Premonition Chapter 2, a sonic the hedgehog fanfic

Disclaimer- I don't own any Sonic the hedgehog characters. They all belong to SEGA.

Premonition

Chapter Two

People were strolling on the sidewalks of Station Square, their automotive counterparts honking and beeping in the road.

Flash

"Hi Sonic! Are you busy right now?" There was Amy's face, smiling brightly.

"Come on!"

Flash

There was a medium-sized bank in the heart of the city. It was fancy with large windows on either side of a rotating door, constantly moving because of the steady flow of customers.

It fades to darkness

"Watch out!"

The sound of glass shattering filled the air.

A thud.

A crack.

An unknown liquid was heard as it trickled down to the ground…

Drip…

Emerald irises snapped open only to close again just as fast. A pained groan echoed around the bare walls of the light blue room; the strangled noise coming from a writhing figure holding his head tightly underneath the soft sheets. Blue ears were pressed closely against a quilled head, signifying how much turmoil their owner was going through.

Sonic gritted his teeth as he curled into himself, desperately wishing that that simple action would sooth his throbbing migraine. He bit his lip, almost drawing blood, trying to keep the tortured scream bubbling in his throat inside to avoid waking up the other resident in the house, knowing that it was nowhere near dawn. That split second of sight showed the white light filtering through the window beside his bed.

The blue hero endured the pounding until he couldn't take it anymore. After willing his muscles to move, which was a feat in itself because the organ in control of said movements was under extreme torment, Sonic kicked his legs and violently shoved the covers off of him. When he sat up, a wave of nausea almost made the hedgehog swoon.

Still holding his head, Sonic wobbly left the comfort of his bed and headed for the bedroom door, not even bothering with his gloves and shoes. Halfway there, the room started to spin and the blue blur had to hold his hand out to keep from smashing headfirst into the wall. Maintaining contact with the sturdy structure for balance, Sonic stumbled the rest of the way out of his room.

In the hallway, he took a deep breath that did nothing to help him. Sonic eyed the door across the hall and cracked it open, watching as Tails slept comfortably on his bed. Happy that he didn't wake his bro up, the hedgehog closed the door with a soft click and hissed quietly when the faint noise sounded like an airplane taking off to his ears.

What is wrong with me? Sonic painfully thought, leaning his hurting head on the cool wood that lead to Tails' room. The speedster panted harshly and rested against the door for a bit, waiting for his vision to stop swimming. His sight balanced out marginally, not much, but that was enough for the blue hero.

Sonic trudged down the hallway and down the stairs carefully. The last thing he wanted was to take a tumble down to the ground floor. At the bottom, he immediately headed for the kitchen, turning the lights on in there. The bright yellow light burned his eyes, but he had to keep them open so he could search for some painkillers Tails stored somewhere in the cupboards. They would get rid of the migraine.

At least, he hoped so.

Blinking his watery eyes, Sonic went over to the cabinets and stood on his tip toes, shifting objects around that weren't what he was looking for. Not finding the meds in the first one he searched, the hero cursed and moved to the next one, his brain still pounding against his skull. Sonic combed through two more cupboards before he found his salvation. Sighing in relief, he placed the pill bottle on the counter before going back to a previously scoured through cabinet and grabbed a glass cup.

Sonic slid over to the sink and turned on the cold tap, ears twitching at the onslaught of exaggerated noise. He hastily filled to cup up to its brim and shut off the loud water. Twisting off the white cap, Sonic tapped the bottle against his hand until two pills popped out. Not wasting any time, the hero threw the capsules into his mouth, followed by mouthfuls of H20, effectively getting the medicine into his system.

Wiping away the excess water from his lips, Sonic gently dropped the glass into the sink's basin. He then turned around, leaned his back against the wood, and slumped down to the tiled floor. The hero closed his tired eyes and massaged his temples as the horrible headache slowly, but surely went away. A sigh of relief passed through parted lips and Sonic let his hands fall limply to his sides.

With his head clear for the first time since he had woken up, Sonic thought about what in the hell just happened. It-it just came out of nowhere! He furrowed his brow. The pain at Eggman's lab was nothing compared to this…and it lasted longer too. Sonic racked his recovered brain for answers. No, it didn't really come out of nowhere. The pain came after that weird dream I had. The hero didn't know how to make any sense out of it. He had pictured Station Square, a random bank…and Amy. Why her? Then there were just seemingly random sounds. He had never experienced a dream like that before.

When he unexpectedly yawned, emerald eyes locked onto neon green numbers on the stove on an adjacent wall. It was three-thirty; he really should get back to sleep. Pushing the mysteries that were his head pain and dream to the back of his head to worry about later, Sonic stood back up with more stable feet and made his way out of the kitchen, flipping the light switch downwards on the wall.

As soon as the blue hero stepped into the living room, he felt a draft. Sonic tensed and looked around the room, knowing that no windows were open when he and Tails got home earlier. His eyes zeroed in on the opened window across the room where the cool wind was entering. Sonic shifted is gaze from the pane and around the room, trying to find any hint on who cracked it open. Not even five seconds later, a low chuckle escaped the blue blur's lips, finding the 'intruder'.

Knuckles was sprawled out on the longest couch in front of the TV, snoring loudly. He was covered from head to toe in dirt with blades of grass seen on random spots on his red body. Sonic shook his head at the guardian. Tails wasn't gonna be too happy about the stains on the light couch, but he thinks that the story Knux will tell would make up for it.

Sonic crossed the room quietly and pulled the window down. He wondered why he didn't notice the window and echidna when he first came down here. Searing head pain is a good excuse for inattentiveness, I would say. Backing away from the glass, Sonic turned around and made his way back upstairs.

Entering his room, Sonic collected the bundled sheets that were tossed by the door and dragged them over to the bed. After fixing them the right way, he jumped on the mattress and snuggled under the covers. The hero prayed that there were no more interruptions tonight; two were two too many.

The blue hedgehog woke up a third time to a much more pleasurable warm light shining on his face. Content that there wasn't any knocking or that he didn't have a blinding headache, Sonic stretched his muscles, loosening them. Getting out of the bed, he seemed less rested, but that was expected, given his rough night.

Putting on his small pieces of clothing, Sonic left his room and noticed that Tails' door was ajar, meaning that he was already downstairs. His keen nose got a whiff of food and concluded that his little bro was cooking something in the kitchen. More excited than it was probably deemed healthy about breakfast, Sonic zipped to the kitchen, passing the still dead-to-the-world Knuckles.

Entering, the blue hedgehog called out a greeting. "Morning Tails!"

The two tailed fox jumped, startled, before calming back down and resuming focus on the pan's handle he's gripping cooking scrambled eggs. Tails chuckled. "You'd think someone wouldn't sneak up on the person who was cooking their breakfast." He glanced back at Sonic who gave him a sheepish smile. No matter how hard he tried, Tails couldn't get mad at his big bro. "Good morning Sonic."

The speedster sat down in a chair at the table in the middle of the kitchen and watched his buddy cook. He didn't know how the eight year old even learned how to be useful in the kitchen. They had been having cereal and milk for the longest until one day Tails said that he was going to make pancakes. Sonic was surprised at the time, but let the fox do his thing. Those pancakes were the best he'd ever had. Amy must've stopped by at one point while he was out and taught the kit some interesting lessons.

It wasn't long before Knuckles stumbled into the kitchen, scratching his stomach and yawning. "Are those eggs I smell?"

Sonic chuckled again at the appearance of his friend. "Hey, Knuckles. Rockin' a new look I see. Looks good on you."

Knuckles sent a glare in the hedgehog's direction. "Oh, shut up." He went to pull out a chair, but a stern voice stopped him.

"Knuckles, you're not sitting down until you've cleaned up. There are already enough stains on the couch." Tails said, not even looking back from the stove.

Sonic snickered. "Ooo…you're in trouble." He teased childishly. The guardian grumbled under his breath, hit the blue hero on the back of his head, left the kitchen, and headed toward the bathroom close by. Tails glanced back and Sonic met his gaze before they started to laugh. "Man, did you see him? Was there a place where you could actually see his red fur?"

Tails transferred the ready eggs onto three plates with a fork, grinning. "Not one spot! I couldn't even tell if he was wearing gloves!" He took one of them and placed it in front of Sonic along with a glass of orange juice and a fork.

The speedster glanced at Tails in confusion. "I could've gotten it, you know. You're not a maid around here."

The kit sighed. "I know, but I wanted to do it because you had a rough night last night." He set up his and Knuckles' spot the same way before sitting down.

Sonic shoveled a mouthful of eggs into his mouth, scalding the inside in the process. After downing a few gulps of the cold juice, he focused on Tails and why he had a subdued attitude all of a sudden. "What are you talking about, Tails? All of us had to deal with old Eggy."

Tails looked at his big bro, worry clear in his blue eyes. "How'd you sleep last night?"

Caught off guard by the blunt question, Sonic thought about how he was going to answer. He could tell the truth about the headache and dream, but he doubted Tails would understand if he couldn't even wrap his head around it. Plus, he didn't want the kit to worry about something he was sure wasn't going to happen again. Sonic ate some more eggs, after blowing them, and answered. "I slept fine."

Tails frowned. "You're lying, Sonic." He pushed around the eggs on his plate. "I put away the pill bottle you left out on the counter." Blue eyes locked with green. "Was it your head? Be honest with me."

Sonic scratched the back of his head and nervously grinned. "Ok, you got me. It was hurting a bit."

The fox's eyes softened. "Sonic…" He didn't understand why Sonic would hide something like this from him.

"Tails, it's alright!" Sonic said, trying to reassure him. He wasn't going to tell his bro the whole truth, he would have a heart attack. "It was a minor headache and I took some painkillers to get rid of it! I'm perfectly healthy now; it must've been an after effect of Eggy's broken ray."

"What was an after effect of that obese man's laser pointer?" Sonic and Tails turned to see a clean Knuckles coming out of the bathroom, dumping his dirty gloves and shoes by the bathroom door. The guardian, only in his socks, joined the other two at the table at his designated spot when he was over here and not at the island. He glanced in between his two friends, waiting for one to answer his question while chewing some eggs.

Tails took the initiative to respond. "Sonic said that his headache that woke him up in the middle of the night was the after effect."

Knuckles' violet eyes widened before shifting over to said hedgehog. "How do you know he had one? I know he didn't tell you outright." He's still talking to Tails.

The kit pointed to the cupboard he had returned the pill bottle to. "Sonic had medicine out."

The echidna eyed Sonic. "Was it as bad as the one in the lab?"

"No, guys!" The blue hero grabbed his empty plate and glass, and then he placed them in the sink. He scratched his nose when he turned back around. "Not nearly as bad. It was minor! Don't you believe me?"

Knuckles crossed his arms and leaned back into his chair. "If it was as minor and as insignificant as you say, then why did you take any medicine at all? Heck, why did it wake you up out of your sleep?" His voice was laced with blatant skepticism.

Sonic, feeling trapped by the piercing gazes, just shrugged. "I don't know. Don't worry about it." He linked his hands behind his head and gave them a grin. "It's over now. The medicine took care of the very small and dull pain, ok?" He then headed for the living room.

"Where are you going?" Tails asked as he stood up, wanting to try some more to get Sonic to spill.

The blue hero glanced back. "I'm gonna go run for a while." He then winked. "You won't get too lonely without me, right? Ya got Knucklehead here. See you in a bit." Sonic disappeared from sight and the two left behind could hear the door open and slam closed.

Yellow furred ears lowered and Tails sunk back into his seat. He stared at his half-finished breakfast, really not hungry anymore. "Do you think…he's hiding something from us, Knuckles?" The kit looked up at the guardian.

Finishing up his food, Knuckles stood up and dropped off the glassware into the sink. He turned around and leaned on the counter, humming in thought about Tails' question. He would say yes, Sonic was definitely hiding something, and it must be disturbing enough that he would want to hide it from Tails. If Knuckles was alone with Sonic, the echidna would have a better chance of getting something of value from him, not all this 'I'm fine.' stuff. He couldn't try and go find the hedgehog now by himself because Tails would want to come along. Knuckles took a deep breath. "I don't know Tails." He pushed off of the counter and made his way back to his filthy clothes. "But what I do know, is that if Sonic wants to talk about it, he'll do so. If he doesn't, he won't. And you know better than I do that pressuring him would only push him farther away."

Tails nodded slowly. "Yeah…" He stood up and went over to the trash can, raking the eggs into the bin. His plate and cup soon joined with the others in the sink. "Wait…You never told us why you came into our house in the middle of the night filthy."

The echidna huffed. He was hoping that no one would ask. "Well, I just found a new cave to hide the Master Emerald in so Eggman wouldn't find it, and it was dirty in there."

Tails looked at him knowingly. "I thought that you knew every nook and cranny of that island."

"This cave just popped out of nowhere! I was surprised myself, really." The fox just stared at the guardian. Knuckles then gave up and threw his arms in the air. "Alright! Fine. I dug a really deep hole and deposited the emerald there, happy?"

The kit cracked a smile. "Yeah, but why'd you leave the island anyway?"

The red Mobian sighed. "I figured that I needed a break for a while. When you two dropped me off earlier, I was so paranoid that I was looking behind myself every other step. Then an owl in a tree nearly scared me to death, so here I am." Knuckles thought for a second. "And don't tell Sonic that, I don't want him teasing me for a week."

The smile on the whiskered muzzle faded. "I won't. Sonic's out right now, so I couldn't even if I wanted to."

Knuckles frowned at that comment as he picked up his shoes and gloves; he decided to change the subject off of the hedgehog. "Is there a load already in the washer? I don't want to ruin any clothes."

The kit shook his head and looked at Knuckles. "No…you can use it."

The frown on the echidna's face grew. He had to distract Tails from thinking about Sonic so much. There was only one idea he could think of and he really didn't want to do it, but this was for Tails, not him. "Ok, come with me."

The two tailed fox glanced up, eyes radiating curiosity. "Why?"

Knuckles gritted his teeth and forced a grin. "Because…I want you to tell me how the washer works. You know, the inner workings and stuff."

Tails practically lit up and Knuckles' stomach dropped. "Really?! You wanna know? Because I know all about how it functions!"

The guardian turned and started to head to the laundry room. "Sure. Why not?"

The kit laughed and caught up with the red Mobian. "Since you asked, it all starts out with a-" Tails then went on and on about how, why, what, and where.

Knuckles inwardly sighed. The things he did for this kid.

Sonic zoomed through open fields, feeling the wind whip across his face and loving as clean air filtered throughout his lungs. His feet pounded at the ground and uprooted thin blades of grass in a constant rhythm. He was going fast enough that his footfalls almost seem to blend together and create a low hum that the blue blur was so used to that it barely registered in his brain.

The landscape then changed drastically to a heavily forested area with different shapes and sizes of trees with equally diverse species of native animals thriving in their natural habitat. Sonic didn't even seem to notice the change for he kept his same break-neck speed, not missing a beat. He unconsciously weaved around the plants, spin dashing through thick foliage if need be.

Usually, people went out for a jog to be by themselves so they could think, so they could organize their thoughts. It was the complete opposite for Sonic. When he went for a run, that's all he would think about, if he actually thought about something while he was racing the wind. The blue hero ran to escape his thoughts, to clear his mind. It was his favorite hobby for a reason.

The speedster didn't spend any more than ten minutes in the forest before he broke through the last bunch of trees. Sonic slowed down now that he was out of the tree cover, and looked around to see where his feet had taken him. Placing his hand above his eyes to block out the sun's powerful rays, emerald irises searched the horizon until they made out something familiar. Slightly faded because of the distance, there were high-rising buildings hugging each other closely. Looking to his right, Sonic saw a road curve into his line of sight, leading straight for the city. The blue hero immediately recognized the city, for he visited regularly, if only for the chili dog stand. No doubt about it, the city was Station Square. Without a second thought, Sonic sped towards the cluster of buildings.

At the outskirts, the speedster slowed down to a leisurely walk. He didn't usually move this slowly, but Station Square seemed to change every time he entered it and he wanted to see the sights. Also, bowling down pedestrians or pushing them into the street with moving cars would be a massive no-no.

Strolling down the sidewalk that got busier the further he went into the city, there were people who recognized him for his heroics and waved or smiled at him. Naturally, Sonic returned the gesture. Once in a while, a little girl or boy ran up to him asking for an autograph. Not one to disappoint the kiddies, the blue hero asked for a pen every time and signed the child's paper, shirt, etc. before the kid returned to his or her appreciative parents. Sonic's heart swelled at the thought that he was appreciated around here. All of his heroic actions to stop Eggman had caused him to become popular here, an icon. He wouldn't have it any other way.

As he walked around the city, Sonic saw many sights and smells. Station Square held one huge mall that pretty such sold anything and everything. He hadn't really gone in there himself, but he had heard from Amy and Rouge that the center sold everything but the kitchen sink. No wait…they did sell them. There was a home department store in there somewhere. Parks of many sizes were scattered around the city for the kids. The carnival would come occasionally and that provided fun for all ages. Sonic himself had enjoyed a day at a Halloween carnival dressed as a werewolf. Tails was a mummy and Knuckles was a zombie. He didn't see Rouge or Shadow there, but the bat said they were there, even if she had to drag Shadow there kicking and screaming, as a cop and a vampire respectively. Station Square could get pretty crowded during those times.

Right now, nothing big like that was really going on, so the population was dense, but not so that you had to bump into someone every second. Sonic expertly sidestepped pedestrians on the walkway, whistling a random tune softly as he observed the city's buildings, sometimes even stopping to window browse at a couple of shops selling either shoes or gloves. Once, he paused to look at a dark brown bandanna, but he passed on it, thinking that he could buy it later if he really wanted it.

Sonic's walk was nice and quiet, besides the natural low chatter from the residents, until a voice seemed to rise over all of the others. "SONIKKU!" Specifically because it was yelled at the top of that person's lungs.

The blue hero searched around and through the crowd for the person who had screamed his name. "Huh? Amy?" Soon enough, his vision was filled with pink before he felt himself falling backwards. With the weight of the girl hedgehog on his body, Sonic couldn't really stop himself from landing hard on the pavement. Hitting the ground with a wince, the speedster let out a breathy, "Ouch…"

Focusing in front of him, Sonic's slightly shocked emerald eyes met Amy's dancing greens. Her pink quills formed some kind of curtain when they fell around her face, almost touching his. Sonic wondered why no one had complained yet about them two just lying on the ground in the middle of the sidewalk. Sonic's ears picked up the citizens footfalls stepping around them. "Hi Sonic!" Amy smiled brightly, still over him. "Are you busy right now?" Sonic's lips twitched downwards and he furrowed his brow. Something was nagging in the back of his head. Why did he have a sense of déjà vu?

Amy, thinking that Sonic's expression was due for the fact that she was still pinning him down, got up quickly. She looked down and was concerned when her blue hero was still staring at her with a glazed look in his eyes. Amy squatted down and snapped in his face. "Sonic? Are you alright? Did you hit your head too hard?"

Sonic blinked and looked at Amy's concerned face. He gave her a grin. "No, I'm fine Amy." He grunted as he picked himself off of the pavement, dusting himself off. "Just uh…don't tackle me again, alright? The ground isn't soft, you know."

Amy, glad that he's alright, brightened back up. "I won't! If I remember…" She then went back to her previous question. "So…Are you busy?" That nagging feeling got a bit stronger, but Sonic ignored it this time to try to rake his brain for a believable excuse.

"Uh…um…yeah actually. I'm busy doing…" The speedster glanced around sneakily, searching for something to do. Apparently, he was too slow because Amy squealed and grabbed Sonic's hand.

"Yay! Since you're not really doing anything, you can follow me to this brand new clothes boutique that just opened up today!" She then pulled Sonic along as she ran farther into Station Square, fingers interlacing with his in a jaw-like grip so escape now was pretty much impossible. "Come on!" There was that feeling again. Amy glanced back and winked at the dazed Sonic before dragging him even faster, weaving through the crowd. "I could always use a second opinion!" Accepting his fate, the blue hero regained his footing and let Amy lead him to wherever.

After five minutes of constant running, the pink hedgehog was really excited, they finally arrived at the city's central plaza, containing the most popular shops and establishments. The stores had their doors propped open, for customers were constantly leaving and entering. Amy had paused in running to search around for the boutique she was looking for. Her smile widened when she found it. Amy bounced in place and pointed to the shop with her unoccupied hand. "There it is! Do you see it Sonic?" A bored hum was her answer and she looked back to see Sonic glancing up at the clouds. Amy giggled. "You're looking the wrong way, silly!" She waved her hand in front of the speedster's face before pointing with more vigor. "Look! It's right beside that bank!"

Bank?

Sonic snapped his gaze down from the blue sky and followed Amy's finger to the boutique. However, that wasn't what the hero wanted to see. Shifting his emerald eyes, the blue Mobian focused on its neighbor, a very familiar building with two large window panes on either side of a continuously revolving door. This normally wouldn't cause confusion, but Sonic had never been to this plaza. The nagging was back, worse than before, and it felt like something from the back of his consciousness was trying to push its way to the front.

The hero was knocked out of his stupor when Amy started to drag him again toward the clothes shop. They passed by many stores and Sonic had a sense of foreboding as they approached the fancy bank. With every single step, the hero's gut dropped lower and lower and Sonic was literally a second from saying that they move away from the bank. But, he was too late; they were passing the front of the bank.

There were gunshots.

The crowd in front of the building stopped and looked through the big windows inside, including Amy and Sonic. There seemed to be a robber in the bank holding people hostage, then a person slowly approached the armed robber and gave them a sack of money. That must've been the manager. Sonic thought. The person in charge then smirked and pressed a button on a remote he had in his pocket. The rotating doors stopped moving. The people outside could hear the rage filled curses the robber was shouting out. He angrily threw the sack over his shoulder and sprinted for the window the two Mobians and humans were in front of. A man beside them gasped. "Watch out!" Glass exploded as the thief crashed through. Without thinking, Sonic tackled Amy to the ground with a thud and covered her so shards of glass wouldn't hit her. There was also a crunch, but it was so quiet that the speedster bypassed it. The hero hissed in pain when some shards cut shallowly into his back. He'd been through worse; those would heal in no time.

Turning his head to the side, Sonic saw the robber land on the pavement doing a roll before hopping back up to his feet and running away from the stunned crowd into a dark alleyway. Taking a deep breath, the blue speedster slowly got up off of Amy, looking around to see pieces of glass scattered everywhere. The people in the crowd had backed up as soon as they saw the robber running for the window, so they were ok. It seemed that Sonic was in the worst condition, with cuts all over his back.

Glancing down, he saw the pink hedgehog still laying belly down on the ground, hands covering her face. She softly moaned and Sonic worriedly squatted down next to her. He nudged her shoulder gently. "Hey, Ames? You okay?"

Amy groaned, slightly muffled from her hands. She then carefully got up with one hand, the other covering the bottom half of her face. Sonic offered a gloved hand and Amy took it, standing up fully. The pinkette looked up at Sonic with eyes filled with unshed tears. She sniffed before removing her hand. "I have a broken nose, Sonic! And it hurrrts…" Emerald eyes widened when they saw the bloody and slightly crooked nose. The liquid slowly dripped from Amy's face to the pavement below, staining a small part of it red. Sonic froze at the sight.

Drip…

No way…

Sonic took a step back from a concerned Amy, placing a shaking hand on his head. That's why he was feeling like he had déjà vu…everything that happened was from the dream he had…

The hero shook his head violently. Th-that's not possible! I can't see into the future! It had to be some kind of coincidence! Worried about the blue hedgehog, Amy took a step forward. "Sonic…are you-"

She's interrupted when Sonic put up a hand to stop her advancement, taking another step back. "I'm fine! I'm fine! Just stay there." Amy was startled by Sonic's behavior, but complied anyway as she watched the hero have a mental battle with himself. She then jumped in fright when someone placed a hand on her shoulder. Spinning around, Amy was about to pull out her trusty hammer when she recognized the face. "Rouge?" Another hedgehog appeared beside the white bat. "Shadow?"

Rouge smiled warmly in greeting while Shadow just nodded, looking around at the messy scene. The bat's expression turned serious as she regarded her partner. "We're too late, Shadow! G.U.N has been tracking this guy for months and we still haven't caught him."

The ebony hedgehog grunted. "Yeah…we are. He shouldn't have gotten very far. This robbery looks only minutes old." He then focused on Amy. "Did you see where that thief went?"

Rouge took another look at Amy, a good look. "Wait! Amy, what happened to your nose?"

The pinkette covered her nose again. "It's broken! When the robber crashed through the window to get away-" Amy pointed to the empty pane. "-Sonic tackled and covered me so the glass wouldn't cut my skin. But, he broke my nose in the process." She turned to Shadow. "As for your question, I didn't, but Sonic might have."

Rouge flinched and took a step closer to the pink hedgehog to look at her nose. "Ow, I know that hurts."

While she was examining Amy, Shadow shifted his focus to the blue hedgehog that was staring at the hurt female like she was a ghost. He frowned at the uncharacteristic behavior. "Amy." Said hedgehog peered around Rouge. Shadow pointed to Sonic. "What's wrong with him?"

Both Amy and Rouge looked over to the blue hero. The latter placed her hand in her hip. "Yeah, he seems…out of it."

The pinkette shrugged. "I don't know! He was fine until he saw my nose bleeding, then he started to freak out."

Rouge paused for a second to think. "Shadow, you snap Sonic out of whatever he's in and go after the thief while I take Amy here to the hospital."

Shadow glared, clearly not liking that plan. "Why do you have to take her? She can take care of herself."

Rouge smirked. "Because I'm a nice person, Shadow." She waved him off and started to steer Amy in the right direction. "You and Sonic working together would be more than enough to catch that bandit, hon. You won't need me this time." The two girls walked away and out of the plaza.

Shadow watched them leave before turning to his rival now staring at air and mumbling to himself. With an exasperated sigh, he walked over to Sonic and hit him across the face. Shadow smiled; that felt good.

Blinking, Sonic rubbed his sore cheek and frowned. "What in the heck is wrong with you-Shadow?" The blue speedster searched around. "Where's Amy?"

"Rouge is taking her to the hospital." Right…Sonic thought. Because of her broken nose. "Let me return the question: what's wrong with you? You were just standing here, wide-eyed."

Well, I was trying to convince myself that I wasn't crazy. Sonic ran his fingers through his quills. "Something came up that was…interesting."

Shadow waited for further explanation, but when he didn't get any, he rose an eyebrow. "Interesting? That's all you're going to tell me?"

"Well," Sonic scratched his nose. "when I get more information about what just happened, I'll fill you in."

The Ultimate Lifeform stared at his rival like he had gone insane, which wouldn't be surprising. "Just forget it." He looked around the busy plaza. "Amy said that you may have seen which direction the robber fled in." Shadow focused back on a lost in thought Sonic. "Did you?"

"Yeah…" He answered distractedly before pointing down a dark alley across the plaza. "He went that way."

Sonic's rival narrowed his eyes and followed the hero's finger. "Let's go." Shadow started to jog toward the less popular street.

The speedster tilted his head in confusion at Shadow's back. "I'm going with you?"

"Did you seriously miss that whole conversation I had with Rouge?" The ebony hedgehog growled out. "Yes!"

Sonic quickly caught up with Shadow. "Geez, you didn't have to be so mean about it."

The Ultimate Lifeform rolled his eyes before speeding up. "Just don't screw this up."

"Hey, don't forget who you're talking to!" Sonic joked, but on the inside, he was still freaking out. When we catch this guy, I have to talk to Tails about what just happened. There is no way I can keep this to myself.