"Push, Shadow, push!" She yells, voice echoing around, rattling in my skull, and I grind my teeth together, muscles straining beneath her.

"Hey, I'm trying!" I snap, exhausted; sweat runs down my brow, dripping onto my chest fluff. "You're..." I pause, wheezing, and desperately trying to shove her up out of the hole. We're so close to the exit! "Too..." Another growl, another step, and I hear her fingertips scrape the edge of the hole, fingers scrabbling about for something to hold onto. "Freakin'..." I press my leg against the wall, trying to dig in with the toe of my boot, and as her hands wrap around a stone on the floor above, I finally finish my sentence. "HEAVY!" I wheeze, and she kicks off me, forcing me to dig my claws into the wall as she hauls herself up out of the shaft. I yelp, dirt raining down on me; squeezing my eyes shut, I yip out a complaint as her heels dig sharply into my shoulder.

"Thanks, Shadow," she calls down, breathing heavily as she flops over. I can't see anything through the dirt in my eyes, burning its way through my tear ducts every time I blink. After a second or two, I feel strong hands wrap around my arms at the shoulder, tugging gently. I'm too exhausted to even protest as she gently lifts me; disentangling my talons from the mine shaft, I relax in her grip, and she pulls me halfway out of the tunnel. "Whew, you're pretty heavy yourself, Shadz," she jokes halfheartedly, and I feel guilt flash through me, prompting me to move. I shouldn't make her carry me, not when she's this tired. Lifting a hand, I rub the dust and pebbles out of my eyes, forcing them to open quite painfully; glancing up, I grab onto the lip of the tunnel, forcing my aching muscles to take me just a bit further. After a few more moments of effort, she pulls me out of the shaft and into her arms, a welcome feeling, but to my dismay she immediately hefts me off of her. I don't protest, though, just letting myself fall, and the two of us lie side by side, chests heaving in almost perfect sync with each other. I'm lying face-down, head turned to one side, looking at her. She lies on her back, gazing at the ceiling, eyes clouded with exhaustion. I blink lazily, trying not to move too terribly much, and she slowly turns her head to stare at me. "We did it," she breathes with a smile, and I find myself smirking right along with her. "Sorry about that, though," she blushes a bit sheepishly, "I should've known there'd be traps set up."

"Not your fault," I mutter, slowly picking myself up. My arm muscles scream in agony, pain lancing throughout every part of my body: my back, my legs, my shoulders, even my neck to some extent. "You couldn't have--" I groan, hefting myself off the ground, forcing my legs to stay solid as I get to my feet, swaying slightly, "--known the tunnel...was there." I breathe the last part in a pant, trying desperately to breathe--my muscles are so tired, just breathing is tough.

"I wish I had," she sighs, still lying on the ground, "because we just wasted three hours on that."

"Three hours?" I stare down at her blearily. No wonder I feel so awful... Three hours of hauling us up through that shaft by my claws. Ugh. "We have to make up for lost time, then." Rubbing my forehead between my eyebrows, I bite back an involuntary grumble as I stretch carefully, trying to ease my muscles into movement.

"Yeah," she replies hazily, starting to sit up. Her heels scrape against the ground as her knees bend; her wings are still held at unnatural angles, and I feel bad for her. With my heightened senses, I should have picked up on the absence of solid ground beneath us... I should be the one apologizing, not her, honestly. Extending one hand to her, I give her a weary smile, and she returns it as she grabs onto it, pulling down on me to help lift herself. I wince, tightening my muscles to keep from falling over. Damn, I really am worn-out! "Thanks," she breathes, leaning on me a bit heavily as she stands, hands wrapped around my arm. "God, I hurt," Rouge whines, laying her head on my shoulder. Puzzled, I twist, trying to look at her without accidentally throwing her off me; I can't see her face, only the back of her head, with her ears flopping lazily across my cheeks.

"I know," I answer flatly, feeling a bit uncomfortable and not sure what to do, "but we can't quit now. We still have a mission to accomplish." She doesn't move, and I hesitate. An awkward stretch of silence ensues as I patiently wait for her to get off of me. Did she fall asleep or something? Gently, cautiously, I lift my other hand, gingerly poking the side of her head. "Uh." I mutter. "Are you...going to move?"

"Yeah, yeah," she grumbles, pushing me away; I try not to stumble as she turns her back on me, wearily beginning to plod down the narrow cave passageway. "C'mon," she calls over her shoulder, "let's get going."

"Mh-hmm," I answer with a nod, striding after her. Great... All that and we're no closer to our goal at all...

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

Feet aching, with drowsy eyes, we two walk side by side, each leaning on the other slightly for support. Thankfully, we're about five minutes away from the entrance to Robotnik's base--we're going to climb in through an unused ventilation shaft, and then I'll follow Rouge to wherever we're supposed to end up. I don't know where that is or even what we're after, but honestly, I'm just too tired to care. My hands are jammed in my pockets again, head lowered, with my eyes flitting from left to right; she has one arm looped through mine, though it was more of a mutual decision than an unwanted act on her part (for once), each of us supporting the other, and she gently runs her other hand's thumb in circles on my bicep. I'm not sure why she's doing this, but it's kinda soothing, even though it's weird to feel the hoodie's material grinding against my fur. Glancing over at her, I tip my head to one side a bit, feeling my spines cascade across my shoulders. "How close are we?" I inquire quietly, and she flicks her gaze my way. My heart stutters slightly as her glimmering azure eyes clash with my red ones. Damn, why does that keep happening? Maybe there's something wrong with me--am I getting sick?

"Only a little ways further," she replies, smiling down at me. "But we'll still have a long ways to go, since we have to make the return trip too." For a moment, she stops rubbing her thumb across my arm, looking down at her hand like she didn't even know it was there. "Uh, sorry," she mumbles, blushing vividly and disentangling her arm from mine as she turns her face away from me. "Didn't realize I was doing that..." I open my mouth to protest, but it's a little too late now, and besides, how do I even tell her I don't mind her rubbing my arm weirdly? Bleh, it's whatever, I tell myself, I don't even care. Right?

"Hmph," I answer, pulling my arms a bit closer to me and averting my gaze as well. We continue plodding forward in silence; after a few moments, we come to a fork in the road, and she takes us to the left, stopping in front of a small grate. "Oh, no," I groan, "don't tell me we have to go in there!"

"Fine," she answers in a cocky tone as she starts to undo the grating, "I won't tell you, then." I scowl at her, irritated. That's the second time you've said that today... Yanking the door off, she crouches down--the opening is only about as high as my knee--and inspects the opening for a moment. "You need to go first, since you're smaller." She says, looking up at me, and I blanch.

"N-No way..." I stutter, taking a step back with one hand lifted in front of me as if it can somehow form a veritable barrier. Rouge's eyes gleam wickedly, and I shudder. Oh, crap...

Within moments, she's shoved me into the ventilation shaft ahead of her, spurring me on with a string of complaints about my speed as well as a few well-placed jabs to my thighs and calves. I can't help it--this space is so horribly enclosed and dark, I can't stop trembling, and the only thing I want is to be out of this stupid metal prison but I don't want to keep moving when I know the entrance is just behind me. "Is there no other way in than this?" I whine as she shoves me forward again; biting back a sigh, I decide to pick up the pace, forcing myself to keep moving, without stopping this time.

"I take it back," she grumbles, "I should've gone first."

"Hey, you can't blame me!" I protest. "I told you at the start of all this, I don't like cramped spaces!" Agonized, I scoot forward, crawling on my elbows and knees, trying carefully to avoid any bolts that could scrape against my skin. "But all we've done since getting here," I continue in a quiet wail, "is get into horrible, awful, tight places! Why did we have to take this path?!"

"This is the fastest route," Rouge snarls, frustrated. "How many times do I have to tell you that?!"

"I dunno," I sigh, "How many times have you told me already?" Inching forward again, I claw my way further into the ventilation shaft shakily. Oh God oh God oh God I really hope this doesn't collapse or something! Is it stable enough to support our own weight? I don't think it's strong enough. Did it just wobble? Maybe we should back out.

"At least ten times," she grumbles in reply, pushing me a bit more, and I jolt a bit, startled out of my reverie. I can't even begin to describe how uncomfortable that makes me--I mean, she's behind me, I'm on my hands and knees, and...well...to put it politely, the only thing she can put her hands on to shove me is my tail, given that my legs are constantly moving now (though at a snail's pace). I'm not sure she realizes how awkward this is, but I'm just glad my copious spines are blocking any and all view of my face; my cheeks are surely rivaling my stripes' hues by now. Please stop touching me, I whine internally, though I'm determined not to let her know how disturbed I am, lest I seem weak.

"Well shoot for eleven," I smirk wittily, and she punches me. I flinch, crimson splashing across my cheeks again, but this time I've had enough. That's the last straw! I twist, snarling at her with my chin pressed to my fluffy white chest fur, buried to the nose in it. "Quit hitting me! I'm moving as fast as I safely can, okay?!"

"Well, push the boundaries of safety or something!" She snaps back. "You're taking FOREVER!" Fortunately, she stops shoving me, resorting to a string of obscenity-laced urgings as we proceed. I try to hasten my pace, but anxiety works against me, freezing my limbs. I keep feeling like I'm gonna throw up, having to repeatedly choke down the urge. I can't wig out here and now, not with her so close to me... Talk about embarrassing! Cringing inwardly, I try to steady my breathing, though it keeps hitching in the back of my throat. Is it just me, or are these walls closing in around us? I shudder, fur involuntarily stiffening, as a humid and muggy aura settles around me like a disgusting heavy cloak. Ugh, the air is so still and dense... I bite back a whine, distressed; Rouge, behind me, seems to take note of my growing discomfort, and her griping fades away. For a solid ten minutes, we scoot along in tense silence, until I finally can't stand it any longer.

"How far away are we from our destination?" I ask tersely, eyes flitting left and right as the walls loom closer and closer to me.

"Well," I hear some shuffling, the sound of an electronic device 'waking up', and then my batty partner hums and answers, "only about five more minutes if we pick up the pace a little."

"Five minutes," I mutter, scuttling along a bit faster, determination flaring in my heart. "I can live with that." My stomach continues to churn as I nervously glance over my shoulder to make sure Rouge is still right behind me. I can feel concern beginning to drift from her--directed, unsurprisingly, at me. Shit. We have to get out of here before she starts to question whether or not I'm capable of continuing. I'm on the verge of collapse as the steel all around me twists and warps, seeming to melt before my very eyes and plaster itself all around me, clinging to my fur, dragging me down and chilling me to the bone. I shake myself vigorously, trying to throw off these horrible visions; sweat drips down my brow, and my arms tremble as I force myself to go just a bit further.

"...Are you okay?" My azure-eyed companion asks, worry starting to ooze into her voice. I blanch, panicking, and twist to smile bleakly at her over my shoulder, eyes squeezed almost entirely shut.

"O-Of course I am, Rouge!" I answer with feigned cheer, though much to my dismay, my voice shakes and quivers. She gives me a doubtful glance, and cold, nervous sweat breaks out across my brow, stronger than before. "Why wouldn't I be fine, Rouge? Everything's cool, everything's fine, Rouge, it's great, Rouge--" I start to ramble, not even noticing how many times I keep saying her name, and her ears droop as exasperation flashes across her face. I freeze, clenching my teeth together, embarrassment blossoming in my chest. "S-Sorry, I'll shut up now," I stutter past my fangs as they grind against each other, but to my surprise, she isn't annoyed at me.

"It's fine," she replies, "I know that this makes you really uncomfortable, but unfortunately this is something you're gonna have to get used to." To my surprise, I don't find myself ruffled by her sympathy for once—I actually don't mind pity coming from her, I guess. "We're almost there, though, and I know you're capable of toughing it out for another five minutes." I can almost hear the smile in her voice, though I can't turn to fully face her in this narrow shaft. I nod in response, still feeling a little queasy—my outburst took a lot of energy, stirring the nausea I felt earlier into more of a swirling vortex than it was before. "Once we're out," Rouge barrels on, still trying to cheer me up, "we'll just have a little bit further to go in order to reach the goal." Yeah, 'once we're out,' I say to myself, taking deep breaths to steady my ever-increasing heart rate, if I don't throw up first, sure, I'll be fine. I shudder yet again, quaking in my shoes. No, no, no, no, nononononono I can NOT have a breakdown, NOT here, NOT now, NOT in front of her, NO WAY! I dig my claws into the metal, snarling softly to myself, as I force myself forward just a bit more through this warping and bending and dark and terrifying corridor. After a few more minutes of clawing our way along, Rouge taps my tail, whispering, "Hey, we're here--the grate a few feet ahead of us is our exit point."

"Okay," I whisper back, crawling forward carefully, arcing my back up to brush my spines against the ceiling as I cautiously step over the grate, then twisting and contorting in a mildly uncomfortable way, trying to turn around. Rouge herself stops before the gate and just stares at me as I settle down across from her. Panting slightly, I shake myself off, feeling a few bones pop. She's giving me an extraordinarily odd look, one I've never seen before, and out of curiosity I poke into her thoughts--since no one's ever given me that sort of a look before, I want to know what's causing it.

This proves to be the worst mistake of my life so far, and I blanch suddenly, yanking myself out of her thoughts; I press my muzzle to the grate hurriedly, praying that she can't see my face. Crimson heat spreads across my muzzle, and it seems like I can almost feel every molecule of air rubbing my fur the wrong way. Never have I ever been so uncomfortable. O-kay! That is the last time I will ever pry into her thoughts, I tell myself. Jesus Christ, if this were a cartoon, she'd have gotten a nosebleed..."Where's our target?" I hiss, not lifting my head from the grate until my cheeks cool down again.

I hear her shuffle, and then her warm breath whooshes against the back of my ear, resulting in an involuntary twitch on my part, but she doesn't react. "Right there," she points, and my gaze follows her finger. Beneath us in an abandoned room stands row upon row of display cases, filled with different objects.

"Why on earth does he always have one room for all his stuff?" I mutter, "If he were smart, he'd be hiding all this crap under the floorboards..." My eyes flit from display case to display case—something seems a bit off here.

"He likes to show off," she answers with a chuckle. "Don't complain, it just makes things easier for us." As she speaks, my eyes narrow, focusing in on one particular row... There! That's what's 'off' here! In the middle of the second row (in my line of vision, at least--there could be more rows that I just can't see through the grating), there's one display case that's off from the rest of them by at least an inch. How could he not notice that?! My fingers lace through the grate, and a snarl twists my lips. I'll have to fix that for him..idiot...

"Alright," I growl, pulling back from the opening, "what's our plan?"

She sits back too, smirking cheerfully at me as she brushes her hair behind her shoulders. "Okay, so, here's the deal..."

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

Gently, carefully, I twist, guided by Rouge as she works to reveal the ever-so sensitive laser-beams of the security system. She hangs onto my foot, and I sway from side to side ever so slightly; nervous sweat beads on my brow, but I don't dare move to wipe it away. "Just a little farther," she hisses, "and you'll be able to just drop down."

"Right," I stage-whisper back, eyes trained on the floor above me. Teetering unsteadily, I bite my lip, cautiously creeping further out into the room. She slowly extends her arm down, lowering me with ease.

"Okay," she growls, "go!" Letting go of my foot, she pulls her arm back as I twirl elegantly midair, narrowly avoiding a few beams. They'd be completely invisible if it weren't for the peculiar powder-emitting device Rouge happened to have with her. The stuff is entirely odorless, but reveals the concentrated light beams easily. Landing on my hands, I balance precariously, looking down at Rouge, who watches me from the ceiling. As if on cue, Rouge tosses out more powder, and I squeeze my eyes shut, feeling it drift around me; after a few seconds, I ease my eyes open, surveying my surroundings. Ever-so-carefully, I bend my arms until my nose almost brushes the floor, then curl my legs underneath a laser, dropping to the floor in a crouch. Behind me, I hear the flitting of my batty partner's wings as she follows me closely, ducking and weaving in an extravagant dance; I try to refrain from staring, but she moves so beautifully. It's difficult not to watch as she spirals down from above to land next to me, her heels clacking quietly against the cold stone floors. She straightens up a little and smirks at me. "On to phase two," she purrs softly, and I nod, turning away from her. We stand back to back, Rouge fiddling with the display case as my eyes swivel about, checking the room at all times. To be honest, this situation is making me nervous--we don't know anything about this place's schedule, so if a guard happens to wander in here, we're screwed. We have no quick way out without triggering the alarm system, and that very thought terrifies me a decent bit, but I'd never admit that; besides, what are the odds of that happening?

A click pulls me from my thoughts, and I glance over my shoulder at my snow-furred friend a she carefully eases the display case open. Inside sits a glimmering jewel that seems to immediately beauty. "Jackpot," Rouge gasps, eyes alight with greed. "So this is the Diamond of Ages..."

"Diamond of Ages?" I mutter, confused. The jewel is a bright, almost translucent blueish white, sort of like a diamond but yet not quite as transparent, and it's about the size of Rouge's palm, elegantly cut into a spherical shape.

"Robotnik was keeping it as some sort of backup funding," my partner answers, jamming it into a container hanging from her belt. It doesn't fit too well, but she manages to close it. "Same as everything else we've taken from Robotnik. He has a tendency to hoard goods rather than cash." Twisting to look down at me over her shoulder, she finishes, "In fact, while we're here, we're to take everything we can get our hands on. This is his high-end stash, so it's really important."

"Hang on," I tip my head up to look at her as well, I raise an eyebrow, eyes half-lidded. "Wasn't that our last mission's objective, too?"

She chuckles. "Yeah, that's the government's main objective right now. We're doing our best to cripple him," her expression suddenly darkens. "Especially after that little stunt he pulled with the Master Emerald."

A chill runs down my spine, and I bite my lip. Stunt... Yeah, right. My mood darkens, and I look down, letting out a small "hmph" as I stare at the floor. Sudden determination seizes me, and I lift my gaze. I will never let him do anything like that again. Never. Not to me, not to anyone. "Right, then," I answer coolly, "let's go--what's the fastest way we can do this?"

Surprised by my determination, she blinks a few times, long lashes fluttering in the wind. "Well, the fastest way would be to ignore the security systems and smash everything, but that's not feasible here. We have to--"

A loud crash sounds, and we both flinch, shocked. I peer around her, letting out a gasp. Behind her, a robot has entered the room, and is currently plowing through all the display cases in the way. "Sounds like that's gonna have to be our plan!" I shout, whirling around and bracing myself.

"Yep!" She replies, leaping up into the sky, teeth bared in a fighting grimace. "Smash everything you can and grab whatever you can store in that jacket! If things get too hairy, we'll get out the same way we got in!"

"Right!" I cry, leaping into the air beside her; twirling midair, I extend one leg out, descending harshly down onto the nearest robot. Using it as a springboard, I launch forth, kicking the machine backwards into a display case. A wicked grin lights up my face as I hear something behind me shatter; glancing back, I raise an eyebrow as my smile widens, seeing shards of a vase scatter all about. Beside me, Rouge elegantly lands in front of a robot, lifting her right leg in an elegant roundhouse kick. To my surprise, her shoes cut clean through the machine in front of her--the hearts at their tips, I now see, hold some sort of tremendously sturdy knives. As her first opponent falls, she hops slightly, bringing her right leg to the earth as her left leg lashes out in a beautiful arc, delivering a vicious reverse-roundhouse to her second victim, which saws them in half. Damn, that's impressive, I say to myself as I plant my foot squarely in the center of one robot's face. Unfortunately, I'm too distracted by watching Rouge—suddenly, a cold metal hand wraps its fingers in a bone-crushing grip around my ankle, and my stomach lurches sideways as the robot throws me roughly against the wall on its left side.

"Shadow!" Rouge yelps. I feel something cracking in my chest, and liquid spurts into the back of my throat from my lungs. I choke, spitting out a mixture of blood and saliva in a swear. Dropping to the floor, I land on my feet easily; robots surround me in a ring, each preparing their various weapons, and I wipe my muzzle on the back of my hand.

"Don't worry about me," I hiss, "I can handle myself." Darting forward, I vanish halfway to the leading robot, reappearing behind the machines; lashing out with one leg, I smash five together in a sweeping motion. My eyes dart from left to right, assessing the situation, and to my dismay it doesn't look good. We're outnumbered 60 to 1 at least, and those aren't the sort of odds I like. I'm starting to get a bit claustrophobic as the hulking metal behemoths close in around me. For a while, all I can do is dodge bullets and metallic claws, but as the numbers increase I begin to realize we're severely disadvantaged--the robots are all interconnected by their network, so each knows precisely what all of the others are doing, and even as they continue to pack themselves into the room like sardines, they can all fight effectively. I, on the other hand, am growing pressed for space; alarm shoots through me as I realize that I can't see anything but the robots around me. "Sh-Shit!" I stutter, teleporting frantically.

Unfortunately I seem to have the worst luck today--my panic leads me to teleport on top of an opponent who easily flings me to the ground. To my horror, the machination promptly begins to beat me, slamming its heavy metal fists into me in a manner akin to tenderizing meat. More robots join in, teaming up to pin me down, stomping and punching and kicking me mercilessly. I let out a howl of agony, strangled and stuttering with each wound inflicted. I've felt this before, haven't I? My vision grows dark at the edges, blurred and unfocused; something breaks my nose, and I feel blood pouring from it, its disgusting coppery taste filling my mouth. Where could I have--ugh, that isn't important right now! Focus! Pain lances from so many different places, mostly my ribcage, but my main concern is not passing out right now. Dammit, I swear to myself, this isn't good! Gritting my teeth until they crack, I snarl gutturally, a deep animal noise, anger flashing through me. I will not let this be the end! Lashing out, I slam my fist straight through the robot in front of me, feeling the bite of its electricity pop and crackle between my fingers. Chaos Energy surges through me, but oddly, it doesn't seem to start at my wrists like it always does. Rather, this influx of power begins in my chest, but I'm not surprised by it in the slightest; my anger melts away, replaced by an almost zen calm. I know what to do, I know what this is.

"Chaos...Blast!"