4.
"Well, hello Miles, my long time rival… If you're hearing this tape then my little messenger has reached you. Now, listen to me, fox boy, I'll be exceptionally brief this time… I've captured that little spy of yours… Yes, Sir Charles is in my tight grasp! Did you really think I would have never discovered the leak in my Empire? HA! That's hilarious! I was surprised, though, to find out that it was my first robotizied specimen… None the less, the game is now over! If you want him in one piece, I suggest you to give me back MY Emerald! You can keep that traitorous Sonic if you want but I want MY jewel! Let us meet in the place were my Empire made it's first steps, The Green Hill Zone, at noon, if you won't be there with my rightful possession then 'uncle Chuck' will die! To show you that I'm not bluffing… Here's a very special video just for you… Farewell!"
In the exact same moment in which the floating radio ceased to play it's tape, another flying object came from nowhere. It was a floating camera, this time.
An film started to play… The battered and almost scrapped figure of a sadly familiar mustached, robotizied hedgehog, was it's protagonist…
"T-Tails… L-listen… It is all true… I…KRFSSSH… Have been casually discovered by some blasted cleaning bot… Stupid, don't you think? T-this is… KRRRRFSSSH… Very important… Whatever you do… Do NOT give that emerald to Eggman… I-it was thanks to that gem that he's been able to… KRRRFFFSH… Built… KRRRRSSST… The Roboticizer!!!"
Another figure came into view, replacing the malfunctioning robot. It was the ugly face of the doctor himself.
"What have you heard is the truth, Miles… I wouldn't have been capable in gaining enough power for my machine to work, without that little miracle gem that I casually found when I was a little evil genius… So, here's the question: will you return that emerald to me and dooming everyone's existence once again… Or will you let a friend to die? Choose wisely, fox…"
And with that said, the video went blank.
And a young, two-tailed fox, was now more bemused than ever.
Tails's mind was troubled.
His head was spinning like an airplane's propeller… His blue high-tech biplane's propeller, in this case.
The infamous Green Hill Zone, the first place to ever been attacked by Eggman's Badniks, the location from which both Charles and Sonic used to live, was situated on South Island…
The fastest way to reach the isle was Tails's X-Tornado… Sure, he could have used Chaos Control instead but he logically thought that having an advanced, full-armored, combat plane as a backup supporter, would have been a good idea… Plus, he still hadn't mastered that particular chaos technique.
Thanks to both the light blue emerald inside the motor, the plane could go very fast. A trip that would usually take 2-3 hours, would now be reduced in a brief journey of 10 minutes.
"TAILS?" Yelled the concerned voice of Amy Rose from the passenger's cockpit.
"WHAT IS IT!?" Yelled back Tails while piloting his prized invention… They were above the beautiful Emerald Ocean, right now.
"HAVE YOU GOT A PLAN!?"
The vulpine thought this for a moment before answering.
"NO!!!"
"Wonderful…" She muttered within herself.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!? I COULDN'T HEAR YOU!!!?
"NEVER MIND!!!"
There was an old human motto that, more or less, went this way: "When you think that things couldn't possibly get worse… Cheer up! They could very well be worse… It could rain!"
As if on cue, it started raining… And the plane didn't have a ceiling.
"Drat! Double drat!" Complained the distressed Kitsune while Amy made an asthmatic, doggy like laugh in response…
And the Yankee-Doodle pigeon came by…
And the obnoxious "Stop the Pigeon" theme song started to play for no apparent reason…
And suddenly, Amy woke up.
"What the heck is wrong with me?" She asked herself after making another of those crazy random dreams of her.
"WE'RE ALMOST THERE, AMY!!!" Cried the foxy pilot… The island was now visible.
South Island was a green and colorful piece of heaven… Not anymore. All that was left of the once natural paradise was ashes, dead trees and burnt soil…
Green Hill Zone was no different… It was even worse, as a matter of fact.
In the middle of that destruction, the two Freedom Fighters were impatiently waiting the arrival of the man responsible for this.
Tails was nervous but he was trying very hard to hide it… The cursed azure emerald that previously stood in his plane's motor, was now in his right hand.
The kit was feeling sick… The tears and the blood of thousands of innocent Mobians were imprinted in this jewel… He knew Charles was right, this damned jewel could not come back into his previous possessor's hands, no matter what!
Amy watched his comrade with caring eyes… She could only imagine what was going through his mind.
A sudden noise distracted the both of them. They turned to the direction it came from but nothing could be seen.
Another noise, closer this time, came to their left but then again, nothing was in view.
A last one could be heard above them, this time. They look up… Nothing at first… A familiar silhouette then appeared.
It was their guest, aboard his trademark Egg Mobile, his one-person hover seat… And he seemed amused.
The vehicle slowly reached the ground, the egg shaped Overlander inside of it was smiling profusely.
"Do you like my invisible shield, kiddies? It comes in handy when I have to go in certain places without being spotted!" The maniacal Dr Eggman declared, his amusement was at stars level.
"So… That's how you've managed to come to our forest without being discovered!" Tails was alluding at the doctor's unexpected visit at Sonic's expenses, not even a month ago.
The scientist simply smirked… Then he went serious.
"Have you brought my emerald?" He asked with authority in his voice.
Tails, not fazed at all by his enemy's threatening tone, showed him the bloody gem in question.
"Where is Sir Charles?" He asked back, dead serious as well.
The mad doctor's giant brown mustaches were now devilishly deformed because of the huge grin that crossed his mouth…
"… Right Behind You!"
The kit had just the moment to turn his head over his back… Before feeling the metal… And the pain… And hearing Amy's screams as well…
He should have imagined that something was definitely wrong about the doctor's behavior… About the fact that he came alone to the appointment, without his usual minions…
The heavy robotic fist he just received in his face was the obvious consequence of his misjudging error.
The violence of the attack sent the kit right into one of the thousands dead trees of the island… The impact was painful almost as the punch. If it wasn't for his natural resilience he would have sustained severe damages.
He slowly raised from the ground, his mouth and nose were a bloody mess but that was nothing compared to the surprise in the fox's glare when it stared right at his opponent's.
Glowing red eyes, light blue metallic skin and white iron mustaches… The emotionless robotizied form of the former spy known as Sir Charles Hedgehog.
"UNCLE CHUCK!!!" Cried the frightened pink hedgehog.
"SIR CHARLES!!!" Cried the bewildered two-tailed and bruised Kitsune.
"The 'improved' Sir Charles, you mean!" Chuckled the evil scientist from his hovering seat.
Tails's angry gaze fixed itself on the maniacal human.
"What have you done to him!?"
The doctor adopted an innocent expression.
"Well… I said I was going to give him back to you in one piece… Therefore I had to repair him… And I also took the liberty to add some PERMANENT modifications! I hope you like it!" He said, grinning like possessed.
"No…"
"Yes, Miles… He's now a full operational Badnik, just the way he was supposed to be from the beginning… And it's all yours! Consider it, my birthday present to you!" He added with immense glee.
"No… Not again… NOT AGAIN!!!"
The now mindless robot once known as Charles Hedgehog, spoke in it's cold voice.
"Subject: Miles Prower! Priority one: Kill the two-tailed rat!"
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FOX BOY!! BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!" Yelled the deranged Eggman.
Despite the creepy fact that the doctor knew about his birthday…Right now, Tails was having other problems.
In the kid's mind, it was all too familiar… The maniacal laughs… The uncontrollable fear… The blind rage… The robotizied fiends… And their black oiled blood on the fox's hands.
In that moment, Tails wasn't seeing a single, robotic enemy in front of him… But rather, two robots… Two Badniks that resembled a couple of Kitsunes…
His parents.
His victims.
A very familiar emotion crossed the vulpine's soul… The very same blind rage he felt on the tragic day in which he was forced to kill his own family.
Without missing a beat, he darted toward the hedgehog with murdering intentions. The robot, however, wasn't to be underestimated. It avoided Tails's attack with impressive speed… It was faster than the enraged kit himself!
Charles kicked the boy in the back, sending him on yet another tree. Tails felt it all too well. He was not in the conditions to fight this new menace… Not with his wounds… Not with his current state of mind.
And then, he heard it again… The laughter.
"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! It seems that you have finally met your match, eh?" The diabolical egg shaped villain teased.
Before the kit could even raised himself from the ground, a metal fist found it's way in the fox's stomach. He growled in pain while seeing his robotic adversary ready to blow him again… It didn't have the chance, however, since a certain heavy war hammer hit it right on the head, Amy Rose's beloved self-defense weapon.
The unforgiving hammer stroke sent the robot a few meters away. The pink hedgehog seemed satisfied of her handy work, she then turned to her wounded companion in utter preoccupation.
"Tails? Are you ok?"
"WATCH YOUR BACK, AMY!!!" Cried the panicked Kitsune.
"Wha…" She didn't even have the time to finish her sentence that a humongous iron ball hit her violently…
She flew away…
For several miles…
Until she splashed into the ocean…
And she didn't come out.
She was gone.
Amy, the cheerful, enthusiastic young girl, was gone.
Gone forever.
GONE!
Once again, Tails couldn't protect a person he loved. He couldn't save her… And now she was dead… She died for saving HIS life!
She died for him.
It was all his fault… NO!
It wasn't Tails's fault and he knew it… The shocked and almost tearful gaze he had since a moment ago, has been now substituted by one of pure determination and strength.
He fixed his angry eyes on Amy's murderer… The smirking Dr Eggman's Mobile wasn't just meant as a transportation device, it could turn into a lethal weapon as well. A giant steel chain with an ominous iron sphere attached, was hanging from the lower side of the vehicle. All in all, it looked like the idiotic parody of a demolition ball… But deadly as well.
"Oooooh, I killed your little rodent friend, how impolite of me… Eh eh eh eh eh." The fat pilot of the improvised death machine chuckled.
That made Tails even angrier.
A mechanical sound diverted his attention from the rotund genocidal… Charles was back, it had a small dent on the side of his head but it looked over all fine. It darted toward the hurt kid.
This time, however, the "wounded and seemingly harmless" boy was ready for him. The azure emerald he was still holding tightly in his hand started to glow… He could feel it's intoxicating power begging him to be used.
He didn't hesitate for a second, he raised his jewel and solemnly pronounced:
"CHAOS CONTROL!!!"
And, to both the attacking robot and the mad scientist's utter bewilderment, he was gone.
"WHERE THE HELL IS HE GONE!!!" Yelled the visibly distressed obese dictator.
"Right behind you… Eggbutt!"
The doctor had just the time to turn his head only to receive a painful kick right on his huge, pointed nose. The sudden attack sent the old fatty out his deadly machine and right to the ground with a loud thud.
The defying, flying form of the young vulpine warrior was above him… Glowing emerald in hand… Smirking mischievously.
"How… How did you do it!?" Asked the now frightened scientist while holding his bloody, broken nose.
Tails seemed genuinely surprised by the scientist's reaction… Was he really unaware about the emeralds' true power and the few who could achieve it? Was he really that ignorant?
Suddenly, the kit started laughing an uncharacteristically evil laugh.
"What's so funny? I DEMAND TO KNOW!!!" Yelled the enraged doctor… He definitely didn't like to be the teased one.
"It's just that… You managed to use this emerald to power up your precious Roboticizer… And you didn't even know of it's true possibilities?" Chuckled the amused kit. He then became serious. " Man… You're so pathetic! You're not a genius… You're just a lucky bastard… WHO KILLED MILLIONS OF PEOPLE!!!" And now, he was absolutely pissed off… Years of exposition on Knuckles's behavior have had their effects on the fox.
The fallen dictator's fear was only surpassed by his pride.
"How dare you!? I'M THE SMARTEST BEING IN THE UNIVERSE!!! I'M THE FUTURE OF THIS PLANET!!! I WILL FOUND MY PERFECT ORDER AND RULE OVER EVERYTHING!!!"
"No… You're going to die, NOW!" Threatened the very unrecognizable young kit while slowly approaching his would be victim.
"You… You're bluffing! You wouldn't kill a living, breathing being, would you?" Shyly asked the scared madman while trying to slip away from the enraged, murderous Kitsune.
Tails took a deep breath.
"I've already killed before… I'm willing to do it again." He coldly replied, his mind wandered for an instance to that silver hedgehog he took a life from.
"No, you won't! CHARLES!! ATTACK HIM!! KILL HIM!!" He yelled.
Nothing happened.
Tails just grinned.
"Perhaps… You should turn." He said.
Slowly, Eggman did so and what he saw, it didn't please him at all.
His prized Badnik, his first ever robotizied Mobian… Was no more. It lied on the ground…
Broken…
Irreparable…
Dead.
Upon it, was it's killer… Sir Charles's own nephew… Sonic the Hedgehog, also known as Metal Sonic.
His synthetically made facial features weren't showing any emotion, his once emerald green eyes were now, glowing red. He looked exactly like the machine he really was… The machine he became after "uncle Ivo" put him into the Roboticizer.
Tails remembered that expression all too well from the night he learned the hedgehog's awful secret… There it was again, the prove of his second nature… Or better, his un-nature.
Despite the distant glare, a hint of sadness could be seen in his face… He had to kill his own uncle, not just the only relative he had left but also the only one who could understand his condition. Sonic gave a good look at his own right arm… The skinless arm… The one that gave up his cover in the first place… Was still there, constantly reminding him of his true essence. He closed his robotizied clawed hand in a tight fist and fixed his cold glare over the fat scientist, sending shivers through his spine.
"ROBOTNIK!!!" Yelled Metal Sonic.
Hearing his real name had the effect of a kick in the groin to the doctor. He hated that name with all his might, he changed it into Eggman in order to avoid being accosted with his infamous family… An old, ancient family of doctors and scientists who miserably failed in everything they tried to accomplish! He wanted to be different and build his own legacy… And now, this ungrateful hunk of junk just dared to call him with his former surname!
"My name… IS EGGMAN!!!" Yelled back the irate Overlander, apparently unaware of what he was risking.
"No… You're real name is Ivo Julian Robotnik, direct descendent of Gerald, the ancient patriarch of the Robotnik family! Am I right?" Replied Metal with is cold robotic tone.
The name of Gerald Robotnik angered the egg shaped human even more… It was because of him that his family has been marked by infamy! His foolish dreams and researches brought disgrace over him and his descendents…
"What… Is your point?" He asked.
"Who am I?" The cobalt skinned hedgehog asked back.
That simple question left both Eggman and Tails a little taken aback.
Metal Sonic continued.
"Tell me… Am I really who you said I was? Is my name really Sonic Hedgehog? Am I the same little kid you took from his burnt home and robotizied later?" He pretended to take a breath, then concluded. "Or am I someone else? Perhaps… someone linked… to Project: Shadow?"
There was silence for a minute or so… The three of them didn't move a single muscle or anything else. They stood like statues, only fazed by the casual wind.
Until it started.
"Mmmh-mmm…"
The uncontrollable, hysterical laughter…
"Meh eh eh eh eh eh… EH EH EH EH EH EH EH EH…"
Of the deranged egg shaped scientist.
"MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!"
That was the confirmation that the robotic hedgehog needed to hear…
He was NOT Sonic the Hedgehog and Charles was NOT his relative.
"What uncool thing are ya saying, bud? Of course I am Sonic, the mondo coolest and fastest hedgehog on two feet!" Proudly declared the cobalt blue rodent.
"Oh really? I'm fast as you are and… As far as I could see… We have the same attacks and fighting techniques…" Said the black and red hedgehog known as Shadow.
"Well… That's true but… Why did you attack me in the first place?"
"To prove a point… Or better, a theory."
"What theory?"
At this… The dark counterpart crossed his arms and lowered his head in great concentration… He then look his interlocutor dead in the eyes… Then his gaze fixed itself on the skinless mechanical arm he had…
Even though, he obviously sustained robotization, that didn't change the fact that this blue hedgehog was once a living, breathing being who had the privilege of having a natural birth… Shadow was also sure that his speed and abilities were absolutely natural and NOT an "upgrade".
There weren't any doubts left… This was the person he's been looking for since his creation… More than 50 years ago.
The crimson eyed hedgehog unfolded his arms and finally responded his very impatient cobalt counterpart
"You… Are my father… I was created from your DNA!"
The laughter finally ceased.
"So… You've figured it out, uh?" Ivo Robotnik managed to say through tears.
If he could, the metallic, skin covered hedgehog, would have cried a river.
Tails, on the other hand, was shivering by fear and reasonable shock.
"S-Sonic?" He tried.
"As I told you before…" Replied the unknown rodent to the frightened fox. "… My name is not Sonic… The being known as Sonic… Sir Charles's nephew… Died two years ago, when he tried to escape from Robotropolis… Am I right?" He asked. His gaze never left Robotnik's.
He devilishly smiled.
"I gave everything to that little ungrateful rodent… A home… New toys to play… And when I wanted to rightfully claim my reward and turn him into my greatest Badnik… He tried to escape! I had to kill that little twerp with my loyal blaster gun in order to stop his teenage foolishness… A darn pity, I have to say."
Tails was listening intently, utter disgust was present in his face. The metal one, however, looked un-fazed.
"And so, you had to renounce at the idea of having a super fast robotizied hedgehog in your grasp… Until you found my body in a stasis tube… In the subterranean basement of the Ark, no longer than 2 months ago…"
"Eh eh eh eh… My G.U.N. spies found you for me… Imagine how happy I was when I discovered that YOU were the specimen that my cousin, Maria Robotnik, used in order to create the Ultimate Life Form itself!"
Tails was even more mentally unbalanced than he was before… Too much shockers for one day!
The Eggman continued.
"You… Were the original super fast hedgehog! The naturally gifted speedster… The one from which the mighty Shadow the Hedgehog himself inherited his abilities! And to think that I was wasting my time with a second choice rodent… HA!"
"… And You roboticizied me and substituted my original memories with Sonic's… Why?"
"Because I was planning to utilize you as a spy to infiltrate into the F.F. and you needed a pitiful story in order to convince them into accepting you... Along with the aspect of a normal Mobian, of course... That's why I gave you those manipuleted memories and the artificial skin you're currently wearing! Unfortunately, things got wrong when you came near that blasted azure emerald… You went crazy and stole it… Then you escaped and ended up in the Mystic Ruins, still convinced to be Sonic… I managed to find you thanks to one of my random floating cameras… The rest is history." The doctor concluded.
A few moments of silence followed… It's been finally revealed, a huge secret 50 years in the making, the truth behind Shadow's genesis and Sonic's past was not a mystery any longer.
"One more thing…" Said the now illuminated hedgehog. "… My name… What's my real name?" He ultimately asked.
"It's nothing special… Maurice."
"Yeah… That's a stupid name alright. Thanks doctor… Now you can DIE!" Threatened Maurice the Hedgehog… Although his name was anything but dreadful.
Robotnik smiled.
"I beg to differ." He said while clicking a button placed on his head goggles.
A couple of laser beams were shot from his Egg Mobile (which managed to drop that silly sphere from before), both Tails and Maurice managed to avoid them but they gave the doctor the time to climb back into his seat and fly away in the sky…
"You haven't won yet, pests! If I can't roboticize your people, anymore… Then I'll just have to KILL YOU ALL!!!" He yelled while fleeing away toward his haven, Robotropolis.
Tails was scandalized and upset, to say the very least.
"We had him… We had him right were we wanted… AND WE LET HIM ESCAPE!!!" Complained the kit while punching the ground in frustration.
Then he realized one thing… Sonic, or better, Maurice was still there… Dangerously silent.
He turned his head to look at his hedgehog companion.
Maurice stood still, looking the ground without saying or doing anything.
Tails approached him and tried his best to consol him.
"S-Sonic… Maurice… I'm sorry." He sorely said.
The hedgehog in question looked at him… A puzzled expression was visible on his facial skin.
"Why would you be? I'VE NEVER BEEN MORE HAPPY IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!!!" He unexpectedly cried, taking the Kitsune by surprise.
"E-excuse me?"
"Don't you get it, Tails? Do you know how was I able to come to this island, in the first place?"
"Ehrrrr… You took a passage from a Yankee-Doodle pigeon?" He advanced.
"No! I came back to the base… I found a note you left that said where you were going to go… And I summoned Chaos Control with the blue emerald you gave me!"
Tails was taken aback… He remembered leaving that note for the hedgehog to find… And he also remembered giving the emerald he took from Silver, to Sonic… But he couldn't believe that Sonic (or Maurice), being made of metal, would have been able to utilize it's powers.
"Tails, little buddy…" He continued, his eyes slowly changed back to green and his normal voice was returning as well. "… I used to be the first of my kind who could break the sound barrier on his own feet… I was the result of Natural Selection, just like you and, probably, even Knuckles, are. Shadow and his brother, Mephiles, were born from my DNA and manipulated chaos energy, therefore they share my own abilities… Including the possibility of using the power of the emeralds. They are the perfect clones, plus they're also immortal and they never age... They're truly ultimate!" Said the seemingly proud "daddy".
Tails's ears were perked in interest.
"Even when I was robotizied and that Ro-Butt-Nik screwed up with my memories… The simple vicinity of that azure Chaos Emerald was sufficient to save my own free will. Then, when I used Chaos Control to come to this island, my real memories came back to me!" He was on the verge of tears, if he could have produced them, of course… "So, it doesn't matter if I'm currently made of metal or whatever material… The fact that I still have my original natural gifts and abilities, means that I am still myself! An all natural, super fast hedgehog! A Chosen by Nature! And that's a thing that neither Eggman nor most of the humans will ever understand!" He paused a second, then concluded. "In the end… Nature always prevails."
The young kit stood there for a moment, gazing his amazingly wise friend… Tears started descending from his big azure eyes. He darted toward the hedgehog and hugged him tightly… A brotherly hug.
Maurice seemed a little taken aback at first but then he returned the embrace.
"I-I wish I had at least half of your courage…" The tearful kid sobbed.
"You are more courageous than anyone I've ever known… Way past!" He consoled him.
After a short while, they released each other.
"There is only thing left to clear…" Tails muttered.
"What?"
"How am I supposed to call you?"
The cobalt blue hedgehog pondered it for while before assuming the inevitable super hero pose.
"Just call me Sonic, in honor of that unfortunate kid and because this is just what I am… A way past cool, mondo rapido hedgehog!" He solemnly declared with his usual cocky yet, reassuring attitude.
Tails nodded in approval and smiled.
"Let's go now… We still have to find the remaining emeralds and kick Ixis Naugus's butt!" Exclaimed the two-tailed vulpine in his own super hero pose… Sonic is addicting.
"Yeah! Let's kick that ehrrrr…. Girly Focus's butt!"
The younger just chuckled, then he and the reborn Sonic darted toward the spot in which Tails had left the X-Tornado.
Once the both of them entered in their respective cockpits, the kit sighed quite loudly.
"What's wrong, lil' bro?" Asked the brotherly hedgehog.
"It's Amy… And Chuck... I wish I could do something for them." The younger answered.
Sonic put an hand (the skin covered and gloved hand) on the kid's shoulder, who just turned to him and weakly smiled.
"There's nothing you could do for that poor guy, Tails… As for Amy, I'm sure that she will be fine... Call it 'my hedgehog's sixth sense'." The furry skinned, robotizied cool hedgehog reassured.
Somehow, it worked. It was logically impossible that Amy would have survived from that… But, as Tails knew, in a world dominated by Chaos, Logic wasn't that important.
"Let's go back to the base." Tails said. Then he thought about it for a moment and decided otherwise. "No, wait… There is another place we definitely must visit and it happen to be on the way for home." He looked back at Sonic, once again. "Sonic... Would you please recuperate Sir Charles's body?"
Without even asking for the reason, Sonic darted away from the plane and, just a super sonic second later, he came back with the robotic hedgehog's body on his shoulders… In the meantime, Tails had placed both the blue and the light blue emeralds in their possession, in the plane's motor.
"I wonder how fast it will go, now?" The boy genius asked to himself. "You're ready, Sonic?"
"I'm born ready, big guy! Let's do it to it!" The other said while placing the lifeless body on the left side of his cockpit and then himself in the right.
"Ok! LET'S GO!"
About a second after the accession… The X-Tornado broke the sound barrier with a loud Sonic Boom and rushed away from the island… The screams of it's passengers echoed in the wind.
During the hard confrontation that took place there, nobody seemed to notice a suspicious glowing white gem lying in the vicinity… Luckily, someone else did.
Shadow the Hedgehog came out from his hidden place and picked up the 7th Chaos Emerald.
He witnessed everything: the struggle, the doctor's confession and Sonic's courage.
He admired him… His "father" was definitely the perfect opponent he was looking for. Even the young fox has improved a lot since the last time they fought. His opinions toward the kid were correct, Tails was a Chosen One as well…
"Eh eh eh eh… To our next encounter, Freedom Fighters." He uttered.
The Ultimate Life Form turned himself to glance over the unconscious, wet form of a certain pink hedgehog he happened to save from sure drowning, a few moments earlier… She looked even more beautiful and attractive when asleep.
He thanked Chaos for the idea of following the blue hedgehog right into the not so secret F.F. base, where he found that note… And for the fact that he decided to come along within a Chaos Control.
He smiled. Not an evil nor a mischievous smile. Just a smile.
He was truly content that she was safe.
"Uhrrrn…"
She was waking up…
"… Where am I?"
"You're in safe, Amy." He reassured.
She looked at her dark lover, a joyful smirk made it's way into her lips… Then she noticed her clothes were wet and… Quite revealing.
She tried to cover her evidences by cuddling. She was blushing madly.
The black and red hedgehog chuckled, then he got closer to the shy young lady.
"S-Shadow, I-I…"
Before she could even mutter some comprehensible word, he was already kissing her…
And for the first time, she had no intentions to fight him… She immediately kissed him back. They were actually making out, big time!
The two lovers interrupted their kiss for a moment to stare into each other's gaze.
"We love you… Amy Rose." Said the male hedgehog.
"I love you too… Guys." She sweetly replied.
They embraced.
Somewhere, in Shadow's head, the omnipresent voice of his brother was imitating the noise of fireworks while pretending to hear Beethoven's 9th Symphony.
That was going to a be a very good night… For the three of them.