I never thought things would get as bad as this. I lay here, huddled in the middle of a battle of legendary proportions, bolts of chaos of every color raining down on me, an explosion occurring every second; some small, some larger, some too large to even measure correctly without first feeling the energy of the being it originated from. Truly, chaos, like never before has been seen before, was happening now, right in the middle of one of the most peaceful cities as well.

A bolt of chaos energy hit just beside the barrier that separated me from the mayhem outside, exploding upon impact, hitting the energy wall, but not causing any lingering damage to it. I was on one knee, my head down, eyes closed, breathing softly, but deeply, a white Chaos Emerald clutched close to my chest, simply wondering why when everything had suddenly gotten so out of control, why everybody suddenly felt the need to destroy everything within sight...

Another spear of energy hit my little dome of peace, a dull sound against my aching head, feeling as if several long nails were being hammer into my skull, and then reverberating around my brain. I grimaced, it was almost unbearable. The Chaos Emerald grew hotter in my hand, making me crack my eyes open in curiosity. It was glowing, brightly, as if in response to my pain. The bolts seemed to come quicker now, many Mobians seeming to target me for whatever reason or another.

I lifted my head, squinting my bloodshot eyes to peer through the transparent shield, into outside world, trying to evaluate my surroundings. It was difficult, smoke, dust, and debris blocked my vision in almost every direction. I turned in the slightly cramped space, trying to make out what was currently happening in the outside world. I wondered off-hand what the others were doing right now—probably fighting, not hiding like a coward in some bubble. Would they consider me a coward? Shadow would ... I wasn't made for fighting of this magnitude, yet the very cause of this fight chose me.

I looked up into the sky, and coincidentally, there was a small hole in the smoke and dust, leaving me a clear view of the cause of my troubles. The Master Emerald, a source of infinite Chaos energy, controller of the legendary Chaos Emeralds, exactly like the one currently in my hand. It was glowing brightly, a shining beacon in the midst of the battle, Mobians of all kinds battling for control of this object, but of course, they weren't in the rate state of mind; controlled by one fat, bald, insane mustached man.

Was he in this fight now? I doubted that he was, but that thought didn't honestly matter much in my current position. The explosions were growing in frequency, not a second going by without multiple of them occurring around me, and they were growing in power. Apparently, many of the mind controlled Mobians were targeting me, meaning Eggman had some sort of sight into the fight, or someone else on the field was commanding them. Both were equally possible, but again, it didn't matter in foresight.

I shook off the thought, focusing directly on the Master Emerald once again. My troubles started with that ugly fat man, and that oversized green rock. I felt the special connection between myself and it, the one forged when Eggman decided to do experiments with me and it, trying to create a being that could harness the power of the Master Emerald directly. In simple words, he had succeeded, and what I was now a product of that success. However, there was something wrong now.

I couldn't feel it anymore, that presence that had been with me throughout my adventures with the Freedom Fighters and across the world. Something ancient, powerful, all-knowing, I knew it instantly knew who exactly I was as soon as the bond between us was forged. However, it only still granted me its energy only when I needed it, which is what troubled me now. I could not feel its presence anymore; I could not even feel its energy. It had abandoned me, which scared me. I needed it, my life was bound directly to it, as Eggman stated:

Flashback ...

"Oh-ho-ho-ho! What a MAGNIFICIENT success! You, boy, have given me newfound data, but it is so strange that such a simple crow could be the correct vessel for such an experiment. Not even Sonic the Hedgehog or Shadow the Hedgehog could contain so much power." Despite his previous laughter, Eggman walked away from the monitor he was standing in front of before, observing the data going by faster than I could read. He turned in my direction, and walked directly in front of me, leaning down to scrutinize every detail on me. "What makes you so different?" He asked quietly, just loud enough for me to hear, purposefully.

I spat at him, shaking, shivering in my chains. I was on my knees, blood trickling down my arms from my cut wrists, the shackles binding them, lifting them above my head towards the ceiling too tight, and built to slice into the prisoner's wrist should they move around too much. I found this out the hard way. My body was covered in bruises from being disobedient to the fat man in the black and red jumpsuit, my original pristine white body now unrecognizable. It seemed dull, lifeless, dirt caking the fur and feathers. I was filthy, but I didn't much care. I was numb to the pain at this point; the experiments he performed upon me putting such a large strain on my mental and physical conditions. It would be so much easier to just give in, to let go, but that would be too simple. It isn't like he would let me go anyways.

I answered him, despite the circumstances. "Because the Master Emerald had chosen me," I replied bitterly. I had no idea if this was true or not, but it was the only answer that my simple scatterbrained mind could come up with. If the greatest heroes of Mobius couldn't handle it, why could I? It had to be the Master Emerald had chosen me, but I wasn't sure why. I was vaguely aware of its presence in my mind, it felt ancient, old, indescribable, and unfathomable. Though it didn't say anything directly, thoughts that were not my own swirled within my conscious, knowledge that wasn't my own embedding itself within me. Not just that, but I felt more alive, energy pulsing through my body, energy that I didn't know how to control, so I didn't try to—I simply was there, wondering if I should attempt to use it, and even if I did, what would I do? Try to break the chains holding me captive? I wasn't strong enough before, what would be the difference now?

I was broken out of my thoughts though by raucous laughter coming from Dr. Eggman. Apparently I was thinking much faster as well, because it seemed as if he had been frozen before now. At least, that had to be the reason. He eyed me closely still, and I met his eyes, blue eyes meeting those infernal glasses (goggles?) he always wore. "So, still have a bit of an attitude, hm? We can always fix that later, but for now, I want to test the extent of your new abilities that I'm sure the Master Emerald has bestowed upon you." He went over to his giant computer of multiple monitors with a small keyboard in front of hit. He hit a few keys in a calculated order, K-3-99-D. How did I know that? The thoughts just entered my mind, I assumed it had something to do with the Master Emerald, I could feel its own conscious shifting within mine.

I was surprised when the metal shackles around my wrists suddenly came loose, and I fell directly to the floor, my forehead smacking it, my blood falling from my arms onto the stainless tiles. My head raged in pain, the headache growing stronger suddenly. Out of the corner of my eye, however, I could see the Master Emerald glow a little brighter, obviously a response to my heightened pain. I heard heavy footsteps suddenly coming towards me, and somehow knew it was a robot; orange, red glowing eyes, shiny, 5 feet tall, obviously new.

"Take him to the Simulation Hangar," Eggman ordered. The robot responded with a few beeps. 'Yes, sir.' I was confused how I knew what it said, but the ache in my head reached a peak. It came to stand next to me and bent over, and suddenly I felt an enormous flash of energy surge through my body, more than anything I had ever felt before. I lost control of my body, my vision suddenly darkened, and that ancient presence enveloped my entire body. It had taken control; I only knew that my body was in motion. When I came to once more, I was standing, my fists clenched, on my hands and knees, panting for air. When I looked around, the robot was in pieces, the stainless steel mangled and torn apart, the inner workings strewn across the floor, which was burned, a large black stain that stood apart from the rest of the clean blue tile. I felt tired, weak then, and the Master Emerald retreated in my mind back to its original position, just barely noticeable, but obviously there. The head of the robot rolled over towards me, and I slowly lifted my hand up, putting a finger out to stop it in its track.

When I finally lifted my head, I saw Eggman standing there stock-still, a heavy frown on his face, his eyes visibly narrowed behind his glasses at me. He strode forward, his long legs taking him to the pile of scrap metal that used to be a functional robot. I got up to my feet slowly, still feeling exhausted, but I turned to follow him. He didn't seem to be the least bit concerned that I was standing. He inspected it, looked at me, then the infernal robot again, and then back at me, appearing deeply surprised.

"How did you do that?" He asked simply, though arched an eyebrow at the confused expression that came onto my face, my beak twitching in the hint of a frown.

"Do what?" I shot back.

He pointed the mangled robot. "That, you threw a Chaos Spear at it in front of my eyes. I saw your eyes change to green, similar to the color of the Master Emerald. You are not known for using any Chaos abilities, especially from what your records have told me. How did you do it?"

I shrugged lightly. "I don't know," I answered semi-truthfully. I don't know what I actually did, but I did know that it had something to do with the green rock.

He frowned even deeper. "Very well," he said briskly, striding up to me and taking my arm. He looked it over before turning me towards the doorway, pushing me towards it. "Either way, we're going to the Simulation Hangar. Do not act up, little bird, or I'll destroy that emerald you're now bonded to. If it is destroyed, it is safe to assume that it will kill you as well." That gave me something to think about alright.

End of flashback

Was the Master Emerald damaged? Maybe that was why I couldn't feel it anymore, perhaps it could not help me now because of the battle. Maybe it was because of all the Chaos energy swarming around me. But, then, a thought struck me, and I looked at the barrier I was surrounded it truly now; it was green, the same shade as the Master Emerald. I didn't even stop to consider why it was there in the first place, I don't remember creating it. I don't remember much of anything in this fight, which confuses me. Did it take control again? Maybe this shield was blocking it from connecting to me, but then, another thought struck me. I looked down at the Chaos Emerald I had held close to me. Was this the reason I couldn't connect to the large glowing green rock? Maybe it was...

I shifted around in the small green dome, scanning the outside with completely open eyes now. The dull thuds were even stronger now, and I desperately searched the outside. If I was to get rid of this thing, then I would need to get it somewhere safe. But, then, the green dome suddenly shattered, and the noise became deafening. I gasped turning around to see something dreadful; a boulder of massed Chaos energy hurtling straight at me. There was no way I could survive something of its magnitude. I could only stare as it got closer, but suddenly, just as it was about to hit me, everything went dark, my vision disappearing. I felt suspended in the air; I could tell my eyes were closed, however. It felt like I was falling...

My eyes flew open, and I sat up in my bed with a screech. My head whirled about, my eyes darting between different places before I realized where I was. I looked down, a soft, warm blanket draped over my legs still, bunched halfway up my stomach. Was it all a dream? If it was, why did it feel, and for that matter, look so real? My head was still fuzzy with sleep, especially with these strange thoughts running through my head. I looked to the side, where my nightstand is; brown oak wood with two doors. I then noticed how dark it was in the room, though because I was a bird I could see perfectly fine still. I reached out clumsily, flicking the lamp resting on the nightstand, and then looked at the clock. 6:03 AM, Tuesday. I had school in roughly 42 minutes.

I stretched my arms out then, turning my head forward and looked them up and down; they were normal, skinny like a lot of Mobians, no scars in sight. They did, however, have sports tape wrapped around them, covering the fur and skin beneath, wrapped around my hands, wrist, and traveling up my arm to my elbow on my left, and going up my arm, past the elbow, and halfway up my bicep. I apparently forgot to take it off before going to bed. I grabbed the comforter, pulling it over to reveal my legs. They were skinny, like almost everyone else, as per Mobian biology. White socks with gray over the heel and toe area, sports tape going under it and wrapping around my heel and ankle, going up and ending just under my knee, both legs almost equal, if there was a difference, it was miniscule. What the hell was I doing before that required so much tape? I couldn't remember.

I swung my legs over the bed, hopping off the bed to stand up straight. I walked over to my door, where a large body-scale mirror was hung from. There stood before me a bird, a crow to be more exact, one with snowy white fur and large, equally white, reflective, pointed eyes. However, as he suddenly noticed, his left eye was different now. Instead of the blue eyes he was born with, the iris was now green. However, despite that, I flicked my eyes to my torso, somehow unsurprised by the change in color, as it just seemed to confirm my previous suspicions. A large clump of black fur had sprouted from my chest as I grew up, covering much of it and reaching down to the beginning of my navel. My arms were flecked with black, which contrasted greatly with my white main body color. I flicked my eyes back up to my head. Messy quills came from the back of my end, thin, and plenty of them, the tips colored black. One of the quills stood out in particular, however. The rest were slicked back, but this was curved forward, and was long, partially covering the now emerald colored eye. Wait, emerald?

I finally took in the color of my eye, and my mouth opened in shock. I stepped back from the mirror, looking away from it and turning around. No, no, that can't be real. I moved towards the window, dodging the junk left on my bedroom floor, and clear as day, I could still see the green iris staring back at me. Did that mean what I saw in the dream wasn't actually a dream? Was it a glimpse into the future, or something else entirely? I didn't know what to think anymore; I simply unlatched my window and opened it up, sticking my head outside to gaze around. The city streets were busy; Mobians of all species and colors walking down the sidewalk, cars speeding down the roads. I sighed; at least the outside world was normal.

I pulled my head back indoors and closed the window, latching it closed once more, effectively locking it. I reached my hands up, rubbing it over my face and beak. Today was too weird for me. I stepped back and turned around, walking to the foot of my bed and stooping down to grab my shoes; blue converses, simple, yet seemingly elegant to my eyes. I slipped my feet into them, not bothering to change my socks, and tied them tight. I stood back up, a hand on my forehead as I walked to the door, turned the doorknob, opening the door and stepping out into the hallway. I walked down it, passing the open door of my mom's room. I peeked inside it; empty. Of course, she was probably at work by now, she had to get it up earlier than me.

My mind whirled still, though. What exactly was happening? All of these questions floating inside of my head and meshing into that one big question. I shook my head, my hand dropping to my side as I stepped into the living room. I had to get my mind off of things, or at least pretend things were still normal. I walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, pulling out a jug of orange juice and shutting it. I set it on the counter, reaching up to the cupboard over it and opened it, pulling out a small cup. I uncapped the jug and poured some of the liquid in it into the cup, reclosing it and placing it back in the fridge.

I downed my drink in a few seconds, sighing in contentment of the moment at the taste. I walked back out the kitchen, placing the cup in the sink as I went by, and back to my room. It felt weird to be in here now after what I recently discovered, but I got over it. I grabbed my phone off the nightstand, pulling it from its charger. I hit the power button and the screen came on—it was a rectangular smartphone, a little larger than average. I typed in my password; 3-5-66-8-2, and it unlocked, bringing me to the home screen. Three circles covered the top of the main screen, just under a black bar with a bunch of notifications of apps and system things. The largest one to the left had the time in bold white letters with an almost black background, the top of it being a dark blue, the next one over had the weather. It read 56 degrees, cloudy, with a little picture of a sun partially covered by a cloud to demonstrate. The next one over was small, showing a circle with a smaller circle's border on the inside, with a 100% in the center.

Fully charged, that was good. I checked my messages—nothing new. I had no idea why I even bothered; it wasn't like anyone ever texted me except for my mother. No one ever called except for her either, not even my friends, though they obviously had my number. It put a slightly bitter taste in my mouth, but I swallowed it down, getting over it quickly. I clicked the power button and the screen turned off, leaving a black reflective surface. Rolling my eyes, I put it down, leaning over, stretching my arm to grab my scarf. It was black colored, with little strings from the end. I was known for wearing a scarf at my school. I tied it around my neck quickly, grabbing my phone and slipping it into the knot securely. I hardly noticed the weight anymore, not like it was really heavy in the first place.

At last, I grabbed my backpack and slung one of the straps over my shoulder. It was a little heavy, having a large text book in it, as well as many notebooks, folders, and papers, as well as a binder. I looked around my room and nodded, leaving it while closing the door behind me. I walked by the coffee table, grabbing my lanyard that had my student I.D., my keys, and a little USB that had 64 gigabytes on it. I didn't use it for much, though, other than just placing games on it to use at school whenever I was in the computer lab in one of my classes when I finished my work. I hung around my neck, over the scarf, and went to the front door, opening it and stepping out, closing it and locking the door.

Bright light immediately greeted me, making my squint my eyes in slight annoyance. I turned right, walking down the sidewalk to my bus stop. It took a few minutes, when I got there, several other teenagers were there, two fox girls were talking, one of them ginger, the other a reddish-brown color. Both of them wore skimpy looking skirts and shirts with some vague symbols on them, if they were allowed to wear that to school, I wasn't sure. A group of boys were standing around, chit-chatting with each other, wearing jackets or hoodies. I simply tuned out the chatter of them, and kept my eyes on the ground. Until I bumped into someone with a bit more force than I thought.

A girl gasped as she fell over, and I almost did as well. I heard the clatter and couple dull thuds as the things she was holding fell to the ground. My face flushed as red as an apple I'm sure as blood rushed into it in shame. Eyes wide, I stooped down, outstretching my hand to her. Some of the boys whistled, and the girls giggled louder, but I ignored them.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," I apologized quickly. I looked her over—a skinny red fox with a white muzzle and spots on her face. Her eyes were average, but curved in a pretty way. She was flat-chested, he noticed, with barely an visible curve to her hips. Other than her face, she didn't appear very feminine, and he didn't recognize her from anymore. He was brought back when she opened her eyes, still grimacing from falling over on her side, and looked at me squarely. Her mouth was slightly open in an 'o', and she slowly took my hand. I repositioned my legs, and cautiously took her by the waist, lifting her up fairly easily and back to her feet. The contact was a bit uncomfortable for me—I disliked being touched by people in most cases, so I released her quickly, kneeling down and picking up the things she dropped in a neat pile, standing back up and handing them to her.

"It's, um, okay," she said quietly, which I assumed to be her normal voice. Bangs of hair came down and hid her left eye. I noted the color of them as our eyes met; blue and green irises locking with amethyst purple. For some strange reason, they mesmerized me, and I stared for a lot longer than was probably comfortable, as she looked away, coughing slightly, jolting me.

"Oh, sorry, um ..." It was then that the bus honked it's horn, catching both mine and her attention as it came to a stop at the bus stop sign. I quickly moved over to it as soon as the door opened and stepped inside, first in the line. The interior was dark, barely lit by a few overhead lights. I chose a seat near the middle of the bus, one of the few that were empty, and scooted to the end of it close to the window. I looked out of it, suddenly quite bored, and waited several moments before I felt the seat on my end jump up for a moment. I looked back to see the same girl I had bumped into just seconds ago.

"Hullo," I said, probably dumbly. I looked her over again, noticing her clothing this time. A black shirt with a gray zip-up jacket with a pair of plain blue-grayish jeans, and wore converse shoes similar to mine but in black. I looked back up and our eyes met once again.

"Hi," she said timidly. "You don't mind if I sit here, do you? Everywhere else is full." Her voice had that softness to it once again, and I had to strain my hearing slightly to hear her clearly above the talk in the bus.

"No, no, not at all," I answered, blinking. Awkward silence settled over the two of us, and she shifted uncomfortably. I was dazed by her eyes yet again, and I shook my head. Why did that keep happening? "My name is Bled—um, you can call me Pale, that's what my name means in English."

She tilted her head to the side, not breaking eye contact, and yet again, I found myself getting lost in them. My mind screamed at me to get ahold of myself, and I did, but I only caught the end of what she was saying. "... Even listening to me?" I snapped out of my trance, and she appeared annoyed, eyeing me suspiciously. "That's the second time you just tuned out at just looking at me."

I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm just really out of it today," I explained, which was true. "Could you please repeat what you said?"

She huffed. "Fine," she conceded, though I suspected grudgingly. I could tell she was trying a little hard not to laugh at me, though, considering how annoyed she seemed, a smile tugged at the edges of her lips. "I said that you had a cool name, and mine was, is, Summer. My name is Summer," she smiled gently at me after she fumbled her words.

"That's a really pretty name," I commented lightly, hoping to ease the atmosphere. It seemed to work, she relaxed a little bit, so I did as well. "Are you new to school? I don't think I've seen you around before."

She nodded. "Actually, yes, I just moved into the city and got put into school today."

I knew it. "Oh, cool." Just then, the bus came to a stop. I looked out the window to see the large brick school. Students began making their way out of the bus, and when I turned around again, Summer was gone. Sighing, I stood up, leaving the bus last. My mood dropped as I stared at the school for a few moments before making my way to the front door. Stairs led up to the next floor and I climbed them, deciding to just go straight to my first class of the day. High school sucks.

Short time skip

I dropped my bag down next to my desk, taking a seat in it a moment later. I was the first one in my third hour class, like usual. Soon, others began filing in, but I didn't pay attention to them. It was math, more specifically, Algebra B. I hated this class, mostly because it was so boring, which gave me trouble working because I lost focus easily. I simply pulled my math notebook from my backpack and set it on my desk, twirling my pencil in my hand. I glanced around the room; most of the students were here. I looked at the front of the room, and was surprised to see the same girl from the bus ... Summer, I think her name was.

I could tell she saw me as well, and recognized me, because our eyes met yet again. I could still see hers perfectly, which gave me slightly pause. I lifted my hand up to my forehead, giving her a small salute with two fingers. She gave a short wave back and the teacher walked into the room, a tall bulldog by the name of Mr. Dog, creative, right?

"Everyone quiet down now," he yelled over the nice, his voice gruff and scratchy, and was his normal one. "I'd like to introduce you to Summer Amelia Jorgen. Ms. Jorgen why don't you go have a seat in front of Mr. Whitecrow?" Mr. Dog pointed at her, and I was suddenly aware of the empty seat in front of him. Shit, why did he have to choose me when there were plenty of other empty seats? She walked over and set her books on the desk, her bag on the floor. I was turned in my seat, my legs in the idea, staring down at the ground, pointedly not looking at her.

"Um ... Pale, right?" That familiar, soft voice asked. I closed my eyes, cursing up a storm in my head, using a very wonderful vocabulary that would probably get me immediately sent from the class. I reopened my eyes and stiffly turned to face her.

"Hi, Summer," I said in a clipped voice, as I kept my eyes away from hers as best I could, letting them wander to any part of her face but her eyes. Those pools of purple that intrigued me so much for some stupid reason, unfortunately, I found them anyways, but I didn't get lost in them this time, they just seemed normal. I was relieved.

"Hello," she responded, smiling. "I'm actually happy to see you again ... A lot of the students here are really rude." That's right, the students here were rude. I was part of the minority of those decent ones who didn't go out of their way to knock everyone's books out of their hands or trip each other when the teacher wasn't looking. I smiled apologetically at her.

"Yeah," I said, scratching the back of my head, ruffling the quilled feathers there somewhat. "This school is unfortunately dominated by those people. Maybe like 30% of the school is actually decent." My statement was reinforced when someone threw a ball of paper at my head. Summer gasped in surprise by it, while I slowly turned my head in the direction it came from, glaring daggers at the student—the stupid looking brown male hedgehog from my bus stop. I turned back to the pretty fox girl, left eye twitching in annoyance. "As you just saw," I gritted out.

"That really was rude of him," she whispered to me, but then, almost everything she said was barely above a whisper, so there wasn't much of a difference. I could tell she was looking at the boy, but then she blushed horribly, surprising me and hiding her face in her hands.

"What's up?" I asked quickly, turning my head to look back at the hedgehog, who was smirking.

"H-he ... did a, um, hand gesture for ... Getting a ..." She squeaked and trailed off. A flush of anger went through me. What the hell was the matter with this guy? In the middle of class, too? What a cliche douchebag, you see that in those stupid high school movies. I looked toward the front of the room, Mr. Dog wasn't looking. I reached into my bag and pulled out a pen and hurled it at the boy. My aim was true; it struck him in the center of his forehead. He fell backwards out of his desk, his back and head hitting the floor. The students around laughed heartily. When he got back up, he hopped over the few desks that were between us, and I stood up. I towered over him, my face set in an angry scowl, my fists clenched, ready for a fight.

"That's enough, you two!" Mr. Dog shouted. I looked up at him before shifting my eyes back to the brown hedgehog, just in time to duck under a fist. My instincts kicked in—I delivered a quick punch to his gut with an even faster elbow delivered to his jaw. He groaned in pain, stumbling and falling backwards over the desk. My body was tense, my face set in a neutral expression now, staring at the place he had fallen. The idiot was moaning, and I took pleasure in his suffering. Mr. Dog rushed over, picking the knocked down boy up by the arm and taking him to the front of the room and sent him limping back to his seat.

He turned to me now and stared for a few moments before giving me a sly wink before setting his face in a reprimanding expression, his eyes narrowed—he was a good actor when he wanted to be. "Mr. Whitecrow, in the hallway, now!" He barked. I nodded, making myself appear sunken. I stepped over my bag and Summer's, but then a soft hand grabbed mine. I turned in place, arching an eyebrow at her.

She was stock-still, gaping up at me, her eyes wide. She then seemed to notice that she had a hold on my hand and let go. It dropped back to my side and I smiled at her. "You're welcome," I whispered, just loud enough for her to hear and turned away, walking down the aisle, only my left arm swinging (it's actually how I walk in real life, really abnormal) and opened the classroom door, stepping out into the hallway. I stood there, leaning against the wall of the class. It was maybe 3 minutes before Mr. Dog came out, looking annoyed. When he closed the door, however, his face brightened. He clapped me on the arm.

"Nice job in there, boy, that hedgehog needed a lesson," he praised me. I smirked.

"It was my pleasure to punch him, I've been wanting to for a while," I replied coolly. He nodded in understanding.

"Yes, I think I know why. Now, let's go back in, shall we, and you will look recently reprimanded while I appear exasperated.

"Of course, Mr. Dog," I said, laughing in my head. Though the subject was boring, he was by far one of my best teachers. I put on my best sullen expression, while he made himself appear, as he said, exasperated, impatient. I walked back into class first, with him at my heels, and headed straight for my seat, sitting down in it. Summer immediately turned to me, and actually leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. I blushed, I could feel my face turn red as heat rushed to it and with the center of it at the place she kissed me. The spot tingled, butterflies flying around my stomach.

"Thank you, Pale," she murmured, and I blinked stupidly, unused to such gestures.

"N-no problem," I replied equally, stunned. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that blasted bulldog smirking in my direction. What a perv, watching me get a kiss from a girl. I couldn't help but feel much better after that little gesture from her, though.

The rest of the class proceeded as normal, he gave a quick review to some algebra things that I barely paid any attention to, but Summer was writing down fairly quickly, jotting notes on a paper, and then giving us a worksheet. I finished it fairly quickly, and then let my attention wander around the room, glancing between the students warily. Many of the students avoiding looking at the corner we both sat in, probably in fear of what I would do to them as well. Except for a few, who looked back and gave a thumb up. I returned the gesture with my own. Soon, the bell rang, and I packed my things up, but, I waited for Summer. It took her a bit longer. I against one of the desks, and when she was ready go and began to get up; she seemed surprised to see I was still there. As if I would just leave her alone after that incident in class.

"Do you have lunch after this period?" I asked, mostly because I did, and I was hoping that she would be able to come with me. I liked this girl, I liked her a lot, and I only just met her!

"Yes, I do," she answered in that soft voice, it sounds so innocent, so sweet to me.

I held out my arm for her, and she tentatively took it, seeming to magnetize to my right side. The skin she touched burned with pleasure—what the hell was up with me and this girl? I guess it doesn't matter. I led her out of the class room, arm-in-arm, and eventually while we working walking in the crowd, our hands touched and our fingers laced together. I felt so strange being this close to somebody, especially someone I only just met a few hours ago.

We reached the lunch room soon, but then, something felt off to me. The atmosphere didn't seem right. I stopped, Summer coming to a stop next to me, looking up at me, confused. I looked around the cafeteria, searching for something that possibly stood out, what was giving me such an eerie feeling about the area. My attention snapped to the red fox that I was currently holding hands with as she looked at me, concern written all over her face.

"Are you okay, Pale?" She asked softly. Our eyes met and I shook my head.

"No ... Something doesn't feel right," I answered distractedly. I then looked towards the north wall. I felt something inside my head suddenly, and it felt powerful. It made my ears ring, my mind reverberate in pain. I gasped, reaching up with my free head to clutch at my forehead. I saw Summer's mouth move, but I couldn't hear her, all sound in the world became dull, except for one sound; a loud, gravelly voice, and had power to its words, making me want to obey. I'm sure it was only heard within my own head, as the rest of the students moved about as normal.

'Get to cover,' it said, just as the north wall exploded. I let go of Summer and shoved her sideways; a large piece of rock flew out from the wall as I saw shiny metal things swarm into the school. It hit me directly in the head, and red dots edged my version. I felt to the ground, my head hitting the floor. Something wet flowed from my forehead, I could feel it. Everything sounded quiet, and I was barely aware of someone shaking me, seeming to scream. My vision was clouded, my mind glazed over as I struggled for consciousness, but eventually I was subdued and fell into the darkness.

Author Note (Is this allowed?):

So, this is my very first entry on ! I've written a few stories on my DeviantArt before this one and posted them there, but this is also my first story planned to be a multi-chapter thing. I will be involving many characters in the story, and may also allow a few OCs as well if I can find a place for them within the story. The following characters that will be most likely be seen (please note: The story has not been planned extremely far ahead yet, so this list is subject to change):

Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, Cream the Rabbit, Amy Rose, Miles 'Tails' Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Rouge the Bat, Doctor Eggman, Bled (Pale) Whitecrow (MY OC :D), Summer Jorgen (another OC of mine, but is actually a placeholder), and possibly others that I can't think of off the top of my head.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy it, because I enjoyed writing this.

Sonic the Hedgehog and other characters belong to SEGA and Sonic Team.

Summer and Bled belong to me.