By the next morning the restorations carrier had arrived back near headquarters and Jewel was organizing volunteers to find a comfortable place to stay for those poor souls displaced by the occupation of Sunset Heights.
"Maybe you should stay and help with this." Sonic said to Amy, waving vaguely at the droves of refugees marching out of the carrier into the towns square. "You're really great at organizing things. I'm sure Jewel would appreciate your help."
Amy raised an eyebrow she could clearly see through Sonics attempt at flattery.
"Jewel knows what she's doing and I trust her to keep everyone safe here. It's the people at Paradise Walk that we need to worry about." She replied.
Sonic had to agree with that.
"There's no way of talking you out of this is there?" He sighed. Amy shook her head and Sonic found himself smiling.
"You've always been stubborn." He teased. "It used to be really annoying"
"Used to be?" Amy laughed.
Sonic suddenly felt uncharacteristically serious. He placed his hands on Amy's shoulders and looked into her emerald eyes.
"Knuckles says I've been a bad influence on you." The blue hedgehog said quietly. "He seemed to think you're trying to be more like me... to impress me."
Amy blushed and looked away. Sonic gently took her chin and pulled her gaze back to his.
"I can't deny my feelings for you have changed me over the years." She said softly.
Sonic had suspected this even before Knuckles had brought it up. Even so it hurt to hear from the horses mouth that Amy was taking risks because of him. He lowered his head.
"I don't want to be the reason you get hurt." He said firmly.
"You're not." Amy replied. It was her turn to lift his head so that he met her eye. "Since I met you you've always put others first and stood up for what's right. Those are the things I admire about you. Not because you're the fastest or because you can fight. Your sense of justice and ability to inspire people are the qualities I try and emulate. I fight because it's the right thing to do. It's my choice."
Sonic had never thought of it like that. He had always believed his speed and the fact that he was a hero were what people admired about him the most, especially Amy. She sought him out even before they met because of it. The fact that she had grown so and could see past it all, to see the person he hoped he was made him feel incredibly proud.
A polite cough behind them both snapped Sonic back to the present. Tangle was casually leaning against the wall and nodded her head towards the tornado. It was clearly time for takeoff. Tails sat in the pilot seat with Whisper and her gun as passengers. Sonic walked Amy over.
"Remember the plan." He said to the three girls. "Tails will drop you off on the carrier. You need to wait till we've engaged Egghead in battle. Then it should be safe."
Tangle leapt onto the wing and reached her abnormally stretchy tail down to help Amy. The pink hedgehog took it in her hand and started to pull herself up. Sonic saw her wince with pain and gave her a boost. He tried to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Sat cross legged on the wings of the plane Tangle sighed wistfully. "It's a shame we'll miss all of the action." She said aloud. "Try and save us some badniks for after we've deactivated this weapon" she said to Sonic.
Sonic smiled "you'll have to get things done up there quickly if you want to join in."
The young lemur saluted sarcastically "Aye aye."
With that Tails fired up the plane and Sonic stood back from the whirring blades of the propeller. The young fox turned the plane and headed off down the runway. Soon the tornado was a speck in the distance. Sonic found himself silently praying it wasn't the last time he'd see it or its passengers.
It did not take Tails and the girls long to find the egg carrier hiding in the mountains above Paradise Walk. After all, it wasn't exactly discrete.
The young fox circled the plane behind the large ship and approached it from the rear. Up ahead, over the town hundreds of smaller drop ships floated in the sky, ready to rain down badniks and Elves. Amy could just make out the restorations forces in the distance. She crossed her fingers and hoped this worked.
Tails wasn't going to land on the carrier. The idea was to give the impression that he was flying past as the girls jumped aboard. The brave little fox would then draw the ships fire away from them as they made their way discretely into the ship. This of course meant the girls would be leaping out of a moving plane and freefalling quite some way into a moving target. She had neglected to tell Sonic that part of the plan before they left for fear he would put a stop to it. Now, as the stitches in her skin pulled at the flesh below and the wind rushed past her face Amy was beginning to think this whole thing was a bad idea.
She was just considering turning back when she felt something grab her waist. In seconds she was wrapped in grey fur and speeding towards the large metal surface below. Once her feet were firmly on the ground Tangle released Amy from her tail.
"Sorry," the lemur called apologetically over the rushing wind. "I'm under orders to keep you safe."
Next to Tangle Whisper the wolf lifted her mask and smiled.
"Thanks ladies." Amy said sincerely. "I promise not to slow you down."
Together the three girls headed for the service hatch they needed to use to enter the carrier where they were to wait for Sonics signal. That had been the plan anyway. They had not been expecting the service hatch to be so crowded. Two figures stood crouched down by its seal. One black, one white. They were pulling at the seal which appeared to be stuck. As the girls grew closer the black figure turned to face them. His arms were folded and he had a contemptuous smile on his lips.
"So Sonics sent you to do his dirty work?" Shadow sneered. "What's the matter? Is he too busy showing off and signing autographs"
Amy breezed past him to the hatch.
"Actually he thought this might need a more delicate feminine touch." Amy said cooly.
She summoned her hammer with her right hand and swung it hard at the service hatches lock. The hatch swung open and Amy leapt inside quickly. That had hurt but she didn't want to give shadow the satisfaction of seeing her in pain. Above her head she saw Rouge the bat peering down at her from the now open hatch.
"Here's to the feminine touch." The bat called and jumped down next to Amy. Once everyone was inside they made their way along the dark, metal lined corridors. Shadow and Rouge led the way.
Tangle pulled Amy to one side.
"We're supposed to wait for Sonics signal!" She said urgently.
Amy sighed deeply. "Have you met Shadow?! You try telling him to wait for Sonic!"
Whisper had now joined Tangle. They both looked unsure.
"Look," Amy explained. "Shadow and Rouge are going to charge in whatever we say to them. And as much as I hate to admit it having Shadow here is almost as good as having Sonic aboard to."
"I can hear you, you know." Shadow called from up ahead.
Amy rolled her eyes. "My point is," she said to her two friends. "Shadow and rouge are going to do their thing whatever we do. We might as well help. It may even get things done quicker."
Reluctantly the Wolf and Lemur nodded their agreement and trailed after the two gun agents.
In the control room Dr Eggman leaned forward in his chair and examined the screen before him.
Sat below orbot and cubot pressed various buttons as directed by their master.
"Show me the town center." The evil doctor barked.
Obediently Orbot pressed a few keys on the control panel and an overhead view of frightened villagers being herded into a central point flashed up on the screen.
Eggman laughed at the look of terror on their faces.
"And the blue rodent?" He demanded.
"Sonic and his friends are on the outskirts of the town engaging in battle with the badniks." orbot explained, he pointed a metallic finger to the screen above him where a small blob of blue occasionally whizzed into shot and smashed up a robot.
Eggman laughed. "It's all coming together nicely." He smirked.
Beside him Starline allowed himself a smile. "As predicted our guests have arrived." He informed the doctor.
Eggman stroked his mustache. "Excellent. Is it the red idiot?"
Starline smiled even more broadly than before. "It's better than we hoped." He informed his master. "He's sent Ms Rose."
The doctor howled with laughter. Starlines smile faltered a little though.
"As you guessed she had brought a team with her.. there is a slight hiccup in that Shadow is amongst them."
Eggman shifted in his chair. "No matter." He said thoughtfully. "Shadow certainly is formidable but we have an advantage."
"Which is?" Starline inquired. The dr smiled again. "We know they're walking into a trap."