It's amazing what can occur over a span of five years. People change, people are born, people die, and people move on. These past five years have been some of the most painful, yet rewarding, years of my life. But that's jumping ahead of the story, isn't it? Let me introduce myself: I am Amy Rose, official anthropomorphic government agent stationed in Metal City. Not long after Sonic turned sixteen, the government, better known as G.U.N., went insane trying to get him to work with them. For years Sonic had turned them down, but I suppose he had changed his mind, and so he accepted their offer a month after his birthday.

It was weird, suddenly having to do everything by the book. We couldn't just take off and defeat someone: we had to gain permission from Headquarters, which is in Future City. This protocol sure didn't stop Sonic, or even slow him down. He'd take off, leaving instructions for Tails to get permission while he went ahead and did whatever he planned on doing. I would always go with him, as would Knuckles, and Tails would catch up when Headquarters gave us the go-ahead. They never did turn us down.

Even though we were still the spontaneous group of heroes I had known, we all changed. With the government always at our backs, we had access to all kinds of weaponry. Pistols, rifles, machine guns, explosives, you name it, they had it. All we had to do was mention something and it was ours. Of course, we all had our preferences as to what we used. Sonic carried only one handgun, a .38 caliber, I believe. Knuckles carried an automatic rifle, and Tails was always the go-to guy for C-4 and other explosives. I carried the most: two pistols and a spare block of C-4, even though Tails protested the last one. Hey, what can I say? I like explosives!

Carrying weapons wasn't the only thing we changed. All of us, save Knuckles, changed our appearances as well, to make it easier to blend in with the criminals we always found ourselves neck-high in. Sonic, Tails and I all got our ears pierced. Sonic had two hoops and three studs, I had one hoop and three studs, and Tails three hoops. I began wearing short dresses with cargo pants underneath, since I still was a bit too modest to wear just the dress. Sonic simply wore the cargo pants, Tails cargo pants and a vest. We all changed our gloves to fingerless ones, so we could grip triggers and detonation cord a bit better. Slipping when setting a charge could be considered a bad thing.

So went the next three years, until Sonic turned nineteen. Eggman was always around, but his attacks had become easier and easier to deflect, to the point that he was just a nuisance. In fact, all the criminals were easily defeated. I mean, when you have the entire government at the back of four heroes, what did we think was going to happen? Still, Sonic got very bored very quickly. He always hungered for a challenge, and now even Eggman failed to give him that. Bored as he was, he managed to keep his nervous energy tics at a minimum, even though it meant he went running far more often than normal.

During this entire time, Sonic and I were always struggling with our relationship, if you can even call it that. I had matured enough to quit chasing after him, but it didn't change much. He was always hesitant to move forward, but just as hesitant to back away and let me move on. No matter what I did, he rode the fence between falling for me and ignoring me. I got sick of it after a while. I mean, wouldn't anyone? I just tolerated it, bottling up my feelings and waiting for the day when he would finally break down and fall for me, or I would snap. Sad to say, the latter came first.

Sonic's challenger finally came: someone with just as many resources as us. It was a group of gun-toting, explosive-happy assassins that called themselves Aeron, meaning "carnage, slaughter." The name fit. Wherever they went, they left a trail of murders behind them. It made them easy to track, but you could never tag them with anything. They left no evidence. Yeah, it was obvious they had done it, but without proof for the court, we were helpless. So that's how it started: we were sent on a mission to defeat Aeron and come back with proof to convict them.

If only he hadn't come to me on that day, I'm sure it wouldn't have gone as it did. About twice a month, I'd sit and fester about how angry Sonic made me with this fence-riding relationship. Anyone who came by was a victim of my short temper. If only he hadn't come… but that's for later. Either way, Sonic came to my apartment in Metal City on one of my "days", hoping to ask me for help on the mission.

The rapping on the apartment door was quick, quicker than anyone else I knew. Of course, that's why I immediately knew exactly who was pestering me. See, the day before, when I had talked to him about making our "friendship" a little deeper, he had pretty much brushed me off in his hyperactive way, which is why I was still furious, even twenty-four hours later. I should've gotten used to it by this point. I'd been suffering through it for years, but it still hurt like a dagger through my heart every time he rejected me. I don't know why I kept coming back.

I nearly didn't answer the door, but I figured I might as well. Maybe he was here to finally talk, or at least apologize. I should've known. I opened the door and glared straight at him, but he didn't flinch. He was a bit taller than me, so why would he? He flashed me some random smile before beginning. "Hey, Ames!"

I glowered at him, but muttered a "hello." He didn't even blink, even though I made it obvious I did not want to be bothered without a very good reason.

"HQ just asked me to go take out these Aeron guys, and I was wondering if you'd come. Knux and Tails can't, so I figured I'd ask you."

Okay, so he's not the best with words. And telling me I was his third choice was not smart. I snapped at him: "Oh, so after Tails and Knuckles turned you down, you decided I was worth talking to?!"

Sonic looked confused, clueless. Like always. He was always completely unaware of what I was feeling. "Huh? No, Ames, I just--"

"What the heck, Sonic, I mean… you think I'm just a backup after your other buddies can't come?! Is that what I am?! Your last choice?!"

"What? No! I would've asked you any--"

"Oh, so then if I'm not backup, I'm just 'part of the team!' I've never been anything special to you, and you know it! It's been years, Sonic. Years. I throw all sorts of chances for you to prove that you love me, or not, straight at you, but you're blind. You don't care about me, you never did! Why do you torture me like this?!"

"Amy, I--"

"No! You do it on purpose! You'll do something small that'll make me cling on to some shred of hope that you care, then you'll just brush me off like an annoying fly! I've been getting mixed messages from you since I was ten! That's six years that I've been hopelessly clinging to some idiot!"

"Amy!"

"I'm not done. Actually, I am. I'm done with you. I never want to see your face again. I never want to work with you, I never want to talk to you, I never want to think of you again in my life! You're not worth my time! I've wasted six years on you, and I'm done. I hate you, Sonic the Hedgehog. I hate you."

I saw the pain in his widened, emerald green eyes, shocked and hollow at my harsh rejection. Any other time, I would have melted and broken down, apologizing over and over for my rash actions, but not now. I reveled in his heartbreak, some cheap recompense for all the pain he had caused me. I relished it to the point that I spat the words out one last time before whipping around, slamming the door and leaving him to suffer alone: "I hate you."