Chapter Seventeen

Author's Note: I've completely forgotten to note Amy's new clothing, though I should have in previous chapters. If you still imagine her to be in that red dress, you can discard that notion. Sorry about the error. It's been fixed. If you've been following this since the beginning, I'll make a note here: Amy's new outfit is a dark grey tank top, tan hiking boots, loose blue jeans, a belt of brass rings, and a small gold ring around a brass chain that is around her neck.

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The rain got more intense, as the two hedgehogs hovered there, at least two hundred feet in the air. The blood from Sonic's late elites was being washed away by the rain, and the people, once gathered in a crowd, now scattered to the walls of the village, frightened by the ferocious combat that had just ensued.

Now, the final battle was at hand. Amy Rose, killed and reborn, faced off against her former object of affection, and ultimately, the one who took her life…Sonic. Amy's heart had mixed feelings…she knew that Sonic was possessed by an evil greater than the world had known before, but at the same time, it was hard for her not to think of the times they had before.

But something else had filled the void in her heart that Sonic could never fill…his ebon counterpart, Shadow. It had dawned upon her only a few days before that Sonic didn't care, but Shadow did. The first day she met him…she mistook him for Sonic. Once Shadow became a member of the group, she became a little concerned when Shadow was looking at her.

But when she finally had Sonic as her own, something happened…he suddenly changed…their relationship quickly went downhill, but still she held on. Only death made her realize that she could never have Sonic. She dwelt on this in the spirit world…and then she was suddenly yanked back to the material world...that was it! She was the real Amy…maybe not in body, but surely in soul! With her mental quarrel finally resolved, she turned her attention to Sonic.

"I never thought it would come to this, Sonikku;" she still used her pet term for Sonic. "But now, fate has deemed that one of us must die."

"Indeed, Amy...one of us must die…and it's not going to be me!"

"I've already died once, Sonic…and unless I see you purified, I shall die again and again, every day of my life."

"Then I'll beat you to the edge of death!" Sonic roared, and charged at Amy, his claw poised to strike. Amy dashed away quite easily, not quite ready to fight yet. She felt like taunting him. Why, she didn't know.

"Y'know, Sonic…I figured it all out now. You and me…it just wasn't meant to be. I was crazy to love you."

"Stop taunting me, you weak brat!" Sonic screamed, rushing in again. Every taunt and response was punctuated by an attack by Sonic and Amy dodging it.

"While you rejected me, I was cared for by someone else."

Sonic's frustration was increasing. "You're not worthy of anyone's love! You're nothing but a fake! A damn fake!"

"I'm over that, now, Sonic. That sadistic girl you call your mate may have my body…but I am still Amy Rose in soul. And that is something no one can take."

"Stop this nonsense about souls and fight me! Or can't you bring yourself to kill me? Answer me!"

"There's…still a part of me that cares for you…the Sonic you once were…"

"That Sonic is gone, Amy! I am Sonic!"

"If that is true, then there is nothing I can do to save him…and I shall have no regrets making you suffer…"

Finally, Amy countered Sonic's claw swipe with a roundhouse kick to his head that sent him spinning like a top. She followed this up with a backflip kick to his chin. Amy, seemingly without thinking, held out her hand, and a large sledgehammer, the head decorated with various markings in an unknown language, appeared there. Amy wasn't sure how she summoned it, but she decided to take advantage of this development. As Sonic recovered from the two strikes, he met a skull-crushing overhead swing of Amy's new hammer that sent him spiraling downward and crashing to the ground.

She touched down and walked up next to the place where Sonic had landed. Even after all that, he was only moderately damaged. But his morale and ego were severely hurt.

"How did you get all that power? You could have never harmed me so…" Sonic growled as he held on to his damaged arm. "I must know!"

Amy stood there, her sledgehammer hoisted over her shoulder. "This power comes from the bond I share with one I truly care for…yours comes from a being who has been consuming you from the inside."

"I have never felt more powerful in my life…but tell me, who happens to be the one you love?"

Amy pointed to the crater where Shadow lay. Unbeknownst to either of them, Shadow's self-healing had taken effect quickly. "That is the one. Shadow…the one you thought could never love anyone."

"Him? That ebon freak! Hah!" Shadow winced at the comment.

"He understands me on levels you couldn't begin to comprehend, with your mind as it is. Maybe a good beating will make you see…" Amy then swung her hammer at Sonic, who anticipated it, and then grabbed the head of the hammer with both hands. He opened his foul maw and shot a blast of energy at Amy from it, knocking her back and forcing her to relinquish her grip on the weapon. It disappeared instantly.

Even so, Amy was not discouraged in the least. She pressed her attack further by dashing in his face, phasing around and grabbing his head by the quills and tossed him straight up. As he flew, she phased there, and smiled at him cutely, before powering up some more. As Sonic reached the height of the toss, Amy had crackling energy on her hands and feet. In a blur of dashing strikes, she smashed Sonic around, as if she was playing ping-pong with herself. Sonic grunted in pain with each hit, and could feel every bone in his body begin to crack. He even felt his powerful wings break off…and then he knew victory was impossible. He plummeted to the ground with a thud.

Amy smiled even as she sought to catch her breath. Sonic was beaten, and now she could free him from the torment. She landed and stared over the broken body of Sonic. Even now he still scowled in contempt, still angered at this defiance.

Holding out her right palm, she formed a tennis ball-sized energy orb and pointed it straight in Sonic's face.

"There's one thing I'd like to say before I finish you off…" she said.

"What?"

"...consider yourself dumped."

Amy unleashed the blast as a wide beam, which drilled right into the ground, and utterly consumed the body of Sonic the Hedgehog. When the blast and the dust subsided, there was nothing left…except the other half of the Egg of Geddon. Instantly, the other half phased in there, and fused itself together, all to Amy's astonishment.

As the Egg hovered there, a ghostly image of some strange creature emanated from it. The creature had a strong resemblance to a monkey, but its cranium was a sickly purple andwas vastly elongated. Its arms, legs and tail appeared to be made of strong silver coils, and its hands and the end of its tail were bedecked with scythe-like blades. Its whiteeyes had no visible pupils, and its yellow-stainedgrin was toothy.

"Who…are you?" Amy asked, still stunned by this development.

"My name is Geddon…and I am the end," the creature replied. "I've waited two millennia to begin feasting on this planet and its energy…and now I can, thanks to you…well, not yet. I must find one whose heart is evil enough to call me by my true name…just hearing it would drive you mad…but I must take my leave now, and claim my mistress." He raised his hand and Lady Thorn, bruised and bleeding from the collapsed castle, appeared, unconscious in his ghostly arms. Before Amy could react, the two disappeared.

Quickly she resume her normal state and rushed over to Shadow, who lay still, but alive. He slowly opened his eyes when he noticed her kneeling over him. He smiled a little.

"Shadow…you're hurt so much…why didn't you…"

Shadow began to laugh, and Amy wondered just what was going on.

"You did it, Amy…" he coughed up some blood, "ugh…you beat Sonic all by yourself! I'm so proud!"

"Huh?"

Shadow pulled himself up and wiped the blood off of his mouth. "I could have beaten Sonic easily, but I wanted you to do it…it was the only way I could think of to get you out of your funk. Looks like it worked perfectly."

Amy immediately began to embrace Shadow and laughed joyfully. "Oh, Shadow! You sweet little hedgehog, you! You put yourself near the brink of death, just to make me see!"

"Amy…please…you're breaking…my ribs…"

"Sorry."

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It had been about six hours since the regime of Sonic toppled to the ground, and the residents of the city were unsure of what to do in this situation…but total chaos did not reign. The group was resting in Yumi's home, patching up Shadow and Tsuko.

"For some reason, I'm never in any of the major fights! It stinks!" Tsuko whined as Yumi tied a bandage around a gash in his head.

"Bad luck, I guess," Shadow replied. Amy was putting his arm in a sling. She was mostly unscathed…bruised here and there, a few minor cuts, but she seemed fine otherwise. The bandage that Shadow applied to her arm after the victory over Knuckles had come off, but the wound there had healed.

The activity was interrupted what seemed to be footsteps pacing around the room…the weird thing was that footsteps were not coming from anywhere. A chill went down Tsuko's and Amy's spines. The air also got a little chillier. Espio was quick to answer the dilemma.

"Someone's spirit is restless…could be Sonic's…"

"Can you tell what he wants, Espio?" Shadow asked.

"Let him speak for himself. Sonic…"

At that moment, a ghostly image of the deceased hedgehog faded into existence. This was unnerving to the group, except Espio, of course.

"S…Sonic?" Amy stammered. She took a tenuous step forward toward the ghost.

"Hey guys…just me, saying hi from the spirit world."

"Spirit world?" Yumi asked. She had stopped tying Tsuko's bandage when Sonic appeared, but quickly began to finish.

"Yeah…everyone else says hi too…" Sonic replied. He stopped to think. "It's kind of hard talking to you guys…" Sonic's image became staticy, not unlike a bad signal from a satellite television. "When do you guys go to sleep?"

"Uh…when we do…I dunno." Tsuko replied.

"Look, let's see if we can meet in the dream world or something. It's kind of like the halfway point between the material and spirit worlds. Damn it…too hard to keep…contact…we'll…meet…you…in…dreams…" Sonic blipped out.

"Okay…that was weird," Shadow said, still unsure of whether everyone was going nuts or if the ghost of Sonic really did come.

"I suspect we'll find out…in our dreams."