Hey everybody! Welcome back to Beyond The Blur. Without further ado, let's dive in to the next part in the life of Sonic.
Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team.
Disclaimer: I do not own Mario, Mario is property of Nintendo.
April: 1990.
He had done it, by chance he had landed the role of a lifetime.
With a feeling of heavy sorrow and a little guilt, he bid goodbye to his friends and family, setting out for his new career.
Exiting the airport, Sonic had arrived, being greeted by a chauffeur who was instructed to take him to the studio.
"Wow." Sonic said, taking in the sights of the city.
He was a long way from the quiet suburban life he was so used to.
Sega Studios.
Sonic exited the vehicle, staring up at the giant blue sign.
SEGA, written in lights, intimidation and wonder setting in, it was like a new home to him already.
"Sonic!" A voice called out.
He turned, to be greeted by the executives and employees from the day of his audition, but following behind was a mob of press, their cameras aimed right at him.
"Sonic, my boy, how ya doing?" One of the employees asked.
Sonic went to answer but was cut off.
"Ladies and gentleman, meet the newest shining star in the business, Sonic The Hedgehog!" Upon his announcement, the press went wild with questions and flashes of light.
"Mr. Hedgehog, what do you hope to accomplish with your work?l" a reporter asked.
"Mr. Hedgehog, are you attached to anyone at this time?!" Another reporter asked.
"Hey, Mr. Hedgehog, do you think you can beat Mario?!" One of the photographers asked.
Sonic began to tremble in fear at the hounding, fortunately for him, the higher ups were used to it.
"People, people, please let the man get to work, he's got a long day ahead of him, if you have any questions, make an appointment for an interview, for now, leave the rest to us." The employee excused them.
With that, they hurried Sonic inside the foundation.
"Sorry about that kid, don't worry, we'll teach you how to handle the press, pretty soon you'll be a pro." The employee assured him.
"Oh, where are my manners, allow me to introduce myself, the name is Khan, Ken Khan and I'm gonna be managing your career." Ken introduced himself.
"Really?" Sonic asked.
"Yep, just so long as you follow instructions and that this project doesn't fail, otherwise, you're on your own kid." Ken said.
Sonic went pale from his words.
"Don't worry about it, this thing is gonna be a gold mine, you'll be fine, now come on, let's get you ready for filming." Ken said, leading him to the set.
"Woah." Sonic said in amazement
Before his eyes, was a plain of grass, as far as his eyes could see, mountains in the distance, waterfalls flowing down, it looked like a paradise.
"Alright, bring in the traps!" Someone shouted.
Instantly the paradise he witnessed was torn apart, in places once beautiful, were now collapsing platforms, intimidating looking robots and spikes, endless amounts of spikes.
"Perfect!" The woman shouted again.
"Come on, let me introduce you." Ken said.
Walking over to the very woman who rearranged the once perfect scene, Sonic took notice of this odd individual.
"Sonic, this is our director, Ms. Rouge The Bat." Ken introduces her.
"Rouge, this is Sonic, I want you to mold him into an award winning actor." Ken gives the task.
Suddenly, Ken was interrupted by his phone.
"Yeah, oh you gotta be kidding me, no, no, I'll be right there." He said with a sigh and hung up.
"I gotta get going, that Kidd guy is giving us trouble again, I swear if he keeps this up, this'll be the last time he ever works in this town again." Ken complained, rushing off to handle their current star.
"Sorry about Ken, he's a little…eccentric." Rouge tries to be nice.
"Anyways, you ready for your first big scene?" Rouge asks.
"Uh…sure, what is it exactly?" Sonic asks in confusion.
"Well, as you can see, we packed this whole area with traps and enemies for your big introduction scene, all you have to do is navigate Green Hill at your high speed, jumping from cliff to cliff, avoiding danger at every turn, rushing through loop after loop, till finally, you meet face to face with your arch enemy." Rouge explains.
Sonic gulps in pure terror, never had he imagined that he would have to perform such feats of his abilities, let alone life endangering stunts.
"You got all that?" Rouge asks.
"Y-yeah." Sonic stuttered.
"Great." Rouge said, putting her arm around him and guiding him onto the first part of Green Hill before returning to her chair to direct.
"Alright, quiet on set, lights now, okay and…action!"
Meanwhile.
Ken had returned to his office, only to be greeted by the Sega executives.
"Let me guess, Kidd trash another hotel room?" Ken asked, half jokingly.
No one laughed, instead, one of them slammed down a newspaper, the headline almost mocking them with it's presence.
"King Of Entertainment: Mario 3 On Top." It read.
"So what, we already knew it was a huge success." Ken pointed out.
"Keep reading." One of them said.
"Super Mario Bros 3, the newest offering from the already famed series, breaks new ground and creates an unimaginable experience that needs to be seen." Ken reads aloud.
"Nintendo have just announced that work on the next Mario title had already begun prior to the release of Mario 3 and will be released in August of next year." Ken continued to read, his tone growing more stressed.
"What does this mean?" Ken asked in worry.
"It means we have less time then we thought, we have to get our big title out before the next Mario is released, we have a set date, June 23rd of next year, we have to have it ready by then." The exec informed him.
Ken nodded and started to sweat, before excusing himself outside.
He rushed to his car, driving off, back to the set.
Back On Set.
"Take twenty seven." Rouge groaned.
The unprofessional nature of Sonic had caught up to him, his nervousness taking over, to the point he couldn't get passed the first scene.
A screeching was heard, coming from outside, Ken bursting through the door just seconds later.
"Good, Ken, we need help here." Rouge said.
"Yeah, so do I, the release date has been pushed back to June." Ken said, panicking a little.
"Are you kidding me?" Rouge said in disbelief.
"No, we need to get this movie hitting the ground running from the get go, how's it going?" Ken asked.
"Horrible, this kid's a wreck, he can barely move." Rouge complained.
Ken looked over, seeing a shivering Sonic, darting his eyes around in anxiety.
Ken sighed, holding his head in his hands.
"The guy was like this at the audition too, look, just talk to him, he took off running before, just try to get through to him." Ken told her.
Rouge rolled her eyes and walked over, standing next to Sonic, hoping she could get the young hedgehog to cooperate.
"Sonic, are you okay?" She asked.
"I'm sorry, it's just all too much." Sonic said, a tear escaping.
"I'm just not used to all this." Sonic said.
"I understand it can be overwhelming, but you have a job to do and we need your help just as much as you need us." She said.
"Isn't there anything that can help you concentrate, something to help you run and build your confidence?" Rouge asked.
Sonic thought hard before the answer clicked.
"My lucky shoes, they're this pair of red shoes my friend Amy gave me before she moved, whenever I wear them, I can run faster then ever." Sonic tells her.
"Awww, how sweet, do you have them?" Rouge asks.
"Yeah, got them in my suitcase." Sonic says.
"Go get them!" Rouge says, in a hectic tone.
Sonic rushed over to his suitcase, slipping on the shoes, which unknown to him, would become part of his iconic image.
Rouge sat back down in her chair, giving direction on preparation in this scene one more time.
"Okay and…action!" Rouge said.
Boom!
The stage rumbled as Sonic took off, almost faster than The cameras could catch.
Each chasm, each Badnik, blasted through in mere seconds.
"Way passed cool!" Sonic shouted as he curled into ball, making it off the loop, launching in the air, landing on the capsule, holding creatures inside.
He confidently pressed the button with a smirk, releasing the innocent creatures of the land.
The entire crews mouths hung wide open at hedgehog's performance.
Suddenly a slow clapping was heard, coming from Rouge and Ken, the rest of the crew joining them after.
In that moment, a star was born.