A/N Hey guys, I know I haven't been posting stuff recently, well that's because I been working on this story lately! I was using Google Docs and so far Seven of the chapters are completed and I'm working on the 8th of this 13 chapter story. Hope you enjoy it! -Char
Prologue: A mistake well written
"Haven't you heard?" The television screen flickered to life in the darkened room as a lizard-like being watched with a gaze of pure boredom. A sigh came out as the screen cut to what looked to be a garden in the sky, "The Babylon Gardens are back open for watching the third anniversary of the Grand Prix!" The lady announcer, who was a blue hawk-like bird, said excitedly next to her red pitbull co-host.
"As you all are aware, three years ago, Doctor Ivo Robotnik of Robotnik Robotics, hosted the first Grand Prix to advertise the hot-off-the-shelf Extreme Gear. The winner, Jet the Hawk, used the entry fees to open the way to the Babylon Gardens in order to find the treasure left by his ancestors. Reportably, he entered a race against Sonic the Hedgehog, and lost on the track." A sound of annoyance came from the lizard.
"Extreme Gear this, Extreme gear that...will they just give it a rest?" The lizard groaned out as he turned off the television, unable to watch any more, "Why not just fly by using flame, or just run? Extreme Gears just...don't lead to anything good." The lizard said to no one in particular while he put on a darkish red jacket with a small lightning bolt going through the middle of the back on it. "Now that so many use Extreme Gears, it's getting way colder! Even my tail does nothing to help me fight it now!" He continued ranting to himself, his tail swaying back and forth as it showed the flame that was lit at its end.
The door to the apartment slammed open as a yellow mouse walked, grinning as it casually flopped onto the lizard's couch. The lizard didn't seem to be as amused by this as the mouse looked around the one-roomed apartment. The apartment could only be described as an incoherent mess. Boxes were stacked along the walls, and the trash merely contained ash and charred remains of food thrown away. The couch was the only thing that evidence of a bed, being covered in burnt fabric and fireproof foil, not to mention the fact that all that was really in the apartment was a small t.v. and a small stack of coal that Char ate on.
"What." The lizard groaned out as the mouse waved it off, overexaggerating a sigh as he did, much to the lizard's displeasure.
"Is that any way to treat your friend Char? C'mon~! The race is starting up again for this year, and you're the only one that hasn't signed up!" The mouse whined as Char sighed it off, flopping next to him on the couch.
"I already told you that I wasn't joining Pika." He started with a disapproving stare, "I don't care for the race, and I don't even have enough rings for it with how cold it has been getting outside!" He rose his voice a bit, "Besides, I have work today, so just go and enjoy it without me!" Char yelled, getting back up and looking in the boxes for something he needed for work.
Pika sighed as he watched Char, "Geez Char, would it kill you to do some remodeling? Spice up the room a bit, add some flair?" Pika sighed as Char just glared back at him. "Yeah, yeah, no more rings. I get it, but Char, you can still race, you know? We're...we're worried about you." Char merely scoffed. "I'm serious!" Pika cried out as he got up to face Char, who towered over the small 4 foot tall mouse at 5'2 feet. Pika didn't back down and stared right back, "Look, I know that you don't want anything to do with Extreme Gears after what happened with Cliff, but...we need our leader back." Pika said as Char looked right back at him, the emotion raging in his eyes as he snapped back.
"No, you only want me back. There aren't any team races and CLIFF IS STILL IN A COMA!" He shouted at the top of his voice, not caring as Pika flinched back to the side, "Look, I can't go back to racing, I can't risk doing what I did to Cliff to someone else, so just go." Char said, the emotion of rage falling into sorrow as Pika looked back towards him, and he refused to meet Pika's gaze.
"It wasn't your fault, no one could have seen it coming." Pika said softly as Char shook his head.
"I did. I figured that if I could knock him off my tail that I would have been able to win...I...I thought he would just get back up…" Char said as he looked away, trying to hide his tears.
Pika shook his head, "You didn't and you know it, it wasn't your fault Char."
"But it was! I was the one that knocked him off!"
"It wasn't! You had no idea that he would end up like that!" Pika cried out as nothing but quiet sobs filled the room. Pika sighed as he looked towards him. "There are team races this year, and...he's joining too you know. He sends his regards." Pika said as he shut the door on his way out, leaving a crying lizard to deal with his regrets.
Pika sighed as he left the small apartment behind, shivering as he clung to his scarf. He grabbed his Extreme Gear, a Gambler clad in blue, and rode into the turbulence to meet up with the rest of the Wildvolt Squad. A light-gray bird was first to meet up, yellow beak contrasting with his skin as he readjusted his team jacket, clad in flame-red lightning bolts much like the jacket that Char was wearing. The bird looked around and saw Pika's downtracked face and merely rolled his eyes, "Warned you he wasn't going to join that easily." The bird said in a calm, nonchalant manner. Pika merely scoffed.
"What did you expect me to do? Just sit around and do nothing to try and convince him? He still blames himself for what happened!" Pika countered as the bird shrugged, fiddling with a small green walkie-talkie in his hand as it clicked to life.
Static was broadcast for a bit before a voice came out, "Helloooooo, Gale can you hear me?" The voice dragged out, seemingly not being the first time he asked, "Stupid walkie-talkie, why can't we just get phones…" The voice complained as Gale chuckled.
"Yeah, you're coming in loud and clear Grov, and if you can pay for us all to have phones then have at it." Gale said to the snickers of Pika as Grov groaned. "As you can tell, Pika is here with me with Char moping in his apartment still. How did it go on your end?" Gale asked as Grov sighed.
"They said he doesn't have long, without surgery he might…" Grov couldn't keep his voice from cracking off a bit as Gale nodded solemnly.
"I see….Pika," Gale said as Pika looked to attention, "Take this and regroup with the others." Gale handed over the walkie-talkie while Pika nodded.
"Yeah...bring him back, okay?" Pika asked as Gale brought out his Extreme Gear, a brownish gray High Booster with blue highlights. Gale smiled.
"Don't worry, I know that he'll join us after he knows what's at stake with this race." Gale said before jumping on his gear and boosting off in a huge gust of cold wind, leaving Pika clutching onto his scarf in shivers. While leaving, Pika started mumbling insults aloud to himself about it.
"Yeah, he does that a lot. You know that this is still on, right?" Grov asked as Pika groaned before turning the device off.
A knock rang upon the door as Char didn't answer it. Gale slowly opened the door and walked into the small apartment, "Char, you there?" Gale asked as he turned on the light, seeing Char hover in the far corner, paw clutched onto a dark-red Legend Extreme Gear.
"What do you even want Gale?" Char asked coldly, not even bothering to turn around to face him.
"Cliff is dying." Gale said bluntly as Char's grip loosened, the words rattling him to the core. His tail flame flickered as silence rang out between them. Gale let the words sink in for about twenty seconds before continuing, "But if we win the race, we can get enough rings to pay for the surgery and save him. We can wake him up." Gale continued as Char gritted his teeth to try and hide his tears, gripping onto the Legend to try and stay calm.
"H-How long?" Char asked, stuttering despite himself. Gale didn't seem to mind it.
"Not long enough." Gale said as a tear fell upon the Legend, Char's grip tightening as he stared at the gear.
"I...I swore off racing. I don't want to risk that happening to anyone else, I can't let myself risk that…" Char explained with a silent plea in his voice. Gale just stared in understanding.
"We need you." Char stilled as Gale's voice rang out, "Out of all of us, you're the fastest with your knowledge of the tracks. We need you, please." Gale pleaded as Char sighed, turning around to finally face Gale as he wiped the tears from his eyes before walking to him.
"Gale." Gale smiled towards Char.
"One last time, huh?" Gale asked as Char cracked a smile for the first time in over a year.
"Yeah...let's go save Cliff." Char said as they walked out of the apartment, turning the light off as they left the small apartment in darkness. "Don't worry Cliff…" Char mumbled under his breath as they jumped on the turbulence to meet up with Grov.
Prologue Complete.
Saving Data.
Continuing On.
Chapter One: A Cold Awakening.
"Char!" A tall light reddish orange weasel being called in glee upon seeing Gale and Char arrive off the turbulence to the Arena's entrance, "I'm so glad you decided to come back to help us! We missed you so much!" He continued as he dragged Char into a bone-crushing hug, not noticing Char's face twisting in pain and turning slightly blue.
"T-ye, c-can't b-breathe." Char choked out in pain as he struggled to breathe before Tye loosened the hug to a more bearable level. "T-thanks." Char panted out as he caught his breath, thanking Pika for the coal that healed him back to full strength as he grinned to them all. "Thanks, I missed you guys too." He said after catching his breath, hugging them all as Gale and Pika smiled at each other with twin nods. A green hedgehog that was in the hug, having markings down his arms also smiled towards Char.
"Good to have you back Char, it took you long enough." The hedgehog said as Char rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah Grov, go and rub it in." Char said as he laughed. "Sorry about being kinda out of commission, but Cliff's life is at stake, so I'll do my best." Char said as the others nodded.
"So…" Grov said, cutting into the celebration, "Who're we registering under for the team?" Grov said as Char did a double-take.
"Wait you weren't kidding?" Char asked as Pika let out a laugh.
"Come on! When have I ever lied to you before?" Pika asked as everyone gave a blank stare. The silence was deafening as Pika seemed to shrink a bit, "Point taken." Chuckles went around as Pika continued. "Well, what's happening is that this year is celebrating the teamplay, since it was two teams that went against each other in the first year tournament, so the higher ups decided to allow people to sign up in teams of up-to-five. Since we have you now; we have Grov with his Green Star, Gale with his High-Booster, Tye with his Trick Master, and me with my Gambler." Pika listed out as Tye grinned proudly.
"Trick Master? I thought you were still using Beginner." Char grinned as Tye blushed a bit.
"H-Hey! I found out that the Beginner had a better board that gave a bunch of speed and Air back whenever I pulled off a lot of tricks, and since I do that a lot, I called it Trick Master as a result!" Tye said nervously as Char rolled his eyes.
"So...if this is the Third year anniversary of the First Grand Prix, then why is it only the Third Grand Prix?" Char asked as Pika looked a bit lost before Grov spoke up.
"It took them a year to actually do the second one, what had happened is that Eggman didn't want to do it again since he had apparently lost interest in the Babylon Gardens, but supposedly another sponsor came up to fund it and launch it. After that Eggman continued it on and it's been like that ever since. With Extreme Gears becoming more and more popular, it's been getting a lot colder. These tournaments are practically winter encapsulated!" Grov explained, shivering as another rider boosted on past using the main city turbulence.
"Ahh, that explains it. Well, everyone!" Char said as they all stood in attention with grins on their faces. With one more readjustment of his jacket he looked back towards them, "Let's go! If we're signing up, we sign up to win! FOR CLIFF!" He shouted as he raised his paw.
"FOR CLIFF!" They yelled as they all grabbed their boards.
"Then let's do this." Char said as they all jumped into the turbulence and rode off, jacket rustling as the Wildvolt Squad went and rode into the sign-up area for the tournament. It looked like hundreds of people of all shapes and sizes were gathered, as the bird reporter from earlier walked up to them and held the microphone towards Char, much to his surprise and shock.
"Hello, are you the famous Char, the runner-up of last year's Grand Prix that suddenly disappeared afterwards?" She asked, noticing the flinch, she motioned to her co-host, the pitbull, to stop recording. "You okay? I...I heard of what happened during that last race." She asked, a lot less energetic than when she started the conversation. Char sighed with a side-ways frown as he looked at her, she seemed to not mind, "My name is Leslie, but you can call me Les, okay?" Les told them with a smile upon her face.
"I'm Bar, nice to meet you." The cameraman spoke in a deep voice as he introduced himself.
"...Char," Char introduced awkwardly, paw rubbing the scales of his head, "I'm...still trying to make up for what happened last year." He continued a tad nervously.
"We got your back Char, don't worry." Gale smiled as he put his hand on Char's left shoulder, with Tye grinning behind as Pika put his hand on the right shoulder.
"We're all right here behind you, no matter what!" Pika continued.
"Yeah, just leave it up to us!" Tye added as Grov nodded.
Char couldn't help smiling as Les nodded to Bar, who counted down before putting the camera back up.
"Hello everyone! We are on the scene, and with me, we have the famous Wildvolt Squad! Debuting last-year and coming in second place, they left their mark before their leader Char, disappeared!" Les announced as Char tried shying away, only to have everyone's grip tighten, locking him in. He gulped, "However, Char has returned to the scene, and even agreed to a quick interview before he gets signed up!" She continued, ignoring the paling of his skin as she held the microphone to his face, "So, why did you disappear?" She asked as Char blinked out of not being at all prepared.
"U-Uh…" He stuttered out before taking a deep breath, smiling to his friend before looking back towards her, a lot more confidently than before, "I left back then, because I couldn't live with myself after what I did to my friend Cliff. During my race on Sand Ruins, I boosted and he fell off the map due to my turbulence, causing him to end up in a coma. He's dying now, and unless we win this tournament and get the prize money…he'll die." Char said, completely serious as the chatter most of the chatter stopped around them, "He's in critical condition and doesn't have long to live without an expensive surgery, so even though I never wanted to come back due to what I've done...I have a chance to make up for it, and save my friend once and for all. So no matter what, I won't lose, and you'll see me at the finish line." Char said, determination brimming in his crimson eyes.
"Don't forget about us now!" Pika grinned as each member of the Squad reminded Char they were there. He nodded as he looked back to the camera.
"Yeah, we'll win." Char explained as Bar gave a thumbs up to them, as Char moved away from the camera so they could interview the other members. Gale walked on over to him as they hung around the side.
"Let's go sign up while they interview Pika." Gale suggested as Char paled.
"Oh no, they gave him a chance to talk." Char said as Gale rolled his eyes.
"You know you're just as bad right?" Gale countered as Char had a light blush touch his face. Shaking his head, Gale led them around the reporters and towards what appeared to be the sign-up desk.
"H-hello, are you signing up for the Third Grand Prix?" A timid looking purple cat asked as they walked up.
"Yes we are." Char said as she nodded.
"Are you here for the Singles or Team section?"
"Team."
"Name and members?"
"Wildvolt, and the members are Char, Gale, Pika, Grov, and Tye." Char answered, pointing to each person he named. She nodded to him with a smile.
"You will start in the second set and we'll call you when your match starts, good luck in the tournament!" She said as she bowed lightly, Char bowed back out of respect. The two walked away, heading back towards the others as a wolf with a dark red coat walked up to them, nearly bumping into Char on purpose as he jumped back.
"Heh, so you're the so-called Char huh? More like lucky brat! They're afraid of you? I don't see it!" The wolf laughed at them, pointing to Char, who merely looked confused before shrugging.
"Who are you again?" Char asked, much to the shock of the wolf, who looked like Char just insulted his existence with that last one.
"I was your opponent last year! I'm the great Rex! And this time, I won't lose!" Rex yelled out his introduction as Char looked at Gale, who shrugged. "Hey! Don't ignore me! You just got lucky last time and it won't happen this time! I'll see you in the Singles tournament so don't you miss it!" He said before storming off before Char could explain that he wasn't in the Singles tournament.
"Man, what a weirdo." Char shrugged, "Doesn't he know that luck is part of every race? You never know what you'll get from some item boxes, but beyond that it's based on the skill of the player. No matter how lucky you get, if you don't know the track you'll fall behind and lose." Char said as Gale chuckled.
"He reminded me of you when you first started." Gale grinned as Char scoffed.
"You can't be serious Gale, me? Act like him? Get real." Char dismissed as they continued on walking to see the reporters were still there, trying to interview someone else as Pika continued to hog the camera, much to their annoyance and exasperation. Char groaned as he pushed Pika out of the way.
"Hey! I was just getting to our race on White Cave!" Pika complained with a wink to Les, who flicked him the bird in response. Grov scoffed as Les turned the camera over to Char.
"One last question," She said, annoyed that she wasn't able to interview the others in time, "How do you feel about the second-year Grand Prix champion being a potential opponent for you in the finals?" Les asked as Char gulped before coughing into his claws.
"Well…he's a fast racer, that's for sure; however, when I fought him before I was dealing with guilt from what happened to Cliff. This time, I'm just determined to win, and I'm not alone this time, with all my friends with me. Cliff is counting on us winning to save his life, so I can't lose, we can't lose." Char smiled as the rest of the team stood beside him for a group shot. "We, we won't fail to save him, and even he won't be able to beat us this time." Char explained with a smile of his own.
"Thank you for the interview, and I heard you all already signed up, so we'll be rooting for you guys! This is Les with the Scoop, signing out!" Les said as Bar lowered the camera with a grin. "Thanks for the interview you guys, I'll be sure that it makes its way around asap, go save your friend." She said, both of them giving thumbs up as the two of them walked away.
Chapter One Complete
Saving Data
Continuing On
Chapter Two