19 Fortress of Squalitude

"My summer-themed seat cushions with floral upholstery that compliments each other's natural coloring are ready, the ice sculpture has melted just enough to hide the carving marks..." Amy smiled, nodding her head approvingly as she checked things off a clipboard.

"And I dug a trench around the picnic table and filled it with broken glass!" Sticks smiled, motioning her hand to a dug up miniature trench around the picnic table, scattered with broken glass.

"I would've used rose petals, but we'll go with it." Amy smiled. She turned to Sonic. "Sonic, how are you doing with those fruit drinks?"

She frowned at the sight laid in front of her...Sonic was snoozing in a beach chair, flies buzzing around the fruit. Amy sighed, shaking her head. "Why am I not surprised?" She asked. "TAILS! PENNY! Where's the soothing music?"

"Right here!" Penny smiled, sitting behind a music control panel.

Tails nodded. "But I thought it would be better if we gave it a little boost!" He turned up the lever, and loud, earsplitting rock music filled the air. Penny yelped at the sudden noise, covering her ears. Amy yelped as a leaf fell on her.

Tails quickly turned down the music.

"I guess we'll have to do without it..." Penny sighed.

Amy turned to Knuckles, pulling the leaf off her head. "Knuckles? Are my grilled pheasants ready?"

Knuckles turned to Amy with an annoyed look. "Not now, Amy. I'm busy." He turned back to the pheasants. Both were placed on both of his hands as puppets and said in a mocking voice: "Oh, please don't cook me, Knuckles!' He pleaded with a high voice. Knuckles turned his head to the other pheasant. "Today turned out a lot different than I expected!" He said in a deep voice.

Amy turned to Sticks and Penny, looking upset. "Sticks, Penny, I don't know why I go out of my way to make things nice for these guys!"

"You deserve better. I mean, this table! It should be hanging in a museum!" Eggman suddenly said, standing on the porch.

On cue, Sonic pulled Penny behind him, getting into a fighting stance. Sticks let out a yell, grabbing the decorative sea shell and smashing it to bits, using the broken end as a weapon. "That villain." She hissed. "Just give me the signal, Amy, and I'll clam him!"

"Don't let the fact that I constantly try to destroy you lead you to believe that I am here to destroy you," Eggman said. "I just want Amy to redo my layer!"

Penny glared at Sonic, Knuckles, Sticks, and Tails as they burst into laughter. Amy, however, looked seriously happy at the offer. Sonic frowned. "Come on, Amy. You're not buying this,"

Amy glared at Sonic, looking clearly annoyed. "Is it so hard to believe that Eggman might actually respect my talents?!"

"Well, yeah," Sonic said. Penny stared at him, surprised, and Sonic muttered, "That came out wrong."

Amy stared at them for a second before turning to Eggman. "I accept!"

Penny's mouth dropped open. "What?! Amy, you can't!"

Sonic seemed to agree with her. "Don't go with Eggbreath!"

"You can't trust him!" Tails cried. "He's evil!"

"I can take care of myself." Amy hissed. She turned around and walked towards Eggman, who smiled at her. "Splendid! My layer awaits. After you."

Amy walked off with Eggman, leaving the rest of her friends shocked.

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

After getting the gang to fix up Amy's picnic, Penny soon sat in between Sticks and Sonic. Knuckles sighed. "Burnt food isn't the same without Amy."

Tails frowned at him. "Knuckles, you're eating a napkin."

"Yeah, I knew that." Knuckles said, bitting into the napkin again.

Tails and Penny sighed in annoyance. Sonic frowned. "Knuckles is right."

"WHAT?!" Penny and Tails yelped.

"Not about the napkin thing," Sonic frowned at his friends. "About Amy. We need to make sure she's okay!"

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

Soon, Sonic, Penny, Tails, Sticks, and Knuckles made it over to Eggman's layer. Sonic knocked on the door, and Eggman opened it. "Yes?"

"We came to get Amy," Sonic said. "Is she done yet?"

"Amy has decided to become my full-time decorator. I'm afraid she doesn't want anything to do with her old friends."

Eggman turned around and slammed the door behind him.

"Wow," Knuckles said. "Who'd thought Amy abandoned us?"

"I don't think she did," Penny said.

"I agree." Sonic nodded in Penny's direction. "We need to find another way in!"

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

Amy sighed as she sat in her cage, but a second later, she smelled something and grimaced. "Ew, what's that smell?"

Sonic, Penny, and the rest of the gang soon smashed through the door. Knuckles smiled. "It's us! We snuck in through a sewer pipe!"

"I NEVER want to do that again," Penny grumbled.

Sonic smiled at Amy. "We may have a hard time of saying it, Amy, but, you know..."

Amy smiled. "Yeah."

Tails ran up to Amy's cage and freed her. Penny handed the pink hedgehog her hammer. Sonic smiled at Amy. "There's no way we're going the way we came in, care to do the honors?"

Amy smirked.

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

Eggman jumped as the door opened, showing Amy standing with her friends. Amy held her hammer in her hands. "Sorry about the door," She smirked. "And I quit."

Eggman scowled at her. "No one quits my employe until I dismantle them first!"

"It's true!" Orbot cries, his dismantled head laying beside them. Penny winced.

Eggman turned around to his console and started summoning his robots. Sonic smirked at Amy. "After you,"

Amy smirked back and lunged at the robots, giving all she got at them. After a few minutes of battling, Eggman tries to flee but is stopped in his steps by the photographer Diane Aardvark and Gunther. Eggman gulped nervously. "Uh..you're early!"

"Apparently," Diane said, walking into the now-demolished layer. She frowned and turned to Gunther. "You're fired."

She walked off, leaving Gunther open-mouthed. Orbot flew up to him holding a ticket. "Ride the roller coaster," the bot said. "That always cheers me up!"

Gunther took the ticket, still looking shocked.

Penny giggled as she watched Eggman run after the reporter. "W-wait, please! Forget the cover! How about a smaller spread? A couple of pages? A page! A snapshot buried behind some cleaning documents!"

Amy sighed, "It would have been nice to see my designs on a magazine cover." She looked away. "Maybe someday."

Sonic and Penny glanced at each other. Penny smiled. "Actually, I think Sonic may have a better idea."

"Really?" Amy asked, her eyes glimmering with hope.

"Sonic, would you care to do the honors?" Penny glanced at the blue hedgehog. Sonic smiled at Amy. "We can't guarantee you a magazine spread, but I do know a shack you can redecorate,"

Amy looked seriously happy. "Really?!" She gasped. "I've been wanting to fix that place up for years! Oh, Sonic, Penny, it will be amazing!"

"Just a few things," Sonic said as they walked out. "My coconut husk collection is off-limits...too many memories. And no washing, painting, plastering, or cleaning. But other than that, you have total creative freedom."

Penny smiled at Amy. "I still need to add color to the walls of my bedroom Sonic gave me, Amy. How about you help me redecorate my room?"

Amy smiled happily. "Penny, I think that would be marvelous!"

The gang walked out, and the door Amy smashed somehow propped itself back up.

Next Chapter: Eggheads

avataravatar
Next chapter