1x08 - City in Ruins

Previously on Desperate Hedgehogs...

All four of our hedgehogs were on Eggman's newest fleet, and it sure was quite the event.

Amy was tied up on top of a giant pot of lava along with Rouge. But thanks to the heroes of the night, their lives were spared. Where will Amy go from here on now that she is free?

Shadow knew all along what Eggman was going to do, and was able to escape the crashing fleet as soon as it began to rumble. But what will he do when he discovers Rouge had came along with him?

Vector only grows even more suspicious of Silver, and Silver only grows more and more impatient to eliminate Eggman for good. What will he do now that he knows that the Eggman on that fleet was nothing but a hologram?

Sonic wasn't able to handcuff Eggman once he had gotten him for some reason. How will this effect Sonic himself knowing what he had done? And what will Tails think of Sonic having observed it all?

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Sonic/Amy

It sure was a bumpy landing, and the city surely looked like a lost cause at this point. Station Square was absolutely ruined. It was amazing how all it took was just one madman to cause so much destruction. Eggman was no doubt back, and the message was now more clear than ever. Likewise, this was no where near the damage Perfect Chaos had inflicted, but it still sucked that after going through all that, Station Square STILL wasn't safe from the madman.

Amy was outside of the fleet, as she laid on the hard concrete floor looking very helpless. She should've known Eggman would've done something like this. But the question was, what was he accomplishment from doing this? She didn't know, she wondered if Eggman had escaped in time. She tried to get up, but it was taking some time.

Meanwhile nearby, Sonic and Tails laid next to each other, both looking pretty beat up from the sudden crash. Tails' Tornado 3 was next to him, and it looked heavily damaged. They both got up slowly. When Tails' eyes met Sonic's, he turned away and took a look at his Tornado 3.

Sonic felt the resentment immediately from Tails. What Tails saw Sonic do on the fleet must've seemed pretty clear to him. Just when things were becoming a little less tense between him and Tails, now ther friendship seemed to be evaporating more with each passing second. Sonic had to do something, he couldnt just walk away and let that happen.

"Look Tails I...," he began to say.

"Sonic, stop," Tails interrupted.

"Look Tails, I can explain!"

"No Sonic, you can lie. But I know exactly what happened up there and you do too!" Sonic's worst fears were confirmed. Tails was able to interpret what had happened up there perfectly.

Tails struggled to say more. But he just had to get all this baggage out in the open, as it seemed like the right time to lay it all out there. "You were being selfish Sonic."

"Selfish?"

"Yes Sonic, SELFISH! Something I never thought you could become. It was bad enough you stopped caring about yourself, your friends, and the world five years ago when you just stopped talking to all of us just because your glory days were gone with Eggman being in jail! But now that he's back, there's only one person who's gained your caring back, and that's you. I know exactly what that was all about Sonic."

"Tails..."

"You 'couldn't' go and cuff Eggman because you missed your days as being that blue hero that everyone loved because he would save the day everytime there was trouble. Instead of putting the world's wanting for peace over your interests, you, for the first time ever, decided to do the exact OPPOSITE!"

"No, I can explain Tails..."

"THERE'S NO NEED TO EXPLAIN SONIC!! Do you know how hurt I was when you decided to stop visiting me in my workshop?! And how hurt I was when I tried to visit you, and it felt like you didn't want my presence at all?! No you don't Sonic, because all you care about now is YOURSELF! The Sonic I looked up to would have NEVER isolated himself from all of his friends!!!!! But hey, people change don't they? It just sucks it had to be you....because you were once the big brother I looked up to. But now, I don't even know you anymore..."

And with that finally out in the open, Tails ran off, with Sonic reaching his hand out for him to come back. But Tails wouldn't come back, at least not for awhile. Was Tails right? Was he really being selfish for the first time in his life? There had to be a better explanation as to why he did what he had done. But...he just didn't have that answer.

Amy, hearing all the commotion, but not really able to understand all the words, came over quickly to Sonic to see what was going on. "Sonic, what happened?" she asked. "It sounded like you two were fighting."

Sonic turned around, realizing that Amy didn't hear the entire fight. So at least she was on his side, for now at least. "Look Amy, I really don't want to talk about it right now," Sonic answered, not wanting to lie to Amy at the moment.

Amy wanted to keep pestering him for the answer, but all of a sudden, she noticed that someone was stuck under a hard rock behind Sonic. The figure had peach colored fur, and rabbit ears.

"CREAM!!!!" Amy shouted in distress as she ran over to her. Amy lifted the rock above Cream, and saw that Cream was losing alot of blood. Amy then turned around to Sonic. "SONIC! Help me take Cream to the hospital!!!"

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Sonic/Amy

Sonic was as fast as ever and quickly got Cream into the hospital. There were alot of people there, but Sonic didn't even notice them as he sped by. Amy tried to keep up with Sonic, but she felt bad having to cut all those people, who really looked like they were in need of aid. It wasn't like she needed aid anyway though. The only bruises she had on her would heal by themselves quickly. Amy knew how to treat wounds. It definitely was a good idea to get to the outside of the fleet before the collision.

The inside of the hospital seemed to have alot of damage, and people were everywhere trying to either treat injuries or get treated. It was a pretty sad sight to both Sonic and Amy. Is this what the hospitals looked like when Chaos had been executing his rampage on here? The damage here was nowhere near as powerful as Chaos was either, in their eyes at least.

Sonic found the front desk hidden in the hundreds of people in the damaged hospital. Everyone on the desk seemed to be busy, but one of them was able to take notice of the blue hedgehog. It was a girl, who looked very tense. "Are you Sonic the hedgehog?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am," Sonic replied. "I know you all are really busy at the moment but, my friend here is unconcious from the crash. Can you take her in?"

The woman nodded in return. "I'm sure we can find some room somewhere, her injuries seem much more serious then most of the people here actually. But I'm sure she'll be fine once she gets treated. Take her to Room 403."

Sonic nodded his head and said, "Thanks!"

Amy had finally caught up to Sonic getting through a pretty angry crowd. She was amazed Sonic managed to get through so quickly. But then again, it was Sonic. Who she thought would always amaze no matter how long one knows him. "Sonic!" Amy said. "Can they get Cream a room?"

Sonic nodded, and Amy smiled in return. She always loved being around Sonic, especially when he seemed very caring.

Later on, Cream was in her room and a doctor was finally checking up on her. It seemed to take forever for a doctor to finally get in there, but he finally made it in, and he began a close examination on Cream's condition. Amy stared looking very nervous, while Sonic looked with a pretty serious face.

"How is she doing doctor?" Amy asked.

The doctor looked up after finishing his examination, sporting a white coat, but with blood stains on it. "She's been badly injured," he began. "She must've been right under the fleet when it crashed. She should be very lucky, it's hard to survive a crash like that, but she'll be okay. I inserted some medications into her body and she should be ready to go by tomorrow morning actually. She shouldn't push her body too hard for awhile, but she'll heal naturally."

Amy sighed in relief, and Sonic smiled at the doctor. They were both very happy that Cream was okay.

"Does Cream have a guardian?" The doctor asked. "Maybe you should tell her to come over here, or check to see if she's alright as well."

Amy nodded and said, "I'll take care of that." The doctor nods in return and then exits the room.

Amy quickly turned to Sonic and was about to give Sonic a hug out of happiness of seeing him again, saying, "Oh Sonic, thank you for all of your..."

But Sonic stepped back and blocked out the hug, as he definitely wasn't in the mood for it at the moment. Sonic had other things on his mind afterall. "Um Amy, I have to go, tell Cream I said hi," Sonic said. Sonic then quickly walked out of the room, leaving Amy feeling quite rejected. Why couldn't Sonic love her back the way she loved him?

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Silver/Sonic

Back outside on the crash sight, Silver and the Chaotix actually looked fine despite the crash. There weren't many bruises on them at all. They all definitely seemed to have pretty tough skin. Still, they were exhausted, it was a long day afterall. Silver was actually helping to repair some of the damages, using his powers to put some of the buildings back together. It would obviously take more to rebuild the city though. But Silver wanted to do something.

As Silver was doing what he was doing, he thought about what had happened in that fleet. Why did Eggman pull all that off? Eggman was apparantly a hologram, so the real Eggman was still out there. What was the point of it all though? Did it serve as a distraction? Or is there something even more contrived going on here? Silver didn't know, and he hated that.

He also wondered what he was now going to do about Vector. He had a bad feeling Vector would tell Espio and Charmy about his suspicions. But, he felt bad enough for even accepting their help in the first place. Silver had a good heart, and he knew these guys were in a tough situation. He actually had been gathering rings on the journey. There were alot of rings on the fleet actually. Eggman seemed pretty rich. Maybe Vector would drop it if he paid them a bit?

Silver stopped his rebuilding. There was just too much to think about. He should just drop these guys and find Eggman. But unfortunately, he still didn't know his way around here. He needed them, whether he liked it or not.

The Chaotix looked everywhere at all the destruction that a fat scientist had caused. It really was a sight to behold. World peace was threatened today. The message was very very clear. Eggman was a threat, a threat that was hiding somewhere. They worry about their own problems with paying rent, but if Eggman's destruction kept up, there would be no house to pay rent for.

"Amazing, so it was a simulation all this time?" Espio asked, referring to the false hospital all four of them had gotten stuck in.

Vector nodded and replied by saying, "Yep. But good old Vector here figured it out before any of you guys could!"

Espio hated to be outsmarted by Vector, as he often does come off as some kind of a baffoon to people. But Vector was obviously alot smarter then that. Still, it didn't do much for his image when Vector figured out something faster than he did. He was a ninja afterall. But Espio knew when to give credit when it was due. "I have to admit Vector, you came out on top this time. I should've listened to Silver when he started getting suspicious."

Silver. Vector forgot, Silver was still in their lives. And he was probably going to stay in their lives for awhile. Vector didn't exactly know what to do about Silver. Silver was basically a wild card at the moment. He was suspicious that Silver didn't have their best interests at heart. He wondered how he was going to tell Espio and Charmy, without sounding completely stupid.

Like, what was he going to tell them? Silver, the government agent, called Eggman some crazy name? He needed more information, as all he's really seen isn't much. But Silver's outburst on him made it clear that Silver was hiding something, and he wasn't going to give it up easily.

Closeby, Sonic had exited the hospital and was running quickly. He seemed to be looking for something, as he got closer and closer to the Chaotix and Silver. Sonic apparantly found what he had been looking for before he reached them though, as even closer to Sonic, was a familiar red echidna that was just staring at the incredible sight. Sonic walked up to Knuckles.

"This sure has been quite the day," Sonic said.

Knuckles nodded in agreement. "Yeah, who knew these days of searching for Eggman would ever lead to this?" he replied. "At least we were able to free Amy."

Sonic nodded. But then he had realized, Knuckles didn't mention the name of the other prisoner of Eggman. A familiar white bat that was supposed to be accompanying him and Tails on their mission to take Eggman back to prison. "What about Rouge?"

Knuckles sighed in annoyance, not always the one to enjoy talking about the annoying girl. "I don't know what's up with her, but she decided to go with Shadow and Omega and jumped into them when Shadow initiated Chaos Control. If you ask me, now the bat's crazy, making her much more of an annoyance then she already was."

Sonic couldn't help but chuckle. It's amazing after five years, the two still had this feud. Rouge just rubbed off people the wrong way. Sonic never minded Rouge, but maybe it was because he didn't have some giant green emerald she would keep trying to steal. "Well, maybe Rouge has some plans of her own. We should get some rest and then see GUN's building in this city in the morning. They might have some ideas of what to do next."

As Sonic was walking towards wherever to get a place to sleep, Knuckles actually said, "Um actually Sonic, I'm afraid we've reached a crossroads." Sonic turned around to face Knuckles, and listened to everything Knuckles had to say. "Vector told me this strange figure in a black cloak stole the Master Emerald. I don't know much more then I did before, but I know I'll have better luck getting some answers if I go and search for the Master Emerald pieces myself."

Sonic was a bit sad that Knuckles was going to split from him too. He was basically alone on this mission now. With Tails being mad, Rouge still with Eggman, and now Knuckles searching for the Master Emerald. Maybe he was the reason he was alone. He didn't let it show in his face though, and just nodded and smiled as he walked away. Knuckels quickly ran away in the other direction. It doesn't seem like he'd be getting sleep anytime soon.

Sonic sighed. He didn't even know where he was going to sleep tonight. He wasn't in the mood to sleep again outside at the Mystic Ruins forest. He was pretty exhausted. He needed somewhere good to sleep at. His train of thought was interrupted, when he ran into the Chaotix.

"Hey Sonic!" Vector greeted. "It looks like you came out of this crash in one piece too!"

"Great job yet again Sonic!" Charmy said, agreeing.

Sonic smiled. At least most of the world still saw him for what he was five years ago. He hoped Tails wouldn't go and tell the entire world what he had done. Tails wasn't that kind of person. At least, he hoped he didn't turn into such a person after five years. It wasn't likely, but you never know what someone is going to do until they do it. "Thanks guys. I think we all better get some rest though. Tomorrow, I'm going to have to go find Eggman myself."

Espio had suddenly thought up the perfect idea that could benefit both the Chaotix and Sonic after hearing Sonic say that. He thought it was another chance to show just how great his mind was. So, he said, "Wait guys, we're looking for Eggman to right? To help Silver. Let's just work with Sonic and we might get our payment faster."

"You mean you guys wanna help me find Eggman?" Sonic asked, abit surprised by the comment.

Vector and Charmy agreed with Espio and nodded along with him. "Sure Sonic, we're both working towards a similar goal," Espio said. "We might as well team up. Come with us to our home in the Mystic Ruins and rest there with us."

Sonic nodded, and the four of them began to head for the Mystic Ruins to get some rest. But before they disappeared into the dark, Charmy shouted out to Silver, "Hey Silver, let's go! Let's go to sleep at the Chaotix house!"

Silver realized his allies were quickly leaving for the Mystic Ruins, and quickly stopped what he was doing and joined the group.

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Silver/Sonic

The next day, Station Square had seen the visits of dozens of rescuers overnight, trying to save the people stuck in the wreckage and trying to repair some of the damages. The sun was shining, but there was still darkness in the city from all the destruction, no matter how much light was going to be shining on a certain day. But repairs seemed to be getting off a good start.

Sonic, Silver, and the Chaotix had a pretty good rest overall. The house was small and crowded overall, but it was doable. It was funny how Sonic was as famous as he was and he never really brought an actual house. He always preferred sleeping with nature unless he was really exhausted, like he was last night.

"So, where are we going Sonic?" Charmy asked, curious as to what he was getting into.

"We're going to GUN and see if they know if there's anything we could do to get closer to finding Eggman," Sonic replied, answering Charmy's question.

"Uh, what's GUN again?"

Sonic chuckled, about everyone knew about GUN except the people that really are in the dark in the world. Charmy didn't seem like the kind of person that kept track of what was the most popular in the world. His mind seemed too focused on video games. "It's basically this nation's military program. They take care of alot of things, including Eggman. They might have some info they dug up from the fleet or something."

Charmy stared in awe, GUN sounded like a pretty cool place to him. He wondered if they accepted 11 year olds. He'd probably be getting paid much more then he is with the Chaotix. But something told him he couldn't part from the Chaotix, at least not for awhile. Whether he liked it or not, he was 11, and the Chaotix has really been his only home.

Silver wondered if going to GUN was such a good idea. Maybe Vector would tell GUN about his suspicions. And also, what if Sonic mentions Silver is also a government agent? Were they going to research it to see if that was true? Silver was pretty worried. But he wasn't going to do something out of the ordinary again, as the last time he did that at Eggman's base, it didn't always turn out very well.

The five of them suddenly stopped walking, as Sonic spotted the GUN building right in front of them. "Here we are," Sonic said. The building also seemed heavily damaged from all the destruction, but it wasn't as bad as some of the other buildings at all. It was large, black colored on the metal material used to make the building, surrounded by gates like any other military station was. You could spot all the tanks inside the gates too.

The gates suddenly opened, and the gang went and quickly entered the building. It was pretty dark, and only a few lights were working. There were lots of computers in this main room, but most of them looked pretty broken. The big monitor at the end though was in working condition.

"Wow, this place looks really high tech!" Vector said in amazement.

"I wonder if there are any video games in here?" Charmy said, staring at all the technology.

"Focus Charmy, we're here to stop Eggman!" Vector said in complete annoyance. Charmy pouted, he should've known that comment would've gotten on Vector's nerves.

Suddenly, a human came out of the door in the center and walked over to the gang. He was a dark blue suit, had grey hair, and looked to be in pretty good shape. There were a few badges on his suit, he must've been highly ranked in this institution.

"Ah, you must be Sonic!" he said. Sonic nodded as the male shaked his hand. "I'm the Commander here, how may I be of assisstance?"

Sonic smiled and then said, "Well, me and my friends here are on a mission to go and find Dr. Eggman. But here's the thing, the Eggman that was in that fleet was a hologram. So now we really have no idea where Dr. Eggman could be, and we wondered if you had any idea of where we should start."

Silver rolled his eyes when Sonic said hologram. He still couldn't believe Eggman had pulled that on him. Silver was so close to his goal, and the man had to ruin it by revealing himself to be a hologram. Silver was going to make sure he was getting that Eggman, no matter what.

The Commandar was thinking. They didn't find anything examining the fleet, as everything seemed to had dissintegrated from the crash. He kept thinking, until he had finally figured out something from something that didn't even have much to do with the crash. "That's it!" he said.

"You've thought of something?" Espio asked.

The Commander nodded. "Well, you see, awhile back, our agent Rouge had reported that two Chaos Emeralds had gone missing, and they still hadn't been retrieved. What if Eggman has those two emeralds? It'd explain how he produced so many weapons so soon."

Sonic nodded in agreement. "Wow, I haven't heard of the Chaos Emeralds in five years, I never even thought of them!" Sonic said. "Maybe Eggman did take those two Chaos Emeralds."

The Commander nodded. "Well, maybe if you guys were to go looking for the Chaos Emeralds, then maybe you won't have to find Eggman. He might find you."

Sonic chuckled. It was funny to think of Eggman doing his job for him. He liked it. And he didn't really have any other leads either. Sonic gave his thumbs up to the Commander and said, "Sounds good to me. You guys all agree?"

The Chaotix and Silver nodded. Silver knew of the Chaos Emeralds, and knew the power that was contained inside them. He knew Eggman would want that kind of power. He was going to make sure Eggman didn't get anywhere near that power, knowing the destruction he had caused without any.

Sonic then remembered to ask the Commander, "Hey, Eggman isn't back in his desert right?"

The Commander shook his head in disgust and replied by saying, "No, the soldiers have searched the base all night and there was absolutely no one there. Then all of a sudden, the base exploded and nothing in it remains. So we have absolutely no potential clues from the base."

Sonic nodded, he expected as such. Dr. Eggman was a clever person, and he wasn't going to let a simple mistake like that ruin his plan. Sonic sometimes wished he paid that much attention to his actions, might've saved him alot of trouble.

The Commander then said, "By the way Sonic, where's Tails and Rouge? Weren't they traveling with you?"

Sonic suddenly remembered, Tails was angry at him. His smile suddenly disappeared. How was he going to live knowing Tails was thinking what he was thinking? He did feel this disconnection from him since they reunited, but it was more apparant then ever now. He hoped Tails' anger was evaporate eventually. But Sonic felt he had disappointed him as a role model. He felt he disappointed everyone.

Vector noticed Sonic's sudden mood change and asked, "Sonic?"

Sonic quickly snapped out of it and then said, "Um, Rouge is a captive of Eggman. We gotta save her. As for Tails, well, he's taking care of some stuff at the moment so he couldn't be here."

The Commander nodded accepting Sonic's answer. "So Rouge didn't die from the explosion in the Mystic Ruins then. That's good. I hope she's okay. Eggman certainly hasn't forgotten how decieving she was." Everyone else nodded, leaving the building with Rouge in their minds. Where exactly is she now?

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Shadow

Shadow knew all along exactly what the doctor was going to do. He didn't exactly know what the purpose of that distraction was, besides sending out a warning to all of mankind. But it certainly made the message clear. Eggman was back, and he wasn't going to go easy on the world this time. You must get very angry being stuck in a prison for five years.

Shadow wondered, what was it like to have been stuck in prison for five years, knowing that you're meant to stay in there for the rest of your life? The doctor must've went absolutely insane just thinking so many years ahead. With wanting to inflict such destruction on such a random city, it must've done a number on him. But still, Shadow wondered how he could trust Eggman knowing all of that?

Before, Shadow would've just thought that his gut just told him to trust the doctor, and that he would go with his gut. But something he had found yesterday had got him rethinking what he was doing over here. And that was when he had stumbled across a file titled The Shadow Project, which was password protected.

What in the world could The Shadow Project be? It must involve him somehow, his name was Shadow afterall. What was the doctor exactly planning here? How was he exactly going to get revenge on the entire planet and get them to bow down to the Eggman Empire? So many questions, Shadow needed answers fast. It might be time to go find another Chaos Emerald, or start snooping for that password.

Anyway, Shadow stood in a mystery location. But it was quite absent in the light department, and much of room looked very plain. Looking like some dark blue room without much function. But the walls, floor, and ceiling were definitely made out of metal. Behind Shadow was a prison cell however, and inside the prison cell, sat Rouge the Bat.

Shadow turned around and stared at the bat, who surprisingly smiled back at the hedgehog. Just who was this girl? She had the chance to be free of Eggman's grasp, but instead decided to catch a ride with him to this place. And why did she seem so relaxed? It's like she wanted to be here. But Shadow couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

"You confuse me you know," Shadow said.

"That's kind of funny coming from a guy that's confusing basically everyone in the world," Rouge said, still keeping that smile up.

"What exactly do you mean?"

"Maybe if you were willing to tell some things I wanted to know, I would."

Shadow frowned, he didn't like to be blackmailed. And he certainly wasn't going to do it for some batgirl he didn't really know. But, she talked to him like she did know him. And he did save her once. Maybe there was more to this batgirl then he thought. But, Shadow wouldn't want to risk it with Eggman, at least, not right now.

"I don't get blackmailed so you might as well keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for you," Shadow replied.

Shadow then turned around, and prepared to leave the room, not exactly wanting to socialize with Rouge anymore. He didn't like to admit it to himself though, and it was that Rouge's offer didn't sound too bad. Maybe he could get answers that would take forever getting out of Eggman.

Rouge smiled, as if she knew that's what Shadow was thinking.

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Amy

Back at Station Square, Amy had stayed the night at the hospital having nowhere else to go. Cream's mother Vanilla and Cheese had arrived to the hospital last night. They thought Cream was just getting some groceries that Vanilla had forgotten, but apparantly, the fleet decided Cream was to be sleeping in a hospital instead. When Amy talked to them, they both sounded so worried, and they came basically five minutes after the call, pretty fast. All three of them slept over the night with Cream.

Amy slept on a comfty chair, with her hammer at the right side of her feet lying on the floor. She didn't enjoy sleeping on the chair. Now that she was 17, she was a little too tall to be able to lie down on a chair that short. She wished there was an extra sofa in the room. There was one, but she thought Vanilla would've needed it more since she was older. Cheese slept with Cream.

Amy's eye lieds suddenly opened, and soon she began to sit up on the chair, trying to regain full conciousness. That wasn't too bad of a sleep, but it could've been better without a doubt. But considering she had slept in a dusty prison cell before this, she wasn't complaining very much at all. Once Amy was able to see clearly, she realized Vanilla and Cheese were not there.

"Huh, where are they?" Amy asked.

"Oh Amy, you're awake!" said a familiar rabbit outside the room.

Vanilla and Cheese suddenly entered the room with a tray that contained some doughnuts and some empty cups. Cheese seemed to carrying a big cup of milk. It looked like a nice breakfast to her, but not the best obviously. Amy thought this was strange that Vanilla was just serving doughnuts, knowing how good of a cook she is. But then again, she probably just got them from the hospital cafeteria.

"Oh hey you two, did you get these from the cafeteria?"

Vanilla nodded. "It's not the kind of food I want to serve to celebrate you being alive, but they won't let me cook here in the hospital, even though I asked the staff nicely."

Amy got off of her chair and walked up to the doughnuts. She grabbed the one that seemed to have pink frosting on it and took a bite. It was good, but not great. Had a bit of a strawberry taste. She didn't usually eat sweets like this, she was trying to watch her weight. But she didn't want to turn down the food Vanilla and Cheese got. "Well this hospital is missing out because this is nothing compared to your cooking Vanilla," Amy said.

Vanilla laughed, Amy was always nice to her about her food. Vanilla then looked over at Cream, and the happiness in her face almost disappeared. "I hope Cream is okay, the doctor said she would wake up in the morning," Vanilla said.

Amy smiled and tried to calm Vanilla down by, "I'm sure Cream will be fine Vanilla, she's a fighter."

Vanilla suddenly frowned though, a bit of an unexpected reaction to Amy's comment. "But Cream shouldn't have gone out, I told her to just forget about those groceries but she just wouldn't listen," a protective Vanilla said. Vanilla sighed, definitely thinking about her daughter. "I swear, when she was younger, she would be the perfect little angel, but lately, she just seems to get herself into even more trouble."

Amy smiled, as she understood Vanilla's concern. She then said, "You shouldn't worry too much Vanilla, when I was 12 five years ago, I got into ALOT of trouble obviously. It's natural to want to explore the world a little more, but I don't think Cream is being as bad as she could be at all."

Vanilla looked at Cream still keeping that depressing facial expression. "I know, but why can't she just stay home like she would before and just have her fun around the house?" she asked. "It's not that I'm in denial she is growing up, but you gave me a heart attack when you told me what had happened."

Amy nodded in agreement, she felt that was reasonable. Then just at that second, Amy, Vanilla, and Cheese realized that a certain rabbit's eyes were finally starting to lift open. They all came closer to Cream to see her finally wake up.

"Ohhhh," Cream moaned. "Oh....hey mom, Cheese, and Amy.........Amy?!" Cream's eyes suddenly opened widely in shock to see her best friend was actually alive. Amy smiled and nodded. Cream than gave Amy a hug, very happy that her friend was quite the survivor.

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Shadow

Shadow still couldn't get Rouge out of his head. He didn't know what exactly she was trying to do here. Was she being truthful? Or was she just trying to get some information out of him and then tell the government as soon as she got the chance to escape? Hell, maybe she has some secret communication device inside her. How else did Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles find the base? Blah, now he was thinking absolute riduclousness. If there was some device inside her, Eggman would've detected it.

Speaking of Dr. Eggman, Shadow was going to go and visit the doctor himself at the moment actually. He apparantly needed something, calling him to the central control room of wherever they were. Maybe it was time to retrieve another Chaos Emerald. He still wondered what Eggman was planning. What if the Chaos Emeralds were somehow connected to The Shadow Project? He didn't know, but he just had to find out.

Into the control room he went. There didn't seem to be any lights on. Infact, Shadow didn't see one light on in this entire area yet. He wondered why that was the case. Maybe there was just some power problems. He wondered what this place really looked like, because without the lights, this place actually looked pretty plain.

Eggman sat on the chair in front of Shadow looked away from him, staring at the dark wall. He was most likely just thinking, but it still seemed a little creepy. "Shadow, is that you?" Eggman asked.

Shadow nodded and said, "Yes master, why was I called here?"

Eggman turned his chair over to face Shadow and nodded. "It's time to find another Chaos Emerald Shadow my darling," he said. "Are you up to the challenge?"

Shadow nodded and said, "Of course, it will be done." You would think the conversation would've ended there, but Shadow wasn't done. So right before Eggman turned around, Shadow asked, "Master, if I may, why aren't the lights on in this area? Where exactly are we?" Even though Shadow had teleported there, he only knew the location of the area. He actually didn't know what the place was. It kind of killed him, since it was fairly dark and he couldn't see a thing.

Eggman then answered the question by saying, "That's not necessarily important. But once the power is to come back on, who knows, you may figure it out, Shadow."

Figure out? Was Eggman suggesting that he had been here before? It was possible, but the little he had been able to see did not make a thing strike in his mind. Maybe the key here was definitely the light. Like, he could kind of see where he was, but it just didn't seem clear enough without any of the lights.

"Okay doctor, do you know where the next emerald is?" Shadow asked.

Eggman nodded, then said, "It's somewhere inside Hang Castle. Use a Chaos Emerald to chaos control yourself and Omega there. You'll know you're there when you see it."

Shadow nodded, and was about to walk off to go and find Omega. But before Shadow was able to leave, Eggman said, "One more thing. Shadow, be very careful when you're at Hang Castle. Believe it or not, but the castle has the power to weaken even the strongest of people mentally..."

Shadow stopped for a second, thinking about Eggman's words. He then continued and exited the room.

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Sonic/Silver

So according to Rouge's most recent reports, there was a Chaos Emerald sitting here in the Ice Cap mountains. It was definitely a cold place to be. Sonic hadn't gone here in at least five years since the time he had to retrive a Chaos Emerald to stop Eggman from fully powering Chaos. Apparantly, that Chaos Emerald was back here. But Rouge's reports weren't the most recent ones, and they didn't have a Chaos Emerald with them to be really sure where the emerald was.

But Silver was going to find that emerald at all costs. He didn't care if Vector was onto him, and he didn't care if the Chaotix were going to make this mission harder for him, he wouldn't let anyone get in his way. Not even the cold blizzard like winds in Ice Cap.

All five of them were just beginning to enter the mountains. They could feel the cold breezes surrounding them, and they didn't like it one bit, as they were all shaking from the cold. It would only get worst from here, but they had to be fighters and get through. But there would be some hiccups here and there.

"BAHHHHHHHHHHH, it's freaking cold in here!" Vector complained.

"What else do ya expect from a place called Ice Cap?" Charmy asked with a sarcastic tone.

"Now don't you talk to me like that you idiot! I'm not cold, I'm just, shivering from nerves..."

"Yeah, sure." Charmy then smiled a little, he liked being stronger then Vector in any real given situation.

Sonic smiled at the playfulness between the two. He certainly wished he had that relationship with someone. Especially Tails. But, if he had even ruined his relationship with Tails, he wondered if it was possible for him to have any close friends at all. His facial expression showed his thoughts, and Vector and Charmy noticed his face immediately.

"Hey Sonic, are you ok?" Vector asked.

Sonic was taken aback by Vector's question, not exactly expecting him to be looking at his face like that. He replied though and said, "Oh, yeah, I'm cool Vector. Just another day of stopping Eggman from taking the Chaos Emeralds is all."

But then Vector said, "Are you sure? I don't know Sonic, since the visit to the GUN sfacility, you just seem to be a little down in the dumps."

Sonic tried to smile to hide the truth and said, "It's nothin' Vector, I feel great! Eggman won't know what's coming to him once we take these emeralds away from him!"

Charmy overheard Sonic and flew to him saying, "Sonic, you're the coolest person in the world! I'm sure you've done nothing wrong in your life, I wish I was more like you."

Sonic laughed, but in reality, he was laughing because Charmy was just so wrong. At least, that's what he felt. Sonic knew who he really was. Letting Eggman go like that last night, it must've meant something. He couldn't deny it anymore. He was nothing more than a selfish hedgehog that wanted to relive his glory days. Once he saved the world, he would go back into obscurity, and just waste away his life forever. He didn't see what else he was worthy for now.

Vector took Sonic's comment to heart. It was Sonic afterall, nothing that bad could be wrong with him. He suddenly then whispered, "Espio, I need to tell you something."

Espio heard Vector barely, and walked a little closer to him to see what he wanted. "Why are we whispering?" Espio asked, whispering as well.

Vector didn't know exactly how to tell Espio what he wanted to tell, but Espio was very trustworthy, and he was certain Espio can help him find the information he wanted. "It's about Silver," Vector whispered.

"What about him?" Espio asked.

"I've got a bad feeling he isn't exactly who we think he is."

"Why do you say that?"

Vector didn't know how to explain exactly what his proof of thinking this was. But he had to try his best. If Silver was a danger to them, they had to find out before it was too late. "Let's just say, he has different reasons for wanting to get Eggman."

Espio was still a little confused by Vector's comments. However, he was not the type of person to really question. He only did it when he felt there was something really wrong. He could tell Vector didn't know how to explain it though. Besides, Espio never felt that comfortable working with Silver himself. If Vector had suspicions, there had to be something up. "So, what do you want me to do then?"

"I want you to get to know him Espio, get on his good side, and maybe, just maybe, he'll trust you with some stuff he's not going to share with me or Charmy."

Espio nodded. It seemed like a good plan. Silver didn't really have any reason to not trust him yet. Espio didn't get very good vibes from Silver. So if there's something up that's going to possibly hurt them, he was going to find out. Espio looked at Silver, as if to see if he really looked untrustworthy.

Silver didn't hear a thing. He thought it was strange that Vector was being quiet. He hoped Vector didn't say a thing to anyone. How else was he going to explain what he heard without sounding like a madman? I mean, Espio and Charmy couldn't have already felt suspicious about him right? He hoped so. But at the end of the day, as long as Eggman was dead, he didn't care who didn't trust him.

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Amy

"Amy, I'm so happy you're alive!" Cream said, letting go of her hug on Amy.

Amy smiled and then said, "I'm glad you're alive too!"

Cream then just realized exactly where she was. She then asked, "Wait, why am I in the hospital?"

Vanilla walked up to Cream and then said, "Eggman's fleet crashed into the city and you were right under the fleet. I told you not to go out and get those groceries because I knew something bad would've happened to you and I was completely right."

"But mom, I'm okay," Cream said, a little sad her mom's reaction to her waking up was the paranoid parent one.

"The doctor said you were lucky to even be alive," Vanilla said. "You'll be able to come out of the hospital today by the way. I'll just tell them that you're awake." Vanilla then exited the room. Cheese went and gave Cream a hug as she did.

"Aww Cheese, don't worry, I'm alright!" Cream said. "Amy, did you take me to here to the hospital?"

Amy smiled and then said, "It wasn't just me, it was...............Sonic who carried you here. I saw you under the fleet though and you were losing alot of blood."

"Wow, Mr. Sonic sure is a live saver!" Cream said with much happiness.

Amy sighed, she just remembered how rejected she felt when Sonic basically left without really saying goodbye to her. Just what was it about her that made Sonic want to take off like that? Cream noticed Amy's sudden mood change, so did Cheese.

"Amy, is everything okay?" Cream asked.

"Ugh, it's just Sonic as usual," Amy said. "You would think after five years I would just give up on the guy but I just can't. When Sonic brought you in here, he tried to leave as soon as possible as if he didn't even want to hear my voice. Am I really that disgusting of a person?"

Cream's face showed alot of sadness. She really hated when Amy would get depressed over Sonic. But Amy seemed alot more depressed about it this time around. It must've been really bad this time. "Amy, I'm sure Sonic had a good reason to rush out like that."

"Well then I'd sure like to hear it, he didn't seem to be in the best of moods being around me last night," Amy said. She sighed, it just seemed to be the same thing over and over again with her and Sonic.

Cream then remembered something she wanted to say to Amy if she would ever come back. "Oh Amy, by the way." Cream then reached into her pocket and then took out this red shining gem that seemed to absolute astonish you if you were to look at it. "I went to your home and got the Chaos Emerald because I thought you had died. So I was going to bring it to the government to keep it safe. But now that you're here, you can have it again."

Amy took the emerald from Cream. It was still as beautiful as she had last remembered it. She then said, "Thanks Cream. Who knows, maybe this emerald is the reason your injuries aren't that bad!"

Cream smiled and then said, "Well, Chaos Emeralds have more power when they're helping people instead of hurting people, so that would be great if that was the case!" Amy smiled and just continued to stare at the emerald, looking for any scratches. Cream always wondered about something though, and maybe since Amy didn't seem as angry this time around, she could ask it. "Amy, can't you tell me why you need that emerald in the first place?"

Amy turned to Cream. She didn't want to answer that question as in a way, even she didn't know why she was so attracted to the emerald. She then answered, "Even after all this time Cream, I still don't know. I just feel like, it's calling me towards it. It's like it wants me to hold onto it. I don't know how else to explain it."

Before Cream had a chance to respond though, someone opened the door and entered the room. Amy, Cream, and Cheese expected Vanilla to be coming back, but when they turned to the door, it was someone completely different.

"Hey guys," said a yellow fox with two tails.

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Shadow

"I wonder if Omega is here," Shadow said.

Shadow had to go and find Omega and then chaos control themselves to Hang Castle. The sooner he could go and get those Chaos Emeralds, the faster he can get those answers. But, the questions seemed to be coming faster towards him than answers were, and it frustrated Shadow.

Should he had asked Eggman about The Shadow Project? If he had asked about it, perhaps Eggman may have put the file somewhere else where he could've never found it again. Shadow had a feeling that it was password protected for a reason. Did Eggman have more plans with Shadow outside of finding the Chaos Emeralds? There's something Eggman was keeping from him.

And where in the world was Omega exactly? This place was definitely alot bigger than he had originally expected it to be. Eggman didn't give him any specifics, but he said Omega was nearby. Obviously, that was a lie. Omega must've gone off to somewhere else. Where that exactly was is the question.

Shadow suddenly heard some mechanical noises that sounded very much like Omega moving his arms. Shadow went to the door on the right, but it was locked. Shadow tried turning the knob a few times, which suddenly fell off landing on the ground. Strange is what Shadow thought, this place may be a pretty old area. Shadow ran through the door.

Shadow kept going as the noise grew louder. Omega was definitely in here. He began to slow down a bit, as he didn't want to bump into Omega in the dark. The noise still continued to grow in volume.

"Omega?" Shadow asked.

Suddenly, the noises stopped. Did Omega not want to be seen? Shadow kept on going, until he reached yet another door. Shadow punched the door open, as the lock on that door was actually working. Shadow hoped Omega didn't see that as a threat.

Shadow entered the room, which was surprisingly filled with light. He saw Omega infront of him who seemed to be working on some controls. Shadow looked to the left of the large bright room, which was when his mouth suddenly opened wide, unable to express the thoughts flying around in his head from the sight.

"That's.....me....," Shadow said.

Left to right, up and down, below him, there were tons of Shadows. They all looked exactly like Shadow, standing in this robot like position. There must've been liek hundreds of them, maybe even thousands. Shadow wondered, is this what The Shadow Project is?

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Conclusion

How will Sonic deal with his issues with Tails now? What exactly will Espio discover about Silver? What is Tails doing in Cream's hospital room? And what exactly is up with the thousands of Shadow clones in the new home of Dr. Eggman? All this on the next episode of Desperate Hedgehogs!