“Not… from Earth?” Sonic asked.

“The components used to make this thing are parts so complex. It’s like someone from another planet made them. And like I said, there’s no Eggman symbol.” Tails remarked.

“But still… not from this world? Don’t you think that’s a little- I don’t know- science-fictony?”

“Anything’s possible, Sonic. I mean Shadow not from Earth either.”

“You make a point there.” A spark flew into Sonic’s mind. “By the way, Tails, I saw somebody with girl and it looked just like Shadow and Amy! Ha! Wait until I tell them! They’ll sure get a kick of that!”

“Did you ever think that maybe it was Shadow and Amy?”

Sonic started to laugh hysterically. “You’re joking right? What would Amy be doing with that faker? Besides, she’s obsessed with me, not Shadow.”

“Honestly Sonic, sometimes you think too much of yourself.” Tails pouted. “Still, you did break her heart a couple days ago… I wouldn’t exactly hold it against her to start hanging out with someone else. Especially someone you don’t particularly like.”

“Hell, then why doesn’t she just hang out with Eggman? At least he’s not an imposter, he’s just fat!”

“This is what I’m talking about.”

“Don’t worry! I talked to Amy not too long ago. She’s fine, and couldn’t be happier.”

“If you say so, Sonic…”

Sonic grumbled. “So, what about this bag of bolts?”

“I don’t know- wait what’s this button?” Tails asked as he looked at a sapphire colored button. He pushed the button.

A sinister voice came on. A hologram showed up with a dark figure in the background.

“Well you destroyed one of my minions. I’ll admit, you have exceeded my expectations from someone from your puny pathetic planet. But you’re still nothing compared to my power. In little time I will destroy this world and everyone on it! Enjoy your lives while they last! Hahahahaha…”

There was an awkward silence for a while.

“Somehow, ‘I told you so’ doesn’t quite say it.” Tails said cockily.

“Shut up. Anyway, it’s no big deal! I mean this is basically Shadow’s emo past all over again. And it’ll end up just like Shadow did. Ass kicked and all.”

“Right.” Tails sarcastically said. Sonic was his best friend, but sometimes, Sonic was a little too much for him.

Meanwhile…

“Come on Shadow! This way!” Amy urged.

“Where are we going?” Shadow asked.

“To the jungle! It’s really fun!”

“Jungle?”

“Yeah. But we got to the mine cart to get there.”

She pointed at the mine cart in the corner. Shadow laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Amy angrily asked.

“Looks like a piece of crap! You expect me to ride in that?”

“Is that a rhetorical question?”

“You’ve made your point.”

They walked onto the rusty old cart. Shadow groaned as he tried to find a comfortable position on the cart.

Amy put a finger to her lips. “Now how did you start this thing?” She spied a rusty old lever attached to the cart. “Ah-ha!” She put her hands onto the lever and tried pulling the lever. She yanked as hard as she could but she couldn’t get it.

“Need help?”

“No, no! I got it…” She mumbled as she gritted her teeth. She yanked one last time. But it didn’t work. All of a sudden her eyes flared up. She took out her Piko-Piko Hammer and waved it over the lever. “DIE YOU DAMN LEVER!!!”

“Amy that might not be such a good-”

But Shadow was cut off by Amy’s impulsive gesture. She swung her hammer down on the lever with all the force she had. The lever turned as the mine cart moved at incredible speed. Amy flopped back into the cart.

“Is this supposed to happen?” Shadow asked.

Amy screamed. “No!” She panicked and gripped onto Shadow’s hand.

The mine cart speeded up and down the hills. It entered a deep and dark tunnel where Shadow and Amy couldn’t even see each other. Up ahead was a clearing with bright lights.

“I think it’s almost over!” Amy cried.

The cart sped past the opening. It stopped so quickly, Amy almost fell frontward.

“I am so glad that’s over.” Amy sighed.

“Uh… Amy?”

“What is it?”

“You can let go of my hand now.”

“OH MY GOD! I’M SO EMBARASSED! SORRY! I’M SORRY I-”

“Relax, relax. So where is this so called jungle?”

“Right below you.” She said as she pointed down.

Shadow looked down. “Oh.”

“What? You have a fear of heights?”

“Hell no. I’m just trying to be polite.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Ladies go first.”

“Well then thank you.” Amy put her foot on the ladder. She went down slowly, step by step until she reached the bottom. “Okay your turn.”

He jumped from the ledge and landed on his feet. “So, what am I supposed to be seeing here?”

“What are you talking about? This whole jungle is full of fun! It’s like a huge maze! Some people have got lost in here and never have come back. Sounds fun doesn’t it.”

“Oodles.” He moaned.

“I swear, I’m talking to Sonic.”

“Then wouldn’t you be all over me?”

Amy frowned. “Well it’s not like Sonic adores me… he’d probably run away if I tried to pull that one.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine! Don’t worry about me! Come on, let’s go!”

Poor girl, trying to hide her pain. I’ve been her before… Even though she tries to hide it and act her normal self, her pain always manages to escape at times…That faker!  What I’d wouldn’t give to kick his ass right now! Shadow thought as he clenched his fist.

“Shadow, are you okay?”

“I’m fine! Come on let’s go see that jungle!” He urged as he grabbed Amy’s arm.

He pushed the long vines out of his way and walked into the jungle. Inside were long trees that seemed to grow and grow and would never stop. There were long rivers running through out the jungle. It was an easy place to get lost forever.

Shadow was a little shocked to see how much foliage was actually in here.

“Hey look at the bright side Shadow! If you get lost in here forever, you’ll get to spend the rest of your life with me!” Amy jokingly stated.

“Not exactly the worst way to die, I guess.”

“I’m kidding. I know this forest better than the back of my hand!” She laughed as she pointed to the left. “If we go this way, we can get to the best part in the jungle.”

They started to walk in the direction Amy had pointed.

“I’ve been coming here for a long time. I had to, after all, I had to save birdie.” Amy stated.

“Birdie?”

“It was a while back, before we all met you Shadow. Back when Eggman was working solo. He built this big machine to try and capture this cute little flicky.”

“And that would be this Birdie, right?”

“Yup. You should have seen him! He was so cute! All blue… like the color of my hero!”

“Avoiding that last comment.” Shadow grumbled. “Still, I don’t think Eggman would be chasing after an innocent bird. As evil as he likes to be, that just isn’t his style.”

“Well, that’s not exactly true. He does use animals and imprison them into his machines. But you’re right. The reason why was because he had a Chaos Emerald jammed in his locket.”

“What kind of bird carries around a locket?”

“I think it’s sweet! It was a picture of his family. And in the end, he found his family again. I still see him every now and then, he seems really happy. Back then I made a vow…”

“A vow?”

“That I wouldn’t need to be rescued again. I protected Birdie all by myself and now he’s free. But I guess kind of broke my vow, because I’ve had to be rescued so many times already.”

“I thought you would be thrilled, always getting rescued by that fake- I mean Sonic.”

“You don’t understand. The more Sonic has to rescue me, the less he’ll think of me, and the more he’ll think I’m just a nuisance. I wish I could be strong enough to fight off anything. Like you or Sonic.”

“Don’t get ridiculous! You’re strong in your own way. A weak girl couldn’t save a bird from a big machine. A weak girl would have given up on Sonic years ago.”

“I didn’t think of it that way. Thanks.”

Shadow blushed slightly. “Sure.”

“There it is!” Amy said cheerfully as she pointed to the temple up ahead.

“Wow. This thing looks ancient.”

“It is. I’m sure Tikal had to enter here before.”

“Tikal?”
“She was an echidna princess long ago. She, well I guess her spirit helped us fight Chaos and bring him to peace.”

“Chaos? Sounds cool!”

“No, he wasn’t. He wasn’t like Chaos control he was a creepy looking water god. You could even see his brain! He had engulfed the 7 Chaos Emeralds and turned into Perfect Chaos. It was this giant beast that almost destroyed Station Square with a gigantic flood! But Sonic gathered some of the energy from the Chaos Emeralds and turned into Super Sonic and saved the day!”

“That’s an adventure in a nutshell. Hey wait. You notice Chaos is just one letter more than chao?”

“That’s because Chaos was the guardian of the chao. He protected them. Then when Tikal’s people tried to hurt them, it unleashed Chaos’s spirit. Tikal died then.”

“Jeez I guess I wasn’t the only source of chaos here. So what ever happen to Tikal? And Chaos?”

“They’re imprisoned in the Master Emerald. It was the only way to stop Chaos.”

“You know, underneath that pink head, you’re pretty smart.”

“Thanks. I think. Hey, you want to climb to the top of the temple? You’ll be able to see the whole jungle from there.”

“Why not?”

Amy walked up the steps onto the platform of the temple. She grabbed to part of the structure and started to climb. She grunted as she tried to pull higher and higher to the top. She just kept sliding down to the bottom.

“Need some help?” Shadow asked.

“You’re telling me you can climb this thing?”

“Of course.”

He leapt onto the side of the temple. He ran as fast as he could until he reached the top. Once he got to the very top, he stood firmly with a powerful smile on his face.

“Told you I could do it!” He proudly stated.

“So can I!” Amy angrily yelled. She walked away from the temple.

“Amy? Where are you going? Wait!”

She ran back as fast as she could, with her hammer in her hand.

“HI-YA!” She wildly screamed as she swung her hammer while running.

She instantly flew into the air, reaching Shadow, but soaring above him. She started to fall back down. When she finally felt something other than air again, she realized she was hanging onto a ledge, right where Shadow was standing.

“Amy? Where’d you go?”

“Shadow! Down here! A little help, please?”

He forcefully pulled her up to the platform he was standing on. Amy brushed the dust off her

“Thanks, Shadow.” She smiled, slightly blushing. She quickly shook it away. “Well isn’t this great? You can see every thing from here! Look there’s Big’s house!” She pointed at a wooden bed next to a pond that didn’t seem that far away from them.

“You mean that fat stupid cat?”

“He’s not that stupid! He’s just a little… slow.”

“What ever you call him, he still looks like he could eat anyone he wanted.”

“He’s not that bad of a person. You shouldn’t judge someone based on their looks. Someone may look a certain way, but there’s a wonderful person on the inside.” She said almost as if she was in a daze.

“Yeah I know what you mean.” Shadow whispered blushing.

“What was that?” Amy asked slightly dumbfounded.

“Nothing.”