Chapter 2: Amy's Funeral

Three days later, the back of a local church was crowed on a normal Saturday afternoon. Evidently, it was only for Amy's funeral. Most of the towns people known her for years, and they had to say their final goodbyes to her. The sky was light gray as a few raindrops fell on the green grass. Everyone stood in a long line as they held some gifts for her and their last thoughts of her death. All of them were dressed in black, the boys were suits and the girls wore dresses or long-sleeved shirts with skirts. A priest, who was an old gray hedgehog wore only wore his regular white robe with a large golden cross printed at the chest area. He had his bible under his arms as he stood next to the opened coffin. The church choir began to sing some "oohs" softly as they stood on the other side of the coffin. The wooden casket was placed on ground in front of the grave. In the center, it was carved:

"Here lies Amy Rose.

Life: September 23rd 1993-September 20th 2006."

The priest waved his hand for the line to come forth. The first individual in line walked up to the grave slowly as he had a few tears. Sonic and the others were in the middle of the line as they held back their tears. Some of Amy's other friends stood behind them as they sniffled and cried as quietly as they could. Everyone has brought gifts for the dead victim. For starters, Sonic had a bouquet of pink roses that had silver glitter on them. Tails had a red perfectly knitted sweater that had Amy's name on it in a bright white color. Knuckles only had a card, because he couldn't really find something else to get for her, and some of the citizens thought ahead of him. Rouge had brought a diamond necklace with the shape of a heart. And as for Shadow, he brought one red rose that looked it was brand new. He held it closely to his heart as he lowered his head.

Just up ahead, Shadow noticed something. He tilts his head to the right and saw three other pink hedgehogs. The male looking one with rightly straight quills was Amy's father. Behind him, a light pink hedgehog with short curly hair was the mother. Following that, a short hot pink hedgehog with long thin hair stood there as she covered her face and cried. Obviously, it was Amy's little sister, Kayla. All three of them had only brought some old photos from the past. Shadow knew the family, but he's only seen them occasionally at birthday parties and holidays. Still, he felt sorry for them since they lost a dear rose in the family. Most of all, he felt sorry for the little Kayla.

"Poor girl", Shadow thought to himself as his ears lowered. "Now she's an only child."

Soon enough, Sonic was the next one in line. After he sat the bouquet down, he wiped the tears from his green eyes. The priest stared at him surprisingly, yet sadly.

"Is there anything that you like to say to her?" he asked peacefully.

"Well…I can't speak", the blue hedgehog gulped down his sob. "The only thing is…that I'm gonna miss her…That's about it…"

"Hm", the priest nodded. "You may go to the back of the line now."

"Hmm", Sonic nodded.

Shadow watched him walk pass him as he saw some tears falling out of his eyes. Clearly, he was surprised to see his rival that way. He knew that Amy had a super mad crush on Sonic, but he didn't return his feelings because he didn't see them together. But why was he crying? Because he regretted for not returning his feelings towards her.

After Sonic made it to the back of the line, Tails was up next. He sat his gifted sweater down next to the bouquet of pink roses and then took a deep breath.

"She was a good friend", he spoke to remember the good ole days. "We had a lot of laughs together while we were happy. However, when we laugh, we won't forget her's."

"Hm", the priest nodded.

Tails turned around and went to the back of the line silently. Lots of tears rained down to the ground as he whimpered sadly. Shadow wanted to cry too, but he had to hold it for now. Actually, he had to think of something to say once he gets up there. Apparently, he was about to be next after Knuckles and Rouge. The red echidna opened his card and began to read it outloud.

"My friend, we've been through so much. We had some good times, and a few bad times. But most of all, we were happy together. We loved each other like siblings; we loved each other like a family. Even though you're gone, you're still alive in our hearts. And that's why, I won't forget you…my friend." Once Knuckles got done reading the poem, he sat the open card down and sighed sorrowfully. After that, he walked to the back as well as the others did.

Up next was Rouge. She walked up to the coffin, sat the necklace down and then began to ponder for the moment. It was so frustrating to lose someone close to her, because she has lost many of her friends in horrifying battles a long time ago against Eggman. For some reason, she began to have a feeling for avenging her. However, it wouldn't bring Amy back. It could only make things unclear about herself.

"Do you have any last words that you would like to share?" the priest asked again.

"Yes", Rouge said and wiped the tears from her eyes. "She was like a sister to me, even though our blood didn't matter. Sure we had some fits here and there, but we took our time to forgive each other. So right now…I forgive her…and I will never forget her…"

The priest nodded after hearing another unhappy speech. A moment later, Rouge walked back to the end of the line. Before she reached there, she began to sob as she covered her eyes. Knuckles, Tails, and Sonic hugged her in order to calm her down. The choir women then began to sing some "ahhs" in a louder tone.

At last, Shadow was up next. He still couldn't think of what he should say, even though he has a lot to speak about. Nether less, he walked up to the coffin. It was open, and he could see Amy lying in it in a long white dress with her arms crossed in an 'X' position. Her skin looked pale at some sort, only because she just died a few days ago. Also, her eyes were closed and she didn't' have on her favorite red headband on. At first, Shadow wanted to run back and wait a little longer, but he had to get this feeling off of his chest. It was either now or later. He sighed heavily as he tried to hold his tears back.

"Do you have any last words to say to her?" the priest asked again.

"A lot", Shadow answered softly. "She was too young to die."

"Son", the priest shook his head. "Everyone who was killed by Eggman was too young to die."

"Still…She was too young to me", Shadow replied calmly. "To me, she was the only close friend that I had since Maria died. Not only that, but I had some feelings for her. Some feelings that I should've shared with her a long time ago. Right now…I wanna tell her that…I love her, and…this rose is for her", Shadow kneeled down and placed the rose on Amy's chest. "Because she was a rose that never shed a single pedal. But all I see now…is a wilted flower that was unfairly destroyed. Without her, no roses will bloom twice. Now that she's gone, I can't ever smile again now that she can't smile with me." He stood up and took one last look at his crush. Before the priest told him the directions, he turned around and walked away slowly. During his walk to the back, tears rolled down from his eyes all the way down to his neck.

Minutes, everyone else got done giving away some gifts and sharing their last words. When they were done, the burials lowered the closed coffin into the ground. Amy's friends and family members began to sob, either softly or loudly. Shadow looked away with his arms crossed. More tears began to fall out of his eyes. He was going to miss her, for now and forever. He felt like he couldn't be with a woman now that she was gone. Truly, he wanted to be with her, day and night. Still, his wish hasn't come true. For the time being, he would always think about her. Her pretty face, her cheerful smile, the stylish clothes that she wore, everything. She was perfect, a gift from God. But it seemed that this gift he to go back to heaven in order to be kept in peace.

"I can't believe it", Sonic shook his head.

"What?" Shadow turned to him as his tears quickly dried.

"Today's her birthday", the blue hedgehog replied.

"Are you serious?" Shadow widened his eyes in surprise.

"Yeah", Sonic nodded and wiped his tears. "And she was going to be a teenager. At age of 13 if she was still alive. So happy birthday, and rest in peace", he said to himself.

"And so…We say goodbye to a dearly beloved Amy Rose", the priest spoke to the crowd. "May she be in our hearts forever as we live on."

After that statement, everyone bowed their heads and closed their eyes. Some prayed whispery as others prayed to themselves in thought. Shadow and Sonic prayed silently as they had their own hands together in place. Shortly after that, everyone opened their eyes and lift their heads up. They all turned around and walked inside the church.

Above the entire building, two large black creatures were watching them in the air. They used their wings to keep themselves in the sky as they stayed silent. One of evil bat-like creature had red eyes as the other one had blue eyes. Their fangs were seen as they smirked evilly.

"How sad", the creature with red eyes said.

"Aaw, are you feeling sorry for the poor girl?" the other one with blue eyes asked mockingly.

"Maybe", the red eyed creature kicked back. "However, she seems to be the perfect one for our master."

"Hm, indeed", his twin agreed. "Sure she's dead, but we can bring her back to life. It could take some time, but that doesn't matter. Once she returns to this pathetic planet, she will belong to us."

"So when do we take our time to act?" the red eyed monster asked.

"Sooner than you think", the blue eyed creature answered. "Real soon."

"Fine", the twin nodded. "Now let's get outta here." In a bright black flash, both of the creatures disappeared.

During their small talk, everyone was walking in the church quietly as they continued to think about Amy. Shadow was the last one that was about to walk in until he stopped. He looked up in the sky and only saw the gray sky with rain clouds gathering all over it. At first, he thought that he sensed some evil presence around, but he didn't see anything suspicious. In the end, he sighed as he lowered his head. He took another long look at Amy's grave and then walked inside the Christian/Catholic church. A couple more priests closed the door behind him slowly. And so, rain began to pour down to the ground. As of now, Amy Rose will rest in peace in her grave…for now…

Ooh, scary. But yeah, this chapter did get too dramatic, huh? Besides, I bet we can all relate that we've been to the graveyard out in the cloudy weather like that. Now who were those two evil creatures, and who is their master? Well, I guess you have to find out…SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!