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

8. Chapter 8

Instincts

Ch. 8

By: Cutegirlmayra (I didn't realize how LONG this story was xD sorry about that… but maybe that's why the chapters are short? Eh? Anyway, I have a lot planned, and after Silver's Arc is an AMAZING twist so please, stay tuned! :D However, please remember I'm also updating other stories ALONG with Instincts, so if they come out slower than you like, please keep in mind that other chapters for other stories are being written/submitted and that's why it's taking so long. Also, mission coming up, so I may not even be able to finish this and then you'll have to wait 18 months for me to get back x-x either way, we can get through this together. Here's another chapter! :D HOLY MOLY, THE HISTORY OF SONIC THE HEDGEHOG JUST ARRIVED AND I REALLY WANT TO READ IT! TELL ME YOUR SECRETS, SONIC. 0-0 –drools over endless information and the knowledge of personal interviews that could lead me to some great enlightenment about Sonic and his friends, plus his world and the workings of Chaos and such.- …. Gotta run! EDITED: No longer on my religious mission, completed faithfully :)b That being said, still combining and editing, while working on Original stories as well as finishing Tumblr Prompts -DO NOT REQUEST ANY PROMPTS, SHUTDOWN, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE- And now, to continue the revamping for season 2! If ever that comes XD Also, the book I mentioned was totally biased, do not recommend XD Overall, I'm really excited to say I think I made this chapter ten times better by the edits! 3 :Db)

Amy went back to her house as the men stayed behind with Tails, hoping to rest at his place to ensure that no 'instincts' would be triggered by Amy's scent. However, Tails was still worried if the boys would shift and fight amongst each other.

Plus, leaving Amy alone… wasn't that what they were trying to avoid in the first place..?

But… she had to go.

It was a den of complicated concepts, she needed time to process it all thoroughly out in her mind and most importantly, in her heart, too.

Was it that dangerous to ask for a momentary 'rest' from it all?

Unlike last time… she would try and not be hasty about seeking aid again.

Amy closed her door, worried about being alone but having thoughts of baby fever on her mind. Sure, she had thoughts about kids as a playful daydream, but this… this was odd. She turned around and sighed longingly, liking the idea of being a mother one day as her back slid down the door, her thoughts temporarily of joy, until she was painfully reminded of the horror of possibly not consenting while in instinct form when it happened…

With her butt hitting ground level, she could still feel her heart slipping further and further down… Were they really just… a primitive split between humanity and animalistic tendencies? It seemed to be crushing her hopes, having never heard of this before.

She covered her face with both hands, not liking to think of having a family as suddenly now a bad thing. However, right now… it was kinda hard not to.

She couldn't help but remember what happened while she was in instinct form… it was all confusing and yet, starting to make sense? If that was even something she wanted to admit at this point.

Was this why Sonic was always so against domestic living? It probably had nothing to do with it, but she could somewhat understand his aversion to dates or showing affection now… He was never rude to her about it, he just… seemed to constantly avoid it or shyly dismiss it.

"Ohhh… why is everything I hold precious suddenly turning into 'that's a bad thing' lately…" Even Sonic…

She shook her head at such thoughts, even if they were just in her head,... did everything she love and hope for… suddenly turn into a fear against her?

She gripped her head tighter, looking through the gaps of her fingers before crying out, "Noo..!" and hugging her legs, turning her head to the side. Ducking… hiding… Her eyes twitching at such horrible thoughts.

Was that why Sonic seemed to never be around her? Then again, he was never really around anyone. They would always find him battling Eggman or any new threat to the world far before they even knew about it.

He was a naturally aloof guy, but she started wondering if–because of his instincts–he started to not like being around Amy anymore… and just couldn't tell her that?

She tried to remember her love for Sonic, something happy in this spiral of hopelessness, but the multitude of 'bad things' kept making her hesitate now. Sonic left because she tried to keep her instinct at bay but ended up teaching it how to kiss. The possibility of having a family in the future was her next idea, but then… if the worst-case scenario occurred, the father might just be some wild hedgehog who caught her in the middle of heat! She'd be all alone still and what would that get her!?

She wasn't a downer, she had never once considered a future for herself that could be dark and gloomy… She had always believed in true love, in everlasting devotion… What was happening to her?!

Was this just what happened..? When someone becomes an adult, seeing the world how it really is..?

She put her hands over her ears and shook her head, "No! No! I won't let this get to me! I won't!" Feeling terrible about her anxious thoughts, she willed herself to protect her most prized of wishes, her dreams weren't to be crushed like this…

'I had told that Silver guy that I wouldn't let anyone else define my fate! I will have a loving family! A beautiful romance! I won't let all this negative thinking get the better of me!'

She definitely didn't like the feeling of being helpless to these thoughts, or confined contentment to being trapped in a loveless world. She wouldn't let anyone bring her down that far.

She wouldn't dare let someone she didn't love take her perfect future away from her!

She had never felt such a swirling sense of despair before, it was nothing like she had ever felt in all her life!

She put a hand to her chest, heaving in what could only be explained as a panic attack.

She looked around her home, and then to her messy nest of pillows, blankets, and even her couch cushions…

Conflicted about giving in, she couldn't help but feel it was the safest place to escape to… Even now, she knew it was all instincts, and it made her frown tighten and spread out, her eyes pull back in dread.

Wiping some water from them, due to her sorrowful mood, she climbed in it with the natural feeling of wanting to be somewhere secure. It just… took over her.

As everything seemed to be doing, lately…

Sniffing back tears, She tried to cuddle in with all the comfy pillows and cushions. Moving her limbs through the pillows and shaking them down into their warm and soft depths, she laid down and tried to smush herself under everything. So… This is what an animal's 'den' is made for, then? In the far back of the 'den' she had made, like a fort, she moved herself towards what looked like a curved set of stacked pillows and pulled a blanket down from it that looked like a covering. Just a small indent to feel as though it did have a sheltered 'dome' on top, but now, the whole thing tumbled down on her. The 'cave' like opening buried her… which is somewhat what she wanted. 'Do hedgehogs naturally live underground?' she wondered, 'Or in burrows or something?' She groaned, and just let the pillows cover her. What did it matter anyway?

This season, her instinct was desperate to mate, or so she had been told… But her instinct was doing what she said, and rejected the two, until they pulled a fast one and co-dominated or whatever!

Everything about her animalistic, prehistoric instincts felt so forced to her!

"Do I really not have a say in any of this!?"

Amy opened her eyes to see darkness and shifted her eyes about–not an instinct shift, just… moving them right to left–before closing them tightly. "…Why is everything so complicated? I finally get a bit of control over my instincts, and actually… find some fun in it, but now…" Her eyes shook as they glossed over with more wetness from the forming tears. "Some future guy comes along and suddenly… 'Your baby's daddy can either make him good or bad' I mean, really!? Can't destiny give me a break!?" she whined, whimpering a little and letting her head rest back again, rubbing her eyes on the cushions to get any more water coming in them out.

The cushions, though she couldn't see the water stains, felt cold now… unwelcoming… and she bit them, trying hard to bite as deeply as she could.

'No more…' She shut her eyes tight, whimpering in tears…

She let the pillow go, realizing that by gritting her teeth so much, she was… acting like an animal, even still.

"I just… I want my old life back… I wish we never had instincts." She turned her head and let a deep breath out before finally calming down enough to rest her tired eyes and get some sleep.

She turned her head against the pillow, rubbing it lightly before moving to get her scent glands to it.

She wasn't in instinct form… and yet… little things like this were still happening… Would the time ever come when she was free of it all?

When her and her instincts… would realize… the deepest secret of all…

That they could be one… and the same? Want the same things… hold the same things dear…

Or was it really never meant to be? Unlike what Tails had said?

Amy slowly drifted to sleep, having shed her last tear… it fell through the gaps of the pillows and cushions, until hitting the floor beneath it all… splashing against a darkness near her gloved hand that she never thought she'd face within herself…

Were all these happenings and circumstances… all these emotions and feelings…

Actually a part of growing up?

-Back at Tails's House…-

"Augh… How am I gonna get any sleep…" Tails was forced to sleep on one of his steel, horizontal rafters in his garage, having set up sleeping bags like a camping trip below him under his plane.

"Tails, you can always sleep in your bed…?" Sonic gestured his hand up, before motioning it to the door back into his home.

"OoooOOOOoooh, no!" Tails exaggerated his decline of Sonic's offer, showing his cautious nature. "I'm not waking up to find you in your instinct form, chewing on one of my tails!" As he leaned up on the rafter, he held up one of his tails and shook it around for Sonic–and consequently, the other two–to see below him.

"Nuh-uh! I'm sorry, but I can't risk you killing me in my sleep! I just can't trust your instinct, Sonic." Tails explained, "And we don't even know what-" He stopped himself as he looked to Silver, but decided to close his mouth. 'I wonder if the future even still has instincts…' He decided to not delve too far into that right now. They all had a long day.

Still, looking scared at the thought of coming down to their level, he leaned back down on the rafter, hands together this time as his tails worked like a blanket flopping on top of himself. "You guys just sleep tight. I locked the doors and made sure not even Shadow's intelligent instinct can open them. They're more than just padlocked, but the security is highly advanced. Even Eggman would have been impressed." He scoffed slightly, teasing.

So, he didn't trust that their instincts wouldn't make a mess of the place? That made sense… And with Shadow and Sonic constantly fighting to keep their Instincts under control…

Maybe Tails's fears were more than justified…

"He puts his security as the highest directive." Silver concluded, but wasn't quite sure why. "Are these… 'instincts' as destructive as he makes them out to be?" He was starting to wonder if he should sleep on the rafters, too… but it looked a bit crazy to him.

He looked for an explanation but Shadow and Sonic seemed to ignore his puzzled looks for answers.

… Was it really wise to keep him so ignorant to it? Like Shadow was?

Then again, anything in this century looked crazy and puzzling to him. Why add to his confusion? To his perspective, already, they were all pretty primitive. However, having not been raised necessarily in normal 'society living' he wasn't sure how most people interacted with one another. So maybe… this was normal?

He could barely remember the good future now… it was slipping from his memory… getting drowned out by the convergence of the evil son's timeline… he would need to act quickly to save what little he could retain about it.

"I put a chair to barricade the door leading into the house, too." Tails added, as though to continue remarking about how 'secure' the place was, which only made Shadow suddenly pipe up, sensing the fox boy's anxious energy.

"Barricaded?" He looked up at Tails, then shook his head, "Tails… How do you plan to get in your own home? After all of this…" He thought it a hassle and a mess… but at least someone was doing something about all this chaos. "Whatever helps you sleep better… I suppose." Digitally locking the doors wasn't enough to help him feel safe?

Then again… Shadow knew his power all too well, remembering how his Instinct form protected Amy from those men…

He glared at Sonic discreetly, remembering why he was even tasked with guarding Amy in the first place. His instincts wouldn't even be a thing if he hadn't spent all that time with Amy… but his heart somewhat regretted thinking that.

He then turned over to try and rest and ignore them all… including his own negative, angry thoughts…

It was unfair what had happened to him, but even more so to what befell Amy during this time.

For Amy to learn about such a cruel fate, or a happenstance of a grand one? He scoffed at such a notion.

No one could tell what the future could bring. No one.

Otherwise… What if he could go back and save Maria? Change this timeline? Just go back a thousand times and-

Shadow had to snap himself out of such foolish fantasies.

But… at least her instincts were 'natural', unlike his own… bioengineered one.

How could he have been so weak? Easily being infiltrated by this 'Instinctual' presence?

He refused to believe it was a part of his 'ultimate' self. Would Gerald really consider 'Instincts' to make him 'perfect'?

… Maybe that's why she preferred Sonic… he was a natural born hedgehog, unlike Shadow…

"The only way out-!" Tails held up a pointer finger, confidently, as it disturbed and interrupted Shadow's train of negative thoughts of his own self-doubt. "Is if you could fly!" Tails stated with a slight chuckle, nodding in his decision making.

"Why's that?" Sonic asked, getting his sleeping bag ready and puffing up his pillow a little, oblivious to Shadow, who had already gotten into his sleeping bag as he looked up to hear Tails's response, only curious.

Neither of them made eye-contact… clearly, still not on comfortable terms with each other yet.

Silver, however, kept his back towards everyone. He had his mission, he was only playing nice for now… His ear flicked up as he tried to not act interested in what Tails had just said, but his eyes moved far right towards the garage door, seeming to be plotting something…

'I can't waste time.' He told himself, 'Blaze said building another time portal out of chaos energy would be extremely difficult for me if I couldn't find the right tech or material in this past world… It could be a one-way trip… or at least, that's what I'm meant to believe if she can't find a way to also try and alter the timeline back to the way it was without me… so I really can't fail. It's the sole reason I'm here.'

He was meant to scout out and deduce any commonalities between the son and the potential father. When he thought a suspect was the best suited for the tyrant's father, he'd do everything in his power to keep that individual away from Amy…

Even if it meant wiping out a future bloodline…

"That window there." Tails looked up to show the window above the garage door, positioned right above them, leading to the outside world. He yawned and rested his head down on his two hands which he treated as pillows. "Yep, without wings, or my tails, this place is practically instinct proof! Haha."

Silver wondered if the young fox boy was forgetting himself… his hubris may have thought Silver was lying about being from the future…

He was no 'instinctual being' and wouldn't be phased by such precautions.

Did they all so easily forget his powers in the meadow?

He looked up at the fox boy, 'How stupid does he think I am?' He was practically giving him the manual on how to escape. He only needed to make sure that this 'Amy Rose' never bore the child that would ruin his future.

How exactly? He wasn't sure, but it would start with figuring out which man was responsible for the child's birth.

'I promised her I wouldn't interfere with her choosing… but…' He looked at his hands, then clutched them tightly into fists, his eyes narrowing. 'I still need to be careful. If she never meets him, she won't know any better.' He looked back up at Tails as he continued to speak, his eyes narrowing in resolve for what he must do. 'All I know is… the man is powerful, animalistic, and a threat to all society… When I first saw these two in the meadow, they were acting so strange, I figured one of them could be 'him'... Nevertheless, it really could be any male…'

He peered over from his fist to Sonic and Shadow… but subtly, putting it back down and looking away again, trying to not appear suspicious.

'If they're both here… then maybe that man is still at large… I have to be just as cautious as this 'Tails' guy is being with his house. But of course, with my future… Everyone's future is depending on me. I have to investigate and figure this out as soon as possible. I need to know who else Amy is hanging around with…'

"You guys are grounded for the night, for Amy's sake."

'There he goes again… Is he trying to help me or inhibit me? I can't tell…'

Silver squinted his eyes up to the fox, seeing him flick a ceiling fan's light off in the garage, crying out–"Goodnight!"–to all those below him.

Silver made a face, pretending to lay down for the night in the strange material that made him slip right into itself. Though it did feel insulated, which was nice.

'I first thought it was by Amy's choice that this all came about… the changing of my world… but Blaze said a 'trigger' changed everything. It started to shift our world and we have almost completely forgotten our original timeline… One good son and one bad son… two polar opposites, the conquering king being led to trying to take over our world and make his timeline the only one able to come to pass… Maybe… I was wrong to assume it was Amy's choice at all… Miss Rose… Forgive me, I won't let anyone steal the original future we both had for ourselves…' He put his hands on top of the strange material, taking a deep breath as his thoughts wondered upon such serious things.

"Heh, good thinking, buddy." Sonic nodded to Tails and settled down in his own sleeping bag, zipping it up and wiggling more within till he was comfy. He smiled, liking the warmth it gave him, "Like a burrito~" he chimed, having his eyes gently closed as he intermediately bounced his feet a bit in satisfaction.

He wanted to support Tails's efforts, after all, he was thankful the poor guy endured so much to assist them. Goodness knows, Sonic would have never looked this stuff up about himself, and Amy… He was just glad she didn't go and search things on her own.

He didn't want to dwell on things like the others did, he would move ahead, one step at a time, and try and figure it out. Whether it was a 'better' way or not, it would be by his call, his choice, and no one could take that away from him.

Amy wanted him here, and he knew he needed to be here now, so that was just that.

Shadow looked to him, rolling his eyes at the childishness of his antics, and groaning in disgust. He rested his head down, not really planning on sleeping because he didn't trust Silver, and wanted to keep his ears open for any movement from him. He was a spy, after all, he was trained–with Rouge as a fellow reminding light voice–to not trust even his own allies.

That… and he just didn't trust anyone.

His ears, once prone to being attentive, suddenly dropped slightly in increments…

He… couldn't even trust himself now… This… intelligent instinct… It ruined even the small bit of happiness he could find… serving someone's smile again.

'Amy…'

However…

Although in brooding thought, while he watched Silver out of the corner of his eye, he could tell he was still figuring out how to close the sleeping bag. He raised an eyebrow, were there not sleeping bags in the future?

He smirked in blunt teasing at that.

Not that he fully believed that alibi from the young and white hedgehog either… anyway. 'It will always be preposterous to try and defy fate… but to know that there are two possible futures… From what he's stated, he originally was from the good future… before the other began to influence the differing timeline. Did he see the future change? How could he remember if the timelines were diverging into one mainstream? Wouldn't he have changed and been affected by it as well? Some things are just not adding up.'

Was he now… an anomaly? Even if he returned to his, so-called 'timeline', would anyone even remember this version of him?

"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!"

That's what Silver had said…

Shadow looked to Sonic.

'... Did we already stop that timeline from advancing..? Was it… really our faults?'

He sweated somewhat, worried as he put a hand over his face and thought about the horror of the bad timeline having been from himself.

If what his Instincts had done succeeded… If Sonic hadn't come in time…

'I… don't know what to make of all this…'

His eyes shook.

'If what the hedgehog says is true… Then Amy really is in danger… from both of us.'

Not just Sonic, but both himself and his Instincts.

He knew she would want Sonic, but…

He shook his head, now was not the time for 'assumptions'.

Besides, this man had no proof that anything he was saying was true.

'Could just be with those Jumpers, lying to be perceived as one thing, then pouncing when we're all least expecting it, especially having Amy's guard lowered…'

He thought about how Silver had entreated her, acting remorseful, when moments ago he was raging against her.

Taking her hands… cupping them lightly… gently… looking up into her eyes as though trying so hard to be sincere towards her…

'Those freaks would do anything to succeed in their corrupt and immoral plots…'

He would never let that happen…

Even if his Instincts got the better of him… Shadow wouldn't fail this time.

Silver, however, was fiddling around with the sleeping bag for a while. He kicked his feet inside it but still couldn't understand how it worked, making slipping sounds as his shoes ran against its slick surface loudly.

Sonic smirked, peeking at him. "Careful, or it'll fight back."

Another second later, Silver 'yipe!'d loudly as static electricity shocked him.

Sonic was thinking to himself then, that Silver truly didn't look like a threat. He wasn't sure who the father could be, and it sounded like he respected Amy enough now to let it be her decision… How many times would he jump into the past to figure out the puzzle? And how did he get here, anyway?

He had mentioned his future was full of technology… Sonic felt a bit sad by that statement.

He had hoped the future was overrun in greenery, not machines.

That's what he had fought his whole life to conquer, after all… Eggman's schemes for robotizing the planet.

That led to another disturbing fact… Was Silver interpreting his future wrong? But remembering what he had said, Sonic couldn't help but believe and trust in him.

He was so passionate about it… it had to be real.

He was too desperate to not be telling the truth.

Either way, Sonic felt, in that regard, that maybe the bad timeline was the 'barren world' Silver described, as he did mention his memories of his old timeline's world were happy and beautiful.

Also, Amy's scent didn't seem to have any affect on him…

But Shadow knew better, even if one thought they didn't, it was still a possibility…

Sonic and Tails chuckled at Silver's folly, it was just hard to think of him as anything but 'eccentric' now.

A real zealot, but harmless.

After all, they all had the same goal. To keep Amy, and her future, safe…

For Sonic, that meant everyone's future, too… So he was alright with Silver hanging around, so long as he didn't do anything suspicious, stupid, or downright betraying.

He… also couldn't disappoint Amy, not this time… he'd try to be more forthcoming in his vocalizing judgments about things… so she wasn't left in the dark again.

That, and stay close from now on.

At least, he'd try to, anyway… He still had to keep his own Instinct at bay…

He put his hands behind his head, looking up at Tails, who was trying to point out the zipper to Silver below, "There's aaaa-" but by then, Silver sprang out of his mouth a frustrated sigh while tilting his head back. This motion seemed to propel the white hedgehog's body to falling straight back down on his back, his feet coming up and then flopping down in the still opened bag, defeated. Was… he too prideful to ask?

Tails exchanged a silent and but brief glance to Sonic as they both kinda shrugged off Silver's ignorance whilst Tails pulled back his pointed finger. The two decided to try again at going to sleep.

With Silver's arms out wide and only one leg in the sleeping bag, he looked around, but figured everyone wasn't asleep yet. 'I don't know if I have the patience to wait for this…' Silver admitted to himself, slowly rolling his eyes around the room before almost making eye contact with Shadow's gaze, but he was trained–with Blaze's careful and intelligent guidance–to avoid suspicion and pretended to be looking elsewhere. Feigning inner-thoughts, he just stared at the ceiling, then turned his head away from him, possibly to convince Shadow that he was going to sleep.

'The experimental, red and black immortal rogue seems somewhat alert… I better not take chances too lightly.' Silver had read up on some of the history of this planet, it's why he knew Sonic The Hedgehog, for starters. However, he was still completely at a loss since the text was usually so vague about them. He also turned over, pretending to be mentally absent as he took the front part of the sleeping bag and covered himself while curling into a ball. 'No matter, I'll fake rest and then hover out of this place…'

He brought his legs in so he could scoot or roll farther down the slipping bag and still be warm. A burrowing instinct, but he didn't know that. Instead, he figured he was quick-witted, and doing so would maximize his resistance to the cold… he wasn't wrong, but then… Why didn't he think of things like this back in his future?

Or rather… his present?

-Later that night~-

Silver slowly rose his head, gently taking the top of his unzipped sleeping bag and peeking up to make sure everyone was asleep.

Gauging the situation, he peered at the others, squinting his eyes in the darkness, and summoning only a little bit of teal light from his psychic powers as a small flashlight on his palms.

Sonic had steady breathing, a pattern of a deep cycle of sleep going on, as Tails seemed to be silently breathing out of his mouth but not annoyingly like a snore, just quiet little puffs.

He figured that was 'sound asleep' enough by his eyes, but carefully looked over to Shadow, ducking his fingers over his glowing palm to make sure he was 'sneaky' about it.

Shadow's sleeping bag moved up and down so Silver assumed he was asleep, too.

He slowly rose from his sleeping bag, moving off the top half of it and rising just slightly to a hover, making sure the 'slipping' noise was minimum as he used his other hand to control its movements… 'Nice and easy…' He told himself, 'Let's just make sure that girl isn't with any guys… I have to figure out who the father is… Then… Just make sure he doesn't get to her first, before the good son's father does.' It was a little weird thinking about it after having met the 'girl' in question… He couldn't think of her as a 'Trigger Point' or 'Ancient historical figure' anymore… could he?

A face… to the mother of either Hope or Devastation.

He shook his head lightly, he knew that was wrong thinking, but he was still upset about what was happening in his world.

Trying to replace his body-mass with a pillow and hubcap he saw lying around the garage, he figured it looked like a 'rolled hedgehog' enough, anyway.

He slipped it under and flopped carefully the sleeping bag's front over it, nodding in approval at his deception. He was quite a 'proud' hedgehog, wasn't he?

'If I'm lucky, I can return before they all wake up. If not, at least I'll know the girl isn't pregnant with a differing future yet.' He still didn't like saying that… such a sweet-looking girl.

'She's not an animal…' He told himself, still somewhat conflicted… 'This was easier when she was only a name.'

He knew he had frightened her, and he looked away a moment, wishing he had been more covert… At first, he thought being truthful and upfront would be the fastest way to learning the past's current course that would affect the future predicament… but now…

'No, I can't get conflicted. This is my responsibility. For the future, I have to complete the mission without flaw… I have to… I have to make sure I know the answers… before… before things get out of hand.' He tried to snap his emotions out of it, shaking his head once with a close-eyed flick to refocus his resolve.

He looked back at Sonic and Shadow, being cautious in his escape–Er, uh–intel-reconnaissance.

It wasn't like they were entrapping him… but… it did kinda feel like they were trying to encage them, 'Does everyone in the past just treat each other as animals?' He wondered.

Having a small faint light of neon green around him while he hovered higher in the air for a moment, he gave one last final check to see if he disturbed anyone.

His light most certainly spread out… if anyone was even minorly awake, this might backfire badly…

'Coast looks clear.' He at least knew some slang.

Floating up in the garage, he noticed everyone seemed unperturbed and unmoving… excellent. This was the chance he had been waiting for.

When no one moved at him gently gliding with his telekinesis powers towards the window, he began to work on opening it.

Shadow saw the green light move over his sleeping bag as though a balled beacon, showing that something was now above them. He tracked it with his eye, wondering what he was up to.

Silver's silhouette was seen on the wall, far right.

The glowing light had moved off his sleeping bag and now shone on the ground in front of it, indicating more to Shadow his current position… what was he doing up there?

Shadow didn't want to have to rely on the headache memories of his Other Instinctual Self… but in this moment, he did receive confirmation that Silver could fly,... somehow.

Future tech? Impossible.

'Maybe the kid has connections to Chaos Control…' He wondered to himself. However, Shadow strained to see exactly where Silver was, having only taken a finger to pull back the sleeping bag's cover to see the shadow of Silver's image… If he moved too much, it could tip Silver off that his escape wasn't going unnoticed…

Taking a big risk, he carefully shifted his head just an inch towards the opening of the sleeping bag, playing if off as moving in his sleep, and getting a better view of the shadow puppet show as he saw Silver look back, checking the room.

Only Shadow's nose was visible…

After a slow sweep with his eyes,... not detecting any further movement, his eyes turned back to seriously start fiddling with the primitive lock on the window once more.

Could he just… flip it with his power? No? Swipe it open? No..?!

His eyebrow rose up, growing frustrated since he didn't want to jostle it too much and create any noise.

'... Where does he think he's going?' Shadow couldn't understand his reasoning. 'His purpose, so he says, is to keep one man away from Amy, and let the other one follow a natural course of fate… Pffah, like I believe in destiny.' He dared not make the sound out loud, just slightly turned his head and crinkled his nose at the nonsense.

However, if he threatened Amy's peace, Shadow wouldn't hesitate…

He tried to look in Sonic's direction, but figured that buffoon was–once again–incompetent at protecting her.

'This isn't a game, Sonic..!' He scowled and held back a growl, not an instinctual one, but a very annoyed gesture at his lack of foresight.

Did Sonic really think this boy from the future wasn't that big of a threat? He knew things the others didn't know, and if he was crazy, that's even more of a liability to Amy.

For all Shadow knew, it could be poppycock to get closer to a nice-smelling female… After his run-in with the chemical Jumper gang, he figured any unholy thing could be possible.

Even in a wide-eyed, self-righteous and naive, wanna-be hero like this lad.

Anyone could be that disgusting, no matter how 'sensitive' they appeared to be…

Instincts may be considered 'natural' but to Shadow, they were an abomination. Even Sonic felt they were stealing his free will.

That was one thing him and the blasted hedgehog could agree on…

Instincts were a nuisance that should be eradicated.

Then again, this was only Shadow's thinking… Sonic had lived with his instincts longer than both Amy and Shadow… but he definitely hadn't trusted it.

However… After having to rely on his Instincts to save Amy… could any of that perspective have changed?

Once Silver pushed the window out enough to get through it, he seemed to almost blink in surprise that he had figured out the 'combination' to open it. His smile slowly rose, lifting his once ducked head and leaned outside to marvel and praise his own rationality at figuring it all out on his own.

He looked back once more, and Shadow's attention twitched.

Shadow slowly inched himself over to lift up his stomach, tucking a hand under his chest, ready to jump up and follow him if he really did decide to bail.

Sure enough, Silver flew off.

Shadow immediately rose from his sleeping bag, swiping it off, and thought if he should take Sonic and Tails with him. On his knee and with a hand to the ground, he looked back at the fools… one near him and the other up on the ceiling…

Against his own better judgment, he knew the only–rational–option that would create less of a panic would be to not go and do this alone…

His hand on the ground now shifted to a fist, shaking itself on the ground as though losing balance from the force being dug into it and subsequently into the ground below its knuckles.

After all, Shadow and Amy still had a… well, a falling out, so to speak. It was… just a lot he didn't want to talk about, but knew he should later on.

Sonic and Tails would be suspicious if it was his Instincts or not…

And Amy wouldn't be comfortable seeing him again, even if it was to come and save her…

Especially…

Alone…

'She would never trust me again.'

He gritted his teeth, glaring at the floor of the garage as he knew he had far too much ground to cover, both metaphorically with Amy and now, with tailing Silver.

Annoyed, he pushed himself off the ground with a deep, soulful groan as he looked to the window… but quickly made his way to Sonic's sleeping bag, aggravated that it was Sonic who Amy would want to see coming to save her, not him.

Unceremoniously, he flipped off the cover, "Wake up..!" He angrily whispered, staring over Sonic's sleeping and dumb looking expression.

He had his mouth opened wide with a bit of a snot bubble expanding and deflating from his long, slender black nose.

Shadow just made a face of pure agitation at it, he hated this man so much. His eyes burned as his nose flared, fist still clenched as though Shadow was seriously tempted to punch him awake. Alas, at the same time,… His mouth curled down in disapproval, and he held himself back.

For Amy's sake…

'How on earth does Amy see any hope in him?'

The sudden movement that let in the chilly air reached Sonic's nose bubble as it slightly bothered him, quaking its spherical essence as though shivering from frostbite. He wiggled his nose a bit, signs of a disturbed snooze, which also caused his mouth to move and release some drool. He rolled onto his back, snoring before sneezing in a comically cute way, the bubble bursting and reforming as though he was falling back into a deep sleep, his leg lifting up to scratch the back of his knee.

All those nights he slept outside had made him almost impervious to nature waking him up… Shadow would have to come up with a different plan…

Shadow got up and looked towards the top, small window. 'Still, even with the idiots, I need wings… or…' His eyes traveled along the ceiling's beams… 'Tails…" he saw the gentle fox sleeping above.

"Hmph." His frown turned into one of a skeptic's. 'I could just try acrobatics or even spindash through the blasted thing… but then… I suppose I need Tails to trust me, too.' If Tails thought his instinct triggered and he escaped to find Amy… it would be a messy situation all over again, as he had already surmised.

However… that had nothing to do with leaving Sonic behind, but…

'I'll need Sonic to convince him…' He looked back at the window, then to Sonic.

'If Sonic witnesses that I haven't shifted, Tails should stand down with that proof.' He calculated.

"Ugh,.." he groaned, shaking his head and rubbing his face, "Get up..!" He gave a hard kick to Sonic's side as he immediately stood up, "W-Woah..!" He scrambled up, almost like a reflex, as Shadow had already moved away and was looking up at Tails.

"Em-Huh!? Wha?!" Sonic shook his head as his eyes barely opened before he blinked them a few times and closed them again. He rubbed his eyes, "S-Shadow,.. that you? What gives..?"

He was dreaming of Amy… Back when they were kids, going to save her from Metal Sonic…

Strange dream…

In it, he came to rescue her, but someone had beaten him to it… His younger self slowed down, seeing her in the arms of another 'hero'.

He looked… despondent.

It made him a bit nauseated, but he gripped his side, realizing that was just Shadow's harsh wake-up call.

Shadow turned around, seeing Sonic shift his hand to his belly and scratch at it. He smacked his lips a few times, knowing the figure in his dream carrying off Amy wasn't Shadow, that would be impossible. He wasn't even there back then.

However, all Shadow saw was Sonic yawning. He wasn't… seriously going to fall back asleep, was he?!

'I'm never that late…' Sonic thought, almost longing to go back to the dream and finish it, as though feeling he would regret it if he didn't remember the truth of the past memory. It was him that saved Amy, not some other random dude, Sonic began to lie back down again… Just to finish up the 'correct' order of events and save little Amy properly.

As it has always been…

Shadow stomped quickly back to him, "Oh, no, you don't…" Shadow shook his head as if wishing Sonic had just stayed away, instead of bothering him guarding Amy like he should have..!

But then again, if it wasn't for Sonic… Amy and him might have-…

There was still some lingering possessiveness in him, instinctually, that he wasn't currently self-aware of. Too worried about what Silver was up to with Amy at stake, and angry at Sonic being Amy's choice while literally 'sleeping on the job', He really wasn't equipped right now with grasping his own emotional mood.

You know what was within reach of grasping, though?

Grabbing whatever neck Sonic possibly had, but mostly his chest, Shadow ragefully pulled the hedgehog back up and held him to his face. "Wake up! You insufferable dimwit!" He shook him and spoke the authoritative words straight down his sleepy countenance, "You useless, privileged-!" His voice really helped Sonic to blink a few times to realize he wasn't dreaming.

Making sure the blue ingrate wouldn't just curl back up and doze off again, Shadow seemed to bore his seething red eyes down into Sonic's emerald ones, making them widen as he came out of his droopy state.

Now, Sonic realized he wasn't just half-asleep! He shook his head quickly, snapping him out of his thoughts of the previous dream.

"Wah-SHADOW!" Sonic jolted awake, getting out of his harsh but serious hold on him. Shadow let him go, but looked at his own hand… trembling… Now he was aware of how he was feeling, how his 'body' was reacting, making him think such strange thoughts… again…

He looked away, fearful of what he was becoming…

"That's definitely your stinky breath!" Sonic coughed out, trying to ease tensions a second and cough while fanning the air. He was pretty spooked by the sudden violence from Shadow, but could tell from their eyes looking at each other… he wasn't in his Instinct Form. "What's going on? What are you-?"

'Why are you-..?' Worried about Shadow, seeing his hand trembling, Sonic held out a hand to him, wondering what was wrong.

That hand that originally reached out in concern… then curled into a fist… as though prepared for Instinct Shadow, should he appear…

Shadow dropped it cold, glad to see Sonic was fully vitalized into his old, pathetic self again. "Enough, How would you even joke when Amy could be in danger?" Shadow didn't get the ridiculous comment that was meant to cool him off, he only saw it as another reason Sonic was too immature and stupid to truly be of any help to him right now.

Or really Amy… for that matter. But it would be her wishes… He…

He had to comply…

To at least that.

He rubbed the bridge of his eyes, she was the highest priority right now. He had stepped pretty far away from Sonic, but turned aggressively back to make the situation known to him. "Silver's gone." He pointed to the window, trying to set the tone back to being serious again… and saw Sonic's eyes dart to his shaking hand and then back to his eyes, studying them in suspicion.

Nervous and embarrassed at that, knowing how he must appear hostile, Shadow tried to create a diversion so he wouldn't notice his 'weakness of body'. "We don't have time for this." He gripped his arm, trying to pull it away from Sonic's view, walking back over to where Tails was above them, still sleeping in the rafters. "He somehow flew up there… with some kind of-" He looked at his hand, then held it up to Sonic, "Green or blue energy field… and took off through the window."

His hand was still again.

Sonic's jaw tightened… So, Shadow had noticed.

They were tense, trying to discern if the other would 'shift' or not…

Shadow adjusted his limiters on his wrist and turned his attention up to Tails, continuing to try and distract Sonic from his obvious 'instinctual' demonstrations of losing control over his own body. "I need you to get Tails to release us so we can track him down."

Was Shadow close to shifting?

Sonic just had to keep faking it till he made it, and silently admired Shadow for doing the same.

"Every guy's got issues to deal with… Why bother?" Sonic lifted a hand up to be nonchalant and friendly, acting as though Silver was just another bloke at the end of a joke. "Silver's on our side. He wants to protect Amy, same as we do."

Shadow glared his way behind him, harshly stating,

"Issues with our friend,… who has a very desirable scent, at that."

Shadow turned around.

"You and I both know… no matter how 'goodly' the intentions may be… it doesn't make a lick of difference."

Sonic's once lazy eyes shot open as he felt his body almost jump up as though reacting to an exclaimed challenge.

Also feeling the instinctual possessiveness, and after feeling he had failed to reach Amy before in his dream… His sudden emotional turmoil made him lash out just like Shadow had.

"Since when was she your friend to judge as 'desirable', huh!?"

He zipped over to Shadow's face, confronting him.

"Stay away from her… You almost hurt her last time."

It was really just Sonic bewildered at his own mistakes…

The wrinkling scowl, twisting nose scrunch, and middle-eye bridge crunch contorted Shadow's face. It gave rise to a further challenge, leading Sonic's instinctually dominant position to spike yet again.

The two looked at each other with heated puffs of breaths out of each other's noses, their anger unjustified, and they knew it.

This was lingering instincts… and if they weren't careful… they would fight tooth and claw again… Shifting with a literal blink of an eye…

Shadow tried to lower his shoulders, taking a more submissive approach and surrender, although it almost killed him to do so…

His body quaked… as though to do so was like death itself to his pride.

"... Since she needed me…"

Sonic's serious, deep frown softened somewhat, his eyes searching Shadow for deception.

He pulled back a little when seeing Shadow's gaze look down as though being sincerely vulnerable in front of him now.

"And you weren't there."

Shadow's head rose.

This time, he held his glare, stepping up and broadening his chest.

Dominance.

Claiming the space? No.

Claiming the conversation.

Claiming he was in the right.

Sonic dipped his head down, but not enough to break the tension of their judging expressions between each other.

Sonic looked into each one of his eyes… His own turning to sorrow.

Sonic The Hedgehog had never regretted anything in his life.

He had always made his decisions based on one thing… his freedom.

Amy threatened that freedom of his choice through instincts…

At least, he thought she did.

He was starting to wonder if he was wrong, if protecting themselves–mostly himself–had only opened her up to attack from others.

Did he really distrust her so fully?

He was turning submissive towards Shadow's dominant stance, trying to force his ears forward, and not take a step back… but his foot did scoot somewhat in small skids against the garage's flooring…

"Tell me the truth…"

He didn't want to think of his dream. Or how he may have failed Amy.

"Did you do it for Tails?"

He took a step forward, and Shadow's eyes searched his own for any sharpness… any indication that he would be justified throwing the first punch if Sonic really had shifted or not…

"For me..?"

Sonic smirked somewhat to the side of his face, then rose his chest wide and stared Shadow down as they both lowered their heads… a sign of a challenge.

"Or…"

"Or?"

Shadow scoffed, the heated breath dispersed over Sonic's muzzle and made his teeth clench in rage.

Shadow didn't respect anyone, did he?

"Why would I do it for you?"

The air grew still and even colder as these two's blood thickened and retracted with anticipation of adrenaline, making the air between them visible as was the tangible tension of what Sonic was asking him.

Did he honestly believe Shadow would admit to something like that? In front of him? Even… his own black heart?

Shadow didn't believe he could have such feelings, how could anyone with a past as tainted as his receive any amount of grace? He tried to destroy the world… he wasn't worthy of such affections… such…

Smiles.

His anger began to leave him.

Shadow began to calm down, his eyes now full of memories of Amy trying to talk to him on the arc, instead of framing him as an imposter and villain.

She heard him out, she comforted him, spoke to him as though he was just a man, not a weapon bent on her–and the world's–destruction. Life had taken away the only 'heart' he ever knew he could have, but Amy seemed to have given it back.

These old-time rivals felt a fire of competitive nature between each other again,... as Shadow lurched back up to assert again his dominance… but it was weaker this time… and he pulled away.

Their chests rose and fell… Shadow's hands twitched as though wanting to fight him again, but not having the energy nor 'heart' to do so…

She loved Sonic The Hedgehog.

He saw firsthand how much she missed him.

How often she spoke of him...

The soft, aching yearning in her wayward eyes towards her windows...

That was who she would always choose…

Her,... and her Other–unnatural to him–form of her.

If one could even call that beast a part of who they were…

Disgusting.

"I did it for a solemn promise I made to someone else… A promise I transferred into Amy's well-keeping…"

Sonic just stared at him.

"I find it hard to believe-"

"... To keep it safe."

Shadow interrupted, losing all tension, he pulled back and relaxed himself.

He would never admit to having fallen for Amy Rose… Especially in front of her hero.

No matter how much Sonic may pry, Shadow would deny it, for as long as his immortally would keep him living…

He would refuse any and all connections regarding Amy…

Except this simple one.

"I did it… for a friend."

Seeing the shift of his body language and also the painful words Shadow forced out of himself, Sonic also immediately pulled back, as though all his body wanted was to be reassured Shadow knew his place, and that he wouldn't challenge him again for Amy.

That was all it wanted… for Shadow to back down when it came to who was in charge of Amy's safety.

Was Sonic… that unconsciously concerned with possibly losing her?

Almost again… Remembering that if he was a second too late, Amy and Shadow might have-…

He, of course, wouldn't think about that.

Shadow admitted to Sonic, not diving further into Maria's promise and the same he gave to Amy, that he wasn't doing it out of 'love'.

But then again… was he lying to himself?

Did this past season, still in full effect,

'mean nothing to me?'

He looked down at his hand… it twitched somewhat unstable… but stilled.

"... I owe no one now…"

He raised his head back up to Sonic, saying words, nothing but words… However, it almost…

Sank in his throat, as though he didn't want to let go of her… He knew regret, unlike Sonic.

Resting on the top of his heart now… he was lying to get Sonic off his back.

Did he know that?

Was that influenced by his instincts?

Was he aware of that?

Or… A growing bond he had undertaken while with Amy?

Surely, he must be aware of that, right?

Perhaps… one he didn't want to forgo and surrender, just yet.

Not yet…

Sonic couldn't keep him from caring about her, even as a friend.

Sonic was silent, and as though composing himself, closed his eyes to take a deep, calming breath.

He couldn't wrap his head around it, why was he so angry when Amy was mentioned so many times?

Why did he feel so protective when it was him who stepped away? Why can't he admit he was wrong for doing so?

He had apologized to Amy… must he–also–therefore…

Apologize to Shadow?

He was sucked into this mess… Shadow's instincts were triggered because Sonic didn't think his instincts and Amy's could endure each other's company… he distrusted the beast.

With something he cherished, and longed to protect.

He opened his eyes, Shadow was not a 'beast', neither of them were.

They were men.

They would handle this like men.

He knew now… at least, from what Shadow wanted to convey for him to believe,... a bit more about Shadow's intentions…

That he wasn't–in fact–after Amy, for real.

Or so… he assumed so.

"... I guess… You wouldn't take a 'Thank you', then, huh?"

Sonic's words were like a strange concoction of humility and trying to move on. Was he accepting his mistake? Sonic wasn't one for regrets…

But admitting mistakes?

Thanking a man who almost took away someone dear to his heart?

Amy was his friend… right?

His heart wouldn't fathom going too deep into that.

All Sonic seemed to care about was that she was safe, and with Silver possibly on the loose, Shadow seemed to think she wasn't.

Even if it triggered him… He had to make sure Amy was alright.

This time… he did tell her… he wouldn't leave her alone again.

"I also made a promise to her."

Shadow snorted out his nose, turning away from him and folding his arms.

"Well, in a way."

"You expect me to receive praise… from you?"

He turned his head sharply to him.

Never would he accept such a thing of Sonic, even if he rightfully deserved the thanks.

"We all… have regrets to pay back."

Shadow held his notes low in his voice's tone, looking down again as though showing he wanted to move on from this as well… agreeing out of courtesy.

He should have done things differently too.

Sonic just watched him, his fists tightening before finally…

Letting go…

"Okay! Time to get up!" He shot around, turning his attention to the ceiling, "Wake up, Tails!"

Neither wanted to be left in this odd, discreet admittance to emotions.

It wasn't something two men liked to discuss, and Sonic felt it could finally be put behind them.

Shadow… would pretend it was.

Till the acting became real enough to him that he believed his own lie.

Sonic's demeanor took that of his usual, energetic self, gesturing up to the ceiling and calling out to his dear, although young, fox friend.

But could Sonic change… along with fate?

Shadow, on the other hand, could not see their Instincts as anything more than the monsters of free will that they were.

Amy's instinct… He would find a way to conquer his own and keep her well back and in place.

He didn't care about taming anything, he would destroy what was rooted in him, pluck it out and burn it.

To him, Instincts were the enemy.

Sonic simply wished to see Amy happy and safe… this time, without letting her go it alone.

Which means… possibly finding a way to tame his own Instincts, and hoping… No, this time-

Trusting…

She could do the same.

"Emm…hmm?" Tails slowly rocked his head, it appeared to almost topple him over the side of the rafter beam he was on as his chin rolled right and left over his arms under it. Now looking up, blinking, Tails yawned as he stretched out on the beam, positioned on his stomach.

"What's the matter..?" His twin tails began to rise and lift themselves up, also stretching in tandem with his arms, counter-balancing as he sat up and sprawled his legs on either side of the beam for grip.

"Shadow saw Silver take off. He thinks he's headed Amy's way!" Sonic hurried to put his shoes on as Shadow didn't even bother to take his off in the first place, as if expecting something like this to happen.

"You don't think…" Tails looked worried, crawling forward somewhat and leaning over his rafter beam, "That he's after her instinct..?"

"No, but then again, our options aren't very limited. Anything could be running through that lunatics mind." Shadow responded, before running towards the garage, not ready to spend a second longer in this atmosphere created by the two of them.

Plus, he worried. Turning somewhat frantic, he knew what it was like to lose something dear to him by not thinking the worst could ever happen.

He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

It would destroy him.

"We either get out by you opening the doors or you flying us out that window!" Shadow pointed to the window, clearly stating the options laid out in front of them while showing urgency.

He thought about spindashing, but knew he still needed the other two… He was thoroughly convinced Amy wouldn't want to just see him.

"I-I'll open the garage!" Tails stated, twisting his tails to then propel himself straight out the window, not a second thought besides checking on Amy.

"Sonic, once that garage opens, track him down." Shadow stated.

"Sounds good, but how do you suppose I do that? It's not like we can smell him out! Can't just run around aimlessly in the dark, can we?" Sonic narrowed his eyes and gestured his arms up in a type of sassy shrug at Shadow's logic. Clearly, he couldn't smell Silver like the white, supposedly futuristic hero could possibly track Amy…

"You think he knows exactly where Amy lives?" He questioned.

"There's a faint green light he emits around himself as he flies. I'm not sure if that's channeled chaos power or not… but I'm sure you can possibly see it on your way to Amy's home." Shadow turned back, defending his reasoning as Sonic placed his hands on his hips, snuffing out some air in direct irritation.

"Faint green light..? Channeled… chaos… power..? Sounds like you could have stopped him before he up and left, Shadow." He folded his arms.

Shadow just groaned.

Sonic must not have communicated with his Instinct form… did he not have the memories of the event when they first met Silver? He should…

"Why don't you ask your Instinct's mind, then? Ignore the headache, but not the useful information you may have missed out on, Hedgehog." He tapped his forehead, as though accusing him of being too afraid to try.

"I won't ever rely on my Instinct… I did that once, and for both our sakes and Amy's… It just happened to see my side of things." Sonic walked towards the rising garage, seeing Tails had opened it from the outside… clever, it would have kept them all in if they did turn into their Instincts Forms.

"Sounds like a coward's excuse." Shadow was one to talk, he knew that by using too much of his Instincts, it would gain the upperhand and advantage at finding Shadow's guard down… He didn't blame Sonic for caution, but he did wish he would find some form of a balance…

However, Shadow was hyper unaware of how much his Instincts did influence him…

"Let's get something straight." Sonic didn't like the condensing attitude from him. Marching over, he decided to do something about it, "I'm doing this for Amy, too." He pointed to Shadow, as they both sped out of the garage as soon as there was enough space for them to do so, causing Tails to look shocked that they left him behind.

"I'm still mad at you! Faker!" He jabbed the finger very harshly into Shadow's chest, seeing him glare at him, coming up face-to-face with him from the side as they ran at breakneck speeds…

Shadow held his mouth shut, he didn't seem very threatened by Sonic, "I understand. Why do you think I'm putting up with you?" he retorted, "And as for Faker…" He grabbed Sonic's arm, "Do you really think I'm faking my concern for her safety at this point!?" he shoved his arm away from himself, and the hostility between Sonic and Shadow shone clearly in the moonlight of the window.

So much for letting bygones be gone-gone…

Or… was it Sonic's instinct that wouldn't just let it go?

Could the blame be the competitive spirit of the body over the matured soul leaving the past behind..?

The garage began to make rumbling noises as it finished slowly rising, Tails walking out in front of it to look after Sonic and Shadow, and dropping his arms forward as he realized he'd have to go it alone.

"Go. I'll meet you there." Shadow began to skate faster.

"What will you do?" Sonic called out to him, the two seeming to be cordial now.

Now that they were able to do things their way… for a common goal of keeping Amy safe, it seems they were somewhat going back to their old dynamic of adventuring rivals.

"Does that matter?!" Shadow reached behind him, grabbing Sonic's head, "Go! Now!" He threw him into a spindash, and curved in his angle from running beside him to now changing directions.

He headed off deeper into the forest, while Sonic had freaked out a little, flailing his arms before being impulsed to curl into a ball and spin through the dark woodland area… straight ahead…

'Shadow… You really do care for her… don't you?' He spun out of sight… as Shadow saw to it that Sonic was now officially ahead and gone.

Something in him nagged about using this as a chance to impress Amy with being able to provide for her what Sonic could not… but he ignored it, shaking his head.

'I may distrust Sonic, even being forced to ignore him, but I will work with the blue blur… simply because he has a streak of always proving faithful to one thing and one thing alone…'

He knew his Instinct was now lurking… and smirked at recognizing him.

'Gotcha.'

He acknowledged him.

'...But what is it?'

His instinct seemed to ask from the deepest darkness of his core thoughts…

"... Victory."

Shadow said out loud, looking up at the half-broken moon…

"For some odd reason… our nemesis always wins."

Instinct Shadow seemed to quiver with distaste for that, but the shiver only made Shadow chuckle the more.

"You're pathetic… if you think Sonic would let either one of us succeed…"

'... Do not act as though you do not want her.'

He frowned, dipping his head down.

"Shut up."

He narrowed his eyes, twitching them to not blink…

'... is that fear..? Other me..?'

Shadow's eyes pulled back a bit of their hatred, he remained calm now that Sonic was also on his way to intercept Amy's scent and make sure Silver was far from her.

If Shadow shifted, it would be a long battle again… What was the best option here?

For him, this time… He didn't want to abandon Amy's plight… But he did respect Sonic enough to know that he'd fight to keep her safe from Silver's hand.

Should something come of it…

He was wise to not trust himself to go it alone… He saw Sonic's perspective a little more now, but he was more confident he could hold back his Instincts unlike before.

At least… he would delusion himself into believing so, if it meant he could be allowed to remain in Amy's presence again…

He rushed now in the opposite direction, seeming to have an idea in mind…

"You want to see Amy so badly?"

He taunted his Instincts.

"Perhaps a detour is in order…"

'...?'

Piquing his Instincts interest, it crawled back into the dark void of his mind, attentive… waiting…

For the opportune moment to strike…

-Amy's Home-

Silver had read up on Amy's life, that's how he knew about Tails, her closest friend, and even where she lived…

He turned onto the right street, taking in the lamppost and trying to follow the historical records of old pictures, maps, and other landmarks to locate the old establishment.

He had done some research, just not a ton. 'I'm pretty lucky that she hadn't moved in so many years…'

Once coming upon her humble abode, squinting in the darkness to make sure it was as accurate to his memory as far as he could tell, he flew up to the window, looking to see which room was her bedroom.

'Is this how they used to live in the past?' He wondered, trying to see in clearly, holding his palm up against the window to create better lighting. He covered the top of his forehead with the side of his hand, trying to peer in again, but the light was too strong and reflective, backfiring.

He looked at his hand, then moved it more down and away from his face, before gasping as he could now see perfectly inside.

"..No!" He whispered, frightened as he saw her bed was empty and looked untouched. "Oh no, oh no, oh no!" he panicked, flying down and looking through the other windows, frantically moving at faster speeds to find her whereabouts. "I can't see her! She must be out with another man besides the two at Mr. Prower's house!" He zoomed up onto the roof, looking about.

The living room was missing cushions, almost as though in an upheaval of some kind… was it a fight?! A struggle?

Anyone would have thought that, a house break-in, but Amy was sound asleep inside the corner of bundled blankets and pillows that made her 'nest', under the sheets and comforters she had collected, completely out of sight and well-hidden from his view.

"I can't miss seeing who the father is! I can't lose this chance to save the future!" he curled his body slightly up, feeling the pressure of his duty rising into his chest, almost as though concaving inwardly at his own distress. 'Blaze… She's counting on me, too. It should have been her… I asked her to let me see it through. I can't let her down!'

Powering up for a charge, he was about to blast himself off into the sky in search of Amy, when something reached up and threw him down just before take off.

"Offph!"

"Traitor!"

Sonic slammed his hand down on Silver's chest, grabbing his chest fur to make sure he had a good grip on him, smirking at his playful remark. "And here I thought we were supposed to be doing this together!" He held him down on the roof, seeing Silver dumbfounded before attempting to struggle. "What? Was Shadow right? Heh-heh! You're like a flying glowstick!" He chuckled to himself, then looked down to Amy's home, remembering to not be 'too casual' about Silver's intentions.

"What do you think you're doing at Amy's place… in the middle of the night?" Sonic lightly smacked Silver's cheek a few times, trying to get Silver out of his dumbstruck gaze and back to reality.

"Did you really think we'd let you get the better of us like that?"

"Ack! You don't understand! I wasn't trying to get away with anything!" Silver, in a goofy, freaking out kinda way, slapped his arms out as though pawing or smacking the air around Sonic's face to let him go.

He took his arms and after a straining contention between Sonic trying to decide to let him go or not… He finally relented and let Silver get back up, taking hold of his bearings.

Silver then flew back up, glaring down at Sonic accusingly, gesturing out into the night. "She's gone! She's missing and I must find the man she's destined to be with!" he explained, "In this past is the Trigger point! Either the event of the end or the beginning of my world's peace!" He continued to animatedly show his passion in his arms, and Sonic followed his words carefully this time, making sure to tilt his head somewhat and narrow his eyes…

Taking Shadow's advice for a change, he was trying to find any fault in Silver's emotions or stories… making sure it really was the truth.

In his eyes… he knew it was. "Whoever takes her, takes the future's path as well! I can't be mistaken, I must find the father of the future that should rightfully be so!" He gestured a hand out, almost pleading with Sonic to understand the intensity of this matter. "We have to find her! And more importantly, the man trying to have her-W-Woah!"

He was thrown down yet again, Sonic's harsh eyes greeting his own shocked ones back.

"Nothing… is more important than Amy's safety."

He stated, before softening instantly as he looked towards the direction of Amy's door.

"...But her choice… is of far greater value to me."

He looked back down at Silver, after having turned his gaze off a moment to contemplate his own feelings regarding freedom and free will. "... You sure she's not at home?" He asked again, his tone suddenly shifting along with his facial features, showing Silver he was starting to get concerned, but not about him anymore.

Sonic felt he could trust the young man, even if he was a bit eccentric. It's not like half his friend group wasn't..!

Silver nodded, now holding Sonic's hand to where his neck or connection to his neck and chest was at. "I looked in each of the windows, I couldn't find any trace of her! And what's worse, some of her furniture looks messed up. It's as if someone rampaged in there!"

Sonic smirked, knowing full well that Tails had mentioned in updates her nesting behaviors while trapped at home, and in what he had experienced with his own instincts, it made sense that it just became naturally messy over time; Especially during the seasons when instincts were awakened.

He picked Silver up and jumped off the roof with confidence, landing as Silver was forced into some shrubbery for a 'cushion' to his fall. Crying out during the springy descent, his glowing power faded in and out at his startled surprise, not able to fully summon it due to Sonic taking him aback.

Sonic got up from his cool landing stance of bracing for impact, having a hand out to the awaiting ground with bent knees, pulling Silver out of the bush near her home's entrance and giving a slight, comedical groan as he slammed him up against the side of the house.

It was really just to keep a hold of him, but maybe this was another power-play of dominance Sonic hadn't picked-up on yet, influenced from the season and his emerging instinctual nature…

"Ahh… Let's take a look then..!" He smiled and held Silver up against the wall, peering into the window now, looking around.

While Silver flinched, mostly wincing at the unpredictability of this 'legendary hero of old' tossing him around like it was nothing, his eyes showed some pain before opening to see Sonic's face come in close and smirk, putting a finger up to his mouth and lowering his eyes as though playfully, sassily telling him to 'shhhush' from his light, groaning sounds of discomfort while he continued to try and peek through the downstairs window.

"Huh, looks like you're wrong, Silver-schmick." Teasing off the word 'Glowstick' he then gestured a thumb back into the home.

"Amy never leaves her kitchen night light on when she leaves." He really knew that about her? "She may want a glass of water, she hates bumping her toes in the middle of the night. She complains about sore, stubbed toes when she can't sleep."

Silver just raised an eyebrow, not sure what any of that meant, but then looked to see if he could see her.

"That's impossible… but the state of her home… I saw no signs of life."

His confused look inside made Sonic chuckle.

"Those are the signs of life, there, buddy."

"So you know her habits, but that doesn't mean she's-" Silver glared back at him, skeptical by his reasoning. 'How can he be so accurate about her living quarters?' but Sonic shushed him once again, surprising Silver into obedient silence yet again.

He then nonchalantly waved his question off, as though saying, 'It's really nothing hard. Just a trifle of a thing, really.'

Amy heard a thud moments ago and had jolted slightly, blinking her eyes open quickly as she shifted her head under the pillows and blankets of her nest at the far right corner of her living room, completely out of sight…

Looking for the comfort of her kitchen light, she pulled back a lot of the sheets that were over her, hugging the ends tightly around her now exposed and round face, blinking cutely into the semi-darkness.

She could still see it was on, and didn't see any shadows or anything… no one was inside, right?

This little detail of instinctual men escaped her weary mind for a moment, as she thought it was just odd to hear a crash or bump in the night. Normally, not even Flickies would crash into her windows, no matter how spotless she made the window screens.

Nothing was that stupid… and there weren't any neighbors for quite a walk down the windy lane…

She didn't know if it was some random hedgehog sniffing around for her home again, or just a tree branch banging against the outside walls…

Wait… Shadow? Sonic?

Either way, she shivered, pulling up a blanket to her face and summoning her hammer, scooting further back into her bundled-up mess of cushions and other soft articles of fluff and comfort within her self-made, instinctual fort 'cave' as it were.

Small, but darn warm! And not the 'heat' kind of warm, either…

She wanted to see them… Sonic, especially, but… Shadow… their last send-off made her want some time alone for a change… Was that really true?

She hated to be alone…

"But… What if she was taken?" Silver inquired.

"Shoot." Sonic let Silver go as he let out a hurtful grunt and put a hand to his back, showing further pain from before. Sonic had meant to hurt him, but Silver wasn't used to being so surprised that his powers didn't protect him… For someone to be strong enough to even rival him… was a bit astonishing to Silver.

Normally, he had no trouble in a fight… N-not that they were fighting, or anything, but he seemed pretty helpless the last time they fought…

Maybe that was contributing to his wonderment, he really hadn't expected Sonic to be so strong… He figured, being from the future, he was stronger than both Shadow and Sonic… seems he may have jumped the gun a bit on that deduction.

He contemplated the shift in Sonic's character from when he first met him and Shadow while rubbing his now sore back, wondering why it was so apparent that something was off during then and the way he's acting civilized now.

'... Was it really not those two acting like animals?' He knew the hint about the father,... he was sure it could have been either of them from how they were acting around Amy…

Sonic placed his face up to where all Silver could see were Sonic's green eyes and white sockets. "Are you sure you looked everywhere?" He asked, snapping Silver out of his investigative thoughts.

"I-I only looked through the windows…" He admitted, holding up his hands and shaking his head,... 'Why do I feel… so… powerless in front of this guy? A hero of legend, yes… but… That shouldn't matter.' Silver wasn't all that fascinated by fabled heroes…

His eyebrows furrowed when Sonic went back to looking about, running around the establishment at lightspeeds, something Silver now witnessed which he didn't really back at the meadow. 'So he is faster than sound…'

Although he did idolize the heroes of old, he wondered why he felt… almost like a reflex to back down and respect this guy. He just… ended up trusting and listening to him…

He did seem to know Amy… After all, the records mention differing statements about their loose relationship with each other, whether friends or lovers.

Silver's ears began to twitch back… before straightening up as though nothing had or was happening to him…

"I came to this time–specifically–because-" Silver held out his hands parallel to each other and moved them up and down close to one another while on their sides to emphasize directly that it was within this time period that things happened. "It's precisely a few months before-!"

"S-Sonic?"

Silver stopped mid-sentence as both him and Sonic looked to see Amy creaking her door open, blinking in confusion.

Looks like her curiosity got the better of her, she wrapped a shawl around her, hoping to cover her 'scent glands' somewhat and looked through the peephole of her door.

Seeing the two off to the side, and Sonic's iconic quills, she opened the door. Was that smart? Wise? It was so natural for Amy to greet and trust Sonic, her tired mind didn't seem to double-take the action at all.

Sonic was actually paying great attention to Silver's words, they caught him so much that he let the guy go to continue, watching the bobbing of his hands before understanding now that Silver was trying to say that whoever the 'good future' guy she gets with is,... or the bad one… either one of them would be coming around pretty soon.

That… didn't sound too good.

"Silver..?" She looked innocently over in surprise at seeing him there.

Sweetly caught red-handed, Silver pulled his hands behind his back, straightening up as though pretending to not have just told Sonic the future.

Sonic had already let him go, and turned to face Amy as she made her appearance known.

"What are you two doing here?"

Silver breathed quietly, but it looked like he was scared as he looked to Sonic. Sonic looked down to the ground left and right, feeling a bit ashamed at thinking Silver would be trying to hurt her. He figured this young man might be onto something.

Did he mean a few months before meeting the guy..?

Or a few months to… giving birth… to…

He guessed Silver didn't know all the details either, but Amy most certainly should be protected from too much information.

She was already spooked enough by Instincts, he didn't want her feeling helpless again in facing differing fates either.

It should be a decision she crafts of her own accord, but at the same time… It didn't sit well with Sonic how fast this 'meeting' was about to take place.

They were just… all so young…

He swallowed a bit, thinking on the fly, "I thought you might… be… missing me..!" He decided to play the charming rogue, shrugging a second as he moved in front of a nervous Silver to speak to her more directly… hoping to distract her from the odd turn of events. "And came to stop by." He nervously put a hand behind his head when he noticed her dismiss his words to take a look at Silver again, trying to peek around him. A large and comical bead of sweat dripped down the side of his face as he placed his other hand to his hip.

'This isn't working…' He concluded, and went for a different approach, leaning back into her view to distract her once more and hide Silver's 'very obvious' lack of a bluffer's face.

Through a forced grin, he barely moved his lips as he said, "I was thinking of you…" through his teeth, as though trying to not let on what Silver was about to disclose to him was anything important to her.

Normally… that kinda line would work, making her super happy and focusing on him.

But…

Nothing was reverting back to 'normalcy' at all, at this point…

"I'm fine." Amy straightened back up, not really fooled by the boys, but truly having not heard what they were talking about…

In all honesty… she was checking their eyes… even Silver's.

"What's going on? You two shouldn't be here."

She looked suspicious, and it broke Sonic's demeanor to see her so… well…

Matured.

It shocked him a bit, in a kinda way that sends spikes of tiny needles around one's body.

She wouldn't be fooled again with such 'grown-up' things, would she?

It hurt something within him to see her having to act so defensive around him…

Is this… how he treated Shadow a moment ago?

She was normally so happy to see her blue hero…

Now, seeing her wrap her shawl closely over her shoulders yet again… ducking her head down… her eyebrows slightly furrowed…

She appeared so distrusting…

So…

Alone…

His heart got weighed down by that revelation… She had to grow up so fast…

He missed how innocent she used to be…

Back when he could hide instincts from her… and the rest of his friends.

"Tails assured me you'd be-" She began, before…

"Ammmyyy!" Tails came flying out of nowhere, hands outstretched towards her, tiny bits of spit spraying past his fast-moving face that came crashing into her. It was somewhat a weird reversal for Sonic, he was used to seeing Amy do that very thing with him.

Silver was puzzled, but when was he not flabbergasted by everything and spooked by every little twitch of grass grazed by the wind here, anyway?

"T-Tails?!"

Tails hugged her desperately before flying gently down to land, helping her regain her balance again before looking pleased that she was alright.

"Amy! S-Sorry… I was just so worried! You're not hurt are you!?"

Once again… Sonic's heart ached at hearing his pal ask her that.

They all had to grow up… He knew Tails had already seen his shift into Instincts, but now that Amy was involved…

Tails had thought they were all in danger… It was becoming more clear how wrong Sonic was to assume Amy would be better off without him during their natural seasons… It was, and always would be, that Amy was in more serious trouble than he ever could be…

For years, he had lived with the annoyance of Instincts before Amy was ever exposed to them. Tails, sadly, had to learn early and fast, but it was never that relevant or bad…

'How selfish and conceited was I..? That I didn't even think of the pain she'd be in?' He never had to endure hedgehog women in their instincts cause he was already so far disconnected from regular society anyway… He mostly traveled pretty isolated from the world, so it's not like he ever bumped into society and large groups of girls in the city anyway, he was just a free, nature spirit.

That's how he had always lived. Domestic living wasn't really his style.

Nor expertise…

Amy has always been the opposite of that, though. She likes the outdoors and adventures, but longs for a balance between that and settling down often to be a part of normal, modern society.

Before there weren't any 'girls' to worry about, since his Instinct was never interested… When he did smell something, a scent that actually made him pause, his Instincts never really cared to venture and find out more about it.

Due to this, Sonic felt it was just a great disturbance he had to deal with, so then…

He put a hand to his heart, 'Why… was Amy that big change in him?' He didn't want to link anything to familiarity or quiet feelings of sentiment. He believed this creature was separate from him, something that needed to be contained.

Sonic just wasn't the kind to think in 'tender' ways out loud… Though he refused to dive deeper into his heart to find the real question to anything important he was pondering.

Perhaps… he still wasn't taking his own, personal life seriously yet…

Or love for that matter…

So then… he kept thinking, 'Why only now?'

'What… made Amy's scent, so-..?'

He looked to her, about to connect some forbidden but needed thoughts before Tails continued and distracted his mind from further pondering.

It was just 'different'. That's all he would settle on for now.

"So you're alright!" Tails sighed in relief, "When they said that Silver escaped to come look for you, I-! Ah…" He looked to see Silver and his eyes widened, glaring down bravely towards him before standing in front of Amy, pulling his beloved friend behind him. "Stay back! I don't know who you think you are, but no one's gonna hurt my friends!" he spread his arms out, protectively defending her when Sonic looked away, awkwardly.

'... Even Tails… is acting older than he should be…'

Sonic looked down, scratching the side of his face as he felt this was little much now…

'Since when did everybody grow up?' He felt like he hadn't changed all that much… to be fair.

'Or maybe… I've been gone and out of their lives so much, recently… I haven't noticed how much they've grown at all.'

While being silently reflective, he seemed to have dissociated from the group, now off in his own mind once more…

He crossed his arms and thought while the scene played out in front of him, looking at the ground and away a few times, having a serious 'think' over this matter.

'Have I… really been so aloof from my friends… that I haven't seen how much they've changed recently..?'

He looked… really perplexed, and… once again,… forlorn at this revelation.

'Am I… really being a good friend,... in that way?'

He tapped his foot in the background as Silver shook his arms out, trying to clear up Tails's concerns and not spook Amy any further.

"I-I-!" He pulled back his arms to hold them out to the sides of himself, "I think there's been a horrible misunderstanding! I never meant any harm to Amy! Honestly! I wanted to make sure she wasn't with…" he stopped himself and looked down, feeling terrible about not telling them his intentions in more detail from the start.

Although, he felt he explained himself pretty clearly at first, he hadn't exactly given them the opportunity to prove that they would care about the future, too. It was more obvious that… They were willing to protect Amy, and he assumed maybe they would lash back if she fell for the father of the doomed timeline.

They just seemed… unusually loyal to her.

He had thought that would make them try and stop him, if she fell in love and they thought she was happy. Silver didn't care, if it was the man who would bring ruin to his world, he'd do anything to stop him..!

From how Sonic indiscreetly came to help Amy, and how he seemed to not want to stop Silver… He looked just as concerned about Amy's future as Silver was about the future…

… Maybe, maybe he could trust that their love for Amy would help them convince her to side with the good father, so the future could be protected along with her. That's what he promised, to protect both of them from now on. He just didn't know what her friends actions would cause… misery or success?

For now, he felt he could trust them.

Even… just enough to get by in this strange past timeline…

"I thought I went over it pretty well, b-but…" He took a deep breath, straightening out and letting an exhale go to speak more clearly, "This time, for sure." He told himself, feeling even worse about being so mistrusted.

"Once again, I'm here to protect the future. Everyone's future relies on me singling out the correct father that leads to a righteous son, creating a promising hope of greater things to come in the future." He stated as best as he could. "I'm trying, earnestly, to prevent Amy from meeting a man who would produce a son from her that would lead to our future's doom." He gestured a hand out as he explained.

"That makes sense, doesn't it?"

Amy and Tails just blinked at him, as Sonic put a hand to his chin, still off in his own world.

"Wait…" Amy had so much information dumped on her with Instincts, now they wanted her to learn about some weird future? "With… who?" She pointed in two different directions from herself, as though trying to identify who he meant.

'He can't mean… Sonic and Shadow… right?' She looked worriedly to Sonic, before gasping and searching around. 'Shadow!' She clutched her beating heart, 'I hope… he's okay, too… and not in his Instinct Form… and hurting himself while resisting again.'

Her eyes shook in fear that he may be suffering… How long had he been keeping that painful secret from her? How long… and why?

"Exactly." Silver sighed out, drooping his frame forward and gesturing to her. "I have no idea who. Not yet, anyway."

'Why do I have to keep repeating this over and over again?' He placed a hand on his head, 'Is it that hard for them to understand? Are the concepts too perplexing?' He just shook his head.

"As I said before, that's why I'm here."

'No matter how many times I have to say it…'

His eyes suddenly took hold of Amy.

They slightly trembled…

She was the most beautiful hedgehog he had ever seen…

He closed them, trying to refocus his thoughts.

'Of course there would be men after her… she seems… strangely alluring… and kind.'

He opened them,

Ovals of conviction.

"For this reason, I really need to be by your side at all times, Miss Rose."

His words didn't surprise him, but Amy took a breath in, surprised to hear how willing he was.

With Sonic, he left… With Shadow, they had to beg…

But now…

"It's imperative that I know all those who surround you, to try and better identify the culprit."

She almost thought that was a nice change,... before…

He held up a fist, tightening it seriously.

"And kill him."

Amy leaned back, her heart shaking at his words… Why was he willing to go so far?

She found herself suddenly speaking, "Your future… that you're protecting…"

His eyes were so intense… it captured her compassion instantly.

She smiled sweetly and tilted her head, even Sonic came out of his thoughts to observe the change in her gentle facial features…

"It must be beautiful."

With the moon just parallel to her eyes… Silver lost his breath at such a sight and marveled at her words…

Did she… truly understand him now?

He found himself… lost in the canvas…

She was no longer just a trigger point.

She had triggered something… in him.

He felt his heartbeat rise… a gentle drum… turning slightly fierce.

'What is…' His eyes shook.

'This feeling? Again…'

His eyes gently pulsed as though unable to shift but trying to, remaining ovals with a few blinks yet again.

Tails was spooked, shocked to hear him say that with such resolve, as Sonic even blinked up from his thoughts to look at him curiously too after Amy's sweet declaration.

She wanted to consider him, and she did. She didn't seem to be against this 'white knight' as Sonic put him.

Sonic whistled, amused by his 'chivalrous act' but thinking him a bit dramatic again.

This guy? Able to kill someone?

"... I normally don't say this… but maybe if the guy never finds Amy, he doesn't need to be ended so… permanently, huh?" Sonic wasn't one to take life, but that did make this future guy kinda concerning…

"It has to be me." Silver lowered the fist down, nodding to the truth of that matter. "I'm sorry, Sonic… But from what I've heard of him, it's justified to end his life in this timeline… here and now." He only turned his head to Sonic, but didn't look at him.

Sonic just stared at him… realizing he was serious, and decided to drop the matter for now.

After all, a bridge not yet crossed might never be built in the first place… if Amy could remain safe, they needn't worry about this guy, right?

Silver looked over his shoulder to Sonic, now, sensing he was remaining silent on that. Silver sought a bit of validation, and not getting it, continued to try and convince Sonic of the seriousness of his quest to the distant past. "So you see… I mean it when I say I'm here on a mission."

"If I don't complete my quest, all will be lost."

Everyone seemed to silently process that, before Sonic stepped up, deciding to put weight to his words as well. He placed a hand to Silver's shoulder, walking up beside him.

"Look, Silver," He removed his hand once Silver's confused face turned to him. He would think about his own problems later, right now, Amy needs someone to speak up in her defense. "We appreciate your concern, but we're all here to make sure Amy doesn't find a 'who' against her wishes."

Amy pulled her shawl more around her, also taken by Sonic's words, her eyes blinked quickly from instincts to herself again.

He goofily held up his hand in a type of shrug, showing Silver that he would do what he wanted to, even if it wasn't what Silver wanted or expected of him. That was just Sonic's way… "So don't worry, pal. You leave Amy to us from now on." He confidently stated, but Amy looked disheartened, as though… now he wasn't saying what she wanted to hear.

'Us?' She thought, looking down at the ground.

All she wanted… was to be wanted.

Did Sonic still see her as a threat to his freedom? She knew he would never say that, but…

His actions… she tried to forgive him in her heart, knowing how hard this was on everyone.

It still just… stung,... that he chose the comfort of his own seclusion than trying to find happiness with her and…

'These instincts…' She looked at her hand, worried a moment… She couldn't smell much from Sonic, maybe because her nose was stuffed with how much she cried before.

Sonic looked to her with a tilt of his head, not sure why that wouldn't make her happy… And she realized he noticed and tried to shake her head and fake a smile.

But he could see right through that.

"You said… you would help me." Amy recalled, her head now lowered as Tails and Sonic rounded to either side in front of her, worried…

"Amy,..." Silver held out his hand, but… slowly pulled it back and closed his eyes as he turned away from her. "I am trying to help…"

"No… You!" She suddenly rose her head up, directly glaring at-

"M-Me!?" Sonic flinched back, moving his arms away from her and now up on one leg, bending the other over him, "What'd I do!?"

She stomped her foot down, "You-!"

"You said you'd help me still have my dreams!" As she spat out her vindication, he realized she meant that she did want to find someone… He felt that was a bit unfair of her to assume he meant not finding anyone…

Even if it was… sorta true… That he was indirectly planning just that.

"Well, I meant…" He scratched the edge of his sheepish, awkward smile at her words… finding it a bit awkward. "N-not right now..!" Sonic gestured out to try and explain but she folded her arms.

"Amy! You can't get married just yet!"

"Hmph!" Amy stuck her nose up, "So, I'm not allowed to find any 'who', is that it? A spinster the rest of my days?! No efforts towards my happiness or desires?! To what I have always wanted, Sonic!?" She walked straight up into his face, and he held his breath, trying to hide the fact that he was, absolutely, planning to disregard her yet again and just keep her safe.

Why were these conversations always in circles, lately!?

Well, change doesn't happen overnight… especially this night… right?

However… when their eyes met, there was a literal pull, a sudden… electricity between them as Amy lightly gawked at it…

As he held his breath, his chest came down and blinked gently down into her emerald eyes… softening to his own inquisitive ones…

Looking into his eyes… him looking into hers… She lost her own breath, while Sonic silently allowed himself to breathe her in. Letting the air go, then taking it back in… he felt alive and well again, knowing she was so close… his hand slightly moving to her wrist before pulling itself back.

The two were locked in a frozen dance, circling in their hearts. Their Instincts wondered why they couldn't hold one another, while the two kept an immeasurable gap between themselves…

A light pawing quaked Amy's chest from her instincts seeming to knock at the doors of freedom, and she was the first to pull away, even though that gentle touch felt like a peaceful whimper to be set free,...

'No… I can't let Sonic think I'm overindulging myself again…' She didn't want Sonic to accuse her of being 'dangerous' by pitying her Instinct form… She wanted to understand it, even befriend it if possible… but everything around her made her go against that longing thought…

As she moved, Sonic's fingers grazed the edges of her hooped dress… his pinkie almost attempting to grip it but it still slid away beneath the gloves, hiding the nails attempting to snag it back towards him…

'Amy… don't look so sad… when you pull away from me.' He swallowed, smelling her scent move away and leaned slightly to be closer to it still but seeing her face be so heartbroken… he didn't dare step up after her.

'It's not like it's forever…' His inner voice called out to comfort her… but his lips refused to move.

'Why… do I feel so bad about this?' He wondered, turning his once yearning hand into a fist, to keep it at bay again.

'It's not like I'm telling her to stay back… It's just…' He couldn't bear her obvious pain upon her face.

'For a little season…'

Was waiting that awful for her?

He knew she hated to be alone for so long…

But…

He knew it was more than that…

Figuratively speaking, she must feel the time span was like an eternity.

Can love like that… really be…

Real?

"Wait… where's Shadow?" Asked Tails, looking about as Sonic and Amy broke their own tension and she dipped her head down, stepping away shyly as Sonic turned his nose up with his finger coming to his aid, pressing itself underneath it so he wouldn't get triggered by her.

'She really… had grown… but she was always just as cute.' Her new allure wasn't from her scent, he could care less about that stuff.

Taking a chance to look back at her… She really wasn't the old Amy he knew anymore… was she?

Had he… pinned her all wrong? In the past?

She took her shawl and brought it more around her, since it had slightly fallen off her shoulders while having that 'chemical moment' with Sonic–Erm, uh–Critical! Critical moment with Sonic!

Sonic somewhat smiled at seeing her adjust herself. It… comforted him a little bit, to see she still felt the same feelings, at least…

Somewhere,... under all this… drama.

"Strange…" Tails put a finger up to his lip, "He doesn't usually wander too far from her…"

Sonic twitched back to reality with that comment.

"He said he'd catch up… huh." Sonic put his hands on his hips, looking behind him. "Heh, either I'm really fast, or he's taking his sweet time…" Sonic took his thumb and flicked under his nose cockily, disguising the fact that he was now becoming more aware of Amy… Her scent now trailing more predominantly into his consciousness.

He was trying to ignore it for now.

He dropped that hand and looked a bit more concerned… "Maybe you weren't the real traitor after all..." Sonic thought out loud towards Silver, who frowned at that comment.

"I wasn't betraying anyone…" Silver responded with a slight grumble as Amy walked a little up to them.

"Hey, I'm sure he's coming back. He promised to protect me too." Amy knew only that Sonic and Shadow were struggling with one another, "But I'm glad to see you really do care about Shadow, Sonic. And that makes me happy and hopeful that you two will get along again, someday." She tilted her head with a sweet, pleasant smile.

"Again?" He teased, but looking at her…

She really didn't want anymore squabbling… and honestly, him and Shadow were the same.

Sonic nodded, "Yeah, Amy. Someday." He lowered his eyes, not wanting to disappoint her again by fighting with him.

He had thanked Shadow, but he wouldn't tell her that.

Plus, Shadow wouldn't accept it. 'Heh, not like I would for doing the right thing either…' He scratched behind his head.

"But he shouldn't have lied to you like that… At least, I was being honest… when we… when the time came to… you know." He got nervous again and folded his arms.

'This is so hard… I can't make it awkward…' The topic just made Sonic uncomfortable, looking up to the side of his eyes, towards the starry, pretty but dark sky.

"Yeah… I know." Amy nodded, and looked to the ground, turning her eyes to the edge of the lower corner opposite of Sonic's angular gaze… "But you came back." She studied the pebbles on the ground, the blades of grass, the gentle light glimmering from dew on them.

She looked up to him, smiling, "So now, you can tell me more. About how you honestly feel… this time around."

She hoped,... with all her heart, she hoped they could find a way to live and be… be together again, even with instincts.

Sonic rolled his eyes to take a glance at her, then looked away.

'Why am I being so… bashful!? All of a sudden!?' It shocked him a bit too much, seeing how shy he had suddenly become with her.

He cleared his throat, then coughed into his hand.

"U-Uh-huh…" He didn't say more than that, quickly switching the topic. "Ehem. Maybe he finally realized that the true hero is here to do that." Sonic folded his arms, not liking how Amy went to defend Shadow so immediately, but also seeing that-... "You…"

He gestured his head back to her, looking at the ground now, lifting a toe up before walking over to her… slowly raising his head to match her gaze again… as though… taking away the distance between them from before.

This time… he showed a softer response this time to her.

"You really care a lot about him,… Amy."

"Well, I know he was only doing it to be kind, but… Yeah. Yeah, I care about him, too. And... he cares about me."

He felt suddenly an instinctive competitiveness again, a streak of envy.

"He's not all that great."

He spat out, moving his lower lip up.

"I got here first…"

"Ohh..!"

Amy stomped the ground again, letting go of her shawl around her shoulders.

"Why do you have to be so mean to him!? To each other!?" she stomped her feet back and forth in a small, little tantrum. She shot her arms down, not liking his attitude one bit at her charming, grumpy helper she had come to adore! But for some odd reason, it made Sonic happy to see that not 'everything' in Amy had changed…

He smiled gently towards her,

"Glad to see you're still you… Amy."

"H-huh?"

She looked to see he had speedily grabbed her shawl as it had fell, lifting it slowly to… tenderly place back on her shoulders…

It caught her off guard… her nose near his arm…

His wonderful smell…

It was different from Shadow's, this felt... more... naturally alluring...

She looked back and forth from it, seeing his gloved hands place her shawl back, then slowly move themselves away again.

"Nothing…"

He scratched his nose again, trying to cough into his hand once more to keep her scent from affecting him too much.

But now… his scent…

"Oh, so Shadow's nothing now!?"

He sighed, but she was playing off the sudden burst of energy he had sent through her.

Just a simple act of kindness… it roared a sensation in her heart. In her belly…

Throughout her mind…

"Why are you defending him… So much."

Jealousy..?

His hand twitched into a fist for a second…

No… this was Instincts.

Desperately enamored with each other, both Amy's and Sonic's Instincts were trying to play a part in this interaction… but were forced to stay behind the curtain.

Amy's rampant emotions, Sonic's fleeting yearning for touch…

To get closer to one another…

Something was stirring more adamantly… the more she spoke about Shadow, the more Instinct Sonic tried to awaken and resist Sonic.

"I don't know, Amy. Maybe… because he lied to you..? Remember that?"

He turned his head back to her, but kept his body forward, as if expecting Shadow to maybe turn up at any minute.

Now, Sonic's body was feeding off Amy's emotions.

Didn't he leave it in the past with Shadow? Just a moment ago?

They were both slipping…

Silver and Tails were just random bystanders to this interaction, but Tails did suspect something, narrowing his eyes a bit, he realized their eyes were normal, though…

"Well, good riddance if he is gone! I'm back to Alpha and you're safer because of it."

That… That wasn't him.

Tails looked to Sonic, inspecting him more closely.

Sonic's eyes began to sharpen and turn back to ovals,... diamonds and ovals…

Diamonds and ovals…

Diamond…

Oval…

"Uh oh." Tails leaned back, his lips parting to show his teeth gritting. He winced back, "Siiillverrr…" He nervously turned to him, not sure how to explain this… Trying to keep his voice down, he just hoped things wouldn't get… m-messy… Again.

"Ah? Really?" Amy scoffed a little as Sonic looked shocked to hear that and turned to face her, challenging a bit while his body fought for the right to be heard. "I didn't think… you'd care to be Alpha." she put a hand over her mouth, almost mocking him. "Is it true? Do you want to be number one in my pack, Sonic?"

"Because I do remember a certain someone walking out on me!" She turned back to him… Her eyes…

Were diamonds to ovals…

Ovals to diamonds…

Tails gripped both sides of his face, pulling the skin down in his worry. "Emmmmm…!" He whined, not sure what to do, frantic at what could happen.

It wasn't like he could stop it… and trying to part them might make Instinct Sonic jump out sooner to protect her from the 'fox predator'...

"And that's why we even needed Shadow in the first place! Haha! Because you didn't want to lead anything at all!"

She folded her arms.

"Walking out like a real mature man!"

Amy's words stung sharply into Sonic's heart and pride, as he flinched a little at her stating that so abruptly.

"Yeah… but…I was trying to-"

'Be a good man…'

Sonic admitted, a sensation like magma bubbling up from under the surface, rising up his belly to his chest… boiling at his shoulders and bursting in flames by his cheeks…

He was trying to leave this behind, let it go… Why… Why were they both bringing this up so suddenly?

His eyes flexed into ovals, coming back to his senses again.

He twitched one of his eyes, a headache?

He was trying to ignore the signs, shaking out of it and getting more upset at her blatant favoritism shifting.

Also… this felt like teasing, but not the good kind.

Did… Did they not notice the other's eyes..?

"Defend me?!"

She assumed his answer, but her emotions were becoming wildly unstable.

Tails knew it was hormonal, and Sonic was reacting to it… "Careful… Ammmmyyyy…" He put his fingers up to his teeth, biting through the gloves, shaking.

Silver, innocent as anything, looked to Tails with a curious expression, not sure what he was getting worked up over.

He looked back at Amy and Sonic… his ears… flicking about.

Were they… reacting to something he was seeing?

He was completely oblivious to his reactions to this interaction. Not knowing Amy or Sonic personally, he figured this was normal behavior for them.

Was weird… to be watching a quarrel like this, though…

"Or were you realizing you couldn't be the hero this time?"

Sonic stepped back, not sure where all this anger was coming from but feeling the pain of her words scare him. "A-… Amy, I-.." He suddenly gritted his teeth.

"I protected you." The words came out like a hiss… his Instincts knowing she wanted him to just dart at her, lunge out to take control over his Other, but Sonic fought back with all his spirit's noble strength.

His intentions when leaving her were to protect each other, he wouldn't have her twist it like this. Besides… the insecurity of his dream started to plague at the back of his mind…

No, Sonic didn't think of the past, he only moved headfirst into the future!

"I would never do anything to endanger my friends!"

"She's getting him riled up… her instincts want him to be more aggressive… hoping to trigger his Alpha instincts…" Tails explained, patting the sides of his face, "What do we do..!?" He was speaking mostly to himself, quietly…

"His… what?" Silver looked to Tails, completely lost on this topic.

He really did find these people strange…

'She's all worked up, her body's just waiting for him to shift…' Tails tugged on his gloves with his teeth, 'Sonic… snap her out of it..!' He willed within his mind, hoping to manifest a 'safe' end to what was stirring up. 'If Shadow were here…' He knew that would balance this conundrum, but…

"Maybe you have changed…"

The words weren't said with malice, the hurt was entirely within Sonic's eyes as he gave a sense of lingering sorrow, as though pitying the loss of Amy's innocence…

"I'm doing things differently now, aren't I?"

His words and the shift in emotion suddenly made Amy get jarred out of her instinctual goading.

Tails was slowly moving Silver away from the area, seeing the two needed to let this out in order for the steam to cool off…

Giving them quiet space, he kept Silver over by him, and put the side of his hand up to his face with a small bow and sheepish smile; It was as though saying, 'Sorry, let's give them a second.' to him.

"You'll always be my one true hero, Sonic… but please," She seemed to be coming down, reverting her oval eyes as they stopped flinching in and out, stabilizing…

She looked apologetic, but also unaware that she didn't mean to say all of that, and the pawing within her heart slowly ceased…

Instinct Amy was disappointed, wanting the grand reveal, wanting Instinct Sonic to lurch out and take her away… She so desperately longed to be with him again…

She fed off of Amy's desires, too… One minute, the two were plunged into a chemical yearning, and the next, were suddenly arguing out of spite?

No, it was because they were holding themselves back on conventional purposes… That was what Instinct Amy couldn't understand.

Why… wait?

What the 'body' doesn't understand, is not getting what it wants instantly.

It is programmed to provide itself with all the needs required for life and the continuation of life.

The spirit… tends to know otherwise, and better, the ideas conceptually lost on a instinctual reflex, designed as a 'knee-jerk reaction' to keep itself sustained.

Impulsive… not 'thinking' at all.

She pleaded with such tender, star-filled eyes of light, "Don't exclude Shadow as nothing more than a threat. He's been at my side, too. He's your friend, isn't he?" She then looked down towards the ground again, avoiding eye-contact.

She thought about Shadow… his sweetness, how he protected her… "You're more alike than you realize…"

He folded his arms, "Shadow this, Shadow that…" He shook his head. "One minute, you're saying I'm not right, even though I thought we had established that these things were in the past…" He tried to look her in the eye, but found her avoiding it and looked even more quietly put off by that. "And now, you're overly praising Shadow?" He just… didn't want to be a part of this conversation anymore.

"None of this is making sense." He paused, "I know you were hurt, Amy. I already stated I wouldn't make the same choices a second time…" He then walked over to her, unparting his arms to put a hand gently to the side of her cheek, guiding it by barley touching it to turn and greet him again.

"But I don't care if it doesn't make sense… I'm here now, and I want more than anything for your happiness… Amy."

She put her hand to her heart.

"He's saved me… Not nearly as many times, but they're still just as significant." Her words made him take a breath in, letting it go and moving his hand down in acceptance of that.

"I get it. I won't hold anything against Shadow anymore." He turned his head down, and she lowered her chin and batted her eyes as though shocked he just… let it go. "You want me to get along with him now, right?"

He closed his eyes, "And I'm sure he's helping right now, somehow… In some way…"

She nodded, wiping the sleepiness from her eyes, feeling drained all of a sudden from the weird sensation like she fought something back inside her. "He's working just as hard to keep things… to protect more than just me."

She wanted to turn to Silver, "Just like Silver." trying to pull them back into the conversation, remembering they had a figurative 'audience', she attempted to turn her head but Sonic stepped forward again, their distance suddenly closer than she had ever been with him before.

Sonic was just thinking about Shadow saying he passed his promise from Maria to her, and then about how much he's tried to erase his past by becoming something that would help the world, not destroy it.

'She's right… Why can't I just say she's right?' His eyes were now shielded by the darkness of the night as he approached at an angle, obscuring Tails and Silver's view from her. Before, He was still seeming to shut himself off from her, to end the conversation. When she gave him an out, he decided not to take it now…

He just wasn't done yet.

Realizing that she had to say what was troubling her, even if that did sound a little harsh, she let all of her frustrations go.

He didn't have any anger in this moment, no matter how much it seemed like she was pushing him towards the edge of trying to burst out in unchecked emotions.

It wasn't how he did things, not how he worked.

She did seem rattled by how close he was, confused if her scent had caused him to come closer, or if he really was upset about all she had said.

She did feel bad for doing so, and pulled her lips back with glossy eyes as she really convinced herself he had taken the last straw with her…

"Ever since meeting Silver, my mind's been troubled… I'm not trying to overdefend, Shadow…" She tried to backpedal a bit, but Sonic stood firm and she just dipped her head to his chest, trying to retract from the obvious spillage of emotions and lashing out so late in the night…

"I know what he did was wrong, too… but I forgave you… can't you see I'm forgiving him as well?" Her eyes tried to sneak a peek up towards him, but he held himself still, listening…

That seemed to snap something in Sonic.

His resistance faded, and he nodded solemnly.

For the first time in his life, he let his heart take the lead in something other than adventure and protecting those he cherished…

He let a moment of compassion beat out wanting to run away.

"All sorts of words have gone unsaid that are starting to slip onto my tongue all at once. Rolling off, as though having a mind of their own…"

He was about to say something, but she stole the moment with such poetic beauty.

He looked to her lips… his eyes flexing a bit between diamonds and ovals again, but subtly.

She put her hands together by her chest,... shaking somewhat, but calming herself by bringing her hands to gently rest on his chest.

They spread out a bit on his thin fur, "Sonic… You know…" She looked up and down a few times towards Sonic, growing sincere but being emotional as well.

His chest warmed, his heart rate quickened… He had to move his shoulders back, as though to try and distance the sensation from his will… to hold himself back from…

Wanting to embrace her in apology as well.

He turned his nose up to the side, uncertain he should speak what he was about to now.

"I… I'm sorry… I missed you." She closed her eyes, and he suddenly felt pulled towards her.

He moved in closer, his head coming back, his arms moving to reach around her… but he pulled them back.

"You… don't have to apologize for anything… Amy."

'How can she say… things I only wish I could convey?' He found that strangely like a superpower… Her ability to be so heartfelt and true to her feelings… How was she able to communicate so… so…

Fluently?

Unharbored emotions were just as elusive to Sonic as he was to his friends.

'How can someone just say what they feel? And know it, without any doubt…'

He looked back into her eyes.

'That those feelings are real, and true?'

"I admire how easily this all comes to you… Amy."

He put a hand just hovering by her cheek, then moved away from her.

"I'll try and do better."

He looked a bit seriously down to the ground, dropping his arms to sway at his side and then stiffen yet again, glaring slightly on the side as though realizing he couldn't fully match Amy's empathy… and that… bothered him, somewhat.

He didn't like that. It made him feel unright in his own skin…

What? Had he not considered the feelings of others before? He knew he had… hadn't he?

More than his own comforts?

Stepping into her shoes… scared, alone, confused… and suddenly abandoned and accused by the one she held up to be the hope of all her worries…

It was a massive responsibility he hadn't realized he had taken upon himself, and it made his body twitch a second at how uncomfortable that made him feel.

Even if unintentional… she had no reason to feel it was her fault, and he knew now that it really wasn't.

What had happened… anyone would have slipped up, right? This was Amy, of course she would have interacted with her Instincts to try and 'better understand' it.

She did that with robots and former enemies… it only made since her tactic for 'fighting' was to talk things out…

"That was... I mean, I didn't mean to… To make you feel like Shadow was more-… or meant more to me than-… I…" She looked up and Sonic swore he saw the cosmos of infinity in her eyes.

He had never spoken to her like this before, it was making her stutter and not sure how to respond.

She was missing it though,... the moment… Not 'Instinct' Sonic … but Sonic The Hedgehog was…

He was-…

He really was-…

'Endless love… does exist… doesn't it?' He found himself admitting, seeing how there truly was no trickery in her eyes.

No mischief, no gain…

Such glowing, twinklings of stars… greater than any glowsticks flickering like ghost-lights in the night.

He was truly starting to see things from her perspective, which… granted, in his youth, he had never stopped to do before.

He was always trying to show mercy towards her… eh, 'eccentric' ways, but this was the first time he actually could comprehend what was stirring in her simplistic yet complicated mind.

Because it was simple, simply 'love'.

That kinda love was a bit foreign to Sonic, but for the first time,... he actually felt he could relate to what she must have felt for so long.

In her eyes… was the purest form of eternity he could behold. A never-ending finale of love… endless, boundless, unconditional love that was for everyone… but most truthfully, a galaxy of affection solely existed for just himself in those trembling eyes…

"You've done nothing wrong."

The words held the release that Amy had longed for.

Her eyes widened and her mouth stopped speaking, shaking her lower jaw as though it froze her in the space of that relief.

Her eyes welled up in tears.

Her face scrunched with such wonderful guilt that should have never been there being liberated from her heart and mind, releasing her from an neverending torture of woe she had put herself through.

Beaten herself up over all this time…

By what he had thought of her… what narrative he had created in his head during that first dive into their instincts together… when neither one of them really knew what to do or what was going on.

Beautiful… For the first time, Sonic saw tears as a beautiful manifestation of the power that the heart couldn't conceal or contain within itself any longer.

When he had wished for a box of tissues, it was just in comfort of a hurt girl's tears.

This time…

He held up a hand… not touching her, but from his point-of-view…

He could hold the entire world in the palm of his glove… as small, clear droplets formed at the center of his palm, catching those warm emotions in his hand and holding them safely from splashing against the cold of the night's ground.

"I'm sorry." She cried, then startled him by abruptly throwing him out of her orbit, pivoting so fiercely to quickly flee back inside her home that Sonic felt the wind follow her… her scent was miles away from having any effect on him now.

The effect that had overtaken him was… her.

A beautiful being that loved him every bit of her and then some, which he now held at the center of his hand… a pool of born, pure love.

While his feet remained solidly attached to the ground, his hand came back… what was that?

He felt frozen for a second… He was honestly leaning and walking so close to her eyes… Like he could have walked into a parallel world… and he had done so, multiple times, entering other dimensions.

For a moment, he really wanted to… he wanted to see exactly what was within the universe that was Amy Rose. He wanted to transverse through her eyes and run along the edges of her irises… to try and touch what undiscovered secrets lay there within her being.

His nose and hers… felt inches apart from a warmth from the cold… even if it was for but a moment… he had wanted a whole new type of adventure to unfold…

Then… it was gone within an instant, that pathway… that bridge of black into her soul, her heart of hearts.

Wait… did he remember something like that?

His head hurt.

Was it a… memory from his Instinctual Other?

He gripped his head, turning it away as Amy figured she had said something wrong, and truly looked heartbroken.

That's when she had darted away, thinking he was just dismissing her, just trying to end the topic once and for all, appeasing… Not really realizing what that had meant to her.

She thought he had just said, 'Whatever' instead of freeing her from wrong, hasty judgements.

She closed the door behind her, rushing to her nest and dropping the shawl behind her, jumping inside it…

Sonic, for the first time, regretted more than just the recent mistakes of the past… He regretted all those years he hadn't noticed… hadn't looked close enough to see such a darling sight.

Real, untainted love… Just… pouring from large eyes that held him as the center of her universe.

The wetness of in his hand was proof of that… it was no theory. It was love. Unadulterated, unabashed, brazen and foolish, but completely felt and devoted… committed love.

It was intimidating, really… but also, so wonderfully flattering.

"She… really… truly… loves me."

Sonic was completely out of it, slowly hobbling to turn himself to Tails and Silver, completely dumbfounded and flabbergasted by his latest findings.

"Hah… Huh."

He pulled himself up from being hunched in disbelief, his hand still cradling her now drying tears… and then put his hands on his hips and looked off into the distance.

"Imagine that."

He always thought it was commendable.

Always assumed she was a diehard fan of him, and it was nice to have a friend so faithfully believing in his capabilities.

Never wavering in that passion towards him.

But now…

Tails just looked a bit… paused.

His mouth pursed together as though forcing himself to not say anything.

Had Sonic really not realized how much Amy cared for him?

His body bobbed as he got lower and lower, crunching himself up as though powering up to burst with a loud, thundering roar of–'YOU IDIOT!'

But Silver's awkward interruption made his face turn blue just before he could throw his tensed arms up and do so.

"Then… that must be it. You must be one of the father's I'm searching for."

Sonic blurred that from his ears, as though retracting the film to dispel that statement out like a director's cut.

But what of him? His eyes? His heart?

He didn't dare look back at her until he heard the door shut, and even then, he only looked to block Silver's theory from piercing his defenses.

He touched his chest, feeling his heartbeat as though he was running a long, windy road for miles and miles…

But he wasn't.

He had only moved a short distance…

'Maybe… it was just instincts.'

He tried to lie and push it out of his head.

He stared at the door… like he did staring into the black road of Amy's pupils, wanting to race along the track and let it take him whithersoever the journey may lead…

Someone truly loved him…

'How mad is that.'

The whimsy was almost too much to bare any longer.

Had Amy… felt this way… about him, this entire time?

Even as such a little girl? 'No way! Right..?' Or could she..?

"Well, are you satisfied now, Silver?" Sonic stated, moving his arms out to shrug as he stepped out of that side of his personality that began to frighten him and also, hide it from sight of the others.

His head bent down to then roll up and confidently mask to Silver, resolving to try and let the feeling die out inside him, hoping that revelatory feeling wasn't what he was worried it was…

It was-…

"Now Amy can barely trust any of us. So your 'grand mission' is postponed till a later date."

He was devastated.

Turning quickly away from the two, he knew that his instincts weren't complete balderdash.

Not only did Amy think he was rejecting her again, but he himself realized that he had shunned her so many times, that her natural reaction to being honest with her feelings for him, was to feel ashamed about it.

That destroyed every fabric of his self-image he had made for himself… But he realized his actions had done the same thing for her image of him inside her own heart and mind.

That beautiful heart… that endlessly selfless mind… he had had no idea how much love could affect someone.

How much… he could turn the tide in someone's favor… or completely leave them to dry out at sea.

He looked at his hand, only a small hue remained of the darkened wet spot there.

He touched it lightly with his nose, then his finger… before flicking his hand out as though the sensations he was momentarily feeling were starting to resurface again.

She wasn't even around anymore… and he still felt his heart running a marathon.

"Wouldn't this… mean that half my mission is completed?" Silver looked to Tails, who finally barfed out air from his lungs as though they had capsized and collapsed from how much he was holding back ripping Sonic a new one, that is to say, busting out scolds and an uproar from how he only just now understood how much he meant to Amy.

'I didn't mean to… I mean, I never meant to make her feel that way about me… it just… happened.' He couldn't shake it. What did Shadow do to earn such profound respect from her? Then again…

"She's not getting with anyone…"

Tails gasped a little, putting a hand to his mouth.

Sonic wasn't getting it at all, was he?

"Ohhh, you idiot!" Like watching a frustrating soap opera, Tails shook his fists down in front of himself, "She wants someone… but you're too stubborn to give her a proper answer to it!"

He finally had enough, "She loves you! You admit it! You finally see that she would do anything to have you feel the same..!" He gestured out his arms to her, "It's okay if you don't feel that way about her, but you have to at least tell her that! Honestly!"

Sonic turned to Tails, truly lost on any response to give him, just like he was with Amy…

Silver then stepped up, clearing his throat, "And maybe… it is better that way. To hold back whatever truth might be there."

Sonic's full attention swerved from Tails's–once again–interrupted outburst so fast it was like a swipe of his head honing in on something new.

He stepped up, "What do you mean by that?"

Silver tucked his head down somewhat, wanting to avoid conflict, finding Sonic's immediate response rather… 'strong'.

Again, something like a reflex triggered from Sonic's suddenly turn towards him, and he felt his ears wanting to bend back…

He wondered yet again… Why? He was so expressive, all of a sudden, without any real reason behind it?

But he tried to pay little heed to it, attributing it to nerves. "If Amy does get a reply… and you end up being the father of the tyrant king…" He narrowed his eyes… "I'll have to end you."

Sonic smirked slightly off the side of his muzzle, honestly too emotionally drained and exhausted to hear anymore of this.

"I've had enough of 'declarations' for one day, pal." He walked sluggishly, feeling weighed down by so many burdens in his heart. "I hate this feeling." He dropped his arms in front of him. "I'm not gonna be anything anyone wants me to be other than what I want to be… But I do understand now… People have naturally placed a certain responsibility on me, simply by being the person I am." He straightened up a second.

He looked off into the forest… where was Shadow?

Well, he can take care of himself.

"I need to be myself… but for what others need me to be myself for." He turned to his friend and this new, strange man.

"I'm Sonic The Hedgehog… And to Amy, that means the hero she wants standing by." His eyes narrowed, and Tails actually felt something like pride as he idolized once again why he admired Sonic so much.

" … So, now, I guess I'm gonna be here a lot more… from now on." He walked up and gave Tails a smile, patting his head and rubbing it slightly. "Anything more I should know about from you, Tails? It'd be nice to get expectations taken care of." He winked, just joking.

Tails couldn't help but lose his fury, smiling up and realizing Sonic was taking full ownership of his past actions, and making them right–not by himself, but for the sake of his friends–which meant he wanted to be a better version of himself for those he cared about.

"Whoo… what a night!" Sonic leaned his head up to the sky, fully back, since that was a lot to take in. He shook his head down so fast that his lips jumbled a funny sound out of themselves.

"I haven't felt this defeated… since… since…" He leaned down, looking off to the side, lifting a leg up as he slowly reverted back into his usual self. Just… with newfound purpose to why he was here again.

It wasn't straightforward like, 'Defeat Eggman!', 'Take Out Enemy Aliens', or 'Stop A Giant Space Shuttle From Destroying The World'.

It was… be there for your friend.

"Huh,... since a long time, I guess." He muttered to himself, just… walking away, into the night.

Shadow never did show up… He felt maybe he should find out why.

It would get his mind off of Amy… Besides, she wanted them to get along… co-whatever it was called, anyway.

But maybe… he'd first stick to himself, and cool off in the night air?

He began to walk more normally, before stopping to close his eyes, take in the fresh air no longer scented by Amy's pheromones, and take off at lightning speeds…

Too confused on what to do, he decided to wind up wherever his feet ended up stopping, while Tails looked to Silver and then back to a distroddened and distraught Sonic.

"... That must have been a lot for him to take in." Tails concluded, "Sorry, Silver. I bet this all looks like a jumbled mess to someone just tuning in." He scratched behind his head, once again sorry for the dramatic turn of events, but Silver just looked glad Sonic had taken off…

"The further he is from Amy, the better." Silver concluded, but that statement made Tails flinch, lowering his hand from the back of his head.

"W-What..?" Tails sighed, "I got a lot to teach you…" He patted Silver's back and then began to push him away, "Now… back… to… the garage!"

Maybe… Instincts would also be how Sonic learned to grow up, too?

"What? No way!"

Silver spun around, holding out his hands to Tails and using his power to lightly push him off his back, causing him to minorly stumbly away but without injury or falling prone.

"Wha-ah-hah-Hey! You can't stay here with Amy!" Tails declared, "I can't leave you alone for one second! Same with the other two!"

"Then that's exactly why I need to stay..!" Silver held out a hand, retrieving the other back to stand proudly by his side. "Look, I get it. Sonic was right that no one can be trusted." He held himself at a protective angle from Tails, making Tails pull back and lift an arm up around himself for protection. "The son is a pure hedgehog, so any male hedgehog can be accused."

"Uh… huh." Tails squinted his eyes. "... Annnnnnyyyy hedgehog?" He raised an eyebrow, looking Silver up and down.

"You kinda look the part." He spat out, as Silver suddenly blinked out of his 'tough guy' persona and stumbled back.

"W-what?! That's absurd!" He slashed an arm through the air, "I'm here to prevent any anomalies from affecting the future that's meant to occur. Making sure nothing is rewritten is my responsibility..!" He placed a hand to his chest.

"... Rrrrright." Tails smirked, seeing he got Silver rattled a moment there. He straightened up and folded his arms, walking around Silver with a hop in his step, head pointed upwards as he knew exactly how to manipulate this situation into everyone's favor. "Hypothetically speaking… You're also protecting Amy from… 'you', aren't you?" He looked back at Silver, as Silver's mind began to whirl with such a… reasonable deduction, but-...

"B-Bu-But I'm-! T-That's irrelevant!" He defended himself, turning to address Tails but Tails had already began to leisurely round him yet again, somewhat skipping in his bobbing steps.

Humming, he looked off to the side again, "Is it, though? You're just as much a 'rewritten' article of fact as this 'foreign hedgehog' you keep going on about." He flew up a bit and landed on a stump of a tree near the road. "Admit it! We need to sort you out just as much as you feel the need to identify the two fathers, right?"

Silver bumbled a second, not sure how to respond to that.

"But I would never..!" He declared, as though on trial for a crime he never committed. "The very mention offends me! I'm disgusted to even be accused of such-!"

Woah, he was getting worked up, now. The drama seemed to never end, so Tails decided to play down his little sneaky acting, now that Silver seemed to be obedient following along with listening to his suggestions.

It wasn't hard to get Silver onboard with something, was it?

Tails chuckled slightly, "Well, not by your own doing, I'm sure. Sorry, didn't mean to rattle you that fiercely…" He held out his hands to calm Silver's troubled conscience, "Stand down, soldier! It's not like I haven't heard other men say the same thing…" He nodded, coming down. "But regardless… we have yet to see if Amy's scent has any affect on you. And for that matter, even if you're completely, without a single doubt, not the father…" He exaggerated, swishing his head around and crossing his arms to throw them down in his declaration of Silver's innocence. "It still doesn't mean you're not a liability to Amy's happiness and well-being."

He held up a finger, "But I have a theory." That single finger held all of the utmost sincerest of Silver's attention in the world.

"Eh-heh." Tails sweated a little in embarrassment, realizing he had acted a little 'too' much, and was truly sending the poor man into a straight up panic, waiting for the answer.

"I haven't really noticed any instinctual patterns from you," None that weren't subtle enough to go undetected, anyway… "So I think, in the future, s-since you don't really seem to know what Instincts even are… ehem." Tails cleared his throat, pounding softly his fist into his obscured mouth a moment. "That maybe they're outbred in us. It's completely possible to assume that Instincts don't even exist in the distant, unforeseeable future!"

"... But it is foreseeable." Silver made a type of grumpy face that caused Tails to hold in another chuckle. "I've seen it."

"Heheh… W-Well, what I mean is…" He put a hand to Silver's back, gesturing his other hand out to 'paint a picture' if you will, "Look at the grand scheme of things! If you work with us, being mostly 'me', at this stage. You won't be affected by Amy's pheromones and help me keep all the instincts at bay!"

"... You make it sound like we're dogsitting or something." He narrowed his eyes, "And I only know that term because I heard you utter it while hiding in the bushes of the meadowed plain before I rounded to the otherside."

Tails once again sweated.

"W-Well, what I'm trying to say is-" Tails moved back and shook out his hands again, "I-If Sonic doesn't see you as a threat, and Shadow never did seem to be triggered by your presence… A-And even Amy doesn't seem to react to you-"

'What did he mean by that?' Silver wondered, not sure why his head tilted and he felt his pride get a little hurt by that statement…

"T-Then my theory about you having 'out-evolved' Instincts might actually be real!" He stated, triumphantly. "So, from now on, you'll be my assistant, okay?" He smugly put a finger under his nose, his tails wagging behind him in excitement. "Deal?"

"Wha… No deal, what does that even mean?" Silver held up a hand, leaning his head back to the side. "Will it interfere with my observations and research into who father's the corrupted timeline?"

"Uhhhh… it will actually give you perfect opportunity to observe! Annnndddd break conflicts that might arise by using your cool telekinesis powers to good use!" Tails felt pretty good about all this. With Silver 'protecting' him, then he can use that 'protection' to also keep Instinct Shadow and Instinct Sonic from squabbling and fighting amongst each other, along with Instinct Amy remaining safe and sound while he tried to figure out what age they'd finally stabilized at.

As in, morph into one being. Combine with their instincts… Will ruling form instead of the other way around.

"Silver, I believe you were destined to become a scientist." He winked, as Silver looked baffled at such an odd statement.

"And with that said, I better check on Sonic… You, uh… I guess I can't leave you here, huh." He held his elbow and put his other hand to his cheek, thinking… "Hmm… If Shadow comes back, though… and in his instinct form… Amy would be in grave danger…"

He looked nervously to Silver, then shook the hair on his head. "Ohhhh! Silver! Can I trust you to man the fort while I'm gone?"

Silver, still trying to make 'heads or tails' of this, just decided to salute as that was his plan all along. "Sounds about right." He stated, as Tails looked a bit conflicted.

"Look, Shadow won't be himself. Look at his eyes, okay?" He opened his eyes to try and explain, "They'll look sharp, like thin, dagger diamonds… and that's how you know he's probably not himself."

"... What if he runs on all fours?" Silver still didn't quite get it, but figured the 'animalistic' running around was what they were referring to.

"... That, too." Tails gave him the finger guns, "I'll only be gone a minute! Don't get up to trouble or I'll never let myself not regret this!" He spun his tails and took off, trying to follow after his best friend. "Sonic! Wait up!" He knew he had a lot of faults, but…

"Sonic..! You're still Sonic, no matter what! You'll figure it out… with Amy and stuff… eventually…" He went to catch up, and by some stroke of fate, noticed that wasn't all that far away to begin with.

'Awwh… He must be really torn up about what Amy said…' His ears drooped, 'He never knew how far and how deep Amy's feelings went for him… he must have always passed them off as a passing phase… Poor guy… poor Amy.' He felt conflicted in his soul again, wanting the best for both friends.

'The sooner either one of them can figure out what they really want from the other, and express that, the better we can all move on with our lives after this…' Whether they liked each other, didn't, or it wasn't meant to be… Tails just didn't want any of his friends to suffer from hurt reality checks anymore…

Catching up, he sensed Sonic's solemn expression, and kept quiet.

Sonic didn't seem to look in the mood for company or friendly advice…

"Thanks, buddy." Sonic said, voice low, as to barely make it above the rushing wind. He kept things brief as though to not fully dismiss Tails while his fox friend put his fists up as he normally did when flying at fast speeds, nervously looking to his friend.

Looking to Tails, he could see he was worried about him…

'What would Amy say…' He wondered, looking straight ahead. 'How would she comfort someone… when she was hurting…'

His eyes arched in sweet understanding and also sorrow.

'She would do what I would… Try and show that everything was okay.' That second realization really hit him in the gut for how he had acted previously.

Turning to Tails, he gave him a confident smile.

"It's okay, buddy… but someone needs to stay with Amy and Silver, to make sure she's alright… I'll go find Shadow, but he might return soon. Could you do me a favor and look after Amy until then? I'll be back soon… this time,"

His face turned, his demeanor looked serious, his eyes full of friendship and trust.

But his smile… never waned in their sincerity.

"I mean it."

His words… They threw Tails off just a bit.

"We all know how instincts work now…" Sonic recalled to his mind, still not turning his head to address him as Tails about-faced and trailed off from Sonic's fast-paced speed, and slowly… came to a stop.

"Al-…Alright." He fully hovered in spot, his tails still flapping against the wind in their twirling notions, but he really did see the beginnings of a true change in Sonic…

'Sonic still thinks Silver is capable of shifting.' He looked back over his shoulder, 'Don't worry, Sonic… I'll take it from here… just… do come back sooner… rather than later.'

Tails flew back to the house, keeping his own word that he wouldn't be gone that long to Silver.

"Oh, Amy…" Tails sighed, "You're really messing up his inner-psyche." He sighed with a little bit a comedic ring to it. "You have no idea the effect you have over him… With… or without instincts." He just accepted that this was all he could do for his long-time friend, and flew quickly back to Silver and Amy.

One thing was certain… Sonic's 'Ideal Self' versus what he portrays was now contradicting each other.

Did he scorn Shadow's behavior… because it reflected his own worst fears of him staying too close to Amy's side back then?

And if that were true… really true, then…

Sonic looked up at the sky, sparkling with stars out tonight…

"... Then, I'm really just beating myself up over it, not Shadow."

He reflected more on this, and continued to run to let his mind race…

On how he could properly show Amy…

The true constellations in his eyes as well.

Somehow…

Someday…

-Back at Amy's Home-

Silver looked down, feeling bad he caused alarm by sneaking away, but it was–in his mind, anyway–the only option at the time.

He had thought he'd avoid worry by checking on Amy, but with what Tails just stated, they appeared to think he might 'lose himself completely' and also end up changing history.

'Why would they think I'd do something like that?' He scrunched up his face, which in turn, seemed to maneuver his nose to show his obvious dislike at being accused of such a thing. 'They act like we can't control ourselves…'

Seems this was why there was a heightened sense of 'protecting' Amy, which wasn't much different from his mission.

But it was… really disturbing. He was trying to connect the pieces in his mind, 'Instincts?' He put his hands up to his head, tapping his fingers lightly against his forehead, still keeping watch for Shadow. 'Is that the… animalistic tendencies that made Sonic and Shadow look wild and feral when I first saw them? Out in the meadow?'

He scoffed, folding his arms, 'I certainly have never had that!' He laughed in his mind, shaking his head as his shoulders bounced from the relief. 'Tails is right, I've never even heard of 'Instincts' in my world.' He sighed, 'At least that settles that. I should be an asset to this world then… That's so sad, though… Can people in the past really… not… control themselves here?' He looked up at the broken moon…

'In that case… maybe working with them is better than going it alone… that, and I feel like their cause is justified. It's concerning how they viewed things, but that makes their efforts that much more 'nobler' in my eyes. They were just striving to protect their friend.' He nodded, admiring that heroic effort as he seemed to understand a little more about the situation at hand.

'Still, we're not actually animals, here… I need to be more gentle and compassionate about their situation…' He told himself.

'We have a common goal, though. That should unite us, in a sense.' His eyes showed the strain of his newfound thinking, 'They don't want Amy to get with the wrong person either… I just have to make sure her choice is the best for the future's sake, as well as her own.' He closed his eyes, 'I feel better about this now… Before, I spoke of her like some kind of… object or something. A means to an end. This time, I'll strive to truly see the 'person' behind the legend.'

He opened his eyes, having a new perspective and take on how he should go about his purpose.

'She's just a girl. A girl with a very profound fate. All I need to do is observe and hopefully, steer her in the right direction.' He gave a smile as though a large weight was taken off his shoulders. Not that he wanted to play matchmaker in the first place, but it was a lot of stress on one person…

'Hmm… I wonder… who should be 'team leader' with this operation, then?' He put a finger to his mouth, still lost in his ponderings.

He gave a small shrug and went back to watching the area, trying to see any movement, but it was a still darkness… not even a shadow wavered from the ground.''Whatever happens… The future, and this trigger-... Amy Rose, comes first.' Seeing how Sonic had reacted about Amy, he felt a small bit of repentance in his soul.

'I can't keep calling her that.' He shook his head, disappointed in himself. 'After that promise I made… I really do need to put my best effort forward, but not to the expense of that struggling-…' His eyes suddenly thinned slightly, 'Beautiful… peaceful… sweet girl…'

The memory of her flooded his mind, and his fingers twitched a second.

'... I… I should check on her, shouldn't I?' He looked up and his eyes remained struggling, so subtle and yet so faint… flexing just at the rounded exterior of his oval pupils.

He flew down, wanting to give a sincere apology as he came to the door, placing a sympathetic hand on it.

He hadn't even noticed what he was feeling or thinking, if he was a little more conscious and aware, he might have realized in his mind that he had slipped a little and something else moved his hand… influenced his thinking…

"I'm…"

'What do I even say? She had looked so distraught before… I don't want to startle her.'

He felt his ears bending again… submissively?

"I'm sorry."

'I should at least explain myself… I probably frightened her, too… She may have thought I was a weird 'instinctual' hedgehog back then, too…'

He looked away, troubled in mind and heart, but took a breath and continued.

Little did he know, that breath was induced with Amy's scent, and the pheromone began to stir to life a long dormant gene within his evolved DNA…

"I promise I won't do anything on my own without telling you, or the others…"

Would this help her trust him? See he wasn't like the other hedgehogs of this world? These men… He would be a gentleman at best, and try to ask forgiveness for scaring her.

"At first, I just assumed they'd get in the way of my mission… I didn't think I could trust anyone but myself…"

His mind then ran to something else… and his eyes fluttered a moment as he moved closer to the door, leaning somewhat against it.

"You're all so close."

Jealousy? Envy?

For someone he just met?

"It made me feel my mission was threatened if they were one of the father's I'm trying to find."

He scratched behind his head, suddenly feeling itchy… and right when he found a good spot, turned his head to it and found himself pawing at it.

He didn't even notice the odd behavior, and continued, "I… uhh… S-Saw you guys kinda…'cuddling'? I guess?"

He stopped and shook his head, unsure why a simple scratch on his head from the awkward mention of him spying on the group had him momentarily getting a profound itch.

"That one time… in the meadow… beforehand…"

He was certain, so certain, that one of them would fit the description of who he was looking for… but now, he guessed not.

Amy listened, having left her makeshift pillow-fort and leaned against the wall of her door, hoping Sonic didn't actually leave again…

Now that her scent was closer, Silver's eyes widened in a small flinch, and he leaned his nose against the door.

His muzzle lightly slid across it, before his hand reached for the door… 'What… is this-…?'

"Oh… I get it. You suspected Sonic or Shadow could be the two different fathers, right?"

Silver looked behind him, seeing the yellow fox boy smile a bit sorrowfully and land to his side.

"That's why you attacked. You've since begun to suspect it might not be 'the bad father' you're looking for, but actually, the 'good father' you've found, right?"

Tails chuckled, awkwardly scratching his chin as he did have his hands behind him, as though showing Silver he wasn't alone anymore…

Silver turned his attention away from the door, his hand slipping down it, as though whatever was trying to get him to do something now felt its own power slipping, and couldn't do anything about it.

'... Did no one ever listen to me?' He figured out that they seemed to hesitate in believing his story… and even more so doubted it.

This was maybe too much explaining… Silver felt he was being ignored…

Maybe… no one had given anyone a sliver of faith or trust?

"... A lot of lives are at stake…" Silver gave his full-attention to Tails, completely unaware of what was happening moments before to him.

So subtle, it slipped past any and all detection… crawling back into the obscurity that was its existence.

So… whatever this was… didn't have much of a 'fight' in it, did it?

Silver looked a bit defeated, like he wanted to be understood, but didn't know how else to explain himself. "I didn't mean to scare anyone… I only come off intimidating because I know how weak I really am to this… whole situation."

As though unable to leave it alone, his hand reached back to tap the door with a finger, "It's Amy's choices that define my world's fate. I guess… I just don't know who to turn to right now for advice."

"Let's hope it's as simple as that." Tails whispered somewhat lightly under his breath, closing his eyes and smiling as though hoping Amy couldn't hear him, but if she saw him, would think his countenance doesn't look alarming.

He worried about his friends so much… but even more so…

Tails, deep inside his heart, was terrified of what it might be like when he was old enough to shift…

"Who's ever time-traveled to save the world before?" Tails asked with a returning sympathetic shrug, "We're not so different, you and me. I'm trying to help my friends, but I'm terribly unequipped to do so…" He drooped his arms down, bending somewhat in his own defeat as well.

Seeing and hearing this, it comforted Silver, the empathy that Tails portrayed. Silver chuckled a light scoff slightly, "You look how I feel." He sighed, "But yeah… I get it now. What you meant by saying you'd like an 'assistant'... Maybe… I need one too." He admitted, looking at some flowers near Amy's house and nodding his head to them.

"I want to protect this world…" He looked up to the stars, "That's more vague than saying… I want to protect the people, my… friends… who don't even exist yet."

Tails smiled even brighter, "Maybe say it that way next time. I'm sure Sonic and Shadow will understand how you feel this time. I admit, I didn't really understand everything as completely 'bogus' at first… but it is hard to believe that you're really from the future." Tails wagged his tails, "But now that we're all talking about it a bit more, it makes more sense that you're just trying to be tough for those who are counting on you, right?"

"Right." Silver tried to save face, but he honestly looked so sad… "I just…" He took his hand off the door, now fully back to himself and wiping some drops from his eyes. "I don't want… to disappoint anyone… I just don't want to fail… I volunteered, but…" He thought of Blaze.

"... There were others that could have stepped in to take my place. I don't want to feel… my pride ruined the future." He closed his eyes and turned from Tails, showing how much he really did care about his mission.

Tails sighed, "Alright, enough pouty faces… for a moment, even just one, I'd like to see some happy people again!" Tails threw up his arms and walked over to Silver, patting his shoulder.

"But that still doesn't explain how you got out of my garage!" He laughed, "Seriously! Shadow says you flew with some… green energy. Is that true?" He perked his ears a little bit, curious if it was a futuristic instrument of some kind. "You also said you have telekinesis powers… But how can that be? Is it the same as Sonic's superspeed? Amy's hammer appearing out of nowhere? Knuckles's ability to glide for miles in the air? I'm kinda curious!"

"Ah… That again?" Silver looked surprised, "And he… saw… me fly out?" He smiled and closed his eyes in awkwardness. "I've always had the ability of controlling things, I mentioned this before." He moved his arm up, wobbling it a bit as though when he was younger, trying to learn his powers. "I simply channel my thoughts into power, and it feels like they'll do as I please. Watch." He moved his hand to a rock, '... People really don't listen to me.' He grumbled in his head.

Or maybe… Tails was trying to distract by conducting his own experiments? Get his mind off of things?

Tails was good at displacement manipulation, haha! Or maybe, Silver was just really gullible to fall for it?

Tails observed his hand glowing a vibrant teal and so did the rock, surrounded by his power, it then lifted up while his hand rose to give it intangible lift. "See?"

"Woah! Is that with your mind? It's like… an invisible energy force that you can relocate at will." Tails ran over to the rock, looking under it to make sure it wasn't some kind of magic trick. "Ah-ha! It's probably an energy ray of some kind! I bet if I look through a UV light ray spectrum, I could-" He went off talking about light-based energy fields but Silver just politely smiled at the boy.

"Uh… I guess so?" Silver moved the rock away from Tails's head, not wanting to accidentally have it fall or hit him in any way. "I never really thought about it before." Silver gently glided the floating rock to the ground, placing it just a little farther away than where it had originally been.

"Hmm.. interesting… Does everyone in the future have powers like these?" Tails got up, holding his hands to his chin as he thought. "We have something similar here… Chaos Energy isn't something necessarily 'inherited', though. So I'm thinking this is more a 'bloodline' thing, yeah? Do you know your parents?"

Silver shook his head, "Not really."

"Ha! An orphan! Like me!" Tails eagerly hopped towards him, happy to have something in common, but Silver was confused why he would seem energetic at such a statement.

"Uhh… I guess." He just furrowed his brow and then raised it, deciding to not think too heavily on the customs of how polite interactions worked in the past.

"I'd like to do some research and test if it really is your brain waves that emit powerful levitation abilities." Tails rocked on his heels, "Do you mind?"

"…What…?" Silver tilted his head.

"Oh, sorry, I mean, telekinesis." He explained in more simple terms.

"Oh. N-no, I understood that part." Silver looked away, "I'm… not sure."

"Oh, don't worry about it! It won't take more than a second! And besides, if you're gonna be my assistant, we might as well know more about each other! Haha!" Tails got up behind Silver and put his hands to his shoulders, still to small to really measure up fully to them but pushed him onward and away from Amy's door, nevertheless.

His hands… leaving Amy's door,... it was the same feeling as before.

When he held her own,... and didn't want to let go…

He stretched himself back to try and keep a hand on the door, but Tails pulled him away and he was left just gazing back with a strange yearning towards it…

A strange… connection…

Was it his telekinesis?

Or… someone else's? Pulling him back this time?

Silver tried to politely turn him down again, "B-But what about-" Amy? Shadow? Even Sonic returning?

However, he was yet again disregarded,... did Tails not want his folly with Shadow to be repeated again?

Did he… notice something, but hadn't said anything?

Silver was shoved down the street by Tails being a little too curious and persistent about testing his abilities, at least, that's what he made it out to be.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" His enthusiastic voice was heard as Amy took a long breath out after hearing the stumbling of Silver's footsteps fade off into muffled silence of the practically morning air now.

"At least he's found a new way to distract himself…" Light humor, something Sonic tried to help her with back when they all discussed this at Tails's house… when she first heard about 'Her Fate'.

She went wearily back to her nest and drooped down, sighing as she wished she could take back everything she said to Sonic. However… She was too proud of herself for sticking up for Shadow to really mean a full apology.

He had been there for her… for as long as he possibly could be.

He risked danger to keep her safe…

But she didn't want to hurt Sonic by defending him!

Her eyes formed crosses as she closed them in on each other, whining and kicking her feet in her nest in a quiet, coping tantrum.

She turned around and ruffled her head into the pillows, continuing to hit the soft pile of things until she lost all energy to fight back anymore.

"Ughhhhhh… Why do I make everything worse!" she lifted her head up to groan out the words as, again, she slammed her face back down and wiggled it into the fluffy comfort fort some more.

The comfort of Sonic's forgiveness was shielded out by the overwhelming dread that Sonic could actually be thinking she preferred Shadow over him.

"It's not like that…" She groaned.

"Why can't we all just be one big happy-"

-Somewhere in the Woods near Amy's home…-

"Family!?"

A rock flew through the air, as far as Sonic's foot swing's momentum could chuck it.

Having ran for so long, he took everything from his speed to send it straight through the sky, with a jetstream behind it…

A killer shot, a way to let out some steam…

Far and Away~

Sonic had grumbled out his words, "Mr. Future man… can't you see we have enough problems living in the present as is?" He clenched his fists.

"Telling Amy all that stuff… she's only 18, we're both still so young!" He spun around and became like a blue tornado. The pebbles and rocks all shook on the ground from the wind picking up speed, before being launched towards Sonic and sucked up in the hurricane.

"We shouldn't be thinking about this kinda stuff-!" He unspun to reveal he was using his hands to twist himself at high speeds, his feet in the air kicked the rocks in all sorts of directions. This was like bullets being blasted through the air at highspeeds everywhere.

"It isn't right for me to say what she can and can't do-!" He sped through the air, punching, smashing, breaking rocks as he trained himself, again, a young adventurer who couldn't sit still to think for even a split-second!

"Augh!" He roundhouse-kicked a few more back, and some got embedded in trees. "Oh, shoot!" He ran over after seeing he had left scars on the tree, and rubbed it lightly, picking out the deeply lodged rocks. "Sorry about that… Shouldn't have let you take the recoil, buddy." He smiled apologetically up to the tree, patting and stroking it again. He let out a sigh, "Guess that's all I've been doing to Shadow… and even Amy, too."

He looked out over all the damage he's been causing… the inner turmoil ended up outwardly hurting the nature around him…

So many trees were impacted… some even creaking as though close to collapsing backwards in agony.

His eyes shook somewhat in compassion at the sight… "Silver… He said the future will be impacted by our events… happening now or… to come." He narrowed his eyes, looking back at the tree that he had carefully pulled the shattered pieces of rocks and other debris of pebbles out of.

'... Amy's dreams… they shouldn't be dangerous to anyone.' He looked down at the ground, then hit the tree to shake some leaves from the top of it. "Darn it…" He remembered what Silver had said, and how Amy had looked at his promise on the couch.

'She needed that… and all I did was try and distract her from whatever truths he thought he was stating…' He put both hands to the tree, leaning on it.

'What if… me leaving… set the course of fate?' He looked forward, '... Or prevented it?' He didn't want to think of things that weren't 'directly in front of him', but Silver's words had rattled him…

How long until the turning point that would change the whole world?

All of nature was still running its course, from the racing streams, to chirping of song birds…

Yet, Sonic stood silently… his body twitching…

"A family… now? Who would do such a thing…" He gritted his teeth, "We're too young…"

It wasn't his decision to make… so… why was he acting as though it was?

If not someone they knew… who would… why would something like that happen?

For all he knew, what if the future had already been avoided? His instincts and him… or rather, just his instincts stopped Instinct Shadow. Amy's unharmed…

But still…

"If not one of us…" His face tensed, worried. "Then what would cause Amy to-..?"

Dreading the possibility that it wouldn't be what Amy wished for herself, or hoping that the white hedgehog supposedly from the future was mistaken, Sonic kicked another rock near him but gentler than before, as this larger one rolled itself down the hill.

"I haven't been acting much like a hero for Amy… or for anyone, for that matter…" His foot barely tapped the ground as he stopped in mid-stride, a slow descent down the hillside.

'Not like I used to care what I came off as…' He sighed again.

Angled somewhat at a curve, the wind rolled past his quills and sent them forward, over his face as he thought long and hard about what his actions could do… and how to carefully avoid a half-seen fate…

'…I only left to keep her safe…' He closed his eyes, 'But… by leaving her… I ended up causing more harm than what was gained… What was gained? Just another hedgehog acting just like me.'

He held out the palm of his hand, feeling the wind graze by his gloves, moving them at the wrist.

"I had no idea that I caused so many people to be put in more danger…" he put his hand to his head.

"I'm supposed to be there to protect… To preserve the world I cherish." He looked over at the land, "And the people that care about me…"

He thought of Tails… and of Amy… then looked straight ahead, wondering where Shadow had actually gone off to…

He opened his eyes slowly.

'She trusts him… because she forgave him so easily. He had already proven that he knew the power that came from the consequences of his actions… and he still chose to do what was right.' He remembered Shadow fighting to destroy the world, and then stepping back to save it.

He looked again at the rocks displaced and stabbed into the impaled ground everywhere, some even dug so far in as though having been shoveled through it, leaving deep skid marks…

"... The world suffers for our mistakes…" He looked up, '…But I don't think I've been fully forgiven yet…" he looked down towards a cliff far off in the distance, and beyond that, the mountains where waterfalls were known to stream down the sides, and on the very top of the mountain…

Sonic tilted his head down, thinking…

He rushed up to the mountain's side, knowing that Amy's forgiveness is what he really needed to be able to kick Shadow out and push Silver's concerns aside.

That… and he didn't blame Amy's blunder anymore as that. Instead, he needed to forgive himself, too.

Amy… did nothing wrong.

-Back at Tails's Home-

"Well, besides obvious readings of extraordinary mental power, I'd say it's safe to assume you do hold the power of psychokinesis! That's amazing!" Tails closed his book he was using for guided reference and started taking the small cords he stuck on Silver's body off as Silver sighed, helping him take the ones off his head too.

"So, I take it that's not too different from telekinesis?" Silver thought this was pointless, "I've never really cared too much to look into it… unless… you think it's more powerful to know?" He held his hands out, as if about to learn a new power.

"Ehhh… I'd say it's just useful to know." Tails wagged his twin fox tails, mostly using this as a way to get Silver away from Amy. 'I haven't heard a call from Amy… I'm guessing Sonic and Shadow never showed up after all.' He looked at his Miles-Electric on the table, seeming a bit heartbroken for the girl after all they've gone through… 'It might be best to just… stay home for now.' He put the cords down and laid them out across the table, trying to keep it neat.

He wasn't the best at making things 'look pretty', but he'd be insulted if anyone called him disorganized.

"Look, I appreciate the diagnosis, but I have very important matters to deal with right now-" Silver was about to get down from the table Tails set up in his lab for him to sit on when he pushed him back down.

Although startling the hedgehog man from the future, Tails looked awfully serious as he kept that hand out to hold him back from jumping down.

"Sit down."

Silver was shocked at the change in demeanor from this youth all of a sudden, but readjusted himself to sitting back on the table, perplexed yet again.

Tails placed his book down along with making sure the cords weren't tangled and began wrapping them up along arm and hand to try and 'neatly' put them away.

"Last night gave all of us a pretty big scare, as you may know."

After carefully putting the cords away, skimming a white glove over them lightly, as he knew these were the same cords he used to gauge what had happened to Sonic upon his first instinctual takeover…

Feeling a tinge of guilt for that, he pushed his lips together and turned his head, closing his eyes, as well as slamming the tin storage chest shut.

If he hadn't done all those experiments on Instinct Sonic… maybe… the hedgehog wouldn't be so weary around him… Of course, he was a natural predator back in the great primordial eras of time… but today, he was Sonic's best friend.

It hurt him to think a part of Sonic feared him,... or at least, was cautious and wary around him now.

He turned around and held his hands together, leaning back on his other table with computers, his tool box, and other technology placed upon it. "I need to ask you a few more things… I have to have complete, a hundred and ten percent trust and faith in you." He spoke clearly, wanting to do his upmost best for Amy.

Wasn't… he doing all he could from the start?

Maybe… Tails was pushing himself so hard for his friends, not wanting to make another mistake like with Sonic, but also… feeling horribly useless, he just wanted to do something for them.

Anything…

"You say you're here to save the future, correct? And that this future is in jeopardy due to one of Amy's descendents, am I still not mistaken in that fact?"

"… Y-yes, you are correct in that manner, but-" Silver furrowed his brows, reaching a hand up to say something before, "...You didn't really care about my abilities… did you?" he slightly smiled, seeing Tails's game.

"You wanted to know fully what you were dealing with… for… Amy's sake? I'd take it?" He leaned back a bit, bending an eye down.

'Everyone wants to do everything for her sake… I'm kinda understanding why now.'

He wondered, though… does he really get why?

Tails slyly smiled back, "I've seen a lot of weird abilities. I won't lie, I was curious, but I really just wanted an excuse to keep you with me and away from the others."

"... Do you… really fear me going into these… 'Instincts' that drastically?" Silver looked afraid now too, holding an arm as though injured, but seeming just in denial.

"It's not likely you have them. If they haven't been triggered by Amy's scent already, they're probably not there." Tails thought about how Shadow didn't show signs till later… but, eh, he was a bioengineered, genetic alternative to a natural born hedgehog.

If Silver really was from the future, he should be a natural hedgehog, not scientifically created.

"However, if you were to attack my friends…" Tails pulled up the information he had stored about Silver, as Silver also looked up at the monitors, gauging how serious this young fox boy was about protecting them.

"I… I will use this to keep my friends safe."

Silver smiled slightly, "Blackmail… Well, at least you're not without merit and resolve." Silver finally jumped down now, brushing off his fears of this 'Instinct' thing spreading around, and nodded as he walked up to Tails. "I respect that. But I will do whatever is necessary, for the sake of the future… I can at least promise you… I'm not here just to mess around and hurt innocent people's lives." He gestured a hand to the side to show he wasn't that cruel. "I just… I need to protect my friends, too."

He put a hand to his chest, and Tails seemed to look up to him and give a similar smiling nod, respecting that Silver's reasons weren't so far off from his own.

"Now, then. If you're correct about one of two men bearing two differing sons…" Tails put his hand to his chin, walking over to change the monitor and type more things into the computer, trying to logically see if he could deduce any parallels and help Silver find the culprit. "Why didn't you research the matter further in the future? I mean… was there really no family tree to investigate? No… Library, public records? Not even a consensus about asking their descendants at all?" Tails questioned, trying to get more information out of Silver, who sighed at the amount of undertaking he had gone through to find even a scrap of data back then.

He leaned forward, hunching himself over as he put his hands out in front of him and together against the table, having been in this very situation with Blaze many times before.

He looked down seriously, seeing the glow of the computer's against the reflective table, and remembering what she had told him,... to trust no one, but complete the mission.

'I'm sorry, Blaze.' He closed his eyes, 'But I gotta tell them… I feel it in my gut that that's the right thing to do.'

He looked to Tails, 'They look… sincerely, now, like heroes to me…'

He then took his gaze to the computer.

"I looked in both dimensions. There were just… legends and books, I never actually saw the guy… Only drawn pictures that barely gave much of an appearance… You have to understand, I'm chasing something that has all knowledge of it completely gone or barely known about. From what I'm gathering, he was pretty much a feral animal." Silver held up a hand to show that's really all he could muster. "Beware his snare… That was mentioned quite a few times." He looked between the screen and Tails.

"It's been-Ah,… I can't tell you the exact date I'm existing in, sorry." He had to catch himself, but smiled apologetically to Tails, who nodded.

"Seems fair." He admitted, "We only want to prevent Amy's downfall to this guy, not the entire rescripting of the future." Tails sweatdropped, realizing how sensitive this mission really was.

"Right." Silver nodded with an even greater smile, "I appreciate that. I'm glad you understand the severity of my mission now."

The computer hummed and suddenly Silver's eyes bulged as though with understand, his whole body shook.

"Wait… That's the name! Sever!" He quickly lurched up. "I remember now! Wait… ugh..!" He gripped his head, "The future… My future is fading!" He panicked, his eyes shaking, "I'm… I'm…" He couldn't remember Blaze's face anymore… he couldn't remember the details he must have known… "I… I don't know how much I've forgotten… my world… it's probably slipping so far away from the timeline now… it's almost extinct."

His eyes flashed again with recognition.

"Extinct! That's it! Something about this king being long overdue his expiration! I can't recall… He wasn't old… He was… His life was in… the…" He strained against what felt like brain rot, like something literally sapping his memories dry.

Tails only had his hands hovering over the keyboard… before Silver came down from his panic and leaned against the table.

He looked utterly defeated, "It's gone." He hid his face, turning it aside. "The future… Where I'm from… All my knowledge of the crazed and wicked, vile king… is gone."

"I-It can't be all gone." Worried, Tails moved his hands from above the keyboard to being on Silver's back, trying to comfort him. "If you're still existing, then your future can still exist, too!"

Silver didn't look up for a long moment, before finally turning his glossy eyes to have his nose flick up towards Tails. It was as though he was asking for hope, saying, 'Do you mean it?' Before looking down and nodding, getting back up with Tails's help to stabilize his wobbly new stance.

"Y-You're right… it's never too late… so long as I'm still here." He used his arm to wipe his nose and also swipe away his remorse and mourning.

"I just know it said mention of you as her friend, and Sonic as the current hero… but I never heard about that Shadow guy being anything but a lone anti-hero in the mix of hatred." Silver began explaining, trying to shake off his momentary fears, showing he really didn't have many resources remaining after most of his memory had… vanished, into thin air.

"But I do know this…" He narrowed his eyes, rubbing his chest a second before hitting the table fiercely, turning to Tails, "That child is going to be conceived sometime around… well… around this time." He still wasn't giving any details, looking away a second. "You must understand… I have to save my future! For the people in it… and for the world. This is my task, my mission! I won't let anyone stop me from finding out which timeline occurs through which man." He straightened himself up, narrowing his eyes to show he was determined to succeed.

"Miles…"

"M-My friends call me Tails…" Tails nervously tried to keep his composure, but his arms came folded back up towards himself, a little spooked by how serious this all seemed to be.

"... Am I considered your friend now?" Silver raised an eyebrow, and Tails sighed in relief.

"Sure, go ahead." He offered out the palm of his hand, as though to suggest to him to keep going, and just accept that as such.

"R-Right… Tails, then… Umm…" Silver looked away, slightly blushing from the flustered feelings of having–in fact–more than one friend now.

"Why are you leaving us in the blank on all these things? We want to help." Tails held up a hand before folding his arms, still finding it all so unbelievably complex, but willing to help no matter what the cost may bring.

If it meant keeping his friends safe, then…

He just… he couldn't help feeling like he had to be of use to them. In some way or other, especially when they really needed him the most.

"I mean… this is a big job for just one guy, right? Why not bring along a friend?"

"…I couldn't…" Silver seemed a bit broken to say that, letting a hand slip off the table and just dangle by his side in the open aired gap between his form and the computer bench. "I couldn't risk time traveling with anyone else. It was too dangerous… I had to leave my friend behind to keep her safe. There could have been side-effects, it's best only one of us stayed behind and fought still, just in case… I failed." He looked away, looking like he had hurt someone back in his timeline to be here… and didn't seem to want to dwell on it.

Time traveling was complicated… He could use the power of Chaos Control, and although she had connections, Silver was clearly gifted with the abilities for it far better than she was.

Plus, perhaps,... something in him just wanted to be that hero. He convinced her, in the end, and she stepped aside for him… He took this opportunity from her and so he couldn't possibly fail her when she believed in him to succeed!

"I'm leaving out details to not completely change anything, but also… I think… This was the first time I have consciously been aware of what I'm forgetting." Silver put a hand to his head, a bit queasy from the headache. "I'm only here to find the father. Once I know him, I'll travel through time once more and stop him from ever getting to Amy. I have to!" He flew back into the air, looking at his hands, making them into fists, gritting his teeth. "If I can stop him now, I will! But I…" He let the fists turn back into open-palmed hands again. "I can't be mistaken. I can't accidentally go after the wrong father, or worse, an innocent bystander… I don't know if I even have it in me to return to the past once again… Or…" he looked up towards the roof, "Even return to the future again… I… I can't remember." He shook his head as he descended his gaze back down from the top of the garage.

"H-hey!" Tails broke from his last pose to get up and attempt at maybe stopping Silver from flying off again, meeting him in the air and talking him, literally, down. "It's gonna be alright. Gee, I can see how much this is affecting you…" He gave off some empathy, and reached out to touch Silver's arm, flying down as Silver floated to also step onto the floor once more. "But the more you talk about how serious your mission is, the more you end up scaring everyone around you… Do you get what I'm saying?"

Silver looked away, "... Sorry, it's just… That doesn't diminish its weight." Silver argued gently against, although, his voice sounded mostly exhausted, not necessarily letting Tails's words slide.

"I can't help but show the full force of this matter. How can anyone remain calm knowing all that I do? … Did… know." He looked down, again saddened by how much memory he had already lost.

"Tails… What if I lose everything? Even my sole purpose for being here?" He looked sorrowfully up to Tails, stumbling a bit forward as though losing his composure, and taking Tails's wrist from the hand holding his own arm. "What if… What if I'm repeating things over and over again… because…"

He really did look like he was losing himself now.

"Because I have been slowly forgetting everything else… and this is my own way of trying to retain what is most vitally important to me?" His eyes shook as he looked on the ground, the crazed expression made Tails pull him up, shaking him to remain sane.

"Silver, please! Get ahold of yourself, no one is forgetting anything! You need to properly tell me everything so that that doesn't occur! Nor need to happen!" Tails figured this was as good a time as anything to get Silver to confess to everything.

"I couldn't bear it if Amy got hurt because I didn't do enough…" Tails's voice suddenly broke with a high whine of boyhood, showing how much his own weight at keeping his friends alright during this difficult 'animalistic leftovers from puberty' time had affected him as well.

He sounded on the verge of tears.

"Please…" He shook Silver, "I'm not just a kid anymore…" He wanted to help, but he felt everyone was keeping things somewhat under wraps for his sake… "I can handle the hard things, I've got to! For Amy and Sonic and Shadow and… And…" He began to lose his cool, his head coming down, too…

"…Please, understand I mean Amy no harm." Silver, seeing the poor boy's state of mind was similar to his own, exchanged in sorrows and held out a hand to steady Tails from falling as well, mimicking the behavior Tails did to keep Silver up on the table moments before.

Tails shook his head, but Silver's eyes were full of honesty. "You can trust me. You have to. Just like I have to trust you, Tails."

Tails sniffled, slowly taking breaths to calm himself, too.

"It's just a lot." He admitted, wiping an eye, "But you have to promise me… You really won't hurt Amy. You'll do whatever it takes."

"I promise." Silver thought that easy enough, smiling with a returned nod, "But I have to do this. I have to make sure she ends up with the proper suitor, or the whole future is at stake."

"But it's spring time here!" Tails threw up his arms, as Silver held out both hands now to stabilize him, worried he was going to get dramatic with both of them experiencing emotional outburst. It really helped to snap Silver out of it, finding he needed to be there for this younger man.

"Instincts are everywhere!" Tails continued, gripping his head.

"C-Calm down…" Silver wasn't in any position to say that after realizing how much of the future was getting lost behind him… But he had to keep them both operating, for the sake of everything!

"We have to find a way to keep us both on track…" He tried to figuratively make a 'course' with both hands out and fingers together, pointing straight ahead.

"We've been keeping Amy safe this whole time!" Tails looked like he was getting flung into his own emotions, and Silver still squinted his eyes at trying to understand what 'Instincts' even were again. "Can't you tell us what to look out for? What we should be wary of? All you've said is that he's animalistic. Look around you!" Tails held up his hands, "They're all going into apes!"

"…Instincts?" Silver once again questioned, "Ancient… feelings, you said?" He was still a bit clueless on the matter. "Maybe we should start there." He held out a hand, which–actually–did seem to calm Tails down as he took another deep breath and walked off his jittery emotions.

"Augh! That's right! You're still having a hard time comprehending them…" Tails stepped around him and then back on his foot a moment, surprised by his unknowing look of confusion. "Wait a minute… You don't know what Instincts are?" Tails turned, putting his hand up to his chin. "Could it be possible? If you really are from the distant future… and you've never experienced them before… and what if you really haven't evolved above them?"

"…I'm unsure of what you're talking about, please explain it again? Start from the beginning, what are the root of instincts and how does one trigger them?" he turned back to Tails, seeming to be more interested and otherwise distracted by this new development. "I've heard you all talk so many times about it since arriving here, when I got to this time, I've been confused by the very mention of the word. Are you referring to motion reflexes? Gut feelings? Primeval behaviors..?"

"Something like primeval behaviors, yes." Tails looked up, worriedly at Silver as he rubbed his fingers together in the one hand that he had held up, thinking… "This is bad. If Shadow has been around for 50 years to still possess instincts within his DNA, then I'm sure as heck positive you're still carrying the genetic code." Tails ran back to his computer, typing some stuff in.

"What if… you've been experiencing instincts this whole time? But due to your naiveness, you haven't noticed what they actually are? And if so… what if your instincts are…" He gulped, turning slooooowly back around to face Silver.

"A… Advanced?"

"..Excuse me? Shadow's 50 years old?" Silver scoffed, "How is that possible? He looks young, like me and Sonic's age…" Silver put his hand back on the table, leaning on it and over to try and speak to Tails more directly, but the fox boy looked a bit apprehensive. "At least… closer to our age, anyway."

"Heh-heh-ehh…" Tails twitched the corner of a frazzled smile… turning back to his computer. 'If Silver really does have instincts that haven't been completely evolved out of him… then what do 'evolved instincts' look like? And if he's another Alpha… Oh, boy!' He gripped the sides of his muzzle's cheek fluff, completely flabbergasted at that new knowledge of a possible collapse of an already unstable set-up!

To distract from such unpleasant thoughts, Tails humored Silver with the backstory on Shadow, typing quickly to try and think what he should even look up…

He hadn't noticed any considerable shift in Silver… was it like Shadow? Where the genes wouldn't trigger without some big event or anomaly?

"Well, that's what happens when you're put under, encapsulated for 50 years, and kept hidden by the government." Tails rushed to get a monitor put up and turned the light on, getting his clicker out and turning to Silver. "Didn't I already ask you to sit down? You're going to learn something new today."

'If Silver can be more aware of what he doesn't know about Instincts… it may actually help Amy, Sonic, and the rest of us to not have to deal with 'this' as well as everything else!' He concluded, and began the lesson.

"Naive?" Silver recalled, "You really think I'm that unaware of myself?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Tails clicked a button on his clicker and a red light appeared, so he could point to things on the slides he had made for Amy's sake, way back when it felt like… "If you haven't noticed your memory slipping until now, then why wouldn't you notice telltale signs of an Instinct Form waiting to emerge?"

Silver looked a bit uncomfortable now, but slowly… floated himself up and sat on the table again, deciding this lesson was probably… m-maybe..? Important to know for the… umm… sake of the future.

Y-Yeah… he'll go with that.

'At least… it might help me learn more effectively who the father is that I'm looking for.'

He nodded as Tails began to go through the same talk he gave to Amy, a bit more confident this time around…

Just like Amy, he wondered why it said 'adolent hedgehogs are white', and was puzzled over that now extinct fact.

What other 'extinct' things… were waiting to resurface under their noses?

At least now, Silver could have a better understanding of this strange phenomenon.

After all, knowledge is power.

R-... Right?

As the lesson went on, Silver just become more… and more… uncomfortable… at all he was learning about.

He gulped.

'I really hope these coincidences that I'm thinking about and hearing from Tails… are just… from maybe just me being a hypochondriac.'

The ears… the eyes… he disregarded it all.

"Have you experienced anything like this?"

"Not at all."

He lied.

'If I admit to any of these similarities… they won't let me observe and be around Amy.'

He deduced.

'It's best I lay low and just avoid direct contact with her then.'

He looked to his hands, the same that held her own, that reached for the door…

"But it's… all very… interesting, if not fascinating though."

'I can't have instincts. I have to focus on my mission. I can't delude my brain with worries or thoughts of such unseemly matters.'

… He grew a bit afraid, hearing all of what Tails had to tell…

But pushed his fears aside and straightened up.

'Nothing… is going to interfere with my mission.'

He glared at the text reading Alpha, Beta, and Omega roles and behaviors.

'Nothing.'

-Back in Amy's home~-

Amy just quietly squeaked the door open, looking around at the peaceful morning with rays of golden sunlight sparkling the fresh dew on the grass ahead of her house's winding dirt road. She had on a hood like, old ladies shawl over her head from last night, still having a bit of Sonic's aroma on it. For some reason, it was comforting… even if it was so faintly light upon it.

She tied it around her head so that, maybe, her smell wouldn't fly across the wind again, like last spring.

If it could hold the faintest bit of Sonic within it, why not her own? Limiting its far-reaching power, she hoped.

She just wanted to get out of the house, it was making her feel ill to sleep so many hours and panic when she awoke and thought of everything again. She was sick and tired of being cooped up in there!

Sonic always said, "If you have time to worry, run!" and so she would. He never did return… She hoped he meant later.

Her home was small, and made even smaller since she naturally only felt safe in her little bundle of cushiony comfort that was her makeshift nest bed. It was so boring, like a pup in the pound with it's head resting on the edge of his dog bed.

No, she wouldn't be trapped anymore.

Fear disappears when Amy is near!

Her motto had always been, "Never fear, Amy Rose is here!" But she felt miles away from here… her heart a bit confused and lost.

When unable to find Sonic, she used to eat, sleep, cook, shower, and maybe watch T.V on occasion, now the home really felt like just an animal's shelter and den. A place to ponder scarier things afoot… which she was fed up with.

Amy pouted for far too long! It was time for action! Time for a stand!

She had felt she gained some energy the night before, to stand up to Sonic, but… She wondered why she felt so aggressive, so… mean.

It left a bad taste in her mouth, but maybe being cooped up for so long made her antsy for something? She didn't like that side of herself, and had no idea that instincts were affecting those outbursts towards him.

Well… she wasn't looking for Sonic… or Shadow for that matter… So maybe…

'... They can go on without me…'

She stretched her leg to the dirt path, then did a few small stretches with her body as though trying to shake off the apprehensive feeling.

'I refuse to be a shut-in!'

She declared, making a strong face.

She patted her cheeks, nothing was scary! So what if it was still within season? It was close enough to the ending, right?

She closed the door and locked it shut, then ran out onto the dirt road, kicking up dust and laughing before taking in a big whiff of the air-

Men.

Her eyes flung open from her moment of jolly freedom, looking around.

'M… Must be down near the city… we're miles from there… It's fine.' She told herself, bringing her shawl closer around her head and tucking her quills back in, feeling one or two slipping out.

'We'll be careful… but maybe it's silly to be 'too' careful… We're all alone, anyway.' She comforted herself, putting her hands to her hips, still nervous but trying to convince herself it was nothing. 'We're Amy Rose! My Piko Piko Hammer should be enough! I won't shift, it's fine~'

Running to the hills where she could just enjoy the wide open spaces, she spun around, taking in the last of spring and spotting the cliff that separated a part of the land from her unless one knew where the land bridge was.

She peered over to see a wasteland ribbon the trails of meadows that streamed far off into the distance…

She gulped while at the edge, peering down the gaping gulf where nothing grew… It was back before Sonic had returned from where Chris lived, and Eggman was running amok again…

All that drained life…

Not to mention his earlier schemes at draining the world of its natural life and color…

Still… it was a huge drop.

She pulled herself from leaning over to look at the chasm and held her knot where the shawl was over her. No matter how many times she saw it, it always made her a bit fidgety, even if she wasn't afraid of heights…

Anyone would want to shy away from the edge of oblivion…

Sighing, she started to walk back around before bumping into something that smelled really nice.

"Offph!"

She was taken aback, freaking out that it could be the male scent she picked up on earlier.

"Haha… Here!"

The male's muzzle grinned, looking fairly excited it seemed… What was that other scent she picked up on?

"..H-huh?" Amy looked up from holding a hand to her head at the impact to see flowers being shoved up to her face, now buried nose-deep in it from his insistence.

"These are for you."

She finally looked fully up, meeting the gaze and shining eyes of her beloved hero.

Relief rushed over her being, her senses turning from their adrenaline to excitement.

"Ohh… Sonic."

She said that almost breathlessly, glad it was him and not some stranger, but Sonic thought it was her typical swooning behavior.

"I knew I smelled something, and I can never forget your smell, heh." Sonic put his pointer finger under his nose and rubbed it lightly, seeming haughty over the fact that he could track her so easily now.

E-Even if that concerned him… somewhat.

How… familiar it had become… in little to no time at all.

He suddenly opened his eyes and blinked them, putting his finger down, "N-not like that!" He corrected himself, "W-what are you doing out here, anyway? I went to look for where Shadow had gone off to, but couldn't find a trace of him."

Amy was already taken aback, but then hearing he couldn't forget her scent…

She had a bit of mixed feelings about it, but still blushed dipped her chin down again, pulling at her shawl's knot once more, securing it fastly.

"Someone could smell you, Amy…" He stated, gently, but she snorted such a tone.

"What, like you?" she put her hands to her hips, and took the shawl off. "Well, this didn't work then." And flipped it to fly onto his head.

Immediate panic overtook Sonic's body. "That's-! Amy, that's not funny!" His body did a weird type of dance as his feet and arms lifted in startlement up and down, before ruffling the fabric on his head and over his face to pull it off.

He breathed heavily once it was detached, eyes widened, as he quickly plugged his nose and threw the shawl back on her in a quick motion. "Yikes! That's strong!" His eyes formed tight arrows of discomfort, shaking his head which only made Amy laugh.

"No, trust me, it helps..!" He admitted, his quills on end, as he dropped the flowers–more or less–to get Amy's shawl back around her head.

"Hehe, sorry…" Amy bent her eyes, seeing how this should have been the spring… him protecting her… him beside her… keeping her away from things… instead of making it all be thrusted on Shadow… forcing his body to trigger dormant instincts that would have otherwise never shown up…

She still felt bad for that… now, he would have to deal with it… possibly the rest of his immortal life…

He took a big breath, and sighed. "Yeah… it helps." He patted her head and tilted his own with a slight lean of his body, his other arm having his wrist hanging off his hip.

"What brings you back? A promise?" She inquisitively asked, still being a bit playful.

Was that… also instincts? Didn't she 'normally' tease Sonic like this, though?

Just… not with smells, at least.

"Were those flowers for…" She looked down at them, as he quickly scrambled with his arms twirling about to reach down and pick them up again.

It was comically… cute.

She covered her mouth to avoid laughing again, actually amused and enchanted if that gesture was true.

"Or is it a way to block out scents?" She looked a little worried by that negative thought… getting her hopes up for a better answer than that…

"Huh? Heh, it's a peace offering." He held them back to her, their petals getting caught up in the wind. "They're from the mountains… I picked a few up… when I was looking for where Shadow had gone off to…"

"Don't be mad anymore, okay?"

Her heart melted at the beautiful selection of wild flora.

She held the side of her shawl, so the wind wouldn't blow it off, and… where his hand once was to keep it in place as well.

The warmth of such a gesture…

He really was sorry, wasn't he?

She put a hand to her heart and nodded, smiling sweetly up to him with a few bats of her long eyelashes.

"They're lovely."

She stated,

"It's hard to be mad at you for long, Sonic… or even… truly upset with you."

She saw a few strands of her quills coming undone and tucked them back behind her hand and the shawl.

"What I did was to protect you and-WOW!" He plugged his nose and turned away, but really… her beauty and grace was too much for him, too. "It's stronger than I remember it!" He shook his head, but it was all in good humor.

She did chuckle at that, "Sorry."

As she demurely lowered her eyes and swayed her body left and right, adjusting her dress a second and pulling the shawl back over her, he smiled at seeing from the corner of his vision, that she was slowly coming around again.

Good… He would have hated to see her so scared and sad… It wasn't her natural face at all.

"I'm glad." He smiled, before feeling a tingling sensation and the weird feelings bubbling up from before. "Excuse me one moment." He put a finger as his eyes looked afraid, zoomed away real fast, then came back with eyes a little teary… as though trying to remain cool but knowing he was getting affected by her.

"Woo, okay, good breather, I should be alright now. Ehem." He flicked the bottom of his nose with his thumb a moment before looking down, jumping a little on his heels as he tried to keep it together.

He moved his feet apart and stepped side to side, then jumped, as though he was trying to release the sudden 'burst of energy' he felt from her little, cute giggle.

'Amy was always pretty, Sonic. Keep it together.' He told himself, 'You can fight this… you can beat this… For Amy's sake, man! Hold on!'

He stuck his nose straight up in the air, putting his hands to his hips, "Hoooooo…" He let out a big exhale, then opened one eye up to Amy, a sly wink. "Guess Shadow could hide it better, huh?"

Amy sighed, "Tails wasn't kidding when he said I was a genetic lotto win."

He shook his head, before looking up and blinking his eyes fast again, trying to still keep it together.

'She must be feeling kinda spooked… I can't let her think I can't be around her anymore… it would break her heart to hear it… after all I've done to resolve it…'

He clapped his hands together and looked back at her, "And that's a bad thing?" He smiled, "You can have any man with a turn of a … uh… shawl." He flicked her bangs up.

She frowned, pouting. "That's not exactly how I'd like to attract someone, Sonic."

'Opps! Misstepped.' He awkwardly sweated on the side of his face, grinning sheepishly as he returned his finger and hand to himself, realizing that 'distraction' didn't help.

She was joking with him before, but that topic was probably still super sensitive… to them both…

No amount of laughter could fully take that away, it seemed.

He just… didn't want to bring up Silver's future events around her either.

Distraction may be the best approach to keeping Amy calm and staying safe around her as well.

"No…? Guess you're right." He goofily scratched the back of his head, turning away to keep her scent somewhat not fully facing him–nose-first.

"Then again…" He smirked and slowly rolled his eyes back to her, "Wouldn't you… want to use any means of chance to your advantage?"

He shrugged out his hands, acting haughty. "I mean, unethical, but any means to catch me at this point, right? Wind isn't easy to tie down, after all. Even Eggman has a hard time pinning me down." He smirked to wink back at her, then shook his infamous pointer finger about before-

She bonked him on the head.

"Offph! It was a joke, Amy!"

"Not funny." She glared slightly, but in a true comedy duo fashion.

"Sorry." He put the side of his hand up, bowing lightly as she flicked her Piko Piko Hammer off his sore noggin. "So..? What are you doing out here, anyway?"

"…You…" she was looking down at the flowers in her hands, pink… a lot like her color but maybe lighter, with a white center and yellow little stems coming out from its center. "…You ran all the way up to the mountains to get these for me?" She was tearing up, slightly. "I was worried about you, but… I really needed to get some fresh air, too." She wiped the tear away, "Maybe… fresh air would do us both some good."

He looked away and scratched his head, "Would it get you to stop crying?" He winked with a handsome, iconic grin to her.

He did feel his chest fill slightly with a little bit of pride, he had kinda wanted her to have this reaction, but maybe not so dramatically like in the past.

She… had grown,… He would happily comply with getting used to it.

He held himself together a lot better now, prepping to pick her up. "Not gonna lie, it's kinda already refreshing… I was ready for the obvious hero worship, and was actually prepared to receive some after all this time." He teased again, but looked to her very fondly.

"Have you… truly forgiven me, Amy? I never meant to hurt you, honest… it was… quite the opposite, actually." He looked away again, showing a more sincere side to himself which was a bit new for her.

The tone… she couldn't quite get used to it, it made her heart flutter to hear it.

So… sweetly careful in how it delivered its tender messages… as though he was decoding them and translating to her all at the same time what he–himself–was still trying to figure out.

He slightly moved his hands out, as if welcoming the hug and over exuberant affection incoming, if at all. "Not too late to turn back now." He grinned.

'Hero worship?' She leaned back, hurt by that. 'Is that… how he really saw it?'

Her affections were still so silly to him, weren't they?

Would he ever acknowledge her as a young, mature lady? Deserving of his respect and recognition? It was all she had ever really wanted from him… Before all this happened…

Her heart sank from that moment of blissful joy… As though pulled away from that glimmer of hope and happiness… yet again.

She looked to the ground, she didn't want to fight anymore or argue, so she also looked for something to distract…

Neither one of them thought 'Instincts' was at play here… Was Sonic's body also just trying to pull out reactions from Amy? To get her closer..? To burst into her instinctual form as well?

Her's had done the same, was it impossible to perceive that Sonic's wouldn't mimic that as well?

"Wow!" Amy wiped a tear from her eye, Sonic thinking it was the tears of gratitude for the flowers before. He had wanted her to see how much she meant to him… a-as his friend…

"Thank you so much, Sonic!" She bounced the bouquet of flowers in her hand, draping it over her arm. "This is, by far, the sweetest thing anyone's done for me! This whole spring and last spring has been really tough on me… I missed you so much…" she looked up lovingly to him, but…

She didn't jump into his embrace.

She didn't try to shower him with praises or attempts at kisses.

Not even a marriage proposal!?

It looked… so… forced.

Held back.

Sonic's outstretched hands suddenly crinkled inward… dropping as his face did as well.

'... She hasn't forgiven me… not at all, has she?' He wondered what went wrong… was it something he said?

Sonic's face froze in place, before he practiced temperance within himself. "…You're uh…" It was the first time he looked away and studied the ground as his mind raced with questions.

Did he not do enough?

He came back, didn't he!?

Would it always be like this?

'You're losing her, Other me!'

Sonic let out a verbal, quiet gasp as he heard the other voice of his Instinct inside his head.

He looked to the side of himself, away from the chasm, realizing how much Amy had pulled out his instincts…

Composing himself, he had to face the trumpeting departure of their old dynamic. One he thought he might welcome, but… this… wasn't how he imagined it.

It felt… like she had carved another gaping, cliffside gorge between them… or maybe…

He had dug it all along…

"You're welcome." He swallowed his pride, trying to accept how their relationship would be moving forward…

F-Friendship! He said friendship in his mind, okay!?

At least… he must have thought he did, ehem.

He moved his mouth to the side in displeasure, biting his lower lip and not seeming too happy about her reaction, what if it was like this… indefinitely?

Wasn't it good she was controlling herself?

But it didn't feel like… Amy at all.

He tried to think less of it, shaking his head, 'I'm thinking too hard about these things… Lately…' He wanted to consider his friends more, and that would mean perceiving how people viewed him… and how much he had let them down, too.

It would mean opening himself up for critic and–although he hated people-pleasing–it meant realizing how displeased they really were with him.

He pulled himself away from leaning forward and having his arms slightly out as he folded them, 'I need to respect this boundary… I made it in the first place.' He told himself.

Then, glaring towards the side of himself, imagining that the rip in the earth was the ridged dips of his mind… 'And keep you put.' As though trying to tell a dog to sit or heel, he made his inner-voice stern with contempt.

He could feel the quiet compliance and hatred coming from within him, but his Instinct Form slowly seemed to fade from his consciousness…

Seeing Sonic's reaction though, Amy looked worried.

She lowered the flowers.

"..Sonic? Is something wrong?"

Sonic was acting… strange.

Was he upset?

He was never upset…

He hardly ever noticed people's feelings unless under crisis, where he needed to cheer them up or comfort them when something was going wrong.

She remembered seeing him on the t.v screen… back when Eggman split the world apart, and how many foreign friends and children he had cheered up along the way to put the world back together again…

He never failed to bring a smile or hopeful sense of bravery into someone… Oh no.

Her eyes widened.

Did he think… She didn't feel that radiating from his actions?

"No, it's… it's nothing." Sonic lied, before gesturing back to her. "Only that… ever since Shadow's been around you've… acted differently."

In truth, it was far before Shadow… This new maturity was throwing him off,... just a bit.

"But it's-… it's nothing." he tried to play it cool, pretending he was indifferent, when clearly… that wasn't the case.

It was off-putting, like before… He was pausing more around the end of his sentences… breaking them apart which wasn't his usual, vocal stride when he spoke.

Amy wondered… tilting her head and squinting her eyes in a cute way… seeming to call out his bluff and ponder what had really thrown him off his usual game.

Sonic looked away, turning his head as far as he could, but he could feel her scrutiny and knew he hadn't been subtle enough. Ever since growing up, he found it harder and harder to seem 'casual' in all he did, growing more impulsive although now… insightful.

"Something I should know about Amy?"

He looked back with a raised eyebrow, accusingly.

Knowing now that he was jealous, Amy actually couldn't help but lean back and blink, completely taken aback by that revelation.

Over Shadow?

She really had triggered something… yesterday night, didn't she?

She cocked her eyes to the skies as though to slightly roll them, widely not hiding how she somehow knew this would happen, but also smiling somewhat as though Sonic was being silly.

But… a cute… kinda silly.

"…Are you… really suggesting I act differently because of Shadow?" She tried not to giggle, how could she love anyone more than him?

She tilted her head once again, pretending to be confused, but then furrowing her brows to get him to say something charming in return.

She pulled back and had her hand somewhat covering her mouth, actually thinking Sonic might be exposing some 'hidden feelings'... which she knew he was awful careful about in the future… Only being charming to her when they were mostly alone.

Or after some big fiasco took place… it's not like they hadn't gone on some small dates before, just the two of them, but they were hardly more than innocent 'hang outs' with some romantic undertones here and there.

She wanted him to expose his true feelings so badly… it would comfort her to know it wasn't all his 'instincts', but that they were also close enough to feel these 'waves of attraction' too…

"Oh, Sonic!" She slightly scoffed, but used her younger pitch and tone to craftily 'revert back' to the side of her Sonic seemed to yearn to see again. "You know there's nothing that can come between my love for you!" She played, and he frowned deeply, realizing she was teasing just to please him.

"Haha! You're so funny!" Sonic sarcastically put his hands to his hips and turned his head back to her, letting it flop and shake his muzzle slightly at her silly teasing.

"Is it wrong to be worried? You're… growing up too fast, for my liking." He put a finger up to his nose, looking strangely… tender and sincere in that last bit.

Gasping at how sweet that was, Amy cutely swayed her body over and took his arm, "Aww~ Sonic~"

He looked away from her, while her tail began to lightly wag at his avoidance of her behavior.

"…I really do love the flowers." She nodded, trying to lighten the mood, for his sake. "Buuuuut…" She slowly ran her emerald irises all the way across her eyes with a cheeky grin, wanting to juice a little more of this 'kind' moment out of him.

After all, it wasn't every day Sonic T. Hedgehog was seeking her attention… like this… wanting to be proven that he was the number one man in her life… 'Ah! How adorable!' She squee'd in her head, loving his sudden interest in her 'heart's ranking' of men in her life.

"You kinda did break my heart…" She side-stepped away, but looked down to see his foot turn towards her, the point now–very delicately–digging into the ground to 'pull' her somewhat back to him…

Her heart skipped a beat… did he… really not want her changing 'that much' about how she felt towards him?

Sonic's lips tightened… He could tell how much he wanted her nearer to him, and resented it.

He looked to her and then back away again… shy but also cautious… wary of how 'far' this need to be close to her was being taken by himself…

Mentally, he was trying to keep his 'rogue' physical dependency towards her back. He just knew his Instincts were behind a lot of this… and he didn't want to find out how much of 'him' was actually being drawn to these actions, either.

Was… his instincts his excuse? Wouldn't put it past him to try and deny his growing realization of her actual, genuine feelings for him… Was he just… trying to hold back how much that revelation had affected him?

"You're just… not a kid anymore, Amy." He looked down at the ground, "... Something about that… kinda…"

"... Scares you?" Amy tried to lean again, but he took one glance at her trying to search for understanding and pulled away to look off the opposite direction of her once more. Was he that shy?

"And Shadow was there to help protect me after you left." She stepped more to the side and in front of him, now shaking his arm to give her words more 'impact'. "You were gone, Sonic. For a very long time…"

His expression turned soft with sorrow.

"Shadow became my dear friend."

Sonic continued to grip mutely, scowling at hearing that, eyes squinting at the validity of just how much Shadow and Amy defended one another…

Seeing it so mutually between the two irritated him, causing his face scrunched up a little bit.

"It's… endearingly sweet." He grumbled, then finally turned to face her, side-shuffling his feet a bit and gave her a charming grin, "You… ever talk about me like you do Shadow to anyone… before?"

His question made her smile and hold in a laugh, closing her eyes and hunching down somewhat, completely smitten by his clear obliviousness at how much she really adores him.

"Sonic… You're so cool sometimes… but right now…" She looked back up at him, "You really don't get it… do you?"

Her smile made him feel a tinge of sting, as though he was just lectured, and moved his arm out of her embrace, clearing his throat somewhat to 'side-step' a couple inches away and 'maintain a healthy distance' again.

"I get it. Shadow's an upstanding guy… until he wasn't." He grumbled as he folded his arms, still somewhat competing in his own right.

"You may think it was for the best…" Amy took a serious stance, "You leaving and all… but it really wasn't. And you thought I betrayed you, but I really didn't." She moved closer to him and put her free hand up, moving it to his face to have him look at her, turning his head gently, or rather, her hand guided his head to where it already wanted to look in the first place. "He's just my friend, Sonic."

"But you have no idea the amount of suffering we had to face, together."

That last line suddenly made Sonic drop his shoulders.

"You were… in danger? More than just with Shadow around?"

He had heard only vague things… was it… that sensitive to not even talk about it fully?

"Pfft, …A dear friend." He grumbled humorously, raising his eyebrows up as he spoke, showing he wasn't completely convinced…

However, walking away from her, he rubbed his shoulder and looked conflicted. 'What… did Shadow have to do? I already accepted this… forgave him, even… But now… I just feel even more horrible about myself.'

'I feel pathetic… and weak…'

He never felt that way before…

It was… weirdly humbling.

"I'm sorry, Amy."

"Okay… But don't talk bad about Shadow. He probably… h-he held on as long as he could… for my sake."

She hugged herself, still not fully having wrapped her mind around that night…

It felt… so oddly like she was blindsided.

"Tails said Shadow's instinct is unlike any he had researched about before. He suspects something's… oddly more advanced about it. It must have been why I never noticed… and why he lasted as long as he did." Amy's eyes blinked softly, as though empathizing with what pains he must have suffered through to protect her… all the way up to that breaking point.

"... I wouldn't have been able to last that long."

She looked back to him, her mouth opening in great love for that confession, but falling back to a small, empathic misery for his self-awareness and true admission to something that must have been too hard to state before.

"I feel so bad for Shadow… if it weren't for me… He might have never even had to worry about his Instincts… to begin with."

She rubbed her arms, lowering her head to the side as her bangs swished and bounced with the fluid motion.

"I… I've been causing all these horrible things… in everyone."

Sonic shook his head, slowly turning around to her in increments, as though finally letting himself get emotional and sag in his body language, "It's not your fault, Amy…"

She tightened her own lips, "It's not?" She tried to not sob, blinking rapidly, "Heh… Isn't it?"

He fully turned to her now, reaching a hand out… before pulling it behind his head and scratching it, looking down and away again.

Silence… pure, uncomfortable… but yelling in agony at the two of them.

As though nature itself was against this interaction.

"You can't control… what your body is making everyone else's feel, Amy." He admitted, but that wasn't good enough.

The wind blew, as though encouraging Amy to try and make this better.

"…Yeah."

It blew a bit faster, wanting to speed things up.

That also wasn't good enough.

She leaned up slightly, moving closer to him as he looked into each one of her eyes, his expression never changing.

"Maybe… Maybe it's better… for now, anyway… to just act… friendly… with one another."

One could tell he slightly liked her reassuring him like this…

But none could read how much that pained his heart to hear her step back so deliberately…

He knew it wasn't what she really wanted.

Amy? Self-control?

Laughable, although laudable.

But it was what she should have done in the first place… instead of taking so many risks.

It wasn't either of their faults…

They've never been around the opposite gender during these seasonal shifts in their bodies…

Amy had never even been through a shift before…

These ancient, primordial instincts were still developing in their maturing forms…

They couldn't have possibly known what it would have done to them.

"…Yeah, well…" He tapped her elbow, unfolding his arms as she now had her own somewhat folded around herself, trying to comfort and close herself off from being too emotional to match his own vulnerability.

It was… wonderful to her, that he would be so open and bold like this…

But it was also… painful… to see how belittling he must have felt like, as a man, and a free spirit… to have to come clean like this…

"At least we still got our good looks, eh? No one can beat that outta us…"

"Oh, Sonic…" Her eyes bent, trying to imagine what his ego must be going through right now. "You're still you. We both are." She then took a deep breath, "And I appreciate… the apology… but you don't have to beat yourself up so much over your flaws and… weaknesses." She looked down and rocked a second again, as though she was now hoping to be comforted once more, growing nervous.

She knew he had already stated it wasn't her fault, but…

Maybe she'd like to hear it… one more time?

Maybe because… she knew she should take her own advice, in that regard…

"You're still my hero." She closed her eyes, "Even when you're far away…" That last line broke something in her, her resolve.

She looked up, trying to not cry. "Why am I always crying lately?" She scoffed at herself, wiping a tear from her eye. "Ahhh… I'm so done with all this… emotion!"

"Heh, you love it, though." He shot her a finger with a smirk, and she rolled her eyes.

"Heh-heh, stop it. I'm trying to be sympathetic to you." She nodded while her head was turned to the side, being her own version of 'pretty tender' towards him.

He turned his head away from her and to the side, nodding at his own facts and smiling back at her from the corner of his eye. "I did miss you." He winked, looking back at her to make things more lighthearted again, not admitting if he wanted her sympathy or not.

"Did you?" Amy pulled back slightly, not really believing him. "I always thought you loved your own adventures." She teased, narrowing her eyes, turning her head, trying to dish out his own charming aversions to their emotional dumping.

"…You used to trust my words more too." He humorously narrowed his eyes, matching her, as if he was pretending to still be upset, but was only playing around now… It was obvious by his mutual smile to her own.

He put his hands to his hips… trying so hard… as they flinched with slight wanting…

Then… he couldn't hold back anymore.

Walking over to her with a changed expression that took on a serious moment of reaching his own 'breaking point', she looked curiously before his arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her into a small embrace, shocking her a little bit as her eyes widened and searched the horizon for some meaning as to why this sudden initiative had taken place.

Or maybe… she just couldn't believe it, and thought she was dreaming it. Conjuring his gloved hand moving up her back, pulling her centimeters closer to his thinned-fur chest… his scent gliding against her nostrils and down her throat…

Her eyelashes batted… this scent… so subtle and yet… alluring when brought closer to it…

Shadow's may have been strong and overwhelming, but that only made it intimidating, and not sweetly gentle… like this embrace.

She wasn't tugged, dragged, or pulled to slide into it like with Shadow…

It was… inviting, welcoming… asking her to come and delight in being closer to it…

She turned her nose only slightly, wanting to dip it under his chin and be more exposed to how it really must have been like,... To 'study' it a bit closer… but with him suddenly speaking, she turned her button–and sneaky–nose away with a 'tick' of her head, as though a gear moving back into place as subtly as it tried to venture without being spotted.

My, she really was still a rascal, if Sonic cared to notice… She hoped he didn't, with a small, quiet gulp of a plea in her mind that he didn't.

Her arms were now up by her sides, raised as though still locked in their moment of surprise, not resisting the sudden, slightly dramatic pull of her into his space… and yet…

She felt time slow down… her heart pound, and a warmth spread throughout her chest…

It trembled within as though quaking the tower of her spine, which she had thought foundationally stable and unwavering… Now it felt like tiny, individual cubits all wanting to topple and fall over each other, to quite literally tumble and fall apart in his arms… She tried to focus on what his words were… finding this moment…

Precious… to her.

"…I was wrong to assume you wanted the instincts to be so close… I just feared having no control over myself, and I guess I didn't realize that we were in the same trap. That both of us didn't know what to do. I'm sorry, Amy… I'm truly, sincerely,… Sorry."

"…Sonic…" Amy's eyelids lowered, love overwhelmed her. "I wasn't trying to manipulate or seem self-indulgent,... I really didn't know."

He shook his head, "Stop that. That's going a bit too far, right?" Although… He did wonder about her maturity beforehand, he knew now that she had really changed.

"We're both no longer innocent… to these things." He took a deep breath, unintentionally forgetting about her scent's allure… "I was wrong in thinking you told your instinct to kiss mine. You're not like that, Amy. You wouldn't cohort and scheme like that against me. But… Something like that could somehow affect our relationship together through instincts. You can see why I felt I had to be overly cautious…"

So… He couldn't trust her, is what he was saying.

Her arms drooped even more.

Finally, they lost all strength and hung quietly and with little movement by her sides… Sonic's hold turned empty, void…

With all the time she spent with Shadow, he had occasionally mentioned her being immature or unrealistic. He had even stated, sometimes a bit offensively or rudely, about her childish nature and being too easily swayed by emotions…

But to hear this… Even if he was saying he hadn't thought her like that, it felt as though he was saying he had thought the same things before…

A child…

Did her friends really not respect the lady that she was?

She opened her mouth to say something, but there was suddenly a loud crash of trees that disturbed their little 'forgiveness' session.

"What was that?" Sonic let her go, but she had already felt like she fell through the earth and was swallowed by the chasm, anyway.

Not her fault… too innocent and immature… but not so much to be selfish and evil…

What was this? This feeling… Like…

Resentment.

Another 'new thing' she hadn't felt so blown out of proportion before.

She touched her chest, her feet seemed imbalance, causing her to sway as she tried to move away from Sonic and see the new threat.

Disappointment.

Had both Sonic and Shadow seen her as just some kid?

A little girl unable to make correct, right decisions for herself and protect others?

Is that also why Tails brought Shadow along? Did no one think she could handle Instincts on her own?

Vanilla… Even Vanilla kept Cream away from being exposed to these 'more mature' themes…

Was Vanilla the only one that knew the transition Amy was going through?

The only sane, feeling person around here?!

Even if Sonic forgave and admitted he was wrong, does that really cancel out how everyone thought she was so… so…

Incompetent!? With controlling her impulsive instincts?!

It wasn't her fault that there were Jumpers and awful people who abused, sold, and used instincts for their own gain!

She didn't have the power nor energy left to form a fist, to cry,... only to grit her teeth and look at the ground.

Seething…

Did nobody trust her!?

Was she that much of a liability to everyone else!?

While Amy realized that everyone thought she couldn't do anything on her own, Sonic noticed a large robot emerge from deep within the jungle, "…Oh great." He rolled his eyes. "I asked for action before, but you give it to me now?!" he groaned, swinging his arms off of Amy and starting to jog his way to the land bridge. "Sorry, Amy! I've gotta take care of business, but um, you can kick Shadow off the 'protect' team, I've got it under control!" he dashed to fight another one of Eggman's latest schemes while Amy pulled her arms more in, her elbows rising, her hands finally forming the fist of rage from the unjustified criticisms around her.

She had gotten out of her home, took a walk, all while nothing happened to her… Yes, there were horrible things out there… but Shadow was with her for a while, and some months ended without a single issue arising… She could do this on her own if she must.

And at this point, maybe she must.

No one was going to take her seriously, she already knew that. But something told her it may be better to be fully independent with this thing than rely on them and their poor judgements of her morals.

How could they..?

Her tears didn't leave her eyes, just clouded them lightly.

She raised her head, looking stronger than before.

'I won't mess with anyone's instincts if I'm not there to bug them out.' She told herself, as to her, this random development of an old robot just looked like he was collecting material for Eggman's 'still in progress' plan to destroy Sonic and take over the world.

Like usual, he never changed.

Only they did… with these strange new 'creatures' emerging within them.

She sighed, feeling herself missing Sonic's arms before she learned all this truth. She hugged the flowers in her arms, swinging her body back and forth, side to side, as though also sympathizing with Sonic now… missing those days where she was lovesick too.

Like a school girl whose crush just came back from summer break,... only to somewhat renew her feelings, and also break her heart as well.

She put the flowers close to her face… 'Illusions…' She thought as her eyes moved with the wind carrying the petals down into the chasm below… gliding them as they seemed overjoyed to soar without realizing where they were headed…

Thinking they were flying away at last, only to unfortunately find out that the bottom led to barren soil and cold ground…

Where the light of the loving sun didn't touch.

She wouldn't cry anymore.

She wouldn't try and search for meaning or explanation, either.

Screw being understood… they were men, they could hear a thousand different complaints and still be confused on what she was actually feeling.

It wasn't their faults… they were all pretty young, but this was a turning point for Amy.

Women grew up faster than guys, right? Maybe that was what was happening…

She couldn't rely on them to emotionally comprehend what her body was making her go through. It was different for them all… It was one of the times she wondered what having a mother would have been like.

Taking a sniff of her flowers, Sonic's scent was completely gone, and… so was she.

She went back home, knowing she had to get back before someone smelled her anyway, but the walk was crushing her.

She had barely gotten back to the forest's edge of where her home was, having already walked quite a while… staring at the flowers in her hands as though she didn't want all these answers… and couldn't really handle them anyway, just… staring into their beautiful colors, and wondering what Sonic was thinking when plucking them.

Maybe they were to distract her from how horrible this all was… Her instincts had made Sonic view her differently… She now viewed the world differently…

Her male friends seemed so alien now… she, herself, felt isolated from them…

Maybe… she should just suffer alone, instead of bringing them further into this mess.

She felt bad for Tails, he was maybe the one that was enlightened far too much over all of this… well before his time to 'bloom' had happened…

She told herself she'd be gentle to Tails when it happened, doing what she would have wanted someone to do for her. Just… be there for her. Trust the process, and not act like Tails couldn't get through this…

She lowered the flowers, looking off to the opposite side and not noticing something approaching rapidly. It rocketed into her and she was thrown down into the bush of the forest's foliage, tumbling through the debris of snapping twigs and leaf cover.

Her arms fell out to try and brace herself, the flowers ruined, and half of them having been broken and falling out in a trail of where she had been plummeted through the dense forest's floor.

"Ow!" She rubbed her head, her tush hurt too. "Uuugh… huh?" She kept her eyes closed, due to the sting of having her face scraped by the bushes poking and scratching her on her descent through the underbrush. "Ahh!" She gasped, opening her hurt and swelling eyelids to look up at a black figure rising off of her.

-Previously…-

Shadow's detour took him to an isolated craggy rock that scratched against the surface of his shoes as he climbed up it. Holding two ropes around his wrist and in his hands, he threw even larger boulders into the raging sea… the whipping, hard-hitting waves crashing to his body, blows that he only hoped would serve his purpose.

He had purposefully left himself up on this stone… having the sea beat against his black and red hide, staining his chest fur a lighter red with his own blood trickling down his forehead…

He was on his knees, gritting his teeth as he breathed harshly through the sting of salt on his wounds, the scrapes from being thrown again and again against the rock that felt like shards of daggers against him.

It was cold… his body was shaking from such torment…

"Now you'll see…" He wearily, yet angrily hissed out his teeth, looking up as his eyes were bloodshot, reddened from the pain of the cold and water…

"If I can exhaust myself… if I can somehow discipline you back… I can be with her again… Sonic and the others wouldn't need to-AUGHH!" He was slammed yet again, icy hands threw him down with so much natural power, and the rocks scraped and skid his face and body to bleed even further.

He coughed, getting back up on his knees before another onslaught caught him rising and shoved him down yet again.

Self-punishment of one's body… He had the hope that, if he could learn to push and repress his instinct down, then…

But ultimately, even if he succeeded in learning how to slam and shove his instincts as far back as he possibly could… he would still get knocked out from this slaughter of poundings from the mighty sea…

The mountains in the distance… were blurring out now as his face remained down, the water rushing off and past the stone of which he rested his bleeding head…

His mind felt as though throbbing… he could taste the blood on his tongue… tainted and unnatural… thanks to who he shared his creation with…

He tried to rise again, "I have… to keep… my promise… to keep you… safe…" Speaking of Amy as his final breath, he looked with surprise at an incredibly large wave, that dipped down in the crest of the retreating wave that had already fled and used it to launch itself into a fatal, final blow against Shadow…

He hoped with it… weakened, his instinct wouldn't have anything to command… his body spent, maybe…

He had finally defeated his inner-demons…

…

If only so.

Undaunted, and coming from the unexpected 'Survival' instinct that Shadow had overlooked…

Instinct Shadow gasped and rose his head with great urgency, having the body only knocked out for a few seconds was still life-threatening, and immediately began to pull on the ropes to lift the large rocks tied to them below.

As the waves seemed to settle unusually quiet for a moment, he began to use the last of his strength to fight for his immortal life, pulling and tugging on the ropes, as an instinct only knows to defend itself.

Even if Shadow may never die of disease, or natural causes like age…

He could still be torn asunder and die from drowning out in the sea…

Instinct Shadow, eyes sharpened and pulsing not with resistance from Shadow, but by his own furious will to live, cried out a battle roar that threw the boulders up out of the sea, as another wave came to lash at his back.

Using that harmful attack, he pulled the ropes in the air to slam against a cliffside behind him, shattering them and freeing the ropes from their imprisonment to the rock and sea.

Breathing heavily, Instinct Shadow could now feel anger rising… his eyes opened and closed in exhaustion… before a smirk graced his face with the clouds parting to rays of glory…

He tilted his muzzle to the side to feel that warmth… he had saved himself from what he thought was certain doom, as an instinct's will to survive could give them unusual strength…

But this was Instinct Shadow, literally engineered to be even more powerful than a basic survival instinct…

The cold water was now cut in half by the swiftness of his speed dashing across it, the splashes of water now looked like the parting of the red sea, but just on its surface… a tunnel of just how strong his wind force was against this once titan of elemental viciousness… now contending with the velocity of an instinct's fury.

Thus, we return to Amy, seeing this overly confident Instinct still overwhelming her by hovering atop of her own now hurting form…

Undeterred… unyielding…

Still undefeated.

When she saw his eyes open to such sharpened, four-pointed star… like a blackened shine, she realized the red crimson streaks weren't just blood… the black fur not just glistening from sweat but from water…

That thin diamond shape could only mean one thing.

"Oh, Shadow…" She bent her eyes, realizing what he must have done…

"What were you thinking?"

He breathed heavily…

"Whatever you're saying… It should be that this time…"

He took a step over her, trying to lure out Instinct Amy yet again.

"It should be that you're now mine…"

His grunts made no sense to her, but seeing one hand move to pin just behind her head, it was probably nothing good and a threat to not move.

"S-Shadow!" She tried to crawl back but his eyes watched her carefully, too exhausted to really take her with a fight… he wanted to try and seduce with his scent, instead…

But the water was dampening it, along with the smell of blood…

His muscles rippled with excitement but also adrenaline… Soon, Shadow's forced out instinct would lose the drive to compete against his mind… The adrenaline rush of trying to save himself would overcome him in depletion, and he would faint again.

Running on fumes… was this Shadow's true plan? No… Shadow had tried to use pain to control and push his instincts down… to learn to hold them back…

In the end, he only summoned them that much faster… but at least they were worn out…

An unforeseen, fortunate outcome…

Still didn't mean they couldn't summon what they needed to… to get what they wanted done…

She backed up so far that she ended up bumping against a tree and looked back to it in a panic. 'I'm trapped.' She quickly sprang her eyes back to Instinct Shadow who had snuck up while she was distracted for only that brief second to appear right in front of her again, a little too close for comfort.

"AH-!" she plugged her mouth, her gasp would only bring any powerful scent of his diving into her lungs and overtaking her senses..!

Seeing him lean in closer, she narrowed her eyes as she hoped nothing was happening with them… She begged in her inner voice for her to stay in control.

Seeing her remain 'obedient' for a change, he smiled and licked the side of her muzzle, "Good girl." He panted out a second before sniffing under her chin, rubbing his nose to it to make sure she wasn't already mated yet.

Obviously, he must have smelled her, and Amy had supposed he couldn't remain out of instincts for so long… but had no idea why he was covered in oozing pockets of what looked like gashes and wounds.

Her eyes trembled at seeing that, not really smelling anything on him other than sea water, she wondered why he was torn up so.

'He was in Instinct form almost all day yesterday though,' She thought, knowing he even fought Sonic… 'How could he recover so quickly and have this much of a smell again!?'

Flabbergasted, Amy closed her eyes as he moved over her, smelling the top of her head and grabbing the shawl with his teeth–since she had carefully tried to make sure it would stay on unlike last time–draping it off of her to get a better grasp of her scent.

"What is this? Why are you hiding what makes you so superbly rare?" His grunts only made her afraid, ducking her head down as she kept her mouth and nose covered, trying to breath in lightly and slowly to not get too much of his scent as he air dried.

He outran the ocean, but he conserved energy by running on all fours and not using any 'super gliding speed' from his shoes… Shadow couldn't hide from this clever instinct, and his mind was opening more and more by the day to him…

He was unintentionally having it grow smarter, wiser… With every new drop of knowledge he got from Shadow's mind, he was growing and evolving to hunt down Amy even more…

"This land will be mine soon enough." He toyed with her, grabbing her ear with his mouth as, in obvious surprise at this action, she let out a high pitch squeal of fright.

Squinting her eyes shut before covering her nose along with her mouth even tighter, and with both hands this time. She then quickly pushed against him, letting one hand slip off her mouth and nose to do so, trying to resist how close he wanted to get to her but also worried she didn't have the strength to fight if she did smell his scent!

If she was influenced, then what? Sonic was fighting Eggman… Last time, she was only saved by Sonic's presence in finding her…

She took a strand of courage from her heart to look up at him, thinking… pleading the entire time with her emerald eyes, having such depth of hue and color from the shreds of light from the shadowy forest canopy for Shadow to snap out of it first.

So she didn't have to hurt him… So she didn't have to hold her breath and fight.

… She thought she could really stand on her own two feet, huh?

She felt her heart sink, 'He's the ultimate lifeform… I couldn't defeat Shadow even with his normal, unruly power…'

Her hand… slowly slipped to his fluffy, pinkish from the drying blood now white fur…

'I know his instincts are different from regular hedgehogs…' She took a bundle of it, gripping it hard as she still wanted to fight… 'Even still… I… If I do have to fight… I don't want to hurt him… Whatever he's been through… these wounds… they don't look like they were made by a normal fight…'

She didn't know what he endured, but it must have been very painful for him…

'But at the same time, his recovery system works for his instinct as well, right? That's not fair!' She shook her head, 'Even if I could beat him in this condition, he'd just recover and attack me again! Shadow..! Shadow, please, be my strength!' She took the hand gripping his white tuff on his chest and tried to push him off of her.

'Even if I can't win… no matter how weakened he is… I will still fight! To save you this time!'

"Shadow!"

Her voice cut through the wind and the trees absorbed the powerful soundwaves of her caring despair.

Instinct Shadow was too focused on securing a definite scent and identifying if she was ready to mate yet, that this sudden effort of strength took him by surprise.

"What was that outburst?" He also couldn't understand her strange noises of the tongue.

He already knew it was her or he wouldn't have tracked the scent, but it looks like she really was a Beta by nature who didn't know when to quit trying to usurp power she wasn't ever meant to possess.

"Pathetic."

He took her hand and slammed it down, growling a slight warning for her to not interfere with his pleasure of smelling her, "I will take you in at your finest… you disobey again and I'll mark my fangs into your neck for good." Since most hedgehogs seemed to really love her smell, it made sense that Instinct Shadow seemed to get a 'high' off of taking it in.

"Why is it so… alluring?" He went back to sniffing and pushed her head against the tree, now trying to get her legs out from under her and positioned right to buck kick him off.

'Genetic lotto win.' Amy remembered that… 'More like a silent but deadly curse!' She knew he was just taking in her scent, but… 'The more he does that, the more stronger his instincts will be and the harder Shadow will have to fight for control again!' She remembered how it felt when trapped inside her mind before… How horrible it must feel for Shadow.

Then… the terrible grievance of remembering the shame in Shadow and Sonic's eyes… not even able to look at her before…

"I won't let you hurt yourself!" She blurted out, kicking him back, but the sudden pain ignited Instinct Shadow who only heard the tone of the sound as rebellion and went to bite at her neck, or what space there was of it.

Freaking out at the sudden attack, though it was only meant to hold her down and not injure her too much–just a sign of dominance as Instinct Shadow couldn't really read what her body language was saying other than defiance–Amy closed her eyes again and tried to figure out a way out of this mess!

'What can I do? He's got my hand pinned, he's gonna crush my neck! I can't take in his scent so my other hand is stuck, and I'm all alone! Sonic is fighting, Tails is with Silver, ohhh!'

She threw off her other hand from around her nose and mouth, grabbing at his forehead to try and 'yank' him off as she struggled against him. "Someone… Anyone… help me…" She knew in her heart… maybe her friends were right…

While she was young, it was too dangerous to be out on her own…

She tried to raise her hand up to summon her hammer, but Instinct Shadow saw that movement out of his the corner of his eye and growled, grabbing it with his other hand and forcing it down just the same.

Then again, this was exactly what she had meant Previously! On the other hand, she had thought she had to ask for help, but maybe… maybe this was her chance to prove she could handle Instincts and herself all on her own!?

She kicked and cried out grunts of effort, trying to move her body… but Instinct Shadow just lowered his eyes to her frail and futile attempts at escape.

"While Sonic isn't here to mediate… You're not anyone's Alpha either." Knowing this 'Other' couldn't understand him, Shadow went for a claim bite.

He closed his eyes and began to dig his signature into her skin, causing her to stop fighting and take a leap of faith. 'It's now or never! Maybe I do need my instincts to get stronger-OWWW! What is he doing!?'

Getting up a little, even as his teeth sunk deeper in, growling for her to not move and take the hint, she got some ground under her feet, and pushed against the tree to give her extra power to shove Instinct Shadow off.

"What..!?" Amazed by that struggle, his teeth took some skin with them and he was thrown against the ground, Amy now over him but quickly scrambling off, gripping her neck which began to bleed onto her white collar…

"He… He bit me." She looked aghast, as though never having supposed any of the Instincts of her friends would actually… hurt… her.

Her eyes shrank… Was her life… really in danger right now?

F-From… "Shadow?" The sound was heartbreaking… cracking at her injured throat. Shadow pounced her after only having to take a few seconds to catch up with her and pinned her down again.

As reality sunk in, her eyes shifted only for a moment to have her 'Flight or Fight' Instinct kick in.

This was yet another survival trigger.

Grunting at the effort to do so, she scrambled backwards and onto her feet, her eyes darting for safety as Instinct Amy knew the only way to keep her Other safe and not hating her was to start running.

She didn't like to admit it, but she wanted her Other to like her… She had faith that Sonic would find a way to be her true Alpha… but she didn't want to 'betray' her Other for that to happen.

She wanted to know more… about why her Other was always holding her back, and now having a mark on her neck, showing Instinct Shadow's desire to have her, she figured maybe the Others were designed to keep themselves safe, as well?

Frantically, She tried to coordinate her still in shock body to move, which fumbled a few times to falling to her fours, but Amy took back control with her pupils dilating back to normal and a cry to show her actual fear, starting to race to get to her house: Safety.

But it wasn't going to be that simple…

Instinct Shadow's body was curling in pain, the torture from before still inevitably profound as Instinct Shadow had endured Shadow's self-punishment all this time…

Instinct Shadow turned to his side, twitching, his eyes slowly opening to show rage…

"If you both think I would just lose to such simple tactics…" He rose his head with a loud roar, "You will be sorrowfully mistaken!"

He dashed into Amy and threw her down, holding her with both arms as bit at her shoulder, "Shh, shush… You are more trouble than I anticipated, but–my precious Beta–you will learn submission to your true Alpha..!"

"Augh! Really!?" Amy was once again slammed down, and struggled with him on her back, pushing her down. He was just too powerful for her. She would try and push up but then he'd rear her up into the air, removing one arm to show just how strong he really was, and mercilessly slam her back to the ground to try and keep her there.

She spat out at the impact, breathing hard as she heard him panting in her ear, also trying to hold her down.

For some reason, this seemed familiar… like the wrestling from before…

Sure, he had to work a little harder to keep her down but that was just because Amy was naturally pretty tough, but even so, she couldn't beat the raw power of the ultimate lifeform.

She tried to get up again and he just grabbed at her dress with his teeth, pulling her back to fall backwards as he bit an arm and grabbed a leg, trying to pin her down again.

"Give up..!" He grunted loudly, but again, falling on deaf ears as Amy couldn't understand the complex language of instincts…

Shadow exhausted himself and yet… his Instinct, fueled by adrenaline, would not be denied the female of the region… nor quit in his attempts to claim the land and the female that was upon it…

Even with his body trembling and the adrenaline depleting… he would not be defeated by this… this Beta with spirit!

"Come here!" He pulled her back to him and threw her over his shoulder, having her crash to the ground again, "Submit and yield to me! Be mine..!"

Amy tried to grip at the ground, but was once again thrown up into the air, "Shadow, stooppp-!" She was thrown again to the ground.

"I will not be bested by a squirming Beta!" Panting, Instinct Shadow pushed his hand against Amy's head, "You will submit… you will be bred… and you and this territory will be mineeee..!"

His snarls as she shook her head and grabbed at his hand were nothing but terrifying to her, 'If I don't keep fighting, I'm sure something will happen..!' She hadn't even noticed her Instinct had come out to try and defend and help her, but now… it seems Instinct Amy couldn't do a thing about all this.

'Other me…'

To her, this was nature.

Why… did her Other fight so hard? Sonic was a great Alpha, but so rarely did 'choice' ever happen within the wild…

'Shadow would make great offspring… How are you able to fight so long and hard..? What are you fighting for..?'

Was it… Marriage?

The thing that started this revolution in Instinct Amy, something called…

"For… Love?"

Amy huffed a burst of air out of her mouth, moving her bangs out of her eyes for a second as exhaustion started to plague her. But she wouldn't give up. Now covered in dirt and sweat, she looked up at Instinct Shadow, her eyes full of defiant willpower.

Instinct Shadow growled, dipping his head down and moving it more over her, seeing not a speck of obedience at all to his dominance display.

For a moment, they just breathed heavily and looked at one another… his muzzle scrunching at his nose, his eyes like a wild animals…

She took a deep breath and closed her mouth, collecting herself. "Shadow."

Instinct Shadow's teeth gritted even more, recognizing the name, bearing his fangs once again to threaten biting her down again for such impertinence…

"If you're still in there,..." She swallowed against the fear, now angling her eyes to be just as fierce, but gentle… as though understanding this wasn't what Shadow wanted either. "Or if you can somehow understand me, and hear my voice…"

Instinct Shadow stopped growling, but his eyes remained narrowed and fixed on her.

She spat out the words, "Get a hold of yourself!" She threw a bare fist into Instinct Shadow, who while looking down at her, had unexpectedly created a scenario for her to get a direct hit.

The hand that held down her head used to be holding down a leg… and the arm she had used was once being bitten down by him…

He had slipped, she had found a route, and used her now free foot to slide up and his chin up skyward, causing him to fumble back.

Panting hard, she got up, "How do you like it when it's done back to you, huh!?" Her eyes were now twitching back and forth between regular pupils and diamonds…

Shaking his head, Instinct Shadow looked back…

He was about to really let her have it before seeing her eyes…

And smiling wickedly, narrowing his eyes at the true prize he was seeking…

"…" Amy's eyes slightly shrank in size, her ears bending back. "Wait… you merged with Shadow before… which means you know things normal instincts wouldn't so… AHH!" she gasped, opening her mouth real wide. "You can understand me, can't you!?" She tried to get up but he arched his back while on all fours, like a cat would but his spines came up to show he was going to fight back.

"There you are…" Instinct Shadow could only understand a small bit of their language, so she was off by a bit.

"If you really wanted to, you could kill me, couldn't you!?" Amy looked behind her as she ran, but he suddenly kicked a bunch of dirt back and swung his head around like a bull, ready to charge.

"Now you'll be mine, this time, Beta..!" He charged in a zig-zag after her.

"Y-You just have to access what Shadow once provided you, right!? Knowledge? You can understand me, can't you?!" Bargaining with a driven animal was not the smartest idea Amy ever had… but it worked with her own..? So..?

"You can see that this is wrong, can't you!? You defended me once, so why are you attacking meee..!" She took off, trying to outpace him but the genetically-altered hedgehog was not letting her get away.

He bit at her dress a few times before grabbing it, and pulling her off her feet by reeling his body up and having her dangle with all limbs as she came swinging backwards into the air under his fangs… the ends of the white trail of her dress began to rip and she cried out and came crashing down to his feet.

She was, momentarily, like a scooped up pup in their father's mouth…

Instinct Shadow, now fully spent, just slowly came down over her with some snickering delight. "There… now… show me who I'm really after…" He moved up from over her body and continued his wicked smile into a dastardly grin.

He enjoyed the victory of her bare back's pink, thin fur grazing against his bare muzzle, pushing his scent glands across her back's natural dip and up to her head again…

He licked the back of it, as the quills slightly quivered as though threatening to rise… as though showing Instinct Amy would emerge soon… ready…. Should he decide to mount now.

"…Ah! You're still gonna try and claim me, aren't you!?" Amy scoffed, flailing on the ground below him. "After all that!?" Realizing Shadow's Instinct isn't the nicest bloke, Amy realized what 'Kind Alpha' meant now versus… Well, this one.

"Unbelievable!" She felt his teeth starting to strain her quills out, encouraging them as Instinct Sonic had once done, and shook her head to try and stop him. "OOooooOOOh, I get it…" Amy glared, struggling to get up again as he continued to keep her down, lowering his head to try and get a good bite down on the back of her neck, to keep her where she was. "You're trying to get a leg up on Sonic! Aren't you!?" She hit the ground as though going right back to her old tantrums, unable to admit she wasn't going anywhere now… "Because you want to be the only Alpha dude, right!? Ow! H-hey! Ouch, quit that!" She kicked her feet again, but she was spent, too…

She tried to reach behind her with her arms, but couldn't, "Shadow! Stop it! Not again!" She shook her head about, her chin digging into the dirt.

"Shadow…" Her eyes shut and her tears finally started to form with speed, "Don't do this… Don't let this happen… please… AH!"

She felt Shadow pulled her down into position and immediately cried out, now actually afraid he would trigger her instincts out of her, "Sooniicc..!"

Suddenly…

"Get off of her!"

A green aura framed Instinct Shadow's body as he looked surprised, releasing his bite-hold on Amy's neck and removing his arms from around her.

He looked at himself, suspended again in the air and remembered from before how he had been flung into the air in the meadow.

He snarled in annoyance and tried to fight the air, scratching at it but was thrown into the thicket to the right of them.

"Amy!" That voice… Amy slowly blinked her eyes open…

The twitching pupils reverted back to normal…

"Are you alright?" Silver…

He jumped from being hidden behind some bushes as he knelt down to help Amy up, "I couldn't just let that continue to happen… I heard some ruckus and then your voice… Is that… Instincts?"

His hand felt comforting… holding her own and helping her to her weary feet.

"S.. Silver?" She looked amazed to see him, her mouth hanging open slightly and bouncing as though completely unfathoming how he could have come to her rescue.

She took his hand with her other hand now placed over it, "He's powerful." She warned him, "Silver…"

Silver looked back and lost his breath a second, having been trying to keep an eye on Instinct Shadow, he was suddenly taken aback by her beauty… but then the bruises, the blood on her white collar, the scratches and skid marks…

He didn't know why, but a feeling rose in him. "I'm stronger." he stated, coolly.

His hold on her hand tightened, as though to make sure she understood she wasn't going to get hurt anymore.

"While I'm here…" He declared, and looked back with growing hate towards Shadow, "No one will ever make you cry…" He powered up a beam in his hand, green glowing all around it, more immense than he had ever conjured up with his powers beforehand. "Again..!"

He shot the beam out of his hand and Instinct Shadow let out a whine like a whimper of pain, and was flung back even further into the forest…

"What are you doing here?" Amy asked, incredulously before seeing him fire out at Instinct Shadow, "Ah! Stop! He doesn't mean to be bad!" She held out a hand to try and convince him but Silver just used his shoulder to nudge her slightly back behind him.

"Don't worry, I'm just making sure he's knocked out and not a problem anymore." That… that slight touch… even more power seemed to fuel Silver again.

What was this… feeling?

He refused to analyze Tails's words about Instincts… It was impossible.

He was a highly evolved hedgehog… There's no way he could be a part of this barbaric ritual of the past.

"I came to make sure you were alright." He heard the bushes begin to snarl and knew what was coming next. "Stay behind me!" he ordered, moving in front of Amy and letting go of her hand.

Now, holding both hands out, he stepped back in front to protect her. "Tails said they can get feisty!" He smiled, "So I'll get feisty right back!" and flung down his arms to create a barrier that when Instinct Shadow got up to fight, was knocked back by it.

"T-Tails? He told you about Instincts? W-what about you?" Amy worriedly looked for her shawl…

She couldn't find it… she had ran too far away…

Her eyes once again showed fear, looking at the back of Silver's head…

"What if… What if I trigger you to?" That horrible fear struck at her heart, her hands coming to her chest, 'I don't…'

Tears fell at last from a once strong expression… to now a resolution of losing that previous strength of will, and showing a truly tender side that just wanted to be protected.

Vulnerable… Amy felt she could display that in front of a kind soul like Silver.

"I don't want anyone suffering… because of me… not again… not anymore." She shook her head, "You should get out of here, Silver. Far away from me and my scent before it starts affecting you to-" She reached out for him…

"I'll explain later, but… Amy…" Silver's voice suddenly made her twitch her hand back, he hadn't seen it from behind him, but something just told him she was yearning for someone to push past that and be there for her.

"While I'm around… nothing will ever upset you again." He stated, yet again, "I made a promise to you, didn't I? I intend to save the future we both long for..!" He gritted and grunted against the powerful blows of Instinct Shadow hammering into his barrier. 'How is he so strong?!' He wondered through one eye threatening to squint shut from the powerful blows against the barriers.

"Not everyone has to be so strong in front of all this nonsense, Amy!" He cried out, and Amy truly felt like her knees were giving way to his words…

"Gr… Ah… From what I have seen with Sonic and even Shadow… Grk! Hah! You're constantly trying to fight your way through all this… And that isn't fair alone!" He dropped the barrier and slashed another green, arching beam at Instinct Shadow that once again had him falling and even rolling back, bashing up against a tree that caught his inertia.

"You aren't meant to fight all your battles in this life on your own… My friend taught me that. Sometimes, you just need a partner to keep you steady and able! HAhh!" He shot another beam out, then multiple as Instinct Shadow was already down…

"I don't know what our futures fully hold, Amy… But I know I'm trying to make a happy one! For not just me, but for you and everyone on this world as well!" He formed another barrier. "Trust in me! I won't let the future of this world end in your tears as well!"

She fell to sit with her legs bent back to the sides of herself… her eyes quaking at words she had longed to hear Sonic speak to her… to comfort her soul…

"But… You'll… You'll change." She gave such soft tears… as though unsure if she could believe what she wanted to anymore. "You'll… You'll come to not be able to look at me… in shame."

She lowered her head, her eyes dull as she recalled Sonic and Shadow… unable to look her in the eyes.

"Amy…"

She turned her head away, eyes concealed in the darkness of her memories.

"... Look at me."

She did so, her eyes sparkling with wanting to hear more.

A white knight…

A saint in an unending nightmare…

Everyone made it a nightmare… because they couldn't help anyone…

It was torture to know her friends wanted to help, that she wanted to help them too…

But no one was able to do anything about it!

She gripped her head, more tears emerging and unable to stop.

Quietly she sobbed, trying to keep her eyes on her.

Such a look… someone desperately needing his help.

Silver… smitten, gave her a strong expression of care.

"I will be the one constant thing that won't stop trying to defend you!"

But Sonic… had said the same thing and meant to keep everyone away from her.

She lowered her head.

"I will never leave your side!"

Amy sucked in a much needed breath of hope and life.

Someone cared…

Sonic had turned away before saying he wouldn't do so again.

Shadow had denied helping her before vowing he wouldn't ever deny her…

Now… without once abandoning her…

Someone…

Someone wanted to help out of compassion… not coercion.

'If you don't do this, Amy might-!' Kinda stuff…

She wept.

Her face scrunched up, her cheeks heightened which made her eyes appear smaller, and she cried into her hands…

"All you need to know is-! Ah!" He was so taken by her that he wasn't paying attention, and unable to finish his sentence, turned around too late to see Instinct Shadow leap high up over his barrier's height and come down to attack him.

He had wanted to tell her, assure her, he was too evolved to have Instincts… Like Tails had stated.

He ignored anything else that may have made him doubt.

She clearly needed someone… and the future rested on her, as well!

How could he deny someone in need of his aid?

Maybe… that's what made Silver a natural born hero, or at least, wanting to be one.

His inability to leave unjust things along… much like Sonic's attitude, but done with a much more steady, gentle, and caring hand.

If he had been paying attention, he could have moved the barrier before Instinct Shadow ever had a chance. He had felt him stop attacking and just figured he was too worn out to continue. 'How did he-!? Did he climb the tree!?'

Silver looked at Shadow's condition while he held out his hand to grab him with his power in mid-air, 'Is he really the ultimate lifeform!?' And raised his other hand to get some vines that were around the trees and have them curl around Instinct Shadow suspended once again mid-jump.

'Either way… he's going down, now!' Moving his arms in circular motions to manipulate the plants like so, Instinct Shadow tore and tried to tear at the vines, continuing to sound menacing with his snarls and growls, before being completely entangled and tied up in them.

"H-how are you doing that?" Amy asked, wiping her eyes with the back of her gloves. She got up, walking over to lightly place her weakened hands behind Silver's shoulders, resting her heavy head to his back.

That once again sent some kind of foreign power through Silver, but he ignored it and just continued in his task to restrain this oddly animalistic Shadow.

'I just saw him… How… Are Instincts really able to take over someone's mind? Their very essence?' It was actually their bodies taking conscious, executive function over their beings… but he was close enough.

"Tails says the proper term is Psychokinesis, but why does everyone need to know that?" He wasn't trying to be funny, he just innocently said what he had been thinking since the start. "Everyone here has a need to know everything…"

"Y-yeah…" Amy slightly enjoyed that, it was a breath of fresh air to hear someone, outside it all, commenting as she had when it first happened to her.

She closed her eyes, feeling herself nearing fainting…

He was seriously tired but curious as to why everyone wanted to know what he was doing, when he felt he very plainly had stated it… 'Is my mission that confusing? Is she confused?'

He looked back at her, and stumbled a bit in his hold to push back and keep her now growing dead-weight body up against him. "W-woah, now, just hang on! I'm securing him so you'll be safe." He stated, keeping his feet apart and turning his direction back to Instinct Shadow. 'Shoot, she's fading fast!' He concluded, before seeing Instinct Shadow's struggles in the vines that he was tying around him begin to wane as well.

"W-wa-wait, h-hold on, you're not choking him, are you..?" She sleepily stated, still worried about him as her arm came up to drape over his shoulder… trying to hold on.

He blushed… but continued, "Even after all he did to you… Why do you still care about him so much?"

"It's not… his fault…"

She moved to roll her body off his side, making Silver's breath quiver a second before holding onto his arm, still raised up and moving to bind Instinct Shadow.

She weakly took his arm, laying her cheek against it. "Thank you… Silver…"

His heart bled for her, thinking them all insane.

She looked frantic before… But now… she was just concerned about him?

"He just looks… like he's getting hurt." She looked to Silver, then Instinct Shadow, who looked as though he was fighting for his life and getting slower and slower at tearing the vines from his wrapping around his body.

"... I'm just wearing him out… is all." Silver took a peek at her, cutely falling to exhaustion but trying to hang on…

He began to be terribly worried… about her.

"No, it's alright, I'm only trying to restrain him. He didn't succeed, did he?" Silver looked away from Amy, then quickly remembered his mission and looked back to her, stumbling a bit on his words now, "Y-You're not… w-with his-… right?"

"…He didn't… What?" Amy's eyes blinked before her body turned and she began to fall, fainting at last.

The second her hand slipped from his arm he dropped one hand and caught her, causing some vines around Instinct Shadow to fall from the air and unwind around him… some dangled, showing they were interwoven deeply with the other vine, as he now gripped his fingers more intensely and the vines began to choke and strangle Instinct Shadow's body into freezing in mid-air.

"Well,… you know. U-Uh… umm… Y-You're not-…" He lightly tapped at her stomach while holding her up, then flattened his hand and rubbed it around as though his power was searching… nothing. Maybe it was too early to feel anything..?

He sighed in relief, "Pregnant. And you're not, are you? Phew." He looked up at Instinct Shadow, "Looks like I got to this timeline in the nick of time."

"You don't… ask ladies… that." Wearily, with Amy's head still down, it looked as though she was still somewhat awake…

"Ack!" Panicking that he made another social error by touching her stomach, he quickly shook his head, nervously, "I-I was just making sure! You do realize the future is at stake here, right? I swear! I didn't-! I-I would never-!" He backtracked a little, but still seemed rather naïve… At least he was somewhat trying to comfort her that he wasn't that sort of man…

With everything she had to endure… He worried her mind would automatically assume the worst in his actions…

"My reputation…" she swayed her hands up and the movement caused Silver to wobble in balance, raising his leg up in the air before reclaiming it to the firm ground again.

"W-Woah, hey now…" He shook his head and looked amazed by Amy's strength, turning his back to her in wide-eyed wonder at her brute force. 'Isn't she… completely worn out? How are both of them so strong?'

"Woah! Women sure have a lot of muscle in this time period…!" he mumbled, 'Blaze had a lot of strength, too, but…' He still wasn't paying attention again and the vines weren't going around Instinct Shadow anymore, nor were they restricting him.

Instinct Shadow started to break through them with his rage and immense power, having conserved some energy, but seeing Amy in this other male hedgehog's arms…

"Ah!" Amy's head reeled up, jumping out of Silver's grasp but he held her tightly back to his side, not letting her slip away as she almost fell backwards, "Do something! He'll keep coming after me!" She tried to pull away but he firmly held her with him, looking up at Instinct Shadow.

"You don't quit… do you?" He narrowed his eyes at him, noticing his own were looking at his arm around Amy's waist.

Silver smiled a bit cheekily, then slammed the hedgehog to the ground with his power.

"S-Silver..!" Amy tried to cry out but he just pulled her into his chest.

"Hang on, Amy. Trust me-" His eyes widened.

'What a scent!' He shook his head, 'Is this what Tails meant by..? An alluring, sensual appeal in her smell?'

He flicked around his nose in an attempt to dispel the strange aroma, then used his power to flick his hand out and bring through the air Amy's shawl back to her, covering her head.

'There, that's better.' He then apologized, "Sorry, I found something on my way through the forest to find you, I know it kinda looks like a rag, but it should work for now to keep you out of his sights."

He completely lied about the reason, but figured he could resist the scent just because he was from the future.

'I probably have a better grip than these apes.' He scorned them, the two supposed 'heroes' of this era.

'How could they make someone like her cry?' He told himself.

"I won't forgive you!" He threw Instinct Shadow back to being pressed against the ground. "How do you like bullying the weak?"

"W-Weak?" Amy put a hand to her head, holding the shawl in place. 'Ah! He found my shawl!' and quickly tried to tie it around her but she just didn't have the strength.

Silver, making sure to sloooowwwlly remove his hand from pushing Instinct Shadow down, now turned to help Amy tie it on.

She jumped a little in place, amazed by his careful care of her.

"...Tails had warned me that their Instincts may be triggered by your scent, but to explain, I'm not from this time period. Instincts are weaker to me, after years of genetic evolution." He tightened it tight and then smiled warmly to her.

"In other words, you're safe with me." He placed a hand lightly to her head and rubbed it a little, "See? Not a problem." He closed his eyes and smiled.

"I probably don't even have them in my genes anymore."

'Never… Never will I let them treat her like this again.'

He took his hand off.

'Nor will I let this 'instincts' overwhelm me against her, either.'

But Amy's scent was so strong…

Extremely alluring… pulling him closer even now, to where one side of his body actually leaned towards her, as though not getting enough of it.

Even for this time period,... her instinctual perfume and pheromones were highly intoxicating.

He shook his head, not being triggered but just deeply entranced by the hormones he was now sensing spiking within himself. The data his mind received from what Amy's scent was telling him, and his body… made some weird chemical connections start compounding.

He touched his chest a moment and breathed through his mouth a second, looking down and trying to figure out what was happening, and why his hands were getting sweaty…

"S-Silver? You okay?" She raised her hand up to his face, sensing something off about him. "Are you tired?"

Silver's head shot up, the sensation of her touch against his head sent a shiver down his spine that made him almost melt into her gentle reach.

His eyelids rolled down as he slightly leaned forward.

"..Huh!?" She felt his head pull forward as though to have her hand move deeper through his quills, and pulled back suddenly, "S-Silver?!" She twitched her hand to her chest, having barely touched him as he shook himself out of it.

"I'm-!... I'm sorry!" he snapped out of it, holding his hands out in front of himself and shook them rapidly, before looking back at his hands, and then at Instinct Shadow. "Oh no…"

He had taken his mind off of Instinct Shadow for far too long…

Instinct Shadow slowly rose from the ground, the fallen dent of his impact against it cracked at the edges and broke off into small toppling pebbles as he pushed himself upright. The vines that were somewhat still intact draped off his body, slinking down his arms and quills… They now hung low in front of him, being caught by his elbows. He took one step forward, and slowly rolled his head up, his eyes full of hate and rage, as he bore his fangs.

"Who… is this man?" Instinct Shadow's grunts… Silver's eyes watched him, his head distinctly twitching to 'cock' itself where one ear flicked up as though trying to hear the grunts better.

So many triggers for Silver he would have never experienced back in his future… but something… innate, real, and tangible began to come to the surface. Something… ancient, unforgotten, stirring as though hatching to life…

"…Oh, chaos!" Silver snapped out of it as Amy immediately grabbed him, pulling herself toward him in fear, and gripping the shawl over her head below her chin, pulling it down so it stayed on. "He's gonna fight you!"

"Run!" Silver bent down to reach for her legs, making her cry out in shock before something familiar happened.

His lift of her into his arms… the same bridal-carrying style that Sonic would use… it was muscle memory, and Amy immediately relaxed into his hold.

Silver took three steps back, bouncing her in his arms to get her really situated nicely in this new embrace, keeping his eyes fixated on Instinct Shadow's wild movements and grunts.

Something in him began to state he should flee, because he obviously couldn't yield with Amy being so vulnerable against this powerful man.

He looked to the sky, then back to Instinct Shadow, and took off with a strain of effort, making a grunt that Instinct Shadow seemed thrown back with, surprised as he launched himself into the air… flying!?

The grunt couldn't be translated, so it wasn't like Silver was speaking any ancient but still intelligently-developing animal language, but Instinct Shadow was trying to figure out if he had communicated or not.

While trying to figure it out, it gave them enough time to float in the air, hovering.

"Wah!" Amy's whole body spread out awkwardly at seeing Silver's feet rise off the ground with a strange green aura around them. "Wha… You can fly?" she exclaimed.

"Yeah." Silver's chest gave him alarm. He was taking such deep breaths, not sure why.

Even Amy moved in back and forth from the expanding and deflating of the chest, but she didn't point it out nor seemed to focus on it. It… spooked Silver though.

Since when had he ever panted this much? Why was he taking in so much air? He didn't need to… was he panicking, too?

He thought himself calm and rational, 'What is going on?'

He looked confused, his eyes now searching his body, his hands holding Amy flexed to show him he still had plenty of control over his being… His arms were strong, not waning… His feet were still directly under himself… So…

'Why do I seem tired, but I'm not?'

It wasn't weariness he was experiencing…

It was the start…

The stages of de-evolution he wasn't prepared for…

The triggering of something new and very much still programmed into his DNA.

"Ah!" Silver suddenly curled somewhat, crunching his stomach in, as though acting like he just experienced pain.

"Silver?" Amy looked to him and he felt his throat tighten, his eyes closed as he tried to figure out what was nagging at him from within.

'S… Something's wrong.' He felt his being… cowering?

"S-Silver?" Amy reached up, her hand gently placed on his cheek.

He opened his eyes as diamonds expanded back into ovals…

To Amy, it only looked like they dilated to the sunlight above the shaded leaves from the treetops below, now fully above them.

She didn't see any sharpness, the transition was so quickly.

Silver felt calmer, and unsqueezed his core to float uprightly again, looking down at her tenderly, still surprised by that weird moment of weakness in him.

'I've… never felt that way before.' His grip on her momentarily loosened… but with a small moment of 'reconnecting' himself and grounding himself to his body again, he gripped her tighter in his arms and leveled his breathing more.

Something about being able to touch what was real… her… in his arms kept him sane again. Did he… momentarily succumb to random fear? What did he need to fear?

There was a violent jostle of leaves that caught both Silver and Amy's attentions, taking away their long stare at one another while Amy sought understanding and–quite frankly–he was also seeking the reason for his momentary loss of grasping himself within.

He looked down, and saw Instinct Shadow had ricocheted himself off of multiple tree trunks, building speed before launching himself up and grabbing Silver's foot, "Ah! No!"

Silver tried to kick and swing him off his foot, moving through the air but not too much to lose his grip on Amy, who screamed at seeing Instinct Shadow try and bite at Silver's ankle.

"G-get off! You animal!" Silver pushed his other leg to try and shove Instinct Shadow off of it, but Instinct Shadow cleverly used his 'resisting momentum' to swing his own body mass up and climb to bite into Silver's skin, tearing into it with a hostile shake of his head.

"Ahhh!" Silver let out a faint cry of pain, squinting his eyes shut as he didn't want Amy to worry.

But Amy did worry…

"... A fight to the death…" Amy breathed out from memory, remembering what Tails had said about dominant type males fighting for females that ranged what they considered their 'territory'.

Sonic and Shadow's instincts were not only very territorial, but highly protective of her, and would turn aggressive towards any other male coming too close to her… He would definitely attempt killing Silver.

She looked to him, then Instinct Shadow, summoning her hammer once more.

She was supposed to be the Alpha now, so that there would be no more fighting over her, no more risk of death… weren't they supposed to be more willing to lay their life down to defend her,… for a chance to… claim her…

She swallowed hard and closed her eyes…

"W-what just happened..?" Silver's eyes shot open, smelling that Amy's scent just increased and intensified as he looked down at her, gawking. "Amy…?!" He fumbled with her in his arms, seeing her drop her hammer as Instinct Shadow, still gripping Silver's hide, looked down at it falling and then back up at the two of them again.

She opened her eyes to reveal diamond-shaped pupils, then looked down to Instinct Shadow.

'Tell him to let go!' Amy Rose, from deep within herself, gave the direction with every bit of trust she could afford to her Instinctual self. 'They won't stop if you don't!' She pleaded, but with strength backing her words this time.

Instinct Amy looked down, and squeaked with authority the words her Other entrusted her with.

Instinct Shadow, recognizing the body language and sound of urgency, widened his own eyes at hearing her emerge. He let go of Silver, but kept himself still climbing up Silver's body to get closer to her.

"Who is this Other?"

His voice challenged her authority only slightly, it was riddled with anxiousness, as though fearing yet another rival…

Her instinct looked up at Silver, curling herself up like a kitten on its back, being cradled as she withdrew her arms in and bent them like paws. She did so because she really didn't know who Silver was, and her arms were once around him for support in the air.

With her new weight shifted, even her legs pulling up to make the center of her mass greater in his hold, Silver struggled a second, not realizing she was acting animalistic now.

His feet kicked and with Instinct Shadow now climbing up to his back, he found himself diving a little arm-firsts down before pulling her back up and forcing his back to straighten, even with Shadow now clinging to a shoulder and pushing a foot into his back to stay over him, looking over his other shoulder and even somewhat above his head like a monkey perched to see Instinct Amy.

"Was two males not to your liking!?" Instinct Shadow snapped back at her, biting down sharply only once to make the sound of annoyance, but Instinct Amy, mimicking cutely, clattered her teeth as though to mock him.

"If I am Alpha, then I should fear no swift takeovers…" It was an excuse of false strength and faked confidence to mask how she had no idea who this other male hedgehog was, only that it felt like her Other trusted him and didn't want him to get hurt by Instinct Shadow.

Instinct Amy… did she not realize what Instinct Shadow had tried to do previously? Or did she feel that much in control of him that she didn't fear now that she had emerged?

"Wh-what are you doing!?" Silver noticed the change and felt Instinct Shadow now looming over his body, probably trying to reach Instinct Amy, who he hadn't realized shifted from normal Amy yet.

"Grrk!" Silver clenched his teeth in realizing he was faltering in holding up all this new weight. How was he going to keep them all in the air!? He couldn't keep himself flying and knock Instinct Shadow off of him.

He already had his arms occupied with Instinct Amy, he could only kick and try to buck Instinct Shadow off with maybe a barrel-roll or other aerial maneuvers. "Amy!" He looked down to her, wondering why she seemed so peaceful now, almost… baby-like in his arms?

'He's someone trying to protect you from Shadow! Please! Do as I say, I'm begging you!' Amy Rose shouted from within herself, her mind linking with Instinct Amy's consciousness, but not enough to successfully 'merge' with one another.

"…Another male…"

Instinct Amy rocked silently in Silver's arms as he struggled to fight off an approaching Instinct Shadow, sniffing the foreign hedgehog by leaning her head up as his came down, trying to shield her from Instinct Shadow's yanking at Silver's head and quills to pull him back and away from her.

She then looked hurt, as if betrayed.

"I thought you said no more males…"

Instinct Amy glared, but mostly at her Other within herself.

"And yet, here's another one…" She blew air out her nose, irritated by the confusing ways of her Other. What was her intentions? Why wouldn't she let her understand?

"This male doesn't even smell right."

She mocked, agitated.

"Why do you wish to keep me from my alpha? Who is not my alpha anymore because you once trusted that strong Beta, who easily became my other Alpha now…" She looked to Instinct Shadow, referring to him once submitting as only a Beta, to blind-side her as well.

"I'm meant to be a Beta… I will be Alpha if it means unity, but…" She looked back to Silver, still struggling to fly quickly and 'jerk' Instinct Shadow off his back.

"Why do you keep doing this to me?"

She looked away, full of sorrow at still not being mated and having all this drama ensue.

She just wanted to do what her body told her to. Mate and produce young… "Maybe Sonic was right… Other's are just no good…" Her eyes bent in disappointment, not wanting that to be the case… curious about this Other she had, but wondering if it was really worth caring about.

'Please! Don't do this now! We'll talk later, but right now, you have to call Shadow off!' Amy's voice continued to cry up in her mind, and Instinct Amy looked back to Silver and Instinct Shadow, curiously studying the scratching of Instinct Shadow reaching around to grip at Silver's face, and him trying to yank his head away without dropping her.

"And what? Accept this… I can't even read his smell. Omega? Into my pack too? How many males will you send for me?" She couldn't get a read on this other male, as though his scent wasn't finely developed yet for her to really sense it. But her nose tapped against the swishing under-muzzle of Silver's wild attempts to throw off Instinct Shadow, grazing the thinnest evidence of his slow transformation. "A baby?" She smiled, liking that for some reason, since in their culture, the faintest of smells equated to a child.

'Please! Not now! Anytime but right this second!' Amy cried out, making Instinct Amy have to pull her ears back and shake her head to the ringing of her pleas.

It was giving her a headache…

"…He has the right to chase me. He'll become my Alpha…" Instinct Amy opened her eyes, full of sadness…

She leaned against Silver's chest, the fur now hiding her nose and view of the battle that was rocking her in Silver's arms.

"If Shadow wins… If he gets to me… then our Sonic is no more. I'll be his." She looked pained by that, and closed her eyes again, burying herself into Silver's chest fur to avoid the struggles around her, as though accepting whatever fate will bring her with a heavy heart. "I must mate. This is my purpose. Why fight against what makes us… us?"

Her words only frightened Amy from within…

'Please… I'm begging you… Don't do this…'

Instinct Amy was silent.

Still.

'Please…! You can't just lie down and accept whatever fate throws at you! That's not right! It's within our nature to fight for the things we truly love! That matter most to us!'

Her words stirred something, and Instinct Amy moved her nose and head away from Silver, listening.

"Love… That word again…"

Her nose bounced in the air, grunting out the word.

'Think of Sonic!'

"…Sonic…"

Instinct Amy looked around her.

"Is my Other saying… Sonic… is love?"

She struggled now within Silver's arms, making matters worst as she looked for Instinct Sonic's scent, sniffed for him.

"I want to know… I want to know what this 'Love' my Other speaks of, is! Will Sonic give it to me? Will I know it through him? And him alone?"

"Ah, gak!" Silver was really fighting to not drop Instinct Amy, but also couldn't shake Instinct Shadow off of him!

He had already scratched and torn both his leg and the sides of his face pretty badly, His back ached from the constant shoving and kicking, Instinct Shadow was no joke in strength and fortitude.

Instinct Shadow was also fighting for his Other, too… His programming was that of life, which Shadow wanted to avoid at all costs. Shadow always deemed himself as unworthy of a normal life, dedicating himself to a promise instead, and to his Instinct, failing at the most common of natural living.

If Instinct Shadow could mate this female, he'd at least fulfill his life's purpose, and give his Other the means to complete their ultimate existence..!

'I don't want Shadow,' Amy admitted, the memories from childhood to the present adventures flooded her mind with beautiful depictions of their growing bond together.

'Please, please… please…' Amy's voice grew fainter, as though her strength of will was being overshadowed by Instinct Amy… her body… 'I love Sonic… I wouldn't want anyone else but him!'

The memories began to spiral and flood into Instinct Amy's consciousness. She gasped, opening her mouth as strange pictures of beautiful scenery, odd foods and smells while a laughing Sonic enjoyed them together with her Other, and many scenes of dangerous battles but holding fast to Sonic carrying her Other in her arms… She couldn't connect meaning or interpret the moments with understanding, but she could see there was a history of Sonic being her Other's companion… before she was ever born… this 'Love' must have existed…

Differently… but sweetly… it overflooded her and she leaned her neck back, sucking in some air, a new instinctual power rising from the obscurity of a natural reflex lost long ago in ancient knowledge…

Sqqqueeeak!

Instinct Shadow halted.

Sqqueeeak!

In any normal situation, a high pitch squeak would mean danger, come and save me.

However, this one was clearly a command. Leave me. Abandon me.

Instinct Shadow looked up to his Alpha female, stopping all fighting with the strange white hedgehog that bore no real scent at present.

His body shook, forcing himself to obey. He let go and fell through the air backwards, his eyes full of confusion and shock. She wasn't leaving the pack, but only ordering him to let her go. He had to comply, to satisfy and one day mate her, he had to obey and play the charade of being her Beta again.

A nearby tree caught him as he latched on with snarling annoyance, grabbing it's top peak of it's mighty but thinned height and swung himself to the top to perch and look back up at her… wondering why she would order him to halt in defending her and trying to get her back… In claiming what was his right to try for…

Instinct Sonic wasn't around, so it was perfect… Any male in a pack could try for the Alpha Female, why was she commanding him back?

"… Phew…" Silver flew more easily through the air now, breathing heavily at his struggles to not drop Instinct Amy but also get torn by Instinct Shadow's claws through his gloves.

He watched Instinct Shadow climb and jump from tree to tree, following Instinct Amy carefully from below… Not letting her out of his sight…

He whined to her below, as though reminding her he was there, so she didn't get any funny ideas about this new male around…

He wouldn't let anything happen, but her squeak of distress showed she only bade him off, not out of the pack entirely…

Hedgehogs were naturally solitary creatures, but social intelligence and evolution brought them into societies… Instinct Shadow glared… Worried she was going to gather many suitors for the land… and that meant more rivals for power and dominion…

And less chances for his ultimate life's purpose to be completed.

"Woah, you okay?" Silver finally got the chance to look down, "You were making some strange sounds, were you scared? It's alright… I wouldn't let him hurt… you?"

He blinked his eyes fast at seeing how strangely she was acting, Instinct Amy also 'cocking' her head to the side to try and understand his strange sounds as well.

"Who are you?" She grunted in questions, tilting her head to the other side now, her ear lifting up straight as though trying to get a 'familiar' reaction that an Instinct would do to her inquiry. "Are you an Other? Why not show me who you are? Why do you hide and not smell right?"

"I don't know… what weird sounds… You're making right now… mean exactly?" he, without realizing, had tightened his grip on Instinct Amy and his body naturally responded to her cry as well, making him even more protective of her.

"... Take me to the ground." She squeaked, "Preferably… Where Shadow cannot reach." She looked softly down at her other Alpha… not sure what to do…

If she mated Instinct Sonic already, Instinct Shadow wouldn't be an issue to anyone anymore… He'd be a proud Beta in their pack, if he didn't want to go off and start his own.

And what Dominant Alpha would want that?

Silver was 'instinctually protecting' her now, and if he obeyed, she had no reason to fear him… She could somewhat sense his Instinct was present but not really…

The scent was still so off, as though not even there…

So, she decided to command him as she did Instinct Shadow, seeing that his ear twitched at her grunt, as though something within was understanding, even if this 'Other' was consciously unaware of her orders.

"Take me to safety. I want down."

"But he's just following us now. You don't need to be afraid anymore. I need to lose him, and take you somewhere safe." He was now ignoring his pain as though it wasn't even there, focusing on finding a safe spot to land, not realizing his thoughts weren't fully his own anymore... That squeak made everything about getting Amy to safety… and he was complying.

As though something within him cautiously, secretively was piloting his course… obeying her without complaint or resistance.

He looked along the ground, then back to Instinct Shadow… and growled in fearful annoyance.

"Back off."

His eyes shifted only slightly, not fully, as though an accidental merging…

Instinct Amy gasped, thinking a scent had passed her nose but when going to investigate, Silver snapped out of it and pulled back.

"W-Woah… you okay? You're acting kinda… funny…"

He saw the shawl starting to be blown off in the wind of his flying.

He nipped it with his mouth as his eyes shifted once more in only that quick second to drag it back in place.

Then unshifted and he seemed to blink as though not knowing where the last second of his life just went.

Instinct Amy was puzzled by this… Why was his Instinct not coming fully out?

Instinct Amy lowered her eyes, not sure what this male hedgehog was saying, but liking the wind on her face, and feeling too lazy and betrayed to care anymore.

At least he seemed easy to control, and that meant he wasn't an Alpha…

So then…

What was he?

This new… creature of sorts?

All Instinct Amy cared about was this:

Sonic's Other bluntly was honest with her own Other, and yet… the truth was hard to swallow for her Other. Amy's memories had shown that Sonic's Other made her Other's worst fear come true… abandoned… unloved… unwanted…

Shadow's Other, although seemingly unaware, told a white lie that ended up causing danger to persist even in a new pack formation… Her Other didn't want Shadow, and Instinct Amy didn't know if she wanted him either. He was the one that revealed a new fear of her Other, what could happen in this strange new world and time… which led her to distrust and fear Instinct Amy.

Which made Instinct Amy wonder if she shouldn't long for the acceptance of her Other anymore… if she kept making her feel bad and restraining her from her life's purpose.

Which was everything to her… it was everything she was. What could be more than that?

Instinct Amy only knew now, as the wind gave her joy again while she tilted her head left and right to have the fast-moving breeze carry her limp quills about in its wake, that her Other's greatest fear was mating without this 'Love' thing.

Love was her Other's greatest delight… and now, Instinct Amy's greatest curiosity… would she feel something more than her life's purpose being completed with this added element? What was it? Why did her Other cling so tightly to it?

It must be wonderful… Whatever it was.

And in Amy's memories… Instinct Amy could see such delights… without mating, or offspring… just… being with Sonic's Other brought this Other's feelings about.

But Instinct Amy had never experienced it before. She could see the effects of it, not what it actually felt like to possess and have. To own for one's self.

She wanted such a thing for herself, too.

But how?

Then… the memories of Shadow faded into Silver's arrival, as Amy Rose's memories continued to leak through as though Amy wanted her Instinct to see and behold with new eyes what she was trying to convey…

But how can the soul teach the body of these things? How can the mind replay a memory for animated dirt to understand?

Instinct Amy turned to look at Silver again, not sure what he was. He had no scent like a mature hedgehog, but he did look like one…

The understanding she had wanted… about Sonic and Shadow flooded to her… allowed for this moment by Amy within… but not for this hedgehog.

Did she not know herself?

However, Instinct Amy formed a theory.

A very intelligent thing to do, from observing her Other's thoughts and memories beforehand, and now… with the added information given, with more of a unique 'instinctual' perspective, too.

This new hedgehog innocently told a lie, didn't he?

One to get closer to her Other, and consequently, to herself.

He ended up making his own truth a lie, leading to denial as she wondered why his Instinct persisted in remaining discreet.

This hedgehog male said so many things her Other wanted to hear… things she longed to hear.

But Instinct Amy somewhat knew… none of that would become true. For the things they longed for, and what they really needed,...

This new hedgehog would not stop fear.

He would not conquer nor keep fear from her Other… or even herself… from coming again.

She looked forward.

Her Other will always fear… until she finally claims this 'Love' for herself.

And Instinct Amy… sighing with that acceptance of such a sad fact, decided that the best course of action…

Was to maybe lie, too.