"Here's the broom," Shakky says. "Don't slack off, I have guests coming."
"That's part of the training?" Sonic asks, taking the broom.
"If it motivates you to do a good job, yes." Sonic scratches his head.
"I'll help him." Amy enters the room with a broom in hand. She smiles at Sonic and gets to work.
"Well, I trust you guys with this. By the way, Sonic, I heard the marines abandoned the search a few hours ago. Rayleigh will come pick you up as soon as you're done here." Sonic smiles.
"Better get to work then," he says. As soon as Shakky exits the room, the hedgehog zooms around, causing more chaos than before.
"Come on, Sonic," Amy says, dropping the broom in frustration.
"Oops. Too fast?" He gives an awkward smile. Amy sighs and picks up her broom again. The swipes on the floor are the only sound answering him. She doesn't even look at him.
"Is something wrong?"
"It's just… nothing. You probably don't care." She keeps her back to Sonic.
"Wait, no, tell me." He slowly approaches her. Amy stops sweeping and looks at him.
"It's just that, we finally got to be together again since the incident, and you didn't even try to ask how I was or talk to me. You're only focused on going out with Rayleigh to learn that haki thing or whatever."
"It's important for me to learn that if we want a chance to save our friends."
"Yeah… you're right." She turns and continues cleaning. Sonic looks at the ground and takes a deep breath. He puts the broom next to a table and walks up to her.
"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ignored you like that. I was so focused on saving the others that I forgot I had a friend right here with me. I just assumed you were okay without asking, since we were safe here."
"Don't worry, I'm okay. It's just… I wanted to spend some time talking to you," she says, turning back toward him.
"Sure. I have plenty of things to say anyway." Sonic grabs his broom again and starts sweeping.
"You know, I was curious. Why are the marines looking for you? Aren't they supposed to chase bad guys, like the pirates who nearly kidnapped us?"
"Well, I thought they were good at first too. But some of them well, most of the marines I encountered are just as bad as the pirates." He stops sweeping and crosses his arms. "To answer your question, I fought some guy who called himself a Celestial Dragon. Apparently, in this world they're important people or something. Anyway, he was going to kill an innocent man, so I intervened. Then a marine admiral showed up to fight me, and he had a weird power.
"Every time I was gonna hit him, my fist just went right through his body. I think with haki I'll be able to defeat him. After that whole fight, I became wanted by them."
"You had a whole adventure in just the few days we've been here."
"What can I say? Trouble always seems to find me." He grins.
"How did you manage to find me?"
"I got lucky, actually. I was on an island full of pirates. I interrogated them, and one of them described someone that looked like you. And, oh." Sonic's eyes open wide. "I just remembered something. I kinda told the marines I was coming here, but I didn't think they'd actually show up." Amy taps her forehead.
"Anyway, they're gone now. But while you were sleeping, Rayleigh drove off a bunch of them who were searching the place. Apparently people saw him bring us here after the fight against the Blackbeard pirates." She sighs. "Try not to be so reckless next time."
"I'll try, but I can't guarantee anything." He keeps sweeping. "So… how have you been since you arrived?"
"Well, the moment I woke up, I got ambushed and captured by bandits. Then treated like an animal inside a cage and sold at an auction. You know the rest."
"I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner."
"Don't be sorry," she says with a smile. "Without you, I would've been a slave to some creepy pirate… or Eggman." Sonic laughs, scratching his head.
"Shakky and Rayleigh been treating you right?"
"Yeah, they're amazing. To calm me down, Rayleigh told me stories from back in the day. Apparently, he was a big shot when he was younger. He was the second commander of the King of the Pirates. Some guy named Gold Roger."
"So he's a criminal."
"Like the marines, not all pirates are bad. If he meant us harm, he would've left us there."
"You're probably right." Sonic taps his foot. "Well, if he sailed with someone called the King of the Pirates, he must be pretty powerful. Can't wait to learn from him." He starts sweeping faster. "So… at the auction, were you the only prisoner?" His eyes stay focused on the broom.
"No, I was with—" Her heart sinks. The broom slips from her hands and bounces on the floor. She looks at Sonic, eyes watery.
"Lucia. We have to save her."