Shadow traversed the couple blocks to Amy Rose's apartment complex easily enough. There were motobugs and other badniks on the walk outside. Nothing as difficult as the Egg Fighters and nothing as difficult as Gemeril. However they were not behaving like a siege army, which meant that they had run of the place. Which meant that they might very well have control over Amy.
He would have to get in quietly in order to do this quickly. He saw a fire escape going up the side of the building. Could he manage the energy to climb it? Cream had been right. He had taken a nasty hit from Gemeril. A frontal attack, even with chaos control, might not be possible. He better get up that fire escape. A short burst of chaos control got him up on the stair level and he climbed up quietly to the third floor. There he found a window. He pushed his back against the wall so he could see inside.
Two Egg Robos had Amy Rose held hostage much like the Rabbit family had been. It seemed that maybe Eggman was out for Sonic's friends, but if that was the case then why hold them in their homes? Bark had said Sonic himself was captured, so it seemed pointless to kidnap his friends.
He looked back in the window there in the floor near him was Amy's hammer. Not the best weapon for the job, but it would do. He felt his arm give a little. It would have to do. Gemeril had landed that laser after all. He began to fiddle with the window. Things would have to happen quickly and he wanted to maintain surprise. He found there was enough give in the track to force it open without shattering the glass.
He turned away to catch his breath and noticed a Chao watching him. Little Cheese was down at the bottom of the fire escape. The Chao propelled his way up and was soon next to Shadow. Cheese's eyes narrowed as his face opened in a smile.
Shadow put his finger to his lips. He wanted no distractions. Amy and the Egg Robos were facing the other direction, clearly anticipating action from the front door. Shadow lurched the window up to open it, but it came back down on his leg before he could clear it.
That noise attracted the two Egg Robos who turned around quickly. Amy, tied to a chair, could not move. She could still speak though.
"I told you my Sonic would come save me," she said to the Egg Robos. She then stuck her tongue out at them.
The Robos fired two shots at the still stunned Shadow. He had not expected this. Gemeril must have hit him harder than he thought. Shadow rolled over to dodge the shots and reach Amy's hammer. With all his might he swung the weapon into the air, turning it into a projectile that smashed the face of one Egg Robo.
Then he recovered himself and nimbly pulled the hammer out of the Robo's remains and jammed it into the other one's head. In midair, he thought he heard Cheese cry out and he turned briefly. He assumed it was nothing and smashed the Robo once more since there was no chance of hurting a flicky. Then Shadow fell to one knee, trying to use the hammer to support himself with the mallet end on the ground.
Amy still had her back to him, "I knew you'd come for me, Sonic. I never doubted."
Shadow heard the window slam. Someone else was in the room. Not Cheese, for he could not have gotten the window open.
"I also appreciate you coming Sonic. It has been awhile. Oh don't move, I am not interested in fighting you. I would just like something you have," came an East German (if Germany had been a thing in Sonic world) accent that Shadow could not place.
Shadow turned his head to the left and got view of his new adversary. He was thin and purple with a gun belt around his waist and some sort of cowboy hat on his head. Shadow attempted to rise with Amy's hammer but the stranger was too quick. He bounded over to Amy and shoved a gun into her head.
"Now, hedgehog. Here are my terms. You give me your precious Chaos emerald, and I will give you your pink hedgehog friend here. Time's wasting and I have an itchy trigger finger," said the purple figure.
Shadow paused. He was now upright with the hammer firmly in his grip.
"You're thinking, can I use my trademark speed to knock him down before he pulls the trigger. I assure you, you cannot. Even if you were to stop time, the bullet would still enter her brain before you could disarm me," said the purple figure.
Shadow retrieved Rouge's emerald and threw it to the stranger. He then prepared to move against the stranger while he was catching the emerald, but the stranger kicked the chair with Amy in it into him. Then the stranger ran out of the door.
Shadow dropped the hammer to catch Amy's chair, which he did with a plop on the floor with Amy looking up at him based on the way he had caught her chair.
"You're not Sonic," said Amy, surprised.
Shadow undid her ropes and slid the chair to the floor. When Amy had recovered and gotten up, Shadow leaned back to lay on the floor looking at the ceiling above. The pink ceiling. He had ignored the decorations of the room up to now. There were pictures of Amy everywhere, and he realized he was lying on a heart shaped rug.
"No. Do you know who that purple guy was?" asked Shadow from the floor.
"No, I have never seen him before," said Amy, still wishing Sonic were there.
"Well, can you help me up? We need to return to Tails and Cream and get you to safety," said Shadow.
"There are still motobugs out there," pointed out Amy.
"I'm fine. We can take them," said Shadow.
Amy helped Shadow to his feet, but the dark hedgehog was unsteady as he put an arm over her shoulders to balance.
"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Amy, sounding more concerned.
"I think so, if we can get to the fire escape," said Shadow in a few breaths.
"What's that?" said Amy.
"Just a wound from earlier. It will heal fast enough," said Shadow.
"No, I mean that dart in your tail," said Amy.
Shadow and Amy stopped. He had not been aware of a dart. It would explain his sluggishness if he had been drugged and the stranger's confidence that he would not reach him before Amy was shot. He winced as he wiggled his tail. He could not reach it himself.
"No, you're not going anywhere until I get that dart out of you and you've rested," said Amy.
"Can't stay here," Shadow was having a harder time forming coherent thoughts.
"I may not be Rouge, but I can take care of injured people just as well," said Amy. "Maybe better."
"Too dangerous," said Shadow with his voice giving out.
"Well you aren't going anywhere else," said Amy. She led him out of the main room with its dressers and into her bedroom where Shadow slumped over the bed.
"First I am going to get that dart out. Hold on, it might hurt," said Amy. She then proceeded to yank the dart out of his tail. A massive wave of pain went through the hedgehog, but he was too tired to make a sound. Amy then helped in him into bed and left to make him a compress.
He found it difficult to relax. Yet the drugs weren't giving him much choice. He had almost drifted off when the window slammed shut again in the other room. He could hear voices but there was nothing he could do in his condition.
"What are you doing here, Tails?" he heard Amy's voice.
"I brought Gemeril to help Shadow, Cheese warned us there was trouble," said Tails.
"Gemeril? You mean?" asked Amy.
"Hi mom," answered Gemeril.
"Shadow's in the other room. Tails, where is Sonic?" asked Amy.
"I don't know. We think he might be captured. Eggman seems to be targeting the rest of us too. At least we think he is. Shadow and I have been trying to figure out for GUN," said Tails. "Gemeril, stay with Amy. I'll find Shadow."
Within moments, Tails had entered the room. Shadow tried to keep his eyes open. "Why are you here?" asked the hedgehog.
"I fixed Gemeril and Cheese said you were in trouble. Vanilla and Cream are waiting outside," said Tails.
"Told you to stay back," said Shadow.
"Yes you did. However Gemeril and I can handle ourselves pretty well. What happened to you?" asked Tails.
"Gemeril hit me harder than I thought. Got drugged by purple weasel sort of guy, had to trade chaos emerald for Amy's safety," said Shadow. "We have got to get to GUN HQ, only safe place for the others."
"For the time being, I suggest we stay here. Gemeril and I can bring Cream and Vanilla to the window without fighting the Badniks outside. They don't seem particularly interested in beating on the door. Now about this weasel guy, you remember anything else about him?" asked Tails.
"He carried a gun. He wanted chaos emerald but not me or Amy. He had one tooth bigger on one side," said Shadow.
Tails grinned, "You've never been around this much pink before have you?"
Shadow attempted to glare at Tails but nothing emerged but a smile. He fell asleep.
Tails left the room and took Gemeril down the fire escape to go get Cream and Vanilla. Once everyone was together they gathered in the main room of Amy's apartment and Amy made tea after she applied the compress to Shadow's face.
Shadow did not know what was happening in the other room. He was having a halting sleep in his mind. He tossed and turned. What was it? What was he seeing?