DaDweebKing, NeckBreak, and Saltwater January: Thanks for your reviews~

Chapter 2: Outside Influences

AMY

Warmth caressed the back of my eyelids as I leaned into Sonic's arms. I had my eyes closed because I didn't care where on the planet we were, where we were going, what time of day it was… I wanted nothing distracting me from the dreamy hedgehog holding me close to his heart, as if I were a treasure worth protecting.

"Amy~"

I loved the way he spoke my name, I loved how he held me close and ran his heart out, I loved how the world around us ceased to matter. I loved everything about being with Sonic.

"I only stop running for you~"

He whispered, and while the wind in my quills ceased, the world was still spinning around me. Caused by my pounding heart, slamming against my chest as it reached out desperately for the other heart so close to it. Mere thin layers of clothes and skin separated our hearts, and I could feel his reaching for mine with just as much need.

Sonic had stopped, searching my eyes with a dreamy gaze. His grip gently tightened around me, fingertips just grazing the back of my head, tilting it upwards.

"You're beautiful~"

The soft and gentle tones of his voice gave me shivers. The chill was such a contrast with the warmth in every part of my body; electric shocks raced up and down my torso. My body, my heart, were all overwhelmed with sensations, one after the other, as his body came even closer to mine…

Our lips brushed, and Sonic whispered a poem of love without speaking a word. I tasted every bit of him as I linked my hands around his neck, pulling him down against me. I was suspended in the air, his arms holding me securely as we kissed and kissed. It was wonderful, and I couldn't be happier -

"Miss Amy Rose?"

I gasped - my daydream instantly broken by a voice that wasn't near hot enough to belong to my crush. I wasn't in Sonic's arms, but a cold chair and table, and the only one holding up my head was myself.

"Would you like to tell us more about the 16 Year's War?"

Reality slapped me in the face, leaving my face flushed red and wishing the floor could swallow me. I could feel the eyes of the class on me, and I sunk into my chair.

"I…." stammers came out of my mouth as I struggled to speak. I pushed my glasses up my face with nervous energy.

I looked down, but my notes were no help. I'd just written Sonic's name over and over, dotting the "i" with little hearts. The red ink looked adorable and I smiled in spite of my situation.

"Well, if you don't know anything about it, why are you daydreaming in the middle of my class?"

"Sorry." I muttered, trying to hide my red face by keeping my eyes lowered. My pencil began glowing teal, also causing my lips to tug into a smile. I side-glanced at Silver, but he kept his eyes trained forward - always a good student. I looked back down to see that he'd drawn a messy heart on my page, without looking. Cute.

The lecture continued, and my mind wandered once again. Even if I tried to pay attention, the jolt back to reality was super depressing. Somewhere outside, Sonic was running around and being a hero, and I was stuck here in school. It wasn't fair, at all. Even if it was a school for "gifted" students, it was still class at the end of the day. We learned about math, history, language, science… and had training sessions for our powers. Mine were mostly hammer drills, because the instructors mostly didn't believe in my supernatural and fortune-telling abilities. I could just tell… the way they smiled and nodded but were internally rolling their eyes at me. No one ever took me seriously, and it was sooo frustrating.

Even though AGS was a newer school, it was still nearly everyone's dream to study here, and for the most part I felt lucky. Not only was this an opportunity I couldn't pass up, and a way to secure my future - I was promised that Sonic also went to school here, which made me instantly sign up. I still remember my first day, looking all cutely dressed up, so eager to see him again after so many years - only to find out Sonic was still being recruited and didn't actually go here at all. I pitched a fit over being lied to, and I'm still pretty angry about it. I'd left my family, my best friend Cream in order to meet my hero, only to be disappointed yet again.

Still,not all was lost. As angry as GUN's lies made me, I still would have chose to study here because I know it's the best chance to meet Sonic again. I'd searched for him on my own and he'd been as elusive as ever, even with my fortune telling powers. To this day no one can catch him. Which honestly made him even more dreamy, if it were possible….

Ah, but my mind was wandering, and eventually class was over, and finally lunch time - I was starving. I clutched my books close to my chest as I walked down the hall, next to Silver. He was pretty much my shadow, but I didn't mind the company. Nearly everyone else who went here was either stuck-up like Blaze, too serious like Espio, or, well, Rouge. Even for a private academy, we didn't have many students.

It was pizza day, so that was something at least! I grabbed my normal pepperoni and took my usual spot.

"What were you thinking about in class?" Silver asked as we sat down.

"Sonic," I mumbled with my mouth full, and noticed Silver visibly slump.

"Yeah, I thought so."

"You can read minds, so why did you ask?" I swallowed and then teased him, hoping to cheer him up. He hadn't even touched his pizza yet.

"You know the future, so why do you worry so much?"

"Touche," I rolled my eyes but smiled.

"If only our powers worked like that, hm."

"Mhm," I agreed with another mouthful of cheese and sauce.

"I really feel like have a lot in common, don't you?"

I just nodded, my mind already wandering. I knew Silver had a crush on me, that much was obvious. And he knew I loved Sonic, always have, always would. We'd never really talked about any of this, but there was kinda an understanding about it all, and that's what made my friendship with Silver so bittersweet. I knew we weren't meant to be together, and yet we had so much in common that we'd be so happy if we were. Sometimes I thought about giving it a try with him, but I couldn't betray Sonic like that. I just knew we were meant to be, and it was a shame Silver and I weren't. A girl should not tempt fate.

Still, I was always nice to Silver; I knew the pain of unrequited love all too well. We could still be friends. Maybe I should play matchmaker to help him find his special someone. He used to be good friends with Blaze, but he rarely talks about her anymore, and I can tell there's some tension there. I've always wondered what happened between them, but no matter how many times I've asked him, Silver doesn't want to talk about it.

"Hey, can I read your love fortune?" The idea came out of my mouth as soon as it went through my head.

The fur around his cheeks started to match my shade. I just smiled kindly and dug thorugh my backpack to pull out my tarot cards. I spread the deck right next to my empty plate.

"Okay, select three cards and leave them face down."

The gray hedgehog blinked, overwhelmed by the choices. "Which cards?"

"Don't worry Silver. Just listen to your heart, and pick whichever ones call to you. Try to think about what you want in a relationship."

His gold eyes studied mine before he descended into a bashful mess. It was super cute, and I had to giggle a bit. Silver raised one hand to pyschokinetically select the three cards closest to me, turning them so they were perfectly perpendicular. The teal light faded, and I unveiled the first card.

"The reversed Empress…." I closed my eyes briefly, waiting for the flicker, that inner voice of my intuition telling me what it meant. They snapped back open as if I were possessed. "You're relying too much on others, you should follow your own heart."

Silver kept betraying his name with his continued blush. I leaned across the table. "What does your heart tell you to do?"

"Th-th-that's the problem, Amy, I don't know. It's easier to just… have others tell me what to do." His gaze left mine to glance sideways at Blaze. The cat was across the room, eating her sandwich in peace, browsing through her phone.

"What happened between you two?" I pressed.

Silver gave himself a hug, rubbing at his own biceps. He wasn't cold, but perhaps nervous? Avoiding eye contact, stuck in his head - I wish he'd just tell me what was bothering him so much.

"What does the second card say?" Silver whispered and activated his powers on it to nudge me to uncover it. I sighed and continued my reading. It was so hard having friends that wouldn't open up to you - but it was better than not having friends at all, right? Once again I thought back to my bestie Cream whom I left behind… if only she could have come with me. She'd know how to be kind and get Silver to open up.

"Hold on," I said, and pulled out my own phone. I typed out a quick text to Cream, just to see what she was up to.

ESPIO

Chameleons all naturally have what most would consider "fantastic abilities". All of us can change the color of our outer skin to match our surroundings. So when I was offered a position at GUN due to my ability to "turn invisible", I was intrigued. Surely they knew about our innate biology? While it may a difficult thing to master without intense concentration, I still do not believe, to this day, that I would qualify for being a "gifted student".

Either way, this may be of no consequence unless one is naturally curious. I suppose it's to my advantage that most do not understand my abilities; alternatively, if they do understand them, they recruited me to the government agency for another reason. A reason that was enough for me to sign up to figure out what that was. A reason, that, was most likely due to the report on the Master Emerald telling GUN what they didn't want to hear nor believe.

I don't put much stock in hunches, but this one did have some evidence behind it.

Another advantage of my invisibility was that sneaking out of school was child's play. During break periods like the current lunchtime, everyone assumed that if they couldn't find me, I'd just gone invisibile. Rouge, of course, knew I had left (since she was my "girlfriend" and all) but she'd cover for me. But in the meantime, I had an errand to run.

The old plaza parking lot had more pigeons than cars, more trash than open businesses. It wasn't the best nor worst part of town - I think the smell kept away crowds of rich and poor alike. Hurrying across the pavement, I made my way behind the building and knocked on the door labeled with a faded green sign.

"Password."

The raspy voice behind the door was intentionally too deep. I cleared my throat, knowing he could see me. "Vector, open up."

A moment of silence.

"Password."

"I'm not going to say it. I have less than 30 minutes before I have to get back."

"Password."

I sighed. Better to humor him. "Find the computer room."

The door burst open and I entered, shaking my head while stepping over the mess of old pizza boxes that littered the foyer.

"Espio's here!" Charmy looked up from his computer to smile and bob his head at me.

"Hey pal, what brings you back?" boss asked me, his grin as toothy as ever.

"I have news - where's our visitor? You two didn't let him leave, did you?"

"Relax, he's happy as can be in the back room. Definitely not bored out of his mind," Vector said with a sheepish smile.

Charmy huffed, typing away. "He's probably still playing with his rocks. Wait, that didn't sound right - haha!" The bee cackled, and I left Vector and Charmy to their immaturity and headed to the backroom. I had to avoid countless piles of disorganized invoices and papers, but the familiar musty smell put me at ease. I knocked on the open door, trying to get the attention of our guest. The red echidna looked up and met my eyes with a smirk.

"Please tell me you're here to break me out."

"No, sorry."

Knuckles sighed and leaned back in his chair, putting aside the device he was holding to grab at his forehead instead. "Damn it. If you don't want to let me out of my prison, why are you here?"

I crossed my arms, but my voice was was calm. "Knuckles, this is hardly a 'prison' that could hold you. You could fight your way out of here with no effort. The real prison is within your mind; even if you leave this place, you'd be held captive by the fear of failure to live up to your duty. And likely by GUN as well - they're looking for both you and your Emerald."

He rolled his eyes; of course he didn't want to hear the truth. "You done?"

"Vector made a deal with your mother to keep you safe, otherwise none of us will benefit from her will. Therefore we can't let you leave, it's too dangerous for you."

"I know. You three are all about the money. But it doesn't feel right for me to be in hiding."

"You have your emerald pieces, we agreed that we couldn't let them get in the wrong hands."

He opened his gigantic fists to reveal shards of the most powerful gem in the world. Knuckles' sad purple eyes reflected their green sheen. "I'm the guardian of the Master Emerald, not just these pathetic pieces."

"We have a plan. Patience is required while we get our metaphorical pieces in place, including these actual pieces."

The large echidna shook his head. "It doesn't feel right, Espio. For me to be in here doing nothing. Right now pieces are falling into the wrong hands, I can feel it. You said GUN is looking for my Emerald, they probably have several pieces already."

"GUN isn't the only one, which is why I came. To warn you. There is an AGS student, a master jewel thief, who has taken a particular interest in ancient history of the Chaos Emeralds, and is thoroughly convinced the Master Emerald exists."

Knuckles shrugged. "I'm not worried about some thief."

"You should be. This is the most infamous jewel thief in the world."

"Wait, you said he was a student. How does a jewel thief end up as a GUN recruit?"

"First of all, she, not he. And I have my theories. The official story is that she was finally caught and recruited, but I've gotten to know Rouge, and she doesn't make mistakes that would get her caught. There is some other reason she's attending the school. She asked me about our report on the Master Emerald, and given her history I'd say she's a major threat. Which is why I decided to get close to her."

"You've gotten to know her, huh?" Vector and Charmy suddenly poked their heads in.

I let myself smile at them. "Intimately."

Charmy grumbled. "Boss, can I get the field assignment next time…?"

"Quiet. Are you still in contact with Tails?" Vector asked.

Charmy nodded. "Yeah… he told me yesterday he got another rejection letter."

"That's not a surprise," I said, crossing my arms. "We all know there's only one thing that will get Tails into the academy."

"You have a plan for that, too?" Knuckles asked.

"If I knew how to do that I'd be more than a detective," Vector said, shaking his head. "You'd better get back, Espio. Keep an eye on Rouge - that bat might throw a wrench in things."

"Roger that," I nodded at the boss, then turned to our visitor. "Stay out of trouble Knuckles. We will get you that Emerald back, but it'll take more than you trying to punch your way into things."

He huffed. "Sounds like it'll take you getting into some bat thief."

I disappeared from view, ready to sneak back, hearing Charmy whining as I left: "Can I be the one keeping an eye on and getting into Rouge…"

Immature and rough around the edges as they were, those were my boys. Working as I did we often had to split up, and I did miss them, even their crass comments about women. Truth was, I didn't care much for sleeping with the attractive woman. I knew she was just with me to get information, and I was doing the same with her. It was a mutual relationship of convenience, and I think we were both smart enough to know that. Question was, who would get what they needed first?

(Later…)

SONIC

Mystic Ruins. Not quite sure what lead my feet to the jungle today, but here I was. Guess I have a knack for finding adventure no matter where I go. This place was pretty cool, though. Some old buildings, but mostly abandoned for trees and branches to grow over. I'd been here enough times that I could find the paths through the jungle blindfolded. So when something felt different, I knew it. Another path had been cut through the jungle, leaving weird holes here and there in the ground.

Huh. Who else was out here today? I'd seen explorers and such before, but the random holes were throwing me off. I followed the trail through the east side of the jungle, weaving in and out of the tree line. Was this some kind of mole? Or a badnik? Or -

Well, there was my answer. I spied a red dude I'd never seen before - he didn't quite look like a hedgehog, as his spines were flattened and hung like dreadlocks. He also had gigantic hands and was burrowing into the ground. There was my hole digger. I zoomed in front of his path and paused, crossing my arms as I sized him up.

"Lookin' for somethin'?"

The digger paused, his eyes wide as a deer as he stared at me.

"Hey pal, never seen you around before. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, who're you?"

He tried to run, but of course I caught up to him immediately, running backwards as I got in his way. He just glared at me.

"Outta my way."

"Just wondering what you're looking for."

"It's none of your business."

"Ya know, I've been finding a lot of these shiny things lying around. Could it be one of these?" I tempted him with the sparkling green object in my hand. He immediately lunged for it, but I sidestepped, chuckling. "Too slow."

He quickly regained his balance, shaking a fist at me. "That doesn't belong to you. Give it here."

"You sayin' it's yours? How do I know yer tellin' the truth?"

"I don't know who you think you are, but that emerald shard is worth more than anything you've ever held before. I'm Knuckles the Echidna, the Guardian of the Master Emerald. So give it to me…" He shook his fist at me. "...or I'll take it from you."

I smirked, not about to turn down a challenge. I slipped the emerald back into my glove. "Heh, you want it? Come get it."

I dashed away from the echidna, grinning as he gave chase. I weaved in and out of the trees, zooming through the familiar rural playground. There was no way I was going to let this Knuckles dude catch me, but I'd make a fun game out of taunting and avoiding him while I could. I hadn't had this much fun in ages! Knuckles wasn't fast, but I could tell he knew this jungle, taking shortcuts even I didn't know about. Strange I hadn't seen him before today… either way he was a worthy opponent. And he didn't get close to taking whatever this shiny emerald was.

Of course, with me out here breaking the sound barrier and making tons of noise, it soon drew the attention of GUN. Their giant battle ships came blaring into the jungle, bright searchlights and loudspeakers interrupting our skirmish.

I stopped, kicking up dirt and mud, and Knuckles came to a halt beside me. "GUN." He growled.

"I'm not a fan either." I nodded at him.

Knuckles quickly looked side to side, dodging behind a tree to hide from the ship lights. "They can't find me. Keep the Emerald for now, Sonic. But next time we meet I am taking it from you."

"Hey, where you going?" I demanded, but the echidna buried into the ground, leaving barely any dirt displaced. I only had a moment to admire his handiwork before the searchlights found my position. I cursed as the GUN ship descended on me. I could just escape, but something kept my feet planted. I'd hear them out, this time. Perhaps they knew something about Knuckles.

"Sonic the Hedgehog, the fastest thing alive! We'd like to offer you the chance of a lifetime!" an unremarkable voice bellowed from the loudspeaker.

"What is this, an annoying internet ad?" I rolled my eyes, tapping my foot. "For the last time, I'm not joining your stupid school!"

"Sonic, this is a school that's all about you. We want you to reach your full potential."

"Now you're a shrink. Either way, blah, blah, blah - " My eyes disappeared into the top of my head.

"We want to help you get faster."

I stopped, but just for a second.

"It's obvious you have a gift, raw ability, but you're rowdy and undisciplined - what you need is a teacher, someone to work with you one-on-one and hone your abilities."

I snorted. "Like hell I need someone to tell me what to do. That's gonna be a hard pass," I waved my left hand in the air with dismissal.

"Maybe for you. But you know someone who would love to study at our school, who keeps sending in applications only for them to be rejected time after time. "

Sudden anger boiled within me. "You lay a hand on Tails - "

"We won't. We'd love to have him study with us since he truly is a prodigy. But I don't think that will happen. The two of you are a package deal after all. Shame. It could be so good for you both. You could get faster, and you could see your best friend achieve his goals… and you could get us off your tail."

Damn, those were good points. It would be nice to not be looking over my shoulder all the time. And that look of disappointment on Tails' face yesterday had hit me harder than I'd expected. If it was true the only thing holding him back was me, well… we couldn't have that could we?

Maybe school was going to suck. But who said I had to stay? I could give Tails his foot in the door, the little dude deserved it.

"Well, when you put it that way…" I jabbed my hand forward, in a gesture to shake hands. "Deal."

A drop door fell down from the GUN ship as if to beckon me inside. I didn't like the thought of making a deal with the devil, but maybe this wouldn't be all bad. I hopped inside, taking just a moment to admire all the high tech equipment, knowing Tails would be geeking out over all this soon enough.

"Next stop, let's pickup my little bro. And then…" I grinned. "Your school is about to become a lot more cool."