A/N: Yes, this fic is supposedly 'discontinued', but I found this half finished chapter in my documents, remembered the readers that asked me to continue and... well, I gave this a shot again. I thought if I released this chapter, maybe it'd encourage me to keep going. I'm busy getting ready for college, so I don't have the time that I used to. Apologies to the few that actually liked this and I left hanging.

- Chapter 5: Thoughts of the Troubled -

Now what was there to do?

The hero's knees trembled as he slowly lifted his torso into a seating position. With a sour expression of pain, he looked down at his feet. The sand in his shoes made him itch. His head throbbed as if his palpitating heart had leapt up there. Touching his chest lightly, he was relieved to see that he had not suffered anything worse than a few burns. No bloody external injuries. But skin contact still burned like hell.

How long have I been laying out here?

Sonic sat slouched and unmoving. Every muscle in his body protested for even the slightest movement he made. He looked past Shadow's form and into the prime sky. He barely even noticed the thin golden strip of sunlight highlighting the horizon of the deserted valley, or when the dark latter character began to groggily stand up on his own. All he could think of was the humiliation he had gone through just before he was knocked out. He couldn't rid himself of the mental image of that bone-chattering synthetic smile he had seen on Amy's face. She had left in such haste, practically leaving them for dead. In fact, why didn't she leave them for dead? Sonic wondered this to himself. Not that he was complaining; the cobalt hedgehog was very glad he was still living. But still... he was curious about her intentions.

That thing... it couldn't have been Amy.

"I know what you're thinking," a voice broke his train of thought. Without even bothering to move his head, Sonic's strong emerald green eyes gazed up lazily at Shadow. "I was thinking the same thing. Unfortunately, it's not true." He said this in a low tone and crossed his arms over his chest like a wise parent breaking the bad news to an oblivious child.

No... Not in a million years.

For a second, Sonic looked like he had just lost it. The world around him was out of focus and his head fell numb at the lack of blood rushing to his brain. Snapping out of his dizzy spell for a bit, he shook his head lightly and smiled a half-nervous, half-amused smile. "Wait. You can't be serious, can you?" he said in the midst of a chuckle. He searched for the answer within Shadow's crimson eyes and his smile faded. "Are you saying... that thing was... the real...?" He couldn't dare finish the question. His dizzy spell returned and suddenly he felt sick to his stomach.

Shadow merely nodded. "You can tease me about this all you want, but I swear I could see it in her eyes," he said. He stared down at his feet, recalling what he had felt under the gaze of that girl. "Beyond those dark, lifeless eyes, there was a soul trying to emerge from its prison. She's doing this against her will."

Oh, God... I think I'm gonna be sick.

He sounded so sure that Sonic couldn't even find the guts to oppose his explanation. Maybe Sonic would have been more convinced if he would have seen 'Amy's soul' for himself, but he remembered how hard it was to look into those dark, empty eyes without feeling like you're turning into stone. He outstretched his legs and stood up in one swift manouver, forgetting the lightheaded feeling in his cranium and almost falling back again. "Well, if what you say is right, we hafta go find her again!" he insisted.

Shadow stared at him incredulously. "Were you dropped on your head? We can't do that!" he said, restraining the urge to knock some sense into the blue ego-maniac. "She was obviously just toying around with us-- she could have killed both of us in an instant--!"

"Yet she allowed us to survive!" Sonic shot back, finishing Shadow's sentence to his favor. "That means Eggman plans to make her more powerful to use against all of us! We gotta stop her now before anybody else gets hurt! If we can't fight her, we could at least try snapping her out of whatever mind control she's under." Taking that last idea into deep consideration, Sonic got ready to run. He walked past his dark adversary, giving him a momentary side glance. "I don't care if you come with me or not. I'm going to do something about this before it's too late." Satisfied with his comeback, Sonic sped off, kicking up the desert sand behind him as he sprinted at mach 2 speed.

I'll show him. I'll show 'em all. I'm getting her back all on my own.

The remaining hedgehog just glowered at the ground where Sonic had stood on just seconds ago. He serenely closed his eyes, a method he had recently started when threatend to lash out on frustration. He had to do what he had to do. Turning the opposite direction, he headed back to town. As he ran, he watched as the sun peeked its majestic crown over the desert. Morning has arrived.

---------

A gentle clatter of closing steel doors. Light footsteps echoing in the large laboratory. Amy walks up to Eggman's control center and stops right behind his chair. He turns to face her with a grin. He had seen her at work... and was quite satisfied. "Good work, dear," he said in immense glee, patting her head and standing up before her. "You've proved yourself to be quite the ally! Then again, I am the one controlling your actions!" He held up the remote device on his wrist and laughed loudly. Amy only stared ahead in her usual robotic state. No emotion was made to be shown by her shell unless Eggman purposely got her to do it. Every single taunt, statement and cackle of laughter she uttered as she fought Sonic and Shadow were provided by the doctor himself. No surprise there.

Eggman scratched his chin, mentally considering having Amy work with the rest of his artificial intelligence minions. But the idea was quickly rejected. She worked alone and that's how he wanted it to be. Instead, what he was currently thinking over now was Amy's wardrobe. It was her usual wear singed to the last thread with only small traces of rose red that went unharmed. It had its "evil aura", yes, but it wasn't very safe... considering that after a good amount of time it'll start to crumble into ashes. He turned to an area near the main computer and pressed an intercom button. "Find a unit to search proper attire for Ms. Rose to use," he ordered through a speaker. There's a blip in reply as he released the button.

An almost immediate response. The metallic doors slid open and a plain-featured droid entered the area, waving at Amy for her to follow. As she was required to always do, Amy's form turned her head to face Dr. Eggman. She awaits for her command by the doctor to leave, and when she recieves it, she carries it out. There was no decision she was permitted to make on her own.

---------

There's always been something sacred about the primary circle of friends. Tails and Amy are two of my closest friends. When it comes to moments like this... it gets personal.

Sonic began to slow down, realizing he was running around in circles and getting nowhere. He had been venting. It angered him how Shadow could give up so easily, especially since he was never the kind of person to shrug, give a deadpanned "oh well, we tried", and walk away. If his history could speak for itself, it would say he was quite the opposite. Amy had never been a friend to Shadow, nor did she ever try to be. She had always seen him as her hero's adversary, and that meant he was hers as well. But it still seemed uncharacteristic for him to be so... unreasonable. He practically said the situation was hopeless.

Is it? Could it be that I have no chance to do this on my own?

Sonic refused to believe that. Going out of his way again, he turned around and stopped in the exact spot where he swore he had seen Amy appear before him. He didn't have much of a photographic memory, but he was almost entirely sure this was the place. He looked up and down, left and right, trying to figure out what to do next. Up was not an option...

"So down we go."

The hedgehog knew his abilities could take him farther than just getting from point A to point B. He ran in a 3-yard circle around this spot, creating a dust devil that reached far into the dawning sky and opened up a new route under his feet. Kicking sand into the air and creating a hole that led down, down, down, down... until sand was no longer under his feet, but a floor of steel that was most likely the roof of an underground base. He grinned triumphantly. His assumption had been correct, despite what Shadow had thought earlier. Sonic half-wished he was still around so he could give him an enormously satisfying "in-your-face!" comment.

"Now to find a way inside this tin can..."

---------

Somebody... please... let me out...

Inside the pink hedgehog's body, a dormant soul cried to herself. She was so alone. So afraid. She cringed and wailed in agony... or at least she would have... if her body could only respond to her feelings.

Let me out...!

But this wasn't so. This body was hers no longer. It was controlled by that black-hearted man... and she was the innocent among this. She was trapped in it. Almost like if she was back in that cold cage again, starving to escape.

Please... I can't take it...!

She could not even observe as her outer shell was led by the droid into a small, secluded place no bigger than a walk-in closet. A cage with no bars. The door slammed shut behind her and she was left alone. The room was dimly lit, but bright enough to see where she was stepping. It wasn't like there was much to look at; the floor, walls, and ceiling were as grey and lifeless as the rest of the lair. Fabric dark as night lay in her arms. Her body mechanically got to changing from her burned rags to the identically styled dress, long steel pointed boots and white gloves.

Her true self would have gagged and objected to wear such a horrid and uncheerful thing, making it more and more apparent that Amy was under obvious mind control.

As soon as she was finished with this casual chore, her eyes automatically closed... like a robot commanded into sleep mode. She wasn't tired at all... but she had no say in this. A muffled thump came from above. The makeshift roof over her head dented until an unknown force pushed a small panel down. The clatter of the tile hitting the equally metallic floor shattered the dead silence in the room. Sonic dropped down through the aperture along with a small cascade of sand.

"Well, that's lucky!" the blue hedgehog mused when seeing Amy all by her lonesome. "You okay, Ames?"

Sonic! You came to rescue me! Oh, I knew you'd come through!

Amy would have done anything to have her body at least project a smile, but it stayed robotically rigid. She only hoped Sonic would do the right thing and confront Eggman first before taking her...

"Well, no sense hanging around here!" he piped, grabbing her arm and dragging her up and out . "Lets go! Coming back home might help you snap out of that trance you seem to be in!"

...away.

Oh, you are such an IDIOT sometimes.