"Look, Sonic, it says cute couples get in free!" Amy said, pointing at the computer screen floating near the entrance to Twinkle Park.
"No," said Sonic, looking exasperated, "it says, 'College freshmen get in free, tonight only."
"Well, we're both!" she said excitedly. "That means we can get in double free!"
Sonic slapped his forehead, shaking his head in exasperation. It was their last night before they moved onto campus, and Sonic and the gang had decided to enjoy it by partying late. At the moment, the other animals were standing behind Sonic and Amy, waiting to enter the park. Knuckles was tapping his foot, his arm around Rouge's shoulder. Tails was jumping up and down with excitement.
"Come on, Amy," Sonic said, "the others are waiting for us to go."
Everyone entered the glass tube, and the doors closed. They were elevated into the tunnel leading to the park, and they walked into the lobby.
"Sonic, let's race!" Amy said, pointing to the door straight ahead.
"What the hey," Sonic said, as he and Amy entered the door.
"I'm gonna race too!" Tails said, as he ran after Sonic.
"Let's go watch," Knuckles suggested, leading Rouge through the other door.
~Free Ride-Audio Adrenaline~
Amy, Sonic and Tails all climbed into their bumper cars. Five other racers were already lined up, ready to race. One was a mysterious racer, dressed in black leather and wearing a black helmet. A traffic light lowered over the starting line, the red light lit. A voice over the loudspeaker boomed, "Ready, Set…" and as it said go, the light changed from red to green. The racers set off at the amazing rate of … 10 km/hr!
Rouge, who was sitting in the stands, snored loudly, as Knuckles placed a tape recorder near her face, grinning widely.
Meanwhile, the racers had finally collected some rings, and they were racing at a moderately quick speed. Sonic was in the lead, followed closely by Tails, as always. Amy was five cars back, sputtering along at 12 km/hr, as she had only collected one ring. Her expression was less than cheerful.
Sonic reached the first jump, grabbing a ring container along the way. Tails flew easily across the gap, aided by his rapidly spinning twin tails. He took the lead for a second, but immediately smashed into the wall. Once he was finally back up to speed (20 seconds later), he was in last place. Amy on the other hand, had used her Piko-Piko Hammer to nab a 20-ring box, and was now moving up the field rapidly. Unfortunately, she couldn't catch Sonic, who by now was traveling at 120 km/hr and was starting his second lap.
Surprisingly, Tails was now back in the race, and was closely tailing Amy. Suddenly, a human racer sped ahead of both of them, but he soon ran into the wall, blocking the road. Tails was able to dodge the car, but Amy was not so lucky. She soon found herself stuck in a crowd which, including her car, was comprised of five cars. Just then, Sonic soared overhead, propelled by the ramp he had just sped over at 200 km/hr. Amy brought her head down on the steering wheel, causing the horn to sound. Seconds later, the driver in black also soared overhead.
Now it was just Sonic and the mysterious driver, racing for glory. The racer was narrowly trailing Sonic by only a few meters. They were both on their third and final lap, speeding at close to 300 km/hr. They turned a curve and found themselves in the final stretch. The black racer attempted to pass Sonic on the right side, but Sonic anticipated this, running the racer's car into the wall. However, Sonic soon found his own car slowing down. Looking to his right, he saw that the racer was right beside him, holding on to Sonic's car. Thinking quickly, Sonic applied the brakes, bringing his car towards the rear of the racer's. The black racer, thinking that he was in the clear, slammed his foot on the accelerator. To his dismay, he found that his car would not go above 10 km/hr! Just then, Sonic zoomed pass, waving at the black racer. Only seconds later, Sonic finished the race. Wondering what was going on, the racer looked at his ring display to find that it read 0. The race was over.
Sonic took 1st place, with a total of 285 rings. Tails was 2nd, with a total of 175 rings, and Amy had come in 5th, with a total of 60 rings.
(Free Ride fades out)
As Sonic stepped out of the car, Rouge came rushing forward. "Good job, Sonic!" she said. Then, facing the crowd, she exclaimed, "Hail to Sonic, Lord of the Rings!"
"There is only one Lord of the Rings, and he doesn't share power," Knuckles said mysteriously.
"What in the world are you talking about, Knucklehead?" Sonic asked.
"Oh, nothing," was Knuckles' reply. "Hey, how about we go grab some grub?" he suggested. "I'm starving."
Everyone nodded their assent, and they all headed for the castle courtyard, where a buffet had been set up. The courtyard was filled with college freshmen, all dancing to rave music.
"This is a great party!" Amy shouted, walking up beside Sonic. "Come on, let's dance!"
"Well, I-," Sonic began, but he didn't have a chance to finish his sentence as Amy pulled him into the crowd of dancing bodies. Looking back at the others, Sonic mouthed the words "Help me."
Knuckles and Rouge headed over to the buffet, which was filled with pizza, chilidogs, and other college food. They were gathering their food, when they heard a familiar voice.
"So he said, I don't care what I wear, as long as it's comfortable. But I said, if he doesn't clean himself up and wear something fashionable, then we were through. And then do you know what he did?"
Rouge looked over to find that the speaker was none other than Guy Davis, wearing a robin's egg blue sweater vest over an off-pink shirt, and pleated khakis. Suddenly, he turned and looked at Rouge, a look of malice spread across his face. Rouge turned her head away immediately.
"It's that Guy," Rouge whispered to Knuckles. "He just shot me the evil eye!"
"Are you sure he wasn't just smiling at you?" Knuckles asked. "You are quite beautiful, you know."
"Thank you," Rouge said, blushing. "I don't think that he's the type of guy that would smile at a girl, though, if you know what I mean."
Knuckles stifled a laugh, and they continued down the buffet.
~.~.~.~.~.~.
Sonic and Amy had left the throng of dancing teenagers, and found themselves sitting on the ground beside the fishpond.
"Sonic," Amy asked timidly, "are we friends?"
"Yeah, I guess," Sonic replied, slightly embarrassed.
"I was wondering," Amy said after a pause, "do you think we could ever be… more than friends?"
"Amy," Sonic said gently, "I'm sorry, but I don't think I could love you. My speed is a little too fast for you, and I'm afraid you'll never be able to keep up with me. I will always be your hero, but I can't be your boyfriend."
Sonic could almost hear Amy's heart breaking. She had loved him ever since he had first saved her from the clutches of Robotnik, but he had never shown any sign of returning that love. She must have known that his refusal was inevitable, but she broke down nonetheless. Sonic offered her his shoulder, and she sobbed heavily into it.
"I'm sorry, Amy," Sonic said consolingly, rubbing Amy's back softly. "It just wouldn't work out."
"I'll be okay," she said over her sobs. "Please, just leave me alone right now," she said, pushing him gently away.
Sonic stood up, and with a last look at the pink hedgehog, he walked away. Amy dried her tears and sat there, sniffling. At that moment, a large blue cat in rubber boots and a fishing belt, carrying a fishing rod, walked up beside Amy and sat down.
"Hi, Mr. Cat," Amy said, trying to sound cheerful. "I'm Amy Rose. What's your name?"
"My name's Big the Cat," he replied. "Me an my buddy Froggy are going to college this year. That reminds me, have you seen my friend Froggy?"
"No, I'm sorry," she said. "It seems that a lot of people are leaving their friends tonight."
~.~.~.~.~.~.
Sonic walked up to Tails, who was standing next to the buffet table. "Hey, what's up?" Sonic asked.
"Well," said Tails, "I'm starving, but they don't have any of the food I like. Hey, where's the raw meat!?"
"Tails," Sonic explained, covering Tail's mouth, "these people aren't accustomed to seeing an intelligent fox with two tails tearing into a freshly killed, uncooked rabbit. I'm afraid you're going to have to adapt. Here, try a piece of pizza." With that, Sonic handed Tails a piece of pizza.
Tails sniffed the slice of pie, and then took a small bite. His eyes went wide, and he scarfed down the rest of the slice in one bite. He then jumped onto the table and started gobbling up as much pizza as he could get his paws on.
"Whoa, Tails, slow down," Sonic said as he reached for Tails' shoulder.
Tails recoiled from Sonic's outstretched hand. "It's mine, all mine!" Tails said, a crazed look on his face. "You want it for yourself! Why shouldn't I have it? It came to me! It's mine, my own, my precious!"
"Tails, get a hold of yourself!" Sonic shouted.
"He's trying to take it from us, the nasty, thieving Sonicsess," Tails said, as if to himself. "Well, we're not gonna letss him have it, are we, preciouss? Gollum!"
Not knowing what to do, Sonic jumped in the air and performed a homing attack on the crazed mutant fox. Tails immediately came back to himself.
"Oh, I don't know what came over me," Tails said, as if just waking up. "Thanks, Sonic. I was under the complete control of the pizza."
"So," Sonic said, "are you going to change your eating habits, Tails? You're not going to eat raw meat?"
"No, I guess not," Tails replied. "Not as long as I have… pizza, my precious…"
"I think you've had enough pizza tonight," Sonic said, pulling Tails away from the table.
~.~.~.~.~.~.
Rouge was in the ladies' room, washing her hands (her elbow-length gloves were stuffed in her bodice). Suddenly, a face full of evil appeared in the mirror, and Rouge screamed. Guy was standing behind her, his hands on Rouge's waist.
"What do you want?" Rouge asked, spinning around.
"I think you know what I want," Guy replied, his grin widening. "I want your body… or your blood."
"Yeah, well you're getting neither," Rouge said, as she brought her boot into contact with his face, knocking him down onto one knee.
Guy got up, wiping the blood from his cut lip. "Good, I like a challenge," he said, getting into a fighting pose.
Guy suddenly rushed at Rouge, bringing his fist forward in a powerful jab. Rouge ducked and brought a knee up into Guy's stomach, causing him to double over in pain. She then spun around and delivered a roundhouse kick, throwing him into an open stall. At just that moment, Knuckles rushed into the bathroom.
"What are you doing in here?!" Rouge asked Knuckles, horrified.
"I heard you scream, and I thought you were in trouble," the echidna explained. "What's going on? And why is he in here?" Knuckles asked, pointing at Guy, who was sitting on the toilet.
"He wanted to rape me and kill me!" Rouge asked. "He snuck up behind me, but I kicked him into that stall!"
"Is that what happened?" Knuckles threateningly asked Guy.
"No," Guy replied hysterically, "sh-she dragged me in here and started beating up on me, j-just because I smiled at her!"
"Rouge, please just try to be friendly from now on," Knuckles said, as if scolding a child. "You're becoming paranoid over Guy, who just wants to be friends."
"Oh, so you're going to side with him!" Rouge shouted, pointing at Guy. "I'm telling you, HE WANTS ME DEAD!!!"
"Rouge, you're temper has been out of control ever since we met him!" Knuckles shouted back. "Do you think your anger is clouding your perception? Remember, anger leads to hate, and hate… leads to suffering."
"Maybe you're right, Knuckles," Rouge said, trying to control her breathing, which had been getting heavy.
"Good," Knuckles said. "Now, let's get back to the party." With that, he left the restroom.
Rouge also turned to leave, but she swore she heard Guy's voice say, "He won't always be there to protect you. And when you're all alone, you will be mine." Rouge shook her head and left the bathroom.
~.~.~.~.~.~.
The party lasted until after midnight, and afterward Sonic and the gang decided to head back to the hotel and get some sleep. They woke up early the next morning to pack their things and get ready to move into their dorms.
After a hasty breakfast, Knuckles, Rouge and Amy piled into Knuckles' truck, while Sonic and Tails had decided to run. Soon, they found themselves on the campus of U.S.U.C.K., and they congregated around the dorm building. However, Knuckles and Rouge remained in the truck.
"Aren't you going to get out and go up to your dorms?" Tails asked innocently.
"We're not staying in the dorms," Rouge explained. "We're renting an apartment off-campus."
"Hey Knuckles," Sonic said, "that means you won't be eating out as much."
"What?!" Knuckles exclaimed, very embarrassed.
"Yeah," Sonic continued, "I'll probably be eating out every night!"
"Me too!" Tails piped in.
"Same here!" Amy said, grinning stupidly. "I love tuna!"
Knuckles and Rouge raised an eyebrow at this.
Seeing that they were obviously confused, Sonic explained, "You'll have a kitchen, so Rouge will be able to cook some nights."
"Oh, yeah, of course," Knuckles replied, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Well, see ya!" Sonic, Tails and Amy said, waving at Knuckles and Rouge as they pulled out of the parking lot.
"Let's go up to our dorms," Sonic suggested. And that's just what they did.
~.~.~.~.~.~.
Sonic and Tails opened the door and entered the dormitory. Immediately, they stepped back out into the hall.
"Is that supposed to be a dorm, or a broom closet?" Sonic asked rhetorically.
"I get the top bunk!" Tails shouted, running back into the room.
"Wha-hey! I was going to call the top bunk!" Sonic shouted, running into the room and shutting the door.
Meanwhile, Amy had also found her dorm. However, unlike the boys' dorms, the ladies' dorms were much more spacious. Amy's room was designed like a small studio apartment, complete with bay windows, flowered wallpaper and even a kitchenette with a minifridge. Amy dropped here bag and fell on her futon, overcome with happiness.
~.~.~.~.~.~.
Meanwhile, in a high security prison, all of the prisoners were sitting at long tables in the cafeteria.
"What's for breakfast?" one of the inmates asked another.
"I think I heard the guard say they were making scrambled eggs," the other inmate replied.
"Did someone say eggs?" a very familiar voice shouted. Immediately, Dr. Robotnik jumped onto the table and started singing and dancing.
"I love eggs, from my head down to my legs!" the overweight scientist sang. "The Incredible, Edible Egg!"
"Hey, quiet!" shouted a nearby guard, who started beating Robotnik with his nightstick.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
Well, the Sonic gang has settled into college life. Next chapter: Classes Start!