Chapter 12- Training
The Marble Gardens Zone was very green, Lazer noticed. It consisted wholly of large stone buildings and green, grassy hills that extended almost to the horizon. Sonic had already dived toward the tallest hill, so Lazer followed. He alighted upon its peak, the lustrous colours about him, and surveyed the landscape. The sun was a few hours away from setting, and was partially hidden by rain clouds. The shadows of stones grew longer by the minute.
"Nice place you got here," Lazer commented.
"My place? This place doesn't belong to anyone, but I don't see anyone hanging around, so we can try out our abilities."
"Okay. Me first."
Lazer pointed his fist toward a rock lying thirty feet downhill. Instead of firing the normal red energy beam, a rainbow shot out of his arm, destroying the rock and an impressive chunk of the hill. The shattered rocks and fragmented soil tumbled away.
"Whoa. I didn't even put effort into that shot!" Lazer exclaimed. Sonic thought for a moment and also pointed his fist downhill, at another rock nearby the blasted earth. He also unleashed an energy beam, but it did less damage.
"Hmm, so we can both fire these rainbow beams."
"Hey, I thought of something. Let's fly away from the hill before we try it," said Lazer. Seconds later they were poised two hundred feet away from the peak, treading the cold air.
"So, what did you have in mind?"
"Let shoot our beams at the same time, except shoot them so that they hit each other before they strike the hill."
"Heh, sounds good to me!"
They each pointed both arms, this time at an angle toward the hill. On the count of three, they both unleashed blistering rainbow blasts that hit each other some hundred feet from the hill.
"Holy."
"Goddess!"
Their beams had formed a searing blaze of swirling colours upon contact, combined into a whirling energy ball that released and targeted the hill. The explosion was apocalyptic! Tons of rocks and earth disintegrated as they were thrown upward by a pure white flare of massive power. The sound roared in their ears, and like leaves, they were tossed away through the currents of air. When they had recovered, almost one mile above the ground, they gaped in disbelief at the magnitude of devastation.
"Oh. my. Goddess," Sonic whispered, overawed by what he and Lazer had done.
"This is unthinkable! Why were we given such power?"
They could not remove their gaze from the ground. The tallest hill of the Marble Gardens was no more. A crater had been left nearly five thousand feet in diameter, and a quarter as deep. Dirt and rocks had been scattered in every direction for several kilometers. As they looked at the surrounding area, they saw that nearby hills were partially missing, or were blasted into heaps.
"Sonic? Let's never do that again, until we really have to."
"You mean until we face her again?"
"No. Not even then. We can't snuff out life so easily, or so violently. There must be another way to stop her and Robotnik without killing them."
Sonic sighed. Lazer was right; Robotnik and the sorceress must be brought to justice, not reduced to ashes.
"Alright. Let's move away from here before someone notices us. The gardens are big, thank Goddess."
Some time later they found an isolated spot, far away from the destruction they had caused. It was a wide grassy arena, closed off by high rock walls and a cliff. Many large rocks were also scattered here, like the rest of the gardens.
"Here will do. Let's not blow it up this time," suggested Sonic.
"Agreed."
Sonic ran and used uneven rocky surfaces to run straight up the cliff. He left a bright rainbow trail, marking his path.
"Why did your body leave that behind?" Lazer wondered. He walked into the trail's beginning, and touched the light. With a large tug on his hand, he was drawn through the trail, like iron filings to a magnet, and ended up beside Sonic. He stared.
"A homing device?"
"Apparently. I think that I moved as fast as you did."
"Hey, why don't you try?"
"Me? Okay."
Lazer flew off the cliff in a straight line and landed on a stone tower. As he landed, something crashed into him from behind. He was thrown off the top, and managed to regain his wits quickly enough to fly. He saw Sonic falling toward him, crying out. Lazer called out angrily.
"Hey! You weren't supposed to follow me immediately!"
He grabbed Sonic's arm as the hedgehog nearly fell past.
"Augh! My arm!"
Sonic wrenched his arm away and rubbed it.
"Yeah, I know, I know, don't follow right away. That thing nearly killed me! And your spikes nearly put out my eye."
"You think that my back isn't hurting me?" he retorted. He grumbled a sigh, dismissing the incident. "Let's see what else we can do besides knock the crap out of each other."
Still in the air, Lazer floated over to a large rock, twice taller and about ten times wider than he was. Sonic was not exactly sure what Lazer would do, maybe blast it to rubble, but was certainly surprised. The rock shuddered, and a tremor ran along the ground. Lazer was holding both hands in front of him, toward the big stone, brow bent with concentration. After a struggle against gravity and the invisible force, the rock broke free of its earthly roots and heaved upward from the ground. With Lazer guiding it with both hands, the rock slowly hovered upward. Sonic found himself gaping, jaw ajar. The rock stood still for one moment, and then with a gesture from Lazer's arms, flew through the air and crashed noisily into the ground, splitting into three pieces.
"W- what the hell," Sonic murmured. Lazer inhaled deeply and turned around. A red light receded from his eyes.
"Telekinetic powers. Thousands of times stronger than what I usually have."
At last, the sunset came, its orange light upon the clouds. The shadows of the Gardens melted into the darkness, while the Brothers, seeing by their own light, trained.
"Where are they?" Sally wondered aloud. She was standing on a parapet of the castle, trying to look past the trees and to the sky, where she hoped to spy some colourful lights approaching.
"Those boys, they must be practicing hard. Well, we finally have a means to victory."
She turned on the LED light in her watch.
"Nine thirty three. They've been out for five hours, thirteen minutes."
She sighed. She wished that Sonic could have shown her the sunset from on high, since he could now fly. What else could they do besides fly around and show pretty colours? She looked at the trees obscuring the night sky, and sighed once more.
"Get back here, boys. Soon."
The princess turned away from the outside world and retired to her bed. Beneath the castle, Knothole was doing the same, as the streetlights went out and parents called their children inside.
The Marble Gardens Zone was very green, Lazer noticed. It consisted wholly of large stone buildings and green, grassy hills that extended almost to the horizon. Sonic had already dived toward the tallest hill, so Lazer followed. He alighted upon its peak, the lustrous colours about him, and surveyed the landscape. The sun was a few hours away from setting, and was partially hidden by rain clouds. The shadows of stones grew longer by the minute.
"Nice place you got here," Lazer commented.
"My place? This place doesn't belong to anyone, but I don't see anyone hanging around, so we can try out our abilities."
"Okay. Me first."
Lazer pointed his fist toward a rock lying thirty feet downhill. Instead of firing the normal red energy beam, a rainbow shot out of his arm, destroying the rock and an impressive chunk of the hill. The shattered rocks and fragmented soil tumbled away.
"Whoa. I didn't even put effort into that shot!" Lazer exclaimed. Sonic thought for a moment and also pointed his fist downhill, at another rock nearby the blasted earth. He also unleashed an energy beam, but it did less damage.
"Hmm, so we can both fire these rainbow beams."
"Hey, I thought of something. Let's fly away from the hill before we try it," said Lazer. Seconds later they were poised two hundred feet away from the peak, treading the cold air.
"So, what did you have in mind?"
"Let shoot our beams at the same time, except shoot them so that they hit each other before they strike the hill."
"Heh, sounds good to me!"
They each pointed both arms, this time at an angle toward the hill. On the count of three, they both unleashed blistering rainbow blasts that hit each other some hundred feet from the hill.
"Holy."
"Goddess!"
Their beams had formed a searing blaze of swirling colours upon contact, combined into a whirling energy ball that released and targeted the hill. The explosion was apocalyptic! Tons of rocks and earth disintegrated as they were thrown upward by a pure white flare of massive power. The sound roared in their ears, and like leaves, they were tossed away through the currents of air. When they had recovered, almost one mile above the ground, they gaped in disbelief at the magnitude of devastation.
"Oh. my. Goddess," Sonic whispered, overawed by what he and Lazer had done.
"This is unthinkable! Why were we given such power?"
They could not remove their gaze from the ground. The tallest hill of the Marble Gardens was no more. A crater had been left nearly five thousand feet in diameter, and a quarter as deep. Dirt and rocks had been scattered in every direction for several kilometers. As they looked at the surrounding area, they saw that nearby hills were partially missing, or were blasted into heaps.
"Sonic? Let's never do that again, until we really have to."
"You mean until we face her again?"
"No. Not even then. We can't snuff out life so easily, or so violently. There must be another way to stop her and Robotnik without killing them."
Sonic sighed. Lazer was right; Robotnik and the sorceress must be brought to justice, not reduced to ashes.
"Alright. Let's move away from here before someone notices us. The gardens are big, thank Goddess."
Some time later they found an isolated spot, far away from the destruction they had caused. It was a wide grassy arena, closed off by high rock walls and a cliff. Many large rocks were also scattered here, like the rest of the gardens.
"Here will do. Let's not blow it up this time," suggested Sonic.
"Agreed."
Sonic ran and used uneven rocky surfaces to run straight up the cliff. He left a bright rainbow trail, marking his path.
"Why did your body leave that behind?" Lazer wondered. He walked into the trail's beginning, and touched the light. With a large tug on his hand, he was drawn through the trail, like iron filings to a magnet, and ended up beside Sonic. He stared.
"A homing device?"
"Apparently. I think that I moved as fast as you did."
"Hey, why don't you try?"
"Me? Okay."
Lazer flew off the cliff in a straight line and landed on a stone tower. As he landed, something crashed into him from behind. He was thrown off the top, and managed to regain his wits quickly enough to fly. He saw Sonic falling toward him, crying out. Lazer called out angrily.
"Hey! You weren't supposed to follow me immediately!"
He grabbed Sonic's arm as the hedgehog nearly fell past.
"Augh! My arm!"
Sonic wrenched his arm away and rubbed it.
"Yeah, I know, I know, don't follow right away. That thing nearly killed me! And your spikes nearly put out my eye."
"You think that my back isn't hurting me?" he retorted. He grumbled a sigh, dismissing the incident. "Let's see what else we can do besides knock the crap out of each other."
Still in the air, Lazer floated over to a large rock, twice taller and about ten times wider than he was. Sonic was not exactly sure what Lazer would do, maybe blast it to rubble, but was certainly surprised. The rock shuddered, and a tremor ran along the ground. Lazer was holding both hands in front of him, toward the big stone, brow bent with concentration. After a struggle against gravity and the invisible force, the rock broke free of its earthly roots and heaved upward from the ground. With Lazer guiding it with both hands, the rock slowly hovered upward. Sonic found himself gaping, jaw ajar. The rock stood still for one moment, and then with a gesture from Lazer's arms, flew through the air and crashed noisily into the ground, splitting into three pieces.
"W- what the hell," Sonic murmured. Lazer inhaled deeply and turned around. A red light receded from his eyes.
"Telekinetic powers. Thousands of times stronger than what I usually have."
At last, the sunset came, its orange light upon the clouds. The shadows of the Gardens melted into the darkness, while the Brothers, seeing by their own light, trained.
"Where are they?" Sally wondered aloud. She was standing on a parapet of the castle, trying to look past the trees and to the sky, where she hoped to spy some colourful lights approaching.
"Those boys, they must be practicing hard. Well, we finally have a means to victory."
She turned on the LED light in her watch.
"Nine thirty three. They've been out for five hours, thirteen minutes."
She sighed. She wished that Sonic could have shown her the sunset from on high, since he could now fly. What else could they do besides fly around and show pretty colours? She looked at the trees obscuring the night sky, and sighed once more.
"Get back here, boys. Soon."
The princess turned away from the outside world and retired to her bed. Beneath the castle, Knothole was doing the same, as the streetlights went out and parents called their children inside.
