Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Remember: we’re just here on business. We make the deal with the head, and then we leave. In and out. No distractions,” Surge said as she put her quills up in the neatest bun she could manage.

“Yes ma’am.” Kit sat up straighter in the seat next to her.

Eventually, their limo had arrived to a small town up north with an even smaller population. Surge brushed off her suit and remembered her mission. If she couldn’t complete this deal, there was nowhere for her to go back to. She took a deep breath, and opened the door.

Small one-story buildings spaced apart from each other, locally owned businesses with handmade signs, gravel roads, none of it was anything like she was used to in the big city. As she and Kit walked by, she saw people whispering about her, a few even looking a little…scared? Intimidated?

Good. She had no business with them anyway.

It wasn’t long before she and Kit reached their destination: Restoration Antique Shop. A small antique shop that took donations of old items, trinkets, or clothes, restored them, and then sold them, donating all profits to charity. She was here to make a deal with them on behalf of her grandfather (and boss) that would allow them to export their products across the world.

That was, if she could get the business owner to say yes.

She opened the door and walked into the little shop, triggering the little bell on the top of the door. She glanced around, looking at the little toys, clothes, books, and other things that didn’t interest her until her eyes landed upon one of the employees. She was a little shorter than Surge (although that could’ve just been the fact that Surge was wearing heels), she had short, shoulder-length quills that were pulled behind her in a messy ponytail, and she was wearing a light teal dress with a name tag that said “Amy.”

Surge couldn’t quite place it, but something about Amy felt…familiar. She knew there was no way this girl was the manager, but something about her screamed that this was who she was supposed to talk to.

“Heya, I’m Surge. Here to make a deal on behalf of Clean Sweep Distrobution,” Surge introduced herself, holding out a hand.

“Hi! I’m Amy. Jewel told me to keep an eye out for you,” Amy said, shaking it.

“Jewel?” Surge asked, pulling her hand away.

“Oh, right! She’s the manager. In fact, you might want to talk to her instead. I just work here.”

Surge looked Amy up and down again. Why did she seem so familiar?

“So when will this ‘Jewel’ lady be back?”

“Well, she’s out on break right now, but I can show you around the shop a little until she comes back!”

Surge barely processed what was going on before she was suddenly dragged across the store. Amy showed her patchwork outfits, blending different clothing styles together to make something brand new. She showed her miniature porcelain figures with cracks barely visible. She showed her old plushies with mismatched eyes and visible stitches. It was strange to see how much love and care was put into the shop. Surge was expecting this to just be a business deal, but maybe to these people it meant more than that.

“What’s in there?” she asked, pointing to a door in the back.

“That’s the rest of the shop. I’ll give you a proper tour when Jewel gets back,” Amy said with a wink.

Surge sat down on the couch in the middle of the shop, which had a perfect view through the window of the small town streets outside. People walked by in groups or pairs. Families, couples, friends, most everyone seemed to travel together. They seemed happy.

She looked down at her little brother. It wasn’t even a major deal, but if they failed to make it, they would be cut from the company again and forced to fend for themselves. This was supposed to be her second chance. There was no way she would fail to make the deal, but looking at the people outside she couldn’t help but long for that freedom and happiness.

“So, Surge, are you enjoying your stay here so far?” Amy asked after a moment, snapping her out of her thoughts.

“Yeah. This place is nothing like back home. It’s all very…different.” She paused. It was like a wave of deja vu was trying to hit her, but never landed. Something just felt…off.

Amy took her hand. “Well how about you tell me all about it over some lunch?”

She pulled away. The world seemed to dull a little. She couldn’t quite explain it, but she knew that if she left, she wouldn’t be able to come back. She looked around. The windows of the building didn’t show anything outside. All of the items had disappeared off the shelves. Kit was gone.

She was here to find Amy. She knew that, but why? And how? Nothing felt right, not even her memories.

Amy was still holding her hand out, so she grabbed onto it. She had no idea what came next.

She latched harder onto her hand. The whole world started to fraction and melt as she felt her fizzle away, a ray of pink being the last thing to go. She reached for her, but soon Surge’s surroundings were covered in pure darkness, and she could feel herself falling. As she fell, she got a headache that kept getting stronger and stronger, until she remembered something.

She was at the Restoration. She had arrived with Kit after making that deal with Clutch to infiltrate. The place was huge, beautiful, and well populated. It bustled with life. Shops were around every corner. It was all so colorful. It was all so bright. It was all so noisy. Like an underground city.

People seemed to turn the other way when they entered, but a certain pink hedgehog was the one to greet them. She looked a little nervous, but held out a hand to introduce herself anyway.

“Hi! I’m Amy. I don’t think I’ve seen you two around here before?” she asked.

Surge cautiously shook her hand. “Yeah, you wouldn’t have. Surge, and the puddle next to me is Kit,” she said with a grin.

“Surge.” Amy smiled like she was remembering something. She then took Surge’s other hand. “It’s good to have you here. How about I show you around a little and get you a bite to eat?”

Time stopped for a moment. That smile. The way she held her hand. It was the first time she felt like someone was happy to see her. Her heart skipped a beat, and she accidentally did something that wasn’t part of the plan.

She fell in love.

———♥♡♥♡♥♡♥———

When Surge woke up again, she found herself in a dirty alleyway with Kit next to her.

“Whenever you’re ready, ma’am,” he said.

Right. They were thieves, preparing to ransack the nearby kingdom. In and out. No distractions. Right? Right. Surge brushed some dust off her raggedy patchwork clothes. They needed this job to work.

She jumped out of the alley and linked arms with a pink hedgehog passing by.

“Why hello there, ma’am,” she said, tipping her hat. “Sorry for…buggin’ ya…” She paused, stopping in her tracks. This girl…she was…familiar. She was…Amy! Surge picked up her tracks and flashed a toothy grin before she worried the girl too much. “Pardon, but you’re the prettiest thing I’ve seen all day. What’s your name?”

The girl blushed a little, covering her mouth with her hand. “Amy. Forgive me, but I believe I’ve seen you on some posters around town. You don’t happen to be one of the Storm Bandits, do you?”

Surge gave her a wink. “It’s always a pleasure to be known. You don’t happen to be a fan, do you? Cuz if you are, we’ll get along fine.”

Kit popped up on the other side of Amy, adding that extra bit of intimidation in case this didn’t go well.

“I wouldn’t say I’m a ‘fan,’ but I wouldn’t say I hate you two, either,” Amy said, flashing Surge a small smile.

“Ah! So you hate that stupid prince, too?” This was going a lot better than Surge had expected.

“...I wouldn’t say that either. What if you joined me for lunch and we can get to know each other a little better?”

Surge obliged, and it felt like before she could blink the two were seated in a tavern, Kit beside them, talking over bowls of soup and scraps of bread. It was a peaceful scene, but there was this feeling Surge kept getting that she couldn’t shake. Something that kept her back spines standing on edge. She loved sitting there as Amy told her words that didn’t even seem to go through her head. It didn’t matter what she was saying, what mattered was that they were here.

But that wasn’t where the story ended.

A carriage rode up in front of the tavern. The person who stepped out? None other than Prince Sonic. Surge hated the way people looked at him as he walked into the tavern.

He promptly walked in front of the table Surge and Amy were sitting at, brushing off his collar as he spoke. “Surge. Interesting to see you here. With Amy, no less. I have plenty of questions.”

She wanted to strangle him. She wanted to break her bowl of soup over his head. She wanted to shoot him full of electricity so he’d never bother them again.

But that wasn’t how the story ended.

Surge plastered on a fake smile. “I don’t know what there is to explain. I’m just hanging out with a mutual pal. In fact, she was just tellin’ me about this really cool museum robbery that I’d like to hear more about.” Was that really what Amy had been talking about? Did it matter?

Sonic grimaced, and gave Amy a look. She gave him a sideways look. He shook his head. She shook her head. Surge was getting lost in the signals, and she was starting to get another headache.

“My companion and me would love to put our glorious past behind us, if your kingdom’s ‘Welcoming Policy’ would be welcome to such a thing,” she said, interrupting them.

Sonic looked her up and down. “Well, if you’re going to be a part of this kingdom, how about Amy and I show you around?”

It took every bone in her body to smile and nod, agreeing to the proposition. But when Amy grabbed her hand and smiled, it felt worth it.

On the tour of the kingdom, Surge could feel her headache worsen and her vision get blurry. Every step she took, the landscape around her shifted more and more, until she was bombarded with the familiar sight of the Restoration and the memory that came with it. A memory of Sonic interrupting her meal with Amy. A memory of the tour around the Restoration. A memory of that moment in the warehouse when she really made that connection with Amy. A memory tainted by the way Sonic was so present in it. A memory that screamed at her until it all went black.

———♥♡♥♡♥♡♥———

I need to find Amy, was the one thought playing through Surge’s mind as she kept walking. Wait…how long had she been walking? Where even was she? She looked around and found herself standing right in front of a cute little building with the sign Roses Coffee Shop. Oh. Maybe she already found her.

Surge opened the door and stepped inside. “Hello! Welcome to Rose’s Coffee Shop! I’ll be with you in one second!” she was greeted to the floors of birch and rose-printed walls, with cute little tables and what had to be the comfiest chairs she’s ever seen. She turned to her left to find exactly who she was looking for behind the counter, tending to an espresso machine. Surge opted on taking a seat on one of the barstools, waiting for Amy to finish what she was doing.

When she was done, she seemed surprised to see Surge sitting there. “Oh, hello! I don’t think I’ve seen your face in here before. I’m Amy! I run the shop here. What’s your name, stranger?”

“Surge. I’m lookin’ for a uh…rose coffee?” she said uncertainly. She wasn’t quite sure what to do here.

Amy let out a small sigh. “Man, I really need to get that sign fixed. Rose is my name! Amy Rose. The people who put up the sign just forgot to add an apostrophe.”

Surge tapped a finger on the counter. “Oh.”

“I’ll tell you what: how about I give you a free tea as compensation for the confusion, and because you’re a pretty new face,” Amy said with a wink.

Surge smiled a little. She called her pretty.

Amy smiled back. “I’ll take that as a yes! Give me one second.” She walked to the other side of the counter with a small porcelain mug in hand. “Order for Gala!” she shouted, and a blue dog came up to collect their drink.

Surge watched as she handed off the drink, and then went back behind the counter to boil some water. One thing she noticed was that even though it looked like such tedious work, Amy seemed to be enjoying every second of it, like there was no place she’d rather be. And there was no place Surge would rather be than watching her.

It didn’t take long for Amy to finish, placing a steaming mug in front of her.

“Here you are, a little peppermint tea. Feel free to tell me what you think,” she said as she sat on a stool on her own side of the counter, waiting eagerly for Surge to try it.

Surge took a sip, and it was hot, but it was heavenly. Had she ever had anything like that before? It didn’t feel like it.

She looked up at Amy. It felt like the whole world revolved around her. Surge could barely remember anything, save for her romantic and royal previous encounters with Amy, and the memories that followed. It was hard to even tell if any of that was real. But looking at the lady in front of her, she had the feeling that none of the rest of her memories could ever chalk up to the story playing out in front of her. She knew this was where she wanted to be.

And, lucky for her, the story didn’t end there.

“Good?” Amy asked, pulling Surge back to reality.

“Good.”

The bell perched above the cafe’s entry door chimed, which meant Amy had to be pulled back to her work.

“Shoot, sorry. Gotta get back to work!” she called as she went to go help the new customer.

The second she was whisked away, the rest of the world was too, putting Surge right back at the front of a cute little building with the sign Roses Coffee Shop. She opened the door to find the same cute setting she had seen the day before.

“Hello again, stranger! Surge, right?” Amy asked as she was restocking some pastries in the display case.

Huh. She remembered.

“You know it,” Surge said as she took a seat in front of the display case. Muffins, bagels, cake pops, macarons, it all looked delicious. “Do you make all these things yourself?”

“Some of them I do! Others I just kinda…buy in bulk. But all of these cake pops are homemade! Here, try one,” Amy said as she handed Surge a pink cake pop with small white sprinkles on top.

Surge took a small bite. Woah. She knew for a fact she hadn’t eaten anything like that before. But before she got the chance to tell Amy how much she loved it, the espresso machine on the counter started making strange noises and smoking.

“Uh, is that a problem?” Surge asked, bringing Amy’s attention to the machine.

“Oh, not again.” Amy dragged herself over to the machine. “It’s like I can never get this thing to work.”

“My da-” No. That wasn’t right. “There’s this guy I used to know who would just kinda hit stuff when it wasn’t working. Have you tried that?”

“You know what? I haven’t. Maybe this machine could use a little tough love.”

Amy unplugged the machine, blew off some smoke, and gave the top of it a little smack.

…A little smack that dented the whole top of the machine into itself.

“Woah, Rose’s got thorns! You’re a lot stronger than you look, Pinky.”

“Aw, thank you! I go weightlifting with my older brother every Saturday, and I think…wait! Augh! I can’t believe I broke my only espresso machine.”

“Well it’s not like it wasn’t already broken.”

“I guess…but…” Amy leaned herself against the counter and let out a big sigh. “I don’t know.”

Surge felt like she was about to say something, but was stopped by the ringing of the bell over the entrance door. There stood a bluish-violet cat, one that brought a slightly familiar sense of dread, and brought her away from Amy.

Before she knew it, she was back in front of a cute little building with the sign Roses Coffee Shop. She opened the door to find the same cute setting she had seen the days prior.

Amy was sitting at the cash register today, counting the cash inside with a bit of a worried look. It seemed to be a slow workday.

Surge took a seat next to the register. “All business, huh? You didn’t even say hi.”

“Oh, sorry. I’m trying to figure out how I can actually manage to afford another espresso machine.”

She looked so stressed. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Surge shot a small electricity bolt at the register, causing it to close and making Amy let out a little yelp.

“Hey! What was that for?”

Surge shrugged. “Meh, you need a break. It’s pretty obvious.”

Amy sighed, dropping her head in her hands. “And how would you suggest I take it?”

Surge didn’t really want to do anything. She would rather have just sat there with her forever. Even when Amy looked stressed out of her mind and her quills were disheveled, she still looked beautiful. Too beautiful to lose.

“Well, how about we make two rose coffees and fix that sign out front?” she suggested after a bit.

Amy looked at her and smiled. “That sounds lovely.”

“Well,” Surge said, standing up, “you start on some coffee and I’ll go get my little brother. He’ll be happy to help with this kind of thing.”

Amy paused. “Brother?”

Surge thought about it for a moment. Had she ever called him her brother before? She shook her head and headed out the door.

The next part seemed to speed by. Sure, her apartment was only across the street, but it felt like she was in front of her door in the blink of an eye. She walked inside to find Kit watching TV on the couch.

“Hey bud, you wanna help me with something?” she asked.

His face lit up. “Sure! What is it?”

“You wanna help me fix the sign in front of Amy’s shop?” She walked over to a nearby mirror and fixed her quills.

“Of course! I’ll go get my pack!” Kit said as he ran into the other room.

Surge paused. She didn’t know if she had ever seen him this happy. She looked at herself in the mirror. She didn’t know if she had ever seen herself this happy. Had she? She looked nice. She was wearing a neon green crop top, and high waisted dark blue jeans. Her quills were up in a nice ponytail. She reached up and took the hair tie out, letting all her quills fall by her side. She reached out to touch the mirror. She looked so…familiar. This was who she was. She knew it deep down.

But that was not how the story went.

She put her hair back up and followed Kit, who had apparently run past her and out the door. One last look at the mirror showed something attached to her head, surrounding her with wires. She slammed the door behind her.

“Welcome! You must be Kit!” Amy greeted as the two arrived back at the shop.

“How can I help?” Kit asked as he turned on his pack.

“Well, I found some old red paint and a paintbrush in the back. If you gave me a boost, I think I could fix it!”

Surge followed the two outside. She didn’t really say much. She watched as Kit hoisted Amy up with his hydrokinetic tails, and the two worked on the sign together. There was nowhere Surge would rather be than right there right then, but the longer she stayed, the more she knew it wasn’t going to last forever.

As Amy made her final swipe of the paintbrush against the building, the two disappeared, leaving Surge back in front of a cute little building with the sign Rose’s Coffee Shop. She opened the door to find the same cute setting she was beginning to get used to.

“Welcome back Surge!” Amy greeted as she wiped down the counter.

Surge paused for a moment. There was no one else in the shop. It was just Amy, by herself, and she still had things to do. She walked over and grabbed a rag to help her.

“Oh no, you don’t have to-”

“Nah,” Surge said, interrupting her, “least I can do for a pretty face who gives me free stuff.”

Amy smiled and looked down. “...Thank you. That’s really sweet of you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Surge said as she worked at a purple stain next to the “to go” station. What the heck got spilled that was purple?

“Ha! Hey Surge come look at this stain, it looks just like a rose!” Amy said, waving Surge over to see a small crusty brown stain that did, in fact, seem to take the shape of a rose.

“Heh, reminds me of my brother,” Surge said without thinking, and regretted she did.

“Oh?” Amy asked, inviting her to tell more.

Surge froze. She really didn’t want to talk to Amy about that. But oddly enough, she trusted her. It was like she barely knew her, but she trusted her. Besides, Amy already knew she had a brother, so why not share a little backstory?

Besides, that’s just how the story went.

“My uh, little brother…” those words still felt a little wrong in her mouth. Was that really what he was? It felt like it, but that still didn’t feel quite right. “Kit and I used to play this game when we got bored where we’d etch little pictures into our walls.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet!”

“Heh, yeah. We always said whoever had the better drawings would get bragging rights, but he was clearly the better artist. He always said I did better, though, just to…make me feel…better…but Dad…” No. Not her dad. It was what she said, but it wasn’t right. But what was?

“I’m sorry, Surge,” Amy said, grabbing her hand and putting her head on the tenrecs shoulder.

Surge took a moment, but returned the gesture, leaning her head on Amy’s. She was beginning to remember what happened next, and she felt a bit of a headache coming on as she did.

“Amy, I-could you show me around town? I wanna…stick with you.”

Amy gasped and practically tackled Surge with a hug. “Yes! Of course!”

Surge hugged her back, holding her tighter as her headache worsened. Until eventually, she felt her fade out of her arms, and she was alone.

When she opened her eyes, four more new memories came to mind. Each individual, but connected by the fact that Amy was in them.

The first was Surge wandering around the Restoration with her hands in her pockets. If she was going to be here a while, she might as well try to get a better handle on the place. In her haste, however, she accidentally brushed up against Amy.

“Oh, hey Surge! It’s good to see you. What’re you doing out here?” Amy asked as she spun around to face her.

Surge couldn’t help but smile a little. She said it was good to see her.

“Just taking another look around the place. Why? Worried I’ll cause trouble? Looks like you already got into some earlier today,” she said, pointing to a tear on Amy’s dress.

“Oh, that’s nothing,” Amy said, scratching the back of her head.

“Come onnn Pinky,” Surge put an arm over her shoulder, “I had to deal with a blabbering doctor for years. I can personally assure you I’m a very good listener.”

Amy gave her a look but didn’t have time to protest, as the two were interrupted by a blue dog running up to them. She looked very out of breath, like she had been running for a while.

“Oh, hey Gala!” Amy greeted, welcome to the subject change.

“Ms. Rose, there’s another badnik outside the frozen yogurt shop! We’re afraid of the possibility of it coming with others.”

“Th-thank you Gala,” Amy sighed, and the dog walked away.

Surge grinned. “Ms. Rose? That some kind of codename or something?”

“Ha! No, I wish. That’s just my last name.”

“Well, Amy Rose, that sounds like a bit of a security issue, doesn’t it?”

Amy buried her head in her hands. “I know, but I don’t want to worry about that right now.”

Surge was about to say something, but Amy was still talking. “You’re right though, I probably should go talk to Jewel about it. See you later Surge!”

In the blink of an eye, she was gone. Surge stayed standing there for a moment. She hadn’t meant to scare her away.

The second memory was when she was killing time at a smoothie bar before she had a meeting with her, Kit, and “Duo.” Her and Amy had been talking more casually by that point, so it wasn’t too much of a surprise when Amy went up to say hi.

“Hey Surge! How are you doing?” she asked as she took a seat in front of the table Surge was sitting at.

“Meh, my smoothie’s warm. But other than that…uh, is that a problem?” she asked, pointing to a cluster of badniks that had begun to form outside of the smoothie shop.

Amy looked over at what she was pointing at, and let out a heavy sigh. “Oh, not again. It’s like I can never get them to go away,” she said, pulling out a large hammer.

Surge followed her out and leaned on the doorframe of the smoothie bar, taking another sip of her bad smoothie. She was curious where this was going.

Amy walked up to the group of badniks, hammer in hand. She smacked a motobug out of her way as she tried to get to see whatever was going on, which alerted a caterkiller. It slithered over her way at a breakneck pace, but not before she could jump out of the way, twirl her hammer a few times, and send it crashing down onto the robot.

Surge took another sip of her drink. Woah.

After Amy smashed about five more bots, Surge elected to discard her smoothie and join her in on the action, jumping right in the middle with her back to Amy’s.

“Rose’s got thorns! You’re a lot stronger than you look, Pinky,” she said as she electrocuted a rhinobot, causing it to run over two other bots next to it.

Amy spun her hammer around, knocking a bunch of buzzbombers out of the air. “Aw, thanks! Every Saturday I go to Angel Island to hang out with Knuckles. He’s a good sparring partner.”

Surge picked up a burrobot by the treads and threw it into nine others, knocking them all down like bowling pins. “He’s the red echidna with huge hands right? To me he seems more like the kinda guy to just smash stuff up.”

Amy knocked out a motobug before it got its claws on Surge. “Well, he’s also a good ‘smash stuff up’ partner.”

The rest of the badniks seemed to retreat, and why wouldn’t they? Amy looked like a ruthless angel smashing them all up. Surge probably would have retreated, too.

What an odd thing to think about.

When the dust cleared, Surge looked over to see Duo standing there, waiting. She didn’t want to leave yet, she wanted to stay with the girl she just learned was an amazing fighter, but she had a meeting to go to.

The third memory was about a week later, after her and Amy had been hanging out a lot more. Surge was just taking an average stroll around the Restoration when she saw Amy half asleep on a bench.

“You ok, Pinky? You don’t look so good,” Surge asked, sitting beside her and giving her a little nudge.

“Wha? Oh, sorry. I think this whole badnik thing is starting to get to me.”

“Eh, who cares about a few badniks?” Surge put an arm around her shoulder. “Especially when we can bash ‘em in so easily.”

Amy smiled for a moment, but then went right back to being glum. “But if some badniks can break in, it shows our security system is flawed. If we don’t fix it, this entire place could crumble.”

That stung Surge a little bit. It reminded her why she was here, why she was really here, which was something she didn’t feel like thinking about. Not when she was with Amy.

“Man, you still haven’t fixed that hole in your dress after all this time?” she asked, changing the subject.

Amy picked at the tear in her skirt, which had grown since Surge had first seen it. “I guess I’ve been busy.”

“Well then I guess it’s just time for you to have a break. I’ll get Kit to sew it up for you.”

“Kit sews?”

“I guess not exactly, but he’d always mend my stuff when I got a little too rough in some training exercises. He could do this no problem.”

“Would he want to?”

That made Surge pause for a moment. Yeah, right? She knew him better than anyone, and she knew if she asked him to do something he wouldn’t exactly say no. But was that really a good thing at all? Another thing she didn’t want to think about.

“Yeah, he’ll be happy to help with this kind of thing.”

Surge left for her and Kit’s room, and she noticed how painfully mundane everything felt on the way there. Was that really the difference it made when she talked with Amy?

She walked inside her room to find Kit making statues out of his hydro-tails on the floor. A lot of them were little Tails’ he was squashing, but a few were…

Surge kicked the platypi away, making a puddle on the floor and forcing Kit to look up at her.

“Hey kid, you wanna help me with something?” she asked, a little more aggravated than she would have liked.

He gave her that cold stare he was getting so good at. “Yes ma’am. What do you need?”

“You think you can fix a hole on Amy’s dress?”

He gave her a look as if to say, You’ve been spending a lot of time with her. “Of course.”

He grabbed a small bag from under the bed and walked out without another word. Surge followed him, taking one last look at their room and remembering everything it meant before slamming the door behind her.

“Oh, hi Kit!” Amy greeted as they arrived back at the bench.

Kit glared at her, not saying anything. He finished repairing the hole in under five minutes. No one said anything while he worked.

“Uh, thank you Kit!” Amy said when he was done. She looked…nervous? “Actually, uh, here! Take this for the trouble,” she said, pulling a wrapped mint candy out of her pocket and offering it to him.

He shot her a look before turning back to his and Surge’s room.

“Did I do something wrong?” she asked Surge after he left.

“Eh, not really?” she said, scooting over next to her. “He just doesn’t like stuff that reminds him too much of…well y’know.”

“Oh. I’m so sorry, I didn’t even think of that.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault, and besides,” Surge took the candy from Amy’s hand and broke it perfectly in half, “now we get to share.”

“Heh, thank you, Surge. I don’t think you’re half as bad as you’re trying to convince everyone you are.”

The fourth memory was one of the times she was outright looking for Amy. It had been a slow, boring day, and since it was Tuesday, she knew exactly where to find her: at the Restoration’s bakery. Strawberry shortcake was half-price on Tuesdays, and if she was lucky, maybe she could get Amy to give her a piece.

“Surge! Get over here, you have to try this!” Amy called out as Surge entered the small bakery.

Score.

“So how are you-”

“No! Not yet! Here, I got a second fork just for you. You have to try this thing,” Amy said, cutting her off and handing her a fork.

Surge shrugged and took a bite. Woah.

“Good?” Amy asked.

“Good.”

“Heh, good.” Amy started fiddling with some cards in her hands.

“What are those?” Surge asked.

“These are my tarot cards! It’s an old hobby of mine I’ve been picking up again recently. Do you have any hobbies, Surge?”

“Tch, I mean I used to…well…” Surge stopped herself. She hadn’t really talked to anyone about what it was like living with Starline. But she trusted Amy. If there was anyone she was going to talk about this with, it should be her.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” Amy said, taking her hand.

“No, it’s ok!” Surge kinda yelled, taking her hand back as she felt her face flush a little. “It was just, in between some of S-in between some tests we had to do, Kit and I used to try and make a little…him to try and pass the time. Here, lemme show you.”

Surge shot some lightning between her hands, shifting the little bolts of electricity around until it made a near-perfect replica of Amy.

“Woah…” Amy whispered, enamored with the little sparks of beauty.

“I was never half as good as Drippy, though,” Surge said, shooting the little cluster of lightning at the strawberry shortcake to perfectly cut off another little piece for herself. “He would always say that I was, though,” she took a bite of the cake, “‘specially when the doc…uh…hm.” She didn’t want to tell this story anymore.

She didn’t notice Amy had moved her chair until she felt herself wrapped in a side hug. “You deserve better,” Amy whispered.

Surge wanted to hold her there forever. No one talked to her like that.

“Hey…do you think you could give me another tour around here sometime? I still need to get a good handle on this place,” Surge finally mustered up the courage to ask after a moment.

“How about I take you to Twinkle Park instead? It’s a fun rollercoaster place, and I’m pretty sure we could get in free.”

Rollercoasters. Woah. “That sounds…cool.”

“Alright then,” Amy said, standing up and brushing some crumbs off of her lap. “How’s Friday?”

Friday. “Friday’s good.”

“Well then,” Amy started walking out of the bakery. “It’s a date.”

A date. Woah.

———♥♡♥♡♥♡♥———

When Surge opened her eyes again, she found herself at the base of a tall mountain, with her boots stuck in a marsh. Eugh. She tread through the muddy, murky, landscape until her boots were free, shook them free of the grime, and reevaluated where she was.

The mountain ahead of her was tall and foreboding, piercing the clouds far above her. It had a sinister yet friendly aura to it, the contrast between the heavy storm clouds surrounding the peak and the pleasant trail outlined by rocks that led through the meadow at the bottom.

Surge looked behind her. There was nothing beyond that marsh for her. She had to find Amy, she had to try and find out more of what was going on, she had to see if there was anything else she could remember, and she felt like even though she had a bad feeling about climbing this mountain, this was the place where she was going to find it all.

And so, she pressed on. The sun seemed to light the way ahead of her, shining as if to encourage her to keep going. She trekked by the remains of what looked to be an old castle, ruins of what looked like metallic medical stations from many decades ago, and fields of yellow, green, and pink sunflowers.

However, as she passed by the field of flowers, she saw something oddly pink and familiar. It was…Amy! She found Amy! She pushed past the tall plants to find the pink hedgehog she was looking for sitting in the grass, enjoying a piece of bread.

“Oh, hello! Are you climbing the mountain, too?” she asked.

“Uh, I guess so,” Surge said, taking a seat next to her.

“Bread?” Amy offered, handing her a slice.

“Sure.” Surge took the bread, but before she could take a bite, thunder crackled throughout the sky.

“Shoot! I’ve been taking a break for too long,” Amy said, using her cane to stand up.

“So, why are you climbing this mountain?” Surge asked as they both got back on the trail.

“Same as you, I’d assume.”

Surge kicked a rock on the path. “Well, I don’t know why I’m here.”

“No one does! That’s the point of the mountain! There’s this wizard at the top with the power to cast any spell, but the moment you start climbing the mountain you forget what you’re climbing it for.”

“How do you know if it’s important?”

Amy grabbed her hand. “You just have to trust yourself!”

That’s so stupid, Surge thought. “That’s kinda cool,” she said.

“Nah, it’s pretty stupid. But I’ll climb the mountain anyway.”

Surge smiled and held her hand a little tighter.

The further the pair climbed up the mountain, the louder the clouds above them rumbled, until eventually they reached the point where it was drizzling. Amy pulled the hood of her dress over her head, which made Surge realize she didn’t have anything between herself and the rain. Oh well. She got to hold Amy’s hand.

The further they traveled up the mountain, the more the rain picked up, beating on them harder and more frequently until there was a steady stream that traveled down the trail they were trying to walk on. This stream flowed in a steady rhythm that kept getting faster, eventually picking up some stray rocks and carrying them past.

One of the larger of these rocks interrupted their traveling, getting under Amy’s cane and causing her to fall. But before she could hit the ground, Surge darted in the way and caught her, holding her in the glistening rain.

“Woah, thank you…”

“Surge. The name’s Surge.”

Amy grinned. “You’re a regular hero, Surge.”

Surge couldn’t help but get the feeling that from anyone else, that would’ve felt like an insult. But from Amy? It might’ve been the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to her.

She helped Amy get back on her feet. “Well, don’t run out of all your compliments just yet. We’ve still got a good amount of mountain left.”

Amy looked ahead at the trail above them. It looked like they were barely any higher than when they started. “I suppose. I just wish there was somewhere we could stay to get our bearings and rest for a bit.”

As if on cue, a trio of a crocodile, a chameleon, and a bee hopped out of some nearby shrubbery.

“Say, sounds like you two ladies could use a little help!” the crocodile said.

“Yeah! Good thing we’re here! We love helping!” the bee chimed in.

Surge locked eyes with the chameleon. She instinctively got a bad feeling. He gave her a glare.

“I guess we could use a little help! If you could help us find a place to rest, that is,” Amy said.

“Why, of course! We can help you with anything…for a price,” the crocodile said.

“A small price!” the bee chimed in.

“But a price, nonetheless,” the chameleon said, not breaking eye contact with Surge.

Surge put a defensive arm in front of Amy. “I don’t know about these guys. I don’t trust the purple one. ‘Sides, do we even have any money?” she whispered.

“No money? No problem! We don’t always need to take cash payments,” the crocodile said.

“Yeah! No problem!” the bee chimed in.

“And that cane of yours looks pretty nice,” the chameleon added.

“No way, spiny. She needs that thing to walk, so why don’t you and your team buzz off.” Surge grabbed Amy’s hand. No one was going to push her around like that.

“Calm down, Surge. I’ve got this,” Amy whispered with a wink.

Surge wanted to protest, but took a step back instead, letting Amy take over.

“If I’m going to give up my cane, then it’s going to have to be worth a little more than just a nice stay.”

The crocodile grimaced, but only for a second. “Why of course! What else would you desire?”

“Two meals. A supper before nightfall, and then breakfast in the morning.”

“Done! We have the best sushi you’ll ever find out here. Anything…else?”

“A comfortable resting spot for both me and my compatriot Surge here.”

“All taken care of! Is that all?”

“Are you really sure about this?” Surge whispered into Amy’s ear.

“Would you promise to stay by my side through the rest of this journey?” Amy asked her.

“Of course.”

Amy smiled. “Then I don’t need a cane.”

“Do we have ourselves a deal?” the crocodile asked.

“Yeah! A deal?” the bee chimed in.

Amy gripped tight onto Surge’s arm and, hesitantly, handed over her cane.

“Why, thank you very much, miss! Now allow us to show you to our beautiful cabin of residence,” the crocodile said, taking the cane and leading them off the trail.

“Who even are you guys?” Surge asked, making sure that Amy was steady as they started walking again.

“Oh, of course! Where are my manners? We three are the Good Men Chaotix, perched on this mountain to help any travelers who may find themselves in need of assistance on their way to the Great Wizard. I, the handsome croc in front of you, am Vector, my little bee friend right here is Charmy, and-”

The chameleon suddenly appeared on the other side of Amy. “Espio. Charmed,” he said, offering a handshake.

“Oh, I’m good, thank you,” she said, putting her other hand on Surge’s arm.

Espio went ahead to travel next to Charmy and Vector.

“I’ve got a bad feeling. We should ditch them,” Surge whispered to Amy.

“We’ll just stay one night, and then we can bolt in the morning. I trust them,” Amy whispered back, giving her arm a little squeeze.

“If you say so,” Surge grumbled. She looked back at Espio. He had a strange golden pocketwatch on the end of his tail.

She held onto Amy a little tighter.

It felt like hours before they finally made it to the Chaotix’s little wooden cabin. “Ah, here we are. Home sweet home!” Vector announced as they arrived.

The inside was pretty much what was expected: a cozy fireplace with some rolled up sleeping bags next to a small kitchen all with walls made of wood and some doors that led to extra rooms.

“You two will be staying in our wonderful living room. Take your pick on our luxurious resting options,” Vector said, gesturing to the sleeping bags.

“Oh I got it! I got it!” Charmy yelled, roughly rolling two out for them.

“Thank you,” Amy said, and Surge helped her sit down on her sleeping bag.

“Wait! You need dinner!” Charmy shouted, zooming over to the kitchen and coming back with two small plates of sushi.

“Well, that should be all you gals need. Anything else, and we’ll be in this room right here,” Vector said as he and his group filed into a door next to the fireplace. “Sleep well, ladies!”

With the Chaotix gone, the cabin had much more of a pleasant aura to it. It felt safer. Surge and Amy both ate their sushi in that pleasant silence. It was nice.

“I think you’re right, by the way. These guys are really weird. Good thing we’ll be out by morning,” Amy said when they finished, snuggling into her sleeping bag. “Good night, Surge.”

“Good night.” Surge kept darting her eyes around the inside of the cabin. She was her fourth weird “world” that she found Amy in. Why couldn’t she ever just stay in one? She was beginning to dread whatever came next, and she had a bad feeling that the second she went to sleep, something bad would happen.

However, against her own ambitions, it wasn’t long before she dozed off, and began to dream.

She was sitting with Kit at a park. That was his name, that was one of the things she knew for certain. They were at a park bench. Kit’s backpack was nowhere to be seen, and Surge had her hair down. He looked happy. She felt like she looked happy, too. On the other side of the bench was Amy, and she was holding her hand.

This was what she wanted. This was what she started all of this for. Started what for? Nothing made sense. But one thing most certainly didn’t feel right.

Because a dream wasn’t part of the story.

She woke up with a frantic gasp, and looked to her left to find no Amy. She felt a headache coming on. She stood up and slowly walked over to the door next to the fireplace, every step weighing harder on her head, and on her heart.

She peeked inside the door and found Espio swaying that golden pocketwatch in front of Amy’s face. “You will abandon your companion and hand over all of your valuables,” he whispered.

Surge felt her feet stepping backward. No. She wasn’t going to leave. She wasn’t going to abandon Amy like that. She wasn’t a coward. She wasn’t a coward. But she was running away.

She rushed out of the cabin, and it was all gone. But a memory remained.

She was in an office with Amy, sitting on a desk as she helped organize paperwork.

“Thank you so much for helping me, Surge. It really means a lot,” Amy said, putting some papers away in a filing cabinet.

Jewel was gone for the day, so that meant Amy was stepping in as head of the restoration. And, to Surge’s surprise, she had invited her to help.

“Meh, it’s no big deal. I figured messin’ around with you would be more fun than whatever the Diamond Cutters are up to.” She picked up a paper with the words “Clean Sweep Inc.” and put it at the bottom of the stack of paper. “‘Sides, it’s been a while, Pinky.”

Amy smiled. “It has.” She picked up a paper and sighed.

“Whazzat?” Surge asked.

“It’s a record of every badnik break in the past few months. I think everyone’s a little stressed about it right now.”

Surge shot a spark at the page, setting it ablaze in seconds. “There. Now it isn’t a problem.”

Amy laughed and sat next to her on the desk. “You’re a regular hero, Surge,” she said, giving her a small kiss on the cheek. “Although I feel like that’s going to be a problem later.”

Surge grabbed her and scooted her in closer. “Then we’ll worry about it later.”

“Fear not, the Chaotix have arrived!” a voice bellowed from down the hallway, breaking the moment.

Amy sighed and pushed herself off the desk as a trio of a crocodile, a chameleon, and a bee walked into the office. Surge locked eyes with the chameleon. She didn’t trust these three.

“Vector? What are you doing here?” Amy asked the group.

“We’re here to investigate security,” the chameleon said.

“Oh, that’s sweet!” Amy said.

“Jewel hired us,” the crocodile, Vector, flatly stated.

“Oh, that’s…paperwork.”

“Do you have a list of the recent badnik breaks?” the chameleon asked. “It could help us.”

Amy shared a look with Surge. “Nope! Not that I’ve seen!”

“Woah! Who’re you?” the bee yelled, zooming around Surge’s head.

“Charmy. We have to go,” the chameleon said, leading the trio out the door as he gave Surge a certain glare.

“I don’t trust the lizard,” Surge said when they were gone.

“Those are just the Chaotix. They’re detectives that’ll pretty much do anything to make a few dollars. I’m glad they’re helping us out,” Amy told her, reclaiming her seat next to her on the desk.

Anything to make a few dollars. Hm. “I still don’t trust them.”

“Eh, I guess they can seem pretty odd if you don’t know them. Will you help me make sure we have all the paperwork that goes into hiring and paying them?”

“Of course.”

“Well then, let’s get to work.”

The two worked together as the hours passed, until eventually the sun was beginning to set.

“Oh man it’s six already? We should probably get going,” Amy said, looking at the time.

“Yeah, Kit‘ll probably go nuts if I don’t go back soon,” Surge said.

Amy grabbed her hand. “Well, then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, yeah. Bye Pinky.” Surge gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.

Not long after Surge left the office, she heard someone whispering.

“Amy. May I speak with you for a moment?” the voice asked. It sounded like that chameleon from earlier. She knew she couldn’t trust him.

“What is it, Espio?” she heard Amy say.

“It’s about…Surge. Some things haven’t been adding up lately, so I decided to look into it, and-“

“Espio, I should really get going-“

“I think she started the fire at the Forest Ridge Campground.”

There was a moment of silence.

“…That’s a big claim.”

“You know I wouldn’t say anything if I didn’t have evidence.”

“I know.” A beat. “…I’d like to see it.”

Surge could feel her feet walking away before she even realized what was going on. She knew she had to fry that guy…unless that made her look as dangerous as he was trying to say. Maybe she had to just get out of there, but if she did Clutch would never tell her what she needed to know. She had never felt so uncertain in her life. She needed to…

She needed to pretend it never happened. And maybe Amy would, too.

———♥♡♥♡♥♡♥———

The next thing Surge knew, she was sitting on a couch in her studio, playing Amy a song on her guitar.

She was the lead guitarist of her band, with Kit on bass and Mimic on drums. Amy was her awesome girlfriend, and was always impressed with her guitar playing skills.

Surge liked this new world.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to understand how you do that so well,” Amy said when Surge finished the song.

Surge grabbed her hand. “I’m just that amazing, I guess.”

“I guess so,” Amy said, giving her a quick kiss. “Anyway, I should get going. Don’t want to interrupt your rehearsal.”

Oh yeah. Mimic had called an “emergency rehearsal” that day to make sure they were ready for tour.

Shoot. She still needed to tell Amy they were going on tour.

“How about we get some coffee after you’re done?” Amy asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Surge smiled. “That sounds great.”

One more kiss and Amy was gone, leaving Surge alone on the studio couch.

“Surge?” Kit asked as he walked in, holding his bass that was much too big for him.

“What’s up, little dude?” she asked, scooting over on the couch to make room for him.

“I’m worried about you and Amy,” he said, taking a seat and fidgeting with his black vest.

Surge began relacing her platforms. “Pft, what makes you say that, bud?”

“I’m worried if you don’t tell her about the tour tomorrow, something bad will happen. I don’t want to see you sad.”

Surge paused. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad already did happen. “Don’t worry about it, kid. I’ve got everything under control.”

“Are you sure?” He still looked worried.

“Sure, I’m sure,” she said, tying off her laces and shooting a small lightning spark at his bangs, making his hair stick up.

He giggled and brushed his hair back down. “I’ll get the studio set up for Mimic!” he said as he ran away, leaving Surge alone again.

She had one whole day before the tour. That was plenty of time to explain things to Amy. It wasn’t even that big of a deal, so why did she feel so worried about it? There was nothing to worry about. Nothing.

Except maybe the way her head was already beginning to hurt.

After a while, Mimic finally showed up. He didn’t say much, just went to his drum set and began practicing a new drum pattern he was working on. It had taken a lot for Mimic to get their manager to get them a tour, and this was finally their chance to really get their names out there. He seemed to take this all the most seriously out of anyone.

Surge brought her guitar over to a stool next to him. She tried out a few chords, adjusted her capo, and then tried again. Eventually, she found something that had a similar feel to the pattern Mimic was trying out. Dancing her fingers over the strings, letting a few sparks shoot across to supercharge them, strumming like she was attacking the instrument, feeling the way her spiky bracelets and rings scratched against the guitar, it was something she never really sat down to appreciate. It felt like a new style of fighting. It felt like she was really in control of something. It felt awesome.

She barely noticed when Kit joined them, adding a supporting bassline that really rounded out the song. With every passing note, it felt like it was worming its way through her ears and attacking her brain, but she wasn’t in a mood to care about that right now. She wanted to focus on continuing that song that lasted forever, if she could. Why couldn’t she?

And that was when it hit her. The memory that came too early. She knew what happened now. Any second, Amy was going to walk through that door, and it would end. But what could Surge do but keep playing?

After a short moment, Mimic stopped drumming, smacking a cymbal to get Surge and Kit’s attention. “Not bad, you two. I think we’re finally starting to get a handle on improvising.”

Oh no, Surge thought.

“Hey Surge! I think I accidentally left my wallet in there!” a voice- Amy’s voice- called as the doorknob rattled, and then began to open.

Not yet.

“Anyway, I’ve been talking with Clutch about the tour tomorrow, and he said we’re going to need to be ready for the bus at nine if we want to make it to all the stops. I was thinking we have another rehearsal at six to make sure we’re ready,” Mimic said.

This wasn’t right. A tour was no big deal. The truth was.

Amy stood there, stunned in the doorway. “You’re going on tour? You’re leaving?”

But that wasn’t what really happened.

Surge was working on a jigsaw puzzle with Amy that day. They had been officially dating for a while by that point, and Amy had introduced her to a few small things, like jigsaw puzzles. It was something they enjoyed doing together, even if something hadn’t felt quite the same since that day with Espio.

“You have a knack for puzzles,” Amy said after Surge filled in another piece of the solid background.

Surge grabbed her hand. “I’m just that amazing, I guess.”

Amy slowly pulled her hand away. “Anyway, I should probably get going. Didn’t you say you had another meeting with Duo today?”

Oh yeah, another Clean Sweep Inc. meeting disguised as “more orientation” or whatever excuse Mimic was going with. Another meeting she really didn’t want to go to.

She shook her head, bringing herself back to the moment. “Howzabout we get some smoothies after? My treat.”

Amy smiled. “I thought you didn’t have any money?”

“Who needs money with this much irresistible charm?” Surge asked, placing a kiss upon the top of her hand.

Amy was never one to hide her emotions. It was one thing Surge liked about her so much. There was no guessing with her; for the most part, you could always read her like a book. It was nice to be around someone genuine. Maybe that’s why Surge felt a twinge in her heart when she looked up and saw her…sad? Conflicted? Chaos, what was it?

“I’ll see you later Surge,” was the last thing she said before she left her room. Surge, against her instinct to not care, rushed to the door and pressed an ear against the wood. “He had it mixed up. She’s a good person,” she heard Amy whisper to herself as she walked away.

Was she a good person?

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kit enter the room. He looked like he had something he wanted to say, but after that, she really didn’t want to hear it.

"Ma'am, if I may-"

"You mayn't."

"You can't...date...Amy."

She gave him a glare. She was not having this. Not now.

"I can do whatever I want."

"...You can't do both. This could sabotage our deal with Clu-"

"Whatever happened to 'whatever I want, you want too?' Check your attitude."

Maybe a month ago, when their life was still lab tests and routines, he would've apologized, said "yes ma'am," and awaited further instruction. Instead, he gave her a glare and left her alone in their apartment, slamming the door behind him. It was strange to think about that difference, so she didn’t.

Instead she took a seat on the bed, and waited for what felt like forever until “Duo” finally showed up.

“Is Kit not here?” he asked as he walked in, grabbing a half-melted popsicle from the fridge.

“He’ll be back.” Surge knew that for certain. It didn’t matter what happened, he would always end up back by her side. She knew why, and that’s why she hated it so much. She may never admit it, but she knew he deserved better than all this. He wasn’t a bad kid, and he wasn’t like her. He deserved to live his own life, if only he’d ever make that decision to leave.

She remembered her own chains. ”You can’t do both.” Kit’s words rang throughout her head. Why couldn’t she? All she wanted was to know who she was, and be able to keep Amy as a partner in her life. But one directly contradicted the other. If she forgot about Amy and just kept following Clutch to the bitter end, she would end up right where she started: alone, only with the exception of someone who was forced to care about her. But on the other hand, she could never work at the Restoration. She could never be a part of their little “friend group” or whatever. And she couldn’t lose the ability to know about her past.

All she wanted was to know who she was, and be able to keep Amy as a partner in her life. Didn’t she deserve both?

The opening of her room door snapped her back to reality. Kit had entered, barely giving Surge a look as he took a seat next to her on the bed. Almost by instinct, she grabbed his hand. Even if she hated why Kit was always there, she couldn’t deny it was nice having someone by her side, no matter what. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him smile a little. They were an unbreakable bond, regardless of how either of them felt about it.

“Took you long enough,” Mimic said, transforming back to his normal self and scooting his chair to be in front of the two. “Now, I’m sure you two have noticed all of the badniks showing up lately.”

“Yeah, do we have something to do with that?” Surge asked, itching the back of her neck with her bracelet.

“Yes. The idea is that if we distract the Restoration with mystery security breaches, the Diamond Cutters will be too busy to notice us making a move.”

Surge paused. “So it’s time to make a move.”

“There’s going to be another badnik swarm tomorrow at nine at the northeast accessibility ramp. While that happens, we’ll-”

Mimic was interrupted by the door opening, followed by a light gasp.

It was Amy.

Her eyes darted between Surge sitting there on the bed, and Mimic, who had already transformed back, but it was too late. It seemed to take her a while to process, like she didn’t want to accept what was in front of her. Like she had been…betrayed. She expected her to pull out her hammer and start attacking Mimic or, chaos, even her, but instead…instead she just stared at her, and her eyes got shiny.

“You’re working with Mimic?”

———♥—♥—♥—♥———

Surge opened her eyes. She was on the floor of a forest, surrounded by an endless array of trees and piles of leaves that spread out in every direction. As she wiped her eyes with a nearby leaf, she realized something. She had no idea why she was here. Every “world” or whatever they were that she had been to previously, she had awoken with the backstory of who she was supposed to be or why she was there. But now, she had no idea what she was doing there.

She stood up. She had to find Amy. That always seemed to be where this led, so why wouldn’t here be the same? Besides, she really needed to see her after that last memory.

She wandered mindlessly through the forest until she saw a faint blue wispy ghost in the distance. As she got closer, she realized it was a quokka. An unmoving quokka that was pointing in a certain direction, as if to guide her through the forest.

Surge took a step back. She got an unsettling feeling looking at this quokka. She felt like if she followed it, it wasn’t going to bring her anything she wanted. But since when was she a coward?

She followed in the direction the quokka pointed to, weaving her way through the trees until she made her way to another spirit, this one a wolf. Just the sight of it, and she already felt a headache coming on. But that couldn’t be right. This couldn’t already be over.

She hadn’t even found Amy yet.

Still, she followed in the direction the wolf pointed at, but after taking a few steps she stopped and looked back at it. Something wasn’t right. Kit was supposed to be here.

She kept going the way the wolf pointed until she reached a small podium with a device on it. It wasn’t even anything magical. It was a spiky red and blue device with three hoops, one to go on the head, and one for each wrist. She reached up and could feel it already on her head.

She already knew how the rest of the memory went.

It has started with her running as fast as she could. She wanted, no, needed to get out of there. She needed to go back. Back to before that moment.

She finally stopped running when she got to the Restoration’s mall, which was where she overheard a conversation between a red quokka and a red wolf.

“I’ve heard of some crazy things while I’ve been here, but a little gem that makes illusions? That was really the major weapon of the war?” the quokka asked.

“Yep, and it consumed him when it was all over. I wonder if I’ll ever see him again,” the wolf said.

“Aw, don’t be sad! I’m sure you’ll find a way to get him back.”

“Yeah, maybe I should ask Tails. I’m sure he still has a few of the Phantom Ruby’s prototypes.”

“Ma’am! Are you ok?” Kit asked as he ran up to Surge. “You ran off, and I got a little worri-”

“Sh. Did you hear what that guy said about that idiot genius having a little gem that makes illusions?” she said, still completely zoned in on the conversation playing out in front of her.

Kit brushed himself off, his demeanor changing in a second. “Yes, ma’am. Do you need it?”

“Yeah. Give it a little extra juice and…and maybe…” And maybe she could go back. “Meet me back at S- at our base.”

“Yes, ma’am.” And with that, Kit was gone.

Surge made her way back to Starline’s old base. She hadn’t figured she’d ever have a reason to go back there, and yet there she was. She made her way through, looking for the device she had discarded. She knew exactly where it was in the rubble.

She picked up the Dynamo Cage and put it on. It was rugged and mostly broken, with practically all of the glass being broken, but she could feel those little sparks of power still coursing through it. It brought back those feelings of what it was like to collect so much power.

It also brought back that horrid voice she had been content with never hearing again.

“Who would have ever thought you would fall so far? Do you really crave being loved so badly that you would create an illusion to live in? I didn’t create you to wallow in such meaningless endeavors.”

“You didn’t create me, period,” Surge mumbled as she walked out of the rubble.

“I made you who you are. Do not pretend that isn’t the same thing.”

“Just shut up.” Surge took one last look at the remains of the old section of the base before pressing on to where she was meeting Kit.

“Why should I? If you are about to immerse yourself in illusions, it should be good practice to entertain in speaking to your own hallucinations.”

She waved away the Starline that followed her and entered the main building, finding Kit already there with the ruby in hand. All she wanted was just to go back. To be able to be happy with Amy again.

She reached out to grab the ruby, and felt the power between it and the Dynamo Cage react, shooting out a burst of lightning that bounced off the wall and forced Kit to hide under a desk. She gripped the gem tight in her hands. She ran a shot of lightning through the ruby and then…

And then she was a businesswoman, heading for an antique shop. And then she was a thief, with a casual lunch ruined by some cocky prince. And then she was at a coffee shop, falling more and more in love with the barista every time she opened the door. And then she was climbing a mountain, losing her companion to money-hungry swindlers. And then she was in a band that she chose over her girlfriend. And then she was lost in a forest, trying anything to get it all back.

And now? She was completely alone.