STH © SEGA

Sarah belongs to me, BlackPetals23. Flame and Sunny belong to Phantomask. Alicia belongs to aliciathewolf45. Thanks, guys.

Edited.

Enjoy!

Chapter Sixteen:

Tears of Happiness

Flame remembered plenty of times where he had used his persuasion on his folks. He had persuaded his father to get him a bike when he was seven, his mother to allow him to go to the movies with friends in high school, and both of them to give him an allowance every week.

To say they disliked that part of their son was an understatement. He was an only child so they spoiled him from the get go. Flame's ancestry showed high persuasion power and it made his parents proud when they realized their son had a power. It wasn't very common for Mobians to have powers nowadays.

They were just a little regretful when his power was used on them.

He had finally agreed to never use his powers on them by the time he hit college. Then he just started using it to get girls. But it didn't work on one.

Sonia.

It was why he loved her so much. For some reason, he could only persuade her on little things—like to turn on the TV, make a sandwich, etc. But halfway through those tasks, Sonia would stop doing those things and suddenly come to—suddenly realizing that she was under the power of persuasion.

She always whacked him upside the head whenever he did it, but Flame had to admit he liked practicing on her. He always liked to see how far he could get each time. It seemed to be working longer the more he practiced on her.

And at the moment, walking out of the elevator, he could only hope that it worked on these guards.

Sunny was beside him and gulping like crazy. Flame didn't want to tell her to be a little quiet but he also didn't want to blow their cover. Hopefully, the guards didn't know that the two were in alliance with the heroes of Mobius.

If so, everyone was jeopardized.

Flame could only imagine the consequences. They'd be surely kidnapped one way or another. Then they'd probably compromise their friends who weren't kidnapped. The female cat leading everyone would know that the heroes were onto them, and she'd signal her workers to get the rest of them before anything else happened.

Rouge had said countless time that they could abort if they didn't feel safe with it. She trusted both of their judgments, which made Flame a little bit guilty. He wasn't really attached to anyone in the group besides Sonia and Manic. Sonia was his girlfriend—the longest lasting girlfriend he'd ever had. Manic was like his sidekick.

The elevator doors opened and Flame stepped out with the powerless female. Sunny had no powers. Everything was resting on Flame's hands and he had never felt more responsibility than at this moment.

It was literally do or die now.

Sunny wasn't entirely helpless. She had muscles that Flame knew of because Manic loved to brag about them. Of course, it was probably because of the fact that Manic had absolutely little muscles and he didn't want to seem inferior to his crush/girlfriend/whatever the hell they were.

Flame didn't even know if Manic and Sunny were together yet. Well, they could be dead in ten feet, shot down by two guys he never met, so…what the hell?

"Are you and Manic dating?"

Sunny made a noise that seemed like she was choking on her own spit. She coughed a little as they turned a corner, remembering Rouge's directions to the guards. "Um…No…I-I don't…Um…Think we're dating?"

"Hm…" Flame hummed as they continued to try and walk normal down the hallway when really they were nearly running, "Why not?"

"Because…" Sunny started. "I don't know."

"You should ask him out if we ever survive this."

Sunny gave him a strange look. "O-Okay…"

They slowed to a walk and it had to have been two minutes until Sunny said something to break the silence.

"You were using your power there, weren't you?"

"Yep."

As soon as Alicia texted Espio that she was in position, working out in the gym or at least pretending to while Charmy messed with the stereo, the group got into position. Flame and Sunny had left, following Rouge's instructions to get to the back of the hotel, top floor.

The she-wolf breathed in and out. To be honest, she was a little scared. She was waiting to be kidnapped. Most people would probably slap her, call her crazy and tell her to run, and every instinct in her told her to heed that advice.

But she didn't. She knew she had to stay and play as the distraction. It was the only way her friends would have a better chance of rescuing their kidnapped friends.

The gym door suddenly opened and she turned, frightfully staring at the interloper. It was the white fox—Lenny. The sweet seeming one. The gentleman like one. Alicia didn't believe he was there to kidnap her and Charmy. In fact, she almost believed that maybe he was just there to exercise, but she knew she couldn't be fooled.

Lenny walked closer to Charmy and glared at the bee. "What the hell are you doing to the stereo?"

Charmy jumped and brought himself into a corner, tripping over a weight, "Um…Alicia?"

The wolf shut down her machine and got off, walking towards Lenny. "You got a problem?"

"Yeah," the fox snarled suddenly. It was a little too late to counterattack as his fist punched Alicia in the cheek. The wolf fell back onto the floor while Charmy tried dashing around Lenny.

It was then that Alicia knew why Lenny had put on such an act, and why he came alone to the gym. Lenny wasn't truly sweet. He probably wasn't a gentleman either. And he was very capable of defending himself as he grabbed Charmy's wing and flung him around to hit Alicia.

She flew back again, holding onto Charmy protectively. The teenager bee struggled out of her grasp, now angered with the fox. "Why you—"

"Charmy, don't!"

Alicia watched him get out of her grip and race towards Lenny. The white fox grinned evilly as Charmy charged toward him. Lenny timed it just right, Alicia figured, as she watched him punch Charmy in the gut hard enough to make the bee cough up blood and hit the ground.

"Charmy!" Alicia screeched, aiming to crawl to him but Lenny was quicker. He rapidly walked over the insect and sent a kick to Alicia's chin. She growled and snapped her jaw at him, grabbing his leg the second time he tried to kick her.

He was surprised by the look in his eyes. Alicia mentally smirked and pulled on his leg just as quickly as she had grabbed it. Lenny was brought falling down on top of Charmy, making the bee cough even more. Alicia winced and got up, shoving Lenny off of Charmy and looking over him carefully. "Charmy?! Are you okay?"

Charmy pushed her away. Alicia frowned but caught movement from the side. Turning, she saw Lenny get up. She matched his movements, glaring at him hard.

He only smiled that wicked smile again.

As Flame rounded the last corner, he got a little intimidated. But he wasn't backing out and neither was Sunny. They both agreed on it a hallway ago.

The two guards were at the very end of the hallway. Flame scrutinized them from the long distance, whispering to Sunny, "Fox and hedgehog, both male. The hedgehog looks a little bit more muscular than the fox but I assume they'll both be tough to beat if we have to fight."

"Can you persuade two people at once?" Sunny asked.

Flame's eyes widened. "Shit. I never thought of that. I can persuade one person, but I never practiced on persuading two."

Sunny groaned a little. They were nearing the guards and they were running out of options. She breathed heavily and let her quills out of her ponytail. "Fine, then. You persuade one, I'll seduce the other."

Flame had to do a double take at Sunny before the corners of his mouth twitched up. They became more serious as they got closer to the guards. By now, the two Mobians noticed Flame and Sunny approaching.

"Halt. You're not authorized into this room." The hedgehog was a tan color with blue eyes. He was buff around the biceps and he had long legs. His hands were holding his gun while the fox was in the same position.

Flame's orange eyes lit up as he stared directly into the male's eyes. "We're trainees. Vince told us to meet him here. They'll have some detainees that they'll need help with."

The hedgehog raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Scarbor never needs help with such a task as keeping convicts in check." He snorted and glared at Flame. "Get lost, kid. Trainees are on Pasco Street, two blocks from here."

"We're the special recruits," Flame tried again, staring at him longer this time and trying not to break eye contact. "Mr. Scarbor told us to come immediately. The victims are onto us and we've been assigned to watch the prisoners as they'll need as many hands as they can get to guard the others."

This one fooled the hedgehog. He straightened up and his eyes glazed over. "Yes. Right away, sir."

The fox friend wasn't even paying attention when Flame looked over. Flame had to raise an eyebrow as Sunny leaned against the wall, biting her bottom lip and batting her eyelashes at the male that had cornered her. The fox was advancing while Flame grabbed the hedgehog's taser on his utility belt.

It was then that the hedgehog came to. "What the—HEY!"

Flame shot the taser at the hedgehog. The hedgehog screeched and yelped while Sunny detained the fox. Flame kicked the hedgehog to the ground before punching him in the jaw, blacking him out into unconsciousness.

As the bright orange hedgehog turned around, he gaped at the sight before him. Sunny was making out with the fox, keeping his attention away from Flame. Flame was honestly surprised the fox didn't fight back against her when he heard his partner yell, but Flame just assumed the fox hadn't been laid in some time because he just kept kissing Sunny as hard and long as he could.

It was sort of awkward for Flame to just stand there. He didn't really want to come up behind the fox and knock him out. He might bite on Sunny's tongue…or something. Truthfully, Flame didn't know why he wasn't stopping the fox. He guessed it was partially due to the fact that Sunny was capable of seducing.

So, there they were. One of the guards was lying on the ground, the other was trying to get lucky, Flame was standing not five feet away, and Sunny was slowly becoming a victim herself.

There were a rush of footsteps and Flame could only imagine Manic's face as he raced up with the rest of the fighters. He turned and blankly stared as Rouge and Shadow brought up the front, both equally expressing how shocked they were at the scene before them.

Manic crashed through, eager to see both Flame and Sunny. The sight nearly crushed his heart. Sunny was willingly kissing some random stranger, an enemy no less. Manic scowled and backed up while Knuckles came forward and knocked the fox out in one blow to the head.

Sunny let out a breath of air and panted, "About time. Sheesh, I wanted to signal to Flame to stop him." She glared at Flame and punched him in the shoulder. "You pervert, checking me out while I'm kissing someone."

"I wasn't technically checking you out. I was checking the both of you out." Flame stopped shortly and made a face as he realized how wrong his failed backup sentence seemed.

Scourge broke through to the front while everyone gathered around. "C'mon. We're wasting time. Espio, get ready to go first. Signal us somehow when the coast is clear."

The chameleon nodded his head and turned invincible while Vector stood beside him, or stood wherever he thought Espio was. Scourge only had to twist the handle and the door opened. The knob wasn't like a regular hotel door—it had no need for a card but rather an actual key, and since there were guards on duty, they didn't need to lock the door.

Rouge sent Espio and Vector in. The door was left open while they waited outside, making sure the two guards were out cold. Rouge leaned against the wall and rested beside her fiancé. Shadow stood nearby with his arms crossed and Scourge mimicking him. Flame was still staring at the fox and replaying what had happened in his mind.

Blaze was trying to keep still but she kept fidgeting, only wanting this to be done with. That left Manic to give Sunny the cold shoulder. The female hedgehog was a little hurt as she touched Manic's shoulder and he ripped away from her grasp.

"Manic…" She whispered, her ears folding back. She didn't think he cared that much. It was making her regret the decision of playing as the seducer, but somebody had to do it because Flame couldn't persuade two people at one time and Sunny wasn't really a fighter. She almost broke her hand while trying to punch someone and she vowed to never do it again.

Suddenly, a ninja star flew out of the doorway and stuck into the wall. Rouge's ears perked up as they looked to the ninja star.

"That's our signal. Let's go."

She was dehydrated and she wanted nothing but a hot shower, warm food, and especially water.

Amy tried stretching out her legs, but they were tied at the knees too so she couldn't stand. She was lying uncomfortably on the floor. Her back ached and her eyes were droopy, but she didn't want to fall asleep—not in this place.

Sarah had been recently moved to the wall beside her, still bound in the chair. Sonic was also hidden in the shadows now along with everyone else. Silver rested beside Amy though and she was grateful for his whispers of reassurance now and then.

The room now just looked like it was an empty room with one light in it, dangling from the ceiling as if it would fall any moment. Perhaps that was why they moved Sarah. They didn't want any of them injured in case they were going to use them to get to the others.

Amy mentally shuddered at the thought.

She had been knocked out, so she hadn't met Kassidy or any of the others besides the gym guys. She felt betrayed though. But she could only imagine the future if their friends never rescued them, though there was no doubt in her mind that Shadow was trying. She just didn't want Kassidy to use her to get to the Ultimate Life Form.

Amy didn't like seeing Shadow drained and suddenly give up. She had seen it once in her life and it was about three months into their relationship, when things started to get actually serious. She never imagined Shadow to become serious in a relationship, nor be in a relationship—much less with her. But when Eggman kidnapped her and things turned into a fight with Shadow and Sonic helping one another to save her, things got tough.

Eggman hadn't done his usual thing in just kidnapping and holding Amy for ransom. He actually hurt her. She had a sprained ankle for a week and a bruise on her cheek. It broke her heart when she saw Shadow. The emotion in his eyes overwhelmed her and she never knew a male like him could feel so much.

She remembered the look of sadness in his eyes. Then how he had sort of slumped to the ground a little in defeat—almost giving in to Eggman as long as the evil doctor wouldn't hurt his girlfriend anymore. But Sonic was there to help Shadow, which Amy was grateful for.

Whatever Sonic had said to Shadow, it made the ebony hedgehog stand up and the look in his eyes became fierce with determination. It wasn't long before Eggman was a simple twinkle in the sky and Amy was safe in the arms of her boyfriend.

The pink hedgehog sighed, trying to wiggle her wrists from the ropes that had created rashes on her skin and made red marks as well. They hurt and she bit her lip to keep from crying.

Shadow had kept her in his arms the rest of that day when they had rescued her from Eggman. He had kept her under his supervision for the rest of the week too. Eggman hadn't messed with her since and she was glad. So was Shadow, but Amy knew he had felt guilt and thought it was his fault she was hurt when it was indeed Eggman's.

She could only imagine how Shadow would feel this time. But she didn't know how long she could last. Amy only wanted her boyfriend. She only wanted to be in Shadow's arms once more. It was the camping trip all over again. When he had walked away, she had felt like part of her was missing.

Just being separated from him broke her heart and she knew just how deep their love for one another had become.

So it wasn't a surprise that when the door opened and a familiar silhouette rushed towards her that Amy Rose burst into tears of happiness.

Next chapter's title:

Confrontation

Arrivederci!