How EXAmy began

Have you ever thought about what is hidden inside the one whom you consider to be your best opponent in a duel, a faithful friend in peacetime, a reliable partner in battle and even an older brother, even though you are from different families and have different races? Sonic the Hedgehog was an excellent companion for Knuckles the Echidna and replaced the big brother for the little fox named Tails. Together they survived years of battles and battles, together they defeated more than one killer robot from the robotic Eggman Empire, and even saved the world several times from destruction by angry gods. But even fairy tales sometimes don’t get their happy ending, and life is even more cruel. One day Sonic passed away. No, he did not die or go missing, but he ceased to be the Defender of Mobius. No one could have imagined that in such a reliable, indomitable and fair Hero all this time there lived a monster, eager to take control of their common body. By the time the world found out about this, it was already too late. *** Day after day, more and more people went missing, and fewer and fewer wild animals became available. One day, loud news spread throughout the world: the global usurper — Dr. Eggman — died under inexplicable circumstances. His body was found under a cliff; it seemed that he had decided to commit suicide by jumping from a great height. His body was smashed and badly mutilated by the sharp stone spikes below, reminiscent of the spike traps he often used to try to kill Sonic. There was no news of Sonic. There were, of course, those who noticed him running in the distance, but for a long time no one had direct contact with him. And for some reason, Amy Rose didn’t try to find her lover. Instead, she seemed to withdraw into herself, renounce the rest of the world, as if she knew something that was gnawing at her. No one, not even Cream, could bring the young hedgehog out of this state. Friends decided to leave her alone with her thoughts so that she could come to her senses after a while. This continued for several more weeks. One day, Knuckles, who was then near the Master Emerald and looking at the sunset from the heights of Angel Island, felt someone’s gaze on him, from which his blood ran cold, and a sharp feeling of an enemy suddenly arose in his stomach. The ninth symphony of alarm bells immediately began to play in his head. The Guardian immediately jumped up and turned to the source of strange sensations, taking a fighting stance. From the dark depths of a dense tropical forest, two blood-red dots looked at him, glowing in the darkness with a mysterious hellish light. It didn’t take long for the echidna to realize that he was seeing someone’s vaguely familiar silhouette and glowing pupils inside bottomless black eyes. A dark, but for some reason familiar figure stood motionless, like a statue, for no more than three seconds, and then quickly and silently slipped away into the thicket, like someone’s lost shadow, the stranger seemed to disappear into the shadows of the evening forest. This was the very first meeting with the Eater of Souls in the life of the lonely Guardian. Once upon a time in his distant childhood, when his mentor was still alive, little Knuckles heard an ancient legend about powerful creatures from another world who came to the world of the living to kill and absorb the souls of their victims. The picture in the book showed a young guy of the rabbit race, whose teeth were like the sharpest stakes, and his eyes were black, only two red dots could show where he was looking. And it seemed that the rabbit in the picture was looking straight into the soul, tugging at even the most intimate places; there were bloody trails on his cheeks, and he himself was covered in blood, but clearly not his own. Knuckles saw this drawing only once, but he was so scared that he remembered it forever. He even sometimes had nightmares where he tried in vain to escape from this monster. He later learned that the Guardians could protect the world from them with the help of the Master Emerald. But at that time, the grown-up boy no longer believed in the existence of Soul Eaters. But now, faced with his long-standing nightmare, Knuckles, in a panic, touched the shining surface of the magic stone and began to pray. For the first time, the Guardian did not know what to do. The monster didn’t attack him, but that didn’t mean he came in peace. Perhaps the Devourer decided to study him in order to kill him without too much trouble. The previously brave guy did not sleep that night, waiting for dawn.

***

Meanwhile, Tails was hiding in the closet and openly sobbing. To say that he was scared is too little, shocked is also only a small fraction of the truth. Amy covered her ears guiltily, not knowing how to calm her little fighting friend, and cast reproachful glances at the hedgehog who was sitting on the top bunk of the bunk bed and was angry — or jealous? — he glared at the door, behind which the two-tailed boy disappeared in a hurry. His red eyes sparkled brightly in the darkness of the night, barely restrained rage and bloodlust danced in them. Every now and then he growled gutturally, sparkling disproportionately large and sharp, like stakes, fangs in the light of a lantern that looked from the street into the small and cozy room of the pink hedgehog, his needles were raised in a fighting position, he could barely restrain himself to stay in place…