Authors Note: FINALLY I AM FREE, well for now at least. I'm now on summer break. I am very sorry for not being active. I had so much work to do in college that I barely had any time to do any writing. I also was working on my Devianart account as of recent. I hope I'll be able to update more often since I'm on break.

Also, I've been considering on re-writing Sonic Blades. I've been going back to the story for some time now, fixing some mistakes I made, and since I have more experience in writing, the fact that Sonic Blades was my first fic shows. I'm still debating on it, but for now I'm going to be focusing on this story and Okami Chronicles. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Sonic Universe, that goes to SEGA.

Chapter 3: Adapting and Understanding

It didn't take long for Adrian and Raiyne to fall into the daily routine at the dojo. After a few weeks into them, along with Silver and Loke, arriving at the city, they adapted to their new environment rather well. Though, when your new siblings are like Sonic, Lightning and Kotto, adapting is a given. Adrian and Raiyne also adapted to their new school, although it still felt out of place for them. Adrian was in the same class as Xion, and he noticed that the overly sour cat-eared teenager barely ever paid attention, but somehow answered all the questions the teacher would ask. He knew she was a genius, but it was still amazing seeing her in action like that, a bit intimidating he might have added. Raiyne was placed in the same class as Shadow and Dante, and surprisingly, despite their rather cold appearances, helped her out when she was having trouble following the lessons. As for Loke and Silver, they were placed in the same middle school as Amy and Platinum, though they were a grade higher. Despite their initial nervousness, they also blended well with the school environment, even making a few new friends themselves.

Now in the courtyard of the High School, the odd group of friends, now including Raiyne, Adrian and Dante, were sitting on the outside tables enjoying their lunches, and listening to the constant verbal spars of Knuckles and Rouge, while Xion would make her own sarcastic comments (I'll be it, a bit profound if one should say).

"Is this a common thing?" asked Adrian while taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"Yup, but hey, it's entertaining." answered Sonic with a grin.

"More like annoying if you ask me." stated Xion as she took a bite out of her grilled fish with her chopsticks. "Seriously, you can cut the sexual tension between the two of them with a knife."

"She does have a point there." said Blaze with a small laugh as Knuckles and Rouge were still invested in their own argument.

"So how are your classes Raiyne?" asked Adrian.

"They're good, Shadow and Dante have been helping me out with all the work I need to finish." she answered with a smile.

"By the way Xion, where's Tails?" asked Sonic.

"He said that he'll be here in a bit, he needed to finish some stuff in the science Lab." answered Xion.

"An eleven year old taking high school classes that has to be the single most amazing thing I've heard." said Raiyne. "So what's your next class Adrian?"

"Introduction to Chemistry." answered Adrian while looking at his school program. "My teacher is someone named Clear."

"That would be Tails' and I's foster dad." Answered Xion. "He's a great teacher, but just brace yourself for some, unusual occurrences."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"You'll see what I mean once you see him." She replied. "I take that class too, so that means you and I are in the same class again."

After a while, Tails came running to the teenagers. He was wearing the standard school uniform, but the size was slightly smaller. He greeted them with his usual smile, and by this time Knuckles and Rouge finished their current vocal sparing battle. "Sorry, I lost track of time in the lab." Said Tails as he sat down beside Xion and opened up his lunch container.

"You didn't miss much, except Knuckles and Rouge arguing again." Answered Lightning with a small laugh.

"Oh, I ran into Clear on my way here, he asked what you wanted for dinner today?" asked Tails as he took a bite of his lunch and looked at Xion.

"Hmm, I'm in the mood of a salmon hot pot today!" said Xion with a rare smile as her twin pink tails started swishing at the mention of salmon.

"Looks like the cat in you is not limited to your appearance." Said Rouge with a sly grin.

Xion snaps her head to the bat and gave her a small glare. Not wanting another fight to start up, again, Raiyne quickly changed the topic. "I wonder how Silver and Loke are doing. I hope they're adapting well" she said with a slight concern in her voice.

"Well, with Amy and Platinum around, they'll be just fine." Replied Knuckles.

"Around Platinum, yes. I'm not sure about Amy though." Came Shadow's comment.

"I agree, Amy can be a bit pushy." Said Dante.

After a while of eating and chatting, the school bell rang. All of the teammates went to their respective classes, with Xion and Adrian walking to their Chemistry class. Once they got seated, they waited for their teacher. Adrian wondered what Xion meant when she said that their teacher, Clear, was a strange man. His question was soon answered when the door opened and someone walked in.

Adrian's jaw fell to the floor when he saw who entered the classroom. He was a man of average, if not slightly tall, height, wearing a very oversized lab coat with army green pants tucked inside white boots, shaggy white hair and gloves on his hands. What really shocked, and freaked Adrian out, was the gas mask he was wearing, completely covering his overall facial appearance. Xion couldn't help but chuckle at the look on his face, she loved to see the faces of people who see Clear for the first time.

Adrian turned his head lightly and mouthed 'What the hell?' to her. She only responded with a sly grin on her face.

"Hello~ everyone!" he exclaimed with a muffled, but oddly cheerful voice. "Today we are going to be learning about molecular structure, and how if you take certain one apart, they will explode."

The entire class, excluding Xion, gave odd looks, but the most priceless was in fact Adrian's. "Oh, that reminds me. Xion, I want you to help Adrian catch up in these lessons alright!" he said. "Don't want out newest student to blow himself up now."

"No problem." Said Xion with a rare grin.

Something in Adrian's gut just told him that he was screwed. Very, very screwed.

"I hope Adrian is alright." Stated Platinum as she, Amy, Loke and Silver were stretching for their gym class.

"Why would you say that?" asked Silver.

"He's in the same year as Xion, so that means he's going to take class with Clear." She replied.

"Who's Clear?" asked Loke.

"Tails and Xion's foster dad." Answered Amy. "He's a bit…weird, but he's a nice person. I pray for his soul when he sees him though."

Silver and Loke gave the two girls an odd look, but they decided not to pursue the matter further, because they were afraid of the answer they might have given them. Gym was one of the few classes that the second years and third years have together, usually it was one class from each year and coincidentally enough, Platinum and Amy's class was sharing the court with Loke and Silver's. Once they were done stretching, their gym teacher told them to warm up by doing some laps around the field, and after that, they were going to do some high jumps and long jumps. This was a different experience for Loke and Silver, since they had not had any school experience before, but they fit in rather well. A lot of the students commented on Loke's tattoos and Silver's hair. Silver even met a few other Telekinetic's in their class.

Once they were done with gym they continued to go to their respected classes. Luckily, Silver and Loke's classmates were very welcoming, so helping out wasn't much of a problem. Once the school day was done, the four of them meet up in front of the building and started walking to the shuttle in order to meet up with the others at the local shopping center.

They got to the center of the city, where most of the stores, diners, restaurants and other shops. They got out of the shuttle and waiting for them in the station was Sonic, Blaze, Raiyne, Xion, Tails, Adrian, Knuckles, Rouge and Lightning waiting for them. It didn't take long for Amy to lung herself at Sonic for a hug, the latter escaped but now he was constantly dodging her hugs.

"So, where's Dante and Shadow?" asked Platinum.

"Commander wanted to talk to them about something, so they'll be coming later." Answered Lightning.

"You guys must have a lot on your plate, being students and Enforcers and all." Said Silver.

"It's nothing we can't handle." Replied Knuckles nonchalantly.

"Come on! Let's go to the diner already!" stated Xion with her usual scowl.

"I already told Dante and Shadow to meet us over there." Said Blaze. "Now let's get going."

The teenagers and preteen started walking, after Platinum smacked Amy's head in order to spare Sonic of the onslaught of hugs. They walked little ways passed the shuttle station until they got to a very modest looking diner. This diner was very popular with the Juvenal audience and many of them loved to hang out here. The Rookie members (save for Raiyne, Adrian, Silver and Loke), asked for a booth table for 14. Once they were seated they looked over the menu to order. Soon enough, Shadow and Dante came walking in.

"Sorry we took a while. Commander Pendragon just informed us that there is a field trip to the city in a few days. Looks like a school for humans will be visiting." Explained Dante and he and Shadow sat down across from Raiyne and Lightning.

"He wants us to ensure protection and act as the guide." Finished Shadow with a not so enthusiastic face.

"Count me out!" answered Xion before any of the others could. "I need to make sure our units are functioning and I'd rather stay in my lab than babysit some humans."

"Come on Xion it wound be that bad." Said Amy.

"For once, I agree with the cat." Stated Rouge crossing her arms over her chest.

"I think it might be interesting, right Blaze?" said Lightning, hoping that her pyrokinetic friend would agree.

Blaze thought about it for a moment, and nod her head to Lightning. "I agree with Light, we need to ensure the relations between humans and mutants can get stronger."

"Wait hold on!" Exclaimed Adrian. "Humans actually visit the island!?"

"Yeah, it's a system that was established around ten years ago to help close the gap between humans and mutants." Explained Tails.

"Although some mutants in the city weren't so enthusiastic by the idea, but most, if not all, have learned to accept it." Continued Dante. "Though there are a hand full of exceptions."

"Exceptions?" questioned Loke.

"Some mutants harbor deep hatred towards humans. This city may be peaceful, but even we have our cases of criminals and delinquents. Some of these have even tried to attack the visiting humans, that's why the Enforcers are required to assist and watch over the visiting humans." Said Platinum.

"Wow, I had no idea." Said Silver.

"So, which country are the visitors from?" asked Knuckles.

"I think its North America." Answered Shadow. "So any volunteers?"

"I'm in!" said Lightning with enthusiasm.

"I'm in too." Said Sonic. "Might be fun!"

"I think I'll attend too." Said Blaze.

"I can't. I need to do some extra work for class." Whined Amy.

"Then I'll go in your place." Said Platinum.

A smile beamed in Amy's face as she playfully hugged her silver haired friend. "You're the best Platinum!" she exclaimed.

"Just pass the extra work." Platinum stated.

"Might as well." Said Knuckles. "Anyone else?"

"I'll go." Said Dante.

Shadow, Rouge and Xion exchanged looks at each other. "Tails and I have to continue working on the units, I think we might have found something to finally create a Gen 3 Gurren Unit." Said Xion with her usual scowl on her face.

"Xion and I will set this one out. Besides, Xion isn't the most patient one to begin with." Said Tails with a nervous chuckle as Xion gave him a slight glare.

"I don't have the patience to deal with humans." Said Shadow with a hint of sourness in his voice. "And Selene wants me to take it easy, she said to prevent any unnecessary stress."

"What about you Rouge?" asked Blaze.

Rouge thought about it for a moment. As much as she disliked being around humans, she knew that she needed to help out the city, and she wanted to let this dislike go. With a sigh she said. "Alright, I'll help babysit some humans."

"Great! Say you think Adrian, Raiyne, Loke and Silver can come with us?" questioned Lighting.

"WHAT!" exclaimed the four of them. The sudden outburst caused some of the other clients to stare at them. They only blushed slightly and lowered their heads.

"Light, don't get ahead of yourself, and why would you want them to come with us?" asked Dante with a stern look.

"Well, Raiyne mentioned a couple of days ago that she wanted to see just what is it that we do." Answered Lightning.

Raiyne silently cursed at herself for mentioning that to her eccentric friend. She had asked just out of curiosity, and now it was starting to backfire on her.

"We'll need to ask Commander for permission though." Said Blaze.

"I think it might be interesting. I'm also curious into seeing what the Enforcers do." Said Silver with curiosity.

"I agree with Silver, what about you Adrian?" asked Loke as he turned his gaze to the eldest of the four new additions.

"Hmm, you sure we won't be in the way?" asked Adrian.

"We're just babysitting and making sure they enjoy their stay, nothing too hard." Said Rouge.

"Alright then! It's decided!" said Sonic with the same enthusiasm as Lightning. "We meet at the main dock! By the way, when are the scheduled to arrive?"

"In a week." Answered Dante. He picked up the small menu and opened it. "Now let's order something, I'm starving and I'm sure Platinum is starving as well."

Platinum gave Dante a small scowl, but her stomach decided to answer for her as it let out a small, but audible growl. Platinum hung her head low with a slight blush as Dante and the others lightly chuckled. Amy heard Platinum mumble something along the line of 'Stupid Dante'.

Once everyone was done eating they all said their goodbyes and made their way back to their homes. Sonic, Adrian, Lightning and Raiyne were walking back to their house just as the sun was setting. By the time they got to the house, Kotto was there to welcome them back and informed them that Hideyoshi was going to be late. Sonic and Adrian went up to their respective rooms while Raiyne and Lightning went up to theirs, which was a shared room. Lightning stated that Adrian should have his own room and offered to let Raiyne share a room with her, but it was more on the lines of 'demand' than insist. Now both girls were lounging around in their pajamas and doing their homework.

"Hey Light? I have a question." Asked Raiyne from her bed next to the wall.

"What is it?" asked Lighting from the desk as she put down her pencil.

"Are Dante and Platinum close?" she asked out of curiosity since during the time they were eating she noticed that Dante would make sure that Platinum ate the correct amount of food, much like what Amy would do. At one point he even wiped some food from her face with a handkerchief, much to Platinums annoyance, and she remarked on that she wasn't a kid anymore.

"Why do you ask?" said Lightning with a mischievous smirk on her face.

"Well, he seemed to be more attentive when with her and he makes sure she eats, I know Amy does that too but you said that's because they are like siblings." Answered Raiyne.

Lightning gave a small chuckle and gave her answer. "It's a strange story, but those two are actually related."

Raiyne did not expect that answer. Her mouth fell open, a gape, and let out a loud 'Huh'. She thought they were old friends or something like that, but to find out that they are actually related? Talk about a shocker there.

Lightning bursts out laughing at her reaction. "Yeah, they're second cousins to be exact, but they're just as close as siblings. Dante told me that they played together all the time when they were kids. They came to the city when Platinum was six and Dante was eight."

"Wow I had no idea. But what happened to them before they came into the city?" asked Raiyne.

"I don't want to get into details since it's not my story to tell, but they were in the same situation as you. They were experimented on." Answered Lightning with a sad tone. "Both were taken to a facility somewhere in Germany, something about paying a debt, from what Dante told me. It was those experiments that caused Platinum her condition."

"I had no idea." Said Raiyne with a sad look on her face. Even thought it was a bit obvious that some of her friends were in the same situation, it was still shocking to hear. But there was something that still bugged her. "Hey Light, why is it that you, Sonic, Kotto or Hideyoshi haven't asked about Adrian's and I's life from before we were experimented on?"

"Because we know it's a sensitive subject. Most of the mutants in the city have had horrible experiences from their lives before and usually don't want to talk about them. That's why we mostly refrain from asking until they decide to tell us themselves." Explained Lightning. "We've all have our demons, and sometimes we don't like talking about them, heck even in our group we still don't know what happened to each of us. I only know Platinum, Dante, Amy and Blaze's stories, the same goes with Sonic."

"Hideyoshi won't pry and he'll wait for the two of you to talk about it, when you're ready of course." Finished Lightning with a smile.

Raiyne smiled as she wiped some of the small tears that were forming in her eyes and lightly chuckled at Lightning. She and Adrian really were lucky to have met them, and she was also happy that Loke and Silver were in a safe and happy home. As the second oldest while they were in the facility, she and Adrian felt a small obligation to protect Silver and Loke. Now they could rest easy. Lightning beamed another smile at Raiyne and playfully hugged her as she started laughing again.

Rouge walked into her room, wearing a simple tank top and pajama shorts, and with a towel over her head to dry out her damp hair. Her wings were tucked neatly on her back and were a modest three feet in wingspan. She sometimes wished that she could decrease their size a bit more, but sadly that was as small as they went. She walked passed her desk and stood in front of her dresser and grabbed her hair brush. She tossed the towel onto of the foot of the bed and started brushing. As she was brushing, the lights in her room suddenly turned on.

She turned he head to the door and saw Blaze at the doorway. "You always seem to forget to turn on the light when you get into your room." She said with a small smile.

"Huh, guess it's because my eyes give me natural nocturnal visibility." Replied Rouge with a small laugh. "So what brings you here, you're usually sleeping."

"Yeah I know it's late, I just needed to talk to you for a moment." Said Blaze with a small voice as she clenched her arm.

Rouge's eyes went slightly wide, but then grew soft. She placed her brush back on the dresser and stared at Blaze. The two of then shared the same foster parents, so they know each other very well, Rouge practically became Blaze's older sister. "What happened? Was it another nightmare?" asked Rouge.

"Oh, no no, nothing like that!" exclaimed Blaze. "I was just wondering if you were okay. You looked kinda pale when we were discussing the mission."

Rouge let out a frustrated sigh as she walked over to her bed and sat down at the edge. "You know you're not obligated to go with us to protect the humans." Stated Blaze.

"Yeah, I know, but I just want to get over it you know. I want to let go of this stupid antagonism I have towards humans." Replied Rouge. "But every time I try, something comes back and drags me back down. It's frustrating!"

"I know how you feel, I accepted this mission because Light gave me those pleading eyes she normally does and I thought it might be interesting, but the more I think about it, the more nervous I get at the mere thought of being around humans." Said Blaze.

"Looks like we're both on the same boat, but who can blame us." Said Rouge.

"I know, but lets do our best." Said Blaze with a smile. "I want us to be able to protect those who can't protect themselves."

Rouge couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "You really have changed." She sated.

"How so?" asked Blaze.

"I remember when you came to live with us, you were so quiet, shy and withdrawn. You didn't even speak for a full year. Now look at you, all happy and talkative, well ish." Came Rouge's reply. "You need to work on your social skills more."

"So I'm not that sociable, sue me!" exclaimed Blaze with a puff of her cheeks.

Rouge started laughing a bit and soon later Blaze was giggling as well. "Well I should head to bed, I promised Sonic I would spar with him tomorrow since it's a weekend. Night." and with that Blaze left Rouge's room and headed back to her own.

"Night!" called Rouge back, hoping that she head it.

Rouge stood up and turned off her lights and closed her bedroom door, but not all the way. She left it partially open and she made sure that the curtains of her window were neatly tied, letting in the light of the moon. She lied back down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She didn't have many stuff in her room, and some would call it empty looking, but that was the way she intended it to be, she hated crowded places, and enclosed spaces period, which was the reason why she liked her door either open or open partially, even when she sleeps. She knew it was a silly fear, but crowds and cramped spaces cause her to have unpleasant memories of her past, the ones she would like to forget.

"Looks like I have some changing to do myself." She whispered to herself before she fell into a dreamless sleep.

Name: Lightning

Given Name: Alessia Biancardi

Age: 15

Nationality: Italian

Voice: Collen Clinkenbeard

Appearance: Lightning is a slender yet femininely built teenage girl with long light yellow blond hair with a hint of magenta in it and usually kept in two lose braids and with her bangs slightly covering her eyes and parted to the left. Her eyes are colored a pale green. Her usual attire consists in a light pink dress with lace below the bust that falls above her knees with the sleeves hanging off her shoulders, a black under dress and black stockings.

Abilities: As her name states, she has the abilities to control and produce electromagnetic waves from her body and in the air around her allowing her to be unaffected by electricity and able to control it at will. Also, by focusing her powers to her feet it allows her to reach high levels of speed but not enough to break the sound barrier, and create magnetic fields.

Personality: She is a down to earth and high energy girl that is always ready for a challenge and never gives up. She is stubborn and hot headed and tends to let her temper get the best of her. She sometimes acts on impulse and doesn't think about the consequences until later. Other than that she is shown to be mature and is always looking out for the people she cares about. She is insanely protective of her family and friends and is willing to sacrifice herself to protect them. She treasures her family and friends but has a resentment to her aunt and uncle.