Disclaimer – I don't own the Sonic characters.

Chapter One

Sonic the Hedgehog was a name that almost every household knew. Not because of his daring feats of world salvation, but because of the line of toys and games that these feats had generated. There was also the movie, which now had four sequels, that dramatized his escapades of saving the world from the notorious Eggman. These movies had boosted toy and game revenue and always held the first place slot in the box office for four weeks straight. There was no doubt of his latest movie would upholding this four week standard.

Sonic currently stood on the set for his latest movie: The Day of Darkness. He smiled broadly as he looked around. The budget for this production was double the amount of the last movie and showed in all sets thus far. But this set…Sonic sighed with pleasure. "This set is magnificent." To be used during the Eggman scenes shot three days from now, it contained all the makings of the mad scientist's lab: loads of giant glass tubes, tons of monitors, and more shiny red buttons than Sonic knew what to do with. Eyeing a red button nearby, Sonic poised his finger to press it when—

"Oh Sonic! I'm so-o scared!" The patter of feet echoed as Amy crossed the gray plated floor. Sonic knew he could easily outrun her but chose to stand still, fearing what might happen to the set if she was forced to pursue him. In moments her arms were wrapped around his neck in a spine-snapping embrace.

"Who let you in," Sonic said through gritted teeth. Whoever had would be fired. He had informed all workers that Amy was only to be let into the studio when they were shooting her scenes, which would be when he was long gone.

"That doesn't matter," Amy said. She pulled back to stare him questioningly in the eyes. "Don't you watch the news?"

There could only be one piece of news to which Amy referred, and Sonic had clapped and laughed upon hearing it that morning. "Yeah, their turning Knuckles' island into a theme park. Great, isn't it?"

Amy abruptly released him and took two stumbling steps back. "Sonic, Knuckles is dead."

"So I've heard. But it's a pity about the Master Emerald having gone missing. I wanted to use it in the movie."

Amy grabbed him by the shoulders. "Knuckles is dead," she said again. "Don't you care?"

Sonic brushed her hands off his shoulders. "Of course I do. He still has two scenes left to shoot."

"Wait a minute— Sonic, I thought you and Knuckles were friends."

He gave her an incredulous look. "Friends? Amy, the guy was always attacking me, accusing me of stealing his emerald."

He watched as Amy's clenched fists moved beneath her chin and eyes widened. "But…but…but…" she stammered.

"If it's the funeral you're worried about, don't. I'll make sure he gets a decent one."

Amy stamped her foot. "Who cares about the funeral? What Knuckles needs is justice!"

"Justice?"

She nodded. "The news reports say he committed suicide, but I know he would never do that."

Sonic shrugged. "You might be right. After all, the guy was an idiot, not suicidal. He probably tripped and fell on that butcher knife."

Amy violently shook her head. "No, no. Don't you get it Sonic. Knuckles didn't kill himself on accident or on purpose. Someone else killed him."

Sonic smiled bemusedly. So Amy wanted to play detective? "What," he asked. "Are you saying Eggman finally lost it and killed Knuckles?"

"Yes! All you have to do is connect the dots. Eggman has always wanted Knuckles' Master Emerald, right? But Knuckles was always getting it back or smashing it or something. So Eggman decides enough is enough and…and…"

"Drives a butcher knife through his heart," Sonic supplied.

Lips pursed, Amy nodded. "Someone has to stop him, Sonic. Someone has to give Knuckles his justice." Sonic smiled and his hand moved to Amy's shoulder. He felt her shiver under his touch. Her eyes gazed at him with love and thankfulness. "Oh I just knew you'd—"

"Good luck with that," Sonic interjected. He lifted his hand and he gave her two quick encouraging slaps on the shoulder.

She stared wide eyed. "What?"

Before Amy could arouse from her daze, she was grabbed roughly by the arms and lifted from the floor. "Finally," Sonic said, giving the late security guards an approving nod. They hauled Amy toward the exit as she kicked and screamed in protest. "I don't care where you dump her," he called after them. "Just so long as it's far away from here."

Amy marched down the gray sidewalk of 57th street, her messy quills swaying in the bursts of wind created by the occasional car that zoomed by. Patting down her quills in a poor attempt to smarten up, she silently berated the security guards who had snatched her from Sonic and thrown her into a dumpster behind Fish & Chips before she'd had a chance to find out what Sonic meant by, "Good luck with that." However, during the long ride in the trunk of the guards' car, she'd had plenty of time to meditate on the why. Her conclusion: Sonic meant that his way of giving Knuckles justice was by making his movie the best it could be in memory of the echidna, and so she should do likewise by finding Knuckles' killer and prosecuting him. But Amy didn't know how to prosecute. And she had no idea how to go about finding a killer. Lucky for her, Fish & Chips was at the corner of 57th Street and Cutie-pie Lane, only three blocks away from Found It, a newly opened Detective Agency.

The agency was located in a small, grimy brick building, shoved between a burger joint and a nail salon. Though Amy thought the place looked run-down and second-rate, she had a feeling their prices were right up her alley, so she opened the door with chipping yellow paint and purposefully strode inside. The building, it turned out, housed one large room; waiting chairs lined up in rows on the right side; a well-kept desk and filing cabinets on the left side. Amy disliked this setup. She disliked the lack of a front desk with a secretary to give her a lollipop. She disliked how the animal who should have greeted her upon her arrival sat at his desk with his face obstructed by the opened newspaper he seemed to find so much more important than her. She disliked how anyone would be able hear everything she said about the case she needed looking into; though the room was empty, save herself and the guy at the desk. Most of all, she disliked the smell of burgers wafting through the opening window; she was hungry and paying for a detective would no doubt leave her with no money for burgers.

"You," she said, striding up to the desk. "I want to speak with a detective."

"That would be me." The guy did not put down his newspaper or even glance around it to look at her. Amy frowned.

"Well, okay. Then I want to hire you."

"The answer to that would be no."

"But that wasn't a question."

"The answer's still no."

"But I need your help."

"No."

Amy stomped her foot. This guy was insufferable! How dare he, with an office as trashy as this, reject the ten dollars she had to offer. "Now look here!" She snatched the newspaper from his hands. Her gaze fell to his face and all things she'd been about to say screeched to a halt at her mouth.

Frowning at her, the detective "tsked" and crossed his arms. "And here I was hoping you'd just walk away."

Slack-jawed, Amy dropped the newspaper and pointed a shaky finger at him. "You're alive," she murmured. "But how? We all saw you falling to Earth. We all thought you were…How did you live?" She did not give him a chance to answer. Instead she shouted,"Shadow, you're alive!"

Then Amy leaped over the desk and on top of him. She, Shadow, and his wooden chair tumbled to the floor. There was a loud crack, which Amy took to be the sound of some part of the chair snapping, for surely Shadow—who had survived the fall to Earth—wouldn't break so easily.

Her arms snaked around his neck, and she pressed her cheek against his, not at all minding the uncomfortable position she'd put them in, too happy to feel him breathing in her arms.

"Get off," Shadow growled. He pulled at her arms.

Amy giggled, thinking how that was exactly what Sonic would say. She would never understand why boys felt the need to hide their emotions rather than delight in them. And Shadow had to be just as happy as her to be reunited after all this time. She hugged harder. "Oh, just wait till I tell everyone I saw you today. They'll all be so happy! Sonic, Tails, Knuckl—" Remembering her departed friend, Amy pushed away from Shadow, sitting up on his stomach. "Shadow, I need to hire you." She stared desperately into his eyes.

Not responding, Shadow moved out from under her. Standing, he motioned for her to get off his chair. She did, and he righted the seat—its snapped back remained on the floor. He sat. "I would like for you to leave now."

"Leave?" Amy came to the front of the desk and stared down at him. "But I haven't even told you why I'm hiring you yet."

"I already told you: No."

Amy stared at him for several moments. Finally, she sighed and nodded. "Alright, I understand." Kneeling down, she dug into her boot and pulled out a ten dollar bill. She slapped it onto his desk.

Shadow looked at the bill and then at her. "What is that?"

"Your payment. You expect upfront payment, right?"

Lifting a brow, he stared at her as though she'd grown another head. "This," he said slapping his hand over the bill and sliding it toward himself, "will be compensation for my broken chair. And now, you may leave."

Leave? But he still didn't know what she was hiring him for. Did he not care what she was hiring him for? Was he just going to take the money she'd earned begging on the streets and not do the job she was paying him to do? And what did he mean by compensation for his broken chair? It wasn't her fault it was so cheap. Why was he treating her this way?

"Why are you being so cold, Shadow? I thought we were friends. I mean, I know we barely know each other, but I still thought we were friends."

"We don't know each other," Shadow was quick to correct. "We saw each other for, what, five minutes up on ARK? How does that make us friends?"

Amy didn't want to admit it, but the guy had a point; still, she'd always considered him a friend even if he'd never thought of her that way. But, okay, he didn't think of her as a friend. So what? Was that any reason not to accept her business? From the looks of it, he needed any business he could get. "Friends or not, why won't you let me hire you?" Shadow gave her a look that Amy took to be something close to a glare. "Well?" she demanded, not the tiniest bit deterred. "I'm not leaving till you tell me."

She watched as Shadow, tense, stared at her, possibly considering removing her by force. Then all at once, he sighed and relaxed. "I want to forget that part of my life," he whispered.

Amy blinked. "What?"

"I want to forget what happen on ARK," he elaborated. "I want to forget that awful me I'd become back then. I want to press the reset button and start fresh." His features had softened and a soft light seemed to shine on his face. "But," his face hardened and the glow vanished, "you showing up here and asking me to find out why Sonic doesn't love you is making starting over pretty hard. I can't pretend I've never met any of you when you're standing in front of me calling me your best friend."

"Oh." So the events surrounding the Space Colony ARK—which Amy had chalked up as another of Sonic's crazy adventures—was a terrible memory for Shadow. "I had no idea," Amy said sympathetically.

"It's okay," Shadow said. "And now that you know why, you can—"

"But let's get some things straight," Amy said, holding up her fist. "Sonic does love me." Her forefinger flew up, counting this as thing number one. "I never said you were my best friend." Second finger flew up. "And," third finger flew up, "you can't press reset, because this isn't a game, Shadow." She pointed down to the floor. "This is real life, and in real life you face your past mistakes, no matter how hard it is to do that. Just like I'm facing Knuckles' death." One hand moving to her hip, she slapped the other one down on Shadow's desk. "And that's why I'm hiring you. Knuckles died and everyone's saying it was a suicide, but I know it was murder. So I need you to find proof that Eggman killed him so that Knuckles can get his justice and rest in peace."

Clearly unmoved by her speech, Shadow stood and pointed to the door. "And now that you know why I can't help you, kindly show yourself out." Amy did. But only after she'd tackled him and wrenched her ten dollars out of his ironclad grasp.

Amy awoke to the ringing of her phone. Earlier, heartbroken over failing to hire Shadow and stomach pleasantly filled with a burger, fries and a shake, Amy decided to take a short nap.

Groggily, she now sat up and looked around. She was in her apartment's living room and on her tan suede couch that seemed to swallow anyone who sat on it. Rubbing her eyes, she glanced at her wall clock, its face lit by the burning orange light of the fading evening sun. "Five thirty?" she said, mind still fuzzy with sleep but quickly clearing with the incessant ringing of her phone. "Can't believe I slept that long." Stretching, she ambled to the small corner cabinet where the phone sat. "So much for a short nap," she yawned before answering the phone. "Hello?"

"Amy?"

She yawned again. "Mmhmm. Who's this?"

"It's Tails." The fox cub sounded snippety. "Where have you been? I've been calling for the last fifteen minutes?"

Suddenly completely awake, Amy demanded, "Is something wrong?" Had Eggman made another attack?

"Yes," Tails answered, and Amy felt her heart drop. "You were supposed to be on set over half an hour ago."

Amy blinked. "What?"

"You're shooting time was rescheduled for today. Didn't you get my memo?"

This was about a memo? Not Eggman? "Tails," she screeched. "Don't scare me like that!" She took a deep breath and leveled her voice. "You had me thinking Eggman had harmed someone else."

"Eggman?" Pause. "Oh. Sonic said something about you believing Eggman was responsible for Knuckles' death."

Amy clutched her phone, as though she were clutching Tails' shoulders. "Yeah! You think so too, don't you?" When Tails didn't answer, Amy feared remaining the only one who believed Eggman was responsible. If this continued, she too might settle for believing Knuckles had…

"You really think Eggman did it," Tails asked, voice quiet.

"I don't know…" Amy said faintly. Then she violently shook her head. What was she thinking? She couldn't give up on Knuckles! All the times she'd been kidnapped by Eggman, Sonic never gave up on her. "Honestly, I don't know if Eggman did it, because I don't have proof. But I do know that Knuckles didn't kill himself. And I'm going to keep searching for answers even if no one believes me."

Tails both surprised and delighted her when he said, "You're right about Knuckles. He would never kill himself. And I think you may be on to something with Eggman."

"Really?"

"Yes. And if you come down to the set, then after we finish shooting your scenes, I can show you what I've already found out about his supposed suicide."

"What you've already found?"

Tails chuckled. "The moment I heard about Knuckles, I thought it was strange and did some detective work."

If Amy wasn't holding a phone, she would have clapped. "That's wonderful Tails! I'll be at the set in twenty minutes."

When Amy reached Sonic Studios, the sun had completely set. Since she was expected, she went directly through the front gates with no worries of being stopped by the guards (they were pleasant and called her Miss).

She headed for the prison set on foot, throwing the occasional glance behind her shoulder. She never saw anyone when she looked behind her, but she had a feeling that somewhere in the shadows…She stopped and turned completely around. All she saw was the black asphalt of the lot, set alight by the nearby lampposts positioned before the studio's lunch hall. She peered into the unlit darkness at the lunch hall's side. "Who's out there?" She waited for an answer but got only silence. "I know you're there. You've been following me since I left my apartment." More silence. "Fine," she said. "If you won't come out, then I'll make you." Her hammer materialized in her hand and she took a deliberate step forward.

Shadow stumbled out of the shadows. "Have you always been so violent," he demanded.

Amy's eyes widened with delight then narrowed from confusion. "You've been following me?" Shadow's answer was a shrug. Slightly disgusted, Amy shirked back. "Sorry, Shadow, but I'm not into stalkers." As an afterthought, "Unless they're Sonic."

Shadow snorted. "First off, I'm not into you. Secondly, I'm not stalking you."

"Then what would you call what you were doing?"

"Making sure you don't become the next victim."

"Victim?" Amy pronounced the word slowly with much apprehension. "What are you talking about?"

Shadow strode forward, stopping just three feet in front of her. "You were right about Knuckles."

So caught off guard by this statement, it took Amy several seconds before she gave a surprised gasp. "Then you've accepted the case!" She laughed, dropped her hammer, and threw her arms about his neck. "I knew you cared."

Shadow tried to push her away from him. "I do not," he hissed. "I just need the money. So I'll be taking back your ten dollars."

"Ah…" She pulled back from him and thought of the tasty lunch she'd gotten for that ten. "Why don't we go see Tails first," she asked and grabbed Shadow's hand. "He's waiting for me on set. He said he has proof that Knuckles didn't kill himself." She pulled Shadow toward the newly built set. It was housed within quickly constructed metal panel walls. She pushed open the door and tugged Shadow inside.

To her surprise, the room was pitch black. Her hand released Shadow and she turned in a circle. "This doesn't make sense. Tails should be here." She stopped turning and squinted at the darkness. "Or the camera crew at least."

Unexpectedly, Shadow slipped his hand around hers. "I think we should leave." His voice was soft, his tone urgent.

Suddenly, Amy remembered what he said about her becoming the next victim. "What did you mean back there, about me becoming a victim?" She turned to look at Shadow. He stared back at her, eyes dark and red as blood.

"I think someone might try to kill you."

Amy felt her eyes grow wide. "Why?" Her voice shook.

"To keep you from looking for answers." His hand tightened around hers and he tried to pull her to the door. She resisted his tug, determined not to leave until he gave a better explanation. With a sigh, he did. "What I saw on Angel Island was no suicide scene. Any cop worth his salt would know that with just a glance. Yet they've told news reporters it was a suicide."

Amy found nothing strange about this. "Maybe they're trying to keep things secret so that the killer won't know they're on to him."

Shadow shook his head. "No. It's something else. They've got their officers crawling the place, looking for something. And security around the island is tight, so I had to sneak in. But it seems that for whatever reason they don't want anyone coming in. Or maybe," his eyes narrowed and he leaned slightly forward, "they don't want anyone coming out."

Amy shrank back from him and tried to free her hand. "Then that's good, right? That means their searching for Knuckles' killer."

Shadow laughed and straightened, his grasp on her hand unrelenting. "No. It means that they're looking for —"

All at once the set's door slammed shut, bathing Amy and Shadow in total darkness.