SonAmy: Part 1 - Chap. 18: Twinkle Park Entrance

Night had quickly fallen over the city of Station Square, and it truly was a sight to behold.  While the sky glistened with the distant stars and the white, round moon, the city itself shimmered with the lights from the buildings.  Many of the office buildings were lit up by the lights on the inside, while the streets were colorful with the headlights of cars and the lights from the light posts.  Many of the lights were different colors, making it appear like they were mixing with each other, causing other colors to form.  Among all the lights and marvel of the night life of the city, only one place was lit up like it was Christmas time: Twinkle Park.

The entrance to Twinkle Park was a sight to behold.  It had a golden archway that looked like a giant ring.  It had the word "Twinkle Park" glittering in beautiful colors of blue and pink.  At the bottom of the arch were many booths where the tickets were sold.  People were coming in and out with much anticipation.  It truly was the most magnificent place to be at night, no matter who you were.

It had been refurbished since the last Amy had been there.  She and Cream were walking up to the main entrance, looking for Shadow.  Cream had decided it was a better idea to leave Cheese at home, so he wouldn't cause anymore interference than she already was.  When they spotted him, they noticed he wasn't looking at them or for them.  He was staring at the golden arch, gazing at its marvel.

This was the first time that Shadow had ever been at Twinkle Park.  He stared at the entrance in a trance, for he had never seen anything that beautiful in his entire life.  He smiled, as he lowered his head and began thinking about his time with Amy.  He anticipated the fun they were going to have, and the kiss they were going to share by the end of the night, according to what Shadow had planned for them.

"We enter as friends and leave as lovers," said Shadow, as he crossed his arms, "And then, with 100,000 rings, she'd have no choice but to want to see me again."

Almost instantly, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sound of someone calling his name.  He knew it was Amy, but sound of her voice.  He smiled, cleared his throat and got ready to have the time of his life.

"Hey, Shadow!" Amy yelled out to him, "Sorry we're late.  We got held up!"

"Not to worry, my sweet," he said, as he turned to face her, "I can wait for you as long as…"

Immediately, he stopped in mid-sentence, as he turned to her and was face to face with Amy and Cream.  In a split second, all the joy and anticipation he had felt earlier was gone and all that was left was pure hatred and anger.  The last person he had expected to see was Cream, so seeing her there, not only caught him off guard, but made him want to use his "chaos blast" to throw her as far away as the impact will allow.

"Well, Shadow," said Amy, "I can't wait to go in!  I have a feeling we're going to have a great time, since they refurbished everything!"

Shadow stood frozen, not taking his eyes or his thoughts off of Cream.  She, Cream, noticed this and couldn't help but give him a sly smile.  He tried to say something, but the pent up hatred and anger wouldn't allow words to come out of his mouth nor would it allow him to move.

"Shadow, are you okay?" Amy asked, giving him a concerned look.

Finally being able to move and speak, he pointed at Cream, slowly, and managed to ask, "What is she doing here?"

"Cream asked to come along, so I allowed her to," explained Amy, "I hope you don't mind."

"I certainly do mind," said Shadow, trying to disregard the acid taste in his mouth, "I am not paying for her to come in."

Amy became very defensive of her best friend.  "You owe this to me, Shadow!" she reminded him, "If I say she comes, then she comes!"

Shadow smiled, as he decided to try to shun her away from them.  "I'm terribly sorry, but I don't have enough to pay for you, Cream.  Besides, couples go in for free, so I'm afraid there's no way you can accompany us."

"Very true, Shadow," said Cream, as she smiled innocently, "But, as you well know, children the ages of six and under get in free every night!"

"See, Shadow," said Amy, "You have nothing to worry about."

Shadow gripped his fist so hard that he could hear the rubbing of his glove.  He decided to try another attempt at getting her to leave.

"Well, seeing that you're six, I'm sure your mother doesn't approve of you staying out late," he said, "I'm pretty sure you have a curfew that you must attend to, so I suggest you…"

"My curfew isn't until 9:30," said Cream, interrupting Shadow in mid-sentence, "So, again, you have nothing to worry about."

Suspicion began to arouse inside Amy.  She began to detect the pattern that Shadow was trying to get her inside alone, something that began sending up red flags in her head.

"What's wrong, Shadow," she asked in a suspicious tone, "Don't you want Cream to join us?"

Unable to really control himself, he grabbed Cream by the shoulder and began pushing her away, saying, "I need a word with you in private, right now."

"SHADOW, WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?" Amy shrieked.

Shadow turned to her and said, "I just need to talk to her for a second, that's all."

"You better not try to make her leave, Shadow!  Cream and I are a package deal!  If you make her leave, I leave too."

"I promise I won't try to make her leave," said Shadow, as he continued to pull Cream away from Amy.  When they were out of Amy's earshot, Shadow spun around and faced Cream, hatred and rage burning in his eyes.

"What are you playing at?" asked Shadow in a silent, yet aggressive manner.

"What's the matter, Mr. Shadow?" asked Cream, as she put her hands on her hips, "Am I putting a little damper on your little plan?"

Shadow huffed and said, "My end of this bet was to go on a date with Amy, and that only tends to work best when we're alone.  You have no right to interfere!"

"Like Amy said, we're a package deal," said Cream, "You can't make me leave unless Amy leaves too."

"I might not be able to make you leave," he threatened, as he pointed at her, "But you better not get in my way!"

"Don't count on it, Shadow," she whispered, "We wouldn't want you to get to 'up close and personal' with Amy, now would we?"

Before he could say anything, Amy yelled out, "Hey, guys!  Are we going in or what?"

Shadow clenched his fists and said, "Fine, you can come with us, but, like I said, don't get in our way."

"Like I said, Shadow," said Cream, "Don't count on it!"

He shot her a dirty look as he made his way towards Amy again.  When he was by her side, he extended his hand out to hers and said, "Shall we?"

Amy looked at his hand in anger and then looked back at Shadow.  As Shadow watched her face, Amy held out one finger at him and tapped her foot.

"Right," said Shadow, as he lowered his hand, "Rule Number 1: No touching."  She smiled at him and began walking towards the booths, Shadow and Cream trailing behind.

"Well, Shadow," whispered Cream, "How do you expect to do anything when Amy won't allow you to touch her?  Hmmm?"

"Shut up," said Shadow, as he cut ahead of Amy to make the arrangements with the young man behind one of the booths.

As he talked with the man, Amy leaned over to Cream and whispered, "What was all that about, Cream?"

"Don't worry about it Amy," said Cream, in a reassuring tone, "It's nothing, honest!"

Amy shrugged her shoulders and began to trail behind Shadow, who was holding the golden door open for them.

As Cream trailed at the very end, she began to feel extremely worried.  She had witnessed Shadow becoming very defensive over Amy.  It only symbolized one thing, the only thing that made Cream shudder where she stood: Shadow was getting too attached to Amy Rose.