An idea that my cousin pitched to me back when episodes 3 and 4 were being worked on is being implemented here. It wasn`t used before because there wasn`t a good time for it up until now.

I know that the last line of each of these episodes is a line of thought from Shadow (except for one to build drama), this one ends with a line of thought from Sonic. It seemed much more appropriate that way.
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The only two people in the Sonic gang that don`t make an appearance in school today are Amy and Shadow. Jet and Wave are still absent from school, but Storm, Bean and Bark have finally returned. Such an odd attendance has not gone unnoticed by the other students. Did the two groups have another fight? Neither side is saying a word to anyone about what is going on outside school life.

However...

Teachers seem to be a lot less sympathetic about the whole ordeal, especially the Geometry teacher. She has her hands on her hips, looking down at Sonic who has fallen asleep at his desk. Sonic`s arms are crossed on top of the desk and his face is buried within his arms. He is out like a light. The teacher yells out Sonic`s name and Sonic snaps awake. He quickly sits up with his hands grasping the edge of the desk. His eyes show how tired he is. He was up very late last night to watch over Amy. The teacher is growing very impatient with Sonic,"I don`t care if you were the president himself, you need to get to bed on time for school!"

Sonic moans a little and reclines back to his original position. Beginning to feel a little sorry for Sonic, Rouge raises her hand,"But there was just reason for him being up all night. One of our friends was kidnapped and he was out looking for her to save her-"

The teacher quickly looks at Rouge and cuts her off,"That`s no excuse! Nothing is more important than an education! Go to bed on time and do your homework!"

Rouge now gets irritated with the teacher. Do teachers care about anything outside of school at all? A life was in danger and she wanted Sonic to just ignore it?

Sonic more or less misses out on Geometry class today due to his much needed nap. The next class he attends, he is still exhausted but manages to stay awake, or at least give the illusion that he`s awake.

Sonic is given temporary relief in this second class. Ray has returned from his vacation! Ray and Mighty exchange high-fives and Sonic welcomes him back. The circle of friends ask Ray questions such as how his trip to Emerald Hill went and such. Ray shares stories of the excitement he went through and how he got souvenirs for everyone. Ray notices Amy`s absence and questions it. Rouge explains how she was kidnapped and missing for several days and that she is at home today to rest up and get nourishment back into her body. Everyone will be giving Amy this entire day to herself so she can get back up on her feet.

However, the idea of leaving Amy alone, for once, is bothering Sonic. Since Rouge mentioning it to Ray in second class, Sonic`s mind has been riddled with many thoughts. What is it that Amy knows about Shadow? What is her history with him? And what could be happening to her since she is alone? His thoughts on the latter item are horrendous, such as Shadow barging his way into Amy`s home and forcing himself upon her as she screams for help. Sonic shakes his head. Such a thing couldn`t happen, right? Amy has her piko-piko hammer with her, so what are the chances that it would happen? Besides, there are a lot of other problems going on. Eggman has been making his presence known, Jet and Wave are still gone with no clue of what happened to them, GUN is going crazy around town now. What a mess things have become ever since Shadow showed up...Destruction seems to happen wherever he goes.

When school lets out for the day, the skies are clouding over to prepare for a rain storm.

Since Ray hadn`t seen Sonic for a while, Ray wants to hang out with him today. They were always good buddies. But Sonic declines his request and says that he has some important things that have to be taken care of first. Then Sonic is off in a blue blur running home. The rest of the Sonic crew stand behind and watch Sonic run off. They all can tell that something is certainly on his mind but they are all powerless to do anything about it right now. All they can do is wait for Sonic.

All the students of the school leave for their homes quickly hoping to avoid the storm, including the Sonic gang. Not much fun can be had in the rain, everyone will get sick. It`s probably just as well since there is still homework to do.

Sonic makes it inside his house a few moments before the rain starts to fall. He goes into the living room and plops down on the chair. He lets his backpack fall on the floor beside him. He won`t be able to concentrate on his homework, not now. He puts his hand to his head and his face scrounges up tightly for a moment. There is so much mystery surrounding this.

Sonic drops his hand and slumps in the chair. He`s not sure exactly how, but somehow, Eggman is behind all this.

Sonic`s eyes flare open from an epiphany as a bolt of lightning flashes outside and the rumble of thunder begins.

Eggman was quiet for a while, not stirring up trouble or even being seen anywhere. Shadow shows up and then Eggman`s activity picks up again like usual. Surely there must be some kind of link between the two of them. Could Shadow be working for Eggman? If he is, what are they up to?

Sonic begins to rub his nose with his index finger. (AN: Sonic the Movie anyone??) On top of it all, the military is involved. How does Amy tie into all of this? Sonic will have to confront Amy about it. GUN certainly isn`t going to tell him anything and Shadow sure as heck won`t. Forget asking Eggman, the guy is known for lying left and right. If Amy does talk, Sonic knows he can trust her word. The trick would be to get her to talk. A date won`t work. This is a very serious matter that she is actually involved in. If it`s something bad she is helping, Amy will be reluctant to say anything about it to Sonic. He will have to figure out what he could do to get her spill the beans.

The front door swings open and a very familiar voice screams out,"SONIC!"

Sonic whirls around in his chair and sees a very drenched Tails standing at the front door. Sonic`s mouth drops open. He forgot all about Tails! How could that happen?? He always picks Tails up from the elementary school every day!

Tails enters the house and slams the door shut behind him. He lets his soaking backpack drop on the floor with a watery "slosh" sound. Tails wipes his dripping hair from his face and understandably is quite upset with Sonic,"You were supposed to come get me! What happened to you?!"

Sonic zips from his chair to Tails` side,"I`m sorry, buddy. I..."

Sonic puts a hand on the back of his neck, feeling pretty guilty about leaving Tails to walk home in a thunderstorm,"I had a lot of things on my mind and I just forgot."

Tails throws his hands in the air,"Things on your mind?! What could have been so important that you forgot your little brother?!"

"Um, well-"

Tails cuts Sonic off and gives him a glare,"I bet you were thinking about Amy!"

Sonic is shocked, to say the least, to hear such a thing coming from Tails` mouth. Tails loves Amy almost as much as he loves Sonic. This young child has never displayed jealously of any kind before either. Before Sonic can say a word, Tails runs away from Sonic and dashes up to the stairs. Sonic can hear Tails` rapid footsteps make their way to his bedroom and the door slamming shut. He looks down at the floor as more guilt flows over him.

He needs to do what is best for everyone, especially Tails. Sonic adopted Tails when he found that Tails lost his parents and had no one else to turn to that would care for him. How hard could it have been to care for a kid? Take them to school, feed them, make sure they sleep. Who knew such deep and careful psychology would be needed? He took on the responsibility to take care of a kid, now Sonic has to be sure that he does it right.

Sonic walks up the stairs and makes his way to Tails` room. Tails is a very intelligent kid, surely he would understand if they just talked it out. Sonic knocks on Tails` door and is a little sad that Tails` response is for him to go away. His voice sounds as though he was crying. Sonic looks at the floor in guilt once more, he must really have upset Tails.

Sonic opens the door despite Tails` request and enters the room.

Tails` room is like any other child`s room, except his is filled with all kinds of airplane models and books and several different kinds of building toys, such as Legos, K`nex and Erector Sets. Tails is on his bed laying down on his stomach with his face buried in a pillow. Sonic carefully steps over the mess of toys on the floor and crosses the room to get to Tails` bed. When he reaches the bed, Sonic sits down on the edge and he looks to Tails.

Exhaustion from the lack of sleep is catching up to him again. Sonic fights off the exhaustion once more since Tails needs his care and attention right now. Sonic takes a deep breath,"Look, Tails...Buddy? There`s something we need to discuss."

Tails` voice is muffled from the pillow,"I`ll clean my room later..."

"No no, there`s something more important than that."

Tails lifts his head up from the pillow and looks at Sonic. His face shows that he was crying,"What?"

It pains Sonic to know that he caused Tails to cry. He never wants to hurt Tails and yet he has this day. Sonic gives Tails a sincere look but does his best to hide any worry or fear that he has,"Tails, there is something going on. I haven`t figured everything out yet. But I do know that Amy and Shadow are involved somehow."

Tails` attention perks up upon hearing about Amy and Shadow. Sonic continues,"I know the military, GUN, is involved. I have suspicion that Eggman is involved."

Tails cautiously asks Sonic,"What is going on with Amy?"

A pause and then Tails asks another question,"Is this why you wouldn`t let me see her?"

Sonic shakes his head,"No. I didn`t let you see Amy because she was hurt really bad, and in more ways than just her body. She needs some time to heal and get better before you can see her."

"What? Who hurt her?"

"She said that it was the Babylonians who hurt her."

Tails looks down at his bed in silence for a moment. Sonic may already know that what he said was just out of anger but Tails still had no right to say it. Tails looks back up at Sonic,"I`m sorry about what I said earlier, about you and Amy."

Sonic gives Tails his cocky smile,"Hey, I know that you were upset. I would be, too, if I were in your shoes. I`ll tell you what. To make up for it, how about we go see Amy tomorrow?"

Tails perks up,"Yeah!"

Sonic ruffles Tails` still wet hair,"All right, it`s a deal then."

Sonic stands up and exits Tails` room. He retreats to his own bedroom and heads straight for his bed. First, he will get some rest and let everything be removed from his mind for a while. He will question Amy tomorrow when he sees her at school and go from there. What her answers will be will determine his next course of action.

He sits down on the edge of his bed and pops off his red shoes. He doesn`t worry much about his clothes or the sounds of the storm outside. Sonic just lays down on top of the blankets and surprisingly falls asleep near-instantly.

We`ll see what happens...

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