Gear Shift Saga, Book 2
-Gear Shift
--Chapter Five, My Sweet Passion
"C'mon, Amy! Slow down for a sec, alright?"
Amy sighed and slowed down to wait for her friends; it wasn't like she was going fast anyway. After finding out that one could run faster than most cars, walking just seemed like a waste of time and energy when you could be going so much faster with so little extra effort.
"No wonder Sonic loves to run so much," Amy said under her breath.
She and her friends decided to take a break from the cross-country practice and rest under the comforting shade of table umbrellas at a corner side café. Amy's brisk walk had forced the girls to run almost full out in order to stay up with her, and, as a result, they were well ahead of the other runners.
Amy couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Coach Folio driving down the street on one of his infamous runner check-up routes. Coach was well known for his short temper, and seeing one of his senior runners taking it easy and walking was generally enough to set him off on all of the runners in the vicinity. Folio would raise holy hell if he saw one, let alone five, of his runners leisurely sitting down at a café, drinking an iced coffee.
And that is precisely why they chose the café.
One of the girls sat down at their table with her iced coffee and complained, "God, and I thought coach was bad last year. Now he expects all of us to run as fast as Sonic!"
"Tell me about it!" another girl chimed in. "Why else would Folio have us run all the way out to Lapis Park and back? C'mon that's like more than five miles from the school."
"Hey, Amy." Amy's attention broke away from the swaying palm tree she was watching and settled on the girl next to her. "Girl, you not even sweating hard, and you've been the run running like you were in a horror flick. Somethin's up with that."
"Probably steroids," one girl joked.
"Ya, that would explain a lot, especially how flat ches—"
"Hey guys, c'mon!" Amy pouted at the teasing.
All of the girls at the table, even Amy, broke into laughter.
One of the girls facing the street quickly sobered up and gasped as she pointed behind Amy. "Uh, guys, we've got company."
All of the girls turned and looked across the street where they saw another runner from Station Square High. The guy was staring blankly at the girls and then he did the oddest thing; he grinned and took off down the street like a bottle rocket.
The girls rose to their feet and Amy followed.
"Of all the people why did it have to be Jason!"
"Who's Jason?" Amy asked.
The girl turned and stared at Amy, obviously forgetting for a moment that Amy was new to the school. "Jason Giabello is the biggest sell-out Station Square High has. He gets his kicks out of watching the people he turns into the office squirm."
"Then we've got to get him before he gets back to the school!"
The girls nodded in agreement and bolted from the outdoor café in pursuit of Jason. However, before they had even made it across the corner, a blue blur sharply turned the corner and slammed into the girls sending them soaring into the air and smacking the hard pavement below.
Amy groaned as her vision swam and the back of her head throbbed where she had landed. Feeling a dull ache everywhere, she was beginning to understand how a bowling pin must feel after a strike.
In the mist of the injuries, Amy could have sworn she could hear Sonic's voice getting closer with each passing moment. Amy propped herself up on shaky arms to find that Sonic was helping all of the other girls to their feet until he noticed that Amy was among those he had knocked down.
How dare that hedgehog help up all those other girls before helping her up! She had been sprawled out, lying in the middle of the sidewalk, and he had still not noticed her. To make matters worse, people were starting to form a crowd on the other side of the street and outside the café. Amy was starting to feel that nervous sensation that swept through her body when humans just stared blankly at her.
"Hey, Ames, you alright? I didn't see you all the way out there." Apparently the gathering flock of humans didn't bother Sonic in the least.
As Sonic bent down to help her up, Amy had to restrain herself from doing something crazy that she knew she was going to regret. A part of Amy wanted nothing else but to throttle Sonic for his carelessness and shortsightedness, but another part of her wanted to be swept up in his embrace and to give him one of her own. Even though her body and heart couldn't seem to make up their mind on what do to, her miffed brain decided on its own to seize control of her mouth.
"Sonic! Why can't you watch out where you are going! C'mon we were miles away from you and you still—"
"Whoa, Whoa, Amy! Calm down for second, geeze. It was only an accident—hey! Did you say watch?" Sonic dropped Amy back onto the ground and looked down at his wristwatch. "Oh, no! This is just great... coach's gonna kill me!"
Sonic sped off down the block only to stop midway. "Hey, Ames," he yelled across the block, "I'm sorry 'bout all this, but I'll...." Sonic looked like he was having a rough time deciding which evil was the lesser evil. "Look, Amy, I'll make it up to you later, K? I gotta go, or coach is really gonna have my hide!"
Then Sonic dashed down the street and out of sight like a madman.
Did Sonic really promise that he'd make it up to her? It felt like a blissful dream to hear those words come out of his mouth, and Amy hoped that she would not wake up in class to find that she had fallen asleep on her desk. Inspired and renewed, she felt her purpose come closer and surprisingly sharp in her mind, for Sonic at last had finally shown an interested in her.
One of the irritating voices that had annoyed the she-hog during the entire school day broke the magic moment she was having. A hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality.
Amy turned and glared the boy. He was one of many who had been bugging Amy the entirety of her first day at school. Ella had said that that was how human guys expressed their feelings towards the opposite sex, but she sure was as hell not human and her scowls alone would have clearly pronounced to any Mobian that she was not heart-free. She had only one love and she would be damned if it was this joker.
"Amy! I'm so glad you're alright!" The guy swept Amy up into an unwilling embrace. The guy was fairly strong for a human, he easily held the struggling she-hog, and, to Amy's grim amusement, this guy perfectly fit the human description of kawaii. She knew from her friend's accounts that he was an all around athlete, and, as she looked into his hazel eyes and beach blond hair, she immediately understood why all of the girls were moonstruck by him.
But Amy wasn't human and neither would this guy look like he had been human once he let go of her.
"My Amy," the jock brought her even closer to himself, "I promise that for as long as I live that that Sonic will never hurt you again!"
Amy thanked her lucky stars when one of her friends came to rescue her from the crushing, sweaty hold. "Hey, Marlin," she clapped the guy on his shoulder, "you're, uh, kinda stranglin' her."
Marlin gasped and let go of Amy like she was made out of fire. Amy dropped to the ground thankful for the sweat-free, fresh air that flooded into her lungs.
"Oh, Amy, I'm so sorry! Here, let me help you up." Marlin grabbed Amy by the waist and hoisted her well above his head and set her back down on her feet to the applause of all of Amy's friends.
That was the last straw. Amy reached into her back pocket were she kept the handle of her extendable hammer and held it behind her back. Having a crush on her was one thing, but humiliating her in front of everyone around was quite another.
She walked up to Marlin and smiled sweetly. "That was amazing, Marlin! You know...you're a lot stronger than Sonic is. I like that, and I like you."
Amy traced her finger along the guy's chest and grabbed a fistful of his cross-country shirt and pulled his face lower to hers.
"Would you kiss me, Marlin?"
Amy watched the fireworks dance in his eyes as he happily blabbered on about something incomprehensible.
"Alright then, big boy, close your eyes for your big surprise."
With a flick of her wrist, she extended her Piko Piko hammer and readied it behind her back.
"Here I come, my darling," she teased as she maliciously buried the hammer deep into the guys face. Marlin didn't even know what hit him as he sailed straight into a nearby office building's wall.
One of the girls shook her head at the jock's unconscious form. "Amy, you do know that you didn't have to be so rough with him."
Amy snorted, "Well, this jerk deserved it."
Amy turned around and bumped into Coach Folio's fuming, short frame.
"Miss Rose, would you kindly explain why the hell Jason told me that—is that Marlin!"
Coach jumped to the unconscious guy's side and stared at the mallet Amy was still holding in her hand. His suntanned face turned six shades redder with constrained fury.
"Miss Rose, get into my car."
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Where does the time fly, Ella wondered to herself. It seemed like it was only yesterday that everyone had departed for the first day of school. Had it really been over a month ago?
Ella shook her head as continued to mix the pancake batter in the kitchen. She had worried, still worried, about every one of them, even Christopher. Yet, somehow she knew that things would turn up just fine.
Then Coach Folio had called. Ella's hands subconsciously quickened their movement just thinking about that day.
She had been going all out on a spectacular dinner to commemorate the first day of school for Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Cream. Cream and Chris had already arrived home on the bus a good while ago and Tails had just flown home. Ella was starting to wonder where Sonic and Amy were, but she remembered Amy saying something about joining some sort of a sport team.
Cream had been in the kitchen helping Ella prepare the dinner when the phone had ringed.
"Hello, this is the Thorndike residence."
"Ah, yes, is this Mrs. Thorndike?"
Great, it sounded like another one of the fans had managed to grab the unlisted mansion's phone number, and a very gruff one at that.
"I'm afraid not, Mrs. Thorndike is a very busy lady."
"I had thought so. Are you by chance the caretaker of Miss Rose?"
Now this was different. "You could say that, but I'm wondering why you calling me about this."
"I'm Coach Folio, the cross-country coach. Your girl here has gotten herself into very serious trouble today at practice."
"What kind of trouble?" Ella had wanted to add what kind of trouble could a girl get into during a supposedly supervised sports activity.
Then the coach had rattled off about how it was probably the first day syndrome. He rattled on for an ungodly amount of time about how Amy's was probably tense and how it was probably the other kid's fault. He had been adamant, on the other hand that that did not excuse Amy's actions in the least.
Ella had made sure that, during the one-sided conversation with Folio that she had Cream run to tell Tanaka to head toward the school. Then, once the little one was out of sight, Ella had given the coach her two cents.
"Folio! What kind of a team are you runnin'? Do you just let the them loose to do as they please?"
"Miss, there are way to many kids to just—"
"Shut up, and listen to me!" Ella snapped and the other side of the line fell dead to the enraged cook's anger. "I've been listening to you ramble on and on about how you felt it wasn't Amy's fault, and if it wasn't Amy's fault then why the hell are we having this conversation! It sounds to me that you are not doing your job as coach. If you were doing you job like you were supposed to then this wouldn't have happened!
"As for Amy, I expect her to be outside waitin' for our butler to escort her home. Understood?"
Folio had grumbled, but had resentfully agreed.
"One last thing, Folio. If I hear that you pull Amy from the team because of this then what had happened to your pretty boy there will pale to what I'll do."
Ever since that day she had had Sonic keep an eye on Amy, even though he couldn't always be at her side. Ever since that day, Amy had had no problems with Folio or anyone else for that matter.
"Ah, Ella, good morning."
Ella looked over to find Chuck happily drawing himself quite a healthy sized portion from the coffee pot and rolled her eyes. What was it with scientists and coffee? She swore that if Chuck ever forgot to drink his morning coffee, then she would have to feed it to him through an IV.
"I don't see why you always grab yourself just a mug. You're going to drink the whole thing anyway, so why don't you just take the entire pot and down it in one swig."
Chuck laughed and half choked on the coffee he was drinking. "Speaking of coffee pots, Ella, I can't find the one I had in my study. You had brought it down to the kitchen to clean it and I hadn't seen it since. Do you know what became of it?"
Ella humphed and started to pour the batter on the grill. "I had left it out on the counter for you to pick it up, and the next thing I knew it disappeared. I had figured you had swept it up at the first chance you got."
Chuck had to raise his voice to be heard over the sizzling grill, "You don't say. I'll just have to ask Tails sometime then."
"Don't be telling me that you got Tails addicted to that stuff," Ella retorted, pointing her spatula at him before setting to work flipping the pancakes.
Chuck raised his mug to his lips and said, "Of course not, Ella." Then he tilted his head back and said something incomprehensible into the drink.
"Oh, and what was that?"
Chuck rolled his eyes and put on a playful grin. "I had said that, with the way Tails works, coffee would only slow him down."
"What do you mean?" In truth, Ella was beginning to worry about the little fox kit. Tails had been spending much of the nighttime locked up in the workshop working on God-knows-what, and most of the time he's still at it when Ella goes out there to collect him for school. If it weren't for the fact that Ella was receiving such good comments about his conduct and grades from his teachers, she would have the thought the kit would have been sleeping at school the entire day.
It was almost like Tails had stopped sleeping altogether.
Chuck poured himself another mug of coffee and tried to answer Ella's question. "Really, I have no idea how to describe it. In my early years as a scientist I had went through almost the same thing. There's really no way to describe it, but almost every scientist I have corroborated with has gone through it.
"It's..." Chuck waved his mug trying to find the words, "almost like finding your true love. It's a passion that consumes you entirely. You want to do nothing but solve some cosmic riddle, examine every nook and cranny of something others take for granted, or perfect some astronomical project that everyone says is impossible, but isn't. A lot of people call it obsessive, but that feeling was what had kept me going days on end without sleep, and I'll bet you anything that is what Tails is feeling right now."
Ella bent over the grill and stared straight into Chuck's eyes. "You gave him coffee didn't you?"
Chuck withered at the glare and scratched the back of his head. "Alright...you got me. I gave him a little, but, to my surprise, he didn't care for it at all." Ella still continued to stare at him until she could extract every drop of truth from Chuck. Chuck grew stern and repeated, "He didn't care for it at all, Ella, I swear."
"Master Charles, it is currently nine o'clock." Ella, hearing Tanaka's voice behind her, nearly jumped over the counter in surprise. Tanaka continued as if nothing had happened, "Sonic and Amy need to leave for the park at ten."
"Thank you, Mr. Tanaka." Without dismissing Tanaka, Chuck turned to Ella. "Ella, would you mind getting Amy and Sonic out of bed? They'd probably sleep till noon otherwise."
"Oh, I s'pose." Ella finished placing the last of the pancakes on the plate and headed out of the kitchen.
Chuck turned his attention to Tanaka and finished his second cup of coffee. He sat back against the wall and asked Tanaka, "Mr. Tanaka, how long have in been in my service now? It's been quite a while, I know."
"It will be nine years this spring, Master Charles."
Chuck nodded to himself and thoughtfully sipped at his third mug of coffee. He was impressed with how well Tanaka was handling himself so far, but Chuck couldn't help but notice how Tanaka stood taller than he had been a few moments ago.
Chuck decided to go slow, there was no need to have this volcano erupt all at once. It would be better for the both of them if he just took it slow and let the pressure escape gradually. He was having too much fun with this anyway.
"Tanaka I thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you have done for my family and I. Yet I know that it must pain you to be so far away from your own family for all these years."
"Sir," was it Chuck's imagination or was Tanaka starting to perspire a little? "I and my family both understood that my choice of career could indeed result in the permanent separation of the family, but I was willing to do what I had to in order to help out my family."
So all wasn't well at home; that explained quite a bit. Chuck considered pressing the topic, but figured it would be best to let the subject drop. "Mr. Tanaka, I have made my decision. Please come here."
As Tanaka moved away from the doorframe, Chuck reached into his white lab coat and removed a small parcel. He handed it out for Tanaka to take it. Mr. Tanaka took the parcel and, with hands trembling ever so slightly, he opened it.
Tanaka's face slowly transferred from a look of worried anxiety to one of immense relief. Chuck set his mug down on the counter and said proudly, "A round-trip ticket to Hokkaido. Believe me, Mr. Tanaka, you deserve even more for that for all your help you have given us all these years. Now, listen to me. I want you to go there and enjoy yourself for a good few weeks and return only when you're good and ready, alright? There's no need to rush the first family reunion you've had in nine years."
Mr. Tanaka made a grateful bow. "Thank you for this gift, Master Charles. However, who is to deliver Mr. Sonic and Miss Rose to their meet this morning?"
"Don't you worry about that, Tanaka, I'll take them. It's been a little while since I've drove a car, so I figure I need to brush off the rust on that skill of mine."
Tanaka bowed deeply once more and took his leave of the kitchen.
Tanaka is truly a man of honor, Chuck mused. He wondered if the blood of a line of samurai ran in Tanaka's veins. At any rate, the world could surely use more people like him, especially in this day and age.
Voices coming towards the kitchen shook Chuck from his pondering. Chuck stood up, drowned the last of the coffee from his mug and the pot and joined the others in the dining room.
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The air around the park thundered with words of excitement and angry condemnation, and since the runners from Station Square High were the middle of the maelstrom, then the entire maelstrom could have weft and weaved around only one person, Sonic.
To the runners from Station Square High, just Sonic's presence lifted moral higher than even a pep talk from all of the best coaches from all time together could ever achieve. Sonic embodied the very things the runners sought after and with him, they could not lose. It was a miraculous feeling.
Yet, the opposing teams' view of Sonic stood in stark contrast of Station Square High's. The coaches from those teams argued against Folio and the officials over Sonic competing in the race. The coaches complained that Sonic unfairly tipped the scales to Folio's favor. The officials, to Folio's delight, said that this was supposed to be an equal opportunity race. There were no speed classes, slow runners just had to understand that they would run against everyone else, and the officials concurred that you also would not create for an exceptional runner, no matter how fast they ran, a new speed rank.
Many of the coaches stomped away from the officials in a fury, but those that remained were still arguing well past the time when the race should have started. Amy shook her head and waited with the other runners from Station Square.
Amy was nervous about the upcoming race but not because of the race itself. She looked over were Sonic was sitting on a tree branch and was casually talking with a few other guys from their school. Amy's heart fluttered, and she found herself wondering if she could actually go through with this. She found herself in doubt. Was she fast enough to actually do this? What would she do if Sonic laughed at her efforts?
Get a grip on yourself, girl. Amy shook her head trying to clear away any trace of the fog of doubt from her senses. How many times has Sonic boldly risked his own neck for her? If she couldn't show even a minute portion of such bravery then she didn't deserve to love Sonic.
Almost as if the arguing coaches were waiting for Amy to make up her mind, they disbanded from the officials and rallied their runners for the race. Amy and the other runners gathered around Folio and made their way to the starting line. Folio was giving some sort of a pep talk, but Amy wasn't listening. She was completely focused on her one objective.
Amy noted Sonic's position and then took her own among the crowd of people. The officials were going over the course one last time and were awaiting questions. Upon finding none they readied the runners.
Amy crouched into ready position, her heart in her throat. The head official scanned over the area and then sounded the alarm on his megaphone.
Then she was gone. Amy dashed down the sidewalks and weaved in and out of trees chasing the blue streak that was quickly disappearing ahead of her. Amy urged her feet to go faster, but it was no use. The blue streak had disappeared from sight.
Still, Amy's steps didn't slow and her speed never faltered. Almost as if appearing from nowhere, the finish line appeared. Across the finish line Sonic had stopped and had his back turned to Amy.
It was now or never. Amy's legs protested as sprinted the final distance between her and Sonic, but she wouldn't give in when she has already come this far.
Sonic's ears perked up at the sound of something approaching and as he turned around he felt something hard and furry connect hard against his chest. He and Amy skidded across the ground and landed entangled together by a row of bushes.
Amy groaned and pulled herself up to more or less sit on her trembling legs. Sonic did likewise, and the two of them just sat there for a while. Amy was busy catching her breath and worrying about what Sonic was going to do while Sonic just stood there in stunned, mute amazement.
Sonic, almost mesmerized, finally managed a few words, "So that...that was all you...right?"
Amy, still trying to find where her lungs took all of the air, simply nodded. Sonic looked up at Amy and if she had any air in her lungs Amy would have squealed in delight at what she had found in those jade orbs.
It was not love; Amy would've been surprised if it had been. Instead of love Sonic's eyes were filled with a newfound respect for the she-hog.
Sonic offered his hand to Amy and then picked her up in his arms. As Sonic slowly walked back to where the coaches and runners would be congregating, Amy couldn't help but wish that she could remain in his arms for the rest of her life.
-Gear Shift
--Chapter Five, My Sweet Passion
"C'mon, Amy! Slow down for a sec, alright?"
Amy sighed and slowed down to wait for her friends; it wasn't like she was going fast anyway. After finding out that one could run faster than most cars, walking just seemed like a waste of time and energy when you could be going so much faster with so little extra effort.
"No wonder Sonic loves to run so much," Amy said under her breath.
She and her friends decided to take a break from the cross-country practice and rest under the comforting shade of table umbrellas at a corner side café. Amy's brisk walk had forced the girls to run almost full out in order to stay up with her, and, as a result, they were well ahead of the other runners.
Amy couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Coach Folio driving down the street on one of his infamous runner check-up routes. Coach was well known for his short temper, and seeing one of his senior runners taking it easy and walking was generally enough to set him off on all of the runners in the vicinity. Folio would raise holy hell if he saw one, let alone five, of his runners leisurely sitting down at a café, drinking an iced coffee.
And that is precisely why they chose the café.
One of the girls sat down at their table with her iced coffee and complained, "God, and I thought coach was bad last year. Now he expects all of us to run as fast as Sonic!"
"Tell me about it!" another girl chimed in. "Why else would Folio have us run all the way out to Lapis Park and back? C'mon that's like more than five miles from the school."
"Hey, Amy." Amy's attention broke away from the swaying palm tree she was watching and settled on the girl next to her. "Girl, you not even sweating hard, and you've been the run running like you were in a horror flick. Somethin's up with that."
"Probably steroids," one girl joked.
"Ya, that would explain a lot, especially how flat ches—"
"Hey guys, c'mon!" Amy pouted at the teasing.
All of the girls at the table, even Amy, broke into laughter.
One of the girls facing the street quickly sobered up and gasped as she pointed behind Amy. "Uh, guys, we've got company."
All of the girls turned and looked across the street where they saw another runner from Station Square High. The guy was staring blankly at the girls and then he did the oddest thing; he grinned and took off down the street like a bottle rocket.
The girls rose to their feet and Amy followed.
"Of all the people why did it have to be Jason!"
"Who's Jason?" Amy asked.
The girl turned and stared at Amy, obviously forgetting for a moment that Amy was new to the school. "Jason Giabello is the biggest sell-out Station Square High has. He gets his kicks out of watching the people he turns into the office squirm."
"Then we've got to get him before he gets back to the school!"
The girls nodded in agreement and bolted from the outdoor café in pursuit of Jason. However, before they had even made it across the corner, a blue blur sharply turned the corner and slammed into the girls sending them soaring into the air and smacking the hard pavement below.
Amy groaned as her vision swam and the back of her head throbbed where she had landed. Feeling a dull ache everywhere, she was beginning to understand how a bowling pin must feel after a strike.
In the mist of the injuries, Amy could have sworn she could hear Sonic's voice getting closer with each passing moment. Amy propped herself up on shaky arms to find that Sonic was helping all of the other girls to their feet until he noticed that Amy was among those he had knocked down.
How dare that hedgehog help up all those other girls before helping her up! She had been sprawled out, lying in the middle of the sidewalk, and he had still not noticed her. To make matters worse, people were starting to form a crowd on the other side of the street and outside the café. Amy was starting to feel that nervous sensation that swept through her body when humans just stared blankly at her.
"Hey, Ames, you alright? I didn't see you all the way out there." Apparently the gathering flock of humans didn't bother Sonic in the least.
As Sonic bent down to help her up, Amy had to restrain herself from doing something crazy that she knew she was going to regret. A part of Amy wanted nothing else but to throttle Sonic for his carelessness and shortsightedness, but another part of her wanted to be swept up in his embrace and to give him one of her own. Even though her body and heart couldn't seem to make up their mind on what do to, her miffed brain decided on its own to seize control of her mouth.
"Sonic! Why can't you watch out where you are going! C'mon we were miles away from you and you still—"
"Whoa, Whoa, Amy! Calm down for second, geeze. It was only an accident—hey! Did you say watch?" Sonic dropped Amy back onto the ground and looked down at his wristwatch. "Oh, no! This is just great... coach's gonna kill me!"
Sonic sped off down the block only to stop midway. "Hey, Ames," he yelled across the block, "I'm sorry 'bout all this, but I'll...." Sonic looked like he was having a rough time deciding which evil was the lesser evil. "Look, Amy, I'll make it up to you later, K? I gotta go, or coach is really gonna have my hide!"
Then Sonic dashed down the street and out of sight like a madman.
Did Sonic really promise that he'd make it up to her? It felt like a blissful dream to hear those words come out of his mouth, and Amy hoped that she would not wake up in class to find that she had fallen asleep on her desk. Inspired and renewed, she felt her purpose come closer and surprisingly sharp in her mind, for Sonic at last had finally shown an interested in her.
One of the irritating voices that had annoyed the she-hog during the entire school day broke the magic moment she was having. A hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality.
Amy turned and glared the boy. He was one of many who had been bugging Amy the entirety of her first day at school. Ella had said that that was how human guys expressed their feelings towards the opposite sex, but she sure was as hell not human and her scowls alone would have clearly pronounced to any Mobian that she was not heart-free. She had only one love and she would be damned if it was this joker.
"Amy! I'm so glad you're alright!" The guy swept Amy up into an unwilling embrace. The guy was fairly strong for a human, he easily held the struggling she-hog, and, to Amy's grim amusement, this guy perfectly fit the human description of kawaii. She knew from her friend's accounts that he was an all around athlete, and, as she looked into his hazel eyes and beach blond hair, she immediately understood why all of the girls were moonstruck by him.
But Amy wasn't human and neither would this guy look like he had been human once he let go of her.
"My Amy," the jock brought her even closer to himself, "I promise that for as long as I live that that Sonic will never hurt you again!"
Amy thanked her lucky stars when one of her friends came to rescue her from the crushing, sweaty hold. "Hey, Marlin," she clapped the guy on his shoulder, "you're, uh, kinda stranglin' her."
Marlin gasped and let go of Amy like she was made out of fire. Amy dropped to the ground thankful for the sweat-free, fresh air that flooded into her lungs.
"Oh, Amy, I'm so sorry! Here, let me help you up." Marlin grabbed Amy by the waist and hoisted her well above his head and set her back down on her feet to the applause of all of Amy's friends.
That was the last straw. Amy reached into her back pocket were she kept the handle of her extendable hammer and held it behind her back. Having a crush on her was one thing, but humiliating her in front of everyone around was quite another.
She walked up to Marlin and smiled sweetly. "That was amazing, Marlin! You know...you're a lot stronger than Sonic is. I like that, and I like you."
Amy traced her finger along the guy's chest and grabbed a fistful of his cross-country shirt and pulled his face lower to hers.
"Would you kiss me, Marlin?"
Amy watched the fireworks dance in his eyes as he happily blabbered on about something incomprehensible.
"Alright then, big boy, close your eyes for your big surprise."
With a flick of her wrist, she extended her Piko Piko hammer and readied it behind her back.
"Here I come, my darling," she teased as she maliciously buried the hammer deep into the guys face. Marlin didn't even know what hit him as he sailed straight into a nearby office building's wall.
One of the girls shook her head at the jock's unconscious form. "Amy, you do know that you didn't have to be so rough with him."
Amy snorted, "Well, this jerk deserved it."
Amy turned around and bumped into Coach Folio's fuming, short frame.
"Miss Rose, would you kindly explain why the hell Jason told me that—is that Marlin!"
Coach jumped to the unconscious guy's side and stared at the mallet Amy was still holding in her hand. His suntanned face turned six shades redder with constrained fury.
"Miss Rose, get into my car."
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Where does the time fly, Ella wondered to herself. It seemed like it was only yesterday that everyone had departed for the first day of school. Had it really been over a month ago?
Ella shook her head as continued to mix the pancake batter in the kitchen. She had worried, still worried, about every one of them, even Christopher. Yet, somehow she knew that things would turn up just fine.
Then Coach Folio had called. Ella's hands subconsciously quickened their movement just thinking about that day.
She had been going all out on a spectacular dinner to commemorate the first day of school for Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Cream. Cream and Chris had already arrived home on the bus a good while ago and Tails had just flown home. Ella was starting to wonder where Sonic and Amy were, but she remembered Amy saying something about joining some sort of a sport team.
Cream had been in the kitchen helping Ella prepare the dinner when the phone had ringed.
"Hello, this is the Thorndike residence."
"Ah, yes, is this Mrs. Thorndike?"
Great, it sounded like another one of the fans had managed to grab the unlisted mansion's phone number, and a very gruff one at that.
"I'm afraid not, Mrs. Thorndike is a very busy lady."
"I had thought so. Are you by chance the caretaker of Miss Rose?"
Now this was different. "You could say that, but I'm wondering why you calling me about this."
"I'm Coach Folio, the cross-country coach. Your girl here has gotten herself into very serious trouble today at practice."
"What kind of trouble?" Ella had wanted to add what kind of trouble could a girl get into during a supposedly supervised sports activity.
Then the coach had rattled off about how it was probably the first day syndrome. He rattled on for an ungodly amount of time about how Amy's was probably tense and how it was probably the other kid's fault. He had been adamant, on the other hand that that did not excuse Amy's actions in the least.
Ella had made sure that, during the one-sided conversation with Folio that she had Cream run to tell Tanaka to head toward the school. Then, once the little one was out of sight, Ella had given the coach her two cents.
"Folio! What kind of a team are you runnin'? Do you just let the them loose to do as they please?"
"Miss, there are way to many kids to just—"
"Shut up, and listen to me!" Ella snapped and the other side of the line fell dead to the enraged cook's anger. "I've been listening to you ramble on and on about how you felt it wasn't Amy's fault, and if it wasn't Amy's fault then why the hell are we having this conversation! It sounds to me that you are not doing your job as coach. If you were doing you job like you were supposed to then this wouldn't have happened!
"As for Amy, I expect her to be outside waitin' for our butler to escort her home. Understood?"
Folio had grumbled, but had resentfully agreed.
"One last thing, Folio. If I hear that you pull Amy from the team because of this then what had happened to your pretty boy there will pale to what I'll do."
Ever since that day she had had Sonic keep an eye on Amy, even though he couldn't always be at her side. Ever since that day, Amy had had no problems with Folio or anyone else for that matter.
"Ah, Ella, good morning."
Ella looked over to find Chuck happily drawing himself quite a healthy sized portion from the coffee pot and rolled her eyes. What was it with scientists and coffee? She swore that if Chuck ever forgot to drink his morning coffee, then she would have to feed it to him through an IV.
"I don't see why you always grab yourself just a mug. You're going to drink the whole thing anyway, so why don't you just take the entire pot and down it in one swig."
Chuck laughed and half choked on the coffee he was drinking. "Speaking of coffee pots, Ella, I can't find the one I had in my study. You had brought it down to the kitchen to clean it and I hadn't seen it since. Do you know what became of it?"
Ella humphed and started to pour the batter on the grill. "I had left it out on the counter for you to pick it up, and the next thing I knew it disappeared. I had figured you had swept it up at the first chance you got."
Chuck had to raise his voice to be heard over the sizzling grill, "You don't say. I'll just have to ask Tails sometime then."
"Don't be telling me that you got Tails addicted to that stuff," Ella retorted, pointing her spatula at him before setting to work flipping the pancakes.
Chuck raised his mug to his lips and said, "Of course not, Ella." Then he tilted his head back and said something incomprehensible into the drink.
"Oh, and what was that?"
Chuck rolled his eyes and put on a playful grin. "I had said that, with the way Tails works, coffee would only slow him down."
"What do you mean?" In truth, Ella was beginning to worry about the little fox kit. Tails had been spending much of the nighttime locked up in the workshop working on God-knows-what, and most of the time he's still at it when Ella goes out there to collect him for school. If it weren't for the fact that Ella was receiving such good comments about his conduct and grades from his teachers, she would have the thought the kit would have been sleeping at school the entire day.
It was almost like Tails had stopped sleeping altogether.
Chuck poured himself another mug of coffee and tried to answer Ella's question. "Really, I have no idea how to describe it. In my early years as a scientist I had went through almost the same thing. There's really no way to describe it, but almost every scientist I have corroborated with has gone through it.
"It's..." Chuck waved his mug trying to find the words, "almost like finding your true love. It's a passion that consumes you entirely. You want to do nothing but solve some cosmic riddle, examine every nook and cranny of something others take for granted, or perfect some astronomical project that everyone says is impossible, but isn't. A lot of people call it obsessive, but that feeling was what had kept me going days on end without sleep, and I'll bet you anything that is what Tails is feeling right now."
Ella bent over the grill and stared straight into Chuck's eyes. "You gave him coffee didn't you?"
Chuck withered at the glare and scratched the back of his head. "Alright...you got me. I gave him a little, but, to my surprise, he didn't care for it at all." Ella still continued to stare at him until she could extract every drop of truth from Chuck. Chuck grew stern and repeated, "He didn't care for it at all, Ella, I swear."
"Master Charles, it is currently nine o'clock." Ella, hearing Tanaka's voice behind her, nearly jumped over the counter in surprise. Tanaka continued as if nothing had happened, "Sonic and Amy need to leave for the park at ten."
"Thank you, Mr. Tanaka." Without dismissing Tanaka, Chuck turned to Ella. "Ella, would you mind getting Amy and Sonic out of bed? They'd probably sleep till noon otherwise."
"Oh, I s'pose." Ella finished placing the last of the pancakes on the plate and headed out of the kitchen.
Chuck turned his attention to Tanaka and finished his second cup of coffee. He sat back against the wall and asked Tanaka, "Mr. Tanaka, how long have in been in my service now? It's been quite a while, I know."
"It will be nine years this spring, Master Charles."
Chuck nodded to himself and thoughtfully sipped at his third mug of coffee. He was impressed with how well Tanaka was handling himself so far, but Chuck couldn't help but notice how Tanaka stood taller than he had been a few moments ago.
Chuck decided to go slow, there was no need to have this volcano erupt all at once. It would be better for the both of them if he just took it slow and let the pressure escape gradually. He was having too much fun with this anyway.
"Tanaka I thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you have done for my family and I. Yet I know that it must pain you to be so far away from your own family for all these years."
"Sir," was it Chuck's imagination or was Tanaka starting to perspire a little? "I and my family both understood that my choice of career could indeed result in the permanent separation of the family, but I was willing to do what I had to in order to help out my family."
So all wasn't well at home; that explained quite a bit. Chuck considered pressing the topic, but figured it would be best to let the subject drop. "Mr. Tanaka, I have made my decision. Please come here."
As Tanaka moved away from the doorframe, Chuck reached into his white lab coat and removed a small parcel. He handed it out for Tanaka to take it. Mr. Tanaka took the parcel and, with hands trembling ever so slightly, he opened it.
Tanaka's face slowly transferred from a look of worried anxiety to one of immense relief. Chuck set his mug down on the counter and said proudly, "A round-trip ticket to Hokkaido. Believe me, Mr. Tanaka, you deserve even more for that for all your help you have given us all these years. Now, listen to me. I want you to go there and enjoy yourself for a good few weeks and return only when you're good and ready, alright? There's no need to rush the first family reunion you've had in nine years."
Mr. Tanaka made a grateful bow. "Thank you for this gift, Master Charles. However, who is to deliver Mr. Sonic and Miss Rose to their meet this morning?"
"Don't you worry about that, Tanaka, I'll take them. It's been a little while since I've drove a car, so I figure I need to brush off the rust on that skill of mine."
Tanaka bowed deeply once more and took his leave of the kitchen.
Tanaka is truly a man of honor, Chuck mused. He wondered if the blood of a line of samurai ran in Tanaka's veins. At any rate, the world could surely use more people like him, especially in this day and age.
Voices coming towards the kitchen shook Chuck from his pondering. Chuck stood up, drowned the last of the coffee from his mug and the pot and joined the others in the dining room.
------------------------------------------------------
The air around the park thundered with words of excitement and angry condemnation, and since the runners from Station Square High were the middle of the maelstrom, then the entire maelstrom could have weft and weaved around only one person, Sonic.
To the runners from Station Square High, just Sonic's presence lifted moral higher than even a pep talk from all of the best coaches from all time together could ever achieve. Sonic embodied the very things the runners sought after and with him, they could not lose. It was a miraculous feeling.
Yet, the opposing teams' view of Sonic stood in stark contrast of Station Square High's. The coaches from those teams argued against Folio and the officials over Sonic competing in the race. The coaches complained that Sonic unfairly tipped the scales to Folio's favor. The officials, to Folio's delight, said that this was supposed to be an equal opportunity race. There were no speed classes, slow runners just had to understand that they would run against everyone else, and the officials concurred that you also would not create for an exceptional runner, no matter how fast they ran, a new speed rank.
Many of the coaches stomped away from the officials in a fury, but those that remained were still arguing well past the time when the race should have started. Amy shook her head and waited with the other runners from Station Square.
Amy was nervous about the upcoming race but not because of the race itself. She looked over were Sonic was sitting on a tree branch and was casually talking with a few other guys from their school. Amy's heart fluttered, and she found herself wondering if she could actually go through with this. She found herself in doubt. Was she fast enough to actually do this? What would she do if Sonic laughed at her efforts?
Get a grip on yourself, girl. Amy shook her head trying to clear away any trace of the fog of doubt from her senses. How many times has Sonic boldly risked his own neck for her? If she couldn't show even a minute portion of such bravery then she didn't deserve to love Sonic.
Almost as if the arguing coaches were waiting for Amy to make up her mind, they disbanded from the officials and rallied their runners for the race. Amy and the other runners gathered around Folio and made their way to the starting line. Folio was giving some sort of a pep talk, but Amy wasn't listening. She was completely focused on her one objective.
Amy noted Sonic's position and then took her own among the crowd of people. The officials were going over the course one last time and were awaiting questions. Upon finding none they readied the runners.
Amy crouched into ready position, her heart in her throat. The head official scanned over the area and then sounded the alarm on his megaphone.
Then she was gone. Amy dashed down the sidewalks and weaved in and out of trees chasing the blue streak that was quickly disappearing ahead of her. Amy urged her feet to go faster, but it was no use. The blue streak had disappeared from sight.
Still, Amy's steps didn't slow and her speed never faltered. Almost as if appearing from nowhere, the finish line appeared. Across the finish line Sonic had stopped and had his back turned to Amy.
It was now or never. Amy's legs protested as sprinted the final distance between her and Sonic, but she wouldn't give in when she has already come this far.
Sonic's ears perked up at the sound of something approaching and as he turned around he felt something hard and furry connect hard against his chest. He and Amy skidded across the ground and landed entangled together by a row of bushes.
Amy groaned and pulled herself up to more or less sit on her trembling legs. Sonic did likewise, and the two of them just sat there for a while. Amy was busy catching her breath and worrying about what Sonic was going to do while Sonic just stood there in stunned, mute amazement.
Sonic, almost mesmerized, finally managed a few words, "So that...that was all you...right?"
Amy, still trying to find where her lungs took all of the air, simply nodded. Sonic looked up at Amy and if she had any air in her lungs Amy would have squealed in delight at what she had found in those jade orbs.
It was not love; Amy would've been surprised if it had been. Instead of love Sonic's eyes were filled with a newfound respect for the she-hog.
Sonic offered his hand to Amy and then picked her up in his arms. As Sonic slowly walked back to where the coaches and runners would be congregating, Amy couldn't help but wish that she could remain in his arms for the rest of her life.