Fast updates because I've technically finished the story already. Thank-you to those who have reviewed so far. ExMarkSpot, Sonic Thruster, Milky-Wayne, ItsHyperKB and guest reviewer, your comments keep my soul alive.
Chapter 2: The Symptoms
Being so experienced with regular Dr Eggman antics of the destructive kind, it wasn't even a week before everything was cleaned up and after two weeks the village looked like nothing had ever happened. For a while Sonic and his friends were wary of confronting Eggman directly at his lair again so Dr Eggman had to resort to his usual tactic of poorly thought-out robot battles in the village square, which worked out great for everyone except him. Then, thankfully, there was another lull in attacks, which usually signalled that Eggman was up to something bigger but the team would crush that plan when it happened. For now, it was a beautiful morning on their tropical paradise island and Meh Burger had a new breakfast menu that was sure to be barely palatable. So Sonic and friends decided to make a morning of it.
"I think my pancakes are uncooked in the middle," Tails complained, lifting one half of a pancake. A sluggish liquid fell out of the core and landed with a splat on his tray.
"At least yours is probably made of pancake mix," Sticks said. "I think these hash browns are actually made of recycled office paper."
Sonic chewed a bite of bacon and egg burger, weighing up whether or not it was passable enough to actually swallow as he looked around. "Where's Amy? She was supposed to be here."
"Maybe she's invisible," Knuckles thought aloud.
"Don't be stupid, Knuckles," Sticks retorted. "What purpose would it serve for the alien invaders to make Amy invisible?"
"Um..." Knuckles thought, scratching his head. "Maybe they're trying to distract us into looking for her so they can blow up the town while we're not here?"
"Unbelievable! Those wily extra terrestrials! YOU CAN'T FOOL ME! YOU HEAR ME?" Sticks screamed, shaking her fist at the sky.
"Calm down," Tails sighed, "nothing terrible has happened to Amy."
"How do you know?"
"Because she's coming right now." Tails pointed into the square.
Sure enough Amy was just arriving with a reusable cup in one hand. "Hi guys. How's the breakfast menu?"
"Barely adequate," Sonic answered.
"It's like Meh Burger, only breakfast," Knuckles added.
"Try it out for yourself," Tails said, nodding towards the counter. "The queue's died down and none of us have ordered the breakfast smoothie yet."
"Actually, I'm going to pass," Amy said, sitting down. "My tummy wasn't feeling so good this morning. You guys enjoy your food, I'll just try to settle my stomach with this herbal tea blend."
"You call this a breakfast?!" came a sudden cry from the counter, where Dr Eggman hovered threateningly over Dave in his Eggmobile. "I've eaten office paper with more flavour than those hash browns!"
"We'd better go stop Eggman from bullying Dave," Sonic muttered flatly, signalling how much he didn't want to.
"In a bit," Tails said, "I want to see him squirm a bit since he ruined pancakes."
Cue obligatory conflict with Eggman... after a few minutes of Dave being tormented.
A few weeks later...
A friendly volleyball match between friends that ended in another cookie-cut action scene with Eggman's robots and an easy victory had Team Sonic in the mood to eat out for lunch. Which meant Meh Burger.
"Here's your order, ma'am," Dave droned, placing a tray in front of Amy.
"I ordered a double Meh Burger meal with extra fries and a lemonade," Amy reminded him. "This is just a fish sandwich and the fish is still alive. Why do you keep doing this to me?"
"Sorry, no refunds."
Amy's glare got even angrier and her lips pulled back in a snarl. Suddenly her hammer came out and she screamed: "I ORDERED A DOUBLE MEH BURGER WITH EXTRA FRIES AND A LEMONADE!"
The hammer came down with the ferocious force she reserved for smashing robots and other metal things. The fish sandwich squelched under the hammer and the bench buckled, sending up a plume of dust and splinters. Behind her in the queue, the rest of her friends went slack-jawed. Dave cowered by the drinks fridge for a few seconds, then dashed off somewhere around the back. He returned quick-smart with another tray, this time laden with a double Meh Burger with extra fries and a lemonade, as well as something else.
"S-s-s-sorry, ma'am," Dave whimpered, holding out the tray with shaking hands. "H-here's y-your order w-w-with a free d-d-dessert as ap-p-ology for the mix up, m-ma'am."
Amy's hammer disappeared in a wink and her mood brightened just as quickly. "Ooh, chocolate raspberry swirl mousse."
She happily grabbed the tray and turned around to get a table, leaving the mess behind as if she hadn't done anything.
"What the heck just happened?" Sonic exclaimed.
"I can't believe it," Tails said. "Dave actually apologised for making a wrong order."
"And Meh Burger has desserts," Knuckles added.
"This can only mean one thing," Sticks said conspiratorially, "Dave the Intern has been replaced by a robot!"
"Nah, we already did the 'robots taking over low income menial jobs' episode," Sonic pointed out. He'd figured it was something to do with Amy but it was his turn to order. Maybe he could take advantage of the current conditions. "I'd like to order a chilli dog and an orange soda."
"We're closed for repairs," Dave whined.
Sonic growled.
Some more weeks later...
Sonic twitched and opened his eyes in annoyance. He didn't have a clock but he could tell that it was the dead of night. Why was his communicator buzzing at this hour? Probably one of Eggman's crackpot schemes to catch them off guard. He leaped out of his hammock and activated the voice call system.
"What's up, guys? Where's the doomsday device?"
"It's just me, Sonic," Amy's voice replied.
"Amy? Why are you calling in the middle of the night if it isn't an emergency?" Sonic snapped.
"It is an emergency! I ran out of ice-cream and chocolate and salt and vinegar potato chips but all the stores in town are already closed."
"What's that got to do with me? I can't do anything about that."
"Well, the next town over has a 24 hour mini-mart. Can you just run over there for me and get some snacks?"
"I could, seeing as I'm the fastest thing alive, but why now? Can't this wait until morning?"
"No! I just... I really need them now, okay?" she sobbed. Sonic baulked. Did he just make her cry? Over this nonsense? "Please?"
Sonic groaned. "Okay, I'll do it." Why was he so weak?
Half an hour later Sonic was at Amy's door with a large bag full of all the snacks she'd all but demanded over the communicator. He rapped loudly on the doorframe and called out to her but there was no response. He tried twice more within the space of five seconds and by then was too impatient to wait for her to answer the door so he just barged in.
"Amy, I got your snacks!"
The house was dark. He flicked on the main house light. There was a mumbling and stirring from the curtained-off alcove where Amy's bed was. He gaped at her in disbelief. She was already asleep!
"Amy, wake up!" he said, zipping over to shake her fully awake. She rolled over and looked up at him sleepily. "I went to the next town over and bought the snacks you wanted. The ones you said you needed right now."
He thrust the bag at her. That woke her up a bit more and she sat up in bed. "Oh, Sonic, thank-you. You didn't have to go all that way for me."
"Actually I kind of did," he reminded her bitterly. "Now are you gonna eat, or what?"
"I appreciate this, I really do," she said, taking the bag from him, "but I realised that I'm not actually that hungry right now. I'll just put these away in the kitchen and eat them later."
Sonic spluttered incoherently as Amy got up to put the snacks away. After a few moments he finally found his voice again and shouted: "Are you kidding me!? I could have done this in the morning! I only went all that way because you cried about it and then I get here and you're not even hungry?! What the ever-loving heck?!"
Amy dropped the bag on her counter, staring at him in shock. Sonic glared at her with his arms akimbo, tapping his foot impatiently for her explanation. Then her eyes began to tear up.
"I-I'm sorry," she sniffled. Sonic recoiled in fear. He couldn't handle feelings. "It's just, at the time it seemed so important and then it just wasn't, I'm sorry, okay! You don't need to shout at me."
And then she was full on bawling with her face in her hands. Sonic rushed over to her side and patted her back comfortingly, all the while trying to think of a way to fix this.
"Don't worry about it, it's fine, really," he blurted out in a hurry. "You know what, I'm not even mad."
Amy wiped her eyes and looked at him dolefully. "Really?"
"Not at all! Guess I was just tired. Yeah, that's it, tired."
She perked up suddenly, scrubbing away the last of her tears. "That's a relief! For a second there I thought you were really angry." She grabbed his head in both hands and gave him a kiss on the cheek that left him petrified. "You can crash on my couch if you don't think you can make it back to your shack."
Sonic shook himself back to normal. He dashed back to her front door, ready to abscond before he was faced with any more emotional gymnastics. "Thanks for the offer, Ames, but nothing beats the trusty hammock. I'd better get back home for some shut eye. Sleep well. Bye."
He slammed the door shut and booked it to his shack. All the while his mind was reeling. Amy just kissed him. Amy. Just. Kissed. Him. Sure, it was just on the cheek but still. They were friends, two people could kiss each other and still be friends, she didn't mean anything by it, he kept telling himself. It was a good rationalisation. Didn't mean he didn't run into a couple of trees on the way home thinking about her lips on his skin.
Even more weeks later...
It was another beautiful day over the pristine beach where Sonic's shack was located, a perfect day for one of Amy's picnics. They were enjoying it too, sitting around a table outside in the sea breeze with burgers, fruit salad, and homemade lemonade. Until the mad doctor showed up.
"Behold! My new and improved Fire Bot!" Dr Eggman yelled from the relative safety of his Eggmobile. Fire Bot took a step forward to menace the five friends. Nobody moved from the picnic table. In fact, they all looked rather bored.
"It looks exactly the same as your old Fire Bot," Sonic said flatly.
"That's where looks have deceived you," Eggman responded with an evil chuckle. "Fire Bot, douse that blue aquaphobe!"
The Fire Bot reached back and pulled a nozzle over its shoulder, different to the flame-throwing nozzle on its staff. It pumped out a high-pressure stream of water. Sonic's eyes widened in fear and he zoomed out of the way, causing the blast to hit Tails instead. It knocked him right out of his seat and slammed him into a palm tree. The other three leaped to their feet, fists and weapons out.
Amy, Sticks, and Knuckles charged for the robot. Fire Bot pointed its original nozzle at them and threw a jet of fire. Startled, they scattered from the flames, except for Amy who suddenly didn't feel as agile as she used to be and fell on her behind, dropping her hammer. Embarrassed, she tried to get back up but it was like all of her core strength had gone completely. She bent her knees and leaned on her hands, struggling to find the balance to get back to standing
Meanwhile, Sonic tried to get closer but was kept on his toes dodging streams of water. Sticks threw her boomerang only for it to be shot out of the air and burnt to black ashes. Knuckles tried to help her out by punching the fire, only for it to burn his fist. With the robot spraying fire liberally in their direction, they couldn't get close enough for hand-to-hand combat. Amy finally got back to her feet with an exhausted sigh. She reached for her hammer but the act of reaching down for it sent her off kilter. It was like all flexibility in her waist had been compromised. It could have had something to do with all of the weight she'd been gaining there lately but she dismissed it as something to deal with at a later time with a strict dieting regime. Right now her friends needed her and her hammer and yet she was unable to get it.
The standoff came to a momentary lull when a coconut from above hit Fire Bot in the helmet with a heavy thud. Its sensors panned upwards, finding Tails in the air with an armful of coconuts and one poised to be thrown.
"Guys, Fire Bot has a hose behind it siphoning the water straight from the sea!" he told them, able to see it clearly from his vantage point. "Knuckles, dig a tunnel under Fire Bot and get behind it."
It sounded a lot better than trying to punch fire, so Knuckles put his singed hands to the task of digging in the soft, moveable sand. Fire Bot tried to follow Eggman's orders to stop him but was hit again with a coconut. It aimed its flamethrower upwards to burn away the third coconut and Sticks ran in close. She kicked it in the arm, throwing the flamethrower of its aim, then she ducked under the arm pit and yanked the hose from the fuel tank, cutting off its fire capabilities. At roughly the same time its legs sank into a sudden sinkhole as Knuckles tunnelled underneath it. He emerged on the other side, grabbed the hose with both hands and with his enormous strength pulled until it tore apart. The water jets keeping Sonic preoccupied slowed to a dribble of leftover drops, giving him the opening to rush at Fire Bot and smash a hole through its torso.
Dr Eggman growled. "You may have won this time, but next time—"
Tails hit him in the head with his last coconut.
"Just for that, my next scheme is going to be the worst thing you've ever experienced! Especially for you, you mangy fox!" he shouted, shaking his fist at Tails. Four of the five friends just laughed at him.
"I got it!" Amy exclaimed, holding her hammer up high in triumph. The others, including Eggman, turned to her and stared, nonplussed by her so-called achievement.
"Great work picking up your hammer," Sonic quipped, folding his arms, "we could have used it a whole minute ago."
"Yeah, way to let the team down," Knuckles added.
"It wasn't like I was trying to let you down!" Amy said defensively, going red in humiliation. Her eyes felt hot and prickled with tears.
"Maybe if you hadn't gotten so fat you could have been a valuable team player," Eggman teased. Sonic, Sticks, Tails, and Knuckles glared at him angrily. "What? I thought this was a 'pick on Amy' moment."
The Piko-piko hammer flew at the Eggmobile. It collided so hard the hovercraft shot across the sea, taking Dr Eggman with it. There was a distant splash on the water that was satisfying to Sonic's ears after what Eggman had just put him through.
"Just for that, Amy, you're redeemed," he told her. He wasn't sure what to make of her sudden grin and giddy giggle. Her emotions sure turned around fast these days.
Yet some more weeks after that...
It was a pleasant afternoon when Amy came home from a successful grocery shopping trip, humming a bright tune to herself. She walked in the door, closing it behind her mindfully. Turning around, she froze.
"Surprise!" Knuckles shouted from her couch, where all of her friends were gathered. "Happy birthday!"
"For the last time, Knuckles," Sonic said, "it's not Amy's birthday and this is not a party."
"Aw, then I brought this cake for nothing." Knuckles gestured to a chocolate mud cake on Amy's table. "I'm still going to blow this party horn," he added petulantly, procuring a gold party horn out of seemingly nowhere and tooting it loudly.
"Not that I don't appreciate having my friends over but why are you all here?" Amy asked.
"Amy, we've all come to the conclusion that we need to have serious discussion about your... odd behaviour lately," Tails explained.
"You're having an intervention?" Amy gasped.
"Your erratic mood swings are driving everyone crazy. You're never on time for anything anymore, like when we were going to have the coconut throwing competition and you were supposed to judge but you were so late we gave up and played something else."
"I told you, I had a bad sleep the night before," Amy excused. "My tummy was doing flips, probably from the chips and ice-cream I had for a late night snack."
"And you keep ditching us in the middle of battles," Sonic complained. "Like last week when Eggman showed up with a giant robot and you ran out just as Sticks lined up a Ball Bot for you to whack."
"I needed to pee! It's related to a water retention problem that I've been having."
"The other day when Eggman tried to raid the Deadly Equipment Warehouse you didn't even show up until it was over," Sticks accused. "Very suspicious!"
"It's really not," Amy said. "I'm just a little unfit right now. I was going there as fast as I could but then I saw an old dog struggling to get up when its owner came near to get some pats and I just couldn't help myself." She began to tear up at the memory. "And then I needed to pee a few times before I got there."
"Not to mention how much weight you've been putting on," Knuckles added. "No wonder you're so unfit. You need to hit the bench-press pronto."
"Knuckles!" Sonic, Tails and Sticks screamed.
"We agreed we weren't going to bring that up today!" Tails scolded.
Knuckles scratched his head. "Uh... whoops?"
The bag of groceries hit the floor with a thud sending the contents rolling across the floor. Sonic, Tails, Sticks and Knuckles all stared at Amy in silent horror, wondering what outrageous reaction it was going to trigger.
"You guys think I'm fat?" Amy whimpered quietly. Large tears spilled out of her eyes faster than she could wipe them away.
Sonic sighed exasperatedly. "Thanks a lot Knuckles. But now that the cat's out the bag, you really do need to cut down on the extra fries at Meh Burger."
"I can't believe you guys came here just to tell me I'm fat."
"We came to tell you a bunch of other stuff too," Tails reminded her. "Where's your head been these days? It's like you forget things as soon as you know about them."
"Oh, so you think I'm fat and dumb?" Amy huffed, balling her fists and throwing them down by her sides.
"Tails didn't say anything of the sort," Sonic argued.
"It's not about what he said, it's about what he meant!" Amy yelled. "Sticks! What are you doing to my toaster?"
"I'm checking it for signs that's it's been receiving radio signals from the leaders of the robot army," she said, shaking a partially dismantled toaster. "They may have been sending out a prototype wave to brainwash us into submission by causing chaos in the ranks. We need to find out how they're doing it and stop it before we're overrun!"
"That's stupid, Sticks! You're all stupid!" Amy shouted. "I think you should all get out of my house!"
"We're not trying to be mean," Tails tried to appeal but Amy ignored him to carefully crouch down with great effort to prevent herself from toppling over and gather up her groceries. She righted the bag and took stock of what needed to be picked up and paused. The bag fell over again as she burst into tears.
"What is it now?" Sonic groaned.
"I forgot to buy milk and butter," she wailed. "EVERYBODY LEAVE!"
She grabbed each of them one by one and tossed them out on her doorstep. It was the slowest eviction they'd ever experienced. "AND I'M KEEPING THE CAKE! THANKS KNUCKLES!"
She slammed the door in their faces.
"That could have gone better," Sonic deadpanned.
"If only Sonic had been more sensitive," Knuckles said with a shake of his head.
"You're the one who said she was fat!"
"I can hear you!" Amy screamed. "Why aren't you gone?"
"We'd better go," Tails conceded. "We need a new plan."
The boys turned to leave but Sticks lingered a little, staring at Amy's door with great determination. "Don't worry, Amy. We'll find a way to save you from the robot overlord."
A while after that...
Sonic woke up to the sound of his communicator beeping. It was the distress signal that the team members could send out when one of them was in trouble. He glanced at it worriedly and checked the ID. It was Amy. He grumbled in frustration before opening communications.
"Amy, I'm not agreeing to buy any snacks until morning."
"Guys, help..." she moaned weakly.
"Guys?" Sonic muttered, getting a bit concerned.
"What's the matter, Amy?" Tails' voice said.
"What happened to the sun?" That was Knuckles. "It's pretty dark for morning."
Sonic sat up. If this conversation was a group chat then that could mean she was in real trouble.
"I need... urgh... help... I'm in pain! Argh!"
"Are you being attacked?" Tails asked, sounding higher pitched in alarm.
"I'm on my way!" Sonic promised. "Hang in there, Ames."
He was out in a second, breaking the sound barrier outside his door and almost causing his shack to fall down. He made it to Amy's house in seconds. The exterior perimeter was clear at first glance so Sonic didn't waste any time out there. Inside, the lamp by her bed was on but nothing else. He flicked on the main light.
"Amy!"
"Here..." she moaned. Her hand waved behind the couch.
He was there in a split second. Amy lay on her side, doubled over and with her hands over her tummy. Between pained groans and grunts her laboured breathes were audible and her face was red and sweating. Poison. It was the only thing Sonic could think of.
"Amy, what happened?" Sonic asked quickly, kneeling down to lift her up. She only got up to her knees before throwing her arms around his neck and slumping against him. "Who did this? It was Eggman, wasn't it? I know he's a villain and all but this a whole new level evil for him. When I see him again I'm gonna tear him a new one!"
"Sonic..." Amy gasped. She spread her knees and wiggled her hips a bit, trying to relieve some of the pain and pressure. "I don't know. It - oof - it could have been Eggman. Ow. It just happened so suddenly. I went to the bathroom and then - aah - this crippling pain started. Aaaaah!"
She clutched her belly with one hand. That cramp had been the worst so far. With so much pressure on her pelvis she felt like her innards were about to fall out.
"Ok, Amy, we're not waiting for the others, I'm taking you to the hospital," Sonic decided, trying to help her up. She pulled him back down with her iron grip on his neck.
"Don't move me!"
"Amy, you're clearly poisoned! You need help right now!"
"I can't move, Sonic! It's coming!"
"What is?"
"I don't know but I can feel it!" she screamed. Something was breaching through her pelvis, large and wet with a wave of sticky fluid accompanying it along with an overwhelming desire in Amy to get it out of her. After one long groan and a great push it finally flopped out onto the carpet. There was a beat of total stillness. Sonic and Amy stared at each other fearfully, not sure if they really wanted to look but a tiny squeak convinced them that they really needed to. They both gulped and turned their gazes down.
A violet hoglet lay between Amy's knees, squirming and flexing her teeny arms and legs in a puddle of fluid. Any part of her not covered in purple fur was bright pink while she gasped for air with tiny, adorable squeaks and sniffles. Her quills were soft and pale, eyes closed, still wet all over and absolutely tiny. Sonic and Amy stared at her in horror.
They screamed.