Author's Note: Hello! I have finally gotten to updating this poor friend of mine. Now, before you begin reading, I'd love it if you could do me a favor. First of all, please leave a review. :D Second, please pay close attention to the details in this chapter (such as which "Room" each character is assigned to). It will make the chapter much less confusing. Thank you!


It was precisely 1:30 in the afternoon. Amy and the others were wrapped up in over-priced robes and cotton slippers, each of them sitting on a chair in the Spa waiting room. The ever-so- infamous "Spa music" was playing from the tiny speakers in each corner of the lounge, and Amy was anxiously leafing through a magazine. To a stranger, it would be a rather odd sight. She had her legs crossed, and the one on top was bobbing up and down as if it Amy were having leg spasms. Her eyes kept darting back and forth across the room, though her hands remained frantically tearing through the magazine as if her life depended on it. In fact, Blaze was surprised Amy hadn't ripped the poor thing to pieces already.

"Amy, uh-"

"Don't talk to me."

Blaze instantly shut up. The tone in Amy's voice was well-known by all four of the other girls in the room. It was the "don't-you-dare-even-touch-me-with-a-twenty-two-foot-pole-or-i-will-personally-ensure-that-the-rest-of-your-life-is-hell" voice. The pink hedgehog could do wonders with her vocal cords.

Amy's eyes whisked back to the doorway, where, every once in a while, somebody would step in or out. The last two times the door had opened it had been a green ostrich and a violet panther. The lady at the reception desk had begun to smile every time the ostrich walked through, Amy had observed. But this was beside the point! Where was Silver?

"He's gonna be here at 2:00, Amy," Shade sighed, watching bluntly as Amy switched her position and now began tapping her fingers against the coffee table. "Not everybody arrives 30 minutes early to everything, like you do."

"Well, they should. It's only polite," Amy muttered under her breath. She sat straight up again as the front door opened. In walked a crimson hedgehog, who looked rather irked about something or other. She marched up to the receptionist desk, and practically collapsed against it. "I swear, Sheryl," the hedgehog said to the receptionist lady. "I can't hardly stand this place anymore. Seriously, I should be working someplace much more entertaining, with better pay and some damn health care benefits!" She slammed her fist against the counter.

The receptionist, apparently named Sheryl, laughed quietly, typing something into her computer. "Oh, come now, Skye, if you didn't work here you wouldn't get all that gossip you savor."

"I hate gossip!"The crimson hedgehog stuck out her tongue. "All I ever here about is this popular guy, or this new bar, or this new piece of juicy info about Sonic. I'm sick of it."

"Well, hey, at least you get your free spa day once a month. That's a pretty nice benefit, don't ya think?" Sheryl grinned.

"Yeah, yeah, just hook me up with some hot Mexican who knows how to rub my back real hard," Skye smirked, rolling her eyes. "Seriously, though, you have any free spots today? I'd love a Hot Stone. I've been a little…stressed. You know, about Ryan," she sighed.

"Oh, yes. I was sorry to hear about that," Sheryl clucked her tongue sadly. "I can't imagine Ryan would do anything so…well, never mind." She shook her head, looking back at her computer. "We have the Indulgence Room open at 2:30. I think Silver's going to be here to pick up the trash in there in just a bit, then it should be ready for you. If you just want to hang around—"

Amy missed the rest of the conversation, as she heard Star giggle, "Ooh, look, guys! They have crumpets!" The African Pygmy was standing next a kitchenette, on top of which was a plate of various pastries and herbal teas.

"Star, your maturity continues to amaze me." Blaze rolled her eyes.

"Sshh, shut up, guys!" Amy hissed, trying to listen to the conversation of the receptionist and the crimson hedgehog again. But the hedgehog was already grinning and walking away, and Amy had missed any extra information about Silver that might have been slipped. Still, there had been that bit about the Indulgence Room…

"Amy Rose? Starlight? Blaze, uh, Shade, and Rouge? Your rooms are ready." A white mongoose had just stepped into the Waiting Room, and was reading off of a clipboard. She appeared to be the one in charge of appointments. "Miss Starlight, you are in the Harmony Room with Jennifer as your masseuse." A leopard stepped forward, smiling and holding out her hand for Star to shake. The two stepped out together, the leopard leading the way. "Miss Rose, you have the Serenity Room—"

"I'll take the Indulgence Room please!" Amy sprang out of her chair like a Jack-in-the-box. "I really need to have the Indulgence Room."

"Erm, Miss Rose, I'm afraid the Indugence Room is not yet prepared, and we have another guest who wishes to use—"

"Can't she be in another room? You have like thirty billion rooms!" Amy exclaimed. "And the Indulgence Room, it…I-I just really, really need that room." The lady eyed Amy nervously as the hedgehog jumped up and down like some sort of jackhammer. "Like, you don't even understand how much I need that room."

"I…suppose you could be in it, but we're supposed to have a trash man come at 2:00-"

"I don't mind! I don't mind at all! In fact, the trash man can come in during the middle of my massage if he needs to! Please, Miss!" Amy was practically crying out now.

"Um…I…okay?"

"Excellent!" The pink hedgehog was instantly alright. In fact, she was now beaming. She gave a happy nod to the mongoose and disappeared around the corner, headed for the Indulgence Room. Apparently, she could find it by herself.

The mongoose blinked, watching the hedgehog disappear. After several long moments, she pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose and swallowed. "I suppose that leaves Miss Shade with the Serenity Room, Miss Blaze with the Regality Room, and Miss Rouge with the Pampering Room. Ladies, your masseuses are Gerald, Jasmine, and Karen, respectively. Do enjoy your stay." At that, she promptly turned on her heel and walked swiftly away.


"I can't believe this. The Spa cannot possibly be booked. It has, like, a billion rooms!"

Sam and Nodoka were sitting on a small couch in the Foyer of the Grand Hibiscus. The Foyer was a very large area, with sloping granite countertops and great marble staircases. The couches were a very elegant moss green, made of fine velvet, and Sam was resting his head on his hand, which was in turn being propped up by his elbow, which was leaning against said velvet couch. Nodoka was merely crossing her arms and watching him through the corner of her eyes. Sam was complaining.

"It's absolutely insane. We pay some horrific sum of money to stay here and we can't even get into the Spa when we feel like it! Not to mention that it smelled like prunes in there. I'm sorry, Doka. I even told them I'd pay more, but they apparently have 'all their rooms full until next week.' I know you don't want to wait that long and I figured—"

"Oh, Sam, come on!" Nodoka interrupted, exasperated. "I'm fine, see?" She stood up and threw her hands out, in order to prove her point. "Stop whining. We'll find something more fun to do, anyway, okay?"

Sam straightened from his miserably pathetic position and looked at her. "So you're not angry?"

"No. I'm not angry."

Sam immediately stood up, smiling like he had just seen the sun for the first time. "Well, excellent then! So, how about we-?"

"But that does not mean I'm going to the Sports Bar with you," Nodoka interrupted. Sam crumpled to the couch again. "Not only would I be abandoned for some electronic war field," the regimental hedgehog continued, "but it smells disgusting in there. Some horrible combination of sweat and cigarette smoke and—"

"Men?" Sam finished for her, trying to keep himself from grinning.

"Yes, exactly," Nodoka gave a curt nod. "M—wait a second. Isn't that Sonic?"

Sam turned to see what she was pointing at. And, sure enough, there was Sonic himself, wearing a pair of Ray Bans and tan shorts. He was marching up to the front desk as if he owned the place. Then again, he probably did.

"What do you think he's doing?" Nodoka whispered, watching him from behind a pot of ferns. "Why would he have a reason to come here?"

"Maybe he likes the Sports Bar," Sam snickered. He winced when she elbowed him between the ribs.

"Look, he's walking towards the elevator. Should we follow him?" the regimental female asked, her eyes sparking with mischief.

"Why?" Sam eyed her suspiciously.

"'Cause he's rich, and God knows what kind of wicked party he's throwing upstairs. Certainly that's what he's doing, right? That's what I would do if I was a multimillionaire's son," she grinned and tip-toed around the corner, hiding behind a marble column.

"Yeah, 'cause that party at the beach was pretty 'wicked'." Sam rolled his eyes, following her. "Doka, a girl nearly got raped—"

"Oh, that's because it was at a beach and nobody was paying any attention. Besides, they caught the guy who tried to rape her. Now, come on! We're going to figure out where Mr. Sonic Garnet is spending his money this afternoon." Nodoka grabbed Sam's hand, and proceeded to drag him towards the elevator, where the two hurriedly followed after Sonic.


Sonic was whistling cheerfully to himself, rather glad he had been able to escape seeing his father this morning. God knows the man would have killed his son. A party hosted by the Garnet family in which a woman is nearly raped? It had been on several newspapers and a few good radio stations too. Mr. Garnet would not be happy, not at all. But Sonic had previously decided he wasn't going to think about that until he absolutely had to. Besides, he was going to visit Blaze. And perhaps the victim of the near-rape would be there too. Then he could apologize for the whole situation, and his father's anger would be at least slightly dissolved.

"Problem solved," Sonic said, grinning as he reached the elevator. He was about to press the small button labeled with an "up" arrow, but he was stopped when he heard someone say,

"Sonic, where are you going?"

The cobalt hedgehog turned to see Knuckles headed towards him. The echidna was holding a small coffee cup from the bakery located right next to the Grand Hibiscus, and was wearing a pair of surf shorts and a t-shirt.

"Well, where are you going?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

Knuckles seemed slightly perplexed as to why Sonic was so suspicious, but he shrugged, saying, "Just wanted to take a stroll. The hotel's pretty nice."

"Why aren't you out on the beach? Tails said you two were going surfing in a bit," Sonic pointed out.

"Jesus, Sonic, can I not go get a coffee without your permission?" Knuckles said, now rather irritated. "Just 'cause you're part of the Garnet family doesn't automatically make you—"

"Sorry," Sonic sighed, not wanting to make his friend more boisterous than he already was. "You just…surprised me. I'll…uh, see ya later." He started to walk away, but stopped, biting his lip, when he heard Knuckles say,

"Now, wait a second. You never answered my question. Why are you here?"

"Do I have to have your permission, Knuckles, to visit my sick cousin?" Sonic asked, dryly. He hoped his lie had come out convincingly, as he turned away.

"Sonic, you don't have a cousin," the red echidna said blatantly, walking closer to Sonic until they were only a few feet apart.

"Says who?" The hedgehog turned to face Knuckles, yet again.

"Both of your parents are only children. As in, they don't have siblings. So you can't have any cousins," Knuckles told him. "I'm not that gullible, Sonic," he snorted. "You're a good liar but not as good as Shadow."

"Ugh…" The hedgehog groaned, wiping a hand down his face. "You're not going to leave me alone until I tell you where I'm going, are you?"

"Nope." The echidna said honestly, grinning.

Sonic sighed, again. "I'm going to see if I can find Silver. You know that girl I was dancing with last night?"

"You mean the cat? The purple one?" Knuckles asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah, the purple one." The cobalt hedgehog rolled his eyes. Typical Knuckles to notice the color and not the amazing body. "Her name is Blaze."

"Oh, God…" Knuckles groaned. "You're not going on about her again…"

"She's apparently staying here," Sonic continued, raising his voice over Knuckles' complaining, "and I wondered if Silver knew what room she was in. I…wanted to talk to her."

"Since when are you such a romantic?" Knuckles asked, taking a sip of his coffee and collapsing into one of the many chairs in the Foyer. "You always seemed like the 'touch and go' type to me—"

"God, Knuckles! Maybe I really like this girl! Can you try being considerate, for once?" The hedgehog asked, whirling around. He was becoming increasingly aggravated with the echidna. Yeah, the red furball was his friend, but he could also be a real pain in the—

"Alright, alright!" Knuckles cut in. "So you gonna go find Silver or what?"

"Yeah, I am!" Sonic replied defiantly.

"Well, then I'm coming with you."

"Like Hell you're coming with me."

"Just try and stop me."

"I will. With one hand tied behind my back."

"Bring it on, lover boy."

The two friends stopped growling at each other when they heard someone nearby start chuckling. They both turned to find Silver, who was leaning against a trash bin and grinning at the duo. "Jeez, guys, loosen up. Why can't we all just get along?" the white hedgehog asked, raising his hands as if asking for a peace treaty, though he continued to grin at them.

"Silver! I was looking for you, man," Sonic said eagerly, loosening his rigid posture. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah?" Silver raised an eyebrow, propping the trash bin up with one foot.

"You have any idea what room Blaze is staying in? I think she's staying with Amy Rose and—"

"You mean the purple feline?" Silver interrupted, smiling. "Yeah, I know where they're staying. Room 3500, I'm pretty sure. Doubt they're in there right now, though."

"Why?" Sonic asked.

"Well, Amy looks like the type who can't stay cooped up for long. Which is understandable. I'm the same way," Silver said matter-of-factly, though Sonic could hear the slight bit of pride in his tone.

"Okay, well, where do you think they would be?"

"I don't know. But, since you're here, would you mind helping me with my trash round? After that, it's the end of my shift. We can head down to the beach and surf," Silver told his two friends.

"Sure, why not?" Knuckles shrugged. "Don't have anything better to do. How 'bout it, Sonic?"

The cobalt hedgehog looked defeated. "Yeah, I guess."

"Awesome," Silver beamed. "Thanks, guys. Come on, I'm heading to the Spa next."


It was now Allyn's turn to whistle cheerfully to himself. So far, the day was going impeccably smooth for our armadillo friend. In fact, this was the easiest detective work he had done in quite a while. He could hardly remember a time when things had ran so nicely, when he hadn't been stressed, or bored, or otherwise in some sort of semi-lousy mood. He caught sight of Skye sitting in the Waiting Room and he snuck over to her, dropping onto the plush velvet chair beside her.

"Hello, Skye," he smiled.

She looked up at him dryly from where she had her nose stuck in a magazine. "I thought you were doing detective work," she whispered.

"I am," he replied. "Is this what I get for trying to be friendly?"

Skye set the magazine down. "Yeah, I guess so. I'm not used to you being friendly. Usually, you're either in a hurry or you're pissed off at something."

Allyn snorted. She was probably right. "Mm-hmm, whatever. You know what time it is?"

She gave him yet another dry look. "I thought you detectives always carried the latest technology, let alone a watch," she told him pointedly.

"I left mine in my room, okay?" Allyn answered, exasperated. "Are you going to tell me what time it is, or not?"

"Can I go with 'not'?" Skye grinned.

"I don't have time for this." The armadillo was about to stand up and walk away when the crimson hedgehog abruptly grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you what time it is," Skye laughed, winking at Allyn. He just sighed, looking away. The hedgehog glanced down at her watch and replied, "1:50. It's 1:50."

"Shit!" The armadillo shot to his feet. "I gotta get to the room, Gerald will already be there!"

Skye looked startled. "Jeez, Allyn, why is it such a—"

"Damn it, damn, later Skye," he muttered under his breath as he left the Waiting Room, and swiftly made his way towards the Serenity Room, where Amy Rose was surely waiting. "It's alright; I've got this under control," he said to himself. "Once I get to the room, I'll quietly kick Gerald out and then talk to Miss Rose. Piece of cake."

He speed-walked down the hallway, screeching to a halt when he saw Gerald walking his way. Of course Allyn couldn't be seen! Allyn was wearing Gerald's uniform; it would look far too suspicious.

"Evasive maneuver," the armadillo whispered. As a detective, talking to himself had become one of his favorite pastimes. Or maybe he had just been forced through too many of those superhero cartoons.

He jumped behind a wall, quickly opening a cabinet door so that it concealed his upper body as Gerald walked by. Carefully, he peeked out and saw that Gerald was going to the stock room to grab some more supplies. Making sure he moved lightly and silently, Allyn followed behind Gerald until he was about a foot away from him. Then he altogether tackled the poor ostrich, taking him into a headlock and gagging him with a strip of tablecloth, which he pulled from his pocket.

"Sorry, buddy," Allyn whispered, as Gerald squirmed and cursed. "But I have to do this." He then slammed his arm against the back of the ostrich's head and Gerald was out like a light.

Allyn looked both ways, making sure no one was walking by. He then dragged the green ostrich into a nearby storage closet, taking extra care to lock the door and bind the ostrich's feet and wings. Was this altogether necessary? No, probably not. But it sure was fun.

After he had finished with these extra "precautions", Allyn finally made his way to the Serenity Room, cursing under his breath about the fact that he was already running around fifteen minutes late. Miss Rose was going to be impatient, and God knew if Allyn was even going to get any information out of her. But detective work was detective work, and it was something he had to do. Sort of.

Finally, Allyn found the Serenity Room, and slipped inside. He nearly gagged upon entering, as the whole room was filled with the dreaded "Aromatherapy." The horrible odors that only spa people seemed to be capable of creating. It was some awful mixture of coconut and avocado and lavender and pineapple, if the reader can even imagine what that might smell like. Perhaps it was just Allyn that didn't enjoy it, though, because the girl lying on the massage table, wrapped up like a burrito in silky white sheets, seemed to be at absolute peace. He carefully walked by her, heading over to the small cabinet station, where various containers of lotion and hot stones were organized. The armadillo set down his small knapsack and pulled out his notebook, a pen, ink (yes, he was that professional), and something to calm Miss Rose down, in case it came to that. Then he sat down in one of the chairs across from the massage table, crossed his legs, and asked, "Miss Rose?"

"Mmugh," the girl lying on the table mumbled and turned her head so that she was facing him.

Allyn shot out of the chair like a rocket, staring incredulously at the girl, while she did exactly the same. Then they simultaneously shouted each other's names.

"Shade?"

"Allyn?"


Amy waited in the Indulgence Room, her arms wrapped around her legs. Her massage therapist had left the room to get some more hot oil. A small, leaf-shaped clock on the wall seemed to mock Amy, as the second hand ticked further and further past 2:00. It was currently 2:05. The pink hedgehog pressed her forehead against her knees, taking deep breaths. She needed to talk to Silver. He had saved her last night; he had kept her safe. She needed that safety again.

She heard a door opening and the sound of hushed voices bickering about something. Slowly, she got off of the massage table and moved towards the door, pressing her ear against it. One of the voices was that of her massage therapist, while the other was male. She blinked. She recognized that voice!

She pulled the door open swiftly, and rushed outside, not really paying attention to the fact that she was wearing nothing but a robe. A loosely tied one, at that.

Silver was standing just around the corner, leaning against a trash bin and looking tired. He yawned and said something back to Amy's massage therapist, who then shot him a death-like glare. But Amy wasn't paying attention to this. The hedgehog immediately rushed down the hall, until she was merely feet behind Silver. Then she quietly, apprehensively asked, "Silver?"

He turned around, looking interested, and somewhat pleased that so many people had been looking for him today. Then he caught sight of the pink hedgehog, at what a sight she was. Dark circles etched the area beneath her eyes and she looked terrified, as if by some invisible ghost. She seemed exhausted, and Silver knew she hadn't slept at all last night. He gently walked closer to her, saying, "Amy? Um…is everything okay?"

She stared right back at him. "I need to talk to you. Now."