It didn't take too much longer before Amy, Knuckles and Manic had finished all of their events, and if the two boys had it their way, it probably wouldn't have ended. They begged to try again and again, but the officials insisted that what was done was official and no matter what, there would be a fat chance of them besting Amy's throws! That's right… all of them.
Next up were Blaze and Sonia in their solo performances on the gymnastics floor. They had just come back out of the locker rooms after getting changed into their costumes, and it was apparent that one of them was none too pleased about having to be dressed up for a an athletic performance. Sonia gave the lavender feline a nudge, insisting she looked beautiful, but that didn't seem to help.
'Oh, come on Blaze, it's not all bad? I'm wearing one too!' Sonia exclaimed.
'You like yours. Plus, you look better in it. This kind of crap just isn't me.' Blaze wrinkled her nose as she looked down at herself.
'Well, I think you look great.' Silver smiled, a little cheekily, at her side.
Everyone caught a glimpse of the crimson hue rising on Blaze's cheeks before she quickly shook it off, announcing she would compete first. She figured the sooner she got it over with, the sooner she could get out of this costume! The girls really didn't know what she was complaining about, it was stunning. If Rouge hadn't gotten a close look at it, she could swear they were real diamonds covering the leotard.
It was a stunning grape colour that shimmered when the sun's ray bounced off the diamantes that outlined the mesh that trailed down her centre, showing off a little of her cleavage down to her belly button. It was completely backless, bar the sparkling gems on the hemline of the leotard. The costume also flared out into a tiny skirt that spun around whenever she did, with the same gleaming jewels around its hem.
'Go get 'em, Blaze!' Sonic called out as she walked up onto the floor.
'You can do it, Blaze!' Cosmo and Tails called out in sync.
She shook off the nerves she considered ridiculous as she made her way to the centre of the floor, and her music began to play. She lit up her palms and quickly shot four flaming spheres into the air with a smirk before doing all sorts of jumps and somersaults before landing as gracefully as she'd begun in order to catch the red hot props.
The music picked up, causing her to pick up her pace and throw in all sorts of graceful dance combinations along with an array of gymnastics moves. Her friends cheered her on, along with the crowd as she gracefully came to a finish, throwing the balls into the air and making them explode into a fiery inferno.
'That'll be tough to beat, Sonia.' Knuckles nudged the hedgehog as Blaze came down.
'Just because you couldn't beat a girl in your own event, don't throw her off.' Manic smirked.
'You're one to talk, Manic?' Tikal giggled innocently, causing Cream and Cosmo to join.
Sonia chuckled to herself about her friends taking shots at one another, congratulating Blaze as they passed each other at the stage. She gracefully walked to the edge of the stage and rolled up the lengthy ribbon in her palms that matched her elegant costume. One side of long sleeved leotard was almost completely mesh, looking as though it wasn't there at all, bar the dark magenta cuffs at her wrist, and a thick pattern of diamantes worked their way up from her hip to cover her left breast.
From her right breast down to her hips, the stunning magenta colour hugged her figure, the shimmering gems creating swirled patterns across the material until it flared out into a short skirt. She swivelled her hips a little as if to shake off the nerves, causing the skirt to follow her, the jewels that attached to the skirt so blinding anyone could swear they were real. The music began to play and Sonia was quick to run onto the stage into a combination of flips and turns, the ribbon surrounded her body.
She smiled and giggled a little, feeling a surge of happiness wash over her as she moved around to the music in advanced and difficult combinations of dance and gymnastics. The crowd cheered and applauded at her tricks and her elegance almost the entire routine and then picked up the volume as she came to a finish.
'Not too shabby, Sonia.' Rouge smiled.
'That was pretty impressive.' Shadow added.
'You look beautiful! You both do!' Cream gushed as Sonia stood next to Blaze.
'I don't know if my grace is going to compete with that in my next event.' Amy said more to herself a little nervously at the thought of her next event.
Rouge heard her and gave the fuchsia hedgehog a nudge, as if to tell her she would be fine, which she knew, but a reminder certainly didn't go astray. Rouge, Cream and Tails began warming up for their event as Sonia Blaze and Amy made their way back to the locker rooms to get changed. Sonia and Blaze were quick to get back into their regular outfits and wait for Amy, but she insisted she would catch up.
As the two made their way back out to see their three friends take off in flight along with a few other citizens, Amy pulled out the costume she was given to wear for the skating event. It was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen, and she couldn't believe she was even allowed to wear it. She forced herself to take a few deep breaths as she slowly got undressed and into her costume which got her to thinking… did Sonic have to wear anything?
.
As Amy made her way out of the locker room, covering up her costume with a large jacket, Rouge, Tails and Cream had taken out all of the other opponents in their event and now it was just down to the three of them. As the fuchsia hedgehog made it to the rest of the gang, standing by Silver, Cream tripped over one of the last hurdles which sent her flying to the ground and caught by Shadow.
'You were brilliant, Cream!' Silver exclaimed as Shadow sped her back to the rest of the gang.
'I'm exhausted.' She pant through a weak smile.
'Drink some water.' Shadow insisted as he put her down and pulled out a drink.
As the young rabbit took a seat on the grass by Cosmo's feet, everyone turned their gaze back up to the final two competitors who were now in the last phase of the event. Rouge and Tails duked it out, one on one, waiting for the other one to fall to the ground. They were both undeniably exhausted but were fighting through, right up until Rouge came behind and tangled the kitsune's twin tails, sending him to the ground.
'Well played, Rouge.' Tails panted as she floated to the ground to help him up.
'Well, you know me.' Rouge shrugged as he got to his feet and the two headed towards the others.
'That was pretty impressive guys.' Sonia smiled.
'Beat out by a girl.' Knuckles shook his head.
'For shame.' Manic added.
'Ok, guys, this is the second time today.' Tikal gave them a sly smile.
'Amy beat you both, get over it!' Blaze exclaimed.
'Alright guys, calm down! Sonic and Amy are headed over for their event!' Cosmo exclaimed as she point towards the two hedgehogs headed towards opposite ends of the rink.
The gang followed Cosmo's line of view as they watched the two slowly make their way up to each end to sit down and put on their skates. The boys exchanged eager glances before taking a seat, preparing themselves for the show as the girls sat with them, except their exchanged looks were ones of excitement. They tried to deny it to themselves, but it wasn't hard to see that both Amy and Sonic were looking very nervous…
'Don't drop her. Don't drop her. Don't drop her. Try not to look at her weird. Concentrate.' Sonic told himself as he finished tying the laces and stood up to take off the coat that was draped around him to reveal what he had to wear.
'Deep breaths, keep calm. This isn't a big deal. Oh Chaos, stop lying to yourself, Amy. Just remember the routine and… and…' Amy's thoughts trailed off as she stood up and revealed her own costume.
As if it were a movie, the two skated onto the outskirts of the rink in sync, looking up at one another in the exact same time. In a split second, Sonic's entire face went red, unable to believe the view in front of him. She looked like an angel as she slowly skated a few steps onto the ice. Her outfit was pure white, a strapless leotard that hugged her figure tightly with mesh down the centre, covered in the same sparkling gems that covered the elbow lengths white gloves she fashioned.
The mesh made two holes in her sides, showing off her petite figure, along with more and more diamantes all over. It flared out into a tiny skirt with patterned swirls and squiggles detailed in the same gems. Amy tried to smile shyly at Sonic, noticing he was still staring, making her a little self-conscious, but she couldn't help but stare back. He looked so handsome in the white sports jacket he was wearing.
'They look incredible.' Tikal gasped as they skated towards the centre of the rink.
'They look…' Knuckles trailed off.
'Made for each other.' Tails and Cream smiled in sync.
As the two hedgehogs met in the centre of the rink, they locked eyes and let out shy smiles as they slowly got into their starting positions. It felt like a lifetime for their music to start playing, and while their chests weren't quite touching, they could feel each other's heart beats crystal clear. Amy took in a deep breath, making Sonic smile a little. They gazed into each other's eyes once more, only seconds before the music was about to start…
'You ready?' Sonic whispered.
'Let's do it.'