Chapter 3
Phase Two: The Protector

It didn't take long for Sonic to polish off all the chilli dogs he could find. They didn't call him the fastest thing alive for nothing he thought with a smirk, grabbing a napkin to wipe his face.

He frowned in annoyance as he spotted a drop of chilli that had fallen right onto his glove. He was going to have to switch to a clean pair he realised and was about to wipe the glove down when an idea crept up on him. He glanced between his finger and the girl scooping a sugar dusted strawberry into her mouth beside him and a smile stretched across his face.

"Hey Amy," he called.

"Hmm."

"You have a little something on your face there."

Amy paused mid-bite, a look of panic crossing her face just as he had expected. "What! How?" she said, grabbing the nearest napkin and rubbing blindly at her face. "Did I get it?"

Sonic pretended to inspect both her cheeks before proceeding to shake his head. "It's … right … here," he said, smirking as he streaked a line of chilli across her otherwise pristine cheek.

Amy's mouth fell open in shock as she felt the wet sauce on her cheek and realised what the blue hero had just done. "Sonic!" Amy whined, scrubbing her cheek clean without a moment's hesitation.

The boy barely had enough time to choke out a guffaw before he found himself laying on his back, hands pinned to the ground with an annoyed pink hedgehog hovering above him.

"Come on Amy, you know I was kidding," he said, nervous energy coursing through his blood as realised he couldn't break free.

"Of course, Sonic. Just like you understand that this is just me kidding," she replied, her words a threatening drawl as the half-eaten tart sat squarely in the palm of her hand. Sonic swallowed hard as he realised exactly where that particular dessert was headed.

"Amy come on, wait. Wait," he called out, struggling to free himself from a future where he had to scrape strawberry seeds off his muzzle.

"No chance hedgehog," she said with a smile, biting her bottom lip as she locked her aim on the blue hedgehog's pointy nose.

Sonic dropped still suddenly, his ears twitching as he caught wind of an odd sound in the distance. "No really, wait a second. Do you hear that?" Amy paused too, taking note of the shift in the boy's demeanour before deciding it wasn't just a ruse to escape her grasp.

She closed her eyes, homing in on the sounds that surrounded them. There was the usual rustle of the wind in the trees and the soft chirrup of birds but … there, in the distance, steadily getting louder was a deep thrum.

The air around them began to hum with electricity and Amy and Sonic stood instantly. The tart tumbled face down onto the blanket but the pair had bigger problems than a ruined dessert. Only one thing on Mobius emitted sounds like that - Eggman's robots.

"Get ready Amy," Sonic said, gearing up for a fight as the sound of Bee Bots buzzed around them. The girl nodded, her hammer materialising at her side in the blink of an eye. And just in time, as not a moment later the first horde burst through the greenery and surrounded them.

Amy and Sonic were caught up in a frenzy of bots and blurs as they began to knock each robot out of the sky, doing their best to avoid completely wrecking the picnic spread beneath their feet.

As Sonic homed in on a Bee Bot, landing briefly on the ground before shooting off again, he heard Amy's voice call for him. He risked turning to look at her only to see her standing at the edge of the clearing with a look of clear confusion.

He bounced off the nearest flying robot, propelling himself towards her and landing with a thump. "What's wrong?" he asked quickly.

"I don't know why but … they're only going after you Sonic."

"What?"

"I can't explain it, but just watch."

Amy rushed towards the Bots that had redirected towards them and Sonic reached out a hand too late to stop her … only to see her walk harmlessly past them. He spotted a triumphant look flash across her face as she proved her point, the bots focused entirely on him.

"Well this is fun," he commented, bouncing himself right over the bots and to where Amy waited for him. "There is a lot of them here though," he added, a frown creasing his brow as he considered how many of Eggman's creations had swarmed their picnic.

"Don't worry Sonic," Amy said, swinging her hammer between her hands. "I'll make sure they don't lay a single stinger on you." Without waiting for a response, the girl ran right into the fray of enemies.

Sonic could only watch on in awe as the Bee Bots exploded like tiny bombs, Amy's hammer barely visible as she swung it around viciously. As the replacements filed in, they too ended up on the ground with their predecessors and the blue hero found himself mesmerised and completely lacking a reason to join in the fight.

Eggman's creations were still directing their attacks on him, but Amy was faster and smarter. As the pink girl got into the swing of things, she rushed around Sonic like a protective force-field, obliterating all his enemies before they could get within six feet of him and making sure none of them managed to sneak past and breach her carefully protected borders.

In fact, she was doing such a great job that Sonic decided now would be a good time to swap out that dirty glove of his for a fresh pair. "Check you out Ames, you're on fire!" he yelled proudly through the sound of crackling electricity and whining bots, giving the girl a thumbs up with his pristine new glove as she spun around like a tornado.

As the final carcass crashed to the ground, Amy finally slowed to a stop. She spun to face Sonic, breathing heavily as her hammer dematerialised into nothingness - returning to the void from whence it came.

The pink hedgehog swayed unsteadily as her balance recalibrated, struggling to stand up straight. Sonic was there in an instant, slinging an arm across her shoulders and letting her lean into him for support.

"What did you do … to Eggman that he's … coming after you … so viciously?" she exhaled out between deep ragged breaths.

"Nothing," Sonic said defensively, trying his best to rack his memory for any recent encounters with the eccentric Doctor. When he came up empty, he repeated himself again only to be met with Amy's disbelieving arched brow.

"What?" he said irritably. "It's been months since I tormented him properly. In fact, I haven't even seen the dude for days."

Amy slipped out from under his arms, turning to give Sonic a blank look. "You haven't seen Eggman for days?" she deadpanned.

"No."

"And that doesn't come across as suspicious to you," she said incredulously. In most circumstances, even a day without the good Doctor was reason enough to scour his known bases for any signs of disturbance. He could always be counted on to be stirring up some sort of mischief, and if he'd had days without interruption then Chaos only knew what he'd been planning.

"Well, it didn't until you put it like that," Sonic replied. "Maybe I should go and check out what he's up to."

Amy narrowed her eyes at him. "Perhaps we should," she corrected.

"Yeah, sure whatever," Sonic said nonchalantly, knocking the girl lightly on the arm. Amy rolled her eyes at his teasing smirk, but she smiled regardless.

As if on cue, both hedgehog's wrist communicators buzzed at the same time, flashing bright green as they received a new set of coordinates. The two hedgehogs turned to each other in confusion.

"Another Eggman attack. Already?" she said sceptically. Sonic seemed a little surprised too but only shrugged as he held out a gloved hand.

"Only one way to find out I guess."

Amy nodded in agreement, letting her fingers slip into the blue hedgehogs as he set a course for their next destination.


Back in Eggman's base, the room was deathly quiet. Only the sound of heavy breathing and the whir of machines permeated the air as Doctor Eggman, Orbot and Cubot sat crowded around a single large screen.

Orbot and Cubot glanced at each other nervously before the former plucked up the courage to speak. "Perhaps you should have sent the Bee Bots after Amy instead Sir," he said quietly. "It might have made the plan work more in your favour."

Eggman didn't seem to hear him, narrowing his eyes at the screen as he dragged out a single file onto the interface. "Did you two hear what I heard?" the man questioned, hovering the mouse over what looked to be a sound bite.

"That the two hedgehogs are going to the location of the next phase?" Cubot offered.

"No, no, no. Not that," Eggman said impatiently, waving away the suggestion. "This!" The Doctor clicked on the file and smiled as Sonic's voice filled the large room.

'Check you out Ames, you're on fire.'

"Did you hear that?" the man asked, barely masking the grin that threatened to take over his moustache.

The two minions watched Eggman with confusion flickering in their robotic eyes. "He was … nice to her?" Orbot asked.

"No!" Eggman protested, playing the clip again.

'Check you out Ames, you're on fire. Check you out Ames … out Ames … Ames … Ames … Ames.'

Eggman raised his eyebrows at the robots in exasperation as they continued to fail at hearing what he heard.

"Ames! He said Ames. He's using a nickname you fools. That means the plan is fully underway. Once second he's calling her some cutesy nickname and the next he'll be so lost in her dreamy eyes he'll forget all about my existence!"

"I don't think it works quite like that," Cubot murmured, a nervous squeak escaping from him as Eggman settled a glare on him.

"What do you idiots know anyway. My plan in is motion and once the third phase is through, those two imbeciles will be clinging to each other like their lives depend on it. Nothing brings two hearts closer than facing up against absolute terror," he said, a evil chuckle wiggling his moustache as he deployed the preparations for his next phase.


And scene. I am enjoying writing Eggman waaay too much, I can't believe I never wrote this sooner. It's also great to see so many other shipper!Eggman supporters showing so much love for this story - you guys are so awesome!

Thank you all for reading lovelies, I really hope you enjoyed this next instalment. (I'm off to go freak out about Taylor Swift!) Drop me your thoughts if you feel like it and I'll see you guys in the next one. Chao :)