Nico ran inside the bright landscapes of South Island and the wind gushed past his ears and rippled through the red fur across his body.
The island was alive with colour. Towering palm trees swayed and wafted in the breeze, green spots of bright flowers dotting the grassy hills, and in the distance the ocean sparkled as a sheet of moving glass representing the bright blue sky above.
High over the rolling fields, the warm sun hovered in long shadows with the saltwater smell of the nearby ocean, along with the taste of grass to tropical plants.
Every step Nico took sent blades of grass bending beneath his feet before springing back into place behind him.
The island extended far in all directions. Hills rolled through the land like waves frozen in place.
Cliffs stood tall near the coast, overlooking the water far below. Bright green grass covered almost everything, punctuated only occasionally by flower shoots, palm trees, or rocky points.
Nico loved running here.
To him all the island was like a giant racetrack.
There were no traffic lights in place; no streets crowded and no buildings in front of it.
There are wide open land, hills, cliffs and seemingly endless paths lying out in front, ready to be traversed in a few seconds and not much else.
He sprinted across the grass with blinding speed, his heels barely touching the ground while diving across hills and around trees.
Birds scattered as he zoomed by, squawking in surprise before flying up into the sky.
Leaves rustled violently from the force of the wind he left behind and small pebbles bounced across the ground in his wake.
The faster l ran, the faster his world seemed to blur around him.
Colors were at the edges of his eyes. The sound of the wind grew louder and louder until it almost drowned out everything else.
Nico would be nothing more than a red streak slashing across the island to anyone who might have watched.
Something else seemed to catch his eye suddenly.
A snout.
Sticking straight out of the ground.
Nico slowed slightly as he ran closer, squinting his eyes.
"What the!" Nico said to himself as he observed this strange scene.
The snout twitched slightly.
Nico wondered if he may just be seeing things for a moment for all. Sometimes at the speed he ran things looked like they could be connected and things might overlay in front of his eyes.
But no.
That was definitely a snout.
Nico skidded across the grass, digging his heels into the ground until he slid to a stop just a few feet from it.
Dirt sprayed down behind him as he stopped moving, carving a short little trail through the grass.
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees as he looked closer for the strange thing.
"Wait... is that..."
The snout was white.
Very familiar.
It had the same shape and size he had taken so many times.
Nico sighed.
"Oh no."
He already knew what this was.
or more specifically who this was.
He gently reached out and tapped the snout with one finger.
Then the ground beneath him exploded.
The dirt erupted like a volcano erupting when a large figure shot from beneath the earth.
Pockets of soil and grass exploded out in all directions when the ground cracked wide open.
There was a muscular fist rocketed upward.
The goat shouted. "Surprise Underground Upper Cut Attack!" the goat yelled.
CRACK!
The punch connected with Nico's chin.
"OW!" Nico yelled as he flew back to his feet and landed flat on the grass.
He rolled for one more time before stopping up to the sky.
For a moment everything around him spun.
Clouds twisting through him high above his head were loud.
This world spun around him for a moment.
Nico groaned, rubbing his jaw as he slowly pushed his feet.
"Ugh."
He rubbed the side of his chin carefully.
"That really hurt."
There stood the goat proudly when the ground was thrown open.
He was tall and humanoid, with short white fur covering the entire body.
His frame was imposing. Broad shoulders expanded outward through a wall of muscle, and thick arms hung at the sides of his frame like tree trunks.
An impressive eight pack of rock hard muscle was scattered across his torso!
And this could be a little fun. His red eyes gleamed with excitement.
His snout extended forward from his face, and his long ears hung down at the sides of his head.
Two brown horns curved slightly upward from the top of his skull.
His clothing was black pants which sported a white belt sitting just below his abs.
The goat crossed his legs confidently as if he had just performed the greatest attack ever invented.
Nico rubbed his chin again.
"Ow, Rex! What the hell was that for?" Nico said in a furious voice.
Rex grinned happily.
"Oh, Nico... sorry about that. I was testing one of my moves!"
Nico stared at him.
"You tested it on me?"
Rex scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Apologies. I couldn't tell who it was. My eyes were buried in the ground, you see."
Nico looked at him in silence for a moment.
Then he sighed deeply.
"Ugh... it's fine."
He rolled his shoulders and stretched his neck slightly, making sure nothing was seriously injured.
"Still though. You could have broken my jaw."
Rex shrugged casually.
"But I didn't."
Nico rolled his eyes.
"Yeah. Lucky me."
He cracked his neck slightly and stretched his arms.
"Anyways... what did you do today?"
Rex straightened up proudly as if he had been waiting to tell someone.
"Oh! Well, I just took a trip down to Metropolis City to defeat one of Dr. E's robot goons."
Nico raised an eyebrow.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yep!" Rex said proudly. "Big metal thing. Shot lasers. Tried to stomp on me. I punched it."
"You punched it?"
"I punched it."
"What happened?"
Rex shrugged.
"It exploded."
Nico chuckled.
"Sounds about right."
The red cheetah turned around and looked over a large cliff that straddled the island.
Some huge bridge arced from the edge of it reaching far across the ocean towards the skyline of Metropolis City.
Even from there, the city's massive towers could be seen.
Skyscrapers rose like metal mountains in the sky to reflect sunlight out of their glass windows.
Inwards we noticed lights glowing between our buildings.
Flying vehicles zipped through the air like glowing insects weaving between the towering structures.
From this distance the city looked small.
But Nico knew that it was enormous.
"Hey... that's the bridge that leads to Metropolis, right?" Nico asked.
Rex nodded.
"Yep."
Nico stretched his arms over his head and rolled his shoulders slightly.
"I might go down there for a little while," he said.
Rex tilted his head.
"Oh yeah?"
Nico smirked.
"Yeah, haven't been to the city in a bit."
Without another word, Nico started walking toward the bridge.
His pace was slow at first as he casually walked through the grass.
Then suddenly he burst into motion.
FWOOOM.
He burst into a sprint.
He fired the grass behind him instantly as the grass erupted in a loud explosion as he rocketed to Mach speed and a strong gust of wind rocked the nearest plants.
Within seconds he had already crossed half the field.
"See ya never, Rex!" Nico waved over his shoulder.
Within seconds, he was halfway across the field.
Rex watched him disappear into the distance.
The red blur grew smaller and smaller until Nico finally vanished over the rolling hills.
Rex shook his head slightly.
"Ugh... bastard's always in a rush..." Rex muttered.
But he smiled.
"See ya, Nico."