AN: For those who might've wondered: I forgot to mention that Cheese was left behind with Vanilla, in case you're confused about that she wasn't with Cream when Tails and Amy found her. I didn't watch myself and I forgot to write it; unforgivable. Really sorry about that! I'll change, I promise! It will never happen again, you have my word! =(

Now excuse me for blabbering and please continue reading the story^^ Love y'all :3

Unexpected Outcome

"You'll have to get to Sonic before you can tell him, and that I'm afraid I cannot let you do."

The atmosphere immediately tensed up as he spoke, and Amy swallowed nervously. Shadow, she thought, and her heart beat faster. He caught up after all. Dammit… What do we do now?

"I-it was him," Cream suddenly stuttered. "He was the one who kidnapped me…"

Amy blinked down at Cream before she looked up at Shadow, eyes wide. What? Shadow's the one who kidnapped Cream? But she didn't have time to worry about that now though, because Shadow was walking down the stairs.

Shit! Amy felt the panic attack her sanity; "What do we do?" she held Cream in a firm grasp as the child hid her face in Amy's shirt once again. "Tails, what do…?" she began, but trailed off as she turned and looked at her friend.

To her surprise, he was pointing the Power Tool at the black hedgehog with a confident look on his face as he exclaimed: "You shouldn't mess with a fox with a Power Tool!" and he pulled the trigger: The next second, a white beam shot out of the edge with a buzzing sound straight towards Shadow; Amy and Cream gasped and even Shadow seemed to be caught by surprise as she beam hit him straight in the chest, and after a few confusing and painfully slow seconds – Amy almost thought that the beam didn't have any effect – Shadow suddenly got stiff, and his body got pale and white; and before they knew it, Shadow looked just like a statue version of himself: White as ice and completely motionless.

"The power of my Particle Freezer beam," Tails said triumphantly.

Amy was impressed and relieved and confused at the same time; "Wow, Tails, that was awesome! You got him!" she exclaimed.

"Good work, Tails!" Cream smiled happily.

Though Tails suddenly didn't look so triumphant anymore as he turned to them with a slightly concerned look on his face now; "We don't have much time, you guys," he said. "The Particle Freezer's effect depends on how strong the particles that it freezes are, and by knowing Shadow's power, it won't last for long; he'll soon break free. We need to get going!"

Cream looked bewildered, and so was Amy, but she simply nodded in agreement and set off up the stairs with her friends hot on her heels; they passed Shadow and ran as fast as they could towards the exit. For some reason, the way out seemed a lot faster than the way in as they reached an exit in merely ten minutes, and this time Amy ran ahead and busted the thick metal door open with her hammer; there was no time for cautiousness anymore.

They darted outside, slid down a small slope and hit everything that ended up in their way; mostly the robot nuisances. They ran and ran, didn't look back nor sideways, but simply sprinted forward and they didn't stop until they were far, far away from the base.

They collapsed on the ground under the oak which Amy and Tails had used as shelter as they slept the last night, and there they just lay exhausted for a long, long while, taking fast and rasping breaths; they were completely done up and out of energy.

"That – hahh – was way too close… hahh," Amy panted where she laid face flat to the ground.

"Yeah… hahh… I know," Tails replied. "I think I… hahh… almost swallowed my tongue…"

"I'm so happy that we're out of that awful place," Cream said weakly. "I'm tired of being kidnapped."

Amy almost chuckled; "Don't worry about that, Cream," she said encouragingly. "This might sound weird, but it was totally worth it, going to the base."

Tails sneered. "Yeah, and we left with both Cream and a Chaos Emerald."

Cream sat up and her jaw almost fell to the ground. "A Chaos Emerald?!" she squeaked. "You found a Chaos Emerald?!"

"Yeah," Amy replied as she rose with the help of the trunk of the oak. "We'll tell you later. But right now, we need to get back and tell Sonic and the others about Eggman's plan."

They were all tired, but they knew that they couldn't afford to waste any more time, so Tails and Cream got to their feet as well, and they set off home.

It took them three days to get home, with their aching limbs and empty stomachs; luckily they came across several rivers so that they wouldn't dehydrate to death, and somehow they managed to keep it up all the way, with as few breaks as possible. Cream was the only one who seemed to regain all her energy as they finally reached her house where Vanilla was standing in the garden, taking care of the flowers; she'd probably stayed up ever since they left.

"Mom!" Cream managed to squeal before her voice broke, and when Vanilla lifted her head and opened her mouth in shock, grief and indescribable relief and happiness, Cream sprinted towards her as fast as her slender legs would carry her; she ran straight into her mom's arms with the tears flowing down her cheeks, and then suddenly an overjoyed Cheese appeared out from the window and flew straight towards them and joined the embracing, and the three of them didn't let go of each other in a long, long while.

"Naww," Amy sighed mellifluously. "That is so lovely…"

Tails just smiled.

The two of them walked up to Cheese, Cream and her mother who had finally released each other, and as Cheese happily circled around Cream's head, Vanilla turned to look at Tails and Amy with watery eyes and simply shook her head slowly. "I don't know what to say," she whispered.

"You don't need to," Amy replied gently, and gave Vanilla a smile which she gladly returned.

"Thank you for saving me," Cream said in her place.

Amy was about to reply "no problem" or something as such, when she suddenly remembered that they kind of were in a hurry; Shadow might already be coming for their Chaos Emerald.

"I'm sorry for being rude, but do you have any idea of where Sonic might be? We need to talk to him, it's urgent!" Amy said instead, desperately trying to conceal the impatience in her voice.

To her disappointment, Vanilla just shook her head. "I'm sorry, dear. It was a long time ago since I last saw him, and as much as that boy runs around…"

"I understand," Amy said, but it was difficult to conceal her disappointment. Then she turned to Tails; "Have you any idea where he might be? Or where Shadow might look first?"

Tails crossed his arms and frowned. "I have no idea where Shadow might strike first, but regarding Sonic…" he observed a fairly large bug crawl over the grass in front of his feet. "He might be at the Chaotix'…"

"The Chaotix'?" Amy frowned skeptically. "Why would he be at the Chaotix'?"

"It was just an idea…"

They fell silent.

"He might be with Mr. Knuckles," Cream suggested.

Amy and Tails just looked at the ground for a while before they simultaneously raised their heads and stared at each other. … Of course. Obviously he was at Angel Island. "Thanks Cream, you're a genius," Amy praised. "Come on, Tails, let's go!" she ordered impatiently and then set off without waiting for a response.

"H-hold on, I'm coming!" Tails called after her.

"But are you sure you should leave immediately? You're all bruised up and exhausted, and probably starved too," Vanilla pointed out worriedly. "Don't you want to come inside for some food first?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't think we have time for that," Tails apologized as politely as he could. "But we'll definitely join you guys later. Take care, you two!" he said to Cream and Vanilla before he followed Amy. "Amy, wait for me!"

"Be careful!" Cream called after them, and she and her mother waved them off as they disappeared out of sight.

Sonic were talking to Knuckles who – like always – was by the Master Emerald's side when they heard Tails' and Amy's calls in the distance; "SoooonniiIIIIICC!" The yells grew louder as the pink hedgehog and the two-tailed fox came running towards them – it was amazing how they'd managed to keep it up ever since Cream got kidnapped – and soon they were standing by the stone platform that held up the Master Emerald, where Sonic an Knuckles were looking down at them with confused faces.

"Huh? Tails? Amy?" Sonic blinked at them. "Hey guys, what are you doing here?"

Amy had been fully prepared and had thought about nothing else than to tell Sonic about all of the recent events and about what had happened, but now that he was standing a few meters away from her like nothing had happened at all, she almost wanted to slap him. "We've been looking all over for you!" she exclaimed furiously. "And while you and Knuckles have been sitting around doing nothing, Cream was in real danger and—"

"Amy, we can yell at Sonic later," Tails interrupted with a gentle hand on her shoulder. "But that's not what's important right now."

Amy opened her mouth to protest, but then she closed it. Tails was right. Instead of barking at them, they should tell Sonic and Knuckles the news.

"What's happened, you two?" Sonic asked and jumped down from the platform, and even Knuckles had moved from the Master Emerald by now.

Amy took a deep breath, and then she and Tails told them everything. Amy didn't really know what she'd expected, but when they were finished, Sonic seemed to be really impressed.

"Wow, you saved Cream by yourselves? That's great! Plus, you found a Chaos Emerald and hindered Egghead's plans," he exclaimed and gave them a proud and approving thumbs-up. "Good work! Really."

"Yeah, but I really find it hard to believe that they actually managed to escape from Shadow," Knuckles remarked. "I hate to admit it, but that freak is really frickin' powerful."

Amy irritably stuck her tongue out at him, and Tails muttered something about "you have no idea."

"Always the optimistic one, eh, Knuckles?" Sonic sneered.

"I'm just stating facts," Knuckles retorted defensively. "I mean, it's a girl and a kid we're talking about here."

Amy was about to snap something harsh at him, but Tails spoke instead; "That's alright," he said with great self-control before he turned to all three of them. "More importantly, what should we do now?"

"You give the Chaos Emerald to me."

They all spun around, and who did they find standing a few ten meters away on a rock, if not Shadow the Hedgehog himself?

"How the hell did you get here?!" Knuckles exclaimed.

You couldn't miss that to Knuckles' great annoyance, Sonic smirked at their visitor. "Hey, Shadow! Long time no see. S'up?"

And indeed Knuckles groaned irritably; "God, Sonic, you make me sick with your casual gully-goo lazy freakin' attitude!" he spat. "Let's just beat this guy up!"

Shadow acted as if he hadn't heard a word of what the red echidna just said. "Make it easy for yourselves and give me the Chaos Emerald," he said, and the calmness in his voice was scary, "or take the hard way and suffer."

Knuckles' eyebrow twitched in frustration. "Never! We won't give it to you no matter what you do!" he snarled.

"Be careful what you say," Shadow replied coolly, and the next second before Amy knew it, Shadow had disappeared.

Amy was struck by surprise and looked from right to left; where did he go? She opened her mouth to ask Sonic and the others, but at that moment, Shadow appeared in front of her and the words stuck in her throat. When she ordered her body to move, it was already too late; Shadow landed a punch straight in her stomach that sent her flying into a tree before she sank to the ground.

She could hear someone yell her name, but she didn't know who it was since her head was dizzy and foggy and everything became a blur; she started seeing black dots in front of her face and slowly lost consciousness. She staggered in between unconsciousness and reality; every now and then she caught dim glimpses of what was happening in front of her in between the blackouts:

She thought she saw a figure lay on the ground; by the beige, orange-like looks of it, it could be Tails. Meanwhile, Sonic and Knuckles seemed to be yelling and shouting at Shadow, but Shadow's responses were like distant murmurs in Amy's ears; but very slowly she regained her hearing ability and was able to understand part of the conversations;

"… believe what… done, Shadow…" That was Sonic.

"… warned you," was Shadow's reply, and then Knuckles called him something like "crazy" and "psychopath." But after that, the voices started to become distinct to Amy's ears.

"We'll never give you the Chaos Emeralds, you'll only give them to Eggman!" Sonic's voice sounded distant, but she heard what he said.

"No." To her surprise, that was what Shadow replied. "No"…? What does he…? Amy tried to move her body but that only confused her mind, and when she tried to say something, it ended up like something between a groan and a murmur. She listened to Shadow instead, hoping to get an explanation.

"I only told Eggman that I would give him the Chaos Emeralds so that he would give me their location; I never intended to let him have them. I've got my own plans."

Sonic seemed to be just as confused as Amy. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Are you planning to rule Mobius yourself?"

"No, I don't," Shadow said. "But I won't tell you. Right now, my only goal is to gather all the Chaos Emeralds, and I'll make it happen with or without your help," he added coolly. "But I don't think you would put your dear friends in that kind of danger, would you?"

It worked. Sonic hesitated, but after a while, he slowly handed over the white Chaos Emerald.

"That's what I thought," Shadow said, and there was something weird about his tone as he said it. "I'll be back for the rest," he said before he lifted the Chaos Emerald up above his head. Then there was a flash of light, and the next second, he was gone.

Amy managed to lift her head and gazed at the spot where he'd disappeared. "Just what the heck…?"

Sonic stood motionless for a while before he turned to look at his friends, and he must've noticed that she was conscious, because he scurried over to her. "Amy! Are you alright?"

Amy shook her head and immediately regretted it; the world was spinning. "How's Tails?" she asked weakly.

"They're alive," Sonic replied. "Don't worry, me and Knuckles will take you back to Cream's house…" Sonic said something else too, but Amy didn't catch it, because the drowsiness was returning and she just felt really, really tired…

When Amy woke up, she was indeed at Cream's. After she'd confirmed that the others were alright, she finally managed to eat the food that Vanilla had served her, and when she'd began, it was almost impossible to stop; she'd forgotten that she was starving.

After everyone had had something to eat and drink, Tails was the one who finally asked the question that had probably been bothering all of them: "So, what do we do now?"

Everyone was quiet. And to their surprise, Sonic was the one who broke the silence, and the words that came out of his mouth surprised them even more: "I don't think that we should do anything at all.

They all just stared at him. "Do nothing?!" Amy exclaimed. "What do you mean, 'do nothing'?! Have you lost your mind?!"

But Sonic just smiled confidently. "Don't worry. We don't know for sure that Shadow's going to use the Chaos Emeralds for some evil and wicked purpose; to be honest, that doesn't sound like the kind of thing Shadow would do at all."

Amy blinked; now that she thought about it, he was right. She didn't have a good reply to that one…

"That's why I think we shouldn't do anything; at least not until we know what he's up to," Sonic finished, and he actually sounded kind of smartass as he said it. Maybe he was.

"So… you think that we should just take it easy?" Tails asked.

Sonic nodded. "That's right. But of course, if push comes to shove, if shit hits the fan, and if it shows up that Shadow is going to do something totally wicked after all; then of course, we'll be there to stop him! Right, pals?" he added with a big smile and a thumbs-up.

It was quiet for a while, as everyone processed this. Then, Tails returned Sonic's smile and the thumbs-up as well. "Yeah, that's right, pal!" he said happily, and soon the rest of them gave each other the thumbs-up too; except for Knuckles, who merely smiled.

It was only Amy who didn't do the thumbs-up pose. It was not that she thought Sonic was wrong or anything; she thought that her blue hero was absolutely right, just like always.

But there was just something, deep inside her, this strange little feeling that told her that something was about to happen; that this event – that had almost been too much for Amy – was the beginning of something else; something unpredictable and mysterious. Something huge.