The sky was dark.
"Hold still you idiot"
"YEOWCH!"
"Oh I'm sorry, did the bandage hurt?"
"Be more gentle ple-OWWW!"
"So the bridge falling on top of you, that was just fine, but the bandage is the thing that does it"
Amy stared at campfire while the opossum man and the crow woman bickered. The man winces in pain as his head bandage is tied off, the red color blending with the bloody cut on his head. He turns to Amy and flexes his arms at her.
"Don't you worry, little lady", the opossum man says, "I'm a hero and heroes are the toughest bunch around". Amy's empty eyes stare at the campfire, unflinching, unfeeling, barely aware of the world around her. The man rubs the back of his head, "Tough crowd tonight", he says as he sits across from Amy. The woman returns with a small bowl and squats in front of Amy before bringing a spoonful of broth to her mouth.
"It's not too hot is it?", the woman asks as she places the spoon against Amy's lips. Amy's mouth quickly swallows down the spoon's contents as the woman struggles to pull the spoon from her mouth. "Whoa whoa, no need to rush, we have plenty", the woman says as she pries the spoon free. "We do!?", the man says with a bit of drool visibly crawling down the side of his mouth. The woman turns and glares at the man who now sheepishly places his hands on his stomach.
The woman resumes feeding Amy, "Make sure you eat it all, ok", the woman says. After another bite of food, the man stands up and walks next to Amy. "Yes, make sure you eat it all so you can become a big strong hero like me", the man says with a flex. Amy turns to him and opens her mouth, "He…ro?", she whispers. "D-did she just speak?", the woman asks.
Chapter 3 : The Beast
The seaside wind brushes against Amy's cheeks as she looks at the familiar dock. Amy closes her eyes and listens to the sound of the water crashing at the shore, the sun warming her face, the breeze ruffling her uniform.
"Hey Amy!", a young boy yells from the end of the docks. Amy opens her eyes and jogs towards him as he motions her closer. "Hey Tails, is this one ours?", Amy asks, motioning to the small ship parked next to her. Tails nods and walks on deck, Amy follows closely behind. As they descend below the deck, Amy sees Shadow and a red echidna talking to each other.
The echidna turns to Amy and lifts his hand, "Yo Amy", he says, "Did you see Sonic on the way here?". Amy shakes her head, "No, I think it's just us, Knuckles". Knuckles crosses his arms and frowns.
"Fastest and the slowest thing alive", Tails says, "We should start calling him Paradox". Amy and Tails take their seats, but as Amy sits down, Shadow shifts away slightly. Amy turns to Shadow, "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you, after last week I should be the one shifting away". Shadow winces at her words, "I've already apologized for that", he turns his head towards her, "You can only fish for so much sympathy". Amy shifts closer towards him, "Oh well, it was fun while it las-", Amy is cut off by a loud bang on the upper deck.
Sonic descends towards the others, "Hey guys", he calls out. Sonic and Tails high five as the ship disembarks from the dock and terminals around the room begin to light up. Tails begin typing away at a terminal as the central table projects a holographic image of a nearby town. "This is Spagonia, we are going to land on the north east shore here and meet up with Captain Blaze", Tails says. "The mission is simple recon, apparently Blaze can't get any info on the supposed explosions that occurred around three days ago".
Images of a damaged clock tower appear on the display. Knuckles looks at the large holes in the tower, "Is this from an artillery strike or something?", he says. Shadow shakes his head, "The town is close enough to water to be a valuable resource, it's easy to see why someone would try to take it". Sonic and Amy focus on the tower, "Whatever it was, they are pretty luck the tower didn't collapse from it", Sonic says.
Tails continues clacking away on his keyboard, "We touch down in about two hours so, get some rest while you can", Tails says as Sonic zips onto a free sofa. Amy walks up to the top deck, "Anyone else coming?", she asks, but Knuckles shakes his head and Shadow remains silent.
The clouds were quickly passing by overhead as Amy held on to the rail of the ship. The wind blew against Amy's quills as water lightly splashed away from the ship. Amy's jacket began to inflate slightly as her skirt flipped and flickered in the wind, "Maybe it is a bit too windy", she said as she held her skirt down. "You should be more mindful of your attire, miss Rose", Shadow says as he approaches the rail. "Oh I thought you were Sonic", Amy says as the wind calms down.
Shadow stares into the horizon, "You sound dissapointed".
"I am", Amy responds.
"I guess Sonic really needs his rest". Shadow turns, "He stays down there because he has issues with water". Amy stares at the water and thinks, (I'm an excellent swimmer! I could teach Sonic to swim and then he and I could get closer and-).
Amy places her hands on her face and grins, Shadow looks confused and rolls his eyes. "You're very strange, you know that?", Shadow says as an island becomes visible in the distance. Amy joins Shadow as they both watch the island, "I've been told", Amy hesitates for a moment, "I feel like you've been told that too". Shadow smiles.
"Maybe, but in my case that's not true",
"I'm just a bit-".
"Misunderstood", Amy finishes.
Shadow looks at Amy as she turns to go back to the lower deck, "We're teammates now, so when we get back, we should hang out together", Amy says. As she descends Sonic shouts, "Make sure you eat before we disembark, its going to be hard to get a bite with the city evacuated". Shadow looks back at the island, now rapidly growing in size.
The ship docks along the shore, Sonic, Shadow and Knuckles exit first and Amy follows close behind. The island was a modest city filed with simple brick and mortar houses, food stands, and a grand university in its center. Above all the buildings loomed the now damaged watchtower in the distance.
"We just need to wait by the central plaza and try not to fall asleep", Sonic says with a yawn.
Shadow walks ahead, "Sounds like you're going to have some trouble with that", he says, Sonic smirks. The team begins to head deeper into the city walls passing by empty food stands, and abandoned buildings as the approach the large fountain in the center of town.
Deflated balloons litter the streets as Amy approaches the fountain. The water splashing is the only sound in the heart of the city. Knuckles sits against the fountain side, "This silence reminds me of home", he says. Amy sits on the side of the fountain and watches the clouds go by.
"Who are we meeting here", Amy asks. Shadow walks by.
"We're meeting the lovebirds", he says, Sonic laughs.
"Shadow, don't tease them". Sonic walks to the fountain, " These two have been a recon team for a few years, and they way they act around each other is kinda, well, you'll see".
"See what", a strong voice says from behind Sonic, a purple cat stands behind him.
"Oh the princess has arrived", Sonic says with a cheeky bow.
Amy looks at the cat lady, "You're the trainer from the arena exam!", she says. "Blaze", the cat says in response, "Silver is investigating the tower currently".
Shadow turns to her, "Since the initial attack, has there been-".
Blaze turns to Shadow, "No, there is no sign of other explosives".
"Wait, wasn't this an artillery strike", Knuckles asks, "No, the cause of the explosion was not yet determined, but it was not from an outside attack".
Amy looks at the tower and examines the gaping hole, "Even from here, it does look like there isn't any surrounding damage", Shadow looks at the hole, "Very suspicious, but why evacuate the city if it was an accidental explosion".
Blaze begins walking on the street towards the tower, "Something happened there and we need to figure it out soon".
Sonic and Shadow begin to follow Blaze, "Amy and Knuckles, stay here and wait for the second recon team", Shadow says.
Knuckles groans, "So we sit and wait for an hour only to have to sit and wait some more".
Shadow turns away and begins walking towards the tower, "We'll be back before you know it", Sonic says with a wink and a thumbs up. Amy watches as the three dissapear into the city.
The sun was almost touching the horizon as Amy an Knuckles watched over the fountain.
"I don't get it", Knuckles said, Amy shook her head. "It's just for fun", Amy said as she took his card back into her hand. "Well I mean I don't get this whole fortune telling thing, but I don't get why they haven't responded to us in 3 hours", Knuckles says as he begins to pace.
Amy stays sitting and packs her cards away, "No one said recon duty would be exiting", Amy says. Amy looks towards the large clock tower, the massive clock still intact after the explosions. Knuckles looks towards the tower, "Well I don't like wait-"
BOOM
The tower begins to smoke as a large explosion tears the roof away. Knuckles looks at the tower and begins running, Amy follows close behind. The echoes of footsteps resonate throughout the city, even close to the clock tower there are no signs of intruders. The smoke was still dispersing even as the approached the tower, there was no sign of the others at the entrance. (I hope the others are ok), Amy thinks as she clasps her hands in a praying manner. Knuckles opens the doors and enters the base of the tower, a light layer of smoke is present at the ground floor. Several knocked out soldiers and a destroyed tank sit sprawled across the floor. Out of the mist, a hedgehog carrying someone begins to emerge.
"Sonic?", Amy asks inquisitively.
The hedgehog exits the obscuring layer to reveal Blaze in his arms. Blaze coughs, "We need…to stop them…", she coughs again. The hedgehog looks at Amy, his quills straight up and a seafoam aura surrounding himself. "The other two are taking care of them up top", the silver hedgehog says, "You need to rest now". Blaze and Silver exit and wait at the entrance, Silver begins to open a first aid kit as Blaze rests her head against the door frame. Amy looks upward, the heaviest density of smoke is at the top of the tower, where Sonic and Shadow have gone.
Without a word, Amy runs up to the top of the tower, using her shirt as a smoke filter. Knuckles calls out to her twice, but she continues running up the broken staircase, occasionally leaping from side to side. Once Amy gets above the large hole in the tower, the smoke lightens as it exits to the outside world. The large top of the tower is loudly abuzz with the inner clockwork and gears, stairs continue to line the walls as Amy's worry grows. Finally she reaches the top hatch and bursts through the opening.
"Sonic!", Amy yells as she witnesses Sonic and Shadow standing over two destroyed exosuits and seven knocked out soldiers. Shadow adjusts his gloves, "Recon duty means you hold position and let us know if anything changes", he says with a huff. Amy breathlessly stares at Sonic, "I…I…I thought", she stammers, her eyes glistening with tears.
Sonic gives a thumbs up, "Of course I'm ok", he says, "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog".
Amy runs to Sonic and tightly embraces him, happy to see he is unhurt. Sonic looks down at her and pats the back of her head, then he looks to Shadow, "Maybe we should have checked in first".
After Amy calms down, Sonic explains, "Blaze had already ruined the exosuit by the time we got to the top, but they got a few good shots on her by the time Silver had finished with the other suit".
Silver enters from the hatch and looks around, "All clear up here", he asks as Shadow points to the soldiers. Silver nods and the soldiers begin to lift off the ground with the same aura as silver, they converge and begin slowly descending off the side of the tower together. "Since we can't float of the edge, why don't we take the stairs", Sonic says. The three begin walking down the staircase, the smoke in a very light layer as most had already escaped through the hole in the side. As they pass the hole, the sun shines in Amy's eyes, pulling her gaze to the sunset.
"Beautiful", Sonic says as Amy nods in response. "The sunset looks good too", Sonic says as he continues downward.
Amy stares for a moment before realizing what Sonic had said, her face reddening and her hands grabbing her cheeks.
(D-D-Did he just call me that)?
Amy thinks as she peeks between her fingers, Sonic looks back and winks. Amy gets more flustered and looks everywhere that isn't at Sonic (Is he teasing me or does he really…), Amy's thoughts are interrupted by a radio transmission.
"Team Chaotix is here, but we don't see the recon team anywhere", the voice yells. "Something came up, we are on our way back", Shadow responds as the three begin to run down the stairs.
Silver, Blaze, and Knuckles are all absent from the ground floor upon their arrival. "I guess they are placing the soldiers on their ship", Sonic says as his the silence begins to sink in. The three begin to run back to the central plaza to rendezvous with the recon team, the sun setting entirely on their arrival as street lights turn on to guide them. The plaza is as bright as ever with the fountain shining like a star in the center, a festive appearance put on even in the absence of the residents.
"Geez, you kept us waiting here when we could have been looking at the clock tower", a loud crocodile shouts. Sonic smiles, "You took too long so we cleared up everything ourselves" he says. In the corner of the plaza a bee is flying around and looking at all of the lights, seemingly unaware of the others arrival.
"Where is Espio", Sonic asks, "He was scouting out the area to see what happened to you guys", the crocodile responds.
As Sonic debriefs the man, Amy stares at the clock of the clock tower, illuminating the town like the moon itself. The large crack of the clock itself serves as a reminder of…, "Wait", Amy thinks. Amy observes the large hole in the clock from afar wondering when the clock tower's clock was damaged.
The hole over suddenly drops to the ground with a loud bang heard in the distance.
Amy's skin begins to crawl as she turns to see everyone staring at the tower. "What was that noise", Knuckles asks as everyone readies their weapons. Suddenly the radio crackles, "Vector, Charmy, we have something big heading your way", the voice says. "What is it, Espio", Vector asks, but there is no response. Suddenly a purple chameleon lands in front of the fountain, "Espio", Vector calls out. "Something big is coming here now", Espio says as he runs past the fountain. "The radio starts up again, "Sonic, there is a large energy disturbance heading your way", Tails says. Sonic looks forward and sees only the streetlights shaking as their guest approaches.
Shadow turns to Sonic, "The soldiers said the weapon had been moved already, then what is this?". Sonic looks forward and clenches his fists, "Just another thing between me and a good night's sleep", he says. The street lights along the street begin to go out with only the central plaza's lights remaining, a loud thumping is heard and soon a large shadow appears in the center.
The creature's silhouette is obscured by a surrounding dark mist as it stands tall, well over one story high, but Amy can clearly see it has tentacles hanging off its back and four legs to move around. A large yellow eye opens up from the creature's head before it unleashes a terrifying howl.
The creature dashes for Sonic, but he quickly escapes its claws as the group begins their assault. Espio attacks from the rooftops, throwing shuriken and kunai into the flesh of their assailant. Knuckles dashes in and delivers a heavy blow to the creatures hind leg, causing it to crumple to the side, just close enough for Vector to punch it across the plaza. The creature rebounds and shoots a beam of bight green energy at Vector and Knuckles, knocking them aside. The yellow eyes stops on Amy as the beam shoots at her, she swings her hammer, knocking the blast back into the beast's eye, but also knocking her hammer out of her hands. The creature stumbles but shoots another blast directly at Amy before she can react. Amy sees the bright light approach her quickly, and suddenly a figure eclipses the blast and carries her away.
Amy finds herself in Shadow's arms as he leaps away from the blast. "You're starting to make a habit of this", Amy teases, "only because you got sloppy", Shadow responds. Amy watches the creature's eye open and dart around as Charmy distracts it. "What is that thing", Amy asks, "We don't know, but my guess is a prototype for the weapon they were developing here", Shadow responds while sending a lightning blast at the beast. The kunai embedded withing the flesh serve as a lightning rod to conduct the full brunt of the attack directly into the creature. Suddenly multiple eyes open on different parts of the creature and beams of green light shoot wildly, hitting Charmy, Knuckles, and Espio. The eyes close and the creature's tentacles begin flailing wildly.
Amy and Shadow ready themselves for another attack as the tentacles begin to crackle with electricity.
"Sonic Wind", Sonic yells as a tornado of wind lifts the creature up and slams it down.
The tentacles stop moving and go limp as the creature lay motionless in the crater it has made. Vector gets up and lands a hammer blow on the creature for good measure, "I don't think it's gonna wake up for a long time", he says. Sonic takes in a deep breath, "Not so tough, right guys", Sonic says as he looks at the rest of the fighters, battered and bruised. Amy looks at Sonic, unharmed and still full of energy on a completely different level than everyone else.
Vector helps up Espio and carries Charmy back to the docked ship as Sonic helps Knuckles up. "We're not bringing that thing onto the ship are we", Knuckles asks. Sonic shakes his head, "We've already got you, we don't need another wrecking ball", he says. Knuckles smiles and walks back to the ship with Espio and Vector. Shadow stares at the creature and begins to let loose a few shallow breathes. "Shadow, what's wrong", Amy asks as Shadow rises and backs away from the creature, "Nothing, just don't get too close to it", he says. Sonic begins walking back to the ship, "Tails, get a stasis field ready for the big guy", he says as he walks away. Sonic turns to Shadow, "You don't mind watching over it while I get Silver?", Sonic asks. Shadow nods and Sonic speeds to the shore.
Amy walks around the fountain, staring at the creature the entire time. "You can go with Sonic if you're scared", Shadow says while leaning against the wall. Amy turns to him and holds her hammer tightly, "I'm here to make sure you don't have any trouble", she responds. "You seem to be the one that needs saving", Shadow says. Amy walks towards Shadow, and points a finger in his face, "Then that means I owe you so I'm not going to leave you alone until we are even", she says. Shadow looks at her and gets up from the wall, "Don't make such foolish promises", he says as Amy backs up a bit. Amy takes a breath and walks up to Shadow with her hands on her hips, "I always follow through with my promises", she says. Shadow walks closer until they are inches apart, he stares down at Amy with his ruby red eyes reflecting off her emerald green eyes.
The two stare into each other, neither willing to back down as Shadow suddenly embraced Amy tightly.
Amy's face reddened with the sudden hug from Shadow, was she misreading the mood of this conversation entirely? Amy felt a strong wind in her hair as Shadow began running at full speed once again carrying her. Amy looked at Shadow's face, his eyes looking worried as he carried her away, "Shadow…", Amy said before looking behind him…the creature was waking up.
Amy's eyes widened as she pressed her earpiece, "IT'S UP IT'S UP!", Amy radios to the others as it begins to give chase. Before she can warn Shadow, A blast makes contact with his back and forces the two into a tumble.
Amy's vision blurs as the world stops spinning, Shadow lies on the ground slowly rising up before he is pinned by the creature's claw. "SHADOW", Amy shouts as she brandishes her hammer and swings at the creature's leg, causing it to strike Amy away. Amy bounces up quickly but is hit by a green beam, knocking her against the wall. "Sha…dow", she mutters fighting to remain conscious as she once again raises her hammer to the creature.
"AMY RUN!", Shadow yells from under the claw, but Amy gets up and begins her dash for the creature. Beams of green fly past Amy as she gets with striking distance and slams her hammer into one of the kunai implanted in the creature, sending it out the other side of the beast. The claw lifts off Shadow as Amy runs and grabs him with her free hand and they continue to flee.
"Where is Sonic", Amy asks knowing full well that he was still running from the other side of the island to their location.
Just as they approach the edge of the city, a shadow looms above the two before Amy pushes Shadow ahead of her and swings her hammer upward, parrying the monster's claw. Shadow looks at Amy as she shows no sign of retreating. A large claw misses Amy as she leaps onto the leg of the monster and uses the embedded kunai as grips to climb the leg and reach it's back. Several eyes open as the creature howled and then collapses to the ground. "Amy!", Shadow yells as he sees Amy with her hammer pressed against the creature's back, the eyes once again closing and the area around collapsing.
Gravitational magic, she was planning to keep it pinned so he could escape. Shadow began running towards Amy, but was slowed by the intense gravitation field she had used to keep the monster pinned. Tentacles fought against gravity and began to crackle with electricity, one striking Amy before she intensified the field once more, creating a crater in the ground.
"Shadow, you have to warn everyone", Amy says as she buried her hammer deeper into the back of the beast.
"Amy you have to get out of here now", Shadow yelled as he was slowly getting pulled in by the field.
The tentacles began to strike Amy with increased frequency. Amy looked up to Shadow's face with labored breathes,
"Shadow please, I beg of you"
"No, I won't abandon you this time!", Shadow shouted as he forced himself towards the creature. Amy watched as Shadow rushed towards her and reached out his hand to her. "I can save you", Shadow said as Amy looked at him there were tears in his eyes. As Amy grabbed his hand, Shadow pulled her off and yelled,
"CHAOS CONTROL"
Amy's eyes were filled with light and soon everything adjusted, they were on the ship on the shore. "What just happened", Amy asks as she feels something weighing on her shoulder. Shadow's head slumps over her as his passed out body slumps into Amy's arms.
"Shadow", Amy asks, "What did you do" as she questions him, Sonic can be heard on the radio.
"I can't find Amy or Shadow, but the big guy is here and boy is he mad", Sonic yells. Amy clicks on her earpiece, "Sonic! Shadow and I are on the ship now", Amy says, "I wish you would have told me sooner, I hate being this guy's company", Sonic says as a large crash is heard over the radio. "Shadow did something and now we-", Sonic stops her, "Tell me when I get there, I have to lose this guy quick or we'll all be in trouble".
Amy drags Shadow down below to the briefing room, Tails and Knuckles run to help her. "How did you two get her so fast", Tails asks.
"I don't know, Shadow did something and now we are here", Amy says. Knuckles places Shadow on the couch, "Whatever he did, I'm glad you're here now", he says. Tails starts the engine and the ship begins to turn away from the island. A loud thud is head from the top deck, Sonic runs through the room and towards Tails. "I tried to lure him away, but I don't know how much time we have left, buddy", Sonic says in a panic. The boat shakes as Tails quickly pulls away from the shore, a roaring is heard from outside. Knuckles runs to the deck and sees nothing but the shore of the island shrinking in the distance.
From the side, Vector and Blaze's ships approach, "Knuckles, did you see where the monster went", Vector yells. Knuckles yells back, "We heard it, but I guess it can't swim". Silver looks around the ships before nodding, "We need to issue reinforcements, we can't let it leave the island". Knuckles gives a thumbs up and turns as a large claw pins him to the deck.
From the water's surface, a large creature emerges and begins to pull the ship down, the yellow eyes reveal it's identity. Espio jumps out and begins throwing kunai once more, irritating the beast. As Blaze's ship approaches, Silver manages to lift the claw off of Knuckles, before the beast shoots a beam at him. As the claw comes back down, Knuckles braces himself and lifts the claw off the ship, a second claw clings to the deck.
Amy and Sonic run to the upper deck and immediately spring into action, Amy slams her hammer on the claw and Sonic uses curls into a spin before ramming the monster's core. The claw scrapes across the surface of the deck, but manages to catch the railing. An anchor slams into the beast's back as Vector reels it in for a second swing, the beast turns to Vector to get a shot in, but winces when Knuckles fist makes contact with the remaining claw. The creature howls and begins to glow bright green with its tentacles reaching straight out and hardening.
"That thing is going to explode!", Tails yells from the lower deck as Sonic and Amy scramble to pull the claw out of the ship. Vector throws the anchor a second time as Silver directs it, making it wrap around the monster's neck. Charmy and Espio unhook the anchor from the ship while Vector and Silver pull the chain. Knuckles jumps and glides at the creature with his arm pulled back, "GET. OFF!", he yells as his fist makes contact with the beast, sending it into the ocean depths, the anchor dragging it down where it's brilliant light could only barely be seen.
"PUNCH IT, TAILS!", Sonic yells as all the ships speed away as far as they can get before a large muffled explosion is heard.
A large water dome is formed as waves push the ships farther away from the island. Water rains down on the ships as the boats continue to sail away, Amy and Sonic lay on the deck catching their breath. Sonic gets up and pumps his fists to the air, "Whoa what a rush", he yells. Amy can't help but laugh loudly at him, even in the face of disaster, he really is something else.
"Have a nice sleep", Amy asks Shadow as his eyes begin to open. Shadow looks at her and then places his hand on his head, "What happened to that thing", he asks. Amy smiles, "Oh boy are you in for a story", she says excitedly.
"That green energy is bad news", Espio says over the communications link. Tails leans back in his chair, "Yeah, but without a sample of the creature, it's going to be hard to determine it's exact nature". Silver comes on the link, "We have to get what information we have to the academy, they can take it from here". Tails nods, "Get your info ready, the headmaster is going to want a very detailed report about this one". Espio and Silver nod, the com link cuts out leaving only the desktop on screen.
The ships approach a familiar pier as the exhausted recon teams prepare themselves for some much needed rest.
Next Episode Preview
With one mission under her belt, Amy is sent to the village of Knothole to assist a local contact. Before she is deployed she has one more mission, preparing for the school dance.
Feeling grow and emotions erupt in the next episode of Tears Through Time