A.N: Disclaimer - I do not own Sonic in any way shape or form. I think that honor goes to SEGA. I've merely played with the characters.
Second Sonic fic that I've done... I don't know how this'll go. Read and Review, maybe?
Chapter 1 – Lost Emotions
"Time to die, Sonic."
Amy Rose awoke from her dream – or rather, nightmare – with a start. Her eyes were wide with fear and she was gasping for breath as she attempted to convince herself that it was only a dream – that her beloved Sonic was still alive and well.
The pink hedgehog climbed from her bed, rubbing her eyes and quickly moving to her bathroom to change. The sound of a shower being turned on echoed through the door into her small hotel room.
Since Knuckles the Echidna had gone back to his post guarding the Master Emerald at Angel Island, Sonic had disappeared from public view. Sonic disliked the attention he received anyway, but since Knuckles had left, he'd decided to take a break and spend some time on his own.
However, as Amy was completely and utterly in love with Sonic, she worried. She had frequent nightmares, fearing the evil Doctor Eggman would kill him when he least expected it. She worried that he was lonely and alone, maybe even lost.
Amy finished her shower quickly, drying off and re-entering her hotel room. She sighed and sat down heavily on the bed, closing her eyes and putting her head in her hands for a moment. The only sound that could be heard was the constant dripping of the shower hose.
A second later, Amy looked up and glanced at the screen of her red, chunky cell phone. The pink hedgehog's annoyance increased and she let out an annoyed sigh.
"Sonic! Where areyou?"
"Whoo-hoo!"
A blue blur moved across the desert landscape at a shocking speed, bouncing against ancient ruins and speeding along.
Sonic beamed to himself as he watched the landscape blur around him – he was silently impressed by his own speed. He nimbly dodged a cactus, before bouncing against yet another ancient ruin and moving along even faster.
"Sonic, wait up!"
Sonic turned around, running backwards along the makeshift road, sand flying up into the air as he moved. The blue hedgehog's eyes focused on a red speck in the distance, and he quickly realised that it was a small plane, which was flying along as fast as it could.
The plane quickly closed in on Sonic, as he had slowed down to allow it to catch up. A delighted Tails 'Miles' Prower waved at Sonic, a beam plastered to his yellow face.
"Hey Tails! Long time no see!" Sonic yelled enthusiastically, holding up a hand in greeting.
"Sonic!" Tails called back. The plane formed a complicated loop-de-loop before he spoke again. "Listen to this!"
Tails tossed down a red walkie-talkie, which Sonic caught easily. He adjusted the volume before the message began to play.
"Sonic… we've received information regarding thecurrent location of a suspect named Doctor Eggman. You were asked to be informed if anything arose within the agency… report to GUN HQ in Westopolis by high noon. Agent Shadow out."
"He's so boring when he sends messages," Sonic mused. "Hey, looks like I get to see Egghead again pretty soon… you fancy coming along, Tails?"
"I would Sonic, but I told Cosmo I'd meet her at Wave Ocean tomorrow at one… if you need backup, I can cancel," the two tailed fox said, looking down at Sonic with an earnest expression.
Sonic chuckled. "Naw, I'm good Tails… you enjoy yourself with Cosmo…" Sonic smirked broadly, before looking up at the sky. The sun was nearing the western skies. "Looks like I'll need to get a move on if I'm gonna be in Westopolis by nightfall. See ya around buddy."
Before Tails could respond, Sonic picked up his speed and his form blurred. A wide grin was painted onto the blue hedgehog's face as he raced away into the distance.
Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock.
Shadow the Hedgehog looked up from the papers before him, ruby red eyes emotionless as ever as he glanced at the clock.
Despite his cool demeanour, the hedgehog was actually counting down the seconds until he got to see his best friend, Rouge, once again. Although, even Shadow knew that he didn't think of Rouge as 'just a friend.'
The hedgehog looked down again, scribbling something on the piece of paper in front of him. He looked up again – the clock was ticking away – and it was barely a minute until midnight.
Shadow stared at the clock, counting down the seconds.
36,35,34,33,32…
Jet the Hawk slammed down his cup of coffee onto his desk. The murky brown contents of the mug spilled over, dripping down the side of his cream mug. A low growl of irritation came from the hawk.
28,27,26,25,24…
Jet rose from his seat, grumbling under his breath as he entered the kitchen unit attached to the office. He grabbed a towel and returned to his desk, mopping up the spilled coffee.
17,16,15,14,13…
Jet saw Shadow's eyes fixated on him, and waved unsurely. When Shadow didn't return the gesture, the grumpy hawk scoffed under his breath and put the towel back in the kitchen. He returned to his desk once again, tapping down on his keyboard.
5,4,3,2,1 –
A loud crash resonated throughout the all but empty room. The white door crashed at it hit the wall behind it, and an angry – no, furiousGUN Commander entered the room.
"SHADOW!"
Briefly, Shadow thought that Jet would enjoy telling the other members of Team Chaotix about this.
"Why do I have a smirking blue hedgehog hammering on my office door!" he yelled.
"You'd have to ask him," Shadow replied, voice monotonous as always. The GUN Commander didn't seem to like Shadow's cool, unaffected answer, and he could almost see steam coming from the Commander's ears.
A second later, Sonic appeared behind the Commander, leaning against the doorframe heavily. His red running sneakers seemed much bigger than usual, and he whistled innocently, making the angry Commander jump violently, whirling around.
"Hey Shads," Sonic waved enthusiastically. "Long time no see."
"Sonic," Shadow replied with a brief nod.
Sonic grinned. "I got your message."
"I can tell. You don't normally appear in GUN HQ just for a social call," Shadow said, quirking an eyebrow in amusement.
"What can I say – I'm a sucker for finding out where Egghead's trying to hatch his schemes," Sonic grinned.
"Quite," Shadow replied, trying to hide his growing amusement.
"But your old boss up here doesn't seem to be thrilled at my turning up," Sonic gestured to the angry – no, now he was furious – GUN Commander with his thumb.
"Shadow," the Commander said, voice a deathly calm. Shadow could see the rage brewing behind his eyes, but he didn't fear for his job. He knew fully well that he was one of the best Agents in GUN – they would be stupid to get rid of him. "Could you join me in my office for a moment? Mr Sonic, I'll tend to you shortly."
Shadow nodded, and Sonic beamed. "See you in a bit!" the mischievous hedgehog called to Shadow's retreating figure.
Shadow was led straight into the Commander's office, and he took a seat on his favourite white leather chair. He leaned back, looking relaxed but still somehow businesslike.
"What is he doing here?" the Commander practically shouted.
"Sonic the Hedgehog, code name Blue Blur, is one of the best people to go out on this case," Shadow replied. "He's taken out Doctor Eggman more times than we can count – which makes me think that he is the best person for this case."
"But, Agent Shadow," the Commander replied, a vein pulsing in his temple, "in case you haven't noticed, SonictheHedgehogdoesnotworkforus."
"Exactly," Shadow replied.
The GUN Commander seemed beyond confused by this statement, staring blankly at Shadow. The dark hedgehog sighed heavily, and elaborated.
"Sonic will do this for free, and he will do it twice as well as anybody from here would – well, apart from me," he smirked as he said this, glancing up slightly as he spoke.
The office had a high ceiling with an open skylight that showed the commander the stars. Shadow had noticed Sonic as soon as he'd entered the room from above – but it was evident that the Commander had not.
Sonic smirked from above, knowing that Shadow had seen him. He held onto the piece of rope supporting his body a little tighter, as it was starting to slip a little.
"Hmm," the Commander mused. There was a long pause, in which Sonic dangled. He didn't mind about whether he got the Commander's permission or not. He'd go ahead anyway. Eggman was his target, his arch nemesis.
"Okay Shadow," the Commander said. "Make sure he doesn't let me down."
"Okay."
Shadow made as if to exit the room, but stopped short. Being the Ultimate Life-form, Shadow's hearing was much more sensitive than any other being's. He'd heard Sonic's rope being strained, and glanced up slightly just in time to see Sonic's rope fray and then snap.
The Ultimate Life-form – while incredibly fast – wasn't fast enough to stop Sonic falling onto the floor in the middle of the office.
The blue hedgehog was fast though, and as he was about to fall, he triangle jumped, clinging to the wall. Then, he bounced from wall to wall, finally soaring upwards and vacating the room via the open window. Shadow watched this from the corner of his eye, silently impressed by Sonic's quick movements.
The Ultimate Life-form exited the room without another word.