Initial Reality-- Part 2
by Ryan Carroll
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Voices echoed through my head. They were either lamenting my failure,
blaming me, or claiming they would never trust me again. Even the
pain I had endured when I was still conscious was better than this!
How could I undo what I had done?
Gradually the voices faded away, leaving only silence... except for
a melody. It was familiar, but I couldn't quite place the tune.
As I pondered this, scenery came into view. Rolling green hills,
trees here and there, and a peaceful stream running through it all.
A building caught my eye; it looked like my house. I ran toward it,
opened the front door... and found myself face-to-face with Nights.
I recognized him from Sonic's description (he had told me about all
his adventures), so I knew who he was.
"Hello, Ryan," he began. "I am here to console you."
Praise God for little things like that. "That's just what I need
right now."
"It really wasn't your fault. You didn't know that the belt would
deactivate your armor. It was a trap, plain and simple."
"Thanks. I needed to hear someone say that."
Nights smiled. "That's what I'm here for."
"Any ideas on what to do now?"
"Only the song you hear. That will open the doors of your prison.
Think Paul and Silas, if that's any clue."
"Paul and Silas, huh? I'll have to remember that..."
"You'll wake up soon. I hope next time we can meet under more
pleasant circumstances."
"Amen to that. See you around."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Waking up hurt. Opening my eyes hurt worse. Sitting up just about
put me out again, but I tolerated the pain. Barely, but I succeeded.
I looked around. Apparently I had trashed Robotnik's primary
prison cell block, because we had all been dumped in one cell.
Suffice to say, it was crowded. I got plenty of blank, untrusting
looks when I glanced around. At least everyone was okay... so far.
Now, how on earth do I get us out of here? That tune...
Aaaarrrrggghhh! Where have I heard that tune before?... ...
"Eureka!!!!"
Jason, who was obviously asleep (until my outburst, that is)
gave me a look. And I DO mean a LOOK. If his eyes had been lasers
I would have been roasted on the spot. "What?!?"
I told him my plan.
"Paul and Silas, eh? Well, it's better than sitting around here
waiting to be robo-- whatever."
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Reactions to the plan ranged from "it might work" to "better than
nothing" to "yeah, right".
"Come on, guys; what would Slasher do in a situation like this?"
That did it. A silent prayer went up all around, then Jason and I
started singing the song that I had heard in my dream.
"Lord, I lift Your name on high... Lord, I love to sing Your
praises... I'm so glad You're in my life... I'm so glad You came
to save us... You came from heaven to earth, to show the way; From
the earth to the cross, my debt to pay; From the cross to the
grave, from the grave to the sky; Lord I lift Your name on high!"
The other team members joined in, then Sonic, Tails, Knux (who
couldn't hold a note if his life depended on it), Sally, and all
the others. Soon the building was shaking from the combined
voices.
...The building was shaking? That wasn't from our voices; that
was an earthquake!
Just as it had almost two thousand years ago, the cell door flew
open.
"Show's over, folks! Exit this way please!"
"What about you?"
I activated my armor.
"How did you--"
"Trust me on this one. I've got to do this alone."
I pulled out my lightsaber. A split-second later, my armor was
deactivated, but the lightsaber remained. Just as I thought;
Sonic's belt had been deactivated unintentionally during the
earthquake. I had noticed that my ring was glowing again; it had
faded out when the power was being drained by the super emeralds.
"It's time for a showdown."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"What caused that earthquake?!?"
"I don't know, sir; it just happened!"
"Quit your whining, Snively, and get me a damage report!"
"Yes, sir."
A disembodied voice broke in. "Do the words 'divine intervention'
mean anything to you?"
"Who said that?"
"I did." And with that I dropped to the ground from the framework
where I'd been hiding.
"You..."
"Yeah, and? What's your point?"
"You're history!"
I don't know how he did it, but he threw lightning bolts at me;
fortunately, I deflected every one of them. I slowly inched forward.
"You'll never get close enough to get the belt! Face it; you
lose!"
"Who said anything about getting close?" I flipped a hidden switch
on the handle of my lightsaber, causing the blade to double in
length. I then sliced through the belt with the extreme point of
the blade, fired a grappling hook from under my sleeve (I had made
a special wrist launcher) snagged the belt, and pulled it back to
me.
All this happened within seconds. I deactivated the belt, put it
around my waist, activated my armor, and sidestepped Robotnik's
furious attack. He skidded about ten feet on the floor before
finally coming to a stop. That gave me enough time to activate my
rocket glider and blast away towards Knothole.
"Forget the hedgehog... you're mine, boy!"
"Uh, sir?"
"What is it, Snively?"
"Here's that damage report you wanted..."
Snively experienced yet another painful exit through a closed door.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The party went on for several hours. Music, food, games...
As I returned Sonic's belt to him, I asked, "Do you guys always
celebrate like this?"
"Never this much before, but I have a feeling we'll be doing this
more often with you guys around!"
Soon after, I found a place to crash. Within minutes I was dead to
the world.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Congratulations, Ryan."
"Hey, it was the Lord's plan; I just put it into effect."
"And you did it wonderfully."
"Thanks."
"How about we fly around for a while?"
"Sounds good to me, Nights."
"Let's go."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey, La-Z-Boy, wake up!"
"Huh? What?"
"Come on; we're heading to Adventure Landing and you're sleeping!"
"Oh, man; don't tell me it was just a dream!"
"Never mind that; we've got to fire up the portal and get home."
We walked to the portal. Slasher was there, all bandaged up. She
was a quick healer; her scars were already disappearing.
"Praise God!"
"Amen," she replied.
The gateway closed behind us.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Jason and I played Time Crisis II again. My accuracy was about 15%
each level.
End Episode II
by Ryan Carroll
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Voices echoed through my head. They were either lamenting my failure,
blaming me, or claiming they would never trust me again. Even the
pain I had endured when I was still conscious was better than this!
How could I undo what I had done?
Gradually the voices faded away, leaving only silence... except for
a melody. It was familiar, but I couldn't quite place the tune.
As I pondered this, scenery came into view. Rolling green hills,
trees here and there, and a peaceful stream running through it all.
A building caught my eye; it looked like my house. I ran toward it,
opened the front door... and found myself face-to-face with Nights.
I recognized him from Sonic's description (he had told me about all
his adventures), so I knew who he was.
"Hello, Ryan," he began. "I am here to console you."
Praise God for little things like that. "That's just what I need
right now."
"It really wasn't your fault. You didn't know that the belt would
deactivate your armor. It was a trap, plain and simple."
"Thanks. I needed to hear someone say that."
Nights smiled. "That's what I'm here for."
"Any ideas on what to do now?"
"Only the song you hear. That will open the doors of your prison.
Think Paul and Silas, if that's any clue."
"Paul and Silas, huh? I'll have to remember that..."
"You'll wake up soon. I hope next time we can meet under more
pleasant circumstances."
"Amen to that. See you around."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Waking up hurt. Opening my eyes hurt worse. Sitting up just about
put me out again, but I tolerated the pain. Barely, but I succeeded.
I looked around. Apparently I had trashed Robotnik's primary
prison cell block, because we had all been dumped in one cell.
Suffice to say, it was crowded. I got plenty of blank, untrusting
looks when I glanced around. At least everyone was okay... so far.
Now, how on earth do I get us out of here? That tune...
Aaaarrrrggghhh! Where have I heard that tune before?... ...
"Eureka!!!!"
Jason, who was obviously asleep (until my outburst, that is)
gave me a look. And I DO mean a LOOK. If his eyes had been lasers
I would have been roasted on the spot. "What?!?"
I told him my plan.
"Paul and Silas, eh? Well, it's better than sitting around here
waiting to be robo-- whatever."
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Reactions to the plan ranged from "it might work" to "better than
nothing" to "yeah, right".
"Come on, guys; what would Slasher do in a situation like this?"
That did it. A silent prayer went up all around, then Jason and I
started singing the song that I had heard in my dream.
"Lord, I lift Your name on high... Lord, I love to sing Your
praises... I'm so glad You're in my life... I'm so glad You came
to save us... You came from heaven to earth, to show the way; From
the earth to the cross, my debt to pay; From the cross to the
grave, from the grave to the sky; Lord I lift Your name on high!"
The other team members joined in, then Sonic, Tails, Knux (who
couldn't hold a note if his life depended on it), Sally, and all
the others. Soon the building was shaking from the combined
voices.
...The building was shaking? That wasn't from our voices; that
was an earthquake!
Just as it had almost two thousand years ago, the cell door flew
open.
"Show's over, folks! Exit this way please!"
"What about you?"
I activated my armor.
"How did you--"
"Trust me on this one. I've got to do this alone."
I pulled out my lightsaber. A split-second later, my armor was
deactivated, but the lightsaber remained. Just as I thought;
Sonic's belt had been deactivated unintentionally during the
earthquake. I had noticed that my ring was glowing again; it had
faded out when the power was being drained by the super emeralds.
"It's time for a showdown."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"What caused that earthquake?!?"
"I don't know, sir; it just happened!"
"Quit your whining, Snively, and get me a damage report!"
"Yes, sir."
A disembodied voice broke in. "Do the words 'divine intervention'
mean anything to you?"
"Who said that?"
"I did." And with that I dropped to the ground from the framework
where I'd been hiding.
"You..."
"Yeah, and? What's your point?"
"You're history!"
I don't know how he did it, but he threw lightning bolts at me;
fortunately, I deflected every one of them. I slowly inched forward.
"You'll never get close enough to get the belt! Face it; you
lose!"
"Who said anything about getting close?" I flipped a hidden switch
on the handle of my lightsaber, causing the blade to double in
length. I then sliced through the belt with the extreme point of
the blade, fired a grappling hook from under my sleeve (I had made
a special wrist launcher) snagged the belt, and pulled it back to
me.
All this happened within seconds. I deactivated the belt, put it
around my waist, activated my armor, and sidestepped Robotnik's
furious attack. He skidded about ten feet on the floor before
finally coming to a stop. That gave me enough time to activate my
rocket glider and blast away towards Knothole.
"Forget the hedgehog... you're mine, boy!"
"Uh, sir?"
"What is it, Snively?"
"Here's that damage report you wanted..."
Snively experienced yet another painful exit through a closed door.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The party went on for several hours. Music, food, games...
As I returned Sonic's belt to him, I asked, "Do you guys always
celebrate like this?"
"Never this much before, but I have a feeling we'll be doing this
more often with you guys around!"
Soon after, I found a place to crash. Within minutes I was dead to
the world.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Congratulations, Ryan."
"Hey, it was the Lord's plan; I just put it into effect."
"And you did it wonderfully."
"Thanks."
"How about we fly around for a while?"
"Sounds good to me, Nights."
"Let's go."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey, La-Z-Boy, wake up!"
"Huh? What?"
"Come on; we're heading to Adventure Landing and you're sleeping!"
"Oh, man; don't tell me it was just a dream!"
"Never mind that; we've got to fire up the portal and get home."
We walked to the portal. Slasher was there, all bandaged up. She
was a quick healer; her scars were already disappearing.
"Praise God!"
"Amen," she replied.
The gateway closed behind us.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Jason and I played Time Crisis II again. My accuracy was about 15%
each level.
End Episode II