CHAPTER 3

(Rouge the Bat and Cream the Rabbit)

"Ahhh!" Rouge screamed. "Miss Cream, please! I'm innocent!"

"Come back here, you white fly!" Cream shouted.

Cream slammed the lamp post into a nearby tree, breaking her 'borrowed' weapon in half. It haven't been long since the two girls left Tails and Knuckles, but in that short amount of time, they had come a long way. The forest they were in was think with overgrown trees and bushes. Since Rouge was preoccupied with keeping Cream in her line of view, she didn't realize that she was flying right into a fishing net that was tangled like a giant spider web between numerous oak trees.

"Eek!" Rouge squealed.

"Hey! Who's idea was it to fish in the forest?" Cream complained.

The two girls squirmed, trying to disentangle themselves from the net.

"Muhahaha!" Dr. Eggman laughed, floating down on his Egg Carrier. "You just fell in my trap, Amy Rose! Now Sonic will have to admit defeat!"

Rouge and Cream blinked.

"Dr. Eggman?"

Hearing his name being called, the crazy doctor stopped laughing and blinked down at his new prisoners. "Hey... You two aren't Amy Rose."

"You think? Now let us go, Dr. Eggman!" Cream screamed, struggling even more.

"...I don't think so." he puffed.

"But-But! We're not Amy!" Rouge protested.

Dr. Eggman rubbed his mustache in between his fingers, pondering the situation, then shrugged dismissively. "That's okay. You're surely worth something..."

Before Rouge could say anything, Cream spoke up. "Of course, you stupid fatty! My Tails will rush over, crack your dumb self, and fry you for breakfast!" Then she got starry-eyed. "Ah, my hero~! I bet he'll be here any minute!"

"Why do you say that?"

"Lover's connection!" We're bound by fate!"

-Somewhere in the city, Tails sneezed and wondered why he felt like he had to go into the forest just beyond the city limits.-

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Dr. Eggman yawned. Snatching the net up, he carried Rouge and Cream away deeper into the forest. "Maybe Tails can be bait for Sonic..."

(Amy Rose)

Amy panted as she finally stopped for breath. She had just left the two male hedgehogs behind with the police and ran down the streets into the downtown area where thugs and gangs were looming dangers. She smirked to herself.

"That wasn't very nice, Rose." Amy startled as Shadow appeared out of nowhere. "You leaving Sonic behind like that..."

Amy smiled. "I left Sonic and you. Do you love me so much that you had to come chasing after me?"

Without so much as a change in expression, Shadow walked slowly towards Amy. She opened her mouth to make another snide comment, but the words wouldn't come out so she just closed her mouth again. He kept walking closer and closer until Amy had nowhere left to run, then he put one hand on the brick wall behind her and leaned in until their noses almost touched. She could feel his hot breath on her lips and couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to kiss him. No longer looking into his eyes, she stared at the ground between them.

"Rose..."

Amy snapped into focus and shoved him away from her. "Get your hands off me! I'm not an easy girl to get."

For awhile, Shadow remained silent, then he smiled ever so slightly. "I know."

The moon was high up in the sky by now and the crumbling, tall buildings around them seemed to pierce the sky. Amy was just barely controlling herself enough so that a blush did not paint her cheeks. However, it wasn't just a blush that threatened to takeover. There was a stabbing pain that shot through her skull like a knife and rippled over her body as if she had fallen into ice water.

The frown she was wearing slipped as she started to space out. The world was spinning and for the first time in a long while, Amy felt like she was going to faint.

"Hey, Shadow-" Amy tried to say, but before she could, she blacked out.

"Amy!" Shadow said, catching her just in time before she hit the sidewalk. "Amy! Can you hear me?"

He shook her gently, but there was no response. He scooped her up into his arms, cradling her like a princess, then chaos controlled away.

Shadow stepped into Tails' house, but it was dark and no one was there. He sighed in frustration. Where was everyone? After finding a nice bed for Amy and tucking her in, he wandered down into Tails' basement where the place still looked as if it went through a tornado disaster. (Which it kind of did.) Shadow became even more worried.

Then his cell phone rang.

He quickly flicked it out and answered it. "What?" he said gruffly.

"Shadow! How come you just left me!" Sonic's voice screamed out of the speaker. "You know what, never mind. Forget it. I just need you to come bail me out. Please?"

"Sonic..." Shadow growled.

"Come on. Just chaos control to the police station and tell the nice policemen that you're going to bail me out." Sonic pleaded. "It stinks with baddies here, Shadow. And they don't even have chilli dogs!"

Shadow was about to hang up on Sonic when a thought struck him. "Hey, Sonic, you don't happen to know where Tails is do you?"

"Tails? Can't really say. Not that you mention it, he hasn't contacted me at all today."

"...What about Knuckles?"

"Uh, no, but he hardly ever does. He's too busy guarding the Master Emerald and waiting for Rouge to show up."

"Rouge?"

"Yeah, you know, your batty friend?"

Now that Shadow thought about it, Rouge hadn't contacted him today either. This was pretty unusual since around this time, Rouge would call him up to go clubbing or something. Suddenly, Shadow had a feeling that Amy's weird personality change and everyone's absence had a connection. Maybe even Amy's sudden collapse.

"I'm coming to get you Sonic."

"Oh, thank you!"

"We're going to go hunting for our teammates."

"What? Did something happen?"

Sonic continued to scream Shadow's name into the dead phone line until someone threw a donut at him.

"Quit crying, you blueberry!"

Sonic sniffled and angrily bit into the donut. "Policemen are meeeaaannn!"

Sonic: *sniffle* Why did you hang up on me, Shadow?

Shadow: *smack* Why are you such a baby?

*Sonic munches on a donut while sniffling*

I know Sonic is out of character, but so is almost everyone in this story. Hahaha...

Thank you everyone for the faves and reviews! I appreciate your support! 3