Disclaimer - I do not own Sonic or any other characters. They are property of SEGA and anything Sonic the hedgehog affiliated with it.
The next day…
It was morning time in New Mobotropolis and most people were still sleep. The sun hadn't risen yet, and it was still dark out, but the Freedom Fighters were officially in mission mode. So they all were awaking early, like they did whenever they were in conflict. And over at Amy's house on the North East side of town, Amy was just awaking as her alarm clock went off. With a groan, Amy reached out from under her pink fluffy comforter to stop her alarm clock from beeping. Her hand missed a few times, but she finally found it with her eyes closed, and she pressed her hand on the snooze button. With the alarm silenced, she peeked out from under her covers to see the red digital LED light from her clock. It read six a.m.…
She was sure like many people it was hard to get out of bed in the morning. It was so comfortable. But Amy gathered her will and threw her covers off herself. She got up out of her bed and went straight to her bathroom. She turned on the lights of her bathroom and her bedroom. Light rushed and filled the darkened room as it was still dark outside. Like most of her house, the walls were painted a warm pink color, though the ceilings were white, and she had hard wood floors.
She had plush toy dolls, clothes everywhere, some strewn over a chair and some still on the hanger on the floor, her opened closet was full to the brim with brightly colored clothes and shoes. A vanity mirror on her sitdown dresser sat on a wall on the other side of the room, and on her dresser top were perfumes and body sprays, hair brushes, open drawers with a variety of jewelry, incense's with a wide range of smells, and differing colored and shaped crystals.
On the dresser top were a few decks of different types of tarot cards, but there was a particular black crystal wrapped necklace that sat next to her cards. She also had a few whimsical posters and paintings in her room and around her house. But one particular poster was her favorite, and she came out of her bathroom wrapped in a cloth to grab a brush off her dresser. With a smile, she stared at a poster on the wall next to her dresser and mirror. It was a poster of Sonic smiling and wagging his finger. Funnily enough they didn't make posters about Sonic despite how well known he was. He actually asked people not to look at him like a hero, he didn't like being treated special or elevated above anyone else.
Amy winked at the poster as she went back into her bathroom. She'd had the poster commissioned by an artist on the Internet. In a timely manner though Amy cleaned herself up as she wanted to do some things before she left the house.
So she got dressed in her usual attire and sat at her mirror and dresser brushing her quills. Enjoying the smell of the scented soaps she just purchased on her skin, she sniffed at the already fragrant aroma in the air that her entire house already and usually had.
With a curious expression in her mirror, she spoke aloud to herself "I'm feeling like sandal today I think…"
She put her brush down, and reached and pulled a drawer open on her right. The drawer was filled with many assorted types of incenses, some in plastic bags and some in small square elongated boxes. Amy pulled out a light brown box and put it up to her nose to sniff it. The strong rich woody smell made her smile as she knew she had picked the right flavor for her senses today.
She was done brushing her quills anyway, so she grabbed one of her red hair bands in front of her on her dresser, her incense, her favorite tarot deck, a pair of her red boots, the black crystal necklace, and her new Piko Piko Hammer; the yellow metal pole which laid at the front of her dresser. She went downstairs and into her living room and placed her items on a wooden coffee table in the middle of her living room, all except her incense. And she turned on a lamp with a dim setting and dimly lit the room.
She briefly placed her red boots near the front door then went into her kitchen and turned on the lights and the stove to light her incense. In her living room there were two slim pink couches on each side of her coffee table, assorted colored pink rugs, a small pink futon pillow near her window, a fireplace, TV and computer, a few types of potted plants, framed art, and many pictures of her and her friends, though admittedly there were many pictures of Sonic and her…
Amy came back out of her kitchen turning off the lights with the tip of her incense bright red and smoking releasing its scent. She walked back over to her coffee table and pulled an old already burned incense stick out of an incense holder on the table, placing the newly burning incense in its place. Then she walked over to her window and pulled her pink futon pillow over near her coffee table. Before she sat down she grabbed the black crystal necklace and placed it around her neck.
As she sat down on the futon she held a blank expression as she began getting comfortable. She was going to meditate and draw some cards from the tarot before she started her day. She did this almost every day…she had been doing it so long it had become a part of her routine…it was a part of her life now…a part of her…
Meditation helped ground her, helped her slow down, and helped her clear her head. The black crystal around her neck was Tourmalinated Quartz, or Black Tourmaline for short. It was a stone of protection and grounding. And though many people dismissed her and thought she was crazy because she was into more spiritual matters, she didn't care much because she had experienced things that she couldn't explain.
Vivid visions sometimes while she slept…numbers…heard voices that were not her own…
Just like her first premonition when she first heard of Sonic…
She felt better…more positive…when she wore this crystal…
And she didn't care what anybody thought. She followed her intuition feeling in her gut and she personally felt more balanced in spiritual dealings…or mystical as skeptics liked to call her…
So she got into a comfortable position closing her eyes and remaining still, keeping her mind still. Not thinking, doing nothing, for about fifteen minutes in the quiet of the morning. The scent of her incense filled the air as she opened her eyes with a smile feeling relaxed and calm. She then reached on to her coffee table and grabbed her tarot cards.
As she shuffled her cards only one prominent question ran through her mind. Amy spoke aloud to herself with a bright smile and optimistic tone "All right angels, guides, universe, tell me something good."
And as Amy shuffled her cards she remained as positive as possible, because keeping a high vibration helped attract better things into your life, though that had not been the case many times in her life. As many times in her life things actually got worse and continued to do so no matter how positive she was. Things bigger than her…things out of her control…
And that made her sad…
It made her confidence wane…
But she tried to wait it out. And she felt she was done shuffling and paused, and a weak smile formed on her face. Many times her readings were not what she wanted to hear, but they were the truth…
And she thought her question in her mind "Will Sonic love me?"
Smiling she remained calm, and without expectation in this moment as she started drawing her cards from the deck. With this new opportunity to get Sonic's attention, this new crisis with the Nocturnus Clan was the perfect chance to get Sonic to notice her. And this time was different unlike others. She was on her last bearings with Sonic.
She was tired of chasing him…this time…right now…she was for real…
She was serious. She wanted him and she would stop at nothing to get him, to get him to return her affection and love.
She loved him…
And with all her heart one day, she was determined to make some kind of love happen between them…
Amy drew three cards and placed them down on the floor in front of her. This reading was a past, present, and future reading. And though her heart jumped with optimism, her smile did weaken a bit at the first card, the past.
In the past position was the card: The Magician
Amy curiously looked down at the card thinking of the past. She was well versed in the tarot and knew the meaning of all the cards pretty well. The Magician was about skillfulness, creativity, and dexterity. In the past, she had done all that and more when it came to Sonic. She took action and after stalking and searching for Sonic she eventually found him. It took all her wits about her, but somehow she overcame it all and tracked Sonic down and became a part of his life…and gave him a big hug…
Then Amy looked to the middle card: Nine of Swords
In the present position was the Nine of Swords. Amy examined the image on the card as her smile faltered again, and she donned a slight frown. Though the image was accurate to what was presently happening in her life. It was a picture of a person with their hands cusped on their face and nine swords in the background. This card was about mind healing, soul-searching, and anxiety and fear.
Thinking about her present situation with Sonic, that was exactly what she was feeling. She tried to stay calm and happy, but she was getting nowhere with Sonic. She already felt at times she had pushed it too far, and he was not interested in her in that way, because of all of her constant pursuits over the years. So if anything higher beings were trying to tell her, she needed to slow down and not be so anxious and worried about Sonic.
So once and for all she was going to settle this issue in her life, over the course of these next few weeks on missions. And she was going to search her soul and examine Sonic and her love…
Amy smiled a bit feeling she was getting an accurate reading, but as she looked at the third and final card, her smile was completely wiped off her face. A stone stoic expression came across her face as she stared at the future position: The Tower
Her mind went blank for a second. She just stared at it…
And in that moment…she realized she was staring at her fate…
It was an intuitive feeling…she just knew…and a bad feeling dropped in her gut…
The tower was about purification, breaking free, revelations, and awakening. This was her future?
And she recited a rhetorical question to herself in her head…what did this mean about her and Sonic…
But she knew the answer and knew that right now she was not accepting it…
The Tower was about change, holding on too tightly. And those two things resonated because they related to her question, and they related to her situation with Sonic no matter how much she wanted to deny it. But she knew…it wasn't the change she was hoping for…
It was a different type of change…
She didn't want to let go…
Though she had been trying to use this exact approach lately because nothing else had been working. Is this what she had to do? Let go of Sonic…
But what about love? Their children? Their future? If she let go didn't that mean…
And as Amy stared at The Tower card with her stoic expression, her eyes slightly widened as she began thinking about Sonic. Thinking…was there something about him she was not seeing…something that was not as it appeared…
Her perception was changing right in front of her eyes…this new understanding of information was making her change…
She had never drawn cards like this before. And this might be the first time she had seriously considered that…Sonic was not going to be hers…
That Sonic was not her love…
And at that, Amy looked saddened. Her incense just burned out, and the silence echoed in her mind as the sun began to rise outside her windows lightening her living room. How would she have known…that this could be her fate…
Amy remained still on her pink futon for a while before she got up and got ready to go. Her saddened expression remained as she looked down at her spread. She crossed her arms feeling a powerful tingling sensation running up the back of the neck. The tarot was not a prediction of the future, as the future was always changing. Unless you were a medium, the tarot was just a tool. It was meant to help take action in the present moment. And most times than not it was always accurate…
And Amy knew sometimes it wasn't always what she wanted to hear…
She would never give up…
A few hours later…
At an airplane hangar near Castle acorn, a few hanger bay doors were open and the Freedom Fighters were busily preparing for their next mission. The sun had rose ushering in another bright and humid summer day. It was so hot today that along with the air-conditioning in the hanger, many fans had been placed around the hanger to keep it cool. There were much military personnel in the hanger attending to business, but the Freedom Fighters were near a carrier plane with an open hatch and administrative offices. A few desk and computers sat just outside in front of the brown walls and windows of the offices with closed shades.
Amy was the last to arrive as she ran into, and through, the open hanger doors of this particular airplane hangar. She was a small distance away from everyone, and she ran through the large hanger to reach the guys. Sally and Antoine were carrying boxes into the plane, Nicole, Tails, and Rotor were talking over by the computers, and Bunnie and Sonic stood near the open hatch of the plane talking…
To which Amy stopped smiling as much as she approached with a curious expression. She could hear their conversation as she got nearer…
Bunnie smiled and spoke in a flirty tone "It ain't no thang…yeur not too bad on tha eyes yeurself…"
"Tell me more." Sonic responded in a playful tone as Bunnie giggled "I like your new hairstyle, did you do it?"
Bunnie batted her eyelashes running her cybernetic hand through her fresh curly hair "Sure did. Thets sweet of yiah to notice sugahog…"
Sonic tilted his head remaining silent as Bunnie continued looking flirtatiously at him with half lidded eyes…
But Amy broke it up, smiling and waving at Bunnie and Sonic as she stopped in front of them "Hey guys! What's going on…"
Sonic and Bunnie could hear the accusatory tone in her voice, and they both continued to smile. They knew what she was thinking like she always did, and Sonic spoke first with a grin "Talking bout hair."
"My hair." Bunnie said with a smile as she shook her head left to right showing off her new curls in her hair "Don't yiah think this new style I made is cute?"
Amy immediately rushed to her side and squealed in delight "Oh my gosh!" Amy took some of her hair in her hands "You are so cute Bunnie!"
Amy and Bunnie giggled together as Antoine and Sally came out of the plane. Antoine and Sally stopped near them smiling as Amy let go of Bunnie's hair. Amy then affectionately stared over at Sonic "Speaking of which, don't you think I'm cute Sonic?"
Everyone chuckled as Sonic raised an eyebrow "Is that a trick question?"
"Sonic!" she said with a quick frown making him look sheepish, but she then stood nearer to him smiling again "Once we're done here will you finally take me out and do something fun? It's been forever since we last went on a date!"
Sonic scratched his head looking curious "It has been a while hasn't it?"
Sally stopped chuckling and spoke with a smile "Well, she's right Sonic. Once we get done with preparations here we'll have some free time before we convene later before evening. That should give you two some time."
Sally giggled after her statement and so did Antoine and Bunnie. But Amy was still awaiting Sonic's answer smiling amorously at him. And Sonic responded with a grin "Sure. That sounds like fun."
Amy paused blinking her eyes, and her heart raced "You…" then she burst into a radiant smile squeezing her hands together "You really mean it!?"
Sonic nodded with a grin and Amy lunged at him wrapping her arms around his neck giggling. Sonic held a weak smile rubbing the back of his head while the others chuckled. Amy was glowing inside because many times Sonic's answer to her asking for dates was 50-50. But she felt like she just hit the jackpot and got lucky. Because even the guys knew Sonic would usually not directly answer her questions about dates, but sometimes he would.
And Amy was getting lost in the moment as she held Sonic tightly, but she could feel him uncomfortably trying to remove her from himself. He was still just as ever resistant to her advances. Just his body language made it clear that maybe she was still trying too hard, holding on to tight.
And she quickly remembered that she was supposed to be trying a new approach lately. That along with her tarot reading this morning, she had to start doing something different to get Sonic's attention.
Instead of being so fanatical in her love, she thought of doing the unthinkable. Doing the opposite of hugging Sonic, and letting him be…
Since all the love she had showed him already was having no affect in him returning romantic affection. Like all the years she had been unsuccessfully chasing him…
She noticed though that when she did pull back, Sonic was more open, more accepting to her. And she didn't understand why. Why when she let go he was more open to her, and not when she lovingly wrapped her arms around him.
Just like it worked the other day, even if just for a second. She wondered what kind of merit this letting go thing had. Because she never ever wanted to let go of the feeling that she felt around Sonic…
Vice versa…
She knew it would make him happy to be free…
The Tower…
She wished someone could explain to her…how…how she was going to…
Her acceptance…her surrender…when it finally happened…she didn't know what she was going to do when Sonic eventually ran away…
And Amy pulled back with much resistance from within herself, and she let go of Sonic and took a step back. Everyone looked slightly surprised as Amy cleared her throat and spoke through gritted teeth and a big smile "…so it's a date…" Amy sounded hesitant to speak "…we'll talk about…it later…okay?"
Sonic looked half confused expecting her to continue gushing, but when she didn't he smiled feeling relief "Alright cool."
Sally looked to Bunnie and Amy "We're going to need your help in a minute to move something heavy, don't you two get too comfortable. Come on Sonic you can help Antoine and I."
Sonic nodded and walked away with Antoine and Sally over towards the administrative offices. As they walked away Amy's eye twitched, and she puffed out expelling air. She sighed as Bunnie smirked at her "Thet was an amazing degree of self-control if I evva done seen one." Bunnie giggled "What was thet all about? I don't think I've evva seen yiah let him walk away?"
Amy frowned a bit watching as Sonic walked away "I'm trying something new to get Sonic's attention…"
But then Amy's frown turned on Bunnie, and Bunnie curiously blinked her eyes at her. But Bunnie knew why Amy was looking at her that way, and Bunnie smirked again. Bunnie shrugged as she began walking "I gotta get attention from somewhere. A lil flirting ain't hurt nobody, and it ain't nothing wrong with getting a lil attention."
Amy followed as they walked over to some chairs near the administrative offices by Nicole, Rotor, and Tails. Keeping pace, Amy held her slight frown at Bunnie flirting with Sonic "How did you do that?"
Bunnie suddenly looked curious "What do yiah mean?"
Amy sighed with an exasperated expression "How do you get his attention like that? It's so easy when you do it or anybody else does. I don't get it."
Amy and Bunnie sat down at a row of vacated seats on the wall of the offices. Bunnie adjusted her hat looking at Amy with a smile "Well first off I ain't involved, and I seriously doubt Sonic would evva consider thet sort of thing."
Amy's lips pinched into a slight frown and her brows knotted in frustration, as that was true what Bunnie was saying. None of the Freedom Fighters were in relationships. None of them had been ever since as long as she'd known them. So the likelihood that Sonic was interested in Bunnie romantically was very little to none since Sonic was never interested in anyone like that. Sonic had always been running around Mobius free from it…not attached to no one…
Besides, she herself was just as flirty as Bunnie at times like many females, so she wasn't upset at her.
Amy looked to the floor thinking it over as Bunnie spoke again in a happier manner "Have yiah evva considered letting go a lil? Yiah gotta ease yeur way in with men."
But then Amy donned a determined expression on her face looking at Bunnie "No way. I'm not playing around, I'm serious this time Bunnie. Something's gotta give."
Then Bunnie smirked "See?"
And Amy blinked widening her eyes a bit, but her frown returned as it came up again. Her statement did feel a bit strong…
Letting go…
She just didn't understand it…
When Bunnie or other females talked to Sonic, they spoke to him on a different level she had never reached. A level where flirting was more than just a silly game, but taken in a more serious light. And Bunnie wasn't even trying to get him, but yet and still it was more serious. She wasn't even trying…but she was…
And she began to wonder about her feelings for Sonic…were they misguided…maybe she was trying to hard…
But Amy quickly dismissed those thoughts not wanting to shake the foundations of her beliefs. She believed in her motivations with all her being even if sometimes it didn't match reality. She would not believe that she didn't have eternal love for Sonic…
Amy crossed her arms glancing at Bunnie and still looking upset "Maybe you're right…I've been thinking about that kind of thing lately…it's just hard for me to follow through…you know?"
Bunnie nodded in understanding as Amy was always over excessive in her feelings to the hedgehog. Bunnie grinned running her flowing hair through her hands "Well if yeur serious this time, then I need to step up my game."
"Girl, bye!" Amy suddenly giggled, smiling and playfully batting a hand at her.
Though not soon after Amy's statement Sonic, Antoine, and Sally returned from the back areas of the hangar pushing a large wooden crate on a dolly. They seemed like they were having some trouble, and the trio all smirked at the pair. Bunnie and Amy stood up stretching their arms with smiles.
"We know the drill." Amy said cracking her knuckles.
Bunnie rotated her shoulders "We're we headed?"
Sally rested her arms on the box with a smirk as her breathing slowed "All the way to the back, so we might have to move some stuff. It's already cramped in there."
Bunnie and Amy nodded as Sonic and Antoine watched them push the box with ease. But Bunnie paused glancing back at the two with a smirk "Knaa where do yiah two think yeur going? We aint gonna do all tha work. Sides, with tha help of two big strong men we'll be outta here right after noon."
Amy was ready to interject as well because Antoine and Sonic chuckled at her statement. And she was ready to compliment Sonic in her usual over blown manner to get Sonic's attention. Caught up in the moment her heart fluttered as she was about to open her mouth, but she caught Bunnie's side eye and caught herself "…uuumm…yeah! Show us those muscles!"
Sonic immediately grinned looking over at Antoine "Come on Ant, flex with me!"
Antoine sighed and shrugged "If you must."
And they both began flexing and grunting in ridiculous poses much to the amusement of Amy, Bunnie, and Sally, even getting attention from Tails, Rotor, and Nicole who took glee in the sight. And as Amy watched she caught Bunnie looking at her for a moment again, and she nodded silently at her. As they watched Antoine and Sonic flex for a moment, Amy held a smile, though underneath it she felt a bit of dread. She had been starting to act outside herself and change to get Sonic's attention.
And she didn't like the way she had to go about it even if it was working. She felt unfamiliar and uncomfortable, because she didn't have control in the way Sonic reacted. He responded to her better when she didn't…and it made her feel like she was losing control…
A few hours later…
The Freedom Fighters had finished doing some pre-mission prep and went on their ways until evening arrived. It was past noon, and the sun was high in the hot humid blue sky. Though most of the Freedom Fighters went to get a bite to eat, Amy went to do some retail therapy.
At a shopping district in the city, Amy just stepped out of her fifth store with two shopping bags in both her hands, black sunglasses on her face, and a large straw hat with a pink band. The hat flopped over her entire head. All of which she had bought while she had been out because there were too many cute things that had caught her eye.
It was busy and crowded, and she held a poker face as she waded through the crowds and noise. She was starting to get hungry as she was finished shopping, so she looked for a place to stop and eat before she went home and tried on all her purchases.
Unfortunately, she was unable to talk to Sonic about details of their upcoming date as he'd run away again. She was so excited about it she became lovingly aggressive trying to get the exact time and date. But in a mellow manner he told her that it would happen when it would happen. Which she of course did not accept, and he ran to escape her delicate grasp.
As Amy walked she started thinking about her latest attempts to get Sonic. So far, it seemed to be working a bit as he was actually receptive to her a few times now. It made her heart flutter…
And it made her wonder what had she been doing wrong all this time, that just stepping back, and not grabbing Sonic, was working. But Sonic was her love right? She was predestined to be with him, just like her first fated tarot reading and actually meeting him. Her sprit guides and angels and higher forces wouldn't lead her wrong. But she had a strange feeling lately…like a knowing in her gut….
That, that wasn't the type of relationship she had with Sonic…
Maybe she was just starting to notice more, especially after her reading this morning. It had never been that type of relationship with Sonic. She had been trying to change that for a long time now…
Even though that's where the tarot was pointing to...
Pointing to a change…an awakening in her life…
Amy stopped walking and she almost passed a shop that sold many assortments of things. She paused as there was an outside section with many chairs and tables; only half of the seats were vacated. So Amy decided to go inside, and many minutes later after getting through an excruciatingly long line, she returned back outside with a strawberry smoothie made with soft served ice cream and sweetbread.
She took an empty seat and placed her bags down next to her. Her new hat did a good job at blocking the hot sun as she glanced around the area at all the people, hearing construction noise and many feet tapping across the ground. Slowly she began nibbling on her bread and sipping her smoothie as she returned to her thoughts. She swore sometimes it felt like a force beyond herself would not allow her to have Sonic…
So in that respect she had been thinking a lot about independence lately, and that was partly reason why she had been trying a different approach towards Sonic. Since nothing else was working in capturing his love. She wanted change.
She wanted change from independence, cause as much as she didn't want to admit it, her feelings and the chase for Sonic were wearing thin, starting to eat her up inside. The hurt and disappointment from not attaining her love from Sonic was getting to her, and she knew she had to do something before it destroyed her.
But with independence, she was stopping herself from becoming an unhappy individual, to remain who she was, happy, confident, and joyful of life. And with her emotions in check, she could be away from Sonic and still have him. Free from outside control, her own person and not so dependent, she could still have her love for Sonic and be more attractive in his eyes because she wasn't so forceful. And she could get away with flirting with Sonic like Sally, Bunnie, and others did. The exact reason they did better in getting Sonic's attention she was starting to see now, was because they weren't so aggressive with him. Instead of giving him an ultimatum of a kiss or her hammer…go figure…
Letting go…
Amy sighed placing her elbow on the table and chin on her hand. So when she finally achieved this goal of independence, she could indulge in her hobbies, fashion, spiritual matters, cooking, while Sonic was away. And she would wait for him…patiently…so she could try again…
But it also begged other questions, like was it just possible that she just wasn't his type? Is that why he had never considered her more than just a friend? Had she already turned him off with all her obsessive chasing over the years? It worried her now that she had just begun to think of these sort of things…
She was going to put in her all to impress Sonic on this mission to stop the Nocturnus Clan. She was going to give it her all to compete with him. To get him to see her…
So now, she was going to be working on putting it into action. All she had to do was just loosen her grip…
Let go…
However, Amy frowned, and her stomach dropped as she looked nowhere in particular. It was such a shame that, that simple act was so hard for her to do…
Some hours later…
In the hours before sunset the Freedom Fighters made their trek back to Castle acorn for their briefing. All gathered in the situation room again, they were making plans from all the data they had gathered so far. Nicole, Sally, and Amy stood near the computers discussing what info they had gathered about the Nocturnus Clan. Tails and Antoine were over by the drawing board going over possible scenarios. And Bunnie, Sonic, and Rotor were discussing threat assessments of Shade and her goons.
Though they were all not so serious, they all spoke in a lighthearted manner. They had got in contact with Knuckles briefly earlier in the day and were going to call him back soon. He made it back to Angel Island safely and back to the ruins of the Master Emerald. The Master Emerald was safe but just like the freedom fighters, Knuckles was wary and wanted to find out as soon as possible where Shade, and her goons landed on Mobius.
Because at the moment they had no idea where on the planet she had 'Phase Shifted' as they put it. However, obviously the sooner the better because they did have another problem. The Chaos Emeralds had scattered last time they used them, so they had to go find them. They had to prevent the Nocturnus Clan from getting their hands on any emeralds. Nicole was already setting up ways to track all the emeralds, Master Emerald included. Using advanced tracking technology from her time that she would not tell them how it worked, she had already locked onto the energy signal of the Master Emerald.
And because the Chaos Emeralds had similar energy signals she was already very close to triangulating and figuring out where they were, so they could trace all the emeralds every movement.
Nevertheless, once they reached all possible conclusions for the moment, they all gathered around the table, though they did not sit. With a smile Sally glanced over to Nicole, who stood at the head of the table near the computers "Get Knuckles on the line Nicole, we need to talk with him about how we're going to track Shade and her team."
Nicole nodded with a smile "Connecting…"
As Nicole connected to Angel Island Amy moved from her spot and clung onto Sonic's arm briefly. With a dreamy face, she spoke at him in a girly tone and Sonic looked sheepish as he tried to get away from her. The others giggled, and Bunnie even gave Amy a wise look. Soon though Amy let go of Sonic's arm, though she still stood near him fluttering her eyelashes at him.
Sally cut in telling Sonic that she wanted to speak to him after the meeting was over as well, much to the suspicion of Amy. But as their connection to Knuckles finished they all turned their attention towards the big computer screen as Knuckles popped up on screen. Knuckles was talking to them from inside a small stone structure. Just behind him in the background were the ruins of the Master Emerald, and the main shrine where the Master Emerald was currently sitting atop the stairs was visible in the background
With a curious expression, Knuckles nodded as he spoke "What's up guys? Is there something wrong?"
Sally shook her head still smiling "No, nothing wrong yet. We wanted to follow up and see how things were going on up there."
Knuckles held a serious expression "Nothing to report on my end. I've just been hanging around the Master Emerald all day, and it's been pretty uneventful. What about you? What have you guys come up with?"
Sally looked slightly more serious this time as she spoke "Quite a bit actually." Knuckles nodded looking slightly hopeful "First off, Nicole has successfully locked onto the Master Emerald so we know where it's at, at all times now. That extends to the Chaos Emeralds soon too. Second, we are having a hard time detecting where Shade the Marauder , and her team is currently. Nicole has whipped up something that will allow us to scan the globe with that device you brought us. With it, we should be able to find a trace and start looking there. Concurrently, we will still be capable to find Marauder Shade if they get their hands on any of the emeralds."
"That's good news. Do you know how dangerous they are yet?" Knuckles asked in a curious tone.
Sally shook her head "We have an early threat assessment that we are preparing now. We'll forward it to you by nightfall."
"So you will be moving out in the next few days for sure?" Knuckles said crossing his arms.
Sally nodded again with her serious expression "One to two days' time. All of our top priorities is to not let them get any emeralds or we all are going to have problems."
Knuckles nodded uncrossing his arms, and he spoke with a light frown finishing the conversation "All right, keep me in the loop. I will stay around the Master Emerald more than I usually do to receive your calls, Knuckles out."
Nicole nodded at Knuckles "I will always be on call."
And the line went dead as the screen went black. The Freedom Fighters mood lightened again as they began scouring through all the papers on their oval table. Joking and laughing with one another as they picked out what information they thought to be the most pertinent, and gave it to Nicole to assemble a report. This was their last piece of business for the day, and they were all going to go out and eat for dinner. However, something came up that ruined their plans for fun like it usually did…
Meanwhile up on Angel Island…
Knuckles just shut his computer down and walked back out of the structure that held some technology in the ruins of the Master Emerald. With a blank expression, he walked across scattered stone tiles in the ground, dirt, and grass back towards the shrine of the Master Emerald. The spongy crunch of grass, insects chirping, and the sound of the wind blowing all around and through the trees of a nearby forest calmed Knuckles nerves as it was mostly silent.
It was silent like this most of the time on Angel Island. The ruins of the Master Emerald sat in an open like area surrounded by different types of nature landforms. The forest that sat next to the ruins, if you followed long enough, led to mushroom Hill. On the other side, led to a more desert like area on the island. The ruins of the Master Emerald sat a short distance away from one of the edges of the island, so sometimes the weather got rough.
Knuckles glanced up at the Master Emerald glowing atop the stairs as he approached. He stopped at the base of the stairs with his blank expression and sat down at the bottom of the stairs. The wind blew heavily again making his dreadlocks sway in the wind. Being so high in the sky naturally the winds had always been heavy.
Knuckles leaned back on the staircase with a thoughtful expression about his current circumstances. Good for him he got help from his friends in New Mobotropolis, as he had technology that helped him protect the Master Emerald nowadays. Mainly motion sensors scattered all across the ruins that let off a loud noise alerting anything to his presence. It was pretty great as he did not have to worry about sleeping with worry anymore.
But he felt trepidation about this Marauder named Shade and her team. The Master Emerald was an even bigger target it seemed for the Nocturnus Clan. He just hoped Sonic, and his friends could get a bead on this character sooner than later. Because if they were able to send a probe to Angel Island, didn't that mean it was possible that they could land here too as well? And he wasn't sure why…but in the last few hours he had an intuitive bad feeling in his gut, and he wasn't sure why…
But little did Knuckles know that the bad feeling in his gut was right…
Because not far from the ruins of the Master Emerald, upon a tall hill in the distance, five figures were crouched low observing the ruins of the Master Emerald, and the one person guarding it. Shade was in the middle and the pink sigil on her armor glowed, not for only one reason though.
One reason was because she and her team not long ago detected a strong surge of energy; it was unlike anything they had ever seen. And they knew it to be either the Master Emerald or the Chaos Emeralds just as Imperator Ix had said. And there it was just within seeing distance. The other reason was their armor also detected technology within the area. They weren't sure what it was, but they figured it had something to do with the tough looking echidna watching the Master Emerald.
Before they attacked Shade ordered her team to survey the area so they could catch him off guard. Inside Shade's helmet, a blue holographic screen showed her how far away they were from their new base of operations. Yesterday they had spent most of it resting from the ill effects of Phase Shifting, and they did not start to feel better until morning. But when they did they were immediately on the move. They had found an old abandoned facility with outdated technology far from here before they went trekking, and they had already fixed up most of it to acceptable levels to coordinate and carry out attacks.
It had defenses and offenses already. When they got back they were going to construct a forms of communication back to their clan…
Then Shade glanced to her right at one of the Marauder's speaking in a stern tone "What have you detected?"
The one on the farthest right responded "Marauder Shade, I am detecting devices around this entire area. We might alert him."
Shade nodded and glanced to her left "Can you take care of this?"
The one closest to her left responded nodding her head "I am starting to disable the devices. Longwave EMP will take about a minutes time."
Shade nodded "On my lead then."
Her Marauder's nodded silently as Shade stood, then they stood. And after Shades grunt released a slow EMP all of the sigils of the Marauder's glowed. Then with Shade in the lead, they all began running down the hill, and out of the line of sight into the ruins towards the Guardian of the Master Emerald…
But it didn't go unnoticed by Knuckles who was still casually leaning back on the stairs of the shrine of the Master Emerald. His eyes were closed with a small smile on his face enjoying the silence, but his silence was interrupted as an almost inaudible buzzing noise suddenly filled the entire area around him.
His heart raced for a moment as his eyes shot open because the sound was unfamiliar. He sat still for a moment listening until the sound completely disappeared, but he was sure he had not heard anything like that ever. He quickly began to wonder what that noise was, but that bad feeling in his gut came back, and he knew this time that something was trying to warn him…
Just like he watched over the Master Emerald, he knew some higher force was watching his back. There were too many times in his life where something seemed to come just at the right time, right when he needed it. And his intuitive feelings were usually right over the years…
And the first thought that popped into his mind were the motion detectors scattered all around the ruins of the Master Emerald. What else would make an electrical buzz like that? He ran over to a nearby fallen stone gray pillar and placed his hand near where he knew a motion sensor was. However, it made no sound…
And immediately Knuckles balled his fist, and anger came over his face as he ran back over to the base of the stairs, of the shrine of the Master Emerald. He couldn't see them, but he knew someone was around…
Tall trees groaned and creaked with each new gust of strong wind as the sun began to set on the horizon. The warm beams of orange and red reflected off his forehead as he closed his eyes and listened…
But he also heard nothing…
So he opened his eyes and turned and climbed up a nearby pillar that still stood. He stood on top of the pillar looking around himself because he didn't hear or see anything. But height always gave you an advantage, and if you could see your enemy, they could see you as well.
As he looked around he caught something out of the corner of his eye down below by a large boulder. But before he jumped down the hairs stood up on the back of his neck, and he quickly looked behind himself. At another standing pillar not too far from himself was a figure dressed in black and pink armor.
He knew immediately that this was one of the Marauder's…they had already arrived…
Knuckles stared at the pink Marauder angrily, and the pink Marauder remained silent as well before a eletrical charging sound was heard, and it suddenly lunged at him with a pink energy blade that extended from its wristbands. Knuckles dodged away from its swipe as it landed on his pillar, and he glided down towards the ground. But just as he landed two more Marauder's in black and blue armor jumped out of their hiding spots with blue blades extending after a moment or two. They thought they had the upper hand, but Knuckles dodged them and swiftly knocked them back with very accurate punches.
He hit them both with hard blows, as he was sure they were unaware of his immense strength. With each punch was a loud and heavy bending and denting noise of their armor. He hit one in the gut, in the face, and a final hard punch bringing his fist down and knocking them onto the ground with a large "Ooof!"
The second one he uppercuted so hard it sent it flying backwards onto their back with a large thud and groan, and it's blue energy blade retracted in reponse. Knuckles almost didn't see as he jumped away from two more that suddenly jumped him. He barely dodged one of them, but the other lifted its wristband and a eletrical charge sounded before its blue blade extened again and scraped him with its blue energy blade. Just that small touch made Knuckles feel a small prick that hurt for a few moments, but went away.
Knuckles looked down at his side to see that there was no wound, and he felt confused. A blade that caused no physical wound? That meant they could do other things as well…
He felt ok right now but that made him worried. He also noticed thier limitations in the little fight they had already. Those energy blades of thiers had limitations. They had to be charged so that meant they could be depleted. The blades didn't last forver which gave him a bit of relief, they might be able to be overheated as well. As he backed up with an angered expression he still knew he could not rush them with those energy blades. He didn't know what they did…one at a time…
The four Marauder's in black and blue tried to converge on him, but Knuckles caught sight of the pink Marauder behind him again, he figured this one was the leader, Shade. There were pink energy blades on both of Marauder Shade's wristbands this time, but Knuckles grabbed her arms trying to throw her, but Marauder Shade resisted. Shade was quite strong…all of them were…
Knuckles overpowered Marauder Shade though and tossed her into three of the others, not before Marauder Shade hit his arm dead on with one of her blades as they depleted. Knuckles felt more pain this time that lingered, but he still felt ok. He wondered why he had sustained no wounds yet, but he noticed the pain in his arm continued to linger a little longer this time before it subsided. Knuckles knew he needed to get some room so he jumped and climbed up a nearby dilapidated structure. But much to his surprise one of the Marauder's in black and blue armor began climbing up the wall just like him.
Knuckles looked slightly surprised as it seemed all of these Marauders could climb just like the pink one. Whatever was hitting him in those blades still caused physical pain, so he needed to not get hit much. As he climbed the Marauder charged it blade and swiped at his leg with the blue blades. The Marauder missed though as Knuckles grunted pulling himself up faster, then he kicked the Marauder, and they went crashing quite hard onto the ground making a dent groaning in pain as it's blade retracted.
As Knuckles reached the top and stood on the roof he was greeted by Marauder Shade and two of her goons. Knuckles sneered as he could hear the other Marauder down below helping the one he kicked. The Marauder's immediately went on the offense as Knuckles did his best to avoid even getting touched by the blades.
As one Marauder charged its blue blade and swiped at him, the other tried to attack him at the same time. Knuckles grabbed the arm of the one trying a sneak attack at him and dodged the one that had swiped. With a firm grasp on the arm of the one that tried to attack him, he overpowered the Marauder holding its arm in place so they couldn't use its blade, and he delivered a heavy punch to their face. His punch was so hard it actually shook the roof they were standing on and the Marauder groaned in pain as its armor was now damaged as it fell to the ground.
But just as Knuckles turned around the other Marauder in blue charged and jabbed its blade at Knuckles. Knuckles caught its wrist with one hand as the blue blade was near his face. Then Marauder Shade charged and jabbed her pink blade at him, and he caught her wrist as well with his other hand, stopping their blades. They tried to shove him but he was too strong and was able to resist both of them stabbing at him. But Marauder Shade then pulled back its other arm chraging the other pink blade to try and jab him.
Knuckles eyes widened as he grunted, pulling both of the Marauders together, making them hit their heads together hard. They grunted as they fell over and Knuckles saw one of the other blue Marauder's climbing up. He ran over with a fast jab and sent them flying off the building. But as Knuckles began to turn around he caught sight of Marauder Shade rushing at him, but it was too late.
Marauder Shade's pink blade already chraged but the eletrical charge sounded louder than before. Then the pink blade turned red! And it jabbed him straight on with the blade in his side. Knuckles yelped in pain as the blade was fully buried in his side. Shade got closer holding onto him trying to not let him go, but Knuckles angrily shoved her away. Before Shade even moved an inch Knuckles dashed quickly at Marauder Shade and punched her in the gut, making her stop in her tracks, and then he used both hands and brought them down on her.
Marauder Shade yelped in pain as Knuckles broke the roof around it and sent it flying into the structure below. A smoke plume erupted as Knuckles took a few steps back and fell to one knee breathing heavily. The pain was intense this time and also this time it wasn't going away. It still felt like there was a blade in his side though there was no physical wound. And most of all this time, he began to notice now his whole body felt weak all of a sudden.
The blade was pink before it had turned red…
With an upset expression he knew whatever they hit him with this time, he wasn't going to continue to last unless he get got his strength back. Whatever those blades were, it seemed they had the ability to make him feel drained. So with the last of his strength he took to the air and glided back to the structure with his technology. They were close behind as well as he glided through the air, and he could hear them as he hobbled inside his technology structure and started his computer to call New Mobotropolis. It began to connect as he turned around and they reached him. Knuckles growled despite the pain in his side and he fought them off as best as he could. He punched one Marauder back outside and one into a nearby wall cracking the wall, but Marauder Shade was formidable as the computer behind him connected…
Back at New Mobotropolis…
In the situation room at Castle acorn, the Freedom Fighters had just wrapped up everything and were getting ready to leave. They had already organized paperwork and put things back in place as they stood from their seats ready to walk out the door. As they walked around the oval table to the exit of the room, they were stopped. Nicole holding a smile was near the computer, but her holographic years perked up as she blinked her eyes.
The others noticed and stopped in their tracks pausing. Tails raised an eyebrow "Hey? What's wrong Nicole?"
But she did not answer as she whirled her head towards the computer, and it lit up and began beeping. They had a call…
"Patch it through Nicole." Rotor said with a curious look.
Nicole did and once it connected they were greeted by a horrific sight. They saw Knuckles being dragged away looking knocked out in the background, just outside the door. Then the Freedom Fighters looked angered as there was a figure in black and pink armor standing in front of the computer console, glancing back and speaking to her team. To which they figured was this Shade the Marauder character…
They guessed she didn't intend them to hear her as she spoke "…He started this console. I will see if I can obtain any data from it, and we will return to our base."
But the Marauder's in blue and black armor paused, and then Shade did as she turned back to the computer console. Nicole immediately donned a frown moving to the computer, and she began typing in a rapid manner; the other two Marauders could be seen in the background carrying the Master Emerald down the stairs of the shrine. All the Marauder's looked like they had taken a beating as well. Shade pulled a device from a slot in her armor and plugged it into the computer and began doing the same. However, Shade quickly found she had been outdone as Nicole lifted her hands from her keyboard much faster than she.
Shade looked up at the screen and at the Freedom Fighters "The drive has been wiped clean…"
Then without warning Shade lifted her arm and smashed the computer screen cutting the connection. The Freedom Fighters stood where they were as Sally spoke with urgency "What did you do Nicole?"
"I downloaded all data logs from Knuckles computer and wiped the hard drive. They do not know where we are." Nicole said with a frown.
But everyone looked around at each other knowing what just happened and what it meant…
Shade the Marauder was already here, they had the Master Emerald, Knuckles was in trouble, and most importantly they had to leave right now…
Plus their dinner plans were ruined so that made them even angrier. Then everyone glanced over at Sonic as he cracked his knuckles in the silence of the room, and he grinned "Let's do this!"
Everyone nodded silently in agreement as it need not be said that they had to go save Knuckles right now. Amy spoke with a slight frown "Strategies on the plane?"
"On the plane." Sally said as she turned around and everyone rushed out the doors of the situation room.
Nicole dematerialized, and Sally pulled her portable out of her pocket as Nicole began speaking to them all. She was alerting all active personnel that they had an emergency, and they needed to assist the Freedom Fighters, because they did not have a lot of time. If Shade was able to obtain any power from the Master Emerald, then they were going to be neck deep in a war out of thin air…
Getting interesting now isn't it? There was some good character development for Amy in this chapter. What will Amy do to get Sonic's love? Will she get it? Is it not what she thinks? What does her future with Sonic really hold? What did Sally want to talk to Sonic about? Will the Freedom Fighters save Knuckles and the Master Emerald in time? What will Shade do? Find out next time! Later.