Here's the latest chapter of my story. I thank you guys for being patient with me throughout my tardiness, but now I think it's time for me to show you Sonic's problem since his kiss with Amy. Enjoy!
Chapter 16: The Real Problem…
As soon as I arrived at Tails's workshop, I rung the doorbell. My thoughts after feeling Amy's kiss for the first time is still fresh on my mind, and it's driving me crazy.
"Tails?"
I heard the door open, and inside rested my buddy Tails. He looks out the door to see me staring at him.
"Sonic? Come on in!"
Tails smiles and opens the door, letting me come in. I walked inside and followed Tails into the room where all of his projects were being worked on. I grabbed a seat, and sat down while Tails finished working on Amy's Gem Shard Armor
"What brings you here again?"
"I have some very important news to speak to you about."
Without looking at me, Tails was curious as to what I wanted to talk about it.
"What kind of news?"
"I don't know if it's good or bad, but I want to know your opinion of it."
"I see… What happened?'
"Well… How should I put this…"
"Does it have something to do with Amy?"
As if on cue, Tails hits the nail on the head.
"Yeah."
"What did she do?"
"Well, I went to Knuckles to see if he could solve our problem with Amy's magic."
"What did he say?"
"He said Amy's magic is only powered by her emotions. She has this ability called Summoning magic, and it allows her to create anything she wants."
"Summoning Magic, huh? That makes sense, since we saw her use Explosive Presents, and her signature Piko Piko Hammer many times when we were in Chris's world."
"Yeah. After Knuckles and I discussed about Amy's powers, we both wanted to see what kind of summons she could do. However, the first thing that comes to mind for her summons is a clone."
Tails immediately stops what he's doing, and continues listening while I kept explaining to him. I eventually told him about how they both chased me down, and tackled me, along with the surprising the kiss that left both me and the real Amy in shock. After I told him everything that happened, and my feelings about the kiss, he looked at me with a surprising look on his face.
"Well, that's certainly a shocking thing to hear from you, Sonic."
"What?"
"How you felt about the kiss. Aren't you happy that you got one from her, even though a clone stole her opportunity?"
"I… I don't know… I mean, just being with her is fine, but a kiss is something else…"
"Sonic, I don't think it matters."
I looked at him with a curious look, wondering where he was getting at.
"What do you mean, Tails?"
"Don't get me wrong, Sonic. Age may matter in times of having a good romance, but that doesn't mean you can't let the opportunity slip out of your grasp. Besides, she's only three years younger than you, so it's fine."
"It's not fine if she's still twelve years old, Tails."
"It is fine if she's of the same breed as you, Sonic. You're both hedgehogs, and she loves you, regardless of your feelings towards her. You won't find anyone else like that, and I say you should stick with it."
"Explain to me why I should stick with her, regardless of the age, Tails."
Tails puts down his wrench and gets up, looking at me with the most serious look he's ever given me.
"There are a couple of reasons why I want you to date her, Sonic. The first reason is because you're both hedgehogs. The second reason is because I want you to feel the way I felt when I dated Cosmo."
"You like bringing up Cosmo in front of me, don't you?"
"I'm saying it, because it's a good reference. Who else have you seen date before? Not Rouge, and you know how she feels about Shadow. Knuckles could have a chance with her, but we have no idea of the two's relationship with each other, and Shade is a complete mystery."
"What makes you so sure that this is ok?"
"Sonic, I'm pretty sure everyone on Mobius will agree with me that you two should date. I bet even Eggman will agree, and he even came at her life. Twice."
I let out a sigh, and shrug my shoulders.
"Sonic, when was the last time you asked Amy her age?"
"I remember how old she is. Why?"
"You mean you only remember how old she was before we went to the Twilight Cage?"
"Yes."
"Well, I have some good news then. I was curious, and I decided to document the events that happened when we defeated Eggman and his worldly empire. I went to one of his machines and hacked into the computer to see if eggman had a diary of some sort. What I found out is very surprising."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm wondering if Knuckles already knows this, but exactly five years has passed since we left the Twilight Cage."
I gave him a shocking look on my face.
"Five years!? But we've only been there for five hours! There's no way we were gone for that long!"
"Oh, we were gone for that long. It's the reason why Eggman got a head start and made his empire."
"That explains why Mobius looks so different. When we arrived back It looked like we arrived in a bad future, but thanks to the chaos emeralds, we were able to restore the planet to it's originality with a few changes here and there."
"Yeah. So that means Amy isn't twelve anymore."
I looked at him with a curious look.
"Then… Tell me how old she really is…"
"She's seventeen years old."
I was dumbfounded. That would explain why Amy is so much more mature than she lets on. I mean, sure she still has her old quirks every now and then, but am I really dealing with the same Amy Rose? This is too much to take in, and Tails seems completely fine with it.
"How come you didn't tell me this sooner, Tails!?"
"Well… I didn't know about it until before your twentieth birthday. I was going to tell you after the party, but because we had to defeat the Time Eater, the skip completely bypassed my mind, and before I remembered, we had already defeated the Deadly Six, and Eggman on the Lost Hex."
"Oh I see… Wait! I'm twenty years old!? How old are you!?"
"Thirteen. Everyone has aged five years since the adventure with Shade."
"This is too much to take in..."
Tails chuckled a bit, before continuing his work on the armor.
"How do you think I felt when I found out? I was surprised as much as you were when I discovered the information from the abandoned base Eggman left, like he always does."
"Huh… Well, what do we plan to do with this information?"
"We could tell everyone, but I don't know if we should freak them out about the huge time skip."
I thought about the situation for a bit, and came up with an idea.
"Why don't we tell Knuckles and Amy about it?"
"That sounds like a good idea, Sonic. They do need to know first."
"Then I'll head to Knuckles's place first. I want to tell him about this whole situation."
"Ok."
"I'll see you later, Tails."
"Later, Sonic."
With our conversation done, I take off at the speed of sound, going back to Knuckles's location. I delve into my thoughts during the run. Amy is seventeen now… Who'd have thought that…? Well… Who'd have thought any of us would age so quickly from saving the world from Shade's tribe? As soon as I arrived, I see Knuckles and Shade chatting with one another. They're probably talking about each other's history. I slowed to a walk, and called out to them.
"Yo, Knuckles!"
Knuckles, and Shade both turn to my direction, and look at me. They both waved at me.
"Odd to see you here again, Sonic. Hiding from Amy?"
"No. I want to know you're opinion on something."
"What is it?"
"Well…"
I told Knuckles about the situation that happened, along with the conversation I had with Tails. After hearing my story, Knuckles starts laughing for a bit, and then pats my shoulder.
"I definitely approve of it, Sonic."
"I agree with Knuckles. While I have not known Amy for some time, she seems persistent in making you her boyfriend."
"I see…"
I guess Tails was right. If Knuckles and Shade approve of it, then I have to take it into account that everyone will agree, but I still have doubts that Eggman will approve.
"Oh! Knuckles. Did you know five years has passed since we were in Twilight Cage?"
"Yeah. The Master Emerald showed me what happened while we were gone."
"It's also a TV?"
"Not really. It only has the ability to manage emerald power, act as a radar for both the chaos emeralds and it's own missing pieces, and it even records events that happened throughout all of Mobius history."
"Impressive."
"Yeah. Now back to subject at hand: Amy Rose. You need to stick with dating her, Sonic. Not only is she a hedgehog, but she has shown you time and time again that you have someone to rely on besides Tails and me. We can't be there all the time, you know. Well… I can't at least."
"It's 'Tails and I', Knuckles, and I know that. I just wanted to get opinions of this."
"You only wanted opinions of this? Asking someone's opinion of you and Amy dating is like asking Eggman why does he want to rule the world."
"That's kind of a weird comparison, when you think about it."
"Take it like this then: Everyone's been waiting on you and Amy to get together since you two first met. Why it took this long, we don't know. However, that really shouldn't stop you from trying to at least be with her. Sure, she was too young, since you were a teenager, and she was a kid, but now you're both at an age where it's acceptable. Remember your 20th birthday, Sonic? You should've let Amy at least hold your hand, or do something for you."
"Hey. You would've done the same if you were in my shoes, Knuckles."
"I wouldn't be so sure, Sonic. I would've been agitated, and picked a fight with her."
"And horribly lose to her…"
"The point I'm trying to make is, you need to be more upfront with your feelings, and stop running away from her like you always do. It's funny seeing you two act that way the first time, but after so many times, it gets depressing, having someone avoid your feelings for so long. How would you feel if she found someone else?"
"I don't think she would. Remember that fake boyfriend she made up? What did she call him? Marcus?"
"Amy could've easily created him, just like the clone she made today. I think the reason she didn't is because she really believes you two could actually work out, even though she knows how you are about settling down with someone."
"But the thing is: Why me?"
"The answer to that is simple, Sonic. She considers you a goal that she prioritizes above all else, after you saved her."
"You don't fall in love with someone after they saved you for the first time. At first it was a crush, then it was full blown love, after I saved Amy, and now we're dating, like it's casual. That's some sudden changes."
"So? It's not like you have to rush. The only reason why this has been progressing so quickly, even though it's been a day, is because you don't know how to pace yourself. Amy's been having you follow her at her pace, which is at the same speed you go: Faster than the speed of light."
"What does that mean?"
"That means if it keeps up like it is now, you're not going to end up liking her. You're going to keep distancing yourself more and more from her, until she ends up realizing that all you've been doing is just staying by her side, and nothing more."
"Since when are you so informational on things like this?"
"Information like this is crucial if I want to have a future descendant to take on the role of guardian of the master emerald."
"Hmm…"
I started smiling and looked at him with a smirk on my face. Knuckles and Shade both looked at me, wondering what I was up to.
"Oh! I see. You're not just saying that in front of Shade are you?"
"WHAT!? Since when was Shade involved in this!?"
I crossed my arms, and looked at the both of them.
"I mean, you always were the type to bite off more than he can chew, but hearing you saying this in front of her is kinda making me change my opinion of you."
I then gave him a thumbs up.
"I'm glad you found a mate, Knuckles. I'm proud of ya!"
Seeing Knuckles with his face flustered always manages to put a smile on my face. However, that didn't mean I was out of the blue just yet. Knuckles was always a short-tempered knucklehead.
"Just because Shade is here, doesn't mean I've chosen her as my mate!"
"Yeah, Sonic. Just because we're of the same echidna race doesn't mean we have to choose our mates from it. We can breed with other races if we wanted to."
"Hmm… I see, but with Knuckles suddenly having knowledge about this matter, it makes you wonder who influenced him about it."
"I only thought about it now is because I haven't been able to do anything recently, and with Shade being from another tribe, it's refreshing to talk about our tribes history."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. It takes me back to when I was kid, training under my father to become a guardian."
"Was your father one of the guardians of the Master Emerald?"
"Unfortunately, no. He was the one who taught me the Echidna Boxing style, to which I graduated with a master belt."
I crossed my arms, and looked at him with a smile.
"Echidna Boxing, huh?"
"Yep."
"I didn't know there's a name for your style, but I can see why it's called that."
"Mhm. With these techniques, we're be able to control the usage of fire magic and project them onto punches, which when cast will result in explosive attacks."
"Can you add speed to them too?"
"You can, but then you'd be doing Speed Style."
I got excited when I heard that there was a speed style.
"There's a speed style!?"
"Yeah. In the Echidna Boxing style, there are two styles you can go for: Power Style and Speed Style."
"I have a question. Can non-echidna fighters use Power Style?"
"Yes, as long as they have an affinity for fire, which I know you don't. However, I can teach you the Speed Style."
"We'll do that after we finish talking about the situation at hand. What do you want me to do about this?"
"You should tell Amy that you want to take your time, and learn what couples are, the things they do, mean, and why they're together."
I rubbed my head in annoyance.
"Ugh… More settling down stuff to talk about…"
"It's either that or regret about not getting Amy to be with you."
"And when I say this, will she help me out?"
"Of course, Sonic. It is Amy we're talking about, so I'm sure she'll listen to you, and do her best to make sure you're very comfortable around her."
"Alright. Thanks for listening to this."
"No problem, Sonic. It's refreshing to have conversations like these every once in awhile. I do understand you like adventures, but you gotta slow down sometimes, and relax with your friends."
"It's gonna be hard to do that, but I'll try."
Knuckles smiles at me, and pats my back.
"Good. Now how about a spar?"
I looked at him with curiosity as I saw him distance himself away from me.
"A Spar?"
"Yeah. It's been awhile since we've fought each other, and I want to see how strong you've gotten after adventuring with Tails for so long."
I looked at him with a smirk, with my head turned as I made a smart comment.
"I've gotten much stronger. I don't know about you though. You don't look like you've trained much. I'm not sure if you want this beatdown, Knuckles."
He laughed at me, making me wonder what he was up to.
"Don't think I haven't been doing my training. I may be sitting here, watching the Master Emerald, but that doesn't mean I can't relax. Shade has been a good training partner."
"Is that so? Well then, Let's do this!"
"Here I come!"
We got into our battle stances, and waited for the other to move. However, we both got impatient and ran towards each other as Shade watched. It's time to prove to Knuckles how much stronger I've gotten!
Time a for little explanation of mine. The reason I put this problem in, because I came across some people who didn't like the fact that Sonic should date Amy, because of their age (Sonic being 15, and Amy being 12). However, with Sega not telling us how old they actually are after Sonic Generations, I did some digging, and used Sonic Heroes, Sonic X, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, and Sonic Generations to calculate the ages here. I can make an Author's Note explaining how and why I did, but that depends on if you're intrigued to read my long and boring tale. As always I'll see you in the next chapter. Prepare for the Sonic vs Knuckles battle!
