"You think this is the place?" Sonic asked.
"Well, the address is right," Knuckles replied.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Tails gulped.
Right now, the three of them stood outside a very high-end fancy Photography Studio in Station Square. Amy had finally completed all of their outfits just two days prior and had scheduled for the three of them to come in and model them all. The trio, having never done something like this before, were certainly a bit nervous, though only Tails seemed to show that.
"Tails, buddy," Sonic said, nudging the Kitsune slightly. "You've been spending a lot of time with her lately, right? How much does she make again?"
"I don't know," Tails replied simply.
"You don't know?"
"I thought it was socially unacceptable to ask people how much their income is, especially your friends."
"Yeah, that's true…"
Knuckles stretched his arms above his head and then held them behind it. "That's it, I'm going in," he said as he walked to the door. Sonic and Tails looked to each other, then shrugged before following him inside. The atmosphere inside was teeming with elegance the likes of which you expect to see at a high-end expensive restaurant. Black, white and gold were the only colors in sight. Marble tiles, well-maintained countertops, a small seating area by the front desk, the whole nine yards. The trio looked around in wonder as they approached the front desk.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" The lady at the desk asked, snapping their attention to her. Her eyes widened a little as she realized instantly who they were. "Ah, your Miss Rose's friends," she said. "You're a little early, they're still setting up everything and she's still getting dressed. I'll lead you to the studio." She got up from the desk and began leading them down the hall.
"I guess we're just that cool," Sonic jokes.
"Nah, you just like smirking at reporters," Knuckles joked back.
The three of them followed the secretary down a hallway, passing several rooms with blue screens, props, and camera and recording equipment. "I haven't seen a lot of cameras since I was invited for that interview on Jimmy Fallon," Knuckles muttered.
"Haven't seen this many cameras since the paparazzi found my favorite chili dog stand," Sonic stated.
"This is nothing compared to the security cameras at G.U.N. HQ," Tails said simply.
Knuckles and Sonic looked at each other for a moment, then shrugged.
"Alright," the hedgehog sighed, "you win."
"Wait, we were competing?" the echidna asked.
The three of them stopped their conversation as the secretary opened a door for the three of them. "Here you are, studio twenty-three," she said with a smile. The three of them said their thanks and made their way inside. Inside was a medium-sized studio space with a few props set aside and a camera and some lights pointed at a giant blue covering. Off to the side we're done curtained-off dressing rooms. Before any of them could say anything, a human walked up to them. "Sonic the Hedgehog and friends!" he said with a smile, shaking hands. "My name is Jim, I'll be your photographer for today. Miss Rose is currently still getting ready, but that's alright! It gives you three time to change into your outfits. Come on then, chop chop! Busy day ahead of us!"
Sonic smiled. "I like this guy already," he said. "He doesn't waste time!"
"Time is money," Tails replied with a shrug.
The three of them walked into separate changing stations and began to get changed. Knuckles, having the most simple outfit, was the first to leave, only to immediately be pointed to the hairdressers by Jim. Sonic stepped out next, followed shortly by Tails.
"You two look great!" Jim said. "Now, please see the hairdressers real quick- just for some touch-ups. Mr. Prower, you should be done quick, seeing as how all you really need is your bangs touched up. The rest of your head is under that hat! As for Mr. Sonic, we just need your quills straightened up. Shouldn't take too long! Mr. Knuckles is going through the same process currently."
Sonic and Tails took a seat on either side of Knuckles, who didn't seem very amused.
"Having fun, buddy?" Sonic asked with a smirk.
"Maybe if you took better care of your quills this would go by faster," Tails added, wearing a smirk of his own.
"Both of you suck," Knuckles muttered as the person attending to his quills struggled with a brush.
Before long, everyone was finally ready. Everyone that is, except for Amy. "What's taking her so long?" Knuckles grumbled.
"She's probably triple-checking that her outfit and make-up is perfect," Tails replied. "This is super important after all."
"I guess. I'm just annoyed there's not a catering table back here."
"Aren't those just for movies and TV shows?" Sonic asked. "Besides, you could stand to lose a few, bud. You falling off your routine is really starting to show."
Before the echidna could argue, a voice yelled out, "Sorry it took so long, guys!"
The three turned to the voice. A familiar pink hedgehog stood before them, in a very unfamiliar and extravagant outfit. She wore a pair of dark blue shoes with night sky tights that started out the same color, but slowly turned more purple and dotted with white stars. A play on her classic red dress, she wore one of the same dark blue color, with Roman numerals numbering from a zero to twenty-one along the bottom brim of the skirt. On either side of her head, a yellow and white bow rested by her ears. In her hands rested a giant hammer, but unlike her usual one, this was once again dark blue, alongside the same Roman numeral pattern from her dress along the barrel. Each side of the hammer was decorated with either a moon or sun symbol. Amy smiled at the group. "You guys look great!" she said with enthusiasm. "I'm so proud of how they all turned out, you guys look so good!"
"Woah, Amy!" Sonic exclaimed. "You don't look too bad yourself!"
"I'll say," Tails added, blushing slightly. "Is that… tarot deck themed? I think I know some of the iconography…"
Amy nodded. "Yep! It's based on the sun and moon major arcana cards specifically."
"That's totally an Amy thing, alright," Knuckles said with a giggle. "Looks good on you, Amy! And these might just become my actual workout clothes."
"Yeah, I kinda feel like a real old-school pilot in this," Tails added. "But, well, you already know that."
"I can totally see myself wooping bad guy butt while rocking this outfit," Sonic said with a smirk, punching and kicking the air. "These goggles are gonna be a good addition! Especially since people have started intentionally kicking up sand in my eyes to get a head start."
"That makes me really happy to hear!" Amy squealed. "I designed them for you all to actually wear them in your personal lives, after all."
"Ok, everyone!" Jim yelled out. "Time to get photos done! We'll be starting out with you all individually, then some shots of you in pairs and a few altogether as a group." He walked up to the camera. "Let's start with Ms. Rose, since she's the one who put all this together!"
The rest of the day was full of nothing but poses and camera flashes. Several shots of Amy swinging her hammer and looking cute, Sonic looking cool and posing in fighting stances, Knuckles punching and working out, Tails holding a giant prop wrench over his shoulder and flying with his namesake, and shots of each of them interacting were taken. After a few gigantic group shots, the day had finally concluded.
"That's a wrap!" Jim yelled. "Thank you everyone! Ms. Rose, we'll have these touched up and sent to you by the end of the week. Great work crew!"
As Knuckles and Tails left, Amy held Sonic back. "What's up, Amy?" he asked.
"I made something for your outfit, but I couldn't have it in the photos because it won't be mass produced," she explained. "This is just for you, alright? To… show there's no hard feelings."
The blue hedgehog looked at her with confusion. "Alright… what is it?"
She smiled as she pulled out a patch, a needle and some thread. After a few minutes of work, she stood back. "There you go!"
Sonic looked down at the left chest of his jacket. An aroace flag had just been sewn onto it, right over his heart. He looked up at her with a warm smile. "Thanks, Ames," he said. "That… means a whole lot to me."
"Don't mention it," she replied. "Now come on, we're getting dinner and the others are still waiting!"
She grabbed his arm and ran out of the studio, leading him to the already revved up Tornado IV.
Author's Note: Sorry for making you wait so long for such a short chapter. As you can tell from the break, I got bad burnout. I almost considered not continuing this story, but then I realized- I need more than just this story for an outlet. As such, I put up a one-shot that's gonna be a two-shot here soon, as well as a crossover series. I'm going to be alternating between this story and those ones to keep my mind fresh. Please check them out. Like a weird exploration of fiction and reality and commentary on self-insert characters? Read Tales of the Visitor, chapter one is out now. My Sheldon x Jenny My Life as a Teenage Robot story, Feelings and Repairs, is up and while initially a one-shot, will be getting a second chapter, and then I'll make a sequel, monster of the week type story. Please consider reading them if you like this. I really appreciate all your support. I promise the next chapter will be longer. Hope you all enjoyed, please leave a review if you have any comments/critiques, I read them all. Thank you.