It's amazing to think that it's been roughly a year since I joined fanfiction. I have learnt so much over the course of this year. It's been a real eye-opener, and an amazing experience for me :D
Thank you very much to: ShadowsAngel1, TheSecretRoman, Savvy0417, scythe's serenade, BeeExtraordinary, MeadowsAndSunsets, The High School Hero, ToxicWolf1132, Remiattane, i-raid-tombs-for-a-living, FatalEncounter, Thegorgeousempress and anon! Thank you so much, guys! Your reviews were lovely to read!
ShadowsAngel1 - That is so lovely to hear! Thank you SO much!
TheSecretRoman - N'aw, thank you very much! :D
Savvy0417 - Thank you :3
scythe's serenade - Thank youuuu! ^w^
BeeExtraordinary - Hahaha, agh, as much as I am a die-hard Sonamy fan, I'm afraid this story will not focus on that, as I'm trying to go with the comedic direction, more than the romantic one (I have plenty of other stories, however, which are Sonamy!). And thank you for the advice — I think you'll enjoy this chapter! ;D
MeadowsAndSunsets - Eeeeeeeeeeeeek, really? Aw, that's so sweet! Thank you very much! :'3
The High School Hero - Hahaha, they're always hidden around somewhere! Like rotten Easter eggs xD Awww, thank you!
ToxicWolf1132 - Oooooooh, interesting! XD ;D
Remiattane - Aw, thank you! I'm glad that you're finding that funny, because I am having a blast writing it, haha!
i-raid-tombs-for-a-living - Thank you ever so much! That's so awesome to hear!
FatalEncounter - THANK YOU! :'3
Thegorgeousempress - N'aw, thank you so so so much!
anon - Hahahaaha X'D WOW that'd go sour, very fast XD
Chapter Four: There's Something Different About You
(Sonic)
As I waved my goodbye to Cream, I stepped out of her yard and onto the pavement. I'd had a pretty enjoyable time, overall. She hadn't said any thing else about Sonic — well, me — and I'd kinda just chatted with her. I was toying with the idea of hanging out with Cream more, once I was back in my own body, of course.
I'd motivated myself to face the long journey back home, so I could just sit, relax and maybe raid Amy's food cupboards — boy, that girl could bake! — but I was interrupted by the revving of an engine.
A silver car pulled up alongside me, and the driver shoved open the door, before sashaying towards me.
"Pinkie!" Rouge called, shooting me a smirk. She took of her sunglasses and analysed me with intrigued blue eyes, "Don't tell me you forgot?"
"Huh?" I closed my mouth, "Rouge? What're you doing here?"
She rolled her eyes, taking my arm and guiding me to the passenger seat. I blinked in surprise and watched, as she got into the driver's seat. Quickly clipping up her seatbelt, she started the drive off, only giving me a little bit of time to do up my own.
"Our shopping trip, remember? We've been planning this for ages," She looked a little confused, "I can't believe you've forgotten. You're so organised, and you love shopping as much as I do."
"Oh, right!" I nodded, remembering that Amy had told me about a trip out with Rouge, "Sorry. I've, uh, had a hectic day."
"It's noon, Pinkie," Rouge smirked, "Too busy thinking about Sonic?"
A blush burned at my cheeks, "No way! Not at all!"
"That was adamant. What has he done this time?"
Great, did everyone just assume that I would be the cause of Amy's upset? I shook my head, "Nothing."
Rouge's gaze softened. She still kept her eyes on the road, but she placed her hand on my leg, "Just, if you wanna talk about it, I'll listen. I want to help you, if I can. I know I don't say it often, but you're one of my best friends, Amy. For the record, I think Sonic's a fool for ignoring you like this."
I didn't even hear that last part. My breathing had stopped. I was trying to battle the rising heat on my skin. Rouge's gesture was meant to be soothing and kind, but I was feeling extremely uncomfortable about where she had place her hand, as I wasn't actually Amy. If Knuckle knew, he'd have killed me for not batting her hand away.
I swallowed my embarrassment, "Y-Yeah. Thanks-s, Rouge."
Apparently happy with my response, Rouge moved her hand away and concentrated on the road.
I could breathe again.
(Amy)
I skipped back to Tails' workshop, attracting a few confused stares from people passing. But I didn't care. I'd kissed Sonic! His lips had kissed my cheek! Today had been a good day so far.
I knew, sooner or later, that I would need to face Knuckles and the looming fight, but I pushed it out of my mind for now. There was no point in worrying about it.
Not yet comfortable with using Sonic's speed, I was still making my way through the city. I supposed that many of the confused looks were due to people not being used to seeing Sonic the Hedgehog walking. It made me feel a bit on edge, but I held my head high and ignored the stares.
There was a large crash across the street. I turned and saw a cloud of dust floating up above the buildings. Clenching my fists, I wondered what was going on. People were running away from the disturbance, but they glanced at me for guidance.
"Aren't you going to do something?" A middle-aged woman asked me, nervously.
I frowned, "Don't worry, Sonic will..."
Wait. Oh.
"But you're Sonic. Are you feeling okay?" The woman had gotten even paler. Anxious, I quickly flashed a confident smile.
"Yeah! Um! Yep. I'll sort it. You can count on me!" I jogged over in the direction of the explosion, not quite ready to race into the cloud of smoke with my dangerous speed. The dust was starting to clear, and I saw that a jewellery shop's window had been smashed, with glass littering the ground.
"Oh ho HO HO HO!"
Well, it would be him, wouldn't it?
(Sonic)
"This looks amazing, right?"
"Yeah."
"You should try it on. You'll look great."
"Eh, thanks. But it's not my... colour."
"Hm, maybe you're right. Yellow and pink aren't complimentary colours."
I nodded, not really sure what she was talking about. In reality, I was bored out of my skull. At first, it had been interesting to see all the different colours and styles of clothes. But after circling hundreds and hundreds of garments, I was starting to go slightly insane.
"Now this is a gem," Proudly, Rouge pulled out a light-pink crop top, which I couldn't imagine covering much of anything, "You should try it. Sonic will be head over heels for you."
I ignored that comment and took the top. It was tiny. In Amy's size, but it was clearly designed to show off certain girls' assets. But I just couldn't imagine Amy wanting to wear this, other than... to attract my attention.
"No way," I muttered, placing it back on the rack, "No."
"But you said you wanted to catch Sonic's eye," Rouge frowned, "I think this one will cover you up more than the last one you picked out."
I suppressed a shudder. I hated that Amy felt like this, "No. Thanks. Amy should have to do this, at all."
"Huh?"
"I mean, uh... I need to stay true to myself. No matter what I want Sonic to see. I know that he wouldn't want me to wear something for his sake."
"Atta girl," She grinned "I thought I'd lost you to the obsessed fan girl world."
I timidly smiled back. I still couldn't believe that Amy considered what she wore depending on whether it would catch my eye. Did I really mean that much to her? Did she really believe that I didn't notice her so much than she'd need to get me to? I didn't feel flattered. I felt guilty.
"Are you okay?" Rouge asked, holding a green tank top against her body, "You zoned out."
"Y-Yeah. I'm good," I shook my head. But a spark of inspiration hit me, "I'm just looking for— ah! Got it!"
I grabbed a red and white striped, tunic dress from a rack. I liked it, simple but effective. It looked like clothes which Amy had worn before, and I knew she liked, and it was cute. It reminded me of her.
Rouge nodded her approval, "Hmm! That, some leggings, red pumps and a red headband would look adorable. Why don't we try some of this stuff on?"
We headed towards the changing rooms. In my obliviousness, I nearly wandered into the men's section, but I reminded myself, just before I walked in. The shop was fairly quiet, so I raced into a cubicle, locked the door and struggled out of Amy's dress, with my eyes shut. I pulled the tunic on and stared at the reflection in the mirror.
Rouge was right. The dress was adorable. I knew that Amy would love it, instantly. It really looked good on her. I had to get it for her.
Grabbing Amy's clutch bag, I fumbled through its contents. This morning, I'd hurriedly tossed my wallet into the bag and taken it with me. I had to admit, a handbag was a lot easier than carrying your stuff around and worrying that you'd lose it on a long run.
Not that I could buy one. Knuckles would laugh for weeks. Make that years.
Suddenly remembering that Rouge would be waiting for me, I changed back into Amy's original dress and slung the tunic over my arm, with my wallet in the other hand. It was the least I could do for her.
(Amy)
"Rodent! I should have known you'd turn up here! Just when things were going so well for me, you had to come along and ruin my fun!"
"Trust me, Eggman, I'd rather be anywhere else."
The Doctor growled, "Oh really? Am I not enough for your attention-span, hedgehog? I should think that your pointless life is interesting because of me!"
"Uh, is that really what you think?"
"I don't have time for your insolence, Sonic," Eggman pressed a series of buttons on the control-panel of his hovercraft. His metal fleet of robots trampled towards me, raising their laser-guns, "You speed won't help you now!"
Good, I thought, because I have no idea how to control my speed.
"FIRE!"
Lights flashed around me and I ducked towards a trashcan for cover. My hands were clamped over my ears and I let out a loud yelp. The firing stopped, and there was an ominous silence.
"What? Where has he gone? I didn't see a streak of blue!" Eggman sounded confused. I struggled to keep a smirk off of my face, "Scanning area. Ah."
Without warning, another laser fired and the bin exploded into ashes. I opened my eyes and stared at the dozen robots in front of me, with Eggman looming above them.
"Heh," I gulped, "Hi."
I thought he was going to attack me, but Eggman just frowned, "There's something different about you."
"Let's just say, I feel like a whole new person," I smirked to myself, while eyeing up a discarded metal rod, which had been blown out of the jewellery store. I edged towards it, feeling my blood pumping, "I guess I'm a little bit different today."
"Whatever. I shall still destroy you!" Eggman pointed an accusing finger at me, "Grab him!"
The robots charged towards me, but I leapt to the left and grabbed the rod. With its cold grip in my hand, I swung at the robots. It wasn't nearly as powerful as my hammer, but it would do.
"What is he doing...?" Eggman muttered. With gritted teeth, I kept battling the metal henchmen. I was holding them off, but I couldn't keep it up forever.
"Sonic!" A red echidna leapt in front of me and began to smash the robots into pieces, until there was nothing left but a few fizzing electrics and scraps of metal.
"Knuckles?" I stepped forward, as he wiped the sweat from his brow, before he looked up at Eggman and clenched his fists.
"Get lost, Eggman!" Knuckles gruffly barked, "You've had your fun."
"Ah, Knuckles. A thorn in my side as usual, eh?"
"Beat it!"
"Impatient, are we?" Eggman turned to me, fuming, "You may have won this battle, hedgehog, but it will be your final victory! The Eggman Empire will triumph and not even you can stop me! OH HO HO HO!"
And, with that, he flew off into the distance.
Knuckles let out a small grunt and walked over to a pile of brick dust. He brushed it away and grabbed a green Chaos Emerald, hidden underneath the rubble. I gasped, as he held it up towards the sunlight.
"I guess he was after this," Knuckles smirked, "Too bad we kicked his butt. Soon we'll have all seven."
The guardian of the Master Emerald turned to me, curiously. I felt out of place here. I didn't know what Sonic would do. Knuckles frowned, "Dude, what was up with your fighting? If I hadn't come along and saved you, you'd have been blue toast! I mean, you were fighting like Amy!"
"So?"
"Calm it, lover-boy. I'm not saying Amy's fighting is bad. I'm saying that you suck at fighting like Amy."
I didn't have the energy to get angry, "Right. Whatever. Thanks for the save, Knuckles. Even though I had it under control," I lied, actually very grateful for his help.
"No worries, I guess," He rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, I hope you get up to speed for our fight. I'd feel kinda bad if I completely thrashed you. You do have a reputation to uphold. We all know that I'm the better fighter, but you can't be beaten into a complete pulp."
"Like that's gonna happen!" I snorted, "You won't know what hit ya!"
"There's the Sonic I know," Knuckles grinned, "But don't get too cocky! I'll soon swipe that smirk off your face."
I chuckled, shooting him a small smile, "Where is the fight then?"
"Station Square. Five. You'd better not wimp out."
"Trust me," I held in my defeated sigh, "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
(Sonic)
"I got you the usual," Rouge sat down next to me on the bench, looking almost as tired as I did, "There's only one bad thing about shopping: carrying the stuff around is such a pain."
I nodded, agreeing, as I waited to see what Rouge had gotten for me for lunch. I'd given her the cash, while she went off an ordered, so that I could guard the seat. It would probably be something that Amy liked. Pizza? Cheeseburger? Sandwiches?
"Here you go," The bad seemed pleased with herself, as she placed the salad box down next to me. I didn't have the heart to moan, "It was the last one. I practically had to smack an old lady out of the way to get it for you."
Salad. Great.
It wasn't that I hated salad. I just really, really didn't like salad.
"Thanks, Rouge," I shot her a plastered-on grin, twirling the fork between my fingers and swallowing down the lettuce, wondering how Amy could choose to eat this stuff.
There was a TV screen in the corner of the food court which we were sitting in. My gaze fell on its fuzzy pixels. But my ears perked up too, when I heard a vague section of the news report.
"-And so, back to the latest news! The notorious Doctor Eggman was sighted in Station Square, attacking a parade of shops. The main target of his attacks was a wealthy jewellery shop, for unknown reasons. However, famous hero Sonic the Hedgehog was on hand to stop this villain from stealing whatever he was after."
Oh no.
"Sonic the Hedgehog managed to battle Eggman's robots, alongside his friend and rival, Knuckles the Echidna. The two heroes disappeared shortly after the fight, unfortunately, not allowing any time for a comment."
My worries dissipated. In no offence to Amy, I was glad that Knuckles had been there to help.
"Reports say that, although the villain was stopped, Sonic was struggling to fight the robots, until Knuckles came along. Together, the two of them saved the city, but what might be wrong with our blue hero? Is he ill? Is he torn by feelings of romance? Or is he just tired of playing the hero, again and again? Stay tuned, as we find out."
I couldn't be bothered to watch them speculate further. Amy must have been close to getting hurt. I couldn't stand the idea that she was in danger, but there wasn't really anything I could do about it, like this. I needed to find a way to change us back, before Eggman attacked again.
"Hey! Look! It's Amy Rose!"
My head snapped up, as a trio of girls marched towards us. My eyebrows rose. The central figure was a sleek, grey cat, with a hard stare. Her lips curved into an unkind smirk, as she placed one hand on her hip. Did Amy know this girl?
"How's your boyfriend?" She didn't seem to be asking in a friendly way, "Oh, wait. I forgot. You don't have a boyfriend."
Her two friends laughed, maliciously.
I frowned, wondering what was going on. I went to stand up, but Rouge reached over and grabbed my wrist, shaking her head.
But I stood anyway, "Sorry, do I know you?"
"You will do soon," She smiled, "When I meet Sonic and become his girlfriend, everyone will know my name."
I struggled to keep my tone even, "Oh. So you're also a fan of Sonic the Hedgehog? Then we are you having a go at me? We're in the same position — apart from me being one of his best friends, and you not?"
"Ha!" She scoffed, "We are not the same. I have a chance with Sonic. You don't. When has he ever stayed in your company, for more than five seconds? You're just a stalkerish little girl, who doesn't know when to give up. Quit while you're ahead."
"Hey," Rouge stood up, "Watch it."
I clenched my fists, wondering if Amy had to deal with girls like this on a daily basis, "That's where you're wrong. If Sonic doesn't value me as a friend, why does he continue to save me?"
"He'd save anyone," She let out a bored sigh, "You're just another in a long line of damsels in distress."
"And you're different?"
"Of course!"
"You're wrong."
Her eyes widened in surprise, and she choked out a laugh, "W-What?"
"You're wrong," I repeated. My heart shrivelled at the thought of Amy having to deal with people like this, just because she had a crush on me, "You're so wrong. You think that Sonic would wanna go out with someone like you, when you're so full of yourself and mean? He wouldn't. He wouldn't go out with someone who treated his friends so badly. Maybe he doesn't see me in a romantic way, but I am definitely one of his best friends. I don't see him visiting your house. But he visits me, a lot of the time. And I'm closer to a relationship with him than you are. So you need to back off."
I felt pleased with myself. The silence hanging in the air was making everyone else feel awkward, but I was strangely proud. Proud that I had put this girl in her place. Proud that everyone would know how much Amy meant to me. Proud that I had stood up for her.
The cat didn't say anything. I saw her swallow, nervously, as her friends tugged on her wrist, "Come on! Ignore her! You do have a chance with Sonic!"
She slowly nodded, as the three of them scurried away. I called out to them, "Quit while you're ahead!" and then I sat down.
"Whoa," Rouge stared at me, shocked, "I never knew you had it in you. I was worried that you'd go over the top, but everything you said was true."
"Thanks," I mumbled, scooping up another fork of salad, and shoving it into my mouth. I didn't really want to think about it, anymore. I just wanted to go home, relax, and maybe have a chilidog or too, and then go for a run. But I couldn't. I still had to train Shadow with Amy's hammer, and I needed to figure out a way of changing Ames and I back.
I was starting to regret this bet.
But I couldn't back down now.