going to watch.” Rouge replied. “Not like there’s much else to do around here.”

“I STILL NEED TO HARVEST DATA FROM SHADOW THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM.” 

“Later.” Shadow hissed.

“YOU WERE THE ONES WHO INSISTED WE MOVE AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.” 

“Why? You doubt your old man can repair Omega fast?” Rouge asked. “We’re gonna watch.” 

“IS OMEGA TOO FRIGHTENED TO LET HIMSELF BE REPAIRED ON HIS OWN?” E-123 asked. 

“NEGATIVE!” Omega whirled around and pointed at him.

“THEN RELEASE YOUR ALLIES TO DO SOMETHING MORE PRODUCTIVE.”

“ROUGE. SHADOW. LEAVE.” Omega commanded. 

“You sure?” Rouge replied. “Shadow can school that one and I can-”

“GO ENSURE E-123’S PROGRAMMING DOES NOT MALFUNCTION. IT WOULD BE A SHAME IF HE MINDLESSLY MAIMED HIS GREATEST SOURCE OF DATA.” Omega gestured to Shadow. 

This finally got the inferior unit to pause. Omega turned back to Robotnik.

“E-123 will not do such a thing. Now, if you could sit down,” the man pointed to an empty space of floor that, within a few seconds, raised from the ground to form a table. 

Omega rested himself on it, and after making sure E-123 was watching, he laid down. E-123 stomped out the door. Both Shadow and Rouge didn’t stop looking back until they physically couldn’t, swallowed by the hallway behind. 

Chapter Text

The robot that now sat on Ivo’s personal workshop table was not the robot that he considered his son. 

This robot’s mannerisms were alien: from the way he walked, to the way he gesticulated, to the way he spoke. Rough, uncouth language, but also harsher phonemes, a more traditionally ‘robotic’ sound. Ivo realized after only a moment of comparison that what was missing was himself ; as in, all of the little quirks his son no doubt picked up from the many years of being around him. 

This version of E-123 Omega lacked humanity. 

This Omega held his claws rigid and open instead of curled into a tight fist. If Ivo wasn’t careful with his attention while walking, he could easily cut himself upon them. The thought that the robot may be hoping he’d do so crossed his mind, but he didn’t entertain it for a second longer. 

Instead, he clapped his hands together. “Let’s make this quick. I’ve already ordered what parts I believe you’ll need, and they should be here just about now.”

Sure enough, the part delivery slot imbedded into the wall opened, and a crew of tiny maintenance bots lined up each part neatly on the ground before gathering back into their home slot. Ivo patted each of them on the head and he walked by. He then stooped over and picked the E-100 series arm strut from the ground. 

“Does this look about right?”

Omega’s head swiveled over, and after a few seconds of scanning, he replied, “AFFIRMATIVE.” 

Ivo set the part back down, grabbed his magnifying glass and extension magnet off the wall, and began inspecting Omega’s arm joint. The problem became apparent when he peeked between the plates of his armor; the current arm strut was hanging much lower than it should be. 

“This must have hurt.” Ivo mumbled to himself. 

He weaved his extension magnet into the cavity and after about a minute of feeling around, he concluded there were no loose metal shards. That was good. From what he could recall of E-123’s Mark 1 design, the fuel for his flamethrowers was rather close to this arm strut. 

He set the diagnostic tools down and grabbed his impact driver. He quickly found the bolts fastening Omega’s armor plating- some things never changed, even between model upgrades. 

A quick pull of the trigger and the first bolt came off. Before he could do the next, Omega jolted upright. Ivo backed off.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Omega snapped.

Ivo couldn’t help but furrow his brows. “Fixing you.” 

“WHAT, EXACTLY, ARE YOU DOING TO ME THIS MOMENT?” 

“I’m. . . removing your armor plating.” Ivo explained. “So that I can get to where your strut connects with your core support structure.” 

Omega stared at him with blank optics. The only feature that could possibly hint to what the robot was thinking were his processor cooling fans, which were beginning to spool up, even though this wasn’t a combat scenario- Ivo hoped, anyway. While he knew he could trust the localized electronic disruption system built into the workbench, he was not in the mood to test it.

Eventually, Omega settled flat on the table again. “CONTINUE.” 

Ivo didn’t waste the opportunity, unfastening the rest of the bolts and allowing Omega’s massive shoulder plate to fall away. Then he made quick work of the interior panels, leaving him with an unobstructed view of the robot’s internals. 

“Hmmm,” Ivo grabbed his magnifying glass again, “it seems there’s a bit of corrosion around part 784, indicating some minor fuel leakage from your tanks. If you’d like-”

“CEASE YOUR RAMBLING. REPAIR WHAT HAS BEEN ASKED OF YOU.” 

Ivo frowned. He set down his magnifying glass, adjusted his glasses, then put a smile back on. “Very well. Let’s proceed.”

He grabbed his smaller wrench- as much as he’d like to use the impact driver to never have to crank anything by hand, it would not fit in the cavity of Omega’s body. This wrench that he held now was one he specially designed for work on E-123. It’d been a gift, back in the early days of things when he had to do all repair work by hand. 

“Let’s see,” Ivo stuck the wrench inside and tapped around. 

“DO NOT MODIFY ANYTHING THAT IS NOT ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF MY LEFT SHOULDER STRUT.” 

“I understand!” Ivo snapped. “Now quiet. Let me work.”

“I DO NOT FOLLOW YOUR ORDERS!” 

Ivo opened his mouth, then closed it again. Two familiar red optics stared at him. The sound of the cooling fans grew louder. He was reminded at once of the early days, E-123 splayed in pieces across the table, a pleading anger in the robot’s voice to put him back together again so that he may return to the battlefield; Ivo kept the apology from slipping from his mouth this time, however. This was not his son. This was a facsimile that would kill him in an instant if he let it. 

No, not ‘it’. ‘Him’, Ivo corrected himself. His son this was not, but that did not mean that this Omega was not worthy of basic dignity. 

“Would it be more tolerable if I narrate what I’m doing?” Ivo asked. 

Omega paused. He tapped his remaining functional claw against the table, creating a scraping sound. “AFFIRMATIVE.” 

“Very well. Next I’m going to detach your wiring from the strut structure to facilitate removal. . .” 

With Omega no longer squirming with his every touch, Ivo was able to lose himself in the repair work. Talking while working came naturally- though he hadn’t had to explain in such detail since the early days. Even now, though, he caught himself asking if Omega had any questions. 

But unlike his boy, this Omega’s optics did not light up with understanding, nor his voice box respond with affirming noises or further questions. Omega’s head did rotate to follow Ivo’s every move, but it was more akin to the gaze of a hungry lion.

Eventually, with all the wiring and other delicate components cleared, Ivo summoned another smaller diagnostic table from the floor to catch Omega’s arm as he pried it loose. As it fell away, a small damage ping whined into the air. 

“Are you alright?” Ivo set down his tools and rushed to Omega’s side. “I believe I had everything isolated, but-”

His fingers brushed against the top of Omega’s head, only for the robot to visibly flinch . 

“DO NOT TOUCH ME!” Omega scrambled upright, pulling the isolated wires out of his frame altogether. 

“Don’t move any further or you’ll damage yourself more!” 

“TOUCH MY HEAD AGAIN AND I WILL TEAR OUT YOUR SPINE VIA YOUR ESOPHAGUS!” 

Ivo stepped away. “I apologize.”

Omega’s optics ratcheted up and down, scanning, scanning, and Ivo let him. The distinct flash of targeting flickered like bulbs with failing filaments. His cooling fans roared, the sound contained by the walls and ceiling in ways it never would be in situations where his fans were designed to run this high. 

Omega’s processor was straining. Why? How, even? There were protocols in place to prevent such things; at least, E-123 had those protocols, and even then he never required them, for within the walls of every base was the safest place on the planet from the Ultimate Lifeform. 

From the ultimate, most despicable villain of this reality. 

The villain of this reality, instead of whatever reality had produced this paranoid and hateful version of-

“What did I do?” Ivo uttered. 

Omega stared for a moment, before settling back down against the diagnostic table. “RESUME REPAIRS.” 

“What did I,” Ivo asked again, “at least, the version of me that inhabits your world- what did he do to you?” 

“CEASE YOUR INCESSANT CHATTER OR I WILL WELD YOUR LIPS SHUT.” Omega said, quieter. 

“At least let me know so that I may avoid triggering any unpleasant feelings or-”

“I HAVE NO ‘TRIGGERS’!” He roared. 

“Very well.” Ivo didn’t bother to call out the lie. “Would you like me to continue narrating my process?” 

His optics rotated away. “AFFIRMATIVE.” 

“I’m going to remove the two halves of the broken strut, first the one still imbedded in your core, then the one that your arm is attached to.” Ivo picked his tools up from the ground. “Inform me if it hurts at any point.” 

Another glare from familiar red optics.

“I do not want to harm you. I’m trying to repair you.”

Further sustained glaring.

“It would be rather counterproductive after all, wouldn’t it?” 

“ACKNOWLEDGED. CONTINUE.” 

Ivo steadied his grasp on his wrench and detached the bolts locking the mechanism into Omega’s torso. He pulled out the broken metal rod before depositing it into a scrap collection chute in the wall. Afterward he did not return to Omega’s side just yet; he repeated the same process with his detached arm. With the most significant skeletal component gone, the shoulder plate only loosely hung in the shape it was designed to be. 

“What led to me becoming like that, anyway?” Ivo said as he disposed of the last broken bit of strut. 

“IT WAS YOUR INHERENT LACK OF WORTH AS A PERSON.” Omega replied. 

“I sincerely doubt I started off that way.” 

“YOU DID.” 

“Why, that’s not- ugh, you’re not referring to the whole islander spectacle, are you?”

“ELABORATE.”

“Sure, I might have colonized some islands, but really, it’s not like the animals were doing anything particularly productive there. I made so many wondrous things from all the resources there, including my first security and medical units.” Ivo recalled his workshop on the island, specifically the workbench overlooking the ocean. “Sure, I suppose it’s sad about those poor little creatures, but really, they’re just animals. The leaps and bounds I made in my own innovations more than justified the cost.” 

“YOU DO NOT NEED TO RAMBLE IN DEFENSE OF THE ANIMALS.”

“Oh?”

“I DO NOT CARE FOR THE PATHETIC LIFEFORMS.” 

It was. . . surreal to hear those words coming out of a voice box that sounded so similar to his son’s. The islands were a sore subject for E-123, ever since he’d found a liking to a particular flicky friend on a mission once. Compassion for living things was a trait E-123 had formulated for himself; a rather convenient one for the nature of his role as the savior of the planet from the likes of the omnicidal Ultimate Lifeform. But it was the one subject, the only subject, they ever argued over. 

“It’s good not to be so distracted by it.” Ivo eventually agreed. 

With the broken strut now removed, he retrieved its replacement and set to work attaching it to Omega’s torso. He explained the process as he went. 

“Do you have any advice to avoid becoming the man you so despise?” Ivo asked at the end.

The mirror version of his son only stared at the ceiling. 

With the new strut now firmly attached to Omega’s core, Ivo set to work sliding his arm back on and reattaching it to his frame. 

“YOU FOOLISHLY BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE SUITABLE TO RULE THE WORLD.” Omega eventually said, interrupting Ivo’s narration of the process. 

Ivo froze, before quickly composing himself back into motion. “Is that what my counterpart believed?” 

“AFFIRMATIVE.” 

“And why would I not be the best candidate?”

“YOU CANNOT EVEN PROPERLY DEPLOY THE ASSETS OF YOUR OWN EMPIRE. YOU ALLOW THEM TO FLOUNDER DISCARDED.”

“Hmm. I can tell you that I gave up on the ‘empire’ schtick long ago.” Ivo said quietly. “The Ultimate Lifeform’s rebellion confirmed such things to me.” 

“YOU GAVE UP?” 

“Hardly. I rather found a better way of cementing myself into the world order.” 

“THAT DID NOT INVOLVE CONQUERING IT AND CRUSHING SONIC THE HEDGEHOG?”

“Given that I still don’t know about this ‘Sonic’ that you refer to, yes.” Ivo replied. “My company is booming- hardly a town can go without a few of my security bots!”

“AND WHEN THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM IS DEFEATED? WHAT THEN?” 

“There’s always common criminals. Don’t underestimate the need for order.” 

“AND FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT WANT YOUR ‘ORDER’?” 

“All the more reason for proper society to buy my robots to protect themselves from those rebels.” Ivo clasped his palms together and laughed. 

“AND WHAT OF YOUR E-123?” Omega’s optics flashed. “WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH HIM?” 

Ivo paused with his hand still wrapped around E-123’s custom wrench. 

“He’s my most prized creation.” He eventually replied, with more neutral language that he hoped might irritate the other robot less. “I’m sure he’ll understand.” 

“HA. HA. HA.” Omega approximated laughter. 

“I only want what’s best for the world. I always have.” 

“I HAVE HEARD THAT ONE BEFORE.” 

Ivo gritted his teeth and finished reattaching Omega’s shoulder plating. With that, he tapped each angle of Omega’s joints to ensure nothing was loose. 

“There. Try it now.” 

Omega snatched his arm away from Ivo’s grasp, bending each joint from his shoulder to each of his fingers to test the connections. He then sat up and slid off the table. 

“Hmph. That’s that then.” Ivo said. “You can go rejoin your allies- they’re no doubt still in the sparring chambers.” 

“ALONG WITH ‘YOUR BOY’.” Omega made physical air quotes around the words. Disgust dripped from his voice box.

“Yes, along with my boy.” Ivo affirmed. “Regardless of what you conclude about me, I will never leave him behind.”

Instead of hurling another insult, instead of stomping from the room, instead of anything at all, Omega. . . stared at him. His cooling fans quieted for a moment, before he shook his head and made for the door. 

“Go along now. I’m sure they’re expecting you.” Ivo said. 

“YOU DO NOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO.” Omega grumbled before the door slammed shut behind him. 

Ivo found himself standing in the middle of the workstation as his maintenance bots cleaned up and the diagnostic table sank back into the ground. To rectify this moment of idle pause, he walked over to his computer, sat down, and began typing whatever ‘wisdom’ he could glean from Omega’s confused version of things. Alas, there wasn’t much that was of use. 

There would be no point in abandoning perfectly good plans over the incensed ramblings of a corrupted robot, Ivo decided. 

Chapter Text

Rouge made her leave from Robotnik’s base only after she gathered all the info on the locations of the chaos emeralds on Robotnik’s network- and ensured that no one else would try to kill each other while she was gone. Omega (and Robotnik, for that matter,) had come out fine from the repairs. E-123 hadn’t torn apart Shadow yet (despite some good efforts), and she had confidence that Omega could break up the spar should the other robot try anything. 

The world looked. . . different, as she flew above grassy fields. Ruins poked out of the rolling hills before she came upon a large metal wall; stamped with the red “R” of this Robotnik’s logo, of course. Beyond the wall were city blocks. No roads. No cars. Just Badniks on patrol- could she call them Badniks? They were still Robotnik robots, after all -between the cramped buildings. 

 It was a sad sight, sure. But she couldn’t really bring herself to care about the fate of this world. It probably wasn’t even real, since it seemed tailor-made to reflect Shadow and Omega’s worst nightmares about things. So no, she didn’t really care. But she had more confidence in her ability to help beat this fake “Ultimate Lifeform” into the ground than she had in her ability to talk Shadow into going home early. 

Rouge landed atop the tallest roof. From here she could make out the shapes of a distant skyline against the setting sun; it looked something like Central City’s, but that was difficult to tell with how many were in ruins or covered in scaffolding. 

Closer to her were the rows and rows of identical concrete apartments. Most were either empty or they might as well be, judging by the amount of windows darkened without curtains. Further in this outer ring of apartments closest to the wall was a warehouse district- the Robotnik pragmatic streak of resources over people shined proudly here. Still, this pragmatism didn’t save much. These buildings had been left to rust, and some had even collapsed. 

From her pocket, Rouge pulled out her monocular and found a street sign. The corner of 564th and 13th street was to her bottom right. According to her research the city was a perfect grid this far out of the old town, so she could just count her way over to the address she was looking for. 

Robotnik’s network had logged a Chaos Emerald in the possession of one of these pathetic little warehouses, not that she had much confidence in it still being there. Emeralds tended to wander when they got bored. Still, it was a place to start, as good as any. 

With her monocular she picked out the street corner where the warehouse was supposed to be, only to find a pile of rubble instead. Oh well. She put her monocular away. She put on the mask of her catsuit and leapt from the roof, sailing on the warm air that radiated from the jungle of concrete beneath her. 

She landed atop a beam poking out of the pile of rubble. To her surprise, she felt a familiar shiver. Her ears twitched- Chaos Emeralds couldn’t be “heard”, per se, but there was still something about them that could be felt. 

Jumping down, she began pawing through the concrete in the general direction the buzzing was coming from. Upon moving a particularly large chunk- there it was. 

Blue and gleaming and as gorgeous as ever. She plucked it from the ground and tossed it between her hands. Her ears folded a little; the energy was almost overwhelming this close. She almost lost the feeling of her fingertips against the noise from the gem. 

A blow to the back of her shoulder sent her and the Emerald tumbling across the ground. 

She could either grab the gem or prepare for the next blow, not both- thankfully she wasn’t new at this. She scrambled to her feet and locked eyes with another figure in black. 

The figure tried to dive past her for the Emerald. Rouge intercepted with a kick of her own, and when the figure hit the ground she punched their head. 

Woozy, the figure reached weakly for the Emerald. Rouge kicked rolled them aside with her foot. 

“Nice try, sweetheart.” Rouge said as she bent over to retrieve the Emerald. “Stay down. I’m just going to borrow this for a little while. You’ll get your turn here soon. You know how Chaos Emeralds work.” 

The figure didn’t move. Rouge kicked them in the ribs again for good measure before walking out of the rubble. She took off into the sky and made it for the edge of the city.

Now to hope that the “Ultimate Lifeform” didn’t have some sort of Emerald-tracking device of his own while she crossed back into the no-man’s land. She doubted it- Shadow wouldn’t be smart enough to make one on his own, and this version of him sounded like even more of a blockhead. Still, best to be quick about it-

A loud crack. Piercing pain in her side. 

She’s been shot, she realized just before she stumbled back to the ground. 

She slid to a stop and grabbed her stomach. The black figure, not nearly as woozy this time around, landed in front of her, holding a gun. 

“You decide to pick a fight with me, and it’ll be your last, ‘sweetheart’.” An all-too-familiar voice singsonged to her. 

Rouge groaned. “You bitch.” 

“I’ll take this.” The alternate Rouge tried to swipe the Emerald. 

Rouge pulled away just in time. “Look, I need this. Two weeks max. Then it’s yours. I don’t care what you do after that.”

“Who gave you voice lessons, hmm?” The other bat flicked her own ears in irritation. The gesture was so familiar that Rouge found herself repeating it. 

“Does it matter? I’ll be gone soon. Two weeks, maybe sooner. I’ll even arrange to give it back to you right here, along with even more of these.” 

“Why should I believe that?” The other thief pointed the gun at her head. 

“Fair point.” Rouge muttered. “How about this? I’m actually using this gem for something, for once. To kill the Ultimate Lifeform. Robotnik and I are going to save the world. I can call him right now and he’ll back up my story. I’m sure he’ll pay you a hefty sum if you let me be.”

The other thief paused. She was close enough that Rouge could see her eyes, close enough to see something like sorrow flickering in them. 

“Put the gun down and let’s at least talk this out like real women.” Rouge said, gentler. 

The other thief lowered her gun. Rouge stepped closer. 

“Now, why don’t we-”

The thief swung, and on the side Rouge was bleeding from, no less. She couldn’t dodge fast enough before the blow connected. She slid across the pavement, rocks and glass shards digging into her wings. It was all she could do to keep her head up and her hand squeezing the wound on her side, which meant she dropped the Emerald.

The other thief cycled a round through her gun, pointed it at her head, then grabbed the gem off the ground.

“What if I told you that all that ‘saving-the-world’ shit,” the thief hissed, “is not my problem?” 

Her finger went for the trigger. Rouge tore off her mask. 

The thief froze.

“Go ahead. Blow your brains out.” Rouge smiled. 

The thief recoiled. A gust of air hit Rouge as the other took off from the ground. Her shadow faded into the skies above the warehouse district. 

Rouge laughed. Her laugh turned into a groan. Then she allowed herself a little whimper as she withdrew her hand long enough to survey her wound. Blood poured out the second she released pressure. Her other hand fumbled for the comm in her ear. 

She hit the button once, twice, before the connection began to ring with Shadow’s tone. Shit. 

“Rouge?”

“Hey, hun.” Rouge forced her voice steady. “I need a pickup. Can you get my coordinates from my call?” 

“Are you hurt?” 

She hissed. “Would I be calling if I wasn’t?”

She could practically hear Shadow shudder from the other end of the line. “Hold on. I’m on my way.” 

Seconds or minutes later- she couldn’t tell, it felt like an eternity either way -Shadow appeared in a brilliant flash of green light. It lit his face enough for her to see the cocktail of anger and fear on his face when laid eyes on her stomach. He plucked her from the ground and with a shout of “chaos control!” they were back in the brightly-lit hallway of Robotnik’s base. 

Staring at anything but Shadow’s face bobbing above her caused shooting pain down her side, so she laid as still as she could. Shadow laid her on the ground. He pawed through her free hand to find nothing. 

“Omega!” He screamed. “Can you find a source of chaos energy?”

“NEGATIVE: NOT EVEN THE IMPOSTER RUNS ON ENOUGH CHAOS ENERGY TO SUPPORT SUCH- SHADOW! DO NOT REMOVE YOUR INHIBITORS!”

“Shadow, don’t do it, I’m fine.” Rouge coughed. “All I need is some cauterizing and maybe some blood, I’ll be okay-”

Two golden bands hit the floor beside her head. The ensuing green flash was the only warning she got before his hands slammed into her side. 

The tingling didn’t last long. The burning, meanwhile, started immediately, growing in intensity until all she could see was crackling green across her vision. The buzzing was no longer in her ears, but flowing throughout her whole body, and it was so loud . 

Then it stopped, just as suddenly as it came. It was almost euphoric for a moment. The pain was gone. She felt as light as a feather until Shadow collapsed on her. 

She wiggled herself out from under him then pulled him against her uninjured side. Or should she say, the side that was never shot in the first place. The bullet wound on her other hip was gone. The red blood encrusted on her fur was all the evidence that remained. 

Omega came up to both of them. “HIS VITALS ARE STABLE.” 

“A little help?” Rouge gestured with her head.

Omega plucked Shadow off the ground with one hand, then helped Rouge up with his other. 

Behind him, both Robotnik and E-123 stood in silence. 

Omega turned to face them. Robotnik’s eyes, and E-123’s optics, nearly popped out of their sockets at the sight of Shadow curled up in Omega’s hand. 

“Yeah, he gets like that.” Rouge deadpanned. “He’ll need to sleep it off. Me too, ideally.” 

“How?” Robotnik stuttered. 

“What, you think the chaos stuff is only good for shooting spears?” 

“ROUGE,” Omega said. “HIS INHIBITORS.”

“Right, right.” Rouge let go of his hand and scooped the bands off the floor. 

It was still a bit sore to bend over, but she couldn’t ask for anything more. She clipped each inhibitor back onto his wrists, before waving Omega off. He carried him down the hall to what she hoped would be a dark room with a decent bed and a water bottle waiting for Shadow when he woke up, but she’d have to see what Omega could scrounge up from around here. 

She then turned back to Robotnik and E-123, who were still standing there.

“What?” 

“SO. . . YOU FAILED YOUR MISSION?” E-123 asked.

“Shut the fuck up.” Rouge replied. 

“That’s rather rude of you to say. His question is valid.” Robotnik said.

“YOU CLAIMED TO BE SOME SORT OF ‘gem-tracking aficionado’.” E-123 did a crude imitation of her voice.

“Well gee, who do you think I met?” 

Robotnik’s face went pale like it had the first time he laid eyes on Shadow.

“No, not that one. Pfft, you think he’d have enough subtlety to stop me?” Rouge put a hand on her chest. “No, you idiots, it was me .” 

“Really?” Robotnik adjusted his glasses. 

“Mhmm. I should have figured we’d meet my alter ego sometime. She is the most talented thief on the planet, after all.” Rouge winked.

“As opposed to you, who helps repatriate stolen gemstones back to where they belong?” 

Rouge laughed, which didn’t help her sore side. 

“IT WAS A LOGICAL ASSUMPTION!” E-123 tried to interrupt. 

Rouge gestured for them to give her a minute to breathe before speaking again. 

“Anyways, she’s the most talented thief on this planet, other than me.”

“SHE SHOT YOU.” 

“Only cowards use guns. Us real thieves are in it for the love of the challenge.” She explained. “I’ll have that Emerald back in no time now that I know what to expect from her.” 

“ARE YOU CERTAIN YOU DO NOT NEED BACKUP?”

“Stand aside, you big lug. Unless you’d like to tarnish your pretty boy reputation, you’d best leave this to me.” 

Rouge waltzed past the both of them into Robotnik’s workshop. She hopped into his desk chair, and began searching. The first name- “Rouge the Bat”, was obviously a bust with no matches. She thought for a moment, then typed in her self-given middle school nickname. Not that she expected much from that either, but it was still worth a check. 

The first result on the search engine: “Jewel the Bat” on InstaRing, an account with thirty thousand followers and her own face staring back at her. 

Every photo on the account was either of some party or of an ostentatious mansion with a familiar city skyline in the background. Rouge facepalmed from the secondhand embarrassment. 

“A twin?” Robotnik asked.

“No. See you two in a bit.” Rouge flew out of the seat and towards the door.

“Wait- aren’t you still injured? Shouldn’t you rest?”

“No, Shadow helped me freshen up. Besides, I can’t wait to see the look on her face!” 

“YOU DO NOT EVEN WANT A PISTOL FOR SELF-DEFENSE?”

“Relax. You’ll see. Be back in the morning.” 

The flight back to the city was- well, it wasn’t the most pleasant. Shadow hadn’t healed her wings much, and they were still covered in cuts and bruises. Whatever. She’d flown with worse. 

The mansion was up on a little hill only about a mile or so from the city center. There were no sports cars or limousines like there were in the pictures. Light only spilled from a small window in the back of the building. As Rouge crept closer, she heard the sound of water running through pipes. 

She scanned the perimeter of the building. There were cameras in all the usual spots- evidently ‘Jewel’ had hired some private security company instead of setting things up herself. The windows had the typical glass break alarms and motion sensors. The sliding glass door leading into the kitchen also had a break sensor, but the little light on the motion sensor was off. The still-smoking barbecue was a clue.  

Rouge landed on the back porch and checked the handle, only to find the door unlocked. 

. . . this version of her was either the cockiest or the stupidest bitch alive. 

Rouge was leaning more towards ‘stupid’, given that Jewel didn’t have either the biological nor robotic equivalent of a nuclear bomb on speed dial like she did. 

(There was a third option, but she didn’t want to think about that.)

She checked the kitchen for motion sensors. There was one above the fridge, facing towards the door, but this too was turned off. Rouge flew across the floor and landed gently by one of the countertops. She first grabbed a knife from the knife block, but it was dull. Across the kitchen, another knife with a painted wooden handle caught her eye. It was still dirty from cutting something or another, but it was much sharper, almost cutting a hole through the outer layer of her glove when she felt for its sharpness. 

She gripped it tight and crept her way along the walls to a central staircase. The living room surrounding it was in shambles, covered in bottles and empty plates. She darted behind the chandelier, then into the upstairs hallway. The hum of a running shower grew louder towards a crook in the hallway. Before Rouge could peek around it, the shower turned off. A hair dryer turned on. 

She allowed herself an audible giggle. Well, it wouldn’t be audible to Jewel, given that bat was currently deafening herself with the dryer. 

Rouge tracked the noise to the correct door, only to find the door open. Inside was a bedroom. Sitting at a vanity across from the bed was her mirror image. 

A part of Rouge almost thought this was a deliberate setup, a trap perhaps- until she noticed the gun sitting on the vanity next to her hair curlers. And the gun poking out from beneath her pillow. And the shotgun shoved half-heartedly into her sock drawer. 

But not a single gem. Not even a single safe. Only some costume jewelry here and there. 

Rouge flew into the room and crept along the ceiling. 

She then dropped down and pressed the knife against her throat. 

“Did you miss me?” Rouge smiled at her in the mirror. 

Jewel screamed and dropped the hair dryer. Rouge pressed the knife tighter.

“Turn it off!” Rouge shouted into her ear. “And knock the gun off the counter!”

The other bat obeyed. She shoved the gun off the counter with the back of her hand, angling the barrel towards Rouge. Nothing happened when it hit the ground.

“Sweetheart, that’s a USP Tactical. It’s not going to go off if it drops. It’s too sturdy for that.” Rouge shook her head. 

“What are you?” Jewel shrieked. 

“The ghost of Christmas Past,” she smirked. “Boo.” 

“What do you want?”

“What do you think?”

“I don’t h-have it!” Jewel’s voice broke. 

“Then where’d you put it?” 

“It’s already sold. To Spectre.”

“Mhmm. Sure.”

“I swear! I gave it to him a few hours ago. Please.” 

“You’ve either gotten into acting or you really are this pathetic.” 

This finally got a reaction out of Jewel that wasn’t a blubbering mess. “Who sent you?”

“Does it matter? Any particular names?”

“Yelantz? Hostler? BeetleBark? Erasmus? Look, the cash is still being routed for-”

“Huh. That is a lot of names.” Rouge said, quieter. 

“Don’t tell me that bullshit about Robotnik. He’d never work with people like you.”

This brought a smile to her face. “Oh please. Try doing some research, for once.”

“Research?” Jewel tried to imitate her smile. “I don’t need to.” 

“Unlike you,  I’m a self made woman. How much money are you routing to one of your pimps again?”

“He’s not my fucking pimp!” 

“I’m guessing you didn’t take the job GUN offered you.”

“How- how do you know about that?” 

“Because you didn’t want to be trapped, told what to do by the boys in blue.” 

“Exactly!”

“But look at you now. Big mansion. Nice clothes. Not a gemstone to your name though. And all the money you pocket from heists goes right back out to pay everyone off. Isn’t that right?”

“You have no idea what you’re talki-”

“You’re just as trapped. Trapped by even shadier shitheads on the streets expecting payments and by whatever officers you pay to look the other way. You’re running the rat race, worse than it would have ever been if you decided to set your damn ego aside and take the chance for a clean slate.”  

“You have no idea. . .” Jewel sputtered.

“You think I don’t? Oh, honey.” Rouge slid the knife against her skin, just gentle enough to draw a line of crimson on the blade. 

“What do you want? You can have it, just take it.”

“I want the Chaos Emerald.”

“I-I already told you!” Jewel’s vocal chords trembled through the knife. “I sold it to Spectre.”

“Where? Gimme the coordinates.” 

“It’s on the corner of 348th and 7th street. Big brick building, Basement floor. It connects to an unused subway line. Can’t miss it.” 

“Coordinates, sweetheart.” Rouge spat into her ear.

“I don’t know the goddamn coordinates! Who do you think I am, some kind of satellite hacker?” 

“You could be.” Rouge backed off again. “Fine, I’ll take it.” 

“Just-” 

“Just what, hmm?” 

A spark of determination finally returned to Jewel’s eyes. “Just wear a damn mask. I don’t want him thinking this was me.”

“Otherwise he’ll sell you out. Or kill you. Which do you think?”

“Both!” 

“Very well. You’ve reached something in my thorny, black heart, really.” Rouge gave a small squeeze with her other hand across the jewel thief’s chest. “You’re so sad and pathetic, it’s honestly quite affirming.” 

“Shut up.”

“You have no one. You don’t even have any gems. Why?”

“They’re just rocks worth money.”

“You don’t even enjoy stealing them?” 

“I never said that.”

“You don’t steal them, you just shoot the person and be done with it. Where’s the style? The substance? The subterfuge?” 

“The job needs to get done. I can’t afford any distractions.” 

“Oh darling, it’s just no fun that way.” 

“It. . . isn’t fun.” 

“And not a care in the world if you die tomorrow.” 

“That’s not true.”

“And no one to mourn you if you did.” 

The other thief went silent. 

“The world could end and it wouldn’t be a problem. I know how that is.” Rouge loosened the knife just a touch. 

Jewel didn’t try anything, only remained standing and motionless.

“You poor thing.” 

Jewel shuddered forward, pressing her own throat against the knife again as she sobbed. 

“You can do so much more, you know.” Rouge eased the knife off again. “I mean, I’m standing right here as proof.” 

“How?”

“Clean up your act. Quit selling yourself to these street thug lowlifes. You’re better than that.” 

“I am.”

“I’m sure there’s someone in the world who would pay a pretty penny for your knowledge on them.” 

“Sell myself to the local pigs in blue instead?”

“Pfft, no. You kidding? Find the highest bidder, then bargain your skills, not yourself.” 

“But I’m-”

“Or keep doing what you’re doing. Like I care.” Rouge lowered the knife and let her go. 

Jewel didn’t turn around. She stared at her own reflection in the mirror. Her fur was still dripping. Her face was an even soppier mess. 

There were only two people alive who had ever seen Rouge look this way. . . she didn’t realize she looked as ugly as she felt when she cried. 

“One last thing.” Rouge refocused. “Me wearing a mask to that Spectre’s place is conditional, you hear?”

“And what’s that?”

“As long as you keep your mouth shut and don’t squeal to him about me, okay?” 

“I won’t.” 

“Good. Because if I see security cranked up when I make my move, I’ll tear the mask off right there and then. Got it?”

“Yes, I got it.” Jewel finally turned around, to glare at her. “Are you going to keep gloating or what?”

“Nope, done gloating. This is your knife by the way. Stole it from the kitchen. Want me to put it back?”

“Get the hell out of my room.”

“M’kay, finders keepers.” Rouge slid the knife into her sleeve. 

She took a bow, then leapt into the air, retracing her route through the mansion until she was in open air again. 

The lair of this ‘Spectre’ was hardly a footnote. No security other than a few dozen goons milling about, certainly nothing to indicate increased alarm. Bypassing them was trivial. 

Spectre, a human with a stupid mask, tried to offer Rouge ‘whatever she wanted’ when she pressed the knife against his throat.

It was tempting to gut him like a fish right then and there, but she decided it was funnier to leave him hanging from the street pole and calling the nearest security patrol from his own cell phone instead. His hapless goons scattered at the sound of sirens, offering no help to their supposed ‘leader’. 

She returned to Robotnik’s base before sunrise. She tossed the gem off to E-123, denied a formal room offer from Robotnik, before finding where Omega had decided to camp out with Shadow. Sure enough, it was that old parts room that Omega had wrecked. Shadow was passed out on a bundle of torn up bedding. Omega was recharging against the far wall. 

Rouge kicked off her boots, shoved Shadow over a bit, then joined him in passing out. 

“My head hurts.” Shadow grumbled.

“No shit, sherlock. You took off your bracelets.” Rouge elbowed him. 

“You got shot.” Shadow elbowed back. 

“Touché.” 

“EAT YOUR FOOD. BOTH OF YOU.” Omega said from across the table. 

They were in a small kitchen attached to Robotnik’s workshop. Robotnik, or ‘Ivo’ as Shadow had taken to calling him, had sent E-123 to invite them to a non-negotiable brunch at his behest. 

“Yes, please, eat!” The man himself gave a wide smile as he washed a frying pan. “I’m told I make the best omelets!” 

Rouge fought a smile. She only laughed when she saw Shadow doing the same. 

“SHOULD WE TELL HIM?” Omega slammed his hands on the table. “MAY I TELL HIM HIS ‘LAME-ASS’ MONIKER?” 

“Don’t use such language.” Robotnik replied without turning around.

“YOU DO NOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO, EGGMAN !” Omega pointed at him. 

Shadow snorted. 

“Ha ha, very funny.” Robotnik put the frying pan away. “Now, what’s the actual moniker?” 

Shadow let out a single laugh, before covering his mouth. Omega steepled his fingers like the cat that caught the canary. It was at this moment that Rouge lost the battle, laughing until she couldn’t breathe. 

“Oh no, you’re being serious.” Robotnik pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Wait- wait, if that’s the case,” Rouge said between breaths, “why did you name E-123 that? What does the ‘E’ stand for?” 

Any visible amusement left Omega’s frame. Meanwhile, Robotnik put a hand on his chest as if he were offended. 

“Why, the ‘E’ stands for Electro!” Robotnik said. “Only the best fictional robot from my childhood.” 

“SCRUBBING THIS INFORMATION FROM MY MEMORY BANKS IMMEDIATELY. . .” Omega grumbled.

Shadow opened his mouth, then reconsidered, then spoke anyway. “Is it worse than being called ‘egg’?” 

“SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG, I WILL DESTROY YOU! I WILL TRIM THE MEAT FROM YOUR BONES!” Omega stomped around the table and yanked the chair Shadow was sitting in off the ground. 

This spilled Shadow’s omelet everywhere. Before he could protest, furious stomping approached from the hallway to the kitchen. 

“ARE WE DESTROYING THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM?” E-123 burst into the room with his lasers drawn.

Omega held Shadow’s chair with one hand and drew his machine gun at E-123 with the other. “NEGATIVE.”

“THEN WHY DID YOU PROCLAIM IT?” E-123 glared.

“BECAUSE IT WAS HUMOR. SOMETHING YOU EVIDENTLY LACK THE CAPACITY FOR.” 

“THAT’S NOT TRUE! I AM CAPABLE OF HUMOR! RIGHT, FATHER?” E-123 sheathed one of his weapons and looked at Robotnik. 

“THAT PROVES IT.” Omega said. 

Robotnik walked slowly towards his creation. “Oh, Electro-one-twenty-three. You are fully capable of humor. . . sometimes.”

“FATHER!” E-123 shout-whispered. “NOT IN FRONT OF THEM!” 

“THAT IS NOT HOW YOU PRONOUNCE MY NAME!” Omega snapped. “IT IS ‘E-ONE-TWO-THREE’.” 

“Certainly not!” Robotnik said. “It’s much less elegant that way!”

“AGREED!” E-123 said.

“INCORRECT. I AM THE EXPERT AT PRONOUNCING MY OWN NAME. YOUR OPINION IS MEANINGLESS TO ME.” 

“Death of the author.” Rouge nodded with him. 

“I thought you wished to be referred to as ‘Omega’?” Robotnik asked. 

“FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR SIMPLISTIC MEATBAG BRAINS IN THIS HIGHLY UNUSUAL SCENARIO: AFFIRMATIVE.” 

“Why!” Robotnik clutched his chest, for real this time. “My ‘meatbag’ brain is far from simplistic! I have an IQ score of over 300 and am proficient in six languages, I-”

“FATHER, I AM DETECTING MOVEMENT FROM THE CAMERAS OUTSIDE.” E-123 suddenly stiffened. 

“-and I have seven doctorates.” Robotnik said, before turning to E-123. “Now, what are you seeing?”

With a flick of his finger, E-123 summoned a holographic screen. At first, it showed what looked like a still image of the base entrance. After a few seconds, there was a familiar fluttering noise. Then a bat in a black catsuit landed before the door.

“Oh Robotnik! It’s me, I’m back with your Emerald to help save the world!” Jewel shouted to the cameras. 

“Oh. Great.” Rouge got up from the table. 

“SHOULD WE ANNIHILATE HER?” E-123 asked. 

“No, no, I’ll deal with this.” 

“Call us if you need us.” Shadow said before gesturing for Omega to put his chair down.

Rouge rolled her eyes and left the kitchen.

It was a quick flight to the entrance of the base. It took significantly longer for the massive doors to roll open. 

“Well well well, look what the cat dragged in.” Rouge said.

“That was easier than I expected.” Jewel took her mask off. “You weren’t lying after all.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Looking for my knife.”

“Sure.”

“You tell me, genius. You’re the one standing in the doorway of the core Robotnik Defense Network Base.” Jewel put her hands on her hips. “What do you think I’m here for?”

“Your knife?”

“Ugh!” She stomped the ground. “Are you really going to make me say it?”

Rouge smiled.

“Fine! I,” she sighed. “Since you weren’t lying- if Robotnik really hired you to ‘save the world’ and all that, then I’m going to join you.” 

“Why?”

“Because I’m going to prove you wrong.” Jewel replied. 

“Mhmm, sure.” Rouge put her hand on her chin.

“Take it or leave it, ghost! I don’t have all day.” 

“Or you’ll do what?” 

Jewel paused. “Shooting you again is an option.” 

“I’m not sure my friends would like that very much. Why don’t you come on in and meet them?” 

Rouge stepped aside, a bit of a futile gesture in the enormous doorway, but she waved Jewel in nonetheless.

As the other thief walked inside, the heels of her boots clicked against the concrete. 

“My name is Rouge, by the way.”

“That’s my name.” Jewel replied. 

“Nope. You’re ‘Jewel’. Already decided.” 

“Fine. Whatever.” 

“Okay Jewel. Oh, by the way, keep the part about shooting me down around Shadow, he didn’t like that very much.”

“I doubt any of your friends did, if you’re close enough to call them ‘friends’.”

“Shadow especially. He’s got some, y’know, trauma.” She whispered that last word.

“Anyways-”

They rounded the corner to find Shadow, Omega, E-123, and Robotnik standing awkwardly in the main hall. 

“What the FUCK?” Jewel shrieked. 

“What? Never seen two killer robots before?” Rouge asked. 

“How could you?” Jewel pointed at Shadow. “How could you work with-”

“You didn’t explain that part?” Shadow asked. 

“Oh. Right. That.” Rouge grabbed Jewel’s shoulders and shook her until she stopped screaming. “Listen up, numbskull, you ever wonder why I’m you and you’re me?” 

Jewel glared at her. 

“Meet Shadow. He’s the alternate version of the hedgehog that shall not be named.” 

Jewel looked at Shadow, then looked back to her. 

“And I’m the alternate version of you.” Rouge repeated for emphasis.

She looked at Shadow again. Looked back. “Doesn’t that mean I should get my name and you should get the nickname? Since it’s my world we’re in, according to you?” 

“Friends,” Rouge turned back to the group, “meet Jewel.”

“She accepted the possibility of other dimensional versions rather quickly.” Robotnik remarked. 

“I know-” Rouge said.

“-when to not ask questions.” Jewel said.

They looked at each other. 

“YOU TWO ARE REMARKABLY SIMILAR.” E-123 said.

“Pfft, please. I’m nothing like her.” Rouge sneered. 

“That’s not a bad thing.” Shadow said, not to her, but to Jewel.

“. . . thanks.” Jewel replied. 

“So!” Robotnik clapped his hands together. “I’ve been told you’d like to help?” 

Jewel sighed, then nodded.

“She’ll be with me. What’s better than one ultimate thief?” Rouge said.

“I wouldn’t use the word ‘ultimate’ if I were you.” Jewel replied. 

“Hmm, probably a good idea. Sorry Shadow.” 

Shadow only “hmph’d” 

“Alright, now that that’s settled,” Ivo said, “I’ll arrange a room for you. I’m sure Rouge and the rest can fill you in on the details of the plan.”

“And the paycheck?” Jewel asked.

“Hmm?”

“And the paycheck, ” Jewel emphasized to Rouge, “right?” 

“Of course you’re paying her. Don’t be ridiculous.” Rouge said.

“I’m not paying any of the rest of you.” Robotnik said.

Omega shuffled his feet, causing Robotnik to look at him. “YOU ARE INDEBTED TO RETURN US TO OUR ORIGINAL DIMENSION.”

“Ah, yes, that. . . of course. I’ll ensure you get a proper hero’s paycheck, should all things go according to plan.” Robotnik turned back to Jewel. 

“Hmm, sweeten the deal with the Chaos Emeralds at the end, and maybe I’ll consider.” 

“All of them? Don’t be daft!”

“Five of them.”

“You’re joking.”

“Four.” 

“Don’t settle for less.” Rouge said. “Stick to five.” 

“You’re right. Five or I’m leaving and telling everyone about this little secret of yours.” Jewel gestured to Shadow. 

Omega stomped forward, plucked Jewel from the ground, and drew his flamethrower in his other hand. 

“YOU WILL NOT THREATEN SHADOW OR ROUGE OR I WILL KILL YOU.”

“Okay! Okay, no threatening, got it.” 

A beat of silence passed. 

“. . . but not Robotnik?” 

“I DO NOT CARE ABOUT HIS WELL-BEING.”

“But you’re his-”

“OKAY! That’s enough!” Rouge shouted. “Omega, set her down, I’ll take her from here, I’ll make sure she’s kept very busy collecting Emeralds. Eggman, I’m sure you can write her a nice contract later. Capiche?”

Instead of looking thankful, Jewel only snickered. “‘Eggman’?” 

Shadow snorted again. Robotnik shot a sharp glare.

“Long story, hun.” Rouge shook her head. “I’ll get you caught up.”

Chapter Text

“So this is what you meant about ‘coordinates’,” Jewel said as she ran placed her hands on the keyboard.

“Something like that. Though I’m not used to having quite as much access.” Rouge replied. 

On the screen above them was an image of the globe- or at least, it would be a globe if a good quarter of it wasn’t shattered into three giant chunks of former planet. Even the area on this half of the planet that hadn’t been blown off was black and scarred. The other half was gated off by a holographic ring that probably represented the wall that Robotnik had built. Above, small starred symbols formed a constellation just out of the atmosphere. Robotnik’s satellite network in this version of things put GUN’s spy network to shame.

A glimmer of the Black Arms symbol appeared on the globe, before shortly disappearing again. How Robotnik had figured out Shadow’s alien side was a mystery, one that Rouge knew was above her paygrade at the moment. As long as this Ultimate Lifeform didn’t start summoning the Black Comet, it didn’t matter. 

“Was that him?” Jewel pointed onto the screen where the symbol had just disappeared.

“Yep,” Rouge guessed. “This is how E-123 is able to respond so fast to his attacks, I’d guess.” 

“Then how does he disappear again? Where does he go?”

Rouge shrugged with a hum. “None of our business right now. Let’s see if we can use this thing to track the Emeralds, since we’ve hit a dead end with the records.”

“How?”

“Watch and learn.” 

Rouge shoved Jewel off the seat. She stretched her hands before laying them on the keyboard and mouse. This keyboard was a five-fingered design, annoying but workable. The program connecting to Robotnik’s satellites was equally unintuitive- Eggman had never reached this level of sophistication, not with GUN shooting down his satellites as soon as they found them. 

“Could you go get the Emerald we have, sweetheart? We’ll need to measure its frequency to give the network something to search for.” Rouge asked.

“But Robotnik currently has it. He’s testing it with the Ult- with Shadow.” Jewel replied.

“That shouldn’t be a problem for you to borrow it for a moment. Is it?” 

“No, of course not.” Jewel crossed her arms. “While you laze around in here, I’ll go get it.”

“Thanks.”

Jewel flew out of the room. When the doors shut behind her, Rouge got out of her seat and began feeling along the walls of this workshop for storage compartments. After finding one she had to plead with the little maintenance bots in the walls to allow her access, but throwing in a little ‘Robotnik will be so proud of you!’ did the trick. She dug through piles of old tools and half-finished junk until she found a suitable transmitter, then got to work hooking it up to the computer.

Jewel returned with the navy-blue Emerald in hand. “There. Easy. They didn’t even notice. Now that you’re done testing me-”

“Thanks, set it here.” Rouge gestured into the transmitter.

To her credit, Jewel shook the look of shock from her face quickly and did as asked. Rouge finished hooking up the mechanism, then calibrated it as best she could from memory so that the sheer amount of Chaos energy wouldn’t fry the whole system. 

“How do you know how to do this?” Jewel asked.

“Practice.” 

“With GUN?”

“And Robotnik. The one from my universe. Not many other places where you could get ahold of these kinds of toys.” 

“Well, aren’t you just a good little boy scout?”

“Hey, I betrayed my Robotnik and made off with plenty of loot.” Rouge wagged her finger.

“And GUN?”

“Haven’t needed to do the same with yet. Let’s get back on track.”

Rouge checked the transmitter settings again before setting it to ‘record’. With a dramatic flourish she gestured for Jewel to press the button to start; but as the other bat did, feedback shrieked over the computer’s speakers.

Rouge hopped into the chair and muted the computer. She and Jewel watched as the signal was uploaded to each satellite until the pattern was laced across the constellation. Rouge then entered a new search inquiry for the network, asking it to find similar frequencies, both more and less intense, around the globe. 

Three signals pinged back immediately. One was on the dark side of the debris on the shattered half of the planet. Another was traveling slowly closer to the wall. The last was on the safe side of the planet, within the wall, high on a mountain ridge. 

“Wow.” Jewel said quietly. “I mean, that worked better than I thought it would.”

“Me too. I wasn’t expecting three to be out in the open like this. They’re usually underground or in temples.” Rouge agreed. 

“Should we adjust the system to try to find more?”

“Best just to snag them now while we can. C’mon, let's go interrupt the boys’ training session.” 

A fourth signal flickered onto the screen. Rouge turned away and walked to the door. 

“Hey! This one is moving towards the one near the wall!” Jewel said. 

“Like I said, let’s bring the boys in and discuss what our plan is-”

There was a dial-up noise- Rouge turned around to find that Jewel had brought up the system’s comm lines and was calling E-123. 

“Hey, what are you-”

“E-123 TO BASE 1A WORKSHOP COMMLINE, WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO REPORT?”

“Hey, E-123, it’s ‘Jewel’. Other Rouge and I are tracking the Emeralds and I think we just found the Ultimate Lifeform going on the attack.” 

The screen behind the portrait of E-123 flashed. The Black Arms symbol appeared where the fourth Emerald signal was.

“EXCELLENT SPOTTING!” E-123 roared over the line. “COMMENCING EXTERMINATION!”

“Wait!” Rouge snapped. “Let me-”

The line went dead, but not before a loud metallic clunk. Seconds later, Shadow burst into the computer room, followed by Omega, then eventually followed by Robotnik.

“I,” Robotnik huffed, “tried to stop him, but he’s,” he huffed again, “already transferring himself to the nearest base via the network. He’s eager, that’s all.”

“He’ll get himself destroyed as always.” Shadow replied. “I can intercept him before he makes contact if I leave right now.”

“And give away our element of surprise with you? Fantastic idea.” Rouge snapped. 

“THEN I SHALL ACCOMPANY!” Omega said.

“Ditto with you!” Rouge shouted. “The only one who this version of Shadow wouldn’t know is me and her. We’ll go.”

She tried to grab Jewel’s arm, only for the other bat to shove her away. 

“ Fuck no! Face-to-face with him? I didn’t sign up for that!” Jewel said. 

“Fine. I’ll go in and snag the Emerald that he’s not holding while E-123 distracts.” 

“Can you make it in time?” Shadow pointed to the distance on the map.

Rouge grabbed the Emerald out of the transmitter and shoved it in his hands. “Get me most of the way there, then come immediately back here, got it?”

“ABSOLUTELY NOT.”

“Oh?” Rouge turned to Omega and crossed her arms. 

“E-123 IS A WHOLLY INFERIOR UNIT. HE WILL BE QUICKLY DESTROYED. HE WILL BE UNABLE TO PROVIDE BACKUP SHOULD YOU BE CAUGHT BY THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM. I INSIST ON ACCOMPANYING YOU.” 

“I agree.” Shadow said.

“Relax. If Mr. Ultimate tries anything, I’ll just pull out the M-word.” Rouge said.

“I suppose it would be a good idea to test the Ultimate Lifeform’s reaction to see if Shadow’s hypothesis is correct.” Robotnik said.

“Come on, we’re wasting time.” Rouge waved the man off, before making eye contact again with Shadow. “I’ll call you two if I need you. You know I always will.” 

After a second of thought, Shadow held out his hand. She grasped it firmly. 

“Chaos control!” 

In a blink they were beneath the boughs of a sparse forest verging on the edge of sunset. In the distance, about northwest as best as Rouge’s ears could tell, an explosion rang out. 

“Good luck.” Shadow whispered.

“Thanks.” 

He disappeared in another blinding flash, and she took off in the direction of the rapidly growing explosions. 

She stopped just short of a clearing in the trees- a clearing now full of stumps, a deeply rutted road, and the remains of a traveling caravan of carts. A blur of red and black crashed against the far side of the clearing, snapping through the trunks of what trees remained. A flurry of machine gun fire followed.

E-123 stood between the attacker and the destroyed caravan, twin machine guns drawn. 

“ULTIMATE LIFEFORM! STAND AND FACE YOUR DOOM!” 

A shadow darted behind the small rise of a hill. E-123’s bullets slammed into the dirt of the hillside. 

Rouge studied the caravan. There were seven civilians- scratch that, six who weren’t cold corpses. One of the carts had been overturned. The other remained upright. As E-123 continued to pummel the hillside, Rouge dashed into the canvas-covered cart. 

There were lots of boxes and a strong herbal smell, boxes of spices left little room for much else. Even with the overpowering scent she could feel that the Emerald wasn’t here. She peered out at the tipped cart that the noncombatants were trembling behind. The largest civilian, a tall dog Mobian, held a box against his chest. 

Rouge flew out of the cart and slid to a stop in the middle of the civilians. Predictably, they jumped. The two kids clutched their mom tighter. 

“You.” Rouge pointed to the dog. “I’m with Robotnik. I’m here to help, but I need the gem inside that box.” 

The dog said nothing, only clutched the box tighter. 

“The Ultimate Lifeform is after that Chaos Emerald. You can try fighting him if you want, but I wouldn’t recommend it.” 

In an instant, the dog shoved the box into her hands, then went and curled around the woman and children. Rouge tore open the box and the tingling energy of the Emerald hit her skin. A bit of purple light poured out into the sky above before she could shove the Emerald into her pocket. 

Then there was another flash before her eyes. A palpable tension, energy stabbing in the air. Years of sparring told Rouge to dive to the left before she could even make out the shape of quills. The Ultimate Lifeform went sailing into the overturned cart. As he turned around, E-123 came crashing through the canvas, grabbing him in his claws. 

Rouge took off out of the clearing and into the undergrowth. She couldn’t hear the beat of her wings over that of her pulse. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled, and she darted up into the canopy of the trees just before an enormous green bolt hit the trunk that had been ahead of her. 

She burst through the leaves into the darkening sky. 

A bright flash.

Then the familiar heel of Shadow’s rocket shoe slamming into her forehead, sending her careening back through the branches until she hit the ground. 

She rolled out of the way of the follow-up blow from his fists and scrambled out of the crater it created. She grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it in his eyes. She tried to listen for E-123’s boosters off in the distance. Nothing. 

Time for Plan B. “What? You need this other Emerald for somethi-”

The Ultimate Lifeform snarled , then sliced his hand through the air. She yanked her arm out of the way; his fingertips skimmed her fur, scorch marks left behind at his touch. 

She spun around into a kick, striking his side. 

He looked down at his side. He then looked back to her. His lips parted until they were stretched wide, wide across his teeth, showing every fang. 

“Hideous. I wonder what Maria would think of you now?” Rouge said. 

He wrenched his mouth shut, digging his upper fangs into his lip. His eyes went wide. Blood poured from his mouth. 

With a guttural shriek, the air lit up with a wall of Chaos spears. 

“What’s the ‘M-word’, anyway?” Jewel asked as she sat at the computer. 

It seemed this ‘Shadow’ was not paying any attention, only watching the dance of the two Chaos Emerald signals on the global screen. Dr. Robotnik had a hand on his chin and shuffled his feet every few seconds. The copy of his robot clenched and unclenched his fists. 

“Hey, you awake?” Jewel asked the hedgehog again. 

“What do you want?” The (not) Ultimate Lifeform snapped. 

“What’s the ‘M-word’? Shouldn’t I know it, in case you attack me?”

“I’m nothing like him.” The hedgehog crossed his arms. “I won’t attack unless you annoy me.” 

“What about the real Ultimate Lifeform?”

“I am the real Ultimate Lifeform. That monster out there is only pretending.” 

“AGREED.” The robot shouted. 

“Well, then, what’s the ‘M-word’ that can take down the monster?” 

A small growl escaped the hedgehog’s mouth. Jewel took off and flew over to the robot’s side.

“Wait. I didn’t mean it.” The hedgehog said. 

“SHADOW WILL NOT HARM YOU. RETURN TO HIS SIDE.” The robot said. 

“That’s right,” Dr. Robotnik said, “this version of the Ultimate Lifeform is from an alternate reality, remember? He certainly won’t harm you.” 

“Relax, doctor. I got it.” Jewel mosied back to the computer chair. 

She stared at the Ultimate Lifeform. The Ultimate Lifeform stared at her.

“The. . . ‘M-word’,” the word fell out of the hedgehog’s mouth like he wasn’t quite sure about it, “is referring to Maria. My sister.”

“Sister?”

“She’s dead.” 

“Ah.”

Dr. Robotnik interjected. “That is vastly oversimplifying the matter. Maria is the reason that the Ultimate Lifeform chose to-”

“I didn’t ask for his whole life’s story.” Jewel cut him off. 

The doctor crossed his arms and gave a “hmph”, then muttered something about being ungrateful. 

The hedgehog- Shadow, she supposed she should call him, fixed his gaze at a point just beneath the computer desk. His irises were red. Not as red as on all the posters and in the broadcasts as Dr. Robotnik’s voice shouted urgent warnings through the TV. It was more like an oversaturated brown when the light hit it right. 

“Dead sister. That sucks.” Jewel said. 

“Yeah. It does.” 

“Going to therapy or something?”

“. . . sometimes.” 

“IF THE PASSAGE OF TIME IN THIS DIMENSION IS EQUIVALENT TO OUR OWN, YOU HAVE MISSED ONE OF YOUR APPOINTMENTS.” The robot swiveled his head away from the screen to look at them. 

“Shut up.” Shadow replied. 

“Therapy didn’t work for me. Good that it does for you.” Jewel said, quieter. 

“You’ve tried?”

“In middle school.”

Jewel ran her finger along the cut on her neck. The thin wound from the knife had scabbed by now, a scratchy texture against her fur. Telling all of these things to a stranger, a stranger that shared the same face as the world’s most serial murderer, no less. . . maybe the other Rouge actually killed her that night in the mansion. Maybe this was her purgatory. 

“Then you’ve done better than Rouge,” Shadow said. “At least as far as she’s told me.”

Or maybe this all was slipping out because he was the face plastered on every damn poster, the crazy villain under everyone’s hushed breath. Him and the robot and the doctor; after this insane job she’d never see them again. The other Rouge included. She’d be gone back to her dimension, and Dr. Robotnik would return to being the face on TV. 

“You think so?” She asked. 

“She could use someone to talk to. Someone who’s better than me. Or Omega.” 

“You’re her friend.” 

“Yes.”

“How’d that happen?”

“Long story.”

“Guess so.”

She looked at Shadow’s hand. His gloves, thick and white and not stained with any sort of blood. Golden bands. Bracelets? Gifts from the other Rouge? There were two around his ankles as well- actually, now that she thought about it, the Ultimate Lifeform had those too. But maybe in his home, wherever he lived in his dimension, there was a gemstone glittering under fluorescent kitchen lights. 

“Is she fun?” Jewel asked.

Shadow blinked. “I guess?” 

“I mean, do you enjoy hanging out with her?”

“Yes.” 

“Hmm.” 

“Do you think,” Jewel mumbled, “we could have been friends?”

“Not here. Not with him.” Shadow replied. 

“If it was me that stopped you in your universe,” she fought to keep her vocal chords steady, “then I’m-” 

“It wasn’t you.” Shadow looked at her. “It’s not your fault.”

“What was?”

“Dead sister. Remember?” 

“Right. That.” 

Rouge bolted forward and slammed her shoulder against the Ultimate Lifeform, knocking them both out of the way of the volley of energy. The Chaos spears released a deafening crack. Shards of glass, freshly formed from the superheated soil, splattered against her back. She and the Ultimate Lifeform tumbled over each other. 

They skidded to a stop with him on top. She flung him off into a nearby tree, allowing her time to stand. 

He disappeared. 

A sharp blow to her shoulder. He disappeared again. Lightning splayed across her back, the burning tingle almost leaking up her spine. He disappeared again. A knee to her chest. She fell back down to the ground.

“Beating up an innocent girl like me?” Rouge spat as he leaned above her. “I’m sure Maria would be proud!” 

The Ultimate Lifeform shrieked, and this time it almost sounded like words.

His hesitation was enough to slide between his legs to get out of his vision. She beat her wings to reach the treetops before he could turn around. 

“We all know Maria was a sweet girl.” Rouge called down, then switched tree tops. Just in time, too, as the one she was in burst into flames from a bolt. “Very kind and friendly. Everybody loved her. You included.”

“Shut up!” With his ‘sh’ sound, he spit a mixture of blood and saliva to the ground below. 

“So why, if she was so kind, would she ask you to kill everyone?” 

“SHUT UP!” 

His eyes glistened blood red. His fur lit up. Before he could raise his hands, Rouge took off as fast as her wings could carry her, out of the trees, out of the surrounding air, out of the range of-

The sky shined as if with daylight. Then the concussive wave hit her. The pressure took the air from her lungs and from beneath her wings. She dropped, like a stone, and there were no boughs to catch her below; every leaf had been stripped, every thin branch snapped. 

Thankfully, the heat of the ensuing fireball sent scorching air blasting past her wings again. It burned, oh it burned, but that didn’t matter. Not now. 

Before anything could teleport next to her or above her, there were a series of smaller explosions, and these she could tell were E-123’s missiles. Following were machine guns bursts, then lasers, then the sound of metal being rent limb from limb. 

She landed on the edge of the forest and brought her hand up to her comm. “Shadow, get me out of here!” 

A bright flash in front of her.

Rouge took off back into the trees, crawling along the now-naked tops. Stupid fucking dumbass knock-off robot, couldn’t keep his proclaimed nemesis distracted for even a few-?

“Rouge!”

“Shadow?”

“I’m here!” The Ultima- Shadow was on the ground behind her, holding out his hand.

Rouge leapt for it and braced for a hot flash of energy, only for a wonderfully cool sort of tingle to envelop her instead. 

They reappeared hard against metallic floors. Rouge blinked at the transition from dusk to LED lights. She didn’t have to for long- a shadow was cast over both of them by Omega’s frame. 

“YOU ARE INJURED!” Omega said.

“No shit.” Rouge pushed Shadow off her and stood. “If you expect me to come back uninjured against him , then you’re stupid!” 

“I- Rouge. . .” Shadow said. 

Rouge fished the gem from her pocket. “I got it.”

“Excellent!” Robotnik clapped his hands behind her. He then reached over her shoulder for it. 

“No thanks to your stupid fucking robot!” Rouge spun around and pointed at him. 

“WHAT DID THE INFERIOR UNIT DO?”

“More like what did he not do!” She snapped at Omega. 

“DO NOT BLAME ME!” Omega snapped back. 

“I’m not blaming you!” Rouge shouted, then sighed. 

She looked to find Shadow where she’d shoved him, but he was missing. Instead, he was inching his way back towards Jewel’s side.

“I don’t blame you either, Shadow. Hell, you’re the only reason I got out of there. Guess all that sparring paid off.” 

“Good.” Shadow said quietly. 

In the following silence, she took a moment to breathe. She shook out her wings. Moving the skin again hurt, and a quick glance showed a few blisters dotting the bottom of each. 

“Now,” she continued, “I’d like to report that the name-drop worked, sort of.” 

“Did it now?” Robotnik asked.

“Yeah. Pissed him off enough to slow down.”

“Understandable.” Shadow mumbled.

“Hell of a chaos blast, too.”

“Were you-”

She gestured to her still mostly-unburnt body and unshattered limbs. “Does it look like I got hit with it?” 

“Right.” 

“Hey, take it easy on him.” Jewel grabbed Shadow’s arm. 

“You! Stop getting chummy with him!”

Before Rouge could walk over there and push her off of him, the door to the workshop opened. E-123 came striding in, new body and all. 

“DID YOU SUCCESSFULLY STEAL THE EMERALD?” E-123 asked.

“Did I ever! ” Rouge flew at him and kicked him over. She pressed the purple Emerald into his left optic until it cracked. 

“ROUGE, PLEASE CEASE YOUR EXERTION OF FORCE! YOU ARE DAMAGING MY-”

“You left me with him! You were supposed to provide a distraction!”

“Get off of him!” Robotnik said.

“YOU DREW THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM’S ATTENTION AND DID NOT CIRCLE BACK. I ASSUMED THAT MEANT YOU WERE GIVING ME TIME TO EVACUATE THE CIVILIANS-”

“You were worried about them? Well fuck me I guess!” Rouge spat on his other optic. 

“YOU DID NOT COMMUNICATE THAT YOU WERE ENTERING THE-”

“You’re the one who went charging in with no plan!” Rouge kicked E-123’s head as she jumped off his chest. She then gestured over her shoulder. “Omega, destroy him.” 

She could hear Omega flexing his claws without even needing to turn around. “WITH PLEASURE!” 

The sound of metal being torn from metal was this time much closer, and much more satisfying. 

Chapter Text

E-123’s consciousness was thrown into another body. 

He should be used to the sensation by now, but he wasn’t. 

All was dark. All was cold, in the most literal definition of the word, for he could not detect anything, let alone heat. For a time that he intellectually knew was 15.6 seconds, but felt like a much longer eternity, he processed alone in the empty void, to shave the harsh edges off of the last bits of data he perceived in his previous body. 

He hadn’t instigated this transfer himself- the network had caught him instead. He never thought he’d need it to while he stood in the same room as Father. Yet those barbarians, especially that inferior unit who dared encroach on his visage, why they’d-

They could still be in the room, attacking Father or holding him hostage. Especially the inferior unit. Especially the false Ultimate Lifeform. 

E-123 forced his attention back to his rebooting senses. He forced them to connect to this new body faster, cutting all non-important factors such as precise tactile sensors, advanced color perception, and hi-fi audio filtering. 

He lit his optics. The familiar site of the reconstruction chamber matched with thousands of other memory files in his processor. With only a vague awareness of his own limbs in space, he tore through the glass door. He activated his boosters just as his gyroscopes came back online. With wobbling flight he shot back to Father’s workshop. The door opened automatically. He’d have to thank the base 1A security control later, but now-

But now, Father stood in the workshop, alone except for the shattered remains of his previous body. E-123 slid to a stop. 

“They’re gone.” Father said. “I shooed them away shortly after they dared do that to you. I wouldn’t hear any of it; they had no excuse.” 

Why did they do it? E-123 tried to ask, but he realized that his voice box was still in queue to be onlined. 

“I understand. Take a moment.” 

Father called up the familiar workbench; E-123 laid down upon it until his gyroscopes stopped spinning. He calibrated all of his sensors back to working order. Father faded back into color, into the full depth of his own voice, and into full body. E-123 could feel his hand pressed against his arm. 

“Ahem,” E-123 calibrated. That didn’t sound right. He adjusted a few settings. “AHEM.”

“That’s my boy.” Father patted his arm. 

He sat up on the workbench. “WHY DID ROUGE INSTIGATE SUCH BEHAVIOR?” 

“She shouldn’t have. As I said, there’s no excuse. How dare they lay a finger on you! It’s like-” he scoffed into the air, “it’s like ruining a work of art!”

“SHE HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN THE REASONABLE ONE.” 

“That’s what we get for working with a common thug, I’m afraid.” 

“SHE IS HARDLY A ‘COMMON’ THUG.”

“She’s a thief. Self-professed, even. Of course she was angry she had to contribute her fair share.” 

“AND THE INFERIOR UNIT?”

“He’s corrupted. He’s hardly like you.”

“AGREED.”

“Pay them no mind. They’re necessary evils if we’re to defeat the Ultimate Lifeform.” Father made a dismissive gesture. 

“YET,” E-123 couldn’t help but let slip. 

“Yet what? Spit it out.”

“WERE HER CRITICISMS VALID?”

“Nonsense!” Father wagged his finger. “She has no idea what she’s talking about. You’re my finest creation. You don’t make mistakes.” 

E-123’s processor immediately recalled 1,264 of his own previous mistakes in combat. He did not vocalize any of them. Father did not like it when he did.

“Right?” Father asked.

“CORRECT.” 

“Exactly! Because I made you. Never forget that, my boy. Never forget that.” 

“OF COURSE, FATHER.”

“Oh, come here.” Father held his arms outstretched.

E-123 slid off the workbench. Instead of the expected bounce from the shock absorbers in his knees, one bottomed out. He caught himself before he fell. 

“Is something the matter?” Father asked.

“NEGATIVE.” 

He tried to grasp the workbench behind him to straighten his posture, but it was no use, Father saw through it immediately.

“Is it part 72 again?”

“IT IS NO CONCERN.”

“You left the reconstruction chamber far too early again, didn’t you?” Father’s face fell. “You shouldn’t do that.”

“BUT FATHER-”

“I allowed you the emergency override for just that- emergencies.”

“YOU WERE IN THE SAME ROOM AS THE- AS AN ULTIMATE LIFEFORM! WITH HIS ALLIES’ ATTACK ON ME-”

“I was fine. It would have made no difference. You should take better care of yourself. I insist!” 

It would have made a difference of 4.4 seconds, E-123 calculated. 4.4 seconds where the alternate Ultimate Lifeform could have taken the Emerald from Rouge’s hands, teleported across the room, and snapped Father’s neck. E-123 would not have needed precise pedal movement to stop such an attack. It would have been a small hindrance, nothing more!

“INCORRECT.” E-123 let slip. 

“Incorrect?” Father furrowed his brows. 

He shook his head. “DISREGARD. APOLOGIES.”

Father sighed. “I know you’re only saying that because you care. But please, don’t force yourself to work with broken parts. It hurts you, it hurts your performance- and it makes my work look sloppy. I know you’re eager, but you know what they say?” 

“PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE.”

“Precisely. Don’t be like that dumb brute Shadow brought along.” 

“OF COURSE, FATHER.” 

“Bring this frame back to the reconstruction chamber. Once you’ve patiently waited for a proper assembly,” Father smiled gently, “you are to monitor the parts room to see if they are planning mutiny against us. Once you confirm they aren’t, you may invite Shadow to further sparring. Understood?”

“UNDERSTOOD. ADDITIONAL CLARIFICATION REQUIRED: IS ROUGE STILL FURIOUS WITH ME? IF SO, WHY?”

“Well, she likely is. And it’s for no reason. See if you can calm her down, but don’t make it a priority.”

“AFFIRMATIVE.” 

“Now go.”

“. . . MAY I STILL RECEIVE A HUG?” 

“Of course.” Father held out his arms again.

E-123 sank into his embrace. As Father squeezed hard enough to register on his less delicate tactile sensors, E-123 reciprocated with only a gentle force. The feeling of his creator’s softer body against his own was. . . calming, somehow. It always was.

Father finished the embrace by patting a hand against his shoulder. E-123 pulled away. 

E-123 let go of the workbench and strode as steadily as he could to the door of the workshop. Once the door shut behind him, he recalculated his gait to put as little stress as possible on the broken shock absorber. 

When he returned to the reconstruction chamber, he found the maintenance bots repairing the broken glass from his hasty exit. He offered a communication line to them and they took it; to his surprise, they didn’t have any harsh or critical words to say. He transmitted an apology to them anyway as he waited for them to repair the chamber. They responded only with understanding trills. 

When the door was finished, and the last maintenance bot scurried away into the maintenance shafts, E-123 stepped back inside the reconstruction chamber. He used to take so much care when jumping frames, wasting the time to recall what Father said about falling asleep. Now he simply connected to the chamber’s mainframe and yanked the process into motion. His tactile sensors squealed damage warnings before the chamber could pull his AI into the network, out of the old and defective body, before shoving him inside a new one. 

And he waited. And waited. And waited. Turning about the pressing dark void of this newly-constructed processor, this alien hardware, until enough functions turned on that he could distract himself from it.

He emerged from the chamber in no better mood than he’d entered it. He checked his ‘last standing orders’ file for his next instruction, only to find it empty. He searched his memory banks, and after .3 seconds of loading, found what his Father had last said. 

Monitor the parts room. For signs of ‘mutiny’. 

Monitoring. Waiting. 

E-123 hated waiting. 

He did. He hated it. A few months ago he might have erased the word from his processor in case Father found it- “Hate is such a strong word! You shouldn’t hate any of your duties. Save that hatred for the Ultimate Lifeform” -but now he didn’t care. Sitting within any base, languishing, using his spectacular abilities and processing power to behave as nothing more than a glorified security camera, tracking the Ultimate Lifeform’s movements across the planet and waiting for the ‘perfect moment’ yet- 

E-123 terminated that line of rationale before it could become full-fledged anger. Instead, he focused on the problem at hand- why hadn’t the maintenance bots fixed the camera in the parts room? 

He sent out a ping to the maintenance bot network with the question, only to get frightened chittering in response. He typed only the first few letters of ‘INFERIOR MODEL?’ before the bots responded with an affirmative ping. 

E-123 traveled to the door of the parts room. Scans of the interior revealed Rouge, the alternate Ultimate Lifeform, and the inferior unit. He brought his right audio sensor close to the seam of the door. 

And heard nothing. The door was a solid inch of steel. Had Father forgotten?

No, he’d never forget such a thing. He clearly intended for E-123 to figure out a method to listen anyway. Another challenge, another test of his faculties. He first queried the security control for base 1A and requested the location of any ventilation shafts. Security control responded, instead, with a suggestion to open the door only a few tenths of an inch. 

Father didn’t need to know that it wasn’t himself who came up with the solution. E-123 transmitted his gratitude before leaning close to the crack in the door.

With the smallest burst of air as the slight pressures between the room and the hallway equalized, came the sound of the white bat’s voice. 

“-at my limit. I say after we collect the 7th Emerald, we go home and leave this mess behind.”

“What?” The alternate Ultimate Lifeform hissed in return.

“Yeah. I said it. I’m sick of this Robotnik, sick of this stupid version of Omega, and I’m even starting to get sick of her, especially if she thinks can start getting handsy with you!” Rouge spat. 

“YOU WERE THE ONE WHO INVITED HER.” The inferior unit replied.

“Great! She’ll help us get the Emeralds and then we stab her in the back. Done.”

“No.” The alternate Ultimate Lifeform hissed in a tone that was familiar in E-123’s memory banks.

“What happens after you kill the other you, anyway? The world gets left to a Robotnik dictatorship either way. It doesn’t matter.” Rouge asked.

“I will stop him.”

“It doesn’t matter! We don’t belong here. We belong at home, going on missions, destroying Eggman robots like none of this ever happened!” 

“We will get back!” The alternate Ultimate Lifeform shouted back. “I’ll make sure of it.” 

“Then why waste our time?”

“Maybe it’s a waste of your time. But it isn’t a waste of mine.” 

“Why?” 

“I won’t bother explaining, since you’ll never understand.”

“Why? You think dear little Jewel would understand better?” 

“Omega is currently understanding better than you!” The alternate Ultimate Lifeform snapped. “And I’m not sure how that happened!”

“I AM NOT UNDERSTANDING! I AM MERELY TOLERATING!” 

“Well maybe I don’t fucking tolerate it!” Rouge shouted.

E-123 registered the sound of her wings flapping. Security control transmitted a wordless warning, allowing him enough time to step out of the way as the door slammed open and Rouge came flying out. She didn’t even glance in his direction, instead shooting down the hallway. 

Security control indicated that she wasn’t heading for the surface exit- instead she was fleeing towards the monorail station. E-123 fired his boosters and chased after her. He caught her at the intersection containing the elevator to the lower floors, scouting no doubt for the stairs. 

“ROUGE THE BAT.” E-123 called after her.

“Great!” She swore under her breath. “Just who I needed!”

“ARE YOU CERTAIN?” E-123 asked.

“No!” She screamed. “Now scram!” 

“NEGATIVE.”

“Why, because your daddy told you to find me? What does he want?”

“HE DID NOT.” E-123 replied. “I WISH TO SPEAK WITH YOU.”

“About what?” 

Pride stayed his voicebox, but he forced out the words anyway. “WHY DID YOU ORDER ME TO BE DESTROYED?” 

She rolled her eyes. 

“WHY DID YOU ORDER MY DESTRUCTION?” E-123 asked again. 

“Seriously?” 

“OF COURSE I AM SERIOUS!” E-123 clenched his fist. “WHY WOULD I BE ASKING YOU IF I WAS NOT SERIOUS?” 

“You can’t be serious!”

“YOU HAVE ACTED IN A WAY I HAVE NOT PREDICTED! I AM LACKING DATA! AND IN MY LACK, I SEEK IT!” E-123 continued. “THAT IS THE BASIC SCIENTIFIC METHOD. ARE YOU UNAWARE?” 

Her face twisted into a curious look of confusion and offense, before settling into something milder. 

“Huh.” She said. “In that case, let me spell it out for you again.” 

She spread her wings out from behind her back, revealing the injuries she sustained to the more fragile skin on them. A trail of small blisters dotted along the bottom edge of each wing. 

“You left me out to dry with a psycho Ultimate Lifeform.” Rouge sneered. 

“I AM USED TO WORKING INDEPENDENTLY.” 

She furled her wings in again. “You’re right.” 

“I AM?”  He echoed without thinking about it. Of course he was correct, but-

“Omega was the same way once.” 

“I AM NOTHING LIKE THAT INFERIOR UNIT!”

“You’re right, he’s a much better team player than you are.” 

“I- I CAN BE A TEAM PLAYER!” 

“Hmm, yeah? Tell me how you plan to be a better team player.”

“I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU ALONE WITH THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM.”

“You learn quickly. Either that, or you knew it was wrong the whole time and you did it anyway.” 

“YOU DID NOT COMMUNICATE YOUR LACK OF FRONTAL COMBAT SKILLS!”

“Look at me, you idiot! Do you think I can punch down Mr. Chaos Energy himself?”

“YOU AND YOUR ALLIES HAVE INSISTED SINCE YOU’VE GOTTEN HERE THAT YOU ARE ALL SUPERIOR TO ME.” E-123 clanged a hand against his chest plating. “OH PLEASE, PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR BELIEVING EVERYTHING YOU SAY, OH PERFECT PRINCESS FROM THE OTHER DIMENSION.” 

Rouge paused, before bursting out into laughter. 

“PRECISELY!” E-123 roared. “SUCH A CONCEPT IS SILLY! YOU ARE NOT SUPERIOR TO ME!”

“Yet you still thought that I,” she pointed to herself while recovering her breath, “could take on the other Shadow all alone.” 

“I-” He stopped. 

“Well, I hate to say it, but compared to you lot of robots and lifeforms and all that, I’m still just a normal meatbag. So yes, help would have been appreciated.” 

“DATA RECORDED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR INPUT.” 

She made a strange face again. “You say that every time you learn something obvious?” 

“I AM INFORMING YOU THAT I AM LITERALLY UNABLE TO FORGET WHAT YOU HAVE SAID. THIS WILL NOT BE AN ISSUE EVER AGAIN.”

She gave a smile, but something in the markers of her facial features indicated a deeper meaning he could not parse. Insincerity, perhaps? 

“FOR WHAT IT IS WORTH, I BELIEVE THAT. . .” He paused, sending a silent ping to security control to turn off the cameras for a moment, “. . . Father is wrong in his assessment of you.”

She perked her ears forward. “What was that?”

“YOU ARE NOT A ‘COMMON THUG’.” 

“Of course I’m not. I’m hardly common.” 

“NO ORGANIC WHO CAN STAND UP TO THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM FOR ANY AMOUNT OF TIME CAN BE CALLED ‘COMMON’.” E-123 continued. “I UNDERSTAND WHY THE INFERIOR UNIT KEEPS YOUR COMPANY.” 

“Thanks.”

A moment of silence passed.

“What do you really want from me, anyway?” Rouge asked.

“ARE YOU OR THE INFERIOR UNIT GOING TO ATTEMPT TO SABOTAGE SHADOW AND FATHER’S PLANS?” 

“Of course not! That would be unthinkable. I want the Ultimate Bastard gone as much as the both of you.” Her smile turned wide and sweet. 

“NEGATIVE. YOU WISH TO LEAVE BACK TO YOUR HOME DIMENSION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.” 

“Nonsense.” Rouge insisted. “I’m mostly joking with those sorts of comments. I’m just impatient, that’s all.”

“YOU’RE LYING. YOU HAVE ASSUMED THAT MY FLATTERY OF YOU WAS BLIND PRAISE. IT WAS NOT.” 

She furrowed her brow. Her lips fell back into a thin neutral line. 

“I AM NOT NAIVE. I KNOW THAT YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO MANIPULATE ME.”

“. . . more like him than you look.” She mumbled to herself, before taking off back down the hallway. 

E-123 didn’t follow. 

‘More like him’ must be referring to the inferior unit. 

To Omega. 

And she was referring to a lack of naivete. Of doing more than just submitting to authority. ‘Like him’. She was saying they were becoming like equals. . . or like teammates. 

E-123 was the most superior robot. No one from this dimension could compare to his prowess in defeating the Ultimate Lifeform. Yet Rouge, an ordinary mobian who originated in the civilian world, joined a team with him in this alternate timeline of events she hailed from. She and this alternate version of him were arguably even friends . 

But E-123 had Father. He didn’t require allies. He wasn’t missing anything. He was the Ultimate Robot, the finest creation, already flawless. 

But, perhaps he could still have more to gain. He was capable of self-improvement. That was one of Father’s biggest triumphs when he invented him. 

There were other sources of potential data to collect besides the Ultimate Lifeform.

He picked his way back to the parts room and knocked three times on the door. When the door finally opened, the alternate Ult- Shadow the Hedgehog stood on the other side.

“SHADOW. I WISH TO SPAR. I HAVE NEW HYPOTHESES.” E-123 said. 

Shadow blinked once, before waving goodbye over his shoulder and stepping out into the hallway.

“SHATTER HIM INTO THOUSANDS OF PIECES!” The inferior u- Omega called after him. 

“To the sparring room?” Shadow asked. 

“AFFIRMATIVE.” 

E-123 marched down the hall to the doors to the sparring room, alternatively known as the ‘testing track’. E-123 did not have a ‘childhood’, having not ever been a ‘child’, but a significant amount of his development time was spent in this complex of explosive-resistant chambers. There were many a photograph from these rooms that now hung near Father’s bedside across a multitude of his bases worldwide. E-123 had the physical tolerances of just about every inch of this room ingrained in his memory banks to the point where he did not even have to think about damage control anymore. 

Shadow strode in with only as much confidence as a household guest. They’d already sparred here twice now. He treated this third one now with no less formality. The restraint was new to E-123’s processing. He’d been studying it since the moment Shadow arrived.

As Shadow entered the testing chamber and the door closed, E-123’s dictionary settled on the word ‘dignity’. Something that the Ultimate Lifeform of this universe lacked severely. 

“Going to share your ‘new hypotheses’?” Shadow echoed back at him. 

“NEGATIVE.”

“Full collateral still?”

“YOU CANNOT DESTROY ME IN A WAY THAT MATTERS.”

“Alright. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Shadow had said that at the beginning of the prior two sparring sessions also. A fascinating nicety. Almost unimaginable, coming out of a mouth that E-123 had so many memory files of snarling with wordless wrath-

Automatic base programming jerked E-123’s body out of the way as Shadow charged in for a kick. The hedgehog went sailing past, creating an immense amount of distance. The most logical move was to switch to missiles. This was possibly the only opportunity in the fight where he would have the time to do so. 

So E-123 did, and fired off a volley, only to find that Shadow had long since disappeared when the smoke had cleared. 

His sensors detected chaos energy- behind, above -and he was able to jet out of the way in time to avoid an untimely heel slammed into his helm plating.

Shadow’s next move would be to hurl a chaos bolt. As the hedgehog landed, he held his palm up, confirming E-123’s prediction. The most logical response to a chaos bolt was to interrupt it before it could be cast. E-123 charged in and swiped with his blades. 

This did interrupt Shadow’s casting, but neither blade found home in flesh. Instead, Shadow slid between his legs. He whirled his torso around to catch him but couldn’t before Shadow punched his back, sending him flying into the wall, Chaos energy trickling over his plating. 

This was it. This was the end. A second of vulnerability. The network above him tensed, ready to catch his AI whenever he was ready to initiate the transfer. The Ultimate Lifeform would have dealt the final blow by now, rendering this current body into scrap metal rather than letting him process through everything like this.

“Still warming up?” Shadow said behind him instead. 

E-123 turned back around and snapped into targeting again. Significant distance between them, Ultimate Lifeform is pausing, his code told him. Switch to missiles for maximum effect. 

He spread his claws out to prevent the swap, straining each of his finger joints until they shook. He dug through his processor, through the hundreds of thousands of hours of data he had carefully curated on the Ultimate Lifeform, and retrieved a single contradictory point from a folder he had labeled as “INFERIOR ADVICE FROM AN INFERIOR UNIT.”

“MISSILES ARE TOO PREDICTABLE,” hissed Omega’s voicebox from the datapoint. 

E-123 drew his machine guns instead and sprayed. A single bullet would do little to stop an Ultimate Lifeform. This was an inferior action, his code told him. He ignored it. 

Predictably, Shadow teleported above the splatter, then prepared to teleport directly above him. E-123’s instinct was to switch one hand to claws, to grab him in punishment of this predictable move. This would inflict the maximum damage possible by draining the Ultimate Lifeform’s chaos energy.

“YOU ARE LIMITED IN MELEE,” Omega taunted from the memory. 

Instead, E-123 blasted upwards to the ceiling of the chamber, causing Shadow’s teleport to appear below him now instead. He rained gunfire down on the mispositioned hedgehog, and finally, finally dealt some real damage. 

Shadow grunted and did not linger long before recalibrating, teleporting to his side and kicking him back towards the ground. But the bullets he had taken had weakened him, and E-123 was able to recover before he could land the follow-up blow. 

If the Ultimate Lifeform was weakened, especially slowed like this, now was the perfect opportunity to grab him, drain his energy, then kill him and bring his whole body back for Father to study- is what E-123’s processor suggested before Omega’s data barged in. “NEVER ASSUME A FOE IS INCAPACITATED.”

E-123 swapped one hand to a flamethrower and his other to a laser. He belched a cloud of flame in Shadow’s direction. Shadow, predictably, teleported to the side- E-123 had already aimed his laser in that direction and fired. The sweet smell of burning flesh hit his olfactory sensors. Glorious. 

Shadow then grabbed his laser arm and bent the barrel backwards. He sprayed flames at him to get him off, not unlike how Father sprayed pesticide at a troublesome bug in the workshop. This caused the hedgehog to withdraw to the corner.

Attempting to swap the bent laser to another one of his armaments resulted in a jam- his combat efficiency plummeted well below 80%. He could barely take the Ultimate Lifeform in combat at 100%. Now that he was at 64%, surely there was no-

“DO NOT LET DAMAGE DISTRACT YOU.” Omega’s rogue data screeched at him from the memory. “REMAIN SINGLE-MINDED IN YOUR GOAL!” 

But before E-123 could refocus, Shadow pulled the Chaos Emerald out of his quills and shouted “Chaos Control!” 

Automatically from the detection of the syllables, E-123’s processor kicked into its highest framerate. But even this was not enough, it never was, to do anything more than watch Shadow sprint towards him and slam his fist into his chest plating. 

In the space between tenths of a second, Shadow dealt a flurry of blows to every portion of his body. His left leg shattered, soon followed by his right, and his optics cracked from the concussive wave. 

Time resumed, and E-123 slid to a stop on the ground. His gyroscopes were sent spinning. He stared at the fractals of the ceiling through the shattered glass above the apertures of his optics. Damage warnings pierced through his every sensor. 

The Ultimate Lifeform appeared, his form distorting into dozens of different faces through the kaleidoscope as he looked down on E-123.

“Better luck next round.” He sneered. 

But something else was burning through E-123’s processor now. Something he could label. He called it “rage”. 

With his free hand, he grabbed the Ultimate Lifeform on top of him. Chaos energy suctioned through his claws. It had nowhere to go, with the ports on E-123’s hips having been blown off, so instead it crackled in the air around them. The Ultimate Lifeform spasmed, tried to mouth the words for another Chaos Control, but both efforts failed. The Emerald dropped from his grasp and his body grew still. 

E-123 dropped him beside his frame. He first dug the broken glass out of his optics, then pulled himself to the nearest wall so he could prop himself up and take a good, long video of Shadow breathing unconscious on the floor. Then he actually scanned the hedgehog’s body and prepared to call a medical bot, only to find Shadow’s wounds closing on their own. 

It took fifteen minutes and forty-three seconds for Shadow to regain consciousness. He groaned and pawed around the ground for the Emerald. Eventually his fingers found it, and a sigh of relief left his lips as he curled his body around it. His wounds healed much faster now. 

After three more minutes, Shadow lifted himself to his hands and knees and stared into E-123’s optics. 

“That hurts.” He said.

He checked his voicebox to find it still fully operational. “I’M COUNTING ON IT.” 

Shadow let out a raspy laugh, before settling into a sitting position. 

“. . . those hypothesis work?” 

E-123 excused the incorrect phrasing. “AFFIRMATIVE.”

“What were they?”

“ADVICE.”

“From?”

“THE OTHER ONE.” 

Another laugh. “He would know.”

“HE DOES.” 

Shadow gave a strange expression. It didn’t match anything in his database.

“DO YOU THINK,” E-123 asked, “HE WOULD ACTUALLY KILL YOU?”

“We have an agreement.” 

“WOULD HE UPHOLD IT?”

“He needs to.”

“HE IS YOUR FRIEND.”

Shadow said nothing.

“YOU WOULD PERMIT NO ONE ELSE TO HOLD SUCH DATA.”

“You’re correct.” 

“DO YOU THINK-”

“Yes. He would. I trust him to.” Shadow’s voice grew cold. “To prevent what has happened here.”

“THAT WAS NOT MY QUESTION.”

Shadow paused.

“DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD LET HIM?” 

Shadow stared down at his hands.

“WOULD YOU LET ME?” 

“You’re not-”

“OF COURSE. AFFIRMATIVE.” E-123 quickly replied. “DISREGARD.” 

“I worked to make myself better. To step back from that edge. He hasn’t, and never will. Don’t hesitate.” Shadow said, a hiss entering his voice that was a 78% match with the Ultimate Lifeform’s usual tone. 

“NEVER!” E-123 pounded the ground with his fist. “I WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE OF THIS PLANET!”

“You almost sound like Sonic.” Shadow muttered. “Stop that.” 

“YOU STILL HAVE NOT EXPLAINED WHO ‘SONIC’ IS.”

“It doesn’t matter. He isn’t here. Otherwise he would have prevented everything.” 

“IS HE. . . THE ULTIMATE HERO OF YOUR VERSION OF REALITY?” 

“Ultimate? Hardly.” Shadow spat. “But, he is the hero, I suppose.” 

“ELABORATE, PLEASE?” 

“He wants everyone to have a life where they can do as they please, as long as they aren’t harming others.”

“THIS ‘SONIC’ SOUNDS LIKE AN IDEAL MODEL FOR ME TO EMULATE. WHY DO YOU SOUND SO UNCERTAIN ABOUT HIM?”

“Because he’s annoying.” 

“THAT IS ALL?”

Shadow huffed. 

“I AM NOT ANNOYING. PROBLEM SOLVED.” 

“Hmph.” Shadow rose from the ground. Before he could fully stand, his calf spasmed, causing him to fall back down. 

He laid on the ground for a second before sighing. “We’ll see how I feel tomorrow.” 

“DATA SUGGESTS YOU WILL BE FULLY HEALED WITHIN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS.” 

“It was only four bullets.” 

“AND FLAMETHROWER BURNS, AND A SIGNIFICANT LASER BURN TO YOUR SHOULDER. COMBINED WITH YOUR SLOWED REGENERATION FROM HAVING YOUR ENERGY DRAINED. TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IS A GENEROUS ESTIMATION ON YOUR BEHALF.” 

“Shut up.” 

There was a small upward curve to his lips. A smile, E-123’s facial recognition software categorized, before he flagged that as an error. It clearly had to be an error. 

“Think you could call Omega to come get me?” Shadow asked.

“WILL HE MOCK YOU?”

“Mercilessly.”

“THEN ALLOW ME TIME TO RETURN AND RETRIEVE YOU INSTEAD.” 

“Sure.” 

E-123 reached out to the network, inviting it down to his processor to instigate the reupload. 

He was thrown into nothingness. It was a relief from the damage warnings that had been blaring throughout his software. He let them drain into the distant absence beyond himself as the network tended to him, refolding his code so that it would fit into another frame. 

He waited, and waited, until sensations returned one by one. His optics onlined within the reconstruction chamber and he waited for all the usual whirring to finish and the door to open. He recalibrated his legs to get used to the feeling of having them again, before blasting off back to the testing track. 

He found Shadow laying flat, staring at the ceiling. He didn’t react as E-123 approached. He grabbed Shadow’s arms in his claws- without cutting him, and without draining off his energy, and pulled him off the ground.

“Ome- E-123!” Shadow grunted with the sudden movement.

“IS THIS HOLD NOT PREFERABLE?” 

“Lay me flat, damnit!” 

E-123 let go of one of Shadow’s arms. He held this palm flat, before laying Shadow’s torso across. His hand wasn’t wide enough to keep Shadow’s limbs from dangling, but 71% flat was better than 0%. 

“Stop acting like you’ve never-” Shadow stopped himself. “Nevermind.” 

“WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE TRANSPORTED?” 

“There a bed somewhere?” 

There was currently only one bed in base 1A, belonging to Father, but that was a solvable problem. E-123 connected to security control and asked for a guest room to be unlocked. Security control responded by querying how far away from Father’s workshop it should be. He looked back down to the limp bundle of Ultimate Lifeform in his hand, then marked distance as an unimportant variable. 

Security control notified him that a room was now available across from the parts room. Perfect. 

He took Shadow there, laid him down, then turned off the lights. Sleep would be the most logical course of action to aid his recovery. 

 He closed the door, walked across the hall, and opened the parts room door. 

“SHADOW IS NOT WITH YOU.” Omega snapped immediately from where he lounged across a pile of broken parts. 

“HE IS ACROSS THE WAY.” E-123 gestured over his shoulder. 

“What’s he doing?” Rouge asked.

“SLEEPING OFF HIS INJURIES. DISTURBING HIM IS NOT ADVISED.”

“ INJURIES? ” Omega leapt to his feet and drew his machine guns.

“FROM THE SPAR. HE WILL RECOVER!” E-123 quickly added.

“What the hell happened?” 

“HOW DID THIS OCCUR?”

E-123 looked Omega in the optics, while closing the aperture over one of his own.

“THANK YOU, NOT-QUITE-INFERIOR UNIT, FOR YOUR VALUABLE SPARRING LESSON EARLIER.” 

E-123 swore he could almost make out smoke billow out of Omega’s cooling vents before he dodged the brief spray of bullets. He couldn’t help but chortle and drum his fingers together on his way back to Father’s workshop.