Chapter 39 PART TWO
Missing Hero
One G.U.N soldier stepped cautiously over his unconscious ally to close the circle around Amy. Behind the ring, Amy could see the leader retreating towards the far wall. Her foes had their rifles targeted at her, but she knew they would not fire them. Clinging to this thought, Amy summoned all the courage she had and charged. "TAKE HER!"
Bodies swarmed down on her and Amy swung her Piko Piko hammer in a circle. The pink and yellow weapon turned in a blur of centripetal motion. Amy felt several clunks as she made contact with knees. When she felt that she was finally completely surrounded, Amy crouched down and leapt gracefully into the air. She folded her knees together and somersaulted forward landing outside the ring of foes.
The flabbergasted leader drew back as Amy charged directly at him. He tripped over himself trying to escape her. The fall caused the key in his pocket to spill onto the floor. Amy scooped it up and prevented the others from reforming around her by dashing across the wall. Stopping only long enough to wink back at her foes, Amy raced headfirst for the window.
The G.U.N soldiers had already broken through and she could see the ropes they had used to propel down. She ignored these and instead jumped straight through the open window. The wall of the building opposite was only a few feet away. Amy kicked off of it, propelling herself backward and up. By jumping back from wall to wall, Amy scaled the apartment building until she finally reached the top.
When she made it to the roof she leaned against her hammer and gasped for breath. A nasty stitch was forming in her side and she felt a little woozy. She released her hammer and with difficulty managed to use the key to unlock the fetters around her wrists. Amy tossed the cuffs off the rooftop and rubbed the soreness out of her wrists. BANG! The roof access door burst open and a dozen soldiers filed out. Amy turned around and readied to leap to the next roof but her legs wobbled in protest. It had looked close enough at first glance, but now she realized it was too far to jump.
The footsteps of the soldiers drew near. Amy shuffled away from the edge. What would Sonic do? Gritting her teeth, Amy felt a warm rush of resolve flood into her body and wrestle with the cold waves of doubt. She raced forward and at the very last second, slammed her Piko Piko hammer down on the ground. Like a pole vaulter, the momentum of the hammer propelled Amy into the air. She hung suspended over the gap between the two buildings stuck in a moment of pure potentiality. Amy kept her eyes glued on the far roof, trying to will herself towards it.
A second later she was rolling onto the asphalt on the opposite building. Amy picked herself up and turned back to see her pursuers watching her on the other roof. Dread exploded in a rush of adrenaline. Amy leapt up and waved mockingly at them with both hands.
BANG! Amy cringed and dropped down. Smoke billowed from the rifle of one of the soldiers. Her adrenaline and sense of victory faded in an instant. Amy saw all the other soldiers hesitate for a moment before raising their weapons. It appeared that if they could not get to her, then they had orders not to let her escape. Amy scrambled to her feet before they could decide one way or another. She leapt behind a wall on the roof just as scattered gunshots smote the ground where she had been only a second previously.
Her heart skipped several beats as she considered what she should do next. A patch of open ground separated her from the roof access door of the building she was on. Even if she could make it there without getting hit, there was no guarantee the door was unlocked. Amy turned from there and searched further out. There was another building located somewhat close to the one she was on but at a lower height. The jump was further but the elevation change would make it doable.
Amy took another steadying deep breath. Go! She willed herself to action just in time. A barrage of bullets exploded against her wall of cover, inciting Amy to run faster. She did not hesitate at the edge this time, instead she ran full tilt until jumping. It was immediately clear she would make it, but now her concern was injuring herself in the fall. Amy braced herself and, just before hitting the ground, she tucked herself into a ball and rolled. She had never managed the spin dash technique that Sonic and the others abused so easily. However, she did enough to prevent any major injury.
She picked herself back up and looked around. This third roof was enclosed by taller buildings on every side. She would not be able to make a jump to a fourth. However, she did spot a set of stairs leading down towards the street. Amy ran in that direction. Just before she did so, someone else came running up them.
The G.U.N leader's face was red. Sweat poured down his swollen face. His cool demeanor was replaced by a look of wild fury. He held a gun out and pointed it directly at Amy's heart. The man's eyes bulged and he licked his sweaty, heavily chapped lips. "Enough games girl," He snarled. "You're coming with me. Or you're never going anywhere again. I don't care which."
Amy tightened her grip around her hammer. She backed away slowly, all the while trying to stiffen her will to make one last surge. The leader seemed to guess her intention. He stopped moving forward. BANG! He shot the ground a few feet to the left of Amy. "Don't move."
She did as she was told. From this distance, there was no way Amy could attack him before he shot her, but there was also no chance of him missing if she tried to run away.
"Put the hammer down girl."
Amy's grip did not relax. She wasn't sure she could let go even if she wanted to. Fear was forcing her to cling to her only means of defense. The man tasted his lips again. "Like I said, you go with me, or you die. I didn't care which at first, but I'm starting to have a preference."
Amy readied to spring forward. It was all or nothing now. He's going to shoot me. Amy clung to that single thought, using it as the fuel to drive her forward. The leader's eyes narrowed. He flashed a horrible smile and- SMACK! The leader's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he slumped forward.
Amy jumped back in surprise. "Sorry about the wait. I wanted to make sure my attack wouldn't cause him to pull the trigger." A green hawk stood casually over the unconscious G.U.N leader. He pulled back his gloves to tighten them and then adjusted the white goggles he wore almost like a headband.
"What…who are you?" Amy squeaked.
The hawk stepped over the body. He stared at Amy with a look of complete indifference. "I'm Jet."
Amy retreated backward before suddenly walking into something solid. She whirled around and raised her hammer but she did not attack. A massively tall and bulky albatross sneered down at her. Even with her hammer raised all the way up, Amy still would not have been able to hit him on the head.
"That's no way to greet the people who just saved your life." A purple swellow in a white jumpsuit appeared from behind the giant albatross. She had long wavy feathers and wore the same orange goggles that Jet had.
Amy fell back but she was already encircled. The birds however, did not seem threatening. Each of them was looking at Amy with only mild interest. "Wave, did you take care of the rest of the soldiers?" Jet asked the purple swellow.
She nodded while stretching out her arms. "Yes," She answered with a yawn. "They were taken down easily, as always."
Unwilling to be ignored, Amy spoke up. "Who are you people? What do you want with me?"
"Does it really matter who they are?" A new voice spoke. The birds all turned around and then parted to allow a tall man to approach Amy. He had long, wavy blonde hair and a young face though Amy dedicated signs of more advanced aging. His suit was all white except for his baby blue tie.
He smiled down at Amy. It was the kind of smile made for advertisements, and television, the broad empty smile of a politician and salesman. "Do you know who I am?" He asked kindly.
Amy frowned. He had a very common and forgettable face. Yet something about it struck her. "Your…you're Jeffrey Goldstone." She said as recognition finally kicked it. "Your father is the head of Goldstone Incorporated."
The man smiled. "So you see, you have no real need to know my associates. But in the interests of friendship I will introduce them. This is Wave the Swallow." He gestured to the girl of the group. "Storm the Albatross," The large gray one waved feebly at Amy. "And the leader of the Babylon Rogues, Jet the Hawk." The green hawk had no reaction to his name.
"What do you want with me?" Amy asked. She had yet to lower her hammer.
Jeffrey spread out his hands in a gesture of peace. "Not what G.U.N wanted, I assure you. The military and my father's organization are always in each other's business, you see. Their operatives mess with our plans, and our operatives," He gestured to the Rogues, "Mess with theirs."
When Amy still kept her hammer raised, the man sighed. "Do you have any idea why G.U.N is trying to capture you?"
"They want to use me as bait so they can get to Sonic."
"That's half right." Jeffrey pushed his hair out of his face. "G.U.N believes that if they capture you, then they can control Sonic. As long as your life is at stake, then the blue blur would not dare engage them directly."
"Why would Sonic want to fight G.U.N?" Amy asked in surprise.
Jeffrey's smile broadened. "Now that is the question, isn't it?"
Amy waited for Jeffrey to elaborate but he paused. For a minute or so, he stayed silent, watching Amy closely as if evaluating her. At last he reached into his pocket. Amy saw Wave move forward as if to stop him, but Jet held her back. Jeffrey drew out a glowing pink stone and showed it to Amy. "Do you know what this is?"
Amy shook her head. She had never seen a gem sparkle so brightly, at least no ordinary gem. If she didn't know better she could have sworn it was giving off that same sense of profound energy and heat that was the signature of the Chaos Emeralds. "This is the key that will change the world. The next war will be waged for its control. The distributor of this gem will be the emperors of the world. Before long, everyone will be vying for it, tearing each other apart to get just a small piece of the pie. This gem has the power to save our world. With it, we could create a perfect future. A world of prosperity, equality, and plenty lies at our fingertips." Jeffrey sighed and tightened his grip on the gem.
"But our nature is one of corruption. We did not pollute the earth because it was necessary, we did it because we liked it. It was not the fault of our power sources, but the greed latent in our hearts. Possession is only real when there is lack, love is only known when there is hate, pleasure is only felt in the absence of intense pain. The perfect future would be to us, a hell of unknown, unfeeling, unreality."
Jeffrey placed the stone back in his pocket. "Our world has its rules, rules that we ourselves have made. We march slowly to our doom, but it is a natural one. These gems are not of this world. They came with the promise of salvation but they will only be the trigger of our destruction. The earth has never been closer to the tipping point."
"But what does this have to do with me?" Amy asked. Her heart felt sick. Amy could barely keep her feet, she was so hungry and distressed.
Jeffrey turned back to her. His salesman's smile was gone. He now grimaced with pain and burden. "The world faces a threat like no other. Itself. All the foibles of its creature will be accented by the power the Sol Gems provide. Against this wave of hostility and violence, the earth needs its greatest champion more than ever. But in our moment of deepest need, he is gone. We have very little time left. Once the war is started, nothing will be able to end it but complete annihilation." Jeffrey knelt to face Amy. "Where is Sonic the Hedgehog?"