Instincts (UNDER EDITING)

by CGMayra

Amy Rose is triggered into a powerful state called Instincts, ancient reflexes in the body that've evolved to adapt uncontrolled Others. Sonic's takes his freedom against his will, Shadow's is bioengineered to be clever, and Silver's too evolved to even notice his Instincts! All are triggered by Amy's perfect scent.(SonamyShadamySilvamy)CONTAINS: NO MATING/VULGAR,CLOTHES ON,KISSING

7. Chapter 7

Instincts

Ch. 7

By: Cutegirlmayra… (Regrettably lol I really don't want to do this but I have too! I wish I didn't start this STUPID STORY! Every time a climax in a character's arc like this comes up I'm gonna be a WRECK. I CAN'T- -jumps head first with my arms to my sides out the window and breaks the glass- Anyway… I'm probably rushing… kinda like I did the last chapter and rushed passed the kissing scenes for this one -_-; to my own defense, it's my story, and I don't really like the idea of anyone kissing Amy besides Sonic so there! xAx -Edited note: before edits, I definitely didn't rush this time around T/v/Tb these are tears of shame lol.- However, I might as well get passed this chapter so I can move on to the other fun stuff I have in mind… Like Silver's appearance! -Edited note: Where I just start the whole issue again!? lol- So,.. enjoy you Shadamy lovers out there XP Are their instincts really themselves? How so? This is the exciting end of 'Shadow's arc!' I hope you enjoyed it and were utterly and completely surprised by the new twist in fates! Stick around for-

Silver's Arc!

Coming soon! :DDDD -Edited note: Or right now cause I'm combining the chapters lol- So much fighting… so many things that need to be said, ugh, I love the drama~ I'm just happy half of what I worried about is over, but… there's still stuff to worry about later on.. BDB nuuu! Anyway, I think I will have fun writing this chapter, hopefully, and you will enjoy reading it too :) I'll uh… try and make these chapters longer XP -Edited note: No worries on that now, right? XD- The mysterious Silver from the future has appeared! But is this great news? Or a foreshadowing of horrors to come!? And who is the man that's right for Amy? Or rather… right for the future?! Stay tuned for another chapter of Instincts! :D EDITED: No longer rushed but with added animal instincts from many different animals and not just Hedgehogs -though those are widely included and are the main source of 'instincts' for these characters- but I figured since they were well evolved..? Eh? Why not. Not like I'm leading up to Instinct Culture for Season 2 or anything... -sideways glances with an anime sweatdrop- Enjoy the rewrites~)

-Back with Sonic-

The desire to see Amy was unbearable, he tried to fall asleep on a tree branch without caring what time it actually was, but tossed himself over on accident as his emotions and thoughts raced with Amy, his Instinct trying to influence him through such feelings. Falling from the tree, he spread his arms out and cried out before landing head first into the hard ground. Lose dirt sprayed up, and in his annoyance at not being able to sleep this off, he rubbed his head into the ground as though hoping to get the message across to his inner-demon that he would rather eat and smell dirt than find and hurt Amy. He didn't want to admit he worried about her, that he wanted to check up on her, and that seeing and speaking with Tails wasn't enough... He continued to roll about, gripping his face as he did so. "Ah man..!" He had never felt anything pull him so fiercely to Amy's side before. He felt his body toss himself left and right, not knowing why, but seeming to mimic what his instincts thought Amy was doing right about now...

Probably in heat... probably being watched over by... by...

His eyes opened in terrible pain at thinking that another man was looking out for Amy... and couldn't help but not trust it. His lips pulled in as his eyebrows narrowed, he didn't want Shadow there... he wanted to be there... but he couldn't... then Shadow shouldn't be there either!

He gripped his head again and threw his legs up as he tossed himself left again, "Gahh! Make it stop!" he pleaded, his whole body fighting the urge to go to her, not caring about the danger that presented itself.

It couldn't be as bad as if Shadow... If...

Sonic had never thought about something so concerning that caused him to feel physical pain before in his entire life.

"Ahh!" he bent his body as though about to curl, not wanting to even think about the possibility of Shadow failing to protect Amy like he had...

'It should be me..! I know that, but I can't control myself! If Shadow can fight it better than me... pfft, what can he do better than me?' his pride and his instincts made him grit his teeth at complimenting another male, but he didn't know that was why he was distaining Shadow's presence so much...

He laid to his side and scratched his fingers through the dirt, shaking in rage. 'He can't fail her... Like she and I failed.' he forced his anger to cease and closed his eyes, frowning as he tried to calm himself down.

'You're going to lose our mate!' Instinct Sonic was growing more and more powerful as he felt his territory was being taken from him, and with it... Instinct Amy. 'What are you!? A coward?!'

"Grk!" Sonic stood up, rolling backwards on the arch of his spine to force himself upright with an athletic push off to his feet. Feeling his voice want to cry out some weird animal sound, he kept his mouth shut and wouldn't allow such emoting. It was coming... the season was neigh at hand, but he shouldn't be so easily influenced and triggered. He coughed to prevent the call and held out his hand, shaking it a moment before resolved to jab him in the throat.

It hurt both of them, but it shocked it enough that Sonic had more control over himself now. He wished he could go back to how it was... before his Instinct ever smelled Amy coming into her first season... He had smelled girls and waved it off, so his instincts and him just fought over control, but not like this... not for what would and wouldn't happen to his friend...

"Forget it... Last time, Amy made a poor sense in judgement... I won't lead my life anticipating her to make similar mistakes..." He rubbed his neck, speaking out now that his instincts weren't so full-blown trying to take over. "Amy needs someone who can control or at least subdue his instincts. I... I still need time to knock you out of me." Sonic glared towards the distance, as though speaking directly to his instincts... face to face... man to man... but that wasn't the case as his body shot up with a strange sensation and Sonic bent himself down, tightening his fist to try and resist it. "Urk..!"

'...She choose you... to protect her and provide. She built that nest for a reason. Who do you think might have triggered her?'

As his Instincts pleaded to return to her, Sonic's eyes widened momentarily before getting up, slamming a fist into a tree.

"That's enough..."

He was so angry, but he knew it was just the season, just the frustration of not having full control over himself... and something else too.

Instinct Sonic sounded fiercer than he was normally used to. Usually carefree and tackling into other instinct-driven males that were in his territory, he usually was a lazy hedgehog that just raced around at normal, four-legged speed. Yes, they still hated each other—Instinct Sonic for how badly and poorly Sonic treated him, and Sonic for obviously his lack of freedom over his own self during this time—but even still... they usually just fought, rested, and ended up tolerating each other until it was over and done with...

Sonic had no desire to merge with his instinct, after all, there wasn't a reason to. Getting along with your body's senses wasn't appealing to Sonic in the slightest. To him, he was all there is, and all there ever should be. Though, that then made Tails wonder about Forced Virginity in males, but Sonic didn't care if it did or didn't apply to him.

Luckily, it didn't seem that relevant in males, and was mostly a female-condition. But still... as far as Sonic was concerned, he would fight his instincts till his dying day.

'You have to go to her, she's not safe!' But Sonic didn't trust his Instinct, and felt it was wrong. If he went to her... she'd still be in the same danger.

But he did trust his gut, and there was an uneasy feeling about leaving Shadow to take care of Amy... it wasn't his job, how could he be trusted? He smelled... and his instincts told him it was the powerful scent of an alpha.

But then... 'You know I'm right!' his Instincts fought again, triggering Sonic's body as he hunched over even more, gripping his head this time as Sonic couldn't help thinking and feeling the way he did. 'You think an alpha would pass up on her!? Think again!' He barked from within, enraged by Sonic's decision to protect Amy by staying away from her. 'She couldn't possibly control a beta that powerful!'

"A what?" Sonic raised an eyebrow, leaning up from the searing pain in his body at not following what it wanted to do.

'The only way Amy could keep another male around, while honoring our promised bond, would be if the other male submitted to being a Beta. Hedgehogs are usually solitary creatures, that's how I know not one male of our kind would honor such an arrangement!' Instinct Sonic tried to convince him, was speaking from his very core, and Sonic felt his heart beating rapidly faster as continual fear for Amy's safety set in. The instinct voice wasn't so impactful now, but informative. It knew Sonic would never share it's mind with him, so he shared his own innate knowledge.

Sonic looked around, thinking it through. "But Tails said-"

'Controlling your body and controlling your mind are two separate things, My Other. If you would only heed me out..!' Sonic, once again, felt his will was being threatened as his senses started heightening. He wouldn't lose control, no matter how many times, he would fight all the way to the last second.

"You won't win..." Sonic squinted his eyes, gritting his teeth against the pining that his Instincts forced himself into, to feel...

But was it all forced?

'She needs you... She trusted you!' Instincts began to rise in Sonic as it's voice inside him turned fierce once again, his eyes shifting in and out before he riled himself up and slammed his head into the tree. A tactic he knew worked for moments longer of control that he had figured out long ago. 'Trust me! Both of them are in danger! This Shadow will not honor any imaginary bonds! Only scent reveals if a female has been claimed. Do not hesitate and leave us too late..!'

"Now you listen here..." Sonic growled, his quills spiking with the rise of his fury. Yes, the chemicals in his body were making him want to fight, but he couldn't actually physically tackle this one... and that left him at a disadvantage. "I don't need you telling me anything about Amy! I know more about her than you ever will!"

He strained to keep driving his head into the tree, not wanting to give his Instincts any leeway or break from the tension of war going on inside of them.

"If Amy didn't feel safe with Shadow she would have fled! Or fought! I won't let you deceive me!" Sonic... was already starting to feel that his Instinct's intentions this time around were pure. He just didn't want anyone else to be with Amy, but there was that knowing of what his instincts also wanted to accomplish, and that kept him from fully trusting it.

'I'm not interested in your Amy!' his Instincts barked back inside his head, still resisting Sonic's suffocation and self-pain. "But my Amy is going to get hurt! And I'm not gonna let you allow it!' Sonic felt a powerful heat that felt maybe from his stomach or lower abdomen suddenly roar mightily up his chest and made him feel like his heart was pumping lava.

He gripped his heart, moving away from the tree, "You..." he was about to insult his instincts before it seemed to give one last declaration before Sonic felt the searing fire begin to draw his consciousness away again. His will was strong... but that also meant his Instinct's will was too.

And somewhere... deep inside of Sonic's denial... he wanted to save Amy too.

'Before she was triggered... do you remember? You won't show me... but I bet you know.' As Sonic's eyes blinked, he almost collapsed before his hands and feet caught him on all fours.

"Stop it!" he knew what happened before Amy did fall into Instincts... he knew what had happened... between them... and what may have happened before she and even Sonic knew what instincts were.

'Before I met her, before you hid her from me, something triggered you to reach out... but you held back and your scent reached her, didn't it? What are you keeping from me? Why has this female completely taken over my every action and intent? I think of her and your soul is drawn to protecting her. I feel you, I am you. I know there's something about her. No other female's scent raptured me as much as hers... but you... Something meaningful is about that female, and you deny us of it! Why!? Did she summon me out!?'

"I said enough!" Sonic swung himself out from the trees, speedily racing in a random direction before once again faltering and feeling his consciousness slip. "You'll never understand... you'll... you'll only hurt... her..." as though falling asleep at last, Sonic tumbled and went limp into a field of grass...

As Sonic's eyes blinked open, a weary arm reached forward... trying to get himself up off of his stomach... finally to his feet... then he faltered and closed his eyes, wobbling again, almost collapsing before his hands and feet caught him on all fours.

And a pair of diamond eyes glared powerfully, determinedly set on something as it peered to the ground below it.

"You're not Amy's Alpha... I am."

Instinct Sonic breathed his lungs again, having full power over every muscle that ached with longing, over the heat that kept him alive, but he felt his form still hurting from his Other's attempts at keeping him idle. Away from her... from his chosen mate... he wouldn't allow any further delays. His heart sent the command and the body seemed to power-up with it's instructions.

Find her. Save her. Protect her.

Instinct Sonic wasn't one to stand around while danger was afoot, much like Sonic naturally was... but this was different too.

Similar... yet cursed to remain differently goaled... for now.

Not by the instincts fault alone... but by differing beliefs and opposite ends of the same line... both wouldn't clarify, and Sonic definitely didn't want to discuss it.

Instinct Sonic felt his body twitch at the memory of Instinct Amy's slight jab of the tip of her quills, and he dug his fingers into the ground in the sensation it gave him. Like a ghostly touch, he could remember as though living it now... The tender way she tasted... the smell of her... the warmth of her breath as she was moments from the height of her heat... He wouldn't wait much longer.

His eyes dilated in desire, the star-shaped diamond flexing as though twinkling with the thoughts that were no longer burdened by Sonic's constant suppression. Instinct Sonic believed that Shadow was a threat, one that couldn't surpass him in defending what was already Instinct Sonic's to claim.

Before, he had held back simply because he wanted her all, the complete want to succumb and have absolute loyalty to him. He wanted Instinct Amy to want him too... but she was newly brought about, and he was patient enough to bide his time and mess around with her... but now it was serious.

There was another male constantly around her... his natural instincts told him to fight.

He had bided his time with his Other's incessant bickering, entreating him to understand him but he refused each and every time with a violent mental struggle, but now it was a full out war he refused to lose.

This time... another dominant male had set his sights and marked his throne upon Instinct Sonic's territory with absolutely no challenge on Instinct Sonic's part, a true crime if he was to be a powerful Alpha that could defend his family, and he wouldn't stand for it. "You may not fight for her... believing she is free to choose her own course in nature," Instinct Sonic lowered down, stalking through the tall grass as quick as a hunter should, but as careful as prey, knowing he wasn't the top of the food chain. His eyes darted around as he huffed and grunted his thought out loud to his Other, who he felt was boiling past his limit. Sonic's true anger was no longer being held back, and his usual calm, carefree nature was now replaced by a hot-headed hatred for his body being taken over by such things he didn't fully understand still. Sonic refused to accept his instincts as part of his own being, but instead, prepared to fight as though his life—and Amy's—depended on it. "But it is within my nature to seize what I want through protecting my own! She has already stated I will be her Alpha, and therefore, nothing will stand in my way of defending what is mine!" He was showing Sonic how a true hedgehog's growls... how a true hedgehog defends what it cares most about... how a true hedgehog would fight for the things it desperately longed for!

Looking around first in the tall grass, he stuck his head out and checked to make sure there weren't any predators or other dangers, and then bolted at regular hedgehog sprinted speed towards Amy's home and followed her scent.

They were miles and miles away... and not knowing Sonic's ability to transcend light-speed, he moved as quickly as he knew how too.

Within his mind, Sonic clutched his face and chest, his body pulsing with the desire to fight and conquer. He was so angry, but unable to do anything about it. 'Just listen to me... You parasite, listen-!' he rose inside his mind's image, the hiss of his words stung at Instinct Sonic... they should be one in purpose and in life, not torn to be so apart. Stomping forward and gripping a fist to his side, Sonic shouted with every last bit of him.

'Just don't hurt Amy!'

Instinct Sonic smiled.

He knew he would see it his way, even if he didn't want to admit it to himself, which felt strange to Instinct Sonic. But regardless...

Shadow had to go down.

He huffed as Shadow's scent seemed to mingle with a faint trace of Amy's, it warned his every sense that this was a devastatingly dangerous matured Alpha scent, newly awakened which meant more uncontrollable than ever. "It's his first season..." Instinct Sonic concluded, and that sent a roaring steam train of velocity to fuel himself forward. As speed was apart of Sonic's natural powers, but not his instincts, Instinct Sonic suddenly felt a need to go faster, and that he could... but Sonic suppressed his mind like a iron vault, and Instinct Sonic was forced to continue at this regular speed.

'Why..?' he begged, feeling hopelessly disconnected to his full potential. 'Why do you deny me even still..? You and I are Sonic.' He looked up, his eyes bending as though truly wishing to be accepted into knowing all he was capable of, and all of who he was.

Sonic lowered his head with a deadly look of animosity in his eyes... And Instinct Sonic knew he would never help them become one.

He would always fight against the urge to long for what Amy had always offered him... that life... domestic and romantic... was never going to match what he wanted for himself, and he refused to compromise it.

-Amy's home... with triggered Instincts-

Instinct Amy had to do something, if she didn't, she would be claimed and her station and Instinct Sonic's would be in jeopardy.

Instinct Shadow was moving over her, sliding his head from her shoulder to her back and seeming to try and pin her down, but in a gentle approach of it.

Once he saw her defenses breaking, it seemed all he cared about was getting her into the right position... but there was no way he was going to get Instinct Amy to her nest.

She wouldn't have any of it.

She was fighting so hard, even Amy within her—who now had her senses back was screaming for her to do something, anything! Amy felt it was all her fault… for trusting Shadow and sticking by him when he refused to be tested by Tails to make sure his Instincts were in check...

Why did he refuse? Why didn't he see the dangers and..?

Was that... why Sonic left?

A beautiful but terrifying moment occurred then, where Amy began to see why Sonic's leaving was to actually protect her. Shadow didn't leave... he wasn't strong enough to leave.

'I can't believe I ever-!' Amy mentally scolded herself, though she never doubted that Sonic wanted her to be safe, she hadn't thought that his leaving could have been the hardest thing for him to do.

With his Instincts constantly trying to get to her... the fact that he's remained gone for so long should have been to his praise, but it still left Amy vulnerable... just like this moment with...

'I can't let this happen! I don't care what I have to do! Shadow can't control himself, he can't just back off and run away like Sonic. But I can't just stay here either! If I do flee,... others will come for me. We lose either way, how is this fair!?' Mentally trying to think of solutions and not drown in despair, which wasn't like her but it honestly did seem like no way out... hopeless...

'"I shall not be claimed by this beta!" Instinct Amy growled, vocalizing, but keeping her thoughts to herself. Something Amy had noticed... do Instincts not have the ability to think inwardly?

'They are the body... so it would make sense if the mind was left to us...' Amy didn't want to feel or think about what was happening outside her body, but she couldn't help and see through her Instinct's eyes. 'You have to fight him! Do everything you can! If I have to be claimed... if something awful were to happen... I'd rather it not be with Shadow!'

Instinct Amy's eyes dilated, as though attempting to merge.

She reared up, going against her submissive behavior and fighting back with a powerful bash upwards to slam her back against his chin hard to hit his skull, and then bucked to kick him away as she darted around the room. Instinct Amy was convincing herself she was already taken, and that Sonic was her alpha. That was the only way to fight it… at least… that Instinct Amy could think of...

"I ... I can't resist for long." She admitted to her Other self, dashing but knowing when he regained himself—watching his head swing back and forth and him pawing at his jaw—that he'd come back to attack and force out her submissive side again. "We cannot escape our nature..." she whimpered, hearing him bark and take off after her. She leaped with a powerful pounce over the edge of her nest and rounded the couch, going in a circle to hopefully evade him with obstacles, but she didn't know Instinct Shadow had every ability that his Other had accessible to him... There was no way she could outmatch him, but she didn't know about their Others' abilities and what wonderous, dangerous things they could do.

'You can't let this happen!' Amy screamed from her mind, 'I won't be the reason Shadow,..' she felt her heart racing, felt her Instinct's flight or fight response, and knew the end was drawing neigh where Shadow would overpower them. '...and Sonic both fell!' she began crying within her mind, unable to block her sights from the scene... 'What if this makes Sonic leave me for good? Would he... really believe I couldn't control myself at all? It's not all my fault! Will he dislike me now..? That I'm... I'm not strong enough? Ohhh! I'm such a idiot! If Shadow and I woke up to the same fate…' She felt her entire body quiver with such fears, and realized that her Instincts was scared too.

'You're... You're scared too... aren't you?' She lightly, as though imagining it, tried to comfort her Instincts by mentally placing her hand on her head. She felt... were these... 'Do you want to cry?' she was amazed she could empathize with her Instincts, and hadn't realized how truly in sync they could possibly be. But she didn't want to experience what might happen. Instinct Shadow had already jumped on the couch, watching her circle as though smart enough to wait for her to wear herself out. 'No,' Amy saw it, but could feel and understand that her Instinct couldn't.

'It's a trap!' she opened her mind and showed her Instincts the danger, and with a sharp turn of her head, Instinct Amy looked to Instinct Shadow and his eyes widened slightly, realizing she had just had a moment of enlightenment.

"You're communicating with your Other... aren't you?" He knew that her new tactic display wasn't from her own thinking, but most likely from her Other giving her intel. "That won't do..." He knocked over the table, shoving it to block her way into the kitchen.

She tried to pivot quickly towards the stairs but he jumped and landed on the first step, advancing towards her. "How long do you think you can continue this chase, my Alpha..?" His grunts were like a threatening mock, low like a grumbling purr, but sickly alluring with the hints of his excitement at what was to come...

That neither Amy would succumb too.

'Will she be able to stop this?' Amy thought to herself, terrified. Her Instinct was on her side this time, so maybe that offered some escape. After all, didn't Tails say something about a way to work together..?

"He shall not have me..!" Her instinct responded, which left Instinct Shadow to know that she wasn't addressing him anymore.

"You dare focus on your Other... Than upon me!?" It was an insult, she was treating him like he wasn't the biggest threat, top priority in that room... But when he speared into her neck, he made it clear that he had stopped playing the 'nice guy'. Forcing her down into her submissive stance again, he wasn't going to let her wiggle free this time..!

"I won't be taken as some prey to his schemes of power!" Her protesting shrieks and scratches were now life or death, his bite was directly squeezing her throat, and if she didn't submit now he could seriously hurt her enough to faint. If she couldn't fight... it'd be all over.

'Good! I'm glad we're on the same page!' Amy didn't know what else to do, but she felt the pain in her neck at him trying to force her to submit, and didn't know what knowledge to give her other to combat it. 'You can't mate! You just can't! We have to stick together on this one, please!'

Instinct Amy was thrown on her back now, kicking and pawing as Instinct Shadow finally had enough. The throw itself left her weak, unable to breathe right, but she kept fighting, she wouldn't stop, and this was starting to get distressing to Instinct Shadow...

His eyes looked over to her, realizing if he put any more force on her neck, he could snap it.

'There must be a way to calm her…' Instinct Shadow thought a moment and got one of Shadow's ideas from his mind, forcing his will onto Shadow which wasn't how normal instincts worked. This only proved Gerald Robotnik's advancement in species and making them such overwhelming forces of nature. However, Shadow suspected this could be some of his demonic blood too... he wasn't sure. Shadow fought back in his mind to prevent him from doing so, if he failed Amy in keeping control, he certainly wouldn't fail her in locking information in his own mind.

Instinct Amy's quills were stretched and shaking, elongated to fight but also exposing that she was ready to mate if Instinct Shadow could just break through her defensives...

How was this easier for Instinct Sonic? He didn't know... he figured a lack of experience was why she was so submissive to him in the beginning, with barely any fight.

'She's a submissive Beta... How is she able to fight for so long and take so much without giving in already?' He was growing frustrated, and blew air out his nose to indicate to her he wasn't giving up anytime soon. 'Needless to say, she's a perfect mate to breed with. She's strong, she's able to take hits... We'll have an army living through us..!' He jumped off of her and let her whimper away, limping slightly before shaking herself out... He saw her quills lowering... Any minute now...

'Stop! This is not the way! You'll draw her more and more away from you! Cease this madness!' Shadow fought hard to keep his mind locked, but his Instincts truly felt like something he couldn't overpower.

But Shadow wasn't one to surrender either.

'Nothing's impossible.' His mental voice sounded like it was gaining strength, 'Nothing's happened yet. I can still win this..!'

Instinct Shadow lowered his head to hers as she continued to resist, but it was clear she didn't have much fight left to give...

"…One touch… that's all you need to stop fighting… one moment… where I become you're precious Sonic…" He slowly moved to lower himself as though submitting, but everything in Instinct Amy knew it was a trap to lower her guard even further... she growled as he came closer... closer...

Then saw her weary hand try to move herself back... and not be able to take strength anymore, stumbling slightly as she cried out in a squeak of fright.

That was all he needed, one moment of weakness...

'NOOO!' Shadow and Amy mentally screamed out, watching and experiencing Instinct Shadow launch himself forward and kiss Instinct Amy to stumble back towards her nest, acting defenseless.

It caused her to naturally dip to her stomach and lean her body back over the edge of it's pillows and other cushions.

"I... I can't resist anymore..." Instinct Amy admitted, as Amy kept trying to gain power over her body again but couldn't. Heat was rising again from his influence... his scent becoming more than she could bare. He was an Alpha, and everything he was doing was subduing her... it forced her into a state of submission and the urge to mate rose as he stepped into her nest, continuing to entice her deeper in and literally dragging her more within it. Since she was in her second year, the urge was so profoundly stronger than her first year that Instinct Amy literally lost all thought and only acted on that feeling... when he stopped kissing her he immediately grabbed her dress with his mouth and whipped his head to yank her back into its center...

'Wait… what's happening…? I feel your will slipping away… where are you? Other me…? OTHER ME! WAKE UP! STOP!' Amy threw her mental hands out, hoping to feel a wall or something to hit against, but nothing... she was stuck in place.

She didn't want to turn around and try and dig through the blackness to not see anything, not feel anything... she was slipping too... would she... soon be gone as well?

Then, the unthinkable happened.

Instinct Amy began to reach up to kiss him too... under his chin as she fell backwards... licking and nipping at his tuffs as her temperature increased, she breathed heavily... all seemed lost...

With a smirk at his inevitable conquest, Instinct Shadow leaned down. "And now... the finale." With each deep kiss came a deeper wave of hunger, more desire to be with whomever was there,… regardless of who or her Other's consent.

"At last…" He laid down, feeling her about to curl as she turned to her side, then flopped up slightly before coming back down... clearly indications that she was preparing to curl any moment now...

Instinct Shadow pulled back only a moment to hold her beneath him, twisting himself to ready to break her one last time... one sweet last second of ripping her open and then...

"You will be mine…"

A loud crash suddenly hit against the door frame.

He reared his head up, fright and panic dominating before anger quickly swept through his whole being. "No..!" His Other was no where to be heard, and Instinct Amy's heat had probably drowned out her Other's voice and influence too.

Everything was perfect... "Why now!?" He rose to his feet, feeling her lightly nip at his wrist as though asking for more stimuli as she was now acting in full-blown heat. Her paw lifted up to push lightly against him, and he leaned down growling... "Of all the insufferable things I've had to go through for this exquisite, one moment... you decide to show up!?"

Picking her up like an Other would, Instinct Shadow held her bridal style and as close to him as he could. He licked the bridge between her eyes and just above her nose to keep her in her heat, anything to keep her in this state he had worked so hard to obtain. "Now... Who is this Sonic?!"

Another loud crash and scratching came from the window, barks, squeaks, and overall panic and excited noises came from outside. But the moment of truth truly came as Sonic's silhouette jumped to the windowsill. It paced... in an obvious hurry but also now sniffing and remaining silent as though investigating, listening...

Instinct Shadow remembered his Other's memory of Sonic being nearby, seeing that the shadowed figure's three long quills matched the memory...

Wanting to avoid the so-called, Alpha's wrath, of his territory being breached and his mate being taken, he began to quickly move to the back door... Keeping his head down and out of sight... he knew it wouldn't take long for Sonic's Instincts to end up breaking in. He used his mouth to open twist the doorknob, being as sneaky as he could while Instinct Amy still clung to him and sucked on the tips of his white chest tuffs.

He leaned his head to rub against hers, "Soon..." He growled in annoyance, trying to keep her at bay but still wanting his intimacy as he zoomed upon Shadow's skates and quickly fled the scene. "Even without your nest... You just need a new one..." He spoke quickly like this thoughts, looking behind him to make sure no other males followed... he set his sights on a large mountain that seemed to topple over the others...

He smiled, which made Instinct Amy think he was surrendering, not an Alpha move. She tried to break free of his hold a moment, squirming but he growled and snapped down at her, causing her to relax again at his Alpha behavior.

"Hush now... my mate." His growls sounded more territorial now and hostile, he clearly wanted to make this official and was getting more and more aggressive in his desire to finish the deed... Which would mean his 'claiming' wouldn't be as sweet anymore... Instinct Amy would definitely get hurt.

His ears twitched, listening for where Instinct Sonic was, but not being able to smell him. 'His scent is light... haha! That must be why he couldn't claim her!' he gloated, and began hurrying through the forest, knowing her scent would spread like wildfire. "At least there,... I can claim my permeant station as Alpha and this territory in peace! Without any-…" he turned his gaze from where he was skating the propelling jets on Shadow's feet to more aggressively tugging and sucking on Instinct Amy's ear and down her already limp quills to her neck. He would need to sharpen those quills up to curl again, but that would unfortunately have to wait now...

"Unwanted…." He had to keep her wanting more. "Interruptions…" And continued to pull out more of a lasting heat from her and keep her within his grasps. He didn't want her breaking out completely and not having any time left to get her back into it. This would be a race against time...

But that's how most things with Shadow and Sonic were like... who would beat the other in a showdown of speed?

Shadow, within himself, couldn't stand the shame and horror he was feeling. The regret of not warning her as he should have, only because he feared he wouldn't be allowed to protect her again...

'Maybe it wasn't that I couldn't protect her… but more so... wouldn't see her again…' His reflection would have to wait, however, as he tried to figure out if there was a way to break his bodily state off by emotionally manipulating his own self. But through his mind..?

'You…You monster..!' he felt a wave of anger pour from within him, and Instinct Shadow just thought it silly that he should act this way. 'Now I'll lose her forever! I, the ultimate lifeform, can't even control these….these…stupid instincts!? How am I to be belittled by such an abnormality as this!? I won't let you get away with it!' Even Shadow was finding it hard, how could one change the state of their body? He couldn't affect how he was breathing, Instincts was doing that. If calming down wasn't an option... what was?

Even he couldn't fight his own body… and the pain and devastation of it infuriated him down to his very core. He couldn't fathom that because he was first triggered... it was only his first season too. Mastery over one's Instincts didn't seem to happen right away, leading to these terrible questions that seemed to have no answers to them... But answers were coming, just in time...

'How else do I seize power and control over myself again!?'

"Power and control is coming... You'll see... Once you rule this land and have your mate... You'll understand things my way." Instinct Shadow huffed out. All he could think about was his survival, it was all instincts ever thought about. Territory, Prosperity, and Progeny, the needs for shelter and food were all part of prospering, but so was posterity.

And yet… Shadow's Instinct made him more of a natural hedgehog than he could ever have been or experienced in his whole life. Closer, even, to really being a living thing that was meant to belong to this world. However, Shadow tossed the idea as if it was inferior to be anything more than the ultimate lifeform, it was who he was. He hadn't been born to be a 'natural hedgehog', but to cure the world. He had accepted his fate of being hated long ago, due to the implications of what a 'cure' could mean... but to be feared and hated by… her?

Could he endure that kind of fate?

Instinct Sonic finally shook his head as though charging and bolted through the window, breaking the glass as he curled for the landing and uncurled in a matter of seconds, huffing in agitation and smelling her scent overfilling the room and flying out the wind. "Amy... I'm here!" In his longing, he dashed to every place he could, scratched at the closet where he remembered she hid once, but was able to calm down long enough to lift his nose up. Her scent was too strong... He gave a deep glare as he raced to the nest, tossing pillows left and right as he gripped them with his teeth and threw them up behind him with a jerk of his body, pushing off his hands to really send them flying back. "Amy..!" he called, squeaking in his panic at wanting to find her but also triggering his desire to be close and intimate with her as her scent filled his nostrils. It was clearly at the strength of a long-lasting heat, but there was no sign of her. "No... They were here..!" He honestly looked defeated, his ears bending back as he then smelled a powerful Alpha stench... "But I don't see any signs that she was claimed... the scent is everywhere, not just here... maybe she fought." He continued to place his nose to the floor and follow the most recent trail, which was difficult, since Instinct Amy's scent was intoxicatingly overwhelming. However, looking up, he noticed the door was open in the back kitchen, with a table being in front of the way... Did he grab Instinct Amy and jump, making a barrier to keep him away from her? He was about to ignore the idea of dragging a female with your teeth over such an obstacle, and kept sniffing the floorboards until-

'They're gone.'

Instinct Sonic huffed, "Not you again." and carried on in his tracking task...

Then he felt what was like a mental slap, and felt his head jerk back to the door.

'He's fleeing to the mountains!'

"You're... not lying to me?" Instinct Sonic was still enraged at Instinct Shadow's presence mixed so strongly with Instinct Amy's scent, but Sonic was still not letting him connect the dots. Without access to Sonic's mind, he couldn't understand how Instinct Shadow got Instinct Amy, while she's in heat, over the laid and possibly broken table...

'Trust me...'

Sonic's voice didn't sound like it was messing around...

Instinct Sonic huffed, "If this is a trick to keep me from my Amy, you'll be sorry!"

He pawed the ground as though ready to charge over the table and did so with a spin before dashing out the door.

"Ah! Her scent!" He caught wind of her trail again, "He definitely got her over it..." He looked back, puzzled by how Instinct Shadow could do such a feat, but seemed to draw his ears back in worry. "If he's that strong..."

'Doesn't matter how strong anyone is. We're finding Amy, and getting her back.'

"Yeah!"

Instinct Sonic hopped a little in the air, actually happy for once his Other wasn't being so mean to him.

"But if you don't behave yourself..!'

Mentally, Sonic's powerful will jerked all of his body to one side, not just his head, and had Instinct Sonic stumble in his run. Getting back up from such an experience, he limped a moment before fighting through the tumble and whimpering at the strength of his 'Other's persistence.

He was in full-blown instincts... and yet... he still managed to remain somewhat dominantly intact within his mind... something that made Instinct Sonic wonder if he could ever be able to be with Instinct Amy... alone.

'Don't count on it.'

Sonic's mental voice actually caused Instinct Sonic to submit as though he was the Alpha, but he snapped at his shoulder in defiance at making him want to submit to him. "Quiet, you!" he barked silently to himself. "You never let me have any fun... and Amy's in danger, I won't let you distract me! ...But... thanks for helping me."

Sonic didn't say another word.

But there was a moment... where Instinct Sonic felt something unlocking to him.

There was silence in the mind, but an image of a blue streak... the fastest thing alive...

Instinct Sonic felt his eyes lowering, "...Please..."

He closed his eyes,.. then suddenly got up from being on all fours, and Sonic took off in a streak of blue.

He reached the mountain's base before collapsing, "N-...No..." he gritted his teeth, gripping some rocks he was hoping to climb to get to Amy... but her scent was stronger now that she was closer, and as he strained to keep his eyes opened... he heard his Instinct's plea again... and felt his control being taken away again. "Just... don't... let him... hurt her..."

He slipped, his eyes looking like they were rolling back as he seemed to lose consciousness... but his hand came back more powerfully this time, digging his fingers into the earth as he crunched them into it, then ran on all fours up it's mighty face... "Don't worry! I won't let him have her!"

Instinct Shadow jumped from rock to rock, looking back to see if the crumbling pieces of dirt were signaling anyone to his location. Looking off, it didn't appear he was followed, but he knew Instinct Amy's scent wouldn't just be tossed aside. Shadow wasn't triggered when he first caught wind of it from so far away, but being this close and in heat, Instinct Shadow knew he could remain so long as he continued to act clever. Climbing up with Instinct Amy starting to come out of heat, he looked to her and noticed the scent decreasing and bit at her quills to keep them up, straining them through his teeth but seeing it wasn't having the same effect anymore. He was more than livid about it, he could even feel himself coming out of the urge and quickly spotted a huge cave's mouth just a little ways away. "I won't let that insignificant alpha have one over me!" he wouldn't play Beta when he knew he could be more, and so much more than this other—lacking—Sonic.

However, getting to the cave, Instinct Shadow felt the connection between Shadow's mind and him slipping, probably due to moment very much passed but he was clinging to the embers, clawing at the cave's mouth as though trying to still make sure he had power over it's movements.

However, he had to drop Amy as his knees came back down to the ground, and he couldn't walk on two legs anymore. "No..!" he gruffed with a powerful bite in the air, feeling Shadow begin to slip more and more into the back of Instinct Shadow's mind. "No matter... even without my Other's knowledge, I will still have you!"

What Instinct Shadow couldn't recognize is that this was a backwards trigger. Instincts usually begin with being solely themselves, then having their Other and then their Other's memories, intel, and the like. After that desires merge and they truly are one in both powerful senses and their mind and body linked up, but Shadow was different. This was happening in reverse, and as each second ticked on the clock, Instinct Shadow was losing his domain...

Tossing Amy's limp body to the side and staking territory, he continued to mark the cave with his claws, also sharpening them through the gloves in case he was followed...

Instinct Amy lay motionless besides her heavy breathing… It seemed she completely slipped into a pure instinct, but without it being provoked, she would come out of heat rather quickly...

Already in the process of awakening, Amy felt herself coming back, and mentally could see things again, not sure why she was in a dark place.

It certainly wasn't her home.

'Wake up!' she felt herself slipping again as Instinct Shadow moved back over to her, trying to stimulate her again. 'You can't! you mustn't! Please!' Amy cried out harder within herself, wringing her hands together. 'I don't think anything happened...' She knew she still didn't have any power over herself yet but this was lasting far longer than it ever did with Sonic... Or did it just seem like it? She had stayed drifted back and floating within her subconscious and nothing happened with her and Sonic... so... She couldn't think of things like that right now.

Instincts were still such a mystery... she wanted to focus on trying to get control, or at least get Instinct Amy to fight back again. 'Other me!' she cried out, but still no sound... just... eerily, heavy breathing...

It was no use, her body was still submitting to the natural order of the world, the way things were and the primeval instincts of her ancestors.

'…Sonic…' She couldn't help think his name, but no reaction came from her Instincts. 'Please…' He also saved her. He also did... She mentally gripped her head, unable to cry since her body wasn't in her possession anymore. Her own emotions weren't connected to her body, how was that possible? 'Is this... what it means to be detached?' she tried to summon all her memories of Sonic, feeling that the last hope she had was either emotionally connecting to what her body was feeling, which... wasn't an option right now, or possibly her scent reaching Sonic, which she knew he couldn't resist… 'Please… Save me… I… I can't fight back anymore..' She kept trying to send her feelings to her Instincts, but there was no response while she was still under Heat, granted coming out of it a bit, but Instinct Shadow was quick to try and keep the flame burning...

Instinct Shadow placed his nose under by her scent glands, taking in a deep breath through his nostrils, trying to keep himself present and alert but also back in the mood as well. He slowly approached her stomach, about to finish the job and get her to curl up when…

Her scent had carried far and wide...

By luck's chance, Instinct Sonic had tracked it far enough that he didn't need the moonlight anymore to see the messy trail Shadow had left behind. An uncontrollable force ripped his will apart and an animal rushed for a kill... willing to do whatever it took to protect his turf.

A voice… in their heads resounded… 'Sonic… Please… Save me.'

A grunt was heard at the mouth of the cave as Shadow leaned back away from Instinct Amy, coming up from having dipped his head to her vulnerable stomach with his eyes widening. Galloping with a wild jump off the side of the wall and pushing himself further into the cave, the moonlight showed a figure landing in the center of the cave, snarling...

"That's not your mate..."

Tilting its head while it's movements showed a slow challenge procession, his neon green eyes and dilated diamond pupils shone in the glimmering night's blanketed sky of stars. The darkness only showing the form of the hedgehog,... But Instinct Shadow knew who this was, and his quills spiked unevenly as he lowered his head and growled, also accepting the challenge.

"…And you must be Sonic." The annoyance in Instinct Shadow's voice came over loud and clear.

Diamond red eyes stared him down to make a matching pair… each of theirs was highly dominant, and each extremely loathing and enraged by the other.

"…The female is mine…" The intensity of Instinct Sonic's voice made Instinct Amy's body twitch slightly as Instinct Amy began to regain her consciousness as heat finally was able to start leaving her. Without Instinct Shadow's constant touch and doting, its desire began to cease...

Her ear flicked at the familiar grunts and growls, the hissing and spatting was slightly new though...

"He's planning to kill him." she concluded, "...Other me?" It was too silent in her mind...

Instinct Shadow laughed, making Instinct Sonic's glare deepen as he stopped advancing, lifting a hand like a paw up to survey this behavior. He wasn't acting like a normal Hedgehog... but at the same time, was.

Instinct Shadow bent his head down as he laughed, feeling Shadow within him gaining some control again... The passage ways to his mind starting to open again. He was running out of time...

"I didn't smell you on her…" He lowered his eyes and looked up to Instinct Sonic, refusing to give up without a fight.

"…I've been preoccupied…" Instinct Sonic dug his hand into the ground, twisting it in as though showing this was his land. There was a clear annoyance, but with all the raging hormones, it looked like they were bulking themselves up for a takedown.

"Well, that's your fault…" Being more careful this time, he smirked without showing his teeth. "My other speaks 'highly' of you... but I think you'd be better off dead."

Instinct Shadow put a foot under himself, and ever so menacingly... began to rise up to two legs.

This was a power move, because to Instinct Sonic, it looked like he had merged with his Other, making him substantially more powerful in this state. Instinct Sonic held his ground as the side of his mouth twitched slightly in his warning growls. "I'm not afraid of you... She's already chosen who her Alpha is."

Instinct Shadow held his hands to his sides, pivoting slightly in his play on trying to deceive Instinct Sonic that he was, indeed, merged and more powerful. He bent himself slightly to mimic Shadow's stance when he's about ready to strike, with his hand overlapping his chest and angling slightly as though about to use Chaos Spears, which he knew wasn't an option at the moment... But Instinct Sonic didn't seem to know anything from his Other... So it was the perfect ruse...

"That can change in one swift, decisive action... Whenever you're ready." Instinct Shadow narrowed his eyes, not showing a tinge of respect for Instinct Sonic smelling like an Alpha, but it was faint, and he felt it was mostly a stunt to try and keep the female roused and territory his own. "You're outmatched, outplayed, and... frankly, out of the running. She's no longer yours, hedgehog." The bluff was working though, as Instinct Sonic began to shake, his eyes darting to Instinct Amy who was rolling her body vertically, coming out slowly of heat but still locked in the heavy breaths. It was clear she was showing signs of curling, but not quite there yet...

Instinct Sonic remained still, "She doesn't smell like she was claimed." He then bore his fangs, quickly moving a few steps forward and keeping his body low, waiting for an opening… "And I intend to keep it that way..." Things would have altered in her body if she had mated... her scent, the way she breathed... Instinct Sonic knew he was just in time.

"Surprising that you're standing, though… but your eyes give you away..." Instinct Sonic then closed his eyes and carefully placed a foot under him... and to Instinct Shadow's horror,... He stood tall, rolling his back up to ascend to a similar height as he...

"That's not possible!" Instinct Shadow grunted through his tightly clenched teeth, showing a moment of worry at Instinct Sonic's stunt, but refusing to back down from the display of power. "According to my Other... you shouldn't be able to work together!"

"I'll do anything to protect Amy." He didn't speak it out like an Other's language, he was still grunting though...

"This... is my Alpha,…"

Instinct Shadow looked back at Amy, shocked to hear her speak. "No..." the window that had once given him hope in completing his purposes here upon the earth... were all but gone as the wind picked itself up just before the fall.

Instinct Amy, who lunged up and slowly crawled on her stomach to the back of the cave, wobbled up to a stance on all fours then, still seeming woozy, but fully out of heat. She felt her strength slowly coming back to her, and as she turned to twist her head back to the two alphas about to fight to the death for her moments before, revealed that she wasn't going to back into heat anytime soon. "Stand... down." She stumbled slightly, but her words were full of command. Without being mated, she was technically still the Alpha female by default.

"..Alpha?" Instinct Sonic hadn't known much about Shadow, only that he made some kind of bond arrangement through their Others consent. He worried her words meant that he had truly lost to Shadow, but Sonic from within him seemed to help him understand she was talking about him. "So... she still considers you her Beta." The growling never dimmed in it's intensity. The two still hated each other, and it was clear a rivalry was still being fueled by the fact that Instinct Amy wasn't claimed.

"Sonic..."

Instinct Amy's light vocalization drew him to open his eyes and look to her, but as he did so, stumbled and fell back to all fours... his eyes had never merged.

Instinct Shadow's drive to attack him while he was weak make him step decisively forward, as though ready to go for his neck... but stopped when he noticed the bluff. "Heh, I knew you couldn't have merged!" It was like a roar, even though it came out as a biting snarl.

Instinct Sonic blinked a moment, waiting to see if his Other would merge... but seeing as he wasn't going to willingly work together, especially since Amy was out of harm's way... for now at least, he just got back up to a fighting stance on his fours and bent his ears forward, still challenging Instinct Shadow's dominance. "So it was a fib... You did the same. I'm still enough to defeat you." He was relatively calm now... as though sensing Instinct Amy out of heat gave him a momentary relief.

"You have yet to prove-!" Instinct Shadow also went back to putting a hand on the ground, holding out the other like he was ready to rip into Instinct Sonic as he, in return, hunkered back down and held himself back to ready to spring into action as well.

"Beta!" Instinct Amy's high-pitched cry almost resembled that of a squeak, but not quite. Still, the range caused the two men to halt, and look back at her. "This isn't what our Others wanted... I'm sure of it." she seemed to be communicating with Amy in her mind again. "Stop this rebellion... Quit attacking me." Her eyes bent back, as though a slight way of showing her begging him to follow what their Others had agreed,... what they agreed upon.

Instinct Sonic's glare weakened but he still seemed highly annoyed, "Guess you didn't do it for her." He was referring to his Other's supposed deal with her Other. "You must... have tricked him." He looked a lot less hostile, as though intrigued that the body could fool the mind. "But... how is that possible?"

Instinct Shadow mocked and teased, testing his limits of rebellion as he was trying to steal his position in the small 'pack' of sorts.

Instinct Sonic smirked, seeing he wasn't going down without a fight, no matter how much she cried out. He didn't respect her as his actual Alpha... "Or perhaps,.. I was so good that she felt she didn't have to worry about lapdogs trying to take my place?" Instinct Sonic wouldn't have it any other way...

That irked Instinct Shadow as Instinct Sonic continued, seeing his red eyes going into another rage at the insult. He confidently stepped forward, and for a moment, Amy could see through her Instincts eyes a glimpse at the cocky Sonic she knew...

'Are they all really just... us?' she couldn't grasp that. This Instinct didn't seem like her, though curious and caring. Shadow's was violently dominant... but she did know Shadow was capable of dangerous atrocities, like that of Space Colony Ark and planning to wipe out the earth...

He could carry such hatred... but...

"You may have been accepted by Amy… but you have yet to shown your true alpha your potential. And stealing my mate is not going to help you when I decide if you live or die." Instinct Sonic stepped forward, holding his chest up and baring it like a symbol of status. Instinct Amy still recognized and conceded to him being the future Alpha, if Instinct Shadow still wanted to challenge that, he'd have to accept Instinct Sonic as the reigning Alpha... since it was clear he was disobeying Instinct Amy, and if he really recognized her as his Alpha, disrespect wouldn't be an option.

She had no power over him... not like that, anyway.

"Suggesting you still being the alpha?" The taunt in Instinct Shadow's behavioral change proved that he wasn't an idiot. He knew the play Instinct Sonic just tried, and wasn't having any of it. He wouldn't fall to such banter, and Instinct Sonic smiled in confidence ever the more... keeping his bared as a sign of hostility, and not submission.

"Of course." Instinct Sonic was clearly baiting him now.

Insulted by such a pathetic male who hadn't even claimed the female or the land that gave him any right to call himself Alpha, Instinct Shadow was beyond furious. "Why you..!" Instinct Shadow bent his head, his quills spiked and quivering in his fury. His eyes looked wild as he gripped the ground and fully stretched out his arms and back, ready to kill this poser... who dared to intervene with the Ultimate Instinct's prize... "You are beneath me! Your smell may state your powerful, but you are no where near as strong as me!"

Females could smell the scent of both dominance and attraction, but males could only sense the dominance by level of strength from their scents. Though Instinct Sonic's scent was faint, weak to attracting most females, when closer to it... bore a strong alpha presence in it's pheromones. This would explain why Instinct Amy would want to get closer to him, to smell it more directly, to then be triggered into heat... however, it also put Instinct Shadow at the advantage. He had the power of both a strong attraction that lured females and a powerful alpha scent.

In other words, he could trigger heat much more effectively than Instinct Sonic could, and due to those advantages, he felt himself easily able to overpower Sonic and claim the right to the land... and the females within it...

But Instinct Amy had something even more powerful. Her attraction scent could range miles upon miles... carried easily down the wind while slowly diffusing its smell out, but still powerful enough to remain potent for quite some time. In other words... her's lingered. Which taunted those that could trace it back to her, and made it so desirable. Her dominance presence in her scent was also ideal, it wasn't quite the level of an overbearing and supreme Alpha, or that of a mild Alpha trace. Instead, it was still relatively submissive and low in scent, but flared up a second of doubt to one who happened upon it. She could be a strong Beta, perhaps almost reaching that of an Alpha, but still submissive enough that she would be considered an ideal mate.

Two powerful Alphas tended to butt heads and were harder to breed with, making family bonds quite aggressive with barely any offspring produced and more injuries sustained from endless fighting. Two submissive Betas becoming Alphas made for a weak and easily taken over family dynamic... Creating large amounts of offspring but no real way to keep them all safe and secure the proper amount of land for such expanse or space as that would call for to properly care for them. To Instincts, defending ones land and providing that security, protection, and ensuing land for their growing families needs was the highest priority imaginable.

So with a strong Alpha and a strong Beta... it was the perfect setup for a long-lasting union, to breed and defend the land they used to nurture and provide for their young.

Hedgehogs usually parted after a brief season, but due to evolution, some families would linger and meet up again, creating such dynamics that were found in modern civilizations like a marriage and family reunion. However, once merged with their instincts, most continued in the ways of modern culture, and abandoned that of their secondary, animalistic natures. When controlled, it could be wonderful, but these times of disconnect between instincts are often the most dangerous if not properly handled.

And of course, without any parents or adult-figures to guide them... our heroes are on their own.

Knowing the significance of these needs, both Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow were not going to back down. Instinct Sonic respected Instinct Amy, but not as his Alpha, per se. Due to her being the only Hedgehog female, and dwelling in the area where Instinct Sonic and now Instinct Shadow usually roamed, she was simply the most valuable resource in a pretty fertile land.

But to Instinct Sonic... she was more than that. Though the body had it's reasons, there appeared to be something that drew the heart to her as well... something that made her more valuable than just the only female in a rich vicinity.

The mating season didn't last long... ensuring their genes could live on and continue their kind across the generations... This was why Instinct Amy held no power to stop them from their obvious battle of dominance.

These two were going to fight for what was more important then their own lives... a lineage, a legacy.

It was programmed lore of their ancient ways, and though Sonic and Shadow were evolved from such things, the presence of their ancestors still lived on in ways that proved that that age-old duty could not and would not just disappear from one's internal truths. The body had its culture that simply would not perish with time and evolution, no matter how much the brain and heart grew in such complexities as intelligence and empathy.

One's wild nature must first be tamed, and subdued. Only then could both work together in a morally upright society that modern times had evolved into.

But how do we get there?

A good question that not one of our developing characters knew just yet.

Instinct Sonic readied himself, seeing an attack approaching as Shadow showed signs of challenging his claims, acknowledging in his rage that he knew Sonic was the true alpha simply by acting as the challenger instead of the defender, which was slightly ironic; since he was stating he was going to be alpha, when in fact, making it pretty obvious he did see Instinct Sonic as that.

This indirectly meant Instinct Shadow really did respect the bond, as that meant that perhaps he was combining more with the real Shadow, leaving there minds to fuse and want the same things... Was Shadow fighting for control? It seemed to be working somewhat... only time would tell, as Instinct Shadow seemed to still have a lot of control.

"Let me make this clear…" There grunts were already strong and threatening, but this came off more as fact. Instinct Shadow's low grumbles were just indicating something was building up inside him.

Instinct Sonic took one step closer to Instinct Shadow's wild twitching, knowing now that it was probably from a battle within his mind as well from his Other. This distraction was exactly what Instinct Sonic needed to pounce on, securing a victory.

"…This is my Alpha…" Instinct Shadow continued, but it was clear the wording was just for Instinct Amy, putting on a show of sorts for her, still trying to impress and give himself a better advantage on making her his own.

Instinct Sonic ignored the lies, rounding him to the side, making his movements quick and precise... aiming for the throat.

"And I claim her tonight!"

Instinct Shadow lunged forward, just like the beastly attacks he did back with the Jumpers where he literally had tossed them aside like dirt under his fast moving feet. He was a charging bull, mouth open with terrifying vocalizations that haunted the cave's darkness with it's loud echoes.

Instinct Amy pushed herself back with her feet, like a bunny kick to get away from the scrimmaging skirmish as she pawed her ears and tried to keep the deafening fight out from ringing in her head. She laid on the ground with silence that turned to whispered whimpered, not wanting to see the silhouettes at the mouth of the cave tearing into each other in such brutal manners.

Amy was more aware in her mind now, with the heat subsided, she was horrified by what she knew was occurring. 'No... W-we have to stop them! They'll kill each other, right!? We can't let that happen!' She mentally pounded against her entrapped prison of her mind. 'Other me!' she cried out, imagining tears so her Instincts could see and feel her frightened sorrows. She was being courageous, she wanted her to jump into the fray and stop them, but nothing she did seem to affect her Instincts resolve for staying alive and out of harm's way. 'Please! Sonic... Shadow... I can't let them do this!'

Instinct Sonic just about had it, that was his land, his female, and the only one he actually wanted out of the other smells he had picked up on before... was Amy. It was always her.

Amy was his-… Even if his Other opposed, She was his.

"She's mine!"

Instinct Sonic suddenly felt that rush of speed, and though Instinct Shadow was powerful enough with all his intel on Shadow's abilities, Instinct Sonic felt himself dive into that blue blur affect. It rammed Instinct Shadow against the side of the cave, and grabbing his shoulder in his harsh bite, Instinct Sonic threw him over and let him thrash against the rocky ground on impact.

Instinct Sonic got on all fours, "Thanks, but I got this without you!" He wouldn't trust his Other, he worried if he let him help too much, he may take over and keep him from security Instinct Amy as his own. He couldn't let Instinct Shadow win against his Other... he had no idea what his Other could do, but doubted he'd do much good... He pushed his Other back, not needing his trust anymore, and the two began a terrifying war with one another. Sonic wouldn't be thrown to the sidelines so easily,...

'I'm capable of more than you know.' It was... the first time Instinct Sonic saw into Sonic's mind so vividly. His eyes widened at the powerful images... a glowing yellow him that tore into beasts of grey that exploded into flames, creatures he had never seen before. His Other's world... fighting in ways he had never seen before... the large creatures he took down with such amazing speeds and the lands he's transversed, the perils he has faced... (Author's note: Headcanon this is where we see a montage of Sonic's past battles and saving the world while 'His World' theme song starts playing over it lol. Powerful moment, bleh, sorry for the lore interruption but all important things! Moving on... I hate interrupting your fun like this...)

"What..." Stunned by such memories Sonic allowed him to see, he was still panting from the pain of the fight, but also now from the experience his Other was showing him. Instinct Shadow got up and shook his head, also wondering as he looked over his shoulder after recognizing the speed increase if he and his Other were... suddenly getting along... "Is this..?"

'It's who I really am. Who you will never understand. So long as I have any say over it. I'm Sonic. Let me out and I'll deal with this as I do any other threat to my world,... and Amy won't be hurt. You have my word!' Sonic mentally tightened his fist, not backing down.

Instinct Sonic looked behind him, as though speaking with disbelief to himself, to his Other, "Who... am I?" His disgruntled grunts caught Instinct Shadow's ear. It flicked, and he knew he was distracted.

Though fighting his own battle within, he was more easily able to stay alert, "Wrong opponent." Instinct Shadow growled, building up tension in his arms again as he turned back to face him, snarling loudly and whipping his head around to show he was far from being beaten yet. Lunging back, he caught a confused Instinct Sonic by surprised and easily pinned him to the ground.

"This is goodbye, hedgehog." Instinct Shadow raised his hand up, ready to end this feud, but Shadow finally got a hold of his arm. "Urk..! No!" Instinct Shadow looked to see his body was compromised, and that Shadow was regaining strength... his eyes flickered between instinct and the normal oval of Shadow's eyes.

Instinct Sonic fought from below, but seeing Instinct Shadow's hesitation, bite his arm pinning him down and watched as he reflexed away.

The bite did send Instinct Shadow's Other back into his mind, but it also caused him to move away for a moment.

"Amy... will never be yours." Instinct Sonic panted, "This is where it ends!" Instinct Sonic felt his quills spike and shake, about to mimic a 'spin-dash' he viewed in his Other's memories when-

'No!' Sonic cried out, but heard something that sent a signal like a fast moving bolt throughout his body into a stilled shaking that froze the two hedgehogs. 'W-wha... What is this?' he felt his body was like a shaking piece of steel banged against something, vibrating as though the anger was being forced into a locked position.

They would have literally fought till the death, but a high pitched noise caught them both into a forced standstill.

Instinct Shadow and Instinct Sonic lowered themselves, their heads shaking and puffing out hostile signals of anger through their noses... but no one moved.

'What's... going on?' Shadow felt himself again, coming out from the depths of his mind where he was shoved back into, and mentally looked around to see that his body was being triggered into something that wasn't aggression... but protective. 'He's stopping..?'

This was surprising for everyone, as the two Instincts caught their breaths, glaring at one another before turning their sights towards the back of the cave... their attention completely towards-

Instinct Amy's squeak.

Instinct dictated the two must now obey her next command… It was a emergency cry, and it proved that both... voluntarily... did see her as the Alpha they were trying to impress.

She did have power, though they didn't want to admit it.

To secure their place, they had to win her over. They did have a figurative bond with her, and it was proven by their submission to yield the fighting to her distress call. If a female made that cry, it was a definitive call for help, one they wouldn't ignore since they sought her to be their own...

The two instincts lowered their hands positioned like claws and scrapped them down into the ground, showing that their bodies still wanting to fight, but they were now showing some self-restraint, putting her first. They were more than ready to strike the finishing blows on each other... but as they breathed heavily, they waited for her command.

Still on all fours, Instinct Amy's eyes and half her body were being hit by the only light available to reach the back of the cave. She had a look that was terrified, as though she knew what she was about to do could cause all that aggression within the two strong alphas to be directed at her.

But she also knew that her heart didn't want to see bloodshed, that her Other had given her courage. She rose her head, her ears fighting being put in a forward position, showing dominance, which was a risky play in a moment like this... where both were trying to fight for power over her...

The two Instincts closed their mouths, realizing she was about to do something, and not sure what crazy notion she was about to make.

But they knew something was up...

She stepped forward, another sign of dominance, and since she was considered the reigning Alpha Female, being the only female, she fought her naturally submissive Beta nature for the now commanding and bold Beta nature she also possessed.

"…Neither of you will have me…"

The sound carried through the cave, echoing as the two male hedgehogs lost their fighting stances.

"…I am not your alpha… Nor am I your mate…"

The two stepped back, their ears angling as though they couldn't believe what they just heard.

She was stating something unthinkable. She was denouncing her station and leaving the pack… but not just that, she was stating neither could have her, which meant she was once again a lone female, the way Instinct Sonic had first found her.

The nerve... The consequences.

The two hedgehogs stared at her...

"You do realize..." Instinct Shadow began, but Instinct Sonic lunged his body forward, cutting off Instinct Shadow in his rage.

"You are sentencing yourself to death!?" Instinct Sonic's anger was only for her protection; with her statement, it meant more than just him not being able to continue fighting to claim her… "You are denouncing your power over us! You're in even more danger!" he barked. True, he was fighting for the right to be her Alpha and for her to be his mate, but in the end, he just didn't want her to get hurt.

"What about your protection?" Instinct Shadow wasn't having such idiocy's in his reign... He knew her situation, and would cleverly convince her otherwise... "And need I remind you that your life is at stake." He stepped forward, being side to side with Instinct Sonic, who gave him a quick glance before looking back to Instinct Amy.

Instinct Shadow let his arms relax, an indirect sign to Instinct Sonic that he wasn't going to threaten him anymore... This was more concerning to him. In acceptance that Instinct Amy stating she wouldn't be either of there's was worse, he also conceded and let his body's tension shake out a moment in small quakes, letting a breath out to show Instinct Shadow their duel would have to wait.

Now both were glaring at her... and Instinct Amy felt her ears twitch in wanting to submit, but wouldn't allow herself to yield. In strength, she remained silent, knowing anything she said further would just escalate things.

She couldn't run. She couldn't hide. The cave was short, and she knew that from the echoes of them tearing into each other from before.

Just like Tails said, to Instincts, they still believed a young hedgehog had to mate to avoid certain problems during pregnancy. And to them, she was pretty much saying she'd die and prove useless to her species and to any family they were hoping to conceive... Forced Virginity...

"Take it back." Instinct Sonic lowered his head, a threat. "You can't survive without an alpha. Your scent is too unbearable. You'll fall to another regardless." He warned, his head rising slightly, as though he was truly concerned, and his threat was a meaningless attempt at persuasion.

"You can't survive without producing heirs." Instinct Shadow rose his head even further than Instinct Sonic, lowering his eyes as if trying to call her bluff. "Your body will kill you... if anything else doesn't." He then angled his head sharply, the display of dominance suggested he might kill her if she didn't submit.

Her ears continued to turn and twist as though still debating...

The two hedgehogs puffed themselves up, trying to encourage her submission.

'If you submit... they'll fight again, won't they?' Amy spoke mentally to her, as her Instinct's eyes softened. She knew that meant it would. Amy mentally cupped her hands over her mouth, closing her imaginative eyes at the idea of her beloved hero and her dearest friend about to attack her. 'This can't happen.' she began to cry from within herself, 'There has to be a way... where no one needs to suffer... or get hurt.'

Instinct Amy grew strength from that desire of her Other. She knew she would be attacked back into submission, or die from the beating...

Unless... She did assert herself as Alpha, but then they would still fight each other on who would mate with her and become the Alpha Male.

Her only option was to leave the possibility up to fate... She had to trust that at least Instinct Sonic wouldn't attack her. Otherwise...

This was her end. She wouldn't yield to either of them, and it didn't look like their Others had any chance of coming back any time soon. She was completely out of heat, so she wouldn't mate regardless... Not with two opposing sides that weren't focusing on throwing her back into heat again, either...

"I won't mate in a pool of blood..." She growled out these words, and Amy felt her entire body start locking up from the inside.

'Wait...' Amy didn't know what was happening, but it felt like something was changing inside herself...

Lowering her head down, as though submitting, Instinct Amy then slowly rose it back up with her teeth tightly clenched, fighting submitting and daring to fight through the two powerful alphas.

"I can start a pack without males who force me to wait or mate!"

The two hedgehogs seemed frozen in time at her declaration.

She was choosing death over them.

'Forced virginity…' Amy felt her body going into fight or flight, and fighting the urge to flight, it was forcing her into a corner of fight. 'Other me! H-hold on! I-!' She didn't want the possibility of ever having a happy future home taken from her, but on the other hand,... She didn't want to see Sonic and Shadow suffer anymore.

She didn't know what to do, but she knew what she wanted. 'I don't want to not have any children!' Amy shouted out through her mind to reach her other.

"I thought… this is what you wanted…" Instinct Amy looked down, moving up towards a wall, leaning on it as she tried to think more clearly. Any second now... the two males in front of her would spring at her with deadly intent... but she was still so weak from coming out of heat... twice, mind you, with barely any time in-between.

'N-n-n-no! Y-you can have a pack! But mate when I say to mate! Mating isn't wrong—necessarily...—b-but it seems wrong only now because … w-w-well, remember marriage!? That word I tried to describe to you?' Amy knew talking was only wasting valuable time of escape, but she also knew her instincts would have to fight, and she knew she couldn't take down Sonic and Shadow... especially in their instincts. 'Sonic wouldn't hurt me... Shadow wouldn't... they couldn't.' her heart was faltering into hopelessness, but she couldn't despair just yet. Her body was continuing to prepare for impact, for a painful fight that would end its life... She could feel it, the charging up of rising tension... the moment they moved...

It would all be over.

'You can't do this to us!' she cried out, mentally falling to her knees and crying into her figurative hands as she accused her Instincts of being the cause of all this mess... which deeply stung her Instinct... who was desperate to try and please her in this moment.

Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow waited, the effect of her cry still effecting them, but only for a short period of time would they be subjected to it…

Then Instinct Amy would have to deal with their wrath…

'Just listen to me!' Amy was hysterical, almost falling into shock at not being able to comprehend it all.

Instinct Amy shook her head, grinding it into the side of the cave, knowing her fate was sealed. "All you ever asked of me to do is listen! Am I not doing so? Why can't I be happy too?" Her Instincts whined aloud, "Nothing I ever do pleases you! You hate me! Even when I try so hard for you to accept me, you blame me!"

The command was fading, as Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow began approaching Amy.

'O-other me...' Amy suddenly noticed the advancing of the two. 'W-what are they doing!?' Amy began to freak out, seeing their rage quickly turn to her.

"Erk.. They'll see me as a traitor to the pack…" Instinct Amy shoved herself off the wall and started to move back, not seeing a way out besides maybe jumping over them, but to do so would need a running start... and with how they were coming at her, she knew that was impossible now when her backend hit against the back of the cave. She was trapped, and just like she knew from the second she growled her defiance out, she would have to fight them...

She warned with a deep growl, spiking up her quills and rising her back up to try and look intimidating... "Stay away..."

'W-what?! Why!? None of you were really a pack, right!? A-and Shadow was the one that said he would honor the bond as a Beta! T-technically speaking, hedgehogs don't even form packs!' she tried to think it through but couldn't understand these dynamics of their culture. 'Run!'

"...I can't..." Instinct Amy's eyes darted between the two males... "It's common practice for a Beta to try and seize Alpha position. It is not, however, common for an Alpha Female to… to denounce all males in her pack…"

'S-…So then… what will..?" Amy feared what was coming next as she felt her Fight or Flight response kicked Instinct Amy into curling up and spitting out threats again. However, this wasn't the behavior for testing a male's endurance, but was completely for self-defense and nothing more.

"…They'll try and keep me… I'm the only female in the pack, it would risk their survival as a pack to lose me. They'll… they'll hurt me to keep me here… I must be punished for trying to flee my pack…" She knew it was a death wish... "I should never have trusted you, Other!" she complained in her cries to try and appease the two males into not attacking, a submission tactic but one that wasn't seeming to help at this point.

They were flinching back from her curling and spitting defenses, waiting for her to tire out of her spiky ball...

'Oh chaos…' Amy knew Shadow and Sonic would never forgive themselves when they snapped out of it, and she herself wouldn't know what to do…

This was going to hurt... wasn't it? More than just physically, but... Would they ever forgive themselves? Would they ever be able to keep their friendships after... after all this?

She was beginning to feel the hate, the animosity that Vanilla told her to not feel.

But how could she not..? Being completely unable to control her body and it's ways... she suddenly envied humans.

So evolved, far above these animal practices.

They were all already pretty beaten up as it was, but now their rage wasn't from lack of claiming her, it was rejection and losing their sole purpose for existing.

But just as Instinct Amy uncurled, panting and trying to hiss them away... her ears bent and she whimpered, lowering herself in one last attempt to subside their aggression.

With it, Instinct Shadow's ears tilted even more forward... and seeing that, Instinct Sonic took his sights off of Instinct Amy, and reverted them to Instinct Shadow.

Seeing suddenly a slight aggressive pleasure out of her submitting, he squinting his eyes shut and darted in front of him... standing slightly in front of her with her head and arm below him...

'Sonic...' Amy's body was swallowing her whole in her instincts, and she slowly faded... seeing the last thing was Instinct Sonic protectively shielding her from Instinct Shadow's cruel smile...

"What are you doing?" Instinct Shadow rose an eyebrow, showing some annoyance that he couldn't smack her back into submission to him again.

Instinct Sonic remained silent, but his eyes were full of determination, "...You look too pleased." His silent growl was even more intimidating than anything Instinct Shadow had heard before... which made him raise his head and back up a moment, surprised by Instinct Sonic's behavior.

"...You're letting your Other get the better of you." He insulted, "You, out of all of us, should know the position she's placing us in." He countered, raising a paw up and turning his side towards Instinct Sonic, showing he had no intention of fighting him just yet... "She's being rather precocious, thinking she can escape two alphas wanting her affections... Isn't it only her second season of sorts? Isn't she a bit naïve to think she can take on Alphas?"

Instinct Sonic's eyes looked down to examine Instinct Amy, who was so withdrawn into herself that she peeked up at him with terrified eyes...

There was a angry compassion in his stare towards her... as though a conflicted mind.

He looked to Instinct Shadow.

"You know you have to." Instinct Shadow slightly faced him again, elegantly crossing his arms as he shifted his positioning again. "She's our only female..."

Instinct Shadow was clever... as the two looked to one another, their seemed to be an understanding of the situation.

They were forced to either make her submit to them,... or something that would ensure Instinct Shadow remained by Instinct Amy's side...

'What... are you planning?!' Shadow was actively fighting what felt like a cloud of bodily impulses, keeping him from even being able to connect and mentally link his mind with his Instincts. Could he ever hear him..? 'Urk..! Sonic..! Just kill me!' He kept crying out, wanting death rather than hurting Amy and living with such guilt.

He was sure it was the same for Sonic though... but Sonic wouldn't accept defeat. Even if Shadow believed defeat was all Instincts ever gave someone.

"If we lost her..." Instinct Shadow began to move closer to Instinct Sonic's face, who jerked his head up as though to warn him not to get too friendly and comfortable with him not showing signs of aggression... Just because Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow weren't fighting, doesn't mean they were buddies... "We would be forced to start from square one,..." Instinct Shadow respected the distance Instinct Sonic wanted, and slowly withdrew from being so close, as though speaking to his chin... faking no hostility... for now... "Even then, you know how rare her nature is... her scent... neither of us could respect an imaginary bond made by the other..." His words to getting to Instinct Sonic, who's ears flicked in agitation, knowing he was right. Instincts would force them to try and regroup the pack… Just because neither of them could let Instinct Amy go. "We have to keep her... bound to us or else…!" Instinct Shadow was getting too excited, and so Instinct Sonic huffed a gust of wind out of his nose at Instinct Shadow to keep a distance and stomped the ground, showing he wasn't going to budge and let Instinct Shadow near Instinct Amy... even if it was for necessary discipline.

He did yield back slightly, but quickly advanced forward, back to speaking to Instinct Sonic from the side of his face... he wasn't going to lose Instinct Amy, so he'd do whatever it took to remain close by her...

He couldn't allow her to escape him!

"Other males will come... but we both deserve the right to try and claim her first..." He growled as though seductively, hoping to entice Instinct Sonic to his plan by triggering his desire for Instinct Amy.

It was working, Instinct Sonic's eyes were darting about, thinking...

"They don't deserve that chance..." Instinct Shadow bit down on that last grunt, getting so close to Sonic's cheek as he kept his vocalizations away from Instinct Amy able to identify his words. "You and I may not like it... but we both know we can't let it end like this... even if we were able to beat her back into our control... she listens to well to her Other..." He then took a risky peek at Instinct Amy, seeing her about to rise from her withdrawn submissive, and snapped at her by lowering himself under Sonic's stomach to force her back into being still and silent...

She whimpered in place again, trying to appease him as he drew his sprawled out arms back up to Instinct Sonic's side...

Instinct Sonic allowed the discipline... interesting... his conniving words were getting through to him...

He was already respecting him as part of the pack... how quaint.

"You'll need a beta to put her in her place... to keep other wandering males out of where we place her..."

"We?" Instinct Sonic growled out the side of his mouth, turning his head fully now to Instinct Shadow and steadily pushing against his forehead to force him to back off.

Instinct Shadow went along with the display, letting him push his head and withdrawing his steps back as far as Instinct Sonic wanted to push him. It was like two buck deers fighting for supremacy over who was what... but Instinct Shadow was now conceding to being an underling Beta... what he tried to do to get closer to Instinct Amy as well... but Instinct Sonic didn't know that. "I'm convinced of your bond now... Alpha Sonic." Instinct Shadow continued to play his charade. "But are you convinced of mine..?"

Sonic growled, threateningly. "What bond..?" keeping his head pushing against his own as Instinct Shadow couldn't help but want to challenge it, pushing back slightly to cause some wobbling that forced Instinct Sonic to stabilize his ground and keep engaging Instinct Shadow in this way.

"You're not the only one who wants a right to her... the right to protect her." Instinct Shadow growled, but his eyes showed a greater since of truth than he was meaning to announce... "I care if another were to take her... I care if she is without a unit." His words were softening Instinct Sonic... He looked into Instinct Shadow's eyes and saw the hostility slowly dissipating. "I..." Instinct Shadow bit down to clench his jaw tightly, hissing out the words. "I'm technically still apart of her pack... of your pack, together."

Instinct Sonic stopped pushing, listening...

"I had a right to her... to challenge you... you weren't around, no one was protecting her." He had a point... which ticked Instinct Sonic off even more that he was making sense. Shadow huffed, which made Instinct Sonic move his head away from his own... the two noticed Instinct Amy trying to sneak away and both stomped their foot down and gruffed, making her scurry back to the back of the cave.

They looked to one another... Before Instinct Shadow moved closer to Instinct Sonic... and placed his head on his shoulder.

Instinct Sonic moved back a bit, not wanting to accept what the gesture meant, but realizing he needed to accept it, looked away and knew he had no other choice. To protect Instinct Amy... he'd have to keep this sly Beta around... He didn't like it, but his Other wouldn't allow him to protect Instinct Amy like he wanted to...

"Our Others' are nuisances... they hate us. They will never understand." Instinct Sonic shook his head, but moved over to also lower his head to Instinct Shadow's shoulder... who smirked at his plan working out beautifully. "We have to make sure she isn't deceived by her Other. That no one claims her... I don't like giving you some right to try, but if that convinces my Other to allow me to stay around her... I will accept this truce and make a pack with you." He growled a heed of warning though, "Just don't get carried away... she's still my female... and your alpha."

"We could always share the season..." Instinct Shadow teased, but it wasn't a joke you'd make to a highly dominant alpha like they both were. Besides,... They both knew they wouldn't adhere to that.

"You wish..." Sonic snapped his jaw shut in a powerful bite right by Instinct Shadow's ear, as though telling him to remember his secondary place. "You're just the only Beta I have willing to obey her... and you best be willing. Otherwise..." He gave a low grumble by the side of Instinct Shadow before moving to stand side by side with him again.

"Hmph," huffing some air out of his nose, Instinct Shadow made sure to lose the smirk before Instinct Sonic could see it. "I'm not blood related... Neither son or heir, and Amy hasn't mated with either of us... So I'm Beta by default. You have every right to hate me." Instinct Shadow was pointing out that most packs made by their species were either family-oriented or because the Alpha Female had multiple lover bonds meaning the children were all from different fathers, which a beta could then just be 'part of the family' as a heir to the land, a step son. But they both knew Instinct Amy was capable of being a strong Beta, not so much a true Alpha that would have multiple affairs... so she'd naturally want to submit to one dominant male and leave it at that.

Lucky for them... or should I say, for Sonic and Shadow, who currently were being flooded by the will of their Instincts and had no say in the matter at all...

Betas were naturally in charge of securing the survival of the pack… Shadow was admitting defeat to his previous challenge to then help with Amy…

Still, he was highly dominant… and clearly didn't want to give up the right to being alpha so easily, and in order to really make this work without the standard 'beta' plays... that is, Instinct Amy mating with both of them, then only one other option had to take place to secure her and keep other males away...

They both knew their Others would also try keep them from her... So, by placing his head on Sonic's shoulder, he was asking for permission.

There was no way he could be a full-blown Beta... not with such a powerful Alpha smell... Instinct Sonic, reluctantly, created the trust bond and acceptance of his proposal. When they parted to start rounding Instinct Amy on opposing sides, it was clear they were working together now, stunning Instinct Amy.

'W..What are they doing?' Amy asked in her mind, seeing as no matter what Instinct Amy did, the two would stop her, but they weren't fighting, necessarily, anymore...

She had been far from their whispered grunts and growls, so she hadn't exactly heard what inaudible mutterings had conspired.

They both glared towards Instinct Amy with a duo smile, pinching her in on the two sides in a strategical ploy to keep her stuck at the back of the cave with no where to go but to submit herself back into the pack.

Instinct Amy turned around and tried digging through the cave, hoping to burrow out of this mess as she realized what had just occurred.

'W-what! What are you so surprised about! What is happening!?' Amy wanted answers, but her Instinct was in a state of panic again.

"They…!"

She couldn't dig through the rocky terrain, and turning back around, saw them both lower their heads as though trying to comfort her out of her fears. They began to approach her, walking side by side the other as they closed in, as if they were of one being.

"…They're Co-dominating…"

Instinct Amy sounded as though this was even more terrifying, but her fight response was immediately changed to flight, and that confused Amy. '…They're…what… now? But they aren't going to hurt us, right!?' It didn't seem hostile in the slightest, so she was still confused.

The fear in both her body's and her own voices scared the real Amy within, she felt her body slowly submitting as Instinct Amy couldn't keep fighting her natural want to submit and be forgiven of her trespasses against her pack.

"They won't harm me... No." She admitted, lowering herself down and tightly pulling herself in but not enough to curl as they both loomed over her, placing one paw each over her as a shared dominance display. "But..."

She bowed her head down, not looking at them anymore. They lightly pushed her down to the ground as they hung over her and placed their heads to her body, growling to state she better not fight their indirect performance of power and authority over her... otherwise it would get violent.

"They are now… both, alphas… Until I decide to mate with one of them… they shall rule over the pack as one." Usually, only brothers would be able to this. The fact that Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow could trust each other on the level of 'brothers' was a testament to what the real—or rather, since their bodies are partly their real selves too—true Sonic and Shadow must secretly feel in their respect for each other.

Even with Instinct Shadow being sneaky... it still meant there was some respect on the inner Shadow's perceptive.

'…Tails never told me that…' Amy gulped inside her mind, cowering as they stood like threatening soldiers over her. Their heads came up to look down at her as Instinct Amy turned her head more towards the back of the cave, opening an eye to keep observing them. She looked more confused and scared at their new behavior than anything, and that was enough for Instinct Sonic to see she wasn't going to leave the pack so easily.

He yipped in his usually cheer and pounced off of her, moving to nuzzle her away from the back of the cave, "Don't scare me like that again! By the way, I'm back~" He was completely fine again, acting oddly relaxed with Instinct Shadow still present too, who removed his hand from against the cave, but looked mildly annoyed by Instinct Sonic's affectionate display. His ears turned left and right, as though wanting to rip him off of her, but instead, keeping his guard up and just tolerating the action. "Miss me much, Amy?" He got her on back and kept messing up her quills, which were still slightly spiked up from her 'fight' response from before.

She was in a state of frozen shock, blinking a lot as though not sure how this all happened. They seemed to forgive her though, as Instinct Sonic had made the first move, and noticing her hesitancy to relax from the high-stakes situation previously, he gently bumped his head against hers. "I promised, didn't I? I would return for you... and I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you."

'Was that... Sonic?' Amy held her imaginary hands together, wondering if Sonic was there since she did witness the streak of blue as Instinct Sonic went light-speeds.

Instinct Shadow then abruptly used his own muzzle to side-swipe Instinct Sonic away from his excessive doting, following the action of placing his forehead against hers and giving her a lowered-eyelid glance of victory... as though indirectly stating he wasn't done with her yet. "My greetings are rather the same... as your Alpha, too."

What a callback, a threat within a merciful forgiveness... he was referring to his promise of becoming her alpha... which was technically realized in some degree now.

As Instinct Shadow rose his head up, Instinct Sonic butted it slightly away and the two then hovered over her in an equal duality, both their reflections in her diamond eyes as she stared and examined both their faces.

"You are ours." they grunted as one.

Though, Instinct Amy was finding this all hard to set-in.

On the one hand, she wanted to bat both of them away, but on the other... this did actually make her pack bond stronger now...

It would mean she had voluntary power over two extremely strong alphas, one she wanted to make her official alpha, and the other she worried would be a possessive beta. Either way, she was safe, and miraculously got out of that without breeding and with no serious injuries. Now, she was being profusely licked by the two co-dominating alphas to try and get her out of her panicky 'flight' mode.

"Well, half his." Instinct Sonic playfully kissed the tip of her right ear, "All mine." He then looked directly to Shadow, sticking out his tongue in a mock that he had saw in Sonic's memories. He then gripped her ear with the side of his mouth, lowering his eyes with an bared-teeth smile to make sure Instinct Shadow didn't take his little stunt as a challenge. To most instincts, showing teeth was a sign of submission; in this case, it was simply to keep the peace. He then seemed to ignore him and go back to cuddling Instinct Amy out of wanting to flee.

The two were pretty badly hurt from their last fight, but were both actively hiding any pain or discomfort for the sake of Instinct Amy feeling protected and safe, with no need to run or attempt to leave the back anymore.

Though she still kinda wanted to... she was starting to see the benefits of being a reigning Alpha Female over such an invincible pack... if she could somehow keep them under control.

Although Instinct Shadow had stated that she was theirs now,... he still couldn't stand Instinct Sonic being his rival alpha. As he lengthened the calming licks on her left ear, he side-glanced Instinct Sonic, still wondering when would be a good time to re-challenge him without Instinct Amy being in the way. He nibbled her ear in thought, still agitated by Instinct Sonic's clear bond over her, but knew if he could get rid of Instinct Sonic... then he wouldn't have to worry about throwing Instinct Amy back into heat and securing the territory. She would give that significant, promised bond to him... the only alpha remaining...

He'd clear the whole forest of males and then some if it meant she would be faithfully loyal to him afterwards, "All in good time..." He thought out loud, moving down Instinct Amy's head to her cheek, and licking slowly there, still going for a slight arousal just to tick Instinct Sonic off from his last display to him. He made it sound like he was still trying to comfort her though, "You will choose between us. Until then, we won't let our Others... or any other for that matter,... come between us... ever... again..." As he huffed and grunted those last words out, he delicately made sure that Instinct Sonic saw each lick of the syllables, then leaned forward and kissed her cheek, without breaking eye-contact with him.

He leaned up when he noticed Instinct Sonic glare a confused, squinted look at him and bite Instinct Amy's ear he was licking again in a low growl, "You really gonna start that again..?" showing some sense of right over her that Instinct Shadow shouldn't interfere with. He appeared to be touchy about Other's affectionate behaviors... But Instinct Shadow could understand why. Kissing, in the Other's culture, was a lot more stimulating and pleasing then just bites and licks... that was for sure. Of course Instinct Sonic would have wanted to keep that knowledge all to himself...

However, seeing Instinct Shadow knew that behavior, it was clear that Instinct Sonic was confused on how he learned it... But that was a mystery he just didn't want to the answers too.

He figured he might have just mimicked his light kiss on her ear, and put it metaphorically behind him.

He then let her ear go when Instinct Shadow slightly rolled his eyes and turned his head away, a way to distill the summoned hostility. Diverting an animal's eyes was another way to cool hostilities and discourage dominance displays, so this slight respect seemed to be enough to relax Instinct Sonic again. Instinct Sonic went straight back to licking her ear, the bite was only a way to state his right to being affectionate with her in that way and not for Instinct Shadow to imitate it. It didn't hurt her, just a way to grab her and say, mine!

He then ducked his nose under her scent glands, happy as ever to be so close to her again. "Ah~ I missed that scent so much! I missed you so much!" he cooed to her, just happy-go-lucky, even after scolding Instinct Shadow.

A new trust bond... but it wasn't exactly reinstated by Instinct Amy. She was still cautious, but there was an appreciation as she glanced up at Instinct Sonic that he had arrived just in time... that to avoid injuring her for her obeying her Other over them, he found a loop-hole to spare her. Co-dominating with Instinct Shadow couldn't have been an easy decision for an Alpha to make, especially since they were clearly rivals, but he had no choice at the moment other than to work with him, for the safety of the pack and Instinct Amy. Even if it was only the three of them, instincts made it feel like they were a whole kingdom, and they must protect it.

By doing this, they ensued that their Others couldn't keep them away from Instinct Amy again, and that if one of them was distanced again from her, that the other would defend the pack's unity.

She looked over to Instinct Shadow, though with little intelligence on how Other's cultures were, she knew the idea of back-stabbing. She knew Instinct Shadow couldn't be trusted if she were in heat and alone... the two would still fight for the role of a true Alpha Male, but at least, they wouldn't fight to the death.

Knowing her reaction would be to leave a disunified pack, they would do whatever it takes to keep her... whatever it took to woo her to one or the other.

Even if it meant getting along like this...

"This is a big ordeal." Instinct Amy looked forward, refusing to make eye-contact and accept these terms so bluntly, however, she seemed to have already submitted to the notion of now having two rivaling alphas... two suitors who would play nice just to get a chance at her. What male would go through such lengths just for a female?

She was confused, but glad the dispute was settled without her receiving punishment.

"Was." Instinct Sonic nudged under her chin, trying to get her attention back to being calm. "But it's all taken care of. You'll be taken care of." He moved out from under her to lightly tap his nose to her cheek, still trying to comfort her out of her fear. "I'd do anything to remain with you..." He dipped his head, and his charming hums and puffs of air lulled her to a resting heartrate. "So if I have to put up with his challenges to make sure no other restless alphas, or even strong betas for that matter, try and take you from us we'll stand as one." As though setting a line for Instinct Shadow, he looked up back at him, who was faking grooming his own quills just to let the two have a second to adjust.

He knew Instinct Amy was still threatened by him, so straining his teeth to through his quills to clean them was just a way to take off the edge of everything... but she still wouldn't look at him.

Instinct Sonic noticed her avoidance, and gently rubbed his head to hers, trying to entice her to at least look him in the eye, "I just want to take you away... to truly reunite with you... without unwanted company." He gave a slight, commanding huff for Instinct Shadow to make himself scarce, seeing as Instinct Amy wouldn't come up from her full-submission with him still so close by. Instinct Shadow gave him a bit of a evil-eye,... but walked towards the entrance of the cave and sat down, continuing to act distant. He had to play their game... for now...

Instinct Amy lowered her ears, looking away from Instinct Sonic, "I... missed you too. All this time... I've..." she shook her head a moment, rising up slightly from her submissive, hands and feet down by her belly, lowered to the ground stance. "We've... missed you."

Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow's ears moved at the mention of the plural noun.

"We felt... abandoned... without hope for the longest time." She looked over to Instinct Shadow, who slightly turned his head more to view her. "...When we thought we had another chance at hope... for my Other's happiness to be rid of my worries... a new threat engaged and I was almost certain I'd never see you again..."

Instinct Shadow growled, "We don't need to hear your sap story." he turned to make his way back to them, "I did nothing that was uncommon for our species. I found a lone female, with no scent or trace of ever having been claimed. No alpha's marking or any sign of already being with hoglets. So what was my crime against my species? Against my nature? I'm an Alpha..." He rose himself in stature, sticking out his chest again as Instinct Sonic glared and twitched his nose, as though about to step in if he crossed a line again. "What I was born to be. The ultimate specimen of our kind." He deflated his stature as though to show he wasn't going to strike up another attack. He even turned his head, another indication of meaning no harm, "I had every right to stake a claim, you two have used Other's culture to farce a spoken bond. It's unheard of, but if I must, I will defend with a tinge of respect for your façade... Until this can be settled." He swiped his ears forward and side-glared Instinct Sonic, giving a low, grumbling threat that he wouldn't just sit to the side for long.

Instinct Sonic got up and spiked up his quills, having his whole back rise to show the sharpness of his quills, "I'll be waiting... and this time, I'm not planning on going anywhere."

"Good." Instinct Shadow huffed in annoyance, shaking his head to loosen himself from wanting to fight, "Then I'll prepare for it... for her to be my mate." he walked off, seeming to be intending to 'lead the pack' out of the cave.

Instinct Sonic barked and jumped in front of him, as though indirectly stating he was going to lead them out, and to get behind him. He gave a slight kick of his back legs, grinned, and waited for Instinct Amy to follow.

"I'm not leaving again." It was as though he was declaring that to both her and the Sonic within him... the one he saw with such amazing power... the him he wasn't allowed to know. "I won't lose you, and I won't give up without a fight." he called to her, raising his head up and jumping slightly to excite her to follow him.

His eyes were intense in their passion for her, but both Alphas had to restrain themselves. With her so far out of heat, no breeding could take place anyway, and so life would continue on from here.

Instinct Amy moved herself to the side, trying to stand, and feeling her flight response leaving her. Instinct Sonic would keep Instinct Shadow in line...

'And Shadow will keep Sonic from the unthinkable.' Amy gripped her heart, feeling herself slowly returning to the consciousness of her mind. 'We'll all be safe. There won't be any... accidents.' she closed her figurative eyes, so relieved she wanted to cry.

Instinct Amy felt her eyes watering but didn't know why, and pawed at them to keep them dry.

She walked between the two dominant Alphas, still moving slowly as she waited to see their reactions.

Instinct Sonic's expression was kind and gentle, only encouraging, a faint smile upon his face. He was just happy to be with her again.

She would have celebrated too... but she looked over at Instinct Shadow.

His ears turned every now and then, as though uncertain, but it seemed like a neutral expression.

She lowered her ears to him, just in case.

He looked away from her, as though disregarding, which was better than the annoyed look he kept giving Instinct Sonic.

She perked up then, slowly rising to a dominant Alpha Female stance, and once fully there, waited to see what the men did.

They patiently seemed to wait for her.

She yipped command to proceed and took off, as the two followed her at her sides...

Although Instinct Sonic longed to claim Instinct Amy... he was also upset with himself for allowing his Other to keep her waiting so long for him to return. It must have frustrated her... he could understand that. He was constantly pacing within his Other's body, waiting for an opportunity to gain control and seek her out again.

Of course she would make that bold and hurtful statement...

While, at first, keeping pace with her through the run down the large, uneven mountain-scape, Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow fell behind her slightly... and Instinct Shadow shoved into Instinct Sonic.

He yelped and hit against a boulder, slamming hard in his decent and momentum as Instinct Shadow drowned out his whimper by his own cry, stopping as though alerting Instinct Amy and turning back to Instinct Sonic.

"What a weak alpha." He purposefully was trying to make Instinct Sonic look bad, and making him seem more capable...

Instinct Amy lowered her eyes, sniffing as she raced back to Instinct Sonic. She lowered her ears as she passed Instinct Shadow and licked Instinct Sonic's cheek. "What happened?"

He got up, shaking off the dirt and fighting the pain on his shoulder. "...Tripped." He glared to Instinct Shadow. "You were too beautiful to take my eyes off of." He rose his head and rubbed his scent across her curious worry, and shook off his arm to make his way over to Instinct Shadow again. "I wondered... can you mount in mid-jump? And decided to practice." He smirked as he strutted by Instinct Shadow, who gave a glare and a growl...

Instinct Amy looked flustered but snuffed out a huff, "Do not make such ridiculous feats! B-besides... y-you shouldn't be visualizing anything to do with my backside!" She lightly moved in-between him and Instinct Shadow, and ever so discreetly, rubbed her head against his side and looked away... she took off as his eyebrows rose, showing he understood her playful 'thanks, I'm still interested in you' but she bounded off.

He stopped walking to lower his eyes, tilt his head, and admire her a moment before Instinct Shadow's harsh grumble threw him off and he glared cockily back at him.

"Don't count this as a competitive streak." He hurried by him. "She's still mine to subdue and conquer... in time, you'll have to submit to me!"

Instinct Sonic watched him bolt off after her, and taking a deep breath in, he smiled.

"More of mine then yours…"

Instinct Sonic gave him a playful glare, knowing who Instinct Amy deemed her true alpha. No matter what Instinct Shadow tried to do... he was still the main Alpha. "You're only able to by title alone!" He snapped back and raced off after them. "Practice dominance over her all you want! But so long as Amy obeys my rule, I'll always be her first in command!"

He bite at Instinct Shadow's legs as he approached, but dodged a powerful kick that sent rocks at him. "I may be second in command... but not for long!" He was so certain he could mate with Instinct Amy... "And when I've secured my rightful place as her true Alpha... I'll demote you to a runt while I'm at it."

This banter... seemed very reminiscent of when Sonic and Shadow had first encounter each other...

"You can't turn the events of me and Amy's first promised bond that easily!" A snarky air of confidence seemed to radiate through Instinct Sonic, who wanted so badly to connect to that gust of energetic speed from his being again.

But there was nothing... both Instinct Shadow and Instinct Sonic couldn't hear or feel their Others anymore... They had more time now, and wouldn't allow themselves to be pushed back to the extremes as before.

The promise of Instinct Amy made their bodies too stubborn to resist...

Even without the superspeed ability granted to him, Instinct Sonic was agile and as fast as ever! He leaped over the landscape and charged headfirst down the steep slope, neck and neck with Instinct Shadow as the two maneuvered the mountain's mighty face.

But to Amy... this all came with a wonderful realization.

'Wait… you decide who becomes the leader?' Her mind was wheeling with thoughts. This was honestly perfect! "Then doesn't that mean…! They can't… But I can-!' Amy tried piecing it together, and yippee'd inside her mind when she got it, jumping up and down. 'I can be with Sonic! He doesn't have to stay away from me anymore! No more avoiding me! I can't be claimed, I-I mean, you can't be. We... oh, whatever! This is great news! I'll talk to Tails, we'll figure it out, no one has to stay away from me anymore!'

Her cries of joy confused Instinct Amy... but it was a pleasant change as well. Instinct Amy... finally smiled.

'No more worrying about our instincts acting up! I'm saved! We're all gonna be okay!' she was overwhelmed with joy that sprung out like a gush of fresh water from a dammed ravine.

But Instinct Amy... frowned.

"I will never be accepted... I had forgotten that... for a brief moment."

She trotted along the now flattened ground of the base of the mountain, and looked up to the sparring alpha and beta...

The wind blew her scent up to them, but they seemed to know it didn't matter now.

She tried to breathe in any scent around her... but it was all nature, all... normal.

"I'm like the mountain... I'm apart of the world." She turned towards the forest, feeling forlorn, "I have the possibility of being with two powerful alphas... who both want to protect me..." She looked around herself, seeing the green, feeling the lush atmosphere as she rubbed the underneath of her chin where her scent glands were to mark her territory on a nearby tree, waiting for Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow to catch up. "I have the circumstances to be fulfilled in my life... to raise young and be a further part of the longevity of nature... yet... my purpose is somehow different for you... You want marriage... which means to wait. You want children... yet you don't allow me to create any. I... I don't understand you, my Other... No matter how much I want to... No matter how many may want me to be apart of their pack, to have the right to be with me and know who I am... I fear I'll never be loved by you." She stopped and held herself high, showing signs of a Beta nature...

"I will defend my right to this land... my right to find my own happiness... I will never try to appease you again." She squinted her eyes, and took off as she heard the trumpeting footsteps of Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow coming up from behind her.

'No... That's not what I-' Amy felt cut off again, like she had severed another chance at a strong tie between her and her instincts... She was constantly messing it up, wasn't she?

'...It's... true love, Other me.' Amy didn't know how to explain it, 'It's all of nature... all the elements inside you... but for that one person, it's also a encapsulating delight. Like, you'd risk everything for them. Like... the sun couldn't rise if they weren't there.'

She lowered her mental hand from outstretching towards where she felt the instinctual drive of her ancestors, 'It's more than just you or what your body tells you to do... it's so much more... I don't know... if I can describe it. It's something you just... grow to feel.' the blood of an ancient hedgehog... could it ever understand? 'It's more than nature, it's a knowing. You have to understand, some day... that's it's more rich than being just a footprint in history, of making the future generations so nature can survive. It's... It's romance.' She didn't want to turn away from her... but how could anyone love... a beast?

'It's more than life itself.'

-When Instincts finally fated...-

The fury of punches never seemed to cease with these two, once they came out of Instincts, they were constantly fighting one with another. It came flying out like a released falcon, these two men let their anger and self-disappointment rage upon the other... Fighting was all they could do to cope with the loss of their bodies, the forced possession that only through aging maturity could they ever conquer and fully control.

The headaches were nothing compared to their all-out brawl, as they squinted through the mental pain of all the memories and images flashing back to their consciousness, revealing everything that went down while they were semi-comatose inside their own minds and selves...

Like a gust of controlled, centered lightning, Sonic whipped up a wind that shot him like cannon fire out towards Shadow, laying a hard hit as Shadow braced against the impact, throwing his own rocketed fist back into Sonic's cheek. One hard hit after another, they only let a few sentences be exchanged between them. Neither one wanted to admit they'd rather physically fight their instinctual selves, but this would have to do.

They were still mad at each other... so it seemed like something that would blow off their steam and exhausts their wills.

...But their wills endlessly clashed and wouldn't be put to rest again. Having control now, the two would cling to it even if all they did was fight.

Shadow retaliated with a few sharp kicks that decisively left Sonic unable to mobilize his assets in the environment as before. Sonic's legs were targeted the most, and Shadow purposefully made the ground uneven in his attacks to keep Sonic from speedily countering and dodging his attacks with his superspeed. Boy, what'd he give for a Chaos Emerald right now...

By destroying the land his now, hurting legs had to trek against, it did give Shadow some further advantage against such hurricane-like impacted force Sonic was thrashing out.

Knocking Sonic back, he breathed a bit heavily before adjusting his stance. He had been hunched over, his legs spread out as he rammed into Sonic, but now... he tried to hold himself more refined, wiping some dirt off the side of his mouth. "Faker... If you had an ounce of self-control, I wouldn't have to be in this predicament."

Sonic jumped back up and spun immediately into a spin dash, "Better than faking my control the whole time with some phony lies!" Shadow closed his eyes, as though that hurt his pride to hear he had instincts and was in the same situation as Sonic.

He also spun himself quite quickly to charge his spinning ball body into Sonic's countless times, creating sparks as they lingered their grinding quills against the other's.

"Why didn't you just tell them the truth!?" Sonic stated, but there was clear animosity in his voice.

"I wasn't aware that I had that as a truth!" Shadow ricocheted off a tree's trunk and slammed back into him. It did cause Sonic to fall back, but like a pin ball machine, he bounced off of many different natural objects such as a boulder, tree trunk, and dove high into the air to bullet down on Shadow's still free-flying aerial arch. "It wasn't my intention to have such a powerful instinct embedded into my being!"

"But when you did know, you should have left!"

"And let some other man have his way with her? I would have fought to my death than have left Amy to defend herself! Unlike you, so-called hero!" Shadow and Sonic continued to banter as their bodies now landed to the ground like screeching car tires trying to make a banked turn.

They jammed into each other like rotating disks that backlashed them away at every hit, but they readjusted themselves and circled their spinning balled forms to continue to clash and rip into the earth as they did so.

"You would have been the death of her by staying! You're still just the villain on all accounts!" That was the last straw, as soon as Sonic said that, Shadow jumped over Sonic's readied spin-dash and landing behind him, reversed his spin-dashed ball form to slam into Sonic from behind.

It caused Sonic to ram into a tree that began to sink and tilt, falling off the edge of the land they were fighting on...

Finally, Amy had caught up and rushed into the middle of the battlefield, "Both of you! Stop it!" Amy outstretched her arms in both their directions to create a ceasefire, the two angry men stopped clashing into each other and held their ground.

They didn't uncurl though, "This isn't about you, Amy!" Sonic blurted out, "Stand aside!"

"It has everything to do with her!" Shadow retorted, "She's triggered these monsters in us, and if it weren't for her scent, we both wouldn't be in this heretic mess!"

"Leave her out of this!" Sonic's spin-ball form suddenly started to skid in place, as though his speed was increasing. "You're the unnatural one around here!"

"If you two stopped glaring at the other for just an instant..." Amy felt her heart falling into the pits of her stomach, her entire being so weary that it took everything in her not to cry after the headache had finally lessened somewhat. Her head swished left and right between the two, seeing Shadow's spin-ball dart up and down, side to side in anticipation to fight again.

She knew why they weren't uncurling...

"You both can't even face me!" She cried out, shooting her arms down by her sides and balling them up into fists.

The sound of screeching tires began to lessen...

She closed her eyes, "We're all suffering from this... we're all in this together... can't you see that!? Stop trying to place blame on each other! I blame myself!" her shoulders bounced a moment as the two suddenly skidded around her, avoiding her in the crossfire as they began to charge as though to duke it out again. "Ah!" Amy threw herself back to not get hurt, and watched as they uncurled to continue their brawling... 'They won't listen to me..?' she stepped back, her arm up to defend herself as the light from their quickly moving bodies were blinding. She could hear the sonic soundwaves that rang in her ears, popping them several times and finally turned away to plug her ears and dip her body down. "Sonic..." She teared up, "Shadow... please, you're not the problem..."

"If you hadn't left her all on her own, none of this would of happened!" Shadow jabbed a couple fast-paced punches into Sonic's face and gut. By this time, the two were starting to show serious bruising...

"Me?! You lied to her! You put her in even more danger!" As though completely disregarding her now, they continued to fight with all their strength, blowing off steam and compensating for their lack of being able to fight their instincts... "What!? Can't accept you're a scum like the rest of them too!?" Sonic was thrown back by a heavy toss from Shadow, and while getting up from skating across the ground, dirt flying everywhere as he gripped the earth to brace against the momentum of the swing, he got up and wiped some further dirt from his own scraped up cheek. "I'd walk out too if I were you... Protecting Amy from a distance was always my priority... but my instincts made me never get too close..." he walked back into Shadow's line of fire, uneasy in his swaggering stride.

That cocky smile... it ticked Shadow off to no end. However, some could examine this and say that though their instincts seemed dormant... their hormones were still effecting them without the full-blown takeover of their bodies, and this was simply still the frustrated aggression made manifest through the season... But it also made sense to them... they needed to let this aggression out, and to talk about things without really talking about them...

Men.

"I wouldn't have even been here... If it wasn't for being begged to come!" Shadow spread out his arms, fiercely making his statement known. "You think it's alright to abandon someone you supposedly consider a cherished friend? That it wasn't selfish what you did!? Reflect on your own actions, Sonic!" Shadow took a strong step forward and pointed accusingly towards his smug little grin. "Then you may realize that none of this would have happened if you had just simply stepped up instead of backing down! If you really cared about her being in need... you wouldn't have gone off with your instincts for some trust exercises!"

"Why you-!" Sonic's grin faded to a deep scowl. He rose his fist up, still wanting to duke it out some more, "What I did was for Amy! She wasn't safe with me around!"

"She was safer with whatever they consider an 'alpha', isn't that right?" Shadow gestured out his hand to break the pointing position it once held, "You probably don't even know about the Jumpers..." Shadow smirked, taking the advantage in the conversation.

"I..." Sonic deeply narrowed his eyes, "I couldn't trust myself... You can't blame me for trying to seek another way! I had to protect her!" Sonic swiped out his hand.

Amy turned slightly, listening fully to the conversation as she was now a few feet from the battle... but safe on the edge of the forested landscape, and away from the cliffside...

"To protect her? Or yourself!" Shadow stepped forward, "Even being a bigger threat than your Instincts presents... I was still enough to protect her... until the end." In shame, he clenched his teeth and looked away from Sonic, his eyes revealing that deep-seated sorrow that hung from the events. "It's disgusting to recall... even worse to recollect how I could do nothing to stop his alluring ploys... I'll make this very clear to you, however..." He got back into a fighting stance.

"Sonic The Hedgehog, I don't care what our instincts have dictated for ourselves! I will fight you... to the bitter end!" Shadow propelled himself forward.

"Hmph," Sonic spun into a kick that sent him flying in the air, just as quickly towards him, "I wouldn't have it any other way..!"

"You're not even grateful?" Amy muttered to herself, realizing Sonic didn't even show any gratitude for Shadow protecting her as much as he could. "In your mind... He's still at fault, no matter what good he did... That's why you felt leaving was the better option." She closed her eyes, starting to see it in Sonic's perceptive.

It hurt her to think about it, but to Sonic, the good didn't outweigh the evil. To him, if there was even a little bit of danger, it wasn't worth risking a mistake. To Shadow, even though he was and began to know he was a danger... knew he was lesser of two evils. He stayed to protect, even if his protection came with limitations,... he was willing to remain and risk an awful fate if it meant Amy could avoid an equally terrifying outcome with another man...

Both had some merit, but Sonic's seemed even more risky by leaving her... without Shadow, what would though Jumpers have accomplished? Did he hate himself for his decision? Or was hurting her the ultimate evil scenario he could even imagine..?

When it started getting bad, should Shadow had left? Sensing he was losing so much control..?

Amy was relatively safe when she was cooped up in her home... Would having left her momentarily to return with a better grip on himself been the better option?

In that case, would Sonic's methods, knowing his Instincts couldn't access his mind and find out Amy's location... been better after all?

There seemed to be a happy medium both men didn't end up seeing or choosing... but still... both were right and wrong in how they went about it.

But then again... what if Shadow had left and someone else got a whiff of her sirenic scent?

Again, Amy's mind was boggled with the overwhelming scenarios... who was right? Who was wrong? Why did that seem to matter so much when everything had worked out?

She stopped herself from going to sit upon the ground, to make herself invisible to their roughhousing that made no sense to her.

"You're mad at yourselves,... stop trying to pin the blame on the other and just work together on what is happening now. Sonic... you've always that way, and Shadow... you've never turned your back protecting those that need you... even though you know the consequences may be severe." She put her hand to her heart, feeling it racing, and worrying about the two blacking each other out. "Sonic remains constantly angry, Shadow is constantly upset and hating himself... But I'm not remaining constantly fragile!"

Her eyes became transfixed on an inner-strength she wanted more than anything to deliver her friends out of this situation.

"I won't just stand by... I won't complain like they are!" She got to her feet, and started racing towards the middle of their blows. She closed her eyes, summoning her hammer to attempt to defend herself. 'I won't be a coward who is locked away anymore!'

She swung herself as the two's feet were about to impact, and with all the speed she could muster, shot her hammer in-between to block them from hurting each other anymore.

Their feet hit against the two sides of her hammer, creating the legendary pounding sound of 'Piko!' in a low but heavy reverberating tone, like two cymbals powerfully hitting into each other but with the sound of a drum beated against instead. The vibrations carried to ripple through the air, as the men's feet landed once again on the ground and they stumbled back, glaring at one another and not attacking for the moment...

"Boys, stop it!" She cried out, pulling back her hammer once it stopped wobbling so much from the force laid upon it. "Stop…" she held out a hand and watched as they just panted in place, not looking to her at all, but remaining silent. "Yelling at each other? Is that getting us anywhere?" the moment didn't last long.

"Controlling your instincts isn't as easy as it looks, is it Shadow?" Sonic spoke through his harsh breaths, hunched with his hand overlapping his chest, hanging down as it seemed like he was reaching his maxed output. They hasn't rested all day and night... sweat revealed they had used each other as a punching bag, but this wasn't a physically critical situation. The two could still go at it... but by weakening themselves, it could make their instincts take over them again... and that physical possibility didn't seem to be on anyone's minds at the moment. Sonic kept his head angled low, his mouth revealing some fog as though the chilly mountain base and forested morning was beginning to get too much for them.

"All the hits you're throwing and taking in return... Is it worth it?" Amy looked to Sonic, seeing he was still baiting Shadow on, egging him to not hold back. She was scolding him with her eyes... but he never looked at them. "Does the pain make you both feel alive!?" She looked to Shadow, "Does it give you a sense that you're in control again!? Does that make you feel like men!?"

The glare the two shared was so thick it literally felt to Amy like she was being pierced through with the hate.

"And I suppose it's easier to just walk away from such things? Instead of trying to find a better answer!" Shadow shouted back, completely ignoring Amy again. The two were like on another plane of reality, honed on one another and treating Amy like a unforgivable ghost they couldn't face in their dreams...

Not willing to let Sonic throw all the blame on him, Shadow continued, "How could you leave her like that… knowing their were people like Jumpers on the loose-!" He tightened his fist, "I'll make sure you feel every ounce of control... except for the power in my fists!" he moved to come back at him.

"I had no idea about that!"

Amy had never heard Sonic scream like that...

The moment blew her away... as the two slammed back into each other.

She knocked herself away on the ground, ducking as the two fought just inches above her. They made sure their footing never allowed them to actually touch her or put her in harm's way... but still... she was frightened.

Not from them, per se, but by the sheer fact that they would disregard her feelings to the point of pinning her back so far in their minds that she didn't even exist to have a right to their conversation...

Her eyes trembled at their absolute shunning of her.

She lowered her hands from protecting her head to cup around her face... she had never felt, no, never experienced such complete rejection before... Not in all her life.

"And I also didn't know other hedgehogs, especially you—Shadow!—would betray her trust like that!" Sonic dramatically swung himself back to then point accusingly once again at Shadow. His stance was faltering though, the two could barely lift their heads up anymore... but were forcing themselves to stay on their feet. Neither wanted to fall... neither wanted to accept their own self-hatred.

This caused another lull in the fighting to happen and they parted again. Sonic stomped his foot to the ground, "I couldn't even imagine... someone... anyone willing to hurt an innocent little girl like that!"

Her eyes bulged... that was it. Her rage built from then, all her own pent-up aggression and all those lonely emotions of feeling abandoned and forgotten... of her hero's dismissal of her... and Shadow's betrayal... even if she knew she... she just didn't want to be alone. But in this field... in the cold morning air... she felt an even greater agony. Another betrayal... "Little-..?" She started to get up, "Girl..?"

Under the surface, just waiting to rise up from the ashes of denial... a great eclipse was happening. Instincts and Persona... Mind and Body... here it comes...

"Why didn't you tell her you couldn't control it?! Perhaps you didn't want too?" Sonic moved his head to the side, one eye scrutinizing Shadow all of a sudden.

"You dare-!?" Shadow lunged his head forward, "I had control of it! I was... worried I had been compromised briefly, but nothing had occurred. Besides, if I left after that trauma, than who would have looked after Amy?! She would have been left to herself... as you had done to her once before!" He suddenly did notice Amy getting up, mumbling to herself. He narrowed his eyebrows in confusion, but let it slide. Now wasn't the time... "I was thinking of her safety, not my own!"

"I don't believe she was quite safe in that cave just now, either!" Sonic bundled a fist as tightly as he could manage, stepping forward as the two prepared to go at it again, seeming to never quit their dueling, equalizing forces until...

"I hate you!"

The two fell into silence as Amy started to cry, her knees shaking, and her head down low to where they couldn't see her face.

After taking a second to recollect herself, she shook her head, "No... N-no I don't hate any of you... I'm just... I'm scared, alright?" Her voice then broke as she lifted her head up to the sky, still closing her eyes as tears rained profusely down her face. "And I know you're both fighting your fears, too... but this isn't the way." She pulled her hands up to her eyes and started to bawl, "Both of you were in the same position I was..! Both of you were about to be forced to do something neither of us wanted to happen!" She had never felt such hate... such anger to say those hurtful words. It was the moment she started to hate herself... When even her optimism and hopeful nature couldn't save her friends... couldn't save herself. "We have jumpers living inside ourselves!" She had to stop talking for a moment, only to breathe right enough to start talking again. "You both were in terrible danger from your own selves! You could have been violated! You both refuse to acknowledge it, but you're just as scared as me!"

It was such a simple statement, yet it dropped every ounce of tension the two hedgehogs had stored up inside themselves. They faltered, leaning back, before both fell to the ground, on their knees.

She could hear, though her vision was still blurry, the subtle sharp sniffs as though they were trying to compose themselves. Her gentleness took over her anger... "I did feel it. So did my instincts... we felt betrayed, abandoned, and alone… that's why she wanted to leave it all behind." she noticed they were finally giving in to hearing her out, and continued, wiping her gloves against her eyes to try and see better again, stepping out in-between them so they didn't have to look at one another... but just her. "But you both... no, your instincts... they seemed to equally scare her into staying,... Does that mean I want to stay in this terrifying chaos? With the threat of losing myself and my friends in this war of... of... natural obscenities'?!" She shook her arms about, looking at the ground as though figuratively having the awful scenes around her on the ground.

The two fell forward, their hands trying to keep them up as they continued to pant in their drained anxieties... she must have been right. They were still fighting their instincts... even when their instincts had become dormant for now...

"But now,... were here." She felt her strength returning, she had one slip of her emotions... but they wouldn't be the end of her. They wouldn't conquer her and she wouldn't fight to push them aside like Sonic and Shadow were doing.

She was Amy Rose... and no amount of contempt or self-deprecation would keep her from being her true self.

Instincts was not all she was, and she wasn't even sure if it was anything of her... or anything to do with her yet.

Amy lowered her hands to slowly grip herself around her stomach, a way to try and hold herself together but also to give herself what no one else would... a hug. She gave out a sharp inhale, quivering as she tried to compose herself one last time to say what she really felt. "I told her not to mate," It's what she wanted to tell Sonic all along...

Sonic and Shadow's heads both jerked a moment, before they looked up to her. She couldn't read their expressions, each was different and there seemed to be more than one emotion and thought placed on it.

"And to avoid problems, I told her to wait… that clearly isn't the same thing to her." She admitted, swallowing hard as she blinked and more warm tears lined her cheeks in quick but soft blobs. "I'm worried she'll betray me, because apparently, that's a trending thing in us. We can't trust each other… and who knows what will happen if we continue on this course…" She tucked her hands under her armpits, still feeling vulnerable and uncomfortable, but knowing this is what she needed to say... even if they refused to listen to her.

Their heads did turn away from her, but she wasn't done quite yet.

She had—oh, so much—more to say.

"All I know is…" she opened her mouth, but took a few more quick short breaths before continuing, "I'm terribly afraid to find out."

Shadow and Sonic stepped back up, slowly getting back on two feet. Then she could read them a bit better... as they looked to and then away again: Guilt.

"I know it's hard to admit to yourselves... but you're afraid too!" She threw her arms down, no longer trying to comfort herself. "Now I need you two more than ever!" she screamed out in her growing confidence. Her body shaking left and right as she stomped her feet to the ground, refusing to let herself bottle up and hide. It helped to get rid of the shaking in her legs, and although her head was down, she was able to poke it out as though fighting her own hedgehog nature in wanting to curl up and roll away. "I can't do this alone! I'm clearly not strong enough, and it kills me to admit that…" she glanced down and to the side, turning to Shadow, "You are too." then turned to Sonic, whipping her quills back, feeling them spike up and back in some unknown feeling of power over the two of them... as though commanding like an Alpha... "And you as well! We're all unable to go on like this! We can't just decide to be alone again, that's unbearable and it's safer now that everyone is acting as a-!" she didn't want to say the word, it would be like surrendering to their customs...

But their bodies were already so attuned to such things... still, she refused to utter it further.

"We'll be safer if we convince our instincts to keep the others hands at bay." She explained, trying to still be sensitive on the topic. Turning tender again, realizing she may have come off a bit harsh, she put her hand up to her heart. In that instant, her quills lowered delicately back to swish against her shoulders and cheeks, as though that momentary commanding aura she had felt was softly put back to rest. However... when she wasn't looking, the two marveled in secret at her strength...

"I need you both now…" She pulled back her lower lip, feeling it quiver but refusing to cry anymore. She had found something... something within her that was stronger than any instinct! At least... that's what she believed. Her own soul was starting to take charge, and it was freeing and empowering for her to declare it to herself in her mind. 'I need to love myself again.' she looked back to the two men, no longer boys in many regards. "Because together, we do have the power to keep our instincts in check. You both can do it... While mine," She had never felt so assertive, so fiercely in control. She looked at her hand, shaking from the incredible emotion and strength she was feeling from the whole moment. "Mine continues to wait,... hopefully, for my approval."

There was a moment where Instinct Amy felt she had almost merged with her Other... but slowly creeped back into the dark abyss of her inner body... as though creeping up to the mind as stealthily as she could, giving her a small glass of that potential, but before it could be fully drank and realized, she was disappointedly sent back down into a lesser emotion.

Amy didn't know that that feeling... that strength was all from her instinctual desires. But...

While some instincts would crawl and scratch and tear their Others mentally limb from limb to receive even a small amount of control and power... she only wanted that freedom of belonging side by side with her Other self... to become her 'true' self, as Instinct Sonic once explained to her. Curiosity towards her Other filled her with a love that didn't seem conditional, but never fully left her. So although she didn't want to obey her anymore, she did seem to want to follow whatever urged her to merge her interests with her Other's. No matter how much Amy hated her instincts... her own being couldn't possibly seem to hate her Other enough to not want to help her. It was her. Apart of her that manifested fears, wants, ambitions... Who wouldn't want to help themselves out of a rut?

But down... down the creature went... silently turning back into the forgotten, subconscious realm that kept the two apart.

Amy tried to think logically, but seeing how the two were, decided that for their sakes, she shouldn't push this anymore. Quickly shook her head, she didn't want to impose anything on them... but she desperately didn't want to be alone. "Oh, don't you see?" she spread out her arms again, hoping to lighten the mood from her earlier moment, switching tactics once seeing how silent they were being. "We really can work together and still be friends! No one has to lie," she looked over to Shadow, directing that specifically to him. Though, in her own heart, she shouldn't have lied to herself too. She was hopeful it wasn't the case, but she couldn't deny his instincts were now just as dangerous as any other of their kind... "Or leave…" she looked fragilely over to Sonic, gently showing signs of that emotional hurt from his departure...

She didn't want to lose him... but she couldn't stand the thought of rejecting Shadow to himself either... especially knowing his instincts could potentially find her again, being as intelligent as they were.

Keep your enemies closer... as it were.

But it also pained her to see them as such a harsh word...

She reflected on how cute Sonic's instincts were when he bumped into the coat rack, causing the long stick to topple over and a hat to be drooped on it's side. How he pawed at the closet door...

She recounted how Shadow's Instincts protected her, and even before that, helped to keep her rather calm and tame...

In all respects, she should side with Sonic and Shadow in calling them disrupters and morally unjustified... but a part of her longed to understand them, too.

She touched her heart, knowing Sonic and Shadow would never approve of that longing, but Tails's words spoke to her. 'They're apart of you.' He once said something like, 'You need them.. so you can be happy.'

Were Instincts so necessary that life couldn't be lived without them?

Seemed hard to imagine...

After being so silent, the wind ever so still, it finally picked up as Shadow stepped up and forward, still looking down but seeming ready to speak now to break the eerie silence.

As he did, Sonic's eyes sped up to his image too, and glared heavily. It was like he felt Shadow should have remained down and silent, but the look wasn't noticed by Shadow at first.

"…Amy." He moved slightly over to her, angling himself as a subtle hand seemed to reach out towards her, but Sonic's ears bent forward as though a threat. He withdrew a finger at a time... twitching the arm before fully bringing it back to his side as Sonic's ears bent back, still cautious. He wasn't in instinct form, but he was certainly still giving bodily cues that Shadow began to understand was apart of instincts. His understanding of them only came from his instinct's will and mind anyway, but he ignored the innate understanding and continued, "I refuse to leave you to the hands of fate." He paused after spotting Sonic's double take from him to her. Was he really being so protective as a result of Instincts? Or did he just really hate Shadow being trusted by Amy? He wasn't sure... but it was obvious Sonic didn't like him having a strange relation to her, especially one he wasn't willing to give up so easily... "I will continue to protect you."

Sonic bashed out a gust of air from his mouth, crunching a fist against the ground as Shadow stated that.

It was what he wanted to say... but Shadow said it first.

His pride in being a hero to his friend felt slightly stabbed into from behind, and shattered enough to crack the glass image of what he believed he could be for them, for her... but not enough to completely break it into pieces.

"Shadow..." He warned... growing more and more aggressive as his body began to shake, nostrils flaring and trying to keep himself under control.

"And besides,…" Shadow ignored his tell-tale signs of wanting him to keep his distance, stay in his place... but Shadow refused to oblige him. 'It's Amy's life,' Shadow thought to himself, 'She can decide if I stay out of it or not, quiet griping about it.' He took on a determined look in his eyes, the eyelids angling down more to actively ignored Sonic's disapproval. "Your instinct now has the power of authority over our instincts. For now, they willingly obey her. You can use that to your advantage in keeping us all relatively situated till this 'season' passes us and we return to our normal lives." He then had the guts to side-glance Sonic, "Our Instincts seem to be forced to comply with her wishes..." It was almost challenging... and both their bodies wanted to lash against the other with that feeling of competition. "At least..." This was the last, definitive straw he could state... "Till she decides."

It was almost like Shadow was saying to leave it up to Amy, which neither Sonic nor Amy liked to hear.

Sonic did in fact get up on that comment, "Let her body decide!?" it was outrageous, but Amy shot out her hand to stop him in his tracks. The action startled him, as he looked over to hear whatever line she dared to utter from that obtuse statement made from Shadow.

"Don't fight." Amy tried to assert herself again, but this time, Sonic wasn't having any of it.

He walked on, even with her hand still outstretched to try and stop him.

"She won't decide." Sonic stated back, glaring at Shadow as though he should bite his tongue. Stopping at her outstretched hand, he then took a serious look at Amy.

There was a long moment... where the two were completely overcome in their sorrow for each other.

It was obvious he was still feeling guilty and embarrassed, shamed... but there was also this undeniable plea in his eyes.

He missed her too... and she missed him so terribly...

He didn't want to overstep her, so he didn't cross the barrier her arm created in stopping him from fighting Shadow again; but taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and knew he would need to speak soundly for this to work. Both Amy and Shadow needed to understand... he had been dealing with Instincts the longest.

They would have to understand.

He would not compromise.

He would not go any other way but his way,... and if his way meant going it alone...

He looked to Amy.

Then he'd go it alone.

"As long as you keep her on the fence about us, then there doesn't have to be an official and permanent alpha." He spoke directly to her, knowing he needed to convince her first. "We can protect and be protected at the same time. Even me and Shadow now can't see other females." Sonic gestured his hand down while speaking, then looked away from both of them, to the side and up to the sky, "Not that our instincts would, anyway..." He had an idea of what they could do, but Shadow just clenched his teeth, not liking him taking the lead.

"Why would they? We, ourselves, aren't interested. If they truly were our bodies, wouldn't we both care less about Amy!?" He gestured to her and that put Amy in a state of hurt feelings.

Her eyes widened at his rudeness, her hands coming up slightly together before she looked down at the ground, her eyes moving left and right.

"Shadow-!" Sonic swiped his hand out, seeing her own hand having retracted back. "Watch what you say..." he withdrew himself back, simply correcting him.

"...Am I wrong?" Shadow then returned the glare, but this time, more relaxed in what he was saying. "Or are you suggesting we, inadvertently, have an inclined attraction to her we both adamantly deny?" Shadow was suggesting that Amy's instinct may have given them unwanted feelings. "Subverted, are we?" he was now referring to the fact that these instincts might have more power over them then they imagined at first, but he knew Sonic would openly deny it. "Do our instincts dictate who and how we come to love then?" He was backing Sonic into a corner, silencing him from further interjecting his own speech.

Sonic didn't want to speak so directly about it in front of Amy... but he lowered his head and turned his body, kicking the ground slightly in the process.

Of course he didn't want to answer that.

"Or... do you just have trouble with other females?" He spat that out as though it was his instinct form, which made Sonic quickly pivot back towards him and share the same hostility.

Shadow had just discovered Instincts, it's not like Sonic knew anything about his own smell... only that his instincts thought it quite a powerful, potent smell of an alpha.

However... he did know, as did Shadow, that their instincts talked about Sonic's smell being lesser...

What was he trying to get at!?

"Shadow, Sonic, we have to trust each other!" Amy finally broke from her momentary quietness. That comment about her had seemed to remove any and all confidence she had once gained, but she wasn't aware that her instincts had also removed themselves from influencing, making her feel somewhat weak again. "I don't like how our instincts keep telling us they're almost a direct reflection of how we are. We're acting like them right now!" she declared, stomping her foot down again, "No one is in charge of me!" she hollered out, making the call that pulled both Sonic and Shadow back. They both respected and understood that... At least they took a bigger breath to back off the other... but Amy could still tell they wanted to fight through their emotions instead of standing around and talking about it.

"I will make you two stop! Maybe not your death glares at each other, but at least willing to listen…" Her eyes bent back, "We shouldn't judge each other based on our instincts... it's wrong because... because..." Her ears bent back, thinking again... "Because we're not fully merged with them yet."

"Is that really necessary?" Shadow intervened again. "It's not like I signed up to be apart of your natural rituals." He lowered his eyelids as though to mock natural-born hedgehogs.

"You aren't exactly cut out to judge now, Shadow." Sonic's ears were going nuts, as though figuring out if he wanted to hold himself back or punch him, and having that inner-conflict on whether to challenge or remain civil. "You've become... a dangerous part of us."

"Hmph," Shadow closed his eyes and regally lowered his head, folding his arms to disregard such a notion. "I refuse to be apart of this any longer... But seeing as I don't have much of a choice..." He groaned out of the side of his mouth, "I'll simply entertain the thought of being part of this 'pack' as it were... though Hedgehogs are mostly alone, I will continue to seek a way out of this predicament. Once Amy is considered in a safer position... I could care less about instincts." he batted out his hand as though dismissing the idea entirely, going back to having his hands dangle by his sides.

Amy felt excluded again, like the two were only focused on biting the air at each other... a metaphor, but one she got from their constant barking and growling in their instinct forms.

It was scary... seeing them like that... in her mind's eye.

"This… is literally… how wild animals act." Amy began to get choked up at the memories. The headache had passed, but they never would, would they?

She finally let tears fall from her eyes, again. She had lost the fight to keep them sane, and they were going right back to being awful to one another...

At least they weren't physically hurting themselves anymore...

The two did look at her, as though hiding the fact that they didn't want to see her this way.

They both still couldn't fully face her... it seemed.

To avoid further injury of her, they just threw the backlash at each other... but she didn't seem to understand how much they were trying—struggling—to keep her away from their fired up selves...

"I… I want to trust both of you… I want us to be… a good 'pack'." she tightened her fist, squinting her eyes shut as they burned and stung from her last set of tearful remarks. "If that's how it must be…I was... happy, you know?" This did engage them somewhat, not sure what she was admitting. It was clear their was surprise in their eyes, but they also turned away as though hoping she wasn't saying something morally indecent... "I was so glad the power shifted to me…"

The men calmed down then, starting to see what she meant.

Although their backs were facing her, their shoulders and heads lowered slightly.

"I don't know if I can trust her..., and that is the honest truth." Amy continued, raising her head up and giving herself a second before opening her eyes again, looking like she was trying to summon that commanding feeling again. "But I want to try."

A smile came across both their faces, hearing her caring about them so much... they both weren't used to this... feeling...

A part of them was proud of her, taking the lead like this, gaining that security in power over something they themselves couldn't seem to become the masters' over either. But more so, that she truly wasn't giving up. On herself or them. She didn't want to lose them... but another part of them was ravenous for her words to be only for them.

The two looked over to one another, realizing the strange predicament they were in wouldn't dissipate that easily... was this hatred simply from instincts? Or a long, forgotten or lost rivalry? (Author's note: There is a theory going around that Shadow was created to be a rival for Sonic in more ways then one. Even when it came to Amy... but this idea was scrapped sometime after the Shadow the Hedgehog game, that the officials at SEGA didn't want anything coming between Sonic and Amy's dynamic. Instead, they threw Rouge at/on Shadow instead. There is evidence to support this rumor, but obviously, no official claim or status on it. Sorry for the momentary interruption xp)

"And I think you both should try and get along with your instincts,"

They abruptly lost that smile and turned to her right away, insulted and both opening their mouths to object but she cut them off quickly before either could get a sound out.

"Let them know more about this world and stop leaving them in the dark!" she kept her eyes closed, lifting her hand out as though predicting they would counter her in some way. Her emotions were filling up and the desire to be held by one of them again slowly rising... In great fear of what that was, she swallowed hard and tried to bade it back. She begged in her heart, like a prayer of hope, that it wasn't instincts returning to take over again. "I can't fight my instincts,... none of us can! But we can try and reason with them-"

"You can't reason with a wild animal." Sonic quickly stated, looking sorrowfully at Amy, and then looking and turning away again. "I'm sorry… but I can't trust any instincts." He redirected and focused all his sights back on Shadow. "Especially yours."

"Agreed." Shadow returned the distain in his eyes as they both tightened their fist for another—obvious—battle afoot.

"Guys…" Was there no way of keeping these two from fighting? Was Amy doomed to fail at mediating between these men as well? "I…I can't…" Amy felt her body going back and reverting back to previous desires. She felt her knees falter first, and then like a towering tree, she felt herself go straight down, no angles or anything. She had enough strength to keep her torso balanced on the side of her butt, as though trying to completely topple over to laying on her side. However, it didn't feel like she was falling into heat. This wasn't the hot, sweaty feeling and heightened senses she was used to… but her body was slowly weakening, just like heat had done, what was happening?

She touched her head, no headache, so what was this..?

She started to fall forward but Sonic and Shadow quickly saw her head reel back as they ran to opposite sides of her, catching her just before she felt herself blacking out slightly.

Hand against hand, they still stared with animosity and distrust for each other, but after hearing Amy's change of breathing, they quickly and without hesitation, put their differences aside to help her.

"What's happening? Her scent just spiked." Sonic said, smelling the change as the muzzle part connected to his nose crinkled while his nose jumped slightly up at the strong pheromone. "Is it..." Repulsed slightly at the thought of being returned to instinct form, he leaned a bit back. "Heat, again?" he was confused, normally, heat doesn't happen consecutively after each other... well, at least not without being induced by certain behavior again.

Neither of them had triggered it, so this was suspicious, and granted, Sonic had limited knowledge of Instincts anyway.

"No, something's wrong." Shadow examined her, touching her head and seeing their was no sweat or fever-like heat. He placed the back of his fingers on her forehead, then stroked against where her scent glands were noticed it dry too... "She's loosing power," He actually didn't say it as a mock or with a scoff, he was dead serious this time, and Sonic noticed how seriously he was taking this. In a weird way, it was earning some respect from him, and he was glad Shadow was acting concerned for Amy. "She's surrendering to her body but not exactly in the same way as heat. I'm not sure what this is."

Having their arms around her made her feel slightly safer, she decided to relax into this and not open her eyes again. She wanted to prove she trusted them, that they would care more about her health than their issues with each other. However, this was the ultimate test of trust... for if their instincts kicked in, she would no longer be able to fight… and her fate would be in the hands of both of them… again.

And that barely turned out alright to begin with...

"We have to get her to Tails, he'll know what to do." Sonic suggested, helping Shadow to get her more straightened, but she couldn't hold herself up anymore, so he put her arm over his shoulder, "Easy, Amy. We've got ya." Adjusting her so he could help her remain upright.

Shadow also noticed that... Seeing Sonic cooperating more with him gave him some faith that maybe they could tag-team this 'guarding' operation for Amy.

Why did he care so much..? Was it simply her kindness and owing her a favor..?

Or the fact that she forgave him for so easily being manipulated by his instincts, and still wanting him to be around her, regardless of his faking he had no instincts..?

He didn't mean to lie, only the last bit was a real falsehood... but still.

He couldn't turn away such an innocent to the galls of immorality.

"I'm not sure we can last that long…" Shadow strained, helping her up as well as Sonic saw his eyes shifting in and out, and knew what was happening.

"Shadow,"

He was actively fighting it, but that stroke under her chin to test the texture was clearly too much.

"Don't blink."

Shadow looked up at him, confused, "What?" He ground his teeth together, not aware of his eyes or... was he simply fooling himself again? And attempting to take Sonic with him in his denial?

Sonic had a new face plastered on, one of understanding instead of hate. "Keep your eyes open, whatever you do. Do it for Amy." In the split second of spurred tension from the drama, he brought out a sense of comradery, and wanted to now follow Amy's wish to work together to help her. He wasn't going to run away anymore…

"It helps." He took Amy mostly onto himself, taking her full weight, which wasn't much by any means. "Try not to blink, grah..!" He held her arm around his shoulders and hooked his hand by her waist, using the open spot of her dress by there to hoist her up. It may have been uncomfortable for her, but now wasn't the time to think of comfort. He had to make sure if Shadow did shift, he could fling Amy to safety and combat him; Otherwise, he just needed to make sure he could hold her steadily up while talking through it with Shadow. "You can try and do it quickly, but sometimes your eyes just… stay down and you shift. Just bare it till we get to Tails, it's her only option." He knew if he held her bridal style, like usual, her scent would be too close... this way, he could keep her head towards him and down so her scent glands weren't so up close and personal. "In the beginning, I didn't know about my eyes, either." He explained, watching as Shadow pressed his palm against the top of his eyes' bridge, trying to keep his eyelid from sliding down and looking away in shame and discomfort. "But you probably saw it happen with Amy, and Tails told me about it later... just whatever you do, don't blink."

Shadow saw how Sonic was momentarily putting trust in him, and through that acknowledged respect and bravery, nodded to show he would do whatever it takes to keep Amy safe from him... both of them. "Strain against it yourself." He encouraged, and grabbed Amy's other side, hoisting her arm over his shoulders to help. "I've fought him before, I can hold him back again." his eyes were definitely straining... tightening towards each other before being pushed in small increments back. "In order to obey Amy's wishes... we have to try and do this together."

Sonic... slowly complied with a serious look and lowering his head slightly... as though somewhat returning the nod.

They both didn't like it, but for a moment, they were glad they weren't alone...

A weird sense of brotherhood, trying to remain decent in these crazy circumstances, the two ran as fast as they could without blinking to Tails's home.

"hang in there,... Amy." Sonic kept her up off the ground with Shadow's help, but carrying her like this wasn't easy, and they couldn't go their true maxed speed... Still, together, they were going to get her safety... no matter what!

"Just be alright." Shadow continued, seeing her head began to bobble as though she wasn't even their anymore. "...We both haven't asked for forgiveness yet..."

Sonic gritted his teeth, his own emotions becoming pained at Shadow admitting that.

All that fighting... that rough-housing... when they really just wanted to say what was on their hearts.

Now, they truly had something worth fighting for. They both desperately raced against the clock, holding out from reverting into their instincts, blasting in their minds to the universe a prayer that nothing was truly wrong with Amy.

Straining to not blink against the wind, their eyes turned slightly red in irritation, but also because both were fighting tears as they stated in unison-

"I'm sorry."

-A few hours later-

"..Em…ermm…" Amy slightly turned her body, trying to feel a sense of herself again.

"Amy..? Is that you in there?" That voice... Her vision was a blur with lighted silhouettes outlining something...

"Ah…huh?" The light moved away, though.

"Ammmmy~?" Her vision refocused in, and Tails was revealed to be smiling as he came back over with what looked like a flashlight moving left and right over her two eyes. "Pupils seem normal. I'm guessing you're here, at last." he joked slightly, but took the flashlight away once checking to make sure she was waking up and herself, not in instinct form.

He had his hands crossed over the other, "Good to see you back to your normal self again!" he seemed relatively calm, taking a lamp he had turned off and turning it on. She strained against the blasting light from directly above her, as he apologetically bowed and chuckled to himself at his slight error, removing the lamp to have it away from her. "Sorry, forgot I waved a flashlight in your face moments before. Sleep well?"

"…What… happened?" Amy slowly got up, but Tails moved and slightly gestured for her to stay down, being gentle and slow in his movements. He did keep his hands out in front of him, discouraging her from rolling off the bed she was currently laying on.

He didn't dare touch her.

"Woah-woah-woooah, there… don't make any sudden movements." He warned her.

"W-why?" she raised an eyebrow... as a growl was heard from behind Tails. She slowly turned from her bed to see Shadow and Sonic on all fours on the ground, their ears flicking around, and carefully studying her every moment.

They were laying down, which meant they weren't perturbed too much by Tails's presence, but were still on edge.

"I know they looked relaxed but they're not." Tails quickly, almost humorously, got the words out to her as best he could. He lightly shook his head, his eyes widening as if neither of them were in a safe position just yet.

She sighed, looking exhausted from being so 'careful' all the time but nodding as she noticed he was up on the bed... probably to avoid being on the ground with them.

"They can jump, you know." She teased.

"And bite, don't forget maim, slaughter, assassinate. I just learned that their are specific courts of law, just for instinct attacks!" Tails looked like he was laughing through his fear.

"Oh, Tails... I'm sorry." she felt bad then, "I know Instinct Sonic doesn't seem to really like you..."

"For... good reasons." Tails admitted, looking away a moment before eyeing them from the corner of his eye. "All I have to do is stare directly into his eyes and he's swiping his hand at me! As though I don't know Sonic has claws!" Tails fell back on the bed, showing his exhaustion too as the two hedgehogs growled from below, and a sharp warning bark came from Instinct Sonic.

"I'm up, I'm up!" Tails got back up, seeing as they wanted him within sight at all times. "I am a natural predator to hedgehogs... they probably are just fighting their natural behavior of trying to spook me away." He sighed, "Back to life as usual then, eh?" He tried to keep things light, smiling over to her. "You okay?"

"Tails... how'd I get here?" Amy was confused how she 'could' be okay... "I fell and blacked out, right? I can't remember... but they were going to fight and-"

She stopped when she noticed Tails's sorrowful expression.

He looked away from her, adjusting himself on the bed again as he held his hands together between his parted legs. "…They shifted just moments after bringing you here."

Amy held in a sharp breath.

"Since then, they've been monitoring my EVERY movement." Tails looked away, shaking his head as he got off the bed from examining her over and put his flashlight down.

The hedgehogs slightly rose from their laying positions, but he faked a growl and they immediately withdrew steadily back in quick steps, getting closer to Amy as though ready to defend her against the predator.

"…They shifted?" Amy was amazed, "Did they... really fight their instincts?" she looked over to them, getting up at least to prop her pillow up and lean against the bedframe.

She was rightfully startled by something like that, knowing how powerful her scent was...

"Well, yeah. That's what happens when spring comes up." Tails shrugged, fiddling with some tools and equipment he was now putting away. "You should have seen their eyes... it was like an explosion of the pupil... they were telling me everything as fast as they could and then asking where they could chain themselves up to. I didn't have chains, and they would have busted the doors down to find you and follow your scent anyway. I was proud of them though, even though they haven't successfully merged—correctly—with their instincts yet... they managed to resist them until you were fully in my hands... by then, I just kinda nursed you back to health, I suppose."he wiped his hand against his dirtied workman's cloth and looked back to the hedgehogs. "A little growl here and there keeps them weary of me, so they don't approach. I wonder if Sonic's pride keeps him from explaining things to his instinct... Shadow's seems to understand I'm mostly here to help." he flopped the rag back and shrugged to Amy, "Sorry about your place. It's kinda a mess still. When I heard Sonic and Shadow's story, I wanted to help but I think keeping you far from your 'nest' is probably the safest bet so far. Plus, I couldn't just leave you here. They would have destroyed my house trying to find you."

Amy remained silent, looking at the ground before turning to see Instinct Sonic notice her stare. He yipped excitedly and wagged his tail, laying his head on the edge of the bed and having to lean up to do so. Sweetly, he sniffed profusely at where her hand was, as though somewhat aware she needed tending to.

She... moved her hand... but saw his ears turn to show his curiousity, and patted his head lightly. "Thank you." she stated to him, but Instinct Shadow shoved his head aside, mouth open to show he was ready to bite Instinct Sonic at any moment, and then seemed to demand the same attention.

She hesitated, but lightly rubbed her fingers on his ear as he calmed down, still growling for Instinct Sonic to back off but Instinct Sonic grew jealous and the two started swiping at each other.

She removed her hand as they seemed to wrestle and fight for dominance again, but a lot less violently. Instinct Shadow looked with a scowl away from Instinct Sonic, as both Amy and Tails couldn't figure out what they were saying to each other. But as Instinct Sonic barked, Instinct Shadow let him dominant him and laid with his head down, Instinct Sonic over him and growling threateningly.

"I can't understand it, though." Tails admitted, "Co-dominating? Do you know how extremely rare that is for two male hedgehogs, especially alphas at that, to agree to something like that without being blood related in any way?!" Tails was just as surprised as Amy was.

"Blood related?" She tilted her head, hoping he'd elaborate.

"Uhh... maybe later." Tails must not have felt like explaining the whole ancestral history and how it's evolved from derived portions of normal instincts.

"…Didn't Sonic.. want to attack you?" Amy was remembering details herself, but still shocked that Tails was still in one-piece, and even able to growl back at times to keep them from attacking him. "Do they... know they could take you?"

"Sshhh!" Tails stuck up his pointer finger to his mouth, watching as the hedgehogs stopped their dominance play and Instinct Sonic went back to leaning his head against where Amy was, rubbing his scent on it. Instinct Shadow hung back, gruffing in what was obviously agitation at having to put up with this act. "Do we have to speak that in front of an instinct who acts way more sophisticated than he should be!?" he gestured to Instinct Shadow, quite wildly as though Amy shouldn't stir his curiosities towards it. "I just said they were probably fighting the urge to spook me, imagine if they actually did turn from the defensive to attack!" Tails emphasized he was faking his bravery, and knew very well that if Instinct Shadow and Instinct Sonic attacked him, he was done for.

"Yeah, what's with that?" Amy asked but Tails shook his head again.

"Another time."

She blew a raspberry that got the two hedgehogs attentions.

They whined and squeaked as they moved over to her, not sure how to interpret that noise, but making sure she was okay. Like sharks, they just took turns circling the side she was on, rubbing their scent on it as if that somehow would make her feel safer and calmer.

"Look at them." Tails crossed his arms, almost in distain. "They'd do anything to comfort you." He shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Try and not spook them either, okay?"

"So they did try and attack you?" She waved her hand towards them, but kept her eyes mostly on Tails, only taking a second to turn back to them when they tried to jump for her touch.

"Oh, sure!" Tails tossed his hand out, being silly but obviously hiding the terror he must of felt in that moment. "But Shadow stopped him. I think when Shadow and his instinct merged, they shared information about the world. So, I think his instincts knew I was a good guy, unlike Sonic's. Now, they did tell me as much as possible, but I couldn't exactly tell them what had happened to you spontaneously during... I guess... a f-fight?" He seemed to have only been told the necessities. Amy wondered how much the two were even willing to fully share to him... but he knew about Co-dominating, so maybe he knew what Shadow's Instinct had tried to do..?

"It is spring now, and the first day is usually a doozy. Considering that's when everything kinda kicks in and I'm guessing how these two might of met?" Tails clearly didn't know all the details, that much was for sure.

He looked down at the hedgehogs, then leaned against the dresser he was using as a work table. "I can't pinpoint it, exactly, but..." His ears bent down, worried. "The two seemed really at odds with each other... I was shocked when they both shifted and didn't attack the other. I know that Sonic said there was a fight, then after the fight, you kinda collapsed. Shadow said it didn't seem like heat, but they were worried something was going on. I can't say for certain, but I just think it's a new season for you, you're still not fully in control of yourself yet and maybe your body got worked up over something else? You all seemed exhausted. I just let you all... nap, essentially."

"…Yeah, about that…"

Amy began to explain the drama of the day, from the jumpers, to Shadow's instincts, and then to being taken into a cave where Sonic showed up, also in full-blown instincts, it seemed.

"I gained power over them simply because neither one could stand the idea of not having my instinct apart of their territory, and not wanting to have to compete with other males either. After that, we all got headaches and came too, I remember everything... but I remember it through her perspective. There were times I was pushed so far back within myself that I didn't even know if I existed anymore... It's overwhelming and scary... that feeling... but now that I've seen the full story, I'm a little more certain that Sonic and Shadow can control each other... through each other." She had gone through the fight after, how she felt so empowered to then suddenly weak and unable to stand.

Tails listened patiently through the whole explanation, even the parts that made him squirm and his mouth quiver in terror at everything she was telling him.

It was clear why Sonic and Shadow didn't have the time to tell him, truly, everything that went down... He just had the bare minimum to know that Amy needed help.

"So it was dicey when I fell. I thought for sure that Sonic and Shadow would either keep fighting or... or..." She hugged herself then, and Tails immediately leapt up in the air to hug her back.

The hedgehogs went into a frenzy, but he ignored their grunts, simply hugging Amy a moment.

He wanted to say many things... but he kept it all to himself.

After a moment, he let her go and flew back to get a chair, sitting down. "I'll get you a drink." He was facing away from her, but she could hear a sniff as he rubbed his eyes and went out of the room a moment. Amy knew what was on his heart, and was sad she had to put him through hearing all this... He felt so helpless to begin with, it wasn't fair to rely so heavily on his intel.

But they didn't know where to even start if they were to look this up on their own... they didn't have parents, and Vanilla...

Vanilla always left during spring, taking her and Cream far away. When Amy first shifted, they were on their way out, too.

Vanilla must have already merged with her instincts, so spring time wasn't so dangerous anymore. But knowing Amy was triggered, she wanted to protect Cream if strange hedgehog men came around.

Amy remembered getting a call from her, how much she loved Amy, but how her motherly instinct told her to keep Cream away from such activities.

Amy didn't know at the time what all that meant, but now she did... she was glad Vanilla did leave. She wished she could call and ask her how she kept newly shifted rabbits away from her, but that could be for another day...

A 'not spring when her instincts were frantic' day...

Tails returned with a drink that he placed in her hands, jumping slightly on his heels when Instinct Sonic kept chomping at his feet as though threatening to bite him if he got too close to her again. So she got up and watched them circle around her in a frenzy, rubbing against her legs and nipping at each other in frustration at having the other present.

She just maneuvered through their strange protective and excited ritual and sat in a chair opposite of Tails. After the hedgehogs realized she wasn't in instinct form, and paying them no mind, they simply laid beneath her feet and dozed off like loyal lapdogs.

"…Yeeeah." Amy took a sip of her drink, "I'm aware it's all... a bit much."

Tails got up, holding his head and pacing a bit. It seems he was still emotionally compromised, but like a typical boy, was keeping it internalized. However, also like a typical boy, Amy was expecting some physical response of some kind, but Tails just paced, and to her, that really showed his character.

He took a big breath, letting it out with a, "Phhoooo... boy." and then shaking off his nerves as he kept his back turned to her. "I think... I've decided it's the best time to stop you and ask some questions now." He must have had a war of questions bombing him from inside his mind... and Amy knew he deserved to have any and all answered. After all, Sonic and Shadow—before they shifted—did trust him to sort some of this out while they were forced back into Instinct form. "So,…" Tails began, his hands together and flat, leaning away from his mouth now. "Shadow lost control… tried to-... Ehem, claim you before Sonic showed up. Thank Chaos." He looked over his shoulder to Instinct Sonic, the two peacefully sleeping on one of Amy's two feet. It also meant if Amy moved, they'd be stirred awake and back to circling her protectively and waiting for her to shift. Possibly, their circling was also to induce her instincts, but Amy was too tired to care what they were doing... "But they stopped fighting?" He turned back to her. "That's so odd, cause usually…" He parted his hands to explain, something she found cutely resembled Sonic's talking, when he animatedly moved his hands about while he spoke too. The two were close, and she could now physically see how much Sonic influenced Tails too. "Two highly aggressive, extremely dominant alphas... don't usually just… stop? You know?" He shrugged, "They sometimes fight till the death! So.. unless the female they were fighting for rejected them both, I'm not sure-" he suddenly stopped, and turned back to Amy, deducing the situation. "…Did your instinct reject them?"

"…Uh-huh." Amy looked down, remembering the terrifying moment when the two were threatening her instinct about leaving and possibly, killing her for treason against her pack. "I told you that. That's when they co-dominated and were about to come at her."

"...For punishment?"

"Yeah." Amy nodded, not sure why he was acting so surprised. "Was that... really lucky?"

Tails continued to seem frozen a moment, his eyes looking around as though trying to figure out what to ask next, but gave up and seemed sucked on this answer. "…But that's impossible." Tails's hands flopped to the side of him, but he was trying to be quiet enough to not wake up the sleeping, co-dominating alphas. Tails rose his head, looking away from her and over her head, seeming to continue to let the wheels in his brain spin around as this anomaly just didn't seem to happen in the animal kingdom. "Even hedgehog brothers aren't this close." Tails thought to himself, "Not in instincts, anyway. At least, that's what the internet said. And to go off of nothing else but the internet, I'd have to say this came across through evolution... then again, which one of them even suggested-!?"

As he was about to flip out, Amy interjected, "Shadow did."

"Of course he did." Tails immediately started putting things together. "Your Instincts are highly submissive… and yet… you say she snapped into power while you were in heat and fought Shadow away? That's insane! Then you said that Shadow started the suggestion of a pack co-dominating structure... Shadow's instinct is clearly, by my calculations, not a normal instinct regardless so it's clear he's pulling some strings on the biological chain of natures anyway!" Tails began... to rant. "Your a submissive beta, but due to your beta nature, you seem to be contradicting yourself in an 'alpha' position because both alphas are pretty territorial over you." he gestured his arms out to them but then immediately corrected himself, "Wait-wait-wait, her! Sorry..." He waved his hands out to her then, truly asking for her to let that one slip up slide.

She nodded, but looked down as she did so, to the corner of her eye as to resist the urge to innocently ask him if Instincts were their inward desires manifested, and how that didn't seem to make sense. Did that mean... that deep down inside herself,... she didn't even know who she truly was?

"Hey, she said she was a powerful Beta, right? So maybe… you know, it could happen." Amy looked left and right, turning her face from Tails to avoid his suspicions about what she was thinking. It was something she wasn't ready to hear yet, so she didn't ask.

She did, though, feel her ears bend back, hoping this wasn't bad news… "So I'm submissive... makes sense, I want to be loved and love in return, but Beta means to defend, right? It's like... a both thing anyway, yeah?"

"A Beta, huh?" Tails put his hand to his chin, thinking again... "Even so… this behavior is showing forms of Alpha, Beta, and even Omega! Huh… a submissive beta who bears her fangs…" Amy remembered all the similar phrases Sonic and Shadow's instincts had once said about her own, eerily recognizing it from Tails's own words too.

"Yeah, you know… you're not the first, or second person to tell me that." She said, looking puzzled as she turned to him. "Is… is that weird?"

"Very." He nodded with his lower lip sticking out slightly, scratching behind his head as though all that data dumping he did on the internet was now completely useless. "I mean, a submissive beta makes sense, but since you're- Sorry, she's forced into an alpha female position... maybe you're just... naturally able to switch between leading a command through and obeying so you're needed for the procreation process?" He shrugged, not wanting to go too much deeper into something he clearly didn't understand enough. "I need to do more research." He admitted, looking disappointed in himself and overwhelmed by how much he didn't understand. He ruffled his hands through his three, long and sticking up hairs on his head... "It's not exactly common for an instinct to betray their own… well... instinct!" Tails shouted out, surprised to say it himself, before looking to her in a bit of worry, then at the hedgehogs.

Sound asleep... little, quiet breaths to show they were resting, completely at ease still.

He was relieved they weren't awaken by his outburst as his arms came back in from moving out in his surprise, "…Amy…" he walked over and bent down next to her side, being careful not to awaken the sleeping alphas below her and have them go for his throat at how close he was to her. "Remember what I said… about… Forced Virginity?"

"I told her to wait." Amy quickly answered, knowing where he was going with this. "She doesn't exactly want too… she still feels very loyal to Sonic's instinct… but… I begged her. And I think she'll listen to me if I keep letting her know more and more about the world around her and our ways."

Tails blinked a moment, "…She wants to work with you?" he also raised an eyebrow, "So... you distract her from her submissive nature by honing in on her curiosities about our world..." A smile crept upon his face, "That's wonderful!" He lightly hopped back from her, or more accurately, jump-stepped away with his arms flung up above him in his joy. "The more you two work together, the easier it will be to merge with her! B-but.." he looked away, pacing across the room again, holding his hand to his chin once more. "Still… Sonic and Shadow's instincts would of told them that they needed to keep the only female they had in the pack, for safety reasons…" He gestured back to her, then continued as he worked things out in his own mind, "Usually, an act of violence does the trick, but you look fine to me…" he looked back, worried for a moment, before reminding himself that she was in perfect health. "So... the punishment never happened but..." He seemed to doubt that...

"…Amy…" He sat back in the chair, looking like a sweet boy worried about his friend. He put his hands together against, flat and between his parted legs as he stared at her. "What... exactly happened.. in that cave?"

"According to my Instinct, they co-dominated." She stated the obvious again, and saw Tails's expression widen with shock. "What?"

"They…" he gulped, "If they didn't hurt you... then they agreed to..." his face suddenly looked off into the distance.

"Tell me." Amy knew he had discovered something, and leaned her head forward, determined to understand. "Agreed to what? Wait? Let me- oh, sorry, her lead?" She apologized for her own slip up.

He closed his mouth in a tight-line, not sure how to state this... "I mean... maybe... could be... that they... are sharing you?"

"What!? No!" Amy got up, but her loud voice and quick movement woke the two alphas up, as they stared up at her a moment. They didn't go wild like before, but instead, were wondering what the fuss was all about.

They were slightly off her foot now, where their bellies once were, and then readjusted themselves as she slowly moved back down to her chair, being afraid of what they may do now that they were awake.

They stared a little longer at her in complete silence, as though waiting for an indication of some kind… but Instinct Shadow just broke the tension by ruffling his quills by shaking his head, huffing, "She hasn't changed. We'll be waiting forever to take her..." before lowering his head to go back to sleep. Instinct Sonic kept staring though… before nudging her leg and lowering his head, puffing out a bit of air out.

"My Amy will come... and when she does, I'll make sure to preoccupy her with my love so much, that she'll not even have enough strength in her heat left over to give you any mind."

That made Instinct Shadow snap a bit at him.

He growled lazily back, "In time... we'll see." and the two went back to sleeping with glares towards the other… but Instinct Sonic looked content, as though confident he'd be the only alpha... eventually.

"Whew." Amy had tried to breathe calmly, and now she felt she could relax a little, so the fear in her body drifted in a faded release. Her muscles relaxed and she looked awkwardly over to Tails, tilting her head all the way over to her shoulder, "You saying they may just both want to mate with her..? Isn't that against instincts?"

"Heh, you're a wanted woman." Tails teased, getting up to move her. He scooted the chair out as the two hedgehogs growled, then they both walked slowly over to the couch, the hedgehogs following like trained guards, trotting after them. When seated, Amy was once again flooded by their bodies draping over her pudgy feet as Instinct Sonic yawned and went back to sleeping. Instinct Shadow chewed a second on the side of her foot, but with a swift shake from Amy's foot, he just rested his head on it and closed his eyes.

"I don't think that's what they'll do." She admitted, "I think they just are postponing the fighting till my instinct makes a decision that she wants to mate. Then they'll fight for real again." She didn't like discussing something so... well, you get it. But she did want to learn... it was just hard to not be fascinated in this... strange new world. But it was also equally as scary to be apart of it.

Tails folded his arms, crossing his legs as he sat on the other end of the couch with her, chuckling to himself to try and not look so closed-off and awkward about everything. "But maybe I'm thinking of something else... Could be. I didn't get a lot of 'non-blood related' search options online. Did she explain what that might have meant?"

"Yeah. She did." Amy tried to calm herself down, but her heart was racing. She didn't know how to handle two alphas, let alone one…

She looked down at the sleeping,... in this state, they looked so sweet they wouldn't even hurt a fly.

"She said it meant they were both the alphas, sharing the title, and that they ruled the pack as … one." She looked away, ears bending back, "Tails... I thought hedgehogs were solitary? They don't even have packs!"

"We've gone over this before," Tails stated, but didn't seem to mind going over it more times. He understood a few repeats would help it sink in more, and expand upon their 'out loud ponderings' anyway, searching for meaning was important, so he continued, "But it almost sounds like...Oh, yeah! Lions!" Tails's interest perked up slightly, "Huh, I wonder if evolution has caused some species to just... gravitate towards other livestyles... merging more intelligent or advanced systems of family structures. I mean, technically, I have seen some wolf behavior from you guys." He scratched under his chin again, "I'm sure if I think about it... I've seen gorilla, cat, and probably a whole bunch of other animal instincts that may have just been adapted to an... overall sense of 'instincts'. But I'm no field expert on this either..." His tails slightly flicked, "...To be honest... I'm kinda terrified what my own instincts will be like... when the time comes." He looked so sheepish... it almost broke Amy's heart. She remembered what Vanilla said, but wasn't sure if that could be translated for a man...

"Love is... a beautiful thing, Tails. Like you said, we need our instincts. We just... don't have any one to show us the ropes, I guess, is all." She wasn't sure herself, Vanilla couldn't teach her anything about being a hedgehog, only rabbit... but at the same time, didn't Tails say instincts seemed to be evolving? Could it still be any consequence?

But she did want Vanilla and Cream safe. It made since that Vanilla knew dangerous things were coming and wanted to protect themselves, especially since Cream and her lived so close to Amy...

Amy sighed, not knowing how to comfort him, but he seemed to understand what she was saying a little more. Maybe... was he picking up on her subtle cues that she wanted to comfort him? Or was his understanding for the instincts thing?

"That makes sense, I guess." He seemed to want to transition the topic off of himself. "Maybe I'll just pounce on the ground when I hear something digging beneath me." he tried to tease, but then looked more afraid as he couldn't control the backwards swoop of his ears at his worry of being unable to control himself. "Ehem, I'll have to research it more. For all of us." He concluded once more. "It could be nice... to have more intel." his tails began to tap lightly against the couch, showing his growing excitement at learning enough to conquer any fears he had, which was really him just comforting himself. Tails always found solace in having the most information about something, he was able to conquer a lot of his anxieties and self-doubts when he knew he could do something or understood the concept. Though his face hid it well, it was certain that he was determined to succeed and not let fear override him in this knowledgeable battle. "Well, now that that's over with, I'm just glad everyone's alright. We clearly didn't have a good security-or, uh... fallback plan... But now, I need to tell you about what happened when you got here."

Looks like he really was out of ideas for keeping them safe, but the problem seemed to right itself, for now, anyway...

"Oh, right!" She had completely forgotten about her mysterious state, "What was that? I wasn't in heat…" she lowered her eyelids, concerned. "Am I… am I okay?" Her heart fluttered on the thought of more complications... Could she actively treat and prevent these... or not?

Was everything to do with instincts completely out of her control for the time being? Until she somehow was able to align her bodily desires to her own personal goals, wants, and needs?

"Oh, no, you're fine!" Tails stated, holdings his hands out in front of him as to dissipate any panic coming over her. He leaned up to address it further but Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow's eyes shot open, and they both growled at him to maintain his distance.

He slowly returned to his seat, frowning at how one moment he could be attending her, but the second she seemed fine, it was back to territorial displays. Instinct Shadow stopped his threat first though, his lip coming down along with his eyelids as he returned to going back to resting... but Instinct Sonic just kept growing more and more, his fingers flinching against the ground as they curled. It was clear he hated Tails's presence... Amy felt so bad for the two of them. Best friends to... this? It was like two lives, it really was.

Instinct Sonic moved a hand under him to slowly get up, glaring like he was gonna leap up at Tails, but Tails tried to counter with a threatening growl back. This only escalated the situation though as Instinct Sonic flicked his quills down and spiked them, showing signs of hostility. Now Tails began to freak out, as he realized Instinct Sonic wasn't going to play nice anymore since Amy was acting alright again.

Amy was about to lower her hand to Instinct Sonic, in an attempt to calm him down, when Shadow growled towards him and Sonic's growling stopped as only flicked ears began to communicate emotions. "He's not a threat." Instinct Shadow huffed, "You're acting like a new father... Always on guard." Instinct Shadow mused over the idea of Instinct Sonic attempting to protect anything. "Pathetic."

Instinct Sonic's ears drove themselves forward, showing his uneasiness. "...He's a fox... and... many other things a fox can't do." His ears then scanned the room of any further disturbances besides Tails,... "There is a place he can place you, where you can't climb or dig your way out... There are weird, strange sounds it makes... and then-" Instinct Sonic flinched back, whimpering at the memory as his arm went up in vulnerability.

He shook his head, "I won't let her endure that!" he hunched himself over, but Shadow barked.

"Whatever you're talking about, it won't happen." He raised his head and growled, "Trust me... I've seen my Other's memories. I know who this fox is and he's an ally, barely any threat." He clearly didn't like how Instinct Sonic was hesitant to trust his word on the yellow fox not being of any significance, but couldn't understand why he was so rebellious against his words. "He's not even a fully matured predator. He's barely a kit." He spat the words out, as though to continue mocking Instinct Sonic's weariness for him.

Instinct Sonic growled back a moment, turning his head, "Who is true alpha here..?" he threatened, shoving his forehead against Instinct Shadow's as he growled at him as well.

"Watch it." Instinct Shadow warned.

"I don't care much about your word,... If I say she's not going near the fox, she's not!" Instinct Sonic snapped at him and then turned away, seeing as Instinct Shadow was intimidated by his Alpha commands... He lowered himself down again, but kept his eyes firmly fixated on Tails… "He's a magic fox." he hissed, "He uses the power of the sky lightning and hurts his prey."

Instinct Shadow lowered himself and tried to nip at Sonic's ear, turning his attention away from Tails. "Need I remind you that I still have dominance here? If you could commune with your Other, you'd realize how ridiculous your sounds and actions truly are." They were sharing authority, and he wouldn't let him forget that. "If we didn't allow the fox to work his... magic... then what do you suppose we could have done? Mated with her in such a condition that wasn't common to our kind?"

"You're not common to our kind..." Instinct Sonic moved, annoyed and frustrated, he gazed away from Shadow with a huff. "And, of course, I'd never really hurt her... You can't mate without your female being awake..." he grumbled that last bit off to the side of his mouth. "How would she even curl and uncurl..?"

Instinct Shadow just found it funny, and lowered his head to try to go back to sleep, "What does she see in you..?"

"More than in you!" Instinct Sonic then stared neutrally at Tails, his head to the side as he was now only watching him with one eye... "Just you wait... Make one wrong move… and-!" He bit the air to have Tails rock back and shake in his seat, then closed his eyes again. "No matter if it's a fox or you, Shadow,... I'll be the only one Amy ever needs! Hmph."

Instinct Shadow, fed up with his confidence, just rolled his eyes and shook his head against Amy's boot, trying to tune him out for now.

It was true that both of them were exhausted, or Instinct Shadow would have probably smacked him straight in his mouth. Forget the bit marks, he'd knock ever tooth out with his swing.

"Always exciting with Sonic around..." Tails humorously kid, though he was literally pushing himself against the couch's back. "I really wish I would have been a bit gentler with him. Then maybe he wouldn't hate me so much." He sighed, "It's sad to think that one part of Sonic is my best and closest friend, and the other part of him wouldn't hesitate to rip me in two."

Those were Amy's thoughts exactly, and hearing that even Tails felt that way... was even more disheartening than when she thought it.

She'd rather he had never seen the connection, because she knew how dearly Sonic meant to him.

He must be suffering so much more, but in a different way, than what she was physically seeing in him...

"…Tails." Amy looked sorrowfully to him, emphasizing. "I miss him... too." she admitted, but looking to Instinct Sonic, there appeared to be no change. Could their Sonic hear them? Or was it only after the headache that he would even grasp what they were all feeling while he was in this state?

There was so much guilt resting on Tails's words... When would this madness finally subside and everyone could return to the way things were before?

"…It's alright." Tails shook it off, the sadness he must be earnestly feeling... "What I wanted to tell you is more important."

Amy wasn't so sure, she worried for him just as much as all her friends...

He took a deep breath, becoming unselfish and not wanting to expose his emotions too heavily again like he had done in front of Sonic previously, "You went into a post-shock. Your body shut down and you were literally running on adrenaline until the end there… Your body was already taken out by you going into heat, and the fact that you could stand and shout at Sonic and Shadow to stop fighting, well… that's a miracle even in it's own. That's why you were out for quite a few hours too." He had the story, now she had the ending.

"Wait… doesn't that mean.." she looked down at Instinct Shadow and Instinct Sonic, 'That feeling...'

"Yeah, they've been in instinct form for quite some time. When I left the room, they would go up and smell you, making sure I wasn't hurting you, and even seemed to rest on you for a bit. When I came back in, they'd jump off the bed and wait for me to leave again." Tails seemed to understand they weren't going to do anything to her while she was in that state, and felt comfortable leaving the room multiple times with them in it with her.

"That sounds almost sweet." Amy kid, chuckling in a bit of fear. "But... does that mean... my Instincts are like when I was being fueled by adrenaline? That that's... the only one they'd threaten like that..?" She remembered Instinct Sonic's encounter... then Instinct Shadow's... "It doesn't seem like they would be picky, but they are, aren't they?" she felt her skin crawling just thinking about it, and hugged herself a moment. "Does that mean... I'm really just... the Other Amy? Am I really not my true self? Just a portion of a bigger sum? All my life... what does all this even mean!?" She gripped her head, "They're not gonna hurt me but they will. They're not gonna mate but they will try and bring out my instinct to do so. This is all crazy! Tails, I-!"

Tails just looked straight down, "…Amy, you can't fear them."

It completely took her off-guard.

Amy rose her head, looking up to Tails. "Excuse me?" She thought he meant Instinct Shadow and Instinct Sonic, which... "Even you fear them! What are you trying to say, Tails? Cause it's not helping, buddy... Sorry." she was getting really upset, and didn't want to lash it out on him, but it was coming to that point regardless...

"…I can see the same fear I feel in your eyes… but you can't fear them like I do." He seemed very serious, leaning up and putting his hands together. "They need you. You keep them away from doing… well, terrible things not worth mentioning to other girls. As long as they're in a pack with you, they'll be loyal to you, which means your helping Sonic and Shadow just as much as they're helping you." He explained, "They may hate hearing this, but... I really think the best protection is having them both around you. For everyone's safety... at least, that's all I can think of for now."

"…But…" Amy looked away, gripping the top of her dress in a bunch as she held back the panic in her glossy eyes. 'You're strong, Amy... This is what you already knew and wanted to happen. It's truly the only way... What else is there? This is what you fought for... What you made sure to tell them.'

"They can't hurt you anymore, remember?" Tails's words broke her out of it. She knew he was right, she agreed with him, but telling her to not fear her own instincts... Or there's for that matter.

"I didn't fear them all that much before, and look what happened?!" She admitted, too tired to cry. She couldn't look Tails in the eye again, so she just gestured to hedgehogs resting by her feet now.

"Your instinct now decides who is the true alpha, all they can do is… well, flirt and maybe nag you about it, but that's it." He unhooked his hands and moved them out, showing her she now held the cards to her own fate. "That's a lot safer than ever before... when it was them who were calling the shots." He also gestured out with her, as she withdrew her hands back, folding them. "You can't tell me you're not."

"I know it's... it's better this way, Tails." She wanted him to know she approved, just didn't like how he phrased it. "But I've learned a lot. I know now I'll never be truly safe. This is just a temporary fix... they'll try and bring her out again... and my heat... they'll fight and get hurt and then what will that leave us?! What's gonna happen if something truly awful befalls all of us, Tails!? Yes, we're together now, but don't you dare tell me I shouldn't fear them now!"

She rose from her seat and the hedgehogs backed down from her invigorated feet, not sure what was being spoken...

They looked at her confused, then to Tails, wondering if she was going to attack him... if she did, they'd follow her lead.

He remained silent, but definitely looked like he understood now. "Sorry..." He admitted.

She had her hands bundled into fists, "It's my responsibility to keep Sonic and Shadow safe now, too."

The two continued to scan her expression with their eyes, not sure what she was going to do, but watching just in case.

Tails sucked in his lips and frowned, but didn't say anything.

She looked like their was fire in her eyes... "If what you're saying is true, and this crazy mess now falls into my hands... I won't let Sonic down again, I won't let Shadow feel like he failed, and I won't give them an opportunity to hate themselves again."

"...But what about you?" Tails asked, genuinely. "...Do you hate yourself?"

She looked down, feeling her strength leaving her again... "N... No... No, I like who I am, I just..." she hugged herself again, not sure what to say to reply to that. "It's not that I dislike her... She never really gave me a reason too... she's suck if they entice heat out of her, that's not really her fault, you know?"

Tails tilted his head, "Well,... that's natural for her to go into heat though... that's apart of her."

Amy shook her head, "But when we talk... she doesn't seem so bad." Amy admitted, and as she calmed down, Instinct Shadow and Instinct Sonic rested again, laying down and waiting with their eyes still up to her.

Instinct Sonic lifted his nose up with a smile, bobbing his head as though to catch her attention. He grinned when he did, and nudged her leg as though to give him further affection in loving head pats again.

"Ah.." She felt her heart melt again, but kept herself away from that sweet act. She had fallen for it once before, but not this time. "I also don't blame them... you keep saying it's apart of their natures... I kinda do blame Shadow's Instinct, though." She gave a stink eye to him, "He actually did try and force her." She stuck her tongue out at him.

Tails fidgeted and she decided to not go into details.

"Ehem, and, well... Sonic's Instinct was willing to wait." She looked back to him, "I can't help but see that it's not all bad... but that still doesn't justify what they've both... What they all do." She looked down by her leg and at her arms, seeing the bite marks from Instinct Shadow... the ones from Instinct Sonic having healed since last time.

"...You're actually safer than ever, right now." Tails urged himself to smile, seeing she was starting to comprehend things a bit more. "Which is why…" He pulled out a clipboard. "I really need to examine this bond you three created. I need to understand your instincts a whole lot better than I do right now. And I can only do that through observation." He also took out his MilesElectric.

"…Tails, don't tell me you honestly plan to study us?" Amy looked a bit freaked out, flinching with raised eyebrows. "We're hedgehogs! Not Guinea pigs!" And it would be sooo embarrassing!

"Trust me, I get that." Tails tried to calm her down by moving his hand up and down, "Relax, Amy. I'm not trying to be creepy about it. I just want to help." He bent his own eyebrows to show how silly her statement was, but that he got what she meant by it. "But this is for the benefit of all. Each one of you needs to know more about how you interact with each other and what your instincts are really demonstrating or acting like. Information like this could save us in the end. Since you only know things outside of yourselves, then it's my job to observe while you're... uh... inside yourselves!" His explanations made some sense... but they also knew what had happened through their headaches, going through the memories...

Still, he knew what to look for. He really did his homework, and she was thankful for his aid. "Thank you." she finally admitted, trying to smile back to him as she held her arm and let the other hand drop from being so folded. She wanted to open up to help, but she also wanted to be strong enough to find a permeant solution. "…You know what?" she felt her old self returning to her, feeling some hope, after all. "Fine. You're right." Amy patted the sides of the couch she used as a chair, giving in to the idea. "I have to do what only I can do now. I have to work with my instincts, not against. And how to best convince an animal to do what you want? Treats!" she rubbed her hands together.

"...Uhhh..." Tails looked confused.

"Fine! If not food motivated, then what do you suppose I do first?" She placed her hands to her hips, 'this time, I won't fail anyone! Including myself!'

Tails smiled, "I've got some ideas."

-The Open Fields-

"Isn't this the meadow?" Amy had cleaned up and washed up as Tails went ahead and set aside a spot to observe the so-called, 'Hedgehog pack order' that had been put in place as of late. The two hedgehogs followed closely behind Amy, pausing in their four-legged trotting to sniff and mark their territory if it didn't 'smell like them' and such. She looked behind her and slightly smiled, "Gee, it's like having two dogs…" she teased yet again, but Tails just looked back at her funny again. "Better not judge me." She teased, winking.

She wouldn't fall to despair again... never again!

"Eh, I'm not so sure you could call them 'dogs' though..." He chuckled, keeping it light as well as he got his MilesElectric going. "Technically, you are the Alpha Female."

She stood proudly, but put her hands cutely behind her back, closing her eyes and facing the sun as she felt it's warmth give her some comfort that today wouldn't be so harsh or awful. In fact, maybe it was telling her that things would look up from here!

Tails fiddled with his device, not looking up at her much, but just giving her glances as he indirectly spoke to her while setting up the decoding languages program. "In a weird turn of fates, the two Alphas depend on you now to secure their titles. They'll follow you anywhere, letting you lead, in great hopes that you may favor one over the other someday." He finally did poke his head up from the device to see Amy squatting down, watching as the two hedgehogs circled her protectively, not attempting to bring about anything for mating at all in these rounds. In fact, their circling was entirely too wide, far away from Amy to really pose any question about their intent. They were protecting their female, and while Amy wasn't in instinct form, they didn't seem to be trying to get her to shift either. "So… Dogs that really want to marry you?" Tails looked back at Amy, showing her not to make the same joke again for obvious reasons. "Let's not." He seemed to remember that Sonic and Shadow would awaken from instincts and remember everything he was saying... he just hoped some stuff would get lost in translation.

She nervously, and awkwardly, smiled back at him with a sweat drop streaming down the side of her face. "Right. Of course, Tails." she patted the ground as the two hedgehogs immediately returned to her side, and she sweetly, but cautiously, petted them under their chins. "You said only females are the ones with scent glands like mine?"

"Uhh, no?" Tails corrected, raising an eyebrow. "All animals like their chins to be scratched... Your scent attracts males and angers females." He chuckled, but also looked away as though not sure how much kidding he was allowed to do for the day...

He scratched his own chin, curious, before looking shocked at his actions and shaking his head. He knocked on his forehead as though to punish himself and continued.

Amy watched with a bit of curiosity, she stopped scratching Instinct Shadow's under his chin when he gave a low, deep growl that seemed to cause Instinct Sonic to swat a hand at him, hissing.

"That's right... adore me..." Instinct Shadow had leaned into the touch, "If only I could get closer... my scent would definitely trigger you to come follow me away... instead of hanging around this excuse for an alpha. We could have fun... Just you and me..."

"Back off, faker!" Instinct Sonic had lunged a paw at him, smacking him on the side of his face. "When will you get it!? Amy's not interested in weird-smelling mutts!" Even Instinct Sonic didn't know why Instinct Shadow's smell was so oddly powerful and intense... He figured he wasn't normal from the start.

"What are you two talking about?" Amy shook her head, removing her hands as Instinct Shadow flicked his ears forward and growled more prominently. "Quit fighting, I gave you both equal attention..." she pouted, getting up and deciding to leave them be. "Geez, no compromise for either of these two..."

"Sounds familiar." Tails ducked his head, itching his ears... "After all... they're just acting out like Sonic and Shadow would... without civility."

Amy eyed his odd scratching behavior... "...Tails?"

His eyes bulged as she shifted her eyes to his hand... then back to him, and raised an eyebrow. "You good?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." he tucked his hands under his armpits. "I just... hearing different sounds." he looked nervous, admitting that.

"...Are you-?"

"N-now you can get into instinct form! L-li-like right now." He fidgeted with his device after pulling his hands out and stepping away from her. "I'm all set! A-and doing it later could have some risks..." Tails's ears kept rotating as if... hearing things. He tilted his head slightly, left... then moved, right, then adjusted where he was again. He turned to the ground with an agitated look, but was trying to actively ignore it and continued to move along, "But heat has already taken a lot of your desires away, even during shock, you were technically just getting out it." He explained, holding his MilesElectric before jotting down some notes on his clipboard. "It may be hard to shift now..." He finally stopped to stomped a particular part of the ground, causing a small little flicky mole to screech out in fright and jump from it's underground tunnel. It squeaked in fear and scurried away from it's hole it had left behind as Tails smiled proudly.

But then, blinking his frightened eyes in confusion, he shook his head again to refocus himself. "Darn..." He rubbed his head, scratching again.

Amy wondered... how much time was ticking for Tails, too?

"Are you sure... You're okay to do this, Tails?" She was worried, "You spent so much time trying to help us... have you... looked into... things, yourself?" She turned her body down slightly and then put a hand on his shoulder, having followed behind him as he didn't even realize he had walked precisely where he needed to stomp and scare the flicky mole out of hiding...

"I'm fine." He rolled his shoulders sharply, prompting her hand to get off of him as he seemed to very much not want to talk about himself.

But not long ago... he had told her about some behavior a fox would make... she just hoped he was alright. Staring at him like a loving sister... She wasn't sure how to help him. He didn't have other fox friends... or just other foxes to deal with. But still, for a young boy with possibly a few more years left before his own time came... it was still a scary thought. "I think I won't." Amy pulled back and quickly spoke out, answering his question about her shifting into instinct form.

Instinct Sonic rubbed against her leg a moment, like a cat would do with his tail straight up to show friendliness. She shook her head at such a display, but also couldn't help but think this silly instinct was rather cute when seeking her attention. Instinct Shadow was nipping and tugging on her dress, perhaps to get her away from Instinct Sonic before seeing that she wasn't going to go on all fours. "Not enticed yet?" he still tried to shift his footing on the ground, but seeing she wasn't going into instinct form, grinded his teeth against the fabric before letting her go.

"Stop that!" Amy lightly batted her hand in the air over his muzzle before he finally did release her and she fell, causing Instinct Sonic to turn around and start sniffing her head, growling to Instinct Shadow.

"Do you not know the word 'gentle'?!" he scolded.

"I abandoned that tactic long ago." Instinct Shadow scoffed, smelling just slightly under her dress, before she swatted him away. He burst out a huffed snort of agitation, "A true alpha triggers their female into shifting. We're inexperienced, might as well try different ways to entreat her... until she returns to a more prominent estrus cycle." Instinct Shadow moved away from Amy's nervous movements, thinking maybe she should summon her hammer in case he grew violent again, and blushed as Tails just tried not to laugh.

"They're pawing at you to shift already?" He teased, but again, just trying to keep the situation light.

"Don't you dare make this a joke." Amy's eyes turned defined in their features, scaring Tails into backing down.

He awkwardly let a bead of sweat form at the side of his face, looking away to avoid her further 'wrath'. "Well, it is kinda funny."

Instinct Sonic nudged on her back, getting under her and digging slightly to help her to her feet. "If you really want a female's respect, let her come to you on her own timing. Patience encourages a lasting bond." After helping her to her feet, she smiled sheepishly to him and patted his head. Proudly, he then gave a sneer to Instinct Shadow, subtly showing some further intent through it, however, "And I'm sure you know how our kind creates deeper bonds..." his grunts were held out like an attempt to purr, as though suggesting a grandeur love than Instinct Shadow could give.

Instinct Shadow's ears forwarded in challenge, but swiped back. "Not yet... but soon, I'll silence that wild, gloating before the true victory, tongue of yours..."

Instinct Sonic walked to the side of him, lifting his head over Instinct Shadow's to display a cheeky sense of higher dominance again, "Bite me, cause I'm not letting you get a single nibble on her." Instinct Sonic then looked back over at Amy as she continued to scold Tails while he took the punishing lashes of her words, humbly. "Besides... when she does shift back... I just want to see her again."

"Hardly touching." Instinct Shadow shoved passed him, causing Instinct Sonic to adjust his footing and hold his ground again, growling back at him as he walked towards her once more. "A female needs more than your passionate doting... she needs you to be willing to defend her, please her wants and needs, and then provide her with a future... if you think only flattering sniffles of a love-induced mating is gonna hold her to you loyally, then you're clearly not cut from the same, noble species." Instinct Shadow lowered his eyes, taunting him.

Instinct Sonic glared, his teeth showing this time in hostility.

"Hmph," Instinct Shadow turned away, "I'll fight you when the time is more appropriate. For now, securing the territory and keeping her close is my only priority..."

"Like heck it is!" Instinct Sonic lowered the front half of his body, taking a playful stance as he then charged to wrestle with Instinct Shadow and get the higher dominance again.

It wasn't a true fight, but one to just claim supremacy in the pack.

"Oh, you're awful, Tails!" Amy finished her scolding before seeing them fight, as Tails sighed, glad the attention was taken off of himself again.

"No, you don't really believe that, but I understand your displeasure." Tails turned away from her and walked off into a bush, hoping to not be seen as a threat if he was far enough away from the 'happy' family of hedgehogs. "Just trying to keep you safe, Amy..." He whispered to himself, not sure the right course of action again, but knowing he couldn't just abandon her plight.

Amy noticed his ears drop and wondered if she was too harsh on him. "Tails... I'm sorry. Lately, my emotions have been everywhere. I've been... growing up pretty fast. You know I care about you, Sonic, and even Shadow. Right now... I just-" she placed a hand up to her chest, getting choked up as Tails scratched the top of his head and shook everything else off.

"Alright! Just do what you want! But it would be a lot better if you were in instinct form!" He turned back around and ducked into the bush. "You could control them, they would stop fighting. You shouldn't go back into heat with both of them there, too."

"Wha!?" Amy began trying to run slightly away from the two, "I highly doubt that, Tails!" they quickly stopped their challenging wrestle and chased after her, making sure not to be too far behind her.

"Where are you going!?" Instinct Sonic called after her.

"We must have frightened her Other, pay attention!" Instinct Shadow bite at his running arm in his frustration. "We can't lose her! There's too many male scents in the wind!"

"You act like I don't know anything!" Instinct Sonic growled back, charging ahead of him, picking up ground as he burst forward.

Naturally, the two could hold a great stamina when it came to long-distance running, but Amy quickly pivoted back towards the meadow, causing them to slow down and jump to reach her height, getting excited at her sudden movement.

Amy's nerves made her finiky, she had never felt this way around Sonic, but then again... this wasn't how Sonic usually was.

Looking into his eyes... that diamond shape... she saw her scared reflection back in them... but her heart broke to see such an innocence in his.

"What's wrong..?" Instinct Sonic grunted, but she couldn't understand him. "Why do you stare at me... like I'm..." He suddenly lost his joy and his countenance turned forlorned with a frown of hurt. He bent his ears, and slowly withdrew from being so close to her...

He lowered his head, submitting...

Tails's head leaned up, "W-wha... Why is he submitting like that?" He was confused, tilting his head at the strange grunts from him. "Isn't he an alpha? She's not even in her instinct form yet. So... what inspired that? Could he... could he really be understanding how she's feeling?"

He lifted a paw up and kept his eyes down by her shoes... looking away. "Don't be... afraid of me." he huffed lightly, his eyes bending back in an arch. "I... only want to protect you. I only want to be... there with you." he looked up at her then.

Amy's heart couldn't take it, the sorrow in his eyes... even if he wasn't Sonic right now, he was still somewhat her true love's face.

She fell to her knees and embraced him, shocking Instinct Sonic as Instinct Shadow watched... then sat down... deciding to observe in malice.

"Don't whine, don't fret... I know you're still in there... if your instinct is anything like you, then he wouldn't want to see me so upset." She whispered by his cheek, as Instinct Sonic angled his ear down, but still couldn't understand her.

Her scent wasn't as pronounced as when she was instinct form, but it was still enough to make him want to rub against it. "There, there. Alpha is here." He licked her cheek and smiled, his tail wagging. "Maybe you're just scared cause Shadow is here." He pouted over to him. "Spoiling our reunion and fun."

Shadow just growled, "You are barely tolerable." the force of his growl sent out like a northwind from his teeth. He got up, raising himself to have a puffed out chest, "She's merely holding you back... but the Others only see us as nuisances. Don't forget that."

"I wasn't talking about her Other!" Instinct Sonic growled over her shoulder, making her move away slightly, but he stomped a paw down to keep her in place.

"Ah!" Amy actually found that kinda humorous, "N-now what are you two arguing about..." She really hoped it wasn't her... again.

"And even still..." Instinct Sonic placed his chin behind her shoulder, bringing her closer. "Once I claim Amy... all of her will be mine. Even her Other..." he narrowed his eyes, and for a moment, Amy wondered if he was defending her from Instinct Shadow again.

She looked over to see his eyes... and was surprised that his expression looked just like Sonic's when he got serious about something.

"...Sonic." she stated, and Instinct Sonic's ears went straight up, turning to her in amazement.

"That's my name." He recognized the sound, but usually heard it in grunts and huffs. He placed the tip of his muzzle by her cheek. "You said my name... What a silly Other. Maybe you do like me." He then moved his head away and ducked his head under her arm, "See, Shadow? I'm even winning her Other over! There goes the charm, stronger than even you're scent!"

Instinct Shadow hunched himself over, getting ready to charge. "That does it..! I've stood by for long enough! You're intolerable!" he barked, "You will never be alpha! The Others will always despise us unless they give in to our ways and their desires!"

Amy got up and started racing back, seeing the two about to spar again. "N-no! Please don't fight! J-just, uhh... r-run! Run after me, okay?" She took off, and the two quickly turned their aggressions away from one another to see her growing farther and farther away from them.

'At least I can get them to stop fighting this way,' she thought to herself as she took some breaths and had the guts to turn around, shouting out in shock that both of them were already at her heels, chasing behind her. "Eee! Even without your super speeds, you're still so fast!" she stumbled forward, her mouth pulling and tightening back in her wince at their determination to keep up with her. After playing 'follow the leader' for some time, she couldn't help but start seeing them a bit more like animals and less like Sonic and Shadow.

'They wouldn't mind I tried to ease the tension between them by just... goofing around like this, right?' she didn't want her friends to fight each other, and Shadow had truly become a friend to her... "Alright! Ya got me!" she stumbled and rolled to the ground, and found them jumping over themselves coming to a halt behind her.

Instinct Shadow charged over her, jumping to miss her as Instinct Sonic was able to successfully halt and slide into her stomach, moving away to sniff her and make sure she was okay.

He got some dirt in his nose and started sneezing, making her laugh at how cute his confusion at the action of 'sneezing' was. His entire head shook so fast, it reminded her so much of Sonic's blurr effect.

Instinct Shadow also ran up and inspected her, and she just rose a hand that he growled at... before seeing she was trying to hit him away this time... and with some hesitant caution, lowered his ears just slightly and tapped his forehead to it.

She giggled slightly, "You... You really were just after a ranking... right?" She hoped that was the case, still worried about his... violent tendencies, but as he rubbed his head against her stationary hand, she gave in tenderly and gave a vigorous scratch to the top of his head all the way down to the bridge of his nose, and back up to the top of his spine.

'This is weird.' she admitted to herself, 'but...' he lowered his head and even angled his butt up slightly as though trying to resist showing how much he enjoyed the head scratches. She then burst a puff of air in her mouth, trying to keep it from coming out before giving in and laughing, "You just want to be adored too, right?"

He twitched an ear, and for a moment, she wondered if this 'clever' Instinct understood her.

"Uhh..." She pulled back her hand, but he tilted his head up to where she could only see a disapproving eye. "...Oh?" she raised her eyebrows and placed her hand back on his head, but this time, he rubbed against her side and laid down, huffing in what looked like agitation. "Heee..." she grinned wildly, "You are a big softie when it comes right down to it, aren't ya, buddy?" she teased a little, "I just wish you weren't so forceful..." She lightly traced his face's outlines before Instinct Sonic whimpered with a bark and shoved his head against her shoulder, walking over her. "Ah-ah-ahhh...! Okay, I get it! Don't trample me! Geez... I'm not here to pamper you two..." She seemed to start to let her guard down, and as Instinct Sonic began his own set of pets, he laid down across her lap and happily closed his eyes as she vigorously moved her hands through his head quills too.

Instinct Shadow looked up, over his shoulder to see him, and Instinct Sonic grinned and opened one eye for him.

"See? Her Other's not so bad! She's nice to you, if you give her a chance." He beamed. "You just gotta let her warm up to you, and give her some time to trust you. Kinda like normal females, I guess."

Shadow huffed, turning his head back to the laying on the ground, not liking to admit when he's over-calculated. "Must be a female thing..." he resorted to that conclusion...

Tails saw her accepting them as the body's natural instincts, and was able to give a sigh of relief. 'She's just gotta accept them.' he told himself, 'I can't bear to see her reject half of who they are... even if it's not civil, it can't really be helped.' He was still able to tell that she had momentarily tossed out the idea that they were still connected with Sonic and Shadow, and that gave him a slightly crooked smile, but only for a second. Shadow and Sonic wouldn't appreciate Amy treating them like 'pets' but at least they wouldn't know until their memory came back...

'They're not them... but they are.' he watched in quiet hope at the three interacting, seeming like the other day never happened... at least, on the outside. 'One day... they'll become an important part of you... But to control them... means you have to admit things about yourself, that you never wanted to know about.' he leaned back, distancing himself for a moment from reality.

'...My instincts... I wonder what he'll be like? Will I be able to accept him as a part of me? Or... will I become a hypocrite too?' he rubbed his hands into his face, 'Grrr...! Stop being so selfish! This is about Sonic! A-and-and Amy! Shadow too! I have to remain focused! This isn't about me!' he patted the sides of his cheeks, getting hyped up and focused again. "Right! Back to business!" he whispered the encouragement to himself and began to take notes, writing what he knew. When they did something he wasn't familiar with, he would look it up, and study that behavior. It was important how they acted around and with Amy, and valuable information like this could spare them some more... uh... awkward encounters in the future if the gang knew how to properly instruct and regulate their instinctual selves.

A sudden laugh from Amy broke his concentration, and looked up quickly to find she had once again fallen down while the two hedgehogs attempted to keep her on all fours. They sniffed and moved over her, jumping left and right over her before Instinct Sonic finally flopped down on her and opened his mouth to try and keep Instinct Shadow back. Their heads wiggled around as Instinct Shadow tried to get around him but he kept trying to state dominance and show some possessive traits, but Amy just leaned up and petted their heads to get them limp enough to get off of her. For once, Tails saw her actually not being afraid anymore.

'Good.' Tails sighed, 'They aren't gonna do anything while she's not in instinct form, this is just normal dominance behavior...' he then stopped a moment. 'But hedgehogs... well, evolution. I guess as long as they don't get into... ehh... position... everything should be okay.'

He continued to scratch himself, 'Why... is this?' he suddenly looked down at the source of infinite knowledge in his hands... how easy it would be to look up his own instincts, and to figure out when they might start showing...

He thought... maybe just a peek?

He looked up and saw how Amy's instinct was clearly drained and it was just going to be her normal self for now, so she didn't have to worry about the smell of Sonic and Shadow because that's how exhausted her body was. They also seemed to realize her scent wasn't fresh, and just fought against each other which was a natural part of their new social hierarchy. However, Amy didn't seem to need to fight the urge to go into instinct form or even heat for that matter. She was fully in control of herself, actually feeling safe and happy, it seemed.

He was happy for her, and this also meant that Sonic and Shadow's instincts would remain pretty neutral until she did start showing signs of going back into instinct form. Everyone seemed safe now...

Sonic and Shadow,... unlike Amy, they still had to go through with everything. Instincts taking over and giving them no control over themselves whatsoever. It was sad to think they wouldn't even try and connect with them like Amy somehow managed to do. However, their two instincts were confused by her behavior, but didn't dare try to trigger her after only just recovering. They definitely wanted to be on her 'good' side, so they allowed her to do as she wished, hoping she would shift soon so they could get their chance to woo her to their side once more.

It would be a good chance... to look into his own fox instincts. Even if he was still a few years off... right?

He grew too curious, but didn't want to get distracted from helping his friends...

'Just one glance,' he told himself, 'What does the scratching mean..?'

His eyes widened when the search results led him to a page that talked about grooming needs,... 'Cubs with a more dominant trait in them tend to be groomed more often, leaving them to have high social bonds among the parents and are less likely to disperse from home or be kicked out. If you're about to experience instincts, be aware that this may just be your younger instincts desiring to be babied and loved. For adults with instincts, this may be your desire to find a mate as soon as possible to start to growing those close family bonds.'

As he read... he shook himself in a miniature shiver up his spine. His fur stood on edge... "Am I... that lonely?" he looked down at the ground a moment, unsure what to make of that.

But he felt the need to scratch again...

"Ohh..! I shouldn't have looked it up!" he had watched Amy pet the two and now wondered if his instincts was subconsciously making him envious of their 'pack' or 'family' bonds...

He was trying to be quiet... but picturing a cute vixen running her hands through his 'itchy' hair...

He blushed as his eyes dipped down a second, a goofy grin coming on his face before he shook himself out of it and closed the page. "T-tha-that's enough research about me for today. I can continue this o-on-on-on my own time!" he fidgeted, his tails wagging profusely behind him though in his excitement that one day... he may get a girlfriend...

'Snap out of it, Miles!' he scolded himself, 'Hedgehogs! We have to be in the mind-set of hedgehogs!'

Unaware of what was happening, Tails tried to refocus himself and see what he missed, resisting the urge to scratch himself... but now, his body itched all over... especially after his self-indulgent daydream...

Amy sat up a bit and the two hedgehogs began guarding her,... was he not as silent as he had hoped?

After a moment, Instinct Sonic moved to the opposite side to playfully try and get an edge over Instinct Shadow, bounding over him and kicking his back down to land on Amy's lap, looking triumphant as Amy just felt her gut was punched as he landed. He laid his head down, sniffling a moment to check he hadn't really hurt her and that she wasn't close to shifting yet, putting his nose down by her lap and then raising it to move all over her face. She laughed again and tried to move it away, turning her face and left and right, "Cold, cold nose!" she giggled, before he sneezed again. Luckily, nothing got on her and she hugged his head and scratched his ear, "Ah! That could have gotten on me, you punk!"

Shadow's instinct grew jealous and quickly snapped around, circling the two as though looking for an opening to also get a chance to lay on her lap. "This isn't over, Sonic..." making a fierce grunt, he bumped up against Amy's front right side, rubbing his sent all along her shoulder and the crook of her neck, wanting to make sure Instinct Sonic's advance was rivaled. "She's still my female too..." He tried to gloat as he bit her ear and dragged her down, laying over her chest.

Amy couldn't help but see them as animals now, actively trying to ignore the fact that they were her friends being forced into their body's ancient ritual to perform these odd and outdated behaviors to mate and other such things.

For now, they were just joking around and seeking her attention... she didn't seem to smell them much either, which was a relief. She didn't know why, but it didn't bother her. Just smelled like Sonic and Shadow...

She also didn't feel herself losing control or even going limp,... she wished it was always like this... it wouldn't be so bad then.

she might even tease them and enjoy their squabbles over her... 'B-but that would be mean.' she grinned to herself, trying to not let it get to her head as she kept that to herself. 'Being wanted isn't as fun as all the movies make it out to be...' she admitted to herself, having more sweat trail down the side of her face at the thought.

After all, their fights could be vicious! She saw that first hand!

'It's not within my instincts to think that attractive..? R-right?" she hoped that was the case, and that her instincts wouldn't encourage such awful behavior among themselves. 'She didn't seem to be that kind of hedgehog...' Amy's mind wandered over to her Instincts... wondering more and more about her that she wasn't sure of.

Instinct Sonic snorted, growing jealous as he growled from Amy's lap at Shadow, not liking his advance just as much as Instinct Shadow didn't like his own. The two death glared, before moving away from Amy.

"Shall we?" Instinct Shadow took a confident step forward, moving behind Amy as Instinct Sonic followed his lead and did the same actions. He was threw with playing 'nice' and wanted to really duke it out again.

"Lets." Instinct Sonic smirked, also annoyed at being tolerant of him, as the two rammed their heads into each other and began to fight over dominance again.

Suddenly, Amy's playful encounter with the two turned right back to being suddenly violent, she scooted back and stumbled to her feet, feeling her head get light and falling again. "Not... again..." She gripped her head, then raced back to Tails. 'Will they follow? I don't know what I'm supposed to do... I don't want to become instinctual again..!' she tightened her hand that was gripping her head into a fist, worried Tails may say it would come to that. 'I don't want them hurting each other... I don't care if that's a natural war they think they have to face! I don't want to be fought over!'

"What happened?! It was going so great!" Amy called out to him, then slumped over and gripped her knees, feeling sort of out of it all of a sudden... "I don't know,... they lashed out at each other and I-!... I didn't know what to do!" She felt awful, wondering if she could insert her hammer between the two again, or if she'd get caught in the crossfire. "I have to do something!" she did summon her hammer as she looked back at the two fighting, and breathed hard from the running but also to regain her confidence.

She was about to set foot into the fight when Tails suddenly... chuckled?

"Huh?" She turned back to him, confused he wasn't taking this seriously... "Did I... misjudge something?"

"Hehe," Tails was reading his Miles-Electric, seeing the broken translation on his screen. "They were just so upset!" He laughed, covering his mouth as Amy puffed up a side of her cheek.

"Is this funny?!"

"It is!" he lowered his hand from his mouth, smiling gleefully. "They couldn't stand the other making moves on you." Tails explained, hunched down and trying to stay hidden. He blinked innocently up at Amy, his tails wagging, "Sorry, it's just... I can't really picture Sonic and Shadow like that... Any second now, I really thought they'd even offer you their head and back quills for you to start quilling them! haha!" It stung a little to say that... knowing his own body seemed to be scratching in want of someone to groom him apparently... or at least, the translation of that was 'show love' for him... "Sorry, Quilling is-" He was about to go into more hedgehog behavior before Amy interupted him.

"Not now!" Amy didn't want a lesson, placing her hand on her face for a 'soft' facepalm..., "Well… I thought they were sharing! Now look,…" Amy felt dumb, but then realized there was still threat! ...Right? "They're gonna kill each other!" she swung her hand toward them, but didn't make the effort to stop them, she was clearly exaggerating and knew it now. "Shouldn't... Shouldn't I try and stop them!?"

"Well, they might." Tails stated as Amy looked back over to him, her eyes showing the disbelief in his horrible statement.

"Tails!" She was about to now take action, not caring if he was joking, because his words had gripped her heart and she wasn't just going to hold back and do nothing anymore!

However, "Amy, wait! Hold on!" He grabbed her arm and stopped her, having realized she was emotionally compromised. "I've read up on co-dominance,... briefly." He explained, having headed out of the bush to catch her. The two were too distracted fighting to notice him, whacking and threatening to bite the other, their quills shaking in their attempt to scare the other back. "Usually, it's between friends or brothers, like we mentioned about the family thing." He began, lifting a finger up to keep her looking to him and ignoring the two. He knew they weren't going to seriously fight, not with the bond still in place. "But this was done out of necessity, that means, if you don't decide the victor, then they'll keep fighting to make one. So unless your instinct comes out to break them up, they'll keep fighting." Tails concluded, and quickly took a look at his device. Getting an idea, his eyebrows rose slightly and he flipped a slide off with his thumb, then slid that part under the scent glands where the sweat from her playing wetted them.

"H-hey!" Amy was taken off guard by it a moment and felt her quills stick up at the shock of it all. They slowly lowered when she grabbed them in embarrassment and watched as Tails clicked some text-buttons and then looked at the readings coming up on the screen.

"Hmm… no fever, and your scent has died down considerably. I'm still amazed your instinct and you worked together to stop Shadow's instinct." He nodded, seeing as it wasn't really something he could just convince out of her... but he knew who could. "When Shadow's Instinct clearly strategized and waited for you to succumb to heat... your instinct actively fought him... despite being submissive in nature..." he looked up from his handheld machine, and it was obvious to Amy the wheels in his mind were turning considerably. "He's not the average instinct, you know." Tails wrote his readings down. "I need to observe them when you're in your instincts too, Amy. Then, I can really see what we're dealing with. I know I probably shouldn't disturb nature... but... you're my friends, and if something is getting... uh... weirdly uncomfortable, I'll step in and act like a predator to protect you! I just hope you don't run away..." He scratched his head again, and Amy looked worried.

He saw her worry and quickly shook off his hand from his head, growing self-conscious and clearing his throat. "Okay, well,... Ehem." he coughed into his bundled hand, "So your clearly in control of yourself right now. Their smell isn't effecting you much, correct?" he wouldn't make eye-contact with her again, almost hiding his expression behind the device as he blushed.

'I can't tell Amy what I discovered... she'll laugh at me!' he thought to himself.

"Y-yes…" Amy lowered her head, seeing he wasn't willing to talk about it, but her head shot up when she remember- "B-but the fight!" Amy pointed back to Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow, literally getting a grip with their powerful bites and looking like they were seriously ripping into each other. "You said they won't stop till one is dead, Tails!"

"Or surrenders," Tails tugged on an end of his chest fur, as though tugging on one's collar when nervous. "O-or you stop them, anyway-" He did want her to try and go into Instinct form, even if that seemed a little far-fetched and not possible at the time being. He had seen impossible things before... "How much would you say you can smell or not smell them?"

"Tails! Take this seriously!" She wiggled her arms towards the fighting hedgehogs, "This isn't a time to be surveying me on my condition!"

"Stop!"

The abrupt new voice startled Amy and Tails, and Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow turned. Instinct Sonic had some black and red fur in his mouth mixed with some white, but Instinct Shadow still had his mouth tugging on some loose skin on Sonic's back neck.

They looked wide-eyed at the other male... frozen in spot.

Amy's eyes widened too as Tails looked confused, but then greatly started to panic at his appearance.

"Which one of you is Amy's husband?!"

Tails and Amy slowly looked behind them after sharing an equally confused gaze.

"Answer me! For the good of the future!"

What looked like a glowing white silhouette had his arms out, glowing a translucent green that came from around his hands and on some designs of his gloves and shoes...

"And for it's sake... I must know!"

The figure was directly in front of the sun, but his power seemed to activate as he flung his arms over the other, crossing them in a kinda fancy, but dramatic way that caused the glowing green to be around Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow.

They looked around themselves before feeling like they were being lifted in the air.

Instinct Sonic let the fur out of his mouth and started to wiggle in the air, "W-wha-what's going on!? Hedgehogs don't fly!" whimpering and freaking out as Instinct Shadow growled and grew more defensive, almost curling in his instinct to protect himself.

His pride wouldn't let him though, "This... this is unnatural! I can't move my body!"

"Great! That makes two of you!" Instinct Sonic sarcastically grunted out, trying to use humor to keep him from defensively curling as well. "What is that male!? I can hardly get a smell on him!"

"Like I know everything!" Instinct Shadow growled, "And I should know everything..." He glared at the other male as his arms uncrossed sharply and the two were thrown away from the other.

They crashed a distance away and whined at the impact, but rose up quickly to defend their turf.

"…Who is that..?" Amy asked, seeing the white hedgehog lower his arms to either side, slowly descending from the sky and showing his true features...

Suddenly remembering about scents and other males, she plugged her mouth and nose with her hands, clamping them over her muzzle tightly.

"He's... it almost looks like he's using some sort of telekinesis!" Tails declared, switching his device's settings and holding it bravely up towards the figure. With a serious expression that the other white hedgehog gave, he felt a heated drip of sweat fall from his cheek's furr as he kept his nerve.

"They levitated... right into the air!" Amy spoke through her hands, turning back to Tails, "I still have my hammer! S-should I scare him off?"

"He's not in instinct form, Amy!" Tails clenched his teeth, "He's speaking! And he's using some sort of weird power, we're clearly not dealing with a wandering instinct!"

As Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow struggled, both flailing and slashing the air to try and be let down, Instinct Sonic hollered out, "Amy! Get to safety! Run! We'll fight him off!" But even though his show was pretty brave, it was clear both were confused and possibly frightened by the turn of events. "Get away from here!"

"Those strange sounds your making... I don't get it." the white hedgehog narrowed his eyes, baffled by their odd behavior in the air. "No matter. I have to do what I have to do." He raised his arms up again, "I have to stop this calamity! You'll have to forgive me later... and thank me instead."

He readied himself and was about to throw a hand back, hunching with a slight bend in his knees before Amy rushed into the fray, stomping her feet down inbetween him and the two hedgehogs.

She outstretched her arms, protectively, her eyes showing her determination as her hammer stayed in her hand.

"Hey! You better put them down, right now!"

When he saw her, his eyes widened, amazed at her bravery. "You're..." he knew her from the drawings on his ancient scrolls right away. He looked a bit shocked to see her, though... "It's… it's you!" he broke from his stance, getting back to a normal standing position. He threw the two other hedgehogs behind him as they had tried to lay low and sneak up to him, but they rolled to the back as he tossed them with his unique power. "I need to speak to you." He approached her, and his expression didn't exactly look all that friendly…

"Ah! Sonic! Shadow!" Amy leaned forward, crying after them before seeing him take strong steps towards her. It was scary... she stepped back a bit, "D-don't come any closer, you creep!" she moved one arm back and held her hammer across from herself. "Or else! I'll make chopped liver out of you! No one hurts my friends!"

"C-chopped liver?" the man stopped, tilting his head. "Must be an expression. I'm not here to harm you." he cleared up, "Amy, I have to ask you something, and you have to be honest with me. The whole of the future depends on it!" He tightened a fist seemed to bob his body as he leaned towards her,... such a passion for a strange weirdo.

"W-wait,… how do you know my name?" She held her hammer at the ready, just in case he dare touch her.

"…I'm …" He looked down, then shook his head, "Nevermind, it's not important." He placed his once fisted hand firmly on his chest, trying to show sincerity. "I have to know, please hear me out." His mannerism seemed to make Amy less suspicious, and instead... curious.

She lost her fighting stance, "Alright, fine. I'm listening?"

"Amy!" Tails cried out, rushing over to her but stopping just behind her, his hands reaching out for her. "You don't know this man, you shouldn't-!"

"All he wants is for me to answer something, right? Then he'll go away and leave Sonic and Shadow alone!" Amy declared, and Tails was once again shaken up, but reminded how much Amy loved others, and wouldn't back down from a fight if they were at all threatened by evil...

Was this man evil?

Tails and Amy looked over to him, waiting to hear what he would inquire of her...

Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow were getting back up, a little woozy from being flung through the air twice already, but held a scowl as they waited to see what this strange, but powerful, new male's next move would be.

The white hedgehog took a deep breath, then angrily asked, jerking himself forward towards her-

"Which one of these men is your husband?!"

There was a long silence...

"Please! This is important! I have to-!"

"Excuse me?" Amy raised an eyebrow, holding up a hand to stop him from speaking further. Her hammer had bent down considerably as her hand dropped in strength at his... remarkable question...

Even Tails looked flabbergasted.

The white hedgehog turned around when hearing Instinct Shadow and Instinct Sonic's feet pounding the ground, then another pounce to attack. "Hmph. It's no use." He sent out a light that mimicked a slash in the air, pushing them back as he raised his hands and glared. "I'm getting to the bottom of this. Everything is counting on me and my mission." He seemed so stern, crossed about something...

The two were stopped in mid-air again, pulsed back by the force of his 'magic' as they were supposing any new thing to be that wasn't apart of Instinct culture. Even Instinct Shadow couldn't find anything like this besides Chaos Control in Shadow's mind... This time, they slightly cowered. Instinct Shadow still growled, but held up a paw as though as though hurt, then stomped it down, fighting through the pain and twitching an eyebrow in the greater injury to his pride. Instinct Sonic bent his ears back, not wanting to submit, but clearly uncomfortable with the odds now. They were confused on what the heck was happening to them, "What did you say about helping me protect Amy!? That two is better than one defender!? Time to prove your words, Shadow!" Instinct Sonic took off again, forcing himself to not back down and face this head on, for Amy's sake.

"Don't feel the need to remind me!" Instinct Shadow ducked his head down, reeling it around like a bull. "I know what I said and I meant it! Look! He's not even shifted into his natural instincts! We're dealing with a powerful Other!" He saw Instinct Sonic take off beside him, "No! You idiot! Grr... Fine, you get yourself killed first!" He took off after him from the rear.

"I'm the true Alpha, Shadow! Now I'll show you why!" He jumped again towards the new male, hand extended back and pointed like a clawed attack. "Just follow after me! I'll save Amy..!"

The white hedgehog half-watched their futile attempt, and just raised his hand again, wondering why they were on all fours when they ran... "Pantheid. Am I supposed to fear a bunch of four-legged Neanderthals?" he held them in the air, catching Instinct Shadow's low attack with his pinkie finger, keeping them both locked in his power with one hand... "Unlikely." He looked at both of them, "If it weren't for one of your genes, the future wouldn't even be in this mess!"

"S-stop it! You're scaring them!" Amy rushed over and grabbed his arm.

The second the touch happened, he felt something odd. It was different, though he wasn't used to people anyway, it was strange that he felt a sudden warmth from her like...

Fire.

"W-what are you doing!?"

He fought to shake his arm free of her hold, but she gripped it tighter and swung her hammer, forcing him to twist his wrist back and also hold it still in mid-swing.

"Ah! How... W-why are you doing this!?" She tried to pull her hammer down but it wouldn't budge, she let go of him and started tugging on the hammer, which gave at times but 'bobbed' back into position where it was again.

"Strange,... you're quite strong." he admitted, "But no matter, these two seem more like animals than you two do." He looked over his shoulder to Tails. "I'm not here to hurt anyone. Just stop you from mixing with one of these two's dnas!" he shook her off of himself as he let her hammer go, having her crash back behind him since he was still tugging.

"Now then..." He turned to Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow, "Which one of you is her husband!? I demand an answer!" he slightly stamped his foot deeper into the meadow's soft ground. "If you tell me the truth... I'll depart in peace, so long as you don't have a baby with her!"

The two grunted and continued to bite and scratch in the air, trying to figure out how to get down and not understanding his words.

"What?" He looked between the two, seeming shocked and hurt they weren't answering him. "Why... won't they respond?" Confused, he just shook his free hand into a fist, growing impatient. "That does it... I demand at least the respect of a reply!" he lowered his head, "Dang it! Do you think I'm just some kind of joke!? I'm saving the future, whether one of you complies or not!" he lifted his head back up, fueled with a sudden rage. "Haaa-!" he took his fisted hand and shook it open, powering up before Amy jumped to him again and got on his back, taking the spikes as she winced in pain. "W-what!?" he lost his concentration as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

He flailed as he tried to reach around him but couldn't, dropping Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow.

"Are you insane!? Or just psychotic!?" He felt one foot lift off the ground, "W-woah!" he stumbled forward, leaning due to the new weight, though she wasn't that heavy. "G-get off my back!"

"Not unless you promise to stop hurting Sonic and Shadow!" She cried out, wrapping her arms around his neck and chest, as he tried to rip her off of him.

"Seriously?" he looked pretty annoyed, then went with trying to shake her off. "You don't understand!"

"You're right! I don't!" Amy admitted, then removed one of her legs from around him and jammed it into the back of his knee.

"Ah!" he fell to that very knee as she then took her hammer and hit him upside the head.

"Ow..!" he took off, stumbling forward before gripping his head and shaking it. "Why,... you-!" he turned around, but his body suddenly pulsed and he felt weak all of a sudden... "W-why... Wha... What did you do to me?" He felt his arms slump forward as though losing strength, his back hunch down and his eyes droop slightly. 'What is this..? Have I been... drugged?'

"Hmph! Serves you right for being so rude!" Amy didn't bother thinking too much about what he said. "You're the one acting looney! Pah!" She spat out a puff of air at him, turning her cheek to him and putting her hands to her sides. "You should be thankful my Piko Piko Hammer only hit you at half force! Isn't it obvious that they're locked in their instincts? They can't understand you. Even if you tired, you'd just be hollering in vain."

"...Instinct… form?" he looked back at her, then the two hedgehogs as they shook themselves out from the ground. He gripped his head, his whole body having it's temperature spike for some reason. 'A fever..? Now..?' he touched his head, but it wasn't quite the same heat that would state a sickness. No, instead, he put his hand back down to his arm that she had first latched on to... It was burning up.

He looked around, confused, and then turned away. "Must be more terms of the times..." He didn't want to admit what was happening to him, especially with such animalistic men getting up... back to their four-legged positions again. Mocking him, he assumed.

Over his shoulder, he muttered, "I'll have to ignore it for now." letting go of his arm and regaining himself. He stood up tall, closing his eyes to get his bearings before looking about right again. He didn't feel like himself, so suddenly taken aback maybe by the new atmospheric pressure or the time-traveling side effect. It made more sense that way, to him at least. He looked back at her, tilting his body as he addressed her again, "Look, Miss Rose. I need to know who you mated with and who the child's father is. I don't care about pedigree or breeding habits of the past, I just need to know who it is. Please, It's very crucial to the survival of the future!" He gestured a hand out, laying the palm side up to entreat her to tell him. "Without this knowledge... it could be the one thing that holds the sole responsibility of saving the world!" he tightened the hand into a fist again, and his gusto was truly astonishing to Amy, but not as much as his words were... now that she was letting them sink in.

She had ran and knelt by Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow as they both were trying to catch their breaths, having squeezed out every ounce of their power to try and break the foreign magic that constricted them in the air for so long.

"Amy... My Amy..." Instinct Sonic sniffed her, checking for any injuries. "You're safe... good... I'm ... So glad." He grunted and sniffed through panted breaths.

Instinct Shadow also lifted his head and weakly... rubbed his head against hers. "You should... get out of her... it isn't safe, my Alpha." He seemed to say that as a gesture of wooing, but she didn't hear it anyway, and he knew she didn't understand him. It was mostly to fool Instinct Sonic, everything he was saying...

Amy wrapped one arm around each of their heads, patting them in comfort before looking back up at the white hedgehog.

"…The … future? Wait, wait, wait-" she shook her head, "Who are you?! D-did you just say … I'm having a baby?" Amy was startled, what on earth was this other hedgehog talking about!? "You can't be serious! I haven't-! W-we haven't..." She grew embarrassed and shook her head, "No, no, no! That's impossible!"

"It's true!" The hedgehog swiped out his hand again, "In the near future, you will have a son that will directly impact the future of my world! Your world!"

"Why... why is my scent not affecting you..?" Amy noticed that Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow had lowered their heads directly by her shoulders, purposefully breathing her in to get the chemical to adrenaline rush themselves back into battle.

She looked back at Tails, who nodded, confirming her smell wasn't strong enough to help anyone right now, or even affect this strange man...

"…Pardon?" The white hedgehog looked offended, dipping his head down and turning it slightly to get her to turn her attention back to him again. "What smell? Why is that important?" he raised an eyebrow further up, looking her up and down. She was... rather feminine. He could see by her brilliant green-sea eyes and her figure why she might be desirable... that is, for men of this century. He adverted his eyes, somewhat growing flustered at his random, and odd, thoughts. "I'm sorry, I don't quite-um…" He grew shy, stepping away from her and the strange behavior of the two, grown-looking men, sniffing her like that...

It made him uncomfortable, so he turned his back to them, knowing if they striked again, he could hear their thumping feet against the ground anyway... all four of them... "So weird." He shook his head, crossing his arms and shifting on his feet. 'The past... is this... romance to them?' He lowered his head, his shoulders falling with the released breath. "I don't get it." He then looked over his shoulder, "I don't... umm... really get your exact terms and customs of this time." He weakly gestured his arm out in front of him, but clearly was indirectly speaking to her and the other fox boy, feeling how awkward his explanation must be to them...

Tails came up, speaking then, "You don't know about instincts..? Ah!" he then looked down to gawk at his readings that just came through. Gripping the device with both hands, he seemed about to lose his grip on the Miles-Electric, simply from being that astonished by what he was seeing. "This… this guy has time-manipulation radiation all over his body!" he exclaimed, "B-but it's not lethal! How is that possible..? It's like nothing I've ever seen before! Except... His readings are-… are-… like Chaos Control..." He slowly lowered his device, his eyes having not left where they were once staring in awe.

Amy looked back over her shoulder to Tails, waiting for him to continue but not quite catching all he was saying. "Tails..? You uh... trailed off their buddy, what did you say they were like?"

"Fox person!" The white hedgehog stepped forward, ignoring Amy's presence with the other hedgehogs for the time being. "Are you by any chance Miles Prower?" He asked, about to walk passed her before the two hedgehogs gave deep, low growls.

For some reason, he stopped his foot from landing to the ground, halting his progression and feeling some sort of fear move through his body.

'S-strange... why am I... obeying this..?' he gave them distance, not sure why. 'I'm clearly stronger than them... why did I yield so quickly?' he looked at his hands, 'They were distraught before... So why...?' he shook his head again, 'I'm not acting myself, this is so weird! I have to get back to my time when this is all over. I can't stay here much longer, it's exhausting..!' he turned back to Amy, "Call them off, Amy." He instructed, but with a bit of force too. "I won't hurt you or them anymore." he slowly shook his head a lot softer this time, even closing his eyes for good measure so she knew he wasn't going for that hostile approach again.

"Ah… That's right!" she bounced her fist in the air a moment, "H-how do you know me and Tails's names?"

Tails moved back, surprise and fear striking his face. "My... real name." That was definitely something Tails didn't exactly publicize too often about.

"Look, I can explain," The white hedgehog lightly patted the air with his hands, a universal gesture—he hoped—to give them some comfort. "But first, can you please make these two come back to their senses?" He then turned his hands over to gesture to Instinct Sonic and Instinct Shadow. "This is supposed to be the greatest hero of your time?" He motioned to Instinct Sonic, who was growling intensely at him, ears drawn back, and stepping over Amy's lap to show possession and be protective. "And this man? The greatest creation that walks the grey path of the world's hatred but seeks adamantly the ways of righteousness?" He then directed that comment to Instinct Shadow, who's spikes were so pronounced by now, that his eyes were shaking in building rage, looking as intimidating as he could while digging his fingertips into the ground.

"He dares mock me..." Instinct Shadow hissed.

"Who does? You understand them!?" Upset he didn't tell him, Instinct Sonic gritted his teeth.

"Not fully... It takes some practice." He growled back to Instinct Sonic, losing some of his edge as his quills lowered. "Strange... I don't smell a scent on him, not quite yet."

"So he's immature?" Instinct Sonic crawled over Amy's lap to Instinct Shadow's side. "What do you think he said then? Is he after Amy?"

Instinct Shadow opened his mouth to respond, when a sharp pain came from his mind and he shook his head.

"Shadow..?" Instinct Sonic jumped in place, lowering his head to try and find out what was wrong with his Beta, "...Shad- AHGUH!" before reeling back in pain, hitting his head to the ground and fighting his Other's control. "T-they're... strong again."

Amy got up, her hands bundled up by her collarbone, "Sonic! Shadow!" she cried out, seeing them in pain. She glared up at Silver, "Don't do this!" she cried out, "Stop it!"

"I... I'm not doing anything..." Silver showed his hands, "L-look! See?" he looked both to Amy and Tails, "I'm innocent here!"

"If you really are hurting them... I'll-!" she brought her hammer up again, pointing it straight at him as he stepped back, lifting his arm over himself as a shield. "I'll-!... I'll-!" she was getting emotional, but then heard something that quieted all her fury...

"No need,…Amy."

The three looked back to see Sonic rising from the ground, shaking his head as the massive headache began to take place. "Boy... What a knock out." He humorously stated, then shook his arm out and rotated his shoulder.

"Sonic!" Amy exclaimed, more than relieved and excited to see him back to his normal self again. Her mouth opened wide as she felt herself lean up on her toes, almost as though lifted up and elated just to hear his natural voice again.

He turned to smile back at her—his demeanor never failing to charm her either—before turning to look at Shadow, still fighting back for control. "Shadow,... Get up already." He said that as though Shadow was putting on theatrics...

Shadow was struggling, however. Closing and opening his eyes while swaying and moving left and right, breathing heavily as his four-legged swagger was like that of a drunkard being punched left and right, stepping with short but quick shuffles as he was pushed back.

Finally, his arm hit the ground and he panted a moment, groaning as he got a foot under him and stood up, rolling his back as he placed his hand on the front of his head.

"T-they..." Tails's eyes were glistening, glossy for a moment at seeing them finally returning to their normal selves again. "They've snapped out of it!"

Sonic lifted up a pointer finger, wagging it in the air a moment. "Dangling us up like some puppet show? I agree with Amy, a rude way to introduce yourself, pal." He then looked over to Shadow, annoyed, "...Hey, you okay?"

Shadow just looked at him, not responding and lowered his hand down. His eyes still winced at the pain of his forehead, but Sonic tried to mask it well.

"So,... You said,... if I recall correctly... Anyway," Sonic turned a bit more serious, angling himself somewhat to facing the white hedgehog, "You're from the future, there..? Buddy?"

-Tails's house-

"Alright, start talking." Sonic leaned against the wall, arms folded and seeming to be resting slightly as he let the wall take his weight. Shadow, refusing to show any signs of weakness, rose his head up and kept himself away from the wall, trying to stand the best he could, but every now and then... if someone was really watching, they would see his backheel rise up and press against the wall... showing how this whole season was really taking a toll on him. What, with the fighting, instincts, and having to deal with Jumpers? It's not like he had a moment to rest as his instincts were out, either... He was constantly trying to fight his way back into power, and that left him mentally fatigued just as much as his body.

Sonic looked to Shadow, understanding the strain, but glanced back at the more pressing topic at hand... the strange new hedgehog from—apparently—the future.

Amy and Tails took the couch, Amy sitting silently and as elegantly as she could. Her leg was up over the other and her hands folded over the upper knee, trying to look posed... however, she couldn't take her eyes off of Sonic...

They hadn't... spoken about other things, and she still felt like he was keeping his distance...

She missed him, but she was careful to advert her eyes when Shadow took notice, and tried to block his view of her gentle longing... probably written all over her face.

She hadn't spoken to him about stuff either... not since... the attack...

She felt bad she couldn't get his side of the story,... she kinda knew why he lied, and she kinda knew why Sonic left now too...

But it wasn't enough. She wanted a heart-to-heart with them... but she knew this 'season' wouldn't allow any of that to go down.

And now...

She looked towards the strange and new hedgehog situated on the opposite chair to the right of the room... back with the table between them as the couch was pushed to the wall and Shadow and Sonic were to the left of her... Tails's kitchen just ahead with a half-wall to look through and chat while preparing meals.

Tails had recently renovated his place, especially after Amy told him it wasn't 'homey' enough. She remembered that time she had chewed him out, saying that it looked more like a stuffy workshop than an actual living space. Behind the couch was a small bathroom, and behind that room his main bedroom. Linking everything together was a hallway and towards the beginning of that hallway was a door to his garage, where thankfully now put all his tools and machines.

Above them was a half-finished observatory he never seemed to get around to fixing anymore. He still hadn't fully finished weather proofing it due to his fixation on his X-Tornado he was always working on.

Because of that, it had been dealt a harsh sentence with Angel Island's natural strong winds, pelting rainstorms, and other such rough circumstances.

The latter heading up there was still by the bookshelves, since technically, his living room was also his personal library. Tails liked to at least 'look' sophisticated and classy, ever since Amy said a home was a reflection of one's soul. He wanted to dwell somewhere that was at least presentable... especially by Amy's standards. (Author's edit: I hate writing these to interrupt you but this is for all those 'architecture' minded people who want the details on the house lol. Your welcome.)

She gave a glance over to him, seeing how he was trying to conduct this meeting for her sake as well...

'Did everyone...' She rose her head slightly to look around the room. 'Did they all do this for me?'

"I'd be glad too, if that means that you will trust me." The hedgehog finally spoke and she was zapped out of her own world and thoughts. She blinked a moment to get back to the real world and turned to listen to him.

"Please." Tails sarcastically encouraged, "obviously, we'd all like to know what's going on."

There was a momentary still... before the hedgehog finally spoke out again. He rose himself to standing straight in his chair, his hands together as he was contemplating how to answer Sonic.

'Why take so much time to talk..?' Amy could always think of something... but then again... she looked down, 'These instincts do take a lot out of us all...'

"Very well, allow me to explain…" He held out his hand, then placed it on his chest. "I come from the future-"

"Woah, back up." Sonic stopped him, stepping off and away from the wall and catching himself as he leaned forward. He took a look at Tails, throwing his thumb back to the guy, "He's talking up a pretty story, ain't he?"

Tails snickered into his hand, and Amy could tell he had missed Sonic's usual attitude just as much. "A real nut-case." he muttered into his hand, before Amy nudged his arm and he smiled weakly to her. He turned to the other hedgehog, "S-sorry... It's just strange to hear, is all." he tried to apologize, just in case the man heard him.

"I'm… not familiar with that terminology," He looked all around on the floor with shifting eyes, not able to understand, so it seemed. "But I can assure you, my case doesn't involve nuts." He retorted, "unless… you are, in fact, talking about a man's-"

"Ahh-" Amy shouted out and immediately flung her hands up, angling them at least by her shoulders before clamping them over her ears. "Blababah!" As Amy covered her ears, the three other men in the room jumped slightly with a stomp of their feet towards the white hedgehog. they stopped themselves from doing anything further when they had shocked him enough into receiving the subtle message... zip it.

"Dude," Sonic shook his head, "Not cool." he then gestured a hand to have Amy remove her hands from her ears.

She looked to him, and with some innocent trust, slowly removed her hands back to her lap. She withdrew a bit back from the other hedgehog, uncomfortable with him even more now.

"Uhh… my apologizes?" He leaned back, looking at the three like they were crazy or something. "I... um, wasn't aware you were all so easily spooked by slang." He was doubly confused now. What was and wasn't appropriate for this time? "Perhaps I should use the medical name for-"

"No!" the men stepped forward again, before Tails fell back to the couch, looking just as exhausted as the rest of them.

"Oh brother..." He rubbed his hand against his face. "He clearly doesn't have decent social etiquettes. He must be from some place other than here, at least."

"...I..." The man grew tense, hunching his back down and parting his legs to dip down and lean forward on the chair. "I'm not used to interacting with others... forgive me, if I say something out of line or without decorum."

Everyone stared at him then...

Tails sighed, speaking again when no one else would, "Look, it's hard for us to believe you're from the future... Just a tall order to swallow."

"...I'm sorry?" the white hedgehog lifted his head up in naïve innocents, but he did seem to want to understand. 'It's like a different language... this culture is so... I-I shouldn't judge.' he shook his head.

"N-Nevermind." Tails waved his hands out, giving the guy a break. "I guess it would explain the strange radiation pattern..."

The white hedgehog lifted his head, and for the first time, seemed to smile.

Amy was taken by the sudden expression, he looked... for some reason, rather desperate to be accepted...

Her heart went out to him for a moment... unable to stay deeply suspicious of him anymore.

"They are not normal occurrences in this time and place." he explained, feeling confident in at least... this topic. "But where I'm from, technology and advancements deeply affect our world. However... lately, it's been all up in smokes and..." He paused, his mouth hung open as though it was too painful to speak... "Flames." He squinted his eyes and turned his head away from everyone. "My world... everything I ever knew... was gone in an instant."

He then gave a powerful glare towards Amy, which shook her to her very core as those once, youthful and yearning eyes turned to malice and hate.

"All because of one stupid decision you make." He got up from his chair and the rest was like a blur.

Amy felt herself pushing back against the couch in horror while Sonic and Shadow zoomed in front of her, each protecting her with one arm out towards her, almost crossing the other's.

"I'll ask once more, but after this, all curtseys are off!" He swiped his arm out. "I can never forget... why I'm really here." He pulled his hand up over to the side of his neck, charging up the green power he possessed that steamed and wisped around his glowing glove while Sonic and Shadow braced themselves... getting ready... "Which one of these two men is your husband!?" He his arm blocked half his muzzle, but his eyes darted between Sonic and Shadow. "One of them is responsible for the destruction of my entire future! Creating an alternate timeline that has directly affected the existence of my world!"

"...Calm down." Tails got up abruptly too, hands still out to try and ease tensions. "Sonic and Shadow are still being affected by their instincts... and even without instincts, I'll personally take you on with them if you have any intention of hurting Amy!" Tails's hands became fists and he stood valiantly in front of Sonic and Shadow.

"Urk..!" The white hedgehog gritted his teeth, seeing that since they were normal now, three on one might not be an option. "I have no intention of hurting anyone... just stopping the heir of disaster." He lowered his arm as though a fencing hero sheathing his sword...

The others settled back, getting up from their fighting stances and looking a bit more tame...

Shadow finally then spoke, "You seem to know all our names... even who we are and our stories." He narrowed his eyes, "If what you're saying is true... then Amy is in grave danger... even without the co-dominance we've successfully forged..." He turned to Sonic, "For now..."

Sonic's lips tightened into a strong line, and the two seemed to be having their own conversation through their eyes...

They then turned back to the white hedgehog. "Start talking. Every last bit and shred of what you know. Might save your timeline." Sonic instructed, acting more like his heroic self.

"Or it may just end your 'heroic' attempt." Shadow threatened, "So speak... knowing your life's on that very line... riding thin on time."

"Heh, good one, Shadow." Sonic gave a halfcocked smile to him, as Shadow closed his eyes to return with a short-lived smile.

The two were on speaking terms... at least, that gave Amy some hope for them.

But... her decision? Her choices lead to... a bad future?

She wanted so badly to burst! To pop like a balloon and start admitting how none of this made sense... but instead... she felt herself sinking and withdrawing deeper into herself... 'Is this... my instincts doing?' she found herself shaking... and gripped her arms to try and stop herself from doing so.

Sonic looked to see her shivering, realizing this was scaring her.

He frowned and looked back at Silver, a bit more gentlemanly in his speech this time. "if you can justify your claims,... then we can all determine better the truth of your words..." his gentleness pulled Amy out of her own despair, as she turned to look at him... like a pillar of light.

'That's right...' She told herself, wiping the sleep out of her eyes as she just wanted to curl up and roll away somewhere to cry and be alone... but that really meant she was suffering. 'I hate being alone... but I'm not alone anymore.' She waited out the fight, hoping there'd be some sense to all this. 'But Sonic's my strength! Just as much as I'm-!' she stopped herself, holding herself in a tighter grip further... the embrace was suffocating. '... What... am I to him... now?'

"I'll get to that." The hedgehog stated, nodding but trying to avoid Shadow... He seemed disturbed by him, which was exactly what Shadow wanted as a result to his former threat. "I'm Silver. I come from a timeline that is inflicted with tyranny, pain, fear, devastation, and misery… A world void of beauty such as this one…" he looked around the home, before shaking his head and continuing. "The cause of our problems…" He looked to a plant in the room, admiring it a moment as the flames in his memories consumed his eyes... His sorrow turned to revenge, his eyes narrowing over the images that played through his mind. "I jumped through time to find out what exactly caused such suffering and strife. Why it happened, how it got here... and through some research of my own, I learned how to fix it." He turned back to her, "Amy…"

She held her breath, as Sonic and Shadow tilted their bodies, an indirect way of saying to stay back and maintain his distance...

Wearily, she returned his gaze, noticing how he was carefully looking between Sonic and Shadow again. "It started with your son." He stated, making fear streak across her face as the others stared at Amy, then Silver.

"What are you exactly saying..." Sonic was starting to connect the dots... but his blood was starting to boil, 'I need to keep it together.' He felt the rebellion in his body at hearing such a thing, but wouldn't let it take over him. 'For Amy's sake... I can't let her be afraid.'

Silver took on a serious look and tone as he began to explain, holding nothing back. "Apparently, he wasn't the greatest of men… but there was an alternate timeline, one where you had a different son with a different man… That's the timeline that should have remained, but now... there's two. They're converging, and the awful tyrant's domain has began to leak into my world!" He pointed accusingly at her. "That king... he's a menace! The ancient scrolls state he devoured the good of the world and forced it into his iron grip! He polluted good and all that was decent within our world! You... You're directly linked to him!"

"That's enough!" Sonic held out his hand to push Silver back.

"I'm not done yet." Silver shook his head, not backing down. He did lower his hand though... "Shadow said I had to convince you or my world was at stake... I don't care what happens to me after that!" He rose his voice and Sonic stopped, seeing the sincerity of his pain in his eyes. "I don't care what you do to me... my life has little meaning other than to bring back the future that once was... I won't let him take that world away from me." He slowly lowered his head, speaking in a hushed tone now. "There once was peace,... beauty was found even in the lowest of places, and their were festivals and laughter and dancing..!" as his love for his time grew more passionate, his anger doubled and Sonic began to see the truth in his words...

But how could he accept it? A tyrannical king? From Amy..?

He turned his head away, unable to bear such a thought as he closed his eyes. "It... can't happen."

"That man..." Silver pushed back his zeal, "Anyway,... it was there that I concluded what my task would be." He held himself back again but wouldn't sit down. He let his hands fall by his sides, the green in them subsided. "There was just one warning in the ancient texts... when our timelines were still merging... I have to stop them from combining before it's too late." He bit down on his teeth, "Beware his snare... It was the last warning... Something about the king's father." He looked up to Amy and then Sonic and Shadow. "I'm not sure... exactly what the ancient scrolls were talking about. But there will be a son, with incredible power!" He gestured to both of them. "And if I don't stop him from being born, then I'll keep diving further into the past till I can make sure of it! I have to do this... for the sake of my home, and the world I love!" he held a fist up to his face and then thrusted it down. "You have to believe me... Amy can't have a son!" he concluded, "Not until I find out which father leads to my future... the perfect future I will protect."

Sonic and Shadow looked to one another, not sure what to think of this declaration.

"Now... I'm guessing I'm farther back then I planned, right?" He gestured out to everyone, "So Amy isn't married, or at least... hasn't chosen a man to be with yet. Then there's still time to determine who's son is the good future's hero."

"That's one heck of a task..." Shadow folded his arms, after having listened so intently to the young man's plea, he finally stepped forward to an angle towards Silver. "How can you ensure you'll exactly pinpoint this anomaly in space and time? I'm only here to ensure Amy's safety... but our instincts won't very much like another threat around..."

Sonic nodded in agreement, "Trust me, the more is not always the better." However, Tails rose his finger, and shook his head to Tails. "No matter what other's say..." he seemed to scold Tails slightly as Tails lowered himself back to the couch, slightly pouting at Sonic's direct disregard of him.

He even said that while looking Tails dead in the eye...

Was he that determined to be the only one looking out for Amy again? According to Tails, this co-dominance thing gave Amy's instincts an advantage in control and power, but...

It was clear that Tails understood Sonic was still compromised by his instincts... this could just be the chemicals talking.

Silver looked back to reply to Shadow,... but reverted his sights back on Amy. "I must find out who spawns the son of my timeline, and make sure he does not end up with you." Silver stated, before turning to Sonic and Shadow. "I'm not sure who this man is… but I won't leave here until I know who Amy will marry, and which son she ends up bearing."

"… So it's a guessing game." Amy's face was frozen in what looked like deep anguish. "You'll just stick around and see what the lot draws this time... and if your future is still bleak, you'll come back and know which one should be the father, right?" Her fell so deep that her chin touched her chest that rose and sank with each heartbreaking breath she was able to maintain. The men all looked down, worried about how she was taking this...

"You shouldn't... speak of one's future while they're present." Sonic looked away, lowering his head in apology and turning his back to her in regret at being able to give her strength this time. "Sorry..."

"Amy…" Tails put his hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her as she suddenly lifted her head up… "But we're all forgetting the bigger picture here."

They turned around, surprised by her sudden shift in mood... but also at what she was referring too.

"What could be bigger than the future of our world!?" Silver argued, turning dramatic as he bent his knees and gestured out with flopping arms towards her.

A huge, open smile came upon her face like the sun rising and her hands touched the side of her cheeks. "Hehe! This means-! I'm gonna have a baby!" she cheered, kicking her feet up and leaning back to laying on the couch, hurrahing. "It's been a dream of mine since I was small!"

"...Uuuuugh."

Tails, Shadow, and Sonic seemed to shrink down comedically.

"Can't you take this more seriously..? For once?" Tails sounded defeated, his eyes bending to her as he scooted closer and let his arms dangle in front of him as he hunched his back in total disbelief at her attitude.

"Is that... all you got from what he said?" Shadow also couldn't believe her reaction.

But Sonic... Sonic just laughed.

Everyone turned to him, but then Amy began laughing and they all seemed confused.

"Luckily, he's not commenting on your mothering skills, Amy!" Sonic kid, and she joined right in.

"Hey! I'm only gonna marry you, so suck it up!" She placed her hands on her hips as Sonic walked passed Shadow to her.

"Oh?" He grinned, continuing to joke with her as he leaned down and put a finger up in front of her face, eye-to-eye with her... which hadn't happened in a good, long, hot minute... "And what makes you so sure about that? Even with instincts trying to tear us apart, you sure are confident it's gonna be me with the good son, huh?"

"I never doubted you." she stuck out her tongue, continuing to shift the mood.

Silver just looked awkward, a strand of sweat running down his face as he frantically turned to Shadow, then Tails, "Did I... miss... something?"

"I mean, according to you, either timeline means she's gonna conceive, right?" Sonic stood back up, gesturing back to Silver without looking until finally peeking over his shoulder.

"Uhh… well… technically… yes. Yes, she will." Silver thought about it, before awkwardly trying to fake a laugh to feel included. "Haha...ha... I mean... that's true. In both timelines... it's her child, s-so... Why is that funny?" he continued to feign his understanding before finally letting his shoulders stop bouncing and ask in honesty. He crunched his arms in, reflexing from how sheepishly he knew he didn't belong or fit in here, but continued to smile despite his absolute bafflement of these people.

"Amy, you have to think of consent!" Tails reeled himself up, making her realize why laughing at this wasn't helping. "What if it's not with your consent!" He seemed upset she didn't think this through.

"Tails!" Sonic scolded, but it was too late... However, Tails was amazed by how angry he looked at him.

Then it dawned on him.

"Uh... ohhh..." He looked to see the damage he had done. 'Shoot! Sonic didn't want her thinking of that and I blew it!'

Amy... suddenly lost her joyful look. Shadow saw how the sparkling life of her eyes dimmed from their wonder at being a mother someday... and now dulled to a cloudy haze. Sonic saw how her once, bright and alive face has powered down to a still ripple of a torn dream. She was growing white in her complexion,... her mind several lightyears away from that room...

"Just once..." she lightly spoke out, twitching her lips as she spoke and softly turned her head a little bit more towards Silver's direction, "I'd like to think Instincts wasn't so bad."

The room grew deathly silent.

Tears began to fall in gentle procession after the others, a little river here and there as the bottom of her eyes trembled before she blinked very gracefully at what could only be interpreted as a silent resigning to the inevitable fate... "You don't even know if I get married… do you?"

Silver's heart had never flickered out so fast in his life. He wasn't sure why, but seeing this girl cry sent an angelic guilt over his being. 'Why... Why did I tell her all of this? I could have just... watched silently like a guardian behind her. She didn't need to know if... if cruelty or grandeur awaited her... not like this.'

Overwhelmed by her graceful sorrow and disappointment, at the next bat of her eyes, not even meeting his own... he fell to his knees.

"...For-... Forgive me." He started to cry himself, his body shaking. He put one hand down on the floor, then another... bowing before her. "I should have controlled myself... I let my anger get in the way of my judgement..! I didn't mean to destroy your hope for your own, better future!" He smashed his hand to the ground, "Dang it!"

Tails wanted to fix his folly, and quickly got down from the couch and also placed his hands on her lap, tears building in his own eyes, "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have blurting something so daunting out like that! I should have seen how Sonic was trying to keep you from thinking of the worst, how you were trying your hardest to absorb everything as well! I'm sorry... Amy, you're so strong and I... I'm sorry." He lowered his head to her knees and she could feel the wiggling of his mouth as he tried not to cry.

Silver blinked his eyes towards Tails, then looked to see the two other men standing away from Amy, backs facing towards her... their eyes covered in darkness...

It was clear they were thinking their own thoughts... especially if this meant they were the sole reason for both Amy's and the future's disappointments.

"You... don't even know if the father is one of us two... do you?" Sonic finally spoke out, his head lifting slightly but his expression still shrouded in an unseen cluster of shadows. They refused to let Silver see what he was talking about, and not sure why everyone was so hesitant, finally spoke out again.

"At first, I wasn't sure of your customs. I didn't know if they were the same as the future. Where two people must be wed before... Urk! But that doesn't matter right now!" He rose to his feet, 'I don't know why...' his fist shook violently, 'But I can't stand to see her so wrapped up in her doom!' he stood like the pillar of strength she had longed for... for a long time.

He walked over, despite Sonic and Shadow's triggered expressions as their eyes shifted momentarily at him touching her hands, holding them in his own as he knelt down by her side.

They flinched and held back a growl, pushing their instincts back as they regained control of themselves.

They didn't want Silver around her... and both held back as they hid their silent war they just fought... seeing him look so adamantly into her eyes. "I promise you... that's why I'm here." he knew why he was here, to protect the future! But now... "I swear to you," He narrowed his eyes, as though making a vow to heaven. "I will preserve the good of the future..! And that includes the future you want for yourself as well!"

'I'm sure the future that Amy wants... It's just gotta be the same as mine!' Silver convinced himself. "I'm sure the father is someone who will love you and you him." He tried to assure her, and Amy allowed it... feeling such a swarm of emotions at seeing someone humble themselves down to her level in order to rise her back up from her misery.

She had always been that for others... it was the first time someone was being that for her.

He really seemed to look and see that she needed more than just pity, but someone to hold her up... someone to save her.

"S...Silver." she was taken in by his chivalrous act.

"I'll make sure of it. I'll protect your future just as much as the world's, Amy!" he felt his heart racing... 'Why... do I want her eyes only to look at me with that hope?'

He got up slowly, still holding her hands... He felt some tears falling onto his gloves... 'Just like this...' he squeezed her hand, feeling a sudden, soft impulse to do so. His pupils dilated as she smiled warmly up at him, nodding. 'I want to shield her from her tears... I don't want her to ever have to cry anymore...'

"Yes," Amy swallowed hard. "Marriage is a custom here... and I want that with all my heart." she lowered her head and closed her eyes, which sent a bolt of impulse through Silver. He jolted, his body leaning down as though to grab her attention again, but softly lifted himself up and back away from her. He still held her hands, but tenderly. "Amy... I know you don't know how to trust me yet... But I will make sure of this. I give you my word."

'My hands...' he looked down as them, slightly shaking. 'They don't want to let go... strange, I've never felt this kind of connection... with anyone before.' He let her go and pulled himself together, standing aside from Shadow as Sonic came back over.

They were both gripping their heads... and Silver wondered... 'Why?'

"I really have no idea," Silver shook his head, "What those two timelines have that connected them. But it's sometime around here... and I plan to investigate it! No matter how many times I have to come back!" he gripped his fist up in the air, "Consider me a loyal knight of the timeline! I'll make sure you're happy ever after is the same as my world's!"

His cheeriness... reminded her of Sonic.

And his want to please and be of use to her... reminded her of Shadow.

She looked to those two men, worried about how they were holding up, before nodding to Silver and also matching his determination.

She leaped from the couch, throwing a foot up onto it like a tomboy as the men gawked at her sudden shift. "Then let's do this! A pack of three males and an alpha female!" She shoved her fist sky-high! "I refuse to let a man write my future for me! I'll just have to take it myself!"

...Everyone just kinda... gave an awkward smile and chuckled silently to themselves.

"Good to see you never change, Amy." Sonic slightly mumbled to himself, but lowered his head in thanks. 'What a great gift that is... I think she'll be okay, so long as she has something to hold onto.'

He then looked over to Silver who held up the back of his hand and whispered to Shadow, eavesdropping on their conversation as he leaned his head into their secrets.

"What does she mean by 'pack of three men and an alpha?'. Is that another term of the times?"

Shadow leaned away in distaste at his foolishness, but Sonic's eyes just grew wide and he blinked with a bigger smile.

"Oh boy." he remarked, more sweat dripping from the side of his face.

"Not again..." Shadow shook a fist, exhausted but still able to keep finding fuel for his continual anger...