Chapter 9: Green Eyes

~Lover and Loved, Living and Dead
confessions I never made and things I never said
And if life's a chessboard, then there was no choice
Thy eyes never will I see, nor will I hear your voice.

Here we both stand, amongst the Cosmic noise
green eyes, golden heart, so heavenly a voice
Lover and Loved, Living and Dead
I'm watching you leave through my flowery bed.


A fire had broke out at the local Police Department.

With his limited view of the outer world, Sonic kept observing the total chaos taking place within the almost decrepit building: people screaming, heavy footsteps striding their way through the corridors, doors unlocking, some terrified cries here and there.

There was a continuously augmenting heat. An eerie light was being emanated from the corner on his left, as though the end of the world had come.

A single thought crossed the speedster's tired mind: If they are going to get the prisoners out of the building for safety- which they have to do- then it's gonna be one easy escape for me.

But how had it happened, in the first place? It almost definitely was a case of arson, but then again, there were cops almost everywhere guarding the place, and the fire seemed to have started from the offices of the second floor. How possible was it for a potential pyromaniac to enter the Department and find his way up the stairs without being noticed?

Unless, of course, the lawbreaker was-

"Good morning, Mr. Hedgehog." -even under these circumstances, the voice obviously had every intention of maintaining a subtle touch of humor. Finding out who it belonged to wasn't a difficult task; officer Andrews would always pronounce every word with a strict, yet playful, staccato.

Sonic turned around so that he could look at the older male directly in the eyes. A childish pout formed on his face that seemed to enclose a little bit of his former self.

"I don't see how this can evolve to a good morning, Sir", he had added the word "Sir" for the same reason the cop had called him a "mister". There was something overtly entertaining about the way Mark Andrews stared at him back, even if there was a small glimmer of sadness -tiny, but still- casting its shadow over his face traits.

The cop shrugged.

"As the one who initially took over your case, I consider myself responsible of your safety."

The cobalt hedgehog chuckled. "My safety?", he repeated slowly. There was something utterly illogical about the phrase, that just couldn't sink in; once upon a time, when he was around, people confided their safety to his powers.

"Yessir, your safety. So, unless you want to fry yourself in here, I'm gonna help you out. And mind you, I am old and weak-"

"...and an arsonist, ain't that right, Mr. Andrews?"

The older male smiled in a rather mysterious manner.

"Well, you name it. It was the only solution, my accomplice has lost track of all seven Chaos Emeralds, and thus he couldn't Chaos Control you out of this place.", disbelief saturated the whole line; apparently, the middle-aged curmudgeon couldn't quite put his finger on the existence of such thing as a Chaos Emerald, or a Chaos Control.

Sonic, nevertheless, decided not to mind. Not at that specific moment. Following Andrews out of the cell, through the corridor and up a staircase, it crossed his mind that the best thing to do was to collect some useful information.

"So, for one, Shadow helps me escape.", he mumbled. "Then, you said something about the Emeralds. Who has them?"

In that Inferno of noises, cries, screams and steps, the officer's voice was barely audible.

"We have no idea. Shadow said a close friend of yours is trying to locate them right now."

Sonic caught himself smiling. His buddy, Tails had done it again. Deep inside, not much had changed. And now, it was time to rock and roll.


Behind a hypertrophic computer screen, Sonic's buddy was working his magic.

Tails' face had contracted to a mask of worry. There was something very dark about the way things had evolved; someone, taking advantage of the chaos Sonic's arrest had caused the team, had managed to detect and collect all the Chaos Emeralds.

His machines had indicated South West. But what was South West?

It couldn't be another base of Egghead's. There would be no way to hide it. Beyond the outskirts of the city there were GUN hoverplanes inspecting the area, so it was practically impossible for a huge flying base not to be 'seen' by their radars-

A devastatingly unpleasant thought crossed the kitsune's mind. As though his hands were on fire, Tails typed something and a map of the region appeared on the enormous screen.

Azure eyes went wide.

"No, it can't be!", he shouted the phrase, even though there was no one else in the workshop to listen. "But it's there! Right there!"

All screens went black. Miles Prower was frantically fumbling in his pockets, in search of a phone or something. He had to contact Shadow. It was an absolute necessity that he called Shadow.

"It's right there!", he was insanely repeating to himself. "A GUN station..."


When the duet reached the exit, they looked at each other awkwardly.

Sonic was eyeing the older male with gratitude. He couldn't understand why Andrews was doing this, or maybe he was just too young to comprehend. Either way, he had just earned his sympathy and respect.

The officer, on the other hand, as a father of two males, one of which was only a year older than Sonic himself, was looking at the blue hedgehog with an almost parental interest. "Take care", he whispered when they shook hands.

Sonic, startled, looked at his palm. Mark Andrews had handed him a piece of paper.

"My partner left it at my office before she died." the officer's voice was growing weaker. "I thought it could prove itself useful to you. I don't think I'll be alive to solve the mystery myself."

Before Sonic was able to protest, the old guy had left and Shadow was near him, gloved hand resting on his shoulder. "I think you have to take advantage of the general commotion before someone notices you are uncuffed.", he simply said.

"Gee, I hate owing you...", growled the blue mammal. After so many days locked in a cell, he had missed his irrational fights with that Ultimate Moron. "...But anyway, couldn't you just Chaos Blast this place and gemme out?"

"How intelligent", Shadow rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Yes, you are right, no one would understand who did it, no one would be sent flying in orbit around Mobius, and I wouldn't find serious trouble in every sense and parameter of the term, you buffoon. Now go. I'll take care of whoever notices."

Sonic smiled and, with a rather comical gesture of obedience towards his rival, disappeared in a flash of blue.


The first place to use as shelter that came to his mind was his best friend's workshop. Apparently, the choice was right, because Shadow joined them shortly after. There, with the company of each other, three mugs of coffee so as to render their minds as clear as possible, and a chilli dog for a starving Sonic, they got down to planning their next move.

The cobalt hedgehog was distracted watching his newly acquired colleague. It was strange to have the ebony one in the team, since he would always choose path according to his own needs, rather than being motivated by feelings of selflessness or moralism. And yet, the hybrid had been the first to believe in Sonic's innocence.

"So", Shadow's words vaporized every thought going on in his mind. "I was right when I said some GUN member is involved. Now, the question is: if someone -be it Eggman, or a random psychopath or both- is trying to take over the world using Chaos Energy, why haven't they made the move by now? I mean, the Master Emerald was stolen half a week ago."

"Except", noted Tails, making distracted patterns on the napkin before him, "Except for the case it wasn't."

The other two raised their heads in perfect synch, giving the young fox and inquisitive look.

"But the Chaotix Agency had been busy and you took responsibility of the gem. It was from your place that it disappeared.", Sonic objected.

"Yes, but Knuckles wasn't stupid. And since it's obvious -from what Andrews told Shadow- that he was conscious of what was to come, then one can easily assume he had secured the Master Emerald somewhere. Rethinking of it, I am not sure what I was guarding wasn't just a means to misguide potential predators."

Deep in thought, the speedster buried his teeth in the chilli dog. Shadow flinched in his chair, annoyed by some kind of unwanted feeling.

"Should this be true, there is only one person he could have trusted enough to give them the Emerald."

The three exchanged an alarmed look.

"I think we'd better hurry."


Ring, ring.

Before Rouge the Bat could even open the door properly, a weird trio had virtually barged into the apartment. The ivory female instinctively took a step backwards. A robe was hanging unwillingly from her shoulders, and a glass of red wine resided in her right hand.

"Hey guys, chill, shall we?", she said with a little laugh. Then, the woman noticed the anxious looks on their faces. "Okay, we shall not. Care to tell me, then, what kind of serious problem is it that made you ruin my relaxation hour?"

She showed them the way to the living room, made them sit on the sofa, offered some drink which they kindly refused.

As the person closest to her, Shadow was the first to speak.

"I am afraid you might be in serious danger."

Much to the male's surprise, the bat started laughing. Danger. Oh, no, serious danger. Men were so desperately trying to reassure themselves of being more powerful; So willing to detect today's damsel in distress and play heroes. But the most enervating part of it all, was that Rouge's partner, after whole years of working together, still thought she was too weak to take care of herself without male assistance.

"Tell me, overprotective parent, what makes you think that?", the sarcasm was blatant. Under natural circumstances, it would have made him see red.

Instead, the Ultimate Life Form simply crossed his arms before his chest.

"Knuckles had a girlfriend, and thing is, she definitely is in peril." the ebony hedgehog didn't like thinking of his colleague as someone's girlfriend. But still, if her life were at stake, he had to act now.

Rouge's eyes, in the meantime, had gone wide.

"And you guys thought it was me?", another laugh escaped her lips. "That was just a crush I used to have! Sure, I was devastated to learn about his death. But I can reassure you, our relationship was nothing more than a friendly one."

"But gee, how can that be?", the one to interrupt was none other than Sonic. "Andrews told Shadow here that the Photo Girl had curves, and aqua eyes, she had-"

"No.", the hybrid's coarse voice stopped him. Shadow raised his eyes and looked at the others. "He said her eyes were green, but I had thought he was wrong. We had both supposed the picture wasn't clear enough, and...oh, sweet Jesus."

"Sweet Jesus what?"

Images were sprinting through his mind. He remembered the girl at the bar, the way she had left in a total hurry without even saying hello. How unusual it was of her to be so rude. How unusual not to smile.

He looked at Sonic. Ready to break his heart. Blurt out the unintelligible.

"It's Amy."


A/N: Thank you for your positive feedback till now! I still feel the need to apologise for some elements to this chapter, like:

-Shadow here couldn't Chaos Control without an emerald. I used it sic, because it served the whole purpose of the scenario better.
-I actually made up a "branch" of the GUN being there, for the same reasons mentioned above. But after all, it's unofficial fiction XD
-I have an unexplainable tendency of pairing Knuckles and Amy together, but i wanted to make a surprise without inserting an OC.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chap!

Yours,

Anna Marcelli Palmer