NeckBreak, The Game Nguyener, IT'S NO USE I'M OUTTA USE, SpeedsMyGame, Anmynous:
Thanks for the reviews. This story is getting complicated… but I'm enjoying writing every bit of it! (Even though it seems like I can only binge-write these chapters in one sitting.) Glad you guys love it too.
Now, let's get more of Amy's view on things, shall we?
Chapter 4: Earth and Sky
""Sonic, we can't fight him!" Tails shouted. "I still don't know what those robots do! You can't attack it!"
Sonic was never one to run from a fight. He remained in his spindash, building up energy and ready to release it at any moment. His anger was growing, and he wanted nothing more than to pummel the bots and Eggman himself.
"Stop, Sonic, you can't! It might send you to another dimension, and we need you here! Please…" Tails kept begging him to stop. "Let's figure this out first…"
Alternate Dimension - Alternate Amy, Alternate Cream
After borrowing an energy scanner from Tails, Amy Rose set off to Cream's house to ask for her help finding the energy source that powered Eggman's dimensional switcher. Once she'd explained the situation to the rabbit, Cream was happy to come along. The two friends decided they'd first stop at Angel Island to recruit Knuckles to the cause.
Amy held on firmly to Cream's hands as the rabbit's ears flew them towards the floating island. The feeling of weightlessness momentarily made her stomach leap, but she quickly adjusted to feeling nothing but air under her feet. Cream was an expert flyer as her ears were crazy strong, and they'd traveled like this plenty of times. While normally chatty with her best friend, Amy couldn't help but be lost in thought. As the ground and familiar landmarks shrank below them, her thoughts went back to Sonic, as they usually did.
Now that her Sonic was so far away, her heart ached with an unfamiliar feeling of longing. Sure, Sonic often went on adventures and battles without her, but she knew he'd always come back to her when they were finished. He was always just a text away. It was comforting to know he'd always come save her if she was in trouble… but who would save her now? Who would hold her, comfort her, and encourage her now?
That other hedgehog… he'd been a real jerk to her back there, hadn't he? Not wanting to go with her, or help her, and just running off, all after throwing his phone to the ground. He'd looked genuinely scared, and even upset. Who exactly was this other guy claiming to be her Sonic? She couldn't quite put her finger on why, but this other hedgehog was infuriating, rude, a jerk, and so many other things she didn't have words for. It was almost as if he reminded her of how her Sonic used to be...
No, now that her Sonic was gone, and she couldn't depend on this other guy, she'd have to step up and be a hero herself. That's what her Sonic had always encouraged her to do. Since they'd gotten together, he'd made sure to watch over her, but also made sure that she was well equipped to take care of herself. They'd even trained together sometimes. Now it was her turn to save him and bring him back.
Once they were several hundred meters in the air, Cream's voice broke Amy's thoughts.
"Amy, what did you say happened to Mr. Sonic?"
She looked up at the rabbit. "Tails thinks he's been swapped with another version of himself, from another dimension."
"Oh…" the rabbit's cute face turned into a frown, then a smile. "Well, if Mr. Tails thinks that, it's probably true."
Amy looked up at the underside of Angel Island, her eyes tracing the rocky sculptures. "It's kinda weird to think that there's another me out there somewhere, and another you," Amy commented.
"Well, I hope the other me is happy. And I'm sure they're working hard to save the world, just like we are!"
Her positive attitude made a smile reluctantly form on Amy's muzzle, and she squeezed Cream's hands. She couldn't ask for a better friend.
As the two of them reached the top of the island, they looked down to spy the lone echidna standing guard. On an island so full of green grass, his red form was easy to spot. Cream guided them near the Master Emerald and its guardian.
"Knuckles!" Amy called out as they gently landed on the soft grass.
"Amy, Cream. What brings you girls up here?" Knuckles nodded to them as they walked up. "Something wrong with Sonic and Tails?"
"Well, it's pretty complicated," Amy said and she filled him on the dimensions and Sonic's switched identity.
Knuckles scrunched his face in confusion. "Wait, so you're saying that there is another dimension, where there is another copy of Sonic? And the two switched places?"
Cream nodded. "That's what Mr. Tails thinks."
"Hm. And you're saying this other Sonic ran off without you? Seems about right." The echidna crossed his arms, resting his giant hands on his biceps.
"What do you mean? Sonic never leaves us behind!" Amy protested, glaring at him.
"Wait, Amy, please don't fight," Cream gently touched her arm, and Amy looked away with a scowl. "Mr. Knuckles, we're here because we need your help."
"What exactly do you need?"
Now calmed down, Amy showed Knuckles the device Tails had given her. "We need to track down the energy source of whatever Eggman used to switch the two Sonics, before our Eggman gets to it. We can use this thing to track weird energy signatures nearby. Because you know so much about the Chaos Emeralds, I feel like you could help us out."
Knuckles turned to look at the gigantic green emerald sitting at the apex of his island. He couldn't feel any dissonance within it, so he shook his head. "Whatever it is, it's not related to the Emeralds. Sonic has all of them, right?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Alright. Any ideas where we should look first?"
The girls looked at each other, and then looked down and shook their heads.
"Perfect. Well, better get going." Knuckles began to jog before breaking into a glide to make his way off of the floating island.
Cream took Amy's hands before quickly flapping her ears and following after him.
"The scanner will beep from my pocket if it detects something, that's what Tails said," Amy let her friends know. "But we'll have to land so I can look at it."
The three heroes traveled by air for several hours, crossing several dozen zones, and waiting to hear anything from Tails' scanner.
"It's gonna take us forever to find this thing," Amy pouted a bit. "If only Sonic were here, he could find it quickly…"
"Yeah, and we're stuck doing Sonic's dirty work. No surprise there." Knuckles kept his gaze concentrated forward.
"It may not be anywhere near here," Cream said. "We may have to try again tomorrow."
Knuckles shook his head. "We have several hours of daylight left. Let's keep looking."
After nearly another hour of searching, Tails' scanner finally started beeping.
"Oh, finally!" Amy shouted. "Let's land and check it out."
The three of them looked down as they descended, but saw nothing but flat grasslands with small shrubs and sparse trees. The ground itself was light brown and parched. As they got closer and closer to the ground, the energy scanner began beeping furiously, sounding like a geiger counter.
"Yay, we found it!" Cream smiled as she set Amy on the ground and landed beside her.
The three of them looked around, but saw only miles of flatland around them, no mountains or obvious mining spots.
"If there's a gem of some kind here, it'll be underground," Knuckles eyed the dirt beneath his feet. He leaned down on his knees and began digging, his powerful fists displacing volumes of dirt. It felt dry, as if hadn't rained here in weeks. They were near the edge of the desert. The hole around the echidna grew as he dug for several more minutes.
"Anything we can do to help, Mr. Knuckles?" Cream called to him.
"No," Knuckles shouted back, and then poked his head up. "Well, you can let Tails know this is here. Tell him to bring the Tornado. This might be deep underground. He might have some other ideas."
Amy pocketed the scanner. "Okay, Cream, let's head back. Maybe So-... that other hedgehog is back, too."
As Knuckles dug deeper underground, Amy and Cream flew back to get some help.
Original Dimension - Alternate Sonic, Original Amy, Original Tails
Amy had come to love riding in the Tornado. Feeling the wind in her quills, the thrill of going fast, and of course the lovely views of the sky and clouds around her. And speaking of the view, having Sonic himself ride in front of her on the wings of the plane certainly didn't hurt her eyes any. Several times he'd turn around just to wink at her, and Amy was sure her heart was going to melt to a mere puddle by the end of the day. She couldn't handle this much of Sonic being nice to her.
They were going to check out an apparent dimensional tear that was likely caused by Eggman, but Amy's mind was never too far away from her blue hero. She'd always gone wherever Sonic did, whether that was into danger or not. She didn't care if she was put in harm's way - as she knew she could swing a mean hammer, and if that didn't work, Sonic would be there to save her. In fact, she wouldn't mind having to face some bots as long as Sonic would hold her in his arms again…
"I think we're getting close," Tails said from the cockpit of their plane. He looked over the side of the plane to search the ground. "See anything, Sonic?"
"Huh?" The male hedgehog responded, suddenly tearing his eyes from Amy.
"Do you see anything, any signs of Eggman or anything weird?"
"Oh…"
If Tails hadn't been holding the pilot controls, he would have face palmed. What had gotten into his best friend?
"Wait, down there, Tails! Looks like some bots… let's get 'em," Sonic grinned, and just like that, Tails had him back.
Tails guided his plane downwards, looking for somewhere to land among the sea of trees below. He finally spied the bots Sonic had been talking about among the forest - eight of them, in fact. They looked almost animal like, with 4 legs and tripods for feet, certainly not built for speed. Their "faces" were flat and only had three purplish squares, but Tails couldn't figure out their function. Output devices, maybe? They didn't look like something Eggman would normally make, didn't have his signature style. They also didn't look like they had any weapons attached, unless they were well hidden.
He pulled the Tornado up in a clearing nearby, and the three of them jumped out to face the enemies.
"Sonic let's not attack them just yet, I want to figure out what they're made for," Tails said as they ran through the trees, avoiding fallen logs and piles of leaves.
"You got it, buddy." He offered him a thumbs up.
"They look really weird," Amy commented as they peeked at them behind the trees.
"Wait, these look just like the bots I fought earlier today, destroyed them with ease," Sonic said as he ran around to inspect them. "They're definitely Eggman's."
"Oh-ho-ho-ho!" a booming trademark laugh echoed in the forest.
"Well, that answers our question," Tails muttered.
Dr. Eggman floated near the ground in his Egg Mobile, wearing a smirk. "Oh Sonic, it's nice to see you've joined our party! Would you like some refreshments?"
"Heh," Sonic smirked back and crossed his arms. "Looks like a pretty lame party to me! I think even you could beat these rust buckets in a race."
"Of course you fail to see the brilliance of my creations!"
While Sonic and Eggman had their normal banter, Amy couldn't help but notice the control panel that Eggman was holding in his hands. It was a weird thing for her to notice, but on top of the tablet sat a circular container holding a bright pink gem. It didn't have the same cut as a Chaos Emerald, and was more circular and flat, but held a similar shine. She felt an odd attraction to it, and turned to Tails.
"Tails, you see what Eggman is holding? What is that?" She pointed up at the doctor.
Tails squinted. "Hm, I'm not sure. Looks like an input device."
"No, no, the gem - you don't see that?"
"Oh, that! Good eyes, Amy. We've never seen that before, have we?"
The girl shook her head, her pink quills bouncing. "I don't think so…"
"Yeah yeah, you know I already defeated these same robots earlier today. While I'm runnin' circles around you, yer runnin' out of ideas!" Sonic quipped.
Eggman smirked. "Oh, you still haven't realized it. How sad and pathetic how small your mind is."
"Haven't realized what? That you still haven't beaten me after all these years?"
"But I have. And you don't even realize it. How perfect!" Eggman cackled.
Iif Tails hadn't given him a warning look that he needed more time, Sonic would have smashed the bots to bits already. His legs were itching to move, and he hopped from side to side to get out his energy. He couldn't stand to listen to yet more of Eggman's droning on and on in that annoying voice. Come to think of it, why hadn't he attacked yet? Sonic looked over at Amy and saw her staring at Eggman with a confused look. What was she thinking?
"I can't believe you still don't know!" Eggman was still talking. "Oh-ho-ho! Well, let me let you in on a secret. You and I, we aren't from this world. Thanks to this ingenious design of my OctoScramblers, we have been able to cross into a different world, a different dimension! Both you and I are travelers! Isn't that wonderful? The implications of what I can do is beyond your own comprehension."
Tails eyes got wide and Amy gasped, but Sonic shook his head.
"What are you blabbering on about, Eggman? What do you mean a different dimension? This looks like home to me."
"I mean that there exists a dimension, that we're in now, that is so alike to our own, yet with slight differences. The version of Sonic that belongs here has gone to our world, and you have entered this other world. You're in the wrong place, hedgehog. And while I may not be from here either, I'll be sure to the ruler of it in no time!"
"No way!" Sonic immediately yelled back, but Eggman's words had the ring of truth that he couldn't deny.
"Why do you think we trust a single word you say, Eggman?" Amy glared at the doctor with her hands on her hips.
Eggman couldn't help but gloat. "Ask your boyfriend, sweetheart. I'm sure he's noticed the difference in this world compared to ours. I'm sure you've felt certain things as, hmm, odd?"
Sonic froze. No way. He couldn't believe this… or that he hadn't noticed or realized it by now. This was a different dimension? Another world? It didn't make sense, and yet, suddenly it all made sense - the way he'd been kidnapped earlier, how the landmarks and features in this world were in different places, and Amy -
He looked at the girl, her eyes wide as well. She had been staring at him with those lovely green eyes, hoping that he could deny this was the truth. He didn't know. If he was truly in the wrong dimension, which is what his gut was telling him… the horrible implication dawned on him. He didn't care about this being a different world, as he'd been to several different ones and always made it home. No, he had just realized something even worse.
It meant this girl in front of him, this lovely rose, the hedgehog he'd thought he loved and had taken on a date and held hands with and kissed… wasn't his Amy. This was simply a girl who was in love with a different version of himself. Her emotions today, for once, were finally making sense to him. Her shock, her denial, her weird comments about him being a jerk to her. Did that mean, the Sonic of this world wasn't with her? Had he just cheated on his girlfriend? His mind was processing information at record speed and it was making him feel sick.
"Oh-ho-ho, it looks like I've finally made Sonic the Hedgehog stand still from shock!"
He snapped out of it, and curled himself into a spindash. "Eggman!"
"Sonic, we can't fight him!" Tails shouted. "I still don't know what those robots do! You can't attack it!"
Sonic was never one to run from a fight. He remained in his spindash, building up energy and ready to release it at any moment. His anger was growing, and he wanted nothing more than to pummel the bots and Eggman himself.
"Stop, Sonic, you can't! It might send you to another dimension, and we need you here! Please…" Tails kept begging him to stop. "Let's figure this out first…"
He kept revving his body in a ball, creating an overwhelming amount of momentum. He was fighting the rational part of his mind that was saying Tails was right. But it wasn't until she spoke, her voice just as lovely as his own Amy's, that he was able to pull himself back.
"Sonic, please, he's right… I don't want to lose you…"
In one motion, Sonic kept the momentum of his spindash, but broke out of his ball to begin running as soon as he was right side up. He instantly grabbed both Tails and Amy by their hands and rushed them back to the Tornado.
"Tails, fly," he said in a rush as he put both of his friends into the plane. He jumped on the wings as he looked back at Eggman's robots. The sound of the evil doctor's laughter rang in his ears, making his ears bleed.
As they ascended, Sonic was feeling lost in his own thoughts. He was a traveler of worlds, an explorer of outer space and more dimensions than he could count - so why was this one affecting him so much? Why did he feel so confused?
"Is it really true, Sonic?" The girl hedgehog behind him couldn't help but ask.
But Sonic couldn't even turn to look at her. This wasn't his Amy. Hell, the pilot of this plane was not even his Tails. How had he not realized it sooner?
Alternate Dimension - Alternate Tails, Original Sonic, Alternate Amy, Alternate Cream
He'd gone over his calculations several times, and Tails kept coming back to his original conclusion. This Sonic was definitely from another dimension. However, he still had no idea what had caused the tear in the first place. He needed more information, and was hoping Amy would get back to him soon. But it had been several hours. He'd tuned the energy scanner to a specific frequency, similar to his Chaos Emerald scanner, as he knew only items of a certain power could cause a dimensional breach.
Still, nothing. As much as he loved math, it was time for a break. After taking a moment to stretch his arms, Tails flew into his kitchen to grab a few pieces of mint candy. He looked off into the distance at the trees around his home, his mind still doing mental math. Tails couldn't help but notice the leaves start fiercely blowing in a different direction, and before he could even think to open his mouth, Sonic was in front of him.
"Tails, now I know that we're right. Eggman's figured out a way to cross dimensions."
He lifted his hands. "Whoa, slow down. What do you mean?"
"I just saw what happened to me, happen to Eggman," Sonic explained. "I went to fight him to see what he knew, but there was the same flash of light. I think the Eggman of my world is here, and they swapped places."
"But… why?" Tails asked, looking up at the ceiling and sucking on his candy. "If he's behind this, why would he swap himself?"
"Who knows that that guy thinks. I just know what I saw."
"Well," Tails chomped into the candy, the mint crushed between his teeth. He used his namesakes to propel himself back to his workshop. "This throws a new wrinkle in things… "
Sonic followed him in. "Did you figure anything out?"
Tails brought up his reports. "Yes and no. Amy's gone to find the power source."
Sonic paused. "By herself?"
"She's getting Cream and Knuckles to help her."
"Oh…"
"I haven't heard back from her yet, they might still be looking."
Just then, his door knocked. Sonic felt his heart leap unexpectedly when he realized that Amy was here.
"Well, what a coincidence," Tails said. "Us all being done at the same time…"
Amy and Cream entered Tails house and explained that they'd found what might be the power source and that Knuckles was digging for it.
"Well, let's go check it out," Sonic said and smiled. "Nice work, Ames."
Amy couldn't help but blush at his words and voice, but she tried to get herself to stop. Her feelings for her own Sonic were powerful enough, she couldn't share her heart with yet another… even if the two looked and acted nearly the same.
"Let's go in the Tornado, guys!" Tails smiled, glad to get away from his computer for a while. "Cream, are you coming too?"
"Of course, I'd be happy to come," Cream smiled at Tails and followed him into the Tornado's hangar.
Amy turned and was about to follow them, but Sonic's voice made her stop.
"Amy, listen… can we talk for a second?"
She inhaled and released a big sigh. She turned around and raised her brow at him. "Now you want to talk to me."
"Yeah, listen, I… oh boy," Sonic let out a big sigh as he saw her impatient expression. He had to apologize to her if they were going to work together. Still, it felt weird to actually have a conversation with the girl. Even if she wasn't the girl he was used to. She seemed, stronger, almost. Not obsessed with him at all. Why did that bother him so much? Okay, his mind was wandering. "I-I was a jerk to ya back there, okay? I know. And I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things. It's just been an odd day and I don't feel like myself."
Amy merely kept staring at him, unimpressed, and trying to control her emotions. "Okay."
He offered her his hand and smile. "Can we just agree to get along for now?"
The pink hedgehog looked down at his gloved hand, and part of her wanted to take it. She really wasn't that mad at him, but she still didn't trust him. It was nice to see him being kind again, though. Normally Amy was very quick to forgive and trust people, but this guy had broken her heart in just a few moments of meeting her. He was a fake version of her boyfriend.
Even though her better judgement told her she should, Amy didn't reach for his hand.
She crossed her arms. "I'll help you get my Sonic back, but that's it."
Sonic smiled playfully, withdrawing his hand. "So I have to earn your trust, huh? Well, this is new. Good thing I like a challenge," his eyes glittered with mischief, and Amy hated how much she loved looking at him. "Let's go kick Eggman's behind, yeah?"
Amy raised her hand. "After you."
"Oh, no, ladies first," Sonic insisted, his charming smile irresistible.
The girl let out a frustrated sigh as she headed to the hangar. Sonic was way too cute for her to hope of winning. This was going to be one hell of a mission.