Disclaimer: Although the original concept for this story is mine, Sonic and all other related characters are property of Sega. Vans and Nirvana are property of their respective owner(s). Burn the Echidna is property of my good friend CrazyNutSquirrel.

Author's Note: Hi ya'll! :) Boy, it certainly took me a long time to update this story! Sorry I took so long; I had a bunch of requests for Shadow Speaks Out (great participation by the way!) Anyway, please R & R and enjoy!

Panic at the High School!

Chapter 4

Two weeks after the incident in the parking lot between Sonic and Shadow, things had been quiet at the high school. Just about everyone had buckled down and were prepared to face the pressure of another stressful year, everyone except one Sonic the Hedgehog.

He had not forgotten the fact that, because of Shadow, he had to borrow his dad's car while his was in the repair shop for a week. Moreover, his dad's car wasn't a cool truck; on the contrary, it was a beige sedan circa 1985 and it was most definitely not in mint condition. Because of his huge ego, Sonic couldn't stand the absence of his truck, the only thing he could call his "pride and joy." At the lunch table, Sonic would often go into a fixed trance, somewhere between a daydream and a hallucination, where he would find himself sitting in his car with the radio turned up, cruising down the main street. Unfortunately, he was denied this pleasure, if only for a week.

When he did get his truck back, everything went back to normal for the blue hedgehog. The lunchtime trances had disappeared, and he had resumed his normal day-to-day activities, the majority of them involving flirting unsuccessfully with Maria.

Even Shadow began to notice the change. Soon after the truck came back from the shop, the ebony hedgehog commented at lunch, "Wow, Sonic, I'm quite surprised. I thought you would've continued to cry over your stupid car just so you could have something to whine about."

"Ha, ha, very funny, Shadow. But at least I have a social life and real friends, unlike someone I know," Sonic replied back caustically, making a very pointed reference to Shadow. The blue hedgehog's sarcasm created stifled giggles among his preppy entourage.

Shadow retorted, "At least I have an I. Q. above 50 points." Soon, all of the kids from the math and computer clubs were clustered around the ebony hedgehog, ready for anything at a moment's notice. Some of Shadow's emo acquaintances also gathered around him.

After the ebony hedgehog made his callous comment about Sonic's intelligence (or lack thereof), there was an eerie silence in the cafeteria. While the blue hedgehog thought quietly about his options, he took a small sip from his bottled water. He got up out of his chair and slowly advanced towards Shadow, taking light steps on the dirty, grimy floor.

Sonic sighed, "Look, Shad, I know that you did not try to use one of the oldest, most clichéd insults in the book on me. That's why I'm going to ask you to please tell me, one more time, what you actually said."

"First of all, don't call me 'Shad' under any circumstances. Secondly, I'm not going to repeat myself; everyone in the world except a complete retard like yourself would have realized that they had just been insulted," Shadow said matter-of-factly. He crossed his arms as added emphasis to his point.

Sonic looked taken-aback; no had ever dared question his authority, especially not some new kid.

"Shad, just calm down, man!" the blue hedgehog held his hands up defensively, "can't we be friends? What's your problem between me and Maria? I mean, you're so overprotective of your sister…"

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT MY SISTER YOU STUPID S.O.B!!" the ebony hedgehog screamed.

That was the last straw for Sonic; he had tried to be agreeable with the new kid, but he just didn't seem to get it. In this school, there was a delicate balance of power that should not be tampered with. Shadow, apparently, hadn't learned that lesson yet. Then, with a dark glint in his eye, the blue hedgehog raised his hand, prepared to punch Shadow in the face. He almost carried out his original plan, but was instead interrupted by a new voice.

"Calm down, dude! I've had a very bad day today and I am not in the mood to listen to you two whine!" the voice said emphatically.

The two male hedgehogs stopped their dispute briefly to look at the female echidna who interrupted them. They could instantly tell that she was emo, simply by her style of dress. The red echidna sported a bubblegum pink haircut, with three locks on the right side and two locks on the left side. She was wearing black Vans skinny jeans with a pink t-shirt with black, wavy horizontal stripes. In between those stripes screamed out the name "Nirvana" in black print, with the signature smiley face in the center. The female echidna wore black designer glasses that complemented her orange eyes.

"Hey! Just who do you think you are? You have no business here!" the blue hedgehog exclaimed.

"I'm Burn the Echidna, and I have a God-awful migraine, so you two need to SHUT UP!!" She then turned around in her righteous anger and sat down at Shadow's table of all places.

Deciding that a fight with the ebony hedgehog was no longer worth his time, Sonic sat back down at his table and began to discuss damage-control strategies amongst his friends.

Shadow, believing that he had won once again, sat back down to join his nerdy and emo friends. He also noticed Burn sitting next to him, her head held in her hands in agony.

"I know you must feel really bad right now, but you're welcome to sit with us." Shadow offered.

Burn considered the invitation. "Sure," she replied, "all of my friends don't have this lunch period, so I might as well sit with ya'll. Tell me a little bit about yourself." She was honestly interested in the reasons that brought the ebony hedgehog to their relatively small high school. When Shadow had finished talking, the female echidna had to leave.

"Listen, I'd really like to stay, but I don't think I can stay for the rest of the day. My head hurts too much; I hope you understand."

"Sure, I understand." Shadow said, feelingly slightly disappointed that his new friend had to leave so soon.

"Would you mind if I sat here tomorrow?" she asked.

"Not a problem!" the ebony hedgehog replied with a smile. As she turned to go to the nurse's office, he called out, "I hope your head feels better!"

"Thanks! I hope it does too!" she replied.

The ebony hedgehog then thought to himself, "Fights and new friends all in one day? How interesting!"

To be continued