A/N: Yep, managed to stick in a chapter. Now that I think about it, I'll probably be able to upload one more chapter before I leave (nods proudly). I figure that this fic will probably be around twenty-something chapters, so this is far from over. Yeah... btw, I've been bored recently (sigh). WHY WON'T ANY OF YOU UPDATE YOUR FICS? I usually get like at least three story alerts a day... but now, zip, none...

Metal Sonic: Don't worry about her... she has no life. All her friends are out of the country, so she's been home everyday in front of the computer... it's really starting to rot her brain.

Azngirlchibi: You do realize that I'm right here, right?

Metal Sonic: Who cares? You're the one who killed me a few chapters ago, remember?

Azngirlchibi: Ok, you know what? I don't want you as my author's note partner anymore... I'm getting a new one!

Age Changes:

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

Tikal: ... she's a spirit...

Chaos: ... he's a water god thingy...

Disclaimer: ... No, I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. I wouldn't be here if I did...

Terrified, Cream the Rabbit could do nothing but stare as Sonic stared back… no, not stared. More like burn holes through her. Trembling, shaking, she let out another sharp gasp as Sonic's grip on her collar tightened, not enough to cut off her air supply, but enough to make her panic.

"You die now… Cream…"

She was so scared… so ill-prepared to die. She could feel his hand slowly tighten around her collar, closing the space between her throat and the cloth more and more. She could see his smile as her eyes widened more and more and tears started leaking out.

The cloth touched the fur on her neck… then suddenly loosened. Cream stopped trembling in shock. 'What's he doing?'

Cream followed the direction of his gaze… and finally saw Amy.

"Amy!" she cried. The name of her friend on her tongue made her forget everything for a second. She was overjoyed to see her back on her feet, even if she did look dirty and in disarray, and the blood from the wound on her cheek was a crusty mess. She was happy, even though Amy's face had taken on an old, almost ancient look, even though her limbs moved slowly, as if they had rusted with age. None of that mattered… Amy was back.

Finally, Cream heard her voice. It sounded almost creaky and dry, like she'd forgotten how to use it. "Sonic…" Her voice seemed to echo like an old, dry well, yet a well wouldn't have held the determination in her voice. "Put Cream down… now…" A green light emitted from her hand, and Cream shifted her gaze to see her holding a green Chaos Emerald. The very one that Sonic had taken from her and thrown away.

Sonic smirked at the disheveled looking pink hedgehog. He had finally gotten her out into the open. The rest was going to be easy now. "You mean her?" He switched Cream from her right hand to his left, lifting her by the scruff of her collar. "Gladly."

Before either Cream of Amy could blink, Sonic flung her hard to the side. Amy gave a cry and tried to run to her, but she wasn't fast enough. Cream hit her head painfully against the wall, and couldn't fight the darkness as it dragged her away from consciousness.

Amy clenched her one hand that she had opened in an attempt to save Cream. Her eyes narrowed angrily as she snapped her head towards Sonic, who was idly scratching away at an ear.

"Why are you doing this?" she shouted at him, ignoring the strain it did to her voice box. "Why are you trying to hurt everyone? What can you possibly gain from this?"

Sonic's eyes flashed for a second.

Amy looked at him, eyes suddenly pitying. "You don't even know why you're doing this, do you?"

At this, her body was suddenly flung backwards, and her other cheek was stinging now too. The smallest trickle of blood ran down from the cut and into her neck, but Amy didn't even bother to wipe it away. She sat up, her body still slow to respond.

"He's dying…"

Amy jerked her head up. Sonic's eyes were casted downwards, and if Amy didn't know any better, he would've thought that Sonic was ashamed. "What…?"

Her question was cut off by Sonic. "With every friend that I rid myself of, with every drop of blood on my hands, his spirit slowly dies…"

Amy didn't need to ask to know who he was talking about.

"Amy… you're the last one. The last, and greatest, obstacle that I need to rid me of… then I will finally have true and complete control." Sonic looked up, his pupils as small as a pinpoint. Then, his body pulsed.

Amy's head spun as the wave of energy coming off of Sonic hit her. The Chaos Emerald in her hand sizzled slightly in response. The ground around Sonic started to shake, and pieces of the earth floated up and around him. It took almost all of Amy's concentration just to stay balanced. 'What's happening…?'

The Chaos Emerald in her hand seemed to pulse faster and faster as the ground shook harder and harder. Then, something clicked in Amy's mind, and as if to confirm her thoughts, she saw the tips of Sonic's quills starting to brighten into a glimmering gold. 'He's turning Super Sonic!'

The aura around him twisted and flared, and a beam of gold energy radiated off of him, threatening to sweep Amy off her feet. Quickly, she pulled out her hammer, digging the end of it into the ground as the gold light seemed to shimmer and harden. Flying objects missed her by inches, and the green Emerald continued it's pulsing.

There was a huge explosion that knocked Amy back despite her hammer anchoring her. She fell on her face and she could feel the ground scraping it raw. Scrabbling around to face Sonic, all she could see was dirt and rain mixing together in the air. She squinted, and barely managed to make out a silhouette among the destruction.

Suddenly, the silhouette lifted a hand. A golden ball of energy formed there, and Amy, who was straining her eyes to see, was momentarily blinded by it's brilliance. Something caught her by the stomach, and she was knocked back, her body moaning in pain. Her head hit something hard, and she had to fight the urge to faint.

Amy staggered up in time to see Super Sonic emerge from the chaos, his hand smoking slightly. Blood red eyes, like two drops of rubies, stared back at her own. His cuts and wounds were miraculously gone, just like the last time he had transformed. He looked renewed, in perfect shape. "For all the trouble you've caused me," he said, his voice menacing, "You will die a slow death."

Amy pulled out her hammer again with her free hand, the other one still holding onto the Chaos Emerald which had stopped pulsing. She wasn't really paying attention to this though, for she had more worrisome thoughts in her mind. 'How can I do this?' she thought to herself, already beginning to feel the first effects of doubt mingled with fright. 'I can hardly hold my own against Sonic… but Super Sonic? How do I do this…?' Even if she could damage Sonic, she knew that she couldn't hurt him too badly. 'I know the real Sonic is in there, and he's coming for me… I have to help him somehow. But I don't know if there's anything that I can do!'

Another glowing ball of light emerged from Super Sonic's hand. It flew away from him, meeting Amy's hammer head-on. With all her might, straining the muscles in her arms, she managed to bat it away and leaped to the side. The Chaos Emerald in her hand suddenly pulsed again, distracting her. She looked down for a second. 'Again?'

A gold streak flew past her, warning her just in time as Super Sonic made a U-turn and rocketed towards her. She swung her hammer downwards, intending to knock him out by hitting him on the head.

Super Sonic just looked up slightly. Raising one hand, he easily caught the head of her Piko Piko Hammer with just his fingertips. Amy pushed down with all her strength, but the gold hedgehog managed it easily. Both their eyes met, and he smirked at her sweaty and bruised face. He twitched his hand slightly, and gold light flooded from his hand and into her hammer.

Amy gasped as the light flushed through her hammer, inching towards her hands. Soon, her whole hammer was gold. She looked at Sonic, and he greeted her with a malicious smile. He twitched his hand again, and her whole hammer shattered like the surface of a pond, the pieces still enveloped in light as they fell to the ground. The force of it blew Amy back. She spread her free hand out by instinct to soften her fall, and felt her wrist twist painfully as she landed. The Chaos Emerald fell out of her hands and landed beside her head, and it seemed to pulse at an even more eradicate speed.

The pink hedgehog pushed herself up with her arms, and snatched up the green Chaos Emerald with her good hand before it could be separated from her. Amy blinked as it touched her hand and she felt it's pulsing. She looked around, trying to find what it was reacting to before Sonic could distract her. 'No… it's not him that it's reacting to again. He was right in front of me and it still pulsed slowly.' She pushed herself up into a standing position, not noticing that Super Sonic was nowhere to be seen. 'But what else in here…' Then, her eyes rested on the Master Emerald.

It was like some sort of instinct had taken over her body. She could feel the Master Emerald calling the Chaos Emerald in her hand, and the Chaos Emerald was pulling her towards it. Sprinting, she tried to fight the rain and wind as she ran her way towards the giant gem.

"Not so fast…" Super Sonic appeared in front of her, standing in between the way of her and the Master Emerald. Swiftly, he punched her in the face so hard that she could feel her neck snap up, and her body was sent skywards. Flying up, the red-eyed hedgehog grabbed her by the sides and flung her back down, not hard enough to kill her, but hard enough to make her cough up blood.

Weakly, she opened her eyelids. The Master Emerald was so close now that she could almost feel it in her hand. She couldn't get up anymore… she was too tired, and her body felt too weak to support it's own weight. She wasn't going to give up, though. With the Chaos Emerald still in her hand, almost urging her on, she slowly crawled towards the Master Emerald.

"Argh!" She cried out in pain as Super Sonic put his full weight on her. He had her pinned on the ground by the arms, almost threatening to rip them off. He quickly flipped her over so that they were face to face. They were so close that their noses almost touched. It was strange that a long, long time ago, Amy would've given anything to be this close to Sonic… but now, she couldn't think of anything more frightening.

Super Sonic grinned at her, baring his teeth. He couldn't believe that his other side would fall for such a weak creature. He couldn't believe that she was his last obstacle, who didn't even put up much of a fight. There she was… trapped, with nothing to defend herself with.

There was a long silence as the two looked at each other, lost in their own thoughts. The storm still raged on like it was unaware of the two below it, doing what it wanted.

Finally, the pink-quilled girl broke the silence. "So what now?" Amy's voice was so calm and quiet, she even surprised herself. It was like someone else was controlling Amy's body, guiding her as she spoke… but she knew that these were her own words. "What are you going to do after you rid yourself of me? Would you have a purpose to exist any longer?"

The hedgehog in front of her seemed to falter for a moment. For a second, she could see the indecision that crossed his face. "Purpose…?" His face seemed to take on an almost far-off, dreamy look.

Amy blinked. Was she really getting through to him? "Yes, Sonic. You used to have a purpose, remember?" She could feel the grip on her loosen slightly. "You wanted to enjoy life and live it to it's' fullest… remember? You even made others happy… you protected the world, and let others enjoy life too. Remember…?"

Thoughts started to mix in his mind until he couldn't tell one from the other. 'Why does this hedgehog have this effect on me?' Sonic shook his head, as if trying to clear it. 'A purpose…'

"My purpose…" he said out loud, his voice strangely emotionless. "My purpose… I… no… No! What are you doing to me…?" He still gripped Amy's shoulders, but his voice was starting to shake now.

Amy extended a hand, resting it on his forehead. "Come on, Sonic," she whispered. "I know you can do it… fight it!"

Super Sonic rose up a hand and caught Amy's. "Amy…" his eyes were watering. "It's… so hard… the path…"

Sonic was running as fast as he could, but the path before him was starting to break apart. It was getting harder and harder to run on now. His legs felt like led, and the path seemed to slip under him. It was like it was testing him as he got nearer and nearer to the end. Amy's voice echoed in his ears, driving him on. Even the water, which had caressed him so gently earlier, seemed eager to pull him back.

"NO!" It was another voice now. A colder, harder voice that roared easily over Amy's. "You will go no further!"

The path started to crumble under his feet, and soon, they were running on nothing but air. 'No!' Sonic thought to himself. His hands groped out into the air in front of him, and he managed to hang onto a bit of the road that hadn't crumbled, but he was helpless there, dangling over a black abyss. Amy's whispering voice continued in the back of his mind, and it was all he could do to hang onto to it as desperately as his hands were hanging onto that bit of the path.

"Come on, Sonic…" Amy was staring at his strained face, her hand still clutched by his. "I'm counting on you!" He seemed to be mumbling to himself, his mouth moving, forming words that only he himself could understand.

His hold on her suddenly tightened into a vice-like grip. "No…" The sound of his voice was enough to tell her who she was talking to. Her mouth gaped open in horror as his irises darkened into a murky red. "You will not be able to bring him back."

Amy felt her mind jolt. In an attempt to free herself, she wrenched an arm free and punched Sonic in the face, feeling something crack under her fist, but she didn't look back to see what it was. Running off of pure adrenaline now, she pushed herself onto her feet, than rushed out towards the Master Emerald. Her fingers brushed over it's mirror-like surface, and a blinding, green light overtook her.

"The servers are the Seven Chaos. Chaos is power… power enriched by the heart…"

Slowly, the light faded away to a dim glow. Amy put her arm down slowly, not even realizing that she had put it up. She looked around her. Everything was covered in a light hue of yellow, but something even stranger made her gasp loudly into the silence. The rain had stopped – literally. Droplets were frozen in midair, almost like it was hanging off the still wind. She looked up. A lightening bolt had stopped in the sky, making it seem like the clouds were cracking. Amy slowly turned around, surveying the landscape.

Her eyes met the blood-red ones of Sonic, and she almost jumped out of her skin. She scrambled backwards as fast as she could.

"Don't worry, Amy. He is still held by my Captive Light… but there isn't much time."

Amy turned around, and was face to face with a glowing ball of light. Suddenly, she remembered something that Sonic had told her about a long time ago… back when he was fighting the Perfect Chaos, back when she herself had saved a family of birds from the hands of Doctor Robotnik. The exact same glowing ball of light had come to her, and to everyone else, but it was Sonic who heard her name. It was the name that left her lips now.

"Tikal?"

The light seemed to shiver, than extend itself. Legs appeared, covered by the form of a tribal skirt with a long, flowing piece of material fluttering out behind her. Feet covered with shoes laced together in an intricate design touched the ground as arms that had a blue and gold bracelet adorning the wrists grew out from a body covered in a simple white cloth. A head slowly emerged, and long, orange dreadlocks wrapped in white cloth reached out to touch the shoulders, framing the echidna's face. Gold tribal jewelry hung around her neck and encircled her head, and long lashes brushed the gold headband lightly. The light faded away, and right before Amy's eyes, an orange echidna stood where the floating ball of light was, cerulean eyes shining with wisdom. A sense of peace and calm radiated off of her. There stood Tikal the Echidna… but was something wrong with her?

"Tikal!" Amy tried to reach out towards her, but Tikal quickly shook her. Amy withdrew her hand, but she remained persistent. "Tikal, what's wrong?"

Tikal looked back at her wearily. She looked so frail… even more frail than usual. Her fur was graying, and there were bald patches where fur and fallen out. Sharp angles appeared on her face that weren't there before, and her cheeks seemed to have collapsed onto themselves. Her clothes looked almost too big for her.

"Amy… I need to tell you quickly. There isn't much time left…"

Amy swallowed. "It's… it's the Chaos Emeralds that are making you weak, isn't it?"

Tikal shook her head again, dreadlocks swinging. "Not really… as Knuckles already told you, the Chaos Emeralds must have a perfect balance of negative and positive Chaos energy," she began, her voice weak, "but the Chaos Emeralds aren't the only ones that depend on that balance…" Raising a hand, Tikal turned around and ran her gloves over the surface of the Master Emerald. "The Master Emerald itself also needs to have a perfect balance of both energies…"

Amy was silent as she listened, a little confused at what she was hearing, and wondering why she had to hear this.

"That spell that Dr. Robotnik used…" Tikal's voice faltered slightly, weakening a bit more. "Not only did it drain all of the negative energy out of the Chaos Emeralds, but it also drained that energy from the Master Emerald… and because I myself am sealed within the Master Emerald, I was affected by that spell too. My spirit cannot live inside the Emerald because of the corruption, Amy… eventually, it will wither and die. Chaos…" Tikal's eyes turned bright with tears as she said the God of Destruction's name. "Chaos is already beginning to die along with me…"

Amy blinked, then stepped forward. "Tikal, there has to be a way to stop this, right? Please, tell me. I want to help you… and I have a feeling that it will help Sonic and all my friends as well…"

Tikal smiled through her tears. "You're a kind girl, Amy, and you have a strong heart… but Amy…" Her face softened with sadness. "Amy… your body is very sensitive to Chaos energy… the only way you can help is if you absorb positive Chaos energy, and your body might not be able to contain it all, even if you don't absorb a lot… and…" Tikal paused, hesitating.

Amy bowed her head low, sensing what she was about to say. "You're saying… I might die in the process, right?" she asked, her voice quiet.

Tikal nodded solemnly. "Please, Amy. If you don't want to do this, I can completely understand. If I can, I'll try to use a spell to counter Sonic's negative energy with the remaining positive energy in the Emeralds…"

The hedgehog interrupted her. "But then… wouldn't you and Chaos die?"

Tikal's spirit nodded slowly. "Yes… we would… but Amy…"

Amy shook her head, interrupting the echidna. "Tikal, from what I hear, it sounds like the only way to save everyone is if I absorb the Chaos energy. That plan sounds like it will work more than if you "try" to cast that spell." Amy took a deep breath, then continued. "Tikal… if it's going to be my life for the sake of all the others, then I'll gladly do it." Her voice was confident and sure.

Tikal sighed deeply, defeated. She felt so regretful that this young girl, who had such a life spread out ahead of her, was going to throw it all away… but then again, hadn't she done the same thing for Chaos?

Slowly, Tikal's spirit started to disappear. "Just remember this verse: 'The servers are the Seven Chaos. Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart…'"

Amy closed her eyes, and the verse ran through her mind like a mantra. Her mouth opened, and the ancient verse tumbled out of her mouth like smooth liquid pouring out of a bottle. "The servers… are the Seven Chaos… Chaos is… power… power enriched by the heart…"

'Power enriched by the heart…' Unbeknownst to her, the Chaos Emeralds were starting to float slowly up towards her, encircling her in their rainbow of colours… green, yellow, purple, cyan, white, blue, and red, twirling around her as the Master Emerald pulsed in time to her chanting. 'Tikal says I have a strong heart…' The jewels were pulsing together gently now. There was a bright flash as the Emeralds floated and turned still in midair. Everything froze for the length of a breath… then the energy shot out from all the Emeralds, and collided in the middle at Amy and the Master Emerald.

It was strange this time though. They didn't harm her like the way they had earlier when Eggman used them to shoot a huge beam of energy at her. They flowed into her this time, easily, like the way a river ran into the ocean. She accepted the energy with open arms, yet she had to hold on firmly to prevent it from running wild. The energy caused a thrill to course though her. She felt like she was riding on a young and spirited horse.

Outside around her, the time-stopping spell of Tikal broke.

Super Sonic continued charging when the spell broke. It was like nothing had happened at all. The lightening bolt that had stopped in the sky finished it's course, the rain started falling again, and the wind resumed to leap and tumble. Sonic didn't know that time had just gone against him, so he was surprised when something batted him back when he charged forward.

Regaining his balance, Sonic looked back up. Even he couldn't contain his shock as he gaped at what he was happening before him…

Amy's quills were now a blinding white, shimmering like the way a diamond would when it was held up to the sunlight. Quills that were usually held back by a headband now broke free, and they flowed around her, a bit longer now and reaching down her back, giving her a more elegant look. They curved and spiked up a bit at the end, looking deadly sharp. Her eyes were closed, as if in concentration as the white aura around her flared. If it wasn't for her red dress and boots and the yellow bracelets, she would've been almost unrecognizable.

There was another, smaller flash, and her Piko Piko Hammer appeared in front of her. That too had changed. It was as white as it's mistress, but both the heads, which was usually yellow, was now a cobalt colour. It floated in front of her for a moment… then Amy grabbed the handle with her white gloved hand. The energy started slowing down to a trickle, then stopped altogether. The Chaos Emeralds floated slowly down, weakened, but not completely deprived of energy.

Super Sonic had managed hold his surprise back in, but he couldn't contain his gasp as Amy's transformation completed.

Amy swept her eyes open. They were now a deep, sapphire blue.

A/N: Darn it... I couldn't get a new author's note partner, since...

Metal Sonic: What happened to "no spoilers?"

Azngirchibi: ... ANYWAYS, in case anyone is interested, there's a reason that I chose those colours for Amy's new form (please, no "Super Amy" jokes...) Diamond is supposed to be the gemstone of love and eternity, and sapphires represent true love. So now you know... Oh, and ignore my earlier rantings. I was in a weird mood...

Anonymous Reviews:

Jacqueline: Hee hee... thnx.

azngirlchibi