The alley, which had earlier been home to the games and adventures of young children, now lay quiet and sublimely lit under the evening moon. Even the adjoining apartments appeared to slumber, just as their residents also slept. But upon a fire escape, one young woman, though nightgown clad, was fully awake, taking advantage of the dark and the silence to ponder life's deeper mysteries - mainly those involving handsome young men.

Coincidentally (or not?), one such man appeared in the alley below, his movements stealthy, like the strays that overturned garbage cans to find their next meal. Upon spotting the girl, he became emboldened by affection and called to her with no regard to the volume of his exclamation. Although she was pleased to see him – for this was the boy on whom her thoughts dwelt – she also shushed him, for so nearby was her family. Undeterred, he requested that she come down, but she was too afraid of discovery. The back-and-forth proved inconclusive, and so he finally came up to her, despite her warnings. They exchanged their sweet nothings and, curiously, one could begin to hear violins. The young couple was unfazed, however, and even appeared ready to break into song when -

"Hold, please!"

"Gahhh!"

'Maria' – that is, Amy Rose – flung her head back with an exaggerated groan. "What now, Rouge? We didn't forget any lines, Scourge didn't miss his cue, and Miles fixed the lighting. Can we just be done with this scene?"

Blaze could hardly blame Amy for her frustration. The weekend before opening night was always exhausting, as it was the first time that all the musical's elements came together – costumes, sound, lighting, make-up and hair, and pit orchestra. All the coordination errors that had to be ironed out always resulted in all-day rehearsals. These were the only days that Blaze didn't mind being cast in minor roles; because she was in so few scenes, she was often allowed to rest in the green room or watch from the audience. Sometimes it seemed Rouge's forceful personality was all that kept the starring actors from quitting.

Rouge flipped her mobile shut and looked up, vaguely apologetic - a rarity for her. "Jet wants to talk with everyone. Anita, get the others from the green room."

Mina the Mongoose popped up from her seat and sprinted out the stage left door (surprisingly unhampered by her full skirt) just as Jet the Hawk strutted down the center aisle. How he had become the owner and manager of something as sophisticated as a professional theatre was a mystery none of his employees had ever fathomed; he rarely took business matters seriously and was as full of himself as any diva who ever stood beneath a spotlight.

"Bloody Chaos, what does 'e want?" Blaze heard Marine mutter under her breath.

Oblivious to the general disdain that his visit had created, Jet fussed with his head feathers as Mina helped Cream's mother, Vanilla, herd the young ones into the auditorium. Once they were hushed, Rouge nodded to Jet, who jumped straight to the point.

"Well, everyone, I'm afraid I have some bad news."

The cast exploded into a cloud of questions and worries.

"Are people being laid off?"

"Is the theatre going out of business?"

"Are they going to switch off the lights again?"

He shook his head, smile curiously wide across his beak. "No, none of that. I'm afraid that I'm leaving."

Jet mistook the silence that followed for dismay. How he thought that in spite of the giant smirk on Rouge's face, Scourge's mutterance "good riddance," and the none-too-subtle celebration dance from Marine spoke volumes of just how inflated his ego had become.

"I know you're all disappointed, but I looked at all the options and this is what was best for all of us. Best for me because I got lots of rings from the sale, which I intend to use to retire. Viva Casino Night Zone! And I can find a gal with a great pair of bo - er, boots! And wings. And it was the best for the rest of you because – er… well, best for me, anyway."

"Yo, Jet!"

"What?" Jet squawked indignantly and wheeled about. Upon spotting the speaker, his eyes narrowed in distaste. "Oh, it's you."

Coming down the same aisle was a blue hedgehog with green eyes that were taking their sweet time checking out the theatre. He walked just like the hawk did, Blaze noticed, a strut that didn't so much command others' respect as it choked it out of them. At least his voice was tolerable - listening to Jet talk felt like biting down on aluminum foil.

The hedgehog was followed by a red… something. He looked similar to a hedgehog, but the way that his spines drooped around his head rather than stood upon his back suggested he was a different species Blaze had never encountered. His stance and posture was all business, except for the glint in his violet eyes that suggested he was annoyed with his blue friend. Well, 'suggested' was a bit of an understatement.

When they reached the stage, the hedgehog planted a hand on the varnished wood and vaulted into the air, somersaulting twice before landing squarely on his feet to the clapping of the impressionable children. The not-hedgehog went for the more practical method of using the stage left stairs.

"Well, Jet, aren't you going to do the introductions?" asked the cockier of the pair after he waved off the children's applause.

Jet glared at him, clearly touchy over being shown up in front of his employees. "Of course," he grumbled, voice sardonic. "Sonic and Knuckles, your new managers."

"That's Sonic the Hedgehog, bud," Sonic interjected. The statement was accompanied by a grin and thumbs-up that felt more scripted than anything the cast had ever performed. As an afterthought he gestured to his accomplice. "And he's an echidna."

As Jet now seemed to be incapacitated from sulking, Rouge took charge of the conversation. "Rouge the Bat, director. I apologize if we seem… unprepared, but this is the first Jet's told us of the change in management."

"He does seem the sort to miss details such as those," Knuckles commented, putting out his hand for a shake.

Rouge smiled slyly as she grabbed it with her own. "My, such strong hands. You'll have to be careful, I'm afraid mine are rather delicate."

Blaze stared. Was Rouge flirting? Although her curvaceous physique had always drawn attention from the opposite sex, Rouge had never seen fit to return it. Granted, most of the male cast members were like Jet when it came to egos. The only other male employees were Ivo, the janitor – who was old and fat – and Miles, who ran sound and lighting – who was just a kid.

Lo and behold, Madame Director has found her star.

"Ahh…" Knuckles was just as surprised by Rouge's affections as Blaze, if his sudden inability to speak was any sign.

"And it seems as though it's not just your hands. I've never seen such biceps on a man, and, ooo, I bet those abs feel as hard as they look."

Knuckles took a hasty step back as Rouge's hand crept towards his torso and cleared his throat nervously. "I'd, um, really rather this remained a professional business relationship, Ms. Bat."

"Oh, of course. I'm sorry, that was terribly out of line. It'll never happen again," she assured him – even if the mischievous glint in Rouge's eye betrayed the insincerity of her promise.

Sonic watched the whole exchange with a steadily widening smirk. "Knux, my man, what's up with you? The lady gives you a compliment and you leave her hanging?"

Knuckles glared at his co-manager, an expression that his face had clearly well-practiced from frequent use. "Not all of us, hedgehog, lead on every female that so much as blinks at us."

"Why Knux, I'm hurt. When have I ever abused my charm or good looks?"

The glare shifted to a deadpan stare. "Two words, Sonic: Sally Acorn."

"Exactly. I am the epitome of gentlemanly be – wait, what?"

Sonic was saved from a proper response by one pink soprano that scampered forward the second it appeared her director was done conducting business. "I'm sorry to interrupt but I just can't wait any longer to meet you, Mr. Sonic!"

His easy demeanor slipped back on like a glove as he took the girl's proffered hand and kissed it, but not before giving Knuckles a smug look that suggested the less suave of the pair might want to take notes.

"Please, just Sonic. And what's your name, gorgeous?"

Any theatre member, children included, could have told this new manager that the last thing he wanted to do with a smitten Amy Rose was encourage her. But for their own reasons, they chose not to; in Blaze's case, her mischievous side, small as it was, wanted to see how he'd get out of the pit he was unwittingly digging.

"Amy Rose, lead soprano," she cooed. It was impressive how her eyes could physically sparkle.

"Hm, then your voice must sound as beautiful as you look, as befits a theatre's leading lady."

Amy turned her head in a manner she thought alluring. "I could be yours too…", she crooned, letting her voice swing up on the last word.

Sonic finally caught the suspicious glimmer in her expression and his smile completely froze. "Ahhmmm…"

"AAAAND, blue does look wonderful with pink… we can make them the wedding colors!"

"What."

"Ooooo, I need to start looking at bridesmaids dresses! Miles, where's my laptop?"

Amy scurried off, leaving Sonic, for the first time in a long time, dumb-struck. Knuckles sidled up next to him. "How's that charm and good looks working for you?"

"Can we leave now?" he squeaked out.

"No, we've already given them the final payment."

Sonic whimpered. "But she'll abduct me!"

"You stay on guard for the director, I keep the soprano away. Deal?"

Sonic looked at Knuckles, then at Rouge, then at the doorway that still echoed with Amy's squeals. And nodded.

After luring Amy back from looking at the Bunnie's Bridal website, Rouge took up her usual position in the front row of the auditorium and patted the spot next to her. "Have a seat, boys. I'm sure you'd like to see your employees in action."

As the managers settled themselves in the plush chairs (Knuckles on the other side of Sonic), Amy climbed back up the textured wood structure that made up the fire escape, Scourge took his place behind the stage left curtain, and Miles gave Rouge a thumbs up to indicate that sound and lighting were cued up.

"All right, Maria and Tony. Act 1, Scene 5, from the top."

It was their smoothest run-through yet, even if Blaze thought Maria's longing looks seemed to be directed towards the audience more than her co-star. It looked like they might be done before midnight after all.

"Good night, good night

Sleep well and when you dream

Dream of me

Toniiiiiii – EEEE!"

Amy shrieked as one of the support beams suddenly groaned and buckled. Scourge grabbed the railing and merely dangled from it when the fire escape snapped in two; Amy's reflexes were not as finely honed as her co-star's, and her grasping hand met only empty air as she fell to the concrete floor, landing heavily on her back.

The children screamed, Blaze gasped, and Marine muttered a shocked expletive under her breath. Rouge leapt up and opened her wings in one movement, gliding onto the raised stage, the two managers quickly following.

"Amy, are you alright? Don't move her!" she snapped, swatting away Knuckles' hand. "She might have landed on her neck."

"Hah!" A short bark of contemptuous laughter sounded from above their heads and Scourge dropped down from the broken structure, his weight and the force of the fall shifted skillfully to the balls of his feet. "If we could only be that lucky."

Rouge looked away from Amy just long to shoot him a glare so venomous that even the haughty tenor couldn't help being cowed into silence. "I don't care if opening night is in three days; I will fire you if you dare make any comment of the sort about one of your co-workers again." Rouge ignored his hasty retreat to turn back to the perfectly still actress. "Amy, talk to me. Can you move?"

"…OWWW!"

Sonic covered his ears and winced at the shrill noise. "Yep, that's a soprano if I ever heard one."

Amy groaned as she propped herself on her elbows and winced dramatically. "It broke! I could have died!"

Rouge narrowed her eyes; just because she was concerned about the wellbeing of her actors it did not mean that she granted opportunities to gripe about mishaps. "You only fell seven feet. Paralyzed, maybe, but dead, no. And since you're neither, just get down to costumes and have Vanilla look you over while we get Omega in to fix this."

But Amy would not be deterred. "Don't you pretend like this is the first time this has happened, Rouge! Oh sure, it started innocently enough – mic packs with dead batteries, lights cut a line too early. But then there was the itching powder in my costume during Les Mis, and then my costume for Grease was completely slashed, and do I even need to remind you about when the lock on the dressing room door jammed? Five minutes before a performance? With me inside it? I may not be the sharpest spoon in the drawer" – Marine snickered – "but I can tell when I'm not wanted!"

Knuckles held out his hands pleadingly. "Miss Rose, don't be absurd! You're the star of the show, of course you're wanted." He nudged Sonic in the side and added in a low voice, "Come on, help me out here."

"But she scares me."

"Sonic, now is not the time for your paranoia."

"It's not paranoia, it's fact! She will injure me."

"I'll do more than injure you if this show isn't performed, because then there won't be any shows performed, because we'll be broke."

"I'd rather be broke than broken!"

Amy's eyes only became more narrowed as the managers shot whispers back and forth. With a sudden "hmph!" that silenced the males, she crossed her arms and turned up her black button nose. "Wanted or not, I'm not singing under these conditions – and that's final!" And with those words, the infuriated female stormed off.

Even the children were deathly quiet after the door clicked shut. Sonic realized too late that Amy really was the lesser of two dangers, and before he could run off Knuckles had grabbed him by the neck and glared venomous daggers at his business partner. Sonic chuckled nervously. "Nothing to worry about, Knux. I'm sure Rouge can get one of the other actresses ready in time…" He peeked hopefully at the director and cringed when he saw her stare of utter contempt. "Um, right? Rouge?"

"Three months of rehearsals, starting at three hours a day and increasing to six hours by the time we reach the insomnia that is tech weekend. And you think I could replicate that in only six days? Clearly, you have never worked in show business before."

"...I hope you realize I'm going to kill you now, hedgehog."

"Hold on, handsome," Rouge cautioned. "Fake blood is hard enough to clean up, I don't need the real stuff everywhere. And there are children present. Besides," she added, sly smile emerging, "you may have a show yet."

Sonic's life stopped flashing before his eyes, while Knuckles just looked confused. "But you just said – "

Rouge shook her head. "Your rash blue friend asked if I could train someone in the time before the show. And I can't – no one could learn both lines and musical numbers that quickly. But he didn't ask if we already had an understudy."

A clamor of whispering rose from the cast members. What understudy? Amy never allowed backup actresses for her, as possessive of her roles as she was. A suspicion sprang up in Blaze's mind, but was just as quickly dismissed. Rouge couldn't possibly -

"Would you come up and demonstrate for the gentlemen, Blaze?"

Blaze froze as every head in the theatre turned toward her. She hadn't told anyone about her private lessons – so how had Rouge found out?

Marine, although just as confused as the rest of the cast, prodded her with an elbow. "G'on, Blaze. Give it a burl."

"But – but –"

Rouge looked to the men apologetically. "One moment, please." She slid off the stage and walked down the aisle to Blaze's seat, where she leaned in confidentially.

Blaze tried to feign ignorance. "Rouge, what are you talking about? I have a speaking role, I haven't sung since – "

"Oh, come on, Blaze," the director interrupted, almost harsh in her abruptness. "I know you can do this, and I know that you know you can do this. More importantly, he knows you can do this." Blaze's amber eyes widened so much it could have been comical, and Rouge knew she had the actress' full attention. "Don't disappoint him now."

She knew. Blaze had no idea how, but Rouge knew. And so there was no denying that she was right.

Blaze stood and hesitantly followed Rouge back to the stage. She felt every eye follow her down the aisle, which did nothing to diminish her nervousness. She'd never been this tense during an audition – but then she wouldn't be the only one disappointed by a failure this time. Her internal heat rose in response to a sudden adrenaline spike; she pushed it back down when a tiny wisp of smoke escaped the floor beneath her foot.

Rouge sat back down in her chair when she reached her row; Blaze scurried up the side steps on her own. The stage lights were much brighter than she remembered them; she could barely make out the figures sitting below her. In fact, it wasn't too hard to pretend she was back in her own room, alone with her instructor.

Blaze closed her eyes and shut out the world as her first soft notes spread through the auditorium -

Tonight, tonight
It all began tonight
I saw you and the world went away…

- all the way to the catwalks above the stage, where a silent figure listened to his protégé's sweet melody with not just delight, but also pride. And when the awestruck managers had no choice but to enthusiastically give the part to her, he gave a rare genuine smile, his pointed ivories glinting dimly in the darkness.

"Well done, 'Maria.' Well done."

I should perhaps be kind enough to explain some theatre/theater terms for those of you who have never been in productions. Mind you, I'm not entirely sure which of these are universal and which are unique to our university.

- "Hold, please!" is basically the equivalent of "cut" in movie-making. Except that in movies, once a scene is done correctly, you never have to do it again. "Hold" is also an obnoxiously common command during photo call, when the actors go through the play but freeze in place so a photographer can get pictures for the theatre department to use in archives and advertising.

- The weekend prior to opening weekend as described in the beginning of the chapter is also known as tech weekend. This is when theatre devours souls. Saturday is especially long - the day starts around 8 or 9AM (depending how long your specific hair and makeup takes) and does not end until about 10 or 11PM. All three meals are provided, which is some comfort since they are usually brought in from outside restaurants, whereas students usually have no choice but to eat at the dining commons, where the food quality is... variable. Welcome to college. ANYWAY...

- You may have noticed that Rouge called Mina "Anita." Our director - and most, I would think - calls us by our characters' names during scene rehearsals to help us stay in-character, and then everyone gets so used to calling the cast by those names that they get used even when the people aren't supposed to be in-character. This is why, almost two years after being in The Crucible, many theatre friends still call me Betty.

- The "green room" is sort of an actors' lounge. This is one term that I'm especially unsure of regarding whether it's just us or all of theatre-dom - our green room is a teacher's lounge that actually does have a wall painted light green (it also has images of the tragedy and comedy masks that represent theatre), but whether the wall was painted green because it's the green room or it's the green room because the wall is green I don't know.

- "From the top" just means from the beginning, whether it's the beginning of that scene, of that act, or of the whole play.

Also... ten months between updates is better than twelve, right? Right? Sigh. I'm really, really lazy, and that's the only possible explanation I have for you all. If the story isn't jumping out of my brain fully complete, then I usually don't care to put the work in to make it complete. I'm a college student! I have far too many assignments already! Thank you all for even being willing to read a fic that is so poorly updated. In my defense, this could have very well been two separate chapters, in which case you probably would have had the first half in August. Also, many thanks to my awesome brother who bugs me about these things and reads them for me when they're finally ready.

Next chapter (whenever it may be) - opening night!