All he wanted was a chilidog, one worthy of satisfying a hungry, dying hedgehog. Nothing cheap and bland, something enjoyable and delicious. It wouldn't take long because he knew exactly where to go. After that he would run off and find those chaos emeralds, the plan seemed flawless. With plenty of hours left in the day, he would probably find his first emerald by sunset.

The hungry hedgehog ran to the designated restaurant and ordered a two chilidogs to go. His stomach rumbled as he waited for them to be cooked and served over the counter.

"Hmm… perhaps this is going to take longer than I thought," Sonic mumbled to himself.

Within five minutes it was served, so the ravenous hero could leave. This was something he'd anticipated for a long time, and his possible death was a perfect excuse to pig out and indulge himself in the expensive food. Once he stepped outside, he stopped on the sidewalk and took a bite. The meat was warm and the bread was soft. The sauce made it moist and easy to bite into. The surrounding area was quiet, no one was around to bother him. He thought to himself, if were to die today, he would die happy. To go down from such a high now would break his heart… too bad there was someone there to ruin the moment.

"OH! SONIC!" a young squeal sounded from behind.

The blue hedgehog's ears dropped to the sides of his head and his eyes widened. Then the impact came. Sonic was pushed to the floor, his food splattering across the ground, now inedible. He was unable to get up because of the pink hedgehog on top of him.

"Sonic! I'm so glad I found you!" Amy yelled, wrapping her arms around her crush. "And it's actually you this time!"

"GEDDOFF!" Sonic yelled, losing his temper. Amy got up as quickly as she could. Sonic picked himself up off the floor and looked at the damage. The chilidogs he'd looked forward to devouring were sprawled out across the floor. The riled hedgehog turned around to face Amy. "Of all of the days, Amy!"

"S-sonic…" Amy said, her voice trembling as if she was about to cry. "Why are you so-"

"Have to go and buy another chilidog now thanks to you. What's more, you probably expect me to buy you one too! Sonic exclaimed angrily.

"Well of course, I am your gir-"

"Don't say it!" Sonic snarled, pointing his finger at her muzzle. Amy was silent, her eyes widened in fear. "All I wanted was to eat my meal in peace… is that really too much to ask? Especially considering what's happened to me today!" Sonic asked the universe.

"W-what… happened to you today?" Amy asked worriedly. In his mind, Sonic debated as to whether he should tell Amy what really happened. If he told her he would die soon, she could have tried to spend every last minute with him. If he didn't, she would keep asking, or perhaps waste even more of his time since she wouldn't know that he was in a rush.

"Nothing much. But I'm in a hurry, and now I have to waste even more time ordering more chilidogs," Sonic answered irritably and walked past her towards the restaurant.

Amy followed him warily, noticing him stop before he could walk through the door.

Sonic held his hand up to his chest in pain, feeling the sharp agony run through this body. The distressed hedgehog tried his hardest to hide his pain from Amy, since he didn't want her to know what was happening to him. But it was impossible to act okay when he was feeling pain as strong as this. He fell against the door frame, and grunted in pain.

"Sonic! What's wrong!?" Amy exclaimed and ran over to him.

"N-nothing… j-just…" Sonic failed to finish his sentence without growling in pain. "… heartburn or something…" the hedgehog sighed and collapsed to the floor, sliding against the doorframe into a sitting position.

Amy grabbed Sonic's arms in a panic. "Please Sonic! Tell me what's wrong with you!"

"Nothing," Sonic said, firmly this time. "Just leave me alone… for once… please."

"But you need help. It's my responsibility to help you, I'm your g-"

"Don't you dare say it!" Sonic yelled. Amy stepped back in shock and fear. "Amy, we are not going out! I don't like you that way!"

"Sonic… why?" Amy said, getting tears in her eyes. Usually, when Amy resulted to tears, Sonic would feel bad and make up with it by going along with it, but not today.

"Because you're just… an annoying fan girl to me. Nothing more," Sonic said through his deep breaths. The pain began to fade away and the hedgehog became relaxed again.

Sonic slowly got himself up off the floor while Amy stood and watched him silently. She didn't stop him when he went inside to get two more chilidogs.

Looking as miserable as Shadow, the blue hedgehog ordered his meal again and waited. He hoped to Chaos that Amy wouldn't be outside when he left, he didn't have the strength to deal with her anymore. If he didn't get to the emeralds in time, it would be her own fault that she'd lost her 'Sonikku'.

Sonic left the second his request was given to him, only to stop in his tracks at the door when he saw Amy waiting, with a look on her face that said 'I deserve pity.' Sonic tried to ignore and walked past, down the street, hoping he could at recover a slither of that bliss he'd felt before. He felt like a fool for believing it would be so easy.

"Sonic… please." he heard Amy whimper. The hedgehog just hardened his tone and sped up to leave her behind. He didn't have the time to deal with her, his life was on the line. But speeding up came to no avail, as she chased after him. Hearing her desperate footsteps, Sonic swung around to face her.

"Leave me alone! I don't have time for this!" the hero yelled.

"Why? What would be so important that you'd have to treat me like this?" Amy screamed.

"I'm DYING!" Sonic yelled. There was silence, and a feeling of regret. Sonic looked to the floor in shame, he'd done the very thing he didn't want to do. Before Amy could say anything about spending his last moments together, Sonic spoke. "Now, there's a chance I could survive, but I don't have much time. If I don't get those emeralds in time, I'm dead. And thanks to you, I have less time."

"Y-you should have said…" Amy said, sobbing. "L-let me help you get the emeralds…"

"No. Tails and Knuckles are helping, I don't need yours. I'll see you on Angel Island in two days, or never again," Sonic said and turned to leave. Quick on his feet, he made a power walk around the corner away from his stalker. Now that he was out of site, he leaned against the wall and took a bite out of his chilidog, like a stressed smoker taking a puff of a cigarette.

"Sonic…are you on the go yet?" Tails' voice sounded from his wrist communicator. Sonic swallowed quickly and answered, sounding flustered.

"Y-yeah, sure… I'm way out of Station Square- hic."

"Soonniiicc," Tails said irritably.

"No Tails, I ran into Amy and I still haven't eaten, I'll move at full speed as soon as I finish, I promise," Sonic sighed, then hiccupped again, swallowing his food all of a sudden was a bad idea.

"Sonic, finish your food and get out of there! We're putting in our full effort to save your life and you're just lounging about and stuffing your face!" Knuckles yelled from the other side.

"Please Sonic…" Tails said, sounding upset. Sonic felt ashamed.

"Okay… I'm sorry, I'll finish up and go," Sonic said.

Thanks to Amy, there was no chance of slowly enjoying his food, the hedgehog had to eat it up quickly and rush off. He was behind schedule and had to make up for lost time.

Perhaps the lost time was too much to recover…