DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN SONIC OR ANY OF THE SONIC CHARACTERS IN ANY WAY.
Author's Note: Heyy, readers! Sooo, remember that thing I told you about me thinking I would have a lot more homework to do because of school and how I wouldn't have as much free time as I used to to update this story and write a lot of chapters in little time? Remember when I said that ?
. . . I didn't say that ?
. . . . . oh. Welllll, I guess I'm saying it now. Haha .
But really though, I'm sorry it's taken so long to update. And I don't think you reviewers have ANY idea how much I appreciate you and the fact that you haven't given up on this story like it seems like I have. (Even though I didn't.)
But, I won't keep you waiting longer, soooooooo! Here's chapter 8! Enjoy! 3
R&R! :)
The Stepbrother
*WHOOOOOSH*
That was the sound of a certain familiar blue hedgehog racing his way to his locker.
'I've gotta get away from him . . . gotta get away . . . I have to get away from him.' He thought.
The little stunt that his 'older brother' pulled had riled him up. And he was most definitely not interested in sticking around him any longer. Sonic made it to his locker. He forced the door open, throwing all of his books into his locker and, once again, took out the only necessary book. Once he slammed it shut again, he looked around warily. He looked to his left, and he looked to his right. And then he looked to his left once more.
'Nope. No sign of Shadow.' He thought. 'I'm in the clear . . . but for how long?' Sonic felt sick all of a sudden.
He swallowed in an attempt to get the dry feeling out of his throat, but to no cigar. All he ended up doing was swallowing a bunch of air.
The blue hedgehog slumped against his locker and hung his head, shamefully. And for good reason.
He was Sonic the Hedgehog!
People looked to him for help and guidance. If someone was hurt or in trouble, or even if that person needed someone to talk to, that person would talk to Sonic the Brave. Sonic the Courageous. Sonic the Fearless.
' . . . Sonic the Chump.' He thought, sadly.
What was he going to do?
He couldn't run from Shadow for the rest of his life. It barely did him any good to run from him in school. Because not only would Shadow catch up to him eventually, but they both now lived under the same roof! In the same house! They slept in the same bedroom, and for now, in the same bed.
. . . well, not in the same bed for long, according to Sonic.
But still, how was he to manage Shadow when he could barely stand thinking about him, let alone be around him?
"Hey, Son— "
"AAH!" Sonic jumped and glared to his right, where his faithful friend, Tails, was standing in suspicion at Sonic's 'odd' behavior.
" . . . Umm . . . are you okay, Sonic?"
Sonic patted his chest a few times and exhaled slowly.
"I'm fine, Tails. Don't sneak up on me like that." The hedgehog reprimanded. "Are you trying to kill me?"
Tails' brows furrowed. " . . . No. I was just . . . eh . . . are you sure you're feeling okay?"
After Sonic collected himself, he placed his hands on his hips, with book in one hand, and faced his two-tailed friend. "Of course I am. I'm Sonic the hedgehog." Sonic tried to assure him. "Why wouldn't I be okay?"
"Well, it's just that you left the classroom kinda fast." Tails explained. "And after that . . . that weird outburst in class . . . I just thought—"
"I'm perfectly fine, little buddy." Sonic grinned and put an arm around Tails for extra reassurance. "No need to worry about me. I'm just, er . . . having a moment, that's all."
Tails frowned slightly at this and took a few steps back from Sonic.
Sonic looked curiously at his friend. "Whatsa matter, now?"
"Well, last time you were having 'a moment', my head almost ended up in the toilet."
Sonic laughed out loud at Tails.
"I don't see what's so funny." Tails retorted shyly.
"Ah, it's not a moment like that, buddy." Said Sonic, and he and Tails began walking to their next class: Art. "And besides, you provoked that 'moment' out of me, anyways with your constant talking and being sarcastic.
"I only get it from the best, Sonic." Tails smirked. The azure hedgehog rolled his eyes at the comment.
"Let's just get to class, Tails." He put his arm around his companion, once more, and they both walked to class. Sonic, feeling content, forgot all about his family troubles.
. . . for the moment.
~.~.~.~.~
The second period art class consisted of almost the entire class being full. Sonic's only immediate friends in this class were Tails and Knuckles, but he was satisfied with the two. Said hedgehog walked through the room with his friend, Tails right by his side. They both walked to their seats, beside each other, and awaited their red-pigmented friend. Other classmates walked in one by one and crowded to their seats. Class hadn't begun yet, so of course the students saw to it to talk amongst each other.
"I wonder where Knuckles is." Tails questioned, innocently.
"I can probably guess where he is, right now." Sonic smirked.
"With Rouge?" Tails asked.
Sonic confirmed with a nod of his head. "That idiot can swear left and right he wants nothing to do with her, but I'm not stupid."
Tails just laughed.
"Really, Tails. Those stupid arguments they have are just pretenses to 'throw us off track'."
"Knuckles can't possibly think we're that naïve, Sonic." Tails began to take out his art supplies: his art pad, his pencils, and his eraser. "And besides, Knuckles is our friend. He would tell us things like this, right?"
"I dunno, buddy." Sonic shook his head. "Here he comes, though."
Knuckles walked in the room and made his way to his seat in front of Tails, not happily, but not in a bad mood, either.
"Well hey there, Knucklehead." The aforementioned glared at Sonic for his nickname. "What took you so long, this time?"
"You say 'this time' like my being a little later here than you is an everyday occurrence, hedgehog."
"Well, it just might be." Sonic retorted sarcastically.
Knuckles sighed. "If you must know, my locker was stuck. I couldn't get my things out, so I had to request reinforcements."
"And did you thank Rouge when she helped you get your locker open?" Sonic asked with a smirk.
Tails chuckled from behind his hand.
Knuckles, who was now glowering at the blue hog, replied, "I did not ask Rouge for help, dumbass."
"So she just volunteered to help you, then?"
"No!"
"Then, what did you to do?"
"What makes you think I did anything with her?"
"Well, didn't you?"
"I . . . uh, yeah . . . b-but—"
"Then, why are you trying to defend yourself when you know that we know that you were near her?"
"Why are you bothering me about what I did with Rouge?" Knuckles practically shouted. The entire art class, those that were present, looked over at Knuckles.
Knuckles looked around at the class. "And what are you all looking at? Mind your damn business!"
Everyone turned away quickly, and Tails covered his ears once more.
"Oh. Sorry, Tails." Knuckles apologized. "It won't happen again."
Tails gave him a thumbs-up.
"Okay, class, okay. Settle down, and let's all make it to our seats, please. Class is just about to begin." A teacher walked in, placed her suitcase down on the desk, and said. "I hope everyone is prepared for class, today."
"I am, Ms. Lovett!" Tails raised his hand and shouted.
"That's great, Tails! You're such an over-achiever." Ms. Lovett said, cheerfully and with a smile. Tails gave her a toothy smile back as other classmates glared at him and mumbled incoherent words.
"Show off."
"Little brag-a-lot."
"He thinks he's so much smarter than the rest of us."
Sonic covered his face, then leaned over toward Tails. "Uh . . . little buddy, try to keep your accomplishments to yourself, okay?"
Tails frowned, but brushed everything off and moved along.
*BRRRIIIIINNNNNNGGG*
"And that was the bell. So, let's all get in our seats, class." Ms. Lovett walked from behind her desk to close the door to the classroom. "Today, we won't be needing our—"
Then, the door opened and slammed loudly, and everyone looked toward it. In walked none other than Shadow the hedgehog.
"Oh no." Sonic groaned and covered his face in his hand, again.
Shadow walked in slowly and quietly, a contrast to how he opened the door.
"Hey, there's that cutie, again." A girl from the previous class said.
"Wow, he is cute." Said another. Shadow ignored the comments. He was used to hearing them so often that he learned to ignore them, anyway. He squinted his eyes slightly as he searched around the room for someone in particular.
"Class, this is our new student, Shadow. Some of you may have met him in a previous class, but for those of you who haven't, let's try to make him feel welcome, shall we?"
'Ah!' Shadow thought. 'There he is.' He eyes landed on an exasperated Sonic, who obviously looked like he wasn't in the mood for another class with Shadow.
"Shadow, why don't we find you a seat, sweetheart. Class is supposed to be started and we wanna get going as soon as possible."
"Sweetheart my ass." Sonic mumbled.
"My butt." Tails corrected. Sonic sighed. And it was at that time that he decided to notice the vacant chair to his right. He groaned inwardly, not wanting a repeat of his last class. The last thing he needed was for Shadow to 'feel him up' like before, and for Sonic to have another 'sudden' outburst in front of the class, who would suggest that he get checked. Sonic looked toward the front of the classroom at Shadow and saw him smirking. His face turned into an even deeper frown than before.
"Shadow, there's an open seat next to Tammy. Why don't you sit there for the day, okay?"
After that was said, Sonic and Shadow exchanged expressions, Sonic's being suddenly bright and satisfied, and Shadow's being annoyed and discontent.
Shadow trudged to his seat slowly.
"Okay class, as I was saying before, we'll be doing some painting today, so we won't be needing—"
The door interrupted Ms. Lovett, once again. And once again, everyone turned to look at who it was.
In the doorway stood a troublesome looking green hedgehog with a pick in his mouth: Scourge.
"Whatsup, losers." He said with a cocky grin on his face.
"OH NO." Sonic exclaimed, wide-eyed and a little louder than before.
"What's wrong now, Sonic?" Knuckles asked.
Sonic motioned at the chair to his right. Knuckles' face lit up with understanding. "Hehe, I forgot for a second that Scourge sat there, too. And just when you thought you were in the clear from your brother."
Tails shrugged. "Tsk. Tsk. Well, I guess you win some and you lose some. And in this case, Sonic, you've definitely lost."
Sonic picked up an eraser and chucked harder than normal at Tails' head. The latter rubbed his minor injury and glared at Sonic.
Shadow, the last to look up, wondered who this hedgehog was, and why he carried an heir of cockiness about him. He didn't even know Scourge, but he made up in his mind that he didn't want to. He seemed like one of those guys that no one liked, so Shadow just saw him as a waste of space and time. He looked away from the green form.
"Scourge, please take your seat." Ms. Lovett said. "And why are you late . . . again?"
"Eh, it's not my fault. I had things to do."
"At school, Scourge, being on time is one of those . . . things you have to do. Now, why is that so hard?"
Scourge shrugged and started to walk to his seat beside Sonic.
"It's not. I just don't care. Sue me."
Ms. Lovett exhaled loudly and searched her desk for her aspirin. She loved her job as a teacher, but students like Scourge always gave her doubts and second-guesses.
While the teacher searched for her belongings, Scourge had gotten to his seat, and Sonic was silently praying that Scourge would, somehow, not notice he was there. However, Scourge looked to his left, anyway.
"Hey, cutie." Scourge greeted Sonic.
Sonic remained absolutely quiet.
"So we're not speaking anymore, huh?" He leaned on his desk, playing with his toothpick, and asked.
"Fuck off." Sonic said, glaring.
Scourge chuckled. "I don't know why you try so hard to avoid me, babe. I know you want me." He spit his pick out to the floor and rested his chin on his hands. "And it's obvious that I want you."
"Scourge, I've told you a million times. That's not how I am. So, what don't you get?" Sonic raised his voice slightly.
His change in volume caught the attention of a certain black hedgehog who was staring off into space somewhere. The girls crowding around him wouldn't leave him alone, so eventually, he tuned them out. But, Sonic's voice caught his attention. He looked over, curiously, to see what the cause of Sonic's volume was about. He raised an eyebrow when he saw the green hedgehog, from a few minutes ago, a little too close to Sonic for Sonic's comfort.
"Ah. So, you're talking a little more, now, eh?" Scourge smirked. "I like it better when you talk to me. Your voice is too sexy, blue." Scourge touched Sonic's right leg.
"Stop it, Scourge." Sonic blushed deeply as he threw Scourge's hand off. He could feel his face heating up too quickly for his liking.
"Or what?" The green hedgie challenged. He caressed a little higher, now, on Sonic's thigh, and dangerously close to his personal space.
The two hedgehogs now had Shadow's full attention, and Shadow's attention only. How was it that no one else, especially the teacher, seemed to notice when these types of things happened? It didn't take that much to look up and scan the students. Shadow saw where Scourge had touched Sonic and how Sonic threw his hand off. The dark hedgehog didn't know why, but he felt something inside of him well up. And it wasn't something good. He didn't understand what exactly it was, but he knew that he felt angry and annoyed. But, why?
"I said stop it." Sonic threw his hand off, again.
"Make me." He put his hand back on, but even closer.
"Scourge!" Sonic whispered loudly.
Shadow had enough. He turned to get out of his chair to do something, but Tails and Knuckles both snapped their heads toward Scourge and Sonic. Knuckles immediately turned his glare to Scourge as he said, "Is he bothering you, Sonic?" But, no sooner had the two looked did Scourge retract his hand faster than lightning from Sonic's thigh.
For some reason, Sonic was speechless at what just occurred. "I-I . . . he . . .he was—"
"I was just seeing how Sonic was feeling. He didn't look too good, so I decided to check on him, myself. Calm down, Knucklehead." Scourge spat.
"Watch who you're talking to, bastard!" Knuckles said back.
Scourge scoffed, crossed his arms, and directed his attention back to the front.
Shadow saw that everything seemed to be handled, so he settled down and rearranged himself back in his seat, somewhat calmer than before.
"Sonic, are you okay?" Tails asked, worried.
"Whatever." Sonic stated. 'I've got to get the hell outta this school.' He thought. Being felt up more than once in one day was definitely not something that amused him.
"*phew* . . . well, now that I've finally found my aspirin, we can start art class." Ms. Lovett said.
"About time." Knuckles mumbled.
"Now, since we're painting today, we won't be needing . . ." Ms. Lovett paused and looked toward the door for any more possible interruptions. She smiled when she saw that there were no more. " . . .we won't be needing our pads, pencils, or our individual desks. We'll be working at the counters, over there." Ms. Lovett pointed to her right at the counters and the many stools lined up by them. "So, let's move over here so that we can get started." And Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and the rest of the class left their things, and they walked over to the counters.
"Painting?" Tails exclaimed. "Does she think we're six?"
"Tails, you're only, what, eight?" Knuckles scoffed.
"Just shut up, Knuckles." Tails glared.
Ms. Lovett handed out large pieces of paper to each student. Each student, then, walked over to a storage closet to retrieve the paints and brushes.
"We're trying to dig into our creative side, today, class. So, don't be afraid to get a little messy."
Scourge walked up to the left of Sonic and whispered in his ear, "I don't mind getting a little messy with you, blue." Sonic looked at Scourge as his cheeks turned a bright red, and looked away. He was about to walk away from Scourge when he felt a tug at his hand.
"Why do you act so hostile and shy to me all the time, hm?"
"Because I hate you." Sonic said.
"That's not true. Because no one hates Scourge the Hedgehog." Scourge flashed Sonic one of his oddly bright smiles. Everyone would admit it was odd because it was the smile was bright and nice-looking for someone as Scourge. Sonic rolled his eyes and tried to walk away again. But, Scourge grabbed Sonic by his waist and backed him up to the counter. Their faces and bodies were now dangerously close to each other. A few of the students that saw, knew about Scourge's sexuality and about how he often loved to flirt with Sonic. They merely brushed Scourge's interaction with Sonic as flirting and went back to what they were doing.
"What the hell, Scourge! Let me go."
"Where would the fun be in that, babe? I've got you right where I want you, anyways."
Sonic tried to push Scourge away so that he could get free, but Scourge was sure not to let him go so easily.
'Where are my damn 'friends' when I need them?' Sonic thought angrily. Knuckles and Tails were no longer in sight.
Suddenly, the door burst open and in walked a secretary of the school. The class watched, even Sonic and Scourge, as she walked up to Ms. Lovett to whisper something that was incoherent to everyone, but Ms. Lovett.
"Uhh, class . . . I have to take care of something. I'll be right back, but start working on your paintings while I'm gone." And with that, she walked clear out of the room with the secretary following closely behind her.
Scourge turned back around to Sonic. "Well, sexy, I guess without any authority around, I can have you all to myself. Just the way I want you." Scourge said as he allowed his hand to travel to Sonic's inner thigh and sensually rub there.
"Sc-Scourge . . . please don't . . . not here, Scourge."
"Ohh, so you'd rather go somewhere private, eh?" He whispered.
"No, Scourge, that's not what I—"
"Whatever you say, baby." Scourge went to softly kiss at Sonic's cheek, which didn't do anything but encourage the blush on his face to spread. Sonic closed his eyes as Scourge's hand started an upward path that hadn't stopped since it reached Sonic's thigh, and now, Scourge was a few seconds away from groping Sonic's manhood.
"Ahh . . . Scourge! Don't!" Sonic pleaded. Scourge chuckled quietly and proceeded until he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. He turned around glaring at whoever 'dared' interrupt his intimacy with Sonic. He was somewhat surprised to see a black hedgehog standing with his arms folded. He had an angry expression on his face, too. Sonic opened his eyes to see what was happening. He was also surprised at what he saw.
"Who the hell are you?" Scourge asked.
"I'm Shadow," Shadow said as he motioned to Sonic. "But, that's not important right now."
"Oh?" Scourge asked.
"What the fuck are you doing to him?" Shadow demanded in a calm tone, but Sonic could detect the hostility in his voice. And he was a little surprised at it and curious to know why it was there.
"I don't really think that's any of your business." Scourge turned around and crossed his own arms to face Shadow.
"Well since he's my brother, I'd say it is my business."
Scourge raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Oh, he's your brother, is he?"
"Step-brother." Sonic added, irritated. Shadow glared past Scourge's shoulder to glare at Sonic straight in his eyes. Sonic merely glared back. Scourge sat back and watched the exchange between the two before laughing lightly.
"You two seem like you don't give two shits about each other." He inquired.
Nobody spoke.
"I'll take that as a yes." Scourge said. Then, he turned back to Sonic and grabbed him by his hips, again. "Then, it shouldn't matter what I do to Sonic . . . and I plan on doing so many pleasuring things to him." Scourge smirked and traced his finger along Sonic's chest.
The feelings that Shadow quelled earlier were starting to bubble up in his stomach, again. He was getting angry at the green hedgehog in front of him. But, for what? Why would he be angry at this . . . stranger . . . just for bothering Sonic? Shadow still couldn't put his finger on his behavior, but that didn't really matter to him, now. All he knew was that he was acting on his behavior and the strange feeling in his stomach. And this feeling told him to grab Scourge's hand away from any part of Sonic, so he did.
"Dude, what's your problem?"
"Right now? You are."
Scourge turned to face Shadow. "Is that so?" Shadow crossed his arms and continued to glare at the green hedgehog.
"Hm, well, why don't you do something about it then, tough guy?"
Shadow was really getting agitated with the green hedgehog in front of him. It was eating at him inside to keep from punching him and starting an all-out fight, but Shadow restrained himself. Instead, he looked over at Sonic, who was eyeing Shadow to see what he would do. He looked around for a second, and then his eyes spotted his weapon. He looked back over to Scourge, and smirked. Scourge raised an eyebrow, wondering what Shadow was up to, but Shadow didn't say a word. Sonic was puzzled as well.
Shadow walked past Scourge over to another counter and picked up a rather largely sized can of red paint, and he began to walk back over to Scourge. When Scourge saw what Shadow had picked up, he went wide-eyed.
"H-hey! Whoa, buddy. If you're thinking about doing what I think you're thinking about doing, that's definitely not something you wanna do!" Scourge tried to convince Shadow.
"And what is it exactly that you think I'm about to do?" Shadow asked as he walked closer and closer to Scourge.
Scourge began backing up toward a wall. "Don't try to play me for an idiot! I know exactly what you're planning on doing! And if you think you're gonna just dump a can of paint on me, then you're nuts!"
Shadow retorted, "Hm, maybe I am, and maybe I'm not."
Scourge glanced over at Sonic for reinforcements. "Blue, babe, help me out here."
Sonic was leaning back on the counter, grinning. "Sorry. Looks like you're on your own, here."
"Seriously, blue?" Scourge glared.
Scourge bumped into the wall behind and realized that he had ran out of retreating room. It seemed that, now, Scourge, Shadow, and the can of paint had everyone's attention. Everyone was looking with curious, excited eyes; some of them were wondering if Shadow would actually release the paint, and others were waiting for him to actually do it.
"Shadow, stop! I don't feel like doing this, right now!" Scourge said.
"Is that so?" Shadow mocked him from earlier. "Well, why don't you do something about it, then?" Those were the last words said before Scourge was practically swimming in a large amount of red paint. Shadow threw the can of paint all over the green hedgie. It splattered everywhere; it was on the floor, it splattered on doors, and it was completely covering the wall behind Scourge.
Shadow was definitely satisfied with his work. He looked over at Sonic to see his expression; Sonic was laughing, not loudly, but to himself. Shadow had to admit that he felt good about what he did. He also had to admit to himself that he felt good seeing Sonic's reaction at his handiwork. Seeing the azure hedgehog's face light up, his smile practically outshining the sun, and his emerald eyes sparkling at the sight, it brought a new feeling inside of him. He couldn't quite comprehend what it was, either, but he liked this feeling a little better than the one that Scourge brought to him. And he grinned slightly at the sight of the azure hedgie.
Scourge, on the other hand, was angrily trying to brush off the excess paint dripping off of him. "Big mistake, asshole."
This brought Shadow's attention back to Scourge, who was walking over to the counter that Shadow had gotten paint off of. He picked up a yellow can of paint, the same size as Shadow's, and he marched over to Shadow.
"See how you like this!" And he threw the paint, expecting it to splatter all over Shadow. However, he was slightly dumbfounded when Shadow ducked to avoid the paint, and instead, the paint splattered all over a female student.
"Omigosh! My hair!" The girl exclaimed. She glared up at Scourge, who smiled uneasily at the girl.
"Hehe . . . eh, sorry. I didn't mean to."
"Oh yeah?" The girl said. She walked over to the same counter and picked up a can of green paint. "Well, maybe I didn't mean to do this!" She, too, threw the paint onto another student, missing her actual target.
Before everyone knew it, an entire war of paint was initiated in the paint room. People were throwing cans of paint, and it was flying everywhere. Even Sonic, Shadow, and Scourge were in the midst of the war. Colors of blue, red, green, yellow, purple, and any other color thought of was seen flying at some point. Pretty soon, almost the entire room was decorated with paint. It looked like an abstract painting. The students looked no different. Clothes and skin were all covered in paint, the real colors of the objects being hidden by the substance.
Suddenly, Knuckles and Tails walked in, laughing between themselves at something, until they looked up and around the room. Tails gasped and Knuckles stood wide-eyed at the raging students and the paint cans being thrown, everywhere. Tails looked over and spotted his blue friend, getting ready to chuck another can of paint. "Sonic? Is that you?" Sonic looked up at Tails laughing.
"Yeah, I guess it is." And Sonic walked over to Tails and Knuckles.
"What happened in here?" Knuckles asked, amazed.
Sonic smirked. "Nothing that you guys can't be apart of." And with that, he took two buckets of paint from behind him and drenched his two friends in them. After being over the shock of Sonic's actions, the fox and the echidna joined in.
But not too much later did Tails and Knuckles join in the 'fun' did Ms. Lovett walk into the classroom. "Okay, class, let's get back to— AAH!"
The whole entire class stopped dead in their tracks. They looked up at Ms. Lovett like deer in headlights. Ms. Lovett, on the other side of the room, and being the only thing not painted, spoke. "What . . . happened . . . to my classroom?" She asked slowly and angrily.
No one said anything.
"Okay, then . . . I'll give everyone to the count of three . . . and if someone doesn't confess . . . who started this monstrosity . . . everyone will be receiving detention for the two weeks!" She reprimanded. "Now . . . one . . . two . . ."
Everyone suddenly pointed at Shadow, Scourge, and Sonic. And Ms. Lovett looked at the 'culprits' with anger and shame.
Sonic glanced over at Shadow who glanced over at Sonic and then Scourge.
'Shit!' They all thought.
They knew that there was no way that they were getting out of this one.