CHAPTER 4

(Rouge the Bat)

Rouge was extremely distressed. After Dr. Eggman had kidnapped her and Cream just a few hours ago, he had tossed them into separate cages, but the most upsetting thing was that while she was sent into the dark dungeons, Cream was kept in the more upper levels where there was light. Cold and frustrated, Rouge paced back and forth in the small cage.

She was scared. Her cage was small with a reinforced lid so that she couldn't fly out. There wasn't anywhere nice to sit nor was there any light besides the dim lamp that hung in front of the cage door. Apart from the metal bars, there wasn't anything she could really see or make out because everything was dark.

"When am I getting rescued?" Rouge sighed.

"It's not like you to wait for someone to rescue you." someone said.

Rouge whipped around and stared as Espio appeared out of the shadows and into the small bit of light cast in front of the cage. The chameleon wasted no time with breaking the lock and freeing Rouge.

"Mr. Espio! Why are you here?" Rouge said.

Espio stared at Rouge. "...Did Dr. Eggman do something to you? Why are you so mannered all of a sudden?"

Rouge put her hands over her heart in a shocked way. "What do you mean all of a sudden? Did I do something to upset you, Mr. Espio?"

Espio frowned slightly. "Hm. Hey, do you still like that echidna?"

"M-Mr. Kn-Knuckles? He's a great person, but me...and him...! Th-That's just- I mean, I couldn't possibly..." Rouge's face turned red and she pulled on her ears. The excitement was apparently too much for her current personality, so she fainted into Espio's arms, still blushing madly.

Espio blinked in surprise. "What do I do now?"

(Cream the Rabbit)

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

Cream watched Dr. Eggman mutter to himself as he tried once again to put in the batteries for his toy robots. His large hands fumbled with the small AAA batteries as his mouth went on a continuous murmur of self-loathing. She was currently in a bulletproof glass ball that was hung from the ceiling like a disco ball. From there, she could see the entire Eggman control room.

"The bumpy side faces the positive..." Cream sighed. "The smooth side faces the springs..."

"Rabbits shouldn't talk!" Dr. Eggman yelled at her.

"But it's so boring up here." she whined.

Dr. Eggman sighed, dropping the batteries and scattering them everywhere. "When will your boyfriend get here?"

"Tails will be here any minute! I promise! He'll burst through that door like a knight in shining armor riding his noble steed." Cream went off into her own fantasy world again.

Dr. Eggman rolled his eyes. 'Females...' Then he took a good look at Cream. 'Wait...she acts just like Amy!' Dr. Eggman slammed his fist on the table as the 'truth' set in. 'This is Amy dressed as a rabbit! That's it! I caught Amy Rose after all! Time to move on with the plan!'

(Amy Rose)

Amy sat up groggily. She felt as if she had slept for a long time, but one look at the clock told her that it had only been an hour. The moon was still shining brightly, casting shadows into the room. The bed was unfamiliar to her, but she knew enough of her surroundings to recognize it as one of Tails' guest rooms. The question was: How did exactly did she get here?

"Shadow?" Amy called into the darkness, but there was no answer.

That was when she saw the note on the bedside table.

Rose,

I'm bailing Sonic from jail then going to search for Tails. If you wake up while I'm gone, stay at Tails' house.

Shadow

Amy rolled her eyes. 'Like that will happen...' she thought while jumping out of bed. Bored, she went down into the living room, plopped on the blue leather couch, and turned on the television. The same news that Tails and Knuckles had watched came on. Amy slowly smiled. 'Ooh! I'm a thief in the public's eyes now, hm. Well, this is old news... better give them something new to talk about...' Turning off the t.v., Amy caught a glimpse of her darkened reflection on the its screen. For some reason, she thought of Shadow. Amy frowned. Shadow may be the ultimate lifeform, but even he could get hurt sometimes. 'I'll just check out what he's going to be running into then be off.'

Satisfied with this plan, Amy took off into the forest, knowing that Dr. Eggman would be involved somehow. (Because he always is...in one way or another...)

-Now in the forest-

The sound of footprints were soft, barely detectable underneath the buzzing of insects, and even with unusually pink fur, Amy Rose barely stood out among the green and browns of nature. The sky was starless and was more like a tugging void than a rich blanket, but the silver moon was gleaming, lighting the path with its bejeweled fragments.

However, the light was unnecessary. There was a pitiful cry in her head and whenever she turned a certain way, the call was smoldered into a low hum. It was a lot like having an invisible arrow telling you which direction to go, so Amy followed and was rewarded with the sight of Eggman's not-very-hidden base. The hum got softer and softer until there was only silence.

Then she saw a familiar chameleon exit the base with the object the invisible arrow pointed to- Rouge the Bat. She crouched low on the ground- like a lion, waiting patiently for the prey to appear, hidden among the wilderness. Espio must have sensed her because he suddenly flicked out a ninja-star and threw it in her direction. The weapon could have penetrated Amy's heart, but she jumped up just in time and counter-attacked by throwing her hammer.

The moment she landed, she summoned another hammer and poised in defense. Her first hammer was sizzling the ground just a few centimeters from Espio's foot.

"Amy Rose." Espio said.

Before Amy could ask what Espio was doing with Rouge, another voice spoke up from the trees. "Ames!"

Amy closed her eyes and wanted to slap her hand over her face.

Sonic sped through the forest and practically jumped on the petite pink hedgehog, crushing her up into a hug.

"Sonic." Amy growled as nicely as possible. Hearing the cry in her head again, she shot open her eyes only to see that Espio had escaped, taking Rouge with him. Ticked off, she shoved the blue male off of her. "You IDIOT! Because of you, that chameleon ran off with Rouge! How are you planning to live with yourself for this?"

Sonic fell onto the grass in a cowering bow. "Please spare me, my Queen!" He looked up with sparkling hearts in his eyes. Yep. He was completely smitten.

This made Amy feel slightly better. "Oh, are you really? Then go find out where Espio went off to!"

Sonic hesitated. "But I don't want to leave you." he whined.

Amy's eye twitched. What good was a completely cupid-struck male if he didn't obey her? Amy glared at Sonic when she remembered Shadow. "Didn't Shadow bail you out?"

"Yeah, he did."

"Where is he now?"

"Dunno. I ran away from him as soon as I could."

"..." Amy's eye twitched again. "You. Are. Completely. USELESS!"

Well...It seems Sonic has become a little like Amy, too. lol

What's to become of Cream? Where the heck is Tails and Knuckles? Why did Espio just kidnap Rouge?

And the biggest question, where is Shadow? (Amy: Yeah, where is he? ...Not that I want to make sure he's safe or anything...)

Me: It's ok, Amy. He's the Ultimate Lifeform!

Amy:...(mumbles) That doesn't mean he can't get hurt...

Me: 3 You're soooo in love right now.

Amy: Don't joke with me! (blushes)