"Is it just me, or does everything look a little…" Sonic stopped in place. "... Chaotic?" The last zone they were in, which Sonic had affectionately called Palmtree Panic, was fairly normal. It was essentially just a more colorful and flashy version of somewhere you would see on Erius before most governments became corrupt. But this place… it was a clashing bizarrerie of flashing lights, otherworldly plants, and surreal attributes. Like… a neon purple-orange ocean that looped around into the sky? "Who even built all these neon signs and pinball parts?" Sonic asked. "I know there's weird alien animals and stuff here, but none of them look like they coulda created this." Sonic looked to Amy.
"Nobody created this," Amy replied. "All structures on Little Planet are just here. Plant-grown. (=^=)."
"Could you find another way to… emote?" Tails asked. "The emoticons are getting stale," Tails hissed. "And no offense, but you sound like an 11 year old."
"I'm much older than you -_-," Amy replied. "And I do not have face muscles. I am a statue, remember? This is how I share my feelings." Unbeknownst to the half-arguing group, someone was sneaking up from behind them quickly.
A blue blur blasted forward and snatched Amy with a quick squeak of surprise from the hedgehog statue. Sonic and Tails jumped back. "What was that?!" Tails shouted. He looked to Sonic, but the blue hedgehog was just as confused as he was.
The following words flashed in front of Sonic's face. "Did you miss me?" When Sonic tried to blink, they were still there. Eventually, they vanished, and the blue blur in front of them dissipated. It was Metal Sonic. He was holding Amy, and it looked like he had gotten a new paint job as well. He now had roughly the exact same color scheme as Sonic, save for his piercing red eyes.
"Oh, great, it's you again!" Sonic groaned. He tried to jump, but couldn't reach Metal no matter how many times he tried. "This isn't working. Tails, fly!" Sonic instructed. Tails flew by and caught Sonic. Metal Sonic took off into the distance. "What could Metal want Amy for?" Sonic whispered to Tails. Tails glanced down at him.
"Probably has something to do with her being the 'guardian of Little Planet'?" Tails replied. "You just know Robotnik wants to take her out of the picture."
"True! Or maybe that statue is worth a lot of money somewhere!" Sonic exclaimed, as Tails flew through oncoming obstacles to try and catch up with Metal. "Funding all those factories must be hard on the wallet."
Tails caught up to Metal. But at the same time, he began to unwillingly dip below Metal from exhaustion. "I'll take it from here, Tails!" Sonic exclaimed. He jumped from Tails, who floated down to the ground tiredly.
Sonic jumped over to Metal, who slowed suddenly. Sonic thought he had a chance to steal Amy back, but Metal suddenly charged something up. He opened an electric field around him, and Sonic was electrocuted. He fell to the ground, luckily not from a high enough distance to cause injury. Sonic landed on his face. And then looked up towards Metal, who was making his grand escape after getting what he went there for. Sonic could hardly even walk, let alone run after Metal.
Tails ran up to Sonic. "Are you okay?!" Tails asked. He helped Sonic up.
Sonic groaned painfully. "Yeah, I'll be okay. But what about Amy?"
"She can disappear from one place and reappear another," Tails replied. "She'll be fine."
"Then why isn't she coming back?" Sonic asked.
Tails paused. "That's a very good question," he sighed.