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Note: I own this plot, and the fictional place of Malinko. I would also like to point out to crazed shadow fans out there that no, he will not be paired with anyone permanently. I have hesitated to put up pairings because people wont give a story a chance unless they see pairings first so you'll just have to read and find out for yourself. This is NOT a romance novel --;; As far as the characters used here, I don't own them so…yeah.

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"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live."
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

.:Chapter 3: A Long For Guidance:.

Death is an unimaginable thing among two friends. Yet a peculiar thing among two rivals.

It was 3:30 am when Julie died. The young echidna who in the distant past had cared for an echidna named Knuckles died that day, 5 weeks after his disappearance. The last words that flowed from her mouth would be burned into Rouge's mind forever.

"I don't care what anybody says, at one point I promised I would die for him, and I intend to keep that promise."

And that she did. The war that followed the hero's disappearance was shocking.

Eggman had originally planned to hold a Grand Prix in order to lure the earth's greatest heroes into providing him with an invaluable treasure. His plans however, were postponed by a superior mind, that believed what he was doing was retarded.

That's when they rose again. Only this time, with what we call the best of both worlds.

Black Doom was dead, this was a fact. However he would never die without first gathering followers, people that would die to carry out his every whim.

And so he found one such a disciple. A pupil that was willing to continue what the great dark leader had started. She restarted the army with only the best of soldiers from her old time. She believed that with the greatest fighters of the earth gone she would succeed. She would succeed in not destroying the earth, but instead controlling it with her bare hands, she swore to tear whoever it was that got into her path. Julie, being one of them.

Rouge and the chaotix were the only ones left, as the princess sally had taken a leave of absence. The continuous battles that were fought on the street were petrifying. The army had no chance.

Rouge tore her gaze away from the window and held her arms. She was shivering, and it was cold.

"You know, yah really shouldn't sleep next to an open window." The crocodile could be heard from a great distance away, as his great girth made his footsteps a bit noisy. He awkwardly threw a blanket on the disturbed bat, and loudly sat a distance beside her.

"Vector, our world can't take much more of this. The emeralds have disappeared with our friends. I hate to admit this, but…Without them here we're lost. We're finished man, we're gone!"

"Pull yourself togetha! Look whatever it takes we'll…we'll fix this! You can be our new leader…yeah! Just like how Sonic and Shadow were."

"Me? Why can't you guys do it!"

"…uh, well.."

"Never mind your right, you would probably screw things up anyway." Rouge stood up now with a huge look of confidence. "Who needs those two pin cushions? We'll take care of things here and when they get back from wherever, they'll see we can fix things for ourselves!"

"Yeah! Now we're talkin! Go team chaotix!"

"Yeah, if you want me to be leader, we need to change that name. I like Rouge's devils."

"You mean like, Charlie's Angels?"

"Yeah, but we all know Charlie was a gay man, so Rouge's Devils fits more nicely."

With renewed spirit, the chaotix and rouge set off to begin to fight the war anew. Rouge had managed to elate the spirits of all her peers, though she wanted to deny one of her motives for continuing on, she could not. This is for you too, Julie. Little bitch…now you'll see I can love just as much as you.

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Meanwhile….

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"Shadow stop! What are you doing let her go!"

Cream ran desperately towards Shadow, shocked at what he was doing. Startled, Shadow dropped his mongoose victim and turned sharply to face Cream. He did not want her to see the homicidal side of him…

In that time and era however, the only type of job he seemed to be able to get was a hit man job.

"Cream, go back inside the cabin, you do not understand…I'm not trying to hurt her-"

"You have her BLOOD on your HANDS!"

"-on purpose…"

"You concisely ran up to her and cut her neck with your SWORD!"

Cream and Shadow bickered for what seemed like hours. They fought so loudly, screaming at each other at the top of their lungs. No one on that planet could have slept with their bickering…Which is why she woke up.

Shadow saw her stand from the corner of his eye and leaped into action. He grabbed his sword from Cream's hands gently, yet swiftly and stabbed it at the face of his opponent, stopping only slightly in front of her face.

Cream screamed in distress. "I want you to take me and this girl to where you live. I have some friends that say your kingdom is to die for." Shadow held Cream's hand in an iron grip. His grip hurt her so much that she cried quietly, but he did not pay attention to her. He cared enough for her to receive a job that involved killing for their supper, yet he did not care enough to listen to her whines of pain.

She gulped and shakily but slowly rose to her feet. She nodded and began to lead them towards the castle, where a more calm atmosphere existed.

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Amy was so happy that she found a village to shop in. While Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles discussed important matter inside the castle, Amy shopped openly in a medieval village near Malinko.

She walked happily through the narrow bazaar and passed a table lined with gems…Sonic will love one of these… One particular gem couldn't help but catch her eye.

It was narrow in appearance and pointy at the ends. It was an emerald, and its shine was more than that of any of the other gems. The aurora that surrounded it was increasingly attracting. She held it in her hand and felt its power coursing through her veins. It may not have been a chaos emerald, but the effect of its touch sure seemed similar. This is the one…

Her rags she wore now were dirty, but they sure had a lot of pocket space. Having no gold, the made a break for it, holding the emerald in her hands gave her the confidence to do so, and she felt no remorse what she had done…She felt as if she was on top of the world again.

(Can you take a guess at what she's got there? I know ya can…)

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"Yup that's the last the villagers saw of Blaze. She just said she had business elsewhere and had to leave, so they made this tapestry in her honor so she would have a surprise for when she got back, but she hasn't been seen since last year, so I've been told."

Tails had just finished explaining to Sonic the history of The Blaze the cat Tapestry. "Wow…man a lot can happen in a year. I wish we could have only been in some other place so we wouldn't be here now-"

A thunderous bell interrupted the blue hero's words. Tails quickly excused himself and left the room, coming back within a few minutes. "Hey, guys? Can you excuse me for a sec, according to my soldiers some crazed spiked nut is at the door with two hostages askin' to see me…I'll be back." Tails dawned his armor, covering his face, and left swiftly.

Knuckles began to laugh "Heh…'Ill be back' he says…all he was ever good at was being a dork, now look at him…"

Sonic smiled and walked towards one of the walls, unsheathing a prized sword and staring at it with a hint of renewed excitement in his eyes.

"Yeah…Hey Knux, you think you can teach me how to use one of these? I have a feeling we're gonna be going medieval on a whole lotta ass…"

NEXT CHAPTER: Reunited