Hello everybody! My name is Ethan and this is my first story, AHHH! As you can see I am very excited and a little bit odd but hey, aren't we all. Now just a heads up, this story does go into mental disorders, has mentions of suicide and traumatic events and other such horrid stuff so if that stuff triggers you do NOT proceed.

On a lighter note, this story mainly follows Shadow and kind of jumps all over the place (like me) but I hope you all enjoy it immensely cause I've had a lot of fun writing it. Enjoy and feel free to ask em anything, I don't bite.

The walls are a sickeningly light blue colour, a colour that speaks of helplessness and defeat. At least, that's how Shadow views the colour. The teenager glared at the offending walls as if it was their fault that he'd ended up here in the first place. There is a kindly woman standing before him, a rabbit whose name tag reads "Miss Vanilla Hopson" who is smiling in an almost patronizing way as she leads him through the reception area away from the grumpy social workers who had been tasked with dumping him at this facility. Shadow can honestly say that he isn't sad to see them go, they had acted like they constantly had a metal pole suck up their rear-end which had greatly aggravated the eighteen-year-old. Shadow snuck one last look at the two of them who were glaring daggers which in turn had the ebony hedgehog flipping them the bird to express just how much he was going to miss them.

"Shadow, that isn't very nice dear." Miss Vanilla had lost her smile and was now giving him a disappointed look, something that didn't faze Shadow at all. He just shrugged, blood red eyes flicking to the side where he could see a hallway with equally light blue walls with multiple doors on either side. Signs hung above each door labeling them such as 'Maths' and 'English'. Again Shadow glared at the walls and the doors hating them and everything they stood for as he clutched his ratty shoulder bag tighter. It wasn't much but it was all the young teen had left.

"Come along dear and I'll show you to your room." Miss Vanilla sighed while placing a gentle hand on his shoulder causing Shadow to flinch violently away from her. She wilted slightly at his reaction but didn't push for which he was grateful for.

It seemed the boy's wing of the facility didn't follow the same colour scheme as the education section though it wasn't much of an improvement. The walls were a soft cream colour while dark navy blue carpet covered the floor. Like the education, section doors lined the hallway walls and they too were labeled but instead of subjects, they were names. Shadow looked at a few of the names seeing how these people were going to be his new housemates. "Knuckles" stood out in bright red letters on a door that looked like it had been punched a good few times while a door labeled "Vector" had music notes drawn all over it. The ebony teen blinked when he saw one door with the name "Scourge" on it that also had a clipboard attached as well. The words 'High-risk patient – history of self-harm' jumped out at him before they were past that door and before one with his own name plastered on it.

"You'll find everything you need in there, bathroom, bed, desk and if you're good we might even allow you to have a TV as well. Dinner will be served in about half an hour but I'll send one of the boys in to show you around the wing before hand." Miss Vanilla stated. Shadow just grunted, walking into what was now his room without so much as a backward glance.

The room itself was nice, plain but nice. When pressing down on the bed Shadow was satisfied to find it much more comfortable than the ones at the shelter home. Deciding to get settled in seeing how he was going to be here for a while, Shadow slipped his shoulder bag off and began to unpack. It really wasn't much, a few warm jumpers, spare gloves, and socks, an old stuffed rabbit that had once been blue but was now grey and a framed photo. The young hedgehog paused when pulling out the photo, dull rubies staring at the smiling human girl with golden hair with a disconnected sense of longing. Her eyes were screwed up tight as she laughed, an arm looped around an equally laughing Shadow. A gloved finger traced over her face, tears welling up in their owner's eyes before quickly being brushed away as the photo was set down with care on the bedside table.

Shadow tried not to think about Maria too much because when he did he remembered that night and when he remembered that night he remembered what had led him to be placed within the walls of 'Emerald Institute for Troubled Youths'. An Institute, an institute for young Mobians and sometimes humans who came from troubled pasts, suffered mentally and were heading down the road to nowhere. Shadow sighed long and hard as he pondered what had become of his life.

A knock at the door stopped his pondering though and caused an angry scowl to appear. Shadow considered not answering but then he'd probably have to deal with Miss Vanilla or some other adult which he really doesn't want. Repressing the urge to give a long suffering groan Shadow all but drags his feet to the door, opening it with purpose and gazing into the light blue eyes of a red armadillo with yellow ears, muzzle, and tummy. They stand straight backed and around their neck hangs a lanyard with a button of some kind on it.

"My names Mighty and I'm to show you around and then take you down to the mess hall for dinner." They hold out their hand, posture still so stiff that Shadow fears they may just snap right then and there.

"Shadow." Deciding to humor the poor sod Shadow reached out and shakes their hand, blinking when the kid shakes their joined hands up and down four times, counting two seconds between each shake.

"I'll take you to the common room first where most of the other boys are right now and then show you the med station where the night nurse stays as well. After that, we'll go to the study/computer room before heading down to the mess hall." Mighty talks and acts like a military soldier, operating on a strict plan of attack that Shadow can somewhat see why he's stuck in this place too.

"How long have you been here?" Shadow knows that most of the other kids (inmates? Patients?) are going to be very touchy about why they are here so he decides to go slow at first. Mighty sends him a side glance, still so stiff, but he doesn't look offended which is a positive.

"Two years. Originally in for severe paranoia and now being treated for severe ODC as well." He shrugs one shoulder, hands tapping a constant repetitive rhythm on his hip. His response has Shadow pausing seeing how he thought the other would be guarded as to why he'd been admitted to the facility. It leaves him floundering for a moment, wondering if he should mention why he was here or not. Mighty doesn't look like he's expecting a response but it still feels like he is.

"PTSD and Intermittent Explosive Disorder." He finally mumbles, watching as Mighty blinks before a small smile tugs at his lips.

"Vector has PTSD too. That's him over there." Mighty points and wow, they were already at the common room. It was filled with soft arm chairs, bean bags and even a hammock with a large flat screen TV mounted on the far wall. A small coffee table sits in the center of the room while a mini fridge filled with drinks sat in the corner. Following Mighty's finger, Shadow stared at the large bulky teen, a green crocodile who had a pair of headphones over his head. "He listens to music very loudly to help him cope with his anxiety and fend off flashbacks."

Ebony nods in understanding, he, after all, carried a glass cut green emerald that Maria had given him on his sixteenth birthday. It's weight and smooth surface helped sooth him when things got a little too much.

"See the purple Chameleon next to him? That's Espio and I'll warn you now not to sneak up on him. He reacts violently when startled cause he was trained by a secret organization when he was young to kill people." Mighty explained. Part of Shadow felt uncomfortable that the other was telling him all the other kids problems and issues but at the same time was thankful for the warnings. At least it meant he wouldn't accidentally set someone off.

"The red echidna in the hammock is Knuckles. His family went missing when he was very young leaving him with trust, abandonment and anger issues. He's kind of pissed cause the staff has taken his scented candles away cause he punched a hole through the Math class room wall yesterday." Shadow could most certainly see that the echidna would be a destructive force. Large spikes could be seen protruding from his fits that looked like they could deal a lot of damage.

"The young fox kit beside him with two tails is Miles but everyone calls him Tails. He was bullied pretty bad at his old school cause of his extra tail and was also dumped at an orphanage by his parents when he was a baby. He was sent here after he planted a bomb under his old school which thankfully didn't go off." Now that had Shadow doing a double take. The little fox was probably only twelve years old and looked like he couldn't hurt a fly. To hear he'd tried to blow up his last school didn't fill Shadow with confidence.

"Finally the yellow flying squirrel is Ray and he's my best mate. He's here due to extreme anxiety that's come from watching his father beat his mother. He has a stutter but he's a good kid once you get to know him." Mighty did smile at this, a true full blown smile as he waved at his friend who, while waving back shrunk away a little when seeing Shadow. Ebony didn't hold it against him, after what he'd been through Shadow was surprised he didn't have other issues.

They left the common room before any of the others could notice them as Mighty was determined to keep on track. Thus they walked to the very end of the hallway that made up the boys wing where the nurse's station sat. Inside was a desk, chair, and bed on which sat a light green hedgehog with light orange eyes wearing an orange vest.

"Sup Mighty, showing the new dude around I see." The hedgehog was probably in his early twenties if Shadow had to guess. He had a fanny pack wrapped around his middle with a pair of drumsticks in it and had two gold hoop earrings in his left ear. "Names Manic and I switch between being a night nurse and a counselor. If you ever have any problems feel free to come see me."

"Whatever." Shadow huffed but Manic just smiled at his response.

They moved on to the study/computer room that held five desktop computers and a shelf full of books of varying description. No one was in there so Mighty summed up that the other boys were still in their rooms. With the tour of the wing over Mighty led them down stairs to the mess hall where all meals were served. Everyone else was making their way down or was already there. Because there weren't many students/patients at the institute there was one big table for the kids to sit at and one for the staff members. Shadow quickly noted that the girls were already seated, gaps between them for the boys already in place.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to Blaze and Silver. Blaze is the purple cat and ironically she's a pyromaniac who got sent here after setting the fire station on fire. Silver is the hedgehog next to her and he suffers from delusions to the point where he threw all the cars on his street at his neighbor with his telekinetic powers." Mighty said quickly before leading them over. The girl, Blaze gave Shadow a quick once over before going back to stiring her peas around her plate while Silver twitched nervously beside her, golden gaze jumping all over the place. "Hey guys, this is Shadow. Came in just a few hours ago."

Blaze looked up again before giving a soft smile. "Welcome to hell then minus the fire…unless I have some say in it."

"I swear to god if you set fire to our wing again I'm going to murder you." A pink hedgehog in a pink dress snapped while flicking her spoon at the cat. Beside her sat a very similar pink hedgehog wearing a white shirt and yellow skirt.

"I could always steal her match sticks again." A white bat mumbled softly as she scooped up some mashed potatoes.

"Y-y-you not m-mean to s-s-steal R-Rouge." A very timid voice spoke up as Ray slipped into the seat beside Mighty. The little squirrel avoided all and any eye contact as he pulled his tray of food towards him. The bat, Rouge, smiled softly at his words.

"What if I was to steal an extra dessert for you?" She asked making him blush brightly and duck his head.

"S-s-still not right." He mumbled but didn't exactly tell her not to.

"Rouge is a kleptomaniac." Mighty whispered as they all began to eat. "The two pink hedgehogs are twin sisters Amy and Rosey. Amy has extensive mood swings that can make her very violent while Rosey is delusional to the point where she kidnapped another kid from her school."

"Remind me to lock my door at night then," Shadow muttered back which made the armadillo snort softly.

"See that green hedgehog at the end of the table? That's Scourge. He's got manic bipolar and has attempted suicide a few times and has also tried to stab his father which is what eventually got him sent here." Shadow looked at the other teen who was glaring daggers at his pre cut steak seeing how he wasn't allowed near knives. He would be another one to avoid for the near future.

"That's pretty much everyone except…" Mighty trailed off while all chattered died down as the mess hall doors slammed open. Standing there was the Principle of the school Maximillian Acorn, a stern faced chipmunk. He was holding the arm of a very skinny boy, a blue hedgehog with bright green eyes who did not look happy. Beside the boy was also the biggest fucking dog Shadow had ever seen. It was a grey Irish Wolfhound with burning yellow eyes that stood as tall as the boy.

"Sonia!" Maximillian bellowed making the kid flinch which in turn had the dog nosing at his face.

From the staff table came a magenta coloured hedgehog with light blue eyes. She looked both relieved, worried and angry all at the same time as she came to a stop before the two Mobians and one dog. "What has he done this time Sir?"

"Caught him trying to hack into the school's security system to set off the evacuation alarm." Max huffed before releasing the boy who walked up to the girl Sonia and allowed her to lead him to the table, the dog following along faithfully.

"That's Sonic." Mighty finally spoke up though softly so as not to draw attention to them. "He's been here a long time from what I know. He's got ADHD and is a voluntary mute. The nurses think he went through something traumatic as a child which is why he doesn't talk. The dog is his therapy dog."

"Why was he hacking into the school's security system?" Shadow asked because honestly why would someone even bother.

"I guess it comes with his ADHD. He's really smart but gets bored easily. He's always causing trouble. Last week he rigged the intercoms to play barbie girl for five hours straight." Mighty chuckled at the memory while Shadow just shook his head. He was clearly surrounded by insane people so he'd probably fit right in.

Dinner went off without much more drama except for when Scourge yanked off Vector's headphones sending the reptile into a fit of rage, throwing his tray of food across the room which in turn triggered Silver into a screaming fit sending everyone else's trays flying too. Throughout it all Shadow just sat there fighting down the urge to start screaming too. The Staff swooped down on them in seconds, restraining Vector and removing Silver to another room. It was certainly an interesting first day but it could have gone worse. With that thought in mind, Shadow flopped down onto his bed and dreading the following morning where he would be attending classes with the rest of the nut jobs he'd met at dinner.

So as you can see practically the whole Sonic cast from the games, TV shows and comics is here and I've given them their own litter stories or duties. You wouldn't believe the amount of research I've had to do for each of the students and their disorders. But I guess that shows dedication.

Like I said before feel free to ask me any questions, leave a review, send me a PM and let me know how I've done for my first story! See you little ankle bitters next time!