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Amy’s muscles were starting to get sore. They ached as she sprinted down the long endless corridors of the space colony. To think she was back here on the Ark again of all places.
It’s not that she didn’t like the Ark, in fact she always found the whole place kind of romantic. Being far above the planet in a secluded world that rested amongst the stars. The problem was that it was chocked full of weapons of mass destruction and the like, most of which were all powered by the Chaos Emeralds, that people with bad intentions absolutely loved to get their greedy little hands on.
Which was exactly why she was here. Running through what felt like a labyrinth wondering if it had always been this big or had always felt this lonely.
If the information Metal Sonic had collected was correct, and the map of all the labs on the Ark were in fact wrong, then the device that those off-brand occultists or whoever they were supposed to be were after should actually be currently held in a secret quadrant in the lower sector of the fifth lab, past a hidden security door in the botanical garden.
Shadow had insisted that that wasn’t where it was. And ordinarily she would have believed him, he was the one raised in this place after all and he certainly knew a lot more about the weapon these villains were after than anyone else. Anyone else still alive that is.
But the reality was that he was wrong. It wasn’t there. Maybe it got moved or something but Mobius’s latest weirdos had found that out and Metal was lucky enough to find out as well. He was the one who gave her that information so that she could pass it on to her fellow Freedom Fighters. Well, he probably meant it to just be for her but he didn’t mind if she passed the knowledge on.
The problem was she just couldn’t tell her friends how she got that information. She knew they would insist that Metal was just deceiving her and that Eggman was working with these guys somehow and was trying to mislead them from the actual location of the device. Meaning she had no way to prove how she knew about this secret area. So, as one could probably imagine, her claim was completely ignored.
Amy’s thoughts wandered on as she swerved around another corner and flew down a few flights of stairs, leading her to even more long hallways. Her heart was beating out of her chest and she found herself growing frustrated.
Truth be told she thought her friends should have just believed her anyway. If she was any of her other friends, Knuckles, Tails, or especially Sonic then she wouldn’t have needed any evidence to prove that she knew about this secret lab. They would have just trusted her intuition and she wouldn’t be racing down these corridors by herself, feeling like the fate of the world rested entirely in her hands.
The pink hedgehog thoughts came to an abrupt stop and she quickly skidded to a halt, almost sliding past her destination as she stopped before a pair of large double doors with a sign reading “botanical garden” hanging beside it.
Thankfully they were unlocked and she easily slipped her way inside where she discovered that the ‘garden’ part in ‘botanical garden’ was a very generous term. The room broadcasted an overwhelming amount of the color brown, brought about by the dead and decayed plants. It looked miserable.
Amy wasn’t sure why she was expecting them to still be alive. No one’s lived here for fifty years. But it still saddened her to imagine that this place was likely full of all sorts of gorgeous colors in its prime but was now only a depressing shadow of its past, torn apart by unintentional abandonment.
She quickly shook her head. Worrying about plant-life was the least of her concerns right now. Amy ran to the back of the garden where she spotted what seemed to have once been a large oak tree, just like the one Metal had told her about. Beside it hung a wall of dead vines. Amy pushed them aside and found a hidden control panel embedded in the wall.
Bingo.
She pried the panel open with her claws and revealed a single yellow button. Without hesitation she clicked on it and a previously non-existent door suddenly opened beside her.
She took one big deep breath before she began her journey again, dashing down even more long and empty hallways.
Why did they all have to look the same? Plain, undecorated, and an absolute boring color of silver.
But it looked like Metal was right about the secret area after all, not that she had any doubts, she just really wished her friends would have listened to her.
They never do, really. Maybe she wasn’t giving them enough credit but it always felt like they didn’t trust her when things got tough. Like she couldn’t handle more than beating up a few badniks. Like they didn’t take her seriously, even after all these years. She was still just the sweet little defenseless immature Amy Rose from Little Planet. Better have her sit this one out or she might get hurt. Or worse, in the way.
She felt herself grow angrier and dug her nails into her palms and her heaving breath worsened.
Metal Sonic didn’t see her that way. He respected her, her strength and her abilities. Admired them even. She could never be dead weight in his eyes. Why did someone working for Eggman value her more than her own friends? The same friends she’s known and has been working with since, well, practically forever.
This time though, it was going to be different. Amy was going to prove it to them. Prove that she can be trusted and can handle anything that’s thrown at her and more. They’ll see her return, device in hand, and then never doubt her ever again.
Maybe that could’ve happened had she not been so lost in thought. Maybe it would’ve been true if she had noticed the giant piece of metal quickly swinging towards her face right before everything went black.
-
When the girl awoke again she found herself lying on the cold metal floor. Her head was throbbing and it felt like it was full of bricks. Through the migraine she could hear a faint murmuring from somewhere in front of her. She forced her weak eyes to open and follow the voice and found a large wall made of electricity displayed in front of her and a blurry individual on the other side.
They seemed to already be aware of her presence and knelt down in front of her, chuckling softly, "Why good morning, Pinkie.”
"Don't call me that," she spat, eyes squinting as she adjusted to the light. She tried to sit up and immediately regretted it as her head quickly went from a throb to a harsh stab. She had to hold it in pain. A bad start.
"Easy Pinkie, you took quite the hit back there. You really were in quite a hurry, huh?” the individual said, who Amy could now tell was a white falcon with menacing orange eyes, she recognized him as one of those bad guys. He had a devilish grin on his face. She growled.
"I'm impressed, honestly. I didn't think you Freedom Fighters were smart enough to find this place. Kudos to you. It is strange though. It doesn’t look like any of your friends came to join you. Odd, wouldn’t you say?” His sickening smile grew wider.
"Shut up, Amy quickly snapped back, suddenly unable to control her anger.
"Oh, struck a nerve, have I? I was complimenting you, you know. You and the Doctor were the only ones to have gotten this close to stopping us."
"Eggman?"
"None other. His little pawn tracked us down and tried to steal the Chaos Emeralds. Can you believe it! Unfortunately for him his machine was far too outmatched, just like the rest of you heroes.”
Little pawn? Machine? She thought. No, he couldn't be talking about…
Anger began to stir inside the small hedgehog. "You’re not going to get away with this!"
"Ha! I admire your spark but you seem to forget where you are right now. Don't you get it? The emeralds are in our possession and no one else is here to help you. You played the game well, but you still lost it in the end."
With that the man rose, dusted off his uniform and began to make his way out of the room.
"Hey! I'm not done talking!"
"Actually, you are. So long, Pinkie." He deadpanned before exiting, the door slammed itself down behind him.
Amy bunched her dress in her hands and growled again. Great. What in chaos was she supposed to do now?
She really had come so far, she had gotten so close, yet she still failed in the end. Maybe her friends were right about her after all…
She felt the water swell up in her eyes. The world needed her now more than ever but she had gotten so caught up in her own emotions that she let herself get caught, right when it mattered the most. Maybe if she had focused more on the mission rather than the fact that she was doing it alone then this wouldn’t have happened. Sonic would have never complained.
And if the Freedom Fighters could see her now, quickly defeated by a blunt object, locked in a cell, and still getting over-emotional again.
She had always valued emotions more than the others seemed to, she believed that when they were embraced they held a certain power. But look where that’s gotten her now. It’s no wonder they think she’s immature.
She hung her head lowly, feeling so ashamed.
Tears began to trickle down her face as she fought the urge to sob. She could be stronger than this. She wanted to be stronger than this. How was she going to be stronger than this?
The girl’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of a faint and disrupted beeping noise. She spun her head around and saw none other than Metal Sonic, laying on the ground behind her and she felt her heart stop for a moment.
He was completely in ruin. He was missing both his right limbs, his torso was smashed in, and his eyes were cracked and splintered.
She ran over to him as fast as she could and kneeled down beside the beaten bot before her.
"Metal?" she asked gently, her eyes watering more. She received no response for a moment and panic quickly swarmed inside her before she was met with a few more fragmented beeps and clicks.
She felt herself actually sigh out loud in relief.
She wasn’t sure if he could see her as his screen was completely black and he couldn't seem to move, but he seemed to hear her at least.
Her heart ached terribly. She rested her hand to the side of his head.
“It’s okay, Metal. I… It’s… It’s gonna be okay,” she spoke softly. Metal gave her a sorrow sounding noise in return and she felt like her heart was gonna break.
No . No this wasn’t okay.
Fury surged inside her as she stared down at the broken friend in front of her.
How could they do something like this? Why was everyone suddenly so evil nowadays? Wasn’t there enough hate in the world already? What does all this pointless fighting and destruction even accomplish? And why did they have to keep hurting the ones she cared about?
The girl was so enraged she completely failed to notice the glowing light of the Chaos Emeralds appear around her.
She wasn’t going to let these guys get away with this. Not this time. They were gonna pay.
The emeralds spun around her, powered by something deep and burning inside of her. Something strong, something she’s always had. There was a great big flash of light.
And she ignited.
-
“Well go on! Hurry before more of those pesky heroes find us!” yelled one man.
“I hit the button! But it didn’t do anything!” yelled another.
“Then do it again!” yelled the white falcon.
“I’m trying but it’s not working!”
“Ugh! Let me see it!” The falcon shoved his way past his comrade and hit the same button again. But he was also met with no response from the machine.
“What’s wrong with it? It’s acting like it has no power. But we put the emeralds inside of it. Did we do it wrong or something?” the first man wondered.
The falcon hummed irritatedly before undoing the latch to the battery compartment. The compartment door swung open and all the men froze in place at the sight of very noticeably missing Chaos Emeralds.
"What?! How? Where did they-"
The man was interrupted by a very loud boom. Debris flew across the room and the three men spun around to see the source but were instantly blinded. There was a massive hole in the wall where the steel had burst open. And right in the middle of the wreckage stood a golden glowing hedgehog with a burning red fire in her eyes and the broken Metal Sonic in her arms.
"You'll wish you never messed with me."