Shadow's Adventures in Paris:

Kim Conundrum

The bell rang and Shadow was finishing up his notes while Ms. Bustier informed them of the homework assignment for the day. Shadow wrote it down on a side note where he wrote down homework assignments. He still found school work to be pointless, but if he didn't put in even a little effort, then the school might look into his "old school" which doesn't exist. As soon as he was done and Ms. Bustier had left the classroom, Shadow looked across the aisle and saw Kim, the resident jock, arm-wrestling with Alix, the resident speedster/roller-skate specialist. After a minute or two, Kim had won and was now cheering victoriously. Shadow rolled his eyes at this as he placed his supplies into his backpack.

"Hey, Shadow!" He heard Kim call. "How about you and me go a round?"

"(hmph)…" Was all of the acknowledgement that Shadow was willing to give as he passed by.

Later at the end of chemistry, Kim rushed up to Shadow and dropped his elbow down onto his desk.

"You and me! Let's go!" Kim said confidently.

Shadow gave him a sideways glance and fought the urge to knock him away with one swing of his arm. Instead, he settled for just turning on the Bunsen burner gas for a split second and then leaving Kim to sputter and cough at the gas. As art class was nearing its end, Kim had scooted a stool behind Shadow who was just waiting in front of a canvas with nothing but a few brush strokes of red acrylic paint (when it came to art, he possessed more of an aptitude for the culinary arts rather than other art forms).

"One match! Winner takes all!" He declared, dropping his elbow onto the table next to them.

Shadow's only acknowledgment of his existence came in the form of him picking up his brush and without even so much as glancing over his shoulder, reaching back and striking Kim across the face with his art tool twice, leaving behind a big, red "X". In study hall, Kim carefully scooted his desk closer to Shadow's and used a large text book to hide his face and arm, with which, he assumed the position.

"C'mon! Let's do it!" Kim whispered excitedly.

Shadow then proceeded to drop his book, stand up and walk straight to the door.

"Mr. Robotnik, where are you going?!" The teacher asked angrily. "Study hall isn't over! Either sit back down or go to the principal's office!"

"Where do you think I'm going?" Shadow responded out of annoyance making his friends either sigh, face-palm, or both (in Marinette's case).

At lunch, Nathaniel was telling Marinette and others about his latest comic book design. Shadow was impressed with his skills with a pencil, but he wasn't really paying any attention to the conversation going on around him. His mind was currently off in space only to be brought back down to Earth when Kim walked up to them and slammed his elbow on the lunch table, causing all of the lunch trays to bounce off of said table. Fortunately, no food was spilled, but Shadow's patience was wearing thinner and thinner with every encounter.

"Arm-wrestle! Right here! Right now!" Kim announced.

"Seriously?!" Questioned Alya.

"You know it's taking all of my mental willpower not to throw you in a locker and leave you there." Said Shadow.

"Shadow!" Marinette warned.

"Kim, can't you see that Shadow isn't interested in arm-wrestling?" Said Nathaniel.

"He thinks he's stronger than me, I can tell." Said Kim. "All I'm asking for is just one match to prove who's best."

"That one match might just be your last match, but if you keep pestering me, you won't be able to make it to your next class, because you'll be too busy sleeping with the—!"

"Shadow!" Marinette warned once again.

"(sigh) Look, bottom line is, bug off and find someone else to annoy."

Kim scowled at Shadow, who just turned his head and tried to act as though Kim didn't even exist at the moment. Alix, who was watching the whole exchange from across the cafeteria, now came over with Max, both appearing at Kim's sides.

"We get it, Shadow." She said, confusing everyone. "I'd be scared too if I stood as little chance of success as you."

Shadow's eyes widened when he heard her claim.

"What?" He questioned, only glancing in their direction.

"She has a point." Said Max, pulling out his phone to run some calculations. "Statistically, according to muscle mass and comparing the amount of time Kim spends physically training on a daily basis to the same amount of time you spend reading and writing down notes, your chances of success in a single match with him are… hmmm… less than 35%."

"You lack sufficient data to properly calculate an accurate probability percentage. Or in Laymen's terms; you don't know jack-squat, so shut up."

"Well, I guess we'll never know for sure." Said Alix. "We'll just have to assume that that Kim's stronger than you."

Kim then gave Shadow a smug grin that made his blood boil.

"One match and then we're through?"

"If you're up for it." Kim confirmed, placing his elbow on the table.

"(hmph) Fine." Shadow said as he placed his elbow down on the table and grasped Kim's hand in a firm grip.

"Are you serious right now?" Asked Alya.

Max, acting as the referee, grabbed hold of the two joined hands.

"Alright, on three." He said. "One. Two. Three!"

THUD

"I win. C'mon, guys. Let's go." Shadow said, getting up with his tray.

"Hey! Wait! I didn't think you were going start that quickly!" Kim exclaimed.

"I won the match. Now leave me alone."

"It's not fair unless I really try! You don't want to win because I didn't try, do you?"

Shadow gave another sigh, sat back down and readied his hand. Kim did the same and the next match was all set to begin.

"On three." Max said. "One. Two. Three!"

This time, Kim started immediately when Max said "Three". After a few seconds, it had become undeniably clear that Shadow's arm wasn't going to move unless he wanted it to.

THUD

Once again, Shadow won. Before Kim could ask for a rematch, Shadow got up and left the table with his tray, not even bothering to wait for anyone else. Nobody said a word for a five, whole, awkward seconds.

"Well, I guess that's that." Said Alya.

And so, she and the others got up and left Max, Kim and Alix behind as the three of them tried to figure out what had just happened. Later after school, Shadow had just exited the building only to run into none other than Kim and Max.

"Hey, Shadow! How 'bout a race?!" He challenged.

"How 'bout no?" Shadow answered.

"C'mon! One time, around the school!"

"I'd rather throw you, headfirst, into a garbage can."

"Oh, so you won't race me. Guess you're nothing but a chicken!"

"(ugh) How immature. Fine, if it'll get you to shut up."

Again, Max served as referee.

"On your mark! Get set! GO!" He exclaimed, and they were off.

While Kim was giving all that he had into his sprint, Shadow was simply taking his time, maintaining a steady pace with him in the form of a leisurely speeded trot, not even bothering to remove his hands from his pockets. As Kim saw how his opponent gave little to no effort and was still somehow managing to keep pace with him, he came to an immediate decision and put in far more than what his body had to give. He pushed way beyond his physical limitations and bolted for the finish line.

Shadow, on the other hand, didn't even need to use the jets in his air shoes. His own natural speed offered to him by his hedgehog side provided him with all of the speed that he needed, even for something as minor as a footrace with an ordinary human child. In the end, he won by a whole body and Kim collapsed onto the cement face first. Everyone who was around to see the end of the race circled his body as he raised his head and grabbed his aching nose before making an announcement.

"Rematch!"

"Not a chance, loser." Shadow responded.

"Shadow!" Marinette exclaimed out of disapproval.

"I didn't mean it as an insult. I was just stating a fact. He lost the race, ergo, he's the 'loser'."

"Oh yeah?! (pant) (pant)" Kim retorted, repositioning himself onto his bottom. "Well, (pant) (pant) I know there's (pant) (pant) something I'm (pant) (pant) better than you at! (pant) (pant)"

"[Well, you're definitely better at losing. That's for sure.]" Shadow mumbled, still gaining a disapproving glare from Marinette (she didn't know what he said, but she knew that it was insulting).

And so, they partook in various athletic sports and games; all of which, Shadow prevailed in. He outswam Kim in a swimming race (he basically moved his feet like a motor). He out-cycled Kim in a bicycle race around the Arc de Triomphe. He overpowered Kim in a weight lifting competition. He even bested Kim in a yoga competition… Well, actually, it was more like they both lost that one, but Shadow lasted longer at twisting his body into and out of a pretzel before collapsing onto his yoga mat in agonizing pain. Multiple pretzels of various shapes, that is, often asking himself why he was even doing this if not just to suffer alongside this complex-ridden-fool for someone's twisted entertainment.

In the end, Shadow was packing it up and preparing to head home with Marinette.

"Did that provide you with sufficient data?" Shadow asked Max as he looked over Kim to make sure he wasn't too burned out that it would warrant medical attention.

"Shadow! That was awesome!" Expressed Alix as she followed them. "How'd you get so good at all that stuff?!"

"Every year, I train for the Olympics." This made Kim raise his head in shock. "Summer and Winter."

Kim dropped his head back into the ground as the reality of the situation finally set in. Max called his name, but Kim just groaned due to his physical pain and wounded pride.