AN: I hope you like it, everyone! Not much else to say than that. Sonic Characters Belong to Sega.

It was a little before noon when it happened. When we all changed forever.

Cream and Blaze were playing on the swings together like they did every Sunday: Cream giggling in the seat while Blaze pushed her. Sometimes Cream would beg her to go higher, but she wouldn't do it. Vanilla had agreed to let them do this on one solid condition, that Cream did not come home crying and bruised, and Blaze held it seriously.

It had been years since anyone had gone to the old play park. Most of the swings were broken, the ladder for the slide was missing steps, and the seesaw was cracked in half. A new one had opened a year ago and most parents took their kids there to play, but Cream wouldn't go. She had made so many memories at the old one, just like I did.

I was at the playground that day, a small distance from Cream and Blaze underneath four trees. They used to surround a picnic area, but the table and chairs had been taken away a long time ago. Now it was just a circular clearing that grew my favorite wildflowers. Beside me, dozing off in the sunshine was my blue hero. My blue boyfriend, as he'd been for almost a year.

"Oh, she's really growing up," I said, watching Cream swing. She had grown again since the last time I'd seen her, and it had been only a month! Her short hair almost reached her shoulders now, and her girly body was starting to mature. My friend was getting older, and that scared me. Little Cream in the big wide world of peer pressure, jobs, and dare I say it...boys.

Sonic nudged me playfully, noticing the look creeping into my eyes. He had changed, too—he was much taller and his quills were at least a full inch longer. "So are you, Amy," he said.

Me, growing? Not as much. Wearing less childish clothes didn't really strike me as a big part of growing up. Maybe it wasn't so much growing as it was my life was changing for the ten-times-better. I had everything I ever dreamed of! Perfect friends, perfect city, and perfect love life.

"I guess so," I smiled happily, and my Sonic smiled back at me.

I wanted just to squeeze him and kiss him all over and never-ever-ever let him out of my sight for as long as I lived when he smiled like that! But I also knew that doing that would likely make him run away again. I'd worked so hard to push that jittery side of me away and to the nearest cliff, and that morning I'd actually done good all day.

Well, sometimes it didn't matter how well I'd done for a day. Because somewhere deep inside me, that crazy twelve-year-old was still chasing and swinging her hammer. It had taken three years to lock her up, and yet sometimes I couldn't stop her from attacking him. Sonic normally accepted all the little times she locked possessively around his waist, but they sure made me feel stupid.

"Hey," Sonic poked me, fixing me under the sparkling eyes I had fallen in love with, with all their light—still the same, no matter how time had changed him on the outside. "You look all sad. Smile."

Smile? I breathed a frustrated sigh. I'm having a serious thought war with myself Sonniku, and you want me to smile. But no matter how hard I tried, I lasted only a few seconds with a straight face before it cracked into a smirk. "Much better," he laughed and nuzzled my cheek.

I rolled my eyes and looked up to watch Cream and Blaze again. Blaze seemed fed up with Cream ignoring her warnings, but tried to keep quiet. Instead, she smiled politely and gave her another push.

"Nice they do that sort of thing together," said Sonic, following her gaze and seeing Blaze. "Ya know, she's not the nicest kitty."

I giggled at that, teasing, "No, but what better teacher than Cream, the mighty friendship queen?" and waving my hand out at them. At the same time Blaze let out a hiss and I slowly drew it back. "Um…yeah. Not a good kitty at all…"

"Cream's got this," Sonic smirked, closing his eyes and resting lazily on the tree trunk.

"Yeah, she always does. So, sooner or later, there might be another hero around here. Might just be better than you!"

"Might. Let me know when your friend breaks the sound barrier."

I rolled my eyes. "You have the biggest ego in the whole universe, Sonic."

"Yeah, so?" His voice lowered to a purr. "Don't pretend you don't love it."

I opened my mouth to make another joke, but as always he was faster. He darted in, shutting my mouth and kissed me until my head spun. And suddenly I was trapped in that sweet world of my mind, one I never wanted to escape from.

"I do love it," I giggled as we pulled away, and shoved him playfully against the tree.

We never noticed him there walking towards the girls. Maybe if we had, things would've been different.

He stood at the edge of the park, watching the swing go up and down...up and down. The rusty creak of the chains shot more pain into his headache. He whined, his large hands trembling as they reached to wipe his sweat-covered forehead. The ground around him was shaking, sinking under his feet and begging him to fall.

He hadn't been safe back home, and not in the city streets. Isolation made his desire peak, and so many other people lit a fire that burned in his throat. And now that he had come sure of being free from it, they were here! Two people that he knew! His own mind defied his body and led him here, almost as if he knew the girls would be there today. Was that what he wanted?

"Gah—!" He cringed, tasting something sour. He shook his head wildly to get it out, the crimson quills whipping around in all directions. If it would only stop, maybe just for a second so he could run back to his safe, quiet island and try again…

Sonic sighed contentedly, shifting against the ground and closing his eyes. Amy's body had relaxed a while ago, and he was almost sure she had fallen asleep. He was also sure that he wouldn't be too far behind her.

"Gah—!"

His ears lifted in surprise and he woke up completely. He glanced around for the sound, interested, until he saw Knuckles standing by the swings. Was that really Knuckles the Echidna at a kiddie park? He usually stayed locked up on his island on weekdays…

Something seemed wrong with him. It was the way he slightly crouched over, head in his spiked hands. How he let out groans of pain. Was he sick or something?

"Ames," he called, nudging her in his arms. When she didn't budge, he pushed harder and repeated, louder, "Amy!"

"Hmm…?" Amy muttered sleepily, blinking to adjust to the sunshine. "I swear…I was totally awake…"

"Yeah. Isn't that Knuckles?"

His head was pounding and spinning, forcing his clenched fists to tighten until the gloves tore. It burned so badly, and water hadn't made it go away. Nothing would make it go away!

Amy turned to where Sonic pointed, nodding as she saw him. "Should be. I don't know anyone else with that hairstyle," she snorted. "Wait…why is he all twitchy? Sonic?"

Please, someone make the pain stop! Waves of this strange desire hovered over his head and threatened to drown him. If he could maybe talk to one of the girls—was that was his body wanted? Would that stop the pain?

"Yo, Knuckles!" Sonic shouted loudly, waving. But Knuckles didn't answer. Instead he walked slowly for the swings. Sonic jumped impatiently to his feet and yelled a second time.

As Knuckles came closer, the two of them could see him in detail. He was covered in beads of sweat. The steps he took were struggled and awkward and his eyes were bloodshot. He looked ready to drop, sicker than anyone they'd ever seen, and someone who really needed a hospital than a swing-set.

There they were, smiling to each other and laughing. Was that his name, being called? No, just a trick of his mind. He remembered the lavender cat, but the memory seemed like smoke that he couldn't wrap his hands around. Her name was...Daze, right? No, Haze?

"Knuckles?" she asked, abandoning her grip on the swing chains. The powerful shock of fire knocked him to his knees with a strangled gasp. That was it: her name was Blaze.

"Oh! Mr. Knuckles!" Cream cried, jumping down from her swing and joining her friend. "Are you okay?"

Was he okay? He wasn't so sure anymore. The heat in his throat had become an inferno, and he was choking hard on the flames.

Blaze's hands were on his shoulders, so very close to his face. She breathed and he felt it, heard it, and tasted it against his tongue. "You need a hospital, now," she said, blowing more of that cool scent through his nose. So cool it had to heal the burn. Something that felt so tempting had to have a reason for being there. He felt his mouth shift, something moving underneath his lips. It felt so… right.

Something so…tempting.

"Hold on, I'll get you up," Blaze breathed.

His eyes snapped open and he felt his hands slam into her chest, trapping her under his weight. She shouted in alarm and thrusted herself upwards, aiming to throw him off, but he was like a stone. She kicked, she clawed, but nothing could stop him now.

Her head slammed into the ground with a loud crack as Knuckles forced it down with a fist to her neck. Her teeth snapped down on her tongue and she tasted her own blood. "Enough of this!" Her hand rose, filled with orange flames and swiped out at his head. It did nothing. She roared, "Argh! Damn it, Knuckles, get off m—!"

But then she felt it.

A terrible pain pierced through Blaze's skin and the words died into a ragged squeak. The powerful sting stilled her breath, paralyzed her thoughts, and the world slowed down around her. Her eyes widened in panic realizing in horror that Knuckles had just…

"Oh, my god! He bit her!"

Amy wailed in terror, frightened tears beginning to run down her cheeks as she stood there watching the light die from Blaze's eyes. This wasn't happening. This wasn't real! "S-Sonic!" She pleaded in a hoarse whisper, shaking the blue hedgehog's arm beside her. He was still and silent. "Sonic, do something!" She begged louder, knocking into him, folding her ears in to block out the terrible sound of screams.

But Sonic didn't. This was like a sick version of a horror movie, and if he tried to stop Knuckles they could end up the same way. He looked down at Amy, back to the playground—they hadn't been seen. He knew they could run. With a pained expression, he shook his head.

"No."

Amy's eyes widened in disbelief. "N-no...? No! You can't just do nothing!" She shouted, shoving desperately into him. "He's killing her!"

"I...I said no, okay?!" He growled and grabbed her arm to pull her away. She'd thank him one day.

I did thank him one day. And now a full year and a half later, I still really do.

AN: Hope you liked: Review if you did, let me know! Next, the danger grows...