CHAPTER 3: What the Hell, Guys? Teens Are Teens, I Guess.

not a lot of action yet, but bear with me guys. shadow: ill bear with you...*hold giant bear with a leash* bear: *glares and attacks* shadow: AAAAAHHHHH! me: *rolls eyes and pulls out taser* *shocks bear, which collapses, twitching* you're welcome.

Friday, December 18, 2042, 8:28 p.m. Mobius time

Road Near Tails' House

Sonic led them all to Tails' house, snow piling up around them. Nico, without Arctic to keep him in check, kept pointing to things and asking, "What's that? What's that?" Sonic would answer calmly, but his patience was wearing thin. Shyra, agitated, grabbed Nico's head and wrapped her arms around his mouth. "Shut the fuck up! Sorry Sonic, he's never been here before."

Sonic sighed in relief. "Don't worry about it." Though on the inside he was shouting, Yes! He's finally shut up! He blinked, remembering how well Arctic could read people, and immediately made his expression passive. Shyra pinched Nico's neck. The cat slumped over. "That was highly unnecessary, Shyra." Darius said sternly. "Oh whatever. You wanted to do the same thing."

"I won't deny it, but it was still unecessary." Shyra rolled her eyes and threw the cat over her shoulder. "Why can't she be more... I don't know... Cat-like? He's to energetic. He's not really that lazy." Darius huffed. "You know why. He was half raised by squirrels." Shyra scowled. "Stupid squirrels. They just had to give him sugar all the time, didn't they?"

Nico butted in, having woken up, "Hey guys? Sonic's been standing in front of that house and staring at you for they past five minutes. I think we're here." Sonic was indeed waiting for them. He smirked as Shyra and Darius shuffled their feet and mumbled apologies. "Don't worry about it." He pulled a keychain out of his quills and took out Tails' key. He unlocked the fox's house and led them inside.

Nico gaped and stared at the pictures of Tails and the group. He seemed particularly interested in one of Shadow holding Tails in a headlock, Sonic trying to keep the black hedgehog from killing the kitsune. "That looks like me, Darius, and Arctic. That exact same thing happened to us." Darius looked over and laughed. "Holy shit, that looks exactly like us! Except for, you know, species and colors."

Shyra forced Nico to sit down.

"Stay."

Arctic tripped over a pile of snow as Amy dragged her by the arm. "Amy! Slow down! The week's not going to pass in two seconds!" Amy ignored her, then skidded to a halt outside of the mall. "We're here!" She dragged Arctic into the first store that sold Christmas decorations. "Oh, this is pretty!" she said, pointing to a twelve foot thing of silver tinsel with purple tinting.

She grabbed two and noticed streamers. "Hey, Arctic, can you grab two of the red, one of the white, and one of the green?" Arctic did so. Amy threw the tinsel around her neck and picked up a red and green tube of wrapping paper. She also noticed a bag of bead necklaces and picked that up as well. Arctic cocked her head. "Why?" Amy grinned. "Just because. Sometimes it's fun to do random things."

Arctic smiled. "Okay then." They took the stuff to the cashier. Amy paid for it and they left. "Here." Arctic said as they left, taking the bags. "I'll carry this." Amy relented her load and they moved on to the next store. Amy looked around thoughtfully. "I haven't gotten my Christmas shopping completely done yet. Do you want to help with that too?" she added to Arctic.

The silver and white fox nodded. "Sure. The guys won't get into too much trouble while I'm gone."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~********************Meanwhile!********************~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tris yelled as Shyra grabbed her tail. "What did you say you son of a bitch!?" Tris screeched and pulled her tail away. "My mother was a lizard, not a dog!" She tackled Shyra to the ground. A dust cloud that could only pop up in a cheesy story or an awesome cartoon surrounded them, only showing their heads occassionally. Darius shouted, "Guys! Stop fighting! Arctic will be back soon! If she comes back to you two fighting like this-"

He broke off with an angry shout as the dust cloud moved over to him and dragged him into it. "Fuck this shit!" He jumped above the cloud and dove back into it elbow first. Sonic, panicked, leaped onto the couch next to Nico, who's nose was bloody and eye was swollen shut, to avoid the fight. "Come on, guys! Chill out!" They didn't. Sonic sighed and sat down. When was Tails coming back?

Arctic and Amy walked down the street, arms loaded with Christmas bags. Arctic glanced around, marveling at the buildings bright lights. Amy smirked at her, then threw a snowball at her. "H-Hey!" Arctic spluttered, laughing. She scooped up an armful of snow and tossed it at the pink hedgehog. "Take that!" she said. Amy laughed.

Arctic blinked as a sharp change in the wind sent snow into her eyes. "Let's go, before it gets too cold." Amy nodded. "I'll take you to Tails' house." Arctic nodded. "Hey! Wait for us!" It was the kitsune himself. He was holding Cosmo's hand. Both of them were laden with bags. Arctic stared. "Wow. Someone went a little nuts." Cosmo glanced at Tails. "Blame him!" she giggled. "He felt bad about staying inside all the time, so he went over the top!"

Tails turned bright pink. "Well, what do you expect? I was an idiot, so I wanted to make up for it." Arctic shrugged. "I'd do the same thing." Tails grinned. "You two mind if we walk with you? We were just headed to my house."

"That's where we were headed." Amy said. "Come on, then!" They started walking again. Arctic shook her head to get the snow out of her ears. "So, did anyone see Cosmo?" she asked. Tails cocked his head. "A couple of people did double takes, but I think that they thought they were crazy. After all, everyone's heard of the last Seedrian, the one who gave her life to save everyone elses."

Arctic nodded. "If they think that they're going crazy, when they see that Cosmo really is back, they'll be even more surprised." Amy shrugged. "Whatever, as long as they're surprised." Tails and Cosmo exchanged a glance. They had just reached Tails' house. Amy took the bags from Arctic. "Thanks for your help Arctic." Arctic nodded. "Any time."

Amy left and Tails opened the door. He looked inside and stopped. "What the hell?" he demanded. Darius, Tris, and Shyra were on the floor fighting while Sonic sat on the couch with Nico, trying to get them to stop. Arctic gaped. Shyra had her hands around Tris' throat while the black bat kicked her repeatedly in the stomach. Darius was trying to pull them apart.

Arctic growled. "Son of a bitch. What the hell! Get your asses over here!" The three Mobians froze, then scrambled to their feet and stared at Arctic. The silver-and-white stood in front of them. "What the hell, guys! What was that?" she barked. "I leave you alone for maybe an hour and you start fighting like this? This is not our place! You have no right to fight here!

"What caused this? Sonic?" she turned to the blue hedgehog. He shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I came back from the bathroom and Shyra was yelling some random thing about dogs and Tris said something about rabies and then it escalated into fighting. Then Darius tried to stop them but got dragged into it. It was all too crazy from there." Arctic whipped around and glared at her group.

"Is this true?" Now, anyone else probably would have started blaming everyone else, but they were a highly disciplined group that had fought wars... so... Okay, sorry, who the fuck am I kidding. Teenagers are teenagers, wherever you go.

"Tris said-"

"But Arctic, Shyra tried to-"

"It wasn't me it was the hairless rat-"

"That dumb rabies infested-"

"That scaly dike-"

"The vampire-"

"Okay, that's going to far, bitch!"

"What the fuck ever, fang face!"

"ENOUGH!" Arctic shouted. Darius, who had not said anything, had the grace to look ashamed, but the lizard and the bat looked defiant. "But-" Shyra began, but Darius smacked her on the back of the head. "Shut up!" he hissed. Arctic turned to him. "And you Darius. I expected more of you. I trust you to keep them out of trouble, but you got into trouble with them."

Darius bowed his head. "Nico!" Arctic said. "What happened to your nose and your eye?" The black cat shifted uncomfortably. "I tried to get them to stop fight and Shyra decked me." Arctic glared at the bat, who flinched away. "Nico, get Tris to help you in a minute." Nico nodded. Arctic turned to the three Mobians who had done the fighting. "I am disappointed in all three of you." Shyra and Tris immediately began protesting.

Shyra snapped, "You're still treating us like we're at war! There are no more enemies, and you're not our leader anymore! I don't see any enemies about. This whole deal that we made was originally a force of rebels. Now it's six people using it as a code. You don't see Sonic and their group doing that. Sure, Sonic leads them, but not like you do. You may listen to what we have to say, but you still make the ultimate decision. Sonic and his friends decide together."

Darius looked away. "Quid errabit iniurnium. What can go wrong will go wrong. This has definately gone wrong." Arctic shrugged. "I suppose, but, Quae versatur circa venit. What goes around comes around. I suppose we had this coming." Sonic broke in, "Sorry to interrupt, but can you stop talking in that language? It's giving me a headache."

Arctic blinked. "What, Latin? Sorry. We picked a few phrases up along the way and use them here and there." Sonic shook his head, lightheaded. "Okay then. Now that Tails is back, I don't have to babysit. Later!" He darted off, but he was dizzy and he crashed into the doorframe on his way out, effectively knocking himself out. Cosmo blinked. "That had to hurt."

The three Mobians that had just gotten chewed out just seemed to notice that she and Tails were in the room. Darius blinked. "Uh. Oops." Arctic sighed. Nico blinked just as a loud rumbling penetrated the air. No one dropped to the ground this time, but Shyra flinched. Darius chuckled in embarrassment. "Heh heh... Sorry." Cosmo smiled. "Someone's still hungry." Darius scratched the back of his head.

More rumbling came, this time from Nico. The cat glared at Darius with his round amber eyes. "Great, now you've made my stomach start backtalking." Tails rolled his bright blue eyes. "Cosmo and I can always make sandwiches." The group exchanged a glance and nodded. "Yes please!" said Nico, looking for all the world with his wide eyes and flattened ears like an Earth cat begging for scraps.

Arctic laughed at him and ruffled his fur as Tails and Cosmo left for the kitchen. "Does anyone have a problem with PB&J?" Cosmo called. A collective "no" came from the living room, Shyra's voice the loudest. Not five minutes later, everyone was sitting in the living room with a sandwich. Cosmo took a bite out of hers, swallowed, then asked, "So where do you six come from?"

Tails blinked. "Somewhere interesting, clearly. I mean, Arctic brought you back with a flower, an echidna, and Chaos emeralds. Could anyone we know do that?" He touched the crystal-like flower, which was sitting in the center of the table. The five exchanged an uncomfortable glance. "It's a long story." Tris hedged. Darius blinked. "Well, we came from a long way away."

Shyra didn't say anything. Nico cocked his head to the side. "It was a nice place. There were trees everywhere. Almost every house had a garden. It was beautiful, more beautiful than anything else I can think of." Cosmo blinked. "You say was?" Nico looked away, ears flat against his head. Arctic sighed. "It was attacked and destroyed not too long ago. Almost everyone was killed except for us and our parents, along with a few of their friends."

Shyra rubbed her arm. "They sent us away to protect us. Arctic, Darius, Nico, Tris and I's dads sacrificed themselves so that we could escape. Our moms wanted to stay, but they had to come with us, along with a friend. They were killed getting us out of there." Cosmo blinked. "Oh... I... I'm so sorry. I had no idea... I didn't mean to pry..." Arctic shrugged. "It happened a while ago."

For us anyway. And we're going to keep it from happening. she added silently. Cosmo looked at the ground. Tails put a hand on her shoulder. Arctic looked up and blinked. "You understand how we feel. It happened to you." Cosmo looked up, surprised. "Y-Yes. The Metarex-" Arctic stopped her. "You don't have to tell us." Cosmo blinked. "Alright then. That's weird."

Arctic smiled. "Your emotions and thoughts are written on your face. I'm very good at reading people's expressions. I try not to, but sometime's it's useful." Tails grumbled. "I bet you never lose at chess..." Arctic laughed. "Actually, one person has beaten me with his superior intellect." Shyra stared at her. "What? Who?" Arctic raised an eyebrow. "My father? Hello, anyone home in that mind of yours?"

"Oh. Right, got it." Shyra said, relaxing. "I forgot about your dad." Darius let out a loud belch. Everyone looked over to see that he had finished his sandwich. Arctic blinked. "You had that thing... for not even a minute." Darius grinned. "Heh heh. What do you expect? I'm Darius." Arctic blinked again. Cosmo giggled. "There's more in the kitchen if you're still hungry. Take as many as you want."

Arctic's eyes widened at the same time as Darius'. "Uh, Cosmo, I don't think-" Before Arctic could finish, Darius had darted off. Arctic sighed. "And he's gone. I hope you realize that those sandwiches are as good as done now." Cosmo laughed. "I doubt even he could eat that much." The echidna came back with a sandwich in each hand, one stuck on one of his dreadlocks, and one in his mouth.

Arctic grinned and turned to Tails and Cosmo. They were staring in amazement. Then they burst into laughter. Tails grinned. "Looks like Sonic has more of a rival than just Shadow." As though the blue hedgehogs name had summoned him, Sonic sat up from next to the door, finally conscious. "I have a what now?" He saw Darius with the sandwiches.

"Sandwiches? Tails and Cosmo made sandwiches? Where's mine?" Tails rolled his eyes. "There's some in the kitchen." Sonic darted off. He came back looking like Darius. Darius glared at him. "Mph." he said. Sonic turned. As though by some unspoken signal, they started eating at the same time, shoving their sandwiches into their mouths wildly.

Arctic smiled sheepishly and sweatdropped, Tails grinned, Cosmo scratched her head, Tris rolled her eyes, Nico snickered, and Shyra facepalmed. Darius and Sonic finished at the same time, in the time it took for Arctic to finish one. Their bellies bulged slightly and the narrowed their eyes at each other. Arctic slipped past them into the kitchen and grabbed a sandwich before they could eat them all.

She slipped back into the living room. Sonic and Darius were still having a staring contest. Shadow materialized into the room. He saw the sandwiches and without a word went into the kitchen, grabbed one, and joined the rest of the group. "So when did this start?" he whispered. Arctic described in a hushed voice what had led to the staring match and Shadow chuckled.

Without warning, Darius and Sonic made for the kitchen, tripping over each other in their haste. Darius fell to the ground. He grabbed Sonic's foot and climbed over him. Tails glanced at Cosmo. "I think they like your sandwiches." Arctic popped her head between them and laughed, "Insert sexist joke here!" Shadow blinked. Then, to Tails and Cosmo's surprise, burst into laughter.

Tails blinked. "Damn, Shads. The only thing I've ever known to make you laugh is when you get all creepy. This seems... well... normal." Shadow smirked. "Sorry. It was just unexpected. I was thinking exactly the same thing!" Tails looked at the silver and white fox. "Hey, don't look at me like that. I'm good, but I'm not that good." Rouge burst through the door, snow crusted in her fur.

"Where is he?" she demanded. She saw Shadow. "What in the hell possessed you to leave me in an abandoned parking lot!? It is cold!" Shadow's eyes widened. "Meep." he said. Arctic thought for a moment, then stealthily pulled a blow gun and a tranquilizer dart out of her vest. Rouge towered over Shadow, screaming her head off. Arctic loaded the gun and fired the dart.

It hit Rouge perfectly in the neck. The bat stumbled. "What the...?" was as far as she got before she fell over, snoring. Shadow pulled the dart out of her neck and turned around. "Okay, who saved my ass?" Arctic grinned and waved her blow gun. "I did." Shadow sighed. "I-" Arctic interrupted him, "Owe me one? Yes you do." He stared at her. "Classic."

Shyra looked at the bat on the ground, then flicked her gaze to Arctic. Nico gulped. Darius and Sonic came out of the kitchen in a cloud of dust, fighting over a sandwich. Tris raised an eyebrow. Arctic sighed and pulled out two more darts. She put them in the tube and raised it to her lips. There was a slight thunk as they darts left the tube in rapid succession. Sonic and Darius froze. The dust cleared.

Suddenly, Darius collapsed on top of a snoring Sonic. The sandwich fell on his head. Arctic raised an eyebrow. She dropped her blowgun on the couch and walked up to the heap of gray and blue fur and or quills. She plucked the sandwich off of Darius' dreads and looked at it for a second. "Huh. It doesn't even look like it left the plate." She shrugged and took a bite. "You snooze you lose." Shadow joked.

"Literally in this case." Tris pointed out. Nico snickered and Shyra facepalmed. Arctic grinned as she pulled the darts out of Darius and Sonic's necks. "Three for three." she said. "My record is twenty for twenty. Anyone want to help me beat it?" Everyone shook their head frantically. Arctic looked as though she were reaching for another dart and everyone looked scared.

Then she stopped and laughed. "Don't worry. I'm out. I forgot to grab more before we... Left." She grinned. Shadow sighed in relief, then swatted his neck. "Ouch!" he snapped. He pulled a sewing needle out of his neck and glared at Shyra, who had Arctic's blow gun raised to her lips. The bat slowly lowered the gun and set it on the couch. She then proceded to stand up and slowly back out of the room.

Shadow glanced at Arctic, who waved her hand in a "go for it" motion. Shadow darted off. Shyra yelled in surprise, then started screeching. "Oh, fuck, what's he doing?" Arctic asked. She walked over and peered around the corner, then burst into a fit of giggles. Everyone joined her to see Shadow tickling the ever-loving dog shit out of the black bat.

Silaya tried to stifle her laughter, but didn't do very well. Shyra looked up, squirming, and called, "Arctic! Don't just stand there! Do something!" Arctic shook her head. "Nah. I'm good." Slowly, she and the rest of the group backed away, mocking the bat. Several people what had happened to Shadow over the ten years he was gone to make him so cheerful, but the rest were laughing to hard to give a fuck.

"I'll remember this!"

Friday, December 18, 2042, 9:02 p.m. Mobius time

Tails' House

Not an hour later, Rouge started waking up. Shadow panicked. "Uh... What do we do?" Arctic blinked at him. "You're a hedgehog with a Chaos emerald who can use Chaos Control." Shadow blinked. "Oh. Right." He took the bat's arm. "Chaos Control!" he shouted, then disappeared. Arctic glanced towards the kitchen, where everyone else was, and was tempted to join them.

A moment later, he reappeared covering his eye. "What happened?" Arctic gasped. Shadow pulled his hand away, cringed, then open his eye. "She woke up." He didn't have to say anything else. Arctic giggled. "That's why you don't leave women like her unsatisfied." she teased. Shadow blinked. "Was that an innuendo?" Arctic rolled her eyes. "You may not have said anything, but it's obvious to everyone that you're an item. Sheesh, you're gone ten years and you get a girl first day back."

"Actually," Shadow said, blinking, "She just broke up with me." Arctic gaped. "Wait you were dating?!" Shadow facepalmed. "You tricked me." Arctic nodded. "Hey everyone!" she shouted, but Shadow grabbed her mouth before she could say anything else. "If you say anything, I swear, you will suffer the same thing Shyra did!" Arctic's eyes widened.

Shadow had tickled the bat until she passed out. "Understand?" the black and red hedgehog demanded, crimson eyes flashing. Arctic nodded slowly and Shadow released her. She took a step away, paused, then screeched, "Everyone, we were right! Shadow and Rouge-" Shadow grabbed her before she could run off and started tickling her.

"Stop! I'm sorry! Stop it!" Arctic shouted, laughing. Tails and Cosmo popped their heads in, followed by Nico, Shyra, and Tris. Sonic and Darius were still passed out on the floor. Arctic yelled, "Come on Shadow! I'm sorry okay! I- Don't tickle me there!" Shadow had tickled her stomach with her thrashing. The hedgehog grinned and tickled her more.

"Shadow, come on, buddy!" Arctic protested, still laughing. "Knock it off! Stop it! Stoooop! I can't breathe!" Shadow rolled his eyes as she laughed. "Come on, Shads! They didn't even hear what I said!" Shyra butted in, "Yes we did. Payback is a bitch, bitch." Arctic yelled, "Shadow, stop it! You owe me one, remember!" Shadow paused.

"I never said when I would return the favor." he pointed out, grinning. "Sorry, Ark. No rest for the wicked." The fox's eyes widened. "Oh, fuck." Silaya muttered. Then Shadow started tickling her again. At that moment, Amy burst through the door. "Hey guys, I-" She broke off when she saw Shadow and Arctic. The two froze and looked up at her. Amy shook her head in a depressed manner.

"Pedophile..." she muttered. Shadow stood and glared at her. "Hey, I was in cryo for fifty years and I don't even look old. That doesn't count." Amy rolled her eyes. "I hope you know that that was to let Arctic escape." Shadow looked down and sure enough, Arctic was gone. She hid behind Cosmo. "Save me." Tails snickered. "If she had said mommy, it would have been funnier, but it's still pretty damn funny."

Cosmo smiled at the silver and white fox. "Don't worry, I won't let the big bad wannabe badass hedgehog hurt you." Tails stared at his girlfriend. "Holy shit that's only the second or third time I've heard you swear." Cosmo rolled her eyes. "I wasn't just twiddling my thumbs in that plant, Tails. You pick up a lot of habits when you do nothing but listen all the time."

Tails turned pink, remembering all of the times he had lashed out and thrown things around swearing at the top of his lungs. It was part of the reason the place had gotten so messy. Cosmo nodded. "Yeah, makes you think, doesn't it." Tails paused. "Wait a minute. Does that mean... You've been watching me sleep?" Cosmo shrugged. "I've watched you sleep even when a wasn't a flower."

Tails blinked. "Stalker girlfriend. Always wanted one of those." (A/N: ha! Total Drama reference. l. .l.) Shadow blinked. "There should be an "until you got one" somewhere in there." Tails shook his head. "No. Pretty sure I want to keep this one." He kissed Cosmo's cheek and she blushed fiercely. Arctic stuck her tongue out. "Ewww. There's a perfectly good room upstair that I believe belongs to you."

Tails grinned. "I live here." Arctic grinned. "Oh so you do the same thing I do? Cuz I do this thing called "whatever the fuck I want." Do you do that?" Tails' ear twitched. "In my own home? Yes." Amy piped up, "Hello, I didn't come over here to listen to this! You guys need to come with me!" Shadow crossed his arms. "And why is that?" Amy grinned.

"Because Julie-Su is trying to get Knuckles to wear nice clothes."

A few minutes later, after practically climbing over each other to get out, the group was sprinting down the road. Sonic and Darius had woken up and were running along with swollen stomachs, panting. Arctic skidded to a halt at the same time as Amy. Julie-Su stood in front of Knuckles, arms crossed. "But Knuckie-bear, can't you do this for me?"

"Julie-Su, I would do anything for you, but I won't do that." Sonic blinked. Julie-Su held a pair of dark jeans and a t-shirt. Not too bad, but for an echidna who doesn't wear clothes, it was a waste of money and patience. Knuckles sighed and looked up. His gaze fell on Sonic and the others and he said, "Save me." Julie-Su rolled her eyes. "It's not that bad. You know what? Forget it. Bye, Knuckles."

She marched off. Knuckles sighed and said, "I think I made her mad at me." He looked up. "But still. If you ever see me wearing skinny jeans, you have my full permission to punch me in my vagina." he growled. Several gazes inadverdently flicked downward. "Well don't look, I don't really have a-Oh, forget it." The echidna facepalmed. "You guys are idiots."

An hour later, everyone was settling down at Tails' to sleep. Since Rouge had kicked him out, Shadow was there too. "Night guys..." Darius said, sounding delirious. Shyra slapped him. "Shut the fuck up and let everyone go to sleep." Nico gave a contented purr. "Now, now, gentlemen..." Arctic rolled her eyes. "You guys are idiots." Nico started snoring.

A loud noise ripped the air and everyone looked around. Shadow took a deep breath to sneeze and immediately regretted it. "Aw... Aw that is foul!" he said, losing the sneeze. "Don't breathe through your nose!" It was to late. Several groans filled the air. Darius snickered. "Soooorryy..." he said, then started snoring.

"Ah, come on, Darius!"

"That's bad, man!"

"Why? Why would you do that?"

"Dude..."

"Gross!"

"Ha ha very funny. Hear the sarcasm in my voice?"

"What the hell..."

But the dark gray echidna was already asleep. Well, despite the fact that we'll all probably die soon, that was entertaining. thought Silaya. That was the last thought the silver and white fox had before she drifted off.

Friday, December 24, 2042, 9:50 a.m. Mobius time

Arctic sat up and yawned. It had been a week since she and her friends had joined Sonic and the gang, and they were settling in nicely. Arctic sniffed the air. She could smell something cooking. She waved her tail as her stomach growled. She crawled out from under her blanket andstood, stretching. "It sounds like someone's awake in there." Cosmo's voice called softly from the kitchen.

Silaya walked in and waved her tail. "Hiya." she yawned. Cosmo had a stack of pancakes sitting on a plate next to her and she was cooking two more on a hot skillet. Bacon sizzled in a pan next to it. "I hope I didn't wake you!" Cosmo said. Arctic shook her head. "No. Almost nothing wakes me up in the morning." She glanced at the bacon.

"My mom used to make the bacon first, then use that pan for the pancakes after she got rid of the grease. It cuts down on dishes, and you'll have bacon flavored pancakes!" Arctic advised. Cosmo tipped her head to the side. "I'd never thought of that. I'll have to try that sometime." Arctic smiled. "Do you need any help?" she asked. Cosmo shook her head.

"I'm okay in here, but if you want, you can put plates and silverware on the table." Arctic nodded, then hesitated. "Where are they?" she asked. "The plates are in there and the forks are in there." Cosmo said, pointing. She flipped a pancake as Silaya started pulling out the dishes. She set them on the table neatly and rolled her neck, listening to the satisfying popping noise.

Cosmo came in with the plate of pancakes and set them on the table. Arctic stared. The stack had to be at least a foot and a half tall. "What's with all the pancakes?" she asked Cosmo. The Seedrian giggled. "I figured that Darius would be hungry." Arctic nodded. "Fair enough. Should I wake them?" Cosmo nodded. "If you want." she said, going to get the bacon.

Arctic walked over to her friends. Nico was curled up in a ball while Darius was sprawled out. Shyra's head was on the gray echidna's stomach. Tris was laying with her bottom half on the couch and her top half hanging over the edge. "Aww, they're so cute." Silaya said sarcastically. She noticed a damp hand towel and grinned.

She picked it up and waved it until it was twisted enough to give a good smack. Then she whipped all four of them with it, one after the other. They scrambled up, shouting, and stared at her. Darius looked around, bewildered. "What... the hell... was that?" he panted, blue eyes wide. Everyone else looked equally shocked. Arctic grinned as Tails came down. "What the hell was that?"

Arctic grinned at the orange kitsune. "That was a wake up call." she said, snapping the towel. Tails rolled his eyes. Cosmo came out, saw the towel, and shook her head. "Kids nowadays..." Arctic rolled her eyes. "Okay then. Even though you're hardly a year older than me." Cosmo giggled. "Someone hardly a year older than you who made breakfast. Who's hungry?"

Darius darted forward and raised his hand, jumping up and down. "Me! Me! Me! I am! I am! I am!" Cosmo giggled and stepped to the side. Darius raced past her at a speed that rivaled Sonic's. Everyone else laughed and followed him. When they sat at the table, he already had several on his plate and was shoving them into his mouth.

Tails raised an eyebrow.

"Want some syrup with that? Or butter? Or anything to stop you from choking to death?" Darius blinked, cheeks looking like they belonged on a chipmunk. "Umm. Oops." he said, his voice muffled by the pancakes. Cosmo giggled. "Just keep something nearby to drink." she said, sliding a glass of milk towards him. Darius smiled, making sure to keep his mouth shut.

"Thanks." he mumbled. This got laughter all around the table. Even Shadow snickered a little. Arctic smiled at Darius at the gray echidna returned to shoving pancakes into his mouth. ...And then he started choking. His face started turning purple. "Hurk!" he gasped. Arctic rolled her eyes, walked over to him, made him tilt his head back and open his mouth, then picked up the milk Cosmo had grabbed him.

The silver and white fox snorted. "We tried to warn you Darius." she said, pouring some of the milk into his mouth. She made him shut it and he swallowed. The purple faded from his face and he gasped for air greedily. "And next time, maybe your little mind will process that we're right." Arctic added, setting the milk down and folding her arms over her chest.

Darius nodded and turned pink. Tails joked, "Oh, no, he's choking again!" Darius glared at the kitsune, who shrugged innocently. Cosmo elbowed him. "Tails, he could have been seriously hurt!" she scolded. Tails rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on! You thought it was funny too! You gave him fair warning." Cosmo sighed, then giggled. "You know me so well."

Darius sighed. "Glad to know everyone cares about me." Shyra got up, stretched, then said, "Oh, don't worry Darius. We all love you... to death..." Nico snickered and tried to disguise it by coughing. Then he blinked. "Good night." he said. He fell over, snoring. Arctic stepped over to him. "Nico? Nico? Nico? Nico? Nico? Oh, shit, he did it again..."

Cosmo stared. "Don't just stand there, somebody do something!" Arctic waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about him. He tends to pass out when he gets comfortable. It's an aftereffect of something that happened to him a few years ago. Some wannabe warlock. He tried to use science to make things that looked like magic. Nico got gassed and it affected his brain."

Cosmo's eye twitched and Tails snickered. Shyra and Darius rolled their eyes and Tris facepalmed. "So that's what happened." Tris groaned. "And here I was thinking it was a cat thing." Arctic giggled. "Yeah, Nico didn't say anything because when he got hit he was to busy making moony eyes at Chro-...ma..." She trailed off and got a sad look in her eyes.

Cosmo noticed the mood turn somber. "What happened?" Tails asked. Shyra stammered, "U-Uh... I think I'm going to go for a walk!" She darted off. "i'll go with her!" Tris darted after the bat. "I'll go babysit them!" Darius said, quickly following them. Arctic glared after them, then sighed. "Chroma was Nico's girlfriend. He loved her more than life itself.

"She was part of the original group. She came with us to fight that "warlock." Nico was talking to her when he got gassed. The gas was in something like a water balloon, but it was harder. It hit Nico dead in the temple. He was out cold before the gas got to him, so the gas screwed up his head. Chroma tried to protect him while Darius and I fought the wizard.

"He had a robotic chimera. That is, a creature with the front half of a lion, the back half of a goat, and a tail made of a snake. It breathed fire. Chroma was fighting it and we couldn't get to her in time. By the time we had taken out the warlock, the chimera had gotten past her guard and grabbed her throat. It snapped her little neck. She was dead before she hit the ground.

"Nico was horrified when he woke up covered in blood. He went into a rage. He destroyed that chimera without any help. We were too scared to do anything. We didn't want to get in Nico's way in case he lashed out. He turned it into scrapmetal. Then he went into the same faze Tails did, except that there was no way to bring her back. She was dead.

"Nico wouldn't let anyone near her body. He would point his gun at anyone who tried. I wound up having to take his gun away so that I could get close to him. He was so sad." Arctic's eyes turned cloudy, but she blinked it away. "He went into denial. He begged me to do something, to save her, but I couldn't. I'd never seen Nico like that. It took a while, but I finally managed to get him away from her body and get him back to camp.

"Everyone there swarmed us, looking so excited..." She trailed off, then a voice broke in, "And then they saw me." It was Nico. "They saw me, and then they saw Chroma. A day that should have been spent celebrating was spent grieving." Nico's voice wasn't bitter, just sad. "I wouldn't leave my house. I had turned my home into a prison. I didn't take care of myself.

"I would snap at anyone who tried to talk to me. Soon, the only person who kept trying was Arctic, and everyone thought she was foolish for doing so. Every time she visited me, she'd be more tired. People who thought she had lost her mind tried to get her to step down and let Darius lead us, but she refused. No one would leave her alone.

"She visited me every day. One day, one of the scouts came in to get her. He said that there was someone attacking us." Nico paused, remembering. "It was a trap. Everyone saw that no one could beat her in a fair fight, and six or seven who thought that she wasn't strong enough to be our leader anymore had tricked the scout into leading her into an ambush."

"Nico had thought that it was slightly suspicious, so he followed us. I was surrounded. They all attacked me at once. I wouldn't have gotten out of there if it weren't for Nico." Arctic said. Nico turned slightly pink. "Ah. You were doing fine. All I did was distract them." Arctic shrugged. "It still saved my ass. The ones who had attacked me weren't really rebels, though. We kicked them out and Nico tried to go back to hiding."

The silver and white fox glared at the black cat, who blushed as he explained, "I wound up getting the same scolding as Tails did, just worse. She went fucking crazy! She started yelling something about pulling my head out of my ass and realizing that Chroma was dead, and while there was nothing we could do about it, it was one thing to remember Chroma, but it was an insult to her memory to mope around like I'd been doing."

"And then Arctic put Nico's head through his door." Darius' voice broke in. Everyone turned to see the gray echidna standing with Shyra and Tris. The black bat giggled and said, "You would not believe how shocked everyone was. The three of us were standing on his porch because it was his birthday and we felt bad about leaving him alone so long."

"Darius went to knock and right below his fist, Nico's head burst through it!" Tris continued, laughing. "We all fell into a puddle. We couldn't stop laughing when Arctic opened the door and Nico was dragged with it. She said... What did she say?" Darius thought for a moment, then said, "She said, "Hey guys! I was just "knocking" some sense into Nico here. Come on in!" Like nothing had happened!"

Shyra snickered. "We told everyone what had happened to Nico and... Well, let's just say that no one has ever challenged Arctic again. I just wish I gotten it on camera." Tails and Cosmo blinked and exchanged a glance. A really sad story had a happy ending. ...More or less. But it was still nice to see that they could joke and laugh despite the circumstances.

Amy burst through the door without knocking. "Hey guys! Don't forget, the party's at six at my house!" She left without another word and everyone exchanged a glance. Arctic sniggered. "Well, who wants to go sledding?