A/N: Geez, about time, eh? Anyway, I'm so glad it's FINALLY the long weekend (bows down before the genious who invented "vacations"). I'm not even going to think about my homework until Monday (procrastinating is so much fun, no?). Oh, and I realized that the link to the forums thingy didn't work, so I'll post it again. Just take out the spaces in between. Oh, and add the missing colon and extra slash in the beginning of "http."

http / www . fanfiction . net / ft / 555433 / 13922 / 1 /

Enjoy, all you wonderful people!

Disclaimer: Are you kidding me? I'd love to own Sonic the hedgehog! But I don't...
"Amy!"

Sonic's chest tightened, as if the darkness around him was suddenly trying to crush him. Amy screamed again, her hand reaching for his…

"Sonic!"

Sonic tried to run to her, but she was already disappearing, her body half-covered in the liquid-like darkness. It slowly inched up her ankles, snaked around her chest, until only her head was left.

"No, Amy! Wait!" But she was disappearing too fast… too fast! The darkness seemed to force itself down her mouth, muffling her screams. Her eyes were wide with fear as the darkness crept over her nose, and she gave what sounded like a cough… like she was being choked…

"Amy!"

… And she was gone. Sonic made a grab for where she was… just a second ago. It was one second… only one second! And he wasn't fast enough…

A dark chuckle suddenly reverberated around him, and Sonic recognized it immediately. A voice that he hated more than ever before… that made him almost… lust to kill…

"Ah… so you can feel it? The hate, the anger?" Sonic twisted his head around, trying to locate the source of the sound. But the only thing he could see was the nothingness that surrounded him, that had snatched Amy away.

"Tell me, Sonic… does it make you feel… powerful?"

"You…" A growl rumbled low in his throat, and his eyes were flashing dangerously. He made another swipe at the darkness surrounding him, but only managed to pass his hand through nothingness. "Come out here!"

"You should be happy, Sonic… I'm protecting her… from the likes of you."

Sonic's eyes widened, his pupils contracted. 'See…?' The voices… the voices… why were they back? 'See…?' Their snide whispers fleeted by his mind so quickly that he almost missed them. 'It is your fault…'

"No… no!" Who was he talking to? Was he talking to the voices or to his mirror self? "You're a liar!"

"But Sonic… you even admitted yourself…" Dark green eyes suddenly pierced through the darkness. A chilling, icy coldness seemed to knife through his chest. "You felt yourself doing all those things to your friends…"

Sonic shook his heads, narrowing his eyes as if they might push away those voices, and staring straight at those chilling eyes, even as he felt the coldness bury itself deeper within him. "No…" His voice held the slightest tremor. "It was you… it was you!" He lunged at those pair of eyes, but they vanished again. A part of him dearly prayed that he was just imagining them.

"Ah… doubting your sanity?" A flash of blue quills… a flutter of a dress. "Don't you remember how they screamed? How they begged for mercy? How you held nothing back when you…"

"Shut up you sick bastard!" Sonic blindly lashed out with his leg. Wasn't the sound of running feet coming from there just a second ago? Sonic drew in a deep breath, trying to force himself to calm down. This was nothing… just another villain. Just another… another…

'Another what…?' The voice caressed his mind. 'Another… you?'

"No…" Sonic gritted his teeth. He could hear them cracking inside his mouth, and the taste of blood ran down his throat. He clenched his fist as hard as he could. "It… wasn't… me!" Sonic threw a punch as hard as he could into the darkness.

There was a shout of surprise, followed by a muffled scream. A perfect image of himself fell seemingly out of nowhere, as if someone had suddenly pushed him out from behind a curtain that no one could see. It had a hand over it's mouth, but Sonic could see the edges of an ugly, darkening bruise starting to take form. A pink bundle was being held tightly by it's other arm and being shaken roughly like a rag doll.

In a flash, Sonic was looming over the figure. The form on the ground jerked his head up in surprise. "How…" And it was all he managed to utter, before he had to jump back to avoid a kick.

"No… I won't listen to you!" Sonic shouted, his voice ringing loudly. It was strange how such an angry voice can ring in the exact same place where the musical sound of laughter was floating, just a moment ago. Sonic curled up into a spiky ball, and hurled himself at Amy's captor.

"You don't have to listen to me, Sonic," came the reply. Eyes glittering maliciously, the hedgehog reared back his foot, the delivered a mighty kick at his attacker, who was flung back, and landed with a painful thump in the empty space.

"Just listen to yourself, Sonic. You don't have to listen to a word I say… but how can you doubt yourself?"

'He's right, you know…' Sonic felt his ears plaster themselves on his skull, wanting to avoid the voices… the voices that were swirling around in his head…

"No… no… no!" Sonic struggled back to his feet. "You… can't make me… listen… Ugh!"

His mirror form had taken advantage of this moment of weakness. He gave Sonic a kick to his chin, making his head flip upwards painfully and cracking his neck. "Sanity is such a fragile thing, isn't it?" He asked him. Without waiting for a reply, he sent a roundhouse kick to Sonic's direction, making him skid even further away.

Surpassing the pain of his battered body, Sonic got up to his feet. "You…" his voice was hoarse, interrupted by his harsh breathing. "Tikal… told me… all about you…"

His form gave him a grin. His fangs glinted in the darkness. "You think I don't know…?"

Sonic's mouth almost dropped open in surprise. 'He can hear you… so that must mean that…'

Sonic shook his head. He didn't want to finish the thought… but his other form seemed to be happy to.

"Oh, nothing gets by you, does it?" He roughly hefted Amy higher up his arms. "Of course I know what she said. I heard everything… every single word." He smirked, enjoying the look on this pathetic excuse for a hedgehog's face. "Is that not enough proof for you? If you could feel everything that I was doing… and I could feel everything that you were doing… then doesn't that mean that we're the same person? That everything we did was because we both wanted it to happen?"

He had planted the seed of doubt in Sonic's mind… and now, all he had to do was sit back and watch Sonic make it grow.

'See… he is right… how can you fight that?' Sonic collapsed on his knees, no longer caring that he was openly displaying weakness. 'See?'

"They hate you. All of them do. And if Amy here was to be honest…I bet she's the one who hates you most of all."

'No… that's not true… is it?' Sonic lifted his eyes to Amy's body, but she was hanging limply in her captor's arms. 'No… that's not true… it can't be!'

"Sonic…"

Sonic almost choked on the air he was breathing. That sounded like… Amy!

"Sonic… it hurts… it hurts so much…"

Sonic jolted himself upright. Amy was flickering in his form's arms!

"Oh… looks like her time's almost up!" His mirror form threw a disdainful glance at the package he was holding in his arms.

Sonic found that he still had to strength to speak. "What do you mean?"

The disdainful look was turned to him now. "Don't you notice that we're here all alone?"

The blue hedgehog looked around him. Now that he thought about it… shouldn't this place be full of dead… people? Their souls? Their ghosts? Or whatever they called them?

Amy flickered again, and she gave a groan. "Make it stop… Sonic… help me… it… hurts…"

'Amy…' He seemed to draw strength on her name. He pushed himself with all his might to his feet, but teetered dangerously.

His mirror image did nothing to stop him. "You see… we are now, literally, standing between life and death." He pointed to the door, indicating what he must've thought to be "death." "No one can stand here forever. Not even you… or me. It's almost like living a half-life… and that's impossible."

Amy groaned again, but her voice sounded dangerously weak. "Please… help me…"

She was ignored by her captor, who continued on. "Some people say that if you stand at this border too long, your spirit and soul will simply vanish. Of course, no one knows what happens if you die…" He gave a sadistic laugh at this. "… Nor are they in any condition to tell us… but what I do know is that death would be paradise… compared to what might happen to this brat."

'Brat…' The word grated in Sonic's ears, and he gritted his teeth, forcing his mind to go numb against the voices in his head.

"Sonic… please…" Amy's voice sounded again, weaker than ever. Sonic's eyes snapped to her, his heart starting to pound in fear. Who knows what he might do if he couldn't save her?

Sonic took a step forward, his mind starting to race too fast for the voices to chase him. "Look," he started, surprised that his voice could still sound so strong. "It's… me you want, right? Then you can…"

"Oh please," his other form interrupted. "Is this a hostage exchange I'm hearing? Because if it is, the answer is no." He kept talking before Sonic could get another word in. "Is it not obvious to you that both of us have stayed here too long as well? None of us are strong enough to get back to the living world alone. That would just get us killed, fool."

Sonic's eyes narrowed in suspicion, but he couldn't hide his fear as Amy's breath started growing increasingly shallow. "Then what do you want?"

A wicked grin was thrown to his direction. "If we merge together again, we may have enough energy to get back. And with Amy," he added. "You want to save the poor thing, don't you?" he asked in a mocking voice.

The hedgehog swallowed. 'Go back… with him?' What would he make him do once they were back to the living world? Kill his friends? Or maybe even worse?

Amy's breaths were getting louder now. Gasping, choking, wheezing… She gave a cough, like something was pouring itself down her throat, blocking her windpipe…

Suddenly, it was like he didn't even need to think anymore. All he knew… was that Amy was too important to him. Too important to lose…

"Ok, I'll do it."

No more words were exchanged. Amy was flickering more and more, becoming more and more transparent each time.

They started walking to each other. The sound of Amy's breathing filled his ears, until they felt so full that they might burst. Both of them reached out a hand, mirroring each other's moves.

The tips of their fingers touched. Sonic saw them merge together, like he was standing in front of a mirror and was somehow falling through it. A bubbling, liquid-like sound emitted from them, but they seemed to slide smoothly together like two perfect halves.

Suddenly, all he could see was darkness… darkness that he was falling through. He felt his mouth open, but he couldn't hear the scream. He couldn't feel the pain… and yet he felt like something was hurting him. Hurt without pain? Was that possible?

His own image flitted across his eyes. It was like someone had drawn him, but had no clue what his eyes really looked like. Like they had drawn him, but had mistaken him to be the antagonist. He saw the mouth open, and heard his own voice. "So, Sonic… I had helped you. My powers have been drained now… I am merely a shadow of what I used to be…"

It was true. He could hear his voice… it was faint, so very faint. But somehow, it just made it sound so much more menacing.

"If it wasn't for the fact that I can't live without you, I wouldn't have helped. But now that I have helped you… I expect something in return…"

Sonic found that he couldn't refuse. He couldn't open his mouth, couldn't move his body, and couldn't resist him in any way at all.

"Sonic… I want you to stay away from your friends… not that I think you have a choice…"

'What do you mean?' he wanted to ask. But again, his words seemed to freeze before they reached his lips.

"Think about it, Sonic…" the voice replied in a mocking voice. "You'd be doing them a favor. You'd merely be helping them. After all… I'm sure you remember that feeling of wanting to kill someone, don't you?"

Yes, he could… It was like someone was sending that feeling rushing through him. The adrenaline, the exhilaration… he felt disgusted.

"And even if you manage to control that… I'm sure that I won't be able to…"

His voice was getting farther and farther away, like they were falling in separate directions…

"Remember…"

Sonic gasped like he had broken through the surface of a lake, breathing his first breath of air.

'Amy!'

The wind blasted into his face. All around him, the sky was starting to lighten, signaling the rising of the sun. The faint, first glows gave him a comforting warmth, reassuring him that he was back in the world of the living.

Something shifted in his arms, and he looked down. His fur was back to normal; the bright, cobalt blue, his eyes their bright emerald green. Amy shifted again in his arms, and as Sonic watched, her fur was starting to become tinged with her natural pink, not the sickly pale colour he had seen earlier. His heart leapt as she gave a soft groan, and she blearily opened her eyes…

"Remember…"

Sonic's eyes widened, and suddenly, the light of the sun felt like icicles piercing his skin. His breathing became short and shallow, his heart beating faster and faster…

"Sonic…?"

His ears twitched to the sound of Amy's voice, and he felt the irresistible urge to hold tightly onto her and never let go… 'No… I can't, I can't!'

'I… have to go.' Silently, he felt a part of him collapse as he realized that that was what his counterpart had wanted. For him to live all alone so that he could be forever trapped with his own thoughts.

Was Amy reading his mind? Suddenly, her grip on him tightened unbearably, but he found that he wanted to do the same to her. "Amy…" he whispered, his voice so quiet that it could barely be heard over the rushing wind. "Let me go."

It was like a fire was suddenly lit inside her. Her voice grew stronger, her breathing deeper. "No… no!" Her body was still weak, but he could see that she was pushing herself as hard as she could to hold onto him. "I can't… lose you again! Please, Sonic…"

He started to gently pry himself loose, even though he could feel his heart slowly tear as her fingers released him. "Let go, Amy. Let go of me… you have to let go."

"No!" Amy's eyes were filling with tears. Why did he always have to go as soon as she caught him? "I can't… you can't… please don't make me do this!" Her voice was shaking so hard. She was trying her best to surpass the sobs that threatened to escape her. Even the bright surroundings around her did nothing to ease her pain.

"Amy, please don't cry…" Sonic cupped his hands around her cheek. The words seemed to drive a wedge through Amy.

"I… I thought…" Amy's tears started streaming over Sonic's gloved hand, soaking it with the scent of tangy salt. "I thought you loved me… why do you have to go?"

Sonic dipped his head closer to hers. There foreheads touched, and it was taking him all his strength not to cry himself. "I do love you, Amy." He didn't dare raise his voice above a whisper… like he was afraid of breaking something. "That's why I have to go…"

There noses touched. Amy could smell that scent on him… the scent of the wilderness. "Sonic…" Her warm breath washed over Sonic's face. "Please… stay with me… I don't understand…"

Sonic shook his head. "Amy… I don't want you to understand. I want to protect you… your life is more precious than… than…" The blue hedgehog suddenly found himself at a loss for words.

Amy finished the sentence for him. "… More precious than love?" She asked, her voice shaking, cracking…

"No… don't say that," replied Sonic. He stared at her eyes, wishing that he could just lose himself in them. "It's harder to leave this way…"

Amy's grip tightened on him again, but it seemed weak. "I'll say it a thousand times every day if it'll keep you here…"

Sonic shook his head again. How could this girl be so devoted to him? Didn't she know how hard it was to leave her right now? Didn't she know that it was hurting him too? That it was like he was trying to tear his soul in half?

"Amy… I don't want to leave. I really don't…" He gritted his teeth again. 'Idiot!' He thought to himself. 'Idiot, idiot, idiot!'

"Then don't," Amy answered him. "Isn't that simple enough?"

Sonic swallowed hard. "Amy, it's not that simple. I wish it was… you don't know how much I wish it was…"

There faces were so close now, there lips an inch apart.

"Don't leave me all alone…" pleaded Amy.

Sonic couldn't say anything… so he did the only thing that seemed to make sense in his mind. He kissed her.

He let out a sigh of pure bliss. How easy it was to forget that the world isn't all innocent…

"I'm sure… that I won't be able to…"

There it was… that feeling again. Adrenaline filled blood started rushing through his body… there were screams… the wonderful screams… the rivers of blood… a kingdom of red…

"Make your choice… Sonic…"

Sonic jerked away from Amy, his heart a pounding frenzy in his chest. He was surprised that Amy couldn't hear it.

"Sonic…" Her voice soft, she reached for his face. "Sonic… don't… leave…"

Sonic's eyes were constricted, his pupils so small in his head that the light in his world was turning dark. He couldn't… he couldn't… just couldn't!

Amy swallowed back her tears… but then saw his eyes. Her own widened as she saw them. He looked so… lost. Like he was scared… more frightened then he had ever felt in his life. It made him look so innocent… and it scared Amy. She wanted so badly to help him… to take it away. She wanted Sonic to stay with her!

"I'm sorry, Amy…"

Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain somewhere on her neck. Darkness started surrounding her, the real world starting to slip through her fingers like the way Sonic's body was pulling away from hers…

'No…'

Light was stabbing her eyes, making them water under her eyelids. Cream felt someone shaking her, calling her name.

"Cream! Cream!"

She opened her eyes, and they met with the bright cerulean blue ones that she knew so well.

"Tails!" She cried out in joy. She threw her arms around his neck, sobbing and choking on her own tears. "Tails… Tails!" She kept on repeating his name, relishing the way her tongue clicked in her mouth as she said it. She broke away from him. "How did you…?"

Tails's look suddenly darkened. "Sonic…" he said, simply, his voice empty. He pointed behind him.

Cream's eyes widened. Knuckles… Rouge… Shadow… the Chaotix… everyone! She collapsed on the ground, dizzy. "How…?" she asked, weakly.

There was a sob behind her. Cream wheeled around.

"He's gone…" It was Amy. She seemed to have shrunk, like a part of her had been taken away.

"Who?" asked Cream, her eyes wide with worry. She looked around. 'Everyone's here… except…' Her eyes widened even more, if that was possible.

"Sonic…" replied Amy, her voice hollow. "He's gone," she said again, tears streaming from her empty eyes.

There was a thick silence.

Cream stared at her friend. For some reason, she felt no pity towards her… but she did feel as if a huge weight was suddenly placed on her chest. Like something was trying it's hardest to crush her… like she was now all alone in the world. She remembered the feeling… when she thought all her friends were dead, how desperate she felt… Cream opened her mouth. She wanted to tell Amy that she wasn't alone. That she would be right there by her side… even if she knew that it won't be the same as Sonic.

"I know how you feel…"

Amy looked up, her anger suddenly flared. Who had dared to say that? Who had dared to even suggest that they could feel even a shadow of her emotions right now?

An arm lightly touched hers.

Cream.

"Amy…"

Amy was starting to shake. "Don't you dare… you don't even know…" The words seemed to be trying to tumble out too fast out of her mouth. Too fast for her to control.

"Amy…" Another hand was closing in on her.

'No...' she thought. 'Don't come near me… Don't touch me… Don't…'

Something inside her snapped. Some sort of feeling… and ugly feeling, reared itself inside her. With all her might, she slapped Cream across the face.

If possible, the silence turned even thicker. The sound of the slap was still echoing in Amy's ears, pushing itself into her brain. An angry, purple welt was starting to form right underneath Cream's sky-blue eyes. The bruise seemed to mock her. 'This is who you will become without Sonic,' it seemed to say.

The two best friends just stared at each other with a horrific awe. Cream's hand slowly moved to the welt, as if making sure it was really there. She winced as her fingers brushed over it.

"Oh Cream… oh Cream…" Amy's voice turned hoarse, shame seeping in to mix with sadness.

Cream stood up and started approaching Amy again, her footsteps broken and uneven. After what seemed like an eternity, she was in front of Amy. The two made eye contact, and the rabbit said something that snapped the silence in half.

"It's okay."

Everyone seemed to be holding in their breath…

"Cream…" A strangled sob escaped Amy, and her arms were suddenly around Cream. The weight caused them both to sink into the ground, but they hardly noticed. The two were sobbing on the ground, ignoring everything around them. It was just the two of them right now, in their world.

Their cries and sobs filled the air like the broken notes from a bird's song. Rouge's sensitive ears twitched as the sounds washed over them. She wanted to curse Sonic, curse him into oblivion. How could he just leave Amy like this? It was so… selfish! She felt Knuckles's hand suddenly rest on her shoulder, but she didn't say anything. It was as if the two were sharing the same thoughts.

Tails was beside her, staring hard at the ground. His eyes were glazed over, unseeing. He seemed like a lost little boy without Sonic's figure beside him.

The Chaotix were to be at a loss for words. Even Charmey wasn't buzzing around; instead, he was staring around uncomfortably, like the rest of the Chaotix, as if searching for an invisible map leading to Sonic engraved in the air.

Shadow had his back turned to the girls, as if the sight of their tears disgusted him, but his eyes were squinted and turned towards the horizon. It was as if he hoped to maybe… just maybe catch a glimpse of blue quills in the distance.

A crown of light was starting to pierce the sky, but it gave them no comfort. The sun started rising, but the rays it threw seemed to be bleeding the sky red.

A/N: Wow... it's so hard for me to believe that this fic is about to end. I'd say there's about 2 - 3 chapters left, probably. I was going to end it here, actually (this was different, originally). I just thought that it'd be weird to not explain how this impacted Sonic's relationship with everyone, so... I extended it.

And so... I must choose my next story. Hmm... let's make this into a contest! If any of you had visited my profile, you would know that I have ideas that I'm tossing around... and I just can't decide! So, here's a question about me to answer. If you get it right, you can choose the next story... or, if you think all my ideas suck, you can just give me an idea... or tell me to quite writing. Either way (smiles).

Azngirlchibi lives in...

a) Guangzhou, China

b) Andong, South Korea

c) Belleville, USA

d) Bedok, Singapore

e) Waterloo, Canada

f) Nagoya, Japan

And no, if you get it right, I will definatly not send you a p/m saying that you are. I mean, I might as well just tell you where I live, right? I'll just say what fic I'll be writing in the next chapter. Leave the answer and your fic choice...and yes, there are asians living in asian countries who can fluently speak english... (hint hint, nudge nudge).

Anonymous Reviews:

Alenia Shadows: LOL, I know the feeling. I should hire you to write suspenseful questions at the end of each chapter for me :D. Thanks for reading!

Bunnylass: Sorry I didn't answer earlier. The site kept on telling me that your review didn't exist... right... Anyway, cliffies are fun to leave... they make me feel powerful and evil! LOL, thanks for reading!

Sofia: Oh, I just always have to make everything sad just when it's getting better, don't I? I'm so nice! Thanks for reviewing!

See you!

azngirlchibi