Sorry the update took longer than expected but hey, I've done worse :) Thank you to Lightning The Fox, Delta 2-1, RANDY and SilverDawn for your reviews.
Hope you enjoy chapter 3!

Chapter 3 – It's A Deal

Amy eyed the robot that was now too close to her for comfort. She held up her fists, hoping that her strength would be enough to help her. She took a deep breath, drew back her hand and slammed a punch into the robot's solid metal body. It did nothing. A bolt of pain shot up her arm and she let out a yell. She clutched her aching hand and cradled it gently, wincing with the pain. Suddenly Sonic was beside her.

"I thought you'd done this before," he said worriedly.

"I have," she insisted. "But... I'm used to holding a weapon."

Sonic looked around the floor and spotted a hard, metal rod from one of the fallen robots. He quickly picked it up and threw it to her. "How's that?" he asked.

"Perfect!" she grinned.

.

A newfound confidence surged through Amy's body as she clutched the rod tightly in her hand. This would be a cinch now. She swung it into the robot, and with a harsh, scraping sound it toppled backwards onto the floor. She quickly jumped on top of it and plunged the rod into its metal chest, repeatedly whacking it. "That's what you get when you go around trashing the city!" she shrieked.

Sonic and Tails had destroyed the rest of the robots, and they couldn't help but stare at her. Even Eggman looked as though he thought she was crazy. She gave the metal creature beneath her feet a final strike for good measure, and threw the rod behind her, smiling triumphantly.

.

With a growl of defeat and several empty threats, Eggman manoeuvred his hovercraft back into the sky, until he was out of sight. Amy sauntered up to her two cohorts, pushing her sunglasses up her nose. They were still watching her with cautious suspicion in their eyes, as if she was a wild animal about to attack. The awkwardness was surrounding her again. She tried to look confident, pausing as she decided what to say. "Did I or did I not kick ass," she said, sounding a lot more victorious than she now felt.

Tails took a fleeting glance back at the destroyed robot. "Erm... yeah," he said.

Sonic grinned at her, losing his uneasiness. "Not bad," he said. "Once you had a weapon in your hand you were pretty strong. But why can't you fight with your fists?"

.

Amy sighed. "I've never tried, so I'm out of practice. That's why I asked for your help, but since you ignored it..." She trailed off, folding her arms again.

Sonic's head jerked as he suddenly stared in her. He watched her closely, as if scanning her.

"What?" said Amy, feeling edgy. She shifted anxiously.

Sonic straightened. "Nothing," he said, snapping out of his trance. "It's just the way you said that. It reminded me of something."

Amy blinked, surprised. She was sure for a moment there that he... No. He had no idea who she was. She barely had time to consider it properly as the sound of flapping wings could be heard above the trio. They glanced upwards, and Rouge swooped down to join them on the ground. The bat placed her hand on her hip, looking smug as always. It was that particular look that always meant that she'd just finished irritating Knuckles, as she loved to do. She observed the steaming wreckages of the robots, observing the damage done.

"Looks like I've been missing some action," she commented.

"You only missed Eggman getting his butt kicked," Sonic said, grinning. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

.

Rouge slowly turned away from the ruins, allowing her gaze to reach him, then Tails, and her eyebrows rose as she noticed Amy. She watched her for a moment. "Who's this?" she said finally.

"Oh, this is Andy. We met him earlier," Sonic replied.

Rouge was silent again as she regarded the pink hedgehog. "Oh, really?" she murmured quietly. "Nice to meet you... Andy."

For some reason Amy felt trapped under Rouge's constant gaze. She nodded, attempting to look nonchalant. Rouge eventually smiled, but it was proud rather than friendly.

"Where are you from, Andy?" she asked.

"Err... just around here. Mobius," said Amy quickly.

Rouge looked interested again as she heard Amy's low voice and she folded her arms. "Say, boys," she said smoothly, "Why don't you let me and Andy here have a little chat?"

.

Sonic and Tails looked at them both and turned around, walking in the opposite direction to give them some privacy. Rouge watched them go, and as soon as they were out of earshot, she turned back to face Amy again.

"I'm not just a pretty face," she said. "In fact, I'm probably smarter than those two put together. But I can't help feeling a little confused. Why are you pretending to be a guy?"

Amy felt herself redden. She couldn't believe Rouge had seen right through her disguise! "I don't know what you're talking about!" she exclaimed. "I am a guy."

.

Rouge smirked. "Amy. Surely you don't think I'll buy that?" she said. "I'm surprised that Sonic and Tails haven't found you out yet. Is it another one of your schemes to get Sonic?"

Amy frowned. "No," she said stubbornly. "I just... Well... Kind of. Was it really that obvious who I was?"

Rouge considered this. "Not to other people," she said. "But then I've got more sense than those two. And I used to work for the government so I'm trained to recognise that kind of thing." She glanced back at Sonic and Tails. "So, are you going to tell them who you really are? Or maybe I should?"

"No!" Amy cried out in alarm. "No, Rouge, you can't!"

.

"I think you'll find I can," the bat replied, with a devious glint in her eye. "Unless of course you have a Chaos Emerald."

Amy's eyes narrowed as she realised what Rouge was trying to do. "No, I don't!" she snapped. "As if I would have any! And if I did I wouldn't give it to you!"

"Then I suppose I should tell them-"

"No! Don't!"

"You have a Chaos Emerald?"

Amy bit her lip, realising that it was a losing battle. Without a Chaos Emerald, she didn't have much to offer. Then she had an idea. "I'll get you and Knuckles together," she said. "If you help me act as a boy, I'll make sure of it that he asks you out."

Rouge looked surprised, but she regained her composure, forcing a laugh. "You think that a date with that Knucklehead is worth a Chaos Emerald? Ha! I'd rather date a blade of grass!" she said, crossing her arms again.

.

Now it was Amy's turn to smirk. "Oh, please. It's so obvious that you like him," she teased. "And you know what he's like; he'll take ages to ask you, so I can set it up for you!"

"I don't want to be with him," Rouge insisted. She tilted her head up with defiance, but she eyed Amy curiously. "But out of interest, could you seriously do that?" she said slowly.

Amy's confidence boosted. "Of course! I'm a boy now, remember?" She gestured to herself. "It's like an access pass. I can influence these sorts of things."

Rouge relaxed a little. "It would be fun to get him away from that big old rock of his," she admitted.

.

She indicated towards the spot where Sonic and Tails were standing, as Knuckles suddenly joined the scene, panting. He looked wildly around the area, quickly speaking to his two friends with a scowl on his face. His eyes fell upon Rouge and he let out a growl.

"Hey!" he bellowed. "You think you can just run away from me?"

Rouge let a sideways smile creep up her lips. "See what I mean?" she said. She looked Amy in the eye for a moment. "Alright," she said finally. "I'll play along for now. But only so I can see the look on Knuckles's face when…" She paused. "You do realise how I have to act if you're a guy, right?" she said cautiously.

.

Amy shook her head, before her eyes widened. "Oh! Oh, ew!" she cried. "Rouge! You can't flirt with me! That's weird! It's unnatural. Ugh, what would Sonic say? What would he think of me then?" she rambled.

"He'd think that you're a ladies' man," Rouge said. "And that's what you want him to think otherwise this whole plan of yours will be useless."

Amy took in a deep breath. "You're right," she said. "Fine. Let's do this, but don't go over the top or I'll freak!"

Rouge let out a low, dangerous laugh. "Okay, Pinky. We'll see." Her smile widened as she noticed Knuckles watching her with 'Andy', and his brow furrowed even more. She sauntered back to the three heroes, with Amy somewhat nervously following.

.

Knuckles was still glaring as they approached the trio, and he observed Amy. She suddenly felt very small. Why did she get the sense that he was mad at her? Normally Amy would be defiant and demand what was the matter with him, but of course not only was he unaware of who she was, she also felt extremely awkward knowing that she had to act… attracted to Rouge. She fought a shudder as she remembered that.

'I have to do this,' she thought. 'Ugh, it's painful, but… this is for Sonic. I'll do anything to make this work.' She glanced at the pearly white bat, who looked confident, as always.

"Hi there, Knuckie," Rouge drawled. "I thought you said you'd had enough of me, but you followed me all the way out here?" She chuckled. "I guess what you really meant was that you couldn't get enough."

.

The echidna blushed and clenched his fists. "I only followed you here to teach you a lesson!" he roared. "Stay away from the Master Emerald!"

Rouge tossed her head back and laughed. "I don't want your boring old rock. Besides, I have a new friend," she purred. She slipped her arm around Amy's waist, who stiffened. "This is Andy," said Rouge. "He's really quite the charmer."

All three of the males' mouths dropped open in shock. Knuckles turned his nose up in the air, trying to look disinterested. Sonic laughed at him, his gaze switching between the bat and the echidna. Tails just stared at Rouge and Amy in disbelief.

"Really?" he said in astonishment.

.

Sonic laughed again at Tails's shameless doubt that 'Andy' was a 'charmer'. "Didn't know you were such a ladies' man, Andy!" he said, biting his lip to fight off more laughter at Knuckles's expression.

Amy felt her face become heated but she slowly moved her arm around Rouge's shoulders. "Yeah, all the ladies love me," she said, forcing a grin. "It's hard to keep 'em back sometimes!"

Knuckles frowned. "Well it's not so hard to attract someone like Rouge," he muttered.

Rouge just laughed, but it sounded almost like a hiss through her teeth. "Don't be jealous, Knuckles. Just because you can't even attract a fly."

"Jealous?" he cried, fuming. "At least I'm not desperate!" He turned to Amy. "Believe me, I don't want anything to do with her," he spat.

.

With that, he stormed off, leaving the other four posed in an awkward silence.

"Don't worry about old Knucklehead," said Sonic, grinning at Amy in reassurance. "He's a hot-head but he's actually pretty soft when you get to know him."

Rouge smirked. "Pfft. Andy's not bothered. He's far too sophisticated for that," she purred.

"Yep. Sophisticated… That's me," said Amy, slightly uncomfortable.

Sonic chuckled, though he looked a little surprised. "I guess I'll let you two get back to… 'getting to know each other'," he snickered. "Tails, you can show me that other invention you told me about."

The fox nodded excitedly. "Yeah! Erm… nice to meet you, Andy," he said. He nodded at Rouge, before propelling his tails to lift him into the air, and he flew off in the direction of his workshop.

.

Sonic got ready to race after him. "Yeah, good to meet ya," he said, smiling at Amy. "Maybe I'll see you again sometime." He gave both girls a small wave. "Later, guys!" he called. He zoomed into the distance, leaving the two girls alone once more.

Amy and Rouge removed their arms from each other, and Amy took off her sunglasses, shaking her head.

"That… was awkward," she said.

Rouge folded her arms. "Honey, if you're gonna make up weird plans then you've got to do weird things," she said. "Besides, thanks to me, they think you're a lot more macho now."

"That'll make things easier," Amy admitted. She wasn't too happy accepting help from Rouge but she didn't have much choice. "What should I do now?"

Rouge pondered this for a moment. "You need to get into contact with the rest of your friends. As Andy, I mean. But not today," she said slowly. "You don't want to be too obvious. Just go home and rest, and tomorrow we can start some real action."

Amy nodded. "Right. Thanks, Rouge." She smiled at the bat. "I won't forget my end of the deal, either," she giggled. Before Rouge could argue against that remark, Amy waved at her and ran off back to her house, smiling excitedly the whole way.

I know you shouldn't like things in your own stories, but I can't help enjoying the part where Amy mentions the ignoring thing and Sonic stares at her... dum dum dumm... (tension music) :D There'll be more moments like that to come!
When will Sonic and the others discover Amy's abscene? All will be revealed. (well... some, not all)
Anyway, hope you liked it. Reviews are greatly appreciated. :)