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Dreams are always strangest when coupled with something loud and annoying, aren't they? Some people dream about a garbage truck when their alarm goes off early in the morning. Other people think of a fire alarm. Still others are able to block it out completely.

Sonic was a blocker. The alarm went off the next morning at 6:30 am, announcing to him that it was time to get up and get ready for school. Sonic was able to block off the sound from waking him, probably because he was also blocking the other bit that would have kept him from sleep in the first place: the throbbing pain in his nose.

Rachel would have heard the alarm and woken him up if it hadn't been for the fact that she was already awake and out of the house. Her morning routine on weekdays included getting up at 6:00 am and going for a morning jog. Said jog usually lasted a good hour and a half, and took her across the entire town.

Her father usually went jogging with her, but today was an exception. He had to deal with the problem child, Shadow. The night before was totally uncalled for, so this morning was spent in his office, making phone calls and trying to set up doctor's appointments for mental evaluations, as well as trying to find a different host's house for Shadow. It was obvious that the hedgehogs couldn't stay in the same house together... they hadn't been in Pouncefield for a week and already they'd gotten into two fights.

So Jon was preoccupied with Shadow, and completely forgot about Sonic, perhaps figuring that maybe Rachel would take a break from her jog this morning to help get him ready for school, or at least delay the jog to make sure he woke up on time. When, at 7:30 am, Jon heard the front door open and shut, he figured that it was Shadow and Sonic leaving for school.

He was half right. Shadow had risen from bed at 6:30 am, when the alarm had gone off. He'd jumped into a cold shower, drying himself and dressing in his school uniform when he was finished. He'd spent the 45 minutes after his shower making sure that his uniform was on right, as well as washing and polishing his sneakers so he could brag about not needing to wear other sneakers. He had no intention of making sure Sonic was awake, and left the house at 7:30 am, when Rachel came in from her jog.

Rachel spotted Shadow leaving, and thought of asking where Sonic was, but she really wasn't too keen on messing with the (in her mind!) mentally unstable hedgehog. Instead, she went into the house, shutting the door behind Shadow as he left, and headed for her room to make sure that Sonic was up and out of the house, or at least on his way out.

She opened the door to find Sonic still asleep in the bed. Her mouth dropped open. The alarm had stopped going off, so Rachel figured that maybe it had been set for PM (it had happened before) or that it had malfunctioned and not gone off at all (which had also happened before).

"Sonic!" Rachel called from the door way, looking right at him.

Sonic made little response more than a single tired grunt from the bed.

"Sonic! School starts in half an hour!" The call was a bit louder this time, and held a slightly panicked tone.

Sonic's foggy mind registered two things. The first was that his nose hurt terribly. The second was that he had 30 minutes to get ready for school AND get there on time. That meant running.

He shot out of bed like a rock from a slingshot, and out of Rachel's room, headed for his own. He would have to hurry if he was going to make it to school on time, since he still had trouble putting on the uniform.

Rachel hoped, for his sake, that he could run like the wind, because that was the only way he'd make it to school on time. She knew Jon had a policy against driving anyone to school when they were running late, because that would mean the kid could use the excuse that the car broke down on the way to school, instead of admitting to the fact that they had overslept. The house was a good ways from the school, just barely over thirty minutes walking distance.

When the front door opened and shut hurriedly ten minutes later, Rachel ran to the front door and looked out to see if she could spot Sonic running. She figured it had been no more than 10 seconds from the time that she heard the door shut to the time that she had reopened it, so she figured she'd be able to see him booking it to school. So she was puzzled when she looked out the door and couldn't see him at all.

Sonic, however, was running for all he was worth, pouring on the speed. The uniform would have restricted his leg reach, so he was running with no pants on, and carrying them behind him and he dashed across the streets. He didn't give any thought to the fact that anyone could see his ‘glory' flopping about as he ran, because anyone that noticed him would only see a blue blur.

Sonic arrived at school five minutes after he left the house. He dove into some bushes near the side, hidden in some shadows, and quickly put his pants on, adjusting his belt and so on. He found his way out of the bushes once his uniform was adjusted correctly, and headed for the busses, so that he could blend in with the rest of the students getting into the school.

Shadow arrived at the school a few minutes after Sonic did. He watched Sonic mingle with the students getting off the busses, and would have wondered how he had gotten there so fast had he not been familiar with the hero's speed in the first place. Instead, he sulked to himself and headed inside, intent on getting the attention of that croc he had met on Friday, and giving him his first order.

Shadow didn't have far to go before he found Rod. The croc had a smaller raccoon student held up by the scruff of his neck, and was demanding the kid's lunch money. After clumsily fiddling in his pocket, the kid found the buck fifty his mother had given him for food and shakily handed the money to Rod, who dropped him on his ass and pointed down the hall, telling him to "get out of his sight."

Shadow snuck up on Rod, who was busy separating the coins from the paper money he had collected that morning. On a good morning, Rod could gank up to $25 in lunch money from the kids in this school. From what Shadow could see, Rod had gathered a good $15+ this morning.

Quietly, Shadow snuck up on the croc, and carefully reached over to his left shoulder and tapped it. Rod turned his head to the left to see who was tapping him, and quick as a flash, Shadow dodged to the right, snatched the pile of bills that Rod had gathered, and stuffed it in his pocket. Rod turned back to the front to see his stack of paper money gone, and instantly broke into a blind fury.

"Who the F-!" he started to yell, before Shadow clamped his hands over the croc's jaws.

"Idiot! Do you really want to draw attention to yourself, complaining that someone stole your lunch money, when you stole that money in the first place? Larceny sends you to jail, I hope you know."

Shadow released Rod's jaws, and the croc glared at the hedgehog.

"Oh. It's you." The words spilled out of Rod's mouth in monotone, as if he'd expected Shadow.

"Yes. It's me. Your money's safe with me, too. Go to class... I'll give you your orders at lunchtime." Shadow crossed his arms.

"My orders!? Who the hell do you think you are? I oughta just eat you right now, you son of-" Rod's words were cut off when he saw Shadow reach into his pocket and pull out the red emerald. A look of fear crept into his eyes, and he hung his head and headed for class.

Satisfied, Shadow stuck the emerald in his pocket and headed for his first class: Math.

Meanwhile, Sonic had found Pokeinfo and Edward, and was busy talking and laughing with them as they all headed for their first class. Sonic was overjoyed to find that they had the same first class as him, which meant that he had the same classes as them for the remainder of the year. Edward was busy telling Sonic about how much he hated their first class, Gym.

"Lucy's an absolute bitch," remarked Edward.

"Careful, Ed. If she hears you, you'll have to do the class naked fro the rest of the week, like Robert, remember?" warned Pokeinfo. He turned to Sonic. "Robert thought he was a big shot. Untouchable, and all that. He was bad-mouthing Lucy in the locker rooms before class. Lucy happened to catch him call her a-" and at this point, Pokeinfo looked around, then leaned in and whispered the term to Sonic... a term that this particular writer doesn't like to use, so neither will he type it.

Sonic's eyes went wide. "He didn't."

Both Ed and Pokeinfo nodded. Pokeinfo continued with the story. "Yeah. She heard him say it, and barged into the locker rooms... she grabbed him by his ear and slapped him a couple times, then dragged him out into the gym and had him strip. She said he had to run laps for the entire gym class just like that. Naked. And at the end of class, she announced that he'd be naked for the rest of the week, too." Pokeinfo shivered. "Thank God it wasn't me. With my luck, there's be bunnies in the gym..."

Edward started laughing, and Sonic wasn't sure why, but he joined in laughing too. While Pokeinfo was telling the story, the trio had walked into the locker rooms, and Ed had showed Sonic where to get a new uniform for gym.

When the story was finished and everyone was done laughing, Sonic went and got a uniform, then changed clothes. He was ready for gym, and he thought he was ready for Lucy, who to him sounded like an Amy with a Rouge complex.

That was before Lucy barged into the locker room, a grin on her face. "Alright ladies! New day, new week, and it seems we got a new student here." With that remark, she looked directly at Sonic. "New students are required to perform the first day without a shirt."

Sonic shrugged and took off his shirt. "I hate shirts, they restrict my movement. You just did me a favor, babe."

Lucy blinked. The new hedgehog didn't seem one bit intimidated by her, and that was a shocker. "A favor, eh? Well, don't be expectin' anymore. Alright, the rest of you, outside! We'll be using the outdoor track today."

There was a collection of groans at that revelation. The outdoor track was old, and in desperate need of repair. If you didn't watch where you were going, you could step into one of the many potholes in the middle lane and twist your ankle.

Lucy seemed prepared for that, though. "They repaved it this weekend, so it's almost brand new. We'll be doing Stations today."

Sonic shrugged and got up with Pokeinfo and Edward, intending to follow them out to the track. He hadn't made more than a few steps when a hand shot out and caught ahold of his arm, holding him back. He looked and saw that it was Lucy.

"Hold it you." Lucy glared at him. "Lemme get somethin' straight. I'm the boss. You listen to me. When I say run, you ask how far. When I say jump, you ask how high. I'm not your buddy, I'm not a friend. Do you understand?"

Sonic shrugged, then turned to head out the door. Lucy stopped him again.

"I said, do you understand? Answer me."

Sonic shrugged again. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let me go so I can run."

Lucy laughed. "Oh. So you like to run, do you?"

Sonic's smile gave away his answer, before he even said it. "More than anything."

Lucy gave an evil grin, gears in her head turning. "Go out to the track, then. I have a little surprise for you."

Sonic blinked at Lucy, then shrugged and headed out towards the gym, where Ed was waiting for him. The look on Ed's face was quizzical, but Sonic merely shook his head and headed out the gym doors, pulling Ed along so the fox boy could show him where the track was.

Ed and Sonic arrived at the track a bit later, finding Pokeinfo and the rest of the group of boys in the class. They were all stretching and talking to each other, wondering what kind of torture Lucy was gong to put them through today. Sonic heard suggestions of push-ups and sit-ups, running two miles, squats, and even a suggestion of grasshoppers, to which the rest of the group groaned. Sonic decided he would have to find that boy after class and ask what a grasshopper was.

Lucy showed up ten minutes later, dragging a cart full of exercise equipment, including jump ropes and rubber balls. She stopped in front of the group of boys, placing her hands on her hips and grinning.

"Alright," she started off, "give me a show of hands. Who knows what I was famous for in this school a few years ago?"

A couple hands shot up, and Lucy pointed to one of them, it belonging to a Siamese cat named Willie. "Um, didn't you set the school record for the quarter mile dash, as well as the mile run?"

Lucy smiled. "I sure did. And it's been a few years. Nobody has come close to my record."

Sonic had a pretty good idea where this was going, but instead of speaking up, he decided to let Lucy continue on and see if his idea was correct.

"I've heard talk. I've heard talk that I'm a horrible person, that when I take over for Mrs. Trousers I'm unfair, and that I torture my male classes. I've heard rumors that I'm only nice to the female classes because I'm a closet lesbian, or because I was mistreated in the past by a male and now I hate males. That's just not true." Lucy took her hands off her hips and crossed them in front of her.

"I'm willing to make a deal with you all. We're doing Stations today, and included will be a quarter mils dash, as well as a mile run. If anyone can beat either of my records, then I'll let up from the way I've been teaching. But if nobody can beat them, then-"

"Why not just challenge one of us to a race?" Sonic interrupted. He looked her directly in the eye.

Grinning, Lucy looked Sonic in the eye as well. "Because it's no fair to challenge someone younger than I am to a race, when I have the advantage."

Sonic huffed. "What advantage is that? I bet I'm ten times faster than you are."

The rest of the class watched the conversation between Sonic and Lucy in silence, but when Sonic announced that he bet he was faster, they started to plead with Sonic to be quiet. It had been the experience in the past that when one person from the class goofed, the entire class paid for it. Usually, the goof was made when the one student challenged Lucy.

Lucy had an eyebrow raised, and was completely speechless. "You? Faster than moi?" She started laughing. "You, sir, are FUNNY."

Sonic smirked, but didn't laugh. "What's so funny? Only fools laugh before the joke is told."

That shut Lucy up. "What did you just call me?"

Sonic shrugged.

"Alright, then, hedgehog. Three laps around this track." Lucy picked two students from the class to hold stop-watches. Sonic's watch-holder was Edward, Lucy's was a raccoon named Pete.

"We'll both start on this line here," Lucy stated, pointing to the lane starting line that seemed to correspond to the fifty yard line on the field on the inside of the track. "We'll run three laps around this track, at the same time. Consider this a race. If I win, this entire class, including you, will have to try out for the cheerleading team. In the buff."

Sonic smirked, and the rest of the class gasped. "Fine. If I win, though, what do I get?"

Lucy crossed her arms. "Well, since there's no possible way you could win... if you DO win, I'll... I'll do anything you want."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Anything?"

Lucy nodded, trying to hold back laughing.

Sonic grinned. "Hold that thought. I'll tell you what I want when the race is over and I've won."

Lucy swept her arms back and took her spot on the starting line. Sonic separated himself from the crowd and took his place as well. The rest of the class, except for the two time-holders, took seats on the grass on the inside of the track.

Edward looked at his friend with disappointment in his eye, but Sonic merely smiled. "Be prepared," he said. "I'm the fastest thing alive."

Pete started the countdown. "Uh... three... two... one... GO!"

On the word go, Lucy took off like a bat out of hell, sprinting for her life down the middle of the track. Sonic started at a light jog, setting a good pace for his first lap. Edward and Pete looked on in dread as Lucy continued to pour on the speed, and Sonic continued to jog. It wasn't long before Lucy was a full half-lap ahead of Sonic, and they were on their first lap still.

Lucy soon crossed the line, finishing her first lap. She was still sprinting, having set the school record for the mile in a full sprint. She knew how to regulate her breathing, how to lengthen her strides so she was making the best possible time, and nobody in the town could beat her. She was laughing inwardly at the prospect of not only seeing the males trying out for the cheerleading squad, but also seeing that pompous hedgehog get the snot beat out of him by the rest of the class.

Lucy actually closed her eyes while daydreaming for a second. The class cheering brought her back to her senses. She opened her eyes to see Sonic staring at her. The hedgehog had not only caught up to her, but seemed to be running backwards in front of her, staring into her eyes! He had the goofiest looking grin on his face, but Lucy didn't have time to smile or laugh. She poured on more speed to try to close the gap between the two of them, but Sonic seemed to anticipate that. No matter how hard she tried to run, the hedgehog was always a couple feet in front of her. And still running backwards!

The two of them crossed the line to start on the final lap just like that; Sonic running backwards, ahead of Lucy, staring at her, while Lucy tried her hardest to close the gap between them. Sonic seemed to have his fill of fun, though, because a quarter of the way into the third lap he turned around to face the front, and seemingly with no effort at all, sped ahead of Lucy.

Lucy's jaw dropped as she watched Sonic speed off. She kept watching him as he continued to run faster and faster, becoming a blur of blue. She watched the blur pass the finish line before she had even gotten halfway through the final lap, and then watched at he completed three more laps before she finished her third. She was in such awe that the cramp that had started in her left side as she was running seemed to not hurt at all.

Sonic was waiting for her when she crossed the finish line. She bent over to catch her breath, and he handed her a bottle of water that he had found in the cart of equipment. She took the water and drank down half the bottle, then stood up and looked Sonic in the eye. She could look at him for too long before she hung her head and walked sulkily back towards the gym.

Lucy couldn't believe it. She had lost the race. And not only did she lose the race, she had been rolled up, flattened, and tossed aside. The new kid had challenged her knowing he would win by a landslide, and she had been foolish enough to fall for it.

Sonic was busy on the track, being cheered on by the rest of the class. They were astounded by his speed, and relieved that they didn't have to show off nude gymnastics for the cheerleading team. Edward especially was glad that Sonic had won, because it meant that all those stories he had told Friday night had a possibility of being true stories.

Lucy returned fifteen minutes later, still down about her loss, but still up enough to take charge of the class. Wordlessly she gathered up the cart of equipment, then motioned to the rest of the class to follow her back to the gym.

Once the stuff was put away, and the class had showered and put their uniforms back on, Sonic confronted Lucy in the gym about the wages agreed to before the race, and her promise to do ‘anything Sonic wanted.' Of course, while in the shower Sonic had consulted the rest of the class, and while they all wanted to be cruel and humiliate Lucy in as painful a way as possible, Sonic wouldn't have any of that. He reasoned that his win was enough to humble to girl a bit, so the punishment should be as humiliating as possible in a humbling way.

Lucy was ready for anything. Should Sonic decide that she clean the boys' locker room with her tongue, she would. Should she be made to do sexual favors for the entire class for the remainder of the year, she would. But she wasn't ready for the terms that Sonic had come up with.

"Lucy, you've been beaten. You agreed to do anything I wanted if I won the race."

Lucy nodded.

"After much consideration, this is what I've decided." Sonic paused, for effect, and Lucy braced herself.

"You will wear a bright pink tutu for every class for the rest of the year. You will also refer to the students of your classes as ‘Sir's or ‘Ma'am's whenever spoken to, and speak in medieval for the rest of the year. In this way, you will learn humility. Do you understand the conditions?" Sonic grinned brightly.

Lucy was dumbstruck. Bright pink tutu? Speaking in medieval? She'd be seen as a freaking loony! "No. I do not agree to these fucking terms!" She crossed her arms. "They're ridiculous!"

Sonic smirked. "Our backup plan was to have you paddled bare-assed, by every one of your students in every class, every day for the rest of the year, using ping-pong paddles. Perhaps you'd prefer that?"

Lucy blanched. "N-no... no, no paddles. Please... please, no paddles."

Sonic nodded. "Do you understand the conditions?" he repeated.

Lucy nodded. "Yes, sir."

Just then, the school bell rang. Sonic smiled. "We expect to see you in the tutu tomorrow morning. I was told you actually own one."

Again, Lucy nodded. "Yes, sir. ‘Twas a Hollow's Eve costume."

Sonic held back his laughter and nodded a final time, before turning around and leaving the gym with Pokeinfo and Edward. The trio burst into laughter outside of the gym doors.

"Bahahaha! Lucy the Ballerina!"