(A/N) Wow, yet another chapter up this month. And I'm starting a new story. Hopefully I can keep going like this. This chapter should thrill you, chill you, and flat out make you wonder what the heck is wrong with Amy Rose. Learn who the mysterious, shadowed, inscrutable, figure is...not really, but you'll wish you knew after this. So on we go:

Amy looked at Tails' face. So deep in thought he was. She was, too. What did he mean exactly 'Not a chaos emerald?' Could it be she had found something, wait...That figure? What did it have to do with this? Who was it? Was it a person at all? Amy winched from a deep ping inside her. The very thought of that day made her feel uneasy, almost sickened.

Tails looked up to see Amy's frightened pose. He began to feel a bit awkward himself. What if this strange gem wasn't a chaos emerald, but another source of power? Were there more of them, like the emeralds? What if it fell into the wrong hands? Could it be used against them?

Both of them blanked from existence for a moment, worrying about different things that were one in the same. They were snapped out of their thoughts, however, by the arrival of Knuckles.

Panting from a constant run from the altar, Knuckles was quite surprised to see Tails and Amy there. Both of them jumped at his sudden coming.

"What's, going on?"

Amy heaved a sigh before addressing him. She knew once again she'd have to tell her story, and once again someone else would be dragged into this. Perier to the crash, Amy was more then happy to share her findings so she wouldn't have to bear it alone, but now she felt that more than that plane crash was bound to happen.

"Hey Knuckles. We kinda have a problem." Amy stood with a fake smile to face him. Tails also rose and brought the emerald into plain sight for Knuckles to see.

"We also crashed into your island, apparently," Tails added shyly, but then straightened up to discuss the gem at hand. "Amy, found this." Handing the emerald to the slightly confused echidna, Tails stepped back to allow Amy to share her story once more.

Amy hit only the highlights of it this time as Knuckles tried to follow the story.

"Sure it wasn't delirium from lack of Sonic lately." Tails shot Knuckles a glare for his harsh remark. Amy grunted to herself, but decided to let the insult go unpunished, the emerald was what needed to be dealt with right now.

"I'm not sure it's even a chaos emerald," Tails added to the moment of silence passing between them.

"It's not,"

"What?" Amy and Tails, though having suspicion it wasn't, were both surprised by his response.

"It's not even an emerald." What did he mean, not an emerald? And most importantly, why did a gem, other than a chaos emerald, have this kind of power?

"Then what is it?" Amy asked a little more sharply than she meant to. Knuckles shoved the arcane jewel back into Amy's hands were she placed in into her dress pocket.

"It's a corundum." The answer was blunt, and not very informative. Their blank expressions let onto this fact. "It's a widespread gemstone and often used to make an emery stone when in purest form." Tails had seen emery stones before, and they in no size, shape, form, or fashion fit the description of the gem before him. But who was he to fight this fact, Knuckles would know right?

Amy was still pondering this thought as something caught her eye. Just beyond the tropical vegetation before them, she could almost make out the outline of a person. That darkened figure she had seen before! But how! Amy wasn't going to let him get away this time. She couldn't. And with Knuckles and Tails there, there wasn't any real reason to be afraid of what it could do.

Amy ran past the two, drawing her hammer just in case.

"Amy! Where are you going?" Tails called after his felting friend. Amy continued her run without replying. She knew they'd follow, and nothing was more important at this moment then knowing who he was.

Knuckles watched Amy head out in her passion. What was she doing? As he stared, his gaze moved out to see Amy's path ahead. There stood the figure she had been rambling about. Even with its familiar outline, Knuckles was unable to identify who it was. Either way, Amy could be running into something potentially dangerous.

"Amy! Stop!" Knuckles began to pursue her with Tails close behind. Still, unaware of the inscrutable form in the forest around him, Tails was a bit skeptic of Amy and Knuckles' behavior.

Amy was bent on her goal of discovering who he was. Despite her current closeness, the figure never came into full view, but rather stayed darkened and undefinable. The only movement it made in response to Amy, was to step back further into the canopy's shadows. Surely he should be visible in the sun light. How was it that he could remain hidden from her view of understanding?

With these awkward thoughts, Amy stopped her heated assault a few feet away from her destination. She was looking straight at him, and some how she could tell he was looking her over as well. Slowly, his hand was extended out to her, still covered in the shadows. Amy looked down at the reaching hand, then back at the supposed face. Did he want her to take his hand? What did it take her for? Motionless she was, as something about this situation made her feel she needed to reach for him. Somehow she felt, almost connected to this hidden being. She had to know. The feelings inside convinced her of this.

Her hammer vanished as she hesitantly raised her hand to place in his. As she entered the overcast of the canopy, she, too, began to darken out.

"Amy!" Knuckles and Tails, now seeing what the commotion was all about, were closing in on the scene of Amy's decision. Tails quit his run at the sight of the figure, fear striking him as he saw what Amy was willing doing. Knuckles continued for Amy.

The figure never grabbed hold of her during this time. He was waiting for her to take hold of him. Determination returned to Amy as she realized this. She was right there. He could have taken her and done whatever he willed, but didn't. Amy quickly linked hands with the mysterious form.

Just as fast as her movement, he pulled Amy to himself as Knuckles reached for Amy's free hand. Unfortunately, her fingers slipped through Knuckles' unfinished grasp upon her.

As Amy's body made contact with the figure's, the corundum from her pocket misted them in a fog of light, were they both vanished form Tails' and Knuckles' sight.

Both of them were speechless.

"Where'd it take, Amy?" Tails breathed heavily for a moment before rushing to the spot where they disappeared. Knuckles rose from his fallen position and joined Tails to view the area.

"Was that some form of chaos control?" Knuckles turned to Tails who was just as perplexed as Knuckles.

"It couldn't be, it wasn't one of the emeralds."

Suddenly, the ground below them began to shake as the island began to fall from its elevated location. Shaken, both of them fell to the ground. They held till the islands violent motion began to sees. When it came to rest on the waters below, Knuckles found his ground and addressed Tails.

"We're gonna need to get, Sonic."