It was before the Ice Cap Race. A human man was sitting in a luxurious apartment overlooking Station Square. He was smoking smuggled Cuban cigars and drinking Japanese sake. There was a knock on the door. He snuffed out the cigar and answered it. Standing at the door, there was a lavender and white fox. He had a big silver earring in his left ear and a tie dye bandana.
"I see you cut your hair" the man said.
"I'm 33. It was time for something different" the fox replied. He was invited in and was offered a cigar and sake. He took both.
"Antonio Mucciolio. I never thought I'd see you again" the man said. Antonio looked up at the man after a puff on the cigar. Antonio sighed.
"I heard you wanted to get back into racing" he said.
"Correct. I want to fix the damage of the past seven years" the man said.
"Why?" Antonio asked. The man leaned back. He closed his eyes.
"As you may know, 12 years ago, Sonic and Knuckles were 5 years old and they looked up to 13 year old me. We were friends, you know. But I knew that Eggman was there. I joined the CIA and faked my death." the man said.
"Jeremy, I know all this. Your little brother Miles wasn't born yet" Antonio said. Jeremy Prower took a sip of sake.
"I want to right the wrongs. I want to mend the gap that was formed" he explained. Antonio leaned back in his chair while taking a long draw on his cigar.
"You can't. The damage has been done" he said flatly. Antonio poured himself another glass of sake while Jeremy looked at him in disbelief.
"Why not?" Jeremy asked. Antonio looked Jeremy dead in the eyes. He shook his head.
"You can't. The damage has been done and they will never forgive you. I don't know how many times I am going to repeat myself on this" he said. Jeremy looked at the calendar.
"I'm entering the Ice Cap Race with you" he said. Antonio looked shocked.
"I've been out of racing myself for a few years. I was in a coma for 2 years after that crash in Catalonia while racing Formula 1 for Alfa Romeo" he said. Jeremy gave him a look of disapproval.
"We are entering. I have two cars prepared for us" he said. Antonio looked uneasy. He took another long draw on the cigar.
"I'll do it. Show me the cars tonight while I'm here" he said uneasily. Jeremy smiled for the first time in seven years.