As much as the Sonic Gang would love to know more about Maria, somehow or the other certain issues are avoided. Either that or they don`t bother to ask. Everyone was loaded up with homework so the rest of the day is spent with the group working on homework. That is, after picking the children up from the elementary school. When Cream joins and acts excited to see Maria and refers to her as a big sister, the jig is up. The other members of the gang get Cream to confess how she had kept it a secret that she knew what was going on.

Now it all makes sense. Cream was acting strange because Maria had been at her house and she was to keep it a secret from everyone. Shadow had bought women`s clothing that were meant to be given to Maria (this being evident when Amy recognizes the dress Maria was wearing as one of the dresses that got spilled from the bag). But that leaves why Shadow was hanging around the hospital and how she and Shadow met. The answers to those questions will come along soon enough.

Since the mention of Maria`s name, Rouge has been doing some research of her own, particularly with Professor Gerald Robotnik`s journal, which she still has a copy of. She remembers the name Maria being used as the password to the journal. But surely there is significance for that. In the meantime...

Tuesday.

Maria is thrilled about how yesterday went. She seems to be fitting in with school quite well and has been able to pick right up on the work that everyone has been working on. Her age is of no hindrance to her ability to accomplish the same tasks as everyone else far as the academics go. She will have to sit out through gym class and just watch everyone else do their thing.

As the temperature is nice enough outside, the gym classes are taken outside for their activities. Maria is sitting by the gym teachers on the bleachers. She can`t focus on just one group of students. Each group is doing a different activity. One group would be on basketball while another is on baseball, for example.

Since Sonic and Shadow have the abilities that they do, the teacher makes sure that whatever activity is done with them, they are doing the same activity and are on opposite teams. This would allow both teams to have a chance to be even and neither one would be at a disadvantage. What the two speedsters are currently involved in with their teams is dodgeball. Sonic and his team are the ones currently dodging the balls while Shadow and his team are throwing the balls. Of course, Sonic is the last one to get hit and he doesn`t make it easy. Luckily, the team has Shadow who has the best chance of landing a shot. Though sometimes these gym games get frustrating for Shadow because of their needs to put them in opposing teams always, but then Shadow began to look at it as good training for his patience. Sonic darts to and fro, showing off his own little stunts as he dodges each ball thrown at him. Shadow would much rather dive in and go after Sonic himself but that`s not the rules of the game. He tries to keep his frustration at bay.

As yet another school day comes to an end, the students are exiting the school to either go home or go to a public place to have fun for the day. Other students still have after school activities. Like today is one of the scheduled days for the school football team practice. Knuckles, Vector and Mighty are on the team so they will be at practice. Some members of the Sonic Gang will be there on the sidelines to watch their friends.

Maria is exiting the school but this time by herself. She looks around at everyone that is passing her by but she doesn`t see Shadow. Perhaps he is being held up at his class for something? Surely he`ll be along soon. Maria sits down on one of the benches in front of the school to wait for him.

Sonic is coming out of the school with Amy latched onto his arm, as usual. He isn`t particularly enjoying it since she has a tendency to hug him so hard he can feel his circulation being choked. But he tolerates it anyway, the girl means well. Sonic notices Maria sitting on the bench by herself. He decides to stop over and give her a small wave,"Hey, Maria. Waiting for Shadow?"

Maria nods to Sonic with a friendly smile,"Oh yes I am."

"Would you like to join us in watching the school football team practice? A few of our friends are on the team so we`re going to watch them practice."

"No thank you. Or...at least not yet. I should make sure that Shadow can find me. Maybe we can join you in a few minutes when he gets here."

"All right."

Sonic points to the field that down at the end of the school. There is a road that separates the field from the actual school. Sonic continues,"It`ll be right over there in the field. We`ll be in the bleachers. See ya."

Amy gives Maria a wave as she walks off with Sonic,"We`ll see you in a bit, Maria!"

Maria smiles and gives them a little wave.

The Amy suddenly stops and makes Sonic stop as well,"Oh, I forgot my history book in my locker! Sonic, I need to go get it or I`ll forget about it later. I`ll meet you at the field, ok?"

Sonic gives a shrug,"Sure. You go get your book. I`ll be over at the field."

"Ok!"

Amy turns around and jogs past Maria, heading straight for the school. Maria watches Amy pass her by. Amy pulls open the heavy door and goes inside with the door closing itself behind her. Sonic takes off towards the field, eager to get there. He doesn`t want to miss out on anything interesting that might happen.

Maria continues to sit on the bench, waiting for Shadow. She hums softly to herself as she watches the remaining students leave the school building. What could be holding him up? Hearing the school doors open, Maria stands up from the bench and turns to look to the doors. But it`s not Shadow.

Who`s coming out of the school are Jet, Wave, Bean and Shade. Storm and Bark would be with them but they are part of the school football team so those two are already at the field for practice. They seem to be laughing about something as they exit the school. Are they laughing about a joke?

Not recognizing them, Maria becomes a little disappointed that it wasn`t Shadow. But she perks up again when the group takes notice of her and start coming towards her. Watching them come to her, she begins to wonder if they are friends of Shadow`s as well.

In front, as the leader of the Babylonians, Jet is the first to say a word to Maria. His fist on his hips, much like how Sonic`s fashion is, Jet bears a smile. However, his smile isn`t the same as the ones the Sonic Gang gave Maria,"Your name`s Maria, right?"

Maria smiles back to Jet but hers is of pure intent,"Why yes it is."

Jet circles around Maria and stands behind her, seeming to be examining her,"So...Where`d you come from? I haven`t seen you `round here before."

Maria hesitates on the answer. Yesterday, Shadow had discussed with her about keeping their past a secret from everyone, location and all. Not wanting to break her promise to Shadow of keeping information to herself, Maria stammers,"Um..."

Wave, with her usual forward and lack of fear attitude, she steps up towards Maria, almost getting in her face,"I know! I bet you`re a foreigner, right?"

Well, she would be mostly right about that. While her grandfather is from this planet, Maria herself was born on the Arc and had lived there all her life until her awakening here. This would make her a foreigner. Maria would not get a chance to say anything on the matter though. Soon as Wave makes her comment, things suddenly take a turn for the worst for Maria.

Jet gives Maria a shove towards Wave from behind, his cruelty side suddenly bursting out and showing his true colours,"How fitting!"

Wave puts her hands up and catches Maria before shoving her back to Jet,"Yes, how fitting! Shadow`s a foreigner and would want to be with his own kind!"

With Bean stepping up to join in on this cruel play on the defenseless and outnumbered Maria, Jet shoves Maria towards him,"He doesn`t belong here, he`s out of place! And so are you!"

Shade doesn`t participate in this. She keeps to the side and in fact is looking away, not wanting any part of this. As Maria falls into Bean, Bean adds his own two cents,"You two should go crawl back into the holes you crawled out of!"

Back and forth Maria is shoved between the three members of the Babylonians as they laugh. They pick up on the speed that they are shoving Maria between one another. It doesn`t really hurt Maria to be shoved around but it is messing with her equilibrium and is making her feel like an out-of-control pinball in the machine. She hasn`t been handled in such a manner before in her life. Why are they doing this to her? She hasn`t met them before so what could have done to make them come after her? Maria won`t get her answer today.

As the shoving game comes to an end, Jet gives Maria a final shove. Wave steps aside quickly which allows Maria to fall face-forward on the concrete sidewalk. Ignoring their increased laughter, Maria tries to get herself back up. But there`s a problem. She lacks the strength needed to get up. The best she can manage to do is sit up on her elbows. Maria can`t get her legs to lift her up and her arms can only do so much. Watching Maria struggle, and fail, to get up, the laughter only seems to intensify among the group. Jet points to Maria,"Wow! You can`t get up?"

Wave unleashes her unmistakable laughter which contributes to the kind of attitude she has,"How pathetic you are to be so weak! What`s wrong with you?"

Getting tired from trying so hard combined with total loss of strength, Maria allows her body to just collapse. She just doesn`t have the normal body of a person to handle this. Jet kicks his foot like he is kicking invisible dirt on Maria to emphasize his point,"Pbbt! Why in the world did anyone want to preserve your life?"

As Jet begins to walk away, Wave adds in as she follows him,"Seriously, they should`ve just done away with you soon as they saw that you were damaged goods."

Bean doesn`t add anything more, he`s too ridden with laughter as he, too, follows Jet, walking behind Wave. Shade doesn`t say anything, she isn`t even laughing. She passes by Maria and looks down to her as she does so. Then she catches up to the others to go with them to the field.

Not able to get up, Maria has no choice but to lay there on the sidewalk. It`s obvious she can`t get up without assistance. It has been that way on the Arc as well when she lived up there. If she fell, she usually needed help getting back up. She hopes someone will arrive soon that would help her.

Stepping out of the school, Amy is the first to see Maria in her current state. In one hand, Amy has her history book that she went inside to retrieve. She gasps as she sees Maria lying helpless on the hard concrete. What in the world happened? Amy hadn`t see Jet and the others around and she knows Maria is too young to suffer any heart attacks. Fearful for the worst, Amy begins to run over to help Maria to her feet.

Behind her, Amy can hear the clang sound of the school`s heavy door. She assumes it`s the door she had opened was closing itself. But when a black streak whips passed her, Amy second guesses her assumption and slows down on her running.

Shadow is immediately to Maria`s side. He kneels down and is obviously concerned for her,"Maria! What happened?"

Amy stands off to the side to watch and see how Shadow handles this. Seeing him interact with anyone is unheard of so this has become quite fascinating for Amy to watch.

Usually if Shadow actually stopped to help someone to their feet, he would grab them by the arm and yank them up. It was quick and got the job done though it would normally hurt the person some. The way he helps Maria up is completely different. He is taking it slow and easy with her as though she is fragile. Getting both arms around her, Shadow lifts Maria up to her feet.

Once up, Maria hugs Shadow, feeling a little distraught about what had happened. Since he didn`t get an answer from her when he originally asked, Shadow asks again,"Maria, what happened?"

Maria lifts her head up looking straight up to Shadow. She tells him of this group of other students who had pushed her around for some unknown reason and how she had fallen during the shoving. At this, Shadow can feel his anger quickly rising. Good news is she wasn`t on the ground because of a health issue. But she was down because someone had done this to her. As per usual, Shadow`s emotions aren`t being shown facially that well, or at least not obviously where the typical person would pick up on them. He now asks,"Who did this to you?"

Maria sinks her head down in her shoulders a little. She recognizes that tone and she can see that subtle change of emotion in Shadow. Her reaction to Shadow`s question makes Amy begin to wonder; she can`t see the tiny change that has taken place in Shadow.

The tone of his voice isn`t of any anger towards Maria, not by a long shot. It`s foretelling the doom that awaits the person that pushed Maria. He isn`t yelling, he isn`t using any harsh language, but it`s firm showing how serious he is. This tone continues as he asks Maria again but a little firmer than before,"Maria, I have to know who did this."

There will be regret on her part, she just knows it. Maria closes her eyes and tilts her head down a little,"I...I don`t know their names but...One of them wore a lot of green...He had blue eyes spiky green hair...And he wears goggles-"

That is all Shadow needs to know; he can immediately identify the person that Maria is describing. Jet. That explains wholly who the others were that participated in bullying Maria alongside him. Even further, Shadow knows where they are. He knows that Storm and Bark participate in the football practices as does Knuckles and the others. They`ll be in the field for their practice right now. And, like Sonic, Jet will be there to watch his crew.

Without another word, Shadow releases Maria, turns and darts off to the field using his high-speed to get there. Maria tries to call Shadow back but it`s too late; he is off on a mission.

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