Yay, I have a new chappie! First, I'd like to thank all of my reviewers, especially nightingale07 and Kat the Kamel for their multiple reviews. Please keep reading! I love to read your reviews.

Now it's time to get the plot rolling! Thank you, Esper of Light, because you're review made me write this chapter faster!

"Hey, Sonic?"

Sonic opened one eye. He was laying back against a wall in Tails's workshop trying to get some sleep. He noticed now that the sounds of Tails's tinkering had ceased. "What's up?"

Tails walked over to his friend. "I'm going over Amy's apartment with Cream today. We're going to go through Amy stuff, and I was wondering if you'd want to go too."

Sonic opened the other eye. "Yeah, sure. When you going?"

"I was going to leave now."

"All right." Sonic jumped up. "Sounds good. How are we getting there?"

"Cream's coming," Tails pointed out, "so we should take the train. I don't want to take Cream in the Tornado. Just in case something happens."

Definitely, Sonic thought. Something bad could happen in the sky, and there was no way they were willing to risk Cream's life.

"We'd better go then," Sonic said. "The next train leaves in fifteen minutes."

Tails looked at the clock on the wall. "Oh. Yeah, you're right. Let's go."

—

Cream and Cheese met them at the train station. In the grass off the platform, Cheese played. It looked like Cheese had found a bug and declared it his new best friend. With only a couple of minutes until the train departed, Cream convinced him it was time to leave.

They paid their fees and boarded. The train was fairly empty, and they easily found three seats together (Cheese sat on Cream's lap). Sonic felt his heart thundering in his chest as the train started. Nerves jumped around his stomach rapidly. Why had he been so eager to come along? It wasn't like he was excited to go to his dead friend's apartment. He tried to distract himself by watching Cream and Cheese play peek-a-boo.

It didn't take long to get to Central City. And as soon as Sonic got off the train, he struggled to suppress the urge to get back on. Standing in wait at the train station were Rouge and Shadow. Sonic felt his jaw drop. What were they doing here? Shadow seemed to be wondering the same thing evident by the scowl on his face. Rouge, on the other hand, walked right up to them. "Hey, honey," she greeted. "How you doing?"

Cream said politely, "Hello, Miss Rouge."

"Rouge, what are you and Shadow doing here?" Tails asked.

"G.U.N. wants us to search Amy's apartment with you guys," Rouge replied. "They hope we might find some clues to who killed Amy."

"But how did you know we were coming?" Tails asked.

"Spy work."

"Oh."

The group started walking, Shadow a little ways behind. "What do you think you're going to find at Amy's apartment? Do you think the murderer was there or something?" Sonic said.

Rouge shrugged. "Don't know. They just want us to check."

If that guy was in Amy's apartment.... Sonic didn't finish his mental threat.

Only Cream and Cheese had ever gone to Amy's apartment before so they led the way through the busy streets. Sonic didn't usually move so slowly, or visibly, through Central City, and he felt many eyes on him. Sonic hoped that Amy's apartment was nearby. He wanted to get all the stares off of them. "You're quite popular, aren't you, hedgehog?" Shadow said.

Sonic turned around and looked at Shadow. "What? You feeling lonely?"

Sonic walked backwards, hoping his friends would warn him if he was about to run into someone. Shadow glared at him. "You're dreaming," Shadow growled.

"If this is a dream, then I don't want to know a nightmare," Sonic replied, thinking of how he was living without Amy.

"It's already a nightmare for some of us," Shadow said with a scowl.

"You're friendly today," Sonic said, turning around. He asked Rouge, "What's wrong with him?"

"It's Shadow, honey. It's what he does," Rouge said.

Cream stopped and turned around. "This is her building."

Sonic felt his heart freeze just knowing that. He stared up the tall building. It looked like any other building. But now, it wouldn't be any other building. It would be hers.

They walked inside the building, and Sonic immediately noticed a problem. "How can we call up to her apartment? No one will answer."

Like most apartments, Amy's building had the feature where you needed to call up to the person so they could buzz you into the main part of the building. "Here," Rouge said, handing Sonic a key.

"How...never mind." It wasn't worth asking how she had gotten the key. Either G.U.N. had connections or Rouge had stolen the key. Or both.

Sonic slipped the key in the lock and turned. He heard a click and the door opened soundlessly to a warm lobby. A pair of elevators waited in one of the lobby's walls. They piled into an elevator, and Cheese flew up to the panel full of buttons. He pressed one, and then with a cry of "Chao!" proceeded to press them all. Cream said, "Cheese, we only need the fourth floor."

Shadow groaned as Sonic let out a chuckle, both directed at Cheese. Cheese either didn't notice or ignored them as he flew over to Cream's side. The elevator began to move up. They stopped at the second and third floors, courtesy of Cheese, before reaching the fourth floor. Cream led them down a hallway. She stopped in front of room 412 and slipped her hand under the welcome mat outside the door. She pulled a small silver key out and inserted it into the lock in the doorknob. The door opened, revealing Amy's apartment.

Sonic thought Amy's apartment would be filled with pictures of him. But there wasn't a single one. Her apartment seemed too plain to be Amy's. "I wonder why she took down all her pictures," Cream said out loud.

"Maybe the murderer took them," Tails suggested, his voice shaking slightly.

"Only if he's a stalker. Not saying that couldn't happen," Rouge said.

"Is there anything else wrong?" Tails asked.

Cream shook her head. "No. Just the pictures."

Sonic's eyes bounced around the room. The room felt awkward; it didn't feel like hers. It couldn't be hers. She was so fun, so fearless. This room was bland, normal. It didn't feel right.

Sonic's legs moved him forward although he had no recollection of him telling his legs to do that. Numbness ran through his body. He stared at things, but he didn't know what. His hand ran over furniture, but his brain didn't register the texture. He felt his friends (and his not-so-friend) moving around him, but he wasn't sure who was closest. His heart thundered in his chest, and his brain felt like it was filled with a fuzzy fog. Time proceeded around him, but it left him behind. He struggled to breathe. The legs beneath him felt like gelatin while the arms at his sides felt like lead. This was once all hers...but it doesn't feel like hers.

"Sonic?"

An electric bolt ran through Sonic's body at the sound of Tails's voice. His eyes flickered to Tails who was holding a medium-sized cardboard box. "I found this under Amy's bed. It has your name on it," Tails explained.

Sonic walked up to Tails and lifted the box out of Tails's arms. On the box in black marker was "To: Sonic." He recognized Amy's handwriting. "What's this?" Sonic wondered out loud, taking it over to the couch.

Sonic looked up again. No one was in the room but him now. Tails had probably left him alone so Sonic could go through what had been left for him. Sonic lifted the flaps of the box open and looked inside. The first thing that caught his eyes was a sheet of loose-leaf paper written on in Amy's handwriting. He pulled it out and began to read.

Dear Sonic,

If you're reading this, I'm no longer alive. Even more than that, I've been killed. Otherwise, I would have gotten rid of this letter by now.

I wrote this for you because I need to tell you something very important. Listen, I knew I was going to be killed. I've been followed for a while. I can't tell you all the details right now since I don't have much time, but you'll know soon. I can tell you I don't know who my killer is. I'm sorry I don't. But I need you to find out for me. This man can't be allowed to kill anyone else. And trust me, he wants to. You've got to stop him, Sonic.

In this box, I've left several things for you. One thing I found up near the Master Emerald. It's a device that releases rings when you need them. I think you might need that. I just hope I'm right about what it does. I talked to Knuckles about it, and he told me how it works. By the way, he's thought you had it since I found it. I also found a Chaos Emerald recently. I know you'll need that. Finally, I've left you a picture of us together. I hope that will help you.

But please stop the murderer. I have left what hints I could around the world. You'll know how I hid them once you find them.

Sonic, I'm so sorry I'm gone. Please know that I'll always love you. And I know that somewhere deep down you love me too.

That's all I can say. I'm out of time. Love you.

Always,

Amy Rose

Sonic stared at the letter, dumbstruck. Amy knew she was going to die but didn't tell anyone? And why was she being so mysterious?

Sonic looked into the box. He saw the glowing green Chaos Emerald and pulled it out to set on the couch next to the box. Next he pulled out what looked like a bronze armband about the length of his forearm. He slipped it on his arm, and it tightened securely on its own. Sonic's eyes grew wide. He examined the band's ridges and watched as some sort of golden fluid flowed through the veins. Finally he extracted the picture. He lifted the small rectangle carefully and examined it. Amy smiled happily at the camera while Sonic was laughing. Sonic swallowed hard in an attempt to stop his tears. I promise, Amy...

...the murderer will be stopped.

Now the plot is coming in. Please tell me what you think!

Also, in case you're confused by the whole "ring armband" thing, I'm talking more the rings from Sonic X rather than the video games' rings. Just needed to clear that up.

Until next time,
Hero Memory