Entropy

by Experiment 282

Sonic questions himself with his relationship with Amy Rose after a series of dreams involving Amy look-a-likes lead him down a dangerous path to uncover an ancient conspiracy. Mainly SonAmy, but bits of ShadAmy, VecVan, CharmCream, various ships.

14. Chapter 14 Swift

Aw no one got those two people? Oh well. They'll turn up again eventually. For the meanwhile, enjoy this chapter.

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Chapter 14 Swift

Carefully balanced and yet, graceful. silhouette twirled around against the magenta background, cascade beams of light shooting through, lighting up nooks and crannies of the beauty. A peaceful trance creating a bubble of imaginative glamor to it. Every flick and every kicking showered stars to the faceless audience below, giving them hope, each star giving a faceless their own identity.

The party was deep in the depths of Sonic's fortress, where he stood, in front of the reborn identities, trying to work out the works of the beauty, the black riddled dancer who brought joy to them all. A beat vibrated the ground, a rattling of unknown marble like balls poured in from everywhere as the bounced several meters into the air. The purpose of the insanity was...unknown. Partying from every angle, Freudian prancing, whimsical efforts to take down the near ecstatic screaming. But all he did was stand at stare at the silhouette whipping it's perfectly framed arms, legs and head about in swirls, the ends of it's dress having a pink stripe all around, as well as having pink stripes on it's forearms, boots and it's head. Sonic knew the shape, as the green eyes showed and shone over the crows like the light from a lighthouse, guiding the people ships home. He was entranced by the rhythmic movements. Sonic shook his head. Everyone else was having fun but him. He was joined by DJ Ulala and Elise for some reason, in their raving cyberpunk gear as Sonic did his break-dancing in front of the floor, wowing the crowd and bringing forth the silhouette to start clapping him on as he spun on his head. This was great. No pain was felt, he was brimming to edge of life itself.

"Sonic?" Said NiGHTS who appeared floating in front of him.

"Be with ya in a minute NiGHTS, I'm busy!" Sonic said back.

The jester rolled eyes and clicked a finger, stopping imaginary rave by breaking it into pieces.

Sonic opened his eyes, finding himself laying in bed. Looking out the window, it was still dark. Leaning over to check the clock, it was 4:55 AM. Rubbing his eyes, which one was promptly swatted by NiGHTS.

"Now now Sonic...what did they tell you..." NiGHTS scolded.

He sat up, tired and annoyed, rubbing his eyes until NiGHTS smacked him.

"You have a wedding to attend to. I believe you should get yourself over to GUN Headquarters."

Sonic grumbled and weakly waved his hand. "Yeah yeah, hang on..."

So tired...he was getting into that dream as well. He went through his clothes box that he usually kept here and wondered if he had anything to wear to the wedding. NiGHTS floated over to help him.

"Suit and tie would be nice." NiGHTS suggested.

Sonic started throwing random clothes he didn't even know he had.

"Bow tie or the other one?" Sonic asked.

NiGHTS chuckled. "Well, I suggest the other one...bow tie is worn by the Groom."

Sonic shrugged and picked up several clothes, before being interrupted by Milo who entered the room.

"Knock, knock." Said Milo with a smirk.

"Hey bud, what are you doin' up so early?" Sonic wondered.

Milo leaned against the door frame with his hands in his pockets, wearing a white work shirt with his chest tuft bursting out of the unbuttoned top, he wore proper pants and shiny black leather shoes.

"I was wonderin' if I could come along, I mean, I wouldn't mind meeting everybody.

Sonic rubbed his chin. "I guess Vector and Vanilla won't mind. I was planning to bring Neptune with me so he doesn't get lonely."

Milo snuffed. "Great! I'll...get ready then." He said, walking out.

Sonic sighed. Milo was great and all, but whether or not he could truly be like his brother was a different story altogether. Then again, like he believed before, he shouldn't expect him to.

–

After getting ready, they made their way to GUN Headquarters and caught up with everyone else. Getting escorted via GUN Soldiers to the landing pad, the guests were taken in multiple transport fliers. Sonic stayed with Milo and Neptune, whilst seeing Shadow with Vector, Gemerl and Charmy. Shadow was busy barking orders to his soldiers, as guests entered the carriers in packs.

"Heh...your friends have some pretty good perks." Milo commented.

Sonic smiled. "Yeah doesn't surprise me though. It's what you get when the Commanders girlfriend is good friends with the daughter."

Milo tilted his head. "Heh...Pink? Wouldn't surprise me. I see her all the time while I'm here. Usually bringing Shadow some lunch."

Seemed so Amy like, but it didn't surprise him. They were chaperoned onto one their own carriers and strapped in by specialist personal, Sonic seeing multitudes of Guests strapped in as well. Neptune made ecstatic claps which made him smile, while others talked amongst themselves. Looking at Milo, who seemed to be chatting to one of the others next to him, then he looked back to Neptune who was playing with one of the children next to him, Sonic glimpsed at the gauntlet Amy had given him. He wondered what energies he could channel from the great Gabriel, his role in the powers that be were as equal as Shizaru's. The carrier was rugged, looking like it'd been used hundreds of times for missions. The carrier's doors rose and shut tight as GUN Personnel called out for everyone to hold on tight, as they made their way to Angel Island...

–

Arriving, the carrier landed on an open space before an open forest, GUN Personnel leading them through to the main Shrine part of the Island. Milo whistled in awe and of it's magnificence. The sun was just coming over the horizon, putting on a spectacular display. Hundreds of chairs were set before the steps, wedding decorations scattered everywhere, consisting of ribbons and beautiful flowers, as the Master Emerald watching over. Reed fences enclosed the makeshift chapel, a pretty lacy tent over casing the altar. Guests were quickly seated, Sonic deciding to stand up at the back seeing Vector come in, causing him to snicker at his tux.

"Ah what are ya laughin at hog?" Vector cooed.

Sonic gave Vector a wink. "Nothin, just wasn't expecting you of all people to get married."

Vector looked away, crossing his arms and blushing.

"Hey hey! I already had the tailor have issues with fittin this thing on. It's not easy being such a big crocodile."

Sonic patted his back, comforting his friend.

"Don't stress too much...it's gonna be fine..."

Sonic could easily tell that Vector was extremely nervous. He felt a tug from Espio, who himself was in his own stunning tuxedo. He and Sonic shook hands.

"Hello Sonic." Said Espio.

Sonic smiled. "Heya Espio! Hows life going at the Ninja Village?"

Espio nodded. "Very well. Most of the debris following the factory incident has been cleaned up. We're looking to use that as a bunker, in case anything happens."

Sonic gave a thumbs up. "Heh, it's there. Better not waste it!"

He saw Mighty who came in, as Sonic hadn't seen the Armadillo in ages. The boys exchanged words, Mighty explaining that he'd been busy working, toiling in mine work. He had no beef with Vector, just normal, brotherly friendships. Mighty left after their first rendezvous due to family reasons, but then got hooked up with a local mining company in order to pay for hospital debts. Which made sense. But they occasionally caught up often for drinks and laughed at their adventures.

Among the guests, human and mobian, were relatives, both rabbit and crocodile, and other species both short and tall, amongst a few familiar faces. Somewhere on the Vanilla guest side sat two familiar foxes as Sonic quickly scooted over.

"Moore! Connie!" Sonic said, skidding before them. "What are you two doing here?"

Moore smiled. "We'd gotten a call from a very young lady the other day and insisted we'd come." He said in his Morgan Freeman voice. Several female guests stopped to swoon. Sonic suspected the only person who would probably contact was a small rabbit.

Knuckles soon walked down the aisle, possessing weird Echidna related markings, heading to the altar with a book, which raised an eyebrow and a bit more snickering from Sonic who walked over.

"Shut up you." Knuckles retorted. "Its traditional formal wear. Get over it."

Sonic continued snickering. He looked weirder than Vector.

"How's the Master Emerald been holding up?" Sonic said, knowingly joking with the tempered Echidna.

Knuckles looked up at it. "Uh...no further changes..thankfully. Actually I'm more concerned about Bat-Girl stealing it than anything else."

Sonic grinned. "Oh come on, she wouldn't do such a thing..." He said with a hint of sarcastic humor.

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Bulldust. I don't care that her GUN buddies are here, I just don't trust her anywhere near it. I don't care that she and Shade are bridesmaids and..."

Wait? Shade? A bridesmaid.

"That doesn't make sense." Said Sonic. "Don't tell me Vanilla asked Shade to be a..."

Knuckles shrugged as well. "I'll leave it up to Vanilla telling Cream to choose bridesmaids...Amy, I understand...Rouge...borderline...but...Shade?"

Sonic didn't seem to mind.

"Cream has this uncanny ability to make friends with everyone. Surely since Shade moved in here she'd been seeing Vanilla for assistance. Or that's what Shade's been telling me." Knuckles continued.

Once he thought about it, Sonic never seemed to even see Shade after that incident. He thought she must have taken responsibility for what the Nocturnus had done and returned to her dimension. However, he couldn't properly confirm it.

"What does she do here?" Sonic asked.

Knuckles rubbed his head. "Since she's been here we've taken turns looking after the Master Emerald. A Co-guardian shift if you will. But lately I've been doing it all by myself more often. But that was before I'd given her the task to help me set up this wedding, especially the constructing the huts with Big."

Sonic almost forgot about Big, who had to be around somewhere.

"The past week or so, after our adventure earlier, we were building the huts for the guests to sleep in, which I had help from some of Vanillas friends who flew down for the occasion, as well as several others. Shade was there for a bit of construction but now she's probably perking it up with the others."

It once, maybe twice crossed Sonic's mind on to whether Shade was fitting in properly. But she guessed that if she was helping out, earning her worthwhile keep while she stayed seemed a bit fair. Knuckles was probably jealous because he'd hardly ever tasted the full blown freedom like Sonic has. Most of the time the adventures were there but they could hardly do any sight seeing due to the importance of the quests. Besides, Shade was a free spirit now and had been ordered around all her life. Sonic hoped most of the problems would have been solved by now, considering the technicalities and probably culture shocks.

Sonic caught up with relatives, meeting Vectors rather...hippy like parents, as well as Vanillas mother-in-law from her previous marriage, which Sonic could see there was some unresolved issues between them. But it was not his business to get involved with their problems. Seeing more mixed species but mostly Rabbit and Crocodile, he was glad for this occasion for all to meet as one, as well as the possibility in succeeding in the goal that was getting to know his friends better.

GUN Officials protected the perimeters, Shadow obviously making sure, and possibly tranquilizing Amy's paranoia that something bad might happen. But since they were well and truly isolated, there was a small chance of it. Still, Sonic had to keep aware, but not really a hundred percent. But he wanted to be relaxed and take in the happy vibes of such a joyful day, the sun shining down upon them, Sonic absorbing its rays and blissful in it's everlasting gift. Knuckles started ushering everyone and telling them to get in there seats as the groomsmen, namely Espio, Mighty, and Vectors little skinny brother Voxel, stood proudly with their hands behind their banks and their handsome white Tuxedos. Vector, standing tall, had the slightest of sweat drops coming from his brow. Gemerl placed down his keyboard in front of the Master Emerald and connected speakers to it, obviously playing the usual wedding song for the occasion and put the giant speakers far from each side of the altar. Sonic smiled, knowing Vector was giving Gemerl some instrumental value. But then Sonic was snatched by Connie, trying to reason with him to sit in the front row with Vanillas mother. Sonic shook his head, but apparently Mrs. Rabbit insisted he'd sit with her. Sonic sighed, compelling with Brides endearing parents and sat down shrugging his shoulders, but grinning ensued.

Sometime Charmy came rushing with the rings, Vector trying his hardest not to show his anger. Knuckles facepalmed. Vector then grabbed Charmy and placed him next to Knuckles and ordered him to stay, which made Sonic snicker once more, earning a smack from Mrs. Rabbit. After everyone else had settled in, Gemerl started playing music, which made the guest go quiet as Cream came skipping in through the doorway, wearing light pink bows and a very cute and girly silk dress with lace and baby pink slip ons, the adoring smile on her face telling her how much fun she was having with it, as threw red, pink and white flower petals from her little basket, several guests taking photos. Sonic loved it, the little rabbit having the time of her life on such a wonderful day.

Rouge came in wearing a beautiful rose coloured gown, her bust very pronounced, making Knuckles jaw drop with astonishment, him seeing stars and could swear he could hear the saxophone playing somewhere in Gemerls song, but he was imagining it as Rouge walked down with her bouquet in front. She made it to the altar and teased Knuckles by winking at him before standing at the other end Sonic could see Shadow standing at the back, stealing Sonic's precious spot of neutrality. Shadow didn't have a smile on his face, but what could you expect for someone of his caliber? But at least he looked sharp in a more formal version of his Commander uniform.

Next was Shade, with the same wear as Rouge. She was more straight faced, but was nor angry, sad or happy. She was as neutral as they came but still came down as she did, soon standing next to Rouge with the same batch of flowers. But then the other half of the show came in...

Amy came down gracefully, holding a bouquet of white roses, Sonic entranced by her beauty, whether he knew it or not. Her gown was...just breath taking. A light pink silk sleeveless dress, with an interwoven bust that loosely came off it as well as a glistening shawl with silvery sparkles, wearing her beautiful necklace that sparkled throughout wearing red lipstick and mascara, giving her sophistication, as well as wearing silver sleepers in her ears and a pink headband with a white coloured sunflower and white high heels. She had an aura about her, lowering her eyes to see the faded white eye shadow as she smiled to those who had cameras. Her quills swayed as she moved her head, within Sonic's eyes in slow motion. His heart was beating fast, but again, he failed to realize it as his head was filled with nothing but hypnotic swirls.

Blitzing in a beautiful gown, embedded with Swarovski crystals and just looked like a princess with the beautiful beige stitching on her ivory dress, complete with the cross stitches on her chest, her train trailing behind, Vanilla looked stunning. She had hooked her arm up up with her father, Mr. Rabbit, who was wearing a black tux and leather shoes, but admittedly had a bit of pot belly and a set of antique spectacles. Although he looked old fashioned with a classic, memetic mustache, he was rightfully proud in his own way as he lead his daughter down the second time.

"Are you entirely sure about this?" He muttered to her.

Vanilla kept her endowed smile. "Father, you said that to Rocky...and I didn't regret it." She whispered back.

They made it to the altar, as Vector was grinning at his wife-to-be, then faced Knuckles who nodded to his long-time friend. Sonic looked at Neptune who sat next to him and had Cheese in his lap for the proceedings and waved over at the cheerful Cream. Looking back, Vector and Vanilla stared at one another with their hands in each others, Sonic seeing the longing looks in their faces, seeing the instant love between the pair. Gemerl stopped playing to allow Knuckles to speak.

"We gather here today, to honor and bless this marriage between Vector Chaotix and Vanilla T. Rabbit." Knuckles started. Although Sonic noted he was just as nervous as these two. But Sonic found it funny...which earned another smack from Mrs. Rabbit.

As going through the ceremony, Sonic couldn't help but look at Amy, who's smile never wore off or looked too strained. Sonic didn't realize he was staring at her until he was poked by Neptune. Sonic re-awoke from his temporary reality escape and paid attention to the main couple.

"I, Vanilla, take you, Vector to be my husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life. I, Vanilla take you, Vector, for my lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

Knuckles repeated to Vector the same bits to him.

"I, Vector, take you, Vanilla to be my wife. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life. I, Vector, take you, Vanilla, for my lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

Knuckles nodded.

"Then by the power vested in me, and the Master Emerald, to name you Man and wife."

The crowd did a standing ovation as the bride and groom kissed one another in holy matrimony, surrounded by the echoing cheers and claps from friends and relatives and made their way out of the roofless chapel, with others throwing confetti all over the place...

Soon after, the professional photographers started taking their photos, whilst the family and friends started taking theirs. Knuckles advised all else to start heading to the reception when they were ready to go, as GUN Operatives offered to take them down. Sonic stood by, watching the various photos being taken in different places, such as the edge of the island and in front of the Master Emerald. He looked on, wanting to look at the happy couple with his hands in his pockets but couldn't help but stare at Amy. Milo walked up to Sonic with a big grin on his face.

"So...this is the one eh?" Milo noted, nudging to him, joking around. "I remember her..."

Sonic did two takes. "Wuh? What? No! I'm just enjoying the views."

Milo chuckled. "Surrrrrre...if that's what they're calling it nowadays."

Sonic rolled his eyes and starting walking off with Milo putting his hand on Sonic's shoulder, laughing, unaware that Amy was glancing off towards Sonic with a small frown...

–

Heading the reception area, which was being held inside the now neatly decorated Mystic Ruins temple, there were tables and chairs every where, with the back holding the long table for the wedding party to sit, in the back left corner was where the lovely, green and beige cake was, having traditional Echidna Mayan with batches of red markings. Sonic saw Elise charging into the room and heading straight for it, wearing a cute electric blue cocktail dress and yellow high heels and various accessories to match.

Sonic rose an eyebrow.
"Right there your highness?" Sonic asked sarcastically as Elise was too busy fawning over the strange cake.

"Wow...more interesting Echidna decorations? Who's idea was this?" Elise commented. "I said bake a cultural cake but seriously?"

Sonic shrugged. "I don't think Knuckles can cook."

Elise chuckled. "Hah...with those hands of his? He's made for destruction not construction."

Now that was true and it made Sonic smile a little. Looking around, there was a temp bar on his right and a sealed off area, Sonic thinking it was the kitchen for the dinner to served. The temple was pretty deep in and wide in itself, Sonic wondering how Knuckles can atone for his defacing of such a sacred place.

"Maybe an enhancement or he asked his ancestors if he could borrow it for the night..." Elise suggested.

Maybe. But...it was a sacred place for a sacred occasion. He was sure Knuckles would impose rules upon them. But gathering by the large space between the guest tables and the wedding party tables, that was the dance floor...well, you could easily tell by the slightly raised platform and attached lights, with the DJ tuning their speakers in with Gemerl helping out, bring his keyboard back into the right corner, near the . Sonic knew that DJ.

"Isn't that..." Sonic started.

Elise waved to the female DJ. "Yup. DJ Ulala offered her services again after the fantastic hens night. Her and I have been friends for years actually...but I do pay her well."

Sonic nodded. "So you organized the reception?" He asked.

Elise grinned. "Of course. Dinner is being made by the finest Solennan chefs and music played by the most awesome DJ. Even that rockin' robot dude is being awesome!"

Sonic placed his hands in his pockets again. "You seem to like using the word awesome a lot..."

Elise laughed and gave the peace sign to Sonic.

"My motto is, If you're ready to party, you're ready to be awesome."

Sonic smirked. "Never heard you say that before."

"Pfffff..." Elise said. "Awesomeness comes from the heart Sonic. I learned that from you...and I expect you to dance later. You...and me on the dance floor later on..."

Sonic blinked. "Uhh okay...sure..."

Elise squeed. "Great...I mean...AWESOME!"

Soon enough, the guests got into their labeled seats, usually clustered in with their families and some mixed with others. But they were all pretty social with one another, Sonic having the exclusive seating at the front with Milo, who was replacing Tails for the night, as well as extra seats for the Grandprowers. Big sat on the table with them, but had a tall cat girl, with yellow fur and red, with white tufts on the ends of her long ears, had jet black hair and crimson eye shadow and black cocktail dress and red high heel boots and fish net stockings, with innocent angel wings. She smiled as she sat next to Big the Cat on the table. Sonic had no idea who she was, gathering she was a cousin of sorts, but she was kinda cute.

Waiters placed jugs of a variety of drinks onto the tables and asked guests if that would like anything, and other general requests. Sonic spoke with Milo, whom only had one thing on his mind.

"I saw you during the Ceremony..." Milo commented.

"What?" Sonic retaliated. "What did I do?"

That spectacular jokers grin that Milo had his face was beginning to annoy Sonic, although he meant no harm.

"You were staring at her. Non-stop. I even thought I saw a bit of drool!"

"What? You were sitting behind me!"

Milo laughed halfheartedly. "So you were?"

Milo, you devious bastard.

"You so have the hots for the Pink Hedgehog. I don't blame ya, she is pretty hot. Cept I have my own girlfriend."

Sonic blinked. "Oh really?"

Milo waved his hand about. "She's a total babe! So's yours if you decide to admit it..."

Sonic grumbled. "If you're suggesting that..."

Suddenly a voice came over the loud speakers. Since its was preachy and cheery, it had to be Elise's.

"Hello ladies and gentlemobians!" Said Elise behind the DJ stand with Ulala and Gemerl. She held a crystal studded microphone and the perkiest smile.

"If I could get your attention, my name is Elise! And I will be your Event Speaker for the evening. Now if we could get settled into our allocated seats, we will be seeing the Wedding Party arrive very shortly."

Ulala started playing some simple pop tunes over the speakers and more spotlights turning on as they continued preparing things. As was told, the guests sat down and chatted amongst themselves, with Knuckles coming in, having quickly gotten off the ceremonial garbs and into his own stunning deep burgundy suit and sitting next to Sonic. Neptune followed, Sonic seeing that he was wearing deep blue suit on over his usual suit, which Sonic found strange enough but didn't bother with the notoriousness of it. Neptune took his place, conveniently sitting next to Knuckles. Milo spoke with his grandparents and greeted Vanillas former in-laws. Despite the thickened tension, the young gaunt fox used his charms to speak with them, as well as Big and the tall cat girl, who introduced herself as Honey. Sonic decided to join in with the conversation.

"So Big, is Honey your sister or something?" Sonic asked, wondering.

The large purple cat shook his head. "No. Honey is my girlfriend."

As if in sync, Knuckles and Sonic looked at one another as their jaws dropped. Neptune just clapped. Milo was amused at their reactions. But their others couldn't believe what they were hearing. How on Mobius does Big, a low-IQed feline, end up with a stunningly gorgeous catgirl like Honey, who hook arms with her oblivious beau.

"I met Big when he was in the city, looking for a new fishing Rod, since his old one snapped."

Honey explained, her voice gravely and yet attractive. "We bumped into each other and it was love at first sight!"

Still in shock, Sonic looked away and rubbed his neck, ashamed at himself. Knuckles did the same. Neptune was still happy.

"You're a match made in heaven!" Commented Milo. "All the best to you both."

Big smiled. "Thank you!"

Honey giggled. "Oh Big, hopefully, when you and I get married some day, it'll just be as enchanting as this! It's like a fantasy! With the hint of fairy tale!"

The entire table started chatting with one another, keeping up to date with recent proceedings and doings. Milo and Sonic talked about the Burning Miles with Milos grandparents, whilst Knuckles had to keep preventing Neptune from putting his greasy fingers in the jugs, Big tending to Froggy as well as Honey speaking with the Former Rabbit In-laws. In a sense, the day was going well, Milo checking his watch and realized it was getting on to five pm, as he wondered where the day went.

Sonic looked around, seeing Shadow sitting up the back with some GUN Personnel and several other guests. He probably didn't want to sit down or speak with anyone, but he was forced to...probably by Amy, which made Sonic chuckle slightly.

The music stopped, as chats turned to hushes and soon complete silence, lights changing around, focusing on the strip of red carpet in the aisle that split up the groups of tables into two. Elise grabbed a piece of paper and her studded mike.

"Okay every one!" Elise shouted, pumping on fist into the air.

"It's time to bring our special participants in! First off, Flowergirl Cream the Rabbit and Ring boy Charmy Bee.

Underneath the little arc of flowers and small led lights came Cream and Charmy, with hooked arms and waving to the guests, being met with cheers, claps and whistles. They crossed the dance floor, with Elise making lovely comments about the pair. They walked off to sit down, whilst Elise spoke of the next pair.

"Okay, I will name out the bridesmaids and groomsmen in order. Shade Nocturnus and Mighty Armadous! Rouge Seychelles and Voxel Chaotix!"

The four came in gracefully, Knuckles unable to stop looking at Rouge in awe again, making Sonic wonder if Rouge was doing it on purpose just to tease Knuckles as she looked over to wink at him.

"And now, for the Maiden of Honor and Best Man, Amy Rose and Espio Furcifer!"

Hedgehog and Charmeleon strolled in, Sonic pretty much imitating Knuckles in stupid facial expressions. Milo chuckled.

"And last, but not least, the stars for the evening, Mr. and Mrs. Vector and Vanilla Chaotix!"

The cheers grew louder as the happy couple came in with the biggest smiles Sonic had seen all day. It was just...adorable. They both earned it, Vanilla a hardworking single mother now a hardworking wife, and Vector, a run down investigator now an earnest husband with the most beautiful and sweet step-daughter. What more could they ask for?

They allowed for more chatter amongst themselves, several of the guests wanting to take more photos and give their congratulations for the special pair. Gemerl continued tinkering with Ulala and Elise to organize the music once more. Elise left them to their devices and went to sit down at her table, Ulala now taking the microphone.

"Hi everyone, it's DJ Ulala here! How we feelin?" She announced.

"I think it's time for our favourite newlyweds to have their first dance together! Gemerl, put on the sweet acoustics!"

Gemerl gave a thumbs up and switched on to a nice acoustic guitar and piano song, with a pleasant female singing in the background. The song was calm and gentle enough for a simple slow waltz.

Vector stood up first and took Vanillas hand as they made their way to the dance floor. Vector held her waist with one hand and clasped his other in hers, as her grasp made it around his neck. They gracefully waltzed around the floor, earning more snaps from the guests. Soon after, Amy and Espio got up and started to dance as well, then Rouge and Voxel...then Shade and Mighty...and finally, Cream and Charmy, who appeared to be sweating under the nervousness of dancing with the girl he had to kiss on her birthday. More people soon joined in, Big standing up and offering his gentle hand to Honey, who only happily took up his offer and jumped up to the dance floor. Cheese flew up from Neptunes lap and started pestering him, wanting to go as well. Neptune didn't understand, but a thumbs up from Sonic gave him the courage to go up, Cheese tugging him by one of his fingers as she pulled him. A cluster came onboard too, the floor was practically big enough to possible fit a hundred people due to its sheer size. There was brief change of partners, Vanilla's father now dancing with her and Cream with her new step father.

"Vector, can I say we are very blessed in having you in our family..." Said Cream.

Vector had tears in his eyes. "That is the second best thing I have ever heard, after your mother said yes." He said. They shared a heartwarming embrace that earned an infectious and sweet smile and awe from everyone. Espio had hooked with one of Vector's cousins, leaving Amy to grab Shadow, who was entirely reluctant to do so, but did so anyway for her sake.

"You can at least pretend to enjoy it." Said Amy.

Shadow forced a smile as he rested his hand on her waist. "Better?" He asked, speaking through his teeth.

Amy chuckled. "Much."

Shadow looked over at Rouge, who'd stopped over to Sonic's table and forced Knuckles to dance with her, as she winked at him with the entirely blushing and seemingly overwhelmed Echidna, not knowing what to do with his feet.

"Ow! That hurt!" Rouge scolded. She responded to this by delibrately stomping his.

"AH!" Knuckles screamed.

Rouge looked smug. "Sorry, my foot slipped."

Milo got up and bowed to Princess Elise, kneeling to her and kissing her hand.

"Would you mind a spot of dancing milady?" He said with his wiling charms.

Elise smiled and got up. "Sure! Let's go!"

Milo underestimated Elise's over the top ego as she swung her across the room, oblivious to the fact she'd had too much raspberry soft drink and was extremely hyperactive. Sonic laughed, earning a head smack from Mrs. Rabbit, who came over to see if he would join her. Sonic, ever the good sport, was only too obliged as they went to the floor.

–

Soon, nearly everyone was having a good time, the music changing from soft to hard trance, everyone letting themselves go, wild and unrestricted as they grooved through the night.

Shadow's pager went off, Amy frowning.

"You'd promised me you'd leave that thing at home." Amy said.

Shadow sighed. "It might be important. I told them only to contact me if it was an emergency."

Amy nodded, albeit disappointed. "You better go then. See what they want."

Shadow looked at her. "I'll make it up to you. I promise."

Amy smiled weakly as he kissed her cheek. "I'll hold you to it!"

The black hedgehog caressed her briefly before running off outside the temple. Amy was left alone and sat on a nearby chair.

Elise had to go check something with Ulala, giving Milo a break from the crazy dance they were doing. He noticed Amy all alone, glancing longingly at the crowd. The gaunt fox flew up above the crowd to search for Sonic, who, from after the awkward togetherness with Vanilla's mother, was over at the bar area, sipping from a beer can. Milo made the sneeky idea look and flew over, asking the bar tender for a can of what Sonic was drinking. Mobian alcohol ingestion biology was slightly different from humans, but no one really questioned it., but it was normally an age thing. Sitting on the stool next to Sonic, Milo placed a hand on his friend.

"You know, Pink is lookin' pretty lonesome over there." Said Milo.

Sonic lifted his head. He'd been slouched over and seemingly had his body language speaking of depression, albeit deciding not to show it with his face.

"I'm sure Amy's having a good time..." Sonic motioned, his monotone being covered with fake happiness.

"Pfffffff..." Said Milo. "Have you honestly had a look at what she's doing right now?"

"Sure...she was with Shadow a moment ago." Sonic replied apathetically.

Milo rolled his eyes. "I cannot believe you! There's this gorgeous girl you obviously have the hots for, judging from the consistent glancing I witnessed earlier, and now you won't even speak to her, even though she's..."

Milo wiped his face from the frustration and forced Sonic to look at her by pulling his head around, adjusting his sight in Amy's direction. "For Chaos sake JUST LOOK AT HER!"

Sonic blinked. Indeed Amy was alone sitting by herself and watching the rest of the crowd. Sonic checked her line of sight, seeing that she was staring at Vector and Vanilla who did not rest once and continued to dance with everyone there. Sonic looked back at Milo who lowered his chin and raised both his eyebrows. Sonic wasn't so sure. Milo placed arm around Sonic's neck.

"You're the only person I know who takes the biggest risks. Surely, if you can defeat threatening evils, you can most definitely conquer your fear of uncertainty. Think of it as a Zone, and the last boss is her heart. There are no jumps or homing attacks needed here, only words. This is just a bigger risk as any."

Maybe he was right. This was exceptionally difficult for himself for some reason. From the churning pits in his stomach and the wrenching of his heart, he needed to use the quick wit from his brain. He was making it difficult for himself. Looking at it, only Sonic was stopping Sonic from doing anything about it.

He gave one last bit of eye contact with Milo, who winked at him. Sonic turned and got off the stool, casually walking over to the lonely female Hedgehog. She was concentrating elsewhere when he stood next to her, clearing his throat to get her attention. He had one hand behind his back and another in front of him. She turned her and looked up at him.

"Sonic..." She muttered. She swallowed her saliva. "I mean, hey Sonic!" She said with more confidence.

Dear Chaos, she was beautiful. Her emerald eyes were just as pristine and powerful as real ones, piercing his spirit to the core and making his stomach inflammations worse that he was nearly..bah, what was he kidding? It sounded extremely corny to him. He shoved off the nervous persona and tried to act like he usually did. Upfront, confident and fearless.

"Heya Ames! You up for a dance?" He said bluntly.

Amy looked around briefly, then shrugged. "Sure! Why not?"

Sonic smiled as he lent his hand and pulled her up from her seat, taking them both over. The song changed into a more softer, yet relaxing trance, that most would go back to their seats to continue chatter and wait for their entrees. But there was the small few who stayed to continue, such as Vector and Vanilla, and Charmy and Cream. Sonic did the usual, archetypical position, making his throat clog up with nervousness again. Amy, all the while, kept a serene smile. Sonic tried to make conversation.

"So, how's work goin' for ya?" He asked, breaking the awkward silence between them.

"Work's work. Nothing more, nothing less." She responded. "What about you?"

Sonic shrugged. "Same here. I was preparing help clean the lab up downstairs, Tails brother Milo's moved in...sort of."

Amy chuckled. "Yeah I met up with him before. He's a nice guy."

Sonic nodded. "Of course...so where'd Shadow run off to?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Important business. I don't really expect less from him anyway."

–

Their chatter was filled with numerous discussions about others as he tried to delve parts of her life he didn't know, as she was not afraid to the same with him, who was only positively happy to explain his thrill-seeking ways to her, in which she became incredibly tuned into, encased in his story-telling and wide-versed ways. She was a bit depressed that her life wasn't as exciting as his, but he assured her that some day it will be.

They talked until the next song was a fast paced rock song, where more people came on and danced off. It made Sonic feel good and prove that this friendship with Amy was more crucial. He was glad for it and he'd hoped Amy felt the same way. Although he felt Milo's stare, but brushed off the gaunt fox's obvious plot to hook them up and Sonic knew it. Completely unnecessary and inappropriate from Sonic's standards.

Soon after, it was time for the entree. A nice simple soup with sliced bits of baguettes. Soups varied from person to person. Milo had gotten another beer for Sonic and himself, prying the tag and sculling it down, earning a weirded eye for Sonic. They slurped it all up, Cream getting it all over her face, forcing Vanilla to come over and wipe it off with a serviette. She was also sharing it with Cheese and copied her mother in cleaning the Knuckles watched Neptune absorb the soup through his glove, Knuckles raising an eyebrow as he tried to butter his bread.

"Hey Knuckles..." Said Milo. "How come you're letting them use this place despite it being sacred ground?"

Knuckles shoved the bread in his mouth, chewed and swallowed it. "A lot of ceremonies were done in the grace of the Master Emerald. For the temple, a lot of festivals were in held in here. I'd made sure they placed down proper protectorate materials. Thanks to GUN, they actually placed a giant board underneath and sealed it in, making sure the floor isn't damaged. I dunno how they got the lights up on the roof without putting risking collapses I think they mentioned some mumbo jumbo and I said, if it doesn't wear it out, then I don't care what it's called."

Sonic smirked. "Good to see you taking care of the place."

Knuckles crossed his arms and snuffed them. "It's my job!"

Sonic laughed, earning a nudge from Milo.

"So, what were you and Amy talking about before?" Wondered Milo, earning a smug look from the gaunt fox.

Sonic blinked. "We just talked as all. I dunno why you're prying into our friendship..."

Milo chuckled. "Hah! I'll have a talk to you later..."

Sonic kept having his soup, trying to forget Milo's obvious intentions.

The rest of the night went pretty smoothly. The main meal was a delicious, roast turkey with vegetables that everyone scoffed down as soon as they saw it. More photos were taken, Mrs Rabbit demanding to have group shots. First off, she collected the chosen family, including Gemerl, which took the robot by surprise.

"This is a new life for a fantastic family." Mr. Rabbit commented. "It has it's oddities sure, but a family is a family.

Vector stood with Vanilla, whilst having Cream, Cheese and Gemerl in front of them, Cheese looking over to Neptune and bringing the Agent into the picture, bewildering Vanilla.

"Oh my, looks like Cheese wants Neptune into the family as well..." She commented.

Neptune clapped ecstatically.

Knuckles looked on at the mismatched yet harmonious group. "That Chao has taken a huge liking to...that...thing..."

Sonic chuckled. "I say let him go. If he can be a big brother to them then there's no harm."

Milo smirked. "I think the only normal person in there is Vanilla. The rest are pretty much their own."

Sonic had a look at Vanilla closely. She reminded him of somewhere similar to her stature and expressive motions. He couldn't quite pick it though. But he was right about the rest however, Cream was debatable. She could go quite mental if you pushed her too far.

Vector dragged Espio and Charmy in as well, and to his discomfort was made to stand next to Cream, where he blushed to no end. He scolded Vector for this, who in barked at him to deal with it. Charmy put on his show on pretending to hate it, but Sonic knew better, so did Vector.

But amongst the laughter and tears, it made Sonic briefly, giving his mind some alone time. He coudn't remember much of his parents. He himself was born on Christmas Island, judging by his birth certificate, however that was all smudged off. But he didn't bare his thoughts over small matters. All that was confusing was the business and idealism of togetherness. Most of the time he was dead set on being content on other peoples happiness and his friendship with others was most of the time his only connection to the purposes of the real world. He knew Knuckles would have had a hard time as well. The Echidna longed for some freedom of his own, and envied Sonic's own. They were near opposites, Sonic gathering a stubbornness was familiar trait amongst all spiked lifeforms. He had it, Amy had it and so did Sonic. Knuckles had the desire to connect with others, but often had to fight through his feuds. But ultimately, he had closer ties with the Chaotix than anything else. So in turn, they too were part family.

Sonic now really felt disconnected. He walked out of the Temple to leave the joyous others as they finished with photos and moved on to take photos of cutting the cake, which for some reason Elise had high hopes on snapping a piece of her own. Sonic took his unfinished beer and walked out.

Exiting, he could see the GUN Soldiers on patrol, talking to one another. Sonic meanwhile, headed up to the top of the temple, and sat down to look at the crater of stars in the sky.

"Claustrophobic?"

Sonic looked to his side. "I don't fit amongst any of them."

Gabriel walked by and sat next to him. "But didn't you say yourself that you needed at least one person to be with you? You know, a companion who could keep up?"

Sonic browed. "No? I don't recall ever saying that."

Gabriel shrugged and looked up at the stars as well. "They get pretty lonely too."

Sonic rose an eyebrow. "Who?"

Gabriel pointed upwards. "They do their designated job, giving light and warmth to the worlds they cater for. However, like a Hedgehog, you can't get too close or else you'll get hurt."

Sonic lowered his eyelids. "Uhh...I don't recall incineration as a technique."

Gabriel laughed halfheartedly. "Thanks for ruining my metaphor comparison."

Sonic grinned. "Anytime."

Gabriel cracked his neck. "Your only problem is boredom. A Stupilite gets bored easily. They thrive adventure. So don't worry, it's more of a blood issue than a mental one."

"I'll keep that in mind." Sonic said sarcastically.

"I dare ya to invite the Rosoideae to Ice Cap. I can assure you the fun you'll have in that." Gabriel suggested.

Sonic sighed. "What did the Prophecy say now about this?"

Gabriel snuffed. "Nothing at all! If you don't want the prying eyes of everyone and want some privacy with her, then I suggest doing so...geeeez not everything is about the prophecy..."

Sonic turned away. "So what does the Prophecy say?

Gabriel's hands went to his hips. "So now you're interested..." He complained, rubbing his forehead.

"If you're insistent, grab the girl and take her to the tip of the Ice Cap. We can discuss the current issues with Shizaru."

Sonic nodded. "Okay, we can do that tomorrow then. She's having a pretty good time in there."

Gabriel flicked a stone off the edge. "Go see for yourself then eh?"

Taking the hint, Sonic headed back inside the Temple, seeing that Amy was speaking with several of Vector's relatives. They were more hillbilly than anything and were probably Vector's cousins. They were rambling on about her quills and make up, wishing they could have been as privileged as her. Gathering from the look on her face she wasn't really enjoying herself as much as she would like to. Sonic approached her, soon being fawned over by the girls, who must have been really big fans of his. Amy, confused by the whole thing, sat there listening to the Girl crocs rave on about Sonic's exploits. Sonic happily discussed it, then, with his sneakiness, mentioned that Knuckles would have more details than he and soon the Echidna was ravaged with the small horde, Sonic laughing it off, then hearing Amy's slight giggling.

"Thanks for that." She said, smiling. "No offense to Vector, but his relatives..."

Sonic nodded. "Yeah I know. Which was why I sicced them on Knucklehead."

–

Amy gladly took Sonic's offer of having a stroll up to the tip of Ice Cap, not really caring that it was going to be cold. She was touched by Sonic's gesture of putting his jacket over her shoulders, admiring the handsomeness of the Blue Blur, albeit embarrassed by it. They eventually made it to the Ice Cap entrance and reflected on it.

"Wanna race up?" He asked her with a smirk on his face and a thumbs up, before changing his shoes.

"Sonic...I'm in high heels! As much as I would love to run with you I'll probably slip and hurt myself."

Sonic snuffed. "Pffff...your Piko Piko is bigger than your boots, surely, you could tuck them away somewhere...

Amy could have murdered him right there and then, the annoyance on her face was showing. But, she forced it away as she put her skills to use, getting rid of the high heels and switching them for her classic boots, which were a lot warmer. For Sonic, they were more Amy like. But now, he needed to give a challenge for her. To assist her to become faster than he...well, almost as fast. He noted her speed would increase with playful fury. So he needed to get on her nerves...

"Hey Amy..." He said rather smugfully.

"What?"

"You know you got drunk the other night, and tried to kiss me..."

Amy blushed furiously. "I...I did...?"

The expression on her face changed completely. Tails used a word, that was the same of a Simpsons character...Moe? Was it?

Sonic wanted to laugh. "No...no you didn't."

As predicted, she flew into a fit of fury and brought out her hammer, as he foretold. She was becoming like her old self, more brash and relentless, and yet, Sonic had missed the side of her, however violent she was. He feared it the most but at least it's a sign of her old self. Her calmed down was awkward and unbalanced. Sure there was the occasional anger, but it was legitimate anger that she tried to hide often. He'd already gathered that Shadow had that affect on her.

He bolted up Ice Cap, laughing as Amy hunted him down with her hammer of justice, still with the blush on her face and the occasional screams accusing him of toying with her feelings. But to Sonic it was hilarious. He challenged her to jump off the cliff sides, temporarily letting the Rose Templer slide as they hung on stalactites and hopped off to the next one, Amy forgetting on how freezing it was as she was more focused on holding on than potential frostbite she could attain. Sonic used his wall climb to get to the top using two adjacent walls. Steam came out from Amy's head, annoyed she'd couldn't get up the same way he could. He'd have to teach her.

"All you gotta do is..."

He muttered the technique to her, in which she tried several times. The wall being made out of ice and snow did not help matters, but with each attempt she did she got better and better. Soon enough, she made the final leap to the top, almost falling off, but being held back by Sonic. She sighed with relief as she turned back to him. Quickly remembering why she was mad at Sonic, the Piko Piko Hammer came out swinging as she started to chase him once more to the top of Ice Cap.

It became a significant spectacle once the two had made it up to the top. They both had fog breath, and staring out at the rest of the island, low clouds circling it all around like an ocean of precipitation. And the stars were so much closer as Amy tried to make constellations, but then started shivering and regretting wearing such a thin fabric. Sonic stood behind her and rubbed her arms to help warm her up, to which she deeply blushed to, then forced her face forward to look onwards

"Nice night." She commented.

Sonic nodded. "Indeed." He said, smiling.

They leaned against a rock, which was considerably much better than leaning on an ice shard, albeit not being quite as warm anyway.

"I could sit here and watch the sunrise." Said Amy, with her legs out. Sonic leaned over to button up the jacket, for his general kindness and concern for her well-being. She blushed as he took off his white top and blanketed her bare legs, leaving her to clank her boots together.

"You didn't have to do that." She said to him.

Sonic kept that downwards curve expression. "You're my friend Amy...I do anything for friends."

Amy gave a weakened smile and continued having glances out at the island mass, the jungles, deserts and the like. The air was thin but it didn't matter to them. Amy didn't want to do it, but she took his own advice and snuggled up next to him, making it Sonic's turn for his cheeks to redden.

An hour later, Sonic had fallen asleep, his head resting on Amy's shoulder. It'd been tough for him recently, facing the inaugural path of heroism.

"You know the day is approaching." Said Shizaru as she appeared in front of Amy.

Amy could feel Sonic's warm breath on her neck. She lowered her head.

"I know I know...have you found Abbadonia yet?"

Shizaru nodded. "We're closing in on her temporary base. She seems to be situated in the depths of the dangerous Enchanted Forest Zone, located near Soleanna."

Amy sighed. "I'll need to write a note for both them...so they won't have to search for me."

Shizaru tilted her head. "You know they will look for you anyway."

Amy did a half-smile. "Because it is like them. However, if I do it nice and early, hours before any of them awake..."

Shizaru knelt down before her. "You're doing the right thing here Amy. This way, we can finally redeem ourselves. Your ancestors would be proud of you."

Amy's lip twitched. "I'm sure they will."

Amy sat there in deep thought, knowing the task ahead, deeply affected her. She'd be warned time and time again and she'd always agree, despite the consequences of her actions. It was not now, it was not tomorrow...but eventually she would come across the choice she couldn't make herself.

She looked at Sonic who was sleeping contently, Amy reminding herself that he'd probably slept in far worse places than this. But should she ask him whether or not the things she'd seen, and that she feared for own sanity. Within the depths of the truth that she wielded, was not at all wrapped up as she thought it would be. Knowing these secrets, she painfully withheld them from the one she thought she'd discontinued and disconnected all feelings with. But she herself was just as confused as he, wallowing in her own puzzlement and unable to make the proper connections. She wanted to protect Sonic at all costs. His life was far more meaningful than hers and that the world needed him more than she.

"Shizaru..." She muttered.

"Yes Prophetess?"

Amy kept looking on. "What changes did we bring?"

Shizaru started scanning the horizons. "The changes that have been brought have already arrived. How ever...it will take some time for them to properly arrive."

Amy's head lifted. "Does that mean I can finally rev-"

Shizaru shook her head. "Not yet. The change has allowed the Processor to be made, however it needs the permission in order to use it."

Amy looked down. She had no idea what this Processor thing was, but all she knew as that she had to lead Sonic towards it, make him...find it. But Shizaru was being in her cryptic status again, refusing to divulge crucial information that could make data flow much more faster.

"The Processor needs Sonic's permission. How do I go about doing it?"

Shizaru looked at Sonic. "He's already seen two of them. I might get NiGHTS to grab one of the more logically placed ones."

Amy nodded. "Okay. Do I get a description of one of these..."

"BM Recruits..." Shizaru continued.

"BM Recruits..." Amy repeated.

"Sonic will be needing these Recruits over time. What he has now is insufficient enough for what we have to do." Shizaru explained.

–

They spoke well into the night, Amy making sure Sonic was okay. However the depths of his own dreams was unheard of as his cheeks and brow twitched, believing he was having a nightmare, She gently touched his cheek, then reaching her arm over and rubbed his own. Here wasn't appropriate to sleep, but Sonic wanted to see the sunrise. To be honest, so did she. Wants verses needs came into play, intermingling with stupidity and common sense. She was about to get up, before his hand wrapped across her waist, clinging himself to her, making her blush immensely. Must be some dream that he was having.

No...she wasn't going to sacrifice his health or her own. Besides, they could see the sun rise from where they were staying for the night. Now that she thought of it, the huts weren't too far from the edges of the inner parts of the Island. Picking him up, knowing her strength was nearly as great as Knuckles, she took them both down the Cap. He must have been in some deep sleep as he did not wake up from the prominent lumps, bumps and jumps. It was much easier to come down. However, with a massive stomp on a ledge, she heard a slight rumbling. Turning around to look at the steep slant, huge snow boulders were sent hurling in her direction with the lethally large avalanche. Panicking, Amy took a run for it. She couldn't believe he didn't awake from all the noise. Although, he was probably used to it all by now.

Didn't surprise her. And on she ran, dodging oncoming trees as her legs automatically drove themselves. Seeing an opening on the side, she ran over to the small cave and crawled in, huddling Sonic inwards as the avalanche passed them, blocking the entrance to the cave. As soon as the rumbling stopped, she placed Sonic down and crawled over to the entrance in an attempt to dig their way out. However, it was just too cold for her fingers to keep going. But she kept trying, no matter what.

Her heartbeat elevated with fear that they were going to be stuck there for a while. Why did she make the decision to leave? If Sonic was awake this wouldn't happened. Sonic would not have let them get overrun by tonnes of snow. This was the reason why she would never be the hero she envied so much.

Her fingers stiffened and started burning from the sub zero temperatures of the wintery elements. But all the while she just kept clawing her fingers in.

RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE

A series of tremors sent Amy flying back to the end of the cave as the snow caved in and flung her. And the cave itself was just cold, dark and damp that her heart was really racing. No. She could do this. By herself. With no fear. Get rid of the fear and bring on the rock hard determination to escape.

So she crawled back and continued to dig. No matter the cost. This was her fault and be damned if she wasn't going to get them both out of it. She would let Sonic sleep for now, for she needed to push herself beyond her limits in order to prove to herself that she could do it. But she knew dumb decisions would hinder her self-esteem. She had the solid belief that they weren't going to die. She had the luck on her side, the heart of the cards so to speak. She'd only looked at her own cards a month ago and they said that she will put the world before herself. But her interpretation of her world was built before she started dating Shadow, meant her world was still Sonic.

She was torn between him and Shadow. She loved Shadow dearly, that he'd changed for her, but it wasn't necessary as she loved him the same way. He was generally nice enough to take her out on dates and the great care he showed her was what she dearly wanted from Sonic. He would tolerate going to the cinemas but she suspected Rouge was playing afoot, forcing him to go with it or else. Whether Rouge's threats were real were a different story, but for now, they were a happy couple.

She looked back at how she'd fallen for him that day. Again egging from Rouge's perspective on the suggestion she should give him a chance. Her love for Sonic started to fade, but Amy knew it wouldn't go away completely. It was simply buried for the time being. She longed for more. If it wasn't the longing for love of another then it was for adventure. She'd realized the dreams of doing casual dates was incredibly...boring. Years after imagining the perfect one came to a halt when everything was dull and the same, seeing couples having a good time did nothing to alleviate the matter at all.

She took off the jacket and shirt and placed them both on Sonic, despite being a bit damp, might help slightly if at all. The lack of light made it hard, and scared Amy a little...knowing those previous dreams were hollow and blank. Amy tried to be strong as she inhaled and exhaled, not letting it get to her now. She began digging again straight after, determined to let Sonic see the sunrise.

–

More hours had passed and Amy was exhausted. The sweat from it turned to icicles, Amy passing off the pain for happy thoughts, forcing her will to embrace the positives and run with them. She knew Sonic would do the same thing, not just for her but for anyone. Once every moment she take a several second break to breath. She looked at her hands. They were red raw from all the persistant and near non-stop clawing and etching of the thick, icy snow. The tunnel was several meters long but had no end in sight. Heck no she was not going to break now. Sonic could wake at any moment and foil her plan. Amy knew she had to do this herself, for herself. She imagined seeing the end of it, but stress was getting to her brain, a massive headache from a lack of liquids putting a strain on progress. She crawled back over to Sonic to make sure he was okay. She smiled weakly as he was resting peacefully. She began to think maybe doing the same wasn't such a bad idea after all. She placed her hand on her necklace, placing the faith that she would have Shadow's spirit with her.

She woke up that morning, laid out on an unknown bed and staring at an unknown roof, with the sun overcasting on her body. Her head hurt. Real bad. Sitting up, she turned to her side, and saw that Sonic was resting beside her. She covered her mouth as she gasped in shock, more worried that she'd done the improbable the night before that she couldn't remember. They didn't...did they?

Sliding off the bed, she checked herself out. She didn't feel any other pains besides her feet and her groggy head. She saw her boots underneath the bed and grabbed them, then felt something on her chest. A beautiful white necklace that glistened in the sunlight. Glancing over to Sonic, who was sound asleep still, she grasped the pendant in her hands, then saw Shizaru standing on the end.

"Woah..." She muttered.

"Your have a destiny to fulfill. He has gotten you the necklace that was craved by the enemy. Now you must search for the black glove once worn by Gabriel."

Amy looked down. "Yes, Gabriel mentioned the Glove. He called it God's Hand."

Shizaru nodded. "Gabriel used God's Gauntlet during emergencies. Our source has confirmed that it is in the waters of near Prison Island."

Amy's eyes widened. "I can't go there! That's forbidden GUN territory!"

Shizaru's stare sent chills down Amy's spine. "Then your friend will."

The rest of that day was a mere blur to her. But as her eyes whirlpooled into Sonic's face, she had to break herself away and keep etching.

–

Several hours later and Amy was really feeling it. Tired, cold, sore and wet. Her entire body was aching from the repetitive duty she took on herself. She had spearhead that focus into getting them both out of there. Her elbows were red, her knees were red and her dress and shawl torn. She heard Sonic grumbled about and she turned her head to see that he was attempting to sit up. She kept digging away rapidly. Sonic was now fully awake, albeit rubbing himself and whinging about being unable to see. There was a slight glow from the snow outside of the cave, seeing Amy's boot shuffling about. Confused, Sonic crawled over to see what she was doing.

"What are you doing?" He asked her, deeply concerned.

Amy gritted her teeth, then took a deep breath. "I did something incredibly stupid and now I'm getting us out of this mess.

Sonic looked around, surprised. The light from his bionic eye lit the area up slightly.

Her could see her, almost as blue as he. She had bags under her eyes and her lips were purple. She was shaking to no end as he could see her gloves ripped and her fingers bloodstained. Seeing the digging along, streaks of her blood was scrawn across it. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Amy..." He muttered. "You're hurt."

Amy whined. "Oh wow thanks Captain Obvious!" She scolded, swatting his hand.

Sonic leaned back and sat on his heels. "No need to get snappy!"

His attempts to help her were being blocked by her body, getting him really annoyed.

"Why won't you let me help you?" He wondered.

Amy rubbed her eyes. "Because it was my fault that I made the decision to come back down and put you in the hut...I think keeping warm was more important than seeing the sunrise..."

Sonic smiled. "How come you didn't wake me?"

Amy sighed. "Because...because I wanted to prove I could do it without your help! I wanted to be as smart and strong as you! I'm tired of being caught all the time and you rescuing me."

Sonic sat back. "Doesn't really justify why you didn't wake me up. We could have worked together to get out."

Amy resumed digging. "For once, I'm not gonna cry about it. I'm getting us both out, using my method whether you like it or not!"

She kicked Sonic back and managed to finally scratch the surface and popped herself out, seeing the sea of clouds before glow gold. She popped back in and grabbed Sonic, who was recovering from a boot to the head. Amy hoped out, lending Sonic a hand, who refused it due to her current behaviour. However she rolled her eyes and smirked at his smart-alecness. They stood next to each other, Amy filled to the brim with happiness as the sun came above the clouds, its eternal shine warming them both, the ice sweat melting off.

"It's fantastic!" Sonic commented.

Amy clasped her hands together and took in what the sun could give her. It was making her extremely glad that she managed to get them both out in time. She started bouncing around like mad, screaming "We made it! We made it!"

Sonic chuckled. "We sure did. Thanks Amy..."

Amy, amidst her joyous leaps, grabbed old of Sonic's head and gave him a big smooch, his cheeks heating up once more and the shocked look on Amy's face on what she just did. She back-flipped her motions and turned away, looking down at the ground in shame.

"I could have gotten us out a lot earlier than that. I-I mean, I was too slow..."

Sonic was stunned for a moment, then shook it off.

"Amy, you got us out as quickly as you...wait, how?"

Amy turned to him again with an angered look on her face. "Did you not appreciate my effort? You would have done heaps better than me!"

Sonic raised his hands in a passive expression. "Woah...I wasn't criticizing you!"

Sonic cracked his neck. Man this girl was back to her mood swings. "Can't we just enjoy the sunrise?"

Amy pouted. "Oh of course! Pay attention to the prettier woman who sits in the sky?"

Now this was just getting silly. It was probable that this was going to go nowhere really fast. There was just no way to please her. Amy stormed off in a huff, with Sonic rolling his eyes and making his own way back, running past the huts, before seeing Knuckles stumble out of his.

"SONIC PLEASE HELP!" Knuckles yelled.

Sonic skidded to a halt. What more could go wrong here? He stopped beside Knuckles who looked bothered and in a rut, his quills all over the place and his face all covered with lipstick. Sonic couldn't help but snicker.

"Shut up!" Knuckles retorted, notably angered, yet highly stressed. He looked around, before pulling Sonic and taking him somewhere secluded, namely back to the Master Emerald, where Neptune was playing cards with Cheese. He pulled him and forced him to sit down.

Sonic could see Knuckles was upset and ready to pop at any moment, shaking and sweating like mad. He'd never seen his buddy like this. They were now sitting down beside the Master Emerald, Sonic strangely needing to hear what Knuckles had done.

"What's up?" Said Sonic.

Knuckles looked around. He was glad Neptune and Cheese didn't speak or understand much. His paranoia was getting Sonic more interested by the minute. He took a deep breath.

"I think I had a bit too much to drink last night..." Knuckles bated out, bringing a ice pack to his forehead.

Sonic rose an eyebrow, smiling with bemusement. "Go on..."

Knuckles watched Sonic and Amy leave the reception as he sat down in his chair. Milo came back from the bar and threw a beer into Knuckles hand after saving him from Vector's cousins by throwing them towards Espio. Milo had a successful smug look on his face, with Knuckles confused as to what was going on. Most people were having the cake, dancing or talking amongst themselves. Both Vector and Vanilla had gigantic families so it was easy to get lost in the crowd. However Knuckles and Milo were having a casual conversation about life, Milo more intrigued with his relationship with Rouge. But, instead of pushing it like with Sonic and Amy, he decided to be a little more subtle about it.

The time came when the bouquet had to be tossed. Milo's goal was to find the tallest female he could find. Vanilla had an older sister, Caramel, who was extremely tall. Milo had spoken with her earlier and found out the glasses girl was an avid Shipper, explaining that it is someone who supports a pairing. Milo in his smugness thought it was perfect and plotted with the woman, who had to be in her late thirties and yet, she looked younger than her sister...not to mention acting no older than Cream. No matter, it was enough for his plan to work. In her giggles and squees in the secrecy of their mischievous whispers she agreed to do what she was told. Milo rubbed his hands together in delight. He heard the chatter of wondering where Pink was, when Milo comfortably told them she was busy elsewhere. He agreed it was uncharacteristic, but what she was doing now was far better than catching a batch of flowers.

He let Caramel go amongst the crowd, specifically standing behind Rouge. Milo stood in the distance and winked at her. Vanilla then tossed the bouquet and all the hands of the single ladies in the bunch. Caramel had caught it, but deliberately dropped it into Rouges hands, who punched the air as she held the bouquet. Milo looked smug and extremely devious, as Caramel came back over and stood next to him.

"Your turn." She muttered to him. He nodded.

Milo walked forward with confidence. He could see Knuckles, Voxel and Espio being pushed into the pack by Vector. Milo was very lucky he was one of the tallest men in the room, or else the second phase of his plan wouldn't work. Getting behind Knuckles, they watched as they turned on the raunchy music, with Vanilla sitting on the chair with an immense shade of red on her face. Vector got down on his hands and knees and lifted her dress up and took off her shoe, causing some to cover the eyes of the little ones or tell them to run off during this time. Vector had great chompers and made sure he was delicate with this common marriage ritual. With his front teeth, he slowly, carefully but surely, slide the lacy white garter off her thigh on to her shin and calf and finally her hold of it with his hand, he threw it behind him, Milo lending his hand forward to snatch it, only for him to purposely drop it in Knuckles hand, with the poor social-less Knuckles confused on this matter. He was dumbfounded on the amount of pats on the back he received, but couldn't open his mouth to ask what it truly meant. He asked Milo on whether he should keep hold of it. Milo shrugged and grabbed his beer.

"Ask Vector, he'll be able to tell ya." Milo said, walking off and chuckling like mad.

Knuckles waited until the crowd dispersed and approached the Crocodile.

"Vector, can I ask you a question?" Said the red Echidna.

"G'head." Replied Vector.

Knuckles held the garter in the air, completely clueless. "What siginificance does this piece of womans clothing have.

Vector cackled to the point he was confused from laughing too hard.

"Knux my friend, you've never been to a wedding have you?"

Knuckles shook his head. "You know me Vec, I hardly get of this darn Island half the time."

Vector nodded. "Understood, understood...but it's simple it's..."

Knuckles eye's widened hard as he froze with shock

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" Knuckles roared before falling over. Espio walked over.

"What's wrong with him?" Wondered the purple reptile.

Vector took a sip of his wine.

"Heh...I told him about the meaning of catching the garter."

Even Espio had to laugh. "Well I was glad it wasn't me."

–

Knuckles huddled in the corner, paranoid and scared out of its wits. Milo strolled to him.

"So...I take it you found out?" Said the Gaunt Fox with his hands in his pockets.

Knuckles glared at him. "YOU TRICKED ME!"

Milo raised his hands in a passive motion. "Tricked? They call me the Trickster but honestly, I wasn't the one who pushed you inside the pack did I?"

It was true. Milo loved using his way with words to screw with others. He always saw the loop holes in everything and had every intention to exploit them. He was that kind of person.

"So, I actually have to follow through with this?" Knuckles said with horror.

Milo rubbed his chin. This was gold.

"Of course. You have to mar-"

"LALALALALALA NOT LISTENING!" Knuckles cried out, blocking his ears with his hands whilst rolling on the floor."

Milo shrugged and walked off. "What ever...He's all yours Rouge..."

Knuckles gulped. Oh crud...

Rouge pulled him by his tie and pressed their noses together. "Look Bat-Girl, I don't care that it's the rules...or that it's tradition...or that the purpose of this is to make us mates..and-"

His chatter was stopped with the pressing off her lips. Dear Chaos this was killing him. It was murdering Milo with the hilarity of it. Apparently Rouge already had a little too much to drink, despite having to be in charge of the GUN troops while Shadow was gone. She pressed the Echidna up on the wall with her body and rubbed herself against him. Knuckles entire body was on fire by now. Dear Chaos, dear chaos, dear chaos, dear chaos, dear chaos...

They soon parted lips. Milo had already given Knuckles the necessary amount of drinks, which was making him go more crazy than usual. He was still wide-eyed, then found himself looking down her cleavage.

"Uh...Rouge...I understand that as rival treasure hunters we must keep our personal space to ourselves..." Knuckles tried to reason. But Rouge was not having any of it.

"Little Mole..." She stuttered. "Echidna..." He corrected.

Rouge shook her head with sarcastic expression. "EchidNA...you and I both know we left an impression on each other ever since you saved me on the ARK all those years ago. Truth be told I was extremely touched by your heroism...your dedication to protect the Master Emerald..."

Knuckles grunted...and blushed harder.

"Really?" He answered, looking away in embarrassment.

Rouge smiled. Then let go of him.

"But...if you're not going to trust me I won't give you this special gift I've been saving for you for years." She said before turning around to leave.

Knuckles reached out his hand. "Rouge wait!"

Rouge smirked, before changing her expression to sweet. "Yes?"

Knuckles rubbed the back of his neck. There was something small but there, and he felt it for this vulptous bat girl who was damn right sexy...oh great, now he wasn't thinking straight. Damn Milo for shoving the beer down his throat.

"I'm sorry...it's just that well..."

He had to make the excuse...apologize...and see what kind of gift she's got for him. Probably something she'd stolen no doubt.

"I wouldn't mind seeing the gift..." He said.

Rouge smiled. "Sure...it's in my hut if you don't mind a short walk..."

Knuckles smiled weakly. "I need a short walk..."

–

Knuckles rubbed his head. "Ugh...that's all I remember. She started giving me this stuff...then all of a sudden..."

Sonic rose his eyebrows and rotated his hands, wanting to know the rest of it.

Knuckles rubbed his eyes. "I think I...I..."

She sat him on her bed, the window facing towards the vibrant moon. He tapped his knees with his hands whilst Rouge poured him another drink.

"So...when are you going to give me this gift?" He asked.

Knuckles didn't want look impatient, he was sure Rouge was sifting through her things to see where this gift was. He drank what was probably his third wine on top of the four cans of beer he had before with Milo. It was mighty tasty, being a fan of the fine wines himself.

"What kind of wine is it?" He asked her, wondering where she placed the bottle.

Rouge snickered silently. "The bottle's on the desk behind the candle."

Knuckles' vision was pretty much very blurry by this point. He reached over and grabbed the bottle, and read it.

"Spagonia Valley Sparkling White, 19XX...wow this is old. No wonder it tastes so good!"

Without a second thought he finished the glass and placed it next to the candle...then proceeded to down the entire bottle in one go, too drunk to feel the burn going down his throat.

"Okay I found it!"

Knuckles turned around, thinking finally. He tried to get his vision together when he felt his lips being pressed. His controlled inhibition vanished and let her slide her tongue into his mouth, which he promptly suckled for it's unique taste.

"What kind of gift is that?" Knuckles grunted angrily, his head swaying about.

Rouge, just as drunk as he, shoved him on the bed, making him laugh oddly.

"Oh I see..." He commented with a seductive smile matching hers, allowing her naked body to smother all his as she throw off his gloves...

–

"Oh..." Sonic said, greatly surprised by this. He rubbed his best mates back.

"So what happened before I found you?"

Knuckles sighed. "I woke up, found her next to me. It wasn't her horrible snoring...just an itchy throat as all. Then when I saw her, I panicked!"

Sonic nodded. "Hmm...it's probably best that the pair of you avoid each other for a while then huh?"

Knuckles nodded. He shot up, then ran to the edge of the Island and threw up over the edge. Sonic sighed. Poor Echidna, dealing with such a fallout of mental alterations. He himself couldn't do anything about it. Not much anyway. All he could do is stand with support, due to the fact Sonic wasn't that experienced in dealing with it.

–

An hour later, there were mutters amongst the pasture of temp huts. Sonic walked back into the Temple to find Elise passed out on the dance floor. Milo soon came in as well, cleaning up the mess, and picked up the young Princess.

"Wow you're up early." Sonic said.

Milo smiled and nodded. "So are you...I offered to clean up before our trip to the Enchanted Forest."

Sonic almost forgot about it. "Ah okay...where's a broom?"

Milo had gotten a row of towards the temple entrance and threw the rubbish into them, Sonic wiping down and helping pack up the tables. Several GUN Personnel as well as the Solennan waiters and chefs cleaned up as well. Within no time at all, the Temple was back to it's old , treasured, respectful state. Knuckles would be happy.

"There...good as...uhh...old..." Sonic said, unsure of the tense he should have used.

"Yup!" Agreed Milo.

Knuckles had packed up and quickly cleaned up out in the shrine area, with Neptune and Cheese helping out too. Milo, ever the gentlefox, made himself and Sonic assist them. Sonic knew, from Knuckles rugged look, that he needed more sleep.

"Knux, let us do the rest of the work...go..." Said Sonic.

Knuckles grew angry. "Hey, this is my Shrine, and I'll be damned if I don't clean this place up..."He said, before running off to the edge and throwing up again. Sonic and Milo facepalmed. He indeed did drink pretty heavily.

–

The rest of that Sunday was pretty swift moving. Vector and Vanilla had their own private GUN Jet heading towards Apotos for their honey moon, leaving Cream and Cheese in the care of her grandmother. Sonic sat next to Neptune, who looked glum at having to leave his good friend behind. Sonic assured the agent that they would see each other soon. Neptune clapped ecstatically.

Knuckles waved to them as they left, but looked like he was searching for Rouge. She wasn't there to stare, but was most likely very hung over and issuing bitchy commands to her subordinates, much to their displeasure. Amy didn't get on the same plane as Sonic, in fact, he didn't see her getting on any of them at all, wondering if she'd called Shadow and asked for a earlier pick up. All possibilities were mentally suggested.

Several hours later, they'd returned back to GUN Headquarters as Sonic, Neptune and Milo went back to the Den. Neptune flipped on the TV as usual as Milo went to go get changed back into his leather gear. Sonic stripped off his suit and so forth and was finally free from the realm of clothing.

The boys made themselves Weet Bix, and chowed down the food. It was ten thirty, but no one really cared. They sat with Neptune and watched some random cartoon that was on. They were all critically tuned in to cartoon which involved a Cow and a Chicken, sinking into the couch with all their feet on the coffee table.

"This show never made sense to me." Milo droned.

Sonic looked at him, shoving a spoonful of breakfast into his gob. "In what way?"

"Well, look at the Chicken. Aren't chickens female?"

Sonic blinked. "Uhh yeah?"

Milo nodded. "This chicken is male."

Sonic rubbed his head. "Uhh that make's it a Rooster then doesn't it?"

Milo shook his head. "Yes...but this one in particular is actually, a male chicken."

Sonic rose both eyebrows, puzzled by the impossibility. "ooookay...never thought about that."

The Gaunt Fox chuckled. "I mean, they're brother and sister..."

The Hedgehog brushed it off. "It's in the theme song...Momma had a chicken, Momma had a cow..."

Putting it all into his mouth, the milk ran down his hoodie then placed the bowl on the bench behind the couch and wiped himself down.

"That's another thing..."

They continued talking about the obscene show as well as all kinds of random, yet ordinary conversations like they had them all the time. The presence of calmness, the steady and the stable lives of a Hedgehog, Fox and...Probationary Agent.

–

After breakfast, they discussed on going to the Enchanted Forest for their training excerise. Sonic had only heard Elise speak about it, as well as Muriel mentioning one of the artifacts were situated there. Made sense, since Abbadonia's Rose was found there but highly hazardous to go and grab, which made Sonic think about what lie in the forest of unknown wonders.

"The Lance of Love...for the Soleannans...within the parchments of the Enchanted Forest Zone."

Sonic stood in thought. "You said GUN held the Sphere. Do you think we could use it?"

Milo looked smug. "Lemme see...I'll have someone on the inside who might be able to help us. I'll be back in one moment..."

He fled into the basement. Now that Sonic looked at it, he'd forgotten Tails had a basement. Probably labs and stuff, but he doubted Tails would want GUN to look into it, especially with a lot of his projects. But it was none of his business as well. Milo knew more than Sonic about these things...so he let it slide. Besides, Neptune and NiGHTS had looked through the boxes of mostly media based property. So there was probably nothing else interesting down there.

Soon after, Milo had ran back up and patted Sonic on the back. "Sonic...don't worry, I have it under control..."

–

FLASH

–

More light flashed before his eyes, before he knew it, he was standing in dark green arch way, smothered with vines encased in a variety of flowers. However, what he saw beyond the archway was amazing...

Trees as tall as legendary titans overshadowed a wide path way, their roots shooting out of the ground and back into the ground again, some creating their own entrances. Their ages had to be great. Birds chirped as the sun struggling to push past the canopy of billions of leaves, forging the high roof of the forest. Every flower but the Abbadonia Rose was found. This had to be the extension of the Garden of Soleanna Castle. Neptune ran over to each of the ones he found interesting and just had to poke them for his own amusement. The Probie loved it, sometimes making flower angels due to the sheer thickness of the flowers below, with Milo wondering out aloud how the flowers manage to grow so beautiful with the majority of the sunlight unable to get through. Sonic knelt before a beautiful blue flower and smelt it. It was sweet, cheerful and out of this world. Engrossed by the fresh air, Milo stretched his arms and inhaled. Indeed it was the Enchanted Forest...

Butterflies were found all over the place, Neptune wanting to catch a flock of violet ones that fluttered by, prancing about before falling flat on his face. Milo flew up to one of the branches and stood on it, placing his hand above his eyes to see how far the forest skimmed to. But the immense amount of elder trees was astonishing, like something out of Lord of the Rings. He blamed Tails for these retarded remembrances. Sonic ran up the tree and stood beside Milo. Neptune on the other hand dug his claws into the wood and climbed up rapidly and erratically, before leaping beside Sonic and tilting his head a lot.

Milo took one look at Sonic with this...competitive look on his face. Sonic knew what it meant. He'd seen that face on hundreds of people and it translated into one simple thing...

Milo propelled himself with his tails and shot forward, with Sonic jumping from tree to tree, Neptune making his front flips with every leap. The scenery whizzed by them, the leaves they crossed whipped across their bodies, creating a fast crackling noise. It was like the dream he had with Amy. But this wasn't the dream world. Reality had taken place into the unknown pastures of the wilderness...

Several races later, they made it to a branch, near some very thick flora, including vines and leaves and all kinds of things blocking the path before them. Neptune quickly whipped them back, obviously having no sense of suspense. Sonic rolled his eyes, then soon widened them.
A gigantic tree a hundred times the size of any other tree in the forest lay on top of the hill, it's roots twisted and contorted like magic, flocks of birds doing their flight routines in front of it, as if it's some kind of relic for the fauna. Hundreds of branches and giant fungi shot off the trunk, with it's thickness as wide as ten ordinary two storied houses sitting next to each other. It made him glad he was more of an adventurer, to see and be able to look at the engrossing views of untouched wonders. Milo shot past him, Neptune following with his leaps and bounds. Sonic grinned as he jumped from branch to branch and made their way to the giant tree...

They stood before it, unable to comprehend it's size. But at the bottom was an entrance to the inside of it. It was dark and crawling with bugs as the whispers of the small echoed throughout the hollow trunk. There were gigantic, glowing orange fungi that spiraled upwards in a stair case fashion, prompting Sonic to run up as fast his could, with Neptune in tow. Milo flew straight up, trying to beat Sonic at getting up via flight. Neptune could have been a professional acrobatic from the way he was going and sometimes stopped because he was distracted by fireflies and tried to catch them as well. Fluorescent lights flickered within, creating a spectacular show.

Now at the top, the view...was simply breathtaking. Milo was disappointed that he didn't bring a camera with him. Trees upon trees as far as the eye could see, even seeing the Kingdom of Soleanna in the distance, as the curve of the world started to take shape, clouds lowered as light beamed in around them and a cool, blue aura faded with the horizon. Sonic collapsed and spread his arms as he lay on a branch. Milo took in the views and the sensational air. Neptune was busy playing with the Chao that hid up there, taking the other two by surprise...

"Heh...a Chao Garden. Who knew?" Sonic commented, smiling at Neptune enjoying himself.

Milo nodded. "The Chaotic Energies around here must be immense and supporting the trees weight."

Sonic then frowned, unaware that his uncontrolled thoughts maintained his emotive expression as he was disappointed a certain someone wasn't there with him.

"Why the frown? Charlie Brown?" Wondered Milo, his rhyming on par with Bazzas puns.

Sonic looked up at him. "What?"

Milo hung off a branch. "You're in deep thought. I can tell."

Sonic's eyes were left wandering. "No I'm not."

Milo sneered. "Hah! You're doing it again! It's Pink isn't it?"

Sonic's eyes swatted back to Milo's, making Milo laugh.

"Hahahaha! It is! It totally is! I knew it!"

Sonic rose an eyebrow, again unaware of what he was expressing failing to realize he was blushing.

"Man...still? You're serious gonna be in denial about this attraction thing aren't you?"

Sonic lowered his eyebrows, annoyed. "I don't like any human singer." Sonic said in monotone, unconsciously deflecting.

Milo laughed again. "Sonic! Look at yourself! You're so deep in denial your immediate reaction is to believe it's not there..."

Sonic facepalmed, rolling his eyes. He wasn't so sure why Milo was so adamant in this. Again, he was trying to prove something that wasn't true. How could he, someone who, yeah sure, makes him hungry for some reason, be attracted to a girl who was completely insane, crazy, hammer happy and demanding. He was getting real uncomfortable again...real quick. He tried changing the subject but Milo was just as stubborn.

"Milo! Please stop!" Sonic cried. "What's the meaning of this? All you're gonna get is no."

Milo stopped smiling and grew a bit angry.

"Okay then...lemme tell you something then..." He said, his mood changing completely.

"What?" Sonic retorted in a huff.

Milo sighed. "I've seen you two. I've seen the way you've acted around one another. I've asked your friends. They've seen things...and..."

Sonic waggled his hands and shook his head. "Woah woah woah...you've asked and spoken to, everyone I know, about mine and Amy's friendship? I've hardly known you for what, more than a week? And yet you're just as bad as Amy herself, demanding to have answers...and like her, won't take the negatives. You simply want yes. You're gonna keep going at it until I admit it, which I won't, because Amy and I are friends...that's...it!"

Milo snuffed. "I told you I'm an Intel Officer. I'm also very good at reading people and their ques."

Sonic scrunched his hand and stared him right into the window's of his face, looking beyond the severely interested and obsessed soul. "Okay then READER tell me...tell me what's really going on here?"

Milo crossed his arms, smiling and winking at the passing wind, which Neptune caught...somehow.

"Okay then..." Milo said calmly. "What would you like to know in specific detail?"

Sonic rubbed his forehead. He honestly didn't want to do this.

"Okaaay...lemme see...ah hah! Okay...Amy and I have nothing in common, what do you see in that hm?"

Milo brought on his smugness once more. He was succeeding more than Sonic's stubbornness ever could...by smoothly buttering the bread.

"That is a...really easy question..." Said Milo. "There are plenty..."

"Like what?" Sonic asked rudely, raising his eyebrow.

Milo rubbed his hands and cracked his fingers.

"For starters...you're both Hedgehogs."

Well duh...thought Sonic.

"What else?"

The Gaunt Fox caressed his own cheek.

"You both have...might I say...eyes as green as an Emerald..."

Sonic fell into the trap of unawareness, thinking about the sparkly jewels that lay in her head. Both of them had the same sort of coloured eyes. He wasn't entirely practiced in that...always forgetting his own colour.

"You are both...determined. You do defeat Eggman, she to...well until most recently, pursue you no matter what!"

There was that...damn Fox was right. Sonic was ready to sock one to him.

"What else. Both of you appear to wear red."

Do you like the colour red?

Milo raised an eyebrow. "Sonic?"

Sonic looked up, no realizing he had zoned out briefly. He tried to get back in the zone, putting his anger to the ever pushy Milo.

"Ehhh Shadow has partly red fur. What's to say she wears it because she likes red regardless of what I wear." Sonic pointed out.

Milo nodded. "Point taken." He responded.

Sonic rubbed his face in frustration. He wasn't sure what Milo was getting at or what the purpose of all of this was. Amy Rose is Sonic the Hedgehog's friend. And that is that. Yet like Sonic himself told him earlier, they hadn't even known each other for a week and Milo could already see...signs or what ever. He was alright guy when not focusing on the subject of love, which Sonic found involving him quite abhorrent. A gush of wind shuffled some leaves, distracting Sonic for a moment.

"But come on, if you admit it to me that you at least like Amy, then I promise I will never ever raise the subject again." Said Milo.

Sonic's attention turned back to the Fox. Sounded like a sweet deal, faking admitting he liked Amy sounded easy enough.

"Very well...I like Amy. Happy?" Sonic said with a monotone.

Milo chuckled. "Hah! That was nothing...you have to do it with feeling. Your like sounds the same as a Facebook Like. Say it again."

Oh great. Why?

"I like Amy." He said, a little more chirpier. But Milo wasn't convinced.

"MMMM...no. Again. More Oomph..."

Rage and impatience was beginning to build up, as well as a hunger feeling in his stomach. Mil was never gonna be satisfied with anyway Sonic says the words.

"Oh c-"

Milo shook his head. "Your head is so far stuck up it's own ass it's literally not funny anymore. It's worse than getting someone to admit they're an alcoholic or a serial gambler. All I'm getting you to do, is honestly, admit a portion of those feelings because I know they're there even if you don't. I'm gonna keep repeating myself until I hear those words, clear, succinct and meaningful. Now try again."

Sonic sighed. This was getting old in itself real quick.

"I like Amy."

Again

"I like Amy."

Again.

"I...like...Amy..."

Again.

Sonic was clenching his fist and shaking it.

"I...like...Amy..."

Again.

Sonic gritted his teeth. The hunger only grew at this point.

"I, Sonic the Hedgehog, Like Amy Rose..."

Again.

Sonic muttered under his breath. His nerves were about to shatter.

"I, Sonic the Hedgehog, Love Amy Rose...better?"

Ag-

Sonic snapped, nothing was ever going to satiate Milo's appetite for dramatic admissions. The power of the fury took hold of Sonic as he stomped his foot, acting like a child and literally screaming, the hunger turning to flames...

"I LOVE AMY ROSE!" He screamed, several birds flocking away from the tree tops in a frightened reaction as Milo fell back and a large thumping sound was heard from not too far away.

Milo sat up, bemused from the current, exasperated expression on Sonic's face. He stood there, panting with the most furious look on his face. He couldn't believe Milo at this point, smiling at this...what was there to-

Oh...

Oh dear Chaos...

Oh shi-

Milo rose one eyebrow, finally content when Sonic's face quickly changed from one of pure anger, to extreme realization. It made sense. The hunger was never hunger pains but emotional inflammation that flared up when ever they spoke, and the heart racing was from nervousness built on previous unexplored feelings. The pieces were coming together now as Sonic held his head, shirking from his idiocy. He was beginning to freak out with parts began to surface. Still placing the denial in front, his spoken words were telling lies as his thoughts wondered elsewhere, trying to pick the true reason for it. But it was there. Worst of all, Milo was right.

He had no idea what to do.

Dear chaos he'd been so...blind, so ignorant. Everything was buried deep within, his fast heart and inflammed stomach purely outlets desperately trying to find a proper reaction. No, no...this wasn't how she'd felt as well? Was it? Is this the same for everyone going through the same thing. He couldn't...he shouldn't...he was damning it for occurring. His world was spinning.

"Sonic?"

Sonic looked up at the fox. He couldn't say anything at all. What was all the running away for? A fear? A fear of becoming attached to someone else. A fear of an actually being in love? Commitment? That, the Pink Hedgehog who had pestered him for so long had finally gotten through to him, that he feel deeper after hearing her stories, the reasons behind who she was, than within that depth he began to see her inner beauty and have those...rather explicit dreams that were telling him what he had.

You don't know what you've got until it's gone...

The factor, that he, Sonic the Hedgehog, hero of the world, Knight of the Wind, the Blue Blur, the Fastest thing alive, loved Amy Rose, rude brat, Hammer-happy girl, Tails-titled Tsundere, persistent...sweet, cute, talented, smart...beautiful...

Even now his thoughts trailed off. He couldn't find the steady thought within the pool of maddening imagery and words. He couldn't cope with it. No...he couldn't comprehend.

So he kept denying it.

"Milo...I can't. I don't..." Sonic muttered, his eyes bouncing from side to side.

Milo browed. "What?"

Sonic held his head again. This hit him real hard. She was his friend and that's all it was to it. Yeah, that was it. Milo was there and seemingly the expert. Maybe there was a way to get rid of these feelings...

"I can't have feelings for her. Amy's a friend. A bit crazy at times but still a friend." Said Sonic.

Milo face-palmed. "You keep telling yourself that...but now that you've come to the conclusion that those feelings are there and the only way you could possibly get rid of them is to entirely ignore them. However, even with ignorance, It's entirely impossible to just...forget. Feelings are feelings because we can't control them."

There was the truth in that. It was something he couldn't tame via running or smashing apart. He had to let his head rule his heart and pushed it forward. But then...

"If I love her...then why...why can't I do it?"

Milo smirked, obviously knowing the answer to that.

"You're the hero of legend. Some heroes are meant to be alone. They rush into the foil, sometimes not knowing what they're supposed to be doing but they learn by instinct and experience. You have both...you've been entirely consumed by heroism that you forgot how to implement yourself with real life situations and that's the reality of it. Sometime in your life you will slow down and settle. That's the path of growing and time. You can't be the hero all your life. You will try, but then...there's the click in your brain that tells you it's time."

One-tracked mind more like it. Which is why he had to do it with the time he had. Soon after, he couldn't handle Milo's philosophized ranting and had the need to run...run real fast and far away from here. Far from others to forgive and forget everything. Distance himself. He couldn't take it and zoomed down the tree...

---

Coming down the bottom, he was so distracted that he collided with Olly, who was holding a long, black, rune encased spear like apparatus. He got up and rubbed his head, apologizing to the Agent.

"Sorry, wasn't paying much attention." Said Sonic.

Olly got up and checked the item. "No, it's okay, this thing popped out of nowhere as well."

Sonic nodded. The sight of the objective-minded Agent calmed his spirit. She reminded him of himself, dedicated to completing the mission and almost completely forgetting why he was angry or what had gone wrong just now.

"What is it?" Asked Sonic, thankful for Olly's random appearance.

Olly lifted up. "I have come to believe this is the Lance of Love. It popped out of the trunk of the tree just before. I wonder what made it come out?"

Sonic gulped, subconsciously knowing. "No idea. Oh well."

Olly began twirling around. "Do you still have that book?" She wondered.

Sonic nodded, pulling out Muriel's Book out and flicked through it.

"Okay...so the Lance of Love...found it...basically...heh...sort of similar to Cupid's Arrow."

He read. Olly shuffled herself over to have a good look.

"You're right...but it's stab yourself, leave your blood on the tip then stab the other. Sounds like a real fun way to transfer blood diseases."

"Yeah pretty gruesome."

Olly shortened the Lance and placed it into her backpack then reslung on it back on.

"So what brings you to the Enchanted Forest?" She asked him.

Sonic straightened out. "Well, I was with my Burning Miles team mates for a training excerise."

Olly brought out her Smish-Smasher and leaned on it, then stared at his glove.

"Hey, that's Gods Hand isn't it?" Olly queried, staring at it closely.

Sonic checked it out once more. "Yeah. Amy gave it to me."

That name...

Olly nodded. "Ah good good...any intel on it?"

Not really doing anything else, and deliberately avoiding Milo, he turned the pages and searched for it.

"God's Hand. Used by the High Honour Guards of Old. Used to slay enemies. A gift of the Beings of Yesterlife."

"That's neat." Commented Olly. "So does it actually do anything to help kill those...enemies?"

Sonic shrugged. "Not sure. Been wearing it for a while, hasn't really done anything."

Olly kneeled down and felt around Sonic's palm. "Nothing really activating at it."

Sonic chuckled. "I wonder if it could do any neat tricks then...like, say transform into a drill an-"

DRILL!

All of a sudden, the black glove expanded greatly into a giant ball for a brief second, before deflating and shrinking and twisting itself into a giant drill, then being enveloped by a yellow glow, Olly instinctively clinging on to Sonic's torso as the drill forced itself into the depths of the ground.

"WOAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Bursting underground, Sonic and Olly found themselves behind the immense power of the drilling device, freaking Sonic out even more as he held Olly close to ensure she doesn't get left behind. He had no idea where he was going or where the drill was taking him, but it seemed to be forcing him where ever, going around in circles and loop de loops and traveled all over the place. There was a yellow bubble protecting them from suffocating and being affected by pressure, not to mention preventing them from swallowing kilos of dirt and mud. Sonic found this entirely fun and had a massive smile on his face.

"I guess...we found out what it does!" Sonic cried out.

Olly nodded. "Dear Chaos where's it taking us?" She shrilled.

Heading downwards, Sonic could feel a warmth emanating, before coming out from the Earths depths into an underground area. They looked like ruins, except it was similar to something Sonic had seen before but not seen in a while.

"It's a Portal." Said Sonic.

Olly walked to it, seeing Abbadonia Roses. "I wouldn't get too close." She said.

Sonic crossed his arms. "Lucky we didn't go through it here then..." He said, pointing to the Portal and checking the place and seeing that there's no known exits.

Olly agreed. "Isolated much?"

It looked more like a cave than anything else. The portal itself looked a bit rusted for it's age, cobwebs everywhere.

"You reckon we could get this back to GUN for research?" Olly wondered.

Sonic looked at it. "We'd need some kind of teleporter for that. I mean, how long could it take it dig it out?"

Olly got an idea. She whipped the backpack off her back and shuffled through it, pulling out a small, silver device with a red flickering light on it, placing it on the side of the Portal.

"There. That's a tracking device. This will come on GUN GPS, enabling for a successful, eventual dig out."

Sonic smiled, giving a thumbs up. "That's great!"

A gust of wind circled around the cave, causing Sonic to check his surroundings. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was rather strange considering that the pair were extremely isolated to be anywhere need a gust. His ears twitched, then paid his attention to Olly who had her Hammer out and pointing it towards him.

"Olly?" Said Sonic with concern.

"It's not me." She said. "I have a feeling we're not alone down here."

From the corner of Sonic's eye, a small dark blue circle opened up from beneath, and out arose a super skinny grey hedgehog, wearing a tight black singlet, showing his ribs, and long glove, with the middle and index fingers uncovered. Beneath the chain ridden belt was a pair of tight shiny leather pants and big black boots, albeit wearing a spike collar as well. His face was hidden behind a gas mask, a pair of yellow eyes beam out and his spiky hair shooting out from behind with a minor dip at the end. He floated as his portal disappeared, his arms reason and handles wiggling about.

"Is this a surprise?" Said the Grey Hedgehog, his voice filtering out from the mask's breather module.

"Let her go." Sonic demanded.

Grey laughed, with Olly laughed in sync.

"You and your silly little games Sonic the Hedgehog! You've trespassed on sacred grounds!" Both Olly and Grey said in tune.

Olly started swinging the hammer out, attacking Sonic left and right.

"Come on Olly, snap out of it!" Sonic cried out. Not this out of control stuff again.

"Such a sniveling pile of misery! Now let's attempt to read your mind..."

Pain struck Sonic's mind, the power of it making it near unbearable.

"So...you like Super Mario Sunshine?" He mocked.

It felt like electricity was running through his mind, that Sonic couldn't acknowledge his screwy words.

"What this? Love? How inadequate...excessive and improbable and yet, you have your own honor. I have never been so exploitative in such a jungle mind. But love creates attachment...it's deplorable..."

Flinging Sonic to the nearest wall, Olly was resistant in her movements as she was forced to take steps, her legs shaking from the struggle. Sonic stared her down, his bionic eye activating some sort of previously unrevealed mechanism...a type that displayed data that he couldn't understand, before flashing the word Frenzy in big green letters. It was beginning to pick at Sonic's memories.

"Frenzy?" Sonic cried out, unsure.

Suddenly the glove encased Sonic completely with a purple liquid, replacing his usually mouth with large chomps with gigantic teeth and his mouth black, eyes white and the rest of his body a purple chrome. The Grey was confused by all this, and found himself unable to restrain Sonic. Sonic felt strange, and swatted his foe, forcing him to let go of Olly as well, who ran out of the way, but kept her Smish-Smasher out. Sonic bolted towards Grey and opened his jaw a meter wide vertically, drool coming out of his mouth.

The Grey threw psychic-electric spheres at Sonic, who ate them and licked his lips, then swiped at the Grey quickly dodged and threw a large stone from nowhere at Sonic, knocking him to ground. Olly flung her hammer at him, who used telekinesis to protect himself, sending the hammer flying back, Olly just barely avoiding getting hit. She squatted down and grabbed it, as Frenzy Sonic was on all fours and charged towards Grey who teleported behind Sonic and kicked him in the back. Olly came rushing and attempted to squish the Grey, but he teleported once more, the force and fury of the hammer colliding with Frenzy Sonic's back, sending a sickening roar throughout the cave. Olly didn't apologize and scanned the area, seeing Grey reappear in the corner, sending more of the Psi-Spheres her way. Olly, while standing on Frenzy Sonic's back, pulled back his quills, lifting his head and lowering his jaw to consume the sphere, his body growing even more as he growled and started barking at Grey like mad. Grey, however was not bothered.

"How pradantic...your simple, feral minds unaware of the ultimate goals...and to read yours Agent Mjöllnir..." Said Grey, placing his hands beside his head as he breathed in and out of the gas mask, his fingers waggling slightly.

"Hmmmmm...your mind...filled with secrets...and their own conflicting desires. You and I are not so different...we're only on opposite sides of the card you and I..."

Frenzy Sonic grew furious as Grey continued making a mockery out of Olly, pounced back up and intended to bite the chaos out of this weirdo...
Instead Grey teleported, much to Sonic's annoyance as he collided with a wall, rocks fell from the ceiling. Having trouble getting around, Sonic had nothing but hatred for this creature, who floated in the opposite corner, controlling Olly like a puppet.

"This one...is intelligent but does not have the mental training of resistance. Her mind has it's secrets but once you go through the maze of crumbling thoughts it's not hard to get the center point..."

Frenzy Sonic's eyes narrowed, his rage taking over that he couldn't tell friend from foe. Olly held her hammer forward, waiting for Sonic to strike. For that, he charged at her with all intents and purposes on destroying her. Using his powers, Grey made Olly swing the SS, Sonic grabbing hold of the end of it as soon as he jumped, however, with that, it didn't stop him as he smashed through the ground. He only got up more enraged, his barks more rabid than before, a roar that almost pierced the ear.

"This dog is too dangerous left alive..." Said Grey. "Destroy him, Loyal Agent of GUN!"

Olly walked over to Sonic and picked him up by his neck, slamming him down. What ever was left of Olly was completely taken over by Grey himself.

"You are the Dreamer Sonic the Hedgehog...don't make this nightmare worse." Olly and Grey said in sync.

Grey made Olly push Sonic up against the wall, her strength immense and supported by Greys telekinesis, but unable to understand any of it.

"Did you really think Silver the Hedgehog killed Prince Hayden? No...it was all a show! Even that Pylon King act...it was...part of our plan part of the plot to ensure you would never be distracted from the safety of others!"

Sonic's roared sent a soundwave across the room, knocking Olly over as Frenzy Sonic climbed all over her, his drool dripping on to her suit.
"I might not be able to control you with my telekinesis, but I can still read your mind...let me see...ahaha...you believe the Agent Mjöllnir can snap out of it? Hah! No one can escape the control of Grey the Hedgehog!"

Frenzy Sonic's head tilted as he slung his hand against her helmet, attempting to crush it. Not caring what Grey said, his rage was murderous and relentless, almost crushing poor Olly's helmet...if it weren't for a particular ghostly hedgehogs interruption.

"Woah hold on there!" Said Gabriel, popping out of nowhere. Grey zoomed straight him. "Not you...not you again!" Grey cried out.
He then created a beneath him and got the heck out of there.

"Gah! What a damned chicken!" Olly scolded, getting control of her own body back. She turned to Sonic who made odd looks. She knew this was trouble. She had her hammer ready, not really in the mood for out of control antics at the moment. Sonic jumped at her with every intention to eat her. His roars echoed across the cave as he continued, Olly rolling and hopped out of his target zone.

"What ever..." She sighed. She rose her hammer, as roared again, Olly slugging Sonic's chest, sending him packing and colliding with the wall. He returned to normal and woke up, confused and left rubbing his head

"Woah..." He said, clutching his chest. "Thanks for that...I got real hungry there."

Olly nodded "The glove must give different forms. We'd have to have a further look into it...for now, we might as well get out of here. Hopefully that guy doesn't come back."

Gabriel winked at Sonic, before disappearing...

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Drama and a new villain in sight! How exciting lol. Reviews and questions are always honored.