A/N: Uh oh… unlucky number thirteen :o! Well, let's hope it's a good chapter and get our four leafed clovers and rabbit's feet ready (cream runs away). Damn black cat (Malam) had better not mess up one of the last chapters… growl…

No obscure dream descriptions this time, I promise. Make it nice and simple…. The only characters I own in this story are Hina, Malam and Pella, the three of whom are MY BABIES!
The pain in his head was becoming consuming. Sonic's eyes head screamed and he had recently lost the colour in the bit of his eyes which were not completely dark. Though his vision was growing steadily worse, he could still hear Amy's gentle breathing from the living room. He sat at the kitchen table wide awake, and felt momentarily happy that Amy wasn't aware of his suffering.

He sighed and wheeled over to the couch, squinting at the floor so he didn't run over anything. When he felt his leg touch hit the coffee table, he looked down and felt around with his hand until he sensed the soft warmth of Amy's cheek. Certain she was sound asleep, he stroked her forehead and looked at her slumbering face, now only a grey smudge.

And then, suddenly, his entire plane of vision blacked out. His body seized up and he fell onto the sleeping hedgehog, body stiff as a board. A moment later, he heard Amy giggle, though he couldn't move, see or speak.

"Sonic, get off. I'm tired." She tried to push him off, but soon realized something was wrong.

"Sonic?" She asked, now dropping her playful tone and sounding alarmed. She then screamed, and squirmed from below him, and he dropped onto the couch. He heard a light click on, though he couldn't see any change in brightness; only total blackness. Then, there was another scream, and he could feel Amy's hands on his cheeks.

"Sonic! Wake up!" He felt a tear fall onto his forehead, and yearned to hold and comfort her, but his limbs didn't respond. Breathing shakily, Amy took a deep breath.

"I'm going to get help, okay? Stay with me?" She kissed his forehead and he heard her footsteps fading away. Then everything was silent again. Sonic tried to look around, but there was only black. It was like being trapped in his own mind; he couldn't even make his mind's eye picture Amy's comforting face, only more black, and flashes of pale orange eyes. It was torture to have all of his senses but sight, and not be able to move his body.

Even though his eyes weren't working, he realized that they were open, and unable to blink. They began to burn, but he pushed the pain out of his mind, trying to concentrate on his other four senses; to hear Amy's returning footsteps, her sweet smell and soft fur.

Minutes passed, and Sonic began to feel more and more apprehensive. He became extremely aware of the ticking clock, and estimated that Amy had been gone for nearly half an hour. Suddenly, Sonic realized that he wasn't breathing. Instinctively, he panicked, but calmed himself and reasoned that he couldn't survive this long without oxygen, so he must be breathing somehow. After a moment, he became aware of his own faint heartbeat, only beating every few seconds or so.

He mentally sighed with relief as the sound of two sets of footsteps echoed into the room, following a BANG.

'Amy?' He tried to ask, forgetting about his frozen mouth.

"There he is." Whispered an unfamiliar voice. Sonic was confused and slightly afraid, as he didn't like being completely immobilized so close to stranger he couldn't see.

"I told you I took care of him." Came another voice, deeper and more ominous than the last. Neither was Amy.

"Knuckles!" Amy cried, sprinting up the stairs of the shrine. The echidna met her at the top looking dazed and half-asleep.

"Wasgoinon?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

"It's Sonic." Amy gasped, out of breath and exhausted from running. She grabbed Knuckle's hand and dragged him down the steps. At the bottom, Knuckles pulled his hand back and grabbed Amy's shoulders.

"Breathe, Amy. Where's the fire?"

Amy glared at him.

"Please, something's really wrong with Sonic!" she pleaded, eyes wide and afraid. Knuckles could tell by the tone of horror in her voice that there really was something wrong, and decided to go with her without another question, though he was grumpy from being awoken so early.

The two reached Amy's house twenty minutes later to find the door knocked off its hinges. Amy screamed and dashed inside, finding the house empty. Knuckles hovered in the doorway looking concerned but confused.

"He's gone." Amy said, sounding defeated "Something happened to him." Her eyes brimmed with tears and she turned away from Knuckles.

The echidna wasn't sure what to say, so he patted her on the back awkwardly.

"Look, Amy. This is Sonic! He's gotten out of tighter squeezes than being kidnapped."

Amy looked at him, eyes glassy.

"This time was different. He couldn't fight, I don't think he could even move. And his eyes-" She took a raspy breath "Were just… black. And empty."

"We'll find him." Knuckles said in the kindest, softest voice he could muster, "And I'll help you."

Amy gave him an appreciative smile and wiped her eyes.

"You're right. Let's go." Without a pause, she pushed past Knuckles and out the door. He quickly followed behind her, uncertain about his skills of comforting women. He cursed their hormones and rolled his eyes to the sky. He let out a surprised gasp. Silhouetted against the full moon was the figure of a bat.

"Rouge?" He muttered, confused.

"What was that?" Amy asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Look." Knuckles pointed a finger to the sky. Amy squinted and followed his gaze.

"That looks like Rouge." She said, puzzled.

"Amy, you keep going on. I'm going to check this out…" he breathed, trying to hide his attraction to the black figure. In truth, he wanted to get a closer look at the strange girl on the moon.

Amy nodded and continued walking at a brisk pace. Knuckles stopped and turned around, running towards the tallest thing in sight; a maple tree hundreds of years old, which was a popular tourist attraction. He ran to it and climbed up, trying not to leave punch marks in the ancient bark. Passing several birds' nests, he reached the swaying top and stood on the tip.

Scanning the cloudy sky, he found the moon. Though the silhouette was much clearer now, he still wanted to get a better look. As he pondered how to get closer, he was shocked to see the figure suddenly drop. He yelled in surprise and jumped from his high perch. He landed and ran as fast as he was able, keeping both eyes on the plummeting bat.

She was getting so close to the earth so fast. Knuckles began to panic, and dove. He caught her figure in his arms and rolled, holding her tight to his chest. When they stopped, he took heaving breaths and looked down at Rouge.

"What the-" he began to say, furrowing his brow. He tried to pull away, but found the webbing encasing her was twining itself around his arms, attaching him to the black cocoon. He fought with all his power, but the black net entwined up his forearms and to his shoulders, pulling him ever closer to Rouge's immobilized body. He yelled and tried to punch and kick at the black substance, but was spun closer as it made its way up his back and torso.

In an instant, only his face remained uncovered. But, the black web soon edged onto his face and blocked out his eyes, leaving only blackness. For nearly an hour, he lay on Rouge's cocooned body, wondering if she was conscious. He felt extremely helpless that he couldn't help her escape the black prison. For what felt like hours, they lay immobilized. Then suddenly, he heard muffled footsteps.

"I told you he liked her." Knuckles heard a smug voice coming from a few feet away.

"Nice job. That means the baby's got no one to protect her but that sidekick."

"The fox? He's only a baby himself. We don't have to worry about him."

"Alright. You were right about the last two… let's go for three out of three."

"Where do you want to leave the hedgehog?"

"I'll just drop it here, with the other two."

Knuckles heard a dull thud, and tried to wince, but the net was so tight to his body that he couldn't move even his face. Hedgehog? He wondered if it was Sonic. Or perhaps Amy. He felt a stab of guilt; if it was Amy, he had abandoned her to see Rouge when he could have stayed and helped her fight these strangers off.

"Come on. Let's go, the sun'll be rising in a few hours."

Pella and Malam left the three bodies stiff on the snow and set off towards the fox's house.

"And you're sure he's the one who has it?" Malam asked.

"Yeah. I've watched him with the baby… but I've got no idea how he ended up with it in the first place though."

Malam nodded and they walked in silence for a while.

"So how are we going to do it?" Pella inquired, sounding nervous.

"Well, first we have to get in." He whispered as they reached the tall door of the house.

"How do we do that? This door looks pretty heavy duty."

Malam rolled his eyes.

"You're joking." A tendril of darkness shot strait through the wall, and pressed a button to open the door. They snuck into the huge room and were met by an obnoxious grapefruit plant.

"Wow." Pella said, in surprise "Can you say extreme gardener?"

"Shh!" Malam hissed, pinching the mouse's lips together. The two silently slipped into the indoor jungle.

A/N: ooh the drama 0.o! I'm pretty excited! This one was actually pretty fun to write ;). I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much… no wait, more. I'm at forty-two reviews already…. But that means I need eight more before the end. CAN YOU GUYS DO IT!?!?! I'm crossing my finger ;)

--LA