~Prologue~

As consciousness returned to her, Amy Rose became unfortunately aware of her body's groanings. Her head was throbbing and she ached all over from the many blows she had sustained. She grimaced and moaned. Her escape attempt had gone horribly, horribly wrong.

"You up, princess?" someone asked. In the drowsy haze of her mind, she was unable to put a face to the familiar voice. However, she had a strong feeling that she held a great deal of contempt towards the person. Her tired eyes wished to remain closed, but she managed to crack them open. The room's light was not strong and so her vision focused within a short moment. Soon Amy found herself looking up at a blue hedgehog standing with arms akimbo, a cocky smile on his lips. He was dressed in a striking black uniform which denoted his royal connections.

"You ain't lookin' too hot there, girly." he said. His emerald green eyes gleamed playfully. The haze lifted and she scowled.

"Sonic."

"The one and only. That was quite the run you put up. Do you realize you were this close to getting away?" He squinted, positioning his index finger and thumb less than an inch apart to illustrate his point. She gave him an icy glare.

"I am well aware of the fact, thank you."

"Oh, I'm not trying to make fun of you, Princess." he lied. "I think you did good. I mean, none of us expected a stunt like that from you."

"Correction." another masculine voice interjected. Amy turned her head slightly to look at the seat situated across from her. There, a black and red furred hedgehog sat, his legs crossed and his gloved hand holding a book. He wore an outfit identical to Sonic's own.

"I tried to tell you she was up to something, but you refused to take me seriously." he said, crimson eyes never leaving the page of his book.

"You always think the worse will happen, Shadow."

"Because the worse always does happen when you're around." he retorted humorlessly.

Sonic pouted. "I resent that comment."

"Hm. But getting back to the primary subject, might I ask how you plan to explain your beating the princess to His Majesty?"

"Hey, in my defense, she hit first. Plus, I wasn't the one who pulled out a giant hammer. You could've killed me, ya know?"

"What do you think I was trying to do?" Amy asked, smirking.

"Something is not right with you. Princesses are supposed to be meek and obedient."

"Where's the fun in that?"

He raised an eyebrow, then sighed and shook his head. "You're hopeless, that's for sure. And here I thought bodyguards just had to worry about assassins and all that crap."

"Assassins are simple to deal with." commented Shadow. "You just have to kill them before they manage to kill their target. Trying to keep a conniving princess out of trouble is the real challenge."

"You're telling me..."

Shaking his head again, Sonic turned around and started for the control room of the plane.

"I'm gonna check on Tails and then I'll getcha somethin' to eat, Princess. Keep an eye on her, Shad."

His fellow bodyguard didn't respond. Sonic disappeared behind the control room door.

Amy breathed in deep and exhaled, closing her eyes and relaxing in her seat. There was nothing more she could do. She had been caught and her only chance of escape was a suicidal leap out from the airborne plane. And she wasn't that desperate to break away from her humdrum life as the single princess and heir to the throne of Emerald Kingdom. Returning home was unavoidable. Her father would be furious when her scheme was revealed to him, but right now she could have cared less about the long lecture she was bound to get. Her head hurt, her body was sore, and she simply wanted some sleep. She had had quite the adventure today after all.

A little smile played on her lips. 'I should've hit him harder...' was her last thought before she drifted off.

~To be continued~

Welcome to my new story and thank you for taking the time to check it out. If you have any comments or criticisms, please let them be known in a review.