"Yikes...?" Amy repeated with increasing concern. "Why yikes?"
Storm seemed to be searching for the right words to explain what he needed to. He made a quick glance towards Jet, who wasn't being helpful as he moped and stared down at his shoes - leaving Storm on his own.
"It's uh - not really a party, per say- not in a good way-"
Wave returned to the living room, much to Storm's relief - miraculously carrying two coffee mugs in each hand and placing them down on the centre table. Upon closer inspection, one of them was quite clearly a hot chocolate - topped with swirly whipped cream and marshmallows. Jet was the one to reach out for it.
"The ball is being hosted by Breezie the Hedgehog, and Clutch the Opossum - two of the most sleaziest Egg Bosses this Empire has to offer." Wave said, taking a seat again. "How much do you know about them?"
"Nothing other than names." Amy admitted.
"Clutch used to be a criminal ringleader before getting into chao races in his retirement, becoming a world-renowned Chao racer champion. He's still doing the same thing since even after the Empire took over, chao caces stuck because Robotnik likes them - so the same deal as Extreme Gear racing, really. But, of course, he still helps the Empire with other shit - just like any other Egg Boss." Wave explained, stirring her coffee. "And Breezie... well, she's kind of an enigma. She's the head of media propaganda. No one really knows where she came from though - there's a popular conspiracy she might secretly be a robot. Which, in today's society, more plausible than you think."
"And... I'm assuming them hosting this ball is a problem?" Amy spoke up hesitantly, not really wanting to hear further bad news - despite knowing there was no way to avoid it.
"Yep, there's no real reason behind this party other than to self-indulge... and weed out some traitors."
Amy's complexion grew pale as Wave went on. "You know how it'll be. They'll put your arms around you, perhaps get you a little tipsy-" She said, demonstrating as she wrapped her arm over Jet's shoulders and got closer. He scowled at the gesture, then rolled his eyes - giving up and allowing him to be used for his friend to demonstrate her point.
"They get friendly with you, and then they start dropping in little phrases like 'Oh, remember when we could do that thing before the Empire? Don't you miss how things were sometimes?' " The swallow put on a sickly sweet tone as she asked her fake questions. "Then you start getting comfortable. You start thinking they're just like you - you start admitting all the things you don't like... all the things you've done." Her voice lowered. "Then you find out... they've recorded your every word. They get their hands on you... And if you're lucky, you'll never be seen again. If you're unlucky - you'll be turned into a metal shell of your former self."
When the 'lucky' option was death, the true gravitas of Amy's situation hit her like freight train. She hugged herself as a shiver shot up through her body, a sudden numbness shuddered through her core.
"Or the third option-" With all the pauses, it was as though Wave was purposefully being dramatic. "- they'll fix you."
"F-fix...?"
"Granted, we don't know all the details but-" Wave held her hand out in front of Jet. After grumbling, Jet would produce a leaflet - shoving it in the swallow's hand. Wave then passed it on to Amy so the hedgehog could look for herself. Upon reading it, the contents confused her.
WELCOME TO ROBOTNIKLAND!
Have you been feeling sad or restless lately? Has life in the glorious Robotnik Empire not been to your liking?
Then we have the solution for you!
Come visit ROBOTNIKLAND! A world of imagination, fun, and games to turn that frown upside down!
You will leave as a much happier, fulfilled individual :)
Amy's grip tightened on the leaflet after reading the last line - but all of it was still perplexing. "I don't get it... all these pictures, this is a theme park?" The rollercoasters and ferris wheels depicted were bright and colourful, decorated with lights. They even had pictures of some delicious meals that she supposed were served there.
"That's what he wants you to think." Wave said with a glare. "But do you seriously think this is what it seems? As it's a new thing, we don't know much about it but, there was someone who recently stayed there for some time... they came back as an entirely new person."
"What do you mean by that?" Amy immediately questioned.
"Well, before they were like us - hating the Empire, but going along with things to survive. One day they were taken to Robotnikland... they were gone for weeks. Then they suddenly returned-"
"They were spouting about how great the Empire was with the blankest fucking look in their eyes..." Jet spoke bitterly as he recounted the memory. "Any of their old personality? Just... gone. They became this soulless, always smiling freak-"
"Never questioning orders." Wave added on, as Storm somberly nodded in agreement.
The hedgehog's eyes widened at this new information - just what exactly was this 'Robotnikland', obviously it was more horrifying than the leaflet cared to imply. "Oh gosh..." Her voice quivered as she placed a hand over her heart. "That's awful..."
"That's the place awaiting us if we're stupid enough to reveal our true thoughts on the Empire." Wave told her bluntly. "Which is why Jet should cool off about being vocal against the Empire!"
"Tch." Jet scoffed, taking another sip of hot cocoa.
"I don't know how you do it all the time, Jet. You always talk about how much you hate the Empire and Robotnik yet no one bats an eye..." Amy said, thinking deeply.
"Jet's worked up being a persona of being an asshole. well - actually it's not much of a persona - it's just how he is-" Wave began to explain, and Jet didn't even attempt to deny it. "When Jet mouths off everyone, people just think it's a part of his act and stage presence - so no one's done anything about it. But that doesn't mean that there will never be people questioning it!" She turned her attention to Jet, frowning.
"I'm going to get away with saying whatever the hell I want until it kills me." He told her simply.
"Yeah! Don't question the boss!" Storm tagged on.
Wave let out a frustrated growl, akin to the sound a dog makes. "Ugh, these boys never listen to me!" She huffed, setting down her coffee so she could fold her arms dramatically. "I need to get away from these two - Amy, you picked out a dress for the ball yet?"
"Um, no - actually." Amy shook her head.
"Cool, gives us an excuse to head out-"
"Trying to go clothes shopping without me?" Jet narrowed his eyes. "Tough luck. I need to buy new shoes."
"And I'm going wherever the boss goes!" Storm announced, as though it wasn't already obvious.
"Uuuuuugh..." Wave groaned, rolling her eyes so hard they almost went into the back of her skull. "Fine, whatever. Tag along. Just don't be annoying about it."
The world around her was moving at such a fast pace. She had started the day alone in Empire City, wandering aimlessly - sticking out like a needle in a haystack, but now she found herself ready to go shopping with new friends. Well, friends... were they friends? Jet only pulled her into their apartment so he could yell at her so... probably not, but - perhaps they could be acquaintances at the very least.
Most importantly of all, it was... comforting to be surrounded by people in a very similar predicament to her own - people who actually understood. Perhaps she wasn't so crazy after all.
Behind them was a fleet of airships, rocketing towards the plane at high speeds - each individual vehicle was exactly the shape of their dingy aircraft, but much more high tech and proected with metal hulls.
"Hoo boy... I don't know how we begin to tackle this. I can't exactly slap entire aircrafts out of the sky with my tail! Not like the buzzbombers!" Tangle told the two boys worriedly.
"Just... give me a sec-" Sonic was debating on the right plan, but his brain was sorely lacking in any concrete ideas.
"Sonic! They're firing at us!" Knuckles called at him.
"Damn it!" Sonic cursed, knowing the chances of them being hit were disturbingly high. Tails had always been better at this, he could manouver the plane around a barrage of projectiles. Sonic did not have those same skills himself.
Even still, he had no choice but to get this right. He could do this, just... he had to remember what his little buddy used to do.
"Make sure you're secure Tangle!" Sonic warned her ahead of time. With alarm written all over her face, she fumbled over what to do before settling with gripping onto the plane's wing with her tail as a method to anchor herself.
It served her well as Sonic was forced to swerve the plane to the left to avoid a missile strike. Both the echidna and lemur seemed startled by the sudden movement.
Little did they know it was about to become so much worse.
Missiles began to shoot towards them rapidly, and in large droves. It was lucky that Sonic was as fast as he was, able to react as soon as he caught sight of the missiles in the mirror. He jerked the steering wheel without a second thought, often twisting the plane far more dramatically than needed.
"OH- GOSH-!" Tangle exclaimed unhelpfully, but who could blame her as she was being flung around, clinging onto the plane for dear life with her tail?
Sonic's eyes widened, heart dropping as he saw another larger barrage headed their way at seemingly faster speeds.
"Sorry in advance guys-!" He fumbled over the controls, and before his brain could even catch up with his movements - the plane made many consecutive rotations, and then had abruptly turned upside down.
Tangle and Knuckles were screaming loudly - the latter of which miracously reaching the same pitch as the former.
The lemur was dangling upside down as her tail still clung to the plane. "THIS WAS NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING-"
"Look, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-!" He repeated apolegetically, hastily trying to get control of the plane again - but now in the upside down state, the plane was no longer steering in the direction he wanted it to.
"WHAT YOU APOLOGISING FOR? THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!" Tangle squealed, giddy,
"Wait - what?!" Sonic exclaimed. Maybe if he wasn't in the driver's seat, he'd be enjoying the thrills. However, knowing that his amateur piloting skills were the only thing keeping them alive at this moment, was making things infinitely more stressful. His heart pounded faster than it would after a high speed run across the continent.
In complete contrast to Tangle, Knuckles was not having a good time. Sonic's ears flicked upward as he picked up that Knuckles was muttering to himself under his breath in a distinctively different language, hands clasped in front of his chest.
Was he... praying? Yeah, honestly he couldn't blame him.
Especially as the plane's wing was struck.
Thankfully, it was an attack Tangle was spared from as she was on the other side - but it resulted in one half of the plane being absolutely demolished.
They were hurtling down, spiralling out of control.
Sonic panicked, barelling down towards the ground - he had a clear view of what awaited below. They were heading right towards a road filled with speedy cars. No shot this was going to be a soft landing... Sonic closed his eyes and held out his hands, powerless - all he could do was brace for impact.
To the hedgehog's surprise, his feet suddenly made gentle contact with the ground.
He opened his eyes, scanning the immediate area around him - he saw Tangle and Knuckles were fine too. The echidna's eyes were glowing green, but they returned to their purple hue almost instantly. Sonic was able to piece together what had happened - Knuckles had warped them to safety at the last minute before they became mobian pancakes on the ground below.
Where were they now? A rooftop, it seemed.
They suddenly heard a loud crash, and the three ran up to the edge so they could survey the scene below. The remains of their plane had fallen down in the middle of the road, uttely demolishing cars in the process and leaving significant cracks in the concrete.
"Darn it..." Tangle placed her hands on her hip. "And we just got that plane too!"
"There aren't... there aren't people in those cars... right?" Sonic whispered worriedly.
"Nah don't worry, only Egg Pawns."
Sonic could have collapsed with relief, but he held onto his composure.
"Wasn't that awesome though?! You were all like 'nyoom nyoom!'" She mimicked the gestures of steering the plane, and Sonic sighed tiredly.
"We very almost died, Tangle..." Sonic pointed out. "We're very lucky-"
What had happened to him lately? Typically, he'd be one to share in Tangle's enthusiasm - cheer other's up by proclaiming he enjoyed the adrenaline rush, despite the setbacks. All he felt now was depleted.
"I never want to do that again." Knuckles said suddenly, holding his hands out.
"Hate to be that gal, but we still need a plane to travel places on our search. This is far from the last of it..." Tangle reminded him.
The echidna groaned loudly.
"Hey, come on-" She tried soothing him, keeping her smile optimistic. "We just have to figure out a way that we can avoid being detected next time! That way we can have a smooth journey free from missiles!"
"Easier said than done..." Knuckles rightfully pointed out.
"Those airships are heading the other way now." Sonic remarked in the middle of their exchange, shielding his eyes from the setting evening sun - staring out at their old foes that were now backing away.
"Well, they struck the plane down. That was their objective, right?" Tangle said, before a mischievous grin crossed her face as she rubbed her hands together. "Little did they know that we know how to cheat death!"
Knuckles rose a brow. "Hmph. You're welcome-"
Both the hedgehog and lemur proceeded to thank him profusely for the save, and the echidna's frown turned into a small smile as his contributions were achknowledged.
"On an even better note though..." Tangle began. "You two realised where we even are?"
Sonic had found the area vaguely familiar - even with the absence of people on the streets and buildings that held no light within them. "Central City...?" Sonic slowly questioned to clarify,
"Bingo-bongo!" She confirmed, giving him a finger gun.
"Uhhh, guys?" Knuckles spoke up. "You seeing this?"
The other two turned to face the direction Knuckles was pointing at. Sonic almost stepped backwards in his shock.
"Rouge...?" Tangle gasped out. All their eyes were fixed upon a holographic billboard displaying an image of their former teammate. She was staring into the camera with a dispassionate expression, a plain white background behind her. The text below her face read:
WANTED!
ROBOTNIK EMPIRE TRAITOR ROUGE THE BAT
CRIMES: THEFT, SMUGGLING, EXTORTION, VIOLENCE, MURDER, TREASON, ATTEMPTED REGICIDE
REWARD T.B.D.
"Has this- has there always been billboards of her?" Tangle asked, rubbing the top of her head. Sonic wished he could answer the question, but he was just as clueless. "And where did this photo even come from-?" She cut herself off as she shuddered. "Yeesh, AI generated images are getting too good..."
Knuckles had his arms folded, contemplating something but choosing to keep his thoughts to himself.
Just where was Rouge now? Was she okay? A regretful pit sunk in his stomach, damnit - he should have fought harder to keep her on his side. Now, she was likely alone - with no safe haven to retreat to in the night. She had been hung out to dry, and sure - she had been... difficult, but that was no excuse not to care for her wellbeing.
"She- She can handle herself, she's strong - she's fine! I know she's fine-" Tangle sounded like she was desperately trying to convince herself.
While Sonic debated if it was worth even saying anything, the image changed to something new entirely - and this time, Sonic did actually step backwards - stunned.
WANTED!
RUNAWAY SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG
REWARD T.B.D.
"Shadow the...?" Tangle's voice trailed off. "I know I don't know him but... he looks familiar all the same, somehow. Ugh, where am I recognising him from-?" She rubbed her temples.
"I'm not sure if I'm being crazy here, but he reminds me a lot of that monster we encountered at the festival." Knuckles said thoughtfully. "Like - those spines, black and red - in the same shape and style they were on the scaly creature."
"Yeah!" Tangle quickly agreed. "That photo is what you'd get if you took that monster and turned him into a hedgehog!" Sonic listened as his friends put together the pieces of information to come to the conclusion he already knew.
How could this be? Shadow had been clearly under the Empire's control not long ago - yet here he was wanted by them? Declared to be a runaway, back to his original state? Sonic found himself split in two - on one hand, he was inwardly quite thrilled that Shadow had somehow broken away from the Empire.
On the other hand, his heart swelled with dread. Shadow was free, and that could only mean one thing.
...
"It all starts with this... a jewel containing the ultimate power."
...
Sonic blinked rapidly as memories flashed by, Shadow's voice lingering like an echo. No, damnit! No! Shadow was back to how was before. He was hateful, revenge driven, guided by falsified memories.
The hedgehog had learned since then - that Shadow would prove himself to be so much better than that.
Everything Shadow had fought for, to improve - to do his utter best for the people of the world - those motivations had dissolved in this timeline. In recent memory - Shadow had finally figured out who he wanted to be, and what path he wanted to follow.
Yet, here he was. Eggman had stripped all that progress away - tearing Shadow down to the man he was before.
Sonic clenched his fists.
"Also, in a weird way - he kinda looks like you." Tangle pointed out, although it fell on Sonic's deaf ears.
"If this hedgehog here was that monster, how did he go from that thing to this?" Knuckles questioned, rubbing his chin. "It doesn't make sense. And don't you think the text is kind of vague? It's just labelling him as a runaway - compared to Rouge's that listed off all her crimes..." The echidna had a fair point.
"Then... I guess he is how they've described him. Whatever turned him into a monster must have worn off or something, and then he ran from the Empire - so now they want him back!" It clicked for Tangle. "Maybe we should try to find him before Empire law enforcement does? He might want to join our side!"
"It's not so simple." Sonic said. They both turned to him.
"Well, if he doesn't like the Empire as much as us then surely-"
"No-" Sonic cut off the lemur. "It's... look, it's complicated-" Sonic could easily explain Shadow's true intentions, but he held off from doing so - for now. He didn't want to immediately make them scared of Shadow and antagonise him. Perhaps, there would be a way to calm him down before things got too out of hand with his revenge plot.
But... how was he to approach this? Could Sonic really preach hard enough to make Shadow switch sides? Sonic hadn't been the once to invoke Shadow's heel turn before, Amy had been - to this day, he didn't know what Amy had said to him, it wasn't his business to pry. But right now, Sonic wished he had actually asked her.
"Okay..." Tangle said, sort of warily as she watched Sonic. "Guess we should... get around this city looking for emeralds, then. Like we planned... sensing any magical connections, Red Riot?" She asked Knuckles as she began to walk forward.
"Not right now..." Knuckles replied. "But it wouldn't hurt to keep rooftop hopping until I perhaps come across an energy signature - keeps us out of the way the things below too."
"Right you are!" Tangle gave a thumbs up. "Time to get this show on the road!"
Rouge stared at the rear view mirror, rubbing her eyes at first to make sure what she saw was actually real and not a result of her sleep deprived brain.
Oh yep, it was real alright. A plane had suddenly crashed down into the road behind them, narrowly missing the duo in the car. Eerily, them - as well as all the other cars - continued to drive as normal as if such a major accident had never even occured. The cars in that lane just made their way to differet ones - not a care in the world.
She had to remind herself that there were only Egg Pawns driving the vehicles on the road.
Shadow seemed to have noticed the events behind them as well, but his face was as dispassionate as ever as he didn't even comment on it.
Rouge opened her mouth, and shut it again - something she had been doing a lot on that car journey.
Shadow seemed to have noticed her attempt at speaking. "What happened there hardly matters to us." Shadow told her. "All we need to do is park up and get you situated with food."
All Shadow was doing was the bear minimum of looking out for her - yet she found herself gazing at him, warmed by the fact he was looking out for her needs. Damnit, infatuation was such a stupid emotion - her heart refused to listen to her brain.
"I believe we're almost at the end of this part of our trip." Rouge said, pointing out the window. "There's the multi-storey car park where all the vehicles are gonna go to load off their goods. Except, we're gonna be the only ones not doing that."
"We'll park, I'll warp us out of the way before our car is invesitgated." He said to her.
"Works for me."
...
Things went swiftly, without error. Shadow parked up in the available space that he assumed was left open for them, as the other cars naturally headed to their other spaces. Rouge saw how the Egg Pawns all got out of their cars in unison and walked to the boot of the car, opening it up and carrying out a box that was inside. Then, they would all march in the same direction towards an elevator with perfect synchronisation.
It was all the same, all disturbingly efficient.
Rouge blinked, and suddenly the two of them were out of the car, hiding themselves behind a pillar. They peeked out and saw a larger Egg Pawn make their way to the car they had just been sat in, and opening the door.
The robot stared at the inside of the vehicle for a long time, before suddenly closing the door and heading back to follow their mechanical bretherin into the elevators.
"Tch." Shadow scoffed. They waited it out until there was nothing but the empty car park, and themselves. Shadow walked slowly towards the edge of the parking storey. Instead of the elevator, he was going to head down the way they were much more unlikely to encounter a robot.
Shadow jumped off the edge, activated his rocket shoes so that he then hovered down onto the street below. Rouge followed, able to fly down and land beside him.
"Most optimal place for sustenance?" Shadow asked.
"You speak so robotically sometimes..." Rouge commented before actually answering. "All we need to do is find the nearest warehouse and ravage, it's bound to have something edible."
"Understood."
Instinctively, both had stuck to walking into the darker shadows and quieter, smaller lanes. They were both wanted criminals - who knows what kind of people were out there and trying to hunt them down.
Even so, she didn't want their walk to pass by in complete silence. "You know... those rocket boots of yours are cool as shit." She admitted to him with admiration. "Don't think I've seen anything like them - they're also stylish too which is a great bonus-" She waited for how he'd react to her compliment expectedly.
"I see."
I see... I see? Jeeze, they'd already established he wasn't much of a talker but hoo boy - even holding very slight small talk was difficult. "Sooo... where'd you get them?"
"They were made for me."
"Makes sense, makes sense..." Rouge sighed. Shadow clearly had no story to share based on his minimal response. She did like the quieter types, but even those people could carry a conversation at least a little - this hedgehog was a different breed. Perhaps she needed a new tactic.
"Shame we had to meet when the world is a shithole, I would have loved to take you out to a nice place for dinner." Could her flirting have been more obvious?
Shadow's face was as neutral as ever. "Hm."
Hm? Hm? Hm? He wasn't even flustered in the slightest! It was though he had barely even heard her, was he aware of just how many other men would have loved to hear those words coming from her mouth? There was no way that he was that oblivious!
He was playing hard to get, and there was something about this frustration... something she loved. It was such a unique experience compared to what she was used to. She wondered what would get him to crack, if anything at all.
"I'll scout ahead for a warehouse. Try not to stray too far as I can find you again." Shadow said, already skating away before she could even say anything.
What an enigma...
"Espiooooo..." Charmy began.
"No."
"You didn't even know what I was going to ask!"
"You're very predictable, Charmy." Espio responded calmly, looking up from his book and gazing down at the bee.
"No I'm not!" He quickly defended himself with a pout.
"The answer is still no. You're not coming on missions with us." The chameleon stood his ground.
"Ugh, you're no fun! I thought you were the cool one!" Charmy folded his arms, huffing as he looked away.
Espio still shook his head. "The work we do is far too gruesome for a young boy like you. The Empire is a dangerous place. I've lost count of how many times Vector has explained this to you."
Defeated, Charmy plopped himseld down on the floor and sulked. "Stupid..."
"It's not."
"I can handle it you know! I'm 9 years old!" Charmy pointed out.
"Those two sentences juxtapose."
The bee fell silent temporarily. "I... don't know what that means- but come on, pleeease-"
Espio sighed and set the book down on the crate he was sat on. "Charmy, I was trained to be a warrior from a very young age - I have been fighting for most of my life - yet-" He pointed to the eyepatch covering where his eye used to be. "Look what happened to me."
It was hard to rebuff or say anything to that, Charmy fiddled with his hands as Espio continued. "Even with all my experience, I was gravely injured. My vision will never be the same again. If someone as skilled as me ended up like this... what do you think will happen to you?"
The chameleon laid it out bluntly, as he often did. Charmy didn't try to argue his point further, it was just... ugh!
"I understand it is hard to sit on the sidelines when you want to help out those you care about. I was out of comission after my injury for a while, Vector insisted it so. I didn't much appreciate all the rest at the time, but I understand now that the rest and slowly working my way back up was beneficial in helping me heal." Espio was practical with his explanation, something Charmy could at least have a little appreciation for.
"Right..."
"Look what I found!" Vector announced as he suddenly entered the room, holding up what appeared to be a comic book. "Thought we could read it together~!"
"A comic? Really?" Charmy huffed. "I'm 9 years old, not a baby! I don't read baby books and I definitely don't need them read to me!"
Despite the bee's dismissals, Vector smirked. "You're telling me you don't want to know what happened to Laserboy and Invisigirl at the end of the sludge monster arc?" Vector asked him.
Charmy gasped. "What?! You found the finale issue?! Aw man, this is so cool. Hell yeah, we've gotta read it now!" All attempts of trying to be grown up flew out of the window. When Charmy was younger, Espio and Vector read these books to him before bed - even putting on different voices for each character. Those nights were some of his favourite memories - nightss where both Espio and Vector were there together, and they finally got to spend some time together as a trio.
Espio and Vector exchanged grins - Charmy didn't care if they considered it a victory over him - at the end of the day, he just wanted to know how this story ended.
"Clear out!" Jet announced, the bell above the door ringing as they made their entrance. "Out peasants! This boutique is reserved!"
The four of them stood out of the way as all the shoppers darted out of the doors in a large drove. Amy couldn't quite fathom the sight before her - imagine having so much power and status that you could just... get everyone to listen to you like that.
"I don't usually wear dresses..." Wave admitted. "But I wanted to go a little more classy and presentable - if Jet is gonna be a pain all night, Storm's gonna follow... so one of us needs to be a little professional." She said, mostly to Amy. "I don't even know the colour I want to be honest."
"Um, yellow compiments your purple feathers." Amy suggested softly.
"Yellow? Gross - I'll look like the fucking sun." Clearly, her feedback wasn't appreciated. "I'll just try on whatever I feel like."
Jet and Storm had wandered off into different sections of the store, Jet was examining the heel section quite closely - and Amy wondered if it was just boredom, or if he was actually considering purchasing some. Storm wasn't looking at anything in particular, instead choosing to wander aimlessly through the isles.
There was only one shopkeeper with them in the store, but that was more than enough.
As Wave went on to peer at the various garments, Amy settled on her dress quite quickly. It was red - simple, slightly frilly - all she needed. Long ago, before the Empire took over, she would have been over the moon in a boutique like this - trying on so many dresses and accessories. She couldn't bring herself to indulge like this now, not after all she's done. She... quite frankly, she didn't deserve all these nice things.
Before Amy knew it, Wave had come out of the fitting room with a poofy black dress with a lacy torso. She was ready to compliment the look until Jet called out. "You look like a goth!"
"Point taken." Wave groaned, ready to pick out another.
The cycle repeated several times, the swallow came out wearing a new dress - and Jet always had some snappy remark to critque it. Either it was too long, too short, out of style, or simply just ugly - it seemed as though nothing would please him, despite being at it all day.
Then, Wave came out in the winning piece. It was simplistic - just a white, form fitted gown with long sleeves. It was an awfully good colour choice for her. "Yep, that's the one." Jet confirmed, and Amy smiled knowing they wouldn't be stuck in the boutique for another hour.
"Cool." Wave grinned, then looked towards Amy. "You not gonna try yours on?"
"Hm?" She held it up. "Oh, no - it's fine, I know it will fit me." She assured the swallow.
Wave stared at her briefly, as did Jet - and then the two birds exchanged a look between them. One of confusion - a look of pity akin to the expression one gives a child, all condescending.
"Whatever." Wave shrugged. "Your loss I guess, you do what you feel like."
All Amy wanted to do was leave. Leave the boutique, leave the city - leave the stupid Empire... but there was nowhere to run.
"That's... ominous." Silver said.
Metal Sonic, having scouted ahead, finally found something new that wasn't a landscape of snow. Instead, what lied before the trio was a massive, gaping black hole in the ground.
"What are its depths?" Tikal questioned in wonder, removing her golden headband. "We shall listen out for when this makes a sound." She dropped her jewelry into the hole.
They waited and listened for the headband to finally hit the ground - but no such sound came.
A little longer perhaps? They waited longer.
Nothing.
"Huh-" Silver said uneasily. "Yeah, that's very weird - I'm not sure if it's wise to do anything with this-"
"Then I suppose the safest path forward is to walk around the darkness of mysteries before us." Tikal said with a nod.
When Metal Sonic let out a series of broken beeps and sound effects, the two mobians couldn't tell whether he was agreeing or disagreeing with their decision. It had to be agreement, right? It was the most logical option after all. Silver just gave a nod to the robot before turning back to Tikal.
"Sorry about your headband." Silver told her apologetically.
"It is quite alright. I've wanted to vanquish it from my sight for a while." She spoke bitterly. Silver wondered if at first she was being sarcastic - but it was genuine, running deeper than a quip.
"Oh... you didn't like it?" Silver asked her hesitantly.
"It was a gift... from someone who means little to me now. We were never able to fix things..." She recounted, seemingly flinching at some painful memories she was being reminded of. Silver placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I uh- sorry, I didn't mean to get you angry or hurt." He assured her.
"I am fine." She told him. "Our relationship has remained turbulent for thousands of years."
"Sounds like a lot..." Silver sighed, glancing back at the hole.
His ears perked up as Tikal spoke again. "Metal...?"
"AAAAH-!" Silver abruptly began screaming as he was shoved off balance, plummeting towards the black abyss.
"SILVER!" He heard Tikal call after him. "METAL, WHAT ARE YOU-? WOAH-!"
As he fell deeper and deeper, the hedgehog's conciousness began to sip away.
"You still got the emerald on you?" Knuckles asked.
"Of course." Sonic replied quickly, knowing anything less than a direct response would set off Knuckles' paranoia to some capacity. The hedgehog had admittedly been a little hesitant about taking the emerald with them - but Knuckles had insisted that he didn't want to leave any more previous gems on the island with the others than he had to. That, and using chaos emeralds was a good way to detect other ones in nearby areas. Sonic had went along with it, knowing he had to be careful.
It was oddly liberating to walk alone on the rooftops, just as a trio and nothing more - looking down upon the bare roads and buildings without an Egg Pawn in sight to watch them.
"I'm guessing that there's been no kind of signal yet." Tangle said, doing a twirl as she wandered forward.
"Nope." Knuckles said.
"This emerald ain't giving me any signs either." Sonic told her.
"Ah, well - at least we're sightseeing!" She offered up.
"You say that like there's something interesting to look at." He smiled cheekily at the lemur. "Sure there is! We can play... 'I spy' to pass the time! I spy with my little eye... something beginning with b!"
"Building?" Both the hedgehog and the echidna said in unison.
"Oh, huh - yeah that's correct!" Tangle smiled. "Knuckles? You have a go!"
The echidna had picked up on the rules quickly, and decided to play along. "I spy with my little eye... something beginning with c."
"Cloud?" Sonic and Tangle asked in unison.
"Correct."
"Huh... yeah, I guess there really aren't many things around to pick from, huh?" Tangle admitted defeat.
Sonic looked around his surroundings regardless, still trying to wrap his brain around the empty and bleak Central City, as well as the billboard posters of his former friends. It was struggle to get them out of his head, even if he hadn't been the closest with Team Dark - he still cared for them, and would fight for them no matter what. He wondered what Omega was doing in this timeline... if he even existed at all. What a horrifying thought to think otherwise.
Sonic's aimless glances lead him to peering down on the street below, and he abruptly paused.
Was that... Shadow?
By all accounts, it looked like him - he could recognise those black and red stipes anywhere. The other hedgehog began to suddenly move, dashing off at a high speed. If Sonic wanted to reach the hedgehog, he had no other choice but to move now. Sonic needed to know what was what, how was Shadow going about his plan now? Could he try and stop it here and now?
"You two... wait here. I need to do something-" Sonic told his two friends, suddenly sprinting away - leaving the two of them startled and bewildered, staring after him in shock.
...
"Shadow!" Sonic finally called to him once he caught up.
The black hedgehog halted in his tracks, and slowly turned around. He didn't utter a word, but his icy stare chilled the hedgehog's spine. Shadow had always been naturally intimidating, but this... Sonic hadn't seen that look in his eyes for a long, long time. He had hoped he'd never have to see it again.
"Hey... Shadow... I-" Sonic suddenly found himself speechless.
Shadow's eyes narrowed, and there was an agonizing pause.
"You sound... as though we've met before."
Hoo boy, plot stuff is happening! Amy and The Babylon Rogues discuss Robotnikland - whatever the fuck that is, Our hero trio lose their plane five minutes after stealing one, the Chaotix bond, Amy and the Rogues go shopping, Rouge is fliring and Shadow's either dense or doesn't five a fuck, Metal Sonic inexplicably pushes Silver and Tikal into a black hole - and Sonic decides to run away from the group and pursue Shadow.
Next time! Eh, I'm sure you can guess at least one thing ;)
I'm tired and hungry pfft, so I'm gonna eat dry cereal at 3am because I can.
Again, bless ya'll for the love and support for this fic! Hope this update wa to your liking and I really hope you'll enjoy what's being cooked up next time :) - it's one I'm looking forward to. Combat and lore baby mwahahha. Let me know what you thought of this chapter in a review! I love reading 'em!
But for now, see ya later!