I bless you all with another chapter! I haven't updated last week, I was busy finishing my commissions. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.
"I should head first, my next class is pretty far." Said Sonic as he taps his watch. "As always, you two should stay out of trouble, okay?"
"Loud and clear Sonic!" Saluted Amy, almost wanting to give the blue blur a death hug. Shadow pulled her shirt from behind. She glared at the ebony hedgehog.
"Just get going faker." Said Shadow, pulling the pink hedgehog beside him.
"Come on! Would it kill you to say my name for once?!" Sonic cried. He could see the ebony hedgehog smirking.
"Shadow, don't be mean to Sonic. He's been nothing but nice to us." Amy said, turning her head at Shadow with an annoying look on her face. The ebony hedgehog didn't say a word, as he looked away with a frown on his face. Sonic sighed in defeat and bid farewell to the two hedgehogs as he sprinted, leaving a trail of blue.
"We should get going. Classes are about to start!" She excitedly said. Shadow groaned, annoyed that he had to sit in class, listening to topics that he already knew. But at least Amy is his seatmate, it made it less disdainful for the Ultimate Lifeform.
Shadow and Amy made it into the class on time, with a minute to spare. But what greeted the two hedgehogs was someone they wanted to avoid. In front of the teacher's desk was an annoyed pink hedgehog, chewing a gum as it made a pop sound.
"Oh look, it's the loser. Remember what I told you yesterday?" The pink hedgehog said as she got close to Shadow, popping her gum in front of him. "You're not getting away with this" a smirk etched on her face, showing her fang. The lavender hedgehog wasn't sure what to do. Seeing how things are getting out of hand, Emi stepped in.
"We don't want trouble now, do we? Classes are about to start, you know? A-and the professor won't be happy about this." Amy turned her head to the lavender hedgehog.
"Look Elise, right?"
"It's actually Emilia Thorns, but Emi for short"
"I don't care what your name is. I like you, but if you're getting in my way then you can join this loser right here as he grovels on the floor like a bitch he is." Emi gulped at the pink hedgehog's threats. Just when she promised Sonic not to cause trouble. Shadow on the other hand hasn't moved an inch. He glances around the room, seeing the other students looking uncomfortably at them. He then spoke.
"Do you really want to take it here? Now is not the time." Shadow said. Emi was about to put her hand on Shadow's shoulder, telling him to ignore the pink hedgehog, but something else happened. A piercing noise echoed in the room. A few gasps came out from the students as his head turned 90 degrees. A shocked look was on the lavender hedgehog's face. A vein popped in his forehead.
Amy slapped the Ultimate Lifeform.
"S-shadow are you okay?" Asked Emi who was still in shock. The ebony hedgehog didn't respond, instead he turned his head to Amy. The lavender hedgehog could see the fuming anger on Shadow's eyes. Crimson eyes meet jade like eyes. Shadow let out a scoff, passed through, almost bumping into her. Ignoring what had happened as he sat on his seat. Shadow didn't want to cause trouble, especially towards his alternate self. He almost lost his cool, wanting to strike the pink hedgehog back. The ebony hedgehog believed in equality, be it a woman or a child, if someone strikes him, he would strike back. It's only fair to do so. Shadow could still feel the sting in his face.
"That's what I thought." The pink hedgehog said, flipping her hair. For a second, Emi expected Shadow to retaliate. It's a good thing he didn't. But for her counterpart to slap her friend, she didn't take it lightly. Emi turns her head to Amy
"Why did you do that? What did he ever do to you?" Said Emi, a frown on her face. The pink hedgehog raised her eyebrow, looking at her from head to toe.
"You should mind your own business, new girl." Amy said, her heels clicked, moving back to her seat. The lavender hedgehog clenches her fist, her face fuming with anger, biting her cheek. Shadow glances at Emi, tapping his finger on the table, signaling her to sit beside him. She lets go of her pent up rage, letting out a sigh. The lavender hedgehog sat beside Shadow.
"She's such a-a..!"
"A bitch, I know." Shadow said, turning his head to Emi. "Things are not getting easy and so is my patience. If she's gonna be a pain in the ass, then I'll find a way to silence her." Emi gulped at his cold words.
"You sound like you're planning to kill her." Shadow straightened his back, his other arm leaning on his face.
"What do you think?" Emi flinched. Unsure if he was serious or not. Shadow didn't like the grim expression on her face. "It was a joke, Rose" he whispered, making sure no one heard him.
For some reason, his voice made the lavender hedgehog calm. If Shadow was an ASMR Mootuber, he would be an instant star. She closes her eyes, inhaling and exhaling. Bringing back her inner peace.
"Why didn't you retaliate? Don't you usually do that?" Shadow turned his head back to the window. Not wanting her to see his expression.
"It's because she's you." He muttered under his breath. Emi raised her eyebrow, she didn't hear him clearly.
"What? I didn't quite hear that." Shadow didn't repeat his words. Instead he glanced at her, rolling his eyes. Silence greeted the lavender hedgehog, but she didn't mind; she felt comfortable with him around. Who would have thought that she'd be comfortable around Mr. Gloom and Doom.
After the class ended, the pink hedgehog spared no time approaching Shadow and Emi. She slammed her hand at their desk, causing the two to look up. "Leaving so soon? We still have some unfinished business to settle." The students immediately squirm away, avoiding getting caught in their crossfire.
"Will you stop bothering us? We didn't even do anything to you." Emi spoke. She was getting tired of her counterpart's antics.
"Listen Erza. This is none of your concern, if you really want to butt in then fine. I'll make your school year a hellish one like this loser here." Amy said, pointing her finger at the ebony hedgehog.
"You know, cutting classes could get me in detention, but if it's about getting back at this trash, then I wouldn't mind." A voice spoke, making the three turn their heads. It was a white hedgehog leaning on the door, beside him was a familiar yellow fox, hands tucked in on his blazer. His fur was a mess, and his crystal blue eyes that used to shine like jewels looked dull.
"Babe" The pink hedgehog said, then turned her head to the fox. "And Miles? Why did you bring him with you?" She frowned.
"You know Tails is a brother to me, whenever I go, he goes." Silver said as he winked at Amy. "Hello to you too Ames" Miles smiled, his eyes on her chest. Silver, who was on his side, failed to notice.
"My eyes are up here and last time I remember, I didn't give you the permission to call me that." Amy said.
"What are you talking about?" Asked Silver, who wasn't aware. The yellow fox cleared his throat, catching his half-brother's attention.
"The sooner we deal with this loser, the faster we can get back in class. I'm already on the verge of getting expelled." Miles said in a monotone voice.
The white hedgehog turned his head to Shadow. "You got a lot of nerve messing with me yesterday." Silver said, as he approached the ebony hedgehog. Miles, who was behind him, followed.
The fox's attention caught Emi's rosey eyes. His face widened in surprise and tapped Silver's shoulder.
"Who's this?" Asked Miles, pointing at the lavender hedgehog. Silver turned his head. Before he could say, Amy spoke.
"It's his cousin. Her name is Elise? Era? Ein? who gives a shit. All I know is that I never heard of her before. She's new, and a thorn on the side. No pun intended." Emi could feel Silver and Miles' gaze.
"You know." Miles said, putting his hand on his chin. "She really looks a lot like you Ames." Emi felt a shiver. Silver stared at the lavender hedgehog, looking at her from top to bottom.
"Ugh, what do you mean she looks like me? She's nothing like me at all! Hello? Are you guys color blind or what?" Yelled the pink hedgehog
"Now that you've said it-" before Silver could finish his words, he felt a swift pang on his face. The white hedgehog was now on the floor as he felt his cheeks burn. Shadow has punched Silver. While the white hedgehog was confused, Shadow grabbed Emi's hand, shoving the pink hedgehog aside, as they broke into a sprint.
"H-hey!" Amy cried. Miles on the other hand, watched the two hedgehogs run. "Damn it! Tails what the fuck are you doing? Chase after them." Said Silver his hand on his cheek as he struggled to stand up.
"I don't feel like chasing after them. Besides, it's not like they can run away forever." Miles yawned. "We'll get them next time. Doubling the beating" Said the fox, lending a hand to Silver.
"You know, for someone who has shitty grades, you can be pretty wise." Silver replied, grabbing his hand. The fox wasn't the smartest when it comes to academics, but he is mentally smart, cunning and manipulative, which the white hedgehog isn't aware of. A mobian to be feared, who can dig every dirt from a person's mind just by a glance.
"Grades aren't everything you know?" Miles turned his head to the fallen pink hedgehog and offered his hand. She only scowled at the young fox, slapping his hand away.
"I can stand up for myself." Despite Silver and Tails being half brothers. She was never fond of the young fox, he always looked at her with a perverse smile, making her uncomfortable in every way. Amy knew that Miles always had this one- sided crush on her, but she cringes everytime he approaches her. He always reeks of tobacco and alcohol. Even so, she can't deny that he looks physically attractive. The reason for her strong dislike of the young fox happened when he made her drunk last time at a party held by Silver, almost forcing himself on her and if it wasn't for Shadow putting a stop to it, who knows what would have happened. After the incident, she never spoke to Silver about it. The white hedgehog was so protective of his young brother that he'd rather believed his brother more than her. This disgusted the pink hedgehog to the core.
"If you say so, Princess." Replied the fox.
"S-slow down Shadow!" Amy pulls her hand, putting the ebony hedgehog to a stop. She panted, trying to catch her breath. She faced Shadow, wiping her sweat.
"You hah.. made things worse. What are we going to do the next time we meet them? Not just that, they almost found out about my identity."
"Doesn't matter. I won't let them do as they please and as for your identity, I doubt they'll find out about it." He replied. Amy noticed that he wasn't even sweating when they were running, it must be nice to be the ultimate lifeform she thought.
"What do you mean? They saw the similarities to my alternate self. It wouldn't take long for them to find out."
"They won't." His words, filled with confidence. How is so sure of himself? Amy had a hard time accepting his words. She was worried about what would happen the next time they met. Not only did they cause trouble, both were extremely late for their class. Shadow couldn't care less about the class, he finds it dull and uninteresting. Having the knowledge of almost everything was the perks of being the Ultimate lifeform.
"Let's just get back to our class, Sonic and Shads wouldn't be too happy about this." She said, as she grabbed his hand, dragging him to his next class. "It's better to be late than never." Amy didn't mind holding his hand, since it was her nature of being friendly towards her friends. Shadow on the other hand didn't feel the same way, he always felt uncomfortable when someone touches him, he mostly would pull away or even curse the one that dares to. But to the lavender hedgehog in front of him? He didn't mind, he always felt at peace. Sometimes he wondered if her presence made him soft. It's only been 4 days since they got trapped in this world. He didn't like the feeling that he was relaxing.
He felt Amy's grip tighten, causing him to snap out of his thoughts. His hands that were tainted in blood were now grasping in the hands of someone so innocent and pure. 'I don't deserve to feel this way.' He thought, his other hand covering his muzzle.
If Amy were to look back at him, she would see his face that is currently flushed in crimson, but that wouldn't be too obvious because of his ebony fur.
She paused in front of a white door, letting go of his hand. She then turned her head to the ebony hedgehog. "I'll see you at lunch then?" She said with a smile. Shadow nodded in response. Amy said her goodbye, walking away from the ebony hedgehog. Shadow let out a sigh.
Rosenberg Cafeteria
12:03 PM
As usual, the cafeteria is bustling with students. It wasn't too hard for Amy to find Sonic out of the crowd. His cerulean fur stands out too much. She could see the blue blur talking to a familiar red echidna. Upon a closer look, the echidna was wearing the school uniform, his blazer tied on the waist. He looked disoriented, messy and there were a few stains on his white shirt. Amy approached the two talking mobians.
"Hi!" She said as she sat down beside the blue hero.
"Amy!" He instinctively covered his mouth. It was too late for Sonic to take back his words. He apologized to the lavender hedgehog, who didn't mind at all.
"Well would you look at that? She is the split image of the Queen of Rosenberg." Said the red echidna as he leaned close. "I thought that was all bullshit about the alternate version and all."
"Keep it down, Knuckles. We talked about this." The cerulean hedgehog whispered.
"Right, right! Sorry bout' that." Knuckles leaned back, giving the lavender hedgehog some space. "So.. Emilia Thorns? Why did you name yourself that?"
"I didn't name myself that. Sonic did." She bluntly replied. The red echidna turned his head to the blue blur. Mouthing his words 'really?', only for Sonic to nod.
"Ah right, where are my gentlemanly manners?" He sarcastically said. "I'm Knuckles von Echidna, son of Fist von Echidna." He leaned close to the lavender hedgehog. "My family deals with drugs and jewelry", he whispered. Amy's eyes widened, did he just casually say that?
"Uh.. You already know who I am, right?" She sheepishly smiled.
"Yeah, I was the one who made you that little ID over there." He said pointing to the ID that was on the right side of her chest. "I would've declined since that would get my family in trouble, but big blue here gave me a good deal." Amy glanced at Sonic, only for the blue hero to turn away.
"Well, we need someone who can fake your identity. So I had to." He nervously said, with a sweat drop on the side of his face.
"What was the deal?" Curious, Amy asked.
"He's gonna create a stronger drug, you know? To keep up the goods. If he were to work for me, he'd be richer in no time. But Mr. Goody-two shoes here have morals, so to speak." Knuckles replied. Sonic sheepishly smiled.
"It's not something to be proud of, Knucks."
"And you love me for that." The red echidna said, messing his quills. "Enough of my amazing self, when can I meet this other Shadow?"
"Now that you've said it.." The blue hero said, looking around the cafeteria. At the entrance, he spotted the ebony hedgehog. "Speak of the devil, there he is." He pointed. Amy waved her hand, which caught the ebony hedgehog's attention.
Shadow made his way to their table. Knuckles gestured to sit beside him, only for Shadow to glare and sit beside Amy. "Am I that disgusting that no one sits beside me?" He cried.
"Yes and you look dumb as always." Shadow commented. Knuckles' mouth formed into an 'o' and laughed.
"I like this guy! He's funnier than your meek brother." He added. Sonic rolled his eyes in response, giving Amy and Shadow their lunch. The lavender hedgehog thanked him except for Shadow. It made him frown a bit, still not used to his attitude.
"Seriously though, why are you here anyway? You usually hangout with Silver and his gang. Won't you get in trouble if they saw you hanging out with us?" Questioned the blue blur.
"Eh, his gang doesn't usually come into the cafeteria. They have their own lounge, remember? Besides.." his lips curled into a frown. "I've been hearing that this guy has been messing with Silver." His hand gestured to Shadow.
"Why? Are you friends with Silver?" Amy spoke, sounding defensive. She didn't like the idea of Knuckles being friends with those snobs.
"Not friends per say, it's more of a business transaction. Silver and his gang are my number one clients after all. It's just that, I've been hearing them talking more about this dude." Said Knuckles, pointing his finger to Shadow. "Even the queen itself is on edge." Sonic loudly sighed as he lowered his head.
"Great!" The blue blur sarcastically commented, hands in the air. "I wonder what good news you have next."
"Oh there's more." A mischievous smile was on his face. You could see the nervous look on Sonic. "It's weird that your brother hasn't been in contact with me."
"You mean Shadow?" Questioned Sonic. Knuckles shrugged his head. "No, I meant Entropy. Everyday he would ask for a batch of drugs-" his words got cut off by Sonic.
"WHAT?! YOU ALLOWED HIM TO BUY FROM YOU?!" He roared, causing the other students to look at the blue hero. He apologized and sat back down. "How could you?!" He muttered.
"Chill, I'm not gonna get into detail but that's not the point. He hasn't contacted me, which was unusual. Happened four days ago. I was going to ask if you heard anything from him."
"No, I haven't heard from him for 2 months now. We aren't really on 'good terms'." Sonic replied, rubbing his arm with a sad look. Amy then tapped the table catching the attention of the two bickering mobian and Shadow who wasn't interested with the drama.
"Who's Entropy?" Asked the lavender hedgehog. Shadow glared at Amy, telling her to mind her own business. While she didn't care about his warning. Amy commented that her friend's problems are her problems too. It made Sonic smile knowing that she saw him as a friend.
"He's Father's biological son, Entropy Robotnik." Replied Sonic.
….
Lunch ended as Sonic and Knuckles bid their farewells. It was news for Shadow to find out that the Doctor had a son. If he exists from their alternate world, he wonders if there was one in their original world as well. Years of working with the Doctor before, the ebony hedgehog never heard or saw this "Entropy" guy they speak of. His thoughts cut off when the lavender hedgehog spoke.
"Do you think Eggman has a son in our world too?"
"Don't know, as far as I have worked with the Doctor, I never heard him talk about his son." Shadow replied, his hand on his lips. The two started to walk to their next class, leaving the topic behind. There wasn't much to talk about between the two, it was mostly silence. Amy took this as a chance to get to know Shadow a bit more, like asking what food he likes, his hobbies, his job at the G.U.N and how he met Rouge. It was all small talk, which the ebony didn't mind. Shadow answered a few of her questions but most of the time he left them unanswered. Their small talks made the walk endearing for the ebony hedgehog. Little did he notice that he's already in front of his next class.
"My classes are next to yours, so it won't be hard for us to meet once it's over. I'll catch you on the flipside!" She said, copying the blue hero's signature smile. Amy went on ahead leaving the ebony hedgehog alone in the hallway. He stood there for a moment. Four days into this world, he didn't like the idea of starting to get used to living here. He needs to get back, back to his world. With newfound determination, he grabbed hold on the door's handle only to be intertwined with someone. Shadow turned his head, ocean-like eyes met crimson eyes.
"Sorry about that." The red hedgehog said. "I didn't expect you'll open the door anytime soon." His raspy voice sent chills to the ebony hedgehog. All his senses betrayed him, saying that the red hedgehog is dangerous. It was the first time the Ultimate Lifeform felt something, fear.
"It's been awhile, Shadow."
