I am so sorry it took so long to get this update up, but I have it here now. I hope you'll consider it worth the wait. Please read and review!
Tails stared down at the two trays of bullets in front of him, one tray for each crime scene. All the bullets looked exactly the same across both cases. The cases were connected.
The General stood next to Tails. "What do we have here?"
"The bullets are the same," Tails said, looking up. "And considering how they're branded so personally, that would mean the same person killed both Kora and Amy. Probably."
"Probably?"
Tails looked back down at the bullets, rolling them with a silver pair of tongs. "Well it could be two different people working for someone. So this symbol could be the sign of a team."
"So we could have a whole murdering team on the loose?"
Tails sighed. "It's possible."
"That's just great," the General muttered sarcastically.
The door opened, and an agent walked in. "General, we have some information you may be interested in."
The General turned away from Tails and followed the agent out of the room. Tails put the tongs down and stepped away from the trays. He swallowed hard. He still hated being left alone in this room. It felt so cold…just like Amy's body was where it lay within the room.
Tails sat down slowly, finding himself too unsteady to stand. The room was too empty, and not only because he was the only living thing in there. Because everything was too empty. When Amy had died, Sonic sort of…he sort of died too. He had cut off from everyone. Tails didn't have the first idea where he was.
The only person Tails still had contact with was Cream, but he didn't want to tell her exactly what was going on. She was only six years old. He didn't want to confuse and worry her. She should remain innocent and naïve and young. That's who she was supposed to be right now.
But Tails was only eight himself. He was still a child. He should be innocent and naïve and young too, but for some reason he wasn't. For some reason, he took it upon himself to solve problems that shouldn't have shaken his short-sighted view of the world in the first place.
Maybe that was the problem. His view of the world wasn't short-sighted. He knew too much to be so naïve. He'd grown up so fast. And only now did he realize that he wished he had remained young, left the fighting to everyone else.
Amy should have done that too. Amy wasn't even a teen…would never be a teen. She shouldn't have gotten herself involved in the problems of the world.
And then she would have still been alive.
The door opened, and Tails was surprised to see who walked in. Rouge. "Rouge?" Tails said, his voice sounding soft and strained.
Rouge spotted Tails. "What are you doing here, honey?"
Tails stood up, coaxing his legs to stand strong rather than shake. "I'm trying to figure out who killed Amy."
The words sounded weird coming from his mouth. Amy was dead. He just admitted it himself. Tails tried to distract himself. "What are you doing here, Rouge?"
"Looking for the General. I'm supposed to report my news to him," Rouge explained.
Tails decided not to ask what news Rouge had. He probably didn't want to know anyway. "He just left, but he'll probably be back soon. We were talking about something before. The connection in the murders of Amy and Kora Neils."
"There's a relation? So what, Eggman's feeling murderous or something?"
Tails shook his head and motioned her over to the trays of bullets. "No way Eggman would do something like this. It's not his style. But we do think whoever killed the two girls was the same person."
Tails picked up a bullet with the tongs. "Every bullet was branded with this weird symbol. I've never seen it before, but it's the same on every bullet."
"Weird. So you have no idea who would have killed Amy? After all, you probably know every enemy she has. You were like her co-protector."
Tails nodded slowly. The way Rouge said that, it felt like he was responsible the killer got to Amy. Tails doubted she meant it that way though. "No, we don't know. Eggman hates us, but he doesn't kill. That's really the main enemy. Unless there's something I don't know about. But even then, why would he—or she—have also killed Kora Neils?"
"Yeah, that doesn't really make sense."
Rouge stared down at the bullets appearing to be deep in thought. Tails looked at Rouge. He knew he would regret asking this question later, but he needed to know. "Have you seen Sonic lately?"
"Honey, you really don't want to know."
"What? Why? What's going on?" Tails asked feeling suddenly worried.
"He's not himself. Really not himself. Amy's death messed him up pretty bad."
Tails looked at her, expecting more, but Rouge said nothing else. The door opened, and Tails and Rouge looked over. The General stood in the doorway, his features carefully emotionless. "Agent Rouge, I didn't expect to see you here," the General said slowly.
"Something wrong?" Rouge asked.
"No, I'm interested in your report," the General said.
"You know what I mean."
Tails felt his heart beating furiously. "Was there another murder?"
The General shook his head. "No, but we did get more information. A witness came forward from Amy's murder."
"What did they say?" Tails asked nervously.
"We know who the murderer is."
Tails probably could have dropped to the ground right then, but he wanted to know who the murderer was. Even the General seemed hesitant to tell them, which wasn't a good sign. "Spit it out," Rouge urged.
Tails could feel the tension in the air as he stared at the General. What? Who killed Amy? The General took a deep breath.
"The murderer is Sonic the Hedgehog."