Chapter 7

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[Time - 8:15 P.M.)

[Date - June 30th, 23XX)

(Location - Station Square, Central District, Little Franche-Comté)

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"Passe une bonne nuit!" The downstairs greeter of the Little Franche-Comté told Sonic and Amy to have a nice night as the two walked outside after a lovely evening out for dinner.

Sonic rubbed his full belly. "Oh, I'm so stuffed!"

Amy giggled gleefully, ecstatic beyond belief to finally have him as her boyfriend. "That's because you ordered a second sandwich!"

"Ah, ah, ah." Sonic teasingly reprimanded her with the only French thing he learned. "That's a Croque Monsieur… and they are friggin' delicious!"

Bumping into a guy on the way out the door, Sonic turned around to apologize to him. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to run into you." Looking at the man, he saw that he was a tall, skinny white guy with a tattoo of a handprint on his cheek, representing human pride.

At first, the guy looked pissed. Thankfully, it looked like he quickly calmed down upon noticing who accidentally bumped into him. Instead of his furrowed brow and aggravated frown, the man smiled as if he were some sort of fanboy of the hedgehog's "Oh, it's you… Hey, Sonic! Nice to see you!"

Sonic pursed his lips as he examined the guy, seeing that he was dressed oddly relaxed to be standing in line for a place as fancy as Little Franche-Comté. Clad in jeans and a stained t-shirt, he stood out amongst the crowd of tuxedos as well as deluxe suits. Not judging him for that or his tattoo, Sonic just gave a small flick of the wrist to wave at him. He thought 'At least he's not going to try and be a jerk to me. Maybe even the supremacists sometimes realize I'm fighting for them, not against them.' Actually replying to him, he said. "You too. Have a good night." Amy's enthusiasm as well as his newfound admittance of his love toward her made him giddy. Not only that, but all that delicious food made him in no mood to get into an argument with a human over a slight misstep.

Amy giggled as she walked away with Sonic, still going on about his love for sandwiches. "You really love sandwiches that much, huh? Well, if we go on a picnic, then I'll make you one of my own famous sandwiches."

Sonic grinned with a look of astonishment. "Wait… You have a famous sandwich recipe?"

Grabbing his hand as the two walked down the sidewalk toward Twinkle Park, Amy gave him a few pokes to the side as a joke. Afterward, she admitted "It's not so much a famous recipe as my own personal combination I made."

"You made your own sandwich recipe?" Sonic inquired.

"Yeah…" She poked his side one more time. "I was a kid chasing after her crush. That makes me understand what you said earlier, at least a little, about sandwiches being quick to make and easy to hold onto if you're constantly on the go… Which, I was, you know-... Constantly on the go; everywhere I went I was there because I was following after you. Since you never sat still for very long, I always had to be on the go too. So, I made a yummy snack for myself."

Chuckling, he countered by goading her on. "It's just a regular sandwich, isn't it?"

Swinging their hands as she walked down the sidewalk, seeing the lights turn on at Twinkle Park in the near distance, she joyfully stuck her tongue out as if to show him up. "No!" laughing, she continued "I'll tell you a secret about it… Instead of potato chips, I put croutons on my sandwich for extra crunch. Some meat and cheese, and then, instead of using mayonnaise, I use ranch salad dressing to compliment the croutons."

"Ranch?!" Sonic made a buoyant face of disgust. "On a sandwich? Noooooo! You ruined it!"

Amy shook her head as she rubbed her stomach. "No way! It's sooo good when combined like that. You'll see… You'll see."

Continuing to walk down the sidewalk hand-in-hand, the two grew closer to Twinkle Park by the second. Once they made it to the front gate where all the people were waiting, same as with the restaurant, there was an entirely separate line for people who already had either a pass or special admission fee. As an incentive, the park offers free admission to a particular group of people, namely couples. He knew right away that was her plan too, for the separate booth that only handled special admissions was clearly where she was headed, bypassing another queue of waiting park patrons.

"Yes!" She exclaimed as she pointed to a sign. "I knew they were doing that promotion today. They do it every week." Tugging her beloved blue hero in the direction of the entrance, she also wrapped her arm around him prior to giving him a kiss on the cheek to make him blush.

"H-Hey…" He acted bashful upon her public display of affection, still trying to acclimate to accepting his role as her boyfriend.

Shushing him, she stood in front of the miniature hut while holding Sonic's hand. The older woman inside swiveled on her stool to greet them. "Hello there. Welcome to Twinkle Park. Are you two a couple?"

Practically wrapping herself around Sonic, Amy nodded her head vigorously. "Yes, ma'am! We just started dating today, but we've known one another for years!" Kissing his cheek repeatedly, her tail wagged incessantly, unable to stop itself since she was so elated to be with him.

Sonic was still uncomfortable receiving such affection, especially directly in the presence of others, no matter if they were friends or total strangers. Nervously taking the smooches to his cheek, he could still see the lady's stare. It embarrassed him further, but he could see that she was skeptical of their relationship status. Knowing that it was up to this woman whether or not they got into the amusement park for free, not to mention his desire to change his behaviour, he decided to truly be brave for once in order to express his real feelings. He made the initiative to prove his love to the pink hedgehog by tenderly pressing his lips to hers.

Immediately losing herself in the kiss, Amy's pupils felt as if they were spinning like pinwheels. Yet again, she thought about how he had already kissed her once. This time, however, she knew that he was fully awake. It was evident to her that he wasn't delirious. So, that means, what he was saying had to be true, at least that's how she rationalized it while being kissed by him. No matter how short it was, for the most part, all she could do was focus on the sensation.

Pulling away from Amy's lips, Sonic tried his best to keep a face free of red cheeks. Regardless, a tinge of the colour still surfaced. "See?" He retorted in response to the booth lady's skeptical look.

"Congratulations on dating." The old lady gave in with a half-hearted smile. Turning around, shuffling amongst her supplies, she returned with two white paper wristbands with stars printed on it, in addition to a barcode. "These are your couples bands. You won't have to pay for admission and can ride five rides for free. Enjoy Twinkle Park!"

Taking the wristbands from the old lady, both Sonic and Amy strapped them onto their wrists. Heading inside of the park grounds, the first thing they were met with was a gorgeous botanical garden full of healthy flora. Intricate water features flowed with a unique bio-luminescent glitter solution that shimmered brightly when other light sources, such as park lights, hit it just right. The garden itself also had numerous attractions, such as topiary art, the biggest flowers in the world, a coy pond as well as a butterfly exhibit. All of those were amazing during the day, but at night, the real magic was in the theme park, where the spectacular rides were located. Even from the garden, they could see the lit up roller coasters and hear people laughing as they played bumper cars or raced go-karts.

"I love this place!" Amy exclaimed as she ran ahead to see the sparkling water fountains, appreciating their splendour. "You never visited here, did you?"

Sonic shook his head as he admired her form by the dazzling light coming from the fountains. "Visit? No, I had to come here when I was trying to rescue you from Zero."

Amy giggled while rummaging around in her purse until she found a penny, tossing it into the fountain. "You remember that, huh? I knew it! You really did like me more than you let on." Grabbing him, she tugged him over to the fountain, making him slightly uncomfortable from their close physical proximity. For Amy, that was what she wanted. Leaning back against the railing of the fountain, having pulled him close, her chest was pressed to his as she held onto his shoulders, gazing into his green eyes. "Like I said, I'm a big girl now. If Zero shows up…" Standing on her heels to reach, she whispered into his ear. "I'll absolutely destroy him so we can have this moment forever."

Unable to stop from smiling, he started thinking how beautiful she was tonight. In a way, he wanted to beat himself up for taking so long to give in to these feelings he held for her. Despite always believing it would be a nightmare, he found himself having a pleasant night, far more exciting than he imagined it would be. 'I… I really do love her.' He thought, keeping it to himself as he couldn't quite yet manage to blurt that out. 'Why was I ever scared of her? She, of all people, will never hurt me. All she really desires is to love me.'

"I can't believe you kissed me." Amy fluttered her eyelashes at him.

Sonic chuckled with red cheeks. "It's what boyfriends and girlfriends do, right?" Nervously rubbing the back of his head, he secretly worried he'd messed up. 'Crap… Am I a bad kisser?'

"You really don't remember earlier this morning, when you were in my bed?" She dug deeper to uncover what he had in his memories while gently rubbing his shoulders.

Blinking a few times as he stared at her, he soon shook his head no. "Uhh… What do you mean?"

Amy kisses his cheek in advance of explaining "After you passed out in the shower and I brought you to my bed…" Stopping, she hesitated for a fleeting moment prior to continuing with a grin. "Right before you passed out again, you practically made out with me and-..."

"No I didn't!" Sonic interjected in humiliation, truly believing that she was making that up.

"Oh, yes you did!" Amy cupped the palm of her hand to his cheek.

"No way!" He continued to deny remembering it while in fact telling the truth. If she was this adamant that he had done that, it startled him to realize that he must have been blacked-out. On the other hand, he merely chalked it up as another symptom of having a concussion or perhaps from being in a coma for over a week. "Are you serious? I kissed you?"

Teasingly smacking at the blue blur's chest, she flirted with him by rocking side-to-side, slowly swaying. "Yes way! I'm totally serious… You must have been in the mood or something because you were grabbing me, getting frisky."

Sonic looked away sheepishly, deeply flushed with his ears still flattened in disbelief over his own actions. "I grabbed you?" Seeing her nod in acknowledgement, he kept uncovering what he had done by asking her. "Where?"

Her smile gradually grew bigger as she hatched a sly idea. Biting her lower lip from the naughty thought, she acted on it by nervously taking his hands and sliding them down her hips. She stopped there for a moment, making him wonder if that's where he touched her, only for her hands to slip his around to her backside, getting him to casually feel her buttocks. "Here…" She moaned with a swiftly growing blush, her eyes a tad hazy from the level of arousal brewing within her. Just like when he did it before, feeling him holding her like that, as if they were an adult couple who lusted for one another, it made her heart skip a beat and her tail stiffen from the pleasurable sensation. "...Mnn..." She timidly moaned as she let go of his hands, only for him to remain holding the back of her. "Sonic…"

"I… I really did this?" Sonic inquired in confusion, figuring he would have recalled groping the obsessive girl he'd been around for almost a decade now. Either way, he didn't stop the current endeavor; his mouth agape in awe at how soft they both were.

"Mhmm…" She whimpered in pleasure as her fingers entwined with what little chest fur he had. With quivering legs, she whispered to him. "You also moved your hips a lot, like you wanted to hump me."

Sonic immediately let go of her, temporarily fretting over his inability to remember any of this. Whatever the cause might be, what she's telling him happened, it was as if he was unconscious but his subconscious was still going. Besides today, during waking moments such as these, he usually wouldn't dare act on such urges as getting sexually intimate with Amy. Most of the time, he shoved those thoughts deep into the back of his mind. So, in a way, it was like everything he truly thought about her came pouring out, all without him even recalling it.

For just a moment, he thought about that woman in the alleyway being molested by a humping stranger, but he knew this was different. The blue blur never wanted to take advantage of his pink stalker. He always loved her so much that he wanted to protect her, even during moments where it didn't seem like it. When he was an adolescent, he could care less. Notwithstanding time, however, his feelings for her matured and were increasingly difficult to swallow. Being a teen and now edging on becoming an adult, he discovered that all those hidden feelings were breaking free like a caged tiger longing for companionship.

"What?" Amy giggled as she snapped out of her fervid trance.

"N-Nothing." He replied solemnly, yet with flushed cheeks.

Amy smirked salaciously before kissing his lips softly. "Don't worry…" Then, she whispered into his ear again. "I liked it."

Playfully pushing Sonic away as he stood there dumbfounded, Amy laughed prior to running off into the theme park section as fast as her wedged heeled shoes could transport her. "Come on, let's ride some rides together!"

Watching her quills blow behind her head as she ran, Sonic smiled while still embarrassed, thinking 'This girl….'

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[Time - 10:49 P.M.]

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As the night progressed, the newly established hedgehog couple continued to have fun at Twinkle Park. They rode the biggest roller coaster there, screaming and hugging each other, pretending as if they were afraid of the heightened speed in order to justify their physical contact. They also drove go-karts and bumper cars. Sonic was surprised to find Amy to be as competitive as she was. When she wasn't busy utterly dominating other players, she was coming after him like a freight train, making him flee in delight. Their next ride was Amy's choice, the ferris wheel. Inside the sightseeing cabin, they wound up cuddling as they savoured the time spent admiring the nighttime city skyline, with all the skyscrapers lit up with lights. For their last ride, another request of Amy's, they rode the merry-go-round. At first, Sonic thought the last one was childish and not really fun for a hedgehog of his age, but he soon realized that Amy had only picked it so she could relish basically sitting on his lap while riding the horse statue.

By the time they completed their five free rides allotted by the couple's wristband, it was already nearly eleven o'clock. While the park didn't close until midnight, with everything that had occurred for the day, the revelations, bombshells and surprises, it brought stress, most of it good stress, but stress nonetheless. This stress made them both tired, Amy especially, since she was up incredibly late watching over her beloved blue boyfriend. At this point at night, although they both had a grand time, they decided it was time to start heading toward the exit.

"What was your favourite part?" Amy asked as her tail wagged from walking hand in hand with Sonic toward the botanical gardens, away from the amusement park section.

Sonic tapped his lips to ponder the question prior to answering. "Probably the roller coaster. I love that 'about the fly off' feeling you get sometimes."

Amy laughed while shaking her head. "No way! I hate that! It scares me."

"You don't have to be scared." Sonic said huskily as he squeezed her hand. "I'll protect you."

"Sonic!" She purred happily, loving his protective attitude toward her. To her, it was a constant reminder that he loved her. "You're so strong."

"Damn right." He replied rather cockily, proud of himself for being the handsome hero to her.

"I don't know where this potty mouth is coming from though." The pink hedgehog joyfully teased in advance of pointing to a food stand. "How about we wash it out with a snow cone before we leave?"

Sonic's eyebrows repeatedly lifted as he smiled at her. "Ooh, sounds yummy. What flavor?"

"Blue…" She flirted with him tauntingly. "It's my favourite colour."

Smiling with a big blush on his cheek, Sonic merely chuckled, unsure of what else to do other than respond with an increased heartbeat and a funny feeling in his chest. He tried to talk, but it just came out a jumbled mess. "O-Oh yeah? You… Uhh… You don't say?"

Still being flirty, she pulled him over to a food stand that only had a single person standing in line. The moment they got behind the individual, that human got their food and moved on to have fun at the park. Amy was next, leaving her to approach the man inside the tiny food truck so she could say "Do you have any snow cones left?"

The tubby asian guy looked behind him, examining the snow cone machine's contents in advance of saying "Yep. Would you like one?"

Glancing back at Sonic, she asked "What flavour would you like, my darling?"

"Uhh…" Sonic took his time, still hypnotized by Amy's allure. "How about cherry?"

The man inside the food stand snapped his fingers in approval before going to work on preparing a simple cherry snow cone. Like it's usually prepared, after filling a small paper cone with shaved ice, he squirted cherry flavoring on top. "How about you, little miss?" He asked as he topped the snow cone off with a delicious maraschino cherry.

Glancing at the menu really quickly, upon noticing a certain item, she held up her index finger in declaration. "I'd love a blue raspberry ice pop!"

"An ice pop?" Sonic pondered curiously as the human in the booth occupied himself with retrieving a homemade blue raspberry ice pop.

Sticking her tongue out, she said "Mhmm! It sounds really good right now… Mmm, blue raspberry…" She moaned in a highly captivating manner. "I love sucking all the flavour right out of the ice."

Breathing in a deep breath of air, Sonic held his hand up to his mouth to hide his turned-on smile, a facial feature he didn't even fully realize he had until now.

"Then, of course, I like to bite it." Amy razzed him.

Slapping his hand to his forehead, Sonic bursted out into laughter prior to instinctively using his other hand to hold onto his crotch.

"What?!" Amy feigned ignorance with a squeal of wonder.

Having their choice of dessert handed to them, the human in the booth beamed at their playful toying of romance. "You two are a cute couple." He chuckled prior to naming the price. "I'll give you a little discount because you're so adorable together. Ten dollars even."

Amy's tail wagged and her ears perked up as she handed the guy the required cash. "Thank you, mister!"

Sonic, in spite of having grown accustomed to Amy on this day, couldn't help but avoid saying much as he was thus far too timid to talk about his feelings directly to the general public. He just took his cherry snow cone and followed Amy over to a nearby bench once she got her blue raspberry ice pop. The bench happened to be in front of the same gleaming fountain feature they stood at when they first entered the park. Now, eleven o'clock at night, the sparkling water was even more charming than earlier.

"I haven't had a snow cone in a while." The blue hedgehog announced as he took the cherry off the top to eat first.

Leaning against him, she swung her feet merrily as she held out her dessert to examine it. "I've never had an ice pop before, definitely not a homemade one. It's big." Bringing it to her lips, she made sure he was looking at her as she drew her tiny pink tongue down the slightly sweet, mostly sour tasting popsicle.

Watching her every move, Sonic felt a shiver go down his entire body. He knew she was doing all of this on purpose, but would never get her to admit it. Instead of sitting there like a fool, he tossed the cherry stem aside and made a suggestive move of his own, dragging his tongue very steadily across the top of the snow cone, smacking his lips afterward. "Mmm… This cherry tastes so good. I shouldn't have waited this long to try it."

Coughing in response to the teasing, understanding the implication that the snow cone was her downstairs area, she blushed madly in advance of saying "Oh yeah? How about this?" Circling her tongue around the tip of the ice pop, she winked at him with red cheeks before engulfing a bit over half of it with her mouth, staring right at him all the while.

Sonic nearly fainted as he had to look away in complete embarrassment. "H-Holy crap." He uttered into his hand to try and not let her hear him.

"Mhmm…" Amy proceeded to seduce him before gagging once too much of the popsicle went down her throat. Pulling away from the frozen treat, she sucked up some of the drool that lingered, forming a bridge between the blue raspberry stick and her luscious lips. Clearing her throat with an intense blush on her cheeks, she said. "Maybe I should get the cherry on top next time… I wonder what I can do with it…" She teasingly walked her fingers over to Sonic's leg. "I've heard men like women who can tie a cherry stem in a kno-..."

"THERE THEY ARE!" A voice hollered across the botanical garden in the direction of the flirting duo.

Amy and Sonic both redirected their attention to the yelling, noticing that it was coming from the same man they encountered earlier; the one Sonic bumped into after leaving the fancy restaurant, Little Franche-Comte. He was easily recognized by his human pride handprint tattoo on the upper corner of his forehead as well as his stained t-shirt and ratty pants. Amy didn't get what was happening at all. Sonic had a hunch, but didn't admit it to himself yet, just shocked at what he thought was going on.

The man had five other people with him, all of which appeared to be members that resembled the very same gang which beat him unconscious ten days ago. "That's the motherfucker who got Willis and all those moes' killed!"

"Hey, those guys didn't pay!" The woman in the booth screamed out to the nearest security guards.

Hearing the commotion, an older security guard as well as a younger one responded with their badges and uniforms, attempting to dissuade the gang members from doing whatever it was they were about to do. "Hey! You can't be in here causing trouble!" The older guard commanded with authority in his voice as he removed his nightstick, ready to hit anybody's head with it.

"Shut up, you old bitch!" An older man with a long beard and two handprint tattoos intercepted the security guard, sucker punching him before grabbing his head and slinging him to the ground, knocking him out cold from the sheer momentum of the attack.

Grabbing his radio off his belt, the younger guard communicated for back-up "Code Red at Gate, Call 911!" He shouted into the radio prior to doing his best to avoid getting destroyed by the streetgang, who proceeded to shank him several times with disposable shivs. The brave guard tried pulling his pistol, only to be punched so hard he fell to the ground with a thud next to his older partner.

"CODE RED! EVACUATE THE PARK!" The lady in the booth yelled as people ran away.

Taking both of the security guard's pistols, the gang members return their focus toward sonic. "Don't you move, you son of a bitch!" The leader demanded.

Sonic jumped up from the bench, as did Amy, but neither of them tried to run away since the gangsters were blocking the exit. 'No….' The blue hedgehog mentally cried while trying to stay looking tough on the outside. 'No, no, no, NO! Not here! Not now!' Gritting his teeth, he dropped his snow cone on the ground as his fists tightened.

"I think they just killed that guy, Sonic!" Amy screamed in horror.

"Get behind me…" Sonic ordered, knowing that above all else, he would protect her with his life.

Jogging across the botanical gardens, the thugs approached Sonic as Amy hopped behind the bench, hiding in worry that so many humans were ganging up on them. Aside from the bearded leader, one of them was a giant black bodybuilder who had muscles big enough to crush a skull, a black lady popping bubble gum and two skinny white guys that were clearly related, if not twins, and also obviously on drugs with sores all over them from constant picking. The bearded guy, evidently the leader, aimed his gun at Sonic, keeping it aimed as he got closer. "Well, well, well… If it isn't the speedy blue turd."

"Don't you co-..." Sonic tried to tell them to go away before the leader spat at him while interrupting.

"Shut… the fuck… up." Beardy commanded, his eyes crazy with vengeance. "You killed a quarter of my gang! I don't want to hear anything out of you other than gurgling from choking on your own blood!"

"I didn't kill them!" Sonic screamed, hoping to convince them while knowing it was likely going to be futile.

Sneering ferociously, the leader glanced over at the snitch who informed them of where Sonic and Amy were. "Tommy?!

Tommy, with his stained shirt and crappy jeans, waved off Sonic's explanation, telling his boss what he merely believed to be the truth. "I'm telling you, man. Hulio told me that we got paid to kill him. I was supposed to be there, but I got fucked up on Euphoria that evening and didn't make it there in time. It had to be him because everyone died trying to take him down!"

With their guns still pointed at Sonic, the leader returned his attention to the blue blur. "What do you have to say about that, huh? I'm about to cap you right here, you piece of shit."

"S-Sonic…" Amy whimpered in fear.

"Shut up, bitch!" The leader shouted at Amy.

"HEY!" Sonic bowed up to them with his chest puffed out. "DON'T YOU TALK TO HER LIKE THAT!"

Jumping forward, the big black guy cracked his knuckles. "I'm about to split your shit, you little bastard!"

The black lady popped her bubblegum as she insulted Sonic's kind altogether. "Let's just kill him, Ogi. He's a fuckin' anthro; aint that right ya dicklicker!?"

The bearded leader, Ogi apparently, shook his head as he showed his grit teeth due to the stress of the situation. "Don't you have superspeed? That's what I always hear…" He asked Sonic in a derogatory tone. "I guess you're not so fast anymore after that evil they put inside you, huh?! After all, we managed to get the drop on your ass twice now and I promise you it won't turn out like the last time, whatever the fuck you did to my dudes."

"Don't forget, Leslie." The black chick reminded Ogi. "Bitch was dope!"

"I KNOW THAT!" Beard-o hollered savagely. Sniffling, it drew attention to the white powder beneath his nostrils. "I loved Leslie…" Sniffling again, his hand holding the gun trembled a bit before he refocused himself. "That's one of the reasons why I'm going to kill you!"

Running forward, the buff black guy tried to grab at Sonic's throat. "NOT IF I KILL HIM FIRST! YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!"

"Shijuan! NO!" The leader and black lady tried to get him to stop in spite of the guy already in the process of running at the blue blur.

Sonic stood his ground as the muscleman charged at him full speed. The human looked ferocious while the heroic hedgehog simply stared blankly. However, once the guy got close enough to make physical contact with Sonic, the hedgehog ducked in order to roll underneath him. Jumping upright on the other side of the big man just in time to retaliate by kicking the thug in the back of the legs, taking him down to his knees. Before the human could return to his feet, Sonic used his speed to quickly crack the guy's skull against the cement ground, knocking him unconscious.

"Shoot him!" The leader yelled as they opened fire at Sonic with their pistols, being sure to avoid hitting their down and out ally.

Dodging the bullets to the best of his ability, he ran at the bubblegum girl first, zigzagging to make it harder for them to aim at him. He saw her eyes widen once she realized she was being targeted, but couldn't do anything to stop Sonic as he leapt at her and kicked her square in the chest. Her body responded to the momentum by flying backward, tumbling into one of the bio-luminescent fountains along with her gun.

"Get that little shit!" The leader yelled.

Tommy, the snitch that started all of this ran at Sonic with a knife as well as a gun. Sonic had to roll around to avoid getting shot. Nonetheless, as soon as the opportunity presented itself, he lunged at the leader, bouncing off of him, pushing the bearded boss away to give him a moment to take on Tommy. Since the knife wielding, gun-toting Concrete Junkie was still in pursuit of Sonic, the blue blur made an additional bounce off a nearby potted plant, which slung him right by the thug. Taking the chance due to their proximity, Sonic grabbed the knife out of the guy's hand before the human could react and stabbed him in the throat with it. Tommy automatically attempted to remove the knife, but was already gurgling with blood pooling down his trachea. Sonic, on the other hand, used the gasping thug's body as a shield to hide behind.

"You motherfucker!" The twins said in unison as they shot at Sonic.

Swinging the dying hoodlum's body around to face the twins, the sibling duo wound up littering their companion's torso full of bullets, killing him immediately. The twins acknowledged their horrifying mistake by ceasing their gunfire, yet it was already too late for not only their partner, but also them. Sonic grabbed the pistol out of the dead thug's hand, utilizing it himself to shoot both brothers until the clip was empty. Their bodies fell to the ground as the gun clicked numerous times from Sonic, who continued to pull the trigger in a daze.

"SONIC!" Amy's shriek snapped him back to reality.

Spinning around, letting go of the snitches' dead body, he saw the bearded leader of the Concrete Junkies holding Amy at gunpoint as the pink hedgehog tried hiding behind the bench. Knowing that a wooden bench wouldn't be capable of stopping a bullet, her ears flattened as tears flowed down her cheeks.

"That's right, blue boy…" The bearded leader berated him. "What are you going to do? I've got your lover now."

Sonic walked toward the desperate human leader.

"One step closer and I fill her full of lead!" Beard-o screamed as he held the gun up straighter to indicate he meant business.

"Sonic! Help me!" Amy screamed in terror, fearful that she about to be shot. She was a strong hedgehog girl that had plenty of strength and speed. Nonetheless, she knew she wasn't capable of outmaneuvering a bullet. "Please! I don't want to die!"

Clenching his fists tighter, Sonic couldn't help other than to think that people like these, humans in particular, deserved to be eradicated from existence altogether. Fur on the back of his neck stood on end as he stared wide-eyed daggers at the thug. It was a minute effect, but the leader and Amy both saw sparks of electricity surging throughout the blue hedgehog's fur as well as his quills. He might have been standing still, but the rapidly escalating build-up of energy made it obvious that he was fuming vexation. His lip twitched as he shook his head from the sheer furor brewing within. "Don't you dare…" He commanded in a deeper voice than usual. "If you mess up a single quill on her head… I swear to god, you will cease to exist. This is your only warning; if I were you, I'd take it."

Literally choosing to laugh in the face of Sonic's seriousness, the bully spit a loogie at him. "Son, I don't care what warnings you give me. I'm going to take from you the same that you took from me."

"I already told you…" Sonic calmly replied as he pointed his index finger at the human. "I wasn't responsible for the deaths of your crew."

Using his other hand, the bearded Concrete Junkies leader motioned toward his fallen crew; bubblegum girl, snitch, the twins, big man. All of them laid or floated, defeated from Sonic's attacks. "Look around you. This was all your doing!"

"It happened because you came after me." Sonic hoped to be able to talk sense into the absolutely deranged man. Unfortunately, that rarely works. He didn't really expect it to work in this situation either, he was just out of other ideas.

Blowing a raspberry, the human mocked him by repeating what he said in a derogatory manner. "Because you came after me, mehmehmeh…. Fuck you, Sonic. I'm only here to get you because you killed my crew, now my entire crew. No amount of reasoning or bargaining for your life that you can throw at me will bring them back."

"Let… Her… Go…" Sonic demanded as the roots of his fur abruptly began darkening, becoming a shade of navy blue. "Now."

"Or what?" The bearded psycho tempted the enraged hedgehog as he made well sure to keep his gun aimed directly at the crying Amy. "I'll tell you what…" He chuckled maniacally. "You can either save your kiddie girlfriend, or you can come after me. I know you're not fast enough to do both… So take your pick."

"SONIC!" Amy screamed, desperately concerned for her wellbeing. Tears kept pouring out of her eyes, smearing her make-up she had worked hard to put on for her favourite idol. Regardless, hearing that this jerk was going to make her hero boyfriend choose between saving her life, himself getting shot or taking out the bad guy, her heart began to beat out of her chest. This wasn't at all how she envisioned the night, the first date with her future husband, to end. Now she's about to be shot or watch her Sonikku get killed trying to rescue her.

Sonic glanced over at the incredibly worried hedgehog in order to reassure her, letting her know that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. "It's going to be okay, Amy; everything is going to be alright… I want you to listen to me." He snapped his fingers once he noticed she was too terrified by the sudden ambush as well as the gun being pointed at her. "AMY! Listen to me!"

Still sobbing, Amy's eyes shifted over from the nasty thug holding her hostage to Sonic's dour face. "W-What?" The weeping pink hedgehog stared in confusion as her nerves made her tremble.

Static coursed through Sonic's fur evermore, the zapping sound growing louder the more he narrowed his eyes in anger. "I don't want you to react to what I'm about to do, okay?"

"W-W-What are you gonna do?" Amy asked with a quivering voice as she shook like a leaf, ears completely flat and tail limp.

Laughing at the two lovebirds, the once proud leader of the Concrete Junkies looked back and forth from Amy to Sonic. He knew that something was up, some reason why Sonic was acting so composed in the face of an impending tragedy. There also had to be something that was making the blue blur look as if he was electrified. Sweat dripped from the human's forehead, stinging his eyes as he did a quick scan of the area to make sure nobody else was about to try to interfere. After regaining his attention, he said "You're not going to do anything other than lay down and die in a pool of your own blood. Do you hear me?" Quickly aiming the gun below Amy, firing a warning shot into the wooden bench. "I'M DONE FUCKING AROUND! TAKE YOUR PICK!" He screamed at Sonic as Amy screamed in horror. "ME OR HER!?"

Sonic closed his eyes for a moment as he let out a frustrated sigh. Upon opening them, with what sounded like a clap of thunder and a bright flash, the blue hedgehog ran forth into the midst of where the bullet would be fired. The bearded leader reacted to the movement as quickly as his human brain could send a signal to his finger, making it pull the trigger on the pistol. The sound of the gun as it fired; the bullet flying through the barrel, the noise of combustion, it all mixed in with the boom made by the blue blur. Amy's eyes barely started to widen, hardly having time to react to the sound of the gunshot or awareness that she was about to be killed by a bullet currently soaring through the air. Sonic, however, wasted no time in expending all of his energy to reach her as fast as possible. When it became clear he wouldn't make it to her in time to push her out of the way of the bullet, he made a rushed life or death decision to jump in front of it, selflessly allowing it to pierce his shoulder so that it wouldn't hit her.

"GHAAAA!" Sonic hollered in agony as he took the bullet in the shoulder.

"SONIC!" Amy screamed so loud her voice broke.

Thankfully, the injury wasn't enough to stop him and once beard-o saw that, his facial expressions warped into surprise. Sonic, on the other hand, snarled with ferocious anger prior to dashing at the criminal leader with such speed that his body seemed to be a series of afterimages too blurry to comprehend. The electricity surging through Sonic's fur crackled in his own ears. For a split moment, he could smell ozone as he tore through the atmosphere by moving so quickly. At one point, his feet came off the ground and he merely kept propelling himself forward through momentum as well as some sort of raw indomitable willpower.

"What the-" Was all the leader had time to say.

Sonic warned the guy that he would cease to exist if he tried to hurt Amy. Holding himself to that, the super hedgehog curled his arms and feet, ducking his head to form the shape of a ball. Impacting the degenerate with such immense velocity, observers from the outside bore witness as it appeared as if the human violently exploded into heavy gore. Sonic had hit him so hard at such a high speed that the human's whole body detonated like an organic bomb. Chunks of what were once the human's organs and muscles splattered on the nearby ground, in a potted plant, in a fountain, on the bench as well as some in Amy's quills. An eye and several fingers were stuck in between the planks of the bench. To top it off, it was as if a water balloon had popped or a giant bag of red water bursted; the human's blood was sprayed out in all directions.

Landing behind the solid red circle where he had obliterated the bearded leader, covered in warm blood and entrails, Sonic took a knee for a moment as his ears rang incessantly. Every vein in his body pulsed, straining against the surface of his skin as his heart pumped rapidly. Looking at his arms, seeing the blood all over him, he noticed his hands were clenched shut. Upon releasing his fists, he saw that he had actually completely severed the man's spine as he tore through his body at the speed of light. Letting go of the bone, he wiped the blood off his face and tried to squeeze it from his dripping quills. As his pulse gradually returned to normal from the enemy being destroyed, the zapping bolts in his fur diminished until utterly vanishing.

Amy, on the other hand, was totally traumatized by the guts and gore, especially that which was on her or in her quills. Her pupils were the size of pinpricks as her eyes stayed wide open, mouth ajar. Shaking from fright, all she could do was let out a bloodcurdling scream of dread. "WUAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! OH MY GOD!"

Sirens in the distance quickly converged on their position. The marching of boots reverberated amongst the botanical garden. From the entrance of Twinkle Park came fourteen of the nation's finest. Members of the Station Square Police Department finally arrived in full force. Officers were dressed in their usual attire, with blue fatigues, combat boots, helmets and tactical vests along with badges or patches proving they were officials. Instead of pistols, however, they came with assault carbines, prepared to tackle gang activity.

"THIS IS THE POLICE!" One of the police officers yelled into their megaphone. "EVERYBODY GET DOWN ON THE GROUND NOW!"

Amy immediately raised her hands seeing their overwhelming force, but all Sonic had to do was look in their direction and they knew he had killed a person, the blood all over him a dead give away. Once they quickly examined the crime scene, they saw the explosion of blood and guts on the ground where Sonic had made that guy burst along with the dead bodies of the snitch, bubble gum girl, the twins and the big man. Despite knowing that he is their city's own hero, putting one and one together, they all knew it was obviously the blue blur who had done such a thing.

"SONIC THE HEDGEHOG! DO NOT MOVE! PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!" The cop with the megaphone ordered as the rest of them aimed the lasers of their assault carbines at the blood soaked hedgehog.

Glancing back at Amy, Sonic frowned. Looking around at all the dead bodies, then seeing the blood stain on the ground that used to be the Concrete Junkie's leader, he felt as though he hadn't done anything other than prove Eggman was right all along. Sonic hadn't protected his friends, he put them in harm's way and was barely able to stop criminal lowlifes from killing the only woman he'd ever loved. In his mind, he pondered if he should just leave the city, to get out of the region entirely. In spite of those thoughts, his body did as was told for the time being and gradually lifted his hands to his head.

"GOOD!" The megapone officer responded. "NOW TURN AROUND! SLOWLY GET ON THE GROUND, FLAT, WITH YOUR HANDS STILL ON YOUR HEAD!"

Sonic stopped after turning around, facing Amy to look her in the eyes. With his hands on his head, he shed a tear. Holding his arms up, the wound on his shoulder also began to bleed as his muscles pushed around the bullet still embedded in it.

"S-Sonic?" Amy fretted as she saw a look in his eye she recognized, an urge to run.

His breathing deepened as he stared at her. Shaking his head, he said. "I'm sorry, Amy."

"No, Sonic don't!" Amy pleaded with him.

The blue blur's eyes shimmered with tears before he sped away from her and the scene of the crime so fast that the police barely had time to react. A few of the officers tried to adjust their aim or even grab at him; one even fired off a round in an attempt to incapacitate him, but they were unable to so much as touch him. Before any of them knew it, the hedgehog had passed by all of them, run out of Twinkle Park, hopped on the roof of a police car and bounced himself up to an awning of a building.

Running along the awning of the building, he saw the ledge where the rows of windows to places of business were. Jumping up on the ledge, he shimmied along that and then pulled himself up on the rooftop. Leaping across to the next roof, he heard a few police officers still yelling for him. Paying them no mind, he kept running until he had to return to the ground as the building had run out of rooftop space. Using an inflatable tire display for a local auto shop beneath him, he hopped onto it, slid down and took off sprinting once again. Pain from all that he had done forced him to hold onto his bleeding shoulder. Now, without police hot on his trail, he was free to make his escape from the location in order to nurse his wound. He just knew he had to avoid anymore police since they would most likely be on the lookout for him now. "I… Hate… This… CITY!"