I snap out of my nightmare to Rouge shaking my shoulder and saying something along the lines of, "We have something to do." Dazed, I sit up, shaking my head. An odd scratchy feeling in the back of my throat prevents me from answering her, but she clearly wasn't expecting an answer; the moment I sat up, she'd turned around and begun to walk down the hill. Dragging myself to my feet, still feeling tired, I yawn and stretch.

Beside me, Omega pauses to whirr for a moment, and then he follows her, using his rockets to hover above the ground. I start to pursue them, but after a few steps I stop to sneeze again. "Ugh..." I grumble, shaking myself off. For whatever reason, my throat hurts and my nose is perpetually itchy--I have no clue why that could be happening.

"Hey, hurry up!" Rouge yells. "We'll never make it if you don't pick up the goddamn pace!"

I cringe. Sounds like somebody didn't sleep well... "Yeah, I know," I yell back, my voice oddly harsh-sounding, not in tone but in general 'texture' of sound. Jeez, what's wrong with me? Jogging to catch up with them, I worry for a moment. What's happening? Why is my voice all messed up?

"Glad you could make it," Rouge quips as I catch up to her. "Here's the plan. We're going in through a skylight up there--d'you see it?" She points to a glowing spot on a portion of the roof. The base itself has a smooth and sleek metal exterior, formed with rounded surfaces that'll make it difficult to climb. It's also a dull gray color, a shade between our two fur colors, which means that camouflaging ourselves to the wall is an impossible idea. "We're going to smash through it, tear the base apart, and take whatever he has."

"I thought you usually stole things more surreptitiously than that," I remark, shocked.

"We're behind schedule." She replies in a clipped tone, and then she looks over at me, seeming concerned. "Are you okay? You sound rougher than usual."

"I'm fine," I growl, turning away from her. "Just slept weird. Let's focus on your mission, eh?" Glancing back at her, I flash a smirk, hoping to seal the deal and convince her I'm okay.

She smiles at me. "If you say so," the elegant white bat replies. "Anyways, to get up there, you're gonna have to climb it somehow, because I'm not picking you up again. You're too freakin' pointy and you fidget a lot." Turning her nose upwards, she grimaces slightly.

Embarrassed, I shrug, chuckling sheepishly, flashing my trademark smirk. "Heh...My bad?" She doesn't reply, but she giggles slightly, trying to hide it by covering her mouth with one hand. I smirk again, triumphantly this time. Good, she's not grumpy anymore. Let's hope that mood holds. As we approach the side of the building, I prepare myself, aiming to just keep running and do a vertical wall-run. If that fails, I know my claws are long enough that I could easily scrape my way up the wall, but running takes less time. At about 2 yards from the wall, Rouge suddenly veers vertically up, and for a moment I wonder why she didn't just fly straight to the roof from the hill, but now really isn't the time to be focusing on that. I concentrate on the wall ahead of me, and time seems to slow down as I mentally calculate. It's made of steel, thin enough to be bent into a curved shape, but it looks like it hasn't been cleaned in a while. There's a thin layer of grime and dirt of varying degrees across its surface; whether or not that will help or hinder me is a risk I'll have to take. At the last step before the wall, I plant my right foot squarely on the ground, lifting my left to kick the wall. In one fluid movement, I half-flip, aligning my feet parallel to the wall. So far, so good. Forcing myself to work against gravity, I clench my teeth in concentration. I just have to keep moving. I'm not gonna rely on Rouge for this one...!

An idea flashes into my head, and I glance down at my feet. It's worth a try, I suppose, and better than falling from this height! With a slight kick, I start up the air-compression engines in my shoes, and they roar to life; a familiar sound I didn't even realize I'd missed. A grin slides across my face as my shoes begin to glide easily over the smooth metal surface, the roar having faded to a soft growl. I dash forward, moving in a skating motion, swiftly scaling the building. Once I near the top, I lean forward, stretching out an arm. Gripping the edge of the building, I kick off with my right leg again, claws gripping into the metal, flipping forwards; once my head was level with the edge, I curled my arm in slightly, angling myself at more of a 40-degree arc from the edge, and letting go--my momentum would do the rest. Spiraling forward, I land easily on my feet, skidding slightly. Rouge, standing nearby, applauds. "Neat trick, Shadezy."

I straighten up, annoyed. "Why do you have to keep giving me nicknames?" I grumble. "My name's Shadow, not Shadz or Shadezy or whatever."

"Awwh, are you upset?" She pouts. "My bad," the white bat chirps, shrugging.

I give her an irritated look, but decide to drop the subject as Omega rockets up beside us, landing heavily. "We have reached our target destination." He drones, standing up stiffly.

"Yep~!" Rouge chirps. "And now, to smash through the window!"

"I shall do so," Omega lifts his right arm, walking towards the skylight.

"I'll jump in first," I say to Rouge as I turn to face her, "so that any glass shards still falling will hit me rather than you. The last thing we need is for your wings to get shredded or something."

"They're sturdier than that!" Rouge protests, looking affronted. Behind us, Omega smashes the glass into pieces, falling into it.

"Tch, either way, I'm going through before you." I reply, smirking. Before she can protest, I spring off the ground, doing a triple backflip; as I fall through the now-empty window, I catch one last glimpse of her annoyed face, and I flash a grin her way. Beneath me, a brightly-lit hallway, now carpeted with glass shards; I quickly stretch out my leg and drag it across the ground, kicking glass shards down the hallway at the startled robots who had been meandering the halls mere moments before. My kick is fast enough to drive the shards into their hulls. Several fall, exploding or making other unusual popping and electrical noises; Omega opens fire, and I immediately drop to the ground as he stretches his arms straight out from his body, rotating his torso rapidly. A warm feeling blossoms in my chest--I'd forgotten how fun it was to fight alongside him. Though something still feels like it's missing. I can't put my finger on what, exactly, isn't there, but I shake the thought off to focus on the battle.

"That's right, give 'em hell, boys!" Rouge cheers from above, having swooped in during our little skirmish. "All we gotta do, once the hallway is cleared," she pauses to kick a robot's face in, "is go left, then right, and then take the door at the very end of the corridor. The room where the gems are will be in there."

"Got it," I growl, glaring at the robots in front of me. Streaking forward rapidly, I stretch my left leg out, skidding along the ground, knocking several robots over. They crash inelegantly behind me, the collision setting off a few explosions. Sprinting straight ahead, I leap into the air, preforming a perfect spiraling spin-kick--like Sonic's spin-dash maneuver, my midair kick is my specialty move--crashing three airborne robots into each other, and landing on another robot's head, my momentum crushing it. The explosion from its destruction propels me forward into another round of aerial combat; again, I'd forgotten how fantastic fighting is. Especially in a small team like this.

"Shadow!" Rouge yells from behind me. "Take out the ones in the air--we'll take care of the ground forces. You go on ahead, too, since you're the fastest."

I leap up again, turning 180 degrees midair to flash her a thumbs-up. "I can take care of this!" Executing a perfect backflip yet again, I crash feet-first into another robot, using it as a springboard for another flip. My arms stick straight out from my sides, serving as ballast, and I land neatly on my feet. Turning on a dime, I sprint down the corridor.

-----------------

Rouge stares after Shadow. Damn, his fighting style is a mixture of martial arts and ballet... Unusual. I would've thought that he'd have a more rough fighting style than that, but it's so elegant. She kicks a robot like a soccer ball, sending it careening into a couple more. Their numbers are thinning, as Omega mows down swaths of them, their metal corpses twisted and warped by the force of his gun-power. She lands on the ground as he crushes the last few. "Okay, let's follow him."

"Agreed," the robot drones, turning around. Rouge dashes past him, her heels clacking nosily. Ahead of them, countless robots lay strewn across the halls, torn apart, sparks still fizzing from their corpses. Shadow had very clearly already been there. She takes the left she had told her teammates about earlier, turning with a slight skid thanks to her heels, slipping for a second. Regaining her balance easily, she leaps up and starts flapping her wings; Rouge has always been faster in the air rather than on the ground. Omega thunders along behind her, the poster child (er, poster robot) for 'indiscreet.' She cringes inwardly as he makes a rather impressive racket.

Ignoring his obnoxious noises, she keeps an eye out for their right turn; spotting it, she flies higher, over Omega. "Here!" She calls down to him, and he nods, stopping to turn. Wow, he doesn't have much of a turn radius at all, now, does he? Chuckling, she zooms down the long, dark corridor, closing her eyes and using her echolocation to paint an accurate image of her surroundings. Ahead of her, Shadow's finishing off the last few robots, smashing their heads together with a smug expression on his face. The white bat opens her eyes, grinning. "Straight ahead! Hurry up!" She flaps even harder, zeroing in on her friend.

"Noted." The robot responds, picking up the pace as well.

-------------

As I smash the last robot's face, my arm elbow-deep in its skull, I hear the familiar sound of flapping wings; turning, I spot Rouge speeding towards me. Oil splatters up from the robot as I viciously rip my arm out of it, disgusted, tossing it to the side. Fortunately, the dark oil is the same color as my fur, albeit shinier; it shouldn't be too noticeable. Rouge alights next to me, the wind from her wings tousling my fur. "Heya, Shadz!" She chirps, smiling. "Didn't take us too long to catch up. Have you tried opening the door yet?"

"Not yet." I reply. "I just finished off the last guards, as you can see," I sweep my left arm out perpendicularly from my body, gesturing to the spark-filled carcasses littering to corridor. She nods at them, then turns to the door and begins to mess with the locks, inspecting them. I step back, watching her work; she pulls a lock-picking kit out of her left-hand pack and snags a few tools from it, rapidly disengaging the locks. The door clicks, and she begins to turns the handle gently. An idea flashes through my head, and I suddenly reach out, grabbing her shoulder. "Wait," I growl, doing my best to keep the concern out of my voice--knowing her, she'd probably be annoyed by it, "we don't know if the door is rigged. Let me go first."

"Makes sense," she replies, shrugging and stepping back. I take her place, facing the door. If this thing is rigged, I'm going to need to keep the door from crushing us. I examine it rapidly as my hand glides towards the doorknob. From the structure of the doorframe, it's a one way door that only swings inwards. It's a bit old, at least 20 years old, made of oak, with slight amounts of water damage. The handle's of a cheap metal, probably easily bent, and it was made cheaply. A creaking sound issues from it as I open the door. Cringing, I wait for an explosion or something, but there's only silence. Feeling slightly ridiculous, I shove the door open fully. Rouge leans over my shoulder, excited.

The room it opens into is a rather unassuming one. It's small, cramped-looking room, jam-packed with shelves. The walls are a dark purple, and it's lit by a few blue bulbs. I step inside, holding the door open; Rouge dashes around me, overjoyed. "Oh my god, it's amazing!" She squeals, jumping around. Each of the shelves is lined with different oddities, artifacts and jewels--stepping up to one of those shelves, I notice that they're all organized perfectly.

"Hm, so he alphabetizes his collection?" I remark appreciatively. "That's nice."

"Ahh, this is perfect!" Rouge starts grabbing jewels left and right. "Hurry, Shadow, Omega, grab as many things as you can find! Remember: the more we take, the less money he has!"

"Right." I respond, and I stretch to my tip-toes in order to grab the items off the highest shelf, aiming to go down the line, in alphabetical order. Omega takes to the shelf beside me, clearing the shelves with reckless abandon. Within a few minutes, my arms were full to the point where I couldn't even see, and Omega was stuffed to the gills too. Rouge's packs were full, and she was grinning from ear to ear.

"Alrighty~!" She sings, clapping her hands. "Here, lemme take some of those." She grabs some of the items I was carrying, almost hitting me in the face with her hands. Within a few seconds, we were each only partially burdened.

"How are we gonna get back out of here?" I ask, glancing around.

"Same way we came in, duh. We cleaned the place of robots, or do you not remember destroying, like, a hundred of them?" The white bat scoffs, rolling her eyes at me.

Something catches my eye, and I turn slightly, fixing my eyes upon it. A small security camera, blinking a red light, is trained right on us. "I don't think it's gonna be that easy," I reply grimly. If the camera was rolling the entire time, we gave Robotnik enough time to call in reinforcements; none of us could possibly fight against a hundred more robots, not as over-encumbered as we are.

"You worry too much," Rouge replies flippantly, walking out of the room. Her heels click against the wood flooring, and I glance down. Pine wood, slightly warped--this place clearly used to get a lot of rain, if it doesn't still--and older than the door, with more water damage. Unusual, why would he need to replace the doors, but not the flooring? Especially when this floor is so damaged... My eyes flick back to the room. We hadn't gone far into it, only cleaning out the first few shelves, but something tells me the room might have more to offer than just the gemstones. Omega, behind me, begins to thump out the door; I turn my gaze to the door, inspecting it. The doorframe, as well, is new; but it shows signs of wear that I hadn't noticed before. Less than twenty years old, yet cracking as if it were as old as the floor? Looking back at the door, now half-closed, I notice something I didn't see before--scratches of varying depth and width lacing across the lower half of its surface. Crouching down, I close the door a little more, staring at the scores in the wood. My heart begins to pound. What was he keeping in here that could make these marks? Is it still here? If so, where? "Hey, Shadz! Quit dawdling!" Rouge yells from down the corridor. "What are you doing?"

I ignore her. Shifting the gems to one arm, I lift my hand to the scratches, running my fingers across them. On a whim, I unsheathe my own claws, lining them up with the deepest marks. They glide smoothly along, exactly the right size and shape to make those scratches... My eyes widen in horror.

"Hey!" Rouge leans around the door, startling me. I jump back, sheathing my claws, and dropping a jewel or two. "What the heck are you doing, slowpoke?"

"N-Nothing, I mean, I just--" Scrambling to collect the dropped artifacts, I stutter and stammer, trying to say "I'm not doing anything" and "I just thought I saw another jewel" at the same time. She glares down at me, annoyed.

"Look, weirdo, we have to get out of here before Robotnik sends reinforcements." She turns back around, beginning to walk off. "So, if you're done checking out that door," the snowy bat tosses over her shoulder, "then come on and help us get outta this dump."

"R-Right." I growl, standing up and jogging after her, trying to make certain that I don't drop anything. I catch up to them rather easily, trotting up behind Omega. Nervously, I look back at the almost-closed door, glancing over my shoulder. For a moment, it almost looks like there's something else in the doorframe, staring at me... I jerk back, blinking, but it's gone.

Did I really just see that?