A/N: More revisions: Now with author's notes and better descriptions!

Chapter 2: Return to ISBVI

"How was it, buddy?" asked Sonic, looking over at the passenger's side seat. Knuckles was in the Blue Streak again, but he was in a mildly better mood (a more accurate description would be "he wasn't ready to kill anyone who talked to him"), so Sonic didn't tie him up. He was even sitting in the front seat.

"It was actually pretty funny," Knuckles said with a malicious grin. "Schnieders didn't get anywhere between the random kids talking and Shadow making that joke."

"Well, I guess it's helping, then," sighed Sonic. "How about we go to McChili-Dogs for lunch?"

"Oh, not there again," Tails groaned from the back. "Last time we ate there, you got sick after the twenty-seventh chili-dog."

"Ah, but you forget my new strategy," the blue hedgehog smirked. "Root beer."

"Let's just skip it today," Knuckles intervened.

xxx

"Jerry, Jerry!" The television screamed. Knuckles sat in front of it on the couch, eating a huge bag of Noof brand potato chips. The ride home had been somewhat arduous with Sonic and Tails arguing about the mechanics of record-breaking chili-dog eating, and Knuckles had tried several times to get them to just drop the ordeal. The two had driven off after dropping Knuckles at his house, and the echidna had to guess that Sonic was going to try for twenty-eight.

This is a boring show, Knuckles thought. Why do I even watch it? He grabbed the remote and pressed the channel button. The screen changed to a cartoon. An obese man wearing a white shirt and green pants was talking to a dog.

"How'd it go?" said the dog, which was sitting at a table.

"I told her she was fat," said the man guiltily. The dog took the newspaper he was reading and hit the man over the head, saying, "No. No." This was followed by the thumb of Knuckles' mitten sliding over the POWER button on the TV remote.

Eh, I've seen this one… he concluded as he got up, put the bag of chips away, and lay on the couch to get some rest.

xxx

Buzz, buzz, buzz…

The echidna groaned as he reached over to try and smash the alarm clock. Friday had come too quickly, and the alarm clock had insisted that the echidna begin the day at 6:15. Such was the life of a person living without his purpose. Without a way back to his floating home, the Guardian had had to take residence in this brick house and do nothing with his days.

I bet Sonic set this… Knuckles thought angrily. Outside, a car horn beeped in an upbeat tune that sounded like it had destroyed an Invincibility Box. The disgruntled echidna got up and went outside.

"You pest," he spat at the blue hedgehog. "Class doesn't start until 8:30!"

"That doesn't mean I can't challenge you to a friendly race," Sonic said from the Blue Streak, removing his dark sunglasses.

"Are you crazy?" Knuckles asked, but he already knew the answer. "I can't outrun a car."

"Who said you were running?"

"Oh, no. No no no no no no. You're not gonna get me to drive with a suspended license."

xxx

The Blue Streak rushed down the empty lanes of College Avenue as the blue hedgehog easily ran circles around it. The radio was blaring a country tune, and the red echidna hoped to Chaos that there were no cops around.

Damn you, Sonic… the echidna grumbled mentally. Although, I could've just punched him in the face… but that would mean walking to class…

They were now reaching the final stretch of road that led up to the campus of ISBVI, where the anger management class took place. The Blue Streak was running on empty, and the Blue Blur was still running with ease. In the parking lot, Knuckles managed to steer the azure behemoth roughly into a parking space, and Sonic came to a halt, panting as he rested on the side of his pride and joy.

"That… was… invigorating…" the blue rodent sputtered.

"That was dangerous," Knuckles growled. "How in the Emerald's name did you convince me do race you here?"

"It's easy," Sonic grinned. "You can't resist a challenge."

xxx

"Well, good morning again," greeted the instructor with his usual unusual perkiness. It was only 8:10, and Knuckles had decided to go in early rather than try and eat breakfast at Burger Noof in ten minutes; a record Sonic had likely been able to shatter when he was three.

"Hey, Mr. Schnieders," Knuckles said with an imperceptible air of being annoyed.

"Are you finally ready to get started with your anger problems?" Mr. Schnieders asked.

"To be honest, the last class made more progress then I thought it would," Knuckles admitted. "Are Shadow and Vector in this class for as long as I have to be?"

"Well, actually, Shadow's graduating today, and Vector just stays because he thinks it's funny." Just then, the door to the tower room opened, and Jimmy walked in, holding a computer case on his head, and the laptop it would normally include under his arm.

"I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to Mr. Lovati's room today until 10:30," he said.

"Jimmy, I think you should stay here," Mr. Schnieders said sternly.

"You're not going to be able to stop me, you know," Jimmy said through gritted teeth. With that, he began storming out of the room. Knuckles took one look at Mr. Schnieders, who looked downright disappointed, and lunged forward, seizing Jimmy by the shoulders and almost making him drop the laptop.

"You should probably listen to our kind and courteous instructor, Jimmy," Knuckles growled, holding Jimmy up so that his eyes met the fierce expression on the Guardian's face.

"Settle down, Knuckles," Mr. Schnieders said tentatively. After several moments, his face became a rich beet color, like it had the previous Tuesday. "PUT HIM DOWN!" he screamed. Knuckles dropped the scrawny human, who landed on the floor with a loud thump.

"Forget it," Jimmy growled. "I'll just stay here."

"Thank you, Jimmy," Mr. Schnieders sighed. "Well, now that that's over with, let's all sit down so class can begin." Knuckles and Jimmy obliged, taking seats that were far away from each other. As the next few minutes passed, the students began to return, beginning with various humans and slowing to a halt with Shadow, Vector, and the ebony fox that had shown so much glee in Shadow's previous anecdote.

"Good morning, class," Mr. Schnieders said brightly. "I see we're all back today, and I've got a special exercise for you all." He made a small gesture toward the door of the drafty room. "Come on in, James." Through the door came a mellow "Sure thing, Mr. Schnieders.", and a boy of about seventeen walked in. He was of an average height, and the glasses he wore slightly magnified his bright eyes. As soon as he was made known, the class erupted in laughter.

"Class, this is James Flowers," Mr. Schnieders proclaimed.

"We all know James," mumbled a bored-looking student in the center of the room.

"AJ, there are people here who don't go to ISBVI," Mr. Schnieders said in a tone of distaste.

"Does it matter?" Shadow asked. "His hair is freakin' hilarious!" The class began to laugh again as they looked at James's long, curly hair.

"Hey, man, that's why I never got it cut," James said coolly. "I don't like it short, and it makes people laugh."

Hmm… Knuckles thought. Maybe a good cut would rile him up a bit… but I'll wait until Shadow really starts roasting him…

"Hey, it's been a while since the '60s!" the black fox sneered.

"I know, dude," James said. "It's been like… forty-five years…"

"About as old as that shirt!" cackled Amanda. "Tye-dye's been out for a looooong time."

"Naw, this thing's only a few months old," James replied obliviously.

"Yeah, if it was that old, we'd be smelling forty-five years of his dad's pot-smoke!" Shadow snickered. "That shirt's obviously just a worthless remake." James was now almost visibly angry; his face had become a hot pink that Knuckles couldn't laugh harder at. Just as the hot pink gave way to mild vermilion, someone threw a stress ball, which hit James square on the forehead.

"THAT'S IT!" he cried, his eyes burning with rage. Knuckles had crept behind him, and had taken a pair of scissors off of the desk in the back of the room, where Mr. Schnieders sat quietly, almost as if in shock. Knuckles stepped forward and opened the scissors as James continued his rant. "I AGREED TO DO THIS CLASS FOR MR. SCHNIEDERS, BUT YOU GUYS CROSSED THE LINE! I OUGHTTA – " The scissors shattered as they closed around the shoulder-length curly locks of hair. Didn't see that one coming… Knuckles thought with a gulp. James whipped around faster than Sonic when he heard the ice-cream truck's tinkling rendition of "Live and Learn", only James was angry.

"I-I-I thought I saw a bug…" Knuckles stammered, not before James had nearly missed his head with a punch deadlier than Perfect Chaos's homing missiles. Rolling to the side, Knuckles began to think as he continued to dodge the maelstrom of rage flowing from the teenage boy's inner sanctum.

Who knew this kid could get so angry? Knuckles thought as he back-flipped against a wall, and then used it as a springboard to gain enough altitude to glide over James's head. James looked up, then whipped his head in an awkward circle that thrust his long hair up into Knuckles. The Guardian seemed to fall in slow-motion, and managed to land lightly on his feet. Barely visible on his stomach was a scarlet line, hardly deeper than the hue of the echidna's fur. What the hell? he thought. Hair isn't supposed to do that…

I think I'll leave you faithful readers hanging for now. This chapter's long enough. Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of the fight between the Guardian and the hippie… Please review.

Next Chapter: Guardian vs. Hippie