((Me to myself: AAAAGH *slams hands down on a table* OKAY. I'VE PUT IT OFF LONG ENOUGH. IT'S BLOOPERS TIME.
Srsly though it's been almost a year like what even happened to me?
I blame Undertale.
Plus, overall, it's been a really hard year. I have not had the motivation to write, so I've been drawing my butt off. It's summer now (again) so maybe I can find the will and time to write. I really am sorry, guys, it's been tough for me and I've been EXTREMELY distracted.
Anyway.
HERE WE GOOOOO.
Today, we have some silent secrets and sneaky snoops. AND WE'RE FINISHING OFF THE E3 ARC. HOORAAAAAY. *ahem* Enjoy!))
Chapter 12
It was not without a hesitant confusion that Sonic and Dr. Eggman stood from the table. They could feel everyone's eyes on them as if they'd just been called out for robbing the bank. Reluctantly, Eggman shuffled after the director. Sonic began to shovel what little remained of his cake slice into his mouth, though more seemed to stick to his muzzle than being tasted, before running after them. The door shut behind the three of them, the sound echoing in the eerie silence. Then, the mutters of speculation began among the cast.
Arumakan walked ahead of them, a clipboard in hand. He brought that clipboard up to look at it, propping it up against his chest and the crook of his arm. He unclipped two stapled packets of paper and handed one to each of them. Sonic paged through the short script; it was only a few pages long. It had no dialogue, simply actions. Confuddled, since his previous script had been thrown out and he knew it hadn't been written in this format, he looked to his director.
"What exactly is this?" Sonic asked. Eggman looked as if he were thinking the same thing.
"A behind-closed-doors 'technical demo' of sorts," Arumakan stated without looking back. "Word came down the chain-of-command relatively last minute, so we must film into the night. The end result will only end up being two minutes long, however a lot of cooperation will be needed on both of your parts." He paused to cast a glare over his shoulder at Sonic. "Especially you."
Sonic put up his hands defensively. "Hey, you're the boss. I just wanna go back to my trailer."
Eggman, who had been paging through the script, thoroughly reading it over, finally looked up. "My job is simply to drive my Egg Fortress and command my fleet?"
"To put it plainly, yes," Arumakan said.
"I do that every day regardless," Eggman pointed out.
Arumakan went on as if he hadn't heard him. "The basis of this trailer/demo is that Sonic is ambushed by a fairly large horde of robots. If you read through the script, you will see that Sonic, while running, is to counter and avoid several of the traditional enemies in the stages as directed. Later, he will become surrounded by these robots, which will simulate shooting. When all seems lost, and Sonic, you will not do this unless I give the cue, will transform into-"
"Super Sonic?!" Sonic practically shouted, gaping at the papers in his hands. He had flipped to the last page. His eyes, practically bugging out of his head with both sheer excitement, joy, and surprise, looked at Arumakan. "So soon?!"
Arumakan sighed, clearly not fond of the idea. He stopped walking and turned to him. "You will be under absolute supervision. You are not to leave the set or destroy anything other than the props or robots marked for destruction in that scene. Doing so will result in you paying for the damages out of your own pocket and the revocation of the Chaos Emeralds again. We can get a stand-in for you in the later scenes if we have to. Do you understand?"
A drop of sweat slipped down Sonic's brow, unnerved by how suddenly his director had become so serious. He cleared his throat and quickly regained composure, touching his puffed-out chest lightly with his fingertips and closed his eyes with the air of complete confidence. "You think I don't know my own power? Of cooourse I'll be careful!" he said proudly. "I would never-" he stopped, his eyes snapping open. "Did you say the Chaos Emeralds are in later scenes?"
Eggman made a quick slice-like gesture across his own throat, casting Arumakan a pointed look. The director cast him his own look that read, "I understand, now stop."
"We are wasting time!" Arumakan said abruptly, straightening. "Dr. Eggman, you will be given half an hour to gather 200 of your traditional robots, most of which that you don't mind being destroyed. Sonic, you can...do whatever it is you do to prepare. Act like this is a real battle with real stakes, pretend the cameras and lights aren't there. We will begin soon." The director turned on his heel and strode off down the hall and around a corner, out of sight.
Sonic scoffed. "Pfft, a real battle my spiny blue a-" He looked up as Eggman, too, began to leave. "Hey, where are you going?"
"You heard the man," Eggman said, looking over his shoulder. "It's time to get ready."
The doctor nearly tripped over his own feet as Sonic darted in front of him, causing a near collision.
"You ignorant rat!" Eggman sputtered in protest, staggering back a few steps at Sonic's abrupt appearance in his path. "Sooner or later you'll become roadkill!"
Sonic ignored these outcries, rocking on his heels eagerly. "You know what's going on, don't you, Eggy?" he asked with a sly grin.
"What are you talking about?" Eggman asked, still peeved at having been blocked.
"The script," Sonic stated pointedly. "I'd like to see it."
"Oooh no, the others and I have a deal," Eggman protested, putting his hands up in front of his chest defensively.
Sonic crossed his arms. "Oh, c'mon, I'm a fast reader. I'll just scan it."
"A deal is a deal," Eggman said bluntly, dropping his hands from their position.
"They don't have to know!" Sonic complained. "I am actually excellent at lying."
Eggman gave a short, sarcastic laugh. "You may be an actor here, but that doesn't mean you're good." And with that, he pushed Sonic out of the way and walked away. Sonic, taken aback and drawing a blank on taunts and persuasions, just watched him go. He then humphed, puffing out his chest, and ran off in the opposite direction to his trailer, not to pout, but to prepare for once. Using the Chaos Emeralds was no small deal.
-:-:-:-
E3 TECHNICAL DEMO - Teaser Trailer
Take 1 -
Arumakan: *watching footage the camera is recording of a first-person view of someone running fast through a forest, wind whizzing by*
Eggman: *from the edge of the topless look-out media tower in which they direct* Would it not be easier to simply have strapped a camera to Sonic's head while he runs?
Sonic: *is pushing a cart holding the camera on a mile-long stretch of track on a closed, outdoor set at a fairly steady yet brisk pace*
Arumakan: *to Eggman* Trust me. *raises a bullhorn to his mouth and calls* Alright, cut! Good take, now we'll switch to Angle 2. Sonic, position yourself beside the track and reset the camera. Stay close to it, if you please.
Sonic: *stops and looks up at the director, salutes, grabs the cart and races back to the start at double the speed he was going before, nearly upsetting the apparatus*
Arumakan: EASY! Alright. Same pace as before, then you can accelerate to whatever speed you need to get about five seconds of free-falling airtime.
Sonic: Relax, 'Makan, I read the script! I'm five steps ahead of you! *takes off along the track*
Arumakan: Wait, Sonic, you forgot the-!
Sonic: *reaches the cliff and leaps off, spreading his arms like an eagle, and ends up belly flopping straight into a shallow inflatable pool being held by several of Eggman's robots*
Arumakan: -camera. Eggman!
Eggman: *puts his hands up defensively* I've been here the whole time! I never commanded them to do such a thing.
Arumakan: *rolls his eyes* Of course not. Take two!
Sonic: *comes up with a gasp, shaking the water out of his quills to hide the fact that his whole body is trembling, glares at the watchtower, shouts* First off, I hate you. B, the water is FREEZING! Thirdly, I hate you. D, I could have drowned. I didn't get a chance to take a breath. And in conclusion, I. HATE YOU!
Take 2 -
Sonic: *stretching at beginning of track, touching his toes*
Arumakan: *through microphone* Ready?
Sonic: *gives him a thumbs up*
Arumakan: Aaaaand….ACTION!
Sonic: *takes off running at a moderate speed, the camera being controlled to follow along beside him, the footage it records also is controlled by Arumakan*
*camera shows that Sonic is there one moment, then gone the next as it just records the scenery*
Arumakan: *watching the footage as it's recorded* What? *stands from his seat in the booth and peers over at where Sonic had been*
Sonic: *had faceplanted into a wide swath of mud, his flists slowly clench and he whips around to confront a small robot that tripped him, lets out a guttural frustrated yell and bashes it with his foot repeatedly*
Arumakan: *turns around to glare at Eggman*
Eggman: *innocently eating an evil ham sandwich* What? Like I said, I've been here the whole time. You can check! No remotes or control panels whatsoever!
Sonic: *in the distance as he punts the robot at fault, now just a twisted piece of metal, into the distance* He's being facetious!
Arumakan: I'm not DOING THIS right now! Sonic, get rid of any and all robots in the area! Eggman! *glares at him* I'm watching you.
Take 3 (after a few minutes of robot hunting and smashing, of which there were only three in the way) -
*the scene resumes as before, with Sonic running through the forest, the camera following him*
Sonic: *runs normally as he was instructed, speeds up as he approaches the cliff and the camera pans behind him, leaps off and spreads his arms* I BELIEVE I CAN FLYYYYYYY- *bird passing by rams into his face, sniping him out of the air*
Arumakan: *stands up* CUT! Do not tell me that was another robot!
Sonic: *stands up, lifting the bird by the feet, by now seriously peeved* Nope.
Bird: *flaps wildly and pecks Sonic's hand, causing him to yelp and release it, the bird flying away, only to be taken down by the robot Sonic had punted earlier, a metal bird hull falling out of sight*
Arumakan: *puts his fingers to his temple* Alright. Let's just take it from the cliff, okay? Can we do that?
Sonic: I could if Eggman would quit MESSING ME UP!
Eggman: *leans over the edge of the watchtower to yell in a megaphone* Maybe if you were paying attention, you'd see that it isn't my fau-!
Arumakan: *snatches the megaphone away before he finishes* Eggman. To your ship. Now.
Eggman: But-
Arumakan: NOW! Or no robots for a month!
Eggman: FINE. *walks off, grumbling to himself* Thanks mom….
Take 4 -
Sonic: *takes a running start and leaps off the cliff as before, spreading his arms as before and pulls into a ball to flip around to land on his feet, takes off running once more*
*robots start to fly beside him, trailing and circling around him, one gets in front of him and Sonic, going too fast but not fast enough to destroy it, runs into it and tumbles to the ground, the robot buzzing in protest*
Arumakan: Cut! Sonic, are you alright?
Sonic: *lying beneath the malfunctioning robot, trying to avoid its thrashing limbs and, at the same time, attempting to push it off* Who choreographed this?!
Arumakan: *tightens his lips and says quickly* Nobody. Get up and do it again, just be careful. This'll be perfect, I promise!
Take 5 -
Sonic: *takes off running at the base of the cliff when the robots start following him, this time the robots, already automatically programmed, are too far ahead as Sonic hangs back*
Arumakan: Sonic! What are you doing?! Speed up!
Sonic: *by now seems miles behind the other robots* No way!
Arumakan: Why not?
Sonic: *skids to a stop* This is too dangerous for a little two-minute video! I've already put my blood, sweat, and tears into it!
Arumakan: This coming from the guy who backflips off the roof of the building for fun and drop-kicked a sparking robot who happened to get in your way.
Sonic: That's different! I wanted to do those things!
Arumakan: Well, SEGA wants us to do this! Do you want to lose your job?
Sonic: Welllll-*the robots return, buzzing around him like bees, he mutters in annoyance* At this rate, any job but this would be a dream.
Take 6 -
*the robots are released to trail Sonic, but once more he isn't there, as this time he is already far ahead*
Arumakan: *into bullhorn* Sonic, I will fire you.
Sonic: *from the top of the structure he's supposed to race into next* Good luck finding someone who can do this! *races around the perimeter of the top of the building so fast a small wind vortex is created, Sonic uses it to launch himself into the air to perform a couple of fancy tricks before landing firmly on top of the robots who are supposed to chase him; he then uses them to push off of and backflips into a landing position at the start of the cliff, poses dramatically*
Arumakan: *sighs* Showing off is not going to earn you a paycheck.
Sonic: To quote a friend from earlier…"We're getting paid?!"
Take 7… -
Sonic: *this time cooperating, he races down the stretch and the robots following, Sonic carefully managing his speed so he doesn't run into them, then speeds off to the Kingdom Valley-esc structure...*
Arumakan: WATCH YOUR-
Sonic: *...but there is a step at the entrance to the cathedral that literally trips him up, causing him to faceplant into the floor*
Arumakan: -step. Go again! From after the robots!
Take 8… -
Sonic: *starts off from where he speeds away from the bots, this time jumps before he enters the cathedral, flips, bounces, and lands on his feet, stops and waits…*
*...and waits…*
*...and waits…*
*cough*
Arumakan: EGGMAN!
Eggman: *from a loudspeaker on his ship, hovering high over the set* You told me not to touch the robots!
Arumakan: You're supposed to follow the script! The bots are supposed to line the roof and aim at Sonic-
*robots suddenly crash through the ceiling*
Arumakan: *quietly* That works. We're rolling!
Improvising Take 8 -
Robots: *lock onto Sonic, who instinctively leaps into the air and homing attacks them, sending them shooting into the walls where they explode*
Sonic: *lands on the ground and starts running straight up the wall; a missed robot starts firing at Sonic as he runs, Sonic aims for and bounces off the springs, which send him flying through the air to another spring, then another, then another, the bullets always just on his heels until he flies out of the hole in the roof and lands outside and hits the ground running*
Arumakan: Good, good! Keep going, the rest is scripted!
Sonic: *skids to a stop in a wide field and looks up as Eggman's ship comes slowly into view, robots come pouring out of the body of the ship, landing and walking to their positions surrounding Sonic, who just stands there watching*
Eggman: Aaaand, fire!
Robots: *one by one they begin firing little glowing foam pellets*
Sonic: *covers himself with his arms as the little darts bounce off harmlessly, but gives a dramatic yell and flops over to the side, playing dead*
*the camera switches shots to show some of the robots from behind, waiting for Sonic, but nothing happens*
Eggman: *over the loudspeaker* Sonic, that's your cue.
Sonic: *laying on the ground, laughing a little* I um. Kinda forgot something.
Arumakan: *facepalms* Don't tell me.
Sonic: The um…
Arumakan: Don't tell me!
Sonic: The...Chaos Emeralds.
Eggman: WHAT?!
Sonic: They're...still in the safe.
Arumakan and Eggman: *let out a frustrated yell*
Arumakan: SONIC! You have thirty seconds to go there, get them, and return here! And if you dare transform, this'll be the last time you'll use the Emeralds!
Sonic: *gets up, brushes himself off* Thirty seconds. Got it. That's twenty more than I'll need! *races off, plowing a path through the robots like he's supposed to do later*
Eggman: MY BABIES! That is so coming out of his imaginary paycheck!
Take 9, 10ish seconds later -
*the camera is again fixed on the robots as Sonic lays on the ground where he's supposed to be from the last scene, he shoots into the air as a ball and happily transforms into Super Sonic*
Robots: *take a few steps back as if their inferior little microchip brains are intimidated by the golden glow enveloping them*
Super Sonic: *trying not to smile about the fact that he's in his Super form, looks down at the robots and boosts off, plowing through the new line of robots that had filled in for the ones that he had destroyed when leaving, and the camera cuts out*
-:-:-:-
"And scene!" Arumakan announced through the megaphone he'd been using to communicate with the actors down below. "Great job, both of you! Go ahead and take the rest of the night off, we finally got through it!"
His words, however, were going unnoticed as a new commotion had begun on set. Super Sonic was taking every advantage of his allowance to use his powers and was wreaking havoc throughout the crowd of robots that had been sent to figuratively "kill" him. Eggman was watching with horror from the cockpit of his massive ship, yelling protests through his ship's sound system. These protests and complaints, however, were going ignored.
Arumakan, his moment of triumph interrupted by the sounds of crushing metal and the abuse of energy, looked down at the field, which was now littered with robot parts. He scrambled for the loudest setting on his megaphone and shouted as calmly as he could, "Sonic, you know you can change back now!"
The commotion continued, Super Sonic's joyous laughing ringing out.
"SONIC!" Arumakan shouted, the megaphone buzzing from the maximum volume. "Change back right now!"
Suddenly, the golden streak whizzing around the now cleared-out field turned sharply as Super Sonic flew up to the look-out tower, stopping and hovering before the director. Arumakan, startled by the abrupt appearance of the glowing hedgehog, yelped and fell off his stool and onto his behind, papers on the tables sent flying from the wind-like energy. Sonic had the greatest grin on his face that seemed to glow as much as he did. It had been years since he'd been able to use the Emeralds, and he wanted to enjoy every second of it.
"Don't be a buzzkill, 'Makan!" Super Sonic chimed happily. "Do you know how long it's been?"
Arumakan was looking rather annoyed, but there was also a hint of something else...what was it? Intimidation? Fear? Awe? No matter what it was, the director scrambled to his feet. "What do you plan to do? Ruin all of Eggman's props? That are supposed to be used for the game?"
Sonic gave him a confused look. "Props?" he asked. "The robots in the cathedral were not props. They were firing real bullets. I know I lost a ring or two just running from them."
"Yes, well, that wasn't planned…" Arumakan said, frantically picking up the scattered papers before they slipped through the cracks and flew out the open sides of the structure, lest they be lost forever. "I'm sure Eggman planned or programmed something like that."
"I don't care what he did, it was fun," Super Sonic said with a satisfied smile. "C'mon, the guy has factories of those things. Destroying a couple hundred doesn't mean a thing."
"That's not the point," Arumakan said. "The point is that you don't know how to control that energy that you have right could hurt someone, you could wreck the production, you could-"
He was interrupted by Super Sonic putting his hand on the hat on the director's head. There was a flash of light. Arumakan cringed, expecting the worst, but opened his eyes when he realized the familiar but light weight of the hat had disappeared. Only the hat had vanished, then appeared on Sonic's head. The fur on the director's head was untouched, albeit a little frizzy from the energy.
"I don't know how to control it?" Sonic repeated Arumakan's claim, taking off the hat and spinning it on his finger. The hat vanished again in a small flash of gold light and appeared backwards on Arumakan's head.
The director grumbled to himself. "That doesn't prove anything."
Super Sonic sighed, perching on the window ledge. "You said I have the rest of the day off. Can I spend it like this? I'll be responsible, I promise. I just wanna do some heroing, that's all."
"What kind of heroing…?" Arumakan asked reluctantly.
The smile returned to Sonic's face. "Oh, you know. Going through old zones. Defeating old bots. Maybe take down a base or two. With Eggman here instead of there, it's prime time."
Arumakan hesitated, thinking it over, then sighed in defeat. "I...suppose."
Sonic's face literally lit up, and he flew into the air, doing a little twirl. "YES!"
"However," Arumakan said in a warning tone, "if I get any complaints, your use of the Emeralds will be limited again, if not taken away depending on the severity. Got it?"
Sonic saluted him dutifully. "Aye aye, chief!" And with that, he sped off in a beam of gold light back to SEGA headquarters.
Arumakan sighed, slouching over the windowsill, watching Eggman clean the field Super Sonic had made into a robot graveyard.
"What am I ever going to do with him…" the director sighed as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon.
-:-:-:-
That night, a celebration was underway. Another cake had been made and decorated by Silver to represent major events and items from throughout the Sonic series thus far, including rings, emblems, medals, friends, and enemies. The cafeteria had transformed into a dancefloor with Knuckles as the DJ playing old Sonic tunes. Blue, red, and gold banners were strung across the rafters and shining lights and disco balls lit up the floor, where the tables had been pushed off to the side. The cast and crew were chatting and laughing together, drinking punch and eating the fresh cake, and a few were even dancing. Others were brooding in a corner trying not to be noticed. It was a celebration of completing something on such short notice, of each other, and of Sonic. On an anniversary like this, it was clear parties like this would be going on all year long, even without the decorations and music.
Tails walked in the room for about the fifth time, looking worried. He passed Amy and Blaze, who were in conversation, the former of which was the first to notice his concern.
"What's the matter?" Amy asked, stopping Tails, who never really looked at her; he was observing the crowd as if he were looking for something.
"Has anyone seen Sonic?" Tails asked. "He and the others have been gone for hours! He should be back by now…"
"I'm sure they had to run late with whatever they're doing," Amy said. "You know how Sonic and Eggman are! They'll be arguing more than working!"
"That's the thing, I saw Eggman go back to his trailer!" Tails protested. "I caught up with him and asked where Sonic was, and he grumbled something along the lines of 'probably messing up the rest of my robot collection. He flew off.'"
"Flew?" Amy asked. "He can't fly."
"That's what I said, and Eggman said that he had the Chaos Emeralds," Tails said. "So I'm assuming he's Super Sonic. But if he is, he could be anywhere!"
"Aren't you his best friend?" Blaze, whom had gotten some more fruit punch, spoke up. "You probably know him better than anybody here. Just go wherever he spends the most time."
"That's the problem, he doesn't spend a lot of time anywhere," Tails said. "He travels in his freetime. He could be all the way in Chun-nan by now."
"I left an invitation to the celebration at the door to his trailer," Amy said. "He'll probably turn up and become the life of the party!"
Tails' eyes brightened, his ears perking. "Oh, right! He probably went back to his trailer to get some Rings. I'll go get him!" He turned on his heel and ran out, then stopped and looked back at the two girls. "Oh, if Eggman shows up, don't be alarmed. I invited him. You know how he gets when he's left out." And with that, he flew out the door, leaving Amy to scramble for words of protest.
The little fox flew all the way out to the maze of trailers in the back lot of the headquarters. He approached Sonic's trailer and knocked on the door, but the windows were dark and the mobile home was empty. Tails frowned, stepping down from the entrance and looked around, wondering where he could be. Then, from just over the peak of the roof of SEGA's headquarters, he spotted the telltale golden glow of the superpowered hedgehog. His ears perking, Tails smiled and flew up to meet him.
Sure enough, Super Sonic was not, in fact, flying around and "heroing." He was laying on the roof under the stars, his arms behind his head and his eyes closed. Tails landed softly next to him. Hearing him, Sonic opened one eye and peered at him. He smiled a little.
"Yo, buddy."
"Why aren't you at the party?" Tails asked. "It's for you."
Super Sonic shrugged, closing his eyes once more. "Not really in the mood. It's loud and boisterous. And I'm kinda beat from today."
"I thought you didn't get tired," Tails countered.
Sonic gave a light chuckle. Tails sat beside him, his tails curling around his body comfortably.
"It's a beautiful night," Tails noted, looking at the cloudless sky. Countless tiny stars winked down at them, their view unobstructed from the top of the building.
"That's why I'm here," Sonic said. "Just enjoying the feeling."
"What were you doing that has you so, quote unquote, 'beat'?" Tails asked, peering at his friend.
"Some tech demo type deal," Sonic shrugged again. "I dunno, I think it was to show off how good we can make the game look. In truth, I think it can look way better."
"And I see you were allowed to use the Emeralds," Tails smirked.
Sonic opened his crimson eyes, looking at the sky. "Yup. Feels good."
Tails sighed, laying down next to him. "I know it's still a few weeks away, but...happy birthday, dude," he said.
Sonic looked at him and smiled, then reached over and ruffled his bangs. "Thanks, bro."
Tails giggled, feeling the buzz of energy running through Super Sonic's hand, causing his fur to stand up in static.
Sonic stood up, stretching, even though it wasn't needed in such an invigorating form. "What do you say we go to that party? I think I could eat 2,006 chili dogs."
Tails laughed, standing up. "I'm sure you could. Let's go!"
Sonic grinned, glancing at his friend. "Race ya!" he said quickly before practically disappearing with only a beam of light marking his path.
"Hey, no fair!" Tails called, flying after him to rejoin the party.
-:-:-:-
The music was pumping so loud it could be heard all across the first few floors of SEGA, including the editing floor. Arumakan was at his desk, working hard to prepare for E3. He leaned back and stretched in the chair, humming the muffled "His World" he could hear from the party.
"Partying for a little bit wouldn't hurt…" the director said to himself. He stood up, unplugging a USB drive from the computer. He then powered it down and left the room, shutting off the lights on his way out.
It was only as the director's footsteps faded out that the computer flicked back on.
((I'm DONE! YESSSSS. I started writing this chapter MONTHS ago but just never really sat down to truly write. Today's a busy fanfiction day for me, apparently! I finally got my writing spark back for Cold and started uploading it, and finished this monster of a chapter! I'm so sorry to keep you all waiting, but as I said, it's been tough for me to find motivation.
I will try to keep updating this story, but I'm going to need your help! If you have any glitches you'd like me to include or blooper ideas, shoot me a PM or a review and it might be included! I'm not very funny on my own; I actually prefer more serious stories. That's why I need your help with that kind of thing. You will definitely be mentioned for the ideas you give!
Also, if you don't know what ANY of this is from, the tech demo is found here: watch?v=ibq4-8H_IMw
Thanks for being so patient, I really appreciate it. :3 I'll be back soon with more Bloopers galore!))
~SonicTheHedgehog-Nerd