Chapter Five – Shockwaves

Beyond being Sonic's brother, Manic had his own reputation. He worked as an demolition's expert in Robotropolis. The reason why he lived on the streets, was completely out of choice, he preferred sleeping outside. This was partially because his ability to demolish buildings, even accidentally, made him somewhat unstable indoors. So Manic didn't bother. All this, however was relatively recent. He became a Master Thief as he grew up with very little. Sonic helped out where he could, but the situation made it difficult. But nowadays with a job, he didn't need to steel. But old habits die hard, and in Manic's case, very hard.

Aside from drumming, Manic did another passion. Extreme Gear. Up until recently, he'd had to borrow Extreme Gear. Only now, had he had the money to have his own designed and made. But not for the usual Air Board racing tournament, such as the Grand Prix's that Sonic attended. He much preferred the E.G.E. (Extreme Gear: Extreme).

The founder of the contest, it is normal Extreme Gear racing, but with no safety regulations. These contests were highly illegal and completely outside of The Extreme Gear Association. In the E.G.E., anything goes. Literally, from live bullets and flying knives, to real bombs and explosions. The same was true for the contestants, you could use whatever devices or powers you wanted. People died during the E.G.E., but that was part of the thrill. If you survived E.G.E., you considered good. If you won it, you were the best. Jet and Team Babylon had seen the E.G.E., but never entered, considering it to dangerous. But they did recognise Manic from the E.G.E. but not didn't make the connection that they were brothers. They had left the Opening Ceremony before that realisation was widely known.

Manic ruled the roost at E.G.E. Unbeaten for years, that was until Sonic entered. Manic had been persuading his brother for years and regretted it as soon as he finally relented. Sonic attended the E.G.E. twice, and won it, twice. Sonic was that good, his ability dodge bullets a major factor. The total ridiculousness of the E.G.E. suited Manic and he was never going to stop the contests.

Manic had watched Sonic at a normal Grand Prix on T.V. and saw just how much he was holding back. It frustrated Manic. He was much better then that, but understood why he did it. The world just wasn't ready to know what the Blue Blur could truly do.

Manic realised that Sonic was no longer worse for wear from the party the previous night. He was going to be hard to beat. He had never raced in a normal Grand Prix before, and keep to the rules, was going to be...difficult!

Sonic had the exact same thought as they were about to race. He knew that his brother was not going to be lenient with him. He was going to be pushed for everything he had. To keep his reputation, he was going to have to push back, hard. Manic was going to be the toughest opponent he'd ever had. Jet was good, Manic was better.

He sighed.

'This is not going to end well.' he thought, as he moved up to the starting line. Manic was grinning inanely, with his custom designed Extreme Gear. This was totally going to turn this into a E.G.E. race. Sonic preyed that no one got hurt. He wasn't bothered about himself or his brother. They could almost survive anything. He had to try and keep the race contained as much as possible. With Manic around, that was going to be difficult.

But they were going to have to wait.

Unfortunately, due to the commotion caused by Sonic's letter, the Grand Prix officials decided, last minute, that their race was going to be postponed. Team Amy and Team Babylon would be racing first, aka Jet and Amy. Neither Hedgehog was happy about it. But Jet was so full of himself, that Sonic persuaded Manic to let him go first.

Jet was having a field day, the best time of his life. He hated Sonic. No matter what the Hawk did, that goody-goody two-shoes Hedgehog always, ALWAYS, did it better. Now he had been banned, from all future Grand Prix's. It was just too good. He constantly and arrogantly grilled Sonic about it, to many complaints.

As far as Jet was concerned, it proved that Sonic had been cheating. He had always believed that, but could never prove it. But cheating or otherwise, he wanted to beat that blue Hedgehog on his own territory, a speed race, an Extreme Gear race. Unfortunately, to do it by the book, to permanently destroy Sonic's reputation, he had to get through Amy first. Then possibly that punk green Hedgehog as well. He recognised him, but didn't know who he really was.

Totally, and utterly full of himself, he thought this next race would be a total breeze. Amy never really much of a challenge, however, let your guard down with her, and you were beaten.

The first race of the Grand Prix was set in one of Eggman's old now-destroyed base's, not far from Tails' House, weaving in and out of ruined doors and walls, buildings and outhouses. Sonic recognised the base. It was one that he'd destroyed several years ago. It was just to close to Tails House, so it had to go. It made one heck of an explosion. The fireball was enormous when it went, now leaving ruins perfect for racing through. However, looking around the first course, reminded Sonic of something.

Eggman!

Only now had he realised that Eggman had been very conspicuous by his absence. To order a Grand Prix and then not attend. Very strange. Sonic would normally spotted Eggman at a Grand Prix, at the Open Ceremony, wearing a stupid disguise that never fooled anyone. But this time, nothing. Was it because Manic was here? Sonic was well aware that Eggman was scared of Manic, was that the reason why he left.

As the race started between Jet and Amy, Sonic closed his eyes. He tried to remember the beginning of the Opening Ceremony, before Manic revealed himself to everyone. He didn't remember seeing a disguised Eggman in amongst the crowd in the marquee. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like Eggman had never even been there in the first place.

Now this whole Grand Prix was screaming of one thing.

Diversion!

But from what?

He opened his eyes and looked around. The place was rammed with spectators, and all of the world's press were there watching. Jet and Amy were fighting it out on the course behind him. The usual Grand Prix stuff. No signs of any masterminded plan of Eggman's being spun in the background.

He asked a journalist, if he seen any signs of Eggman recently.

"No. We haven't." He answered. "And he hasn't come up on our radar either." He shrugged and then he throw up his hands. "Go on Amy, take down that punk for us!" He screamed. Sonic smirked.

'Not a fan of Jet then!' He thought, but the journalist did have a point, he hadn't seen Eggman and neither had the world's press.

So where was he?

But Sonic's mind got diverted as the race behind him intensified. He turned around. Up until now, two laps of this very long but very twisty course, Amy and Jet had been neck-and-neck. The Hawk just couldn't shake off the Hedgehog. If anything, Amy was going slightly ahead. Now, on the third and final lap, Jet was getting desperate.

"You know, she might actually beat him." Voice said suddenly beside him. It was Manic, he'd been watching the race along with everyone else.

"What? Do you like her or something?" Sonic sniggered in return. Manic went mildly red.

"No!" He spat. "But anyone who can beat that punk, is good in my books." He said. Sonic had to agree, his despised Jet, especially during this Grand Prix.

On the course, Amy was a lot better then Jet at navigating the narrow twists and turns of the ruins and was gaining in her lead.

Jet was getting desperate. Really desperate. How was he going to destroy Sonic's reputation, if he couldn't beat this stupid girl first. He throw caution to the wind, and began speeding through the ruins, rather then around them. His speed increased. He was gaining on her. Faster and faster, pushing his Extreme Gear to it's absolute limit. Out into the open, He past her. Faster and faster. He was going to win. The finish line just ahead. Then it happened.

BOOM!

Sonic when white. He knew that loud explosion extremely well. The Boom of the Sound Barrier. Jet had managed it on Extreme Gear! It was seriously impressive. He believed only he and Shadow was capable of such feats, with or without Extreme Gear. He could just about see Jet in the distance, and began to worry.

"Awesome!" Shouted Manic. "He broke the Sound Barrier! On Extreme Gear!" He announced. "Looks like for the first time as well." He grinned. He was jumping up and down.

Sonic tried to calm him.

"Yes, Yes." He stated. "It's just the backlash can send flying if your not prepared for it. Thats what happened when I first broke it." He said. But then Manic began to panic.

"Yes, but you bounce! Jet can't!" He stammered. He was talking about Sonic's skeleton being made of cartilage, and yes, he could indeed bounce. But Jet was a normal sapient, and if he had just broke the Sound Barrier for the first time, then the backlash would throw him off his Extreme Gear and the landing, at those speeds, would kill him. Dead. Sonic could see in the distance Jet suspended in mid air, having been thrown high in the sky.

"GO!" Manic shouted.

There was no time for Extreme Gear. Sonic ran. He was Jet's only chance. He may have hated the Hawk but he was no killer, not when he could save him. He speeded through the ruins, around the course, as fast as his legs could carry him.

One hundred miles per hour, two hundred.

He span into a ball and smashed through many of the ruins as he had no time to go around them.

Three hundred miles per hour, four hundred.

He made it through the ruins in record time, and out into the open.

Five hundred miles per hour, Six hundred.

He could see Jet just ahead of him, he was falling fast. If Sonic was going to catch him, he had to put his foot down on the accelerator.

Seven hundred miles per hour, Seven hundred and fifty.

He felt the incredible resistance. It threaten to push him back. Sonic gritted his teeth. Time to do his namesake, to do what he had become so famous for. A break through the barrier.

A Sonic Boom. Mach One.

He broke though the resistive Sound Barrier and the resulting backlash was horrendous, but his extensive experience caused him to automatically spin out of it landing perfectly on his feet. The resulting Boom, told Sonic he had succeeded, but he just wasn't fast enough. Jet was still ahead of him, still falling. He had to push harder. A lot harder

Mach One and a half.

He was getting closer. Jet had a matter of seconds before he hit the ground. Now was not the time to stand on ceremony, he had to got for it. Even if it meant going faster then he'd ever allowed himself before, especially in front of the cameras.

Mach Two.

GOTCHA!

He grabbed Jet, literally, out of midair and ran out across the countryside. He slowing arched back towards the Grand Prix. The Hawk was huddled over with his eyes closed. Sonic laughed.

"Jet!" he grinned. The Hawk opened his eyes.

"Whoa!" He panicked, but Sonic had a firm grip on him, carrying him across his front. He wasn't going anywhere.

"Whats the matter!" Sonic giggled. "Never travelled at Mach Two before?" He smirked, without thinking.

Jet was dumbfounded, staring ahead of him, the ground passing beneath them nothing more then a blur. His legs and feet were moving so fast, they become nothing more then spinning discs. Hearing about Sonic's Super-Speed was one thing, to experience it first-hand was quite another. Sonic had just saved his life, despite how rude he'd been. The Hawk felt somewhat guilty, undeserving. He now had a deeper respect for Sonic's abilities and truly realised why he could never beat him. Against powers like this, Sonic was way out of his league. He was amazed at how the hedgehog wasn't even out of breath, and even he also felt Sonic was holding back, he could have gone faster. But that was when he realised something.

"Hey, isn't your official top speed only supposed to be Mach One and a half?" He managed to ask through the rushing wind. Sonic went red. He swore under his breath. He'd been rumbled.

"Please." He begged. "Don't tell anyone!" He stammered. Jet smirked.

"You can go faster then Mach One and a half, Hell, you can go faster then Mach Two, can't you?" He leered. Sonic growled. He was cornered, he had no choice but the tell the truth.

"Yes." He spat at Jet, angrily.

"Then why don't you?" He sneered, pushed Sonic for everything he had. Sonic was loosing his temper with the Hawk. That was not any of his business. But, thankfully, he was saved by the approached of a familiar sight. He smirked.

"No time, we're here. Back at the Grand Prix." He grinned.

He approached the finish time. Amy was already there, the winner, and where he promptly offloaded Jet. Sonic was fuming with him, so much so, that he quickly left, leaving Jet to face the cameras of the world's press alone.

It took some time before Manic finally found his brother. He was sat in the tent of Team Heroes, in the darkness, trying to keep his temper to himself. He'd had the most accidents with Magic recently because of his temper, so leaving before anything happened, was the best cause of action. But he had managed to save Jet without using any Magic. But he had still managed to go a lot faster then he'd intended, especially in front of the cameras. He wasn't happy, but now, as he sat there, he'd had enough. He was fed up of the hiding. He wanted his freedom. Manic looked at Sonic and sighed.

"He didn't say anything, you know." He said.

"What?" Sonic asked, looking up from his thoughts.

"Jet!" Said Manic. "He didn't say anything to those cameras about you going at Mach Two!"

Sonic stared at Manic. He wasn't surprised his brother knew what speed he was going. He knew him better then anyone. But he was stunned. He was sure Jet would tell on him. But he was getting to the point where he just didn't care anymore. Manic smiled.

"Anyway." He added. "It our turn now on the course. Time to show those amateurs how its really done." He grinned and with that, he left.

This completely brought Sonic out of his thoughts, and he smirked gleefully.

His mind snapped. Completely.

Yes indeed, time to show those amateurs how its really done. He just didn't care, anymore. He was through holding back. Enough was enough. He was just too tired. Nobody, not even Manic, could stop him now. Time to show the world what he could really do.

His eyes glowed silver. He was now running on pure instinct. He stood up. With his eyes still glowing, he snapped his finger. Silvery mist whirled all around him, restoring his core strength and tiredness back to normal.

As the mist cleared, he smiled, but his eyes still remained silver.

Now he was ready.

He travelled back to the racecourse, collecting his Extreme Gear along the way. He was going to beat his brother, whatever it took.

He didn't run back the course starting line, he smoothly glided there in his Extreme Gear, not a care in the world. Somewhat out of character. Sonic wasn't himself, his instincts were now in complete control. The Magic had taken hold, his eyes glowing silver, his mind was no longer present. It just didn't care. As soon as Manic saw him, he immediately saw something was wrong. He grabbed his brother, and pulled him to one side. He looked into his silvery eyes. They were normally an indicator that he about to do Magic, and in front of this crowd and cameras was incredibly unwise. But he noticed that the sparkles that were usually there, were gone. Now he was extremely worried. What had happened?

"Sonic!" He spat. "Snap out of it!" He whispered through gritted teeth. "You can't race like this!" He pleaded.

Sonic smirked, somewhat evilly.

"Why?" He hissed. "Are you...chicken?" He spat in reply.

Now Manic definitely knew that Sonic wasn't himself, He had never heard his brother be so cruel. He began to panic.

"No!" he stammered. "It's just your not yourself!" He whispered.

"Oh!" Sonic hissed even colder. "So what am I then?" He leered, leaning right into Manic.

Be Manic didn't get a chance to reply. The Grand Prix officials were ushering them towards the starting line. The crowd were now cat-calling, wanting a race, especially from the best, Sonic. He could forfeit, but needed a valid reason for doing do. Sonic having Magic was not a reason he was willing to share.

He had no choice but to race. As the starting gun sounded, he only chance was to keep his brother behind him. Keep him occupied enough to not get the chance to do Magic out on the course.

That was easier said then done. Sonic is considered the best Extreme Gear racer in the world. Manic would have to race for both their lives to pull it off. The twists and turns of Eggman's base ruins were in Manic's favour as Sonic couldn't put his foot down on the accelerator. However, it took until the second lap of the course, for Manic to final catch up and overtake his brother. Sonic took the early lead. During that first lap, Sonic was concentrating so much on manoeuvring between the ruins that he didn't any chance to do Magic. Manic knew that wouldn't last long. Sonic's memory was incredible. He could remember a route by just passing through it once. Or completely memorise a racecourse layout, every twist and turn in just one lap. By the second lap, Manic knew that with the course memorised, he would start fighting back. It was guaranteed then that Magic would show. He had to get in front by the second lap, otherwise they were done for.

He succeeded.

Then he did something that he knew would irritate the hell out of his brother. Something he could do now, with Sonic behind him.

He began rearranging the course.

On Mobius, Manic's powers were completely unique. He was truly the last of his kind. Well, almost. There were others but only he could bend his element. Nearly all other powerful sapients have their powers based on Chaos, even Sonic's but Manic's were based on something far older, Chi. More specifically, one of the four elements of Chi.

Earth.

Manic could manipulate the Earth, however he saw fit, just by mere gesture, and he proceeded to completely rearrange the course behind him. Creating new twists and turns, boulders randomly raising from the ground and falling to the sky.

Sonic's resulting swearing from behind him, told Manic that he had succeeded. But now was not the time to let his guard down. He couldn't let his brother get a clear shot on him. Even though Manic didn't want Sonic to use Magic on the course, he also didn't want him to win, either.

So, he intensified the bombardment.

Sonic was getting more and more frustrated. The course was rearranging faster then he could manurer through it. Try as he might, he couldn't get a clear line of sight, to take down Manic. His eyes were on fire, glowing even more silvery, as he felt the Chaos build up inside of him incredibly quickly. His instincts thought of an out-right explosion, but realised very quickly that with Manic's powers, there was no guarantees that that would successfully take him out. Weaving between the boulders, Sonic saw with the tiniest of glimpses, that Manic was concentrating more on behind him then ahead of him. As they entered into the third and final lap, he realised he had to get back in front of him.

They were nearly at the end of course. He had to win. Now was not about Magic.

But there was no way that Sonic was going to get through this bombardment, he had to go around. But he couldn't do that either. That would take him off the course, so he was left with only one choice.

To go up and over.

Riding his Extreme Gear air board, sideways on, he put one foot to the front of the board and one to the back. He bent his knees, and put all of weight on his back leg and eased completely on the front. Riding almost completely flat on his stomach, he sent the air board skywards extremely fast. Like a jet fighter taking off, in a matter of seconds, he was high above the course.

Manic heard a huge rush of air as Sonic took off and looked behind him. But quickly he realised that his brother was actually above him. He was going for the finish, he was no longer interested in doing Magic anymore. Time to put the foot down on the accelerator.

He gave up rearranging the course and went for the finish line.

As Sonic was reaching the peak of his ascent, he twisted in mid-air, and into a full dive for the checkered flag. Still flat against the board, he felt the rush of air against his quills and the resistances as he broke the barriers.

BOOM!

Mach One.

There was barely any backlash, and Sonic, running in pure instinct, his silvery eyes glaring forwards, was not phased at all. Streamlining his body, his went even faster.

Mach Two.

The ground was coming fast, but Manic was still ahead him. More speed.

Mach Three.

Still not fast enough, he had to beat his brother.

Mach Four.

Suddenly, there was a resistance his unlike anything he had ever felt before, but Sonic had to push through. He had to beat Manic.

Mach Four point Two.

It was getting stronger, pushing him backwards.

"No!" Sonic screamed to himself. This was not beating him.

Mach Four point Four.

His body was being painfully elongated. It was excruciating. But he had to win!

Mach Four point Six.

KABOOM!

The resulting explosion ricocheted in all directions. An enormous vibrantly-rainbow coloured ring expanded out rapidly for several miles, from the point of the explosion's occurrence accompanied by a the biggest shockwave on record. It was extremely loud.

A Hyper-Blast.

It awoke Sonic from his Magical slumber. The noise and the resulting backlash, which nearly knocked him flying, bringing him round.

Now back to normal, his emerald green eyes squinting, he found himself racing towards the ground at breakneck speeds, and in the blink of eye, he'd hit it.

He swore.

{Pull up! Pull up!} He screamed over the ether, absolutely panicking. He put every ounce of strength and weight of he had on his back leg to level up the board. It was incredibly painful. Sonic gritted his teeth. He was pulling acceleration forces far beyond anything he was used to. He felt his skeleton painfully flex almost to breaking point. He had to do this, he would die if he didn't.

He succeeded with about three inches to spare. Hovering just above the ground, he raced towards the finish line, at incredible speed, at Mach Four. He quickly got a glimpse of Manic to the side of him and the expanding Hyper-Blast behind him. He very quickly realised he knew exactly what had happened. Manic had rearranged the course, forcing him to Hyper-Blast. He frowned, he had no memory any of it. This had happened before, a long time ago, back when he and Manic were children. But the consequences were so dire that they both vowed to never do it again.

Well, so much for that.

As Sonic tore through he realised that he had another problem.

"Sonic, Brake, BRAKE!" A voice screamed from behind him. Manic had heard Sonic scream over the ether and knew that he was now back to normal. No surprise really, considering how loud that Hyper-Blast was.

Sonic had to brake and quickly. He might hit someone and potentially kill them. He thrust the air board forwards with both legs into braking position and allowed Chaos to increase rapidly within him. His eyes turned silver. He had to use Magic to brake, he had no choice. He wasn't going to stop otherwise. He directed the extremely large quantities of internal Chaos towards his hands and fired.

Rocket boosters, shimmering silver, exploded out of his hands. They fired in the opposite direction, to the one he was travelling. Screaming in agony, he began to brake and fast.

Too fast.

His skeleton curved as the acceleration forces bent them into unbearable directions. Shaking violently, he could see a tree ahead of him, he was not going to avoid, gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.

He screamed on the ether. He finally stopped. He missed hitting the tree by an inch.

He collapsed into it and slide down the trunk onto the floor, onto his back. He was exhausted. It had been years since he'd travelled so fast and seriously out of breath. He opened his eyes to find Manic running up to his aid.

What the actually hell?

Sonic didn't want his aid, he was fuming with him. His sudden bought of anger, gave him a bust of energy and jumped to his feet.

"Easy! Sonic!" Manic halted, holding up his hands.

Sonic was so put out that he didn't care who was staring at him. He swore.

"Dam it, Manic, for making me do that Hyper-Blast." He growled, he wasn't happy.

"Me!" Manic defended. "Hey, Bro! You started it!" He spat back. Sonic was getting a large quantity of emotions on the ether from Manic. He noticed them because it was the first time since Robotropolis, he had spoken that way. Angry, worry and panic. Sonic ignored them all, he was to angry to care.

"No I didn't!" He retorted. "You rearranged the course!" He snapped.

Anger filled Manic so much that the ground beneath their feet began to shake. He walked right up to Sonic and hissed.

"Well, you lost control!" He whispered, growling under his breath.

Sonic fell silent. Manic was right. He had lost control. Thinking back, he was completely blank from sitting his tent to the Hyper-Blast, no memory whatsoever. He bit his lip. Now he was extremely frightened, his anger melting away to nothing. He looked at Manic, pleading for help. His brother sighed. They would work this out, somehow.

A Grand Prix official was storming towards them. Upon seeing him, suddenly reminded Manic of something.

"Hey Bro!" He asked cheerfully. "Who won?" He jibbed.

Sonic looked up from his despair and grinned. He was travelling so fast that he didn't see, plus he had other things on his mind.

"I have no idea!" He laughed.

The official pointed towards the giant screen as he met them. A photo finish. Manic could be seen crossing the line on the far side, followed immediately by a large blur crossing the line so fast, that when the officials finally narrowed down the footage to just the single frame of the finish line only, they were neck-and-neck.

Neither brother could believe it. Their sibling rivalry hit breaking point. It would come down to the official race times.

Sonic had never been on such tenterhooks after a race. He'd never so tired after a race either. Watching the screen for the race times to come up, felt like an age. He had to have beaten Manic, his reputation was a stake. To travel that fast and not beat him, would be, quite frankly, embarrassing.

As the seconds ticked by, they both watched. Waiting. Then they appeared.

Manic – 3:25:73

Sonic – 3:25:72

"What!" Manic yelled.

"YES!" Sonic squealed, in complete joy.

He had beaten Manic by 0.01 seconds. He was jumping about, absolutely ecstatic. He was extremely tired, running on fumes. But he didn't care, he'd beaten him and right there and then, that was all that mattered. He was panting.

"Still the King of Speed!" He jibbed at Manic. His brother rolled his eyes.

"And braking!" He added, winking at Sonic. "To go from Mach Four to Zero in a hundred feet is seriously impressive." He grinned.

Sonic looked down at his hands, they were still very sore of the rocket boosters and their were now holes in his gloves. He body also still horrendously ached from where his skeleton had been forced to bend. He sighed.

"Well, I didn't want to hit that tree, did I!" He smirked, and they both giggled.

Jet was staring at Sonic. In fact, all of the other competitors were. Sonic could no longer hide his unfair advantage anymore. The blue Hedgehog had just out sped and out classed him in every way possible. He was so stunned, he had nothing to say. In fact, non of them did.

Suddenly a there loud explosion in the sky above him, from the horizon. Something was heading their way and fast, smashing all the speeds barriers.

Manic noticed, Sonic didn't. He was a bit too full of himself.

"Bro?" Manic asked, but was ignored. This left him somewhat put out.

"BRO!" He shouted. Sonic stopped, but Manic was angry. "Dam it, Bro, your sounding like Dad!"

Well, that hit a nerve. Sonic's anger immediately fired.

"I am NOT Dad!" He shouted. "And don't you dare compare me to him." He spat. But Manic grinned.

"And why not!" He snapped. "Do you remember what happened when he ever did a Hyper-Blast?" He growled.

Sonic went white. His anger vanished. He did remember. Even though their father died when they was very young, Sonic knew the stories. He whirled round and looked skywards.

Then he saw them. They were coming for him, four of them, just like they did for their father.

Starship Troopers!