I apologize in advance if something seems off. I haven`t work with Eggman`s character in years so I`m out of touch with him.
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Sonic reclines back in the lounge chair. He allows the sunglasses to slide down over top of his eyes. Being at Emerald Coast didn`t turn out so bad. He could stay on the dry land and not worry about being in the water. Amy is being merciful to him about the water thing, though probably because she knows he can`t swim. Yep, long as he stays on the dry land, everything will be just fine.

He runs over his head a little bit about their trip here. Shadow had abruptly left and told Amy he would join up with everyone later. Sonic smiles. A break from Shadow and Amy is in full view. He opens his eyes and looks out into the water.

Amy is in the shallow end of the water with the kids. Cream and Charmy are splashing one another. Amy is collectiong shells out of the water while Tails is throwing rocks along the surface of the water. At one point, Cream stops to watch a fish swim by her legs in the water. She laughs with delight and tries to catch the fish. Tails and Charmy join her in the pursuit of the fish. Amy continues to collect shells in the water.

Rouge is in another lounge chair, seeming happy that the temperature is warmer than she expected it to be. She may even get a bit of a tan! Espio is staying under the shade. He has found an umbrella that was set up with the lounge chairs and makes sure that he remains under it. Big is off to the side casting his line into the water. He is fishing in an area where the others aren`t so they won`t get caught by the hook. Vector dove into the water a while ago but no one has seen sight of him since. Never ones to turn down sparring, Knuckles and Mighty exchange punches. Hey, they have to keep their strengths up somehow. They aren`t strong from just sitting around and watching tv all day. Silver is in the water though not really interacting with anyone. He seems to be pre-occupied with practicing his backstrokes. Blaze walks over to the lounge chairs after returning from the changing booth. She sits down on a lounge chair that is beside Rouge and directs an umbrella over top of her to block the sun. Back on the water, Silver is continuing his backstrokes. Out from underneath him, Fang bursts up and flips Silver over. Silver falls in the water with a splash. As Fang laughs, Silver resurfaces. He lets out an angered yell and slaps water at Fang for his revenge.

Sonic cracks a smile on the scene and leans back in the lounge chair. He exhales slowly.

A large shadow slips over Sonic. Sonic`s face contorts to an annoyed look,"Hey, who`s blocking my light?"

He takes off his sunglasses and looks behind him, which is where the source of the shadow is coming from. To his surprise, it is Eggman in one of his machines.

This machine, like all of Eggman`s other machines, is gigantic in size. The best way this robot can be compared for description of shape is that it looks to be a cross between a rhinoceros with longer legs and a shark. Eggman, as always with his machines, is in a compartment he built into the machine for him to ride in. If he is riding in the machine, he has plans of taking it somewhere, most likely to uncover a chaos emerald.

Eggman is clearly upset that Sonic and his friends are here,"Blast you, Hedgehog! Once again you are in the way of my plans! I worked hard to make sure that you would have not known I was going to be here, and you still show up!"

Sonic tosses aside his sunglasses and jumps to his feet,"Actually, I had no idea you would be here. I thought you were in White Jungle."

"Argh! That makes it even worse! Get rid of him, Aqua-Searcher!"

The robot charges forward at Sonic and the lounge chairs. Sonic darts to the side and avoids the attack. The robot crashes through the lounge chairs, sending them flying in random directions. Rouge, Espio and Blaze just barely manage to get out of the way before they are taken out with the lounge chairs. All of Sonic`s friends begin to scramble to get themselves in place for a battle.

Amy takes Tails, Cream and Charmy to Big,"Big, keep the kids safe!"

Big nods his head and Amy dashes off to help everyone fight the robot.

As Amy is running up to the battle scene, piko-piko hammer in her hands ready, she sees Rouge scampering off to go behind a wide pillar,"Rouge! What are you doing?!"

Rouge`s head peeks from around the pillar,"This bikini just wasn`t meant for this kind of job! I`m changing clothes!"

Knuckles leaps up and throws a punch into the robot`s side. It does not tip over as he was hoping but it does cause a small dent on the side. The robot whirls around and flips Knuckles aside with it`s head. Knuckles goes sailing into one of the palm trees. He rolls out of the way before the robot`s tail comes crashing down on him.

Amy runs directly up to the front of the robot. She has her hammer slung over her shoulder and she prepares to take a swing at it`s face. To her disappointment, Sonic zips over, scoops her up in his arms and dashes off with her. It was for good reason though. Right after Sonic dashes off with Amy, the robot`s foot comes crashes down in the sand. Sonic sets Amy down off to the side by the palm trees. He believes she will be safe here. Amy begins to protest Sonic stopping her from helping with the fight. Sonic tells her that it`s too dangerous and speeds off. Amy frustratingly stamps her foot in the sand.

As usual, when Sonic devises a plan of action, he rarely ever tells anyone of his plan. He just goes out and executes it. This time is no different. His plan this time is to lure the robot onto the bridge until they reach the point where the bridge changes into a suspended bridge. This is where the bridge is weak and will fall under the robot`s weight. The force of the long fall will take the robot out. It has to work!

Rouge, who is now in her regular clothes, gives the robot a hard kick to the shoulder. She is among several others who are trying to tip the robot over. The way the robot is built, if it tips over, it will spend a great amount of time getting back up. Mighty throws himself into the robot`s leg, trying to help tip it over. It doesn`t seem to be working. The most the robot does is jerk to the side. It must be too heavy for such a maneuver. Fang only brought his pop gun with him so he`s firing small balls at Eggman to try and distract him from the controls of the robot.

Sonic darts up to the robot and begins taunting Eggman. The robot kicks Espio aside and then turns it`s attention to Sonic. Currently it`s back is to the bridge so Sonic will have to get it to turn around. This should be no problem since Eggman wants to get rid of Sonic so badly. Sonic challenges Eggman that he can`t catch him with his new robot. Eggman is so sure of himself since this robot was built to have good speed to it so he takes the bait. The robot starts charging at Sonic and Sonic begins to run.

Sonic soon starts turning to the side to lure the robot into turning around so that they can head for the bridge. The plan won`t work unless they are on the bridge, right?

Shadow appears at Emerald Coast in what seems like out of nowhere. He steps onto the sand and looks at the scene before him. A giant robot shark-rhino thing is chasing Sonic while everyone else is backing off to give them some room. Shadow seems mildly surprised at this as his arm drops to the side with a pink hedgehog plush in his hand.

Unexpectedly, Sonic dashes past Shadow and within a second, the robot bolts by Shadow, right after Sonic. Shadow remains still in his mildly surprised state as pink fluff flies everywhere. Bits and pieces of pink flutter to the ground in various spots around Shadow. He is not injured. He slowly turns his head to the side and lifts his hand back up. He opens his hand and all that remains is a shred of pink fabric left over from the plush. The robot had destroyed the plush. Shadow`s hand quickly closes tightly on the remaining piece of fabric as his expression changes into a scowl. It was a gift for Amy!

Shadow turns around with a growl and catches sight of the robot and Sonic. His eyes lock onto the robot. That`s the one that destroyed Amy`s gift, that`s the one that is the target. Shadow dashes off to catch up to the race between Sonic and Eggman.

Still determined to help, Amy jumps out from her hiding place and swings her piko-piko hammer. It makes contact with the robot`s leg and thus it looses it`s balance and begins to stumble. Fortunately for Eggman, the robot doesn`t fall. It regains itself and turns it`s attention to Amy. Amy gets ready to take another swing when the robot`s head jerks down and catches her in it`s jaws. She`s caught at the corner of it`s mouth. The teeth have her arms caught so she can`t use her hammer to free herself. She struggles for a bit before she begins to make her calls for help.

Sonic turns around and catches sight of the robot capturing Amy. When she screams out, a quick realization hits Sonic. Normally when she calls for help, she calls to Sonic, saying his name. This time, she isn`t even saying a name. That`s...unlike her. Sonic shakes himself off from this. No time to ponder, Amy is in trouble! He races up to the robot to rescue her, as what he finds himself doing quite frequently.

The previous scene does not go unnoticed by Shadow either. He growls again. Now Eggman is really getting him mad. He picks up speed. Upon getting close to the robot he leaps up and sends a kick into the side of the robot`s head. The head jerks to the side from the kick, which causes Sonic to miss with his aim of a similar attack to the same part. Amy is jerked to the side from the kick and she screams, feeling like she is being torn apart. Shadow lands on the ground and looks up at the robot, in another surprised state upon Amy`s screams. He will have to do something else to free her that won`t hurt her.

Sonic also stops his attack on the robot, thinking the same thing as Shadow. His mind is racing now, trying to think of something else that he can do.

Eggman`s own mind is plotting. He begins to laugh, noticing that everyone`s attacks have suddenly stopped. He turns to Sonic and Shadow,"Ohhhhhh! So this girl is important to the both of you? Well then, I`ll just have to take her with me."

The robot turns around and begins running for the ocean. This sends everyone into a panic. If he goes underwater with Amy, he will drown her! Everyone races up to the robot and begins to desperately try and tip the robot over. Knuckles uses his fists, Rouge uses her feet, Mighty uses a combination of his fists and slamming himself into the robot. Sonic, Silver and Shadow all use their high speeds to propel themselves into the robot in the same place that everyone else is trying their attempts on. Not left with much choice, Espio begin to throw his explosive ninja stars onto the robot. He is careful to throw them when everyone else is paused so he doesn`t take any of his friends out. Blaze and Fang try to climb up the robot. Their plan is to reach Eggman and to take over the controls to make the robot stop.

Big and the children begin to panic and scream at everyone else. The robot is not slowing down. It`s so close to the water now. There is not much time left!

Shadow stops his attacks for a moment and just runs beside the robot. His eyes dart everywhere for some kind of clue of what he could do to stop this stampede. Then water begins to splash up at him. The robot`s in the water! The shores on Emerald Coast luckily are pretty flat but soon it will suddenly dip off into the much deeper waters. There is no choice. It`s now or never.

Shadow suddenly jerks to the side and throws himself into the front of the robot`s front leg, right below what would be the equivalent to a knee of the robot. The robot stumbles forward, it`s falling! Blaze and Fang are sent flying forward from the robot`s rear side and they rocket over top of the robot and land in the deeper end of the water. Everyone else stops their attack on the robot and quickly runs back to get away from the robot before it falls on them. Amy begins to scream again as the robot tumbles forward into the water. Shadow`s move by no means is painless. Throwing himself into a massive mobile machine like that has caused himself to be injured in the process and nearly being squashed. He makes a quick cry as his body slams into the robot`s leg. The leg swings out as the robot falls which inevitably kicks Shadow in the back and sends him flying off into the shallow waters. Shadow lands on his front side in the water. His body is in a massive amount pain from the kick and other direct contacts he received as a result of his recent move on the robot. The robot lands on it`s shoulder and collapses on it`s side in the water.

Eggman scrambles out of the robot as soon as it stops moving. His infamous hover craft appears and Eggman climbs inside. He quickly abandons his plans and makes his quick escape. Sonic would go after him but Amy is still trapped in the robot`s mechanical jaws!

Sonic races over to Amy, along with everyone else, to check on her. The water is just deep enough to get her wet while she is still trapped. Luckily the thickness and the large size of the robot has her raised enough so that her head isn`t being held under the water. Sonic, of course, is the first to reach her,"Amy, are you all right??"

Amy spits out some of the sea water that has managed to get in her mouth during the fall,"Yuck! Yeah, I think so...But these teeth are really hurting me now."

Rouge looks Amy over and sees that the teeth of the robot are sort of digging into Amy`s very exposed skin. If the teeth were any more clenched on her, they would be cutting her open. The teeth are definitely putting dents in her skin. She looks up at Sonic in desperation. Sonic reassures her that he`ll get her out. Knuckles comes over and the two try to lift open the jaws of the robot but to no avail. Mighty and Silver join in to help open the jaws but still the mouth won`t move. It seems as though the robot has gone through a robotic rigormortis. Even though he isn`t sure of what to do now, Sonic reassures Amy that he will figure out how to free her.

A cock of a gun and then Shadow`s voice quietly speaks up,"Don`t move."

Sonic whirls around and sees that Shadow is on his feet. He has his trusty Colt 45 hand gun calmly aimed in Amy`s direction. Sonic flips out and dashes to Shadow to confiscate the weapon from him,"Shadow!! What are you-"

A single bullet is fired.

The bullet sails into the joint of the robot`s jaw that is next to Amy. This causes the joint to unhinge and the bottom jaw slacks off from the head on that side. This opens the mouth up and allows Amy`s escape. Silver helps Amy crawl out of the robot`s mouth and helps her up to her feet. Sonic is looking on the scene and sees the jaw falling halfway off the robot`s head. He turns to Shadow and for the first time, lets his anger flow out,"What do you think you`re doing, Shadow?! What if you missed?! You could have hurt someone!"

Shadow places his gun back in it`s hiding place and disregards Sonic`s justified concern and anger,"No one got hurt."

Shadow begins walking over to Amy. As he passes by Sonic, Sonic notices a slight change in Shadow`s walk. Unless you were really paying attention and knew Shadow`s normal gait, you might miss it. His gait is slightly off. Obviously his kami-kaze like action has harmed him. But knowing Shadow, he probably is in more pain than what he is letting on.

As Shadow approaches Amy and the others, Big arrives with the children. Tails hugs Amy, expressing how he was worried that she was going to be gone for good. Amy hugs Tails back and tells him that she is all right. She releases Tails and looks up to see Shadow standing before her. She leaps up and throws her arms around his neck,"Oh Shadow, thank you so much for saving me!"

Everyone looking onto the scene prepare themselves for Shadow to have another violent outburst. But they are surprised to see that he is not flailing about like a landed fish. In fact, he even puts an arm around her to return the hug. Sonic`s mouth drops open and he quietly comes closer to the group, eyes fixed on Amy and Shadow.

Shadow tells Amy that she is welcome, in that deep, dark voice of his. Amy feels herself warming up a little at hearing his voice. Strange, did that ever happen before? She certainly never took the time to really think about how he sounded. But God does he sound good...She looks up at Shadow and gives him a smile.

Sonic`s hand clenches into a fist. Whatever action his is about to take is interrupted by Vector bursting out from the water, which surprises everyone. Espio is the first to remark to Vector about his absence,"Where have you been, Vector?"

Vector holds up a chaos emerald in his hand,"I found a chaos emerald in the water!"

Sonic blinks,"A chaos emerald? That must have been why Eggman was here."

Vector`s triumphant smile drops as he looks at Sonic with confusion,"Eggman was here?"

Sonic takes the chaos emerald from Vector,"Yeah, you just missed him."

Vector turns to the side and sees the giant robot now immobilized in the water,"Oh! I see..."

Sonic holds the emerald in both of his hands and he looks into it. He quietly says to everyone in the group,"Guess what this means, guys...It`s back to the old routine."

Shadow opens his hand again. The shred of pink fabric still sits in the palm of his hand. He sighs lightly, thinking about what was once the pink hedgehog plush.

I had a great gift for her...And it was destroyed...

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