What You Wish For

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Although she had just crossed the perimeter of Borealis, Amy was soon at a loss as to how to proceed. The beginnings of her search for Sonic weren't exactly methodical, and Amy realized her endeavor was akin to finding a needle in a haystack. Thankfully, the grounds seemed deserted: there was not a trace of any Islander. Amy wondered what could have happened: just two days ago, they were swarming all over the place. All that was left was the heartless sound of the wind rustling between the austere hangars.

To further her search, Amy decided she would use the control room, where the constantly active monitors would give her a better glimpse of the situation. On the way there, she however noticed a growing pain in her stomach. She was actually starving: the frugal meals from the previous day, not to mention her neglect to find any breakfast this morning, had left her stomach crying.

Amy opted for a stop at Joey's greenhouse; she didn't think he would mind if she innocuously grabbed some nourishment to ease her pain, and its location was not far from her destination anyway. Quickly finding her way to the small and somber staircase leading underground, she reached the greenhouse. She peeked around the various rows of crops, looking for something to satisfy her hunger.

All of a sudden she spotted Joey, busy with his watering can.

"Oy! Joey!"

Joey waved when he saw her. "Hi Amy, it's nice to see you."

"Thanks," she smiled, flattered.

"What's up?"

"I don't really know," she sighed. "I'm looking for my two friends, they seem to have disappeared. You haven't seen them have you?"

Joey shook his head.

"How are you?" she asked. "I'm glad to see you look a lot better than last time."

"Yes, I'm fine."

Indeed, the two bruises Joey had collected during his fight with Slug had mostly healed, which amazed Amy. Joey had been right: his feebleness from two days before had more been the cause of exhaustion rather than the seriousness of his injuries.

Although she didn't show it, Amy felt slightly confused about seeing Joey again. To her surprise, there was nothing awkward about their exchange: it was friendly as ever, as if their previous separation, which she had unilaterally decided, had had no effect whatsoever on their everyday rapport. She didn't know what to make of it, because in her mind, she had left Joey once and for all and wasn't supposed to see him anymore.

For his part, Joey seemed to mostly ignore their supposed rupture, treating Amy just as he had done the previous days. He soon offered his friend a quick bowl of green beans to ease her hunger before leading her back upstairs.

"It might get a little rough today, so maybe you should take this. It's fully loaded, by the way."

Amy opened her eyes wide as she saw Joey actually hand her an impressive-looking handgun. "Whoa. Are you sure I should have this?" Despite her feisty personality, Amy had usually disliked firearms and had recently confirmed that sentiment when she learned of Sonic's principled revulsion for them.

"Yes. I think they're sending all of their troops. It could come in handy. Do you know how it works?"

"Yeah, of course," she said, a hint of pride in her voice. "But, I don't really want to stick around and get killed," she added more modestly, trying to hide her shame due to the cowardice she perceived in herself.

Joey didn't respond. All of a sudden his concentration heightened and his body tensed.

"Joey, what's wrong?"

Joey looked very determined. "They're here."

Amy was bewildered. "How can you tell? Did you hear something?"

"Yes. Underground." He abruptly started running, just as he had done two days ago before meeting Slug. Amy tried to follow as best she could, but once again, Joey's pace was too quick. She saw him disappear through a door leading to another staircase.

Crossing the door as well, Amy entered a dark and dank empty basement, whose end was the access to a very long and equally somber corridor. Peeking, she made out a light at its farthest point, shadowed only by Joey's distant figure racing frantically to reach it. Amy followed him, although her pace wasn't convincing: she dreaded finding trouble at the other extremity of the passageway. Surely Joey had gone to fend off some Islanders, and Amy didn't wish to be involved in that conflict. Suddenly a faint cry of pain came from Joey's location; perhaps he had engaged the Islanders in battle. Amy strongly hoped Joey wasn't the one getting injured.

Amy nonetheless proceeded through the corridor, trotting silently at a moderate pace. She didn't hear any distinct sounds from her destination anymore; as she got closer, she moved even more silently, apprehensive of the spectacle that might await her. After a minute she almost reached the passage's end, the faint light from which increasingly cleared her path. Only a few steps away, she could now understand it opened up to a much larger room. Her prudence increased when she heard voices muttering, although she couldn't see any figures.

Calmly emerging on a steel platform from the corridor, Amy froze at one of the most upsetting sights she had ever faced.

The platform looked down on the room's floor about three meters below; on the platform, Amy could see Joey standing triumphantly and staring down at his defeated foes, who were caught on the floor of this strangely tall chamber. However, those foes, trapped indeed, surprised by the presence of the cunning denizen of Borealis, were not Islanders at all. Actually, they were the two familiar faces Amy had always loved and cherished: none other than Sonic and Tails...

In fact, the dynamic duo looked in utter distress. Sonic was the same as last time, haggard and weary; he was also expressing deep frustration and helplessness at his defeat. Tails, however, projected a even more disturbing picture. Like Sonic, he looked stressed and bitter, but he was sitting down against the wall and holding his right arm... it was bleeding. A knife soiled with red liquid lied on the floor next to him. Amy put two and two together: the cry she had heard a moment ago meant that Joey had thrown a knife at Tails, seriously injuring his arm and causing him deep pain.

Amy felt completely stunned. She stood as an observer of a dangerous conflict between the only three people that she cared about. On one side, Joey was in control of the situation, having just unleashed his awesome power to defeat his two enemies. On the other, Sonic and Tails were trapped and powerless, while Tails was even in deep physical pain from his wound. Joey wasn't actually armed, but a natural superiority seemed to emanate from his aura as the Ambrosian defender, while an exhausted Sonic was crippled by his sidekick's sudden injury.

Meanwhile, Amy stood on the periphery, anonymous and unseen. It dawned on her that she could make a difference, that she had the power to alter the outcome of the struggle; in her hand, she still held Joey's loaded pistol.

No one actually seemed to notice and heed her. That is, except for Sonic, who shot a very quick glance in her direction, although he tried to pretend he had not seen her. Amy understood he expected her to do something.

Despite the extreme psychological effort this trial required of her, Amy's decision was made; it was not even a question in her mind. She had already left Joey two days ago; he was not supposed to be anything more than a memory, while her future could only lie with Sonic and Tails if she acted properly to assure it. The ball was in her court. This was nothing less than her rite of passage.

Meanwhile, Joey did finally notice Sonic's curious behavior; he quickly felt something was not right. Sensing the danger, he instinctively flung around.

It was too late. Just two yards away from him, Joey found a familiar pink hedgehog staring at him. But for the first time, her eyes were not friendly and protective, but determined and hostile.

Joey faced Amy Rose actually holding him at gunpoint.

"Joey. Don't move," Amy said very firmly. "Don't."

Frozen, Joey was staring blankly, seemingly unprepared for this turn of events, as if he were hit in the one and only weak spot in his armor.

"Amy, I don't think you wish to harm me," he said, though his voice sounded soft and hollow.

"Try me," she responded, dangerously unlocking the safety on her firearm. "I won't let you hurt my friends."

Joey shut up at that. He only stared acutely at Amy, his body tense, his eyes full of misunderstanding.

Meanwhile, Sonic had quickly mounted the ladder to the platform. Before joining Amy, he went into a spindash and sped in a ball towards Joey, instantly knocking him out.

It was over. Amy closed her eyes and slowly breathed out, trying to digest the magnitude of her act. Her choice was now fulfilled and irrevocable. Having never envisaged the possibility of needing to choose between Sonic and Joey so dramatically, she had been completely unprepared and had acted quickly and decisively; she had spontaneously gone with her most basic rationale, not fully knowing what was best.

When she opened her eyes, it was only to confirm the fruits of her achievement. Sonic was gratefully standing just in front of her, his eyes full of fatigue but also of relief. "Amy... you saved us. Thanks," he acknowledged.

Amy embraced him as a response. "I waited, Sonikku... You didn't come back, so I came to help, I thought you would be in trouble..."

"Well, we weren't... until a minute ago, when El surprised us. You showed up just in time," he said, though gently pushing her away (now was not the time for hugs and kisses, a practice to which he seemed allergic anyway, especially when Amy was involved). "We should get out of here." Walking up to the platform's rail, he called out to Tails. "Hey – can you come up?"

Though still in pain, Tails managed to get up and even activate his propeller. He certainly didn't wish for Sonic or anyone to carry him like he was a baby. His pace was slower than usual, but he soon was up on the platform next to his two friends. Sonic and Amy were full with concern for the kitsune because of his lesion, despite Tails' obvious embarrassment at his friends' parental expressions. "Sonic, let's just get out. Let's take care of that guy and leave."

Sonic frowned disapprovingly. "Don't get excited." He turned to Joey's limp body. "I don't know what we should do..."

"He cut my arm," added Tails bitterly.

"Tails, no." He stepped in front of his sidekick, blocking his view of the Ambrosian. "That's enough, Mr. Prower," he patronized, before gazing again at their foe. "I'll just tie him up and leave him. It should give us enough time for us to wrap it up before he frees himself."

Somewhat oblivious to the mysterious rancor between Sonic and Tails, Amy had taken a step back at this exchange. Though she didn't express it, she felt absolutely awful at her act, especially now that she could view the sight of Joey knocked out. She turned her head away when Sonic proceeded to firmly bind his arms and legs.

A minute later, Sonic was done. Amy could not help glancing at her ex-friend, who was slowly coming to, though still dizzy. Unable to move at all, he showed once again a very neutral expression, but Amy could tell he was dejected and jaded. Amy felt horrible at seeing him bound and helpless, vanquished because he had mistakenly trusted her. Behind Joey's seeming apathy, Amy even observed a few tears slowly running down his cheeks. Though it looked completely inconspicuous and certainly wasn't noticed at all by Sonic and Tails, it did affect Amy, because she now knew Joey well enough to understand he could usually control his emotions better than this. He actually looked up once at Amy, who shamefully evaded his gaze, unable to acknowledge the harm she had delivered to him.

For his part, Tails looked rather strange at the defeat of his enemy. It was rather unclear whether he enjoyed or not the contemplation of El tied up and powerless after days of futile conflict for revenge.

"Amy? Let's go," invited Sonic.

Amy very quickly joined her friends as the trio walked away from the Ambrosian leader. Amy did not look at Joey as she left him; she tried as best as she could to forget her act and to focus as much as possible on Sonic and Tails. She told herself she would pretend Joey had not even existed except as El, meaning as her friends' enemy.

The three warriors left the room through another dark passageway, Sonic leading his friends. In spite of his tiredness, the blue blur strode confidently, obviously familiar with this underground maze. Amy noticed how his determination contrasted with Tails' puzzlingly sullen demeanor – it reminded her of whenever he was grounded back in the day as a kid – which even overshadowed the pain he felt from his cut.

As for Amy, she forced herself to rejoice in her reunion with her friends and pretend she was invincible in their presence; they were now a trio whose members were theoretically solidary of one another. She especially relished the thought of being with Sonic again, although she wished they could leave this hateful place once and for all – Borealis made her more uncomfortable than ever before.

"Sonic, what should we do now? Can we leave Borealis?"

"Not yet. But we're almost out of time... I'll explain in a minute. We need to stop anyway, I have to tend Tails' arm." At this moment the passageway was marked by an opened gate of two heavy steel double doors; they looked like they hadn't moved in a few decades, and its hinges were so rusty they might as well not even have existed.

"Here we are."

They had just stepped into the place behind the gate: a large, rectangular room completely empty of any furniture or junk, unlike the rest of Borealis. For some reason, the curiously stony material of its walls reflected a faint light somehow communicated from outside. One of the side walls englobed a pair of rather substantial wooden doors not unlike those of an old armoire, though much bigger. At its center, one could notice a conspicuous lock large enough to receive a key the size of a fist; Amy knew exactly what these doors were, having fingered the Blythe key only four days ago.

"This is it, guys," said Sonic. "The doors to the chamber. Inside are the Ambrosian Files."