Everyday Life

Sonic walked along the seafront in Station Square. The sun was high in the sky and the city was alive with activity. He sighed and looked out to sea. He looked away and checked his watch.

"Hmm......past one. Guess I should get something to eat." he said to himself.

As if to agree his stomach rumbled. He turned away from the front and walked into the city. A few minutes later he was sitting on a stool outside a chilli dog stand. He sighed as he waited for his dog to arrive. Just then there was a cry from behind him.

"You're Sonic!"

He turned to see a small girl looking at him. She couldn't have been more than fourteen. The girl suddenly held up a pad of paper and a felt marker.

"Can I have your autograph? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!"

Sonic groaned and turned away.

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!"

Sonic held out his hand and soon found the felt marker in it. Not turning round he reached behind him and wrote his name. There was a gasp. He turned to see that he had missed the pad and had signed his name on the girls Face. He was about to apologise when the girl gasped again.

"Sonic wrote his name on my face! I'm never washing again!"

The girl spun and ran of shrieking happily. Sonic rolled his eyes and turned back to the stand.

"Oh brother." he moaned.

"What's that Sonic?" asked the owner of the stand.

"Oh nothing." replied Sonic.

"Not enjoying the attention?"

"It's not that. I like being acknowledged for my accomplishments but sometimes......"

Sonic shuddered.

"Well no matter. Here's your dog."

Soon after wards Sonic had finished and was preparing to leave. Just then there was another cry.

"Not another autograph signing!" he moaned and turned.

He turned but instead of seeing another girl running up to him he saw Knuckles. He was panting heavily and constantly looking over his shoulder. He stopped by Sonic.

"You've got to stop them!" he cried shaking the hedgehog.

"Stop who?" asked Sonic pulling the echidna of himself.

Just then there was a rumble and a large crowd of girls rounded the corner. Suddenly one spoke.

"Look there's Sonic!"

"Sonic?!" came numerous replies.

"Two for one!"

"Them!" cried Knuckles biting his knuckles.

"Oh god!" cried Sonic, "I'm getting out of here."

"Take me with you." said Knuckles grabbing Sonic's arm.

Sonic shot down the street away from the group. He took a small side street hoping to loose the crowd. It was a mistake though as the street was a dead end.

"Not good." said Sonic.

"It's worst." said Knuckles.

Sonic turned to see the crowd advancing on them. They pressed themselves to the wall.

"Looks like this is it Knuckles." said Sonic.

"Not the autographs! For the love of god not the autographs!" said Knuckles.

"They don't worry me. It's the hugs that worry me."

Knuckles shuddered so hard Sonic felt it through the ground. The crowd now surrounded them. This was the quiet before the storm. Any second now they would all leap at them and that would be it. Just then there was a familiar cry.

"Incoming air support!" said the voice.

"TAILS!" yelled Sonic and Knuckles together.

The crowd looked up to see Tails flying straight down at them. The downdraft from his tails drew bits of rubbish and dust into the air distracting the crowd. Tails quickly grabbed Sonic and Knuckles' arm and pulled them off the ground. The crowd saw this and tried to jump up at them. They all missed and soon Tails was flying high above the city carrying Sonic and Knuckles.

"Boy am I glad to see you Tails." said Sonic.

"I thought we were done for." said Knuckles.

"Lucky for you I was in the neighbourhood." replied Tails.

It was then that Sonic noticed a large number of red marks all over Tails head.

"Tails.......erm......what's with the red marks?" he asked.

The fox looked startled.

"Oh no! They're still there? That's not possible." he said.

"Wait a minute that looks like lipstick." said Knuckles.

"Tails?!" said Sonic.

The fox blushed.

"I got caught by a group earlier." he said gritting his teeth, "Not a pretty event. I could have sworn they were going to pull my tails out!"

"Ouch. Sounds ugly." said Sonic.

"I've got some great stuff for removing lipstick." said Knuckles, "Stings a bit though."

Tails looked a bit concerned.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Surgical alcohol." replied Knuckles.

Tails made a sound that came close to geeeeeiay.

"Well better head back to the apartment. At least they don't know where that is yet." said Sonic.

"Yet...." muttered Tails.

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Amy collapsed onto the bed face first. Her nose hurt at the impact but she didn't care. She was lucky to be conscious after what had happened. She had been attacked....well not attacked but swamped by a mass group of male fans in the mall earlier. She had been coming out of the grocery when they had swarmed on her. It was a lucky thing she had had her mallet with her. A few carefully placed strikes knocked them all out cold. This had only made matters worst though. It had taken several hours for them to wake up but when they had they had been even more determined. She had to drop her shopping and just run to get away from them. She only lost them when she used her mallet to throw herself five stories up on to the roof of a small business building.

Amy sighed heavily and pulled herself up onto her feet. She turned and walked into the kitchen. She open the fridge and took out a carton of orange juice. She poured herself a glass and took a sip.

"Oooooh what a day!" she moaned to herself, "This just won't cut it."

She put the glass of orange down and opened another cupboard. This cupboard was empty apart from a large bottle in the corner. Several cobwebs covered it.

"I never thought I'd be doing this." she said to herself pulling the bottle out.

She brushed the cobwebs off the label and looked at it. It read "Johny Finest Whisky - 50 year old - 55%"

"More like 53 years old when you consider how longs it's been in there." Amy said to herself, "Must be good by now."

She uncorked the bottle.

"Bottoms up." she said and took a large swig directly from the bottle.

She blinked hard as she swallowed. Her mouth burned.

"Ack!" she said smacking her lips, "Much better."

She took the bottle and another glass back to the sitting room. She slumped into a large chair. She was very hungry but because of the incident earlier in the day didn't have any food in the house. She decided to order a pizza. She picked up the phone and dialed a number of a pizza place she knew. The phone rang a few times before someone answered it.

"Hello." came a reply, "San Marco's Pizza Pala."

"Hello." replied Amy, "I'd like to order a pizza."

"Certainly miss. What would you like?"

"Let's see. A 14" deep pan wiiiiiiiiith.........mushroom, peppers, ham, some of those little spicy thing.....what are they again?"

"Chillies?"

"That's it....and some salami."

"Excellent choice. Anything else?"

"Three orders of garlic bread, one order of chips and dip, cool dip, erm....and 2 large cokes."

"Having a party huh?" came the response.

"Funny." replied Amy.

"Ok miss I got all that. What name is it please?"

Amy suddenly froze. She had forgotten about this part. She didn't want to give her real name and reveal the location of her apartment. She thought fast.

"Erm.........Stepheny...........Stepheny Landswick."

"Right and you're address please."

"Apartment 5, Harland Row, Barrow."

"Ok then miss. We'll have you're order out to you in about an hour."

"Thank you."

The phone went dead and Amy put the phone down.

"Stephany?!" she said loudly, "Why on Earth did I say that? I hate that name! Oh well."

She leaned back in her chair and dozed off.

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"You sure it was her?" said a young teenager.

"Yep. I recognised her voice and besides I probably know her eating tastes better than she does." replied another teenager.

"Cool. So when do we go?"

"An hour."

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Amy woke about fifty minutes later when there was a knock at the door. She slowly pulled herself off the sofa and walked over to the door.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"Amy." came a quiet reply, "Its Sonic. Can I come in?"

Amy blinked. Sonic?

"Erm....sure. Two seconds."

Amy quickly undid the lock and opened the door. Sonic wasn't alone. Tails and Knuckles were with him. They ll looked a bit wary and on edge. They quickly filled past her and she quickly closed the door. She turned round to see them all sitting down on the sofa.

"May I ask why you're here?" she said.

"It was closer than our apartments." said Sonic.

"And we need a place to hide." said Knuckles.

"Bad day with the fans then?" said Amy.

"You could say that." said Tails, "Got anything for this?"

Tails motioned to the lipstick marks all over his face. Amy snickered slightly and went off into the bathroom. She returned a few minutes later with a bottle and a cloth. She poured a little liquid from the bottle onto the cloth and proceeded to wipe Tails face. Tails was a bit disgruntled about her doing this but he finally accepted it and let her continue.

"Hey Amy. Got any food in? I'm starved." said Knuckles.

"No. I got mobbed by fans while I was shopping .I had to drop it and run." she replied wiping a mark of Tails' ear.

"Shame." said Knuckles.

"I've ordered a pizza." she said.

"No that ok." said Knuckles, "I'll get something later."

"I'll have some." said Tails, "I'm totally famished after that last flight."

"Sure Tails. You're all done." replied Amy.

"Thanks Aimes. So when does the food get here?"

"It should be here......"

Just then there was a knock at the door.

".......right now. Two minutes."

Amy walked out of the room. Sonic turned to Tails and Knuckles.

"Do you think she'd mind I used her shower?" he said.

"Knock yourself out." said Knuckles.

Sonic grinned and walked out of the room.

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Amy undid the lock and opened the door. On the step stood a teenager holding a pizza box.

"Hello. I got a pizza for Stephany Landswick." said the boy.

"That's me." replied Amy.

Amy took a step forward to take the box and was knocked to the floor by another person. She tried to cry out but found a hand on her mouth. Seconds later she found herself in a sack slung over the back of a running person.

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Tails paced around the living room.

"Where's Amy with that pizza?!" he moaned.

"She'll be coming in a second Tails. Hold on." said Knuckles.

"I'm hungry. I'm going to see what's keeping her."

Tails left the room. He found the door open and an empty pizza box lying on the floor. Amy was nowhere in sight. Tails picked up the pizza box.

"Amy? Amy?" he called, "Oh no."

He turned and ran back into the living room.

"Knuckles. We have a problem." he said.

"What is it Tails? Pizza cold?" said Knuckles.

"No. Amy has been kidnapped by fans."

Knuckles groaned loudly.

"Oh just perfect!" he said, "SONIC!"

"WHAT IS IT YOU BLOCK HEADED ECHIDNA?!" came Sonic voice from the shower.

"Amy has been kidnapped!" yelled Knuckles back.

There was a blur and Sonic stood in the room. He was soaking wet and a large tail of water followed his path back to the shower.

"Kidnapped?!" he said.

"By fans." said Tails.

"Oh just perfect! Can't a hedgehog even take a shower in peace."

"We'll need a bit of help finding her." said Tails.

"I know just the person." said Knuckles.

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Amy felt herself being put down on the ground and seconds later had wormed her way free of the bag. Around her stood about 6 male teenagers. They were all staring at her. Amy stared back.

"Alright busters!" she said, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"I'll give you twenty dollars to kiss me." said one of the teenagers.

Amy wrinkled her face up.

"Yuck! No way!" she said.

"Forty!" said another.

"Aaaaaaar! You're sick! All of you!"

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"That's a mighty pickle." said Rouge leaning back in her hammock.

Sonic, Tails and Knuckles surrounded her. They were all standing in a small garden outside a house. The house was high on the side of a large hill outside Station Square. Rouge was lying on her back in a hammock drinking a lemonade.

"Sure is. Our fans have gone to some lengths to get at us but never this." said Sonic.

"It makes me glad I only just joined the team. Even so I have a large fan group already. I'm just glad they don't know where I live. I make a point of not going to public places too." replied Rouge.

"I should probably follow suit." said Sonic.

"So." said Rouge getting up, "Where'd we start?"

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Amy ground her teeth together with a frustrated look on her face. Earlier she had attempted to escape but had failed much to her surprise. She now sat on the floor bound in ropes.

"Can't a girl get a break?" she said to herself.

"Psst" said a small voice.

Amy turned her head to see a girl hiding behind a chair. She looked around and then walked over to Amy.

"I'm here to get you out." said the girl kneeling down beside her.

"Who are you?" asked Amy.

"My names Sarah."

"And them?"

"There my brothers."

"Brothers? You have four brothers?"

"Yes."

Amy blinked and then looked at her.

"How did you get in here? The doors been locked."

"I snuck in earlier while it was open and hid here."

"Alright. Fine. You said something about getting me out of here?" said Amy.

"Yep. Two seconds."

Sarah removed a small pen knife from her pocket and cut Amy's ropes. Amy quickly stood up brushing the ropes to the side.

"Thanks." said Amy, "If you don't mind my asking. Won't your bother be upset that you've done this?"

"Probably but they won't find out it was me that did it. I'm a big fan of yours but even I wouldn't go this far."

"Well thank you again." said Amy turning away.

Just then Sarah grabbed Amy's arm. Amy turned back to see Sarah looking at her with huge eyes.

"Erm.....could I have your autograph?" said Sarah blushing.

Amy's first reaction was to groan but she didn't. Sarah had helped her. It was the least she could do. Amy nodded. Sarah quickly, too quickly in Amy's mind, produced a pad and a variety of different coloured pens. Amy took a couple of them. She wrote a little thank you and then signed her name. As a finishing touch she drew a couple of pink hearts around her name. She handed it back to Sarah. Sarah looked at it, smiled and quickly disappeared. Amy blinked. She couldn't work out where she had gone.

Amy took out her mallet and walked over to the door. It was locked.

"Locked huh? I'll show them locked! Ki-ya!" she said.

Amy swung her mallet and hit the door hard. It shook and the entire door fell from its hinges with a bang. Amy rested her mallet on her shoulder and surveyed the door.

"Not bad." she said to herself.

"Hey how'd you get free?" said a voice.

Amy turned to see 4 teenagers coming into the room via another door.

"Get her!" said another.

Two of the boys ran towards her. Amy yawned. As the boys reached her she swung her mallet knocking both of them out. Amy rose her mallet to the side and clenched her fist.

"Who's next?" she said.

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Sonic looked down at the ground far below. He was standing on the wings of the Tornado which was piloted by Tails. Knuckles and Rouge glided alongside.

"No sign of her." he said, "Tails you getting anything?"

"Nope." replied Tails.

They were flying over the eastern side of Station Square searching for Amy.

"Bad call Rouge!" said Knuckles.

"Hey!" cried Rouge, "My intelligence reports can't be 100% accurate all the time!"

"Why'd you call em intelligence reports then? They sound more like guesses!" replied Knuckles.

"Shut up you two." said Sonic, "We should probably head back. The suns going down and we don't have any more time today."

"You're right Sonic." said Tails, "I'll set a course for.........erm."

"Tails?" asked Sonic.

"We got a problem here. We don't have enough fuel to get back to the strip. We're gonna have to land at......." Tails gulped, ".......at the airport."

Sonic's face went pale.

"Oh god no!" he wailed, "For the love of god no!"

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Sonic grabbed Tails by the arm and ran down the corridor. Knuckles and Rouge were hot on his heels. Behind them a large crowd of people chased after them.

"Our fans are always in the right place at the wrong time!" growled Sonic.

"Shut up complaining and run." wailed Tails, "I'm not getting kissed again!"

They had landed at the airport earlier and had been immediately swamped by fans. They had only just been able to get away.

"What now?" called Knuckles over the screams of the chasing fans.

"Don't know Knux." replied Sonic.

"We need somewhere to hide." said Rouge.

"Definitely." agreed Tails.

"But how do we hide with them following us?" said Knux.

"I got an idea." said Tails.

He pulled Sonic's hand off his arm and took off.

"I'll create a distraction and you guys go hide." he said.

"You sure Tails?" asked Sonic.

Tails nodded.

"Alright then. Get ready to jam out of here people." said Sonic.

Knuckles and Rouge nodded at him. Tails turned round and flew towards the oncoming crowd. He flew close to the ground and flicked his tails up in front of him. He spun them hard creating a large downdraft against the floor. The resulting wind was so strong it knocked the entire crowd over. Tails landed and surveyed his work.

"Nice." he said to himself, "Now to get out of here and join the other."

He was about to turn and run when there was a shrill cry.

"TAILS!!!!"

Tails turned just in time to see a group of five small girl running towards him from another direction. It was the same group that had cornered him earlier before he saved Sonic and Knuckles. He shook and went white.

"Not you again! I have to....ARGH!"

Tails was flung to the floor as one of the girls flung herself at him. The other four followed suit. Tails was soon being pulled from one girl to another.

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Sonic, Knuckles and Rouge peered out from their hiding place on a higher level of the airport. Far below they could see Tails being swamped by the fans he had just knocked over.

"We gotta save him." said Knuckles.

"What are you mad?!" said Sonic, "That's suicide."

"He saved us earlier!" said Knuckles.

"Yes but the crowd was smaller then! If we go down there we're all in big trouble. Remember Tails volunteered to be a distraction. It's his problem."

"Is that a hint of fear I got there?" asked Rouge.

Sonic blinked and then looked at her.

"Erm....I......that is........what I mean is...........NO IT'S NOT!" spluttered Sonic, "Besides we have to find Amy."

"Well ok then. We'll have to rescue Tails at some point though." said Knuckles, "Rouge let's go. Rouge?"

"Two seconds." replied Rouge.

Rouge had a hand to one ear and was nodding occasionally. She finally looked at them and spoke.

"I just got another intelligence report. Looks like we finally have a good lead on Amy." she said.

"How'd you know?" asked Knuckles.

"Someone saw her."

"Oh."

"Right lets go." said Sonic.

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Amy dusted herself off and looked around the room. The four boys lay on the floor completely out cold.

"Much better." she said to herself.

She nodded and then made for the door. She found that the door led down a flight of stairs onto a landing. It looked like she had been in the attic of a house. She made her way down another flight of stairs and along a corridor. She was surprised that she didn't meet anyone else on her way out. She opened a door and stepped out into the night. She was in Station Square but she didn't know where. She took a few steps down the street before she heard a voice.

"AMY!"

Amy turned to see a blue blur moving towards her at high speed. It slowed and stopped next to her. It was Sonic. Knuckles and Rouge were with him.

"Hi Sonic." she said.

"Amy I'm glad we found you. You ok?" said Sonic.

"I'm fine." replied Amy.

"What happened?" asked Rouge.

"Some teenagers decided to kidnap me. They'll think twice next time."

"So you didn't need our help. Great." moaned Knuckles.

"No but thanks anyway." said Amy looking around, "Hey where's Tails?"

"He's....erm......he's...." said Sonic.

"He's right here." came a voice.

They all looked up to see Tails flying in. He landed nearby and walked over to them. They could all see that he was grinding his teeth and looking very annoyed. He stopped a little way from them and Amy couldn't help but giggle slightly. His entire face was covered in red lipstick marks again.

"I see you found Amy. Guess she was more important than me." said Tails.

"Erm......sorry Tails." said Sonic.

"Sorry! Oh come on! I rescue you and when it comes for you to return the favour you don't."

"Sorry. But it was a much larger crowd."

Tails just rolled his eyes and moaned.

"Well luckily I got away." said Tails.

"Now come on, let's not fight." said Amy.

"Erm....guys." said Rouge.

They all turned to see a large crowd of people charging down the street towards them.

"Oh no! Not again!" said Sonic.