Chapter 23
Me and Sonic waited for the coast to clear before we headed back to the main street. There, Knuckles was casually chatting to the hawk(?). He looked over and waved to us.
"Sonic, really, who is that?" I asked quietly so as to not offend our visitor.
The visitor in question was a pretty dark shade of blue, but he wore a green jacket covered in zippers, which he kept unzipped in the middle, and a pair of khaki shorts. He looked over at us with bright eyes.
"His name's Ice the Penguin." Sonic replied. "He's from Wintrilla. Er, another country in Mobius." I nodded. When we got close enough, Ice spoke.
"Sonic!" The Penguin called out. He had a thick Australian accent... which I found humorously ironic. I suppressed a giggle as we got close. "It's a pleasure to meet you mate!" Ice stuck out his hand, which Sonic shook vigorously.
"The pleasure's mine!" Sonic replied, smiling. "I'm a big fan!" The penguin beamed.
"Wow, coming from the Fastest Thing Alive, that's an honor!" Ice preened. He looked at me and smiled. "Sonic, I don't know what he is, but he's a beauty. Where'd you find him?" I frowned, saddened, and looked away. Was this really what I would always be known as here? Ice noticed, and his eyebrows furrowed.
"He's... not an animal." Sonic replied. He gently put an arm around me and pulled me closer to him. "He's my little bro." I was about to smile when I realized how he probably looked. Compared to most Mobians, I was pretty ugly. To have me so close to him, in front of one of his idols... not good for his image. I looked down a bit more in shame. Ice looked shocked and apologetic.
"I-I'm sorry mate! I was just readin-"
"The tabloids are just making that up." Knuckles cut in, sounding a bit angry and defensive. I looked over at him, slightly surprised. "He's a human, and a good one at that." I had never heard Knuckles stand up for me before, not until now.
"I'll make sure to spread that around." Ice said, nodding. He looked at me again. "You got a name mate?"
"Josh..." I said quietly. I felt ashamed for some reason to be near Sonic. I felt horribly saddened that I probably caused him such grief. Sonic looked down at me, confused as to why I didn't finish my name as I usually did.
"Josh the Hedgehog." Sonic said for me, gently shaking me.
"Is he okay mate?" Ice asked, looking at me. Knuckles looked over too, and squinted.
"Josh... you're crying." Knuckles said quietly. I gasped a bit and quickly ran a hand over my eyes. The back of my hand glistened from tears. Sonic pulled me closer to him. I was making him look even worse now.
"What's wrong bud?" Sonic asked me quietly.
"Can we go?" I almost whispered back. Sonic slowly nodded.
"I'm... gonna take him back Knuckles." Sonic said, looking up. Knuckles nodded, his eyes still focused on me.
"I'll, er, see you later mate." Ice called out to us as we walked away. Sonic looked back and smiled, nodding. I, on the other hand, didn't dare look up. I didn't want anyone to see my face. I just wanted to hide in a corner...
…...
"Josh, talk to me, please." Sonic urged, sitting next to me on the hotel bed. I hadn't spoken for over half an hour. Shame built up inside me as I turned away from Sonic, trying to hide my tears. Every passing moment, the pain seemed to get worse. I didn't want to be close to Sonic anymore... but if I left, Sonic would be sad, which would make me feel worse. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, all of which was covered in thorns, sharp glass, and other assorted waste materials that hurt to touch.
Sonic said quietly next to me, awaiting a verbal response. Never once did he leave my side. Brownie points for that.
"Josh... come on..." Sonic urged again. He gently pulled me close to him, so that I was leaning on his arm. I stayed stock still, every passing moment close to him agony to me. I felt him place a hand on top of one of mine.
"Good, now that you're both listening," Ilo suddenly said, his bright, cheerful voice cutting through my gloom, "Did you notice the sudden attitude change our young Emerald Bearer just had?"
"The Emerald of sadness is certainly in this city." Pelko said, her voice wavering slightly.
"Is that what caused the depression?" Sonic asked, looking at me more than the Spirits. I shrugged, not wanting to say anything.
"The effects of this Emerald seem to be multiplied here..." Viha said, his deep voice steady and reflective.
"This city does have quite a few heart breaks... lost love, losing competitions, finding meat in your tofu dog. There are tons of reasons to be sad here!" Sonic said.
"That doesn't explain why Joshua is so receptive to it..." Pelko said.
"It's because of what happened in his past." Ilo replied.
"You looked into his past?!" Viha asked, sounding a bit ticked off.
"What? It was necessary to understand what was going on! He's especially receptive to this emerald because of his past sadness! The kid lost his parents!"
My thoughts suddenly turned to my parents, and the tears began to come down faster.
"Nice job." Viha said.
"Sonic, this will not last if you help him get through this depression." Pelko explained. "Once he comes to terms with whatever he is feeling, the extreme sadness will go away. Be warned, it may come back if he feels saddened again."
"What should I do? He won't talk to me!" Sonic thought ruefully, directing it only to the Spirits.
"Try music, he seems to like that!" Ilo explained. Sonic nodded. He stood up and turned on the radio.
"'Cause you had a bad day, taking one down, you sing a sad song just to turn it around-"
"What?! No, not that song!" Sonic said, trying to figure out how to change the channel. A small smile crept onto my face as I watched Sonic freak out, which Sonic noticed. He slowly stood up, looking at me. He began to sing along...
"You had a bad day, you say what you like, well how does it feel, one more time, you had a bad day..."
I smiled a bit more as he sat next to me. I couldn't help myself as I began to sing along.
"Sometimes the system goes on the brink, and the whole thing turns out wrong. You might not make it back, and you know, that you dadadadadada..." I began to fizzle out, forgetting the words. It had been a long time since I had head that song. Sonic chuckled, and I gave a small laugh. I slowly felt the sadness lift away. "I'm sorry Sonic..." I said quietly. "I just felt so embarrassed for you..."
"What? What did I do?" Sonic asked, looking at me sideways, a smile on his face.
"Not what you did! It was just me..." I said, turning to look out the window. "Everyone thinks I 'm just an animal, so you being so close to me and stuff probably isn't making your look to good in front of people... especially Ice."
"C'mon Josh, you know I don't think like that! I love you-"
"I know Sonic... still doesn't make me feel any less worse..."
Sonic sat down for a moment before walking out to the balcony. He cupped his hands to his mouth and began to shout... extremely loud.
"HEY EVERYONE! GUESS WHAT?! THAT "ANIMAL" FOLLOWING ME IS MY LITTLE BROTHER!"
"Sonic!" I hissed as I quickly got up and ran to the balcony, trying to pull him back. Sonic had his trademark smirk on as he held out his arm, keeping me away from him, and used his other hand to hang on to one of the bars of the balcony.
"AND HE'S NOT AN ANIMAL! HE'S ONE OF THE COOLEST PEOPLE I KNOW!" Sonic suddenly grabbed my arms and pulled me towards him. He looked me in the eyes, a smile on his face. I stopped moving and stared back. "And there is no one else I'd rather have with me right now than you." He finished. He pulled me close and hugged me, causing to smile. I hugged him back.
"Thanks..." I said quietly.
"Hey!" A voice called from somewhere on the coastal shore, "Go to bed you drunk-"
Sonic quickly covered my ears, censoring the rather rude word, as he rolled his eyes and walked back inside, taking me with him. He closed the sliding glass door separating the room from the balcony and closed the shades. The radio was playing another song, softly. Sonic started to walk over to the door to remove his shoes and socks, when he suddenly backed up and looked at our room again.
"...Only two beds..." Sonic said, looking at me.
"I can sleep on the floor." I replied, shrugging.
"No, you don't have to do that." Sonic said, laughing as he spoke. "You can sleep with me, it's not a big deal."
"You sure?" I asked, looking a bit sheepish. Sonic gave me a funny look.
"Are you still worried about that whole "romantic" thing?" He asked incredulously.
"Well yeah... it's kinda a big deal for me..." I replied, rubbing the back of my head. "I don't want to get involved in... that... kind of stuff..." Sonic nodded.
"If it's that big a deal, I'll sleep on the floor tonight." He said.
"No! It-It's okay... I like sleeping with you... like last night..." I said, smiling again. Sonic smiled too before looking at me with worry. He sat down on the bed.
"What were you dreaming about last night bud?" Sonic asked, worry staining his voice.
"...It's weird..." I said, sitting down next to him. "First Scourge tried to eat me or something... then Eggman tried to drill into my head or something... and then the last part..." I took a deep breath before continuing. "I've always had the last part of my dream be somewhat the same. I'm in a room, where a man is telling me that my parents are alive and in the opposite corner. But instead of my parents, there are two monsters, just staring at me. Then they smile and move closer to me... their mouths are sharp and blood comes from their mouth... then they lunge at me and I wake up..." A shiver went down my spine as I thought back. Sonic looked at me with sympathy. "...Except last night..." I continued. "When you picked me up, it changed to me and you..." I smiled and looked up at him. "You gotta be my guardian angel!"
"Maybe not an angel." Sonic said, laughing a bit. He put a hand on my shoulder. "But I'll be your guardian." I smiled and leaned on him, resting my head on his shoulder. He put an arm around me, gently pulling me close to him.
…...
Sonic gently shook me awake the next morning.
"Come on bud, we gotta go!" Sonic said gently. I quickly sat up and cleaned myself up a bit before heading out. It was still a bit dark outside, but the registration process for the race apparently took awhile. Knuckles handed me my board.
"You ready?" He asked me, his mouth pulled up in a grin. I nodded excitedly. "Just remember to lean forward to help you keep balance, alright?"
"Don't worry, I'll remember." I replied, tapping my head to show that it was locked in. Knuckles gave me a friendly thump on the back before getting in the line. I stared at him in curiosity. He was being so friendly all of a sudden... I wonder why...
"Hey!" I heard Ice call out from behind me. I turned and looked back at him and his team, consisting of a serious looking husky wearing blue goggles on his head and blue swim trunks, a brown sea otter in a green tank top and cut-off jeans, and Ice himself. Ice ran over to me.
"Sorry about last night mate... no hard feelings?" Ice asked. I nodded.
"I should be apologizing, that was all me last night." I replied. "You're good."
"A'wright then, now that we got that settled, you wanna meet my crew?" Ice asked me and Sonic. Sonic didn't need to say anything, the look on his face was enough. Me and Sonic headed over to say hello.
"This is Trixie," He said, pointing to the otter. She enthusiastically waved back. "And on my other side is Riptide." The husky regarded us for a moment before nodding.
"You guys are racing too, right?" Trixie asked us. Her voice was also Australian.
"Of course!" Sonic said back, matching Trixie's enthusiasm. She giggled.
"This should be fun then! I can't wait to see how you guys race!" She winked before dashing off somewhere.
"Ah, Trix-crikey... never mind." Ice began to run after the otter. "Come back here Trix!" Soon, just me, Sonic, and Riptide were left.
"So... is your name really Riptide?" I asked innocently. Riptide turned and looked at me, smiled bemusedly, and gave a small nod, but otherwise said nothing.
"He doesn't talk. He's mute, he can't speak." Sonic said, under his breath. I nodded, then held up my hands...
"I know sign language." I told him in sign language. "Basic sign language." I added. He looked a bit surprised, but smiled.
"It's nice to meet someone else who can sign." Riptide signed back. "You're pretty good, how long have you been learning?"
"4 years." I managed to say after translating what Riptide told me. "I can form small sentences."
"It's better than nothing!" Riptide said back. "I should get going, see you later!"
"Bye!" I signed as he ran off. Sonic looked at me impressed.
"Can you teach me how to do that?" Sonic asked.
"I barely know how." I chuckled. "He was pushing my language limit."
"Nice." Sonic chuckles back. We turned as Knuckles came running back to us.
"We're in heat 3." He announced, handing me and Sonic a pin-on number, like what'd you see runners wear at a marathon. "And guess who's with us."
"Jet?" Sonic ventured.
"And Ice." Knuckles added, excitement on his face. Sonic went wide-eyed.
"No way! That's awesome!" Sonic cheered. "I can't believe I'm going to race against Ice and his team!"
"Dude, we gotta win this one!" Knuckles said to Sonic. "He'll give us serious props for that! Might get him to sign my board after we're done!"
"Glad to see you two are happy." I replied, trying not to laugh. The two looked a bit ridiculous, like two girls at a Justin Bieber concert.
"Why aren't you, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity!" Knuckles asked me in disbelief.
"I'm not from here, remember. I don't know who he is, so I have no attachment to him!" I said, shrugging.
"Well he's a two time champion-"
"I don't need to hear his story Sonic, I'll just take your word for it." I said, holding up a hand. "You two need to calm down, those nerves are going to affect your racing."
"Hola guys!" Amigo called from behind us. He quickly ran up to us.
"Hola Amigo! Como estas?" I asked.
"Tu habla Español!" Amigo cheered back.
"Er, kinda. I only took four years. Er, mi Español es no bueno..." I said, rubbing my arm.
"No problemo!" Amigo winked. "We missed you guys at the party last night, where were you?"
"We kinda had a rough night..." I said quietly.
"I had a nasty stomach virus last night." Sonic said, quickly. "Josh took me home and took care of me." I looked at Sonic, who looked back at me and smiled.
"Wow, you guys are pretty lucky to have each other!" Amigo exclaimed.
"Amigo!" A female voice called out. Another monkey, this one female, ran towards us, wearing a red skirt and a flower in her ear. I recognized her immediately as Amiga, the Pop idol sister of Amigo. "There you are!" She exclaimed to her brother. She had almost no hint of Spanish in her voice, which I found a bit funny. "We need to practice our set, come on!" Amigo didn't get a word out before his sister dragged her away. He quickly waved goodbye, which we returned.
"You don't have to do that you know. Cover for me like you just did." I told Sonic as I lowered my hand. "You're painting me in too positive a light."
"You would have though, wouldn't you?" Sonic asked back.
"Yeah, but-"
"I'm not embellishing anything bud, I just don't want you to embarrass yourself." Sonic said gingerly.
"I'm fine..." I said. I looked down a bit. Sonic always seemed to have to defend me... I could never seem to take care of myself.
Sonic and Knuckles noticed my attitude change quickly. They looked at each other in concern, before they both gently pulled me away from the crowd.
"Sonic, what's going on, this isn't like him!" Knuckles whispered behind me. (Er, I only learned about this after everything happened from the races.)
"The Emerald's in the city." Sonic whispered back. "This one feeds on sadness. He's experiencing some side effects from it because of his sadness from the past."
"What happened in his past?" Knuckles asked.
"I'll explain later, we just gotta get his mind off of whatever's bugging him this time." Sonic said. They both focused back on me. My depression had slowly gotten worse as I stewed in my thoughts.
"What is it this time Josh?" Sonic asked.
"...You guys always have to defend me." I finally said. "I'm just worthless. I can't do anything for myself, you two always end up having to babysit me."
"That's not true!" Knuckles said. "What about back in Boddy manor, you almost single-handedly figured out what was going on!"
"Yeah, and you took down Blitz all by yourself too!" Sonic added.
"Not to mention you blew up Eggman's headquarters!" Knuckles finished.
"Scourge did the beating up of Arthur and almost killed me, I almost bled to death, I fell and you had to catch me." I replied, counting each one on my fingers. Sonic and Knuckles both made a sour face. Sonic's face suddenly went very mellow, and sullen.
"...You protected your brother during the shooting." He said quietly. I looked at him a bit shocked. Sonic looked at me sadly. Everyone went quiet for a few moments. My mind traveled back to that moment, as I held my little brother close to me under the bed.
"...I uh...I did what I had to do... but, these are different, it's not my little brother in trouble, it's me." I said quickly.
"No, it's MY little brother." Sonic said, stepping up to me. "Just like how you protected Jacob, I need to protect you. If anything happened to you, I couldn't live with myself."
"Sonic..." I said quietly. My depression went away and quickly turned to a small sense of guilt. I was being so selfish, only thinking of myself... I never thought about how Sonic felt. Tears started to form once again.
"I'm sorry I acted out..." I said again. Sonic hugged me, which I gratefully returned. I looked over at Knuckles. I let go of Sonic and quickly hugged the echidna before he could do anything. He stiffened a bit, his hands up as if he were being arrested.
"Uh... what's this for?" Knuckles asked me. I let go and stepped back.
"For being nice to me as well. You've defended me to, remember?" I said.
"When?" Knuckles asked.
"We encountered Eggman in the forest, you punched a robot away from me." I explained. Recognition came across Knuckles' face. He rubbed the back of his head, and smiled a bit.
"Uh... yeah, no problem. It was nothing." He said a bit sheepishly. I smiled too, hugging him one more time. This time, he returned, patting my back a bit. We pulled away from each other, and Knuckles' smile was just a bit bigger.
"So, uh, when do we race again?" I asked, now feeling back to normal.
"Heat 3, starts at about noon." Knuckles said, looking up at a clock. It was about 6:00 in the morning.
"Then we've got time to kill." I replied. I started to walk off, Sonic and Knuckles following me.
"What's with the attitude change Knux?" Sonic asked quietly, out of my earshot.
"In him?" Knuckles whispered back, pointing at me. Sonic shook his head and pointed to the echidna.
"Ever since we got into town, you've started to stand up for him a bit more." Sonic said. "What's going on?" Knuckles paused for a moment, unsure of what to say.
"I don't know... I guess I just felt like I had to." Knuckles said, looking up at me. "Like... I shouldn't be my normal self." Knuckles paused again. "Did you notice how he just seemed... different when we got to town?" Sonic thought back.
"Yeah... now that you mention it." Sonic nodded thoughtfully. "He didn't act different-"
"But his face was..." Knuckles stopped as they both looked at my face. I had turned and looked in one of the store windows. "...sad."
"...When I think about it, he seemed a bit happier in Casino Park." Sonic said. "And in Boddy Manor, he was pretty moody."
"How is he going to act when he comes in contact with the other Emeralds?" Knuckles asked. "What are the other ones that are left."
"Kindness, love, and normality." Sonic counted off.
"At least they aren't negative..." Knuckles said, trailing off. I had turned to look at them.
"What are you guys talking about back there?" I asked curiously.
"What Emeralds we have left to find!" Sonic said, lying a bit. "And the emotions that go with them."
"I see." I said, nodding. "That leaves three to go then, right?"
"We still have to get the Dark Blue Emerald bud." Sonic reminded me.
"What are we worried about?" I said, waving a hand dismissively. "We got this race in the bag! With you two on a team, there's no way we can lose!"
"What about you?" Sonic asked. I laughed.
"Let's be honest," I said between giggles. "I may be able to ride, but I'm only a beginner. I bet you guys are gonna pull most of the weight on this team."
"As always." Knuckles said, proudly putting his hands on his hips and turning his head to the side. "Stick with me Josh, you'll never lose with me on your side." I laughed again, as Sonic rolled his eyes. I turned my attention back to the window. Sonic and Knuckles stood next to me.
"What are you looking at?" Sonic asked, putting a hand to the glass so he can look in. There was an early-morning karate class going on inside.
"Just look at them." I said, watching them. "So skilled and disciplined! I wouldn't want to get one of them mad!" I gave a small sigh. "I'm nowhere near that awesome." Knuckles gave me a hard clap on the back, causing me to lean forward and hit the window with my head. He didn't seem to notice, as he began to talk loudly and proudly.
"C'mon, I can teach you all of that stuff!" Knuckles told me. "Except I can teach it better."
"Really?" I said, rubbing my head. Sonic took my hand off and examined the small bump.
"He may be cocky-" Sonic began, earning a small growl from Mr. Hotshot. "But he's right. He's good at what he does."
"You'll really teach me?" I asked.
"Of course! If defending yourself really means that much to you, then who am I to stop you?" Knuckles said, grinning and giving me a thumbs-up. I beamed. "And we start right now!" Knuckles quickly grabbed my arm, much to my surprise, and began to drag me down to the beach. Sonic gave a small yelp before chasing after us.
"Wait! What about the race! We can't exhaust ourselves already!" Sonic called after Knuckles. He stopped in his tracks.
"Oh yeah..." He said, rubbing his chin.
"How about we start after all this is over." I told him. "It'll give us something to do on a running break!"
"Sure thing!" Knuckles said, holding out a fist. Being careful not to impale myself, I fist-bumped him back.
"It's a deal then!" I said excitedly. Sonic smiled when he saw me. I got distracted by another window, and ran off.
"Did you see that?" Knuckles asked, walking over to Sonic.
"Yeah... He doesn't have that sad look anymore." Sonic said, putting a hand on his hip. "I hope this lasts."
"No, I mean that bump on his head!" Knuckles said, pointing to his own forehead. "Where did that come from?" Sonic crossed his arms and rolled his eyes again.
…...
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" The announcer's voice boomed over the speaker. "Heat 3 is just about to begin! Please, take your seats, we will be filming live in five minutes!" I perked up when I heard the announcement.
"They're broadcasting this?" I asked Sonic. He looked up from his board, which he was fine tuning.
"I guess so." Sonic said.
"They always broadcast this race!" Jet explained. He and his team were next to us, in an alleyway just off the race track, out of sight from the audience. Most of the other teams were in a private locker room, including Ice and his team.
"It's pretty big in the hoverboarding community." Wave explained, her board already in hand. She walked over to me, her purple feathers shimmering slightly as she walked. "I don't think I've met you yet." She held out a hand. "I'm Wave."
"Josh!" I said, shaking it. "Josh the Hedgehog!" Wave looked a touch confused, but didn't ask any questions.
"Well 'Josh the Hedgehog,' good luck out there!" She said.
"Thanks, I'll need it." I said, shrugging a bit.
"Don't say stuff like that!" Jet said, looking up from his work.
"Just relax and have fun!" The last member of the group, Storm, said, as he waved at me. "I'm Storm by the way!"
"A pleasure!" I said, nodding.
"We won't think badly of you out there." Jet said, walking over to me. "From what I've heard, for a newby, you aren't half bad!"
"You've got all of us out there with you." Sonic said, standing up and putting a hand on my shoulder.
"Almost all of us!" I said, looking around. "Where's Knuckles, he said he'd be here by now!"
"Yo!" A voice called out. We all turned to see Knuckles, running towards us, his board in one hand, and something small in the other.
"Dude!" Sonic said, sounding a bit agitated. "Where have you been?"
"Sorry, I had to get these!" Knuckles said, panting a bit. He held up what was in his other hand. They were racing glasses, like what everyone else was wearing. They had white frames, and black lenses, matching my clothes. "They're for you." He said, holding them out to me. I smiled and took them, before putting them on top of my head, similar to how Sonic did.
"Thanks Knuckles." I said, smiling even bigger. "I love them." Everyone looked at Sonic, as if to say "What's with Knuckles?" Sonic gave his head a small and quick shake, telling everyone not to ask.
"Racers!" The announcer's voice rang out again. We all looked up at the sentient and invisible man that was apparently floating above us. (I've always wondered why people do that.) "Please take your positions on the race track and do any and all final tuneups there! Three minutes 'til race time!" I picked up my board, which Sonic had kindly worked on, and walked out with the rest of the group. The roar of the crowd was deafening, everyone cheering for their favorite racing team. One name quickly stuck out to me.
"Go Team Knuckles!" A crazed girl shouted.
"You named us 'Team Knuckles?'" I asked, not bothering to hide my amusement.
"'Team Awesome' sounded too vain. So the next best one was 'Team Knuckles.'" Knuckles explained. Sonic looked over at me.
"Do I even have to roll my eyes anymore?" Sonic said. I laughed and shook my head.
"Come on guys, let's get on our marks." I said, looking around. I quickly realized that there were no marks on the ground, only two lines, each about 30 feet apart. "Uh... how do we start this thing?"
"Oh no..." Sonic put a hand on his head and closed his eyes. "We forgot to explain how the race goes."
"It's a running start." Jet said, waving me over to the line closer to the rear of the track.
"R-running?!" I stammered. "I've only practiced standing!" Jet's team turned and looked at me, as they all gasped in unison. Jet looked like he had just sat on a tack.
"Oh boy." Jet said through clenched teeth. I felt my gut turn inside-out.
"Sonic... I... I don't know if I can do this..." I looked down at the ground in shame, the usual depression welling up in me once again.
"Yes you can!" Sonic said, quickly running in front of me and grabbing both of my shoulders, shaking me just a bit. "I'll be right next to you the whole time. You can do this Josh!" I looked back up at his eyes, a confident smile on his face. The depression melted away again, leaving a small feeling of confidence in its place. I nodded, as we made our way to the finish line. Knuckles stood next to me.
"Just make sure you keep your knees bent. All you gotta do is jump on the board when you cross that line. Don't think about it, just do it." Knuckles said. I nodded again, before looking down the line of racers. Trixie noticed me looking and waved. Ice looked down at me and gave me a thumbs up. Riptide smiled and signed "Good luck." I smiled again and waved back at them.
"Racers, at the ready!" The announcer yelled. Everyone got in a running position. I tightened my grip on my board, brought my right foot back, and leaned over, placing my right fingertips on the ground. I took deep breaths.
A sharp crack startled me, as a large fence made of lightning sparked to life at the other end of the runway. A green line appeared beneath us.
"Run fast, but don't pass the green line!" Sonic said to me, as he casually stood, a hand on his hip. In comparison to the other racers, I probably looked the most ridiculous. Everyone else was just standing... quite unlike how we started a race on Earth. But standing next to Sonic made me feel a bit better for some reason. If he was so relaxed, I would be too.
"Start running during the countdown." Knuckles said. He too was standing. Okay, mental note, maybe hold off on the fancy running/technique stuff.
A pinging sound went off, and everyone started running. I took off at a dash, springing down the track. Adrenaline began to flood into my system, as I began running faster, trying desperately to stay even with the green line.
"Be careful!" Wave cautioned from my right. I looked down. I was still good!
Just a few more feet!
5!
4!
3!
2!
1-uh oh...
My foot stuck out just a little bit too far.
I began to flail as electricity coursed through my body. I fell to the ground, a bit dazed. The rest of the racers, including Jet's team had already sped off. Knuckles was on his board but noticed I was missing and turned back to look at me. Only Sonic had seen what happened, as he gingerly stood me back up.
"You okay?" Sonic asked me.
"Yeah... I just broke my pride." I said. I looked to see the racers already out of sight.
"We can still catch up Josh!" Knuckles said, running back to us. But his vote of confidence came too late.
"I'm so sorry..." I said quietly, on the verge of tears.
"Oh no, Knuckles, hurry!" Sonic said, quickly waving him over. Sonic gently tried to calm me down, but even his kindness wasn't working.
Suddenly, two voices rang out from the crowd.
"KEEP GOING JOSH!" I looked up and saw Amy and Tails urging me on!
"Don't give up!" Amy yelled.
"Keep going!" Tails nearly screamed. I felt happy once again!
"You guy-"
"GO!" They both screamed, pointing down the track. I was a bit surprised by their response, but I quickly stepped on my board and pushed off as hard as I could, gaining me a bit of a speed boost. Sonic and Knuckles pulled up next to me.
"You two need to go ahead of me!" I yelled over the wind. "You need to get back up front!"
"We're not leaving you behind, not the first race!" Knuckles yelled back.
"This will be the ONLY race if we don't place! If you two get a high position, we could still make it!" I yelled back.
"But-" Knuckles began to object.
"No buts! Go!" I said, shoving both of the forward. They gained a bit of speed and turned to look at me. I smiled and gave them a thumbs-up. They thumbs-upped back before speeding off. I turned my attention back to the track, determined not to be dead-last.
…...
The track was contained in the city, so I had to quickly learn how to make sharp turns. I had managed to catch up with the racer second to last, so I learned a few pointers on how to drift by watching her. Miraculously, I soon found myself in 9th place! (Although, considering it's out of 12, I guess it's not that impressive.) I looked ahead of me to see Sonic and Knuckles, battling for position with Jet's team and Ice's team. All groups looked determined to win, even going as far as shoving and throwing a few punches! The team behind me was a bit slow, so I was content to watch the tussle for a bit. ...Okay, so maybe I was actually trying to get in, but I was still lacking around the corners. (Which, thank goodness, was a HUGE weakness for the other team. I was glad I was managing to smoke them, although I quickly began to re-learn how to drift by watching Wave. Suffice to say, I was making faster time.) I had hardly noticed when we passed the first checkpoint, one of three according to the sign. This was my chance to prove myself! I had to get in there with the group, and I could finally be considered a good racer, a threat to be taken seriously. However, I first had to figure out how to gain enough speed to get into the group. It took about half-way through the second leg for me to finally not lose a ton of speed around the corners. Although, by that point, there was no use for it. The city quickly turned into the beach, as we raced along the sand. Sonic was obviously holding back on me during the training race, as the group quickly sped off. I turned back to see the team I had left behind quickly gaining on me.
"No!" I thought to myself. "How do I go faster?!" I was so focused on cornering, I forgot one of the easiest things about hoverboarding: gaining speed. My thinking lost me more momentum, as the team passed me. I helplessly watched as they zipped past me. One turned back and shrugged almost apologetically, before shooting away. I helplessly hung my head in defeat.
Until, that is, I noticed I was moving a bit faster. By hanging my head, I shifted my balance forward just a touch. I leaned forward a bit more, and gained even more speed. I smacked my head.
"Lean forward to go faster, I knew that!" I shook my head and leaned forward until I felt like I would tip over. The board shot forward. That's when I heard something.
Music!
I risked turning around and saw that I was leaving a unique jet stream in the air. Sonic's was blue, Knuckles' was red, Jet's was green...
Mine was a slightly translucent piano!
And the music was coming from my hoverboard!
I had never heard the tune before, but it was very techno and pumping. I loved it. The song caused me to have a bit more confidence, and I felt even more so when I saw myself catching up with the team in front of me. I quickly passed them again, shrugging as I did so. The racer who shrugged at me laughed, but I almost didn't hear it as I zoomed past them. After about half a minute, I saw my team again. I did a small fist pump, looking down at my board as I did. That's when I noticed a small knob marked "volume." I smiled as a used my foot to turn the dial up. The bass from the music caused the board to vibrate a bit. I listened to the words, laughing a bit at the lyrics.
Icona Pop – I Love It (feat. Charli XCX)
I got this feeling on the summer day when you were gone.
I crashed my car into the bridge. I watched, I let it burn.
I threw your stuff into a bag and pushed it down the stairs.
I crashed my car into the bridge.
As the singer was singing, I heard a small whine coming from my board. As she continued through the verse, the whine got higher and higher pitched. I started to get worried, until I realized that the board was ever so slightly gaining speed. After she sang the last line, there was a short gap in the music, as the whine stopped. As the quiet settled, I braced myself for whatever was going to happen next...
I
Don't
Care!
My board immediately took off at a speed I didn't know it was capable of, almost knocking me off. I whooped as it sped along.
I Love It!
I Don't Care!
Everyone in front of me perked up a bit as they heard the music, to the point of them slowing down and not fighting anymore. They turned back to look at me, and everyone suddenly cheered. I joined back up in the group as the verse started again. Sonic looked over, beaming with pride and joy!
"Glad you could join us!" Sonic said, laughing.
"How is your board doing that?!" Trixie asked, sliding up towards me. "It's so loud, Riptide can feel the bass!"
"I don't know!" I said, just about as excited as everyone else.
"Hey, are we talking or are we racing?!" Ice asked, sneering at me competitively. I laughed.
"Racing." I said, sneering back.
I!
Don't!
Care!
We all took off, quickly passing the third checkpoint. Finish line, here we come!
…...
Despite all of the bumping, I managed to keep up rather well, not to mention throw a few punches! (Although, they didn't faze the other racers much.) The song had long since ended, and, despite my best efforts, I couldn't get it back on. I was at least grateful I was among friends, not to mention the momentum from the random speed boost stayed. I scanned the area ahead of me before gasping.
"The finish line!" I yelled, pointing. The sudden movement caused me to lose my balance. I began to wobble.
"Josh?!" Sonic looked over in shock. I tried hard to correct my crazy flight path, but I knew I couldn't. I looked at Sonic and grimaced.
"Don't stop!" I squeaked. I then gave up and fell. I tumbled end over end, as I hit the ground and rolled. I got up and assessed myself. Aside from a few bumps and bruises, I was fine. I quickly got back on my board and gained speed. I turned and saw the other team approaching. "This is gonna be close!" I yelled to myself. I leaned forward as far as I could. The board began to play again. This time, it was a song I knew.
Sonic's drowning song.
Okay, so this thing has a sense of humor. Awesome.
The music began to get more frantic, as I mentally urged the board on. I went faster, but the team was still gaining on me! Soon we were even, my speed finally matching theirs. The song was as fast as it was going to get. The finish line was quickly approaching. I shut my eyes and leaned forward even more. If I was gonna fall off again, I at least hoped it would be enough to get me past the finish line! My balance began to falter, but I still heard hoverboards on either side of me!
Oh-no!
The crowd got closer and closer, as my spirits sank lower and lower.
I'm not going to make it.
I opened my eyes right as I crossed the finish line. I fell off once again, like I predicted, rolling to a stop like before. I sadly stood up, as the crowd cheered for the other team. They had no doubt crossed the finish line first.
I was suddenly mobbed by my group, as well as Jet's and Ice's. They were all... cheering for me?
"You made it!" Knuckles screamed. I looked confusedly at Knuckles, then at the leader board.
There I was!
Josh the Hedgehog. 9th place!
I beat the other team!
...AAAaaand I still got 9th place. I looked a bit sadly at the leader board. Sonic noticed and wrapped an arm around me, getting me close enough to muss up my hair.
"You did a good job for you first time!" Sonic told me.
"A good job?" Jet countered. "You did awesome for your first time!" I smiled and looked up again.
9th place.
We all gotta start somewhere, right?
…...
Amy and Tails both ran up to us after the group cleared. Everyone but our team had gone their separate ways to rest.
"Are you okay Josh?" Amy said, hugging me.
"I'm just fine! What are you guys doing here?!" I said, hugging her back.
"We heard about the race on TV, and when we heard the prize, we knew you'd be there. Your call confirmed that! You took a pretty big beating out there!" Tails said, laughing. "Although, it worked out pretty well at the finish line!"
"How close was it?" I asked.
"You smoked 'em in the end." Knuckles said, smiling. "It looks like Mikara tactics worked!"
"Mikara? Er..." I had no idea what that was.
"They were suicide bombers during the World War." Tails exclaimed.
Ah. Mikara equals Kamikaze. Got it.
"I'm sorry I got so excited and fell earlier." I said sheepishly. I felt a little guilty.
"It doesn't matter. You got right back on your board, and our team made it through to the semi-finals!" Sonic said, smiling. "Just relax next time, and you'll do fine!"
"read: I won't fall off?" I asked.
"Yeah, something like that!" Sonic laughed.
"So, when is the next race?" I asked.
"Tonight. It starts when the sun goes down." Knuckles said.
"Really?"
"Cool huh?" Knuckles asked.
"Yeah..." I replied, unease starting to set in. "A race in the dark... isn't that dangerous?"
"That's all part of the fun!" Knuckles chuckles. I grimaced a bit. "Like Sonic said, relax! You'll do awesome!"
"I'll do my best!" I said, nodding. My confidence, however, plummeted.
A race?
At night?
In the dark?
This was bad...
JJ: Hey guys! Sorry you haven't heard from me in so long...
Josh: We've heard this speech before, we get it.
JJ: You do?
Josh: Sure, you're busy, it's summer vacation and stuff.
JJ: Thank you for understanding!
Josh: You need to get out less.
JJ: ...(facepalm.)
Josh: Okay guys, see you all next time! ;P
