~Sometime in the future~
"NOO!"
The cry of despair echoed throughout the scene. It was a voice full of terror, anger, and shock. It escaped from the lips of a young girl. A young girl that would prove to be much more than she seemed. She screamed and kicked and punched in every direction, desperately trying to escape the grasp of the man who had a firm grip on her, dragging her away.

"N-NO S-STOP! LET ME GO!" She cried. Everything was burning. Her skin was searing with pain, her eyes full of fire, her breaking heart beating so hard she was sure it was going to fly out of her chest. Her wide eyes watched the flames helplessly as she was being dragged away.
Fire.
Fire was everywhere.
The lights were flashing, sirens were blaring, it was anybody's worst nightmare. Nether her nor the man could think straight as they made their way through the base. The man kept pulling her away from the main control room where a shadowy figure lay on the ground. The figure looked as if they were using every bit of strength they had left to just stand up, yet, their efforts were proven useless. The man dragged the young girl into an escape pod and shut the heavy metal door behind them. After he knew they were safe, he let the girl escape his grasp. The girl landed on the floor, she was shaking."…P-please…don't do this! We need to go after him!" she jumped up, dashing to the heavy metal door separating the safe pod from the burning building. The man grabbed her collar, yanking her back.

"STOP! WE CAN'T GO BACK!"he yelled. The girl glared at him, her lips trembling. Tears rolled down her face as she turned towards the door and began to try to break it open. With every inch of power in her body, she punched. Hard. The man couldn't help but watch with a grim look in his eyes. She stared at him in shock."Well?! AREN'T YOU GOING TO HELP ME?! HE'S STILL IN THERE!" she screamed, her insides felt empty. She was determined to escape from the pod. She needed to save the most precious person in the world to her. And she couldn't. But she tried. She kept trying. She would not stop trying until she broke that door open."WE! NEED! TO! SAVE! HIM!" she yelled with every punch.

The man, who was programming the pod to escape, had to listen to the young girl's cry for help, and not do anything about it. A sudden wave of anger and guilt rushed through his body. His hands began to shake as he entered the escape code into the control panel. He knew at this moment that he was going to regret making this decision. But, he had to..he couldn't help even if he wanted to. There was a beeping sound when he stepped back from the panel. It was done. All he had to do was press the red button. He stared at it, knowing that if he hit it at that very moment, he would save both of their lives. He was doing the right thing…wasn't he? He gulped, reaching over to it.

"THERE HE IS! HE'S COMING! SONIC LOOK!" the young girl cried. Sonic's hand froze as he looked over to the young girl. She was a human girl. Her eyes were icy blue, just like her mother. She had short rust colored hair that was pinned back with a small hairpin. Her small brownish freckles were scattered lightly over her nose and around her cheeks. She usually had pale, white, skin, probably due to staying indoors most of her life, but we'll get to that later. Anyways, her once snow white skin was tainted with burns, scars, bruises, and was even tinted a shade darker from the fire. She was also wearing a red dress with black polka-dots and black boots and leggings, which were ripped. She was rather short for her age, again, probably caused by staying indoors.

Sonic looked out of the circular window. Among the flames was a figure crawling across the floor. He was weak, beaten, and frail. His skin was also scraped and burned, but he didn't seem to mind. They stared at Sonic, and the blue hedgehog stared back. The little girl glanced at both of them, confused."Sonic! Open the door already!" she cried. Sonic ignored her, and kept staring at the man behind the window. He gave the man a helpless look, as if he were dying to bring him inside and save him. The man glanced at the little girl, and frowned, he looked back to Sonic. The man's goggles were glistening, blocking any emotion in his eyes, but just by looking at him anybody could tell that it was too late. Sonic stared back, he looked almost traumatized. His heart was beating faster and faster. The man nodded his head, signaling something to Sonic that the girl couldn't understand. Sonic let out a shaky breath, and nodded back.

He turned to face the young girl. His emerald eyes met with her icy blue ones. Both were full of fear. "Emily…I'm…I'm sorry.." Sonic mustered, his voice cracking. Emily's eyes widened as she witnessed Sonic's hand draw nearer to the button.

"NO..No! Sonic please you have to help him! Don't do this, please! We have to save him!" Emily jumped forward attempting to wrestle Sonic from pressing the red button. Sonic brushed Emily off, clenching his teeth as he tried to ignore Emily's cries for mercy. He took a deep breath, glanced at the man outside the window one more time, and stared at Emily with a horribly guilty look. He balled up his fist and raised it above the button. Emily couldn't help but freeze in her spot. Tears were now pouring from her eyes like a waterfall.

"SONIC NO!"

Sonic's fist slammed down on the red button. The escape pod rocketed from the base in a flash. Emily screamed and pushed Sonic away from the door. She almost threw herself on the window. "NOO!" she yelled. Sonic stood up behind her, completely speechless and in shock of what just happened. He couldn't believe what he just did.

Emily watched in horror as the base suddenly exploded. Emily let out a loud wail, collapsing to her knees. Sonic quickly grabbed her, pulled her from the window, and held her close to him. He hugged her tightly; his whole body was shaking. So was Emily's. The world seemed to stop spinning as Sonic felt his mind slowly slip away…as if he didn't have a solid body..Like he was floating in an endless limbo with no way to escape.

The pod finally landed with a thud in the grass plain right below the base. Both Emily and Sonic were startled once the wheels hit the ground. With a hiss, the metal door opened, revealing a crowd of people watching in shock. The two looked outside of the opening. The sky was red with fire, and ashes blew through the wind. Parts of robots were all over the place. Some even in mass piles.
It was pure chaos.
Sonic guided a now distraught Emily out as everybody started to crowd around the two, some of them gasped when they saw Emily bawling her eyes out on her hands and knees, clutching the grass in her fists. Sonic was right beside her, breathing heavily his head was pounding and he felt as if all of the energy was sucked out of him. Tails, Knuckles, and Amy rushed over to them. They were all overwhelming the two with questions.

Amy collapsed and threw her arms around Sonic with relief, and kissed his cheek. "Oh, thanks goodness you're safe!" she cried. After escaping her embrace, Sonic leaned over, and pressed his forehead against hers, cupping her face with his hands. He stared at her with fearful eyes, his breathing getting quicker.

"E-Eggman! I-I couldn't…He's…Emily.." he couldn't speak. Amy had a hard time understanding him as he tried to tell her what happened. Amy looked over to her right, and saw Emily still crying. She felt a sting in her heart, and let Tails take care of Sonic as she crawled over to the young girl.

"Shh, it's okay, honey, you're safe now.." Amy said in a gentle voice. Emily looked up, and stared at Amy. Her pink quills grew past her shoulders, and instead of her usual red and white outfit, she wore a white and yellow sundress with white sneakers and a yellow headband. Her jade eyes were comforting, and she wore a concerned expression. Lips trembling, she crawled over to Amy, unable to speak. Amy took her hand, giving Emily a sense of ease.

"..Don't worry, I'm here, okay? Nobody is going to hurt you..I'm Amy, Amy Rose. Do you remember your name?" Amy asked, knowing that the poor little girl was in complete and utter shock. Emily stared at Sonic, her eyes wide.

"..M-my..name i-is Emily…"
She squinted her eyes and seemed to give Sonic a look of distrust and loathing.

"…Emily Robotnik…"