"Eh? Valentine's Day?"

Cream nodded enthusiastically and Cheese flew around the room happily at the mention of the holiday. Amy looked down at the ingredients laid across the counter.

"Will I really be able to thank him for everything with handmade chocolate?" Amy asked skeptically. Vanilla let her hand rest on the younger girl's shoulder reassuringly.

"Of course, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach," Vanilla commented happily.

Amy looked into the mixing bowl with silent admiration. If that was true, then this probably wouldn't be as hard as she first thought it would.

"Here ya go."

A neatly wrapped package landed with a thump on Knuckles's chest. He looked up to meet the eyes of Rouge. Her cheeks were tinged a light shade of pink. He smirked.

"To what occasion do I owe this gift?" he asked smugly. Rouge turned away with a huff.

"Don't play dumb! You know exactly what this is for!" she grumbled at his behavior. He turned away and fingered the package's bow.

"I thought you said you wouldn't give me mine until I gave you yours?" Knuckles stood with the gift and began to walk off. Before Rouge could protest, he turned and tossed a different package to her. "Happy Valentine's Day…" he muttered.

Rouge looked at the poorly wrapped gift and smiled.

"Idiot."

Sonic chuckled at Knuckles's antics from his spot on the roof. He fingered the ribbon beside him idly.

The ribbon unexpectedly reminded him of the flowers from the beginning of their vacation. He had planned on giving Amy that forget-me-not a while back, but he found that it had wilted prematurely, for some reason. Maybe it was some sort of sign of things to come?

"Happy Valentine's Day!"

Sonic jumped backward in fright. He let out a sigh of relief when he realized it was only Amy. She waved a hand in front of his face.

"Are you okay, Sonic?"

He nodded. A moment later, realization set in.

"W-wait! What are you doing up here?" Sonic questioned frantically, recalling the last time she was on the roof. She giggled.

"I brought you a gift, silly! Miss Vanilla and Cream said that it's Valentine's Day, so…" she trailed off with a blush. Sonic felt his cheeks become warm as well.

"Ah. Thanks Amy." Sonic took the present from her and gave her head an affectionate pat. She smiled brightly.

"So," she started bashfully, "did you get anything for anyone?"

Sonic took this moment to notice that Amy didn't have a headband in her hair today.

"Yep." He took the white ribbon from before and carefully tied it around her head. He smiled at her. "It looks good on you."

"R-really?" Amy touched her cheeks happily. She carefully climbed down from the roof and skipped into the summerhouse to presumably look in a mirror.

Sonic sighed once she was out of sight. Since when was he this forward? He touched his still burning cheeks and felt the corners of his mouth tug upward. Maybe Amy's different attitude was causing a change in his attitude? He chuckled and leaned back when he thought about her recent antics.

Wait! Sonic sat up abruptly. How different was she than usual? Was it wrong of him to like her more now? He clenched his fists. This was bad. How would he feel about her if she regained her memory? Would he still feel the same way about her? The package Amy gave him fell off his lap. He looked over at it and hesitantly opened it.

Chocolate.

It looked like it was handmade. It looked like the chocolate she had given him in the past but less flashy. He felt moisture on his cheek. Sonic concluded that it must be raining and quickly put the lid back on the box.

Amy twirled in front of the mirror happily. Sonic gave her a ribbon! No one else seemed to think much of it, but he said that it looked nice on her. That was all that mattered. She skipped over to her bed and collapsed on it. She giggled when a couple pillows were sent flying off. She couldn't wait to tell Cream! She sat up when she heard the soft pitter and patter of rain outside.

Something inside her seemed to click.

"Sonic… You idiot!" Amy Rose watched sadly as he sped off. She didn't feel like chasing after him this time. She blinked when she felt something wet hit the tip of her nose. The sky had suddenly become dark; it was just like her mood. She stood up and walked in the direction opposite of Sonic. She didn't feel like facing him right now.

The sudden rain made the streets mostly empty. It was almost eerie, and yet, she liked it. No one would be able to see her cry like this. She felt warm moisture and cold moisture mingle together on her cheeks. She didn't bother wiping her eyes; that would mean denial at this point.

Amy wandered the empty streets aimlessly. She looked around for anything to distract her from the despair she felt. That's when she saw a figure hastily duck into a nearby alley. Amy threw caution to the wind and let curiosity take control. She peered into the alley, and she immediately regretted her decision.

Emotionless red irises stared back at her. Amy instantly realized that it was a trap. She took a quick step back only to feel cold metal on her bare back. A panicked look behind her told her that a good amount of robots were behind her. She was boxed in! She tried to materialize her hammer but couldn't. A metal claw had a strong hold on her wrist.

It was the robot version of Sonic: Metal Sonic.

"I have a job for you Amy Rose," he stated in his monotone voice.

Amy's head snapped up immediately. She shivered and shuddered from the sudden flash. What was that? What happened to her? Amy unconsciously gripped her arm. What was she now?

"Amy?" That was Cream's voice. "How did it go? Did he accept the chocolate?"

Amy's eyes shut tightly.

"Cream."

"What?"

"Leave."

"Huh? What are you saying, Amy?" Cream took a couple of hesitant steps forward.

"Stop it! Don't come any closer!" Amy cried out, backing into the furthest corner of the room. She was still clutching her arm.

"What's wrong, Amy?" Cream's voice cracked. She was probably on the verge of tears.

"I'm not the same! Just stay away, okay!?"

"No!" Cream ran forward and touched Amy's arm lightly. "Let me help you!"

Amy's eyes snapped open suddenly. Her eyes weren't their usual jade color, though. They were glowing red.

"Stop it!"

Everything happened so fast; it was over in a matter of seconds. When Amy was aware of her surroundings again, she saw Cream sprawled out on the other side of the room. There was blood.

Amy looked at her hands and saw blood was present there too. She quickly ran over to her fallen friend and checked her injuries. There were bloodied claw marks on her arm. Amy felt herself becoming sick. She hurt Cream, her best friend.

Amy stood up and quickly stumbled to the sliding glass door. She had to leave immediately. She was now a danger to her friends. Amy haphazardly undid the lock and ran out into the rain. Hopefully, someone would find Cream and treat her arm. In the meantime, Amy planned to be as far away from her friends as possible and find the answers she was looking for on her own.

"I'm sorry, Cream!"

Sonic's ears perked at the sound of yelling down below. They were quickly followed by a crashing noise. There was a momentary pause before he saw movement down below.

"I'm sorry, Cream!"

Amy stumbled out of the house and dashed in the direction of the beach. Sonic hurriedly wiped his eyes and jumped off the roof. He peeked into her room and gasped in shock. Cream was on the floor and injured. He looked in the direction in which Amy had fled and back at Cream. Who should he choose?

"Cream! Hey Cream! Are you okay?" Sonic rushed to her side and examined her. Only her arm seemed to be injured. He sighed with relief when she opened her eyes.

"Mr. Sonic…?" Cream seemed to be dazed. The gravity of the situation came back only seconds later, however. "Amy! Where's Amy?"

Sonic was about to reply but stopped when he saw her eyes cloud with tears.

"Cream!" Tails rushed into the room and was soon followed by Cheese and Vanilla. They all gasped at the scene before them.

"What happened, Cream?"

"Amy… She…" Cream trailed off hesitantly before speaking up again. "You have to help Amy, Mr. Sonic! Something's wrong with her. She's not the same!"

Sonic nodded and set Cream down gently. Vanilla went to get a first aid kit, and Tails rushed forward to take Sonic's place. Sonic stepped back toward the sliding door. Cream wiped her eyes with her good arm and gave an unsure smile.

"Hurry and bring her back, Mr. Sonic!"

Amy collapsed on the beach, out of breath. The waves roared in front of her, and the rain came down harder than before. She sat up and glared at her arm. It was her left arm.

"What did he do to me!? That wasn't me at all!"

Amy began to scratch at her arm. There was something there. Those claw marks on Cream's arm weren't normal at all! There had to be something freakish hidden in her arm. Slow, arrogant footsteps were barely heard approaching her from behind. She slowly turned her head.

"I only gave you a job and a little thank you gift, but it seems that you failed. Those who fail to complete their job need to be punished."

Amy let out an anguished scream as her arm transformed. Metallic claws glinted menacingly back at her. Her body buckled from the new stress on her body. She glanced up at the villain beside her and glared.

"What job would that be?" she asked venomously, straining to get the words out right. Amy could've sworn she saw the ghost of a smile on his never changing metal face.

"You were supposed to eliminate your friends, but," he paused to grab her claw with his own, "you resisted to the very end. It seems I didn't seal your memories away well enough…"

"Why," Amy hissed in pain when his grip tightened, "would you need to seal my memories away?"

"So the other 'you' could surface."

Pain surged through Amy's arm. Metal Sonic had torn her flesh with his claw. She hissed in pain.

"I'll take this opportunity to 'fix' you."

Amy panicked. What could she do to defend herself? She didn't have any weapons or special abilities. She felt tears sting her eyes. Why did she feel so useless?

What would the old Amy do?

"No!"

Amy somehow wrenched her arm out of his grasp and ran. She wasn't going to give up so easily. If she did, then Sonic… would never forgive her. Amy shook her head. She shouldn't be thinking about him right now; thoughts of him only made her heart beat wildly. Now was not the time to get distracted.

Amy looked behind her and saw no sign of her enemy. He was probably confident that he'd catch her. She clenched her fists. How dare he look down on her like that? She continued along the coast until she saw an opening in the cliff side. It was barely big enough for her to crawl through. Amy gulped and crawled in as fast as she could after checking for signs of Metal Sonic.

The space grew wider the further Amy went in. Fortunately, it was too small for Metal Sonic to squeeze in from the start. She'd be safe here for the time being. Amy unconsciously touched her arm and winced. It had reverted back to its normal form, but the damage had already been done.

"Don't worry, the damage isn't that bad. If you get some medical attention soon, you'll be left with only light scars."

Amy jumped in fright.

"Great, now I'm hearing voices."

"I'm not just a voice, you know! I'm the other 'you'."

"The other 'me'? But I thought that the other 'me' was evil…"

"Evil? Well, I guess you could've called me that before. However, since your memories are returning, I'm changing."

"Why should I believe you!? After I regained a little bit of my memory, you made me go berserk and hurt Cream! That contradicts what you just said!"

"Hey! Keep your voice down! You'll be caught for sure if you yell like that! Anyway, I only took over momentarily like that because your mind went blank and your defenses went down that time. My instincts took advantage of the opening, but then I changed. I don't get it either, but I'm definitely not lying!"

Amy sighed and scratched her cheek nervously.

"I'm having an argument with myself…"

"You need to find Sonic!"

"Why is it always Sonic!?" Amy quickly blushed and covered her mouth.

"Do you think you can defend yourself right now? You can't even summon your Piko Piko hammer. Without a weapon, you don't stand a chance!"

"I can think of something. I can't just rely on him all the time."

Amy looked up thoughtfully.

"Do you have an actual name? I don't want to call you the other 'me'. It's kinda awkward."

"N-name? Um, I guess you could call me… May?"

"May? Why May?"

"It's your name with the first two letters switched! I couldn't think of anything else, okay!?"

Amy smiled.

"Okay, May. I'm going out now. I'm not about to let that scrap heap catch me now!"

"Wait! You idiot! At least wrap your arm with something. Tear a strip of your dress off or… actually just use that ribbon."

Amy glanced up sadly and tentatively removed her ribbon. She carefully wrapped it around her arm and made sure it was tied tightly. With a nod of reassurance from herself, she began to crawl out and face reality.

An important piece of Amy Rose was back.

End Chapter Two

Completed 3/4