Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission or knowledge. All other characters belong to me. The places used as backdrops, except for SS, mentioned in this story are real.

Sonic- 18 years

Amy (Paloma)- 16 years

Tails- 13 years

Knuckles- 20 years

Shadow- 19 years

Cream- 9 years

Rouge- 22 years

Chapter 16: Consumed and Helpless

A few hours had passed since Eggman had left the room. He had revealed so much of his horrid plan to what he had believed was an unconscious Sonic the Hedgehog. Never in his all days of fighting Eggman's tyranny did Sonic ever imagine that he would come up with something like this. Sonic was certainly not one to think about what any day would bring him. He lived for the day and the surprises that came with it. He was not one to think, but one to take action no matter what the cost. He was truly one to think fighting Eggman or anyone like him was just a game. A game without consequences, a game made for a child.

Sonic still could not believe that he would be the cause for the death of one of his "friends". His friends were the ones Sonic had always considered close to him and part of his inner circle. Sonic had never considered Amy as part of his inner circle, but still it was torture for him to be the reason for someone else's death even if that death was Amy's. All Sonic could do at this point was stare at Amy's containment tube feeling useless. If only he could be inside the other room with her, getting her out of her prison and the getting her medical attention after they had safely escaped. He needed to know how she was doing, and if she too had broken away from Eggman's program. Every time he called out to her, she would not respond. Either she was mad at Sonic or she was still trapped within the program. He almost thought that his prison was sound proof, but then remembered listening to Eggman reveal his plan without a care in the world.

It was almost killing him inside not being able to help her. Sonic could not tell how she was fairing from where he was. He could only imagine from the information he had heard from Eggman. She was slowly fading away from him and there was nothing that he could do for her. He was always able to save her from harm, but this time it looked like that this time it was not going to happen. Sonic still could not believe the events that went on in Eggman's world. He never thought of himself to be such a monster or even crossing that line between good and evil. He had always believed that nothing like that would or even could ever happen to him. He was not an evil being, in fact he always did what he was taught by society as what is right and what was wrong. He highly believed in freedom and people's rights to chose how to live their lives.

Sonic was finding it difficult to explain how he had got into this predicament in the first place. It was easier for him to remember what had gone on in that world, but it seemed insanely difficult for him to even try to remember how he and Amy came to be in this prison. Every attempt brought him back to the time he spent in the illusionary world of Eggman's program, and how he had treated Amy. It was as if a moment in his life was erased with a flick of the wrist. The odd thing was that the there was no difference between his actions towards Amy in that world or in the real world. He even wondered if he was capable enough to ever cross that line between good and evil, and take revenge on a person like he did to "Paloma".

Sonic let his head droop down till all he saw was the bottom of his containment tube. He could no longer look at her, and how could he after all the years he had treated her. Amy loved him immensely, but all he did over the years that they knew each other was tell her to "go away" and even "leave me alone". There were many times where he ran from her at top speed knowing that she would be covered in dust and dirt. He hated doing it to her, but in his mind it was the only way for her to just forget about him as well as to stop following him around the place. He did not mind all the chasing and attention that Amy had given him at first, but over the years it became quite bothersome that he could no longer stand it anymore. Sonic was truly getting his wish now, and after all these years of hoping he now regretted it. Any day now she would be gone and out of his life forever all because of his actions. Sonic kept on telling himself that he did not mean to cause her any emotional and physical harm, but a part of him did. In both worlds he had hurt Amy, and a part of him knew that he could never be forgiven for his actions. Even if he and Amy did escape from this despicable place, would she ever forgive him? Tears of regret and remorse poured out of Sonic from deep within his soul. He felt like a small child who had lost his mother.

For once in his life, Sonic cried openly and without any concern of who saw him. Memories of Amy flooded his mind with great force that he thought that he was going to lose his mind. He remembered their very first encounter and how taken back he was when he laid his eyes on her. For Sonic, it was very rare for him to find another hedgehog let alone a female of his species. He then remembered their first chase, and the feeling it gave him on how determined she was trying to catch him. Then he remembered the very first time he saved her life, and how happy she was that it was him who came to save her. The look in her eyes that day, Sonic could never forget. They were filled with love and hope for him. Then out of no where a massive memory came to him. He did not know if it was real or not, but it could give him an answer to how he and Amy came to be in this place. As the memory came to him, he started to get an incredible headache, but he did not care at all about the pain his major concern now was trying to remember how he got here. If he could do that, then maybe he could figure out a way to get Amy and himself out of here. He needed to remember, no matter what. Sonic closed his eyes to what seemed like a plausible memory. He remembered that he was with his friends and Amy at a beach he had found hidden from sight a few days ago on one of his many adventurous runs.

The place had the softest and whitest of sands that he had ever seen, and the water was so clear and blue like him that he could not resist staying to watch the sunset. The breeze felt so good on his body and the smell of the salt air had reminded of all the fun he had with his friends on holiday. For Sonic, it was the most perfect spot he had ever seen in his life that he had to let his friends in on it. He remembered the fun they were having, and then he remembered how Amy sat alone on boulder looking out towards the ocean. She was not wearing a bathing suit, nor was she wearing anything beach appropriate. She just wore her everyday dress and boots. She had looked so sad that he wanted to go to her and find out what was wrong, but the others had dragged him off to play a game of Frisbee with them. It was as if they knew something that he did not. Were they trying to keep him from asking her what was wrong? He was never close to Amy like everyone else was, but the way she appeared brought nothing but sadness to his heart. This was a new experience for him to be feeling when it came to Amy. Sure he felt certain emotions towards his other friends, but Amy was nothing more than an acquaintance and never part of his inner circle. Why were they trying to do that? He remembered that the others having such fun that day and Amy all alone as if she did not exist at all. She did not even come when lunch and dinner were prepared on the beach, and still no one did anything to make her feel apart of the group. Had she done something wrong that everyone now hated her? No, no Amy would never do something like that to what he assumed were her friends. She was not the type of person to hurt anyone she loved dearly, so why was everyone hurting her from what he was seeing?

It had grown very dark that night with a full moon overhead before everyone decided to spend the night on the beach. The sand had absorbed enough of the sun's heat during the day that it felt like heaven once the cold air blew in. As a precaution, Knuckles and Tails had ventured off in search of more fire wood for the bon fire that Shadow had created for warmth as well as for light. By now Sonic was getting more concerned about Amy. She had not moved from her spot all day, and she had not even eaten or taken a drink. Sonic was starting to worry about her. She must have been starving and dehydrated by now as well as cold. For some odd reason, felt that he had to do something and it look like no one else was going to do a damn thing about it. He sighed and took a deep breathe as he decided to do something about it. Sonic had prepared a plate of left over food from dinner and took a bottle of water from the cooler. He started to walk slowly towards Amy, his hands trembling as he carried each item in his hands. He seemed more scared about how Amy would react to this sign of kindness then listening to what was bringing her down. Sonic was even more surprised to how close he was getting to her without anyone interfering. The closer he got the more scared he became that by time he was about twenty feet from her a lot explosion was heard in the distance that caused him to drop everything on Amy. Amy after so many hours finally made contact with Sonic as the food he had brought dripped from every part of her body. Her face was blank showing no emotion at all as she noticed Sonic inching his way back as he ran from her and towards where the explosion had come from.

It was a tough decision to make. He could both stay and apologize to Amy, or he could go and find out what caused the explosion. Sonic chose the second option. He could not deal with the look on Amy's face. It well spooked him a bit, and he did not know if he could handle it like he could handle taking on one of Eggman's creations. Sonic stopped once he came to a clearing where a giant crater had formed. He looked around trying to find the cause, but he found nothing that could solve this mystery until his ears perked up picking up a sound off in the direction where he and his friends had set up camp. Sonic ran back while listening to what sounded like a laser blast going off. It was a sound so very familiar to Sonic, that he hoped his friends and Amy were alright. All through this time that he was trying to get back, he never once thought about Amy being in danger. Never did she cross his mind again like she did at the beach. All he thought about was his inner circle of friends, the ones he would do anything for.

Sonic had arrived in time to assist his friends with Eggman's latest attack. Everyone was fighting except for Amy. She was still in the same spot where she had been all day and still covered in food that Sonic had spilled on her. She was safe off in the distance, but she still continued to look out at the ocean not caring at all about the fight. It was so out of place. By now she would have been calling out his name or in the clutches of one of Eggman's robots, but it did not happen. What did happen was the defeat of Eggman's robots and something else. Eggman disgusted by his robots defeat opened fire on everyone, including in Amy's direction. Everything played out in slow motion for Sonic and his friends as Sonic watched as Eggman fired a missile towards Amy. She did not move or turn her head when Sonic tried to call out to her. Sonic tried to move his legs, but he felt as if he had no longer had his special ability.

The missile impacted Amy's rock with great force that it threw her into the water like a rag doll. Sonic ran towards what was left of the cluster of rocks. It was not because of his duty as a hero, but something urged him to go to her. He was insanely afraid of water and normally would not go into it, but he had no choice. Sonic was about to jump into the water to save her when Eggman shot a jolt of electricity at him, sending the blue hero into the water with Amy. The last thing Sonic saw was Amy lifeless body tangled in a grove of seaweed as her own blood snaked its way from her body, but something was odd about her body from what he could last remember. Amy's battered body had the appearance of a week or even a month's worth of extreme abuse. Some wounds old and some were new. At the time Sonic did not notice or take it into consideration that someone was abusing Amy.

A sudden jolt moved Sonic around in his containment tube with great force, moving him from side to side that caused him to break his concentration. It was as if someone had kicked the damn thing, but Sonic did not dare to open his eyes. He knew in his gut that he was being toyed with and he did not like the idea of being so helpless. If he was to open his eyes inside of his containment tube then cover would have been blown. He was not born yesterday considering he knew very well the consequences of cause and effect. In fact it was one of his favorite games. But how could he think of games at a time like this? Amy needed him, and yet he did not know how to help her. "I know you're conscious you disgusting blue rodent!" Sonic knew the voice to be that of Eggman, but he did not want to give him the satisfaction of being right. "Fine then if you don't want to prove me right then you can listen to my little story of a young pink sow hedgehog and how the people that she assumed were her friends didn't even know that she had been missing for two whole months, and I bet that they still don't. Such a sad story too and soon it too will have an even sadder ending to go with it." Eggman's voice sounded happy knowing that he could finally torture his nemesis without worrying about him escaping.

It had to be the perfect highlight of Eggman's entire day as he watched Sonic grinding his teeth, the grinding sound sounded like someone walking on gravel. Sonic tried his best to restrain himself, telling himself that everything he had said was nothing more than a lie. How could anyone not notice a person missing for two whole months? It was simply impossible to even think about it, let alone thinking about if that person was Amy. "I just kept them and even you busy with mindless busywork" Sonic opened his eyes widely, almost in fear but mostly in amazement that Eggman read his mind.

"The beautiful screams she made when I played with her in my playroom, you should have seen the fun she had with all my 'toys'. Watching her quiver in absolute fear was a total delight, such a good little girl. It was even adorable watching her believe that you or one of her so-called friends would come and find her. You should have seen her in her cell, Sonic. Covered in old and cuts, a few bruises here and there, and dried blood matted into the luscious pink fur of hers. You remember that rose pink fur of hers. So soft and lovely on a creature like her. I can't believe how cute she was as she rocked back and forth hoping that her friends would come and save her. When they didn't come, it just destroyed her, especially when she waited for you to save her. You should have seen her cry uncontrollable as I played phony media files starring you and your views on her. For a time she was strong and didn't believe them, but as time went on without any sign of a friend…well you can just guess what happened next. The poor dear, alone and with a broken heart, mind, body, soul."

Sonic let out a low growl before he banged on the glass with great force. Sonic had always kept his cool in any situation, but this was the first time he had truly lost it. He was blind with rage, and nothing in the entire universe could calm him down. Nothing right now…except for Amy.

Eggman continued to grin at his blue friend's predicament. He loved watching Sonic beyond mad, it was a totally new thing for him and was probably a new feeling for Sonic too. Sonic never knew he was capable of intense anger and rage. All he wanted right now was to get Amy as far away out of this hell. There just had to be some way to do it, but a strong part of Sonic was resisting any force to save her. He was afraid of the consequences once Amy came to.