"Whatever happened to Greene, anyway?" Shade asked.
"Oh, he actually got to be part of a first response team in Star Light," said Tails. "Dude's been a big advocate for that kind of stuff."
"Ah, well, that's nice," said Amy. A smirk then grew on her face. "Well, that's three of the crew talked about. That leaves tall, dark, and gruff over there."
"I appreciate it, but I'm not that gruff," said Rouge, giggling.
Shadow shrugged. "Not much to tell that I can recall. You all know about my past before the academy, and you know how much changed after that. Of course, at the time, I didn't know that the girl I was hanging around with was part of an anti-terrorism cell, so who knows?"
"Come on, you don't have a single day at the academy that didn't almost go to hell for you?" Rouge asked.
"Nope. I had two." Shadow sighed. "My first day, and my last day."
"The first one I know about, but I am interested to hear your retelling of it," Sonic said.
"Then let the man speak," Amy giggled.
Shadow cleared his throat. "All right, then."
Two years ago...
Shadow walked up to Green Hill Police Academy on its first day of the new training year, a leaflet in his hand showing a picture of the building in all its glory. He saw a lot of other Mobians filing in, and it reminded him somewhat of the last time that he saw Rouge. Two weeks prior, he got into an argument with her after laying in bed, half-naked with her.
He remembered about fighting the police officer who was insulting Rouge, how they both needed stress release, and how after that, he debating in his mind about becoming an officer. The week after, he found a leaflet on a billboard advertising it, and he saw it as a chance to change his life around. When he told Rouge, she wasn't happy.
The two hadn't spoken since that fight, and Shadow was letting out a breath as he stepped into the academy for the first time, seeing several new people signing themselves in for it. He was surprised his own application wasn't rejected this close to the new year starting, and he saw a tall blue hedgehog singing himself up before he himself moved up.
He froze in shock. The officer sat before him, checking in the papers, was the same one Shadow had roughed up those weeks ago. There was still a cut on the officer's left cheek, under the eye, with the right eye blackened and still recovering from being swollen. The officer regarded Shadow with quiet tension before curling his lips into a sneer.
"Not you," the officer said. "You're not getting in."
"And why's that?" Shadow asked.
"I said so. We don't let in criminals. I've seen you doing drugs, stealing cash, and being publicly indecent with that little girlfriend of yours. Is she behind you ready to sign too?"
"We... went our separate ways," Shadow cleared his throat. "Come on, man. I want to turn this around. Let me do that much?"
"You have a reputation. No."
"I have a reputation because you made it seem that way," Shadow said. "All I used to do was what I had to to survive. That includes punching out weak cops who try to assault my friends."
"Listen, you little shi-"
"He's with me!" a voice called. The officer and Shadow both turned to see the blue hedgehog from earlier. "He's my cousin."
The officer looked between the two. "I can see the family resemblance. But he can't just get in based on that.." he checked the form. "Sonic. Right?"
"Then look at my credentials," Sonic said. "Remember, I was almost in the Olympics. But I'm putting that ability to good use and using it to do some good for Green Hill. Let my cousin here-"
"Stop with the bullshit," the officer said. "You don't even know his name."
Shadow looked and smiled. "Sonic! Good to see you after all this time! Don't tell me you don't recognise your cousin Shadow?"
"Ah, I thought it was you!" Sonic smiled back, going along with the plan. "What made you want to get into the academy?"
"Eh, same as you. Wanted to do some good with what I've got for a change," Shadow said, about the only honest part of this exchange.
"Look, I know you two aren't cousins or anything," the officer said. "I'm sorry, but we're not letting this guy in. Not after what he's pulled."
Sonic paused in thought, nodding. "I'll make you a deal. He stays here on behalf of me. Whoever he shares a room with, they'll keep him in line. If he fails, I'll drop out too."
"I wouldn't rush to that," said the officer. "You I have hope for. This guy? Not so much. Do you want to see the crap he's pulled in his time?"
"No and I don't care," Sonic said. "Part of why places like this exist is for people like him to turn themselves around. He wants to do good? Let him do good. If he falls, I'll fall with him. Simple."
The officer shook his head. "I can't believe I'm agreeing to this... if you can get this kid to sort his stuff out, it'll be a minor miracle." He then turned back to Shadow, handing him a form with a pen. "Here. Name, date of birth, today's date."
Shadow wrote down all three, his eyes on Sonic for a beat before he handed the paper and pen back over. He walked up to the blue hedgehog, clearing his throat. "Why did you help me back there?"
"I'm just hoping you are willing to change that much," Sonic replied. "That's part of why. I want to see if you're worth the trouble."
Shadow nodded. "So... you haven't seen about my past?"
"It's nothing you can't tell me about over some lunch," Sonic said. "I'll pay."
"That's good, because I only have money whenever I steal it," Shadow said, catching himself. "W-Which I won't do while I'm here. I promise."
"I wasn't worried about that," Sonic smiled. "Come on. Let's eat."
The two went and did that, with Sonic knowing of some spots at the nearby mall where they could eat in peace. Some of the passersby gave Shadow strange stares, weary of him even though he harboured no ill intent towards any of them. He was instead focused on his conversation with Sonic, talking about his past a bit.
"So... yeah, I did some bad shit back then," Shadow said. "Not too proud of any of it. It's part of why I'm trying to move on now, do some good."
Sonic nodded. "And you said you might have trouble with some of the written tests?"
"Yeah," Shadow said. "Besides maybe my old foster family teaching me, I can't read big words too well. Legal terms are a pain to understand too."
"Yeah, there is a lot of confusing things about them," Sonic said. "I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but anything you need to know about the system, I'll try and teach you. I'll give you your first lesson for free, in fact."
Shadow nodded. "Of course."
Sonic smirked. "Don't steal shit."
The black and red hedgehog rolled his eyes, but he couldn't hide his smile. "I'll be on my best behaviour."
Present...
"After that, we all got sorted into our dorms," Shadow said. "Sonic and Tails agreed to help me with written tests. I mean, Tails basically taught me how to read and write."
"I taught him how to be cool," Sonic said.
"You showed me a lot of the music I listened to today," Shadow corrected his friend. "Well... Tails showed me more of it since I shared a room with him."
"I remember the first time with that," Tails smiled. "Blasting through The Wonder Years to get us through the written tests... it was fun. Well, the music was fun. The writing wasn't as fun."
"And that just came from the biggest nerd of the group," Sonic smiled.
"Am I wrong?" Tails asked.
"No, you're not," Knuckles conceded.
"And that just came from the biggest non-nerd in our group," Sonic said.
"Am I wrong?" Knuckles asked. "No I'm not. See? Answered it myself before you could."
"We were going to agree anyway," Cosmo giggled.
"Ah. Well, crap." The red echidna cleared his throat. "All right, so... we covered Shadow's first day. What made the last so interesting?"
"You'll find out," Shadow said. "Just hold on. Let me check something. Rouge, when did you join Anti-Light again?"
"It was right after our last fight when you said about joining the academy," Rouge said. "I told you about how I met their leader, Calvin, so I don't need to go over that again."
"Ah. Just making sure I was getting this next part right," Shadow smiled. "Anyway..."
Back at the academy...
Shadow was nervous for the last day at Green Hill Police Academy. Years of training, getting through all the written tests with help from Tails, and he kept his promise of staying out of trouble for the year. He hadn't talked to Rouge in a while, but he was smiling to himself as he was on the phone with Maria.
"So, it's your last day today?" Maria asked.
"It is," Shadow said. "I couldn't have made it this far without my friends helping me."
"Do you see yourself graduating?" Maria asked. "If... if that's not too mean a question."
"No, it's fine," Shadow said. "I do, honestly. I think that I killed it on my last test, so to speak."
"What was the last test?" Maria asked.
"It was just a rerun of some old questions. The hardest ones that they asked in prior tests, all put in one big one. We were all given maybe two hours to do it. It was brutal."
"Ah. Well, let's just hope that you do graduate," Maria said.
Shadow paused. "Are you not coming?"
Maria shook her head. "I won't be able to make it. I've got my job interview for the bank today..."
Shadow's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, wow. Th-That's great!"
"You don't sound overly happy," Maria said.
"Well... yeah, I mean, I am happy for you," Shadow said. "But... you're kind of the only friend I have outside of the academy. I don't have a seat reserved for you or anything, but it would have been nice to see you."
Maria smiled. "Well, I have to keep my new house afloat somehow."
"Oh, you got the place?" Shadow asked. "Damn, you've really been putting yourself together."
"I suppose you inspired me," Maria smiled on her end. "After all, you're turning your life around. I figured that I'd try and follow suit, move up a bit on my own. And before you ask, yes, you can come stay at my place whenever you want."
"I don't want to intrude too much," Shadow said. "But... well, I don't have a place planned for after this is all done. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all do. We might get rooms at the police department if we get in, but I wouldn't want to stay there for too many days in a row."
"Then intrude!" Maria insisted. "After my job interview, I'm going to get a key made for you."
"I'd like that," Shadow smiled. He checked his watch quickly. "All right... the graduation ceremony is about to start. I have to go."
"Let me know how it goes!" Maria said. "I've got to head to my interview."
"Best of luck to the both of us," said Shadow.
The two said their goodbyes and hung up before Shadow left the bathroom of his and Tails' dorm, wiping some nervous tears away quickly before looking over his uniform. It was a standard for possible academy graduates, more light grey and and teal blue on the sleeves with a sleeker looking jacket. He padded it down and made sure he had all that he needed before leaving to meet the others outside.
The four of them went to the graduation ceremony together, all dressed similarly as they sat close to each other. They kept any jokes in their conversation to a minimum as they saw several officers who'd helped them sat on the platform, including Mr. Bridger. The man that stood up to speak at the podium was another human, slightly dark-skinned and with greying black hair as he spoke.
"Good afternoon, everyone," said the academy's head. "I am Head Academy Officer De Leon, and welcome to the Green Hill Police graduation ceremony! It was a very good year for the academy, with plenty of fine candidates, even those that got into trouble. They made up for it with hard work, dedication, loyalty, and a duty to protect this city. We'll now be going over the rooms you were in as well and saying the names of those who have graduated and will go on to become Green Hill police officers."
Shadow gulped nervously as some names were rattled off. There were people he'd gotten to know at the academy who he thought were locks to graduate that didn't, and those he didn't even consider making it who would do just that. He tried to fight the sweat rolling down his brown as he remembered that the rooms of him and his friends would be further down the list, and sure enough, those names were being mentioned.
De Leon cleared his throat as he went through floor 3 of the academy, looking over some of the names. "Ah... one Sonic the hedgehog."
Sonic pumped his fist. "Yes! Made it!" he whispered loudly.
"His roommate, Knuckles the echidna."
Knuckles shared a fist bump with Sonic. "Looks like we're in."
"Miles Prower, otherwise known as Tails."
The two-tailed fox's tails flipped around happily at that, and he resisted hugging his friends. "I'm in too!"
"We're all together!" Sonic said. "Just one left."
De Leon looked over the list. "One... Tyler Hudson."
Shadow was confused. "That's not my name..." he muttered.
"Ah, my apologies," De Leon said. "New reading glasses. I skipped over a name here. Shadow the hedgehog has also graduated. Apologies for any anxiety that I may have caused there."
"Yes!" Shadow said, a bit louder than intended before hugging his other friends.
De Leon chuckled at the display before going through the rest of the names on the list. Not everyone was called up to be part of Green Hill Police Department, but those that made it all shared congratulations with each other, some eager to work with their friends, others less so.
"Dude, we all made it!" Knuckles said. "I thought for sure Shadow was a goner."
"Me too for a second," Shadow admitted. "When he skipped my name, I... fuck, is it weird that I wasn't worried about there being a mistake? I mean, that last test was brutal, and I know I got a few questions wrong on there..."
"We all did," Tails said.
"Not all of you," said De Leon, walking over as he overheard their conversation. "While none of you got a perfect score, Shadow actually did the best of the four of you."
Shadow's eyes widened. "Wow. Huh."
"Indeed," De Leon smiled. "I look forward to seeing what you can do out there in the world while I'm stuck here training more kids like you for the future of law enforcement."
"You said that with no malice at all," Tails pointed out.
"I know. I won't lie, it is vindicating to see people come in knowing what they know and then knowing more when they're done. Even though it takes some time, everyone has potential. You boys did last year, but you lost your tests back then. Shame." De Leon then cleared his throat. "Anyway, see you all whenever I can."
"Take care," Sonic smiled as he and the others walked away. "So... we all made it. We're all legal age. How about we go get drinks? I know a place."
"Hell, let's celebrate," Shadow smiled back. "See you guys later."
"Not if we see you first!" Knuckles responded.
"Guess I'm the designated driver?" Tails asked.
"Well, it's not like we get right to work tomorrow," Sonic said. "You can afford getting hammered. Just for one night."
"I'll try and take it easy, but I guess that one beer can't hurt," Tails said.
"That's the spirit!" Knuckles said. "Oh, uh, not those kinds of spirits. Nothing too hard for us, I think."
"Good thinking," Shadow said. "See you guys later. I've got a call to make."
"Later, dude!" Sonic said, he, Tails, and Knuckles leaving off.
Shadow called Maria, who answered quickly. "Hey! Great news! I graduated! Starting next month, I am officially a Green Hill police officer."
"That is great!" Maria said. "Speaking of... I got the job at the bank! I start in two weeks. I'm off to get you your key made."
"All right, I'll see you later," Shadow smiled.
Maria sighed. "Shadow... I want you to know that you truly deserve this after all of your hard work, from the first day to the last."
"I know what you mean," Shadow said. "It feels kinda nice. We're both getting what we want after so much hardship."
"Would you do it all again if you could?" Maria asked.
"Sure. Without the heavy parts. But without those, I wouldn't have met you." Shadow smiled. "Thank you for all that you've done. I'll see you later tonight. I'm going for drinks with the guys to celebrate."
"Perhaps I'll join you. I have reason to celebrate too!"
"We'll be happy to have you," Shadow smiled. "All right, I'd better move before I'm forced off the premises. See you."
"Bye," Maria said.
With that, they both hung up, the black and red hedgehog unable to shake the smile from his face as he turned on his heel, the academy behind him as he stepped forward into his future.
Present day...
"And those were my two big days," Shadow said. "My first and my last."
"Wait, hang on," Shade said. "Your tests disappeared in your first year there? What happened?"
"Well... I suppose that we can tell her," Shadow said. "So, uh... it was because of me. I hadn't learned enough by that point, even with Tails teaching me, and I knew I was going to get stuff wrong... because I found a guide sheet that Tails used where he'd copied the test and gotten the answers mostly right. I found that out after trying my own copy of it on my own and got all of them wrong."
"We didn't want it to be me, Knuckles, and Sonic graduating without Shadow," Tails added, "so we all coincidentally lost our tests when we shredded them for paper and threw them away."
Rouge smiled. "Aw... you took such a big risk for him."
"It paid off, didn't it?" Sonic asked. "I mean, look at us. We're all here now. That risk worked." He clinked his beer with Shadow's. "And you... you've come so far, dude."
"We all have," Tails said, lifting his beer. "To Maria."
The others all agreed, tipping their bottles out for it to splash on the sand. They would then continue their small talk and other catching up before Shadow and Rouge would have to take their leave. Sonic stood up and shook hands with Shadow, wishing him luck at Anti-Light before he left with Rouge.
"I hope we'll see them again..." Sonic muttered.
"We will," Amy smiled, standing up with her boyfriend. "One day."
And that's it! This short story thing is over. I hope you all liked it, and I'll try and get to Cyber Riders 3 soon. I want to sort of do more Join The Fun, possibly Beauties Of Remnant after, maybe some one-shot requests... we'll see what's next. I'll see you for whatever that is. Until then, take care, and stay tuned.
