The group was walking through the forest, especially Sonic seemed pleased with their environment.

"I swear, if another nasty bug crawls up my leg I'm out a here." Rouge complained. "Don't worry, we're almost there. Just a few more minutes."
It suddenly started to rain again, not improving the bat's mood in any way. When they almost reached the house, Knuckles looked over at Vector. "You're already changing..." "Vector silently gasped in panic as the others also came to look. The rain was showing pastel blue markings over his body. It almost looked like the flowy streaks were painted on.

"We're here; Team." Tails said while pointing at the cottage in the distance.

"Come on, we're wasting time." "Right behind you, Knuckles."

They arrived at the house, but noticed the curtains were closed. "Maybe she's not home?" Tails suggested. Knuckles just knocked the door but to the team's surprise, it was Cream who opened up.
"Sorry, guys, but Amy isn't... Waah!" Cream just freaked out as she was about to close the door held Sonic the thing open. "Calm down, Cream, it's me, Sonic?"

"Go away, Sonic!" Amy shouted from another room. Vector and Knuckles nodded to each other and just knew she must have the final emerald. "Amy? Cream, you've got to let us in. Amy could be in danger, did she find a chaos emerald?" The rabbit just looked at them in a puzzled manner.

"Can't you guys take a hint? I said go away." Amy was actually looking anything but ill. Something noticeable was that she was wearing a somewhat baggy, light gray jumpsuit, instead of her usual short dresses.

Sonic ducked away before she could see him properly. "What are you all...? Wow, just what are you two wearing?" "Look who's talking." Rouge said snooty but Amy just gave her an angry glare.

"And didn't I just hear Sonic's... Voice?" She was just completely dazzled by Sonic's appearance.
"Eh, Hi Amy." The pink hedgehog just stared in complete silence, she blinked a few times, but that was it.
When she finally snapped out of it, she panned her view from sonic to the rest of the group, noticing the changes. "Amy, we need your help..."

"It were the chaos emeralds that made you look like this?" Sonic nodded.
Amy let them inside her house after all. And they were just finished explaining the whole deal to her. "So, did you find one of the emeralds?" Tails asked hopeful.

But she just pressed her eyes closed and said. "No, I'm sorry but I didn't find anything..." That was not the answer they were hoping for. Despair filled the room as they lost their only lead.

"What if it's someone we don't know?" "Now that would be a setback..." Amy suddenly started coughing, disrupting their conversation.

"I'm sorry..." She said with a labored voice. "I told you I didn't feel well..." Sonic signed to the rest of them to go outside while he tried to calm her.

"I should be going home, Amy, my mom is probably wondering where I am." Cream said.

"Alright, just be safe, okay?" The bunny nodded and gave Amy a small kiss on her cheek before leaving the house. "Goodbye Mr Sonic."

When they were alone, Sonic quite sporadically pulled Amy into an embrace. Stroking her sides and back as he did. And though she wasn't expecting this in any way, she simply returned the gesture and enjoyed the moment. When they let go of one another Sonic slid Amy's arms through his hands. "Amy, are you sure you didn't find anything?" But the pink hedgehog just nodded. "I'm sure." A bit beaten down Sonic stood up and walked towards the door. "If you should find anything, please come to us..."

When he closed the door Amy arched forward and started to cry softly.

"What was keeping you in there so long?" Tails asked. "She's lying."

"What? Why would she lie about this?" Knuckles asked confused. "I noticed it too, and trust me, I can spot liars from a mile..." Vector said.
"It wasn't just that..." Sonic explained. "I held her to see if I could find anything unusual about her body, and some parts aren't furred, but are smooth... Something's happening to her. And I'm going to find out what."He said determined. "You guys go look for the final emerald. If Amy isn't lying after all, then you need to find the last. I stay here to find out what's wrong with her." The group nodded and continued their quest. "You better know what you're doing." Rouge said.

Sonic didn't like this situation, not at all...

He took a deep breath and went back inside. Amy was still sitting on her couch with a troubled expression on her face. She looked up when she heard someone enter.

"I won't leave like this..." Sonic said while walking into the room. Amy didn't know if she should be overjoyed or nervous.
"The monsters that attacked us could still be nearby. And now that you're too weak to fight them yourself... I just want to make sure you'll be safe."

Amy couldn't believe her ears. Did Sonic just tell her that he cares about her? "Thank you, Sonic."

Sonic wanted to step closer, but actually tripped over his own feet and almost fell to the floor but was able to balance himself with his wings just in time.
"Can you actually fly with those?" Sonic sheepishly looked at the wings on his back. "I uh. I haven't tried them out yet." But thinking about it sure made him want to.

"Can I see you fly?" Amy asked as she was pulling his hand. Not watching what she was doing, she accidentally showed a part of her underarm and her waist. Sonic didn't have enough time to see what it was, but she had pale green spots on her body that reflected light a little...

The skies had cleared up again and faint beams of sunlight shone through the clouds, making the lake seem like it had a crystal surface.

Sonic prepared himself and searched for a good starting stance.
Waggling a bit as he tried to gain some speed he aimed for a boulder at the lakeside and launched himself into the air while Amy watched with held breath..

And soon enough he was flapping his wings and soared through the sky. Filled with extacy from the new experience of flight he edged himself on to fly higher.

While holding still into the air, just staring out at the landscape something sped towards him.

It was one of Agalma's creatures, but this one was larger than the one they fought before.

"Watch out; behind you!" Amy screamed, but it was too late, Sonic wasn't able to hear her. The creature drew its sharp claws into its back and bit the back of his neck.
Sonic plummeted to the ground at great speed. And was barely able to pull the little monster off of him before falling into the water. "Sonic!" Amy shrieked and without a second thought she dove into the water...

As she tried to swim closer she was suddenly surrounded by the same familiar light...

Her clothes vanished and her legs made way for a shining pale green fish tail with flowy pastel pink fins. Her upper body was covered with a swirly pattern of scales of the same color as her tail.

Quickly she dove after the now uncontentious gryphon and grabbed him just in time to swim back to the surface, where the creature was waiting.

She knew she had to be quick, so she dragged him out of the water and looked around in panic. When suddenly she turned back, wearing the same gray clothes.
She didn't get enough time to be confused as the monster came back. From nowhere she pulled out her hammer and started walloping the thing like it was nothing.

"I won't let you hurt my Sonic!" With a final blow the monster clawed once at her chest, before being hit with a final blow and finally evaporating into the same purple smoke.

Sonic painfully reached for his head and turned around to see Amy keeping herself on her feet using her hammer while some of the smoke still circled around her. He quickly brushed off the pain and reached her just before she collapsed.

He took her in his arms and quickly carried her back inside. When he found her bedroom he laid her down on the bed.
Sonic didn't want to do this and always respected personal boundaries, especially when Amy's involved. But here, he didn't have a choice, he had to get those baggy wet clothes off of her...

Slowly he teared the gray attire from her body, revealing the light turquoise patterns.

Scaled swirls ran from her waist up to under her breasts and along her arms and thighs. "I knew it..." Sonic whispered as he ran his fingers across the patterns.

The cut from the creature's claws weren't all too bad, it should heal rather quickly. Sonic lifted her up for a moment to pull the blankets from underneath her. He gently laid her back and covered her with the fresh smelling lavender sheets.

He then leaned over and gave Amy a soft kiss on her forehead. "Thank you..." When Sonic pulled back, Amy stopped him by holding on to his hand.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked at him in an apologizing way. "Sorry for lying..." "It's okay." Sonic whispered back before leaving the room. But it wasn't okay; She did lie about having the emerald and brought herself, and him in grave danger. The other ones had gone to find the sixth member while it was right there with him.

He had to go warn them, fast.