Hey there everybody ^^ I know I said I would put this on hold and stuff, but the truth is; I can't get this fic out of my head anymore, since things are soon starting to become good. In fact, this is one of the very first chapters I planned out when I started thinking about writing this and I'm so exited that I've finally done it. I just hope all you guys like it as well.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the hedgehog nor any of it's characters. All rights belong to Sega

I wanna become strong!

Sonic raced through the field towards the purple hedgehog in front of him. Violett stood still and watched him closely. Her eyes moved to determine the movements of every single one of Sonic's muscles, trying to foretell what he would do next.

Amy was doing a similar thing, except that she was not observing the movement of her crush's muscles, but the crush herself. After all, she knew Sonic good enough to know how he reacts in different situation. Tails and Knuckles were sitting next to her on the sidelines, not even bothering to watch them. They all had enough fighting experience with Violett to know that no matter what he did, Sonic would lose either way.

If Amy was right, then Sonic would jump high as soon as he got close enough to Violett and smash her into the earth with a kick. The moment for him to do that wasn't far and Amy kept her eyes glued on the blue hedgehog. But Sonic didn't jump. Instead, he made a sharp turn and turned right in the blink of an eye. Amy groaned and let her head fall on her knees. That was the sixth time she had been wrong about her assumptions on Sonic's next moves. Violett's training had not made him faster or stronger in any way, yet it seemed to Amy that Sonic would be a lot harder to beat now, simply because his actions were completely unpredictable. Just when you think that you figured out his style, he changed it, just like that.

Violett herself took a split second to have her eyes catch up with Sonic's rapid change in directions and had to adjust herself to a new position. Sonic was speeding around her in circles and again, Amy made an assumption. If she knew Sonic correctly, he would circle her until he found the perfect moment to attack when she least expected it.

But of course, Amy was wrong again. Sonic jumped in the air over Violett, landed on her other side and ran towards her in attempt to punch her. The mage jumped out of the way, but Sonic followed ran after her, actually managing to get behind her before she even landed. Again, he raised his fist, but Violett just turned out of the way. Sonic dived under her, a movement that was completely unusual for him, and prepared to kick her back into the air. The purple hedgehog noticed that and turned again in midair, where her kick collided with Sonic's kick. The force of the action made Sonic slither across half of the field while Violett landed on all fours just in time. Amy found the magician's strength not only impressive, but scary as well.

"HEY, WHAT DID HE DO WRONG THIS TIME?" Knuckles shouted into the room.

"Yeah, I didn't see that coming either!" Tails added.

"What's the matter?" Amy asked Tails, confused about this situation.

"In mock battles, Violett usually evades and only blocks when we've done something wrong", the kitsune explained.

Done something wrong? What could Sonic have done wrong? His battling looked perfect in Amy's opinion.

"Sonic' done nothing wrong", Violett said calmly, though a little bit out of breath. "I just didn't see any possibility to evade without hurting him. He forced me to block, which is a very good thing, seeing that blocks take a lot of energy. You can see he's gotten a lot better."

Amy looked at Sonic, who crawled back on his feet on the other end of the battle field. He had become so good. And it wasn't only him, Tails and Knuckles had become better as well, though they didn't manage to force Violett to block their attacks yet. But what about her? She was still the same, she didn't get any stronger at all since the Sonic Team left Mobius. And that was of course a complete NoGo! If this went on, Sonic would soon be too strong for her and she wouldn't be able to keep up with him anymore. Another, stronger girl like Violett or the newest team member Blaze would take her place as the best female sidekick and she would be a forgotten character somewhere in the background. No, Amy would definitely NOT allow that to happen.

"Training is over, Amy. Don't you want to follow Sonic?" Violett ripped the pink hedgehog out of her thoughts.

For real, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles all left the training hall, probably to go take a shower, seeing that they all were covered in dirt and bruises. The only ones who were still here were Amy and Violett. And that gave Amy an idea.

"Violett, would you do me a favor?" She asked, standing up.

"A favor?" Violett asked Amy confused, though Amy would bet her position in the team that she had at least a vague idea what Amy wanted from her.

"Will you train me as well?"

For a few minutes, Violett didn't answer, though Amy could see that she was thinking about something. Her eyes became misty and unfocused and the smile on her face was slowly disappearing.

"Why should I do that?" The mage finally asked.

That caught Amy of guard. "Huh?" She said.

"Why do you want me to train you?" Violett asked again. "Give me a reason why I should do such a thing!"

Amy had a reason alright! "Because I want to be Sonic's girlfriend someday, but he'll only acknowledge me when I'm strong ad good enough! I want to be able to keep up with him, to be equal with him so that he'll notice me and my abilities and I want to be the only girl in all the dimensions who is good enough for Sonic!"

The thirteen year old almost screamed those words, but Violett didn't look impressed in any way. She just looked at Amy the same way she did after Amy had asked her to train her and it made a shiver run down Amy's spine. For two long, painful minutes, Violett did not speak or move in any way. Then she finally turned around, towards the exit.

"Alright, I'll train you." She said.

Amy couldn't believe her ears. This was it, that was her chance to completely catch up to Sonic, become almost as strong as him and have him notice her.

"But …" Violett went and Amy stopped her fantasies immediately, "… you will have to pass a test first."

"A … test?" Amy asked again. If only she could see Violett's eyes, maybe they would give her a clue, but the mage was still standing with the back to her.

However, Amy got her 'clues' soon enough, when a rose bush starting growing beneath her. Amy yelled and tried to get away, but the twigs and ranks have caught her legs and were now slowly making their way up to her torso. The thorns scratched up her skin and tore her dress and boots. Finally, they had her almost completely caught, only her head was still free. But now, the rose bush was starting to grow upwards and it was taking Amy with her. When the bush finally stopped growing and blooming, Amy was completely tied up by the ranks and twigs of the bush and had no direct contact with the earth. Also, a purple shield of light was starting to grow around Amy and the bush like a bubble and soon closed up just above Amy's head.

"If you manage to free yourself out of these ranks", Violett said, "then I will train you."

With that, she left the field and left Amy all alone, caught up in the roses. Named hedgehog pouted a bit, but then focused on her task. She took a deep breath and tried stretching her limbs, hoping that it would tear the ranks apart. Only, the closed themselves tighter around her the more she tried and Amy yelped when a particularly big thorn found its way into her flesh. Tears welled up in Amy's eyes and she bit her lip to not cry out. She could feel her warm blood running down her calf. She tried again and again, but the ranks and twigs just kept pulling themselves tighter around her the more she struggled. Soon, another thorn cut into her side and a third into her arm. Amy stopped struggling and fought with her tears.

"Free yourself she says", Amy said bitterly. "And just how am I supposed to do that?"

One more time she tried to tear her way out, but without luck. The thorns just cut deeper into her flesh and by now, she had cuts all over her body. Whatever Violett had expected from her, it was not this. Tearing her way out was not going to do it. Perhaps the solution would come if she waited. Wasn't that what Violett always said? 'You'll get your answers soon enough, just be patient'. Only, Amy wasn't too good at showing patience. But what other choice did she have? So Amy let herself dangle from the rose bush, hoping that the answer would come eventually.

A half an hour went by … an hour … two hours … three hours …

Amy was starting to wonder if anybody was missing her, looking for her. Maybe they could help her get out of this. No, they couldn't, Violett had made sure of that. She knew that wall of light that closed her in, Tails had told her about it. It was a barrier that closed her off from anyone who wanted to get too close to her. No, she needed to do this all on her own.

But her injuries didn't heal, her desperation was starting to grow and she couldn't even summon her hammer to smash the rose bush into pieces. Violett had done a good job in capturing her. Why was nobody coming? She was all alone here, caught up in the roses without hope of escaping.

"Sonic …" she whispered, clinging to the only hope she still had.

"Once upon a broken heart" Amy started singing. "I was walking alone in the dark. Looking for a way to start again. What I wouldn't give for a friend…"

The first tears fell to the ground. "Sonic…" Amy whispered again.

"Wow, what happened to you?" A more then familiar voice asked that made Amy look up.

"SONIC!" she cried out in glee.

He was standing there, right in front of her, looking at her with a frown on his face. His eyes was moving from one scratch to another, trying to figure out how bad the damage on her body was.

"I've been worried about you. You just disappeared like that and nobody knew where you were. You really gave me a fright there." The blue hedgehog said.

"You were worrying about me?" Tears were in Amy's eyes, but this time they were tears of happiness.

"Well … yeah, I was. And obviously, that wasn't the most stupid thing to do. Just look at you, you're a mess! Just a sec, I'll get you out of there." Sonic said and got into position to jump.

"NO!" Amy cried.

Sonic froze in place and looked at her in confusion.

"This … I asked for this. I have to be able to get out that on my own."

Sonic straightened up again and looked at her in worry. "Can I at least tie up your injuries?" He asked.

Amy smiled happily and nodded. The blue blur walked towards his friend and stretched out his hand to pull out the thorns that had found the way into her body. But his hand found the purple light barrier that Violett had set up and gave him a small electric shock.

"What the …"

"Oh", Amy sighed, "that's Violett's barrier. Looks like she doesn't want anybody to help me in any way."

"Vi did this?" Sonic asked shocked.

"Well, I did ask for it. It's okay Sonic. Just … promise me to come talk to me every now and then until I've found a way to get out of here, okay?"

Sonic looked at her again, not completely convinced. He looked like he wished for nothing more than to smash that bush into pieces and bring Amy to the medic room, where he knew she could treat herself. But he abandoned that wish and forced a smile.

"If that's what you want, Ames." He said and turned around. "I'll just go tell Cream you're okay, she's been worried about you too. Then I'll come back." And he ran off.

Amy was on her own again, but with new hope. With Sonic here, she wouldn't be as lonely and being trapped like this would be bearable. A small smile made its way to her lips and she couldn't help but be convinced that her crush really did care about her. So she did the only thing she could do; she waited.

Five minutes … ten minutes … twenty minutes … forty minutes … one hour …

Why wasn't Sonic returning? Had he abandoned her? No, Sonic wouldn't do something like this, something else must have happened. Just that moment, Amy caught a glimpse of the blue blur, making his way towards her with full speed, smashing against the barrier Violett had set up. It held. It was stronger than Tails had told her … a lot stronger.

Sonic stopped to look at the barrier in agony. A gaping wound was just above his eye and the blood ran down his face. His gloves were torn apart and his fur was very ruffled on some spots.

"Sonic, what happened?" Amy shrieked.

"It's those black creatures again. They're taking over the ship. Just don't move, I'm gonna get you out of there."

Again, he spin dashed against the wall of light, but it didn't fall. It didn't even get weaker. Tails really had been wrong about its strength.

"What about the others?" Amy asked when Sonic landed on his feet again.

"They're safe. Tails made sure that they all could escape." Sonic answered and spin dashed against the wall again.

Amy could only watch as Sonic made one futile after another to break through the wall of light. In a sudden moment of determination, Amy made another attempt of breaking the ranks apart, which only resolved in her injuries opening again, a few scraps more and a new thorn that that found its way into the side of her chest, dangerously close to her heart.

"Don't move, Amy", Sonic said again, "I swear I'm gonna get you out of there."

Amy let her body go limp and watched as Sonic tried everything to help her. But no matter what he tried, the barrier just wouldn't bugde. When Amy saw a movement, she looked up, only to see that black shadowy creatures enter the battle field. Her heart dropped as more and more of them came in. There was no way Sonic would be able to handle all of them. If only she could help.

"Sonic …" she choked and the hedgehog turned around to see the creatures.

His ears dropped, showing Amy how nervous, anxious or maybe even scared he must be. Still, he positioned himself right in front of her and got into fighting position.

"Sonic, get out of here. Don't worry about me, the barrier will protect me, I'm sure of it." Amy cried.

"No way! I'm not leaving you!" Sonic replied.

"Sonic, don't be an idiot. Do as I say and leave!"

"No!"

Amy could have throttled him that very moment. Didn't he realize she was just trying to protect him? But Sonic turned his head towards her and the smirk on his face wiped away all her worries.

"A great hero I would be if I'd just leave you here, don'tcha think? Nah, I think I'll stay."

"Sonic …" Tears welled up in Amy's eyes again.

"Don't worry Ames. I'll protect you, I promise."

He did, but paid a high price. No matter how strong Sonic had become, he couldn't keep up with these black creatures and was soon completely overwhelmed. And Amy couldn't do a thing but to watch as Sonic took one harsh blow after another and a new feeling welled up in her chest, the same one that had been there when he was in danger of dying back in the final battle against the Metarex. Weak at first, but getting stronger the more she saw Sonic suffer. She wanted to be there for him, wanted to fight with him. She wanted to be stronger, so that she could save him. She wanted to get him out of there. She wanted to protect him with all her heart. She saw how Sonic got hit one more time. She saw how he fell and how he didn't get up anymore. And suddenly, she felt strong. One more time, she pulled against the bush with only one thought in her mind; protect Sonic. No matter how deep the thorns cut, no matter how much blood ran down her body, Amy kept pulling. Then, her body heated up, the bush started glowing bright pink and it vaporized into thin air.

Amy had no time to wonder what had happened she needed to get to Sonic. But the very moment her feet touched the ground, the black creatures where gone and so was Sonic. There was no more blood on her body, no more injuries and no more scratches. Her clothes were in perfect condition as well. And in front of her stood Violett, smiling.

"Wha …" Amy started, but didn't know how to go on.

"Don't worry, Sonic is okay and the ship is still under our control. What you saw there was nothing but an illusion I planted into your head. Training starts tomorrow an hour before breakfast."

And with that, Violett turned around and left a very upset and exhausted Amy behind.

That's it. Oh I am so proud of myself ^^. Nah, just kidding. I have reason to be proud of myself when there are many people who like this. Next chap'll follow soon and then the real action begins. See ya soon.