~Skip forward 3 classes to lunchtime~
Monique and Kim both stared off in the distance, thinking about the new guy, food trays in front of them forgotten. Ron sat next to Kim, eating sulkily in silence. More people came flooding into the cafeteria when the bell rang for lunch to begin—the trio had gotten out of class early for good behavior.
Suddenly, a chilly gust of wind passed through the cafeteria. Both girls immediately shot out of their trances and shuddered. Everyone in the cafeteria glanced around for the source, but there were no doors or windows currently open.
There was a shout from outside the main cafeteria doors. It sounded like Sonic.
"Where ya going?! Hey, get back here! Shadow!"
After a few minutes, he came into the cafeteria, looking thoroughly frustrated, Bonnie hooked around his arm, asking him who he had been shouting to. He didn't actually give an answer, but he softened a bit when he saw Kim at her table. He gently unhooked himself from Bonnie and told her to save him a seat, and he walked over to her and Monique.
Monique held her breath, cheeks puffed excitedly. Her squeal wasn't that noticeable; she was clearly trying to hide it.
"Kim, I need your help," Sonic said urgently, placing his palms on their table, staring her in the eyes. She couldn't really respond what with his green gaze. So, she nodded, trying to keep the blush at a minimum. "Okay, did you feel something a few moments ago…like a rush of wind?"
Her eyes widened. "Actually, yeah. It was weird. I felt violated for some reason. Why?" she asked, suddenly able to speak.
He closed his eyes and sighed heavily, hanging his head in frustration. "That idiot," he muttered to himself. "He told me to be careful, but is he? No!" He sighed again and gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks, Kim."
As he walked away, he stuffed his hands in his pockets, and, in one pocket, he fiddled with something. Bonnie waved him over with a smile on her face and he met her halfway, her throwing her arms around him like this morning. But, he glanced over his shoulder toward the girls and Ron's table with an expression Kim didn't recognize.
By the end of the day, Kim was interested to know just who Sonic was. He didn't strike her as from being around Middleton or even in America. But, there was also something strange about him. Powerful but gentle. She couldn't help her curiosity.
Ron went off to his locker to leave school, moping about the loss of the Nacho-ito at Bueno Nacho. So, Kim was left in peace to try to put the pieces together about Sonic.
"Wade, you there?" she asked quietly, so no one around her could hear her request. Wade appeared on her screen expectantly, eating from a box of Chinese food.
"What's up, Kim?" he asked, shoveling a chopstick-full of noodles into his mouth and putting the box down. "Find anything usual?"
"Actually, yeah, I did," she said, loading her backpack with the necessary books for homework. "There's a new guy at school today. Name is Sonic. I don't know his last name, but he's strange."
"In what way strange?"
She thought for a moment but couldn't come up with anything. "I don't know exactly, but when something weird happened in the cafeteria, he seemed to know right away what it was. I want to get to the bottom of this."
"Translate: you want me to look him up."
"Please and thank you!" she said brightly, closing her locker. His bright blue hair found her gaze as it disappeared out the front doors. Strangely, there were no fangirls who followed. So, it was no challenge to find them outside, walking down the street toward the center of town.
Bonnie was having a great time, telling Sonic her life's story without end…and with all the little details included. Kim felt sorry that he had to endure that nightmare. He didn't look like he was enjoying himself, but it didn't look like he was having the worst time ever. After about 10 minutes, Kim stopped out of sight behind a tree and waited for Sonic to drop Bonnie off at her house. It was right down the street, so it wouldn't take long…unless she dragged him inside and insisted that they watch a movie together. Horrified, Kim shook off the thought, determined to know where Sonic lived so she could watch him.
Not creepily, geez! Just until she found out what made him so…so strange. It was just a reconnaissance mission. You know, gathering information. About a guy. A really cute guy. A really cute and mysterious guy. Kim could see her parents' disapproving looks right about now.
It seemed to take forever for Sonic to walk back to the sidewalk, hands behind his head in a relaxed manner. Bonnie was still yelling her goodbyes from her front porch. When her front door had finally closed, Kim peeked around the tree. Sonic stuffed his hand into his pocket and pulled out a giant ruby, perfectly cut and shaped. It was mesmerizing at first, until it started glowing brighter and brighter.
"Ah, come on!" Sonic exclaimed, the light disappearing, glancing around. "So close, man! So close! Where is it already?"
Suddenly, he vanished and appeared on the other side of the street, the ruby gone. Then, he disappeared again and appeared near Kim's tree, where she stood in pure shock. She quickly hid behind the tree.
"Hey, Faker!" a new voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere, quite near to her.
"Oh yeah! I've been meaning to talk to you, Faker!" Sonic growled. "What the hell?! Just burst into the cafeteria, just like that! Dude, what was it about telling me to be careful?!"
The newcomer huffed, uninterested. "You were being slow about it."
"Don't gimme that crap, Faker! Taking it slow is the only way to go about this!"
"Wow," said the stranger sarcastically, "I would never have expected Sonic the Hedgehog to ever say that in his life."
"Yeah, well, I've grown up a little bit since the last time you saw me, so get over it!"
"Let's just find that damn chaos emerald and get out of this dimension. I'm getting serious déjà vu."
"Hehe," Sonic said happily, "good news, Faker! It's somewhere in a 20-mile radius! Good luck searching. I've got homework."
The stranger paused, as if to comprehend what had just been said. "Wait, you're doing homework now? Why even bother? We're leaving in less than a week."
Sonic had started to walk away but stopped. "Because I know exactly where one chaos emerald is."
"WHAT?! AND YOU HAVEN'T GOTTEN IT YET?! WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING ALL DAY, FAKER!"
"Shadow, calm down already!" Sonic almost shouted. "Look, it's nowhere I can get it. I tried yesterday evening when the school was closed but the principal had taken it home with him. I had no chance to get it, okay?"
The newcomer growled deeply, sounding like he was going to explode. "Sonic, I told you, we don't have much time left. We have to get home before the week ends or it's bye-bye to this dimension and our own!"
Sonic sighed. "You've only repeated that about a million times. Well, stop for a moment and think. We still have 3 left to find. We aren't going to find them before the end of the week, and you know it. Even with both our speed combined. We need help."
"I've told you this, too!" exploded the stranger. "We can't get help! If too many people find out about us, then we're completely screwed to finding any of them at all! Tails brought and built some tracking equipment, and that's all the help we need."
"Shadow, you're not thinking big enough. The last chaos emerald could be anywhere on this planet! There's someone here in this town who does that just about every day. She can help us."
"I said no, Sonic. You're not thinking. This is all your fault to begin with!"
"No, it's yours! You couldn't control that explosion, even though you're the Master of Chaos!" Sonic stopped there, and snapped, "That's not what I meant!"
"About time you confirmed it," retorted his companion. "Now, I need to hear from your mouth that I'm faster than you."
Sonic huffed and started walking away. "I'll tell her myself. You can come along if you want, but you can't stop me."
The stranger leaned against the tree roughly, shaking a few leaves to the ground, surprising Kim a little. "Over my dead body, you will."
"You'll have to catch me first." With that, and a growl from the stranger, they both vanished in gusts of wind.
Kim came out from behind the tree, completely confused as to what happened. Slowly, she took out her Kimmunicator and dialed Wade. After a split second, his face popped up on the small screen.
"What's up, Kim?"
"I—uh—don't really know," she responded blankly. "But, I think we have an impending disaster on our hands." After a moment, she shook her head. "Anything on Sonic yet?"
"Nothing yet," Wade said, typing around on the keyboard again. "He didn't sign with a last name and he doesn't have any home contacts or parent names. I'll keep trying, though. Anything else?"
"Actually, yeah. What do you have on a chaos emerald?"
"Never heard of it. Why?"
"It has to do with Sonic and some guy named Shadow. Things keep getting weirder."
"I'll look and see." Wade stopped typing and looked her full in the face. "Are you okay, Kim? You seem off."
She brushed it off. "I'm just a little distracted is all."
"Yeah, okay. Tell that to the blush on your face. Wade, out."
In the reflection of the screen, Kim saw that she did indeed have a reddened face. She sighed, feeling more confused about her feelings and the day's events than ever before. Who really was Sonic? What was it about another dimension? What about Shadow?
Groaning, she pulled out her cellphone and dialed Ron. When he answered, she told him that she needed to talk to him urgently. They decided to meet at Bueno Nacho. In the next half hour, Ron walked in and found Kim at a booth in the back of the restaurant. He approached her instead of going to the counter per usual. She looked at him as he sat down.
"So—uh—what did you want to talk about?" Ron asked nervously, drumming his fingers on the tabletop.
Hardly pausing for breath, she explained what she'd heard from Sonic and Shadow. The chaos emeralds, whatever they were. Something about the principal having one. Something about being from a different dimension. Something about dimensions getting destroyed. Another something about "Master of Chaos" and explosion. Another about someone named Tails. Something about disappearing and reappearing in a different place.
By the time she was done explaining, Ron's jaw had dropped, likewise with Rufus'.
"Okay—uh—that's a lot of information in one sitting," Ron said, mind still reeling from trying to process. "So—uh—two things, KP: first, why were you following the new guy home like a stalker? Second! You're telling me our dimension is going to explode!" he yelled hysterically.
Kim flinched, mostly at the first question. "Okay, before you start judging, I wanted to know what made him so strange. You know, background. His parents, siblings, if any, his tastes…I guess." She sighed. "That sounded way better in my head. But, come on! You can't blame me for wanting to find something out."
"Oh, but I can," Ron returned hotly, crossing his arms and leaning back against the booth.
"No, you can't," she replied, grinning and waving over the cashier boy. He gave her a thumb's up and came striding over with a plate full of food.
"500th customer's discount!" he announced, placing the plate in front of Ron, whose face lit up. "It's on the house, buddy! You're the best customer we've got. Think I wouldn't have saved you one?"
Ron yelped excitedly and dove into the Nacho-ito. Rufus took a few pawfuls of the ooey-gooey-ness that fell onto the plate. Kim watched him happily, knowing that he couldn't hold a grudge for long, especially if it had to do with Bueno Nacho.