Late into the afternoon, Blaze the cat was playing a board game with Amy Rose and Cream the rabbit, at her house, when Sonic the hedgehog raced by. He went inside, with a grin on his face. Amy Rose and Cream waved at him, while Blaze casually nodded at him. Sonic looked awful proud of himself, while saying, "Hi, girls. I got some pretty exciting news."
Cream's eyes lit up with excitement. She said, "Really? Does it involve a second Christmas being added to the yearly calendar?"
Sonic replied, "No. I'm afraid my exciting news is a little less noteworthy."
Amy Rose asked, "What's going on?"
Sonic cracked himself up, while saying, "I played a great prank on Eggman."
Blaze asked, "Are you sure that was wise, Sonic? You know one of the main reasons that he always tries to destroy you is because you drive him crazy."
Sonic replied, "Eggman had it coming. He's an immature, evil fool."
Cream asked, "What did you do to him?"
Meanwhile, Dr. Eggman finished walking back to his lair, while carrying a couple of bags of groceries. He pulled out some eggs and started munching on them, while opening up his lair. He instantly started sweating, which confused him. He asked, "What's going on?" Dr. Eggman looked at his thermometer and saw that it had been set to a hundred degrees. He angrily gritted his teeth and said, "You've gotta be kidding me! I'd never set the temperature this high. This must of been the work of my archenemy, Sonic the hedgehog." He quickly turned down the thermometer.
Dr. Eggman started walking around and noticed that a bunch of his robots had melted, due to the overly-hot weather. Eggman run up to them, with a sad look on his face. He said, "My robots are such beautiful creations of mine, but they do have a few weaknesses. One of them is heat. Sonic must of figured that out, when he saw my robots sweating, last Summer. Although Sonic's intelligence is inferior to mine, he does have some clever tricks. As much as I hate to admit it, this was one of his more effective pranks." Eggman angrily twirled his mustache, while saying, "Sonic's going to go through a lot of pain, for what he did to me." Although Dr. Eggman had turned down the heat, his lair still felt very warm, because it still needed time to cool down. Eggman kept sweating, while saying, "I'm going to change into a short-sleeve shirt and shorts."
Meanwhile, Knuckles came to Blaze's house, because Sonic was still there and he wanted to tell Knuckles about his prank. Unlike Blaze, Knuckles was very amused by Sonic's prank. He burst into laughter and gave Sonic a pat on the back. He said, "That was a great prank, bro."
Blaze walked by, with her arms folded, and said, "Sonic, you need to stop these childish pranks."
Sonic replied, "Come on, Blaze. Do you think I don't act like an adult or something? Why can't you let me be me? After all, not everybody's as serious as you."
Blaze responded, "I try not to judge how you act, but when it comes to how you treat Eggman, that's a different story."
Sonic said, "Give me a break. You're not going to tell me you feel sorry for the bad guy, are you?"
Blaze replied, "No, but if you keep pushing his buttons, his hatred will keep growing and growing. Since you pranked him, he's likely going to prank you. Unlike you, Eggman doesn't have much morality, so his pranks are more extreme and deadly."
Sonic responded, "Please, Eggman barely counts as a threat. Sure, he's put me in danger, every once in a while, but I know how to stop him."
Blaze looked at Amy Rose, Cream, and Knuckles, while saying, "I hate to be rude, but I need to talk to Sonic, alone."
Cream replied, "No problem, Blaze."
Knuckles said, "We'll see you, tomorrow."
Blaze replied, "Okay then. Bye, guys."
Amy Rose, Cream, and Knuckles stepped out of Blaze's house. Cream looked at Amy, while saying, "I wonder what Sonic and Blaze are going to talk about. I hope neither of them are having a serious problem."
Amy calmly replied, "Don't worry, Cream. Blaze doesn't like to show her emotions, so she probably doesn't want us to hear her being soft on Sonic."
Meanwhile, Sonic looked at Blaze, while asking, "What's up? Why did you make the others leave? Is it because I'm cooler and better company?"
Blaze tried to look as stoic as she could, while saying, "Look, I'm worried about you."
Sonic replied, "Wow, you rarely show any signs of fear. You must really care about me or something."
Blaze turned her back to Sonic, to cover up the embarrassed look on her face. She said, "Don't go telling the others, but yes, I care about you. You're a good ally to me and I want you to be safe. I admire your passion, for getting into dangerous situations, when it's necessary. However, these petty pranks, that you and Eggman pull on each other, is toxic and not good. There's certain people, who can laugh at a prank pulled on them, but there are other people, who have an angry rant, when somebody makes a joke about him. Eggman's the latter. He's overly-sensitive, filled with anger, and despite being very goofy, he is a threat."
Sonic calmly replied, "I'm going to be fine."
Blaze continued looking away from Sonic, while responding, "I hope you're right about that. If your life was put in danger, I wouldn't be able to be emotionless, anymore. I'd be worried."
Sonic replied, "Well, having emotions is a good thing. Sure, there are some negative emotions, but there's plenty of good ones. Besides, it's not healthy to keep your true feelings hidden."
Blaze responded, "I can't argue with that. Please, stay safe."
Sonic replied, "I'll try to stay safe, for you. I care about you, too, and I don't wanna get you worried."
Blaze lightly smiled and said, "Thanks, Sonic."
Sonic replied, "Turn around and give me a hug." Blaze had turned hugs, from her friends, for a long time, so Sonic wasn't expecting to get a hug.
Blaze responded, "Okay." Sonic looked surprised, while Blaze gave him a quick hug. The two awkwardly smiled at one another, before Sonic started heading home.
Meanwhile, Dr. Eggman broke into Sonic's house. Sonic wasn't home, so Eggman rubbed his hands, while saying, "It seems like I've gotten some good luck, because with Sonic not around, it'll be much easier to prank him." Eggman did an evil laugh and turned on a machine.
A few minutes later, Sonic finished running home. He went inside and quickly started shivering. He looked around and saw Dr. Eggman, who was wearing a dozen coats. Sonic asked, "What's going on?"
Dr. Eggman had an evil smile on his face, while saying, "You're facing the wrath, one of my greatest pranks. You pulled a prank on me and since we're opposites, I decided to make your room a shivering nightmare. I bought a device, at Ice Con, that can freeze houses, in a matter of minutes. I'm not really a cold-themed villain, so I feared it was a waste of a purchase. However, it turned out to be incredibly useful, for my cold-hearted prank."
Sonic could hardly stand the cold weather, while asking, "What temperature is my house?"
Dr. Eggman evilly grinned, while saying, "Zero degrees."
Sonic's eyebrows raised in surprise. He said, "You're a monster."
Dr. Eggman replied, "You burned me, so I froze you. I'm fair, not evil."
Sonic ran up to Eggman's machine and quickly broke it apart. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That should foil your wicked plan."
Dr. Eggman replied, "You're wrong about that. Your body is in critical condition, from suffering such cold conditions. If you don't heat your body up, you'll freeze to death. I've removed all the heaters and blankets, from your house, so you're out of luck. You're going to be a frozen statue, that'll be displayed in my hall of victories."
Sonic responded, "That hall is rather small."
Dr. Eggman said, "Well, that's going to change, after you're permanently displayed in it. I'm not a heartless villain, so I'll let you freeze in peace. So long, old enemy." Dr. Eggman did an evil laugh, while walking away.
Sonic quickly stepped out of his house. Outside, it was forty degrees, which was warmer than his house, but it was still bad for Sonic's body. Sonic looked restless and weak, while saying, "I've got to get into a warm house, before I become a statue of ice."
Sonic started running around the neighborhood. He remembered that Amy Rose and Cream had early bedtimes, so going to their houses wouldn't workout. Also, Knuckles didn't have a heater in his house, so he decided to skip his house. Instead, he ran to Blaze's house. He knocked on the door, while shivering.
Blaze opened the door and to her surprise, she saw that Sonic was suffering from the weather. He had icicles on his face, shoulders and legs. She looked concerned, while asking, "What's going on?"
Sonic quickly ran indoors and turned on Blaze's heater, while saying, "Dr. Eggman tried to get revenge on me, for that heat-themed prank I played on him, by freezing up my house. He made my house become zero degrees, with the use of some gimmicky device. I was able to break the device, but if I don't heat myself up, I'm going to be permanently frozen."
Blaze replied, "Then don't stand around, in just your gloves and shoes. Let's get some actual clothes on you." Blaze quickly went into her bedroom and grabbed some clothes. She put a long-sleeve shirt and sweater on Sonic. She handed Sonic a pair of jeans, which he pulled on. Blaze put some slippers on Sonic's feet.
Sonic said, "That feels better, but I still feel like shivering."
Blaze replied, "Get on my couch."
Sonic started laying on the couch. Blaze put a couple of blankets on Sonic. Sonic snuggled into the blankets, while breathing a sigh of relief. He said, "Ah, that feels so much better. Thank you, Blaze. You're a lifesaver."
Blaze replied, "You're welcome, Sonic. I'm still worried about you. Are you going to be okay?"
Sonic responded, "Yeah. I just need to keep these heavy layers on me, to beat the heat. Is it cool if I stick around, for a few minutes?"
Blaze replied, "Of course." Blaze sat on one of her chairs, while looking at Sonic. The icicles, which were on Sonic's face, had melted away. Blaze breathed a sigh of relief.
Sonic said, "Eggman's as evil as ever, but this situation is my fault, Blaze. I've been ignoring your advice, for a long time. I keep underestimating Eggman, since he never wins. However, he's gotten closer to beating me, than I've given him credit for. I probably shouldn't of played that prank on him. I've been pretty stupid. If you were mad at me, I wouldn't blame you."
Blaze replied, "I'm concerned, not mad. Taking risks is one thing, but you take things too far, on a regular basis. I don't mock your pranks, because I don't want you to have fun. I disapprove of your pranks, because your pranks are far from harmless."
Sonic responded, "Maybe I should go back to more innocent pranks, from now on."
Blaze replied, "That'd be for the best."
Sonic smiled at Blaze and said, "Thank you for taking care of me, Blaze. I could of been permanently frozen, if you hadn't come to my rescue."
Blaze replied, "You're welcome, Sonic. Can I do anything for you?"
Sonic asked, "Could you step closer?"
Blaze said, "Um, sure."
Blaze stepped off her chair and got closer to Sonic. Sonic gave her a warm hug. Blaze asked, "What was that for?"
Sonic said, "For being somebody special."
Blaze held back a blush, while replying, "Thank you."
Sonic responded, "I'm feeling better, so I could probably get going."
Blaze put her hand on Sonic's shoulder and said, "I want you to stay." She paused and said, "I don't want you to stay, for any emotional reasons. I just wanna keep an eye on you and make sure you stay safe."
Sonic smirked and replied, "You're not good at hiding your emotions from me, Blaze. You want me to stay, because you're concerned about you."
Blaze responded, "You could say that. Just stay cozy and warm, in those blankets. Do you need another blanket?"
Sonic replied, "I probably shouldn't be saying this, but I'm feeling overheated."
Blaze could hardly believe what she was hearing. She rolled her eyes and said, "You're not going to throw off all your layers and start running around a field of ice, are you?"
Sonic calmly replied, "No, but most of the weather-related pain has gone away, so I only need one blanket." He took off one of his blankets and handed it to Blaze. He said, "Put it on."
Blaze responded, "Thank you, but I'm okay. I dress warmly, so I don't need a blanket."
Sonic said, "Maybe you don't want a full blanket, but maybe you could use half a blanket."
Blaze raised an eyebrow, while asking, "What are you talking about?"
Sonic pointed to his blanket and said, "We could share a blanket."
Blaze asked, "Share a blanket? Do you think I'm going to cuddle with you or something?"
Sonic answered, "Maybe."
Blaze had an amused look on her face, while saying, "You must be really under the weather if you think I'll cuddle with you."
Sonic replied, "You must be dealing with a strong case of denial if you think you don't want to."
Blaze sighed. She'd normally be beyond embarrassed, at the mere thought of cuddling, especially with Sonic. However, in that moment, she didn't care. She snuggled next to Sonic. Sonic and Blaze cuddled, while smiling at each other. They fell asleep, while having their arms around each other.
Dr. Eggman, who was walking by, saw Blaze's house and said, "One of Sonic's friends lives here. Maybe he went to her house, to beat the heat. I better find out." One of Blaze's windows was unlocked, so Eggman opened it and peeked his head in. He saw Sonic and Blaze resting with their arms tenderly touching. Eggman sighed and said, "For once, I'm jealous of that silly hedgehog. Unlike me, he's found somebody that truly cares about him." Eggman walked away, while feeling regretful of his villainous actions.
The next morning, Amy Rose, Cream, and Knuckles walked to Blaze's house, to see if Blaze wanted to play with them. The door was locked, so the three friends peeked their heads in the window, that Eggman had forgotten to close, and saw Sonic and Blaze snuggling next to each other, in cozy blankets.
Amy chuckled and said, "I understand why Blaze wanted to be with Sonic without us watching. She's got a crush on him."
Cream gasped and replied, "That's very surprising, but very cute."
Knuckles asked, "Should we go inside and laugh at them?"
Amy gave Knuckles a disapproving look and replied, "That's a terrible idea. Let's let those two have their date in peace." Cream and Knuckles nodded and started heading home.
Blaze didn't see her friends, but she did hear her voices. Part of her wondered what her friends saw, but she decided to not worry about. She and Sonic were too happy to care what anybody else thought.
