Chapter 1: World of Sin

"Oh go on, it wouldn't be that bad!" Amy commented. It'd been several years since Iblis and Robotnik had disappeared into nothingness. Amy had matured into a fine woman. She had let her quills grow down to the length of her hips because of the lack of adventure over the last few years, she was also now wearing some red skinny jeans with a black top with a print of her old piko piko hammer on it.

"For the last time Amy, I will not join GUN!" Sonic replied heatedly. Sonic decided to go out with Amy after a few years of no adventure proved to him that his life was no longer a danger to those he was with. They however found no spark there without the adventure and both decided it would be for the best for them to just settle as best friends. Sonic looked almost identical except for the fact that he was three inches taller and always wore a ring that he claimed was a genies from a parallel universe.

"Shadow says that if it wasn't for his joining that then he would have gone crazy with a complete lack of action. Maybe it's what you need? You always say you need more action in your life!" Amy retorted. Sonic scowled at her before sighing.

"Just because your boyfriend loves it doesn't mean I shall." Sonic commented smirking. This time Amy glared at him.

"For the last time Sonic! Me and Shadow are not together, he lives in the spare room when he has leave because he has nowhere else to go except that cave he always used to stay in. I would have done the same for anyone." Amy replied heatedly.

"No you wouldn't. You'd only do it for people you trusted a lot." Sonic commented before something on the side of the street caught his eye and he zoomed over to it. Amy looked over to what he had dashed too and rolled her eyes. A chilli dog stand. She should have guessed. Amy quickly approached Sonic as he got to the front of the queue. "Four chilli dogs to go!" Sonic ordered. The guy at the stand quickly made them and handed them over.

"Twenty rings please." The attendant asked. Sonic forked over the needed rings before he started inhaling the chilidogs.

"Do you even taste them before they go down?" Amy asked, it wasn't the first time she had seen him eat chilidogs but it was something she would never get used to either. Suddenly a piano like ringtone started playing. Amy and Sonic continued walking until the ringtone suddenly hit the guitar bit and Amy realised it was her phone. She quickly pulled it out and pressed the answer button. "Shadow! How're you doing?" There was a few seconds pause. "Yeah of course you can stay! Why you coming home early?" Amy asked. Suddenly her look changed to a worried one. "Oh God! What happened to her?" Another few seconds pause. "My God! And she's still unconscious? I'm on my way to the hospital!" A couple seconds later Amy hung up. "Shadow says Rouge is in hospital! They've transferred her to the local one but she's in some kind of coma." Amy shouted in shock. Sonic looked at her shocked before grabbing her bridal style. "What you doing?" Amy asked confused.

"This'll be faster than taking your car. Hold on!" Sonic explained in earnest before speeding off towards the hospital. Amy was amazed with the rushing colours. It had been so long since Sonic had ran with her in his arms she had forgotten what moving at such speeds was like. It took them mere seconds to get to the hospital where as it would have taken at least half an hour in her car. Sonic put Amy down and Amy quickly ran inside and up to the desk.

"I'm here to see Miss Rouge. Mr Shadow should have pre warned you of my coming?" Amy announced to the receptionist. The receptionist was about to open her mouth but a voice cut across her before she even started. A voice like chocolate.

"Rose? You got here fast. Ah I see. Faker." Shadow shouted casually as he approached the both of them. Shadow also had not changed much except for the fact his red colouring had darkened slightly to a darker shade of blood red rather than his brighter vermillion red. He also now wore a small wristband that Amy knew contained a small, but extremely powerful, radio.

"Shadow, where is she?" Amy asked in a worried tone. Shadow's face betrayed a sliver of sorrow, Amy instantly could tell just how serious it was if Shadow was giving off emotions.

"She's on life support. I'm surprised they transported her to be honest with you. They don't know. Whether she'll wake up." Shadow breathed. His tone was fixed and betrayed none of the sorrow his eyes were displaying lay within.

"My God... Can we see her?" Amy asked disheartened. Shadow looked at her troubled.

"As I tried to explain on the phone before you got headstrong and hung up on me Rose, no one except official level 4 GUN employees are allowed to see her. Another reason why I don't get why she was transferred. It's like the plot hole of a terrible fan fic." Shadow explained. Amy looked at him funnily.

"Why won't they let anyone see her?" She questioned. Shadow looked around, presumably to check to see if there were any GUN agents.

"I can't tell you here." He whispered. "That's classified Rose. Sorry." Shadow spoke in a loud voice as he glanced over to pig holding a paper, the pig instantly shrunk under Shadow's daggers. "Where'd you leave your car?" Shadow questioned.

"Over by central park. Me and Sonic were hanging out today." Amy replied. Shadow pulled out a Chaos Emerald.

"Good bye faker." Shadow stated as Amy opened her mouth to say bye to Sonic Shadow and her disappeared in a flash of green light. They appeared in the middle of the park and sighed.

"Would it kill you to let me say bye to him?" Amy asked reproachfully. Shadow shrugged at her before setting off down the path, Amy immediately followed.

"Where's this car of yours then?" Shadow asked casually. Amy pointed in the general direction that Shadow knew was where the parks car park was.

"So how have you been Shadow?" Amy asked. "I haven't seen you in four months! There must be a lot of things that happened before... This." Amy finished tactfully. Shadow sighed.

"In the past few months I've been dreadful... It's like someone took the world. Picked it up. And screwed it up the ass." Shadow replied frustration visible on his face. "The people of this world have been progressively getting more and more evil over the past few years, as you know. The Doctor disappeared and that seemed to be when it started. But over the past two to three months it's gone off the scale. This... This World of Sin has just developed to something catastrophic. And I doubt it's going to get better until the world is finished, until judgement day. Half the time I swear that it's infectious." Shadow explained tiredly. "Think you could steer clear of Sonic for a while?" Shadow asked politely.

"Why on earth would you want me to do that Shadow?" Amy asked shocked. Shadow's brow furrowed.

"I'm worried about what he's going to do." Shadow stated calmly. Amy looked at him like he was mad.

"Sonic's a world hero! I doubt he'll do anything that rash!" Amy stated, shocked.

"I know that, but something about him is different, something about him gives me the feeling that some of those did in the other countries. A strange, uncanny feeling of sin." Shadow told her. Amy looked saddened and distressed.

"But Shadow-" Amy started.

"Amy please." Shadow interrupted. Amy paused and looked at him like he had carrots in his ears.

"You never call me by my first name." Amy stated. Shadow shifted awkwardly. Amy sighed. "I guess you must be serious then. I'll try my hardest to avoid him, but I'm not going to not see him if he asks. I just won't make the effort."

"That is just what I would expect from you Rose. I'm glad you trust me." Shadow stated as they reached the car park. Amy walked up to the car and unlocked it before hoping inside. Shadow followed her in and breathed in the smell. It had been a long time since he could relax.

"So how long are you off for this time?" Amy asked Shadow. Shadow half grinned, half grimaced.

"Indefinitely. I'm not going back until Rouge has recovered. It's likely why she is here, so I can keep an eye on her myself. They're paying me still, half my usual wages but that's hardly anything to complain about considering my usual wages." Shadow told her. That was true. Shadow was constantly sending money to Amy to make sure that she was okay. Her job at the local café didn't really pay much but she had almost paid of all her mortgage because of Shadow's contributions. As he stayed there during his breaks she didn't mind him paying for some of it, but he insisted on paying the whole thing. Damn Hedgehog thought Amy.

"Well at least that means we can spend some time together!" Amy announced happily before turning her tone more serious. "So what is it exactly that's going on with Rouge?" Amy asked in quite a morbid voice. Shadow sighed in frustration.

"We don't know exactly, that's the problem. I was with her at the time. As you know, the emeralds weren't sought out because of the doctors disappearance. Yet just recently GUN decided they wanted all of them located and stored for safekeeping. Me and Rouge were of course sent after it, the two of us found the emerald, the blue one in case you wanted to know. Rouge picked it up and immediately passed out not thinking I grabbed the emerald myself and teleported us both out of there, later realising what danger I could have put myself in by touching it... I'm not letting anyone touch this green one. In case it has an effect on them like the blue one did to Rouge." Shadow finished thoughtfully, pulling his green Emerald out of his quills and examining it. Amy was silent, amazed and concentrating on the road as she drove down her street. She pulled into drive and the true shock came in.

"That's just crazy! Do you think she'll get better?" Amy asked. Shadow pulled out his key to the door as the approached it.

"She will, I just want to know what happened." Shadow replied as he unlocked the door. "Home sweet home." He announced as he entered. The house was simple, a kitchen and a lounge on the ground floor along with the main bathroom. The first floor had three bedrooms, two of them with small en suits and a smallish guest bedroom. "But for now all we can do is wait." Shadow commented as he flumped down on the sofa. He yawned and stretched his arms before turning on the TV. Amy smiled and looked at the tired Hedgehog. The amount he had been through it sounded like he needed the rest. She smiled and head through to the kitchen. Intent on making him something to eat. She decided on a curry, as she knew that recently Shadow had developed a taste for spice during some of his more exotic trips. She grabbed all the necessary ingredients and started on the cooking. Just as she put the sauce in the phone rang. She quickly picked it up and held it against her shoulder whilst she continued.

"Hello?" She questioned as she added some chilli powder to the curry.

"Hi? Amy? It's Sonic." The loud voice on the other end replied.

"Oh. Hey Sonic." Amy responded. "I'm cooking at the moment, so this isn't the best time.

"Oh, erm.. Do you want to come on an adventure with me, for old times sake?" Sonic asked, sounding hopeful.

"This is a bit of a surprise. You haven't asked me for a long time." Amy told him as she walked from the cooking food. "Something up?"

"It's not much. Just me and Tails had a bit fallout over next to nothing when I got back and now I can't find him. *Sigh* That kid's so hard to keep track of." Sonic stated. "So yeah, you up for it?" Amy was about to say yes. Then she suddenly remembered what Shadow said.

"What is it exactly?" Amy asked, throwing out some caution.

"I'm going Emerald hunting for GUN. They offered pay but I'm just doing it for the adventure of it." Sonic replied.

"I'll pass Sonic, sorry. Be careful-." Amy started.

"Yeah. I'll be fine." Sonic cut in. "Laters." And he hung up. Amy stood there for a few seconds before she caught herself and put the phone back on the charger. Amy shrugged and plated up the curry, placing the plate on a tray each with a fork and a can of cola. She carried it through to Shadow and plonked it on his knees. He looked at it in surprise.

"Erm... Thanks Rose." He commented before grabbing the fork and poking a chip with it.

"I doubt you've eaten all that much while you've not been away, so I expect you to eat all of it." Amy saw Shadow rolling his eyes but she chose to ignore it.

"Like having all the worries of a girlfriends without the perks." Shadow muttered under his breath.

"What was that Shadow?" Amy asked as she came back out the kitchen carrying her own tray.

"Nothing Amy." Shadow said quickly as he started shovelling chicken into his mouth to prevent further questions. His eyes started to water as he realised just how hot the curry was. He quickly popped the can opened and chugged down half of it. He could hear Amy giggling at him to the side. "This been in the fridge?" He asked after a minute of letting his mouth cool down.

"Yeah, the cans were in the fridge. I've got a fair few of them in there if you need another." Amy replied, absentmindedly eating some chips dipped in the sauce while watching TV. Shadow made his way to the kitchen and looked in the massive fridge that was big even by the biggest standards. There were plenty of goodies in there. But Shadow spotted what he was looking for in seconds. A nice big bottle of vodka. He poured himself a reasonable helping of the stuff into a pint glass, then filled the rest with some cola from the cans that were in the fridge. He walked back and out put the drink on the side further away from Amy before he started eating again. "Having some vodka?" Amy asked casually. Shadow froze. He'd been busted.

"Yeah, that okay?" Shadow asked casually as he started eating his curry again, but slower this time.

"Yeah, it's fine. Alcohol doesn't effect you like it does most people. Still, with the amount you put in there..." Amy trailed off as she drank some of her cola. Shadow sniffed the glass. It was a bit strong. Half a pint of vodka would probably effect Amy a fair bit. He took a sip and he realised just how strong it was, of course that didn't stop him from taking a mouthful before turning back to his curry.

"So who was on the phone?" Shadow questioned. Amy looked a bit hesitant.

"Sonic, wanted me to go on an adventure with him." Amy replied. Shadow nodded.

"And you said no. What's he doing?" Shadow asked. Amy poked her food before stuffing her mouth full of chips. "... Well?" Shadow asked again.

"He's looking for an Emerald." Amy answered. Shadow sat there silently.

"I see." Shadow stated calmly, but he suddenly started eating at ten million miles an hour. He was done in a minute and downed the drink that Amy probably would have struggled to sip. "I'm going to go and find him. There's no telling what will happen if he touches that Emerald." Shadow stated as he made for the door.

"But GUN told you that you should rest, and stay at home." Amy almost shouted in a panic. He'd only just got back.

"There's no rest for the wicked." Shadow stated as he left the door, leaving Amy standing behind it with her ears drooping.