Everything Changes (A Sonic Boom Fanfic)

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

"Well, that was a complete flop," Amy muttered as she tossed her satchel on the couch. She let the door swing shut behind her as she moved further into her home.

Kay had walked in before her, moving silently to the opposite couch and setting her bag down before taking a seat herself. Just as she'd predicted the night before, the three of them had gotten back to Sonic's village just after lunchtime. There were still a few hours left in the day to hang out and catch up with the boys. Sticks has already gone on her way home, still mumbling about conspiracies and back-stabbings and so on.

After a pause, Amy spoke again. "Hey, you okay?"

"Hm?" Kay looked at her.

"You seem distracted. You've been like that all day, actually. Are you upset we couldn't figure out more about where you come from?"

Kay shook her head. "Oh, no...I knew we weren't likely to find anyone who knows me."

"I just don't understand." Amy came to sit as well, leaning back comfortably. "If you're not from the island, then how did you wind up on Mount Safety?"

Kay once again thought about the transport to Chun-Nan that would be arriving today or tomorrow, and of the choice she had yet to make.

Well...part of her was fairly certain she'd already chosen. She was just afraid of following through.

She thought about saying something to Amy about it – maybe ask her advice on where to go first when she got to Chun-Nan and what currency to bring and so on – but then she remembered that Amy didn't even know the continent's name, nor did she care to learn anything about it. What help would she be? And all the others were just the same; even Sonic, who hadn't even been born on Bygone from what he'd told her.

This group had no sense of adventure or exploration – qualities that had been so huge in their Prime counterparts. Adventure, daring, a desire to travel and do good for Mobians the world over...this Sonic and his friends didn't seem to feel that pull at all. Even if their Eggman wasn't a world-domination type, weren't they the least bit curious about what more was out there?

Kay deflated a little more. Already she was certain she couldn't stay here. She had to see what the rest of the world had to offer, at least a little.

"Ah, well," Amy said in response to her own question, jarring Kay from her reverie. "Let's not worry about it anymore today. I'm going to go let Sonic know we're back. Want to walk with me?"

Kay was tired of walking, but she was too restless to just sit here and wait, so she nodded her agreement.

~

"Good to see you again, ladies," Sonic said. He emerged from his shack with a smile. "Any luck out there in the great beyond?"

"Not exactly," Amy replied. "Not a single person recognized Kay. We went to every village, too. Even the Cubot refuge in the desert region."

Kay remembered coming across all of the rejected Cubot prototypes during their travels. That had been a strange experience, to say the least.

Sonic frowned. "Weird that no one seems to know who you are."

After an awkward pause, Kay glanced out at the deep blue ocean and shrugged. "Well...I suppose there's always the possibility that I'm from somewhere else."

"Maybe..." Sonic thought for a moment. "But not many non-islanders come through this part of the ocean, even during tourist season. The chances of you being from somewhere else are slim."

Kay turned her eyes back to him. In the back of her mind it suddenly hit her that if she decided to leave, she'd have to say goodbye to Sonic. As changed as he was, her heart ached at the idea.

Sonic must have mistook her pained look for something else, because his gaze softened then and he put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, now. Don't worry. None of the rest of us believe that alien nonsense Sticks keeps going on about. We're not going to kick you out just because you've run into some memory trouble." He smiled. "You're welcome to stay with us as long as you need to."

There was a brief pause as Kay considered what to say next. Finally she went with a simple "thank you."

Amy spoke up next. "Did you guys run into any trouble while we were gone?"

"Nah." Sonic removed his hand from Kay's shoulder to wave it nonchalantly. "Eggman paid a visit but it was nothing we couldn't handle."

"Has he attacked yet today?"

"Not yet."

At that moment there was a loud boom, and the ground began to shake so hard that Kay lost her balance and fell over. Sonic and Amy managed to keep their footing, but just barely. Just as quickly as the quake had come, it left, but now a new sound had reached them – screams coming from the village.

Sonic turned to Amy. "Strike that answer. You're just in time."

"Oh, good. Because coming back to a battle after two long days of walking across the island is exactly what I wanted." Amy flashed him a smirk.

He grinned back as he helped Kay to her feet. Sonic's communicator buzzed; it was Tails informing them of what they already knew. "We're on our way," Sonic told him. He turned to the girls. "Let's go, team. Time to kick some Egg-butt."

For just a moment, he sounded like the Sonic she remembered, and Kay's heart swelled. She hurried after him and Amy as they sprinted back to the village center, where Eggman and an army of ground robots were tearing up the town hall.

Kay prepared herself for the coming battle. Maybe she'd been too hasty in deciding that Bygone Island was completely mundane. Maybe there was some excitement for her here after all.