Huzzah for chapter 7, my unlucky number!

No, I do not own any of the Sonic Universes, characters, rights, or merchandise besides a couple games for Gamecube. I do, however, own an OC or two; see my profile for more detailed descriptions now that they've all popped up. Well, all the ones that matter.

Chapter 7, "Get Out Alive"

"This is Ururu," Urahara smiled. "Try fighting her. Lesson one will end when one can no longer move. So just knock her out before she knocks you out, okay?"

"Pleased to meet you," Ururu said, bowing.

"Uhm…" Amy bowed a bit more awkwardly. "Likewise. But I can't fight a kid—"

"Well," Urahara mused. "I would think it'd be quite difficult considering your current level."

"What?! But—" Amy was cut off by Ururu, who tossed her a spare set of equipment.

"Here, please make sure you put those on first…" Ururu paused to take her stance. "Or you will die."

"Huh?"

"To activate it," Urahara called, suddenly much farther away, "yell at the top of your lungs, 'Take this! The power of justice! Justice armor, Justice Hachimaki! Attack!'"

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"

"And go!" On Urahara's call, Ururu charged forward. No other option visible, Amy drew her hammer. That's her weapon?

"Hey," Amy called, "I'm gonna try not to hurt you—" Ururu punched, Amy dodged, and a crater formed! "AACK!"

"That's interesting…" Rouge was perched on a rock outcrop with the others.

"Isn't it?" Aubrey had gone with the visible video camera. And the fight continued for a bit. Shara and Topaz watched silently. A boy named Jinta picked his nose.

"Remember," Jinta called, to activate it's 'Take this! The power of justice! Justice armor, Justice Hachimaki! Attack!'"

"That's still so STUUUPID!" Amy dodged again, constantly in greater and greater danger. She'd have to swallow her pride, and she ran through the dust and grabbed the headgear. She tucked her hammer under her arm so that she could put the plain white abomination to her forehead, vein pulsing, mouth opening to speak, and she spun around and smacked Ururu, full hammer! "I'm so sorry, are you hurt?!"

"I'm okay."

"Very nice," Urahara smiled—

"Rrg… YOU!" Amy shouted. "You were lying about that, weren't you?!"

"Urk..!" Jinta and Urahara froze.

"What are you talking about?" Urahara's mouth was behind his fan, though.

"Oh, come on," Amy angrily scoffed. "I don't know ANYONE stupid enough to fall for that!"

"Actually, we know someone…" Jinta muttered.

"I thought Amy had met Knuckles?" Rouge asked. Aubrey chuckled. That chuckle was very creepy.

"Yes, well, good job. On to the next test…" Urahara watched Jinta walk up and push Amy into a pit.

"AAH!" Amy landed with a thunk. "When did this get here?!"

That question was answered by Tessai, also in the pit. "Before you got here. Bakudo 99: Kin!"

"Wait! Where'd these cuffs come from?! Where's my hammer?!"

"There we go!" Urahara's voice echoed annoyingly. "Just climb up here while you're indisposed like that, and you pass!"

"Whaaat?! Climb out of here?! Like THIS?!"

"Good exercise, don'cha think?" Jinta called.

"Hey, is this really safe?" Topaz asked, concerned.

"Probably not."

Rouge gave Aubrey a look. "And you're gonna do this, anyway?"

"Yep. We're also about ready to move into Artemis' base, if I receive confirmation."

"Right."

Ten hours later, Amy was wishing for a lock pick. Her quills just weren't long enough to reach, and she was having no luck climbing up bound as she was. Tessai was no help, and was actually kinda creepy. To break the evil monotony, Jinta ran down the wall with a platter of fruit.

"Finally!"

"Not for you."

"Whaaat?! As if this isn't impossible enough!" Jinta then ran back up the wall. "How can you DO that?!" Her stomach rumbled, and she sighed. She had no choice but to turn on the puppy-dog eyes. "Hey, Tessai-san, could you—" It was all gone. "Aww…"

"Hey, you thirsty, yet?" Jinta called.

"Yeah, whaddya think?! Could I get a glass of lemonade or something?!"

"Nope!"

"AAGH!" She was seething, but a thought suddenly sunk her into depression. Sonic, how is this gonna help me save you..?

"You can drink my drool, if you want!" Jinta was dangling it, from his mouth, over the edge.

"THAT'S DISGUSTING!"

"Ururu, you do it, too."

"Okay." Both continued dangling their drool, despite Amy's protests, threats, and unintelligible screams.

"It's gonna—" Plop. "IT FELL ON ME! THAT'S DISGUSTING, YOU TWERPS!" Amy shot out of the hole, giant and angry, and SMACKED Jinta in the head with her hammer. He landed on Tessai as Amy stood outside the hole, brushing off her khakis. "What the heck're you gonna make me do next?!"

"Don't worry," Urahara smiled. "There's only one more exercise, and it's very straightforward."

"Oh?"

"Knock this hat off my head."

"What?"

"You heard me. Easy, right?"

Amy shouldered her hammer, hand on her hip. "What's the catch?"

"None at all." Urahara pulled a sword from his cane. "Scream, Benihime." A red light shot out from the cane! Amy barely dodged and turned to face him, panting and glaring.

"What the heck was that?!"

"A Shinigami's power. Would you like to see it again?"

No, she didn't, but he showed her anyway. This is insane. I'm weak from hunger and thirst, and this guy's ridiculously strong! How is this gonna help me?! It's not fair!

"I've heard that you have a special gift that protects you from your enemy's most feared technique. But what's the good in that if they can simply split you in two?"

Amy's eyes widened as she thought back to the first fight atop Shara. When they had been hit, Amy had just screamed and Shara had shielded them both. That probably wasn't the only example, either. "…"

"At your level, that trick barely means anything. Your side has lost its strongest fighters almost anticlimactically, and now you have had to take their place even though you're clearly not fit. As you are now," he said slowly, firing yet again, "You're going to die."

"Urk…" Amy dodged yet again, then charged. "Not until I save Sonic!" Amy smashed at Urahara's head with her hammer, he dodged, but he lost his hat. "I'm not giving up until those two can't pull this ever again, got it?!"

"Well, well, you have spirit." Urahara suddenly dissolved the tense atmosphere, plucking his hat from the ground and roughly brushing it off. "Very well, good luck in your fight. Tessai, Ururu, Jinta, let's go home!"

"Okay," Ururu said. "Good-bye."

Tessai was waving, teary-eyed. "Good lu~uck!"

"I won't be surprised when you die~!"

"And you can just crawl back in your hole, you little brat!" Amy forced herself to be more civil toward Urahara. "But thank you so much for the help, Urahara-san."

"Oh, my pleasure, Amy-chan. Bye-bye!" And a black hole opened up, and all four were gone.

"Okay," Aubrey said, stepping down. "My turn."

"Huh?!" Amy turned to see Aubrey walking forward, shouldering her own mallet. The head alone was the length of her body, and the word "FUN!" was inscribed, in periwinkle, along said head's length. It was big, and black, very scary, and accompanying a very scary person. "THAT'S INSANE!"

Aubrey was smirking. "Get ready, now." She charged, and Amy somehow dodged the first strike. After all of Urahara's bursts, she had apparently mastered the art of dodging.

"I haven't eaten in twelve hours! Don't I at least get a BREAK, first?!"

"No," Aubrey said. "I won't give you one because neither will your enemy." Smack! Aubrey could wield hers faster, smoother, and better than Amy, despite the huge size difference. "This battle may go on for a good while—trust me, I've watched humanity form—and if I'm right, you've barely fought the initial skirmishes."

"Whaddya mean?! It's just two!" Amy dodged a particularly vicious swing. No matter how much they talked, Aubrey wasn't letting up.

"One, those two have vast resources at their disposal. Contrary to what you may have heard from them, they have not yet regained close to their full power. I was saving that info for later, but it seems better for you to hear that now. Two, wasn't Eggman just one when he became Dictator of Mobius? Didn't the Freedom Fighters form because of him? Yes, I know I'm mashing Sonic universes here, but I don't really care. This fic's f***ed up as it is. "And besides, you've already faced some of their underlings."

Amy remembered those lizard… things, but a different response was forming. "You know about the Freedom Fighters?"

"Yep. I did my research, since I'm helping y'all." Smack, dodge, etc, repeat. And so it went for a good while, until Aubrey finally stopped. "Lunch break."

"Finally!" Amy was beyond about to collapse.

Aubrey bit her thumb, drawing blood, and slammed her open palm into the ground. "Kuchiyose no jutsu." A cloud of smoke formed nearby, clearing to reveal a fully laden picnic table!

"That's amazing!" Amy was even more amazed when she saw just how much was there. Everyone loaded up plates with a Southern-style lunch. Mashed potatoes with thick brown gravy, green beans, fried chicken, jambalaya, salad, lemonade, the works. "Delicious!"

"Thanks." Aubrey was whipping her potatoes and green beans into what was supposedly delicious as well. Everyone had nothing but compliments—even Rouge, Topaz, and their diets.

I miss Ella's cooking, though… She'd been moved in with so many other homeless statues. Amy hadn't heard from Chris, Cream, Cheese, Chuck, Tanaka, or Mr. and Mrs. Thorndyke, either. Amy ate the food anyway, but her expression betrayed her depression and worry.

"Hey, the others are here," Aubrey noted, looking up at somewhere.

"Huh?" Somewhere above, a door opened so that Cream, Cheese, Chuck, and Tanaka could troop downstairs, much to Amy's delight. "Everyone!" She set down—almost dropped—her plate and ran forward to grab Cream in a hug. Cheese jumped in and Chuck managed to pick them all up, teary-eyed. Tanaka then joined in to complete the happy fluff moment that the author refuses to write with smiles and tears and hugs. "You're all okay~! I was so worried!"

"We were worried about you too, Amy." Cream looked the way Amy felt.

"Someone like you fighting a fight like this!" Chuck exclaimed. "What has it all come to?!"

"It had to be done, but… huh?" Amy looked around, missing someone. "Where's Chris?" Smiles gave way to reveal the truth. "No way…"

Cream forced herself to speak. "After Miss Ella distracted them at the house… we ran for our lives… Then…" Cream broke into sobs. A flashback ensued.

Chuck narrated. "We found Chris and my stepdaughter in the city. But before we could get to them, those monsters grabbed them and began to petrify them, and holding them apart as they did so!" Tears were flowing freely down Chuck's cheeks.

"They WHAT!?" Amy snapped.

"That's going way to far," Rouge muttered darkly. Topaz could say nothing. Shara chose not to.

"Please don't make him repeat it, Amy-san," Tanaka asked her. "It was painful enough for all of us." He was clearly forcing himself to remain strong.

"Rrg…" Amy seethed, snapping at "Aubrey!"

"Hm?" Aubrey watched her closely.

"As soon as you're done, let's get back to work!" Amy gave Cream a brisk hug before scarfing her food. And thirds.

"Sure thing."

"Amy…" Cream watched the girl who was practically her big sister, now in clothes suited for war, soon assume her place on the battlefield.

"It seems that Amy's found some fresh resolve," Shara noted. Indeed, Amy was beginning to hold her own against Aubrey, instead of merely dodging the ridiculously big mallet. But she's not improving.

Aubrey seemed to be of the same mindset. "How proficient are you in the use of your hammer?"

"Strong enough to fight! Hyah!" Amy raised it over her head to smash down yet again, sending up a miniature storm of debris.

Aubrey had effortlessly sidestepped. "On what level?" Her step's momentum powered her swinging arm and mallet, and Amy barely ducked. "From what I see, you do nothing but swing wildly. Not very effective; am I correct?"

"Shut up!" Amy swung again, low. I'll hit her when she's in the air and—Aubrey blocked with her mallet, swung her body by the pommel*3, and used the momentum of the dropping head to kick downward. Amy hit the ground, and barely escaped the following mallet. "What was that?!"

Aubrey shouldered her mallet. "Expert use of a pole arm. Granted, I've had longer, but still."

"How old is that girl, anyway?" Chuck and the others had come to sit with the girls on the rocks and watch.

"That body is 16 years old," Shara said. "Her memory reaches back 390 million years."

"Th-three hundred ninety MILLION YEARS?!" Chuck stuttered. "How is that even POSSIBLE?!"

"Reincarnation. She has been reborn ever-repeatedly while maintaining her memory, inscribed upon her soul, unlike most souls who figuratively drink from Lethe*4 before re-entering the Life Circle.

"So that girl has been around since the Late Devonian*5?"

Shara shrugged. "However you humans classify history."

"And prehistory," Chuck countered.

"For you."

"…"

As the fighting went on, Aubrey continued to display far greater handling of what should have been Amy's signature weapon. One movement fed into her next and gathered momentum, she blocked attacks with any part of the weapon, made regular use of the pommel, and was a splendid acrobat.

"Hold… still!" Of, course, Aubrey didn't. She was currently the roadrunner to Amy's coyote, and Amy was currently madder than her inner Wiley. She chased Aubrey here and there, nearly getting her pinned against a cliff and only to land where the brunette was a moment before. Aubrey pirouetted, bringing her mallet around, and this time Amy couldn't dodge. So, she blocked.

Finally, Aubrey, Shara and Rouge inwardly sighed. But, Amy was still trapped, Aubrey's weight bearing down. Given the species and weapon difference, this was far more significant than one may have initially guessed.

"How do you plan to get out of this?" Aubrey was clearly not letting up.

"Rrg…" Amy's pink aura began to surface, and it fired through her hammer at Aubrey?! Aubrey blocked, and was blasted backwards. Not a lot, but far enough to get her away from a shocked Amy. "…What… did I just do..? Yeek!" Amy blocked Aubrey's mallet, again.

"Well, now, that was rather pointless…" Aubrey commented. "Nothing good comes from being surprised." She bore down all the more, causing Amy's arms to buckle.

"Hyah!" No energy blast this time. "But… I did it before! Right?!"

"It seems that you can't control your abilities. Any other ideas?" Aubrey stepped forward, pressing further down.

"Rrg…" Amy's head drooped down as she strained. Her eyes widened. She smirked. "Yeah, actually." She swung a leg out, catching Aubrey's. She brought down her hammer, Aubrey rolled to avoid it, repeat. It was like whack-a-mole, only in a straight line.

"Turn to sand. Sebba."

"Huh?!" Amy fell into a sand pitfall, giving Aubrey time to regain her footing. She mercilessly began whacking until Amy pole vaulted out and landed on the other side, gasping for precious air. "What the heck was that?!"

"Kido—demon arts. High-level techniques from Urahara's world.

"Oh…"

"There are also techniques like this." Aubrey pointed at Amy. "Hado 4, Byakurai."

"Huh?" Amy screamed and dodged white lightning! "That's crazy!"

"But effective. Hado 31, Shokuho." Aubrey's fireball produced more screaming and dodging from Amy, who wonders just how many techniques Aubrey knows?! Effectively, infinity. Pity Amy, who swung wildly. Until Aubrey leaped ridiculously high, and somehow hovered there. She then somehow produced a leather loop from the end of her mallet, hanging it from her foot. And shifted a stance to one side, pulling her arms along and behind as she went…

"Wait a minute…"

"Ka…me… Ha…me…"

"Isn't that from Dragonball Z?!"

"HA!" Aubrey fired off a huge blast!

Amy was running for her life. "What the heck is wrong with you?!" The explosion behind knocked her off her feet. "Waaah!"

Aubrey still had yet to land. "Having fun, yet?"

"I hate you." Amy looked like that day alone had taken ten years off her life. Was it even still the same day?! "You're-" huff "enjoying this" huff "way" huff "too" huff "much." Huff, huff, huff. Huff.

"Really? If I'm going to help you, I may as well enjoy it."

"You ENJOY attacking me?!"

"Friendly combat," Aubrey shrugged, still hovering. "If you want unfriendly combat, I could always do this." Aubrey then took a less trademark pose, but one that Tanaka apparently recognized. "Galic Gun…"

"Everybody, please get down!" At Tanaka's request, just about everyone ducked behind a rock outcrop. Aubrey gave them time to do so. Only Rouge and Shara remained where they were. Amy didn't count this as a vote of confidence.

"FI~YAAAAAR~!" And so it did, egad!

"KYAAA!" Amy practically flew into a cave, blocking the entrance with her hammer. KA~BLOOEY! A brilliant light filled the huge space, sending out a huge shockwave.

Eventually, the light faded and the tremors calmed. Dust fell as Shara calmly opened her eyes and Rouge unfurled her wings. The civilians and Topaz peeked over the rocks to see an uber-crater. Amy's hammer poked out of the cave, with Amy following and exclaiming, "I'm ali~ive!"

"Great fireball no jutsu!" Aubrey's, fired off-screen, was blue.

Amy donned a face-fault, comically charred. "Just how many anime are you gonna USE?!"

"Super… waaave… SMASHER!" Aubrey drowned Amy and washed her a ways downstream, so that she was barely conscious. "'Caddo Magnet Sci-fi Club… Rockin' it Old School.'"

"What the… heck..?" Amy was K.O.'d.

"Okay, you can take your break." Aubrey finally drifted back to the ground.

That chick is evil incarnate, Rouge thought to herself.

End of Chapter 7

*3: Lethe: Greek Mythology, the 1st of the 4 Rivers of Hades (afterlife), waters that erased memory; souls would drink its water in order to forget their past lives before being reincarnated.

*4: Pommel: the base of a weapon handle; ex: on a Japanese sword, the metal part on the end of the handle.

*5: Devonian: Period in prehistoric time in the Paleozoic era (before the Mesozoic, the Age of the Dinosaurs), c. 416-359.2 million years ago. This is when the arthropods (they have exoskeletons) were top dogs on land and amphibians were first coming to be. Yes, this was very long ago. Watch Walking with Monsters, n00b. Yes, I am a geek. Deal with it.

Hmm, perhaps Rouge is right. Of course, Aubrey is what would happen if I had powers, so she is, indeed, most likely right. I'm enjoying Amy's training from Hell, and I still don't think that this episode qualifies the fic for Crossover status. If I'm wrong, please let me know. Oh, and read and review, please. I may or may not be able to continue posting daily, and I'd like to know how many people are really READING the bloody thing…