A/N: Fina-freakin'-ly, a long chapter! XD This will explain some stuff, though you won't fully get the whole "Phoenix" thing until the next chapter when I go all flashback on ya'll! DX Oh my freakin' lord! That'll be insane... Anyways, you'll have to wait until I post the next chapter to fully understand everything. Sorry for the confusion, but it's how I roll XD. Just kidding. But yeah, sorry.

Chapter 3: 1-800-SUICIDE (It's The Beginning of The End)

A gentle sea breeze picked up and played with her white sundress, making it billow out behind her as the navy hedgie with ebony streaks not unlike Shadow's ruby streaks strode confidently to the west end of the beach, away from the smaller houses and businesses.

Jeez, it sure is quiet around here. St. George Island, Florida… perfect for staying low-key when the world is at a standstill and any move you make can stir the water. She thought irritably.

Kicking a clod of sand out of her way, she padded on. As her thoughts continued to meander, she strayed a little too far away from the house she and her brother were sharing for her to be comfortable. Noting the change in the once soothing atmosphere, she turned on her Jet Shoe covered heel and strolled back in the direction from which she came.

Why, if we are trying to be inconspicuous, is he making me go out and have a "nice dinner"? She added after a moment of thought.

She took up one edge of the dress and fingered it nervously as her thoughts cemented her feet to the sand.

I don't even know why I'm wearing this dress. I suppose it's to make him happy since he's been through a crap-load and all. But still, what the heck am I doing wearing this? It's totally screwing with my image around town as the visiting tough girl… I certainly don't want any member of the male species breathing down my neck. She huffed and tossed the fabric away, returning it to the wind's fingers.

With that, she carried on, this time her step a little more heavy.

--

On the other side of the island, a certain famous hedgehog was having some freedom-threatening issues suddenly run up and seize him by the throat. Sonic the Hedgehog slowly backed away from a wedding gown clad Amy Rose…

--

Sonic

"Sonic! You promised!" She wailed, bouquet of white carnations cradled in her arms.

"When? I don't remember promising you anything!" I cast a panicked leer Knuckles's way, who merely shrugged in response.

"Well, you technically didn't have to promise me anything, since this is arranged anyway." She said smugly, certain to finally have her mouse caught in her claws.

"Arranged!? By who?" I backed into the bamboo wall of the Blue Parrot, well-known restaurant on the island for its burgers and hotdogs, my target before Amy had attacked me.

"Sally Acorn's organizing it. You should know about it." She scolded, wagging a finger at me.

"Why would Sally, of all people, arrange a marriage between us when she knows good and well that I have NO ATTRACTION towards you!?" I barked, trying desperately to save myself and find an escape.

"Y-you don't?" Amy's lips turned south at the remark and began to quiver, signaling me that I was now treading on thin ice.

"Nope." I said with a twinge of sympathy hidden deep within my voice. With a quick nod towards Knuckles, I leapt onto the roof of the Blue Parrot.

"Sonic!! You'd better get back down here!" Amy threatened, tossing the bouquet over her shoulder and hoisting her Piko-Piko hammer to her side.

"I don't think he's coming any time soon." Knuckles remarked under his breath, turning away from the verbally dueling hedgies.

"Shut up, knucklehead!" Amy spun and slammed her hammer down over Knuckles's head. Knuckles reeled from the impact and staggered backwards into the trashcan. Taking the distraction to my advantage, I slid down the back of the building and took off running to the east, far away from threats of matrimony and standing still.

Moments later, I slowed down to a jog, still a blur to most passersby.

Now that I've lost her, maybe I can find something interesting to do until she gives up for the night and I can get my hands on a chilidog.

I jogged even slower as I scanned the beach for anything eye-catching. Suddenly, a familiar scent wafted into my 'personal bubble' and I skidded to a stop, kicking up tons of sand in the process. Nostrils flaring, I stood on my tiptoes, trying to locate the source of the smell and put a name with it. Then, the sea breeze died down, enabling me to distinguish the distinct vanilla musk from the typical salty air. A name long since pushed into the back of my mind popped up once more.

Shadow. I thought deviously. It's about time we had a friendly spar anyway.

My signature grin slowly spread across my face as I thought of the upcoming battle with my long-lost rival. I sped away once again, this time making a beeline for a fight instead of away from it.

"Oh I really hope you've leveled your training up 'cause I really don't want a wussy-fight!" I called out in challenge and launched myself in a deadly blue missile at my opponent. At that instant however, I picked up something different in the scent, a baking soda type of tag to it.

"What the-?" My target whipped around to face me, revealing navy blue quills with black highlights, that same white patch of fur on the chest, and fiery caramel eyes.

"Shoot!" I yelped and urgently countered into a backspin, trying to equalize the direction enough to allow me to uncurl while in midair.

"Who the-?" The navy hedgehog asked, a slightly puzzled and delighted look on her face as she dove to the right. Still, because I am the fastest thing alive, I clipped the navy hedgie in the leg as she made her escape. She spun out, plowing into the sand. In a split second, she was on her feet again. "Chaos Control." She muttered, spitting sand. She disappeared in a flash of green.

"Oh crap." I warily glared around, searching for the navy hedgie I had mistakenly attacked.

"Now you've done it!" She yelled and reappeared above me. She curled up and gave me a taste of her own Homing Attack. I dodged, but she still managed to sideswipe me enough to knock me off balance.

"Dang." I slid as she back flipped away, both of us sliding away a few feet. She crouched, one hand steadying her landing as both feet hit the ground. She launched into a Spin Dash seconds later, but I jumped up into the air, narrowly avoiding the ball of navy and black moving towards me at blinding speeds. I then reverted to another Homing Attack, plowing into the challenger square in the chest as she turned to attack again, forcing her back to the ocean. As I backed off a few feet to give myself some distance for another attack, I was able to get a better look at the girl. As my eyes scanned her slender figure, three voices went off in my head at the same time.

Hurry up and attack before she catches her breath. One wailed. Good God, she's pretty. Another breathed. Wait! There's something familiar about her! The last screamed.

Suddenly, the other hedgehog held up her right hand.

"Wait… Sonic?" She called, a slight southern accent to her voice. (Though nothing compared to Bunnie's Texas type accent… No, her's was more… North Georgia XD)

"Yeah." I answered, loosening up as she spoke, her voice becoming more and more familiar by the second.

"I'm not gonna fight you." She said shakily, standing erect again, but with a more wary air about her.

"Okay then." I shrugged and closed the distance between us. I stopped about a foot from the girl, running a quick glance over her again. She was wearing a white sundress, which seemed out of place and perfectly in place at the same time, torn of course from the quick spar. "Wait a sec!" I exclaimed, jumping up a bit.

"Now do you remember me? God, you're worse than my brother after he fell." She sighed with exasperation.

"Swift!" I yelped suddenly, enveloping the girl in a bear hug Amy would have been proud of. "Dude, I missed you so much!" I shouted, burying my face in her shoulder.

"Apparently-… not…" Swift laughed, short of breath. After a minute like that, Swift's cheeks started turning blue from lack of oxygen. "You… wanna… get… off… now… so… I… can… breathe…?" She said weakly. I released her, a whimsical smile growing on my muzzle.

"Where've you been all my life?" I asked, laughing as I did so.

"What the heck? We've been friends since forever ago!" She exclaimed back. As I cast a nervous 'I-gotta-go' look behind me, Swift traced around a seashell that was imbedded in the sand with her shoe. "So, how's everyone been?" She inquired after a few seconds.

"Well, Rouge has kinda disappeared; Tails has a job supplying weapons, new and old, to GUN; Amy is currently chasing after me, saying Princess Sally arranged marriage between us; Knuckles has been paling around with me, globe-trekking since nobody's made a grab for the Master Emerald in freakin' forever; and me… well, I'm just me." I explained, grin growing huge as I told her of myself.

"Sounds fun… What's with Sally arranging that between you and Amy though?" She frowned slightly at the circumstances.

"Don't know, but I'm going to head to Mobius to figure it out soon." My determined face told Swift I was ready to go that minute. "So, what's going on in your life?" I returned his attention to my friend. "By the way, stop wearing that baking soda deodorant crap. It messes up my nose." I wrinkled my nose to show her.

"Sorry about that, Shadow just doesn't think it's a good idea for me to distinguish myself from him. Ya know, since guys will leave me alone if I smell like one." Swift explained, rubbing the back of her head nervously.

"Well, it's been a long time since I've smelled… or seen you as a matter of fact. I think I may have forgotten exactly what twinge you had to that vanilla musk when you weren't wearing that deodorant crap." I admitted, looking her over again as if seeing her for the first time.

"Hmm… wouldn't surprise me. Shadow's always made me do this." Swift's bright grin lit up her face.

"How's he these days?" I inquired curiously.

"Pissed off at the world, as usual. We've been doing some planet-trekking, sort of like your globe-trekking I suppose. We just have a bigger area to cover." She smiled again and I couldn't help but smile too. "We were looking for the remnants of dear old dad's empire." Swift rolled her caramel eyes and folded her arms over her chest.

"I take it he screwed up a lot more planets than good ol' Earth." I smirked deviously.

"Yup. 15 planets later and Shadow's got 12 different galactic warrants out for his arrest and three for his execution." Swift now wore a concerned frown.

"What the heck's he doing? Genocide? Mass murder? Heck I don't know, speeding?" I stared disbelievingly at the navy girl.

What have they been doing out there?

"Mostly for grand theft auto. I mean, super-speed isn't exactly inconspicuous… otherwise, he's in trouble for interfering in mating matters." She huffed, casting a casual glance over her shoulder.

"What's he doing, pulling high school kids from their cars or something?" I remained incredulous.

"No, just violently murdering every guy that tried to flirt with me, so I guess its aggravated assault." Swift shrugged and looked away nervously.

"Protective much?" I asked sarcastically, halfway expecting Shadow to pop up at that instant and give me a nice Chaos Spear for even speaking to Swift.

"He can't really help it… After all, I'm all he's got left." Swift smiled meekly and looked down at the sand.

"Oh." I responded passively. I never really expected that much out of Shadow.

"He knows stuff about… me… and others… that we probably don't know about ourselves." Swift changed from the ambitious side to the shy side, the side she only showed when she wasn't comfortable. I took note of the change, but couldn't stop pressing on.

"How so?"

"I don't really know… he just… knows… It's kinda creepy… I guess he's just good enough with psychology that he knows what to look for and how to pick up on certain things." She explained reluctantly.

"What kind of stuff?" I inquired, despite the pleading look from Swift.

"He knows what people are going to do before they do it." She said, too shortly for my liking.

"Like what? Seeing the future?"

"No, like body movement, stance, eye contact. He's getting to the point where he can pick out a random person and be like "that dude's getting ready to ask a girl out." Sure enough two seconds later, the guy he picked out is asking a girl out. It's freaking me out." Swift shuddered and looked to the ocean for some sort of comfort.

"But, you have nothing to hide from him." I tilted my head curiously.

"I do… nothing illegal or that will get us in trouble… just…" She hesitated completely and looked as though she may bolt at any second.

"What?" I pressed.

"Feelings…" She sighed in defeat and turned her head back to glare at me.

"That's it?" I asked incredulously. Swift nodded her reply. "Okay then." I turned away and started walking back in the direction I had come from.

Swift

I bit my lip nervously, contemplating a decision that, knowing Sonic, could set off a whole adventure.

I'll be damned if I miss another chance.

I narrowed my eyes determinedly and strode forward gracefully in long strides until I stopped in front of Sonic, hindering his progress, and changed my expression to a more neutral one. Sonic cocked his head at me again.

"You wanna come back to our place? Ya know, wait until the pink storm has died down a bit." I asked, nodding towards the town to indicate Amy. Sonic's emerald eyes sparked slightly at the offer and I swore his tail started wagging. I stared at the ocean emptily and watched it roll while Sonic came up with a reply.

"Sure! What the hell, it's been forever." Sonic shrugged and grinned brightly at me as I did a double take, signifying that I had expected a decline. Eagerly, I struck up a quick pace that Sonic easily matched as we changed directions towards the end of the island that Sonic had previously been evacuating in and I had been returning to.

"Well, this should be interesting." I smirked after a moment of silence between us.

"What do you think Shadow's reaction will be?" Sonic quizzed nervously, twiddling his thumbs as he walked.

"Heh… Surprised glare in my direction probably. Heck, he'll probably glare at you for a second too." I said thoughtfully.

"That's it? I'm expecting him to explode." Sonic snickered and cast a sideways glance at me.

"Nah. He knows it'll make me happy." I continued much less thoughtfully. When Sonic gave me an astonished look, I chuckled nervously and added, "It's just been the two of us for freakin' forever. It's nice to see a new, friendly face."

"Oh… So, you don't think he'll explode?" Sonic asked sarcastically.

"Not at all." I replied confidently, staring straight ahead. "I think you'll be surprised. Shadow's opened up a lot since we cracked our skulls trying to get through that last thing." I pondered for a second.

"Yeah… I remember that a little too well for my taste. I think I'd rather get amnesia like Shadow did when he fell than have to relive it in a nightmare every once in a while." Sonic's brow descended in irritation.

"You too, huh? I get dreams like that every so often. Scares the crap out of me every time too. It's just so vivid… like I'm there again."

"Watching Eggman give up his life so the rest of us can get through… And then, there was Shadow. He didn't want to give it up, did he?"

"Of course not. But, what's a trio of super-sugarhigh hedgehogs going to do against the world's supply of nuclear warheads?" I asked rhetorically.

"I still think we could have won…" Sonic muttered, thinking back.

"You always do." I sighed heavily.

"You did too." Sonic glanced over at me critically. I jerked my head over at him with a challenging glare. We stared at each other for a second, but dropped it to either side. Sonic cleared his throat and I angled myself towards him expectantly. "Any news on… who else-."

"Chris made it through, perfectly fine and alive, though more emotionally scarred than beforehand." I answered his incomplete question, surprising Sonic a bit.

"Where's he settled in now?" Sonic asked anxiously, eyes pleading.

"Cali. This Earth's version of Station Square." I looked up, opening my mouth a touch as I stretched my neck.

"That's nice to know." Sonic said quietly. "Any news on the 'Rising Flame'?" He asked, his face darkening considerably as the words left his mouth.

"Shadow and I haven't found any traces of Phoenix past other Earth's atmosphere." My mood considerably depressed and my lips turned down. "Are you definantly sure that Eggman shut down the World Gate between old Earth and Mobius?"

"As sure as I can be. I mean, we don't know what happened after Eggman sealed us in." Sonic said thoughtfully, looking out at the shimmering ocean as it reflected the aggressive afternoon sky's image. "Is the new World Gate set up?" Sonic continued to probe.

"Yup. Went through it myself to test it out." I answered proudly. "Chris and his grandfather did a nice job, in my opinion." I added to explain my pride.

"Good, 'cause we're going through it soon." Sonic grinned brightly, considerably more jovial at this. I merely smiled back; my mind was elsewhere.

After a few minutes of walking and catching up with each other, we approached the beach house Shadow and I were renting out for two weeks. As I turned to enter the house, Sonic's hand clasped down on my shoulder.

"I'm not so sure if I should-." He started to decline the invite.

"C'mon Sonic! Where's that adventurous attitude you're always boasting?" I grinned mischievously, knowing I had sealed him in.

"Aww… Dang Swift, you know exactly what will put me in your control." Sonic's voice said groan, but his face said grin.

"It's just something I picked up over the years." I closed my eyes and rubbed the back of my head. "Let's go and say hello to Shads!" I exclaimed and started up the stairs.

"Shads? Oh my God! That's hysterical!" Sonic burst out laughing, holding his peach tummy with one gloved hand.

"Yeah, but you better not call him that or he'll kill you before you've finished your sentence." I warned, instantly stopping his laughing fit.

"For some strange reason, I believe you." He went wide-eyed for a split second and then motioned for me to lead him into the house, a smirk forming on his face.