Fanfiction is property of Josh Kovatch, 2008.
Sonic and Amy
Best of Friends
Chapter 3: How Could Things Get Worse?
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Oh no... Oh please no...
That was what the blue hedgehog thought when he had rocketed down another ramp and found that the Little Planet's terrain had changed once again... Into a watery landscape.
"Why here? Why does water have to be in my path, of all things?" Sonic said aloud to himself.
He looked down the side of a stone wall descending into a body of water, giving him chills simply by looking at it.
Now what do I do? I can't go through water... How can I get to Amy?
Meanwhile, from another part of the planet, the fat scientist whom Sonic had just dispatched was watching from his lab, now bitterly happy at Sonic's current predicament.
"Heh heh heh... Good, now this is sweet..."
Behind Eggman, Metal Sonic stood next to the cage that still held Amy, who was looking at the screen that showed Sonic frozen at the edge of the cliff going into the water.
Amy had been fairly quiet now, not wanting to be put to sleep again so she could watch Sonic. But now, she felt a growing dread about why Sonic had stopped.
"Why isn't he moving? What's wrong?" Amy asked aloud, not thinking anyone would know or want to tell her.
However, Eggman did respond, saying, "I'm afraid your friend, child, has met once again with his nemesis, and it isn't me... It's the life giving fluid of water."
"Water? What are you saying?"
"Sonic is not able to swim, so as you might imagine, he is deathly afraid of water."
Amy gasped softly, so as not to irk Metal Sonic, but her face displayed her true fear for Sonic now. However, she felt in her heart the same faith and care about him grow stronger than ever.
"No matter what he faces, Sonic wouldn't give up. Even if he can't swim, he'll find his way through and rescue me."
Eggman turned to the pink hedgehog and snickered, "Well, your faith is strong, but it's going to be a very surprising matter if Sonic can get through Tidal Tempest."
"Well, I don't think it'll be surprising. I know it will happen."
Eggman looked curiously at the girl, who had closed her eyes, her face sad but resolute.
What could these two hedgehogs have developed in the incredibly miniscule amount of time they were together? It doesn't seem logical. Then again, these feelings really are never logical.
Eggman, however, didn't let this cloud his vision, and, instead, just turned back to the screen to see that Sonic was still stuck on the edge of the precipice.
Indeed, very stuck.
"Man, I've gotta find a way past this," Sonic said, though he was losing hope by the second.
Then, he looked straight ahead and his face lit up as he saw another column, not too far from the one he was standing on.
Alright! There we go!
Not only was there another pillar to jump to, but there were multiple ones, a bridge all the way over the waters.
Great! Hang on, Amy! I'm not washed up yet!
Glad that no one heard his cheesy pun, and smirking to himself, Sonic backed up a bit and ran for the edge of the cliff.
Back in the lab, Amy watched this and gasped when she saw Sonic jump from the wall.
Please be alright, Sonic.
But as the camera that was secretly chasing Sonic changed angles, Amy breathed a sigh of relief and gladness when she saw that he was heading for the bridge of pillars.
"Yes! I knew he would find a way!" Amy cheered, getting an irate look from Metal Sonic.
Eggman saw this and told the robot, "Just be calm, Metal Sonic. Our fast friend might find himself in a... how shall I say... collapsing situation."
Amy looked again at Eggman, and then she screamed, "Don't you DARE hurt Sonic! I will make you hurt so much, you'll be sorry you ever met me!!"
Eggman only chortled at Amy, and turned back to his control panel and pushed a couple of buttons.
Amy watched in fear that nearly made her sick. She couldn't stand to watch Eggman plot against Sonic and she couldn't do anything about it. She watched the screen intently to see what would happen.
Sonic kept on going, hopping from column to column across the water beneath him.
"This is great! I can make it all the way through this place without even touching the water!"
However, he soon found himself eating his words, when he hit the next platform and felt it start to crumble under his feet.
"Huh?!! OH NO!!"
Sonic picked up his blinding pace, racing across the tops of the pillars towards another cliff, which was some ways away from where he was standing.
The blue hedgehog kept jumping over the waters as fast as he could, each time landing on a pillar that was breaking apart as he jumped on it. However, he didn't take more than a split second to land on the pillar and jump from it.
Almost there! Come on! I can do this!
Amy, from the lab, was thinking the same thing.
You're so close, Sonic. Don't fall! You're nearly there!
Sonic felt he heard these words, and it gave him the nerve to make the last jump, and he'd be out of this nasty part of the planet.
He leaped from the final pillar, which had nearly disintegrated when he jumped, and he felt he didn't get enough push off of it.
I'm gonna make it. I've gotta make it!
But to his great misfortune, Sonic felt himself descending too early, and he saw his safety was going out of his reach. He felt horrible dread sweep through him as he came ten feet short of the cliff and fell towards the water.
"NOOOOO!!!!!" Amy cried out as she watch Sonic falling towards the water, Eggman hooting and Metal Sonic chuckling evilly.
The blue hedgehog himself felt his breath catch in his throat as he fell and inevitably hit the water, having reached the side of the cliff as he hit the water. The huge splash rang out from above him as he sank down like a rock.
Sonic's face reflected both terror and grief as he plunged deeper into the water, fearing not only for himself but for Amy all the while.
No, please, not here. I can't fail Amy. I need one more chance.
He turned over in the water and looked at the approaching bottom, which could be his grave.
Wait... Is that... a spring board?!
As if his plea had been heard, Sonic saw he was falling slowly towards a springboard under water.
He came close and, even though Sonic felt his air nearly run out, he remained high-spirited. Finally, he hit the spring and he went rushing through the water, flying all the way back through the object of his fear.
Amy had been looking on, her hands clasped together in front of her, and she whispered, "Please... Don't leave me, Sonic. I believe in you."
And to show her he knew, Sonic broke through the surface of the water on the screen and soared up towards the edge of the cliff.
"Oh Sonic! He did it!!" Amy cheered, overwhelmingly relieved and overjoyed.
"Hmmph," Eggman grunted, while Metal Sonic drummed his fingers on his arm as he watched Sonic fly up to the top of the cliff and come to rest.
Sonic looked back down at the water and the way he had came, which was completely destroyed now.
Man, that was close. I'm glad that spring got there. Otherwise I wouldn't have seen Amy again.
Eggman back in his lab, said to himself, "Those springs in the water. I knew they might have afforded Sonic another chance to stop me. Well, I'll make sure he doesn't get another shot at me again!"
Eggman then began mashing buttons on his control panel, ordering robots to go and dispose of the remaining spring boards.
Amy, seeing this, thought, Please be careful Sonic. I need to see you again.
Sonic then looked forward to the next challenge and felt Amy's thoughts, and his own were, I know Amy. I need to see you, too. I promise I'll make it.
With that, Sonic darted forward to the next part of the Little Planet.
He saw with increasing worry, however, that the terrain didn't seem to be changing at all, which meant that...
As he reached another precipice, he saw that, across the chasm was a dead end, and all that was below was...
"Nooooo.... Not more water...."
Eggman saw this and blurted, "AHA!! Can't get around it now, eh?!"
Amy, however, saw this and wasn't afraid, thinking, Sonic, I know you won't let anything stand between us. You'll find some way, I know you will.
Sonic's resolve was renewed as he felt this, and he stood strong at the edge, trying to find a way to make it through, since it was now apparent he would have to go into the water. After a moment, he soon found what he was looking for to overcome this task.
It was on the other side of the precipice, and Sonic quickly jumped over to it. As he came closer, he saw its luster, as if it was glowing.
Wait, it IS glowing.
He picked up the small glowing capsule, smaller than his little finger, and suddenly, it started to expand in his hand.
Hold on, it's... expanding around my hand!
In fact, it was expanding around Sonic's entire body, encasing him.
"Oh wow! It's a shield! And I bet it could work in the water!"
The shield had formed what was actually a second skin around him, keeping anything but oxygen out.
(A/N: I know that this is far from the actual shield in the game, but it would seem odd for a computer to be just laying around in this kind of place and breaking it gives you a shield. So... I went for a little more plausible approach.)
With a deep breath, Sonic jumped from the precipice towards the water, and Amy, watching from the lab, followed him with her eyes as he dropped towards the water, her hands clasped once again.
The camera followed him this time into the water, and to Amy's and Sonic's relief, the shield proved to work.
YES!! The two hedgehogs thought as Sonic fell towards the bottom of the water chamber, still breathing through the shield.
As Sonic touched the bottom of the chamber, he began to plow through the water, using his hands to half hop through the water.
"He's so amazing! He can get past any obstacle!" Amy said delighted.
"Any obstacle, eh?" Eggman questioned, with a devious note in his voice.
"DON'T even!" Amy threatened, staring daggers at Eggman.
"Hmm, well, I wonder, what would happen if Sonic were to reach the last part of this underwater maze, a climb up through the water, and he lost his shield?"
"If you set a trap, I will rip apart this cage and you too!" Amy growled.
"Well, do as you so desire. However, I think I'll still set the trap."
Amy watched helplessly as Eggman pushed more buttons, and she gripped the bars of her cage, and suddenly, her entire countenance changed.
"Please, don't hurt him. Can't you please just let us both go? We just want to see each other again."
Eggman, despite the fact he was still pushing buttons, turned a bit to see Amy in the corner of his eye. Her face was pleading and hopeful, surprisingly so from how she looked just a second ago.
Eggman turned back and sighed. He then pushed another button, but to Amy's dismay, the spigots in the chamber opened again and sprayed the sleeping gas.
"No... Please... I just want to be with him..."
Amy muttered these last things as she fell to the ground, falling fast asleep again as the gas took effect. Her eyes were filled with worry, and they closed as she said once last time...
"Please..."
Then, with Amy asleep once more, Eggman then said, "If I had left that girl awake, I might have actually let Sonic and her go. Her plea to be friends with Sonic is unlike anything I would expect from a girl like her."
"You can't possibly be moved by that runt's words!" Metal Sonic then protested, "I'm standing here ready to shoot myself!"
"Enough, Metal Sonic. It's something you can't understand, since you don't know about all the feelings of organic creatures."
Metal Sonic didn't speak anymore, and Eggman just looked at the screen again, and thought, I'm here to get my revenge, and there's nothing anyone will say to me that will change my mind.
Eggman then pushed one more button and looked grimly back at the screen, watching the blue hedgehog wade through the watery maze.
Sonic had been trekking through the water as fast as he could, the relatively thick medium keeping him from going very fast. However, he was determined, and knew that, as long as he had his shield, he would be able to get out of here.
Finally, after going through a dozen water filled tunnels, he came out into a large chamber, still filled with water. Sonic looked up to see that the surface of the water was about 50 feet above him.
All I need to do is keep jumping and I think I can get the momentum to get up there.
So Sonic pushed off from the floor and went up 20 feet on the first jump. He sank back down and then pushed off again, with extra speed from the descent. He went up 35 feet this time, and he knew he could get there. Another time he fell, and this time, when he jumped, he nearly reached the surface, going up through the water about 45 feet.
Sonic was coming back down from the top of the chamber when suddenly, he heard a rumbling explosion, even though he was in the water. He shot his eyes upwards and saw, with unbridled horror, that the ceiling had cracked and huge chunks of rock were falling down at him!
NO! NOT NOW!!!
Sonic reached the bottom of the chamber again as the first boulders reached the bottom as well. He used this to his advantage, and he jumped on one of the boulders that had already settled on the floor of the chamber. With a quick push, he flew through the water 10 feet high, and then landed on another of the falling rocks. He pushed off of this one too, and was up 25 feet. He was nearing the next chunk when all of a sudden, another fell fast from the ceiling, sliced through the water, and knocked Sonic on the head, shattering the shield!
Sonic couldn't gasp underwater, but he felt something like a lead weight fall into his stomach as the hit in the head pushed him back down into the water, dazing him.
No more debris was falling, but the blue hedgehog, barely able to concentrate, had dropped all the way back to the bottom of the chamber.
"BINGO!! Finally! That hedgehog is finally out of my hair!" Eggman gloated in his lab, Metal Sonic clapping almost sarcastically from behind him.
However, something unusual but incredible was happening behind Eggman. In the cage, Amy was still asleep, but her face was instantly enveloped by sorrow and fear. Her hands quivered, and her breathing became shallow.
"SONIC!! PLEASE!! DON'T LEAVE ME!!!"
The blue hedgehog opened his eyes in the chamber, but now, it was oddly dark. He looked up through the water, which was reaching down to extinguish the life of the hedgehog, and he saw, descending to him...
"Amy..."
The pink hedgehog reached him and placed her soft hands on his face, staring deep into his eyes. Amy didn't seem to be affected by the water. Her face trembled with pain as she looked upon Sonic so close to death.
"Please... Don't give up... Find the strength inside of you... I know it's there. Please... I need you..."
At that moment, Amy suddenly sobbed, and her eyes, despite being in the water, then flooded with tears, and she cried over him.
"Amy..."
As this dream Amy cried in the water near Sonic, the one in the lab lay asleep, tears streaming down her face.
In the chamber, the dream Amy said one last thing.
"I want to be with you... Please.... Embrace me...."
And suddenly, the dream Amy disappeared, and the real one woke up with a start.
Still lying on the bottom of the watery chamber, having only been knocked out ten seconds ago, Sonic burst awake, and from an unknown recess in his body, Sonic stood up and found what he needed to break free of his watery fate.
Sonic pushed off the floor again, but this time, he kicked his legs in a rhythmic motion. He cupped his hands, extended them out in front of him, and pushed the water past him.
He didn't know how he did it after he had done it, but Sonic swam up to the surface of the water and jumped out onto the platform next to the water, gasping for breath.
In the lab, Amy saw this, and her own tears became soft ones of joy. She put her hands to her heart and murmured, "We were meant to be, Sonic. There's nothing that will stand between the two of us. And I wait for the moment when we will embrace."
Then, not on the Little Planet anymore, but back in the present, the two hedgehogs were still lying together on the couch.
"That was one of the most frightening moments I've ever had," Sonic told Amy, who he was holding tenderly and lovingly.
"It was for me, too. But if it wasn't for our love, we wouldn't be sitting here, in the arms of the one we love so much."
Sonic smiled warmly at Amy and brought her face close and kissed her again. Amy crooned at the touch of his lips, and she moved hers to kiss him back.
They gently pulled apart their lips, going back once to give each other a short, soft kiss again, and Amy whispered, "Do you remember what happened next?"
"Of course. It was one of the hardest fights I had before I saved you."
"Mmm, that's right. Oh Sonic, could you please kiss me just one more time before we continue?"
Sonic winked at Amy and brushed her nose with his, and, with their eyes still open, they pressed their lips together again, enjoying the softness of the other's lips and the unity of their beating hearts.
Amy couldn't keep herself from loving Sonic so much that she had to wrap her arms around Sonic's neck and pull him deeper into the kiss. Their tongues joined and swirled as they passionately made out, pouring their affection into each other as they loved the other.
Finally, their tongues withdrew and they slowly parted lips again, and they smiled into each other's eyes before cuddling up together again and continuing the story.
Eggman now looked at the blue hedgehog, who was now preparing to delve deeper into Tidal Tempest, and the scientist muttered, "I'll have to take this into my own hands once again."
And even before Amy could protest, Metal Sonic was the first to say, "No, Doctor! Let me take him out!"
"Not yet, my loyal minion. We still have time to employ you in destroying that hedgehog. For now, I'm going to try my hand at getting rid of him myself."
And with that, Eggman strode out of the lab, leaving Metal Sonic steamed and Amy scared.
"I won't be so loyal for long, Eggman!" Metal Sonic growled, not caring that Amy was awake to hear him.
Amy then ventured so far as to ask Metal Sonic, "Why do you have to be evil? You're based on Sonic, aren't you? Couldn't you be a little more like him and-"
"SHUT UP!!" Metal Sonic roared without turning to Amy.
Amy didn't try to plead with the robot again, though Metal Sonic was mildly affected by her. Though not exactly in the way that she would have liked.
"If I'm going to be anything like Sonic, I'm not going to let others be superior to me! Enough of being ordered around by Eggman!"
"Wait! That's not what Sonic is-" Amy started, but Metal Sonic turned and commanded the spigots incapacitate Amy again.
"No... Don't do this..." Amy tried, but was asleep far too fast to do anything to the cold robot.
Metal Sonic looked deviously at the pink hedgehog and thought, "Now, with you as bait, I can force Sonic to challenge me, and then I'll destroy him myself."
Metal Sonic then quickly ripped open the bars of the cage and threw Amy over his metallic shoulder, quickly exiting to head for another part of the Little Planet.
Sonic continued running through Tidal Tempest, surprised and relieved to find that it was dry for the moment. However, his mood soon changed when he saw Eggman floating just ahead of him.
"Eggman! I've got you now!"
Sonic blasted as fast as he could as the scientist, but was unable to reach him as Eggman said, "Yes, that's right, just follow me."
The scientist, in his pod, floated down a vertical tunnel, which Sonic quickly followed him through.
The scientist reached the bottom, still dry, and the hedgehog landed just behind him, having descended 60 feet and not hurt at all. Eggman had apparently reached a dead end and was now trapped.
"Give me Amy, Eggman!"
Eggman turned around in his pod, which suddenly enclosed Eggman within a glass shield, and Eggman chuckled, "I would, Sonic, that is, if you weren't so... wet behind the ears!"
At that moment, Eggman pushed a button in his pod, and the wall behind Eggman suddenly rose up, and a torrent of water gushed out from the opening doorway.
"WHAT?!" Sonic yelled out as he was hit with the water hard, forced against the wall as Eggman pushed his way through the flow into another chamber.
Sonic had been instantly submerged, though the blue hedgehog was not worried too much, as he looked down and smiled at a little blue capsule in his hand.
"HAHAHAHA! I did it! I got rid of Sonic finally!" Eggman cheered within his pod.
"Not quite!"
Eggman grunted with confusion and then was struck at the sight he beheld.
Sonic was alive, underwater!
"B-but, how?!"
Sonic smiled up at Eggman and said, "Good thing I found more than one shield."
"Grr.. Fine then! If you wanna fight, I'll give you a fight! But it'll be the last one you're ever in!"
Eggman then pushed more buttons and deployed a turret and as well as a shield of his own, a collection of air bubbles surrounding the pod he was in.
"Just try and find a hole in my ship!" Eggman challenged.
"Okay."
Sonic immediately launched himself from the floor with a hard push and rammed the bubbles of Eggman's shield. However, the bubbles had very high tension, and he found himself bounced back just like back in Collision Chaos.
"HA! There's no way you'll find a way through, Sonic!"
Indeed, the place where Sonic had hit and popped bubbles was now covered by neighboring bubbles. Not only that, but the turret on Eggman's ship was now shooting relatively slow moving shots at Sonic.
"No matter what, I will beat you!" Sonic yelled.
And with that, Sonic quickly jumped out of the way of the shots and made another attempt at Eggman's ship. Once again, he just bounced off as more bubbles popped, and were filled in by the ones around them.
Eggman kept firing the turret as best he could, though he realized the flaw in his strategy. He couldn't see very well through the bubble shield.
Because of this, Eggman was just following Sonic vaguely, shooting around where Sonic should be without any precise aiming.
Sonic saw this and was happy to be out of trouble for the moment. He kept up his attack, popping more and more bubbles as he jumped around Eggman's pod. Soon, the shield was beginning to have some holes in it from the lack of coverage since many bubbles were being popped.
However, the longer Sonic took and the more bubbles he popped, the better Eggman's aim was.
Sonic noticed this too, as the bullets began to become harder to dodge and weave around to hit Eggman's ship. He kept up for as long as he could, trying to break through to Eggman's glass dome.
However, by sheer misfortune, Sonic had jumped too early, trying to attack Eggman's ship by jumping over another bullet.
As the bullet came towards him, he felt gravity inexorably tug on him, and he saw this in a panic. He flailed his arms and legs to try and pull himself over the incoming bullet, which started passing under him.
But it was Sonic's own undoing to flail as he did, and his right leg was hit right at the last moment by the bullet, puncturing his shield and shattering it!
With widened eyes, Sonic felt the water press on him again, and he stood in the water, his hands over his mouth as he tried to hold his breath as long as he could, though his stomach, which felt as if an anvil had dropped into it, told him that he could be finished.
Eggman saw this and once again cheered, "NOW! I've defeated you, Sonic!"
Sonic looked up at the scientist with anger, and as Eggman was distracted with his premature celebration, Sonic jumped headfirst at Eggman's ship, just to beat him before his time was up, and, at first thinking that he was unfortunate, he hit another bubble.
However, it was the ensuing breath he took when he had lodged his head into the bubble that renewed his courage, and after falling back down, lungs full, and Eggman worried again, the fight continued in earnest.
Now, Eggman had a great amount of visibility, making it hard for Sonic to move around and attack Eggman's ship, all the while aware that his air was being used by his dodging.
However, Sonic was not so easily beaten, and even with Eggman's better sight, he was able to hit and take breaths five more times.
However, that was when bad luck struck once more. Sonic had descended to the floor of the chamber again when Eggman turned his turret quickly to Sonic and shot a flurry around him. Sonic was almost able to dodge most of them, but a weak push off from the floor put him in the direct path of one of the bullets, which struck Sonic in his right thigh and injured him, sending him back to the ground.
Sonic tried to scream under water, though it turned out to be both a waste of air and only sounded like gargling.
"HA! This time I've got you!" Eggman hooted, and suddenly pushed a button.
At that moment, Eggman's shield was popped completely, leaving Eggman defenseless.
Eggman told his enemy, "Now that you are unable to get back up and attack me, I no longer need my shield, meaning that you won't be able to crawl at me and use the remaining bubbles to breathe. It was fun knowing you, Sonic. Now all that's left is to watch you perish..."
The malicious Eggman cackled over Sonic, who was running out of air quickly and could not stand on the leg that was shot, which wasn't actually punctured but rather numbed.
However, Sonic, nearing the prospect of giving up, suddenly thought of what would happen to Amy if he lost. He couldn't even bear to think of Amy in pain before she suffered a painful death. The thought made him suddenly shake with rage, and he clenched his fists. He opened his eyes and glared at Eggman menacingly, and with a sudden burst of adrenaline, Sonic then used, instead of his legs, his arms to lift himself up.
"What?! What are you doing?!" Eggman demanded, now frightened that Sonic might do one last thing to stop him.
Sonic, gritting his teeth with determination and anger, bent his elbows as far as he could, and he pushed himself off the floor with all of his strength, and he went soaring through the water right for Eggman!
"NO NO NO NO!!!" Eggman bellowed, trying every button after carelessly leaving himself open for any attack.
Eggman had nothing to do, and Sonic rushed at him and plunged his legs into the glass shield of Eggman's pod, receiving a bit of good fortune by not being hurt by the glass.
Now, Eggman's own pod was flooded with water, and he quickly got his pod to move and he pushed more buttons.
Sonic now had fallen back to the ground, happy that Eggman would share his same fate, though just as sorrowful to still be unable to save Amy.
However, Eggman was not prepared to lose with Sonic, and since he couldn't get out of the water before he drowned, the only thing he could do was...
After Eggman had mashed buttons on his water proof control panel, the level of water within the chamber suddenly started rapidly decreasing. Sonic looked up at the descending surface and thought he was dreaming, but as the top of the water finally passed him and let him live once again, he breathed a very long sigh of relief and said, "Wow, something tells me Amy and I won't ever be separated."
Sonic sat up in the puddle he was still in and saw that Eggman had already quickly departed. Sonic's determination returned to him, and after rubbing his leg tenderly for several minutes, as Amy was now lovingly doing in the present time, to Sonic's crooning and nuzzling, the blue hedgehog stood up and continued his trek through the Little Planet.
Little did he or Eggman know that Amy was now not quite in the same situation, and that Metal Sonic had other plans to carry out.