The sun had already risen by the time Sonic began to rouse from his deep slumber.  The light peered in through the half closed window shade of the room he was in, and he squirmed slowly in the covers of the bed, lifting his hand to run through his quills slowly, suddenly becoming keenly aware of the headache he had.  Sonic couldn’t seem to remember how he got here, wherever here was; for that matter, now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember much about the previous night.  It was all just a blur to him.  “Oh my head,” Sonic grumbled quietly as he massaged his head in a feeble attempt to alleviate the dull throbbing.  “What the hell did I do yesterday?” he asked to nobody in particular.

At least Sonic thought he was speaking to nobody.  Sonic heard a faint moan coming from next to him, and suddenly warmth pressed up against his arm. When he looked over, a glowing grin met him.  “Well, good morning, Sonic,” Amy Rose told him.

Sonic’s eyes immediately widened, and his first reaction was pure, unadulterated terror as he became very aware of the girl pressing against him.  Sonic immediately shuffled over away from her, staring at her as if she had suddenly turned into a terrifying monster, becoming aware of a fact he had not noticed before.  “A-Amy...!” he stuttered.   “What are you doing here?  And where are your clothes?”

Amy giggled.  “Was last night that wonderful? I didn't think you could be such a wild animal,” she remarked.  She scooted closer to him, trying to cuddle up against him again.  “I'm so happy you finally told me how you truly felt!”

As Sonic could not remember what had actually happened, he couldn’t verify Amy’s story.  All he knew was that he couldn't possibly have done what all the evidence and Amy’s testimony seemed to suggest he did.  “Last night?  Wild animal?  How I truly felt?  What are you talking about?” Sonic asked, his confusion and panic as plain as day on his voice.

Amy started to look annoyed.  “C'mon, don't be so bashful! You certainly weren't during the party!” she told him.

Slowly, Sonic felt memories of the last night begin to return to him.  Rouge had organized a big party for all her friends.  Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Cream, and Amy were all there, there were some colleagues of hers from G.U.N. and the secret service, and not only that her new colleagues the Babylon Rogues were in attendance.  Rouge had pulled as many strings as she could to secure the gang of thieves a pardon for their crimes in exchange for their help securing some valuable treasure.  Sonic wasn’t entirely sure, but Rouge seemed pleased to have the skill of the gang to augment her own; so pleased that she wanted to celebrate their successful job.  Rouge rented a small hall in the Station Square Hotel, and it had everything; music, dancing, food, and fun.  And yet Sonic found blank spots in his memory.  He remembered arriving, talking with Tails for a while, and stuffing himself on the buffet, including a few glasses of punch, but that was it.  The rest was a blur.

Sonic rubbed his throbbing forehead, and said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.  I couldn’t possibly have been hitting on you.”  Hitting on Amy was just such an outlandish idea that he had trouble accepting it.  And yet the evidence seemed to suggest otherwise.

“Well, it certainly wasn't some other blue hedgehog,” Amy replied, “who really liked it when I called him ‘Super’ Sonic.”  She giggled softly and leaned closer to him, trying to kiss him.

Sonic pulled away from her again, only this time he had no room left on the bed.  He fell off the edge of the bed, letting out an oof as he landed on his rear, taking most of the covers off with him.  “There’s gotta be some mistake here,” he tried to say, shuffling away from the bed and the watchful eyes of the female hedgehog.  Sonic looked around the floor frantically, digging through the pile of Amy’s clothes in search of his sneakers and gloves.  “I was at the party and now I’m here.  I couldn’t have done that!” he repeated.

Amy just smiled back at him.  “Soniiic, don’t you want another go?  It’s still early!” she asked, getting up from the bed and following the terrified Sonic, barely making any effort to cover herself with what little blankets that were left on the bed.

Sonic hopped around on one foot as he tried to pull his shoes on while trying to put some distance between himself and Amy.  “No, I don’t want another go!” he protested.  “I didn’t even have a first go!  Something ain’t right here!”

Amy started to look huffy as she crossed her arms under her chest and narrowed her eyes at him.  “Sonic Hedgehog,” she began, “don’t act like you didn’t have sex with me!  Or that you didn’t tell me you wanted to marry me!”

Somewhere, Sonic heard the sound of a window shattering.  He suspected it might have been his brain.  For all of Sonic’s fears over the idea that he did in fact spend the night with Amy, this news frightened him much, much more.  “M-marry you?” Sonic stammered in disbelief, dropping his shoe to the ground and standing paralyzed by the door to the hotel room, trying to keep his eyes off the effects Amy’s arms and a slipping bed sheet was having on her cleavage.  “No way!  You’re nuts!” he protested.

“I’m not the one who suggested matching tattoos.”

“I’m out of here!” he declared, jamming his foot into the fallen sneaker.  He had to get as far away as he could as fast as he could.  Thinking fast, he grabbed the doorknob behind him and flung the door open.  Sonic dropped into a runner’s starting stance and took off down the hall, leaving a strong wind and shaking portraits on the walls to mark his passage.

“Soniiic!” Amy called after him.  When it was obvious that he was gone, Amy stamped her foot on the ground and cursed, “Oh, that jerk!”  Slamming the door, Amy returned to the side of the bed and began to gather up her clothes, getting dressed.  “I won’t give up that easily!” she declared.  But if she was going to catch up to him she needed a bit of help, and there was one person she could think of who would be unquestioningly willing to help her.
 

Tails was rather happy that morning.  The 16-year-old vulpine mechanic was returning to the hotel with two fountain cups of lemonade in his hands and an excited smile on his face.  He was just a block away from the hotel when he saw a blue blur begin to approach him.  “Sonic?” he asked himself.

Sonic ran down the street as fast as he could, and as he saw Tails a block away from the hotel, he realized he had a perfect chance to find out what happened from an impartial third party.  He was at the party; he would surely have some answers. 

Sonic put out his feet and started to skid to a stop, ending up a few feet past Tails.  The fox turned around to face him, gripping his drinks tighter, and cocked his head to the side in curiosity.  “Tails!” Sonic shouted.  “Boy, am I glad to see you!”

Tails blinked curiously.  “Uh, hey Sonic,” he said.  “You okay?  You look like a freight train smacked into you.”

“Believe me, Bud, I feel like it,” Sonic explained, lifting his hand and rubbing his throbbing forehead to prove his point.  “But that’s not the important thing right now.”

Tails arched an eyebrow.  “What’s the problem?” he asked, seemingly impatient.

If Sonic noticed Tails’ impatience, he didn’t mention it.  He had more important things to worry about.  “This is going to sound like a weird question,” he began, “but just what happened last night?”

Tails’ face seemed to pale and his eyes widened.  He began to stammer anxiously, trying to come up with an answer quickly.  “Uh… not a whole lot… why?” he asked.

Again, Sonic failed to notice Tails’ sudden guilt.  Still overly concerned with his own problem, he took a deep breath and explained, “I woke up this morning in a hotel room.  With Amy.  And she says that we…”

Tails sighed in relief, but it was short lived.  He was given pause when Sonic trailed off.  “Wait.  That you what?” he asked, verbally coaxing Sonic into finishing his thought.

Sonic sighed.  “She says that we had sex,” he told the fox.

Tails almost dropped the cups in his hands in shock.  Tails’ eyes widened, and he asked, “What?”

“But that’s not the worst part,” Sonic added.  “Amy says I told her I wanted to marry her!”

Tails’ shock was gone.  All that was in its place now was a smug grin that the fox could barely disguise.  “You must have really been plastered last night,” he remarked.  “You were flirting with her hardcore.  Serves you right for spilling your guts out,” he added.

Sonic blinked.  “Plastered?  But I only drank the punch!” he protested in confusion. 

“I didn’t drink much of the punch,” Tails explained.  “But it had a weird smell to it.”

“Oh, god,” Sonic lamented as another thought struck him.  He twisted around.  “Tails! Look at my butt!”

How much more surreal was this conversation going to get?  “I’m not looking at your butt, Sonic.”

“Just tell me if you see a tattoo or anything.”

“I know I had a tendency to follow you around when I was younger, but that didn’t mean­—”

“Tails!”

Tails grumbled something inaudible.  “There’s nothing wrong with your butt.”

“You gotta tell me,” Sonic said, straightening up, “just what I did at the party!  Did I really hit on Amy?  Did I really propose to her?  I have to know!”

Tails shook his head impatiently.  “If you can’t remember what you did it’s your own fault,” he explained, tapping his foot.  “I need to go, Sonic.  I hope your problem gets fixed.”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” Sonic replied, glaring at the younger fox.  “You’ve really been a big help,” he remarked sarcastically.  As Sonic’s eyes scanned over his friend, he finally noticed something unusual about him.  “Why do you have two drinks?” he asked, lifting a finger and gesturing to the lemonade cups Tails held in his hands.

Tails’ ear twitched slightly.  His eyes narrowed.  “I think I hear Amy coming,” he said.  “Might want to rush off if you’re trying to avoid her.”

Fortunately for him, Sonic was so panicked that he actually believed his half-assed lie.  “Shit!” Sonic spat out, looking around feverishly.  “I’ll see you later!” He revved up and took off down the street in the direction he was heading previously, leaving Tails on his own once more.  Tails rolled his eyes and continued walking towards the hotel, his mind on more important things than Sonic’s problem.

Jet the Hawk sat in his hotel room, laughing out loud at his own perceived genius.  The ex-thief’s two partners, Storm the Albatross and Wave the Swallow, sat on chairs near their leader’s bed while Jet praised himself.  “It was perfect!” Jet announced, grinning widely as he leaned back on his bed, resting his arms behind his head as if he were some sort of king.

Wave rolled her eyes, sitting backwards on a chair, crossing her arms over the head and resting on them.  “You spiked the punch, Jet,” Wave retorted.  “That’s not perfect, that’s just juvenile.”

“Are you kidding?” Jet retorted, sitting up and propping himself up with his arms.  “Did you see how those hedgehogs were carrying on that evening?  That wasn’t just spiking the punch.  That was art in the making!”

“It was so funny watching those guys!” Storm piped in, chuckling. 

Wave sighed.  She couldn’t believe she was stuck around these virtual children.  “You make Sonic act like an idiot, which, by the way,” Wave explained, “is not hard to do, and you call that art?”

“Well,” Jet retorted, “I consider it payback for showing me up so often.”

“Whatever,” Wave said, getting up from her chair and brushing off her pants.  “I’ve got better things to do,” she added, turning and heading towards the door.  “You two probably want to get back to putting frogs in peoples’ beds or something like that.”

“Oh, ha ha,” Jet grumbled.  “Fine, go.  You just can’t appreciate good humor.” 

Wave glanced behind her slowly, a smirk forming on her face.  “You know, I wonder how funny it would be if Sonic found out what you did,” she suggested slyly.

Quickly, Jet hopped off his bed.  “Woah woah, there.  Don’t you dare tell Sonic or anyone about this!” he ordered.

The swallow sighed.  “Oh fine,” she replied.  “Wouldn’t want to ruin your fun.”  Wave opened the door to the hotel room and left her partners behind; she had more interesting things to do than listen to Jet and Storm’s incessant self-satisfaction.

Wave took the elevator down to the hotel’s spacious lobby and waited by the buttons, leaning against the wall and looking around.  He should have been back by now, she thought.  He was only going a block away, after all.  Finally, her roaming eyes found their target, and her beak curled up in a smile.

“I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long,” Tails said, smiling at her and holding out a cup of lemonade for her, which she gratefully accepted, immediately taking a sip from the straw.  “Sonic had to bother me with some problem,” he explained, smiling and leaning against the wall next to her, taking a drink from his own lemonade.

Her promise to Jet was the only thing that kept Wave from telling the fox that she had a pretty good idea what his problem was.  She was a loyal friend and subordinate.  She said she wouldn’t give Jet away, and so she didn’t.  “Blue Boy get himself into more trouble?” she asked, taking another sip and cocking her head at the fox.

“Can you believe he actually slept with Amy?” Tails asked, taking another drink with a smirk.  “And now he claims he doesn’t remember doing it, or proposing to her.”

Wave almost coughed up her drink from laughter; she had a feeling the results of Jet’s college-quality antics would be funny, but that was quite unexpected nonetheless.  “You’re kidding me,” she began, smirking.  “Sonic finally gets laid and he can’t even remember it?  That’s great!”

Tails grinned broadly, glancing at her.  “It is rather hilarious,” he concurred.  “I think he’s just trying to deny it because Amy’s probably spouting off the news to everyone,” he added with a knowing grin.  “You know his ego.”

Wave just laughed louder at his explanation.  “That’s rich!” she said. “And here I thought that party was going to be boring!”

Tails raised an eyebrow slightly.  “Well, it certainly wasn’t boring for me,” he said knowingly.

Wave smirked slyly in return.  “No it certainly wasn’t,” she agreed.  She had always felt that she and Tails had some chemistry between them, and last night certainly proved that point in spades.  “Well, it was so hard to resist those cute little eyes,” she explained, grinning playfully.  She knew talking like that riled him up, even though he was far from little anymore.  In fact, he was now taller than she.

Tails groaned and rolled his eyes.  “Hey, they’re not so little anymore!” he retorted.

Wave smirked at the apparent success of her taunts.  “As much as I hate to admit it, you’re right,” she conceded.  “And I could say the same about a few other parts of your body too,” she suggested with a grin.

Tails returned her look, shifting closer to her.  “I hope that’s not complaining I hear from that beak of yours,” he said letting the tip of one of his tails stroke up and down the back of her leg.

With one more sip, Wave finished her lemonade and tossed the empty cup into a nearby trash can.  When that was done, she lifted a gloved hand and walked her fingers slowly up his chest to his face.  “And if it is, Shorty?” she asked with a smirk.

Tails tossed his own lemonade cup into the trash can along with hers, lifting his hands and gripping her shoulders.  “Then I’ll just have to do something about that,” he suggested, smirking slyly at her.  “Perhaps a few somethings.”

Wave moved a hand to press the button to call the elevator.  “Oh I’m quivering in my boots,” she said, smirking as the door to the elevator opened slowly.

Tails ushered her into the elevator slowly, laughing.  “If you aren’t now, you’ll certainly be quivering soon!” he informed her, pressing the button for the floor where her room was located.

Wave just grinned broadly at him.  As the elevator doors started to close behind them, she lifted her arms and flung them around Tails’ neck, leaning up and kissing the fox firmly.  Oh yes, they certainly had chemistry.

Cream the Rabbit was already awake and getting dressed when she heard a knock on her door.  “Just a moment!” the 16 year old rabbit called out, fixing her short sleeved jacket and skirt, checking her hair and ears in the mirror, smiling at herself.  In a few years she had certainly blossomed physically, and she was quite proud of her body.  Content that she was presentable, Cream trotted to the door of her hotel room and opened it.  “Amy!” she greeted merrily, than noticed Amy’s expression.  “Is something wrong?  You look upset about something!” she said, ushering the hedgehog inside.

Amy walked in to the room, glad to finally be around someone who cared.  Cream was a kind, nurturing girl who put others before herself constantly.  She was a good friend, and so Amy was sure that the rabbit would be able to help her fix things with Sonic.  Amy threw her arms in the air in exasperation, announcing, “Sonic is being a stupid jerk, Cream!  Have you seen him around?”

Cream shook her head.  “No, I haven’t been out of my room since last night,” she explained, confused by Amy’s sudden outburst.  “What did he do?” she asked curiously.

“Well,” Amy explained, as Cream led her towards her bed for the pair to sit, “remember last night how he was all over me?  He was saying all these sweet things to me.”

Cream giggled happily and blushed a bit at the memory.  “Yeah,” she said, “I remember.  It was so sweet of him…”

Amy grinned slyly.  “Well,” she said, “when the party was over he and I went up to my room and—you know—finally had our first times.”  She couldn’t help the wistful smile that crept its way onto her face at the memory of the night prior.

Cream gasped, lifting her hands to her face, blushing furiously.  “Oh my!” she cried.  “You mean you and Sonic…you really…”

“Uh huh!” Amy confirmed.  “And then he said he wanted to marry me!  I couldn’t have been happier!” she added.  “And then the next morning, he claims nothing happened!”

Cream blinked.  “But how could he do that?” she asked.  “If it happened, why would he say it didn’t happen?”  Cream was quite confused.  Yes, she was a kind, nurturing girl…whose naïveté was bigger than Rouge’s chest.

Amy sighed in response.  “So he wouldn’t have to own up to his actions, that’s why!” she explained, lifting her hands and resting her head in them, sighing.  “And now I don’t know what to do.”

Cream thought about it for a moment.  Her sense of right and wrong told her that Sonic made a commitment to Amy and that he needed to see it through one way or another.  And if Amy needed help, then as her friend, it was Cream’s duty to make Sonic come around.  The rabbit got up from the edge of her bed with a decisive look on her face, and announced, “We’re going to go find Sonic and make him be with you!  If you and he did… that, then you should be together!  I’ll help you look for him!”

Amy sat up straighter, looking up at her friend.  Slowly her smile began to return at the display of strength and determination Cream gave her.  It revitalized her and hardened her resolve once more.  “Thanks, Cream!” she replied, getting to her feet.  “I knew I could count on you!”

Cream pumped her fist in the air.  “You and Sonic should be together and I’ll do whatever I can to help!” she said.

Amy raised her arm and pumped her fist into the air as well.  “Let’s go get ‘im!” she announced.

As the two girls affirmed their mission, they failed to notice the small chao Cheese, who was lying on a dresser against the wall.  He just kept trying to sleep in spite of them.
 

Sonic was really starting to worry.  If there was something wrong with the punch, perhaps that could explain his situation with Amy.  But who tampered with it?  He didn’t remember anyone acting suspicious near the punch.  But his memory of the party was still sketchy, so he couldn’t be sure.  He needed to talk to someone else who had been there.  He had to find out what happened.

As the hedgehog ran through the street, he caught sight of a familiar red form sitting at a table on a street side café.  Knuckles the Echidna was sitting outside by himself, enjoying a breakfast of pancakes in his typical way: scarfing them down quickly.  Sonic was relieved.  Knuckles was at the party.  He was sure he could get some information from him.

Sonic skidded to a stop near Knuckles’ table, immediately catching the echidna’s attention.  “Knuckles!  You were at the party yesterday!” Sonic declared, catching his breath.

Knuckles gulped down a mouthful of pancake and looked up at Sonic.  “Yeah, so?” he asked disinterestedly. 

“You gotta tell me, just what happened there?” he asked, feeling his head throb firmly once more as he caught his breath, lifting a hand to his forehead and rubbing it.

Knuckles lifted his glass of orange juice and took a sip, before lifting his hand to his chin and looking up in thought as he began to recall the party.  “Well, there was loud music, some dancing, you and Amy disappeared for a while,” he explained.  “Food was great, though.”

Knuckles’ attitude grated on Sonic’s nerves, but his brain fought desperately to keep control of his mouth.  If he pissed Knuckles off, he would lose his chance to find out the truth.  “About the food,” he began in a measured tone.  “Did you have any of the punch?”

“I had some,” Knuckles answered, “but when you started acting like an idiot I stopped.”

Sonic narrowed his eyes angrily.  “Did you notice anything weird about the punch?” he asked, through clenched teeth, once more staving off an outburst.

“It didn’t smell or taste like any fruit I ever had, that’s for sure,” Knuckles said.

Sonic nodded to himself.  “I knew it…  Someone did something to the punch!”

Knuckles arched an eyebrow curiously.  “Why are you throwing such a tantrum about it anyway?” he asked.

Sonic’s breath caught in his throat.  “Last night, I think I…well…” he stammered.

Before he could answer Knuckles’ query, a familiar feminine voice called out to the pair.  “There you are, Sonic!” Cream shouted as she hurried down the street towards them, resting her hands on her knees and breathing hard when she came to a stop.  She had obviously been running for a while.

“Cream?” Sonic asked.  “What’s up?”

Cream looked angrily up at Sonic.  “What’s this I hear about you avoiding Amy after—” she blushed again and tried to shake it off “—after making love with her?” Crossing her arms under her chest, she glared sternly at him as if trying to stare him down in spite of her lack of height.

Knuckles, who had just taken a sip of his OJ, immediately choked on it in surprise.  “Wh-what?” he yelped, slamming his glass on the table.  “You…Amy…” he began, until the idea finally drilled through his thick skull.  As images ran through his mind, he doubled over until his nose was molecules away from sticking into his breakfast.  The pancakes swam in front of his vision and he couldn’t keep his body from trembling.

Cream, much concerned, and Sonic, not concerned in the slightest, stood on as a sound started to rumble in Knuckles’ throat.  “Knuckles, are you okay?” Cream asked.

“I think you broke him,” Sonic quipped, readying himself for Knuckles’ rage.

Instead it was laughter Knuckles burst out into, throwing his head back and almost falling out of his chair.  “That’s perfect!” he howled between guffaws. “You and Amy tried to make hedge-babies!”

Sonic’s head sank and he palmed his forehead, grumbling, “You want a bullhorn, you jackass?”

A poke in his arm brought Cream back to Sonic’s attention.  “You shouldn’t be avoiding Amy!” she said.  “You made a commitment to her, after all!  You should be with her!”

“I don’t know what she told you,” Sonic retorted exasperatedly, “but I have no idea what I was doing last night!”

“Why are you trying to avoid this?” Cream asked, her confusion evident through her anger.  “I thought you were better than that!”  She hung her head slightly, pouting cutely at the hedgehog.

“Cream…” Sonic sighed.  He tried putting his hands on her shoulders when Knuckles broke into the conversation again.

“Careful, Cream,” he said.  “You might be next!”  He slapped Sonic’s back.  “Or is it only Amy you have the hots for?”

“I do not have the hots for anybody!” Sonic shouted, before his headache caused him to stop and grip his forehead again.

“Amy’s upset because you ran away!” Cream informed him.  “You need to go find her and say you’ll agree to marry her like you promised!”

Sonic’s eyes widened.  “I did not promise to marry her!  And she’s upset because I’m not as insane as she is!”  Turning to his other friend, he pleaded, “Knuckles, come on, help me out!”

Knuckles just grinned.  “Marry the girl, Sonic!” he said, cackling.  “You don’t want to leave the kid without a father, do you?”

“She’s not pregnant! And I’m not marrying her!”

“But why not?” Cream asked.  “You said you would!  You wouldn’t break your promise, would you Sonic?” she asked expectantly.

Sonic scrunched up his face in pain and frustration.  He knew Cream thought the world of him, as she did of all her friends.  That she admired Sonic’s honesty, his strength, and his convictions.  That the idea he would go back on his word even this once was foreign to her.

But, “I didn’t promise anything!” Sonic repeated.  “I don’t even remember what happened!”

Knuckles grinned darkly at Sonic, finishing his breakfast.  “Quit being such a whiner and marry the girl,” he suggested, standing up from his table.  “Sonic always keeps his promises, remember?  That’s what you keep saying whenever someone needs your help.”

Sonic glared darkly at Knuckles while Cream chimed in.  “That’s right!  Sonic always keeps his word!” she agreed, smiling at Knuckles, grateful that he took her side on the issue.  She also admired Knuckles for his strength and independence.  She always knew he would do the right thing.

“I don’t have time for this, you two,” Sonic said, lifting his arms in a gesture to silence his nagging friends.  “Look, Knuckles, who else besides me had the punch?”

Knuckles looked up.  “Hm,” he muttered as he honestly tried to remember what happened.  “I know the bird brains were hanging around it a lot,” he said.  “I think just about everyone had a go at it, but Shadow had more than a few glasses too,” he added, somewhat distracted by Cream’s attentiveness.

“Shadow, huh?” Sonic mulled over his thoughts.  “I think I know where to go next.”

“But what about marrying Amy?  Keeping your word?” Cream asked.

“I can’t keep words I don’t remember saying!”  Turning to Knuckles, Sonic angrily said, “Have fun with Cream.  I’m outta here!”  With that, Sonic revved up and took off down the street once more, kicking up dust and stray litter from the sidewalk, and flipping Cream’s skirt up in his passing, causing the younger girl to eep embarrassedly.

Knuckles shook his head slowly, grinning widely.  “What a moron,” he said of the hedgehog.  “Amy won’t let him live this down.”

Cream straightened her skirt, looking up at him, embarrassed at what the echidna may have seen, but grateful that if he had he said nothing.  “No,” she agreed, “but he really should do the honourable thing and agree to be with her.”  Smiling cutely and admiringly at him, she added, “I’m really glad you think so too.  You always know the right thing to do.”

Knuckles crossed his arms, making a conscious effort to ignore the adoring looks Cream cast his way.  “Well, the guy had it coming,” he remarked.  “I think I should make sure he doesn’t forget this slip-up of his.”

Cream smiled broadly up at him.  “Well,” she began, “I’d like the company if you want to come with me to follow him!”

Knuckles thought about it for a moment, and then gave her a nod and a smile.  “Why not?  It’ll make it that much easier to find him.”

“Great!” Cream said, grabbing Knuckles’ arm.  The echidna in tow, the rabbit girl started off down the street in the direction Sonic went, smiling happily all the way.
 

Rouge the Bat carefully ran her brush through her hair, smiling at her beautiful image in the mirror as she got ready for the day.  No bags under her eyes from her late night.  Youthful skin still smooth and taut.  Voluptuous curves still nice and perky.  Everything was perfect, as usual.  Well, everything would have been perfect if it wasn’t for the sobbing noises coming from her bed a few feet away.  She just couldn’t ignore it any more, and set her brush down with a glower and looked at the source of the noise from the mirror’s reflection.

Shadow the Hedgehog lay in Rouge’s bed in her spacious penthouse apartment, his face buried in one of her fluffy pillows, wrapping himself in the silky sheets and sobbing.  “I’ve betrayed Maria,” he muttered to himself in disbelief.

“You weren’t so concerned about that last night,” Rouge commented, turning in her seat and frowning at him.  “I think this is the first time anyone’s ever cried after a night with me,” she said.

Keeping his eyes clamped shut, he turned his head away from her.  “I was not in my right mind!” he shouted angrily.  “I betrayed Maria’s memory with you!  I can’t forgive myself for something like that!”

Rouge sighed in frustration and moved to sit down on the bed next to the black hedgehog.  Maybe she could try to calm him down, or at least get him to shut up.  “Look,” she began, “how long has Maria been dead?  Surely she would want you to be happy instead of constantly suffering over her.”

“I can’t believe I did that,” Shadow repeated, as if Rouge’s words just went right over his head.  “Maria meant everything to me and I didn’t even care about it when I was in bed with you.”

Rouge grumbled.  “Um…”  She lifted a hand and tried to pat Shadow on the shoulder.  “There, there?”

Shadow shrugged her arm off.  “I don’t want your pity,” he told her.

Finally, Rouge shrugged, defeated.  “Then what do you want me to do about it?” she asked angrily.  “If all you’re going to do is stain my pillows with your blubbering, maybe you ought to leave.”

Shadow was doubly disappointed with himself.  He harbored no ill will towards Rouge, and yet here he was transferring his anger at himself towards her.  This was his fault, not hers.  He was the one who did something foolish.  Rouge was as close a friend as he had, and rather than make matters worse, he decided to take her up on her suggestion.  Pushing back the covers and slipping off the bed, he said, “I don’t expect you to do anything.”  Getting his shoes, he added, “This is my problem.  I betrayed Maria. I’m leaving.”

Rouge frowned, but made no effort to stop him.  “Personally I think you ought to finally get over your sorrow,” she said.  “After you calm down, we can probably hang out again.”  Rouge made a conscious effort not to sound too much like a bitch, because she had to admit that she had actually grown quit fond of the hedgehog, thinking of him as something of a comrade and maybe even a friend.  But Shadow’s guilt and emotional baggage was something she just didn’t have the patience to handle.

“Maybe some day,” Shadow answered her.  He didn’t look back at her as he left the room and started up the stairs to the roof of Rouge’s apartment building.  He needed to be alone to think.

Rouge watched Shadow leave and let out a heavy sigh once the door closed behind him.  She quickly made her bed and finished getting ready before heading out of her apartment to face the world.

Sonic had no idea where to start looking for Shadow.  He didn’t remember the black hedgehog saying anything about going anywhere during the party, but given his memory that was no surprise.  As he neared Rouge’s apartment, he spotted the busty bat emerge from the front door, appearing dejected.  That’s it!  She spent lots of time with Shadow, Sonic thought.  Surely she’d have some idea where to find him.

Sonic came to a stop near Rouge causing the bat to pull back in surprise until she realized who was violating her personal space like that.  He didn’t bother with any small talk this time, and simply jumped right to business.  “Rouge, do you know where Shadow is?” he asked.

Rouge pointed up.  “He wanted me to think he left but he’s up on the roof,” she told him.  “I have to warn you though, he’s not happy.”

“Neither am I,” Sonic informed her.  “Oh, and if Amy shows up, you never saw me,” he added quickly before taking off into the building.

When he was gone, Rouge arched an eyebrow and asked herself, “What was that about?”  She was about to continue on her way when she saw another familiar figure coming down the street towards her.

Amy came to a stop in front of Rouge, and immediately announced, “Rooouge!  I need your help!”

“I seem to be the popular one today,” Rouge remarked ruefully.  To the younger girl she asked, “What’s the problem?”

“I’m looking for Sonic,” Amy explained.  “Have you seen him?”

Remembering what Sonic told her, Rouge replied, “Uh… not that I can recall.  Why?”

Amy huffed angrily.  “Oh, that stupid jerk is denying what happened at the party last night!”

Well, anyone would if it involved you, Rouge thought to herself.  With a weak chuckle, she remarked, “That was a crazy party, wasn’t it?”

“It’s actually what happened after,” Amy elaborated.  “Sonic spouted his feelings for me and said that he wanted to marry me, then we had sex, and now he’s denying it!”

Rouge’s tried to keep herself from looking nonplussed.  “I’m sorry. I seem to have lost command of the English language for a moment there.  You did what?”

“Miss Rouge!  Amy!” cried yet another familiar voice approaching fast.  Cream ran up to the other girls, gripping Knuckles’ arm tightly as she brought him with her, catching her breath when they had joined the gathering.  “Did either of you find Sonic yet?”

“No, not yet!” Amy replied.

Rouge shrugged.  “Oh, I saw him run by not too long ago,” she said, remembering that Sonic’s words did not apply to Cream’s inquiries; only to Amy’s.  “He was looking for Shadow, but he’s not going to get much help from the guy,” she explained.  “He’s too busy weeping over Maria because he had sex with me,” she added, rolling her eyes dramatically.
 

Sonic threw open the door to the apartment building’s roof and his eyes quickly scanned the space before him for any sign of the black hedgehog.  He hoped Rouge’s information was trustworthy.  Finally his eyes settled on his quarry, sitting on the roof’s ledge, his arms wrapped around his knees while he stared out across the Station Square cityscape.  What was truly unusual about the hedgehog’s posture, Sonic realized, was that he was in fact crying.  Or at least he had been.  Slowly Sonic approached him.  “Shadow, you okay?” he asked.

“No,” Shadow grumbled.  “And leave me alone.”

“No time for that,” Sonic replied.  “You had the punch at the party last night; I need to know if you did anything stupid too.”

Sonic instantly knew he was right when Shadow’s head fell into his hands and he started sobbing again.  “Go away,” he said again in between sobs.  “I want to be alone with my misery.”

The blue hedgehog shook his head.  “Whatever you did can’t possibly be worse than what I did,” he reassured Shadow.

“Yes it can!” Shadow shouted.  “I betrayed Maria’s memory by sleeping with Rouge!”

Sonic blinked.  “You slept with Rouge?” he asked.  “And you say that as if it’s a bad thing?”

Shadow looked up angrily at Sonic.  “Of course it is!” he shouted, glaring darkly at Sonic.  “Maria meant everything to me and I betrayed her!”

“Dude,” Sonic began, “Maria’s dead.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Shadow replied.  “I failed to respect her memory.  That’s the important thing.”

“By having sex with Rouge?” Sonic asked.  “Dude, you are one of the luckiest bastards I know,” he explained, crossing his arms.  “Doing Rouge is not the end of the world!”

Slowly, Shadow fell to his side, curling up into a fetal position and sobbing heavily.  “Leave me alone!” he shouted.

Sonic threw his arms up in the air exasperatedly.  “Okay, man, I’ve put off saying this for way too long,” he said, “but you need to move the hell on!”

“I can’t do that!” Shadow retorted.  “Maria was all I had!”

Sighing, Sonic tried to think of something drastic that would get through to this emotional, angst-filled wreck.  It came to him in a flash and, best of all didn’t need a lot of lying.  “Well then, Shadow. Give Rouge to me.”

“What?”

“I’m sure Rouge wouldn’t mind swapping for a different colour. Just give the word and I’ll take her off your hands.”

Shadow uncurled and turned to look at Sonic, puzzled.  “I really don’t think Rouge will see it that way.”

Sonic let out a joyless chuckle as he lorded over Shadow’s prone form.  “No.  But she’ll probably think she still got a great deal.  I’m surprised you don’t agree.”

Enraged, Shadow heaved himself up and met Sonic’s smug face almost nose to nose.  “And why would I agree?” he growled.

“You just said you didn’t want Rouge to tempt you into violating Maria’s memory again.”

“I didn’t say I was tempted!”

“So I’ll keep Rouge occupied for you.  Hell, I’ll keep her so occupied, she’ll probably never think of you again.”

“Shut up!”  Shadow was now livid, clenched fists shaking.

“I’ll bet she’s a screamer, too.  Is Rouge a screamer, Shadow?”

“How dare you say those things? I—”

“Care about her?”

With those words, the anger that roiled inside Shadow evaporated.  He felt a thousand miles away from himself as Sonic words repeated through his mind.  The more he heard them, the less he could hide from them.  He knew they were true.  But instead of being crushed by them, he felt buoyed.

But why?  “How can I…?”

“Care about both?” Sonic offered.  “Funny thing about emotions.  Always enough to go around.”

Shadow stepped to the edge of the roof, his back to Sonic.  Could it be true?  He thought about Rouge and again felt a surge of emotion so strong, it threatened to overwhelm him.  And when he thought about Maria, he was amazed those feelings weren’t at all affected, not even to the slightest degree.

Looking over the edge of the roof to the street below he saw Rouge talking to Amy, Cream and Knuckles, and he knew it felt right.  And he’d almost ruined a good thing.  “You’re right, faker,” Shadow told Sonic.  “There is enough.” 

“That’s great!” Sonic said, grinning.  “It’s about bloody time!  Now, I need to know something about the party last night.  Did you see anybody messing with—”

Sonic didn’t get a chance to finish.  Shadow laid him out flat in one punch.  “That’s for trying to steal Rouge.”

“Hengle…huu?” was Sonic’s wittiest reply as he flailed around disoriented.

“Oh, and by the way,” Shadow said as he stepped onto the ledge.  “She’s not a screamer. But she loves to bounce.” He smirked and jumped off, dropping from Sonic’s sight.

Trying to shake the blurriness from his vision, Sonic dragged himself to the edge of the roof and shouted down, “GODDAMN FAKER!”

Amy blinked in confusion at Rouge’s explanation.  Shadow slept with Rouge and now he regretted it?  Just like what happened between her and Sonic!  “Did he claim he didn’t do it too?” she asked curiously.

Rouge laughed heartily.  “Of course not,” she replied.  “Guess he enjoyed it enough to accept that he did.”

“But why would he be so upset about it?” Cream asked, confused.  “Isn’t it a good thing for him to move on?”

Rouge shrugged.  “He did start acting a little uncharacteristic after a while at the party,” she said.  “Maybe that has something to do with it.”

“Sonic acted different then too!” Amy exclaimed.  “This can’t be a coincidence!”

“It may have been the punch,” Knuckles suggested trying to keep his mind off of how tightly Cream was gripping his arm, especially what it was rubbing up against.  “It did taste pretty bitter.”

Cream nodded in agreement.  “I thought it tasted icky, so I didn’t have any.”

Rouge raised a hand to her chin in thought.  “It did make my head a bit hazy, too,” she agreed.  “Who else had any?”

“I’m not sure,” Amy said.  “Who haven’t we asked yet?”

Cream thought.  “We didn’t ask the Babylon Rogues or Tails,” she replied.

Rouge searched her brain to try and recall what the Rogues had been up to as Amy asked, “Then maybe they know something about what happened?”

“Well, it’s obvious what we have to do,” Rouge explained.  “We simply have to find them.”

“Okay!” Cream said.  “They should be back at the hotel, so let’s go—“

Cream found her exclamation interrupted as something flew past her and landed on the ground, kicking up a lot of wind.  When the something managed to stand up she was surprised it was the black hedgehog and he was facing Rouge with a very determined look on his face.

“What the hell?” Knuckles asked.

“Shadow?” Rouge asked curiously.

“Shadow!” Amy exclaimed.  “Where’s Sonic?” she asked anxiously.

Shadow raised his hand.  “In a minute,” he interrupted.  To Rouge, he said, “I’m sorry for how I acted.  You were right.  I just wanted to be happy.”

Slowly, Rouge’s mouth cracked a smile.  “Apology accepted,” she responded.  “And it’s about time.”

“Now,” Shadow began as he approached Rouge and scooped her up in his arms, “if you have the time, I’ll show you what the ultimate life form is truly capable of.”  Shadow’s lips curled up in a grin that became mirrored on Rouge’s face at the prospect.

Rouge giggled.  “If it’s anything like last night, then why not?” she asked, lifting her arms and wrapping them around his neck as Shadow carried her back to the hotel.

“But what about Sonic?” Amy asked impatiently.

“Goddamn faker!”

Cream turned her eyes skyward, towards whoever said that.  She saw a familiar blue figure looking back at her from up on the edge of the rooftop.  “It’s Sonic!” she exclaimed, pointing up at the hedgehog.

Sonic, realizing he had been spotted, could only utter, “Shit.”

Knuckles grinned and called out, “Hey, Sonic!  Why don’t you just own up to your own actions?”

“Go to hell, Knuckles!” Sonic shouted back down, backing away from the ledge.  He had to get away fast.

“Get him!” Amy shouted.

Cream started flapping her ears, and lifted off the ground.  She held her arms out for Knuckles, and instructed, “Grab on!”

Knuckles grabbed hold of Cream’s arms.  “Wait for me too!” Amy shouted, grabbing on to Knuckles’ shoulders.  “He’s not getting away!”

With that, Cream lifted off into the air, flying up towards the rooftop.  She was only really used to carrying one person, so having two passengers without Cheese’s assistance was a strain on her.  She held her breath to steady herself while she ascended the building as fast as her flapping ears could take her.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Sonic muttered to himself as he looked around the roof in a panic.  “Who told rabbits they could fly?”  His only hope was to head back into the apartment and leave from the downstairs exit.  Sonic made a break for the exit back into the apartment building, but just as he made it to the door his pursuers caught up.

Cresting the rooftop, Cream let Knuckles and Amy go.  Amy immediately pointed at Sonic and ordered, “Stop right there!”

“What a chicken,” Knuckles muttered.

Sonic smirked.  “You have to catch me first, slowpokes!” he challenged, pulling on the door.  He pulled again.  Again.  His heart sank.  “Locked? Why is—oof!”  Cream dove at him and took him down in a spectacular flying tackle.

“You have to stop, Sonic!” Cream said kneeling over him and holding him down.  And apologize to…”  Sonic wasn’t paying attention.  Where was he looking?  Cream gasped.

At some point the zipper on her jacket had been pulled open revealing a very low cut top that sonic was peering straight down into.  “Damn, you grew up nice,” he muttered.

Pulling back and clutching herself, she yelped.  Amy snapped and drew out her hammer, running for Sonic and taking a mighty swing.  “You pervert!  How dare you!” she shouted, while behind her Knuckles just about lost himself with his laughter.

Coming to his senses just a little too late, Sonic found he was unable to dodge Amy’s swing, and so took the hit.  From the firm blow of the hammer’s strike, his head bounced off the concrete and everything started to go dark.  His eyes rolling into the back of his head, all he could mutter was, “Damn…it…” before completely losing consciousness.

When Sonic stopped moving, Cream slowly got to her feet, looking down at him with concerned eyes.  “I think you hit him too hard,” she said.

“Yes, well,” Amy said catching her own glance at Cream’s well developed cleavage and for perhaps the first time realizing just how much the rabbit had grown.  “He had it coming to him!”

“Looks like he’s out cold,” Knuckles said, trying to contain his laughter at the situation.  “Let’s get him back to the hotel.”

“Okay,” Cream said, leaning over and gripping Sonic’s arms, trying to lift the hedgehog up.  It seemed he was a bit too much for the rabbit to do on her own, especially when he was unconscious and unable to move under his own power.  “Knuckles?” she asked.  “Can you help me?”

“Sure,” Knuckles replied, gripping Sonic’s shoulders and lifting him up with a little bit of effort and slinging the unconscious hedgehog over his shoulder.

Cream smiled.  “You’re so strong!” she said, applauding.

Knuckles smirked.  “Well, even unconscious Sonic’s nothing but a dead weight,” he explained.

“Enough messing around!” Amy said noticing Cream made no effort to zip her jacket back up.  “Let’s get back to the hotel!”  After Amy bashed in the door, the trio left the rooftop and made their way back to the Station Square Hotel, their cargo slung over Knuckles’ shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Jet and Storm wandered the halls of the Station Square Hotel, looking for their female partner.  Wave had been gone for some time now, and Jet was starting to worry about her.  “We’ve looked everywhere,” he said to his subordinate.  “Where could she have gone?”  He wished Wave had told them where she was going.  It would have made this so much easier.

“Uh…”  Storm looked around, scratching his chin in thought.  “Why don’t we try her room?” he asked, his voice devoid of irony or sarcasm. 

Jet looked up at Storm.  He realized that they had not in fact checked Wave’s hotel room, which in retrospect was probably the first thing they should have done.  But rather than tell Storm he was right, Jet attempted to save face.  “Of course!  I was just about to say that!  Let’s go!” he ordered quickly.

When they reached the door to Wave’s room, Jet lifted his hand to knock, but froze.  He heard voices coming from inside.  And one of them was not Wave’s.  Pressing his ear against the door, he started to listen.  “Boss?” Storm asked.  “What are you—”

“Sssh!” Jet hushed his friend, returning to his listening.

“You are truly amazing, you know that?” he heard a male voice ask.

Next he heard Wave’s voice answer, “I know, I know.” Then came a quick, high “eep!” and she continued, “Hey, that tickles!”

Jet blinked.  “What the hell?” he asked himself quietly.

“Oh come on, you like it,” the male voice said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, I do,” Wave’s voice replied, “but it still tickles!”  With a giggle that Jet thought seemed rather uncharacteristic of the hard nosed mechanic, she added, “Well, how about THIS?”

The male voice gasped in surprise.  “H-hey, no fair!  I call foul!”

“You can’t escape me, Shorty!” Wave’s voice laughed.

Jet had heard enough.  “Oh that’s it!” he exclaimed.  His hand went to the room door and flung it open.  As he and Storm barged into the room, a sight greeted their eyes that made Jet’s eyes widen and his jaw drop.  Laying in the bed, naked and wrapped up in fox tails, were Wave and Tails.  The pair stared back in shock at the intruders.  All was deadly silent, until Jet finally put his confusion into words.  “Wave!  What the hell?” he shouted.

Wave let out a surprised noise as Tails absentmindedly let his tails drop and she grabbed one of them, pulling it up to her neck to cover herself.  “God damn it, Jet, you’re supposed to knock when you enter someone’s room!” she accused angrily.

“Ack!” Tails exclaimed, hugging Wave closer, wrapping her up tighter in his voluminous tails.  “What the hell yourself!”

While Storm covered his eyes, Jet continued his accusations.  “What the hell are you two doing?” he demanded.

“Isn’t it obvious, Genius?” Wave asked, glaring darkly at him.  “Get the hell out!”

“But why?” Jet asked.  “You didn’t even have any of the punch!”

Tails started to get angry.  “Why would anyone need any help seeing that Wave is—”  When Jet’s words finally sank in, sudden realization hit him.  “Wait, what about the punch?” he asked.

It was then Jet realized that, despite Wave’s location, he was the one getting boned.  “Nothing!” he said, unsuccessfully deflecting the attention.

Wave sighed, shaking her head.  “Jet spiked the punch at the party,” she explained.

“You weren’t supposed to tell anyone!” Jet shouted.

“You did a pretty good job of telling him yourself, Idiot.”

Suddenly everything fit into place.  Tails understood everything.  “So that’s why Sonic slept with Amy,” he said in realization.

Despite his situation, Jet couldn’t help but start laughing at that.  “He did?  I guess I did get him after all!” he said triumphantly.

Wave grumbled.  “I can’t believe what an immature prank you pulled.  I hope you’re proud of yourself,” she retorted.

Tails frowned.  “You’re an ass, Jet,” he said.  At that point Tails didn’t really give a damn about Jet and his pranks.  He had to find Sonic and get his ass out of the frying pan.  Trying to imprint the feeling of Wave’s soft feathers against his fur, he held up the bed covers to protect her modesty while he unwrapped her.

While Tails started to get dressed, Wave said, “Tails, wait up!”  She hugged the sheets against herself and glared at her partners.

“What?” Jet asked.

“Get out, damn it!” she ordered, throwing a pillow at them.

Jet lifted his arms and deflected the pillow.  “Fine, fine!” he shouted, turning and storming out of the room, with Storm following right behind.  “I’ve gotta figure out how to get away from Sonic now anyway,” he muttered.

When they closed the door behind them and Wave heard them tramp off, she sighed and got up out of bed, grabbing her things and starting to dress.  “Well, that was certainly a mood killer,” she said ruefully.

Tails sighed and gave Wave an apologetic look.  “I really should go find Sonic, he’ll need to know about this before Amy kills him,” he told her.

“I’ll go with you,” Wave informed him, fastening her pants and straightening her bandana.  “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner,” she apologized.  “Jet swore me to secrecy.”

Tails grinned.  “I won’t hold it against you,” he informed her.  “Let’s go.”  The pair left the hotel room together, and as they walked Tails only hoped that they managed to find Sonic before Amy did any permanent damage.

Sonic started to pull himself back into the realm of harsh sound and glaring colour.  As he became increasingly aware of his surroundings, he started to try and figure out where he was.  Looking around, the haze surrounding him started to resolve into the familiar sights of the hotel lobby.  And he realized he was moving.  Not by himself.  “Hey!  Let me go!” he demanded, squirming in Knuckles’ arm.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Knuckles replied.

“You’re not getting away from me this time, Sonic!” Amy informed him, casting him a glare.

“How many times do I have to keep saying it?” Sonic shouted angrily.  “I have no idea what I did last night!”

“And I say you’re a liar!” Amy retorted.

“Give it up, Sonic,” Knuckles piped in.  “You’ve been outdone this time.”

The elevator in the lobby dinged, and the large doors slid open.  Tails stepped out of the elevator and looked around, blinking in surprise at the group.  From right behind him Wave followed, and when she saw the almost comical scene before her she tried to restrain her laughter.  “Wow, that was fast,” she remarked.

“Am I glad I caught up with you guys!” Tails said.

“Tails, tell Sonic he’s a liar!” Amy demanded.

“Tails, tell Amy she’s insane!” Sonic shot back.

Tails shook his head disappointedly.  “Well,” he began, “both of you are wrong.”

“What?” Amy asked curiously.

“What are you talking about, bud?” Sonic asked, momentarily ceasing his struggle against Knuckles’ arm.

“Remember the punch?” When Sonic and Amy nodded in reply, he continued, “Apparently as a prank Jet spiked it.  So anyone who drank a lot of it got seriously drunk!”

All was quiet for a moment as the information sank into the minds of the gathering.  After a moment, Knuckles burst out in laughter.  “Oh god!” he shouted, amused, as he dropped Sonic to the floor, making the hedgehog let out an “oomph” as he landed.

“What?” Amy shouted.

“See?” Sonic asked.  “I wasn’t in my right mind!”

“I’m a witness,” Wave said, raising her hand.  “Jet thought it would be funny.”

Sonic got to his feet, rubbing his butt where he landed.  “I’ve gotta get some payback for the hell he’s caused me,” Sonic grumbled.

Knuckles continued grinning.  “This is too much,” he said.  “No wonder you were acting more stupid than usual!”

Sonic cast the echidna a glare.  “You have been no help this entire time,” he growled.

“He helped us,” Cream piped in quietly, before being silenced by Sonic’s glare.  Knuckles just grinned in response.

“But, but…” Amy stammered, still in disbelief that Sonic was right all along and that her oh-so-close dream of a happy future with Sonic had been so rudely snatched away.

“Where’s the turkey now?” Sonic asked, no trace of humor in his coarse voice or narrow eyes. 

“Well, he left Wave’s room before we left to find you guys,” Tails said.

“And if I know Jet,” Wave added, “he’s in his room right now, packing to make a hasty retreat.”

Amy shouted, “I’ll stick his ass in a cage and feed him to Big!”  The fire in her eyes was fueled by her rage at the cruel taunt life threw her way, as she made it clear she was out for revenge.

Upstairs in his room, Jet and Storm began packing their things in a hurry.  “It’s not gonna be long before those two rat us out,” Jet said, stuffing the last of his things in his bag.

“Before they rat you out,” Storm corrected him.  Jet glared angrily at Storm.  The albatross knew what that glare meant: If Jet was going down he meant to take Storm with him.  “So where are we gonna go?” Storm asked, changing the subject.

“Just to the airship for a while to let things cool off,” Jet explained, slinging his bag over his shoulder and grabbing his Extreme Gear from its place against the wall.  As he opened the door to the room, he froze.  Standing there was Sonic the Hedgehog, and he looked mad.  He had a dark scowl on his face and his arms were crossed over his chest. “Whoops. Wrong way!”  Jet shouted and slammed the door.  He ran past Storm.  “Window, window!”

The wooden door smashed open, sending splinters in all directions.  As the remnants spun and fell to the ground, Amy Rose was revealed, hammer drawn and angry.  “Jet you diabolical fiend!” she shouted.

“You’ll never take me—”  Jet paused with one foot on the sill.  “Diabolical.  You really think so?”

“Did she have to destroy the door?” Tails asked Wave from the safety of the doorframe.

“It’s Amy, do you need to ask?” Wave asked, before a blue blur rushed by them towards the green hawk. 

“You’re mine, bird brain!” Sonic shouted as he grabbed Jet and tossed him to the floor pinning him under his foot.

When Jet fell to the floor, Storm stepped back to let Amy run up and join Sonic in pinning Jet to the ground.  No sense in getting in their way, he thought.

“You’ve got some nerve!” Amy informed the hawk as she leaned over, using her whole weight to press her hammer into his elbow.

Jet struggled violently against them, shouting profanities.  “Can’t you people take a joke?” he asked angrily.

“Do you have any idea what you put us through today?” Sonic demanded.

“Hey, you’re the one who got lucky!” Jet retorted.  “You should be thanking me!”

“My plans for marriage are ruined because of your ‘joke,’ Jet!” Amy yelled.  “I want an apology!”

“If I apologize, will you two get off me?” Jet asked angrily.

“No!” the hedgehogs said in unison.

“For the love of god!” Jet shouted.  “I can’t feel my hands!”

Grumbling angrily, Sonic said, “Fine.”  Slowly, he and Amy got off of Jet and let him back up to his feet.  Amy tried to hide her sadness as Jet got up to his feet again.  Now that she knew that Sonic really didn’t mean all the things he said to her the night before, she didn’t know what to think.  All of her hopes were crushed under the painful reality.

“What a mess,” Tails remarked.  “But that should be expected from you three,” he added, smirking at Wave.

“Yeah, we’re nothing but trouble,” Wave added, giggling to herself.

Knuckles shook his head.  “Well that was anti-climactic,” he said disappointedly.  “Can you hit him a few times?  Just for fun?”  He was roundly ignored.

“But at least we know the truth, right?” Cream asked.

Sonic looked at Amy and started to feel really bad about what had happened to her.  He did something he shouldn’t have, and made her believe he wanted to settle down with her when he never meant to do so.  He had hurt her without even realizing it, and he felt he needed to make amends to her.  Approaching the pink hedgehog and rubbing the back of his head, he said, “Look, Amy, I’m really sorry about all this.”

Amy sighed.  “I suppose… I’m sorry too.”

“Are we cool?” Sonic asked, smiling weakly.

Amy tried hard to return the smile he gave her.  He hurt her, but with the honest sincerity in his words she knew she could not bring herself to hate him.  “Sure,” she replied.

“That’s it?” Knuckles asked.  “Man, you guys are boring.”  Letting out a yawn, Knuckles left the room, saying, “I’m going to the hotel’s restaurant.  See you guys.”

“Wait up!” Cream said, leaving to follow him.

“I’m going to go too,” Amy said, walking out the door slowly.

Sonic sighed.  “I really feel bad about this,” he said.

“At least nobody got killed,” Tails reassured him.

“Well, you know, not all of it may have been a lie,” Wave suggested, grinning.  “If you just lost your inhibitions, you may have just said things you already thought.”

“I was drunk, not demented,” Sonic said firmly.

Wave shrugged.  “Come on, Shorty, let’s go get some food before Knuckles eats it all.”

Tails smiled and offered Wave his arm to the swallow.  “Sure, I’m starving after all that ‘exercise,’” he replied and the pair left together.

Sonic blinked as he watched the pair leave the room together.  “What was all that about?” he asked Jet when they were gone.

Jet rubbed his sore arms.  “They hooked up last night,” he explained.

“No way,” Sonic said in surprise.  “He didn’t look hung over to me.”

Jet shrugged.  “They weren’t drunk at all,” he explained.  “Surprised me too, especially considering I thought I had a chance with her.”

“Was there anyone at the party who didn’t get any?” Sonic asked exasperatedly.

“A few,” Jet said.  “Me and Storm didn’t.  Neither did Cream or Knuckles.”

“Yeah, and he couldn’t help lording it over me all day,” Sonic grumbled angrily.  Suddenly, his ears perked up.  His lips curled up into a grin as sudden inspiration flowed into him.  “Hey, Turkey,” he began, “if you want to make this all up to me, I’ve got something you can do.”

Jet blinked curiously.  “I’m all ears,” he replied.

A few minutes later, Sonic left Jet’s room, grinning from ear to ear as he headed downstairs to join his friends at the hotel restaurant.  He failed to notice a familiar pink head of quills peeking out from around the corner down the hall, watching for Sonic’s disappearance. 

As Jet started to walk out of his room with Storm, he jabbed the albatross in the stomach.  “You were no help back there,” he accused his partner.

“It was your problem,” Storm retorted.

“Well, thanks to you I got caught and had to apologize to—“

“Hey, Jet?” Amy Rose asked him.

Jet jerked in surprise.  He was so busy chewing out Storm that he failed to notice her approach from down the hall.  After he felt his heart wouldn’t beat its way out of his chest, he said, “Oh, it’s just you.  What do you want?”

“Listen,” Amy said, crossing her arms behind her back, “I’m sorry about getting furious with you.  I need to ask a favour of you.”

Jet crossed his arms.  “I’m listening,” he said.

The next day, Knuckles opened his eyes slowly, closing them immediately as the sunlight behind the curtains of the room scoured his retinas like sandpaper.  “What the…?” he asked quietly, sitting up and holding his head.  “What a headache,” he remarked.  “What the hell happened?” he asked to nobody in particular as he realized he could not remember how he got there.

Suddenly, Knuckles felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist and latch on. And he felt a pair of something else.  He looked down and his face paled. 

Lying next to him was Cream, smiling brightly and very, very naked.  “The best night of my life happened!” she informed him happily.

Knuckles’ eyes widened in terror as he started to remember the last night’s gathering at the hotel restaurant; how Sonic seemed so interested in him and so suggestive.  Almost as if he was trying to distract him.  “Dear god, I’m a cradle-robber,” he said in shock and horror.

Cream giggled.  “I never knew you loved me!” she remarked, lifting a hand and trailing a finger over his chest, “or that you were so energetic!”

“What?” Knuckles shouted.  As Cream clung to him tightly and started to talk about the wonderful loving future they had to look forward to as if he was her boyfriend, Knuckles fumed and shouted, “Damn you, Sonic!”

Meanwhile, the aforementioned hedgehog awakened once more to a familiar blurred feeling—of not knowing where he was or what had happened—as the sunlight peered through the window blinds.  As he blinked and looked around the room, he spied Amy lying next to him on the bed.  From her state of undress and the way she was clinging to him, he had a feeling Jet had double-crossed him.

Amy felt Sonic shift and stirred herself, opening her eyes slowly and looking up at him with a smile.  “Good morning,” she said.

“It happened again, didn’t it?” Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Amy nodded.  “Are you going to kill Jet this time?” she asked.

Sonic thought about it for a moment, looking down at her face.  He was never quite sure how to react to her and her advances, and more often than not he just ran out of sheer intimidation.  But he had to admit that now that he knew what was going on and was able to just experience the moment and her closeness for what it was worth, he really didn’t mind that much.  Sonic rolled over towards Amy, wrapping his arms around her waist and hugging the smiling hedgehog girl closer to him, resting his chin on her forehead.

As he closed his eyes slowly, he said, “Maybe later.”

As the sun rose that day, in an apartment complex several blocks away, there was at least one pair who knew exactly what they were doing.

“Holy cow!  Are you ever going to stop?”

“Hey. You try building up over fifty years of frustration.”

“Just don’t call me, ‘Maria.’”