Chapter 14: Opportunity
Amy sat back onto her heels and dragged her wrist across her forehead, which was drenched with sweat. It was an exceptionally warm day, and, between her sun hat and the thick leather gauntlets she had to wear to protect her hands when cutting roses, Amy was sweltering. She supposed that she could ask Metal for assistance, since his bare hands could probably cut the roses both more quickly and cleanly that her shears did: but, behind her, Metal was sitting at the little wrought iron table in her garden, across from Cream, and the two were deep in conversation. As she cut what she hoped would be her last rose, Amy almost felt a little jealous that her best friend had apparently only visited to talk to Metal and not her.
Amy placed down the last rose, adding it to the pile on her left which was her pile of white roses. As she placed it down, she looked down at the pile, her heart faltering at what she saw: all of the roses she had spent so long cutting for their beauty, were suddenly gone. The stalks were still there, on the ground, but the flower-heads were missing. She turned to her right and saw that where her pile of yellow roses had been was an equally inexplicable pile of rose stems with no flower-heads. She turned a little further, looking back over her shoulder at the silent duo behind her. Nearest her was Metal, sitting in one of the iron chairs, one arm draped over the backrest behind him, the other holding a rose. Amy's jaw fell open as he shamelessly bit off the flower-head and casually chewed his way through it.
"What are you doing?" she cried, scrambling to her feet and rounding on him.
He looked up at her blankly, his jaws still chewing through her prized rose.
"When you started cutting the roses, you told us all the things roses could be used for," Cream said from the other side of the table. "You said one of the things was in a type of candy or in tea, and Mister Metal wanted to know what they tasted like."
"I told you that to make conversation, not as an invitation to eat my stock of roses!" Amy cried.
"So... You're upset about us eating them?"
Amy paused at Cream's words.
"Sorry, Amy."
Amy slowly turned to Cream, balking when she saw her friend holding a half-eaten yellow rose.
"He said they were really tasty," the rabbit said in a small, quiet, meek voice. "And I just wanted to taste one, but then I realised they actually are really tasty, and now I can't stop eating them."
Amy turned back to Metal with a glare.
"Do you see what you've done, Mister?" she demanded. "You're a bad influence on poor Cream! You should be setting a better example for someone so young!"
"Amy, I'm fourteen," Cream pointed out.
"Exactly!" Amy said.
"And Mister Metal was born eleven years ago, so that makes me three years older than him."
Amy pursed her lips.
"So... I guess that means I was a bad influence on Mister Metal," Cream concluded.
Amy sighed.
"I needed those roses," she said.
"My mom has roses in her garden," Cream offered.
"Stop that!" Amy snapped, slapping Metal's hand as he picked up the last rose she had cut down.
His head snapped around and he glared at her. She held his glare for a moment before sighing in defeat.
"Oh, you might as well just eat it," she said.
He sighed and continued retrieving the rose, but, as his breath reached her, Amy found herself smiling.
"What is it, Amy?" Cream asked her.
"Metal's breath smells like roses," Amy replied.
Metal gave her a flat look as he bit the head off of her last rose. Cream giggled, but became serious again when Metal signed something to her.
"Oh, but, I already bit it," she said to him.
He signed something back, and, despite looking reluctant, Cream slowly reached her hand across the table towards him. He plucked her half-eaten rose from her and, without preamble, finished it himself.
"That was rude, Metal," Amy told him.
With his eyes on her, he signed something.
"What did he just say?" Amy asked, her eyes still on Metal.
"Um, what he just said was much ruder than him taking my half-eaten rose," Cream quietly replied.
"What did he say?"
"He said Prince Metal Sonic takes whatever he wants."
Amy frowned.
"Metal?" she asked slowly. "Did you just make a joke?"
He shook his head once, and his face remained flat.
"...I honestly can't tell if he's joking or not..." Amy admitted, turning to Cream.
"He called himself "Prince Metal Sonic"," Cream replied.
"I call him that when he's being obnoxious," Amy explained.
"Like a pet name?"
"No, it's not a pet name, it's more like… A joke…"
Amy frowned at Metal, who was regarding her with suddenly harsh eyes. He signed something and Cream immediately translated.
"He says he's not your pet," she explained.
"Well considering I have to feed him and clean up after him, he might as well be!" Amy haughtily replied.
She sighed, puffing the air upwards to ruffle her quills by her forehead.
"Alright Prince Metal Sonic," she said, fixing her eyes onto him. "If I can't trust you to sit there nicely, you're going to work to earn your keep. I need marigolds and daisies, over there, cut me 20 of each."
Metal blinked, but otherwise did not respond.
"You better do what she says, Mister Metal," Cream whispered across the table to him.
Amy was unsure if she thought it funny or found it slightly offensive that Metal immediately responded to Cream's advice, and stood up, moving over to the flower patch Amy had pointed out to him.
"It's the white ones and the orange ones," she added as he knelt down on the path. "In case you don't know what daisies and marigolds are."
Metal gave her a long, strange, almost melancholy look, before sighing and removing his gloves. She was unsure what the meaning behind his look had been, but, with Cream present, he had the opportunity to explain himself and had chosen not to take it, so she let the moment pass.
"Oh, wow!" Cream gasped.
"Hmm?" Amy grunted.
Cream leapt from her seat and hurried over to Metal's side, kneeling down beside him.
"Can I see your hands?" she asked.
Metal hesitated, his eyes lifting to Amy.
"It's okay," she assured him.
He lowered his eyes to Cream again and held out his hands, palms down, towards her.
"That's amazing," Cream muttered, taking hold of his hand nearest her in both of hers and forcibly turning it over.
Metal looked a little put out by her actions, but he was easily strong enough to resist, so Amy let them be. Cream pulled off her own gloves and then again took hold of Metal's robotic hand in both of hers, smoothing her thumbs over the base of his wrist. As she started to part his fur there, Amy found herself edging closer and peering down, curious to see herself what the rabbit was doing. Her eyes widened when Cream exposed the point where Metal's biological body ended and the remains of his robotic body began, a ring of thin, flat silver metal wound around his wrist and held in place by screws that seemed to bore into the bones of his arm. Cream was fascinated by it, but looking at it made Amy feel a little queasy: it looked like it would hurt every time he moved his wrists. The fact that he was able to control his hands must mean there was some sort of connection between the nerves in his arm and the hand, yet he never demonstrated any feeling in his hands.
"Why did Eggman stop there?" she asked, looking at Metal expectantly.
"Eggman said hedgehog fingers would break too easily and they were less functional than robot fingers," Cream instantly replied. "He said without his jet engine or lasers, Mister Metal would rely on his hands more in combat, so it made more sense to keep them stronger and more durable – and easier to repair – than biological hands."
Amy frowned.
"That's an interesting guess, Cream," she commented.
"I'm not guessing," Cream replied, her eyes still on Metal's hand. "Mister Metal told me about it while you were cutting the roses."
Amy's face twisted.
"He did?" she asked.
Cream nodded her head.
"Willingly?" Amy added.
"I asked him about it," Cream explained. "I wanted to know if any of his robotic parts were still there because he wanted them or because Eggman never changed them."
"And-and what did he say?"
"He said it's mostly Eggman."
"I see. I guess it must be frustrating that he can't talk."
"He said he doesn't need to talk."
"Well, he does, because I don't always understand him."
"He said that's your fault for not bothering to learn sign language."
"Well maybe it's his fault for not bothering to learn how to write actual words!"
"He said writing isn't a practical means of communication, and that was why Tails taught him sign language in the first place."
Amy's face twisted again.
"My goodness Cream, how much did you two talk about?" she asked. "For someone who thinks talking is pointless, it seems like he certainly did plenty of it to you today!"
"I asked him lots of questions," Cream explained. "I wanted to get to know him better. He's kinda funny."
"Intentionally funny or…?" Amy asked.
Cream lifted her head, looking at Metal for a moment before looking back over her shoulder at Amy.
"I'm not sure," she said with a smile. "But that makes it funnier, don't you think?"
Metal was looking at her with a frown, but his eyes were strangely soft.
"Yeah, it does," Amy agreed.
Cream nodded at Metal and released his hand, and, after giving Amy a flat look, he turned his attention back to the flowers before him. Amy tensed as his fingers began quickly and ruthlessly slicing through them, but, when he turned to her seconds later with exactly 20 daisies in one hand and exactly 20 marigolds in the other, she sighed in relief.
"Oh, Amy…"
Amy spun around and found Rouge walking towards her.
"What are you doing here?" she asked her.
"It's nice to see you too, sweetie," Rouge sarcastically replied, coming to a stop at her side. "I just got an order for eight centrepieces for the mayors' annual meeting in city hall, but if you'd rather I didn't bother handing you this nice little earner, I'll be on my way."
"No, Rouge, that's fine," Amy stopped her. "And also thank you, that's amazing!"
Rouge looked down at Metal and shook her head.
"Look, I backed you up over this," she said, lifting her eyes to Amy again as she spoke. "At least don't make him act out all your Sonic fantasies. He may be a robot, but he still has some dignity."
Amy looked down at Metal, who was still holding the flowers towards her, though his eyes had shifted to Rouge, and they were starting to glow.
"He's helping me gather flowers," she said sternly, turning her attention back to Rouge.
"So I see," Rouge replied, picking up one of the headless rose stems from the table.
"That's not what it looks like," Amy said quietly.
"Well, just so long as your little mechanical helper keeps up all the good he's been doing, you and I will be dressed like queens at the gala."
Amy felt her heart sink at the mention of the gala, something she had been excited about for weeks, imaging herself in an elegant dress and dancing with Sonic: but the idea of the gala had suddenly turned sour, as she felt as though Tails and Cream might be the only friends she had left to talk to once she got there.
"Are you taking Mister Metal to the gala, Amy?" Cream asked behind her.
Amy kept her eyes on Rouge, who slowly shook her head.
"Well, I don't know," Amy said.
"But you have to, Amy," Cream continued, obliviously. "You already promised, and Mister Metal was going to teach you how to dance, remember?"
Rouge snorted and a smile appeared on her face.
"That's not funny," Amy said quietly.
"Well, considering most robots probably can dance better than you, I think it is funny," Rouge replied.
"Well in that case, you won't have any problem with me taking Metal to the gala then, will you?" Amy countered. "What with me being such a terrible dancer, I wouldn't want to embarrass you in front of any of your "clients"!"
"In theory I agree with you."
"What?"
"But in reality, that thing is still Metal Sonic, Amy. Do you really think you can trust it?"
"Mister Metal is not a "thing", Miss Rouge."
Rouge leaned to one side to look past Amy at Cream.
"You're being mean, Miss Rouge," Cream added.
"Honey, surely you remember fighting this thing when he got power-hungry and went insane?" Rouge asked her. "If I recall correctly, he stole your two little Chao, did he not?"
"Yes, he took Cream and Chocola, but he didn't hurt them, and he gave them back to me," Cream replied.
"Well, I suppose that is true," Rouge conceded.
"And now he's our friend."
Rouge turned her attention back to Amy.
"He is our friend," Amy confirmed. "And so are you."
Rouge hesitated, before sighing softly and smiling.
"He did save us from those evil little child robots," she said. "And it's hard to stay mad at that face – even for me, and I'm not the one in love with that face, so I do understand why you've let him in the way you have."
"I'm not in love with him, Rouge," Amy tightly replied.
"I didn't say you were, Amy," Rouge pointed out. "I said you're in love with his face. Because it's Sonic's face."
"They're not identical," Amy grumbled.
"They basically are," Rouge insisted. "And that's not a bad thing. That face is why you and Tails have let him in, and that face is the only reason I'm prepared to give him a chance."
"Not because he saved you, or because I – your friend – told you he was okay?"
Rouge sighed.
"Amy, you know I'm not the sort who cares whether or not someone is squeaky clean," she said. "But Metal Sonic has been Eggman's most loyal servant for as long as I've known him. But... He does seem really at home here with you, and... You seem pretty comfortable with him, so I am going to try my best, okay?"
"Okay," Amy agreed. "And thank you."
One of Rouge's eyebrows inched up and her mouth twisted. Amy frowned at her expression, but, when she realised the bat's eyes were no longer on her, she turned around to see what had caught her attention, starting in alarm at what she saw.
"What are you two doing?" she asked.
Behind her, Cream and Metal were sitting at the table and both had their elbows on the table surface, leaning towards each other. Cream was sticking out her tongue and pulling down one lower eyelid, and – to Amy's utter disbelief – Metal was mirroring her actions.
"Oh, I see what she's doing," Rouge said.
"You do?" Amy asked, turning back to Rouge.
"Sure," she confirmed. "Metal doesn't know how to make facial expressions, right?"
"Yeah, I guess so..." Amy slowly replied.
"Right," Rouge said with a nod of her head. "So Cream's trying to teach him how to move his face around so we can actually understand what he's thinking."
Amy looked back over her shoulder as Cream hooked her index fingers into either corner of her mouth and pulled outwards, biting her top lip with her lower teeth. When Metal copied her, Amy didn't know if she wanted to laugh or be alarmed.
"If he's not going to talk, at least this way we'll know what sort of mood he's in," Rouge added.
Amy turned back to Rouge.
"I think I'd rather he stayed neutral," she said quietly, as she unwillingly imagined Metal pulling the face he just had the next time she asked him to stop drinking from her kitchen tap.
"Well, I should go," Rouge said. "Is there anything else you need from me?"
"Anything I need from you?" Amy repeated.
"Anything you need to get to work, I mean," Rouge clarified.
Amy sighed, looking down at the headless rose stems.
"I could use two dozen white and yellow roses," she concluded.
"Is that two dozen of each colour, or two dozen in total, like a dozen of each colour?" Rouge asked.
"You-you're actually going to get me that?" Amy asked.
"Of course," Rouge replied.
"Wow, thanks, Rouge!"
"I'll take the funds out of your share of the final payment we get when you finish your work."
"Oh."
"You didn't think I was going to buy you two dozen roses out of the goodness of my heart, did you?"
"I guess not."
"So two dozen each or two dozen in total?"
"Two dozen in total. A dozen of each."
"I'll be back soon."
"Thanks, Rouge."
Amy watched Rouge leave before turning around, expecting to find Cream and Metal still pulling stupid faces at each other: but what she found instead made her heart skip a beat. Cream was signing very slowly to Metal and mouthing out the words she was signing: and, when she finished, Metal perfectly mimicked her actions. Amy's mouth slowly opened in surprise as she clearly saw him mouth out the words "hi, my name is Metal".
"Cream!" she gushed.
Cream turned to her, looking a little concerned.
"That's amazing!" Amy said to her.
"Oh, it's something I've seen my mom do with the children she works with," Cream replied, relaxing into a smile. "I thought it might help you communicate with Mister Metal. You know, since you won't learn sign language."
Amy's face fell.
"He's a really fast learner!" Cream added.
"Yeah, he is," Amy agreed. "Unfortunately he doesn't seem to be able to learn self control or good manners, but he's pretty smart with everything else."
Cream turned to Metal and signed to him, speaking out loud as she did so, mouthing out each word carefully.
"Amy's being unfair to you, Mister Metal," she said. "Do you have anything you want to say back to her?"
Metal looked up at Amy, and, as she met his eyes, she saw something quite strange. A slightly startled look flickered across his eyes and he turned his head sharply, fixing his attention onto Cream. He gave a single shake of his head, and her shoulders slumped.
"Are you sure, Mister Metal?" she asked, signing out her words again.
Amy both saw and heard Metal's throat moving as he gulped. He then gave a single nod of his head. She opened her mouth and reached out a hand towards him, but, when his gaze shifted so that he was looking at her from the corner of his eye, her voice failed her. As her hand slowly lowered to her side again, Metal's eyes moved back to Cream, who looked confused. Metal stood up suddenly and gave a stunted and awkward bow to Cream, before turning to Amy. He looked at her with that same, slightly startled look on his face, before turning and briskly walking his thumping, awkward walk back down the garden path and into the house.
"What was that about?" Amy asked once he had disappeared from sight.
"I don't know," Cream replied sadly. "We were having such fun, but he seemed upset all of a sudden."
Amy looked down at the pile of flowers Metal had picked for her. At some point between him picking them and Rouge arriving, he had placed them down onto the table. Like everything else he touched, he had cut them all to a uniform length with clean cuts, everything exact and impeccable.
"Maybe he's tired," Cream suggested. "Maybe I should go home now."
"Well, okay, but you can come back any time," Amy assured her.
"I'll come back tomorrow," Cream said, her smile returning. "It's really fun talking to Mister Metal."
"Oh, well, that's great."
Amy had to hold herself back from telling Cream how glad she was that at least one of her friends was accepting of Metal. Instead she forced a smile, and walked Cream to the garden gate, where they said their goodbyes. Amy then returned inside her house, where she eventually found Metal sitting at the breakfast bar.
"Oh!" she blurted in surprise. "You're using a glass!"
He looked at her, but only briefly, before lowering his eyes and taking a drink from his glass of water.
"You know, I could make us some lemonade," she offered. "You've probably never had lemonade before, I'm sure you'll like it."
Amy retrieved some lemons and her juicer, but when she went to use it, she found Metal squashing a lemon in each of his hands, draining them of their juice in seconds.
"You know, you can be very helpful when you want to be," she commented.
He gave her a flat look.
"You don't want to try giving me a face to show what you think about that?" she asked.
He placed down the wrung out lemons and pointed a finger at his still flat face.
"That is the face that shows what you think about that," Amy concluded.
He nodded once and picked up another pair of lemons. She thought about pushing the fact that he didn't need to be so dour, but since he was continuing to help her, she let the matter go. She was finding, increasingly, that the more time she spent with Metal, the less she actually felt the need to talk at all. It was odd, but there was something really quite comforting about the silence, about the rhythm of communicating with meaningful looks and the occasional hand gesture. She thought that maybe Metal felt the same way, as his face did soften a little the longer they spent together in silence.
Once she had made enough lemonade to fill the glass jug she had for exactly that purpose, she poured it out into two glasses and placed one down in front of Metal. He surprised her by not immediately drinking the entire thing, but, when she realised that he had gained an air of tension about him, she began to suspect there was a sinister reason why he was showing such restraint. His head turned suddenly towards the door, and, a second later, Amy heard her front door opening.
"Yo, Ames!"
Amy put down her own, half-drunk glass of lemonade and leaned to one side, peering through the doorway. Although she knew it was Sonic's voice she had heard, she was still surprised to see him walking into her kitchen.
"Hey, this is for you," he said, holding out an enormous bunch of flowers towards her.
Amy smiled and tucked her quills behind one ear.
"Really?" she said.
Sonic had never gone out of his way to come and apologise to her after an argument, least of all with flowers, and she was so surprised by the gesture, she was unsure what to say or do next.
"Yeah," Sonic said, placing the flowers down onto the breakfast bar a little roughly. "Rouge asked me to get them to you, she said you need them for some project you're working on?"
Amy's face fell and her eyes moved to the flowers, her heart sinking as she realised she was looking at 12 yellow and 12 white roses.
"So, you guys having lemonade?" he asked.
"Oh, uh, yeah," Amy replied as she tried to mentally shake herself back to reality.
"Awesome," Sonic said, picking up Amy's glass and finishing it off before she could tell him to stop. "Hey Metal, you got a little something going on there."
Metal's brow lowered and his eyes started to glow as he glared at Sonic. Sonic remained cheerful, pointing a finger to one corner of his mouth.
"Oh, right," Amy muttered as she saw what he was referring to.
Without thinking, she reached across the bar and dragged her thumb over the corner of Metal's mouth. He flinched away from her, blinking a few times in confusion, the glow fading from his irises as he did so. She showed him the curl of yellow rose petal on her thumb and his eyebrows rose up, giving him what almost looked like an embarrassed expression. She smiled gently at him and turned to Sonic, but found that he was looking at Metal, his arms folded, eyelids lowered, a crooked smirk on his face.
"Sonic?" Amy said quietly.
He turned to her and his expression softened a little.
"You two seem pretty cosy here," he said.
"We've found our rhythm, yes," Amy replied.
"Rhythm?" Sonic asked.
"Metal's been helping me with my work, and he's..."
Amy looked over at Metal again. It was hard to describe what it was that she now found herself enjoying about his company, but she did find herself feeling comforted knowing he was living with her.
"So, your invite to the gala is a plus one, right?"
Amy turned back to Sonic.
"Are you taking Metal?" he asked her.
"I hadn't thought about it," Amy replied. "But I don't suppose I could, even if I wanted to, right?"
"Why not?" Sonic asked.
He had that look he got on his face when he was setting her up for some sort of joke, but as she couldn't really imagine what the punchline might be, she allowed him to continue leading her down whatever path he was scheming along.
"Eggman," she plainly replied. "If he thinks it's okay to attack us in the middle of a busy city street, he'd have no problems storming the gala."
"Hmm..." Sonic said, turning a thoughtful look to Metal.
Metal glared back at him. When Sonic smiled, Amy yelped at the sound of shattering glass: Sonic's gesture had caused Metal to close his fist around his glass of lemonade, crushing it. The base fell to the floor and the carpet around it turned a shade darker, but Metal kept his eyes on Sonic, the remaining shards of glass still within his fist squeaking and cracking as he tightened his hold further still.
"I don't care what Eggman does," Sonic said, still looking at Metal. "Because I know I can handle him. What do you think, Metal?"
Metal faltered ever so slightly, the intensity of his glare lessening, his fist loosening just enough that a shower of powered glass crystals fell from between his fingers.
"If you're with us, if you're against Eggman – and, if you really are a copy of me – you shouldn't care either," Sonic added.
They watched each other in silence for a moment before Sonic smiled and turned his attention back to Amy.
"He says he's a better dancer than you, and that's something I've gotta see," he said.
Amy turned a glare to Metal, but when she found him watching Sonic with a tilted head, she turned her attention back to Sonic.
"Sonic, you can't read Metal's mind, you know!" she argued.
"So Metal, what do ya say?" Sonic said to Metal. "You wanna put on a disguise and join us at the gala?"
Amy gave Sonic a flat look, sighing when he raised his eyebrows and nodded as though Metal had actually answered him.
"You say you don't need a disguise?" he said. "You say you're not scared of Eggman?"
"Sonic, stop it," Amy said with another sigh. "And Metal, I know you and Sonic can handle yourselves if Eggman shows up, but we have to think about everyone else at the gala."
"Metal agrees with me that we shouldn't live our lives scared of what might happen," Sonic immediately answered her. "If we did, then that would be letting Eggman win."
"I get that, Sonic, but what about–"
"What about you embarrassing yourself when your robot dance partner shows you up on the dance-floor?"
Amy's face dropped. She looked over at Metal to check that he looked like he was okay before walking up to Sonic and putting both her hands on his chest. He walked backwards, allowing her to push him all the way through the house and out the front door.
"What are you doing?" she asked him as she closed the front door behind herself. "Why are you goading Metal into going to the gala?"
"It doesn't seem like Metal's the one who needs goading," Sonic said in a low voice, arching one eyebrow as he regarded Amy.
"Why are you doing this, Sonic?"
"Amy, if he really wants to join us, he's gonna have to work a little harder to gain everyone's trust."
"And defying his old master by saving everyone's lives from killer exploding cyborgs wasn't enough?"
"No."
"But him coming to a party with us is?"
"Well, I figure you and Tails and Cream seem to have forgiven him after spending time with him, maybe if the others spend some time with him, they'll change their minds too."
"And how do you think that's going to happen?"
"Metal'll charm them."
Amy snorted, but her smile quickly faded.
"Oh, you're serious?" she said.
Sonic nodded.
"Uh, Sonic, look, Metal is a lot of things," Amy said carefully, checking over her shoulder to be sure he hadn't crept out of the house behind her. "But I'm not sure he's winning any charm contests any time soon. Also, he's not exactly the chatty kind..."
"What are you talking about, Ames?" Sonic asked with a comical shrug. "He's a copy of me! Of course he's charming!"
Amy narrowed her eyes.
"I can't tell if you're being serious or not right now..." she muttered.
"I mean, he's not as handsome as me, obviously."
"Oh wow, you are being serious."
"But you should still take him with you."
Sonic put his hands behind his head and bounced his brows, and, before she could stop herself, Amy tilted her head much the way Metal often did.
"What are you...?" she muttered.
"See ya later, Ames," Sonic replied, turning from her and walking away.
"Sonic?" she called after him. "What are you getting at?"
Although he did answer her, he made no attempt to raise his voice, and he was too far away for her to hear exactly what he said. She started to shout after him to repeat himself, but stopped partway through. He was clearly up to something, but she was not really sure she should question it, given that he was showing her support in accepting Metal and encouraging their other friends to do the same.
Tails joined Sonic in the distance, his head turning in Amy's direction just before he started talking to Sonic. She gave him a half-hearted wave of her hand and he returned the gesture, no doubt feeling as confused as she did by Sonic's apparent change of heart.
Next Chapter: Amy and Rouge start to cash in on Metal's work and Amy ends up with her dream dress, and although at first she thinks she will never wear it, she shortly finds herself asking Metal to come to the gala with her. He accepts her invitation, but Amy then panics a little, and when Metal tries to calm her down, Tails arrives to tell Amy something unexpected. Chapter 15: Crush