[Mobius, Chaos Dimension]

As the Ocean Tornado II sets sail from Machine Labyrinth, Sky Patrol arrives on Angel Island, landing where Knuckles, Guardian of the Master Emerald and the last remaining echidna of the Knuckles clan, is waiting for them a safe distance from the Master Emerald's shrine. Once the vessel has landed and the engines are shut off, the boarding ramp is lowered to allow Sally to disembark.

Knuckles meets her at the bottom of the ramp. "Long time no see," he greets, offering a hand. "Though I regret that we have to meet under these circumstances."

"Me too," Sally agrees, shaking the offered hand. "But needs must. Hopefully, we'll get the situation resolved quickly, then we can then make this a social visit."

"Normally I prefer to be left alone, but for the Knothole Freedom Fighters, I'm willing to make an exception," Knuckles agrees, allowing just a hint of a friendly smile to come through.

"Did you receive Nicole's briefing?" Sally asks.

"I did, and I'm thankful Amy's in a dimension where she has friends who will keep her safe," Knuckles confirms. "Though I have to admit, I'm a little surprised Sonic's not here."

"You think I'd miss out on the chance of some action?" Sonic replies cheekily from behind Knuckles.

Knuckles turns to face Sonic, not at all surprised the hedgehog tried to sneak up on him. "Given how often you've stood Amy up, I did wonder," he teases.

"it's not that often," Sonic grumbles. "Besides, who'd smash Eggman's robots if I'm not there?"

"Gee, I wonder," Sally comments cheekily and sarcastically.

"…point taken," Sonic accepts.

Knuckles shakes his head in amusement. "Sometimes, I wonder how your head fits on that ship," he smirks.

"Can we discuss my severe character flaws later?" Sonic asks, folding his arms and tapping his right foot. "Like, maybe after I‑ we get Amy back?"

"We'll find a way to get her back," Knuckles assures, noting Sonic's verbal slip but electing not to comment on it. "I understand you've not been able to locate the Chaos Emeralds?"

"Not one," Sonic confirms. "It's almost like they're avoiding me."

"They'll turn up eventually," Knuckles assures. "They always do."

"Not quickly enough. Think the Master Emerald can find them?"

Knuckles thinks for a moment. "I was able to use the Master Emerald to tame the Chaos Emeralds on Space Colony ARK, so I see no reason the Master Emerald cannot be used to locate them. And since Amy's previously shown Chaos abilities, it should be possible to use the Master Emerald to locate her too."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Sonic asks before sprinting towards the shrine without waiting for an answer.

"I've never seen him this worried about Amy before," Knuckles comments to Sally.

"Me neither," Sally replies. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say he's afraid he'll never see her again."

Knuckles resists the urge to chuckle. "We all know how capable Amy is; I'm sure she's absolutely fine. Come on."

With a nod, Sally follows Knuckles up to the Master Emerald Shrine.

[Kline, Sol Dimension]

Knuckles' assumption is partially correct: while Amy is physically and medically fine, it's no secret to the rest on board the Ocean Tornado II that she's stressed out by the current fiery three‑way argument between Neera, Danny, and Sally.

"For the last time Neera: you don't get to order us around!" Danny barks. "And Sal, stop doubting yourself: you're a lot better than you give yourself credit for!"

"You saw what happened in there!" Sally snaps back. "If it wasn't for my actions, Amy wouldn't have been hurt!"

"You got us the Sol Emerald!" Danny reminds. "Doesn't that count for something?"

"Not when she nearly killed us all in the process!" Neera snaps.

"Well, sorry if I'm not an expert in alien robotics!" Sally growls. "I tried my best!"

"And it wasn't good enough!" Neera retorts. "Face it: you're useless! A liability to us all!"

"Don't you dare talk to her like that!" Danny barks at Neera.

"The Magister should never have given you this mission," Neera growls back. "Both of you are loose cannons, and I for one don't want to be around when you go off again!"

As the argument continues, Blaze retreats to where Amy is watching. "This is a disaster," she sighs.

"Three grown adults, bickering like schoolchildren," Amy growls, trying her hardest not to lose her famously short temper. "They're almost as bad as the Avalon Parliament."

"I did try to end this," Blaze insists.

"I know you did, and it's not your fault," Amy assures. "They just won't listen to you. But they will listen to me."

Blaze notices the fire in Amy's eyes. "Please don't do anything stupid," she insists.

But Amy's not listening; summoning a Piko Hammer, she storms up to the arguing trio and slams it into the deck as hard as she can between the three of them with a bellow of "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Startled, Danny, Sally, and Neera are about to turn on Amy… only to shrink back from the intense fire in the pink hedgehog's eyes.

"What on Mobius, Kline, and Avalice is wrong with you three‽" Amy demands, breathing heavily as she tries hard to keep her rage in check. "All this arguing, what's it getting you‽ Nothing, that's what it's getting you! So, shut up already!"

"But‑" Neera begins.

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Amy bellows, shaking from the fires of rage within her straining to get out.

Neera, Danny, and Sally all take a step back, afraid to speak.

"Thank you!" Amy continues before taking a deep breath. "Here's what you're going to do. First: apologise to each other. Second: apologise to Blaze. And third: if any of you even so much as think about arguing again, it will be settled by me! And I won't hold back! Understood?"

"How‑" Neera begins.

"UNDERSTOOD‽" Amy yells.

Neera swallows hard. "U‑U‑Understood," she relents, her voice almost silent.

Amy turns her fiery gaze onto Danny and Sally. "Well‽"

"Understood," Danny and Sally acknowledge quietly.

Amy looks between the trio. "Do I need to repeat myself?"

Sally is the first to speak. "Dan, I'm sorry: I should have more faith in myself. Neera, I'm sorry I wasn't more cautious. And Blaze, I'm sorry this escalated this far."

Danny goes next. "Sal, I'm sorry for pushing you so hard. Neera, I'm sorry for not taking your concerns into account. And Blaze, I'm sorry for not maintaining my discipline and composure."

Neera goes last. "Danny, Sally, I offer my sincere apologies: I allowed my distrust of the Red Scarves to adversely influence my opinions of you two. And Blaze, I also offer you my sincere apologies: my behaviour just now was unbefitting of a royal advisor. I promise this won't happen again."

"We promise too," Danny and Sally chorus.

Satisfied, Amy speaks next: "Good. Now get out of my sight."

Danny, Sally, and Neera silently retreat below deck.

Once the Avalicians are out of sight, Blaze nervously approaches Amy. "Um… I uh…"

Amy drops her hammer. "I'm sorry you had to see that," she apologises, her voice quiet, unwilling to turn and face Blaze. "I just… I couldn't…"

"For a moment, I thought you might…" Blaze replies, tailing off, unwilling to finish the sentence. "You scared me pretty badly," she eventually admits.

"I didn't mean to," Amy assures, her voice starting to crack.

"I know."

"I… I need to be alone."

Blaze hesitates a moment. Maybe I should‑ No, she's right: she needs time to calm down first. "I'll be below deck if you need me."

Amy waits until Blaze is below deck before dropping to her knees, her hammer vanishing into thin air. I hate myself for getting so angry… Blaze, I promise I'll make up for scaring you like that.

At the helm, Marine saw the whole thing. I'm so glad I was up here for that. I've never seen Amy that angry before, not even when I was a panicking wreck after the first Ocean Tornado was destroyed. Blaze looked so frightened… They all looked so frightened…

With a sad sigh, Marine turns her attention back to sailing the ship to Plant Kingdom. When this is all over, I'm ordering them all to relax and have fun on the beach.

Below deck, Blaze is relieved to see Neera, Danny, and Sally are nowhere to be seen. Looks like they've all decided to hide in their quarters. Can't blame them: Amy was truly terrifying just now.

With a sad sigh, Blaze retreats to her quarters to nap until the ship arrives at Plant Kingdom.

In her quarters, Neera leans her staff on the door frame, strips down to her black bodyglove, then sits in the centre of the room in the lotus position to meditate. However, the residual adrenaline coursing through her veins means she can't relax enough. After a couple of minutes, she gives up on the idea of meditating and moves to the bed, where she lays on her back and contemplates her actions not just in the last ten minutes, but at all other times she's been in similar situations.

It's not long before she reaches the inevitable conclusion: "I seriously need to lighten up."

Meanwhile, in their quarters, Danny and Sally are sat next to each other on the bed, neither feeling particularly pleased with themselves.

Eventually, Sally summons up the courage to speak. "So… we just had our first major fight…"

"Yeah," Danny sighs. "It was…"

"Horrible," Sally finishes. "I don't ever want to go through that again."

"Me neither," Danny agrees.

Sally takes a deep breath. "Are we still… good?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, are we still… a couple?"

"Well, yeah. Why wouldn't we be?"

"It's just… I mean… My previous relationships… They all ended… They all ended after big fights like the one we just had, and… well… I don't… I don't want to…"

Danny pulls Sally gently to him and kisses her passionately on the lips. "It'll take a lot more than a fight for me to stop loving you."

Sally cannot help but smile and blush. "Same… Sorry, I guess I'm just being silly."

"There's nothing silly about caring for the health of our relationship," Danny assures. "If you have a concern, then let me know, and we'll talk it over."

"But what if it causes another fight like the one we just had?"

"If we can survive one fight, we can survive any fight. What matters is that we never forget how much we love each other. As long as we remember that, we'll always be together."

Sally throws her arms around Danny. "Thank you."

"What for?" Danny asks, returning the hug.

"For being you."

For a few moments, the couple are content to hug in silence, but soon, primal urges begin to take hold.

"Wanna do it?" they ask each other simultaneously. "I'll take that as a yes," they chorus a moment later as they let passion take control.

After what seemed like an eternity, but in fact was just a few minutes, Amy gets to her feet, heads below deck, and hides in her quarters. I'll stay here until Blaze can send me home… It's for the best.