Part 1
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Pain raged through Amy's body as she woke up. For a moment she swore an electric spark shot through her brain. She looked around at the grassy plains around her. Bits of light shot out from mountains in the distance.
Amy would have kept staring, but a voice startled her. "Hey, you all right?" She looked over at Sonic, who sat on a patch of grass nearby.
"Sonic?...Hey! You're awake!" Amy moved toward him making sure he was all right. "How are you feeling?"
Sonic chuckled a little. "You wake up after getting beat up, and the first thing you're worried about is me?"
"I'm fine." She rolled her eyes. "Wait, where are we?"
"Honestly, I have no idea. When I woke up, Shadow was here. Apparently he saved you from Rouge." He said.
An image of electric fists flashed in front of Amy. She froze in fear, then tried getting her bearings back. Rouge wasn't here. But she didn't see Shadow. "Shadow!?" Amy's eyes went wide.
"Yeah." Sonic had a sad smile.
"Where is he now!? Did he help you capture me!?" She grabbed Sonic's fur under his neck.
Sonic blinked a few times before responding. "Uh...he left, and no."
"And why should I believe you?" Her grip tightened.
"Uh...Amy? Are you ok?"
"No! Why are you helping us!?" Tears welled in her eyes. "You! Who always tried to arrest Knuckles and me! Who betrayed me, and left me in that hell hole of a prison to be experimented on!"
Sonic's expression dropped. "What?"
"And now you expect me to trust Shadow!?"
"No, he plans to arrest you and Knuckles. Even threatened to arrest me." Sonic sighed.
Amy's grip loosened, then it dropped completely. "What?" Her face softened, then hardened again. She gripped Sonic's fur again, this time tighter. "Liar! He would never arrest his brother!"
"Shadow would arrest anyone he found guilty. Even Ivo. Even me. Part of what makes him a good person." Sonic chuckled.
"Good person! Do you have any idea how much blood that monster has on his hands!?"
"No more than I do…" Sonic faced the floor. His hands clenched and his teeth grinded. Then he glared at Amy. "He's the only officer who always does the right thing. Even I can't say that."
"He's a murderer!"
"He's a hero. And he never hurts anyone unless absolutely necessary. Yeah, he's killed. But he certainly shows more restraint than you and Knuckles. Maybe even more than Tails."
Amy lifted Sonic in the air. Her voice was barely a whisper. "Don't you ever compare me to someone like Shadow." She threw Sonic to the ground, then looked around. "Why did I even bother trying to rescue a scumbag like you?"
Sonic snickered, shaking his head. "Because that's what the good guys do. They help anyone in need, even those they hate. Even their enemies." A goofy grin ran along his face as he glanced into the distance. "Just like Shadow rescued you."
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Part 2
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Oran sat at his, rifling through a dozen files on his computer. He had another press briefing, and was not looking forward to it. Protesters kept showing up and yelling insults at him, and with the meeting being open to the public, he couldn't just throw them out. One person had been removed for throwing a watermelon at him, but that was the only real incident. At least most of the people weren't violent.
Still, if he didn't find a more permanent explanation for Sonic, things would only get worse. There had been more and more reports and sightings of him hanging out with known wanted criminals. The incident with the fox had started things, but it seemed like several media outlets were questioning police practice.
It was only a matter of time before someone dug too deep. He just hoped he could kill or reprogram Sonic before then. Otherwise, it would be chaos.
The door opened, stopping his thoughts. A man in a blue suit stepped in. "Sir. The briefing's about to start."
Chief Oran stood up, heading out the door. He closed the door, making sure there were no sudden air currents or pressure changes. Shadow and Sonic might move faster than he could see, but no one would not be zooming in here without him noticing. He locked the door, making sure the cameras were still active.
He walked away, still uneasy. Shadow was not someone to underestimate, and if that hedgehog figured out what he was up to it would be a problem. Knocking him out as a kid was one thing, but now was a different story.
His unease was justified when not a minute later, Shadow clicked the passcode into his room and stepped inside silently, invisible to the cameras which were now watching a recorded feed.
A warrant from a judge and a good hacker had been surprisingly easy to find. The judge even authorized use of lethal force for some reason. Shadow understood why he was allowed not to tell Oran about the search, but license to kill seemed like overkill. Having too much authority always made him uneasy.
Shadow walked up to Oran's desk and logged onto the computer. Then he put in a usb drive, uploading a . He searched for any files that might be useful, but wasn't making much headway. What he did find was a file on Sonic.
If nothing else, the info might be useful. He needed all the information he could get, and something had been bugging him about the letters he'd gotten about Sonic's missions. He downloaded the file as well as any that seemed to have codes or odd writing patterns.
The folder titles weren't always useful, but control F made it pretty easy to search words for any long documents. He'd have a lot to go through, but at least he finally had the data. He didn't like Sonic getting into trouble, but he'd created enough distractions for a chance to put Oran behind bars. Maybe this time it would stick.
After about a half hour he ejected the usb and turned off the computer. He made sure to wipe the computer's log time down to what it had been before he left. Then he got out of the office, turning the cameras back to a live feed.
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Part 3
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Tails woke up to see Knuckles sleeping nearby. His head leaned on a cave wall, casting a shadow from the mouth of the cave. He turned back and forth for Amy and Sonic before heading back over to Knuckles. "Hey Knuckles."
Knuckles opened his eyes, looking at Tails. "Tails! You're awake." He breathed a sigh of relief.
"What happened? I remember Rouge coming in, then nothing."
"She knocked us out." Knuckles said.
Tails nodded. "What about Amy and Sonic?"
"I don't know." Knuckles faced the cave entrance. "But now that you're awake, maybe we can find out." He walked out of the cave, feeling the warmth of the rising sun. The rays soothes his aching body as he motioned for Tails to follow.
Amy's tracks were easy to follow. Even with solid ground, her footsteps would've been noticed by anyone who looked down. It was like a blade cutting through the grasslands. It seemed that she must've been following Rouge at full sprint. Considering there was only one set of tracks, Rouge must've flown away and carried Sonic.
After a while Knuckles and Tails found a place with several skid and impact marks, like a fight had broken out. Amy's tracks disappeared, but there was a new set of tracks that seemed to leap over the fight area.
Amy's tracks were gone, but the new tracks had another trail, and another trail...and another. They weren't obvious like Amy's, in fact he doubted almost anyone would see it. The scent on the other hand was very easy to track, almost intentionally so. Knuckles followed the tracks, wary of a trap.
"Tails, keep your eyes and ears ready for an ambush." Knuckles kept walking. "Something tells me we're expected. Stay back a bit, just in case."
Tails nodded as he and Knuckles followed the trail. The sun rose higher, as sweat formed on Knuckles forehead. His face was decently cool, but his body was getting hotter and hotter.
He wasn't tired, but the heat was getting to him. Sooner or later, he'd have to stop. Tails seemed unaffected by the heat for some reason, despite his tails rotating like crazy. But then, that's how wind worked. "Hey Tails. Could you send some air my way?"
"Sure." Tails aimed his tails, sending a gust that knocked Knuckles over. He hit the ground hard, but at least he wouldn't have to worry about heat exhaustion during a fight.
Tails stopped, letting Knuckles get back up. Despite the force of wind, the kid hadn't even moved. Knuckles stared at him in disbelief. "Tails, you sent me flying."
Tails' face turned red. "Sorry."
"No, that's fine. But how are you still standing? Shouldn't the gust have knocked you over too?"
"Only when I want it to. But I stay still by putting enough force on the other end." Tails shrugged. "Basic physics really. Just equal and opposite forces."
"Wow. I'll have to keep that one in mind for later." Knuckles turned back to the trail. Tails had blown away most of the scent, but there was still enough to go on.
Knuckles kept following the trail until he noticed some figures in the distance. He motioned for Tails to get ready, and got down on all fours. He snuck through the grass, closer and closer to the figures. Then, he pounced.
A pink hedgehog yelped as he tackled her. Knuckles stopped a punch as he realized he was on top of Amy. He felt a light tap from a fist and saw Sonic staring at him in confusion.
Knuckles got off Amy who glared at him. "Knuckles! What was that about!?"
"Sorry." He grinned sheepishly. "Thought there might be an ambush." He pointed at the tracks he'd followed. "The scent left by was really strong, like it'd been left there on purpose."
"Can't exactly blame you there. Shadow wasn't exactly laying a trap, but I'm not surprised he'd lead you here." Sonic said.
Knuckles' face drained of color, then turned serious. "Come on Sonic. This isn't the time for jokes."
"And that wasn't a joke." Amy said.
Knuckles turned to Amy. "Wait, he's serious?" He turned back to Sonic. "You're serious?" Knuckles shuddered. "Then we really are done for. He's gonna kill us off right now, isn't he?" He dropped his hands and head. Knuckles found himself wishing he'd left Tails back at the cave, instead he'd led the poor kid to his death.
"Not exactly." Sonic smirked. "Turns out he's after Oran."
"Who?" Amy and Knuckles looked at each other.
"Chief of police. And not exactly a law man. Apparently you're still not on the most wanted list, or at least, not the top of it."
Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "The chief of police is a wanted criminal. Yeah, that makes sense. What next, the moon's made of cheese?"
"Well, there have been some experiments to see if cow and dairy production can be more effective in lower gravity. But anyway, yeah. Oran's wanted for a lot of stuff apparently. Though evidence always seems to disappear before it can be used."