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"That's forty!" Sonic shouted as he curled his body up and sliced through three more of the attacking robots. "Hope you're keeping a fair score over there."

"Forty-one." Omega said as he separated the head of one of Eggman's robots from its body, crushing it in his hand. "I fear we may run out of targets before long."

"Guess that means we'll know who won soon." Sonic said with a confident tone to his voice. "This has gone pretty easy, don't you think?"

"Affirmative. These Eggman robots have proven to be quite weak." Omega said as he shot a few slugs into an attacking saw bladed robot that fell from the well placed bullets.

"How well do you think the others are doing?"

"I shall inquire on their status." Omega said as he picked up a robot he'd intended to destroy and held it up by its head. Saving it for after his report. Opening his communications app he awaited for the person on the other end to pick up.

"Rouge here." The voice in his head replied.

"Omega to Agent Rouge, Eggman robots have nearly been wiped out. Also I'm in the lead in my contest with the blue object." Omega said as he crushed the head of the robot he'd been holding while making his call, letting the body fall to the ground as it flailed about.

"Oh, that's good! Good to hear!" She replied, more excited than he'd expected her to be.

"Please report on status of Team 2."

"Team 2 is doing great. In fact you can let Sonic know that Tails just finished off Eggman's air support for us." Omega looked over at Sonic to see he was running circles around one of the saw blade wielding robots, causing it to cut the other robots around it to pieces.

"Affirmative. Please report on status of Team 3. Are they in position?"

"Team 3 is doing fine." Something was wrong. He could hear it in her voice. Not only that she didn't provide him with any details as to their current status.

"Agent Rouge, please report on Team 3's progress. Are they in position?"

"They... I don't know." This was not what he'd expected to hear. Omega used his leg to crush the flailing robot at his feet as he concentrated on Rouge's words. "I lost contact, Shadow's ear comm was destroyed. I think they met with interference."

"Understood. Disengaging to provide support right away." Just like that he turned to exit the fortress doors he'd destroyed moments earlier.

"Don't you dare!" Rouge commanded, but Omega didn't stop. "You have a mission to complete. If you leave now that will jeopardize everything."

"But Team 3 requires support." Omega said, continuing on his path.

"If you can complete your mission you have permission to provide support. But do not tell Sonic about any of this. If he finds out he'll abandon the mission without a second thought. I'll go in the mean time to back Shadow up, understood?" This wasn't what he wanted to hear. Rouge was less equipped to handle combat than he was. If Shadow actually met with something that could pose a threat to him then Omega was the best candidate to support him. But Rouge was the commander for their mission and she was logical in her response.

"Affirmative. Omega out." She gave him parameters to allow him to exit his mission. He just had to meet them. Turning to face back into the fortress Omega raised his volume on his voice. "Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Hey, you actually used my name!" Sonic said, dodging attacks gracefully from the mob of robots around him.

"Take position upon my back." Omega ordered, running into the center of the battle and knocking enemies out of his way with brutal swings of his arms.

"On your back, why?"

"Otherwise your percentage of being shot will rise from thirty five to ninety percent." Omega concluded, extending his arms outward as they unfolded to reveal a second row of holes for a Gatling gun stored within him. Sonic didn't waste time and did as the robot suggested, hopping onto his back and holding on as Omega's upper body rotated around in a circle and unloaded massive amounts of fire power onto their enemies. Waves of robots fell in the wake of bullets as they showered across the field, stray ones missing their targets lodging into the concrete walls and leaving deep impacts. Once it was over Omega's arms let out an exhaust of hot air and folded back into their normal form, his body stopping its spin and righting itself. Hopping off his back Sonic took in the sight around him.

"Whew, I guess you were full of bullets after all." Sonic noted the level of destruction Omega had left across the fortress. "If you could do that the whole time why didn't you start it right away?"

"It is less fun that way." Omega said. "I am departing."

"What, you're leaving!?"

"Affirmative. All Eggman robots have been destroyed. There is no longer a need for my presence." Omega began walking out of the fortress immediately, heading for the exit to get to the forest.

"But what about the entrance? How are we going to get this open?" Sonic asked as he motioned to the giant mustache shaped metal doors that prevented their entry way. Just looking at them you could tell they were much thicker than the doors that had guarded the fence.

"It is a door, handle it yourself." Omega responded coldly, not looking to waste another second. Though he never made it out of the fortress courtyard as a new alarm sounded, stopping him in his tracks. Turning back around Omega and Sonic watched as the gates to the fortress opened on their own, slowly parting to reveal what was inside. More robots. Not just more of the same but also larger ones, thick in body and designed for battle instead of labor. Three colossal robots marched out with the smaller robots around their legs to accompany them. One of the giant metal monsters raised its arm, firing wooden spears at high speeds at Sonic. He dodged them easily but it was clear that their previous fight had just been a warm up to Eggman's real forces.

"These things are quick." Sonic said, looking at the sharp spears that had tried to skewer him. "Guess the contest is still on." Rather than reply Omega looked at his arms, spinning the Gatling gun inside and finding it was empty after his last barrage of attacks. Walking up next to Sonic he picked up one of the wooden spears and threw it at one of the labor robots that approached, piercing through the robot's glass eyes.

"Affirmative. We shall continue." He noted the flying robots that were escaping as well, realizing they would be an obstacle for Rouge and Tails to provide support to Team 3. As Sonic ran into battle Omega felt an odd sensation of concern in his mind. "Do not fail, Shadow."

"Raaagh!" Amy shouted as her hammer swung down and collided with the dirt, missing her target again. The steel Sonic doppelganger was dodging her swings easily and he might have been able to land a counter attack on her if not for Shadow's attempts to strike him as well. Though they proved just as unsuccessful as the robot easily used his jet pack and reflexes to expertly dodge each punch and kick. As frustrating as it was, Metal Sonic was dancing around them without much of a struggle.

"You will grow tired." The robot taunted. "I will not."

"All we have to do is break you before that happens." Shadow countered as he braced his legs and launched himself at the robot, but Metal was prepared for this as his body deployed an electric force field that pushed the black hedgehog back and onto the ground where he started. "Nnggh!"

"Weak." Metal said as he lunged forward to strike shadow with his sharp fingers, but was blocked by Amy's hammer coming down in front of him and intercepting the attack. With a shout she hoisted the hammer upward to force him back, gasping for air as she held her weapon aloft. Shadow got to his feet and stood next to her, also breathing heavily.

"This thing's sure annoying." Shadow said to Amy. "Got some nasty tricks up his sleeve too."

"Everything about him is nasty." Amy said, gripping her hammer tighter. "But I will not let him take me as a hostage again."

"Again?" Shadow asked, confused by her statement. Though they didn't get to dwell on it as Metal's body began to glow and the jet pack on his back fired up. "He's coming in for another attack!" When the robot fired forward Shadow and Amy jumped into the air together to dodge him. When they landed Shadow turned around to see Metal had collided with a boulder that had been lodged into the ground but was now shattered into rocks with the robot's attack. It picked up one of the large pieces and tossed it directly at Amy. "Look out!" Pushing her aside Shadow ended up placing himself in the path of the attack, getting hit in the side and falling back against the ground.

"Shadow!" Amy shouted, running over to help him. However she was stopped short as she felt a metal hand grab her by the back of her head, gripping her pink quills tightly and holding her in place. She grit her teeth with tears in her eyes, but didn't hesitate to swing her hammer around behind her to try and dislodge her attacker's grip. Unfortunately the robot predicted this, grabbing her hammer by its handle and pulling it from her grasp. With her weapon tossed aside Metal Sonic pulled her closer to himself and placed his sharp fingers against her neck.

"You cowardly piece of scrap." Shadow said as he pulled himself to his feet. The side of his arm where he'd been hit with the rock was bleeding but he ignored it, raising his hand and letting it glow with a yellow energy. "Release her!"

"Negative." Metal Sonic replied.

"If that's the way you want it I'll put several holes in you right from here." Shadow threatened, holding his glowing hand outstretched at his opponent.

"You will not." Metal replied, holding Amy in front of him. "Doing so would risk harming the pink hedgehog. You will not jeopardize her." Shadow kept his position, energy gathered in his hand and ready to unleash. But he hesitated.

"I can hit you without harming her." Shadow said.

"Can you? The likelihood of such an attack succeeding is low. Doing so may risk harm to her. Either by my actions." The metal fingers pressed closer to her throat. "Or your own."

"You... you won't risk it. You need her as a hostage." Shadow said, not moving from his position.

"Acceptable damage of the pink hedgehog is allowed. Even her corpse can provide sufficient assistance in lowering enemy moral." Shadow was frozen at those words, unsure of just what to do now. Amy however wasn't going to be silent through all of this.

"Shadow." She said, holding back tears. "Do it."

"What!?" Shadow exclaimed.

"Do it. Take the shot." Amy pleaded and Metal shook her by the back of her hair.

"Silence." The robot commanded but she didn't comply.

"Take the shot. Please. I don't want to be a hostage again. To let him use me against my friends. I'd rather be dead!" Shadow considered her words carefully, looking at her expression. Slowly he nodded.

"Alright... I won't let that happen. You won't be his hostage anymore." Metal's head snapped to look at Shadow, ready for his next attack. However in that instant the black hedgehog wasn't in front of them any longer. He'd disappeared. There was a yellow flash of light as energy shot out from behind Metal and Amy, severing the robot's arm that had been pressed against her neck and sending it flying through the air. Seeing her opportunity Amy turned around and kicked Metal's body, separating herself from him but losing a handful of her quills to his grasp in the process. She grabbed her hammer and backed away, seeing Shadow standing behind Metal.

"You did it!" Amy said, smiling despite the pain of having her hair ripped out of her head.

"Stopping time and holding chaos energy isn't easy." Shadow said. "But if I need to, I can do whatever's necessary." Metal turned its head to look at Shadow, eyes glowing as if to express the anger in being outsmarted. "You're done, robot. Next goes your legs and then your head."

"I think not." Metal replied as its arm crawled back to him by its fingers, picked up off the ground by the robot. Placing it against his socket the damage almost instantly repaired to itself, his arm functioning good as new. "You cannot harm me enough to cause permanent damage. You will fail."

"You are exceedingly good at making me angry." Shadow said, though not much more could be expressed as Amy took it upon herself to attack next, swinging her hammer at Metal's head. The robot managed to stop the impact of her hammer with its hand before she could connect. Shadow took this opportunity as well and dashed forward, throwing a kick at Metal's other side but finding his attack stopped just as easily. The robot took grip of both attacking limbs and spun himself around to toss Amy and Shadow away from him. The two colliding on the forest floor next to each other.

"I am losing patience." The robot said, clenching its metal fist. "I shall end this fight soon." Amy and Shadow got to their feet, both panting hard.

"What do we do?" Amy asked, clearly not ready to back down from this fight but recognizing how much difficulty they were having. "He's strong enough to block my attacks and can fix himself from yours."

"He's proving to be a more difficult enemy than I thought." Shadow said, glaring at his opponent. Though something occurred to him. "He can repair himself from my attacks... but he dodges or blocks all of yours."

"Yeah, it's really making me mad."

"But why go to the trouble of dodging you if he can instantly repair himself?" Shadow asked, Amy thinking about it but not having an answer. "Listen, I have a plan. But it's kind of dangerous. Do you want to try?"

"I trust you." Amy said with a nod.

"Okay, get ready."

"Your plans are futile" The robot said as he approached the two whispering hedgehogs. "Any further resistance will be met with a faster termination." Before he could finish his advance there was a flash of yellow light and a sudden attack upon his body as he felt his limbs separating from their attachments. Shadow had launched another volley of his Chaos Spear attack, most likely while time had been stopped for a split second. It was a lot of damage to take but Metal Sonic didn't fall. Using the jet pack attached to his back his torso stayed upright while his limbs began to instantly repair themselves.

"You're open!" Amy shouted as she leaped forward and swung her hammer down. There wasn't enough time to dodge, his body repair itself as quickly as it could. Instead he raised both his arms into the air to absorb the attack of her hammer, catching it by the flat of the mallet. His block was successful, but in the moment his metal hands had hit the hammer there was a sudden blast of force that pushed through his defenses and caused the hammer to swing down past his arms and directly into his head. Metal went flying backwards from the attack, rolling on the ground and righting himself up to see Shadow and Amy standing next to each other.

"Impossible." The robot said, a large dent in the side of its head that wasn't putting itself back together like his limbs had. "Amy Rose cannot swing her hammer with that much strength."

"You think so?" Shadow asked with a smirk. "Guess you just haven't figured it out." Metal Sonic's eyes flashed red, standing upright and starting the engine of his jet pack again. However his limbs were assaulted with another volley of Shadow's Chaos energy, ripping them apart. As he quickly began to reassemble himself Amy was moving forward, swinging her hammer horizontally at his body. The robot raised his repaired arms just in time to absorb the impact, noticing in that split second Shadow appearing in the air on the other side of her hammer. With an explosion of his jet shoes Amy's hammer hit with twice the force she could generate on her own, smashing Metal against its surface and making him fly away again. This time with a large dent in the side of his body.

"I understand." The robot said as it got to its feet. "A combination attack of the hammer and jet propelled shoes used to accelerate the strike with greater force."

"Guess you're smarter than you look." Amy said with a smirk.

"Not that it'll help him." Shadow said alongside her.

"Negative. By revealing your method of attack I have already calculated a method of counter attack." Metal Sonic explained, extending his limbs out to brace for her next strike. "It is impossible for you to succeed now."

"You think so?" Shadow repeated. "Amy, reel up for me would you?"

"You betcha!" Amy said and reeled her hammer backwards. Metal prepared for her advance but was surprised that instead of her running forward the impact came faster than he could have foreseen, Amy appearing before him in an instant and being struck hard enough to send his body flying into the air from the upward swing. After his take off Amy looked up to admire her work. "Wow, we really got him that time."

Shadow picked himself up from off the ground where he'd provided the additional blast of power for her swing with his shoes. "Nice hit, don't think he ever saw it coming."

"It feels weird teleporting." Amy said, looking at Shadow as he stood up. "Should we go for another?"

"Ready when you are." Shadow said as Amy reeled her hammer back.

While in the air Metal Sonic attempted to launch his jet pack to right himself for flight, but didn't get a chance as he was knocked up into the sky again from behind this time as the hammer struck his back. Amy and Shadow watched as their robot opponent flew farther up, Shadow's arm around Amy's waist and holding her close. "Let's go further up." Amy said and pulled her hammer back again.

"Further up it is!" Shadow agreed and in an instant the two vanished. Reappearing again to strike the robot into the sky again. "Want to go for a last hit?"

"Yep, the further up they go..." Amy said, lifting her hammer above her head. Swinging downward she felt her body instantly move from where they were to directly above Metal Sonic. Who got to see as the hammer came down upon his torso. "The farther down they fall!" She shouted gleefully as she hit him, the two now free falling back down towards the forest. Metal Sonic however was well ahead of their descent and crashed down onto the forest floor below, his body dented and mangled from the repeated strikes. As he tried to rise up from the impact he'd made into the earth he found himself assaulted by a volley of yellow energy that pierced his metal frame and scattered his limbs. An instant later Shadow and Amy appeared next to his body, Shadow stumbling but Amy catching him before he could fall. "You okay?"

"Yes, sorry about that. I'm not used to teleporting that much without a chaos emerald to assist me."

"You did great." Amy said happily. Looking at Metal Sonic struggled to repair himself her tone changed. "What about him?"

"Got enough strength left for a little batting practice?" Shadow asked, walking over to Metal's body and picking up his arm before it could reattach itself.

"Oooh, you really know how to show a girl a good time." Amy said as she pulled her hammer up, Shadow underhand serving her the robot's arm while she knocked it into the sky and away from where they were standing. They repeated this process over and over again, shadow pulling parts off the robot while Amy knocked them in different directions. Until they were left with just his head.

"Looks like this is the final home run." Shadow said looking at Metal Sonic's eyes. "Ready for it?"

"I'll terminate you." Metal Sonic said. "It does not matter if you destroy me. I will return. I will be repaired. I will take revenge upon you both."

"I think he's ready for it." Shadow said, tossing the robot's head to Amy. She swung harder than ever on this hit, knocking his head somewhere into the forest far away from the rest of his body. Using her hammer to prop herself up Amy took a few gasps of air. "Going to be okay?"

"Yeah... yeah, I feel great actually." Amy said, smiling at Shadow. "That was incredible."

"I couldn't have done it without you." Shadow said, Amy putting her hammer aside as it disappeared into a puff of magical smoke. For all of his own powers he still didn't know how she did something as crazy as that. He'd have to ask her sometime later. "We better get back onto the mission."

"Oh you're right! I completely forgot about it!" Amy said in shock, running up to Shadow and hopping up into his arms. "You going to be okay to run?"

"I'm the ultimate life form aren't I?" Shadow said with a smile as he took off into the forest as quickly as he could. "Let's take down the Doctor's fortress."

Back on the cliff side where Rouge had begun her mission she sat with her back against a tree, catching her breath and resting her body after an arduous battle. Tails was beside her and breathing just as heavily, the two of them having worked hard to defeat all of the flying robots that had been released from Eggman's fortress. Thankfully their numbers had been small compared to the ground troops but they were strong enough that she had to fight extra hard against them in comparison to the previous scouts they destroyed.

She wanted to go and check on Shadow but after that battle there was a risk she'd be a hindrance to him rather than a help. Running into another combat zone when she was this tired put her and her team at risk, making Omega the better candidate for support. Even if most of his weapons were depleted he'd never tire out. His own body enough of a weapon to provide back up. That left her in the worst possible position; waiting.

Her partner didn't seem to agree with her outlook though as Tails got to his feet and approached the cliff.

"Where do you think you're going?" Rouge asked.

"I'm going to go help Sonic. Then I'm going to go look for Amy." Tails answered seriously.

"You're not in any condition to do any of that." Rouge advised him.

"It doesn't matter. If I can help fight then I should help fight. Sitting around doesn't help anyone."

"Running into danger when you're exhausted doesn't help anyone either. If you get in the way and Sonic has to save you he could get hurt too."

"But-"

"I know it's frustrating." Rouge cut him off. "We're the support team. That means we hang back until we're called in for support. So we should recover as much as we can before moving out."

"How come you didn't check in with anyone since we stopped fighting?" Tails asked and Rouge didn't answer him. "You told me everyone was okay but you haven't used that walkie-talkie thing of yours to see if that's true."

"Omega is fine. He can handle himself."

"What about Shadow and Amy?" Tails asked. "Shouldn't you be talking to them the most?"

"...fine, you got me. You really are a clever kid, you know that?" Rouge said. "I lost communication with Shadow during the first fight. His ear piece was destroyed. I imagine he was engaged in battle with an enemy we didn't prepare for."

"What!?" Tails shouted. "And you didn't tell me!?"

"I needed you focused on your mission, not theirs. If you didn't provide air support for Sonic then he could have been attacked by enemies he couldn't defend himself from. We have to trust Amy and Shadow can take care of themselves."

"No way, I'm going out there!" Tails said but was caught by the hand before he could move and pulled back down to the ground. He attempted to struggle but Rouge held him by the head against her chest and pet him.

"You're really brave and strong, but you're not invincible." Rouge said, feeling a frustrated tails shudder against her. "Sonic and Omega will finish their mission and head out the moment their done. Have faith in our friends. The moment we get word on the situation we'll move out, okay?"

"I don't like this." Tails said, frustrated.

"I know." Rouge said, keeping a hold of him against her and feeling his body relax finally. "But sometimes this is how a mission goes. I don't like it either."

Oil, circuits and parts scattered about as sharp metal hands ripped the innards out of a giant robot that had been toppled to the ground. The light left the mechanical giant's eyes as something vital was removed from its body and its functions ceased. Confirming the silence of his target Omega stood up over the body of his victim and scanned the area for more robots to destroy.

"Looks like we got them all." Sonic said, sitting on top of another metal giant he'd destroyed alongside Omega. "I didn't think Eggman would have this many robots hiding inside his base. But now that they're done I think we can get inside." The metal doors had closed and locked on the fortress once it had dispatched all of its warriors, sealing off entry from the two combatants. Now that there were no more robots to fight though Omega began walking towards the exit of the fortress. "Hey, are you looking to leave me again?"

"Affirmative. Eggman robot activity has ceased in this area. My mission is complete." Omega said without stopping.

"What about getting inside the base? There could be more of those robots in there."

"That is simple conjecture, without sufficient evidence to support the claim there is no reason for me to remain here." Omega said but was stopped short when Sonic raced around him and stood in his path. "Please move aside."

"What's going on with you? When we got here you wanted nothing more than to destroy robots in as many creative ways as possible. But half way through I saw you weren't taking your time anymore. It was like you were in a hurry and had some place else to be." Sonic asked, looking at the robot's eyes. It couldn't make expressions but somehow it did have a body language of its own. Omega stood completely still as he processed his answer.

"That... is not something I have to reply to."

"Fine. You've got a radio in your head, right? Can you find out why Shadow and Amy haven't stopped the factory inside the base yet?"

"I cannot contact them at this time." Omega stated.

"Why not."

"I... am not allowed to say." Omega said, stumbling a little in his answer.

"Are they in danger!? Did something happen!?" Sonic asked, connecting the dots with everything that had been going on.

"I must hurry into the forest... and was ordered to not answer that question."

"You... you're just as bad as all of them!" Sonic shouted at Omega, motioning to the robots they'd laid waste to. "How could you let them go out alone if you knew they were in danger? Don't you care about your friend!?"

"I was not allowed to let myself or you deviate from this mission due to how vital our role was. Now that it is complete I must go."

"Just do whatever you were ordered to!" Sonic shouted as he ran off into the forest, Omega stopping to consider if his actions had been right or not. Rouge's orders had made sense but if Shadow or Amy had been injured was that his fault for not helping them when he could? Before he could come to a conclusion on if he'd made a terrible mistake there was a sound of an explosion from behind him as the back of the fortress shook apart and smoke rose from the rubble.

"Shadow... you were successful!" Omega said with a tone of near joy in his voice. Rather than follow Sonic, Omega ran to the front of the Fortress and used his hands to pry the main gate open. He was going to confirm Shadow's status, even if it meant taking the shortest route possible to reach him.

Sitting on a log in the forest, Shadow and Amy looked on at the destruction of the back of the fortress that they'd caused. Just like tails had said there had been some air ducts to sneak inside and provided them with an easy entry and exit for their work. Between Shadow's energy blasts and Amy's hammer they'd easily laid waste to the machinery inside and caused enough damage for the facility to fail and buckle in upon itself. With their work done the two were enjoying a much needed respite. Thanks to the rest of their friends efforts they never encountered a single robot to stop their progress. Aside from the obvious one that nobody had seen coming.

"You know I forgot to thank you." Amy said as she looked up at the smoke trailing off into the sky.

"Thank me, for what?"

"For helping me destroy Metal Sonic."

"You don't have to thank me for that. If anything I should be thanking you. If you hadn't been there to help I might not have won."

"You would have." Amy said confidently. "Sonic has beaten him by himself before. You could have done it too. But I never would have been able to without your help."

"I see... you're welcome then." Shadow replied. He sat in silence with her for a while before deciding to ask the question that had been bothering him. "Back when we were fighting him, you said you wouldn't want to let yourself be his hostage again. What did you mean by that?"

"I guess I let that slip, didn't I?" Amy said with a shy laugh. "I told you that I'd been following Sonic around since I was just a girl. That even when I wasn't strong enough to do anything I was still trying to be part of the adventure." Shadow nodded to her. "Well on one of those adventures we ran into Metal Sonic for the first time. Instead of attacking us he kidnapped me to lure Sonic into a trap."

"That... sounds awful." Shadow said. "Being taken against your will... even just watching someone you care about taken from you." Amy noted a hint of sadness in his voice but decided not to pry on him right now. She was answering his question still.

"That was the moment that made me want to get stronger. To defend myself. But no matter how strong I got I knew that I still wasn't as strong as Sonic or even Tails or Knuckles. I'd never be as tough as them. So if that... thing! If it ever came back for me, I might not be able to fight it off. I'd be just a helpless little girl again."

"I didn't realize you had so much you were carrying on your shoulders." Shadow said, looking over at her. Amy turned to meet his eyes as well and smiled.

"It's kind of small compared to everyone else. But that robot was my biggest fear. The thing that reminded me of when I was too weak to do anything. Getting to smash it with you, I really appreciate it." Amy said, putting a hand on top of Shadow's. "Thank you for keeping me safe." Shadow felt his cheeks flush when her hand rested on his own but tried not to get overwhelmed with the sudden rush of emotions. Taking a breath he turned his hand around and squeezed hers in return.

"Any time." Shadow said. "I'm sorry about your hair though."

"Yeah I was trying not to think about that." Amy said, realizing she had a chunk of quills missing from the back of her head that was probably going to result in a shorter hair cut than usual when she got back home until they grew back out again. "But it beats losing my head." They both laughed, sounding very tired but relieved at the same time. Their hands lingered together, a feeling that was comforting to both (if not a little unnatural for Shadow). Their moment didn't last long however as Amy's ears seemed to perk up and her hand separated from Shadow's, a second later Shadow hearing the same noise and looking over to find a blue figure racing their direction. It wasn't as dangerous as the last one but it looked as angry at Shadow as the other metal version had.

"There you are!" Sonic said as he came to a halt, looking between Amy and Shadow. "Are you okay!? Omega said there was some kind of trouble."

"I'm fine, Sonic. Really." It was unusual to have him so concerned about her, but she'd be lying if she said there wasn't some enjoyment in this moment. "We ran into Metal Sonic but it turned out okay."

"You ran into... why didn't you call for help!?" Sonic said to Shadow, who got to his feet slowly after all the punishment his body had gone through.

"My ear comm got destroyed in the fight. Thankfully we managed to defeat him without any back up." Sonic looked from Shadow to Amy, noticing the chunk of quills taken out of her hair and the scuff marks around her body and dress from being thrown against the dirt so many times. His glare moved back to Shadow.

"You said no on would get hurt." Sonic shot at him.

"We did our best under the circumstances." Shadow countered.

"Well your best doesn't seem to be good enough. I should have been there instead of you." Sonic shot back, causing Shadow to grit his teeth angrily at him. Amy didn't need this right now and tried to stand up but found she was just too tired.

"Sonic, that's enough. Shadow helped me a lot. There's nothing to be upset about. Everyone's okay aren't they?" She asked him. "This isn't like you."

"I'm... sorry." Sonic said, shaking his head. "I'm just frustrated. Omega didn't tell me what was happening to you two. When I found out he'd been keeping that from me I just got upset because I thought that... you know?" Sonic said. Amy nodded to him and Shadow looked away. "I'm not actually mad at you." Sonic admitted to Shadow. "It's just I know how dangerous that thing can be. So when I heard you were ambushed I was scared of the worst."

"Well... I can understand your concern." Shadow said. "You've got a history with that thing, one I wasn't aware of until recently. If it's any consolation, I'm glad Omega didn't fill you with bullet holes."

"Not that he was trying to avoid it." Sonic said, which got a laugh out of Shadow.

"Speaking of which, what happened to-" as if to announce his presence the back of the fortress exploded a second time as debris was shoved aside and a robot emerged from the gaping hole.

"AGENT SHADOW, I'm here to support you!" Omega announced to the group of shocked hedgehogs that stood before him. Looking around himself Omega scanned the area for threats. "It appears the enemy you engaged retreated upon my arrival."

"Something like that." Shadow said with a smile, walking up to Omega. "How'd the robot hunting go?"

"Splendidly. Many Eggman robots were destroyed and I managed to beat the blue object's score by one point." Omega shared gleefully.

"You know I let you have that one." Sonic said with a smirk, Amy giggling at the friendly banter that was happening before her. A wonderful change to the arguing she'd seen earlier today. Not long after their reunion from the sky descended the rest of their team as Rouge and Tails came to a landing. "You guys made it! Did everything go okay?"

"We had to work pretty hard up there." Rouge said. "But you've got a good partner watching your back. Thanks to him we were just fine." Tails enjoyed the compliment but he moved to Amy first after they landed, looking worried.

"Are you okay, Amy? Rouge told me that something dangerous attacked you!" Amy nodded at him and slowly got to her feet, body sore from all that fighting.

"I'm alright Tails, Shadow kept me safe and sound."

"She says that but it goes the other way around too." Shadow spoke up. "Without her help we might not have gotten out of that jam." Rouge seemed very pleased with this turn of events, everyone being present and accounted for.

"We all make a pretty good team together. You three want to come back with us? We've got a ride that's going to pick us up to take us to GUN headquarters. But we can drop you off anywhere else you like." They group all looked among each other, Shadow and Sonic taking a moment to lock eyes as if they were deciding what was best. After a moment Sonic shrugged and shook his head.

"Actually I think I'll be alright on my own. We can leave the same way we came in."

"Well, if that's your choice." Rouge said. "C'mon boys, we need to report back to the commander. Nice work everyone." The groups said their good-byes as they parted ways, both heading the same directions they came. Though Shadow was stopped by Rouge when she gave him a nudge into his side. "Say Romeo, don't you think you're forgetting something."

"Oh. Right." Shadow said with a sudden realization. Turning around he ran back towards Sonic's crew. "Amy! Can I ask you something for a moment?" All three of them stopped but Amy asked her friends to wait while she met Shadow half way. When they were close enough Shadow lowered his voice to keep their conversation private. "Um... about what we were discussing before. That night out together? I know I'm usually busy with my work but... if you want to call then I'll make sure to get back in touch with you." It felt weird to have this kind of conversation, extending an invitation like this. But she seemed to appreciate it. Smiling Amy nodded to him and whispered back.

"I won't forget." She replied. With that they said their good-byes again and parted ways. Amy returning to her friends as they walked back together. Sonic was looking back at Shadow who was joining up with his team and at Amy who was smiling happily.

"What was all that about?" He asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing. Just a final congratulations on a job well done." Amy said coyly. The mannerism was different than what Sonic usually expected from her.

"That's all huh? You're sounding a lot like Rouge right now, you know?"

"Am I?" Amy asked happily. "Speaking of which, Tails how was working with her? Did you have a good time?" At that question the fur on his body seemed to stand on end as he remembered his mission with the bat woman.

"It went well." Tails answered quickly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Looks like you made a good impression on her." Sonic said with a teasing tone in his voice. "Keep this up and you're going to be a little heart throb."

"I-I-I don't know about that!" Tails stammered and Amy gave him a look.

"What exactly happened with you two out there?"

"Oh, nothing worth mentioning!" Tails said shyly, Amy deciding to leave it at that. Looked like she wasn't the only one that had an interesting wrap up to her adventure with her partner.

Hours later in the dead of the night, a round floating machine could be seen carrying a furious Eggman through the expanse of the Frog Forest. His fortress and factory having been destroyed before he'd ever gotten a chance to utilize it the way he'd planned and it left the rotund doctor in a foul mood. He had more factories of course, more places for his machines to be built and deployed from. But every time he lost some ground that meant his enemies gained more on him. "Curse that filthy hedgehog and his friends! This set up was perfect! How could he ruin everything in one day like this!?"

The floating vehicle hovered over a spot in the forest as a crane lowered down and picked up a blue metallic torso that laid on the forest floor. Once it was brought up into his ship he tossed it in the back with the rest of Metal Sonic's parts that had been scattered all over the forest. "Worthless bucket of bolts. You're lucky I keep bothering to rebuild you. After this blunder I should just melt you down into a table!" Eggman said to the pieces that laid behind him, scooping up the parts of his most menacing weapon as if he were playing a crane game in an arcade. "I can't wait till I find where your head went so I can really let you know how disappointed I am with you!"

Far away in another direction from where Robotnik was working, a blue metallic object sat in a tree where it had become wedged after being batted away by a large hammer. It was badly damaged but the light of its red eyes shined on faintly as it repeated the only thing it could focus on.

"Defeat Sonic the Hedgehog. Terminate Shadow the Hedgehog. Terminate Amy Rose. Defeat Sonic the Hedgehog. Terminate Shadow the Hedgehog. Terminate Amy Rose. Defeat Sonic the Hedgehog. Terminate Shadow the Hedgehog. Terminate Amy Rose. Defeat-" Despite being separated from its power source the head kept itself active, repeating its mantra again and again. Hours later Eggman would find the final piece of his creation and shut off his voice module when he got sick of hearing the machine continue to talk to itself. Despite this Metal Sonic didn't cease in remembering who had done this to him and what he planned to do when he met them again.

Description
"That's forty!" Sonic shouted as he curled his body up and sliced through three more of the attacking robots. "Hope you're keeping a fair score over there."

"Forty-one." Omega said as he separated the head of one of Eggman's robots from its body, crushing it in his hand. "I fear we may run out of targets before long."

"Guess that means we'll know who won soon." Sonic said with a confident tone to his voice. "This has gone pretty easy, don't you think?"

"Affirmative. These Eggman robots have proven to be quite weak." Omega said as he shot a few slugs into an attacking saw bladed robot that fell from the well placed bullets.

"How well do you think the others are doing?"

"I shall inquire on their status." Omega said as he picked up a robot he'd intended to destroy and held it up by its head. Saving it for after his report. Opening his communications app he awaited for the person on the other end to pick up.

"Rouge here." The voice in his head replied.

"Omega to Agent Rouge, Eggman robots have nearly been wiped out. Also I'm in the lead in my contest with the blue object." Omega said as he crushed the head of the robot he'd been holding while making his call, letting the body fall to the ground as it flailed about.

"Oh, that's good! Good to hear!" She replied, more excited than he'd expected her to be.

"Please report on status of Team 2."

"Team 2 is doing great. In fact you can let Sonic know that Tails just finished off Eggman's air support for us." Omega looked over at Sonic to see he was running circles around one of the saw blade wielding robots, causing it to cut the other robots around it to pieces.

"Affirmative. Please report on status of Team 3. Are they in position?"

"Team 3 is doing fine." Something was wrong. He could hear it in her voice. Not only that she didn't provide him with any details as to their current status.

"Agent Rouge, please report on Team 3's progress. Are they in position?"

"They... I don't know." This was not what he'd expected to hear. Omega used his leg to crush the flailing robot at his feet as he concentrated on Rouge's words. "I lost contact, Shadow's ear comm was destroyed. I think they met with interference."

"Understood. Disengaging to provide support right away." Just like that he turned to exit the fortress doors he'd destroyed moments earlier.

"Don't you dare!" Rouge commanded, but Omega didn't stop. "You have a mission to complete. If you leave now that will jeopardize everything."

"But Team 3 requires support." Omega said, continuing on his path.

"If you can complete your mission you have permission to provide support. But do not tell Sonic about any of this. If he finds out he'll abandon the mission without a second thought. I'll go in the mean time to back Shadow up, understood?" This wasn't what he wanted to hear. Rouge was less equipped to handle combat than he was. If Shadow actually met with something that could pose a threat to him then Omega was the best candidate to support him. But Rouge was the commander for their mission and she was logical in her response.

"Affirmative. Omega out." She gave him parameters to allow him to exit his mission. He just had to meet them. Turning to face back into the fortress Omega raised his volume on his voice. "Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Hey, you actually used my name!" Sonic said, dodging attacks gracefully from the mob of robots around him.

"Take position upon my back." Omega ordered, running into the center of the battle and knocking enemies out of his way with brutal swings of his arms.

"On your back, why?"

"Otherwise your percentage of being shot will rise from thirty five to ninety percent." Omega concluded, extending his arms outward as they unfolded to reveal a second row of holes for a Gatling gun stored within him. Sonic didn't waste time and did as the robot suggested, hopping onto his back and holding on as Omega's upper body rotated around in a circle and unloaded massive amounts of fire power onto their enemies. Waves of robots fell in the wake of bullets as they showered across the field, stray ones missing their targets lodging into the concrete walls and leaving deep impacts. Once it was over Omega's arms let out an exhaust of hot air and folded back into their normal form, his body stopping its spin and righting itself. Hopping off his back Sonic took in the sight around him.

"Whew, I guess you were full of bullets after all." Sonic noted the level of destruction Omega had left across the fortress. "If you could do that the whole time why didn't you start it right away?"

"It is less fun that way." Omega said. "I am departing."

"What, you're leaving!?"

"Affirmative. All Eggman robots have been destroyed. There is no longer a need for my presence." Omega began walking out of the fortress immediately, heading for the exit to get to the forest.

"But what about the entrance? How are we going to get this open?" Sonic asked as he motioned to the giant mustache shaped metal doors that prevented their entry way. Just looking at them you could tell they were much thicker than the doors that had guarded the fence.

"It is a door, handle it yourself." Omega responded coldly, not looking to waste another second. Though he never made it out of the fortress courtyard as a new alarm sounded, stopping him in his tracks. Turning back around Omega and Sonic watched as the gates to the fortress opened on their own, slowly parting to reveal what was inside. More robots. Not just more of the same but also larger ones, thick in body and designed for battle instead of labor. Three colossal robots marched out with the smaller robots around their legs to accompany them. One of the giant metal monsters raised its arm, firing wooden spears at high speeds at Sonic. He dodged them easily but it was clear that their previous fight had just been a warm up to Eggman's real forces.

"These things are quick." Sonic said, looking at the sharp spears that had tried to skewer him. "Guess the contest is still on." Rather than reply Omega looked at his arms, spinning the Gatling gun inside and finding it was empty after his last barrage of attacks. Walking up next to Sonic he picked up one of the wooden spears and threw it at one of the labor robots that approached, piercing through the robot's glass eyes.

"Affirmative. We shall continue." He noted the flying robots that were escaping as well, realizing they would be an obstacle for Rouge and Tails to provide support to Team 3. As Sonic ran into battle Omega felt an odd sensation of concern in his mind. "Do not fail, Shadow."

"Raaagh!" Amy shouted as her hammer swung down and collided with the dirt, missing her target again. The steel Sonic doppelganger was dodging her swings easily and he might have been able to land a counter attack on her if not for Shadow's attempts to strike him as well. Though they proved just as unsuccessful as the robot easily used his jet pack and reflexes to expertly dodge each punch and kick. As frustrating as it was, Metal Sonic was dancing around them without much of a struggle.

"You will grow tired." The robot taunted. "I will not."

"All we have to do is break you before that happens." Shadow countered as he braced his legs and launched himself at the robot, but Metal was prepared for this as his body deployed an electric force field that pushed the black hedgehog back and onto the ground where he started. "Nnggh!"

"Weak." Metal said as he lunged forward to strike shadow with his sharp fingers, but was blocked by Amy's hammer coming down in front of him and intercepting the attack. With a shout she hoisted the hammer upward to force him back, gasping for air as she held her weapon aloft. Shadow got to his feet and stood next to her, also breathing heavily.

"This thing's sure annoying." Shadow said to Amy. "Got some nasty tricks up his sleeve too."

"Everything about him is nasty." Amy said, gripping her hammer tighter. "But I will not let him take me as a hostage again."

"Again?" Shadow asked, confused by her statement. Though they didn't get to dwell on it as Metal's body began to glow and the jet pack on his back fired up. "He's coming in for another attack!" When the robot fired forward Shadow and Amy jumped into the air together to dodge him. When they landed Shadow turned around to see Metal had collided with a boulder that had been lodged into the ground but was now shattered into rocks with the robot's attack. It picked up one of the large pieces and tossed it directly at Amy. "Look out!" Pushing her aside Shadow ended up placing himself in the path of the attack, getting hit in the side and falling back against the ground.

"Shadow!" Amy shouted, running over to help him. However she was stopped short as she felt a metal hand grab her by the back of her head, gripping her pink quills tightly and holding her in place. She grit her teeth with tears in her eyes, but didn't hesitate to swing her hammer around behind her to try and dislodge her attacker's grip. Unfortunately the robot predicted this, grabbing her hammer by its handle and pulling it from her grasp. With her weapon tossed aside Metal Sonic pulled her closer to himself and placed his sharp fingers against her neck.

"You cowardly piece of scrap." Shadow said as he pulled himself to his feet. The side of his arm where he'd been hit with the rock was bleeding but he ignored it, raising his hand and letting it glow with a yellow energy. "Release her!"

"Negative." Metal Sonic replied.

"If that's the way you want it I'll put several holes in you right from here." Shadow threatened, holding his glowing hand outstretched at his opponent.

"You will not." Metal replied, holding Amy in front of him. "Doing so would risk harming the pink hedgehog. You will not jeopardize her." Shadow kept his position, energy gathered in his hand and ready to unleash. But he hesitated.

"I can hit you without harming her." Shadow said.

"Can you? The likelihood of such an attack succeeding is low. Doing so may risk harm to her. Either by my actions." The metal fingers pressed closer to her throat. "Or your own."

"You... you won't risk it. You need her as a hostage." Shadow said, not moving from his position.

"Acceptable damage of the pink hedgehog is allowed. Even her corpse can provide sufficient assistance in lowering enemy moral." Shadow was frozen at those words, unsure of just what to do now. Amy however wasn't going to be silent through all of this.

"Shadow." She said, holding back tears. "Do it."

"What!?" Shadow exclaimed.

"Do it. Take the shot." Amy pleaded and Metal shook her by the back of her hair.

"Silence." The robot commanded but she didn't comply.

"Take the shot. Please. I don't want to be a hostage again. To let him use me against my friends. I'd rather be dead!" Shadow considered her words carefully, looking at her expression. Slowly he nodded.

"Alright... I won't let that happen. You won't be his hostage anymore." Metal's head snapped to look at Shadow, ready for his next attack. However in that instant the black hedgehog wasn't in front of them any longer. He'd disappeared. There was a yellow flash of light as energy shot out from behind Metal and Amy, severing the robot's arm that had been pressed against her neck and sending it flying through the air. Seeing her opportunity Amy turned around and kicked Metal's body, separating herself from him but losing a handful of her quills to his grasp in the process. She grabbed her hammer and backed away, seeing Shadow standing behind Metal.

"You did it!" Amy said, smiling despite the pain of having her hair ripped out of her head.

"Stopping time and holding chaos energy isn't easy." Shadow said. "But if I need to, I can do whatever's necessary." Metal turned its head to look at Shadow, eyes glowing as if to express the anger in being outsmarted. "You're done, robot. Next goes your legs and then your head."

"I think not." Metal replied as its arm crawled back to him by its fingers, picked up off the ground by the robot. Placing it against his socket the damage almost instantly repaired to itself, his arm functioning good as new. "You cannot harm me enough to cause permanent damage. You will fail."

"You are exceedingly good at making me angry." Shadow said, though not much more could be expressed as Amy took it upon herself to attack next, swinging her hammer at Metal's head. The robot managed to stop the impact of her hammer with its hand before she could connect. Shadow took this opportunity as well and dashed forward, throwing a kick at Metal's other side but finding his attack stopped just as easily. The robot took grip of both attacking limbs and spun himself around to toss Amy and Shadow away from him. The two colliding on the forest floor next to each other.

"I am losing patience." The robot said, clenching its metal fist. "I shall end this fight soon." Amy and Shadow got to their feet, both panting hard.

"What do we do?" Amy asked, clearly not ready to back down from this fight but recognizing how much difficulty they were having. "He's strong enough to block my attacks and can fix himself from yours."

"He's proving to be a more difficult enemy than I thought." Shadow said, glaring at his opponent. Though something occurred to him. "He can repair himself from my attacks... but he dodges or blocks all of yours."

"Yeah, it's really making me mad."

"But why go to the trouble of dodging you if he can instantly repair himself?" Shadow asked, Amy thinking about it but not having an answer. "Listen, I have a plan. But it's kind of dangerous. Do you want to try?"

"I trust you." Amy said with a nod.

"Okay, get ready."

"Your plans are futile" The robot said as he approached the two whispering hedgehogs. "Any further resistance will be met with a faster termination." Before he could finish his advance there was a flash of yellow light and a sudden attack upon his body as he felt his limbs separating from their attachments. Shadow had launched another volley of his Chaos Spear attack, most likely while time had been stopped for a split second. It was a lot of damage to take but Metal Sonic didn't fall. Using the jet pack attached to his back his torso stayed upright while his limbs began to instantly repair themselves.

"You're open!" Amy shouted as she leaped forward and swung her hammer down. There wasn't enough time to dodge, his body repair itself as quickly as it could. Instead he raised both his arms into the air to absorb the attack of her hammer, catching it by the flat of the mallet. His block was successful, but in the moment his metal hands had hit the hammer there was a sudden blast of force that pushed through his defenses and caused the hammer to swing down past his arms and directly into his head. Metal went flying backwards from the attack, rolling on the ground and righting himself up to see Shadow and Amy standing next to each other.

"Impossible." The robot said, a large dent in the side of its head that wasn't putting itself back together like his limbs had. "Amy Rose cannot swing her hammer with that much strength."

"You think so?" Shadow asked with a smirk. "Guess you just haven't figured it out." Metal Sonic's eyes flashed red, standing upright and starting the engine of his jet pack again. However his limbs were assaulted with another volley of Shadow's Chaos energy, ripping them apart. As he quickly began to reassemble himself Amy was moving forward, swinging her hammer horizontally at his body. The robot raised his repaired arms just in time to absorb the impact, noticing in that split second Shadow appearing in the air on the other side of her hammer. With an explosion of his jet shoes Amy's hammer hit with twice the force she could generate on her own, smashing Metal against its surface and making him fly away again. This time with a large dent in the side of his body.

"I understand." The robot said as it got to its feet. "A combination attack of the hammer and jet propelled shoes used to accelerate the strike with greater force."

"Guess you're smarter than you look." Amy said with a smirk.

"Not that it'll help him." Shadow said alongside her.

"Negative. By revealing your method of attack I have already calculated a method of counter attack." Metal Sonic explained, extending his limbs out to brace for her next strike. "It is impossible for you to succeed now."

"You think so?" Shadow repeated. "Amy, reel up for me would you?"

"You betcha!" Amy said and reeled her hammer backwards. Metal prepared for her advance but was surprised that instead of her running forward the impact came faster than he could have foreseen, Amy appearing before him in an instant and being struck hard enough to send his body flying into the air from the upward swing. After his take off Amy looked up to admire her work. "Wow, we really got him that time."

Shadow picked himself up from off the ground where he'd provided the additional blast of power for her swing with his shoes. "Nice hit, don't think he ever saw it coming."

"It feels weird teleporting." Amy said, looking at Shadow as he stood up. "Should we go for another?"

"Ready when you are." Shadow said as Amy reeled her hammer back.

While in the air Metal Sonic attempted to launch his jet pack to right himself for flight, but didn't get a chance as he was knocked up into the sky again from behind this time as the hammer struck his back. Amy and Shadow watched as their robot opponent flew farther up, Shadow's arm around Amy's waist and holding her close. "Let's go further up." Amy said and pulled her hammer back again.

"Further up it is!" Shadow agreed and in an instant the two vanished. Reappearing again to strike the robot into the sky again. "Want to go for a last hit?"

"Yep, the further up they go..." Amy said, lifting her hammer above her head. Swinging downward she felt her body instantly move from where they were to directly above Metal Sonic. Who got to see as the hammer came down upon his torso. "The farther down they fall!" She shouted gleefully as she hit him, the two now free falling back down towards the forest. Metal Sonic however was well ahead of their descent and crashed down onto the forest floor below, his body dented and mangled from the repeated strikes. As he tried to rise up from the impact he'd made into the earth he found himself assaulted by a volley of yellow energy that pierced his metal frame and scattered his limbs. An instant later Shadow and Amy appeared next to his body, Shadow stumbling but Amy catching him before he could fall. "You okay?"

"Yes, sorry about that. I'm not used to teleporting that much without a chaos emerald to assist me."

"You did great." Amy said happily. Looking at Metal Sonic struggled to repair himself her tone changed. "What about him?"

"Got enough strength left for a little batting practice?" Shadow asked, walking over to Metal's body and picking up his arm before it could reattach itself.

"Oooh, you really know how to show a girl a good time." Amy said as she pulled her hammer up, Shadow underhand serving her the robot's arm while she knocked it into the sky and away from where they were standing. They repeated this process over and over again, shadow pulling parts off the robot while Amy knocked them in different directions. Until they were left with just his head.

"Looks like this is the final home run." Shadow said looking at Metal Sonic's eyes. "Ready for it?"

"I'll terminate you." Metal Sonic said. "It does not matter if you destroy me. I will return. I will be repaired. I will take revenge upon you both."

"I think he's ready for it." Shadow said, tossing the robot's head to Amy. She swung harder than ever on this hit, knocking his head somewhere into the forest far away from the rest of his body. Using her hammer to prop herself up Amy took a few gasps of air. "Going to be okay?"

"Yeah... yeah, I feel great actually." Amy said, smiling at Shadow. "That was incredible."

"I couldn't have done it without you." Shadow said, Amy putting her hammer aside as it disappeared into a puff of magical smoke. For all of his own powers he still didn't know how she did something as crazy as that. He'd have to ask her sometime later. "We better get back onto the mission."

"Oh you're right! I completely forgot about it!" Amy said in shock, running up to Shadow and hopping up into his arms. "You going to be okay to run?"

"I'm the ultimate life form aren't I?" Shadow said with a smile as he took off into the forest as quickly as he could. "Let's take down the Doctor's fortress."

Back on the cliff side where Rouge had begun her mission she sat with her back against a tree, catching her breath and resting her body after an arduous battle. Tails was beside her and breathing just as heavily, the two of them having worked hard to defeat all of the flying robots that had been released from Eggman's fortress. Thankfully their numbers had been small compared to the ground troops but they were strong enough that she had to fight extra hard against them in comparison to the previous scouts they destroyed.

She wanted to go and check on Shadow but after that battle there was a risk she'd be a hindrance to him rather than a help. Running into another combat zone when she was this tired put her and her team at risk, making Omega the better candidate for support. Even if most of his weapons were depleted he'd never tire out. His own body enough of a weapon to provide back up. That left her in the worst possible position; waiting.

Her partner didn't seem to agree with her outlook though as Tails got to his feet and approached the cliff.

"Where do you think you're going?" Rouge asked.

"I'm going to go help Sonic. Then I'm going to go look for Amy." Tails answered seriously.

"You're not in any condition to do any of that." Rouge advised him.

"It doesn't matter. If I can help fight then I should help fight. Sitting around doesn't help anyone."

"Running into danger when you're exhausted doesn't help anyone either. If you get in the way and Sonic has to save you he could get hurt too."

"But-"

"I know it's frustrating." Rouge cut him off. "We're the support team. That means we hang back until we're called in for support. So we should recover as much as we can before moving out."

"How come you didn't check in with anyone since we stopped fighting?" Tails asked and Rouge didn't answer him. "You told me everyone was okay but you haven't used that walkie-talkie thing of yours to see if that's true."

"Omega is fine. He can handle himself."

"What about Shadow and Amy?" Tails asked. "Shouldn't you be talking to them the most?"

"...fine, you got me. You really are a clever kid, you know that?" Rouge said. "I lost communication with Shadow during the first fight. His ear piece was destroyed. I imagine he was engaged in battle with an enemy we didn't prepare for."

"What!?" Tails shouted. "And you didn't tell me!?"

"I needed you focused on your mission, not theirs. If you didn't provide air support for Sonic then he could have been attacked by enemies he couldn't defend himself from. We have to trust Amy and Shadow can take care of themselves."

"No way, I'm going out there!" Tails said but was caught by the hand before he could move and pulled back down to the ground. He attempted to struggle but Rouge held him by the head against her chest and pet him.

"You're really brave and strong, but you're not invincible." Rouge said, feeling a frustrated tails shudder against her. "Sonic and Omega will finish their mission and head out the moment their done. Have faith in our friends. The moment we get word on the situation we'll move out, okay?"

"I don't like this." Tails said, frustrated.

"I know." Rouge said, keeping a hold of him against her and feeling his body relax finally. "But sometimes this is how a mission goes. I don't like it either."

Oil, circuits and parts scattered about as sharp metal hands ripped the innards out of a giant robot that had been toppled to the ground. The light left the mechanical giant's eyes as something vital was removed from its body and its functions ceased. Confirming the silence of his target Omega stood up over the body of his victim and scanned the area for more robots to destroy.

"Looks like we got them all." Sonic said, sitting on top of another metal giant he'd destroyed alongside Omega. "I didn't think Eggman would have this many robots hiding inside his base. But now that they're done I think we can get inside." The metal doors had closed and locked on the fortress once it had dispatched all of its warriors, sealing off entry from the two combatants. Now that there were no more robots to fight though Omega began walking towards the exit of the fortress. "Hey, are you looking to leave me again?"

"Affirmative. Eggman robot activity has ceased in this area. My mission is complete." Omega said without stopping.

"What about getting inside the base? There could be more of those robots in there."

"That is simple conjecture, without sufficient evidence to support the claim there is no reason for me to remain here." Omega said but was stopped short when Sonic raced around him and stood in his path. "Please move aside."

"What's going on with you? When we got here you wanted nothing more than to destroy robots in as many creative ways as possible. But half way through I saw you weren't taking your time anymore. It was like you were in a hurry and had some place else to be." Sonic asked, looking at the robot's eyes. It couldn't make expressions but somehow it did have a body language of its own. Omega stood completely still as he processed his answer.

"That... is not something I have to reply to."

"Fine. You've got a radio in your head, right? Can you find out why Shadow and Amy haven't stopped the factory inside the base yet?"

"I cannot contact them at this time." Omega stated.

"Why not."

"I... am not allowed to say." Omega said, stumbling a little in his answer.

"Are they in danger!? Did something happen!?" Sonic asked, connecting the dots with everything that had been going on.

"I must hurry into the forest... and was ordered to not answer that question."

"You... you're just as bad as all of them!" Sonic shouted at Omega, motioning to the robots they'd laid waste to. "How could you let them go out alone if you knew they were in danger? Don't you care about your friend!?"

"I was not allowed to let myself or you deviate from this mission due to how vital our role was. Now that it is complete I must go."

"Just do whatever you were ordered to!" Sonic shouted as he ran off into the forest, Omega stopping to consider if his actions had been right or not. Rouge's orders had made sense but if Shadow or Amy had been injured was that his fault for not helping them when he could? Before he could come to a conclusion on if he'd made a terrible mistake there was a sound of an explosion from behind him as the back of the fortress shook apart and smoke rose from the rubble.

"Shadow... you were successful!" Omega said with a tone of near joy in his voice. Rather than follow Sonic, Omega ran to the front of the Fortress and used his hands to pry the main gate open. He was going to confirm Shadow's status, even if it meant taking the shortest route possible to reach him.

Sitting on a log in the forest, Shadow and Amy looked on at the destruction of the back of the fortress that they'd caused. Just like tails had said there had been some air ducts to sneak inside and provided them with an easy entry and exit for their work. Between Shadow's energy blasts and Amy's hammer they'd easily laid waste to the machinery inside and caused enough damage for the facility to fail and buckle in upon itself. With their work done the two were enjoying a much needed respite. Thanks to the rest of their friends efforts they never encountered a single robot to stop their progress. Aside from the obvious one that nobody had seen coming.

"You know I forgot to thank you." Amy said as she looked up at the smoke trailing off into the sky.

"Thank me, for what?"

"For helping me destroy Metal Sonic."

"You don't have to thank me for that. If anything I should be thanking you. If you hadn't been there to help I might not have won."

"You would have." Amy said confidently. "Sonic has beaten him by himself before. You could have done it too. But I never would have been able to without your help."

"I see... you're welcome then." Shadow replied. He sat in silence with her for a while before deciding to ask the question that had been bothering him. "Back when we were fighting him, you said you wouldn't want to let yourself be his hostage again. What did you mean by that?"

"I guess I let that slip, didn't I?" Amy said with a shy laugh. "I told you that I'd been following Sonic around since I was just a girl. That even when I wasn't strong enough to do anything I was still trying to be part of the adventure." Shadow nodded to her. "Well on one of those adventures we ran into Metal Sonic for the first time. Instead of attacking us he kidnapped me to lure Sonic into a trap."

"That... sounds awful." Shadow said. "Being taken against your will... even just watching someone you care about taken from you." Amy noted a hint of sadness in his voice but decided not to pry on him right now. She was answering his question still.

"That was the moment that made me want to get stronger. To defend myself. But no matter how strong I got I knew that I still wasn't as strong as Sonic or even Tails or Knuckles. I'd never be as tough as them. So if that... thing! If it ever came back for me, I might not be able to fight it off. I'd be just a helpless little girl again."

"I didn't realize you had so much you were carrying on your shoulders." Shadow said, looking over at her. Amy turned to meet his eyes as well and smiled.

"It's kind of small compared to everyone else. But that robot was my biggest fear. The thing that reminded me of when I was too weak to do anything. Getting to smash it with you, I really appreciate it." Amy said, putting a hand on top of Shadow's. "Thank you for keeping me safe." Shadow felt his cheeks flush when her hand rested on his own but tried not to get overwhelmed with the sudden rush of emotions. Taking a breath he turned his hand around and squeezed hers in return.

"Any time." Shadow said. "I'm sorry about your hair though."

"Yeah I was trying not to think about that." Amy said, realizing she had a chunk of quills missing from the back of her head that was probably going to result in a shorter hair cut than usual when she got back home until they grew back out again. "But it beats losing my head." They both laughed, sounding very tired but relieved at the same time. Their hands lingered together, a feeling that was comforting to both (if not a little unnatural for Shadow). Their moment didn't last long however as Amy's ears seemed to perk up and her hand separated from Shadow's, a second later Shadow hearing the same noise and looking over to find a blue figure racing their direction. It wasn't as dangerous as the last one but it looked as angry at Shadow as the other metal version had.

"There you are!" Sonic said as he came to a halt, looking between Amy and Shadow. "Are you okay!? Omega said there was some kind of trouble."

"I'm fine, Sonic. Really." It was unusual to have him so concerned about her, but she'd be lying if she said there wasn't some enjoyment in this moment. "We ran into Metal Sonic but it turned out okay."

"You ran into... why didn't you call for help!?" Sonic said to Shadow, who got to his feet slowly after all the punishment his body had gone through.

"My ear comm got destroyed in the fight. Thankfully we managed to defeat him without any back up." Sonic looked from Shadow to Amy, noticing the chunk of quills taken out of her hair and the scuff marks around her body and dress from being thrown against the dirt so many times. His glare moved back to Shadow.

"You said no on would get hurt." Sonic shot at him.

"We did our best under the circumstances." Shadow countered.

"Well your best doesn't seem to be good enough. I should have been there instead of you." Sonic shot back, causing Shadow to grit his teeth angrily at him. Amy didn't need this right now and tried to stand up but found she was just too tired.

"Sonic, that's enough. Shadow helped me a lot. There's nothing to be upset about. Everyone's okay aren't they?" She asked him. "This isn't like you."

"I'm... sorry." Sonic said, shaking his head. "I'm just frustrated. Omega didn't tell me what was happening to you two. When I found out he'd been keeping that from me I just got upset because I thought that... you know?" Sonic said. Amy nodded to him and Shadow looked away. "I'm not actually mad at you." Sonic admitted to Shadow. "It's just I know how dangerous that thing can be. So when I heard you were ambushed I was scared of the worst."

"Well... I can understand your concern." Shadow said. "You've got a history with that thing, one I wasn't aware of until recently. If it's any consolation, I'm glad Omega didn't fill you with bullet holes."

"Not that he was trying to avoid it." Sonic said, which got a laugh out of Shadow.

"Speaking of which, what happened to-" as if to announce his presence the back of the fortress exploded a second time as debris was shoved aside and a robot emerged from the gaping hole.

"AGENT SHADOW, I'm here to support you!" Omega announced to the group of shocked hedgehogs that stood before him. Looking around himself Omega scanned the area for threats. "It appears the enemy you engaged retreated upon my arrival."

"Something like that." Shadow said with a smile, walking up to Omega. "How'd the robot hunting go?"

"Splendidly. Many Eggman robots were destroyed and I managed to beat the blue object's score by one point." Omega shared gleefully.

"You know I let you have that one." Sonic said with a smirk, Amy giggling at the friendly banter that was happening before her. A wonderful change to the arguing she'd seen earlier today. Not long after their reunion from the sky descended the rest of their team as Rouge and Tails came to a landing. "You guys made it! Did everything go okay?"

"We had to work pretty hard up there." Rouge said. "But you've got a good partner watching your back. Thanks to him we were just fine." Tails enjoyed the compliment but he moved to Amy first after they landed, looking worried.

"Are you okay, Amy? Rouge told me that something dangerous attacked you!" Amy nodded at him and slowly got to her feet, body sore from all that fighting.

"I'm alright Tails, Shadow kept me safe and sound."

"She says that but it goes the other way around too." Shadow spoke up. "Without her help we might not have gotten out of that jam." Rouge seemed very pleased with this turn of events, everyone being present and accounted for.

"We all make a pretty good team together. You three want to come back with us? We've got a ride that's going to pick us up to take us to GUN headquarters. But we can drop you off anywhere else you like." They group all looked among each other, Shadow and Sonic taking a moment to lock eyes as if they were deciding what was best. After a moment Sonic shrugged and shook his head.

"Actually I think I'll be alright on my own. We can leave the same way we came in."

"Well, if that's your choice." Rouge said. "C'mon boys, we need to report back to the commander. Nice work everyone." The groups said their good-byes as they parted ways, both heading the same directions they came. Though Shadow was stopped by Rouge when she gave him a nudge into his side. "Say Romeo, don't you think you're forgetting something."

"Oh. Right." Shadow said with a sudden realization. Turning around he ran back towards Sonic's crew. "Amy! Can I ask you something for a moment?" All three of them stopped but Amy asked her friends to wait while she met Shadow half way. When they were close enough Shadow lowered his voice to keep their conversation private. "Um... about what we were discussing before. That night out together? I know I'm usually busy with my work but... if you want to call then I'll make sure to get back in touch with you." It felt weird to have this kind of conversation, extending an invitation like this. But she seemed to appreciate it. Smiling Amy nodded to him and whispered back.

"I won't forget." She replied. With that they said their good-byes again and parted ways. Amy returning to her friends as they walked back together. Sonic was looking back at Shadow who was joining up with his team and at Amy who was smiling happily.

"What was all that about?" He asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing. Just a final congratulations on a job well done." Amy said coyly. The mannerism was different than what Sonic usually expected from her.

"That's all huh? You're sounding a lot like Rouge right now, you know?"

"Am I?" Amy asked happily. "Speaking of which, Tails how was working with her? Did you have a good time?" At that question the fur on his body seemed to stand on end as he remembered his mission with the bat woman.

"It went well." Tails answered quickly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Looks like you made a good impression on her." Sonic said with a teasing tone in his voice. "Keep this up and you're going to be a little heart throb."

"I-I-I don't know about that!" Tails stammered and Amy gave him a look.

"What exactly happened with you two out there?"

"Oh, nothing worth mentioning!" Tails said shyly, Amy deciding to leave it at that. Looked like she wasn't the only one that had an interesting wrap up to her adventure with her partner.

Hours later in the dead of the night, a round floating machine could be seen carrying a furious Eggman through the expanse of the Frog Forest. His fortress and factory having been destroyed before he'd ever gotten a chance to utilize it the way he'd planned and it left the rotund doctor in a foul mood. He had more factories of course, more places for his machines to be built and deployed from. But every time he lost some ground that meant his enemies gained more on him. "Curse that filthy hedgehog and his friends! This set up was perfect! How could he ruin everything in one day like this!?"

The floating vehicle hovered over a spot in the forest as a crane lowered down and picked up a blue metallic torso that laid on the forest floor. Once it was brought up into his ship he tossed it in the back with the rest of Metal Sonic's parts that had been scattered all over the forest. "Worthless bucket of bolts. You're lucky I keep bothering to rebuild you. After this blunder I should just melt you down into a table!" Eggman said to the pieces that laid behind him, scooping up the parts of his most menacing weapon as if he were playing a crane game in an arcade. "I can't wait till I find where your head went so I can really let you know how disappointed I am with you!"

Far away in another direction from where Robotnik was working, a blue metallic object sat in a tree where it had become wedged after being batted away by a large hammer. It was badly damaged but the light of its red eyes shined on faintly as it repeated the only thing it could focus on.

"Defeat Sonic the Hedgehog. Terminate Shadow the Hedgehog. Terminate Amy Rose. Defeat Sonic the Hedgehog. Terminate Shadow the Hedgehog. Terminate Amy Rose. Defeat Sonic the Hedgehog. Terminate Shadow the Hedgehog. Terminate Amy Rose. Defeat-" Despite being separated from its power source the head kept itself active, repeating its mantra again and again. Hours later Eggman would find the final piece of his creation and shut off his voice module when he got sick of hearing the machine continue to talk to itself. Despite this Metal Sonic didn't cease in remembering who had done this to him and what he planned to do when he met them again.