Work Text:
A rotund man with a long brown moustache and a pink nose squinted from behind his circular glasses. He grumbled to himself as he rode in a barely functioning craft with his haul of a - once again - broken up metal invention. His pride and joy, Metal Sonic. He looked at the busted up automaton, a black digital screen where the eyes should be, a silver metallic plate for a mouth, and covered in blue plating. His creation was covered in metallic plating, a slightly deeper and darker blue than Sonic’s own. A change that he decided to adopt after he assumed a walking blue figure was his own creation, not realizing that his arch-rival was meandering around his base. With matching blue false hair, slicked back in spines, with an ahoge that loomed in front. Of course he had false hedgehog ears to match Sonic’s, pointed more angular as to hopefully increase his aerodynamics. Red false shoes with jets on the bottom to help accelerate his speed, and a black pit in the chest with a yellow outline, a slot for putting a chaos emerald.
“Rotten rodent.” He grumbled under his breath, “Wouldn’t know greatness if it punched him in the face.”
This was going to be another long night of repairs. Though his repeated practice had made him significantly speedier at it, he bemoaned the very concept of having gone through this routine so many times.
*****
Machinery whirred around him, the sounds of a factory that mass produced robots echoing through the vast corridors and tall ceilings. Standing upon a small, cylindrical pedestal, was everything he recovered of his proudest work. Small iron rods probed, welded, and held up the automaton as long threads of cables poked from the back, slinking into a large computer that the mad scientist poured over.
The last 5 times I’ve upgraded him, I’ve given him significant increases to his speed, strength, to his sturdiness. If it’s not the physical, then I’m missing something somewhere else.
Robotnik knew it wasn’t a data issue either, Metal was directly tied to his servers. Every time he learned something new, every time one of his robots scanned or analyzed something, Metal would have immediate access to it. He knew everything he needed to. Of course he didn’t have access to Robotnik’s personal server, but there was an entire host of reasons for that. So if it wasn’t physical, and it wasn’t based on information, then the reason he was losing was because of his mental state.
He watched as an outpouring of graphs, numbers and general data flowed down. To give him a better edge in combat, Metal was adaptive, he could think, he could feel, he could reason, he could do everything a person could and more. He was built to counter Sonic, and if Sonic could do all of those things, then it would only be a disadvantage if Metal couldn’t.
So, he scanned through his psychology, a place he had to admit, he rarely entered. He was a doctor of science after all! Matters of the heart and mind were never his strong suit. Yet, it seemed necessary to venture there, because it must mean that something is wrong with Metal. That there is something holding him back from greatness. Sure enough, he found it. There was some sort of… disconnect. A mismatch in how his perceived hardware should be interfacing. It seemed to be reducing his morale, impacting his snap-decision making, and a whole host of issues.
This is it! The thing that’s holding him back!
He felt a mixed set of emotions, on the one hand, he’d finally located something new to improve in Metal that would give him definitive results, all he would have to do is…
Hmm. That can’t be right…
It seems that his creation was suffering from this disconnect… with gender .
Now, he knew that this was some sort of a bug, after all, Metal’s initial mental base was Sonic. So this couldn’t be right. On the other hand, he had no idea where to even begin searching for why this bug existed, and it seemed to be easier to simply fix his-… er, it’s her, now… I guess her disconnect with herself, and look into troubleshooting it later.
Besides, the look on that hedgehog’s face will be priceless ! What better way to psyche him out!
And if this change happened to help his creation, then that was simply an added bonus.
*****
Another fight, another day saved, and that means another day spent cleaning up Robotnik’s mess. Sonic zipped through tall greenery, blazing a path as he grabbed onto a long hooked vine, pulling it taut. He let himself slow down as it neared the end of its stretch and wrapped it around a mushroom the size of a jungle tree, before he gave into its momentum, and let it slingshot him backwards. He smirked as he felt the wind in his hair, the blue blur tucked himself into a spin, rolling up the checkered grass-covered ground. In casual days like this, he loved to simply wear his baggy blue tracksuit with white stripes. Baggy clothes are the best, always the coziest fit.
Less than 100 feet away was a circular red shape, with a coil underneath it, perched on a small incline in the ground.
Perfect!
He hopped on the spring, and pushed it down with his whole body.
*BOING*
He rocketed up, from one spring, to a second, then a third, his momentum never ceasing, tearing through the leftover badniks he missed. He bounced off of a caterkiller’s head - flashing a peace sign to the now freed flicky - and zipped onto a mushroom. It launched him upwards, and just as he was about to hit the apex of his momentum, he felt something slam into him hard .
He let out a groan as the sudden blunt force caused him and this figure to careen into the flora. He felt a familiar set of robotic claws grip against his own hands. But this time they were more… slender than usual. What should have been exclusively hard metallic plating had soft silicone pressed against him as well, and as he looked up he saw a face he both was, and was not expecting.
Metal had changed, the digital eyes now supported little eyelashes, and he quickly realized the soft silicone pressed against him was especially present in two very specific areas. Metal’s soft chest was pressed against his own flat one as this being stared him down. Just as his brain attempted to make sense of all of this, he felt the hard impact of the dirt.
The two figures slid across the ground in a struggle, metal against flesh, fingers gripping each other in a vice as he scrambled for any advantage against the being in front of him. Metal raised a sharp hand, titanium talons readied to rip into the hedgehog. Sonic used the moment, digging his heel into the dirt, he used the leverage to spin into a ball, slamming into his counterpart right on the chin.
A chin that was softer . More feminine, he bounced off of the impact point, and got to his feet, finally standing face to face with the offender.
“Didn’t expect to see us so soon, did you hedgehog ?” The doctor let out a cackle as he floated down next to his creation in a half-sphere of a flying machine. ”Introducing Metal Sonic 2.0! She’s had quite the change, don’t you think?”
Sonic whipped his face back and forth, eyes bugging out of his own head. ” She ?”
Robotnik had a grin that took up the entire width of his face. “That’s right Sonic! My wonderful creation has received a 170% increase in efficacy both inside and outside of combat after switching her pronouns and hardware to match her programming!”
Metal Sonic posed, kicking one of her feet up, with red false-boots that stretched up to her knee, a bow tying off the ‘laces’ of it, she hit a peace sign with both of her hands, placing them a little below her chin, and angled them outwards. Her display made a wink, as she tilted her head to the side.
Sonic’s entire mouth was agape, he felt something churn in his stomach. It wasn’t disgust, it wasn’t hatred.
It was jealousy . He’d dealt with anger, with grief, he’d been able to grit his teeth through a lot, but this. This was new in a way he’d never felt before. In a way he’d never had to deal with before.
”Y-you’re twisted, E-Egghead.” Was all he could muster, and he knew his heart wasn’t in it. Robotnik’s wide grin didn’t move a single bit at Sonic’s insult, “Oh? Well then, I suppose it’s only fair you give her the rematch she deserves isn’t it?”
Metal popped out of her cutesy pose, simply moving her arm out extra robotically for emphasis, practically in a punch, giving Sonic a thumbs down to punctuate her creator’s sentence. *bweep* .
Robotnik looked at her, “‘Atta girl! I know you’ll put that rotten rodent in his place!”
his his his his his his place. his place . his place.
Metal charged at him, he charged back. The two exchanged blows, darting and speeding around one another in a complete and utter blur of clashes, spins, and utter instinct.
Don’t think right now.
If you think you’ll feel it
if you feel it you’ll slow down.
If you slow down you lose.
If you lose you die.
He did everything in his power to focus, to not let Metal’s figure distract him, as his rival turned herself into a sharp titanium ball, and launched herself with her thrusters. He jumped backwards and in a blink found a spot on her saw-blade spin that was free of her spike-like spines, and punted her forwards, grimacing slightly at the impact, and definitely not at the higher pitched, feminine beep that he heard.
if you feel it you’ll slow down.
If you slow down you’ll lose.
If you lose you die.
H-… He jettisoned towards Metal, confusion and envy giving way to rage, to determination.
It’s not fair .
He shot off into a high-speed drop-kick that he turned into a spin. Metal grabbed him by the leg and swung him into the distance. His anger mounting, the blue blur bounced from the stem of a huge mushroom and clobbered her in the back of the head. She stumbled, and her head swiveled around, her arms grabbing behind her torso onto his sides as she headbutt him, causing him to grunt in pain. Right now, there was no other sound he hated more than his own voice.
He tried to obtain leverage, and wrapped his arms around her torso, and felt something soft. Felt two somethings soft.
don’t.
think
ABOUT IT.
He moved his arms lower, and wrapped her in a tight hold, and pressed his head into her back, running as fast as he could. He ran until he was about to impact into a wall, and Metal spun her own body around, turning the hedgehog’s plan back on himself. He hit the wall with a thud, and fell down, watching as the automaton girl stood above him.
*bweep.*
She grabbed him by his collar, holding onto his baggy athletic-wear, her claws sharpening, and just as she was about to reach down and slash him-… Her-… Sonic . The two heard a voice.
”LEAVE HIM ALONE!!” As a yellow end of a hammer bonked onto Metal’s head. Her head embedded in the side of a ramp, by the time she pulled herself out, her displays showed two spirals for eyes and she hit the ground with a thud. Officially out of the fight.
”Sonic!” Amy hugged her friend/crush close. Wearing her red-headband, her hair puffed up in the back, wearing a green-plaid skirt with black ripped tights underneath, and a black high-collar long-sleeve top, rolled up to her elbows. A cartoon yellow smiley-face with dimples emblazoned on it, and purple and white sneakers on her feet.
“Are you okay? You look like that fight really got to you…” She cupped Sonic’s cheek in her hand, and the hedgehog just started to cry, and Amy felt a face get stuffed into her shoulder. She simply pat Sonic on the back reassuringly.
*****
After a good long cry, the two sat in Mushroom Hill together in silence, Amy simply waited patiently for Sonic to be ready to talk about whatever happened. Letting her hand get close enough for Sonic to hold, as much as she wanted to just grasp it in her own, there’s a time and a place. Eventually, Sonic had muttered something, quiet enough to barely be audible. The only discernible word was the last one.
”…Girl.”
”Hm?” Amy’s head snapped over, shining emeralds full of concern.
Sonic’s words were barely louder than they were earlier, taking a moment before she could say them out loud for anyone but the blue hedgehog alone to hear it. “Why does she get to be a girl…”
There was a pause in the air so pregnant it might as well have been expecting. The hammer-wielder spoke, her words more of an attempt to coax out a wounded animal. ”D-Do… you want to be a girl?”
Sonic’s head went in-between the baggy polyester of tracksuit bottoms, right at about knee-height. All Sonic could do was nod sheepishly, barely even a movement at all.
The next thing that was felt were footsteps as Amy drew closer, and the feeling of something clasping onto the hedgehog’s head. Sonic looked up, and saw that Amy no longer had her cute red headband, as she fitted it onto Sonic. “Then, how about we try it. Together.” Amy’s smile was warm enough to roast marshmallows over.
Sonic’s eyes began to tear up, and she smiled, wiping away some of them with her gloved palm. The girl nodded as she chuckled softly. “Thanks Ames.”
Dr Robotnik had finally caught up to this situation, and he was just about to declare his villainous speech about how he’ll get back at Sonic for this, but he took a moment’s pause. Saw the situation in front of him. Of Sonic wearing Amy’s headband, and of a tearful revelation having happened. The doctor snapped his fingers. “HOT DAMN I’M GOOD.”
*****
After Ivo left with some mixed feelings, glad that his psyche recreation was so successful and proud of how well Metal did, but still grumbling about his failure, it left the two properly alone again. Amy was going to chase him down, but it was clear Sonic needed her more right now, and while Sonic would normally bust up his hovercraft, she was equal parts thankful and mad at the doctor, and dealing with a lot on her plate right now.
The blue-haired girl leaned back, letting her head thunk on a gigantic mushroom stem. She let out a small chuckle, “I gotta tell Tails.”
Amy put her hand on the other girl’s shoulder, “You can always take as much time as you need, okay? Whenever you’re ready.”
Sonic gave her a smirk in response, and however weak it was, Amy was still glad to see she was keeping her own spirits up, “Naw, you know me, I wanna do this all as quick as possible. The sooner I get it over with, the better.”
Emerald eyes met that confident grin in response, and she pecked Sonic on the cheek, “Yeah, that does sound like you.”
She knows Sonic always runs away from her advances, and in her own way, was hoping to send the girl off. That she’d make her usual grossed out face or panic and dart away. Instead, she watched as the fastest thing alive sat there in stunned silence, a blush growing on her face like someone was running steam under her.
”Uh, A-Ames… y-you know I’m like… A g-girl now, right?”
”Uh huhhhh?” Amy said, an eyebrow quirked up. “To be honest, well… you were always kinda… the exception .” She gave an awkward laugh, “Y’know, until now that is. I guess I just always thought: if I chase after the one ‘exception’ that everyone would treat me normal, but I guess it just made me gayer than ever.”
Sonic’s own mind had a miniature version of herself being pinballed around at all of this new information. Every time Amy pursued her, something about it grossed her out. Of being the manly , handsome , strong heroic big man . The prince charming, the dashing knight, of the boyfriend of her dreams. That wasn’t what she saw right now, she saw her princess she just saved, she saw a girl she wanted to help, and one that she is gay for. Sonic ran through her previous adventures, recontextualizing them in her mind from being the big strong man to a woman on a mission to save the closest girl in her life, of every time she carried her in her arms and felt Amy smile up at her and oh god .
The words left her mouth in a flash, before they could even be stopped by Sonic’s own filter. ”Can I kiss you?”
”I-I’m sorry, huh?” Amy’s whole face went red.
I-I must’ve heard that wrong. I’m hearing things! Clearly!
This time, she said her words a lot more confidently, yet still soft. It was not a demand, it was a simple request. ”Can I kiss you?”
Amy did not answer her, but Sonic was pretty sure that the hammer-wielder immediately locking lips with her own was most likely a yes.
After a short while that felt like hours, Sonic spoke up. “Uhm, you want me to drop you by your house or-?“
She smirked back in response, teasing the girl. ”Wow, your girlfriend for 10 seconds and already you’re trying to dump me off at my place.”
Sonic simply rolled her eyes in response, “I’m gonna go tell tails, and then we should do something. Pretty sure I owe you a visit to Twinkle Park.”
Amy rested her head on her girlfriend’s collar, “I heard cute couples get in freeee~”
She got a chuckle in response, “Sounds like a date then, you’ve got enough cute to cover the both of us. I’ll go tell Tails, and maybe a couple of others if they’re on the way-“
”By which you mean within 100 miles?” She interrupted, half-jokingly, half-knowingly.
The speedster scoffed, ”Puh-lease, that’s a warm-up on a bad day. And I do not think today is gonna be one of those.”
Amy looked back up at her. “No, I don’t think so either.”
*****
“TAILS TAILS TAILS TAILS TAILS-” Sonic was vibrating with anticipation as she repeatedly knocked on the door of the fox-boy’s laboratory. The moment she began, she heard a yelp and the clattering of machinery, followed by a groan. Soon after, a disgruntled looking Tails, wiping himself off of any excess oil, grease, and sweat, answered the door, goggles having left an outline of soot around his eyes.
”Sonic, we’ve talked about this, you gotta-“
“yeahyeahyeahyeah I know I know but this is important!”
Tails’ eyebrows shot up, “What’s happening? Where’s Robotnik?!” He immediately pulled out a data pad, and began typing away on it as he ushered Sonic inside, “COMPUTER. Begin contingency plan 4-B.” Every single door and window in the lab slammed shut behind layers of steel re-inforcement, and a dim red light overtook the room, an entire armory lined up the wall of random gadgets, doo-dads, and what looked to be a set of robotic claws that would be about Tails sized to put on.
Sonic scrathed the back of her neck, “Uh, not that kind of important little buddy. Just like, regular important.”
Tails gave her a flat look, before letting out a mostly relieved sigh. “Yeah that makes sense, heh, uh, ignore some of what you just saw.” He sheepishly interfaced with his device and the lab resumed to normal. “Alright, well, what’s up Sonic?”
The runner, the track-star, steeled herself as Tails began absent-mindedly welding the project he had been in the middle of.
She started with a deep breath, “Well… You're my best friend-”
“Mhm!” Tails confirmed with a chipper tone.
A small smile wormed its way up her face, she knew they were besties, but it felt good to hear it in this moment. “-And we've been through a lot together-”
The fox nodded, and with a hint of fire and excitement in his voice, chimed in. “Yeah we have!”
Her breath hitched in her throat, “-And I realized something today, something important… I… I'm a girl, tails.”
“Mkay!” Tails did not pause what he was doing for even a moment. His tone still cheery.
There was a silence as Sonic sat there, stunned. The only noise being that of the prodigious mechanic’s blow-torch sparking against metal. “Uh, you sure you heard me right lil dude? Ain't got robo gunk in your ears or anything?”
Tails stopped for just a moment, flicking his visor up, his face was a casual cheeriness, not very far at all from his normal demeanor. “Yeah I heard ya! She/her now?”
“Yeah- uh, you are taking this really well.” The girl placed a hand on her head, scratching her scalp as she furrowed her brow.
He simply shrugged at that statement. A lightbulb flashed over the small boy as Tails finished up his current set of repairs on the Tornado’s left wing. “Oh! I think I might have something you’d be interested in.” He set his blow torch down, scrambling through his unorganized pile of inventions to find some peculiar looking device. It looked like some sort of rifle, a lot more rigid and refined than most of the other contraptions.
Tails mired it in his hands as he approached his best friend, “Introducing to you, the R.U.L.E 63! The device that reverses unibody limitations effectively!” He held his creation aloft towards Sonic with a proud smile, before he moved it a little lower in his hands, and lowered his voice. “You can also call it the gendy bendy.”
Sonic had a truly baffled smile on her face, “Wh- buddy! How long have you had this!? This is awesome! Uh, why the 63 though?”
A simple shrug was given in response, “Must’ve been my 63rd version or something.”
Sonic’s confusion was more than apparent in her voice, ”Must’ve…?”
The smug confidence moved its way off of the prodigy’s face, “That’s the weird thing, a while back the blueprints for this thing, written exactly how I make mine, kinda just… arrived with a note.” He moved over to one of his desks and plonked himself down on a spinny chair that did in fact revolve with his momentum. He opened a drawer, handing a small sticky note out to the air, and within the second a blue blur had snatched it out of his hand as she began to read it.
[Dear Mr. The Fox
Someone very close to you made this device, it will prove useful to some people you care about later, or I guess you could say… In the future (hehehehehehe) so please build it!!
-S✌️]
The two looked at each other, and spoke at the exact same time, “Silver.”
The hedgehog put a finger to her forehead, furrowing her brow, “Huh. She’s normally such a whiner about going back in time for things that aren’t involving an apocalypse.” She began to mock Silver’s words, “Sonic I won’t be able to see you again! Sonic, we can’t just undo this mistake! Sonic, we can’t go back to the day that they served all-you-can-eat chilli dogs!”
Tails chuckled at his buddy, “Yeah, but I’m sure she’s got her reasons. Maybe Prince Blaze saw another calamity or something. Now, you wanna think about time travel too hard or do you wanna test this thing out?”
Shoes smacked against the steel floor of the lab causing an echoing thunk throughout as Sonic paced in place with incredible speed.
With a flick of a switch, the device started up with a hum. Tails let his goggles go back over his eyes with a snap, and from the doo-dad a blinding light of pink, white, and cyan came out of the square-shaped hole. Soon the blinding miniature sun of queer light faded, and in front of Tails stood a very familiar woman.
”AWH YEAH, THIS IS HAPPENIN’!” Her own voice made her smile shine even brighter than the machine’s lights. Absolutely needing to burn off some energy from the racing euphoria, she rocketed around the lab, letting her shoes hit the floor in a rapid set of pitter-patters. The sudden extra space in her - now ill-fitting - shoes led her to eat the ground, sliding face-first with a skid right next to the fox boy’s feet.
She looked up, a bruise on her cheek, her smile having not faded even a little. Skittering of shoes caused her shoes to squeak as she scrambled to her feet and wrap her best friend in a complete bear hug, lifting the boy off the ground as she spun. ”I owe you big time pal!”
The smaller figure, who did his best to seek out air, croaked in response, “Yeah… any…time…”
She set Tails down on the ground where he gasped and panted, “M’kay! Gonna go get ready for my date with Ames! See ya!” And just like that, she was gone.
”…Wait, you’re dating AMY!?? ”
*****
Sonic had found the opportunity to tell a few more people, including making a quick pit-stop by Angel Island. A ‘quick stop’ that to anyone else would have been a road-trip.
Upon hearing the news, all Knuckles said was, “SHIT…” He let the back of his head thunk against the master Emerald, “I owe Rouge $50…”
She was soon at Amy’s house, and rapped at her door, giddier than ever to see her reaction. The chocolate brown door swung open, and Amy looked her date up and down, a hand went to her mouth as she gasped. Her expression settled as her eyes darted up and down, a half-lidded smirk, as her words were more of a purr. “Well hell- lo there.”
A blush boiled up onto the visiting girl’s face as she saw her girlfriend’s response. She brushed under her nose with her index finger as she let out a soft, smug chuckle. “Heh, yeah, I do clean up pretty nice don’t I?”
Amy spared no time as she scooped up her paramour into her arms. Sonic stumbled over her words, “H-hey! Ain’t this supposed to be my job!?”
“Wellllll, you do usually do this.” The pink-haired girl started, flashing her fangs with a smile, “So, I figured I’d give you a taste of your own medicine!”
“W-Well!… Y’know we’d get to Twinkle Park sooner if I ran, right!?“ Sonic protested, as half-hearted as it may have been.
Amy nodded, “True, buuuuut I’m not exactly in a rush right now.”
In that moment, she felt speed in an entirely different way. It was not something in her control, it was not a tool, it was not her balancing on a razor’s edge with nothing but her own momentum to carry her to safety. It was safety, it was the wind in her hair, only to feel it glide across the very same force she was pressed against. It was comfort in direction, in being weightless, no effort expended and able to feel the exhilaration that comes with blinding velocity. It was knowing that she and she alone could take up this space right now, fully having submitted control over her situation, and just enjoying… her.
”Yeah, I don’t think I’m in one either.”
*****
Beautiful radiant lights lit up the evening sky of Twinkle Park as it - to the credit of its name - twinkled wonderfully. An attendee stood at a kiosk, a turnstile being the barrier between them and the rest of the amusement park. Amy had not stopped carrying the other hedgehog the entire time. After a bit of time in line, and more half-hearted embarrassed protests from Sonic to put her down - all of which were denied with glee - the two had reached the front.
”Excuse me sir! Two adult tickets for Twinkle Park please.”
“Aww, you two are so cute! Such good friends! That’ll be 30$.“
Amy let her jaw drop, immediately it pulled back into a pouting scowl like a ripcord. She held the other girl out in her arms towards the attendant, as well as aloft to the whole world as she spoke. “Uh! Excuse me! This is my GIRLFRIEND . My GIRLFRIEND that I’m DATING and so we’re GIRLFRIENDS.”
Sonic’s cheeks were disastrously aflame, a heat wave in Shamar would pale in comparison to their temperature. She put her hands in front of her eyes, barely peeking out through them. She couldn’t help but smile though, because despite the embarrassment, she felt like a million bucks.
He smacked the top of his head, ”Oh my! I’m so sorry, miss!” The attendant turned his head towards Sonic for a moment, “and to you too miss!” The undefeatable unbreakable blue blur was a sputtering mess in her girlfriend’s arms, dying from humiliation and euphoria. “You two are absolutely adorable! Go right ahead!”
Amy gave him one big fat nod, only that which the snootiest of aristocrats, or possibly a Karen, could match. Finally, Sonic wrenched herself out of her girlfriend’s hold once they’d entered the park. “You coulda put me down at any time y’know!”
Amy simply grinned back, “And you coulda hopped out at any time, y’know .”
There was no response to be had to that statement. Instead, Sonic simply palmed her hand into her girlfriend’s, and the two walked together through the park.
The two stopped by attraction after attraction, booth after booth. The two walked past nearly every single roller coaster and ride available. To the both of them it was more than mundane compared to what they’ve done. None more so than it was for Sonic, who simply would have found herself yawning in the seat. Instead, the two went to gift shops and merch booths. In which Sonic found herself a new, far more fitting tee, and considering Sonic’s current lack of support, Amy found her eyes trailing down more than a few times.
The two stopped by some basic games, taking turns winning each other the top prizes, only stopping because of the cartoonish amount of stuffed animals they had accrued. With Sonic having deposited the plushies somewhere nearby, if ‘somewhere nearby’ meant her having ran all the way back to Amy’s house and back within a few minutes.
The apex of it all for Sonic was the strength testing game. She walked over with the park’s mallet, and slammed it down. It skid close to the top, but did not ring the bell. Amy put her arm out, gesturing her girlfriend to step back. She rolled up her sleeves, spit in each hand, and grabbed the hammer. Rearing back as far as she could, she whipped it down as hard as possible, pulling her own body taut with inertia and exertion as it came down with an ear-splitting ’ *CLANG*’ . The bell was so much ‘rung’ in the sense that technically it made a sound as it was immediately blown through and demolished. Sonic felt something tingle in her stomach and swallowed hard as she watched the girl wipe a bit of sweat off her brow.
*****
The couple started a game of bowling, of which the two were eventually asked to leave after they began using themselves as the ball. A statement Sonic objected to with the fact that there technically wasn’t any rule against that. A notion that has, since then, resulted in a new regulation that spans park-wide.
Soon after, it was bumper cars, because while riding a predetermined track to simply feel speed had no allure to the two. Racing did have its appeal, racing while being encouraged to slam the cars into each other and have nobody get hurt was impossible to resist. Both hedgehogs got reared up for a race, staring the other down with a playful competitive energy. The cars careened down the track, and lots of bouncing, giggling, and bonking into each other was had.
”I didn’t expect you to be such a road warrior!” Sonic let out a small chuckle as she hopped out of her car, trying not to show just how badly the fact that losing a contest of ‘who could get somewhere quicker’ bothered her. Ultimately though, if she was to lose to anyone, at least it was her girlfriend. A title that still made her feel warm and fuzzy inside every time she even so much as thought it.
“Listen, after racing with you all so many times I had to figure out some kinda way to keep up don’t I? Like when you all were on-foot and I still drove around?” Amy had not left her vehicle yet, instead simply pulling the protective bar up and placing her elbows on the sides, leaning over on her arms.
Sonic crinkled up her nose, “I try not to remember those times.”
This got her a set of thoughtful nods as the other girl pursed her lips, “Yeah, that’s probably for the best.”
Amy leapt out of her bumper car, right onto Sonic, who reflexively prevented her fall. She zipped up to meet her in the air, cradling the girl in her arms.
There was a moment, right at the apex, where the two wordlessly had the same idea. A wonderful, intimate kiss was shared. One that felt like it was happening in zero gravity. It felt like time had stopped just as much as their motion. All that existed in that brief moment was Sonic and Amy. There was no twinkle park, there were no bumper cars, there was no Metal Sonic within the vicinity gripping cotton candy with a jealous vice. Sometime after Sonic’s feet hit the ground, exactly how long is still debated by scholars to this day, the two eventually loosened their lips off of each other.
”You really are something else…” The soft, profound love trailed off with her sentence, and started to be replaced by unsure curiosity. “Uh… Do you still want me to call you… y’know… or do you have a different name in mind or…?”
Sonic peered her eyes up, trying to see into her own mind as she thought, letting her lips press into each other. “Sonic’s good, ‘sides, it was always a nickname anyways.”
Amy blinked furiously and shook her head as her entire brain had to reboot, “Waitwaitwaitwaitwait, you mean Sonic’s not your- I mean obviously you don’t have to tell me but- I mean, it wasn’t??”
”I’ll give what I want my proper first name to be some thought, but I’m definitely changing my middle name while I’m at it too.”
”What’s your-“
”Maurice.”
“Ewww noooooo” Amy laughed as she playfully shoved Sonic’s chest, “Yeah you’re fixing that, for both of our sakes.”
The hedgehog carrying Amy to the exit cackled back, “Oh you bet I am.”
Her face began a more dour, contemplative expression as she stared off, not looking at anything in particular as she jogged out of the Park. “For now though, I wanna… I wanna find my mom, maybe ask her what she would name me. Then it’ll feel official, like it’s my new real name. Until then, maybe I’ll just try out ‘vie’, but honestly, I’m Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog.” A sense of determination dawned on her face, “And nobody can take that from me.”
Amy looked up, and saw the face of the woman she loved.