So, here it is, finally. This is another one of those chapters that explain stuff, but I managed to fit in some suspense and emotional junk. Trust me, the story is slowly reaching its turning point, in which everything will be scary. Things will go crazy. All the time. So just be patient for a few days and we'll start back up with the scary stuff.

It had been a total of four hours since the attack. Amy, worrying endlessly, had attempted to get Sonic to eat, spooning soup into his mouth, but many times Sonic would either spit it out or start to choke on it. Even when Amy massaged his neck to get him to swallow the soup, (which his body desperately needed the nutrients of) he simply threw it up. Amy had given up after that, although they had managed to get him to drink some water, which Sonic had kept down for a while. He was still unconscious, even if his condition had not worsened, but looked terribly frail and weak where he lay. Amy still cradled him in her arms, not daring to leave his side for anything. She still had Sonic's blood on her back from yesterday and all in all had gotten no time for herself since Sonic showed up on her doorstep at 2:30am. She looked exhausted, but content as she gently smoothed Sonic's quills. Despite her efforts, it seemed that the blue hedgehog was having bad dreams.

Fliara was exhausted as well. She had been researching madly through every book she could find to learn about Dan-Chilack, what he was and how he was defeated, (The book hadn't explained that,) only to find nothing. The dragon was growing more and more nervous, buzzing around like some frantic hummingbird. She was preparing the only weapons she knew would help them when they went and found the labyrinth, and was trying to get everything ready.

Knuckles and Rouge were flipping through the news channels, and sure enough all of them told of a mysterious, large building (the labyrinth) that had sprung up only two blocks away from Sonic's house, causing massive damage to the surrounding buildings and roads. It was ensued by mass hysteria. Half of the building had srung up in the park, but the other half had torn through countless homes and buisnesses. The occupants of the buildings had vanished. Fliara said that they were now prisoners of Dan-Chilack, and it was even more important that they defeat him; civilian lives were at stake.

Tails felt bad, considering there was little or nothing he could do to help. Sonic was his friend, and Tails desperately wanted to help him. But he couldn't. Only Amy could do that. She looked exhausted...

Suddenly, an idea came to Tails, and he sprung to his feet, and walked up to Amy. His tails swished happily behind him as he confirmed the good nature of his plan.

"Hey," Tails began, getting Amy's attention, (which was hard to do considering she had all of her attention on Sonic) "If you want a little break, we could watch Sonic for a while." He suggested. Amy looked from the fox to Fliara, who nodded to verify that the spirits wouldn't get him while she was gone. Amy sighed, and stood up, placing Sonic on the couch.

"Okay... for just a moment. Thanks, Tails." Amy mumbled, brushing her hair out of her face. "I think I'll go take a shower."

"You're welcome! We'll take really great care of him!" Tails responded. Amy, ignoring him completely, walked absent-mindedly down the hall and up the steps, exhaustion and sorrow in her stride.

The time when Sonic was separated from Amy was uneventful, although the hedgehog looked like his nightmares had worsened and he mumbled incoherently in his sleep. Fliara was paying no attention; busy arranging things into separate packs and reading about the labyrinth and it's many dangers. Knuckles and Rouge were helping to watch Sonic, while Shadow and Alexi had "volunteered" to help research. Alexi flipped absent mindedly through the pages until she came upon a picture of a person being disemboweled by one of Dan-Chilack's spirits. Shadow, however, was mesmerized with all of the intriguing facts about shamans and magic and the spiritual wars, which fascinated him.

Amy returned; hours passed, preparations were made, but Sonic did not awaken. The heroes' hopes were starting to dim.

Shadow sat on the ground, enjoying the beautiful artwork of the book he was reading. The poetry and literature was elegant as well. Shadow had always been fond of non-fiction, and to believe that this was real was quite entertaining. His thoughts, however, wandered form the heroes and villains portrayed in the book's calligraphy to other matters; he had his own demons to fight. And not the ones working For Dan-Chilack... Shadow was halfway through an intriguing paragraph about a necromancer named Shilla, when Alexi interrupted both the book and his thoughts.

"Do you think that the others stand a chance against this Dan-Chilack?" Alexi mused, thumbing through her book with disinterest. "After all, his powers reside in dark magic. None of them have ever seen that stuff before." The leopard pointed out. She soon chuckled lightly to herself. "Wouldn't it be amusing if this spirit actually succeeded? It would finally prove that the next generation is in the gutter."

Shadow was uncomfortable at what she said.

"The "others" are our friends, Alexi. We will win." Shadow looked as if he had returned to his book, but a question still bit at him. "Do you really think that we don't stand a chance?"

"Fate will answer your question for you if you are patient." She answered, closing her book. "I think I'll leave you with that."

The leopard left, but Shadow knew that her answer would remain in his head for days. He closed his book, (he had reached the end) and started on another one.

It had grown very late, but everyone had decided to stay at Amy's, due to Sonic's condition. They wanted to be there in the morning when Sonic would either wake up, or...

Die.

Amy carried the small blue hedgehog up the stairs, careful not to trip or hurt Sonic or do anything that could cause her blue hero discomfort. She was going to let Sonic sleep in her room tonight, while she would find somewhere else to sleep. Rogue and Knuckles were sharing the couch, (the two had been a couple for a long time) Alexi had left for the night, despite Shadow's efforts to get her to stay, (Alexi doesn't like sleeping.) Tails had taken the comfy chair and Shadow had gone home, promising to show up the next morning after finding Alexi. Fliara was sleeping in the kitchen, where she had collapsed into one of the chairs at sunset. (Dragons immediately fall asleep once the sun goes down. They can't help it.) Amy soon realized that she had nowhere to sleep. She sighed. Oh well, she thought, I'll think of something.

Amy gently placed Sonic on her bed, soon after giving him what could be his last hug. She then, seeing nothing else to do and remembering Sonic's panic at the prospect of being alone, lay down next to him. The last thing Amy wanted was for the ghosts to take him, even if they, in a strange way, already had.

Amy found it very hard to fall asleep. She carefully draped a protective arm over Sonic, watchfully observing his steady breathing.

It was going to be a long night.

(I might have put a chapter break here, but I couldn't do that to you guys. I've dragged this scene on for like three chapters)

Fliara woke up to the first rays of sunshine peeking over the horizon. (Dragons also immediately wake up once the sun comes up. They can't help that either.) She sat up in the chair, moaning groggily, exhaustion overtaking her for a few moments. She had worked so hard all day preparing for the attack on the labyrinth. She wished she could fall back asleep, but, being a dragon...

Fliara had no choice but to wake up. The girl didn't believe in coffee, but walked over to the fridge and got a soda. I know it's unhealthy, but what else is there to do? Thought Fliara to herself, taking a sip of the soda. The sky was still partially dark, but bird chirps could be heard outside. Fliara yawned and looked out the window. It was only 5:00am; all of the others were still sound asleep. Fliara groaned lightly and looked at the first few rays of the sunrise. Suddenly, sleepiness unclouded her thoughts and Fliara nearly spit out he soda, remembering something very important.

Sonic! He might be better right now!

(Here comes, at least, 10 gallons of mush. I warned you.)

Amy didn't remember waking up, but she found herself lying by Sonic's side, the first few lights of dawn in the still dark sky. She sat up, knowing immediately that Sonic was either dead or recovered. The pink hedgehog closed her eyes, nervous. She wasn't sure if she was ever going to open her eyes. He could be gone. He could be lying, dead, by her side. A part of her didn't want to look, for she was scared of what she would see. But soon, concern over took her. She had to know. She looked to the hedgehog and was shocked to find that...

(Oh this is so hard! What to do... What to do! ...Oh, phooey I would need another character if I killed him off... well, I could always... no, and I couldn't. Aww... Oh well, I can torture him some more!)

He was breathing! He was alive! He was alive!

Amy shook Sonic's shoulder, attempting to wake him, and the blue hedgehog flinched away from her rough gesture, his eyes flickering open.

"...A-Amy?" He mumbled, attempting to sit up. He didn't get very far, considering Amy immediately enclosed him in her arms, crying into his shoulder. At first Sonic was confused and disoriented, not understanding why Amy was crying or hugging him so tightly, but soon, Sonic clung to her in return, remembering the terror of yesterday morning. He began sobbing quietly into Amy's chest, the pain and fear as fresh in his mind as the nightmares that he had experienced all day. Amy gently ruffled the spines on his back, slowly moving a hand up and down the soft quills. (Hedgehog spines, at least on the back, are actually just for show, and are not harmful in any way. The spines on the back of the head are the ones used for defense. Females do not have the defensive quills, and must use offense to protect themselves and their mates. This is why females have much more upper body strength than the males. From The Documentary on Sonic's Species by Brad Mcfluke, founder of Fluke-land.) Amy stopped crying after a while but Sonic's sobs continued for what seemed like hours.

The little blue hedgehog wept into her chest for quite some time, his tears staining her red dress and his shoulders shaking underneath her protective embrace, until Sonic forced himself to stop, ignoring the painful ache in his throat. He couldn't keep doing this. He couldn't keep crying, keep running... there was so much more to do. He was about to speak up, when Amy interrupted him.

"Sonic... I- I was so worried that you weren't going to make it... that you were going to let go..." She said quietly, still holding him. The blue hedgehog was slightly offended, but mostly confused. Give up? How? What had happened since he had passed out due to the pain? Had he been seriously hurt? How long was he sleeping?

"Hey... I- I may get scared, but I don't give up. You know that." Sonic said. "And I- ...I want to start fighting back, a- ..." he said. Amy hushed him, and cradled him in her arms. Sonic, despite his renewed zeal, allowed Amy to hold him. He still found comfort at not having to experience the fear, and gladly cuddled deeper into her embrace, resting his head against her chest. If he listened hard enough, he could hear her heartbeat. It was comforting.

"You did fight. You fought hard. You lived, Sonic. You're incredible." She said, quietly stroking his quills. Sonic looked to the ground. Maybe he had, but that was not what he was talking about.

"You're just saying that. It's not working, Amy, I want to fight." He argued, but made no move to escape from her arms. Amy sighed. Was he right? ...Amy wished she could tell him otherwise, but the answer was no.

"I just don't want to come that close to losing you again." Amy said, gently smoothing his fur. Sonic looked away, partially to make it easier for Amy to pet his quills; (Sonic liked it when she did that. It felt good.) And partially because he grudgingly knew she was right. "You have to understand that."

"You won't lose me. Please, Amy. Let me-"

"Sonic!" Amy said harshly, having a tone of such serious force that Sonic was instantly silenced. Amy sighed. "I know that you want to. But you're still weak. You can do the best you can, but... that's only so much. Please understand that, and please don't scare us like that again!" Amy said, giving Sonic a fierce embrace. Sonic laughed to himself.

"Amy! ...Hey, take it easy! You're squishing me!" He joked, playfully squirming away from her hug. The two play-fought like that for a few minutes, Sonic squirming away from her and Amy pulling him back into her embrace, when suddenly Amy gasped. Sonic, quite surprised, froze, wondering what was the matter.

"The others! We have to go and tell them you're okay!" Amy exclaimed, standing and walking to the door. Sonic panicked: she was leaving! Even if he was feeling better, He didn't want to be left alone! Not after what happened yesterday!

"H-hey, w-wait up!" Sonic protested, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and trying to stand up.

(Okay, here's some more Sonic torture!)

...But he couldn't.

Sonic was confused; when he tried to shift his weight onto his legs... they wouldn't hold up. They would collapse under his weight, and he'd fall back onto the bed.

"A-Amy!" Sonic called, startled. What was wrong? Why couldn't he stand?

"What's wrong?" Asked Amy, reappearing in the doorway. In her eyes, she didn't see anything wrong with Sonic. The blue hedgehog looked to his useless legs, to Amy, and then stared into space, silent. He couldn't believe it. He had lost his ability to walk. "Sonic, what's wrong?" Repeated Amy, worried. She walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Sonic quickly wiped away a tear of frustration and mumbled:

"I can't walk."

Sonic felt terrible. Amy instantly embraced him, a sorrowful expression on her face.

"I'm sorry, Sonic." She said. "It's not permanent, don't worry. It's probably just a side effect of the attack. You're still healing, Sonic. Give it time." The pink hedgehog said, gently stroking her hero's back.

But it didn't help.

Sonic hugged her in return, although it was difficult because of the sling on his left arm (And don't you go asking me, 'what sling?' Don't tell me you've forgotten already! Read chapter one again.) More tears of frustration fell down Sonic's face, he felt even more helpless now. Amy felt the tears on her shoulder and released Sonic from her embrace, looking him in the eye.

"Hey... " Amy whispered, wiping away his tears. "Don't start crying on me. You'll be all right. I'm here, I'm gonna help." Amy said. "Hold on to me; I'll carry you."

Sonic didn't want to, but, with no other choice, wrapped his arms around Amy's neck as she carried him out of the room. Even if it made Sonic feel out of place it was so warm and comfortable... soon he was happily complying with the idea of being carried, and no longer shed tears of frustration. As the two were heading down the stairs, however, Fliara nearly ran into them on her way up. A yelp was herd from the dragon as she stumbled in surprise and almost fell down the stairs, luckily Fliara was a trained gymnast and caught herself, tumbling down a few steps before falling down in a rather more reasonable fashion, on her tail instead of on her face. The plucky red dragon made an annoyed, bird-like squeal, but then looked up to see that Amy was carrying Sonic, and that Amy was happy, and that Sonic was breathing, and awake...

"Guys! Wake up!" Exclaimed Fliara. The heroes were suddenly wrested from their sleep at a cry of: "Sonic's alive!"

It took them a few minutes to absorb the shock at 5:10 in the morning, but soon they were all jumping up and down in- ... "Joy", I think the word is. They all took turns congratulating Sonic at not dying and were all very happy to have him back. Rouge volunteered to call up Shadow, (Which was a brave feat at 5:10 in the morning. ...It's SHADOW. It is EARLY. You do the math.) And Knuckles volunteered to start up some cool action movie for celebration. Fliara and Sonic had a long argument to whether the movie should be Dragon Heart or Fast & Furious. (I have only seen Dragon Heart, which I know Fliara would love, but I do not know what kind of movies Sonic would like, so that is my best guess.) After threats were made and dignities shattered, Alexi and Shadow showed up and insisted that they watch a horror movie. Boogeyman it was then. (Not exactly a good thing to watch when you plan on literally leaping into the jaws of fear that same day.) The situation with Dan-Chilack and the labyrinth was explained, but it was a little much for Sonic to take in so early in the morning. He got the gist of it, though.

"You made it, buddy! We couldn't be prouder!" Said Knuckles, the movie playing almost unnoticed in the background. Tails agreed.

"We thought you were a goner for sure!" The fox said. "You were so pale, and-"

"Tails." Said Amy symbolically, tightening her arms around Sonic. Tails understood, and kept quiet. Sonic was confused, but was soon interrupted by Fliara.

"You sure took a heavy dose of dark magic. You were knocked out all day. You beat the odds though. You and your dumb luck." Fliara joked, giving him a thumb's (Err... 'claws'?) up. Sonic laughed lightly to himself. A complement from Fliara...? Now that was weird.

"At a price, though... I- I can't walk." Said Sonic, still hardly able to believe it himself. Amy was still carrying him. She had refused to let go of him, and was cradling him in her arms like an infant. Sonic didn't mind, but he did get odd looks from Knux and Shadow. Fliara, in response to his words, shook her head.

"It won't last, Sonic, you'll be your old self in a couple of days... trusting that we beat Dan-Chilack." Fliara said. Tails smiled.

"You sound much more positive now. Do you finally think we'll win?" Tails said. Fliara chuckled.

"Victory is never a guarantee, but I think that Sonic's amazing comeback is a good omen. If you believe in omens."

"If it means an easier load, I'll take whatever omen I can get!" Chuckled Sonic. Fliara looked a little flustered, and she gave the blue hedgehog an annoyed scowl.

"Good omens don't make the task any easier, Sonic. We're still going to have to give our best. Well, that is, except for you." Said Fliara, picking at the wood floor again.

"Please, Fliara, stop that." Said Amy, not fond of Fliara's habit.

"Sorry." Apologized the dragon, ceasing her attempts to ease her boredom. Sonic was confused. He sat up, moving out of Amy's arms, kind of angry.

"What do you mean I don't have to give my best?" He asked, his quills standing on end. (The defensive spines of the male hedgehog often will not be very dangerous unless the hedgehog in question is surprised, excited or agitated, at which his spines will stiffen and become more harmful. Often this ability will be accidentally triggered by affection from his mate, which to some extent can excite the male. From the documentary of Brad McflukeSonic felt like he was ready for one of his arguments with Fliara now.

"What do- ...You didn't actually think you were coming to the labyrinth did you?" Asked Fliara, chuckling to herself. "Not in your condition, spike-butt."

"You mean that you were going to leave me here while everyone else had all the fun!" Sonic accused. Fliara glared.

"Fighting Dan-Chilack is not fun, Sonic!" Fliara scolded. "We could die! This is not a game! This is not one of your foolish spats with that pathetic Eggman; this is the man who invented fear himself!"

"I- I'm not afraid of him!" Sonic protested, immediately embarrassed at the shakiness of his voice. It was fairly obvious he was lying. Fliara glared.

"Well you're pretty afraid of his minions; you should have seen yourself cry! Like a baby!"

Sonic flinched away from her words; they hurt. But they were true. Fliara glared, and was about to say something else, when Amy and Knuckles intervened.

"Cut it out!" Snapped Knuckles and Amy at the same time. Amy seized Sonic in her arms and pulled him back to where he originally was, (Even as Sonic struggled to sit up again.) and Fliara got such a glare from knuckles that she promptly shut up, but grumbled something about a 'egomaniac spike-for brains' and glared into space.

"Now if you two can't carry on a discussion for more than three sentences without shouting, don't start one at all."

"Pathetic, overconfident, warthog." Mumbled Fliara.

"Fliara!" Shouted everyone in return.

"I wasn't shouting!" Fliara protested, but soon got smacked in the back of the head by her big brother. Fliara glared, and stood up, leaving the room, grumbling about inflated shallow bastards all the way.

Sonic glared after her but was surprised to find that the argument had been exceptionally draining. He collapsed back into Amy's arms, exhausted.

"Don't get so excited, Sonic. You're still weak. You need rest." Scolded Amy. Sonic shrugged as if to say that it wasn't his fault, but was soon cut off by knuckles.

"I'm sorry about sis. She gets like that sometimes." The echidna tried to manage a chuckle, but it wasn't very convincing. "Will you two ever get along?"

"Not in a hundred years!" Declared Sonic, leaning comfortably into Amy's embrace. The blue hedgehog looked around. "So... Fliara said that I'm not coming... is that true?" Sonic asked, trying to search his comrades' faces for evidence that the dragon was lying. Sonic cursed himself; that was impossible. Dragons can't consciously lie. They're always telling the truth, or at least they always think they are. Knuckles shifted his weight, and replied:

"Well, Sonic... you're still weak after the ordeal, and-"

"I can fight!" Sonic protested, attempting to sit up, but finding that it took a great deal of effort. He gave up, and collapsed back into Amy's arms. She gave him a hug.

"Don't be foolish. Just look at yourself, Sonic, you're exhausted already!" Amy said, stroking his quills. Sonic struggled away from her, or at least tried. It didn't work. He gave up; Amy was right. Suddenly, an alarming thought crossed Sonic's mind.

"Amy... y-you weren't going to leave me here... all alone, were you?" Sonic asked. Amy was a little taken back.

"No, Sonic! Never!" Amy hugged him fiercely. "Not with these ghosts after you, not in your condition!" Sonic sighed, and rested his head on her shoulder for a moment. He was tired.

"But you need eight people to attack the labyrinth. Without me, there's only seven. And if Amy stayed with me, there'd only be six. What did you plan to do, hire a hero or something?" Sonic argued, still leaning against Amy for support. Silence was heard from his friends.

"We didn't think of that." Answered Tails. Sonic grinned lightly.

"Then I guess I'm coming. Wait till snake-girl gets a load of that! She'll be furious!" The blue hedgehog laughed. Amy gave him a gentle glare.

"Yeah, like put rat poison in your toothpaste." Amy scolded. Sonic laughed.

"It wouldn't be the first time."

"Come on; let's get you back to bed. It's only six, and we don't leave to attack until noon." Amy said, picking Sonic up. He frowned.

"Aww, Ames, is it that important? I feel fine." Sonic lied, trying to repress a yawn. Amy smiled.

"You're not fooling me. You're as exhausted as I am." She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Let's go. I'll keep you company."

Later. Maybe at Eight o clock? Something else? Something else? You decide.

Sonic bolted upright, giving a shout of surprise as he awakened from his nightmare. The blue hedgehog immediately fell into a fit of convulsive shudders, caused by the fear residing in his chest. Sonic held his shoulders in an attempt to try and stop his fearful trembling, but it wasn't working. He continued to shiver at the cold, feeling terribly helpless. Suddenly, Sonic realized that the cold didn't make any sense. (It was certainly not cold outside). Sonic was confused, but didn't bother thinking it over; the terror of the nightmare was still fresh in his mind and it was too hard to focus on anything else. He lay back down, still shivering, and turned to face Amy, who was still asleep. Sonic had actually thought of protesting to the idea of he and Amy sharing a bed, but now after the nightmare all doubts were gone and he gladly cuddled closer to her, and would be rather happy except for the nightmare he had recently suffered.

A few moments afterward, Sonic's shout had woken Amy up. At first the pink hedgehog was too groggy with sleep to wonder why he had shouted, and simply felt something cold and trembling pressed against her. Soon afterward calculating that it was Sonic, sleepily draped and arm over him, but still was too tired to wonder why he was scared.

Sonic soon woke Amy up entirely, using a few methods containing crying, pouting, and begging. Not classy, but effective. (That's the American way! -yes, I am American)

The pink hedgehog sat up, fully awake, and saw how Sonic was shivering. She immediately began to comfort him; smoothing his quills and letting him rest his head on her chest.

"Sonic? What's wrong?" Amy asked sleepily, still petting Sonic's quills. The blue hedgehog shuddered, but didn't respond. "Nightmare?"

"Yeah." Sonic answered quietly. Amy sighed, and gave him a hug.

"...I'm not feeling so great myself... Ugg, why am I so exhausted?"

"Cause you stayed up all night taking care of Sonic." Said Knuckles from the doorway. The two hedgehogs jumped; unaware he was there until now.

"How long have you been there?" Asked Amy, not removing her attention from Sonic. Knuckles chuckled.

"Since Sonic shouted. I came up to see what was wrong." Knuckles looked at the two hedgehogs, lying there together. He could make many cruel jokes right now but once he saw how Sonic was shivering he decided not to. "I was about to leave, too."

"Leave? Why?" Asked Amy. Knuckles sighed.

"Fliara's disappeared."

And there you have it; setting up the stage for a big dramatic scene before we enter the labyrinth, where there will be nearly NO happy scenes like the ones above until the end. Everything until then will be filed with misery and woe. Mm, ...woe. So, can you guess why Fliara's gone? If you can, then I'll be impressed! I also fit in a small amount of sonic torture, but it's nothing to shout about. Well, see you in chapter eight!