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Chapter Six: Someone Suspects Us

(Sonic)

"What... are you doing?"

That was a very good question. The only problem was that I didn't have a sensible answer. Oh, well, see, for some unknown reason, me and Amy have just magically swapped bodies — I was just teaching her to spin-dash, when she landed on me, and you happened to walk in on us, like this.

Yeah, it wasn't entirely believable.

"Shadow!" Amy clambered off of me, brushing the non-existent dirt from her (my!) body. I was the one who groaned and started to pick pieces of grass out of my new pink bob, "It's not what it looks like!"

The Ultimate Life Form looked bemused, as I wriggled in embarrassment. The thought that he'd assumed that Amy and I were fooling around was humiliating. As if I'd do something like that.

"It certainly looks like something," Shadow smirked, enjoying the blush that spread across Amy's cheeks. Little did he know that he was making Amy feel uncomfortable and not me, like he hoped.

"Well, it's nothing!" I snapped, stepping between them and saving Amy from a stuttering response, "So don't think otherwise!"

Shadow looked surprised. I supposed that he didn't think Amy would be so snappy towards him, "I thought you, of all people, would have wanted it to look like something."

"What do you take me for?! Don't disrespect Amy like that! You've got some nerve, you ill-tempered fake-hog!"

Whoops.

I expected Shadow to snarl at me, lash out, and deal out a few bruises, but he shifted around, uncomfortably. Amy was staring at me, looking like she was happy that I'd defended her, but annoyed that I'd insulted Shadow. It was weird to see all those emotions flashing across my face, when I wasn't feeling them. Amy was feeling them. The idea of body-swapping was still mind-boggling for me.

"Apologies," Shadow broke the silence, staring directly at me, "I didn't mean to offend. I simply meant that you would enjoy time with Sonic."

"Oh," My tone was stiff, "That's alright. Uh, sorry about calling you... uh, all that stuff. You're not that ill-tempered."

"But I am a fake-hog?"

"Well, duh."

Amy's lip curled, as she moved between us, "What Son— I mean, Amy, means to say is that she's sorry for saying all that. Are you feeling alright, Amy? You look a little pale, actually."

I frowned. Why was she raising her eyebrow at me like that? "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"You sure? 'Cause you should probably go home if you're feeling under the weather."

"Oh. Uhh…" I glanced at Shadow. He looked confused, but not concerned. It was clear that, if I lied and said I felt ill, he wouldn't believe me. It wasn't really a believable lie: if I was ill, then why would I be in the forest in the first place?

Amy shook her head, defeatedly. She'd obviously clocked Shadow's expression and realised as well that he wouldn't believe me, "Never mind. Forget what I said."

Shadow nodded, but he tilted his head to one side, slightly, as he looked at Amy, "I heard about your fight with Knuckles. For what it's worth, I believe you have a good chance of winning."

"Was that a compliment? You really think I'm gonna win against Knucklehead?" A grin spread across my face of its own accord. But it vanished when I realised what I had said, "I mean, errrr, Amy... she'll win. Wait. I'm gonna win. I, uh... no! Sonic's gonna win! Yeah. Uh."

"So you really think that I have a good chance of winning?" Amy's eyes flickered towards me, but she tried to cover up my mistake and ignore what I'd said. A glare flashed across my face, as I was pushed out of the conversation, "You honestly mean it?"

Shadow nonchalantly shrugged, "Well. You have skills which are... mildly similar to my own. Yes, I believe that you can defeat the Guardian."

"Ooh, thank you, Shadow!" Amy flushed red, before pulling Shadow into a hug. My eyes widened, not believing that I was actually seeing my body hugging Shadow. What was happening? I'd never dreamed that I'd see that. Chaos knows what was going through Shadow's mind.

Judging by his expression, the Ultimate Life Form was panicking, as he peeled himself out of the hug, "Don't get soppy. It doesn't mean that I wish for us to be friends. I am still better than you."

Amy snorted, brushing it off, "Whatever! Anyway, I'd better go. Good luck, So— Amy. Later, boys!"

Coyly, she winked, before dashing off in the opposite direction. My pink hair whipped backwards and I sighed, before turning to Shadow, who stared after Amy.

"Yeah, he's acting a little weird, huh. Anyway," I kicked a foot against the ground and placed my hands behind my back, "I guess I should teach you about the hammer."

"Yes," Shadow straightened up and looked back at me, "That was our agreement."

I glanced down at the hammer with disgust. Its handle glinted in the sunlight, teasingly. At least I didn't have to summon the stupid thing.

Still aware of Shadow's gaze on me, I curled my hand around the handle. It was cool and firm; I only realised that I'd been squeezing it, when my palm began to smart. I cleared my throat, then whispered, "Please, please. Don't embarrass me in front of Shadow. Don't let me down. Don't let Amy down."

"Amy?" Shadow looked concerned by my frozen position, "Are you alright?"

"Never better!" I laughed, exaggeratedly cheerful. Snapping my eyes shut, I strained my wrist. After a couple of desperate tugs, the hammer suddenly came free and I was holding the weapon in the air. My lips parted in surprise, as I twirled the hammer in my hand. It was utterly weightless. I breathed out through my nose, "Thank you."

I smirked. Time to have some fun.

(Amy)

I was worrying about Sonic. He was so strong and determined, but he could also be very reckless and impatient. Wielding my hammer required tranquillity — something that Sonic didn't have. I was pretty confident that he'd cope, but he might humiliate me in the process.

I dashed in the direction of Tails' workshop, deciding that it would be nice to stay there, until the battle with Knuckles. Tails was easy to hang around with — there wasn't too much that I could mess up. I'd just have to talk to him. I could manage that.

Speeding through the calm atmosphere of Mystic Ruins, I suddenly had an idea. I could treat myself, as a token reward for keeping calm in the face of all this weirdness. Maybe I could spend some time in Station Square, before I met up with Tails. Sonic had all of this time on his hands — why didn't I make the most of it?

But I wondered why I didn't do that, usually. Sure, there was the situation of having to 'save the world', which took up a lot of my time. Eggman usually popped up once a week. I'd have commissions from the local bakery, which helped to pay my rent. When I didn't have anything else on, I'd spend time Cream and Rouge.

And if I wasn't doing that? I'd visit the others. Shadow and I only really saw eye to eye when it came to Eggman's plots, but he'd recently been spending more time with me. I'd sometimes visit Knuckles on Angel Island, and then that only left Tails and Sonic, who I saw frequently. Because I had a massive crush on one of them, unsurprisingly.

All of that used up all the time that I had left. And I wasn't even in charge of the world saving missions. I'd usually follow instructions from Sonic and Tails.

Sonic was the one who held the fate of the world on his shoulders. He was the one who gave up all of his time, to guarantee the safety of the world.

It was something that I loved about him — he was always so selfless. How many other people would give up their time for others, putting themselves in danger countless times, and do it with a smile? I'd never really realised exactly how much of his time was taken up by it. Sonic never complained, so I'd never thought that it was a problem. He seemed to love it.

What would Sonic be doing, now, if he wasn't always saving the world?

He'd once told me that he'd visited every city, town and village on the planet — but he was always insisting that he had other mountains to climb, and other lakes to shudder at. Sonic's hobbies were exploring and running but, if he wasn't saving the world or doing that, I could often find him at a chilidog stand, or resting at Tails' place.

He didn't have much time to do anything else.

However, Sonic hated not having something to do. If he had any free time, he'd implode with impatience and boredom, or he'd just use it to continue his interests. Sonic's day plan was sleep, eat, save the world, explore, repeat.

"So what do you do when you're not saving the world? Hmm? You relax! You don't do anything except eat, sleep and explore!"

I'd meant it as an insult, when I'd said that. But I hadn't considered that it might've been a problem, instead of a luxury.

By the time I reached Station Square, I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do, but seeing the park reminded me of my argument with Sonic. All of this had made me reconsider the dynamics of our relationship. During our body swap, I had only made a few romantic advances towards Sonic. Whilst it had been a struggle, I'd found that I appreciated his company even more; Sonic seemed to appreciate it too, and he'd been more relaxed around me.

Although, at this current moment, I was kind of the only one he could relax around.

I ran a hand through my blue quills, getting an embarrassingly lovesick thrill from touching Sonic's quills. Station Square are pretty peaceful, at this time of day, and there weren't many people about. I passed an elderly couple sitting on a bench, stared at them wistfully, before wondering if I should get something to eat. It wouldn't be long until the fight, and I was going to need to keep up my strength.

My eyes were drawn to a chilidog stand, as the cheerful stall-owner smiled at me. Frowning, I wondered why he was grinning at me in particular, but then it hit me: Sonic probably visited this guy a lot, and they subsequently knew each other.

"Uh. Hey!" I called, moving towards the stand. Personally, I wasn't a huge fan of chilidogs — the grease and spice made my eyes water — but Sonic worshiped this kind of fast food. On several occasions, he'd offered me them, but I'd always gratefully declined.

"Hi, Sonic!" What'll it be, today? Ha! As if I have to guess," The seller let out a booming laugh, which I couldn't help but smile at.

"Sure! Yeah, I suppose I'll just have one of the usual."

"Only one? Alright, comin' right up!"

I placed a hand on my hip, glancing at the other snacks available. My heart leapt towards the soft-served strawberry ice-cream, but I settled for just licking my lips in delight. It would have looked strange if Sonic refused a chilidog and asked for a scoop of ice-cream, instead.

"Here ya go!" The seller held out a piping-hot chilidog, "On the house! For when you helped me with that rampaging robot, last week!"

"Really? Wow, thank you very much!" I mustered the biggest smile that I could, as I carefully handled the snack. It didn't look entirely appetising, to me, but it would have been worse.

Gingerly, I raised it to my lips, took a cautious sniff and bit into it. The chili was incredibly strong, and I could already feel in burning inside my mouth. It wasn't nearly as bad as I'd expected, but I could never have eaten as many as Sonic usually did.

"You feeling okay, Sonic?" The owner gave me a confused look, "You've usually finished that in two seconds!"

"Y-Yeah," I paused, staring at the chilidog, "I've got an important fight, later on. I don't wanna make myself sick, that's all."

"Ah. I heard about that fight! It's between you and Knuckles, right? My money's on you! Although, Knuckles looks pretty scary when he's angry."

I grinned, "I can handle him."

"You'll need that confidence, later on. I'll cheer you on from the side lines! By the way, you might wanna finish your food pretty quickly: you're attracting attention."

I glanced over my shoulder, slightly frowning, as I searched for stares. There did seem to be a lot more people, now, and a good number of them were whispering to each other. There were a lot of stares.

"Why have they stopped?" I asked, waiting for an answer, as I glared at a woman pointing her phone in my direction.

"Autographs, pictures, videos, take your pick! Don't tell me that you're surprised, Sonic! You're always saying how you can't hang about, because you might get spotted or stopped. Especially with this fight. People have been talking about it a lot, probably because it's official. Is it true that GUN are helping to clear the area?"

Absentmindedly, I nodded, as the crowd began to thicken. I blinked at a couple of bright flashes, as people started to take pictures. My eyes widened, and I started to search for an escape route. I'd never dealt with this before. I was well-known - helping to save the world meant that I was sometimes stopped in the street and thanked — but it was nothing compared to this.

Did Sonic have to deal with this, every time that he went out?

The stall owner bent down and muttered to me, "There's a gap in the crowd, there. You might wanna skedaddle, before you're trapped."

I followed his pointed finger. Indeed, there was a reasonable gap that I could squeeze through. If I could control Sonic's speed for just a few seconds, without jerking in zig-zag movements, I'd be free.

Quickly polishing off the chilidog and ignoring the intense heat, I clenched my fists. I said my thanks to the owner, and then I zipped off towards the escape route, passing through and racing out of Station Square, towards Tails' workshop.

I had been wrong. Sonic's life was not entirely carefree.

(Sonic)

"So. This... is a hammer."

"I am not completely ignorant when it comes to your fighting technique, Amy. I do know what a hammer is."

"Of course ya do. I was just... making sure. You know, to be on the safe side. You might not've known."

"You're acting strangely like that blue Faker."

"Yeah. Well! He's... cool. Fast. Pretty awesome, really. And fast. Did I mention fast?"

"Yes. You did."

I smirked, loving this opportunity to mess with Shadow and not have my face pummelled into the dirt. I was completely aware that I knew nothing about fighting with a hammer, but that didn't seem important at this precise moment. I was busy.

"Right. First off, I'll show you how to use it correctly. Take note, Shaddy boy."

"What did you just call—?"

Cutting him off, I clutched Amy's hammer with both hands, before slamming it down next to Shadow. He glanced at it, disdainfully, but his eyes widened when I picked it up and raised it above my head. He just managed to dodge it, as I aimed for his face.

The weapon was surprisingly difficult to control. I struggled to keep my balance, as I landed back on the ground. But I was a fast learner. I wasn't going to pass this opportunity up.

"What— are— you— doing?!" Shadow let out a gruff yelp, as I scuffed his jaw with the hammer's edge. A smirk formed on my lips. Now I knew why Amy loved this thing. Its power was awesome in a fight.

"Watch and learn!" I grunted, swinging the hammer around my head. This was payback for all the times when I'd raced Shadow and it had ended in a fight, where he would try to give me a black eye.

Shadow finally seemed to get the idea; he leapt aside as I made impact with the ground. The sheer force of the weapon threw my body upwards, and again I fought to regain my balance, as I landed. But Shadow had prepared himself, by this time, as he clenched his fists and waited for my next move.

I'd lost the element of surprise.

"Well?" He asked, annoyingly energised and fired up. His face was blanked, but I knew that he was enjoying the invigoration of the fight, "Is that all you've got?"

"Nice try," I chuckled, waiting for a fighting tactic to enter my brain. I rarely used weapons in a fight: I liked using my body, and relying on my own speed and strength. Without my body's full fighting potential, I wouldn't be much use, even with experience using Amy's hammer, which was something that I definitely didn't have.

But I did have two advantages. This was just a play-fight, and it wouldn't hurt anyone if I lost (except my pride). Also, Shadow wouldn't use his full power, either — he wouldn't risk seriously hurting Amy.

I made a couple more swings towards Shadow, forcing him backwards into the clearing. But I made a mistake and swung too hard; on my fourth swing, I caught a tree with the edge of the hammer, and tore it away from its roots. It flew behind me, and I sent a grin in Shadow's direction.

"That is more powerful than I thought," Shadow murmured, staring at the hammer in my hands.

I nodded, "You're telling me."

Shadow's back straightened, "Will there be any more surprise attacks? Or has your 'demonstration' finished?"

My laugh sounded far too boyish, so I attempted to giggle, "Nah, I think I'm done. You know, I resent the fact that you barely tried to fight back!"

"Who says I wasn't trying?" He paced towards me with a certain, confident swagger that almost made me feel nervous, "If you'd like, after the lesson, we could have a rematch. I promise to use my full strength, if that is what you're after?"

"Sounds like a deal," I smirked, tossing the hammer in his direction and letting it land in front of him with a thud, "Go on, then. Pick it up."

Shadow raised an eyebrow, knowingly, "I've done my research. I know for a fact that there is a secret to lifting it. Faker has often complained that he doesn't know how you lift it."

Dammit. Thank goodness that Amy wasn't here to hear that. I'd specifically told Shadow to keep that to himself, "Oh, really? Well, he does know the secret, actually."

"Would you be willing to share it with me?"

My eyes widened. I could have been wrong, but that almost sounded flirtatious. I'd never seen Shadow flirt before, so I didn't have anything to compare it with, but it was a lot more... sensual, than his usual tone of voice, "Uh. Sure, I guess. It responds to emotion, yadda yadda yadda. 'Think about something that makes you angry. Or, think seriously hard about why you wanna lift the hammer."

I struggled not to punch him, as Shadow lifted it with one hand, in a matter of seconds.

He also seemed surprised, "Like this? That was surprisingly easy."

"How the heck did you do that?" I spat.

"I did what you said. Are you alright? You look annoyed. Did I not do it correctly?"

"No. You did it, perfectly," I muttered through gritted teeth, feeling annoying that Shadow had mastered it so quickly. But I was also annoyed that I'd gotten jealous so easily. So what if he'd learnt it faster than I did? I could fight with it. Yeah, I'd learnt how to fight with it pretty quickly. I could feel proud of that, "Okay, the trick is to hold it like a baseball bat. You can't hold it like a sword: swords require speed and routine. This thing needs strength and balance. Don't confuse it with a sword."

"When have you fought with a sword?" Shadow blinked, curiously, looking rather odd with Amy's pink and yellow hammer in his hand.

"Uhhh…" I remembered that Amy hadn't been with me, in the world of King Arthur. She didn't know how to fight with a sword, unlike me, "I haven't. I just know that it's different. Anyway, concentrate! You need to hold it with two hands."

Shadow stuck out his arms, almost robotic, with an upright back and straight legs. I shook my head, rushing to his side.

"No, no, no! You're not holding a sign! You're fighting! Stop standing so mechanically! Look—" My hands curled around his arms, moving them to his shoulder, so that they were bent at the elbows. I twisted his wrist a couple of degrees to the right, "—See? You need to be prepared to hit something."

"Right," Shadow nodded, waiting for me to correct anything else.

"And the way that you're standing it all wrong. Bend your legs so that you widen your hips. And lean forwards, slightly. No, that's too much—" I gripped his waist, angling him into the right position. He blinked at my hands, before his gaze rested on my face. I frowned, before saying, "Don't get any ideas, slick. I'm not looking for a relationship."

He opened his mouth to apologise, but he abruptly shut it, before telling me, "You're not Amy."

Uh oh.