C O N T R A S T

by Rowan Jacobs

Life is like the ocean; it comes in waves, ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm and sometimes it's overwhelming. All we can do is learn how to swim.

7. Nevermore

C O N T R A S T

Chapter 7: Nevermore

---

Sonic didn't have to wander too far out into the meadow before catching sight of the familiar pink figure laying amongst the lush sea of grass and wildflowers.

Amy Rose was deep asleep with her face, as well as the rest of her body, basking in sunlight, making her appear like an angel that had accidentally fallen from the sky. The pearly white petticoat dress she wore enhanced her rosy fur in a most flattering way while her feet had been left bare, and as usual her golden bangles decorated her wrists. Beside her, barely still grasped in her outstretched hand, laid a book with its cover facing upwards - "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" - a title which Sonic doesn't fully recognize, but has a vague remembrance of seeing somewhere before.

Either way, he's too anxious at the moment to be bothered with it.

For pressed in Sonic's own hands was a small velvet box…

Velvet which he'd stroked countless of times, awaiting the right moment when he'd finally present the box to her.

Now he fidgeted with it, his palms beginning to sweat underneath his gloves as he stood on the verge of taking the big leap into probably the biggest adventure of his young life.

It had been roughly two months since Sonic had bought one of the most expensive rings that the tiny jewelry store in Spagonia had had to offer. He'd scouted it out when he'd been returning home from one of his travels and made a quick stop in town. Fortunately, he was well acquainted with the shop owner Aida due to the Gaia incident several years prior. To his embarrassment though she wasn't the least bit surprised upon hearing that Sonic was in need of an engagement ring and had with a sly smile inquired whether it was for the young lady who'd Sonic once brought along with him to the store and bought a very beautiful gem adorned bangle for. Sonic had in that moment swallowed his pride and admitted that it was indeed the same girl he now were to propose to.

At that Aida had been absouletly elated and happily showed off the shop's rarest and finest engagement rings, and had even insisted on giving him a generous discount. The rings she'd showcased were all very extravagant and almost all had diamonds or other gemstones encrusted within their gold or silver bands. Sonic had surely had a hard time choosing one that he thought would suit Amy the best, but at long last he'd decided upon a clean, golden ring. The only altercation being that he asked if the word "Forever" could be engraved on the ring's inside, which had made Aida shed a few tears as a result before ensuring that it would be done for when he returned to collect it. At last, to his further fortune, she had given him her sincerest word that she would keep Sonic's purchase to herself and not tell a soul about it, which he'd been very thankful for.

Despite the impossibility of keep something like this a secret for too long, Sonic still hadn't wanted anyone outside his closest group of friends to catch wind of his plans to pop the question to Amy at that point.

In fact, most of Sonic's relationship with Amy were kept as much under the general public's radar as possible.

Not because he were embarrassed of his love for her, but because he absolutely dreaded the thought of having this most private, most precious of feelings exploited by every tablooid magazine all over Mobius. To have it flaunted and scrutinized for people to see and to goosip about, and turn into whatever they felt like. Twisted it into something it wasn't. It was bad enough that Dr. Robotnik, Sonic's sworn arch nemesis, one day would inevitably find out about the whole ordeal and surely use it to his advantage - like someone suddenly giving him an unexpected but very welcomed surprise gift.

Sonic shuddered at the thought as that fact alone had been one of the many reasons he'd suppressed his emotions for Amy for such a long time. Or rather one of his many excuses…

Kneeling down by her side, Sonic allowed himself a brief couple of minutes to simply gaze softly at his soon-to-be-fiancée. For his eyes did indeed soften as he observed the peaceful expression upon her face, the healthy rosiness of her cheeks, the subtle stirrings behind her eyelids, and how his own heart seemed to sing due to the nearness of hers. Like it recognized her heart beats and immediately adjusted itself after them, so that they may beat in harmony with one another. Many a times in the past had Sonic thought that there was something seriously wrong with his heart because of just how irregular it behaved whenever Amy was around. To how it sometimes could beat so wildly against his ribcage that he was sure it were gonna burst through his chest to how it at other times had gone completely still, as if it had just stopped working all of a sudden. But now, several years wiser, he had grown accustomed to his heart's sudden outbursts and was well aware of the cause for this infliction.

"I think my heart knew long before I did."

And so had she…

With utmost gentleness Sonic planted a kiss against her forehead and then, as if she'd been a slumbering fairy-tale princess, Amy's eyelids instantly fluttered open. Revealing to him her bright pools of jade that at first furrowed in subtle confusion until her features softened as she indeed recognized her knight in shining armor. The sheer and unmasked love that shone upon her face initially took Sonic aback, just like it always did, but pretty soon he'd adjusted himself to the complete adoration he received and managed to smile in response. Even now, after all the years of being the object of her immense affection, he still struggled to grasp the full width of it and, even more so, not let himself get overwhelmed by it.

It was a most peculiar sensation to be beheld with such softness yet intensity - a love which flooded his body with warmth, spreading straight out to the very tips of his fingers.

Amy's lips curled up into a smile before she opened her mouth and almost cooed out his name as if it were the sweetest sound in all of the world— "Oh, Sonic..! I must've dozed off for a bit…" A short giggle escaped her. "I know you're not supposed to fall asleep with a book in hand, but it was so cozy out here that I couldn't resist closing my eyes for a just a moment." She sat herself up on her knees, a trail of flower petals following along as she did while a bunch of them had already gotten stuck in her quills. On reflex, she ruffled a hand through her little tuft of bangs as well as stretched her arms a bit, before turning her attention back at Sonic.

In a sudden sense of playfulness, he in turn gave her a look of feigned disapproval.

"Falling asleep out in the meadows all alone is dangerous, you know. And while the sun's out too - tsk, tsk, you're lucky if you haven't gotten sunstroked for days." His hand reached out to grace one of her rosy cheeks, stroking his thumb across her soft skin, which caused a pleasant shiver to go along his spine as a result. That simple contact with her body alone was more than enough to painfully remind him of her delicate nature - her fragility was obvious to anyone who laid their eyes upon her for more than a few seconds. At least when compared to him…

As if on cue, Amy puffed up her cheek and confidently proclaimed—

"Don't worry, I'm tougher than I look." And so, without further ado, she leaned herself forward and surprised Sonic with a quite so passionate kiss square on the lips.

Immediately, Sonic's heart skyrocketed up to somewhere of the middle of his throat while he simultaneously fought the urge to launch himself backwards several feel out of pure astonishment.

Taking notice of his delighted, yet slightly distressed facial expression, Amy quickly drew back - going from bold to a blushing shy mess within mere seconds. "S-sorry…" She stuttered forth with a voice laced with sincerity. "Too much?"

Rather too sudden.

Getting ahold of himself again, Sonic rigidly shook his head as he knew he had to try and smooth over his absurd overreaction as quickly as possible as not to hurt Amy's feelings. "Nah, you just caught me of guard, that's all..!" He reassured with a chuckle, pleased with the warmth that naturally emitted from his voice as he said it. To further emphasis his comfort with the situation, he gently invited her to rest in his embrace. Holding her close to his chest having always felt oddly organic, as if she was meant to reside with her head tucked beneath his chin, and have her heart beat right next to his.

It just felt… right.

As right as anything could ever be.

They remained in blissful silenece for a couple of minutes, merely enjoying the closeness of the other one until Sonic's voice finally rose above the stillness.

"Hey… Amy?"

"Mhm..?"

"There's something, uh, I wanna talk to you about… Actually it's been on my mind for a long time now, but I guess I've tried to find the perfect moment to tell you… Still, I guess those moments truly never come, do they?" Sonic chuckled softly to himself and thus feeling how dry his mouth had gone in the last couple of seconds. "So now could be just as good time as any to tell you that I…- that I… I mean, I'd like to say that— I, ergh! Sorry, I just—"

"Sonic…-" Amy placed a gentle hand against his cheek, giving him a calm, reassuring look that made Sonic's heart calm down as well. The warm kindness her voice emitted was enough to set his mind straight once more. "—it's okay. There's no rush, take your time." She paused giving him a minute to collect his thoughts again before continuing. "Now, what is it that you want to say?"

"Well, you see, I, uh—" But at the very last second, his nerves failed him and in sheer panic he immediately jumped to plan B. With a swift motion and as if they'd just been materialized out of thin air, Sonic pulled forth a bouquet of at least a dozen freshly picked roses and presented Amy with them. "—Wanted to give you these..!"

"Oh..!"

What followed next was Amy naturally throwing herself back into his embrace, nearly knocking the bouquet away, and thanking him three times in a row while also kissing his cheek. Once the initial joy mellowed down a bit, she pulled back and took the bouquet into her own hands in order to admire them further. And although Sonic admittedly wasn't always too fond of Amy's more extreme expressions, he couldn't help but find her quite adorable just then. Quietly observing her dote upon the roses while wearing a tender look upon his face.

"They're so beautiful, just look at that color - and how soft the petals are!" Amy commented, stroking the outer petals with gentle care. "I'll make sure to put them in my finest crystal vase as soon as I get home. Well… actually I only got one crystal vase, but you know what I mean!"

"You're speaking with a guy who has a total of zero crystal vases, so…"

"Right, right, I guess they don't exactly fit in with the whole 'vagabond lifestyle' you lead."

"Sadly not."

"Hm… anyway, may I inquire to the occasion?"

Sonic blinked, trying hard not to lose his cool. "Whaddya' mean - you're the girl I give all my roses to." And as if one cue he pulled off a lopsided smirk while sending her a wink.

"Well, I was afraid you might feel guilty about something…"

"No, not that I—"

"Because, I mean, you have absolutely no reason to..!" Amy hastily clarified, averting her gaze to her lap as she did a poor job of trying to hide as much of herself as possible behind the bouquet. "I'm just glad that you're back, of course. And that you take the time to come out here to see me means the world to me!

"But of course I do, you're my—" Sonic hesitated, he'd always felt that 'girlfriend' had been a too weak of a word to describe their relationship. It was a too shallow and fickle title that didn't come close enough to the actual extent of the bond they shared. She was so much more than just his girlfriend - she was the air in his lungs, the light in his eyes, the beat in his heart… Sure, she could sometimes be clingy, stubborn, have a short fuse, and be a bit too sensitive or over-emotional in general. But the thorns, so to say, didn't spoil the rose or take away from her deeply rooted kindness, her thoughtfulness or her unusual ability to always see the good in people. For in her eyes no one was truly unredeemable, not even someone to the likes of Shadow, who believed otherwise.

For Amy believed in you in a way that made you want to believe in yourself too.

She was the rose that, despite everyone believing her too be too weak and fragile, withstood the ills of the world.

"—my rose."

. . .

---

"Mr. Sonic the Hedgehog, sir!"

Sonic's eyes shot open. But instead of finding himself on a bright, summer meadow he discovered that he was in fact in one of the many grey and dull meeting rooms of the G.U.N. Headquarters. And apparently he'd fallen asleep in his chair. Again.

The voice that addressed him belonged to Staff Sergeant Conn, a well-built man looking to be somewhere between his late twenties and early thirties, with big, impenterable amber eyes that when looked into always gave you the sense of being evaluated. He also wore a pair of thick, round glasses that only seemed to enlargen his eyes even further. Right now they peered down at Sonic, who idly rubbed his own eyes while sitting himself up straight in his seat. Throughout his slumbering he'd sunken lower and lower down until he'd been practically lying with his chin resting against his chest.

"Wh-what? Is the meeting over already?" Sonic asked, as he looked around and indeed realized that the room was quickly emptying of people who left their seats and went for the door in the back corner. Besides himself and Conn, no one seemed to linger behind. Commander Rhys, which he was pretty sure had been the head of the meeting at the start of it, was nowhere to be seen.

"Indeed it is, and I suggest you get a move on if you wanna make it in time to this afternoon's training." Conn told him, firmly pushing his chair in. "I expect you to be there not a second later than four o'clock - sharp. Preferably alert and awake, as well."

As if on cue, Sonic just let out a big yawn. "I'm always alert, and I'm never late - or if I am I'm fashionably late. On purpose, you know?"

The Staff Sergeant merely sent him a incredulous look, saying— "Just make sure to be there, Mr. Hedgehog." And so he swept out of the room, catching up with his colleagues, leaving Sonic the only one left behind.

Quietly and with his mind still half wishing he could've gone back to reminicing about more joyful days, Sonic began trudging his way through the room and then into the corridor outside. Since it was, at least according to him, plenty of time left before he would have to follow through on his promise to show up for training, he now had roughly an hour to kill before then. Therefore he decided to set off in the direction of the cafeteria to see if he could maybe snatch up a soda can from one of the vending machines there. After that he might just find a comfortable spot to wait out time in.

With a light jog, he set off.

Twelve days.

That's how long Sonic and Tails had been at the G.U.N. Headquarter in Central City now.

Twelve days since they left Angel Island.

Since they left Knuckles.

Since they left Amy…

From the very first second he and Tails had taken off that early morning twelve days ago had Sonic wished he could've gone back and done it all differently. He didn't regret the decision of leaving Amy in in the safety of Angel Island and under Knuckles' protection, but he did regret the circumstances of which under he'd done it. Like a coward he'd left one of his best friends and not to mention his own fiancée, with nothing more than a pathetic letter each - trying to excuse his actions - knowing full well he'd be long gone once they read them. To make it worse, he'd also convinced his little brother to lie for him, and then brought him along to this dreary place.

And for what?

So that Sonic could uphold his end of a temporary contract he'd struck with Commander Rhys which obligated him to spend at least four weeks within the G.U.N. facility to undergo proper military training before he were allowed to partake in the field search for Doctor Robotnik.

Tails had indeed assured him beforehand that he agreed that it this would all likely turn out to be the best possible option for having a shot at capturing Robotnik as partnering up with G.U.N. provided them with regularly updating information about the Doctor's whereabouts and a strong ally. An ally that had several searching teams, agents and trained millitary forces at their disposal. He also encouraged Sonic with the fact that this way they risked less of their friends' lives and that if they were just patient enough and played their cards right Robotnik would be behind bars before they knew it. And as hard as Sonic tried to see it from Tails' point of view, there was nothing that could relent the self-hatred he harboured towards himself as of late. A hatred which he assumed partly took its form in the recent nightmares he'd suffered ever since leaving Angel Island as well as in a looming, melancholic feeling that he couldn't seem to fully be able to shake.

Entering the Headquarter's main cafeteria, Sonic found it mostly empty of people, probably since it was invetween meal times. Breakfast, lunch and dinner was served on a consistent schedule and each person had their own appointed slot which they shared with usually people within their own unit or work team. The slotted times were at most around twenty minutes long and the food was regulated depending on your status and line of work. With the millitary recruits getting the most generous portions while the lab researchers got significantly more modest portions - and much less carbs. The distributions didn't really bother Sonic since he normally ate a lot, even though it felt weird having someone else decided how much food he was allowed to have and more so what kind of food he was allowed to have. There were no chili dogs on the menu, so to speak.

"Once I'm out of here, I'll never take chili dogs for granted ever again…" Sonic mused to himself as he cracked open the Chaos Cola he'd just received out of the soft drinks vending machine.

He took a deep clunk out of the cold beverage, ignoring the curious glances that was stolen of him from the handful of people around the large room. Despite being long since used to people's more or less rude staring due to being Mobius' most famous hero, Sonic wasn't as forgiving of these military goons and goverment agents as he were of regular civilians. These people were, after all, meant to act somewhat more professional and respectable than the rest of them. Not being able to resist the temptation of giving them something to gawk about, Sonic quickly gulped down the entirety of the cola before then letting out a rather loud burp and then smacking the can flat against his forehead. Leaving the can to get flatly tossed into the garbage bin and leaving the onlookers baffled at his crude behavior, none of which he paid any mind as he left the cafeteria in an abrupt burst of speed.

Running in the Headquearter corridors at neckbreak speed wasn't without some difficulty though as most of them were quite narrow and thus the risk of bumping into some unknowing recruit or corporal was high. Sonic had already gotten several notices about this during his stay, but surprisingly enough the Commander himself had let a few instances slide if ever it was brought up during on of the many meetings.

However, Sonic's need to exercise his running had been arranged by giving him an access card to the indoor running track, which was on the same floor as where most training practises were held at. So far he only ever went there a couple of times a day, though mainly during the late hours of the night when he'd wake up from yet another nightmare or simply couldn't sleep at all. Then he could spend hours just doing lapses around the track in an attempt to either tire himself out or clear his mind. Once Tails caught wind of his nightly activities, he'd began fearing his older brother was developing insomnia. Either way, it had many a times saved Sonic from going nuts, always keeping the card with him if he suddenly felt the walls growing closer around him.

As he passed by a group of agents, who were just about to enter an elevator when they felt their clothes rustle due to the passing gust of wind, Sonic resolved to settling himself down in an unlocked, empty janitor closet. While inside, cramped among various cleaning supplies and floor polish, he found a moment of peace to collect his thoughts.

Why was he having dreams about his proposal to Amy all of a sudden?

Instinctively, Sonic slipped his left-hand glove off.

A bottomless longing pulled him into its depth as his eyes focused on the golden ring he found visible underneath. It was a longing that had only dragged him deeper and deeper down as the days had gone by and the more he allowed his mind to wander to places where he knew it wasn't safe to tread. Any thoughts of Amy outside of what was beyond his control had been banished to somewhere far away from his head and heart. Like a mantra he repeated the words - You did the right thing, she's safe - in order to resurface again. And as he once more realized the truth of those words, he could easily shut his aching heartbeats out. A couple of times he'd pondered on the idea of writing letters to her, like he always did whenever he was away on adventures for any longer periods of time. Then he could have told her about how sorry he was and how he so dearly wished she was doing all right.

But Sonic knew he'd never write any of those letters. Amy was safe and sound. That was all he needed to know in order to still function. He could bury all other feelings he'd ever held for her.

He had already come to the conclusion that if it came to a question about Amy's safety - then he loved her enough to let her go…

Carefully Sonic slid the ring off his finger, laying it to rest in the palm of his hand as he stared down at it with a sigh escaping his lips. Just as "Forever" was engraved on the inside of Amy's ring, was the word "Always" engraved on his. It had been her idea as it reflected a part of the vows he'd given her the day he proposed.

That he would always protect her.

And that he would love her forever.

Til' the very end of time itself, and then beyond.

"But, what if Amy don't love me anymore?—" Sonic thought to himself, with a sinking feeling in his stomach. "—What if I've screwed up too big this time that she'll never be able to forgive me? What if I've hurt her too deeply?" If so were the case Sonic couldn't blame her, he'd told her as much in his letter that leaving her in such a way after witholding the truth from her was something he'd never truly forgive himself for. Despite how long he may live, and despite if she ever chose to forgive him or not. He swallowed a big lump in his throat as a sudden strange, cold feeling filled his entire being. Had he perhaps already lost Amy? She who was one of the small handful of people in this world that he knew for absolute certain that he loved with all of his heart. Surely she wouldn't write him out of her life entirely - they would still have contact after all of this, wouldn't they? Even if she found the love relationship between them had been too severely damaged to ever be repaired, the foundation of their over a decade long friendship would still be there.

He might handle losing her as a fiancée and possible future wife, even though he would grieve over it for the rest of his life, but losing her all together would without a doubt slowly but surely kill him from the inside.

There was no coming back from that.

Sonic tried hard not to even consider the possible futures that would follow from such an alternative. But without being able to stop it, painful images flashed before his inner eye in rapid speed. Amy who returned the engagemnet ring to him. Amy who walked down the street happily smiling, hand-in-hand with a faceless man. Amy who, dressed beautifully in a big white wedding gown, walked down the aisle towards said man while Sonic was forced to watch from the back row. Amy who held a baby hoglet in her embrace while half a dozen of her other children scurrying around her in blissful laughter. Amy who still sent him Christmas- and birthday cards every year, but never came to visit him anymore… In that reality Amy was happy without him and had a bright future ahead of her while Sonic's own future was blank like an unpainted canvas.

In that reality, Sonic's life would still hinge on the uncertainty that was his life prior to realizing his true feeling for Amy. A life where neverending adventures and his duties of protecting the freedom of Mobius would be all that ever was. Just like he'd imagined his life would be back when he was fifteen years old. The only difference was that Sonic was no longer fifteen… he was a young man of twenty two that had matured enough to realize that a life without love - was no life at all.

"No. No matter what, I will fight to keep Amy in my life in any small or big way that I can." Sonic concluded to himself, putting the engagement ring back on with a sense of definite determination.

Either way, he would continue on along the path he'd chosen that hopefully soon lead to bringing down Robotnik for good. And the next step on that journey was getting himself to this afternoon's training several floors down the Headquarter. Somehow he'd managed to kill almost forty minutes within the scrub due to his mulling, so now he could easily come right on time, avoiding giving Staff Sergeant Conn an excuse to lecture him.

On slightly stale legs, Sonic rose up from the floor and exited the janitor scrub, carefully peeking outside before stepping out as he didn't wish for anyone to see him coming out of there. He was already getting enough odd looks from people as it were. Reaching this floor's elevators, Sonic stepped inside the first empty one he found, pressed the buttom for the correct floor number and soon went decending downwards. Despite having had no choice but to use elevators daily ever since he arrived, he was sure he'd never overcome his strong dislike for taking them - just as he'd never overcome his distaste for water just because he'd be forced to endure it more than plenty. The claustrophobic feeling that settled in each time the automatic doors closed shut hadn't failed to arrive even once thus far.

The second the doors opened up to the correct floor, Sonic was out into the corridor, letting out a mental sigh of relief.

This particular floor was reserved for training of recruits and consisted primarily of a couple of big gymnasium-looking halls and accompying changing rooms where one could switch into and out of their assigned activewear as well as shower. Yet since Sonic didn't require to wear any funky jumpsuit or usually broke so much as a sweat during practise, he rarely went in there. Most trainees and overall staff at G.U.N. were Overlanders, but in Sonic's unit there actually were a few Anthros, and he knew there existed some Anthros with higher positions as well. Although they were indeed more exceptions than not.

Figuring there was no point in stalling anymore, Sonic passed by the changing rooms and instead went directly through the double doors leading into the correct training hall. Despite there being ten minutes left before the class was supposed to begin, he wasn't surpised to find that he was one of the last people to arrive. He'd gotten used to the fact that no matter how early he arrived there were always one or two people being there before him.

Luckily Sergeant Conn didn't seem to be present yet.

With a sigh of relief, Sonic hurried over to his spot in the lineup that the recruits dutifully formed each time while waiting for their teacher, or in this case Sergeant, to arrive.

Having never so much as stepped foot inside an actual school building in his life, Sonic still got the sense of participating in a stricter type of P.E class. With the exceptions that the attendees weren't a blabbering group of minors but instead a unit of young adults standing awfully still and quiet in a long line, with no one moving so much as a muscle. All of them wearing identical, navy blue jumpsuits, black boots as well as sporting somewhat similar buzzcut-hairstyles. The four Anthros in the group naturally couldn't shave their fur off, but had all still tried to make either their spikes and/or fur to lay as slick as possible. One of them, a tall hedgehog girl, had even went as far as to tie her spikes together with several hairbands so that it looked like one long spike instead. It did not look the least bit comfortable, Sonic noted as he instinctively ran a hand through his own spikes and suppressed the urge to shudder.

Like normally, none of them took any notice of him as he wordlessly joined their lineup, as if he'd been nothing more than any other ordinary guy merely being a little late. Something that Sonic counted as one of the very rare positive things and blessings as of late - in contrast to most other people around the HQ, the people in his unit didn't seem to care that they had a world famous hero among them. Or if they did they sure were good at hiding it or pretending otherwise. As a matter of fact, they rather seemed to prefer to not engage with him much at all unless required, which suited Sonic just perfectly. He seriously doubted he had anything in common with anyone who had willingly sought themselves to this place, and who's highest hopes probably were to become real soldiers and one day perhaps even Corporals or Sergeants themselves.

Either way for once in his twenty-second year old life, Sonic could get a taste of what it was like being simply one of the bunch. Here no one stared, begged for autographs or pictures, made unwanted advances or openly goosiped about him. And honestly it was gratifyingly refreshing.

Once more, Sonic couldn't help but make the school parallel…

—If he'd been just an ordinary person with no supernatural powers or abilities what so ever…

If he'd grown up with a mother and a father who loved him and had had a normal childhood, free from danger and responsibilities way over his age. If he'd gone to a normal school, had normal friends who had the same normal worries like homework, house chores and perhaps wondered if the girl he liked also liked him. If he'd slowly matured over the years, gotten a part time job so he could save up enough money to eventually buy a car and finally ask that girl out, all to lastly graduated from high school and then… then what?

In that world, there would've been no Tails, no Amy, no Knuckles, no… anyone from his current life. He would've never have met any of them, or even known they existed in the first place. Well, except for Robotnik that is. The mad doctor still would have been around to plauge the civilians of the world with his evil schemes and diabloical plans of conquering all of Mobius. And with no faster-than-the-speed-of-sound hero there to stop him… what would have happened then? Would people, including himself, have lived in constant fear of Robotnik - just waiting for him to strike time after next time? Even without the advantage of his powers, would Sonic simply have tolerated such tyranny and simply adjusted his life accordingly? Would he have sit back and done nothing to try and preserve their freedom - to protect his friends and family and fought back with everything he had, no matter how small or big of an impact it made in the end?

"Of course I would've wanted to fight back." Sonic thought to himself with clear conviction. "Super-speed or not, I would've done everything I could to keep Robotnik from taking over."

Maybe even voluntarily joined G.U.N. …

Because when it all boiled down to it…weren't they just that - just ordinary people with no superpowers trying to protect the world against evil - just like he tried to do? Okay, maybe not everyone in the higher ups had the best interest of others constantly at the forefront, but those who stood below… all the soliders and recruits… surely they believed that they really did make a difference for the better. Their personal sacrafises in form of setting aside loved ones and instead serve a higher purpose had indeed great meaning. And no one could deny the fact that their lives were indeed at risk each time they went into the danger zone.

With a slight twinge of a bad conscious, Sonic stole a hasty sideways glance at his fellow recruits.

Perhaps he'd judged them all a bit too harshly after all…—

"Good afternoon, privates!"

Immediately, as if in one collective motion, hands were raised to temples in salute before a high, and clear unison— "Good afternoon, Sir!" echoed through the large hall.

Staff Sergeant Conn had just entered without Sonic noticing, causing his hand to reach his temple a couple of seconds after everyone else's as a result. In any other case that might've not bothered him the slightest, but Sonic knew that Conn was keeping a notoriously close eye on him and probably made several mental notes by the minute regarding his every move. Then whether these notes only ever stayed in the Sergeant's head or ultimately got scribbled down in a report that was later passed onto Commander Rhys himself or some other hotshot within G.U.N. he couldn't possibly figure. And neither if he should care about it or not.

So far during the nearly two weeks that Sonic had been here, had he ever purposefully acted out of line or shown any serious signs of disobedience. For the most part during their various trainings he'd done what was required and listened to both the instructions and the orders that Conn had given them all. In fact he'd been somewhat of a star recruit as he'd for example completed all the different obstecale courses in record time and had by far the best knowledge when it came to one-on-one combat training. Sonic had by no means actively tried to outshine any of others, and was honestly just glad they hadn't been forced to perform any swimming excerises yet… He knew there was a giant pool in one of the halls and did not look forward to eventually having to take a dive into it. Something told him that he wouldn't be allowed to wear a life preserver by any circumstance, even if he told Conn that he sink like a rock in water.

However, it turned out that this afternoon's training wouldn't consist of any unerwater activities - but instead Conn announced that they would begin the field of handeling weaponary arsenal. In other words… - they would start practicing how to use guns.

As soon as the realization sunk in and actual guns were being brought into the hall by Conn's team of assistances, Sonic could practically feel his heart hit the bottom of his stomach with a heavy thud. An icy, almost paralyzing feeling spread through his body as he reluctantly stared at the guns that were laid out on a long table someone had placed beside Conn where he stood waiting patiently for his team to set it all up. At the far end of the room, targets were qucikly being lined up with even spaces as protective, likely bullet proof, vests hanging off of three sets of clothing rackets soon came rolling into place nearby.

After giving a lengthy instruction as well as demonstrating the awaiting practise with nearly frightening precision, Conn ordered them all to first put on a vest, take a gun each and then form a line of thirteen per each of the four targets. And as soon as the order had left Conn's lips had everyone gone off in orderly groups towards the rackets. Everyone except Sonic, who remained rooted to the spot with his eyes stubbornly directed straight ahead. He had just began to ponder over how to best express the dilemma when, as if on cue, the Staff Sergeant came down on him with a sharp— "Mr. Sonic the Hedgehog!" For despite everyone else of the recruits being adressed as 'Private', he had insisted on calling Sonic 'Mister' instead, for some unknown reason. "Did you not just hear me, or is there anything you find unclear regarding the practice?"

"Yeah I did and no, not at all. I heard ya' - loud and clear." Sonic answered, as if anyone could've possibly failed to hear Conn's shrill voice echoing through the room. "It's just that I wouldn't be caught dead carrying one of those things, you see."

"What ever do you mean? What things?"

"A gun." He clarified, jabbing a thumb at the table several people now stood crowded around. Some visibly more eager than others who appeared a slightly bit nervous. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can participate in today's training so maybe I can just—" He'd made a motion for the double doors, but was hindered by the sudden approach of Conn who'd looked as if he'd just about had the urge to grab ahold of Sonic's non-existant jumpsuit collar. The expression upon his face showed no sign of understanding, and his eyes behind the glasses appeared bigger and more stern than ever before.

"Mr. Hedgehog…-" He spoke with a brimming sense of authority to him. "—May I remind you that you are under contract with G.U.N. that binds you to participate in all obligatory training during your stay here. If you are incapable or unwilling to fulfill those demands I'm afraid I'll have to report it to the Commander, who'll have you removed from the program as well as the Headquarter, surely before the very end of this day."

"I know all that. But maybe we could make an exception this time, I promise you that I wouldn't be any good with a thing like that anyway. I'm more of a head first, spin dash 'em to pieces kind of guy, you know?"

Sonic offered Conn a charming grin, while chuckling under his breath.

Conn, however, did not seem to share the same sentiment and gave him a critical look. "Don't be ridiculous. Handling weapons is part of the very basic foundation of which soliders are trained for, it is of absolute necessary knowledge for anyone who operates under G.U.N. . Without the proper means to protect yourself, as well as others, in a situation of crisis a solider is doomed to fail, which in turn jeopardizes our operations and the very Nation itself."

"Yeah, and we all know what good of a job G.U.N. has done with protecting the Nation." Sonic thought sarcastically, biting his tongue. For a second, he felt as if heat threatened to spark up within his chest but fortunately he managed to keep himself calm.

"Now, I won't order you again, Mr. Hedgehog… - Get in line with the rest of your unit!"

The tone in Conn's voice was probably meant to be intimidating, yet Sonic couldn't help but compare the Staff Sergeant with an angry - unusually big-eyed - insect that barked orders at him. He had noticed during his stay that many of the other recruits found Conn to be quite so frightening at times, but when you like Sonic had stood eye to eye with various enormous monsters, slimy, squid-like ancient gods, killer robots ten times his own size and supernatural beings of all kind… Well, let's just say that a mere man with glasses, poor hairline and who was just a mere inches taller than himself, didn't manage to intimidate Sonic no more than a worm. No matter how much muscles the worm had.

Without batting an eye, he stood his ground.

He didn't care about whatever authority this guy thought he held over him - no one was going to force him to so much as hold a gun. And if they wanted to kick him out because of it, then so be it.

"Am I to take this as an official refusal to follow orders, Mr. Hedgehog?" Conn asked through gritted teeth, after realizing that Sonic wouldn't budge.

"Sure, take it however you like. By all means, write a report about it and give me detention - or whatever it is you military dolts do when someone dares think for themselves."

Seething distaste mixed with anger suddenly sparked up in the Staff Sergeants' eyes as he practically spat forth his next sentence— "Mind your tongue, Hedgehog..! I won't tolerate anyone of your kind to speak to me in that—"

But just as Sonic was about to interrupt and demand to know what he meant by 'your kind', one of the assisting instructors had come up to them and beaten him to the punch. The woman in question hastily saluted Conn before rather loudly interjecting— "Excuse me, Staff Sergeant sir, but Private Shaw has just threw up today's lunch on target course three and is complaining about an aching stomach - shall I accompany him to the infirmary?"

"No, that won't be neccessary." Conn sneered, not too thrilled about being interrupted, while he reluctantly cast a glance over at the target course in question before directing his eyes back at the female instructor. "However, you may deliver a message to the Raven, and report that Mr. Sonic the Hedgehog is unable to fulfill his duties and that they should send a group to escort him and his brother out off the building at the shortest notice."

"I'm sorry, Staff Sergeant, but Commander Rhys is not in office this afternoon. He's off visiting the Safe Zone shelters of which the citizens of Station Square are stationed at, and I believe he won't be back until tomorrow." The assistant informed as she dared shoot a look at Sonic before continuing— "And if I may voice my concern, sir , I don't think the Commander would be pleased to find that Mr. Sonic has been removed from the premises this soon before completing his proper training. Staff Sergeant surely knows - just as much as the rest of us - how important he regards his presence here, don't you, sir?"

Sonic had to give it to this gal, she did have some guts in her.

And just as Staff Sergeant Conn opened his mouth to answer, he abruptly seemed to halt himself, as if something the assistant had said had made him reconsider the situation all of a sudden. Whatever it might've been, it didn't please him one bit as his already bitter expression turned even more sour, like he'd just taken a big bite out of a lemon. "Very well." He muttered after an awkward moment of silent, inner pondering. A second later he'd shot his entire arm out in the direction of the target course and ordered— "Specialist Clair, I want you to go and clean up course three, and then make a call to the infirmary and make sure they send someone to come and collect Private Shaw. Tell him to sit back on the side and cover his mouth while he's waiting so he doesn't clutter up the entire floor." There was a sharp turn towards Sonic as he then said— "And you, Mr. Hedgehog - as punishment for your disobediance you shall perform penalty exercise number five through ten. If you by any chance are done before training ends, I shall gladly assign you further practises. Now, get a move on!"

"Yes, sir." Sonic said, forcing himself to salute Conn until he'd turned his back and walked off to join the awaiting privates at the shooting courses.

Pretty soon the hall was filled with the constant piercing sound of firing guns all while Sonic was busy completing one penalty exercise after the other. Compared to the regular excerises they performed during training, these ones were deliberately more brutal and took far longer time to complete as to truly exhaust the person in question. Following off the instructions of an appointed instructor which Conn soon had sent his way to oversee the whole thing, Sonic did as he was told. Without potest nor without so much as a syllable coming across his lips. He strictly focused on the task at hand, while slowly feeling his mind draining of any thoughts or emotions.

It must be by doing this sort of monotone physical work that the soliders and agents of G.U.N. turned out to be such mindless puppets. Gun-carrying puppets that as soon as someone so much as gave them a hint of an order followed through without any questions asked.

All of a sudden, Sonic felt a rush of resentment towards this place.

He hated it, and all those high and mighty oppressors who ran it. Oppressors who used and abused inherently good people that believed they only did the right thing and helped fight against the injustices of the world.

The day of which he would finally be allowed to leave this place couldn't come soon enough…

Four hours had passed once Conn signaled the end of afternoon's training. The privates had advanced quite a lot in that time and practised various techinques as well as how to improve their handling skills and precision. And they all left the hall for the changing rooms in a significantly more talkative manner than when they had previously entered. Meanwhile, Sonic had not yet finished all of his exercises, having half of penalty exercise ten left.

As all of Conn's assitants were done putting away all of the equipment, they all, including the instructor who had surveyed Sonic, were dismissed and eagerly left to probably go eat their dinners in the cafeteria. Conn patiently waited until the very last one of them had closed the doors behind her before he turned towards Sonic, who was in the midst of doing his umpteenth burpee for that evening. He didn't look up as the Staff Sergeant calmly came walking up to him, but could feel his eyes burn a hole in the back of his head.

"Having regrets over our insubordination, are we - Mr. Hedgehog?" Conn inquired, doing a poor job of suppressing the pleasure he seemed to take in the situation before him.

"Nope." Sonic replied in the most casual way he could muster. His voice was slightly hoarse after not speaking for a while and despite how much he hated to admit it to himself - he was starting to get pretty worn out with his muscles and limbs practically pleading for a rest. "I was actually just thinking about what I should have for dinner later… what do you say - should I pick kale or brussels sprout for dessert today? I always have such a hard time deciding what makes my stomach turn itself inside out the most…"

The shadow of what appeared to be a demeaning smile flashed upon Conn's face. "Still making jokes, I see. How typical. Though I reckon that someone as undisciplined and immature as you have hardly ever taken a thing serious in all of his life, hm?"

For a moment, Sonic were about to answer but quickly decided against it. He knew by experience that the man was only trying to provoke him and possibly give him more penalty excerises to perform, which would only lead to him having to endure his presence even longer. So he did his best to simply ignore the snide remarks Conn every now and again threw at him while time seemed to drag itself forward. Fifteen minutes… Half an hour… fifty minutes… An hour…

"Done!" Sonic announced at last, finishing the last round around the track course that leapt around the edges of the room in a wide, oval circle. He'd just run a marathon worth of miles, yet for the first time it hadn't filled him with relief to stretch his legs but rather as him having completed just another, mere meaningless task. Now, he could finally be allowed to leave and hopefully not have to see Conn for at least twelve hours. Though tomorrow's afternoon training would surely continue upon today's class, and Sonic immediately envisioned yet another three hours of nothing but the same mundane exercises once again. Thus his mood took a hasty deep dive…

The urge to kick something suddenly came over him and without thinking he had directed a sharp punt at a left behind waterbottle that had come rolling across the floor. Not realizing how much force he'd put into the punt, it went flying straight across the room until it ultimately hit the wall on the other side where the bottle broke upon impact, causing the water within to explode and run down along the wall.

Surprised, yet keen on not wasting one more second in the hall, Sonic pretended to not have noticed and sped up to Conn, half asking/half demanding—"All right, I've done them all, can I go now?"

However, Conn was busy watching as the water droplets slid down the wall behind him and how a small pool soon formed below. The look upon his face was oddly fascinated and - as always - calculating.

"My, my, my… such temper…" He murmured to himself, clearly unaware that Sonic was listening.

"Sir?"

"Huh, what? Oh, yes, Mr. Hedgehog - do get out of my sight for today, I have seen far too much of you." But a fraction of a second later, as Sonic made a motion to rush out, something seemed to remind itself within Conn's mind as he hastily raised a finger and said— "On second thought, I do have one last request." He cleared his throat and studied Sonic's reaction closely as he then continued on— "May I inquire the reason behind your disobedience today, Mr. Hedgehog?"

"You mean why I refuse to be taught the proper ways of shooting someone in the head or the back?"

"More or less, yes."

To be honest, Sonic had less than no patience left for this man, and he seriously doubted that he'd understand much of his reasoning. And still, he spoke his next words with a tone of genuine sincerity— "I guess that…- When you've seen so much of the destruction and death that weapons have brought in hands of people like Robotnik and such as I have… Well, I would say it's only natural that you grow to loathe them after some time. And I don't believe that anyone ever has the right to choose whether another person deserves to die or not, and certainly not with a bullet to the head."

To his surprise, a most condescending smirk spread upon Conn's face as he merely waved his hand in a dismissive motion towards the doors. Apparently, he wasn't keen to hear any further. Yet before Sonic was fully out, the Staff Sergeant's voice called out to him— "You may want to consider growing thicker skin and overcome your juvenile superiority complex sooner rather than later, Mr. Hedgehog. I highly doubt Doctor Ivo Robotnik will spare you or any of your other little friends any sympathy just because you refuse to take the necessary means against him."

Sonic didn't turn back nor answer, he just continued walking, simply letting the doors close behind him with a deafening bang.

---

Her eyelashes fluttered in a way that sent his heart into an unstoppable whirl and made him lose his nerve.

"Come—" Sonic said, in a tone he desperately hoped didn't sound all too urgent, and offered Amy his hand. "—let's walk for a bit..!"

The look she gave him was beaming, but a hint of amusement was also visible in her eyes as she teased— "Did I just hear Sonic the Hedgehog say 'Let's walk'?"

"Well, I guess I've gotten used to it after hanging around you mere mortal slowpokes for so long."

"Hey, I thought you liked our walks along the beach!"

"Uh, yeah, about that… you know I'm not really a fan of the ocean either, right?"

"Oooh, how is it possible that I love you so?"

"Aw, come on now, Ames - we are 'fated lovers', remember?"

At that, Amy playfully stuck her tonugue out at him while pulling her lower eyelid downwards, creating a similar grimace to that of which Sonic himself had used to do when he was younger. They both then broke out into hearty laugther with her lightly poking him in the side several times, and him ruffling her quills. Soon enough, he snuck a peck on her cheek which allowed him to break free and spring to his feet, letting the last laugh leave his lips. Once more he reached his hand out for her to accept, which she gladly did - a new sparkle having appeared in her jade orbs. And so Sonic took her hand in his. A lopsided smirk spreading across his muzzle as he felt how Amy instantly intertwined their fingers in a secure lock and how she instinctively pulled herself closer, with her other hand grasping his arm as she leaned against him. With Sonic steering their steps in an aimless direction, they then began to walk deeper into the flowery depths of the meadow. Slowly, and seemingly without so much as a care in the world.

Comfortable silence followed their footsteps, giving Sonic the opportunity to try and muster up his courage again.

It was ridiculous.

There was nothing to be afraid of.

No all-powerful god, mythical creature or killer machine that stood before him, prepared to crush him.

It was just Amy.

Amy with her heavenly sweet rose scent, breath-stealing eyes, strawberry lips, petal soft skin and fluttering heart beats…

The protective feelings she always invoke in him was ever present, therefore making him, even now, second guess his decision of possibly binding them closer together. Because one part of him, the more rational and pessimistic part, which he'd almost solely listened to when it came to matters of the heart. That part had persistently told him to let Amy Rose go, that the life he lead was nothing for her and that it would only cause her harm and dissapointment. He was already barely proper boyfriend material, and would be even less of fiancé material. Having a domestic lifestyle, setteling down, slowing down could only end in disaster for the both of them. And the last thing Sonic wanted was to hurt Amy's feelings and eventually break her heart due to his inherent inability to adapt to normalcy. She would without a doubt be better off with someone else, someone more stable that would bring her flowers everyday and hold her tightly in bed every night. Like a loving spouse should do.

But— the optimistic and admittedly more selfish part of him would argue — Amy had told him countless times that she would never want anyone else besides him and that she loves him just the way he is. That it didn't matter to her how long he was away for, as long as he would always make sure to come back to her in the end. She only wanted him to be happy, and if letting him keep his freedom was what it took for him to be happy and still love her, then she'd gladly compromise with her own wishes. Her own happiness… Then again, Sonic still had the protection of the world and all it's people to think about, it was his responsability and his purpose in life, after all. And by keeping the world safe he also kept Amy safe. That was an important factor to wager in, and something which helped ease his bad conscious at times.

Marriage is filled with compromises…

Both good and bad ones.

And when it really came down to it - wasn't the single most important part that they both loved each other?

Sonic's gaze drifted down to Amy, who'd somehow managed to snuggle even closer to his torso. Softly nuzzling her cheek against his arm as they wandered, her eyelids only half open while she wore a most blissful expression upon her face. On instinct, he gently squeezed her hand three times in a row - I. Love. You. - earning him the desired effect of her letting out a brief giggle under her breath before stealing a glance up at him. Though as soon as she discovered he was silently admiring her, she hastily averted her eyes back ahead. A modest blush forming upon cheeks shortly after.

This seemingly innocent gesture was more than enough to restore Sonic's confidence, his heart welling with boundless adoration.

How would he ever be able to live without her?

The girl of his dreams.

The princess of his fairy tale.

The light of his horizon.

It was simply impossible to fathom a future of which she played no part in - for there was none worth to be had without her.

A faint, warm breeze rippled across the meadow, bending the tips of the grass and swaying the flowers in one harminous shudder. Like they'd just gasped for a breath of air. The soft babbling of a distant brook made Sonic's right ear flick while a pale cloud lazily drifted across the pastel blue sky, momentarily shimmering in the glow of the sun. Causing subtle contrasts to tread forth upon its fluffy exterior. Pretty soon the sun would begin its inevitable descend and ultimately put an end to this very last day of June.

Everything was just… perfect.

Like walking in a dream.

A neverending summer's dream…

"Sonic..?" Amy's voice suddenly rose in mild concern.

For without noticing it, Sonic's feet had abruptly decided to stop walking. Seemingly with no reason at all - other than the fact that Sonic felt that his entire being was going to burst at the seams if he took another step. He couldn't stall it any futher. There were no more bouquet of roses to give, all that remained was his heart. Delivered upon a silver plater for Amy to either accept or deny.

Feeling as if it was the most natural thing in the world at that moment, Sonic sunk down to one knee before Amy, lowering his head in courtsey as he did so. He was very much aware that it was an old fashioned antic, one which he'd seen depicted in many of his storybooks and probably mainly in the medieval legends. It was a symbol of a knight's devotion and admiration as well as everlasting servitude when he knelt down to his lady. And that, Sonic realized, was just how he felt for Amy - in fact, he surely would have laid himself on his bare knees on the ground if it had been considered proper. All just to show how far he was willing to go for her to understand the tender adoration he held for her.

With surprisingly steadiness, Sonic proceeded to once again grasp Amy's left hand, holding it flat upon his own - like he was balancing the most delicate of vases. The differences between their two hands suddenly became more apparent than ever before. His being large, with long slender fingers that tore through metal, slid against aspahalt, and faught to protect. They were hands that weren't meant to handle such fragile beings as she, his touch was too coarse, too intense, too careless… and yet— when they stroked against her cheek, carried her body or did such a small act as just hold her hand - it was as if all of that roughness simply melted away until nothing but absolute gentleness was left.

After a shared moment of brief, silent awe over what Sonic had just done, he dared raise his head again to lock eyes with Amy.

She stood with her free hand clutched and pressed firmly to her chest like she was trying to keep from either having her heart burst out, or faint right then and there. A shocked, yet blissful expression had settled upon her features, her eyes having widened and the rosiness of her cheeks deepened. A light tremble went through her body and soon after Sonic could feel his own body do the same. With him kneeling, they were at the unusual vantage point of him having to look up at Amy instead of down, as he had always been at least a head taller than her ever since childhood. But even so, she still appeared just as short, which for some reason amused him, a warm smile finding its way onto his muzzle.

However, as soon as Sonic realized he hadn't uttered so much as a single word yet, his smile strained a bit. The nervousness from before suddenly coming back with renewed force causing his palms to heat up, his stomach to twist and his heart to start thumbing seemingly harder and harder for each second that passed.

How was he supposed to begin?

How do one even begin to express in words what you feel so strongly in your heart?

How do one reveal all that you'd carried inside of you for the many years that he had known her for?

Eleven years…

That was half of his life and somehow those first eleven held no real meaning to him anymore. Memories, thoughts and feelings from that time seemed bleak and empty, and except for his meeting with Tails at ten years old, where color and warmth had first entered his life, and his first encounter with Robotnik, which had inevitably kicked off his heroic path at the mere age of seven. He had indeed been alive and experienced both great sorrows and great joys during that time. An orphan child with not so much as a single memory of either of his parents… A defender of the small and innocent critters of Green Hill Zone… An older brother to a brilliant fox cub who'd been bullied solely because of said brilliance and the uniquness of having two tailses… And then he became a proper hero as he saved his first damsel in distress, but also found that the girl in question was no ordinary damsel. For she had touched his heart in a way that he'd never experienced before.

Amy Rose was created to be protected, and he was the one created to protect her.

She and Tails made up the world he, after eleven years of sleeping, finally woke up to find be his own. A world full of colors, friendship, love, adventures, laughter, comfort, loyalty and trust. A world where he was no longer all alone and without a true purpose. A world which made his life worth living. A world he would die to preserve. All of a sudden it felt as if every happy memory with them, every positive emotion he'd ever had coarsed through his veins like a warm, soothing sensation that at last wrapped around his wildly beating heart.

"Open your heart…" A gentle voice inside of Sonic's subconcious told him. "It's gonna be alright…"

Within the next heartbeat, he opened his mouth, speaking in the most tender of way he'd probably ever done—

"Amy… You know I'm not too good with words, so I hope you'll cut me some slack if I mess this up, heh. But I guess there's no easy way to say what I'm about to tell you… because my love for you isn't something that can easily be put into words, in the first place.

Before I met you, I didn't believe in fate and I suppose my stance on it hasn't changed much throughout the years… Except for one thing. And it's that I know, with all of my heart, that I was destined to meet you. That you were somehow created for me, just as I were created for you - and that without each other we'd be merely half of ourselves.

And years after that day on the Little Planet I always took for granted that it was I who'd saved you… but as of late I've come to realize that that's not true at all…—"

A short, heartfelt chuckle escaped him just then.

"—It was you who saved me.

For you gave me all of those things that I didn't even know I'd needed.

You gave me love…

A reason to keep fighting…

A reason to live.

And now, the little rascal I knew back then has blossomed into the most sweetest, most beautful Rose I could have ever imagined her to become… And she's stolen my heart…

You've stolen my heart, Ames.

And for as long as you want it, It'll be yours to keep.

I know I don't have much to offer, and that I'm not exactly a knight in shining in armor… But if you'll have me as your fiancée, then I promise that I'll do whatever it takes to be the kind of man you deserve. That putting a smile upon your face will be my most important responsibility in life. That no matter how far I might wander in the world, I'll always return home to you. Because my home is wherever you are…

And I promise to always protect you, for as long as my heart shall beat… To love you forever, til' the very end of time - and then beyond."

Pearl-like tears silently began rolling down Amy's rosy cheeks, instinctively causing Sonic to want to wipe them away but he managed to hold himself back. His heart told him they weren't tears of sadness, and for a brief moment he felt the smallest twinge of sorrow that he himself couldn't share the same sentiment. He had never cried once in all of his life… Quickly shaking the notion from his mind, Sonic instead reached into the safety of his spikes, feeling the soft velvet box and clutching it in his hand as he then presented it for Amy to see. While focusing hard on not tremble too much on his hands, he popped the box's lid open and thus finally revealing the golden ring that instantly began to shimmer in the light of the bright summer sun. In that moment, Sonic could vaugley remember how he'd once thought the ring to be beautiful, but as of right then it appeared utterly pale and insignificant. Had it always been like that? Instantly, an irrational fear that Amy would find the ring unworthy and thus turn him down because of it entered his mind. What if she outright hated it?

To Sonic's surprise, however, Amy's gaze didn't leave his in favor for so much as a single glance down at the engagement ring in his hand.

And so he realized… - she didn't care about the ring at all. She didn't care for anything or anyone else in the entire world except Sonic and the words he spoke to her.

It might as well have only been him and her left in all of existence.

"—So I'm asking you, Amy Rose… will you marry me?"

"Oh, Sonic, yes… Yes, of course I will..!"

Never before had such simple words ever sounded as wondrous or carried such weight.

The sensation was instant.

Like Sonic had just been pulled from the planet's gravitation.

Every bond, evey pull, every string that had ever attached him to the world shattered in a million little insignificant pieces. And just like that… everything that he had ever known skewed out of focus until nothing but a single realization tread forth into the light of his mind—

Without her, there was no him - because she was his, and he was hers.

In the next moment, Sonic tread the golden ring upon the correct finger of Amy's left hand, just to find himself gloomped to the ground as soon as it was in place.

"Woah..!"

Amy, in a rush of happiness had thrown herself straight into his arms and sent them both tumbling down amongst the the tall grass and the flowers. What followed next was a bombard of kisses being planted upon practically every last inch of Sonic's face, all while in between breaths Amy alternated between giggling and squealing her heart out. Not to mention the tears that now streamed down her cheeks in floods. "Oh, S-Sonic..!" She managed to utter after a while. "You have-" She planted a kiss upon his forehead. "—made me-" One upon his left cheek. "—the happiest-" Another one upon his right cheek. "—girl in the world..!" At last she pressed one square on his lips, capturing him in a long, much more gentle kiss that Sonic could actually reciprocate.

The blue hero hadn't really pondered over how Amy's reaction to his proposal would be, but figured that this was close to what he could've expected.

At least she hadn't fainted… yet, anyway.

Sonic chuckled softly to himself, smiling as the taste of strawberry lingered upon his lips - and probably the rest of his face, too. He waited patiently for Amy's tearful emotional rush to settle until he soon noticed that the rosy hue upon her cheeks deepened into an odd shade of scarlet… Carefully he lifted a hand to stroke his thumb across her cheek and almost flinched at the heat he felt. Instantly his brow furrowed in concern as he realized that Amy wasn't blushing anymore. Her cheeks were flushed, like she was all of a sudden running a very high fever. And as soon as it dawned upon him, did Amy make a hasty motion to press both of her clutched fists to the middle of her chest while she gasps for breath.

Within a mere couple of seconds, Sonic watched as his recently blossoming rose withered and collapsed helplessly into his embrace. Instinctively, he cradled her shivering body in his arms which now looked even more small fragile than ever before. With worry written across his face, Sonic asked—

"Are you all right?"

"S-Sonic, I—…" Amy drew for breath as another shiver went through her. Her voice was apologetic and barely reached above the gentle breeze. "—Please, I'm so s-sorry… I don't know what happened… I'm just s-so happy - my heart is pounding…"

"Hey, hey, shh… It's okay, I've got ya'." Sonic reassured softly, caressing her cheek with utmost tenderness while also brushing a few stray quills from her face. And through his own heart's steady beating he hoped to soothe hers, trying his best to lend her all of his collective strength. "Your heart just ran a lil' amok there for a sec."

"Yeah, s-sorry… I just ruined the whole moment, didn't I?"

"Don't be silly, there ain't nothing to be sorry about. In sickness and in health, remember? I'm just fulfilling my first duty as fiancé, 'tis all."

They stayed like that for a long while, with Amy resting in Sonic's secure embrace. Enveloping herself in his comforting scent, she buried her face into his chest, drawing in calming breaths and sighing happily as she almost immediately felt her pain relieved. In these arms she always felt safe… here no evil or any harm could ever get to her. In the arms of her love, her husband-to-be… Then her eyes strayed down to her left hand where the shimmering gold band now adorned her finger. The thought hadn't yet sunken in and probably wouldn't for a long time - but she was engaged… to the man of her dreams. Her darling Sonic.

A new wave of tears was close to spilling from her eyes while Amy studied the ring properly for the first time, and soon said in tender awe— "… The ring, it's so lovely, Sonic."

At that, Sonic felt a weight drop from his shoulders. "You really like it?"

"Very much so..! It's absolutely beautiful." Amy complimented but then paused for a brief moment, a hint of concern finding its way into her tone as she continued— "I hope it wasn't too expensive, though. I wouldn't want you to waste too much on me…—" She knew that Sonic had never had much, living his vagabond life and spending any rings he ever got on either chillidogs or on his friends. Had his morals only allowed it, he surely could've collected a small fortune by now through his countless services to various towns and cities. He had indeed more than once been offered rings or other valuable possessions as a show gratitude over the years, but never accepted so much as a single ring.

No, Sonic was a true penniless hero.

A trait which only made Amy's love and admiration for him even greater.

Sonic simply shrugged his shoulders, smiling down at her. "I've been saving up for a while. Besides, you deserve to have a proper ring." He scratched the back of his head in thought, feeling a bit modest. "… Still I know it's not the most fancy of rings, and I'm sorry there's no diamond on it." But that only earned him a light shove in his chest from Amy, who instantly brought the ring closer to her as if she were afraid that he would suddenly decide to take it from her.

"Oh, hush you! Don't you dare insult my ring, it's perfect - just the way it is..!"

"Heh, all right, all right..! Sorry!" Sonic hurriedly apologized with obvious playfulness in his voice.

The young couple then both laughed, elated over all the swarming feelings they felt just then. Their happiness of being together and of being newly engaged catching up to them as it all went beyond simple words. Well, all words except—

"I love you..!"

"I know."

A new burst of tears came forth as Amy broke into sweet giggles. "Just say you love me too, you dork..!"

But being of the belief that actions speak louder than words, and as he also felt that he'd ran out of words for today, Sonic instead gently cupped Amy's tear stained cheeks in his hands. Her usual, healthy blush having just returned and being more adorable than ever, and with his thumb he gently stroked the tears away. They then leaned their foreheads against one another while closing their eyes. A warm smile spreading across Sonic's muzzle as Amy nuzzled in as close as she could, accidentally making their noses boop. The act immediately caused her to giggle even more while Sonic's smile naturally widened at the lovely sound of it.

Soon enough however, he pulled back slightly while just barely re-opening his eyes before brushing his lips against hers. Those delicate, rose lips that held the sweetest of taste and felt so soft to his touch. There was no resistance to be had as he slowly closed the gap once more…

And so they shared their first kiss as fiancé and fiancée.

A warm, golden glow seemed to radiate from Sonic's very skin and fur just in that moment, as his heart surged with probably the greatest of joy that he had ever felt. If Amy's arms hadn't held onto him, he easily could've shot straight into the sky above them and let out such a loud, vibrant call of euphoria that surely would've echoed all across the planet and then further off into the galaxy.

And If Sonic didn't known any better, he could've sworn he'd just turned Super.

---

"Good night, Miles!"

"Bye, Tails!"

"Seeya, ya' little genius!"

"Hehe, yeah, see you tomorrow— err, later today rather..!" Tails called, a sleepy smile upon his face as he waved goodbye to his group of colleagues as they all went their seperate ways after yet another day of sitting cooped up in the research team's various facilities.

He had, as was beginning to become a habit, completely lost himself in his current research on more efficient and disguised earpiece like walkie-talkies, and discussing different hypothetical theories and scenarios under which it could be used in, with his peers. Peers who, very much like himself, cared very little about sleep when new inventions and break-throughs could be made instead. However, continously drinking big mugs of coffee could only really get you that far, and at long last Tails had been forced to realize that it was probably for the best to go get some rest. Calling it a day along with some of the others and yet leaving plenty of people still at work, as the research labs were one of the rare departments in the G.U.N. Headquarters which were in constant use twenty-four seven.

In favor of a yawn, Tails whistled a simple little melody as he walked along the corridors on his way to his apartment. He only had to take the elevator two stories up in the building to reach the floor in question and as he stepped out he further took a left, a right and then a left again before soon arriving outside his apartment door - labeled according to the Headquarter's odd system as; 0428-95B.

While rooting around his backpack for the keycard, a silent wonder whether his big brother would be awake drifted through his mind.

Upon their arrival they had been assigned seperate apartments, yet Sonic only ever slept in Tails', upon one of the couches in the living area. In fact, Tails doubted that Sonic had so much as even stepped over the threshold of his own apartment. Despite it being located on a higher level whereas Tails' was on the lower levels closer to the research lab, where the fox spent all his waking time anyway. Only ever returning to the apartment for either showering or sleeping, which was barely. Because unlike Sonic, Tails had actually managed to find joy in living in the G.U.N. Headquarters. For once in his life, he was surrounded by people who shared his interest for everything machinery and science, and he was absolutely thriving in having so much equpiment and gadgets at his disposal. If it weren't for the circumstances of which they were under, one might've said he was living his best life.

And if there were any upsides to their stay, Sonic had assured his little brother that Tails' newfound delight was one of them.

Tails just wished Sonic could've had something similar to distract himself with.

For whenever Sonic wasn't partaking in his obligatory training or visiting Tails in the research facilities, he was mostly left wandering the seemingly endless halls and levels of the Headquarter. Sometimes he was sought out by an agent who told him his presence was requested at some meeting or what not, to which he forced himself to attend. Even though he only really cared about updates about Robotnik, and indeed also how the citizens of Station Square were faring away in the safe zone. The former of which there were rarely any updates except vaugue reports about how they might have gotten sightings of various aircrafts, and the latter merely that they were alive and relatively well.

Once those topics had been discussed, Sonic had a tendecy to take the oppertunity of nodding off during the rest of the meeting. All of this being things that Tails had overheard being gossiped about more than once in the cafeteria, and which Sonic had only shrugged his shoulders at.

"There you are…" Tails mumbled in triumph as his hand grasped around the card, carefully holding it against the keycard reader which instantly accepted it and unlocked the door with a soft 'click'. The first thing that met his eyes as he entered was the pitch black darkness that was the inside of the apartment. All was perfectly quiet and still… until a sound that appeared to be a mix between a gasp and a grunt suddenly came from somewhere within the dark, followed by a bunch of shuffling noises as if someone was just waking up.

"Sonic..?" Tails called, switching on the lights in the hall before squinting his eyes and peering into the living room area. Eventually he detected the familiar sillhouette of his older brother at his usual spot upon the couch. As Tails advanced into thd room, he found that Sonic was practically hidden were he laid under a blanket, which he hastily threw off before sitting himself upright and half-trained his eyes upon Tails. For almost a solid minute, he looked to be completely disoriented at the sight of him, as if greatly surprised at finding his little brother standing there.

"He-hey there, lil' buddy." Came Sonic's reply after a while with a voice that sounded slightly agitated, immediately making a worried frown appear between Tails' eyes. Soon after he'd turned on the nearest lamp in the living room and witnessed the worn expression that Sonic wore. The dark circles underneath his eyes giving away that he had not had a pleasant rest - again. Because despite both of their hectic schedules, it hadn't escaped Tails' notice that Sonic neither slept nor ate as he normally did. And despite Sonic's usually cheerful mood whenever he hung around in the research lab, he could see that the joy never fully reached his older brother's eyes and that every now and then a laugh of his came out sounding oddly hollow.

As if merely one half of Sonic was present while the other half was somewhere far, far away from this place.

As of now, he sat with sweat visibly having broken forth on his forehead and with his hands tightly grasping the lower edge of the couch cushion in a most cramped way. "What's up?" He greeted once Tails had fully uncovered the living room area in a soft, dimmed light, trying to sound as casual as possible without much success.

"Just got back from the lab, I, uh, were so caught up in my latest work so I stayed a little longer. Guess I lost track of time, hehe."

"That's cool, that's cool… no prob. We'll just have dinner now instead, lemme just grab a shower before we leave and then—" Sonic fumbled around with his hands on the coffee table for a bit, hastily standing up only to sit back down on the couch a couple of times in the process while his eyes darted from Tails, to the table, and lastly to the bathroom door. However, he didn't get to continue his rambling as Tails gently interrupted—

"I doubt the cafeteria will be open at this hour."

Abruptly, Sonic ceased whatever it was that he was doing and instead looked up to meet Tails' eyes. He blinked a couple of times, looking greatly confused. "What do you mean? I only nodded off for like an hour or two—"

"Sonic, it's half past two in the morning."

"That can't be right…" But true enough, as he turned his attention to how it actually looked outside the window, Sonic discovered that it indeed appeared to be in the middle of the night. The weather outside was terrible, with whiny winds and heavy rain drumming against the glass of the windows. The air around the apartment was warm however… almost choking… Instinctively, Sonic felt like opening up all of the windows in the entire apartment to let some fresh air in, but decided against it just as quickly.

Letting out a sigh, Tails settled himself down upon the couch opposite Sonic, giving him a sympathetic smile before asking—

"You had a nightmare again, didn't you? It's okay, you can tell me - what was it about?"

Sonic, who's eyes now had gotten glued to a certain spot on the coffee table's glass surface, couldn't think of what to say, so after a moment's silenece, Tails tried a different angle. "They're about Amy, aren't they..? He spoke lowly while feeling a twinge of guilt burying itself in his heart by having to bring her up, since he knew just how much it hurt Sonic. However, his inqury wasn't actually a question, but rather a statement. "I hear you talk about her in your sleep… Sometimes I even think you're awake and are simply talking to yourself, but every time I get up to check - your eyes are always closed."

The fact that he talked in his sleep was something new to Sonic, yet hardly surprising. As of late his dreams had been so vivid that when he woke up afterwards it didn't feel as if he'd been sleeping but rather been awake in a different world. A different life. A life where Amy, although out of reach for him to touch, still lingered around him - her soft giggles above a breeze, her resting figure amongst a lush meadow, her bubbly voice speaking words he could hear clear as day but not make sense of. And those were the bright and peaceful scenarios he got to dream of when he was lucky enough. Most times his dreams were borderline nightmares that forced him to witness Amy either flee for her life from various impending dangers or how he - Sonic - abandoned her in multiple mean and nasty ways. Telling her the most hurtful of things and merely ignoring her cries and pleas that begged him to stay.

Even if none of it was real, the two variations of dreams either left him distressed or loathing himself.

Within this gloomy Headquarter, within this city, it was somehow easier to keep his mind off of Amy. Perhaps because he found little to no beauty around himself here that could possibly remind him of her. It was different to when he was off traveling the many corners of Mobius, out there every flower, every sunset - why indeed every wonderous thing he came across, could evoke a sense of longing for her. For her to stand beside him and witness what he was witnessing or feel what he was feeling. To share all the beauty that this world had to offer and still be reminded that none of it ever compared to her, and then find that he was content with that notion.

Maybe his dreams were the only place left for her to exist freely in, since he'd so furiously tried to banish her from his mind, as well as his heart at this point.

At long last, Sonic let out a heavy sigh, feeling his chest tighten remarkably before answering his little brother the best he could— "It's been harder than I thought it would be - to keep her outta my head, I mean. I thought knowing she would be safe and sound far away would make me forget— or rather, forgive myself for what I did. But I… I know I've hurt her and that she's suffering because of it, I can feel it - in ever fiber of my body. And it's slowly killing me, buddy."

"More so than if she'd been here, at a higher risk of being endangered?" Tails' voice wasn't condemning, just curious to understand the storm of conflicting emotions that raged inside his brother as of right then.

"Probably not…" Sonic admitted after a while. "I mean, I think I would've hated myself either way. The only difference is that this way she's safe. Still, for some reason that doesn't make me feel any less like the world's biggest douchebag…" He buried his head in his hands, shaking it ever so slowly as he continued— "Maybe it would be for the best if I just… let her go. I always knew that I didn't deserve her - that I wouldn't be man enough to take care of her the way she needs…"

"What are you talking about?" Tails firmly objected, having just about heard enough of Sonic's self-loathing. He leaned himself forward in his seat, giving his brother an encouraging look. "Have you forgotten the whole reason why we're even doing this? We need to cooperate with G.U.N. because we need to stand united if we are to have a chance at bringing Robotnik to justice once and for all. Which we need to do if we want to protect all of our friends and everyone else on Mobius - Amy included! And you'll be risking your life to do it! In my book that's anything but being a douchebag. Your just letting this place get you down which causes you to doubt yourself for no—"

"That's not what I'm saying." Sonic cut in. "I know all that, okay, and I still stick by the plan. But there will come a day when, despite if we've manage to take down Robotnik or not, that I'm gonna have to face Amy again - and how can I do that after what I did to her, and after doing all the things that I possibly will be forced to do if I let G.U.N. effect me?"

Tails paused for a moment, a bit taken aback by this sudden outburst.

"We won't let them effect us. We are only obligated to stay here for a few more days, remember? After that we'll be free to go out and join the search for Robotnik. I'm positive the two of us will have a better shot at locating him anyway since we're not so easily detected as the big air fleets that they're using. You could easily be about to hand over the Doctor personally in just a matter of weeks for all we know."

"But what if I can't?"

"What?"

"What if I can't do what everyone expects me to do? You haven't heard all the things that I have around this place, Tails, or seen what the recruits are trained to do down in those halls. They are meant to shoot first and ask questions second, which makes me wonder if they are really so intent on giving Robotnik a fair trail as they first let on." Sonic lifted his head from his hands and stared Tails straight in the eye as he then said in a low, serious tone— "I know it sounds crazy after everything that he's done throughout the years, but I could never, not in a million years, bring myself to kill someone. Not even someone as vile and evil as Robotnik is justified of such an end."

Tails blinked, shocked over the fact that Sonic had ever felt it neccessary to ponder such thoughts in the first place. "Sonic…-" He began weakly, slumping down in his seat again. "-… where is all of this coming from?"

"Everywhere and nowhere, I guess. I mean, I have no actual proof that Commander Rhys will somehow break his end of the agreement and not bring Robotnik in alive… But I also feel like it doesn't matter, because the fact that I'm even doubting it in the first place and the fact that practically everyone in this place rubs me the wrong way is enough to makes me just wanna…-"

Slowly Sonic's voice faded, leaving the unspoken words to float in air between him and his little brother, who realized exactly what he'd been about to say. And this time around he wasn't too surprised, just… torn. What naturally turned out to be in vain, Tails waited for Sonic himself to finish his sentence so that he wouldn't have to. Yet as a couple of minutes passed in complete silence, the young fox finally stated rather than asked for the second time that night—

"You're planning on leaving, aren't you?"

"What else is there for me to do? I can't stay here much longer, I know that now. I don't eat, I don't sleep… heck, I barely feel anything anymore. I'm not meant to be cooped up like this, I'm just not cut out for it." Sonic paused for a brief moment, furrowing his brow into an expression that suddenly seemed to age him ten years, before continuing. "Finding Robotnik and putting an end to all of this is the only thing that's gonna make it go away. If I don't get out soon, I might just stir crazy. You understand that, don't ya'?"

Tails nodded. "I do… So long as you also understand that it means that I'll come along with you then, right?"

"Yeah, I do." A smile appeared upon Sonic's muzzle until it suddenly paled again. "But, buddy, I don't want you to leave if you don't want to, if this place makes you happy - I mean, they'd be lucky to have someone as brilliant as you working with them. I don't wish to ruin anything for you."

Tails had indeed began to make some good friends around the many research facilities, and he couldn't deny that being allowed just a taste of what it was like to work professionally with machinery and sience was a dream come true… and yes, his short time here had been pretty happy despite everything else. But when he really considered to actually work for G.U.N. ... no, there was no way he could leave Sonic now.

"You don't honestly believe that I would let you have all the fun and excitment to yourself right?" Though he figured it would hardly be the usual typ e of "fun", Tails could tell that Sonic understood the sentiment as he returned the smile with a short nod. "Besides, I am only fourteen and a half, after all. I'm not so sure I want to choose a definite career path just yet… I mean there's still lots of planes to build and degrees to be achieved, maybe even get myself an actual flight certificate some day."

For what felt like a very long time, Sonic broke into a genuine laughter, while he got up and caught Tails in a hug.

In that moment, it truly occured to Sonic how much his little brother had grown throughout the last few years. Aside from his height, which was still on the rather short side, Tails had shaped up to be a far better, and more responsible person than he had been at that age.

Tails was still following him through thick and thin like he'd first done as a cub, but now he ran along side him and not behind. And Sonic knew it was only a matter of time before he would watch as his once so small and defenseless little brother, flies past him and continues on to places Sonic could never even imagine to reach. The world laid before someone as brilliant and kind hearted as him… And even though Sonic also knew that he would slowly but surely fall behind and one day ultimately stop to simply watch with a smile as Tails left to achive those goals, he would feel nothing but pride.

That was a future which he was willing to die for to make possible.

To make sure that his brother could enter his young adult life in a world of peace, and have a bright future ahead of him. Where no evil rulers existed or lands were laid to waste. The world had already robbed Tails of his childhood and early teenage years, but there was still time to reclaim his further youth. Granted Sonic's own youth was alredy a lost cause, but he'd be damned if he let Tails throw away his genius on fighting Eggrobos for the rest of his life.

After simply holding onto Tails for minute, Sonic uttered the words— "Have I told you lately how proud I am of you, lil' bro?"

"N-nah, I don't..- eheh…-" Tails mumbled inchoherently, practically feeling a light pink tint appear upon his muzzle. The all so familiar teenage modesty before openly expressed feelings having already beallen him to some degree. Yet whereas his older brother's teenage shyness had only ever really shown itself whenever Amy had been involved, Tails shyness mostly manifested itself in his own achivements. And now also touchy feely stuff…

"—Because I really should..!"

Just then, a rather loud rumble was heard.

Recognizing the sound, Tails slowly pulled back as he gave Sonic a broad grin. "Was that what I think it was?"

"Err, yeah. I sorta forgot to eat dinner after I finished training to- yesterday." Sonic replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Come on, let's make ourselves a sandwhich of whatever we can find in the fridge…" Tails said, walking off towards the tiny kitchen area that the apartment had integrated with the living room. It mostly consisted of a fridge with a tiny freezer on top, a stainless steele sink and a stove along with a kitchen island with three bar stools standing on one side. Ever since they moved in there hadn't been a lot of cooking done, as they were expected to eat in the cafeteria three times a day, but Tails had still made sure to at least have some basic food items stored there. Just in case either of them ever felt like having a late night snack.

Very much like now.

Opening up the door of the fridge, Tails was momentarily blinded by the bright white light that emitted from inside, causing him to look away and blink several times before refocusing his eyes and turning his head back again. The sight that met him was quite depressing - a pack of cheese slices, a half eaten sausage, a bottle of mustard, and couple of eggs were all that was inside. As well as - Tails discovered with a slight feeling of repulsion - a quarter worth of slices of a certain birtday cake…

Sonic's twenty second birthday had been an all but cheerful occasion, where the two brothers had felt so utterly miserable over the fact that they were spending it without the rest of their friends and also within the grey walls of the Headquarter. To his credit though, Tails had genuinely tried his best at brightening the mood by for example going out and buying Sonic a small cake from the bakery section of the closest supermarket. Which unfortunately turned out to taste horribly, but which neither of them had pretended to notice as they forced down each bite while exchanging strained smiles. Due to the present that Tails had initially planned on giving Sonic laid unfinished back home in his workshop, the young fox had instead been forced to, at the last minute, bought him several new pairs of white socks. However, that had almost made the corners of Sonic's mouth to turn upwards for a brief moment. Then ultimately, as a further sad ending to an even sadder day, they had finished the day by eating dinner in the cafeteria, which that particular day had served stewed cabbage.

As it looked now, almost a week after it had been purchased, the birthday cake looked about ready to crawl out of the fridge on its own. With two fingers pinched over his nose, Tails removed the cake and dumped it into the garbage bin with an almost sickening, smacking noise.

Sonic, who had been on his way over, abruptly halted, sending Tails a hesitatant look. "Was that…?"

"Yup."

"Sorry, I've meant to throw that away, I swear."

"Mhm…"

A shared chuckle erupted.

"Well, let's see…" Tails muttered, rolling his eyes before proceeding to grab the cheese, the half sasuage and the mustard out the fridge and placing them all on top the kitchen island's black marble surface. He then took what was left of a relatively fresh loaf of bread, cut a few slices and soon started making him and Sonic a large sandwich each of what he'd brought out.

Once they sat upon the stools munching slowly in comfortable silence, Tails slowly got to thinking about something.

"Hey, Sonic? About before… You didn't really mean that, right? You know, about whether it was best that you let Amy go..?"

Sonic deliberately chewed his last bite with care, casting a distant glance out the window, where the rain still kept falling. To be honest, he wasn't too sure how or what to answer to that question. On reflex his left hand tightened into a hard fist while his otherwise sleeping heart stirred in silent hope at the mention of Amy's name. Once he could no longer stall, he swallowed hard before saying— "Tails… maybe it's hard for someone your age to understand—"

"I'm fifteen, Sonic, not stupid."

"I thought we had already established that you're only fourteen and a half." Sonic quipped, ruffling Tails' bangs. "But anyways… Sometimes, when you love someone in a, eh - like-like, more than friends, kissy-icky sort of way like some old people do—"

Tails raised a brow in disbelief. "Seriously? Like-like? I repeat - I'm fifteen, not stupid. I understand the basics of a mature, romantic relationship."

However, Tails apparently spoke in Sonic's deaf ear as he simply continued speaking as if he hadn't been interrupted—

"—well, you come to realize that perhaps what you want isn't always what you need. And I'm no longer so sure that what Amy truly needs in her life is… me. Aside from the obvious of us being together puts her at a daily risk of being targeted by whatever madman with a vendetta towards me… I don't think I can live up to all the promises I made when I proposed to her." The stabbing his heart recieved as those words left his mouth was enough to make him crash to the floor, but he took a cramped hold of the seat of his stool to keep himself upright. He practically forced his next words out through his teeth—"And if I'm no longer sure about that, well - then I love her enough to let her go."

" 'I love her enough to let her go' " Tails repeated, as if he could hardly believe his ears. "Sonic, I understand why you did what you did back on Angel Island, but you can't be serious about leaving Amy for real-for real. You two love each other, you're engaged to be married for Chaos' sake! She would be absolutely devastated if she could hear you talk like this, I mean, haven't you realized yet?"

"Realized what?"

"That Amy doesn't care about whether being with you is dangerous or not, she never has and never will! And there's nothing Robotnik nor anyone else can do about it. Because I know she trusts you, just like I trust you, to always be there for her if she needs it, for we would do the same for you." Tails said as if he were explaining why one plus one is two, before taking the very last bite of his sandwhich. "Trust me, once Robotnik has been dealt with and we're all back together, you'll be walking down the aisle with her before you know it. You and Amy belong together, simple as that." He offered his older brother his most reassuring smile.

Inevitably, the usual image of Amy - clad in a pearly white wedding gown with a sheer veil concealing her smile and sparkling eyes, appeared before Sonic's mind's inner eye. How she gracefully, almost floated, down an aisle while rose petals practically snowed down upon her… how she finally grasped his outstretched hand, promising to never let go and that she'll love him forever - until her heart's very last beat…

And, if so only for this moment, Sonic let the image remain intact.

---

The following noon, Sonic and Tails had decided to meet for lunch in the cafeteria and now sat by themselves at the far end of one of the long tables, convinently placing them in a corner of the large room. They sat with their head close together, speaking quietly to each other in case anyone would get the idea to possibly eavesdrop on their conversation. They had just discussed whether they should make their leave today or tomorrow and finally decided that leaving tomorrow evening would give them the opportunity to gather some information of Robotnik's possible current whereabouts, Sonic via the scheduled meeting he'd been informed to attend later and Tails via poking around among the people of the various research labs. He even said he might be able to sneak some useful equipment with him without anyone noticing if he was lucky.

"—Just make sure to stay awake during today's meeting, okay?" Tails said as he just finished his portion of broccoli and tofu sausage. "And try to ask as many questions about Robotnik and if they have any possible locations were they assume he could be."

Sonic, who merely poked in his food with his fork as usual, nodded and replied with his brow slightly furrowed—"Yeah, though I figure they might get a little suspicious of me suddenly taking an interest and actually paying attention during a meeting." He stabbed a broccoli and studied it carefully before forcing himself to take a bite. It's bland taste and overcooked consistency did little to raise his mood, but as he realized that he'd soon be out of the G.U.N. Headquarter he could feel his spirits lifting.

The first thing he'd do once they were out of here would be to take a nice, long run and then buy himself the biggest chili dog of his life.

After that, he and Tails would finally set off to find—

A blaring, siren-like sound went off around the room and interrupted Sonic's train of thought.

As if on reflex, several people around them got to their feet within the blink of an eye and took a rigid stance with their hands raised in salute. The cafeteria employees soon did the same, leaving only Tails and Sonic to glance around the room in utter confusion at what was going on. However, they didn't have to wonder for too long as a disembodied voice suddenly boomed out from the speakers—

"Attention! On the orders of Commander Rhys is all of unit one-two-nine-eight are to report to assembly hall three of the Sparrow immediately. No exceptions. Further instructions will be provided upon arrival. I repeat: On the orders of Commander—"

"Unit one-two-nine-eight…" Tails mumbled to himself, lost in his own mind for a brief moment.

They waited until the booming voice finally died down and the cafeteria settled back into normal before continuing. Tails was the first to speak, his voice laced with sudden concern— "I wonder what's happened. I mean they wouldn't announce an immediate assemble via the speakers if it weren't something really important, right?" He cast a worried glance around the room as if he was expecting someone or something to burst in any second.

"Maybe it's an emergency marching training or something…" Sonic muttered sarcastically.

"I doubt they would order the whole unit to gather just for that… and in the Sparrow no less."

"Why, what department is the Sparrow?" Sonic asked. During his stay at the Headquarters he'd discovered that different departments were all named after different types of birds. Though not knowing the reason behind this rather bizzare system, he had via traveling up and down the elevator which announced each floor's name gradually learnt the names of more and more departments. For example, the research floor that Tails worked in were called the Magpie, the Commander's floor the Raven, while the training floor was called the Crow.

With his brow furrowing slightly, Tails answered— "From what I've heard it's mostly a department used for advanced strategic planning… Either way it's certainly a part of the military department. Maybe they've gotten any new reports regarding Robotnik?"

"I dunno…" Sonic mused, and had no time to ponder the question further either as, seemingly out of nowhere, two agents had appeared behind him. Causing Tails' eyes to widened even more while he took a hasty grip on the edge of the table. Sonic however remained perfectly calm as he slowly turned his head, and to his surprise found that one of the agents was none other than Rouge.

A Rouge that didn't look like her usual glamorous self…

She wore the same uniform as she had on the day she'd came to collect Sonic for the meeting with the Commander, and sported a shiny pair of high heels. But even though her make up did a good job of covering up a lot of her inner distress, Sonic saw it reflected in her bright teal eyes that flickered in an unusual way. And despite the ever so charming smile she had plastered across her muzzle, she looked as if she, much like Sonic himself, hadn't slept properly for weeks. Now that he thought about, he couldn't recall having seen so much as a glimpse of Rouge around the Headquarter during all this time. Neither she, nor Shadow for that matter, had ever been present during one of the many meetings he'd been forced to attend or ever eaten in the cafeteria with the rest of them. And he didn't quite know why, but their seemingly total absence suddenly bothered him…

"Hi there, Big Blue." Rouge greeted while doing a mock salute, sending him a cheeky wink in the process before turning her attention to Tails next. "And my, my, my… who might this handsome young gentleman be? Why it's the little fox genius himself, of course!" Right after she'd spoken, her index finger poked Tails' nose, causing a mad blush to instantly appear upon his cheeks as he lowered his head and muttered something akin to a greeting.

Out of respect for his little brother, Sonic stiffled the chuckle that had threatened to burst out at the sight, and instead hurried to come to Tails' aid— "Yeah well, he's still waaay too young for you, sorry Rouge. Besides Tails is the brainy type - and as far as I remember you're more into the brawny type of guys, amirite'?"

Sonic closely observed her reaction but found that Rouge's unfeeling mask still remained unaffected by the comment.

"A woman can change." She merely stated in a mild tone, slowly turning her gaze back at Sonic. "And speaking of change… how's training going for you? Have the brutes down at the Crow managed to turn you into a proper little solider boy, yet? I bet you just love obeying orders, marching in sync and learning how to stand in a straight line. Yeah, a real exemplary student…"

"Sure am - just ask Staff Sergeant Conn and he'll tell you all about what a good boy I've been!"

"Conn? Oh, you mean the four-eyes who always looks like he's got a really large stick shoved up his—"

The agent who accompanied Rouge, and which had remained perfectly still and silent until just then, loudly cleared his throat and motioned at Sonic. "Mr. Hedgehog, sir - your presnece is required immediately at the Raven... Commander Rhys has personally requested that you be escorted to his office where he's awaiting your arrival, so if you'd please come this way…-"

"The Raven?" Sonic interrupted, his brows furrowing. "Does what the announcer-voice-guy just yell out have anything to do with me? What does Rhys want to meet me for? Don't tell me its another meeting, it's still a bit too early for my afternoon nap, so…"

"We were only requested to escort you, Mr. Sonic. We are not permitted to reveal anything beyond that."

"Figures, well why would he send two agents just to escort me up an elevator? Did he think I'd make resistance, or what?"

But before the agent could respond, Rouge swiftly cut back in— "You're a VIP guest of G.U.N.'s and are to be treated accordingly."

Sonic had half a mind to remark that aside from being invited to endless of meetings, nothing about his stay at the Headquarter had indicated that he'd gotten any sort of star treatment. Which, by all means, had suited him well, but to claim he was some privileged guest rather than a contracted prisoner was almost insulting. Though one could never truly know when it came to Rouge, she could've just been purposefully trying to provoke him or perhaps hidden her irony very well behind her chipper tone of voice.

However, before arising from their seats, Sonic and Tails excahnged a look, silently telling each other to be careful and be on their guard the following hours.

"Seeya later, okay lil' buddy?"

"Right, let's meet back for dinner later this evening, okay?"

"Sure thing."

That was all they dared to utter in Rouge's and the agent's presence. But once Tails turned to head in the opposite direction of the trio once outside the cafeteria, Sonic got the sudden impulse to capture him in a hug. Perhaps it was simply the paranoia that had flared up inside of his mind or the fact that they now had their secret plan, but Sonic was suddenly anxious to seperate from his little brother. He didn't want to let him out of sight… not now at this critical moment. Though he knew it would only raise suspicion if he out of nowhere demanded that Tails be allowed to accompany him. And besides… his little brother had some snooping around to do in the research lab, and they couldn't risk missing out on any piece of information that they could get.

So, with a heavy heart, he let Tails go on his way. The young fox waving goodbye with a brave smile upon his face, a smile which Sonic only half heartedly returned before he turned to instead follow Rouge and the agent down a long corridor.

They walked in silence for a couple of minutes until they reached the main central elevator which would lead up to the Commander's office floor, at which Sonic finally asked—

"Sooo… any idea what the guy wants this time?"

He had directed the question at Rouge, but it was the other agent that answered him.

"Like I said earlier, we don't have the correct authorization to disclose that information, Mr. Hedgehog. But I assure you everything will be explained once you arrive." And since Rouge didn't seem to interject to this statement, Sonic figured there was no point in arguing. He'd find out in mere minutes anyway, though it would've been nice to get a few extra minutes to prepare himself for what was to come. And to be honest, he didn't quite like the feeling of the Commander having the upper hand on him.

Letting out a mental sigh, Sonic then turned to Rouge again in hopes of filling some of the awkward silenece. Speaking what first came to mind, he rather bluntly asked— "Eh, how's Shadow doing? Where's he at?"

For some reason, Rouge flinched as soon as the words left his lips, as if she'd just been slapped across the face or been abruptly awoken from a deep sleep. She gave Sonic a short look before turning back to stare at the awaiting elevator doors to open. "Shadow?" She echoed, clearly stalling for time in order to think of what she should answer to that. At long last however, she finally said— "Shadow is… unavailable, at the moment. Though I'm certain he's perfectly pleased wherever he is - he's a real bon viviant that one, as I'm sure you're already aware."

Sonic couldn't really claim that his dark counterpart crossed his mind too often, and perhaps even less during these past couple of years. Despite having formed various temporary alliances in the past and the fact that all of Mobius was still intact and not blown to bits or overtaken by aliens was undoubtably thanks to Shadow… Sonic still had quite ambiguous feelings regarding him. Mainly because Shadow himself was such an ambivalent guy that it was hard to tell where he truly stood. For years now he's been working for G.U.N. and therefore most likely done some questionable things, things Sonic rather not think about. Plus his unnerving talent for handling guns and overall grim nature rubbed him in the wrong way, no matter how much he tried to look past it.

They were, simply put, each other's polar opposites.

Would he call Shadow his friend?

Probably, yes.

Would he entrust Shadow with his life?

… Probably not.

And then there was also the fact that Amy seemed to have an unexplicable soft spot for Shadow, which Sonic firmly denied had anything to do with jealousy or anything of that sort. But rather a question of him feeling protective. After all - with his own ego and Shadow's pending allegiances aside - the guy did drive motorcycles, had the mouth of a sailor and surely carried a gun with him at all times. Not exactly the best company to keep for someone as kind and gentle as Amy… at least if you asked for Sonic's honest opinion on the matter.

Not that he himself had much room to talk - since Sonic was just as dangerous, if not more so, to hang around as of late…

With a sudden sinking feeling in his stomach, Sonic hastily cleared his throat and answered— "I guess I just expected to see more of you guys around here, I mean - you two are still, like, partners, right?"

He noticed how Rouge bit down on her bottom lip.

"We are."

Sonic gave her questioning look. Again, he didn't know why it suddenly bothered him so, but something about Rouge's odd disposition and Shadow's absence from everything that should be of his concern due to his high rank within G.U.N. bothered him. As if there was something vital that he was missing or not simply not seeing. "Then shouldn't you know where he's at?"

"I never said I didn't." Rouge countered, her tone quickly turning sharp.

"But you don't know, do you?"

"Look, we fuck each other sometimes, but that doesn't make me his damn babysitter, okay?" A long, painfully awkward moment followed as soon as those words left Rouge's lips, and for a second the accompanying agent looked as if he would've prefered to throw himself down the elevator shaft rather than to remain inside of it. Sonic however, ignored Rouge's crude language and the, well abrupt revelation, and merely shifted his weight from one foot to the other. While the furrow between his eyes only deepened. "What's it to you anyway, Hero Boy? Ever heard of a lil' thing called 'confidential information'? Or have you gotten so used to everyone crawling at your feet all the time that the idea of their actually being things that are none of your concern is now completely foreign to you?"

"Hey listen, I don't know what you've heard, but there hasn't been a single person here that's treated me like anything above a mere pain in their rear." Sonic said with forced composure, as he did not wish to upset Rouge any futher. "Sorry I asked, I didn't know it was such a touchy subject…"

For a moment he thought she were about to slap him until, within the blink of an eye, all the anger seemed to melt away from her features. As if she'd just deflated.

Her weariness having seemingly doubled from before.

"You don't know anything…" She ultimately whispered, so low that it was barely audible. Yet before Sonic had any chance to inquire the familiar disembodied voice called out—

"Floor fourty seven, Raven"

The elevator doors opened, putting an end to any further conversation, and the trio walked out into the room Sonic had already once visited. As far as he could tell, it looked the same as last time with its extravagant interior and murky atmosphere. It felt weird. So much had happened since he'd last been up here - had it really only been a few weeks ago?

It felt more like half a life time ago.

The one thing that was different this time around though was that the door to the Commander's office wasn't fully closed but instead a little cracked open. As if someone had missed to shut it properly. Hushed voices could be heard coming from inside and Sonic got the sudden impulse to try and eavasedrop, flicking his left ear slightly.

"—about any personal agenda you got..! If you fail to do this, you should know there will be consequences. Nothing. Can. Go. Wrong. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir. All I'm saying is that that boy is not all what you think, he's got a fire in him that's hard to tame - and we don't know anything of the effects it could have on him..! The result could be most damaging for us. We should wait for a better time..! I really do advise you to reconsider sending off that—"

"Staff Sergeant Conn! Don't make me repeat myself, I have made my decision and that's final."

"Sir, I implore you—"

But before Sonic could hear any futher, the agent behind him had abruptly hurried past him and knocked loudly on the door frame, since the door was already cracked. The agent then pushed the door wide open before taking the usual saluting stance. Instantly the people inside ceased their argument, and most likely looked to the door to see who had interrupted them.

"Commander, sir! As you requested, Mr. Sonic the Hedgehog has been brought up, and is waiting outside right this moment."

"Oh, Agent Alcea, I didn't realize you'd be back so soon." Sonic heard Commander Rhys say, much louder this time and with his usual patronizing tone present. "I reckon everything went well with retrieving Mister Sonic, then?"

There passed a fraction of a second's silence.

"… Yes, sir."

"I see. Well done, Agent Alcea, you may return to your duties for now - and do please take Staff Sergeant Conn along with you, hm?"

The next moment, the two of them came out the office, with the Staff Sergeant practically storming out while pressing his glasses firmly back upon his nose. When he spotted Rouge and Sonic standing by the elevators, partially blocking his way, he gave them a most hateful glare. "Move aside, you vermin..!" He barked, shoving his way past them and banging on the down buttom beside the elevator. Since it had just been used, the doors immediately opened, letting him inside. And Agent Alcea had barely followed suit before the doors ultimately closed, sending them off to… wherever it was that they were going, Sonic mused. He'd been too late to reply to Conn's comment, and honestly wasn't too surprised by it. Rouge however, gritted her teeth slightly as a deeply offended expression was evident upon her face.

"How dare that sleazy bootlicker talk to me like that..!" She said, practically fuming with irritation. "Next time I see him, I'll give him such a hard kick between the legs that he'll never be able to father any children, that's for sure!"

Sonic couldn't help but laugh.

Rouge's drastic mood swings could certainly be amusing at times.

The cheerful moment didn't last long though, as Commander Rhys' voice soon called for him to enter the office. "Only you, Mister Sonic." He added, with a certain sharpness.

"Wait, so you're not coming with me this time either?" Sonic asked Rouge, confused as to why they even bothered sending her to feth him then. Did they simply think he wouldn't make a fuss about it if there was a familiar face that gave him the order? Not that he had anything particularly against Rouge, but they could hardly be considered as more than occasional comrades, and okay, maybe friends whenever Rouge thought it to be beneficial for her… But if they thought she held some sort of power over him or could easily persuade him to do their bidding somehow, then they were sorely mistaken. "What are you people really playing at?" He whispered to her, mindful as not to let the Commander overhear him.

However, Rouge merely shook her head, lightly pushing him towards the office door.

"Rouge—"

"Just… go on inside, Sonic."

The fact that she used his real name was enough to make him silently enter the office without any more protests. For If Rouge didn't want to give him any answers, then Sonic had no other option but to get them himself…

As Commander Rhys sat down in his armchair the leather squealed slightly while Sonic's own wooden chair creaked instead. They sat across from one another with the big desk being the only thing standing between them. The bronze statue with the resemblance of a raven were ever as present on top the desk's top, its unyielding eyes facing towards Sonic who tried hard not to look in its direction. Its unnerving effect being highly unpleasant. The air surrounding the crowded office was just as thick and pressing as he remembered, but at least this time there weren't a dozen agents with loaded guns present. Although, he couldn't rule out the possibility that the Commander had a gun hidden somewhere - surely ready to be directed at him should the human feel the need arise.

And to tell the truth, Sonic wasn't too sure he wouldn't have preferred taking the bullet instead right about then instead of sitting there in the awkward silence with Commander Rhys.

Fortunately enough, the Commander seemed inclined to cut to the chase as he after a while bluntly stated the following—

"For nearly half an hour ago there came urgent reports to the Sparrow of an ongoing assault in a small but highly populated suburban town a few miles off of Empire City. We have confirmation that there are robotic creations causing the havoc and can therefore be fairly sure to assume that its Robotnik's doing. We don't yet know if he is present, but we have already sent a troop of our vanguard and an air troop to get a be—"

Sonic just about jumped out of his seat.

"Robotnik? He's there?" He exclaimed, already feeling how the adrenaline pumped into his veins. On reflex he also started tapping his right foot quickly against the floor. "Which town? Tell me quick and I might be able to get there before he dissappears again or- or can cause too much destruction! We gotta hurry up and get all the people out of there - right this minute! Just tell me where, I'll be there in a flash—!"

But to Sonic's shock and frustration, the Commander simply shook his head, making a motion for him to sit back down again.

"Mister Sonic, please try and remain calm. I can assure you that we'll soon have the situation under perfect control, there is absolute no reason for you to panic."

Sonic couldn't believe his ears.

No reason to panic..?

He slammed his hands down on the desk and shouted straight into the human's infuriatingly calm face— "Innocent people could be slaughtered as we speak - I can't just sit here and drink tea or whatever while Robotnik is out there right this very moment! We could put an end to this - to him - today..!"

Something sparked in the corner of the Commander's eye as he studied Sonic's entire being for a brief couple of seconds.

"Your unit is leaving the Headquarter in a transport headed for the town in five minutes - if you hurry, you can tell them I gave you special permission to come along." He finally said in a just as calm tone as before, but with a peculiar lopsided smile stretching across his face. "Here—" He pulled out a drawer, brought forth a small note and hastily scribbled something down on it before folding it and lastly reaching it over to Sonic. But just as Sonic was about to grasp it, the Commander withdrew his hand. "I must remind you however, Mister Sonic, that you are still bound to our agreement. Meaning that you must follow the orders given to you by your surperior out on the field. This might just turn out to be a mere trick on Doctor Robotnik's part, in which case I still want you in one piece after the mission. So follow protocol at all times, stick with your unit and most importantly - don't take any unneccessary risks. You're far too valueable to lose. Understood?"

Sonic blinked, not really too sure if Commander Rhys was either warning him or speaking out of concern for his safety.

Be that as it may, he didn't have the time to ponder over any of it now, so he simply nodded his head and said—

"Understood."

At that, the Commander smacked his hands together. Apparently just as eager for Sonic to get going as the blue hero himself was now. "Well, off you go then. You've got a transport to catch."

Sonic didn't need to be told twice.

He more or less came flying back out the office door and into the other room, too wired up to even notice that Rouge, who he'd left just mere minutes ago, was no longer there. The time it took for him to reach the correct floor, then the correct hall, and then almost shoved the note up into the face of the correct Lieutenant was less than two minutes. Which left him three minutes to get geared up in the obligatory uniform that all soldiers were required to wear - topped off with a bulletproof vest, as well - until he ultimately took a seat inside the transport.

The transport turned out to be one of G.U.N.'s more modest sized aircrafts that naturally possessed better speed than any of the really large ones.

Sonic along with the appointed unit, or squad rather in this case, sat buckled up along opposite sides of the craft with guns already in hand and their helmets on. Aside from the soliders' varying sizes, it was nearly impossible to tell them apart from one another, and no one uttered so much as a word. Sonic, who had turned down the weapon they'd tried shoving into his hands, stuck out worse than ever before - not that it mattered… They weren't exactly going out for a pleasure cruise, but out into the midst of certain chaos. And instead of a helmet, they'd given him a headset in order to be able to keep communication with him if so were necessary.

While enduring the painful wait for them to reach their destination, Sonic occupied himself by trying to decipher all the thoughts and emotions that were going through his head like rapid fire. This past hour had no doubt been one hell of a rollercoaster with things being thrown at him from all sides. He thought of Tails - of how their plan to leave the Headquarter might turn out to not be neccessary if this all turned out well and they actually managed to catch Robotnik. Of how he could be taken into custody and be put under high surveillance. Maybe at the end of this day it could all be over. He also thought of Amy, and how he might just be hours away from being able to fly straight to Angel Island and get her, much sooner than either of them could've even dreamt of. Maybe she'd be back into his arms the very next morning… and oh - how he promised himself that he'd never ever let go of her again after that. It didn't matter if she'd be mad at him - if she screamed or cursed at him, hit him with her hammer or threw things at him. He would gladly take it all if it only meant that she forgave him, if she gave him a second chance and let him repent for all the mistakes he'd made.

Because Tails was right.

He simply couldn't live without her.

The possible approaching confrontation with Robotnik didn't scare him, Sonic wouldn't flinch, wouldn't hesitate on the decision of letting G.U.N. deal with him. As long as it all went down clean and fair, he wouldn't object. Robotnik was, after all, too unstable for his own good. This would be for the better… for everyone on Mobius.

"Just let him be there… Just let him be there…" Sonic silently prayed over and over again inside his head. "Please, let this be it…"

As the aircraft had been close to landing they'd all heard how the shrilling sounds of screams and destruction had also raised in volume and turned clearer. And had it not been for his promise to stay with the squad and follow the orders of the Lieutenant, Sonic would have jumped out the craft the very first second he'd heard it. It wouldn't have been the first time he'd skydived out of a flying military transport, so to speak… But he'd decided to try and follow Commander Rhys' plead for as long as possible, still the moment he found it necessary - he wouldn't hesitate to take matters into his own hands. Once they were probably only seconds from landing, Lieutenant Frost began spouting orders over all the noise, telling them all to stick to protocol and what not - Sonic only half listened as he was too busy feeling all the adrenaline wash over him. It had been awhile since he'd last smashed a proper robot to pieces and his body was itching to destroy as many bucket of bolts as he could.

And so… the aircraft took ground.

Within seconds, the entire squad had undone their buckles and marched out with their weapons raised high and soon after scattered into evenly numbered groups. It wasn't long before bullets had could be heard being fired as relieved cries of civilians also began to rise. Sonic was quick to follow, jumping out onto solid ground and allowing himself a brief moment to take in his surroundings. Strangely enough, the first thing that grabbed his attention was how dark the sky appeared to be as well as how much destruction had already been inflicted upon the town's buildings and general infrastructure. They had landed in what appeared to be in the very middle of a rather big shopping square. To the left and right of him stood tall buildings with large portions of their facade blown off or close to crumbling, while straight ahead off him were a wide bridge leading into a much more narrow street that lead upwards and further into town. Behind him the main street leading into the square was entirely blocked off by a the debris of a what had once been a tall bell tower, which's tower was now half, and a blown out store which's roof had caved in. Apart from the main roads there were small alleyways that lead in and out from the square, and it seemed as if most of them were still unblocked.

Most people had alreday abandoned the various buildings and a lot of them seemed to have been lead to safety by the vanguard. But many of them were also already engaged in combat with the swarm of robots that filled up a good portion of this one area alone. The others were probably scattered throughout the rest of the town.

There was really only one thing missing from this picture of total chaos…

"Robotnik!" Sonic blurted straight out, turning to Lieutenant Frost with his eyes lit up in wild urgency. "Has there been any sighting of him?" He scanned the sky in search of the Doctor's infamous Egg Carrier but was dissapointed when he found no trace of it. Besides a G.U.N. fleet, there was nothing hovering over them within the closest radius.

Lieutenant Frost, who'd just finished shouting as string of orders into a small advice on her wrist, bent her head to look down at Sonic. She shook her head so vigorously that her blonde bob cut got flung around across her face for a moment, and then proclaimed loudly— "I'm afraid not. We're starting to believe this assault may just be a diversion on Doctor Robotnik's part, considering he's not present and the seemingly aimless nature of it all."

"A diversion? You mean he might be somewhere else entirely doing Chaos knows what while we are occupied here?" Sonic questioned, but had to quickly back flip several feet just as a blown off robot head nearly grazed his shoulder. He stomped the still buzzing head firmly before returning back to Frost who in turn had just barked a new order into her device and fired several shots into one of the alleys where a group of soldiers were having some difficulties fending of a horde of robots. While letting out a brief huff, she put a stray lock of her hair back in place behind her ear before turning back to Sonic.

"That may very well be the case, Private. It's a common strategy as I'm sure you're aware of."

"Yeah, I sure am." Sonic said, being quite familiar with all the countless dirty tricks and distractions that Robotnik had pulled throughout the years. Though at the same time he felt deeply disappointed that this would turn out to just be another trick, as well. And in that case - a trick for what? What did the Doctor accomplish by attacking this particular town? To keep G.U.N. busy while he acted somewhere else? That didn't make sense since G.U.N. had a lot more troops and arsenal at their disposal than what was here right now. They could more than well handle several attacks at once with both guns and soldiers to spare. But then again - Sonic reminded himself - there was hardly any point in trying to figure out how Robotnik's mind worked anymore since his descend into madness. However, he was apparently still sane enough to plan his assaults without being found… G.U.N has been searching far and wide for him for roughly two weeks and hasn't found so much as a trace, at least from what Sonic have been told.

Have they underestimated the Doctor's actual sanity?

Or was G.U.N. somehow keeping vital information from him?

There was no clear answer to be had as of right then, so Sonic decided to put it aside for now.

There were people currently in dire need of his help and he wasn't gonna waste any more time conspiring with Frost.

Though before he could leave, the Lieutenant put a hand to his shoulder, holding him back. "Wait, Private. Are you certain you don't want to be equipped with an automatic firearm? I've gathered from what Staff Sergeant Conn has reported that you are reluctant to using weapons and hasn't hasn't even partaken in the training yet, but..-" She hesitated, giving Sonic an analytical look from head to toe. Apparently she saw something in him that made her doubt Conn's claims. "Given your almost life-long… experience - for a lack of a better word - surely you must have knowledge of how to handle one of these." A cock of her own weapon could be heard.

Sonic, who's eyes already wandered around the square now, barely got upset over her insinuations and instead shrugged his shoulders while his facial features only hardened slightly. "What you've heard from Comm is true. I have never wanted or ever had the need to use weapons, and if Lieutenant would allow me to go I'll gladly show you the reason why." Lieutenant Frost blinked, still looking a bit dubious but ultimately nodding her head, making a sweeping gesture with her hand to show that he was free to go.

"Of course, you may proceed, Private."

At last Sonic's expression softened again, sending Frost a confident wink as well as a quick salute just before he raced off to aid the rest of the squad.

It would turn out that the clearing of the town was more teoublesome than Sonic had intially thought. Because despite the numbers beings way more in his favor than he was used to, with all the soldiers fighting along side him and actually holding their own pretty well - it seemed as if Robotnik had upped his robots' AI significantly from last time when he'd fought a whole bunch of them in that village in Chun-nan. Not only were they more heavily equipped within both defence and offence in form of weaponary and resilient metal, but they acted more strategically among their groups and had improved aim. After awhile it had dawned upon Sonic that these weren't just your ordinary bumbling badniks…

Which was yet another concern to his already growing pile of troubles.

"T-thanks, So-nic..!"

A young solider stuttered in relief after Sonic had just spin dashed a particularly vicious robot through a bakery window, and thus finally knocking it down completely.

How much time had passed, no one really could tell but it actually seemed as if the soliders had succeded in thinning out the robots to the the point where it was mostly strays or one or two groups that were left in all of town. Some soldiers had even drawn back and began aiding more and more injured civilians to get to safety in the big aircraft that had landed outside the main town on a wide grass plain. Aboard were medical staff in full force of treating people, with a few having also spread out around the many streets and squares to help those who couldn't move by themselves.

"Don't sweat it, dude!" Sonic responded as he offered his hand to the the young solider, who rubbed his throat and gasped for air, and helped him onto his feet.

"F-for a moment the-there… I thought he wa-was about to s-snap my-.. my he-head off..!"

"Well, I'm glad you're o—"

A bloodcurdling scream drowned out his next words while also swallowing all other sound in what seemed to be the entire world. For a fleeting couple of seconds a woman's shrill, terrified screaming was all that filled their ears, stunning everyone to halt in whatever they were doing.

A shiver went down Sonic's spine.

His eyes immediately darted to the opposite end of the square to a corner of two buildings and a dark alleyway that lead out in between them. There a woman sat sunken down on her knees, with her hands stretched out towards a fallen robot that laid half hidden within the shadow of the alley. Without realizing that he had even moved his feet, Sonic was suddenly at the woman's side, standing protectively in front of her while casting a confused look down at the robot that laid a few feet away from them.

"What's wrong?" He urged to know from the still hysterical woman, whipping his head around to her, as he at first glance couldn't detect any reason for her screaming.

No actual words left the woman's lips, but her screams seemed to grow slightly more coherent as she merely raised a violently shaking finger to point back at the robot. "THHEEERREE. AAAAHHHH. SOOMEEEEONNEEE. DEEEEAAAHHH. BLOOOOOODDDD. THEEEEREEEE. AHHHH!"

And as Sonic slowly turned his head back he finally saw it too…

Unlike all the other robots, who had been either shot at until the bullets had hit their weak spot or crushed to the ground, this one had been just about torn in half. It laid on its side with its center part split open so that one could look inside where one would usually find electrical wiring. Except that the wires weren't connected to one another but rather to something. For the center was hollow. And upon the cobblestone underneath the broken metal there were traces of fresh, ruby red blood…

Robots didn't bleed…

All the color drained from Sonic's muzzle as he took the last couple of steps in order to be able to more closely inspect the inside of the broken, still buzzing robot. He didn't know which force drove him forward, but he didn't stop himself, nor did any of the soldiers that had silently drawn closer to the corner.

A small child, possibly no older than ten years old, laid inside the bottom of the robot. His entire body dismantled and with wires attatched to his neck, limbs and even stuck down inside his gaping mouth. Blood covered the metal inside, pooling underneath the remains of the child's half naked body. Their brown doe eyes was widened in stale fright as they stared into the irreversible nothingness that was left. The child was certainly no Flicky, yet the nature of innocence and defenselessness was the one and the same.

The difference was that this child would never again see the light of day.

Never again feel anything at all.

There was no question that the child's death had been most painful, but hopefully short lived.

Right then Sonic understood why the woman had uttered that chilling scream and why she couldn't seem to stop screaming, even now.

He wanted to scream too.

But above all else, he desperately wanted to rip the child free from all those wires, take them into his arms and say that everything would be alright again - and he wanted the child to say that they believed him.

He wanted the child to have all that had so cruelly been taken away from them—

A smile upon their face.

A future.

A life.

And then a sickening thought entered Sonic's consciousness—

"How many more of all these robots held actual people - children - inside of them?"

The possibility of there being hundreds of accidentally murdered people around town this very second was finally too much, and Sonic felt how his knees weakened beneath him.

Incoherent voices filled Sonic's ears and for a moment he wondered if he'd gone insane, until a small part of his mind reminded him that he was still wearing the communication headset. Yet he failed to remember why any of those voices carried any value, why anything they said could make any of this less horrible or painful. They couldn't. Nothing could ever make up for this crime, this atrocity. Not bearing to look another second longer, Sonic closed his eyes and backed away from the scene, with the woman's cries and the unknown voices words ringing in his ears. Frantically, his hands shot up to remove the headset as he then procedeed to discard it to the ground, still backing away. He saw how a few soldiers approached the robot to investigate what all the fuss was about, one of the them even began to try and order the kneeling woman to quiet down without any success.

Soon enough the soliders in question uttered shocked noises, ranging from outbursts to mutters. And as more and more soldiers ran forth to look or aid their comrades, there was a few that instinctively threw up at the horrific sight that met their eyes.

Temporarily paralyzed by shock, Sonic and many of the soliders failed to notice the distant rumbling, clanking noise that drew closer from somewhere in the direction of the stone bridge that lead into the shopping square. The noise was indeed slightly distant, but for some reason his ears picked up on it.

Something in the very depths of his foggy mind, a fire instantly lit up, a fire that spread through his body within the quarter of a second as one pure reflex Sonic shot forth like a cannon. Running across the square, through several crowded streets until he was back yet again at the larger square with the G.U.N. transport still in place. A provisional medical station had formed inside with several people, soldiers and civilians, getting their most acute injuries treated to the best of the medics abilities. But to Sonic's dread had Lieuteant Frost apparently already become aware of the approaching swarm of robots that were now only a few feet from stepping onto the bridge. She had also already set up a protective, human barrier in front of the transport with soldiers perfectly in line with their weapons aiming in the exact direction where the robots would soon come into range.

Throwing absolute caution to the wind, Sonic ran straight into the soon-to-be-crossfire with arms waving, motioning for them to hold their fire. "Wait! Don't shoot!" He shouted as loud as his vocal chords permitted. "There are people inside! There are people inside of the robots! Lieutenant Frost, tell them to lower their weapons!"

But Lieutenant did no such thing and none of the soliders so much as flinched at Sonic's words. Instead Frost locked eyes with him, her expression hard and unyielding. "What are you yelling on about?" She snapped, her voice loud enough to echo across the entire square. "Have you gone insane, Private? These robots aren't people - they are killer machines! Stand down immediately!"

"You will all become killers if you fire those guns!" Sonic resorted, growing just as furious as he was desperate. "You've gotta listen to me - there are living people inside of the robots, I just witnessed it myself! You have to believe me! There. Are. People. Inside! Tell them to lower their guns, now!"

"What you're saying is absurd! Now I'm warning you, Private, stand aside or face the consequences!" But as Sonic stood his ground and kept trying to make the Lieutenant- the soldiers- anyone, to listen to him, Frost turned to the closest pair of soldiers and said— "You two, go get him and escort him inside! He's clearly suffered a severe head injury."

"Yes, Lieutenant..!" They both said in unison.

However, just as the two soliders were about to approach and Sonic realized that it was a lost cause to try an argue, he instead turned around to face in the direction of the bridge. He figured that there must be away for him to render the robots powerless and thus no longer dangerous - to shut them off without hurting the person inside. Tails would know how to do it, and he just prayed that he could recall something that his little brother had told him about shutting off machines.

There simply must be a way to—

And so, out of the corner of his eye, a familiar shade of pink flashed making Sonic stop dead in his tracks. There, amongst the ruins of a barely still standing building next to the bridge, stood a figure with their back turned against him. A person seeming to be completely oblivious to the surrounding destruction and the approaching robots on the other side of bridge. He squinted his eyes and discovered that it was in fact a girl. An Anthro girl with rosy fur and quills that just about reached her shoulders. Clad in a white dress, golden bangles and around her neck—

"It can't be..." Sonic thought to himself as he took a hesitant step forward. Having suddenly forgotten all about Lieutenant Frost and the soldiers behind him - none of them having so much as registered the girl's sudden presence it seemed. Despite himself, and despite the fact that he was well aware that he was still in the range of crossfire, he took yet another step forward, calling out loud and clear—

"Miss? You have to move, now!"

The girl reacted almost instantly, turning around and staring him dead in the eye. And just as she did, Sonic's heart dropped dead in his chest, all while his blood ran cold. Because facing back at him was the ever so sweet and innocent face of none other than Amy Rose.

"A-Amy..?" His voice was barely above a whisper, too shocked to form an actual sentence. He was frozen stiff…

The horde of robots had now reached the bridge and came closer by the second, almost as if they all of a sudden had collectively decided to quicken their pace. The half destroyed building that Amy stood in positioned her in such a way that she stood between the G.U.N. soldiers and the army of robots that mercilessly shot forward. But it didn't seem to face her as she simply kept staring at Sonic with a blank, utterly unreadable expression upon her face. Her dress fluttering leisurely in the light breeze…

"Squad, get ready to shoot!" The voice of Lieutenant Frost called from behind Sonic, quickly resulting in the air filling with the sound of multiple charging weapons. Still, no one had shown even the slightest of sign of being aware of the Amy's situation or that she even existed at all.

What was wrong with them?

"No, stop!" Sonic's voice rang out, more desperate than it had ever sounded before. "There's a civilian! Don't shoot!"

"Private, this is your last warning - stand down this instant!"

But Sonic had stopped listening and the exact same second he were about to rush forth to pull Amy out of the way, he felt how two pair of strong arms threw themselves around his body and captured him in an iron like grip. It were the two soldiers Frost had snet forward who was now trying to contain the blue hero with all their might. Unfortunately for them however, one couldn't simply hold back Sonic the Hedgehog. For in the next moment he fought back against the arms, and with the strength of a feral animal tore himself free - finally sprinting forward with no regard of anyone or anything else in the entire world but the rosy girl ahead of him.

One single thought repeating itself within his mind— "Not her. Not her. Not her."

And then all of his senses exploded.

It was as if he was running within one of his dreams.

A dream where he was merely having a playful chase with Amy as she ran just a little out of his reach… the fold of her dress fluttering… her sweet giggling… her voice telling him to hurry up and catch her already… to take her into his arms and hold her so close… so close… so safe from all of the ills of the real world…

"You can't catch me, Sonikku!"

"Amy, wait - hold on!"

He ran across the open field… his hand stretched out… but no matter how fast he ran, she was always further ahead… always out of reach… she giggled again… her figure almost blending together with the wild flowers and the tall grass… all of a sudden she was gone… and soon he heard her terrified crying… she was in danger… the dream transformed into a nightmare…

"Amy!"

"Sonic! Help me!"

He cut through the grass… his hands desperately searching for Amy as her cries only grew louder… she was dying… she needed him… if only he could find her in the darn grass… his feet refused to move any faster… he was slowing down… no, no, no…

"Just stay where you are, Amy, I'm coming! I'll be right there! Just stay where you—!"

Bullets blazed past Sonic as he ran, grazing his body with mere inches to spare. Alas, luck just about ran out as he was a mere couple of feet away from reaching his fiancée when dozens of bullets hit him all across the body - some piercing themselves into his flesh while some got embedded into the vest he was wearing. All while this was happening a grenade went off upon the bridge, engulfing it and all the robots that stood upon it in a blazing blast of utter destruction. The entire bridge along with everything on it got blown to bits, sending a cascade of debris out of stone and metal flying in all directions, and smoke to rise into to the sky.

It all happened in a matter of seconds and yet it felt like an eternity.

Sonic had just about realized what he'd witnessed when a second grenade went off somewhere inside the building to the left of him, which instantly caused him to get knocked off his feet and a eerie ringing to erupt in both of his ears.

Someone was screaming again.

Whether it was himself, Amy, Lieutenant Frost or any of the G.U.N. soldiers, he did not know.

All he knew was that one bullet had just managed to pierce straight through his heart.

---

Sinking…

He was sinking.

Everything's dark, cold, empty…

There was nothing left.

The ocean had swallowed him, taken him and now finally intended to bury him at its never-ending bottom.

The feeling of being utterly abandoned by the world and everyone he had ever loved was the single notion that filled his mind, body and soul.

A part of him didn't want to fade away yet, while another part had lost the will to care. He'd been through enough. Seen enough. Lost too much. Now he just wanted to be laid to rest, for all of it to end.

And the ocean was as good of a place as any to let go…

"I'll never leave you—"

"Then why am I alone?"

All of a sudden a hand grasped his own.

A pair of the loveliest jade eyes he knew looked back at him.

It was her - with all her radiant brightness and warmth she casted a light around them that was close to blinding. As if one of night sky's stars had dropped and fallen into the ocean, and now sunk alongside him. She was smiling. That ever so lovely smile that told him that everything was as it should be. Dying wasn't anything to be afraid of, it wouldn't hurt and soon all their sorrows would get washed away, never to torment either of them ever again.

Suddenly the weight of the world shifted as he was slowly raising while she kept sinking.

The hold of their hands strained as her body turned as heavy as stone.

Desperately he tried to hold on, clinging to his warm light that were being threatened to disappear into the everlasting darkness below. Never for him to find again. He didn't want her to die alone. If she was gonna be buried at this desolate place, then so would he. He'd sworn to always protect her - no matter what - through thick and thin, through sickness and health, through life and death…

"Til' the very end of time itself, and then beyond."

So he held on, kicked his legs and fought with all his might to reach the surface.

They wouldn't go down like this - they would live - she would live!

She would get all those things that life had promised her, that he had promised her!

But life cared little for its- or anyone else's promises, and soon her hand slipped out of his grasp. She was gone before he'd even realized it, her fading light being all that was left and then…-

—nothing.

"I'll never get to see him again… my darling Sonic… I love you."

Amy…

Amy…

AMY…!

Sonic awoke from his slumber with a jolt.

He was screaming his lungs out and thrashing his limbs around, as if he were still sinking into the ocean and were frantically trying to reach the surface. Soon his eyes shot open and he saw a bunch of blurry faces muddling together as he watched them through the water.

Why weren't they helping him?

He was drowning right before them and still they did nothing!

He forced out yet another incoherent scream - a call for help, for anyone to please pull him up from underneath the water.

Why didn't they want to help him?!

No, wait… several hands suddenly grabbed ahold him - by the shoulders, by the legs, his arms, even his head. However they don't pull him up as he'd hoped, but instead they forced him further down into the ocean. They're purposely drowning him… The panic is instant, and Sonic desperately tries to throw all of the hands off of his body while his thrashing becomes even wilder. He can feel the life slipping out of him as he swallows loads of water that threantens to overwhelm and explode his entire system. The hands feels like claws that digs deeper and deeper into his skin, causing blood to mix with the water thats forced down his throat.

As a last attempt to call for help, Sonic furiously throws his hand from side to side, kicks his feet up while screaming as loud as his vocal cords allowed— "AMY! TAILS! KNUCKLES!"

But there's no help to be given. No one can hear him.

The vicious grins upon the blurry figures' faces becomes larger and larger as they press him down with all of their might. They're laughing at him…

"No, stop! Let him go!" A familiar voice called out all of a sudden.

Then, as if someone had just pulled a plug, all of the water before Sonic's vision disappeared. Draining away in an instant as the once blurry figures as well as his surroundings tread forth in sharp clearness.

The first thing he noticed was that instead of being in the ocean he was in fact in a brightly lit hospital-looking room, with white tile walls, fluorescent lamps hanging from the ceiling and with various beeping equipment standing beside the bed he was laying in. The people who he had taken for blurry demonic creatures were merely half a dozen Overlanders clad in blue medical scrubs alternatively nursing uniforms. And as far as Sonic could tell none of them were laughing or so much as even smiling, they were, however, indeed holding iron like grips around several of his limbs. Which, even though he had ceased his thrashing, they all kept firmly. Lastly, he found Tails standing in the doorway of the room, appearing to have been worried sick by all the commotion and had come bursting through said door.

Sonic didn't know what to feel or even think as all his previous panicked emotions and impulses melted away, leaving him oddly numb and disoriented.

What had just happened?

Why was he in the G.U.N. Headquarter's infirmary?

And had the dream he'd just had not been a dream at all, but a vision of reality?

"Amy…" Sonic whispered, his voice nearly completely destroyed from all of the screaming. Ignoring all the others in the room, he locked eyes with Tails, who stared back at him with obvious confusion and concern. "Amy… Tails, she's in danger… I know it, I saw it..! I-… she was drowning… We have to go, we have to save her… she can't— I can't— We have to—!" He made an attempt to sit himself up, but was immediately pushed back down by the doctors or nurses - or whatever they were. "Let go of me..!" Sonic croaked irritably, brushing their hands off of him dismissively without breaking eye contact with his little brother who for some reason only remained silent and passive.

Instead another, far more deeper, voice answered him—"Mr. Sonic, sir, you've recently been through a serious trauma. I highly suggest you lay back down for now while we inject you with the sedatives…" It was the guy closest to him, who had been the one holding down his head, that spoke, probably in a tone he considered calming but which only put Sonic even more on edge.

"I don't have any traumas." He objected, making another fruitless attempt at sitting up. "I'm perfectly fine, now let me up from this darn bed..!"

"Mr. Sonic—!"

"Sonic, please, you've just been shot…" Tails finally piped up.

"You dOn't sa-A-ay..!" Sonic shot back sarcastically, though it lost some of it's impact as his voice broke mid-sentence. "Where is the dimwitted schmuck that did it, anyway? I'd like to have a word with them." A pressing silence followed as those words left his lips, with several nurses exchanging hasty glances. But before any one of them could give him an answer, the door into the room burst open once more. This time there was no question about whether it was a doctor or not. The person who entered was dressed entirely in white, sported a long coat and wore half-moon shaped glasses that was on the verge of falling off of his nose in his hurry to reach Sonic's bedside. He looked to be well over his eighties and looked a lot like a walking - remarkably curly-haired - skeleton.

But what was even more remarkable was the size of the needle that poked out of a syringe, which he held raised in his hand like a sword. Sonic had yet to open his mouth in protest before the needle had been swiftly stuck into the peripheral venous catheter that he hadn't yet discovered had been inserted into his left arm. Most likely while he'd still been unconscious.

"There you go, son." The newly arrived man said breathlessly, letting out a sigh of relief as soon as the content of the syringe had been emptied. He then patted Sonic on the head and said— "That oughta calm your nerves a bit. It's normal to get nutty as fruitcake when you've experienced something like that. You must be quite traumatized, my dear boy…"

"I'm not traumatized..!"

"Nonsense, of course you are."

And Sonic didn't know if it were due to the effects of the sedative or the sudden weight of the world that came crashing down upon him again, but the next moment he felt how his body sank down upon the mattress. His arms and legs turning numb while images he'd hope to suppress swept through his mind like a raging storm that demanded to make itself known. Demanded that he re-lived the horrors in order to never forget them and forever burn themselves into his memory.

The dismantled body of the dead child.

The shots that had been fired without any regard for him.

The blown up bridge with all those robots - those people - trapped on it.

He let his eyelids fall…

Letting things run their course inside his head.

Instinctively, he reached a heavy hand up to rest above his chest, above his heart. And to his dazed shock there was no shot wound to be found, but what shocked him even more was that there was no beat to be felt either… not a sound of thumping to be heard… his chest was empty. His heart had silenced - died.

"My heart has stopped beating…" Sonic muttered to no one in particular. "… Is that normal?" He felt as if he was slowly but surely losing his mind. Or perhaps he'd already lost it and no one simply had the heart to tell him.

More glances were exchanged, but none of which he saw.

Someone laid a hand upon his forehead while someone else pressed two fingers against the wrist of his left hand.

"Your heart is beating well and strong, my boy. Don't you worry yourself."

Strange.

Sonic couldn't feel it.

"Now I think, Mr. Sonic could use some peace and quiet. Everyone - out of the room, if you please."

The sound of several footsteps walking out through the door could then be heard as the infirmary staff obeyed the man's order and silently left the room. And soon after a last pair of feet walked out, closing the door behind them. However, it turned out he wasn't completely alone when Sonic heard someone pulling up a chair close to his bed and then sitting themselves down. He didn't need to look to already know that it was indeed Tails who had remained inside the room.

His little brother's breathing and scent was far too familiar to him that he would recognize it anywhere. Even in his current drugged-out state.

Just then, an inexplicable smile stretched across Sonic's awfully pale muzzle.

"We never escaped, did we?"

Tails merely shook his head at his brother's words. Speaking with a calm, yet clearly shaken voice—"You're alive, Sonic, that's all that matters right now, okay?"

"Who was it that shot me?"

"I think it would be easier to say who didn't manage scrape you with a bullet." Tails snorted. "We're lucky the vest protected your most vital inner organs, excluding the brain of course. I'm not too certain that the Chaos Energy inside your body could've done much to heal a punctured cardiac muscle."

"But I was shot in the heart. I felt it."

There was a brief pause.

"Sonic, I've seen your x-ray plates - there were several bullets that hit you, yes, but none had broken through the vest. It was absolutely bulletproof, you know that, and they told me there was no hole in it when they brought you in. Perhaps you only ima—"

"What I know is that these people say a lot of things…" Sonic interrupted, the exhaustion upon his face worsening as he finally opened his eyes again to meet his little brother's eyes. He sighed deeply as he witnessed the concern within his ever so innocent blue eyes and naturally he softened his features and his voice even more so as he continued—"I'm just telling you what I felt, alright? But hey, it doesn't even matter - like you said, I'm aaalive..!" Barely. He gave Tails a reassuring smile, ruffling his quills sloppily before he turned to cast a glance around the room. He began to wonder how long he'd been unconcious for. There weren't any windows or even so much as a clock to be seen. Nothing that could indicate what time of the day it was or if there had possibly even passed days since he was taken here.

He vaguely recalled mere weeks back when he'd fallen out of the Egg Carrier and then spent a couple of days laying completely unreachable in bed at home while Amy had been worried sick about him.

As far as he could tell, it at least didn't feel like that time. No stale muscles or limbs that refused to moved, no sore throat or throbbing headache. Just… numbness.

But what if weeks had in fact passed?

On cue, Sonic hastily turned his head back towards Tails and asked—"What day is it? How long was I out for?"

"Don't worry, you've been unconcious for less than twelve hours, though I think you might've been getting close now that I think about it…" Tails answered while trying to flaten down his bangs again. However, he quickly abandoned the fruitless struggle and instead turned to press an index finger down upon the display of the multi-device around his wrist. Invented by himself, of course. Sonic had honestly never given it much thought but apparently it could also tell time as Tails soon added—"Yep, it's almost three a.m."

Upon hearing this, Sonic almost on reflex commented—"You should be sleeping by now."

Meanwhile Tails simply rolled his eyes and shook his head in a very Sonic-like way. "Since when did you become such a dad? Besides I probably would have been asleep if you hadn't gone and got shot and almost blown to bits."

Choosing to ignore his little brother's teenage sass, Sonic pushed himself up against a few of the pillows and tried his best to think through the fogginess of his mind. "They told you all of what happened?"

"Not exactly. I mean, I figured they weren't telling me the whole truth - or rather they told me their truth… They said you must've suffered some sort damage to your head since you suddenly came running out of nowhere into the middle of a crossfire while spouting a bunch of nonsense. Eh, their words, not mine. Anyway, then they told me that because of this you accidentally got shot right as a supposedly planted, timed grenade went off just within a few feet from you."

Speaking of which, Sonic stole a glance down at his fur… but it looked relatively intact.

Further Tails told him what had happened afterwards - how they had retrieved his body from the destruction and then rushed his body to the medical station to have all of the bullets removed, how they had made sure to transported him back to the Headquarter to get proper care at the infirmary and gotten his vital signs back in check, and lastly how they had made sure to keep him securely supervised ever since. Afterwards it was Sonic's turn to tell Tails all about what had happened since the two of them had parted outside the cafeteria. About his short talk with Rouge, his even shorter talk with the Commander and then everything about the mission. As anticipated, his fear of there possibly having been even more people kept inside the robots also appeared in Tails' eyes. No one had uttered a single thing about what had happened to the robots afterwards or mentioned anything about there being a child found inside one of them, which Sonic couldn't say he was too surprised to hear. G.U.N. would undoubtably be very keen on keeping it under wraps at all cost.

Still, there had been more witnesses than just him…

"—If there was one then it's surely possible that there were more that was powered by sentient life - if not all of them…" Tails mused aloud, his expression having turned paler and paler as Sonic's story had went on. He was even on the verge of trembling. "A-although we can't be one hundred precent certain of it… I mean, not even Robotnik could be that cruel, cou-could he?"

"One murdered child is enough." Sonic whispered, his tone hollow as the drugs prevented him to express any of the actual rage or sadness he felt just thinking about it. "I think it's safe to say that the old Robotnik's we once knew is officially gone. There's no doubt about it. If we- if I keep pretending otherwise… well, then this will only keep escalating further… I gotta put an end to this, Tails. Now more than ever. I promise you, first thing in the morning - we're out of here."

They sat in contemplating silence for a bit until Tails remembered something he'd been meaning to say—

"By the way, The Commander was here before, almost right after you'd been checked in."

"Uh-oh, lemme' guess - he was super disappointed over the fact that Robotnik and I didn't get the chance to strangle each other?"

"Actually… he was pretty angry. His eyes kinda looked like they were gonna pop out and he had a long, quite loud, discussion with the doctors who had examined you. I think I was the only one he wasn't barking at."

Sonic's brow furrowed. "What'd he say?"

"Oh, you know, the usual - that he was beyond shocked over the news of what had happened to you and then assured me that the people responsible would be held accountable for your injuries, and what not. I think he even said that he was aware that some of the blame rested upon himself, as well, and that he would not rest until he'd made it up to you."

"Riiight, I bet he's really beat up about it…"

"Perhaps he'll award you a medal of honor for your bravery or raise a statue of you made entirely out of gold in the middle of Station Square."

"For your sake, I seriously hope you didn't give him any ideas."

"Me? Why I'd never…"

Sonic carefully eyed his little brother's expression, which was a little too innocent. Bit before he could inquire any further, Tails had jumped to his feet. Half way to the door he turned to say—"Hey, you must be starving by now, I'll go have a look if they have anything for you to eat." He left but not long after he came back with a silvery metal tray in his hands, which carried a bowl of something visibly hot and a tall glass of water. There were also two tablets laid upon a napkin next to a spoon.

It wasn't exactly an appetizing smell that spread through the room, and as Tails placed the tray down in his lap and Sonic looked down at the content of the bowl, he found that it was oatmeal. A steaming, grayish clump that probably tasted worse than it looked. Honestly he wasn't feeling very hungry, most likely due to the IV nutrition drip he'd been hooked up to, and this didn't make him any more so.

"The nurse told me to make sure you swallow the painkillers."

"I'm already on sedatives, aren't I? What good will taking painkillers do?"

Tails shrugged his shoulders, he'd began to fiddle with the device on his wrist again. "I don't know, I thought it was strange too. Maybe they're for more long lasting pain or something. I've tried telling them about your abnormally high healing rate, though I don't think they quite understood. Not that I blame them… I barely understand it myself sometimes… — Aha! There we go.." A low, sparking sound suddenly erupted from the little device as mumbling voices soon broke forth. "Not too long ago I added a built-in radio frequency reciever, so that I can listen in on the news wherever I am. Thought it might come in handy, especially at times like this." He explained to Sonic, who were just about to force down his first spoon of oatmeal.

Time dragged itself forward while they listened to a particularly boring radio program where the host called up random people's phone numbers. People who were all half asleep as they answered and got asked questions about which type of coffee brand they preferred and if they could guess right on tonight's burning question about which type of bird call the host played for them. At which the person who answered correctly would win fifty rings and a discount coupon for previously mentioned coffee. Sonic ate slowly, swallowing quick and hard after each spoonful - he'd thrown the two pills underneath the pillows - and consistency drank some water afterwards to make the food go down a bit easier.

After merely twenty minutes, the waiting was on the verge of becoming painful.

"If only the drugs would wear off quicker." Sonic thought to himself. Yet he could actually feel how his body fought against the numbness, and how the worst of the fog inside his mind cleared up. Pretty soon his legs were bound to start fidgeting.

Meanwhile Tails was close to nodding off in his seat when suddenly the radio show host's voice got cut off by a much more urgent and authoritative voice, who announced the following—

"We interrupt this program to bring you the latest breaking news; Nearly record tall waves has tonight flooded the whole western coast outside of Station Square, to the Mystic Ruins and further up north to Seaside Hill and Westopolis. The reported floodings has by experts been classified as mild in comparison to the infamous Station Square flood incident seven years ago, but local authorities are currently at work to oversee the total damage. People living in the affected coast areas are advised to leave their homes and seek momentary shelter further away from the coast. There is as of now no identified cause for the floodings. For further information about proper authority contacts and services, please either call the Guardian Units of Nations emergency line at—"

Glass shattered against the floor as the metal tray came plunging down from Sonic's lap.

The world was all of a sudden hanging on by a mere thread.

Emerald green met sky blue.

"You don't think… I mean, it couldn't possibly be…" Tails whispered. "… We would've known… You would've felt if something was wrong. Sonic, please… please say that it can't be… Sonic?"

But Sonic could not hear anything anymore.

He was back in the ocean, fighting for his life while Amy's body weighed him down into the icy darkness.

Amy…

Knuckles…

Somehow he just knew, just as Tails did…

Angel Island had fallen.

---

The sun had yet to rise.

Only a speck of warm, shimmering orange lay hidden behind a few big white clouds at the horizon.

The early morning dew being still fresh underneath their shoes as they ran across the grassy plain that surrounded the Master Emerald shrine. They hadn't even bothered turning off the Tornado's engine as they had thrown themselves out the very second that the landing gear touched upon solid ground.

One might as well have thought this to have been any ordinary morning upon Angel Island, but nothing could've been further from the truth.

For Angel Island wasn't floating securely far above the clouds as usual. It was floating in the open ocean, with waves crashing against it's high ledges which didn't quite reach over onto land. The sight of the massive island with all its tall mountains and various zones being exposed right outside the coast of the Mystic Ruins was most bizarre. It was as if some otherworldly continent had simply risen from underneath the depths of the ocean and now basked in the still early light of day.

Sonic and Tails had been too stunned for words as they'd seen it.

In fact, they hadn't uttered any words at all since leaving the G.U.N. Headquarter for less than half an hour ago. Tails had pressed the engine to max speed, resulting in him probably flying the fastest that he'd ever done before in his little bi-plane. Fortunately, he'd made sure to leave the fuel tank full while it had stood parked in one the Headqueater's hangars. A pit stop would not have been a welcomed idea…

Just then, Tails watched helplessly as his older brother disappeared in a blue streak that shot off towards the shrine ahead of them. Leaving the young fox behind, who quickly took to the aid of his two tails to instead propel himself forward. Increasing his speed significantly. He thought to call after Sonic, but figured nothing in the universe could've made him turn back now. The blue streak tore through the atmosphere, tore through sound and light until finally stopping at the foot of the Master Emerald altar.

Sonic eyes were wild, his quills on edge and his breathing non-existant. Gone was the happy-go-lucky hedgehog, gone was his smile, and gone was also the emerald glow in his eyes that had turned dangerously dark.

He was no longer a being of this world.

He was a supernatural force.

A whirlwind of Chaos Energies that raged inside his body while an even stronger range of emotions coursed through his system like venom.

Tails just about managed to catch up as Sonic found a figure sitting sunken down on the ground a couple of feet away from the altar steps. A figure who had his head bowed down so low into his lap that his face was hidden from view. Terrible trembles shook his whole body while he held his arms around his knees in an iron like grip - as if trying to keep himself from falling to pieces. Barely audible, weak mutterings escaped his mouth, but there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason whatsoever to his words.

"Knuckles..?" Tails carefully uttered the echidna's name. But Knuckles neither reacted nor spared either of them so much as a glance, and he remained perfectly stale.

"Knuckles, where is she? Where is Amy?" Sonic breathed, his voice dripping with unmasked anxiousness. His panic rising by each passing second. But again, the echidna stayed silent, quickly irritating the blue hero who wasted no time in completely unceremoniously grabbing a hold of his shoulders and then shaking him firmly. "What's wrong with you? Answer me, Knuckles - dammit!"

"Sonic, please—" Tails began, but was cut off by Knuckles finally acknowledging their presence by letting out a low whisper—

"I knew this would happen… I knew it… I tried to tell you, I really did…"

"What? What are you talking about? Wha-… Knuckles, where is she?! Tell me, please just tell me where she is! Where is Amy?!"

Knuckles' head slowly rose up to stare straight into Sonic's eyes. His voice rising an octave higher as he let out a single, definite word— "Gone."

Sonic's entire face paled. "G-gone? What do you mean gone..?"

"The Island… we were attacked… that metallic demon came out of nowehere, just appeared out of the dark. I told her to run, that I didn't need her… I had to protect the Master emerald - I couldn't protect them both…" And just as he'd said it, a pained noise between a grunt and a whimper slipped out of Knuckles's throat. "I almost had him, but then he— he jabbed that damn claw into me. There was no other choice… I had to scatter the Master Emerald into pieces and send them away from here, I couldn't let him get his hands on it. I just couldn't! The Island fell… and then I don't remember what happened next, everything just went black..." He screwed his eyes shut for a moment, as if recalling the events was causing him physical pain. "When I woke up it was too late - they were all gone."

Sonic's fists had clenched up so tight that his nails now dug into the palms of his hands, and he drew blood. It was like a thunderstorm had taken his mind into its wrath just as the little self-control he'd held onto burst. Unleashing such a violate sense of absolute grief, regret, misery… hatred.

—He saw red.

"You… you…" Sonic forced out through gritted teeth before the last of his sanity slipped through his fingers like sand. With a raw surge of feral strength he tackled Knuckles to the ground, punching him square in the jaw before letting out all of his collective despair during these past two weeks in one single strike—"You bastard! You damn coward, how could you?! How could you abandon her?! I trusted you to keep her safe - I entrusted you with my life, my entire world! And all you cared about was that cursed rock?!" Another punch collided with Knuckles' temple. "You should have been there to protect her! You should have given your life for her! Bastard! You worthless piece of—"

But Knuckles had just about had enough.

As soon as the initial shock had settled, he didn't so much as hesitate before directing a mighty blow to Sonic's stomach. Sending the poor hedgehog flying backwards through the air until he fell hard on the ground - thus knocking the wind out of him. Pinning him down, Knuckles being far too heavy and the stronger out of the two for Sonic to offer any real resistance, the roles were suddenly reversed.

And soon the echidna was beating on him with every inch of his life.

"Knuckles, no!" Tails cried in protest, watching in sheer horror as Sonic received punch upon punch, causing gruesome noises to emit from his body as well as his throat. "Don't hurt him, he doesn't know what he's doing! Please, don't you see - we're all that's left! Amy wouldn't want this!" But his cries were in utter vain, being completely ignored by the both of them, and he alone had no chance to pull Knuckles away from Sonic's body. Thus he was rendered helpless as the situation unfolded before him.

"How dare you try to blame this on me!? How. Fucking. Dare. You!? This is your fault, and you damn well know it! I'm not the one who abandoned her - YOU DID!" Knuckles snarled, absolutely beside himself with pent up frustration and anger that he now let loose with all its might. "Do you hear me!? It's your fault for being such a selfish, reckless, arrogant, sad excuse of a person! You left Amy to get hunted down by that freak, without saying a word about it to either me or her! You knew this would happen! You knew and still you chose to leave to play hero, without thinking for even a second of the consequences!"

Blood began tricking out of Sonic's mouth as he made a last attempt to throw Knuckles off of him. Again, to no avail. The echidna's words were now hurting more than his punches did, they cut into him like a repeated stabbing to the back and to his heart… All Sonic could do was to resign to laying there and taking all of it. And he desperately wished he could've covered his ears to what he heard next as Knuckles kept berating him—

"Every night after you left she cried herself to sleep! Every night! Where were you then - huh, Sonic? Where were you when the girl you claim to care so much for needed you the most!? Where were you when that psycho robot showed up here to kill her!? Huh!? Where. Were. You?! We both could've laid here dead, do you hear me - dead! Shredded to mere pieces without you knowing it for however long you intended to fool around with G.U.N. and play soldier! Maybe it would've been for the best… Maybe then you would've actually given a damn, and Amy wouldn't have to suffer through whatever that madman has in store for her all because of you..!"

"Knuckles, please..!" Tails pleaded.

"But you know what? I'm done cleaning up your messes! If Amy's dead it's on your conscious, not mine! I did all I could..! I did all I..-" Just then, all of a sudden, Knuckles' punches seized while his voice died down. His arms dropped to his sides as he closed his eyes and turned his face up towards the sky. The mask he faught so hard to maintain slipped for a second, revealing the agony he'd felt all through the night and early morning. It was like all of the anger washed away from him, like fragile shells upon the shore being pulled away by the waves. "You call us a team, but that's a damn lie. Because you decided this on your own. You decided to abandon us… There never was a us - there was only a you… only you."

It felt like an eternity passed.

Soft rays of sunlight now peeked up from over the horizon, but there was no warmth to be felt.

The seal of the bond was broken.

The fragile thread that had kept the remainder of the world apart had burst.

Slowly, Knuckles got up onto his feet, relieving the pressure upon Sonic's chest, who remained completely motionless on the ground.

"… I hope she's dead." Knuckles finally muttered, his voice now sounding terribly hollow and devoid of any emotion. "I hope she got swept up into that big wave and that she's laying down there right now at the bottom of the ocean floor. That her death was quick and painless. I wish it to be true - It would be for the best…" Then he turned his back on the two brothers and staggered off toward the altar and lastly up the stairs.

Immediately as Knuckles had left, Tails rushed to Sonic's side, kneeling beside the shattered piece of a being that was once his big brother. One look at his body was enough to determine that he most likely suffered internal injuries aside from the obvious damage that had been done to nearly every inch of his flesh. Deep cuts, specks of blood and swelling bruises deformed his usual so handsome face and the pattern followed suit lower down his body, as well. The previous bullet wounds he'd suffered couldn't even be traced anymore due to the demolition. The only comfort was that Tails knew the damage wouldn't remain for long, as the Chaos energies inside his body was probably already hard at work to heal the worst of it. In a mere couple of hours he would be nearly fully restored - physically at least.

But mentally…

Tails had witnessed his older brother in almost every type of emotional state - from the brightest of joy to the deepest of sadness.

But this was something different.

Sonic's eyes were blank.

The skin of his muzzle, that wasn't covered in blood, was pale and the expression upon his face appeared deeply ravaged. As if he saw things within his own mind that was so revolting and disturbing that it was pushing him closer to the edge of what little sanity he had left. The thought of Amy laying dead somewhere this very moment was slowly killing him. For Sonic knew Knuckles' words were true, he'd known it himself back at the infirmary - that something was awfully wrong. And the nightmare he'd had only confirmed it even further…

Amy Rose was… gone.

"Sonic..?" Tails' voice barely reached above a whisper, let alone did it reach into the depths of Sonic's concious state of mind. Wherever he was at that moment, it surely wasn't with him and Knuckles upon Angel Island. No, he was already far, far away from here… "Sonic, please, you have to pull yourself together, I need you to listen to me. We don't know for certain that..- We don't have to assume the worst has happened…- Amy could be fine..! W-we just have to keep our wits about us and think logically about this, Robotnik wouldn't want to let Metal just finish Amy off like nothing, she's too important. Too valueable of a leverage. She's most likely been taken hostage a-and will be used as bait to lure you into some trap. That must be it, trust me - I'm positive she's still alive!"

Tears almost broke forth from the young kit's eyes as he tried to convince Sonic as well as himself of this. After a brief moment of fruitlessly trying to regain his calm, he continued with even more forced confidence evident in his voice.

"We just gotta find out whe-where Robotnik's keeping her a-and then we'll go rescue her, like we always do! We'll get her back..! I-I promise you, e-everything will be all right again, o-okay?"

Whatever answer Tails expected he didn't receive.

Not a single word or sound came across Sonic's lips as he kept staring into thin air with features that shifted between indescribable horror and pain. However, it wasn't from the physical pain - but the actual pain that mercilessly tore through the shell of nothingness that was still him. A pain went beyond anything he'd ever felt before in all of his life.

He couldn't hear the words of comfort and hope that Tails offered him.

They didn't matter.

Nothing mattered anymore.

"Fated lovers are always drawn together, silly!"

He shut his eyes as his mind provided him with distant echoing memories of Amy's voice to haunt him, to mock him, to torture him.

Her tender smiling as he'd discovered she'd kept his letters by her nightstand.

"I re-read them a few times while you were away. It made me feel a little bit closer to you…"

For a whole year after their engagment he'd done continuously left her all alone at home with nothing more than letters to keep her compnay. All while he'd been off into the world - adventuring like usual. Like everything had been just as before.

He saw her adorably blushing face, as she had shyly lowered her gaze and asked him—

"Sonic, have you— … Have you ever thought about having kids?"

He'd known she had wanted him to answer that he had, but that would've been a lie. Right now however, he couldn't even imagine himself answering anything else but yes. The mere thought of getting to be the father of Amy's child thrilled him. His own little family that he would've loved taking care of, of building a home for and which he gladly would've protected with his life.

But now, such a future had been ripped away from him…

"Please, I beg you… let us help you."

No one could help him now…

"—No one is safe forever. And if I'd die fighting by your side, knowing that I did the right thing… then I'd say that's a pretty good way to go."

He should've been there to protect her…

"—I mean your my best friend - my true love. And you are not alone, cause together with our friends we'll get through this!"

Please… stop…

"—I wish it didn't have to be like this. I wish I could protect you…"

Enough!

Sonic curled up into a ball upon the bare ground, his body shaking from the violent convulsions that shot through his body. Air forced itself down his throat but all that came were choked screams that would never be heard. His eyes burned as he instinctively had began to alternate between clawing at them and his ears. The only thing that didn't hurt was his heart, simply because there was no heart to be felt. It was gone. Taken away from him by the cruelity of fate. Dead, just as she— …

There came no tears…

For even now, at the height of his despair, at the worst of anguish Sonic had ever experienced in all of his life, did a single tear leave his emerald eyes. And for the first time that fact disturbed him, and he realized that there must be something deeply wrong about him.

Oh, how he wished he could cry.

How he wished he could howl his agony into the emptiness of the world.

But above all else - he so desperately wished he could feel.