Well, well, well, I've decided to return... It's been a hot second, but yes, I am back and will be completing this, fingers-crossed! It's crazy that since I've been gone people are still actively viewing this fic, THANK YOU! I appreciate that this chapter isn't that great but I wanted to put something together as quickly as I could. Enjoy!

"I'm sorry, I can't do this anymore. I'm quitting." The pink hedgehog emptied five bags full of the designer clothing and accessories her friends bought her onto the glass table, each bag creating a larger pile than before.

The bat and the chipmunk stood bewildered, they couldn't understand the sudden fever Amy had on quitting. She seemed timid and each time they would try and convince her to stay she'd be on the verge of tears. Yesterday she had seemed just fine, so the sudden urge to quit had been something they hadn't seen coming at all.

"That's really not necessary." Sally softly said to which Amy stopped and threw the now empty bag in anger towards the chipmunk's direction, which she quickly dodged thanks to her fast reflexes.

"I need to get out of here before I turn crazy." She reminded herself. The pink hedgehog made her way over in a haste to leave but was obviously blocked by both her friends. All she wanted was to put this behind her and start over, why were they making things more complicated than needed? She let out an annoyed sigh before trying once more to leave.

"What happened? You wanted to avenge us and now you suddenly want to quit? Has he said something, done something?" Rouge eagerly asked holding the pink hedgehog's shoulders firmly, mostly in attempt to stop her from leaping out of the door but also to try and calm her down.

Amy avoided Rouge's gaze. "N-no, it's just- I can't do this anymore." She closed her eyes and frowned. "I don't even recognise myself anymore. The things I'm doing aren't right… I'm losing myself... and the damage it's having on me is unbearable. Please just let me leave for my own sanity."

She opened her eyes and noticed how her friend's expressions softened. Rouge even loosened her grip on Amy's shoulders and pulled her into a hug.

"Ohhh hun, we were so busy putting our plan into action we completely forgot to check on you."

Whilst the pink hedgehog was overjoyed with how compassionate Rouge seemed, the final way to part from this mission was to be honest. It was something she needed to do. They deserved to know about her past screw-ups and end things on a good note. She parted from the hug and looked the two of them with concerned eyes.

"I-I haven't been fully honest with you. But since I'm quitting it's best you know. I kissed Sonar after the party and he confessed to me yesterday that he likes me, which he doesn't, at least I think he doe-"

"Wait?" "You kissed him?!" She simultaneously heard from her concerned friends. The pink hedgehog observed both of their expressions, they looked mortified and Sally portrayed an emotion that was not something she was used to… betrayal.

A slight blush appeared on her cheeks. She wasn't sure if it was because she was overwhelmed by Rouge and Sally's response or if it was because she secretly enjoyed the kiss. Either way, it was bad. An unnecessary event that she couldn't blind-sight. It was about time they knew, they deserved the truth and so here she was.

"Yes... But I was going to tell you. I mean- I just told you." She faffled with her words.

Sally grunted. It was clear the chipmunk was disappointed in Amy for her behaviour. "Amy you've heard what I've been through! I confided in you, I told you about the part of my life that I am ashamed of. And then you GO KISS the same hedgehog that flipped my life upside down! I thought you of all people would be more considerate! I don't even recognise you anymore." She said sternly.

An emptiness soon filled the room, surrounding Amy and choked her slowly. Things felt different, more tense than usual. The pink hedgehog gulped slightly. If things weren't bad enough before, they were certainly bad now. Of everyone, whenever she'd try and correct a wrong, things would become much worse.

Oh what a fool she had been! Sally had confided in her with confidence and she practically took that and slapped her in the face with that kiss. Events like that aren't easy to share, she knew that. Yet somehow she ruined the trust of her close friend. She wasn't over Sonar/Steve, Amy knew that. She had known from the start yet had managed to push it back to the furthest corner in her brain. How was she meant to make this right?

Rouge on the other hand gave death glares at Amy before rushing to Sally who hid her face in her hands. "We told you to get our money back, not kiss the douche-bag!" The bat bitterly expressed which at this point the pink hedgehog didn't mind. She was in the wrong, she knew that. She deserved the backlash from the two of them.

The pink hedgehog kept her distance. It was the only best option but that wouldn't stop her from trying to apologise to the chipmunk. "Sally, I'm so sorry if I made you feel like I did this on purpose. I promise I didn't! It just happened... I-I've told him to keep a distance from me."

Every single thing was coming back to bite her. Every. Single. Thing. It was that and the guilt that were the main driving force to her quitting. At least now things couldn't get worse, that line was crossed far too back. Now she could focus on the amendment stage, how to make things right again and finally close this chapter of her life.

Sally revealed her puffy eyes and bright pink face to bite back at Amy. "The fact that you chose to hide this from me up until now really goes to show how much we ACTUALLY can trust you! We were engaged for Chaos sake! I'm scared of going into relationships, I have this constant paranoia that any man interested in me is after my money. I thought you of all people would understand how much this has messed me up-" Her breath hitched and she suddenly started to sob again.

Rouge patted her in a motherly manner whilst also taking the opportunity to address her concerns. "You told Sonar to lay off? Are you crazy? You leaving is bad enough and we haven't made a fuss about it. But with him laying off, me and Sally aren't able to extract one single ring off of him! He's going to get suspicious too- ohmygoodness!"

The bat sighed in annoyance. "To think this plan was fool-proof... I can't blink without you creating troubles for me. You are not allowed to leave. Not after this mess you've made." Rouge announced which caused Sally to part from her.

"No Rouge, let her go." Sally insisted but Rouge shook her head.

"You really want to make it up to Sally, right?" Rouge asked the pink hedgehog, who nodded back rapidly.

"Well then... You need to get our money back. And what's with the whole him liking you? A genius plan is cooking in my brain and I need more details." Rouge smirked.

As much as she didn't want to wet her feet again, Amy wanted to restore Sally's faith in her. "Sall-"

"Amy, just save it. I'm sure your intentions were at heart but I need a couple of days to get over this. I can't suddenly pretend that everything is great and we're friends because I'm really hurt by your actions." Sally sighed before continuing.

"If you really want to make this right, get our money back and stick to the plan. No more secrets, okay? That's all I ask." She concluded in a tone unfamiliar to Amy before walking off to a separate room.

Amy let her shoulders loose as her friend-who-nearly-despised-her walked out. She turned to Rouge who had a sinister smile on her face. "Rouge, the whole reason I told you is because I wanted to quit but now you're dragging me back into this? I get that you're both hurt and I REALLY want to make things right but this whole plan of yours is messing up all of us, can't we just call it a day?"

"Listen Amy, if you can get her father's money back then she's bound to put all grudges aside. Her family don't trust her anymore. If we get her father's money back it'll help her regain that respect and speed her recovery. Don't you want that?" She questioned as she noticed Amy turn away from her.

The pink hedgehog clenched her fist slightly. "I do. But I can't confront Sonar, it's too much for me, not after what he told me." She said defeated.

The bat took an interest in her statement. "And what exactly did Sonar tell you?"

The pink hedgehog became hesitant, she was unsure whether it was appropriate to disclose the sensitive issue she had just became aware of. Not telling her friends about the kiss had already put her in a bad position, there was no point in making it worse.

Deciding it was probably best to reveal the skeletons Sonar hid, she turned to Rouge with a frown. "Rouge, he's gone through some serious things okay? He's been harassed on multiple occasions, he's been forced to do things he wish he hadn't done, his brother has been shot and is in a coma..." She huffed at how bad the blue hedgehog had it.

"Look, all I'm saying is... I think it's his situation that forced him to become like this, not him. I-I have morals, I'm not going to go against them and scam the hell out of him!"

She continued her train of thought. "But Sally's upset and now I'm torn. I don't want to get my hands dirty. Things will be messy if I go back. He told me he likes me for Chaos sake!" She hid her face in her hands.

Rouge kept a straight face throughout Amy's thought-vomit. "But does your friendship with Sally matter more than your morals and Sonar?"

Amy instantly looked up to Rouge with a puzzled face. Her question came out of the blue. She took a second to process what had just been asked. "I-I, yes, yes it does." She said with a glimmer in her eyes.

The bat's expression softened and a smile soon appeared on her lips. "Well then, you know what you need to do." She walked over and placed her hand over the pink hedgehog's shoulder before walking out of the room.

She knew all too well what needed to be done. It was time for Amy Elise 2.0, the renewed, better version of the first one. This time she felt ready, more determined than ever to make things right.

.

"You and me both know that story he's come up with is nothing but lies." Sally rolled her eyes as her friends explained what Sonar had told Amy.

"But listen to this, he's told Amy that he likes her... What if we use that against him?" Rouge suggested, a sinister smirk playing on her lips.

"... Right...that... For all we know that's a lie too."

"He looked seriously hurt when I kicked him out of my apartment though, unless he's a good actor I think we have something to work off of." Amy suggested to which Sally gave a visible frown.

Rouge clapped her hands together knowing the original plan was still salvageable. "Brilliant! Amy you've given him space for a few days right?"

The pink hedgehog raised an eyebrow. "Rouge, I literally kicked him out of my room after the whole thing, I have no idea if he's planning on still being my partner. I was really harsh on him... If he doesn't turn up, I'd understand why."

Sally shook her head in disagreement. "Look Amy, we aren't on the best of terms but you're forgetting he's a con artist. He only wants the cash and YOU have that. He's going to slide back in through whatever lies he tells you next."

"And that's when we'll pounce. How long does your contract last for?" The bat directed at Amy.

"Less than 2 weeks left now." The pink hedgehog revealed in a concerned tone.

"That's plenty of time to play Cupid!" The bat cheered.

"What?" Both Sally and Amy questioned. They prayed the bat had actually considered the implications of this additional entanglement and it wasn't just a spontaneous idea. Of all things, playing matchmaker was not something they saw coming as part of the plan.

"Okay, hold up one second. I am not igniting a romance with Sonar. That's not happening."

It was hard enough being around him. The mere thought of them becoming more intimate gave her chills.

Rouge shushed Amy down, allowing her to sit back into her seat. "You need to RELAX. I'm not making you fall in love with him or anything... Just hold onto his heart strings for a while until we get our money back."

"Rouge are you kidding me? This is stupid." Sally got up and tugged the bat's shoulder.

"This is seriously risky. More than the original plan. I'm telling you, don't do this." The chipmunk continued.

Rouge pushed Sally's hand away. "Look Sally I know you have your issues but this is literally the best shot we have! If whatever Amy has said is right, then Sonar will continue his act of 'love' to try and get her money. We're literally playing the same game as him except we're one step ahead."

"Think of it like this. Amy pushing him away lets us have more control over him. He's bound to make one stupid move if he's busy trying to get back into her life. All Amy has to do is pull the right strings and we'll have all the money recovered." She persuaded further.

"Just trust me... please?" She pleaded.

"...Fine! Whatever. As long as I get my father's money back." Sally shrugged her shoulders.

Amy was in awe at how Sally didn't even bother putting up a fight. She was on board with them to get what's left back but she wasn't going to pretend she was in love.

"That's... no. I'm not doing this! This guy might actually have feelings and to use them for your personal motive is inhuman! That's a new low, even for you Rouge."

"I'm sorry? Is there something I'm missing here? I'm confused why you care so much?" Rouge turned her attention to Amy.

The pink hedgehog paused at her question. It was something she ought to think about. Why exactly did she care so much? No immediate justification came to her mind. Perhaps it had been because she had got to know Sonar over the two weeks as something beyond a scamster. But even then, she didn't know if he was being genuine.

She glared back at Rouge to show how upset she was with this 'updated' plan of hers. "I have morals Rouge. You've clearly lost yours. I'm not going to pretend that I like him."

The bat rolled her eyes at Amy's comment. "Seriously?! Is no one seeing this the way I am? Amy for starters, he's pretending to fall for you. Anyone with a brain can understand that. Secondly, we're literally doing exactly what he's doing and to be honest, he deserves it."

Sally took a moment to contribute further. "Up until now I was not too fond of Rouge's plan but she definitely has one thing right about this whole plan. He's using you. He pretended to fall in love with me so that my family could trust him and after he got what he wanted, he left... He's doing the same thing with you and so if we can hurt this bastard then I don't mind this plan."

The pink hedgehog turned to the chipmunk with hopeful eyes, one word escaping her lips. "Sally..."

The chipmunk exhaled sharply. "Things are still rocky with us Amy but you're still my friend and I still care about you. If you choose us... this plan, then maybe things will go back to the way they were before?" She shrugged her shoulders casually. "This'll restore trust and I think I need that."

Amy approached the chipmunk cautiously and rubbed her left eyelid in thought. "You do realise that this means I'll have to act lovey-dovey around him? And affectionate too... Isn't that what caused an issue with us in the first place?"

"No Amy that was not what caused the issue. The issue was YOU kept that from me and Rouge. Still... you're given a choice now and I think we'll leave it at that." The chipmunk sighed.

The bat seemed erratic by the conflict between them. "Sally there's no question that Amy'll do this for us?" She scoffed. "We'll get everything back, things'll be goo-"

"Rouge, it's Amy's call now. To get her involved in the first place was forced by the both of us. But we need her to actually want to be a part of the plan to continue..." The chipmunk reasoned with her and slowly dragged the bat out of the room leaving the pink hedgehog by herself.

Did she mention how much she didn't want to be a part of this? Yet somehow, she felt obliged to return. A duty of some sense? Her relationship with Sally was bruised to say the least, but to go against everything she believed in and manipulate Sonar? It was sensible to call this a dilemma.

Did he deserve this? Maybe. Maybe not. All of the lies he had told before scamming innocent citizens into giving all their riches to him was something he should be punished for. But not by her, not by someone who was equally as bad.

She gave a bit more thought as to why she cared so much. It was unhealthy, disturbing, that she had a soft spot for someone deceitful like him. Gosh she deserved better. Silver had even given her a way out but she had declined it. Her mind wandered back to Sonar opening up to her about his brother. Was that all a pretence too? Did he come up with that to make her feel sympathy for him? To her he looked genuine, he looked genuinely hurt about the unfortunate situations life had put across. But that was her perception of things. Only he knew what he was doing.

She needed to accept that she knew nothing of him. Everything he had told her up until this point held no value. She couldn't be certain if he was telling the truth or not. Her friends had been right in thinking that his sole purpose with her was to get money she didn't even have. Him expressing his feelings could be a well thought step of getting closer to her, even get her so-called 'father' involved, just like he had done with Sally. Though her heart chose to ignore it, she was in a denial sort of state.

She felt fresh tears forming from her eyes. Nothing made sense to her anymore. What was she supposed to do? She had lost all sense of direction. It was impossible for her to decide. On one hand, Sally and Rouge were counting on her, on the other she had a spark with the blue hedgehog. Her brain pounded with each further thought she had about proceeding or rejecting.

Tears trickled down her face, coming to the realisation that she was in a major dilemma. It was either her friends, who supported her the most when she fell down financially, or the mysterious stranger with emerald eyes, who had come about her life a few weeks ago. This denial she had needed to be sorted immediately, it was clouding her judgement. Whatever bias she had towards Sonar was unhealthy and she knew it all too well.

She thought hard and clear about what Sally had said. Everything that he was doing felt identical to what he had done with her. Casually bumping into a 'rich' girl, becoming friends and pretending to be this perfect guy that'll make her fall head over heels for him, then moving things forward to get the parents involved. With her specifically, he was the one claiming the feelings…

The denial was suddenly gone. The fog she had been in the past two weeks cleared and revealed a compulsive liar that would do anything for cash. She so wanted to believe he was a good person that she refused to believe the facts placed in front of her. The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous his story seemed to her. She understood his intention. To get a rich girl to sympathise with him and use that to make her fall for him, then escalate things to something much more serious and get her 'father' and 'brothers' involved and charm them into the best pay day of his life and escape. It was exactly the same thing he had done with Sally, she realised that now.

Him paying for Jamie's education was nothing but a stunt to gain her empathy, she saw that now. She desperately wanted to believe that he wanted to become a better person but everything she was piecing together told her otherwise. Everything was based on his motive, all his actions were fabricated and that's what disgusted her. She had been certain that he was exactly what he told her word-for-word, but that wasn't the case. Enough with her constant denial, he was exactly the person her friends described him as. The band aid had been ripped off and it left a wild variety of emotions and bruises.

The pink hedgehog quickly wiped her tears and brought a weak smile to her face.

No!

She was not going to let him get what he wanted. Not after everything her friends had been through. Not after the games he was playing with her. It was time she played him exactly how he had done so with her girls! He may have started this whole thing, but it was her turn to end things the way she wanted. All of the weird fuzz she had been feeling for the past two weeks vanished and left a void in her that increasingly became hungry for power. She would exert her power over him and avenge Rouge and Sally.

It was time to play her cards right.

.

"Guys... I've made my mind up." The pink hedgehog leaned carefully by the wooden door of the other room her friends had been in.

She stumbled slightly as the door crept back a little farther than she had expected. "And I want to finish this. I had been oblivious before but what he's doing with me is exactly what he did with Sally... I see that now."

Rouge's serious expression moulded into a playful one whilst the chipmunk remained calm revealing a fraction of a smile.

"So what do you say ladies... should we get that bastard?" Amy said approaching her two friends.

"Oh he is in for a sweet, sweet ride." The bat hugged the hedgehog who squeezed her tight.

Sally observed the two at a distance. She was pleased with the fate Amy had chosen for their plan. "He wouldn't know what hit him."

"You wanna hear the next part of the plan?" Rouge smirked as her two partners approached her with a raised eyebrow.

The bat rubbed the palms of her hands together mischievously. "Good, cause it's about to get juicy."

Rouge paused remembering one detail. "Oh and for the record, you're going to need to pick up all those clothes you threw on the table." She directed at Amy who rolled her eyes.

.

The evening started rolling in as the sky bored in orange. The light breeze caused the curtains to dance lightly notifying the pink hedgehog to close her windows.

She grabbed her sweater close before carefully closing out the outside world. Things felt different now. She knew she was being played, she knew since the beginning, yet she chose to ignore it.

Amy sighed to herself for thinking about such irrational thoughts in her safe haven. She had other things to worry about.

Speaking of which, she grabbed her phone from the windowsill and slumped onto her bed. Carefully scanning through her contacts list, she found the number she needed to call. Her fingers hesitated slightly but a quick reminder of how little time she had left to perfectly execute the plan caused her to press the button in an instant.

Her heart froze each time the bell would ring. She secretly hoped he wouldn't pick up. But on the fourth bell he did. "Hello?" His soothing voice spoke from the other end.

She shut her eyes at the sound of his voice. "Sonar." She barely made out.

"A-Amy?!" She heard his voice fade slightly, indicating that he was checking who had actually called. "Uhhhh hi? I wasn't expecting to hear from you this soon... or at all after yesterday..." His tone was confused. He was a good actor, she'd give him that.

She paused for a moment. "But you were always going to call back, right?"

Her question threw the blue hedgehog off. She knew that through how quiet he had become. "I-uh, well... I hadn't really decided on that yet." He let out a small laugh. "So any reason why you decided to call?" He further questioned.

"I've been thinking about you... a LOT." Amy emphasised the last word to show how pressing this was for her.

The blue hedgehog gave a disappointing sigh as a reply. "Look, I know I messed up. I get that now. It was bad judgement on my part, you're a friend and I see tha-"

"Sonar no, I-I like you too. I guess I was just scared when I heard you felt the same. Us Elise's are always scared that we'll attract people because of our money and not because of... well, us." She sighed at the end after cutting him off.

She waited, a few seconds, then a minute and heard no reply. She removed her phone from her ear to see if he had hung up on her, but the line was still intact.

"Sonar?" She questioned cautiously.

"...You really mean that?" She finally heard him answer.

"I do, and ever since I treated you so bad yesterday I have this overwhelming guilt. Gosh Sonar I feel so awful. I just... can we go back to the way things were?"

Sonar took a sharp breath in a playful manner. "Well Miss Elise, with you liking me now, I'm afraid things just won't be the same. Are you still up for me coming back?" He teased further.

Amy let out a small laugh to his playful tone. "Of course I am, but I have one important question to ask. You need to answer honestly okay?" She played with her pillow.

"Yeah sure, spill."

"Are you after my money Sonar?"

It was a bold question to ask, which was enough to throw Sonar off completely. He remained silent yet again, probably planning on how to even go about answering that question.

"No Ames, I'm not after your money. For the record, I like you for you, not because you're loaded with cash." He reassured her in the same playful manner Amy knew too well.

She let out a sigh of relief. "O-okay, that's reassuring to hear. You wanna come by tomorrow and continue the search for our land?"

"Sure thing. I'm glad things are okay with us now. Sleep tight princess." He sweetly uttered before cutting the call.

The pink hedgehog gagged at how disgusting the whole call had been. But everything was set. He knew she was being cautious and confirmed his sincerity towards her. The money was going to come in much faster now, especially with him being her 'boyfriend'. It was going to be an interesting few days for sure.

Just as she was about the put her phone to a side, it began buzzing, causing Amy to jump slightly. She was hesitant to pick the call of a 'no caller ID' but decided to go with it anyway.

"Hello?"

"Is this Amy? This is Berlinda speaking." She heard a female voice from the other end.

She pushed herself up so that she wasn't slouching anymore. Her face scrunched slightly at how serious the woman sounded over the phone. "Yes, this is her. I'm sorry who's calling?"

"Berlinda, Jamie's mother." She replied back.

Amy took note of how she hadn't bothered addressing Jamie's mother by her name which was because she never asked!

"Ahhh yes! Sorry.. it just didn't click the first time. Is your husband okay, how's Jamie?" She questioned the need for Berlinda calling her. The last time she checked, this woman didn't even have her number. Whatever it was, it was serious.

"Yes, my husband is recovering slowly and Jamie is fine too. I need to speak to you about the male you were with at the hospital."

Amy held her phone closer. She had called regarding her partner? "Sonar?" She questioned.

She almost instantly heard Berlinda reply. "Yes Sonar, something isn't sitting well with me about him and I thought I'd let you know."

The pink hedgehog was confused as ever with what the blue hedgehog had done. "Of course, please tell me."

"He paid the first instalment of Jamie's education expenses, as we discussed. But on our bank statement it says the money has been transferred by the name of someone different. And when I questioned him about it he said it's nothing and that I shouldn't let you know." She alerted.

"The account name was something like Mr Sonuc, Sonec or something along those lines. He said if I'd tell you, it would cause you unnecessary worry and I'm sorry if it has. It's just… my gut is telling me something is off. Just give me a second to check my statement for the name." She politely asked. Amy remained engrossed on the other end of the phone, eager to piece what exactly was going on.

"Oh my goodness." She heard Berlinda whisper.

"Berlinda, is everything alright?" Amy asked concerned with what was happening. Something was definitely wrong.

"The statement has been wiped, completely. All the other ones are visible except this month's. It's... gone."

Amy exhaled sharply. "Are you sure the account holder name was different? You might have read it wrong."

"No-no, I checked carefully, it was 100% different. He was really worked up by me questioning it dear. I wanted to let you know because I found it rather odd. Just be careful." Berlinda sounded relieved now that she had warned Amy but still overwhelmed with the sudden vanishing of the statement.

"Thanks for letting me know Berlinda, if anything else comes up please let me know, take care." She kept calm.

After Amy cut the call, she clutched her phone close to her chest. So Sonar transferred money but from a different account. She couldn't piece together what that meant. Was he using stolen details to transfer stolen money over? She didn't quite know. But with the statement wiped it meant Sonar had control over things much higher than she'd initially thought.

A mystery remained in her hands. She knew the connection needed to be made fast between the account holder and Sonar. Him stressing to Berlinda to not reveal this information to her must hold some value, enough for him to vanish the statement entirely. All she knew is he had made a mistake in his perfect heist, one which needed further looking in to. Rouge was right, him trying to get on her good side would resort in a few mistakes on his end. She simply needed to understand what they were to have a further idea of his intentions with her.

But that was a thought for tomorrow, for now she'd try and rest the night.

A/N: Another rollercoaster of events, am I right? But things are slowly coming together and I'm hoping a few more chapters will be enough to wrap this adventure up! I have more time on my hands now so getting the next one up shouldn't take too long! As always, I appreciate anyone that reads my trash XD! If you want to, please leave a review! I love seeing what your reactions are after reading! Till the next one, stay safe, stay awesome!