Sup guys? Here's Chap 4.


Chapter 4 – Righteous Ways

Sonic was stumped. He'd only just saved Muriel a few hours ago and now he had to kill her? What kind sick, twisted game was this? Sonic's puzzlement became anger mixed with sorrow. He couldn't comprehend the Prophetess request to murder an innocent old lady. Especially if they were related to one of his friends. Even if she wasn't, he would never do such a thing. Not that he wouldn't...he couldn't. There was no chance in Lava Reef that Sonic the Hedgehog could go to such lengths for some petty excuses. It was an extreme of an extreme. And these measures would not be taken lightly.

"What was the point of me rescuing her when she has to die? Seriously, where's the logic?" Sonic roared. He backed off from Iwazaru who still held the blade in her hands. The expression on their faces failed to change. Just the same, dull looks that all of them shared. As if there were in a trance.

"If we told you everything you would not have done it. Now she is safe. Everyone else...is not." Muttered Shizaru.
"In order to end it, you must prevent the same event from happening again." Spoke Mizaru.
"...the future is red." Said Iwazaru. Sonic walked backwards, trying to get a good distance between them.

"Look there has to be some other way besides slaughter!" He argued.

He felt the glare coming from Shizaru's cold eyes.
"It is the only way. Iwazaru...show him..."

Sonic watched as the yellow clad Hedgehog waltzed her way towards him with the golden blade in the palms of her hands. He stood back, only to find himself up against an invisible wall. Unconsciously he scrapped the sides with his fingers, trying to find a way out. Iwazaru got closer, as he was forced to jump over to the other side.
"If you want to know the truth let her do her job."

Sonic shook his head. "No...I can't. I refuse to believe it. Even with reason I can't allow it to happen!"

He tried running in another direction, but only ran into more walls. Each way he went, he'd hit one. Iwazaru forever kept her calm and followed him wherever he went
"Geez I'd rather have Amy chase me then you guys!" Said Sonic, still trying to flee. "Can't you just tell me why I have to kill her?"

"Kill who?"

That voice...he knew that voice. It came from behind him. He slowly turned around to see a Pink hedgehog in a red dress.
"Amy?"

Amy stood there in confusion.
"Who were you talking to?"

Sonic's mind ran rampant as he sped towards her, checking her over.
"Areyouokay?You'renothurtoranythingareyou?" He asked, his way with words were on par with his foot speed, he remembering what he'd seen just earlier.

Amy was taken by surprise. "What? Of course not. I'm perfectly fine." She said, a little wierded out.

"Where are you off to?" Asked Sonic. Amy paused for the moment, trying to figure out why Sonic seemed so paranoid.
"Well, I was heading off to my grandmothers. She rang me a little while ago said she wanted to speak with me."

Sonic was all riled up and deeply concerned. His thoughts bouncing from everywhere and didn't know which one to pick up and use. He rubbed his head and blurted out a few incomprehensible words.
"What?" Said Amy. "I said...uh...I saw her a little while ago. She just got home. I think she said..uh..."

Amy grabbed Sonic's hand as he fumbled them. He stopped.
"Okay take a deep breath Sonic...I don't know what you've been doing but it's left you kinda strange..." She said with worry.

Sonic gave her one look. She was right. He was troubled from what he saw. He looked over to where the Prophetess and her Wisers were, and as per typical mystery fashion, they were no longer there. He looked back towards her. Amy was giving a minor smile that briefly warmed his heart.

He wouldn't dare tell her what he'd just seen. Like before, he'd have to make up some story. The lying hurt but he had no choice. He just went with it.
"I was in the neighborhood and I'd seen her walking around by herself. Then, out of nowhere a group of thugs decided to mug her. Knowing my own heroic resolve I rescued her and offered to walk her home."

Amy's eyes went wide.
"Oh no...I hope she's okay..."

"She'll be okay." Assured Sonic. "I got her home safely. I made sure she'd lock the door behind her and suggested she get extra security."

Amy sighed with relief. "Oh thank goodness...thank you so much Sonic."

Sonic expected a massive glomping and closed his eyes to await for temporary suffocation. Instead he felt nothing. He reopened his eyes. Amy was still standing there, looking through a brown bag of hers that hung on her shoulder. "She'd called me earlier to ask me to bring her some more of her favourite perfume." She said. "It's from Westopolis, but she complained the taxi fair from here to there was too expensive. So I often make runs to the shops there."

Sonic nodded. "So you heading there still?" He asked.

"Yeah. That and just to check up and see if she's okay." She answered. No...no she can't go there. Muriel will tell her side of the story. He'd hope Amy would fall for it due upon the thought that Muriel was senile but he wouldn't be able to confirm it. Instead a gust of wind made Sonic's quills dance slightly. Sonic turned around, and saw a small purple light fluttering about. Sonic gulped. Make up a story dammit!

"She told me she was going straight to bed. A good nights sleep will do her good, her dreams taking her away from today's troubles."

Amy contemplated.
"...Yeah...you're right. I'll see her in the morning..."

Close enough. He'd have to think of something else for her to think about other than her grandmother, trying to make her forget.
"I'll go home then."

Sonic picked at the opportunity. Although he wondered if his next question was a honest plea or a shifty move.
"Alright. Do you mind if I walked you home?"

Amy smiled. "Sure. Well it is late at night after all. It'd be nice to have someone to talk to after all."


It was getting late in the western parts of Central City. Although the CBD was still booming with its night life, of neon lights and giant billboards. Sonic's ears were ringing from the horns of traffic and the conversations of the streets. It was good to see civilization, albeit if those that lurk in the night were saner than those he'd seen in the daytime. But it as nice. Amy was completely composed and calm in an Amy sort of way; sweet, innocent and optimistic. Sonic listened to her rattling on about the latest fashion craze or what movie she'd seen recently. Hearing her babble became comforting, knowing she was well and truly okay unstrangled his stomach slightly. So far, there'd been no truth in visionaries including her. Surface wise there was nothing wrong. Just good ol' Amy Rose. It couldn't make him any happier. But...a voice in his head was nagging at him, trying to explain there was something missing from it all. He couldn't find or focus on it. He dug into the depths of his mind, where her mansion was. She was not opening the door for him. This Amy Rose was over-the-top and clingy, screaming incoherent words but a few; 'You missed our date.'

He half expected her to blurt out some proposal to do so. So far she didn't. She was sturdy and all the normal for it. Sonic couldn't complain, but...her mansion wasn't as...unkempt as it had been. Maybe his perception of her had been incorrect this entire time. Then it hit him. He'd been so stupid that it only just crossed his mind. He hardly knew her.

Sonic didn't know her family, didn't know what her favourite food or place of dining was. There was a distinct lack of knowledge surrounding herself other than the obvious. He never even gave a second thought about getting to know her better, albeit knowing about everyone else. He felt ashamed to know that everyone knew everything about him, yet the opposite stands clear that he knew nothing about them. Save for a few existent and trivial facts, such as Knuckles temper and gullibility, as well as Tails fear of lightning and tendency for techno-babble. But he did know their strong points, such as Knuckles determination and durability, as well as Tails being brave and his vast intellect that rivaled Eggman's. But other than that, nothing. For someone who felt like he was deeply close to his friends, they weren't pseudo family. But why should that stop him from being friends with them? Regardless of what he knew about anyone, what they are or what they do didn't matter, as long as they had a good heart and equal intentions. Surprisingly, Knuckles and Tails only had small cottages, and practically everyone else had plain, white and boring houses all along the same street. The differences with two of his best friends was that they were definitely cosy, and their cottages covered with thick vegetation, but they were comfortable in their corresponding deck chairs, living not too far from Amy. Apparently they lived in the same court, but with Amy's mansion sitting atop a mountain, separating the cottages.

Not before long, they ended up at Amy's place. Unlike his mental picture, it looked like she lived in an apartment situated on an empty street. She mentioned she rented this place not too long ago because the landlord was so nice, although he'd kept hitting her for some reason, which made Sonic laugh. They took the elevator to the seventh floor and stood outside her door. Sonic couldn't help but smile at her as she finally stopped speaking to look at him. "What is it?" Amy nervously asked, trying to look away. "Uh nothing..." Sonic replied, unaware of blush on his face.

Amy giggled. "I should say thanks for walking me home. We should chat like this more often."

Sonic nodded. "No problem at all."

Sonic knew she was right. Maybe he should chat to others more often. Although, where he was now, realizing that he could perhaps query Amy about her relations to the Rosoideae. If there was any. He was an idiot not to think of it beforehand. He wasn't even sure there was going to be a next time, knowing that the Prophetess and her Wisers lie on the horizon, awaiting for him to murder Muriel. He'd had argument looping over and over again, each time it didn't make any sense to him, it was baffling to say at the least. Sonic watched as Amy put the her keys into the lock and opened the door. "What are you going to do now?" He asked. Amy rested her hand on the doorknob and just stood and looked ahead. "I was watching a horror before my nan rang. It'll be over now."

Quick Sonic, ask her...ask her! He thought to himself. "I'm not doing anything at the moment. We could talk a bit more."

Amy strangely hesitated. She forced a smile as she turned her head to him. "Alright. Come on in! I'll make us some tea."

Sonic half-expected to see pink everywhere, or worse, some sort of shrine dedicated to him...or images of himself on everything bar the kitchen sink. He cursed signing that contract to that company SEGA, allowing them to make merchandise and games based off him. But as he walked through the door he was surprised. Her apartment was humble. Normal beige carpet that extended throughout a hallway. The first room to his left was the lounge room, consisted of a cream coloured couch facing towards him with white and red pillows. In front was a short and wide brown TV cabinet, holding a 55'' LCD TV with dozens of DVD's everywhere, White curtains on the left of the couch. To the right of him was the kitchen where Amy had turned on the kettle. It too was a simple red and white theme, with the stereotypical (or old school) black and white tiles on the floor, and the cupboards an draws were all made of redwood.

"I'll be right back. Meanwhile have a seat." She announced.

He nodded as he went into the living area which was one door down from the TV room. It had simple white chairs and couches, with their own white and red cushions. He stared at the redwood coffee table that had a simple red square table decoration in the middle of it. He sat down on the main couch and slouched over his knees, his elbows resting on them, rubbing his fingers through his quills. What could he tell her? The truth? The craziness that was going lately? The issue of confiding his worries to her clouded his mind, the problem of her understanding made him do constant rechecks and mental simulations of her reactions. It initially didn't worry him as much, but it made him scared that he was going to go crazy if it persisted on long enough. He could blame the cause on Shizaru, forcing him to do the unthinkable. Today, he'd been through enough...memories of the Gauntlet projected to him, reminding him of the horrors that he'd witnessed...meeting Olly and her group of latex and leather clad women, the Kimmibots and discovering who Abbadonia was, even though it had been for a brief moment. It had been a big day, and Sonic had all the rights to be tired, not that he would admit that anyone, including himself. Culminating his thoughts and feelings at the moment, it was just a big mess waiting to be cleaned up and sorted out. He sighed and lifted his head. He turned his head as he saw a deck of cards next to the table piece. Subsequently picking them up, he flicked through them and noticed they weren't the usual deck one would normally see.

"These are...tarot cards..." He muttered to himself. That's right...from what ever he could remember she used to use these quite a bit back in the day. He wondered if she still did, occasionally. He quickly put them back on the table as he heard Amy's big red boots on the kitchen floor. She came with one blue cup and one pink cup. Sonic chuckled.

"Can I take a guess which one is for me?" He joked. Amy smirked. "I have a cup that represents each of my friends. Cream came over one time and helped me get them. Although she decided to get one of those do it yourself ones that come with the textas."

Sonic could imagine it. Creams one would have had pretty pictures of herself and Cheese drawn on her name in a cutesy kids font.

"Yeah that sounds like her." Said Sonic. He leaned forward and clasped the cup in his hands. Amy had then switched her boots for fluffy pink slippers and chucked her boots back in her room further down the hallway. She came back sat on the other side of the couch and crossed her legs, sitting up straight and took a sip. Sonic did large drink and seemed to stare into space, which brought concern from Amy.

"So you wanted to talk about something?" She asked him.

He snapped back into reality. Now would be a good time to question her past, but do it real subtle.

"I realized now I hardly know you Amy. I thought it would good to get to understand what Amy Rose is all about."

Amy's face contorted from confusion. He was going to ask now? After all this time? This wasn't like Sonic. An upfront confrontation to 'talk' about herself. She became deep in thought for a brief moment, before answering him, then figure out what he was up to.

"So...uhh...what do you want to know? There's quite a few starting points to choose from." She answered.
Sonic's eyes drilled deep into the cup. "You know, family, stuff like that."

"Oh..." She muttered. She had an inkling that this was about her grandmother. She held onto the belief that what he had told her either wasn't the whole story or the true story. She couldn't comprehend Sonic lying to her for any particular reason. She'd have to worry about that later, realizing these were just petty pointless beliefs. He might be genuinely trying to get to know her better. Deep down...she knew it was too late...
She decided to tell him about her family anyway. There was no harm in it.

"From what my parents told me, my dad was a Brick Layer and my mother was an artist. They used to joke that I got my temper from her and my strength from him. He was the one who gave me my Piko Piko Hammer...right after we first me all those years ago, because he was worried that it might happen again and you might not be there if I got captured again."

Sonic gave a smirk of his own.
"Heh...guess he was wrong huh?" He muttered. "Which makes me think...what were you doing on Little Planet anyway?"

Amy looked towards the tarot cards on the table. "Them." She said. Sonic looked surprised.

"Really?" He asked, as if not convinced.

Amy nodded. Though her power had grown by itself over the years, she hardly understood the reason why. She picked them up and started shuffling them.
"These are my grandmothers. She gave them to me when I was little and told me that I would need them more than she did..."

That was the same excuse that Muriel apparently told Tails, circulating the book that she had written about her Garden. He wondered if he could ask her about it. "Does she do that often?" He asked.

"Sometimes." She answered. "She says its for the greater good. I say it's for charity. Which is one of the reasons I love her so much...it could be both."

Sonic nodded. "I see she works in a book store. I don't suppose she gives them away for free too."

Amy laughed. "No, of course not. She actually gets a lot of books through donations and does exchanges as well."

"I see." Said Sonic. "Has she written any of her own? I mean...she looks the type."

Amy tapped her lips with her index finger. "Uhhh...well, I remember she used to have a weird book that she kept with her."

This what he was looking for. Anything that sounded weird had to fit the topic at hand.

"What was so weird about it?" He wondered. "When I was younger, she would have the book in the back, stored away on a high shelf. I would come over to the book store and take a peak at what she was reading. But when she realized I was standing there, she would hastily put the book back and persistently ask me what I wanted."

This was beginning to sound suspicious. He had to know more. "Go on..."

Amy placed her cup down on the coaster and gave various gestures as she spoke.

"Anyway, one day, she'd gone out and left me inside the store and locked it from the outside. So I got a chair and went to go grab the book. I got down and went to the desk and opened it up."

"Then what happened?" Asked Sonic, more curious. Amy put her hands on her cheeks.

"The pages were completely blank. I'd flipped through them all and not a single page had any piece of writing on it."

Interesting progress, Sonic thought. This just had to be Tail's Book...just had to be. Out of all the cooky stuff he'd witnessed, this was comparably tame, albeit still solving attractive. If Muriel's Book had a spell, enchantment on it o whatever some supernatural thing attached, it might have been the reason why he had been split up from Tails and Knuckles. He kicked himself for not going to go search for them. He unconsciously frowned, which brought on Amy's attention. "Something bothering you Sonic?" She said, putting her hand on his arm to comfort him. There were many things bothering the Blue Blur...far too many. She seemed to have no clue as to her relation to this mystery. He'd hoped that there was a small chance that she would have nothing to do with it. It was mainly her grandmother, so Amy might accidentally be involved just by being in relation to her. He felt guilty for thinking she was connected, when the truth was she wasn't. She was just being a kind granddaughter. Sonic thought he would be relieved with that revelation...however that nagging had returned, trying to pull the bed sheets off his mind.

Rather than tell her straight up, he'd rather deal with other issues. He could express his current feelings to her just to make sure, or some other crud. Anything else was okay, as long as he could make up a topic. He took another scull from his tea and placed it on the coaster.

"All this talk about the strange and mysterious is putting me in the mood for some myself."

Amy scratched her head. "Uhh...okay. What do you have in mind?" She asked, a little freaked.

"Well, for starters, would you mind reading my future? Never seen it done before." He said.
Amy blinked. "Um...I suppose. There's no harm in that."

Sonic decided to kick off his shoes as Amy shuffled the cards and sat on the other side of the coffee table. She put the ornament on the floor. Sonic sat on the other side with his legs crossed.

"Shouldn't we have candles or a crystal ball or whatever?" He joked. Amy's eyes narrowed.

"I don't use either. But if you're in the mood I can get candles." She suggested, still shuffling the cards.

"Nah I was kiddin'. That's stuff's for sleepovers." He said.

Amy laughed. "I did it once with Cream and her mother when I slept over there the other week."

"Yeah what happened?" Sonic asked. Amy couldn't help but grin. "Oh the things that her mother got were quite surprising."

Sonic cocked an eyebrow, seemingly amused. "Am I allowed to know what it was?" He said, smirking.

"I'd prefer to keep it confidential. Let's just get started with yours first." She replied.

Sonic nodded. "Righteo then." He replied. Amy placed the cards to her right.
She sat on her knees on top a cushion, and looked at Sonic. "Ready?" She asked.
"Always." Answered Sonic. He watched as she picked up the first card from the deck and placed it on the table, facing Sonic. It was a picture of a noble man carrying a sword and holding a set of scales.

"Justice." She read out. She closed her eyes and placed her hands in her lap. "There's a desire to do right, if and on your interpretations. Its the way you see it...but in the end you might have some difficult choices to make."

Simply amazing, its as if it was painting a portrait of his situation, if not, his life On the topic of choices, it became notable that he was being forced to make them. He had a variety of options to choose from and normally he'd pick the one that would be the most moral or if they were all relatively moral, choose the one that would take the least amount of time to depict and enact.

Amy reopened her eyes to seek Sonic's once more. "Ready to keep going?"

Sonic responded with a subtle nod. Amy reached over to the deck and picked up another card, placing it on the table. The picture displayed a naked angel with a white drape around it, standing on top of the Earth. This time it was facing Amy. Sonic went to go see what it said and tried to switch the card around, before Amy slapped his hand. "It's supposed to be like that." She argued.

Sonic rubbed his hand. "Why? Is there any reason why it's upside down?" He queried.

Amy again closed her eyes. "The World. Normally, it would mean you would have a sense of accomplishment and a succeeded spirit, but considering it's reversed, it means the opposite."

"Come again?" Sonic prodded.

Amy took a deep breath before proceeding. "It appears you are quite frustrated, afraid that something might change for the worse. Incomplete and inundated with problems."

Sonic blinked. Such big words for a little hedgehog. He wondered if this was another of those stupid, cryptic messages from the great beyond. But he felt real. This was getting far too accurate for his own comfort. How could these cards describe so much? Indeed he was frustrated...frustrated over every nook and cranny, frustrated with life, frustrated with that had been pushing him into pits of darkened worry and culmination of enlightened importance. Were these done before? He had been in this before? He wondered if he could possibly avoid it, although it would tarnish his reputation. What would he prove by running away from stuff he couldn't understand. He blamed Abbadonia and her part. Inside he just knew she played a massive part. Her ploy was no doubt of destructive passions and explosive deeds. The need to find out what she truly wanted became another task of his to do. This became more than an ordinary hero's mission...it was a mission to discover who he was and what he more he could do other than to rush and smash things, hoping to destroy them all the way.

"One more, then I'll think I'll hit the sack..." Said Sonic, yawning.
"Okay." Amy responded, having giving looks of genuine concern. She reached over to the cards again and picked one up. Having placed it next to other two, this one had a naked human male on side and a naked female on the other, an angel in between. As it had faced him, Sonic read out the text on it "The Lovers." he muttered. He hoped this didn't mean what he thought it meant. Amy closed her eyes once more.

"Yes. Doesn't necessarily have to do with love." She mentioned, sounding a bit disappointed. "But it does surround the possibilities in relation to the Justice Card, namely with a issue of choice. It also stands out the premise of using your intuition and not intellect. A need for renewed guidance."

Again, she was right. Or they were right. He'd always use his instincts to guide him throughout his various journeys and adventures. Whether it was battling Dr. Eggman or some random race with some random guy who believed that they could be faster than him. What ever it was, it was the Wind that guided him throughout. The visualization of surrendering to logic wasn't as difficult as it seemed. However on the count of his own present logistics, it wasn't too hard to swallow.

"So all-in-all, can you...justify or...sum them up all together?" Sonic stumbled. He watched as Amy brought the cards closer to herself, bringing them up to her face and scanning them with her eyes, drifting left to right and right to left, squinting. Finally she placed them back down on the table.

"You feel obliged to be the hero is how I'm reading it. The tendency to be strong and brave and swift in the eyes of others. You've questioning yourself as fate would have it. And it's exhausting. Making the right choice isn't the problem, but with the world on your shoulders it's whether the choice is morally correct, burying conscience and uprooting forced standings that aren't mutual. What ever you choose is cannot be based of your own...but it can only be made because it was supposed to be that way. Which makes me wonder...are you feeling okay Sonic?"

Sonic didn't know how to answer that question. Ever since that dream he'd shoved off the prospect of supposed weirdness and acted himself, surprisingly building the facade of himself. There was a Sonic in there, but someone else had taken control and shoved him in the dungeons of his conscious mind, forcing it to appear as a front. Amy tried to make eye contact but at no avail. "Is there something you want to speak to me about?"

"Are the cards...always right?" He prodded, which took Amy by surprise.

"My grandmother tutored me, at the expense and disapproval of my dad, but she always told me the cards are never wrong. I try to stick by them." She answered calmly. That didn't help Sonic one bit. He'd hate to be so stubborn to take the truth in all this but for something so petty and minor she was right. She'd eventually find out what really happened, and mentally debated whether she'd hate him for it.

"You seem very well mannered tonight Amy. Actually kind of...insightful if I'm not mistaken." Sonic commented. Although he didn't know whether that was a kind of accidental flirting or a middle-ground compliment. He wanted to believe the latter.

Amy glared at Sonic. "And what do you mean by that Mister?" She scorned. Sonic gulped. Oops.

"N-nothing...just..." Sonic stuttered, trying to save himself from the wrathful swomp of her hammer. "I've never heard you speak like that. You must take this tarot stuff very seriously then."

Amy frowned and sighed. "Indeed we do...although it never gets me what I truly want though." Oh God...here it comes. Sonic knew what she meant by that. He had to reassure her. "Well, no one does. In fact, we always want what we can't have. There's also the factor that we don't know we've got until it's gone."

Amy shirked slightly as she looked away. "I know, I know...we have to try and make the best of what we already have."

Sonic smiled. "That's the spirit. I don't have much at all, physically speaking...so I make good use of what's here and now."

Amy chuckled. "You know...it's strange..."

"What's that?" Asked Sonic. "Us talking. We've never actually done this properly. And already we know a lot more about each other than we have in...how ever long we've known one another."

Sonic. "True..." He said. What she had spoke of was incredibly useful, even more than he'd realized. Maybe if he'd done this a long time ago maybe he'd never had to resort to running away from her so often. If he had once agreed to go on a date with her and actually listened to her, then there would have been a new insight of her in her mansion. Which had finally opened it's doors, but he would only be allowed in so few of her rooms. He became worried about himself however, and the ever-looming factor that became a minuscule knot in his stomach that he could not define, and shrugged it off as what ever he had at the Village in Sakura. But...he didn't have time...

Amy stood up and stretched her arms. "Well I'm going to bed now, You're more than welcome to stay the night." She said, yawning. Sonic was becoming sleepy too. He looked at the time on wall. It was getting closer to 12 o'clock. Amy had a look as well. "Oh my, it's passed my bed time. I've got to do some work tomorrow."

"Amy Rose works?" Sonic repeated. Well, maybe he didn't know all about her, but it was a start. Amy paused for the moment, before facing back to Sonic. "Just...office work really. I work in a company down town. Nothing much really, but it's good pay." She mentioned.

Sonic nodded. "Huh...oh okay..."

Amy put the cushions back on the chairs and tidied up the living area. "I'll get the spare pillows and blankets from the hallway cupboard. You can sleep in the lounge room. If you can't sleep feel free to watch TV or watch a movie."

Sonic nodded. He walked into the lounge room and stood in there, tapping his foot and waited for her. She came in with a white doona and several pillows and put them on the couch. "Well, that should do." Amy said. Sonic nodded. "Thanks." He responded. The two stood there looking at each other very briefly.

"..Good night Sonic." "Good night...Amy..."

Sonic lay there stretched out on the couch with one hand dangling and the other resting on chest. Indeed he knew he couldn't sleep. Too much going in his head. Now Amy knew something was wrong but reacted in a matter he didn't see coming. She'd been incredibly calm and sincere. Out of character for her, who was usually clingy, obsessive and just too darn persistent. It might be all because he'd save her and it suddenly became a cheesy rescue romance. It wasn't just him after all. Upon this thought he'd know he had to keep a close on her...but like before, it could be nothing. She could be doing the exact same task...lying awake in bed with thoughts embezzling. She said those words and she interpreted those cards as such.

No...why would he be thinking that. He should be more concerned with Tails and Knuckles. Mentally he wanted to get moving...only for his body to fail doing so, just laying there with apathetic cares. His thoughts bounced from topic to topic...eventually floating in the middle of jumbled pieces of memories. He wanted the mental noise to disappear completely. Then it became quiet...too quiet that all her heard the slight ringing in his ears. His eyes must have shot themselves as what little light he saw faded away in the blackness. Finally he'd fallen asleep. It could be good for him, to let his dreams assess his mental structure and be free with what he had.

Light warped into his view, finding himself in that very same grassy field he was in the other day.

He quickly got up and stretched...then realized it was a dream, thus he wouldn't need too...but this dream wasn't entirely lucid by normal standards. He jumped a few times, before blasting off in a random direction. This was good, nice. The sun shone down on him with its beautiful warmth. He enjoyed running up, down, eventually the area had melded into good ol' Green Hill Zone, complete with classic badniks that were easily as smashed, ran through loops and collected rings like an old pastime. Everything had shirked away and the dream became it's runaway zone. Nothing to fear, nothing to hide. He could run forever if he wanted to.

"Sonic?"

Sonic opened his eyes to see Amy leaning over him.
"Oh it's you." He mumbled. He sat up as Amy sat down next to him, her eyes never leaving his face. Her own was still and emotionless. Her stare was beginning to freak him out, causing him to sweat a bit.

"Is...anything the matter?" He asked. She didn't reply, instead raising her hand to stroke his cheek with her index finger, then caressed it with her palm.

"Uhh...Amy, I...I don't know what you're doing but it's kinda weirding me out..." He responded. She kept the same dull expression throughout. Sonic couldn't shuffle backwards, as he was already on the side of the couch. He tried moving his head back, curving up to the corner. But she kept getting closer, much to his discomfort. She grabbed hold of his head prevent him from squirming, and shoved her lips onto his. His eyes went wide as his arms and legs flailed about. His yells and screams were dummied out. He felt her tongue swarming over his. What the hell was wrong with her? His stomach metaphorically burst out in flames. She held his arms down, preventing him from running away. He could feel drips of sweat coming down from his forehead.

Finally he gathered enough strength to shove her off of him, Amy falling back to other side of the couch. Sonic panted with puzzlement, his expectation of her to display sadness, disappointment, offended or all of the above...was disproved as she sat there motionless. He had to recompose himself as Sonic went to open his mouth, then witnessed her head drooping. She looked...ashamed, embarrassed complete with tinges of red on her cheeks. No words were spoken as silence filled the rest of the space that the elephant hadn't. Sonic's heart started to hurt as his stomach churned. He held on to his heart as looked down at his chest, then turned back to Amy. Both of them were a mess, entangled in misbegotten and unkempt feelings. He no longer could think for himself, sitting there with a girl he knew could be psychotic. There was a distinct lack of conscious thoughts, and instead a strange passionate desire in it's place, throwing all common sense out the window. The room was spinning, with Amy and him becoming the only still beings in the room. He clasped and opened his fist repetitively. He then scrunched it, gritting his teeth. Amy sat there on the other side of the couch, with her legs folded by her sides, supposedly waiting for Sonic to do something.

Upon instance impulse, he flung himself as at her, pushing his lips down onto hers. He couldn't understand what it was, but it became obvious that he liked it. The lack of any thought was quickly filled with blasting emotions that he thrived on, making him kiss her all the harder, with her running her fingers through his quills. It felt good...it felt great. But he couldn't understand any of it, nor did he care. It was just happening and it was wild...free...his stomach was at subatomic levels but he failed to notice. He kissed her neck, receiving a pleasured moan as a result. His arm slowly went down her arm, touching her gentleness. Suddenly a flash of violet light appeared above Amy's head, Sonic's own forced up, almost blinded by it, put his other arm over his eyes to see what the heck it was. It throw itself at him, his whole vision turning white...

Sonic opened his eyes. He was again staring at the roof, held in darkness. His hands still rested in his chest. That...was a dream. What the hell was he doing? He wiped the sweat off his forehead, still in shock from it. His inner voice soon chastised him for doing the unspeakable. How could you Sonic? How could you take advantage of it? It sickened him. He shook his head. He had to get up and get a drink from the kitchen. He searched the cupboards for glasses, before finding one and filled with water from the tap. He sculled it down and wiped his face. The only comfort that he took from his dream was that it wasn't real. He checked to time on the wall. It was almost five am. He was still mentally exhausted and was annoyed his dreams didn't help at all. He hoped next time was just mindless and didn't take a life of their own. Constantly cursing himself, Sonic headed back to the couch. He could leave at any moment, but he unconsciously refused to. The comfort of being in a warm and cosy home was humbling, but not to him. He'd normally sit and stare at the stars until he fell asleep. There was no true home for Sonic the Hedgehog. He kept to the mantra of 'Where ever he laid his head, was home.' But for tonight...or today...he just needed that stability of a furbished place, where four walls and a roof gave a sense of wise safety. Not that there was anything wrong with sleeping in doors every so often. It was winter, he could normally handle the cold, but some nights he'd stay with Tails if it got a bit too chilly, but other than that, there was nothing better than winding down to nap in the great outdoors.

He tried to shove everything away and just let sleep take over, praying that he wouldn't have another wandering strike of spontaneous make-out sessions with Amy. He thought back to his usual dreams of her, only when they occurred. They say that most of the time you can hardly remember them, but some absolutely stand out, possibly becoming false rooms in any of his friends houses.

Like the dream where he was out on a date with Amy, and suddenly her head got so big it exploded. Whether or not it had some meaning to it didn't matter, at least it temporarily shut her up through out it. He cultivated these 'Date Dreams' as proverbial nightmares. He closed his eyes, but sudden beeps disallowed him to fall back in. He groaned, then realized it was most likely Amy's alarm. He feigned sleep, hearing in as Amy hopped into the shower. She was doing what any general every-date go-getter would be doing...getting ready for work. In fact he was more surprised that she would be waking up at this time of morning.

Time passed as she headed into the kitchen and made herself toast, the smell of it making Sonic's stomach rumble, in which he deeply wished Amy couldn't hear it. But then the scent of jam made it worse. She sat down at the table and nibbled everything down. Sonic then heard a ring tone go off. He pondered who would be calling her this time of morning.

"Amy Rose speaking..." She whispered. "Oh...its you... I have a guest sleeping over at the moment...that's why I have to whisper...really?...I'll be right over Shadow...thanks."

Did she say Shadow? He heard shuffling about then stop for a while. More shuffles came afterward before she headed out the door in a huff. Sonic opened one of his eyes to make sure she was gone. He sat up from the couch and ruffled through his fur, then grabbed his shoes and strapped them on.

"Good morning..."

Sonic jumped backwards. "Shizaru...don't do that..." He chortled. She stood there with that same damn look on her face.

"You had the chance to break it off. And yet, like the others, failed to do so. Do you want change?" She questioned.

Sonic stood up proud. "I've decided not to listen to your damn nonsense. You speak of justice and wisdom then you force to me to commit a crime that I wouldn't do in a thousand years!" He roared at her.

"You do, and there will be consequences to your actions. You praise instinct when you should be praising logic more. Your instinct to use your speed for every problem will not work forever." She warned.

Sonic huffed. "Well until it decides to stop working, I will run for everything I stand for. It show's I care for life when I come to help those in need."

Shizaru lowered her head. "You will come to regret this."

Sonic decided to blast outside. Today he was going to find Tails and Knuckles.


It was now getting onto six am, and Sonic was still running around, trying to charge his way back to Holoska, back to where the others were. He felt guilty for leaving them there, possibly dead or captured, which made him even more determined to find them. What would Shizaru know...

All he had was his speed and a set of skills needed to survive. It was the Sonic package. Blistering through many a zone, many a city. He'd eventually got to Holoska several hours later, with the help of hitchhiking boats to get across the ocean, then he'd run off again, saying thanks. Fleeing up north, he saw the mountains that surrounded the Garden. But something was strange. He speed around them, noticing, that somehow, there had been a massive Oil refinery built behind them. A lot of the snow had melted, revealing solid earth, creating pools and lakes because of greenhouse gases.

Sonic could see tonnes of Eggman robots all over the place, holding tools and iron bars, some welding and some hammering away. Sonic was going to have none of it.

"Interesting...let's see if I can get to the bottom of this..." He smirked. With a spring and dash in his step, Sonic began obliterating his way to center of the problem. He bounced here and there and within his destructive winds blew up devices here and there, until he met up with a dilemma.

Skidding to a halt, Sonic noticed a massive gap between where he was and the other cliff side. Looking around where he was, the environment was like a nuclear winter. Snow fell, covering the area in white. He didn't realize he was so high up that greenhouses didn't matter. Everything was white, and the only other colour he saw was tiny red jewel like lights that brightened and dimmed every few seconds. He shrugged off the cold, and looked over the edge. All he could see was the oil staining the water below. Sonic took a few steps back to get the charged momentum he needed, as he dashed, hoped and soared over the canyon-like gap. His arms and legs flailed in rhythmic motion as his heart raced, the only fear was falling, in which he let the adrenaline flow.

Time seemed to slow down as he jumped over. What felt like minutes was only a couple of seconds. At last he was coming to the end...and successfully landing on his feet. He took a bow, but remembered no one was around to see it. Not that he cared, he was now free to proceed.

Up head was a large dome, which had to be where Eggman was. Smashing more robots, headed up elevators, dodging lasers. Stuff he'd done a million times before and it never got old. It made his worries float away, knowing he'd get to the bottom time in no time at all. As he got closer to the dome, he could get a better description. The top half looked like it was either rusting or beginner to wear out. Didn't matter, it was going to go on Sonic's terms. Whether Eggman liked it or not. It was Robotnik Red for tear, surrounded by gigantic bolts and poles. The entrance was a big iron door, which Sonic had to figure out how to get through. He fled through tunnels and more loops, blasting badniks and making mince meat out of any diabolical devices that threatened to taint the terrain. At last he had gotten to to big iron doors.

Sonic laughed."Come on Eggman, that was too easy!" He taunted. Coming up to the door, he heard a thump and felt the ground vibrate. Sonic turned around to being forced to look up at a giant monster. It was black with purple spikes, humanoid shaped with limbs more rounded and jolly. Typical Eggman Ego head. Big deep eyes constantly switched and swerved one another, mustache as superficial as Eggman's successes as it's round arms held not only spikes, but each had a laser on top. Sonic took a quick stance and watched it churn. It first released a barrage of spikes, one by one launching off it's arms and rocketing themselves off to Sonic. He made quick work by jumping and hopping onto each other, forcing them down by helping gravity work. After the last spike, Sonic managed to get onto it's head. The robot, angered, decided to foolishly whack it's own head, almost knocking itself out after Sonic got off and taunted it.

"Oohh big scary robot...more like big stupid robot..." He smirked. Steam came out of the robots holes as he stomped about with rage. It raised both arms as the lasers tried to aim at him. Sonic barely dodged them both as it fired purple bolts. It seared the rails and the floor, giving Sonic an idea.

The floor was just metal railings, with nothing underneath. Sonic ran underneath the robot, giving raspberries to it.

"Hey Mr. Robot! I'm down here!" He snickered, poking his tongue out, then patting his butt. Enraged, the robot aimed below him, just as Sonic hoped he could. Sonic slow walked around it's legs as the robots torso spun about, blasting the laser into a full circle. Sonic hopped out of the way and waved at the robot, who was confused and scratched it's head.

"Cya!" Sonic announced, waving. The Robot looked down, and waved its arms about as it fell down to the depths below. Sonic chuckled, amused at as his own success. He dusted his hands off then walked over to the Iron Gate, which opened itself. He wandered into the dome and glanced at it.

Wind howled as it bounced off the red-stained innings. It didn't have decent heating as he'd hoped. Instead there was a object floating about a dais, not to different from the one that he'd seen in the Gauntlet. It was box shaped and an orange glow seeping out of runes. Sonic related it to the Sphere of Abyss. He checked his surroundings then headed over to it. It floated there as whispers echoed throughout. Sonic was tempted to touch it, open it, but he knew better.

"Hang on there!"

Sonic looked over his left. "Agent Bazooka?"

Bazooka somehow glided her way to Sonic after she jumped off an upper walkway. She was still wearing the slim tight mixture of leather and latex-like material that shaped her very tall body nicely, and had her signature weapon strapped to her back.

"Please, call me Bazza." She said in sweet but stern tone.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her.

"On a mission. Collecting Artifacts." She replied.

"Still?" Sonic exaggerated. "Eggman had this base spring up over night. This wasn't what he was looking for specifically, but it did well for Abbadonia."

Abbadonia. That name...the image...filled him with untold hatred. "Eggman's teamed up with her...and they're looking for these sorts of doodads? That sounds about right..." He mentioned.

"Yes. This one is called, the Box of Temptation."

No wonder he had the need to touch it. With a name like that all kinds of weird stuff would occur.

"Do you know what it does?" Asked Sonic.

Bazooka nodded. "Our sources confirm that it can grant wishes, however in order to grant a single wish, you must sacrifice a soul in order to do so."

Sonic blinked. "Woah...heavy stuff. But Eggman isn't murderous. There's a difference between wanting to get rid of someone and actually kill them. Nowadays I reckon he just makes robots and difficult obstacles deliberately to slow me down. Not that I mind, it's a little game of ours that we've been doing for years."

"We understand that. It's the fact that it being Eggman's possession is very disturbing." She replied.

They both had a glance at the Box. "We have to take it back to headquarters and seal it in so deep that not even the best machines can reach it."

Sonic chuckled. "If that's what you expect."

Bazza snuffed and turned around. "Eggman has gotten weaker over time anyway. Not as strong as he used to be."

Sonic rubbed his nose. "He's always been weak, but he's had his fair share of wins and near-misses. Although in the end...I'm always here to save the day!"

Bazza sweat-dropped. "I'm talking about his weaponry! It's weak! For instance, that robot outside...he had one...it was easy to destroy!"

Sonic laughed. "Yeah I got rid of one easily too. Must have been two or something."

Bazza stomped her foot. "That was a Blue-X23 Compound Laser he attached to both it's arms. That model is outdated. Eggman's obviously out for quantity over quality. If he wanted something more effective, he should have gotten the Red-X34. Larger ranged, wider lens. Heaps of destructive power. Although I'd be more concerned about what energy cores he uses and whether his robots have efficient recoil hydrolics."

Sonic gave a surprised look. "What did you say?"

Bazooka shook her head. "Uh...never mind...I'm just going off in a tangent. Anyway, I'll need to grab the box." She said as she went over to it and snatched it...

INTRUDER ALERT, INTRUDER ALERT, INITIATING INTRUDER DESPONDENT PROTOCOL!

Sonic looked around as red lights flashed everywhere. The floor below them shifted suddenly, Sonic and Bazza took one look at each with fear, as the floor gave way, causing the two to descend rapidly. Bazza accidentally let go of the Box. "No!" She screamed. Sonic tried to use his quills to make the descent a little slower, but looked up to see blue and white jet-shaped robots decided to shoot at him at the last moment.

"Ah I see your little game here!" Bazza cried. "Crimson-S2.0s. Compact, light for mobility. Good for multiples and those with low energy but fast recharges."

Sonic couldn't believe this woman. She was worse than Tails. They were both falling and she would rather pay more attention to some stinking lasers then they were either going to get killed from being shot or the inevitable splatter. Sonic looked downwards as more of the jetbots came out of holes. He took his chance and landed on one, getting a boost out of it and making a chain of jumps, obliterating the jetbots with force. "Sonic land on my back!" Cried Bazza. Sonic didn't have a choice. Sonic bounced off a few more, before finally getting on her back. "Grab the Bazza! Don't worry! It's the 1337-A4N174 or the "Primal Pocket Portable Parader", the rockets shrink and expand. The ammo should be in my little bag." She explained. He couldn't understand the majority of what she said, but all Sonic knew, was that he could see a smaller than usual bazooka on her back in a silver shine. He unstrapped from her back and rested it on his shoulder, then looked for the ammo. He quickly rummaged through the bag as Bazza herself extended her arms and legs and somehow raised her pony-tails and expanded them immensely, flapping slightly. Sonic had not time to ask or think how she did it, instead he grabbed a single ''rocket'' which had to be the size of a peanut. It confused Sonic, but again, he had no time. He shoved the rocket into the slot and slammed it in. Suddenly the bazooka expanded. "Alright, starting shooting, I'll try and and slow our descent and dodge." She said. Sonic knelt down started aiming. On cue, a group of jetbots clustered together. "They're the multiples conjoinment. Quickly, get rid of them!" Bazza yelled. Sonic pulled the trigger, releasing a rocket and making a fireworks display out of the jetbot cluster.

"Good job Sonic!" Bazza cried out, giving a thumbs up. "There's some more up ahead."

Sonic reloaded and aimed, but for some reason they were descending quicker than before.

The network of Jetbots clustered together again to make another charged shot. Sonic aimed once more, and fired away. Debris flew everywhere, forcing Bazza to dodge and Sonic to keep balance. Noticing they were going even faster now, Sonic realized it was because of the recoil.

After several minutes or so of falling, they came into an open clearing, which was a massive cave embroiled with little landmass and lava. Bazza saw the box in her sights. "Hang on!" She said. She withdrew her arms to her sides, closed her legs and tilted diagonally, Sonic grabbed onto the back of her suit. "Now Sonic!"

They were near the end as Sonic strapped the bazooka back onto Bazza's back and jumped off to use his quills in an attempt at a slower decline. He finally reached the bottom safely, and watched as Bazza grabbed the box, then raised her 'pony-tails' and flapped them about rapdily. She gently fell down to the ground. Sonic nodded, visibly impressed. "Wow, that was pretty awesome!" He said, giving her a high five. "Heh of course." She said, responding.

Bazza held the box under one arm as she and Sonic looked around the cave. Sonic gazed upwards, then scanned the area. It reminded him of when and Chip once versed Dark Gaia. "Wow...this gives me memories..." He muttered to himself. Bazza knelt down on knee and pressed a button on the side of her helmet. "Agent Mjöllnir Object confirmation." She coded. "Good work Agent Bazooka. Where are you now?" Asked Molly.

"Down in the Earths depths. I need an immediate evac."

"Copy that, Me and Agent Drainer are honing in on your signal as we speak."

Bazza stood back up. "Well, at least that's over." She said with relief. "Still, something doesn't feel right."

Sonic nodded. "You're right, this area...it's entirety. Do you think this was planned by Eggman?"

"Chances are high." She replied. "Just keep an eye out."

Sonic did so, and kept his awareness transfixed on any sudden movements in the walls or in the lava. Their heads immediately moved towards in front of the mass of land they were standing on, within the lava something stirred and bubbled. A metallic serpentine monster burst out of it and roared at the two. It was long and baubled, had to stand at least five to eight meters tall, with green on one side and silver on the other. The face was round with large chompers constantly clattering, with Eggman obviously sitting in the cockpit

"Think you can get away with stealing that box Sonic? Prepare for the Egg Venom!" He hammed. Sonic and Bazza exchanged looks. "I'm ready when you are." Announced Bazza. "Always." Replied Sonic with a thumbs up. Bazza knelt down on one knee and grabbed her bazooka.

"Hang on, just need to adjust it..." She said, tinkering with it. CLINK! It expanded dramatically, causing Sonic to stand back in surprise. "Woah..."

"Get in." She strained as she placed the weapon on her shoulder. Sonic nodded as he rolled into a ball and hopped into the back of the bazooka. The Egg Venom started firing spits of acidic compound at Bazza, who was forced to get up and move with the heavy load. In a pinch, she managed to set back down temporarily and hastily aim at the head. SHUMPF!

Sonic in his spin ball fired out of the barrel towards the head. Using his homing attack, he used his savvy attack to beat the machine into submission, bouncing off it several times before destroying a red orb on top. Hearing what appeared to be breaking glass, he hopped off and ran back towards Bazza. The Egg Venom shook it's head and retreated back into the lava. "I saw the orbs. We have to destroy the other two." Said Bazza. She used the time they had to strap the box to her belt. She then went through her bag and pulled out two golden rings. "Here absorb one. I think we may need them down here." She suggested. Sonic complied as he took one. He clasped it down, the ring fading away into his body, causing a slight glow. "Feel much better. Cheers Bazza!"

The Egg Venom burst out of the lava behind them and gave a loud roar. Bazza absorbed her ring as they switched around, Sonic heading back into the barrel of the bazooka. The Egg Venom again spat out the acidic compound, forcing Bazza to start moving around to avoid them. Two more bursts appeared as more Egg Venoms rose up from the lava. "Where they hell did they come from?" She muttered in strain. She aimed for one of them and fired away. SHUMF!

Sonic shot out of the bazooka and aimed to the left most one. He homed in on all three of the orbs and destroyed them all in sequence, causing the machination to break down. As Sonic was finished with that he jumped back to the solid surface and kept an eye on the swarm of Venoms as one sunk down, settling down in the lava. Spats of acid forced Sonic to weave and dodge backwards as they got closer. He went back to Bazza and jumped back into the gun. She aimed at the closest one and fired...SHUMF!

Sonic homed in on another, bashing into the orbs several times, eliminating it like before. Given some air, Sonic straightened his body out, and honed in on Eggman's cockpit. He went into a spindash, and blasted the glass. Without word, Bazza decided to withdraw her Bazooka and went for a smaller gun. The only words spoken were techno-babble that Sonic ignored, as he got back on his own two feet. Bazza strapped the bazooka onto her back and started firing away using her smaller gun. In laser bursts, Bazza shot at each of the Egg Venom's orbs, causing screeches and making them sink. Firing a few more, she looked behind her as a spat of acid narrowly missed her. She took better care as she somersaulted forward, missing another one. Turning to her side, she stepped back, then bolted towards one of the the Venoms and flipped, three shots destroying more orbs. She used her "ponytails" and flapped to prevent herself falling in, then looked around as she was surrounded by four Egg Venoms. "You have to teach me how to mass-produce. I seriously could make a fortune on duplications..." She said, not even worried.

Sonic was too busy on his end to notice Bazza, instead more focused on the fact that Eggman's own machine had decided to shape shift, the snake turning into a lizard and leaping onto the solid surface.

"You think you might beat me this time little warthog! But you won't!" Eggman gloated. Sonic snorted. "Yeah, yeah what ever you say Eggman..."

The Venom rose its front claw and tried to swipe Sonic, only for said hedgehog roll backwards and give him the tongue. Eggman was intent of pulling it out of his mouth, as the Venom's mouth opened and extended it's own long, blue and slithery tongue and wrapped itself around Sonic.

"Ahaha! Got you now!" Eggman roared. Sonic struggled to get himself out of the bind. The Venom cracked and crinkled, steaming shooting out of its joints. It squatted down, as Sonic watched the limbs turn hot red and the serpentine parts rumble and shake. "Uh oh...this can't be good." Sonic commented. In an instant, the Venom catapulted upwards, the limbs quickly swerving a good one eighty degrees and clung onto the roof of the cave. Sonic witnessed the demonic smirk that Eggman seemed to possess as he stroked his 'stache. He pressed a few buttons, as the tongue rolled back and forth. Sonic closed his eyes and fumbled around to get free. He reopened them as as explosion sounded out below him. Bazza had eliminated the the lesser Venoms. Sonic grinned.

"How's it hangin'?" Bazza joked. That grin turned into a nervous one. "Hang on, I'm comin'!"

Eggman started whacking Sonic about, causing a little dizziness on his side. Bazza took a foothold on the surface and whacked out her Bazooka once more. She put in her specialized ammo and aimed at the legs. SHUMF!

The Egg Venom creaked and shackled, the rounded out parts of it swirled and shivered. Bazza fired again on the other side, destroying a middle limb, which was a little too close for Sonic's comfort. Noticing this, Bazza shook her head at a sudden realization. "Woops...guess I was having too much fun there? Heh..." She muttered...she pulled out her smaller gun, and shot at the straightened layer of tongue, splitting it two and freeing Sonic. Sonic free-falled to the ground, and went over to Bazza.

"Sorry Sonic, I get a little carried away." Bazza apologized. "Don't sweat it, I do the same sometimes...

The Egg Venom's limbs finally gave way, forcing it to break off from the roof and slam down hard.

Eggman slammed on the panel before him. He pressed a few more buttons, raising the Egg Mobile that was held inside the Venom. "Bah...it's not over yet!" He grunted. He pulled out a miniture portable device that had a single button on it. Eggman pressed it, hailing a sinister snarl on his make-up. Suddenly, the cave started shaking violently. Sonic stood back and looked around as rocks fell from above. "Here's trying to cave us in!" Bazza cried. "Bazza there's no time for puns here! We gotta split!" Sonic scolded. Bazza strapped on all she didn't have strapped on...except...

"The Box!" Bazza shrieked. She fervently scanned for it, noticing it was under one of the rocks that fell. Sonic looked up as Bazza picked up the box. "Bazza watch out!" He yelled. On instinct, Sonic sped towards her, and leapt into the air, turning into a spindash and breaking the rock apart.

"Woah...thanks Sonic...I guess I was a little rocky wasn't I?" She joked. Sonic rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand. "Come on!" He yelled. They went over to where they had originally fallen through, dodging falling rocks along the way. "Where is that evac?" Wondered Bazza. She had no choice. "Sonic hold this!"

She gave Sonic the the box, before picking Sonic up by his waist, then used her 'pony-tails' to fly upwards. She frequently tried to avoid the falling debris. Weaving, falling slightly, barraging, left, right, up and down and in all directions in which the rocks and other pieces of steel and iron intending the stop them or slow them down. Jetbots appeared out of nowhere to try and do the same thing, but ended up being clobbered. Come to the five minute mark of doing such physically demanding labor, Bazza showed signs of fatigue. "Are you alright?" Sonic asked, noticing that they had slowed down somewhat.

"I haven't done this for very long...I'd never thought I'd do anything like this..." She answered in bated breath.

"Let me go, I can use to rocks to get back up if I'm too heavy." He suggested. "I don't really want to, but don't get 'boulderized' if you know what I mean..." she joked.

Sonic again showed minor disdain, but as Sonic gave back the box to Bazza, she let go of him as he used each of the falling rocks to jump higher and higher up the hole. With a little less weight, Bazza had a bit more strength and endurance to allow her to try and spear herself upwards. Sonic bashed in more Jetbots, spindashed here and there and obliverated rocks to higher heaven. Bazza decided to whip out her gun and started blasting the the Jetbots.

"Did somebody call for evac?" Shouted a voice. "Agent Mjöllnir!" Cried Bazza with relief.

Up higher was Olly and Drainer, Olly busy busting rocks and Jetbots whilst she and Drainer stood on a specialized hoverboards, that Sonic noted that looked like Extreme Gear. They were lengthened like skateboards, with a thin red strip in the middle of thick black outer areas, that were rounded on each side, with a dip in the middle sides. Blue flames emitted from the bottom, gusting out from four geysers. Sonic could see it was wide enough to fit at least a few more people. Sonic jumped on, while Drainer kept an eye on the controls, which purtruded off a pipe. With a few presses, rails shot out of the sides. Bazza finally came up from below and landed on it as well. They held onto the bars while Drainer tail-gated them all out of here, with Bazza giving Sonic the Box back while they blasted the rest of the rocks and jetbots away, Olly using her Smish-Smasher hitting anything that Bazza missed.

Eventually they came to surface out back into the dome, Drainer not stopping until they were at a decent clearing. Sonic looked on as the Cold Oil Zone collapsed on itself, exploding and bursting into flames. Sonic wiped his forehead. "Woah...that was close..." He said, smiling. "Fun though." He chuckled. He high fived Bazza who put away her Bazooka.

"Nice work." Sonic thanked, giving a thumbs up. Bazza nodded.

"You too!" She replied. Sonic then felt weird, a sensation that he had been feeling before. It originally thought nothing of it at first, but then it became repetitive to the fact that he had to fully recognize. He had been focusing on a rather more potent feeling beforehand, but this one decided it would become stronger with each passing moment. As they flew further and further from Cold Oil, Sonic's vision became brighter and brighter...until it was completely white...


Sonic opened his eyes. He found himself staring at a darkened TV, albeit sideways. Confused, he sat up and rubbed his sockets. The TV was still there and a blanket covered his legs. He noticed he was sitting on a familiar couch. This was Amy's apartment.

"What the?" He muttered. That dream was so vivid, so...real. He looked at the DVD players clock. It was getting on to five am. Huh? Sonic thought to himself. He heard footsteps coming in his general direction. It was only Amy waking up. He laid back down and pretended to sleep, with one eye peeking. Amy walked into the kitchen wearing a red robe with white fluffy trims and a pair of pink slippers. Sonic looked on as she prepared a cup of coffee and yawned. A knock on the door prompted Amy to go check. In Sonic's mind who would be knocking doors at this time of morning. He heard Amy open it, then come back with a rectangular package as well as a newspaper. Amy's eyes drooped as she took the elastic band off the the paper and spread it on the table. She then pulled the string and took off the paper wrapping the package. Sonic's eye's went wide. That box was very familiar.

"Oh good...it finally came..." She muttered to herself. She picked the box up and examined it. She opened the box and peaked inside.

"Wait, there's nothing in here!" She said. Scratching her head, she went to stomp her foot, then came to the realization that she was too tired to rampage.

"That's what you get when you try to do express delivery...dimwits...I'll call them while I'm at work..." She mumbled, succumbing to another yawn. Sonic knew that was no ordinary box.

It was the Box of Temptation.


So...what do ya'll think? I'd love more reviews and questions. ^^

Truth be told I was contemplating how to get Bazzas character right...but I have a general thought of it now so it's all good.