Chapter Seven

New Generation Junior Sonic Hero Training

-Almost twelve years later-

He tore across the desert at high speed, feeling the wind on his face and the sun hardly beat down on him as his hair ruffled in the breeze. Just ahead, a group of masked warriors waited for him, their weapons ready. He knew what to do, he'd trained for this so many times to a point where this was expected in combat.

As the distance closed rapidly, the purple hedgehog leapt up and launched a targeting spin attack on one of the rogues, bonking them over and taking each enemy down in seconds flat before going after the next rogue until all the enemies were knocked out.

With the one group down, the speedy young hedgehog sped onwards into the danger zone as bombs began to explode. He sidestepped and did a series of flips in different directions to avoid the explosions and the landmines, this was intense, but he loved almost every minute of it despite striving for peace.

Once he was clear of the land mines, a force field surrounded the trained hero, preventing him from continuing as he came face to face with the Shady One. The black hedgehog, wearing combat clothes, warped in and attempted to get the drop on him, the young hedgehog ducked out of the way just in time.

Hardly speaking a single word that came to mind, the junior hero detected the dark hedgehog's next incoming attack and did a backflip to avoid a roundhouse drop-kick before attacking his foe in the back, taking him down. The enemy recovered, trying to stop time only for the young speeder to thwart that.

Another attacker soon entered the area; a masked bat woman dressed in black. She joined up with the shadowy hedgehog and tried to tag team gang up on the purple hedgehog. And yet he managed to pull through and knock them down, persevering and not giving up despite the odds seemingly stacked against him.

In minutes, he'd taken them down. But then, the big challenger finally appeared. A huge, robotic chicken mech made its landing with the pilot being... him, the one with the master plan. 'Here we go.' The junior hero thought, getting into a combat position as the force field vanished.

The mad doctor started pushing buttons and fired off a volley of lasers that went straight for the purple hero, attempting to fry him. Thanks to his incredible reflexes, he was able to dodge them all and avoid any incoming missile attacks that the mech launched at him.

Machine guns popped out from all sides and opened fire, the hedgehog racing around to avoid getting shot down. He found a weakness on the left side of the mech, it was a yellow pad, time to exploit it. The kid launched a homing attack and struck the side of the mech, smashing the pad.

The pilot of the machine cursed and roared his disbelief that his prized creation was falling apart as the mech tipped and rocked back and forth from the force of the hero's attack. The energetic hero attacked the legs, one by one, and bashed up the turrets and laser cannons, knowing full well what to do.

He kept up the pressure, attacking the gigantic mech with enough force until it fell apart in a broken scrap heap, the maniac piloting it fell out onto the ground. This allowed the hero to move in and got ready to clobber him until the "villain" said, "Ok, Bloonic. Training's over."

Bloonic backed away the Eggman-costume clad older Miles Tails Prower as Shadow and Rouge recovered from the battle. What remained of the rogues that Bloonic had taken down vanished and many of the props for his training course soon disappeared, Tails got out a stopwatch and looked at it.

"2:35, another new record." The two tailed fox hugged the young purple hedgehog.

"Thanks, Uncle Tails." Bloonic said happily, hugging Tails back.

"Hmph, not bad." Shadow remarked, taking off his costume.

"Your skills and stamina are improving with each training session and you seem to be getting more faster and stronger every time." Rouge complimented, ruffling Bloonic's hair and taking her mask off, "Keep impressing us, kid."

"No problem, Auntie Rouge." Bloonic excitedly hugged the shapely bat girl. Hearing him call her "Auntie Rouge" made the white bat giggle, especially when she wasn't his aunt by blood. Either way, it was affectionate and Rouge liked it as well as Bloonic's enthusiasm and energy.

"So, when are you going to spar with your parents?" Shadow asked, crossing his arms, "You've been training for a while and sparring with most of us, but never sparred with your old man or your mum, did you do so and we haven't seen it?"

"Me going up against my parents?" Bloonic chuckled, thinking about it. "Sounds like a challenge, I guess it wouldn't hurt to train with them a bit, assuming they're always up for a challenge."

"Good luck taking them on, sweetie." Rouge said with delight, "We'll be watching." Bloonic thanked Rouge for the good luck wish and took off running across the desert to go find his parents, eager for a challenge.

Not too far off, Sonic sat under a tree, relaxing as Vampirella, wearing plaid shorts, a red crop top, sunglasses, brown boots and a white undershirt, massaged his shoulders and him relax. They were waiting patiently for their son, hoping that everything was going well with him and the others.

Just then, he came racing in, spinning like wild, doing cartwheels and handstands and posing dramatically before doing a little twirl. "Ah yeah, baby." Bloonic said with enthusiasm, doing the finger wag and the peace sign, "The fang-y hedgehog boy is in town, havin' just kicked butt. How are we doin', folks?"

"Hey, son." Sonic said with a chuckle, impressed by Bloonic's little entrance and his enthusiasm, "Glad to hear that everything went well, real proud of you. High-five buddy." He held up his hand and the purple hedgehog came over to high five him and then fist bump him before kissing Vampirella on the cheek.

That was when Bloonic noticed what his mum was doing. "Whoa," he said, "I did not expect to come in and find mum giving pops a sweet shoulder massage and, whoa, you look nice in the daytime. I almost thought vampires couldn't stand going out in daylight as the rays of the sun cooks them."

Vampirella lowered her glasses, "I wouldn't worry about that too much, dear. Don't forget, just because you're half vampire, it doesn't mean you can't go out in daylight. I can go out in daylight for certain periods of time. Also, your pop likes relaxation and I'm helping him relax just as he does so too."

Bloonic looked at Sonic, "You actually give mum massages too? So cool!"

Sonic just chuckled, "Well, I'm not much of a masseuse, but yeah I'm good at it, especially when I got strong hands just as your mum knows how to rub my feet and help me take care of my sweet, sweet quills."

"That's cute, real cute. So, anyway, this might sound crazy but, I was talking with Shadow just a little bit ago and I haven't spared with any of you. Sure, I've trained with Uncle Tails, Auntie Rouge and most of the others, but the two people I've never had a chance to spar with is my parents."

Sonic looked caught off guard, even Vampirella was surprised. "You... want to have a match with us?" Bloonic's mum asked.

"Are you sure about that," The blue blur grunted, "I'm a seasoned combat veteran, having had years of heroics and combat behind me and we'd know I'd somewhat kick your butt since you've had only a couple of years of training. So, you think you're ready to go up against me and your mama."

"C'mon." Bloonic pleaded, "I like a bit of a challenge and we got plenty of time until the day is done, so what are we waiting for, you two?"

Sonic stood up and so did Vampirella. "Alright, son." He said, "We'll do a Bloonic vs. Mum and Pop battle practice match; besides, you have a point. Your mama and I have sat back and watched you train without getting involved with it for too long anyway, I haven't had much of a challenge in years anyway."

"I also need to hone my combat skills," Vampirella chimed in, "I'm adept at martial arts and special vampire combat skills, but since there haven't been a lot of enemies to fight other than Doctor Eggman, rival vampires or warlocks, I haven't gotten done anything related to combat myself."

"Now we're talking, let's do it to it."

Hearing those five words made the blue hedgehog chuckled, "Oh, Bloonic. Picking up on some of my own favorite lines, you silly little hybrid boy, you. Ok, its go time." The trio backed away from the tree to avoid damaging it during their session, knowing well that it was one of the only places of shade here.

Bloonic stood a stone's throw away from his parents, who stood side by side. The purple hedgehog took up a combat position, feet apart and fists raised. Vampirella took up a martial arts battle stance and Sonic took up his typical 'prepare yourself for battle' position with a determined look on his face.

The trio faced down each other, Bloonic looking into the eyes of his parents. Once the imaginary bell went off, the battle began. The vampire and the blue hedgehog charged as Bloonic jumped high to avoid getting beaten down, when his parents' backs were turned, he attacked but not too hard to ensure they didn't get hurt.

Sonic was caught off guard when he got hit in the back, but he recovered in time to dodge a homing attack from Bloonic, with the purple hedgehog almost losing balance but regaining it in time when Vampirella came in and attempted to slide kick him, an attack that the mostly experienced hybrid evaded successfully.

Now they were engaged in close quarters combat, Bloonic and Vampirella went head-to-head, fists flying and legs going up as they karate punched and kicked at each other with Sonic joining in to try and aid his woman. Had Bloonic not known what to do, he would've been bested by his own loving and caring parents.

Vampirella bared her fangs, hissing and pretending to try and intimidate her son and distract him long enough for Sonic to attempt to land a hit of Bloonic. Just like his old man, the hybrid had lightning-fast reflexes and was quick enough to detect any incoming attacks from anyone he was going up against.

The duel went on for minutes, Bloonic seemingly had the upper hand on his parents, who were struggling to get some higher ground over him with all their efforts. Sonic and Vampirella were formidable, but it seemed the son was stronger. By the end, the purple hedgehog had them beat.

Both Sonic and his missus were on the ground, groaning and gasping for breath. Bloonic seemed exhausted too, he was on his knees, looking thirsty. "Darn, you guys were tough." The hybrid grunted, "I... I could go for a drink right about now; mum did make a point the other day about not exhausting my energy."

Vampirella grabbed a water bottle out of a bag and gave it to Bloonic, which he drank from. Then his mum put out her arm in front of him, with Sonic telling him to bite into her arm. This almost surprised Bloonic, but without hesitation, he opened his mouth and bit into his mama's arm, beginning to drink up a bit of her blood.

"Feels weird drinking mum's blood." The purple hedgehog said with a grunt, wiping his mouth, "But ok. Thanks again, well, looks like I better get going. See you guys later." Bloonic hugged his parents before taking off at light speed, leaving the desert so he could get to school on time and not miss class...