Day two of the holiday had gone without anything happening. No fights, no discoveries, absolutely nothing. Silver had tried to talk to Blaze, but every time he tried his tongue stuck in his throat, effectively stopping any kind of intelligent conversation. Sure, Espio's advice was good but as long as he couldn't talk, it was useless.

Next day, Amy had forced them all to go shopping, since predicted rain had cancelled the surf comp. Well, most of them anyway. Shadow had bluntly refused to go, and when Shadow made up his mind it usually stayed that way. Espio was just uninterested, and wasn't scared by Amy. This is actually quite an achievement, right up there with single handedly destroying an Egg Carrier. So with them still sleeping, everyone else followed Amy out of the house at 6a.m.

Hawaii's capital city, Honolulu is not a giant metropolis. It's more like a costal city, as much in tune with the sea and nature, creating a city of immense beauty and harmony. Many of its buildings are dedicated to traditional Hawaiian beliefs and pastimes. Not that it didn't have a traditional American shopping mall. Amy immediately dragged Sonic into the clothes section. Knuckles followed, looking for clothes himself. Silver followed Blaze into one of the clothe outlets. He had planned to talk to Blaze here, but there were so many people around, he got too nervous. So instead he was stuck giving clothing advice, man's worst fear.

They met up again for lunch, Amy now owning a full new wardrobe, which Sonic had to carry. "Honestly Amy," he complained. "Do you really need all this stuff?"

"Of course," she told him. Tails glanced inside the bags. He pulled out a one of the items.

"How much was this?" he asked. Amy shrugged.

"$40."

"And how many times are you going to wear it?" She gave another unconcerned shrug.

"Twice." Tails put his head in his hands.

"The sad part," he muttered to Knuckles. "Is she still doesn't see what's wrong." Knuckles was wearing a new shirt as well.

"What is wrong with that?" he asked. Tails just let his head drop with a thud to the table top, utterly stunned by their stupidity.

"So what do we do now?" Silver asked.

"Well, Blaze and I are staying," Amy said.

"We are?"

"Blaze, you need a new wardrobe, trust me." Blaze didn't see what was wrong with her current one. Amy could see what she was thinking. "All you have are purple cloaks and tights! You need some variety girl, and I am just the one to show you."

"Well fun as that sounds," Sonic said. "I think I'll head back to the beach. Who's coming?" Tails quickly agreed, as did Knuckles. "What about you Silver?" Silver shook his head.

"There's something else in town I have to do first. I'll catch you back at the house." He headed towards the shops again. Amy, followed by a reluctant Blaze, headed that way too.

"Remember the busses stop at 4," Tails called after them.

"Don't worry," Amy called back. "We won't be nearly that long!"

Espio sat in his room, binoculars trained on the boat that had taken up so much of his attention over the last three days. It wasn't that he didn't have other interests, he did. It's just that this was the most interesting. Mysteries fascinated the purple haired boy beyond anything else. What, he thought, was better then finding out what someone was trying to hide, whether it was a criminal, an ancient architect or one of his own team? Besides pure adrenaline, nothing.

Now that the others were out of the house, Espio had the perfect silence to conduct his watch of the boat. Shadow was back in the computer room, and from what Espio had heard, he wasn't coming out any time soon. It wasn't that he didn't like his teammates. They just didn't understand the meaning of peace and quiet. Or silence. Or 'For the love of God, leave me alone!' Maybe once he solved this mystery, then he'd have time for some of what they thought was 'fun.' Espio looked into his binoculars. He'd noticed this morning that a second boat had entered the harbor, and now this intruder had reached the previous yacht. Espio wanted to know what it was doing.

Out in the bay, the native guards were putting a gangplank out to the boat. It seemed that the boat was carrying someone of great importance. But who could it be? If Blaze and Silver were right, then it was probably some important lord or rich businessman. This was completely plausible. But where was the interest in going on what was plausible? A flash of movement caught Espio's attention. He turned the binoculars slightly, focusing on the bow of the ship. A man, no a child, was walking out from below deck. He was dressed like a typical teenager, in dark blue jeans and a long sleeved blue shirt with a yellow ring on both the front and the back.

"Strange," Espio thought. "Wearing that sort of shirt in this type of heat would neatly kill you!" In a completely out of character state of mind, Espio had abandoned his usual long jacket and thick purple shirt in favor of a thin silk shirt of the same colour, the heat was that intense. He looked back at the boy. His hair was a metallic blue and spiked back. It actually resembled Sonic's nearly perfectly, just a bit more artificial. His skin also seemed unnaturally pale, like a person who had never seen daylight. The boy approached who Espio assumed was the leader of the guards. The guard did not look happy, and Espio thought he could understand why. He'd probably been expecting some big, rich boss type man, and instead there was just some kid. He stormed up to the unusual boy. The muscular native towered over the boy by a good head, and he used this as he began yelling his head off. With his lip reading skills, Espio could almost make out what he was saying, and it pretty much summed up what the ninja detective had thought. The boy just sat through this entire line of abuse, no emotion showing on his face. This only seemed to infuriate the man more, and soon his words became more and more violent. Still the boy stood with his arms crossed, waiting. Finally, the guard raised his fist to strike the boy. Like lightning, he acted. The boy's hand came up and caught the giant's hand. Espio was shocked, and the guard looked the same. Espio couldn't see the boy's face, but he did see the boy's fingers, which he now noticed were extremely sharp, dig deep into the guard's hand. He yelled in pain, and Espio thought he could almost hear the anguished noise. Who was this unnatural monster, and what was he doing here. One thing was sure. There was definitely something going on.

Slam!

Sonic suddenly burst into the room, the hyperactive boy running round like a bat out of hell.

"Hey Espio! What ya doing?" He slapped the quiet boy's back, causing the newly agitated spy to drop his binoculars over the edge of the building. Espio made a desperate swipe at them, but missed. The binoculars fell to Earth, smashing painfully on impact. Espio stared in horror down at them. Sonic looked over his shoulder. "Oh. Opps." Espio turned to him, rage in his eyes. "Now Espio," Sonic said while backing away. "Remember your anger exercises. You're not allowed to kill anyone!" Espio ignored him and pulled out one of his Kunai. Sonic turned and ran at full speed back out the door at full speed, as Espio disappeared in pursuit.

"Get back here Sonic!"

"Tails! Knuckles! Shadow! Help me!"

"So what's going on with you and Silver?" The two girls had been wandering between stores collecting a huge credit bill for at least 4 hours now. Though she was reluctant at first, Blaze had actually begun to have fun by the end. Whatever others might think, she was truly female.

"What?" Blaze muttered.

"What's going on with you and Silver?"

"Nothing!" Blaze said, calm. "He my best friend, nothing else." Amy gave her a knowing smile. "I'm serious!"

"You can't fool me," Amy told her. "I have a sense for this type of thing!" Images of Amy trying to chase Sonic sprang unbidden into Blaze's mind. She thought the sensor was a bit faulty. "So do you like him? And if you say you're just friends I will assume yes." Blaze sighed.

"Yes, I like him. A lot. But…" She looked at her shoes. They were new and shiny, but damn uncomfortable and impossible to move in. What had Amy called them? Oh yeah, fashionable.

"But…what?"

"Well, I don't think he likes me like that." Amy started laughing. Blaze stared at her murderously. This was something really important, and she was laughing.

"You can't be serious!" she said between outbursts. "He spends all his time with you! How can he not like you?!" Blaze had become distant, ignoring her. Amy sighed and looked down at her watch. "5:26?! When did it get so late?!" The girls began rushing for the bus terminal.

When they got there the busses were long gone. Amy moaned in despair. "Now we have to catch a taxi."

"Not likely," Blaze told her. "All the taxis will be near the airport. We'll have to walk home." Amy's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"W-w-walk?!" She ran over to the ticket booth and began banging on the door. "Get Another Bus Running NOW!" Blaze decided she'd rather start walking home then try to explain for her friend. How embarrassing!

Barely ten minutes into her walk, it began to rain. Just her luck! Blaze hated water. It's cold, messes up everything, sticky. It also shuts down her pyrokinetic powers, making her vulnerable. Shivering, she continued going. Her first mistake. Her second came when she decided to try and cut through some of the corners by taking a back alley. Here the rain poured off the two adjacent roofs, making it seem even heavier. A few groups of poor and homeless hung around under meager shelter. Blaze was really beginning to regret leaving Amy at the terminal. Some of the people were watching her, making her nervous. Suddenly a voice came up behind her. A menacing, dark and threatening voice. A familiar voice!

"Hello flat chest."

"Shit!" she thought. She jumped away as the hulking surfer tried to grab her. Five more forms began to move towards her. She recognized two of them as the surfers from the beach, one as Silver had described had a slight hesitation in his walk. This wasn't good. She looked around for a way to escape. The alley was very narrow, with only two directions. She was trapped between three goons in each direction, lined up so she couldn't jump them. The rain was neutralizing her powers, meaning a fight would be dangerous. She looked up. The roofs were a possibility. But the men were closing in fast. Taking a quick run up she tried to scale the wall. The bricks were slippery and the mortar between them fairly new, unlike everything else, so she couldn't get a grip. She'd have to fight.

The first one to reach her obviously hadn't been at the beach. He charged her head on, and was sent packing by her palm impacting on his forehead. A second opponent came behind her, but her leg lashed out and hit his chest, winding him. Blaze winced as the pressure of the kick went through her shoe. These shoes were not meant for fighting or comfort. Why had she bought them?!

Another one of them came at her, warier than his predecessors. He'd been one of the one's at the beach. "Where's your last friend, the GUN boy?" she asked.

"Coward," he muttered. "We kicked him out!"

"Lucky boy." Quick as lightning, she jumped at him, using her foot to send his head into the side wall. He slumped, unconscious. A fourth tried to strike her back, but was knocked down as she effortlessly threw his unconscious friend into him. His skull made a satisfying crack on the pavement. Someone grabbed her in a bear hug, pinning her arms. She squirmed and tried to kick him, but he banged her against the wall. The shock nearly knocked her out, but not quite.

"Careful!" called the last surfer. He'd been the leader from the beach. "I don't want her broken, yet."
"Bastard," she spluttered. There was blood in her mouth. He walked over, bringing them face to face.

"Say that again," he was smiling sinisterly, showing two rows of unkempt teeth. She spat in his face. He wiped the blood away. His smile turning into a sneer. "I'm going to enjoy this." He slapped her, hard. She recovered easily.

"That it?" she muttered. His sneer remained as he slapped her again. "I can do better to myself than that!" she was closing in on blacking out, but fought against it.

"You'll regret what you did," his voice broke slightly. But the cruel sneer remained as he pulled something from his belt. It was a knife! Blaze's eyes widened.

"N-no need for that!" she was seriously frightened now. Before she was guaranteed to get away. The surfer smiled again. Blaze tried to flare up, but her clothes were soaked with the rain.

"Let's see whether you cut normally, freak," his eyes glinted with an insane enjoyment as he touched the blade to her cheek. He drew back to slice. Blaze closed her eyes.

Nothing.

She opened one eye. The man's arm was frozen, an aura of blue surrounding it. He was staring at it in horror. She saw it with hope.

"Silver…" she murmured. Exhaustion swept over her and she slumped to the cold, wet ground.

At the end of the alley, Silver's was standing, arm raised and power flowing through every follicle of his being. He'd been trying to catch Blaze since she'd left the station. Now that he had, he'd seen the knife and what was about to be done. The man would regret ever being born.

A different feeling to a few seconds before ran through the two would be attackers. The leader tried to run, but Silver's psychokenisis held him in place. His friend dropped Blaze's body and turned tail. Silver let him go. He had better ideas of who to punish.

"You're going to regret getting out of your hole today, worm," he seethed. He raised his hand. The struggling surfer was lifted from the ground. "Really, really, regret it!" He floated up after him, bringing himself above him. The switched positions to how he'd been looking at Blaze less than a minutes before. Silver gave him the exactly the same smile which the big man had used before. Not that he knew that.

"Mercy?" he pleaded weakly. He didn't really expect to get a good answer. Silver swung his arm, its tattoos glowing.

Slam!

The body crashed into the side wall. Silver brought the body back in front of him. "No." The body moaned. Still smiling, he lowered his hand. The surfer dropped like a stone, hitting the ground hard.

Crunch!

Silver dropped lightly and ran over to Blaze. His rage was gone and now he was afraid. Her skin were cold. "Come on, Blaze. Wake up." He felt her pulse. It was strong. Then her eyes fluttered open.

"Silver," she murmured. He smiled.

"I'm here," he said comfortingly. She coughed.

"I was so scared," she'd begun to cry. "He was going to…"

"I know," he told her. "He can't hurt you anymore." Suddenly, Blaze threw her arms around him, sobbing openly into his shoulder. Surprised, and still nervous, Silver didn't quite know what to do. He liked her, but didn't think she liked him back. And he didn't want to loose her as his friend. But here she was, hugging him. So he hugged her back. "You're OK," he said. "You're OK." Suddenly some urge overtook him. He leaned over to her ear. "I love you," he whispered. But she'd already fainted again.