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"Sonic, pleeeease?" Amy's hands were clasped tightly in front of her as she pleaded."No. Absolutely not.""It'll be more fun if we're all in costume." Amy motioned to Knuckles and Tails, already dressed as a fool and a knight.Knuckles leaned forward and jingled his bells enticingly.Sonic sighed. "Fine. But I'm not wearing pants."---"This isn't what I meant." Sonic fiddled awkwardly with the hem of his skirt. Amy had dressed him up as some kind of medieval maid or wench or whatever. In his own head, he pretended he was a lady pirate."Aw, but you look so cute, Sonic." Amy teased. The two of them were alone now, Knuckles having run off to watch a joust, and Tails having been distracted immediately by the mechanical dragon at the gate. They promises to meet at the food court in an hour."Amy." Sonic warned."Right, sorry." Amy had... accepted that Sonic didn't return her feelings, and probably never would. And she was trying to get out of the habit of coming on to him, though that was an uphill battle. "Not a date. No flirting. Just friendship, fun, and historical anachronism!"Amy loved the renaissance fair. It represented a false, romanticized golden age, when chivalry was resurging, indoor plumbing existed, and nobody ever got a life threatening disease that might distract from the story of a beautiful noblewoman finding love with a street-savvy commoner with unrealistically perfect teeth.Her own costume, officially, was a princess gown, but in her boundless humility and grace she decided her character was a mere Marquess, a rank she technically couldn't hold as an unmarried woman, but she wasn't actually sure what the daughter of a duke was called; only that they would be roughly the same rank as a marquess, and she refused to call herself something so cumbersome and obscure as a "marchioness."Sonic, meanwhile, was dressed in her finest "wench" costume, and she wished he would stop fussing with it. He was liable to mess up the stitches."It keeps dragging on the ground." Sonic made a face. "And I keep thinking I'm going to step on the front.""That wouldn't be a problem if you'd worn the heels.""You can't run in heels.""Maybe you can't." Amy smiled to herself. "Look, there's a tailor's booth up ahead. Let's see if they can't take in the hem."Sonic tripped and fell flat on his face. "Yes. Tailor. Good."Amy crouched down to help him up. "And after that, we can introduce these backwards, European savages to the wonders of chilli dogs."Sonic grinned. "Now you're speaking my language."---"I'm not happy." Shadow said. He tugged at his bonnet, trying to get it to fit better over his spines."That' a shock." Rouge rolled her eyes. "You need a costume that covers you up. I don't know if you've noticed, Shadow, but you don't exactly blend into a crowd.""I could have worn the robe." Shadow twisted, testing the belt around his midsection. He scowled. He preferred nudity to this."We only had one robe, and Omega called dibs.""I admire Gandalf's explosive capabilities." Omega hardly looked the part of a wizard, despite his pointed hat and his staff. He looked more like a car someone had thrown a tarp over."And you won't trade me the knight armor because...""Because the helmet won't cover your spines, and I didn't manage to cram my thirty-six inch bust into a historically accurate breastplate not to wear it." She glanced down at the nearly androgynous silhouette she cut. "I wish it showed off mre, but you know how Hope gets about historical accuracy."There was a beeping sound. "My sensors are detecting a Choas Emerald's energy signature." Omega said. "Recommend schorched earth procedures.""Negative, Omega." Rouge flipped the eyepiece of her helmet down. "This is a stealth mission, so I'm in charge. Just point me in the right direction, alert me if it changes position, and wait here in case we need back-up. Shadow, you're with me."---"What if we add a cap?" Sonic suggested as the tailor worked on the hem of his dress. "It could have a feather in it.""I'm paying for the dress." Amy said. "If you want a hat, you have to buy it yourself.""That's fair." Sonic took a swig from the goblet he'd purchased outside. He suspected the drink inside was root beer, but it mixed with the wooden taste of the cup making it hard to tell. Something in the distance caught his eye. "Hey, what's going on over there?"He motioned to a commotion that had started across the way. A knight, accompanied by another wench, was in an argument with a noblewoman, apparently over her jewel-topped scepter."I don't know." Amy squinted. "Stolen prop, maybe?"Sonic shaded his eyes. "Does the rock on her stick look familiar to you?"The wench had grabbed the scepter now and was engaging in a tug-of-war with the noble, while the knight pat theirself down looking for something. Their fight was beginning to attract attention, and people were backing away, ceding space."Maybe..."The noblewoman hauled back, wrenching the scepter from the wench's grip, and sending it flying from her own. It soared through the air, and impacted with the tailor's head. He fell, still holding on to Sonic's dress, which tore with a sickening sound."My dress!" Both Amy and Sonic shouted in unity. The tear traveled from Sonic's ankle up to his waist."Okay, that's it." Sonic rolled up his sleeves and zipped over the the three of them. "What's the deal here?"The knight immediately unfurled a pair of bat wings and flew to reclaim the scepter.The noblewoman pointed to the wench. "I caught these freaks trying to steal my prop from me!"The wench cocked her head. "Sonic?""Shadow?" Sonic leaned down to see Shadow's face under the brim of the bonnet. He laughed. "Dude, what are you wearing?"Shadow crossed his arms. "At least I'm not in rags."Sonic stopped laughing. "You know, this dress was fine before you got it ripped.""Ha. Intact maybe, but your outfit was a disaster from the start. Maroon is not your color.""And I suppose you think seafoam green is yours?"Shadow puffed out his chest. "Hold my bonnet." He tore the garment from his head and thrust it into the noblewoman's hands.---"You should get that checked out at the medical tent." Amy said, helping the tailor to his feet. "A hit like that can be nasty."He nodded and left while Amy picked up the scepter. The gemstone at the end was blue, brilliant cut, roughly the size of a baseball.The armored knight swooped in on membranous wings. "Alright, Rosebud, just hand it over and we can all go on our way."That voice. "Rouge?"She flipped up her visor, revealing her face. "In the supple, mail-clad flesh."Amy's eyes narrowed. "So it is a Chaos Emerald. What's GUN want with it?""Officially?" Rouge stepped closer, "Nothing.""This is an off-the-books operation?""Maybe." Rouge leaned forward until their faces were inches apart. "Or maybe I'm just a greedy little jewel thief, and it matches my eyes."Rouge moved to bring her chest close to Amy's before realizing with a sinking feeling that her breastplate still had her favorite assets under wraps."In that case..." Amy's hammer appeared in her hand. Rouge gulped.---Sonic and Shadow's hands were locked tight together as they struggled against each other. They took turns shifting into or out of super speed to try to knock the other off-balance, but so far they remained evenly matched.Shadow pulled Sonic into a spin, but Sonic quickly shifted his vector, sending both of them toppling over the fence to a pigpen and into the mud. The pigs seemed unperturbed.When they came up, Sonic had Shadow in a headlock, but Shadow easily rolled Sonic over his shoulder. Sonic landed on his back in the mud, which was thankfully soft. Then, Shadow tried a power slam, only for Sonic to roll away.Shadow tried to recover, but slipped back into the mud, and Sonic took the opportunity to get on top of him. Both struggled for any advantage, but they slipped so easily past each other in the mud.They switched positions multiple times before Sonic finally has Shadow pinned. Each of Shadow's limbs was kept in place by one of Sonic's, and though he struggled against it, Sonic's grip held fast."Heh. Looks like I'm the winner, Faker."Shadow took a deep breath, letting the Chaos Force flow through his body. "Chaos-"Sonic didn't think, just smashed his face forward to keep Shadow quiet. He covered Shadow's mouth with his own.Shadow grunted in surprise, but Sonic didn't move. Shadow considered wrenching his head away, considered biting something, but also... this was nice. It felt right. Like Sonic kissing him was the most natural thing in the world. He wasn't sure why he felt that way, but he kissed back. Sonic gave his own surprised grunt, but Shadow felt Sonic's lips twist into a small smile.Rouge came flying by, her helmet missing and her armor covered in dents. "Shadow!" She commanded. "Quit playing grab-ass, we're retreating!"Sonic broke the kiss, a little reluctantly, and got up to let Shadow get to his feet."Agent Rouge, do you require back-up?" Omega's voice came over the radio.Shadow stood and made a token effort to wipe mud away from his person."Negative, Omega." Rouge said, "Our cover's blown, this one's just a failure. Begin extraction protocols.""Understood.""Shadow, are you coming?"Shadow nodded and hopped out of the pigpen.Sonic leaned on the fence, a cheeky grin on his face. "Hey, Shadow. If you ever wanna get beat again, you know where to find me."Shadow looked back at him and smirked. "I promise you, Sonic. Next time, I'll be the one on top."Rouge grabbed Shadow by his forearms and took off into the sky.Amy sauntered over to the pen, casually spinning the scepter which still held the Chaos Emerald."Nice work, Amy." Sonic said, "Another victory for Team Sonic.""Ah ah ah." Amy wagged a finger. "Since I'm the one who secured the Emerald, this is a victory for Team Rose.""Yoink!" Sonic snatched the scepter from Amy's hand and ran it over to the noblewoman who'd had it first. "Here you are, my lady." He bowed as he presented it to her, "Compliments of Sonic the Hedgehog, and his sidekick Amy Rose.""Sidekick?!" Amy stomped toward him. "After destroying my dress and leaving me to do all the work, you have the gall to call me a sidekick?! Sonic the Hedghog, you are unbelievable!"