CRASH!

"Oof!" Knuckles' face was mashed into the ground as Sonic fell on top of him again.

"Sorry Knu-ARGH!" Sonic was cut off as both Tails and Amy fell on top of him.

"This whole thing is seriously messed up," wheezed Knuckles, trying to get some kind of air into his lungs.

"If only the presences weren't so strong," said Tails, "I sure wish these kids would turn up."

"You said it," replied Amy, who was sat on top of all of them. "We have to figure out why their faces are coming into our heads-"

"THERE THEY ARE!" Sonic screamed, taking off like the X-Tornado. Sure enough, four kids were sitting on a park bench, talking.

It sucked, being the new kid,

Only yesterday, Flash had been introduced to her new class.

"Form 8 Aqua, I would like you to meet Flash Watts."

"Great name," sniggered one boy, called Craig. Two girls and another boy, who were called Gemma, Mollie and Tobias, all laughed.

Nobody laughed at Flash Watts. They had made an enemy.

She sat at the bus stop with nothing to do, considering the cigarettes she had discovered on the floor, that were now in her bag. In fact, she was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't see the short guy with the funky hairdo and the bleached skin come and sit right next to her.

"You look like you've had a rough week," said the weird guy, startling Flash out of her thoughts.

"Go away," she muttered. The guy didn't go anywhere.

"My name is Silver," he said, like it was the answer to everything.

"I said-" Flash began.

"I don't care what you said!" said Silver, irritated.

Flash turned away, so that 'Silver' couldn't see the tears glistening behind her eyelids. Once she had regained her composure, she spoke, still not looking at him.

"Why are you here, anyway?"

"I came here."

"For what?"

"For you."

Flash looked at Silver properly. She looked him up. She looked him down. And then she swore loudly.

"I could say that about you too," Silver muttered.

"Explain yourself," said Flash. "You ain't human. Why are you here, and what do you want me for?"

"Well… Get down! They're coming!"

"Who's coming?"

But then Flash saw.

Mollie blinked. She couldn't quite believe that a blue hedgehog, a yellow fox, a red echidna and a pink hedgehog had come to stand before her and her three best friends: Craig, Tobias and Gemma.

"What did you say your names were again?" she asked.

"I'm Sonic," said the hedgehog, "that's Miles Prower but we call him Tails." The yellow fox blushed. "The red guy is Knuckles." Knuckles flex his muscles. "And last but not least, Amy Rose!" The pink hedgehog grinned and batted her eyelashes.

"So what's the story?" said Craig, "I mean it's not every day that some weird creatures appear in front of you."

"Well," said Tails, "we were taking a ride through the solar system, when we felt these presences."

"That's you guys," added Amy.

"So we landed on Earth and followed the trail of your presences. It was a bit like following a path – that's how strong it was," said Sonic.

"And then we found you!" said Tails.

They walked through the park, talking about themselves.

"And then there's-oh no," said Sonic, suddenly turning pale.

"What?" asked Tails.

"I just remembered. About Silver."

Knuckles' face turned grave.

They didn't notice a flash of dark white dart behind the bus stop across the road.

Mollie, Gemma, Craig and Tobias, followed by a blue hedgehog, a yellow fox, a red echidna and a pink hedgehog were walking along, all talking.

Flash turned to Silver. "Those four kids are total idiots. Trust me."

"I could say the same thing about those four creatures," said Silver, "their names are-"

"-Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy," said Flash abruptly.

"How did you know?" asked Silver.

"I dunno. Just popped into my head," Flash replied.

Silver's eyes widened. "You really are my partner."

"What?"

"ESP… You got it!"

"Partner… ESP… You're making no sense!"

"All this sign I sensed a presence. I followed it to a bus stop were there was a lonely teenager. When we feel a presence that strong it is that we've found our partner."

"Me?" Flash's voice shot p about three octaves.

"You lost your mother," Silver suddenly said, "so you went to live with your father. But at the same time you lost your older sister. It hurt-"

"Shut up!" Flash hissed. She tried to turn away but it was too late. Silver had seen the tears.

"I lost Blaze," he whispered.

Flash was surprised to see that there were tears in his eyes now too. "I… I loved her."

"W-We can work together," aid Flash, "Me and you. To get through the pain. Partners."

"Partners."