Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Standstill ❯ Standstill ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: Sega Sonic Team owns the characters presented in this story, as well as the dialog in the italicized section below. However, I do own the rights to this story.

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It is December in downtown Station Square. Virtually all of the buildings surrounding the park have decorations visible in the windows - characteristic of the Christmas season. In fact, there are only a few shopping days left until the big day, and numerous people can be seen going in every direction, both on foot and in cars. Due to slightly warmer temperatures, a large amount of slush has accumulated along the edges of the roads, making travel a bit hazardous. Busy shoppers cross the street carefully, since they do not want to slip, fall, and hold up the already heavy traffic caused by the recent precipitation. One shopper in particular, who is carrying two department store bags, looks more rushed and stressed than the others.

 

“Where's Sonic? I haven't seen him in days!”

 

This is what a certain female hedgehog was wondering as she waited for the traffic light to change. She stands just under a meter tall and has pink fur covering most of her body. She has emerald green eyes that seem to connect above her short, black nose and beige muzzle. Her pink quills curve behind her head down to her neck, and her trademark red headband holds them in place. Also, the girl's cat-like ears, positioned near the top of her head, stick out of her quills, with three thick bangs in between them. Around her neck is a solid blue scarf - all she really needs in this 40-degree weather. She is wearing a red, backless dress, and the skirt stretches out like a hoop-skirt, but without the hoop. Instead, a white bar highlights the edge. The girl's arms, like her muzzle, are beige rather than pink. Her hands are covered by white gloves, and gold bracelets circle both of her wrists. From just under her skirt, part of her thin tail can be seen. On her feet are red boots, each with a vertical, white stripe in the middle and metal soles on the bottom. The boots extend about one quarter of the way up her slender legs.

 

“There's only three days left until Christmas. If I don't find him, I don't know what I'll do!”

 

The traffic light across the street switches to the white “Walk” symbol. The female hedgehog starts crossing the road, as do several bystanders. The manner in which the girl is walking suggests that she is a bit tired, since she has been carrying the two shopping bags around for a while. Once on the other side, she turns left and makes her way up the steps of a brown, two-story apartment building nearby. After placing the bags on the ground, she breathes a sigh of relief and takes a set of keys out of her pocket. The girl is about to unlock the door when a loud boom and a strong blast of wind occurs right behind her. Instantly knowing who it is, she swiftly turns her head to the right and smiles.

 

“Finally!”

 

She puts the keys back in her pocket and, picking the shopping bags back up, begins running as fast as she can toward the gust.

 

“Sonic! Wait for me!”

 

Eventually the female catches up, but only because the source of the sonic boom, a blue hedgehog standing a meter tall, has stopped. He has jade green eyes that, like the pink hedgehog, connect just above a black nose and beige muzzle. However, the male does not have any bangs between his triangular ears, and his six quills fly backward as if caught in the wind. There are two smaller quills hanging just below the back of his neck, although smaller than the ones on his head. His arms, as well as the center of his abdomen, are also beige, and he is wearing white gloves with thick cuffs on his hands. The male hedgehog has rather long legs for someone his size, and on his feet are red shoes with white stripes across them.

 

“I've been looking for you for days, Sonic!” the female says.

 

“I'm sure you have, Amy,” Sonic responds.

 

“How have you been?”

 

“Okay. Eggman hasn't shown his pretty face in a while, so I'm cool with that.”

 

“But aren't you happy to see me?” Amy asks curiously.

 

“Well, uh - “ Sonic hesitates.

 

“I knew it!” Amy gently drops the bags and hugs Sonic tightly. “I just knew you really liked me!”

 

Sonic seems to be struggling as he speaks because of Amy's grip. “Amy, I can't breathe.”

 

“What?”

 

“Please let go. You're choking me again.”

 

“Oh. Sorry,” Amy says as she releases Sonic. “I was just so happy to see you.”

 

“You always are.”

 

“It's been a while, though. I was worried you wouldn't be around for Christmas.”

 

“Why is that?”

 

“You travel a lot. If you aren't here with me this Christmas, that'll be four years straight!”

 

“Things kept coming up over the past few years. Couldn't you celebrate with the others, like you did then?” Sonic wonders. But instead of receiving an answer to his question, he receives another tight hug from Amy.

 

“Please stay here, Sonic,” Amy pleads. “You're never around for Christmas. Let's celebrate it together for once!”

 

Once again struggling, Sonic eventually frees his arms. “Enough, Amy. Stop!” he shouts as he pushes Amy off him.

 

“What's wrong?” she asks, shocked at Sonic's reaction.

 

“Please, just stop. I'm tired of this.”

 

Amy is left almost speechless. With her eyes wide open, she only manages a few quick stutters.

 

Sonic continues. “I'll tell you the truth.” He hesitates for a few seconds before speaking again. “Sometimes I can't understand you. Ever since I rescued you from Metal Sonic, you've had this hopeless crush on me. You were always like this.”

 

“Sonic…” Amy murmurs, even more surprised at Sonic's behavior.

 

“I wish I didn't have to put this so bluntly, but you are just plain annoying in my opinion.”

 

“A-Annoying?”

 

“Yes, you know it as well as I do. You chase me around whenever you see me. You grab me in a hug and you don't let go until I tell you you're choking me. You say you love me, but I think it's just an infatuation. You act like a fan girl, for crying out loud.”

 

Amy doesn't know what to say, and small tears begin to appear in her eyes.

 

Sonic resumes after several seconds. “I'm sorry, but if you're trying to improve your friendship with me, it's at a standstill right now.”

 

Amy merely remains silent.

 

“Listen, I have to go. I told Tails I'd be at his workshop soon, and it's getting late. Bye.” Sonic turns around and dashes off, leaving another strong gust of wind in his wake.

 

As for Amy, she is absolutely stunned by what has occurred. She doesn't even bother walking back home for a while, let alone pay heed to some pedestrians glancing quickly at her, until she remembers that she has to start wrapping presents for her friends. But what about Sonic? After the way he just treated her, Amy wonders if she can even call Sonic her friend anymore. What troubled her were those two words he said: “fan girl”. Amy ponders on this as she makes her way back to her apartment down the road.

 

Just a few minutes later, Amy enters her home and shuts the door, leaving the department store bags on the floor next to it. Her apartment, situated on the second level of the building, is a bit small and is decorated with a fair amount of Christmas items. A little tree in the back right corner, to the left of a television set, has multicolored lights, pink bows, and blue spherical ornaments all over it, as well as a Sonic doll hanging below the angel on top. To the right of the door is a desk with two rows of bookshelves above it, but only the lower one has books on it. The upper row has various pictures of Sonic. Across from the desk is a dresser cabinet with four drawers. On top are three more pictures of Sonic, but one of them - the middle one - is one of those rare instances when Amy could have a picture taken of both of them together. Amy takes a quick glance at it as she heads toward the closet next to it. Opening up the door, she gently loosens the scarf around her neck until she is holding it in front of her. She still can't get those words out of her head: “fan girl”. Amy appears to hesitate in putting the scarf away as she recalls what happened at Prison Island not too long ago…

 

Inside a prison cell on a secret military island, Sonic is pacing around impatiently when he hears a few bangs from above. Shortly after, a ventilation grate falls and Amy drops in with it.

 

“Huh? Amy?”

 

“Shhh. Keep your voice down,” Amy says, motioning for Sonic to be quiet. “Have no fear, Amy Rose is here!” she says, spinning around in place.

 

“How'd you get here?” Sonic wonders.

 

“Well, if you gotta know, I caught a ride with Tails.” Amy reveals a small, sky blue card key with a large “G” and some strange text on it. “Are you sure you don't need my help? It looks like you could use it.”

 

Being uncomfortable inside such a small space, Sonic turns to his right and stretches his legs and arms. “The reason I'm in here is because of that fake hedgehog.”

 

“You mean that black hedgehog?”

 

Sonic eagerly faces Amy, curious about what she saw. “Did you see it? Where is it now?”

 

Amy approaches the cage. “If I tell you, will you marry me?”

 

“No way!” Sonic shouts as he swiftly turns away.

 

“I thought I had you this time!” She heads toward a nearby console and swipes the card key, opening the cell…

 

Seeing that she was spacing out, Amy comes back into reality and puts the scarf back in the closet. But after recalling her past, she can't deny it anymore - every time she was with Sonic, as well as when they were apart, she couldn't get him off her mind. She was obsessed with him. As she goes to close the closet door, Amy thinks about what just happened out in the street - how she chased Sonic without a second thought; how she hugged him so tightly; how she pleaded for him to stay here and celebrate Christmas with her. Amy forcefully shuts the door, almost slamming it, and slowly heads to a tan sleeper couch across from the television set, head facing downward and arms at her side. She sits down and lifts her hands up, placing them over her face.

 

“He's right…” she says softly. A few seconds later, Amy starts sobbing, keeping her hands on her face. “He's right. He's right,” she repeats. Finally realizing what Sonic meant, and ashamed at her actions over the past several years, Amy continues weeping.

 

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Two days have passed. It is around noon on Christmas Eve, and the weather is quite a bit colder. The area around the park is just as crowded as ever - numerous cars travel carefully along the streets, since some of the slush has frozen into ice, and many pedestrians still litter the sidewalks. But one person is not moving with the rest. Amy Rose is in front of her apartment, facing the park on the other side of the street. But instead of a scarf, she is wearing a red coat in order to protect her back from the bitter cold. Despite the hustle and bustle of her surroundings, Amy remains fixed in her current position, not bothered by the traffic in front of her, speedy shoppers behind her, or the cold air around her. With her head tilted slightly upward, she possesses a rather bleak expression, suggesting that she is still affected by what Sonic told her.

 

Over by the corner to the right of Amy, someone else walks up. Knowing that it has become colder, he decided to wear a solid green scarf today. He turns his head to the left and notices Amy standing near the curb. “I should probably tell her,” he thinks. But as he begins walking, he slips on a patch of ice and falls to his knees. After collecting himself, he raises his head, only to see Amy looking right at him. She has a weak smile on her face now, and she gently lifts her left hand as a way to say “hello”. Then she puts her hand down and turns back toward the park.

 

“Okay Sonic, it's now or never,” he says to himself.

 

Sonic walks over to Amy, being careful not to slip on the ice again. “Hello,” he says softly.

 

“Hi Sonic,” she responds.

 

“Listen, I have to tell you something. I want to apologize for what happened two days ago. I know that you may not believe me after what I said, but I never really wanted to yell at you. It was wrong for me to do that.”

 

“No,” Amy interrupts. “You were right. You were right about everything you said.”

 

Sonic is a bit bewildered. “Amy?”

 

She turns her head toward Sonic. “I'm the one who should be apologizing. I always chased you around when I saw you. Whenever I hugged you, I didn't want to let go.” She lowers her head and turns it back to the park again. “I had a crush on you this whole time, and I never realized how fanatical I've been.”

 

Sonic is shocked to hear such a confession from Amy - he never saw it coming. Sonic hesitates to speak, but eventually he summons the will to continue. “Amy, I shouldn't have been speaking that way about you to begin with. I've always known that you were a sensitive person, but I let my frustration cloud my judgment. I should've been looking at the positive things about you, instead of letting the negatives take over. That's why I was wrong. Will you forgive me?”

 

Amy moves her head so it is facing Sonic. “But it's my fault that you thought of me as an annoyance. I was a fan girl day in and day out. You don't need to apologize, but I do. I should be asking for forgiveness.”

 

“If that's the case, why don't we forgive each other?” Sonic asks as he takes her right hand with his left.

 

Amy turns the rest of her body around and smiles lightly. “Okay then. I forgive you.”

 

“And I forgive you too.” Sonic responds. “C'mon Amy, let's get out of this cold air. Just watch out for the ice as you go in.”

 

“Let's celebrate Christmas together,” she says. Then the two hedgehogs walk into Amy's apartment nearby, shutting the door firmly behind them.

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Now I first got this idea on the nineteenth of December, but I will tell you that it took a bit of time to write this - not just because a couple days of school were in the way, but plot flow was slightly difficult… Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this story. Please review and tell me what you thought. Give me some criticism if you find something I can correct (and I'm sure there is something out there that I can). Merry Christmas everyone! See ya!