Welcome to Masked Natures! This is an AU idea I have been planning out for a while, so I decided to publish this to fill the void while you wait for more updates from me.

Before we get this going, here's a disclaimer:

Sonic the Hedgehog belongs to SEGA. I do not own anything that is featured in the franchise.

Also, special thanks to Awareness Bringer for suggesting the name of this story. Please check out his stories!

Alright, that is all! Enjoy!

Chapter 1

It was a normal day for the people of Station Square. The sun was shining brightly in the vivdly blue sky, cars went along the roads, people -both humans and Mobians- walked around on the sidewalk, either chatting or minding their own business.

One of those in particular was a certain pink hedgehog Mobian, who walked down the sidewalk while carrying her bag of groceries and humming a happy tune to herself without a care in the world.

Or rather, that was one would say at first glance. In truth, the hedgehog had places to be, as her best friend Cream was coming home later in the day, so she'd have to do a bit more tidying up than usual. Thankfully for her, she was a rather neat person anyway, so it wouldn't take all that long.

The fourteen-year old's smile softened at the thought of the rabbit. Ever since they had met two years ago, they'd been practically sisters and Cream, along with her mother Vanilla, had been a second family to her. The bunny was a very polite person who enjoyed making others happy, and her mother was the same way.

"-Green Hill is still reeling from a terrorist attack by the infamous Dr. Eggman-"

The pink hedgehog's ears twitched and swirled towards the source of the noise, and she turned her head to the tv inside a shop. Amy slowed down to a stop as she regarded the squarish device, which relayed the breaking news as the redheaded newscaster continued to speak.

"According to eyewitness reports, Green Hill was under attack from dozens of machines. Thankfully, the world-reknowned hero, Sonic the Hedgehog, was on the scene and destroyed them after a long battle. However, several homes and buildings were destroyed in the invasion. Dr Ivo Robotnik, owner of multimillion dollar inventions company Robotnik Enterprises, promises to reach out and provide relief to those in need."

An image of the slim human man appeared on the screen as the woman said the last sentence. The man in the image wore a black suit and had a short, curly mustache.

"On another note, today marks the one year anniversary of the attack on Station Square. On this very day, last year, a nuclear missile was launched into the city, but a Mobian fox by the name of Miles Prower bravely stepped in to defuse the explosive. Mr. Prower was given a medal of honor as a token of appreciation for his fine deed."

Amy's smile reappeared, and she dropped a tip on the desk before walking off. It was nice to know that Miles was being appreciated for the sacrifice he'd made for the city. Her thoughts focused on the kit.

They hadn't exactly been the best of friends in the past, mainly because she was honestly jealous of the fox's proximity to a certain blue hedgehog who she had an enormous crush on, but as time went on, they warmed up to each other and Miles became as good a friend as any.

"Amy!" called out a familiar voice. The pinkette perked up and turned to the source of the noise to see the very same fox waving at her from the other sidewalk while holding a paper bag nearly identical to hers.

Quickly crossing roads to catch up to the fox -since there weren't any cars in sight at that moment- Amy walked in step with the fox, as they began to chatter amongst themselves.

"Hey, Tails!" She greeted, using the nickname that the fox's friends used, "What brings you here?"

"Oh, just finished shopping for more groceries. I thought I saw you at the entrance."

"I did the same, too. How's things at Mystic Ruins?"

The fox shrugged. "It's fine out there, though it is pretty quiet without Sonic around."

Amy, unsurprisingly, zeroed in on the mention of Miles' surrogate brother. "I heard about the attack on Green Hill. Is Sonic doing okay? Is he hurt or something?"

Miles just gave her a knowing look before replying "We talked yesterday, and he's doing fine back there. He said he'd stay there for a while to lend a helping hand to the people there."

Amy, who was surprisingly tense, relaxed, and Tails snickered slightly at that.

"Hey, what was that?" asked Amy.

"Nothing." said Tails, innocently, before they continued to traverse the sidewalk. After a pause, Rose once again spoke up.

"You know, the news report today talked about that time you saved Station Square. Apparently, today is the one-year anniversary of that."

"Oh?"

"They still remember what you did. Thanks for that, by the way." The pinkette quipped out the last sentence.

Miles blushed and scratched the back of his head.

"It's nothing, really."

"Not to everyone who you saved."

"It's what Sonic would have done."

"I don't think he knows how to diffuse a highly complicated nuclear missile, Tails."

"Touchè." conceded Miles, though the fox was grinning now, as they began to chat about other topics.

During their walk, they'd talked about many things, such as their recent exploits, and how they were faring since the last time they'd all met. She'd escorted the twin-tailed fox to the train that took him to the Mystic Ruins, before arriving at her own house.

Amy snickered to herself as she opened the door to her home and made over to the kitchen to set down her bag of groceries.

How Miles managed to nearly blow up his whole kitchen trying to bake a cake was beyond her.

Moving over to the sink and washing her hands, she went to shut the door and made for her bedroom to change into more casual clothes before returning to the living room and doing an inspection.

After returning and stopping at a desk of flowerpots -complements of working a job as a florist- she looked at the framed photo sitting on a desk. It contained a picture she took last year of herself, Sonic, Miles, a red echidna, and a large purple cat, all smiling. She pursed her lips in thought before readjusting the frame slightly and getting to work. Knuckles, the echidna, had left to Angel Island a while after the picture was taken, while Big, the cat, had left to his home in the Mystic Ruins, with his pet frog in tow.

Knuckles wasn't exactly the most sociable person in existence, in fact, he wasn't very sociable at all, being a loner with a hair-trigger temper who spent his life guarding an emerald on a deserted island. The echidna had, however, eventually warmed up to her and the others, and he did occasionally come down to the surface, so that was a start.

Big on the other hand, was a more simple-minded fellow who preferred to spend his days fishing in the lake by his home. The cat was more friendly, though, and had become friends with Cream and Amy in the few times they'd seen him.

Amy finally finished dusting a few areas before heading to her designated practice room, deciding to get a few strikes on the punching bag and follow her boxericise regimen. Slipping on some boxing gloves and weights, she swiftly went to town on the unfortunate sandbag, raining down swift punches on the object.

This went on for a while until the ringing of a doorbell was heard. Taking off her boxing gloves, she rushed over to the door and pushed it open...

Only to be tackled by Cream, who pulled her into a hug. Amy laughed and returned the embrace.

Noticing Vanilla softly chuckling, Amy greeted her a "Good afternoon, Ms. Vanilla!"

"Good afternoon, Amy." said the older rabbit, warmly. "How are you?"

"I'm fine! Please, come in!"

The rabbits and hedgehog entered the house as they prepared to spend the day together.

And that's that. Sorry that this is a rather short one! Anyway, it seems that Robotnik and Eggman aren't the same person in this universe...? Hmmm..

Anyway, please leave a review, and I'll see you next update!