Flipside Chapter 10: Pink Sapphire, a sonic the hedgehog fanfic

Samantha27, IT'S NO USE I'M OUTTA USE, The Game Nguyener, Lynkia, SpeedsMyGame:

Thanks for the inspiration and motivation, reviewers! Also, thanks to everyone who's faving and following this story, I see you, too!

Yeah, this chapter is a monster. I almost split it in half, but because I like you guys, I'm giving you all this at once. You're welcome. :P :)

And now, this story will never be the same...

Chapter 10: Pink Sapphire

"I feel - " Sonic cut himself off as he stared into Amy's eyes. He didn't know what to say, or how to say all that was going on inside him. He knew the truth, though. It was something in what he'd been feeling all day, and nearly every day since he'd met the cute pink hedgehog. And earlier, when he'd bent to pick the pink rose for her, and held it close to him to protect the delicate petals from the blistering winds of his speed, that's when he knew.

He felt things for Amy Rose - not the feelings of the wind through his quills, or the rush of adrenaline - but the feeling of warmth, of closeness, of care and tenderness. He felt what could only be described as love. All he wanted to do was stay here with her, perfectly still, and feel Amy in his arms.

Both Dimensions - Original Tails, Alternate Tails

"Tails… I just had a thought," OrTails said out of the blue. He looked up from the lines and lines of numbers he'd been crunching. The data felt incomplete, as if they were missing some valuable inputs. As he looked it over, a thought occurred to him and he had to share it. OrTails had to admit it was nice to have another him around - it was like he'd cloned himself and could do twice as much work!

"What is it?" AltTails asked, turning to look at the monitor. They were still having trouble transferring some data between dimensions, but had done their best to work with what they had.

"What if, you're me, as in, the same me as I am, but… from the future?" OrTails proposed, waving his hands back and forth and ending with both his palms facing upwards.

AltTails shook his head. "What? But that's impossible. Time travel, I mean."

"What about Silver? He's traveled back in time," OrTails said.

"Yeah, but…" AltTails paused to gather his thoughts. "We're physically swapping beings to different places, worlds, dimensions. Not times. We can swap them back and forth."

"But think about it. The only difference in our worlds is that Sonic and Amy are together in one, and not in the other. Isn't that suspicious? I've always thought the two would get together sometime in the future, which leads me to think that's what this is..." OrTails mused, grabbing his chin again.

"It is suspicious," AltTails said. "But, if I'm you, from the future, then wouldn't I remember all of this? Including this conversation? Sonic and Amy from my world would, too - they would have remembered going forward in time, and doing all of this. But they don't seem to, either."

"Oh, you're right." OrTails paused. "But, maybe, our memories got erased somehow?"

AltTails shrugged. "I don't know. But it is weird that our two worlds, out of millions of possible dimensions, were used. It's a huge coincidence." He stopped to smile. "It's almost like whoever switched your Sonic in the first place wanted him to get with Amy."

"Heh, maybe. I don't think Amy had anything to do with this, though - Eggman was the one who made the swap. Maybe the stone searched for a place where the inhabitants are the most similar?"

AltTails turned around. "What do you think, Eggman?"

The room that had just been occupied by the doctor was now vacant. The two Tails looked at each other.

"Eggman?" AltTails asked again.

"Where did he go?"

"Yeah, I know he walked out during the initial call, but he was just here a moment ago."

The two foxes searched around for a moment, but the building was completely empty other than the two of them.

"Hm, I still don't trust him," OrTails said as he crossed his arms.

"Me neither." AltTails set down his pen and calculator. "I think I should go find out what he's up to. I wish we could go together, but... "

"Yeah, I'm stuck over here. Be careful, okay?"

"Yeah. You too."

Alternate Dimension - Alternate Amy, Original Sonic

Amy turned the door handle, and the door opened with a slight squeak.

Her eyes were trained to the floor as she moved backwards, not wanting to look at any part of Sonic than his bright red shoes, as anything else would be too much right now. After she took her seat on the couch, she watched those iconic shoes silently tread across the floor, much slower than they were accustomed to moving. They came to a stop not far from her.

"Amy."

He said her name in the most tender tone of voice she'd ever heard this Sonic use.

"I, uh, know it's not much, but I thought it'd make you smile."

Amy watched his stance slightly change, one leg moving slightly in front of the other. Was he offering her something? She raised her eyes up from his shoes, to his legs, to his chest - her eyes flew wide open and she immediately found his eyes.

"Sonic!"

He was smiling, softly, kindly, his eyes gentle. And in his hands rest a lovely light pink rose.

"I mean, it is kinda cliche and all, because your name is Amy Rose and all, but uh, this is the kinda thing you might like, right?"

She nodded, her eyes moistening as she reached for the flower. To her surprise, the stem was smooth.

"There aren't any thorns."

"Yeah, I cut them off. I didn't want you to hurt yourself."

"Sonic…. Thank you…" a smile grew across Amy's mouth as she fondled the stem of the flower. She brought the petals up to her nose and lightly sniffed, inhaling the romantic scent.

"Yer welcome, Amy. I just wanted to cheer you up a bit." He scuffed his shoe across the floor before sitting down next to the girl.

That's how they found themselves in a spare room at Tails' place, sitting awkwardly on opposite ends of the couch. Amy sat quietly, holding the rose and thinking, while Sonic leaned back into the armrest. The male hedgehog wasn't sure what else to say; in fact, he'd expected Amy to be a lot more talkative than she was now. For now, the girl seemed content to sit still and be silent. Sonic could make out some moisture in her eyes, but he wasn't sure if that was from joy or pain. Ah, who was he kidding? One rose given by him couldn't make her instantly feel better about her boyfriend dumping her unexpectedly.

But he wasn't sure what else to do, or say. The silence was killing him, too. Sonic adjusted his posture on the couch, trying to get more comfortable, but giving Amy her space.

"I didn't expect you to come and talk to me," Amy finally said. She set the rose down on the table next to her.

"Yeaaah, well, I didn't think I would either. I'm just not sure what to say. But what that other Sonic did was pretty rotten, and I feel bad about it. I couldn't just leave you here alone. So I thought picking a flower for you would be somethin', at least."

"It was really thoughtful, Sonic. Thanks."

More awkward silence ensued before Sonic spoke again.

"Well, you said earlier you wanted to tell the other Sonic something - well, why don't you tell me?"

Amy shook her head and folded her hands in her lap. "It's not the same."

"He's Sonic and I'm Sonic. Sounds like the same to me," Sonic gave her a teasing wink.

Amy wasn't buying it. "You know it's not."

"Maybe by tellin' me, it'll make tellin' him later easier, huh?"

Amy looked at Sonic, her heart softening just from hearing how nice he was being to her - but she wanted to fight it. It was time that she gave up on this crush of hers. She reminded herself that the few months of joy and love Sonic had given her, couldn't make up for the years and years of pain and rejection and rudeness. As happy as he made her, this current feeling, this feeling of her heart ripping in half, was too overwhelming. And this Sonic, with how nice he was being, was giving her hope. The hope that kept her heart beating for him, the hope that she could one day be happy with him, the hope that kept her hurting every time he disappointed her and left her behind.

She wanted to crush that hope, so that it couldn't hurt her anymore.

After all, she didn't deserve it.

"It doesn't matter anymore. I've given up."

"No you haven't," Sonic said.

His voice was so confident, so cocky, that it annoyed her beyond belief. Amy turned to Sonic with fire in her narrowing eyes.

"You don't get to tell me how I feel, Sonic. The truth is, all of this is my fault. I've been selfish, I haven't taken care of him, or made him happy. And by the time I realized it, it was too late. I can't believe I let both of us down so much. I don't blame him for running away, I really don't. I've been nothing but a selfish brat that only cares about my own needs in our relationship. I've spent so long of dreaming about being with him, and was so bossy and made him do things that I wanted - and I even questioned how he felt about me, when he was showing me all along. You helped me realize that. And I feel awful. I just wish I could have told him before he ran away… all I wanted to say is that I was sorry for being selfish. He's been so great to me, taking me out, being so nice, and I haven't done nearly enough for him. How could I have been so blind? How could I not notice he was happy? How could I… have claimed to love him if I never really cared about what he wanted?"

Feeling better after her rant, Amy gave a sad sigh and looked down, her eyes filling up with tears. She pressed her trembling lips together, trying to keep them steady. The salt from her tears somehow managed to make it past the makeshift dam, stinging her lips. She sniffed heavily.

Sonic absolutely couldn't stand to see her crying. And her speech… hearing those genuine words, and with such maturity and self-reflection…. He couldn't help but be impressed by her. This wasn't like the young girl he knew as Amy. "Amy, I'm sure you haven't been that bad. I think you're being too hard on yourself."

"I have, Sonic. It's all my fault. You said earlier that you never thought your Amy truly cared about what you wanted… and that's when I realized what I'd been doing wrong this whole time."

He blinked. "But… that's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"I mean… you're not her. I don't know everything you've done, or what the other Sonic is feeling. But I do know this - he'll come back for you."

"How do you know?"

He smiled slightly, and then gave her a wink. "Because that's what I would do. After all, I'm here now, aren't I?"

"But… how many times have you come back for your Amy?"

He threw his hands up. "Stop with the guilt tripping, will ya?"

"I'm just trying to understand. I don't get a chance to just understand Sonic very often."

"What is there to understand? I'm a simple guy."

"But you make decisions that don't make sense. You've never come back for your Amy, but you said that's what you would do."

"Well, if there was a girl I really liked, and I made a hasty decision by being a jerk and running away, I'd like to think I'd do the right thing and come back to apologize."

"Hm, you'd like to think," Amy accused. "And yet you're so sure."

"Well, I'm sure because…. Because, it just feels like that's what I'd do."

Amy sighed in frustration. "You're not making any sense, Sonic."

"Look, I don't know how to talk about this stuff. I just know what I think and feel."

"And what do you feel? For your Amy?"

He didn't want to fight it, but he did. He didn't want to feel this way, but he did. Holding her would feel so right, so nice, but he couldn't. He couldn't do this to himself, betray himself. He was Sonic and he didn't want to care about anything this deeply.

Just as he'd seen his other self do, all he would do was cause pain and hurt to this girl. He'd seen right in front of his own eyes what dating her would come to - he'd eventually need a break, and then she'd be heartbroken.

He'd never wanted and yet not wanted something so much in his life.

But he couldn't fight it any more. Sonic crawled across the couch and pulled Amy into his arms, hugging her firmly but gently. He loved everything about holding her - her warmth, her scent, her body, her heartbeat, her breaths… and how she inhaled when he exhaled, making their bodies fit together even more perfectly than he could've imagined. He felt her curves, those perfect breasts and hips, push against his muscles, making his whole body crave her.

Amy was simply perfect. And he knew it. She was gorgeous, she was smart, she was kind, she was brave and strong. He'd known it all along, but he'd fought it, with his attitude, with his feet, with his anxiety, with his love-shyness, with his speed. But in his heart, he'd always known.

Now, he was done fighting. And he was done waiting.

Sonic leaned in and met her lips with his, letting the soft flesh meld against her. His hand gently gripped the back of her head, his fingertips playing with her quills. He wasn't sure what exactly to do with his lips, as this was his first ever kiss, but luckily Amy herself took over, being the more experienced of the pair. She kissed him aggressively, her lips pressing into his, caressing his bottom lip. Her hands weren't shy about exploring his back, his sides, even his chest - and it felt amazingly electrifying. While he kept his own hands gentlemanly, he wrapped his legs around her, making sure she couldn't get away, but Amy had no desire to. She was a damn good kisser, doing things with her lips Sonic had never dreamed, but couldn't get enough of.

He finally pulled away, panting heavily, as Amy nuzzled into his neck and shoulder, her breaths warming his chest. Sonic's heart was pounding like crazy, not sure he'd ever felt anything close to this before.

He met her lovely green eyes. "I kinda feel like I should apologize, but I don't want to."

"Don't."

Amy held onto Sonic, desperately needing his touch.

"Why would you apologize?"

"Well, you kinda already have a boyfriend, yeah? Ahhh, now this whole thing feels weird." Sonic untangled himself from Amy's body, but she kept a firm hold on him.

"Did you miss the memo where he broke up with me?"

"But he kinda didn't. He just said he needed a break, and that you two weren't over. So you're still technically together."

"I guess." Amy still clutched onto Sonic, but when he wiggled again, she let go of him. He went to the other side of the couch, blushing.

"Gah, now I feel bad. I just had to have you though. I couldn't wait. My bad, Ames."

From the corner of his eye, he could make out a hint of a smile on her lips. "I told you."

"Told me what?"

"That you liked Amy."

"I -" Sonic couldn't even protest anymore. She was right. She was absolutely right, and his actions just proved that.

"You have to tell her, Sonic. Don't do what I did and hold back words. You never know what could happen."

"I can't tell her. Everytime I'm around her, my mouth stops working, and I just get terrified and have to get away."

"That's kinda adorable," Amy had to smile, enjoying that this conversation was distracting her from her own problems.

He crossed his arms in defiance. "No, it's not. It's embarrassing. The whole thing about her is embarrassing."

"Sonic, are you telling me you wouldn't want to do with your Amy what we just did?"

"I…" his face had turned dark red, making his fur near his muzzle appear close to purple. "You know what, I could tell the other Sonic about this, and how you technically cheated on him."

"What!? You wouldn't! Besides, he'd just want to beat you up for doing so!"

"Alright. Let's make a truce, then. Let's just keep what just happened between us, yeah?"

"Deal. But, only if you promise to tell Amy how you feel."

Damn. He'd walked right into that one. Sonic let out a huge sigh of anxiety. "Fine. Deal. I'll do it."

"Great! How about we do some more practicing for when you see her again?"

"As much as I kinda want to, I'm not kissing you again," Sonic said, shaking his head.

"I'm not talking about kissing, hornhog. Just about what to say. I want to help. Plus it'll distract me from… you know."

Sonic agreed, though his stomach was turning at the thought of telling the real Amy about his feelings. Kissing this Amy had been easy, perhaps because he'd been physically attracted to her, but not romantically attracted. But dealing with his Amy would be a whole different ball game.

Well, this was one battle he had never been able to win, one challenge that had always stumped him. And now he was getting ready to face it.

Original Dimension - Alternate Sonic, Original Amy

"I'm terribly sorry to interrupt your little date, Sonic, but I'm pretty sure you and I have been 'together' longer!" Eggman cackled as he looked down at the two hedgehogs.

"Sonic, we need to get that other gem. If he gets both pink sapphires, we don't know what could happen," Amy said frantically.

"You're right," Sonic agreed, tensing his body up to prepare to fight.

"Good luck trying to take what's rightfully mine…. While I'm in this!" Eggman suddenly flew skywards, and the sun was temporarily blocked out by a giant battle mech descending from the sky. The mech fell to the ground with a crash, its giant legs creating small craters and sending shockwaves that knocked the hedgehogs over.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," Sonic grumbled as he lifted himself up. As he looked over the design of the mech, he really wish he had Tails here to help him analyze and look for a weak spot. But for now, Amy would have to do.

"Of course I'm not kidding!" Eggman called out through a loudspeaker inside the mech. "Those OctoScramblers were a poor man's prototype, but this other gem has led me to understand its true potential. Now, get ready to be schooled!"

The doctor raised one arm of the battle mech to reveal a machine gun surrounded by rocket launchers, and aimed it right at both heroes.

"Sonic, what do we do?" Amy asked, clutching her hammer.

"Fight."

He leaped into action, spinning himself into a tight ball before launching towards the mech. He leaped on the arm, raking his quills through the tough metal, managing to tear off the top layer of the arm before Eggman shook him off. Without Tails' eye in the sky, Sonic knew he'd have to pay attention to the attack pattern. It seemed the mech had the aforementioned machine guns and rocket launchers, but also a special laser ray gun. Based on what he could see, it looked to be attached to the compartment that held his pink sapphire. Sonic could feel his own pink gem throbbing each time he got closer to it.

He had to find a way to get in there. If only he had Tails to help him… how could he use Amy's hammer and himself to retrieve the gem? Perhaps their spinball attack?

Amy felt herself quickly overwhelmed by simply dodging Eggman's attacks, especially since Sonic himself was not keeping an eye on her. She was used to fighting Eggman from a flank, as Sonic was usually the main target. But this time Eggman seemed to be using another tactic: Because Sonic was much faster than her, Eggman wasn't even trying to hit him, but instead using her as bait to attempt to distract him.

It hadn't worked so far, as Sonic hadn't even looked her way once. Amy's initial reaction was anger, as she felt suddenly abandoned. Did Sonic not care about her well-being? But then she remembered he wanted her to be strong and independent, able to take care of herself.

It was time to do just that.

If Egghead was going to use her as bait, she had to direct his attacks away from Sonic, which meant getting on the other side of the mech from him. Seeing Sonic move up its left leg and torso, Amy headed right, dodging a series of rockets and pink lasers aimed her way. When she had a moment, Amy turned to swing her hammer at the rockets, sending them back to their maker. She could hear Eggman grumble each time he was hit by his own firepower, and that made her smile. She was helping!

Just then, Sonic finally called out to her. "Amy, avoid the pink lasers! I think they're using the pink gem's power, and it might switch you to the other place!"

"Okay!"

In just a split second, which was enough time for Amy to catch it, Sonic managed a smile at her. "You're doing great, Ames. We got this."

His compliments warmed her from the inside out, and she almost took a moment to squeal, but suddenly had to dodge several volleys of lasers and bullets. Well, that would teach her not to fangirl during battle. Time to get back to business.

However, as Amy got closer to the mech itself, she could suddenly feel a strange sensation. A longing, a deep-seated need to get closer to both the mech, and Sonic. Then she realized - just like she had been able to do before, Amy could feel the power of both gems. The one in Sonic's possession had been calling to her this whole time, but the one in Eggman's hands was calling even more. She could feel their energy, despite being so far away, and it drew her in. She could sense that if she could get close to both of them, she could harness that power somehow. Amy had seen Sonic go super many times, and while it had always thrilled her heart, she'd never thought she could be strong enough to go super. These gems gave her ambitions she'd never dreamed of.

How could she possibly get close enough with all that was going on? When she saw Sonic climbing up, she'd have to go with him, and attack the power source with him directly. But she couldn't say outloud what her plan was, as it'd alert Eggman. She'd have to time this just right.

Amy took another lap around the mech's legs as Sonic attacked from above, avoiding attacks and going offensive when she could. Although it felt very foreign to her, she made sure to stay as far away from Sonic as possible to give him enough space to work. He was doing his best to cut off any limbs of the battle mech, making dents and chinks in the heavy armor of the machine. Amy kept a careful eye on him, waiting for her moment. When she saw Sonic start heading to the top of the mech, she made her move. Amy built up speed and hurled herself as the nearest leg of the mech, running up the side. When she got to the arm, she swung her hammer at the appendage to launch herself soaring high into the air.

"Sonic!" She called out as she flew up, raising her hammer as a signal, and hoping he understood.

She barely saw the flash of his thumbs up before the hedgehog got in position. He instantly curled himself into a ball and flew directly towards Amy. As the girl started to fall down, she searched the outside of the mech, trying to find where the pink gem was hidden. She couldn't locate it by sight, but something inside of her told her where it was - the central node, hidden right behind where Eggman was piloting the craft.

As she fell faster and faster, Amy built up as much momentum in her hammer as she could, keeping one eye on Sonic and the other on her target. Sonic was getting closer, closer, closer -

BAM!

Amy swung with all her might, the blunt end of her weapon whacking Sonic's spin form with tremendous power and speed towards the node. Her mouth dropped in disbelief as she watched Sonic cut through the middle of the mech like butter, opening the compartment that held the pink gem. She did it! They did it! Together!

With her hammer in only one hand, Amy controlled her descent to fall right next to the pink gem, grasping it from it's compartment. She felt a intense rush as she held it in her hands, momentarily distracting her from the fall. She regained a sense of surroundings and used her hammer to hit the sides of the degrading mech and land on her feet. Now without its source of power, the battle mech crumbled to the ground in a heap of metal. It crushed to pieces, black smoke billowing out and providing a background to Dr. Eggman escaping as usual.

"Ames, you did so great," Sonic gushed and grinned at her.

However, before Amy could respond, something weird was going on with the pink gemstone. As Amy held it in her hands, it was glowing a bright shade of cotton candy pink. The girl could feel it pulsating in her hands, and she felt an inexplicable need to unite it with the other gem.

"Sonic, give me your gem," she asked with urgency.

His smile disappeared. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I can feel it. It wants to come together, so it can come out."

"Come out?"

"Yes, just… give it," Amy said, surprising herself with the impatience.

Sonic reached into his quills to produce the stone, but once it felt open air, the gem seemed to take on a life of its own. It floated out of Sonic's hands and straight for Amy's, coming to rest on her palm. Amy looked down with wide, bright green eyes as the two gems connected together like magnets, forming a rough heart-like shape.

Once they connected, a power surge flowed through Amy, feeling like billions of pleasant electric shocks in every atom of her body. Her eyes grew wider as her whole body started to glow, emitting a soft pink light from her ears to her boots. It was only then she realized her boots were hovering above the ground; she was flying?!

"What the hell…" Sonic said, his jaw slack as he stared at Amy's transformation. She looked beyond stunning - and that was not even a good enough phrase to describe her.

But nothing could prepare them for what happened next. A dark purple spirit suddenly floated out of the gemstone, taking its place in the air above the two hedgehogs; this was enough to stop Eggman from escaping and turn to watch. The spirit itself was featureless, not humanoid at all, instead resembling a sort of amoeba. Sonic, Amy, and Eggman could only gape at the spirit, not sure if they should try to run or fight.

"Amy Rose," The spirit spoke in a voice like a whisper, and yet loudly filled their ears.

"Yes?" the girl asked, afraid, and yet feeling more powerful than ever.

"I have met most of your friends, and have learned much about you through them. It's nice to finally meet you, as it seems you are the center of the recent uses of my power."

Amy was too overwhelmed and confused to understand what it meant. "Who are you?"

"My name is Desiree. I am the spirit of the pink sapphires you hold."

Amy looked down at the heart-shaped gems in her hand. "I…"

"You have many questions, I see. I will do my best to explain. The gems you hold are ancient, and new at the same time. They have been forming since this world's beginning. Each half of the sapphires you hold was molded from the emotions of the beings of this world. Every tear that has ever been cried has soaked into the earth, watering the ground, the emotions of the teardrop flowing and gathering underground to form into a crudely shaped half-heart gemstone. Similarly, every note of laughter has echoed off the hills, bouncing from mountain to mountain and eventually reaching a cave deep inside the belly of the earth. The joyful sound waves have produced the other half of the stone. When put together, joy and pain create the two sides of being's desires."

"So that's where they come from, but… why me? And what does that have to do with you?"

"I will answer your second question first. As I said, I am the spirit of the sapphires. I have felt every tear, experienced every laugh. I have known the heartbeat of every being that has ever lived, and I know what they each truly desire and dream about. And now, so can you."

"But why… am I really special somehow?"

"No, you're not particularly special. I have felt billions and billions of desires, and yours are not exactly unique. Unrequited love is quite common, my dear. But you are able to wield these sapphires because you have a pure heart, and know exactly what it is you desire. And you are able to easily listen to and read others to determine their wants as well. For this reason, you can use the sapphires."

"Wait a minute," Sonic suddenly interjected. "This is cool and all, but what does all of this desire stuff have to do with the dimension swapping?"

"Ah, yes. Well, therein lies the true power of the pink sapphires. Not only can they read the being's true desires, but it can bring them to a time and place where those desires and dreams are met."

They all paused, still in confusion.

"So that means…" Amy started, the wheels of her mind turning. She could feel the answer on the tip of her tongue, and then it came to her as from the Pink Sapphires themselves. "They were first used on my world's version of Sonic. So he was taken to a place where - " she couldn't finish the sentence because she was smiling and giggling too much. There's no way this was real! It was too good to be true!

Desiree filled in for her. "Ah yes, Sonic is indeed an interesting one. When my power was used on him, I was able to look into his heart. I found mostly contentment, as he's a powerful being. Sonic has been able to live most of his life exactly how he wants, and constantly works to create the perfect life and world for himself. But there was one thing in his heart that wasn't perfect for him. One thing he was unsure of, one thing giving him emotional anguish, one thing he couldn't understand. One thing that he wanted and dreamed and desired more than anything, but couldn't see it, or admit it, even to himself. Deep in his heart, he wished to be happy with the most important girl in his life. You, Amy."

"I knew it!" Amy yelled to the heavens, soaring through the air in her super form. Tears of joy fell from her eyes to the stones in her hand, and she laughed in joy, the musical notes directly absorbed as well. "I knew it! I always knew Sonic loved me!"

"Wow," was all Sonic could say, utterly flummoxed. He couldn't dispute anything Desiree was saying, but he was overwhelmed with doubt. Could he really let a spirit tell him exactly how he felt, and what he should do? Was his ultimate dream to really be with Amy?

Eggman, who had been listening with varying levels of interest to the conversation, had only stuck around to hear what the gem's full power was. And he was curious about one thing.

"Yes, this is all very interesting," he butted in, "But the sapphires were not only used on Sonic. I used them on myself, and also Tails has been swapped. All of us went to the same place. Why was I not brought to the world of my fantasies? I would have expected a lot more conquering and power and servants and - "

Desiree interrupted him. "That is because at the time of using the stones, all of the beings using them were only aware of the power to swap places, and of only one other dimension. Each of you had the strong thought of 'take me to the place where Sonic went', and so that's where each of you ended up."

Eggman rubbed his hands together greedily. "So if I were to use them again, with different thoughts - "

"Not a chance Eggman!" Amy yelled at him, her green eyes glowing intensely. "Not while I'm guarding these gems."

"I can't believe this! An impetuous teenage brat is being granted nearly unlimited power here! It's unfair."

"Oh boohoo," Sonic taunted him.

The spirit spoke. "It's hardly unlimited power, Dr. Robotnik. I feel you still wish others would call you that, yes?"

"That's not important!"

"The stones cannot make someone go somewhere or do something they don't want."

"But in the wrong hands, when used by someone with bad intentions..." Sonic pointed out.

"It will still only affect them. Though I admit some may be displeased by their desires and subsequent actions."

"Fine, one more question, if we can steal more of your time, spirit," Eggman said. "What about those inanimate objects that myself and my inferior counterpart used the Egg Stones on?"

"...those are no concern of mine."

"What?" Sonic demanded. "But you're the one that sent them to another world or whatever? Tails is trying to figure out where they went!"

"Yes, our worlds are losing energy due to those experiments my idiot other self did!" Eggman agreed.

"No. You used cold, lifeless machines on other lifeless objects. Neither of which I have any interest in. Those you will have to solve yourself. I can only deal with desires of living, breathing organisms."

"But…"

"I believe I have been here long enough. Amy Rose, I trust you to take care of these pink sapphires. Make sure they are found in the other world, as well."

"I will!" Amy nodded enthusiastically, still ecstatic.

And with that, Desiree the spirit was sucked back into the Pink Sapphires, disappearing into their shiny cores. Amy watched with huge eyes, still soaking in everything that was just said. She had to admit, she was more excited about the fact that Sonic really loved her than any newfound powers she had. She broke the stones apart with her hands, and she floated back to the ground, her super form holstered for now.

"Get out of here, Egghead," Sonic sneered.

"Hmph. You two haven't seen the last of me. I will get those stones from you, Amy Rose!" He waved his fist at them and escaped.

Now that his arch-nemesis was gone, Sonic turned his attention back to Amy. While her super form glow had long gone, she was still metaphorically glowing. The girl had done amazingly well in battle, nearly as good as his own Amy, but here she was with eyes glazed over and dreaming of her lover boy. He sighed.

"Amy, you can't tell the other Sonic about this," he interrupted her daydream.

"What?" She blinked back to reality.

"Trust me, if he hears that he's in love because of some weird spirit thing said so, he'll want to run away even more. You need ta let him figure out himself. He doesn't like anyone telling him what to do." Sonic spoke just as much for himself as his counterpart.

"But… but now I know what he really wants. And that's me."

"Yeah, but remember what that thing said - "

"You mean Desiree."

"Yeah, that spirit thing. It said he was confused and still hasn't admitted it to himself. So trust me, if you go up to him and spout off some nonsense about those stones, he's not gonna like it."

His words certainly put a damper on her mood. She visibly slouched, but then straightened herself. Sonic was right, she would have to wait a little longer. But that was okay - she'd waited this long, and know that she knew his true heart, it would make it much easier.

"Okay, Sonic," she said with a smile. "You're right. But what do we do now? Are you ready to head back and tell the others? We need to find the stone in the other dimension, that should help out Tails a lot."

Oh, right. That. Sonic's stomach curled into knots. "No… not yet. I can't."

"Oh come on," Amy huffed. "Desiree's words could apply to you as well."

"No, they don't. Your Sonic is still a different dude than me. Alright?"

Amy snapped the sapphires back together, instantly transforming herself. She looked into Sonic's eyes for just a moment and found her answer.

"Your true desire is to be with Amy. Just like my Sonic," she said, de-transforming herself.

He crossed his arms and closed his eyes in annoyance. "Amy, that's not fair. How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Believe me, Sonic. I wouldn't lie to you. I promise."

Her words sounded genuine. He sighed and opened his eyes. "Remember what I said about not liking to be told whatta do? Well, I hate this. So don't do that again."

"Okay. I just wanted to help. So… um, what do we do now, then?"

"Hm. Well, you seem to be the heroine here, not me. What's your call?" Sonic smiled again, slipping back to his normal personality.

Amy stared down at the pink sapphires in her hand. "I'm going to swap myself."

Sonic froze with a instant sense of dread. "No, please, I don't want to face the other Amy now."

"You want me to be more independent and make my own decisions? Well, that's what I'm doing. None of this is getting solved until you two get solved, so don't tell me what to do. This is for the best of all of us."

Sonic's jaw dropped. Amazing how with a little bit of time, and a sudden power trip, Amy had become so sassy and independent. And yet, she still had that sweetness about her. She had her arms crossed to make her look so tough and mad, but Sonic just found her cute and adorable instead.

Her cuteness, though, suddenly turned intense as Amy connected the gems to make herself glow.

"I'll see you on the other side, Sonic," Amy smiled at him sweetly. "Thanks for all your advice."

"See ya on the flipside, Ames," Sonic said back, and as the white light blinded him, he braced himself to meet his girlfriend once again.

So, a few notes - yes, I went there. I gave Amy a super form. The girl really deserves one, after all, pretty much every other major character has one. I'll be saying a lot more on this topic later on in the story, so look for that.

(The "get ready to be schooled" quote by Eggman is from Sonic Rush, and every time I hear it I have to giggle, and so I wanted to add it. Seriously google it if you haven't heard it, it's great.)

Also, and this is a big deal to me, I now have more than 500,000 words archived on this site! It's been one of my goals for a long time, and I'm proud to finally achieve it, especially with a chapter like this. Thanks to everyone for your support recently and in the past. It means the world to me!