A/N: Second chapter. I have no reviews-- Maybe this chapter will get some of those lovely reveiws that I truly apprechiate. Well chapter is set in the future. The boys have grown up some and the fights only get worse. There's also a hint os slashyness. This chap may be corney but pusst oh well. :p

Enjoy.

Friends Rival

Sixteen years later…

Wednesday 7:18 p.m.

It was late in the evening.A black and red echidna with hedgehog ears waswearing slightly yellow shorts that passed his knee. On the left pant leg were two blue stripes entwining with each other. Its hair was long and had been tied so that it was held in a pony tail that fanned out across his back. It was sitting on a huge boulder embedded in the soil playing its guitar. Its guitar was an electric one that was black all over and had red, white, and gold swirls starting at the bass all the way up to the neck. The black and red echidna looking creature was singing as well.

"I dare you to mooooove

I dare you to mooooove

I dare you to left yourself off of the floooooor

I dare you to moooooove

I dare you to moooove

Like today never happened, today never happened

Maybe redemption ha-"

"Hey! A.J.!" a grey and purple echidna wearing a sweater with the shoulders cut out, with some black pants and black boots yelled up at the black and red hybrid.

The nineteen year old Adrian stopped and looked down at his eighteen year old cousin Kito with an amused look on his face.

"SHUT UP!" Kito yelled again. A.J. smirked.

"You're jus' mad cause you have no talent." he said closing his already half lidded eyes.

"First of all." Kito jumped on the boulder next to A.J. "I have talent. And you practice, a lot. Maybe too much. Second, I can do this." Kito jumped off the boulder and proceeded to glide around A.J showing a toothy grin.

"So!" A.J.'s cheeks turned redirritatably. Despite the fact that his mother was an excellent glider, he couldn't glide worth shit.

Kito landed back on the ground still grinning. A.J.'s blank look returned but then it changed excitement.

"Hey Kito!" he stood pointing is finger at him. "I dare you to move."

Kito took the dare stomping his foot forward folding his arms and gave A.J. a look that said 'And'.

A.J shrugged.

"Shouldn't have done dat" he sat back down on the boulder and started tuning his guitar.

Kito raised an eyebrow and then heard hissing and rattling noises at his feet. He looked down and screamed.

"AH, SNAKE!" Kito started franticly stomping at the snake.

A.J. chuckled seeing if his guitar was tuned right. After hearing that it was tuned to his preference he began to play and sing again.

"Theeeeere used to be a graying tower alone on the sea

Yooooou became, the light on the dark side of me

And looooooove remained, the drug that's the high and not the pill

And did you know, that when it snows, my eyes become and, the light that you shine can't be seen.

BAAAAAABYYY, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey

The more I get of you the stranger it feels yeeeeah

And now that your rose is in bloom

A light hits the grove on the greeeeeey"

He played more notes in between the verse and chorus.

Kito finally got rid of the snake and glared daggers at A.J. A.J. looked at him with one eye smiling. Kito climbed back onto the boulder sitting next to his cousin. This time he took the lead in the next verse, his voice not being as deep as A.J.'s

"Theeeers's so much a man can tell you so much he can say

Yooooou remain, my power my pleasure my PAIN!

To me you're like a grown addiction that I can't deny

What you tell me isn't, healthy baaaby

But did you know (know) that when it snows (snows)

My eyes become large and, the light that you shine can't be seen.

BAAAAAABYYY, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey

The more I get of you the stranger it feels yeeeeah

And now that your rose is in bloom

A light hits the grove on the greeeeeey"

A.J. now played a different softer tune that still fit the song and joined in singing echoing Kito's words.

"IIIIII've beeeeen kissed by a rose on the grey

IIIII've been kissed by on rose on the grey

IIIII've beeeen kissed by a rose on the grey"

A.J. started first.

"IIII've-"

Then Kito.

"IIII've-"

Now together.

Someone started clapping.

"-been kissed by a rose on the grey!-"

They stopped surprised at first, then they realized that it could only be one person.

The clapping was followed by low laughter coming from a dark figure in the tree above them. The dark figure slid off the branch he was perched upon landing in front of the two still laughing. The figure was slightly taller than A.J. and Kito even though he was younger. Its sharp eyes now focusing on A.J. Its attire consisted of baggy badge pants hung off his hip on the left side, showing off his light blue boxers, and cuffed around its white tennis shoes. The figure also had very large bat and messy dreadlocks that were cut short.

The figure was Dante now sixteen.

"What are you doing here, pink eyes?" A.J. spat at the intruder. Kito was on guard as well. They didn't trust Dante one bit. Dante's eyes were a nice shade of silvery pink though he didn't like it.

Dante ignored the comment and with one flap of his massive wings was up on the boulder right in A.J.'s face making him gasp.

"My dads' visiting your mom." he told him huskily.

When the fights between Adrian, Kito and Dante got worst. Everyone decided that it would be best if they separated the children. So Knuckles moved back to Angle Island with Dante, Yasha and Blade found a house not far from Knuczema and Shadow's, and Sonic just went back to his adventures.

A.J.'s cheeks turned red and he pushed Dante away telling him in a weak vocie to "Back up" but due to hisdialect it came out more like "Bag' up". He made the spikes on his knuckles come out (retractable knuckles) as a warning, his cheeks still red. Kito nudged him.

"What? I can't come say hi to my favorite hybrid and his sidekick?" Dante turned towards Kito who was now glaring at him. Dante smirked and flopped down between A.J. and Kito. He suddenly stretchedup his arms pretending to be yawningletting his wings do the same knocking A.J. and Kito off the boulder with twin thuds.

Dante looked innocent.

"Oops, did I do tha-" before he finished his sentence A.J. came with cat like agility catching Dante by the throat sending him to the other side of the boulder where Kito pinned him down and let A.J. get in as many punches as he could.

Dante was finally able to kick A.J. to the side and pin Kito down the same way he'd been pinned down. He raised a spiked fist and just as he was about to strike got another spiked fist forcedin his jaw sending him several feet away fromthem.

With speed and strength on his side A.J. ran to Dante with another punch. Dante thought fast and with one swoop of his wings elevated himself just in time for A.J.'s fist to drive into the ground instead and was coming down feet first to drive Adrian into the ground when Kito shoved himself into A.J. knocking them out of the way. Dante came down and quicklykicked himself upflying toward them again. A.J. waited till the last minute and met Dante's attackslamming his fist in his face. Dante stumbled back and Kito got him in a full Nelson. A.J. got behind them and started pulling on Dante's wings. Dante cried out and struggled to get free and failed. He then threw himself forward sending all three rolling. They began to wrestle amongst themselves. A.J. throwing the strongest punches, Kito throwing the swiftest, and Dante slapping them with his wings when he'd get the chance.

They continued their melee for hours on end.

Meanwhile in Knuczema's house, Knuckles, Shadow, Yasha and Blade sat conversing when they realized their childrenhad not yet returned. Shadow looked at the time.

"It's going on ten o'clock. Dante left at seven thirty."

Just as he said that Adrian, Dante and Kito burst trough the door battered and bruised. They moaned as they walked/limped over to their parents. A.J. limped over to his mother and collapsed resting his head on her knee. His hair tie was missing so hair hung over his face. Kito was holding his arm. His father came over looked at his arm and started to lecture him on how 'Warriors aren't weak'. Dante went over to his father with one wing hanging limp and swollen a black eye. He looked at his father for sympathy but got none. Knuckles looked at him with disapproval, knowing he most likely started all this.

"You know where the first aid kits are." Shadow said pointing a thumb toward the kitchen. The adolescents groaned and lumbered into the kitchen.

They satin silenceseparate from each other tending to their own wounds. Dante had an ice pack over his eye; Kito was wrapping up his arm, and A.J. had band aids and wraps on various places of his body.

They sat in the kitchen looking at each other. Kito was sitting back in his chair arms folded staring angrily past Dante, who was also sitting back with his legs crossed and his arms behind his head, and Adrian sat hunched over with his face resting in one hand with his usual half lidded blank stare, but now you could see he was in deep thought.

"Dante, let's go." came from his father in the living room.

"Kito Ishigawa!" Kito winced at his fathers stern vocie.

Kito and Dante got up and padded over to the entry way. They both reached the door at the same time and Dante shoved Kito in his injured arm.

"Ah!" Kito gave Dante a swift kick in the ass. This got a chuckle from A.J.

"That's enough!" A.J. heard his mother scold them. He knew he would be next and that he'd mostly likely get into more trouble because he was the oldest…or maybe Kito would because of what was expected of him. He heard them say their goodbyes and the door shut. The house was quiet again.

Knuczema and Shadow stepped into the kitchen. A.J. looked up at them his blank expression changed.

"It wasn't my fault!" he started. "If Dante hadn't-!" he was 'shh'ed.

"I know." his mothersaid calmly. "You can go to bed now if you want."

A.J. looked a little shocked. 'That was different' he as he got up passing his parents and going up stairs to his room. "Could've been worse." he said falling down on his bed.

2:42 a.m.

A.J. couldn't sleep. His thoughts keeping him awake. He tossed and turned not being able to get comfortable. He turned towards his window.

'A full moon.' he thought. But that didn't stop his mind from drifting back to Dante. Oh yes he was thinking about that dumbass, pink eyed, retarded hair…over grown bat..echidna….THING!

He sighed. For some reason he felt a little sad now. He looked over at his guitar sitting in a corner.

'I gotta get this of my chest.' He got out of bed grabbed his guitar strapping it on his back, opened his window and climbed up to the roof of the house.

Once up there in the moon lights grace his untied long hair blowing in the warm breeze, he started tuning his guitar. Oncehe got his notes right he started plying. The rhythm starting off simple, then became a little more complex. And he started singing.

"I'm not a perfect persooon

There's many things I wish I didn't doooo

But I can tell you're leeeeaning

I never meant to do those things to yoooooou

And so I have to say before I gooooo

That I just want you to knooooow

I found a reason for meeeee

To change who I used to beeeeee

A reason to start over neeeew and the reason is yooooou

I'm sorry that I hurt yooooou

I wish that I could take all awaaaaay-"

Knuczema was standing on her balconey with nothing but a long T-shirt (and underwear) on. She listened to her son sing his heart out on the roof, humming along to the words. Her husband came up beside her. They listened to there son sing. Crickets cripted and there were somw fireflys out too. Truht be told their son had talent. Shadow considered it a hobby. Knuxie considered it as a way to express yourself with rhyms and rhythmic beats...thats basiclly what a song was.

"That boy sings to much." Shadow said a but gruffly.

"That boy 's in love." Knuxie muttered.

"Huh?" said Shadow.

"You bought him the guitar I siad." Knuxie stated turning to her mate smiling. Shadow roled his eyes relized that little matter of fact.

And so this chapter ends. PLEEEEZ give me some reviews TT.