A/N: Here's your weekly tidbit of Sonic the Hedgehog! Excuse some of the spelling mistakes, if there are any... sometimes, when I upload, a few letters and commas just mysteriously dissapear... and I'm pretty sure it's not me...

Happy Belated B-day to my (coughs) not (coughs) wonderful little brother! This chapter is for you... though you really shouldn't be reading this in the first place

Character Ages

Sonic: 23

Amy: 20

Tails: 16

Cream: 14

Eggman: Unknown

Metal Sonic: Unknown

Knuckles: 24

Rouge: 26

Shadow: Older than I'll ever live to be...

Vector: 28

Espio: 24

Charmy: 14

Disclaimer: No... I don't own Sonic, in case you don't have anything better to do than to go around and try to sue people...

"Look at this!" said a voice, loud in the peaceful Ruins.

Rustling noises pierced the air as several creatures emerged from the leafy canopy.

"Watcha got there, Espio?" asked Charmy, who was now thankfully awake.

Espio held up something almost invisible that glinted in the sunlight.

"Is that… a blue quill?" asked Cream, awed by Espio's skill to find something so small in the huge maze of the Ruins.

"That has to be Sonic's!" Tails cried excitedly. "C'mon! I can do a scan at my workshop and…"

Knuckles held up a hand, interrupting him. "Hold on, Tails."

Everyone turned to Knuckles, who seem to freeze.

"Knuckles?" Rouge laid a hand on his shoulder.

Knuckles shivered, then shook his head. "I sense something… it's not really like the Chaos Emeralds, but…"

Slowly, he started walking around, with the gang following him, curiosity piqued. Then suddenly, he stopped, causing Rouge to bounce off of him.

"Hey!" she said, rubbing her bottom. "What's the big…"

"Here!" Knuckles shouted loudly, cutting her off and scaring the hell out of everyone. He dived into a nearby bush.

"KNUCKLES!" cried Rouge, jumping in after him.

Everyone's eyes widened, as the bush started shaking. It started thrashing back and forth, as shouts of "get it!" and "ARGH!" ripped through the air.

Then, it all stopped.

"I'VE GOT IT!" a voice shouted. Suddenly, out of the bush, a needle flew through the air towards Tails' face.

Espio, reacting quickly, threw a ninja star at it, causing it to ricochet off, landing a few inches in front of Tails at his feet.

Cream gasped. She put her arms around his shoulder. "Tails!"

Tails looked up, and Cream had to bite her lip from laughing. Tails had a look of pure horror on his face, the kind you get after watching a horror movie with some friends; his eyes were wide open, his mouth hanging, and the only noise he could make were choking sounds.

"He's ok," said Shadow coolly, after seeing him unharmed. He went over and picked up the needle. As soon as it touched his hand, however, he felt his body pulse.

He flinched. "What…?" he grabbed the needle and held it up, examining it as the sharp point glinted in the sunlight.

"You felt it too?" asked Knuckles as he brushed himself off and climbed over the bush. He, surprisingly gently, heaved Rouge up from the arms. Rouge batted his hands away, looking annoyed, though her fur was the lightest pink.

"Felt what?" asked a loud-mouthed Charmy.

"That pulse… that energy…" suddenly, Shadow snapped his fingers, and a yellow Chaos Emerald appeared. Ignoring the surprised looks, he held it close to the needle.

This time, everyone felt the pulse of energy.

"What was that?" asked Cream, shaking and moving closer to Tails.

"It felt like someone just froze my insides!" exclaimed Vector, looking thoroughly confused.

"That 'feeling,'" said Knuckles, "Is the negative energy of the Chaos Emeralds. It must've been used on Sonic… and as Vector so smartly described," he continued, smirking, "'It feels like someone just froze my insides!'"

"You have something to say to me?" asked Vector angrily, holding up his fist.

"We should take them both to my place to scan!" interrupted Tails loudly, who finally recovered from the flying needle scene.

Shadow nodded. "Stand still," he ordered calmly to everyone, not seeming to be fazed or excited by this news at all.

"Chaos Control!"

"Found him!" shouted Tails a few hours later in his workshop.

Everyone crowded around his computer, all eager to find Amy and Sonic.

"Is that where they are?" asked Charmy, pointing at the little red dot on the screen.

"Yes, it's them all right," Tails nodded. "You think you can take us there, Shadow?"

Shadow studied the map carefully. He snapped his fingers, his trusty Chaos Emerald appearing instantly. He smirked. "Hang tight. I'll get us all there."

"Storming Hearts!"

"Sonic Wind!"

A brilliant flash lit the room as the attacks were slammed into the glass prison. Dust filled it, causing the two occupants to cough.

"Did it work, Sonic?" asked a female voice, still coughing.

The dust slowly but surely cleared and emerald green eyes met the glass with disappointment.

Sonic sighed. "Sorry, Amy. Not even a crack. Let's try a spin-dash."

Amy nodded, holding up her hammer. They had started trying to break through the glass right after Eggman had left them alone, but so far, nothing had worked. They had spent 5 days relentlessly trying to shatter the glass, but so far, nothing. The energy they spent was only replenished by the small amount of food that Eggman had "so generously" as Sonic had said once, scoffing, left for them.

The two stood close together. Amy tried to ignore her feeling of being painfully near Sonic. She turned to hide her blush.

"Ready?" asked the cobalt hedgehog.

Amy nodded. Without thinking, he grabbed Amy's hand, which caused Amy to jump.

"Are you ok?" he asked, concerned.

"Uh… yeah… let's go…" she answered. 'It feels like electricity is going through my body…ugh, what am I thinking at a time like this!'

Both jumped up, as high as they could in the cramped space, and headed for the glass.

Amy cried out in pain as she felt herself flying backwards as soon as her spines made impact with the glass.

"Amy!" Sonic cried, rushing to her side.

Amy sat up a bit shakily. "Don't worry, I'm fine," she answered, trying to weakly stand up.

For a second, Sonic felt awed by her strength. Then, he noticed that he was holding onto Amy's hand. Quickly, he let go. 'I didn't even notice that I was holding it… it seemed… just, so natural…'

"Maybe we should take a break…" started Sonic.

Amy shook her head furiously. "No! We can't! I said I'm fine!"

Sonic cocked his head a bit. "Look, Amy. We're gonna need our strength…"

Amy glanced at Sonic briefly. 'How can he be acting so normal?' she wondered. He didn't seem changed at all, except maybe he voiced his concerns a bit more. Had whatever was bothering him finally gone away? Or was it all an act?

"Sonic, are you ok?"

Sonic was taken aback. "Me?"

"Yeah… well, it's just that… you seem, well…" 'Normal? No, not quite…'

Sonic gave her a fake smile. 'This might be the last time I get to spend with you… then, I have to go. Far away from, you, our friends, everyone. I can't hurt you, Amy. I can still feel the monster inside me. It's somewhere, even if it hasn't been showing itself lately. I wish I could tell you that I have to leave soon, but it'll be too hard to leave. I know that you'll cry…'

'… If you cry, I don't think I can ever leave…'

Amy eyed him, curious at his silence. "Sonic…?"

"Shh… I hear something…" he interrupted suddenly.

They both stilled, their ears swiveled towards the door. Loud, metallic clanking could be heard echoing down the hall.

The door opened. They squinted, unaccustomed to the light, but were able to make out a figure.

A robot clanked it's way to the glass. "I have been instructed to take you to Dr. Robotnik," it said in an annoyingly monotone voice.

Amy narrowed her eyes. Something wasn't right here. Wasn't Eggman afraid that they would try to make a break for freedom?

"Sure," answered Sonic in a bored voice. Amy shot him a look of surprise.

The robot inserted some codes into the door. Slowly, it slid open.

"Umm…?" muttered a confused pink hedgehog.

"C'mon. Let's do what the doctor ordered," Sonic said smoothly, stepping into the light.

Slowly, they were led out to the lighted hallway. The hallway branched out three ways, but the robot took them right.

Suddenly, it wasn't there anymore.

Amy blinked. "Come on, Ames!" shouted Sonic as he grabbed her arm and started running. Amy was barely able to keep up in her state of surprise. She turned around just in time to see the smoldering pile of scrap metal before it disappeared behind a corner.

"Eggman is probably onto us already. We've gotta get out of here as fast as we can!" Sonic snapped her out of her thoughts. Finally, she was able to run on her two feet again as her mind cleared. 'I didn't even notice Sonic destroy that robot…'

As they were about to turn a corner, two guard robots appeared, holding up guns.

"Hi-yah!" cried Amy, swiping at them with her hammer. Both were smashed aside.

"This way!" shouted Sonic, running straight ahead. More robots were already trying to swarm in from the other corridors, trying to block their way, stepping over the ones that Amy had destroyed.

They kept running, Amy having to periodically using her speed-up power to keep up with the blue hero.

"Warning! Warning!" a mechanical voiced screech. "Prisoners escaped! Two hedgehogs! Recapture alive at all costs! Warning! Warn-"the voice suddenly stopped as Amy smashed the "emergency" button she found on the side of the wall.

"Hey! It got rid of that annoying voice didn't it?" asked Amy as Sonic cocked his eyebrow.

Sonic chuckled. Then, he heard something behind him slam. Whipping around, he saw metal doors start to close.

"Hold on, Amy!" he cried, running extra fast. Quickly, he scooped up Amy, bridal-style. Doors continued to slam around them, sometimes closing just as Sonic ran past them, very nearly squishing them. Just as Sonic was about to run past another door, however, a robot, previously invisible, appeared.

Amy quickly threw her hammer at the robot, taking it's head clean off, then picked up her hammer again as they ran past it.

"I think that's the exit!" shouted Amy above the siren's whining, pointing to her left. Sonic's shoes screeched on the ground as he turned left, towards the door she was pointing at.

"Nah-ah-ah…" said a voice coming from the loud speakers. A metal door closed behind them, and another metal door appeared over the exit.

Sonic skittered to a halt, and tried to turn right.

Another metal door.

Then, he ran left.

SLAM!

"We're trapped!" gasped Amy, still in Sonic's arms.

"Muahaha! Sonic, you think you and Amy can escaped with your life?" asked the voice on the intercom.

"Eggman! Why don't you come down here and face me?" shouted Sonic, knowing that he could hear him.

"Oh, no, no, no. I think I'll let my robots have some fun first…"

A trap door opened above them. Sonic jumped out of the way just in time as five robots fell down.

"Just five?" asked Sonic cockily, setting Amy down.

"They'll be more than a match for you," assured the confident scientist.

Sonic scrutinized the robots. They didn't look any different from his regular ones, except for the shiny red armor and Eggman symbol on the forehead, but just to be sure… "Amy, stay here," he ordered. Then, before she could protest, he jumped to the nearest one.

He landed on top of it, and promptly, all the robots pointed their guns at it. They fired, and Sonic jumped off so that the robot was barraged by the powerful guns. With that robot destroyed, he used a homing attack on another, and then ran right up behind the next. He ran in circles around it, with the other two robots trying to shoot him, while the robot started to almost comically jump around, trying to escape the blue burr. He ran away, heading straight for the next robot, and spin-dashed it, ricocheting off feet forward, and kicked off the face of the other robot. He smirked when he saw the last robot, pointing a gun at him. He ran, dodging each bullet fired with ease, then tripped the last one so that it smashed it's armor.

"How's that?" asked Sonic, not seeming to be tired at all.

"Very impressive," answered Eggman. "But how about this?"

Suddenly, the parts vibrated, so hard, that tremors started to shake the ground. Amy felt herself tense. Than, the parts all flew together so that it became one giant robot.

Sonic tapped his foot, looking at his wrist. "Is it done yet?" he asked, yawning.

"You always were an incompetent fool, Sonic," sighed the scientist mockingly. "Now, you will die an incompetent fool."

"Sonic… I think you better be careful with this one…" said Amy nervously, eyeing the huge robot.

"Don't worry; this'll be a piece of cake." Sonic grinned reassuringly at Amy before turning back to the new foe.

'How come I don't feel very reassured?' Amy asked herself.

Before she had another chance to think, the robot started to move.

It's huge foot came crashing down, meant to squish Sonic to a pancake, but it missed. It stared at the hole it made for a minute, confused.

"Hey! Over here, big fella!"

The robot suddenly started to shake it's head. Sonic could be seen hanging on for dear life on the back of its' head.

Unable to hold on, he fell, digging himself a hole in the ground. The robot lifted his leg…

SMASH!

… and came into contact with Amy's Piko Piko Hammer.

Sonic shook out the numbness in his body, and stared at Amy's form in front of him. She had her hammer out, it's end stuck to the ground, the head in the way of the robot.

Then, the hammer extended, knocking the robot over so that it fell onto the ground.

"I don't suppose you can cook with that thing too, Amy?" laughed Sonic.

"Ha ha. You should be more careful!" scolded Amy, though you can see the worry in her face. "That's it! I'm helping you!"

"Amy! You can't-" Sonic stopped as her hammer flew up to parry a laser beam that the robot fired behind her back.

Amy then flipped backwards, ignoring Sonic. She did a backwards homing attack, then spin dashed along the body of the robot up to it's face, effectively knocking it back down again, and flipped back to land beside Sonic.

"I'm helping you," she said firmly.

Sonic opened his mouth to protest. Then, he closed it, and nodded.

Amy barely managed to hold back a whoop of joy. 'He's finally letting me help him! I can't let him down!'

Together, they faced the robot struggling to get up. "I'll kill both of you!" screamed an enraged Eggman from the intercom. "Destroy them, now!"

The robot finally got up. It reared back a fist, and hurtled it towards the pair.

At the same time, they both jumped back as the fist smashed another hole in front of them. . Together, they ran up along the arm of the robot, who tried to lift his other hand to brush them off.

"Amy Flash!" shouted Amy.

A pink aura surrounded the hand. It continued to make its way towards them.

"Sonic Wind!" Sonic cried.

A powerful wind, mixed with blue energy, threw itself at the robot, but to no avail. The hand continued coming… closer…

…and closer…

Screech…

It stopped.

Amy felt the sweat trickling down her neck. She had stopped time around the hand momentarily, but it was taking a lot of energy out of her. Not having any rings to help her wasn't exactly great either.

The robot tried to shake it's hand, but Amy refused to let it. She felt herself trembling a bit.

"Sonic!" she shouted.

"Gotcha!" he returned. Quickly, he continued running up the robot's arm, towards it's face, where Eggman was still stupid enough to put the main controls.

On it's arm, several motion detecting guns popped up. They started firing at the speedy hedgehog.

Sonic rolled forward just in time to dodge one, then jumped to avoid another laser beam. Flipping backwards, he stopped behind one of the guns, which turned around. He smashed the head off with a kick before it could fire, and then grabbed the detached part, throwing it away towards the air away from him. The guns instantly turned to the broken part that was flying away, and while those were distracted, Sonic kept running up.

"Sonic… I can't…" Amy started to breathe hard, the pain vibrating through her. "Hurry!"

Sonic sped up, scared for Amy. He was almost able to touch it's face…

… when something hard hit him in the side.

Sonic gasped in pain. He looked down at his arm, where blood was trickling down it. He looked up to see the robot's eyes, smoking from the laser fire that had just missed his vital spots.

"Ugh…" moaned Amy. She could her vision blurring. 'I have to… hang… on…'

Sonic saw the robot turn it's head slowly towards Amy.

"AMY!" His heart pounding, he ran towards Amy, then leaped, knocking her to the side. Both of them tumbled down, the air whistling through their ears. Sonic tried to reach out to Amy, who had fainted from the lack of energy. She was falling down headfirst. He kept on straining to reach out to Amy, his fingers almost brushed her fur…

"Chaos Control!"

'Shadow?'

Something caught him by his good arm. He looked up to see two fluffy tails spinning around. "Tails!"

"Sonic! Are you hurt?" asked the said kitsune.

Sonic spun his head around wildly. "Amy! Where's Amy?"

"I've got her." Sonic twisted around as best as he could in midair to see Cream gripping tightly onto Amy, her ears flapping. "What happened to her?" she asked as soon as they landed.

"She just used up too much energy…" he replied quickly. He turned to see everyone else already fighting the robot.

The robot was being overwhelmed by so many fighters coming at him at once. Even the extra defenses on him were not enough. It started to tip…

"Chaos Spear!" shouted Shadow.

Yellow, spear-like energy made their way from Shadow to the robot's face. They smashed through the glass, and the face started to smoke.

The robot tipped a bit more, rocking back and forth. Then, slowly, it fell to the ground, the echo screaming throughout the whole base.

Amy stirred a bit. Sonic noticed, and ran towards her, his arms tenderly lifting her head up.

"What happened…?" asked Amy groggily.

"Don't worry, Amy. You're ok…"

"Sonic! Your arm!" Amy grabbed his hand gently, inspecting the wound.

Sonic blushed lightly. "It's nothing…"

Suddenly, his body was sent flying towards the metal wall.

Amy bolted up, ignoring the headache, to see Knuckles gliding almost angrily towards him. He pinned Sonic to the wall by his arms.

"Where's the Master Emerald?" he demanded, baring his teeth.

"Get off him, Knuckles!" screamed Amy. She ran at him, and with difficulty, pried him off of Sonic.

"Where? Where is it?" asked the struggling echidna again, now being held back by Vector, Espio, Charmy, and Rouge as well.

"The Master Emerald? Is it here?" asked Sonic, bewildered by Knuckles's sudden attack, his bloody arm throbbing with pain.

"I know it's here. Don't play dumb!"

"Sonic, if you know where the Master Emerald is," said Shadow, a bit of urgency in his voice, "You have to let us know…"

"I don't know where it is!" Sonic shot back. "Why would I know…"

All of the sudden, the lights went out.

A/N: Yeah... this chapter has more action than emotion... Anyway, hope you like!

azngirlchibi