#Team dark

[feedtheswamp]

[l3monadecookie]

"Aw yeah baby this makes us a team" First Team Dark selfie <3

[teamdarkweek]

It's been a stressful week of disobeying GUN. Shadow will be spending the weekend stalking the forest by night. Rouge found a luxurious spa resort full of the rich and famous' unattended belongings. Omega has reserved a nearby quarry for his exclusive use.

[generic-sonic-fan]

The concept of Punk Omega won't leave my mind.

He showed up to a local punk show in the back of a run-down dive bar one day because he heard it was going to be "violent". People did a double take at him (which is normal) but what was strange is that they left him alone after. They didn't protest to him being there, didn't panic, didn't run or complain or object like the "good people" of the nicer parts of town. The screeching guitars and thumping percussion were both things he could feel beneath his plating. And seeing people in the mosh pit, seeing the way they let themselves be angry and physical in a way he'd never seen meatbags act before, left a really big impression on him.

Omega hates going to the big box stores of suburbia and the "cleaned up" downtown of his city, but you'll catch him wandering down the back alleys of the rough districts. People don't stare at him here at all anymore. And if anyone does have a problem with him, it's socially acceptable here to brandish his weapons and tell them to fuck off.

Shadow and Rouge only find out about this when they try to make plans to scout for more Eggman bases, only for Omega to say "I AM BUSY TONIGHT, LET'S RESCHEDULE." Upon Rouge asking what on this good green planet could possibly get Omega to delay the destruction of more Eggman robots, Omega answers "THE DEATHSKULL SPLITTERS ARE HAVING THEIR ANNIVERSARY CONCERT. I CAN DESTROY BADNIKS ANY DAY OF THE WEEK; THIS SHOW IS ONLY TONIGHT".

(They go with him and have a fantastic time. For Christmas that year they get him a custom jean vest with patches of all his favorite local bands sewn on.)

[sonic-but-make-it-incorrect]

Eggman, filling out paperwork: Were you guys born AMAB or AFAB?

Omega: Bold of you to assume I was born at all.

Shadow: I personally was created in a lab.

Rouge: I just straight up spawned

[tooshnado]

nighty night

[bahrlee]

Sure idk

[losttimpactt]

when is omega getting his own game

🔴 KO-FI

⚫ COMMISSION INFO

[thelvadams]

E-123 OMEGA in DARK BEGINNINGS: Finding the Way

[nenafena]

pov u dropped ur lunch and they r looking at the wreckage

[cryoshad]

concerning pastimes

[mihhnt]

[emthimofnight]

Omega finds out about Stellar! :)

Rouge did not elaborate past, "Did you hear that Shadow had a baby with Sonic?" and this is what happens LOL

[teamdarkdaily]

day 99: year of shadow

[generic-sonic-fan]

That Twisted Mirror - Chapter 1: Shadow

Summary: Team Dark is transported to a reality where they must face the worst versions of themselves. To get home, they must work with the most unlikely allies- if Omega can stand not killing them on sight, if Shadow can get over his guilt enough to act, and if Rouge can bring herself to care about the fate of this timeline, that is.

4205 words

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. 

---

Next chapter, and all future chapters, are posted to AO3.