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2: Matter of Pride

The sun had just set behind the horizon, giving Angel Island a purple hue in the clear approaching night. Stars began twinkling in the sky, the luminous gas in the galaxy could be clearly seen due to the lack of light pollution from cities, making it look like the sky was full of pixie dust. The moon was large and full as it beamed down on the two figures near the shrine of the master emerald: a bored looking red echidna and an impatient, pacing blue hedgehog.

Knuckles sighed as he leaned back against one of the stone pillars as Sonic continued to ramble at what had occurred hours ago. He just couldn't understand why Sonic was getting so wound up over this. Yes he had said some terrible things to her, but that seemed to be the least of the blue hedgehog's concerns right now.

"What does that girl think she's playing at?" Sonic snapped as his pacing became slightly more manic.

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "I don't know Sonic." He answered lazily, wishing his friendly rival would leave him alone.

"She's been acting weird for days." Sonic mused, his pacing coming to a sudden stop before placing a hand on his chin in thought. "This is probably another one of her schemes to get me to date her. But how does throwing herself in harm's way help? She was so stupid today; she could've been killed!"

"Sonic, I think you might be over-reacting slightly. Amy's a big girl now, she can take care of herself." Knuckles finally took a more active involvement in the conversation.

"Seeing her covered in blood." Sonic shuddered, ignoring Knuckles' previous statement.

"It was only a small nosebleed!"

Sonic continued to ignore him. "Is she out to prove something? She seriously needs to knock it off. I'm sick of her getting captured and hurt all the time. How can I fight Eggman when I'm constantly worried about what Amy's up to?"

Knuckles' eyes widened before he smirked knowingly. "Oh, I see what this is all about."

Sonic shot him a confused look.

"This isn't just about Eggman getting away is it? I think a certain blue hedgehog is a little overprotective of another certain pink hedgehog." Knuckles teased wiggling his eyebrows.

"Overprotective? Of Amy? Please!"

Knuckles sighed. "Sonic, you haven't shut up about Amy since you got here over an hour ago. Have you tried looking for Amy to apologise?"

Sonic folded his arms stubbornly. "And what do I need to apologise for?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe because you insulted her and made her cry?"

"All I did was tell the truth. I admit that it came out a lot harsher than what I intended, but Amy'll get over it. She always does."

"Uh huh, and are you sure about that?"

Sonic thought for a moment. "Well yeah because it's Amy."

"I don't know Sonic. Sometimes you can only push people so far before they finally snap." Knuckles commented as he stood up straighter and turned to look at the night view of the forest surrounding the shrine. The only source of light was from the moon and the stars and the dimly glowing master emerald.

"You only require a little push." Sonic joked.

"Hey!" Knuckles yelled angrily, swinging his fist around to punch Sonic in the face. Sonic easily jumped out of the way before smiling and gesturing to Knuckles to prove his point.

"Wise guy." Knuckles grumbled to himself as he stormed back over to stand next to the emerald.

"If you want my advice – "

"I really don't." Sonic interrupted, but Knuckles ignored him.

"I'd apologise to Amy if I were you. She is your friend after all and she was only trying to help."

Sonic pouted in frustration before casually smiling. "Whatever. It's Amy. She always comes running back."

And with that, Sonic took off leaving a cloud of dust behind him where he was just stood.

"And he calls me hard-headed." Knuckles grunted.

Sonic continued running just under the sound barrier as he thought about what Knuckles had said to him. There was no way he was overprotective of Amy. He was angry that she had gotten in the way again. Yeah. That had to be it. But still…seeing her get beat up by that robot made Sonic's stomach churn enough to put him off eating chilli dogs...and that was saying something. That girl seriously needed to calm down and stop trying to impress him in such eccentric ways. First it was all the boxercise training, then the extreme gear riding and now this? He had to admit that the girl was determined and admired her for her commitment. Yet he would rather that she didn't try so hard. It always made him feel awkward and whenever she was near, it always made him feel weird. Maybe that's why he acted so irrationally earlier?

The wind blowing through his quills felt refreshing and he quickly tried to banish Amy from his mind, but the image of her broken expression when he yelled at her dug its claws into his brain and refused to move.

He'd really hurt her.

Running for fun became the last thing on Sonic's mind now as he began paying more attention to his surroundings, looking for a sign of anything pink. His feet unconsciously carried him towards Amy's home before he even registered what he was doing. Maybe he should just swallow his pride and apologise. Now that he's calmed down and the running had cleared his head slightly, he now realised what a jerk he had been to her. He didn't really view her as a nuisance. Quite the opposite. She meant more to him than he would ever dare tell her in case she got the wrong idea. Despite often feeling weird around her, he could identify that it was warm and fuzzy. Most of the time he liked that feeling. The bubbly hedgehog's happiness was so infectious. Sure he hated it when she chased him around, but hey, he would even admit that it could be fun sometimes…unless she was angry.

He just hoped she wouldn't knock him out with her hammer as soon as he approached. Then again a part of him felt like he did deserve it for the way he spoke to her.

Sonic slowed into a brisk jog as he began making his way down the old cobble stoned pathway that led to the small cottage Amy resided in. This place had Amy written all over it. Behind the low, white picket fence was a garden full of flowers in full bloom. Honeysuckle was beginning to weave its way up the stone walls, forming an archway over the slightly rounded door that was painted a faded shade of pink. No lights were on and Sonic wondered if she was asleep.

He hopped over the gate before knocking three times on the wooden pink door and tapped his foot as he waited for any signs of life inside. No answer. Sonic frowned slightly as he stepped to the right to peak through the downstairs window and squinted his eyes to pear into the deserted and dark sitting room. It didn't look like Amy had been home for hours. His frown deepened at the thought of Amy being out and about at such a late hour – especially with Egghead's attacks becoming more frequent. There he goes again.

Mentally slapping himself for worrying too much, he decided that she might have gone to spend the night at Cream's place. That seemed like something Amy would do. Whenever she was upset, Cream was the first person she went to.

Nodding at the plausibility of his explanation, Sonic hopped into the tree growing just outside her house and settled himself for the night. As soon as she came back, he could catch her and apologise. With his feet resting across the branch in front of him, Sonic slouched further against the tree trunk before yawning and falling into a deep sleep.

.

"Stupid stupid stupid!" Amy wailed as the quick and powerful swing of her hammer once again smashed another tree in half. "How could I be so stupid?!"

She burst into another round of tears as Sonic's hurtful words continued to echo through her head. The scorned pink hedgehog had been out in the middle of the woods for hours, smashing up trees and rocks in her fit of rage. She hated the way only Sonic could do this to her. Only he could spark up such hyperbolic reactions to situations he placed her in. Why did she continue to let him do this to her.

Amy collapsed on the ground as her hammer's handle slipped out of her grip and fell limp on the thick grass that was now bathed in moonlight thanks to Amy's tantrum destroying all the surrounding trees. The silver light glittered off Amy's pink fur, reflecting off her heartbroken tears as she gasped for air whilst she sobbed. No one was around so she let it all out. All of the pent up emotion burst through her cracked walls. She curled up into a tight ball on the floor in the hopes that it might somehow hold the pieces of herself together as the pain threatened to tear her apart.

Did Sonic really think that she was that much of a nuisance?

The truth really did hurt. She had been so blinded by the need for his attention that she didn't think about what kind of attention she was actually getting due to her actions towards him. He was freaked out by her. She supposed she only had herself to blame. Amy had wanted him to see her in a new light lately; a strong, independent woman who could take care of herself. The exact opposite happened. Never had she looked more childish and desperate and the very thought embarrassed her to the point that she wanted to hide in these woods forever. How could she ever face him again?

Her tears finally subsided and Amy forced herself to sit up and look around. She had no idea what time it was or how long she had hid herself out here. With a sigh, she realised the only way to start proving how strong and grown up she actually had become was if she would stop crying, get a grip and face her problems head on with maturity and dignity.

A new wave of confidence filled her as she debated what to do next. No more temper tantrums for starters and clearly no cramping on Sonic's style in battle. There had to be a more subtle way to get his attention. A way to earn his respect and make him eat his previous hurtful words to her.

She wasn't going to be the nuisance any longer.

The sound of a twig snapping nearby suddenly caught her attention. Her little pink ear twitched in the direction of the sound. She grabbed her hammer and leaped to her feet. Her instincts kicked in as she kept her eyes locked on the spot the noise came from. Was it a threat? Or had Sonic finally come to apologise. She wasn't sure how she was going to react to the latter. In fact she didn't know why she was getting her hopes up that it might be the latter. Sonic could never swallow his pride.

Amy kept her posture stiff and firm, clinging onto her hammer tighter in the sudden deafening silence. No animal could be heard, which was strange. What ominous presence could do such a thing? Unless she'd scared them all off earlier; she hadn't really been paying attention. The feeling that someone or something was watching her refused to vanish and she wondered if her self-esteem hitting rock bottom had made her even more paranoid.

She risked lowering her hammer slightly as she looked around. Jade green eyes scanned the darkness behind the wall of trees that surrounded her. Nothing happened.

Finally relaxing, Amy put her hammer away only to regret it instantly. Her scream of terror was captured by a strong gloved hand being placed over her mouth. Her panicked thrashing was stopped by a firm grip around her torso that pinned her arms to her side.

"Don't scream, just shut up and listen!" A familiar harsh voice hissed from behind her. She knew that voice. She hadn't heard it in months.

Her escape attempts stopped and her captor, once he realised she wasn't going to try anything funny, released her and Amy relaxed again slightly before turning to face him.

"Shadow?" Amy hissed in annoyance. "You frightened me."

Shadow just shrugged, not caring, and folded his arms over his chest. His ruby red eyes scanned the surrounding area before raising an eyebrow at the destruction that Amy had caused. He never questioned it aloud though.

"Amy Rose, just the girl I was looking for." Shadow said coyly, his face an expressionless mask. That's when Amy knew he meant business.

"You've been looking for me?" Amy asked, looking uncertain as Shadow's mere presence was enough to intimidate her slightly.

Shadow finally smirked at her. "I have a proposition for you."

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