An Author's Nightmare 2: Going Underground 5AE Chapter 5: Party and Q Course I, a sonic the hedgehog fanfic

CHAPTER 5

Party and Q-Course I

Manic woke up early the next morning. He was always an early-riser of the group. He slowly made his way into the kitchen, stretching his arms out as he walked. The only attire he bore was his medallion and his socks.

As soon as Manic stepped into the kitchen, he caught an unfamiliar sight. Ryan, awake and active, stood over by the window watching the horizon sky slowly turn from dark blue to a lighter shade. Ryan still wore his camouflage pants and black T-shirt, but the shirt is not longer tucked in and looks like he slept in it. Plus, his boots are gone, revealing his dark green wool socks.

"Ryan?" Manic asked.

Ryan turned around and saw him. He immediately grinned.

"Hi Manic," Ryan replied.

"You're up awful early."

"I couldn't sleep. Besides, I'm trained to stay awake. I also have the ability to keep myself awake no matter how tired I feel."

"Lucky you. Is all that because you're a Green Beret?"

"Yes and no."

"I'm just still shocked that a real Army Special Forces soldier is standing in our living room. It's just that you don't really look like one with the hair and shadow on your face, dude."

Ryan chuckled at that. He turned on his heel and slowly approached Manic. He grabbed a chunk of his think and puffy red hair and said, "This? When you're in Special Forces, you are allowed to grow out your hair so you don't stand out."

"Whoa, that's awesome, man," Manic said in his surfer lingo. Ryan took a seat on the couch.

"Is everyone else still asleep?"

"Yeah, they're snoozing. It's just you and me."

"Say, Manic, can I have a chat with you?" Ryan asked, patting the seat next to him on the couch. Without answering, Manic took his seat next to Ryan.

"What is it, man?"

"To be honest, back at home on the show, you are actually a fan favorite."

"I am?"

"Yeah, including me. I mean, how many opportunities will I get to actually interact with you for real?"

Manic replied with a nod and a grin.

"Tell me, Manic, what was your life like before you met Sonic? That was never really fully explained in the series."

"Well, I lived in the sewers with Farrell and all the other thieves. They taught me how to steal, how to fight, how to hide, and all this cool stuff. They said, out of everyone they taught, I was their number one student."

"Sounds like when I went through Selection."

"It gets scary some times. There are rats that carry diseases, you got to fight for your food, and you go to stay warm and find a place to sleep," Manic explained. "In the summer, it wasn't that bad because it was warm and there were a lot of great stuff to steal. But in the winter, it will get so cold, even in the sewers. It's been known for the homeless to freeze to death in the winter."

"Same on Earth. I live in a state called Massachusetts, and the winters up there are terrible. It will start to get warm, and then heavy snow will come. Sometimes, it will snow in the summer. There was one winter where snow didn't come until the end of January."

"Whoa, that's freaky," Manic said surprised. "What's it like being in the Army?"

That was a question Ryan had a tough time coming up with an answer for. Unlike in the movies, despite all the harsh training and tactical knowledge, it can get scary at times. The biggest advantage that American soldiers have are cutting edge technology that dominates over primitive-using forces, trust in team mates, bullet-proof light armor, and cross-coms. With the cross-coms, a soldier is able to use satellites to find hidden enemies. Even if an enemy soldier is hiding behind a door or a piece of rubble, the cross-com will see them. Hundreds of ambushes have been prevented due to the cross-com systems. Also, unlike in the movies where a group of soldiers are on a mission that lasts for days or even a week, a real spec ops missions lasts no longer than a half an hour. Get in, get the objective, and get out long before the enemy knew you were there.

"It's hard," Ryan finally replied. "I mean, I don't disrespect what they do or the importance of their job, but it can get hazy at times. It's rare, but I lost buddies of mine in the field. All good men."

"Is it really that scary?" Manic asked.

"Well, once you get past the fact that this is truly real, not really. Sure, there will be this pause where you tell yourself that training is over and this is a real operation. However, once you overcome that and focus on the mission, it just becomes like an everyday job."

"Ryan," Manic began to ask. There was a slight pause before Manic finally said, "have you ever killed anybody?"

Ryan paused.

Ryan was a Sergeant when he made his first true kill. He remembered a line that Jack Bauer said to Wayne Palmer on an episode of the television drama '24' where Jack said to Palmer, an ex-Marine, that 'there is a big difference between training to kill someone and actually having to do it.' In Ryan's experience, there was no truer statement than that.

Ryan was stationed in Afghanistan when his first kill happened. It was not his first mission, but it was his first mission where bullets were fired. He and five other Special Forces Operators were traveling in an Afghan native truck on a light evening with the clouds slowly turning pink. The mission was simple, infiltrate an enemy base camp, recover a laptop, and get out. It was planned to avoid a firefight.

Ryan and everyone else were dressed in sleeveless desert camouflage uniforms, Oakley sunglasses, and turbans. The weapons they carried were standard M4's customized with silencers and specifically made to carry 7.62 by 39 millimeter rounds to avoid looking like they are Americans.

The truck passed through the base camp checkpoint and the operators inside were surprised to see only five small tents and two large ones, one with an antenna. Once in, the six Green Berets, including Ryan, covered their faces with the turbans and exited the vehicle. The two commanding officers were talking to one of the Taliban officers on sight in the native Arabic language. During the conversation, the four Berets split up and approached each tent separately.

Ryan was lucky enough to find the tent with the laptop, but there were still problems. Inside, surrounding the laptop, were three terrorists, each armed. Ryan entered and stood inside. None of the three terrorists ever gave Ryan a second thought for being in the tent with them. He slid the sunglasses off his face and took a look at the laptop being worked on by one of the three. Suddenly, one of them approached Ryan and tapped his shoulder.

"Can I help you?" the Taliban soldier said to Ryan in Arabic. Fortunately for Ryan, Green Berets always had contingency plans for such little events. He quickly noticed a large radio on the table by the laptop.

"Uh, I was assigned to inspect the communications equipment, sir," Ryan replied, speaking Arabic.

"It's fine," the terrorist snorted at him. "Please leave."

"My orders are to thoroughly check the radio stations and equipment," Ryan said back to him. Although Ryan's Arabic vocabulary was not top of the line, his accent was perfect. Ryan was known for speaking in near-perfect accents when speaking another language.

"Orders from whom?" he asked in Arabic, still resisting.

Ryan was not completely afraid of this guy. Ryan was five foot ten and this Taliban soldier was possibly five foot five, maybe even shorter than his sister. His muscle mass is also weaker than Ryan's. Alas, Ryan was outnumbered, there were two other men in there with automatic weapons, but one was on the laptop and the other was not paying attention to the confrontation. Ryan stared down sternly and looked at the tan-skinned bearded man with looks that can kill.

"I am not going to have my patience tested. My orders are to inspect that piece of equipment, end of story! If you have a problem, take it up with your commanding officer. He's out front," Ryan sternly said back to him, keeping his Arabic accent mean-sounding.

It worked. The Taliban man angrily spun on his heel and exited the tent, leaving only two remaining inside. It was getting dark, so Ryan had to move fast. He went to the large radio and pretended to inspect it. He began by making small talk about the laptop.

"Nice laptop, where'd you buy it?" Ryan asked, still speaking Arabic, trying to sound nice.

"It's not mine, it belongs to the camps," the Taliban guy typing on the laptop said. At leased he was being nice.

"Are you into computers?" Ryan asked.

"Not really, it's just my job to filter these codes. I do nothing else," the man's reply was.

Somehow, Ryan had to get access to that laptop. Since his intercom was still on, his other Green Beret operatives can hear his conversation and know that the laptop is in the specific tent. They figured that if more than one of them, the new visitors, enter in the tent with this sensitive piece of hardware, the base commanders would get suspicious. They decided to keep their distance and try to let Ryan handle the situation.

Suddenly, Ryan's luck expanded. The other terrorist left the tent, leaving only Ryan and the computer operator alone. Ryan could easily knock out the man, but what if someone was to walk in and see it. He cannot risk having the base alerted. He decided to further his excuse.

"Excuse me, sir, but this radio is connected to that laptop," Ryan told him. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to take it for inspection myself."

"No," the man said to Ryan.

"Sir, I need to. I have to examine it through my filter machines back in the truck."

"Why don't you just bring it out in here?"

"It's too big and heavy. I have to take the laptop with me to the truck."

"Then you're out of luck. I'm sorry."

"Sir, my orders are to inspect the radio equipment. The radio cables are connected to the laptop, thus that makes it part of my inspection. I need to take it."

"My answer is no!"

This time, the computer operator started acting mean. Ryan was running out of options. His M4 was equipped with a silencer on it. He could threaten to kill him. Ryan took a few steps back, raised his rifle, and aimed it right at the Taliban member's chest.

"Get away from that laptop now!" Ryan ordered him harshly in near-perfect Arabic. Once the computer operator saw Ryan point the gun at him, he jumped up with a snap, knocking the chair he was sitting on over.

"What are you doing?" the terrorist whispered. Then Ryan made his mistake.

"I said back off from the fucking computer," Ryan whispered harshly, accidentally speaking in English. His American accent was easily recognizable. The operator's eyes widened as he slowly backed out of the tent.

"American," the man whispered in fear.

Ryan knew he was compromised.

"American—!" the computer operator screamed as loud as he could as he turned to run out of the tent. He was stopped short when Ryan's instinct kicked in.

Ryan still has his rifle aimed at the terrorist. In a snap, Ryan squeeze-tapped the trigger and three rounds burst, emitting three muffled snap sounds. All three bullets pierced the man's back and he dropped. One of the bullets hit his spine, which caused instant death.

Ryan Perreault stood there and felt cold. So much was going on through his mind. He kept telling himself, 'I just killed a human being.' He did not even know his name; all he knew was that he was the enemy. Suddenly he remembered a line from the show '24' where Jack Bauer said, 'there is a big difference between training to kill someone and actually having to do it.' Ryan understood now. It was like he caused a transformation on someone for the worst. The man he was just talking to is now instantly gone, gone forever, never coming back. He was someone's son, someone's father. This was nothing like the video games. There was no way he could restart and next time and do something different. He could have just popped the back of his knee or shoulder, which would have slowed him down. He did not even point his weapon at Ryan. However, Ryan did think about the plus sides. He knew this was going to happen, like getting an injection at a doctor's office. At the same time, Ryan killed one man to save his team. This terrorist was about to run outside and scream that there are American's in the camp. However, because Ryan shot and killed him, he just did what he was trained to do, save the lives of his teammates. That was when Ryan finally understood his job and what he did. Ryan did not kill this man, what he did was save five American lives, and now he can save hundreds more with the laptop. He finally understood that his training and guns saved more lives than it took.

Ryan finally came back to his senses. He holstered his rifle and grabbed the laptop. Ryan Perreault, after making his first kill, finally understood about life and death. He carried the laptop, under his uniform, back to the truck and asked the operators to held hide the body before the rest of the camp finds out. Just as the sun was setting, Ryan and two other operators covertly dug up a hole and dumped the body in to bury it. At the same time, another operator was cleaning up the blood, tracks, and the three shell casings from Ryan's rifle. The six Green Berets piled up in the truck and left the base without suspicion from the Taliban occupants. Along the way back to the base camp, Ryan kept thinking to himself about what he did and what if it was necessary. He knew it was war and that there will be casualties. Even though his detachment commander explained to Ryan that what he did was correct, he still felt uncomfortable about it. Luckily though, the pain decreased as time passed. Still, sometimes it came back to haunt him.

Ryan sighed remembering that incident. Manic's question did bring back the nightmare. It did come back to haunt him. Finally, to answer Manic's question, Ryan turned and faced Manic in a somewhat of a sad tone.

"I don't want to get into that, Manic," Ryan finally replied. Even though Ryan did not say yes or no, Manic knew what the answer was, and he knew how Ryan felt about it. Manic understood by nodding.

FOUR YEARS AGO

Three military hummers sped down the dirt roads deep into Fort Bragg, where only a small selected few are permitted to cross into the restricted areas. Ryan, sitting in one of the traveling humvees, stared out the window at the passing trees. They passed a sign labeled that all unauthorized personnel will be shot. Finally, the three vehicles came to a stop on a street with a series of classroom-like buildings, helicopter pads, and training grounds.

Ryan was about to experience his first day of the Special Forces Qualification Course. The vehicles stopped and opening the doors is a group of Special Forces Sergeants, all dawning their Green Beret headwears. The nine recruits that passed Selection, one of which was Ryan, exited the hummers carrying their duffle bags. They were led by the Sergeants to a large classroom.

Inside the classroom looked very high tech. Instead of desks, there were just chairs with an optional sliding desk pad mounted on the side. All of them have the desks retracted to look like normal chairs. In the front, on what looks like to be a stage, is a podium, a Colonel behind it, and a large film screen to display the images from a projector attached to the ceiling. The screen shown the Special Forces emblem; two Native American hunting arrows crossed over each other with a banner circling around them in the shape of a U. On the banner says the phrase: 'De Oppreso Liber' which is Latin for 'Liberate the Oppressed.' Already within the classroom are five other recruits sitting in chairs and their duffle bags resting underneath. These five were obviously roll-ins, meaning they were in the Q-Course previously but failed at something. Instead of being sent home, they are given another chance to redo the test.

"Welcome in, take a seat," the Colonel up front said. He appears to be an old but physically fit individual with a stern face. Despite his old age, he does not appear to have a single gray strand of hair on his head.

The nine soldiers took a seat in different seats. Ryan took a seat in the front row like he always did in school.

"First, I want to congratulate you nine for passing our Assessment and Selection Course. You have been given the rare opportunity to participate in out Qualification Course. This course will last 49 weeks and we will test your limits. Unlike Selection, we will no longer question your commitment for being here. Now, we will begin teaching you about being a real Special Forces Operator. The five that are already in here are roll-ins from the previous phases. They will be part of your regiment class."

Ryan sat there in his seat all excited. He was still feeling the sore pains of Selection in him, but he was in complete excitement for being here. He bit his lip to prevent from giggling to himself. The Colonel continued to talk.

"My name is Colonel Samuel Moss. For those of you who don't know me, I was a Special Forces Detachment Commander for over 20 years. I am a veteran of operations such as Beirut, Desert Storm, and Kosovo. You will go through the same training I went through. Now, we will not guarantee you will pass, that's up to you," Colonel Moss explained. "Now, the Special Forces Qualification Course is divided up into six phases. The first phase, which will begin after this lecture, will be a 13-week Individual Course. You will learn Martial Arts, how to use your weapons, cover and concealment, and plenty of physical training. After that, you will then be assigned to your Military Occupational Skills phase, which lasts for 15 weeks. All officers will become 18-Alphas, which is the Special Forces Detachment Commander and all Warrant Officers will become 180-Alphas, the Assistant Detachment Commander. For the enlisted personnel, the 18-Bravo is the Special Forces Weapons Sergeant, the 18-Charlie is the Engineering Sergeant, the 18-Delta is the Medical Sergeant, and the 18-Echo is the Communications Sergeant. The 18-Fox, Intelligence Sergeant, and the 18-Zulu, the Operations Sergeant, are reserved only for Senior NCO grades and must be earned, not taught."

Ryan nodded. He understood what each of those positions are. Because of Ryan's background and expertise with weapons, Ryan was sure to be an 18-Bravo. He was also aware that the Weapons, Engineering, Medical, and Communications Sergeants are always in pairs, two of each, a senior and a junior.

"Once you pass your MOS specialty, you will move on to the Collective Phase. There, you will be taught teamwork skills. You will use what you learned in the MOS phase to become an asset to you and your team. This phase will last for 14 weeks. After that, you will move on to the Language Phase, which will last for 4 weeks. During that time, not only will you learn a new language, but you will learn how to adapt in a foreign society and blend in. Once you pass the Language Phase, you will then move on to SERE. Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape. If you can survive 3 weeks of SERE, you will become a Special Forces Operator and be assigned to an ODA, Operational Detachment Alpha, or better known as an A-Team. I wish you 14 men the best of luck on the upcoming lessons. Do a good job and make us proud. Hoo-ah!"

The entire class then yelled out a 'Hoo-ah!' to Colonel Moss.

PRESENT DAY

Just as planned, an aristocrat party and auction was being held at the Robotropolis Ball, just like in the episode 'Artifact.' All the aristocrats were there. Behind the stage were Robotnik, Sleet, Dingo, and a bunch of SWAT Bots. They looked out seeing everybody talking.

"We're still going to take their mobiums, right?" Dingo asked. Mobiums are a form of currency on the planet Mobius, looking no different than the American dollar.

"Yes, of course," Robotnik said.

"But then why did you send a different message to Bartlby?" Dingo asked.

"Duh, Dingo, if the hedgehogs have Ryan, then they would bring him here and we would catch him again," Sleet said.

Outside, it was just like Robotnik predicted. Ryan stood outside with Sonic, Sonia, and Manic. All three wore their usual clothes, Sonic in his gloves and red sneakers, Sonia in her pink and purple skirt, and Manic wearing his orange vest and orange sneakers. Ryan still had on his camouflage pants and black T-shirt with his Heckler & Koch USP sidearm clipped to his belt. Directly behind his back, just above his butt, clipped to his belt is his 50 Tactical Fixed Blade knife.

"Ryan, you sure about this?" Sonia asked.

"I'm fine. Trust me," Ryan said. "I want Robotnik to know what he is up against."

"But what if Robotnik, his goons, and a bunch of SWAT Bot's are in there ready to catch you?" Manic asked worriedly. Ryan just smiled.

"You obviously haven't seen me fight," Ryan said.

"How do you fight?" Sonia asked.

"You'll see," was all Ryan said. With that, the four heroes walked into the front door of the large ballroom.

In the corner of the ballroom was Bartlby talking to a few other aristocrats, a dog, a fox, a wolf, a badger, a cat, and a mink, all males.

"Well, there's Bartlby," Sonia said. The four walked over to him. Bartlby caught his eye on Sonia when they walked to him. The other aristocrats just stared at Ryan blankly. They were not expecting to see a human enter approach them, not to mention a human that is completely three-dimensional and all flesh rather than smooth and bright looking like a cartoon.

"Hi, Bartlby, glad you asked us to join," Sonia said.

"Thank you, my princess," Bartlby said kissing Sonia's hand. The boys, including Ryan, rolled their eyes and sighed.

"Who... or WHAT... is this?" the cat aristocrat asked pointing to Ryan.

"Guys, this is Staff Sergeant Ryan Perreault, United States Army," Sonia said holding up her palm in Ryan's direction. To Ryan's wishes mentioned earlier, she kept quiet about Ryan being in Special Forces. They were still unsure if Robotnik was unaware of Ryan's profession.

"He's a human from the planet Earth," Sonic said.

"Humans?" the wolf aristocrat said.

"We don't like humans on this planet. Why did you decide to come here?" the badger aristocrat asked harshly. Ryan was very used to being talked down, but Ryan felt no fear. Ryan always seemed unafraid when he is more built that someone, and even when he has a gun or knife to his side.

"I did not choose to come here, Robotnik kidnapped me and took me here," Ryan said harshly back.

"Oh no, not again with all this 'Robotnik is bad' crap," Bartlby said. "I can tell these three brainwashed you." Bartlby was an aristocrat, therefore was spared of Robotnik's evil tyranny. In a way, Bartlby was like a Catholic in Nazi Germany.

"Then explain to me why you think it's okay for him to capture and robotosize innocent beings, huh?" Ryan said back at Bartlby, who was about Ryan's height. Ryan was still taller, though.

"Oh, why don't you grow up and stop fighting Robotnik," the cat aristocrat snapped. Instantly, Ryan grabbed the cat's collar and held him closer to his face. It was in less than half a second! All the aristocrats stopped and saw their attention to Ryan.

"Why don't you grow up and get a pair of balls," Ryan said harshly back.

All the aristocrats in the room stared at him wide-eyed. The ballroom was nearly dead silent as everyone stared at Ryan, not only for his appearance but for his actions as well.

The badger aristocrat tapped Ryan on the shoulder. Ryan let go of the cat and looked at the badger.

"Hey, dick, you should never disrespect the rich," the badger growled.

"Whatchya gonna do? Spank me?" Ryan mocked.

Sonic and Manic smiled at all this. They never had the guts to tell off the rich like this.

"And besides, I know a lot about this planet more than your cock head does," Ryan said.

"Hey, we're gonna stop your attitude in less than a week, I guarantee it," the dog aristocrat said.

"Aww, then I guess I won't get to see you reach puberty," Ryan said smirking.

Sonic and Manic chucked under their breath. Sonia just sweated in fear.

"Look, I know more about Mobius than you, and I know a lot of people on this planet will like me and I won't let you aristocrats put up with it. So, if I want to stay on this planet, I'll stay. And if you don't like it, that's tough shit," Ryan said.

The dog growled and clenched his fists.

"I got your tough shit right here!" the dog yelled. He started to throw a punch at Ryan, but Ryan instantly grabbed it and threw a punch in the dog's gut. The dog lost all his breath as he fell backwards.

Ryan spun on his heel and slammed his fist in the badger's nose. The badger fell backwards over the refreshments table leaving a trail of blood from his nose flying through the air.

Ryan spun and did a spin kick in the cat's gut also knocking the wind out of him. He quickly grabbed a broken table leg and packed it across the fox aristocrat's face. Then he flipped the stick around and knocked the cat off his feet from behind. Ryan started using the broken table leg as a Martial Arts spear.

The wolf tried to claw Ryan but Ryan rammed the tip of the stick in the wolf's gut also knocking the wind out of him. He stopped and looked at the broken table leg in his hands.

"Cracked the leg from this table, that's not good," Ryan said dropping the leg.

The mink aristocrat was ready to claw Ryan.

"I guess I'll just have to use my hands then," Ryan said. He grabbed the mink's wrist and slammed his fist in the mink's gut. All the aristocrats around there were on the ground trying to catch their breath, or moan about their backs. The badger was holding his nose in pain, which was bleeding wildly. Ryan picked up the badger and threw him to the grounder closer to the other aristocrats on the ground.

"Ow! Ow! Ow, my nose! My nose!" the badger whined.

Sonic, Sonia and Manic stared at Ryan wide-eyed. However, the three hedgehogs were not completely surprised by Ryan's fight. All Special Forces operators, whether it be SEALs, Marine Recon, or whatnot, all operators are heavily trained in martial arts, specifically Krav Maga. Krav Maga is a type of Martial Arts developed for soldiers or cops, which teaches the arts of defense and respond with a life-threatening attack blow. In addition, what civilians are never taught, are covert quick-kills, such as sneaking up on someone and killing them without anyone noticing, even on a bright sunny day. Sometimes, Krav Maga will teach painful torture methods to keep an attacker down in case death to an individual will cause a mission failure.

Ryan looked at the three hedgehogs. The entire party was silent and staring at Ryan wide-eyed.

"Now you've seen me fight, was that good?" Ryan asked.

"Uh, wow," was all Sonic could say. Manic smiled and Sonia did a half smile. Ryan looked at Bartlby whom was shaking in fear.

"Next time, don't let your friends do all this to me again, okay?" Ryan asked. Bartlby just nodded his head in fear.

"Good, so, where's the refreshment table?" Ryan asked.

"You broke it with my friend," Bartlby said pointing to the table. Ryan saw it and chuckled.

"I wasn't thirsty anyway."

FOUR YEARS AGO

Ryan has spent a few weeks in the Special Forces Qualification Course, where only nine out of 80 were able to get to. All fourteen recruits are inside of a large gymnasium with a set of mirrors on a wall and the floor covered with mats. They are all wearing light-gray sweat workout clothes and sneakers. Printed on the front and down the sides of their pants says 'ARMY' in black letters. On the back of their sweat shirts are their last names. Already, a ring of sweat is around the recruits sweat shirt collars.

Lately, Ryan has been learning how to fight. While in Civil Air Patrol, he received minor fight lessons from cadets. Also, one year on Christmas, he received a DVD set titled 'Delta SEAL Training Camp' which was a Martial Arts training documentary designed for Special Forces operators. Most of the stuff that Ryan was taught so far are not new to him, such as the step-and-slide, lead-hand punch, side-kick, and others. However, Ryan did learn a lot more new techniques which he knows will be useful. Overall, Ryan is giggling to himself because he is being professionally taught what he always wanted to learn.

Standing in front of them are a group of instructors all wearing their BDU pants, tan boots, and black T-shirts. One of the instructors approached the small group who has already rested.

"Okay, up next, we're going to teach you this neck-snap technique," the instructor announced. He motioned for another instructor to come to him, and he did. "Watch."

The two instructors stood at each other face-to-face in the fighting positions. One of the instructors, instructor 1, threw a punch, which was immediately blocked by instructor 2. Instructor 2 then jabbed instructor 1 with an elbow strike, grabbed the back of his head, kneed him in the gut, wrapped his arms around his neck, and slowly arched his head back. Instructor 1, with his lead locked, tapped his hand on the other instructor's leg, indicating that he felt pain. He was immediately released.

"Okay, let's show it again slowly," the instructor who gave the headlock said, same one who called the other guy over. They both performed the same technique slowly as the instructor explained what he did. "Block with your arm, jab with your elbow, the grab the back of his neck with a knee jab. Then, you got to force the victim down and wrap your arms around his neck. It's important to grab your other wrist because you can't snap anyone's neck with one hand. Well, there are ways to do it with one hand, but we'll get into that later. Grab your wrist, hold his neck, and slowly arch yourself back and look up." As he was doing it, the head-locked instructor tapped the other instructor, immediately letting him go. "Okay, so grab a partner and try that."

The 14 recruits quickly took a partner for them. Ryan tapped Davis for his partner. Ryan was pleased to learn that Davis was one of the nine to pass Selection, but it was not a shock because, not only was Davis a six foot four muscle-man, but his IQ and reflexes was incredible as well. Ryan and Davis took turns several times on the technique. Davis even said to him that Ryan seems to have the stopping power to take down someone like him. Ryan also had a knack for learning Martial Arts quickly, though Davis had some training and experience when he was younger and with the Rangers. Overall, Ryan was having the time of his life.

PRESENT DAY

Robotnik, Sleet and Dingo saw the fight and they too were shocked. At the same time, they were not surprised due to him being a Green Beret.

"Oh man, you never told me that man can do that," Robotnik said.

"What do you mean, I read it from his profile," Sleet said.

"I thought you were joking," Robotnik replied.

Sonic and Manic walked in the boy's bathroom alone.

"Dude, that guy was like Kung-fu man," Manic said.

"I just liked the fact that he beat up those lousy aristocrats," Sonic said smiling.

"That I give him credit for," Manic replied.

Sonic and Manic stood in front of two urinals.

"So, you think this guy can take on any of Robotnik's forces?" Manic asked.

"I hope so. He said they wanted to robotosize him as a first human," Sonic said.

"What else can he do?" Manic asked.

"Well, he did say he's was the team marksman for a time while with the Berets. You should have seen how he shot that bot vehicle approaching me," Sonic said.

"Yeah, and a sharpshooter," Manic said. "But can he play music?"

"Maybe," Sonic said.

In the ballroom, the stage lit up at Robotnik stepped on with a microphone. The lights dimmed and the auction was about to begin. Even Ryan stood amongst the crowd and watched him.

"Welcome to the Robotropolis Auction," Robotnik said. He held up a strange small green spherical object. "Our first item up for bid is this genuine, one-of-a-kind, unknown object. Anyone who doesn't bid would be considered part of the Resistance!"

Instantly, all the aristocrats shot up their hands yelling out numbers. Ryan sighed.

"Dickheads," Ryan said softly.

The dog aristocrat, after catching his breath from Ryan a few minutes ago, turned and looked at Ryan.

"What did you call us?" the dog growled angrily.

"Who asked you?" Ryan said as he slapped the dog across the face. The dog was knocked out and he fell to the floor. No one noticed it.

"Excuse me, I need to head to the girls' room," Sonia said, beginning to leave. Instantly, Ryan got an idea.

"Good idea," Ryan said, following Sonia. As he walked, he stayed low behind the aristocrats, making sure Robotnik did not see him. It was hard because Ryan, being three-dimensional and all-flesh, stood out easily.

Sonia and Ryan made it to the two bathrooms for men and women. Sonia walked in the ladies room and Ryan followed. Inside the vacant restroom, Sonia turned around after hearing boot steps following. She was shocked to see Ryan inside of the girl's bathroom, granted no one else is in there.

"Ryan, what are you doing here?" Sonia asked.

"If Robotnik's gonna search for me, I better be in a place where he might not suspect I'm in," Ryan said.

Robotnik handed the green thing to Bartlby as he walked on the stage.

"You got this at a bargain," Robotnik said. Bartlby left the stage. Robotnik looked around and noticed the dog aristocrat lying on the floor in pain. It looks like Ryan's work all right, but Ryan was not there. He turned and headed to the backstage.

"Sleet, Dingo, where's that guy?" Robotnik whispered harshly. Sleet and Dingo were hidden in the backstage with the SWAT Bots.

"I don't know. He was there a minute ago. Then he was gone," Sleet said.

"Well, find him," Robotnik said. He turned back to the aristocrat crowd to continue the auctioning. Sleet and Dingo quickly looked through the crowd of aristocrats but could not find Ryan.

"Look in the back rooms and I'll look in the side rooms," Sleet said. The two split up.

Ryan, in the girl's bathroom, climbed on the sinks to get close to the vent across from the men's room. He called in, "Sonic! Manic!"

In the boy's room, Sonic and Manic finished washing their hands.

"Hey! Sonic and Manic!" Ryan's voice came from the vents above the mirror. Sonic and Manic looked up at the vent. Immediately, they realized he must be coming from the other bathroom.

"Ryan?" Sonic asked.

"Listen, this place must be crawling with SWAT Bots. I want you two to come in the girl's bathroom with me," Ryan said.

"Say what?" Sonia yelled, not loud enough for anyone outside to hear.

"Trust me, no one will expect this," Ryan said. "Sonic, Manic, just come in the ladies bathroom. Be ready for a fire fight." With that, Ryan removed his USP sidearm and flipped the safety switch off. The safety switch also doubles as a hammer release switch.

"Wait, Ryan, I thought you said Green Beret's avoid a fire fight," Sonia told him. Ryan just replied to Sonia with a nod and a grin.

"I want Robotnik to know what he's up against," Ryan told her. "I want to break his moral and his hopes of victory."

FOUR YEARS AGO

It has already been several weeks into the Qualification Course for Ryan. He seems to have mastered all the arts of hand-to-hand combat. He would have to. To pass this course, Ryan would have to be beyond human limit. Just like all recruits, he had to receive an equivalent of an A+ in all of his subjects. An A grade is a failing grade in the eyes of the instructors, and Ryan did not take any disadvantage of that.

As Ryan was acing all of his tests, he held a rubber knife in his left hand. Slowly, he crept behind one of the instructors, holding onto a fake Kalashnikov rifle. In an instant, Ryan covered the instructor's mouth with his right hand, hooked his arm with his left to prevent him from using his weapon, and sliced the rubber blade across the instructor's neck while pulling him backward, tripping him over his leg, and forcing him face-down on the ground. It was very quick and very silent. Had the knife not been rubber, Ryan's victim would have been dead.

"Good job, Perreault," another instructor said to him as he approached the two. Ryan helped the instructor back on his feet. "You had good smooth motion as you made your approach and you moved quickly, yet smoothly, when making the kill. Plus, you did an outstanding job by staying as quiet as you can. Hoo-ah, Perreault!"

Ryan nodded back to the instructor with a "Hoo-ah" reply.

Ryan had been learning the best parts of Martial Arts in the few weeks he has been at Fort Bragg. Best part is, most of the techniques he was learning would be banned in all Dojo's in the entire world for civilians, but Ryan was no longer a civilian. He was taught how to kill a huge amount of people and make it look like accidents or suicides. Ryan's favorite part was that it was not all defenses. The instructors taught him that, unlike civilians who only use their techniques when threatened, a soldier must always be the first one to strike and strike the victim when they do not notice! Ryan did learn the one important thing about military fighting; a real fight only lasts for two seconds. If a fight lasts longer than that, chances are you will lose.

PRESENT DAY

Sleet and Dingo met up back in the ballroom again. They have searched throughout the kitchens, the utility closets, backstage, and the basement. Ryan was no where to be found.

"I can't find them," Dingo said.

"We looked everywhere... except..." Sleet said. He turned his attention to the bathrooms.

In the ladies bathroom, all three hedgehogs and Ryan are inside. Manic stood on top of the stall walls and attempted to remove a metal shingle from the ceiling leaving to the vents. Manic was able to slide it out. He handed it to Ryan, standing by him, and slowly placed the grate on the floor to avoid making noise. While doing that, Manic was lead to a path in the vents. He grabbed on the edges and pulled himself up.

Once Manic was in, Ryan cupped his hands toward his front. Sonic stepped in his cupped palms and Ryan lifted him up in the vents. Sonic was in, and Ryan kneeled down to Sonia.

"Now, you know what to do, right?" Ryan asked her.

Sonia nodded.

"Entertain me, anyway," Ryan said, making sure she knew.

"They come in and I render them unconscious. Then I walk back out into the crowd and grab a cup of pink lemonade at the refreshments table," Sonia explained. Ryan nodded for her to keep going. "If I didn't or if something went wrong, I get some iced tea from the bar."

"Right, we'll be watching you," Ryan said. He then stood on the toilet and forced his way up into the vents, carrying the vent grate with him. Once Sonic and Manic pulled Ryan in the large vent, he snapped the grate back on.

The interior of the vent was a lot larger than in the movies, it was big enough for Ryan to crouch, which is what he did. Sonic and Manic, being only three feet tall, remained standing. Without saying a word, Ryan unholstered his sidearm, cocked the hammer back with his thumb, and proceeded forward slowly to create as minimal noise as possible.

Sleet and Dingo checked the men's bathroom and realized it was empty. Although unlikely, they figured Ryan would be in the ladies bathroom to avoid detection. The two tall bounty hunters entered in the female bathroom.

Sleet and Dingo noticed the ladies' room was empty. All of a sudden, the bathroom door slammed open and it knocked Dingo off his feet. Sleet turned around only to get hit in the face by Sonia's keyboard synthesizer. Sleet fell onto his back from the blow.

With both wolves unconscious, Sonia dragged them one at a time into the bathroom stalls. Once they were in, Sonia exited outside trying to act casual.

Ryan, Sonic, and Manic kept crawling through the vents right above the stage where Robotnik is. Ryan stopped and looked down through the grates at Robotnik directly above the stage.

"I see Robotnik," Ryan whispered.

At the same time, Sonic looked out one of the side grates out into the crowd. He immediately spotted Sonia walking through casually. That was the first good sign that Sonia is alright. Now, where will Sonia go to now?

Casually, Sonia approached the refreshments table. She grabbed a plastic disposable cup and used the ladle to pour herself some pink lemonade. Slowly, she started sipping it.

Sonic turned to Ryan and gave him a thumb up. Ryan nodded.

"Good," he said smiling. With his gun in his hand, he rested on his front and aimed down through the grate.

"Ryan! Are you nuts?" Sonic yelled quietly.

Ryan aimed down the sights of his gun. Through the rear sight, front sight focus, and the target. Ryan did not want to hit Robotnik; he was aiming for the floor. He squeezed the trigger and a gunshot rang out throughout the ballroom!

The loud gunshot rang through the whole building. It was loud enough to even wake up the unconscious Sleet and Dingo in the bathroom.

Immediately, all the aristocrats inside started running and screaming in all directions, most of them made their way to the exits. The only one to stay behind is Sonia. She was shocked by the sudden gunshot, but knew immediately what it was.

Ryan pulled on the hammer release switch, which is also the safety switch. The hammer clicked back in place and Ryan holstered it.

"Get ready to battle some SWAT Bots, guys," Ryan told Sonic and Manic. Before Sonic and Manic got a chance to reply, Ryan kicked the grate down, which landed on Robotnik, knocking his attention away. He sat on the edge of the vent and threw himself down.

Ryan fell on top of Robotnik. Robotnik looked up and saw Ryan coming. Before Robotnik got a chance to move, Ryan collapsed on him. As soon as they got up, Ryan punched Robotnik across the face a few times. Then he kneed Robotnik in the crotch. The two got up and stared at each other.

"I knew you'd come," Robotnik said. He swung his metallic arm to punch Ryan. Instantly, Ryan ducked the punch. He quickly got up and grabbed Robotnik's arm from behind. He twisted Robotnik's wrist causing Robotnik to scream in pain and fall on his butt. While still holding onto Robotnik's wrist, Ryan spun on one heel and kicked Robotnik in the face. Ryan let go of Robotnik as he fell on his back in pain.

The backstage curtain opened and out came a bunch of SWAT Bot's! Ryan immediately whipped out his sidearm with his right hand due to him being right-handed, grabbed Robotnik with his left, and used his left arm to choke-hold Robotnik. By the time the metallic robots aimed their weapons at Ryan, they paused once Ryan pointed his gun directly against Robotnik's weird-shaped head.

Ryan knew a hostage-situation would work. He remembered how those two SWAT Bots in the building acted when he aimed his gun at them. Instead of being mindless robots like they are and take a chance, they lowered their weapons. He knew these robots were smart, and they reacted the same way when Ryan held Robotnik at gunpoint.

"Stay back!" Ryan yelled. "Stay back or I'll kill him! Back off!"

The SWAT Bots responded by slowly stepping backwards with their guns pointed to the ceiling. Immediately afterward, Sleet and Dingo came running out of the bathrooms still in a slight daze. They did make out the image of Ryan holding Robotnik hostage at gunpoint.

Suddenly, Bartlby came running back into the building, with the auctioned item he had in his hands. He was obviously worried about Sonia, but was shocked to see the human holding Robotnik hostage and slowly inching his way down the side steps and onto the floor. Bartlby ran over to Sonia, whom had her attention on Ryan. Bartlby felt like he had to protect her from this ruthless vile man.

"Sonia, come on before he notices," Bartlby whispered as he placed his hand on Sonia's shoulder. Sonia shrieked at the touch. Immediately, Ryan turned and faced Bartlby.

"Bartlby!" Ryan yelled. Ryan noticed the device in Bartlby's hand. It was made of metal, had an opening at the top with a ring and a metal flap to the side. It was a grenade! He aimed his sidearm over at him. "Bartlby, hand that device over to Sonia now!"

"No, it's mine," Bartlby replied. Quickly, Ryan released Robotnik by throwing him hard to the stage. His shin hit hard on the stairs as Ryan violently ran over to Bartlby and Sonia. Ryan skidded to a stop and pointed his gun at Bartlby's forehead with the barrel touching his skin.

"Give it or I'll kill you!" Ryan yelled. Bartlby, in fear, handed Sonia the grenade, who then handed it to Ryan. Ryan took it and Sonic and Sonia ran back to him. The four ran to the emergency exit. Ryan faced the SWAT Bots on the stage. He soon realized that Sleet and Dingo came to as they ran to Robotnik.

"Hey, dickbots! You better heat up!" Ryan yelled with a smile. He pulled the pin on the grenade with his index finger. He tossed the grenade and the spoon came flying off. The grenade flew into the backstage with the bots.

"I suggest you take cover," Ryan said to Bartlby.

Ryan grabbed the three hedgehogs and the four of them leaped out the emergency exit. Soon, Bartlby ran out afterward.

Inside, the grenade exploded and all the SWAT Bot's were destroyed. Robotnik jumped off the stage as the explosion built up.

"Run through the windows!" Robotnik yelled.

Ryan and the hedgehogs ran on the lawn outside as the windows shattered behind them from the flames.

All the aristocrats made it outside leaving Robotnik, Sleet, and Dingo. The three ran as the fire built up behind them. The explosion fire was building fast behind them like they were running from a burning gas station. The three jumped through the window. A second later, the windows shone with explosion flames. Soon, the walls were blown away! Ryan, Sonic, Sonia, and Manic got up and ran and ran as the whole ballroom building exploded in a huge fireball! The four ran, jumped over the fence, and did not stop. Robotnik, Sleet and Dingo and the rest of the aristocrats did the same thing.

Soon, the explosion stopped. All that was left were just flames and very small remains of the building. Not just the ballroom was destroyed, the entire building was eradicated! Robotnik and the rest looked at it in fear. Many of the aristocrats were crying in fear. Robotnik and the other two just stared at the flames wide-eyed.

"United States Army... Special Forces... expert marksman... weapons specialist... graduated top of his operational detachment..." Robotnik paused, "... what the hell have we gotten ourselves into?"

Robotnik then came to realize a fear he has never felt before despite all of his failures against the hedgehogs. He felt, this time, he made a mistake; he caught the only man that could resist. He felt that, this time, Robotnik cannot win.

TO BE CONTINUED...