Chapter 2 – Hilarity Ensues / Meet Your Vehicles
Can't write much here because I'm writing this late on a school night! Next chapter will be the first race! Yay! It is Ocean View, if you know what that is! OKAY, gotta go, BYE!
Disclaimer: All characters used or mentioned in this story are copyrighted by SEGA, Walt Disney, etc. and in no way, shape or form do I intend to abuse their use. Only the plot belongs to me and I just hope I've got most character's personalities down! Tell me if I haven't and I'll correct it! Enjoy!
The time was 6:50pm, and all watched as the runway slowly shrunk before disappearing altogether. After ten minutes, the plane was already high in the sky, zooming in-between large, darkening cloud formations with the ease and precision of a swooping falcon.
"The view from here is spectacular!" NiGHTS breathed happily in her British accent, "This feeling reminds me of the time I visited that dream world with Elliot while running from Second-Level Nightmarens."
"What was it like?" Amy wondered, gazing off into the far-away horizon.
"It was always night there, the moon was big and illuminated the silver grass below. There were moonlight lilies too."
"What are moonlight lilies?" Ulala queried.
"They're violet flowers that only sprouted under the moon. They wilt under the sun", she replied thoughtfully, "I vaguely remember glowing moss on some of the trees."
"Wow, your world sounds way different from mine."
"Hey, give that back, Beat! Don't be a jerk!" The three girls turned away from the window to see the usually-reserved Gum chasing a cheeky-faced Beat around the table.
"I didn't know you liked poetry! "My melting, candlewax soul…" oh how very dramatic!"
"Give it back!" Gum's blush deepened, horribly humiliated at the events happening.
"Give the book back to her, Beat! Don't be dog!" Amy hollered at him. A thump was heard in the background.
Suddenly, a yellow blur streaked past Beat, effectively snatching the book from his hands.
"What the fudgesickles?" The blur stopped in front of Gum, calmly handing the notebook back to the shocked girl.
"Um, thanks Shadow…" He silently strolled back to the table, picking up the chair he knocked over and plonking back down to read the novel he had with him. Gum turned to Beat, a murderous glint in her sienna eyes. Beat stepped back four paces, before running for the security of the lockable toilet, Gum in fast pursuit, but now clutching the book protectively to her chest.
"Aw, did I miss the fun?" Sonic moped, disappointment plainly shown, "We could hear you from the cockpit, you know."
"Beat stole some book from Gum that apparently had poetry in it. He was just teasing, though", Ulala explained.
"Yeah, and he's going to get wacked now because Shadow got the book back and now she's furious. He ran into the bathroom for safety", Amy giggled, mentioned hedgehog swivelling his ear around at the acknowledgement of his name.
"Oh", Sonic turned to the Ultimate Lifeform, wearing the smile that warns those of the sneaky thoughts running through his mind. He sauntered over to the hedgehog, stopping him as he tried to escape from the snarky 21yr old. "Really, Shadow? I didn't know you cared about her enough to retrieve her book from the horrid Beat-monster. Her knight in shining fur, huh? Wink-wink!"
Shadow shot daggers at the suggestive tone in his voice. "No, Faker. Don't even think about it."
"Can I be your wingman?"
"No!" The livid mammal tackled the other male, pinning him down. Sonic gasped, sarcastically and due to the force.
"Oh, Shadow! I understand now, you naughty hedgehog, you!"
"No, you obviously DON'T understand! You're just being a pain!"
"A pain in your ass, Shadow?! Ha-ha!"
"Uh, Shadow? I think he's trying to ask if you're in H-E-A-T…" NiGHTS cautiously spelled out.
Shadow growled deeply in understanding and fury, lifting the obnoxious, squirming, blue hedgehog up and literally hurling him across the room and into the lounge room, where he landed head-first onto Knuckles' sleeping form.
"What the?! Sonic! What the CHAOS are you doing?! Get off me!" Knuckles flung the hedgehog to the opposite couch, Sonic settling into an upside-down pose with his legs swung over the back of the couch.
"Why won't people stop throwing me today?! Jeez, you two are moody…"
xxASRTxx
Within 20 minutes, the head chef had ordered that they be sitting at the long, pale-green table to wait for their entrée. The order had went like this: Danica sat at the head of the table, her back facing the large flat screen showing an animated plane slowly inching along a dotted line that went off-screen. From her point of view, Sonic sat on her left, along with Amy, Knuckles, Ralph, Eggman, Metal Sonic, Reala and Shadow. Pudding sat on her right, along with NiGHTS, Ulala, Beat, Gum, Amigo, Alex, AiAi and MeeMee. Tails and Vyse were absent from dinner due to piloting the aircraft, alternatively having dinner brought to them by the head chef.
Said chef wandered out to the hungry racers, followed by four other chefs holding eight of their meals. "The entrée is served. It is a creamed corn, bacon and chive frittata."
Their meals were placed down in front of them in the appearance of a small, flat, yellow pie with bacon cooked through it, covered in chives and giving off an amazing scent. On the side sat a small pile of fresh spinach.
"Bon appetite, All-Stars."
The taste was just as amazing as the smell. Even Eggman had to admit his robots couldn't cook a meal like the one sitting in front of him, acquiring a sound of displeasure from Metal Sonic, not just for the careless comment, but because he couldn't eat the meal either. It was happily taken from him by the plump man he was forced to call "Master".
Once 40 minutes had passed, two waiters collected the finished platters just as the chefs came out with the main course: Braised Beef Braciole stuffed with Basil and Mozzarella. The aesthetics were two slices of a crisp, thinly-cut steak packed with a rich stuffing, served with roasted vegetables, salad and a relish tray. The flavour was prominent in the hearty dish, leaving them with a pleasantly satiated feeling. In fact, Alex loved it so much that he offered to finish off anyone else's dish, just for the sake of chewing the tenderised steak that left juices rolling along his taste buds. At the sight of this, however, Reala's face contorted into a look of disgust.
Up the other end of the table, friendly discussion began on the happenings the following day.
"We'll touchdown at around 7:30 tomorrow. An announcement will sound at 6:50 as an early alarm and a second alarm will sound at 7am", the brunette explained, gaining the attention of the others.
"6:50? In the morning?!" Pudding complained, slumping in her seat. Ulala made an attempt at holding in a laugh, but unfortunately, a giggle bubbled its way up her throat and slipped out. Pudding's eyes suddenly hardened, like the temperature dropped and solidified her ocean-blue eyes into two sharp and oh-so-deadly icicles, ready to drop onto the next being that walked under her radar. Silence descended upon the group and the air grew humidly thick, but bone-chilling. Sensing the impending danger, Danica stringed on from her previous sentence, but was harshly cut off.
"Don't worry, Pudding. I'm sure that it won't-"
"And what is so funny, Ulala? HUH?!"
Ulala snorted crudely. "I think you can go without a beauty sleep for once."
Pudding growled, abruptly standing up from where she sat and walked off in the direction of the bedroom, NiGHTS following close behind.
"Wait Pudding! You'll miss dessert…"
"I don't care about dessert! Stop following me!" NiGHTS floated sadly back to her seat between the previously quarrelling women, one empty seat on her left. Looking across the table, the young she-hog gave her a sympathetic look, nudging Sonic in anger at his lack of sympathy. He shot NiGHTS a look of empathy, mouthing "I know" to the purple, first-level nightmaren. Her sadness quickly subsided and she chortled at Sonic's antics, much to the confusion of Amy.
The tension slowly faded and conversation grew light as the dessert was provided: Crème Brûlée with assorted berries and nuts. It was definitely the highlight of the night. Shadow would've enjoyed it more if it weren't for Reala and his probing questions.
"Why are you so quiet? Are you emo or something?" Reala took great pleasure in harassing others into insanity – he did it a lot to NiGHTS and loved the reactions every time.
Swallowing his delectable fork-full of berries and caramelised mousse, Shadow made no attempt in hiding his annoyance by boring into the idiot's heartless eyes with great intensity. It didn't work, due to Reala's immunity to death glares, whom was awarded many from Wizeman on a daily basis. It didn't scare him anymore, and according to Reala, Shadow was just pouting.
"Yep, definitely emo. Or are you one of those "lone wolf" types that act all tough and mighty, but in reality are just weak?"
"Your words don't faze me. But call me weak again and I'll dislocate your neck so bad that you're going to need a map to find it!" Shadow snapped back in a quiet hiss, as to not gain any more attention, but caught the eyes of the three "children" of the 18 racers present. Amigo was too busy with stuffing the meal into his wide mouth to notice.
"Gee, he's scary!" Alex whispered to AiAi, carefully eyeing off the irate hedgehog.
"Well, did you see him throw Sonic? That was dangerous! He could've died!" AiAi softly whimpered, MeeMee joining in on the hushed exchanging of words.
"I wouldn't wanna get in a fight with him", MeeMee murmured, taking a nut off her plate and popping it in her mouth, "You'd be asking for death."
Slowly, the individuals sitting at the long table dispatched in groups, heading in the direction of the sleeping quarters. They bid each other goodnight, before falling into a deep sleep.
xxASRTxx
Tails shuffled out of the cockpit, rubbing his weepy eyes and killing for a good 6hr sleep. Unaware of the possible danger from his following actions, he wandered into the bedroom and proceeded in waking the Ultimate Lifeform. Shadow awoke in a confused daze before regaining his composure and glancing at his waker.
"Time to switch, Shadow…" Miles Prower mumbled tiredly, irritably flicking the bangs that kept tickling his eyelids away from his face, but to no avail. Yawning into his hand, Shadow stood up, letting the blanket fall off his lithe body. He involuntarily shook at the flush of cool air that hit his warm body, cursing inwardly at his visible vulnerability. Luckily, Tails had already fallen asleep in his place, stealing the heated spot that Shadow originally accommodated. Pushing back his jealousy, he pulled the blanket over the curled-up kit and staggered to the other side of the jet plane, his abrasive side grumbling about how soft he's becoming. Cracking his hands and wrists, he accommodated the cockpit seat next to a dreary-looking air pirate.
"Good morning…" Vyse joked groggily, checking the altitude meter with an inspective glance.
"Humph." Shadow cracked his neck, the bones making an audible pop before converting to 'work mode'. Content with the standard of the flying vehicle, he sat back in his seat, wiping his eyelids with ungloved palms before focusing on the early morning skies.
Vyse studied the less-composed hedgehog out the corner of his eye. Red-striped quills were slightly tousled, a hazy look settling in his crimson irises and a pair of loose, grey tracksuit pants sat upon his hips. The Rogue looked away as Shadow focused on him.
"Did you have a nice sleep?" Vyse began some small talk to fill the hypothetical void in the cockpit. Stripes nodded, too tired to make an attempt of replying. Vyse shrugged off the callous attitude and thought of something to say. He never was good with initiating conversation – it was probably even harder now, since Shadow didn't seem like he would bother. He then thought of something to say, but it would be hard.
"Hey, Shadow?"
"Mm, what?"
The human boy spoke quietly, so it was a struggle for Shadow to listen to his words. He made out the word "sorry", though.
"Sorry for what?" he replied sluggishly.
"For what happened in the taxi. I didn't mean to stare at you… I was just thinking about stuff and…" he trailed off, turning towards the truth, "I just don't want to make a bad first impression, okay? I'd rather have rivals after the first race than before we've even arrived at Sunshine Coast-"
"I forgave you." Vyse went silent, registering what emitted from the co-pilot's mouth. He wasn't sure what he heard was correct, so he asked again.
"You… forgave me? When?"
"I forgot to acknowledge the fact, but yes, I forgave you. I don't hold grudges against people I barely know. The only rivals I have are the Faker, that damn echidna, Dr Eggman and Reala."
Vyse was thankful for that piece of information, but now he wanted to hear more.
"You hold a grudge against Reala? But, Sonic told me you two were talking all afternoon."
"Well, that's a load of bullshit."
xxASRTxx
A blaring alarm sounded throughout the bedroom, startling the rudie awake. Shaking his head to clear the ringing in his ears, he shifted his sallow eyes around to find others abruptly being awakened from their sleep, similar to himself. Gum, however, was still asleep, despite the loud whirr of the alarm. A little fact Beat knew about her: she was deaf when she slept. Someone had to physically shake her awake and Beat personally scheduled that job for himself while they were away from the GGs (Graffiti Gang memberS). True to his promise, he climbed onto her sleeping form and tugged at her hair. Finally, after 5mins of pulling at her cheeks and hair, her eyelids rose to reveal bloodshot, sienna eyes, glaring at the red-head kneeling atop her.
"I'm awake now. Do you mind getting off?!" Gum howled at him, shoving him off her and onto the floor. Those that were in the room jumped at the sound of him hitting the carpet below. After she got up, more wrestling resumed between the two before Gum went into the vacant bathroom to change. Beat began on repacking his bag, which literally defined to him as stuffing his clothes into big balls and shoving them in the small backpack he owned.
Gum promenaded out of the bathroom in a blue and cream dress with a Japanese logo on it. He took note of the many different colours she had of that style of dress and how she favourite the green one more than the others. She hadn't put her cap on yet, so her short, blonde hair lined the nape of her neck.
She forgot to hide the scar trailing down her jugular.
As she looked at him, he pointed silently to the mark, throwing her the blue cap that matched the dress. In a state of horror, she was fast to thrust it over her cranium and double-check in the bathroom mirror to see if it was covered. Beat saw the thankyou in her deeply-expressive eyes as she rushed out, hearing the second waking alarm echo off the walls. They, along with Amy, Tails, Ralph and Alex, wandered out down the hallway, past the beautiful mural and into the lounge room, leaving Pudding, Amigo, Eggman and Vyse to their precious sleep and coming across NiGHTS having a verbal spat with Reala after he seemed to have "accidentally" spilt milk over her shoulders and down her vest and shirt. Likewise, and strangely, MeeMee was squealing and screaming at Knuckles because he stepped on her foot "on purpose". Knuckles was getting irritated and a vein grew in the side of his head.
"My Chaos, shut your Minnie Mouse voice up and shoo! You're like a broken record", Knuckles growled, being dragged away by Sonic.
"I sound NOTHING like Minnie Mouse!" MeeMee retorted in her Minnie Mouse voice, being dragged away by AiAi.
Sonic apologised to AiAi for Knuckles' hurtful words against his sister. AiAi also apologised, stating that his sister was just overreacting, as to be expected from the "drama queen". Turning back to the first quarrel, Beat was surprised when he saw NiGHTS had disappeared along with Gum. Walking back into the bedroom and passing a drowsy Vyse, he heard their voices in the bathroom, along with another's. He guessed it to be Pudding's. Amigo and Eggman were standing in front of the locked door listening to the vulgar language with shock plastered across their faces. Beat shared a jaw-dropped look with them as they heard unspeakables emit from the nightmaren. It had obviously stained her fur and a hissing sound began, pointing towards the notion that someone was in the shower. Eggman ambled off, mumbling about a woman's profanities whereas Amigo was a statue in the middle of the room, eyes bulging from the words he heard.
Beat sat in his seat at the table, shaking his head as he whispered to Ulala all the words he heard them say.
"Wow… I am speechless! I never thought NiGHTS swore like that."
"Well, Reala did pour milk on her like she was a bowl of cereal. You gotta give her some leeway", Beat reasoned, stealing a quick glance at the innocent-acting nightmaren eating at the far end of the table.
Soon, Danica emerged from the confines of the kitchen, thanking the chefs for their hospitality before turning to the 14 racers present.
"Hey, where are the rest of you?" Everyone else seemed confused, so Beat replied.
"Metal and Shadow are piloting, Gum, NiGHTS and Pudding are bitching about Reala in the bathroom and Amigo is listening."
"Bitching? What on Earth for?"
"Reala poured milk down NiGHTS' shirt", Beat hid a smirk expertly, along with Ulala.
"Oh…" Danica tentatively tip-toed down the hallway, running back and out of the way as Amigo was chased by an outraged Pudding.
"You perverted monkey! How DARE you eavesdrop on our conversation! Get BACK HERE!" Pudding yanked off one of her leg-high go-go boots and threw it towards Amigo, achieving a successful headshot. He collapsed onto the floor, an unrealistic red bump behind his left ear and swirls in his eyes.
"Don't mess WITH ME!"
xxASRTxx
"We're here! We're here!" AiAi shouted excitedly, jumping out of the landed plane, followed closely by a blue blur. Sonic, arms widened, took in the sea breeze air and view from the high-up runway; expansive beaches, sparkling, azure waters with patches of pink/orange/green coral and clear skies above them. They all came over, producing a gasp, a happy sigh or a breath of fresh air. The only ones who didn't seem to care for the view were Metal Sonic, Shadow and Amigo. Metal Sonic was a robot and followed orders without emotion, besides his notable sad sighs and complaining whines. Shadow was tired out from lack of sleep and walked straight over to the villas they would be accommodating for the next 8 days with the still unconscious Amigo slung over his shoulder.
"Okay, guys. Get comfortable. The villas are over that way and you'll be given a couple of things by the clerks there. Your room key card; a map of the entire villa, Sunshine Coast and the locations of the race tracks; this week's itinerary for places you need to be at what times; and your car keys", Danica finished smugly, dangling two pairs of keys on her index finger. Almost all the racers got visibly excited, the exceptions being Metal Sonic, Reala and Ralph.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Instructions? Get accustomed to your roommates and use your map to find out where the hangar is. There, you'll be introduced to your new and improved cars."
xxASRTxx
17 of the 20 racers gathered at the doors to the hangar, waiting impatiently for their host racer to give them the all good to see their masterpieces. Those that were missing were NiGHTS (she had already seen her vehicle), Shadow (he was asleep and he'd already seen his vehicle) and Danica Patrick (their host). A piercing noise from an unused speaker scared the racers before they heard her voice.
"Ready to meet your vehicles?"
The hangar doors rolled up automatically and purposely slow for dramatic tension. Danica's form lighted up as the doors reached the top and stopped, lights blaring from the roof of the hangar and the shine of the cars blinded the racers temporarily before they gasped. Gleaming cars, quad bikes and tanks stood before them in all their new glory and Sonic immediately spotted a Blue beauty, running up to it. It was his "Speed Star", but upgraded into a sports car with two of his trademark quills on the back. Almost at the brink of tears of joy, he hugged the shiny vehicle possessively.
"Thank you, Danica!"
Tails jogged up to him staring thoroughly at the vehicle parked next to his. His MTP-01 Whirlwind was upgraded, he could tell!
All of the other racers had similar reactions:
Knuckles' vehicle was styled like a backwards trike with a design influenced by himself in a gliding stance.
Amy's didn't have much of a difference except for a seemingly-better paint job and a more rounded version of her Pink Cabriolet.
Eggman owned a red six-wheeled 'tank' that has his face on it.
Metal Sonic's vehicle was an upgraded version of the "Metal Booster".
Beat's entire vehicle had changed, from a street racer to a quad bike themed in tribute to the GGs.
Gum's first car was similar to Beat's quad bike, but coloured white and neon green.
AiAi came across a yellow F-1 car similar to the one he had in the last tournament, resembling bananas.
MeeMee's car was a pink copy of AiAi's vehicle.
Amigo now owned a four-wheeled toy train inspired by his previous racing kart.
Ulala's vehicle was a white backwards trike with her Space Channel 5 logos.
Pudding's new vehicle reminded her of an aircraft she had a couple of years ago while working at Space Channel 42; a green, futuristic car.
Vyse owned an old-fashioned steampunk race car similar to his airship "The Delfinius".
Reala's vehicle was a black convertible with red rims and white stripes, alike his appearance.
Ralph looked upon a jeep with a wrecking ball in the boot.
Finally, Alex placed his hands on a red capsule-like vehicle resembling a Peticopter/V-22 Osprey hybrid with JanKenPon engines.
"Say hello to your new best friend", Danica smiled, earning many more grins of enjoyment from the other racers.
