“...None of you are going to believe me, are you?....”

Amy was relieved that her voice had stopped glitching out, even though she hadn’t yet been able to reset it to the version that actually sounded like her real voice (and she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted it to at this point). Similarly, she felt she was getting close to the point where she could activate her holomorphic projector again…but just felt it would be useless to do so….It would probably even make her friends more upset.

Indeed, Rouge’s face hardened at the question, while Knuckles, he didn’t actually change much, and Tails…he just kept looking kind of out of it…like he was in the middle of some nightmare and just hoping he was going to wake up soon.

“Sorry, Chrome…”

Amy’s LEDs briefly flickered red at the realization that she’d apparently just received another, and far less flattering, version of one of Rouge’s classic nicknames, not that she’d ever liked ‘Pinky’ very much. And judging by the sudden smirk on the bat’s face, it seemed that Rouge had somehow known it would annoy her.

“...but I think even you would have to admit it’s a little hard to believe that right now, hmm?”

Unfortunately, Amy found that she couldn’t really argue with that statement. The real question seemed to be whether she should just run at this point. So, before anyone could fully react, she activated her anti-gravity and thrusters to launch herself back into the air and hovered a fair distance above the ground, hoping to give herself some extra time to think.

Meanwhile, her friends tensed up for a moment then relaxed (a bit) when it seemed that she wasn’t immediately going on the attack, though this also seemed to disappoint Rouge.

“Decided to run back to your master now, Chrome? Now that your cover is blown? To tell him you failed?….Which, honestly, shouldn’t be something that surprises him. Everything he makes is a failure.”

Amy couldn’t help her ‘eyes’ flickering back to red for a few moments at that accusation, that the Eggman was somehow her real ‘master’ now, that anything she had that connected her to how she used to be was just a ‘cover’, at the label of being a ‘failure’ (something that, even long before all of this, she’d sometimes secretly worried might be the case). And, it didn’t help when her TAS prompted her that making her angry was exactly what Rouge was trying to do, either out of an attempt to provoke a confrontation or perhaps to obtain some additional information. Actually, her TAS was beginning to recommend a confrontation, as it was deemed to possess an extremely high rate of success, despite the loss of the element of surprise, and to be the most ‘efficient’ route to achieving unit goals. Honestly, Amy was having trouble disagreeing with that recommendation, and not just because of how angry Rouge’s comments had made her.

“I mean I can just go….I really don’t think any of them could stop me…but that would seem like giving up….”

If she ran now, she wasn’t sure when she would stop (or if she would stop). Also, it seemed the longer this went on, the more time there would be for the idea that she really was just some kind of ‘metal copy’ of herself (as much as she feared that might actually be the truth) to become entrenched in their minds. Also, and she really hated that her mind (specifically her TAS) was supplying such thoughts, but more time would also give her friends, particularly Tails, the opportunity to develop…countermeasures.

Indeed, her TAS was making it very clear to her that, currently, even without the element of surprise, her best chance of success at ‘subduing’ or ‘capturing’ them was now. Waiting any significant amount of time ensured that chances of a future successful confrontation or approaching them without the likelihood of significant potential damage to the unit or of preventing ‘target’ evasion plummeted.

If she wanted to get them to listen, if she wanted to make them listen, it had to be now.

Decided, she embarked on a course she knew she was going to regret, that she was already regretting…but it seemed like it had to be done. For a moment, though, she just floated…trying to enjoy just one last second of ‘peace’…before letting out a last disappointed ‘sigh’.

“I never wanted things to be like this….I really just wanted to talk to Tails…to explain…to get help….I know you won’t believe me…maybe can’t believe me…but that was all this was really about….So, I’m sorry….I’m sorry that this is what I have to do…and I really hope that you’ll forgive me later…if you can.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

From what she saw, her statement, her apology, didn’t have much of an impact, at least on either Rouge or (as far as she could tell) Knuckles, though the fact that Tails was now looking at her with a mix of confusion and pain wasn’t really an improvement.

“I just better get this over with.”

Deciding that waiting for any further comments from her friends wouldn’t be helpful and that she did actually have one last chance at an ‘element of surprise’, she expended significant energy reserves to activate her in-built ability to ‘warp step’, essentially to cross a limited amount of space so quickly that it seemed almost like she’d teleported there. The result was an impact that sent Knuckles hurtling backwards at a considerable portion of the speed of sound, and though that may have seemed extremely brutal and even heartless on her part, her databases (and personal experiences) were very clear on his extreme durability. He was probably the only one of her friends she could hit anywhere near her full strength and reasonably expect him to be able to recover without any significant injury afterwards.

Meanwhile, before her remaining, now shocked and dismayed, friends could react, she took off in pursuit of the echidna that had been so forcibly ejected from the clearing.

“Thank you so much, TAS. I really appreciate the recommendations on how best to separate and subdue my ‘enemies’ and the observation that the bat ‘target’ will most likely be reluctant to leave the minor ‘target’ undefended and possibly subject to easy ‘capture’ or ‘elimination’ while I deal with the greater physical ‘threat’.”

She knew of course there was no point in talking to her TAS or that she was actually talking to anything external. The TAS was a part of her. Ultimately, these were her own conclusions about how best to deal with the situation, and she couldn’t say how much she hated that…or at how accurate they seemed to be.

“Please just be unconscious, Knuckles…please.”

If that hit had been enough to knock Knuckles out, then all that would be left for her to do was to go back and take care of Rouge….Oh, that sounded so horrible….and then she’d just have to find some way to make Tails listen to her…easy.

Unfortunately, a warning from her TAS and a sudden dodge around a white-gloved fist made it very clear that Knuckles was not unconscious, though he was also not looking very great. Significant evidence of his ‘flight’ through the woods, including obviously impact with a few trees, coated his fur. It was clear even his high durability had been seriously tested, and it was evident that, while he wasn’t quite out of the fight yet, it might not take much to put him there.

“I am so, so sorry, Knuckles….I wish I could just talk to you about this….”

Unfortunately, even at the best of times, Knuckles was not much of a talker, and, now, it was clear the only thing he wished to speak with was his fists.

“...I’ll…I’ll make it quick.”

Resolved that just ending this as quickly as possible was the best for everyone involved (a decision her TAS strongly agreed with), she ducked and weaved around Knuckles’ repeated strikes, not even bothering to let her feet touch the ground, a form of maneuverability that wouldn’t really be possible for someone without an in-built anti-gravity drive and extreme adaptability to sudden changes in acceleration and physical orientation (and especially for some movements, the inability to experience any form of nausea or vertigo).

Capitalizing on a sudden overextension by her red ‘opponent’, she immediately weaved behind him and delivered an empowered strike to the back of his head (though one she had very carefully calculated would only produce unconsciousness…and nothing else). Right after receiving the hit, Knuckles’ eyes rolled up into the back of his head, and he slumped to the ground. As careful as she had been, Amy couldn’t help worrying for a moment until her sensors confirmed that, indeed, Knuckles was unconscious but otherwise ‘fine’.

“I am sorry, so, so sorry. I promise I’ll make this up to you later…somehow….Still…”

Amy ran through the logs of the recent ‘battle’.

“...Wasn’t…wasn’t this…kind of easy…?”

Her energy reserves were still at 75% (and most of that loss was only due to the use of her ‘warp step’ ability). Frame integrity was only down to 97%, from the one glancing hit Knuckles had managed, and her auto-repair functions would have that fixed in a matter of minutes. And, the entire altercation, from initial impact to ‘resolution’, had only taken three minutes and twenty-five point three eight eight six seconds.

A lot of that 'swiftness' may have been the result of her first, what some may call, ‘cheap shot' (which her TAS just insisted was good tactics), but even without it, she didn’t think the result would have ultimately been different, even if it may have taken longer to achieve.

The point was that, in a one-on-one fight with her without the element of surprise or some other new advantage, it now seemed like Knuckles had almost no chance of success….She’d beat him every time.

That fact was honestly something she didn’t know how to deal with, and for the moment, chose not to (along with so many other things).

“Uhm, I better head back now. He’s ‘fine’, and the sooner I get this over with the better. Particularly before he might wake back up, and…I’d have to risk putting him out again.”