Dark Sonic Forces

Ch. 4

By: Cutegirlmayra (Guess who finished Finals? :D this gal! Lol, so yeah. Here. Have something to eat.)

As though snow had dumped itself off the side of a cliff, Amy slumped forward with a sorrowful frown upon her face that day.

Her back formed like a question mark, mirroring the thousands of questions that were left unanswered by Sonic's disappearance once again.

'He's not letting himself rest... Does he still think he needs to prove himself to everyone?' She sighed, reclining her already bent body further down with the released air.

Girls in the resistance started giggling in a filled storage unit left mostly to dust over until the time for it was needed.

Amy's body slowly rose as her eyes turned to the laughter, her ear perking up at their voices...

Stealthily, as though breaking the law, Amy looked around and slid silently up against the wall, scooting towards the open door to listen in on what they were talking about.

"I don't know... the heat of the battlefield, the thousands of wispons shooting all around you... who wouldn't get turned on?"

"Melissa, you're so bad!"

"I've made out with a recruit who broke his leg once. Is that just as bad? I mean, he was already downed. I felt bad for him. Confined to his little gurney. He was so cute! But so lonely there, so I... gave him a pick-me-up..."

"So, basically you're saying... he already had you in his bed?"

"Gurney!"

"Sounds a bit too easy, Monica."

The girls laughed hysterically as Amy suddenly felt her hair stick up on end. Her quills rose in sudden realization about what the girls were talking about, and she felt like immediately leaving.

Her foot stepped out to do so but the next comment left her stuck in place.

"I can't remember the first time I wanted to kiss a boy... I just remember never knowing what it was really like. The realness of it all. The sensualness of touch."

The girls giggled again and Amy suddenly found herself wondering...

She slowly withdrew her foot back to her side.

"I was afraid to be honest."

"What!? You!?"

"Don't look at me like that! Haha! It takes a lot of 'umph' for a girl to kiss a dude she likes! I'll never forget my first love... terrible kisser. But once you take off the glasses—well, there's a man under there! A real beast!"

"Hoho! Sounds like someone's still in love!"

"I dig a man in glasses, I'll admit it."

"Yeah, now that I look back, I'm glad for the times I was innocent~"

"Gurl, I can't imagine you innocent."

"Beonca!"

"Let's talk about my first bite~"

"OHHHHHHHHH~"

Amy grew flustered, she wasn't sure why, but her hands immediately raced to the sides of her embarrassed cheeks.

She hurried down the corridor and closed her eyes, upset for some odd reason...

'I've never... felt that need... to be anything but innocent.' She kept hurrying until she opened her eyes and realized she was in the big pavilion. The room was a light brown, almost gold color with a creamy white secondary color around it. It was full of trash and cardboard boxes like the ones in storage unit now. No one keeping up with the place. She looked at the stage, remembering when they used to hoist concerts and speeches there to rile up the resistance into staying strong, and also... announcing Sonic's supposed death.

Her thoughts suddenly shifted to Sonic sleeping, then his gloveless, shoeless, and sockless body in the light of her window, turning around to her. The next moment her thoughts raced to his body moving up and down on her lap, the warm and moist breath on her leg and how uncomfortable that had been, but she ignored it.

She wanted so desperately to help him...

Amy shook her head. Looking greatly disturbed at her new realization. 'Even Sonic thought I was weird... when I didn't react to him before...' She thought of how wonderful it was for him to compliment her. Talking with him and being around him had always been enough for her. And when Sonic mentioned he thought she would be the first to think that way...

'...Why don't I feel that way..?' she placed a hand to her chest...

She wasn't afraid of kissing or... or whatever else would come.

She gripped her dress's ends, looking down. '...I'd always thought Sonic looked attractive... I just never... I mean, I wanted to kiss but...'

She stepped back, feeling small in a room so large and spacious. No one was really around these places at this time. They were either doing chores or preparing for another battle. Some would be finishing up breakfast about now too.

She was having a moment and no one was there to notice, which was sort of convenient in a usually crowded headquarters.

'Is there... something wrong... with me?' she wondered if she really had matured... looking over her body and then wondering about what it would be like...

She tilted her head, having blocked daydreaming for so long since Sonic's disappearance. But now that she knew he was alive...

Growing closer to Sonic... the dream was still alive. She cutely squinted her eyes and lifted her hands up daintily to hold by her sides, tilting her body to really put all her imaginative brainpower into it. "Hmm..."

She attempted to picture Sonic coming closer to her, placing his hand on her back and pulling her deeper against his chest and lowering his face to be inches from her own.

But his hands still had gloves on...

She pouted.

But when she tried to think harder on it...

Sonic moving his other hand around her waist, pinching the end of one of the glove's fingers to pull it off, the sliding paused momentarily and-

She suddenly popped that bubble and blushed, smacking her hands over her face and shaking her body wildly. Little pieces of falling dust spiraled away from her in the action, "No, no, no! Eeee! I can't!" she squee'd, giggling to herself before stopping abruptly.

She lowered her hands.

Could she... really not get passed that?

Did she admire him more on his personality than...

She held a finger up to her mouth before her quills stood on end again, her eyes shrinking.

Thinking of him...

Sexually?

"GAHHH!!!" she squealed in yet another embarrassed and flustered yelp. Covering her face, she violently shook back and forth again, "I can't! I can't! I can't! It's too embarrassing!!!" She was just so used to being comfortable with him after all these years. And although he was handsome... very handsome... she honestly couldn't think of a moment where she wanted to- "Ahhh!!! Hahaaaa!!!" she shook herself even fiercer now, unable to take even the thought of it. Though her mind tried to play out him sleeping on her nicely washed bed sheets, opening his eyes to smile up at her, the image just didn't feel 'right' or 'Sonic-like' to her. The heat of her cheeks was likely to knock her out in a fainting spell at this point, before...

"...What's embarrassing, Amy?"

She froze as a humorous ice sculpture at being snapped out of her inner-thinkings, suddenly recognizing the familiar voice.

Silver stood behind her, holding some papers that looked like filers and tilting his head in the air.

He landed and the glowing green around his body faded, "You looked like you saw a mouse." He admitted.

She lowly cranked her head back to him in the motions of a robot, weakly smiling with little flicks here and there of a twitch on the corner of her mouth. "I was just..." she gestured her hands to the room. "Admiring... the old pavilion." She fibbed... a little... she was getting more accustomed to that too...

She pouted when he looked around, stating, "There's nothing really left to admire..." and then happily walked up to her. He seemed completely oblivious; it was too easy at this point to fool him. Then again, it was really sweet at the same time how believing he was of his friends, how much he trusted them. "No one's seen Sonic in a while. If you're looking for him, I'd check the communications room. Besides, Knuckles and Tails are still pretty upset about the last stunt you pulled. You really ought to take better care of yourself. You could have gotten hurt." He shook the flier a bit at her, attempting to scold but Amy just held a deadpan expression.

"What's the flier for?" she avoided his attempt to reprimand her which made him flinch a little in surprise.

He lowered his head, dropping the act and realizing she wasn't going to see any authority in him whatsoever. She may respect him, but she wouldn't follow his instructions like she did with Knuckles or Tails.

And even then, her sheer will-power trumps them all...

"It's for a concert we were thinking of hoisting here again. Celebrating Sonic's return, but..." Silver looked over the flier, a bit of worried sweat sliding down the side of his face. "I fear... with everything that's been going on with Sonic lately..."

Amy also felt a twinge of sorrow tickle at her heart. Seeing Sliver's disappointed expression suddenly take hold of his face as he looked to the flier...

She wouldn't allow it!

"Sonic will come back!"

She said this with so much moxie and fire that Silver's head shot up in amazement. He was thoroughly convinced she knew it, without a shred of doubt in her mind, that it was true.

"R-really?" he asked, dumbfounded.

Amy took his hand that was holding out the flier with both her own, nodding and jumping up and down excitedly. "Absolutely! Hehe! There's no way Sonic would let his friends or his fans down!" she beamed with a hope she was famous for, and Silver smiled as the uneasiness faded away for a moment.

"Thank you, Amy." He stated with a nod of his head. "You always do know how to cheer anyone up."

Amy took that compliment with pride, removing her reassuring hands from around his own and sticking one down to her hip, the other pounding rhythmically against her heart. "Em-hmm! Leave it to me! I'll find Sonic and bring him straight home to recuperate! You just make sure there's a place for him." Amy passionately rushed off with a new found goal whirling around in her mind. She didn't need to think about anything else... just Sonic! And not failing to inspire hope in anybody else!

Silver smiled before he saw her fully turn the corner down the splintering hallways and frowned when he couldn't sense her anymore.

He looked back at the paper, "But with this new energy encompassing Sonic..." he felt his hope slipping, his faith in Sonic dwindling again.

He leaned his head back, and sighed.

.............

Amy takes off to the communication room, hearing a ruckus as many people are crowding the entrance.

"What's going on..?" Amy's eyebrows bent back in speculation. She tried to lean her head up and push herself onto her toes to see better, but all she could manage to see were more heads...

"Ohhh-oh-oohh..." with her infamous whine, she slouched down and shook her fists. "That's it! Outta my way!" Amy stomped through the crowd, using her authority as a popular figure in the resistance to have people just naturally move aside for her to come through.

She strode through the crowd, confidently swinging her arms in a bent march and sticking her head up, before crying out when she saw the screen.

"Sonic!"

"And he's not doing too good either!"

Tails immediately turned back to her, his headset on one ear and his hand typing onto the keyboard.

"I've been trying to convince him to back down and come home, but he just won't listen to me! I've sent the new recruit out to bring him back, but Sonic's... he's changed again!" Tails slammed his hand down on the keyboard, squinting his eyes shut again as they shook with trauma. "...What if he... he... He knows how we all feel right now. Why is he doing this? We all look to him to guide us... but he's not! He's just recklessly throwing himself into battle and losing all our trust!" Tails balled his hand into a fist, tears starting to poke through his once struggling to be strong demeanor.

"I almost lost it last time... I thought it was all my fault... that I was incompetent... I don't want him to lose face in front of everyone... I just want him to be here and..."

Amy couldn't take her eyes off the monitor, seeing the dark spiraling vortex before it shot out a pulse that knocked the illusions back, having them disappear with red cubes replacing them for a moment, and then flickering out of sight.

She slowly made her way to Tails, grabbing his head and ducking it into her shoulder.

She also... didn't want Tails to lose face in front of everyone either...

He sniffled and held it together, his other hand gripping the headset as cries and good people were being tossed left and right by Sonic's reckless actions.

The dark figure suddenly panted and fell to a knee, his head completely down with one eye closed. The white sockets disappeared to reveal deep blue eyes, shaking as a figure spun into him and knocked him down. His darkened fur suddenly flickered and he spran up with the white sockets again, the misty vines forming the monster over his being again that snapped at the blue ball of light that kept flying around him.

"What's that?" Amy wondered out loud, as everyone in the room leaned their head towards the screen.

The recruit's livefootage from his glasses showed him shoot out a grappling hook that tied Sonic down, swinging around as the blue ball unspun after knocking Dark Sonic down.

"That looks like..." Amy's eyes widened.

"The other Sonic." Tails smiled, "I found him just before Sonic returned. I think he was sent here by the universe. Even when Sonic can't-... Well, the universe still needs a Sonic." He shook his head, not allowing himself to finish his thought as he started typing things in again.

"Good work securing him recruit. You and the other Sonic report back to HQ immediately! We'll detain him and find out what's going on."

Amy let go of Tails, her hand flinching back at hearing all this.

"Sonic... detained?" She looked up at his unconscious body, the vines still whipping around him as the recruit and Classic Sonic stepped back... But they died down and fell back into Sonic's core... his fur turned back to its iconic blue color.

.....

It took no time at all to get back. Classic Sonic was awarded with the recruit an array of medals, which he seemed to pin onto himself in various locations around his body. It was sort of humorous, watching him finally move the medals enough to create space and smile before being handed another one and seeing his little brain turn on where, on his pudgy belly, to place the new one next.

While he scratched his head on the last one, deciding with a bounce to place it on the top of his head, he noticed people getting rushed out of Modern Sonic's recovery room. "Get out!" The voice boomed, as the crowd's cheering hushed a little and turned to the nurses and doctors fleeing from the room with papers flying out everywhere.

Amy was up on the stage, looking heartbroken and worried.

He usually wasn't this rude or mean to everyone... but she knew he must be upset with being confined to his gurney.

She looked desperately to Tails, who also seemed to have the same broken hearted expression as her.

He saw her looking to him for permission, making sweet hedgehog eyes at him and sticking out her upper lip, her eyes glossing over. "Oh no! He needs isolation!" Tails defended, waving his arms out as the crowd dispersed and Classic Sonic got the recruit's attention, pointing to his badges happily and then bouncing his eyebrows up and down in a sly and cocky fashion at showing them off. The recruit just kindly placed his hand behind his head and scratched it, trying to be polite and tolerate the silly behavior. He had the same medals too...

"He needs me." Amy tilted her head, her ears dropping down to increase her cuteness factor.

As though working, Tails crunched his shoulders up and frowned, turning his head away but not looking away from her. "I said no..." he tried again, hoping to assert some authority, but knowing from previous experiences that there was no way Amy would take no for an answer.

"Fine." She sighed.

"Wait, really?" Tails straightened up, looking happy he might have won for once, but then Amy smiled back a confident grin.

"I'll just go in anyway~"

"Oh, Amy..." He flopped forward, defeated. "I already have to work on building a new X-Tornado! Can't you just help me with that instead of making Sonic even madder?" He lifted his head back, returning to his previous state of misery over his beloved plane.

"You know I'm super sorry about that!" She smacked her hands against the other to apologize, raising them up to him with a bit of awkwardness, "But I just know Sonic needs me! Even if he doesn't know it yet!"

Classic Sonic overheard the conversation and pointed his thumb back to Amy. He mimicked her hedgehog eyes and gestures, acting like a lovesick girl and pretending to be her, making fun of her. The recruit again just nodded awkwardly and smiled, not wanting to side with anyone on the matter of Amy's extremity...

"Besides, who's going to do Sonic's duties while he's out of commission?" Amy was hoping Tails would say himself, but instead, Tails just nodded enthusiastically.

"Got it covered! Little Sonic from another dimension has agreed to take over until Sonic's energy crisis is all figured out!" He gestured back to him as Classic Sonic immediately spun out of his mocking impersonation of Amy and looked politely up at the two. He nodded and jumped, doing a spin and then landing on one foot, holding two thumbs up.

"Hehe, well... you do sport his signature smile." She giggled, fond of his charms as she bent down and grinned to him. "Hey... Promise me you'll be alright, okay?" she tilted her head sweetly and cutely to him.

A sudden shiver broke Classic Sonic of his cool stance. He backed away a moment, before rapidly moving forward and looking at her face.

He seemed to regret making fun of her, seeing how sincere she was towards him.

He sighed and shrugged, deciding not to mock her again and winking to her encouragingly.

He hopped down and gave a thumbs up to the recruit, who returned the gesture as the two fist-pumped and ran off the pavilion's stage.

Tails watched them leave before sighing and losing his smile somewhat. "If I let you go in there... Can you just talk to him... nothing more?" he seemed to genuinely turn to her, asking a favor. "I really don't want him saying anything mean to anyone else... but he's really not acting himself. He could really hurt you deep, Amy..."

That's when Amy realized. The face that Tails was making... it wasn't just his heart that was shattered by Sonic's reckless actions.

Sonic must have told off Tails while he was trying to convince him to come back.

The shock of that made Amy feel like a thunderclap had struck behind her, sounding out over the loud room with an echoed return of pain.

"Tails..." Amy reached out, lovingly to comfort him, but he just shook his head calmly and smiled.

He took her outstretched hand in both of his, stepping forward and keeping his head down. "He's really not himself, Amy... I don't think I can help him in what he needs right now... I'll fix the plane... you fix his heart." He patted her hand, "I normally wouldn't do this but... you really do have a way with people. You know how to show someone their wrong and can do better. Shadow, while delivering the news that Sonic had to hang back while he sorts out his dark energy problem, also mentioned that Infinite's greatest illusion was convincing Sonic he's not enough."

Amy held her breath.

"Sonic didn't like hearing that. He said some things... things I know he wouldn't normally say... but Shadow retorted something about you that I couldn't stop thinking about... Sonic actually quieted down and seemed to distance himself from the topic. I was so amazed he didn't say a quip back, or lash out with dark energy like before... but the second Shadow mentioned you, he completely shut down and turned away from everyone." Tails looked up into Amy's eyes. "I don't know what happened to Sonic on the moon. He won't talk about it. He won't tell us what the dark energy is, only that he won't let us look into it. It's up to you now, Amy. We've all tried everything. I just... I know he has the power to say something that could really hurt you and-" as his eyes drifted, Amy turned her hand and clenched his own, placing her other one of his hands as well.

She stepped up, "I still believe, Tails." She smiled warmly. "I won't let anyone down. I told Silver I would bring Sonic back. What I meant was the real Sonic. And I won't leave that room until I find him."

Tails beamed back up at her, blushing even slightly as he stated, "You always do have a way of finding him, Amy."

Their hands slowly parted, sliding off the other in a mutual trust, as Amy parted ways with him and headed for the disaster room.

It was in shambles. She creaked open the door and simply looked around, peeking at the loose wires, crushed trashcan and tins, before seeing Sonic turn his head from facing the opposite way from her.

He huffed and turned back away, not even bothering to speak to her.

He was semi-dark it seemed... his dark blue eyes were seen and his fur a dark blue but not as dark as it could get. The whisking dark vines flamed lightly around him, but other than that, he seemed rather tame at the moment. Just highly annoyed.

Amy's eyes arched back in love, but also in pain at his obvious ignoring her. She looked to a fallen stool and sat it up right, then saw some paper on a clipboard and a pen and quickly scrambled for those, but trying to do so quietly. She finally organized herself and looked to the stool, sitting down... and starting to draw.

Again, starting with the silhouette, she began to outline his body...

Next, those pesky quills...

"...I really just want to be left alone, Amy." Sonic grumbled like a whiny teenager, it didn't threaten her and she just paused in her drawing.

After a moment, she looked back at her paper, blinking her eyes to try and hear anything further before returning to her art.

Now the rest of his quills...

She traced a finger over her work, still not finished, but trying to get a feeling out of it.

Nope. Nothing.

She sighed, dipping her head and then placed a hand to her mouth, looking back up at Sonic to see if he heard her.

Even if he did, he didn't respond.

"...It's not enough."

Amy's pen froze in her hand again, not daring to make a sound.

"...The universe even sent my glory days to deal with what I couldn't accomplish. What's up with that?"

He gestured his hand out, looking fed up with what was happening. "Pfft... it's like even the universe has given up on me... I'm a new disappointment. A real let down... so much for the triumphant, heroic return!"

After a moment of him grumbling and shifting about, muttering insults to the universe and the like, Amy went back to sketching.

Now his eyes... His usual green ones. Yes,... Oh! And his cute, little and long hedgehog nose~

Sonic's head turned, exactly what she wanted, and he looked over his shoulder at her again. "What are you even doing?" He seemed more fed-up than angry, and she liked seeing he wasn't so mad as everyone thought he was.

Just upset.

This was Sonic showing his bottled-up emotions, they were important; she wanted him to let off some steam.

Dang, even drawing his blue butt doesn't give her any 'sensations'... was she really unable to feel turned-on by him? Maybe if she thought hard enough about it... round... blue... nope, nothing.

She wondered if she was going about this all the wrong way, maybe... she was just too mature for that sort of thinking?

But she did admit, his butt seemed well proportionate and nice. He had a polite butt. She respected it.

When she didn't answer, Sonic dipped his head in annoyance.

She snapped out of her thoughts again, feeling a bit silly for doing this in front of him and quickly held the paper over her face, hiding her blush.

"...You drawing me again?" he inquired, and she could tell his voice had softened somewhat into curiosity.

She nervously turns the sketch around, still ducking her head in embarrassment. "It's... you, yeah."

"Huh?" he noticed the drawing was him sleeping, back on Amy's bed... the same sketch but done slightly differently then before. "That's not my current position... nor my resting face." He argued lightly, but she could see his demeanor was shifting.

If she could just distract him from his thoughts... She knew, quite recently, what it was like to have thoughts that something was wrong with you... she didn't want him feeling the same way.

She shyly cleared her throat, but just as easy as it was to be embarrassed, it was also easy for her to gain confidence too. So she lowered the picture back down to her lab and smiled to hide her nerves, "Well... I had to go off of memory." She admitted, and gently, as though rushing water, looked back up at him in a smooth moment while her hair brushed back against her shoulders from her looking down for so long. "This is how I saw you when I first woke up. You were very peaceful... exhausted maybe, sure." She giggled slightly, "But I felt like I had fallen asleep beside a fairytale." She swooned as she leaned her head against her hand. "You may not like me constantly fawning over you, but you are actually a very pretty boy, Sonic. Oh! I mean man!" She covered her face again, 'Dang it, Amy! Maybe that's why you can't see him any differently! He's too boyish! Even as a man!' she lightly hit the top of her head in light scolds before peeking back up at him with a cute smile.

"Because your face and body were turned from me... I had to go off of that memory. It's a nice memory... probably my favorite in this war so far."

She suddenly remembered her question, and felt an emptiness wash over her, filling up into a pressure that gently pushed against her chest and restricted her breathing.

"What..." 'Why am I asking this now!?'

She squinted her eyes, turning her head away. "What were you doing there... that night... when you were in my room..." She worried so heavily that he would get upset and cut her off again as he did before. Worried she would upset him and that it wasn't what he wanted to hear right now. She felt her hands clench up and tuck some of her dress into the fist with the moment, pulling it up slightly to curve her knees. She felt her body tremble in light quakes, anxiety suddenly making her feel unwanted...

But... "Why w-were you there?" Even through her slight fears, she pushed through with absolute courage. She had to know. It was easy to muster courage, just as easy as it was to feel nervous or afraid.

She just had to will it so.

She just had to know.

"...Come over here." After a brief pause, his face rested into a neutral look, his eyelids dropping. She couldn't read him in this state, but then again, she never really could read him perfectly anyway.

He wasn't an open book, after all.

He was a difficult read, but one she took extra dedication too in learning its odd patterns.

She slipped off the stool, slowly at first, gripping the pen and paper tightly as it lightly crumbled a bit under her firm grip.

She walked over to him, seeing his eyes move up as she approached closer and closer... little by little.

"Lay down." Now he just looked sad. It was confusing. Didn't she just do what he wanted her too?

She got on the gurney, watching as he moved up and scooted for her to lay beside him.

She felt a strange tingling as she lowered herself beside him, facing up and feeling his arm against her own.

She blushed and wondered what he wanted, would he answer her?

Sonic stared at the ceiling a moment, and she could swear she heard the buzzing of computers, the ticking of a clock somewhere, and all manner of small ambient sounds of the room around them.

He lifted his arm up, moving it behind his head, giving her some more room and seeming to try and adjust himself to relaxing... but the dark energy... it was retreating back into his core.

She squirmed when she saw it try and reach for her, licking the air as it struggled to latch itself to her skin... but slowly... it withdrew only Sonic's dark blue fur and dark blue eyes remained...

She settled back down, was he still upset?

Mildly so, maybe... he must have been finding it hard to break out of his emotions from the darkness again.

Should... should she offer to relax him with a massage again? But that would be awkward on a gurney right..?

She remembered that conversation in the storage unit and felt her quills spiking in flustered nerves again, covering her face. 'Eeeeee, noooo..! Not now!' she scolded herself.

"I... I was exhausted." Sonic finally spoke, the darkness flickering softly up in darker shades before reverting back again. "Sorry to disappoint you too." He closed his eyes. "But I was pretty badly beat up by that last fight with Infinite... It wasn't the first time..." he felt a nervous tension, not wanting to admit this wasn't the first time he had passed out with Amy in her room before...

His eyes rolled up, his mouth moving to the side of his muzzle to avoid her, but she seemed curious now.

She lifted her head up, tilting it slightly to see his expression better. "What wasn't the first time? Fighting Infinite?"

"Yep." He blinked his eyes, not wanting to talk about it further. It wasn't exactly a lie...

When she noticed he remained silent, she shifted back to laying down and started to attempt to draw again.

His eyes finally bounced over to her and then away a few times, before finally turning his head to seeing her finishing her drawing.

"I figured it was that." She admitted, but her tone was low and soft. She was a little disappointed, but she didn't expect anything romantic. It just... wasn't him.

It was difficult, drawing at this angle and having the paper be so uncooperative. She hoped she was doing him justice.

...

Sonic looked over to see her half-smile, something he knew she didn't like to do because of the façade-feeling she would get by making it.

He turned his head more, seeing her eyes moving lightly with the pen strokes, doing her best to draw at this angle though it looked hopeless.

'...She really doesn't get it.' He thought, just... actually staring at Amy a moment. '...She wants to believe it was something else... but she refuses to let me know how she wanted it to be.'

He looked to the drawing, seeing his form and image look almost like a resting baby at this point.

Without a second thought, he swiped the paper out of her hand and took the pen before it fell on her face.

"Oh!" she closed her eyes in a light sound of surprise, thinking she was about to get hit before he lifted the clip on the clipboard and turned the paper over to its other side.

'Think Sonic... Don't disappoint her. Just not her today, okay?' He started to draw on his memory of her resting, before he had blacked out.

Her resting frame... hair that parted around her shoulders and lightly arched when hitting the soft white of the bed. The way her nose dipped down and her eyelashes lightly brushed the pillow and covers as she breathed in soft, angelic beats.

As the image took form, Sonic made careful strokes to show her three bangs lowered and curved to the right perspective shot he was going for, and then drew a faint bare shoulder peeking from the covers, another few strokes for her headband, ears, the bridge of her eyes. Finally, he drew her hand that overlapped her mouth and hid half her muzzle from his view, remembering the last image he saw after falling in front of her sleeping body he had so carefully tried to bring home. Safe. He had wanted to reach out and check to make sure she was okay... but the darkness seemed to bother her and he had pulled back.

She was...

A drawing.

Amy blushed at the beautiful lines and shapes that formed Sonic's image of her onto the paper. She had never seen herself like this before... more than just soft and peaceful but...

Beautiful.

"You..." she breathed out, having her breath taken away by his speedy drawing and how skillfully he crafted it. "You draw very well." She cleared her throat, looking away.

He smiled a flirty look at her, raising an eyebrow as though he wanted her to admit he drew her well, but he decided not to push it. "It's one of my many talents." He gloated, tapping the pen to the paper... as if not wanting to fiddle with the picture any more than he needed too. It was fine the way it was.

He decided to do some shading practice though, and watched as Amy's mouth dropped while he made some blush smudges on her cheeks.

He side-glanced her and her face turned fully red, turning away as he smiled, feeling the darkness begin to slowly release from him.

"It... looks better than I ever could." She turned her head away, just trying to make a joke it seemed, but this comment bothered Sonic.

"No..." He glared, but he didn't mean for it to be so harsh. It was meant to be light... he couldn't control how he was coming across though as the darkness enticed him to being more angry again, go numb, but he ignored it and continued, "It doesn't."

She continued to look away, but he could see her head shift down at his words.

"...It would be nice... if you could see me that way..."

Suddenly a fire rose in him, something he knew meant fury.

He took a deep breath, trying to soften the look of his widening and enraged eyes.

He squinted them shut, not daring to speak while he was upset.

He just couldn't believe she was fighting him on this one. After drawing her like this... she suddenly has a image complex!?

He wished, in that moment, to not desire to be numb.

Then a feeling came.

It spooked him a moment but he felt the darkness shrieking inside him at him.

It was so warm... it wasn't harsh like the fire had been.

It was shimmering with light that brought his spirits back, as he slowly leaned up in surprise.

It was Amy.

This feeling... he didn't know what to call it other than—Amy.

He slowly leaned over her, his arm moving over her head to trap any movement she may make to get away.

She turned her head instantly, her eyes showing the same surprised light that he was feeling.

He was drawn to it...

The light in her soul... the light she emitted every day of her life.

He wanted so desperately to be closer to that light... for that light to push down the darkness that lured him into nothingness... he wanted this feeling. Whatever he was feeling.

He wanted Amy.

He stared at her, feeling the dark energy try and pull him away, bark almost at her and what this strange, but exciting new feeling was telling him to do.

He felt the gurney underneath him creak as he lifted himself just enough to be inches away from her, their noses overlapping just slightly as she froze with strained breaths, not sure what he was doing.

Dark green, emerald eyes that shined like an oasis he longed to escape too. Somewhere where he couldn't disappoint anyone. Somewhere where he was always admired and appreciated.

Something triggered in Sonic, something strong that was frightening the dark essence inside of him.

He dipped his head.

Amy's eyes flickered, and that was enough for him to know she wanted the message he was willing to give to her.

He remembered the forest... her lap... her...

He leaned down and lightly placed his lips against her cheek, closing his eyes in a beat before letting himself linger a little longer.

The dark blue fades from his fur and quills, his spines return to their natural blue and when he opens his eyes, the mist parts and their green again.

...

"...What... was that..?" She accidentally spoke out loud. Her whole being felt like it was being weighed down by the medicine again, but this time, it felt incredibly exciting.

Her mouth closed and she felt her breath grow uneven, seeing him staring down at her with a suddenly goofy grin.

She was in total shock, unable to move as he lifted his arm and waved the drawing around above her head. "Don't insult me." His charming eyelids slid down to finish the blow. "Or my opinions."

She was absolutely awestruck.

"What just happened?" she breathed out, looking around as though it wasn't real. "Is this... a dream? Did I pass out?"

He snickered and rolled his eyes, leaning his head into it. "You know, Amy... If you can't tell the difference, it means you spend too long in one over the other." He nodded his head humorously in a light scold, before smirking at her cute, deer in the headlights expression.

"You're..." Amy looked down at his fur, seeing the dark form had fully gone away now.

Sonic raised an eyebrow and looked down, accusing her of checking him out as he looked back up at her eyes.

She flung her head back to his eyes and dipped her head more into the pillow as he chuckled. "Well,... can't stay mad at a kiss, right?" he placed the drawing on her chest and rolled over.

'He... he's paraphrasing me.' Amy gawked, unable to close her mouth from everything that her body just felt and everything that she just heard and witnessed.

Oh the feeling... can we just relive that feeling for a second?

Sensual... was that even the right word?

It was like his stare alone struck every heartbeat with more intensity than the last. The longer he stared, the more she felt like she was transcending to another plane of existence. When he leaned down, the tip of his nose lightly skimmed her cheek, as if a finger deciding where to place it's mark.

Then...

That light and gentle hold he had her in, his arm above her and his lips pressed against her cheek was like being enwrapped and completely surrounded by him, shielding her from whatever comment he deemed unnecessary and wrong.

Well, he proved her wrong and she was wrong and she felt his correction with every bone in her body.

Every muscle relaxed from the high tension and her body's heat seemed to slowly fade into room temperature.

She hadn't realized her hands... gripping and unable to loosen up.

But then she turned to see him relaxing again, and that would not do.

He yawned.

Now that the darkness was gone, he felt more like himself, and reached up to itch his nose.

As though it never happened.

Or worse.

It happened but it was the most casual thing in the world.

Nothing special.

Not like he just shot a billion cupid arrows into her body that slowly compiled and was ready for anything!

She was gusty now, flinging herself to the side and leaning over him, heart racing with a desire and sensation she had only dreamed was possible.

There was nothing wrong with her.

He just never presented the opportunity.

"I felt something." She spoke quickly, still breathing a little irregular.

He looked up at her, and then turned his back to her.

Her heart felt like the last bullseye had struck and there was no way she was letting him slip out of this one.

She touched his back, wanting to return to that closeness again. "Turn around..." she whined, cutely demanding but showing her want for his immediate attention again.

Why was he turning away all of a sudden!?

He twitched under touch.

Was he really that shy..? After that last stunt he just pulled? Oh no. She wasn't taking that crap anymore.

Suddenly, as she went in with a new enthusiasm for life, her smile faded and she noticed him digging his head into the side of the pillow...

Oh...

She pulled back, "Sorry." It wasn't shyness...

"I'll..." It broke her heart to say it, "I'll leave you alone now."

He just didn't want to be angry.

He just wanted a way out.

And so he created a good scenario for her. To not disappoint her. Because he knew at least one way to break the emotional hold the dark energy had on him. Whatever it was... she now truly hated it.

She began to move up, leaning to be upright as she turned her body. She waited a moment, and then hopped down.

'Whelp! At least I helped him...' she held back her tears, not daring to face him again. 'At least I know... what it means... to be close to him now... I guess.'

Suddenly, he abruptly turned around, reaching out for her as his body flickered from a dark shade to blue again. "Wait!" the darkness spiraled into a full on Dark form...

Amy jumped back, flinching as she saw it.

He lowered his hand, looking down as the white sockets seemed to register what had just happened to him.

"...You haven't fully taken it away yet."

"H...Huh?" She thought he did that on his own...

"My... anger..."

He shifted, "It didn't work." He moved up on the bed. "It was fleeting... I felt something... It made me... free. You can't leave. It'll come back. I need it. Whatever that does... it ... helps."

She realized he was talking about kissing, and covered her mouth at the strange but amazing situation she was now placed in.

At her silent reaction, his fur died down to a dark shade and his deep blue eyes returned, as he darted them around, nervously.

His hand... slowly came back to his side in a fist. He was on his knees, feeling his body get sucked back into the darkness was making him exhausted but...

He did not want her to leave.

"It's the only thing that's snapped me out of it... so far." Again, he nervously turned away.

At this point, Amy's heart was about to explode. She was about to launch herself back onto that gurney, about to give the man with a broken leg a pick-me-up, but held every ounce of it back to let him speak.

It was literally enthralling, and she did everything in her power to keep herself put.

Instead, she took a deep breath, seeing him look back to her.

"...Please." He hissed it out, as if it was difficult for him to ask. "Stay."

She felt like just saying, 'I'm yours!' but kept it back, closing her eyes at the thought of finally being close to him... but was it real? Was it just to get rid of emotions he allowed to be taken away from him?

Now he suddenly wants to feel emotions, but that's to drown out the darkness inside of him. She was still confused on if this was a love confession or a plea for help.

Either/or, she was delighted to be of assistance! But...

Was it love?

Was it really him asking for her and her alone..? Or for the powerful emotions that broke him out from being taken over?

She braced herself, holding back every longing to jump into his arms...

She leaned over,...

And gently kissed his cheek.

But the dark fur only flickered to blue and then returned back again.

She turned to leave, not wanting to face the truth that this wasn't love, but a temporary cure to Sonic.

"It's not enough..! Yet..." He caught her from moving away, stealing her breath again but this time... she couldn't see his dashing eyes, piercing love arrows into her ever bursting heart.

He looked down, "...One more." He seemed focused for some reason, as if making a decision in his mind.

He looked back up to her, his eyes narrowing down as his grip on her tightens, but she ignored the slight pain, knowing he probably didn't even notice he was slightly hurting her.

Suddenly, he reverted to what appeared to be a child pouting. "One more." He pursed his lips, as a dark shade flickered and remained with his deep blue eyes as the white sockets also faded in light. His lips seemed infuriated by her hesitation, and tightened all the more fiercely as he furrowed his brow.

"...And this time... a real one."

Amy almost collapsed to the ground.

She gripped the edge of the gurney to keep herself afloat.

W-what did he say..?

"I can't stay mad... I won't be mad anymore... right?"

Now the darkness fully encompassed him, she saw the mistrust in his dark blue eyes before he glared and the darkness and anger returned.

Was there also somewhat... fear? That she was misguiding him?

"...Oh Sonic..." she looked within the white sockets, seeing his emotions were all over the place, and he probably didn't even realize it. "I can't tell if this is you or not... I..."

She wanted with everything in her body to take advantage of this rare moment in both their lives, but something felt off about it.

That kiss on the cheek... that felt right.

But this didn't.

Something about this-

"Amy."

She hesitated.

"I don't know what it is... but there's something about this... I'm mad, but I'm not mad at you. I'm upset, but I'm never upset at you. Even after that first time you surprised me... I was afraid you were laughing at me, but I wasn't angry. I only get angry when I'm not feeling enough. But I know you see me as enough... and I'm disappointing you by giving into this power... this... nothingness. It was cologne. It was the massaging... the shine on my shoes... the warmth of your lap..."

He began to move closer up to her.

"If this is what brings me out of it... if whatever I feel with you drowns out the dark substance in me... then... it can't be bad."

Amy sucked in some air.

"Right?"

Her lips press lightly against his, as he surrenders into it, but the dark vines whip out and begin to suffocate her.

He pulls her deeper in, feeling her slightly pull away but she falls to the gurney and she lets the more powerful emotion of saving her love overtake the grip of the darkness and the uncomfortable wispy licks of the struggling dark power.

And struggle it did.

Trying to destroy the source of its host's escape.

But the power overwhelms it and soon the darkness is forced to retreat with a shriek that only Sonic can feel.

Dark Sonic fades...

And Sonic caresses the side of Amy's face and gently tugs her ear to turn the rest of her body...

Now the only thing entangling around her...

Was his arms.

(Oh... this isn't the end. This was only brunch. We're just passed breakfast,...

Remember?

Someone in the audience: But what about second breakfast?!!?)