Chapter 2

Amy Rose whistles to herself as she walks through town to get home. She had spent the whole day with Sonic, occasionally leaving his room to grab him a chili-dog. She laughed to herself as she thought about it, some things never change.

She thinks back to the epidemic, and her fighting alongside her friends. Looking back, she doesn't think she would have done that way back when she'd first met Sonic. She would have probably cried, and prayed that someone would save her. She stops, and looks at her hands, Just how much have I changed?

A groan behind her makes her yelp, and spin, hammer raised. She pauses when she sees it's just a kid holding his belly. She scoffs at herself, and her hammer vanishes. She bends over, putting her hands on her knees so that see can see the boy at eye-level.

"Awww, are you okay?" she tilts her head, and the child looks up at her with innocent eyes.

"My tummy... I-" Without warning he bends over, and throws up on the sidewalk. Amy jumps back a step in surprise. When the kid looks up at her, eyes full of tears, she feels sorry for the poor kid.

"Oh, you poor thing," she steps around the vomit, and put her arms around his shoulders. "It'll be okay, are your parents around?"

His eyes go wide with fear, "No, I can't go back, I can't!" Faster than Amy can blink, the boy ducks out of her arms, and takes off running.

"Huh? Hey, wait!" Amy runs after him, Jeez, this kid is fast!

She chases him into an alley, and the kid has his back pressed against the wall on the far end. She slowly walks towards him, palms raised. "It's okay, I won't hurt you. My name's Amy, I just want to help, I promise."

The boy's heavy breathing slows, and he blinks at her. "You won't take me back, will you?"

"Of course not," she soothes the boy. She has no idea what he's talking about, but it has to be bad if it would scare him this badly.

The boy takes a cautious step forward, and then another. Suddenly he runs at her, and wraps his arms around her waist, sobbing. Amy hugs him close, and then leads him out of the alley by the hand.

"You can stay at my place," Amy smiles at the kid, and leads him to her car. She straps him into the seat-belt, and then turns the ignition. "By the way, do you have a name?"

The boy nods, a small smile on his face, "Cole."

"Nice to meet you, Cole." Amy drives the car onto the street, and away, completely unaware of hateful eyes watching her the entire time.

-Beverly Hills-

Amy yawns as she walks down the stairs. She starts when she hears a clanging in the kitchen, but then she remembers that she brought a guest home last night. She walks into the kitchen, and sees Cole standing behind the refrigerator door.

"Good morning, Cole," Cole pokes he head out from around the door, his mouth smeared with red. He closes the door, and runs over to her, a jelly jar in his right hand.

"Morning, Amy," Cole has a bright smile on his face. "Your house is huge! Do you really live here by yourself?"

She giggles, "Not for long, I hope." She takes on a dreamy expression as she imagines Sonic living here with her. Cole tilts his head, and then grins.

"WHOOT WHOOT!" he shouts, pumping his arm, and making Amy jump slightly. "Last train to La-La Land, now boarding!"

Amy blushes, and starts wiping his face clean with a paper-towel, "Oh, knock it of, you little smart-alack. Do you even know what that means?"

He shakes his head, "No, but whenever big brother says it, it people start laughing."

Amy giggles, "Okay then, today I have the day off, so I can play with you, if you want?"

Cole raises his eyebrows, "What are we going to play?"

Amy thinks for a minute, and then she smiles, "We can go out back, and fly kites! There's a good wind for it today.'

Cole looks out the kitchen window, and frowns. "I can't, I got Polymorphic Light Eruption"

"Poly-who?" Amy tilts her head to the side.

Cole looks at her sadly, "Sunlight gives me a rash, and makes my skin blister."

Amy's eyes go wide, "Wow, okay, hold on a sec..." She walks around the house, drawing curtains, closing blinds. In about five minutes the house is completely sun-proofed.

"There we go," Amy comes back to Cole, turning on lights as she goes. "I think I have some board games in the hall closet, if that's better?"

Cole nods his head enthusiastically, and Amy walks off to find Monopoly.

-Los Angeles Sewers-

"RAAAGH!" Deep within the earth comes a savage shout, and the crash of splintering wood. In a candle-lit room resides three humans, two female, one male. The younger of the two females, a teenager, is sitting on a crate with her head in her hands, while the older stands off to the side, arms crossed. The male is pacing back and forth in a fury, "Marisa, you were supposed to be watching out for him, how could you let him get away?!"

"No need to be so harsh with our daughter," says the older woman with a disapproving frown. "After the change we taught Cole to be stealthy because he won't be strong enough to fight for a long while yet. If anything, I think Cole should be congratulated when he returns."

The man rounds on his wife, "It's daylight out there, or have you forgotten? I wouldn't be so worried if Marisa was out there with him, but with him on his own there's no telling what he might do! He could be ash before nightfall, and then what?!"

"He's right mom," Marisa shakes her head in her hands. "It's all my fault! I should have paid more attention to him, and if something happens to him it's on my head!"

Her mother holds her close, stroking her hair, "Shh, shh, there there, baby. He'll be okay, he'll be okay. He may be but a child, but he's my child. Don't forget that, okay?"

Marisa nods against her mother's shoulder, a small smile playing on her lips. The door to the room opens, and a fourth figure steps in. He's also in his teens, and is dressed in a long, black trench-coat. He face is hard as he hangs the jacket on a hook on the wall.

"Logan, where's your brother?" The father crosses his arms, and narrows his eyes at his prodigy.

Logan turns to his father. "He was picked up by a Mobian," Logan growls. "A pink hedgehog. I followed them for as long as I could, trying to find an opportunity to quietly snatch Cole back, but the sun came up. It looks like she took him to Beverly Hills."

The
Father's face turns red, "That's all we need, for Cole to accidentally reveal his nature, and for some Hollywood bitch to use him as a publicity stunt!"

"A possibility, but unlikely, Rupert," The mother gives Marisa's head a pat, and stands up. "I made him memorize a cover-story that should explain his condition should he ever get separated from us. I made sure he understood that if people really knew what we are that they would kill him."

"Suffering from PLE, and Anemia will only explain so much, Dorathey." Rupert pinches the bridge of his nose. "He will have to hide his senses, speed, and strength long enough for us to get to him."

"Sunset is in fourteen hours, dad," Logan cracks his neck, and knuckles. "I'll use the car, by the time I get there stars should start appearing in the sky. I'll bring Cole back, and break the bitch's neck if I have to."

"I'll go too," Marisa wipes her eyes. "It's my mess, I should be the one to clean it up."

Rupert begins to calm himself, "Excellent, while you two are gone, your mother, and I shall go find something for Cole to eat. No doubt the poor kid will be starving after going nearly twenty-four hours without food."

"Maybe he'll eat the hedgehog," Logan grins to himself.

-Amy Rose Residence, Beverly Hills-

"Monopoly!" Cole claps happily. Amy pouts, she hadn't cut the kid any slack, but he was cleaning her out faster than a snow-blower.

"Jeez, kid, just how old are you?"

"I'm twelve!" He grins, and Amy gawks at him. He doesn't look any older than maybe six, or eight. She shrugs, some people just have genetics that make them look younger than they really are. Better than looking older, she thinks to herself.

They hear a knock at the door, and Cole scrambles to hide behind the couch. Amy watches him in confusion before picking up her TV remote, and pressing a large red button. Surveillance footage comes up on the TV, and Amy smiles.

"It's okay, Cole, It's my best friend, Cream." Amy dashes to the door, and opens it. "Hi- Cream, what's wrong?"

The peach-colored bunny has tears in her eyes, "It's Cheese, Amy. He's sick, and I don't know if he's going to get any better..." She launches herself into Amy's arms, sobbing. "I'm so scared for him, Amy!"

"Oh no," Amy holds Cream close, and leads her to the couch. "Is Tails doing anything?"

Cream sniffs, wiping tears from her eyes, "He's trying, but he's not a doctor, Amy. I don't know what to do..." Movement draws Creams attention to the arm of the couch where Cole is peeking over the edge at her.

Cream blinks twice, "Who is that?"

"Oh, I'm sorry! Cream, this is Cole, he's staying with me."

Cream wipes the last of her tears away, and smiles at him, "It's nice to meet you, Cole."

Cole nods, but stays where he is, staring at her. Amy reaches over the arm of the couch, and puts Cole in her lap, "It's okay, Cream is the most gentle person I know." Cream put out her hand, and Cole tentatively shakes it. Still he says nothing, and just keeps staring at Cream.

"He looks so scared," Cream tilts her head at him, and Cole clings to Amy.

"He's just shy," Amy strokes Cole's head. "Hey, I got an Idea! We were just playing Monopoly, wanna join us?"

"But I was winning," Cole mutters. Amy, and Cream giggle.

"How about we just say that you won this round, and we start over so Cream can play too?"

Cole glances up at Amy, and then continues staring at Cream, "Okay."

The reset the game board on the coffee-table, and before too long Cole is winning again. About fifteen minutes into the game they are laughing, and having fun like there's no tomorrow.