Introspection

Chapter 3 - Squad Green

Gunner's eye lingered on the pink-furred, hammer-wielding Mobian standing at the far back of the picture. The figure was almost completely obscured by the camera angle and depth of field, which focused on Sonic and the Princess beside him. He started questioning if the figure and Amy were the same person. After all, over the past week, he'd seen Amy effortlessly scale a wall because her "friend was a good climber," complete the Obliterator Course without breaking a sweat and, just how many people summon a giant hammer? There were just too many coincidences lining up.

Driven by curiosity, Gunner dove into some extensive "research,"—mostly rummaging through his personal collection of Freedom Fighter merchandise and scouring sources online. Eventually, he found an article that confirmed what he suspected, the Freedom Fighter in question was one "Amy Rose."

"Gunner, you're gonna pass out if you don't eat. Don't want you falling and scraping your cute face now." Xavier spoke up between forkfuls, snapping Gunner back to the present.

"Hey Amy. I've been meaning to ask you something..." There was a seriousness to Gunners voice that froze Amy in place, a spoonful of yogurt halfway to her lips. "You were with the Freedom Fighters... weren't you?" His voice was hushed, and she was grateful for it. If it was intentional or not, she didn't care; all that mattered was that everyone else, excluding Xavier, was spared of the information. The question blindsided her but there was no point in lying anymore. Afterall, even if she did, the truth would seep through eventually. How many pink furred, hammer wielding hedgehogs were there anyways?

"Yeah... I was." She muttered out as she set her spoon down. The parfait in front of her now seemed extremely unappetizing as her stomach twisted itself into knots. Taking a steadying breath, she raised her eyes to Gunner's, bracing for whatever expression would be on his face. Yet, the jovial smile that greeted her was beyond disarming.

"I knew it!" He exclaimed with a loud slap against the table. Amy and Xavier both jolted as the members of Squad Red glared back at them from their end of the table.

"Dude, relax!" Xavier exclaimed and narrowed his eyes to the ferret. "Don't need to pull the entire cafeteria to us, yeah? What's the big fucking deal anyways? She's here now, not there." He bit down on his fork and for once, Amy was actually appreciative of his apathetic demeanor.

""What's the big fucking deal?" Dude! It means she knows Sonic the Hedgehog!" Gunner's smile was still wide on his face and the excitement cracked his voice as he spoke.

"Gunner! Keep it on the down-low, please!" Amy begged from under her breath as she tried to refocus on the parfait. "Yes, I know Sonic. Please, don't make this a big deal." Saying his name aloud brought his face to the forefront of her mind and her stomach unknotted itself only to do a backflip. It'd already been a month since the wedding and yet recalling the memory felt like scratching an open wound. Her hero had tied the knot with the woman he loved... and Amy wasn't her. She was never her.

"Okay okay! Sorry!" Gunner'd collected himself, bringing his voice to a whisper "What's he like? In person! I've only ever seen him in videos or articles or at a distance." He tucked in closer to Amy and folded his ears down in a futile attempt to make himself look smaller and inconspicuous. But it'd only made him look more obvious, like he was trying to hide something. Luckily, the other squads hadn't really seemed to care or take notice of their enthusiastic discussion.

"Exactly as you would expect... Amazing, talented, charming, intuitive, faster than sound, and..." She felt her voice falter in the back of her throat, accompanied by a burning sensation that she tried to drown with a deep swig of her water bottle. "Exactly how he is on TV." She finished abruptly with a sigh as she glared down at the reflective surface of her lunch tray, internally fighting the tears that seemed to be threatening to crest her eyes.