Hey everyone, I know its a long time coming so I'll make no excuses. Here it is. Let me know what you think. It's been a while since I've had a review of any sort. Ha ha ha. Enjoy!
"Last but not least we have a newcomer to the Running scene. A first time competitor, let's hear it for Rook!"
Ron still couldn't believe his ears. Here he was, standing on the line at a Runner competition, all because Stickers had opened up his big mouth.
Flashback
Arriving at the designated area, Ron took in quite the sight. There were hundreds, if not thousands of people swarming the park area. Stalls popped up everywhere, but the highest concentration was around the perimeter and close to the central area. As Ron walked around he noted that the vendors sold everything from food to clothing and even videos. It was a Running fan's dream. Individual teams had set up booths as well, selling off some of their official merchandise in the forms of t-shirts, hats, bags, stickers, etc. There wasn't much professional level gear to be found, unless of course you happened to be a Runner yourself.
Ron found this fact out when he passed by a stall manned by a team called the Rhinos. One of the vendors waved him back before he got out of earshot and had pulled Ron in behind the main stall. In the back area, away from prying eyes, Ron had been shown some new prototype gloves and pants the team was coming up with this year. Unfortunately, Ron could only drool at the way the gloves fit on his hands as he had little money with him at the time. The vendor, a fellow Runner, was quite understanding, but still said that when he had some free cash to come on back and they would get Ron decked out proper, with a discount for being on Kenu's team.
This whole getting respect by being a Runner associated with Kenu seemed to happening more often. Every stall he passed where he either ordered some grub or simply tried on a few pieces of gear he would get a respectful nod from the Runners he dealt with once they found out who Ron ran with. It never ceased to amaze Ron how much street cred Kenu seemed to have in this community. I guess it helped that the man was one of the original founders of the professional movement of the sport and business.
In the main area, what was once a rather large skate park had been transformed into an arena. Scaffolding, concrete and wooden barriers and even the occasional portable toilet was laid about haphazardly with Runners vaulting and jumping to music being pumped over speaker stands. The speakers all ran back to a central tower set about thirty feet up in the air. Ron guessed that it was the main announcers area and probably where he needed to head to find Roxy and see what she was getting up to. He had already run into some of her crew this morning. They were running this competition so someone in a Sky Spiders uniform could be found every so often either giving out directions or providing security and the like. Ron made his way up to the grandstand and asked the two big scary bouncer-looking guys if Roxy was up there. One of them nodded to the other who then scrambled up over the ladder to have some brief words with whoever was up there. A few seconds later and green and black form can sliding down over the ladder with a friendly grin on her face.
"Ron me boyo. Good tae see ye...and pants still on yer wee hips. Color me impressed." Roxy's smirk reminded Ron waaaay too much of Shego at this point. Fortunately he could tell tat she was in much better spirits than Shego ever was.
"Good to see you too Roxy." Ron gestured at the general area, "Quite the setup you got here."
"Aye, it be that. Took forever tae get set up by this morning. Damn bureaucrats had another event here last night, screwed us over an' gave us only ten hours tae get it all ready. But, they deenay call me Roxy for nothing." She winked at that. "So tell me Ron, ya ever been tae one of these before?"
"Uh, that would be a definite no." Ron rubbed the back of his head, as usual.
"Figured I'd ask anyhow, knowin' who ye be and all that. Well, let's give ye the full tour. Follow me on up tae the stand."
Ron obliged and followed Roxy up the ladder to the stand. He surprisingly only let his footing slip once, but at least there was a good reason this time. Under his breath, Ron was chanting,
"I must not look at butt, I must not look at butt, I must not..." Roxy had chosen to wear must more fitted pants today and it definitely showed. Even Shego's butt didn't look that good. Ron was just glad that Kim would never find out. Hey, he never touched, right?
Clambering up over the final rungs, Ron was given the full rundown by Roxy.
"Ron me boy, meet Gavin." The two bumped fists before Gavin went back to whatever he was currently toying with on his two laptop screens, "Gavin here be our sound guy and DJ. One of the best he be, if a bit short on words sometimes." Roxy then started pointing out a few of the features Ron had missed, finally getting back to the main stage.
"This bonnie piece of tarmac be the competition zone. We've got the timed competition first and then the freestyle later on."
"Um, what are they doing down there now?" Ron pointed to some Runners who appeared to be teaching kids and regular folk to do some basics.
"Aye, that be a training seminar. We're still trying to raise awareness about what we do and the best way tae do that is to teach others. Besides, sometimes we get lucky with some promising new recruits."
"Sweet. After training yesterday I feel like I should be down there too."
"That bad, eh?"
"Nah, just made me realize that I have a heck lot more to learn if I want to keep up to Kenu and the crew."
Roxy's eyes bugged out a little before she quickly school her expression.
'What in the name of Bonnie Prince Charlie? If Ron's already running with Kenu's crew then he must already be some runner...'
"OY, RON!"
Roxy's thoughts were cut off by the arrival of another voice from below the tower. Leaning over the railing she saw Stickers grinning and waving to Ron with Ron waving back. He spotted Roxy and gave her a mock salute. Roxy saluted back before motioning that she would be right down. Gesturing to Ron, they both made their way down the ladder to meet Stickers at ground level.
"Ye made it." A statement rather than a question.
"yep, definitely. I missed the last one so I had to show up to this one. Ron bro, how ya feeling from yesterday? No swelling around the facial area I see." Stickers ducked a swipe from Ron while grinning.
"Yeah yeah, rub it in." Ron was grinning too, "You're competing in this thing?"
"Yep, I usually do. Helps me stay sharp and sometimes get a free pair of kicks out of it."
Ron and Stickers continued to talk for a bit while Roxy had one of her refrigerator-sized bouncers get her attention and relay something in hushed tones. She reacted rather well...
"Oh saints preserve me!" This got Ron and Stickers' attention quickly. Roxy turned to her new audience, rubbing the bridge of her nose in the process, "That daft bugger...one of the competitors just busted his ankle in warm-up. Now we're down a competitor for the main match. It be so much better tae have a full roster, especially for the pairings later on."
"Hey, Ron here can do it." Stickers piped up.
"Stickers, you sure about..."
"Of course I'm sure. The dude can pretty much keep up with me in a straight line and he's mad unpredictable."
"Hey, um..." Ron never got to finish what he would have said.
"Alright, I'll go sign the boyo up. Give him the rundown, would ye Stickers?"
"Will do!"
"What, wuzzat, what just happened?" Ron looked about as confused as he could be at the moment as he watched Roxy walk off talking to some more folk with clipboards in their hands.
"Looks like you're gonna run in the competition there Ron! Awesome bro!" Stickers gave Ron a slap on the back, pulling him along in is daze. "Come on Ron, the competition starts in a few minutes. Best get the rest of your kit on too. Don't think just because we're friends I'm gonna go easy on ya either. Ha ha ha." Stickers gave Ron a light punch on the shoulder for good measure.
The wind whistled trough Ron's ears, betraying te fact that he had no idea what he had just gotten himself into. Fortunately his body knew what needed to be done and in a fog Ron went through a few stretches and checked all of his gear over.
Finally, the announcements came over the speaker system.
"All Runners please report to the starting line. I repeat, all Runners to the starting line. If yer late, yer out."
Ron just followed the crowd, finally starting to realize on what he had gotten involved in. Once all the runners had assembled, another voice came over the loud speakers. This one definitely had the ring of a professional announcer to it.
"Alright, here's the run down everyone. We've got the timed comp up first with the freestyle run to come after. The Timed Run and Freestyle will be held on the same course to there will be a break in between to get the equipment set up and give our Runners a break."
"Now for the boring stuff, the rules for the Timed Run. Each Runner will start from the Orange start line, currently being laid down by our own host, Roxy! Say hi Roxy!...I don't think that was a wave folks. In any case, moving on. The Runners then complete the course as fast as possible. Style doesn't matter here so it all comes down to time. However, all Runners will be required to hit the targets outlined in Yellow paint. If you fail to hit these feature throughout your session you will be disqualified. Also, there's only one round, so make it count. I'll go over the rules for the Freestyle comp a little later. For now, let's get this started!"
"First up to the line we have a veteran to the sport. He's sure to set the bar high right out the gates. Please welcome, representing the sky spiders, Franky Board. Don't let his laid back personality fool you folks, this guys is one of the top competitors here today. Runner ready? Ok, in 3...2...1...GO!"
The blast of an air horn started Franky off at a surprisingly fast pace. It was like he just acted lethargic to save energy for the Run. He even had a relaxed face and shoulders throughout the whole thing, looking just like his namesake.
Ron peeled his eyes as the competitor tackled the course for the first time. First up were a few fairly low hurdles, followed by a precision run along the top of a very narrow angled wall rising from about two feet to eight feet in the air. Given that Franky was fairly tall, this section didn't give him much trouble. He then had to launch off and stick the landing on a vertical pole. Then it was up the pole as fast as possible up to about the twenty-five foot mark. Franky ran up this one hand over foot, just like a monkey would have...
'Monkeys, brrrrrrr...'
...At the top of the pole then wasn't a platform, and the top was capped with a round ball so you couldn't stand on it. No problem though, as Franky just spun 180 degrees and launched off in a backwards spin to grab the raised platform. Pulling up onto this thirty foot stage, he scrambled to his feet and kept running towards the next obstacle, a gap. There were two platforms in this timed run, the one that Franky was on now and the one across from it. This was the apex of the run and the turnaround point. The platforms were fairly far apart so there was also a raised wall set between then so the runner could choose to perform a wall run across or simply brave the jump if they had enough speed. Just to make it harder though, the wall in between was one of the required pieces to touch in order to not be disqualified. No problem here, Franky just took off with one foot, touched the other to the wall and pushed off, landing on the other side in a run. The man's long legs gave him an advantage at the gap distances.
Now it was a descent back to ground level and onwards to the finish. There was a rope set up to swing off of and then a double-rail leading down to about five feet off the ground. Franky hit the swing, letting go mid-air and dropped onto elbows and ankles going down the slide. It was just like something you saw in old WWII movies where the crewmen on ships and u-boats would slide down their stairs because they were so steep. Hitting the ground at a run there were now only three obstacles left to complete. A higher hurdle, requiring a hand from our lazy competitor to clear it and a slide section where Franky had to slide on a piece of vinyl under a low hanging wall. Back on this feet, Franky set off at a sprint for the last obstacle, a car. The car was parked sideways with no doors or glass attached to it. So long as you tagged part of the car and didn't just run around it, you could go over it as you wished. Being taller, Franky just vaulted the roof of the car and ran over the line to the applause of the crowd and the praises of the announcer. A clean run and a very fast time if the cheering was anything to go by.
"Wow, a great first run by our veteran. Let's hear it once again for Franky! Up next we have..."
"Hey Ron, what do you think?" Stickers had to poke Ron in the ribs to get his attention, "Got it figured out yet?"
"Ummm, that'd be a no." Ron just scratched his head. There was no way he had figured out how to get through this yet.
"Hey, no worries. I'm not up till the next round so I'll fill you in. You ave to hit the precision run, the two stages, the wall in between, the rails and the last car. Other than that, how you get through the course is up to you really. The vaults are easier to go over than around just because of the narrowness of the course, so those are pretty much a must. The rope doesn't need to be touched, but it does help with the rails. Your choice though. Roxy probably put you on the last placing to give you some time to warm up and get this course figured out since you are an alternate. My advice, watch everyone else and see what works." Sticker's name came over the loudspeakers.
"Woops, time for me to get ready. Catcha in a bit Ron." Stickers went off to get his place in the starting area, leaving Ron to his own thoughts.
"Awwww man, Rufus. This looks complicated!"
"Hnk, uh huh, yep!" The little mole rat spoke from Ron's bag, as he figured that being in his master's pocket might be dangerous during this foray.
"Nay, it not be tae hard." Roxy was at Ron's left shoulder, making him jump a little, "Two thinks ye got to do. One, hit everything in orange. Two, run faster than the other guys." She gave Ron a wink and a wave, heading off to organize something else.
"Heh, heh, true, but still not helping!" Ron's words went unheard as Roxy had already moved off.
He settled on a spot near the starting line in order to watch some of the other competitors and the way they did things. Many of the Runners took similar routes to Franky, trying to emulate his style. There were definitely differences in every run though. Some went up the pole in a spiral fashion or even like climbing a rope in the gym. Others performed full wall runs at the turnaround point rather than just one foot on the wall. There were a couple of falls, but nothing serious, and there were no disqualifications due to not hitting the required pieces of the course. A guy that went by the name of Antelope set the fastest time for the day, skipping the rope swing entirely and pretty much running/grinding the double rails down to the ground. Stickers came in just behind his time in second place so far. With the number of Runners dwindling, Ron got up and brushed himself of.
"Wish me luck buddy." Ron said to Rufus.
"Hnk, luck!" A little mole rat thumbs-up gave Ron a little extra confidence as he stepped up to the starting line.
"Last but not least we have a newcomer to the Running scene. A first time competitor, let's hear it for Rook!"
Ron was hit by the full assault of the crowd's cheering now that it wasn't being blocked by a wall of bodies. The sound of support was quite something else. Ron even noted some of his competitors, including Stickers, cheering him on. Apparently everyone supported each other at these things. Giving Stickers a nod in appreciation, Ron stepped into the hot zone, indicating he was ready to start. The announcer picked up the mike and began.
"On your mark, get set...GO!"
The airhorn set Ron into action like he had been hit by a taser in the butt. Dashing forward, Ron cleared the first three hurdles with little difficulty, if not the fastest time of the say for that sector. Next up was the wall run.
'Eyes on the prize Ron. Look at where you want to go, not where you are...'
This was one of the drills Kenu had Ron work on as he was being trained. Your balance and speed improved if you looked where you wanted to be, not where you were going to place your next foot. They would take care of themselves.
He only stumbled once and didn't fall. A big plus.
Next it was the vertical climb up the pole. Ron at least had a definite plan for this part of the course. Ron leaped slightly off-centre of the pole in order to only grab it with one hand. Then, pushing his legs as hard as he could, Ron actually ran up the pole! By keeping his momentum, Ron spun around the pole and used short steps to Run up the pole much quicker than he could climbing it. Also, instead of stopping at the top, Ron had timed it so he simply let go of the pole in mid-spin and rolled sideways through the air and onto the platform. Running up higher on the pole allowed him to do that.
'Glad that's over. Now here we go!'
Ron scrambled to his feet, running hard to the gap in a wide arc so he could hit it straight on. Launching to the next platform Ron simply reached out and slapped his hand against the wall. Hey, he touched it, right? Ron nearly landed too short though, clipping a trailing leg on the landing and going into a roll, losing precious seconds.
On his feet again, Ron completely ignored the rope. He wasn't used to swinging on this type of rope so he wouldn't bother with it.
'Time to commit, Ron-man.' Diving into space he hit the rails in the most original way anyone had done yet. Ron hit the rails head first, the exact opposite of the navy-style slide. Luckily, the dismount was clean, rolling off onto the concrete with little time lost. Out of breath, Ron finally realized he was at the last section already.
'Go, go, go, Go, Go, GO!'
Ron ran like he was being chased by Stickers during practice.
First hurdle, easy enough. Once hand and he was over. Then came the slide, which Ron took feet first. He was used to this, having slide-tackled goons before when saving the world with Kim. To his feet, then came the hard part.
'I wish I thought this through earlier.'
The car was the one section Ron hadn't figured out how to pull off yet. Time slowed down as he ran towards it, legs burning something fierce.
'Under...can't be done...Over...not fast enough...hood, nope...Ah, hell...Go for it!'
Stickers had been watching his friend run the course and was definitely impressed.
"Dude, the Ron-man is cooking!" Ron was moving fast enough for a position in the top three if he didn't take too long on this last move.
"Go Ron, wooooohooooo!" Stickers let out a cheer for his buddy as he reached the car. What Ron did next caused Stickers' jaw to drop and the expert Runner just go quiet. This was something really special.
Ron figured if he was going to go for it, might as well go out with style.
Time took its usual course again with Ron nearly to the car. Stutter stepping to gain his footing, Ron dove straight into the side of the car in a huge move through the rear seating area. Just as he was about to clear the whole interior and out the other side, Ron's foot clipped the headrest on the front seats, sending him slightly out of control and into a side roll onto the ground. Luckily, he just rolled across the finish line as it was only five feet away.
A bit dazed, Ron stayed on the ground for a few seconds gathering his wits.
"Woah, anyone get the name of that truck." Grinning as usual, Ron took a proffered hand from one of the staff and was puled to his feet to one of the biggest reactions of the day.
"Holy guacamole ladies and gentlemen! Let's hear it for Ron Stoppable who just hit third place in his first time out with a truly inspired Run. This cat is someone to watch in the future. I think our leader for the speed round nearly had a heart attack at one point. Give it up! Wooohooo!"
The announcer was obviously pumped, and so was the crowd. Everyone from competitors to staff and just bystanders were cheering like mad for Ron. In his credit, he didn't lose his pants, but he was definitely awestruck by the support. Even the leader, a tall African fellow, gave him a thumbs up. Still sucking in air, Ron was assaulted again.
"Oof!"
"Dude, sick run! You got third place, nice!" Stickers had tackled Ron in a friendly hug. Unfortunately for Ron, he was still recovering and Stickers was definitely stronger than he looked.
"Cough...breathe...gasp...can't..."
"Woops, sorry dude." Stickers released Ron back to search for more air. A few seconds later he finally caught is breath.
"Whew, thanks Stickers. Much obliged, well, for the congrats at least. Can't say I'm too thrilled about being suffocated." He gave Stickers a goofy grin.
"Yeah, sorry about that, got a bit carried away. But Ron man, you rocked the socks on that one. I mean, no one comes behind me and Antelope on the first try."
"The leader?"
"Yeah man, he's the best around at these types of comps. Well, Kat is probably better depending on terrain. They usually trade first and second place when they compete. I've won a few but that only happens when its on a flat course with lots of space."
"Why isn't she here today?"
"Work. Couldn't get the time off and she had some major clients who needed a rush job. You know how it goes." Ron nodded. He had a few days like that over the last few weeks. So much work you couldn't get away. Stickers started walking into the crowd with Ron following. "Hey Ron, wanna grab some grub?"
"Uh, doesn't the next comp start soon?"
"Nah man, they need time to set up. It doesn't start for another hour or so. Enough time to go grab some Chinese?"
"Dude, you are so speaking my language!" Ron bumped fists with Stickers and the two went off in search of the oriental delicacy. Out of the back of Ron's bag a tiny pink rodent wearing a wise-brimmed hat and wielding chopsticks cheered.
"Dude, that chicken was awesome!" Stickers patted his stomach in satisfaction. Ron took a little bow.
"What can I say, the Ron-man knows his food! But I gotta say, it was even a stretch for me to try it with deep dish pineapple pizza."
"Word!"
"Alright boys and girls, we are ready to go for the next competition. Would all competitors for the freestyle Run get your butts down to the start line. We start in ten minutes. I repeat, ten minutes to start."
"Well, that's your cue Ron. Good luck bro." Stickers gave Ron a slap on the back.
"Woah there, hang on. Where are you going?" Ron stopped Stickers from walking off.
"Dude, I'm no trickster. You know that."
"Nuh uh, you got me into this, so you gotta do it too." Ron gave Stickers his best 'note serious face' look. Luckily, Stickers had about the same tolerance as Ron when it came to serious faces and PDP's.
"Alright, I guess I do owe you one. One for one today, eh?"
"Booyah bro! But just because we're friends doesn't mean..." Ron got cut off as Stickers took a swat at him. The two chased each other all the way down to the start line to get signed up and checked in.
break
"Ow, hey, leggo!" Stickers had Ron in a headlock noogie. Classic.
"Baby!"
But Stickers did let him go. The two competitors were warming up with the other combatants while waiting for the final announcement to come on.
"So Stickers, how does this one work?" Ron asked as he stretched out a tight neck muscle.
"Basically, there's a one minute time frame and you do that best tricks possible in that time frame. It's sudden death just like the speed round so you only get one shot to get the highest score possible. Sometimes its done in rounds, but not today. Honestly, just go nuts and be as creative as you can. Oh, but it's best if you use as much variety as you can. All ground moves won't get you shit."
"Gotcha, stay moving, do lots of it, jump off and on stuff." Ron summarized in his usual way.
"Uh...yeah. Let's go with that." Stickers just shook his head in bemused confusion.
"Last call for Runners. Get to the starting area now or be disqualified."
"Alright Ron, this is it. You ready?"
"Dude, I was born ready!"
"First Runner to the start line. Time will start in 5...4...3...2...1...GO!"
The crowd joined in the chanting, sending off the first runner into the modified area. Ron and Stickers looked on, trying to memorize the course layout. The obstacles were basically laid out in a big square area about the size of a quarter of a soccer field. Big enough to get up a head of steam, but small enough not to spread out the obstacles too much. The scaffolding had been added to, now with multiple levels, individual platforms, gaps and even random poles sticking out to grab on to at all angles. An old set of jungle gyms had been pulled out, as well as other various obstacles such as old cars, hay bales, railings, crates, etc. It really was just like a big junkyard in the middle of the park, with some running spaces in between. Ron and Stickers listened to the running commentary as the Runners went through the ranks from last to first place. Being in the top three, they had some time to observe the best and worst.
"And Monza pulls a 900 reverse wall ride with only a slight stumble off the landing..."
"...with a sick Double-back flip to flatspin over the hay-bales, Arcanum takes the new lead..."
"Woah, mad props for the wall-to-wall-to-rollout run by the representative from the Sky Spiders..."
Points for the Runners ranged from a 5.4 all the way to an 8.8 for the current leader. The maximum would have been 10, but that would have taken pretty much all original tricks or flawless execution of some of the most difficult traditional ones. Every trick that could be pulled off was being pulled and it was starting to make Ron a bit nervous, not to mention Stickers.
"Ah, hell. This is gonna be tough." Stickers complained as Ron got ready for his round, "I am so not ready for this today."
"You not ready? What about me? I've only been at this for a few weeks and I'm already in a competition dude." Ron gave his friend a ribbing, "What, you don't think you can handle what the Ron-man is puttin' down yo?" With his best 'thug' voice, Ron struck the most ridiculous east-coast/west-coast pose imaginable. However foolish, it got the desired effect. Stickers couldn't back down to anything.
"Is that a challenge Stoppable? Coming from a guy known for losing his pants, that's some big talk." Stickers quipped, his face starting to morph into some semblance of his usual maniacal grin.
"Ya knows! Bring it on Stick-man!" Ron flicked his nose in a mocking salute and made for the start line when the announcer had just called his turn, "I'll make sure to leave a spot for you on the podium...below me."
"Oh, it's on Ron! I'll let you shine my shoes when I win." Stickers was back to his old cocky and competitive self with Ron's antics. Now more relaxed, Stickers settled in to watch Ron's run.
As for Ron, well, he was a little more relaxed, but now the atmosphere of the crowd and the venue was gearing him up again. The adrenaline started pumping through his veins causing his eyes to dilate beneath his sunglasses. His palms started to get sweaty so it was lucky he was wearing gloves. He started to feel a bit warm standing at the starting gate, so he whipped off his hoodie just as the announcer gave his first warning of the five count.
"Runner at the ready...5..."
Ron now stood defiant in his t-shirt, the sweat cooling to his skin. He looked out to the crowd and saw a flash of red and green, reminding him of KP who was waiting back home for him at the end of the summer. This is why he was here, to push himself, to get better, all because of KP...no, for KP.
"This one's for you KP." Ron said to the air as he tensed at the final count.
"...2...1...GO!"
"BOOYAH!" Ron yelled as he back-flipped off the starting block to start his Run. Time to show what he was made of.
Time to let me know what you think. Later days,
Niklos