Tails insisted on getting up the next morning and watching each person train. So when they were woken up at five am, he was up. The group of seven ate their food and went to go train.

Tails watched his brother run the track at top speed. He completed a mile in ten seconds. "That's so cool!" Tails said. "We always knew I was born to run." Sonic says to his brother. And grabs a water bottle. "Go 5 miles, ready, set go." James says and Sonic is off. "It looks like you have him reducing drag and practicing, but have you considered a better diet and weight training?" Tails asks. James looks at the kid. "More sleep would also help. Along with stretches and recovery time."

Sonic jogs up to them. "Whatca guys talking about?"

"How to help you run faster." Tails says. "But I'm already fast." Sonic says. "But you could always be faster." James says. "Hey, do you think you could help improve the others as well?" James asks. Tails smiles and nods.

James takes Tails to where Rouge is flying through the halls. Another James appears and the one he was just with goes back to Sonic. Tails watches Rouge, but Tails notices something. "Rouge is constantly flapping her wings. That's not necessary and will tire her out faster. She would be much better off flapping everyone once in a while. Like riding a bike. Peddling only often enough that you stay balanced while making it so you can go long distances without getting as tired."

"Solid advice, thanks buddy." Rouge says. Tails hadn't even seen her land. Rouge gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. "No problem." Tails says.

"Now let's see if you can't help Silver." James says and takes Tails to the room where Silver is practicing. At the sound of the door opening, Silver loses concentration, turns around, and drops the cup. He cringes at the sound of the cup falling. "Chaos." He says. "It appears you have a problem with concentration, or at least not getting distracted from your task." Tails says. Silver nods. "I'm doing okay, but really loud sounds still startle me enough to make me lose concentration and sitting here anticipating it isn't helping." He complains. "There are many things you can do to increase your ability to concentrate. There are brain puzzles, meditation, exercise, video games, and sleep." Silver smiled. "Thank Tails." He says. "I'll try those." Silver lays down right there and closes his eyes.

Tails is taken to see Knuckles, who just broke his first iPad of the day. "Ah, learning to control strength." Tails says. "Yes." Knuckles says and follows the routine of grabbing another tablet. "What causes you to break the thing."

"I guess I get angry."

"Try taking deep breathes to control your anger." Tails watched as Knuckles reloaded the game. He played a round and started to get frustrated but took some deep breathes and was able to not break it.

Tails was then taken to see Blaze. She was currently working on making bigger flames. "Have you tried taking bigger breaths?" Tails asks. She looks at him confused. "A basic flame is made up of carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrogen, and oxygen. You may be able to make a bigger flame is you add carbon dioxide and oxygen through breath." Blaze holds out her hand and makes a small flame. She takes a deep breath in causing the flame to grow larger, when she takes a breath out, it gets smaller again. "Thank you for your help, Miles."

"You can call me Tails." He says. "Is that what you would prefer?"

"Yes."

"Thank you, Tails." She corrects herself and begins practicing with this new technique. Tails was then taken to see Shadow. He was throwing spears at the targets and was pretty accurate. Tails thought that if he could be faster, he would do even better. Tails got an idea. Tails looked at Shadow practicing. "Hey Shadow!" Tails shouts. James had told him to expect the little genius to come around and give him some advice to improve, he didn't expect "What's your shoe size?" Shadow stares at the kid for a second. "10?" He says confused. "Alright, give me like an hour and I'll be back." Tails says.

"James, where is the welding classroom?" Tails asks. James shows him. Tails says thank you and runs to his room. Tails had been working on a project that would have helped his brother go faster but looked like he didn't need it anymore. Tails found the bag he was looking for. He opened it up to find the almost finished rocket skates. He grabbed them and ran to the welding room. He began to work and attached the last bit of circuitry. Then he grabbed some spray paint he found. He tapped up what he didn't want covered in the red paint. Blue didn't really seem like Shadow's thing, so he decided to make them red.

When he was done, he rushed back to where Shadow was. "Alright, I think I have something to help you, but you only get them on two conditions." Shadow nodded. "Take good care of these because of I worked hard on them." Shadow nods. "And take even better care of my brother." Shadow smiled at the kid. "I promise." Tails smiled and brought the shoes out from behind his back. "They're rocket skates. They'll allow you to go faster. Their controlled by your mind. Just think what you want them to do, and they'll help you do it. I mean, well, there are some things they can't do, but if it is within their functionality, they will do it. This way, you may even be able to race Sonic and have it be pretty fair." Shadow smiled at the kid and took the shoes that were being handed to him. He took off the ones that he was wearing and put the new pair on. They felt a little heavy, but he supposed that the metal had something to do with that. "Just think of hovering an inch or two off of the ground." Tails says. Shadow commands the shoes to do so, and when they try, he immediately falls over from lack of balance. "They'll take a while to get used to." Tails says. Shadow nods. He gets back up and succeeds in turning them on and not falling on his face. Tails starts cheering. "They work!" He shouts.

Shadow starts using them to speed around the room. Tails giggled happily seeing his invention work so well. Shadow used them like skates to go faster, it took him a minute to get the hang of it, but he did get it. Then he dashed out of the room, determined to taste the invention to the fullest. He finds exactly what he's looking for, the track. Sonic was currently trying to beat his best time of 4.3 seconds. Shadow caught up to him and smirked at Sonic's utterly gob smacked expression. "How?" Sonic asks. "Your brother." He says. Sonic looks at Shadow's feet and see's the rocket skates. "You up for a race Shads." Sonic smirks. "Where?"

"To the cafeteria."

"Ready, set, go." Shadow says. And their off, each one not being able to stay in front of the other for long, but with more practice, Sonic ultimately wins the race. "Alright, take that Shads." Sonic says. "Congrats." Shadow fondly rolls his eyes at Sonic's cheering.

Sonic paused and cheered. Sonic and Shadow looked away from each other, blushing. Sonic rubbed the back of his neck and got the courage to ask the question he had been asking himself for the past day and a half. "Hey Shadow, could I ask you something?"

"Do you mean another something, because you just did." Shadow teased. "Yes, I mean another something." Sonic said. Shadow let out a snort. "I'm trying to be serious for once." Sonic says frustrated. Shadow smiles at him. "Ask away."

"What are we?"

"Care to elaborate."

"The two of us. What are we now?" Shadow paused. He'd thought about this question a lot too. "I don't know. I think we get to choose."

"Well, what do you want to be?" Sonic asked. "I don't think we can be rivals anymore. And I'm pretty sure I don't like you as a friend." Shadow said. "I think I know what you mean." Sonic says. "So..." Shadow says. "So..."

"Do you, maybe," Shadow tries. Sonic wants to wait for him to finish, but it's clear that the boy in front of him is struggling. "Do you want to be my boyfriend?" Sonic asks. Shadow blushes, hard, to the point where his face is almost the same color as the stripes in his hair. "I would like that." He says. They just stand there for a second, not knowing what to do next. "What now?" Shadow asks. Sonic shrugs. "We could kiss." He says. "I think I'd like that." Shadow says, trying not to let his voice crack. After a moment of hesitation, they both lean and melt into a gentle kiss that perfectly conveys what they've been feeling. While it isn't said, the message is there 'I love you'.

The Doctor finishes the project he was working on with a triumphant evil laugh. "Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho" He cackles. Orbot and Cubot watch from around the corner. "I think he means business this time." Orbot says. Cubot nods.

Amy was hard at work, preparing for her 17th birthday party in four weeks. It was supposed to be a huge celebration, and as tradition states, she would be recrowned as the queen. Everything had to be perfect, and without her best advisor here at the moment, things were just more stressful.

A few weeks ago, she got word from King Gerald that his grandson, Lord Eggman, had escaped prison and the notes he left in his cell indicated he was coming for the Emerald Coast, her kingdom. Another stressor on top of her pile of duties. Not to mention he brothers. Sonic was in summer school and Tails had been so upset and the depression over his big brother big gone had only increased over the days. Amy finally decided to send Miles to see Sonic (she's been trying to refer to her brother by his preferred name in private).

"Which fabric would you like for the tablecloths?" A servant came up to Amy. Amy pointed to the pink one and sighed. This was a lot, even for her.

Rouge watched as her two boys awkwardly got together from the ceiling. She felt something beside her and looked over to find Silver. She stifled a shriek. "What are you doing?" He whispered. "Spying." She whispered back. "Oh, what happened?"

"They're a couple now."

"About time." He smiled, a little too loudly because Sonic and Shadow looked up at them. "Are you spying on us?" Shadow asked. "No." Rouge said at the same time Silver said "Yes." If a glare could kill, Shadow would be charged for first degree murder of Rouge. "I was just curious. Congrats by the way." She smirked. This rendered Shadow glareless and speechless. "You two should just come down." Sonic says. Rouge jumps and slows her fall with her powerful wings. Silver floats down. Rouge walks up to them and slings her arms around Sonic and Shadows shoulders. "I'm so proud of you guys." She tells them. "What did they do?" Knuckles walks in. "Guess it's time for lunch." Sonic thinks. "They're an official couple now!" Rouge says. "Congratulations." Blaze says. Knuckles walks up to Shadow and stares at him intently. "My condolences." He says. He only starts laughing when he sees his friends offended face. "Be nice Knuckles." Tails says. "Except, I think you and I have to give him the shovel talk." Tails whispered to Knuckles. "Oh, good point." Knuckles said.

"Hey Blue, I need to talk to you for just a second." Rouge said and smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes and caused Sonic to gulp. "Rouge." Shadow warned. "It's alright." Sonic said. "Besides, Knuckles and I have to talk to you as well." Tails said. Each boy was pulled into a separate corner of the large cafeteria. "Which one should we join?" Silver asked. "I suggest neither, as to not upset anyone. We can talk to them both later if we must." Blaze said and watched. "You make a good point."

"What can I do for you Rouge?"

"Well Blue, I'm going to give it to you straight. If you hurt Shadow, I find every way I can to hurt you. Let's not forget I'm a pretty good spy, you didn't know I was watching until Silver blew my cover. I will not hesitate to hurt you because whether Shadow likes it or not, he is my best friend."

"I understand." Sonic says. "That also means you have to make sure he is happy." She says. "I know."

"Just making sure, Blue."

"Blue?"

"I finally came up with a nickname for you." She smirked. "I like it."

"Good, now let's talk about Shadow."

"Oh yeah, tell me about some of his favorite things."

"Well, to start, he really loves cats, especially kittens."

"Alright, what is it?" Shadow asks. "We just need to set some ground rules about dating Sonic." Shadow didn't even bat an eye. He wasn't worried. "Is this the shovel talk?" He asked coolly. "Look at that Knux, he's smart." Tails says, smirking in a way that doesn't totally fit his face. Shadow didn't like the way the two of them were looking at him. "Hurt my brother..."

"And my best friend..." Knuckles chimed in. "And I will use the same knowledge that allowed me to use paper clips and laundry detergent to program a computer to have Knuckles here pull you apart so that I can turn you into a toaster oven." The kid looked completely serious. Whatever smirk he had been wearing completely gone. Shadow stared at the two of them wide eyed. "What happened to the talk we had like twenty minutes ago?" Shadow asked. "Oh, that still applies. But that was before the two of you were actually together. Now it's official. I just wanted to make myself clear."

"I won't pull you apart though until you've been thoroughly hammered into the ground." Knuckles added with a glare. "Understood." Shadow replied, keeping his cool. "Good." The two of them said at the same time. "So what do you want to know about Sonic?" Tails asked, all malice out of his tone, now bouncing up and down excitedly. "What's his favorite color?" Shadow was unsure and his voice showed it. "He likes blue and red." Knuckles replied. "What's his favorite animal?" Shadow asked. "Hedgehogs." Tails replied.

"They've been talking for a while now." Silver says to Blaze as the two of them eat their food. "I'm sure they are just making whatever threats they are making clear." Blaze says and takes a sip of her tea. "Tails is bouncing up and down now."

"I have no idea then Silver."

"How is this stuff even supposed to go."

"How should I know?"

"I don't know."

"Just eat your food, Silver."

"Okay."

The group reconvened and ate their lunch together as if nothing had changed. After their food they each went back to their individual training. Shadow and Sonic, however, could barely focus. They were too wrapped up in their thoughts of each other to focus on their actual training. Shadow wasn't able to get any bullseyes with his chaos spears and Sonic kept losing focus, running of the track, and into the lights.

"What is going on with you?" James asked Sonic as he inspected the kid for a concussion. "I'm just lost in thought."

"I'm very happy for you and Shadow but the two of you need to focus. This is still important. This is the tenth time you've ran into this same pole." James gestures to said pole to make his point. "I know, I know. I just..."

"I get it. I understand you really like him and right now your brain is going five hundred miles an hour. But I need you to focus on the here and now."

"Alright." Sonic grumbled. "Five laps without running into a pole in a row and you can go to dinner. But you have to not do it at your fastest." Sonic hated these exercises too. He knew it was about control, but his legs always itched to go faster when they did this. He started running. "Your feet are blurring." James shouted at him. Sonic grumbled and slowed down. Watching his feet and in front of him, he didn't actually get to think about Shadow because his brain was so busy trying to not run into stuff.

"You can't lose focus." James tells Shadow. "I'm not, I'm just not used to the shoes Tails gave me yet." Shadow tried to excuse himself. The look on James's face showed that he did not believe any of that nonsense. "Hit the bullseye then." Shadow tried but he missed by a few inches. "Hit the bullseye, then you can leave for the day." Shadow spent the next ten minutes trying to hit the bullseye. "Are you ready to admit your distracted yet?" James asked. "I do not get distracted." Shadow seethed. "Oh, hey Sonic." Shadow turned, falling for it. He turned back to his teacher, red with anger, embarrassment, and just plain blushing. "Fine." He consented. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."

"I may be a little distracted." Shadow growled. "That's what I thought. It's time for dinner. Go." James pointed to the door and Shadow barely resisted the urge to stomp out the door.