No Mario but Definitely Sonic at the Agra 10 Dork Olympics 2023 (& Knuckles)

[spinsandneedles]

WHO: Sonic & OPEN to whoever wants to deal with Sonic
WHERE: Sports Day!!!!
WHAT: Sports and Sports Accessories
WHEN: When Sports
WARNINGS:Excessive Sports

Balloon Pop

A random day of quasi-sports is probably the last thing Sonic expected to encounter after being abducted by aliens, but here we are. Definitely weird, but at least their abductors are trying to keep them entertained? Might as well roll with it and see where it goes.

He'd have an unfair advantage over most people when it came to competitions involving going fast, so he decides to branch out a bit and do some things that might use skills that he hasn't already mastered. BUT THEN, he comes across the balloon popping game and decides it would be funny to see how fast he can pop them by just curling into a ball, sitting in one place, and letting the balloons idly come into contact with his quills. See, that way it's testing his patience more than his speed, patience counts as a skill and it's one that he's kind of terrible at. Either way it proves to be a surprisingly effective balloon popping strategy, but eventually there are just a few balloons left and he does have to roll around a bit to get to them.

So. Yeah, there's a little blue spike ball covered in glitter and balloon scrap rolling around the balloon zone. Nothing weird to see here, kids. He might need help getting all the balloon scraps out of his quills when he's done.

Climbing Wall

Of course he could just run up and down the wall like it's no big deal, but where's the challenge in that? He's gonna climb this wall the way climbing walls are meant to be climbed! Which turns out to be no simple feat since a lot of the hand holds are juuust a bit out of reach for such a small dude. He can manage if he hops for some of them, but he is not progressing up the wall very quickly.

Of course, he's willing to cheat just to show up anyone else he catches cheating, he can't help that competitive streak.

Prizes

As Sonic really doesn't have any super important items from home, and hasn't taken an interest in any ot the other prizes available (Clothes?? What's he gonna do, wear pants??), he's literally just giving his points away. While taking a lunch break, he's seated on a table (Yes ON a table. Are there tables? There are now.), trying to figure out why his pizza bagel things taste like peanuts and occasionally waggling a plastic cup full of chits at people as they pass by.

"Yo, free prize point thingies! I don't really need 'em."

The chits he's giving away are mostly low value, maybe a few medium and high value depending on what games he inevitably gets pulled into. He's not really keeping track.

Whatever else

He's not super interested in team sports for himself, but if he can help other people win prizes, then he'd be happy enough to join in if asked. Three legged race might be a bit awkward? But y'know, YOLO. He's fast, he can be anywhere. Literally he's just zooming around the place looking around.

Comments

[doubled_speed]

Damn right it is. He's got a whole other outlook, and he seems to like life.

"Sorry man. But there's also lots of rain typically at this time of year. And I like sleeping a little more dry. Chances are we can make good distance in one day, but if we hit something that fucks our speed, some storm, we need to be able to shelter."

HE's had it happen too much.

[spinsandneedles]

Hey man that makes it sound like everyone else around here is actually real depressed! ...Is every one else around here actually real depressed? :(

"No, no, it's cool, I totally get it. I don't like smelling like wet fur anyway. Also the whole 'storms doing things to our speed' thing also doesn't exactly sound like something I want to risk."

New challenge: Get Sonic to say "fuck". I bet you can't.

[doubled_speed]

Oh, they are SUPER depressed. Was that a shock? Tommy's been here for three and three quarter years. He's so tired.

"Oh, yeah, they are really fucking messed up. My mutation also means I'm durable. Except when the storms roll in... Well, I've broken bones here a bit. Hate it."

[spinsandneedles]

Big oof. What y'all really need is a therapist, but Sonic can at least be aggressively optimistic at everyone! That... might help...

"Oh, goody. I'm foreseeing a lot more sprains in my future, if that's the case." Man these storms really don't sound like a great time. Sonic's self aware enough to know that he's super reckless and definitely going to get banged up at least once.

"So, do they only affect us if we're caught out in them, or do they get us either way?"

[doubled_speed]

Damn right they need a therapist. But no therapist is going to want htem, so it's fine. They just keep going the best they can.

"Possibly. But we got a doctor recently, and my brother can patch people up too. And Omega, she's getting good. She helped me with some stuff herself."

Oh now there's the million dollar question, isn't it? And Tommy's grimace should answer it.

"So far as we can tell, they get you either way."

[spinsandneedles]

Oh yeah, totally fine. Completely fine. I'm not even a little worried.

"That's good to know, at least. I don't have to worry about being super careful, then." Except maybe he should? Because getting hurt sucks? Nah fuck that.

"Ah well. Not like I'd be trying to run in circles indoors. On that note, I guess I better decide on where I'm gonna stay for when it does start to get nasty out."

Why no, he hasn't bothered to pick out a permanent residence.

[doubled_speed]

What's worry? Sounds like a lot of energy to be using up.

"Ships are an option if you can do small spaces. Hotel's not that bad. My brother and I set up a whole shop to turn over into our real home."

[spinsandneedles]

Exactly! Why worry when you can be going fast instead!

"I don't exactly love little tiny spaces, might check out the hotel though. That'll probably work for a while." Watch him decide to knock down a wall between rooms just to give himself more space. I mean if nobody stops him...

"Man, what are the odds of ending up here with family, though? Does your brother have the same kinda powers as you?"

[doubled_speed]

Sometimes that's a good thing. But sometimes it just made you lonely. He hated the lonely.

"Careful of the stairs. They are built for people that average seven feet tall. You can see which walls are better to run up and around from where there's some footprints. For when I just don't feel like the stairs."

Ending up here with family? Well, not very likely. Tommy smiles. He'd been so lucky. He had Wanda, he had Vision, and he had Billy. Now he just has Billy.

"Nope, he's a witch."

[spinsandneedles]

"Ugh, this place makes me feel so short..."

Not that any of the humans here are gonna be seven feet tall either, but still. He's definitely going to be using the walls to get around the ridiculous stairs.

"A witch, like with magic and flying brooms and stuff?"

CAN HE CAST INFINITE CHILI DOG can that be a spell

[doubled_speed]

Dude, Tommy too. He didn't like being only 5'8" when there had been so many people here taller than that. It had been maddening.

"Magic yes, flying brooms, no. Why would he need that when he can fly?"

He could absolutely cast that.

[spinsandneedles]

Now Tommy can stand next to Sonic and feel huge!

"Dude, that's awesome! I've got a buddy who can fly with his butt. Less because magic and more because he's got two tails, and if he spins 'em real fast he can fly. Shame about the broom, though. I've been cleaning the arcade out and could really use one."

[doubled_speed]

There is that. See little blue blue? You are even more appreciated already.


"Oh, you could ask him. Billy could whip up a broom quite easily for you."

[spinsandneedles]

Just don't ever call him that or there's gonna be a tussle.

"He can just magic up a broom? Just like out of thin air?"

[doubled_speed]

Of course not. Though a tussle could be amusing.

"I did point out he's a witch, didn't I? He magics me up new shoes when I need them."

Which is of course often.

[spinsandneedles]

I mean yes actually a tussle would be very amusing

"Dude, I don't know how magic works, it's magic. Does magic translate to 'makes stuff appear' or does it mean like shooting fireballs out of your eyeballs? I dunno man, I never played any of those fantasy tabletop games."

He's not a NERD, how would he know??

"New shoes whenever you need 'em sounds real handy, though."

[doubled_speed]

Tommy whips out his comm and shoots off a quick message to Billy. Which is going to take forever in speedster time.

"Magic mostly works because he says it does. But yeah, he does that nerd shit too. I can let it go though. Family and all that."

[spinsandneedles]

"Huh. A power like that could be really dangerous in the wrong hands."

Sonic knows a few people that would be more than happy to abuse that sort of power. Tommy seems pretty cool, though, so it's probably a safe bet that his brother is a pretty cool guy too.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with the nerd stuff, I just don't think I'd have the patience to sit and learn it."

[doubled_speed]

"Yeah. But he's noble to a fault. About ninety percent of the time. The rest of the time he's just doing the right thing but in the wrong way or the wrong thing for the right reasons."

Still, he has to think about that patience stuff. He always thought his patience was way further than most people understood. This makes him think.

A response comes and he shoots off another text.

"Are you impatient though? Or are you just patient on another scale?"

[spinsandneedles]

"Y'know, as long as he's not out there trying to take over the world with crazy magic, I'd say he's doing fine."

Nobody's perfect, right? Sonic's done some pretty stupid shit in the name of 'doing the right thing' himself... and it's kind of gotten him into deep shit from time to time. It's fine though, no need to dwell on that! Especially not after Tommy whips out a question like that. Sonic has to actually think about that one.

"Hm... I haven't really thought about it before. I think... when it comes to people, I can be really patient. Even with people that might not deserve it... But if I'm like, in a situation that's really boring, that's when I start to get impatient. If I could be on the move, I wanna be on the move. Does that make sense?"

[doubled_speed]

Don't mind Tommy sitting there for a moment internally fuming because how dare Billy be so cool as to be able to magically shoot fireballs out of his eyes.

"Nah, sorta the opposite actually with him. It's a thing. Don't ask, it's a headache to explain."

Still, he turns to Sonic and grins. The guy gets it. Like Tommy does.

"Exactly. It's what we are. But at the same time we think and move so fast. There are things way smaller than milliseconds and people that aren't like us can't touch them, can't process them. We wait eternities through boring shit. People call me impatient and fail to realize I can live weeks in minutes."

[spinsandneedles]

Sonic doesn't interrupt the fuming, but he does cock his head curiously. Look Tommy it's fine, you have to share being cool with your witch brother. He won't ask Tommy to elaborate either, just gives him a little shrug.

"Heh, you're really making me reflect on myself a lot, here. Nobody I hang out with back home really understands it, and the only ones I can think of that might are either standoffish jerks most of the time, or literally trying to murder me. Being able to actually talk about it with someone who gets it is pretty cool."

[doubled_speed]

"He says maybe he could," Tommy provides on the fireball front. Then he stands and stretches.

"There are plenty of speedsters back home. Not all of them are 'physical' types like me. And not all of them have the whole time dilation shit going on. But I spoke to my Uncle about it once. He got trapped in a second during a surge of his powers when he was trying to save the world. I still don't know how he didn't go mad."

Then again Pietro was like that. But Sonic isn't wrong. It is nice to have someone understand it right away. Like he'd told David once when the guy said he was lucky to have a shitty computer parts assembly gig: snails never get it.

"People don't live like we do, we're out numbered. We have to fit into their society. Which isn't so bad the majority of the time. But sometimes people look at what I can do with jealousy. They don't get out in a way it's miserably lonely and tedious. Because the world isn't made for us."

He ran because he could but also because he needed to not be still. If he wasn't going to fit into their timing he should find a time for himself.

[spinsandneedles]

"But will he? I'm kind of dying for a demonstration now." Sonic over here asking the important questions. That can wait, though.

"Wait, trapped in a second? How does that even work? What does that even mean? Man, however this all works where you're from sounds like it's way over my head."

How complicated can going fast be? Evidentially very. Sounds sciency, that's more Tails's area than his.

"Guess I've never thought about it bein' lonely before. I mean, I've got tons of friends, right? But I guess I do spend a lot of time by myself, just going places, and none of them can keep up. Well, apart from the aforementioned standoffish jerk and the chick that's trying to kill me, but I don't think they'd make for great road trip company."

[doubled_speed]

"You'll have to ask him. He's the one that looks like me but with dark hair and hazel eyes."

The guy is a palette swap of him, and he's amused by that.

"Time was frozen for Pietro is what it means. Absolutely and utterly alone, inescapably for a while."

Tommy hated the very idea of it. He hated being alone. And he hates it so much and it makes him think about all of this.

"You at least don't need to be alone here. We've got each other, blue-dude."