Jeez what is up with me and my slack updates? Well here we go chapter 7 is finally out. Don't like the title but I really wanted to get this chapter out ASAP so I put down what ever came to mind. Madness. Longest Chapter to date. AGAIN! YAAAAY! :D

I've been working on more personal writing for my Creative Writing class recently so I've neglected this story quite a bit. And when I was supposed to working on those stories I ended up working on this ARGHHH! You can find my personal work on Tumblr under the name Meridyth-Mayhem.

Also, I have posted a poll. So please take a moment to look at it. It's about whether I should put more fluffy moments in this story, since I have noticed the story was may have been more popular before it became more of a adventure, psycho, angst story and all that crap. Even though this story was never really intended to be fluffy. I might just squeeze in a couple moments if you tell me too ;).

Was watching Salad Fingers this morning for the very first time. 3 words. I LOVER IT! 3 \(^w^)/

I haven't really gone over it so sorry if there are spelling errors or if it jumps around a lot.

Well I'll shut up now so you can read.

ENJOY!


Chapter 7

Madness

~Rouge~

Emerald town is filled with idiots. To think I could practically just walk right through the bank to the vault and take the Chaos Emerald. Like seriously, did they even bother to set up a security system? Sure, they got security cameras but what good is that gonna' do them? But what do I care? I got what I wanted, and that's all that matters. Mission accomplished.

Racing through the deserted roads on shadow's hog, of course borrowed with his permission. If I just took it he'd kill me, literally. It's not really my taste but it's our only means of transportation so I guess I can deal with it. Satchel bag tossed over my shoulder holding my treasure I revved the mechanical beast beneath me and flew over the dirt road leaving a cloud of dust behind. I felt so free, so alive. The abandoned town came into view with all it's deserted glory. The old warehouse stood tall in the horizon as I drifted to a stop skidding directly in front of the warehouse where shadow was waiting,

"Did you get it?" Shadow stared at me with his crimson eyes.

"You bet I did! I got it right here," I rip the worn bad from my shoulder and toss it to him. "Piece of cake." I wink at him. He pulls out the yellow emerald out, examining it in front of his eyes, making sure it isn't fake. The emerald glimmered in the sunlight.

"Hmmm." He places the emerald back into his bag.

"What? Is it fake?" I question hoping it's not true.

"No, it's real. I was just thinking." Shadow replies.

"Oh, okay. So what we got two of the seven? So five left right?" I say while I step off the bike.

"Yeah, five." He walks over and immediately begins to check for damage inflicted on his precious bike.

"Oh God Shadow! Your bike is completely fine!" I shout annoyed. I seriously think that his bike is the only thing he truly cares about.

"Whatever." He continues to examine, rubbing his hand against the paint. "Looks fine so far. Your motorcycle skills are better then I expected. I thought you were going to crash and burn."

"Oh, well thanks." Sarcasm underlines my words. "I had a great teacher. I always watched them, it wasn't too hard to figure out."

"I see." A slight humour in his words.

"Ugh, this heat is killing me! Let's go inside." I suggest. Shadow nods. He takes his bike around to the back to where it can't be found. While I saunter to the warehouse front entrance. The temperature inside isn't much different but it was better then being in direct sunlight. I perch myself on the cool metallic desk where I normally sit. Shadow comes in from the back taking his place in his corner like some emo kid.

"What are you an emo kid, Shadow?" I laugh to myself. "So what should we do now?" He sits staring out the window into the afternoon light.

"Get the next Chaos Emerald." He says plainly.

"Yeah, okay. I know that much. But do you even know where another one is?" I ask.

"I do believe Emerald Towns Jewellery Boutique might have their hands on one. But I'm not certain."

"Wait. The Jewel shop has a Chaos Emerald? I never knew that!" I say awestruck.

"I said I wasn't certain if they do or not." He says sternly.

"It's better then nothing. Might as well check." I say without argument.

He just stares at me with those brooding eyes, god I hate that. "I'm surprised. The world renown Jewel Thief, Rouge the Bat, who should know where every single jewel in the world is, doesn't even know if there's a Chaos Emerald at Emerald Towns Jewel Boutique and Refinery Shop. Let alone where any Chaos Emerald would be." A small cocky smirk edged his normally formless lips.

"Their locations always change. Whether they are lost or stolen, they are always sought out for power by evil creatures craving it's raw potential of world domination. So it is never definite where they'll be. It's good I have big ears." I wink pointing to my large white ears.

"Big…ears…" he strains drawing it out almost saying it like a question. A puzzled look on his face was clear as day.

"Yeah, they're great for listening. You got to listen to what people say. Rumors are always a good lead. Besides, I got a soft spot for gossip." I smile.

His gaze wanders out the window staring into nothing. "Rumors huh."

"Yup or any other type of hint that might tell you anything. And I haven't updated my information for a while now and all the knowledge I hold may have changed so it's not reliable. Outdated." I say a little worn.

"Any knowledge of anything is still helpful. Even if we find nothing. We'll no where it's not and more information could be obtained."

"Touché. But anyways, we might as well start looking into this Jewellery shop."

"Later, for now we need to lay low, wait for things to settle down. We can't risk getting caught this early on." His voice unwavering.

"You're probably right. Don't want to it because…" I trail off.

"It'll be the end of the world as we know it." Shadow finishes for me.

"Yeah." I lose myself to thought. If we mess up, Mephiles will find a way to unlock the Iblis trigger and bring destruction to world. Everyone will be annihilated, destroyed, engulfed in ones lust for world dominance. Burning up in the flames. I look at Shadow, Earth and everyone on it our in our hands right now. One mistake and it's over, everyone will be gone, including ourselves. We can't afford to waste time, to lose. Even if the odds are not in our favour, if it all seems impossible, we'll win, we won't lose. We can't afford to lose.

"We just have to win." I perk up.

A small smile grows on shadows face. "We got no other choice here."

"I guess so." I agree. A pregnant pause wavers in the still air. "So now we wait."

"Yes now we wait."

An almost unbearable burden on our shoulders. How long until we crack?

~Sonic~

The humidity hung in the air heavy. The heat was excruciating, it felt as if I was being cooked alive. Tails left to research at his house before the heat truly set in. I begged to come along but he insisted I stay with Amy. Stupid guilty conscious. He's probably lounging around in his air conditioned home. Damn lucky bastard. The fan blowing hot air in my face. The A/C in our room broke down this morning, they said they would bring a replacement immediately but obviously not soon enough. I look at Amy still sleeping quietly. She's been asleep since early this morning, the longest she's slept for a couple weeks now. It's a wonder she can sleep through this dreaded heat. I rise from my seat to the window. The sun set high in the cloudless sky. A heat wave is what this was. You could see a haze lingering on the ground. I shut the window hoping not to bring up the temperature of the room a degree higher. Suddenly a choking sound comes from behind me. I turn around seeing Amy thrash around reaching for her throat as she took in chocking gasps. Her eyes wide filled with fear, her mouth agape struggling to breathe. I rush in front of her.

"Amy! Amy calm down!" I try to say as calmly as I could.

Tears form in her eyes, "C…can't…breathe….I can't…b…breathe!" She lets out a chocking cry. She struggles to breathe in. Her fingers latch onto her throat as if she was being strangled.

"Amy, I'm right here." I try to reassure her.

Amy stares at the ceiling, drawing her nails down her throat leaving behind a trail of red scratches. Clawing at her throat, trying to scream out.

"Amy!" I grab her wrists pulling her fingers from her throat. Small cuts visible on her skin. "What are you doing?" She struggles from my hold, her hands desperately trying to grab her neck again. I force her to sit up straight, still holding her arms to her sides. She squirms around against my hold. Drool slipping from the side of her mouth. Chocking sounds was all she was making. Staring past me up into the empty air, eyes speaking horror.

"AMY!" I shout to her. In an instant she takes in a deep breath. Her body slumps forward as she coughs, taking in deep breaths. I loosen my grip from her wrists letting her wipe away the saliva and the few tears. Her body moving up and down as she took in each breath. Her head lifted slightly, her eyes visible, but clouded in a fog. Sweat moist on her skin. Her hand reaching for my face.

"Sonic? Is that you?" The fog slowly clearing from her gaze. Her palm cupping the side of my face slowly drawing her fingers down tracing my jaw line. My hand grabs her small hand as it falls from my face. Her face looks up into mine in full view. Her eyes surprised. "Sonic. You're alive. Alive!" A smile grows onto her lips and tears start to slip from her sad green eyes. She latches onto me. Hugging me holding onto me tightly almost as if she thinks I'll leave. "You aren't dead. Oh thank you God, thank you." Her body heaves as she begins to cry on my shoulder. I reluctantly put my arms around her. She pulls away from me, staring into my face. "This isn't a dream is it? This is real. I thought I'd never see you again. It was too real. I thought you were dead."

"Amy what are you talking about?" I wasn't sure of what she was rambling about.

She grabs onto me, "You won't leave me will you?" She asks, her eyes frightened. "Will you?"

I grab onto her hands, "Now why would I do that?"

"They are always watching me." She whispers. "Standing behind me like a shadow. It looms over me while I sleep."

I wasn't sure how to respond to the sudden change of topic. "I don't understand what you're talking about."

"At first I thought it was a hallucination. Then it started to appear in my dreams. They began to chase after me and I could never escape. And now they are even there when I'm awake. They're trying to kill me!" Amy grabs her head, fisting her hands with hair. "I see it. In my dreams. Things that are to vivid to be fake. You died and I couldn't help you. They want to drive me mad. Even right now."

"Amy, what are you saying?" What she was talking about didn't make sense.

She looks at me with wild eyes. "Are you saying I'm crazy? I'm not crazy. I'm not!" She screams out. She catches herself and regains her composure. "Sonic. It's the darkness. An inescapable void of death. It's driving me to the brink of insanity." She begins to tremble then she throws back her head letting out a hysterical mechanical laughter. "It's trying to kill me. They whisper that to me while I sleep. And they want to kill you too." The last words edged with malice.

Something was wrong. Very wrong with Amy. "Amy, what's happened to you?" I reach out to her. But she swats my hand away.

"What's happened to me? Nothing! Do you think I'm pitiable? Do you think I've lost it?"

I paused before responding, " No, I'm just confused."

"Heh. That's right. Of course you don't understand. And because of that you'll leave me. Then after that everyone else will leave me. Because no one understands." Amy hid her face in her hands.

"Don't worry I won't leave you. I will never." She looks up from her hands.

"LIES! Don't lie to me! You will leave like all the rest." Tears trickling down her cheeks. "I saw it. Don't you dare lie!"

I wasn't sure of how to react anymore. First she's this and then she's that. It was too difficult to follow. "For now I won't leave you. This moment right now I'm here and I won't go anywhere."

She leaned in closer, "Promise?" Uncertainty in her features.

"Promise." She leans forward hiding her face in my chest.

"Sonic?" Her voice barely audiable.

"Hmmm?"

She takes a moment, "Do you love me?" Stunned. I was at a complete loss of words. Our entire conversation was everywhere and now she asks me if I love her. Did I love her? I wasn't sure of myself. Trapped, I couldn't run away. I didn't have an answer. Sitting there waiting for me to say something. She leans in closer, her lips touching my ear. "I've loved you for a long time. Since the first time we met. I've wanted to hold you close. To touch you." Her fingertips dance, caressing my neck. "But they don't approve of us being together. Star crossed lovers. But I want to defy what they say. I no longer want to be under their control. I want to be together…forever." Her lips inches from mine. I was her prey. Under the hands of her spell, this damned witch. Unmoving, immobilized by her power. Her hand caressing my cheek as she draws closer. To seal our fate. The kiss of death.

"Sonic! I've got some…uhhh." The voice burst from the doorway. Tails standing staring our way, his surprise was almost funny. "What're you guys doing?" Amy looks from the boy back at me, her face so close to mine. Her face becomes a deep red, realizing her situation. She pushes me away causing me to fall to the floor with a thump.

"Nothing! We weren't doing anything!" She protests.

"That didn't look like nothing." Tails smirked. "So this is what you've guys been up to when I'm not around. I didn't know you were the type Amy." He teases.

Her face tinged a bright tomato red colour. "You've got it wrong Tails! This isn't what it looks like. Sonic and I were just talking about things. Right Sonic?" She looks at me with pleading eyes. Hoping to clean up this mess.

"Sure, Amy. Sure." He keeps baiting her.

"Tails quit teasing her." I decided to end it before it got worse.

Tails huffed, "Ah, you guys are no fun." Amy sighed in relief.

"So Tails you got some news?" I ask bringing us all back to reality.

"Oh yeah." He sits himself down into a chair, pulling out his laptop. "I've been doing some research and I think I know where Rouge is going to strike next."

"You found another Chaos Emerald?" That was surprisingly quick.

"I think. It's actually here in Emerald Town. There's a little boutique and refinery shop that claims they have a Chaos Emerald."

"There were two Chaos Emerald right here in Emerald Town?" I ask totally dumbstruck.

"Well, that's not for sure but I highly think so." He scratches his head.

"It's worth a try." Tails types something up. "Its on Crescent Avenue. Number 22."

"Let's go!" I pump my fist in the air. But something pulls me back. A small gloved hand.

"Take me with you." Amy pleads. Reaching out holding onto me. Her eyes wide full of fright. She seemed so desperate.

"I don't know Amy. And someone needs to stay with Cream. To make sure she's safe." It was my only reasoning.

"No I can't be alone. I want to be with you." She holds onto my hand with both of hers. "I don't feel safe. Please don't leave me."

I sigh, "Amy be reasonable."

"I am being reasonable! I can't breathe when you're not around. Please don't go without me." I sort of knew why she was begging but this wasn't the time for that. I needed to catch Rouge and she was stalling us.

"Sonic I can stay back here with Cream. I don't mind." Tail intervenes.

"But Tails…" I say but drift off. He was looking at Cream with such grief. It was apparent how this was affecting him too. I couldn't get myself to say no.

"It's no big deal. I can get my revenge when we are face to face with the real bad guy."

"Uh yeah, but. What if we need you smarts or something? Amy and I aren't the brightest around—" Tails cuts me off. Amy glares.

"I got the solution." He produces two small earpieces. "Just put these on and we'll be able to communicate. If you need assistance."

"Do you always carry these around with you?" It was crazy how he already thought of this situation beforehand. Tails just shrugs. He hands one to me and another to Amy. I place the bud in my ear.

"We should probably test them first." Out of his bag he takes out a full headset with a mic. "Can you hear me?" He speaks into the mic. His voice audible through the gadget.

"Loud and clear. Over." Giving him a thumbs up.

Tails smiles, "It's like we're secret agents or something. But never mind that you two should get a move on. We don't know when Rouge will show herself so its good to start a stakeout right away." I look outside, the sun soon to be setting. We didn't have much time. "I'll also get a layout of the building. Just in Case."

"Alright, I'll leave it to you. Come on Amy." I pull her up. "Later Tails. Take care of Cream."

"I will." Tails waves.

"Huh, what?" Amy said dumbstruck. Ignoring her confusion I pull her along with me through the door. "Where are we going?"

"To Crescent Avenue to set up a stakeout and wait for Rouge."

"So we're just waiting for Rouge."

"That's the plan."

"So it'll be the two of us. Just us." She questions.

"Yeah…" What was she getting at?

"It's like we're hanging out then."

"To a point I guess." We pass the front desk.

"You know…we've never really been on an adventure together."

So this is where it was headed. "Sure we have."

"No we haven't. It's mostly me been chasing you when you left on adventure. Without me." She had a point.

I sigh, "Look Amy. We can't always be together every single moment of our lives together. It's just not possible."

There was a long silence. "Do you not want me here?" She stops. I look behind, her features showed no emotion.

"I didn't say that—" She cuts me off before I finish.

"Look its okay I get it. I've put you through enough. You're sick of it. I can just go back and tell Tails he can go instead." She tries to walk away but I stop her from doing so.

"Come on Amy. Don't be like this. Tails already said he'd stay with Cream so it's okay. Lets just go and do our job." I squeeze her hand.

"Okay." Was all she said. We exit the hospital. "Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it." We both race down the sidewalk through the busy city. "Let's just get Rouge."

How long before we all go mad?


Ah, not a great cliffhanger I was intending but right now what do I care. In the beginning of the Sonic moment I for some reason loved writing that part. I just finished watching Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni, so I got a bit of inspiration from there seeing as when I was writing it I was thinking more of it being Rena-chan and Keiichi-kun going through it. I wanted to write an Amy moment outside of her perspective. And once the fun part was over I would forget what I wanted to put there and then I felt like I was drawing it out even though its probably choppy and short. Ugh.

At least Exams are over YAY! But I still have a ton of assignments to finish. I'm an idiot! Curse you computer addiction!

Can't guarrantee when the next chapter will be out but hopefully soon. And I kind of now how to start it, the problem is finishing it lol

R&R please!