Chapter 3 - The Flight of the Bedwyr
As the Sun was setting, Sonic, Knuckles, and Bedwyr gathered outside Tails' home to pick him up. However the kitsune refused to answer the various knocks of the group until Knuckles had no choice but to knock down Tails' door, "YO TAILS, WHERE IN CHAOS' NAME ARE YOU?!"
A loud shriek came from Tails' lab as they ran over, "Tails what happened?!" shouted Sonic in panic.
"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR GUYS?!" cried out Tails as the group found him collapsed on his desk covered in coffee from a knocked over mug on his desk, "Knuckles when will you learn to KNOCK for once?!"
"We were knocking!" retorted Knuckles as he looked around to find a large, cloaked item on a metal table nearby, "What's that?"
Once Tails pulled himself together and cleaned off the coffee to the best of his ability he walked over and answered, "That would be my brand new Dual Yellow Tail." With the flick of the wrist, Tails took off the cover, unveiling an upgraded version of the 'Zero Gravity' Yellow Tail with a metallic yellow and double silver stripe design, a highly sophisticated dashboard split into two panels with various gauges and numbers, twin turbo thrusters, stabilizing rockets on the underside for flight, and even a compact plush chair to command the gear from. The guys' jaws dropped as Tails stood beside it and asked, "Pretty cool isn't it?"
"Dang Tails... That's WAY, and I mean WAY, past cool!" exclaimed Sonic as he looked at the shining paint job.
"Kitsune is seriously packing heat that's for sure," added Knuckles as he took a closer look at the thrusters and rockets, "That plank is going to do way more than float with those..."
"If I didn't know any better I would call that blasphemous witchcraft if it were to fly over Camelot..." muttered Aquarion.
"Thanks guys, well let's get going already! Ready for your first EX Gear Race Bedwyr?"
Bedwyr took a look at his Aqua Knight under his left arm and at Aquarion in his right hand before nodding and replying anxiously, "As ready as I'll ever be I suppose..."
"Just stick to what we showed you and you'll do fine," reassured Sonic as the group were heading out of Tails' home.
"And if those Babylon Rats try to get into your head," added Knuckles while pointing at Aquarion, "You know what to do."
"An Aqua-Cannon to their foul beaks? It'll be my pleasure," answered Aquarion mischievously.
Bedwyr was shocked as he questioned, "Whoa what's gotten into you Aquarion?"
"What do you mean? It's always a joy of mine to punish miscreants such as those rapscallions..." With a final laugh the group hopped onto their gears and took off towards Metal City.
The moon had risen and the city lights were flooding the streets as the group arrived to the starting gate to find Shadow already there with his own EX Gear: Black Shot. His gear closely resembled Sonic's current Blue Star but provided an extra surge of power at the slight cost of speed to support Shadow's Chaos-based Boost Attacks. The paint was also a pitch black coat with red and white so that when it transformed into skates it resembled Shadow's Hover Shoes. "About you guys showed up," mocked Shadow, "I thought I'd have to face the Rogues alone; not that it would make any difference."
"Hello to you too Shadow!" replied Sonic sarcastically, "Can't help it if Tails was passed out from all the hard work he was doing."
"And I thank Tails for building me this powerful gear. I only wish it didn't look so much like that fake gear there," shot Shadow back while gesturing to Sonic's Blue Star.
"Hey if any gear is fake around here it's yours Shad!"
"Not call me that faker!"
"YOU'RE THE FAKER!"
"Hmph, arguing already? This oughta be easy then right Jet?" taunted Wave as the Babylon Rogues confronted the group.
Jet laughed as he added, "That's a shame since I was looking forward to beating Sonic in his prime, but can't complain I guess!"
"Ok that's enough!" shouted Aquarion, startling the Rogues.
"What in the name of Quantum Physics is that?!" squawked Wave wide-eyed.
"I thought you told me inanimate objects can't talk Boss!" shouted Storm confusedly, "What gives?!"
"Who the heck are you...?" questioned Jet while raising his eyebrow.
Tails tried to intervene but couldn't stop them as Bedwyr stated, "I am Sir Bedwyr, Knight of the Sea and Prince of Camelot!"
"And I be Aquarion, a Sacred Sword crafted by the mystical Nimue herself!"
However, Jet and Storm burst out laughing as Jet retorted, "As IF you're a Prince, especially from Camelot! Dream on kid! Now I actually have history as I am the descendant of the original Babylons!"
"You tell him Boss!" added Storm as he kept laughing.
Bedwyr and Aquarion growled as the Babylon Rogues left to finish their preparations. "How outlandish!" spoke Aquarion furiously, "Is there no respect for a man of nobility and status these days?"
"You really shouldn't have done that..." muttered Tails as he facepalmed.
"WHY?!" shouted both Bedwyr and Aquarion.
"Think about it guys. Bedwyr is a Prince with a Sacred Sword from the supposedly ancient kingdom of Camelot. It won't take the Rogues long to find out the truth and once they realize it they will be watching you, waiting to make off with anything valuable you have..."
"If you're not careful there's a lot of people who are willing to go to no ends to steal a person's status or riches," added Shadow, "I've heard such cases time and again where GUN is dispatched to protect royalty and tycoons. Now onto more pressing matters; the only reason I agreed to this whole thing was so I could teach those bird brains a lesson personally, so don't think I'll be on your side. Anyways, this will be the first of 5 races with each race hosting 8 racers to make the Grand Prix appear legit. There will be four teams like last time, so each team will have two each racing with one substitute, with the exception being your team of 4. When the points are all added up the two highest teams and the best racer from the two losing teams will compete in one final race to end this once and for all. Anyways, while the others arrive, choose your first two riders."
As Shadow left to prepare for the race, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Bedwyr gathered round. "So who should we have race first?" asked Tails.
"You know I'm up for it!" quickly replied Sonic, holding up his Blue Star in eagerness.
"I figured as much. Hey Bedwyr, how about you race as well? This track is the easiest and it's high time you get to experience a true race right?"
"Good. If the Rogues plan to come after me, Aquarion, and my kingdom, I'd better show them who they're messing with," exclaimed Bedwyr as he picked up his Aqua Knight.
"It'll be an honor to put those 'bird-brains' in their place," added Aquarion, grinning somewhat deviously, "How you say, 'Old-School'?"
"Now you're talking! Let's do this already!" shouted Sonic as he ran over to the starting gate.
A short moment later and the other two teams were assembled for the competition: Team Dark GUN, composed of Shadow, Rouge, and Omega (who was sporting a heavy armored bike) and Team Rose-kinesis, a combination of Amy, Blaze, and Silver.
As everyone gathered near the starting gate none other than everybody's 'favorite' announcer Omochao appeared, hovering above as he spoke into the microphone:
Good evening folks of Metal City! Today marks the first race of the Third World Grand Prix! In today's race we have: Amy Rose and Blaze the Cat from the newly created Team Rose-kinesis!
Amy waved cheerfully towards the crowd that had formed near the starting line, blowing a few kisses before giving a wink over to Sonic, "This is for you Sonic!"
Blaze stood focused as she reminded Amy, "Remember that he's your opponent Amy, so don't lose it like you tend to..."
Next we have the deadly forces of Shadow the Hedgehog and E-123 Omega from Team Dark GUN!
Shadow gave his trademark deadly glare as Omega was running some last minute checks on himself and his new bike The Ω Annihilator, "Hmph, time to show who is truly the Ultimate."
"AFFIRMATIVE. ALL SYSTEMS ARE OPTIMIZED AND READY FOR TOTAL ANNIHILATION!"
Looks like Dark GUN is bent on winning the competition, especially since they have a vendetta against our next team: The Babylon Rogues!
Jet raised his Bashosen (his green fans) to the sky as he proclaimed to the crowd, "No way I'm going to lose!" before facing Shadow and adding, "Especially to the so called 'Ultimate Life-Form'!"
Wave pulled Jet back as she scolded, "Don't get full of yourself so soon Jet; he's not called that for no reason."
And last but certainly not least: Team Sonic! Today they have the legend Sonic himself with a newcomer: Sir Bedwyr!
"Time to prove what we're made of..." muttered Aquarion to Bedwyr as he was looking over the Aqua Knight.
"Guys while proving yourself is important," started Sonic.
"I know, kick back and have fun right?" finished Bedwyr as he looked up, grinning yet with a shine of determination in his eyes.
"Exactly! Time to put Tails' new gear to use!"
Sonic, Bedwyr, Jet, Wave, Shadow, Omega, Amy, and Blaze all lined up at the starting gate with their gears in hand as Omochao began the countdown. The riders took off as the electric barrier went down with Sonic, Jet, and Shadow immediately boosting ahead of the others. Bedwyr on the other hand had a shaky start as he was close to the end of the pack with Amy, Omega, and Blaze.
Bedwyr
"Not so good," called out Aquarion as they went into the first turn, "We're quite a ways from reaching the front..."
"Time to see what this Aqua Knight is capable of then!" shouted Bedwyr as he morphed into Cavalier-Forme, prompting his gear to do the same as they charged ahead, passing all three and catching up to Wave in 4th, flying above through Air Ride Rings.
"Now what kind of gear is that?!" exclaimed Wave in shock as she looked down at Bedwyr. She quickly landed and boosted forward, bringing out her oversized wrench as she muttered to herself, "Better have a closer look at what Shorty's done this time..."
"Bedwyr!" warned Aquarion as Bedwyr instinctively swapped over into Paladin-Forme, transforming the Aqua Knight into its Bike-Form in mid-jump, blocked the attack with his own boost, and sent Wave flying sideways with a blunt hit from Aquarion.
"My my, this Bedwyr is full of surprises just like his gear is... Maybe what he said earlier wasn't as outrageous as Jet had originally thought... Let's see how far I can push him..." Wave quickly recovered her rings from a few capsules before bringing out her wrench again, closing in on Bedwyr, "You're not getting away so easily noob!" Wave quickly made up the distance and returned the hit before Bedwyr could properly dodge, making him spiral out of control and fall back.
"Are you ok Sir Bedwyr?!" called over Aquarion.
"Yeah..." groaned Bedwyr as he steadied himself in his standard Knight-Forme, collecting rings once more, "But is it me or are the girls in this time more tough?"
"They're definitely not lady-like as the women back in Camelot, but then again I'm not surprised since we are riding on floating metallic boards..."
Sonic
Meanwhile Sonic was neck and neck with Jet and Shadow as they went on to their second lap, Jet slightly ahead of the other two. "HA HA HA, is that all you got hedgehogs?" mocked Jet as he pulled out both his Bashosen and knocked Sonic and Shadow further backwards.
"Damn! Sonic, how about we stop screwing around and pull your 'bro's' ace?" shouted Shadow with an evil smirk.
"Woo! No holding back!" As the three approached the first ramp again Sonic and Shadow jumped off their boards, flipping as the Blue Star and Black Shot transformed into their Speed Skate Forms.
With the surge in speed the hedgehogs quickly left to fight for the top spot among themselves, leaving Jet in their dust jaw-dropped, "WHAT?!"
"You do realize you're still in my way right faker?" arrogantly shouted Shadow as he charged his Chaos Boost.
"We'll see who's the real faker Shad," taunted Sonic as he entered his signature Sonic Boost, colliding in a series of bright blue and orange bursts with Shadow's Boost and lighting up the nearby night sky.
Bedwyr
By the third lap Bedwyr had caught up to Wave again, boosting ahead and passing her, "Oh you again," scoffed Wave as she pulled out her wrench once again, "Don't you get that a noob like yourself can't beat me?" Wave boosted forward to match Bedwyr's speed, her wrench and Aquarion raising sparks.
However, Bedwyr had also stocked up a large amount of rings, giving him his own Secondary Boost. "Sir Bedwyr, I believe it's time to show them our true power!" cried out Aquarion from the clash.
"Agreed!" Bedwyr purposely drew back to allow Wave to pass him before swapping back into Cavalier-Forme and targeting Wave with their Second Boost: Bedwyr's Soul Surge Aqua-Cannon.
"Now what is he up to... WHAT THE-" The blast nailed Wave dead center, sending her flopping into the air and colliding with one of the various floating signs with a loud SMACK.
"Take that damned witch!" cried out Aquarion in joy.
"Whoa, getting really into it aren't you?" chuckled Bedwyr as he sped forward.
"What can I say? Crushing blasphemous and imprudent people with a justice-filled Soul Surge is always enlightening. Time to finish this race Sir Bedwyr!"
As the two looked ahead they witnessed the clash of Sonic's and Shadow's Boosts as they neared the homestretch; however, at the last second Shadow pulled out to hit Sonic with a Chaos Blast but in the swap of attacks lost just enough momentum for Sonic to take the victory.
And Sonic takes the victory! If only Shadow had listened to me when I said that loss in momentum would cost him the race; am I right folks?!
The crowd laughed and cheered for Sonic as Shadow growled under his breath, "Damn Omochao and his annoying advice..."
Anyways, here are the results for the first race of the World Grand Prix III! This is Omochao signing off for the night!
Race 1 - Metal City Results
No...Rider...Individual Points
1...Sonic...10
2...Shadow...9
3...Jet...8
4...Bedwyr...7
5...Blaze...6
6...Omega...5
7...Wave...4
8...Amy...3
Championship Points
Team...Points...Top Rider
Sonic...17...Sonic
Dark GUN...14...Shadow
Babylon Rogues.12...Jet
Rose-Kinesis...9...Blaze
After the race, Team Sonic gathered at one of the restaurants in the heart of Downtown Metal City, Digital Diner, to celebrate Sonic's victory and Bedwyr's first race. The group settled into one of the chrome booths as the waitress handed each of them tablets that had the menu in each of them.
"I can see why you wanted to come specifically here Tails," commented Knuckles, "Must be a nerd's paradise!"
"Oh lay off Knuckles," chuckled Sonic as he flipped through the menu, "It's cool just as long as they have... YUP! A foot-long Chilidog with extra jalapenos and a side of onion rings!"
"Anyways, good job winning the race Sonic!" congratulated Tails as he ordered a cheeseburger and a mint chocolate chip shake from the tablet, "And for a first race you did very well Bedwyr! Although, what in Chaos' name did Wave do to you?"
"What do you mean?"
"She took a thick metallic sign to the face dude!" laughed Knuckles as he almost choked on his soda, "Did she get under your skin or something?"
"Well I just wanted to prove myself..." muttered Bedwyr while trying to use the tablet but had it upside-down and was shaking it, "Now how do I make the food come out of this thing?"
While Tails facepalmed and demonstrated how to use the tablet Sonic responded, "Well you proved yourself plenty today, but remember what Tails said about them. Keep an eye out!"
"I will!" called back Bedwyr as he settled on a seafood salad and a mango smoothie.
"And if he doesn't," added Aquarion as Bedwyr dived into his food and accidentally sent a shrimp flying onto one of Aquarion's golden spiral tips, "I will..." The team broke out into a series of laughs as they dug into their food and continued to celebrate their success, unaware of what the Rogues were up to...
Author's Note: Hey guys Werehog20 here! I know it's been a while but I wanted to get something up to show you guys I'm still here! Anyways the oneshot SonicFanaticInc and I have been working on for like over two months is finally going to be ready by Sunday so I wanted to let you guys know that if you're interested. As for my own stuff, with school, my new job, and other responsibilities, I have a lot on my plate, but I'll do my best to update every once in a while.
By the way the Cover Art is, once again, courtesy of SonicFanaticInc. Thank you!
Anyways I hope you all enjoyed this longer chapter and let me know what you think!
-Werehog20