Cheka was sitting at the small makeshift desk Allie had set up for him near her work station. He was scanning through the confidential email that Arianna sent him and frowned when he saw that Nick had also been taken out. They were closing in on them and Cheka knew he and whoever else may still remain better succeed in this dismantling. Because without it, they would be screwed and shit would hit the fan.

"Cheka," Cassandra called out making Cheka hide the email and look up from his laptop. "Have you ever heard of the Ripple Effect?" She asked walking over to him.

"You mean the whole 'one small thing can trigger a hundred more things' or whatever?" Cheka asked raising his eyebrow. Where the hell was she going with this one?

"I have a little assignment for you." She grinned and a wave of dread washed over Cheka. He didn't like the sound of this.

"What do you need me to do, boss?" Cheka grinned even though he was sick to his stomach. He knew that whatever it was, he'd have to make it convincing enough for them to believe that he's really on their side. He was just hoping that whatever it was wasn't bad, but seeing the smirk on Cassandra's face, he knew it was.

'I'm so bored.' Lauren thought as she sat on her bed with her head hanging off the side. It was the weekend and Lauren had no plans. Hydro was out of town for a baseball game and while she would have loved to go and watch him, she didn't exactly have a car or license yet. So what if she failed the driving test five times? At a certain point they should just cut her some slack. Lauren sat up in her bed when she remembered that Chrissy didn't really have any plans for the weekend and she had to perfect plan for them to do.

"Shade, pick me up. You and I are going to Chrissy's house." Lauren said into her phone as she got dressed.

"Yeah, sure, I don't have a life or anything." Shade muttered.

"Oh don't bullshit me. I know Suzy is at a cheer competition." Lauren rolled her eyes.

"I have other friends than Suzy!" Shade exclaimed.

"Just pick me up!" Lauren told him before hanging up her phone. Soon enough Shade arrived and they both drove over to the Prower House. Lauren rang the doorbell incessantly and Tails soon opened the door with an annoyed look on his face.

"Chrissy is in her room." Tails said and Shade and Lauren rushed upstairs. Chrissy was sitting at her desk studying, when her door burst open startling her.

"We're going to the mall!" Lauren exclaimed and Chrissy sighed.

"Why?" Chrissy asked.

"We're going to give you a makeover!" Lauren smiled.

"That's what I came here for?" Shade muttered and Lauren glared at him.

"Oh, don't act like you're opposed to shopping." She said to him and Shade just shrugged his shoulders.

"Uh, yeah, I'm not doing that." Chrissy said turning back around in her chair.

"Oh c'mon! It'll be fun! You need a new look." Lauren told her walking to stand next to her.

"I'm fine the way I look." Chrissy muttered.

"Of course, you're beautiful, but I'm here to make you look gorgeous!" Lauren smiled and Chrissy rolled her eyes.

"No." Chrissy told her firmly.

"Don't make me drag you." Lauren threatened. Chrissy turned her head and looked over at Lauren. They stared at each other for a long moment before Chrissy shot out of her chair and sent an energy wave at Lauren, knocking her into her bed.

"Get her!" Lauren shouted as Chrissy jumped out of her window. She grabbed the branch on the tree next to her window and swung down towards the ground. She turned and debated about running into the Solari house right next to hers, but remembered that Bolt was hanging out with Shawn and Flash today. Shawn and Flash weren't on the varsity team for baseball so they didn't have to go to the game that Hydro had to go to.

"You can't outrun me, Chrissy." Shade said appearing in front of Chrissy with his arms crossed.

"Maybe not, but I can outsmart you." Chrissy smirked before sending a wave towards Shade. He jumped to the side to avoid the wave and looked to see that Chrissy was gone.

"What the hell?" Shade murmured before suddenly hitting the ground with Chrissy on top of him. Shade groaned in pain and Chrissy turned to run away, but she was suddenly incased in water rendering her immobile.

"Get up, Shade. We're leaving." Lauren said as she dragged Lauren towards Shade's car.

"I hate you, guys." Chrissy muttered and Lauren just smiled.

"Love you too!" She said before putting Chrissy in the backseat. They all drove to the mall and walked in—although Chrissy was more reluctant than the other two.

"Okay, first things first, clothes!" Lauren grinned and Chrissy huffed making her glasses slip down her face. "Actually, let's get you some contacts." She said and Chrissy glared at her.

"What was wrong with my glasses?" Chrissy argued and Lauren rolled her eyes.

"You can't see your beautiful eyes behind those frames!" Lauren told her before grabbing her arm and dragging her out of the mall and to her optometrist with Shade following.

"All right, now clothes!" Lauren smiled as they walked back into the mall with Chrissy, sans glasses, and blinking a lot. "You'll get used to them." She said and Chrissy just scowled. After what felt like hours of Shade and Lauren throwing clothes at Chrissy and shoving her in and out of dressing rooms, they were done shopping and Chrissy had enough clothes for a second wardrobe.

"My style wasn't even that bad!" Chrissy frowned looking at the various bags that surrounded them.

"Yeah, that bad." Shade scoffed and Chrissy glared at him. "Oo, that's scarier without the glasses." He commented making Chrissy roll her eyes.

"To the salon!" Lauren announced before marching her way over to a salon located conveniently next to the mall. Chrissy sat in the chair as the hairstylist and Lauren stood behind her. Shade decided to get his quills trimmed so he was sitting with the in-house barber on the other side of the salon.

"Okay, let's cut if off." Lauren said and Chrissy stared at her wide-eyed through the mirror.

"What?" Chrissy exclaimed.

"Not all of it. Just a couple of inches so it lays just below your chest and not near your ass like it is now." Lauren explained and Chrissy sighed. "Maybe brighten up her hair a little. Some highlights would be nice." She told the hairstylist who was nodding along. After two more hours, Chrissy walked out of the salon with her hair done and one of her new outfits on.

"You look amazing!" Lauren smiled happily and Chrissy smiled. Even though she hated the whole process, she had to admit—she did look good.

"Now for my favorite part! Showing Bolt!" Shade exclaimed and before Chrissy could protest Shade was dragging her back into the mall. Bolt was sitting in the food court with Shawn and Flash eating some burgers after they just saw a movie.

"I just really think there could have been more stakes. I mean it just seemed like…" Flash trailed off when he saw Shade, Lauren, and Chrissy appear. His eyes widened and the fry he was holding dropped from his hand. "Goddamn!" Flash exclaimed making Shawn and Bolt whip their heads to see what he was staring at. He saw Shade and Lauren, but had to do a double take when he recognized Chrissy right between them.

"C-C-Chrissy?" Bolt stuttered out as he stared at his girlfriend dumbly. He stumbled out of his seat and walked over towards her still staring at her in amazement. Shade and Lauren walked towards Shawn and Flash while Chrissy blushed and fiddled with her fingers.

"Um, they kind of…gave me a makeover." She muttered. Chrissy's hair still had the beautiful waves it had before, but now ended a few inches past her shoulders. There was some blonde highlights giving her hair a natural warm glow. She was wearing a light blue floral sundress with maroon, magenta, and white flowers and green leaves. She had on a loose magenta cardigan and brown sandals that wrapped around her ankles. She of course had Bolt's charm bracelet on—something she refused to part with. "Um," Chrissy bit her lip nervously. "Do you like it?" She asked holding the ends of her dress.

"U-U-h—y-y-y-ou'r-r-re—b-b-be-be, no, gor-go-gor—s-s-st-st—"Shawn walked up and slapped a hand on Bolt's shoulder putting an end to his incessant stuttering.

"I think what he's trying to say is yes, he does like it and you look beautiful." Shawn grinned and Chrissy blushed as Bolt nodded furiously.

"You don't think it's too much?" Chrissy asked.

"Before he becomes a stuttering mess again, I say we go." Lauren said wrapping an arm around Chrissy's shoulders.

"Why are you leaving?" Bolt asked looking like a kid who got his favorite toy taken away. Chrissy laughed, seeing how Bolt can now talk, and leaned up to kiss his cheek.

"We're just going to drop off all the clothes I got today back at my house." She told him and he smiled.

"And I got to celebrate a win with my man." Lauren winked and Flash and Shawn scrunched up their noses in disgust.

"Pick you up in twenty?" Bolt asked Chrissy and she nodded before following Shade and Lauren out of the mall. Bolt watched Chrissy walk away with a smile on his face while Shawn and Flash stood next to him.

"So you ever going to tell her you love her?" Flash asked and Bolt glared at him.

"I will!" Bolt exclaimed and Flash raised an eyebrow. "I just haven't found the right way to say it." He muttered.

"Okay, repeat after me." Shawn said and Bolt looked over at him. "I,"

"I," Bolt repeated.

"Love," Shawn said.

"Love,"

"You,"

"You,"

"Chrissy."

"Chrissy."

"See! It's as easy as that!" Shawn grinned and Bolt sighed.

"But, it has to be special, right? I should do something special." Bolt said.

"Yes, because Chrissy has always been the type of girl that needed grand gestures for every little thing you do." Shawn drawled sarcastically.

"Look, dude, just tell her. You don't need fanfare or the works. She'll love you all the same." Flash told him and Bolt sighed.

"Okay." Bolt nodded. While he may have appeared reassured and cool on the outside, he was freaking out on the inside. But he had to do this. Later, Andrew and Roddy were hanging out in Roddy's room when Hydro walked in looking positively overjoyed.

"Hey guys." Hydro smiled before sitting down in one of Roddy's beanbags.

"Who are you and what have you done to Hydro?" Andrew asked slowly.

"For your information, I just came back after slaughtering Station Square and my girlfriend gave me a very nice victory gift." Hydro smirked and Andrew and Roddy looked at him disgusted.

"Ew." They both said, but Hydro just smiled.

"Anyways, what do you guys want to do?" He asked looking around. "Play some video games?" He suggested.

"We could work on some new songs." Roddy suggested.

"Um, I actually have to…go." Andrew said and Roddy and Hydro looked at him.

"I just got here." Hydro told him.

"Yeah, sorry, but I promised…some friends I'd hang out with them today." Andrew said and Roddy gasped dramatically.

"You're cheating on us!" Roddy exclaimed and Andrew stared at him confused.

"What?" Andrew asked.

"So suddenly you have new friends? Are we not good enough for you?" Hydro asked joining in on the outrage.

"You guys are still my friends." Andrew muttered.

"Did you hear that? Friends. There was a time where we were best friends!" Roddy exclaimed before throwing himself against the wall and dramatically crying. Hydro patted Roddy's back while Andrew rolled his eyes.

"You guys are my best friends. Have been and always will be." Andrew muttered while Roddy and Hydro smirked at him. "Whatever, see you losers later." He said jumping out of the window.

"Hey! We got a door!" Roddy yelled out the window as Andrew landed on the ground with a soft thud.

"Where's the fun in that?" Andrew smirked while Roddy just shook his head. Andrew drove over to the Storm house and walked in to see Midnight, Static, and Lauren standing around the kitchen.

"Good job keeping him busy. Now we left that at the hands of Roddy and who knows how he'll do." Andrew said to Lauren who rolled her eyes.

"Hey there's only so much I can do. It's not my fault that the guy has the stamina of—"

"All right, we are not here to discuss my son's sex life. We are here to talk about his surprise birthday party." Midnight interrupted while Static grimaced, but she didn't seem phased at all. "I have no idea what we should do." She said.

"Why not just have a barbecue? It's not like Hydro would want a huge party." Andrew shrugged and Midnight nodded.

"Good idea! Cheap and easy! But what should I get him for a present?" Midnight asked.

"We, dear. What we should get him." Static corrected and Midnight waved her hand dismissively.

"Didn't you guys used to have a dog?" Lauren asked.

"Oh yeah! What was his name?" Andrew murmured.

"Sirius?" Midnight said before her eyes lit up. "A new dog! Hydro would love that!" She exclaimed and Static groaned.

"He was so hard to take care of." He whined.

"Please." Midnight asked batting her eyelashes at him and he sighed in defeat. "Yay! So we have that settle let's talk about the plan." She said and Andrew and Lauren leaned their heads in closer. Bolt was pacing in front of his car as he waited outside of Chrissy's house for her to come out. As much as he knew he could just come in and get her, he needed air and a lot of it.

"Sorry for taking so long." Chrissy smiled as she walked out of her house still looking absolutely stunning. Bolt held out his arms and Chrissy walked straight into them wrapping her arms around his back. Bolt kissed her forehead making her smile softly and hold him tighter. He let out a staggering breath against her forehead as Chrissy pulled back and stared up at him confused. "Everything okay?" She asked.

"I love you." Bolt blurted out surprising Chrissy. "Aw man," He murmured rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't want to do it like that. I mean, I do really love you, but I just wanted to say so much more. Because I love you, and everything about you. You're my one, you know? I know we're only 16 and haven't really experienced life, but I just know. You are so beautiful and funny and smart and just—God I love you so much and have been sitting on this for the last couple of weeks. Every time I look at you, it's just like, whoa how did I get so lucky? You're so amazing and I—"Chrissy stopped Bolt's rambling by placing her hand over his mouth and he stared back down at her.

"I love you too, Bolt." Chrissy smiled before dropping her hand.

"You do?" He asked with a bright smile on his face.

"It doesn't really make sense, but yeah, I do." Chrissy told him and Bolt swept her up into his arms and kissed her firmly making her smile and laugh against his lips. He swung her around once before putting her back onto her feet and giving her one last kiss before pulling away.

"Celebrate with Oreo milkshakes at the diner?" Bolt asked.

"You know it." Chrissy grinned. Bolt couldn't wipe the smile off of his face as he drove to the diner with Chrissy holding his hand. They were in love and that's all that mattered. They made it to the diner and walked in together before getting one of the smaller booths towards the back. They were telling each other about their days and, of course, trading jabs and jokes. Bolt got up to go to the bathroom—still with a smile on his face. He stopped when he saw a guy hanging outside of the bathroom and assumed that there was a line. The bathroom only allowed for one person at a time anyways.

"Bolt Solari, right?" The guy asked confusing Bolt.

"Yeah, do I know you?" Bolt asked.

"C'mon man, it's me, Cheka. We've known each other forever." Cheka grinned and watched as Bolt's eyes became blank and vacant.

"Oh yeah man! How have you been?" Bolt grinned even though Cheka knew Bolt was gone and this was now his own puppet. He didn't like this plan, but out of all the things he could have been asked to do, this one seemed the most harmless. At least he was hoping so.

"Nothing much, nothing much. Just school, you know?" Cheka shrugged keeping up the conversation for appearances. He knew that if he kept him here long enough, Chrissy was bound to wander over here. He just had to wait it out.

Chrissy was sitting back at their booth with their food which had arrived while Bolt was gone. She wondered what was taking Bolt so long. He shouldn't be taking this long just to go to the bathroom. She got up and walked towards where the bathrooms were located and saw Bolt talking to an unfamiliar hedgehog.

"I heard you were dating that Prower chick. That geeky prude girl." Cheka said to Bolt and Chrissy glared at him, but froze when she heard Bolt snort.

"Yeah dude, she's such a fucking dweeb. I swear, I can only tolerate so much science and math talk." Bolt told Cheka. "That whole prude thing though is a lie. She's actually super easy if you know what I mean." He grinned.

"Seriously? That nerd?" Cheka asked.

"Hey, she might not be the prettiest, but she sure makes up for it in enthusiasm." Bolt said holding up his hands. "Just a couple of more months of stringing her along and I—"

"You what?" Chrissy shouted and Cheka disappeared into the bathroom releasing Bolt from his illusion. Bolt blinked in confusion before looking behind him to see a fuming Chrissy.

"Hey, what are you—"

"You have some nerve, Solari!" Chrissy yelled at him with tears streaming down her face.

"Chrissy, what are you—Chrissy!" Bolt called out as Chrissy stormed out of the diner. He sped out after her and skidded to a stop in front of her. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" He asked staring down at her with concern written all over his face.

"I heard you, you asshole! I heard all the things you said about me!" Chrissy yelled in his face confusing him even more. "Out of all the people…I thought you'd be the last one to do this to me." She shook her head.

"Do what? I don't know what you're talking about!" Bolt exclaimed.

"We're done, Bolt." Chrissy murmured quietly. Bolt's heart shattered inside his chest and he actually staggered backwards a little from the pain. "I'm done." She said before walking away from him leaving Bolt standing alone in the parking lot wondering what just happened.