Chapter Text
In the city of Green Hills, the scent of misery hung heavy in the air, where several poor young souls were suffering an unparalleled punishment—one that lasted for years. That torture had a name: school.
Those youths sat in a classroom, enduring the gaze of a cruel man with a broad figure and strange glasses. He was none other than their math and physics teacher, Ivo Robotnik, nicknamed "Egghead" by those who hated him (which was most of them).
The man sat, scanning the room like a hawk, unwilling to let those brainless kids get away with anything.
"Knuckles, stop sleeping!"
"Huh? What?"
"Sticks, stop chewing on your chair!"
"Not my fault it tastes good!"
"Amy, quit making paper hearts!"
"Aww, come on, sir!"
Robotnik kept a watchful eye on his students. He couldn't allow even a shred of happiness in that room. If he had to suffer a minimum-wage salary and waste his brilliant mind on a hopeless generation, they might as well suffer too.
The class dragged on in its usual boring atmosphere. Some students questioned the usefulness of endless equations—like a certain echidna—while others paid close attention, like a certain feline.
Yet, one student stood out above the rest. Just hearing his name made Robotnik sprout gray hairs in his so-called perfect, refined mustache (according to himself and the kiosk owner).
The name popped into his mind the moment a loud video game sound echoed through the room. Clash of Chao. He recognized the music instantly—he was a diamond league player, Arena 13, with legendary cards (in case anyone wondered).
He abandoned his precious equations and turned, hawk-eyed.
"It was Sonic, sir," said a blue, metallic-furred hedgehog with red eyes, pointing at the culprit.
And there he was—smiling falsely, whistling like he hadn’t done anything. Beside him, a jet-black hedgehog sighed in irritation, while a white one stared ahead in boredom.
"Thank you, Metal. It's nice to know we still have good students around... unlike *some others*," the teacher said with a wide grin.
"Hey! It just turned on by accident!"
"Sure, by accident—like the surprise test coming up this Wednesday. You can thank Sonic for that."
"Oh, come on! That's not fair," Sonic protested, crossing his arms.
The teacher’s already thin patience wore even thinner with the sight of his least favorite student.
"Did I say a test? I meant a test *and* a practical."
"Don't be such a jerk, prof," Sonic said without thinking.
That last word echoed in the bald man’s shiny head. His grin vanished. His face flushed bright red.
"What did you just say?"
"...Ah... oops."
---
Amid the gossip, scuffles, and general chaos of recess, two friends chatted on a bench.
"That was so unfair!"
"Tell me about it, dude. Five rings for a hamburger?" replied the echidna, eyes on his phone.
"Not that, Knuckles! I meant Egghead!" Sonic said, arms crossed, one foot tapping rapidly in frustration.
"Ohhh, right. Yeah, I knew that. Anyway, Sonic, can you send me your data? The clan war’s about to start."
"What happened to the ones I sent earlier?"
"Used them all watching TikToks, okay? Cooking recipes are addictive."
"You don’t even cook!"
"I like imagining I do," Knuckles replied dramatically, placing a hand on his chest.
"Whatever. We always lose anyway, thanks to that one guy, 'Darkness005.' I swear, he's always destroying my village."
"Bet he spends real money. No one levels up that fast without being a no-lifer. So... you gonna send them or what?"
With a groan, Sonic handed over the data. But his eyes held something—he was clearly plotting something big.
"Still mad about that walking tub of lard? I get it, man. But don't let it ruin your day."
"You don't get it. I'm on thin ice. Tom and Maddie gave me a warning about my chemistry grade. How was I supposed to know that pouring Chao Soda into that thing would cause an explosion?"
"Yeah, who told you to do that?"
"*You* dared me to!"
"Ooooh right. Totally worth it, though. Silver went flying out the window and Shadow went deaf for two days. Surprised you didn’t get your legs broken."
Sonic scratched his quills, clearly remembering the fury from both hedgehogs.
"I bought Silver a basket of apples and had to walk Shadow's pet. You have *no* idea how dangerous that lizard is."
Their banter continued—Knuckles getting crushed in the clan war, Sonic munching on his third chili dog of the day (he wasn’t even that hungry).
After his final bite, Sonic’s expression shifted to serious. A hurricane of determination filled his eyes.
"Well... I guess we only have one option left: study."
His words froze Knuckles to the core. The echidna set his phone down, staring in shock and horror.
"Sonic... no."
"Sonic... yes."
"Pfft, haha!"
And then a deep silence fell—broken by the laughter of both. Neither had the slightest intention of actually studying.
"We’re not nerds," Sonic smirked.
"Speaking of which, where’s Tails?"
"Taking a test. He kept bugging me to study. Dude’s gone nuts."
"Ever since the teacher’s daughter showed up, he’s been desperate to get first place."
"Eh, a little competition’s good. He just needs to chill."
As they chatted, a student approached quietly until she was close enough to catch their attention.
"Hey, Amy."
"Oh, hey Amy," Knuckles greeted, offering a fist bump that she returned cheerfully.
Amy smiled radiantly as the wind blew her quills, catching Sonic’s attention in a nearly hypnotic way. He quickly looked away, focusing instead on the janitor flirting with Miss Vanilla.
"Knuckles, would you mind giving us a moment?" Amy asked sweetly.
"Gladly," Knuckles replied, whispering to Sonic as he walked off, "Don’t blow it," and giving him a playful punch.
Once Knuckles was gone, Amy sat at the same table. Sonic tried to look relaxed and confident—at least, he hoped he did. Amy sat nervously, forcing a calm smile, hoping she didn’t look like a blushing tomato.
"So, what did you want to tell me?" Sonic asked, arms crossed.
"Well... I wanted to ask if you were finally going to drop out of the..."
He knew exactly what she meant.
"Pfft, nope. Sorry, Amy. Not gonna happen."
"Come on, Sonic. It's terrible for your health! I don’t want you getting hurt."
"You know chillidogs are my life. Nothing’s stopping me from entering that contest."
"Sonic, no offense, but you’ve never even *won* the contest. It’s always—"
A sudden tremor interrupted her. Cups of Chaos Soda spilled. The culprit? None other than the buffet nightmare himself... the hunger incarnate: Big.
"Big," Amy muttered.
"Tell me one time the contest actually hurt me."
Amy pulled out a list and glasses.
"Want it by date or severity?"
"Whichever. I'm sure it’s nothing serious."
"Okay. First contest, you puked on Miss Vanilla and Cream. Third one, Knuckles had to roll you out. Fifth, you fainted. Sixth—"
"You kissed!"
That comment turned both of them redder than Knuckles.
"Knuckles! I thought you *left*!" Amy shouted, furious and flustered.
"I-it wasn’t a kiss! I was giving him mouth-to-mouth! He *choked*!"
"You really wrote all that down?"
"I... I really care about you, Sonic. Please think about it."
Sonic turned away, hiding his blush.
"Amy... I'm going to enter the contest."
"Oh..."
"But it'll be my last. No more after this one. If I win, great. If not, at least I’ll have fun. That’s the point, right?"
Amy sighed, accepting his answer.
"Then I’ll support you. That’s what friends are for... right?"
"Yeah. Friends..."
"Yeah..."
The contest would start in a month, the hedgehog was determined to win, this would definitely be his year, because at the end of the day, nothing could go that wrong, right?