Chapter Four

Ironically enough, as soon as Amy Rose planted the kiss on Tails' cheek, he groaned. Sonic couldn't hear, of course.

"Do you mind? I don't know why you're being so physically affectionate. I told you, I don't really like that…"

"Oh, lighten up," Amy Rose insisted, nuzzling her head on her shoulder. "I'm the one who's going to make things right for you, remember?"

"I don't even know what that means…" Tails glanced anxiously around. His mood made the sunny weather seem a sardonic chuckle of a mirthless god. Seeing Sonic had made him happy, but Sonic's anxious mood somewhat brought him down. "You could be lying to me about all of it. I may have amnesia, but I'm not a naive child."

"That's a shame," Amy Rose said, putting some pep in her step towards the theater. "A naive child is probably how Sonic remembers you… It's certainly who you were when you first met." Tails tried to put some more distance between them, and she just saddled right on back to his side.

"What's the movie?" Tails asked.

"It's another Robotnik-Sonic flick. The Temple of the Chaos Emeralds 3: Shadow's Revenge."

Tails almost stopped in his tracks. "Is this another one of those action movies?" Amy smacked the back of his head lightly.

"Come on, give it a chance, once in your life."

"No, those are the most vapid things ever." Tails sighed. "I don't know why I hang out with you."

"You just have no one else," Amy Rose clarified. "But come on. Old Amy isn't all that bad, is she?" She cracked open a pack of cigarettes, and removed one of her tobacco companions, setting its head alight. She had stopped offering Tails cigarettes after a solid month of No.

"Ooh, let's stop in here," she added, smoke oozing from her mouth. "I need to get some Happy Juice."

And Tails, he just sighed and followed her into the the Egg-n-Stop.

"Thank you," Sonic was saying to the pawn shop owner, just having bought back the Piko Piko hammer. He couldn't use it himself, of course, but it represented Amy Rose's hope for redemption, in his eyes. If she gave that up, it was consigning her to the drainpipe of Juice and addiction. Oil Ocean Zone was one of the dirty, tainted parts of their once-beautiful home. Not ten feet from the door, he saw a group of Juice addicts lounging around on the curb, laughing. When they saw him, they started doing impressions of him, lolling their legs around to try to imitate his run. They were too messed up to even do that, just cackling and grabbing each other's shoulders. One fell off the curb. Sonic just strolled past.

As he walked past an alleyway, he heard a familiar voice. "Sonic," it called. "I need your help."

And out of the shadows appeared Shadow himself, eyes glancing around anxiously. "Come here."

Sonic didn't like the suspicious behavior, but Shadow had been behaving himself lately. So he walked into the alley. "I don't like the look of this," Sonic said.

"I'm in some deep shit, Sonic, and I wanted to make sure you heard the truth before any lies started." He gave a sigh, and leaned his back against the building behind him, his head looking up and one leg crossed over the other. "It's all so messed up."

"Just tell me what's happened," Sonic said, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "You didn't go to acting school, don't monologue."

Shadow just gave a sorrowful smile, looking at Sonic then looking back up at the gritty sky overhead. "Sonic… Knuckles is dead."

And Sonic almost smacked Sonic in the face, but he restrained himself. His pulse began running, and a hotness rose to his face. "You'd better explain what the fuck you're talking about. Knuckles is supposed to be guarding the Chaos Emeralds in Sky Sanctuary Zone right now."

Shadow stepped away from the wall and came quite close to Sonic's face. "I don't know where to start, and it's a sensitive situation. But… basically, I went over to Sky Sanctuary Zone, and—"

"There's nothing up there except the newly-created housing for the Chaos Emeralds," Sonic said through gritted teeth. "Shadow casually goes to Sky Sanctuary Zone? You're one sentence in, and the story's already not adding up."

"Listen, kid," Shadow snapped, "I'm about to be in a real heap of a mess, and you're the only person I trust to believe me. If you don't listen to what I have to say, those Emeralds are gonna be quite a problem, and the real bastard that did this is going to get away with it."

Sonic crossed his arms. "Okay. All ears here."

"So," Shadow continued, "I went over to SSZ. And when I got to Knuckles' guard post…" In a rare moment for him, Shadow appeared to be fighting tears, with wet eyes and a sort of crackle in his throat. "Knuckles… Fuck, Sonic, Knuckles was dying. Bleeding all over the place, coughing blood, and slumped up against a wall. I ran over, I asked who did it, and all I could make out was 'Vein.' I think." Shadow closed his eyes tight, then opened and wiped them. "Dammit, Sonic. But I tried to help him, I put a handkerchief over the wound, a bullet wound, and… My prints are all over there, Sonic. I couldn't find any evidence, and I left more prints there than a newsboy." He cleared his throat. "I have a record. They're gonna try and pin me for this, Sonic. I just want you to find whoever did this, and make them pay."

"I don't buy it," Sonic said. "Nice tears and all, but you were just casually romping over to Knuckles' guard post?"

Shadow's eyes grew wide with rage, but he shut them again, and opened them more calmly. "Sonic… Knuckles was…" He leaned right up to Sonic's ear, putting a hand on his shoulder, and said, "Sonic… Knuckles and I… after the Accord, we got drinks, caught up. But… he was my boyfriend, Sonic. I loved him." He withdrew. "I can't have word getting out. He didn't want anyone to know. But I always visited him at this exact time of day."

"So it's possible the killer left him alive, knowing you'd soil the crime scene."

"I mean, yeah, it's possible." Shadows started to walk backwards. "I just thought you ought to know. I'll be hiding low, but I'll find you if I can."

"You have to go to the authorities, Shadow," Sonic insisted. "We can clear your name, together; if you run, it only makes you look guilty."

"Sonic, you know what the prosecutors are like around these parts. And you know my history." He turned, and said over his shoulder, "Gotta run." And he did, and Sonic just stood in the wake of his super-fast boots, pondering what he had just heard.

Thus thought Miles "Tails" Prower after the movie:

I don't know why my stomach does the thing it does. Like, when I see Sonic. Obviously they just used an actor… Sonic isn't the only hedgehog out there. I think it's Nightshade the Hedgehog playing him, just dyed blue. But why this quaking in my gut? Why do I thrill at such stupid, stupid movies? Just because Sonic is in them? Why? Then again, I don't fully trust Amy Rose. She was always there when I came to. She said Sonic had been by my bedside during the accident; that he was a "strong acquaintance" and that he had felt remorseful after my accident. But something doesn't sit right. I don't know if I'd feel this way about an acquaintance. Knowing my luck, I probably just nursed an unrequited crush for far too long. Again. Oh, Miles, get it together. Sonic is a celebrity, and you're just an amnesiac.

And now Amy and I are walking out of the theater. She's touching my arm again, and it makes me uncomfortable. I say so, she doesn't care. She's messed up on Happy Juice, slouching against my side and babbling. I can't make it out, but she seems upset about something. I tell her I'm taking her home, and she asks me to stay the night.

I clarify, once more, it's not like that, and it's never to be like that. She tries to kiss me, her lips wet and sloppy, and I fly a bit above her. She gets upset, chucking the Juice can and yelling in the street. A rabbit stares at us, and still hovering in the air, I tell him to keep walking. But I need to walk Amy home. She's a mess. I grab the can she threw, and lead her forward by luring her with the Happy Juice. Her knees are bruised; the Juice makes your leg-control disappear entirely. Bad dame in a bad part of town, can't believe she lives over in Casino Night. She's a mess, and now I have to practically carry her myself.

And now she's talking about Sonic. Don't know why she's always snuggling up to me when she really wants the Hedgehog himself. I can't blame her. He seemed distressed at lunch… maybe, to him, I'm just the guy he accidentally hurt. He probably only wants to see me out of guilt. Stupid, stupid Tails; how different am I from this drunken girl who's flailing around?

And soon enough, she goes into a Juice hole, her entire body still and her eyes vacant. So I have to carry her home, no "practically." And she's whispering something now, and it's urgent and terrible, but her tongue and lips are slaves to the high, and I can't make it out. I can only hope that things are getting better. I want to feel like they are. I've talked to Sonic, and I've got a friend, and the night falls peacefully. But I can't help thinking, it's all getting worse.