A pink hedgehog, tattered and torn, floated down the river on a battered raft. Barely breathing, she looked as if fresh from battle. "Hey!" Screamed a shrill, spine-chilling voice. "The girl is getting away! She CANNOT LEAVE ALIVE!" It continued. Hordes and masses of pea green creatures with homely faces streamed down the hills, onto the banks of the river below. They threw spears and javelins, some with bows and arrows, but alas, they could not hit the girl.

It was getting dark. Owls were hooting, and the diurnal animals were retreating into their dens for the night. The hedgehog, known to all as Amy Rose, woke up and coughed up water.

"Wh-where am I?" She shivered, holding her legs tightly to her chest. She glanced about worriedly, and suddenly it all came back.

FLASHBACK

"Sonic! NO! You'll get hurt!"

"Amy, get out of the way! Damn it, I will be if I have to keep shoving you out of the way!"

Amy's eyes widened, then closed. "I...understand." She said quietly, and turned away.

She turned around to see Sonic running down the hall, destroying several gaurdbots along the way.

She sighed, and laid her hands on her heavy head, and silent tears landed on her bright red dress.

45 minutes later

"Now, my Ultimate of the Ultimate invention shall destroy you, my blue nemesis!" Chuckled a booming voice from behind.

"Yeah right, Eggman. Just like all those other 'ultimate' inventions." Remarked a smart alec Sonic.

"SILENCE!" Commanded the evil genius, stomach shaking like a bowl full of jelly. "Feel my wrath! ...My soldiers! I command thee now to VANQUISH him!"

The same strange, green creatures, carrying swords, axes, shields, bows, and any sort of armor or weapon imaginable appeared out of seemingly nowhere. Sonic was taken by surprise, and they eventually pinned him down.

"You'll never get away with this, Eggman!" Shouted a hedgehog in denial. "My friends will come save me!"

"Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah," Mocked Robotnik. "How can they save you...if they themselves are already captured?" Robotnik sneered, enjoying the look of pain on Sonic's face.

"You're bluffing!" Sonic accused. Eggman shook his head, grinning evilly. He then reached back and pulled a lever, which pulled back a curtain in the far corner of the room. Sonic's struggling friends were bound and gagged, trapped in a glass prison.

"Mhmmhhmhmh!" They squealed desperately. Eggman laughed, and looked back at Sonic, pleased that his plan was actually working. Sonic just kept staring, and thought there must be someone somewhere...

Then Amy ran in.

"Ohh So-nic!" She called, skipping into the room. Everyone staring, she finally stopped and looked around. "Oh...am-am I interrupting something...?" She added with a touch of nervousness. Eggman looked at her and sighed. Snapping his fingers, more of the green creatures came and pinned her down, falling with a frightened 'eek!'. Sonic finally sighed, realizing there were no more of his friends to save him, since Knuckles, Rouge, Tails and Shadow were all imprisoned. He then realized what scary things Eggman could do to them, and wondered why he was so weak.

"Ah, just discovering the effects of my Narg Henchmen, eh?" Eggman remarked, amused. "They slowly drain away all of your power, until you are nothing but an empty shell." Indeed, Sonic was turning a paler and paler shade of blue by the minute. Amy look worriedly over to her dreamy hero.

"Sonic, are you okay? You...look bad." She said, and he glanced back.

"I'm...okay." He replied, and gave a thumbs-up. "Just you wait...until I beat these guys...and we can go back." He started punching the Nargs in quick succession, but they pinned him more securely, and he soon got too weak, and his jabs became slower and slower, the effects showing more clearly. Eggman pummeled Sonic, until he was badly bruised. He was bleeding a bit, and tried his hardest to get out. The pink hedgehog stared in horror, and tried to release herself from her constraints.

Amy got out her Piko Piko Hammer. 'Alright,' she thought to herself. 'This Butt-nik is going down.' She then concentrated really hard on a happy thought to give her power. 'Sonic...' She decided, and glanced over to him. Gathering her power, she suddenly swung her hammer in a circular arc, and knocked all of the Nargs unconscious. "Yay, I did it!" She exclaimed, and then covered her mouth.

"So, you think you're smart, do ya!" Eggman exclaimed. "This is more than enough to keep you down." He finished, and reached over to the lever again, giving it a firm yank. And another. And yet another. "It's...not...working!" He grumbled, and planted his feet on it and pulled, until the lever itself broke off. Lever in hand, he sighed. "Okay, so I'll finish you off myself!" He decided, and got into his Egg Mobile.

Swooping overhead was Eggman, and Amy sighed. "Well this is easy," She stated simply, and threw her hammer into the sky. Without even looking up, she caught it perfectly, and Eggman's machine had exploded, burning shrapnel propelling to the ground. Sonic was astonished, and Amy shrugged. "After watching you fight, I guess I just caught on." She said. But Sonic's wide-eyed look disappeared, and he started to fade. "...S-Sonic!" Amy stuttered, and ran over to him. The Nargs had been deactivated when the Egg Mobile had been destroyed. Amy pushed them aside, and hugged Sonic. "They're gone now. Let's open the prison and go home!" Amy smiled, still embracing him. But something was wrong. "Sonic..?" She questioned. She scanned him, strength quickly failing.

"Ames..." Sonic muttered. "I...don't think I can make it."

"Sonic...no!" Amy said. "You're all right! Everything's going to be fine!" She denied. She remembered their friends, quickly released them, and came back to Sonic. "See? We saved them!" She said, shaking him a bit. Sonic shakily stood up, but quickly fell back down.

"I don't think I have the energy...to make it." Replied Sonic, breathing heavily. Knuckles went to Sonic.

"C'mon buddy, you can do it!" He encouraged. "After all we've been through..." He finished sadly.

"Heh...I'll be okay, Knucklehead." Said Sonic, ruffling Knuckles' quills. Rouge stepped forward.

"Sonic, I never knew you long...but I know that you have strength and determination. You can't leave us now!" She exclaimed. "Besides..." She grinned slyly. "You still owe me a jewel." Sonic smirked, and shook his head. Tails quickly came over, and knelt by Sonic.

"Aww Sonic...you know you can make it! You're my hero, and all the time I've known you, you've been the speediest guy around! Who else will appreciate my inventions?" He asked, holding Sonic's hand, but somewhat sadly. Sonic smiled. And finally, Shadow stepped up.

"...Well Sonic, my pseudo-adversary. All I know is that you are my equal, and that means that you are pretty strong. Remember when we saved the Earth?" He asked, and Sonic nodded.

"We combined our powers, and stopped the Bio Lizard once for all." Sonic fondly remembered. Sonic looked weaker, and he put his hand on his chest, on top of Amy's hand. "But seriously everyone...thanks for all the encouragement. You've all been great friends...no one can replace you." He stated. Sonic's breathing became progressively slower, and he coughed up a little blood. Leaning over Sonic, Amy rested her head on his. A single, shining tear fell onto the floor.

"Sonic...you're the only other orphan I know, besides Tails." Said Amy. "And...I...don't want you to leave!" She shouted, and began crying. Sonic looked sad, and he hugged her.

"It's ok, Ames. Don't worry, we'll see each other again." Sonic smiled weakly, and laid his head back down on the cold hard floor. Tails burst out crying as well.

"Sooonnic!" He screamed. "You can survive! I know you can..." He sobbed, and hugged him. Even Rouge was crying a little bit, and Knuckles comforted her. Shadow could only stare blankly, but was probably sad on the inside.

"Goodbye...my friends. I love you all...and you Ames. And...my family. Be sure to give everyone else my love...and...you must try as hard as you can, and never give up." Were Sonic's final words. He arose to give Amy a long, passionate kiss, before he breathed his final breath. His head rose back down, and he stopped breathing. Amy was surprised at that last kiss, but started crying anew.

"No, Sonic...I love you. I know I annoyed you, but I'm sorry!" Amy said, embracing Sonic's dead body. "Come back..." She wailed. Shadow kindly embraced Amy, and she leaned into his shoulder. Everyone paid their last respects, and sadly started walking out.

But the second half of the Nargs were hidden in the shadows, lying in wait. Eggman had predicted that this might happen, and made them run on backup rechargeable batteries. They followed the troubled friends out into the forest, and ambushed them.

"GO TAILS! FLY AWAY NOW!" Shouted Knuckles and Shadow, as Tails carried Amy, and Rouge flied alongside. Knuckles and Shadow were sacrificing themselves to save those three. They all looked back one final time, then flew off. They were almost off of the island, before a wind current blew Tails around.

"WoaoAoaHH!" He shouted, being tossed around violently. In one fatal mistake, he accidentally let go of Amy.

"TAIILS!" She screamed, plummeting to the ground below. Rouge, shocked, swooped down...

Amy woke up with a bump on her head. None of her friends were in sight, and suddenly there were Nargs on three sides of her. She had no choice but to run...and run she did. She made it several miles, but was so tired and out of breath that she thought she would collapse. A wooden raft was set conveniently leaning against a palm tree, and she grabbed it, and jumped into the river, so exhausted that she instantly fell asleep again.

End of Flashback

Amy drifted along, and thought about the loss of Sonic. She had no clue whatsoever where everyone else was, or what the heck happened to her. Scared out of her mind, Amy began to cry endlessly into the night.