One Step at a Time

"And you're getting all kind of impatient . . . waiting . . ."

Chapter Eleven: Step It Up

Slightly groaning at the intense but recognizable burn in her muscles, Amy gracefully set the weight down on the ground. The music that was playing in the gym was the best that Amy had ever heard and she sat down for a while to listen to it, when a towel hit her in the face.

"Are you done with all three sets?"

Removing the sweaty towel from her head, Amy playfully scowled at her trainer, but then smirked in a cocky manner that much resembled Shadow.

"Yep."

Cream only huffed and then turned around to pick up a water bottle next to a gym bag. Both had the same logo, sported in bright neon purple and black letters. The equipment proudly read, 'Club Rouge'.

After handing Amy the cold bottle with ice filled to the brim, she went to the bag and extracted a curious-looking blue and white folder with many papers in it. Setting next to the sweating hedgehog on the ground, she opened the folder and began to search through the documents furiously.

"What's that Cream?" Amy asked, peeking over her shoulder to see her place all the paper in an alphabetical order.

"These," Cream stated, moving more documents out of the folders and placing them in heaps, "Are your registration documents from the MOA. I took the liberty of fetching them from their office when I went to get your test details."

Amy flinched a lot throughout the speaking of these words. The certain ones that didn't appeal to her were, 'MOA' and 'test'.

Apparently, when you're entering an international competition, you have to give a sample of your urine for testing, to ensure no illegal substances are being used to influence the athlete's performance. Amy had almost fallen over flat on her face when she heard this. Not only was it completely impersonal, in her opinion, but absolutely unprofessional. When she had said this to Cream, the bunny only told her to 'shut up and get over it'.

Not only that, but Amy had to beg Cream not to send her to the physiotherapist again. The woman who had done her last time was huge and when Amy first saw her, she had thought her to be man (what with the moustache and bolding muscles).

Every session was an hour in hell. Not only did the woman almost snap her legs by the force she put into it, but Amy was suffering from a rash at the woman's inelegance. She frowned at the thought.

And not only was she still forced to go to those wretched sessions, but she also got the 'shut up and get over it' thrown i her face again.

"Listen to this," Cream said with a laughing smile. "'Every athlete competing in a team event must create their own biased flag as to symbolize the team's participation.'"

The track runner looked thoughtful. "I wish I could have my own flag."

Cream looked at her with interest. "You know, on earth, the flag represents the country you came from and when you enter the stadium, the captain of the team gets to hold it for the people to see."

"Cool." Amy grinned. She knew she'd never want to work on something like this in a team. This was something a bit more personal. But she thought it to be enlightening the way humans from all over the world came together for this one thing. It fascinated her to no end.

"Get up," Cream ordered with stern authority and Amy obliged at once. She had grown a new found respect for her best friend, having convinced her to get back into the game and not worry about the upcoming trials. Amy actually felt a bit better about the situation. This way, she wouldn't have to wait so long. And besides, it's not like she was the only athlete who wasn't ready yet.

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Knuckles roared as the builder crashed under the impact of his fist. The rocks spattered like water on glass and for a moment he was showered in dust. When the dust cleared up, it revealed a bright red echidna, standing in a fighting stance.

Sonic, who was watching from his seat on another rock, snickered. "Geez, you really know how to put on a show."

The echidna shot him a nasty look, cracking his knuckles in a dangerous way. Sonic wasn't too intimidated.

"Why are you here Sonic? Don't you have training to do? The trials are only in a few weeks," Knuckles asked impatiently while he moved over to the next large boulder.

The blue hedgehog shrugged. "I've gone training twice today. I'm giving myself a break, you know?"

His friend only huffed and proceeded to crush the next boulder in his way, causing it to shatter and pile smaller pebbles around.

"You're getting too lazy these days. And a bit cocky too."

"Whatever."

"I'm serious Sonic," said Knuckles firmly. "It's like you're getting to big for your shoes."

"That's why I'm training without them. Duh."

"Ugh."

Knuckles turned his back on his arrogant friend. But he was only worried. He'd noticed a change in Sonic; no too drastic, but he seemed so much more distracted these days. Clenching his fist tightly, Knuckles proceeded to crush another boulder with an impeccable force.

"Have you heard anything from Amy?"

Knuckles turned away from the pile of dust to stare at his friend. "Amy? No, I haven't seen her since she came to visit Rouge a week or so ago. Why do you ask?"

"What were you doing at Rouge's?" Sonic asked with a grin that suggested something else. Knuckles blushed furiously, and it was so bright, you could actually see it on his blood red skin.

"It's rude to answer a question with a question."

Sonic barked out a laugh. "Yeah, whatever. I guess I was just curious. I haven't seen her in days, almost weeks. And I just can't believe she's over me ye'know? I mean, sure she was a bit of a pest, but she's never avoided me before."

"Yeah, well, I doubt that she's been avoiding you, Sonic," said Knuckles and leaned back into another one of the huge boulders. He crossed his arms and looked at his friend sternly. "Rouge's sponsoring Amy."

"No way! Amy got a sponsor? Before I did?!"

This time, it was Knuckles who laughed. "Jealous of Amy this time, pal? You've got serious issues."

Sonic only scowled but didn't reply.

"Rouge's been telling me how hard Amy's been training these days. You're not the only one who doesn't see her. When she's not working, she's training. And when she's not training, she's resting."

"Why is she taking this competition so seriously?" Sonic exclaimed finally standing up and throwing his arms up into the air. "And why doesn't she go for another sport? Why mine?"

"Technically, the sport doesn't belong to you. It belongs to the MOA," stated Knuckles calmly, still leaning against the boulder.

"The who's a what now?"

"The Mobius Olympic Alliance. It's they who have been planning this thing for months. They were also the ones who decided that the Trial's date's been changed."

Sonic only huffed. "Sound like a bunch of old guys who make up all the rules."

Knuckles put his hand to his chin and pretended to think for a second. "Yeah, that's pretty much spot on."

The red echidna stepped away from the boulder and went to sit next to his companion. Both of them sighed simultaneously, shoulders hunching as they did.

"Hey, did you hear who Amy's trainer is?" asked Knuckles with a grin.

"No, who?"

"Cream."

"You are kidding me."

"Nope. And apparently she's got her under a strict wing too. They both worked on Amy's training schedule together. Rouge tells me it's pretty good."

Sonic huffed and crossed his legs on the ground. He played with some dirt and remained silent for a moment. Knuckles left him with his thoughts.

"Hey, uh, Knucks?"

"Don't call me that, and yeah?"

Sonic looked up into the clear blue sky and couldn't help but get lost in the colour. While he spoke, he could feel a strange feeling creeping up in his chest, and it scared him.

"Not that I care-"It was obvious in his tone of his voice to Knuckles that he really did care, "-but why she stop loving me?"

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A/N: Hey, Zee here. Sorry, it's a little short.

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