AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys, don't worry, I ain't dead! I just had to take a break for a little while and no this story isn't dead yet. I hope you enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think.

Chapter 3: The New Kids In Town

Sonic sighed as he looked out to the ocean from the house porch. Tails and Knuckles at either side of him, silent as they could be as their friend was lost in his thoughts. It had been almost a week since those three rogue sea fae had attacked him and his friends and they were all still walking on pins and needles. They were very worried, not just for themselves but for Sonic as well.

Chuck and now his friends were still insisting that he shouldn't be swimming in the ocean until the rogues had been arrested.

So all he could do was sit and look out to the water, longingly. He had been sitting out on the rock all day and he was getting cold and tired.

"Alright boys, in you come it's getting cold." Chuck smiled as he walked up to them. The blue hedgehog tugged at his jacket and sighed. He started to climb off the rock, hoping things would be better by tomorrow. As Sonic carefully made his way off the rock, he suddenly felt someone throw a small pebble at the back of his head.

He whirled around quickly.

"HEY!" He yelled out in frustration. But he stopped when he heard a giggle and something swimming toward him. He gasped when Manic, Sonia, Silver and Shadow pop their heads out the water. He was happy to see them but he was also shocked.

"What are you guys doing here?" He asked.

"Your mother sent us, she's worried about you and your safety." Silver explained.

"Yes, so she's decided that we should come and stay with you on the surface." Shadow frowned.

"What?! But you can't?!" Knuckles cried.

"Why not?" Manic asked, slightly hurt.

"You guys can't survive on land, you don't even have legs!" Chuck frowned.

"Don't worry, the Queen has found a way for us to walk and breath air just like you, with the magic in these shells can transform us," Sonia told him excitedly as she showed him the shell medals that Aleena had given them and the four merhogs started to focus. Sonic watched in amazement as they suddenly began to change. They started to glow and the fins on the end of their tails slowly became feet while their tails parted and slowly became legs.

"Whoa!" Sonic exclaimed as his eyes grew so large they looked like they were about to pop out of his head.

Tails and Knuckles watched in amazement as the transformation completed itself.

"Incredible." The kitsune mumbled as he and Knuckles helped them out of the water. They were a little unsteady on their legs and clung rather tightly to the red echidna and fox's arms.

"Uncle Chuck, I would like you to meet Manic, Sonia, Shadow, and Silver." Sonic addressed him. The now Mobian hedgehogs smiled at the older hedgehog and bowed their heads respectfully to Sonic's uncle.

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Silver said.

"Welcome to our home." He chuckled.

"I apologize for our intrusion, but our queen is just concerned for her son."

"It's fine, please, let's go inside where it is warm and we can get to know each other, and also get you some clothes to wear." He sighed, seeing no point in fighting them on this, and swept his arm toward the door. It was then they realized the new Mobians' wardrobe was less efficient than they were comfortable with. Especially with Sonia.

The filmy legs certainly did not hide anything they covered.

Sonic, Knuckles and Tails' cheeks quickly heated up and they started to stammer. Sonia looked at them with eyebrows arched.

"Sonic, you didn't mind when I wore this much with a tail, why does it make you nervous seeing us this way with legs?"

"There's a big difference." Tails gulped.

"Let's just get inside," Shadow growled. The group walked into the house in excitement. While Sonic, his uncle and his two friends assisted the former sea faes in walking, Knuckles immediately began making plans for what they should do when they got the hang of walking. They spoke of going to the movies, the amusement park, various stores, restaurants, and the juice bar.

All this excited them, except Shadow, and they eagerly looked forward to exploring this strange new world...

When morning finally rolled around, Sonic immediately called his friends to discuss what to do with his friends from the sea. He also insisted that Sally and Amy bring some of their old clothes for Sonia.

"What!" Amy cried when Sonic finished explaining. "They can't just show up out of nowhere!"

"She's right, what are people going to say?" Sally said. "Where are they now?"

"They've been in the bathroom for almost an hour." He sighed and the girls instantly ran to the bathroom. There were a few moments of awkward silence before Sonic sighed and went to see what they were doing. He walked down the hall to the bathroom and found Amy, Emma, and Sally standing outside the door. Both girls were laughing.

"What's going on?" He demanded. He frowned and looked at the bathroom door. From inside loud laughing and splashing could be heard. Sally looked at Sonic with a wide smile.

"Sonia and Silver wanted to know why our fur smelled so nice."

"Yeah." Amy laughed. "So we went into the bathroom so they could check out some of the things we ladies do to make ourselves pretty."

"Let's just say she's having a lot of fun with bubbles," Emma told him and the girls laughed some more.

"Can you just please get them out." He begged desperately. Amy sighed and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Manic's voice sang out and there was some more laughing.

"Um, guys?" She asked nervously. "Are you alright in there?"

"Yeah, come on in!" Silver called out. The friends quickly opened the door. Sonic's eyes widened when he saw the bathroom was in shambles. They were in the very large bathtub laughing and attempting to swim around. They were enjoying themselves. It was a tub that had been installed by Chuck several months back to accommodate Sonic and his needs, especially with the full moons.

But swimming in it was something the blue hedgehog usually didn't do.

Now water and bubbles were overflowing from the bathtub causing water to spill everywhere onto the floor. Sonic quickly stepped out and back and into the hallway to avoid getting wet and growing a tail. Sonia laughed as she threw bubbles into the air and kicked at the water.

"This is fun!" She said while attempting to swim in the large bathtub.

"I have never swum in bubbles like this before." Silver laughed as bubbles gathered around him.

"They tickle me, what do ya think Shadow?" Manic smirked as he swam some more and caused more water to flow over the side of the tub. Shadow just grunted in acknowledgment.

"You guys get them sorted, I'm gonna talk to my Mom." Sonic sighed before dashing off and leaving them behind. The girls sighed before closing the door and turning to the tub.

"Uh, guys?" Sally said as she bent down cautiously and extended her hand to them. "Why don't you come out of there and we'll get this place cleaned up, okay?"

"Aw, but I like this bathtub thing." Sonia pouted. "I've never had so much fun in the water. We don't have bubbles like this in the waters where we are from; they're slippery and smell wonderful."

"But they don't taste great," Manic said, making a face.

"I'm having fun too." Silver smiled. "I'd like to stay longer."

"Come on you three, don't forget that we are all guests here and we must do as they say." Shadow glared as he crawled out the large tub and Amy and Sally blushed when they saw he was naked.

The others whined in protest, but eventually gave in and also crawled out. With Knuckles' help, they got the new Mobians to their feet and wrapped them in some towels. While Knuckles and Tails took the boys into Sonic's room, the girls led Sonia into Emma's room. While Sally sorted through the clothes they had brought, Amy was styling Sonia's light pink hair.

"So, you must know Sonic." Amy suddenly said with a stoic face.

"He's amazing." Sonia smiled. "I'd always been told the surface world was bad, but then Sonic came, this place can't be so bad if he was raised here."

"Well, this place isn't so great, you might decide you want to go back after a week." Amy pointed out.

"I should have something in here that can fit you." Sally quickly interrupted and sent Amy a small glare as she helped Sonia into the clothes. She now wore a bright red, glittery tube top, a dark purple mini-skirt and purple boots with her gold belt.

"It looks good on you." Sally complimented. Sonia smiled at them innocently as Amy adjusted the boots.

"It feels so warm and they smell just like you." She smiled widely at them.

They escorted her back downstairs to the kitchen where Chuck and the boys had their breakfast waiting for them. Silver was dressed now in a pair of black shorts, a dark cyan blue shirt, and dark blue sandals. Manic had a red, sleeveless hoodie, black jeans, and dark red sneakers. Shadow wore an open, black leather jacket with a tight, light grey tank top and dark grey cargo pants and black boots.

They all sat down and enjoyed some leftover breakfast of pancakes, sausages and orange juice.

The teens from the sea, apart from Shadow, were fascinated by the food and quickly began to explore the kitchen. They stared in awe at the number of different foods the refrigerator and cabinets held.

"Besides looking at food for the entire day, is there anything else you would like to see?" Chuck said while watching them in amusement as they continued to look from the fridge to the freezer to the various cabinets.

"I want to walk the town." Sonia smiled as Manic looking at the blender. He pushed a button and yelped in surprise when it turned on. Laughing, Tails got up and quickly turned it off for him.

"We can walk the town." Sally smiled. "It might be nice to check out some stores too."...

At school, all the students were crowding the halls, gossiping or finishing off some last-minute homework before class started. At their lockers, Breezie was telling Fiona about an incident with her father's casino.

"What? So, all they took was the fish?" Fiona asked.

"The fisherman had only just caught it, turned his back for a moment, when he looked back he saw that the net had been cut through and a black hedgehog was diving under the water." The green hedgehog shrugged. At their lockers, Sonic finally met up with his friends.

"So, what did your Mom say?" Tails asked, but by the look on Sonic's face, it wasn't good.

"She said that if the sea fae can hope of living peacefully with Mobians then they have to see that their kind can be adapted to our ways, there's nothing we can do, they can stay as long as they want." He snarled.

"I can't believe this." Amy suddenly said as she stared just behind Sonic with wide eyes. Sonic turned around and gasped when he saw Shadow, Sonia, Manic and Silver casually walking down the hall towards the prince. Sonic quickly pushed them into a nearby janitor's closet before anyone noticed.

"W-What are you doing here?" Sonic hissed once they were alone.

"Going to school, like a land walker." Sonia smiled.

"You can't be here!"

"Why not?" Manic frowned.

"Yeah, our queen sent us here to learn about the land and that's what we're doing." Silver added just as Amy burst into the closet with the rest of Sonic's friends following close behind her.

"First you endanger Sonic and yourselves by simply being on land and now you all just walk into school as you belong here?!" The pink hedgehog exclaimed in anger.

"We do what we want and we don't have to answer to land walkers." Shadow snarled.

"Alright enough!" Sonic shouted as he got in between the two hedgehogs. "Amy, you can't talk to them like that, but she's right guys; this isn't safe."

"Please let us stay!" Silver begged with the best puppy eyes Sonic had ever seen. After an internal battle, he sighed in defeat and looked away from everyone's gaze.

"Of course you can stay."

"What?!" Amy screamed. "You can't just walk them into class!"

"Watch me." Sonic glared before leading the recently changed hedgehogs out the closet...

By the time Tails and Knuckles arrived in the first period they saw Sonic and the others at the front of the class with the teacher, Miss Ross, as she sorted through some papers with a confused frown on her face.

"I should have your transfer forms here." She muttered in frustration before turning to the group. "Do you have the letters that were sent to your parents?"

"Um, probably hasn't caught up with them yet; their families are travelers." Sonic quickly lied.

Well, I'm sorry kids, but you can't be starting at a new school until we have the necessary paperwork." She explained.

"Hey Sonic, I didn't know the circus was in town." Scourge suddenly exclaimed as the entire room burst into laughs.

"Thank you!" Miss Ross shouted and they shut up as she turned to the group once again. "In the meantime, you can sit down and I'll talk to the principal at lunch, see if anything has arrived." She smiled and went back to her papers. Sonic smiled and led them to the back of the class as the other students began to gossip about the new kids among themselves.

However, thanks to the sea fae's sensitive hearing, they all heard every word.

"What a mess!"

"Look at the state of them."

"Look at those clothes."

"They are disgusting."

"Oh, what's that stink?"

"They need a good wash that one."

"Do you think they've even washed?"

"Calm down and just ignore them." Sonic suddenly whispered to Shadow, who looked ready to kill. Just as the group sat down, Amy suddenly burst into the classroom, out of breath.

"You're late, Miss Rose." Miss Ross sighed.

"Sorry miss, I left my homework in my locker and had to grab it."

"All right, please take a seat." The said as she began to write out the lesson on the board. Amy went to sit in her usual seat but froze when she saw Sonia was sat in her seat. The two locked eyes for a moment. While Sonia was completely oblivious Amy glared in fury at her, ready to throw her out the chair.

"Miss Rose, will you please sit down?" The teacher suddenly said, snapping Amy back to reality. The pink hedgehog frowned and walked to sit at the other side of the classroom.

"That has made my morning!" Scourge laughed.

"I think she's jealous." Fiona snickered.

"Jealous," Breezie added with a smirked.

"OK, everyone, settle down please; turn to page 29 and we'll start."...

During their break, the group sat in the library as they talked about the teacher. They didn't know what they were gonna do about her going to the principal about Sonia, Manic's, Silver's and Shadow's school transfer papers. No one knew what was going to happen when he couldn't find any history about the new group of kids in town.

"We can make paperwork, we've got paper lying around." Knuckles' suggested.

"It doesn't work like that." Tails sighed.

"Uncle Chuck and Emma are working on it now, they can create a history for you, but it'll take some time," Sonic said.

Thanks." Sonia smiled as she and Silver read through the different books in the library.

"So we just have to stop Miss Ross going to the principal's office at lunch," Sally said before turning to the new kids. "And you need to try and fit in, keep your head down, otherwise we'll have bigger problems than paperwork."

"We will," Shadow promised

"Even if the paperwork does turn up, how are they going to fit in if they've never been to school before?" Amy asked when Scourge, Fiona and Breezie burst into the library and made a bee-line for the group.

"Teaching ya new friends how to read Sonic?" The green hedgehog sneered. "Ya should start with the baby books."

"What is that perfume? Eau De Fish Rot?" Fiona added to the group as the bullies walked away. As they left the library, Breezie shoved Sonia into the stack of books in front of her. As they left, Manik shot up and almost charged at them but was quickly held back by Sonic.

"That's exactly what I mean! You can't make a scene!" He hissed.

"Sorry." The green hedgehog mumbled in embarrassment as Knuckles and Tails shared a concerned look.

"The first thing to learn is not to use your powers every time someone makes fun of you." Amy frowned.

"We know." Silver said.

"Can you even control your powers?"

"We just don't normally have to," Manik argued

"Do you even know when it's happening?"

"Not really, but we'll learn to," Sonia promised.

"You don't have any time to learn!" She hissed.

"We'll try," Shadow said again frowning at the pink hedgehog's tone...

Lunch came too soon and the lunch hall was packed. As the new kids poked at the strange food on their trays in fascination and confusion, Sonic sighed as he hung up the phone with his uncle.

"Papers still not ready." He sighed, knowing that they could be in hot water very soon. Meanwhile, Scourge was glaring in disgust at the group before a thought bubbled in his head and he turned to the girls.

"Hey, Breezie I heard some fish got nicked from your fisherman's boat for your dad's casino." He said.

"So?" She shrugged.

"By some black hedgehog? Bit of a coincidence don't you think? I mean, your fish gets nicked and they turn up here the next day." He smirked when Breezie finally caught on. She suddenly shot forward towards the table with a fire in her eyes.

"Were you on the docks last night?!" She snarled loudly, attracting the attention of the other students.

"Breezie, what are you talking about?" Tails asked, a bit self-conscience at the stares they were getting."

"I was talking to him." She growled, glaring at Shadow. "Someone stole fish from my Daddy's casino boat and my money's on you!"

"Why would I want your fish? Bet it smells as bad as you do." He huffed.

"The only thing that smells bad around here is you freaks." She sneered, causing Shadow to stand up and stand toe-toe with her.

"Leave it, Shadow." Silver encouraged as Shadow mumbled some words to himself to calm him down.

"Huh? What did you say to me? I asked you a question!" Breezie glared, only to scream when Shadow suddenly snapped and lunged at her, only for Scourge to block him, knocking them both to the ground. The entire lunch hall suddenly erupted in chaos as the students started chanting 'fight' over and over again. All Sonic and his friends could only watch in horror as one of their teachers burst through the crowd.

"Stop that at once!" She shouted, but the two brawling hedgehogs ignored her. "I said STOP!" She exclaimed as she finally pulled the teens apart.

"He started it, Miss!" Fiona suddenly shouted.

"I didn't!"

"Yeah, he's crazy!" Breezie cried.

"You two, get cleaned up then go to the principal's office! You have five minutes!"

"I'll take him, miss," Sonic suggested.

"No, you will all sit down and finish your lunch." The teacher ordered as she led Shadow and Scourge out the lunch hall...

"They're like wild animals, especially that Shadow guy," Amy growled as she, Sonic, Knuckles, Sally, and Tails stepped out of the lunch hall to talk about what they were going to do with their new friends' behavior.

"You're exaggerating." Sonic glared.

"If you'd stopped to think for a second, instead of rushing them into the classroom, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"What? So I should be like you and come up with a million reasons why we can't help one of my own?" He glared at the pink hedgehog before going back to the table with Tails and Knuckles. After they left, Sally turned to her friend.

"Hey, if you want them to fit in, we need to act normally around them." She said with a reassuring tone.

"I don't want them to fit in, I want them to go back to the ocean." She growled.

"What about Sonic? Don't you think it's good that he finally has someone to talk to about his powers, someone who has sea fae powers."

"He has Emma."

"I mean someone his own age."

"He has us, unlike them, we're not about to blow his secret to the world," Amy argued and Sally sighed.

"Maybe the biggest obstacle to them making a life here isn't Scrouge and his gang or how unfamiliar with the surface world they are; maybe it's you." She glared before storming off...

Soon it was time for their next class. Sonic and the others all waited outside Sonic's history class since he, Knuckles and Shadow were all in that class while the others went with Sally and Tails to their science class.

"Well?" Sonic asked when Shadow finally arrived with an annoyed look on his face.

"The Principal said, "I'm giving you a detention", but then she didn't give me anything." He growled as Sonic and his old friends tried to stifle their fits of laughter at his confusion. "What's funny?"

"Nothing." Sonic quickly said when the bell suddenly rang.

"Er, we have to go." Tails said and started leading the sea faes in disguise to their next lesson.

"So you didn't use or show any powers in there?" Knuckles asked.

"No, do you think I'd still be here if I did?"

"Good point." The red echidna shrugged when the principal walked up to them.

"There you are." She smiled and they froze. "I've just been on the phone to the Education Authority; they send yours and your friends' paperwork to the wrong school but don't worry they're faxing it over now." She laughed and they all breathed a sigh of relief before she walked away to find the others...

During their history lesson, where they were given a pop quiz, Sonic had to fill out Shadow's paper since the ebony hedgehog didn't know anything about the surface world's history. After he was done filling out his and Shadow's papers he slipped his fellow hedgehog the paper back to him, not knowing Scourge was watching them the entire time.

"I saw that, thicko." He sneered to Shadow, quiet enough so the other students and the teacher didn't hear them. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't tell the teacher ya a cheat."

"My people carry wisdom in their heads, memorized." The ebony hedgehog growled. "I know things none of you do."

"So you're dumb and crazy." The green hedgehog smirked.

"Right time's up." The teacher suddenly said and everyone else sighed in relief. "Shadow, could you collect up everyone's books, please?" She asked and Shadow started gathering the books up. When he went to grab Scrouge's book, the bully suddenly grabbed his wrist and pulled him close.

"You're never going to fit in here, neither are ya friends." He snarled.

Shadow glared into the other hedgehog's eyes before pulling his wrist free and continued to collect the books without a peep. He made a promise to his queen and her son and he would follow it...