From the cockpit of his ship, Ivo monitored the strange signature. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but his sensors were picking up vast quantities of energy nearby. Sage was the first to lock in their location.

"Father," the AI pointed out, "Look up. There's an unknown planetary body eclipsing the moon."

"Wha...!?"

Programming his telescope, the doctor peered through. Sure enough, Miracle Planet rested idly above them. It summoned an array of memories, many of which he would rather have forgotten.

"Well I'll be..."

"You seem to recognize it. What is your history?"

"It's the planet where Sonic and I met Rose, and as luck would have it, she's been a thorn in my side ever since."

"Rose? As in Amy Rose?"

"That's the one, but what's it doing here? It isn't supposed to show for at least two more months."

"Readings indicate an anomaly in the planet's energy field. Something or someone is drawing out its latent potential, though I cannot identify the cause."

"Hoo, boy. Looks like we've got our work cut out for us. Might be a good idea to head back to base. Maybe we can figure out what's going on there."

"Yes. I would agree this course of action is advisable."

"If we don't find anything there, we'll head up. No place better to learn than the source."

Bracing against solid ground, Amy felt the heat, covering her mouth and nose as she observed what was around. Avoiding embers while struggling to focus, she deciphered what remained of a city. Most of the buildings had been reduced to rubble, with those left standing engulfed in fiery crimson. Her anxiety swelled, screaming Sonic's name for all to hear. She'd expected something bad, but this was on another level.

"SONIC, WHERE ARE YOU!? YOU PROMISED YOU'D HELP! SONIC!"

What she got in return only amplified her terror. Honing in on her cries, an overwhelming entity crashed into the sediment, blood-stained fangs bared as stone flesh laid covered in ash. Letting loose a murderous shriek, it charged the frightened girl, and she let out another scream in kind.

"RYAGHHH!"

"AHHHHH!"

Shutting her eyes for the second, and presumably final time, Amy surrendered to fate, not realizing what she'd done. Another hand assisted, shielding her eyes further. The interloper swung down, slicing their tormentor in two. Black ooze spurted from each segment, draining the demon quickly as its body fell to ruin. Blocking the corpse from view, they spoke to Amy softly, voice clearly that of a female. She sounded older - wiser and more mature.

"You can open your eyes now."

Amy did as she was told, revealing the mix between squirrel and chipmunk. Long red hair covered the woman's right eye, her body partially concealed by black, tactical clothing. Wielding a sword in her dominant hand, Amy was surprised to find a gentle, warm expression. At least for the time being, she didn't appear to be a threat.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"Um...No. I'm okay...I think..."

The woman breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good. I'm glad to see there are other survivors. I was beginning to think everyone else had perished. Gotta say though, I'm surprised to see you out in this mess. What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I'm looking for someone. You wouldn't happen to know Sally Acorn, would you?"

The woman chuckled, stuck in limbo between humor and confusion.

"Why yes, but...How did you know my name?"

"Wait a minute, you're Sally!?"

"I am, though I suppose you wouldn't recognize me, would you? Things haven't been easy since these monsters showed up. It's a full day's work just trying to stay alive - especially around here."

"To be honest, I wouldn't know. See, I just got here, and I don't know what's going on. I was hoping maybe you could explain it to me."

"If I knew anything, I'd tell you. Unfortunately, I'm stumped, and so's the rest of my team."

"Well, at least we know there are others. My name's Amy - Amy Rose. I'm a friend of Sonic's. He's the one who sent me to find you."

"Sonic!? That's impossible!"

"Impossible? How so?"

"You really don't know what's been going on!? Sonic died three months ago! That bastard Julian took him out!"

"That can't be! I spoke to him only a few minutes ago! Who's Julian!?"

Sally rubbed her head, starting to feel stressed.

"I'm confused. How did you even know Sonic? He never told me about you, and we shared everything together."

"Well...It's complicated, but I guess I owe you an explanation. I'm not from this world, but a planet far away called Earth. Of course, my real home is the one I came here from, Miracle Planet, but I've been living on Earth for four years come July."

"You can cross between dimensions? Come to think of it, we've done similar things before, but I've never seen you, so if it wasn't our Sonic, then maybe..."

"You said the rest of your team's still around, right? Maybe we should find some place safe and try to come up with a plan."

"Ah, yes. Forgive me. We've already established a hideout. I'll take you back. We can discuss things further from there."

I see. Let's go, then."

"Yes. Let us be off."

Sally led Amy southwest. So long as the pair kept watch and maintained a steady pace, they would arrive safely by nightfall.