Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am back again! I realise when I started this story my updates were more frequent, but they are slowing down. I apologise for the delay but I have been really busy. I had some days where I tried to sit and write the chapter but nothing would flow naturally so I just left it. But finally this chapter is ready! Please enjoy and remember to leave a review for a morale booster!
"You're smarter than this Rouge, you're intentionally making Amy do your dirty work. Leave her out your ploys!" Silver raised his voice, pointing a stern finger at the bat.
Rouge gritted her teeth at the grey hedgehog. "She agreed to do this. I never forced her to be a part of my plan. I'm her friend, I have her best interests in mind!"
Silver simply ignored the bat and turned to the chipmunk. "And you Sally, I thought you were mature? Did you not think once that if things went down, Amy would be framed for it all?" He argued.
Sally frowned at Silver. It was true, they hadn't considered the downfall Amy would bare if things did go unexpectedly. "Silver I-" she started off saying.
"I'm sorry but I'm just not getting this. You knew your friend was in a crisis and instead of helping her out by lending her cash you do this?" He let out a small huff.
There was a sudden silence in the air after his sentence. One that spoke more than words, the insightful kind.
Silver leaned by the windowsill, "Gosh, I felt awful when she got fired." He reflected. "That guilt of knowing I could've maybe prevented it."
He turned around with his arms crossed. "You though! You've done this on purpose! Both of you took advantage of her vulnerability!"
Rouge had let him speak enough. She couldn't bring herself to listen to him blabber anymore. "You're calling me the bad guy?! I'm the one who guided her before she even knew you existed."
Sally shook her head in worry, knowing Rouge would add more heat to the fire. "Rouge, calm down." She warned, knowing the consequences would be bad.
"You're friend is more rational than you." He remarked. "I admit I could've done more to save Amy's job, but you're pushing 'job' to another level!"
"Silver we can talk through this when we're all calm. Please just go." Sally attempted to persuade.
"I've been nothing but calm up until this point, even after I found out what you two were up to, I stayed calm...for Amy." He gritted his teeth.
Rouge was about to shout back at Silver but stopped at the sudden creek of the door opening. By this point everyone stared at their visitor, who looked uncomfortable standing in the spotlight.
"Uhhhhhhh... Bad time?" The fox nervously chuckled.
The first thing Tails had done whilst stepping inside was made eye contact with Silver. He recalled how Amy had flagged the issue of the same hedgehog being at the party. He had felt tired from saving her close encounters with him to say the least. He was wise however, he automatically understood that Silver was a threat and it was best to carry on his day like nothing had happened at all.
"I'll just come back later." He finished, adjusting his direction to turn back from the very door he had entered.
"You're the same fox from the party." Silver suddenly remembered. With his abrupt sentence, Tails froze. Rouge and Sally turned to one another confused. The last thing Tails wanted was to become a part of the entanglement.
He turned around with a confused expression on his face. "I think you're confusing me with another fox. OkayI'mgonnagonow." He quickly finished, now pacing towards the door.
Silver studied the fox and his peculiar behaviour. He quickly followed behind and slammed the door shut just as Tails approached it.
"You're fooling no one here. You're the same kid that bumped into me at the party. That fox had two tails, I remember." He pointed. Sally and Rouge listened eagerly to the silver hedgehog's details hoping to learn more about why he had been there in the first place.
Rouge stormed towards the fox with her arms crossed. "Miles, why was Silver at the party?" She gritted while the young fox nervously scratched his neck trying to figure out what was going on.
He sucked in for air. "Look Rouge, I don't know why he was there. He... helped me and Sonar stop the guests from leaving. I don't understand what the fuss is about?" He lightly commented knowing the bat was on the verge of snapping at him.
The bat turned back, covered her ears and groaned loudly. She rushed to Silver with threatening eyes. This was not something she could lightly brush off, no. "Why were you at the party last night? You weren't given an invite?"
Silver scoffed at her question, "I'm working with Shadow." He announced to which Rouge's eyes widened in shock. The hedgehog walked around the room observing the fancy furniture in their temporary home-for-rent.
No words were uttered, even Rouge wasn't sure how to approach the situation. Silver knew too much, that was something she was aware of. But would he be willing to spill her secret? She wasn't sure.
Silver turned around after taking in his surroundings. "I just want Amy to be safe okay? I won't reveal anything, just convince her to come with me to get a normal job. I know for a fact that this plan won't end well." He clarified.
"Silver." He paused to turn at the door to see a panting Amy wiping sweat beads from her forehead.
"Amy! Are you okay?" He rushed to her side helping her up. The pink hedgehog rejected his hand in helping her up. She merely leaned against the wall with her hand against her heart in dire attempt to stop it from falling out.
"I'll go get some water." Sally said whilst rushing to the kitchen. Within seconds she came out with a glass of water handing it to Amy who drank it all in one go.
She looked up to Silver annoyed, "What have you done?" She crossed her arms.
"I've confronted them about what they've done. Amy they're using you for their plan. Don't you see that?"
The bat stomped over to the pink hedgehog and tugged her shoulder. "You seriously didn't think to consult us once before telling him!?"
Amy removed her hand and held it between the palms of her own. "Rouge, he knew instantly from the night of the party that something was off. I needed to let him know right away. I knew your reaction wouldn't be good." She frowned knowing she was right. The bat was miles far from a good reaction.
She gently let go of Rouge's hand and turned to Silver. "I thought you promised things would stay between the two of us?" She groaned. "I have to constantly chase things up all the time. Please make things easy for me."
Silver looked down shamefully, he had completely forgotten about the promise that needed keeping. "I'm sorr-"
"It's fine. The damage has been done, let's all just sit down and discuss what needs to be done next." Amy suggested, her being the first to take a seat on the couch set.
"Amy seriously? You're continuing with this? It's risky, I could help you get a proper job." Silver followed and took a seat next to her.
Amy smiled weakly, she knew Silver kept her best interests in mind but she wasn't ready to abandon the plan just yet. "Silver.. I appreciate your concern," she paused to grab his hand and give it a gentle squeeze. "But I've chosen this... I just need your support."
Silver's worried eyes softened. "I-I..." He stuttered. He knew he couldn't say no to her even though he didn't approve of this pay-back plan of theirs. He needed to swallow his concerns and let her do what she wanted. "Look, if this is something you want, you have my support."
Rouge still appeared upset over the whole scene Silver had created within her household. She kept her lips sealed and stormed over to take a seat. As Amy turned to face Rouge, the bat moved her head away and pouted.
"I'm sorry Rouge... I should've consulted you before I blabbered everything to Silver."
The bat's expression softened slightly, slowly tilting herself to face her direction. If she chose to remain angry at Amy, it would delay everything. They had approximately 2 and a bit weeks to gain all their money back. If they all started falling out now, things would end badly. She was smart enough to know that.
The bat sighed, "It's okay. But no more screw ups okay?"
Tails slowly made his way over to the centre of the room where the rest of his partners discussed. Since they were all coming clean to each other, one more thing needed addressing. He rested his elbows on the top of the sofa, folding his gloved hands lightly.
"Ummmm funny thing actually." He laughed nervously. "We nearly had a screw-up last night." He confessed.
Both Rouge and Sally simultaneously gave Tails the same stern look, alerting the fox to unleash the events of the party. "The guests were about to leave last night. It was just so... random!?" He held a bewildered expression.
The pink hedgehog groaned at his sudden confession. Despite her fox friend being a genius, he really chose the wrong time to blabber such a sensitive issue.
"Urgh gosh, I can't put this lightly can I? Mrs Bailey was at the party and she started spreading rumours... Tails and Silver managed to save us all." Amy disclosed, now holding her head in her hands.
Sally who sat directly opposite her pink hedgehog friend appeared distraught. "That's the same woman." The chipmunk snuck in. She knew this was the same woman that got her friend sacked. She was capable of many things. It stunned Sally how willing she was to bring Amy down; taking away once in a lifetime opportunities from her for her selfish reasons.
Rouge on the other hand, exploded entirely. She had been a ticking time bomb whilst Silver and herself were at each other's throats. This mere incident Tails decided to 'share' fuelled her rage further.
"She wasn't ON the guest list you forwarded?" The bat gave a perplexed look.
"We didn't know she was Damon's aunt." Silver blurted which drew all eyes on him.
"Has Steve caught on?" Sally asked afraid of what response was going to be reciprocated back.
Tension in the room built. No one truly knew the answer to the chipmunk's question. The blue bastard was slick with everything. It was hard to know how much he knew about them at all. Was he suspicious? No one could answer that.
The pink hedgehog exhaled. She tried to carefully analyse the night of the party, to notice any differences in her partner's behaviour. Particularly, anything that screamed red flags.
"No Sally, Steve's been acting normal so far." She convinced herself more than the others. "But we can't keep taking risks like this. He was suspicious about me and Silver having lunch together. I can fool him the first time but once more and it'll be game over."
She locked eyes with her fox friend. "Tails, you and Sonar were together last night. How was his behaviour?" She asked in hope to figure out if they were still on the right page of the plan.
"His focus was on stopping the clients from leaving. Other than that, I think we're fine." His sentence allowed all of them to take a breath of relief.
"That's good news and all but what are we going to do about the witch? She's a bull locked onto Amy." The bat asked.
Silver broadly smiled. "Mrs Bailey won't be an issue anymore. Damon is willing to share his collection for Amy's 'boutique'. As long as we have him, we should be clear. She would never bring her nephew down."
Rouge and Sally turned to each other with the same expression, then simultaneously rotated to face Tails with a sinister look on their faces.
"Well that's good... Miles do you have a memory eraser machine? Silver knows too much."
The grey hedgehog jumped up from his seat. "Are you crazy!? No, I'm not having my mind wiped. Look... I'll help you okay?" He brought his hand to his forehead, sighing to himself for allowing himself to say such a thing.
"Miles if you come near me I will snap you into two." He warned, taking two steps back.
The young fox snickered to himself silently. "I don't have any machine of that sort. They were clearly joking." He commented. "And guys, please call me Tails."
Rouge inspected Silver cautiously. It was bad enough that he knew. The worst case scenario was him spreading the news to Shadow and Damon, perhaps even Sonar. This was her only option which had minimal destruction.
"Okay, Silver you're in," she paused to see Silver no longer afraid and returning to his seat, adjusting himself to face Amy with a bright smile, which she gifted back. "But if you do anything behind my back I will personally come and dig your grave." She warned.
"And for Chaos sake, do not tell anyone else about this plan. We're already five people. The less people that know, the better." She concluded to which everyone nodded in unison.
.
An hour or so had passed by. Everyone took a few minutes to loosen up and then collectively discuss the next phase of the plan, perhaps the most important.
Sally explained to the group how her father is joint partners with most of his clients, meaning they both need to choose locations and agree where to open. The chipmunk emphasised that this was indeed a lengthy process.
Rouge took the lead next and carefully pinpointing exactly what needed to be done. The remaining two weeks would focus on finding the perfect location which Sonar would pay for. The landlord involved would get their percentage. The remaining amount of money that was once rightfully theirs would return back to herself and Sally.
Tails was assigned the job of finding out local landlords that met their location brief. Alongside this, he needed to find a landlord that was willing to sell their land for a much higher price in exchange for a percentage commission higher than the original lands cost. It was going to be difficult but it wasn't impossible. The bat explained how greed often is a vulnerability, and that this was something they could take advantage of.
Amy was told to keep her act up and go to the various locations during the two weeks that Tails would organise. In order to seem convincing, she would need to lie that she had signed up to an agency that sent her a variety of locations to view. She was warned to not appear suspicious and play helpless as much as possible.
Silver would be on lookout and get intel as to whether Damon was still on board. With him at bay, Mrs Bailey was less likely to cause harm. Damon and Shadow were always in close contact with each other, making the grey hedgehog's job slightly simpler.
"Do you guys understand?" Sally asked softly. She was delighted to see the three key players of their game nod their heads in unison.
"Oh and here." The bat said whilst handing Tails and Amy each a briefcase. They both took a moment to open it and stared at each other in disbelief.
"This... money? Er-" Tails started to which Rouge cut in as she backed away and crossed her arms with a smirk on her face.
"Tails, that's your 15% commission we promised. Amy that's half your pay. You'll get your remaining half once we get all our money back."
Sally walked over to Rouge sharing the same bright smile. "You've both worked really hard, this is just a motivation booster. Don't let us down now."
Rouge shifted her focus to Silver. "You found out our plan by accident, unfortunately there won't be anything for you." She shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't need your money." He scoffed which caused the bat to roll her eyes.
"If it suits you then good." She bragged.
The pink hedgehog got up. "I'm taking the rest of the day off. Tails, once the girls approve the locations forward them to me and I'll take Sonar to view them. Adios."
Each one them gave their goodbyes as Amy turned back once more to wave them goodbye. One more issue sorted, just barely. That was one less thing for her to moan over. One more potential mishap saved. She could take the remainder of the day to have some alone-time. Something she desperately craved.
.
"Huh? That's weird. The address says here?" A confused Amy stopped and swivelled around in attempt to see where the landlord was standing.
It was three days later, and Tails had managed to butter a few landlords that were ready to sell their respectable locations for a lot higher than what it was worth. Rouge had been right, greed was something they all suffered from.
This was the first location she had brought Sonar to view. Of course she would say no to buying it, but the excuse needed to be viable.
"Are you sure your agent gave you the right address? All I see is sea, literally." Sonar pointed to the ocean surrounding the green around them.
The pink hedgehog scrunched her face in confusion. "He said he'd meet us here? I'm sure he's just late or something." She tried to convince herself more than her blue partner.
They waited for a few minutes, fidgeting with their clothing and constantly pondering at their watches. The blue hedgehog, for one, grew impatient.
"Ames just call your agent already, we haven't got all day." He suggested.
The pink hedgehog smiled at him. "Uh yeah.. I'm right on it." She raised her phone up to show him.
Amy brought a hand to her ear and quickly dialled Tails, moving a few metres away from Sonar. Just what was this landlord up to?
"Hi Tails, the landlord hasn't arrived yet? What's going on?" Her tone hesitant in what was going on behind the scenes.
"Amy he changed his mind last minute. He's not going to show. I'm still trying to figure out what's going on, sorry."
"What?! So then what am I supposed to say to him?" The pink hedgehog groaned. Another minor inconvenience that she was going to produce a major lie for.
"I don't know, just make something up okay?! I need to go catch up on why he bailed on us. Sorry again!" She heard before he cut the call.
Amy stomped back to Sonar and stood silently. The blue hedgehog was confused by her peculiar behaviour. "Soooo?" He asked.
"He cancelled the appointment. My agent is chasing up on it." She murmured in disappointment.
Sonar took a moment to turn back at the ocean, his quills lightly brushed back and forth against the breeze. "It's good he cancelled." He stated with a smile.
The pink hedgehog started blankly at his charming expression. "I don't understand. Why are you so happy?" She couldn't put a finger to what it was. It might have been because he wouldn't need to pay money for the location today.
"Because, that ocean is going to prove to be a problem. One sea storm and our boutique, that we put our blood and sweat in, will collapse. I have to admit it's a nice looking location but it's not sustainable for the long run of things. Do I have to explain the basics?" He teased at the end.
Amy shyly turned away. "I knew that." She tried to contain her embarrassment but knew she failed instantly as she heard her partner chuckle.
"Quit laughing!" She gave an annoyed expression at the blue hedgehog who laughed silently to himself.
Sonar put his hands up in defence. "Okay, look I've stopped. But this just shows doesn't it? You always need a partner to give advice." He smiled softly coming closer to her.
"Look at who's wise today?" She pushed him back to maintain the distance between them. She hated to admit, but having him in close proximity with her made her nervous. The good kind. The one that sparked butterflies. One that she secretly enjoyed. But she needed to stay rational, no feelings, no anything else. She would just play her part and leave once it was all over.
.
"Sonarrr, why did you feel the need to park so far away?" The pink hedgehog whined as she kicked the small pebbles with her now aching feet.
They had been walking for 30 minutes. Who parks away 30 minutes from where they're heading?!
"Ames there wasn't any parking. It's good to get that extra mile in you know." Her partner cheered, his vibrant energy bringing her down even more.
The pink hedgehog was about to moan further about Sonar's parking choice but was greeted with a small girl hugging her knees from the side.
Sonar, who was on the other side, stopped too. He crept low on his knees bringing his hand forward for a handshake. "Hi little lady, I'm Sonar. What's your name?"
The small hedgehog gave a quick glance at Sonar revealing her puffy red face with fresh tears streaming down. She gasped at the blue hedgehog, scared of his presence, before hiding her face in Amy's knees again.
The pink hedgehog noted this and carefully parted the small girl away from her. She fell to her knees delicately and grabbed her shoulders. "Awww my lovely, don't cry. What's wrong?" She carefully wiped her fragile tears away.
"My dada is in hospital. My mumma says he won't get better without lots of money." She held her small hands over her face and started sobbing. Amy turned to Sonar with a frown, who placed his hand on her shoulder.
Amy carefully placed the small hedgehog's hands to either side and gave her a weak smile. "Where's your mumma sweety?" She faintly asked.
The little girl pointed to across the street, where there was a special hospital for cardiac patients. "My mumma sent me to get donations, will you help me? A few rings is good too." She asked innocently, holding her bag that contained less than twenty rings. Amy frowned at how little money she had received but sprung up and gave her a smile.
"I'll help your dada get better. Now give me a smile." She giggled as the girl hugged her tightly. As an estranged child, she never got to experience love from a father. She was determined to help someone else to prevent the unhappiness she had experienced first-hand.
"But Ames you have no money." Sonar interfered to which the pink hedgehog glared at him. He instantly shut his mouth and carefully lifted the girl, who no longer appeared afraid, as they all crossed the road.
Sonar placed the girl down who ran to an elder hedgehog, tapping her shoulder to stop her from crying. Her mother had been crying on a bench outside the hospital. "Mumma look! They're going to help dada! Then we can go get that doll once he's better!" She jumped up and down.
Amy's heart cooed at how adorable this little ball of sunshine was. So young yet so full of life. So young yet still experiencing sorrows. She reminded Amy of her younger self somewhat.
The mature hedgehog hugged her daughter passionately before walking up to Amy and Sonar. "You don't need to do this. Please forgive me if my daughter dragged you here." She dabbed her tears away with a tissue.
Amy rested her hand on the lady's shoulder. "Please don't say that. I'd be delighted to help. Is it an operation? How much does it cost?"
The woman shook her head. "Oh bless your soul!" She hugged Amy who awkwardly patted her back as she sobbed. "I've lost my job. I'm in debt and have no one that'll help me pay for this operation. You're an angel in disguise."
Amy froze at the mature hedgehog words. She was going through the same situation? Her heart ached and she slowly started noticing tears in her eyes too. They both parted from the hug as the pink hedgehog quickly smeared her tears away.
"It's 25,000 rings! Oh chaos, it'd take me years to arrange that sort of money. Please, I'm not forcing you to help us. I understand it's a lot." The woman reasoned.
"Relax. I've got this." She reassured before walking into the reception. Amy noticed Sonar linger behind her and turned to face him.
"What?" She said to Sonar with a confused look on her face. The blue hedgehog knitted his eyebrows together. "You have no money in your bank account. Giving false promises isn't something I expected you to do?" He frowned.
Amy ignored his comment and quickly brought out all the rings she had stored in the large handbag she had been carrying. She placed them at the reception counter. The full 25,000 rings. "This is the money needed. Please start the operation for the husband of the lady standing outside."
The receptionist quickly called the doctor who rushed into the operation theatre with the rest of the medical team. It was awful how money needed them to save a man's life. She simply prayed the procedure would be a success. It felt good helping someone in need. It cleansed her soul from all the lies she had been telling.
"I thought you said you had no money?" Sonar looked puzzled.
Amy brought a hand to her forehead. The blue hedgehog constantly kept going on about her money, ticking her off. "Sonar, this is my emergency money!" She lied. "Dad has given this for me, Kyle and Devon each to use in urgent situations. He warned us it's a one-off and that once we use it then that's it! He won't give us anymore emergency money, just the normal amount he transfers to our accounts monthly!"
Straight lies. Too many lies. One lie to cover up the many more planted underneath the surface. She had been slightly harsh in her tone. Perhaps it was because she was reminded of how cruel life could get or how she had been through similar things herself? Half the money her friends paid her was spent, and for a good cause too. She had nothing left for herself. Nothing until the other half of her payment came through. But that was okay, if it meant another family could live happily.
She looked up in Sonar's eyes who grabbed her into a tight embrace instantaneously. "You spent your emergency money to help save a little girl's dad?" He whispered causing her to shudder.
"Gosh, you're unreal! It's another reason why I like you so much." He finished, causing another spiral of butterflies to form in her stomach.
Amy fidgeted slightly to get out of the hug and turned to him, her jade green eyes glimmering. "You said what?"
The blue hedgehog shifted his gaze back and forth. "I.. uh remember what happened after the party, we kissed." He smiled vibrantly. "Since then I can't get you out of my mind. I-It's crazy!? I've been putting it off but I've realised, I like you, I like you a lot Amy Elise." He scratched his quills nervously.
Amy smiled despite her heart shattering to pieces. He liked her, no, he liked Amy Elise. He couldn't like her? Amy Rose had nothing, he wouldn't even pay interest in her in the first place. Though this liking he had towards her was forbidden. She was leaving right after her motive was complete, which if she kept according to plan, would be in two weeks time.
Sonar quickly grabbed her into a hug, his muscular body squeezing her tight. Amy knew he was grinning like an idiot. She however, shed a tear in his embrace.
She knew it wasn't appropriate, but for the moment being, she would cherish his presence for the two weeks she had left with him. And with that, she clung onto him tighter than ever.
A/N: Some wholesome moments in this chapter! And SONAR finally decided to speak up about his feelings! Though what'll happen when Amy's friends find out? I really appreciate those of you that have made it this far into the story! Thank you for the continued support. I would really like if you could review your thoughts/fav moments so far and what you think will happen next! Thanksss! :)