A/N: This is a really random idea that's been sitting in my head for weeks. There'll be a few fan characters but not too many, so don't worry. If you don't like it, tell me right away because I'm not sure if this is a good one or a dud!
Two weeks and three days back, in the forests outside Robotropolis:
"AMY! What in hell's name are you DOING?!" Sonic, Knuckles, everyone is screaming.
"You can't possibly use the power of the Emeralds, you don't know how! Amy, they'll destroy you!"
"Put them down and come back, Amy, please!"
"Don't!" Cream's wail is so plaintive and pleading I nearly cry. "Don't!"
But none of you know me. No, you don't know what I could do to you if you cross me. Sonic, I thought you'd be glad to know I'm finally leaving you alone. I didn't expect you to think I was playing some sort of stupid joke to make you come after me! Oh, all of you, you don't know what a danger I am to you! Please, shut up and leave me alone!
"SHUT UP!!"
A long, drawn out and shocked silence, before: "Amy?" Cream whispers.
I take one deep breath and settle my feet firmly into the soft ground. For the last time, I look around Mobius. I take in everything – the trees, the ground, the birds, the sky, all of it. Then I begin.
"In the name of the Sun and all that makes me guldara,
I ask that you take me home.
In the name of the stars that shine on my homeland,
I ask that you take me there.
For the power that is me and the duty that is mine
I ask that you take me home.
For the family I hold dear and the people that I love,
I ask that you take me there.
Emeralds of Chaos, lend me a hand
That I might trouble you no more.
Emeralds of Chaos, help me get home
To the place where I belong.
In the name of the stars and the sun and the moon and the eagles
And all that is good and just in the world,
Return me, Ami Rosa Savina Nomena Watsan,
To my people, my home and my power."
Three days ago, back in the forests outside Robotropolis…
"Honestly, I never knew she had power like that. Hell, I never even knew she didn't come from Mobius." Sonic said vehemently to his best buddy, Tails. They were almost at the clearing where Amy had disappeared, and they couldn't avoid it like they wanted to because it lay on the path to Robotropolis.
"Who would have guessed?" said Tails. "She spent so much time chasing after you that she didn't really talk about her home that much."
"True. But I still don't understand."
They walked in uneasy silence, growing more and more unsettled as they drew closer to the clearing.
"Do you hear that?" Tails whispered, finally.
"What?"
"A sort of… rumbling. Like an earthquake, but I can't feel anything."
"Yeah, I do… Whoa, look at that!"
It was what Tails would later describe as "a tornado of fire". It stretched down from the darkening sky to the clearing, and when it touched the ground there was an ear-splitting crash that left Sonic and Tails dazed. The flames created a heat wave that shimmered in the air, but they set nothing ablaze. The lightning that crashed down from the sky seemed only metres away, but struck nothing. The wind, rushing and roaring in their ears, set all the branches waving – but no leaves fell to the ground.
"What the hell?" murmured Sonic, completely gobsmacked. The magic was real – but it wasn't doing anything! Then, he saw a shape slowly coalesce within the swirling vortex of flame. It rose from the ground and stretched its arms towards the sky, incanting in a terribly dark and chilling voice:
"So have I returned to wreak change upon this world
That the system may be turned upside down.
Hear me now – those who oppose me, I will destroy!
Those who defy me, I will destroy!
Those who seek to gain from me, I will destroy!
In the name of the stars and the sun and the moon and the eagles,
I will have Mobius my way!"