Chapter Three

-

To say that anything concerning Sonic the hedgehog was predictable would be an utter lie, and none knew that more than he. Usually when you’d expect something to go a certain way, it would do the opposite.

And almost to emphasize this point, a certain pink hedgehog girl walked into the hospital. Stepping up to the front desk she waved to the secretary.

“Excuse me, I have an appointment with Dr. Romas, can you tell me where to go ma’am?”

The woman smiled down at the girl. “Of course Miss Rose, she’ll meet you in room 312, east wing.”

“Thank you ma’am!”

She made her way upstairs, taking her time. She was rather early after all, and didn’t feel like rushing anything. Humming a little tune to herself she found the room she was looking for and entered.

“Ah, Amy. You’re early.”

Amy spun on her heel to find the kindly doctor standing behind her in the doorway. “I try to be Doctor, god knows how much time I’ve wasted before.”

“Well then, shall we?”

Amy nodded, sat down and undid the back of her dress. The woman pulled out a pair of scissors and started cutting away the bandages that covered the hedgehog’s upper back and neck.

“Any discomfort Amy?” she asked, not taking her eyes from her work.

“Not really, it just itches like crazy sometimes. You going to take out the stitches?”

“That’s what I have planned, yes.”

Amy was silent for a minute before starting again. “Did you find out what that chip did?”

“No, but it looked like the old professor’s work, and I wouldn’t have put it past him to do something like that.”

“Um, Doctor?”

“Yes?”

“What professor are you talking about?”

She paused. “A man in biotechnology research for the military, he studied under Professor Gerald on the Ark. The sicko regularly experimented on anthromorphs like yourself and your friends, probably trying to find a way to control Project: Shadow. A few other scientists and I managed to get the bastard locked up for his inhumane practices.”

“Are you saying...I was one of his research subjects?”

“You could be, but we’re not sure. That microchip implanted on your spinal cord looked a lot like his usual work. That and you’re old enough to have been in the age range he used the most before he was locked up eight years ago.”

Amy blanched, making a face. “I’m glad you got it out then.”

“Even through the surgery?”

“Yeah...”

The doctor worked in silence, gently pulling each of the five sutures from Amy’s skin. The vertical scar was still red and inflamed, but much improved from before.

“What’s the verdict?” Amy asked.

“You’ll be good to go. I’ll just put a new dressing on, you can take it off tomorrow.”

“Thanks.”

A few minutes later Raikia came into the room, carrying a large case. “Hey Amy, ready for your lessons?”

Amy smiled. “You bet.”

--

Moving to another room, the two girls settled themselves on a couch and Raikia opened the case she had been carrying.

Inside was a pair of metal gauntlets, the forearm areas raised to encase a rod-like object. Amy picked up one of the pairs and strapped them on, removing her bracelets beforehand.

“Hey, miss Raikia?”

“Hmm?”

“I know you’ve been teaching me to use Chaos energy, but...”

The echidna looked up. “Yes?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Amy muttered. “It’s just...”

Raikia smiled. “Oh stop it. Just because you couldn’t before, doesn’t mean you never will. Remember, Mom pulled a microchip outta your head two weeks ago, that could have been the thing restraining your talent.”

“Well...”

“Oh, give it a rest! You have a new skill, so use it!” Raikia said, flicking Amy’s forehead. “Now we’ve got work to do.”

“Right! Thanks miss Raikia.”

“Do me a favor and drop the ‘miss’.”

“Alright.”

Raikia opened a second compartment in the case, revealing several Chaos drives. Removing two, she set them into the sockets of Amy's gauntlets.

“I don’t get it. Why the drives?”

“Because you don’t have the energy resources or practice to use your body’s natural Chaos energy. The drives are a stabilized battery, and with the gauntlets you can more easily pull out their stored power.”

“Ah, got it.”

“At least you’re not as dense as some of the people I’ve worked with.” Raikia told her. “Now, hold out your hands, left palm down, right palm up. I’m going to send a spark to your right, and I want you to channel it through your body and back to me like we did last time. And...now.”

Amy twitched as the small jolt entered her hand, but willed it to move to her left at a steady pace and into her trainer’s other hand.

“Very good, now again.”

This process continued, building up speed until Amy had a consistent flow of energy moving through her hands to Raikia’s.

“Excellent, now I want you to start it. Pull the energy from the drive and send it to me. When I send it back, move the energy through the drive and start again.”

Amy groaned. “We did this the last time I was here. I fried you, remember?”

The other girl bit back a laugh. “Yes kiddo, I remember. And I also remember that you almost had it the second try, so third time’s the charm.”

“For your sake I hope you’re right.”

Their exercises went on like this for the next couple hours, ranging from the flow maneuver to the more difficult task of creating a self-contained spark between the hands, and even further to matching a set rhythm. So far the pink hedgehog was excelling at each task, until Raikia set her a new one.

“Alright, so far you’ve mastered most of the basic concepts. The pull, push, flow, jump, and tempo. Combining the basics will allow you to do some of the more delicate techniques, like probing.”

Amy cocked an eyebrow in puzzlement. “Probing?”

“Moving a flow through a substance or being to ‘see’ it’s internal structure. By ‘reading’ the resistance or lack thereof in the subject, you can create a mental image of said subject. I do this quite frequently myself to gauge broken bones or internal injuries.”

“So you use your knowledge of anatomy in conjunction with the information you get from the ‘probing’ to determine a difference.”

“Exactly. When you master the technique you begin studying the anatomy of healthy, undamaged subjects to create your mental ‘maps’. Your maps are what you use to check against for problems. You can also send out a full three-sixty degree ‘pulse’ to determine your surroundings like echolocation, but more on that later.”

Amy looked thoughtful at this. “So...what do you start with?”

Raikia grinned and tossed her a plastic block. “These, each one has a different shape cut from the center. Your task is to identify it blindfolded, as the blocks are labeled so I can tell if you got it right. You’ll begin with two-dimensional shapes, progress to three-dimensions, and then to different substances.”

“Um, isn’t plastic an insulator?”

“Nothing save processed adamantine can block chaos energy, it’s not anything like electricity.”

Amy nodded and tied on the blindfold she was given. Taking the block in her hands she tried sending a simple current through it, only to feel a sort of difference in the flow that returned to her.

“That was weird.”

Raikia smiled, even if Amy couldn’t see it. “Felt the pressure change, didn’t you?”

“Yeah...”

“Here’s a hint, think of it as wind resistance. Like in a wind tunnel for testing aerodynamics.”

“What the heck is that supposed to...oh, I get it.”

“Then do it again.”

Amy nodded and turned the block over. Running the current several more times from different angles she eventually got the impression of a flat, five pointed star.

“Is it, a star?”

Raikia beamed at her student. “Very good Amy!” she gushed. “And you got it in under four minutes! Now for the next...”

She was cut off as Amy’s cell phone rang.

“Go ahead, answer it.”

Amy pulled off the blindfold and dug out the phone. “Weird, it’s from Rouge.” she flipped it open and held it to her ear. “Hello?”

“Amy? Oh, thank god I got the right number.”

Amy frowned. The bat woman sounded upset. “Are you ok Rouge?”

“Me? I’m fine, but Shadow...”

“What about him?”

Rouge’s voice began to take on a note of panic. “I...I don’t know, I found him unconscious and hurt last night and now he’s got this really high fever! I don’t know what to do!”

“Whoa, Rouge! Calm down! Why are you calling me?”

“You’ve got to know at least one good doctor that isn’t in cahoots with GUN! You were the only person I could think of to ask!”

“Rouge, it’s ok. Yes I know a good doctor in Station Square, do you need help getting here?”

Rouge heaved a sigh of relief at Amy’s words. “Thank god, but yes, I need help getting Shadow there.”

“Ok, just tell me where you are.”

--

Forty-five minutes later a hospital ambulance pulled up in front of Rouge’s home, just outside the city’s limits. As soon as the vehicle came to a stop Amy and Raikia jumped out and headed inside.

Rouge was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs, dressed in a pink sweater and black pants, wringing her hands together frantically. “Oh Amy, thank god you’re here...who’s this?”

“Rouge, this is Raikia. She’s Dr. Romas’ assistant.”

Raikia tapped her foot impatiently. “Pleasure, but don’t I have a patient to see?”

“This way.” Rouge said, leading the way upstairs. Turning a corner they entered the guest bedroom. “Be careful, he’s been hurt.”

‘Hurt’, was a rather loose term to describe the black hedgehog’s condition. He was almost covered dried blood and his fur was singed in several places. While most of the smaller injuries had already closed, a large gash was still visible across his head, nearly missing his left eye and a sizable chunk had been torn from his side.

Amy gasped slightly at the sight, but Raikia hardly blinked. Without a word she stepped forward to examine the hedgehog, running gentle fingers over his wounds.

“Any idea what happened?”

Rouge shook her head. “No. I cleaned up the gashes as best I could, I had no idea if it was safe to call a hospital.”

“Has he woken up at all?”

“No.”

Raikia frowned. “So you have no idea if there are any broken bones?”

“I don’t.”

“Che, figures.” she muttered. “Guess I’ll have to check.”

Carefully laying her fingertips on his chest, she sent gentle pulses through his body. “No broken ribs...appears to have some internal bleeding...oh, dislocation.” she contemplated his left shoulder. “Not a major problem, should fix up easily, but I’d rather reset it under some painkillers. Aside from the various lacerations and bruising, that’s the only injury.”

“But what about his fever?”

“That’ll take more time to determine, but it looks like an infection in his wounds.” she said. “Amy, Rouge, I’ll carry him down. You two follow up.”

At that she gently scooped up Shadow’s limp form much like the way she had done Sonic’s earlier that day. Carrying him back to the waiting vehicle she secured him onto the gurney and motioned the two other girls to get in.

“Alright Chuck!” she said to the driver. “Close the doors, let’s go.”

-

A.N.

Alright, here's a confusing chapter for ya. but never you worry, all will eventually be explained.