Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Sonic the Hedgehog characters.

Homecoming was coming up so Shadow and Knuckles were working the players harder. After another grueling practice, Julian walked up to Conner in the locker room.

"So, how's it going with Serenity?" Julian asked wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Great! I've never been in such a great relationship before. I'm really happy and can only hope she fells the same way." Conner told him excitedly and Julian chuckled.

"Well, man I don't want be an ass, but I have to say this. I know Serenity doesn't have an older brother, but I see her as my sister. Her ex was such an asshole to her that had to teach him a little lesson." He said cracking his knuckles. "Now I don't want to teach that lesson to you because I like you and I know she does too. So, please don't hurt her." He told him and Conner chuckled.

"Don't worry. I'll treat her right." Conner promised and they both shook hands. They quickly grabbed their stuff and walked out of the locker room.

"Conner!" Shadow called out as he flinched.

"Oh God, he knows!" Conner panicked. "Help me!" He pleaded to Julian who just laughed.

"Sorry, you're on your own. I'm not dealing with Shadow's rage after practice." Julian said before walking back into the locker room and away from Conner.

"Fuck you!" He hissed at Julian. He took a deep breath before turning around and walking towards Shadow. "Yes Coach?" He asked nervously as Shadow turned to face him.

"You left your practice jersey here," Shadow said tossing him the jersey. "Good job today, Mondair." He told him as he looked at something on his clipboard. Conner sighed in relief as he held his jersey against his chest. He nodded before turning around and walking. "So…you're dating Serenity." Shadow said and Conner froze. Conner slowly turned around and saw Shadow staring at him.

"Yes sir." He gulped. Shadow glared at him and Conner tried to hold his own up against him. Shadow walked over to him and his glare hardened.

"Do you know the story about her ex, John Walters?" Shadow asked.

"Yes, he cheated on her." Conner said some acid in his voice.

"Five fucking times!" Shadow yelled. "Listen, I've known you since you were a baby and I know you're a good guy." He said putting his hand on his shoulder. He suddenly grabbed him by his shirt and made him look at his vicious red eyes. "But if you ever hurt my daughter expect the worst experience of your life." Shadow threatened and Conner nodded.

"Don't worry, I will never hurt her." Conner promised as Shadow let go of him.

"You better not. Now run ten laps." He said as Conner looked at him confused.

"What?" Conner asked as Shadow crossed his arms.

"Don't think you can get away that easy. Run…now!" He yelled as Conner started to run along the football field.

'For Serenity…for Serenity…for Serenity.' He chanted to himself as he ran around the field. Julian came out with Brice and they laughed as they saw their friend running around the field. Suddenly Elijah popped out of nowhere and crossed his arms while glaring at Brice who froze instantly.

"100 pushups…now!" Elijah yelled and Brice hit the floor and started to do his pushups.

"This is why I don't do relationships." Julian said walking to his car.

The next day at school Suzy was walking with Hailey who was sulking. Suzy rolled her eyes and put her arm around Hailey's shoulders.

"He had to go back to school, Hailey. He couldn't stay here forever. Now, would you stop with all the sulking?" Suzy asked as Hailey leaned against her locker and huffed. Bolt was walked passed them and Suzy stopped him. "Will you help your sister?" Suzy asked as Bolt looked over at her.

"Nah, I like her like this. She's quiet." Bolt said as Suzy glared at him and he walked away. Hailey froze the ground underneath him and he slipped and fell smack-dab on his butt.

"I'm not that sad." She smirked as Bolt glared at her. Suzy laughed as Bolt got up and walked away.

"He comes every weekend and promises to stay everyday of vacation here. So, stop moping!" Suzy told her as Hailey sighed.

"Fine." She said as they walked off to their next class. The halls emptied as everybody headed to their first class. All expect AJ who was rushing through the halls because he was late. He stopped at his locker, furiously trying to open and retrieve his book. He pulled the lock open and started to open his locker before a hand stopped him.

"Hello AJ." Allie purred in what she probably thought was seductive, but only managed to disgust AJ even more.

"Uh…Allie I really have to go to class and you know I'm not interested in you." AJ muttered finally getting his locker opened and pushing her hand away. Allie pushed him against his locker and pressed her body against his. "Allie! I'm serious get off me!" AJ exclaimed trying to move away from her without hurting her because while Allie maybe a bitch, she was still a girl and AJ was taught to never hit girls. Allie smirked before she crashed her lips against his, completely shocking him. He pushed her off quickly and turned to see Amber staring at them in shock. AJ's jaw dropped and he quickly started walking over to Amber. "Amber its no—"AJ started to say but was quickly cut off.

"It's not what it looks like? Save it AJ! I thought you were different, but you're just like every other guy out here! Making out with some slut because that's all you can think of! You can go fuck yourself!" Amber yelled before she stormed off down the other hall.

"Forget about her, baby." Allie smirked as she wrapped her arms around her. AJ pushed her off of him and glared before taking off after Amber. Allie smirked before walking over to a figure leaning against a locker.

"Nice work." The figure told her.

"All a part of the plan, remember? What's the next phase?" She asked crossing her arms. The figure chuckled and pushed himself off the locker. He was dark grey hedgehog with dark navy eyes and his quills pulled into a ponytail with his bang covering his right eye, but it wasn't enough to cover the burn scar on his eye.

"All in good time, baby." He said as Allie rolled her eyes.

"Whatever you say, Damian." Allie muttered before walking away. AJ caught up with Amber and grabbed her wrist.

"Don't touch me!" She yelled snatching her wrist away from him.

"Listen to me!" AJ begged as Amber glared at him.

"No! I'm not going to listen to your lame excuses! I saw what I saw and I'm not going to fall for it! Just leave me alone AJ! I was right about you from the beginning!" She shouted at him. A teacher came out of his room and looked at the two hedgehogs.

"Is there a problem between you two?" He asked as Amber glared at AJ.

"No, there's nothing between us." Amber spat before walking off and leaving AJ dumbstruck and heartbroken. Later at lunch, AJ was moping over his food and Lazarus looked at him slightly concerned.

"Man, are you okay?" Lazarus asked.

"Do I look okay?" He snapped and Lazarus put his hands up defensively.

"Really AJ, are you okay?" Derek asked as they sat at their table. AJ sighed and buried his face into his hands.

"Allie kissed me and Amber saw. Now she thinks I was cheating on her." He explained and Lazarus' jaw dropped.

"You kissed Allie?" Lazarus exclaimed.

"No! She kissed me! But Amber doesn't know that." He said sadly as Lazarus and Derek exchanged looks. Suddenly Conner came and grabbed AJ by his shirt.

"You're going to pay for hurting Amber, you son of a bitch!" He sneered as Derek and Lazarus both got out of their seats.

"Conner lay off!" Lazarus scowled pushing him off AJ.

"No." AJ muttered as all three of them looked at AJ. "Just let him beat me up." He hung his head low and frowned. Julian approached them and put an arm around his brother.

"Guys let me talk to him." Julian said walking AJ out. "What's going on bro?" Julian asked as they sat outside against the cafeteria wall. AJ sighed as he hung his head low.

"Amber thinks I cheated on her." AJ explained sadly. "And today was the day." AJ said as Julian's eyes widened.

"You mean…" Julian trailed off as AJ's eyes widened.

"No! Not that day! I was finally going to ask her to be my girlfriend. That's why I was late to school. I was setting everything up and making sure it all worked out." AJ sighed.

"Listen, I know we don't see eye to eye sometimes, but I taught you well. You can find another girlfriend like that." He said snapping his fingers. AJ looked up at him in disbelief.

"I don't want another girlfriend! I want Amber! She's the perfect girl! Sweet, caring, funny, outgoing, cute, smart, and the best girl for me! I wouldn't be this sad if it was some stuck-up bitch! She's different from every other girl I dated! But I had to blow it and now she hates my guts!" AJ yelled as he covered his face in shame.

"Aaron I know you're sad now, but I know you and you're never going to give up on this. I can see that much and I know this will happen for you. Just let time do its thing." Julian said as AJ nodded. Julian patted his shoulder and walked away. AJ was still not ready to go back inside and he remained where he was sitting.

"AJ?" He heard a voice say. He looked up hoping it was Amber, but was disappointed when he saw her sister.

"Hey Topaz, did you come here to chew me out too?" AJ asked looking back down at his feet. Topaz shook her head and sat next to him.

"You should know why Amber is having such a hard time with this." Topaz said in her soft voice.

"I don't blame her." AJ said as Topaz sighed.

"Last year, she had a boyfriend named Damian. She fell hard and fast for him and by the end of their first month together she thought they were meant to be. However, Damian didn't feel that way and started to cheat on her. She would always catch him, but he always managed to charm his way out of it. He started to pressure Amber for sex, but she wasn't ready for that yet. One night, he got a little tired of waiting and kept pushing her to sleep with him, but she kept telling him no. He forced his way on top of her and she got scared and burned his face. After that, she broke up with him and he went to school somewhere else." Topaz told him and by the end of it AJ had his fists clenched and was shaking in anger.

"That no good, two-timing, asshole will pay!" AJ gritted out and Topaz placed her hand on his arm.

"She's over it AJ. All you can do is help her realize you're not the same." Topaz told him and AJ sighed.

"You think she will believe me?" AJ asked unsure.

"I'm her older sister. I know how she is and I can reassure that she will be back with you, but it's not going to be right away. You have to prove to her that you're not the guy she thinks you are right now." Topaz said patting his shoulder.

"Yeah, hopefully nothing will make it worse." AJ mumbled. Suddenly they heard a familiar scream and before Topaz could say anything AJ was in the cafeteria looking for Amber. He saw her and a guy and she was smiling brightly. He realized he mistaken the scream as one for terror, but it was one of excitement. AJ's heart broke when he saw her hug the other guy—a dark blue hedgehog with brown eyes.

"No." Topaz whispered disappointedly.

"I guessed I jinxed myself." AJ chuckled humorlessly before rushing out of the cafeteria. Topaz sighed heavily before walking over to Amber who was gushing next to her guy.

"Topaz! This is my new boyfriend, Trent." She said as Trent smiled at Topaz and extended his hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Topaz." He said as Topaz shook his hand.

"Yeah, you too." She said with a strained smile. "Amber can I talk to you for a second?" She asked as Amber nodded. They walked off and Topaz looked at her. "What's wrong with you?" She asked as Amber looked at her confused.

"What are you talking about?" She asked as Topaz rolled her eyes.

"When are you going to get through your thick skull that AJ is crazy for you? Is it really hard to believe that Allie kissed him? The biggest slut across this nation! You really can't believe that she came on to him?" Topaz asked as Amber crossed her arms.

"I know what I saw." She said firmly and Topaz put her hands on her hips.

"Well apparently you don't. AJ came storming in here because he thought you were hurt, but when he saw you and Trenthe was the one who got hurt. He's completely heartbroken now!" Topaz told her and Amber shrugged.

"I know it's not hard for AJ to find another girl. I've moved on, it's time for him to do so too." Amber said walking back to Trent. Topaz sighed as she went over to sit next to Lazarus.

"Hey Topaz?" Lazarus he greeted awkwardly.

"We have to fix this." She said and Lazarus looked at her shocked.

"What do you mean? I thought you would take your sister's side." Lazarus said eating some of his chips.

"Please, I'm smart enough to know Allie's a skank and you didn't see AJ when he saw Amber and her 'boyfriend'" Topaz said as Lazarus spit out his juice. She stopped it with her powers before it hit her and put it back in his cup.

"Well, I'm not drinking that anymore. She has a boyfriend?" Lazarus asked pushing his bottle away. Tsunami walked up and sat with them immediately knowing they were talking about Amber.

"Yes, and I have a bad feeling about this guy." Tsunami said sitting down next to Lazarus.

"You heard about it?" Topaz asked as Tsunami kissed Lazarus on the cheek.

"I was just there and she introduced me to him. I think this guy will be bad." Tsunami said as Topaz sighed.

"You thought our soccer coach would be bad." Topaz muttered.

"I was half right about that!" Tsunami exclaimed and Topaz rolled her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Onyx asked skidding to a stop by their table.

"Amber and AJ." Lazarus said as Onyx raised an eyebrow.

"I heard they got in a fight. What happened?" He asked as he sat next to Topaz and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"She has a boyfriend and now AJ is heartbroken." Topaz sighed.

"Well, I might have a plan to fix this." Onyx said as all three of them looked at him.

"How?" Tsunami asked as Onyx smirked. He explained his plan to all of them and Topaz looked at him excitedly.

"That's perfect!" Topaz said kissing him on the lips. "We just have to make sure it happens now."

Across the cafeteria, Bolt was talking to Shawn and Flash at their usual table when Shade approached them with a flyer in his hand.

"You guys, guess what the school's doing for the halftime show at the Homecoming game." Shade smiled.

"A Battle of the Bands." Shawn smirked and Shade glared at him.

"When I say 'guess what' I don't mean you." Shade told him and he laughed. "Anyways, yes they're doing a Battle of the Bands and we should all sign up!" He said excitedly.

"We do play together a lot." Bolt mentioned thinking back to all the times they had been in his garage playing songs and messing around. They had always done it for fun and never thought about truly pursuing a band or music or anything, but this Battle of the Bands sounds like a great opportunity. "Might be time to show people what we're made of." He smirked.

"Uh…no." Flash quickly said and the three of them frowned.

"You're just like you're Dad. You rock, but will never perform in public." Shawn muttered.

"I suck guys." Flash whined and all of them rolled their eyes.

"No you don't. Listen, what if I tell you that Ivy will be in the front row cheering you on. She will be all over you." Shawn told him. "Girls love a lead singer." He smirked and Flash's interest piqued.

"Really?" He asked skeptically.

"You already know it, bro!" Bolt exclaimed and Flash looked over to him.

"Okay I'll do it as long as you never call me bro again." Flash said as the guys high-fived each other. Flash sighed hoping he wasn't just agreeing to make a fool out of himself. They weren't the only ones excited for Battle of the Bands, later in their Spanish class Roddy approached Hydro and Andrew with the flyer.

"Guess what's happening!" Roddy said excitedly.

"What?" Andrew said twirling a pencil in his hands like a drumstick.

"Battle of the Bands! The school is putting one on for the halftime show during Homecoming." Roddy told them and Andrew and Hydro cheered before high-fiving.

"Wait, we don't have a singer. Johnny graduated last year." Andrew frowned and Roddy sighed.

"Don't worry I know somebody." Hydro smirked.

"Who?" Roddy asked.

"Like I said, don't worry." He told him leaning back in his seat. When the bell rang, he quickly got out of his seat and walked down the hall searching for a familiar fox.

"Lauren!" He called out. Lauren turned around and looked up at him.

"Hey Hydro! What's up?" She asked.

"Shouldn't you know?" He asked and she rolled her eyes before reading his mind.

"No way! I'm not singing in front of the school!" She told him firmly before turning on her heel and walking away.

"C'mon, you have a great voice and you'll blow the socks off the school." Hydro said walking beside her. She stopped and looked at him. "Please." He pouted putting his hands in a begging motion and making kitty eyes. Even though he's a hedgehog, like his dad, he had the ability to make kitty eyes, like his mother. Lauren sighed and put her hand on her forehead.

"Fine." She sighed and Hydro smiled.

"You won't be sorry! I'll call you with rehearsal times." He told her before running off.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Lauren muttered shaking her head.

"Me neither. Why compete when you know you're going to lose." Shade scoffed as he walked up to her and Lauren frowned.

"And what makes you think that?" She asked crossing her arms.

"Because me, Flash, Bolt, and Shawn are in it and will kick your ass." Shade smirked.

"Oh really? Well I beg to differ. Hydro and I are going to win and you'll be sorry." Lauren said as Shade scoffed.

"Well, we'll see this Friday, won't we?" He smirked crossing his arms.

"Yes, yes we will." She scowled. They both stayed glaring at each other before storming off in opposite directions. Chrissy who had watched the entire exchange from a few feet away sighed heavily.

"This is going to be a long week." Chrissy muttered. In another hallway, Derek and Lazarus were talking to each other when AJ came sulking their way.

"Hey man, guess what we're doing on Homecoming?" Lazarus said excitedly as AJ leaned against his locker.

"What?" He mumbled sadly and Lazarus just stared at him.

"Jeez, he says 'what' and I feel like I need to kill myself." Lazarus said as Derek rolled his eyes.

"We're going to be in Battle of the Bands." Derek said showing AJ the flyer.

"No thanks." AJ muttered pushing it away.

"C'mon AJ, this will cheer you up! And you're the best drummer we know." Lazarus told him and AJ sighed.

"If I say yes will you leave me alone?" AJ asked as Lazarus and Derek exchanged glances.

"Yes." Derek said as AJ sighed.

"Fine." He said as Lazarus smiled.

"Great! Now what song should we do?" Lazarus asked as they started walking down the hall.

After school the guys were back at it again for football practice where Shadow and Knuckles continued to beat their asses to a pulp in order to prepare for the Homecoming Game.

"C'mon! I want to see cleaner passes!" Shadow shouted as they started the play over again. Serenity was watching from the bleachers with Nicole when John decided to pay a nice visit. Conner noticed this and ran off the field.

"Where are you going?" Knuckles yelled at him but he just ignored him. Knuckles sighed and shook his head before drawing his focus back on the defense. Conner hopped up and into the bleachers where he immediately got into John's face.

"What do you think you're doing here Walters?" Conner growled and John chuckled.

"What's it to you, Mondair?" He asked.

"You should know better then to come near my girlfriend." Conner told him.

"Well, she was my girlfriend first." John said and Serenity rolled her eyes at his immaturity.

"And look what happened, she dumped your ass." Conner said as Serenity smirked and Nicole tried to hide her laughter.

"You're going to pay for that." He growled before tackling him and sending them down the bleachers. Conner punched him square in the jaw and kicked John off of him. John punched him in the stomach and Conner kicked him in the head. John punched him right in the face and Conner snarled at him and his eyes started to glow green. He started to pelt John with rocks, knocking him off the bleachers and onto the ground. Conner jumped down and chained John to the ground. John eyes turned black as he lifted Conner in the air and started to choke him. Conner knocked him in the head with a rock making him lose focus and let Conner go. Conner was about to pound a rock into his face, but Shadow's yelling stopped.

"What is going on?" Shadow shouted, walking up to them. "John get your ass to the principal's office and Conner I'm going to deal with you." Shadow ordered as John limped towards the office. Conner smirked with satisfaction when he saw him limping. "Good job, but next time don't be afraid to injure him a little more." Shadow told him as they walked back towards the field. Conner laughed before running back towards the other plays.

"Thank God, Nicole doesn't have a crazy ex." Brice said as Conner rolled his eyes.