Warning: Unfortunately, someone left a HUGE spoiler in the review page for chapter 16. In case you're planning to read this story, you might want to avoid reading the reviews first, or maybe just look at the first ones before carefully treading up to those for chapter 13 or 14, in order to avoid the spoiler.

Summary: The ineptly named Ambrosian Files, a supposed relic containing ancient valuable scrolls with the answer to the riddles of the universe, is coveted by, on the one hand, Sonic the Hedgehog and his sidekick Tails, and on the other Knuckles the Echidna on behalf of the Floating Island. Sent to Ambrosia way up in the northern hemisphere to retrieve this treasure, Sonic is hindered in his quest by the previously exiled Amy Rose, who hasn't forgotten Sonic and still hopes to make him her boyfriend. Meanwhile, our heroes will have to deal with a double threat: the remaining denizens of Ambrosia under the leadership of the swift creature known as El (pronounce "Elle"), and the infamous mercenary sent by the Floating Island: Slug the Machine.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters Sonic the Hedgehog, Amy Rose, Tails, Dr. Eggman, Knuckles, the Chaotix... they are the property of Sega. I do own Slug and Anya, the Alpha Unit, and the Ambrosians (El, Joey, etc.), these characters are my creation.

About this fanfic: it's basically an alternate near future, meaning the characters are a bit older, but have not necessarily experienced the events of Sonic adventure. All the same, it is a Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic, so it attempts to display some of the classic traits of the characters, i.e. Amy's obsession with Sonic and her occasional lack of scruples that result from it; Tails' admiration of Sonic as an older friend; Sonic's heroism; Sonic and Knuckles' friendly (ahem) rivalry; Knuckles' collaboration with the Chaotix; et cetera, taking into account what the characters experienced in the years prior to the story (especially for Amy and the way she has to deal with her exile). As far as the continuity that's used... well, it's the mainstream Sonic canon. The only notable departure from it is that the Floating Island is not just inhabited by Knuckles and a bunch of animals; similar to Archie's version, they have a government, a civilization... they're basically a country (albeit a very tiny one, obviously). It's a detail in this story, but it does contribute a bit to this rendering of the Sonic/Knuckles rivalry. Anyway, enjoy, and review if you wish to, I'm curious as to how this story is received by others. Thanks!

Final note: some of the readers have expressed after reading chapter 1 the perfectly understandable and respectable opinion that the prose is a bit heavy (I agree). It is not my wish at all to unfairly encourage people to read this story; the only thing I want to say is that if you're a bit scared by chapter 1, know that's it's really the only chapter that's all prose. While it is an important chapter (it explains Amy's exile), it's still a prologue. If after reading it, you're not sure whether you want to read the story, I just want to humbly suggest (you don't have to follow my suggestion) to glance at chapter 2, which is much more representative of the style of writing of the fanfic as a whole, with dialogue and so on. Also, chapter 2 is very short (the shortest of the story), so you'll know very quickly whether you want to read on or stop there.

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PART ONE

Ch 1. (Prologue)

Egregious Exile

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This early summer evening on the deserted continent known as Ambrosia found a trio of friends setting up their camp for the night. They were travelers on foot, tracing a determined itinerary through the landmass that ranged from clear, grassy plains to immense forests of evergreens that spawned most of the land. Save for a few villages of indigenous northwestern tribes, the continent was more or less untouched by civilization. Traveling steadfastly at a good pace during the daytime, the adventurers set up their tents every evening. Their undertaking was for the benefit of the Republic of Mobius, a newly founded regime after the defeat of the dictator known as Dr. Eggman and the subsequent overthrow of the monarchy.

However, out of the three travelers, only two were government agents involved in this covert operation: the famous Sonic the Hedgehog, previous war hero, 20-year-old fun-loving thrill-seeker, and all-around nice guy, if sometimes a little impudent; and his right hand and best friend Tails the Fox. While avoiding the "superhero" tags, the two of them both possessed special abilities: Sonic was renowned for being the fastest runner on Mobius, while Tails could fly at a good pace using his two tails as helicopter blades.

Although it didn't seem like it at first glance, the third companion was actually very out of place within the team. Amy Rose the Hedgehog was not an agent by any means, nor had she ever been part of that mission. That evening she was checking out her tarot cards, having nothing better to do. At age sixteen, she still wore her trademark orange skirt and white sneakers, but was now sporting a denim jean jacket on top of a white t-shirt that bore the logo of her favorite band.

"What do they tell you?" asked Tails. "Can you predict any type of success for our operation?"

Amy smirked harmlessly. "Tails, I've told ya… You can't, like, ask them questions. Predicting the future is not an exact science," she lectured.

"Whatever," Tails shrugged. "I wonder if they could've told us about you. I still can't believe how you showed up like that yesterday. I thought you were still in boarding school, you know. It was like you appeared out of nowhere."

To say that Amy's presence had been unexpected would have been an understatement. Upon arriving at the St. Damien trading post – the very last post on the frontier – a few days back, Sonic and Tails had been astonished to discover that a message had been waiting for them from Amy Rose. Not only had the pair not seen Amy for years, but they also could hardly believe possible her presence in an area completely removed from civilization. She bade them to meet her at a precise aboriginal village a few dozen miles from the trading post, deep into the frontier. It was more or less on their way anyway, so a few days later they found her at the village, where she had been living among the natives for a week. The reunion had been joyous, even if Amy was reluctant to give detailed explanations for her sudden appearance. Thankfully, Sonic and Tails didn't press her – they'd figure it out later, the important thing at the moment being how to execute the mission within this new configuration.

In truth, Amy's unexpected presence had a lot to do with the complex rapport she had entertained years ago with Tails and more particularly with Sonic. She was a good friend of the two creatures during the war, and had often been involved with them on a number of exciting adventures, most of them aimed at thwarting Dr. Eggman's evil schemes. Although she was a fun person to have around, she did have a knack for getting herself in sticky situations, and wasn't always an asset to Sonic when he was dealing with the evildoers. He didn't really mind it – in that period of his life, beating up bad guys and saving the day was more a game than anything. He repeatedly saved Amy and Tails from some very dangerous situations, but they always laughed about it afterwards in front of a campfire. They had been children – young, carefree, reckless, and oblivious to danger.

However, Amy had also developed a schoolgirl crush on the "blue blur" (as he was sometimes called), which provided some sources of tension. Sonic had already pledged his love to someone else, and finding oneself the object of Amy's harassment could be quite irksome. Indeed, Amy was not fully aware of the annoyance she could cause. She only wanted to get his attention, but with the immaturity of the child that she was, she didn't know how to be subtle about it. It was always: "Hi Sonic, where are you going? I'll come with you," she would add before he could even answer. Her efforts always come across as nagging, not to mention her every-hour phone calls to Sonic just to say "hi, sweety." Many times, Amy let herself get captured on purpose, just because she wanted Sonic to rescue her. Whenever Tails was around, everything was fine – they were a group of friends and spent the time as such. It was when Amy cornered him by himself that Sonic simply wished to put a greater distance between the two of them.

And so the tension built not only over Amy's knack for getting into trouble, but mostly over her persistence at gaining Sonic's affection. At one point Tails had been sent away for a few months to a training camp to complete his skills, and Sonic found himself victim of Amy's efforts to put herself in evidence more then he could endure. Although he wasn't used to getting in fights, he started to quarrel with her, and the altercations became louder and louder.

"Amy, you can't tag along all the time, you always get yourself in trouble!" he would start to say.

"Oh stop it Sonic, you can't wait for Dr. Eggman to capture me again so you'll be rid of me!" she would answer, pretending to cry and hoping Sonic would console her. The situation came to a head when Sonic's friends realized that his anger kept him from enjoying his life and his identity as a hero. He started to fail a few missions, which put a strain in their effort to defeat the evil dictator. Supposedly for the "greater good," Amy was taken away, far from the war, the aim being to separate her from Sonic and allow her to get a normal upbringing in a suburban community on the other side of the world.

In some respect, the plan worked – with Amy sent to boarding school, Sonic and his friends were able to conclude the war victoriously in a few years. However, unbeknownst to them, Amy steadfastly refused to accept her fate and forget Sonic. Clinging to her memories of him, she sporadically kept in touch with Tails, who assured her that Sonic hadn't wished for her deportation, that he had been uncomfortable about it yet unable to act due to his psychological distress at the time. Unfortunately, this had the effect of letting Amy conclude that she still had a shot at embarking on a romantic relationship with her idol.

Hanging on to that self-made truth, Amy wasn't able to develop a sense of reality and refused every revelation that contradicted with her intimate conviction. She viewed her fate as nothing less than egregious exile, while her intense resentment allowed her to shun herself from the attempts of the community to educate her. Loathing her entourage with the utmost contempt, she refused to communicate with anyone and became withdrawn, only unleashing her love of life in her spirited correspondence with Tails. Adults around her concluded she was going through a phase and that she would grow out of it, but they were wrong. As she reached her sixteenth birthday, Amy decided it was time to take action.

After a complicated process of hacking in the online system of the army of the Republic with the help of a deranged computer geek whom she paid copiously (using funds she had cunningly nicked from her boardinghouse), Amy discovered that Sonic and Tails were to be sent to Ambrosia for a mysterious mission somewhere in a wild, deserted forest. Without a second thought, she gave her home the slip, determined to reach Ambrosia and meet up with her two comrades. It was a difficult journey, far more arduous than she could previously have imagined, but Amy had now finally succeeded in finding her old friends.

Their first meeting the previous night after almost six years spent apart had been slightly awkward, yet on the whole Sonic and Tails seemingly welcomed her presence and treated her like the old friend she was. They had been unaware of Amy's true experience in exile, so they took Amy in good faith, recognizing her as their feisty and cheerful former partner. Although she was a bit apprehensive about not fitting in too well considering that they were sent by the government for a precise job, she shrugged off that thought by conceptualizing the adventure as one reminiscent of their old wild days – beating up bad guys, getting into trouble, Sonic saving the day, and everybody laughing about it afterwards. Inside, she was glad – it was as if she finally had the chance to fulfill her happiness, by rejoining the people she felt were her true friends, and by having another shot at gaining Sonic's romantic affection.

Late in the evening, after the three furry animals had slipped into the tent to get a good night's rest, Amy watched her two partners, already fast asleep (Tails was snoring). In their presence, her happiness was palpable and her optimism extended its boundaries. It was going to be all right. Or so she thought.