Dragon's Back

May 8th, 2016

Amy Rose was a young pink hedgehog. Her quills were long, reaching down to her waist. She wore a little tutu and she giggled as she followed one of the bigger kids up the jungle gym.

“Geez, you sure are persistent.” A 7 year old bird stated from the top. He squatted in front of the exit that lead to the slide, his chin propped up in his palm. A smirk soon appeared, “But I bet you can’t go down the dragon’s back.”

“Dragon’s back?” The three year old Amy tilted her head.

“Oh yes,” the seven year old’s smile grew bigger. “The dragon’s back. Only the bravest of brave dare go down its back. In fact, it’s the only exit out of here. But if you’re not careful, the dragon will jump up and eat you.” He slapped his hands in front of the girl’s face for emphasis. Amy let out a squeal as she jumped back. “Hah! I knew you were a chicken.” The boy turned around. “Come down to face the dragon when you’re not a baby anymore.” With that he disappeared down the slide.

Amy curled up in the corner, tears coming to her eyes. All she saw out of that little archway was a terrifying dragon. With that, the pink hedgehog curled up and cried.

Outside on the playground the bird was laughing heartily.

“Man that kid sure is a coward!” He sneakered with several other boys.

“I can’t believe that girl thought it would be cool to follow us all the way up there.” Another boy, a 6 year old porcupine, added.

A young boy passed by. A 6 year old red armadillo carrying a bucket full of fish. He had spent all day down by the river, trying to catch something for his pregnant mother.

“Hey Mighty!” A yellow hedgehog boy called out to him, “Where have you been?”

“Fishing,” Mighty answered simply as he walked over to the small group of boys. “They said fish would be good for mum.”

“Oh yeah. She’s going to have a baby soon right. I hope your little bro will be a cool dude like you.” The porcupine gave him a light punch on the arm.

“I just hope the baby’s healthy.” Mighty stated. His mom hadn’t been able to keep any food down recently. It was really concerning. “What have you guys been up to?”

“You won’t believe this,” the bird began, “But this little runt wanted to play with us, so she stalked us around all day. I was able to ditch her up there by telling her the slide was the back of dragon. Man is she stupid!” he pointed to the top of the tallest slide. “The twit still hasn’t come down yet. I bet she’s crying and pissed herself.”

Mighty clenched his fist as he sat his bucket down behind the slide. “That was really mean to do to a little kid.” He chided. “I’ll go get her down before her parents worry.”

“You’re too kind Mighty. Twits like her need to learn sooner or later.” The bird called after him as the armadillo climbed up the jungle gym.

It didn’t take Mighty long to get to the top. He crawled up to the little 3 year old. She looked like a pink ball of fluff. She wore a yellow tutu with a green collared shirt and purple sneakers, one of them was untied. He couldn’t see her face, but he could hear her sobs. He tapped her arm as he sat down beside. She jumped back as she stared at him. Bright emerald eyes stared back into his blue ones. “Hey,” He gave a soft smile and a little wave. “What’s the matter?”

“I’m stuck.” The little girl mumbled.

“How so?” Mighty asked.

“I can’t go back down. The big boys said you’re not allow. It’s against the rules. But out there is a dragon that’s going to eat me. I don’t want to get eaten.” Tears leaked down her face.

Mighty nodded. “That sounds like a dilemma.” He rubbed his chin with his fingers. Would you mind coming down the slide with me. I’m a bit scared of the dragon myself, but if I have such a cute companion like you, I know I’ll have to courage to fight it off if it appears.”

“Really?” The girl tilted her head. Her quills waving around her tiny body. “But I’m not cute.”

“Why do you think that?” Mighty asked.

“They say so.” Amy sniffled. “They say I not cute. I’ll never get be a bride.

“Hmph! Well, they’re wrong.” Mighty stated proudly. “I think you’re very cute.” He tapped her nose with his finger. “In fact, I bet you’ll be such a lovely lady that tons of men will want you to be their bride. For all we know, I might be among them.”

Amy pouted. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”

“I am not. I happen to think you’re very cute. In fact, if my mom wasn’t expecting a baby, I would probably be courting you right now.” Then a light went off in Mighty’s head. “Crap! I need to get that fish to mom. Fish is always best when made fresh. Come on, let’s get you out of here before your parents worry.”

“You’re going to be a big brother?” Mighty nodded. Amy grabbed his hand, her eyes glazed over a moment before she smiled. “You’re going to make a good big brother.”

“You think so?” Mighty put his hand behind his head.

Amy nodded. “Will you go down the dragon’s back with me?”

“I’d be delighted too.”

Amy sat in front of Mighty. He wrapped his arms around her and they carefully pushed themselves forward before going down the slide. They cried out in joy and then reached the bottom.

“Thank you!” Amy turned to face Mighty as she dusted off her tutu.

“No problem.” Mighty ruffled her hair. “You’re a cute kid.” He grabbed his bucket of fish from beside the slide. “You should get home. It’s almost sunset. I’m sure your parents are worried.”

Amy smiled. “I wanna give you gift. May I?”

Mighty smiled. “Sure, but it’ll have to be quick. My house is a bit far.”

Amy nodded as she ran her fingers through her quills. She pulled out a small little hair clip. It was shaped like a watermelon. It sparkled and looked really pretty. “This is a good luck charm. So for you.”

“Thanks, but I can’t wear a girl’s hair clip.” Mighty waved his hand.

Amy placed it in his hand. “Give to your mom. Or give to baby. She’ll be a cute baby. And with a brother like you, she’ll be happiest child.” She gave him a huge grin. “You keep. Have good luck.”  With that Amy ran away.

Mighty stared at the way she had come. “Weird girl.” Mighty thought as he put the clip in his pocket. “Still, she was cute.”

Mighty stared at the old faded watermelon hair clip. He ran his fingers carefully over sparkly texture. He sighed as he leaned back in the chair. Everything in this small little cabin had been his family’s. He knew he wasn’t supposed to be here. Exiled was exiled. But no one entered this forest, otherwise his childhood home would have been ransacked a long time ago.

“What’s that?” Vector leaned over the table and stared at the small object in his hands.

Mighty jumped as his boss invaded his personal space. “This? It’s nothing.”

“Doesn’t look like nothing to me,” Vector pried the object out of his hand. Vector’s face softened as he looked at the hair clip. “Was this your sister’s?”

“That’s Mighty’s.” Ray stated as he leaned Vector’s hands back to Mighty. “It’s very important to him.”

“It’s just a really old fond memory that I have.” Mighty stated as he took the clip back.

“So it wasn’t your sister’s?” Vector arched an eyebrow.

“No.” Mighty shook his head. “It belonged to a little girl. She gave it to me after I helped her down from a slide.”

“I think Mighty has a crush on her.” Ray stated as he sat down at the table.

Mighty coughed. “What makes you say that?” His muzzle a bright red.

“You sigh whenever you look at that and you get this far of dreaming look. Vector does the same thing when he’s thinking about Vanilla. So it’s not a farfetched idea that you have a crush on her.” Ray stated simply.

Mighty felt like he was choking on his own spit. “That’s crazy. How could I have a crush on some girl I met once as a kid? Sure she was the cutest girl I ever saw. But there’s no way she remembers me. We never even exchanged names. It’s just an old memory from forever ago.”

“Cutest girl you ever saw, huh?” Espio mused as he walked into the kitchen.

“You have got it bad.” Vector nodded as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“I do not. I don’t even really know her anyway.” Mighty denied.

“Love doesn’t always need an exchange of names.” Charmy stated as he flew in holding some flowers.

Everyone stared wide eyed at the bee as he placed some fresh flowers into a vase. The 6 year old stared back at them.

“What? I read it in a poem.” The bee shrugged, turning back to arranging the flowers.

“Told you unplugging all the tvs would be good for him.” Espio whispered to Vector.

“Hush.” Vector glared. “Right now we have a case.”

“Oh no you don’t!” Mighty shouted as he stood up.

“Oh yes we do!” Vector grinned as he slapped the armadillo on his back. “Trust in the Chaotix Detective Agency to find this mystery girl for you!”

“I’d rather not find her at all.” Mighty groaned. “Plus, I’m not even supposed to be in Mercia. Or did my exile slip your mind?”

“You don’t have to come with us.” Vector took a small notebook out of his pocket, clicking the pen loudly. “Now what did this girl look like?”

Mighty growled as he sat down and glared at the crocodile. “I’m not going to tell you a thing.” He crossed his arms and kept his mouth tight.

“You’re no fun.” Vector pouted. Mighty gave a toothy grin. He wasn’t about to let the green croc get carried away.

Mighty groaned. Vector was still prying for a description to go on. He even had Ray joining in on the questions. Mighty was running out of ways to dodge the questions. He slumped his face down on the table at Uncle Chuck’s diner.

“I heard from Vector.” Sonic stated as he slid into the seat across from him. “You really don’t want him trying to find that girl huh?”

“Exiled means exiled. No way out of it.” Mighty sighed. “There’s no way I would ever meet her ever again. Plus, no Mercian would ever want to be my friend.”

“You know, you should never say never.” Sonic grinned as he propped his chin into his hand. “You never know, maybe you might meet her again.”

“Doubt it.” Mighty grumbled as he took the soda Sonic sat in front of him. He sipped greedily from the straw.

Just then the doors to the diner, a pink hedgehog stood tall in the entrance. “Sonikku!” She cried.

Mighty sat up and looked at Sonic. The blue hedgehog’s green eyes were little dots and his fur was standing on ends. He had barely gotten up to flee before a pink blur tackled him.

“There you are Sonikku! I’ve been looking all over for you!” Amy Rose squealed as she hugged all the air out of the blue hedgehog.

“Amy,” he gasped. “Air.”

“Um…” Mighty reached out and tapped the crazed girl. “Miss, he can’t breathe.”

“Oh!” She released Sonic and sat down next to him as the blue hedgehog gasped for air. Her green eyes never left the hero of Mobius. “Sorry Sonic, I guess I over did it.”

“Yeah you did.” A low growl emitted from Sonic throat. It was a rare sign of anger from the normally chill hedgehog. Mighty sat back in his seat as he stared at Sonic in shock.

Amy, however, only smiled. “I was just so excited to have found you.”

“Yeah. Yeah.” Sonic waved his hand, dismissing the whole thing. A smile soon appeared on his face. “I was just catching up with my old friend here. Mighty meet Amy, my number one fan. Amy meet Mighty, an old pal of mine. He just got back from exploring some cool places.”

Mighty gave a soft wave as the girl turned to face him. She had emerald eyes that stared through him.

Her smile instantly spread all across her face. “How’s your mom and the baby doing?”

“Huh?” Mighty tilted his head in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Aren’t you the one who helped me down the slide when I was three? I don’t think I could ever forget.” Amy beamed at him.

“Oh yeah, you are from Mercia, aren’t you?” Sonic propped his chin in his hand again.

“Yep. I got scared at the top of a slide called the Dragon’s Back when I was little.” Amy nodded. “Mighty helped me get down. It was very nice of you. So how is your family?” She leaned forward looking at Mighty with hopeful large eyes.

Mighty just couldn’t help but stare. The cute little girl had grown up. Not by much. But there was just something off that kept bothering him. “You cut your hair.” He muttered.

Amy and Sonic both blinked.

“It hasn’t always been short?” Sonic asked.

Amy blushed as she looked at Sonic, giving a nervous grin. “I accidently got… gum in it a few years back. So it had to be cut off.”

“Pity. Long hair looked really cute on you.” Mighty mused. He could tell the gum was a fib, but it was obvious she didn’t want to tell Sonic why she actually cut her hair.

Amy laughed. “Well, it happens.” She shrugged. “So how is your family doing?”

“We… got separated when Robuttnik invaded.” Mighty stated. It wasn’t exactly the truth, but it wasn’t really a lie either.

“Oh. That’s too bad.” Amy gave him a look of sympathy. She placed her hand over his. “Hopefully you’ll all be reunited again though. After all, you’re such a good big brother.”

“That’s true. He takes great care of Ray.” Sonic laughed. “Just like I try to do to Tails.”

“That’s good.” Amy beamed. “Well, I’ll leave you two boys to catch up.”

“Wasn’t there something you wanted from Sonic though?” Mighty asked before the pink hedgehog got up.

“Oh yeah. I wanted to know if you wanted to come by my hut and try some cakes I made.” Amy stated. “If you want, you can come by too.”

“T-thanks.” Mighty nodded as he went to drinking his soda.

Amy smiled as she walked out of the restaurant, the rest of the patrons going back to their normal activities.

“I think she wants to be friends.” Sonic smirked. “So do you still got it bad?”

“She was cuter with long hair.” Mighty sighed. Though he had to admit, she was still cute.

“You must have a thing for long hair,” Sonic chuckled.

“But she seems to have it super bad for you.” Mighty smirked.

Sonic groaned. “I know. I wish I could get it through her thick skull that I’m not interested.”

Mighty burst out laughing. “Have fun with that. I’ll sit back and watch.”

***

Krissie: I wrote this because I was super bored and awake at dad’s and this scene of Mighty and Amy on the playground together. And so you guys get this random fanfic that’s about 4pages long.

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