According to Sally, Amy can only have Sonic in her dreams. Cue peanut
gallery in 3, 2, 1...
---cut on this line---
Chaos Race
Part 7: Pink
Written by: Adrian Tymes and Alessandro Sanasi
[Legal disclaimer:
This story is based on characters created by SEGA and Archie Comic Publications,
Inc., and Commander Packbell by David Pistone. Permission is granted to freely
distribute this story, so long as:
a: no recompense of financial value is received or given by the person who
distributes the story, and
b: the distributed copy is identical to the story as originally authored.
In other words, don't sell it, and don't alter it.
Copyright (c) 1996, all rights reserved, et cetera.]
******
"That faithless, thieving, low-down...Princess!" Amy was still grumbling to
herself as she marched across the Forbidden zone, unsucessfully trying to calm
down. "Sonic deserves much better than her. Isn't that right, Nicole?"
Amy had left Sally's minicomputer on ever since she swiped it. "COMMAND
IMPOSSIBLE. MORAL JUDGEMENTS BEYOND PRESENT CAPABILITIES OF THIS DEVICE."
"Can you tell me who Sonic prefers?"
"SONIC HEDGEHOG IN LOVE WITH SALLY ACORN."
"That's a lie! Sally just programmed you to say that."
"NEGATIVE. RESULTS OF INTRAPERSONAL DIAGNOSTIC CONFIRMED. DIAGNOSTIC INSTALLED
WHEN THIS DEVICE WAS CREATED."
"And who installed it?"
"KING ACORN DIRECTED INITIAL SOFTWARE INSTALLATION."
"Huh. He probably altered it to say whatever Sally wanted to hear."
"PROBABILITY: LESS THAN 1 PERCENT."
"Yeah, sure, you wouldn't know." Amy caught herself, then was glad that Nicole
did not care about her sarcasm. "So, where's the pink Chaos Emerald?"
The map that Nicole had displayed earlier appeared, zoomed in on the pink dot's
location.
"How do I get there?"
Nicole projected a thick line along the ground for a short distance. As Amy
followed it, the line dissapeared behind her and extended ahead.
With nothing better to do on her walk, Amy's thoughts turned to her memories...
******
Amy had dreamt of Sonic many times, ever since she first heard of him. For
weeks, almost all of her spare time was spent researching what little she could
find about Sonic and his friends. The more she found out, the more Amy became
determined to meet her new hero.
Thus, it was no surprise that Amy was dreaming about the hedgehog when an
explosion woke her. Looking out her window, she saw Robotnik's robots trashing
her village and capturing the residents. Before they could draw near, Amy leapt
out the window and hid. Ducking from shadow to shadow, she snuck away from the
attack, then ran off into a nearby forest.
******
Hours later, Amy's panic subsided as the sounds of transports loaded with new
workerbots faded away. The final, horror filled screams from the roboticizer
still echoed in her mind. Finally in control of her thoughts again, Amy cried
uncontrollably as she realized what had happened.
She knew that if Sonic had been there, the robots would never have gotten close
to the village. Amy wished, with her heart and soul, that Sonic would come for
her. But she knew that, given the vastness of Mobius, and the fact that she was
hiding at the moment, there was no way that Sonic would just run up to her from
wherever he was.
Until he did.
******
Amy did not recognize her hero at first; all she saw through her tear filled
eyes was a blue blur. When she finally blinked the tears away, her fear left
with them.
After a brief chat, Amy directed Sonic back to her village. She had already
seen the robots wreck the place, but the scorched, empty shells reminded her
anew of what had happened. Sonic seemed to sense this, since he asked Amy to
stay behind. Amy agreed, but silently followed him anyway. She felt safer with
him as close as possible.
As it turned out, both of them were fortunate that she had come along. When Amy
saw Sonic at a SWATbot's gunpoint, she leapt on the robot's head, intending to
bash it in. All she got for her efforts was a pair of sore fists, but her
distraction allowed Sonic to attack.
Amy was so happy to see Sonic unhurt that she gave him a kiss. Sonic's hug left
no doubt in her mind of his feelings for her, even though they had just met.
******
After touring the village, Sonic took Amy back to the forest. When night fell,
they came to a relatively clear area. Doubting that they would find a better
camp site any time soon, Sonic suggested that they sleep there.
"And..." Sonic shoved a spike into the ground, securing the last corner of the
tent. "...there. All done."
Amy looked around, but only saw the black tent. "Huh? Isn't there anything
else we have to set up?"
"Nope. This tent's got all we'll need." He crawled inside. "Come on."
Amy was, at the time, short enough to just walk inside. The tent's interior was
slightly less spartan than its exterior, but it still seemed lacking. "Where's
the sleeping bags?"
"No need. There's an air matress in the floor. My unc designed this." He
crawled back to the entrance, and zipped it shut. "This tent can keep the
inside warm no matter what it's like outside, if there's a heat source in here.
There's a panel that's been storing heat all day. I just need to switch it to
release mode, and..." A click. "Oops, must've forgot to set it this morning."
Amy giggled. "Is that what that was? I fiddled with it while we were looking
for survivors."
"Oh, great. Now it won't have any heat to store until tomorrow. How're we
supposed to keep from freezing tonight?"
"We could snuggle." Amy walked over to Sonic and did just that.
"You little rascal...you shut it off on purpose, didn't you?" Although she
could not see his face, Amy knew that Sonic was smiling. Sonic mussed up her
head quills. "Hey, that would make a nice nickname for you. 'Rosy the Rascal'.
You like it?"
Amy giggled again, and snuggled closer. Then she fell asleep in his arms.
******
The next morning saw the two hedgehogs munching on fruit that Sonic had produced
from his backpack. "Gee, these are delicious," Amy said between mouthfuls.
"Where did you find them?"
"In the village ruins," Sonic replied while chewing. "Better that we have 'em
than leave them to rot."
Amy looked up from her contemplation of a grape, a tear forming in her eye. The
mentioning of her former home was all that was needed to bring the ugly memory
up again.
Sonic started to stroke her head quills. "Hey, don't cry. Everything will be
alright." He reached into his backpack, then brought his hand forward to
attach something to Amy's head. "C'mon, smile for me. Or it'll ruin the whole
picture." He handed her a mirror from his backpack.
Amy reached up with one hand to smooth her quills, but stopped when she saw her
reflection. Sonic had tied a pink ribbon around the quills on her forehead.
"Oh, Sonic, it's beautiful. Thank you. I will always treasure it." She gave
Sonic a hug, burying her face in his chest.
He squeezed her back, then felt her tears moisten his skin.
"Sonic, will I ever see my family again?"
"Sure you will, someday." He smiled. "I promise."
"Thank you." She looked up, not returning his smile, but at least her tears
went away. "Seriously, can we do it?"
Sonic's smile dissapeared as he sighed. "Yes, but we're gonna need all the help
we can get. You wanna help?"
Amy let Sonic go, knowing what he wanted to hear, and only too happy to say it.
"Do I ever. I will not rest until every workerbot has been freed from
Robotnik's slavery. I swear..."
"Whoa, take it easy," Sonic smirked. "You need to get a bit older first, and
more experienced. Pounding SWATbots' heads usually doesn't work."
******
They picked their way through the forest, and then the Great Unknown, over the
next few days. During their travel, Sonic found a pink ribbon and gave it to
Amy. She swore that she would always treasure it as a reminder of him, even if
they got seperated.
Amy woke at dawn the next morning, to find herself in Sonic's arms. Although
she was too groggy to see well, she could feel the wind of Sonic's transit.
"What's going on?" she asked.
Sonic smiled at her. "Shh, we're almost there."
"Where?"
"Knothole, of course. That's where you're gonna live for now."
"Knothole?" Amy perked up at this, rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and saw that
she was in the Great Forest. "We're going to Knothole? You mean, I get to live
with you there?"
"Well, I'm sure I could arrange for your hut to be next to mine, if you want."
"Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou." Amy snuggled closer to Sonic's chest.
Sonic giggled. "I'll take that as a yes." He skidded to a halt. "And here
we are."
Amy looked around, but saw only trees. "Where is it?"
"This is one of the back doors." Sonic pulled on a vine, which caused a stump
to open.
Amy looked into the hollow stump from Sonic's arms, and saw a hole leading into
darkness. "It looks scary."
"Don't be afraid. You'll love it." Sonic jumped in.
Amy screamed and covered her eyes as they plunged onwards. Eventually, she felt
a soft, but scratchy, pile stop her motion. She uncovered her eyes to see that
she had landed in a haystack, and that Sonic was no longer holding her.
The blue hedgehog was brushing hay off himself next to the stack when a squirrel
with red hair, a vest, and boots marched up. "Sonic! I heard everything from
Robotnik's communications."
Amy cringed in sympathy for Sonic, expecting him to be punished for failing to
save her village. But instead, Sally rushed up and brought her head to his,
then hungrily kissed him.
Amy could only stare in shock as Sally's kiss proceeded, and was returned by
Sonic.
When Sonic came up for air, Sally noticed Amy. She walked up to the newcomer
and extended her hand. "So, you must be the one who got away from Robotnik's
squad. Nice job. My name's Sally. Yours is...?"
Amy snapped out of it, burrowed deeper into the haystack, and began to cry.
Sally looked to Sonic behind her. "Shy, isn't she?"
Sonic walked to the pile of hay, and brushed a few strands from Amy's face.
"Hey, it's ok. She's cool."
Amy choked back her sobs. "No...no it isn't."
Sonic pulled Amy from the haystack, then lifted her head to his head's level.
"What's the matter?"
"She kissed you."
******
What followed were worst weeks of Amy's life. She tried to keep Sally away from
Sonic, and was not surprised when Sally replied in kind.
When Sally finally confronted her, she ran away in tears. She knew that Sally
could keep Sonic away from her as long as she tried, and that this would cause
Sonic stress. There was no sense in possibly dooming Mobius over a love
triangle, even if she was involved in it. She knew that Sonic could beat
Robotnik if he tried, and she knew that, if she and Sally kept fighting in front
of him, he might get discouraged and give up. Her justification grew even more
elaborate over the years, keeping pace with her growing mind.
Then came the day that she heard of Robotnik's demise. She immediately struck
out to find Knothole, only to realize that she had forgotten its location. Amy
might have spent months searching the Great Forest anyway, had she not happened
upon Knuckles, and thus upon an easier way...
******
Amy's rememberance ended as the path abruptly stopped. "Nicole, where's the
path?"
"CHAOS EMERALD WITHIN 5 METERS OF CURRENT LOCATION. PATH UNNECESSARY."
Amy looked around, but saw only grey rock. "Where is it?"
"You shall get what you want," a voice echoed from nowhere.
"Who was that? Whoever you are, I want the pink Chaos Emerald!" A pink mist
billowed up in front of Amy. "What the...Nicole, what's happening?"
"MAGICAL ENERGY DETECTED. SOURCE: UNKNOWN."
"Oh well...looks like there's only one way to find out." Amy walked into the
mist. After a few steps, she was entirely unable to see her surroundings. "I
could really get lost here. I wish Sonic were here to help me."
Almost instantly, Sonic appeared by her side. "Hey, Amy, you need help?"
"Sonic! I thought you were searching for the blue and grey emeralds."
"Got 'em. Sal told me you ditched her, so I thought I'd come give you a hand."
"Really?" Amy thought this sounded like an excuse.
"Well, don't tell anyone, but it was a great excuse to be with you, and not let
Sally come between us."
Amy smiled. "Hey, this is great! I always wanted to have a few moments alone
with you, and do all the things Sally usually does. Talking, snuggling,
kissing..."
As if on command, Sonic swept her up and gave her a longer, deeper kiss than she
had ever seen him give Sally.
Amy was overjoyed. Part of her mind told her that something was wrong, but she
did not care. "Ha! Sonic is mine," she thought in triumph. "Sally can get run
over by a hoverbot."
In the distance, Amy heard a scream, followed by a heavy *THUMP*.
"Huh? What was that?"
Sonic just shrugged.
They both ran towards the sound. Suddenly, Amy saw Sally in the mist ahead of
her, underneath the largest hoverbot she had ever seen. The 'bot had obviously
run over the squirrel, and was now slowly settling down on her spine.
"SALLY," Amy shouted, running up to her and trying to pull the lifeless body
out from under the vehicle.
Sally did not move.
Amy pushed against the hoverbot. "Sally! I won't let you die. Get off, you
stupid piece of junk!" Then she saw Sonic, standing a few paces away, looking
at the scene. "Sonic! Aren't you going to help her?"
Sonic did not budge. "Isn't this what you wanted? Why should I help?"
"What's wrong with you?" Amy screamed, "I thought you would...you would...love
her." She stopped, looking intently at the hedgehog. "You're not Sonic, are
you? The Sonic I know always loved Sally. You can't be real." A tear fell
from her left eye. "Ohhh, I've been such a fool. I can never have him. If I
try, it will only hurt both of us. For his sake, I must let him go."
A globe of nothingness swept out from Amy. It took away the mist, Sonic, Sally,
and the hoverbot, leaving only what she had seen before. At her feet, though,
was the pink Chaos Emerald.
"Huh?" She picked up the gem. "I don't get it."
"As your illusions dissapeared," replied the voice, "so did mine. I am the
magic of this zone. When I was created, I was given a desire to make all who
come here happy. But I soon realized that I did not have enough power to grant
all the wishes that were hidden in these visitors' minds, so I used illusions.
I have given final peace to millions over the ages, by making them think the
world complied with their fantasies until they starved, their sensation of
hunger wished away. Few can dispel their inner illusions as you have just done.
In those rare cases, my illusions do not work, but since they are so rare, I can
afford to change the world for them."
"'Final peace'? Eww...no wonder this zone is forbidden."
"You shall get what you want."
"No more illusions?"
"If you carry no more."
Amy closed Nicole, put it on top of the Chaos Emerald, held the gem over her
head with both hands, and stared at it. "I want..."
The emerald, Nicole, and Amy were gone in a blaze of pink energy.