A day passed. A week. A month. Two.
In this time, Amy's impromptu five-minute-adventure was all but forgotten. She'd adjusted back into her normal life, and thanks to chasing Sonic every day, she'd increased her overall top speed by five miles per hour. On top of that, she'd never been more physically fit in her life. Too bad she had little use for any of this.
Still, Amy was happy, and content. She was sure of it.
Sure, that is, until a day she'd decided to buy a new red dress for herself.
No, it wasn't the dress that sent things amiss; it was the limousine that pulled up to her as she was walking home, carrying the dress.
The door opened, revealing a (somewhat) familiar face from her past...
Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic Adventure 2 or any of its characters. They belong to Service Games, and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank those folks for making 'em.
Disclaimer #2: Those looking for realism, in a world containing
anthropormprohic creatures, no less, would do best to take their browsers
elsewhere.
Part 2 of ?
Brought Forth From a Dangerous Mind.
"Hey there, Amy," Rouge the Bat called out from her comfortable backseat. "Hop in. I'd like to chat."
"Um... I was always told never to get in cars with strangers," Amy retorted with a slanted grin, "and you're about as str--"
Amy suddenly clamped up, motivated to do so by a taser suddenly being whipped out of one of Rouge's hidden holsters, and pointed at her nose. Point-blank range.
"I'd hate to use this, but I hate old, tired, and just plain bad jokes even more," the bat said sweetly. "Now, I'm here because I need your help. And more so, I think you're actually interested, but don't realize it just yet. What was your schedule for today? Oh, wait, let me guess." Her voice was outright flippant now. "Buy some food, get rejected for the billionth time by a crush you've had since junior high school--oh, wait, sorry about that, you are in junior high school. Or at least you would be if you went to school-"
"H-how did you know all of that?" Amy cut her off, wide-eyed.
Rouge rolled her eyes. "Please. Remember? Secret Service? Under direct command from the President? It entitles you to all sorts of fun things, like being able to keep visual tabs on possible suspects... or help. Hell, I've accidentally caught you in the shower once or twice, and you've never known it. Oh, whoops..."
Rouge put the taser away. "Sorry, I'd forgotten I had this out, it must have been scaring the hell out of you," she said with a snicker. Patting the empty seat-space next to her, she grinned at the pink hedgehog.
After a few moments, slowly, Amy grinned back. It was a highly nervous grin, to be sure, but it was enough to let Rouge know that they were back on okay terms--for the moment.
Good thing, too. She'd need all the cooperation she could get. "Shall we ride?" the agent asked. "Lunch is on me."
***
"So, why'd you ask me here?" Amy asked, munching on a double-decker cheseburger. What with all the running she'd done in past weeks, she told herself that she could afford to. And Rouge had said that she could order anything on the menu...
"I'll get to the point, Amy," Rouge said. "How'd you like to have my job?"
"What?"
"I need a partner for a certain mission I'm about to undertake. I'm sure you can put two and two together."
"..." It took half a minute, but the hedgehog in fact, did. The moment she did so, her eyes and mouth went wide. "You mean..."
Rouge nodded.
"Why me, though?" Amy asked. "I mean... I'm not sure I'm not cut out for the kind of stuff you do..."
"Oh, on the contary," Rouge said. "You were hand-picked for your potential. Everyone knew you'd be a perfect fit for what we have in mind."
Amy gasped. "You're kidding! Really?"
***
Yesterday...
"No. No way. I'm not doing it."
"Rouge, this is a direct order from high command. You can't decline it."
Rouge crossed her arms over her chest as she scowled at the face on the screen. "Watch me! In case the starched suits have forgotten, I'm freelance. Besides," she continued, gesturing back at the screen," why this kid? She almost got me KILLED! Why not somebody else, at least?"
"Because according to your reports, you two already know each other. Plus her age makes her perfect for the nature of tihs assignment.."
"Hmph. She's not much younger than I am, you know."
"No, but she'll provide the perfect cover. Rouge, you're one of the best we've got. They're even offering you double your pay. It's either this, or our mutual enemy gets one step ahead of us. And you know how those world-domination types are. What's it going to be?"
Rouge thought this over for a second. "...triple pay."
"No. But your pay WILL be all in extra-large, super-polished diamond chunks. If you think you can handle it."
Rouge thought it over for one more second, her eyes shining as much as the jewelry she'd grown addicted to over the years.
"Deal."
***
"I knew you'd be perfect from the start," Rouge lied. "In any case, will you help me? I hate to be so abrupt about this, but time is of the essence."
It was something like out of a movie, really. Here she was, Amy Rose Hedgehog, virtual nobody, plucked from the street by a secret government operative, possibly because she had the key to accomplishing what no one else could. She was chosen. She was DESTINED!
...
Then again, this could all just as well be one wild goose chase; or worse, she could be being used as bait, or-
Oh, to hell with it. Did she really have anything better to do?
Did she?
"All right, you've got me curious," Amy replied. "I'll help. What did you have in mind?"
Rouge nodded. "Excellent. Driver. Twinkle Park, please. I'll brief you, half on the way, and the other half when we get there. The third half, however," she said with a rueful chuckle, "you'll find out on your own."
Acknowledging the bat's request, the human driver made a left at the next intersection, cruising directly toward their destination.
"Twinkle Park?" Amy asked with an elated gasp. "Are we really going there? I love that place! Sonic and I-"
"Amy, there is no 'Sonic' here now. Please try to remember that," Rouge curtly said, not even turning her head to look at the hedgehog. "It's just you and me, and our success depends on nobody but you and me, because no one else knows what we're doing. Understood?"
"...okay," Amy nodded.
Rouge's voice took on a calmer tone. "And we're not going to the Twinkle Park you know. It's recently expanded into Emerald Beach. Half the place is a carnival fairground now. And that's where we we're going to do our investigation.
"But for the most part," the bat turned to the hedgehog, put her hands on Amy's shoulders, and smiled. "We're going to enjoy our visit. At least until our mission objectives reveal themselves. There's a chance they may not. So until I say otherwise, consider this a play date of sorts. But always keep alert. I'm counting on you just as much as you're counting on me. Got that?"
Fighting back a blush of heroine-worship, Amy turned away from Rouge's gaze to look out of the limo's closed window. Her next words were filled with a suprising amount of conviction and purpose; a surprising amount from someone who lived to shop and chase and get kidnapped, anyway.
"Got it."