And here it is - the next chapter. Let's look in!

I took the long way to the Hangar.

Please understand, this was not a matter of laziness. I often left early because 1) you never know what might attack you en route to your hideout and 2) I liked to figure out alternate ways to the Hangar in case something did, in fact, come up – like construction, or an accident, or a monster squatting in an alley. (Never go by a street where a monster is hiding.) Besides, if I did have a stalker, at least I'd throw him off somewhat.

I was strolling down Belgrade Street, humming again. I like to hum to process things when I'm by myself. It's usually some pop song I've heard on the radio or my music streamer, and today it was "Lean On." (I have a bit of a thing for Major Lazer. The other VLADJIs were constantly ragging me on it.)

Initially I was humming, but in time I started singing it, which I often do when I'm really into the song. I started singing around the chorus.

I wasn't exactly prepared for smoke effects, either. It started around the time I got to the second verse. I caught the trail of smoke on the approach.

Wonderful. My stalker had shown again.

I tensed up. What to do?

"Hey!" I barked out. "Don't you have other places to pollute?"

The smoke kept coming – until it was driven back by a hammer.

I'm talking outsized whack-a-mole style of hammer – more like those hammers cartoon characters bop people on the head with, but with a longer handle, like a croquet mallet. Looking at the pink mallet, I knew at once I was in familiar territory.

Amy Rose thrust the hammer at the smoke cloud, which must've had some degree of sentience from the way it retreated with every thrust. At last it dissipated from where I was.

"And stay back!" Amy shouted with a final hammer thrust in the direction of the cloud.

"Amy!" I said, then added, "Moses, you gotta warn someone before you go battering ram with that hammer. My head was right there and everything."

"Sorry." Amy tapped the end of the handle to her necklace, at which point the hammer shrank into a necklace charm. The hammer had been enchanted with an illusion that made it into a pendant when she wasn't using it. Quite handy, but with an avatar, they had to have weapons on hand all the time.

How can I describe Amy?

Yeah, I know the picture that popped in your head – spiky pink quills, red headband, dress and boots, a lot of manic energy (of course, the manic pixie girl thing was to be expected). And of course following in Sonic's wake. Why is it always behind Sonic?

Imagine that sort of thing, but a little taller – practically the height of an adult human. Imagine different attire – red blouse, black skinny jeans, pink pumps, white gloves with bangle bracelets, a chain necklace with the hammer charm. A more mature face, hazel eyes (like mine), a steelier expression, and you've got my avatar chum right there.

"Thanks, anyway," I replied. What else could I say?

Amy shrugged like this was no big deal. It probably wasn't for her, but for me, it was everything. "How long has he been following you?" she asked me as we continued walking toward the Hangar.

"He?" I asked. Referring to the smoke cloud? So it was sentient.

Amy sighed. "I've been trying to tell him not to just follow people, but –" she sighed – "it's not like he'll listen to me."

"You mean the new avatar. Wait, the guy can turn himself into smoke?"

"A smoke-shifter." An uncomfortable light came into Amy's eyes. I got the sense that the avatar was another Sega character – another Sonic character she'd had a… complicated relationship with. "Yes."

"Wonderful."

As we walked toward the Hangar, I racked my brain. Who was the new avatar? Yes, that had been going in my brain for some time, but now I was really curious. How did Amy know him in the games? (I am not well versed in Sonic games, unlike a certain blonde chick I might know.) Why did he keep following me every time I started humming pop songs? How long had he been in town? Why had no one told me until now? And did we have to go the roundabout way?

After a few turnarounds – mostly due to construction (pesky jerks, but it's gotta be done) – we reached the Hangar.

I know. You're thinking of a big aircraft hangar. I mean, that's the picture most people get when I say the Hangar. But it really isn't that much of a hangar.

In fact, it's this abandoned school building we VLADJIs had been using as our hideout. I'm not kidding. It's been around – and abandoned – so long that I'm surprised no one's bought out the property yet. It would be quite the prime piece of land, if you ask me. But it is nice and cozy, thanks to the avatars' renovations/ preservations. It's also utilized by the avatars for whatever training they might need. On top of that, across the street was Cione Park, which had plenty of green space for when the avatars – or us VLADJIs – might want to train outside.

All around? I gave it five stars.

When we reached the building, I approached the door. We'd had a passcode-operated door for some time, used on a changing password. It was for security reasons, so that we, the avatars, or anyone either of us brought along, could get in. It wasn't a perfect system (don't get me started on the times I forgot the passcode), but if a method ain't broke, don't fix it.

"Password?" came the voice from the speaker. Once it would've sounded robotic, like a male speaker, but now it sounded like Scarlett Johansen, which nearly made me jump out of my Adidases, then roll my eyes.

"Wanted for being in the right," I said, keeping my voice neutral.

"Verified," came Scarlett's voice, and the door swung open.

As I walked in, I could see where the Hangar preserved its history as an elementary school – pastel flowers and puppies on the walls (not really my thing – although I wear pink, so I can't criticize), the signs leading to each grade's homeroom, the hooks for backpacks. I caught the suspended chains where a sign leading to the art room had once stood (that sign had collapsed a while back, but that's another story).

I'd barely walked two feet when I got smoke-slammed again. This time, the smoke cloud flew right in front of my face. Have you ever been in a room with someone smoking a cigarette and they blew it into your lungs? Now imagine a whole tear-gas cloud's worth of that smoke coming at you so fast it was like it was being blown in a gale. I was just thankful my mouth wasn't open.

"Stop that!" barked a familiar voice – female, light, and with a heavy French accent.

Rouge the Bat flew in, a blur of white and brown, hurling mixed insults and swear words at the smoke cloud. God, did cursing in French have to be so poetic? At least she was pretty creative about arranging those words.

The smoke dissipated down the hall where the art sign had been. (I didn't exactly blame it. That amount of cussing would turn anyone around.)

Rouge huffed. "Imbecile," she muttered, fluttering her brown trench coat as if trying to straighten it. (That girl could be so fussy.) Her white fur and boots were surprisingly impeccable after chasing off a smoke cloud.

My only response was "Good to see you too, Rouge."

In fact, I couldn't think of much else. Rouge was close enough that I could smell her perfume, and after getting a breath of magic avatar smoke, the last thing I needed was a hit of eau de France.

I guess I should mention – Rouge is a foreign avatar. As far as I could tell, she was the only one of the avatars who hadn't spawned in America. She hailed from Paris, France – the capital of fashion, which was only fitting for her love of the finer things in life – and had habituated in Boston, which, taken together, had given her an uppity attitude when we first met. She'd toned it down a bit since then, but still didn't seem to take the hint that no one followed her standards. She didn't approve of my use of pink tones in my wardrobe, which I was still sore about.

"About time," Tails said grumpily, emerging from the library down the hall we were in. He sounded annoyed that I hadn't shown up in time to deal with it. Well, excuse me. As if I was supposed to clean up a rookie's messes?

He looks very much like you'd expect – a small, yellow fox cub with two tails and a lot of smarts – but like any avatar, he's all that and a little something more. He sports jeans and a different tee each day – this time Flintstones – along with his red-and-white shoes and white gloves. Black rimmed glasses on his face both help him see and frame his blue eyes quite excellently. Rouge backed up when she saw him. Even she generally defaulted to respecting Tails, who was more powerful than she.

I'll just say this, in case anyone asks later – avatars have gifts – their normal abilities – and powers – the abilities that deviate from their portrayals. Rouge is a double spawner mule – a rare and powerful avatar – and her thing is gravity. She often messes with it – lightening it and even intensifying the pressure when she's upset. I could feel the weight of gravity gone whack on my shoulders. Tails, on the other hand, is a triple spawner, much stronger, and that guy could flat out mess with your sense of reality – telekinesis, shapeshifting, invisibility, the whole bit. Not someone you wanted to cross, anyway.

"Chores at the house," I said flatly. "Plus Smokey the Stalker."

"Has he been bothering you a lot?" Amy asked Rouge.

"Oui, quite." The bat still sounded annoyed. "Sending smoke rings around the place, checking things out in the vents. He's taken the second grade homeroom –"

"Wait," I responded. Blame it on the smoke and perfume clouding my head, but I wasn't quite sure what Rouge had said. "He got the second grade homeroom?"

"And proceeded to toss it about." Rouge flipped a gesture that was probably quite inappropriate – for her, anyway – in the direction the smoke cloud had gone.

Tails winced. "How to contain a smoke cloud?" he mused. "If he doesn't gather himself soon, we're going to have a problem restraining him."

I didn't like the sound of that, so naturally, I redirected Tails' attention. "Did you mess with the speaker outside? It sounds like Samantha. You know, from Her."

The fox frowned almost as if puzzled. "I've been testing out voice modules for the door speaker, yes. The Samantha thing I didn't intend."

"Oh… kay," I said. Great response, I understand, but what do you say to something like that? I was also not surprised Tails would start messing with the speaker. He had expressed dissatisfaction with the speaker's voice module, wanting it to sound less like it was a machine at the wheel. I didn't understand it.

That was when the other VLADJIs arrived.

"What's with the door speaker?" DJ asked as she walked in.

Her real name's Delaney Jorgman, but don't call her that unless you want to get smacked. I'd taken to DJ right away when she mended my wounds. It wasn't just that she'd been willing to help, mind you. When I met her, I had immediately gotten the sense she was not someone you could talk down to. She's got that Cali blonde hair and blue eyes combination, paired with a physique that would fit an athlete or a model – and that was only accentuated with her habit of wearing a leotard and skirt. But let me tell you, she may look like the next Drew Barrymore or whatever, but her domain was more like Storm from the X-Men. She was authoritative, had a clear-cut moral code, and followed it. Essentially, the way Miriam was in the Wal-Mart (and pretty much anywhere else), DJ was the exact opposite.

Let me be very clear – I don't have a thing for DJ. I mean, she's my leader, so it's rather out of bounds. But I'd been quite drawn to her when we first met – in a way I'd never been with Miriam. She and I also agree on some things – our moms kept us out of the public schools early on, and we also similarly believe sensitive topics – like religious beliefs, political party screw ups, and race relations – should be kept with family and really close friends.

"Tails fiddled with it. Again," I responded. "It's like the guy wants to mess with us."

"Hey!" I could hear Tails exclaim.

DJ rounded on Tails. "You know, you really should tell us when you change out the voice module on us. That's the first thing we hear coming in."

I caught our other two members coming in behind DJ.

Vinny Lee Marzera approached, skipping lightly in, as usual. I guess I should get this out of the way. Vinny Lee's gender-fluid, which basically means he alters between male and female pronouns. I didn't understand it, honestly, but I was never one to ask questions. Today he was identifying as male and dressing accordingly – blue denim jacket over a yellow t-shirt, blue jeans, and yellow sneakers. Oddly enough, the look quite suited his small build. The main constants of his look were his diminutive, pixie-like frame; his short blue hair; his necklace, with a charm that resembled a cross between an Ojo de Dios and a dreamcatcher; his yellow and blue striped tote bag, in which he carried his tools and anything he swiped from the recycling or the pavement; and of course, his gloves, which sported retracting claws for self-defense.

Imira Fadjir looks sort of the opposite – very tall and muscular, with a toned-down and simplistic wardrobe – blue shirt, red sweatpants and sneakers, and her traditional red headscarf. She practically stormed in, looking around for Tails. I guessed she wasn't too happy about the voice box being altered on her.

"What the heck was that?" she demanded.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, eager to change the subject before someone got hurt (most likely Imira). "The voice box outside or the smoke in here?"

Imira rounded on me, her expression a mixture of confusion and annoyance. Admittedly, I ribbed her constantly, something that usually rubbed her the wrong way and got me punched. (She is quite confrontational.) "Smoke? Of what sort?"

I explained the proceedings of my arrival, making sure to include the smoke showing up en route to the Hangar.

"So, basically, the new avatar can turn himself into smoke?" DJ frowned. "Really encouraging. And he's been following you around?"

"On some occasions." I shifted the subject, not because it was getting any sort of intense or embarrassing, but because I was curious about something else. "Rouge said something about the second-grade homeroom. He tossed it about?"

Tails' frown was not one of surprise, but slight annoyance, as if he'd seen this happen with new avatars. "I'll go check," he said. "See how bad it is."

"Why don't we all come with you?" Vinny Lee asked. (Man, I'd been about to ask.) "Who knows what went down in there. You'll need backup with a novato. And we've got plenty of time."

Oh, do you? Let's see where this goes. Coming up soon!