IT IS THE BEGINNING OF A FANTASTIC STORY! JOURNEY TO THE CAVE OF MONSTERS! GOOD LUCK….oh wait, wrong story. Anyway, this is the beginning of a…HOPEFULLY fantastic story. The last one was, so I hope this one will be just as good or better. Here we go!

If You Truly Love Someone…

Chapter 1

Amy was having a moment in her apartment. She had her stereo turned up pretty loud, and she was dancing by herself to songs that reminded her of her favorite thing in the whole wide world. Oh, and she was also singing along.

"So it's gonna be HEADS UP, HEADS UP: They're gonna get MESSED UP, MESSED UP for makin' you cryyyy…."

The young girl was enjoying herself, although maybe a little loudly. One of the people in the room next to hers was getting a little angry, but Amy didn't care. She wanted to show her feelings, no matter who was or wasn't listening.

"And please don't you GET DOWN, GET DOWN, cause you were no LET DOWN, LET DOWN, I won't say goodbye!!"

Somewhere in her subconscious she realized that the song was about a girl who broke up with her love, but she only picked it for the chorus.

"IIIIIIIIIIII, got your back until I, diiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeee, I don't CARE if you don't want me sticking by, I'll keep ten feet behind just to walk you home…"

Amy would too, if she had to.

"And IIIIIIIIIII'm gonna protect you 'till I, diiiiiiieeeeeee, I won't let nobody hurt you again, I'll fuck up your next girlfriend if she breaks your heart…"

The girl continued dancing happily while thinking of her drive in life; her reason for being. The one who she would protect no matter what, she would love until she couldn't love anymore, and then some.

After the song ended, Amy fell back onto her bed and was breathing a little heavily. She smiled and wiped her forehead.

"Wow, that's a workout…" She sighed. "I wonder what song is gonna be next…"

The CD moved to the next track. When the music started, Amy's eyes lit up. This was her favorite song out of all of them.

"Anywhere you waaannaaa go, anything you neeeeed to know, all the best in life, I wanna get it for you…"

Amy was singing truly from her heart.

"Baby I just feeeeel so fine, I imagine thaaaat you're mine, in my world you're gold; I only want to protect youuuu!

This particular song had a lot of semimetal value to her; it was the one song she found that truly expressed her feelings.

"Whatever I want, I get, I want shooting stars, whatever I need, I have when IIII'm with youuuu…"

The entire world around her seemed to melt away, and Amy was floating whimsically while keeping one thing in mind.

"Follow me inside, outside, through the stratosphere! The moon is shining for youuuu, knows that I adore youuuu! All of a sudden, all the, sadness will slip away, and you will see what I mean…"

And there he was in her mind.

"…If you just follow me in my dreeeeaaaaamms!!"

The mere sight of him, even if it was just her imagination, filled her with happiness and a feeling that she could do anything.

"I was searching everywhere, suddenly I saw you there, and my love arrived; just in the nick of time! Life floats on a movie screen; you're the star of my scene! Live on the edge of a knife; larger than life!"

His smile; Amy just melted away at it. When she saw it, anything that could possibly be wrong with her life would just melt away and instantly be better.

"Whatever I want, I get, No one could take your place, whatever I need, I have when I see your faaaceee!!"

Those sentences were VERY true for her; Amy was overflowing with love for him.

"Follow me inside, outside, through the stratosphere! The moon is shining for youuu, knows that I adore youuuu! All of a sudden, all the, sadness slips away, and you will see what I mean, if you just follow me in my dreeeaaaammms!!"

Amy filled that last note with as much love and energy as she possibly could, as if her love was listening right now to her. The passion she was feeling at that moment was flowing freely in the form of that song; and it was very loud and beautiful at the same time.

Amy fell back onto her bed once again, this time in complete bliss. All she could think about was him, and that was just fine.

"Oh, he's so great…I really would do anything for him…" Amy sighed to herself. "Anything at all…"

Of course, she could only be talking about one person. A certain blue hedgehog named Sonic.

The infatuated hedgehog grabbed one of her pillows and hugged it tightly as if it were Sonic himself.

"Sonic, oh Sonic…" She sighed. That's all she could really manage to get out; her mind was doing all the talking.

That guy…He's so great. Such a good hearted and kind person, and cute too! I know he says he doesn't love me, but…Well, I don't see why that should stop me from loving him! I mean, there's nothing wrong with love, is there?

She looked by her bed and saw a picture of him she had taken when they went on a picnic once. Sonic was smiling and a beautiful backdrop of a field with flowers was behind him. A nice snowy mountain could be seen in the background as well.

He's always so carefree, and yet he can be completely serious if he needs to. I can't see any reason NOT to love him…Any "flaws" he might have only add to his perfection…

Right then, Amy caught what she was doing.

I'm fawning over him like a young school girl…Well, I AM only 12…But I'm more mature than that…Well, it can't hurt as long as I don't do it ALL the time.

Amy giggled at the thought. She was limiting herself, yet she was going to try and pass those limits whenever she could.

Wow, I'm such a freak…ANYWAY….

For another hour, Amy sat and thought of all the ways in which Sonic is perfect and fantasized about how many ways she would win his heart or he would admit love to her. The ways ranged from a simple passing on the street to a giant fantastic adventure where their love truly would shine.

It was only 3 in the afternoon, but if felt like midnight to Amy. But not in the sense that she was tired; it was more like she felt like she had gone through an entire day and was ready to stay up the entire night. Sure, the dancing was tiring, but she had newfound zeal just from thinking of Sonic.

Her trance was over in a snap when someone knocked at her door.

"Oh, that neighbor probably is going to complain about the music…" Amy mumbled when she realized that her CD was still playing. She quickly turned it down and went to the door and answered it.

"Listen, I'm sorry abo-" Amy stopped herself when she saw it wasn't the old man living next to her.

"Hey, Amy."

"Oh, Sonic!! What are you doing here?" Amy said with enthusiasm and hope. She knew it probably wasn't anything TOO serious or love-related, but there was always wishful thinking.

"Just wanted to stop by and tell you something. Can I come in?" Sonic asked in a friendly tone.

"Of course!" Amy replied happily, and let her love into her apartment. The two sat on the living room couch and faced each other.

"Can I get you something?" Amy offered.

"Nah, I just needed to tell you something. Ask, really. Thanks though." The blue hedgehog replied.

"Okay, then what is it?"

"Well, Tails showed me this paper that somebody handed him on the streets, you know, some flyer that you'd normally just throw away later. But this was different; it was an ad that was challenging a pair of 'able people' to make it through a challenge of some sort."

"Really…What kind of challenge?" Amy was starting to see where this was going.

"Well, it was a challenge to make it through a world of some sorts…It's supposedly all virtual, but extremely realistic, and those who make it all the way through get a prize." Sonic explained.

"What's the prize?"

"It didn't say, but it DID say it would be worth more than anybody could imagine. It also said in several ways…Which I don't get that part. BUT, the point is, I'd like to go check this out."

"Oh, well, I wish you luck then!" Amy told him. Man, he's such a great guy. He's going to go off on an adventure just because he can, and I bet he's gonna be the only one to make it through without fail too. I would KILL to be his partner in that…

"And I'd like for you to come with me."

Amy's heart skipped a beat as her thought was brought to life. "R-really?" She asked in amazement.

"Yeah, really." Sonic told her with his usual smile.

"Why me? I mean, you and Tails have been friends way longer than we have, and I'm sure there are more able people out there…"

"Well, Tails is technically too young, although I'm sure he would have done fine…The age limit is 12." Sonic explained.

"What about Knuckles?"

"Eh, he's a little hotheaded…The description said it could last a few days, maybe a week or two depending on how quick we are…"

"…Well, why me?"

"Because...Well, we're friends, right?"

"Of course!"

"And, well, you're the only one of my good friends who would actually be able to go anyway…" Sonic looked up with a smile.

"…This world, where is it?" Amy asked, now completely interested in going.

"It's been created in a building on some off island…I thought that we could fly the Tornado over. It was my plane to start with, after all."

"And how exactly is this going to work…?"

"Well, the flier said there would be details once we get there, but apparently we go into a seemingly empty room, but then an entire land is created in front of us, and we just have to traverse it and get to the other side."

"…How is that even possible?" Amy asked with wonder.

"I have no clue, but I wanna go check it out." Sonic said back. "So, you wanna come with me?"

"Sure, I don't see why not. When is this?"

"Well…uhh…I was SUPPOSED to tell you earlier…Because it's kinda…tomorrow." Sonic smiled sheepishly.

"…Well, I don't have any plans for a while anyway, so I'll be there!" The girl assured with a grin.

"Thanks, Amy, I knew I could count on you. I'll be by to pick you up at 9 am, and I'll bring everything we need camping wise, you just bring clothes and a sense of adventure. That ok?"

"Sure, I'll be ready then!"

Sonic smiled and nodded. "Alright, I gotta go now, but I'll see ya later."

"Alright, thanks for inviting me!" Amy smiled back and saw Sonic to the door.

After the door closed and she was sure Sonic was in the elevator, she squealed in joy.

"OH MY GOD THIS IS AWESOME!! DAYS AND DAYS JUST WITH HIM AND NOBODY TO GET IN OUR WAY…AAAHHHH!!" Amy was happier than she ever had been in her life. The thought of it was almost too much for her to handle. Almost.

She immediately calmed herself down a little so she could think about it properly.

Ok, ok, calm down…This is so exciting…! I need to be ready though, it sounds like it's not going to be just a walk in the park for us, it's supposed to be an adventure…So I'll need to be ready for one!

She ran into her room and flung open her closet. Amy picked out a pair of boots that weren't too worn yet weren't too new; something that would feel good to walk in for a while. She also pulled out durable adventuring clothes: A few pairs of jeans and some t-shirts. She didn't really center her wardrobe over the occasion that she would adventure all the time, but she figured those would work fine. Just to be safe though, she also pulled out some long sleeved sweaters and a jacket.

"Wait…we're gonna have to carry this around everywhere, aren't we…?" Amy realized as she was looking for a huge suitcase to put her many selections in. She sighed heavily and closed the closet.

She crossed the apartment and went to the closet right next to the door. She rummaged around in it until she found a nice big backpack. Amy brought it back to her room and packed the clothes into the pack. It was a nice backpack too – made for hiking.

"Hmmm…" Amy stood back to take a look at the backpack. She still had a lot of space left in other, smaller pockets, and she doubted she'd need THAT many clothes. So she went off to find other things that might help her. But she soon realized that Sonic could be bringing some of the same things, so she was at a loss of what exactly to bring.

Then, she had an idea.

"I'll call Sonic and ask him, I doubt he has EVERYTHING, or at least the space for it." Amy said as she picked up the phone and dialed the blue hedgehog's number.

It rang a few times, and then Sonic picked up. "Hello?" He asked.

"Hi Sonic! It's me, Amy, and I was just wondering what you were bringing, because I still have a lot of space in the backpack I found." Amy explained in a friendly voice.

"Amy, I told you, I got it covered."

"Come on, just tell me."

"Alright…" There were sounds like Sonic was ruffling through something. "…I got a tent, some food, a couple of flashlights and batteries for them…A can opener…A Swiss army knife, a couple blankets…A few band-aids…"

"Wait," Amy interrupted, "A 'few'?"

"Yeah, like a box of 15." Sonic replied.

"Sonic, what if something more serious happens than that?"

"Come on Amy, it's a virtual world…" The hedgehog replied.

"Well, it's better to be prepared…Don't worry, I bring some more stuff." Amy reassured.

"More you have to carry, but ok." He chuckled.

"Anyway, keep going."

"Alright…I got a lighter…Don't really know why I put that in there, but you never know…Oh, two ponchos just in case it's that advanced…a sleeping bag for each of us…And that's it."

"That's all? Ok, sounds like we're pretty set then…I'll pack anything else I can think of and then use the rest of the space to take some off of your load." The young girl said.

"Oh come on Amy, I can carry it all…" Sonic tried to persuade her.

"No, that's a lot of stuff, and I have to pull my weight. Don't want to be getting into something we both can't handle anyway, right?"

"…Alright, but then I'm going to expect you to live up to what you just said."

"…What do you mean by that?" Amy asked with a slightly offended tone.

"Oh, uh, nothing, I didn't mean it like that…Sorry." Sonic apologized.

"It's ok, Sonic. Just know that I meant what I said."

"Alright, well I have to go now…"

"Ok then, I'll see you tomorrow." Amy concluded. They both said their goodbyes and hung up.

"Well then…" Amy mumbled to herself as she looked around. "Oh, right. First Aid."

She went into her bathroom and opened up the medicine cabinet. Seeing nothing there, she went into her bedroom and opened a drawer in the desk next to her bed. She smiled as she saw a white box with a large red cross on it.

Packing that away into her backpack, she looked around her apartment and found some twine, sewing materials, a few towels, a few durable bowls and a pan with utensils, a small battery operated lamp, some matches, and some rope. Other than that, Amy didn't really stock many camping or hiking materials. That, and she didn't know what the world would be, or how big it was, so she was thinking in a general sense.

There was still some space left in the backpack, but it was getting a little heavy. To attempt to get used to it, Amy spent the rest of her day with the backpack on as much as she could.

Eventually, walking with the items wasn't nearly as bad as it was; she could break into a short run even. Still, she would probably need a short rest now and then if they were to be traveling all day. She was sure Sonic wouldn't argue with that though.

Amy finally took the thing off for the day at 10:30 pm, and set it next to her bed.

"God, that thing is heavy…Well, at least it's not TOO bad…except that I'm going to have to carry more stuff…" Amy sighed in slight frustration. "The upside though…" Amy laid back on her bed, "…that FAR outweighs the cons. All that time with Sonic…" She sighed happily.

After brushing her teeth and changing into her night clothes, Amy packed away her toothbrush and toothpaste. She didn't know if there'd be any water safe enough to where she could use it, but it never hurts to prepare. While she was doing that, she packed a few other hygiene-related items that she couldn't believe she forgot.

Snuggling deep into her bed covers, Amy's mind ran wild with all the fantastic possibilities and wonder that was going to come to her the next day. At first she couldn't sleep, but all the thinking drifted her gently into a blissful dream representation of what she wished would happen.

Too bad dreams like that rarely come true.