Chapter 5

Sonic was pacing the corridor once again – this time though, he was pacing quickly. He counted each minute that flew past, getting agitated. It was at times like this that the blue hero wished everything around him went as fast as he was. At the back of his mind, a nagging thought kept repeating itself.

Chaos, how the heck does Amy even have chaos energy within her?

Sonic tried to think back to those days when they had been fighting the Death Egg. He tried to recall any time at all that she may have been sidetracked or injured, even. He was aware that she and the others had been on the giant war machine clearing the way for him, Shadow, and Silver. Did something happen back then that could have caused this? But he couldn't remember hearing her ever complain about a stomach ache back then or any other form of pain. It was only during the rebuilding months when he had seen her get tired or even exhausted at least. Back then, Sonic assumed that the reason why she felt that way was because of all the running the threesome did - locating missing Mobian children or adults, carrying supplies, comforting young children, and clearing debris. Sonic, at that time, had never lost sight of what his two teammates were doing. He had an eye on them at all times, making sure they were safe and alright.

Right. So then, how? Did I by chance miss an opportunity to keep an eye on her? Did anything happen while I wasn't around or something?

Sonic then wondered if she got affected by Chaos energy while she was out doing her rounds. But he discarded that thought, telling himself that everything had been cleared or taken care of in the surroundings to help rebuild. Nothing unusual had been left ignored.

Or was that just an assumption? He never knew for sure, did he?

'Sonic!'

Sonic turned when he heard his name called from down the hall. When he saw who it was, his nerves finally eased.

Tails came running down the hall to his best friend. He covered the remaining distance by flying over to him with his twin tails. The young fox landed a few steps away and started to pant heavily.

Sonic had called him a few minutes back, asking him if he could get to the hospital as soon as possible after having explained what he discovered. The young fox who had sensed the tension in his voice had readily agreed, assuring him that he would be there in ten minutes flat. But those ten minutes stretched to fifteen and that was what made the blue speedster restless. At least now that Tails was finally here, Sonic could relax and get some answers to the questions that raged his mind.

Sonic bent down to face him with concern. 'Hey, Tails. You okay there?'

Tails nodded, 'Yeah, I am.' He stood up then and faced Sonic, a look of worry on his face. 'How is she, Sonic?' Tails asked with a slight tremble in his voice. The young fox had hoped that it wouldn't be anything serious but the look on Sonic's face denied that possibility. Even though Tails had assured him earlier saying that Amy would get well quickly, he was now starting to have doubts.

Sonic looked into the bright blue orbs of his best friend and said, 'I suppose we'll have to go in and see for ourselves, Tails.'

To Sonic, it seemed that Tails was more concerned for his former teammate than anything else at the moment. Tails didn't seem to care that he was exhausted from all the running, or the fact that he was called all too suddenly. Sonic knew that it was way past bedtime for the young fox and that he had to be up early the next day to attend his day classes at that institute the blue hero didn't know much about.

Tails' concern for Amy touched Sonic, who felt grateful that even though he had not spoken to Amy for a month, at least Tails had kept in contact with her. After all, it was because of Tails that Sonic was even there at the hospital. The blue hero wondered how things would have been if he refused to go see her when Tails had asked. An image crept into his mind of Amy lying collapsed on the floor of her apartment with no one to take her to the hospital - her fragile and delicate form unmoving, and her feeling so alone and...helpless.

Sonic shook his head to clear it from that drastic image. He didn't need to think of that. The possibility of that happening anymore has been wiped out. All he had to do now was to focus on the present where he needed support to help cure Amy. And so he looked at Tails - the one friend of his who could help him find the answers he so desperately needed.

Tails nodded in response to Sonic's suggestion, and then the blue hero led him through the wooden double doors that led to Amy's ward.

As soon as they stepped in, the brave young fox felt the air shift slightly. It aroused a troubling sensation within him that gave him an irresistible urge to back out and leave. But he chose to stay. He didn't want to leave when Sonic needed him now more than ever.

Tails had harnessed Chaos energy before - the first time being when he and Sonic explored Angel Island; the other time he used Chaos energy was when Sonic had shared his while they were facing Metal Overlord. It had been an incredible surge of power within him back then and the young fox has limited its use since. Tails never found the reason to transform into his super form since Sonic was always able to handle whatever it was that came their way. Now, with the help of Shadow and Silver, the blue hero was never alone when he needed assistance. The energy Tails felt around Sonic whenever he was in his super form had always been calming and positive in a certain way. This feeling that he got now as he made his way over to Amy's bed was different - it was more pulsating and very...negative.

The doctor who was seated next to Amy on a stool stood up as they walked in. A nurse was taking her temperature. As for Amy, she was still asleep, looking peaceful and content. When the duo approached the bed, the doctor gave them both a nod and then looked at the young fox.

'Glad you could make it in time, Tails.'

Tails nodded in acknowledgment, trying to ignore the irritation he was feeling. He asked, 'How has she been, doctor?'

Sonic stood next to Tails with his arms crossed and he shot a glance at Amy. She seemed much better now. The sleep was doing her good which made the blue hero feel calmer. He then turned his attention to the doctor.

'She has been having a rise in temperature for the last five minutes. If this keeps up, I believe she'll have to stay here for longer.' the doctor let out a sigh and then retrieved the tiny test tube from his coat pocket. He then handed it to the young fox.

Medical issues that dealt with the mystical power of Chaos were beyond his area of expertise. When he had noticed the green hue around the test tube in the lab, he had been perplexed. So when Sonic had suggested he call Tails, the doctor had agreed without hesitation. If there was someone who knew how to deal with such mysteries better, he didn't mind consulting them, even if that someone was a young eleven-year-old fox.

Tails held the test tube in his hand and studied the red liquid inside it with a small frown. There was that green, throbbing light that was shimmering around it and for some odd reason, the light seemed to throb faster when it was near Amy. Tails looked at her to see if there was any change in her, but there was none while he tried to fight off the weird feeling he kept experiencing.

'I'll leave you two alone with her. Run by my office if you need anything.' the doctor said with a look of exhaustion. He stifled a yawn and then left the ward with the nurse, leaving Sonic and Tails with a very sick Amy. The atmosphere now was quiet and still, save for the slow ticking of a clock somewhere on the back wall. A cool breeze blew in through the open window on their right.

Sonic watched Tails study the liquid. After a moment of silence, he asked, 'What could it mean, Tails?' He searched the blue eyes of his brother-like figure for an early answer.

'I-I don't know, Sonic. I may have to run a special scan on her to see for myself. It doesn't look like it's anything simple.' Tails replied as he walked over to the other side of the bed and sat down on the stool.

The young two-tail studied Amy for a moment as if trying to make out any signs of fatigue or unusual pallor on her face. Whatever it was that caused her to collapse was inside her. Exterior symptoms were none. Tails was also aware that Amy had never harnessed Chaos energy before and so her body was naturally not used to the sudden surge of energy that was flowing through her at the moment.

'You don't think it's anything…serious, do you?' Sonic's gentle, slightly shaky voice cut through his trail of thoughts. The blue hero was now seated opposite Tails on the edge of the bed.

Tails shook his head in response as he looked at Amy. 'I can't say anything yet. But Sonic,' He looked at him as he asked, 'Did you…feel anything odd when you were with her in the apartment earlier?'

He thought for a second and then shook his head. 'No, which is weird because I've always been able to sense Chaos energy before. I didn't feel anything until I was…' he looked at Amy now. '…until I was here in this very ward, Tails.'

Tails looked at the test tube containing Amy's blood. 'In that case, the Chaos energy is definitely inside her body. She doesn't seem to be emitting it, although -.'

'Oh, and there's this other thing.' Sonic cut in. 'This Chaos energy doesn't seem to be positive. I've had this weird feeling ever since I stepped in and…it wasn't great.'

'I've been feeling it too, and I think it's negative Chaos energy.' Tails responded. 'That could not mean anything good, Sonic.'

'What do you mean by that?' Sonic asked as he was beginning to feel slightly worried.

'I…well, you see,' Tails began, feeling hesitant. 'Amy has never tapped into Chaos energy before, right? So that means her body won't be able to adapt to the powerful energy that's within it. Also, negative Chaos energy would make things worse, Sonic. If it was positive, we wouldn't have had to worry so much.'

Sonic sighed and looked at his former pink teammate. There was negative Chaos energy within her now, and if it wasn't taken care of quickly, something could go wrong. And Sonic didn't want her going through any more pain than she already did. He alone knew how fragile she had looked when she had collapsed earlier. Back then, Amy was in pain, and he knew that she needed him and her friends now more than ever. And so the blue hero was confident that they would find a cure; he was determined to stay at her side till she was up and running again, till she returned to her usual cheerful self that he has always silently adored. And so, with a look of resolve, Sonic turned to look at Tails, emerald green eyes glowing with hope. He didn't want to give up; he never did anyway.

'Let's help her, Tails. Let's do everything we can to make sure Ames gets well soon.'

- xxx -

Knuckles was crouching in front of the Master Emerald, his hands placed on top of his head, eyes squeezed shut, tiny sweat drops forming on his forehead and his whole body shivering. Rouge kept rubbing his back in comfort, her own words of reassurance denying the sense of panic that was rising within her. This feeling was new and unusual to the brave Guardian.

Very unusual.

He didn't know what to think, feel, or even say. An hour ago, the echidna had sensed something coming from the giant mystical Emerald. Back then, he didn't give it much thought, deciding that he would wait for more signs.

However, this was not the sign he was looking for...

Knuckles slowly looked up at the Emerald. It seemed to be giving out an otherworldly glow; rather than the bright green glow it usually gave out. And it was trying to communicate with him. It had been trying for the past one hour and the red echidna had overlooked it. Seldom had the Emerald ever tried communicating with him. When it did, it was always never this excruciating. This time, something was different. It was as if the Emerald was desperate to communicate and this made him feel uneasy. Something was definitely very wrong for this to be happening.

Dammit!

As Guardian, Knuckles felt the energy of the Master Emerald getting through his skin as it tried to reach him. This made him weak and exhausted – to the point that he couldn't even stand up. Whatever it was, it didn't seem to stop and the pain rising within him didn't seem to stop either.

'What is it, Tikal!?' Knuckles asked the one person who obviously held answers to what was going on.

And then the pain rose.

- xxx -

'A bio-scanner.' Tails repeated as he looked at Sonic, his blue eyes glowing with excitement.

'Alright, so how does it work?' Sonic asked, clearly confused and intrigued.

Tails took something out from his brown work belt. He then held out a portable tablet to Sonic. 'All I need to do is scan the sample of Amy's blood. Then once the results are ready, they'll tell us how critical her condition is. Once I have that data and several other readings, I can hopefully come up with a cure.'

Sonic stared at Tails with wide-eyed amusement. He had always been proud of Tails' intellect. 'Right, then should we scan it now?'

Tails nodded as he retrieved the test tube and placed it in front of him on the side table. He then held out the tab in front of it and scanned the liquid inside the test tube.

'This'll take a few minutes, Sonic.' Tails said as he studied the figures that soon began appearing on the screen.

Sonic nodded as he decided to wait. He then looked at Amy. The pink hedgehog still looked peaceful - her chest was rising and falling gently, her skin slowly regaining its color, her quills now neater than it was before. The nurses were truly taking care of her and this touched him. She has to be taken care of now; she needed to be given every bit of attention. Sonic didn't want anything happening to her when there wasn't anyone around to look after her while she was in this condition.

Sonic still shuddered at the thought of what could have happened had he decided to not go visit her as he did. Who would have spotted her? Who would have taken her to the hospital? Or worse: How could anyone have even known that she collapsed? At the time, Amy had called out to him desperately, knowing that he would help her, that he wouldn't turn his back on her. Even after a whole month of him not having visited her, she still didn't let the trust she had in him go away.

Sonic then realized how much his friends always relied on him. During the past years when something was always happening that disrupted their daily life, his friends had always known that with him on their side, they stood a chance at making things better. And that's what the blue hero always wanted – to make things better for everyone around him. He didn't want anything happening to his friends – their safety and well-being always being his top priority. That one time when Time Eater had captured them and sent them off to different zones, he had been greatly concerned. He knew that they all relied on him to get them back, and he had vowed that he wouldn't stop until he did. And he had a friend to help him too, so he wasn't entirely alone in saving the day.

Running around and saving lives was always what he did best. It was something he always enjoyed. Sonic knew that even now, during these days of peace, he would not stop doing that; and so now here he was, sitting on the edge of the bed, watching one of his best and trusted friends sleep peacefully while in a very sick state. Back at the apartment, Amy needed him, she knew that he would do something to help her – and he did. He had rushed to get her to the hospital, and he had been so desperate. The trust everyone put in him wasn't something the hero took for granted. He always did what he felt was right, and he stood for what was right.

As Sonic watched Amy sleep peacefully, he made up his mind. Once she woke up and was up and running again, Sonic promised himself that he would take her out on a run. He would hold her in his arms, close to his chest, just as he had done countless times - the very first time being when he had rescued her from Metal Sonic many years ago. Sonic would run across the plains and hills, feeling the air rush through his quills, enjoying his freedom while hearing Amy's joyous laughter – the laughter he so yearned to hear at that moment.

Once this is over, Ames. Sonic decided. I promise I'll take you out on a real date.

Sonic then recalled the many times Amy had asked him out on a date. Once he was even close to going, but then he got summoned by Merlina who had wanted him to save her from the black knight. By the time he had finally got back, Amy was clearly annoyed at the fact that he had missed out on their planned date. Sonic at the time never really saw her in any way other than as a friend. He was always looking for ways to avoid her, sometimes asking Tails to distract her for him so that he could escape.

Now though, he was feeling differently toward her. It was like he didn't want to leave her side even for a minute. He felt inclined to stay and help her get back on her feet. This was a new and very different feeling that the brave hero of Mobius would slowly begin to understand and accept in the days to come.

'S-Sonic?' Tails' voice cut through once again.

Sonic turned to look at his best friend. 'What is it, Tails? Did you find a cure?'

Tails had remained silent since the scan until now. The young fox looked worried and scared, which made Sonic feel uneasy.

'I-I don't know, Sonic. The results are very bizarre. I've never seen anything like this before.' Tails said, his eyes still locked on the screen.

'Bizarre? You mean there is no cure?'

'No, that's not it.' the young two-tail shook his head as he looked at Sonic. 'Sonic, the negative Chaos energy that's within Amy is spreading throughout her body, and the energy is largely unstable…' Tails stopped for a moment to compose himself but found that he couldn't. 'If this keeps up…th-then I don't think Amy can go on for longer, Sonic. Her organs would collapse since her body is incapable of handling that much energy. She - she could…'

Tails broke off as he felt a lump in his throat. He didn't want this either, not for a friend he has always known and who has always helped him – a friend who was ready to protect him when there wasn't anyone around...

Sonic noticed this and so he quickly sped over to his side and grabbed his shoulders. Emerald green met bright blue as the hero spoke, 'Hey, come on, Tails. We'll find a way just like we always have. As long as there's a cure to heal Amy, we can do it. I trust you, buddy.'

Tails sniffed as he wiped away his tears and nodded. 'Y-you're right, Sonic; and there is a cure. But for that, we need to get something we haven't used for an entire year.'

Sonic tilted his head to the side and asked, 'And what's that?'

'The Chaos Emeralds.'

Only then did Sonic realize the gravity of the situation.

-xxx-

Knuckles stood at the edge of the floating Angel Island, looking down at the vast area below him that was covered with a lush, green forest. A few miles away, he could make out Emerald city where his friendly nemesis Sonic stayed. He was feeling much better now as if the pain he was going through earlier had never existed.

The past few minutes had been perplexing to him and Rouge. Tikal had shown them something they had never expected to see and informed them that they had very little time to act.

His mind was still full of questions…

A few minutes earlier:

'Knuckles, you have to not let it control you!' Rouge yelled, feeling panicked more than ever. His condition was getting worse and he was close to collapsing.

'Grr…I can't!' Knuckles yelled back at her and he tried to look at the Master Emerald that was glowing brighter than ever. He could barely control his breathing now.

What are you trying to tell me?!

'Knuckles…'

Knuckles looked up when he finally heard Tikal's voice in his head.

'Knuckles, listen to me, something is disrupting the balance in your world. Chaos energy has gone loose and if it's not taken care of quickly, the Master Emerald will put a stop to it.'

'Isn't that the best option?' Knuckles asked. 'If the energy is causing havoc, then shouldn't we put a stop to it?!'

Rouge listened to what Knuckles said, worry in her eyes. She knew he was speaking to Tikal and so she remained silent.

'It's not that easy.' Tikal responded.

'What do you mean?' Knuckles asked as the pain in his body was slowly beginning to subside now since the communication was working.

'Let me show you…'

Both Rouge and Knuckles stared with wide eyes at the Master Emerald as it began to create a three-dimensional holographic image of someone. It was someone they knew so well.

'Amy?' Rouge asked, feeling perplexed.

Knuckles looked dumbfounded. 'What does Amy have to do with this?'

'She…she's the one who possesses the unstable energy, Knuckles. I don't know how she has it, but something has to be done quickly or the Emerald will put a stop to it. You know what that would mean…'

Present:

Knuckles recollected what Tikal had said. Unstable energy within Amy was something that had never happened before. As far as Knuckles knew, she had never harnessed Chaos energy. So how could this even make sense?

'Pfft. I wonder what Sonic might feel once he hears this.'

He then felt a hard slap on the back of his head that made him flinch. He turned to face Rouge.

'Hey, what did you do that for?!'

Rouge stood facing him with her hands on her hips. 'This is not the time to joke around, Knuckles. We need to go see what we can do to help her.' There was a sense of determination and concern in the eyes of the elegant bat that always seemed to have an effect on the red echidna.

Knuckles sighed as he nodded and stood up straight. 'You're right. But first, we have to tell Sonic and Tails. They should know what's going on.'

'Okay. Try to keep up then, handsome.' Rouge said and she gave him a soft peck on his muzzle. She then took off into the night sky, flying gracefully in the air as she headed for Emerald City.

'Hey, come back here!' Knuckles called after her, and after getting no response, he smirked and looked back at the Emerald.

Is it okay if I leave it unguarded for some time? He thought. He then realized that it was very late at the night. All the encounters he had faced until then had taken place before midnight. He guessed that even the rival groups needed their time to rest.

Taking a deep breath, Knuckles then took off from the Island, expertly gliding in the air as he headed for Emerald city as well.

There, chapter 5 has been finally done! It was a bit difficult to work on this chapter since I really wanted to understand how the characters would feel in the situations they were in. I also had to rethink the ending a couple of times.

By the way, I know I mentioned Tails having a work belt as he does in Sonic Boom. That doesn't necessarily mean that this fanfic is based on the Sonic Boom universe. The universe this fanfic revolves around is up to your imagination. :)

Anyway, thank you for reading this, and if you have, kindly review!

See ya next time! :)