Chapter 2: Differences in Temperature


Tails was in heaven. His lips had already met the most delicious-looking, droop-worthy chocolate doughnut, and its rich taste filled his mouth. He savored every bit of it as he chewed it, licking his lips after he swallowed. He was just about to take another large bite when...

CRACK!

The young fox awoke suddenly. His blue eyes moved back and forth wildly, seaching for the doughtnut, until it hit him that the delectable sweet was just a product of his imagination. Tails looked down at where the doughnut had been-- he'd been chewing on his pillow.

"It was only a dream... only a dream," he whispered to himself, closing his eyes again. "Shoot. That was such a good doughnut, too."

Tails had almost fallen back asleep when...

CRACK!

The fox groaned and rubbed his eyes. He reluctantly pushed himself out of his warm bed and walked over to his window.

'Whatever Sonic needs me for, it'd better be a good reason for waking me up,' Tails thought irritably as he moved the curtains, spilling sunlight into the room. Tails squinted his eyes from the bright light, the sun from the window already warming up a bit of his fur, as he looked outside. Not seeing anybody, he let the curtain fall back and turned to get back to bed. He nearly jumped out of his skin when a rock hit his window, producing the loud CRACKsound that had woken him up. Tails quickly turned back, moved the curtain over again, and opened his window. He looked down to see Cream, who was tossing a rock up and down, catching it in her hand only to toss it again.

"Good morning, sleepy head!" the rabbit called up to him, a smile on her face.

Tails rubbed his eyes again and groggily smiled back. "G'morning, Cream... what time is it?"

Cream flapped her large ears, using them to fly up to his window. Her expression looked urgent now. "Let's see... it's ten in the morning! Tails, we were supposed to leave for Sonic and Blaze's house an hour ago!"

Tails' eyes widened. "Oh no! I'm sosorry I forgot, Cream! I'll be out in a second, I just have to get ready!"

The fox quickly shut his window, keeping the curtains open. He thrust his hands into his white gloves, and quickly put on his red and white sneakers. To finish it off, he grabbed his pair of grey goggles, throwing them around his neck. He ran a comb through his three bangs just once and sprinted down the stairs and hallway to his front door, pausing to grab a banana from the kitchen. As he ran out the door, Tails flipped the switch to turn on security, and then slammed his front door shut. The fox stumbled down the porch, and almost ran into Cream.

The rabbit giggled. "Sorry about making you rush, Tails. It's actually nine, not ten. I just didn't want us to be late, like last week."

Tails relaxed instantly. "Nah, it's alright, Cream. I do tend to run a little late sometimes, don't I?"

He adjusted his goggles so they were now on his forehead, and then bit into his banana. Cream nodded as the two began to head for the Mystic Ruin train station, for their weekly Saturday visit with Sonic and Blaze.

Tails hated to admit it, but in the past four years, he'd fallen head over heels for Cream. Even as she babbled on, he couldn't help but look at her. She had donned her EX World Grand Prix outfit-- an orange tank-top with matching soccer shorts, orange and yellow sneakers, the standard white gloves, and even the orange visor. Cream also had a yellow purse with her today.

"Earth to Tails! Come in, Tails!" Cream yelled, waving a hand in front of his eyes.

"Huh? What?" Tails mumbled, shaking his head as he snapped back to reality.

"You sort of zoned out there for a minute. Is it too warm?" Cream grabbed his hand and took off, dragging Tails with her. "C'mon! We're not that far from the train!"

It took only a minute to reach the station. Cream and Tails ran up the stairs, through the closing train doors, and into the car. The rabbit quickly sat down, pulling Tails down next to her as the train began to pull out of the Mystic Ruins station. She sighed happily, her ears fluttering slightly as a byproduct of the air-conditioning.

"See? It's nice and cool in here," she said.

"It's alright, Cream," Tails said, laughing a bit. "I'm fine. Really!"

Cream didn't seem to be listening. She pulled out a water bottle from her purse, unscrewed the cap, and pushed the bottle into his hands.

"Drink it, Tails," she said, worry evident in her voice. "I don't want you to get a heat-stroke."

The fox was about to protest, as he wasn't even thirsty. One look at Cream's concerned face, though, and Tails knew he couldn't defy. The rabbit watched him carefully as he drank the water. That was one of the things he liked about Cream, that she was always thinking of others' well-being. Tails couldn't deny, though, that she had her times when she was a tad too worrisome.

After taking a long enough draught which he hoped would satisfy Cream, Tails screwed the cap back onto the top and handed the bottle back to her. The two preteens sat silently in their seats, watching the blur of the passing scenery as the train rushed by.

"Attention passengers," the conductor announced, his voice barely audible due to the poor quality of the P.A. system. "Our next stop is Station Square. Please wait until the train has come to a complete stop before standing up."

"Now where's the fun in that?" Tails asked, eliciting a laugh from Cream. The squeal of the train's wheels as they slowly ceased their motion on the track could be heard throughout the train. Eventually, the doors opened with a hiss. Cream and Tails exited the train, to be greeted by a sharp breeze of chilly air and snow crunching beneath their shoes. Normally, it wasn't that unusual for Station Square to be colder than Mystic Ruins, but this was an extreme difference.

"Gosh, it's cold!" Cream said, rubbing her bare arms.

Tails nodded, his breath creating clouds in the air. "Yeah, that's weird. It's nowhere remotely near the freezing mark back in Mystic Ruins."

The two of them shivered in the cold beneath the falling snowflakes as they waited at the bus stop. Fortunately, they didn't have to wait very long before the bus that went straight to Sonic and Blaze's street arrived. Cream and Tails, not wanting to be out in the freezing weather any longer, quickly made their way onto the bus.

Surprisingly, the transport was quite empty, save for one certain Amy Rose. Said hedgehog was wearing her usual attire-- red sun dress, running boots, and headband-- along with a blue jacket. Cream immediately walked over and took a seat next to her, motioning for Tails to follow.

"Oh! Hello, Cream! Hello, Tails!" Amy greeted in an overtly cheerful voice, nodding at each of them as they sat down.

"Hi, Amy," Cream said. "Where are you going?"

"Shopping. How about you two?" Amy asked.

"We're going to Sonic's house," Tails answered. He immediately gave himself a mental slap in the head. Amy's expression darkened at his words.

"Sonic and Blaze's house, you mean," Amy mumbled sadly. Lately, whenever either Sonic or Blaze's names were mentioned, she became very depressed all of a sudden.

"Oh, Amy, we're very sorry," Cream said, placing a gloved hand on her shoulder.

"No... no, no," Amy whimpered, her bottom lip quivering as a sob threatened to escape. "It's alright, Cream. There's no need to be apologizing."

"Oh, Amy, please don't cry!" Tears began to fill Cream's eyes. "It makes m-me cry..."

Tails briefly paled at seeing the two girls tear up. The last thing he wanted right now was to be stuck on the bus with two hysterical girls. He racked his mind desperately for something, anything, that would divert their attention.

"Say, Cream! Where are Cheese and Chocola? I notice you didn't bring them," the fox asked quickly. He gripped his two tails tightly, silently praying that neither Amy nor Cream would need a shoulder to cry on within the next few seconds.

Cream wiped away any tears that might have been present in her brown eyes. "Oh, I was wondering when you'd ask. They're at home, the two of them slept in today."

"Why? Did they eat too much fruit?" Amy asked out of curiosity.

"Well, actually..." Cream began.

'Phew!' Tails thought, brushing his bangs from his eyes as he listened to the new conversation. 'That was a close one!'


SNAP.

A pair of amethyst eyes shot open at the sharp sound of a snapped twig. Knuckles stood up from his reclined position in front of the dully gleaming Master Emerald, having sensed somebody's presence. He growled slightly, his mind immediately settling on only one person who would dare show up here. He turned around to face the large gem, and his suspicions were confirmed-- a frost-white bat was sitting on top of the Master Emerald with her legs crossed and dangling off the side.

"Well, hello there, Knuckles," Rouge said, waving at him with a seductive smile. "Long time, no see!"

Knuckles clenched his massive fists. "What are you doing back here on Angel Island? Finally decided to show your face again?"

"Aww, c'mon, Knucklehead. It's only been about... four years, give or take a few months." Rouge shrugged, having not kept exact track of the date.

While he raced to think of a reply, Knuckles took another look at the 22-year-old bat. Even though four years had indeed passed, he was still slightly surprised at her new attire-- white sneakers with a pink stripe down the middle, similarly designed white gloves with pink edges and a gold ring around the wrists, a black top covered by a long winter jacket, and black pants with white Hawaiian flower designs along the bottom. If it were possible, she looked better than before. The red echidna himself hadn't changed at all, except having gotten slightly taller, but he still wore the same shoes and gloves.

Rouge frowned at the sun. "It sure is warm up here. It's freezing back at Night Babylon!"

The comment about the weather made Knuckles snap out of his thoughts. "Huh? Wha? Oh, yeah. That's because of the Master Emerald's energy," he mumbled. He silently reprimanded himself for letting his mind stray. Rouge noticed that a slight red tinge had formed on his muzzle. She opened her mouth to inquire why he was blushing, but was cut short by a powerful blast of wind, which knocked her backwards-- off the Master Emerald. Knuckles, too, was buffeted by the gust, but he was thrown against the giant gem. Some of the wind was expelled from his lungs at the impact, but it wasn't enough to stop the echidna from seeing what had created the blast.

"Ouch!" Rouge yelped from the other side of the Master Emerald. "Hey, Knuckles! Come be a man and help me up!"

The only reply she received was the sound of running footsteps. Knuckles had taken off down the steps to the shrine.

"GET BACK HERE!" the echidna roared as he chased the intruders-- two figures on Extreme Gear, moving too fast for him to make out any real details. They had most likely taken a shortcut through Angel Island in order to get to Station Square, but no matter the circumstance, Knuckles was running fast enough that he had almost caught up to them. Before he could grab one of them, though, the two leapt off the edge of the island, spiraling downwards expertly towards the water below. Knuckles snarled in frustration as he watched them, even as they took over over the water, heading in the direction of the nearby Station Square.

Curious as to where the two had come from, the 20-year-old echidna looked back over his shoulder, turning around completely in order to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. His eyes weren't lying, though, for floating less than four thousand feet above was what remained of Babylon Garden. While seeing the floating island perplexed him-- how had it gotten here, anyway?-- it certainly answered his question as to who the intruders were.

"What are you doing?" Rouge yelled, reaching Knuckles with a couple of flaps from her wide, black wings. She landed down next to him, about to chew him out for leaving a lady behind.

"Of course," he mumbled to himself. "Babylon Rogues."

"The Babylon Rogues? You mean that thieving trio of birds?" she asked.

"How do you know about them? Do you guys meet up every Friday night to go steal expensive jewelry together or something?" Knuckles snorted.

"No!" Rouge spat. "Being a government agent, it's required that I know everything about everybody! And drop it about the thief business already. No harm comes from a little five-fingered discount every now and then. Surely a fellow freelance treasure hunter would agree, would he not?"

The echidna gritted his teeth, having almost reached his nerve's end. Before he could yell something he would most likely regret, Rouge continued. "Now, what did you say about the Babylon Rogues?"

"Well, I just saw two of them on their flying planks. I bet that's what that blast of wind was. Now, c'mon! Let's go see what they're doing!" With that said, Knuckles turned and leapt off the side of Angel Island. As he fell seaward, his long red dreadlocks trapped the air beneath them, allowing him to perform his prized gliding maneuver. He didn't even look back as he glided after the two.

"What? Are you crazy?!" Rouge yelled at the echidna. "WHAT ABOUT THE MASTER EMERALD, DAMNIT!"

If Knuckles had heard Rouge, then he had chosen to not acknowledge it. Rouge sighed and rolled her eyes. "Well, whatever. He was lucky I wasn't here to steal it from him this time." She began to follow him, but thought better of it, and ran back towards the Master Emerald. The bat grunted as she lifted the giant emerald into her arms. The Master Emerald may have been light for its appearance, but carrying it still required enough exertion to slow one down.

"I might as well do that jerk a favor and bring it along for him," Rouge said to herself, haphazardly making her way back to Angel Island's edge.


"Good-bye, Amy!" Cream called as she got off the bus. Tails nodded, waving as he followed Cream.

Amy smiled and waved back at them. She watched them return to the cold until the now nearly-empty bus began to pull away from the stop. As the vehicle rolled through the snowy streets, the pink hedgehog buried her face in her hands, silent sobs beginning to shake her body. Tails' earlier attempt to change the conversation hadn't changed the thoughts that were flowing through Amy's mind. She just hadn't spoken on it again, because it would have sounded off topic.

'Why? Why did Sonic have to pick that stupid cat over me?' Amy thought as hot tears welled up in her green eyes. 'It wasn't fair!'

Her tears escaped, trickling down her face in a small stream, as she remembered what she had deemed the worst day of her life.

---

It was a bright and sunny day, the kind of day so enjoyable that you want to photocopy it 365 times so you can call it a year. 15-year-old Amy Rose skipped happily down the streets of Station Square, humming an upbeat tune as she turned a corner. In her hands she held a small box, wrapped in paper colored as cheerful a blue as the skies above. As she made her way down the street, Amy counted the houses mentally. 43, 44, 45, 46... and finally, she found Sonic's house, number 47. She calmed herself down and walked up the steps, up to the blue door. She took a second to run a hand through her pink bangs, making sure they hadn't been ruined by her skipping, and then rang the slightly weathered doorbell. Amy was nearly trembling with excitement as she patiently waited for her love, Sonic, to answer the door. After a couple of seconds with no response, she knocked.

"Hey, Sonic? Come and open the door. I got you a present," she called, knocking on the door with her knuckles again.

Still no response. Amy frowned, getting impatient with the lack of reply. She reached for the doorknob and twisted, finding that it was unlocked. She took a step inside Sonic's house, and then another, silently closing the door behind her.

'Well, then, Mister. A surprise present it is!' Amy thought, her impatience becoming joy as she made her way down the hall. Coming up to the kitchen, she poked her head inside to see Tails with his back turned to her. He was wrapping something else up-- evidently Amy wasn't the only one who had planned a surprise present for the blue hedgehog's birthday today.

"Hello, Tails!" Amy said, remaining in the doorway. "Where's Sonic? I got his birthday present!"

Tails' ears pricked, and he quickly turned around. The young fox gave a sigh of relief. "Oh, Amy! It's just you... geez, you scared me. Sonic's up in his room right now--"

"Okay, thanks! I'll just go give it to him right now!" Amy said, turning away from the kitchen, and walking in the direction of Sonic's room, which was further down the hall.

"Amy, wait! No! I don't... He'll be out in a minute!" Tails called after the pink hedgehog. However, Amy wasn't listening. She had reached Sonic's (unsurprisingly) blue bedroom door. She singlehandedly turned the doorknob slowly, and peered in through the crack in the door. All big entrances had to start out subtle for best effect, or so Amy thought, and this was going be a big entrance. It would be the one she dreamed about constantly-- the entrance where she'd come in, and Sonic would pull her into a hug, thanking her for coming.

Her daydream came to an abrupt halt when she spotted Blaze, facing the door. Amy almost flinched, thinking she'd been seen, but realized that Sonic was in there as well, standing right by the door. The two were having a discussion of some sort. Amy's green eyes widened with confusion-- what was Blaze doing in Sonic's room? She leaned closer to the crack in the now ajar door, straining her ears so she could hear their conversation. It would end up becoming something that she terribly wished she had never heard in the first place.

"But Sonic, you can't forget about Amy. When will you tell her this?" Blaze asked.

"I'll tell her right now. You heard Tails down there just a bit ago-- she's with him," Sonic said. "I'll just go up to her, take a deep breath, and tell her. 'Amy, I'm sorry, but Blaze and I... we're together. I do love you, Ames, but like a sister-brother type of love. I hope you understand'."

Everything slowed to a crawl at that moment for Amy. She gasped, relinquishing her hold on the doorknob and also dropping her present. The box landed on the wooden floor with a loud thud, attracting the attention of both the occupants in Sonic's room. Amy just stood there, shock written all over her face, as Sonic opened the door completely, Blaze right behind him. Both of them looked quite surprised that she was right there.

"Amy?" Blaze asked.

Amy couldn't say anything. Her breath got shaky, and her vision swam with quickly-forming tears. She quickly turned, running back down the hall and towards the front door, as tears began to spill out of her eyes.

"Amy, I... I'm sorry!" Sonic called after her. A second later, his front door slammed shut so hard that it could be heard all around the house.

---

As the bus slowed to a stop, Amy gave a shaky sigh and stood up from her seat. She stepped off the bus, immediately greeted by the sound of snow crunching beneath her boots and a sharp chill hitting whatever parts of her uncovered by clothing. The Station Square Shopping Mall, Amy's intended destination, was only a block away from this stop. She adjusted her jacket and was about to start her small trek when she was shoved aside quite roughly, receiving a mouthful of snow. Spitting out the snow, Amy grumbled about how rude people were, and got to her feet, only to be knocked aside yet again. The pink hedgehog was thoroughly irritated by now, and got to her feet yet again.

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE... going?" Amy's anger turned to confusion. Knuckles and Rouge had apparently been the ones who had knocked her over. It made sense, seeing as how Rouge was a short distance behind Knuckles. What confused Amy was not that they weren't fighting, nor that there was a trail of turbulence to their side that they were evidently following-- although that did perplex her somewhat-- but that Rouge was carrying the Master Emerald. Amy shook off her stupor and ran to catch up with them. She managed to overtake Rouge easily, shooting a glare at her female rival as she passed.

"Knuckles?" Amy yelled, barely able to keep up with Knuckles' pace. "What the heck are you running for? And why is Rouge with you?"

"We're trying to catch up with Jet and Storm," Knuckles replied as he ran. He growled with frustration as he saw the turbulence next to him fading rapidly. "I just wish I could run faster in this snow, because they're on their Extreme Gear. We can't even see them any more, and at the rate we're going, we'll never catch up to them!"

Amy took this in. "Yeah... okay. But why's Rouge following you?"

"I don't know!" Knuckles yelled. The three of them rounded a corner and followed the now almost barely visible turbulence down the street.

"Luckily for you guys, at least the snow got pushed out of the way by the turbulence," Amy pointed out at the small "valley" in the snow next to them. Knuckles only gave a grunt in reply, still keeping up his fast pace. Rouge gave no acknowledgment whatsoever, too preoccupied with remaining airborne whilst carrying the Master Emerald. As they quickly approached another corner, the bat spoke up.

"I don't know if I'm right or not, but isn't this the same way to Sonic's house?" Rouge asked.

Amy looked around for a moment, still running, and realized that Rouge was right. The next corner would be the street where Sonic and Blaze's house was located... She halted quite suddenly. Rouge blew past, narrowly dodging Amy, still carrying her cargo.

"Out of the way, hon! I don't want to barrel into you again!" the bat snapped.

"I can't go down there! I'll have to check it out some other time, Knuckles!" Amy called after the two, who showed no signs of stopping as they rounded the next corner. Amy growled in anger at having run so far from the Station Square Shopping Mall, and turned around. She began to walk back towards her intended destination, when she was quite suddenly pushed to the ground for the third time in that hour. Amy tried to get up, but she felt a shoe pressing into her back, keeping her sprawled face down on the snow. Her arms were pulled behind her back and tied together swiftly. Five seconds later, her ankles were also bound.

Amy was roughly flipped over onto her back, her gasp silenced by a strip of duct tape put on her mouth. A pair of cold arms wrapped themselves around her and picked her up. Amy stared in a mixture of awe and fear at her captor. It was...