#Shadow meets up with Sonic every few months and now they have a kid

[blu-ish]

Don't get attached to the random kid you found in the forest challenge. [FAILED]

Here's more of my Project Selene AU! They found their jalapeno kid.

[heckinconfusedparade]

Woe! Sonic character headcanons be upon Ye!

Sonic:

- Learned how to cook while raising Tails and got really good at it

- Hedgehog Gordon Ramsay

- Can’t bake for shit tho

- Made up a lullaby that he sings to Tails to help him sleep. It’s been effective since the kit was 4

- In the warmer months, Sonic scouts out nice places for his annual picnic with Amy. He loves hanging out with her and enjoying sweets!

- Has a memorial for Chip with his necklace somewhere hidden

- Ran before he could walk

- Bothers Knuckles on Angel Island at least twice a week

- He and Shadow spar every week

- Bro has a bunch of Knick knacks and trinkets from his adventures

- Has a lazy day every once in a whilel

- He does vocal warm ups every morning as part of his little routine, even if he doesn’t plan on singing that day. It’s good to warm up before doing a lot of speaking!

Tails:

- He’s so sweet but so sassy

- Will sass a grown man to death

- Hugs people he really loves with his tails included

- He has a blacksmith place somewhere

- Had to have an intervention for his mint addiction (unsuccessful)

- His love language is gift giving! His gifts are one of a kind

- He made Shadow a gun for Christmas. It has bullets that explode on impact. It’s a tiny rocket launcher

- Used a chaos emerald to give a box Chaos Control so he can warp stuff back to his workshop

- the box defies logic, and he can fit literally anything in it

Amy

- If anyone insults or puts down her besties it’s ON SIGHT! EVEN IF ITS THE BESTIE SAYIN IT ABOUT THEMSELF (looking at you, TAILS)

- Refuses to let anyone go hungry. Angel to anemic and diabetic community!

- Spars with Knuckles to practice her hand to hand combat

- Meets up with Sonic in the coldest part of winter so they can hibernate together

- Loves her picnic dates with Sonic!

- Got Vanilla to homeschool Tails so at least the kid can have credentials to go into higher education in the future if he wants

- Loves thrift shopping! One man’s trash is this gals treasure!

- Crystal girl

- Shares Taylor Swift album theories with Shadow. They both go crazy for it

- She took Cream, Rouge, Blaze, and Sticks on a road trip. It was the most chaotic thing to hit the roads that summer.

Knuckles:

- is the reason a mountain has a giant crack in it

- vibe checks buildings for faulty wiring with his electro signal echidna stuff

- Bro moves the soil around his island to promote healthier plant life

- Bro is the single teen dad of many many many Chao

- Tries to leave the island whenever he can. He has a map of places that Sonic marked because they made him think of him!

- Taught Tails how to throw one hell of a punch and how to use his namesakes in combat

- Secretly looks forward to Rouge’s visits because he finds the sparring fun

Shadow:

- His room is usually only illuminated by a lamp because the sun shines directly in his window, and the ceiling light is too bright

- the lightbulb in the lamp changes colours. Rouge calls it his Mood Lamp

- If Sonic doesn’t show up to their weekly sparring, he gets concerned and indirectly searches for the dude. He’d rather die than admit he’s concerned tho

- Taylor Swift karaoke night with Amy

- Plays Project SEKAI

- Has a garden full of beautiful flowers dedicated to Maria. Amy and Sonic helped find flowers and seeds, and Knux provided the soil. They didn’t ask to get involved, nor were they asked, they just found out from Rouge and decided to help Shadow out

- He cannot fucking cook

- He cannot fucking bake

- There’s very few things he can actually make BUT HES LEARNING

- Learning to enjoy life as it happens. He’s stopping to smell the roses and appreciate what he has right now, and tries not to lament about the past or future

Rouge:

- Sometimes visits Angel Island just to bother Knuckles

- She has a pair of boots that has spikes on the toes

- Taught Tails how to steal

- She’s Cream’s favourite guest to bring to a tea party because of all the drama she brings with her.

- Is the reason Tails is a gossip

- She played Thief Simulator and had the greatest time ever

- Watched analysis videos of people trying to solve heists she committed

- Pretended not to listen when Amy infodumped to her about crystal energy, but she actually finds it very interesting

Omega:

- Trusts Tails with his life

- Because he can’t fit through doors or knock without breaking them, he stands outside the window waiting for someone to notice him outside

-or he just breaks the door anyway because why not

- Loves fireworks, wants to fire them on his own

- Absorbs every insult he hears Sonic make, as well as searches up on the internet to add to his database just so he can insult Eggman in a way that matters.

[livewireprojects]

Finn and Zero Ref(Lost Prince AU)

AND THEN THERE'S THIS ASSHOLE! He's not that bad to draw if I remove the shoes & mask but jfc his shoes are harder than Shadow's. This fucker's shoes look like he stole an Inkling/Octoling's shoes if you look at 3D models.

I guess it's finally time to explain the ghost & some comments I made in the Pride Month post.

So yeah I gave Infinite a dad, for some reason I got inspired by a fic on A03(I still have a link but the fic has been deleted) were Sonic apparently knew Infinite in the past back when he was Finn & despite Infinite being a war criminal Sonic wanted to help him thanks to past memories/promise. Yeah I've turned this into that thing I did with Sally.

Asides from the fact I named Infinite's dad Finn due to the fic that I got inspiration for him from I also gave Infinite the name Zero because that & sometimes Finn were popular names to give him when he wasn't being Infinite.

I kinda find it interesting to see Infinite redeemed, I wasn't sure at first but some stuff involving Infinite was interesting & I've kinda made Mephile redeemed in the past.(Grant it it's him in a reboot of the world & actually feels guilt for his past actions now that he's lived in a time were he got to have a life)

I dunno why but I gave Infinite movie Robotnik's outfit, I guess it looks fitting.

Everything else is under a keep reading due to all the text.

Link to master post

Finn:

Finn was one of Sonic's friends growing up, Finn use to live down the road from Sonic's adopted parents before Robotnik attacked & burnt Sonic's house down. They eventually met again when Finn started living with the part of the resistance Chuck lived with. By the time they meet again when Sonic is traveling with his siblings Finn was an active member of the resistance, traveling around to help while also hoping to run into Sonic.

Finn was an energetic guy, while he can't keep up with Sonic's speed he loves the thrill of running with him & is fairly fast. After losing his home & moving into a community the resistance was in Finn realized he wanted to help & started doing what he was able to since he was to young to go on missions. Helping out with the younger kids & making sure everyone was ok lead to helping him become a leader figure, when he met Sonic again he stayed by his side & helped him get along with everyone. As he got older Finn helped on missions, traveling to other areas to help the resistances in those areas & tell them what news he could.

He was devastated when Sonic went missing but eventually tried to move on for his & Sonic's sake keeping Sonic's memory alive. He eventually moved to the main land with his son & retired to a life of peace(along with maybe secretly doing some writing) eventually taking up painting. While a strong & smart man he sadly was growing weak in his old age thanks to becoming ill, despite moving on Sonic was always on his mind at times leading to telling his family about Sonic to keep his memory alive. In his dying days he hoped for the best for Zero, hiding some important things for him which was common for people back during the war.

Infinite/Zero:

Zero's life had a lot of ups & downs, mostly downs from losing his mom at a young age to constantly getting in trouble as a kid. The only things that kept him going were his father Finn & his ragtag group of friends that eventually became the Jackal Squad.

Zero lost his father a few days after the ill man fell down the stairs during their final argument about Zero being brought home by the police. Zero was heart broken but Finn never blamed him & was more worried about Zero being on his own. Zero & his friends eventually disappeared only to show up as the Jackal Squad only to later lose them when Shadow fought them after Zero chose to work for Eggman. He eventually went mad from not being strong enough & past mistakes leading to allowing Eggman to use him for the Phantom Ruby.

After the events of Sonic Forces at some point he was found while everyone was rebuilding, he was wondering alone & without the Phantom Ruby. It seems the unknown time he was gone & also getting the Phantom Ruby removed he'd come out of his insanity enough to regret a lot of life choices. Surprisingly Sonic is the one to allow him to redeem himself despite some of his friends(Shadow, Rouge & Knuckles, Vanillia if she was there) knowing fully well Sonic was terrified & traumatized.

Sonic wanted to try & give him a second chance since he could see Zero regretted his actions with a clearer head & something seemed to make Sonic talk the others into letting him redeem himself. Zero is currently being kept an eye on by some of the ex-resistance(from Sonic Forces not Underground) & staying Gadget, who has finally returned from traveling & helping out.

It's a long journey & frustrating on both sides but Zero is still going, trying to prove he's not going to become Infinite again & growing close to Gadget & Sonic. Now if only he could figure out why Sonic thought he was Finn, he can't help but faintly remember his dad telling him about a blue hedgehog. After losing Finn Zero has kept his favorite bandana safe & now wears it over where the Phantom Ruby was.

Weirdly enough originally a couple weeks back(when I posted this originally on DA) I wasn't sure how I wanted to go with Zero, at some point at the time I wanted to make it seem like there was doubt Zero was Infinite but imply he was either a clone or some how part of Infinite was in a clone body.

Zero's memories would allow him to answer some questions but also make him at times question if he's the real Infinite, either way he's willing to be punished for Infinite's crimes as he feels guilt for his other self's actions. In the end I wasn't sure if I wanted nothing to happen so Infinite is gone & Zero is doing better or Infinite shows up, tries to attack but is either defeated by Gadget & Zero or Zero defeats him, they become whole again with Zero in control & continuing his community service while everyone is more positive about him now that he's shown he's not evil.

Yeah everything but Finn is a mess. Funny enough for a little I wasn't sure if I wanted Zero to be Finn's son or grandson before settling on being Finn's son.

[valleyfthdolls]

You want Sonadow prompts? I'll give you Sonadow prompts:

In the period of time between SA2 and Heroes, Sonic calls up Rouge and asks if any trace of Shadow has been found. He doesn't feel comfortable joining a search investigation and he gives Rouge Shadow's inhibitor rings because he knows that Rouge knew Shadow better than Sonic did. Perhaps during one call Rouge is trying to withhold information that they've found Shadow but she doesn't want to get Sonic's hopes up because Shadow is in critical condition (and with amnesia).

Two touch-starved hogs, neither accustomed to physical contact. After a long while, one of them works up the courage to hold out a hand or offer up a hug. They both hate to depart.

Shadow teaches Sonic how to hone his Chaos powers.

Alternatively, Sonic conditions Shadow so that he can sustain his Super form for longer.

In Sonic Boom, Sonic and Shadow are exes. An in-shambles Shadow decides to destroy the universe over this.

Following his humiliating defeat at the hands of Shadow, Infinite studies Shadow for his weak point to make the best second impression. In watching Shadow's interactions with Sonic, he comes to the conclusion that Shadow is unknowingly crushing on Sonic. He comes to Eggman with a plan to incapacitate Shadow by luring him in with promises of harming Sonic, defeating him, and leaving just enough time for him to watch Sonic's captures in Green Hills. The meeting prior looked something like this:

They play a game of gay chicken... that lasts their entire lives. By the end of the week, they've already gotten married on the beach. They have kids. They decide that whoever dies first is the loser (remember son, dying is gay). This ends up with them beating the shit out of each other in hopes to murder the other that turns in a make-out session.

Shadow feels insecure over Sonic, allegedly "just a guy that loves adventure", being able to match a being created to be the ultimate lifeform. Sonic gives him a pick-me-up by pointing out all the things Shadow surpasses him in.

Once every few months, Shadow's Black Arms genes kick in and he endures behavioral/physical changes for a week. Sonic's there to help him get through it... and experience some of those strange behavioral tics secondhand. (ha ha Shadow be like "biting you biting you biting you" behaviors)

Alright, I'm tapped out for now.

wdym that one abt infinite isn't canon /j

i am looking very intensely at the boom!sonadow one, them as exes is such a headcanon/pos

kinda reminds me of this one lyric from feel better, now i wanna write smn from this but i never finished sonic boom 😭

also that first one 👀👀👀👀

especially thinking about my au, i always depict shadow with intense burn scars from falling from the ark, so like, they find shadow, and he's miraculously alive despite it all, but he's in horrible condition. every exposed inch of skin, which is much more due to a lot of fur being charred and burned off, is covered in swollen, bubbling, reddened 3rd-degree burns, with spots that even look burned black. certain parts (fingertips, toes, ears) are burnt to a crisp and barely look functional, and his burns are leaking fluid and bleeding. he's not even conscious, and while he may be alive now, it's not guaranteed how long he'll stay alive. sonic doesn't care about that, all he wants is for shadow to live now and rouge knows that, but she can't tell him shadow is alive when he's like this, so she just lies and says that they haven't found anything yet augh i love it

the last one reminds me of how i write the werehog and shadow tbh. i have a hc that dark gaia's energy tends to be in high concentrations around the full moon, and under specific circumstances it can cause sonic to transform, leaving shadow with a werewolf bf who likes to lick his face bc shadow thinks its gross

[shadamyheadcanons]

Shadow Sensations (3/5)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 4 Part 5

Amy awoke to her alarm and frowned. In her half-awake stupor, something about her bed didn’t feel as comfortable as she would have liked.

Hmm...if only it were warmer...and softer...and smelled nicer...I wish it were taller, too.

Wait...‘taller?!’ This is a goddamn bed! What the hell am I—

Her eyes shot open, and she glared at her own nonsensical thoughts. You have got to be kidding me. Like it wasn’t bad enough that I woke up at 2am from an irritatingly enjoyable dream about kissing him. In her early morning haze after that dream, she’d hastily attempted to fall back into it, and she wasn’t sure whether she was relieved or disappointed that she’d failed to do so.

Amy swung her legs over the side of her bed and stood up to start her day, doing her best to ignore the fact that she’d apparently hallucinated that her bed was Shadow the hedgehog.

I’m almost tempted to stop by the doctor before I meet up with Sonic. Maybe they’d know what the hell is wrong with me.

She pushed past the weirdness and stumbled into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Amy smiled when she saw her reflection. She used to frown and look away from mirrors, as she couldn’t help but feel her face wasn’t doing her any favors. Not only was Sonic uninterested in her, but no one else had ever asked her out, either. She was strong enough to put up a front of confidence in herself, but after so many years of rejection and disinterest, she’d had to accept what she felt was the truth: there was something wrong with her, and her appearance had to have something to do with it. She got lots of compliments on her fashion sense, and she was in great shape, so that only left her face, at least as far as she could tell.

That is, at least until a few months ago. Now, she beamed at her reflection with happiness and pride.

When did that start again? she pondered, spitting out her toothpaste and rinsing out her mouth.

“...”

“What is it, Shadow?”

“It’s you. I’ve never seen you wear green before. It compliments your fur well, and it makes your eyes stand out, too. You look really pretty in that.”

He looked surprisingly thrown off. She smiled shyly. “That’s so sweet of you, Shadow! You really think so?” He nodded emphatically. “Well, then, I’ll have to wear green more often!”

 Amy cringed a little. Crap...I have been wearing it more often, haven’t I?! I even wore green on our date!

“Shadow, you’re here too? I never would’ve guessed you’d go to a crowded, formal shindig like this. It’s good to see you!” Amy paused. “Are you doing okay?”

Shadow was pressing his hands together and holding them up to hide the lower half of his face. His eyes were wide as he stared at her. He shut his eyes and dropped his hands, then shook his head and tried to put up his usual neutral mask. He stubbornly looked away. “I’m fine. It’s nothing.” His lips were quivering just a bit, betraying he wasn’t as calm as he looked.

Amy scratched her chin and looked closer. Her eyes narrowed. “Are you sure? You look nervous.”

He jammed his hands into the pockets of his suit and met her eyes again. He briefly looked her up and down, then hesitantly opened his mouth and said, “It’s nothing...you just look really beautiful tonight, that’s all.” He dropped his eyes to the floor and shuffled one of his feet, probably in an attempt to hide the scarlet blush that bloomed across his cheeks.

Amy gawked, then bit her lip as her eyes watered. She glanced down at the elegant emerald ballroom dress that hugged her form. “Thank you, Shadow! That means a lot to me!”

He peeked up at her and responded with a shy smile.

Amy’s hands shook a little as she picked up her comb and started running it through her quills to work out the tangles. I knew he liked it, but...I must’ve underestimated just how floored he was. Every time I saw him that night, he tripped over himself or ran into someone. It was because of me, wasn’t it? She looked away from the mirror when she noticed a light blush tinting her cheeks.

She tried to push it out of her mind as she returned to her room, but every step she took reminded her of a time he’d told her how cute she looked or acted. She’d chalked this up to him coming out of his shell as they became better friends. Something about showing his loved ones how much he cared because of how easy it was to lose them...but it was more than that, wasn’t it? He doesn’t talk to Rouge like that. He definitely doesn’t talk to Omega like that...what would he even say, though? ‘Nice paint job, Omega. You look spiffy.’ Amy cracked up as she chose her outfit.

She reflexively reached for a green shirt, then frowned and growled. No! Bad Amy! You’ve had plenty of green lately! She sifted through her closet for a red blouse and skirt instead. Good old red. Back when I wasn’t so confused. As she pulled the outfit on, her eyes flitted back to the green shirt. Honestly, since when have I been so easily swayed? One boy says I look nice in green, and I suddenly have to wear it every goddamn day? Amy picked out a pair of gloves and her trusty training weight bracelets to go with the outfit. But...have I been wearing green for my own sake, or is it something else...? She froze in the process of pulling on her gloves. She’d started wearing it because Shadow complimented her, but it wasn’t like he said something every time. His eyes just lit up every time she did, and she’d see the barest of smiles on his face each time, until his smiles came wide and easy whenever they spent time together. A line of worry formed across her forehead.

I don’t wear green just because I like attention or even because someone is finally showing interest in me. I was doing whatever I could to catch Shadow’s attention and make him smile.

She finished tugging the gloves on and started on the bracelets. She sighed. My subconscious is something else, isn’t it?

Finally, she bent down to pick out a pair of sandals. There was a fancy, strappy pair Amy knew looked stunning. She frowned and picked up a pair of plain, comfortable flip-flops instead. No need to go overboard. It’s only Sonic, after all.

Amy froze and stared straight ahead. I forgot about Sonic. Again.

Amy visited her Chao one last time before leaving, only to see it was sadly pressing down on one end of a seesaw that it couldn’t use alone. Amy pouted and put out a couple of fruits for the poor thing. “Don’t worry! Next time Shadow visits, you’ll get to play with—” She stopped short. What if he doesn’t want to? What if I’ve ruined everything? She held herself tightly. The Chao made an inquisitive noise, and she forced a smile. “Nothing! I’ll be back to play with you in a few hours, so eat up!”

She dashed out the door before her Chao could sense the pit of fear that was taking hold in her stomach.

Even on the drive over to the café where she was meeting Sonic, Amy still couldn’t escape Shadow’s presence. She put her iPod on shuffle so she wouldn’t have to think about it too much. The light beginning tones of “Starlight” by Muse popped up, and Amy smiled.

“I’ve been listening to this band a lot recently.”

“Muse? Huh...yeah, it suits you, Shadow! It’s low-key, relaxing, and interesting, just like you!”

“Hmm...I meant because this one’s about space...but that means a lot to me. Thank you.”

Amy frowned and skipped to the next song. The catchy beat of Benny Goodman’s “Sing Sing Sing” pumped through her car’s speakers, bringing her smile back immediately.

“Oo, I love this one, Shadow!”

“So did everyone. Swing jazz was all the rage when I was your age.”

“Ew, don’t say it like that. You’re not my grandpa!”

“But it’s true! People used to go out and dance to this all the time! Even Maria and I learned how, way up on the ARK.”

“YOU of all people, dancing? I can’t picture that!”

“I guess I’ll have to prove it to you, then. Give me your hand. I’ll show you a few moves.”

“Shad—WHOA!”

Amy grimaced. “The poor guy danced with me, we both enjoyed it, and...and...oh, God. That pause where he kept looking at me and holding me after the music faded...” He wanted to kiss me then, too. Is this what being a tease is like? How was I supposed to know?!

Amy scowled down at her iPod, wondering if it was somehow conspiring against her. She faintly remembered Tails mentioning something about shuffle not being truly random, that it does take one’s preferences into account...and her face soured further. So I’ve been choosing our favorites a lot recently. Even my damn appliances know me better than I do. Technology gets scarier every year. What’s next, is my toaster going to tell me my horoscope?!

Amy tried to ignore the music and let the tune play out on its own. Her mind wandered for a while, and she shivered. Her car always took forever to warm up. As soon as she’d thought that, the inevitable possibility—unnerving in just how easy and comfortable it was—reemerged. If only I could feel as warm and secure as I did before. He’d hold me close and I’d tuck my head under his chin, and then he’d tilt my head up toward his, and our lips would meet, just as soft and warm and gentle as before...

“Sing Sing Sing” had already faded out to make way for the rising tones of “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer. Amy snapped herself out of her trance, ignoring the way she’d been touching her lips with her fingers. She glared at her iPod. “I’m blaming you for this.”

Amy double-checked her phone. Fifteen minutes late, no courtesy text...so, par for the course for Sonic. She’d grown out of worrying when he was late and instead killed time by saving them a table and ordering their favorite drinks. Of course, she wished he would outgrow his lack of punctuality, but she’d decided that no one was perfect and it was a compromise she was willing to make.

A nagging thought tugged at the back of her mind. You know who wouldn’t be late? She shooed it away.

“Amy! So sorry I’m late!” Sonic’s voice snapped her out of her reverie. He landed in his seat so abruptly that a few napkins went flying. “And you remembered my favorite soda!” he gushed, swiftly snatching the napkins out of the air. “You’re the best, Ames!”

Amy’s smile was thin and courteous. She averted her eyes from his brilliant grin.

“What’s wrong, Amy?” She looked up to see his grin had disappeared to make way for concern. “I really am sorry I’m late, there was a problem in Station Square and I...”

Amy waved him off. “It’s not that, I’m just stressed.” She looked down at the strawberry milkshake in her hands.

Sonic rested his chin in his hand. The concern didn’t leave his face. “Does it have to do with needing advice?”

She peeked up at him and nodded. “My head’s been a mess since yesterday, and I’m trying to sort things out. I tried talking to Cream and Blaze about it, but...” She trailed off and took a sip of her milkshake. I’m still not sure whether that made it better or worse.

“But...?” he prompted.

She opened her mouth, hesitated, and shut it again. She heard the faint sound of his foot tapping rapidly, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He’s not being rude, Amy. You know he just has a lot of energy.

When no response came, Sonic tried again. “Did something happen yesterday to mess you up?”

Amy bit her lip. “Well...I went to Twinkle Park with Shadow, and—”

“FINALLY!” Sonic interrupted, eyes alight with glee. “I thought he’d never get the guts to...” She was torn between irritation and shock. He noticed her expression, and he smiled sheepishly. “Ah...continue?”

Amy’s face fell. “UGH! Why did everyone but me know it was a date?!”

Her head dropped. She could hear Sonic suck in air through his teeth. “That...complicates things.”

She looked back up, feeling mournful. “’Finally?’ You’ve been waiting for this? Why didn’t you tell me? I didn’t even know he liked me!”

At this, Sonic shrugged, looking a little guilty. “I thought you knew. I thought everyone knew. I’ve never seen Shadow act that way around anyone else.”

He sipped his soda. She sighed. “So you were happy someone else wanted to date me? Do you want me out of your quills that badly?”

Sonic looked hurt. “Amy, that’s not what I meant. I’d never say something like that about you!”

Amy cringed and pressed the heel of her palm to her forehead. “I—sorry. I know you’re not like that. I didn’t mean it, I’m just so thrown off right now.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He sounded relieved, so she looked back up. “I know it might come off that way, but that’s just not how it is to me. You’re my friend. Shadow’s my friend. I like it when my friends are happy. It’s that simple.”

He smiled genuinely and sipped casually from his straw. She grinned back. Of course that’s how he feels. Sonic’s great, isn’t he?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud noise of Sonic stubbornly trying to sip the last dregs of soda from his glass. She cringed just a little, and the nagging voice jumped in again. You know who’d be too polite to do that? Again, she pushed it aside.

“You seem awfully confident about this. Just because he likes me doesn’t mean I like him back,” she pointed out.

Sonic gave her a deadpan stare. “Amy Rose, you are head over heels for Shadow. There is not a shred of doubt in my mind about that.”

Amy gasped. “Y-you! What makes you think you—!”

His unimpressed stare dissolved, and he abruptly broke into a cackle loud enough to make the guests around them look over in curiosity. “Amy, I’m the expert here. Who would know better than I do about your approach to crushes?”

Amy opened and closed her mouth a few times to try and respond. “Well...okay. Fair. But I don’t act the same way around Shadow as I do around you.”

“Of course you don’t. Shadow likes you back.” When Amy cocked her head in confusion, he explained, “You act out to get my attention because I’ve never returned your feelings...sorry,” he said, wincing.

Amy shrugged and laughed a little. “No worries, I know.”

Sonic quirked a smile and continued. “You’re more mature than you used to be. You’re not going to attack him with hugs and hammers. The common factor is something different,” he insisted, holding up a finger for emphasis. “You go big or go home. Your mind is all twisted around like this because your heart can’t handle all your feelings.” He nodded with authority.

Amy wasn’t sure how to respond, so she just let out a quick laugh and said, “You’re sounding awfully sappy.”

Sonic shrugged one shoulder. “That’s kind of the point, isn’t it? Shadow swept you off your feet in one day, just from one trip to the amusement park.” She looked away as he spoke, and her imagination took over a little as she remembered the events of the date.

Suddenly, Amy felt Sonic’s suspicious gaze on her. She jumped a little when she saw his narrowed eyes. She noticed her fingers were absently touching her lips again, and she whipped her hand away.

Sonic’s eyes went wide. “Did Shadow kiss you?”

Amy could feel her cheeks burn. “N-NO!” Half the café looked at them this time. Amy huddled down in her seat. “...Yes...just a little.” She sipped at her milkshake to try and cool herself down.

Sonic’s grin was alarmingly eager. “Oo, snap, this is getting juicy!” He reached for his phone, and Amy panicked.

“Sonic the hedgehog, you’d better not tell anyone else!” She put all the rage she could into her glare.

Sonic pouted. “Aww, but how am I supposed to win my bet against Knuckles?”

Amy squinted. “I don’t know what kind of bet you and Knuckles have, but if you don’t keep this on the down-low, BOTH of you will be on the business end of my hammer. I don’t want this to wind up in the tabloids.”

Sonic sighed dramatically. “Fine, fine.” Amy let out a breath of relief. He looked at her again. “Do you want to know what I think?”

“What?”

He met her confused stare with a gentle smile. “I don’t think you really need advice.”

Amy opened her mouth, then closed it and looked down. She clasped her hands and rested them on the table. “...I think I might know what you mean.”

Sonic surprised her by reaching across the table and taking her hands in his. “Amy? I’ll be okay. I’ll find my way. You know that, right?”

She looked down at their hands and hesitated for a few seconds, then took a deep breath. “Yeah. I do.”

His grin spread a little wider. “And so will you. I’ve been truly flattered all these years, but I’ve never really been right for you, and I think we both know that. I’m glad you’ve found someone who is, and I’m extremely lucky to have you as a friend.”

She nodded in return and held back tears. “And I’m lucky to have you, too. Thank you.”

Amy drove home with something she never thought she’d need: the confidence to move on.

Amy lied down on her bed as she’d done the night before, but the mood was different. She lied facing up, hands clasped over her stomach as she looked up and braced herself. She’d never been afraid to ask someone out before, but...it felt harder this time around.

She sat up and took ahold of her phone. She scrolled down to the S section of her contacts once more, then tapped on the only one who preferred straightforward calls over evasive texts. Her finger twitched for a while, but she finally managed to hit the call button. Her phone shook against her ear as her hand trembled. It felt like an eternity as it rang four times. Before she could wimp out and hang up, she heard shuffling on the other side.

“Amy?”

His voice was hesitant.

“...Shadow?”

She winced at the way her voice shook.

“Yeah?”

Amy tried to breathe deeply, but hopefully not heavily enough to warrant concern from the other end.

“Do you still like me?”

There was a long pause. It occurred to Amy that she should have specified that she meant romantically, but she knew he understood what she meant.

“Yeah. Why?”

Amy tried to keep her hands steady. She clenched her eyes shut.

“Do you want to go out with me?” After a second, she frantically added, “As a date.”

Next came the longest pause of all. Amy bit her lip and clenched her free hand against her chest.

“Yes.”

She tried to keep her sigh of relief as quiet as possible. As they hashed out the details, she couldn’t help but worry; she’d assumed he would be elated at the possibility of another date. As difficult as the last twenty-four hours had been for her, she realized that he must have felt much worse.

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[fuckofffuckofffuckoffloveme]

Runaway - Part Twelve

~Masterlist~

Concept: Hazel Richards is a twenty-year-old woman living in London. When she meets a mysterious time-travelling alien known only as the Hunter, she’s thrust into a world of wonder she could only have imagined.

Warnings: swearing, follows S1 of Doctor Who.

The Hunter looked up as the TARDIS took on a purplish tinge, the cloister bell tolling in the distance. She gently settled Hazel on her bed, then left as quietly as she could to find out what was going on.

By the time Hazel appeared in the console room, having changed her clothes, the Hunter was chasing a small spacecraft, making the ship tilt dangerously. "What's the emergency?" the human girl asked, wiping the sleep from her eyes with one hand as she held onto the console with the other.

"It's mauve," the Hunter replied, her eyes flickering over before returning to the screen she was watching to make some small adjustments to her flying.

"Mauve?" Hazel echoed, frowning.

"The universally recognised colour for danger," the Hunter told her, like it was obvious.

Hazel raised her eyebrows. "What happened to red?"

The Hunter snorted. "That's just humans. By everyone else's standards, red's camp." She stopped flitting around the console for a moment, grinning nostalgically. "Oh, the misunderstandings. All those red alerts, all that dancing." She noticed Hazel looking at the ship they were chasing on the monitor. "It's got a very basic flight computer. I've hacked in, slaved the TARDIS. Where it goes, we go."

"And that's safe, is it?" Hazel checked.

"Totally," the Hunter assured her, then winced as something exploded on the console near her. "Okay, reasonably. I forgot to say reasonably." She was distracted by what she was seeing on the monitor. "Oh no you don't! It's jumping time tracks, getting away from us!"

"What exactly is this thing?" Hazel asked, shouting over the engines as the Hunter attempted to get closer to the ship.

"No idea," the Time Lady replied, shrugging.

"Then why are we chasing it?"

"It's mauve and dangerous, and about thirty seconds from the centre of London," the Hunter replied, grinning as she threw the dematerialisation lever.

***

Hazel stepped out into a dark alleyway between two terraces of crowded housing. The Hunter was right behind her, locking the door to the TARDIS. She looked around and snorted. "Do know how long you can knock around space without happening to bump into Earth?"

"Five days?" Hazel guessed. "Or is that just when we're out of milk?"

The Hunter shook her head fondly. "Must have come down somewhere quite close. Within a mile, anyway. And it can't have been more than a few weeks ago. Maybe a month."

"A month?" Hazel echoed, frowning. "We were right behind it."

"It was jumping time tracks all over the place," the Hunter protested. "We're bound to be a little bit out. Do you want to drive?!"

Hazel grinned cheekily. "Wouldn't mind, actually." She laughed as the Hunter blinked, pulling her coat tighter around her. "What's the plan, then? Are you going to do a scan for alien tech or something?"

The Hunter snorted. "Haze, it hit the middle of London with a very loud bang. I'm going to ask." She showed Hazel her psychic paper ID for the occasion.

"Dr Art Smith, Ministry of Asteroids?" Hazel read, raising her eyebrows.

"Yep," the Hunter nodded as they came up to a door marked 'Deliveries Only'.

"Not very Spock, is it, just asking," Hazel pointed out.

"Haze, it's a piece of paper that reads your mind," the Hunter cocked an eyebrow. "Door, music, people. What do you think?"

"I think you should do a scan for alien tech," Hazel told her matter-of-factly. "Give me some Spock, for once. Would it kill you?"

The Hunter rolled her eyes, opening the door with her sonic screwdriver, then eyed her friend's Union Flag top. "Are you sure about that t-shirt?"

Hazel looked down at it, making a face. "Too early to say. I'm taking it out for a spin."

"Huh. Well, come on, if you're coming. It won't take a minute," the Hunter shrugged, going inside the club.

"Mummy?" Hazel blinked, about to follow her friend in. "Mummy?" She turned around, walking a little ways away from the building and looked around, before seeing a little boy wearing a gas mask on a nearby roof. "Art? Artie? There's a kid up there!"

***

The Hunter followed a waiter through a bead curtain to the main room of the club, where a saxophonist and a jazz band were accompanying a woman in a long red dress.

***

"Are you all right up there?" Hazel called. The child turned in her direction, not moving from the roof.

"Mummy?"

Hazel swore, then saw a metal fire escape and started to climb.

***

When the singer finished, the Hunter clapped with everyone else, then took her place at the microphone. "Excuse me. Excuse me. Could I have everybody's attention, just for a minute? I'll be quick. Hello!" She grinned as the audience focused on her. "Might seem like a bit of a stupid question, but has anything fallen from the sky recently?"

The audience stared at her with varying expressions of confusion, then burst out laughing. She narrowed her eyes.

***

Hazel reached the top of the fire escape where it came out on a flat roof. The child was further up, on a taller, triangular roof. "Mummy?"

"Okay, hang on," Hazel called. "Don't move!" She bit her lip, looking up at the other roof. How the hell was she supposed to get up there? Suddenly, a rope dangled down in front of her. She shrugged, testing it.

***

"Sorry, have I said something funny?" the Hunter asked, frowning at the laughing crowd. This was decidedly not the reaction she had been expecting. "It's just, there's this thing that I need to find. Would've fallen from the sky a couple of days ago."

The laughter was cut off by a loud, familiar-sounding siren. Everyone became silent, bustling around to grab their possessions and leave.

"Would've landed quite near here," the Hunter continued, sighing as her audience all left. Then she saw the poster on the opposite wall that their bodies had previously been hiding - Hitler will send no warning. She sighed again. "I'm an idiot."

***

Hazel had found the rope secure enough and was using to climb the roof to reach the child. How the hell she planned on getting back down with the child was anyone's guess.

"Mummy!" the child cried. "Balloon!" He pointed, and Hazel looked up to see a huge barrage balloon from which she was hanging. The balloon drifted away, and she clung on for dear life, her eyes wide as she dangled above the alleyway.

"Artie! Artie! Artemis!" Searchlights combed the sky in the distance, and she flinched as something exploded nearby and she yelped as a squadron of German planes headed for her. "Okay, maybe not this t-shirt," she murmured shakily.

***

"Hazel?" the Hunter called as she exited the club to find the alleyway deserted. A cat meowed nearby, and she picked it up, scratching its head. "You know, one day, just one day, maybe, I'm going to meet someone who gets the whole don't wander off thing. Nine hundred years of phone box travel, it's the only thing left to surprise me." She paused as the TARDIS' telephone rang, putting the cat down. Frowning, she got closer, opening the small door and staring at the phone. "Why are you doing that? You don't do that, that's not your job. You're supposed to sit there looking pretty." She took her screwdriver from her pocket, absently brushing cat hairs from her coat.

"Don't answer it. It's not for you."

The Hunter whipped around to see a young woman in the alleyway, keeping to the shadows. She narrowed her eyes a little. "And how do you know that?"

"'Cause I do," the woman stated. "And I'm telling you, don't answer it."

"Well, if you know so much, tell me this," the Hunter requested, looking back at the phone. "How can it be ringing? It's not even a real phone. It's not connected, it's not -" By the time she turned back, the girl had gone. The Hunter sighed, then shrugged and answered the phone. "Hello? Hello? This is the Hunter speaking. How may I help you?"

"Mummy? Mummy?"

"Who is this?" the Hunter frowned. "Who's speaking?"

"Are you my mummy?"

"Who is this?" the Hunter asked again, biting her lip.

"Mummy?"

"How did you ring here? This isn't a real phone. It's not wired up to anything."

"Mummy?" The dialling tone hit, and the Hunter hung up, before knocking on the TARDIS door.

"Haze? Hazel, you in there?" She turned when she heard a noise outside the alley, going to investigate.

"The planes are coming. Can't you hear them? Into the shelter. None of your nonsense, now move it!"

The Hunter followed the shouting to a garden wall, which she stood on a dustbin to see over. In the garden, a well-fed woman was ushering her young son into an air raid shelter.

"Come on, hurry up, get in there. Come on. Arthur! Arthur, will you hurry up? Didn't you hear the siren?"

Her equally rotund husband came waddling out of the house, shaking his fist at the sky. "Middle of dinner, every night. Blooming Germans! Don't you eat?!"

"I can hear the planes!" his wife called.

"Don't you eat?"

"Oh, keep your voice down, will you?" she chastised. "It's an air raid! Get in. Look, there's a war on."

"I know there's a war on. Don't push me."

Their voices cut off as the woman slammed the door of the shelter shut, and the Hunter narrowed her eyes as she saw the girl from the alleyway enter the garden and the house. Quietly, she followed.

***

An officer in a WWII greatcoat was standing on the balcony just outside the officers' mess hall, using a pair of very non-WWII binoculars to watch Hazel as she struggled to hold on to the rope she dangled from.

"Get those lights out, please," one officer ordered. "Everyone down to the shelter."

"Jack?" another officer, Algy, called as he put grabbed his weapon. "Are you going down to the shelter? Only I've got to go off on some silly guard duty." He looked in the direction Jack was staring. "Ah, barrage balloon, eh? Must've come loose. Happens now and then. Don't you RAF boys use them for target practice?"

Jack zoomed in on Hazel's flailing body. "Excellent bottom," he drawled, his accent very clearly American.

Algy blushed, thinking he was talking about him. "I say, old man, there's a time and a place. Look, you should really be off."

"Sorry, old man. I've got to go meet a girl," Jack smiled, putting his binoculars away. "But you've got an excellent bottom too."

***

Inside the house, the girl from the alleyway filled a small sack with provisions from the cupboards, then headed for the front door. Outside, she whistled twice, then came back in, followed by a bunch of grubby street kids. "Many kids out there?" she asked.

"Yes, miss." Their eyes widened when they saw the spread on the dining table, and they dived for the food.

"Ah!" the girl called sharply, making them stop. "Still carving. Sit and wait. We've got the whole air raid."

"Look at that," one of the boys said, pointing at the meat the girl was carving. "Bet it's off the black market."

"That's enough," the girl snapped, but she was smiling.

***

Hazel was dangling above Westminster when a bomb exploded below her. She'd been holding onto the rope for what seemed like hours, and she was freezing. When a second bomb exploded, she lost her grip and fell, screaming. Suddenly, her fall halted, and she was caught mid-air in a pale blue beam.

"Okay, okay, I've got you," an American voice soothed, seemingly coming from nowhere.

"Who's got me?" Hazel demanded. "And - well, how?"

"I'm just programming your descent pattern," Jack stated. "Keep as still as you can and keep your hands and feet inside the light field."

"Descent pattern?" Hazel echoed, doing as he asked.

"Oh, and could you switch off your cell phone?" He chuckled as she rolled her eyes. "No, seriously, it interferes with my instrument."

"You know, no one ever believes that," Hazel pointed out, but she did turn her phone off.

"Thank you. That's much better."

She snorted. "Oh, yeah, that's a real load off, that is. I'm hanging in the sky in the middle of a German air raid with the Union Jack across my chest, but hey - my mobile phone's off."

"Actually, it's the Union Flag. You're not flying at sea," Jack told her. "Be with you in a moment." After a minute, he spoke again. "Ready for you. Hold tight!"

"To what?!" she demanded.

"Oh, yeah, actually, that's a fair point," Jack stated, as if he hadn't thought of that before.

Before Hazel could yell at him, she fell down the light field and into his arms.

"I've got you," he assured her, holding her comfortably bridal style. "You're fine, you're just fine. The tractor beam, it can scramble your head just a little."

"Hello," Hazel breathed, staring up at him. For a guy, he was pretty fit.

"Hello," he grinned back.

"Hello," she repeated, before shaking her head. "Sorry, that was hello twice there. Dull, but thorough, right?"

"Are you all right?" Jack asked.

"Fine," she told him. He set her down on her feet. "What, you expecting me to faint or something?"

"You do look a little dizzy," Jack admitted, watching her carefully.

Hazel snorted. "What about you, Ken doll? You're not even in focus." And with that, her eyes rolled back into her head, and she fainted into his waiting arms. He rolled his eyes, putting her into one of his ship's seats.

***

"It's got to be black market," another boy agreed. "You couldn't get all this on coupons."

"Ernie, how many times?" the woman chastised. "We are guests in this house. We will not make comments of that kind. Washing up." The other children laughed as Ernie groaned.

"Nancy!" he complained.

Nancy turned to another boy. "Haven't seen you at one of these before."

The boy nudged the child next to him. "He told me about it."

"Sleeping rough?"

"Yes, miss."

"All right, then," Nancy nodded, then looked around at all of them. "One slice each, and I want to see everyone chewing properly." A plate of the meat she'd sliced was handed around.

"Thank you, miss."

"Thanks, miss."

"Thank you, miss."

"Thanks, miss!" the Hunter grinned when the plate came to where she'd been hiding behind the door. The children yelped, gasping and running away from her.

"It's all right," Nancy told them, eyeing the Hunter. "Everybody stay where you are!"

"Good here, eh?" the Hunter smiled. "Who's got the salt?"

"Back in your seats," Nancy instructed. "She shouldn't be here either."

"So, you lot, what's the story?" the Hunter asked.

"What do you mean?" Ernie frowned.

"You're homeless, right? Living rough?" she guessed.

"Why do you want to know that?" another boy demanded. "Are you a copper?"

She scoffed. "Of course I'm not a copper. What's a copper going to do with you lot anyway? Arrest you for starving? I make it 1941. You lot shouldn't even be in London. You should've been evacuated to the country by now."

"I was evacuated," one boy admitted. "Sent me to a farm."

"So why'd you come back?" the Hunter asked, concerned.

"There was a man there," he shrugged.

"Yeah, same with Ernie," another boy piped up. "Two homes."

"Shut up," Ernie muttered. "It's better on the streets anyway. It's better food."

"Yeah," the boy agreed. "Nancy always gets the best food for us."

"So, that's what you do, is it, Nancy?" the Hunter quirked an eyebrow at the woman.

"What is?" Nancy asked defensively.

"As soon as the sirens go, you find a big fat family meal still warm on the table with everyone down in the air raid shelter and bingo! Feeding frenzy for the homeless kids of London Town. Puddings for all, as long as the bombs don't get you," the Hunter shrugged.

Nancy put her hands on her hips. "Something wrong with that?"

"Wrong with it?" The Hunter snorted. "It's brilliant. I'm not sure if it's Marxism in action or a West End musical."

"Why'd you follow me?" Nancy questioned. "What do you want?"

The Hunter narrowed her eyes slightly. "I want to know how a phone that isn't a phone gets a phone call. You seem to be the one to ask."

"I did you a favour. I told you not to answer it, that's all I'm telling you."

She nodded. "Great, thanks. And I want to find a blonde in a Union Flag. I mean a specific one. i didn't just wake up this morning with a craving. Anybody seen a girl like that?" She bit her lip when the kids all shook their heads. Then she pouted as Nancy took her plate away. "What have I done wrong?"

"You took two slices," Nancy told her, her lips twitching. "No blondes, no flags. Anything else before you leave?"

The Hunter's eyes widened. "Ooh, yeah, there is actually. Thanks for asking, I nearly forgot. Something I've been looking for. Would've fallen from the sky about a month ago, but not a bomb. Not the usual kind, anyway. Wouldn't have exploded. Probably would have just buried itself in the ground somewhere, and it would have looked something like this." She held up a sketch.

A knock on the door made everyone jump, even the Hunter. "Mumm? Are you in there, mummy?"

The Hunter narrowed her eyes. She peeked out the window to see a little boy in a gas mask.

"Mummy?" he called.

"Who was the last one in?" Nancy questioned.

"Her," Ernie said, pointing to the Hunter.

"No, she came round the back," Nancy shook her head. "Who came in the front?"

"Me," one boy admitted.

"Did you close the door?" Nancy questioned him.

"Er -"

"Did you close the door?" Nancy demanded.

He shook his head timidly. Nancy ran to bolt the door as the child kept calling.

"What's this, then?" the Hunter frowned, folding her arms as she leaned in the doorway, watching. "It's never easy being the only child left out in the cold, you know."

"Oh, and I suppose you'd know," Nancy scoffed.

"I do actually, yes," the Hunter admitted. "I loved my brother, but he could be a dick sometimes."

Nancy frowned, then shook her head. "It's not exactly a child."

"Mummy?"

She pushed past the Hunter into the dining room and started ushering the kids out. "Right, everybody out. Across the back garden and under the fence. Now! Go! Move!" She crouched in front of the one remaining girl, who couldn't have been older than four. "Come on, baby, we've got to go, all right? It's just like a game. Just like chasing. Take your coat, go on. Go!"

"Mummy? Mummy? Please let me in, mummy. Please let me in, mummy." A small hand came through the letterbox.

"Are you all right?" the Hunter asked, moving along the hallway towards it.

"Please let me in," the child whimpered.

Suddenly, a vase crashed into the hand, and it quickly withdrew through the letterbox.

"You mustn't let him touch you!" Nancy cried.

The Hunter turned to look at her, frowning in confusion. "What happens if he touches me?"

"He'll make you like him."

"And what's he like?"

Nancy glanced over her shoulder in the direction the kids had gone. "I've got to go."

"Nancy, what's he like?" the Hunter demanded.

"He's empty," Nancy whispered. The telephone rang. "It's him. He can make phones ring. He can. Just like with that police box you saw."

The Hunter picked up the phone. "Are you my mummy?" the child asked from the other end.

Nancy slammed the phone back onto the hook. The radio started up in the dining room, swiftly followed by toys upstairs.

"Mummy? Please let me in, mummy. Mummy, mummy, mummy."

Nancy shivered. "You stay if you want to." She left by the back door, and the Hunter turned around as the child put his hand through the letterbox. She noticed a small fork-shaped scar on the back of it.

"Mummy? Let me in please, mummy. Please let me in."

"Your mummy isn't here," the Hunter told him softly, edging closer.

"Are you my mummy?"

"No mummies here, not anymore. Nobody here but you and me."

"I'm scared."

"Why are those other children frightened of you?" the Hunter asked, curious.

"Please let me in, mummy. I'm scared of the bombs."

"Okay, I'm opening the door now." The child pulled back his hand. Keeping a distance, the Hunter telekinetically unbolted and opened the door, but the street was deserted. She frowned.

***

"Better now?" Jack asked as Hazel came to in the co-pilot seat.

She blinked groggily, yawning. "You got lights in here?"

Jack turned the lights on to reveal they were sitting in a small, cramped spaceship. "Hello."

"Hello."

"Hello."

Hazel narrowed her eyes. "How about we don't start that again?"

"Okay," he agreed easily, flashing a brilliant smile.

"So, who're you, then?" she asked.

"Captain Jack Harkness, One Three Three Squadron, Royal Air Force. American volunteer." He handed her an ID card.

She snorted. "Liar. This is psychic paper. It tells me whatever you want it to tell me."

Jack blinked, taken aback. "How do you know?"

"Two things. One, I have a friend who uses this all the time," Hazel began.

"Ah," Jack sighed.

"And two, you just handed me a piece of paper telling me you're single and you work out," she pointed out.

"Tricky thing, psychic paper," Jack muttered, having the grace to look a little embarrassed at least.

"Yeah," Hazel nodded, grinning. "Can't let your mind wander when you're handing it over." She gave it back.

Jack read it, and sighed. "'Not a chance, Romeo'? Jules, you wound me."

Hazel frowned. "Jules?"

"Juliet," Jack explained, before narrowing his eyes. "That's the right play, isn't it?"

She smiled. "Yeah. Maybe we should try and get along without the psychic paper?"

"That would be better, wouldn't it?" Jack nodded, laughing.

Hazel looked around appreciatively. "Nice spaceship."

"Gets me around," Jack shrugged.

"Very Spock," Hazel complimented.

Jack blinked. "Who?"

"Oh, come on! You know Shakespeare, but you don't know Star Trek? You are so not a local boy."

"A cell phone, a liquid crystal watch, and fabrics that won't be around for at least another two decades?" Jack raised his eyebrows. "Guessing you're not a local girl."

"Guessing right," she nodded, going to clap sarcastically, before hissing in pain.

"Burn your hands on the rope?" Jack guessed.

"Yeah." She froze as a bomb whistled past in front of them. "We're parked in midair! Can't anyoen down there see us?"

"No," Jack said impatiently. "Can I have a look at your hands for a moment?"

She frowned, holding them to her chest suspiciously. "Why?"

"Please?" He gave her puppy dog eyes, and she relented. "You can stop acting now," he muttered as he gently brushed his fingertips over her palms. "I know exactly who you are. I can spot a Time Agent a mile away."

"Time Agent?" Hazel echoed, trying not to sound too confused.

Jack nodded. "I've been expecting one of you guys to show up. Though not, I must say, by barrage balloon." He glanced up at her with a cheeky grin. "Do you often travel that way?"

"Sometimes I get swept off my feet. By balloons," she was quick to specify. "What are you doing?"

Jack wrapped his navy blue scarf around her wrists. "Try to keep still."

"Okay," she frowned. "Kinky?"

He winked at her, then pushed a button on the console. What looked like golden, glowing butterflies flew to her burnt palms, healing them. "Nanogenes," he corrected. "Sub-atomic robots. The air in here is full of them. They just repaired three layers of your skin."

Hazel smiled as the glow dissipated and he untied her wrists, his fingers warm on her chilled skin. "Tell them thanks."

"Shall we get down to business?" Jack suggested.

She blinked. "Business?"

"Shall we have a drink on the balcony? Bring up the glasses." He opened a hatch in the ceiling, and climbed out, carrying a bottle of champagne, before helping Hazel up with the flutes.

She laughed shakily, seeing the fires of London right below her feet. "I know I'm standing on something." Jack pressed a button on a remote control, and the ship appeared beneath them. "Oh, okay. You have an invisible spaceship. That's cool."

"Yeah," he smirked.

"Tethered up to Big Ben for some reason?"

"First rule of active camouflage," he told her, opening the bottle and filling the glasses she'd brought up. "Park somewhere you'll remember."

***

Nancy went to a hidden shack in some railway sidings and carefully hid the food she'd stolen from the house. When she stood up, she saw the Hunter watching her with a grin. "How'd you follow me here?" she demanded.

"I'm good at following," the Hunter shrugged, leaning in the doorway.

"People can't usually follow me if I don't want them to," Nancy frowned.

"Yeah, but there's actually a reason they call me the Hunter." She paused. "I think."

"Goodnight, miss," Nancy turned away.

"Nancy, there's something chasing you and the other kids," the Hunter stated hastily. "Looks like a boy and it isn't a boy, and it started about a month ago, right? The thing I'm looking for, the thing that fell from the sky, that's when it landed. And you know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

"There was a bomb," Nancy admitted. "A bomb that wasn't a bomb. Fell the other end of Limehouse Green Station."

"Take me there," the Hunter requested.

"There's soldiers guarding it," Nancy told her. "Barbed wire. You'll never get through."

The Hunter smirked. "Try me."

"You sure you want to know what's going on in there?" Nancy checked.

"I really want to know."

"Then there's someone you need to talk to first."

"And who might that be?" the Hunter asked.

"The Doctor." She froze.

***

"You know, it's getting a bit late," Hazel giggled, downing the last of her champagne as they sat on the roof of the spaceship. "I should really be getting back."

"We're discussing business," Jack told her, filling her glass back up.

She snorted. "This isn't business. This is champagne."

"I try never to discuss business with a clear head," Jack grinned. "Are you travelling alone? Are you authorised to negotiate with me?"

"What would we be negotiating?" Hazel asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I have something for the Time Agency," Jack confessed. "Something they'd like to buy. Are you in power to make payment?"

Hazel bit her lip. "Well, I... I should talk to my companion."

"Companion?" Jack echoed.

"I should really be getting back to her," Hazel nodded.

"Her?"

"Do you have the time?" she asked, sipping her drink. Jack pressed a button, and Big Ben's face lit up as it struck nine thirty. "Ooh, that was flash."

Jack smirked. "So when you say your companion, just how disappointed should I be?"

Hazel smiled at his persistence. "Okay, we're standing in midair..."

"Mmhmm," Jack inclined his head.

"On a spaceship, during a German air raid. Do you really think now's a good time to be coming on to me?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Perhaps not," he decided, nodding.

Hazel shrugged. "Wouldn't have worked anyway."

Jack smiled. "Do you like Glenn Miller, Jules?" He used his remote control again, and Moonlight Serenade began to play. He took Hazel into his arms, and they began to slowdance. "It's 1941, the height of the London Blitz, the height of the German bombing campaign, and something else has fallen on London. A fully equipped Chula warship. The last one in existence, armed to the teeth. And I know where it is, because I parked it. If the Agency can name the right price, I can get it for you. But in two hours, a German bomb is going to fall on it and destroy it forever. That's your deadline. That's the deal. Now, shall we discuss payment?"

"Do you know what I think?" Hazel asked.

"What?"

"I think you were talking just then," Hazel smiled.

"Two hours, the bomb falls," Jack stressed. "There'll be nothing left but dust and a crater."

She snorted. "Promises, promises."

"Are you listening to any of this, Jules?" Jack sighed.

"You used to be a Time Agent, now you're some kind of freelancer," she recited.

"Well, that's a little harsh," he smiled, spinning her. "I like to think of myself as a criminal."

Hazel laughed. "I bet you do."

"So, this companion of yours, does she handle the business?" Jack questioned.

"Well, I delegate a lot of that, yeah," Hazel nodded.

"Well, maybe we should go find her," Jack suggested, keeping them swaying in place.

"And how're you going to do that?" she raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"Easy. I'll do a scan for alien tech."

She grinned. "Finally, a professional."

***

The Hunter was looking through binoculars at the area Nancy had brought her to while the girl pointed things out. "The bomb's under that tarpaulin. They put the fence up over night. See that building? The hospital."

"What about it?" the Hunter asked, shifting her gaze.

"That's where the doctor is," Nancy said. "You should talk to him."

"For now, I'm more interested in getting in there," the Hunter stated, indicating the fenced-off area.

"Talk to the doctor first," Nancy pleaded.

The Hunter frowned. "Why?"

"Because then maybe you won't want to get inside," Nancy told her, then turned away and started walking.

"Where're you going?"

"There was a lot of food in that house. I've got mouths to feed." She shrugged. "Should be safe enough now."

"Can I ask you a question? Who did you lose?"

Nancy stopped in her tracks. "What?"

"The way you look after all those kids. It's because you lost somebody, isn't it? You're doing all this to make up for it," the Hunter assumed.

"My little brother. Jamie," Nancy admitted. "One night I went out looking for food. Same night that thing fell. I told him not to follow me, I told him it was dangerous, but he just... He just didn't like being on his own."

"What happened?" the Hunter asked quietly. She could empathise with losing a brother.

"In the middle of an air raid?" Nancy scoffed. "What do you think happened?"

The Hunter shook her head. "It's amazing."

Nancy frowned. "What is?"

"Well, 1941. Right now, not very far from here, the German war machine is rolling up the map of Europe. Country after country, falling like dominoes. Nothing can stop it. Nothing. Until one, tiny, damp little island says no. Not here. A mouse in front of a lion. You're amazing, the lot of you. Don't know what you do to Hitler, but you frighten the hell out of me." She smiled. "Off you go, then. Do what you've got to do. Save the world."

Nancy shook her head at her, and started to walk away.

***

Five minutes later, the Hunter was breaking into the hospital. Every bed she saw was occupied with a very still patient wearing a gas mask. She was looking over one of them when an elderly doctor appeared, leaning heavily on a walking stick.

"You'll find them everywhere. In every bed, in every ward. Hundreds of them," he stated.

She nodded. "Yes, I saw. Why are they still wearing gas masks?"

"They're not," he said. She narrowed her eyes a fraction. "Who are you?"

"Are you the doctor?"

"Dr Constantine," he nodded. "And you are?"

She showed him her psychic paper. "Dr Art Smith. Nancy sent me."

"Nancy?" he echoed. "That means you must've been asking about the bomb."

"Yes."

"What do you know about it?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. It's why I was asking. What do you know?"

"Only what it's done," Constantine shrugged.

The Hunter indicated the patients around her. "These people, they were all caught up in the blast?"

"None of them were," Constantine countered. His chuckle swiftly morphed into a racking cough, and he took a seat by the ward sister's desk.

"You're very sick," the Hunter noted.

"Dying, I should think," he agreed. "I just haven't been able to find the time. You said you were a doctor. Of medicine?"

"I have my moments," she inclined her head.

"Have you examined any of them yet?"

"No." She moved over to one of the patients.

"Don't touch the flesh," he warned.

"Which one?" she asked.

"Any one." After a moment of her looking at the patient, he coughed. "Conclusions?"

"Massive head trauma, mostly to the left side. Partial collapse of the chest cavity, mostly to the right. There's some scarring on the back of the hand and the gas mask seems to be fused to the flesh, but I can't see any burns," she reported.

"Examine another one," he suggested.

She took a quick look at the next patient, then frowned. "This isn't possible."

"Examine another."

She did so, and her brow furrowed deeper. "This isn't possible."

"No," Constantine agreed.

"They've all got the same injuries."

"Yes."

"Exactly the same."

"Yes."

"Identical, all of them, right down to the scar on the back of the hand," she noticed, fighting the urge to back up when she saw that same scar on Constantine's hand. "How did this happen?" she demanded. "How did it start?"

"When that bomb dropped, there was just one victim," Constantine stated.

"Dead?" she checked.

"At first," he admitted. "His injuries were truly dreadful. By the following morning, every doctor and nurse who had treated him, who had touched him, had those exact same injuries. By the morning after that, every patient in the same ward, the exact same injuries. Within a week, the entire hospital. Physical injuries as plague. Can you explain that? What would you say was the cause of death?"

"The head trauma," she guessed.

"No."

"Asphyxiation."

"No."

"The collapse of the chest cavity."

"No."

She narrowed her eyes. "All right. What was the cause of death?"

"There wasn't one. They're not dead." He hit a metal waste basket with his walking stick, and the patients all stood up. The Hunter automatically stepped back. "It's all right," he assured her. "They're harmless. They just sort of sit there. No heartbeat, no life signs of any kind. They just don't die."

"And they've just been left here?" she asked. "Nobody's doing anything?" The patients laid back again.

"I try and make them comfortable," he shrugged. "What else is there?"

"Just you?" she checked. "You're the only one here?"

"Before this war began, I was a father and a grandfather," he stated. "Now I am neither. But I'm still a doctor."

She bit her lip. "Yeah. I know the feeling."

"I suspect the plan is to blow up the hospital and blame it on a German bomb," he coughed.

"Probably too late," she guessed.

"No. There are isolated cases. Isolated cases breaking out all over London." He coughed again, and she made to help him, but he waved her away. "Stay back, stay back. Listen to me. Top floor. Room eight oh two. That's where they took the first victim, the one from the crash site. And you must find Nancy again."

"Nancy?" she echoed, eyeing him warily.

"It was her brother. She knows more than she's saying. She won't tell me, but she might - Mummy? Are you my mummy?" Starting with his mouth, Dr Constantine's morphed grotesquely into a gas mask.

"Hello?" an American voice called.

"Hello?" Hazel's voice echoed down the corridor. The Hunter looked up, starting to follow the noise.

"Hello?" The American man smiled when he saw her. "Good evening. Hope we're not interrupting. Jack Harkness." He shook her hand. "I've been hearing all about you on the way over."

Hazel hugged her. "Go with it," she whispered, before raising her voice. "He knows. I had to tell him about us being Time Agents."

"And it's a real pleasure to meet you, Uhura," Jack smiled, then walked past her into the ward.

The Hunter frowned. "Star Trek? Really?"

"What was I supposed to say?" Hazel asked. "I didn't think you'd want him calling you Art. Don't you ever get tired of Hunter?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Nine centuries in, I'm coping. Where've you been? We're in the middle of a London Blitz. It's not a good time for a stroll."

Hazel snorted, grinning cheekily. "Who's strolling? I went by barrage balloon. Only way to see an air raid."

"Wait, what?!"

"Listen, what's a Chula warship?" she changed the subject.

"Chula?" the Hunter echoed, narrowing her eyes.

They entered the ward to find Jack using what looked to the Hunter like a vortex manipulator to examine the patients. "This just isn't possible. How did this happen?"

"What kind of Chula ship landed here?" the Hunter questioned.

"What?" Jack blinked.

"He said it was a warship," Hazel supplied helpfully. "He stole it, parked it somewhere out there, somewhere a bomb's going to fall on it unless we make him an offer."

"What kind of warship?" the Hunter inquired.

"Does it matter?" Jack deflected. "It's got nothing to do with this."

"This started at the bomb site; it's got everything to do with it. What kind of warship?" she demanded coldly.

"An ambulance!" Jack exclaimed. "Look." He produced a hologram of it from his vortex manipulator. "That's what you chased through the Time Vortex. It's space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty, I made sure of it. Nothing but a shell. I threw it at you. Saw your time travel vehicle - love the retro look, by the way, nice panels - threw you the bait -"

"Bait?" Hazel echoed, frowning.

"I wanted to sell it to you and then destroy it before you found out it was junk," Jack admitted, sighing.

"You said it was a war ship," Hazel narrowed her eyes.

"They have ambulances in wars," Jack said defensively. "It was a con, Jules. I was conning you. That's what I am, I'm a con man. I thought you were Time Agents. You're not, are you."

"Just a couple more freelancers," Hazel admitted, smirking.

"Oh, should've known," Jack shook his head. "The way you guys are blending in with the local colour. I mean, Flag Girl was bad enough, but Ice Queen?" The Hunter shrugged at the description. "Anyway, whatever's happening here has got nothing to do with that ship."

"What is happening here, Artie?" Hazel asked.

"Human DNA is being rewritten by an idiot," the Hunter muttered.

Hazel frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Some kind of virus converting human beings into these things," the Hunter guessed. "But why? What's the point?" The patients suddenly sat up, and she froze.

"Mummy? Mummy? Mummy? Mummy?"

"What's happening?" Hazel wondered, watching them carefully.

"I don't know," the Hunter admitted.

The patients got out of their beds, and Dr Constantine joined them. "Mummy?"

"Don't let them touch you," the Hunter warned.

"What happens if they touch us?" Hazel inquired.

"You're looking at it," the Time Lady replied darkly, backing up as the patients closed in.

"Help me, mummy."

~~~

If you enjoyed, please like and/or reblog, and consider helping a girl out by donating to my Kofi! Thanks for reading :)

[another-sonic-blog]

Stages: Amy’s Day

Stages: Intimate Friends Pt. 4: Amy’s Day (Chapter 17)

Synopsis so far: After Maria left Shadow, Amy finally came to the realization that she has stronger feelings than she expected for the black and red one. However, Shadow doesn’t seem to have the same feelings for her. After sharing an intimate moment together, Shadow is afraid that Amy might leave him as well. He avoids her but after almost losing Mia (a young hedgehog girl that reminds Shadow of the old Amy) in a mission, he has come to the realization that he can’t imagine his life without his best friend, Amy.

What would happen to the couple? Let’s find out. 

2k 400

Previous: https://another-sonic-blog.tumblr.com/post/190952362000/stages-shadows-day

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Amy was at her new job. She was accepted as a sewer assistant, the pay was better than on her previous job. However, it was way more exhausting.

Her hands had stitches in them and even when she was wearing her globes she could she red coming out from her open wounds.

Amy kept using her sewing machine, she was fixing an old G.U.N. jacket. A black wolf had come by and dropped it. She couldn't avoid it, her mind went directly towards Shadow.

It has been three weeks since they have talked. No text messages, no meetings, nothing.

Amy had tried. She had gone to G.U.N. headquarters but Shadow denied to see her, saying that 'he was too busy at the moment.' She texted him, but no answer.

She even saw him on the street from her way back home and waved at him.

But he only pretended not to see her and walked the other way.

She stopped trying after that and focused on her new job.

Amy paid attention to the old black jacket. It wasn't like the other G.U.N jackets she had seen before. This one looked old, the leather was worn and it was bigger in the shoulder area. This jacket wasn't made for Mobians but humans. Nowadays, it was strange to see humans around, but there were some. Most of them were for here for political reasons.

Main example, G.U.N's top Commander.

Amy's mind began to drift towards Shadow again. What was he doing? Was he alright? Was he eating well?

Amy sighed, maybe it was better this way.

She wanted to stop loving him, and maybe the best way to do that is to have a break.

A lot was going around outside. Music, people laughing and parade carts going by the Main Street of Central City.

Of course, there were a lot of people. Princess Sally of Acorn Kingdom was here for the Star Festival.

Amy really admired her. The Princess led a revolution when she was only 15 and has led her kingdom to greatness since then. Even Sonic had admitted to having a crush on the young princess a long time ago, although he had only met her once.

Amy really wished she could see her. However, her job was tying her down. Not like she minds too much.

Ms. Lucy, her boss was kind. She had arthritis and due to it, she stopped sewing. She could only design clothes and Amy will make them. Ms. Lucy was an old grey rabbit, blue eyes and small. Really adorable. She owned the sewing store that focused on clothing reparations but the shop was also known for her clothing designs.  

Amy looked outside the store's window, hoping that someone way or another she could be able to see beyond the people who were blocking her sight.

She paid attention to the jacket again as she finished giving the final touches.

A beautiful jacket indeed.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Amy stood up quickly from her seat. She recognized that sound anywhere. Gunshots.

People began to panic. It was only three shots and that was all it took. Ms. Lucy wasn't in the shop for the day and Amy had the responsibility to look after it.

Amy put all of her things away. Dresses, sewing machines, treats, and everything at a high cost.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

For a moment, Amy had forgotten where she was. She opened her eyes and it was all dust and falling boulders. Amy could the outside of the shop now. Half of the store was completely destroyed. The bomb was a strong one and Amy flew to the wall, her back impacting on it. The moment she fell down, she had passed out.

She was lucky, she didn't break anything but she definitely had wounds and scratches. Amy had dust all over her and her clothes were teared up but she didn't care at the moment. She slowly stood up, her right ankle failing her.

She had probably sprained it.

Amy cough up multiple times before finally being able to get out to Main Street.

She got to work. Amy tried to help as much as she could. People were still panicking. They were running and kids were crying. She helped them find their mothers. Amy used her hammer to destroyed some boulders to free people that were trapped in the buildings that were bombed.

She coughs up again, this time stronger and louder. Her lungs could only take so much.

After making sure that there weren't more people in trouble, she went back to the sewing shop.

She entered the half-destroyed building and looked for the client's clothes that they left for repair. Amy looked behind the counter, the clothes were dirty and some of them were torn apart.

Ah, more work.

Amy grabbed as many garments as she could. She was about to walk out when suddenly, boulders fell from the top of the building. Although she wasn't as hurt as she expected to be. She was trapped. Rocks surrender her and normally she would be able to use her strength to move them. However, she was extremely weak now. She was wounded and it was a tight space and Amy began to panic.

She was getting out of breath, she felt her muscles tense and she couldn't see anything.

Everything was dark.

And she began to scream.

"Is this how I am going to die?"

She thought, and she begged for help until her last breath.

.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Amy slowly opened her eyes. She recognized the smell.

Hospital smell.

It was dark outside and Amy looked to her right side. An oxygen tank next to her and a small standing screen showing her heartbeats.

Oh, Chaos, how much is this going to cost?

"Finally awake sleepy head?"

Amy turned her left and there was her hero.

Sonic the Hedgehog.

"You saved me?" She asked, giving him a weak smile.

"Of course, who else?" Sonic smiled, he was seating on a chair next to Amy's bed. Amy immediately knew that there was something that Sonic was hiding from her. He was holding his hands, fingers intertwined and he tapped his right foot impatiently.

"Just tell me what it is already," said Amy.  

Sonic hesitated, he knew Amy was strong. However, he also knew that what he was about to tell Amy was something that might break her.

But it will be worse if she finds out in another way.

"To start ... no one was in the building, so there were no casualties." Sonic added, "I am so sorry Amy ..."

Sonic made a pause, still doubting himself. Amy at watching that there was no reaction coming from him, spoke up.

"What happened? You are scaring me just tell me."

"The Resistance ...There was a fire ... and it burned down."

.

Sonic thought Amy had taken the news very well. However, he should have known better than to keep an eye on her the moment she asked him to bring her a glass of water.

When he came back with it, she was gone.

And now, he was running to the Resistance's HQ. He got there fast and was surprised to see how quickly Amy got there as well.

There was nothing left of the Resistance. Only ashes, black dark ashes.

And the pink one in the middle of them.

Sonic was never a big fan of the Resistance. However, he appreciated and admired every member who was or is a part of it. Only a few things reminded. a few furniture and walls that luckily reminded.

He kept the details for himself. He didn't want to tell Amy that this wasn't an accident. Amy was always precautions and something like 'leaving the stove on' type of accident didn't exist for her.

Someone did this. Someone who was able to get inside the Resistance without the alarms going on. A smart person who fooled the few agents that were inside and one way or another made them get out of the building.

Did Amy had enemies? And if she did ... why attack now?

Sonic walked up to her. No word could describe his feelings at the moment. His heartaches and it was difficult for him to breathe. Sonic bent down as he touched Amy's shoulder but she immediately shrugs him off.

Sonic tried again.

"It's not safe here ... we should -"

Amy turned her head and looked at him. She was still covered in dust from the bombing, her hair a mess, her eyes red from crying.

Strong winds were coming from all sides making the ashes revolve around them.

"Stop pretending that you care ... just leave."

Hurt, pain, disappointment, anger, sorrow, regret. So many feelings but one overtook Sonic.

Helplessness.

"Amy ... I do care."

"YOU FUCKING LEFT ME! YOU AND TAILS, KNUCKLES AND CREAM! EVERYONE WANTED TO ME TO LEAVE THIS PLACE, TO GIVE UP ON IT! YOU MUST BE HAPPY THAT IT'S FINALLY GONE!" Amy turned her whole body as she pointed at Sonic with her finger. Accusing him as if all of this was his fault. Tears rolled down her eyes, remembering how every one of her friends left.

Sonic quickly grabbed her hand. Letting his feelings show, just for a moment.

"YES! I FUCKING AM, AMY! I HATE THIS PLACE SO MUCH BECAUSE IT REMINDED ME OF THE PEOPLE I COULDN'T SAVE! OF THE PEOPLE WHO DEPENDED ON ME AND I FAILED! IT'S FUCKING TORTURE FOR ME!"

They stood quiet for a few seconds, green eyes intensely looking at each other. Amy was so entranced in her world that she had forgotten how much Sonic and her friends had gone through.

Sonic was tortured for six months but she was sure that that didn't compare to the deaths he caused due to his absence.

Of course, Amy will never think like that ... but Sonic will think the worse of himself.

The Resistance was a place of many good memories and ... terrible ones. Members of the Resistance died there, and must of them had a big appreciation for Sonic. He was there for each of them but it wasn't enough.

And for each one of them ... Sonic blamed himself and more.

"Don't you think ... don't you think it tortures me too? That's why I want the Resistance so much." Amy whispered as her voice broke. " ... Because that way their memory will keep on. It's the only way to prove ... that they didn't die in vain."

Sonic expression softens, he knew that perfectly well and her feelings were valid. He grabbed her hand softly this time, caressing it.

"They died so people could have a better future ... If you are happy, they didn't die in vain."

Sonic saw Amy's face turn into grief. She cried disconsolately and Sonic hugged her, giving her comfort.

"It's time to move on ..." He whispered.

A few minutes passed, and Sonic watched Amy let out her feelings.

He knew that it wasn't the right moment. But his heart was telling him otherwise. He didn't need a response, he just needed to put it out, so his heart and soul can be at ease.

"I love you."

Sonic said and it came out almost like a whisper.

However, Amy heart every single letter of it.

"You don't have to say anything. I can wait. But I just wanted to let you know." said Sonic.

Sonic still held her tight, afraid that if he lets go, she would lose her.

But he knew that he had lost her a long time ago.

"I know that you like Shadow ... love him even." Sonic felt Amy tense up by that but he moved her away just a little to be able to make eye contact.

"Sonic, I-" Amy began but he interrupted her.

"You don't have to say anything. The way you look at him ... It was the same way you used to look at me." Sonic added with a sour smile. "It hurts actually, hehe."

"I am sorry ... believe me, I don't want to love him." Amy held his face with her hands as if pleading for forgiveness. "I want my heart to stop but I can't. I would do anything ... anything to love you again."

"Then ... use me."

Amy gulped, as she slowly puts her hands away from his face but Sonic was quick to grab her left hand and place it back on his cheek, missing her touch.

"I don't care if you use me to forget Shadow," said Sonic. "I messed up a lot with you ... and if you give me the honor to be with you ... I will try my best every day to make you fall in love with me again."

There were many things Amy was unsure of. But there was one thing she knew for sure.

Sonic was here now ... and Shadow wasn't.

"Even if it hurts you?" Amy asked.

"Yes," Sonic responded.

"Even if I decide to keep on loving him?"

"Yes."

"Even if I can't love you anymore?"

"Even if you can't love me anymore. Even if you decide to be with someone else." Sonic softly kissed her hand and looked at her in the eyes. "Because I know that I am not worthy of you ... I'll be happy as long as you are happy."

The moonlight shone in Amy's green emerald eyes and Sonic got lost in them again. Her crying made her nose and cheeks have a red tint, making her almost look ethereal.

She was a fallen angel in Sonic's eyes. With all of her imperfections, with all of her quirks ... Sonic loved each one of them.

"If you do that much then ..." Amy took a deep breath and sighed. "I promise that I will try my best to love again."

Sonic smiled, his heart was warm. That was more than what he could ask for.

And in the ashes of destruction, a new love was blooming.

Sonic gave her a small kiss on her forehead, letting his feelings be known.

"And I promise to keep on loving you no matter what."

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

A/N: It's 3:21 AM. Sonic and Amy are together now, how will Shadow react to the news? Who is this villain? We will find out next year. Goodbye.

Next: https://another-sonic-blog.tumblr.com/post/611417758901714944/stages-what-is-it

[lgbt-teenager-support]

Warning: Long post!!

@mercialachesis said:

Hey I was wondering if you could recommend some books or films with an agender character either main or side? Thank you !!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello! I'm sorry I couldn't answer your ask straight up, this post includes a lot of links.

I couldn't find very many books that describe the character as specifically agender, but there are a lot that use the words "gender fluid" "gender flux" "gender queer" and the like if you're ok with that! Summaries taken from Goodreads

Mask of Shadows - by Linsey Miller

"Sallot Leon is a thief, and a good one at that. But gender fluid Sal wants nothing more than to escape the drudgery of life as a highway robber and get closer to the upper-class and the nobles who destroyed their home. When Sal Leon steals a poster announcing open auditions for the Left Hand, a powerful collection of the Queen's personal assassins named for the rings she wears -- Ruby, Emerald, Amethyst, and Opal -- their world changes. They know it's a chance for a new life. Except the audition is a fight to the death filled with clever circus acrobats, lethal apothecaries, and vicious ex-soldiers. A childhood as a common criminal hardly prepared Sal for the trials. But Sal must survive to put their real reason for auditioning into play: revenge."

Symptoms of Being Human - by Jeff Garvin

"The first thing you’re going to want to know about me is: Am I a boy, or am I a girl? Riley Cavanaugh is many things: Punk rock. Snarky. Rebellious. And gender fluid. Some days Riley identifies as a boy, and others as a girl. The thing is…Riley isn’t exactly out yet. And between starting a new school and having a congressman father running for reelection in uber-conservative Orange County, the pressure—media and otherwise—is building up in Riley’s so-called “normal” life. On the advice of a therapist, Riley starts an anonymous blog to vent those pent-up feelings and tell the truth of what it’s REALLY like to be a gender fluid teenager. But just as Riley’s starting to settle in at school—even developing feelings for a mysterious outcast—the blog goes viral, and an unnamed commenter discovers Riley’s real identity, threatening exposure. Riley must make a choice: walk away from what the blog has created—a lifeline, new friends, a cause to believe in—or stand up, come out, and risk everything."

What We Left Behind - by Robin Talley

"Toni and Gretchen are the couple everyone envied in high school. They've been together forever. They never fight. They’re deeply, hopelessly in love. When they separate for their first year at college—Toni to Harvard and Gretchen to NYU—they’re sure they’ll be fine. Where other long-distance relationships have fallen apart, theirs is bound to stay rock-solid. The reality of being apart, though, is very different than they expected. Toni, who identifies as genderqueer, meets a group of transgender upperclassmen and immediately finds a sense of belonging that has always been missing, but Gretchen struggles to remember who she is outside their relationship. While Toni worries that Gretchen won’t understand Toni’s new world, Gretchen begins to wonder where she fits in Toni's life. As distance and Toni’s shifting gender identity begins to wear on their relationship, the couple must decide—have they grown apart for good, or is love enough to keep them together?"

The Tiger's Watch - by Julia Ember

"Sixteen-year-old Tashi has spent their life training as a inhabitor, a soldier who spies and kills using a bonded animal. When the capital falls after a brutal siege, Tashi flees to a remote monastery to hide. But the invading army turns the monastery into a hospital, and Tashi catches the eye of Xian, the regiment’s fearless young commander. Tashi spies on Xian’s every move. In front of his men, Xian seems dangerous, even sadistic, but Tashi discovers a more vulnerable side of the enemy commander—a side that draws them to Xian. When their spying unveils that everything they’ve been taught is a lie, Tashi faces an impossible choice: save their country or the boy they’re growing to love. Though Tashi grapples with their decision, their volatile bonded tiger doesn't question her allegiances. Katala slaughters Xian’s soldiers, leading the enemy to hunt her. But an inhabitor’s bond to their animal is for life—if Katala dies, so will Tashi."

Love Spell - by Mia Kerick

"Strutting his stuff on the catwalk in black patent leather pumps and a snug orange tuxedo as this year’s Miss (ter) Harvest Moon feels so very right to Chance César, and yet he knows it should feel so very wrong. As far back as he can remember, Chance has been “caught between genders.” (It’s quite a touchy subject; so don’t ask him about it.) However, he does not question his sexual orientation. Chance has no doubt about his gayness—he is very much out of the closet at his rural New Hampshire high school, where the other students avoid the kid they refer to as “girl-boy.” But at the local Harvest Moon Festival, when Chance, the Pumpkin Pageant Queen, meets Jasper Donahue, the Pumpkin Carving King, sparks fly. So Chance sets out, with the help of his BFF, Emily, to make “Jazz” Donahue his man. An article in an online women’s magazine, Ten Scientifically Proven Ways to Make a Man Fall in Love with You (with a bonus love spell thrown in for good measure), becomes the basis of their strategy to capture Jazz’s heart. Quirky, comical, definitely flamboyant, and with an inner core of poignancy, Love Spell celebrates the diversity of a gender-fluid teen."

Chameleon Moon - by RoAnna Sylver

"The city of Parole is burning. Like Venice slips into the sea, Parole crumbles into fire. The entire population inside has been quarantined, cut off from the rest of the world, and left to die - directly over the open flame. Eye in the Sky, a deadly and merciless police force ensures no one escapes. Ever. All that’s keeping Parole alive is faith in the midst of horrors and death, trust in the face of desperation… and their fantastic, terrifying, and beautiful superhuman abilities. Regan, stealth and reconnaissance expert with a lizard's scales and snake's eyes, is haunted by ten years of anxiety, trauma and terror, and he’s finally reached his limit. His ability to disappear into thin air isn’t enough: he needs an escape, and he’ll do anything for a chance. Unluckily for him, Hans, a ghostly boy with a chilling smile, knows just the thing to get one. It starts with a little murder. But instead of ending a man’s life, Regan starts a new one of his own. He turns away from that twisted path, and runs into Evelyn, fearless force on stage and sonic-superheroic revolutionary on the streets. Now Regan has a choice - and a chance to not only escape from Parole, but unravel the mystery deep in its burning heart. And most of all, discover the truth about their own entwining pasts. They join forces with Evelyn’s family: the virtuosic but volatile Danae, who breathes life into machines, and her wife Rose, whose compassionate nature and power over healing vines and defensive thorns will both be vital to survive this nightmare. Then there’s Zilch, a cool and level-headed person made of other dead people, and Finn, one of Parole’s few remaining taxi drivers, who causes explosions whenever he feels anything but happy. Separately they’d never survive, much less uncover the secret of Parole’s eternally-burning fire. Together, they have a chance. Unfortunately, Hans isn’t above playing dirty, lying, cheating, manipulating… and holding Regan’s memories hostage until he gets his way. Parole’s a rough place to live. But they’re not dead yet. If they can survive the imminent cataclysmic disaster, they might just stay that way…"

Black Sunrise - by Christina Engela

"When a single Ruminarii Hammerhead arrived to invade the small backwater Terran colony of Deanna, the people of Atro City went to meet them at the space port with open arms. (Perhaps ‘exposed’ is a better word?) Life as a private investigator, slash bounty hunter isn’t all Gary Beck wanted it to be. There weren’t any big mansions on a palm beach owned by an affluent writer generous enough to let him live rent-free and use his spare Ferrari. But then, you have to ask yourself, what could you expect living on a planet like Deanna? As a third rate colony in the Terran Empire, Deanna had more than its fair share of dull moments. It orbited a star called Ramalama. If you think that’s funny, Deanna’s two moons were called Ding and Dong, respectively. (This is a local joke.) Cindy Mei Winter hoped to put her violent and somehow depressing past behind her, but now it seemed her new beginning (and her holiday) were going to have to wait."

If Found Return To Astropop - by Lucas Hargis

"Unaware of one another’s gender or appearance, a poor, aspiring architect and a spoiled, free-spirited astronomy fanatic find themselves mutually smitten by reading each other’s journals. Genderfluid, sixteen-year-old Robin “Astropop” Chicory lost a journal three months ago. When a stranger (known only as Pippopotamus) secretly returns it, Astro discovers that Pip read their innermost thoughts and meticulously traced Astro’s past movements. Without meeting, Pip believes s/he is smitten with Astropop. Astro knows this because Pip wrote a heartfelt journal in response. Astro reads both journals side-by-side, amazed at how simple words on paper can exert a mutual gravity between complete strangers. As their tandem confessions and intimate stories tangle with the drama in Astro’s everyday life, Astro ends up hopelessly smitten with Pip, too. But because of distance, timing, and interference from the universe, it’s impossible for them to ever meet. When Astro flips to Pip’s last precious page, a supernova of hope explodes—a precise time and place where shy Pip will be waiting. Astro can finally meet the intriguing Pip, but fears their deep, inexplicable connection will be broken. And there’s the world-shattering chance the revelations of who they each truly are will eclipse their imagined versions of one another."

And here's the entire Goodreads list in case any books I didn't include speak to you! Hope this helped! For the life of me I couldn't find any agender movie characters :( If anyone knows of other books in this vein feel free to add!

-Mod Gaby

[just-a-sonic-fan]

I've 100%ed Forces

I have mixed but generally positive things to say. In order of Classic, Modern, CH, Tag Team, and then story and package as a whole. Expect spoilers, not on purpose but if I refer to something you haven't seen, yeah.

Classic Sonic is the weakest thing here. Even comparing his controls to Gens, he feels worse. His music all kinda blends together as Genesis twang to me, and he has the least amount of levels. The fact that he is is here cuz of Mania's ending is pointless. He doesn't do anything that only he could have done, like say, share knowledge of his experience with the Phantom Ruby, or even MEET Infinite, other than being in a crowd scene near the end. What he accomplishes in the story could have been done by any of them. That being said, Tails bounces off of him in a cute way, and his levels aren't impossible to get over with.

Modern is like he was in Gens, with some changes. Double jump is obviously back from Colors, but he can't wall jump, drift, and he can slide but the levels very rarely ask you to. He can however maintain boost midair, be it from a jump, running off the platform, or midair, he stays in boost until you let go or hit a wall or run out. Biggest problem with him is his jump controls very heavily and the double jump isn't as helpful as in Colors, you'll make stupid mistakes over many precise jumps. That being said, his levels, while short and heavy on the log stretches of boost, they work fine and are fun to play. They have more alternate routes than people will admit.

Custom Hero is fun. You basically have 3 different looks for each species' hairstyle, 7 different eyes, no tail options, but plenty of colors to pick from for body, skin, eyes, and base bodysuit if you're a girl. You do however have a LOT of options for clothing, but at the same time it's oddly limited. For every different bit of clothing, there are 2 others like it but with different colors and you'll make a few good looks, but there's not a lot in the way of casual clothing. Body items can sometimes be shirts, and Bodysuits can be worn underneath, but there's no dark blue to be used as jeans and anything short looks like super tight booty shorts. As for the shirts you get, there isn't a ton of variety for that, so if ur OC is dressed kinda like how a human would, prepare to get creative. While it is limiting, it's probably for the better, cuz my OC's design got way cleaner after I made him in Forces. As for gameplay, there are 7 different Wispons. Burst Flamethrower, Lightning Whip, Cube Hammer, Asteroid Gun (that functions like the mechs in SA2), Hover Fan, Drill Drill (dunno what to call that), and Void Black Hole Gun. They all have their use to them, but how they handle your movement when using them ranges from a dead halt, to a lurch forward, and less control over your speed. Plan accordingly. As for using the Wisps, you can only use what you have as your weapon, but the capsules sometimes change to accommodate you, like if you use Hover, Burst sometimes gets replaced with Hover or is there alongside it as they both let you travel through the air. Wisps can be used anywhere and don't replace the stage music, this is a nice evolution on the formula. The CH has some generally good stages by combining this with Modern but without boosting.

Tag Team levels are few and far between, but you basically have access to both Modern's Boost and double jump, and the CH's Wispon. They share the homing attack, stomp, sidestep, rail grind, so doing the Boost or Wispon is what switches who you control. None of them are terrible and the one near the end in the Metropolis area is amazing, even if it is simple.

As for the story, it's fun to watch, everyone is at their best, Charmy is actually the best he's ever been, the kid learned to chill. Sonic has some great characterization, and Infinite is a good villain, until you play Episode Shadow and see him lose his shit over getting beat you by Shadow that one time. Becomes a hypocrite if you read that Forces comic where he abandoned his squad cuz he got a taste of power and then later says you can't trust anybody but urself when HE'S the traitor. Problem is cutscenes are short and it doesn't answer some questions you might have. How did the Phantom Ruby come to be? How did it get there? Who fixed Omega? Who made the Wispons? Where are Cream and Blaze? What was Shadow doing for 6 months? Did Rouge know? If she did, why did she not speak up on the fake Shadows? Why did Shadow not speak up about Infinite's power? Is Infinite dead now? I have no clue! I hear more free DLC is coming to build it out, so here's hoping that it's good. The music has some gems here and there, but some of it blends together in my memory when I'm not playing. Missions are basically achievements to reward you with more clothing and Wispons, but some of them unlock more achievements as well, often becoming "Do this thing, now do this thing a few more times even though you already did it that amount of times but this achievement wasn't unlocked yet so it doesn't count". After you get all 5 Red Rings in a stage, going back unlocks 5 number rings from Lost World, get them in the right order. After THAT, 5 Moon Medals (nothing like the ones in Unleashed) that you have to get all of in a short amount of time. Red Rings unlock more side levels where you do a short little challenge of platforming around some gimmicks from Colors like the green disco shapes that shoot green energy, or the yellow blocks or the bomb blocks, but so far, the number rings and moon medals don't do anything, not even achievements, tho you do get trophies for them on PS4 and Xbone and PC, but I played the Switch version.

Overall, this is not the best Modern Sonic can do. The level design team here is 1 Lost World Dev and 2 newcomers. If this had the Gens team on it, it would be amazing, but it isn't, and as a result, we have short, beautiful, railroaded levels full of enemies to mow down and long stretches of road. If you liked Rush and don't mind some simple mindless going fast, this will be plenty of fun for you. My first run was pretty sour but now with my 100% save file, I enjoy making characters and running the stages with different music playing in my headphones. Soaring Together from NiGHTS Journey of Dreams while running Nullspace, Up-Set Attack from Jet Set Radio Future in Capital City, Rivers In the Desert from Persona 5 in Arsenal Pyramid, good stuff. Also, I love love love the look of the Metropolis area (completely unrelated to Metropolis of Sonic 2 and Grand Metropolis of Heroes). The colors, the clean futuristic city, the music, it's my cup of tea and more. I'm gonna stop ranting now. My hands hurt.

[burndownthehousetonight]

if your still doing the ultimate ship meme Light n' manic ^^

Ultimate Ship Meme - Open!

General:

Rate the Ship -  Awful | Ew | No pics pls | I’m not comfortable | Alright | I like it! | Got Pics? | Let’s do it! | Why is this not getting more attention?! | The OTP to rule all other OTPs

How long will they last? - These two are stable enough for each other, they’d last a long time

How quickly did/will they fall in love? - It took a few months and one pregmancy

How was their first kiss? - Cushy, experimental, and slightly awkward

Wedding:

Who proposed? - Manic

Who is the best man/men? - If Light’s the husband, probably Shadow.

Who is the braid’s maid(s)? - If Manic’s the bride, probably Scourge and his siblings. And Sonic’s dog. It’s always Sonic’s dog.

Who did the most planning? - SONIA

Who stressed the most? - Manic is waaaaaay less chill than Light can be

How fancy was the ceremony? - Back of a pickup truck | 2 | 3 | 4 | Normal Church Wedding | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Kate and William wish they were this big.

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? - WELL THEY SURE AS HELL CAN’T INVITE FINITEVUS NOW

Sex:

Who is on top? - Usually Manic, but they can switch it up

Who is the one to instigate things? - Manic, totally

How healthy is their sex life? - Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They are humping each other on the couch right now

How kinky are they? - Straight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head

How long do they normally last? - MAnic can last a while, but Light doesn’t last too long. Not that Manic minds of course

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? - Totally

How rough are they in bed? - Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it.

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? - No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory.

Children:

How many children will they have naturally? - At least the one

How many children will they adopt? - Manic loves kids, but how many they’d adopt or have naturally is anyone’s guess

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? - Manic wouldn’t mind too much

Who is the stricter parent? - SHADOW

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? - Light, every time

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? - Scourge, if you count a paper bag of twinkies and one (1) banana a lunch

Who is the more loved parent? - Manic’s the fun parent, so while they’re young, it would probably be him

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? - “Yes, hello, did my son, the PRINCE and sone to ME, the KING, do something wrong?” 

Who cried the most at graduation? - Light

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? - Manic probably got arrested with him

Cooking:

Who does the most cooking? - Like Manic can cook at all

Who is the most picky in their food choice? - Manic once ate a foil wrapper from a poptart on a bet, he ain’t Gordon Ramsey over here

Who does the grocery shopping? - Shadow, soon followed by Scourge buying chips and snacks that Shadow doesn’t want him buying for Cassio

How often do they bake desserts? - Maybe they’d take like one class on Light’s suggestion and fail miserably

Are they more of a meat lover or a salad eater? - Light doesn’t strike me as a meat eater, while Manic ain’t the biggest fan of salads

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? - With Light, it wouldn’t be a surprise. Manic’s plans wouldn’t be as fancy, but they’d be much more surprising when they happened

Who is more likely to suggest going out? - Light’s always bogged down with work, Manic would want him to have some fun

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidently while cooking? -    M A N I C

Chores:

Who cleans the room? - Light, always

Who is really against chores? - Manic’s used to doing work, but he still ain’t too jazzed about doing it

Who cleans up after the pets? - That’s a rude way to talk about Cassio

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? - SCOURGE

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? - Light has a whole diplomacy to worry about. Manic just sees a bunch of people

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? - I mean Light would be the one who cleans so I mean

Misc:

Who takes the longer showers/baths? - Manic grew used to taking short showers when he had the chance, but Light’s always lived in luxury

Who takes the dog out for a walk? - If they had one, they would probably let him run around the castle grounds and do whatever

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? - I imagine after restoration, probably very frequently

What are their goals for the relationship? - Rebuild the kingdom and make each other happy

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? - M A N I C

Who plays the most pranks? - They’re both little imps