"Breaking news: A recent report estimates the arrival of a massive meteor that will destroy the Earth to collide in mere months. Experts guess it could be within the next forty days."

"Scientists hypothesize the possibility of an apocalypse due to the impending meteor at a 98.9% plausible."

"It's a beautiful, sunshiny day on this doomed Earth."

"Be sure to put on your sunblock and write your last will and testament, it's gonna be a hot end of days!"

Amy sighed, running a hand through her messy quills. At first, the reports had been urgent and terrifying, she had been glued to her seat and had stayed up all hours the night to listen to the updates as they arose. The initial shock had come and gone. It had all become just, casual, she guessed. People talked about going out with a boom now. If the world was ending, they were going to make their last days on Earth memorable. Of course, some had offed themselves already, they weren't taking any chances. Some had resorted to guilt-free sex, which she supposed would be okay if she wanted something like that. And of course, drugs. More and more people were being found dead due to overdoses than any other cause of death. She didn't understand carelessness like that. Of course, she didn't understand a lot of things. She just guessed that her idea of a good time and another person's idea of a good time were different. She'd preferred to be conscious, that was her main thing. She didn't need to be wasted to have a good time, but that wasn't to say she was an alcohol prude. She liked having the ability to be sane while feeling the slight effects of alcohol, in simpler terms, she enjoyed being buzzed. Though, there were times where she desired the numbness of being wasted. She liked feeling warm, light, bubbly… It was just that she had the worst hangovers; the morning after her escapades were ridiculously painful, and she was only a little bit dramatic when staring the face of Satan himself, in the form of an upset stomach and raging headache. She was just lucky she had such an excellent motherly figure in her life, Rouge, the oldest of her friends, did an awesome job of comforting the aching Amy. She was just good at being a mother. Or she was just good at fighting hangovers. Either could work.

At first, everybody was panicked. Stores were closed. Nobody roamed the streets. All eyes were glued to the T.V. Some people locked themselves away and focused on a slew of constant prayer, Amy appreciated their efforts. Some went on like there was nothing wrong, basking in the overall tranquility of the empty streets, and some, like Amy, grabbed a bag of popcorn and settled in to see what was coming next. Which, as she found out, wasn't actually all that interesting. It was a bunch of scientific phrases and mumbo jumbo that she couldn't possibly comprehend. And after the first few days, everything went back to normal. Stores opened back up, the clouds parted and a breath of sanity was blown upon everyone. So what, the world was ending. What were you gonna do?

Amy worked at a shady bar, in a shady part of town. She lived off of tips, and got plenty. Once she grew out of her clingy, dopey phase and into a sane, sharp-witted adult with a rockin' body, she was actually sort of tolerable. She was glad. She knew the kind of person she was as a child and because of it, vowed to never conceive. Ever. There did not need to be another Amy Rose in the world.

She was working today, an evening shift, which she enjoyed. She got the most tips in the evening, obviously due to the men that had just finished working and were coming to relax and enjoy the night with an ice cold mug of brew. Or a cosmopolitan, she wasn't going to judge. An older human man leaned forward on the barrel seat he was sitting on, his elbows on the smooth wooden countertop, he licked his yellow teeth before he spoke.

"Hey, sweet cheeks," He said, eyeing the tops of her breasts and the crevice of her cleavage. Amy's eyes almost rolled out of her head. No matter how long she worked here, she would never get used to the constant slew of bullshit she heard from customers. "Let's say you and me make the most of our last days on Earth, eh?"

"I'm working right now, sir," She said simply, focusing her attention on wiping the counter behind the bar.

"Listen bitch, we're all going to die, just fuck me, let's get it over with," the man, who could have easily been the same age as her father, reached for her right breast. Taking a giant step backward, she pressed herself up against the back wall. She snapped her damp towel at his hand.

"Talk to me again, and I will have you removed from this bar and banned, forever. Haven't you been banned from every other bar in town already?"

"Whore," he mumbled under his breath. Amy scowled, leaning down to his level. She brushed her bangs from her eyes and made sure he could see her expression clearly.

"Consider yourself cut off, completely. Don't bother coming back here." With a huff, the man left, nearly falling off of his stool. He stumbled out of the bar. From behind her eyelids, visions of the man being hit by a car danced like sugar plum fairies. She grinned to herself. Snapping out of her daydream, she noticed a dozen or so eyes glued upon her. "Erm, sorry everybody," She said, slipping her hands down the front of her pleated skirt. "You can all have a round on me, forgive me for the disturbance." The crowd of people hummed in acceptance and she went to take everyone's order. She received enough money in tips to pay for the round and interest from the pleased crowd. She went home with a pocket full of coins and bills.

The rest of her shift went on without a hitch. There were no more drunken assholes, nobody difficult to deal with, just a cluster of regulars that caused no trouble. On her way home, she crossed a squirrel man, perhaps a little older than herself, sitting under a cloth canopy. His bottom half was lazily covered with a ripped potato sack. He was obviously homeless. She was shivering in her flannel coat, she could only imagine how chilly the man would be. And with it being nighttime, she only assumed the night would get increasingly cooler. She could already see her foggy breath in the air, it danced in front of her like a tiny wraith. She could hear him moaning something, she had to focus on each syllable to understand what he was saying. Something along the lines of "end of days, end of days". She frowned.

"Hello, sir," She said, kneeling to his level. "How are you doing tonight?" She reached into her pocket and collected the entirety of her tip money. She dropped all of it into the empty soup can at his feet.

"Much better now, thank you. May God be with you,"

Though Amy wasn't much for religion, she smiled warmly at the man, nodding slowly. "And also with you." Suddenly feeling a wave of sadness for this poor man, she took a breath and blurted "You have a purpose, you are important."

The squirrel's face screwed up in distaste. "I know that, girl. I'm homeless, not clueless."

Amy gasped, her green eyes widening. "No, no! I didn't mean to imply you were. I was just making sure you knew, that's all, I didn't mean to-.."

"Quiet. You mean well, just, don't assume I'm completely pathetic."

"Of course not, Mr…?"

"Just call me Ray, Miss?"

"Amy. I'm Amy." She extended her hand to him, shook his, and stood up straight. "Buy yourself a coat from the Good Will, or a blanket. Get yourself a coffee or hot cocoa, stay warm." The man nodded, waving as she left.

She reflected on her meeting with the man, wondering why someone so wise found himself in such a conundrum. She pitied him, but she had a feeling he didn't need her pity. Why would she bother? She hoped he would keep warm, take her advice, spend the money on something useful. She trusted the feeling she had in her gut, he was a honest man, bankrupt by a lay-off, something went wrong. He ended up on the street. The last thing on her mind before she fell asleep was making the world a better place, but she knew she wouldn't get the chance. Not with doom impending.

First chapter is a little slow, trying to establish Amy as a character. Sonic will be in the next chapter. :)

**Reuploaded this chapter after making some minor edits!