C O N T R A S T

by Rowan Jacobs

Life is like the ocean; it comes in waves, ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm and sometimes it's overwhelming. All we can do is learn how to swim.

8. Ripples

C O N T R A S T

Chapter 8: Ripples

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Big had left his hut earlier than usual that day, heading towards the coast for some early morning fishing. The odds of actually catching something did by nature actually increase around and during the golden hours of the day, namely at dawn or dusk, and he had always enjoyed having fresh caught flounder for breakfast. And judging by the clear weather during the night, he figured his odds were even better. With big, heavy steps he trudged along the usual path he'd take to reach shore, humming absentmindedly to himself as his eyes wandered in search of nothing in particular. He knew every tree, every leaf and every moss covered stone he passed on his way through the jungle, and everything looked as it should. Same as it had done yesterday. And despite wanting to arrive in due time to watch the first rays of sun stretch over the horizon, there was no hurry in his step, just the usual slow waddle.

Once he arrived he would sit down at his usual spot, upon a rather large rock that stood a few feet out into the water. Perhaps he would nod off for a little while with rod in hand and his chin comfortably resting against his chest. Then he'd get jolted awake some time later as the rod began to move in steadily increasing thrusting motions, indicating that something had indeed nibbled on the bait. The fish would get caught, reeled in and then he'd let out a yawn and return home with the risen sun warming his back.

Yes, everything would no doubt go down like usual.

And it probably would have, had it not been for that faint, sizzling noise that suddenly made one of Big's long ears to flick ever so slightly.

More so on their own accord did his sandal clad feet halt and turn in the direction of the foreign noise. Being of the curious nature as he were Big followed it, listening carefully as it grew in volume the closer he appeared to get. Pushing aside large dew covered leafs and lianas that hung loosely inbetween the surrounding trees in interwoven tangles. For someone as tall as him, it could sometimes be quite tricky getting around smoothly in the more overgrown parts of the jungle where the vegetation also could be hiding obstacles in his path. But soon he heard the noise so clearly that he could recognize it as electrical buzzing, that kind of buzzing that emitted from busted up robots. And robots equalled trouble, even for someone as peacefully minded as Big. He just hoped that no poor little critter had been injured…

But as Big pulled aside two tightly growing bushes he was almost close to stepping directly onto the the very thing that had caught his attention.

In the shallow water of a puddle laid a messy bundle of torn grass and liana as well as plenty of dirt tangled in with two bodies that upon first glance instantly made him gasp under his breath. The first one, which emitted the noise was a body made of sheer meal, dark blue to the color with deadly sharpness in its form. A vaguely familiar robot which by the looks of it were in such a bad shape that it had caused it to shut down indefinitely. The most noteable damages being half a missing arm and two legs that practically only hung together by their internal cords. Thus there was no way it had transported itself by walking but rather flown by using its built in jet engine that was the main source of the sizzling. By the looks of it, water exposure had caused it to short circuit and eventually broken down the flight ability altogether - dumping it right here where Big now stood staring down at it.

Although the heavily dismantled robot's presence wasn't what was the most shocking to the purple cat, but rather the sight of who his steel hands held pressed against his frame in a long since loosened grip.

Someone small and frail with rosy fur.

Big's heart sank inside his massive chest which welled with such intense feelings of worry, confusion and fright that he became paralyzed for a brief moment. Unsure of what he saw was in fact real or if his mind was playing tricks on him. Had he merely fallen asleep while fishing again?

"Amy?" He called out in doubt. But as he edged closer, bent down on his knees and got a proper look at the tangled mess, he found that it indeed was his old and dear friend Amy Rose that laid before him. Battered and bruised to such an extent that one could hardly tell that it was the same girl who always were so proper and prim, who wore colorful dresses and ribbons in her quills. Now however, her quills and fur were drenched, soaked to the bone while the only thing that covered her was a tattered dress that clung to her body like a wet blanket. Her feet were fully bare with recent, still bleeding cuts embedded in them, but worse was the fact that her left foot was laying in an odd angle, and prominently swollen, too.

Finding out what had exactly happened would have to be a later issue, as Big quickly realized that Amy was in dire need of care. Prompting him to, as gently as possible, first make sure to cut her loose from all the ensaring grass and liana by using a small pocket knife from his belt. Once it were properly removed he proceeded to wiggle her out of the grasp of the robot's arms before finally being able to lift her up into his big arms. Holding her with utmost gentleness as she appeared very much like a Flicky who'd got their wing broken and needed someone to carry it back to safety.

Hot tears trickled silently down Big's cheeks as he walked back in the direction of his hut. His eyes not leaving Amy's pale face even once during the whole time.

Who could've been so cruel as to hurt her like this?

He figured the broken robot must've had something to do with it, but still - he knew Amy to be a strong girl who could handle herself in a fight quite well. Especially when she had her hammer in hand. So whatever had transpired between the two it couldn't have been a fair fight, though the robot had been pretty busted up as well, so maybe… Nevermind. He would just have to wait for an explanation. The important thing now was putting all of his knowledge to the test by fixing his friend back up again.

And Big never let his friends down.

Once he arrived back at the hut, he wasted no time in placing Amy down gently upon his bed and then covered her with the only blanket he owned which was enormous for someone her size. Thus he folded it in half three times to make it more adequate, while still leaving spare fabric to neatly tuck her in with. She'd been icy cold to his touch so he figured heating her up again was the first step, and that once she'd regained somewhat of her own body heat again he'd take a closer look at her injuries. And seeing they were in the humid warmth of the jungle it probably wouldn't take too long, so in the meantime Big went out to fill one of his tin buckets full with fresh water and also grabbed a bunch of nice big leafs to use as towels.

Sitting himself down at Amy's bedside, Big then soaked rolled up pieces of leaf in the bucket before then beginning to dap them carefully against her forehead and every other part of her body that was either covered in dried blood or dirt. Since there wasn't much he could do about the now damp dress without disrespecting his friend's integrity, he decided to leave it be and just hope that it didn't conceal any serious injuries. Though he doubted it did anyway seeing as no fresh blood seeped through from anywhere on her torso. The rest of her body was a whole different story however… Big had a hard time training his eyes upon her without feeling that a new set of tears were about to form at the corners of his eyes.

Five long scars accompanied by dark blue bruises wrapped around her throat and neck, as if something very sharp had been holding her in a strangle-like grip. Something similar could also be seen upon her muzzle where a jagged cut stretched from the left corner of her bloated busted lip to her bruised cheek. Someone had definitely slapped her across said cheek and it too were swollen just as bad as the lip. It were also the most tricky area to clean as Big constantly feared his hand might fidget and cause further harm to the cut, which had just barely begun its healing process. And then there was the ankle situation… To the naked eye it was obviously injured judging by the bruising, swelling and abnormal appearance - meaning it was angled in such a way which wouldn't normally be possible without affecting the position of the leg as well. Big stroked two fingers across the ankle, poked it ever so slightly and moved it from side to side without really knowing what he was searching for. Perhaps he expected to feel some sort of bone piece sticking out underneath the skin, but if it did, it was buried too deeply for him to detect by simply stroking the area. Yet he feared that if he pressed too hard it would cause Amy to wake up from the pain of it.

Speaking of which…

When would she wake up?

Having little to none experience in the field of medically correct caretaking or treating severe injuries, Big had a fleeting thought about wether he should've perhaps brought his friend straight to a hospital instead. However, they were deep within the jungle of the Mystic Ruins area and Big owned neither phone or any other device to contact people with. Mostly because that was the way he prefered to live his life - without any of the hustle and bustle of the outside world or any form of modernities. All such things ever did were confuse him, and besides, he'd lived his entire life on the simple values of life and managed just fine. In perfect tranquility and contentment.

In any case, he reckoned she was far too bad shape to travel anywhere as of right now.

Maybe he could go fetch someone to come here instead?

Big knew that the little genius fox known as Tails lived in a workshop located on the outskirts of the Mystic Ruins, near the train station. He was also Amy's brother-in-law and would surely be willing to help, but going all the way there would mean he'd be forced to leave her unattended for at least an hour. And what if she woke up during that time? What if whoever hurt her came looking for her and she were alone? Besides, Tails might not even be at home once he got there, and then how long would Big dare to risk waiting for him before having to return to the hut again? In that case it would have have been all for nothing…

Dabbing a cloth upon her left hand, Big's eyes were drawn to the pretty, golden ring Amy wore on her finger.

Sonic…

Her fiancé.

The world famous hero.

And also a friend of his.

Big had been happy to learn that the two hedgehogs had gotten engaged last year, Amy had even went all the way out to his hut to tell him the news herself. Sonic had been with her as well, and they'd drank a cup of tea together to celebrate. Their shared love shining upon the both of their faces, with her being unable to stop smiling during the entire visit and him barely taking his eyes off of her for more than a few seconds. Nor did he once ever let go off her hand, holding it lovingly in his grasp with their fingers intertwined in a secure lock. Both factors resulting in Sonic spilling tea upon himself as well as the floor several times, and apologizing to Big for it just as many.

It had warmed Big's heart to see one of his closest friend's dream finally come true. That Amy had finally caught her knight in shing armor - as she'd many a times referred to the blue hero as in the past - and that the knight in question seemed to genuinely reciprocate her feelings.

But where on Mobius was he at now?

How come he hadn't been there to protect his princess as always?

Had something similar happened to him?

Big could once again only guess the answers to these questions as he just about finished up cleaing all of the wounds and cuts that covered Amy's body. He covered her with the blanket once more, pulled it all the way up to right below her chin and lastly tucked the edges in. Then he fell back onto his rump, making the wooden plank floor creak underneath his weight as he did.

"Aww, poor Amy…" The big cat commented aloud to himself, something he often did as it had grown to be a habit fater having lived in partial solitude for so many years. His eyelids lowered in sadness with a frown forming in between his eyes which beheld his friend in mild anticipation. "You take your time. I will watch over you until you feel like waking up again."

Silence was all that answered his promise.

Amy remained perfectly still, breathing faintly in and out. Completely unaware of everything that happened around her. Swallowed by an endless darkness that never seemed to want to loosen its grip on her. Despite looking as if she'd just been through hell and back, Big thought there was something awfully peaceful about her expression. Tending to her had almost felt as if he'd been doting upon a particularly fragile porcelain doll, who's usual sweet face had become deformed due to a careless child's mistreatment.

He did a sloppy wipe at a couple of stray tears with his forearm, let out a wistful noise that sounded like a mix between a sigh and a hum, and resigned to patiently waiting for Amy's jade eyes to finally reveal themselves.

Somewhere during the hour that passed, did Big seamlessly nod off, just straight up where he sat. Before awakening again with a small grunt and to the sound of his own stomach rumbling, quite loudly. The fact that he'd skipped breakfast ultimately making itself known, as he realized just how hungry he was. "Not now, little tummy—" Big said, clapping a hand upon his not-so-little stomach. "—Amy is not up yet. You have to be patient."

Although…

Amy would surely be hungry when she awoke, and Big currently didn't have any spare food around the hut. Usually he kept some fruit and dried fish in stock, but since he had a preferance for eating everything fresh, and lived in a way that made so such a preferance could be satisfied, he wasn't too keen on keeping the stock full. And Froggy didn't require any either since he caught all of his food by himself, in form of flies and other bugs that lived around the jungle.

Froggy was, as the name suggested, a frog, which pretty much came and went as he pleased - living a life completely free of feeling any ties to anything or anyone. However, Big on the other hand felt a very strong tie to the little frog and considered him to be his bestest as well as closest friend in the entire world - and valued him accordingly. Despite Froggy's unwavering tendency to slip away on his own - more often than not - Big never ceased to want to be close to his friend and could still after all these years not help but feel slightly worried about him whenever he felt Froggy had been gone for too long. But just like clockwork, his friend did indeed come back every now and again - one way or another.

At present though, Froggy wasn't hopping around the hut, uttering his pleasant little croaks and keeping the place free of flies.

Which was a pity, seeing as Big really could've used his help keeping an eye on Amy for him while he went out to catch them some fish. Because ultimately the big cat just couldn't seem to bring himself to leave her unattened, even if it would've been for just a short period of time. Hungry or not - his rumbling stomach would simply have to hold on a while longer. Though in an attempt to ease the worst of it, Big went over to the nearest tree trunk and carefully carved some pieces of bark off with his pocket knife and put one in his mouth to chew on. It was an old trick he'd done ever since childhood, at the times when there hadn't been too much around to eat for him and his family. He'd had lots of siblings…—

"Sonic…"

Big's train of thought stopped dead in its tracks as the tiniest, most hoarse of whispers reached his ears. He put the knife back in his belt before walking back towards the bed where Amy had began to move around ever so slightly. Her right hand finding its way out from underneath the blanket and grasping at something around her bruised neck - a golden locket. Big hadn't recognized it as he'd been cleaning her cuts before, but now as he took a closer look at it he found it to resemble a heart and that there was a small clasp on the side. Again, he couldn't recall to have ever seen her wearing it last time they'd met a mere month ago, and thus figured she'd probably gotten it fairly recently.

Pretty soon, Amy's vague grasping turned more desperate as she began clutching on to it like her very life depended on it.

In order to calm her down and possibly keep her from strangling herself with the golden chain, Big gently took a hold of her hand, which practically got enveloped into his huge one, and began patting it over and over again. Speaking in the softest of voice he was cabable of— "There, there. Don't worry, everything is all right."

"… Please, don't go…" Came the unconscious reply from Amy, who was still in too deep within herself to fathom that the hand holding hers was perhaps a bit too big than what she was used to.

"I won't." Big promised in complete earnesty, not realizing that the request wasn't neccesarily directed at him, and that his friend had no awareness of him even being there at all.

Yet, after that brief exchange no more word came across Amy's lips as she drifted back into motionless dormancy.

Several uneventful hours passed one after the other all while the sun rose higher and higher upon the sky and Big chewed the next bark piece upon the next. The humidity in the air grew steadily during the entire time and soon after followed all the noise from critters and insects who'd awoken and began to move about up among the trees and within the thick vegetation. Nearby, a flock of frogs began croaking in their usual choir as they hopped and swam around in their little pond of blooming lily pads. A typical early summer morning.

When Big figured it was time to change the soaked leaf upon Amy's forehead again, he suddenly discovered that a terrible heat had broken forth there. It was strange because a mere half an hour ago she'd felt just fine. A little sweaty maybe, but that was to be expected in this jungle climate. Now she was burning up as light shivers went through her body like electric pulsations while her breathing became noticeably heavy. Hoarse, ragged breaths that escaped her mouth as incoherent words got jumbled in between each of them.

"Gone… hurts… please… no… stop..!"

For a good deal of minutes, Big actuvely tried to keep Amy from thrashing around too much and thus keep her from hurting herself, and it seemed to work up until an abrupt jolt shot through her spine and sent her almost rolling out the bed. It was as if some invisible force had slapped her right across the face, forcing her eyes wide open and her senseless thrasing to immediately cease in one swift motion. The following quarter of a second Amy laid perfectly still before her head slowly turned in the direction of Big, who'd managed to hold onto her hand through the ordeal. He gazed with equally wide eyes back at her, greatly surprised at his friend's rather abrupt awakening. The wet leaf having dropped onto the floor amidst it all.

After what felt like forever, Amy finally opened her mouth to utter— "Big…? Is-… is that you..?" Her voice was hoarse and barely reached above the faintest of whisper. Even so, one could clearly hear the obvious confusion and disbelief it carried, as if she couldn't believe her own eyes. That seeing him out of all people simply couldn't be real, for some reason.

"Yes." Big answered casually, having regained his sense of calm just as quickly. There even played a timid smile upon his lips out of the sheer happiness that he was no longer left alone by his worrisome self.

"Am I—" A brief pause passed between them as Amy seemed hesitant to finish her initial question, and instead seemed to decide to change to a different one - or rather several ones to be exact. "Where am I? How am I here? What happened..?"

"I found you in the jungle this morning. You were hurt, but I brought you to my hut to take care of you."

And as she took a hasty look at her surroundings, Amy did indeed recognize Big's modest hut, with its fishing racket and large stump which was used as a table. At the familiar sight, a momentarily sense of peace settled inside her heart. However, it did little to dampen her confusion. "In the jungle..?" She asked slowly, a furrow appearing between her brow as she tried to recall her last concious memory. Distorted mental images of bloodied fists that collided with metal, palm trees that bent against the sheer force of water, a disappearing sky that got swallowed by the darkness of the ocean, a last look at the nothingness before everything seemed to cease to exist. But then there was something else as well… a vague feeling of being pulled up, of floating in the free air, of water being forced out of her system right before an immense pain once more pulled her under.

The aching in her head made it difficult to put any real meaning to these images, and she didn't know how they all connected to one another.

But what Amy knew was that it shouldn't be possible for her to be here, in Big's hut, right now.

She should in fact be dead.

Buried at the bottom of the ocean floor.

Then seemingly out of nowhere for Big, Amy's eyes widened in sudden realization and panic as a strangled, whining noise tore its way up through her throat. She made a poor attempt at sitting up straight, her hands frantically trying to get the blanket off of her. It was as if she'd just been cornered by an enormous beast and she were its prey. "Big..! I-I- I have to go, he's coming.. He's coming to get me… I have to leave… I—.. I can't— It's all my fault..! I have to lea-ve..—!" Beads of sweat broke forth upon her forehead while her body began to tremble so violently that she lost all sense of control over what she was doing or saying. On instinct she pulled up her knees while laying on her side, with the blanket having slid off half way down her body due to the commotion.

Right in that moment, Amy heeded no concern for her heavily bruised and injured body. The pain didn't even register since nothing could compare to the extreme level of fear she felt. The fear that Metal Sonic would show up at any given moment and finish what he'd started back on Angel Island. Although, this time around it wouldn't be the mighty fists of Knuckles that stood in its path, but rather the kindest, most gentle of giants that didn't even so much as swat at flies.

The giant in question, didn't seem too bothered by her outbursts however as he merely treated the situation as if she'd just woken up from having a bad dream. And that said dream carried no consequence into the actual real world.

"Don't worry, no one is gonna get you…" Big began as a means to comfort his friend - to no avail whatsoever. "You're safe now…"

"You don't understand..!" Amy cried with her head buried into her knees, tears pouring out of her eyes. The trembling worsening considerably. "If I don't leave now, he's going to find me and then he'll hurt the both of us. That's what happened to S-So-nic and now Knu-Knuckles.. They got hurt b-because of me… because they tried t-to protect me… and I ca-can't let it happen a-again..! Not again. Not to you…"

"Who will find you?"

Amy could barely force herself to utter the name in her current state, but through gritted teeth and cramped inhales of air the name of one of her worst nightmares faught its way out in the middle of a choked sob— "M-Me-Meta-al S-Sonic…"

At that, Big blinked in surprise as it was not the name he'd expected to hear.

Last time he'd even heard about Metal Sonic had been several years prior when he, Cream and Amy had acted in the name of Team Rose to not only find Cheese the Chao's missing twin brother but also Froggy. Which after a long series of hazardous and accidental events had lead to a big showdown, involving almost all of their other friends, to take down a multiple transformed, heavily upgraded base version of a Metal Sonic.

However, just then a vital piece of information clicked inside Big's mind as he remembered the nearly dismantled robot that had been tangled up alongside Amy back when he'd found her.

So that's why he'd thought it had looked familiar…

"He won't come after you." Big then claimed confidently.

"Big, please, you don't—"

"I know because he was broken when I found you."

Amy's sniffling ceased immediately as soon after her head rose up slowly to meet Big's eyes. She was visibly stunned and her voice came out in whispering breaths once she'd regained herself enough to ask— "Wha- what? There was a Metal Sonic where you found me? But, how? How is that possible, I last saw him when—" A flash of two figures beating upon each other in the dark resurfaced inside her mind, making Amy halt in her own words as the memory seemed to cause her actual physical pain. In that same moment she was also reminded of her broken ankle and the real pain that soared from the fractured area and up along her leg as well as her knee to some degree.

The gruesome noise that belonged to said memory almost made Amy feel nauseous, as she dreaded the moment when she'd be forced to look at the swollen foot as well as the rest of the damage her body had attained from Metal Sonic's abuse on it. She could only imagine how terrible she must look, because she definitaley felt it.

What must Big have thought when he first saw her?

Despite the exact details still being a bit hazy, and despite the painfulness of having to reiterate for the events that had happened during these last couple of weeks and specifically those that had taken place just hours ago. Amy decided it was worth telling Big at least the most essential, in hopes that he too would realize the danger she posed to him and not object to her eventual plans. Because if there were a list of people that didn't have anything to do with this and thus didn't deserve to be dragged in, Big would certainly be near the top of that list. He wasn't a natural born fighter nor was he engaged in the politics or warfare of Mobius, and neither was it to be expected.

He was just the average peace-loving guy who's biggest enjoyment in life was fishing.

Sure, he could enjoy venturing out into the big world on his own some times, but at heart he loved his home and all of its beautiful surroundings the best.

Just as Amy did…

A pang of sorrow hit Amy's heart as she thought of her snug little cottage - her blooming rose garden, her warm cozy bed, her kitchen filling with music from the radio, and the short blissful life she'd been allowed to live there with Sonic for a year. Before everything had fallen apart. Something which had been inevitable already from the start… she just hadn't wanted to see it.

Discarding such thoughts for later, Amy drew a big breath before exhaling slowly through her nose. Preparing herself, as well as her damaged vocal cords, for the task of speaking for a longer period of time than what was neccesary for just a few sentences. But surprisingly enough - once she'd began the words seemed to flow right out of her like a pouring river. She talked and Big listened, waiting patiently whenever she had to pause because she needed to cough or simply steady her breathing. Once she neared the end of her story, namely this night's/early morning's events, she had a hard time holding back her tears and as she finished she was left sitting crying again.

"—So that's— wh-why it's dangerous f-for m-me to— stay he-here." Amy concluded between sobbing hiccups, as she fruitlessly tried to remain calm. Her heart had started racing several times during the story while the reliving of her worst nightmare had taken a great toil on her. Truth be told, she felt as if she were on the brink of losing her mind. So much hurt, so much worry and fear for the ones she loved, and wondering where they were at this very minute and if they were all right still haunted her subconsciousness. And now she had the added mystery of Metal Sonic's presence in the jungle, as well as her inexplicable escapement of her own death to ponder upon.

Big hadn't offered much else information on either of those matters as he knew just as little as she did about how they had came to happen.

They spent a few minutes in contemplating silence, both mulling over their own thoughts until Amy finally broke it. Stating the following with such a broken and hoarse voice that it was hard to take her seriously— "I'll leave for Central City and the G.U.N. headquarter within two hours. I don't know if Sonic or Tails will be there but going off Sonic's letter it's the only lead I've got. And even if they're not there I can at least tell the Commander or anybody else that'll listen what happened upon Angel Island. That it'll need extra protection until Robotnik's caught now that he's sent a Metal Sonic there. It's about the Master Emerald, after all, they'll simply have to." She paused for a second before seeming to be struck with a sudden realization. "Of course, Shadow..! Shadow will want to listen to me. He understands how important it is to not let Robotnik get his hands on the Emerald, and make sure it, Angel Island and Knuckles is gets the protection that's needed. Maybe he could even ensure the Rabbit's safety, too. If I can just get ahold of him when I get there I will have at least done one thing right, and given my friends a chance…"

Amy had spoken more to herself than to Big, still he spoke up once her voice trailed off at the end of her sentence.

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to go anywhere right now, Amy."

"Big, don't you see? I have to. The others - Cream, Cheese and Vanilla..— The Chaotix, maybe - they need whatever protection they can get. I can't just sit here and do nothing while they could get hunted down by one of those Metal Sonics any given day. Robotnik won't hesitate to hurt anyone anymore, and if he thinks getting to them will somehow give him me and then ultimately Sonic - he'll do so..!"

"You are very hurt."

"It doesn't matter, I can still help..! Sonic would want me to—" But then Amy's voice faltered as she was suddenly reminded of the letter he'd left her, where he'd begged her to under no circumstances leave Angel Island. Although… did any of that even matter anymore? Hadn't everything changed the exact same moment Metal Sonic had attacked and indirectly forced the hand of destiny? The illusion she'd lived under that she'd been totaly safe while being there had obvioulsy only turned out to just that - an illusion. A false sense of security she'd been lulled into.

What had ultimately been proven was that Knuckles had been right in his suspicions that Robotnik most likely wanted her dead as a means to get to Sonic.

And if that were true then no one would be able to protect her… least of all herself.

"I think Sonic wants you to be safe - and right here you are safe." Big reasoned, putting it as simply as if he were explaining why one plus one equals two. "You don't have to do anything. Just stay."

"Big…" Amy whispered, feeling how her courage slowly left her as the realization of her situation finally sank in. She couldn't help anyone, if anything she put everyone around her at risk by simply being within a close enough radius from them. She was the danger. A diseased person who's only symptom was death. And even if what Big told her was correct, that the robotic doppelganger was laying somewhere within the outskirts of the jungle right this very moment, broken beyond all repair - It still made no difference. Nothing had changed. The Metal Sonic that had attacked Angel Island last night hadn't been the first - the original so to say - and certainly not the last. And how long before Robotnik realized his attempts at kidnapping her via them were fruitless and instead sent heavier artillery to get her, or Chaos forbid, one of her other friends.

Knuckles… He'd already ended up in harm's way, and perhaps he was only the first on a long list of all the ones she loved to do so. A numbing pain spread through her body when she thought about her echidna friend and the memories from their last look at one another flashed before her inner eye. He'd said he didn't need her, ordered her to run and then turned all his attention to pummeling Metal.

But if said robot laid somewhere in the jungle right now, then what had happened to Knuckles?

Had his fight with Metal turned out for the worst?

Had the tidal wave that swept her up, also taken Metal while Knuckles had managed to clamber onto something solid enough to withstand the wave's enormous force?

Or were he too dragged into the ocean and now rested at the bottom of it?

No… That was too much to think about, too horrible to even be considered as an actual possibility. Somehow, Knuckles just had to be alive and well, because the alternative would simply make Amy cease to function, leaving her with nothing but immense guilt, self-hatred and despair. And then she wouldn't be able to go on, and thus do what she had to do in order to keep the remaining people in her life from facing the same fate.

Suddenly she didn't even wish to see Sonic again. For wherever he was right now it was sure to be safer than here with her. Perhaps she should feel grateful that he'd taken the neccessary means to leave her in time, before he or Tails had fallen victim for one of Robotnik's arrows that were dead targeted at her. Sonic had already been close once during the first few days of their reunion, but being the indestructable creature that he was he'd pulled through that time. However, what was it that Knuckles had said that night when he'd found her in the jungle?

"—he's not invinsible. I understand if It might be hard to remember sometimes, when you see him do all those heroic deeds and using the power of Chaos to turn himself Super. Still, at the end of the day he's an ordinary guy that could just as easily end up hurt as you or me, and given the stakes he's up against… This time he might not see it through. This time there may not be a fake Choas Emerald to save him. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

And perhaps Amy hadn't understood the full width of that statement at the time.

But she thought she did now.

Sooner or later - whether it was mere days from now or many several years into the future - … Sonic's luck would run out. And seeing as she was currently, and perhaps always had been, his biggest of liabilities - it suddenly appeared painfully obvious that she would be the cause of his ultimate demise. For hadn't he himself proclaimed as much when he'd proposed to her? "—And I promise to always protect you, for as long as my heart shall beat… To love you forever, til' the very end of time - and then beyond." Though it hadn't been her death that he'd been alluding to, but his own. Til' the very end of time was simply a metaphor. A metaphor that masked the recognition he knew to be true in regards to how he knew their relationship worked - he would protect her for as long as his heart shall beat…

Because it wasn't Sonic that needed protection. He had the power to take down literal gods, defeat enormous monsters and take on every adversary that came in his path… except for her.

Therefore she would be the end of him.

Never before had anything ever been as crystal clear as that very sentiment.

And it was a pain worse than anything Amy had ever experienced in her entire life. Worse than the first realization of her parents' abandonment of her as a child. Worse than watching half of Station Square get destroyed. Worse than feeling all the life get sucked out of her as well as the world around her. And even worse than Sonic leaving her upon Angel Island, becuase of that she felt nothing but relief for now. In all honesty, he should've left her much sooner…

Big, who knew nothing of what transpired within Amy's mind right then and who took her silence as a sign of her resignating to stay, gave her a warm smile and a light pat on the top of her head. "Don't you worry, Amy. Everything will turn out fine." He reassured with undoubtable confidence in his voice. "Sonic will put it all right again - he always does, you know." However, he recieved no answer as Amy merley continued to cry silently, having hidden her face in her hands and then buried her head into her knees once more. "There, there… shed as many tears for as long as you need to. I won't leave you."

And just as before, Big kept to his promise.

Wrapping Amy's shivering form in the blanket, Big and her then sat huddled together in silence while the minutes dragged themselves forward.

What ultimately interrupted the drawn-out stillness was maybe not so unexpectably a rumbling growl. The loudest of growls that rose from within Big's stomach, making the two friends almost jump at the abrupt sound of it. But for two completely different reasons.

"Oops, uh, sorry…" Big said with an apologetic smile. "My tummy is missing breakfast."

Amy wiped the frozen tears off of her cheeks and gave him a concerned look. "You haven't eaten yet?"

"Well, I ate some bark before."

"Bark? Why? Didn't the fish bite today?"

"I don't know, I didn't find out because I had to watch over you."

The realization that Big had went without any proper food because he felt obligated to keep an eye on her didn't exactly ease Amy's bad concious. Even so, she couldn't help but feel a warm wave of affection towards her friend, moved almost back to tears by his inherent kindness. "Oh, Big… I'm so sorry. That was very kind of you, but you shouldn't go hungry just because of me. I can manage on my own while you go fishing. Please do, I'm already a big enough of a burden as it is."

At that, Big took a moment to think, possibly about her proposition. But once he opened his mouth to speak again it wasn't in regard to going fishing. "You are no burden, Amy."

The smile that stretched across Amy's face was weak and didn't reach her eyes, yet she tried to keep her voice as steady and casual as possible as she replied— "Thank you. But go on now - catch us some real big ones for breakfast, alright? And don't feel like you need to hurry back, I'll probably just fall back asleep while you're gone."

Normally, Big wouldn't think anything of such a comment, mainly because he wasn't of the suspicious kind. Still as of right now, something deep within his subconcious told him that leaving Amy alone was a bad idea. That's why, in the next second, he instead heard himself suggesting— "Why don't you come with me then. After all, it's double the fun when you're two."

Obvious reluctance shone upon Amy's face as she lowered her eyes and sat quiet for a brief moment. "Big, I—… I don't think I can make it to the ocean, what with my ankle and all…" Though as soon as those words left her lips she found herself lifted up from the bed, the blanket still clad around her, and into the arms of her tall friend. She'd been carried by Big multiple times before, even sat upon his shoulder alongside Cream as he'd walked, but she'd been a lot younger back then and most likely a lot lighter too. And so, for a fraction of a second she felt a giddy sense of nostalgia go through her mind while a short giggle escaped her as she were placed securely on the top of Big's left shoulder. "Big..!" She breathed out, clambering onto the side of his head with one arm while one of her hands clasped onto his long left-ear in an attempt to steady herself. Though it quickly turned out to be pointless as after having picked up his favorite fishing rod from his rack and throwing it across his other shoulder, Big then proceeded to raise his hand up to hold behind Amy's back, thus giving her extra support and also preventing her from potentially falling. Which was probably necessary considering her current condition.

"Come on, let's go, Amy!" Big proclaimed as loud and happy as ever.

"O-okay..!"

While alternating between whistling and humming, Big walked them both through the jungle, but this time via a path that on one hand took longer time - almost a full fifteen minutes - but which was easier to navigate when having someone sitting on top of your shoulder. Making sure to avoid any overgrown passages and shielding Amy from vines and scraping branches and such, the best he could. Once the vegetation thinned out and one could catch glimpse of the beach and ocean through the trees, Big's heart took its usual instinctive leap inside his chest.

However, the sight that met them wasn't that of the the always so neat and tidy shore.

The water level had risen a significant amount while the golden sand had been covered in various seashells of odd shapes and colors as seaweed laid scattered in small heaps. The wide, flat rock Big usually sat upon while fishing and which stood a bit ways out into the water was entirely underneath the sea level. And if one looked more closely one would find that all the palm trees along the shoreline looked a bit crooked, as if a big force of wind or something had recently bent them. The gentle waves that rolled halfway up the beach was the only thing that could be seen as the ordinary. Big heard Amy let out a soft gasp under her breath, as a shudder traveled up her spine. Her reaction seeming quite odd to the large cat since this really wasn't too strange of an occurance. The beach looked similar to how it could look the morning after a really nasty storm had swept through the area.

Even if he couldn't recall there actually being a storm last night…

"Maybe a whale did a huge splash with its fin..!" Being Big's response to Amy's unspoken question.

She in turn nodded her head slowly as her evasive tone went unnoticed by Big. "Yeah, I'm sure you're right."

"Well, anyway, let's catch that fish now, hm?" He lowered her carefully onto the sand, where she ended up sitting with her blanket tightly wrapped around her frame and her legs stretched out in front of her. The waves just about reaching up to her feet, washing the golden grains from between her toes. It tickled her ever so slightly, and Big smiled as he witnessed a peaceful expression settle upon Amy's face little by little as each wave came rolling in.

Figuring his friend needed some space, Big decided to walk a few feet away before placing his rump comfortably upon the ground and began prepping and fixing with his fishing rod. He turned the lever of the reel a couple of times and it seemed to work perfectly, and the line was clean and sturdy. Since he preferred fishing without any bait on, he left the hook as it was when he soon after made his first cast with the rod.

And so began the tranquil act of fishing, with Big leaning back slightly as his eyelids lowered while he basked in the early morning light. The golden rays gradually warming up his deep purple fur, resulting in a sigh of content to escape him. "Any time you're ready, fishies…" Big mused to himself, feeling the usual drowsiness fall upon him. Considering that he from now on would have a an extra mouth to feed, he figured he needed to catch double the amount of fish - both for breakfast and dinner. For lunch they could surely make do with fruit from the jungle, and he also made a mental note of restocking his supply of cocconuts. Because as long as Amy needed him, he would make sure to provide her with anything and everything that her heart may desire.

"Yes, anything she wants…" Big muttered under his breath, right before a light snore replaced any further talk and he slumped where he sat.

Meanwhile, Amy was in the midst of unwrapping the heavy blanket from around her body, since the warm weather made it unnecessary for her to keep wearing it. And underneath her dress had just about dried up enough, though it wasn't a pretty sight that met her eyes as she glanced down to inspect its condition. The scarlet dress that Sonic had secretly packed for her and which she'd decided to wear for her little feast with Knuckles yesterday was barely recognizable anymore. Its darker shaded trim was barely visiable due to the tattered state of the bottom, and had gone from reaching below her knees to now ending up at the middle of her thighs. The rest of the dress fabric still held together pretty well around her figure, even if it was greatly sullied by dirt for the most part. She then reached a hand up to inspect the state of her quills and discovered that it felt slightly thinner in certain places, possibly due to Metal pulling her along the ground by it, and there was a small bump near her forehead. Her swollen lip and cheek both held a certain numb, buzzing pain and her left hand, where Metal's foot had stomped down, hurt when she even so much as bent her fingers.

At the moment, Amy cared very little - if anything - about her current apperance, as it was the aching and bruised state of her body that tormented her more. Especially her broken left ankle, seeing as it would soon be utmost necessary for her to put weight on it.

All other pain would simply have to be endured or ignored.

Through the shimmering translucent water, Amy observed just how swollen her ankle and foot was, but she also caught sight of the anklet Knuckles had gifted her the previous evening. And despite it not even being more than twelve hours ago, it felt like an eternity had passed since then. Since the two of them had shared a rare moment of joy - a distraction from being constantly aware of that everything around them was slowly falling apart. And now yet another piece had fallen and shattered into a thousand pieces. Pieces which Amy, with bleeding hands, would try her hardest to somehow put back together again.

In an attempt to distract herself from her brooding, Amy refocused her attention back on the anklet, watching as the sun's rays brought forth the muted colors of the stones and made them glimmer ever so faintly. It truly was beautiful… and had it not been for the fact that she was already fresh out of tears, as well as very dehydrated, she would've probably started crying just from the sight of it.

No, no more tears…

Glancing farther out at the wide bay that surrounded them, Amy noticed the heavy mist that laid like a thick fog upon the water and covered her line of sight. One couldn't even see the horizon.

For a fleeting second, Amy wondered if this was a normal occurrence, but since Big hadn't commented on it she guessed it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Tails would've surely had a scientific explanation for it.

Despite knowing it was fruitless, her fingers then began fidgeting with the wrist communicator which had miraculously managed to stay on during all this time since she'd first strapped it on. However, this time around not even the static blue screen appeared, meaning that it was now probably totaly busted. Still, Amy just couldn't bring herself to remove the thing from her wrist and throw it into the water. Because if she did, it would be like cutting off one of the few comforts she had left at the moment. And being reminded of her sweet brother-in-law, despite having no idea where he was at or if he was at all safe, actually brought her some courage.

… But what if he really was in worse shape than her right now?

No, I can't think about that right now.

Amy quickly discarded the thought, forcing herself to refocus back on the present and her surroundings…

The coral water nearest shore looked very inviting, laying almost as still as a mirror with only the gentle rippling waves breaking the stillness now and again. And Amy almost had half a mind of dragging herself deeper into it when she suddenly felt her stomach twist at the thought of doing so. Having nearly drowned just hours ago, she didn't feel any rush to get back into the water any time soon. However, she hoped she hadn't permanently lost her joy for swimming, and that it would come back in due time. If not, she and Sonic would have one more thing in common…

Then, in a single unguarded second, her unscathed hand clasped the golden locket. It, too, seemed to have withstood the absue she'd endured during the night, and as she carefully stroked her thumb across its surface it felt just as smooth as it had when Sonic had first put it around her neck. A smile sneaking its way onto her muzzle as she remembered how his gentle fingers had fidgeted with the clasp… How nervous he'd been when he'd presented it for her… And then how happy he'd been as she'd accepted it…

Sonic… my darling Sonic…

So instead of forcing herself to venture into the sea's deep end, Amy remained at her shallow part, splashing her body with water in an effort to clean some of the worst sweat, blood and dirt off. It took a good while, since she was being rather thorough, and during that time Big jolted awake several times - pulling up one fish after another, all of which he put in his water-filled bucket. Once Amy was done and Big decided that they had enough fish to manage for a while, they set off back to the hut. With Big's shoulders carrying Amy on one side and the rod on the other while he merrily swung the brimming full bucket in his hand.

Once they'd come roughly halfway home, Amy asked all of a sudden— "Hey, Big..? Do you think you could show me the place where you found me? If it's no bother, of course." She didn't quite know why she wanted to see it, or why it even mattered to her at all. But for some reason she felt the need to witness Metal Sonic's supposed dismantled body with her own eyes - maybe for the sake of her own inner peace…

"Okay." Big naturally didn't come with any objections as he simply began steering his steps in another direction, leading them into the much more overgrown parts of the jungle.

At seemingly no time at all, they reached a small clearance within the vegetation, where the grass and bushes had been flattened by a heavy metal body tangled up in vines. Amy quietly requested for Big to lower her down onto the ground and so she once more stood before the single most frequent object of her nightmares. Then, as careful as if she'd been afraid that the blood red eyes would appear upon its cracked eye vision, she limped closer, fell onto her knees and stared at it with emotionless eyes. Behind her eyes though, and far inside her wildly beating heart, an impulse to turn around and flee gripped her senses. Adrenaline shot through her veins and her breathing turned quick and shallow as she reached out a trembling hand to lay upon the deep dent in Metal's head. One could almost precisely trace the outline of Knuckles' fist in the dent, see where his sharp knuckles had pierced through and hear the crackling noise of bending metal.

As if one cue, her subconscious called forth the horrid memory of Metal's eerie voice as he'd sang—

Ring around the rosie…

A pocket full of posies…

Ashes… Ashes… We all fall…—

Down.

Just then, as if the metal underneath her fingers had suddenly turned burning hot, Amy quickly drew her hand back before practically throwing herself backwards. Away from Metal Sonic. And away from the gruesome memories he evoked.

Within the blink of an eye, the world around her warped out of focus and became dark and threatening. Red eyes glared at her from every corner as heavy rain drenched her from top to bottom. Except that it wasn't water that fell upon her, but hot thick blood. The dumb nursery rhyme soon began blasting in her ears while she fruitlessly tried to block it out, covering her ears and rolling up into fetal position upon the crumbling ground. Then suddenly Knuckles' voice cut through everything and pierced straight into her heart - his screams of agony raising higher and higher with each passing second.

In rapid order several other screams followed suit - all belonging to people she loved.

Cream's…

Tails'…

Vanilla's…

Sonic's…

They were dying, their blood hailed from the skies above and pulled Amy under, burying her at a seabed of despair. Of utter loneliness and fright.

We all fall down.

Claws gripped around her wrists, forcing her to remain still at the bottom with no chance of breaking free and ever reaching the surface again. There was no escape. No one to help her. And no one who would miss her once she finally let the blood consume her entire being. It was like drowning all over again, only this time Metal Sonic had followed her underneath the surface, and was tearing and pulling at her arms…

"No, no, please..! Leave me alone..!" Amy whimpered with her eyes screwed shut, as she faught with every ounce of her strength to break free from her captor's hold. "No, no, no..! Please! Let go off me..! Let me go! Let me die..!"

"Amy, it's me." Big's calm voice called - cutting through the screams, through the agony and through the eerie singing.

And like a hard smack to the face, Amy was rudely brought back into reality. But this time she found no relief in waking up from her delusions… just an empty feeling settling itself inside her gut… she'd also become very, very nauseous. "B-B-Big…" She stammered, locking eyes with her friend as if he were the sole thing that kept her alive.

As if he were all she had left in the world.

"Are you okay?"

She was back upon Big's shoulder before she'd even realized he had taken her into his arms. A shaky breath escaped her lips as she swallowed hard and tightened a secure grip around his neck. "Y-yes… Yes, I'm fine, but we sh-should go n-now. Please, take us back to the hut, I think I need to lay down for a bit."

Without another word, she felt the ground beneath them being set in motion.

Once back, Big prepared a meal for them, consisting of a grilled fish each and some fruit that grew near by, and which he'd collected why waiting for the fish to get ready.

Big, who's belly was only filled with bark, gobbled down portion upon portion, while Amy, who's latest meal had been with Knuckles last night, merely poked in hers. When her friend had shot forth a plate filled with grilled fish, she had only discreetly scrunched up her nose at the smell and sensed how the nausea from before slowly began creeping up on her again. They were seated around the wide stump, sitting on the bare wooden planks since Big lead a very spartan philosophy when it came to furniture, and just owning things in general. Apart from the large bed, fishing racket and stump there were nothing else to indicate that someone actually lived in the small bungalow-type hut.

Not that Amy minded, she was since long used to it and there actually was a certain charm to the sparse interior and overall openess. Although, as of right now, she wished she could've stepped into a different room. If only to just be allowed to silently fall apart in private.

But she knew there was no time for any of that.

Fueled by her nightmarish vision, Amy was more determined than ever to do what she ought've done the minute she woke up. What had been brewing in the back of her mind ever since she'd been back upon Angel Island and realized just what a danger she posed to everyone. The next step however wouldn't be easy, nor would it be painless…

Figuring she needed to play her part well and without raising suspicion, she plastered her face with what she hoped was a passable smile and then forced down the portion of food Big had served her. Ignoring the wild protests that her stomach screamed at her as each oily bite of fish came down her throat after the next. For good meassure she also gulped down the water of a coconut Big had split in two, but offered the meat to her friend. "As compensation for making you to eat bark before." Amy said, with a light-hearted tone as she reached him her coconut half which he accepted, wearing a grin of his own.

"Thanks, I was hungrier than I thought..!"

"Again - sorry about that."

"It's all right. That's what friends are for."

At that, Amy faught hard not to recognize the nasty sting in her heart.

"Speaking of which… I really want to say how grateful I am for all that you've done for me, Big. If it hadn't been for you, I would've probably caught pneumonia or something while laying out there tangled up in all that mess." She paused briefly as she envisioned the scenario where she, instead of waking up to the kind eyes of Big, had been face to face with the demolished head of Metal Sonic. An instinctive shiver actually ran down her spine at the thought of it. Thus she quickly cleared her throat and continued with an earnest voice— "You saved me, you really did… And i'm lucky to have someone as you as my friend. I mean you're really something else - something absolutely extraordinary - you know that, right?"

The wide smile upon Big's face then got accompanied by a hint of pink appearing on each of his cheeks as his eyes lit up.

"Aw, shucks… I— eh, ehehe…!" He chuckled softly, well softly for being Big that is, before raising up a fist to wipe away a sudden tear at the corner of his right eye. "That's nice of you… But you don't need to thank me, you're more than welcome."

A moment of silence then passed between them, as Big recovered from his own swelling emotions and Amy gently patted his large hand from across the table.

"And you know what? You were right about me not leaving. Still… do you think you could do me one last favor?"

"A favor? What, do you need me to get you anything?"

"No, nothing like that, it's just… about what I said before - about warning the people at G.U.N. and asking Shadow to make sure the others are protected… I do realize now that it was silly of me to think I could make my way there right now, but…—" Amy bit her lip, thinking to herself before continuing— "I figured I could still send a letter to them - to Shadow - and explain the situation. That way you could then just go and post the letter at the post box on the train station near Tails's workshop. Would you do that for me, please, Big?"

A barely noticeable shadow of a doubt clouded Big's expression for a couple of seconds, making Amy's heart skip a beat, until an understanding look replaced his hesitation. In the next moment he nodded eagerly and almost knocked the stomp over in his haste to pull something out from underneath his bed. It turned out be a rather large tin box, which when he opened the lid revealed to be filled to the brim with various little knick knacks Big had probably deemed worthy to keep throuhout his life. However, what he pulled out from inside was none of the beautifully shaped seashells or polaroid photos, but—

"Remember these?" Big asked, placing a stack of paper sheets as well as some empty envelopes in front of Amy upon the stump. And Amy sure did remember. It was a set of fine stationary she'd gifted him on his birthday maybe two years ago, scented with lavender which - as she lifted an envelope to her nose - still lingered upon the smooth surface. Though it seemed as if Big hadn't had much use of his gift as there were still a fair amount of envelopes left.

But now that she thought about it… perhaps it made sense. Seeing as Amy and he never communicated via letter nor did he and Cream, as far as she knew. So then who was left?

Their other friends?

Family…?

Maybe she'd just assumed that it would be put to use when in reality Big had maybe never even sent a single letter in all of his life.

"Yeah, I do." Amy said, her smile wavering only ever so slightly. "Mind if I borrow a piece of paper and an envelope?"

"Nope, go ahead…" Big encouraged, his attention already shifting to something else his eye had caught sight of inside the box.

"Thanks."

It took a good while for Amy to put her racing thoughts into words and then in turn put said words onto paper in a way that would be somewhat comprehendible for the reader. Which in this case would hopefully turn out to be Shadow, if it ever actually reached him at all, that is. Perhaps it would merely be read by whichever G.U.N. employe's hands it ended up in first. If so… how much information would be wise of her to disclose? But then she remembered that it hardly mattered anymore. Because if Sonic was currently working with them, as he'd hinted at in his letter, they surely knew most of what had been going on this last month. Or was Sonic making sure to keep certain things hidden from their knowledge, as well?

Probably, yes.

Sonic wasn't one to flaunt sensitive pieces of information to just about anyone - least of all to G.U.N. .

But Amy wasn't trying to decieve anyone. She just wanted help in keeping her loved ones safe while Robotnik seemed to be grasping at every last straw that could potentionally lead to her demise. For who knew how long it would take to get the Doctor locked up and secured behind bars? It could be anything from mere days away to months. And if everything else failed and she somehow ended up unlucky, the letter would at least reach its destination.

So she wrote like her very life depended on it.

Wrote as if it actually were Shadow she was communicating with. Ending the letter with "Love, Amy Rose" and then folding it up and putting it in the envelope which she adressed to "Agent. Shadow the Hedgehog" before lastly sealing the envelope all together. It wasn't much, but it was something. She still planned on arriving at the Headquarter before the letter, either way, so hopefully no one would ever even have to see it.

Now to only make sure Big left with it as soon as possible…

Although, as Amy finally looked up again, she noticed that Big sat idle, glancing down at a photo which he held cupped in his hand. The expression upon his face stirred by distant memories that seemed to have swallowed him whole. "… Big? You all right?" She asked before taking a peek inside the tin box, and as she saw the small stack of photos that laid at the bottom, her expression softened. They were mostly depicting herself, Cream and Cheese, and Big on various outings together - riding their extreme gear, enjoying a day at the beach, celebrating birthdays, or simply them fishing around a range of different locations. However, she couldn't figure why any of photos would bring forth such a reaction from Big - who was known to always keep his mood up even at the worst of times.

The large cat in question, looked up as soon as he heard her voice, wordlessly reached her the photo in his hand and then drew his gaze down to the contents of the tin box once more.

What Amy came to face with was a photo which was signigicantly older and more tattered than any of the other ones. But what really made her let out a barely audible gasp of surprise was what was depicted on it. For in black and white, and slightly out of focus there stood a group of people - crowded together to all fit within the camera's focus - who couldn't be any less than Big's family. One taller cat sat in an armchair surrounded by a bunch of smaller ones - varying in a wide range of different sizes and colors, but all with the same yellow eyes and big smiles. Still, if Amy looked closely she could make out that what appeared to be the eldest of the children held a undeniable resemblances to that of the grown version sitting opposite her.

The Big in the photo couldn't be any older than eight, possibly nine, and yet somehow he still towered over the rest of the bunch. Another thing was that he, along with what she assumed to be Big's mother, didn't wear the same big smiles, or at least could their smiles have been mistaken for plastered on grimaces. Like they were wearing ill fitting masks that poorly concealed what they probably were feeling on the inside at that very moment. And maybe on some subconcious level did Amy recognize that exact expression they both wore, because she'd carried it herself a long, long time ago. In a life she could barely remember anymore. A life before Sonic - where she'd simply existed but not quite lived, because he'd been the one who'd awoken the princess from her eternal slumber. Finally brought her life meaning.

The expression had something to do with the polar opposite of that notion.

It bore witness of loss and sorrow.

Of being without guidence.

A feeling of being utterly and totally lost.

Where are your parents?

Orphanaged at such a young age. How sad.

Go home to your mother and father, why dontcha'?

"I can't."

"Huh? Did ya say something, Amy?" Big looked up from the box and gazed at her, perfectly calm.

Amy blinked. Had she just said that aloud?

Hastily, she cleared her throat and pointed at the boy in the photo. "Sorry, I said; is this you? And your siblings, and your m-mother?" Despite it being pretty obvious, it felt weird not to at least ask first, since Amy had never really pondered over Big's family situation before. She guessed she'd just assumed he'd always been an orphan which, now that she thought about it, was a most foolish thing to assume. For neither she, Knuckles, Tails or Sonic were naturally born alone by themselves or out of thin air. There had undoubtably at one point been two people who - at best - had loved each other and - again, at best - wanted to have a child together. With them turning out as the results…

"Yup, that's them." Big answered, catching Amy's attention again.

"I didn't—… I mean, I didn't know you had so many brothers and sisters growing up. How many are there?" But before Amy could even begin to count, she recieved the answer within the blink of an eye.

"I had seven sisters and five brothers."

Had.

A past tense…

Amy's stomach twisted up again while she felt as if she'd just aged several years, feeling very, very tired and hollow all at once. She couldn't bare ask the question that hung between herself and Big like a fluttering red curtain, and instead heard herself respond with a seemingly bizarre reflection—

"It must've been hard getting them all food."

Big merely shrugged his shoulders. "Well, fishing wasn't always just a hobby."

And then, Amy just couldn't hold herself together anymore. The dam inside her broke, unleashing a flood of pent up emotions that rushed forth underneath her skin. Destroyed her defenses and colored her cheeks deep scarlet as her eyes glazed over. "Oh, Big… I'm so sorry, I had no idea. It couldn't have been easy for you."

"I reckon it's not easy for anyone, but we all have to go through life the best we can and not turn around too often and be sad about what we may have lost." There was no sadness or bitterness in Big's voice, but rather a simple, matter-of-factly tone lacing his every word. A fleeting silence of mutual understanding then passed between them, until Big's hand gently landed upon the top of Amy's head, patting it lightly as he smiled that famous broad smile of his. "Because I was lucky enough to get a second family, and I'm happy for that."

And so they joined in a hearty breeze of a laughter, that carried both the light and the dark.

The heavy and the easy.

The sorrows and the joys.

And when Big soon after took the envelope in his hand and promised to hurry back as quickly as he could, Amy first caught him in a long hug. A hug she wished would never have had to end and simply went on forever. That she'd never have to let go and abandon its comfort - to not leave behind his kindness and warmth. She wanted to be one of those children in the faded photograph - small and carefree, and have a claim to Big and thus rightfully be under his protection.

But alas… Amy held no such claim.

She wasn't a child anymore, and the longer she stayed with Big the bigger was the risk of putting him in harm's way.

And he couldn't protect her.

No one could.

That was the most important fact she would have to come to terms with.

Once Big had disappeared amongst the trees and set off towards the Mystic Ruins train station, Amy allowed herself ten minutes to get ahold of herself. Plus, if Big for some reason decided to turn back or felt like he'd forgotten something, she wouldn't have left too early and risen his suspicion. So she used the time efficiently - took another lavender scented paper from the tin box and scribbled down a short message for Big, leaving it on the bed for him to find. Scoured up the sturdiest stick she could find to use as a walking stick in order to reduce the amount of preassure she would have to put on her foot. Since there was nothing that could be done to either cover up herself with in regards to clothes or shoes, she figured she'd just have to stick it out and try not to cause anymore tears in her dress. And as for her feet they would simply have to endure, as well.

Then, while only slightly wobbling on her feet and with the walking stick in a firm grip, Amy took one last look at the hut.

"It's not too late to change your mind…" A tiny voice seemed to whisper in her ear as a barely fathomable gust of wind trickled through the thick jungle grove. But she didn't waste a single second on even thinking about reconsidering her decision.

Instead, Amy turned around and took the first step towards her own impending demise.

---

"What's that Sweetheart - one hundred thousand rings for digging up just one guy?!"

Vector had been sitting in his usual leaned back position, but now he sat with his back hunched forward over the desk with the phone reciever practically inside his large yap. He was wearing a most jittery expression upon his face as one could almost see the thousands of imaginary golden rings dance across his vision.

There followed a pause as the person on the other end of the line answered something. To which Vector replied even louder back—

"Dead or alive, uh huh… Yes, of course Swee—err, I mean Ma'am..! Wherever that lil' sneak is hiding we'll be sure to find him, haha! That's the Chaotix Detective Agency's very motto, in fact - 'Dead or alive, we'll deliver'!"

However, Vector quickly fell back in his arm chair as soon as another reply came, apparently more stern than previously.

"What was that—? Oh… Well, yes of course, Ma'am, we all hope that your, uh, dear husband is still alive and kicking. … Yes certainly…"

Just then, the door to the office opened and in came a lean figure, carrying a poster under his arm while having both of his hands shoved deeply inside the pockets of his leather racer-styled jacket. The person in question was none other than Espio, Vector's companion, who entered the room with his usual smooth dignity, sliding up to the desk and tossing the poster upon it within one and the same breath. Vector, who was too busy listening in on what the person in his ear were saying, merely gave him a hasty sideways glance before finally seeming to be able to end the call. Shouting his last words with renewed enthusiasm that bordered on sounding hysterical—

"Well, don't you worry, our very best - top! - detectives are starting to investigate the case this very minute! … Yes — Buh bye now, Ma'am, and keep those rings ready cause you'll have your lesser half back faster than you can say— Crackers!"

And just like that the call ended. With a loud laugh erupting from his mouth, Vector smacked the receiver back down in its place before throwing his hands behind his head and taking a spin around in his chair.

"Good news, I presume?" Espio inquired, already having an inkling of the answer based on Vector's more than pleased expression.

"Good? Ha! With the sum I just got offered we could be on our way to early retirement by tomorrow..! Well, almost anyway…" Vector added that last part once he remembered that the kinda life he envisioned he'd lead after retirement would probably require a bit more than a mere couple of hundred thousands. Either way, that notion did little to damped his mood as he still looked as if he'd just won the highest of jackpots. He nearly stumbled over his own words in his haste to tell Espio all of the information about their latest case. "You see, this lady— ehh—" He threw a quick glance down at the notepad he'd taken notes on during the call before continuing. "— a Mrs. Lowe, wants us to track down her husband that dissappeared without any heads up about four days ago. And we ain't talking about just any regular guy either but—"

"Let me guess - Jae Lowe, managing director at one of the largest banks in all of the United Federation. Correct?"

"Man, how'd you—"

"One must have at least base knowledge of all of the current hot shots of society in our profession."

"Right… So, anyway - the missus has naturally reported him as missing to the police, but according to their investigations no one at his work nor relatives has had any contact with Lowe since the day before his dissapperance. And he apparently didn't have any plans on traveling somewhere. No witnesses. No answering on his phone which was later tracked to a alleyway, where it'd supposedly been ditched into a nearby dumpster. Aaand the last person to have seen him is possibly the wife when he left for the bank on the morning of his disappearance."

"He never reached work?"

"Nope." Vector answered, smacking his lips while bending even further back in his seat. "So… watcha thinking? The wife seems to be hell bent on that it is a case of a kidnapping, but says that the police is dubious and 'prioritizes all the wrong things'."

"I see. Well, what makes her so sure Mr. Lowe's been kidnapped then, and if so why not let the police handle it?"

"Well, apparently the guy has been dealing with some dirty business on the side for a good couple of years now, if ya' catch my drift… So, eh, the wife don't wanna involve the police more than absolute necessary."

"Which lead her to us." Espio concluded tersely. "Of course."

"Ey'! Save it, all right! Money's money, it don't matter who's it coming from - and those bills here ain't gonna start paying themselves any time soon." Vector grasped at a chunk of unopened envelopes that laid scattered across the desk before discarding them into a drawer and then closing it with a rough shove.

"Trust me, I know..." Espio muttered under his breath, before resigning to leaning against the large desk, running a absentminded hand across its once polished, but now heavily worn down, surface. "Still, what's to say the husband has even been kidnapped at all? Perhaps he's just taking an extensive holiday at some drug dealer's paradise. Or maybe the wife's a nut-job and has him chopped up in the freezer over at their luxurious mansion and is after a hefty life-insurance. It's more common than you realize… Besides, if the wife's correct and he truly is wrapped up in some shady business we wouldn't want to get ourselves involved…—"

"Tough times requires one to loosen one's morals a bit… And we've got to have money, simple as that!"

"Money's not all there is in this world."

At that, Vector almost fell backwards but caught himself at the last second as he then scrunched up his face and gave Espio a incredulous look, as if he was starting to question his sanity. "Blargh! Do ya' kiss your mother with that mouth?"

A deep sigh was let out of Espio just then, as he slowly shook his head, eyes closed in defeat. For taking Vector's mind off of money when he was on the verge of a promise of a large amount of it, was just about as hard as getting Charmy to concentrate once he'd been shown a large chocolate bar. Thus he decided to change approach, and said— "Okay, then what about all the other cases we've gotten this past half year? Mr. Lowe could just be another one in a long line of people going missing. This could very well be a part of something bigger… something far beyond our scope and what we have the necessary resources for."

"That— … I actually hadn't considered that… Hey, gimmie a moment, wouldja…"

Finally the optimism seemed to falter upon Vector's face as he left his chair and instead began pacing back and forth around the cramped office. Having his hands clutched behind his back as he had his gaze locked downwards at the wooden floor. This was one of the many ways Vector had when thinking really hard and long about something, especially when it came to cases. And once he'd begun, Espio knew it was better to leave his companion be for a while and not disturb any brewing conclusions or speculations.

Therefore, Espio decided to head into the kitchen and make himself a cup of tea.

It was close to noon and the sun already stood high on the sky outside, bathing the entire kitchen in warm summer, still Espio hadn't had his first cup of herbal tea yet. This morning he'd merely left his tiny one bedroom apartment early and headed out on his moped to put up the regular assortment of posters advertaising their agency all around the city. Posters identical to the one taped onto the door that lead into the office from the kitchen, with text written in bold letters saying—

"Are you sure you want to know? - Chaotix Detective Agency!

Call now: 2104-555-1995"

While waiting for the water to boil, he flipped a page on the wall calendar that hung above the counter and absentmindedly mused the date of the day aloud to himself.

"July the first…"

The midst of summer usually meant that business was on the low, since a lot of people went on vacation, however this year their agency had a bunch of cases that were unsolved. All of which were various types of dissapperances. Some dating several months back and each leading nowhere. And when they'd be forced to deliver the news that their investigations were unsuccsseful to the missing person's family or friends, it always made Espio's heart sink a little farther down his chest. Usually the ones who sought their services had already tried contacting the police who much like them only ended up with dead ends. Never a credible witness. No lasting suspects. No clues. Nothing.

And none of the missing people ever turned up on their own, either.

Most times it seemed as if the person in question had simply went up in smoke.

And eventually their relatives could do nothing but be forced to give up, leaving yet another folder to get archived in the filing cabinet of the agency's office.

In the beginning their lack of success had been near crushing, but as time went on Vector and Espio had both learned how to deal with the losses in their own seprate ways. Nowadays, whenever he wasn't working with the detective agency, Espio would spend all of his time on advancing his ninjutsu training or meditating among the peace and quiet of nature. These last four years he'd also occupied himself by teaching ninjutsu and hosting self defense classes four times a week during early evenings when he'd be done at the agency. That way he earned some extra money and had a steady income during periods when the detective business turned in less of a profit. And honestly, Espio found teaching to be rather stimulating and fun, and had at times entertained the thought of developing the concept and making it his full time job. However… each time he truly gave it a long and hard enough pondering… he usually found himself filled with a sense of doubt as well as guilt towards Vector.

Because for Vector the detective business was still a most eager passion, and as far as Espio knew he had no plans whatsoever of changing career path any time soon.

Although, as of recent years the burly crocodile's attention had gradually gotten more and more drawn in regards to a certain female friend of theirs.

Other than Vector himself, Espio was the only one to know that Miss. Vanilla the Rabbit's picture was kept upon the nightstand of Vector's bedroom one floor above. But the feelings his companion harboured towards her was of course no secret to anyone, least of all Vanilla, who's previously polite yet adamant impassiveness to said feelings had now slowly blossomed. Of course there had always been a somewhat mutual affection between the two ever since they first met, even if Vector had been more eager to act on his supposed love at first sight than Vanilla. But as of today the two of them could be seen going on the occasional date, and Vector spent as much of his free time as possible over at the Rabbit's whenever he could afford the collective cost of the bus and train ride over. And since the Rabbit's lived out on the country side and the agency was in town, it was difficult to visit after office hours.

But what is it that they say?

Longing makes the heart grow fonder…

And Vector's heart was very much fonder these days.

He heeded Vanilla's every call, every emotional shift and every advice. To tell the truth, Espio was surprised at the fact that his crocodile friend hadn't went as far as proposed to her yet… But on the other hand, he might as well have already done so with the result being less fortunate. He couldn't recall ever seeing an engagement ring at least - though where on Mobius would Vector get necessary money for even buying one in the first place…—

Although… now that Espio thought about it - maybe the reward from this new case of theirs could potentially finance such a purchase.

Perhaps that would explain Vector's overly enthusiastic reaction from before.

In any case, Espio could probably look forward to being appointed best man sooner rather than later if the two lovebirds' relationship kept developing at the same pace as it did now. Just then the whistling of the boiling tea pot rung out around the room, breaking Espio out any thoughts of his future prospects within possible wedding ceremonies. Instead he swiftly took the pot of the stove, poured himself a cup of the pleasant smelling tea and then settled down at the kitchen table with a distant smile resting upon his lips. Because just before he'd gotten interrupted he'd had a fleeting vision of himself and Charmy, dressed up to the nines in two ill-fitting tuxedos, welcoming guests to a rowdy wedding reception where Vector would be bulging out the lines of a over-the-top love song. Most likely while also accompanying himself on piano.

But in the next moment, a slight twinge of guilt buried itself inside Espio's heart as he thought of his little bee friend.

It would soon be a whole week since Charmy left for a summer camp he'd been shipped off to after just completing an entire school year - which was the first in his life.

Something which was a direct consequence of one of those advices Vector had heeded from Miss Vanilla, since she, too, had decided to put Cream in school the previous year. Albeit while Vanilla had chosen a well acclaimed private school, Vector's economy could just about spare enough money a year to put Charmy through one of the rare communal schools that existed, and which were fairly close to the Agency, as well. And as far as Espio knew, the school had competent enough teachers and the classes were kept low numbered in order to maintain a well balanced work environment.

The only downside was that Charmy absolutely loathed having to go there…

Because for someone as socially active and outspoken as him, school had unfortunately turned out to be more than a bother than anything else. Mediocre grades, detentions and regular visits to the principal's office along with Vector were only the top of the iceberg of an even steeper mountain of issues that had arisen during this first year of Charmy's education. At first Vector had blamed his behavior on his ineptness regarding going to school in the first place. Seeing as Charmy, very much like most kids across Mobius, had grown up without a traditional education, and therefore was merely a bit unfamiliar with the whole ordeal but would soon get accustomed to it. Vector had even argued that puberty had something to do with it—"You know, dem hormones and all that makes those teens horse around..! It's only natural to rebel against authorities at that age! But if one only keep em' on a firm leash they oughta calm down soon enough."— As he'd once put it when talking to Espio about his and Charmy's latest meeting with the principal.

But now, as of the last couple of months of school, had even Vector's initial good humor and charitable outlook turned rather strained…

And Espio suspected that the heart of the issue was something completely different than raging hormones and a bad attitude towards the schooling system.

Because for as long as Charmy could remember he had been one thing, and one thing only - namely a detective. And now that he'd been forced to give that up in favor of going to school during the days instead of cracking cases with them, the boy's whole world had been skewed off course.

For if he wasn't allowed to be a detective anymore…

Then who was he?

Waking up from his ponderings, Espio could sense a presence approaching roughly about the same time as a hunched over figure appeared outside the window, reached a hand underneath the crack and lifted up the window very carefully. It almost didn't make a sound until the person in question rose his head above the sill and caught sight of Espio sitting there, observing silently, and thus they let out a surprised gasp. The hand immediately stopped pushing the window upwards.

Speak of the devil…

"Espio..!"

"Hello, Charmy. Lovely morning we're having, don't you think?"

True enough, it was indeed the third member of the Chaotix Detective Agency that stood with a dumbfounded look upon his face and with his head half way inside the kitchen. The once so stubby boy was now past the age of thirteen and had thus fairly recently entered a fast growth spurt, having already grown a head taller in just a few months. Not quite used to his length yet, Charmy fell head first through the window and landed on the tiled floor with a loud thud as he also knocked over a flower pot that had stood upon the sill. "Oops, hehe!" He hastily swept up the spilled dirt, brushing it back down into the pot and then placed it back up on it's spot besides Vector's chair.

Once everything was in order, Charmy wasted no time before eagerly starting to rumage through the kitchen cabinets. "Hey, so, uh, d'you guys got something to eat around here? I'm starved!" And just as he'd said it, there actually could be heard a low rumble coming from his stomach.

"I believe Vector's got some cheese crackers in the top left cabinet hidden behind the cereal box, and there's half a carton of orange juice in the fridge." Espio answered. "Do help yourself." The dimples in Charmy's face grew deeper as a wide smirk found its way onto his muzzle. And in no time at all, he sat propped up on the chair opposite Espio, stuffing crackers in his mouth and drinking straight out of the juice carton.

Espio decided to let the boy satisfy the worst of his hunger in peace for a while, before he ultimately begged the question they both know would eventually come—

"So, care to tell me why you're not having breakfast in a barrack on Cocoa Island right now?"

"Oh, well… uh, you see…" Charmy began slowly, in an attempt to give himself some more time to think of the best way to approach the subject. And possibly make up a good enough excuse, too. "It's really a funny story…"

"Please, do tell."

"Alright, but… promise that you'll hear me out first, okay? Before you start chewing me out, I mean. Cause I already know Vector's gonna do that, and—"

And right on cue Vector's head just then peeked inside the kitchen to see what the sudden commotion had been all about. At first he merely swept with his gaze around the room, noting Espio in passing, but soon as he discovered Charmy sitting upon the stool opposite him his eyes widened in shock. The empty box of crackers sliding down onto the floor at the same time. For a quarter of a second it looked as if he was about to have a stroke, but then seemed to muster enough strength to smack the door open. Causing it to nearly unhinge, but still managing to leave a dent in the kitchen wall once the handle collided with it.

"Charmy?!" He bellowed while almost sprinting inside the kitchen in order to grab a hold of the boy's neck and lifting him up by it.

"Hey..! Cut it out, Vec!" Charmy cried, squirming in the hold as he fruitlessly tried to break free by quickly flapping his wings. But not because it hurt, but because it was rather embarrassing to dangle above the ground like a mere kid that'd just been caught by an angry parent.

And Vector was indeed angry.

He secured his hold on Charmy's neck, before beginning his scolding— "What in Chaos' name are you doing here, boy?"

"I'm just taking a bit of a vacation, that's all!"

"A vacation from summer camp?" Vector barked, frowning. "Do you have any idea how much money we saved up so you could go there in the first place?"

Finally, Charmy managed to wiggle his way free, and as he were he wasted no time in running up behind Espio's chair for cover and then threw a well earned come back right into Vector's face—"You're just upset because you think this will make you look bad in front of Miss Vanilla..!" And naturally it resulted in the desired effect as Vector lost his train of thought for as second, causing him to stand there with his mouth hung agape and with a furious blush rising upon his cheeks.

Meanwhile, Espio was busy taking another sip of his tea before turning a page in the newspaper.

Soon enough though, Vector seemed to regain himself as he locked eyes with Charmy who didn't budge an inch. Despite his obvious embarrasment of Charmy's words, he still refused to let such childish insnuations get the better of him. "You oughta be grateful Miss Vanilla has taken a concern to you, at all. It is thanks to her that you have a school to go to, kids you're own age to hand out with and a summer camp that even allows you in. All that purely out of the goodness of her heart. And what do you do to repay that? Run away during the first week? I think it's time you realized that you're still just a kid, and regular kids go to camp when it's summer! And they like it!"

"You don't honestly believe any of that, and you know it! And I'm not a regular kid - I'm a detective!"

"I believe you're thirteen and you're a brat who thinks he's a real smart ass."

"Language." Espio calmly cut in, just as he squinted his eyes to read a particular article that'd caught his interest.

That seemed to yet again throw off Vector for a second as he was reminded that Vanilla had advised him to not use foul language in front of Charmy, as not to encourage him to repeat it. Accoring to her, kids these days already got enough bad influences around them, so one shouldn't add to that list. "Right, right…" He muttered, racking his brain a word that most efficiently replaced 'smart ass'. "— I meant to say: 'a brat who thinks he's a real smart aleck' - And nothing else!"

Charmy merely snorted in response, sticking his tongue out at him and as he thought Vector didn't see he even made a most dramatic eye roll. However, almost immediately afterwards, he found out he'd been caught in the act.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me!"

"I didn't!"

"Did, too!"

"Did not!"

"Did, too!"

"Did not!"

"Did—"

"If you two are done squabbling—" Espio interrupted with a high and authoritative tone as he folded the newspaper and threw it onto the table, turning his gaze up at Vector who'd been in the midst of another sentence. "—perhaps we could focus our attention on the new case."

In an instant, Charmy forgot all about that he was in the middle of a scolding as his eyes eagerly lit up at this new information. "A case? We've got a case? Like an actual case and not just someone asking us to find their missing hamster?"

"Well, no case is more important than the other… But this one could potentionally earn us some financial stability for a good while. It concerns a disappearance, or possibly a kidnapping, of a very high profile individual with connections to the criminal underworld."

"Wow, awesome! Where do we start?"

"We ain't starting nothin' - Espio and I however, needs to start getting this case investigated." Vector stated, folding his arms across his chest as he once again fixated his eyes on Charmy. "You on the other hand are going on the train straight back to take the first boat that leaves for Cocoa Island, and tell the camp counselor's just how sorry you are for running away and that you'll gladly do any chore they see is fitting as punishment." He flickered with his eyes back to Espio before continuing to ask— "Where's that note with the number they gave us on? I better call and tell em' where he's at, and that they'll need to send someone to pick him up once he's off the darn boat…"

"I'm not going back." Charmy stated as he finally stepped out from behind Espio's chair and walked right up to Vector, staring up at him with a unmistakeably stubborn expression. However, before he had a chance to get yelled at again, he quickly added— "For now, at least. Considering this new case, and how much money we might earn from it… Don't you think the smartest thing is to have the entire team on the job? I mean, three heads are better than two and all that, amirite? And I'll tell ya' what - as soon as the case is cracked, I swear I'll go straight back to camp and stay there for the rest of the summer!"

"This case might last beyond summer." Espio pointed out half-heartedly as he simultaneously stole a sideways glance at his companion, who's face shifted between annoyance and contemplation.

"Then give me a week, at least..!"

"It might very well become perilous."

That seemed to light a spark in Vector, as he was eager to agree to that sentiment with a rather blunt- "Yeah, this kinda stuff is too dangerous for a kid."

"Well, in all fairness, Vector, he is a teenager now and technically we can't—"

"That's right! Which means I can do whatever I want now, and make my own decisions!" Charmy interrupted triumphantly, as if that fact alone concluded the whole argument. "Glad we had this talk, guys!" He smacked his hands together and swiftly bounced past Vector into the office, shutting the door behind him loudly for added effect.

"Hey! We're not done talking here, you little—" Vector began calling after him until Espio halted any further indiscretions by getting up out his seat and putting a hand on his companion's arms which's fist he was shaking furiously at the door. It took a while to fully calm him down afterwards, but Espio actually managed to ease his temper by getting him to sit down and drink a cup of the herbal tea he'd made.

As diplomatic and collected as ever, Espio made an attempt to reassure his poor companion's old nerves. "Let it be for now. I'll call the head counselor and explain the situation once their breakfast period is over."

"You're gonna let him get his way? I paid in advance for him to be at that darn camp - do you have any idea how much they take for giving dem kids three meals a day?"

"I'll work it out."

"Next year I oughta send him off to military school instead…" Vector grumbled before taking a big clunk of tea and then turning his head to glare out the window. Begrudgingly content at leaving the conversation rest, at least for the time being. Soon one could only hear the occasional vaugue mutters slip out of Vector's mouth, much of which was merely incoherent ramblings with a few audible words along the lines of "ungrateful" and "kids of today". Meanwhile Espio took the oppertunity to meditate until the clock would reach past nine. That way he could clear his mind of every insignificant matter, and instead fully focus all his energy on their new case.

At first, it was quite relaxing…

He heard the tiny drips of the leaking faucet. Heard the squeaking leather of Vector's armchair in the other room which Charmy most likely were leaned back in, as he secretly read through what was written on the notepad. He could feel the humidity from outside seep in through the still cracked window, telling him that yet another day of cloduless sunshine awaited them. Felt the smell of herbs blend together with the sweet scent of the begonia Vanilla had gifted them not too long ago, and which Vector naturally had given utmost delicate care to ever since. The floor underneath him vibrated slightly as Vector's foot tapped in an unhinged rhythm… Somewhere a Flicky just landed on top of a branch outside their window… A car honked furiously as tires screeched against the asphalt…

But then, seemingly out of nowhere and in the middle of a fleeting thought…

Despair.

Broken..

Shattered…

A bottomless sense of being lost.

Someone needed help.

It was like he was all of a sudden standing in the middle of a large, crowded room with multiple faceless yet somehow familar figures that were screaming in one single dreadul shriek. Quite similar to how one's head feels during a serious case of migraine, did Espio's head began throbbing just the same right then. However, it was a chaos that raged only inside his own mind as on the outside his posture was fixated and his expression unfaced. A lone pearl of sweat running alongside his temple being the sole give away that something was awry. With the disciplined focus only possessed by someone who'd trained for many years did Espio manage to sort through the deafening shrieks - in search of the red thread that would lead him to the root, the cause of all this disarray.

There was recognition in the voices, and they all tried to steal his attention.

Force him off the path that lead to nothing except an even wider space of emptiness.

No… wait, there was something…

A tangent of rainbow colors that cut through his center, painting his vision emerald green for a split second.

Then it broke.

Leaving him in the darkness of his own mind.

Espio's eyes snapped open, a soft breath eacaping his lips.

The notion hit him before anything else did, because he was up on his feet reaching a hand out towards the phone on the wall the exact same second as it began ringing.

"Yes?"

"Espio? Oh, thank goodness it's you."

---

The stillness of the jungle was not to last.

Every second that ticked away brought the chaos closer and closer. It'd always felt quite peculiar to hold such power in one's hand. To be the definitive factor of most situations one could find themselves in. To posess the ultimate decision. Because no matter how dead set one might think they oughta be on doing something. He still always had the option to do the exact opposite. To abandon his original notion and choose differently. Take another path. And under different circumstance he might've reconsidered, made an exception.

But Shadow knew that this wouldn't turn out to be one of those exceptions.

He sat with his feet resting sturdy upon a branch of a tall tree amidst a dozen similar trees on the outskirts of the Mystic Ruins' jungle. An area so vast one could easily find themselves lost within its murky depth. Still, he didn't doubt for even a second that he'd placed himself in a more than sufficient spot that gave his senses a good vantage point to feel when his target come within range. It was as if every twig, every root, every blade of grass and every last patricle floating in the air was connected to him - served as his eyes and ears. The Chaos Energies surrounding this area were particularly high and vibrant, which would lessen his burden even further. Not to mention that aside from the occasional explorer or hiker that one could sometimes find around these parts there weren't any risk of getting interupted by anyone that might happen to stumbled across his path. It would almost be… too easy.

However as of now, there was yet to be any indication that any living soul was headed this way.

So Shadow continued his waiting.

Watching idly as the sun slowly rose upon the clear blue sky, and feel the humidity crept closer and closer in on his fur.

How much time had passed once the stillness was inevitably broken by the muted flashing on his wrist communicator's screen he didn't know, nor did he give it any thought as he directed his eyes at the small display. He then simply noted the caller ID, and after careful thought, decided to answer—"What do you want?" Not recognizing his tone as being particularly leaning one way or another, he still wasn't surprised by the irritable response he got from the familiar voice on the other end.

"'What do you want?'? Is that how you're gonna start off, after not bothering to answer even a single one of my calls for over two fucking weeks?" By the sound of it, Rouge was beyond riled up and seemed to seethe every syllable through her teeth as she spoke. And it wouldn't have taken a genius to figure out this would be the kind of greeting he'd get after ignoring her calls for so long, and yet Shadow already found her reaction excessive and tiresome. No doubt was she just seconds away from barking his ear off. Oh, joy… "Are you actually for fucking real, right now?"

"Calm yourself, Rouge…"

"Don't you dare tell me what to do, you hear me? You don't even know half of the shit I've gone through lately!"

"Is that why you're calling? Are you in need of me?" Shadow inquired, a sliver of concern finding its way into his voice just then, before turning cold and stale again. "Just don't tell me you've stirred up trouble at the HQ, again, because you're aware that I can't keep bailing you out of every situation you carelessly get yourself into."

"Trust me, I'm more than capable of getting myself outta my own shit." Rouge bit back, yet her voice came across as a little more composed. And Shadow took advantage of it by trying to steer the conversation onto the essentials, at least he hoped she had something to inform him of and not just called on a whim.

And while he decided not to indulge Rouge's anger more than necessary, he couldn't keep a terse scoff from coming across his lips nonetheless. "So why are you calling me then?"

"Why? Because hell is near empty, and all the devils are raging over at the HQ this very minute..! Though I wouldn't be surprised if you already knew that - I bet you have daily little talks with your dear buddy up at the Raven, and that you don't ever block any of his calls."

"Get to the point, woman."

"Hold on a sec… why should I even tell you?"

"Rouge…"

"I'm serious. If you suddenly wanna talk so bad, let's do it face to face. Tell me where you are and we'll meet up, as soon as I'm done with this thing…"

"This thing? Rouge, what the hell are you on about?" Shadow pressed, feeling his patience draining quicker than usual.

There was a long pause as one could merely hear Rouge's breathing on the other end.

"Look, I don't have time for your games. Good bye, Rou—"

"No, wait! Okay, okay! Fine! They sent me to go after Sonic and Tails, who left the HQ this morning in a mad rush after hearing something they probably shouldn't have… It was right after we'd gotten the reports of massive floodings along the west coast. Then all at once full-scale chaos breaks loose over at the Sparrow, the guys are off, and I get brought in in the middle of the fricking night to keep an eye on them and assert the situation..! And with Rhys already on the war path because of yesterday's supposed fiasco, he'll for sure have me demoted to janitor unless I handle this whole ordeal smoothly!"

Evidently, there was both a mix of suppressed desperation and burning fury in Rouge's voice as she spoke, and after she was done Shadow had to take a minute to process just what'd been said. As well as decipher her words for any hidden information. The floodings he'd been aware of, and he'd also felt the reason behind it - though he wondered if Rouge and, more interestingly, if G.U.N. had figured it out yet. In case they hadn't, Rhys might just get a nasty shock not too long from now. The fact that Faker and the fox boy had unexplicably left wasn't too surprising though. Surely, Faker must've felt the disturbance, as well, put two and two together and then raced off head first in order to throw himself into the situation as soon as possible.

But the most pressing question then was undoubtably…

Did the blue moron know about her?

Shadow didn't have any margin whatsoever to deal with Sonic on top of everything, nor could he allow for him to find her first. For if he'd left the HQ some hours ago… who knew how much time had been wasted already by merely sitting here waiting for things to come his way? No, Shadow needed to take action, and that was quick.

"—Shadow? Hey, Shadow, are you still there? Hellooo? Don't you dare ignore me, or else I swear I'll—"

"Where are you?" Shadow asked sharply, cutting her sentence off with such abruptness that Rouge was briefly taken aback by the intensity in his voice. And when he used that tone, she knew by experience that it wasn't the right time for any fooling around. "Tell me where you are exactly."

"I…— I'm outside Pinky's house. They dropped me off by helicopter just like fifteen minutes ago, but no one's here so instead I figured I'd head straight for Angel Island and—"

"Sunset Meadow, right - good, you're not too far away. I need you to meet me at the south east outskirts of the jungle in the Mystic Ruins, I'm sending you my coordinates right now." Shadow swiftly maneuvered the display of the device around his wrist, before continuing in rapid pace— "Did you receive them?" It took a moment fo rhim to get any reply from Rouge, who's turn it was to have her patience tested.

"Yeah…! Yeah, I got 'em, but could you just stop for a sec and explain what the hell this is all about?!"

"No time. Get moving now, Rouge. Over."

During the brief interruption, the sun had been blocked by an unforseen cluster of large clouds which dampened the direct sunlight which shined upon the mighty tree tops of the jungle. Casting the ground below in shadows that stretched from each massive tree trunk to the next. As well as turning the already murky atmophere even murkier and oddly cold despite the pressing humidity. Speaking of which, Shadow could just then feel how pearls of sweat had broken forth along the sides of his temples.

His heart was behaving peculiar, too.

Before the call it'd been beating as steady as ever, but now it appeared as if it didn't even want to function anymore.

"It must be because of the shattered balance of Chaos. I can tell my senses are starting to act off course already…" Shadow mused to himself, running a swift hand through his quills while he drew a deep breath, closed his eyes and tried to re-focus his internal energies once more. Slowly, one limb at a time he focused on flexing and relaxing his muscles, recouped his strength in ever last nerve and fiber, scattered the clouds of his internal eye and felt the chaos energies respond at his command. It was very much like checking one's body for any sign of illness or injury, only that an overwhelming part of the natural flowing chaos energy were controlled mentally. Not physically.

Still, he couldn't shake the piercing sense inside his chest.

A scorching, yet numbing piercing that he'd only ever felt a handful of times before in all of his existence.

Although, just as Shadow were to draw in another breath it got hitched in the back of his throat. For now, he could suddenly sense her - clear as day. And she wasn't far. She was a mere minute and a half away, to be precise.

In an instant, Shadow was alert and with his eyes wide open, rising to his full length upon the branch.

Then he let his body fall, dropping thirty feet straight down but landed with the same grace of someone who'd just taken a small leap over a fallen tree trunk. Once his feet touched ground, he adjusted his position a few feet further ahead to his left, turning his body to face in the correct direction and then began to silently count down the remaining seconds…

Seventy five…

He heard the distant rustling of leaves.

Fifty three…

Twigs that snapped.

Thrity eight…

Her heart's fragile and fearful beats.

Twenty two…

The disrupted rhytm of hasting feet, as one dragged the other in tow.

She was hurt.

Fifteen…

The sweet fragrance of roses hit his senses like a smack to the face, and he nearly lost himself there for a brief moment.

Focus.

Ten…

Amy Rose ran straight into him, collided with his sturdy figure somewhere below the middle of his chest and fell to the ground onto her back with the same force of as if someone had deliberately pushed her. She hadn't so much as even detected the obstacle in her path, and instead blindly hurried in a fixated direction without a thought of that something might disrupt her. Probably due to the high levels of stress and the adrenaline that pumped through her system like venom. Obviously winded, a single, softspoken word escaped her lips in that same moment her mind registered she'd fallen, seemingly out of pure instinct— "S-Sonic..?"

Shadow's entire being immediately tensed up at the innocent inquiry as he frowned deeply.

And despite his best effort at blocking the thoughts from coming, he suddenly found himself thinking of what that blue moron would do if he could see him now, or how he'd react if he knew what Shadow planned to do to his helpless sweetheart.

Helpless and defenseless…

Yes, she truly was both of those things.

And Shadow was about to be the one who would prove just how much so.

With a steady grip around her waist, he lifted Amy onto her feet, not bothering to pick up the walking stick that had been flung to the side during her fall.

Shadow could see the shock on Amy's face where he stood towering in front of her like a hunter over its prey. "Shadow..?" She whispered quietly, more to herself than to him as she merely stared up at him for a couple of seconds right until her entire face washed with an utmost joyous relief. A reaction which took him aback to such a degree that he was left dumbfounded in the following moment. As Amy then in an instant practically threw herself against him, with her arms and fists curled up and resting against his chest while her face buried itself in the fur there. Her body was trembling from head to toe and her voice was seriously hoarse. "Oh, Shadow..! Shadow! You have no idea how glad I am to see you..!"

"I-… I…" Shadow was at a loss for words. In his mind he'd imagined fright and panic to have befallen her the same moment she set eyes on him. That she would crawl as far away from him as possible, scream for help and try to defend herself with any means neccessary. Was it their brief intertwinings in the past that gave her this false sense of security?

That could very well be the case, but still…

It had been years since they last saw each other.

But then as his subconscious delved deeper into the matter… A distant memory surfaced at the front of his mind as he could pretty much hear Rouge's voice strike him from way back when the two of them had stood on her balcony that night…—

"Did you know?" She'd asked, with a hint of amusement in her voice as she'd been on the verge of a laugh.

"Know what?" He'd replied, not quite as amused.

"Him and her. Pinky was practically bubbling with joy... She sends her regards, by the way. Wanted me to tell you that you're more than welcome to come and visit..!"

Rouge had alluded to Amy's and Sonic's engagement, and at the same time disclosed that Amy had supposedly wanted for him to come and visit them at their home. Back then, he hadn't been able to tell if she was merely poking fun at the fact that Sonic would probably never allow him over the threshold of his house or that Shadow himself never in a million years would've accepted such an invitation.

Soon enough, Amy's arms loosened around Shadow's waist, yet as soon as they did, her legs almost gave way but Shadow instinctively caught her by the arm before she could fall. "Oh, sorry..!" She apologized, too flustered and in too much pain to care whether or not she made a fool of herself in front of the brooding male. "It's my ankle, you see - it's broken… and I can't really stand on it properly..! But nevermind about that now, I'm so relieved to have found you! What are you doing here? Did you run into Big, did he tell you?"

Choosing to remain neutral for now, Shadow then inquired with a tone he considered gentle enough— "No, unfortunately I didn't. But if I had, what would he have told me?" Admittedly his interest in what that bumbling buffon would've had to say was relatively mild, it seemed as if Amy thought it urgent. Thus he listened carefully and with growing intensity the longer she babbled on for.

"Oh, Shadow, It's all such a long story and I don't think I can make sense of it all right now, but… Okay, it all started after Robotnik dropped that bomb over Station Square - well, actually it was a few days before that when a copy of Metal Sonic came and attacked me and Sonic at our house… Our maybe it started long before that when Sonic some months ago had supposedly began noticing that something was up with Robotnik, that he wasn't acting like his usual self and had started to act weird, like he was sick or something. I don't really know all about it because Sonic thought that he could protect me from it by not telling me, that's what Knuckles thinks anyway… A-and oh! Speaking of Knuckles, something horrible happened to us when I was up on Angel Island with him last night, and I would really need your help to make sure he's safe! You see, Metal Sonic showed up in the middle of the night, catching us off guard and I tried to fight him off, but he was too strong! And once Knuckles came to my rescue he told me run, a-and I'm so ashamed to say it - I was just so afraid, my body froze, but I did! I ran away and I left him all alone with that— that monster..!" Amy lowered he head in shame as she paused for a moment to choke back a sob as well as catch her breath. She looked absolutely beside herself with pent up anxious guilt and fear, and if so only for a quarter of a second Shadow got the impulse to comfort her. However, just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared again, causing him to instead clench his free hand into a tight fist.

"— I'm sorry… I just… I can't believe I did that." Amy whispered, her eyes seemingly appearing out of focus for a second as she stared into nothingness, until they abruptly refocused up on Shadow with renewed urgency. Her hands suddenly cluthing onto him as though her very life depended on it. "B-but that's why I thought I'd get myself to G.U.N. and ask for their help - for your help, Shadow! Cause you're the only one I'd trust to make sure my friends and are safe right now. I mean you could do that, right? Get all of our friends protection while Sonic deals with Robotnik?"

"Robotnik…" Shadow repeated slowly, as if hearing the name for the first time.

However, Amy seemed to not have heard him as there was a sudden glint appearing in her jade eyes, uttering her next words in the same way one would say a prayer— "I mean, you've met him over there, haven't you..? Sonic is safe, isn't he? A-and Tails, too? They're both all right…?"

A momentary silence passed between them, as they both looked at one another.

One with hope, the other with apathy.

"…Shadow?"

"Yes, the boy and the blue moron is safe at the G.U.N. Headquarters, as far as I know."

"Oh, thank Chaos for that..!" Amy exclaimed, suddenly so vibrant with anticipation that she nearly fell over again. But Shadow's grip had turned firmer… "Please, could you take me there? I know it's a lot to ask but it'd be much quicker for me to get to Central City with your help! But first - could we stop by Angel Island and see Knuckles? I know he's a fighter and can handle himself, but I just need to know he isn't hurt."

It was then that Shadow knew it was time.

Rouge would soon get here, and it was necessary to not have the two of them interact.

His partner was far too… unpredictable.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." He answered ultimtaley, bracing every muscle, every fiber, every last bone in his body for what he was forced to do next. Because before his words had even registered with Amy, he'd pulled her closer to his chest and snuck a steele like grip around her waist. Making it impossible for her to pull away. The shift in the atmosphere was close to instant as the air around them changed from warm to dangerously cold. And the once so relieving feeling Amy'd felt inside her chest a mere minute ago was gone just as quickly. Being replaced by quiet confusion. However, her mind didn't want to recognize the tonal shift as she instead found herself inexplicably blushing rather than getting scared.

"S-Shadow…—" She muttered, forgetting for a moment what he'd just said and instead thought he was merely making sure she was safe before he used Chaos Control to transport them away to Angel Island. "—could you please do it quick, I can barely breathe when you hold on like that…"

But rather than answer, Shadow made a swift motion with his free arm and brought forth an object that made Amy's blood run cold.

Because it wasn't a Chaos Emerald, which she'd first expected.

Instead it was a small syringe, filled with a white liquid, and with a needle that looked awfully sharp.

Amy was stunned beyond words as she in body-numbing shock merely watched with widening eyes as the needle got closer and closer to her, while also feeling Shadow tilt her neck to the side. Although, once it was so close that she thought she could see her own terrified face reflected upon the syringe's glass surface, a sound akin to a strangled scream tore its way up Amy's throat. "N-n-no..! S-Shadow! W-wha-what a-are you do-doing!? P-please! S-s-stop!" She tried squirming out of his grip while vigorously shaking her head from side to side in order to make things more difficult for Shadow, who in turn hardly seemed to notice her fruitless attempts at escaping his grasp.

Her headshakes, however, he found quite annoying, yet he kept his calm disposition. "Keep still, it'll be over before you know it." He said, in a borderline matter-of-factly tone. "I assure you it'll only sting for a couple of seconds… then you'll feel nothing."

"No, no..! Why are you doing this?! Shadow, why?! Why, why, why?!"

"It's the only correct way, I'm afraid. Now, keep your head still or I'll have to—"

"B-but we're friends..!"

A half a second's hesitation within Shadow's eyes, was the only signal needed for Amy's body to instinctively start acting on its own as she in the next moment kneed Shadow square in the groin, tore the syringe out of his hand and then, with all her collective strength, jabbed it straight into whatever part of his body she could. Which turned out to be his lower abdomen, and as the sharp discomfort made him loose his grip on Amy, she practically used his body for momentum to throw herself backwards with her hands pushing themselves as hard as possible against his chest. Naturally she fell backwards, hitting the ground and then rolled herself away further with the help of her arms.

Making a split second decision and with fresh adrenaline pumping through her system, Amy then proceeded to grab a hold of the fallen walking stick she'd used before. And with it secure in hand, she took a powerful swing at Shadow's head, who could just about evade the heavy stick coming his way but not close his eyes in time as his left eye got deeply scratched by the sharp end of it. Having endured far worse pains in his days, Shadow hardly recognized it at first but as half his vision slowly but surely turned blurry, he instinctively rubbed his eye for a second before concluding that Amy'd managed to cause a tear upon his vitreous.

A stray curse slipped from his mouth just before he also realized that Amy had already put several feet between herself and him in the meantime.

But not that it mattered… for she wasn't running but rather dragging herself backwards in the dirt.

And as Shadow began stalking his way towards her once more, he silently wondered what she thought she'd accomplish by doing so. Surely she must know, as well as him, that there was no escape - even if she poked both of his eyes out, crippled him, or stabbed him, he was still the superior being. He was the ultimate lifeform and she was just a silly girl that believed she stood even the slightest of chance against him. With more force than necessary, he then ripped the syringe from within his flesh and crushed it in his hand as easy as nothing, letting the glass splinter trickle down from in between his fingers onto the ground. He was done playing games, now it was just business.

But at the same time he hated that this was his business now.

Hated what he'd been reduced to.

All because of him… of her… of everyone on this godforsaken planet…

And so the face of Amy Rose… a face so much like hers…—

—Disappeared.

After that he only heard her pleading, her begging…

"No… No, please, no..! Shadow, don't..! Please! No, no, no! S-Sonic..! SONIC!"

And then nothing.

Shadow's arms lifted her above the ground, noting with fleeting indifference that the jab he'd delivered to her neck would leave a mark, perhaps a bruise…

"Hey, Shadow, next time you want to talk, do you think you could you be a dear and make sure it's at some five-star restaurant or perhaps a luxary hotel suite? Because, this swamp or whatever, ain't exactly my—" Rouge's voice who'd suddenly appeared behind him died down just as Shadow turned around to face her. Revealing to her the unconcious figure of Amy Rose, who's legs and head hung freely above the ground in a most

uncomfortable looking position. However, the rest of Amy's body was held so close and so tightly against him that one could've mistaken it for being loving. Once Rouge had recovered from the initial surprise, her tone went from snarky to agitated within the blink of an eye. "The hell is this? Shadow, what the actual fuck do you think you're doing? How is she even here? What's going on?!"

In the next moment, her hand grasped Amy's. If she was checking for a pulse or had simply acted on instinct, Shadow didn't know. Either way he decided to remain silent for now, until the worse of his partner's shock had settled.

"Oh, Dollface…" Rouge muttered under her breath, stroking the little tuft of quills on Amy's forehead out of her closed eyes before sharply turning her head up at Shadow, asking— "Was it you that did this to her?" She gestured at the glaring bruises and wounds that covered every visible part of the girl's body.

Don't indulge her…

"Answer me, dammit..!"

Ugh…

"For your information, I haven't curled a single quill on her head, she was already like this when I found her. As to answer your previous question - what I am doing is making sure she doesn't further injure herself." He nodded his head at her swollen ankle, which looked worse than ever before. A sight which made the color drain from his partner's cheeks.

"She shouldn't be here…" Rouge then whispered, with her mind clearly someplace else.

"Comme ci, comme ça."

Shadow glanced down at the unconcious girl in his arms.

With his hate fueled anger from before having ebbed out once more, he could see her for what she really was again.

Namely a very frail and small being.

With just one swift move of him arm he could snap her neck right now without her even feeling a thing. End her young life - silence the beat in her heart and steal the last breath from her rose red lips. It would be as easy as blinking, and would be over just as quick and yet… the thought seemed to tighten ever muscle in his body. Not that she could offer any resistance, whether she were awake or not. From the depths of his mind he tried to conjure up the memory of the last time he'd crossed paths with her. Two, maybe three years ago perhaps. At least her apperance cohered somewhat with the last memory he had of her. Although, it was impossible not to take notice of just how bruised and absolutely exhausted she looked, whatever more she'd been forced to endure before running into him, it most certainly had taken a great toil on her.

And her rosy cheeks were pale… and now that he really took a moment, she probably weighed just about as much as a feather - like holding a porcelain doll.

When Shadow ultimately looked up again, he discovered Rouge observing him cautiously, with a hint of hesitation in her brightly shining teal eyes.

"…What are you going to do with her?" She asked once their eyes made direct contact.

He cocked a brow.

"I mean... You are taking her back to HQ, aren't ya'? You could do me that favor, right? I mean you really owe me one after all the shit you've pulled these last couple of weeks, and Rhys did say that if I found her I should—"

"I know our orders." Shadow cut off coldly. "I'm very much aware of the fact that we're inclined to listen to what that human commands."

"So..!" Rouge urged impatiently, putting her hands on her hips. "What are you waiting for then? Let's get out of here before one of those creepy robot copies gets here…"

"It won't come."

"How…— How do you know that?"

"It doesn't matter right now."

"Fine! Be a cryptic bastard all you want, but could you hurry up and teleport away or whatever it is you do - cause I still need to get to Angel Island, if you so happen to remember?"

"No."

"No? No, what?"

"I won't be taking her to the G.U.N. Headquarter."

"Did you hit your head on a tree branch before I got here? I mean, have you completely lost your mind today, or is there something else to this that I'm just not getting? Please, don't tell me that you've suddenly gotten some weird hedgehog instincts for her or whatever...—"

Shadow's cold glare only intensified. "Would you stop spouting idotic insinuations and think for a change." He said, and for once his prtner did as she were told. "Now… what do you think would happen if we returned with Amy Rose to the Headquarter?"

"I don't know..!" Rouge shot back, but something in her tone told him otherwise. It was too quick and eager and did in no way conceal the truth he saw in her eyes. "Probably get a raise or something, a pat on the back maybe? …For Chaos' sake, what difference does it make, Shadow?!"

She still doesn't know…

"It does because where I'm taking her will benefit G.U.N. in due time." Shadow said, throwing caution to the wind. "You see, Miss Rose is currently in a situation where she's caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. And I'm merely choosing the lesser of two evils in this case, since, Rhys is not to be counted on given the things that have transpired as of late. Therefore it would be most foolish to bring her to the Headquarter at present. Though, I'm sure Robotnik will be quite pleased to accommodate her for the time being."

"Robotnik..? You're actually bringing her to him?"

"It is all according to the original plan, I assure you. And had our Commander only not gotten too… greedy, it all would've— …No matter. The point is I'm sticking by my initial orders, despite the consequences."

"So we're taking matters into our own hands now, are we?" Rouge inquired, and despite her slight reluctance, there formed a small smirk upon her face as she lowered her eyelids. "And I guess I'm just suppose to pretened to not have seen any of this?" She made a sweeping gesture at Amy's unconscious figure, who laid just as motionless and pitiful within Shadow's embrace as before.

"Preferably, yes. Though I'm aware it's only a matter of time before the information reaches him - one way or another."

"Does all of this… anarchy, have anything to do with why you've been acting like an asshole for these last few months?"

Shadow didn't even bother himself with answering that one. "… I'll see you when I see you, Rouge." He turned his back on her, mostly to make a graceful exist, since it made no difference whether he teleported right where he stood or a few yards away. Still he walked a short distance away, until he stood underneath the protective shade of the tree he'd previously occupied. But just as he'd secured his hold on the girl in his arms and rested her head against his chest instead of hanging freely, and then prepared himself to use Chaos Control, he heard his partner call out to him—

"Hey, darling, I almost forgot to tell ya'… don't do anything stupid. We're not dead yet, remember?" Rouge said, echoing his own distant words back at him.

And whilst Shadow knew she'd answered something back when he'd said it, he couldn't for the life of him remember what it had been.

---

Heavy steps echoed through the long corridor, and as the sound grew louder a lone shadow crept closer upon the walls that enclosed the narrow path that lead to the deepest most secure area of the entire craft. There were no windows here. No ventilation system or efficient lighting as the light bulbs where so far apart that one could walk several feet covered in darkness before getting basked in a new spot of light.

The sounds coming from the massive engines was much more dominant in these parts, as well.

You could hardly hear yourself think…

He'd told Shadow to only use the line if there was a matter of utmost importance. Still he immediately found himself amswering despite being already deep into a drugged up state of mind. His hands were shaking while every muscle in his body either twitched or shook in involuntarily convulsions. The medication had yet to fully kick in…

"Yeees..?" Came the low, hoarse whisper that all of a sudden found it's way between his seething teeth.

The voice on the other end was much more potent and alert, and composed in such a way that must've taken many years to perfect. For it revealed no emotion whatsoever - not even the slightest hint of one. But then perhaps, that was of the intention of his grandfather's design. That brilliant bastard… "Doctor, I can report that your latest subject has been retrieved. I secured it about two hours ago and it has been locked up down in Cell Block Zero. It should be ready to talk now, as the sedatives have worn off."

He could feel his own breathing increase as he hastily wetted his lips with his tongue before asking— "Is it… her?"

A near maniacal sounding laugh soon accompanied the noise of the steps and the engine.

Coming up ahead, the corridor made a sudden turn, leading down a few set of steps that ultimately took you to a wider, circular crossroad between three continuing corridors. However, instead of taking a moment to consider which way was the correct one, the steps hurried off into the middle one without a second's thought. The disarray of multiple echoes following close suit.

"Is. It. Her?"

"It is, Doctor - yes."

Robotnik abruptly stopped once he'd reached a certain marking. A marking that, to an unknowing eye, appeared to be just another part of the wall but with the exception that a digital lock pad was attatched to the side of what was actually a door. Many a years of keeping the occasional captive had taught him that disguising the doors to the cells was quiet an efficient way of keeping potential rescuers searching endlessly for a door that didn't exist. However, this did in fact lead to a real cell that kept his most precious, as well as one of his most frequent of recurring prisoners throughout the years.

Pressing a long order of numbers and thus unlocking the heavy metal door in front of him, Robotnik was then revealed to a room hidden in absolute darkness. But as some of the light from behind his massive figure leaked inside, one could see the very bottom bars of a solid, steel cage. With the flick of a switch, an almost blinding white light disclosed the entierty of the enclosed space - its sterile tile walls and floor which spotless surface and color was further enhanced by the light. In addition there were four surveliance cameras set up in every upper corner, all targeted directly at the small figure currently inhabitating the cage. And since the cage itself was all there really was and took up most of the room, it only took Robotnik a couple of steps to reach it.

For a good long while, he simply stood gazing at the figure on the other side of the thick bars.

Thinking.

Observing.

Analyzing every breath that came across its strawberry red lips.

It fascinated him how a creature so weak and easily breakable could even endure all of the injuries that had been inflicted upon its body. Although, it was indeed a good sign, and gave some leeway for all the things he had in mind.

Robotnik's foot tapped once against the floor as his hands began their compulsive twitching, making him instinctively start twisting them around one another at a steadily increasing pace. At the same time there grew a lust for grabbing a hold of something and then twist it… strangle it… break it in half… Be fulfilled with the wondrous sound of screams echoing within four walls, within his very mind and savour every tonal shift and every strained vocal chord's relentless struggle to not burst. But at last they always did anyway. Every voice eventually cracked and break. Yet, he knew that this creature's particular screams would be beyond satisfying - it would suffice his needs for many years to come and he would make sure to memorize it well. Perhaps he should have it recorded… so that he may always have something to satisfy himself with, and to torture certain others with for the rest of their life.

Oh, the mere thought made him almost feel giddy like a little boy again!

In his own eager to finally be a steo closer at realizing his life-long dream, Robotnik polietly cleared his throat in an attempt to get his unconcious subject's attention. But once he realized that it did no good, he shifted approach quicker than one could bat an eye. For in the very next second, his hands brought forth a small device out of the pocket of his jacket, and pressed a series of buttons that soon enough unleashed a terrible heat to emit from the bars. Being completely surrounded by the heat from all sides, and having her sprawled out naked feet touching the steel itself, the creature naturally jolted awake. And in the waking moment curled itself up into a huddled position on pure reflex, to evade the supposed danger.

Still, it didn't take long before the head of messy pink quills carefully withdrew itself from its hunched over position, and then slowly rose to look around at the surroundings.

A couple of bright jade gemstones peered up at him with a look that told him they were currently trying to decipher whether what they were seeing was reality or dream.

Or perhaps more correctly put - whether it was reality or nightmare.

Having been fed with that exact same look but reflected in various faces for months on end now, Robotnik found her dazed confusion quite tiresome. So instead of kindly offering her his compassion, he met her with biting coldness— "I know what you're thinking, but unfortunately I have to inform you of that this is no dream. It's not even a drug infused illusion that you hope will wear off in time. You are in fact in the very presence of the one and only - future world ruler - Doctor. Ivo Robotnik." He paused, studying her reaction carefully, yet found neither admiration nor fear creep up on her features. There was nothing to find except… defiance. And how he hated seeing it written across her face in bold, burning letters with a force so surprising that his eyes began twitching.

She's mocking me…

The same way he looks at me…

I want to BrEak…

THAT NASTY LITTLE BRAT!

Forcing himself to remain composed, Robotnik bore his eyes into hers, and ignored his hands' erratic spasms.

In a further diplay of his fortitude, he took a step closer until his nose were mere inches away from pressing itself against the steel bars. This was, after all, a glorious triumph he should revel himself in…

So starting over as if he hadn't already spoken, he began speaking in an undoubtably smooth and prideful manner. Adressing her as though she were a a very dear friend that he hadn't seen in some time. "Amy Rose… One year really is a long time, and yet, here we are, as if it was merely yesterday we first met. Ah… yes, I remember it so clearly - a noble hero about to save his precious girl from the 'big, bad Doctor Robotnik'. But I suppose time has that effect on all of us… It changes us. I mean, just look at you - all grown up into a beautiful flower, and me - at the very peak of my intelectual brilliance. We've both come a long way, I'd say." He began to slowly pace around the cage, his eyes still glued to her face, waiting for even a hint of emotion he could exploit but she simply continued watching his every step in silence.

"Was your trip here pleasant? I suppose it was more enjoyable than having to arrive in the arms of some poorly constructed copy, wouldn't you agree?"

There came no reply.

"Perhaps you're wondering why I have requested for your presence here today?"

Again, not even a sound.

"You see, Miss Rose, I intend to have you killed. For we have unfortunately reached the point where you are far more valuable dead than alive…"

This time there was a reaction.

Having mustered enough strength and courage, Amy slowly, and with painful difficulty, first got up on her knees before proceeding to one leg at a time place each foot underneath herself and then rise to her full length. Admittedly it made little to no difference as a way to make herself appear more intimidating, since Robotnik towered over her regrardless if she was standing or laying down. No, all it did was grant Amy a shred of dignity, as she refused to let this total madman circle her like a hawk circles its prey before going in for the kill. And if she truly had reached the final destination… - if she was going to die in this cell, she sure as hell wouldn't go out cowering on the floor like a bug ready to get squashed.

So in spite of every last part of Amy's battered body screaming at her to sit back down again, she remained upright with her head held high.

And as a last defiance she wouldn't let herself get triggered into uttering so much as a single word - for she already knew there was reasoning to be had with this monster. A monster who'd done countless vile and undescribable things to innocent people for so many, many years. Neither would she close her eyes to her demise, but look it square in the face.

Look him straight in his eyes…

"Now you may further be wondering why I have let you live this far? I'm sure you might've even thought that it was your dearest Sonic that merely kept me at bay and therefore I had no chance at reaching you?" A joyless laughter erupted from Robotnik once those words left his lips, as if the mere idea was utterly riddiculous. And Amy actually felt a shiver go down her spine as she heard it's horrible echo get dublicated around the tiled room. The sound almost cutting in her poor ears. Though she would've much rather prefered hearing it ten times over instead of finding his face suddenly pressed so closely at the bars that she could feel his breath actually hitting her face. Like turning on a switch, his mood had gone from beside himself with amusment to seething with rage as he practically spat his next words out— "What lies has he fed you, hm? What illusions of safety has he lulled you into in order for you to think you were ever out of reach for me? That I, the greatest genius in all of the universe, couldn't have strangled you in your sweet slumber at night, had I merely desired to? Huh?!" For added effect he shook the bars so violently that trembles shot up Amy's body, and for the quarter of a second experienced a mind-numbing fear of what would happen next.

Whether Robotnik noticed or not, she couldn't possibly tell, but his face twisted in ecstasy soon after while he grinned wickedly, seemingly thriving in his own power.

"That reminds me - Miss Rose, I require your engagement ring."

Like a deadly snake coming towards her, Amy watched as Robotnik's large hand snuck its way in between the bars and then rested his palm flat upwards, as if he expected her to just nicely give the ring to him. Her beloved engagement ring… that Sonic had presented to her on the single most happiest day of her entire life. A token that symbolized their unbreakable bond - an embodiment of Sonic's promise to her that he would love her even beyond death. Only that instead of his, it would be her death that would realize that promise. Instinctively, Amy curled her into a hard fist as merely stared at Robotnik in defiance, still determinate to not take part in this sick game. If he wanted the ring, he would have to pry it off of her cold, dead body. And so, fueled by that notion alone and without thinking of any potential consequences, she proceeded to collect a mouth's worth full of saliva and then spat the Doctor right in his face.

The reaction was instant.

Robotnik's hand came smacking across her cheek, causing a sharp cry of pain to slip out of Amy as she was sent tumbling against one side of the cage. Collapsing against the bars while she saw stars dance across her vision. The hit had been so hard against her little head that she almost lost conciousness right then and there. All while fresh tears broke forth from her eyes due to the burning sensation that blossomed up along the entire left side of her face like a wildfire. She couldn't even feel if anything was broken. But the nausea she suddenly experienced on the other hand was quite so prominent…

The little she now saw of the blindingly lit room was spinning, and it felt as it she were balancing on her bare knees on the edge of a cliff she at any given moment could fall off from.

Robotnik didn't seem to pay any mind to what he'd just done as all he did was wipe his hand on his jacket and speak his next words as casually as if Amy had merely declined a cup of tea— "I promised myself I wouldn't take the delight of inflicting any harm on you just yet… You see, it's essential that you should remain perfectly intact for all that is to come. Do call me theatrical, but it'll simply be more fullfilling that way." He paused for a brief couple of seconds once he noticed Amy spluttering forth a hefty load of blood upon the floor. Although, as he approached her hunched over figure, she desperately scrambled to her feet with the help of the bars as she simultaneously tried to move herself out of reach. And just as left hand clambered around a bar, he seized the moment. "However, if you fail to cooperate…"

Within the blink of an eye he'd shot his hand forward and taken a vice like grip around Amy's still clutched fist. Her scream blood curdling as she fought for dear life to keep her hand tightened, but Robotnik was far stronger and when he began to bend her ring finger backwards, the pain was too unbearable. Leaving her no other choice but to let go. But once he'd begun, the Doctor found himself getting so consumed by her crying that he didn't stop bending until he heard a very satisfying —crack!

With the ring in his grasp and pleased with himself he finally let the poor girl's hand go and drew back from the cage.

Bearing a smile so wide that his eyelids from starting to twitch again.

It'd been a very long time since he'd last felt this level of enjoyment he realized as his ears filled with the crying and screaming of Amy where she lay writhing in pain at his feet - at his mercy…

Oh, how he would've loved if that blUe RODENT could've witnessed this…

How he would've loved hearing his pathetic pleas for him to show compassion…

To see her pain ToRtUre his psyche…

He could almost taste the swEEtneSS..!

With a mixed expression of pleasure and sorrow, he eyed the ring before saying with a genuine wistful tone— "Oh, how dearly I wish you two would've produced some nasty little brats for me to torture… It's a real shame, actually." No sooner had those words left his lips before Amy made a violent attempt to kick or claw at any part of Robotnik she could reach through the bars, but alas got stopped by him pressing his boot upon her hand. Hard. Making pain blossom up yet again, and a new set of tears to stream down Amy's cheeks as her cries echoed louder and louder. "Unfortunately time is not a luxary I can afford anymore. But perhaps it is more rewarding this way… - because this way he will spend his wallow in the future he could've had with his precious little Rose." Robotnik continued once her crying finally died back down and the weight of his foot had lifted. "—For you see, in contrast to you, I've planned out a long and wonderful life for your fiancé. As after I've become the rightful ruler of this world, I'll make sure he's kept alive and well by my side to witness all of my grandiose schemes for Mobius' future! Now, isn't that a comforting thought, my dear?"

Lone whimpers was all that met this statement.

"But now you musn't think you'll be the only one to get sacrafised for the greater good of the Robotnik Empire. In due time, the fox boy and that dimwitted brute of a guardian will share your fate, as will all the rest of your little friends. Well, either that or they'll serve their purpose as well behaved and improved citizens of mine. Either way, you have my sincerest word on that no one will have as spectacular of a death scene as you! I have it all planned out - down to the tiniest of detail - envisioned it for so many years now… it's all in here." Robotnik now spoke as someone who explains their greatest masterpiece - their most magnificent work of arts. He even closed his eyes as though imagining it all before his inner eye. "… First, we'll have a hero. A young man on a daring quest to rescue his precious damsel in distress from the clutches of evil - that's where you and I come in. And for the role of the hero I'm thinking a certain blue hedgehog will have to do…—"

A new splutter of blood could be heard.

Uncontrollable sobs…

A body ultimately giving in to its own exhaustion and falling flat against the floor.

"Ah-ah-ah-aaah!" Robotnik said turning around on his heel, wagging his finger at Amy's fallen figure as if he was correcting a child's naughty behavior. Despite her still not having uttered a single word. "I know, I know… I wouldn't want to spoil your own ending to you, now would I? How thoughtless of me… No, I think you're right in keeping it a surprise for now. Besides, I've got to make sure our leading star makes it in time for the premiere..! But don't fret, I'll keep you occupied in the meantime - you see, I have a whole new set of robot toys that are just absolutely dying to play with you! I'll send them to fetch you as soon as I can."

Laughter exploded around the room yet again.

More unhinged and loud than last time.

This was where Amy's mind couldn't endure the pain any longer and in an attempt to shelter itself began to slowly bring her into the sweet relief of unconciousness. And if Robotnik uttered anything more, it at least didn't register as comprehenidble speech to her but merely white noise… white as the room that swallowed her… white as the light that bore itself into her eyes. She saw his mouth move, but his voice was muted. At long last his figure even faded into a mash of indistinct colors and shapes which seemed to draw further and further away…

"—Ta-ta..!"

And as the door closed behind him, Robtonik took his cackling laughter with him, as well as the last shred of light that Amy had carried and fought so hard to keep alive.

Leaving her in utter darkness once more.