Unleashing Sonic: Story Mode
Our race began on the Great Wall of Chun-Nan. Apparently, it was in the back yard of that pavilion. I didn't dare go as fast as I could- that wouldn't be fair to Chip at all- but I definitely wasn't going to let him win either. He had a pretty determined face on, so I at least knew he was going to try. I had taken the time to run a ramp, sending me into the air, allowing Chip to gain a slight lead. But by the time I returned to the ground, I was a blur again and right on Chip's tail.
"Nice place, huh?"
"Yeah…"
We zoomed under a few ruins, and then as Chip continued down the main road, I found a secret spring that took me to a hidden grind rail. Chip looked back to see if I was behind him.
"Cool! I'm winning!"
"Not for long!" I teased as I crouched, waving to him casually. He made a face then shot off like a purple bullet. I whistled- he had some decent speed, that was for sure. I lost track of him after that- I was too busy flipping from rail to rail to prevent myself from falling. When I returned to the road, I had taken such a massive shortcut that I couldn't even see Chip anymore.
Poor guy- I left him in the dust.
I continued without a care, until I heard munching over my head and crumbs starting to fall in my quills. I glanced up- Chip was floating above me munch on a chocolate bar!
"How'd you catch up! ?" I asked incredulously.
"Like this…" Chip flew up, and then charged through the center of several loops in the air, helping him considerably. "I hardly have to worry!"
"You can't beat me that easily!" I protested, quickening my pace. We both ended up in the air due to a sudden road-out, but looking forward, we were headed for the real Dragon Road- a road in the form of a dragon.
How cheesy.
"Sweet!" we shouted at the same time, eagerly battling each other for the top spot. I disappeared in a blue blur, going along with the road, while Chip took a small hop of the edge and flew straight downward. I watched as he shot through another ring, then took out three robots by himself with one chocolate bar- and it wasn't even frozen.
"He's got some spunk!" I admitted to no one in particular, attempting to catch up. I blasted over three Boost Pads and went spiraling through a loop in the road. This led me a shortcut, as I caught Chip out of the corner of my eye taking a longer route. I twisted and turned through the dragony path, Chip's jaw dropping as he saw my aftermath streak over his head. Now I was in the lead…at least, until I reached some oddly of place turn-table things.
"What the heck…" I muttered, trying not to fall. Chip gave a taunting laugh as he flew right on by, bypassing the obstacle. I narrowed my eye ridges and spin dashed over the hindrances. They weren't getting in my way! Chip had stopped to gaze at an eagle flying by, but even that small detail didn't allow me to get ahead of him again. I slammed into a spring, rocketing to the next area.
"I didn't know you were so clever Chip!" I called when he was an earshot distance from me.
"Neither did I!" he shouted back. I watched him fly…until he plummeted right over the edge. When I caught up with him, he was grinding a rail! Flabbergasted, I jumped on too and couldn't for the life of me figure out just how he was doing that.
I heard him exclaim, "This is so cool!"
"It is, isn't it?" I replied, having to hide a smirk. We both hopped the rails a few times, ending up with me being a few steps behind Chip rather than the previous large gap. We ended up on a tiny island, and then we both flew over water, each in our own ways. The splashes from my footsteps repeatedly hit Chip, and he ended up flying higher up. Again, I lost track of him, which was actually good for me because I had to work on not screwing up and sinking.
There was no way I was going through another one of those episodes…
I somehow drifted around a building, despite bring on water, and if that wasn't enough, there were the equivalent of Viking ships making their way down the river. I had to dodge those too! Looking up, I saw Chip skipping easily over the roof of the ships, not giving them or me a second thought.
"Oh, come ON!" I would've thrown my hands in the air, but balance was of the essence.
Next thing I knew, I was in the air, headed for a loop, and then a new portion of the road.
"How the…all I did was blink and now this happens?"
Maybe I should stop blinking…
"…you're still not going to win!"
"We'll see, since you're not really living up to being fastest thing alive!" was the cheerful reply. I turned red and gritted my teeth, flying forward, causing a Sonic Boom, and sending a whole dome of water over the surrounding area.
"Now you've awaken my competitive side! I was going easy on you before!"
Chip avoided my tsunami at the last moment, suddenly increasing in his speed. Naturally, it was nothing to my Sonic Boom (which completely blew him off course) but he'd be back. I knew it.
And now I was serious!
Once I semi-slowed down, I noticed the path led to a really large tower, but there was no way to tell if the road actually led there. I wasn't going to ponder over it- there was the more concerning problem of where the heck did I blast Chip off to?
"Chip? Chip?"
"Is this one of your tricks?"
"…no."
"Oh. Okay. See ya!"
"HUH? !"
I heard Chip laugh madly as he flew off my back and several steps ahead of me. He was with me the entire time! How'd he do that! ?
"Wha-"
"You didn't even notice me!" he laughed, bounding off the heads of three robots and going higher. I was so stunned, I plowed right into one of those robots (and didn't realize I was right next to that odd tower, not that it matters) and started stumbling. Chip turned around and gave me a cheeky grin, which turned into stricken fear as I rushed up behind him.
"Come back here!"
"Ahhh! Not with that tone!"
I chased him through a loop in the road, then shot myself out of a cannon too. Chip gained a head start, due to the simple fact he could fly, and I was forced to wait until I hit the ground to gain anymore speed. Chip swerved under me as I jumped over him, heading straight through a red loop and started to fall toward the ground again. I hit a convenient spring, following Chip to another "dragon road". I jumped on the grind rail, he flew the road, and together we twisted and wove our way around. Naturally, I got back on the real road first, but he bounced off my head and took off flying way out of my reach!
"Not fair!"
"All's fair in love and war-"
"This isn't war!…or love!"
I heard Chip snicker at my comment while heading over to the next area, I jumped down through a line of ring, bounded off a spring, then spiraled into the air to gain a small boost. That didn't help, because I had to use arrows jetting out of a vertical road to continue while Chip just flew over it.
Wow- I might actually lose!
He was already tearing down the next dragon road when I got there, but I quickly caught up by boosting myself. I was right on Chip's heels when we reached another set of turntables. This time, I had the advantage as I cut through the air by spin dashing anything I could hit. Chip was left in the dust in no time!
Guess the tables turned that time!
When I reached the other side, I ran straight into a firework rocket, and instead of letting go, I clung tight!
"Wait for me!" Chip wailed, zipping over and grabbing the other side. "I almost thought you'd leave me!"
"I wouldn't do that- but we're, oh you know…strapped to a firework!"
We exchanged glances before yelling out in actual fear. The rocket's fuse lit up, and a small high-pitched sound made our ears ring while we started blasting off. We kept screaming until the sound got louder and louder and right before we exploded I grabbed Chip and finally jumped off, freefalling as a green fireworks burst in the sky above us.
"That was close…" Chip commented, falling back first so he could watch the spectacle.
"Tell me about it… good thing we didn't hang on too much longer!"
Or maybe not…
I looked down- endless circles of spike balls were right in our path!
"We're going to get spiked to death!"
"We are not-"
"WHOA!"
"Just stay in the middle!"
Chip, however, ignored my instructions and started zipping around like a fly, performing ninja moves to avoid the obstacles while I just kept falling. I landed on another turntable when I remembered- we were still racing!
"Catch ya later!"
"What-"
I rolled up into a ball and started bounding from one table to another like a rock skipping across water. Chip wasn't too far behind, and before either of us knew it, we were attached to another firework.
What's next- sparklers falling from the sky?
Again, I let go right before it exploded, rushing over a boost pad that happened to be there. The firework soared over our heads and detonated into another green-red flash. We gasped in awe as we jetted around a corner, falling down a few steps, and hearing metal clanking behind us.
"Oh cool- a robot to trounce!" I exclaimed, not as sarcastic as I wanted it to be.
"Doesn't that mean we're getting to the end, though?"
Darn it.
"Oh well!" I called, jumping over a laser as it was shot. I rolled to the other side, not missing a beat. I knew how these stupid contraptions of Eggman played! It let out a mechanical roar, lifting up its massive arms and tearing a building up and tossing it into the air.
Chip's eyes widened and started cowering behind me. "Wh-OA!"
"Aw, he's just showing off!" I shrugged.
"Like you?"
"That's different."
I hurdled over a bomb that was lying in the road while avoiding another laser. This robot was a bit smarter than the previous ones. It lasers started following me, and one ever hit me in the ankle, causing me to trip!
"There's no way to attack this is there?" I asked to no one in particular. I cart wheeled away from another mine, which was blown up by a laser. Typical. Finally, I ran under a narrow bridge, causing the robot's wide shoulders to get stuck, and me to escape with only a minor injury. And better yet- we wound up back at the village. I just looked at Chip, who already looked back in return.
"Looks like it was a tie!" we both cried at the same time. Then, we hurried down to the main part of the village.
. . . . . .
"Well, that was pretty exciting, huh?" Chip asked, once we got there. We made instant tracks for the restaurant, where Tails was walking out eating some noodles. We walked over- he instantly noticed us and waved.
"Oh hey! You're back- get anything?" Tails asked, slurping down his latest bite.
"Just another tablet fragment-" I began.
"Adorned with a red jewel!" finished Chip.
"We were just about to head in to grab ourselves a bite to eat…" I explained, glancing down at his noodles.
"Oh really? Well- you still can! Don't let ME stop you- I've already eaten, as you can see…I suppose I should've waited until you got back."
I shook my head. "Nah, you deserved to go out and do something while we picked all these planet pieces or whatever. We won't be long- just a quick bit of chow and we can head back to…Spagonia, I think. We had better go talk to the professor again."
Tails nodded. "Okay. I'm all right with that. I'll go get the Tornado all warmed up!"
I saluted him with two fingers while walking in the door. "See ya soon, Tails!" Chip flew in behind me, trying to take in as much scent of food as he could before he needed to take a breath.
"Oh it smells so HEAVENLY in here!" he sighed.
"I'll say! I hope the food's as good as it smells!" I replied, sitting down at a two seated table. The elder's grandson quickly ran up to us, not even allowing us to tell us what we want, let alone pay, and within the same moment somehow managed to whipped up plates of noodles, won tons, rice, and a tin of bun-cakes that smelled twice as good up close and personal. We ignored the buns at first- me dishing into the won tons while Chip started gobbling down the plates of rice.
"And you don't have to pay a single ring!" our waiter giggled. "Anything for saving my grandfather!"
I, with my mouth full and cheeks puffed out to the max, just gave a thumbs up and reached for the chopsticks in a plate of noodles.
"You have some great cooking!" Chip stated, taking a won ton for himself then nearly fainted from the flavor. "OOOOO-"
"Take it easy there, Chip." I said with a hiccup, pointing a chopstick at him. "I don't want you to explode from too much food intake-"
"BUT IT'S SO GOOD! And it doesn't even have chocolate!"
I just gave a small chuckle and slurped up a noodle.
No wonder Tails had gotten them- they were delicious!
One by one, our plates rapidly emptied, until they were suddenly stacked in high towers beside us. The grandson quickly swooped over and took some away, planning to come back for a second trip. That's when we realized we'd forgotten about the buns- Chip eagerly took one, bit into it, then I watched as his eyes get wide.
"Yum."
I raised an eyebrow as I grabbed for one too, popping it into my mouth. I froze also.
"Wow."
Seconds later-
"Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom!"
Crumbs and chopsticks were flying around in a blur as Chip and I literally devoured that tin of treats. When it started to get empty, we both sat back in our chairs to take a brief rest. I forced the last bite of my cake in, then sighed.
"That's good cooking…"
"I told you! So, I guess I'll just take the last bun and-"
"Wait, there's one more?" I asked, peering into the tin. Sure enough- one sat smack dab in the middle.
"Yeah, but I'll just-"
"Well maybe I want it!"
Our eyes narrowed as the grandson tripped over a gong in the background. We both slowly leaned forward, ready to nab that bun like a pack of hungry sharks after a goldfish. Our chopsticks chopped with anxiousness. Then, we both flew at the tin in the middle, our chopsticks slamming down on the innocent bun as fast as psychically possible. My grip was tight, since I was quite fluent with using chopsticks-
I have a natural knack, okay? Nothing wrong with that…
-but Chip wasn't, and the sticks were nearly as tall as him, so he had to use two arms to pull at his bun while I just stood intently, clinging on to that bun for dear life with only one hand. Chip knew that bun wasn't coming loose anytime soon, so he frantically pointed behind me as if to point out that Dr. Eggman was strolling in for some eggnog.
"Huh?" I pretended to fall for his trickery, adjusting my grip on the sticks so that there was no way he could possibly snag them from me. I heard him grunt in agony as I started smirking and pretending to search. When he lost his focus for a split second-
"Ha hah!" I pumped my fist then swooped my hand with the sticks away from Chip so furiously, that it took the bun, the tin, and Chip with it. I tossed him off, and I nearly had it in my mouth when his sticks suddenly snapped at the bun, motivation for food suddenly taking over. I moved- he moved. I went up-he snapped up back. When ended up tugging on the cake until Chip's sticks snapped, causing me to accidentally throw mine- and the bun!
"AAUGH!" We wailed out, shoving each other out of the way for the delicacy. Being the fastest thing alive, I dashed for it, hand extended. Chip, however, apparently really wanted it, because he jumped on my head and had the nerved to shove me out of the way!"
"HIYAAAHHH!" "WAAAAAAAAA-"
Everything went into slow motion as I began to fall to the floor, Chip flying up with his mouth watering and catching the bun in his mouth, like a frog snapping up a fly. He got so lost in the flavor that he closed his eyes as he gulped it, forgetting the fact that he needed to fly…and landed head first in a pot.
I got up from the floor walked over, looked at the pot…and broke down laughing.
"Ha ha ha ha ha hahaha!" I grabbed my stomach from laughing so hard, unable to do anything but point and chuckle. Chip struggled to break free of his confident, only to end up with his whole body in the pot. I just kept laughing. I laughed until my sides hurt. I laughed until I almost couldn't breathe. I laughed until I felt tears roll down my face. I haven't felt this good even before the Were-hog incident!
There was no doubt about it- I was back. There are two things you can do in life- either dig yourself so low that it doesn't matter what anyone does, or build yourself so high that no one can knock you down.
Guess which one I chose?
At long last, and like 24 chapters and over a year, Sonic is back to his normal self! (and no longer somewhat insane. :P)Woo! Alright, new motivation for this story, let's get to work! *starts typing future chapters*