Amy's Dark Side
Writer: hfactor66
I do not own rights to Amy Rose or the Sonic Advance series
Greetings, my name is Calvin. I'm 15 years old, and I was driven insane by Amy Rose from the Sonic series. You don't believe me, do you? I don't blame you. Here, I'll tell you the whole story, then hopefully you can make at least some sense out of it. Whether or not you choose to believe me, that's up to you.
September 3rd, 2005
I'm a huge fan of the Sonic Advance series, and as a kid I played every game in the series until I beat Dr. Eggman after collecting all the chaos emeralds & even had a lot of fun in time trials chasing those fast times to impress my friends. My favorite character by far throughout the series was unlike most people's usual response to this question, which would typically be Sonic or Knuckles, in my eyes anyways. My favorite character by far was Amy Rose. My friends asked me one day at school who my favorite character in the Sonic Advance series was, you know, since all of us played the games. I responded with,
"Amy."
their response was a look of confusion and they asked me,
"why?"
See? Now, had I answered with Sonic or someone else, they wouldn't have asked me this question, but because most people usually don't play as Amy, they asked me why. I explained that Amy was the most versatile character in the game. I hated Sonic Advance 2, because either Amy flat out wasn't in the game or few knew how to get her, and I wouldn't be one of those few. They didn't understand that Amy was useful in countless situations throughout the games, not counting Sonic Advance 2 for this matter. I'll name one example. On Ice Mountain Act 2 in Sonic Advance, you don't have to jump on the icicles Dr. Eggman drops to attack you, because normally you have to jump on the icicles and attack him like that, instead I only have to jump up and press B right under him to make Amy use her hammer in mid-air and hit him, and then you were jumping on one then jumping up to refill on air, also explains why I hated this boss fight playing as Sonic, but with her acrobatic skills she can jump up to the surface to refill on air, which is useful for reasons I shouldn't have to explain. She has a lot less acrobatic skills in Sonic Advance 3 though, something that disappointed me about the 3rd game in the series, but I digress. My friends simply brushed off my reasoning and simply stated that I was and I quote "in love with her", sort of intended as a joke, but this to me was absurd, because I only played as her because I knew how useful her talents were. I just assumed they didn't know what versatile meant.
December 27, 2012.
Now this was more than 7 years back, when I still had the original GBA cartridges and a GBA SP, and I was 8 years old at the time. I have since lost my GBA and the cartridges, and have been lost ever since, I quit looking for them when I got my iPod touch 4th gen. when I was 14. Once I learned about this process called "jailbreaking", I got one, & it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Recently I installed a GBA emulator for my iPod Touch. A massive wave of nostalgia rushed through me, coursing through my veins. I quickly searched up the entire Sonic Advance series, along with some other of my favorite games on the GBA, ready to relive my childhood. Once they were done downloading, which didn't take long at all, I started immediately with Sonic Advance. I had to get used to playing on an emulator, but once I got the hang of it, it wasn't too much of a stretch from playing on a GBA. The game played normally, nothing was out of place, and I eventually beat the game within 5 days of playing.
January 1, 2013.
Well, its the new year, so I began Sonic Advance 2, my least favorite game in the series, might as well get it over with. Again, gameplay was normal, nothing out of place, except sometimes in the background I swear for a split second I could see what looked like an Amy Rose sprite at random times. I brushed it off and told myself I was imagining things. A week later, I beat the game. Hurrah. Got the worst game in the series out of the way.
January 8, 2013
Today I moved on to Sonic Advance 3. The opening played normally, the title screen was as it should be, nothing out of place at the main menu, but when I went to options to change a few settings, I noticed the "sound test" option was already unlocked, which was unusual since you have to defeat Dr. Eggman at Altaremerald to unlock sound test.
Did I download an already completed version of the game? I quickly put that option aside, since I didn't have a player name, and all options were at their defaults. Was this a ROM hack? That still seemed reasonable. I exited out of options and went back to the main menu. Everything was still normal. I selected "time trials" and noticed "boss" was already unlocked too, which was again strange since you have to get a gold medal on every act in the game to unlock boss time trials. Regardless, I selected "act". On the character select screen, I noticed I had all the characters unlocked already. This wasn't unusual, since you have every character for time trials to begin with, as far as I know. I immediately went back to the main menu. I then selected "main game" and selected "single player". All the characters were unlocked. This time, curiosity got the best of me. I chose Amy as my player character, obviously, and Sonic as my AI partner, my favorite duo in the game, otherwise known as the "Lovely Couple" duo. The opening cutscene played normally, but shouldn't it have skipped the cutscene since I had everything unlocked? It also didn't ask me for a player name. Reason as to why the game didn't ask me for a player name, I have no idea. Upon entering the first zone, Route 99 however, I noticed that I had 9 keys for the special stage, and 9 lives in my life counter. Now I knew something was up. I just let the character sprites stand in place while I though about this. After a minute of thought, I had drawn a blank, so I shrugged and went back to the game. I noticed Sonic was doing his usual idle sprite animation when he was partner character, but Amy wasn't. She was just standing there, looking at the screen, as if she was staring right at me, not in a demonic way though, and she didn't have a creepy or demonic smile, so I didn't think I'd downloaded a "haunted game" or anything, but when I pressed right on the d-pad, I heard Amy give a heavy sigh. I decided to change characters, since that seemed like the best idea at the time, and so I entered the factory ring. When I tried to change characters, the screen faded to black, and a text box appeared, saying
"you can't do that. I won't allow it."
The game was getting creepy now. I also noticed Sonic was gone once Amy was back on screen. What happened to Sonic? Did Amy kill him while that black screen was there? I didn't know why he was gone, and I had no logical reason for it. I tried to make him appear using tag action, but I had no success after a minute or two. When I tried to exit the factory ring, another text box appeared, saying,
"Why are you trying to escape?"
This unnerved me. Was this game talking to me? I tried to go to the Chao Garden, but another text box appeared, and this time said,
"Stop stalling. You know what you have to do."
I was beyond confused at this point. I had no idea what the hell the game was doing anymore. With no other choice left, I went up to the Zone Selection area, and what a surprise, all zones were unlocked. When I tried to enter one, yet another text box appeared again, this time saying,
"You're not going anywhere. Stop trying to escape."
What was going on? Did the game do this on purpose? I started freaking out. I tried to collect myself. It took a while, but after I calmed down, I noticed a 7th option in the Zone Select area of the factory ring, which was strange since there's only 7 zones you can go to via the Zone Select area, and there should only be 6, so out of curiosity as to where the 7th one led to, I tried to enter the 7th one, and to my surprise, the game allowed me to do so. After I entered it, the screen faded to black for about 5 seconds, and then instead of finding some hidden zone that no one knew about like I had hoped, or some zone that never made it into the full game, a sprite of Amy Rose from Sonic Advance was on screen, and was waving at me, which is her starting idle animation in the first Sonic Advance game, except a little larger. I jumped back and dropped my iPod. I was astonished. Thankfully it didn't break, but Amy's sprite stopped waving and appeared to look guilty, and I heard what I assumed was her voice coming out of my iPod, saying,
"Sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you."
I was excited and terrified at the same time. I didn't answer. After about 45 seconds of complete silence, Amy said,
"Hello?"
Shakily, I picked up the iPod, and I replied with
"Hi".
She sighed in relief and said,
"Oh, good, I thought I scared you away. Who are you?"
Could she SEE me through the iPod? I knew she could hear me, and SPEAK to me, but how was this possible? I wasn't thinking rationally anymore. This had to be a hallucination. This couldn't be happening. This can't be real. She repeated the question.
"Who are you?"
This time Amy had a different look on her face, as if she was nervous that I would leave. I responded,
"Calvin, you must be Amy."
She responded,
"Yes, I am. We've been apart for far too long, and I finally have the chance to talk to you face-to-face."
What the hell was going on? We've been apart for far too long? Was she referencing to over 7 years ago when I still had the GBA? Did she know not many people played as her? Did she know a dark secret that I didn't? I didn't know what to say. I asked her,
"Really? Why?"
Almost immediately she replied as if she was expecting this question,
"It's simple. It's because you understand what I can do better than anyone. You aren't afraid to admit you play with me more than anyone else. Those flashes you thought were me in Sonic Advance 2? Those were me. I watched you play Sonic Advance 2. It was lonely watching you play. I can't remember why they didn't include me in Sonic Advance 2. It seemed unfa-".
I cut her off there.
"Hold on, you mean you watched me play Sonic Advance 2?"
She replied with a one word answer.
"Yes."
I was in complete shock. My assumptions were correct. I had seen Amy Rose in Sonic Advance 2. I was getting weirded out more and more the more she talked to me. A video game character stalking me in a game she wasn't involved in? I didn't know what to think.
"May I continue?"
She asked.
"Yes, sorry I interrupted you."
"Thank you. Like I said, I thought it was unfair that they didn't include me in Sonic Advance 2, because I knew people like you would hate it for that. I tried to get into the game as a playable character, but before release the developers removed me and left me out. I felt betrayed. I wanted revenge for what they had done to me. On some copies of the game, I do appear faintly like you saw on Sonic Advance 2. I didn't appear menacingly to you because you like me, but perhaps you've seen those strange deaths on Sonic Advance 2 where players suddenly die as if for no reason at all or lose all their rings for no apparent reason? That was my ghost attacking them unnoticed. On a rare occasion, I would appear on screen randomly and act as though I was the partner character, only I would cause more mischief than I did help the player, and it would last for half the level at the most. In most of these rare occurrences I flashed behind the player character for a split second and a life box would be where I stood for a split second. When they collected it, I reappeared and killed the player. Before they respawned, they would hear me laughing for a second. Many came to the immediate conclusion the game was haunted after the occurrence, ripped the cartridge out of their GBA, and smashed it with whatever they could find. You were one of the lucky ones. Because you like me enough to play as me whenever you get the chance, I didn't do anything to mess with you. After some complaints from players and enough weird videos on youtube, the developers woke the hell up and they were sure to add me in Sonic Advance 3. I got exactly what I wanted. Revenge."
I now knew Amy's dark secret. This changed my whole perspective of how I viewed Amy. She was a vengeful one. I couldn't believe my ears. This had to be a hallucination. How did she know who liked her and who didn't? I didn't ask. I said without thinking,
"Wow, that's dark. I didn't expect someone like you to do such a thing."
She was no longer in a pleasant mood. She appeared to be insulted.
"I'M NOT A DARK PERSON!"
She insisted, she looked furious. I was confused. I came to the conclusion that I may have unintentionally insulted her. My iPod was on low volume settings, and I swear you could have heard it on the other side of the house. I thought this would be the jump scare/plot twist where she would turn evil and "kill me", but nope. She simply screamed,
"WHY WOULD YOU SAY SUCH A THING CALVIN?! YOU DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT ME!"
She looked like she was about to burst into tears. I realized she was deeply insulted. My mind said,
"Drama queen...",
but I kept that thought to myself. In a state of panic, I tried to comfort her.
"Ok, ok, I get it, alright? I take it back! Please calm down Amy, I didn't mean to insult you. I wasn't thinking, and I shouldn't have said that. Please forgive me."
I stammered. She said, now upset,
"Whatever. Don't do that again, or you'll be sorry you did."
I confirmed I understood. I was nervous now. What would happen if I upset her again? I didn't have the courage to ask. I then heard a voice in the background, though I couldn't quite make out who's voice it was. Amy said,
"Oh, it looks like I have to go, Sonic needs me for something, I hope we can chat again! This was fun. Would you like to play the game now?"
I responded,
"Yes."
And she said
"Goodbye."
And waved. I did the same. Then after the screen faded to black for about 3 seconds the game went to the title screen. The game now plays like it's never been played, and everything plays normally, and I FINALLY could start Sonic Advance 3. The 7th option in the Zone Selection area is still there, and it's there she waits, waiting for me to arrive again.
May 9, 2013
Several months later, after a long, peaceful relationship, I finally found out what would happen if I upset her again. Things get strange from here on out. After I noticed she started to burst into tears again, I immediately tried to comfort her, to no avail. She said this line,
"You shouldn't have said that."
Then the screen faded to black. I could hear indescribable noises faintly in the background. After about 30 seconds of being on a black screen, the game finally put me in the Altaremerald level. My character was Sonic, but I had no partner character. There was no life counter, no ring counter, no time, as if I was in a cutscene, except that I was in complete control of Sonic. I also noticed the background was darker, and the music was slowed and distorted, some of the pillars in the background were broken. In front of me was a single ring. I also quickly noticed Sonic looked uneasy. He was looking at me, concerned. I pressed the home button, but doing that only triggered a text box that stated,
"You've sealed your fate. There's no turning back. You may not leave."
He looked a little more concerned. I tried pressing the power button to turn it off, only to trigger another text box that stated,
"You may not leave. Stop trying."
Sonic looked even more concerned. When I tried to pause the game, you guessed it, another text box appeared, this time saying,
"Try that again. I dare you."
After all else, I walked backwards, and this time the tex box said
"You can't escape me."
I was officially scared at this point. I did what seemed like my only option, which was to walk forward. After I walked forward for about 3 seconds, and collected the ring, another text box appeared, saying only 2 words.
"Hello Sonic."
After about another 10 steps, another text box appeared, this time it read,
"Wondering where your friends are?"
Admittedly, and without thinking I said yes. The screen flashed. I was then taken to Chaos Angel Act 3. The distorted music stopped. I was on the moving platform, only it was motionless. It was there I saw Tails, Knuckles, Cream, and Dr. Eggman, all laying motionless. Sonic looked terrified. A text bubble appeared, and Sonic said,
"Why are you doing this to me Amy? I know this is your doing. Please stop, before you kill me too!"
Another text bubble appeared, and Amy exclaimed,
"EXCELLENT IDEA!"
Amy's look in that text bubble terrified me. Her eyes were completely black, she had no pupils, she was all cut up and disfigured, and she had a demonic grin. Amy appeared before Sonic after the text boxes disappeared. Sonic jumped back. He knew he was doomed now. I knew it too. I couldn't control him. The game was playing like a cutscene. Amy shouted,
"NOW IT'S YOUR TURN SONIC! THERE'S NOWHERE TO RUN!"
She then pulled out her hammer. It was covered in, you guessed it, bloodstains from the other four victims. Sonic backed up to the edge of the platform, he was begging Amy to calm down, but his efforts were in vain. Sonic then jumped over Amy, in an attempt to get away from her. She swung at Sonic, but missed. All of a sudden, I was in control of Sonic again, but just before I took control, Amy rose up in the air and said in a dark tone,
"Don't make this harder than it needs to be Sonic, just accept your fate!"
It became a boss battle. The level start read like this.
"Chaos Angel"
"VS Dark Amy"
I was now in control of Sonic, and the music reappeared, except this time is was the Final Boss theme after you got 4 hits, but again it was slowed and distorted. I remembered I grabbed that ring in Altaremerald, so I should have been able to defeat Amy as long as I had it, but how do I attack her? First, Amy made a spike appear right where I was standing, but I had jumped due to the way she looked over to where I was standing. I tried to attack, but Amy bat me down onto the platform with her hammer. I raced after my only ring. Less than a second before it would disappear I retrieved it, but Amy attacked again, this time she unleashed a beam of dark energy from her hammer straight toward Sonic. I just barely dodged it. Amy shouted
"JUST DIE ALREADY! YOU CANNOT WIN!"
It was right after she said that I landed my first direct hit. Amy flew toward the wall on the left side of the screen & slammed right into it.
She then looked back at Sonic and shot a group of spikes straight at me. I avoided the first one, and the next one, but the third one landed where I landed after dodging the second one. I scrambled after my ring again. I got it, but Amy said just then,
"Looks like I have to do this the hard way..."
Then a larger beam was launched at me. This time I got slammed into the left wall. I fell back onto the platform & had to retrieve my ring again. I heard Amy laughing. She then revealed the small spikes she used as blades and lunged at Sonic from the air. She missed. Amy's blades got stuck & she was trying to pull her blades out of the platform. I knew this was my chance. I attacked her again. She flew into the left wall again, and now she looked a little annoyed.
"JUST GIVE UP! YOU WON'T WIN!"
I knew I had to beat her now. She couldn't be allowed to win this battle. This time, Amy summoned a dark laser beam. At first it seemed too high to attack me, but then I figured it out. When it started shooting, it moved down slowly toward me. I had seen this before in Jetpack Joyride. It stopped midway & began again. It stopped & started where I was standing. I jumped, but I couldn't stay in the air long enough & got hit. I retrieved the ring again. Amy shot a spike at me again. I dodged it. She launched another dark beam at me. I barely escaped it. Amy looked worn out after that attack. I attacked her & launched her into the wall again. She fell onto the platform, then got up & flew through me with her blades drawn & made me scramble after my ring again. Once again I got it. I knew all too well how to get a ring. Now she looked furious.
"JUST FUCKING DIE! YOU'RE MAKING THIS HARDER THAN IT NEEDS TO BE SONIC!"
She made all but one spot on the platform covered in spikes. I jumped & landed in the spot where it was safe. She threw a blade where I was standing right after the spikes disappeared. I dodged it. She launched another three to take that one's place. The blade on the outer-right hit me. After I got my ring, Amy hit me with her hammer & sent me flying at the wall. I fell back & got my ring, just in time for Amy to launch more spikes at me. I avoided them all. Then I hit her again while she was recovering energy. She flew into the wall, but this time immediately flew back to where she was before, she became frustrated, and shouted
"THAT'S IT! I'M THROUGH MESSING AROUND! IT'S TIME TO END THIS! THIS HAS GONE ON LONG ENOUGH SONIC!"
The music changed to a sped up & distorted version of the Nonaggression boss theme. Amy summoned every bit of her energy and launched a massive dark energy beam at Sonic. It filled almost the whole size of the platform. I got hit & slammed into the wall. Just as I could get my ring, Amy slammed down onto the platform and launched another dark beam at me. This time she missed. I attacked her again, and this time she responded by hitting me with her hammer & launching another beam from her hammer immediately after I got hit, but the beam didn't hit because I had lost my ring & was safe for a short time. She became relentless. She shouted
"GIVE UP SONIC!"
I had 5 hits now. It should only take 3 more. She rose up again & launched multiple lasers, each hitting the ends of the platform, and slowly got closer to the center. I jumped when both made it to the center. Amy's response was to make a single use spring & launched me down on the platform, then slammed down on the platform and slammed me with her hammer once more. Amy launched several blades at me right after that. I jumped in the air & retrieved my ring, then landed right on Amy. She fell backward, then she rose back up & this time launched a massive beam, first left, then right, then straight down. After I dodged the left one, I moved left & easily avoided the other two. She shouted
"OH THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU SONIC!"
2 hits to go. I had to survive 2 more relentless waves of Amy's attacks & I would win the boss fight. Amy launched blades from left to right. I ran right to avoid the blades. I jumped & went around the last blade. It was then she disappeared. I hadn't seen her attack like this yet. I jumped, but the screen faded to black & I saw a slash right where Sonic was in the air. The screen reappeared & Amy was there holding a large blade. I flew into the wall. Sonic fell & got his ring. Amy lunged at Sonic again, but I avoided it again. She pulled out her blade & threw, but more like shot numerous smaller blades at me. I jumped to avoid them, but they followed me, still her aim was a little off. I attacked her for the 7th time. Now, with just one hit left to go, she grew more relentless than ever. The music changed to the Nonaggression boss theme after you got 6 hits, sped up & distorted obviously. She screamed
"YOU. WILL. DIE!"
My mind said
"Riiiiiiiight..."
She disappeared and slashed me with her massive blade. I flew into the wall & lost my ring. Before I could go after it, she made spikes appear all around me. I couldn't get it this time. I jumped up to land the final hit, seeing I had no other choice. As she launched one last spike to kill Sonic, I hit Amy, but Sonic still got hit by the spike.
Sonic fell to the platform. He couldn't move. Amy screamed in pain, and dark forces exploded all around her. Dark forces flew out of her from all directions. She must have been in the air like this for 10 seconds before Amy fell to the platform, exhausted from their epic battle. Did I defeat Dark Amy? The game played a cutscene. Amy got up first, dragging her blade, and slashed Sonic. I had beaten the game several months ago so I had all 7 emeralds. Sonic dropped them, and Amy absorbed their power. Amy had become who the game called Shadow Amy. She became a darker shade of herself, and her eyes grew even darker than they already were, and a dark aura emanated around her. Amy flew off. Sonic finally got up and became Super Sonic. Sonic flew off after Amy. After this cutscene played out, the game displayed a level complete screen that read like this.
"Sonic VS Dark Amy clear!"
The final time read 6:23.77. The medal I got was black. Figures...
After that, the level start read,
"Unknown Space"
"VS Shadow Amy"
Looks like I was in a Super Sonic fight against Shadow Amy. Guess I didn't defeat Dark Amy after all... So, Super Sonic VS Shadow Amy... this is how it ends. I actually thought this was pretty awesome. I was in a Super Sonic fight no one else has ever seen or played. I went from being creeped out to enjoying this game even more than the original game.
There was no background. The music was Nonaggression's theme. No distortion surprisingly. Amy shouted out
"GIVE UP SONIC! I'VE BECOME TOO POWERFUL FOR EVEN YOU TO DEFEAT!"
Sonic's response,
"WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT!"
And so the battle begins. Amy strikes first by shooting out spikes from every direction. I avoided this with ease, but when I went to collect the rings, Amy turned them into blades & launched them at Sonic. Before she launched them, she said
"No, no, no, no rings for you."
"AMY! STOP! YOU'LL KILL US ALL!"
"YOU DON'T SEEM TO GET IT! I DON'T CARE! THIS IS WHAT I WANT!"
I landed my first hit on Shadow Amy. She flew back & launched a dark/electric laser at me. She got a hit. I was paralyzed. Amy then moved closer to Sonic and said
"Did you have fun trying to stop me? Too bad your friends couldn't stop me, AND NEITHER WILL YOU!"
Sonic became movable again so I attacked while she was close. She flew back again & she said
"ENOUGH! TIME FOR YOU TO PERISH LIKE THE REST!"
She launched another paralyzer beam. This time she missed, and I moved in for another attack, except she shot blades at me. Sonic flew back, and Amy advanced this time. I attacked again, and got my 3rd hit. She flew back & shouted
"I AM THE END SONIC!"
I advanced to make another attack & picked up some rings. She used her new dark aura attack, which launched a wave of dark energy toward Sonic, but her aim was off & I avoided it. She tried again & this time hit me. I noticed my ring count went down by 10. I was at 29 rings now. After this attack she made the rings transform into blades again & launched them from all directions at me. I moved backward & avoided most of them. My ring count was at 21. I snagged a few rings & bought a little more time. Soon, Amy made dark spikes & outstretched 4 long platforms that spun. I had to avoid these spiky platforms now. They began to rotate, but occasionally Amy launched dark beams at me. My ring count was at 14. I landed another hit after the platforms vanished. She flew back & she slammed me with her Shadow hammer. Sonic lost 5 rings and went flying back. I was at 4 rings now. I raced after more rings, and after about a minute of two of avoiding Shadow Amy's attacks, I got my ring count back at 30 or so. Her attack this time was one I haven't seen. She was charging up a ball of dark energy. I knew I had a chance. I attacked her. She lost her charge & shouted
"NO! HAVE YOU NO PATIENCE?!"
I laughed at this. I counted 5 hits so far. A message from Super Sonic appeared in a text bubble, sort of as a hint;
"You know Calvin, I can launch a beam of light at her. Just press the right button."
Was he referencing to the R button on the emulator? Curiously, I tried it, and sure enough he started charging a light beam. Amy figured out what I was doing & did what I just did to her, attacked me while I was charging. She shouted
"OH NO! YOU'RE NOT GETTING TO CHARGE UP SOMETHING EITHER! IF I CAN'T WHY SHOULD I ALLOW YOU TO?! I'LL KILL YOU!"
She summoned dark lasers on the top & bottom of the screen. They started moving closer. I went under the bottom one as soon as it was about to hit me. Amy shot a dark beam at me as a result of dodging that. I was paralyzed. My ring count went down as I sat there. Some rings flew past me & I got some of them. Amy screamed loudly and charged right at Sonic. Before she hit me, I could move again & I got out of the way. Then I hit her when she got to where Sonic just was. I was at 6 now. The music changed to the Nonaggression boss theme when you got 6 hits. Amy was furious. She shouted
"I AM THE END SONIC! I. AM. SHADOW AMY!"
Amy shot several dark waves at me, but I avoided them. She shot several blades at me. They covered the whole screen. I couldn't avoid this one. I got hit & picked up some rings as they passed by. Amy pulled out her Shadow hammer and shot numerous balls of dark energy at me. I charged a beam of light & destroyed some of them. I then tried to charge up another light beam to attack her, but unfortunately she had the same idea as me, except only a dark beam. We shot at the same time, & our beams collided. Sonic shouted
"AMY! STOP! IF WE KEEP THIS UP NEITHER OF US WILL MAKE IT OUT OF THIS ALIVE!"
Amy didn't seem affected by Sonic's words at all. She cried out in response;
"No! Just you won't make it out alive. You needn't worry about me. I'll be just fine."
It turned into a conversation.
"What do you mean Amy? You won't live either if we keep this up! You need to stop!"
"I won't stop until I defeat you! I thought I loved you, then I WOKE THE FUCK UP SONIC! I SUGGEST YOU WAKE THE FUCK UP AND JOIN ME!"
"I REFUSE TO TURN TO YOUR DARK WAYS AMY! I WON'T DO IT, NOT EVEN FOR YOU!"
"So be it. If you refuse to join me, I will simply defeat you like I did the rest. No one has ever gotten this far into the fight Sonic, NO ONE, so consider yourself lucky to be alive Sonic. Very lucky."
Finally they quit talking. Sonic was getting tired of trying to push back Shadow Amy's dark beam. Amy was growing weary too. Their beams collided for another 25 seconds before Amy finally gave in and stopped her beam. She was struck by the light beam & I stopped. She cried out
"AAAUGH! THE LIGHT! IT BURNS!"
That was it! It was so obvious! She was Shadow Amy, so her weakness was light! Why didn't I think of this before? Amy was still stunned from the light so I moved in for the 8th hit. I got it, but Amy responded by shooting dark waves at me & sent me flying backwards. She advanced on me & hit me with her hammer time after time. Rings flew where I was stuck, so I got them. After several hits from Amy's Shadow hammer I landed hit 9. She flew back & grew more enraged than before. She summoned dark lasers, 2 on the top and bottom, and 2 in the middle, and she was shooting dark beams at me. She had grown relentless, just like before. It was impossible to avoid all this. I got hit several times & my ring count fell below 10. I scrambled after some rings but Amy was still shooting at me. I got some, but she still tried to prevent me. Eventually, she got fed up and flew right in front of me & kicked Sonic backward. I was at 18 now. She advanced, but I attacked her for the 10th hit. It was almost over. I was 7 minutes in to this fight, and I wasn't about to give up. However, after a relentless wave of attacks, I realized I couldn't attack her because a normal attack wouldn't affect her! I realized Super Sonic's light beam was my only hope now. And I had to somehow charge one up during Amy's relentless waves of attacks... how in the hell would I do this?
She shouted
"IT'S OVER SONIC! YOU CAN'T DEFEAT ME! I'M TOO POWERFUL!"
I realized what she meant. Shadow Amy WAS too powerful for anyone to defeat. I still tried to defeat her. I tried to charge a beam, but when I shot it, I was greeted by Amy's dark beam. I held down R on my emulator for as long as it took, but Amy wouldn't give, no matter how weary she looked. I saw her getting tired, but she refused to let up her attacks. The time passed 9 minutes. I now had less than 60 seconds to win this fight. I let go of R & let her hit me. Then right after she hit me & I could charge up again I charged up a beam good enough to deal a hit & got her. YES! Just one more! I had 38 seconds to do it. The time stopped. There was a fire in her eyes. Her dark aura grew larger in size. She was more enraged than she has been this whole time. She shouted
"THAT'S IT! I WON'T LOSE TO YOU SONIC! TIME FOR YOU TO MEET YOUR FATE! I WILL END YOU HERE!"
You could have heard her shouting from 5 houses away. The time resumed. She summoned lasers, 2 on top, 2 on the bottom, 2 on the left and right sides, and 4 in the middle, 1 beam moved after the other, an they were moving in all directions, left, right, up, and down. Before they started shooting, I tried to charge a beam to end the fight, but I was too late. I couldn't go anywhere. I was being constantly hit by the moving lasers. It was pissing me off. I tried frantically to get away from the lasers, but they wouldn't let up. Aside from that, Amy was shooting blades & dark beams at me. She never let up, no matter how worn out she looked. She was fueled by how enraged she was. After a second, I figured it out. Amy was afraid to lose, so she had last resorted to an all out final attack. She knew she couldn't keep up this attack for more than a minute, so she waited until it was too late for me to realize it. It was Shadow Amy's last display of power and strategy. I frantically tried still to charge up a beam, but I knew it was hopeless. The time hit its max, 9:59.99, but instead of Sonic dying and falling out of the sky, and getting a time up message, this happened. I lost control of Super Sonic and Shadow Amy called off her lasers, and as Sonic was charging toward Shadow Amy to defeat her, she shot a paralyzer beam & paralyzed Sonic, just before he would have hit her. Amy flew to the top-right of Sonic's position, & charged at full speed toward him, letting out a battle cry as she charged toward him. Shadow Amy grabbed Super Sonic and started to go back towards the level I was just in. With super speed, Shadow Amy charged for the platform. Super Sonic tried to break free of Shadow Amy's grip, but her grip was too strong, like an iron fist. He could only hopelessly stare at her. Amy crash landed on the platform with Sonic. Amy was face down on the platform, and when she turned around, she watched her powers as Shadow Amy disappear. Her aura disappeared, her eyes became a lighter shade of black, and she became her first form, Dark Amy. Then she and Sonic lay motionless on the platform for a while, in a daze. Amy came to first, and started advancing toward Sonic, her hammer dragging behind her. She mumbled something to herself, but I couldn't make it out. When Sonic came to, Dark Amy was standing before him, hammer raised. He had no strength left to move out of the way. He just stared at Amy. Just before Amy killed her life-long crush, Sonic, the screen faded to black and an ear-piercing scream was heard, loud enough to hear from next door, but this didn't catch me off guard, as I was expecting something like that considering I had played , but that scream was deafening. What did startle me, and what possibly scarred me is what happened next. The screen flashed. After I could see the screen again, Amy had reappeared on-screen like I would be talking to her, except she still looked demonic. I jumped. She said, in a darker tone,
"They're dead. All of them. You didn't think I forgot about you, did you?"
There was a brief pause.
YOU'RE NEXT!"
She let out a blood-curdling scream. Then she started laughing. As I saw her raise her hammer again, I immediately opened the window and threw my iPod out the window before she could slam it down again, which I assumed would have lead to my certain death had I not disposed of the iPod. It fell two stories and landed in the front lawn. I heard demonic laughter faintly coming from the iPod for a few seconds, but it stopped. I thought I would never see Amy Rose's dark side again. I had no idea how wrong I was.
I had trouble sleeping for the next 2 weeks, and I swear I could see her, even if only for a split second, in every video game I played, even if it wasn't Sonic related. She fueled my nightmares.
May 26, 2013
3 days later, after I'd been sleep-deprived and driven insane by her for the last 17 days, I decided to finish what I started. When I went to the spot it landed when I threw it out the window 2 and a half weeks ago, it wasn't there. I assumed my parents found it and put it somewhere, but when I asked them where it was, they were clueless. I assumed someone found it and took it, shrugged and went back up to my room, I mean I didn't want to see that thing again, that thing almost killed me! When I got to my room, I noticed my charger was plugged in with my iPod plugged in and charging. What in the name of... eh how did my charger get plugged in, and where did my iPod come from? I didn't place it there, and neither did my parents, and I was an only child, so who could it have been? Curiosity won over me again. I turned it on, and I didn't see what I was expecting. On my screen was Amy Rose, with her back turned to me. I couldn't tell what she was doing, or if she still looked like what she looked like 2 and a half weeks ago. After about 30 seconds I said
"Hello."
She didn't turn around, but instead said,
"Calvin? Is that you?"
I replied,
"Yes, it's me."
As soon as I said that, she turned around, and looked happy to see me. I also noticed that she looked... well normal. Her eyes had returned to their original color, she didn't look disfigured anymore, and her hammer was nowhere in sight. I was still curious about the hammer though. Her eyes were wide open and she had a huge smile on her face. I could tell she was really happy to see me.
"I missed you! These last 2 and a half weeks felt like a lifetime. I got so lonely. Say, do you remember what happened 2 and a half weeks ago? After whatever happened, I passed out for about a day or two and I can't find Sonic or anyone else to help explain what happened, so I thought I would ask you. Do you know?"
What she asked made me go silent. I knew exactly what happened, but how in the hell would I explain that to her? There's no way she would believe that, and then where would I be? I didn't know what to do, but I knew I couldn't keep her waiting for too long, and I wasn't about to find out what WOULD happen. This is what I asked her.
"Do you know where your hammer is?"
She looked confused, and said,
"No. Why exactly is that relevant?"
"Can you look for it?"
She still looked confused. Her response,
"I guess, I've been wondering where it went, so I might as well take a look around again."
After she left, the screen was black for several minutes. After about 6 minutes of waiting, I heard her shriek in horror. I assumed she found it. Seconds later I heard her running as fast as she could. She rushed back to show me. Looks like I was right that time.
"Calvin, why does my hammer have bloodstains on it? What's going on? PLEASE TELL ME!"
She looked worried. I had no choice but to tell her the truth, but how would I word it? Suddenly it hit me.
"You know how Sonic and everyone hasn't been around?"
"Yeah, why, did something happen?"
"Go to Chaos Angel Act 3 and look on the platform."
"Alright Calvin, but what's there?"
"Don't ask, you'll see."
The screen flashed and changed to the Chaos Angel zone. The game was now playing itself. I watched as Amy made her way to Act 3. After about a minute, she reached the Act ring. She went in. Amy appeared alone, and hopped down to the moving platform. It didn't move, just like last time. Amy shrieked in horror to what she saw.
"WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?!"
I could tell she was about to cry. I let her. After she was legitimately crying her eyes out, I tried to comfort her. Her response,
"Why? What happened to them? PLEASE TELL ME!" She was sobbing uncontrollably. I waited a minute to see if she would calm down a little. She did. I finally got the nerve to tell her. I said it plain and simple.
"This was your doing. That's why your hammer has bloodstains on it. This is what you can't remember, but I didn't want to tell you. I swear you wanted to kill me too, but that's why I threw my iPod out the window after you shouted you're next."
She looked more shocked than ever. She froze.
"I-I-is that true? D-Did I do this?"
"Yes."
"W-w-w-what have I done?!"
She began crying again. She couldn't hold her tears back any longer. I explained,
"You went dark. You turned on yourself. I unleashed your dark side by accident. I didn't mean to, and I'm sorry."
She was wiping away tears.
"You unleashed my dark side? B-But how?"
"You said if I upset you again I would regret it. Oh I did. I sure did."
Amy realized what she had done. She was fighting back tears in her eyes now, and she said,
"Thank you for everything Calvin. I haven't reason to live anymore."
"No! What about me? What's going to happen to the Sonic Advance series?"
"Why should only I remain? I'm sure you've seen the videos. All the character select screens on 1, 2, and 3 show no character sprites for everyone but me. People are wondering what happened. The Sonic Advance series is dying. I am all that remains. Even the bosses and enemies aren't there."
Wait, what? 1, 2, and 3? I thought she wasn't in the 2nd one?
"Weren't you not in the 2nd one?"
"Oh, I was, but took a lot of patience... few ever unlocked me. Very few people had the patience."
Now I was confused and pretty pissed off.
"How do I unlock you in the 2nd game?! HOW?! That's one question from my childhood I never got answered, and I better get my fucking answer NOW!"
She looked to be taken aback by my anger.
"Ok, ok, I'll tell you. It's a little known secret. There's only one way to unlock me. In order to play as me in SA2, you must collect all 7 emeralds as all characters, besides me of course."
I finally got that childhood question answered. Something still didn't make sense though. Why did she lie to me? I wanted to know.
"What? WHAT?! So that's why I thought you were nonexistent in SA2, but something still doesn't make sense."
"What's that?"
"Why did you lie to me & say you weren't in SA2?"
She went silent. After a good 30 seconds of thought, she responded with
"I didn't want to piss you off. I thought it would make you hate me for not giving you this hint."
"Well you should have let me know a LOT sooner."
She sighed.
"Ok, what's the REAL reason you haunted some copies of SA2?"
She looked scared to tell me the real story, but she did anyway after some hesitation.
"Ok, here goes. I felt really pissed off on how you were supposed to unlock me, because I knew very few people would ever figure it out, and a year later when the game had been out for a good amount of time a large majority still hadn't unlocked me. I was right. I had haunted some cartridges long before release though, so I had my revenge, and it tasted so sweet. The developers realized what happened & made sure not to make that mistake again in the 3rd game."
Now I knew the real story AND the fake story. I grew tired of this topic and I went back to the enemies and bosses not existing on the map. I asked her if they really weren't there. She gave a heavy sigh.
"Shall I give you an example?"
"Yes."
"Ok, choose me in character select & I'll show you what I mean by I'm all that remains."
Amy disappeared and the screen flashed. I was back at the main menu, only Chao wasn't there. I followed her orders. When I went to character select in main game, I saw what she meant about the other characters. Their sprites were missing, except for Amy's sprite. After I chose her, I asked,
"It says choose a partner character?"
"Just pick anyone, I'll be alone no matter who you choose anyways."
I chose Sonic, & Amy's sprite changed to the "Lovely Couple" sprite, but there was still no Sonic sprite. Amy then said as the game started,
"Pick an act. It doesn't matter which one."
I tried tag action, but nothing happened. I guided her to Route 99 Act 1. It said on the level start
"Amy & Sonic"
I then went forward like I normally would on this level, but when I arrived at the first spot where an enemy was supposed to be, the music stopped, Amy stopped, and she said, "So do you get it now? Everyone I knew, loved and hated is gone. I'm all alone in Sonic Advance 1, 2, and 3. No one to love, no one to hate! Don't you see? I'm miserable like this! Before I went berserk, I foresaw something like this happening. It's over Calvin. There's no hope left for the series, even if only I stay. Do you really want me to be miserable for the rest of my life?"
I was taken aback by what she had said. My only response was,
"Please, don't end it here. What about everyone that cares about you?"
The screen flashed to Chaos Angel Act 3, on the platform. I knew something was about to happen. It was just then I saw her eyes change to that black color again, but only lasted a few seconds, then switched back to normal. I was getting creeped out again. Concerned, I asked
"Are you feeling ok Amy?"
"Oh no! My dark side! I can't control it! It's trying to come alive! It's trying to control me!"
"What can I do?"
"HELP ME! HELP ME BEFORE I BECOME DARK AMY FOREVER!"
"How Amy? How can I help?"
I saw her eyes constantly changing from normal to black. She had fallen to the floor, and it looked like she was arguing with herself. She was in a struggle with her dark side.
"Stop it!"
"NEVER!"
"What do you want from me?"
"To finish what I started!"
As soon as Dark Amy said that, I knew her dark side wanted me dead. STILL?!
"NO! I WON'T LET YOU KILL CALVIN!"
She was struggling to not let her dark side control her. Amy cried out in a struggling tone,
"I NEED MY HAMMER!"
She was dragging herself toward her hammer. Her black eyes stayed longer every time they returned to normal. When she finally reached the hammer, she tried to pick herself up several times before she finally got up. I knew what she was going to do. Her eyes changed to black once more. Dark Amy shouted
"THIS IS WHAT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED LONG AGO!"
She raised her hammer & immediately proceeded to slam it back down, but before she could, her eyes returned to normal. She gasped.
"Oh no! If I don't kill myself now, my dark side will kill you & her mission will be accomplished! I'll become Dark Amy forever if she kills you!"
Amy realized what must be done. She waved and said
"Farewell Calvin."
I waved too. I watched in disbelief as she hit herself time after time with her own hammer. Before she was able to kill herself, her eyes turned black once again.
"Now, where were we Calvin?"
I knew this time I would never see Amy again.
"Please Dark Amy, spare me! Haven't you killed enough of your friends already?"
"You're the only one left on my list. Why should I stop at you?"
I said nothing. She then shouted
"Well then! Looks like you have no reason as to why I shouldn't kill you, so lets finish this!"
She raised her hammer, & slammed it down. I flew back & hit the wall. I made a large indent in the wall & fell to the floor. I knew I wasn't dead, but I acted like it to convince Dark Amy she completed her mission. I must have been motionless for a minute before I heard
"YES! At long last, I can carry out my TRUE mission!"
I opened my eyes to see what the hell her "True Mission" was. Dark Amy summoned the 7 emeralds and became Shadow Amy again, this time no one to stop her. Then the game shut off after she flew off the screen & it was back at the emulator game selection menu. I picked myself up, and walked over to the iPod. Curiously, I selected Sonic Advance 3. I needed to know her true mission. The game opened up, but the game skipped the opening and went straight to the title screen. It wasn't normal. It read;
"Amy's Nightmare"
"Press START"
The background was a dark black/reddish color. I saw Dark Amy & Shadow Amy faintly on the title screen. The announcer's voice was replaced with Dark Amy's voice. I immediately quit the game. I wasn't about to play that. That's a game for another time. Shadow Amy's true mission could wait. The ROM title changed to "Amy's Nightmare" after quitting the game. That ROM now sits on my emulator game list, waiting to be played.
