Chaos Guardians

by Kelometra

Streak the hedgehog's brother was killed by the chasers, will she be able to continue? no one knows...find out in the first book of Chaos Guardians! Ok so there's gonna be alot of OC's and maybe some original charas this is a collab with Arrowfey my Bff!

Chapter 1

Run Faster! Faster! They're gonna catch you soon. Run Faster! Faster! They're gonna get you if you stop! You can't hide from them anymore. Run for your life! Faster! Run faster!

Streak ran, trying to get away from the haunting voices that surrounded her.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh! No! No no no no no no no no! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Streak screamed, trying to get away from the commands.

"Streak? Streak!" Silver tried to call her back. "Don't go there! They'll catch you!"

"No no no no no no no," Streak sobbed, still running as fast as she could. Now they're using my brother's voice to get me to do what they want! Streak thought.

"Streak! Snap out of it! Streak! Listen to me! You're gonna get us caught!" Silver yelled at her, trying to get her away from there.

"Huh?" Streak panted, stopping. "Silver?" she asked, scared now. "Where are we?" she asked in a hushed tone.

"Hey you! Stop right there 2nd dimensioners!" a huge, angry, forceful voice commanded them.

"Streak! Run! Go home! Get out of here!" Silver yelled frantically.

"Okay," Streak sobbed, terrified.

"Ahhhhh!" a blood curling scream rang out behind her.

"Silver!" Streak cried, turning around to go help her big brother.

"No! Run, Streak, Run! Don't turn back! Don't let them catch you! They'll force you to learn li– Ahh," Silver's voice was abruptly cut off and followed by a dying scream.

"Silver!" Streak cried out in agony as she turned away and ran faster than she ever had before. "Silver, no!" she sobbed as she jumped into a manhole that was their front door. "Please don't leave me," she choked, knowing that her older brother was gone forever. "Silver," she whispered in despair as she flung herself on her cot and cried herself to sleep.

Why did they kill Silver, why? Why didn't I go back to help him? Who were they? Oh, why did they kill him! Streak had visited the site of the murder that morning, the morning after Silver had been killed. All she had found of Silver was a pool of blood that had been smeared around. In the middle of the blood had lain a chain necklace with a lightning bolt pendant. Streak now wore it around her neck as a reminder of Silver. She sat at the old, empty graveyard. Since hardly anyone died anymore, it hadn't been used for decades. All I have now are pictures of him. And even they are going to be gone when Silver's shrine is completed. Unbidden tears flowed down Streak's face as she silently asked herself these questions for which there were no answers and reviewed, in her head, the nightmare she had just lived. "It's not fair!" she said aloud to no one.

"What's not fair?"

Streak jumped to her feet having been sitting cross legged. She had thought she was alone. "Who's there?" she demanded of the voice.

"Some one like you," the voice replied. Its owner stepped out of the shadows. Before Streak now stood a teenage silver hedgehog that bore a slight resemblance to Silver. He wore a solid dark blue t-shirt, baggy black jeans, and smooth black running shoes. Though Streak never would have admitted it, she thought he was kinda cute.

"Hey, I'm Mike," the hedgehog introduced himself. "Who are you?" he asked kindly.

"I…I," Streak stuttered, still surprised at seeing someone else at the cemetery. "I'm Streak," she finally managed to tell him, eyes wide.

Mike grinned disarmingly. "Nice to meet you, Streak."

She gave him a nervous smile in return.

"What are you doing?" he asked kindly, still smiling.

"None of your business!" Streak snapped, stepping in front of the hole she had dug for Silver's shrine and the box of pictures next to it. She instantly regretted her overly harsh words.

Mike backed off, obviously hurt by Streak's statement. "Oh, sorry for prying," he mumbled. He turned, then, and began walking slowly away.

"No," Streak objected, taking a step forward. "I didn't mean it like that," she apologized.

"It's okay," Mike stopped walking briefly, but didn't turn around. "I know what you meant. You don't want me here, and it's okay, really," Mike reassured her, not sounding convincing at all. He began to walk again.

"No," Streak shook her head. "Please don't go!" she pleaded. Mike stopped and turned, but didn't come back, not quite convinced that Streak was being genuine. "I'm burying a box of pictures of my brother 'cause he was killed last night!" she blurted out, desperately trying to convince Mike to stay. She felt she simply couldn't let him leave.

Mike's guarded expression changed in an instant. His face was a picture of compassion. "Oh! I'm so sorry," Mike told her. "I understand why you were offensive now," he looked down at his shoes, embarrassed. "My brother was killed too," he explained quietly.

"Oh, Mike!" Streak felt awful for the way she had treated him.

"It's okay," Mike shrugged it off. "When I went to The Academy, they befriended me and helped me continue with my life. Now I have a purpose."

"What's this academy you're talking about?" Streak asked, curious now.

Mike grinned. "The Academy is an awesome school that helps people like us adjust to the human's planet," he explained. "They also protect you from The Chasers," he added quietly.

"Who are The Chasers?" Streak asked quietly. The name sent shivers up her spine and she felt that whoever The Chasers were, they weren't good.

"The Chasers are evil people who kill 2nd dimensioners like us because they don't want us on what they still think is their planet. They killed your brother last night," Mike explained. It was obvious to Streak that Mike didn't like speaking of The Chasers any more than she liked hearing about them. "But that's not the worst they can do to you," Mike told her.

"It's not?" Streak stared at him, eyes wide.

"No," he replied, shaking his head. "If they can, they catch you and force you to steal the Chaos Gems."

Streak gasped. "How awful!"

Mike nodded in agreement. "The Academy was founded to oppose them," he continued. "They train willing recruits to enhance and use their skills to gather the Chaos Emeralds so that The Chasers won't get them. The Academy has only been open for five years so we haven't found any yet. The Chasers had one three years ago, but someone stole it from them."

Streak inhaled sharply. "Who?" she asked.

"They don't know," Mike replied. "The Academy fears that a new group even worse than The Chasers is trying to get the emeralds because neither group has sensed one since The Chasers' emerald was stolen."

Both hedgehogs were quiet for a moment. "Where is The Academy?" Streak asked after a bit. Her voice trembled slightly, but she sounded sure of herself.

"Why?" Mike asked.

"I want to join," Streak replied confidently. "I want to help bring down The Chasers."

"The Academy's sole goal isn't to defeat The Chasers," Mike warned her. "They educate 2nd dimensioners on their planet so that it's easier for us to live here. They also study science, literature, architecture, and other stuff like that. They have sports teams and compete in tournaments."

"I understand that," Streak replied. "I want to learn all that too."

Mike nodded. "Alright," he agreed.

"But first, I need to bury this," Streak told him.

"Okay," Mike nodded. "I'll tell you how The Academy trains us to defend ourselves against The Chasers and find Chaos Emeralds while you do that," he offered.

Streak nodded and he began. "When you first arrive at The Academy, they test you to discover your powers, strengths, and weaknesses. After they know what you're good at, they train you to use that power. Once you're good at what you do, they help you overcome your weaknesses. After that, you train with other 2nd dimensioners to improve your battle skills. The Academy also simulates situations where you'd have to fight The Chasers. In between all this, they allow you to choose a trade so you can support yourself when you're not hunting The Chasers," Mike explained the inner workings of The Academy in such a way that it wasn't boring to listen to.

"What are your powers and what is your trade?" Streak interrupted, almost done with Silver's shrine.

Mike grinned. "My power is persuasion," he told her. "But luckily I can control it now. Before I went to The Academy, I couldn't help convincing everyone of everything I said. I'm glad I can turn it off now otherwise people I talked to, like you, would have to come with me, even though I want them to have a choice. I am also decently fast, can read emotions, and can freeze water. If the liquid isn't fully water, though," Mike added, "I can't freeze it."

"I'm learning politics so that, when I'm good enough, I can convince humans without using my power that 2nd dimensioners should have the same privileges as them," Mike continued.

"What are your powers?" Mike asked.

"I'm not quite sure," Streak replied, slinging a backpack that contained her belongings over her shoulder. "I'm really fast, but I've never really tested myself."

Mike nodded. "Most new teens are the same way. I didn't know I could freeze water of the extent of my persuasion abilities until I went to The Academy."

"Are you ready?" he asked, seeing she had a pack.

"Yes," Streak replied tensely.

"Why are you nervous?" Mike asked.

"I…I'm not sure I'll be accepted," Streak admitted. "I've never been accepted anywhere and I don't have any friends. I'm not sure if I can make any either," she added nervously.

"What do you call me then?" Mike asked teasingly.

Streak's eyes opened wide. "Really?" she asked in awe.

"Really what?" Mike asked, confused.

"Are you really my friend?" Streak asked, barely daring to hope.

Mike laughed at the silly question, but soon saw that she was serious and that his laughter was hurting her. He instantly became serious. "Of course I'm your friend, Streak," he assured her. "And I'm sure you'll make tons of friends at The Academy because you're so sweet."

Streak smiled at him gratefully. "Thank you, Mike," she said quietly. Mike sensed that she needed time to think so he left her alone on the long walk to The Academy.

"We're here," he finally announced.

"What?" Streak asked. She had been lost in thought and wasn't paying attention to her surroundings.

"This is The Academy," Mike explained.

Streak could only stare at the enormous dome in front of her. "This is The Academy?" she asked, unsure.

Mike grinned. "Yes," he replied. "The dome is protection against The Chasers. Inside is a collection of dorms, class buildings, training fields, tournament rings, and laboratories," he explained.

"Is it dark inside?" Streak asked. The entire dome was made of metal and she wondered if it was pitch black inside.

"No," Mike replied. "I know the dome looks like it's made of metal, but it's really a substance created by one of our science graduates. You can't see in, but you can see out as if it were glass."

"Wow," Streak whispered.

"You ready to go in?" Mike asked after he had given her a moment to take it all in.

"Hmm? Oh! Yes, I am," Streak replied.

Mike smiled at her and walked up to the gigantic dome. There didn't seem to be a door, so Streak wondered how they were supposed to get in. When they reached the dome, Mike held up his hand and pressed it to a large square screen on its side. The square hummed softly and then the square turned into a TV.

"Hello, Mike, recognition code please," a robot intoned.

"Mike with a friend," Mike stated calmly. A door that had previously been invisible slid open. He looked at Streak and grinned. "They have this security system so that The Chasers can't get in. I have to talk so that they couldn't kill me and use my hand to gain entry," he explained.

Streak shivered. No wonder Silver had told her to get away from there! She wondered briefly why he had never told her about The Chasers.

"Would you like to meet the headmaster now?" Mike asked. Streak suddenly realized that she and Mike had stood in the doorway for several minutes and that she had been the one to hold him up.

"Oh!" she gasped. She blushed, then, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Mike. I've been holding you up. I'm sure you have other things you need to…"

Mike cut her off with a good natured grin. "It's okay, Streak. It's nice to finally meet some one like me."

Streak's heart melted and she knew then that she was falling for this wonderful hedgehog that had helped her so much. "Thank you, Mike, that means a lot to me," she said sincerely.

Mike grinned again. "Let's go then!" he suggested. Streak blushed again as she followed him into The Academy.

"Oh!" she gasped and stopped short as soon as they were inside. It seemed like they had just walked into a different world. All around her Streak saw hedgehogs and foxes and bats and echidnas and cats of all sizes. They were all talking and laughing and playing just like humans at their schools. Each one seemed to carry themselves with a confident air. Streak supposed that this was because of the training and schooling they had received. The buildings were not the usual brick, but were beautiful bright neon colors. Each building was covered with solar panels that blended in with the rest of the structure almost perfectly. Just like Mike had said, training fields and tournament rings were spread out over the whole campus. The place was simply amazing.

Mike looked back at her and grinned once more. "Amazing isn't it," he asked. "I was shocked when I first saw it too," he added. "We're going to see the headmaster now so that you can get a dorm room, a schedule, and an appointment to be tested."

Streak nodded and followed her new friend to the largest of the buildings. It was located in the center of the dome and it was easy to tell that the structure was important because of all the plaques that decorated it.

When Mike and Streak approached, the doors opened of their own accord. After they had passed through, the doors slid silently shut. "Cool."

Mike looked back and grinned. "The techno team designed the doors to open to those with The Academy bands," he explained, showing her his wrist. Mike wore an odd bracelet with blinking white lights that Streak supposed was a lot more technical than it seemed.

"The Academy is a cool place," she commented as Mike led her through the dizzying corridors.

"It sure is," Mike agreed. "And when I graduate I'm going to stay on as a teacher and a seeker," Mike told her, eyes shining with excitement. "I'm training not only to be a politician and a pursuer of The Chasers, but a speech instructor. Then I can help kids in trouble and in that way repay my tutor."

"That's a wonderful idea!" Streak exclaimed. Mike is a wonderful, thoughtful person, Streak thought to herself.

The pair walked slowly down the hall with Streak looking dreamily at Mike. He was so cute and nice and just wonderful.

"Streak?"

"Yeah?" streak answered, wondering if Mike had noticed her attention.

"What's your necklace for?" Mike inquired to break the silence.

"Oh, this?" Streak asked, surprised. "It's nothing! Well, it belonged to my brother. I found it near the site where The Chasers killed him. Apparently they didn't want it when they took his body away and threw it in a puddle of his blood," Streak admitted sadly.

"I'm sorry for asking, Streak," Mike told her.

"Why?" Streak asked, confused.

"Well, I'm sure it hurts to talk about it," Mike replied. "And I'm sorry for asking you to tell me about it."

"Oh, it's okay," Streak shrugged painfully. "Now that I'm here at The Academy with you I'm a lot better."

Mike smiled at her and Streak felt more attracted to that hedgehog than ever.

Chapter 2

"Okay, Streak, here we are. This is the headmaster's office." Mike said happily. "I'm sure you'll like Mr. Robotnik and Ms. Jay, they're really nice, like you."

Streak blushed at the comment. "Well I don't think there is any way that they could be as nice as you," she told him. How corny! She silently cursed herself. Now he'll think I'm stupid and shallow.

But Mike only grinned. "Thanks."

Mike put his hand on the pad in front of the double doors. They opened.

"Welcome to The Academy, Streak," a deep, friendly voice greeted her. "I see you've met our honor student Mike."

Streak turned to her friend in surprise and awe. "You're an honor student! Why didn't you tell me before?" Streak nearly screamed.

Mike grinned in amusement. "It's not something I brag about," he explained. "I just work hard at my studies and training and help other 2nd dimensioners like myself make a future for themselves," he told her. "That's all there is to it."

"No," Streak shook her head. "There's a lot more to it than that, Mike. You are special and amazing and wonderful and smart and powerful and cute and…wow," Streak ended lamely. "You are way too modest, Mike."

Mike blushed and, for the first time since Streak had met him, lost his cool. "Thank you, Streak. You are extremely special, especially to me." He stopped there, not knowing what else to say and decided to tell her as much. "I don't have words for how much you mean to me, Streak. I don't know what else to say."

Tears pooled in Streak's eyes. "Thank you," she choked.

The Headmaster cleared his throat. "Oh!" Mike exclaimed. "I'm sorry, sir. We kinda forgot where we were."

The Headmaster nodded acceptance. "This, Streak, is your schedule. Once you are tested and determined, all your generic classes will coincide with Mike's. You will, of course, not be able to have every class together because I can already tell that you are not a politician. Now," he continued, "look into my eyes, Streak, so I can judge and help you."

Streak did as he ordered and stared at his light blue eyes. Oddly enough, the previously friendly eyes turned empty. His eyes were a great void. Streak found herself being sucked in, but she wasn't scared. Her mind was muddled and she couldn't think. Suddenly everything was back to normal, sort of. Streak knew she was different even though she didn't feel like it.

"You will be tested tomorrow at nine at the testing field, Streak. Your dorm mate is a hedgeechidna by the name of Myra. Your dorm number is F-17-94-B. Your identification number is F2578 Mike will show you to your room. Memorize the route. Mike, show her the training field on your way. You two are dismissed," he ended, turning his computer chair around so that he no longer faced them.

Mike and Streak bowed slightly and backed out of the room. On the way, Streak wondered why they hadn't turned around and walked out, why she hadn't turned and walked. She shrugged mentally. It wasn't important. All that mattered now was going with Mike. Mike, she thought. She was glad he was the one to show her around.

"Good thing we have a lot of the same classes," she commented, breaking the silence. She cast a sidelong glance at Mike, watching for his reaction.

She was relieved at how he reacted. He grinned at her. "Yeah," he agreed with a nod. "Now we can spend more time together."

Streak fairly glowed. Mike wanted to spend time with her! Her smile widened as they walked. Mike showed her the testing field and led her to her dorm.

"I'll see you tomorrow at 11:30 for current world activities," Mike told her, excitement filling his voice. "Then maybe we can hang out with our roommates for lunch, the four of us. After lunch we have Earth history, that's at 1:00."

"You can tell me what your powers are and trade is at lunch. Maybe some of our trade classes are the same," Mike continued.

"Okay!" Streak agreed enthusiastically. "Do you want to meet my roommate?" she asked, motioning at her door.

"I already know her," Mike told her. "But I'll say hi and tell her to join us for lunch tomorrow," he added.

"Oh!" Streak said in surprise. "Is she nice?"

Mike grinned good-naturedly. "Very," he nodded.

"Okay," Streak sighed. "Well, let's go in." Streak turned the handle. It didn't turn. She jerked it up and down, but the handle wouldn't turn. "What's wrong with this thing?" she asked in frustration.

"Maybe you should try to use your dorm key," Mike suggested, not unkindly.

"My what?" Streak asked. Mike pointed to a backpack on her back that Streak hadn't known she was wearing. "Oh." She took the shoulder bag off and checked in the front pocket. There was her key.

"Here," Mike offered. He held out a leather cord. "Give me your key." Streak handed it over. Mike put the key on the cord and tied it around her neck. "Now you can't lose it."

"Thanks, Mike!" Streak exclaimed. She held up her new key to examine it.

"Cool." She unlocked the door, pushed it open, and dropped the key. It clinked against her lightning pendant making a pleasant sound. Streak was about to go in when she felt a strange heat and heard a weird humming on her necklaces. She looked down. "Ahh!" she screamed. Her key was transforming. "What's happening, Mike?" The top of the key became a lightning bolt in a matter of seconds. The strange sensations died away.

"Whoa!" a light blue hedgeechidna stood in the doorway and was staring at Streak's key. She held up her own key and pendant. They matched too. "I guess you're one of us," she told Streak. "I'm Myra. I assume you're Streak, my new roommate. Come in," she beckoned.

Streak continued to stare at Myra's key. "How did that just happen," she asked slowly.

"Well, you're a Chaos Guardian. It happened to all of us," Myra explained. Her brow furrowed. She wondered why this hedgehog was asking such strange questions.

"What's a Chaos Guardian," Streak asked. "What is wrong with my key? Who are you? What aren't you telling me?"

Myra blinked, shocked. "You're a Chaos Guardian. You help the other seven of us maintain Chaos peace. Your key is reacting to your pendant. I'm Myra, as I already told you, and I'm a Chaos Guardian. I'm not keeping anything from you!" Myra replied hotly.

"Streak," Mike said, effectively getting Streak's attention. "You have a Chaos Guardian pendant. That makes you a Chaos Guardian and gives you extra and phenomenal powers. I didn't notice it earlier."

"Timeout! You're telling me that my brother's pendant gives me power and responsibility!" Streak shrieked.

"Shhhh!" both Myra and Mike shushed her.

"We'll talk inside," Myra told her. The trio filed in and Myra locked all nine locks on the door behind them. then pressed a button and set up a shield around the room. They then carried on with their conversation in a whisper so that no one could hear them.

"Why did you lock the door and put up that thing? It's not as if anyone can hear us," Streak pointed out.

"The Headmaster has x-ray listeners listen in on all the dorm secrets. The listeners now hear only girl gossip. Now we can talk," Myra sat down and got ready for a lengthy conversation.

"So this pendant gives the wearer power?" Streak asked.

"Well, not exactly," Myra shook her head. "It will only accept a few individuals to use its power. Apparently it has chosen you as its wearer. You will be its wearer until you die."

"Why me?" Streak asked.

"One of your ancestors, a parent most likely, was a Guardian," Mike answered her with absolute confidence.

"How do you know?" Myra asked, puzzled.

"Streak said she got the pendant from her older brother," Mike began, not going into detail about how Streak 'got' the pendant from her brother. "The pendants have never chosen a sibling as the next wearer unless the siblings were children of a wearer," Mike explained simply.

Myra and Streak nodded, accepting this logical explanation. "It was my mom," Streak said flatly.

"How do you know that?" Myra wanted to know.

"My dad was a good hedgehog once. He was a member of the Elite Blue Force. He was their leader and spokes person because he was good at it. But when I was about two, he decided to join some evil person. He was their spokes person and then retired and taught some one else to take over his job. If he's still alive, he's not good," Streak explained. "He wasn't exactly evil, but he was close. If the Guardians are good, my dad wouldn't have been one."

Chapter 3

Mike stared at Streak blankly as if he'd seen a ghost. "What's the matter?" Streak asked, completely wierded out at her friend's empty gaze.

"Umm…I think I should get back to my dorm to study for my humanity quiz tomorrow," Mike told the girls jumpily. Both could tell he was nervous. "See you later. Oh! You're invited to lunch with us tomorrow, Myra. Catch you guys later," Mike leapt to his feet and sped out of the room.

"What was that about?" Streak asked.

"Don't ask me," Myra replied, hands up in mock surrender. "Mike isn't usually like that. I don't know what's gotten into him."

Streak shrugged. "Oh well, we'll ask him tomorrow."

Myra nodded. "Sounds good," she agreed. "I'm so excited!" she squealed suddenly, changing the subject.

"About what?" Streak asked, amused.

"About having you as my roommate!" Myra exclaimed excitedly. "My last roommate was so snobby! And now I have another Chaos Guardian as my roomie! It's just so cool!"

Streak grinned. "I'm excited too," she told the bouncy Myra. "I can't wait to find out what my powers are!" Streak added in an excited tone. "What are your powers Myra? And what is your trade?"

Myra's face lit up. She obviously enjoyed discussing this subject. "I have the power of languages," she told Streak. "I'm training for a trade with the International Interpretation Company. It's so cool! I love languages and can so far read, speak, understand, and write 286. Most are from this planet, but some are from the 2nd dimension. I can speak, understand, read, and write any language I hear or read one word of. It's pretty cool."

"Whoa," Streak blinked, impressed.

"Hey! Do you want me to guess what your power is?" Myra offered excitedly, bouncing up and down on her bed.

"Sure," Streak agreed.

"Hmmm," Myra thought about it. "Because your pendant is a lightning bolt, I think that your power will be control of weather, control of electricity, or speed," she concluded decisively."

Streak blinked, surprised at how probable Myra's guess was. "Are you sure languages are the only thing you can understand, Myra?" she asked jokingly. Both girls giggled.

"I think we're going to get along great," Myra told Streak. "We may even be best friends!" she added, hope lacing her voice.

Streak threw her head back and laughed. "I think we already are!" she finally managed to gasp. Myra smiled happily and joined Streak in her laughing fit. The happy pair giggled until their sides hurt.

"We should go eat or we'll have to go to bed hungry tonight," Myra told Streak after a while.

"Okay," Streak stood with Myra. The best friends donned their backpacks, both having shoulder packs. Myra unlocked the locks and took down the shield. Then they tidied up the room so that they wouldn't come back to a mess.

"We'd better bring our hoodies in case we stay out late," Myra suggested. "It gets pretty cold outside at night."

The girls grabbed their jackets on the way out the door. "Wait!" Myra called to Streak who had began to run down the hall. "We have to lock the door whenever we leave," Myra told her. She locked the door with her key and the girls were off.

Streak could run a lot faster than Myra, so she slowed down as they ran over to their dinner hall. "Why does everyone have a designated dinner hall?" Streak asked as they ran.

"Everyone gets free first helpings," Myra began. "So they don't want everyone going around and getting ten meals for free."

"Oh. Do we have to eat in the building?"

Myra laughed at this question. "You can't eat in the building!" she told Streak. "There is a pavilion outside the hall and a bunch of trees and picnic tables around campus. You can eat anywhere you want except the mess halls!"

"Oh," Streak blinked. "Why do you only get free first helpings?"

"The Headmaster says that they do it so that no one gets fat. He says, quote 'obesity hinders your body and mind' so you have to pay for extra food. It doesn't discourage people from eating more, and that isn't the purpose," Myra continued. "The food limit helps us be conscious of how much food we eat. The extra food actually is kinda cheap, but it shows you how much you're eating and helps you control your intake."

Streak nodded in understanding. "That's actually a pretty smart idea," she commented.

"Yes, it is," Myra nodded.

The girls jogged the rest of the way to the dinner hall in silence. They got a hamburger and French fries for their meal. They also had a choice of water and a large ice cream or soda and a small ice cream. Streak took water and Myra took soda.

"Whew!" Myra exclaimed as she plopped down on the ground under a tree. "With a roommate like you I might start eating two helpings at meals!" she panted, exhausted by their pace.

"Oh! I'm sorry Myra!" Streak apologized.

"It's okay," Myra waved her off with a grin. "I actually should be exercising more than I have been. You'll help me get back in shape." She picked up her bottle of A&W Root Beer and took a swig. "Mmmm! Delicious!" she proclaimed. "Another smart idea they have is their choices of drink and dessert go together. That way they have the same amount of calories."

"So teens like you don't get too fat?" Streak teased.

Myra grinned. "Of course!" she agreed with mock seriousness. "You couldn't have fat 2nd dimensioners like me rolling around here and call this a beneficial school could we?"

"Oh no!" Streak exclaimed barely able to suppress a smile. "That would be simply awful!" Both girls cracked up, then, and almost spilled their food.

Chapter 4

"Oh!" Myra exclaimed suddenly, going completely serious. "I almost forgot! I need to ask Mike if everyone else is invited tomorrow as well!" She took a light blue iPhone out of her pack and pressed 7.

"Hello," a pleasant voice said.

"Hey, Mike, I was just wondering…"

"This is Mike. I guess I'm not here right now so I guess you have to leave a message…Just kidding, Myra. I'm here. What were you wondering?" he asked, laughter filling his voice.

Myra sighed in annoyance, though she still grinned and began again. "I was wondering if everyone was coming or just Streak, Scott, you, and me. If it's just us for lunch, we should get everyone together at our group pavilion at like 6ish," Myra suggested.

"It's just going to be us at lunch and I already texted everyone about tomorrow. We're meeting at the pavilion at 6:30. Check your inbox for your invite," Mike told her. "Oh! And get Streak a cell tonight before they close," he reminded her.

"Got it," Myra nodded. "See you tomorrow. Bye!" She hung up and dug into her meal. "We have to hurry so I can get you a cell," she explained between bites. "They close soon so we have to eat fast!"

The girls wolfed down their food and were soon on their way to the "Mall." The building was like a mini mall and had all the stores the 2nd dimensioners needed. Myra led Streak to a small store that was called 'Network.'

"This is the store where you get phone, cell phone, internet, and TV connections," Myra explained as they went in."

"May I help you?" a green fox asked kindly. He was not quite an adult, but neither was he a teen. It looked to Streak like he was staying on after graduation.

"Yes," Myra replied. "She," she motioned to Streak, "needs a white iphone, iPod, pear laptop, and shoulder strap bag accents," Myra told him.

The fox nodded and pulled out a drawer beneath the table. Out of it he drew the equipment Myra had listed. "What dorm and identification number?" he asked as he put the objects in a bag.

"My dorm is F-17-94-B and my IN is F2578," Streak told him in a monotonous voice with no emotion. She blinked, surprised at herself. How had she known that? Myra shot her a curious glance. Her gaze was searching and Streak felt uncomfortable until she looked away.

"Here are your electronics," the fox told her, oblivious to their emotions. "Be sure not to lose them or you will have to pay a replacement fee. Have a nice day," he intoned and turned away.

Streak took her bag and followed Myra to another part of the mall. Myra led her first to the snack court. Myra treated them to healthy smoothies and then led Streak to a table in a secluded corner so they wouldn't be disturbed.

"Let me see your bag," she directed. Streak handed it over. Myra took out a package of white reflecting objects. "These are for you to put on your bag," she explained. "You can press this button, to go in the first pocket of your bag, and your electronics will ring so you can find them." At Myra's urging Streak gave her friend her shoulder bag and watched, fascinated, as Myra attached the pieces without any adhesive she could see.

"It's kinda like a magnet," Myra explained as she worked. "If you know where to put these things they'll stay by themselves. You won't be able to pull them off easily either," she added.

"Cool!" Streak exclaimed as the bag was handed back. She tugged lightly on one of the accents. It didn't move. Streak grinned and pulled harder. Still nothing happened. She pulled on the small pieces as hard as she could. With a quiet pop the piece came off. Streak touched it back to the place it had been. She instantly felt the accent pulled out of her fingers as it once against settled itself on her bag. "That is wickedly sweet!"

Myra grinned. "I'm used to it and I still think it's cool."

"No wonder!" Streak laughed. Myra joined her. "What else is in this little bag of treasures?" she laughed, reaching for the bag. Myra grinned and gave it to her. Streak stuck her hand in the bag and pulled out the first thing her fingers touched.

She pulled out a small white device with a two and a half inch screen. The gadget was almost square and extremely thin. It had a circle white button in the middle of the lower half. Surrounding it was a silver disk like rotating piece that was foreign to Streak. It had a small circular opening that a wire plugged into. The wire then branched out and became two wires. At the end of these wires were two symmetrical plugs with tiny mesh pieces that Streak could think of no conceivable use for. "What's this?" she asked, holding it away from herself and poking the odd buttons experimentally.

Myra giggled at her friend's naivety. "That's an 8gb apple iPod nano video," she explained.

"A what?" Streak asked with a puzzled expression. One of the words Myra had spoken was familiar, but the rest were completely foreign.

Myra grinned. "It's an MP3 player," she explained. Streak blinked. "It plays music copied on a disk. You hear the music through the headphones," she tried again, gesturing to the plugs. "You select the song you want to listen to with the silver thing and the screen and then press the middle button to listen to it."

"How do the songs get there?" Streak asked, confused.

Myra blinked. "I don't know," she admitted. "But you download it from the computer." Streak cocked her head, puzzled. "You choose songs you like and then make them get on this thing so you can listen to them!" Myra tried again, exasperated.

"Okay," Streak nodded. "I think I get it. Maybe Mike or his friend can tell me a different way so I can understand this device better." Myra nodded, relieved. "What's this?" Streak asked, pulling out the iPhone.

"That is an iPhone," Myra replied. "It is like the iPod, but it's a cell phone too. You know what a cell phone is, right?"

Streak nodded. "It's a regular telephone that you can carry around with you and it has other stuff on it."

Myra nodded. "An iPhone can access internet too." She pulled out her own iPhone and began a demonstration. "This button," she tapped a large circle beneath the large screen, "is the only button on here. You mainly use the touch screen to operate it," she explained.

"What's a touch screen?"

"You touch the button on the screen that indicates where you want to go," she replied. She handed her iPhone to Streak so she could see it clearer. "Tap the screen so it'll light up," she directed. Streak did so and examined the little squares on the screen with writing and pictures on them. "Touch the inbox button, the one with the envelope," Myra told her. "See, there's the message from Mike. Touch it to open it so we can see what it says."

Streak tapped the message and together they read what it said.

Hey everyone-

We have a new member. Meet at the pavilion at 6:30 2morrow, Friday, 4 dinner. C u all later

-Mike

"How many of you, I mean us, are there exactly?" Streak asked.

Myra tilted her head and counted. "Me, you, Sk8er, Flash, Randia, Slash, Clash, Scott, Kelo, Knuckles, Mike, and Shadow," she listed the members one by one. "That's twelve of us all together."

"Twelve chaos guardians?" Streak asked in surprise and raised her eyebrows. "That's a lot. Are there more?"

"Well, actually, Kelo and Knuckles and Mike and Shadow aren't Chaos Guardians. They are some of the helpers of the Chaos Guardians. There are only eight of us and even if the time vortex hadn't stopped time from going on we wouldn't die of old age. That's one of the powers we get as a guardian."

Streak blinked and nodded, there was so much to remember! "So what are the others like?" she asked curiously.

"They're—" Myra began. "Wait; let me finish briefing you on your electronics first. Pull out your laptop," she directed. Streak took the remaining box out of her bag and slid out the white rectangle.

She searched the outside for a screen or directions or something but didn't find any. She glanced up just in time to see Myra cover her mouth with her hand so she wouldn't laugh. Streak sighed. "Okay, what is it?"

Streak gave her the rectangle and watched carefully. Myra pushed the only button located on the front to one side and opened the box. Streak was surprised at the contents. The box only had a bunch of squares with letters and numbers and symbols and a small pad with two raised panels below it. She looked at the lid to see if that made more sense. The lid confused her even more. It was covered with a screen. "This is your laptop," Myra began. "It's a small, portable computer. This pad is like your mouse." Streak made a small "o" with her mouth in understanding. "Do you get it?"

Streak nodded. "How do you turn it on?" she asked.

Myra grinned and pressed a button with a circle that was broken by a line going up. The screen came to life. Myra spent the next half hour explaining to Streak how to use the laptop and what all the buttons and panels were for.

"I think I have it now," Streak announced after they reviewed the electronics and their functions. "Now what are the other Chaos Guardians like?"

Myra opened her mouth to explain. Just then a recorded message came over the intercom. "The mall will be closing in fifteen minutes please purchase your items in the next ten minutes and be out by ten o'clock. Thank you."

Myra leapt to her feet. "Oh my gosh! I forgot to get you new clothes! Come on!" She stuffed streak's stuff in her bag, grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the clothing store. Myra quickly selected a new, fashionable wardrobe for her new friend. They raced to the register and bought everything with four minutes to spare and had the stuff delivered to their dorm.

"Whew! I'm glad that's over!" Streak exclaimed, sinking into the nearest chair.

"What are you doing? Come on!" Myra grabbed Streak again and raced to the furniture store. "Type L room B furniture please!" she panted to the sales associate. The purple echidna nodded politely and pointed to a door. "Thanks!" Myra called over her shoulder as they raced in.

"Okay, this is a model of your part of the room. Pick furniture and arrange it the way you want it virtually and the people will bring it. And hurry, you only have a few minutes!" Myra urged Streak.

Streak hurriedly selected a room of white and black furniture. A white disk desk with a matching rolling chair and an end table that was a small version of the desk without the shelves and a silver and white lamp and a comfy white mattress on a silver spring and pearl coat hangers and a coat tree and cubic shelves and a mini couch and a small refrigerator and white/black/gray decorations for her wall.

Myra helped her pick out a lot of the room and they were done with seconds to spare. They then raced out of the mall so they wouldn't get reprimanded and jogged back to their dorm.

Streak's furniture had already been delivered so they pushed and pulled it all into place. They then flopped down on Streak's bed. "Whew! You really know how to shop quick, Myra!" Streak exclaimed.

Myra grinned and laughed. "I've had practice," she replied with a content sigh.

"Now will you tell me about the other—" Myra clamped her hand over her friend's mouth. Streak was too surprised to do anything. Myra hopped lightly off the bed and raced over to the wall and flipped a series of switches.

Once she was satisfied that all the switches were correct she leaned up against the door and fixed Streak with a hard look. "Never and I repeat NEVER talk about the Chaos Guardians unless the room is secured," she told Streak sternly.

Chapter 5

Streak nodded eyes wide. Myra sighed and allowed herself to slide down the door till she was sitting on the floor.

"Sorry," Streak said in a quiet voice.

"It's okay," Myra assured her. "Now for the Chaos Guardians and helpers." Streak nodded eagerly.

"Okay who do you want to hear about first; Randia, Sk8er, Flash, Slash, Clash, or Scott," Myra asked.

Streak thought for a moment. "Scott," she decided.

Myra nodded. "Scott is a gray hedgehog and his sign is a shark tooth. His power is animals so he can talk to animals and they all know he's a friend. He's a vegetarian and a pacifist, too. He's sweet and caring and gentle and all the animal languages he knows are amazing!" she concluded.

Streak nodded and suppressed a grin. She could tell that Myra liked Scott. "Cool. Now tell me about Randia."

"Randia is a light brown hedgehog and her sign is a diamond. She has a REALLY cool power. She can make any gem she touches temporarily chaos! She is kinda moody and has a big ego. She excels in her classes in is kinda sassy, but fun too," Myra explained.

"How about Sk8er?" Streak asked.

"Sk8er is Shadow's little adopted sister. You do know who Shadow is, right?" Myra interrupted herself

"Of course!" Streak replied. "He worked with my brother once."

Myra nodded. "She's an emerald green hedgehog and her sign is a tear drop. Her power is liquids, water in particular. She is a fashion expert but doesn't wear the outfits herself. Like her name she is a skater and absolutely loves her hover boards. She is fun and tom boyish and slightly sassy. She doesn't like classrooms so she has the minimum number of indoor classes. Science fascinates her, but only if it's outside. She's a really interesting character and I think you'll enjoy meeting her," Myra ended.

"Okay, now I want to know about Slash, Clash, and Flash," Streak to her Myra. "What's up with their rhyming names?"

Myra cocked her head and looked thoughtful. "Flash, Slash, and Clash are…different. They aren't…well, real. They're like Shadow. Yeah, that's it. They're like Shadow. They were all created by the same person. They're siblings, even though they don't have parents. The guy created unique DNAs for their parents and created them. They're odd. They are hedgefox echidnas. They're like half hedgehog half echidnas with twin tails. They were given their chaos guardian necklaces by the person who made them. Their maker put them in tubes that stopped time for them until he figured out how to make them immortal, but that never happened. He was killed. These weird beings kidnapped them and gave them these headbands that they were 'destined to have' that made the Chaos Keepers. Since they're Chaos Keepers, they're incredibly powerful. Then the weird beings implanted gems in their palms. The put jewels that made them powerful in their right hands and put a controlling gem in Flash's left hand. Then they sent her here, but that's a long story that some one will tell you some other time. Long story short the left hand gem was removed, her brothers came here too, and now they're here with us."

Streak blinked. "Wow. Tell me about Clash first."

"Clash is a red hedgefox echidna and his sign is flame. His power is heat. He has amazing battle skills and is somewhat of a hot head. He loves to fight and is really nice once you get to know him. You wouldn't want to be on his bad side, though. He doesn't like school at all, but loves the tournaments. He's really funny, too," Myra concluded with a grin.

"Slash?"

Myra laughed a bit and grinned widely. "Slash is Clash's twin brother, but they are SOOOOOO different! Slash is green and his sign is an eye without a pupil on a black square. His power is sight and he can see as if looking through a telescope and has x-ray vision and can see glimpses of the future and can choose to look through the eyes of anyone that he's met and see what they're seeing. He's calm and cool and his eyes are dark and watchful. He notices EVERYTHING. He doesn't like to fight, but he's good at it. Slash is good at sports and academics. He's a brainiac and a jock and is really nice to almost everyone. He is way overprotective of Flash and it seems like he's Clash's older brother even though they're the same age. He is the one we count on not to get angry and to help us with anything we need. He's our group's conscience too."

"Hmm…" Streak stared off into space and pondered what she had learned. "How about Flash?"

Myra exhaled slowly. "Flash is…different, but I mean that in a good way. She's reflector blue and her sign is a blue tear drop charm on white square charm with black wind signs. Her powers are air and water. She can do ANYTHING you can imagine with air and water! It's amazing. She is quiet and observant like Slash, but for another reason. Because of what those weird kidnapping people did to her she is so powerful it's scary. She can defeat anyone easily, even her brothers. She is like Shadow, and is dark. Sk8er is her best friend and Sk8er is always trying to convince Flash to try new fashions. Flash is into hover boarding too. She excels in anything and everything she does. She is fun and playful most of the time, but sometimes the weird people try to take control of her mind again and she gets really cross. If she's regular, you'll love her. Almost everyone does, and that's not always a good thing. Anyone who doesn't love her hates her because they resent her. There is no middle ground. She is so cool and helps us all a lot," Myra ended, not knowing what else to say.

"Oh! And their headbands are made to hold the chaos gems. Flash is the chaos sapphire holder, Slash is the chaos emerald holder, and Clash is the chaos ruby holder. The headbands are where a lot of their power comes from," Myra added.

Streak's eyes widened. "You mean there are more chaos gems that just the emeralds?" she cried incredulously.

Myra nodded solemnly. "But those are the only three kinds. No one knows why the creator of the Chaos Sapphires, Emeralds, and Rubies didn't make others like diamonds or amethysts or jewels like that."

Streak nodded in semi-understanding. "I wonder why," she said, stifling a yawn.

Myra yawned too. "Ugh I'm so tired!" she moaned with a weak grin. "I wish I could go to bed, but I still have biology homework."

"I'll help you," Streak offered. She had always loved reading the biology books Silver brought and now was her chance to test her knowledge.

"Okay," Myra agreed with a nod. She got up from her place on the floor and walked over to her desk. Streak was thrilled to find that she knew quite a bit about biology and Myra appreciated the help.

About a half an hour later the two exhausted girls rolled into bed. "Night," Streak murmured.

"Night. I'll tell you about the helpers tomorrow before we meet them," Myra promised. Streak mumbled a response and they drifted off.

Chapter 7

Streak rose early the next morning. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was four o'clock. "I only got four hours of sleep?" she thought in shock. "I wonder why I'm fully rested and not utterly exhausted."

She fixed a hearty breakfast for her and Myra since the students were on their own for breakfast. An hour later when the hedge-echidna awoke she was greeted by her wide awake room mate and served breakfast in bed. "I could get used to this," Myra commented as she wolfed down the wonderful meal. Both laughed.

After eating, Myra stood up reluctantly and got ready. She was surprised to discover that Streak was already ready, but soon forgot.

"I'll see you at lunch," Myra said when they parted. Myra was going to class and Streak had an hour to explore before her testing.

"Okay," Streak agreed and waved. When she could no longer see Myra in the sea of faces Streak turned and headed to the mall. She had decided to shop while she waited for her test.

Streak looked at clothes and books and facial potions and perfumes and sports equipment and electronic accessories while at the mall, but she didn't really see the merchandise. She was thinking about her test.

I wonder what my power is! Maybe I'll be able to control weather or seasons, she thought excitedly. Streak checked her iPhone and saw that she had ten minutes before her session. She decided to arrive early to try to impress the headmaster.

She jogged to the testing building and was told to wait in an outer room until the headmaster was ready to test her.

Streak was nervous yet confident as she walked into the large arena where she was to be tested. She was given a special bracelet that allowed the wearer to reach their innermost power by a muscular black hedgehog. Once he was confident that Streak had the bracelet strapped on tightly, he gave her some instructions.

"You will be tested by robot drones that simulate battles with The Chasers," he told her in a monotonous voice. "Do your best to defeat our opponents and if you are losing badly try to run. Some simulations have other instructions that will be announced before your battle. The bracelet sends little waves of vibrations into your body that make using your powers instinct. Once your power is clear the test will be over and you will be assigned classes and given equipment to help you."

Streak nodded and bit her lower lip. "The Headmaster wishes to speak to you personally before your testing," the hedgehog added and stepped out of the dome.

A part of the wall extended out and became a sort of arm. The arm descended slowly and Streak tensed as it touched down next to her. She relaxed slightly when the tinted window came up revealing The Headmaster. "Now Streak I want you to try to avoid these monsters and then attack them all at once," he told her calmly.

"Yes, sir," Streak replied enthusiastically. I wonder what my power is, she thought, not for the first time. What if it's weather or control of my surroundings or electricity or… Streaks train of thought was interrupted by a blow that nearly knocked the wind out of her. "Who's there?" Streak blurted out.

Streak's inferior question was replied The Headmaster. "Oh that it was a simple example of what The Chasers will do to you if given half a chance and if your not extremely careful you'll be killed," he told her in a bored voice.

"Why didn't you warn me?" Streak asked angrily.

"You're supposed to be ready for anything. If you're not careful you'll be killed," The Headmaster replied indifferently.

Streak scowled at the last remark. This was the second time he told her this, she didn't need to here it again. It was then that she knew she had made the right choice in coming here because she knew that if she was out on the street she would be killed by The Chasers.

As she prepared for the first round of the test she began to think about the inner workings of the school. Something wasn't right with The Academy. And how did she know how to address The Headmaster? Something wasn't right.

Streak shook her head to clear her mind and focused on what was important: finding out what her power was.

Streak jumped when the first robot entered the arena and then relaxed when she saw its diminutive size. She jogged over to the small electronic, trying to calculate the easiest way to take it out. The robot was only about one foot high with short arms and legs. It looked almost sweet standing there with a smile on its little face hopping from one foot to the other.

Streak slowed as she reached it and prepared to send it flying with her fist. Suddenly the robot's arms and legs began to get longer. Its fists ballooned alarmingly and the robot slammed its knuckles together as if to say 'I'm gonna crush you!' Its previously smiling face frowned maliciously at Streak.

Streak knew she had to act fast. The bracelet the headmaster had given her blinked once and she raced faster than she had ever gone before at the transforming monster.

"Hiya!" she screamed as she buried her fist in the center of its head. Her feet were planted on its shoulders, one hand on its eye and the other in its 'brain.' Streak panted as the robot shorted out and crashed to the ground. She leapt out of the way just in time and landed lightly next to it, still panting from her adrenaline rush.

"Congratulations, Streak!" a booming voice echoed from every corner of the arena. Streak cringed slightly at the sound. "You have unlocked your first power, but the PFB on your wrist indicates that speed isn't your only ability. Try to defeat this robot without using your speed, alright?"

Streak blinked. What was he talking about? Then she remembered how quickly she had reached the robot though she was still yards away and understood. She nodded and flipped her hair out of her face.

Streak scanned the walls of the arena, searching for the opening her next opponent would come out of. She saw a movement out of the corner of her eye and barely had time to duck as a long electronic arm swept over her head. Streak began to run, but then slowed as she remembered what the Headmaster had said.

She turned and saw two large, circular robots with long tentacle-like arms hovering a few feet above the ground. Streak charged the first one, careful not to speed up too much. A long arm darted towards her. Streak jumped and barely cleared the metallic tube, but a second arm caught her midair.

The wind was knocked out of Streak as she sailed across the arena and thudded against the opposite wall. She dropped to the ground on her hands and knees gasping for breath.

Steak looked up and saw the robots waiting for her, their many arms waving mockingly. Streak knew that she'd have to have a strategy this time or she'd be outwitted again. A plan quickly formed in her mind and she smiled a little bit.

Streak was tired and weak; she wavered a bit before collapsing on the ground. She struggled to get up, but finally stopped trying and lay there gasping. She could hear the robots coming nearer. Closer, just a little bit closer, she thought, forcing her body not to tense.

Streak waited until the robots were almost on top of her before jumping up and slamming her foot through the bottom of the closer one. The robot crunched easily and Streak smiled victoriously.

Streak yelped in pain and surprise as a mechanical tentacle swept her off the robot and slammed her into the wall. The other one! She thought explosively. How could I forget? She wriggled until the arm let her go and dropped down lightly. She took two big steps and finished the second robot off with her fist.

"Nicely done, Streak," the Headmaster complimented her as three black hedgehogs raced in and took away the destroyed robots. "You still haven't found any of your other powers, though. Try again."

Streak scowled. She was tired. She didn't want to try again! Streak reluctantly glanced around, waiting for the new robots. She waited for a moment, then looked at the headmaster curiously. Just then black slits appeared all the way around the arena. They widened and out came robots. The robots were small spheres approximately one foot in diameter. Streak gazed at the several hundred robots hovering about and wondered how she'd ever destroy all of them.

She raced at super sonic at a row of robots with her fist out. As she raced past she punched each robot causing it to explode. She destroyed about fifteen this way and then paused, looking at all the others and thinking it was going to take a while. As she watched the spherical machines, two small tubes came out of each.

Streak blinked and studied the tubes closely, but she couldn't figure out what they were. Suddenly the air was filled with the sound of hundreds of bullets flying through the air all aimed at Streak! She shrieked in terror and began to run. Only her super sonic speed power saved her from the shots.

Streak was angry now. She kicked a robot as she ran past it. The small explosion also destroyed the robot nearest it. Streak darted around the arena destroying one or two robots at a time. Her anger became a red cloud before her eyes. A stray bullet hit the bracelet the Headmaster had given Streak breaking it into several pieces and causing it to fall to the ground. Streak didn't notice.

Suddenly a surprising thought hit Streak. These robots were what had killed Silver! She forgot what the Headmaster had said about the robots being replicas. These robots killed Silver!

Rage consumed Streak. She stopped running and raised her fist. She paused, waiting for the robots to stop moving, and then opened her hand so that her fingers reached towards the sky. Lightning flashed down through the shield and through the roof striking every single robot.

Streak collapsed, too tired to do anything else. "Silver," she whispered, her voice cracking. Tears streamed down her face as Streak shook in silent sobs. Her Chaos Guardian pendant flashed briefly reminding Streak of what she had just done. "Lightning?" she asked herself in surprise. "Lightning and speed?"

Streak quickly recovered and got shakily to her feet. There she stood in triumph feeling proud and strong. Her clothes were torn and singed, her whole body bruised, but Streak felt better than she had all day. She had done it.

"Good job," said the head master without feeling. His words were sour to Streak and dampened her mood. He descended to the field and stood about ten yards away from Streak with a fake smile on his face. He looked over at the fragments of her PFB and nodded to Streak. "Well done," he congratulated her, his voice again was void of emotion.

Streak nodded and turned to go. "Your schedule with all your classes is being typed up as we speak. It will be ready by the time you reach the lobby." Streak nodded to show she had heard and left the arena.

As soon as she was gone, the Headmaster walked over to what remained of the PFB. He knelt and sifted through the fragments until he found what he was looking for. He smiled as he stared at the strip of metal with two out of three lights on it illuminated. He stood and snapped it in half, extinguishing the two lights, and calmly walked away.

Streak stalked moodily into the lobby. She snatched the schedule that was handed to her and stomped out the door. Once out in the open air Streak felt better. She checked her iPhone which she luckily had decided to leave in her bag outside the arena. It was 10:37. She had about 45 minutes to get to the history building for her current world activities class. Streak smiled. Soon she would get to see Mike.

Streak glanced at her schedule to make sure she had the class before stashing it in her binder. As Streak zipped her bag shut, she stopped suddenly in shock. She unzipped her bag and pulled out her binder.

"Whoa," was all she could say. Streak raced back to her dorm and quickly showered and changed so she could examine her binder more closely. Streak flipped through the large folder curiously. It as filled with all the supplies she would need for her classes. Streak compared her schedule to the order of her supplied and was shocked to discover that it was all in order.

Streak shut her binder slowly and set it on the ground next to her. I didn't know I had a binder, she thought. I wonder how all the stuff got there. Suddenly Streak had an overwhelming curiosity to know what else was in her bag. She looked in the main compartment and found her laptop. She vaguely remembered putting it in that morning. She set it on top of her binder and pulled out several notebooks, a math textbook, and a book of graph paper to record science notes in. Streak examined her books and then slowly put it all back. She zipped up that part of the bag and opened the next one.

Streak found running shoes, metal gloves, a shiny white helmet, and a small box of energy tablets. After trying all new equipment on and studying it for flaws, she put it all back. Three small pockets remained all of the same size on the front of the bag. Streak opened the first one and found pencils, pens, paints, markers, sharpies, and all sorts of other marking utensils.

In the next pouch she found rows of slots for cards. About half of them were filled. Streak found that she needed a card for each class and each building she went into. She also needed a card to get into the cafeteria, her dorm, and the training arena. She figured out that the keys you needed glowed a little bit so she quickly located the two she would need to get into her history class. Also in the slots were several debit cards.

The last compartment contained a small palm pilot for notes and pockets designed for her iPod and iPhone. Also in the last pouch were several zippered pockets that Streak couldn't think of a use for.

Then Streak discovered a small zipper on the back of her bag that led to a secret compartment that housed all her information. She made a mental note to keep her bag safe.

Suddenly she remembered that she had to be at her history class. She glanced at her iPhone and gasped. It was 11:24. Streak had 6 minutes. She stuffed her belonging in her bag, remembering to take out the two cards to let her in the history class and raced at super sonic speed to the building, hoping she wouldn't be late.

Streak was barely on time and had just slid into her seat by Myra when the bell rang. The teacher, a dark blue male fox named Mr. Bilt as Streak concluded as it was on the board, bustled in and apologetically explained that he was not quite ready and permitted them to talk for five minutes while he got prepared. Myra greeted her with a grin and Streak smiled back. Mike and Scott hurried over.

"Hey!" Mike greeted her. "This is Scott. He's my roommate. His power is animals." Scott grinned a greeting and gave Streak a small wave. She smiled back. Streak noticed a shark tooth Chaos Guardian pendant around Scott's neck and remembered what Myra had told her about him the previous night.

"Now tell us about your power test!" Myra urged her.

Streak quickly described her test that morning. "Are the other Cha— Are the others here too?" she asked. Myra shook her head and opened her mouth to reply. Just then, the teacher announced that he was ready. Scott and Mike quickly returned to their seats behind the girls. The teacher looked around the room with a smile and, spotting Streak, asked Myra to introduce her. Myra introduced Streak and told the class her powers. The class nodded and some murmured hellos.

"Now please open your laptops and select today's class's material," the teacher directed. Streak obediently opened her laptop and, with Myra's help, found the right information. Mr. Bilt read the material aloud while the students read along silently. That day's information described what had happened the day before and was confirmed with pictures. Two 2nd dimensioners had been killed by the Chasers. Streak knew one of them had been her brother and was glad they didn't provide pictures. The Academy had saved seven teens. Four were graduates, one refused to go to the Academy, two were part of the Academy and were just our far a stroll, and one had joined. Hover Transportation Corp. had discovered a more efficient way of building their vehicles.

Streak absorbed the information like a sponge, wanting to do well in her first class. She was relieved that she could answer the three questions asked her.

The class ended at 12:15 and Myra explained that they had an hour to eat. Streak went with Myra, Mike, and Scott to lunch.

She liked Scott and was happy to learn that they were planning to hang out more often.

All too soon lunch was over and the foursome hurried to their next class. After Earth history they split up. For Streak the day went by quickly and at 4:15 she felt her brain was going to explode with all the information she had stuffed in it. She and Myra went back to their dorm to rest and talk before dinner.

They discussed their days and Streak tried to do something to make her bruised body feel better. She was glad that none of them showed. "Time for you to keep your promise," she announced with a grin.

Myra cocked her head questioningly. "Which promise? Uh oh, am I in trouble!" she gasped with mock horror.

Streak smirked. "You promised to tell me about the helpers," she reminded her friend.

"Oh yeah!" Myra exclaimed in remembrance. "Well, you know about Shadow already." All of a sudden she stopped and cocked her head, brow furrowed in concentration. Before Streak could ask, she shook herself and continued. "So that leave Kelo, Mike, and Knuckles."

"I know about Knuckles too," Streak interrupted.

If Myra was surprised at what Streak knew she didn't show it. "Okay, then I'll tell you about Kelo." They sat down cross-legged on Streak's bed facing each other. "She is Tails's older sister. Kelo came here for the same reason as the rest of us," she explained glancing around as if she thought some one could overhear. "She's a purple fox and her power is reaction premonition. That means she knows how someone will reacts a little while in advance," she added before Streak could ask. "She's like an older sister to all of us because she's so caring. It's just natural to like being around her. Her boyfriend, Knuckles, is another matter, though!" she laughed with a wolfish grin. Streak smiled back, knowing exactly what she meant.

"And you know about Mike," Myra concluded, looking at Streak slyly through the corners of her eyes. Streak wasn't paying attention, she just nodded. "Mike does all our talking, too."

"Cool," Streak murmured getting up. The conversation was over.

They left at 6 to find Scott and Mike. The foursome talked for a few minutes before getting their meal and heading for the pavilion they were to meet the others at.

Almost everyone else was there when they arrived. They greeted Streak warmly and she instantly relaxed. The only two who were missing, Myra told her, were Flash Sk8er. A few minutes later the pair arrived and apologized for being late.

"Flash's training lasted longer than it was supposed to," Sk8er explained with an apologetic smile. Streak liked Sk8er immediately. Then she shifted her attention to Flash. She looked exhausted and a little bit upset which surprised Streak. What had happened?

"Are you okay?" a red and black hedgehog which Streak had immediately recognized as Shadow from Silver's description demanded.

Flash grinned wryly. "I've been fighting robots from 7:30 this morning until half an hour ago. I'm just tired," she assured him, though a distant, angry looked still haunted her eyes. "The Headmaster had me fight for three extra hours just for kicks," she added with a scowl.

Streak had a sudden urge to defend the Headmaster, but then remembered how he had sent all those robots at her that morning and agreed with Flash.

"Flash and Sk8er, this is Streak, the newest Chaos Guardian," Myra introduced her. Sk8er smiled at the newcomer.

Flash shifted her weary gaze to Streak and met her eyes. Flash seemed to be looking straight into her. Streak was uncomfortable under her piercing gaze, but didn't look away.

"So you were tested this morning, Streak?" Flash asked. Streak nodded. "So what's your power?"

"I can control lightning and run fast," Streak told her. She found herself trying to please Flash, though she couldn't explain why.

Flash nodded thoughtfully, never taking her eyes away from Streak. "Did he send out his Sphere Shooters?" she asked. Streak hesitated, thinking of the hundreds of small circular robots. "They're small balls with machine guns on them," Flash clarified. Streak hesitated a moment longer before nodding slowly.

"And you used your speed and power over lightning to destroy them?" Again Streak nodded, surprised at how much Flash could deduce from what little she had been told. "You didn't lave unscathed did you?"

It was a statement, not a question, but Streak shook her head anyway. "I thought so," Flash nodded. She walked over to Streak with a quiet determination in her eyes, though the look didn't seem…normal. The others made way for her. When she was about five feet away, Flash stopped and held out her hand to Streak.

Streak stared at the hand and then looked at Flash's face. It was warm, friendly, and encouraging, though looked a little bit like a mask. Streak glanced at the others who were now standing in a loose circle around them. She looked once again into Flash's calm, steady gaze and took her hand.

As soon as Streak's hand touched Flash's, a blue light burst forth and flowed from Flash into Streak. The light was cool and refreshing, but Streak didn't trust it. She tried to pull away, but Flash held tightly to her wrist. Streak tried to scream as the blue light covered her body, but couldn't. When the light fully encompassed her, strange symbols appeared in it. They flowed mysteriously over Streak's skin.

Streak had heard Myra gasp audibly when the symbols appeared and now saw her friend reaching out her hand tentatively to touch them. Flash shook her head and Myra reluctantly withdrew her curious fingers.

Then suddenly the light was gone and with it Streak's pain. She knew her scrapes and bruises were gone as well.

Streak hurriedly brought her hand close to her and clenched her fist. She was afraid; afraid of Flash and the blue light. Streak studied the ground by her toes, not wanting to meet Flash's eyes.

She could feel the hedgefox echidna's eyes boring into her, but refused to look up. "Flash!" Myra exclaimed, not feeling the tension between the two guardians. "What were those symbols? I couldn't understand them!"

At this exclamation from her friend Streak looked up, surprised. "I thought you said you could understand all languages, Myra."

Myra nodded. "That's what I thought until about a minute ago." She turned again to Flash. "What were they?" Streak too turned to look at Flash. The hedgefox echidna was still watching her.

When Streak looked into Flash's eyes she was stunned. Flash had opened a portal into her thoughts and allowed Streak to see. Streak looked curiously and discovered that Flash had used a knowledge she couldn't fathom to heal her cuts and bruises. Though something seemed wrong, Flash had only been trying to help. Once she reached this conclusion, Streak relaxed. Flash sensed this, closed the portal in her eyes, and turned to Myra to answer her question.

"It is the language of the 3rd dimension," she told Myra in a soft tired voice. "They gave me the power of healing so their mark will be on it forever."

Myra's mouth made a small o and compassion for her friend sparked in her blue eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, hesitated briefly, and continued. "But how come I couldn't understand it?" she asked.

At first Flash didn't respond. She seemed lost in thought somewhere else. Streak had begun to wonder if Flash would respond when the hedgefox echidna spoke in a soft voice that seemed almost sad to Streak. "The third dimension does not go by the same rules as the first or second. Their powers are not the same as ours. For us, our physical abilities determine what we can do, but there…" Flash trailed off as she tried to think of a way to describe it. "In that…place, words are the most powerful thing you can posses so they guard their language from outsiders. If you, Myra, could understand their language at a glance as you do with all our languages, then you would be the most powerful being in the universe. Their language is filled with power and every word in it that you can read gives you strength and abilities you didn't have before. I was there long enough to be able to read some of it, though they tried to keep it from me. The way I healed Streak was simply with words. That is their power." She shrugged. "Those were actually the only words they gave me on purpose."

For a moment there was silence. "What are the words, Flash?" Myra asked in a tentative voice.

Flash smiled a sad smile like she knew something they didn't and opened her mouth. A flowing musical sound flowed from her lips. It was wonderful and lovely and unbearable. The guardians and helpers cringed at the sound and at the same time strained to hear every note. Then it was over. Streak's head spun with the magic of Flash's sound, but for the life of her she couldn't remember what it had sounded like.

Myra gasped. Streak looked at her friend. Myra was staring at nothing with a look of intense concentration on her face. She finally gave up trying and, with a defeated sigh, turned to Flash. "How come I can't remember?" she asked, her voice almost a wail.

Flash gave Myra a tired smile. "It must be given," she explained in a weary voice. Streak blinked. Flash looked and sounded much more tired than before. Shadow noticed too.

"Are you okay?" he asked sharply in mild alarm.

Flash smiled at him and nodded. "Oh!" she exclaimed, her eyes opening wide in alarm. "I almost forgot. The Headmaster is planning something in tomorrow at the noon assembly. I think it would be wise to skip that session."

The Chaos Guardians nodded. "We could go to The Place," Kelo suggested. Everyone but Streak nodded.

Just then a bell rang. Streak looked around in alarm and everyone gasped. They instantly began wolfing down their food. Streak just stared at them in confusion. "That bell means we have fifteen minutes till curfew," Myra explained between bites.

Streak nodded and began to inhale her meal. They all finished at about the same time and said their good-byes with a promise to meet for lunch the following day. Streak wanted to talk to Flash so she urged Myra to go on ahead and motioned to the hedgefox echidna. Flash nodded and told Sk8er she'd follow.

"I just wanted to thank you," Streak explained when everyone else had left. "I can tell that talking about the third dimension hurts for you.

Flash nodded in agreement. Streak opened her mouth to continue but Flash spoke first. "Let's start towards your dorm so you won't be late," she suggested. Streak nodded and they began to run slowly to Streaks dorm house. As they ran they sped up. Streak realized with surprise that Flash could keep up.

"You can run fast too?" she asked.

Flash nodded. "I got that power from the sapphires and it was enhanced by…them," she explained.

Streak nodded and dropped the subject, understanding that Flash preferred not to mention it.

As they ran Streak felt Flash's eyes on her and turned her head to meet the guardian's gaze. "Are you sure that speed and lightning are your only powers?" Flash asked.

Streak was so surprised by the question that she stopped running. Flash halted as well. "Well…Well…," Streak stammered. "I think so."

Flash nodded thoughtfully. "Well I don't," she told Streak in a calm tone. "Your power level is high, even for a guardian. I think you can do more. You are special, Streak. I think you could be more than a guardian."

Streak stared opened mouthed at Flash. What could she mean? Streak was about to ask when the bell rang again announcing that they had ten seconds left.

Flash's ears perked when she heard it and nodded at Streak. "My dorm is on the other side of the Academy; I'd better go." And with that she was gone. Streak stared after her for a moment before racing to her room. She got in just in time.

"Are you okay?" Myra asked, curious about her friend's silence.

Streak nodded. "Myra, why does she act so strange? Flash, I mean."

"Oh! She's not usually like that," Myra assured her. "I bet she's having another inner struggle with the 3rd dimensioners. She gets like that whenever they try to mess with her and she stays that way for a week or two. Soon she'll be back to normal and you'll see her for how she really is."

This answer satisfied Streak, though she was still confused and a little bit wary. They got ready for bed and soon Streak could hear Myra's steady breathing signaling that she was asleep. Streak tossed and turned, but it was hours before she finally drifted off.

"Streak!"

Streak blinked.

"Streak!"

Streak sat up and looked around her room. There was no one there. She blinked in confusion.

"Streak!"

Streak got out of bed and followed the voice. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't think straight. Who is it?

Silver! The word exploded in her mind. Her brother was calling her!

"I'm coming, Silver!" she called as she began to run.

"Streak!" Silver's voice was fainter now.

"Silver, I'm coming!" she called, desperate not to lose him. She ran as fast as she could. She left the Academy and raced through the city. Silver's faint voice guided her through the maze of backstreets and alleys. "Silver!"

"Streak!" She could barely hear Silver's voice now. She ducked into a doorway, following Silver's voice. As she entered the small dark building she almost tripped in shock. She was running down the street that Silver had been killed on!

Wait…

She heard Silver's voice telling her to run and heard that same blood curdling scream that her brother had uttered when he had been caught. "No! Run, Streak, Run! Don't turn back!" she heard him say.

Terrified now, Streak turned to obey. No! she thought resolutely, halting. She turned to race to Silver's rescue.

"Streak! Run! Run away! Don't let them get you! You're in danger! Get out of there!"

Streak almost stopped, surprised. What was Silver saying?

"Streak!"

"Streak!"

Streak began to run again, slower this time though. Ahh! Her feet were caught in something! She couldn't run!

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" she screamed.

"Streak!" Myra's voice broke into her dream. "Streak, are you okay?"

"Huh?" Streak sat up in bed breathing heavily. The dark alleyway was gone along with Silver and the Chasers. It had been a dream.

"Are you okay?" Myra asked in concern. Streak blinked to clear her vision. Myra was watching her with a look of intent concern on her.

"Yeah," Streak panted, "I'm fine." She untangled herself from her blankets and sat up. "I just had a nightmare," she explained. Myra nodded, not fully convinced and went into the kitchen to cook breakfast leaving Streak to think.

She remembered Silver's last words to her. She was curious about them, for it hadn't happened that way. Don't let them get you? You're in danger? Get out of there? Run away? What did it mean? It couldn't have been Silver, could have it? Streak suddenly remembered how Silver used to spin her good dreams when she was little.

"Maybe his previous Chaos power is letting him contact me!" Streak whispered to herself. "But what did he mean when he told me to leave? He couldn't have known I was here. He must think I'm still at our old home downtown! That's it! Silver gave me a dream to tell me to leave downtown! Well I'm one step ahead of him! I even found the Academy!" Streak glanced at the door and saw that it was, as always, locked up and soundproofed.

Streak got out of bed, stretched, and got ready for the day. When she walked into the kitchen, she was greeted by the small of eggs and bacon. She sniffed appreciatively and sat down to eat. She and Myra quickly ate and did the dishes so they wouldn't be late.

"I have language first period, what do you have?" Myra asked Streak as they stuffed their things into their bags.

"Uhhhh…I have track," Streak replied, consulting her schedule. "After that I have break for an hour and fifteen minutes before an Electronics Class."

"Lucky! I wish I had a break! Only newer 2nd dimensioners get breaks, though," Myra lamented. "Did you say Electronics Class?" she asked. Streak nodded. "Cool. Flash, Sk8er, Slash, and Shadow have that class. They love it, but the teacher assigns a ton of homework. What do you have after that class?"

"Mathematics," Streak told her, putting her schedule back in her bag and taking out the cards she'd need to get into her Track session.

"Clash, Knuckles, Randia, and Kelo have 10:35 math too. You guys will probably be in the same class."

"Cool!" Streak exclaimed with a grin. It seemed she had quite a few classes with the other guardians and helpers. "So I guess I'll see you at 11:30 for Current World Activities."

Myra nodded. "Oh, wait! No you won't. I have to skip Current World Activities today to finish a translation and help my language teacher set up for our presentation tomorrow," she explained with an apologetic smile. "But I'll be waiting for you at the pavilion for lunch," she promised.

"Okay," Streak replied with a nod. "See you then." The two friends left the safety of their dorm room and headed to their classes.

Streak was nervous about what she would have to do for her Track session, but she needn't have worried. She ran every distance assigned her in the appointed time with ease. When the coach was satisfied with her speed, he had Streak practice leaping hurdles without slowing down. This proved harder for Streak because she was in an advanced Track session where the hurdles were higher and closer together and she had never run a hurdle track before. She succeeded in running the track without knocking over any hurdles by the end of her session and the coach told her that next session she would work on not tapping them as she jumped over either.

Streak was glad for a break. Her muscles ached from almost doing the splits every time she cleared a hurdle. Streak went to her dorm and took a refreshing shower. Then she decided to go shopping for half an hour so that she would get to her electronics class with plenty of time to spare.

As Streak was window shopping, she saw a small, dark store that she hadn't noticed on her two previous trips there. She moseyed over to the small shop curiously. The words Weaponry and Defense were written above the door in flowing script. Streak studied the sign for a moment before pushing the door open.

It was dark inside and the light behind her made it impossible to see anything so Streak stepped in and closed the door behind her.

She blinked at the increase in darkness and it took her a moment to get used to the lack of light. When she was finally able to see Streak gasped. The walls in the small store were covered with shelves random objects some of which Streak knew and others that she didn't. All the devices were all sorted onto shelves and each shelf was labeled. Streak walked over to the nearest shelf curiously and read the label.

Working Laser iPod

Streak's jaw dropped in amazement. This small white rectangle was a laser? She tentatively reached out to touch one.

"Stop!" a great booming voice commanded. Streak froze. "What do you think you are doing?" the voice asked furiously.

"I…I…," Streak stuttered. "I wanted to see what it was," she explained in a small voice, looking around for the owner of the scary voice.

"Can you not read?"

"Well, yes, of course I can read, but—"

"Enough!" he growled, stalking into the weak light. Streak jumped a little when she saw the huge gray echidna she was dealing with. She surveyed his black leather clothing and heavy chains with terrified eyes. His angry black eyes took in the shaken hedgehog at a glance. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, his voice softening slightly.

"I'm new here and I don't have a class this period so I came shopping," Streak explained, stumbling over the words. "I saw your store and decided to check it out. I saw the laser iPods and wanted to see how they worked…" Streak trailed off. She watched the echidna fearfully. He was blocking her escape route through the entrance and Streak didn't know how she would get out quickly if she needed to.

The echidna nodded and seemed to be thinking hard. Streak saw that he was distracted and began to edge away as quietly as she could. Her key and pendant bounced against each other producing a sound like a small bell.

The sound snapped the echidna out of his trance. He blinked and saw Streak creeping fearfully towards the door. He smiled and stepped out of her way. "Forgive me," he apologized with a smile. "You can leave if you want to." Streak blinked in surprise. "Or you cold stay and I'd show you my toys," he continued.

Streak hesitated and studied the echidna for a moment before answering. "I'd like that," she told him in a shaky voice.

The echidna grinned broadly. "Splendid!" he exclaimed, rubbing his hands together. "It's not often I have an opportunity to show anyone my gadgets. I'm Jock, by the way," he added.

"Streak," Streak replied. She looked around the small room again at all the electronics. Jock had already moved to a shelf in the window which Streak now saw was boarded up. He picked up a silver square with a small clip that Streak recognized as an iPod shuffle from the electronics store. Jock looked up and gazed expectantly at Streak.

Streak paused then moved over to stand beside him. "This is an iPod shuffle hand grenade," Jock told her. "All you have to do is pull of the clip and throw it," he explained, showing her where the clip would break off when activated.

He set it down and picked up a pack of spearmint Orbit gum. "Want a piece?" he offered, opening the pack and holding it out to her. "No, you don't," he answered for her before she had a chance to respond, pulling the pack out of her reach.

"This is electric gum," Jock told her. "When it hits liquid of any kind, and that includes spit, it creates a big electric shock. This kind only stuns someone who tries to eat it, but I've got some that has enough voltage to kill. It comes in a bunch of different flavors," he added, gesturing to the shelf which was packed with several dozen varieties of gum.

He set the dangerous gum back on the shelf and picked up an eraser from the bottom shelf. "Highly flammable," he told Streak with a grin. He squeezed the eraser and a metal rod was ejected from the bottom. "Hold it by the rod, like a popsicle," he directed Streak. She obediently took the eraser and held it out. Jock pulled a lighter out of his pocket and, after making it flame, held it to the eraser.

He only held the lighter to the cube for a split second, but it was enough. The eraser burst into flame, glowing brightly. "It won't even go out in water!" Jock bragged, gazing proudly at his invention.

"Then how do you put it out?" Streak asked curiously, holding the eraser as if it were a snake.

Jock laughed. "Gasoline," he told her.

Streak looked questioningly at him, waiting for him to laugh at his own joke. "You're kidding, right?" she asked, unsure. "I mean, gasoline feeds a fire, not puts it out, right?"

Jock smiled knowingly. "You're are absolutely correct, Streak," he praised her. "But," he continued before she could say anything else, "this is not an ordinary fire. It is actually a chemical reaction that produces light. It 'burns' longer than any real fire would," he explained. "Gasoline is the only thing that will put it out." He nodded to a bucket in a dark corner and Streak tossed the glowing cube in. It stubbornly continued to glow for a moment longer before going out.

"Wow," was all Streak could say.

"See this?" Jock asked, moving on to the next trio of shelves. He held in the palm of his hand a mechanical pencil. "If you snap off the clip part and press the eraser end it shoots a single stun dart out the pencil side strong enough to stun any creature. If you hit a smaller animal or person, though, it could kill them."

Streak nodded. Amazed with all Jock was showing her.

Then Jock picked up a book. Streak recognized the series as one of her favorite. She glanced at the shelf and saw the whole series lined up there next to another series that Streak liked as well. "These pages are edged with diamond. They can cut through virtually anything." He closed the book and hit the spine hard with his palm. A blade popped out. "This is made of plastic, not metal, and can't be seen by metal detectors." He carefully slid the knife out and handed Streak a gas mask. They both put the masks on before he hit the spine again. A puff of vapor entered the air.

Streak suddenly felt calm and docile. She felt that no one would ever hurt her, so she had no reason to be afraid. He could tell anyone anything. Wait! A voice in the back of her mind spoke out. That's not true! Streak suddenly realized what the vapor had been. She turned to Jock with wide, untrusting eyes.

The gray hedgehog seemed to be in a trance. His eyes were glossed over and he had an odd smile on his face. He felt her eyes upon him and shifted his gaze to her. Suddenly he seemed to realize something. His eyes widened and he gave Streak an apologetic smile. He walked over to a switch on the wall and flipped it. A filtering fan came on and sucked the vapor away.

Jock cautiously took off his mask and, when he deemed the air safe, motioned for Streak to do the same. "Sorry," he apologized. "I took out the wrong kind of mask for truth serum."

Streak nodded and Jock slid the blade back into the binding of the book. "They all do that," he told her, motioning to the other books.

He carefully replaced the volume and moved on. "This is a bug detector," he told Streak holding up a magnetic strip like the ones on her bag. "You attach it to your bag and when you want it to scan the room you turn it twice clockwise. It will beep if anyone is trying to listen in."

He replaced the strip and selected one from the bin next to it. Streak noticed that he had all the types of magnets and supposed that he had a use for each. "This one is a smoke bomb if you pull it off."

"This one is a homing device. This handheld system can track it anywhere. If you pull it off your pack it sends out a distress signal," Jock told her demonstrating it with his own bag. Streak's head was spinning by now.

She suddenly remembered that she had electronics class. She gasped and hunted in her bag for her phone. It was 9:47.

"I'm sorry!" she gasped. "My class started two minutes ago!" Jock nodded in understanding, though it was obvious he was disappointed.

"Will you come back later?" he asked hopefully.

Streak nodded. "I don't have any more breaks today so I'll come after school." Jock seemed satisfied with her answer. "I hope Flash covers for me," she muttered under her breath as she stuffed her iPhone back in her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

Jock's jaw dropped. "You're a friend of Flash?" he asked in astonishment. Streak nodded. "Why didn't you say so? When you come back later bring her with you, you hear?" Streak nodded hurriedly and raced out the door, not stopping to wonder about his odd request.

Streak ran as fast as she could and slipped into her seat in front of Flash and Sk8er as quietly as possible just as the teacher was doing roll call. "Here," she responded when her name was called.

The teacher looked at her as he checked off her name. His kind smile told her that he knew she had been late, but was going to let her get away with it. "Hello, Streak, I'm Mr. Chip," he introduced himself. "Today we are starting a new project on electricity. The teams are on the board, you may choose which one you would like to be a part of."

Streak nodded thankfully. She liked this teacher already. Streak scanned the lists of names till she found Flash, Slash, Shadow, and Sk8er's group. They were team Omega. Streak noticed there was a team for every Greek letter. "Can I join team Omega?" she asked timidly.

Mr. Chip met Slash's eyes with a question. The green hedgefox echidna nodded solemnly. "Yes you may, Streak. Now, class, get with your teams to begin planning your project on electricity. Remember, the project may be about anything involving electricity."

The squeak of chair scraping across the floor could be heard as the 2nd dimensioners arranged themselves in loose circles to discuss their projects.

"Why were you late?" Sk8er asked Streak curiously.

Streak blushed. "I was shopping…" she began. Shadow smirked. Streak stopped, embarrassed. Flash scowled at Shadow who then looked apologetically at Streak. Slash nodded and Streak continued. "I went into the store called Weaponry and Defense and stayed longer than I meant to."

At the mention of the store Flash perked up. "Jock let you stay?" she asked, surprised.

Streak nodded. "You know him?" she asked, suddenly remembering Jock's reaction to Flash's name.

Flash grinned and nodded. "We're friends." Streak caught the other three exchanging shocked looks and looked at them questioningly. "Jock doesn't show many people his toys," Flash explained. "He usually chases students out. The only teens I know of who he has let stay are me, you, Shadow, Kelo, Sk8er, Slash, and Myra."

Streak blinked, surprised. "That's all?" The four nodded. "Why?"

"We don't know," Shadow told her. Streak noticed that Flash stayed quiet.

"Why does he only let a certain few into his store, Flash?" Streak asked, head cocked inquisitively. She wondered why she had been chosen as one Jock trusted.

Flash didn't at first respond. "Jock lives for his toys," she told Streak slowly. "He is overprotective of his inventions. Jock's power is a sense of…well, I'm not even sure what he senses, but it's not in very many people. When he senses it, he looks at that person a second time and if he approves he invites them to see his stuff. Only seven people that I know of here have had the privilege," she concluded.

"Jock does allow the others to see his stuff when someone he has 'chosen' is with them, but he isn't nearly as enthusiastic about showing them," Slash told her.

"He was disappointed when I had to go and I promised to go back after school and bring Flash with me," Streak told them. "Maybe you guys could come too."

They all nodded agreeably. Someone cleared their voice behind them and the five looked up into the amused face of Mr. Chip. "Are you almost done planning your project," he asked them.

The hemmed and hawed a bit before he laughed and walked away. "What are we supposed to do with this electricity thing?" Shadow asked dully. "I'm not too good at this science stuff. This is supposed to be a technology class!" he complained.

"It's an electronics class," Sk8er corrected him. "And the root word of electronic is electricity so we need to have a basic understanding of electricity to begin on technology."

"Maybe we could prove that lightning is electricity and come up with a way to use its power," Streak suggested timidly. Four sets of eyes turned to look at her. Streak squirmed, embarrassed. "At least it has something to do with electricity," she mumbled.

"That's a good idea, Streak," Slash commended her. "But how would we prove that and how would we can a lightning sample to test it?"

"We could see how each affects water and compare them," Sk8er suggested. "But there's still the problem of catching a lightning bolt."

The four sat back, thoughtful. Streak looked at each almost unbelievingly. "Uhhh…I can do it," she reminded them.

"Oh!"

"That's right!"

"Oh, yeah!"

"I completely forgot about that!"

Streak rolled her eyes, then grinned. "So when is the assignment due?" she asked, her mind already calculating out about how long they'd need.

"Three weeks," Shadow told her. "So for our project we're going to prove that lightning is electricity?" he asked.

The others nodded in confirmation. "Let's assign jobs," Slash suggested, assuming his role of team leader. "Streak can get the lightning. Sk8er can figure out how to do whatever with water so we can test it. Shadow can record our observations. Flash can research other theories about what lightning is and stuff like that. I will put it all together on a slide show and come up with our speech. We'll all have to memorize part of it, but I'll make it as easy as possible."

Everyone nodded. Shadow rummaged through his bag and found an unused pad of grid paper which he labeled 'Lightning is Electricity Project.' Sk8er pulled out a sketch book and began to draw different ways they could test their theory. Slash and Flash pulled out their laptops, Slash to begin his power point presentation and Flash to begin her research. Streak watched them for a moment before realizing with a jolt that she should be doing something too.

She took her laptop out of her bag and opened a fresh page to put her notes on. She hastily typed the basics of what she knew and created two columns; one called lightning and the other electricity. She already knew how she'd get a lightning bolt so she filled in that column quickly. Then she bit her lip and tried to think of a way to hit whatever water Sk8er decided on with enough electricity that they'd come up with a result.

I'll have to come up with some way to drop a ball of electricity in the water, she thought to herself.

She e-mailed a quick note to Myra asking if she had any ideas and continued thinking. Maybe Randia can juice up a gem of some sort with electricity and drop it in and then we can put a gem in the water when I hit it with lightning so it'll be even, she thought.

She e-mailed Randia asking if that was possible and jotted down her idea in the electricity column. Then electronics class was over. Streak saved her notes and they all packed up to go.

Streak got out her math class cards and hurried so she wouldn't be late. When she got there, Streak was excited to find that Clash, Knuckles, Randia, and Kelo had the class as well.

"I think I could get a diamond to hold electricity, but why do you want me to?" Randia asked as way of greeting her.

"It's for my electronics class. We are proving that lightning is electricity by seeing how each reacts to water," Streak explained as she joined the foursome at their table.

Randia nodded. "When do you need me to do this?" she asked as if it was decided already.

Streak smiled thankfully at the other girl's apparent willingness to help. "The project is due in three weeks so we'll probably need it sometime in the next week."

Randia nodded. "I think I can help if they agree," she told Steak with a friendly smile.

"What others?" Streak asked in confusion.

Randia raised her eye brows. "Shadow, Flash, Sk8er, and Slash. You know, the four you're doing this project with."

Streak blushed. How could she have forgotten? "Quiet you two!" Kelo hissed. "Finish your test before talking."

Streak was momentarily confused and was about to ask Kelo what she meant by a test. Then she looked down and found, to her astonishment, two sheets of paper stapled together with problems on them. The title was Algebra Completion Test. She blinked down at it and then looked at the clock. She had forty minutes left. Streak quickly set her mind to the test and was soon engrossed.

Streak had barely finished the test when the bell rang. She breathed a sigh of relief for the ease at which she had finished the evaluation and that she had been able to complete it before her time was up.

Streak stood up with everyone else and stretched her cramped muscles. Streak quickly located the cards she needed to get into her Current World Activities class and hurried to the history building with a tingly feeling coursing through her body. Soon she'd see Mike!

Streak slipped into her seat and looked around. Her friends weren't there yet; barely anyone was. Streak glanced at the clock and found that she was early. She settled down to wait for Mike, Myra, and Scott. Then she remembered with disappointment that Myra wouldn't be there. Oh well, I'll still see Mike, she told herself optimistically.

The room still filled, but Mike and Scott weren't among the 2nd dimensioners there. Streak frowned as she wondered where they could be. The class was about to start. Just then Scott burst through the door with a panicked look on his face. His eyes darted wildly around the room until the found Streak. He quickly motioned her to follow him and disappeared through the doorway. Streak hesitated and quickly asked the teacher if she, Mike, and Scott could skip the class to help Myra. Mr. Bilt looked slightly confused but wrote out three passes for her.

Streak thanked him and hurried into the hall. Scott was waiting impatiently at the other end. He motioned for her to hurry and turned the corner. Streak sped after him and wondered what was important enough for them to miss class for.

Streak followed Scott out of the building and across the Academy campus. She didn't question him and he didn't offer an explanation. They soon arrived at the pavilion. Everyone else was already there.

"Where were you?" Myra burst out as soon as the got there.

Streak blinked in surprise. "I was at my Current World Activities class," she explained.

"I mean why weren't you here? Didn't you get the text?"

"Well…no," Streak stammered. "I didn't check." She dug her iPhone out of her pocket and checked her inbox. She tapped the only new message on the screen. It was from Flash.

DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! Everyone meet at the pavilion ASAP. Change of plans. We have got to get out of here fast!

-Flash

"Well! What are we waiting for? Let's go!" an impatient Flash urged. She began to run towards the great double doors. The Chaos Guardians and helpers exchanged questioning glances. No one but Flash knew what was going on. Not knowing what else to do, they followed her.

Flash was waiting at the doors. "Let's go," she commanded and placed her hand on the scanner. She then swiped a card through a scanner and the doors slid softly open. As they filed through, a message went out over the loudspeakers requesting all 2nd dimensioners to please assemble in the Great Hall. Streak stopped and turned. The message was, of course, of utmost importance and was much more urgent than whatever Flash and the others were doing.

As Streak turned and headed back, she was aware of the eyes of all the others upon her, but she couldn't be bothered by that just then. She had to get to the assembly as soon as possible.

"Streak," Myra called out questioningly, "what are you doing?"

Streak turned and her jaw dropped as she saw them all standing there. None of them were obeying The Headmaster! Then Streak caught sight of Mike who was being bodily dragged away by Scott and Knuckles. She wanted to help him, but she had to answer Myra so she could attend the assembly. "I'm going to the assembly, of course," Streak told them, dumbfounded. "Shouldn't you all be going too?"

"She's controlled," Flash stated softly, a hard glint in her eye. She walked over to Streak's side and gently yet firmly took hold of her forearm.

Streak looked down at the hand that gripped her with empty, confused eyes. "What are you doing?" she asked nervously, looking at the other Chaos Guardians for help. They all stared back at her with grim expressions. Streak again noticed Mike and realized that he was trying to go to the assembly, but hey weren't letting him. Suddenly it all became clear to her. They were going to stop her from obeying The Headmaster!

"No!" she shouted and tried to wrench free. Flash had an iron grip on her, though and wouldn't budge. "Let me go!" Streak shouted, struggling to free herself. Flash slowly, calmly clamped her other hand on Streak's mouth and twisted her arm painfully behind her. Streak screamed, but it was muffled by Flash's hand.

"Let's go, quickly," Flash muttered, hurrying through the doors. Everyone else followed. The heavy doors slid shut behind them. The moment they closed, the need Streak felt to attend the assembly lessened, but she still wanted to go. Flash felt the hesitation and took that opportunity to get a better grip on Streak; holding Streak's writhing body to her own to drag her along.

The group hurried a block or two away from the Academy and got into a hover craft waiting in an alley for them. Streak saw that Shadow was driving. They all stepped in and sat down on the seats that formed a circle in the vehicle. Only when the doors were shut and they were on their way did Flash, Knuckles, and Scott let go of Streak and Mike. The pair immediately began demanding explanations for why they were being treated so cruelly and loudly expressing their desire to be taken back to the Academy immediately.

The other Guardians and Helpers looked on passively and ignored the protests. Shadow navigated the hover craft expertly through the dark alleyways of the downtown. Streak tried to memorize their route, but soon gave up attempting to remember the dizzying course. Presently they arrived in front of a dark little bar. Shadow pressed a button on the dashboard and a previously invisible door in the shadow of the run-down building swung open to let the vehicle through.

It closed gently once they were inside. For a moment it was pitch black, then suddenly the large room was flooded with light. Streak blinked. They were in a small glowing box with no doors. Streak looked back the way they had come but couldn't make out the portal they had entered through. Just then, a crack appeared in the wall before them and soon widened to a door. They slipped though into an enormous room as white as the box they had just left. Streak gaped at the sight.

How can this be? The building wasn't this big when I saw it from the outside! Streak stared at the devices cluttering tables that dotted the room. A small group of them were bare and Shadow let them off there. Everyone but Streak and Mike sat down, looking perfectly content and happy. Streak and Mike felt far from happy, but said nothing.

"Mike," Scott called to him once they were settled. "Have you snapped out of it yet?" Mike looked confused by the question and a little bit scared.

Scott sighed and he and Knuckles stood up. They casually sauntered over to Mike and each took hold of one of his arms. Streak jumped when Myra and Sk8er took hold of her arms holding her fast, but knew it would be futile to struggle.

Streak and Mike tensed as Flash and Slash rose from their seats and came over to stand in front of them. Then they raised their right hands in perfect synchronization and Flash placed her palm on Streak's forehead, Slash on Mike's.

As soon as Flash touched her Streak felt an incredible fear and began to struggle against Myra and Sk8er with inhuman strength. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the same thing happening to Mike. They're going to destroy me! Streak shrieked in her mind. She squirmed violently trying in vain to get Myra and Sk8er to let go.

The same pulsing light that Flash had used to heal her was traveling in waves around Streak's body from her forehead. She suddenly felt feverish and didn't know what was happening. Was she struggling against friends or enemies?

Streak went limp. She struggled to fight her way out of oblivion. Streak now realized what had happened. The Headmaster had been controlling her and now the other Chaos Guardians had released her from the spell. Some sort of spell control The Headmaster had to keep all students in check was now trying to drag Streak down so deep into sleep that she would never be able to come back up again.

Streak felt like she was trying to swim up to air, but was being dragged slowly down by something much more powerful than she was. As she thrashed and kicked to get to the surface Streak knew it was hopeless. She wasn't strong enough. She heard great booming voices above her and imagined the other Chaos Guardians trying to wake her. They'll never know, she thought thickly as she began to shut down, having no more strength to struggle. Streak was deep now, almost deep enough to never have a chance to wake again.

Streak saw a small splash far above her and three lights fell towards her. Streak smiled blissfully. They were so pretty. Two of the lights were blue and one was green. They rushed towards Streak and she reached up to embrace them.

Streak! Streak smiled. The light knew her name. Streak! Listen to me! You have to try to swim! Come on Streak! Help us!

Streak didn't know what the lights were talking about but she figured it couldn't hurt to try to please them. Once more Streak thrashed and kicked to get higher. The lights were much closer and had become familiar shapes. I know them, Streak thought as she writhed to get free. The shapes then became Myra, Flash, and Sk8er.

The threesome floated down beside Streak and grabbed hold. They began to swim upward, but were stopped short. They look down questioningly at Streak, not understanding what was keeping her there. Streak nodded at her legs and kicked to show how she was being dragged down. Flash let go and swam down to get a better look. As her warm blue light illuminated Streak's legs she saw for the first time the menace that was dragging her downwards.

It was darkness. Streak screamed and went into hysterics trying to free herself. Flash darted towards the darkness, arms outstretched to meet it. She tried to grab the darkness, but it was yanked out of her reach as it clung to Streak's madly jerking legs.

Stop struggling, Streak! I've got it! It took all of Streak's willpower not to try to send the hideous darkness flying. This time when Flash rushed the darkness she got a good hold of it. She clung fiercely to the now squirming menace. As she did, her headband of Chaos Sapphires began to glow and then spin.

The darkness let go of Streak and tried to flee, but Flash held it tight. Her headband was spinning swiftly now, so fast it was a blur against her forehead. With her free hand Flash reached up and brushed her palm against the glowing ring. Some of it seemed to rub off; her hand began to glow at any rate.

The darkness wailed heart wrenchingly, but Flash didn't falter as she pressed her palm against the writhing shadow. It let out a scream that ended in a whine before shattering. Flash let go and the pieces fell down. They four Guardians watched them until they could no longer be seen.

Let's get you out of here.

Streak nodded and they swam towards the surface. As Streak broke the surface and inhaled deeply she woke up with a start and a sigh. The others smiled with relief as the four of them woke up.

"I didn't know you were that controlled. I'm sorry I made you go through that," Flash apologized.

"That's okay," Streak replied in a shaky voice. "If you hadn't burst that dark I wouldn't have woken up."

"But it was my fault that it found you at all," Flash explained. "I hadn't realized how much The Headmaster had gotten into your mind and didn't think that dark would be there. I thought you would be able to get out yourself and almost waited too long before going after you."

Streak shivered. "What was that place anyway?" she asked, not quite sure she wanted to know.

"That was the Abyss," Flash told her softly. "It has no bottom."

Streak gulped and imagined herself being dragged down by the dark forever. She shuddered at the thought.

For a long moment there was silence as everyone recovered from the shock in their own ways.

"What is this place?" Streak asked, finally breaking the silence.

"This is our hideout. It's where we go to escape The Headmaster," Myra told her. "We built it long ago after we were caught in an assembly. Luckily we were sent out right after that because Slash, Clash, and Flash snapped out of it once we left and then got us back. We always come here during assemblies so that we won't get taken in again. Mike is the only exception. The way his mind is wired his conviction to do what The Headmaster wants is stronger when he leaves. He was under full control the day he recruited you. We try to keep him away from solo recruiting missions so that one of us can help him."

Streak blinked; glad that she was being told this so she would never be unprepared again. "So how do you know when an assembly is?" she asked, thinking of how they had already been leaving when the assembly was called.

"We listen," Slash explained, "and watch. We try to stay in The Headmaster's favor which is easy because we all have strong powers so that we usually know about assemblies ahead of time. It wouldn't be so important except Mike can't resist the call and we'd be noticed if we always disappeared without a moments notice before assemblies. We always try to plan it so that we are assigned out weeks in advance."

"Every time I'm called I go under control again," Mike explained. "Every time I go out I have to be snapped back and every time I come back too. If I would have had someone else with me the day I met you I would have warned you away rather than recruited you. I stayed under control until I got back to my room and then Scott snapped me back." Mike smiled wryly, "It was a good thing he did too otherwise I would have reported you guys."

"How does that work?" Streak asked. "I mean, can't he just listen to everyone?"

"He puts everyone under control and then hooks their minds up to a machine that keeps them controlled and drags them into the abyss if they try to leave. He can't monitor them all so he makes it so that if a 2nd dimensioner has something to report their button on his screen lights up and he summons them when he gets a chance. Mike had notified him that he had something to say once he had listened to our the stuff about Chaos Guardians, but The Headmaster couldn't see him right away so Mike came back to out room and I snapped him back," Scott explained. "Mike then turned off his report light so that he wouldn't have to make something up."

"You see, everyone maintains their personality and has their own thoughts but as part of the control they can tell if what they hear is something The Headmaster wants to know," Flash clarified. "All those controlled can turn on and off their report lights," she added. "Mike was convinced you were resistant so we thought you had avoided control, but now I see we were wrong."

"How come you didn't report, Streak?" Mike asked. He had been wondering about this ever since they had realized she was controlled.

"I didn't have whatever you're talking about," Streak explained with a shrug. "I just did things for a reason I wasn't sure of and knew some things were right and others wrong. I often argued with myself and didn't agree with a lot of what you guys said, but I didn't think I was supposed to tell or anything."

She was regarded with shocked stares. "What?" Streak asked in confusion. "I just didn't have the report thing you guys are talking about, what' wrong with that?"

"Nothing," Mike assured her, still looking almost unbelieving. "It's just that it means that someone was guarding your mind."

"What?" Streak had no clue what they were talking about.

"Someone, or something, was protecting you from The Headmaster, Streak," Flash told her in a cool voice.

"Okaaay, that's a good thing, right? That I'm protected?"

"Yeah, but it means you can't help us fabricate a story for one thing," Myra told her then trailed off.

"What else?" Streak asked, knowing Myra was keeping something that shocked them all from her. "Why else is it bad?"

"It means there is someone else, Streak, at the Academy who is uncontrolled that is powerful," Flash told her. Streak was about to ask why that was bad, but Flash answered before she could voice the question. "And we don't know who."

The Chaos Guardians and Helpers remained at their hideout for another hour or so. Streak was unnerved by the silence that filled the huge white room and squirmed in her seat. Pair or trios were discussing something in whispers and everyone looked worried. This is all my fault! Streak thought despairingly. Her glum attitude must have shown on her face because Myra, with a worried glance at Scott and Mike who were too deep in conversation to notice, came over to sit by her.

"Are you okay?" she whispered, concern written all over her face as she studied Steak's expression. Streak put on a smile and was about to assure Myra that she was fine, but she caught her friend's frown and knew that she would see right through the lie.

"I'm the cause of all this trouble. It's all my fault," she explained in a quiet voice, her that cracked a bit.

"Oh, Streak!" Myra's mouth made a small o of sadness. Streak looked away bitterly. They had underestimated her in thinking she wouldn't notice that she was the problem. Myra's next words surprised her. "Oh, no! It's not your fault!"

Streak's head jerked up. Out of the corner of her eye she saw someone glance over at them causing Myra to lower her voice. "It isn't your fault," Myra explained, lowering her voice so as not to disturb the others in their conversations. "It's actually a sort of good thing that we know that someone else is at The Academy resisting the Headmaster."

Streak felt a lot better after Myra's reassurances and told her so. Her friend gave her arm a squeeze and, with a semi-apologetic smile, went to go talk to Scott and Mike. Streak was alone again. She scowled, a little hurt that Myra had left her to be with her older friends, then relaxed. It wasn't Myra's fault that this had happened. Myra was worried and Streak had no answers so Myra had just gone to talk with someone who did. She shook herself. Stop being so sensitive! She scolded herself.

"Can I talk to you?" Streak was snapped out of her mental reprimand by Flash who was sitting across from her. Streak blinked. She didn't remember Flash coming to sit there. "You were thinking," Flash told her as if she could read her thoughts.

Streak nodded and shook away her confusion.

"I need to ask you something," Flash stopped, then hesitated. "But you might not be able to answer." Streak nodded. "Who is protecting you?"

Streak blinked. "I dunno. I didn't know I was protected until like fifteen minutes ago. I didn't even know there was anything to be protected from except The Chasers."

Flash flinched at her last words. "So you don't know yet?" her voice was pained and she looked down at the table rather than into Streak's eyes.

"Don't know what?" Streak's voice was shaky. She wasn't quite sure she wanted to know what Flash was talking about, but she'd listen anyway.

Flash switched her gaze to the lofty ceiling, then to Slash, Sk8er, and Shadow, then back down to the table. Whatever she had to say couldn't be good. "The Chasers don't really exist," she murmured quietly. Streak opened her mouth to protest, she knew they existed, but was cut of by an uncertain rush of words from Flash, very uncharacteristic of her. "The Chasers are Academy robots," she explained with a shrug. Only then did she meet Streak's astonished gaze. She looked away again. The shock, betrayal, and fury Flash saw written there stirred up some emotion inside her she did not want to feel.

"The Chasers are Academy robots," Streak repeated, the words sounding hollow and angry coming from her. "The Academy killed—" her voice broke off as her throat constricted. Hot, angry tears welled in Streak's eyes and splashed one by one onto the white table under her hands.

"Please stop," Flash said in a quavering voice, snapping Streak back to reality. She was surprised to see Flash the way she was looking now- small and scared; she had been told that Flash was always strong. "Just stop," she repeated. "Stop feeling that way," she muttered, anger flickering dangerously in her now cold eyes. She looked more like herself now, but a lot angrier. "Quit it!" Flash hissed furiously. "Stop feeling that way!" she almost shouted, leaping to her feet.

Dead silence filled the room. All eyes were on Flash. She stood there somewhat hunched over, looking ready to pounce. Her face was twisted in ire and her eyes glittered furiously in a frightening way. Flash trembled with suppressed emotions for a moment then flopped back down on her chair, arms crossed. Her ice blue eyes dark and brooding. No one spoke. Everyone seemed to be waiting for something; waiting for Flash.

Myra timidly set her hand on Streak's shoulder. "Come on," she whispered. Streak was more than happy to escape Flash's furious gaze and quickly slid out of her seat to go join Myra, Scott, and Mike. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sk8er, Shadow, and Slash go over to sit by their angry friend.

Streak sat down and there was no noise for several moments. "Something is bugging her and when she is upset her senses are heightened and her mind does something that lets her see and feel more than normal," Myra explained in a whisper close to Streak's ear. Streak nodded, though she didn't really understand all of what her friend had told her.

Finally Flash's anger seemed to blow over. Everyone was more relaxed and started talking anyway. Myra, Scott and Mike suddenly stood up and moved to a different table. Streak's jaw dropped in surprise. She took a breath to call out to them but an icy hand placed on her shoulder stopped her. She didn't have to turn around to know that it was Flash.

The hedgefox echidna sat down beside her and for a long, uncomfortable moment simply stared at her. "I didn't mean it," she said suddenly. "You know that. Recently I've been like that. I'm sorry. I'll be back soon, then you can meet me; the real me." Streak blinked and, after hesitating, nodded. Flash smiled sadly. "You don't understand. Don't worry. You will." She grinned and once again her eye portals opened, though this time for only a split second.

Streak nearly choked. What she saw there was impossible! Flash couldn't know all that and resist the enormous weight that threatened to overpower her that very moment could she? Flash's mind shut just as suddenly as it had opened. Streak understood. She nodded and Flash smiled.

They stood up. "We should go now," Flash instructed, her voice loud and commanding now with no trace of the temporary breakdown she had just experienced. "Otherwise we'll be missed."

They piled into the hover car which went back into the small white room which Mike explained was an elevator. Soon they were on their way back to the Academy. Streak had a lot to think about.

She stared out the window ignoring Kelo's chatter and tried to process all that had happened. She tried to go back through the past couple days in her mind and see how she had been controlled. She realized that all the times that she had thought or done things without thinking she had been controlled.

With a gasp she remembered her nightmare about Silver and realized that he had been warning her about the Academy! I can't believe I didn't see any of that! she thought to herself.

All too soon they were back. Streak grimaced, not looking forward to her return. Myra took one of her hands and Mike the other in a wordless gesture of support. Streak smiled tentatively at them in gratitude. The other guardians gathered around and together they approached the door. I can't believe I'm going back, she thought with a sigh, but when she looked around and saw all her friends she smiled. Now she had a purpose for living. Now she could share their lives. Now she belonged Streak smiled blissfully.

Whatever came her way, she could handle now. A dark thought lurked in the shadows of her mind. Who had protected her? But it was quickly pushed aside. They would deal with it later. For now they had enough to worry about explaining their disappearance! Streak smiled but it turned out closer to a grimace. Things were going to get interesting.

Three excrutiating hours later Streak was back in her dorm room with Myra. She was sprawled on her bed, tongue out dramatically, trying to calm her racing heart. Myra smirked and flipped the switch that secured the room for talking.

"That was interesting," she commented in an off-hand way.

"Interesting?" Streak repeated in disbelief scrambling to a sitting position. "That is a gross understatement, Myra! I cannot believe what happened! To think I was under The Headmaster's influence," she shuddered at the thought, "this whole time putting you all at risk. How did that slip through? Why didn't one of you realize it?"

Myra rolled her eyes dramatically and sat down carefully on the edge of her computer chair. "It's not as easy as you think determining whether or not someone is safe," she explained. "We assumed that you were untouched because of your pendant," she nodded to the lightning bolt around Streak's neck, "and Mike never said otherwise. I guess that is our fault for not asking. Mike forgets most of what he does when he is under The Headmaster's influence, but he would have remembered something that important if we asked."

Streak sighed and gently massaged her temples. This was getting complicated fast. "What is our cover story again?" she muttered. Everyone else had it down perfectly, but she still didn't have the basics consistently.

Myra sighed too. "We waited outside until the meeting was under way because we have been taught that we only need to be in the dome unless told otherwise and then we went out to look for new recruits since meetings are the best time to bring them in. We think that all the second dimensioners must be in hiding because we see less and less of them every time. We came back after a couple hours because we were having no success and if we missed anything we had to learn before our classes which we found when we returned had been canceled for the day. So we are resting for an hour or so."

Streak nodded wearily. This was the dummy version of the story. When Mike had told The Headmaster Streak half believed him even though she knew the truth. He had told it with such a matter-of-fact attitude and so many details that it was entirely believable.

Streak's iPhone buzzed in her shoulder bag. With a mindless action Streak slipped it out of its pocket and presser answer. "Hello?"

"Streak! It's Miley," a foreign female voice gushed. "I'm sooo glad you finally found out! I was so worried you know, about you believing. But I guess I didn't need to did I? I mean, you're a Chaos Guardian for heaven's sake!"

Streak and Myra stared at each other with open mouths utterly shocked ad horrified. "Who is she?" Streak mouthed.

"But you should totally come visit me sometime or maybe I could just go to your room and meet Myra. She's a Chaos Guardian too I hear," Miley continued.

Myra's eyes widened then narrowed angrily. She snatched Streak's iPhone and growled angrily, "Shut up," before hanging up. She tossed Streak's phone back and had her own in hand frantically dialing multiple numbers simultaneously. A chorus of hellos could be heard followed by a few more. "Pavilion! Now!" Myra hissed then hung up.

"Come on!" she hissed to Streak grabbing her bag and hoodie before dashing out. Streak blinked then followed grabbing her stuff on the way out. They ran as fast as Myra could and arrived at the pavilion right after Slash, Shadow, Sk8er, and Flash. Everyone else appeared in the next two minutes.

"Someone knows," Myra explained through her teeth in a tight voice. "Someone calling herself Miley just called Streak and asked about Chaos Guardians and The Headmaster's control."

Everyone started talking at once demanding to know the conversation word for word, asking if they should leave, and planning the possible fight. "Miley," Flash whispered thoughtfully. Silence came over the pavilion as they turned to watch Flash. Flash did not return their gazes she was staring thoughtfully at nothingness. A short musical sound that no one could remember burst from her lips, something from the 3rd dimension.

Flash shook her head slowly. "I don't know who this Miley is, but she means us no harm," she announced. "All the same, be on your guard," she added sternly. "Let's go talk to Jock."

Flash led the way with everyone trailing nervously behind. The few that Flash had explained were Jock's friends looked relieved at the prospect of arming themselves with Jock's gadgets, but everyone look more apprehensive about it.

"Jock!" Flash called as soon as they were all in his shop with the door shut behind them. Randia and Scott looked claustrophobic. "We need your help."

Jock seemed to materialize out of a dark shadow and drift over to them on silent feet. "What trouble did you get into this time?" he asked in a gruff but kind voice. Streak was surprised and impressed with the relationship Flash had obviously established with the weapons master.

It was Myra who answered in a tight voice. "We don't know," she admitted with a shrug. "But someone knows." Jock's face darkened and Streak blinked. Jock wasn't controlled either.

Jock quickly began sifting through his haphazard collection of gadgets selecting a great many of them. He divided the items into uneven piles with no two piles even close to being the same. He wordlessly handed a pile to each of them. Streak found that hers was complied of things she herself would have chosen. Each came with a miniature instruction manual that Jock said they could read later.

He also handed them tiny walkie-talkie phones. "They're more secure," he explained with a shrug. "Be careful, Chosen," he told Flash, Slash, Shadow, Sk8er, Myra, Kelo, and Streak. "And you, friends," he nodded to everyone else.

They all nodded solemnly back and after stowing their new stuff filed out silently. All except Flash that is. She stayed behind for a moment whispering something in hushed tones. They came to some sort of agreement then Flash started for the door. She stopped halfway there and pulled out a large wad of cash. Jock scowled and shook his head. Flash raised an eyebrow and held it out in a commanding way. Jock sighed in defeat and reluctantly took the money.

They probably had an argument about that before, Streak thought wryly. They silently left, got their meals, and jogged to the pavilion. Everyone ate in silence, each lost in his or her own thoughts as they read the manuals for their new toys.

Streak quickly understood how all her devices worked so she watched everyone else memorize their manuals. She noticed that the difficulty of the gadget was met evenly by the technological skill of the user. Jock was much more observant than she had given him credit for.

"So what do you think?"

Streak jumped and whirled around. "Oh, Flash! You scared me!"

Flash's mouth quirked into something halfway between a grin and a smirk. "Well what do you think?" she repeated.

"About what?"

"Jock's inventions. He always customs makes stuff for us," Flash explained. "He has a good sense of what kind of fighting style people have. I think it's a power of his, but it's subtle enough that I can't really tell."

"Uh, they're great!" Streak assured her, scrambling to make sense of the extra information. "They're awesome, really cool."

This time Flash really did smirk. "Good," she said rather sarcastically. "Can you use yours yet?"

"Well enough." For some reason Streak felt defensive. Maybe it was the confident, laughing vibes the hedgefox echidna was radiating.

Flash nodded. "Care to test yourself?" she asked with a slow grin. Streak blinked uncomprehendingly. "One of the private scrimmage arenas. We use them to test Jock's new devices all the time."

"Okay." Streak smiled, her imagination already at work. "Let's go."

Together they sprinted to the training area. Flash stopped at the one closest to the outer dome's edge, number 8. A small smile played her lips as she stretched. "Let's see what you got," she challenged, beckoning with one hand.

As slowly as she could, Streak took out the laser whip bracelets with detachable blades and ninja stars Jock had given her and snapped them on. As soon as they were fastened, something horribly solid and ungraspable punched her in the gut. Streak dropped to her knees, wheezing.

"Not the best strategy, but I suppose it would have worked if I wasn't your opponent," Flash murmured in contemplation, cocking her head. Weaving blue lights that shimmered with unreadable emotions tugged lightly as Flash's wrists. "I suppose I do have the advantage though," she continued. "Jock gave me the prototypes a year ago."

"Ugh." Streak took a shaky breath and got to her feet. Flash waited while she equipped herself with the remaining gadgets: X-ray sunglasses, stun dart ring, electrocution gum, rocket launcher boots and gloves, a metallic looking headband that transformed into a helmet, and a tube of lipstick that could grow into a five foot long pole. The tricked out book trilogy and exploding iPod shuffle she slipped into her bag. She didn't need to practice to know how to use those.

She activated the lipstick and twirled the metal stick experimentally. A perfect balance. Only then did she glance back up at her opponent.

Flash looked amused. Streak knew that she could have been attacked unawares again and promised herself not to be so careless again. One more twirl and Streak went on the offense, but by the time she reached Flash, the hedgefox echidna wasn't there anymore.

"You're gonna hafta be faster than that, Streak," a chiding voice called from the other side of the arena.

She's fast too, Streak remembered now. I can't keep underestimating her! Without consciously deciding it, Streak turned a quick handspring, activating the rocket launcher triggers hidden on her palms. The missile was right on target.

Flash smiled as the rocket sped towards her. At the last minute she spun around sent the explosive spinning back with a roundhouse kick. Then she reached out her arms so they were parallel to the ground.

Streak tensed, ready for…well anything. A cloud of miniature darts flew from hidden compartments in Flash's gloves. Streak ducked with room to spare and was slammed in the chest. She flew back, hitting the wall and sliding to her knees in the dust. She looked up, eyes unfocused.

Flash was right above her, nodding in approval. "Nice. Just a tip, always keep your eyes trained on your opponent. Not that they will be able to pull that on you like I did, but it's always good practice."

Streak nodded weakly, breathing hard. "Streak! Are you okay?" Streak recognized Mike's voice and raised her head.

"She's fine," Flash assured him, kneeling beside her newest friend. A blue glowing sphere surrounded her hand as she massaged Streak's forehead.

Streak sighed with relief as the pain and lightheadedness melted away. "Thanks." Shakily, she got to her feet. "Okay. Test run: not so great."

Flash smiled. "You did great, promise."

"Yeah," Mike agreed, giving her a big hug. "You alright?" Streak nodded her assurance. "Let's go grab a smoothie from The Mall while you rest for a bit," he suggested.

Not sure why she did it, Streak looked to Flash for an okay. She got an expressionless nod in response. "Sounds great," she admitted.

The pair moved off, Streak glancing behind her constantly until Flash was joined by Sk8er, Shadow, and Slash.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Mike asked for the hundredth time.

"I'm fine," Streak promised once again, taking a slow sip of her triple berry shake. "Just tired is all. I really need to practice with the stuff from Jock, though."

"Me too!" Streak and Mike jumped as Myra and Scott slid into the seats opposite them. "Let's all practice together!" Myra continued, practically glowing from excitement. "We could use arena six instead of eight and just practice."

"Sure," Scott agreed. "But can we grab something to eat first? I'm starved!" Myra consented and the foursome ate quickly before heading back to the arena area.

"Let's have Scott and Mike fight first while we watch, then we can kick them out and fight," Myra stage whispered to Streak with a theatrical wink.

Streak giggled. "Okay."

"What?" Mike and Scott immediately began complaining. "That's not fair! How come we have to fight first, and you get to watch!"

"Because we are the girls, and you do what we tell you to," Myra laughed giving Scott a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Now get in there and show us what ya got!"

The boys still complained, but they complied with the girls demands. Streak and Myra watched in rapt attention as Mike and Scott, evenly matched, tested out their new equipment.

"Ten bucks says Scott can beat Mike up!" Myra hissed during an intermission with a sly look on her face.

"No way!" Streak laughed. "You're on!"

In the end, the boys called a draw and hit the showers.

"Our turn!" Myra squealed, jumping the fifteen feet down from the stands to the arena. Streak quickly followed.

As soon as Streak regained her balance, Myra tensed ready to pounce.

"Wait, wait!" Streak called, straightening and making her hands into a T shape. "I say we each get one minute to equip ourselves."

"Deal," Myra laughed, straightening too. Streak quickly chose her laser whip bracelets, helmet headband, and lipstick pole. She popped a red mint into her mouth for added energy.

She activated the laser bracelets and headband then stuck the lipstick in her pocket and tossed her bag back into the stands. She looked up just in time to see Myra throwing hers too.

"Ready?" Streak queried, a sly grin on her face as she clasped her hands deceptively behind her back.

"I was born ready!" Myra shouted, eyes laughing, as she rushed forward with a strange double bladed stick. She was faster than Streak had expected, but not fast enough to throw her off.

With a carefully calculated cartwheel, Streak dodged out of the way just in time. She landed lightly on her feet and pivoted around before Myra could turn back. With a giddy cry of "Hiya!", Steak sent the laser whips flying towards her friend.

She overshot it and the lasers sailed past Myra nearly a foot away doing no damage. Streak yanked the whips sideways, hoping to give Myra a glancing blow, but Myra saw it coming and ducked.

Reaching up, the hedgechidna sliced the trailing end of the whip as Streak pulled it back. The severed end dropped to the ground, convulsing, as a new length of laser grew in its place.

Myra stabbed the glowing laser with a small knife that was suddenly in her hand and, turning quicker than Streak could react, threw the knife towards her.

Streak ducked, but not quickly enough. The knife sliced through her sleeve and grazed her arm. Streak gasped as the throbbing began and her dark blood began to gush out of the wound. She could hear Myra's gasp of surprise. I should have been faster, Streak lamented bitterly. She quickly pointed her stun dart ring at Myra and fired.

Seeing the small missile, Myra tried to dodge, but it lodged itself in her forearm. She plucked it out before all the liquid could enter her bloodstream and squeezed the point of entry, causing a few more drops to resurface. Dizzy now, Myra slumped against the wall, eyes fluttering shut momentarily.

It was just long enough for Streak to down a blue healing pill. She immediately stopped feeling lightheaded from blood loss, and the wound stopped bleeding.

Both girls stood shakily at the same time. Myra drew a knife and Streak took out a trio of ninja stars. They eyed each other warily, bodies tense, though shaky.

Suddenly, Myra began to laugh. Streak cocked her head, confused. "We're too evenly matched!" Myra gasped between bouts of giggling. "How bout we call a draw?"

Streak laughed too, gratefully putting away her ninja stars and flopping onto the ground. "Sounds good!" she agreed with a weak laugh. She put her head between her knees, trying to regain her composure and fight the wave of nausea.

The sound of pounding feet caused her to perk back up and lift her head. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Myra do the same. Scott and Mike were racing towards them looking half worried, half proud.

To Streak's surprise and embarrassment Mike scooped her up as soon as he reached her. He gently kissed her forehead, causing her to blush further. "You did great!" he exclaimed with a big goofy grin.

"Thanks," Streak murmured weakly. Her face was bright red.

Mike paused, his eyes unreadable. "I love you," he whispered softly.

Streak's breath caught as an untapped jubilation filled her entire being. "I love you too," she whispered back.

He smiled softly. Then leaned down and kissed her.