Headcanon #328
((I’ve been playing Crossworlds obsessively and there is A TON of great writing for it, but occasionally you’ll get something like THIS:
And, uhhhhhh...))
--
Sonic was gunning for first place during a race with his friends at one point. The only obstacle was Shadow, who’d been leading the pack in his sports car the whole way through. Sonic ran through an item box and brightened up at his luck. He rolled the bomb he’d gotten like a bowling ball, and it exploded right on target, leaving Shadow charred. Sonic chuckled and raced past him, yelling out, “That jog your memory, Shadow?” He ignored Shadow’s irritated response.
What he couldn’t ignore, however, was the furious shriek from behind them.
“HOW DARE YOU?!”
He turned around, only to immediately take a flying green punching glove to the face. Even as he shook it off, he was hit with a second and then a third, all thrown by a livid pink hedgehog. Amy’s pink cabriolet sideswiped him as she passed, nearly knocking him off his board, and she was wearing a look of pure rage she hadn’t aimed at him in years.
Sonic shuddered.
He’d hoped that would be the end of it, but Amy confronted him after the race. He tried to defend himself by pointing out they lobbed bombs at each other while racing all the time. Amy stopped and stared blankly at him for a second, then completely lost it, demanding to know why he felt it was acceptable to mock Shadow’s mental health. Sonic tried to brush it off as “just banter,” but Amy wouldn’t let it go. She said making fun of Shadow for a medical condition that had caused him a lot of pain and strife crossed a line. Worst of all, she bitterly said that hearing him say that, especially to a hero like Shadow, made her lose respect for him.
It stung.
Sonic tried to brush off the hurt by teasing Amy—not for the first time—about the little crush he knew she had on Shadow and asked if that was why she was being so dramatic.
Amy didn’t blush or get flustered the way she usually did when Sonic brought it up. Instead, the emotion drained out of her face. She clenched her fists and threatened to take out her hammer and jog his memory for old time’s sake if he didn’t apologize to Shadow.
Fearful yet stubborn, Sonic ran off.
He avoided both Amy and Shadow as best he could, hoping it would blow over soon. Unfortunately, they were still only one race into the Grand Prix, so he couldn’t avoid them on the track. Shadow was as fast as ever, but he wouldn’t even look Sonic’s way. His face was unreadable apart from a hint of bitterness. Sonic tried to strike up their usual competitive rapport, but Shadow wouldn’t say a word.
Amy was worse. Everywhere he went, that cute, pink, terrifying buggy was right on his tail. He’d start to catch up to Shadow with a shortcut, only for Amy to follow him and knock him off the road with a monster truck. He’d pick up speed, only for her to whiz past him and drop spikeballs and magnets directly in his path to slow him down. She saved up close-range items like tornadoes, only using them when he was within striking distance. She even slowed down specifically to shred the Blue Star out from under him with a slicer.
By the second lap, Sonic realized she wasn’t even trying to win anymore. Instead, she spent two full races slowing him down and fixing him with a disappointed glare, all but forcing him to reflect on his actions.
No one could track him down like Amy could.
Sonic found Shadow shortly before the final race. He swallowed his pride and apologized for the amnesia comment, admitting he’d gone a little too far. Shadow stayed quiet for a while, then crossed his arms and muttered, “don’t mention it.”
Dismissive as Shadow was, it was clear how much it meant to him.
Sonic nodded, told Shadow he’d see him at the finish line, and zipped off, only to nearly run into Amy. She didn’t say anything, but she smiled and gave him a hug, which he gratefully returned.
The last race went much more comfortably. Lighthearted banter and items flew like usual, and even though Sonic was edged out of getting a medal, he found he didn’t mind too much.
One new pattern did emerge after the tournament, though. Whenever Sonic saw Shadow and Amy in a race together, he noticed Shadow would intercept attacks coming her way from other racers, and he avoided using his own items against her, even if it occasionally cost him a race. Shadow was more subtle about it than Amy had been when she was hunting down Sonic, so he doubted she noticed.
Sonic never said anything—partially for Shadow’s sake, but also because he found it charming that two of his strongest friends each thought the other needed protecting.
--
Sonic: “Hey, why don’t I mock this traumatized guy with horrifying memories by making fun of his amnesia and brainwashing? 😊”
Amy:
Like Frontiers, Crossworlds was written first in English by Ian Flynn and later translated into Japanese. It seems the Japanese localizers are on my side, because they changed it entirely:
Nothing too exciting, but I still think it’s way better.))
