---
The gate and into the garden. "Especially now."
"Is something happening?" she asked, straightening.
Shadow nodded. "Eggman's not just resurfacing. He's rebuilding. And he's not doing it alone this time."
Amy's breath caught. "What do you mean?"
Before he could answer, a streak of blue wind blasted into the clearing.
"Amy!"
Sonic's voice was sharp, his eyes locked onto Shadow immediately. "What's he doing here?"
Amy's heart dropped. She saw the tension coil instantly-one that had nothing to do with Eggman.
"I invited him," she lied, instinctively stepping between them. "We were talking."
Sonic didn't move. His arms dropped, hands curling at his sides. "Since when do you and he talk?"
Shadow stared back, unaffected. "Since she stopped waiting for someone else to show up."
The words stung like a slap.
"Sonic," Amy began carefully, "I-"
"I came here to check on you," he interrupted, voice tight. "And now I find him here, walking around like he owns the place?"
"I didn't know you cared," Shadow said coldly. "You've left her alone every time she needed you."
"That's not true!"
Amy's voice rose, cutting between them like a whip. "Stop it! Both of you!"
Sonic flinched.
"I don't need either of you to protect me. I asked a question, Shadow. About Eggman."
The air was tense, but Shadow refocused. "He's working with old tech. Forbidden pieces from the old timeline. Chaos energy fluctuations have been recorded in sectors once thought unstable."
Sonic narrowed his eyes. "What kind of tech?"
"Something even you shouldn't touch without consequences," Shadow said. "It's not about robots anymore. He's trying to control the Chaos Pulse directly."
Amy looked between them. "What's that?"
Shadow hesitated. "The Chaos Pulse is the rhythmic energy that flows through every Chaos Emerald. When aligned... it can warp reality."
Sonic's expression darkened. "That's just a legend."
"Legends don't trigger seismic shifts in the middle of the ocean," Shadow said, voice like steel. "I've seen the readings."
Amy shivered. "So he's trying to control the source of the Emeralds?"
"Worse," Shadow replied. "He wants to merge them. Make them one endless pulse of power. And he's starting here-in the city."
Sonic took a step back, face pale beneath his usual bravado. "That... that could destroy half the planet."
"That's why I came," Shadow said, finally turning back to Amy. "I need your help."
She blinked. "Me? Why?"
"Because the pulse responds to empathy, not just power," he explained. "And you have more of that than anyone I know."
There was a long silence. Amy swallowed hard.
Sonic spoke first.
"You don't have to go with him."
"I'm not asking her to," Shadow said, his voice softer now. "I'm trusting her to choose."
Amy looked between them.
The boy who had been her dream.
And the one who had become her reality.
"I'll go," she said at last.
Sonic's breath hitched.
"But," she added gently, "only if you both agree to work together. No more fighting."
Neither spoke, but Shadow gave a small nod. Sonic hesitated longer, then muttered, "Fine."
The wind shifted, and somewhere in the distance, a low hum vibrated through the air-metallic and rhythmic.
The first beat of the Chaos Pulse.