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As they sent the second skunk brother plummeting into Echo Mine’s refuse pit, ‘Phase 2’ of their fight was done. Normally, this would be the part where Sonic and Amy showed off their (way too in-sync despite Sonic’s desperate insistence they hadn’t rehearsed it) victory pose and delivered a cheesy one-liner.
But instead, Amy got this.
“It’s a bit rougher than I want to play it, but I’m kind of in trouble. Whatever changed them is infectious. So… any ideas? ‘Cos this is spreading fast!”
He wasn’t quipping. He wasn’t enjoying the danger. And he, who (she knew frustrating well) sucked at emotional vulnerability, was straight-up telling her he didn’t feel so good.
All this could only mean one thing.
Sonic the Hedgehog, the world’s greatest hero, was about to turn into Eggman’s mindless robot slave, and she had less than a minute to save his life.
Oh, and she was also in love with him.
No pressure.
“Water? No, too easy. None nearby anyway. Magnetism? Liquid’s metallic, could work. No, probably already fused with his-ugh, stop. Cold? Again, no source nearby. Have to think fast, or he’s…”
Huh. Maybe that was it. At worst, it could jump-start his immune system.
“Run. As fast as you can. And get Tails.”
Those words were supposed to come out as calm instructions, but ended up an agonized, desperate plea. Stupid emotions. Don’t make this any harder.
The look of acknowledgement and… more… he gave in return showed her that was already a lost cause.
“Don’t give me that look. The ‘I care about your wellbeing’. Please”, she silently begged.
“I’ll be fine”, she quickly snapped, still too loudly, to silence those thoughts. “Just go!”
Amy backed up, putting half the length of the room between herself and him. Ostensibly in case any of the goop flew off when he ran, but mostly to keep from seeing his face, and him from hers. Easier.
“Get out carefully. Don’t touch anything. Don’t follow me.”
No one-liners, just… calm instructions. And he was gone.
“Step 1: leave mine carefully without touching anything. Check”, she thought to herself as she finally emerged from its entrance.
“Step 2…”
Amy summoned her hammer and tore into the cave entrance, until she was sure it was buried in enough rubble to keep a tireless robot zombie occupied for days. From the strength the infected had demonstrated in their fight, she knew it wasn’t a matter of if Rough and Tumble climbed out of that pit, but when. This should hopefully buy more time.
That the mine’s entrance was once styled after the mad doctor’s face, and she got to pulverize it to the point of unrecognizability, was a cathartic bonus.
“Step 3…”
A pause as she eyed the horizon in a familiar direction.
“Get to Tails’ workshop. Make sure Sonic’s okay. Stay by his side until he’s well”, thought Amy Rose, the girl.
Another pause.
“Book it to Restoration HQ. Warn everyone. Prepare for war”, though Amy Rose, Commander of the Restoration.
As she broke into a run, Amy silently cursed that she couldn’t afford to be both.
Soon, Restoration HQ
“Gee, it sure is boring these days!”, said a short pink parakeet, lazing away in the HQ’s cafeteria.
He and his grey dog friend almost didn’t notice the owl waitress arrive with their drink orders.
“Here’s your Piko-Piko Slammer!”, she said peppily… as a small earthquake spilled the liquid before she could even lower the tray.
The sound of the drink’s namesake was now reverberating through the building.
Which was followed by another screeching reverberation.
“COMMANDER, COMING THROUGH! OUTTA THE WAY OR I USE THE HAMMER!”
The dog begun mopping up the mess and, very much aware of the “Trainee” badge his friend wore, attempted to prevent his incoming nervous breakdown.
“Probably just got stood up by Sonic again. You get used to it.”
Another small quake, this time closer.
“STUPID DOOR! WHY ARE YOU SO SLO- RGGH, FINE!”
This time the screeching was punctuated by the “ZOP!” of Amy’s hammer spawning right between the chamber’s too-slowly opening iron doors, its head prying them apart just enough for her to spring through. Safely on the other side, she de-materialized it, the now-unsupported doors slamming shut and drawing all eyes to her. She hadn’t intended on that, but it helped.
“RED ALERT! RED ALERT! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! EGGMAN’S BACK!!”
And right on cue: Clamor. Sirens wailing. As Restoration HQ went from ‘boring’ to loosely-organized chaos. Comms team moved towards the hub. Engineers to the generator room, to make sure everything kept running. Lookouts to the observation decks. Fighters to the Wispon armory. Any other time, and Amy would’ve admired this showing of her at-least-better-than-Knuckles organizational skills.
But right now, she was the organizer of the chaos.
“SOMEONE GET MY HEADSET!”
The grey dog, having now approached her, quipped: “I think we can all hear you without one.”
As Amy’s face instantly snapped in his direction, her eyes burning with the fury of a thousand suns, he realized his mistake.
“…what I meant is, you can borrow mine”, he whimpered, handing one over.
Amy adjusted the headset, set the microphone in position, and took a VERY deep breath. Because this next part was going to be all over the HQ’s PA system, and it was important for it not to sound like panicked screaming.
“Eggman has a new bio-mechanical weapon. It turns any living tissue into mindless, invincible robots under his command. And I think he’s about to drop it on a populated city. And it’s highly infectious. I repeat - OH CRAP IT’S HIGHLY INFECTIOUS! NOBODY TOUCH ME!”
Oops, the panicked screaming snuck in anyway. But it wasn’t entirely unjustified. Making sure to flip the headset up into auto-mute for this next part, she said, in her best imitation of calm:
“Could somebody get me a bioscan?”
The wait was an agonizing few minutes, but she couldn’t risk going any further into the base without an all-clear. Oh no, what if she’d already infected people? That’s what you get for rushing in without thinking, stupid. Worst leader ever…
Thankfully those, as of recently, frequent, thoughts were silenced by the arrival of a reprogrammed Buzz Bomber painted in hot pink and black stripes.
“Bea! Scan for foreign contaminants!”
A light show of green lasers proceeded to wash over the pink hedgehog. The report relayed to her wrist communicator read: “Clear.”
She wasn’t taking any chances.
“Again.”
Clear.
“AGAIN!”
Clear.
It was only at this point that Amy realized she might be fine and she might not have just failed everyone.
And it was at this point that a levitating friend came to greet her.
“Amy! Glad you’re okay!”, Silver said, with his usual cheer. Clearly, he’d at least mostly recovered from his last assignment. But then his expression quickly turned. “Where’s Sonic? I thought he was with you.”
“That doesn’t matter right now.”
Shocked gasps and stunned silence filled the room. Firstly, they didn’t think they were talking that loud. Secondly, Amy wasn’t sure whether to be offended that her not obsessing over Sonic was taken as a sign of the end times. But thirdly and, to Commander Rose, most importantly-
“I need to get to the command room.”
Sensing her tone, Silver wordlessly let her pass, and followed behind.
But just before they were out of the room, Amy happened to catch a fleck of white crossing the ceiling, in the corner of her eye.
“ROUGE!”
The almost free bat halted, as if a giant invisible hand had plucked her out of the sky.
“Glad you’re here”, Amy continued, with less yelling. “I need you to get in touch with the President of the United Federation. The Humans need to be warned. Then, find Shadow.”
“That bad, huh? I’ll see what I can do.”
They had allies. And, more importantly, friends. Like always.
Which meant they’d get through this. Like always.
First global crisis while Amy was in charge. But it would go like always.
It had to.
Resistance HQ, Command Room
“Eagle Squad! I need eyes in the sky! Look for a giant flying Eggman face, I’m sending the schematics now.”
“Vector, give me any reports of silver ooze or people acting strangely. I’ll pay you triple.”
“Rouge, good job with the President. Keep me updated; if any Human cities get hit, I’ll see who we can spare. What do you mean Shadow’s gone off the grid, again?!”
“Silver, I appreciate it but we can’t call Blaze. If she’s here, we put her whole dimension at risk.”
“Does anyone have any idea where he’ll hit first?”
The last hour of Amy’s life had been a constant deluge of orders, status reports and intel sharing. Anything beats paperwork, she thought, but oh boy was there going to be more of that soon. She kept reassuring herself that this was what she always wanted. A job helping the world she loved, and its people, which she loved more. But the longer she’d had it, the more those reassurances weakened.
Especially when it came to the next call she had to make, as the inside of a familiar cottage sparked into view on the command room’s wall-spanning monitor.
“Cream?”, Amy began, as her heart leapt out of her chest in anticipation of the conversation she’d hoped she’d never need to have.
“Oh, hello Amy! I’m so glad you called, we were just about to-”
“Is your mother there? I need to speak with you both.”
Cream was just old enough to realize Amy was using her “work” voice and had just said “mother”, not “mom”. Soon, she’d brought her mother to the camera, along with the robot they’d added to the family.
Why was this so hard? Just SAY it. Any more hesitation and they’ll panic.
“Do… do you have an evacuation plan?”
Vanilla, the older rabbit, instantly wrapped an arm around her child. “Yes. Ever since we first got involved with Eggman. We practice every month.”
“That’s great”, Amy replied, and looked deep into her young friend’s eyes. “Listen, Cream. He’s doing something very bad right now. At the first sign of trouble, I want you and your family to come straight to me, Restoration HQ. Even if there’s no room for you here, we’ll find somewhere else for you to stay.”
“O-okay…”
“Cream”, Amy said softly, hoping to quash the hint of fear creeping into the child’s voice, “I WILL keep you safe. That’s a promise.”
“I know”, she replied, attempt successful. “I have mother, and Gemerl too.”
That’s right, Gemerl. Amy addressed the robot next.
“Gemerl: new instructions. Protect Cream and her family at all costs. If you sense anything robotic, you are not to let it near them. Understand?”
“ACKNOWLEDGED, MISS ROSE.”
Wait. Oh no. What if “anything robotic” included Sonic now? Argh, too many details, so many tiny slipups, when even ONE could cost us all-
“We’ll keep in touch”, Vanilla assured, before ending the call.
Any longer on the line, and Amy would’ve been crying. Something Vanilla knew she didn’t want seen. Not by anyone at HQ. And especially not by Cream.
And so Amy held in those feelings, to ensure Vanilla’s actions didn’t go to waste.
Still time to save lives. Think. If I were Eggman, where would I hit first? Central City and Restoration HQ were obviously fine. Station Square? Westopolis? No, that’d be all over the Human news by now. Spiral Hill? Tangle would be on the line faster than you could blink, so also no. Argh, why’d Eggman have to be back! If only he’d stayed as Mr. Tinker in that peaceful village, things would…… would……
No.
That would be FAR too cruel.
But he’d sunk that low before.
“Get me Windmill Village. NOW!”
As the call was patched through, the Restoration commander was briefly alone with her thoughts. “Okay Amy, if you’re wrong, you’ve wasted precious time. If you’re right… you’ll need to keep it together.”
An answer.
Being a relatively rural place, Windmill Village’s mayoral line was audio-only.
Which in this case, may have been a good thing.
Rapid, heavy footfalls in all directions. Horrific, metallic squelching. The sound of cashing metal on wood, and stone. Buildings breaking. And screams. Constant. Young. Old. All pitches. All directions.
And one voice.
“RESTORATION! PLEASE! HELP! METAL POISON, ENTIRE TOWN, NOWHERE SAFE! EVERYONE… FAMILIES! CHILDREN! MAYOR… GONE. CAN’T STOP THEM! SEND SONIC! SEND ANYONE! SAVE US!” A sickening snapping of wood. “NO! THEY’RE HERE! THEY’RE HE-”
The screen read “NO SIGNAL”, and dead silence filled the command room.
Keep it together.
Keep it together.
“Comms! Warn EVERY settlement within 10 miles of Windmill. Evacuate EVERYONE. Where to? Hang on, I’ll get back to you.”
“Eagle Squad! Get to Windmill and keep eyes on that ship! I want to know the moment it even TILTS in the direction of another town!”
“Wolf Squad! I want a perimeter around Windmill Village! Cube Wispons should slow them down until we can build barricades. Hold them back, but keep your distance! Remember, one touch and it’s over!”
“Wispon R&D!”, at this she turned to a long-haired dark purple-furred cat towards the back of the command room. “I’m sorry, but you’re going to be here until further notice. We need to find a way to increase power output. I’ve fought infected, and they’re more resilient than anything we’ve encountered.”
No response. So Amy temporarily let her façade slip.
“Listen, Violet. We all wish this wasn’t happening. I’m sure your family will understand, I’ll get in touch with them and…”
“I don’t think you can.”
Violet’s voice sounded… barely alive.
“They were at Windmill Village.”
This was the problem with letting the façade slip.
“My cousin just had a baby.”
Because every time she did, she risked never being able to bring it back.
And then there was… nothing. No vision, just a mess of red and black smears. No sound, but her own heavy breathing. No others, but her own thoughts. And nothing to hold them back.
i can’t do this i can’t do this we’re all going to die it’s all my fault if i hadn’t called cream could’ve saved that village all my fault selfish useless have to stay strong have to set an example oh sonic help me no selfish everyone needs me i hesitate people die pathetic helpless my plan got sonic infected all my fault stupid why did knuckles leave why did i say yes to this job no why didn’t i say yes to sonic at riverside could’ve run away together far away to a place with no eggman no fighting no restoration no responsibilities just us living free forever NO shut up
“Amy”
selfish
“Amy!”
useless
“AMY!”
The sound of a chair shattering against a wall pulled Amy back to reality. As her vision begin to clear, she saw the blurred shape of Silver, the aura of his recent telekinetic outburst fading.
And it was only now that she realized she’d let out all those tears she’d been holding back, and more.
“It’s okay, Amy. I’ll take it from here. You rest.”
“No, Silver, I NEED to-”
“AMY! LISTEN TO ME!”
Even in her state, she could tell Silver’s cry came from a place of utmost concern.
“It might sound cliché, but I know how you feel. Everything you’re feeling today? That was my life. And as someone who lived that life, I know you just made a difference. A LOT more than Windmill Village would be lost right now if it wasn’t for you. But I think I speak for everyone here when I say you’ve done enough. To take care of others, you have to take care of yourself. So rest. Please. I’ve got this.”
“Thanks Silver”, Amy smiled weakly. “Now we both owe you.”
At this, Silver briefly chuckled, and added: “Speaking of, call him. Now. You both need it.”
Wilderness, near Tails’ lab
Sonic used to jokingly wish nightly jogs were something he literally needed to do to live.
And now the universe had listened, and had a cruel sense of humor.
“I’ve dealt with similar stuff in the past and come out fine! We’ll get through this, just like always. I’m… I’m sure of it.”
“Yeah. Totally sure.”
His glance turned to his wrist communicator, as he recalled what he’d said in the workshop. “Proooobably should let her know I’m okay.” Why was it so hard, though? Even just a text: “I’m okay. Stop worrying.”
Argh, was it more painful to tell her or to NOT tell her? “Why can’t I make up my mind with you, A-”
This thought was interrupted by a high-pitched beeping from his wrist. The caller ID read: “Ames”.
“You’re kidding me!” The timing made Sonic laugh a little. Something he hadn’t done in a while, oh boy was that a bad sign. But wait. It said “Ames” and not “Cap’n Commander Rose, Ma’am” (his own little joke), which meant her personal phone, not the Restoration line. Why?
“Okay Sonic”, he thought, “be cool and don’t give her more reasons to worry.”
Amy, from a small HQ storeroom she sometimes went to for privacy, anxiously awaiting a response, thought: “Okay Amy, act calm and don’t give him more reasons to worry.”
Holographic face-cams flared to life on both their wrists.
“Hey Ames, I’m fine!” / “Hi Sonic, I’m fine!”
A short pause, followed by mutual laughter.
“So-nic! It’s not *snrk* funny…”
“It kind of is. Especially when I was literally just thinking of calling you. Sometimes I wonder if your insane timing a Tarot thing, or a ‘you’ thing.”
“It’s probably neither. But…” Amy’s smirking gave way to a soft, gentle smile. “Either way, it’s good to see your face.”
She’d been giving him that smile a lot lately, and for reasons he wasn’t sure why, he liked it.
“Same.”
Wait, crap, he hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Quick, say something else.
“So, err, good news! Your advice worked! Running puts this thing in remission! Man, I can’t believe Egghead made running its weakness. I know he loves obvious weak points, but this is ridiculous!”
Amy knew Sonic’s tone well enough to tell when his jokes were forced, and knew him well enough to know that was a very bad sign.
“What’s the bad news?”
Saw right through him, as usual.
“The bad new is it… doesn’t go away completely. Which means I can’t really be near anyone right now. Still gonna help how I can, but make sure everyone knows that.”
“I’ll get word out. Please though, don’t push yourself. You’ve had a rough day, you should slee-” Amy caught herself as she realized how hypocritical she was for giving that advice.
And then covered her mouth as she realized something even worse.
“Oh no. You… can’t… can you?”
See? More reasons to worry.
“I don’t know how long this thing takes to fully… y’know. But I’m pretty sure a long night’s sleep is something I can’t afford. But hey!”, he shifted his tone, only this time even he could tell it was forced. “I get to run ALL THE TIME, no stopping EVER! It’s a dream come true!”
Just stop.
“I…I’ll find a way to make it work. Like I always do. So don’t worry about me, okay? This is why I wasn’t sure I should call…”
“Sonic”, she began, surprisingly not concerned, not terrified. Just… listening. “I always worry about you. It’s kind of my job. So don’t you ever think there’s anything you can’t share. My line’s always open.”
“You sure, Ames? Wouldn’t want to hold up important Restoration business.”
“Remember 7 months ago? If we lose our hero, we lose the war. Keeping you going is Restoration business. Like before, you’ll be far apart from us but… at least this time, we can talk to you. I can talk to you.”
Darn it, she hadn’t meant to say that last part out loud.
But it was out there now, and it made Sonic smile, for some reason. Maybe they could get through this? Maybe they could…
Wait. He wasn’t nearly as good at sensing emotions as she was, but he still knew her, and that last thing she said, it sounded as much for her as it was for him. Which meant…
“Ames….. where did he hit?”
She gasped, then took a deep breath to compose herself. If he didn’t need to be concerned about adding to her worries, that should be a two-way street. Here goes…
“Windmill Village.”
At the mention, Sonic’s eyes INSTANTLY flared up like lightning.
“Excuse me, I’m about to sound like Shadow. DAMN IT, EGGMAN!”
“I’m… disappointed too.”
“DISAPPOINTED?! IT WAS OVER! HE WAS HAPPY! THEY TOOK HIM IN, SHOWED HIM NOTHING BUT KINDNESS, AND HE MADE THEIR LIVES BETTER! And of COURSE, the FIRST thing he does when the ‘old him’ comes back is STOMP ALL OVER THAT! Just for ONE MOMENT, I thought, by some miracle, there WAS good in him. But no, I was wrong, Shadow was right, we’re back in our endless cycle of fighting and my friends being hurt and you being stressed out and miserable all the time and maybe it’s all my fault and…”
He stopped to breathe, and she let him.
“I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have to hear that.”
Maybe he should just hang up. But wait, why wasn’t she mad at him? Why was she… still smiling?
“No. You’re hurting, and deserve to be heard. And I understand everything you just said, except for the part about it all being your fault, which you and I BOTH KNOW isn’t true. Eggman chose this. You give others freedom, and I love that about you. But that doesn’t mean you’re responsible for their choices.”
Sonic… didn’t even have a response. He just, sighed, and let the tension go. She wasn’t quite finished, though.
“And it’s sweet that you noticed.”
“Wait, what?”
“My… issues with this job. I didn’t think anyone did.”
“Really? I thought it was obvious! I mean, when we’re out in the field you’re so happy, and fun and cool and- and YOU. And then we finish up and you’re like ‘I have to go, big stack of paperwork waiting for me’ and all that’s gone and you feel terrible and then I feel terrible and why are you looking at me like that? Why are you laughing, I’m serious here! Wait, now you’re crying? I-WHAT?”
Had he really not noticed how he’d been acting around her lately? The Restoration was already gossiping about it (Amy had a few likely culprits: Rouge or the surprisingly mischievous Tails). She had long since learned it wasn’t her place to force anything out, and even if there was something there, now was the literal worst possible time to have that conversation. At the same time, she couldn’t just pretend that didn’t happen.
Since when was she the flustered one in this weird hard-to-define relationship? Come on, at least say something.
“It’s sweet you noticed that too.”
Was that too much? Please don’t let that have been too much.
“Phew, you’re not frozen. Thought our connection was glitching up there.”
Okay, it probably wasn’t too much.
“Actually, this is awkward, but”, he continued “I just realized it’s gonna be kinda hard to charge this thing in my… condition. And I should probably save some battery for emergencies.”
That WAS a good point.
“OH. I am SO sorry, I shouldn’t have talked this long-”
But why was it still so hard to hang up?
“It’s cool. Juice well spent, in my book.”
He was right. And Silver was right. They both needed this.
“Ames, I………… take care of yourself.”
Back in the storeroom, Sonic’s video feed vanished from her communicator. But before she powered it down, left the room and officially returned to being Restoration Commander Rose, she allowed herself one more moment as Amy Rose, the girl.
“I love you too.”