Chapter Thirteen – The Light Cycle
One day, out of nowhere, an alien Tanuki, named Dodon Pa sent invitations to Sonic and several of his friends, inviting them to compete in a series of team-based races. He built cars, outfitting them with advanced technology for each of the racers, offering them as prizes for the winning team. Though they were skeptical of Dodon Pa's motivations, Sonic and the others agree. The competition takes them across an alien world, with Dodon Pa pitting them against increasingly difficult challenges.
The racers remain suspicious of Dodon Pa, believing he may be working with Eggman. Investigating further, they discover he was king of the planet Donpa Kingdom and the president of the Donpa Motors automotive corporation. The planet is on the outer reaches of the galaxy, and a long way from home.
Regardless, it remained tense until Shadow enters the field. The speedsters strong rivalry kicked off again, for the first time in years, but the Tanuki, Dodon Pa, can sense there is something more to the speedsters, them meet the eye. He had orange fur, with a fairly large and round torso, slightly short arms, and sharp fingers. He also had a wide head with no visible neck, and a long tail with brown stripes, a black patch of fur across his face, a white muzzle, a small black nose, and a long and rugged white moustache. He also has large eyes with surprisingly small blue irises and pupils.
Dodon Pa wore a crown with a large round velvet cap. This crown also had a golden lower head rim, a golden point on the top, and an emblem on the front that resembles a black wheel with a pair of white wings and a purple hub cap. He also wore orange coveralls with golden cuffs on the sleeves, a red scarf around his neck, and a brown belt around his waist with a golden buckle that resembles the front of a car. Lastly, he wore a short leopard skin cape with a fuzzy white hemline, a tall collar, and golden fasteners on the front. He frowned, it was as though the Blue Blur was not going all out, he could do better then he was letting on. The alien deeply thought.
"A sibling, maybe?" He wondered. He was well aware that the speedsters were not related but he could sense there was another, whom was close to both of them. Smirking hard, suddenly, he activated this mechanical teleporter which brought all the racers to his kingdom. High above their heads, he ensured it honed in on, any relatives of the Blue Blur it could find. Feeding his machine one of the Blue Hedgehog's quills, it immediately searched across time, space, and dimensions, locking onto a certain Sorcerer, whom did 'not' see it coming.
Sukko had just got off work. It had been a extremely busy day, as he yawned. So tiring, in fact, that the Sorcerer hadn't noticed that his twin was no longer on planet, and that the Psychic Link had become stretched. But before Sukko could do anything about it, the world right beneath his feet just opened up, out of nowhere. Sukko's telepathy, was entirely Magic based, and even though his extra sensory perception was superb, the best out there, it was based entirely off organic, mystical, cosmical, or spiritual inputs. One of few things that could genuinely catch Sukko off guard, was something entirely electrical, mechanical or robotic in origin. The Sorcerer often sensed Eggman, long before his robot army, simply because the Human was organic and his robotic army, were not.
Before the Sorcerer could even react, a rich black, deep purple lined electronic portal opened, right below him and pulled him through, into it's vast depth and to the out reaches of the galaxy. Within seconds, Sukko tumbled through the darkness, and then he was practically blinded when the portal opened in the sky, and just deposited him, high above was bustling, extremely noisy stadium, containing some kind of race track. He fell through the air, extremely disorientated, on top of his extreme tiredness from his hospital shift. He tumbled over and over, his long black coat, and longer, then average blue quills on his head, getting awkwardly wrapped around himself.
Sukko's telepathy was incredibly numb. He immediately knew he was off-planet, and was desperately struggling to get any bearings. But as people screamed at his predicament, the Sorcerer know at least one thing was always guaranteed to work, no matter how mushed his mind was.
The Super-Flight.
Spying the ground, and several people, rather weirdly working on race cars, he noticed a nearby familiar Fox scream for him, as Sukko finally slammed on the brakes. Facing downwards, he put both his arms and legs out like a star, and activated his Super-Flight with such force, that he came to an immediate stop, within seconds, several metres off the floor. He panted and hard, hanging his head towards the ground.
Tails gasped. The last person he expected to see was his uncle, and seeing him actually fly, since the incident where he, rather stupidly, accused Sonic of having the superpower was breathtaking, though the change of head quills style was different. Tails had never seen quills that long on a male Hedgehog before. But right now, the Fox had to look past that, as he took to the air with the Blue Hedgehog, rotating his tails like a helicopter. He flew right for him, gulping hard.
"Uncle Sukko, are you alright?" He wondered. But the Sorcerer looked up at the Fox, uttering exhausted, still perfectly hovering. He sighed, heaving hard.
"It's at times like this, Fox, I really hate being the brother of the Hero. You know what they say, you can't choose your family." He grinned, as he grabbed Tails's shoulder, and used it as leverage to right himself, in mid-air, so it was now upright. He frowned, looking around, as his nose pointed skywards. "What is it about me, and being summoned? I wonder what it is, this time?" He asked, looking back at the Fox. He shrugged, as suddenly, the Sorcerer's mood hugely improved, as his Telepathy began to slowly kick in, and settle. At least his headache was beginning to ease.
Then the Sorcerer flawlessly and perfectly silently, flew all around Fox, as he just hovered there, his tails rotating beneath him. He smiled.
"Hey, not bad. Fox." He praised. "Your flying skills have significantly improved since I last saw them." He added, which caused Tails to go very red. Suddenly, there was a voice behind them. It had an immediate sense of the arrogance of authority.
"Welcome." It hissed. Sukko whirled around at the alien Tanuki, Dodon Pa was smirking slyly at him. But Sukko growled and immediately rounded on the Tanuki with an almost growl.
"No!" He spat, extremely loudly as he landed his Super-Flight. Tails followed, extremely confused. Suddenly, Dodon Pa's face fell, as he looked incredibly shocked.
"But you don't know what I was going to ask." He declared. But Sukko just smirked, as he folded his arms.
"Yeah, I do, actually. I'm telepathic, and you summoned me here to force me to race against Sonikku, in those machines of yours. Well, two things Tanuki. One. I don't race. I hate it, with a passion. I would rather be seen dead on a track, then actually race, and two, I'm tired. I've been on my feet, all damn day, and I need tea. Which means I've leaving, so try and stop me if you can. Adios." He spat, and with that, he exploded with a huge cloud of bright white orbs, ascending upward, and was gone. Tails just outright giggled, as he looked by at the rather gobsmacked Tanuki.
"Ouch." He heaved, just as Sonic pulled his car over, having just finished a race. He panicked as he got out of the car. He rounded on the Fox.
"Whoa. Did I just see Sukko get summoned here?" He gulped. But the Fox giggled.
"Yeah. He'll be fine. Dodon Pa called him here to try and get him to race against you." He grinned. Suddenly, Sonic just burst out laughing.
"Sukko, race?" He howled. "Oh, chaos. My brother hates racing. He thinks it's completely useless. Though truthfully, he does have a point. I have yet to beat him, at anything." He giggled. But Tails stared.
"Wait, Uncle Sukko isn't faster then you." He frowned. But Sonic rolled his eyes.
"Not on foot, no." He admitted. "That's very much 'my' thing. But anything else, he pretty much trumps me at. Flying, sparing, driving. He's a Drifter, and only knows how to drive a car sideways, as well as chess and martial arts." He heaved. "Tails, it basically comes down to the fact that Sukko's super-high speed reflexes are half a nanosecond faster then mine, and there's nothing I can do about it." He admitted. But Tails gasped.
"Whoa. Half a nanosecond. That's a lot." He breathed. But Sonic just nodded.
"Yeah, it is, especially when your working at the speeds that me and Sukko can go at, when he wants to. But trust me when I say that, that half a nanosecond, has saved my life, more then once." He sighed, but Tails just smiled.
"Now that I can believe." He hissed, as Dodon Pa just stared at them. The brother's appearance and then sudden disappearance had completely scuppered his plans, but hearing the Blue Blur talk, made him decide the up the stakes, and force the so-called brother to show his hand. He smiled broadened as he said nothing, intently listening on. Suddenly, Sonic looked around, frowning.
"Hey, where is Sukko?" He wondered. But Tails just shrugged.
"He vanished, saying he was tired." He recalled, but Sonic's frown deepened.
"Vanished how? He is the King of Stealth, Tails." He repeated. "Was it 'blink of an eye', a portal or just orbing?" He wondered. Tails frowned. He knew the difference, as he nodded.
"Orbing, I think." He replied, nodding hard. Sonic sighed, with relief.
"Oh, thank goodness. He's still on-planet, as you can't Orb off of it. Anyway. It's nearly sundown. We'll see him in the morning." He added, as he got back into his car, to drive it back to his garage for the night. Tails did the same, as they Dodon Pa was left alone, somewhat forgotten. That was fine with him, as he smirked and hard. Yes, Sukko will be there in the morning, competing with the racers, otherwise his brother will die.
At sunrise, and Dodon Pa made sure everything was spotlessly clean, and setup and ready for the first race. One-by-one the racers came, yawning and stretching, coming in for breakfast. As Dodon Pa sat at then end of the table, he countered all the competitors, and still someone was missing. There was only one Blue Hedgehog present, as Sonic talked amongst friends, them, other then the Fox, seemingly unaware that the brother of the Hero was actually there. The Tanuki growled, but yes, with patients, he'll show.
But as the morning's races came and went, without a hitch, it was still a no show from the Sorcerer, and the Blue Blur himself, seemed unconcerned by this. Dodon Pa frowned.
"Odd?" He wondered, but as the Blue Blur race of the day, finally came up, the Tanuki decided to put his plan into action anyway. As the race started and Sonic whizzed around the, somewhat hazardous, track, in bright blue sports car, Dodon Pa played dirty, by activating a small bomb under the front wheel. It caused it to dangerously flip, vertically into the sky and roll, end over end, and explode. At the hundreds of miles per hour, the cars were racing it, it was a killer move, to end in almost certain death. Except he did this on a certain Blue Blur, whom on foot, could outpace anything.
Sonic's extra sensory perception, saw this coming, and got out of the car, and easily jumped clear, before the car even flipped, as furious speeds, so high, that no one physically saw him move. Dodon Pa had seriously underestimated him, as his jaw hit the floor, as the Blue Blur ran home, on foot, completely unscathed. He charged right in, straight for the Tanuki.
"Hey, what was that all about?" He hissed, his anger at boiling. "The car was rigged, it had to have been." He spat as Dodon Pa himself, had declared them as safe. This whole thing was a setup. Suddenly, there was a quiet snigger, as suddenly, the Sorcerer himself, appeared out of nowhere, now well rested, smirking hard, behind the Blue Blur.
"He tried to kill you, Sonikku, simply because I refused to race." He hissed, extremely coldly, making his twin jump. The others began to gather around, shocked at the day's events. Silver, Vector, and Blaze, as well, as Rouge, Big, and the Chao. But as Sonic looked at his twin, he rounded back on Dodon Pa. He growled.
"Back off. That's never going to happen. Your not forcing Sukko into doing anything." He blasted, defending his twin, but Dodon Pa just smirked, as he snapped his finger, as suddenly there was further explosions out on the track. Further bombs went off as more cars went dangerously flying, Tails, Shadow, and Amy all began to loose control of their vehicles. Vector screamed.
"Hey, now that's playing dirty." He hissed, but Dodon Pa rounded on the Sorcerer, pointing at the racing car behind him.
"Now you don't have I choice." He hissed. Sukko looked, and just gagged. The machine was hideous. Design wise, it was identical to the Blue Blur, but had the colour scheme similar to Shadow's, but black and blue, rather then red, and it just didn't work. The Dark Reaper looked good, this didn't. Sorcerer charged forwards, and smirked.
"Fine." He spat. But instead of getting into the car, in a act of pure defiance, he grabbed it with his mighty Telekinesis, proceeded to then lift it clean off the ground, and rip the entire machine in half, revealing to the stunned Tanuki, that he was actually Psychic. Then with brute and sheer mental strength, Sukko then crushed the two halves into the perfectly spherical, incredible small. One, he just tosses onto the ground, and the other, he threw, right at the Tanuki, successfully taking his hover craft, where he it was sat. It caused Dodon Pa to be thrown into the air, and land roughly onto the ground. Millions of dollars worth of car, gone, in seconds.
Sonic laughed straight at him, knowing full well this brother had that kind of power, but the screaming from the track, didn't sound good. Shadow using his own Super-Speed, as safely jumped from the danger zone and get out, but Amy and Tails was struggling, as both their cars were on the verge of exploding. The Blue Blur panicked as Sukko rounded on him.
"Sonikku, get the girl. I've brought the bike." He hissed. Suddenly, Sonic's smirk exploded as vanished across the grounded on foot, at ridiculously high Super-Speeds, to Dodon Pa's utter frustration. He rather stupidly hoped the Blue Blur would take the back up another racing car, he was getting prepared for him. But Sonic growled, hell no. They were done, but then he grinned, as he knew exactly what his brother meant.
Even though Sukko could fly as fast as Sonic could run, on foot, but he just didn't have his brother's stamina. Sonic could could go for days at Mach one, two, three, or even higher, but Sukko barely lasted an hour at Mach one, and that rapidly reduced the faster he went, to a matter of minutes, or even seconds. Jules Hedgehog may have been the the incredibly famous Air Speed Racer, during his time, having both Super-Flight and Super-Speed, but he never Hyper-Blasted, at Mach four point six, in his life, either on foot, or in the air. He physically couldn't do it. Both the twins could. Sukko, flying, only ever did it once, just to outdo his own utterly hateful father, but he passed out almost immediately. If Sonic hadn't have ran in, Gold Ring Blasting in the process, at Mach five point two, and caught him, the Sorcerer would have died.
Regardless, flying at speed, Sukko had to seriously watch himself, as he could crash out, becoming unconscious for months, resulting the Sorcerer being out of any fight. That happening was incredibly dangerous for both twins. It could kill Sukko or put enormous strain on the Psychic Link if he survived, and put Sonic under huge mental anguish, leaving him potentially struggling to cope. So they needed a solution to the problem, and the work around, was the bike. Sukko could ride it as fast as Sonic. It used significantly less power and energy then his Super-Flight, to run and maintain. Therefore Sukko could keep up for much longer, potentially indefinitely. It was still dangerous, but significantly less so, for the Sorcerer, then flying fast.
The bike was the Light Cycle.
It was an extremely Magical and futuristic double hub-less wheeled motorbike, that materialised from thin air, starting with the handlebars. It is generated from a baton, with it splitting in half and forming the Light Cycle between the two halves and below the rider. The remaining halves of the baton also form the handlebars of the motorbike. When creating a Light Cycle from a baton, the rider typically does so with a running leap to assume the necessary posture, and clearance from the ground, to allow the Light Cycle to form. It lacks the canopy and features headlights so that it could easily navigate dark environments, and the front and rear wheels of the cycle are of identical size. Speed can be increased by pushing the front and rear ends of the vehicle further apart, partially exposing its engine in the process. The front wheel of the motorbike is locked forward, so steering is not done by turning the front wheel, but by tilting the entire motorbike. When attempting certain manoeuvrers, a pair of small fins are shown to spring out just behind the rider, to aid either balance or braking.
The Light Cycle is the fastest motorbike on Mobius, though only one was ever made. The inventor was Charles Hedgehog, and he was the older brother of Bernadette Hedgehog. The mother of the Sukko, Sonic and Manic. The twins, and their younger brother. Charles knew of his sister's ability with Magic, and despite being powerless himself, he told no one, to protect her. He was well aware that she could take care of herself, more then capable, as she had bagged the most power Hedgehog around for a husband, the famous Air Speed Racer, Jules, but Charles just didn't trust him. So he created a discrete but fast get away vehicle for his sister to use if she was ever caught. A super-fast motorbike that could be hidden as nothing more then a baton, inside her quills. To escape the Mobian Authorities, as nothing more as a mysterious rider, and then just vanish.
But she never was caught, and therefore, the Light Cycle was never used. As Sukko dug through the store room in his Penthouse, he knew it was time to break open the motorbike. It didn't take him long to find the infamous baton, his mother had left to him, claiming that he'd one day need it. He gulped and hard. He'd never believed her, but now he did and had never ridden a motorbike before.
But he could drive. Very well, in fact. He was a much better driver then then his twin, who'd just floor any throttle he'd come across without any understanding of the intricate dynamics of driving a vehicle fast. Therefore any race between them, behind a wheel, Sukko would always win, much to the Blue Blur's utter annoyance. But no one knew of the Light Cycle's existence. Just Charles and Bernadette and now, her son, Sukko. Sonic did know, but truthfully, with his incredible speed, he just didn't care. He had no use for it. His ultra top speed matched the Light Cycle anyway. Sukko pulled the baton from his quills, as he smirked. Time to humour Dodon Pa, but in his terms, not the Tanuki's.
The Sorcerer took a deep breath, the Light Cycle baton, in his hand. The bike was fuelled with pure Chaos Sorcery, Magic, and ruthlessly large quantities of it. Therefore, only the mighty Sorcerer himself had the incredible power could activate and ride the machine. Suddenly, Sukko ran down towards the trackway, his black coat, and long blue quills, flapping in the wind behind him. Finally, he does a running leap to assume the necessary posture, and clearance from the ground, to allow the motorbike to form, as he opened the baton, which he placed horizontally in his hands. The baton split in half and surging huge quantities of Magic into it, to form the bike between the two halves and below him. The remaining halves of the baton, formed the handlebars of the machine. Shining in bright blue light, between the baton the Light Cycle exploded the hand bars, starting with the front chassis, headlights, suspension and front hub-less wheel. Then behind that, directly below Sukko's chest, the two side-by-side extremely powerful engines materialised, immediately spinning into motion. Then they were encased in the frame which was attached the rear chassis, via the drive shaft and mechanism. Behind that the back hub-less wheel formed, along with the saddle and exhaust.
Suddenly, pale blue lines criss-crossed the entire motorbike as all of the electrical wiring formed, which was immediately followed by the outer casing and safety features, as everything solidified. A beautifully formed motorbike in under a ten seconds. Sukko had heavily tweaked the bike since he first used it. One, he now materialised significantly faster, and two, he did away with the leathers, and black boots, them now no longer needed. He could now ride in just his long, black coat, and brown boots, and he also improved it's efficiency. The bike was now faster then ever. Potentially now the fastest thing on two wheels, right up to, the speed of light, hence the name.
Regardless, it landed, with the thump on the track, and sped off right after Tails at the same incredible speeds as the Blue Blur himself, on foot. The Light Cycle shone with the light of Chaos Sorcery, Magic, which for Sukko, was bright blue, as was the Sorcerer himself.
Sukko charged across the grounds after Sonic, and as the twins were in eyeline, they split up and went their separate ways. The Blue Blur after Amy and the Sorcerer, for Tails. Sonic roared after Amy, super-spinning through her car, and the wreckage as it went flying through the air again, right to her cockpit. He grabbed her, into his arms, and super-sped her out of there, with seconds to spare, before the explosion. Sukko rammed the Light Cycle forwards, but had to use a different technique to his twin. The Sorcerer could somersault, but couldn't super-spin, and didn't have Super-Speed, on foot, either. But he have the Light Cycle, Super-Flight, as well as ruthlessly fast reflexes, and a bike that disappear and materialise in seconds.
Using this to his advantage, he went for the Fox, and jumped into the air, incredibly fast, and as Tails slid into a tunnel, Sukko vanished the bike, and turned upside down. He activated his Super-Flight and ran across the ceiling, as full muscle. He put his hand down, and grabbed the Fox by the scruff of the neck, and physically lifted him out of the car. As a fellow flyer, he was relatively lightweight, and held him close. Still on the ceiling, Sukko dodging oncoming debris from the car, as it exploded, they jumped from tunnel towards the track head.
He could have activated his Super-Flight, but the explosion of the car behind him, was travelling faster then he was, and he just didn't have the high-intense accelerations needed to outrun it, within the superpower. The Light Cycle was his only option, as it had the properties he needed, as Sukko dived for the ground. Tails screamed, but the bike perfectly materialise beneath them, as they landed hard. The Sorcerer just floored the accelerator, successfully speeding away to safety.
Tails looked up utterly stunned, as he sat on the bike, in front of Sukko, between his arms. The Sorcerer just looked down and smirked at him. His concentrated on the road ahead, at speed, a carbon copy of his twin. Desperately panting hard, Tails was both gobsmacked, and deeply honoured.
Half a nanosecond?
Oh yes, it was definitely there. The miniscule amount that just gave Sukko the edge over his twin, and yes, travelling at super-high speeds, you could definitely feel it. The Fox looked down at the wheels, and the road beneath was nothing but a blur. Both the twins landed back with the others, at the same time, as Sukko slid the Light Cycle to a stop. Everyone just stared, in awe at it, as Tails just exploded, with a million questions. The Sorcerer just got off, leaving the bike to perfectly stand upright on it's two wheels. He giggled, and then growled at the Fox.
"No." He spat. But Tails whimpered.
"What?" He sniffed, but Sukko just smirked, in return as he walked around to the front of the Light Cycle, and grabbed the handlebars. Immediately, the entire bike disintegrated back to the baton, within seconds, which the Sorcerer stuffed into his quills. He heaved.
"Fox, I said no." He repeated. "I'm not telling you how it works, so stop asking." He blasted, and that was the end of it. Panting hard, and exhausted again, Sukko just turned tail and left, and soon, he'd vanished again. He left everyone behind him utterly chaos, and a rather arrogant Tanuki, outgunned and outclassed. He gasped at the technology of the Light Cycle. To have a vehicle materialise out of thin air, that was both faster and more manoeuvrable then anything he'd ever build. He growled, as he got back into his hover craft, having repaired it, and took off, as everyone was distracted by the day's events.
He growled. He could still rescue this Grand Prix. Redesigned cars, no rigs, or traps, might get the racers back on side again. It was a tall order to get it done by morning, but certainly possible. Regardless, he send a loyal scrounger to look for the Sorcerer, to search the place, all night, if he had to, to take something from him.
Dodon Pa wanted the Light Cycle.