When Amy realized what was happening, she was floating in the air, shot towards the mansion. She was so surprised, she didn't scream, but her brain was frantically trying to find a way how to land safely.

"Crap!" Eclipse loudly mumbled as he twisted his body in the air, once he shook the worst shock away. He concentrated his inner energy into his chest, awakening the masking seal that started to shine, and a wave of shining flames engulfed his body for a second, releasing his demonic form. His senses sharpened by leaps and bounds, seeing he had only a few seconds to catch Amy. He flapped his wings, diving to catch his master in the midair.

Unfortunately, they were too close to the house now, he had no chance to avoid a collision. The demon tightly hugged Amy, turning his back to the house, curling up. He wrapped his master with wings, shielding her from any danger, and he felt her arms around his neck.

The blood was beating in his ears, and he could hear her wild heartbeat. His back crashed into one window, shattering the glass to pieces, ripping his clothes and scratching his skin. He clenched his teeth, baring them, preparing for the hard landing.

The landing wasn't the softest one, but Eclipse managed to land on his side, cushioning Amy, and that was all that mattered to him. All the bruises he got would heal in a matter of a few hours, but he knew mortals had a lot slower healing process. He slowly opened his wings, looking down at Amy.

She let go of his neck, gradually getting on her knees. "Sonic, that's not how you drop in for a quick visit!" she called him bit frustrated, and then she let out a loud sigh. The young demon helped her to stand up. "Are you alright?" she asked, worrying about his wings while her head was stopping to spin. This sure was one hell of a ride.

Before her companion could answer, he noticed her hand was bleeding a bit around the wrist. Some glass shards had to cut her. There was barely a few drops of blood, but in that instant Eclipse's mouth was full of saliva he quickly swallowed. The urge to lick it flooded his mind and his hunting instinct tried to kick the reason out of his brain. He bit his lip, ripping his sleeve as it was already cut, wrapping it around the wound. Amy was surprised, as she barely noticed it.

"They are okay," Eclipse said once he finished wrapping the wound, and he flapped with them to prove his point. "You should worry more about yourself. You mortals are healing really slow."

She retracted her hand, feeling a slight blush on her face. "It was just a small scratch. That would heal in no time." She dusted her skirt, looking around the dim library full of books.

The gloomy atmosphere was ruling in this place, but before she could inspect it more, a loud voice interrupted her, "Who's there?"

Amy flinched, turning around, assuming fighting stance when her eyes spotted familiar figure. She gasped, "Mr. Brian?" There was no mistake in it, but he seemed to be smaller and older than just by three years. His aura told her so, and she was sure he wasn't sitting in a wheelchair for fun with his legs covered by a blanket. "What happened to you?"

The blue furred Sokina's face winced a bit, but he quickly covered it, calmly answering, "It's nothing. It was just an accident." He dismissed it with his hand gesture. "More importantly, how did you get--?" His eyes trailed toward a broken window. His muzzle twitched.

"I swear we wanted to use doors!" Amy quickly shouted, feeling embarrassed.

Brian slightly giggled. "That's alright." He slowly moved closer to them. "It's nice to see you. I wish I could be in less pathetic form."

"You aren't pathetic!" she barked a bit, stomping her foot. "You never was, but can you tell me what happened to you?" she continued with friendlier tone.

He shrugged his shoulders with a sad smile. "About a year after I last saw you, I got into a nasty accident. My leg bones were shattered, and countless doctors tried to fix it until it had to be amputated." He had bitterness in his voice as he said, "I'm sorry. I'm no longer proper fiance for you."

"Don't talk like that! You are not awesome for your legs! No one is!" She put her hands on hips, frowning her eyebrows.

He tucked his head a bit, having a hard time not to giggle too loud as her face was pouting. He felt a bit funny, and her encouraging words made him feel better. But nothing could change his current situation.

"I see you have grown strong," he let out a sigh as he said it. "While I withered into a feeble person. Before the accident, I have got a few wedding proposals, but after this, all of them were withdrawn. They see me as a cripple. Husband chained to wheelchair sure make a bad looking husband after all. I can't blame them." He again shrugged his shoulders.

He was content with his situation. Actually, he was kind of glad it happened to him. Now he was able to see he was considered equal only for his name, not for his own ideas and hard work. He should know how it worked in high society. Only the wealthy and healthy had a chance to survive there.

Amy loudly growled, almost barking in the process and with long strides, she closed the distance between them, jabbing him in the shoulder. He winced, as the blow was stronger than he expected. He rubbed that place, and his ears flopped as she loudly asked, "Who are you, and where did you hide Mr. Brian I know?" Her hands were on her hips, her eyebrows were firmly knitted, and she was putting her chin forward.

Brian bared his teeth in a frightened manner, pulling away from her as much as the wheelchair allowed. His persian green eyes looked away from her, too ashamed to look into her eyes full of determination.

Amy continued, "What's with that negativity?" she scolded him. "Mr. Brian I know is a strong person." She started to slightly hit his head in a rhythm of her words. "So you lost your leg!"

Brian Earl cowered upon her hits. They weren't painful, but each reminded him the frustration he tried to hide inside. It started to bubble like a water nearing the boiling point. He clenched the handle of the wheelchair.

"You still have the other one, and arms with a brain! The most important thing is...!" She stopped hitting him, and the tone of her voice turned a lot friendlier and soothing. "You are alive."

Those silent words hit him, and his ears perked. It felt like he was told something he should have known for a long time, but he needed somebody else to say it out loud for him to realize it.

"As long as you breathe there is a path for you to walk on!" She finished her small speech.

The huge library was drowning in silence. Mr. Brian smiled a bit, lifting his lowered head, feeling lighter as a huge burden had fallen off his shoulders. He straightened up in the wheelchair, firmly looking into Amy's eyes, saying, "Amy, thank you." Those simple words could never tell how much he was grateful to her. In those long years, she was the second person treating him like an equal.

He took her hand and touched the backhand with his forehead. This gesture made her blush a bit. It was some time since she was treated like a true lady. It wasn't like Tikal or Eclipse were mean to her, but small gestures like this one were always welcomed.

Brian lifted his head, looking at standing Eclipse and nodded at him, noting, "I see you are still together. You have grown up quite well too."

Amy smiled, turning toward the demon too, saying without thinking, "Yes, Eclipse is really kind demo--" her voice died out as her brain processed the image of Eclipse with wings, horns, claws, and black sclera. He was just there doing nothing! She silently yelped, dashing in front of her companion, wildly waving her arms. "T-Those aren't real wings! It's just..." She was frantically trying to come up with a believable excuse.

Brian looked at her confused. "I know Eclipse is a demon and that you are his master or tamer if I remember correctly."

She stopped moving, letting her hands drop down. "How do you know?" she asked after a while.

Brian explained her, and her expression changed to annoyed one with a huffing flavor. She crossed her hands at the end, noting, "No one told me about it."

The young demon meanwhile hid his demonic form. The process was especially visible on his wings as they burned in reddish flame, dissipating. Mr. Earl got quite worried, but Eclipse assured him it's not painful. It was just causing a funny feel and made his body feel lighter, but that was all.

He was carefully checking his clothes, noticing many cuts and holes. It made his mood to sink a bit since it would surely lead to the most boring activity ever – clothes shopping. He sighed, taking down the shirt as there was no point in wearing it since it was damaged in numerous places. His head quickly turned toward the broken window as he heard somebody was climbing toward it. Amy noticed his gesture, and she too shifted her attention that way.

Brian Earl noticed their reaction but was puzzled why they look so serious all of sudden. He followed their gaze toward the broken window where blue quills popped out, and a silent voice called, "Amy?" The head soon followed, and Sonic looked inside, immediately seeing his pink friend. His face brightened up, noticing Amy was unharmed, and he quickly jumped inside, dashing toward her. "Are you okay?" he asked once he stopped by her side.

She crossed her arms, pouting, and saying, "Definitely not thanks to a certain hedgehog."

Sonic scratched his cheek a bit, tugging his head between shoulders. He kind of forgot how scary could Amy be.

"I see our speed boy had grown up too," said Brian, nodding the boy's way.

Sonic tilted his body to have a better view of him, as he was partly hidden by Amy. A big grin appeared on the young man's face as he said, "Thanks! Are you that old you are already shrinking, old man?" Sonic teased him, making Amy dig her elbow into his stomach. He gaped, surprised by her fierce reaction.

Brin smirked, noticing his remark didn't leave him bitter. Well, getting called "old man" was the smallest insult, he had overheard in the past years. "I just got leg-less, but don't worry!" He made a big smile. "You can still pull my other leg!" He was even more surprised by his own pun. Was he ever in a mood for jokes even when he wasn't crippled?

Maybe it was because he knew Sonic wasn't two-faced dastard, sugar-coating his words and faking honesty. Just looking at his face know, Brian knew he was really sorry for his stupid remark. The sokina shrugged his shoulders, gesturing them to follow him deeper into the dim library. As he moved forward, he felt somebody started to push him, and it was Sonic, holding the handles of his wheelchair.

There was a familiar smirk on Sonic's face, as he announced, "Thank you for picking Speedway Transport. Hold on tight!" He slightly tilted the wheelchair back, pushing it forward where Brian was pointing. The next seconds were full of excitement, as adrenalin flooded sokina's body. For the first time in a long while, he had felt alive. They arrived at their destination too fast, but Brian felt he needed a breather since his heart was beating like crazy.

When he exhaled for the third time, Amy and Eclipse walked over. She put a hand on Sonic's shoulder, smiling at him, and Sonic's smile turned wavy, as she gave him bear grip on top of it. Brian silently giggled. On the spot, he would exchange all the therapies, hospitals, and doctors for a chance to spend time with them.

He sighed in his mind, asking them, "May I offer you some drinks?" He moved closer to a small cabin behind a table. He moved his office here, as he decided to live on the third floor, making an imaginative border between himself and the outer world. Looking at the city from here made him believe all his worries were too far to reach him. It was naive, but he didn't wish for people pitting him. Not to mention, this place was always dim, making him more comfortable as it reflected his mindset.

"Just a tea," Sonic answered. "I'm driving," he smiled.

The boy offered to help with preparation, but Brian assured him he would do it on his own. Since the accident, he had learned to do a lot of things on his own. Preparing a tea was no problem, and he also started to learn to cook a bit or at least make a sandwich. It helped him occupied his mind and keep a certain level of self-confidence.

While he was picking the tea bags, Amy was browsing his table. To her delight, he was keeping all things organized just like her father. As her eyes were going from expensive looking pen toward a stack of papers, she glanced a fancy looking envelope. "Is this an invitation?" she asked, lifting it.

"Yes, it's for a dance party," Brian noted, putting cups on his table. "They just want to taunt me. Nobody expects me there, and if I go, I will be just a laughing stock for them anyway." He bit his lip as negativity crept inside of his heart. He turned around, shaking his head.

He was having unexpected but highly welcomed guests, and he wasn't going to look pitiful or starting to complain. Amy visited him, and he wanted nothing more than to drown his miserable situation in her voice, listening to her stories. Brian was sure they were full of wonders and adventures.

He was reaching for the teapot when the blanket over his legs was lifted. He almost let out a girly squeak as it startled him. Being it anybody else, but Amy, he would swiftly hit the person to not invade his personal space. However, it was Amy, firmly looking at the rest of his left leg.

Brian averted his eyes from her face, unable to bear being seen by her. She was the only person he didn't want to see his crippled body. Amy put the blanket down, and with knitted eyebrows, she walked to the blue hedgehog.

"Sonic," she called him with a strong voice, and that made him straighten up. "Your tea will have to wait."

The young hedgehog gulped, feeling nervous as she wrote something down on a piece of paper. "Go to this address and get this person. Tell him Amy Rose needs his help, and his latest project will come more than handy." She gave him the paper, and the boy knew delaying her request would lead to a lot of pain, especially since she leaned over him, gently grabbing his shoulders, whispering, "Be back in an hour, and I'll forgive you this small event..."Her grip got stronger as she whispered, "and not telling me Mr. Brian knows." She released him, and Sonic didn't wait for anything.

The ice cold sweat told him there is no place or time for jokes, so he stepped on it, rushing back to the Albion City.

"Amy, where did you send him?" inquired Brian, lifting his eyebrow. What could be so urgent?

She turned in his direction, smiling like an angel. "No worries, he will just bring a friend of mine." She tilted her head and put an index finger on her cheek, asking, "By the way, do you have any lady to accompany you to the ball tonight?"

His eyes widen, as he was unable to process what she meant. When it hit him, he abruptly shook his head, hurriedly saying, "I can't possibly ask you to humiliate yourself in my presence!"

Her face darkened, and a big frown sat on her face. She let out a sharp growl, tightened her fist in balls, stomping towards him. Brian felt a strong urge to curl up in defense ball as she stood in front of him like a mountain, and his hands tightly grasped armrests.

She barked, "For the last time..." With each new syllable, she hit him in a forehead with an edge of her hand. "You! Are! NOT! Pa-The-Tic!" She took a deep breath. "Are we clear?" she ordered with a cold voice.

Brian rubbed his forehead. He wasn't in pain, but her fiery reaction astonished him, not to mention, with each hit he slid a bit. He rather nodded, gaining a beaming smile from her. With this she walked away with hands behind her back, humming a simple melody.

Brian felt a hand on his shoulder, and a silent whisper gave him good advice: "Give it up. Better go with the flow."

Eclipse spent three years with her, so he knew there was no point in arguing with her. He then helped to finish the tea while they were waiting for the mysterious person to arrive.