The New Heartbeats

Author's Note: Why does it seem like it's always been a long time since I've updated this story… Blame life, blame my job, and blame college. You guys can blame me as well. The only reason I'm able to do this right now is that I'm finally done with finals and I'm on Christmas Break. With that being said, let's just get right into the chapter! INTRO!

Intro Music: Fullmetal Alchemist Opening 1

Chapter 16: Reunion

So, here I am. Yeah, it's me, Sonic The Hedgehog again. Oh boy. I'm pretty sure you guys have noticed, but if you haven't, I have had my behind handed to me recently in MULTIPLE ways. Not just in typical fighting, but in overall life. Though, that's okay… Alright, it's not really okay, but I need to stay strong for my friends. Like Rubes, our leader. Maybe this time together will help us clear our minds from the stress that we're dealing with, heh heh.

"OH MY GOD! LOOK AT ALL THESE COOKIES!" Ruby shouted, being in a cookie store where basically every cookie imaginable could be seen. Sonic likes cookies too, but not nearly as much as Ruby. He's more of a chili dog guy.

"I think I'm just now starting to realize your cookie addiction. And it's not healthy." Sonic joked, letting out a laugh.

"Oh please. My cookie addiction isn't healthy, but you act like your chili dog addiction is normal!"

Sonic scratched the back of his head awkwardly, but held his ground. "Hey! Chili Dogs are a gift to mankind! The greatest gift anyone could ever receive!"

"They're not better than cookies!"

"Oh yes they are!"

"No they aren't!"

"Yes they are!"

"Oh Lord…" Caliburn said, sighing and clearly being done with this whole thing.

Yeah… this will probably go on for a long time. HOWEVER, we do have another issue to check out. Whether or not it's bigger than what's going on with the cookie vs chili dog debate, that's up to you.

"EVERYBODY RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Jaune was yelling at the top of his lungs, with he and his team actually running for their lives. "MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY!" Jaune continued to shout, with Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha being right with him, their faces looking like they had just seen the devil himself.

Well, they may as well have.

Team JNPR would smash through the cafeteria doors, with Jaune yelling, "RUN FOR COVER!"

Not too far behind them was an angry Shadow, who suddenly appeared right in front of them with loads of pancakes that he obtained in mere seconds within the cafeteria, along with the pancakes that Nora made in her dorm.

Team JNPR stopped dead in their tracks, as the rest of the students really were running for their lives at this point. In his short time at Beacon, Shadow already made a reputation for himself, and students knew not to piss him off. So, not wanting to piss him off anymore, that's why they were running.

Shadow smirked, a red flame-like aura appearing around him, holding up the stacks of pancakes he had in each hand.

BGM: Throw It All Away by Everett Bradley

"It all starts with this... These pancakes containing the ultimate power!"

Oh yeah, he's lost it alright.

"Now, Shadow…" Jaune started, stepping back. His team would do the same. "We're sorry for throwing that pancake at your face. Can't we handle this like good, civilized people, and forget that this terrible thing ever happened?" he asked nervously, but Shadow was clearly ignoring him. He was walking closer towards Team JNPR, showing no signs of wanting to stop.

This caused Jaune to freak out even more. "O-Okay! Don't kill us! Just kill Nora instead! She's the pancake criminal that caused all of this!"

Nora went wide eyed, looking at Jaune and screaming, "HEY!"

"Now now, let's not go pointing fingers here. I'm sure we can find a way to settle this peacefully. Isn't that right, Shadow?" Ren asked, but Shadow kept on coming closer and closer.

This is when the rest of Shadow's team, Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald showed up. They sure weren't going to miss this type of theatre. This had more drama than a soap opera.

"Safe to say that Shadow's lost it, right?" Emerald said out loud to her group, more groups of students running past them while the chaos was happening.

"Yep." Mercury agreed.

"No doubt about it," Cinder added.

Funny thing about this is that these three are also so insane, that they'd probably do the same thing, maybe even worse depending on the person.

*Cough* Cinder *Cough*

"Shadoooowwww… We're all friends here, right? There's no need to cause all this destruction." Pyrrha was the last line of defense. Out of all the people in Team JNPR, maybe Pyrrha would be able to calm Shadow down since she's the closest with him?

Nah.

"Chaos… PANCAKE!"

This is when Shadow would unleash, firing multiple pancakes at Team JNPR. Shadow threw the pancakes with such force and ferocity that they honestly felt like boulders hitting them in the face or the stomach. This would especially be true for Jaune, who got the wind knocked out of him and got sent flying into one of the cafeteria tables.

Nora saw all of these pancakes flying at them, and decided to take a stand. "Fine! If it's a food fight you want…!"

That's when Nora brought out her hammer.

"Then it's a food fight you get!" With a new look of determination, Nora started deflecting the pancakes with her hammer. Defending herself wasn't the issue. However, deflecting these pancakes in particular directions is the decision that would prove to be fatal, even if she didn't mean to do it.

Three pancakes hit Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald right in the face, getting sent flying into the wall.

If y'all thought Shadow by himself losing his mind would cause chaos, you haven't seen nothin' yet.

The three bodies slid to the floor, lying beside each other as they looked at the cafeteria lights flashing upon them. They would stay silent for a long time, until Mercury and Emerald would break the silence.

"Kill them?" they asked in unison.

Cinder would only reply with a casual, yet sinister tone at the same time.

"Kill them."

BGM Change: Super Smash Bros. Brawl Theme

The three shot up, grabbing all the food they could see. Before you knew it, Shadow wasn't a one man army anymore. His team had joined the battle, as mass insanity would ensue. Emerald was firing bacon out of her guns… Wait, could her guns do that? Well, they're able to do it now in this situation. Mercury was kicking multiple pieces of chicken at every member of Team JNPR, and Cinder was firing flaming hot cheetos. Only this time… They were actually, quite literally, flaming hot cheetos. Do cheetos even exist in this universe? WHO WOULD EVEN CARE AT THIS POINT?!

Ren looked like a master of martial arts, channeling his inner Bruce Lee as he was dodging almost everything. Key word, almost. He was dodging everything until a piece of chicken that Mercury kicked hit him right in the face.

Pyrrha, sensing that a fireball cheeto was coming her way, brought out her shield and redirected it at Cinder upon impact. Cinder, seeing that the all powerful cheeto that she made, the monster that she created, was coming back at her, fired another hot cheeto back at it. Jaune saw what was about to happen, and screamed, "NO DON'T, YOU'LL DESTROY US ALL!"

He would prove to be right.

The results would be catastrophic.

With the two cheetos hitting each other, an over exaggerated, anime-like explosion happened, with everybody yelling at the top of their lungs as everybody got sent flying by the power of flaming hot cheetos. This would also go for the people that didn't make it out of the cafeteria in time, every one of them looking like rag dolls that got thrown out the window, as I'm pretty sure that the Goofy yell could be heard.

As the dust cleared, Team JNPR and Team CMES could be seen on opposite sides, all on the floor. They groaned in pain from the explosion, but all of them would slowly but surely get up. Looking around, the cafeteria was a mess. Clumps, masses of food everywhere. The walls, the floors, the tables… Yeah, it wasn't good. If that wasn't enough, the cafeteria itself was covered in the remains of hot cheetos. Now, one could say somebody could lick the entire cafeteria and be done with one step… but honestly, who's going to lick the entire cafeteria, even if it tasted good?

On the outside, Sun and Neptune could be seen looking inside the window, their eyes going wide at what they had just witnessed.

"I think we just witnessed the greatest fight in the history of history." Sun told Neptune.

"Meh. 7.8 outta 10, too much cheetos." Neptune replied, shrugging.

With everybody recovering, that's when Glynda Goodwitch stormed into the cafeteria, her head and face signaling that she was seething with rage.

Could she put all the tables back together herself? Sure, but that would be letting the kids off the hook. Ohhhh no, that definitely won't happen.

"You all are going to pay." She told the eight people in a menacing tone.

Welp, let's see what's going on with Sonic and Ruby!

"Yes, they are!"

"No, they aren't!"

"Yes, they are!"

"No, they-"

"SILENCE!"

Caliburn's frustration finally made Sonic and Ruby shut up. "I swear to the heavens, if I have to go through another traumatizing event, I'm going to have a mental breakdown. So, if you two would be so kind to just get your cookies and SHUT UP, that would be greatly appreciated."

Sonic and Ruby looked down at Caliburn. Sonic, being somewhat of a douche, even though he naturally was already one, said, "You seem pretty angry there Caliburn."

Caliburn's eye started to twitch.

"I swear, if it wasn't for our history, I would have killed you myself a long time ago."

"Aw, don't be like that Cali," Sonic began, smirking. "You know you love me."

"I love and hate you all at once. I have such conflicting emotions."

"I can make you unconflicted with some modding!" Ruby shouted.

"NO, I AM ABSOLUTELY, TREMENDOUSLY FINE, THANK YOU!"

Sonic and Ruby laughed out loud at Caliburn still fearing the idea of Ruby doing some modifications to him. After all the yelling, Sonic and Ruby went with the simplest cookies they could get. Chocolate chip, but who doesn't love chocolate chip? Ruby was going to pay for it, but Sonic said, "Nope, I got this."

Oh boy, here we go again.

Sonic paid for the cookies in rings. While that might be currency on his planet, Remnant is a different story. The owner of the shop, once he saw what he was paid in, yelled, "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-!"

Outside, Caliburn sighed as Sonic and Ruby sat on the bench, eating their cookies. "You know, Sonic, you're gonna get in trouble for that one day."

"I mean, there's not really anything I can do about the rings thing. It's all I got."

Then Ruby asked a question that would catch Sonic off guard. "I've been meaning to ask, where do you even get all those rings anyway?"

Sonic almost spat out his cookie, before forcing himself to swallow it. He started coughing, making Ruby's eyes widen. She came closer to Sonic and started patting him on the back.

"You okay?!"

Sonic's coughing slowly died down after his shock went away. "Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine." He then cleared his throat. "To answer your question, rings are like special things from my family. It's how we show our gratitude."

"Oh brother…" Caliburn thought to himself, utterly amazed that Sonic kept on coming up with BS story after BS story. This was going to catch up to Sonic sooner or later, and he doesn't want to be there when it happens.

Well, maybe he does if Sonic needs some protection.

"Huh. Well, that's pretty neat." She said, continuing to eat her cookies. "Not as neat as these cookies, though!"

"Yeah, these are definitely hitting the spot." agreed Sonic, eating another cookie. "You know, this is nice. I haven't been able to relax like this in a long time."

Ruby gave a nod. "Tell me about it." she said, leaning back into the bench to completely relax. There would be a silence between the two, only the sounds of chewing being able to be heard.

Sure, they were trying to relax, but it's clear that the two still had a lot on their minds. Of course, this relates to everything that's happened recently. Sonic in particular was thinking about all the stuff that Yang told him how she tried to be this indestructible sister for Ruby. Truth be told, he didn't even wanna think about Yang right now, but…

If he could help in any way, he was going to do it.

"Ruby, this question is going to seem random, but how much do you look up to Yang?"

That question caused Ruby to turn her head. This was a weird question to ask in her opinion, but it's not like she wouldn't answer.

"I mean, obviously I look up to her a lot. Not just because she's my big sis, but she's so incredibly strong. Even with this group literally falling apart, at least with the whole Blake and Weiss thing, here comes Yang trying to reassure me that everything will be alright, and that I was chosen to be the leader of this team for a reason. Even if I have no idea why I was chosen to be the leader at this point, she kept telling me that I was the right one for the job."

Ruby then looked down, her face becoming saddened.

"But I know it's taking a toll on her."

Sonic continued to look at Ruby, going back to the time where Yang said she wouldn't be surprised if Ruby noticed the turmoil she was going through.

"What makes you say that?" Sonic asked.

Ruby paused. "She ever told you about our whole family situation?"

Sonic nodded. "I'm aware."

Ruby then sighed. "Well… with mom being gone, she felt a great deal of responsibility to take care of me along with dad. Then you add in the fact that my mom wasn't really her mom, because her mom left a long time ago. She tries her absolute hardest to deal with that everyday, and a lot of the time, she's able to pull it off."

She paused once more.

BGM: RWBY ~ Forever Fall

"Though, as time passes, I notice it's becoming harder and harder for her to deal with everything. Maybe it's because of what she went through. Maybe it's because of how long she's been going through it. Heck, maybe it's both. Whichever way you slice it, she's had, and still has a lot on her plate." This is when Ruby started to cry a bit, her tears dropping to the ground.

"It honestly makes me feel like a burden… A burden that she doesn't deserve."

Sonic noticed how this was going, and was sad to see that Ruby felt like this. "Aw Rubes," Sonic began, getting closer to her and putting an arm around her. "You're definitely not a burden. If anything, you're the best thing that's ever happened to her."

Ruby looked up at Sonic with her teary eyes. "How can you say that for a fact? You can't. Face it, Sonic. It's the cold hard truth. Whenever she looks at me, she probably just gets a constant reminder of how her actual mom left her, and I can't blame her."

Sonic continued to look at Ruby, while thinking about all of the times Yang let out her feelings to him.

"She fears abandonment." Sonic stated, taking his best estimated guess. "That's what she fears, right?"

Ruby tried to calm herself down. "It's probably only one of her problems out of many. This is exactly what I'm saying."

She started to cry harder as her frustration grew.

"And yet here I am, trying to be the freaking leader of this team, but I'm over here crying my eyes out!" She was getting louder and louder.

"What kind of leader am I?!"

"A darn good one. I only need you to realize that." Sonic told her reassuringly. "Do you know if anyone normal went through what you and Yang went through, they probably would have given up a long time ago?"

Ruby looked to Sonic once more.

Caliburn agreed with Sonic. "Sonic is right. You have to be unfathomably strong to deal with everything that's attacked your family. And from the looks of it, a lot has attacked your family. Yet here you are. You're at this school along with your sister. You were chosen to be the leader of this team. You're super talented in multiple areas, especially when it comes to modding weapons. No, me saying that does not give you the green light to do things to me."

Caliburn saying this made Ruby give an ever so slight chuckle, and Sonic would kinda chuckle as well.

"My point, and Caliburn's point, Ruby," Sonic began, "Is that you're strong. You give credit to how strong Yang is, but I don't even think you realize how strong you are. You've gone through so much, but you're here. Not only are you here, but you're here for a reason. And if you don't believe that, I'm going to keep on saying it because I'm your friend. You helped me get into this group in the first place when I was literally sleeping outside with nowhere to go. You didn't even know me, but yet your big heart made you help someone like me; someone that you didn't even know at the time. For that, I am in your debt. Friends help each other because they care for one another. I care about you, Ruby, and that goes for the rest of the team. I'm going to help you guys until I'm not able to help anymore."

Sonic's little speech hit hard. Ruby continued to cry, sniffing. "Don't say that, Sonic… You're gonna be around for a long time, you got that?"

There was a silence between the two.

Honestly, as much trouble as he's gotten into on this planet, him staying alive seemed like an impossibility.

But like he said, he was going to try.

"Got it."

That's when Sonic and Ruby embraced in a heartfelt hug. The tears could still be felt strolling down Ruby's face. Also, whether or not Sonic wanted to admit it, he was holding back tears as well. He wasn't crying, but he was this close to breaking. Oh, so close.

They would hug each other for a long time. Though, the thing that would break the hug wouldn't be because they wanted to end it.

It was more like they had to.

An explosion could be heard, causing the two to separate. Somebody was flying all over Vale in this mech-like thing.

Wait a second…

"Citizens of this planet, allow me to introduce myself…"

BGM Change: E.G.G.M.A.N. Sonic Adventure 2

"I AM THE EGGMAN!"

Sonic could only facepalm himself.

"Oh brother… A reunion, huh?" Sonic thought.

END OF CHAPTER 16: REUNION

BGM: Kingdom Hearts - Simple and Clean by Utada Hikaru, Audio Boost Remix

Eggman: I'm back! I'm back! OHHOHOHOHOHO!

Sonic: Take a chill pill, Egghead! You had one line in the whole chapter!

Eggman: You're just a hater!

Cinder: Gonna need my explosive hot cheetos?

Sonic: Nah, I should be good. Wait, explosive hot what?

Ruby: What's going on?

Yang: Guess I'm gonna have to get Blake and Weiss to make up…

Next time on The New Heartbeats!

Friends and Enemies

Eggman: You don't wanna miss what I'm gonna do to Sonic!

Author's Note: Hope you guys enjoyed chapter 16. It's been a long time, I know. I also went insane on my take with the food fight. If you guys didn't notice it, logic was thrown out the window with all the ridiculousness I put in there, lol. Also, quick thing. I know how the next chapter is going overall, but do you guys wanna see a Christmas chapter? If you guys want it, then I'll give it to y'all. Anyway, like always, READ AND REVIEW! Love y'all, and peace out!