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bimboamyrose · 4 years ago

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On The Scarlett Sea - Part 1 / 2

A ~Pirate~ Metamy Fanfic - [Link to Part 2] - [AO3 Link]

Synopsis When the world learns of a secret pirate treasure plundered from the Knuckles Clan’s ancient ruins over 300 years ago, Knuckles enlists the help of his friends, Amy and Tails, to retrieve and hide its most powerful artifact- a mysterious mirror that allows the user to become their most desired self. He isn’t the only one after the treasure, however; As Metal Sonic discovers the existence of the mirror, he forms his own crew of “pirates” to take it for himself. Along the way, he separates Amy from her friends and convinces her to help him make his greatest dream a reality- but what is that, really?

In collaboration with @mmm-asbestos & their pirate Metamy AU Merry Xmas / Happy holidays and stay well~

Part 1

There were few things Knuckles regretted more in life than meeting the self-proclaimed “World's Greatest Thief,” Rouge. As such, Amy knew she was in for a rant the minute she answered his call at the crack of dawn and heard him utter the bat’s name.

“Rouge is in the news!” he yelled into the receiver.

“Wha…” Amy rubbed her eyes. It was still dark out.

“Haven’t you seen the papers this morning?”

“You get newspapers on Angel Island?” she yawned.

“Turn on the news! This is important!”

“Alright, calm down...” Amy slid out of bed sleepily, still yawning as she flipped her living room TV on and threw herself onto the couch groggily. A news channel was running a segment on an archeological discovery that seemed to be making waves. Amy turned it up so Knuckles could hear on the other end.

“The centuries-old hiding place was found by none other than world-famous treasure hunter, Rouge the Bat. The former jewel thief was hired for her skills-”

“Former jewel thief?! Where are they getting their sources?”

“Quiet, I can’t hear!” Amy raised the volume further to drown out his yelling.

“- the discovery of a lifetime! We had an exclusive interview with the mastermind who helped find this historical treasure. Here’s what she had to say:”

Footage of Rouge sitting in a lavish armchair next to a roaring fireplace followed. “Well, you’ll be interested to hear that this isn’t the famed Captain Scarlett's treasure. It was a personal stash of journals and letters her wife left behind.

The camera cut briefly to a reporter sitting across from her. “And we understand that a possible map to the famous pirate’s real treasure was hidden among this?”

“That’s correct. I spent some days analyzing the documents and discovered they contain instructions on how to reach Captain Scarlett’s treasure. There are some hints as to what’s contained at the site as well. I’ll be sailing there with a crew in a few days!”

“Can you give us an idea of what you believe to find there?”

“Untold riches, of course!” Rouge gave a breathy laugh. “And perhaps some old artifacts- I understand she had an interest in ancient cultures,” she waved dismissively. “We’ll find out soon enough- I’m confident it’ll take no time to navigate there.”

“And we’ll be here on land waiting with bated breath for the historical discovery! Now back to-”

Amy muted the TV, her eyes finally adjusting to the dim early morning light. “So she was hired to find some old pirate treasure? Is that what you’re upset about?”

“The treasure she was hired to find happens to contain an ancient Knuckles Clan artifact! You need to get the others and come to Angel Island right away-”

“You’re mad about the possibility that Rouge will find some antique?”

“Antique! Amy-” she could hear him trying to restrain himself. “Listen to me, if this ‘treasure’ falls into the wrong hands, it’s going to be a mess to clean up. Get Sonic and Tails and come here as soon as you can. They’re not answering my calls and we need to speak in person.”

Amy groaned. It was far too early to be thinking about a new dangerous adventure- especially when they’d just stopped one of Eggman’s plots less than a week earlier. “Fine… at least let me have some breakfast first.”

“Make it quick!” he hung up.

“And they say I’m bossy,” Amy grumbled to herself. Before long, the sun’s rays shone brightly throughout her house and sleeping in no longer sounded comfortable. With a sigh, she got ready for the unexpected day ahead.

-----

“I never knew there was a catacomb under the altar…” Amy held a lantern out in front of her as she climbed down the steps.

“That’s ‘cause it’s a secret,” Knuckles responded gruffly. “Come on, I shouldn’t have to tell you to hurry it up!!”

Sonic and Tails trailed behind in a sleep-deprived state. They’d stayed up until morning playing games and were just getting to bed when Amy pounded on the lab door to retrieve them. She still wasn’t sure how Tails managed to land the plane on Angel Island. “Relax, Knux…” Sonic rubbed his eyes as he followed behind Amy.

“I’m gonna fall asleep in here…” Tails yawned.

“No sleeping!” Knuckles sealed the entrance and rushed ahead, leading the way. The rest of the group groaned in unison as they followed.

As they went, Amy noticed a ladybug had hitched a ride on her shoulder. “Aw, wouldn’t want you to get lost down here.” She picked up the small insect on the end of her finger and continued after Knuckles. After coming down a winding staircase and navigating a series of dark corridors, the team arrived in a small room with walls lined with scrolls and small relics with a hard wooden table in the center. Knuckles lit the torches on the walls and sifted through the contents of a stone shelf.

“I have a flashlight, you know,” Tails remarked.

“No flashlights! You’ll damage the texts.”

Tails mumbled under his breath. “I suppose lighting them on fire is better…”

“Quiet- look at this.” Knuckles brought out a large, yellowed scroll and a wooden box. Spreading the scroll across the table revealed what appeared to be a map of the ocean. “This is a map to that treasure Rouge is after.”

“Wait,” Amy interrupted, “You have one, too?”

Knuckles nodded. “This is Captain Scarlett’s map.”

Sonic leaned over the scroll. “Scarlett? Isn’t that the famous lady-pirate? Why do you have that?”

“Because,” Knuckles continued, “300 years ago, that damned pirate plundered the Mystic Ruins for its treasure. This map was found by an Echidna scholar over a century ago and it’s been here ever since.”

“So, this isn’t the first time someone finds part of Scarlett’s treasure?” Tails asked.

Knuckles scoffed. “Hardly. My people have been after that stash of letters that Rouge found for decades. We’ve been trying to keep the contents of ‘Scarlet’s’ treasure a secret since it was discovered what it contains- The Stone Mirror.” The others stared blankly at him, the object he was referring to having no meaning to them. He looked at each of them irately before continuing. “Really? Argh, fine; The Stone Mirror is a powerful artifact that can turn the user into their ‘most desired self’- whatever that means. Apparently, old Scarlett used it 300 years ago to become the world’s best pirate or something.”

“So… you want us to help you look for a magic mirror in the middle of the ocean?” Sonic asked.

Knuckles’ brow twitched. “Did you not just hear what I said? What if Eggman got a hold of this thing?!”

“What’s the big deal? We should be able to fly there-”

“No flying. This map is meant to be navigated by sea. Besides,” Knuckles opened the small box to reveal a compass and a crystal eyepiece. “This map only goes so far. We’ll need these once you get to this point to guide the rest of the way.”

“Let me see that,” Tails took the compass in his hands and waved it around the room. “Does this thing work? It doesn’t even point north.”

“It points to where it has to point once you get here,” Knuckles poked at a red X on the map.

“That literally makes no sense.”

“It’s what the scholar wrote down when she discovered this map!”

As they bickered, Amy carefully picked up the map and held it to the light. As it passed in front of a lantern, writing could be seen across one side of the scroll. The little ladybug that had ridden in on Amy’s shoulder flew onto its surface and crawled around. “Guys, look! There’s something written here.” The boys went silent as they leaned in to get a closer look at the neat cursive script. Amy read it aloud. “Hand in hand we sailed to the horizon that faithful evening. I looked into her glassy eyes for guidance as the sky above turned, Scarlett.”

Sonic shook his head. “This lady sounds lost.”

“Maybe,” said Knuckles, “But our best hope is to follow this map and figure it out from there. And get that bug off the map, would ya?” Amy allowed the little red insect to crawl back onto her hand before replacing the map on the table.

“Yeah, all I’m hearing is we’re gonna get ourselves stranded in the ocean. Count me out.”

“Are you serious?!”

“No way I’m getting on a boat just to get stuck in the middle of the sea,” Sonic crossed his arms stubbornly. “I’ll stay here and look after the Master Emerald.”

“No fair, why do you get to stay?” Tails complained. “I don’t wanna be on a boat, either!”

“I think it sounds fun,” Amy said, watching as the ladybug crawled around on her palm.

“This isn’t a pleasure cruise!” Knuckles yelled.

Tails’ ears drooped. “I’ll say. Sonic’s right, we’re gonna get lost. Don’t you have that scholar’s notes, Knuckles?”

“No.”

“But you know a little about what she wrote; where are they?”

Knuckles grumbled as he crossed his arms. “There was… a small fire…”

“No kidding,” Tails frowned.

“Bah- Will you help me or not? We need to get on a boat ASAP to beat that bat over there- she has all the same information in those documents she found!”

Rolling his eyes, Tails turned back to the map. “Fine. We can take my boat. But I need to take a better look at this map in some proper lighting.”

“Deal,” said Knuckles. “You in, Ames?”

“You can count on me! I already have our costumes planned out,” Amy giggled.

“Costumes…?” It didn’t feel like much of a deal to Tails, who’d just been roped into steering a boat for the next several days in whatever outlandish outfit Amy would choose for him. He rolled up the scroll begrudgingly and gathered the other trinkets into their box. Knuckles turned out the torches as the team spilled out into the corridor and followed him back up to the surface. They all squinted harshly as the mid-morning sun burned their eyes.

“Here you go,” Amy told the ladybug, placing it on a small flower. “Hope you find your way back home okay.” She watched it crawl around a bit before spreading its wings and buzzing away happily. She smiled as it flew off, pleased that it was able to make it back to the surface with her help. Once it was out of her sight, Amy joined her friends in making their plans to sail off in the next few days.

The shiny little insect flew and flew, ascending far higher and speeding up to a far quicker pace than any ladybug reasonably should. It continued off the edge of Angel Island, floating high above the land, the sea, then the clouds. It didn’t take the ladybug very long to reach its destination, flying into a tiny steel vent and into a cold, metallic fortress. Once aboard the Egg Carrier, it made its way into a small lab where it landed on a steel desk, ready to address its master.

“It is about time you returned…”

The ladybug spread its wings once more, this time flying into the minuscule port on a computer that topped the desk. A video appeared on the screen that took up the wall ahead, displaying a first-person view from the bug’s perspective. It flew toward Amy Rose, landing on her shoulder just as she descended into a secret passage.

A young boy’s voice was heard. “I’m gonna fall asleep in here…”

“No sleeping!” a gruff voice responded.

“Aw, wouldn’t want you to get lost down here,” Amy could be heard saying before the view changed to atop her finger.

“Interesting.” Metal Sonic locked his fingers together, resting his chin over his thumbs as he leaned in to listen closely. “What are our little heroes up to now?”

----

The following morning, Eggman raised a brow as he enjoyed his coffee with the early news. A field reporter was live from a marina where a crime was committed earlier that day. The spot at the docks where a historic pirate ship normally floated was empty.

“They just sailed off in her!” a frantic man said on TV. “We had a wedding planned there for this afternoon! What are we supposed to do now?”

The show cut back to the news anchor. “The historic Royal Fortune, the antique pirate ship that still operates tours and events to this day, was stolen early this morning as the thieves marooned the crew on a nearby sandbar. The criminals are described as armored and wearing black hooded cloaks. If anyone has news regarding her whereabouts-”

“Hmm…” Eggman muted the show as he heard a loud, metallic clanking forming from the corridor. Metal Sonic strode in from outside the floating fortress with two Silver Sonic Prototypes close behind. All were mysteriously clad in black hooded cloaks as the small minions each carried oversized boxes above their heads.

Eggman leaned back in his chair to look out through the open doorway. “Metal, where were you so early?”

The three robots stopped in their tracks as Metal Sonic turned around to address him momentarily. “Out.” He continued forward without another word.

“I gave you the ability to talk so you could use it, you know,” Eggman grumbled. He took another sip as a loud doorway could be heard opening and shutting down the hall. With a sigh, the old man shook his head, wondering what the dark cloaks were about. Why would they hide their identities to steal the stupid ship? What is he even up to? he asked himself before going back to his coffee.

Once in the privacy of Metal Sonic’s lab, boxes were ripped open and long capes were thrown aside. Metal Sonic stood in front of a full-length mirror examining his freshly painted armor, glittering gold accents reflecting the dull fluorescent lighting. Each of the pint-sized prototypes had received chromatic silver paint jobs as well to differentiate them from the dozen or so other identical bots that performed various tasks around the airship. They both sorted through the boxes, throwing various period garments about the room haphazardly.

Clothes were strewn everywhere by the time Metal Sonic noticed the mess they were making. “I told you two to find me something to wear, not wreck my lab!” The identical minions looked at one another blankly. One of them picked a pair of stays up from in front of him and held for his master to observe. Metal snatched the undergarment from the smaller robot’s clamps and threw it aside. “That is not what I meant!” He picked up a nearby book and ripped it open to a page containing an illustration of a pirate captain. “Find me this,” he pointed at the pirate’s jacket gruffly.

His claw made a loud CLANG against his forehead, saluting Metal before stretching an extendable arm across the room to retrieve a navy coat with gold accents that had been tossed aside. Once in his possession, Metal Sonic draped it over his shoulders and examined his reflection once more. “Hmm… A bit restrictive. H3, scissors.” The other lackey robot took the command, fetching a pair of scissors from a drawer and presenting them to his master. Metal proceeded to chop the coat up into little more than an open vest adorned with golden epaulets draped with tassels at each shoulder. He belted the reconstructed jacket around his waist and stared at his reflection. “What do you think? Missing something?”

The two henchmen examined the book’s illustration again. One of them shot up and dove into one of the boxes, returning with a tricorn cap. He extended his arm and placed the hat atop Metal Sonic’s head while the other clapped his bulky claws together.

“I don’t know…” Metal rested his hands on his hips pensively. “What are you two wearing?”

H3 and his counterpart, H4, looked toward one another with a shrug. They dug through the pile, each digging out a solid-colored scarf. H3 wrapped his blue one around his head like a bandana while H4 tied a red one to his waist. They looked each other up and down for a few moments before deciding in unison to switch their color choices, H3 snatching the red bandana from his brother and pulling it over his head while H4 made a belt of the blue one after ripping it from atop the other’s head. They high-fived to commemorate the decision, their little clamped hands rattling together as they made contact.

“Fine, fine…” Metal waved them off, glancing back at the book once more. The captain sported a sword at his waist. At the bottom of one of the boxes rested an antique cutlass that resembled the one in the drawing, but dulled at the edge. “Yes… This will do.” He picked up the weapon and brandished it ahead of his body “If Sonic’s friends are dressing for the occasion, so shall we!” he cackled. “H4, make sure this gets sharpened,” he barked as he thrust the sword into the minion's hands. “H3, clean up this mess. I have work to do.”

With that, each of the minions loudly saluted Metal Sonic before attending to their tasks. Metal leaned over his desk as the video of the heroes reappeared on the large screen ahead. He was disappointed to learn that he wouldn’t be facing his rival, Sonic- the coward had decided to stay on land. Metal looked from one of their faces to another before settling on Amy Rose’s cheerful expression. “Yes… She will do.” Metal concocted his plan, reveling in the knowledge that once he obtained the Stone Mirror, he would manifest into a form that not Sonic nor his friends could hope to stand a chance against.

Metal had spent much of the last year spying on Sonic and his friends, waiting for an opportunity when he could be one step ahead. He had grown to resent Eggman and his half-baked plans over the years, existing only as an obstacle to the heroes who always seemed to be prepared. Eggman understood this, or at least knew that Metal had begun taking his own initiative when it came to plotting against his rival. When he caught the robot surveilling the team, he made the decision to encourage him, wanting to take advantage of the part of Metal that could think just like his rival. Soon, Metal had been outfitted with a lab of his own and two henchmen to command. Eggman had upgraded him with the ability to speak and emote more expressly not long after, which Metal found both vexing and enthralling, now taking every opportunity to put his thoughts into words.

But Metal ultimately resented this as well as he had no desire to lean on his master. What he yearned for most greatly was to have the independence and autonomy to act on his own. Though Metal wasn’t disloyal to him, Eggman’s incompetence ironically prevented him from accomplishing his objective of eliminating Sonic. Since then, Metal took what he’d been offered as if a birthright and accepted nothing more, opting to source his own necessities. Everything from research to obtaining materials was to be accomplished by him personally- a task he did not take lightly. And because this was the first- no- the only time he would need to defeat his foes, it only made sense to do it in style.

Perishing the thought that whatever deep-seated programming compelled him to these theatrics was likely due to Eggman’s own influence, Metal had gotten to work studying the life of pirate legend Captain Scarlett. Metal did a poor job at hiding the excitement that befell him as he read everything he could process that regarded pirating. Perhaps it was the high stakes and endless freedom the seafaring criminals seemed to command- and what a very “Sonic” thing to be attracted to. He laughed to himself about his organic counterpart’s apparent fear of the ocean.

Then again, it was probably just the dramatic aesthetics.

The old pirate captain had a flair for the dramatic herself. Metal’s research showed that she often left secret messages in her documents such as the one discovered by Amy Rose in that map of theirs, as well as the letters that had been uncovered. Many of the “mysteries” uncovered through time appeared to be rudimentary puzzles really, it was bewildering how the treasure had remained hidden for so long. Still, he didn’t have a map of his own, and tailing the heroes would only get him so far. Metal knew from past experience that the bubbly girl was rather sympathetic. A savior complex, he thought as he studied his past interactions with her. She was the perfect pawn to manipulate into leading him right to the Stone Mirror.

The video was paused on a frame of Amy and her sunny smile. He recalled their first meeting when he captured her and how helpless she had been; But the girl had grown strong over the years, impressing even him with her combat technique. Amy decidedly wasn’t one to be taken lightly anymore, and he would have to be cautious. The compassion she showed towards most creatures was her real weakness, one that was easy to take advantage of. He played back a compilation of videos he’s taken of Amy Rose; her beaming complexion, the charismatic giggle in her voice, the tender pleading in her eyes…

None of that matters! He shook the thought from his head. What he really needed to understand were the driving factors behind her empathy. What could he use against her? He fast-forwarded to a scene of her and the rest of the group reminiscing about past adventures.

On-screen, Amy sat between Sonic and Tails in the sand, all enjoying an afternoon together at the beach. Knuckles could be heard off-screen. “Yeah, I still can’t believe Amy convinced that robot to let her go! What was it called again?”

“His name was Gamma. Honestly, he was able to think for himself after we became friends- it didn’t take much to convince him that he could disobey Eggman if he wanted to.” she twirled the front of her spines bashfully.

Sonic laughed. “Well good thing you made friends with him! I nearly turned him to scrap metal.”

“Come on, he did a lot of good before… you know.” There was some sadness in her eyes.

“Yeah,” Sonic agreed. “Hey, maybe you could convince Egg-head to do some good for once, too.”

Metal paused the video as they laughed together. “He did a lot of good.” Yes, Metal knew exactly how to get the sweet girl on his side- he was confident it wouldn’t take much convincing on his part, either.

The lab door was suddenly slammed open. “H4, what have I told you about-” Metal paused, faced not with his lackey but with a very animated Eggman.

“Metal! I just saw H4’s new paint job- excellent work! We should outfit all the prototypes with it,” he bellowed.

Narrowing his eyes, Metal turned back toward the screen to brood silently.

Eggman took a few steps into the room before continuing. “Tell me, though, what’s with all the pirate outfits? You putting on a show?” he feigned ignorance over the stolen ship and nudged the box closest to him with his foot. H3 popped his head out from the pile of clothes within with a clanky salute. “This one too, eh? I like the look.” There was no response from Metal but the quickening hum of his turbine as he grew annoyed at the interruption. “That hat will probably impede your hearing, though…”

He continued taking steps into the room, stopping just behind Metal to join him in looking at the screen ahead. It was still paused on a still of Amy looking cheerful. “Studying our heroes again, are we? You sure seem to like this one... She’s pretty cute.”

Metal whipped around to face him once again, this time with blazing eyes. “What are you-”

“I bet you could kidnap her again easily,” Eggman interrupted with a grin and a snap of his fingers.

“Get out!” Metal roared, rising from his seat.

Eggman laughed heartily. “Alright, alright- tell me if you need anything for your little production!”

As the scientist turned on his heel and made his way back toward the open door, H4 was scuttling in with the now sharpened cutlass held carelessly above him. He came to a skidding halt at the sight of Eggman, bringing his hand up to his forehead and dropping the sword noisily on the steel floor in the process. The man cackled at him, bending down to pick up the weapon and examine it. “Nice sword, not that you need it. Teach your lackeys to be a little more careful with sharp objects, hm?” Eggman tossed the sword to Metal, who caught it effortlessly, rolling his eyes.

“... Fine.” he finally responded before taking his seat again and swiveling back toward the giant monitor. He shut off the program that played back the videos.

“Atta boy.” With that, Eggman made his way out of the room. H4 shot out his arm, slamming his claw against a button that shut the door behind him.

The sword gleamed in the harsh lighting as Metal held it up to inspect. Eggman was correct, of course- Metal didn’t need a weapon- he was one. But the added flourish couldn’t hurt, he thought as he swung it through the air, a small WHIP whispering across the room each time he waved it. Metal wouldn’t admit it even to himself, but his creator had a point about his interest in Amy Rose, as well...

An alert flashed on the screen ahead before he could be forced to think about it. “GPS Tracker Activated”. A map popped up showing a blinking red dot, indicating the location of Tails’ boat.

“Finally…” Metal stood, raising a foot on his chair and brandishing the cutlass proudly. “Prepare the ship- we sail at dawn!”

-----

Amy yawned as she got dressed the following morning. The TV was tuned to the news, where a reporter was commenting on the authorities’ inability to find any leads in the case of the Royal Fortune’s theft. “Weird…” Amy remarked to herself out loud. She was tying a blue ascot around the collar of her dress- a white, long-sleeved piece with blue stripes at the hem and cuffs. She had purchased the sailor suit impulsively with the hopes of going sailing leisurely with her friends, but she supposed a maritime mission was occasion enough.

Hearing the whistle of a boat in the distance, she quickly pinned on her hat and slung her duffel bag over her shoulder. She lived on the beach and the boys had agreed to meet her there before sailing off. The whistle howled once more and she hurried out of her little shack, running toward the shore. “I’m here already! Quit hollering,” she grumbled. A steel ladder was lowered and she tossed her bag for Knuckles to catch before climbing her way up.

The boat was nothing like the pirate ship she’d seen on TV that morning. It was a sleek white vessel with blue chrome accents that glittered in the early sunlight. The small yacht was equipped with every manner of boating technology that Tails could cram onto it. A door beneath the elevated helm opened to reveal a set of stairs leading down to the main quarters. Knuckles lugged Amy’s bag over his shoulder, beckoning her to the opening.

“Wait! Before you put that away…” Amy unzipped the front pocket.

Knuckles grumbled. “Before I put it away?”

“Yes, thank you for that,” she chuckled, pulling out a pair of themed hats- a sailor’s cap similar to her own, and a white service cap with gold accents. “I figured you guys would prefer these to clothes.”

“Hmm,” Knuckles examined the headwear as she unfurled each one and held them up. “I suppose a captain’s hat would be fitting…” he reached out to take it from her when Tails suddenly interrupted.

“Uh, my ship- If anyone’s captain, it’s me.”

With an incredulous look, Knuckles turned his chin up to address him. “My mission, my hat- I’m captain. You’re navigating.”

“Oh and I suppose this boat’s gonna steer itself?” Tails said in a mocking tone.

“You think I don’t know how to drive a boat?” Knuckles was yelling now.

“Like I’d let you even if you could.”

“Alright,” Amy interrupted, “That’s enough- we have to be on this boat together for the next week. You two better get along!”

“Fine,” Knuckles crossed his arms. “Who do you think should be captain?”

“Tails,” she responded without hesitation.

“What?!”

Tails snickered from above. “Do you even have a boating license, Knuckles?”

His expression of rage quickly turned blank. His teammates both watched as the gears seemed to turn in his head. “... No.”

Amy and Tails both broke out into a fit of laughter. Knuckles snatched the sailor’s cap from her hand and stomped down the stairs with the duffel bag, grumbling choice words under his breath. “Here you go,” she tossed the captain’s hat up to Tails.

“Thank you,” he smirked triumphantly. “We’re ready to go- let’s let Sonic know before we sail off.” Amy made her way up and stood by him as Tails made a video call on a tablet. Sonic appeared on it a moment later.

“Yo,” he winked. “Looking good, guys.”

“Thank you,” Amy giggled bashfully.

“We’re about to sail,” Tails interjected before she could start chatting. “Everything good on your end?”

“Yep, just me and the Master Emerald. Pretty boring…”

“Don’t let Knuckles hear you say that.”

The three shared a chuckle before Amy and Tails waved to Sonic and signed off. The boat’s ladder ascended from the sand as Tails made the final preparations to sail. Knuckles reemerged from the doorway below as the vessel began moving, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand.

“Where’s your uniform, skipper?” Tails chortled, noticing that he hadn’t donned the white and blue cap.

“Watch it,” he threatened, eyes fixed on the horizon.

As the boat slid away from the shore and into the open ocean, Tails and Amy chuckled to themselves, ready for the adventure ahead. Unbeknownst to them, however, they weren’t the only ones tracking their whereabouts.

Back at the Egg Carrier, Metal and his lackeys were getting ready to mobilize.

The three bots snuck out of the lab and through the steel corridors, making sure to fly to keep noise to a minimum. It was dark- Eggman either wasn’t up or was too fixated on his work to notice them anyway. Once they reached the outdoor deck, each landed on the edge for a moment, H3 and H4 awaiting commands. “We will stay off their radar by remaining some distance away, and intercept them at this first meeting spot,” Metal explained. “But we need to catch up. Now, to the ship!”

But before he could lift off, a mechanical squeaking caught Metal’s attention from behind. He turned his vision to the distraction, claws outstretched in case someone was trying to stop him. His gaze was met by that of another Silver Sonic Prototype, who then imitated the awkward saluting motion the other two greeted their masters with. Metal narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously but lowered his guard. “What is the meaning of this?”

The small robot seemed to pull a yellow bandana from out of nowhere and quickly tied it below his muzzle, looking back up at Metal Sonic with his permanent sly grin. Metal scratched his chin pensively. “You wish to join us?” The prototype’s joints squeaked as it bobbed its head quickly and violently, causing Metal to slap his hand atop it like he was hitting a switch. “Enough! You’ll alert the others. Hm… State your serial number.” He lifted his right foot to reveal a string of numbers written on the sole, the last of which were “H1.”

“Ah, the very first…” Metal processed the unexpected interruption for a moment. He didn’t know how the robot had discovered his intentions, but there wasn’t much time to lose. At this point taking the additional support with him would at least keep word from getting to Eggman if H1 made a fuss. Metal supposed he could just deactivate him and toss him overboard, but…

“Very well, you may join me... But your outfit needs work. I’ll brief you on the ship- move!”

H1 threw its hands in the air with excitement, the four of them taking off. Metal Sonic lead the charge to the ship anchored about a mile away as they shot down through the high clouds.

-----

“Are we there yet?” Amy groaned from a lounge seat on the upper deck. The excitement from that morning had slowly turned to a boring exhaustion as the day dragged on. It was impossibly hot- the sun’s rays intensified by the inescapable humidity. The sun would be setting in another hour and they’d all been up since dawn, but Amy was the wariest.

“You know this is gonna take days, right?” Tails yawned. He had joined her on the deck while the boat was on auto-pilot, not intending to change direction for some time.

“I thought this first place was supposed to be close…”

“Yeah, it’s only a 12-hour boat ride,” he shrugged sarcastically. “But who knows how far the actual treasure is?”

“You two need to stop your belly-aching, you’re already getting on my nerves.” Knuckles was seated cross-legged on the roof of the helm. The others were sure he’d bake to death.

“Easy for you to say, all you do all day is sit around!” Amy huffed.

Tails checked his tablet, which he’d equipped with a navigator. “We’re actually pretty close… We’ll be coming up on these coordinates in about 20 minutes.”

Amy stretched her arms in an attempt to liven herself up. “Great! Then we have to figure out this weird puzzle…”

“I’m sure it’ll be obvious once we’re there,” said Knuckles. Tails couldn’t help but think he sounded awfully confident for someone who had no idea how to navigate.

“Hey, what is that…?” Tails hurried to take a pair of binoculars from his equipment and ran to the bow, staring into the horizon. The others listened in, Amy sitting up in the chair and squinting her eyes ahead. “Uh, there’s another boat over there… a big one.” The team all scrambled to the front of the boat, trying to look through the binoculars at once. A bright white ship could be seen in the distance- at least three times the size of Tail’s boat but just as modern. As they inched closer, some of the crew could be seen pacing around the main deck.

“Give me those,” Knuckles snatched away the binoculars for himself, zooming in on the ship’s bow as close as he could get them to focus. “You have got to be kidding me…”

“Rouge.” The woman he considered his arch-rival was sauntering about the bow of her ship, the stitched-together map in hand as she conversed with some crewmates. Two men each lugging a huge camera over their shoulder stood on either side of them. Amy and Tails groaned upon hearing Knuckles utter her name with disdain, knowing the squabbling that would come next. He watched as she squinted in the direction of their boat once they were in view of one another.

Tails brought his vessel in close to her ship, which towered above theirs. Rouge had to lean over the side railing to look down at the team. “Oh my, what is it you want?” she frowned.

Knuckles raised a foot to rest on a railing of his own. “We’re after Scarlett’s treasure, and you’re in our way.”

“I mean, they’re not really in our way,” Tails grumbled. “Can you take your foot down from there?”

“Quiet,” Knuckles held a palm up to him, chin still pointed up at Rouge.

One of the cameramen leaned over next to her, pointing his recording device directly at Knuckles. Rouge continued with a smirk. “It looks like we have some competition- not that they stand a chance at finding it before I do.”

Knuckles squinted. “What’s with the cameras?”

“Cameras?” Amy skipped over next to him and waved up at the ship. “Are you guys making a movie?”

“A documentary,” Rouge nodded. “And you look so cute. What do you think of this?” Rouge batted her wings and flew up to hover just above the railing, the camera following her as she did. She wore a brocade bustier over a lacey flared-sleeve linen blouse and fitted black trousers tucked into leather boots. She looked like a true pirate.

“Oh,” Amy beamed, “Gorgeous!”

Knuckles raised his voice as his vexation grew. “What the hell is happening? Why are you dressed like that?”

“Aesthetic,” she shrugged. “And how did you find this place, anyway? Are you tracking us?”

“I’ll have you know that treasure you’re after contains sacred Knuckles Tribe artifacts, and we have Captain Scarlett’s original map.” Knuckles crossed his arms confidently.

“No kidding?” Rouge pouted. “Well, good luck- we’ve been here for hours and can’t figure out where we’re supposed to go from here.”

“Typical!” Knuckles shot back.

“Hmph- If you’re so knowledgeable, hotshot, let’s see you navigate from here!” Rouge flew off out of sight with the cameraman on her heels.

“Whatever-” Knuckles marched up to the helm where Tails had already begun studying the map. “So... where do we go from here?”

“Beats me…” he shrugged.

“Are you serious?”

Amy joined them, picking up the crystal eyeglass and bringing it to her eye. She expected it to magnify things, but it didn’t appear to be a telescope. “Well, this has to have something to do with it. Hmm…”

“Don’t forget the compass.” Tails brought it up to eye-level. “It’s pointing south by south-west. Weird.”

“What did the map say again?”

Tails held it up to the light, reading aloud. “‘Hand in hand we sailed to the horizon that faithful evening. I looked into her glassy eyes for guidance as the sky above turned, Scarlett.’ Whatever that means…”

“‘Sky above turned’... Like, turned to night?” Amy raised the eyepiece up high. The soft blue sky turned an intense shade of cobalt when viewed through the glass. “Ohhh, how pretty,” she remarked. “Glassy eyes…” Amy turned to tails with a gasp.

“The eyeglass!” they said in unison.

“But do we have to look up at the sky during the nighttime then?” Tails scratched his chin.

“I don’t think we’ll see much at night with this thing- it just turns everything blue.”

Knuckles took it from her, glancing through it with one eye. “What’s this even for?”

“I thought it was a spyglass, but it doesn’t magnify anything. It’s just a blue glass at the end.”

“That’s useless…” The three of them pondered on it as the sun neared the horizon. It would be dark soon- they didn’t want to be stuck there trying to figure it out overnight. Both teams were so deep in contemplation that they hardly noticed a third object approaching on their radar until it could be seen in the distance.

“Is that a pirate ship?” Rouge could be heard from her ship’s deck. She flew up to get a better look through a telescope. “Do you guys have anything to do with this?” she accused.

“Uh, definitely not” Tails answered, glancing through his own binoculars. He zoomed in as far as the lenses allowed. A lanky figure with a spiky head could just barely be made out. “Is that… Sonic?”

“What? Gimme those,” Amy yanked them away from him to look. “Hey- isn’t that the pirate ship that was stolen yesterday?”

“You’re right!” Rouge shouted. “And that does look like Sonic…”

Amy gasped in realization. “That’s not Sonic… That’s Metal Sonic.”

“Oh great, now we gotta deal with Eggman, too?” Knuckles groaned. “What could he want?”

The ship was fast approaching. Rouge shouted orders at her crew, instructing them to ready their weapons. The TV crew scrambled around frantically, trying to catch all the action. Amy and Knuckles looked at Tails expectantly, not having anticipated getting into a battle at sea.

“I got this. Everyone get close!” Amy gathered the map, eyepiece, and compass and held onto them tightly as they scurried together at the helm. Tails entered a set of commands and the boat began to separate in two, bisected vertically to make way for an enormous cannon that rose from beneath the deck. The helm was raised up and back, a shield forming around it like a cockpit. “Knuckles, cannon. Amy, be on the lookout from the starboard and stem. I’ll keep an eye on the port side while I steer.”

“Roger!” they shouted in unison.

Metal Sonic’s ship approached from the south, circling around both vessels as it came close. “Ahoy!” his voice came shouting out of a speaker. He cackled as his opponents all seemed to look to one another with bewilderment.

“Could he always talk?” Tails asked his friends.

Amy shuttered. “Not always…”

Rouge’s voice was amplified by a megaphone as she flew above her ship’s bow to address Metal Sonic. “Tell us what The Doctor is up to!”

“‘The Doctor’ has nothing to do with this. I’m here for her,” he extended a long, spiked claw to point directly at Amy, who jumped at the announcement.

“Wh- Me?”

“Yes, you. Now come, join my crew!” His hand closed into a fist as he made the demand. No one was more dumbfounded than Amy. At a loss for words, she looked incredulously at Metal Sonic. “Well, come on, I haven’t got all night.”

Shaking her head of the confusion, Amy finally answered. “Uh… no thanks?”

Everyone turned their attention back to Metal. He narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms behind him authoritatively. “Are you sure?”

All eyes shifted back to Amy. She was red as a tomato at all the attention. “P-positive…”

“Hm, very well.” Metal took some steps back onto the deck of the Royal Fortune, turning away from the others. Rouge held a hand back to her crew, a few of whom stood on the deck behind her with rifles. Tails and Amy glanced at one another while Knuckles held his fighting stance. Then, Metal spoke again. “We’ll do it the hard way, then.”

Without warning, a cannon exploded in the direction of Tails’ boat. The three hit the deck as the cannon fodder made contact and shook the vessel. Rouge’s crew opened fire on Metal Sonic’s ship, making bullet holes in the old wood but leaving the robot unaffected as the ammunition bounced off his body. He gave her a look of boredom.

The sun began to set as it all unfolded, casting a deep ruby light over the environment. Amy struggled to find her balance and retrieve the eyepiece and compass that had rolled around the floor at the collision. The compass slipped out of her grip, too, sliding down the deck just beside the glass. She moved to snatch both pieces up but stopped when she noticed something glowing upon the compass in the light that reflected from the eyepiece. Picking them up carefully, Amy brought the spyglass up to look at the compass through. Drawn across the arrow was another arrow, pointing in the opposite direction. It illuminated as she looked at it through the glass and disappeared otherwise. “‘Sky turned…’ Oh! Scarlett!” The intense red light cast from the sunset had combined with the blue filter on the glass to reveal the otherwise hidden image. Upon turning the compass around, Amy found some text on the back in the same glowing lettering.

“Amy, move!” Knuckles shouted from behind. She didn’t have time to react before she felt a metallic coil snake around her waist and pull her backward. It wasn’t a cannonball that Metal Sonic had fired, it was one of his minions, H3 with his extendable arms. Amy screamed as she suddenly lurched away.

“Hang on-” Tails commanded, turning the cannon sharply and causing the vessel to shutter again. H3 struggled to maintain his balance until Knuckles came up on his side and smashed a fist into his head, sending the bot flying off the side of the boat. He released Amy instinctually, using his arms to latch onto the railing instead.

Amy landed on her feet, the artifacts still in hand. “Tails, the compass! Look!”

“Little busy!” Tails was turning the wheel at the helm frantically, trying to swing the cannon back around to fire back at Metal Sonic.

“We have to hurry before the sun goes down! We need the red light!” She ran back to the safety of the helm, where the shield protected them from the front. The cannon charged as she scrambled to read the inscription aloud in the dimming light. “‘The Mirror’s bloodlust was nothing to me, for I’d have bled myself dry for you.’ Huh? Hey, this mentions the mirror-”

Tails pulled the trigger then, expecting some kickback from the blast. Instead, the entire front of the vessel was launched upward, the shot deflected into the sky; something had come up beneath them, turning the boat up and threatening to sink it. Everyone aboard lost their balance as the boat listed back. Tails managed to hold on by the helm and Knuckles by a side railing, but Amy was sent sliding down, shrieking as she rolled overboard off the stern.

Metal Sonic looked on in a panic as it unfolded. “Nooo!” his eyes blazed down at whatever had emerged from the sea to cause the collision. A huge steel submarine sat with its nose just under the front of the boat. “Aaaaargh!” he roared in realization. The logo plastered on each side of it gave it away- it belonged to Dr. Eggman.

“Attack!” the command could be heard coming from the half-submerged vessel. Two oversized badniks emerged from the water, a crablike robot that crawled up the side of the submarine and began blasting at Rouge’s ship, and another shaped like a torpedo made to resemble a shark which hurdled itself toward Tails’ boat, causing it to shake and list further.

“Amy! Knuckles!” Tails shouted. He was able to kick himself off and fly, taking the map as he looked for his friends.

“Over here,” Knuckles called. He reached up for Tails’ hand. “Where’s Amy?”

As she finally emerged from the water, Amy coughed and waved her arm up frantically. Spotting her, Rouge flew overhead. “I’ve got her!”

“No, you don’t,” Metal Sonic flew into Rouge’s side, kicking her out of the air and into the water with a grunt. He made his way to Amy, lifting her by the arm out of the murky water. She coughed and sputtered, but clutched onto both the compass and spyglass with her other hand. He pulled her up further to hold by the waist at his side as he circled his way around to pick up H3, still dangling off the side of Tails’ boat. He narrowly missed a direct hit from the shark badnik when it leaped out of the water for another hit.

“Be more careful! You are not to hit Metal Sonic!” Eggman’s voice screeched from the submarine.

Metal flew over it on his way back to the ship. “Why are you here?!”

Amy had begun struggling under Metal Sonic’s grip, threatening to hurdle herself back into the ocean. “Let me go! I don’t want to join your weird crew!”

“Stop your squirming! Do you have a death wish?” Just as he finished the statement, Amy wormed her way out from under his arm and fell headfirst toward the water. Thinking fast, Metal chucked H3 toward his ship with a CLANG and dove for her. He was just quick enough to catch the girl before she fell in again, supporting her back and legs against him tightly; she wasn’t going to get out of this one so easily.

“What do you even want with me?” she yelled, trying to push away from him in vain.

Metal looked down at her, forcing eye contact. “... I need you.” He tried to sound sincere.

“What-”

Bullets began raining down on them now that they were directly across from Rouge’s ship. Metal pulled Amy’s body in, deflecting the fire. “Is anyone here sane?!” Amy actually made an effort to cling to him now, drawing her knees as close as she could muster.

“Stop firing, you idiots, he has the girl!” Rouge wailed, finally hovering up and recovering from her run-in with Metal Sonic. “Are you trying to get her killed?!” She landed on the front of the submarine and swung her leg down on the crab robot’s face, splitting it in two. Meanwhile, Knuckles threw his fist into the side of the other badnik and rendered it useless as it flopped back into the water. Tails carried him up to the deck of the ship with Rouge not far behind.

Metal flew into the hole in the side of the ship from which the cannon stuck out, allowing him to take them out of harm’s way faster. He dropped her harshly on her behind once they were inside. “H4, H1, make sure she doesn’t escape,” he commanded before flying up toward the main deck.

“Ouch! Hey, wait- what do you want with me?” Amy got on her feet and was ready to chase after him when a pair of snaky appendages started winding themselves around her. “Not... again!” she wiggled out an arm, summoning her hammer; but another clawed hand shot out and knocked it from her grip, confining her before she could retrieve it. There was no squirming away now. “Metal! Get back down here and tell these things to let me gooo!” she screeched before one of H1’s arms coiled over her mouth like a muffler.

On deck, Metal Sonic hoisted the sails and began navigating away from the battle. Eggman had stuck his head out of the top of the submarine, waving at him. “Great work, Metal! I’ll hold them off.” the old man just barely dodged one of Rouge’s bullets before scurrying back in.

Enraged by The Doctor’s presence, Metal was tempted to disobey and continue fighting out of spite- but he had what he’d come for. Resenting the “help,” he blasted “Stay out of this!” at Eggman as his ship sailed into the darkening horizon.

-----

In the aftermath of the battle, Rouge tramped around the ship shouting orders with cameramen on her heels. Eggman escaped once Metal Sonic had enough of a lead. Now, one of the ship‘s engines was badly damaged and engineers were sent down to make what repairs they could while Tails and Knuckles were given towels to dry off with. They sat in the enclosed cockpit discussing their next steps.

“I can’t believe they sunk my boat…” Tails was sitting with his head in his hands sorrowfully, lamenting the loss of his tech. “All that equipment…”

Knuckles sat with his arms crossed, grumbling. “Yeah, and now we have no chance of getting to the treasure before Rouge…” She marched into the room just then, slamming the door behind her and locking out the camera crew with a huff. Raising a brow, Knuckles addressed her. “Speak of the devil…”

“Don’t start!” she shot back at him. “I just saved your sorry behinds from being stranded at sea. I’m dropping you off at the next port-of-call, so don’t get too comfortable!” Rouge had a towel draped over her shoulders but hadn’t changed out of her wet clothes. She was getting goosebumps in the cool, air-conditioned room.

“We’re stopping? But we need to get to that treasure before Metal Sonic and save Amy!” Tails protested.

She marched up to the helm and pointed at several flashing indicator lights. “We can hardly go anywhere right now. Half the ship is under duress and we need to stop somewhere for repairs. I’m waiting for a tow.” Crossing her arms, she turned away from the pair. “And you are not part of my crew- we’re leaving you ashore.”

“Like hell you are!” Knuckles stomped over to her, placing a gruff hand on her shoulder. She was not amused, slapping it away from her.

“Hands off! Or would you rather we throw you overboard now?”

“And you’re fine with just abandoning Amy, then?”

With a gasp, Rouge whirled around again, hiding the shame on her face. “What do you want me to do? The ship’s barely operational, and I have a crew to think about…”

Knuckles grumbled but didn’t have a response. He hated to admit it, but she was right- they needed a ship to catch up to Metal Sonic, and theirs wouldn’t make it far.

“Can I take a look at the damage, Rouge?” Tails chimed in. They both looked back at him, then at each other.

Rouge shrugged with a slight shiver. “Fine- you probably know better than my best engineer anyway…”

“No doubt,” Knuckles retorted. “Go change, would ya? You look like you’re freezing.”

“Hmph!” she glared at him. Picking up a microphone, she pressed a button that called the engine room. “I’m sending another engineer down, you are to do what he asks.” Once she received confirmation, Rouge slammed her own compass and eyeglass on the counter atop her map. “And figure this out!” With that, she was off, out a side door and into her quarters. The door shut harshly behind her.

“Hm.” Knuckles leaned back on the wall. “Now the question is, where do we go from here?”

“We’ll need a red light to find out. Come on,” Tails snatched up the items she’d left behind and beckoned his friend to join him in the engine room.

“A red-? Huh?”

Ignoring their questions as they went, Tails and Knuckles weaved around the camera crew that still lingered outside the room and headed down into the ship’s depths.

Some miles away, Amy’s muffled yelling could be heard below the deck of Metal Sonic’s ship. He descended the stairs slowly, stopping in front of her. He made a motion as if to clear his throat and addressed the girl. “Apologies for the restraints. I thought you might be liable to tear the ship apart otherwise.” He signaled for H1 to unwrap his arm, allowing her to speak freely.

“I’ll tear you apart first!” she writhed under the metal coils to no avail.

“If you don’t settle down, we will just have to wait for you to tire yourself out,” he shrugged. “And you’ll find there’s nowhere to go at sea but down- so I’d be careful about threatening the captain.”

Amy huffed and puffed but couldn’t get out from under the weight of so many restraints. Panting, she finally relented, raising her intense glare at him. “What do you want?”

Metal let out a mechanical “sigh,” as if exasperated. He stood with his hands at his hips, leaning forward slightly. “I do not wish to harm you…” It wasn’t a lie- not yet, anyway. “I’ll cut to the chase: I am after the Stone Mirror-”

“And why would I help you with that?”

“Silence!” he commanded. Amy scoffed, turning her head away. “Now... Why don’t we speak in private, hm?” With a snap of his metallic fingers, the heavy arms all snaked away from Amy, putting her down on her feet gingerly. She gazed from bot to bot with caution. Metal pointed at the wooden staircase with both arms. “After you.”

“Hmph!” Carefully, Amy made her way past each of Metal Sonic’s minions and then himself. They began up the stairs while he followed her closely. He looked away for a moment to signal something to the others; Amy saw an opening. In an instant, her hammer appeared in her fist as she swung around to smash it into the side of his face, knocking him off the third step and onto the floor.

Metal Sonic shook his head violently as the light in his left eye flickered. Unfortunately for Amy, it didn’t actually impair his vision and he managed to catch up to her in a manner of seconds. H3 was already whipping his arms around and charging at Amy when Metal Sonic came up from behind to restrain her. “H3, stop at once!” The small henchmen dove onto his back at the sudden command, sliding across the deck with his extended arms dangling behind. He crashed into a beam feet-first, causing it to rattle.

Kicking and flailing, Amy was only able to bring her weapon down behind her, repeatedly hammering the top of Metal’s head. “Let! Me! Go!”

“What do you even plan to do once you ‘destroy’ me? I told you, there’s nowhere to go- And stop the incessant hammering!” He pulled one of his arms away from her, seizing her hammer and chucking it overboard. The repeated hits to the head finally took out the LEDs in his left eye as it went out completely. He pushed her away and she turned back to him. To his surprise, the giant mallet was already back in her grip when she did. “What- How? Why?!”

Amy was breathing heavily, holding her hammer to her front defensively. Realistically, she knew he was right- even if she managed to take him and the others out, she’d just be lost at sea. Maybe he really wasn’t trying to hurt her… he had asked that smaller robot to stop attacking, after all. But Amy couldn’t see what good giving him access to the Stone Mirror would do. “What do you want with the mirror, anyway?” she asked, doubting he’d give a straight answer.

Metal Sonic straightened up into a neutral pose, smoothing down his lapel. His glare softened as an eyelid cast down over his functioning eye. “I shall tell you… After you stop dripping all over my deck.” Amy winced, realizing how sopping wet she still was from her dip in the ocean. Saltwater dripped from her quills and dress and had begun to puddle at her feet. “There’s a change of clothes in my quarters. Will you stop being combative and listen?”

Lowering her hammer- but not putting it away- Amy nodded reluctantly. “You first this time.”

“... Very well.” Metal Sonic led the way across the elevated deck to a set of double doors, opening one and motioning for Amy to enter. She hung back suspiciously. Metal rolled the eye he had left and entered first, allowing her to close the door behind them. Once inside, he plopped down on a large armchair, propping his feet up on the wooden table in front of him. “I’ve set something out for you there,” he pointed at an antique screen in the corner of the room. “Try not to take all night.”

Amy’s glare didn’t stray until she was safely behind the screen, when she put away her hammer. There was a frilled white blouse and ankle-length maroon skirt hanging beside some black stockings and red boots. A towel hung over the screen. Is he serious? She hesitated for a moment, wondering how she ever ended up in such a scenario, playing dress-up for one of her worst enemies. But the situation was hopeless if she didn’t comply. She just had to play along and wait for backup for the time being…

After 10 minutes of waiting, Metal grew impatient. “Do you need assistance?” he mocked.

“No!” Amy emerged a moment later, awkwardly shoving the bottom of the shirt into the bell-shaped skirt. She’d slipped the compass and spyglass into each of her sleeves in the absence of pockets. “Thanks for the clothes or whatever, but why this?”

Ignoring her question, Metal stood and approached her. She took a step back. “Hm… Needs accessories.” His heavy steps clopped against the hardwood floor as Metal strode to another box of costumes. He dug out a set of square scarves and made his way back to where she stood, as non-threateningly as possible. Standing silently, Amy crossed her arms over the front of her body; she didn’t know what to expect. “Would you try these on?”

Amy was in disbelief. What did he want with her that required such a costume? She took the large square of fabric from him and examined them, unsure what she was meant to do. “Uh…”

“Allow me.” Metal held out an unassuming arm. The annoyance on Amy’s face was clear as she placed them back in his hand and brought her hands up to her hips impatiently. “Lift your arms.”

“What?”

“These go around your waist. Now, lift your arms.”

She did what he asked with a grumble, gasping as he tightened each of them around her and tied the ends into forceful knots. Metal took a step back and admired her outfit. “Yes, very ‘pirate,’ don’t you think?” He motioned to a floor mirror across the room.

“I guess…” Keeping his reflection in her sights, Amy walked over to it. She was incredibly weirded out by his insistence, but supposed it could have been worse…

Her captor’s reflection grew nearer as he came up next to her, examining his face. “You really did a number on my eye; I’m impressed. But I wonder if it’ll affect…”

“Hrm- I put on your silly outfit, now will you tell me what you want?”

The single burning eye on his face shot at her briefly. Rather than frightened, the girl seemed irritated at the situation. He measured her heart rate- it was consistent with that of a person at rest now. Her behavior was almost admirable. “It is only fair,” he said, taking a seat back at the table. “Sit.”

“Is the word ‘please’ in your vocabulary?” she spat back.

Another eye-roll from Metal. “Please… sit.” Amy complied. She squirmed a bit as she sat, feeling restrained by the many layers around her midsection. She wondered silently if that was part of his plan. “The Stone Mirror. It allows one to become their ‘most desired self,’ is that correct?”

There was no way Metal Sonic should have known that. “I don’t know what you’re on about.”

His eye narrowed at her. “Fine- I will be honest. I know this only from spying on you and your friends. I have nothing to hide.”

“Is admitting it supposed to make it better?”

“No… I suppose not.” He leveraged himself against the table to stand. That glowing eye followed Amy as he paced around the perimeter of the table until he stopped at her side. “I know what the mirror is capable of, and I would like your help to retrieve it.” Leaning back on the table, he pointed at the cuffs of her sleeves. “The compass, if you will…”

“You still haven’t told me why you kidnapped me.”

There was a silent pause. Metal locked his gaze with hers and softened his tone. “You are a compassionate person, Amy Rose. I believe you will understand my need to obtain this artifact.”

“Which is?”

He feigned another sigh. “I am growing tired of being under The Doctor’s command. He has given me some freedom, but…” Looking up, he crossed his arms defensively. “What I am most interested in is my autonomy.” His “acting” would have been impeccable if what he was saying was at all a lie. He hadn’t gotten around to his scheme yet.

“Okay…” The frown on her face told him she was listening, but still wary.

“I do not believe I will be able to achieve that in this form, you see.”

“So, what form are you trying to take? Another giant monster?”

“An organic form,” he responded simply.

Amy was taken aback. “A… A what?” Metal’s engine hummed in the quiet air. He began moving again, circling behind Amy, who didn’t take her eyes off him until he stopped on her other side. She wanted to stare at him intensely, to show that she wasn’t letting her guard down, but there was an impossible longing on his face. It was hard to look directly at him.

“It’s simple- I am a robot. I have an advanced AI far beyond that of others like me, but… There is something missing. This body, although immortal and perfect in design, seems to weigh me down.” He knelt down beside her so he was no longer looming, believing it made him appear more humble. “I wish to think for my own… to feel.”

The moment was uncomfortable. Amy recoiled slightly when he’d come down, trying in vain to avoid locking eyes with him. He sounded so sincere. How could it be possible? “Wh- Why didn’t you just take the compass and run? Why did you have to bring me?”

“I took you so your friends wouldn’t attack me directly and spoil my plans.”

“So I’m a shield?”

“Not quite. I could have taken anyone- I chose you because,” he reached a hand out, gently taking hold of one of hers. She snatched it back with a glare. “Hm. I chose you because I believed you would understand my need and if the necessity arose, you could help me convince your team... I suppose I was mistaken,” he pushed himself upright.

“Wait,” Amy felt like she would regret it, but her good nature didn’t allow her to walk away from someone who seemed so desperate to change for the better- especially an enemy. “Can you… really not be free like this? You seem to have your own will…”

The trap was working. Metal found it easier to keep up the charade than he originally thought. “My thoughts and feelings are simulated. Would you feel ‘free’ if someone could reprogram you and take your memories at any moment?”

“Does… does Eggman do that?”

“... He has.” That wasn’t a lie.

“Oh,” Amy breathed. She held onto her wrists tightly, feeling for the compass and spyglass. This could all be a trap, she could be walking to her doom, and yet… “How do I know you’re not just gonna turn around and transform into something horrible?”

“You don’t. But…” he loomed over her chair slightly. “I will get what I want. You can either help me, or be stranded on the first remote island we come across until your friends rescue you. As it stands, you are only added assurance. The choice is yours.”

So he was back to threatening her. Amy thought about it- he really didn’t need her. If he had evil intentions, Metal Sonic could have just as easily taken what he wanted from her and locked her up, or worse. Instead, he asked for her help. It was unprecedented. Then again, Amy thought she could at the very least stall him- pry into his plan and see if she could discern whether he was being truthful... And it was either that or become a castaway.

She turned back to him with resolve on her face. “Fine, I’ll help you.”

The first phase of the plan was officially a success. Now, all Metal needed to do was keep up the act and use her presence to his advantage should her friends catch up to them. Better not to celebrate, yet- he didn’t want to sound too confident. “Thank you, Amy Rose. I knew I could count on you.” He extended his hand once more, this time waiting for her response. She stood up and shook it with a nod.

“Just Amy is fine. And I hope this means you’ll start thinking for yourself instead of blindly coming after us.”

“Cutting words, Amy…” He may have held her in that handshake a bit harder than necessary as she couldn’t hide the slight wince in her eyes. “Now, the compass.”

A sly smile spread on her face. “No ‘please’?”

Cheeky. Perhaps, Metal thought, she would be more interesting to keep as company than he thought. “Please,” he said in a low growl, drawing her in closer with a harsh tug.

“Ugh,” Amy yanked her hand away from him distastefully. “Here, weirdo.” She pulled the compass from her sleeve and tossed it to him.

“Hm. I believe the next words are ‘thank you.’” Metal examined the compass front and back. “Perhaps you think you’ve stumped me without the little spyglass in the sunset, but…” A purplish glow came from his eye as he cast it down on the navigation device. “I am still a robot, after all.”

With a scoff, Amy crossed her arms. She’d hoped to buy herself some time by not sharing the “solution” with him, but of course, he had a sharp eye. If she wasn’t able to trick him, she’d just have to get in his way.

“An inscription and all. So theatrical,” Metal chuckled. “Even back then, one could simply shine a red light upon this and use the glass filter…”

“You’re one to talk about theatrics.” She wasn’t sure if she should nod toward his outfit or the entire ship.

He let out a metallic laugh. “And here I thought you’d be entertained by all this. Come, we can finally navigate.”

With that, Metal Sonic led Amy out onto the main deck. She followed him cautiously, taking note of her surroundings. Each of the little henchmen clinked their clamped hands to their heads as their master passed. They were cute in their strange little way, their wide smiles making them look silly for the most part. Amy couldn’t help cracking a smile at the one who stood under the roof of the helm. She gave him a little wave and he reacted by springing his arms to the side and doing a handstand. “Pfff!” Amy cracked up.

“H1- stop fooling around. The sails need turning,” Metal demanded. H1 kept Amy giggling as he curled into a ball and rolled down the deck. “I will never know why they are such clowns…”

“Aw, lighten up! They’re fun. Well, when they’re not trying to strangle me.”

Metal ignored her, instead using the compass to navigate. “It seems we just have to go in the opposite direction from where this points. The glowing arrow is hardly necessary.”

“I guess,” Amy shrugged. “Looks cool, though.” She appeared much more relaxed after the quick laugh. Supporting herself on a rail, she looked out into the dark waters. “You can’t see anything out there…”

“Well, you can’t.”

“And pretty soon neither will you. Might wanna start getting acclimated.”

The proud attitude Metal took toward his mechanical body was probably best hidden for the time being. He made a note to dial down the cockiness. “I suppose you have a point. We will light some lanterns, then.”

The great vessel turned gradually in the correct direction as the other minions brought out antique lanterns from the ship’s displays. They did little to light the ship’s way, but Amy at least had a way to see where she was going aboard. Metal Sonic gave her free access to its entirety, but she was more interested in watching the stars from under the unspoiled sky. He observed as she cocked her head up and around to capture what she could with what he only assumed was a much narrower ocular scope than his own. Still, her curiosity was interesting as it unfolded before him. Amy had surely seen the night sky before, yet she craned her head to stare up at it so intently. It was… cute. That word seemed to be thrown in her direction a lot.

Grumbling in her stomach caused Amy to turn her attention to her hunger. She worried there wouldn’t be anything to eat on a ship manned entirely by machines. “Hey,” she called out to him from the lower deck, “uh, do you have any food? I haven’t eaten in a while…”

Food. It hadn’t crossed his mind. Of course, organics liked to- no, needed to eat to survive. He scolded himself for the oversight. “We… did not bring any aboard.”

“Seriously?”

Surely, there had to be something on board as the vessel was operating just two days prior. “The galley, perhaps? Follow me.”

Metal descended the steps that led from the helm and beckoned for Amy to join him in the lower guns. He kept the layout of the ship in his vision as they navigated most of the way into its belly, finally reaching the kitchen down below. Luckily, there was a light switch and Amy was able to put down her lantern as she took in the sight of the huge space.

“Woah… That’s no galley…” she stepped inside, admiring the stainless steel countertops and modern, oversized refrigerators and industrial ovens. “This must be the catering kitchen,” she concluded, opening a fridge. It was full of food just waiting to be prepared.

“Ah, yes. I believe there was to be a wedding here until I commandeered the ship…”

“You took someone’s entire wedding venue?” Amy asked in shock. “I thought you were evil before…”

He supposed that was meant to be a quip, but he didn’t find the humor in her words. Metal walked calmly to one of the stovetops and tested the switch, which was working normally. “It appears everything here is operational. I’ll leave you to it.” He turned on his heel and made for the exit, byt stopped. She would need a place to sleep, too. “I suppose you’ll need sleeping quarters, as well- find me when you’re through and I’ll assign you a room.”

“Uh-huh,” Amy answered half-heartedly. She was too busy deciding what to cook for herself and trying to figure out how to split the huge, catering-sized portions for one.

It took some creativity, but she managed to make something that would last her a couple of meals. Amy didn’t feel great about all the stolen food, but beggars can’t be choosers. Once she’d eaten and cleaned up, Amy picked up the precarious lantern and began her way up the many steps to the main deck. There are modern appliances here and they couldn’t be bothered to get me a flashlight? Amy still didn’t understand what the pirate charade was about, but she had to admit how cute she looked in the historical outfit. Pirates were definitely cooler than sailors; she wished she’d thought of it.

She finally reached the floor below the upper deck to find Metal Sonic sitting at a table in the corridor, wiping and inspecting the blade of a sword. It was creepy. “Hey… I’m done eating.” She held up the lantern awkwardly.

“Have you ever used one of these?” he flicked his wrist, brandishing the sword above him.

“Uh… can’t say I really have.”

“Would you like to?”

Amy clicked her tongue impatiently. “I would like to take a shower and know where I’ll be sleeping.”

The tip of the sword found its way quite startlingly into the wooden table-top as Metal stood. “‘Lighten up,’” he mocked her.

“Are you gonna be this good at copying people when your programming disappears?” Amy did her best to look unphased, but her heart jumped when he stuck the sword into the table. It was beating a bit quicker now.

A monocular, dead-pan stare met her eyes. “Will being organic make me as dull as you?”

Even after years of intense battles and struggling bitterly against him, Amy never wanted to wack Metal Sonic harder than she did then. The whole situation was unbelievably annoying- trapped on a ship with a cocky narcissist. A dangerous one- the thought ran through her mind. Amy had to take a step back- once he changed, if he changed, he would be much less of a threat. If she wasn’t staying aboard for him, she hoped, she was at least doing it for the greater good. That at least gave her some comfort. “Just tell me where it is, I’ll go myself.”

Metal leaned an arm on the table with disinterest. “Down two floors and down the hall to your right. It will be hard to miss.”

“Hmph,” Amy took off, trodding back down the stairs. Other than a short temper, he was impossible to read. She had to find a way to learn more about his intentions.

Amy followed his instructions, arriving in a dark corridor. Amy squinted in the dim light, groping for a light switch. Once she found it, she was in awe. Ornate molding lined the ceiling and fine art hung from the walls. It must have been part of the wedding venue.

She admired the paintings leading down the hall until reaching a door with a gold handle. Bridal Suite was printed on a plaque that hung next to it. Entering, Amy found a bright white room furnished with a canopy bed and vanity, among other lavish furniture. Her irritability quickly melted away as she took in the luxurious surroundings. Maybe staying aboard the strange ship wouldn’t be so bad, after all.

-------

Hi yall so I’m taking a break from writing Unfamiliar as I outline the last few chapters. It’ll be back early 2021 ❤️

ALSO I meant to finish this in time for @metamy-ship-week prompt 7 (free day) but it ended up a lot longer than I expected - hope you don’t mind me tagging it!

Part 2 of this should be up in the next few days! Love yall besos

#metamy #metal sonic x amy rose #metal sonic #amy rose #MetamyShipWeek2020 #metamy week #sonic fanfiction #sth #pirates

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solalunar-eclipse · 4 years ago

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Scars You Can’t See - Chapter 11

Chapter title: Improvements

Word count: about 3400 words

Author’s Note: Wow...the fact that this fic has only two chapters left is crazy to think about. It’s going to be finished within the next month or so...whoa.

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Rouge cringed as bright sunlight stung her slowly opening eyes, dragging her forcefully out of what had honestly been a pretty great sleeping session. Suddenly, though, she shot upright, remembering-

Wait- G.U.N. had found them- Shadow and Omega--

Oh, right.

The bat rubbed at her eyes to try and get rid of the spots still dancing in them, before looking around and taking in the clearing surrounding her. She was truly safe now and on Angel Island.

Rouge just...needed a minute to remind herself of that.

She figured that she also owed Team Sonic at least a year’s worth of favors for busting them out of that awful situation. Chaos, she’d thought they were all done for at first, even with Omega’s best efforts.

Speaking of that team, she suddenly felt a rush of wind at her side and turned to see Sonic himself kneeling next to her, looking worried. “You good there, Rouge?” he asked, resting a hand on her shoulder in concern.

“I’ll live.” she said warmly, grateful for his attention. “Doing better than yesterday, that’s for sure.”

Sonic’s expression changed into a hopeful grin at that, his shoulders sinking slightly in relief. Rouge knew that he really tended to worry about the people he cared for when they weren’t doing well, so she was pleased to see some of the stress leave him now.

“How’s Shadow? And Omega?” the bat asked quickly, wanting to make sure her team was alright.

“Okay, well, Omega’s over there sucking the life out of Tails’s portable generator,” Sonic said, and Rouge followed his gaze to see exactly that. Her robot friend gave a thumbs up when he noticed her attention, before lifting the generator and walking over to greet her.

“This power is strong for such a small device. Much better than that pathetic excuse for voltage the rooms provided.” he said, by way of a greeting. Rouge grinned in response. Omega had never really seen the need for pleasantries with his friends when he could just get to the point instead. (They already knew that he cared about them anyway.)

“How do you feel?” he asked, sitting down and staring at her. The robot clearly wasn’t going to take an “I’m fine” for an answer, so she sighed. “Tired, mostly. Are we sure we’re totally safe out here?”

Omega looked like he was ready to smirk, if he could. “You missed the fun earlier when the blue hedgehog discovered that we are in the middle of the largest ocean on the planet. He was not happy about our isolation.”

Rouge had to restrain a cackle at that when she turned back to the (suddenly several shades paler) hero in question. “Water…” he groaned. “So much...water…”

“You’ll be okay, hon,” she said, a little bit of sympathy softening her tone. “There’s still plenty of room up here to go running around.”

Sonic’s eyes widened. “Oh right! I didn’t tell you about Shads!” His ears drooped slightly after that. “He’s...he’s still asleep near the Master Emerald.”

Omega cut in there. “His vital signs are completely stable. He is merely exhausted.”

Rouge sighed, frowning slightly. Was telling him to do that Chaos Control really-

“You made the best decision you could under the circumstances.” the robot said insistently. “Stop questioning yourself or I will have to make you comply with force.”

Rouge stuck out her tongue at him, before getting up to go walk over to the altar and see her other friend. She hadn’t taken more than a couple of steps, though, when she found that her head had begun to ache horribly- leftover effects from the stress, she knew. There was always a price to pay for missions.

She was vaguely aware of Sonic darting to her side, but she straightened up, ignoring the pain for now. If there was one thing she had to do, it was to check on Shadow.

The hybrid was still on the altar, barely having moved from his original position. Someone had folded up a blanket and put it beneath his head, at least. Knuckles was pacing around and around the Master Emerald, clearly driving himself to distraction considering all the possible ways in which Angel Island could be threatened at this very moment.

Rouge sat down next to Shadow for a moment, checking to make sure he was alright before rubbing one of his ears slightly. The hybrid purred a little in his sleep, making Rouge smile and Sonic mask a squeal with his hand. “Awwwww…” he whispered, staring down at Shadow with wide eyes.

Meanwhile, Rouge got up and walked over to lean on the giant Emerald, smirking as Knuckles completed another circuit around the altar- only to bump right into her and look up, startled. “Rouge! You’re awake!” he exclaimed, before pulling her into a tight hug that squeezed all the air out of her lungs.

“Babe,” she wheezed, trying to adjust. “Honey, I missed you too, but I kind of need to breathe to live? So if you wouldn’t mind…”

“Oh- right- sorry,” he said, loosening up and clearly embarrassed. “I’m just so glad you’re alright.”

Sonic gave him a look from over the top of the giant gem. “Says the guy who didn’t want to head off to Central City at first.”

“Come on, man, give me a break! You know how much G.U.N. wants to get their hands on these artifacts!” Knuckles exclaimed, sounding irritated. He glanced back at Rouge nervously, though, clearly more than a little embarrassed about his hesitance.

She wasn’t going to hold it against him, though- he’d been trained since day one to practically worship the island and all that it held, and putting it in harm’s way must have taken a lot out of him. “It’s okay, just remember to try and keep from being uptight all the time, alright?” Rouge asked gently, wrapping an arm around his waist and leaning into him.

Knuckles blushed as red as his spines. “Thanks, Rouge...I’ll try.” he said, pointedly ignoring his friend’s knowing grin.

“Awww, Knux, aren’t ya gonna kiss your giiiiirlfriend?” Sonic taunted, knowing just how to frustrate the echidna (and fluster him more).

“Shut up!” he bellowed. “It’s none of your business what we do or don’t--”

Rouge had kissed him on the cheek, and his voice immediately seemed to fail at that, breaking off into absolute silence. She snickered quietly. Knuckles’s shock whenever she did this never stopped being fun.

A low groan sounded behind them. “Urgh...Chaos, is this what I hafta wake up to? Move y’r PDA somewhere else, Rouge.”

Shadow’s words were slurred with exhaustion, but nobody seemed to care. Rouge dashed over to his side faster than Sonic (not too surprisingly- the hedgehog seemed to have frozen the second Shadow started speaking).

“How do you feel, hon?” she asked him gently, all the while monitoring him for any sort of abnormalities.

“Feels like I’ve been run over by a truck ‘n launched out of a catapult into the side of a mountain.” he grumbled. “Everything’s aching…I’m so tired. Let’s...let’s not take out any more military bases for a while, ‘kay?”

Rouge grinned at him. “Sounds good to me, hon.” She began to pull him up into a reclined position so that he could see better. The bat could also hear Omega’s steps in the background as he hurried over (which for most people was a speed-walking pace, but he was doing his best).

“Just relax for now, Shadow. You and Sonic brought us somewhere safe, so we can just rest, alright?” she added, and felt him do so almost immediately.

Omega arrived and put a hand on Shadow’s shoulder, his giant metal fingers nearly engulfing half of the hybrid’s arm. “Hey, Omega.” he said wearily, smiling faintly up at the robot.

“You are safe now. I will make sure that nothing bad happens to you or Rouge so long as we are here.” he said, sounding determined and just a little bit violent.

“You did a pretty good job of that back in the field.” Shadow said, apparently far too tired to hold up his usual aloof attitude.

Omega stood up and assumed a slight power pose. “Of course I did. I am awesome.”

Sonic took the robot’s place quickly, taking Shadow’s hand in his own. “If anyone comes anywhere near this island, I’ll help Omega take them out. You’ve done more than enough, Shads.”

The hybrid tried to maintain a cool, calm expression, but it quickly softened into gratitude. He struggled with his words for a moment, clearly uncertain about how to react to Sonic’s determined kindness. Eventually, though, he settled for a simple “Thank you, Sonic.”

Rouge didn’t miss the way Sonic’s smile became wider and more genuine at that, nor how he squeezed Shadow’s hand briefly before releasing it. “Anytime, nerd. Anytime.”

Shadow mock-scowled at the hero before settling back against Omega, who had sat down behind him. Rouge noticed how he struggled to keep his eyes open, so she settled down next to him and made shooing motions with her hands. “Alright, alright, let the guy rest! You said yourself he doesn’t have to work anymore, Sonic.”

The hedgehog in question walked off reluctantly with his friends to the first tier of the altar, looking back at Shadow once before giving the team some space.

Rouge sighed, settling back against Omega and trying to find a position that didn’t leave metal poking into her back. He could be comfortable if she sat right- especially since he was warm- but she had to work a little to find the right spot. Her own eyes closed a little, and she leaned against Shadow as the faint buzz of stress and her exhaustion battled it out inside her head.

She suspected that her instincts would give her trouble for a while, but it would probably be manageable now that they were safe. Things were looking up now for real, and that was great.

And then Sonic’s phone rang.

“Wha- huh- you have your phone on??” Shadow yelped, sitting upright immediately. “Why didn’t you turn it off?”

“I had to keep up with everything!” Sonic exclaimed, his eyes wide. He held the phone as far away from his body as he could, as though it might burst into flames at any moment.

“Alright, alright, everybody calm down!” Rouge shouted, directing all attention to herself and bringing complete silence to the clearing.

This role was what she was used to.

“Alright, first off. Sonic, do you recognize that number?” she asked, as everyone gathered back around.

He frowned, looking at the ‘missed calls’ screen now that the ringing had stopped. “N...no…..wait, actually, I think I do! But who…..”

The hero’s eyes widened. “Oh. Wait. What’s the president want with me now?”

“Wait, is it really her?” Tails gasped.

Omega glowered at the phone. “She probably wishes to know if we are with you.”

Everybody jumped again when the phone started ringing once more.

“Well….I guess I’ll just answer and tell her I don’t know where you are?” Sonic asked, moving to tap the green button.

“No!” three separate people yelled at once, making him drop the phone in surprise.

“Well, what should I do then? Just, like, ignore her?” the hero said, exasperated.

Tails shook his head patiently. “You remember that app I put on your phone, Sonic? The one that hides your signal location?”

“Ohhhhh,” Sonic said, clearly realizing why it would be a very good idea to use said app. “Right! Let me turn that on.”

“And don’t forget to use the super-scrambler I made for you!” Tails reminded him, sounding an awful lot like the real older brother of the two at the moment.

“Fine, yeah, I remember what you said,” Sonic muttered, sounding a little irritated. He cringed a moment later, though, looking up his friends. All three of them were clearly tense once again- not ideal when they were in the safest place they could possibly be. “Sorry, I know this is important and all. Sorry.”

“It’s alright, hon.” Rouge said soothingly. “You have it all up now?”

“Yeah, I-” Sonic was cut off yet again by his ringtone.

He took one deep breath before pressing the button.

Everybody else remained absolutely silent. The wind rustled through the trees as his phone connected to the other end of the signal.

“Uh….hey there.” the hero said, his voice sounding far more wary now. “What’s up?”

Shadow facepalmed silently beside Rouge, who clamped a hand over her mouth to stop any potential laughter.

Sonic quickly switched the call to speakerphone so that everybody could hear the president talk.

“Hello, Sonic.” she said politely, her voice warmer and more friendly than any of them had expected. “Are...any of the members of Team Dark there? I’m not asking for G.U.N., I promise.”

Rouge gave the phone a skeptical look. Not asking for G.U.N.? Doubtful.

“Nah, not here.” Sonic said easily. “Whatcha want with them?”

The bat could hear the faintest hint of harshness in his tone, hiding beneath the cool front he put up. Apparently the hero hadn’t quite gotten all of his frustration out just yet.

Clearly, the president could hear it too, because she sounded a little awkward when she next spoke. “Oh. I...I actually just wanted to tell them something important. Is there any way for me to get in touch with them?”

Sonic glowered at the phone. “I can tell them whatever it is you wanna say.” He was practically growling by this point, clearly working hard to keep his emotions under control.

Rouge cringed at that- now everyone would know that Sonic had a direct link to her team. Not good.

“Alright then...” Strangely enough, the woman on the call still sounded stressed. Shouldn’t she be pleased that she’d gotten some sort of a lead instead? That was what this was for, right?

“Can you tell them, then...just let them know that I’ve signed off on an order temporarily shutting down all of G.U.N.’s operations, okay? And that the commander has agreed to comply with it? Will they get to hear that?”

Rouge, Shadow and Omega all stared at one another.

What?

“Yeah- yeah, they’ll hear the news.” Sonic said, his eyes as wide as they could get. “Uhhh, why exactly did you do that?”

Now it was the president’s turn to sound irritated. “What do you mean, why? Not only are there protests and riots in the streets, but I’m horrified by what they’ve done, as I’m sure you are too! The leaders in both houses of government and I have completely agreed that G.U.N. needs to be closed down until we figure out what to do with it.

“I’ll be putting my voice in for total reform, and a consideration of permanent closure, but there are those who’ll argue with me, of course. I’m still going to do what I can for Team Dark and for those who’ve been hurt by G.U.N., though.”

“Wow.” Sonic said softly, stunned. “That’s...that’s impressive.”

“No.” the president said decisively. “It’s the least I can do to make things right. And, if you see Shadow…”

“Yeah?”

“Can you tell him that I personally apologize for everything that happened on Space Colony ARK? I had no knowledge of it until that video was released...but still. I wish there was something I could do to let him know how horrified I am by what he was forced to endure.”

Shadow stared at Rouge, who honestly couldn’t do much more than stare back, her thoughts racing by at a pace to rival her friend’s speed. G.U.N. wasn’t chasing them anymore? They weren’t even allowed to hunt them down? It almost sounded too good, too easy to be true.

“I’ll tell him. I promise.” Sonic said, his voice just a little shaky.

“Thank you, Sonic. Take care.” she replied, before ending the call.

“...whoa.” he breathed.

“What just happened?” Shadow ran his hands through his quills, as though he hoped it would help him sort out the events that had just taken place.

“Is this even real?” Knuckles asked skeptically. “It could be a prank…” They all knew he’d been the target of too many falsehoods to trust most people by now.

“Voice patterns match previous speeches given by the current president.” Omega said, making everyone’s surprise grow even more.

“So what...they’re just shutting down?” Tails looked confused.

“Most of them, yes.” Rouge said, taking a deep breath and beginning to work through her own swirling thoughts. “There’ll be some agents who don’t agree with what’s going on, but that’s to be expected. The commander is a big fan of rules, so he won’t ignore an order directly from the government. G.U.N. should be shut down...so the question is how safe the United Federation is for us right now.”

“So? Is it safe?” Sonic asked, looking hopeful.

The three members of Team Dark locked eyes. Rouge sighed. “Not quite. G.U.N. hasn’t actually been fixed yet and there’s going to be plenty of agents who are less than happy about this development...especially when it comes to us escaping.”

“There’s still a chance they could use their various connections to order some sort of attack on us that couldn’t be traced back to them...it’s unlikely that the commander would go for it, but others might. None of us need any potential assassins sneaking into Club Rouge in the middle of the night.” Shadow muttered, staring down at the grass.

All three members of Team Sonic cringed at Shadow’s wording. But then, Sonic sat down next to him and put an arm about the hybrid’s shoulders gently, giving him the option to push it off if he needed. “Don’t worry, Shads, you can stay here as long as you like.”

Knuckles glared at him. “This is my island, Sonic! I get to decide who stays for how long!”

Rouge raised a brow at that. “And do we get to stay, then?”

“...yes.” the echidna grumbled defeatedly.

Sonic’s answering smirk got him chased all around the clearing and the surrounding woods as punishment...if you could call it punishment when he was laughing and dancing and skipping over boulders all the way.

Rouge looked over to see Shadow leaning back against Omega again, looking tired but surprisingly calm and...was that a smile she saw?

“Feeling good there, hon?” she asked gently, leaning on him (and purposefully making their height difference obvious).

He rolled his eyes but still leaned into her shoulder, bringing a smile to her face as well. “Better than the last time we did this, that’s for sure.”

Rouge felt Omega’s arms tighten around them and looked up to see his eyes dim slightly in thought. After a moment, though, they brightened again, and he spoke.

“Original objective: make Shadow feel better. Status update: partially completed. Notes: cortisol levels lowering but still above recommended levels. Remaining irregular behavior due to exhaustion. And...outcome regarding G.U.N appears to be positive so far. This mission appears to be an overall success.”

He pulled them both a little closer, clearly not planning on allowing the two to escape his hold any time soon.

“Awww…” Rouge said gently, but Shadow was already falling asleep.

“Ngh. Stop making fun ‘f me.” He nudged her shoulder with his head, completely failing to do anything other than make the bat's smile grow warmer.

Within moments, he was completely passed out, and Rouge and Omega shared a look. “Do you regret any of the difficulties that this mission has created?” the robot asked, seeming curious more than anything.

Rouge looked over at the sleeping hedgehog next to her, a small smile spread across his face as he rested safely with his closest friends and family. There wasn’t any pain waiting for him in his unconscious now, and while there might be in the future, it could be handled with care and time.

She grinned up at Omega then, her smile wide and genuine.

“I don’t regret it at all.”

#shadow the hedgehog #rouge the bat #e 123 omega #scars you can't see #sycs #sol's fanfiction #still getting used to tumblr formatting so this took me a while ugh #just to clarify: an election took place in between shth and now #really though it's crazy to think that the fic's almost over!#i'll have to go back and look at the post date of chapter 1 sometime #also i have discovered the secret to not feel nervous about posting #run out of time and panic-format it until you hit post five seconds before you have to do something else #:/#as always though i'm open to constructive criticism!#hope you enjoyed reading and have a great day

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subjectsix · 4 years ago

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okay so my star wars table top rpg dude, Knux, lost an arm. It’s the most cinematic moment I’ve ever had happen in a TTRPG and it was unplanned. Lemme tell you about it:

alright, come with me on this for a moment. let me set the scene.

our party is trying to recover their stolen ship. they are very wanted by a Hutt clan and have accidentally found themselves in direct opposition of a secret Imperial plan. Knux, my Nautolan in deep debt who cannot manage money and is already a bit on edge, is becoming a bundle of nerves the deeper this rabbit hole goes.

after an eventful encounter in a club on this cyberpunk, Hutt-controlled planet, the group is making an escape on speeder bikes they stole from the stormtroopers. they bank hard into an alleyway, pushing single file and fast for the other end. our Chiss party member, Dany, flings a grenade behind us, and it wipes out the two troopers giving chase, and the explosion blooms out behind us as we zip out of the alley.

we’re grinning and celebrating our escape, when our bikes stop moving, and we feel a slight tug. we’re promptly thrown into a wall and off the speeders, as an Inquisitor calling themselves Thirteen steps out of the shadows.

None of us are equipped to fight an Inquisitor. Are you kidding? This is true fear. They introduce themselves as Thirteen, and its clear they intended to kill us and tie up loose ends before we make things any harder foo them. This is end of the line, in over our heads and drowning deep. Knux shoots a pipe overhead, making steam pour into the street, and uses the cover to book it into a nearby warehouse. Dany barely makes it away, taking a hit from the Inquisitor, but pulling down obstacles as we run into this building.

The Inquisitor slows inside, cautious, assessing things. Dany drops a mine behind him, and Knux is already up four flights of stairs, headed for the landing overlooking the main floor. In his mad dash to get away, he noticed a Rebel cell insignia painted onto a wall, and he is looking for anything or anyone to help them right now. He makes it to the top of the landing, and its clear people were here-- there’s a fire going in a barrel, and a Vibroblade, of all things, on a crate. Knux runs forward and grabs the sword--

And Thirteen leaps up the four flights, crashing through the window on the landing. Dany stares in awe as Thirteen pushes Knux through a window with the force, sending him flying into a neighboring building. Knux lands with a thud in the club, scrambling to his feet, only to find hes standing behind a projection screen, where his silhouette is clearly visible to the club goers. Thirteen leaps in effortlessly after him and pulls out their twin blades. The crowds go wild for the entertainment.

Knux can’t sword fight! But he’s two steps from a panic attack and face to face with death, so a cornered animal fights with whatever they’ve got. He’s trying, really, but Thirteen is sidestepping everything effortlessly. (aka the rolls are hard. By some insane amount of RNG, the two attacks I roll for Knux come up as neutrals-- nothing bad happens, nothing good happens)

Dany is on the landing, firing his blaster at the Inquisitor, who is deflecting it all like it’s a mild annoyance-- but at least it means one blade is occupied.

(Thirteen rolls a Triumph-- that means they get a critical. The DM tells me how much damage Knux takes, then rolls the d100 and checks the table to see what critical effect I get. Since I took a critical already once, he adds 10 to the roll. I hear dice. I hear him go “oh no.”)

Knux loses an arm from the elbow down. Dany is yelling. (I am yelling.) No damage has been dealt to Thirteen at all.

Dany hears someone moving behind him, and barely has time to register the man pushing past him and leaping into the club.

It’s a man in old, battered clone armor-- actually, it’s a clone-- who draws their own Vibrosword and demands the Inquisitor leave, or face him, as he won’t stand for the Imperial control anymore. More people appear from the shadows alongside Dany and draw their blasters.

The Inquisitor escapes, in smug villain fashion. Knux slumps against a wall and sits down.

The session ends!

None of what happened to Knux was planned in any way, shape, or form.

I will think about this cinematic moment for a month now.

#kip plays star wars #wow. i. goodnight.

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mobius8 · 5 years ago

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The Starblaze Freedom Fighters, as done by the amazingly talented @zippityzap!

Alright, so, I’m not gonna do these guys from left and right, but, from what order they’re introduced in.

Sonic the Hedgehog, 13 years of age. Crashing/landing in the Green Hill Zone Garden section of the Acornian Capital city planet of Grand Acornia, Sonic the Hedgehog only seems to remember the past year of his life, that he spent on a more or less rural planet in the Hedgian territories. Still, when Grand Acornia is besieged by Doctor Robotnik of the Egg Empire, he’s not afraid to speed into action, and becomes one of the main figures of the Starblaze Freedom Fighters.

Princess Sally Acorn, 14 years of age. Daughter of the king of the Acornian sector, Nigel, Sally hasn’t been one to care much about being a princess for years now, except for when it helps her get into otherwise unaccessible places and situations. Her most recent years have mostly been spent learning martial arts, playing board games, reading on philosophies of tacticians, as well on territories outside of the Acornian sector, and wandering around the section of Grand Acornia she lives on, wondering when she will get to really see the stars for herself. Suddenly, a mysterious new hedgehog boy comes into play, arriving in an escape pod bearing the Royal Family Sigil of Hedgia, and, she’s intrigued, especially with all the mystery surrounding him. After Grand Acornia gets sieged, she starts becoming one of the main figures of the Starblaze Freedom Fighters.

Antoine D’Coolette, 17 years of age. The son of famed Acornian Military officer, and a descendant of a noble South Hedgian family, Antoine has lived, breathed, and Trained for the military, wanting to live up to the noble expectations of not only his family itself, but his honorable military father. However, ever since his father disappeared about a month ago, to try and help the Hedgian Military take back their space from the Egg Empire, he’s been a bit more awkward and nervous than usual. King Nigel, having seemingly understood what was bothering him after a few days, declared that he was to be one of his new military advisors, as well as part of his guard. Seeing that he had something to be strong for again, Antoine accepted, and, has been by his side for the past few weeks. However, he becomes suspicious of a certain new arrival, and convinces the king to make him Sonic’s escort, in order to keep an eye on him and the princess. Of course, he’s taken aback when Sonic and Sally don’t seem to mind, and even invite him out for ice cream. While’s no good at hand to hand combat, he is a trained swordsman, and, yet, has sworn off the blade, until he can either recover his father’s, or one from a previous member of his family. Still, his military type training and learning does benefit not only him, but the rest of the Starblaze Freedom Fighters.

Rotor the Walrus, 15 years old. As a young walrus, Rotor always had both an interest and a knack for technology. Sadly, this didn’t bring him any closer to his warrior father, Tundra, who hated technology, and decided pure strength was best, although it never did them all that great against the Northern Raiders. Deciding he would have a better life somewhere else, he left the Artikan sector at age 13, and ended up arriving in the Acornian sector, where he ended up being apprenticed to Sir Charles the Hedgehog. He’s a tech engineer, but, is mostly focused on the hardware, only bothering with programming on his most ambitious of projects. Or, at least, the ones he’s sure will impress. While Charles, AKA, Uncle Chuck, has never really been 100% sure that Rotor should be making weapons, even he can’t help but admit that not only do his weapon-making skills benefit the Starblazer starship itself, but the Starblaze Freedom Fighters as a whole.

Miles ‘Tails’ Prower, 9 years old. Son of Acornian Special Ops Commander, Amadeus Prower, his parents disappeared one day on a secret mission, when he was too young to remember much about them. Since then, he's mostly been raised by Uncle Chuck and Rosie, the former of whom discovered how proficient Miles was with tech, and decided to take him on as an apprentice at the age of six. Having worked with both Rotor and Charles for at least three years now, and having been friends with Ben Muttski for most of his life, Tails was mostly content, but, always felt like something was missing. As he gets to know Sonic, though, he'll feel like he finally has the big brother he always wanted, although, Rotor was still pretty awesome himself. He's more of a gadget and pragmatic based engineer, pretty willing to go into programming where Rotor won't. He's really good at flying machines and starships, though, which makes him perfect for the Starblaze Freedom Fighters!

Bunnie 'Rabbot' Rabbit, 16 years old. While not an initial member of the team, Bunnie's possibly one of its most valued members. Partially roboticized, she's not afraid to use her newfound powers to help the team! She's headstrong, but, has an interest in things like hairdressing. She doesn't like to talk about her past too much, though. What little the team knows about her origins, is that she's from a lawless planet called Mirage, where her two older brothers and uncle live. Still, despite her unwillingness to talk about her, she's the type of person that you can count upon just about always, and, a real heavy hitter of the team.

Amy Rose, 10 years old. A former daughter of Mercian Nobility, and cousin of Prince Rob herself, Amy's been on little planet for...Well, at least four years, to her knowledge, and perception. Some would think she lived alone, but, she wasn't alone. She was living with her two friends, Tekno and Gold. Tekno taught her to search for scrap, salvage, and supplies, while Gold helped her to understand the unique nature of the planet. She's seen little glimpses of time and space, but, those that she's actually cared about are glimpses of a certain team, and a blue hero. When the Starblazer Freedom Fighters come to stop Robotnik from ultimately using Little Planet to conquer the galaxy, Amy Rose jumps and smashes into action to help. Once the crisis is over, she decides to travel with the Starblazers, wanting to not only watch Sonic in action, but help the entire team.

Knuckles the Echidna, 14 years old. Knux has been...Mostly alone for a good chunk of his life, as far as he can recall. After his dad disappeared, he's been the guardian of the strange, utterly humongous flying island, kept aloft not only by the Master Emerald, but Ancient Echidna tech built literally around the island. The sole people he seems to get company from before he meets the Starblazers, are two people, he calls 'Granny' and 'Gramps', whose actual relationship to him is...Complicated. Still, they've managed to be a pretty nice family. Then, Robotnik came along, and convinced that the Evil Sonic the Hedgehog was trying to steal his Master Emerald! Believing him due to the Doctor's manipulations, he fights against the Starblazers at first, before realizing he's been tricked. After that, he, his granny and his gramps decide to help the group, and, he becomes the last classic saga Main Starblazer, smacking robots and evil doers with his huge fists.

#Sonic AU #Sonic AUs #Freedom Fighters #Starblaze Freedom Fighters #Mobius Loop #Sonic The Hedgehog #Sally Acorn #Antoine D'coolette #Rotor the Walrus #Miles 'Tails' Prower #Bunnie Rabbot #Amy Rose #Knuckles the Echidna

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chaosworthyarchive · 4 years ago

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Sometime in the future Location ¦ Green Hill Zone

————————

It was quiet there in the forest. Not silent by any means, but calm. Even with the occasional twig snapping under the weight of the ferals scampering around and the waves crashing into the rock face below, at the base of the cliff, things were peaceful. Things were perfect.

That was part of the reason Sonic was out there, sat in the grass with his legs folded in front of him, eyes closed and breathing steadily. While he wouldn’t call it meditation exactly, it was close enough to warrant the term. He did it every once in awhile, more out of desire than necessity, and it was always in the same spot, on the cliff not too far from the place he called home, both in the sense of place and the literal building.

Once upon a time, he had been able to sit out there for hours, only coming back to his senses when his other half called or when the sunset, whichever came first. But these days were different. That much he realized the moment his ears swiveled back, toward the unmistakable sound of something approaching with the utmost care. It was a slow and deliberate advance and had the hedgehog been anyone else, he may not have noticed it.

His senses were sharp though, even now, and it didn’t take him long to realize what his would-be threat was. Still, he made no move to confront it, he merely remained where he was, ears trained back forward and body oddly relaxed. He didn’t even turn around.

Because that way it, or rather they, wouldn’t see the grin on their ‘unexpecting' target as the space between them got smaller…smaller…and then…

“Hey!”

What was supposed to be a pounce had just been interrupted by a rather abrupt gust of air, one that had playfully, but purposely, picked up the would-be assault and brought them around to face the hedgehog. Once it had, Sonic found himself, unsurprisingly, grinning at his daughter.

It was a ridiculous effort but he’d give her credit for trying to look upset, even if the tongue stuck out in his direction was more cute than anything. At least she followed it with a slightly more convincing pout as she crossed her arms. “No fair! That’s cheatin'!”

“Sneaking up on a person is cheating,” he corrected, watching with no small amount of amusement as his daughter glared at him after being set down. It was only then an air of confidence entered his voice, a similar light in his eyes as he flashed her a wink. “’Sides did you really think it would be that easy?”

Judging from the look that came over Lyra's face, she hadn’t, but rather than admit to her shortcoming she ignored the question altogether before scrambling into her dad’s lap, looking up at him with a curious expression, snout wrinkling. “How come ya always know, Daddy?”

“Because I know everything,” he answered back without missing a beat, smirking as he tapped her on the nose. He chuckled as that caused a second raspberry being aimed in his direction, yet he shrugged casually. “Plus, your Uncle Miles used t' do it all the time too, but don’t tell him I told you that. Who’s been teaching you how t' sneak around anyway?”

A giggle was his only answer at first, and suddenly it was like his daughter had a dirty little secret as she continued to laugh behind her hands, earning herself a raised brow from her father. With a mock-stern look, hands on her hips as best as she could manage, she stuck her nose into the air.

“Unc’ Knux an’ Aunt Amy said I’m not s'ppose ta say,” she told him with a shake of her head, then immediately paused to go over her words and chuckled sheepishly. She was no better at keeping secrets than her father, apparently. “Oops…”

Shaking his head, more amused than actually upset, the hedgehog snorted. “Remind me t' have a talk with Knux the next time I see him.”

“Is he in trouble?” It was hard to tell if Lyra was genuinely worried about her uncle’s safety or merely curious. Regardless she didn’t get much more than a noncommittal shrug from her father before she huffed and settled down, turning to look out into the distance alongside him. Per usual, the silence that followed didn’t last that long, confusion entering the girl’s voice as she titled her head. “What're ya looking at?”

“Nothing, Half Pint. Just enjoying the view.” The answer was simple, punctuated by the hero ruffling the blue bangs on her head in a playful way.

Even more confused, she ducked from under the hand to look at him, face scrunched in confusion. “But I thought ya dun like the water.”

“I don’t like being in it, but looking at it’s just fine,” Sonic explained patiently, oddly enough understanding the confusion on her part but gesturing back to the ocean before too long. “I used t’ sit and do this all the time with Rosie when I was your age. ‘S hard not t' like the ocean a little bit with a view like this, ‘s part of the reason I always wanted t’ move back here, I think.”

Lyra just blinked, looking from her father to the ocean and back again before settling back down, leaning against the hero’s chest in a way that kept him from seeing the frown on her face, but not from hearing the resignation that followed. It seemed one part of his answer had bothered her a little bit. “Ya mean ya didn’t like Scrap Brain...? That’s where you an’ Mommy lived b’fore, right?”

Sonic nodded, though he didn’t speak right away, trying to piece together his words in a way he hoped was easy to understand. Along with his terrible lying skills his daughter had also inherited his damnable curiosity, though he’d admit she was often a lot more tactful with her questions than he was. Still, that meant any conversations with the girl would eventually veer onto this path but luckily the hero was used to it by now. “That’s right, an’ it’s not that I didn’t like it, the city was fine, but it wasn’t Green Hill. It...wasn’t really home.”

An uncharacteristic silence fell over them after that, with one lost in thought and the other blissfully unaware of the former fact. In fact, Sonic wasn’t even aware his daughter had been thinking over his words until she huffed, a resigned sound. She still didn’t understand, not in the way she thought her father wanted her too, and she scrambled to turn in her seat to look at him, caramel apple eyes fixed on his emeralds with conviction.

“But Aunt Amy an’ Tekno an’ Wren live there, an’ grandma says that home is just a place where the people you love are,” she rehearsed, looking like she had solved the would-be problem then and there. Rosie had never steered her wrong before, after all, so she squinted at her father, as if daring him to prove her wrong. “So ‘s kinda of home, right?”

“Right...” That much the hero could relent to, since it was technically right, but his tone said there was more to it and Lyra noticed that, waiting intently for him to continue. “But it’s a different kind of home. I grew up here, so it’s…special t' me.”

It took an honest to Chaos moment for that to sink in, but the hero wouldn’t say he wasn’t relieved when realization finally hit the five-year old’s face. Apparently, it hadn’t occurred to her until then that people could have more than one home, but she understood. She had family everywhere, aunts and uncles who were spread throughout the planet, all of whom she loved dearly, and she never felt anything less than at home when she and her parents visited them. She could tell her parents felt the same way, even if they never mentioned it.

She took a moment to revel in that, a smile on her face. She was a lucky one, and she knew it.

There was just one more thing bothering her. Despite being young, she did know the house she was growing up in hadn’t always been where her parents lived. Her Uncle Johnny had told her how he had built it for them just before she was born, and she knew they had lived in Scrap Brain for a while too. But her father said Green Hill was special…

Curious all over again, she cocked her head. “So how come it took you so long t’ come back here?”

The question was answered with silence, a long silence, and while Sonic hid it well there was still something about it that brought a slightly darker light to those bright hues. He knew the answer of course, but explaining it had never been high on his list of desires. He and Mina had made the decision a long time ago to not tell their daughter the full and unabridged version of his, and her, heroics or what had caused them in the first place. Lyra knew parts, it was only fair that she did, but not everything. More gruesome parts, such as the results of Robotnik’s first attack had been utterly left out and there was little chance of either of them telling her about that fateful day in the city until she was older.

Not that it mattered, because she apparently already knew enough. “Was it ‘cause of the Bad Man…?”

The question was so quiet, so soft, that Sonic couldn’t help but smile down at her. The worried look that had come over the girl’s face diminished somewhat, but not entirely. She didn’t like bringing him, Robotnik, up (another reason why her parents had opted not to tell her too much) because she knew her father didn’t like talking about him. It made him sad and she didn’t like that.

“Yeah, yeah it was…” it didn’t stop the hedgehog from answering regardless, not wanting to worry the girl, and he did give her a smile, one that was warm and grateful. “But I’m here now with you, your mum and grandma and that’s all I need.”

That seemed to cheer her up and she beamed up at him, earning herself another tossle of those bangs. At least for a moment until she grabbed his hand and pulled it aside, looking at him once more with that serious expression.

“What ‘bout – “

“Yes, Aunt Amy an' the rest of the lot too,” Sonic cut her off, already knowing what she was getting at and glad the girl kept her extended family in mind. Chuckling as she blew him a raspberry, though clearly ecstatic and not meaning it, he glanced up towards the darkening sky and gave her a gentle push. “Now let’s go home, ‘s probably about time for dinner.”

“Okay!” Hopping back up onto her feet, Lyra pulled on her father’s hand, as if she was somehow helping him do the same despite her small height. It didn’t take long after the hedgehog was up for her to start tugging, putting on a puppy-eyed look when he looked down at her. Sonic already knew what she wanted but raised a brow nonetheless. “Can we race back home? Please?”

He pretended to consider for a few moments, absurdly long in the girl’s mind, before smirking. “Yeah, alright but — ”

This time he was cut off as his daughter took off into the wind. He had expected that too, honestly. Luckily there was no way the girl could get lost (she had found her way to him after all) and while there was nothing but a gust of air left in her wake Sonic knew that it would still take her a while to get back to their home so he saw nothing wrong with giving her a headstart.

Taking the few moments he had to look back at the ocean there was an utter sense of peace that washed over him, a feeling he had felt more and more over the years. A feeling he just knew was there to stay, and he couldn’t say he was against that. Not one bit.

He was home, with people who loved him and whom he loved back, and he didn’t doubt that for a second.

#give a little time to me | queue #// introducing: a baby #verse | xyl #lyra | guest stars #i write my own verso | drabbles

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angelislandtour · 5 years ago

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favorite Sonic game?

because i over complicate things, here’s an essay >:))

tldr; tie between generations and mania, though i’ve not played generations, and the storybook games (SATSR and SATBK) are there for story and writing

console games only

okay so obviously sonic 1 was pretty good. sonic 2 really improved on things (until wing fortress and to a degree metropolis). sonic 3k was an improvement in so many ways (a story, graphics, music, hardware use) and though i have personal beef with the levels and bosses and stuff so i dislike it, i still believe it to be the best of the three (four if 3 and knuckles are counted as different???)

i’ve never played adventure 1, so i don’t know too much. some of the gameplay is a bit clunky sure but i still like it. i don’t like how more than one character played through a stage (or at least a stage that doesn’t fit them, i wouldn’t mind sonic/shadow sharing 4 example) i like the story tho! a lot! id rate sonic or knux’s routes the highest, sonic bc of the gameplay and knux because he’s an angel and his story is great

adventure 2! good game! again never played it, but the writing was good and the graphics were gettin good! i love the adventure 2 models. also the world was more colourful than adventure 1! rouge’s debut game.

SONIC HEROESSSS. the gameplay is Horrible (at least on the ps2 version) and the voice acting is everywhere and it’s kind of dated but hell i still like it!! the music is good, the levels are aesthetically pleasing (i’ve not finished the game so i’ve not seen all of them) and the voice acting has gotten a lot better since adventure. gave us team dark and a metal sonic story.

shadow the hedgehog. masterpiece. i don’t care about its “flaws” and “bad level design” and “questionable game mechanics” shadow gets a knife. enough said

06. the story is ..... not great. the writing is. not great. the graphics are, in my opinion, just a little less than great (Looks nice yes but i miss the baby adventure models). the voice acting is kind of wacky at points and the games almost unplayable. but it has massive amounts of charm. i love every single terrible glitch and every single fucking loading screen.

unleashed! i think! it was a great game,, they managed to take a very strange idea and make it So So Good... the graphics and voice acting and story are all a step up and the LEVEL DESIGN... at least for the day stages. great game

storybook saga! the story in secret rings is Godmode and the writing in black knight is incredible. sure secret rings is a bitch to play but !!! both get very high scores! bonus marks for creativity

colors. it was pretty good. we get great graphics and a great ost yet again. the 2d sections are a little numerous but that’s ok. disappointed in the writing but still a good game

generations: see colors!!! i love the music and the games so bright and though i’ve never played it it looks so good!! also GOOD LEVEL DESIGN

lost world: worst game in the sonic franchise. i hate it. despise it. i can’t write all i hate about it so that might come in a different post if you guys wanna see it??

forces: tastes like wasted potential. a step in the right direction but still underwhelming and kind of boring. again not a fan of the writing. but overall... it was,,,,, okay? people give it a little too much trouble. sonic deserves better though

mania: idk if this was before or after forced but i got it after. BEAUTIFUL. STUNNING. some of the levels. irk me but it’s fun to play and is a really nice game!!!

so to answer your question. it’s probably the storybook games just because i love the story or generations because it was So Good. or mania bc i love it. i love sonic the hedgehog

#sorry if i forgot a game i was doing tjis from memory #lol #i hate sonic lost world

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mobius-prime · 5 years ago

Text

48. Special - Super Sonic vs. Hyper Knuckles

Previous / Table of Contents / Next

Crash of the Titans

Writer: Mike Gallagher Pencils: Art Mawhinney Colors: Barry Grossman

This special begins with Sally monitoring Knuckles' movements, as he seems to have left his island and is striding straight toward Robotropolis. Sonic immediately concludes that he must be trying to make a deal with Robotnik, and rushes off, despite Sally calling uselessly after him to speak diplomatically instead of fighting.

Turns out Knuckles isn't interested in Robotnik at all, but a potential Lake of Rings that may be contained within the toxic walls of his city:

As we can see this issue likely takes place before the actual Knuckles Chaotix special, since Mighty and the others are currently being held captive somewhere unknown by Archimedes. In any event, Knuckles is interested in the radioactivity of Robotropolis, which raises an interesting point - I mean, I know it's probably not this deep, considering it's a comic for kids, but "radioactive" isn't just one concept. There are different kinds of radioactivity. Robotropolis is most likely filled with some kind of low-level ionizing radiation if we're talking about it being toxic, the kind that gives you radiation sickness and cancer, though not enough to be really dangerous considering organic beings can survive there long-term. I'd imagine, however, that radiation from Chaos Emeralds is quite different, since no one ever shows symptoms of being like, I don't know, overloaded with toxic Chaos energy or whatever. They're shown to be powerful but in quite a good way, useful for powering technology and Super transformations. It's a little strange that Knuckles may be confusing ionizing radiation with Chaos radiation, but eh, whatever. He thinks there's Chaos Emeralds there, so he's off to go grab some.

Of course, Sonic isn't down with this plan, and punches him out unprovoked.

Sonic, Sonic, Sonic. We need to talk about this behavior. Every time you and Knuckles see each other you're already throwing hands before you even think to ask what the other is actually up to. How many times have these guys fought each other now over stupid reasons? Five? Six? It's getting out of hand. This entire story is basically an excuse to draw like a million panels of these two going at it, so there's really not a whole heck of a lot of plot to cover. They punch each other for a while, Sally shows up to calm them down and notices that in the dirt hole from a tree that they've uprooted during the chaos, she can see a portal to an unknown zone that's just chock full of Chaos emeralds and rings. Knuckles dives in after them, Sonic gets pissed enough to try to follow, and Sally just laments that he hasn't changed since they used to spend summers together wait what was that Sally?

Aww, how cute. It's good to know that despite Penders weirdly pushing the Sally/Geoffrey/Sonic love triangle, Michael still knows where it's at and gives Sonic and Sally a cute moment like this.

Anyway, they both pop down into the zone, which is basically just a recreation of your average Genesis Sonic game stage, and start collectin'! It doesn't take them long to both reach fifty rings and seven Chaos Emeralds, and as such, they transform into what the title has promised us all along: Super Sonic and Hyper Knuckles!

They proceed to duke it out for nine uninterrupted pages of no plot progression. Really, like I said, this issue was just an excuse to have a big knock-down-drag-out fight between two superpowered furries. Eventually, the fight gets crazy enough to start bending reality inside the zone itself, and, well…

These places really are quite unstable, aren't they? They're like little pockets of unreality.

Anyway, after a brief interlude where Robotnik complains that he only gets a one-page cameo in a big special like this, Sonic wakes up to find Sally standing over him. She informs him that their battle destroyed the zone, and that Knuckles flew away somewhere unknown after the explosion, and gets him on her bike to take him home.

An epilogue reveals to us, however, that Knuckles didn't return from the fight empty-handed - that he in fact managed to snag one last Chaos Emerald before the zone exploded, making his mission ultimately a success! Mighty celebrates with him, but - oh yeah, Mighty and the other Chaotix! Time to get back to the present and see what's going on with Knuckles now…

Fathers and Sons

Writers: Mike Kanterovich and Ken Penders Pencils: Ken Penders Colors: Barry Grossman

Turns out Knuckles is on a bit of a trip down memory lane. He's feeling vulnerable and alone after losing his friends and being unable to find them so far, and starts reminiscing about his father - which for us, means we're finally getting a bit more backstory!

We're shown tidbits of Knuckles' childhood, his father taking him around the island, showing him important locations, teaching him life lessons. He's training him to become the next guardian of the island, something Knuckles is excited by, but he's hotheaded and brash, and sometimes learns his lessons slowly.

Ultimately, all of this training from his father led up to one last moment, to a page which is kind of infamous among fans, but I don't really necessarily find as funny as everyone else.

I mean sure, the mental image of Knuckles' dad just randomly jumping into a wall of fire is kind of funny, but think about this for a second. He's been very mysterious this entire time, explaining Knuckles' duties to him, but not really explaining what they're for or why they're necessary. Knuckles himself might know even less about his species' own past than Tails, since Tails at least got a bit of a history lesson from Athair a while back. And now his father does this - leaving him behind at a young age. I mean, Knuckles is only sixteen in the comic as of now, barely in his mid-teens, and it's implied that his father left at least a few years ago, making him probably no older than thirteen here. Can you imagine the only parent you ever knew just suddenly appearing to commit suicide like this in front of you, leaving an entire community of people to you to look after? This kid's got some trauma to work through, methinks.

For now, the issue just ends on him swearing to get answers from Archimedes and find the Chaotix, hoping to live up to his father's expectations. That's a heavy burden to carry alone, Knux.

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #special - super sonic vs. hyper knuckles #era 2 the freedom fight #writer: michael gallagher #writer: mike kanterovich #writer: ken penders #pencils: art mawhinney #pencils: ken penders #colors: barry grossman

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theflashdriver · 6 years ago

Text

Obligation Turned Habit

I’ve never really written a solo sonamy story and wanted to give it a shot! This is a little something written for White Day, a holiday where individuals return the favour of gifts given on valentines. Taking that idea and running with it, I thought it might be fun for Sonic and Amy to have a sort of unspoken tradition for that day; seeing as he isn’t exactly the best at expressing romantic feelings. It’s a little over 3700 words in total, I hope you enjoy!

Though the sweat on his brow was undeniable, Sonic was keeping his cool. The blue hedgehog ran with a spring in his step, a plan in his head and a white package in his right hand. It was White Day, the day to show appreciation for Valentine’s gifts, and, of course, Amy had made him chocolate this year, just as she had every year prior. It was only right that he return the gesture, wasn’t it? He was practically obligated to and so, he would. It’d be easy, simple, just as it’d been every prior year. Knock at her door, pass her the present, and run free. No sweat, it’d go just like every other year. He’d rush away just in time to hear his name, throw back a smirking glance and catch sight of her overjoyed face. As he ran last year’s expression drifted to the forefront of his mind; her wide smile as she hugged that paper wrapped box, the blush beneath her cheeks.

Somehow, she wore a similar look every year, despite how predictable it was and how bland his gifts tasted. Despite how much her chocolatiering had improved he was certain today’s sweets were as tasteless as his first ever batch. Well, maybe a little better, but it wasn’t nearly as significant as her growth. He could still recall her first gift, a small red bag filled to the brim with chipped and shattered heart-shaped chocolate. He’d had to eat them in front of her, just to prevent the waterworks. They hadn’t even been bad, just a little misshapen, but it was impossible to compare them to this year’s candies. White, milk and dark chocolate mouse housed within pink, red and blue chocolate shells, almost too much to eat.

He skidded to a halt, having very almost shot past her house. She’d moved out of Station Square toward the end of last year, claiming she missed having a proper garden, and moved into a small bungalow, much closer to the Vanilla’s household. Flowerbeds edged the house’s walls, their buds just starting to bloom, and an oak tree stood in the centre of the lawn. Last he saw it, the tree had been little more than a husk, yet now (in early spring no less) leaves were growing strong. If Amy was one thing it was dedicated, he knew that better than anyone. As Sonic approached the front door he gave a glance to the kitchen window. The curtains were closed, good. She wouldn’t see his approach, wouldn’t get the drop on him, the plan would work as it had every prior year. Footfalls slowed as the wooden door grew nearer, fingers strummed against the parcel.

It was simple, it’d be easy. Knock the door, hand it off and get out of there; throwing back a smirk. Maybe he’d call out ‘Happy White Day Ames’ as he passed it, yeah that’d be cool. Alright, yeah, piece of cake. No sweat. Well, for something meant to be no sweat he sure was sweating a lot, but still! He’d done this so many times, it’d be easy. It’d be easy.

Catching himself before he could walk into the door, Sonic rapped out a quick knock. A moment past, at least he thought it did? Truth be told he couldn’t tell if time was going slower or faster. His foot started to tap, fingers still tapping as he scanned the entryway for something to do. House number 12, but there weren’t any others around, how strange. Welcome mat was the same as he remembered, ‘Welcome’ with a heart as the ‘o’…There was a letterbox on her door, was he desperate enough to call through it alre-

Ah! She had a doorbell, that’s why this was taking so long. Maybe her room was far from the front door, with the curtains closed she clearly wasn’t in the kitchen; must’ve already had Lunch. Yes that made sense! He gave it a brief press, no more than a couple of seconds, and retook his position; box extended and body half turned to run.

But another moment past, at least… it felt like it had. Having no watch he cast a glance to the sky, no way was it earlier than eleven; it must’ve been close to noon. There was no way she was asleep, was she out? Though he swore he’d heard the doorbell ring he pressed it again, ear touched to the door. Sure enough, the ringing echoed inside… there was no sound of movement. Sighing both out of boredom and at himself, he pushed open the post box and peeked inside; only darkness lay beyond its slit.

Despite that he called out, just to be especially sure, “Ames, three guess who?”

No sign of life, not a light or a sound or a movement. The blue blur rubbed his chin, there was no sign of her inside but… she knew he was coming, didn’t she? Last year had gone off without a hitch, so had the ones before it, this was really strange. Was she sick? No way, unless it happened overnight he’d surely have heard about it…

But what if it had happened overnight?

Sonic shook the thought from his head, trying to dismiss it. Maybe she was out gardening, Yeah, she’d done so much work on the front already; that had to be it.

He didn’t hesitate, speeding around the side and vaulting her small fence, “Amy, are you back here?”

Again there was no response, as he rounded the corner there was no pink hedgehog. On this side of the house too, the curtains were closed. There was no sign of her, not even in the greenhouse. He bit his tongue, catching himself before he could call out again, and approached the backdoor; knocking on its frosted glass. Again, there was no response. Feet dragged as he made his way back, face to face with the front door once again. While the letterbox was around the right length it was way too thin for his gift. He doubled back to check the front window, the curtains were still drawn shut. Eyes dropped to the doorstep, the space beside her welcome mat.

Could he just leave it?

It was easy; he’d just set down the box and head off. Sure, the package wasn’t marked but it’d be obvious it was his; it wasn’t like there were any other gifts on her doorstep. It’d suck not to see her but he probably would soon, she might even get huffy and come find him. Maybe demand he make up for missing her, try to drag him to twinkle park or the movies or out for dinner or… something. Yeah, he’d see her again soon; there was no way he wouldn’t. Amy wouldn’t let him go a week without seeing her, he hadn’t seen her since what… Saturday? Yeah, she’d show up…

Those thoughts kept circling in his head, when Sonic finally came to his senses he had no idea how long had passed.

The hedgehog managed to set the box down. He’d propped it up against her door, that way she couldn’t miss it, and was finally turning away when a new thought snuck into his brain. If the present was left unattended then there was a chance, a very slim chance, that someone might decide to steal it. Sonic internally rolled his eyes, telling himself that couldn’t be helped, but he wouldn’t make it far from her house. He hesitated in the shade of her old oak tree, not a comfortable spot in sight but…

Well, resting in a tree bet waiting on a doorstep any day of the week. He could relax properly, out of Amy’s sight but more than capable of stopping someone else stealing her gift. He’d even get to see her collect the present, even if the angle wasn’t great he’d get to see her rush toward it. It was a perfect plan!

A running start, a solid hop and he was among the branches. It took some scrambling, trying his best not to injure the tree, but eventually, he found an… ok position? This tree was far less comfortable than he thought it’d be. The bark was rough, sticks were poking into his spines and while the leaves were new they were clearly poorly attached. Leaning into the discomfort, Sonic looked to the sky. Nothing to do but wait, no company but his thoughts…

Why was he doing this, why did he care so much? He should have just left the box and ran, they were in the middle of nowhere. No one was going to steal it; nobody even knew it was there. Even if they somehow did, it wasn’t like that was his fault. If he really wanted to protect it he could hide it around the back, put the gift in her greenhouse or somewhere among the flowers. So why hadn’t he? Why was he halfway up this tree, branches scraping through his fur, when he could be running free?

His foot began to twitch, fingers rapped against his cheek. The clouds were barely moving, no they weren’t moving at all. This was taking way too long, where was she? Could she actually be sick, or was boredom just playing with his imagination? Try as he might Sonic the idea wouldn’t leave his head, her head thrown back against the pillow and a compress atop her head. Unable to move as his voice sounded through the letterbox, sadness in her ey-

He shook his head, trying to replace the thought with literally anything else. What would Knuckles be up to right now? Probably stuck on his rock, unless he’d worked up the guts to give Rouge his gift. He always got so flustered about it, could never keep up his cool, he’d mull around for hours and hours until eventually, she’d show up to steal the emerald or (in recent years) questioning where her gift was. Sonic always had the sneaking suspicion Knux enjoyed that wait, a little taunting had practically proved it; the redder he got the louder he’d shout. How could he get so embarrassed over something so simple? It took Sonic a couple of lines to push Knuckles to the limit yet all it took Rouge was a little smile, maybe a small chide at most.

Sonic’s eyes returned to the doorway, landing upon his parcel. It was exactly where he’d left it, the same exact position. Right. Brilliant. Perfect. How long had it been? Five minutes? Ten minutes? An hour? If he’d overshot it she might be out for lunch, maybe shopping. That could take ages. His vision kept flickering between the incredibly still clouds and the entryway, every shift rustling the leaves more. He knew he could leave, hop down from the tree and speed off, but for some reason his body flat out refused. As if not being here was, somehow, worse than the boredom he was feeling. Why was that the case? How could it be? These questions were annoying him way too much! Why was time going so slow?! Palms came up to his forehead, his eyes tightly shut.

But wait, leaving it wasn’t the only option. Well, it was but he didn’t have to leave the gift. If he was so worried about the gift reaching Amy then he had two other options, he could go out and try to find Amy (she’d probably like that) or he could simply come back later. Well, there was a third option. He could go looking for her and, if he couldn’t find her, come back later…

That was a lot of effort but at least he’d be running free, Sonic dropped from his branch. This was so much harder than last year and he had no idea why. Her absence had fully disrupted his rhythm, put him in a position and mindset. Even going to lift the package, Sonic felt a bizarre sense of staleness. He was doing this to overcome his boredom, wasn’t he? It felt weird to be holding it again, not wrong but… strange. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Some weird mix of anticipation yet, almost, lingering disappointment.

Groaning, he slouched against her door. Eyes dropped to the paper, his fingers drummed against the package. This was so stupid, he wasn’t meant to be like this. He was meant to be cool, a wink and a smile and he’d run off to who knows where next. That was how this worked, that was how it always worked and that was how it was going to work. Why did his feet feel heavy, he’d decided he was coming back later; why was it so hard to lea-

“Sonic?” Two sets of green eyes finally collided.

Oh, so this was why he’d stayed. The surprise in her eyes and the smile on her face, watching her look not only to the gift but to him with such clear joy. As he stared time went from frozen to matching his speed. He felt the wind on his face and the flutter of his heart, it was as though he was running. Even if he wanted to run he couldn’t, his back was against the door.

His vision was quickly turned to the sky. Sonic he brushed through his quills with his free hand, taking a step forward and holding out the gift. “Hey, Ames. Happy White Da-

Before he could finish she’d pushed past his gift, she felt her arms wrap around his back and, suddenly, his feet weren’t touching the ground anymore. “Sonic! You waited for me?”

“I… yeah.” Feeling himself grow redder and redder he lacked the will to argue, it’d be strange to try to shoot past her now. Besides, it was technically true. “Wh-Where were you? I feel like I’ve been waiting for hours.” If he hadn’t been working so hard to maintain his smirk he’d have screamed at himself for stuttering. In her grasp, he couldn’t even wipe the sweat from his brow.

The hold softened, his feet reunited with the ground, but her head lingered upon his shoulder, “I was babysitting Cream, Vanilla had a brunch date with Vector and she asked me to step in. To have been here hours, you must have arrived just as I left.” He could hear the joy in her voice, though obscured from view her smile lingered in his mind’s eye. “I’m surprised you stayed.”

“Well, I just,” He fumbled a little, finally wrapping his arms around her, “I wanted to see your face when you got it, no point in showing up if you’re a no show.” Upon realising what he’d said the hedgehog started to stammer, “I mean, you tracked me down to hand off yours in person so it’s only right I… well, I mean, it just wouldn’t be cool if I didn’t. I’ve seen that face for what, e-eight years in a row? Be weird if I didn’t this time. Yeah, just wouldn’t sit right, you know? I just had to see your smile again.”

His motor mouth hadn’t improved the situation, as he’d spluttered his way through an explanation she’d pulled back and was now, undoubtedly, staring up at him. He didn’t know for certain of course as he’d turned his eyes back to the clouds, avoiding the very face he said he’d longed to look at. Wait, no, he hadn’t said he’d that! Why was he thinking it, what was he even thin-

“Really? You mean that? Oh, Sonic!” Oh no, she was getting louder. In his mind, her smile only grew as her grip tightened again, “I knew, deep down,

He’d often shrugged off Amy’s hugs, telling himself they were much too cramped and restrictive, but there was something… bizarrely exhilarating about this. His foot wasn’t tapping, his brow wasn’t furrowed and that world hadn’t frozen. Clouds still moved in the sky, he could feel the gentle wind on his face. Even though he was stuck still he wasn’t bored. His heart was beating fast so fast, he couldn’t understand it. He could only compare it to a runner’s high, that feeling of excitement and elation as he pushed himself to the limit. Why was he feeling that now? It was just a hug, he was giving her a gift just like he had the past eight years, why now?!

Sonic’s train of thought derailed as he felt a hand pass through his quills. Surprised, his gaze finally dropped and he came face to face with her smile. Short pink quills shifted slightly ajar by their prior embrace, bright emerald orbs looking just past him and the dusting of pink that lingered on her cheeks. Why was his heart beating like this? He hadn’t been running, he’d been standing still! He’d taken one look and now he couldn’t pull his eyes from her, every second feeling himself grow more and more embarrassed. Finally, she removed her hand from his quills, a collection of sticks and leaves between her fingers. The embrace had finally ended… yet this feeling remained.

“What’s all this?” Had she seen him, was she teasing him? Despite his eyes being locked upon her face, Sonic couldn’t tell. Why was his face so hot, why did his hands feel sweaty? How was he going to answer?

His jaw slacked, “Well, you know, always on the move. Didn’t even notice. Must’ve jumped through a tree or a bush or something.”

She cast the plant matter before reaching up, pulling another twig from behind his ear. “And there’s even more where that came from, you-

“I-I think I can handle it, Ames,” Before she could reach up Sonic managed to pull himself back to his full height, he hadn’t notice himself leaning in. He made another, awful, attempt to change the conversation. “When you didn’t answer I thought you might’ve been sick, usually you know where and when I’m gonna show up.”

“Aww,” She cooed, “Were you worried about me?” Alright, now she was absolutely teasing him. “Well don’t you worry, next time I have a sniffle I’ll be sure to call you up.”

He searched for a quip, some witty rebut, yet nothing was coming to him. Sonic stopped his free hand from returning to his quills, lest he flustered himself further. “I’ve already played chocolatier for you, doctor can’t be that much worse, can it?” Of his thoughts, it’d been the best but it was still incredibly bad. Sure, he’d look after her if she was sick but that was beside the point. The present was pushed further forwards, with each flare of embarrassment it felt heavier in his hands. “Here, proof of the former.”

Without hesitation she’d reached out to take the box but, as fingers contacted paper, a realisation seemed to strike her. Fingertips brushed the surface but thumb didn’t connect to grasp. Mischief had faded from Amy’s eyes; she was trying to maintain her smile, “Sonic, are you going to run when I take this?”

His heart skipped a beat, sweat further gathering on his forehead. The thought hadn’t crossed his mind, not even for a second. Why hadn’t it? Only that he couldn’t run. That’d been a lie though, if he’d really wanted to then he absolutely could have. He looked to the box for a moment, feeling the wrapping paper beneath his gloves, before turning back to the sky.

“W-Who, me? Run away? Th-That doesn’t sound like me, does it?” He’d attempted to play it off, releasing a small chuckle, but her face hadn’t left his mind’s eye. If he left it at that she’d pout, but how would that smile change if he left now? Did he want that smile to stay? “Well,” Was he really about to say this? His hand returned to his quills, leaves and sticks filled his palm. “I guess I can hang out for a while?”

The hedgehog’s sneakers were torn from the ground again; she’d swept him up in an instant and now held him in an embrace twice as tight as the prior. It wouldn’t last nearly as long though, almost as soon as it started she’d unleashed him and stumbled a few steps backwards.

“I-I…” Amy finally brushed back that stray quill, “Sorry, I just… force of habit, I guess.” Now it was her turn to avoid his gaze, hands clasped before herself. “I thought today would be like all those other White Days. You’d show up, hand over your gift, and vanish just as fast. Of course, I had hopes but... I didn’t think you’d stay today.”

Part of him wanted to say ‘me neither,’ but the words didn’t slip past his lips. That’d be uncool; he had to say something better. He had to say something cool, there had to be some way to play off this embarrassment! But she was already looking up at him again; he had to say something fast!

“Well, get used to it!” No, no that was way worse! What had he done? The shock in her eyes, even if the smile on her face lingered, he had to explain himself. “I-I mean, next time I might be up for sticking around too. If it matters that much to you?” He’d rectified it sure, but not enough for his liking. Next time, he hadn’t even said next year; he’d said next time. What did he mean? Was next time going to be sooner than that? Did he want it to come sooner than that? Was that what he meant?

He heard her gasp, those emerald eyes were sparkling again while a brilliant scarlet overtook her cheeks. She was practically bouncing with joy; his heart picked up the pace again. “Yes, yes, yes! I’d love that! ” She’d finally taken the box from him, hugging it close to her chest, but he’d been too fixated on her smile to notice. Box elbowed to her chest she fumbled for her keys, quickly unlocking the door. “You must be hungry, waiting out there so long. You’ll have to stay for lunch at least!”

“S-Sure, Ames.”

He lingered at the hearth for a moment but, following a glance from the pink hedgehog, he quickly entered. Following after her for once, rather than running ahead.

#sonamy #sonic the hedgehog #Amy Rose #sonic #amy #fanfiction #white day

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