The sun assaulted the courtyard that day. Sonic stood near a wall to avoid it with the assistance of shade. His morning was a weird one. He made sure to avoid both contestants. He didn't want it to appear as if he was taking sides. Knuckles stood right by him, anxious for the spectacle to begin. The human contestant didn't have a stance. She grasped her staff with both hands. The smile on her face did not sit well with the hedgehog contestant. Even she thought her competitor was cute. She quickly shook such thoughts from her mind and prepared her scepter. Sonic and Knuckles were the only two spectators. Blaze didn't watch because she thought the fight was meaningless. Cream didn't watch because she had more important matters to attend to. Miles didn't watch because he was still sleeping. The fighters stared at Knuckles. He pulled out a flag on a stick. He raised it. Sonic was annoyed by the gesture. He was too into it he thought. He swung the flag down and the fight began.

Elise gripped her staff and got into a defensive position covering her face. She didn't know what she was dealing with and wanted to test her foe's strength. What shocked the two onlookers is that Amy didn't use a spell. No she didn't chant anything. No she didn't wave her scepter. She charged at her opponent instead! She wielded her scepter like a sword. Elise blocked every attack. Her speed wasn't that fast. Her power she could handle, but Elise wanted to see more before she went on the offensive. Amy put a little power into one of her swings which caught Elise off-guard. Her defense was broken, and without one word uttered, Amy shot beams of energy from her left hand. Elise was able to construct a barrier right before contact. Neither Sonic nor Knuckles knew Amy had these abilities. There must be more to her royal linage than once known.

Elise thought she's seen enough then finally kicked herself into gear. She twirled her staff. Several balls of fire materialized then zeroed in on her target. Amy skillfully deflected some and dodged the rest. While she focused on those, Elise decided to use one of her advanced spells, teleportation. She vanished then appeared behind Amy. Sonic's eyes couldn't keep up with it. She fastened her grip on her staff then brought it down on Amy's head with only her right hand. In order to block the attack, Amy jumped forward, did a handstand, and then met that staff with her feet.

"Knuckles," Sonic whispered. "If she can fight like that then why does she need me?"

"I had no idea she was capable of such feats," the surprised general replied. "I'm in awe at her talents."

After blocking the staff, Amy pushed off the ground then landed normally. That barrier annoyed her a little. She knew of it which was why she did not using magical attacks at all. She'd like to, but with that barrier it would be pointless. She had to get rid of it. With this in mind, she stepped back. She closed her eyes. Her scepter changed to a very deep black. After that, she attacked quickly. When her scepter collided with Elise's staff, pieces of energy shaped like shards of glass flew off of Elise's body and shattered in the wind. Her barrier was gone! Elise was very worried, but her face didn't show it. She remained as calm as ever. The smile on her face never went away. Amy scepter returned to normal then she pursued Elise. The barrier strengthened her defensive abilities. Without it, Amy's attacks felt fiercer.

Sonic whispered to Knuckles once more. "How do we determine a winner?"

"When one has lost the will to fight, the match will end."

"It seems like this could go to the death. Can't we just intervene when one of them lose their weapon?"

"If you want to get in the middle of that then be my guest."

Amy decided to mix some magic in with her attacks since the barrier disintegrated. Every swing of her scepter created a shockwave of pure energy. Elise never attacked. She stayed on the defensive and handled whatever Amy dished out. Amy didn't think of going for long-ranged spells. Since Elise came from a long line of wizards, she would undoubtedly be more skilled in that area. She wanted to keep the fight close and not give Elise space. It was successful so far she thought. Elise never tried to attack her yet. She can't stay on the defensive for much longer, and she didn't. Amy jumped in the air for an attack. When the two weapons collided, Elise's staff turned blindingly white. Energy emanated from her. It was visible. Sonic and Knuckles both paid full attention. Elise slowly floated off the ground. Amy decided to not give her time to attack. She ran back in after landing. Elise raised her staff as high as she could. When she lowered it, she said a word that made Amy's heart sink into her stomach. That word was Counter. The blast sent Amy flying. Her body smacked the ground then tumbled into a wall. Elise floated slight above ground. She moved slowly to her opponent with her staff still up high. Amy got back to her feet as fast as she could with the help of her scepter. Sonic was about to jump in and stop the fight, but Knuckles held him back.

"While I didn't know of Amy's physical abilities, she still has a magical ability that could get her out of this predicament if she chooses to use it," he explained.

"What is that ability?"

"Let's see if she finally does it."

Amy reached in her clothes and pulled out a white handkerchief. She waved it. Knuckles exhaled.

I wanted to see it, but I guess she realized that it was best saved for another day. I agree with her decision.

Elise landed then walked over to give Amy a hand. They walked into the castle together. Knuckles followed them. Sonic, on the other hand, was very intrigued.

"I must figure out this ability," he said to himself.


When Sonic entered the throne room, he found only Amy and Elise in it. Elise had her staff pointed at Amy. Some energy floated out of it and entered Amy's body. After a few seconds of this, Amy jumped out of her throne then played around.

"I feel like much better. Your healing magic is very good," she said with a smile.

"I just had to heal you. I underestimated the counter spell. I didn't know it would do that much damage."

"It's fine. You did what you had to do. So, about your prize."

Sonic stood at attention.

"What about me," he remarked.

"I was actually going allow you to leave anyway. I just wanted to test her strength to see if she could handle herself. I was worried about you after you told me what happened when you went rescue her. I was concerned for your safety. Elise was just caught off-guard yesterday. Today she's shown that she can handle herself well. I'm very happy that I don't have to worry and I hope Elise watches over you just as much as she watches over herself."

"I see," Sonic said. He walked towards the exit. "I'll be in my room when you're ready to head out."

"Won't you be leaving now," Amy inquired.

"Not yet. I'd like to talk to you first," Elise demanded.


Sonic rested in his bed. His sword was in his hand. He held it up to stare at it.

I wish I could speak to the sword spirit again. There are still some things I'd like to know.

"What would you like to know?"

He jumped up then quickly looked around the room. He didn't see anyone and this left him as confused as ever. It took him awhile to recognize the voice. He lifted his sword again.

"Did you forget my voice already, master?"

"No, you just shocked me. Anyway, I have something to ask that you might know. What can you tell me about the royal hedgehogs?"

"Ah. I'll tell you all that I know. It was told that the continent was found by four noble hedgehogs hundreds of years ago. They trekked from an island that no longer exists. One hedgehog was designated to spread the words of their god. The remaining three were supposed to rule over the land with guidance from the holy one and lead the continent to prosperity."

"With the way things are now, many events had to happen. Do you know anything?"

"The hedgehog that ruled over the area now known as Station Square was murdered when the humans invaded by boats. He evacuated as much of his citizens along with his daughter as he could before the attack. Their whereabouts are unknown. The southern land was always claimed by the wanderers who had settled there before the hedgehogs reached the continent. Instead of doing anything, they just opened trade. Mobius was much larger than it is now but due to disputes with the holy lands up north, Mobius has shrunken in size to what it is today. No changes have been made to Lavertium as far as I know."

"That makes sense. Back to the hedgehogs in particular."

"Oh, right. Anyway, the holy hedgehog has powers given to him by the ancient gods. The power is of purification magic and can be utilized in an infinite amount of ways. Hedgehog that took over Lavertium was given the power of destructive magic. I don't know if you've seen it in action, but it is a sight to behold. Hedgehog of Station Square, I'm sorry for I do not remember the old name of the territory, took pride in healing magic. Hedgehog of Mobius's power is currently unknown."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, every noble hedgehog linage has something they excel in like I previously mentioned. The magic that Queen Amy is supposed to excel in is unknown. No one knows what it is. It has never been used."

"Do you know?"

"I do not, master. All I can say is that you aren't the first otherworldly visitor to Mobius. My guess is that their powers have something to do with that."

"So you mean it might be possible for Amy to send me home herself?"

"I never said that, but it could be true. Maybe she also doesn't know of the power that exists within her. It might happen at the right time."

"I've reached a dead-end for now. I have one more question. Is it possible for you to come out of the sword?"

"That's a secret."

Sonic sheathed his sword then grabbed an apple. Miles came in not too long after.

"Good morning, Sonic. Who won the contest?"

"Elise did. I got the feeling that Amy was holding back, but a win is a win."

"So you are going to Station Square?"

"Yeah, whenever she is ready. She's holding a conversation with Amy now."

"Do you know what it's about?"

"I have no clue."


In the chair usually reserved for Sonic sat Elise. Right in front of her sat Amy. Elise didn't waste time and got right to the point.

"I feel as though you detest me, your highness. If true then why do you?"

She lowered her head. "I deeply apologize if my actions gave you that impression. I didn't mean it. I shouldn't hold all human girls in contempt just because of what one did."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a long story."

"Could it be because of Victoria's relationship with King Terios?"

"You know?"

"Of course I do. Everyone does. They made an example out of her by publicly shaming her and locking her up in the capital prison."

"Wait, how could she be locked up? We saw her the other day."

"That wasn't her. You see, Robotnik was very ashamed that his own flesh and blood would fall in love with an animal. He just couldn't get over it. Instead of accepting Victoria for the way she was, he decided to make a better one instead. With forbidden spells used by my clan, he practiced cloning. He did his best to take everything that was good about Victoria and subtract the animal desires from it. He found that to be a hard task, but eventually he settled on a clone that he liked."

"So while Victoria was imprisoned, he ran experiments on her to make a clone that would be superior to her all because she liked an animal?"

"Yes. I'd really like to release her now and I'm working on it, but I want to try my best to convince my citizens that the old ways are no longer acceptable moving forward. Releasing Victoria now would be hazardous."

"And how is Victoria?"

"She's fine. I personally saw to it myself. She's no longer in prison. We put one of her clones there instead! She stays with me now in the capital building, but I can't let her leave it. Not yet. When I make it back, I'll plan an event to jumpstart my preparations."

"Sounds good. I hope you are successful."

Elise stood up. "Thanks for talking to me. I will leave with Sonic in the morning."

"Wait," Amy said as she stood up. "Are you interested in Sonic?"

Elise turned her head. "I won't lie to you. I am. I've only known him for a little while, but Sonic seems ideal. He's saved my life, and is willing to protect me until I make it back home. I don't know much about him, but I do want to learn."

Amy expected that response. She didn't want to hear it, but she expected it.

"I haven't thought of anything yet, but when I'm finished with my events back home I'd like to spend more time with him and see where it goes."

This made the worried queen breathe a sigh of relief. She still had more time to make up her mind.

"Well, I wish you luck on your journey," Amy said. She gave Elise a hug then waved as Elise made her exit. Amy didn't dawdle. She prepared for a journey of her own. One she had to make.


Cream came running down the hall with a note in her hand. She bumped into Blaze on the way. She thought maybe Blaze could be of assistance.

"I can't read this note," the rabbit explained. "It's in a code I've never seen before."

The cat examined it. She didn't understand the code either. Sonic and Miles conveniently entered the scene.

"We can't read this note," Blaze said. "Can either of you read it?"

Sonic took a look at it. The note was composed completely of the numbers 1 and 0. He didn't understand it as well, but the code seemed familiar to him. His mind went blank for a minute then he remembered a special item he had on him during the fight in his time period. He pulled it out. Everyone stared in awe at the item he pulled out, Miles especially was intrigued. It was a tablet, a yellow tablet that Tails bestowed upon him in the future. The small tablet that Sonic could barely hold with one hand was for communication and code purposes only. The code it was built to decipher was binary code! It finally clicked for him and he was lucky the tablet was still functional after all this time, but the battery was dangerously low. He held the note in front of the tiny camera near the top of the tablet and on the screen appeared the corrected message, but the message was nowhere near complete. Just only one word showed up and that word was "Sonic". This brought a tear to his eye.

Maybe Tails is trying to contact me from the future.