SuperSonic Speed-- chapter 23: A Green and Red Night
---
Had his body not been asleep, Sonic would have leaped with joy. "green Team Wins" looped in his head, he had won... no, not he, THEY had won. Tails' body wasn't asleep and he WAS leaping with joy.
Juke holstered her weapon and walked over to Sonic, "Well, congrats kid, looks like you got yourselves a mission accomplished here." She helped Sonic to his feet and smiled, "I honestly thought it woulda took ya a lot longer to finally work with Tails, as much as you like him, we knew that you wouldn't wanna use teamwork until you got your rears kicked enough. But very good work, kid.
Knuckles walked over to Tails and Sonic, "Excellent job, I thought you would be going down yet again, I am happy to see that you two decided to work together, remember, You absolutely CANNOT take Robotnik's army by yourself. You will need to work like this not just this time, but EVERY time, if we even so much as hope to win back the world. And so, this field game will be a daily exercise, but for now, you are dismissed.
---
6/4/4460 0500 hours
---
Sonic awoke to the usual barking from the guardian to get up. Although sick of having to get up so danged early, he knew he'd be waking up to purple skies for a long time. They met at the usual place, Knuckles hut, for their daily training assignments...
---
Knuckles Hut
---
"We have received a transmission from the chaotix." Knuckles started.
Juke stood to his side. "Wait, didn't those guys, like evacuate the island in that whole mess we had?"
"Yes. They are currently outside Metropolis Zone, or, as they said, what WAS Metropolis Zone. They said you would have a hard time believing how much it changed with Robotnik's rule." Sonic put his head down, he wanted nothing to do with Metropolis. "Anyways, the point is that the Chaotix want us to come down there, but before we can do that, you two must learn stealth."
The team stepped out onto the field. "Those Chaotix guys want us to run a mission for them, get some surveillance equipment into the city. Now, today, we have a basic lesson, tonights lesson'll be more advanced, you kids need to learn practically everything in a week." Juke walked toward a line, "The 1-2 1-2 thing works here too. The key is, you NEED to pick up your feet as you walk. If you don't, you'll be makin' tons of extra noise." Sonic and Tails followed along, imitating the Lieutenant's movements. "In time, you'll naturally walk that way on a mission."
Knuckles was ready for his part. "When the walls are short, you'll need to duck, but be able to move quickly, watch." Knuckles bent his knees low and stuck his head out so that his body was at a 90 degree angle with his feet, "You'll want to keep your head as low as possible, but tipped up slightly so that you can see where your going."
Similar Training for other movements followed, Juke and Knuckles rotating the role of teacher and demonstrater. Most of the training involved moving over or under objects and one actually involved moving through an air duct, a lesson that would surely one day prove useful.
---
Knuckles Hut-- 6/5/4460 0140 hours
---
Sonic was exhausted, he had spent the entire day training and his mind felt overloaded with information. Knuckles had said that this would be a test, and a hard one at that.
"Tonight's test is crucial to your being able to fight Robotnik. During the day, even with stealth, it will still be very difficult to get into Robotropolis undetected. Our best chance is at night and we must learn to operate as such. So tonight We will test your courage. There's a hill not too far away and some rope suspended between it and this hut. It actually starts at this hut if you want to be exact. The test is that you must use the rope ot get to the hill."
"That's easy!!!" Sonic exclaimed.
"It wouldn't be a test if it was easy. It is a test of your courage, and so, it is a live-fire exercise."
Sonic's jaw gaped, "What? Are you nuts!!! You do know I'm no good to you if I'm dead right?"
The Guardian smiled, "If you do everything I have taught you, then you will be fine, no worries Sonic, these lasers do not have any penetration."
Sonic didn't seem reassured, and he knew that knuckles wasn't telling the entire truth, nothing was ever as expected, he remembered Knuckles saying countless times "You cannot simply learn the routine, you must be able to adapt to change," and Knuckles would always throw in a little extra.
----
10 minutes later
---
It was pitch black in the (very) early morning, Sonic stood outside the hut with his nightvision goggles on. Knuckles stood beside him as he readied himself for the ropes.
"It is imperative that you do not fall, because we have live fire going on above and below the ropes. As an added challenge, I have my own variation of enemy SWATbots that will be firing at you from the ground. Be Aware Sonic, it is very easy to fail this mission, which is why you have
two tries, which is very generous, because in a real mission, there is no second chance."
Sonic had no comments, he just stared at the rope, and the gap between the start and finish.
Knuckles stepped far away, so he wouldn't be in the line of fire, "Ready Sonic?"
Sonic gave a thumbs up and flashed a grin, displaying his everlasting love for adventure.
"Go, go, GO!!!"
Sonic jumped up, the rope was so high up, he was barely able to grab the rope. After getting both his hands on it, he used the wall to climb to get his feet higher, in a way, "climbing" up the wall. Then, when his feet were at the top, he threw himself back and locked his feet over the rope.
"Bad Start Sonic!!!" Knuckles called.
The guns started, and Sonic felt... fear, yes, it was definately fear, something he rarely felt anymore after Knuckles' Training. His common sense kept telling him not to go across, that he was going to die. But despite that, his inner self told him to keep going, that his knowledge would save him.
The blue hedgehog started across, one hand after the next, in this game, he knew what the extras were: Those SWATbots that were running toward him... weapons... oh no! they were actually AIMING! Now he could actually hear the "zip-zing" of gunfire behind and ahead of him.
Sonic reached faster, one hand after the next, just dragging his feet along. The chilly summer night was casted in a greenish hue. Sonic was about halfway along the lengthy rope and he noticed something: The zips and zings were getting louder- which meant that he was closer and closer to getting hit.
He heard a zip next to him, it made his ears ring, unfortunately, the "Zing!" didn't come in an audio form. He felt it: His left arm had been hit, and when it did, it jumped and he hit himself under the eyes, protected by the nightvision, so in addition to the horrendous pain in his arm from the laser, he had also banged it, doubling the pain. He yelled a yell he was sure Knuckles could hear, even though seperated by the distance.
Sonic continued on, he would be even worse deadmeat if he stayed there. Although he found he had another problem: He could not see. The world was in the form of a green square, and he realized that when he had "hit himself" he had unfocused his nightvision, it was now useless, he couldn't adjust it in the middle of the rope.
He pulled the goggles up and continued further, he couldn't see well, but he could barely see where he was on the rope. His injured arm was becoming numb from the adrenaline rush, and wouldn't be much of a problem for a little while.
As the seconds tick, ticked away, he found himself yelling on the inside that he was almost there. Of course he was denying the fact that he really WASN'T "almost" there, but it kept him going, and after five minutes, he began seeing the truth: The pain was still there, and it WAS slowing him down, he wasn't "almost" there.
Sonic began trying the inchworm approach: Bridging gaps at a time with his (uninjured) right hand. it helped him that he could only use his good hand if needed, and so, he let his left arm dangle. The climb seemed to drag on and on, his left arm swinging back and forth as he went along. And Sonic began to realize (this time for real) that he WAS almost there. He struggled the last few feet, his breathing heavy and labored, his vision blurry. At last, he looked down and could see the hill below him, his shadow was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He unlocked his feet and let go of the rope with his hands, landing on his back with a terrible thud. The blue hedgehog got up, cradling his left arm with his right.
Inspecting his arm, Sonic saw a hole about a half-inch wide on one side, his other, contained an exit wound. He couldn't feel it because of the numbness, but his left hand was wet with blood (Sonic would later discover the streaks of red in the grass below the rope)
Knuckles ran out to Sonic, and softly asked if he was all right.
"Yeah... I will be when we get back to the hut."
---
6/5/4460 0215 hours
---
Sonic the Hedgehog winced as Knuckles bandaged the hedgehog's bleeding arm.
"Boy, is that a bad one,"
"Tell me about it,"
"I was certain you would have slipped,"
"You lied,"
"About what?"
"You know, about them not penetrating... well, at least I now know to stay as far away as I can from them,"
"That was the idea,"
"What a price,"
Knuckles finished bandaging Sonic's arm, "How bad does it hurt?"
"Ah... I'll live I think,"
"You know, it was a necessary price, if you get shot in a real battle, there will be nobody to save you, it's you versus the world out there,"
"I know, I know..."
And so, Sonic had passed his test of courage, and was that much closer to his first REAL mission to Robotropolis.
---
Had his body not been asleep, Sonic would have leaped with joy. "green Team Wins" looped in his head, he had won... no, not he, THEY had won. Tails' body wasn't asleep and he WAS leaping with joy.
Juke holstered her weapon and walked over to Sonic, "Well, congrats kid, looks like you got yourselves a mission accomplished here." She helped Sonic to his feet and smiled, "I honestly thought it woulda took ya a lot longer to finally work with Tails, as much as you like him, we knew that you wouldn't wanna use teamwork until you got your rears kicked enough. But very good work, kid.
Knuckles walked over to Tails and Sonic, "Excellent job, I thought you would be going down yet again, I am happy to see that you two decided to work together, remember, You absolutely CANNOT take Robotnik's army by yourself. You will need to work like this not just this time, but EVERY time, if we even so much as hope to win back the world. And so, this field game will be a daily exercise, but for now, you are dismissed.
---
6/4/4460 0500 hours
---
Sonic awoke to the usual barking from the guardian to get up. Although sick of having to get up so danged early, he knew he'd be waking up to purple skies for a long time. They met at the usual place, Knuckles hut, for their daily training assignments...
---
Knuckles Hut
---
"We have received a transmission from the chaotix." Knuckles started.
Juke stood to his side. "Wait, didn't those guys, like evacuate the island in that whole mess we had?"
"Yes. They are currently outside Metropolis Zone, or, as they said, what WAS Metropolis Zone. They said you would have a hard time believing how much it changed with Robotnik's rule." Sonic put his head down, he wanted nothing to do with Metropolis. "Anyways, the point is that the Chaotix want us to come down there, but before we can do that, you two must learn stealth."
The team stepped out onto the field. "Those Chaotix guys want us to run a mission for them, get some surveillance equipment into the city. Now, today, we have a basic lesson, tonights lesson'll be more advanced, you kids need to learn practically everything in a week." Juke walked toward a line, "The 1-2 1-2 thing works here too. The key is, you NEED to pick up your feet as you walk. If you don't, you'll be makin' tons of extra noise." Sonic and Tails followed along, imitating the Lieutenant's movements. "In time, you'll naturally walk that way on a mission."
Knuckles was ready for his part. "When the walls are short, you'll need to duck, but be able to move quickly, watch." Knuckles bent his knees low and stuck his head out so that his body was at a 90 degree angle with his feet, "You'll want to keep your head as low as possible, but tipped up slightly so that you can see where your going."
Similar Training for other movements followed, Juke and Knuckles rotating the role of teacher and demonstrater. Most of the training involved moving over or under objects and one actually involved moving through an air duct, a lesson that would surely one day prove useful.
---
Knuckles Hut-- 6/5/4460 0140 hours
---
Sonic was exhausted, he had spent the entire day training and his mind felt overloaded with information. Knuckles had said that this would be a test, and a hard one at that.
"Tonight's test is crucial to your being able to fight Robotnik. During the day, even with stealth, it will still be very difficult to get into Robotropolis undetected. Our best chance is at night and we must learn to operate as such. So tonight We will test your courage. There's a hill not too far away and some rope suspended between it and this hut. It actually starts at this hut if you want to be exact. The test is that you must use the rope ot get to the hill."
"That's easy!!!" Sonic exclaimed.
"It wouldn't be a test if it was easy. It is a test of your courage, and so, it is a live-fire exercise."
Sonic's jaw gaped, "What? Are you nuts!!! You do know I'm no good to you if I'm dead right?"
The Guardian smiled, "If you do everything I have taught you, then you will be fine, no worries Sonic, these lasers do not have any penetration."
Sonic didn't seem reassured, and he knew that knuckles wasn't telling the entire truth, nothing was ever as expected, he remembered Knuckles saying countless times "You cannot simply learn the routine, you must be able to adapt to change," and Knuckles would always throw in a little extra.
----
10 minutes later
---
It was pitch black in the (very) early morning, Sonic stood outside the hut with his nightvision goggles on. Knuckles stood beside him as he readied himself for the ropes.
"It is imperative that you do not fall, because we have live fire going on above and below the ropes. As an added challenge, I have my own variation of enemy SWATbots that will be firing at you from the ground. Be Aware Sonic, it is very easy to fail this mission, which is why you have
two tries, which is very generous, because in a real mission, there is no second chance."
Sonic had no comments, he just stared at the rope, and the gap between the start and finish.
Knuckles stepped far away, so he wouldn't be in the line of fire, "Ready Sonic?"
Sonic gave a thumbs up and flashed a grin, displaying his everlasting love for adventure.
"Go, go, GO!!!"
Sonic jumped up, the rope was so high up, he was barely able to grab the rope. After getting both his hands on it, he used the wall to climb to get his feet higher, in a way, "climbing" up the wall. Then, when his feet were at the top, he threw himself back and locked his feet over the rope.
"Bad Start Sonic!!!" Knuckles called.
The guns started, and Sonic felt... fear, yes, it was definately fear, something he rarely felt anymore after Knuckles' Training. His common sense kept telling him not to go across, that he was going to die. But despite that, his inner self told him to keep going, that his knowledge would save him.
The blue hedgehog started across, one hand after the next, in this game, he knew what the extras were: Those SWATbots that were running toward him... weapons... oh no! they were actually AIMING! Now he could actually hear the "zip-zing" of gunfire behind and ahead of him.
Sonic reached faster, one hand after the next, just dragging his feet along. The chilly summer night was casted in a greenish hue. Sonic was about halfway along the lengthy rope and he noticed something: The zips and zings were getting louder- which meant that he was closer and closer to getting hit.
He heard a zip next to him, it made his ears ring, unfortunately, the "Zing!" didn't come in an audio form. He felt it: His left arm had been hit, and when it did, it jumped and he hit himself under the eyes, protected by the nightvision, so in addition to the horrendous pain in his arm from the laser, he had also banged it, doubling the pain. He yelled a yell he was sure Knuckles could hear, even though seperated by the distance.
Sonic continued on, he would be even worse deadmeat if he stayed there. Although he found he had another problem: He could not see. The world was in the form of a green square, and he realized that when he had "hit himself" he had unfocused his nightvision, it was now useless, he couldn't adjust it in the middle of the rope.
He pulled the goggles up and continued further, he couldn't see well, but he could barely see where he was on the rope. His injured arm was becoming numb from the adrenaline rush, and wouldn't be much of a problem for a little while.
As the seconds tick, ticked away, he found himself yelling on the inside that he was almost there. Of course he was denying the fact that he really WASN'T "almost" there, but it kept him going, and after five minutes, he began seeing the truth: The pain was still there, and it WAS slowing him down, he wasn't "almost" there.
Sonic began trying the inchworm approach: Bridging gaps at a time with his (uninjured) right hand. it helped him that he could only use his good hand if needed, and so, he let his left arm dangle. The climb seemed to drag on and on, his left arm swinging back and forth as he went along. And Sonic began to realize (this time for real) that he WAS almost there. He struggled the last few feet, his breathing heavy and labored, his vision blurry. At last, he looked down and could see the hill below him, his shadow was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He unlocked his feet and let go of the rope with his hands, landing on his back with a terrible thud. The blue hedgehog got up, cradling his left arm with his right.
Inspecting his arm, Sonic saw a hole about a half-inch wide on one side, his other, contained an exit wound. He couldn't feel it because of the numbness, but his left hand was wet with blood (Sonic would later discover the streaks of red in the grass below the rope)
Knuckles ran out to Sonic, and softly asked if he was all right.
"Yeah... I will be when we get back to the hut."
---
6/5/4460 0215 hours
---
Sonic the Hedgehog winced as Knuckles bandaged the hedgehog's bleeding arm.
"Boy, is that a bad one,"
"Tell me about it,"
"I was certain you would have slipped,"
"You lied,"
"About what?"
"You know, about them not penetrating... well, at least I now know to stay as far away as I can from them,"
"That was the idea,"
"What a price,"
Knuckles finished bandaging Sonic's arm, "How bad does it hurt?"
"Ah... I'll live I think,"
"You know, it was a necessary price, if you get shot in a real battle, there will be nobody to save you, it's you versus the world out there,"
"I know, I know..."
And so, Sonic had passed his test of courage, and was that much closer to his first REAL mission to Robotropolis.