All eight of them sat slouched on the two sofas in Gemma's living room, defeated.
"Well, that worked," sighed Tobias. Knuckles folded his arms in perfect synchronisation with Craig.
"I was certain that our plan would work!" exclaimed Tails. Mollie was sitting next to him. Scribbling away in her notebook. She only stopped to push her glasses up her nose.
"What're you writing?" Tails leant over to read her barely legible writing. His eyes crept across the page.
"What does it say?" asked Sonic.
"We couldn't get Flash to take the truth serum," said Mollie, "so why not convince her to tell the truth by being friends with her? We have to figure out her powers and what she and Silver are doing."
"Great idea, Mollie!" exclaimed Amy.
"We should get going," said Craig, stretching. "We have school tomorrow."
Mollie, Tails, Craig, Knuckles, Sonic and Tobias all trooped out of the door with new hope in their hearts.
It only seemed like Flash had been asleep for a couple of seconds when something woke her up. She was about to roll over and go back to sleep (absorbing a chaos emerald had been hard work) when she realised that Silver was not crouched in the normal corner of her bunkbed.
'Light,' Flash thought, 'I need light.'
All of a sudden, as if answering her thoughts, a scalding heat built up in her left hand. She opened it and saw the green chaos emerald hovering above her palm. It gave a dim glow, just so Flash could see around the room.
BOOM!
Thunder crashed loud overhead. Flash finally found Silver, standing by the window. As lightly as a cat, she leapt down from the bunk to stand beside Silver. She had torn the ladder from the bunkbed after her Mum had died. Now to get up, one had to use the frame as foot and handholds. The lightning flashed as quickly as strobe lighting. Flash counted three seconds and then came a massive thud right overhead.
"Loud storm," said Flash, seeing the worry on Silver's face.
"That's not thunder," he replied. Panic shot up into Flash's throat, flames caressing the back of her throat.
"Then… then what is it?" her voice trembled.
Silver lifted the edge of the curtain. There, with lights flashing in a terrifying beauty, was a giant spaceship.
"A-aliens?"
"Doctor Eggman."
Sure enough, the hatch door slid open and out stepped a large but chubby man who was almost completely bald, apart from the big, bristly, orange moustache.
"Stay here," whispered Silver, and jumped through the window. Flash wanted to obey Silver, but also wouldn't be able to bear it if anything happened. Reading her thoughts, Silver turned and said, "I know Eggman. He's a pushover."
Not wanting to disobey her friend, Flash stayed where she was.
"Gemma! Wake up!"
Amy roused her partner, who groaned and rolled over. Sighing, she whispered in Gemma's ear. "50% off all clothes at the mall!"
"WHERE?!" exclaimed Gemma.
"Now you're awake," said Amy briskly "Doctor Eggman has landed two streets away and we're going to investigate. Hurry!"
"Who's Doctor Eggman?" muttered Gemma, annoyed that there wasn't a real clothes sale.
"There'll be time for explaining later. We're meeting Sonic, Toby, Knuckles, Craig, Tails and Mollie at Berry Street corner, where we went to capture Flash and Silver."
Fearfully, Gemma said, "D'you think Silver and Flash are okay?"
"I don't know. I really don't know."
Every step made Silver more and more nervous. He had to protect his partner. Losing somebody else would tear him to pieces.
"Eggman!" he called. The Doctor turned at the sound of his voice.
"Why, young Silver!" he grinned evilly, "what brings you to Earth?"
"None of your business," said Silver. A black blur shot out of the ship and into the darkness, but Silver ignored it. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I'm looking for a girl who absorbed a chaos emerald," said Eggman casually, tweaking his moustache. "You wouldn't happen to know who and where she is, would you?"
Silver's throat constricted. "Nope," he said, "no clue."
"Oh really?" said Eggman. All of a sudden, he fired a gun at the window.
Flash dived out of the way as the first few bullets hit the glass, ricocheting off the walls. She heard Silver scream, "Noooo!"
'I'm still alive!' she said in her mind, 'Get that damn gun off him!'
Sprinting out of her room, she threw herself into the unlocked back door and out into the garden. Silver had wrestled the gun off Eggman now. As Silver saw her, he ran in front of her to defend.
"Just try," Silver threatened Eggman.
"Fine." Eggman took out another gun and pointed it at Silver.
"Nooo!" Flash yelled. The emerald glowed with energy and then a forcefield stronger than a thousand charging elephants knocked Eggman and his spaceship back. The gun flew out of the doctors hands and he lay slumped against the ship.
"How'd you do that?" Silver stared in wonder at Flash, who shrugged.
"Search me," she said, "must've been the chaos emerald!"
"Which, if you don't hand over, will cost you your life," said somebody. The pair turned and saw a black and red hedgehog holding Eggman's gun. He was pointing it directly at Flash.
"Shadow," said Silver quietly, "put the gun down."
"Give me the chaos emerald!" demanded 'Shadow'.
"We can't," replied Silver, "she's absorbed it."
"Then I'll tear her limb from limb until I find it." Shadow's voice was calm, but it chilled Flash to the bone.
"Please Shadow," whispered Silver, "You don't have to do it. I came here because I felt a presence. You must feel one too."
Shadow's hand trembled, but he pulled the trigger.
BANG!
The noise startled Tails out his skin.
"What was that?" he wondered aloud.
"The sound of a gun," said Knuckles grimly.
It came from Flash's house.
Flash was still alive. Silver was unharmed.
Shadow dropped the gun as the bullet raced into the heavens above, and took off.
"That was too close," whispered Flash. Silver dropped to his knees, and his partner felt the relief flooding through him. What touched her the most, however, was the panic and love Silver had felt for her when Shadow was threatening to kill her.
Somebody actually cared she was alive.
Flash sat down besides Silver, who was almost gasping for breath.
"You okay?" she said.
"Yep," Silver puffed, "Fine." Almost to prove his point, he shouted, "Chaos control!" The doctor and the spaceship disappeared.
"C'mon," said Silver, "we should go."
Just then, there was a rustle in the bushes. Terrified that it was Shadow, Flash cowered away.
"WE'RE COMING!" Sonic fell out of the bush, followed by Toby, Craig, Mollie, Gemma, Knuckles, Tails and Amy.
"Hey!" exclaimed Knuckles, "where's Eggman?"
"Eggman?" Flash sniggered, "What are you talking about?"
"Just look who's been sleepwalking," smirked Silver.
Silence.
"So you dragged us all out of bed just so we could feel out of a bush? For nothing?" Amy rounded on Sonic. All at once, they had taken off into the distance, chasing Sonic. Just Silver and Flash were left.
"Well," said Flash, "that was uneventful."
"You said it," agreed Silver.
"Did you hear the storm, Dad?" said Flash the next morning.
"I sure did," replied Flash's Dad, "it was all so loud!"
"I know!" said Flash, turning to pack her school bag.
"But do you know what was funny?"
Flash froze. "What?"
"I swear some of the lightning flashes were green. And I had a dream about people yelling 'Chaos control!' too!"