Chapter 26

Amy's POV:

Fatigue pulls at my muscles as I raise my arm to knock on the door, and I'm suddenly made aware of the ache in my skull as the door loudly squeaks open.

The door is cracked at first, and then quickly slung open. My eyes have barely had time to adjust to the brown colored fur before I'm embraced by none other than Sally Acorn.

In a very thin robe.

I'm too exhausted to care about the state of her appearance as she tightly hugs me, though I can't say her warm embrace brings me any sort of comfort. And it probably never will.

I'm nearly tackled to the ground as Sonic engulfs me in his large stature, the scent of his blue fur tickling my nose. Not only do I smell him, but he reeks of Sally's scent. It's none of my business, but it's hard to ignore the strong smell of sex radiating off of the two of them. Maybe it would have bothered me a few years ago, but too much has happened for me to be concerned about their on and off romance.

Without a word, they quickly rush me inside of the hut and lock the door behind us.

...

Shadow's POV:

Trekking through the underbrush, Maria has been silent for the few hours that we've been tracking Amy. After the outburst from her uncle, I'm not surprised. However I am racked with guilt at the fact that I haven't told her the real objective for our mission.

"My love....Would you really want to return to that dreaded place?"

Her ears perk up at the sound of my voice.

"....I don't know."

I reach for her hand, and she gladly takes mine.

"We don't have to go back."

She stops in her tracks, turning to me with a serious look. The moonlight dances in her beautiful blue eyes, and it's hard to take such an expression seriously.

"Shadow, what do you mean?"

Hesitantly, I face her serious gaze.

"I'm ashamed to admit that there's something I've been keeping from you...Come, sit. I'll tell you everything."

...

What seems like an hour passes, and I take that time to explain everything to Maria. I tell her that I never actually was at the fortress to serve the doctor, but that I was there to trick him into reviving Amelia instead. I told her about my previous relationship with Team Sonic, and my attempts to stop her uncle.

To my surprise she listened intently the entire time, and I was relieved when she agreed to stay with me and formulate a plan to take down her uncle. She was however reluctant to completely abandon him and leave his sentence to the Mobian officials. Her and I both know that his only option will be death.

Sitting down next to me on the forest floor, she rests her head on my shoulder.

"So all of the things that Amy said about him....They were true?"

I stroke her beautiful blonde hair, relieved to have the weight of lying to her lifted from my shoulders.

"Yes, unfortunately. He's done a lot of bad things. Part of me wishes that he would have remained a doctor in the human world, he at least would have never been exposed to his obsession with Mobians."

She nods, her eyelids heavy as they slowly start to close.

I suppose sleep is on the agenda. Tomorrow is going to be a very interesting day...

...

Morning, Sonic's POV:

I stayed up all night keeping an eye on Amy, and Sally made her some soup before going back to bed.

I've been finding more comfort in Sally than I care to admit, but she's always been good at distracting me from the burdens of my heroine life style.

I apologized to Amy about our appearances when we had opened the door once I noticed her nose crinkle at our scents. She simply shrugged, and didn't say a word.

Staring at her now, I notice large abrasions stretching across her fur. They've healed for the most part, but the slowly healing scar tissue is still pink and exposed. Her eyes seem so dull compared to the the way they used to sparkle when we were younger. They were so full of life and happiness, but now...

What the hell did they do to her?...

She notices me staring and looks down at the ground.

Shit.

"I-I'm sorry Ames I was just trying to see if you were hurt. Are those... healed yet?"

She nods, but I still haven't heard her utter a single word.

"I don't really know what to say....to make you feel better. I mean, do you, uh, feel better?"

Finally, she answers me.

"No."

I have no idea how to comfort her, I'm probably making this even worse. Think Sonic think!

"You know you're allowed to be upset, right?"

"I don't feel anything Sonic. I haven't for a long time."

I reach out to her, then hesitate before putting my hand back on the ground. Kneeling down in front of her as she sits on the couch, I'm speechless. I've haven't always been the best friend, but right now Amy is sitting in front of me traumatized and I can't even think of anything to say.

Before I even have time to think, I hear a knock at the door.

Who would be here at this hour?

Glancing at Amy, her eyes are wide and her quills are bristled. An expression that I've never seen in all of my years spent with her.

Fear.

I reach for her hand as I stand up, this time having the courage to hold it.

"Stay here Ames, I'll handle it."

Walking to the door, I twist the handle. Peeking through the crack in the door, I'm surprised to see red stripes and black fur.

"What the hell are you doing here? You do realize it's been a year since you've gone silent Shadow?! I whole damn year without a single word from you!!"

Shadow's expression is calm, as usual.

"We both knew the chances of keeping communication were slim. Now let us in, I need to speak with Ros-...."

Shadow's sentence drifts off as he looks behind me. Glancing at Maria, her eyes are wide with terror. That calm expression from before immediately turns defensive as he pushes Maria behind him. Confused, I look over my shoulder to see Amy, her gaze dead set on Shadow.

Is he....scared of her?

Glancing between Shadow and Amy, I'm the only thing standing between them.

"What the hell did you do to her Shadow?"

His lips drawl back in a snarl at my accusation.

"Exactly what you asked me to do!!"

"She's traumatized and covered in scars that are barely starting to heal, so I'm going to ask you one more time. What the hell did you do to her!!?"

"I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HE WAS GOING TO DO TO HER!!"

Raising my voice to match his loudness, we're both yelling at each other.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T KNOW?! WHAT DID HE--"

"STOP YELLING!!"

We both immediately turn to see Amy, covering her ears.

Taking a step towards her, she backs away.

"I'm so sorry Ames, I didn't mean to-"

A shiver runs down my spine as electricity courses through the air. Amy is desperately holding her ears as she crumbles to the ground. Suddenly Shadow is at my side, trying to pull me away from her.

"Stop, she needs help!!"

Her pink fur becomes puffy as sparks of electricity dance around her, and when she finally opens her eyes...

They're glowing.

"We need to get out of here, she's dangerous!"

Amy....dangerous?

I grab Sally as she tiredly stumbles out into the living room, shocked as her fur stands on end.

Electricity dances around the room as we make our way to the door. Flinging it open, I take one last look at Amy. Her eyes are glowing, and I can tell from her expression that she's terrified. We lock eyes as I feel Sally desperately pulling on my arm.

"Amy?..."

"Run."

"What?? Amy listen to me-"

"RUN!"

Shutting my eyes as a bright light engulfs the room, I'm yanked through the door, leaving Amy alone as light shines through the windows.