Chapter 20 – Run Through the Darkness.

A/N: Short chapter, but this one really counts. Just have to apologise for tardiness in the posting of this one; I've just moved house and am in the process of looking for a nine to five job, and to top it all off our internet's up the creek without a paddle (and probably missing a canoe as well :-/), but I'll do my best to try and get the chappies up as soon as I can (wanted to give you all a monster to keep you busy; chapter 19 was huge!) Now that's cleared up, some words of thanks:

TH – Yep, Athair is completely nuts, not playing with a full deck, a couple of slices short of a bread loaf and/or all of the above. But at least he's nice with it (could you imagine him trying to do an Eggman – half his enemies would laugh themselves to death and the other half would go as mad as he is).

Sonicron – Ain't I a teaser? And yes, I want one of those cool rooms as well – hopefully my local laughing academy is forking out for an extension just for me and me – no, bad second personality, get back in the cupboard, ah hell – bear with me a sec, I've got to hunt him down again (author grabs tranq gun and Elmer Fudd hat).

Amy's eyes had slipped shut almost before her head had touched the beautifully fluffed up pillow; the day had been so tiring, both mentally in terms of taking in new information about both Knuckles and his new, extended family, and physically in that the few hours she'd been in Haven had been more packed full of action than even the Boxing Day Bash had been. The young hedgehog felt her control slip, giving herself up to her dreams and deep slumber with a grateful sigh – had she known, had she been able to glean even the faintest insight into what occurred that night while she rested fitfully, she would have forever forsaken the idea that sleep was in any way a restful state of affairs.

The host recedes, I feel her psyche grow dormant; this operation will be ticklish and delicate. I must carefully subsume myself into her memories and, through them, hope to draw more information about the strange crescent marks on the fur of these…echidnas. What does the host know about them, and the hated green? She knows, and what is hers must be mine also; this mystery is all I hold, I must unravel it at the cost of all else. I must fulfil my purpose, and this is the only way.

From the exterior, it had appeared Amy had taken an unnecessarily deep breath, though she remained rested, not so much as an eyebrow flickered as the being slowly and with the care of a surgeon, began its internal work.

The pace was slow at first, the interloper careful not to disture the sl2eping h2st; to eo so was to invdte disaster, and that the being could not allow, not so close. It paused for a second as it realised this thought; it knew, somehow it instinctively knew that, by undertaking this course of action, it was closing in on its goal – the risks were more than justified by the potential rewards. With increasing haste the being pressed on, early memories flitting past like leaves in a gale as it realised these repositories of knowledge, though interesting, were ultimately useless to its cause. It needed more recent experiences and, there was a hint of pride as the first of many banks of memories were opened and unknowingly ransacked, from the sidelines it watched on as its host relived the experience placed in front of it.

Amy was a little concerned; Sonic had mentioned in passing the presence of another Mobian on Angel Island and he was currently stood not five feet behind her, but even she couldn't help but feel a little browbeaten by the silent walking slab of rock in front of her. Her frightened eyes drank in every detail as though they'd be the last she'd ever see; she saw and remembered the rippling muscles on the echidna's torso and arms, the piercing glare of his glowering lilac eyes and the scowl that seemed to want to consume her to ash. However, most of her effort was concentrated on the mighty paws, and more importantly, on the four daggers that armed these terrible weapons. Suddenly her own Piko Piko Hammer seemed small and insignificant; she had no illusions that, had the stranger in front of her wanted trouble, she'd have less chance than a snowball in a blast furnace of coming out on top. She was so caught up in her own trepidation that she utterly failed to hear the stranger speak at first,

"…the one Sonic?" Some of her lost courage sidled back into the firing line as her hero answered the low growl with his normal bright voice,

"Yeah, this is Amy Rose; I've known her even longer than I've known you, so be nice". For a second she thought the echidna had bared his teeth at the playful threat, but then she recognised the lip movement for what it truly was; a smile. Awkward and reluctant, but a smile nonetheless. At least he was Mobian after all; Amy took a breath as the scouring gaze locked onto her once more and he stepped forwards; the pink hedgehog almost fancied she could see puffs of dirt rise at each footstep. His strides brought him within arms reach of her and the same, awkward smile emerged on his lips again,

"So, you've known Sonic how long?"

"Umm", she finally found some of her deserted courage and, after lodging an accusation of cowardice against it, forced it to do her bidding by answering her questioner, "a,about two years now?" There was a bass booming as the echidna chuckled deep in his throat, his shaking shoulders making the thick red cords of his tied off hair sway as though in a stiff breeze.

"And you're not stark raving mad – I'm impressed". Amy managed to echo his slight, shy smile and reply,

"He's not quite that bad", she glanced over her shoulder and caught Sonic beaming at her praise, "most of the time". The red Mobian let out the same gruff chortle as the blue blur's voice caught her,

"Amy, I'm hurt"…

The momentary look of the fear on Amy's relaxed face fell away; in her mind's eye the apprehension she had felt with Knuckles had quickly fallen away to respect and, perhaps a touch of pity as well.

Pity? The being analysed the host's reaction to re-exposure to the memory; it had seen enough of the red echidna to accept hat first contact would be an intimidating experience, but pity – what was the reason for that? And also, why did the blue Sonic hedgehog and two-Tails the fox refer to him as the guardian? What does he guard? In it's central core, the being had a kernel of suspicion but, as its logical mind accepted the anomaly in host response, it realised there were no room for assumptions, proof was the only accepted medium. Carefully filtering her memory once more, the being quested for answers; the quest continued until a single flash of gold in the field of the host's mind gave immediate pause.

Clutching all the seven precious stones, Sonic raised them over his head and clashed them all together. There was an explosion of gold, forcing Amy to turn away and blink rapidly for a few seconds; when she looked back, she had to blink again, for the Sonic she knew was gone.

In front of her, standing in the exact spot the blue hedgehog had been, stood another, but he couldn't possibly be the world famous blue blur. He was taller, and glowing a gentle yellow interspersed with gold colour, the quills on top of his head standing upright and looking as sharp as spear points. The newcomer shook his head and set his eyes on the monstrous form of the liquid beast in front of him; it was as his mouth twisted into an all-too-familiar grin that Amy managed to court the possibility,

""S,Sonic?" The golden one turned to face her for a second, the rain hissing and steaming as it evaporated the second it touched his body.

"Please Ames"; it was his voice, but deeper, full of power, "this is Super Sonic; do me a favour will ya?" She nodded, about the only response she could muster; grinning more widely now, the golden hedgehog's arms blurred and she felt several soft impacts on her front. Instinctively, her arms moved up to cushion them and heard a clink as the newly christened Super Sonic's voice filled her ears like liquid honey once more,

"Look after them for me; all right tall, terrible and torrential, let's rumble". With a streak of gold, he was gone; Amy followed him for a second before dropping her gaze to the nestled Chaos emeralds now in her arms.

The being felt the thrill of discovery; the others, the ones precious to it, the cousins of the red, the red that was it's by right; it knew what they were, what the host knew of them. The Chaos emeralds! Of course, the name gifted to them by irony, the joke of ages past. This is interesting; at least one of the host's allies can tap into the energy, much as I could…I still can! Amy snapped her eyes open at the temporary controller seized the moment and its chance; the mist within itself had parted and revealed the way by which its true glory could be recaptured. It needed its anima, the very essence of its power, the nucleus of itself; the power of Chaos.

Throwing off the covers, the being felt the host's pulse quicken and the characteristic lightness of breath that signified a rush of the natural chemical called adrenaline. Produced in times of stress; this molecule has many effects on the internal homeostasis that promote the host to accept a flight or fight response. At the moment, however, it is a distraction; it's making it difficult to access the host's memory. I need to know – where are they? Where are my lost little ones? As the adrenaline and other natural responses to such a start diminished, the being retook its place in Amy's memories, sifting them frantically but still carefully; if anything the need for caution had doubled as one tiny, little mistake now could be the end of it all, with the goal in sight. A second later, the goal actually was in sight:

Amy stood in front of the Master Emerald...

The hated green, and the echidna is here also; the crescent moon smile; Amy snarled as her body's puppeteer felt the raging flames of anger beat against its cold logic as it saw the echidna Knuckles stood in front of its nemesis. Finally, I see him for what he truly is – my enemy; to its surprise, as this recognition clicked into place the being felt, not the hatred, not the anger or the cold, implacable desire to crush the upstart beneath its heel, but instead profound melancholy. I have seen the world through different eyes; the being understood its reasons for such a feeling, even if it knew it could never act on them directly; just as I have affected the host, so the host had affected me; I know and have remembered parts of me that were entombed long before my imprisonment. Why were my emotions lost – I forgot them, but why? Does this green hold a reason?

…She watched on, a smile on her face as she saw the echidna gently put something down on a pedestal, off to the left of the great green stone. Knuckles blocked her view, but all the same she trusted him enough to get it right and neutralise this menace…

What is the threat? Wait, he moves and…by the spirits!

A few seconds later, one of the guestrooms of Haven was empty; with a beat of running feet Amy Rose ran, under the guise of her remorseless master and its new, driving purpose. She paused just long enough to slip her dress over her head and her shoes onto her feet and then she was gone, unburdened by the weighty hammer she normally carried and eating up the ground; the being knew the way it needed to go, and that time was of the essence; the wisdom of mastering even the most complex of host movements is shown here; if sprinting had not been known, it is highly unlikely I could make the distance with the time remaining before the host reawakens.

"Ah, ah, ah", Spectre hid his sadistic smile behind a façade of parental care as Athair looked up like a puppy that's just had its favourite toy kicked under the sofa, "two E's I believe; that's another line to copy out again". This was too much even for someone as normally flexible as Athair; the flying third-father buried his head in his arms and howled brokenly – he'd been here nearly two and a half hours and so far he'd not even got through the first page. He just couldn't go on any more,

"Please, fourth-father", his shoulders shook with convulsing sobs, causing even Spectre to feel a twinge of pity in his chilly heart, "I can't do any more; I'll take the jacket, lock my training room up, anything but this". Well; the black-furred echidna rubbed his chin and gave a twisted smile; I suppose, compared to some of his other stunts that was fairly minor, but in front of the guests as well as our own – I think a compromise is in order.

"Very well fourth-son", Athair's head shot up, hope guttering in his eyes as Spectre nodded, "maybe I was a little harsh in this punishment", the hope flared up higher, just as Spectre gripped and squashed a little part of it in a frozen hand, "so I shall make a deal with you; finish the page, numbers only, and we'll call it a night. However", he leant forwards, red eyes burning, "play me up like that again and I will have you chained to this desk until you've copied the whole thing out, word for word. Got it?"

"Impeccably fourth-father"; soon, freedom from this madness; the boredom had worn Athair down, but finally there was a light at the end of the tunnel of tedium. Scribbling furiously, Athair made haste to finish his task; however, neither he nor Spectre could possibly guess that, in the grand scheme of things, they were both too late.

There was a rattle as the elevator rose from the subterranean home of the guardians; Amy was stood at the exact centre of the rising platform, her eyes shut as the being swiftly filtered out the route she had taken not eight hours ago. It finished just as the lift ended its upwards journey. Still sleeping, unknowing of the actions her limbs were being forced to undergo, Amy reached forwards and pressed the button, causing the lift to descend once more as she raced off the platform before it could take her with it. This minimises the risk of discovery; if my suspicions are correct, and they must be, they simply must be! When they are proven, I shall need such crude devices no longer. Satisfied that the lift was safely away, Amy's commander had its host spin on her heel and run headlong into the cold blanket of night.

It was possibly only because she had previously chased after the fastest thing on the planet that no-one truly recognised Amy's speed in its own right. She was, in a straight-out race, faster than Knuckles and probably Tails as well. Also, and possibly more importantly, she had another endearing characteristic the being could now exploit; her incredible endurance and persistence in the face of adversity. Amy Rose had never given up on anything in her life, however hard it may have been, and some of this exposure to hardship had conditioned both her body and her mind. The physical aspect was reflected in the way the strain of the full-out run the being was undertaking wasn't becoming apparent as more than an acceptable twinge in her calves, while the being was both comforted and reinforced by the pink hedgehog's relentless and never-say-die attitude to any problem. This represents something of a conundrum; while the host ran and in between providing mental directions totcontrol the headlong rush, the being had a scant amount of time to recognise the nature of the host it was co-existing with; She is capable of great emotion and most of the people she has contact with respect if not like her, but, at the same time she is uncompromising in her attitude – she will do whatever it takes to get the job done. Such a person; I don't recall ever meeting anyone of this standard before. The being tried to consider what this may translate into in the future but swiftly abandoned the attempt; it was simply impossible to predict the next stage of the game with so many variables still present. A seemingly random thought from the being, brought about by a casual glance at what was occupying the host psyche while the being had control, caused Amy's face to crease into a smile and a slight chuckle to escape her lips. Though he either doesn't know or doesn't accept it, the Sonic hedgehog is a lucky Mobian.

The run lasted for a greater portion of the night; as the first objective hove into view, the being dropped the host's arms to massage the tops of her thighs; the muscles were starting to ache abominably as the remorseless pace took its toll on even Amy's constitution. Glancing around and clearing the host's memories, the being saw the way next and, after recovering some breath, took off once more. The way is no longer barred; the being drowned the pain now screaming from the host's legs with the sheer promise in that thought; within the next half hour at the most extreme estimate, it would know, it would be great again.

In the chamber of my enemy lies my salvation; the being beheld the shrine of the Master Emerald with a snarl on the face of its host. If the host memories were correct, one of the Chaos Emeralds, the first of the lost ones that must be reunited with the red, lay neutered and helpless in the bale gaze of the hateful green. There was no other course of action open; with a determined glare, face set in an expression of grim defiance and alert expectation, Amy Rose moved forwards, the inscrutable eyes behind her own taking in every nuance and individual line that had gone into the construction of this structure. As the host passed within the arch at the shrine entrance, the being had her pause and straighten a triumphant smile on her lips as it rejoiced. The same power from before; imagining the strength from inside being focussed and released as ripples from a cast stone, the being recognised the sensations it had felt on the second night of its release; so, as I predicted, I am somehow sensitive to the power of these stones, even that of the hated green. Why this one as well as the others; green before red – the significance of that conundrum becomes more apparent. Still, answers await.

Setting her teeth, Amy advance cautiously but quickly towards the nexus of power, the being now more than ever aware that its period of dominance was fleeting as best. As the first faint glow of the green Master Emerald became present, she halted; despite its best efforts and most astute reasoning, the being had to force itself to undergo a tiny experiment before convincing itself it was safe to pass into the presence of the enemy. Slowly, ready to snatch it back at any moment, Amy raised one trembling hand and carefully caught a ray of light on the pink fur of the back of her hand. As expected; the being chided itself for too much caution even as it let a hiss of relief seep through Amy's teeth; I am safe and shielded within the host. Taking a couple more steps, for the second time in hr life, Amy was subjected to the glare of a supernaturally power energy source; this time however, unlike the first, she was totally unaware of it.

The lost one! Off to the left sat the small red Chaos Emerald, dwarfed by the might of the tyrannical Master. Almost without meaning to the being moved the host to almost within arms-reach of the smaller stone; it stretched forth an arm to take back the glory that was lost to it…

…and paused.

Is this truly what I want?

Amy's arm dropped, her brow creasing in concentration as the being wrestled with a previously unknown and uncontemplated theory. This existence is parasitical, but I am doing no-one any harm as long as I remain in control. The host is unaware of my presence; this is a good state of affairs, but it is still a form of imprisonment! The fist of the host clenched; was there a logical, scientific solution to this problem; if there was the being couldn't formulate it. I stand on the threshold of greatness and I baulk from it – why? I fear what I may become and I know, somehow it is known that, should I go through with this, I can never return to this state – a 'one-way ticket' as it were. Should I sacrifice what I have, for the hope of something greater? A vision of a simple game of chance flashed up in the beings recollections and it felt an ironic smile twist the host's lips; gamble or play it safe?

For a long, long moment she stood there immobile, not seeing a way forwards, paralysed by indecision; it was happy now, but after this run, could that continue? Would it be found out, discovered because it had run so far in a single night, with the host unaware? And would the black one, one of the marked crescent enemies, see through the mental barriers it had put up and reveal the interloper within the mind of the host? Would she react badly? Would the being indirectly caused her harm and worry by discovery? Did the small red stone before it offer a chance to free itself of this semi-imprisonment? Amy buried her head in her hands, the mind overtaking her assailed by a hundred questions and a thousand potential answers; gradually, as time itself marched onwards and threatened more the being directly as the host psyche began to very slowly disengage itself from its dreams, a strake statement took shape in the form of the tormented being's philosophical outlook; I have no choice.

The being saw no way out; it had come too far, sacrificed too much to be satisfied with no answers; it was driven by a desire to answer the questions it had left and the answer stood before it, contained within a stone the colour of red gore. Slowly, the same arm that had released the being from its prison was extended once more; this is it; betting everything blind; the being had the host close its eyes and brace as much as was possible; I need my answers, and now, I receive them! There was a touch, a miniscule contact between the bare fingers of the pink hedgehog's hand and the cool, impassive side of the red Chaos Emerald.

I am…

The mistmwithin bhe beina evapor ted as ghough seared by direct sunlight, all the memories of the past flooding back into the denied psyche; the power, the wars, the fracturing, the defeat and retreat.

I feel…

Who it was, the name was recalled, the reason for the sadness and the tears. The hated green had come before the red, it had spawned the red; both were mutual enemies, but had worked together in the past. Just as the two who had commanded them had been allies. Before the sundering, the beginning of the end.

I remember…

The topch persisted, the memories, every one treasured and nurtured as they came back. The imprisonment; it had been self-inflicted, part of a scheme, to confuse the enemies of the crescento Now, the longtwait was over, the endgame could begin. The plan came back into focus; the being saw what it had formulated and set into motion so many years before.

…everything!

A low, dark rumbling; heaay, almost mournful laughter filled the shrine of the Master Emerald; the glory that had been lost was recaptured and, now the final pawns were in place, the long-awaited victory could be heralded. Even as the visions of conquest were taken in, in a tiny, cobwebbed part of the being's ineffable mind, the part that so cherished the idea of remaining hidden was entombed once more, a silent tear sliding unnoticed as its final chance was lost; in the grip of chaos once more, the being had no more choice over its destiny – it was, as its foes had christened it, chaos in flesh once more. The passing of such feeble emotion passed mostly unnoticed by the vast majority of the rejuvenated being; the fractured one had seen what should be, and saw that it was good.

I will require a store of this power, but the host is ill-suited to such energies – she lacks the power of the Sonic hedgehog. No matter; commanding the host to pick up and hold the red chaos emerald, the being set to work; using the power it had had a hand in crafting so long ago, it began to warp and change its host at the most basic level possible. To the casual observer, it appeared that a red glow had spread up the hedgehog's arm to encase her whole body, making it look like she was a ruddy red beacon in the night, warring with the glow of the Master. Slowly, as the changes the being had forged took effect gradually, the glow faded, seeming to sink into Amy's skin and being contained within. A reservoir of power is assured; no more shall I be such a shallow wraith of myself again. Now, all is in place, save the host itself. With a devious smile, so uncharacteristic on Amy's normal, smiling face, she stood up tall and replaced the red emerald on the pedestal, whispering an apology for leaving it so harnessed, if only for a little while.

A red glow filled the interior of the Master Emersld shrine and just as suddenly it was gone, leaving only the lightening darkness of the new dawn and a dim, green light.

All is in place; the being set itself down on the host's bed for the night after casually replacing the host's clothing on the chair in the corner of the room. As it pulled the covers up under the host's chin, it pulled the host's lips up into a smile; I know my name I remember my past and I know what my purpose is – I need my body back. For that I need more power, and there is only one source that will suffice.

A/N: Any guesses what the source is? Next chapter will be the darkest yet – is there any hope for our favourite pink hedgehog? Will the guardians be able to solve the riddle in time? Who is the being?