60th Chapter, guys! I can't believe it, myself. This is officially the longest fanfiction I have worked on since I joined this website! Thank you so much for supporting it up till now and may the next chapters continue to entertain all you Sonic and non-Sonic fans alike!

Chapter 60: Guilt

By the time Amelia reached the hotel with Silva behind her, the plaza was completely empty. Inside, the lobby was dimly lit with a single light coming from the restaurant area near the back. To Amelia's surprise, the chairs in the lobby were occupied by none other than Sonny, Miles, Chuck, and the other girls.

"Where've you been, Amelia?" Sonny said as he sat up. "We were worried about you."

"I'm sorry," Amelia said shyly. "I was out looking for you, Sonny. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Sonny answered and then he noticed Silva. "Who's your new friend?"

"Oh, this is Silva," Amelia answered as she stepped aside and gestured towards Sonny. "Silva, this is Sonny, the guy I was searching for when I met you."

For a second, Silva said nothing and then he held out his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Sonny."

"Same here," Sonny responded taking Silva's hand. "Is this your first time in Soleanna?"

"Yeah," Silva replied.

"Mine too. Where are you staying at?"

"Well, I've only just arrived so I haven't been able to make arrangements."

"Then why don't you stay with us for the night?"

Silva hesitated. "Uh, you don't have to do that for me. I can manage on my own."

"It's not a big deal, Silva," Amelia said, putting her arm around Silva's back. "We'll have you sleep with Sonny and the boys tonight, and then tomorrow we'll look for the person you're searching for. Okay?"

"If you insist," Silva said nervously.

"Then it's settled," Amelia said firmly as she pressed Silva closer to her. "I just feel bad for dragging you around with me when the person I was trying to find didn't need to be found after all, so this is the least I could do for a friend."

"Friend?"

"Sure, we're all friends here. Right, guys?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, and then they all went upstairs to their rooms when the janitors started appearing.

###

Later that night, Silva woke up after having a nightmare where Iblis was attacking two creatures that resembled a white hedgehog and a skinny purple cat. He looked around the hotel suite and saw the outline of Chuck sleeping on the floor. Near the balcony window with moonlight streaming in, Silva could see Miles lying peacefully on his bed while Sonny was tossing and turning restlessly as he slept. Getting up from the couch, Silva walked quietly over to Sonny's bed and looked down at him.

He may have a different name around his friends, but I know Sonny's actually Sonic the Hedgehog, Silva thought. If I kill him now, the future that Mephiles showed me will never happen.

Silva then walked back to the couch, grabbed the pillow Sonny gave him, and then he went back to the bed. As he approached Sonny's face with the pillow in his hands, his arms suddenly emanated a bright-blue aura and froze in place. Confused, Silva tried to move them but found himself unable to press the pillow he held against Sonny's face in order to choke him.

No, this is wrong, Silva thought as he lowered the pillow. Killing him while he's unaware would be dishonest. I'll try something else tomorrow.

Resolved, Silva walked back to the couch and went back to sleep.

###

"Hey, Shadow, how did you know Mephiles would send us to the future?" Rouge the Bat asked after she had finished searching the skies for any sign of life.

"Because that's what he did when we encountered him the first time," Shadow answered, looking down at the city ruins from atop the skyscraper he and Rouge had been dropped on.

"Oh, right," replied Rouge. "Did you try using Chaos Control while I was gone?"

"I did, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to take me back to the present," Shadow said irritably. "We'll need at least one more Chaos Emerald to do that."

"Then how was Mephiles able to send us here with just one Chaos Emerald?"

"It was his own power that sent us here, Rouge. The Chaos Emerald just gave him an extra boost."

"I see." Rouge then picked up a brown paper bag and a half-eaten hamburger. "While I couldn't find a living soul around here, at least I found food."

"That hamburger looks like it had been dropped recently," Shadow noted, noticing bits of dirt and dust on the burger's edge. "Maybe weren't not the only ones here."

"But if that's the case, why would they leave their food behind?" Rouge asked as she changed back into Rouge Baxter and started eating the hamburger.

"I'm not sure," Shadow responded as he changed back into Shawn. "But we should start looking for another Chaos Emerald as soon as we're done eating."

Rouge nodded as she continued to chow down on the burger, while Shawn reached into the bag and pulled out a pack of fries which he started munching on.

###

The following morning, Silva woke up and noticed Chuck standing casually at the balcony with the windows open and bright sunlight illuminating the room to reveal that the rest of the room was empty.

"About time you got up," Chuck said as he heard Silva getting up from the couch. "It's almost noon."

"Where are Sonny and Miles?" Silva asked, briefly rubbing his eyes.

"No idea," Chuck replied. "By the time I woke up, they were gone without bothering to leave a note or a text explaining where they went."

"Have you told Amelia yet?"

"Let's just say she did not take the news well," Chuck said as he turned to Silva revealing a swollen cheek.

"What about the other girls?"

Chuck shrugged. "They were indifferent, but they're mostly worried about Elise who apparently got kidnapped last night by Dr. Robotnik."

"Who's Elise?"

"She's a friend of ours and apparently the princess of Soleanna, which we didn't know about until Miles told us."

"No way," Silva said as he recalled Sonic carrying a girl in his arms the night before. "Why would Dr. Robotnik do such a thing?"

"Beats me."

###

"Any luck, Tails?" Sonic asked standing on a beach that stretched for miles on either side of him with rocky structures near the shore and out near the coral reef which was partially visible.

"Not a beep," Tails said, looking down at his Emerald Detector. "Either Eggman doesn't have any Chaos Emeralds on him, or we're too far away to pick up a signal."

"Well, keep trying," Sonic responded. "I just got back defeating some of Eggman's new robots, so he must've been here at some point."

It was then that Sonny's cellphone started ringing, which Sonic picked up.

"Hello? Sonny?" Chuck's voice said on the other end.

"This is Sonic," Sonic replied. "How's a going, Chuck?"

"Do you realize how much trouble you've caused by leaving without saying where you were going? Amelia was so pissed that she slapped me in the face for it!"

"But if I told her, Amy would've taken over her and followed us."

"Was there a particular reason why you didn't want her to follow you and Tails?"

"Remember when I appeared last night and took off with Elise?"

"Yeah, it was pretty hard to miss."

"Well, I let my guard down and Elise got captured by Eggman. So I promised Elise I would rescue her just as she threw a Chaos Emerald that was in her possession at me before Eggman took her into the Egg Carrier and that's why I left early this morning with Tails."

"Oh, so that explains why Eggman visited me."

"He what?"

"I went out looking for you because I felt bad for Amelia when Eggman suddenly showed up and gave me this card which he told me to give you before leaving."

"Where are you now?"

"I'm down by the docks in New City."

"Stay there, Chuck. Tails and I will be there."

Then Sonic hung up, told Tails what Chuck told him, and together they made their way back to New City.

To be continued…