=Chapter 2=

The next day, Sonic was off exploring the confines of Wave Ocean. There were so many neat sights to see around the island. The blue blur went around the village to explore. But he stayed far away from the shore lines. His aqua phobia was getting the best of him. He even stopped by the shell shop, which was still closed.

'I wonder if that shop's ever gonna open while I'm here." Sonic thought.

Then he sped off to another area. He came to a high cliff where he could practically see everything. It was a really great view. Off in the distance in the ocean, were dolphins jumping out and into the water. It was quite a sight.

'Wow, that's awesome.'

"Well, well, well. Look what the waves dragged in."

Sonic turned and saw another male hedgehog. He had light emerald fur, icy blue eyes and a pair of vicious looking scars. It was Scourge.

"Oh it's you." Sonic groaned. "What the hell do you want?"

"Eh, nuttin' much." Scourge said crudely. "'Sept I'd love to see your ass bitten by a shark."

Sonic rolled his eyes. Scourge was a jerk like that.

"Yeah that is if you can get me into the water." Sonic countered.

"Oh yeah I forgot, you're a wimp when it comes to such a harmless thing like water." Scourge sneered.

'Other than the fact that you can EASILY drown?!'

"So lemme help ya with that."

Before Sonic could respond or react, Scourge shoved him off of the cliff. Sonic let out a startled yip as he suddenly felt gravity violently pull him down. He fell into the ocean with a big kersplash. His phobia set off the panic mode button as he flailed up to the surface. Scourge meanwhile, was laughing hysterically back on the cliff. In Sonic's hysteria, it made him blind and uncontrollably frantic. Like most phobias, they make you think irrational thoughts, and only a few seconds in the water, the cerulean hedgehog thought he was a goner. Then he felt something wrap around his waist and pulled him up towards the surface. Sonic let out a big gasp once he broke through the water, desperately taking in all the air in the atmosphere. He continued to flail around in the ocean until much to his luck, Blaze appeared. She was canoeing when she suddenly heard and then saw Sonic struggling in the water.

"Sonic! Are you okay?" she called out.

"NO I'M NOT OKAY!" Sonic rasped. "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

"Well, first of all, quit flailing about like that! Kick your feet!"

Sonic did what she told him and soon he was floating in the water. Blaze extended an oar out for him to grab a hold of. Afterward, she pulled him into her canoe. The cerulean hedgehog shivered as water dripped from his quills and body. Blaze shook her head at him.

"Now I know not to ask you to go body boarding with Silver and me." she said.

"I-I...huh-hate w-water!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Let me ask you something, Sonic. Do you really not know how to swim?"

"Heck no. I HATE water!"

"Well for future reference, you DON'T flail like a fish on land. You have to kick your legs and do the breast stroke. You waste less energy that way."

"Thanks for the tip. I'll remember that."

15 minutes later, Blaze canoed Sonic to land where the royal blue speedster was able to dry off.

"If you hate the water so much Sonic, then why'd you dive head first into the ocean?" the lavender cat inquired.

"I'll give you a clue." Sonic replied with an angry frown. "He's green and a huge jerk."

"Oh, Scourge?"

"Bingo."

"So..what did he do?"

"Pushed me off the damn cliff."

"Oh dear..."

"And I've got half of mind to give him a taste of his own medicine."

"No, don't do that. You'll just provoke him."

Sonic was quiet. In a way she was right. Scourge always had something to prove. But his antics still ticked Sonic off to something fierce. Then he remembered something about what had happened in the ocean.

"You know what? While I was in the water, something...really strange happened." the blue blur said.

"Like what?" Blaze asked with a surprised expression.

"Something...grabbed me and pulled me up towards the surface. It was weird."

"You must have been near an air pocket. There's a bunch of them near the cliffs because of underwater volcanic activity."

Sonic then went deep into thought.

'An air pocket with arms?' he asked mentally.

But after a short while he decided to drop the subject.

XXXXXXX

That night, the cerulean hedgehog's did not improve in the slightest. His vacation, which was supposed to be relaxing, was getting to be a nightmare. If Tails hadn't forced him to take the trip, Sonic would've returned home to Mystic Ruins that very minute.

'How the hell am I supposed to enjoy myself if that jerk keeps messing around with me?!' he thought angrily.

Suddenly, Sonic's ears twitched to the sound of crackling. It wasn't fire. It sounded like shells. This was the second time since he came, that he heard strange noises. Against sensible judgment, Sonic decided to investigate. This time, and unlike the night before, he found a lone figure out on the beach. The figure turned out to be a girl, and another hedgehog like himself. She had cherry-pink fur with tan fur on her arms and gracing her belly. She was also clad in a white tank top and sky blue boy shorts. The girl was dragging along a large net full of empty seashells with a lot of effort. Sonic wondered why a person like her would be out gathering sea shells at this late hour. Kinda strange. Seeing that she was having some trouble trying to pull the shells around, Sonic decided to give her a hand.

"Need any help with that?" he called out.

The sakura girl jumped in surprise when she heard his voice. Obviously she didn't expect anyone else but her to be there. Sonic snickered at her reaction.

"Sorry about that." he said. "Didn't mean to startle you there."

"It's...it's alright." the female hedgehog replied shyly. "And thanks for the offer, but I think I can handle this myself."

She continued to try and haul the shells along with her. Sonic watched with a raised eyebrow and his fists on his hips.

"Want a second opinion?" he asked.

"Honestly." the girl insisted. "I've got it!"

"Come on. Lemme help you."

He went over to her and picked up the net filled with sea shells with little effort.

"If you don't mind my asking, but what are all these for?" Sonic inquired.

"Well...I kinda run a shop in town and I need these." the cherry-pink female answered.

Then Sonic realized that she might be the owner of that mysterious shack.

"You mean the one that's always closed?"

"Um yeah, that one."

The blue blur went deep into thought. She was being pretty shy. Like a 5-year-old being punished.

"You've got a name?" Sonic asked.

"Umm...it's Amy. Amy Rose."

"How ya doing, Amy? I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog."

The sakura hedgehog made a little grin. They went up towards the seemingly deserted shop. Amy led Sonic to the back door and she took out a key from her pocket and unlocked the door. The royal speedster carried the shells inside and placed them on the floor.

"There. Will that do?" he inquired.

"Yes, thank you." Amy replied.

Sonic looked about himself and saw a variety of sea shells neatly stored on the walls and in cases. There were even those rare ones that would be mostly found at the bottom of the ocean.

"These are pretty cool." Sonic said. "How do get these shells?"

Amy made a face.

"Ummm...well, I..fish for 'em." she stammered.

"Really?" Sonic said in surprise, wondering how on earth she could accomplish that.

"Um yeah. I use special equipment."

There was a brief silence. Sonic looked around again and didn't seem to find any fishing equipment of any kind.

"Well I guess I'll leave now." he said. "I hope I'll see you some time again, Amy."

The sakura hedgehog blushed.

"Um, sure." she replied. "Same to you. Goodbye!"

"See ya!"

With that, Sonic left the shack and headed back to his beach house. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the lights were still turned on. Then they all turned.

'She's kinda weird.' Sonic mentally told himself. 'Cute, but weird.'