ADAPTION chapter one

Tails looked around in panic, Sonic was as busy as hell, Porker obviously wasn't anywhere near and Tekno was out of it, the only person he could see who could help was Amy, and she also looked busy.

He made a gut choice and screamed for help from the one he thought best for the job.

"AMY! I need your help! Quick!"

As he yelled he caught a glimpse of light on metal and flesh ahead of him. He turned and ran, unable to fly as his left tail had been broken.

A moment later there was a brief explosion of pain and then nothing.

Amy looked up as she heard Tails scream for her.

Reacting faster than onlookers would have thought; she finished off the android that had attacked her and picked up the small child it had been trying to carry off when she'd surprised it. In less than a second she'd pinpointed Tails' exact location and was running in his direction, the girl curled up in her arms, crossbow slapping her thigh as she ran.

"Thank you Amy"

Amy smiled as the girl whispered in her ear and suddenly felt a longing creep over her. She shook it off, feeling this was absolutely the worst time to have that kind of longing and reached the clearing Tails' had been shouting from.

As she took in the scene, she found her traitorous mind falling back again, picturing herself with a child of her own in her arms.

She shook it off again and crouched, setting the girl on her feet, "I'm sorry, you're going to have to go the rest of the way alone, I'm needed here"

The girl smiled bravely and nodded, "Keep low, don't let anyone see you, the village is only a little way from here now, ok?"

The girl smiled again, hugged her and ran off in the right direction.

When the girl was gone, Amy stood up again and looked around, with her mind as well as her eyes.

Tails was just short of the edge of the clearing, lying on his front facing inward, his twelve year old body looking incredibly frail as the sun glinted off his fur. Checking him, she found he was ok, but he was unconscious.

Something nagged at the back of her mind as she stepped into the clearing and raced to his side.

As she knelt down to pick him up she saw movement to her left.

She had time to mentally scream for help before it was upon her.

Sonic heard Tails yell for help, but at the time he was caught up with too many androids, he was surrounded by a good twenty of them at least.

Of course he was worried by the yell, but he couldn't get away from them. He glanced at Tekno, a few feet away, she was lying on her back, one arm flung outward, eyes closed, completely out of it. He had to protect her. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a flash of pink heading for the direction Tails yell had come from, Amy.

As he glanced back up again he found himself set upon by half the androids, the rest circled him.

With but a moments thought, he destroyed about five of them with no trouble, the others with a lot. This new detail was stronger, more resilient.

Soon there were only the ten circling him left standing, but he was tired, and his leg was hurting for some reason. He dismissed the pain and readied himself.

Suddenly the circle broke off and disappeared. A second later he heard Amy's voice in his mind, screaming for help.

Her voice cut off so suddenly he was left with a ringing in his ears.

He didn't wait for anything, he new where she was, he'd seen where she was heading. He got there in time to see their worst fear holding the unconscious forms of Tails and Amy, then they were all gone in a muted, unimpressive flash.

He didn't even say anything; just fell to his knees, a glassy look appearing in his eyes. "No."

When Amy finally awoke, the first thing she did was keep her eyes closed, then she assessed he situation.

She couldn't feel anything but a dull ache where half her right ear was missing, without even thinking about it, she knew she was blind in her right eye.

From the lack of feeling she guessed she was underwater.

That told her all she needed to know. She opened her eyes and found she was right. She was floating in the exact centre of an upright glass tube, the liquid was obviously some form of oxygen at body temperature so she could breathe without feeling, she knew if she was stuck in the tube for too long, she'd loose all feeling.

She looked around, not caring that she had been stripped of all but her underwear that was a trivial matter compared to where she was.

Without panicking, she assessed her surroundings.

Looking to her right she saw another tube, identical to her own. Tails, still unconscious, was floating dead centre, looking for all the world as if he were corpse. Checking, she knew he wasn't.

Looking around again, Amy took in their surroundings. Everything was a pristine white or stainless steel. There were computer screens dotted around, blinking lights, no wires showing anywhere and only one door.

Which opened.

Sonic was furious.

Not only did he have a broken leg, but both Amy and Tails had been taken right from under his nose.

Tekno was having a hard time keeping him still and in the ward while Porker consulted Kintobor.

"For goodness sake Sonic!" Tekno, with a hand on his chest, slammed him down onto the bed.

"If you're that frantic to rescue them, at least let me fix your leg!"

Sonic folded his arms and fumed impatiently.

"How could it happen?! I mean.Amy! She's one of the best!"

Tekno didn't say anything, it was one of the only times she'd heard him praise Amy's abilities.

He calmed down a bit and muttered something.

"It's like Johnny all over again."

Tekno silently worked on his leg, but she knew what he meant. Losing Johnny two years ago had been one hell of a blow, reality had hit home, finally, and he had quit for a time, leaving Amy to hold the fort.

"I'm worried Tekno" he said quietly, not looking at her, "what if he turns them into.?"

Like most, he couldn't say the words.

Tekno kept working for a moment in silence, and then looked up at him.

"Just let me finish with this and you'll be able to run again. Don't worry about them."

She paused and smiled slightly, "I seriously doubt they'd be able to turn Amy, not with that mind of hers"

Sonic lay back again, staring at the ceiling, "I certainly hope so Tekno."