Meeting the Racers
The Galaxy King was flying across the sky as a world familiar to most of Spirit Force, came into view.
"This world… I'm home." Fulgore said.
"Most of the cities were damaged after Gargos invaded, but it looks like things are in better shape now." Ace said.
"I'm a little lost Dudes, what exactly happened here?" Luna asked.
"It's a long story." Ace said. "Basically, a powerful demon named Gargos sent his army of mimics and omens to try to enslave humanity, fortunately my team managed to drive them back while I went for the big man himself, that's when Spade arrived."
"That made so much sense to me, and I'm not even a Nephilim or…" Luna said.
"Don't focus on the small things." Sunset said.
"You'll get used to it after a while." Ace said before seeing a few familiar faces in the distance. "Well I'll be damned." He said as the Galaxy King landed near them.
"If it isn't our old friends Jago, Orchid and Maya! How've you guys been?" Kazuichi asked.
"Things have been pretty well, we managed to fix the damage that Gargos caused, as well with Sadira and Mira being placed in jail, and both Kan-Ra and Spinal finally sealed away." Orchid said.
"And Omen, where's he at?" Hope said.
"Destroyed." Jago said.
"I guess we don't have to worry about him…" Hope said turning to David. "Omen was manifested from Jago's dark side. Sort of a… primeval horror given form. You'd be at home fighting him."
"But thanks to Raijinto a while back, the curse was broken." Jago said.
"Well well, It's been awhile, Sonic the Hedgehog." A voice said.
"Well, if this was an extreme gear competition, then there was a chance you guys would be here." Sonic smirked as in front of them were a anthropomorphic hawk, swallow and albatross. "It's been awhile… Jet."
(Cue- Catch Me if you Can- Sonic Riders Zero Gravity)
"Long time no see, shorty." The swallow said as she winked at Tails.
"Uh… hehehe.. Hey, Wave." Tails said nervously, knowing his previous encounter with her regarding Extreme Gear.
"It's been a long time hasn't it, Knuckles?" The albatross said as he pounded his fists together.
"It has. Missed teaching you lessons, Storm." Knuckles said.
"Wait, Sonic knows these guys?" Eijiro asked.
"Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow, and Storm the Albatross. They are pretty competitive racers, but they're also known as a trio of thieves. They call them… the Babylon Rogues." Hope said.
"Yeah...but we don't really care for them much anymore." Sonic said.
"What?!" Storm snapped.
"Cut it out Storm, we're here to compete, not to fight!" Jet said putting an arm in front of Storm.
"So I guess this means you three are racing too, huh?" Hope said.
"It's no World Grand Prix, but I take any chance I get to prove that I'm the fastest in the universe." Jet said.
"Yeah, don't really care about that." Sonic said.
"Hmm… Has it really been that long since we last crossed paths?" Jet thought.
"You'll have to excuse him Jet, Sonic's been with us for a long while. It's not often you go through what we did before meeting everyone here." Mahiru said.
"That makes sense." Jet said.
"Nah...I just don't really care much about this rivalry thing he's got going with me anymore." Sonic said.
"Well that clears it up somewhat." Hope said. "But anyway, it's nice to know we've got fierce competition. Mari, Miu and Tails worked their butts off tuning up our new Extreme Gear, and we think we might give the other teams a run for their money."
"Speaking of which, we should probably go register." Marco said.
"Hold on a second, Marco. The flier said six people need to be in a group. We're one person short." Himeno said.
"I can fill in that last spot." Sectonia said.
"Alright, but it looks like Jet and the others need three more members." Mari said.
"I'll fill in for one of them." Al said. "Anyone else want to fill in?"
"To leave them in such a state would be dishonorable. I shall comply as well." Chalcedony said.
"Well, that makes five. Who's the last one?" Wave asked.
"I'll volunteer, then." Tenko said. "Don't hold back when we race, Tsumugi."
"Well, it looks like we're all set then. Are we ready?" Lin asked.
"I'd certainly think so. I've got my group all set. It's gonna be Me, Flamberge, Zephyr, Kendo, Toma and Alice." Hope said. "What about you Jexi, you gonna be in the race yourself?"
"No way in hell. I hate races." Jexi said. "Just don't like em."
"And yet you had no qualms entering the IG-3." David said.
"Oh snap!" Kagura said.
"Hey, the IG-3 was an exception, it was a combo of Racing, AND Fighting." Hope said. "Besides, I know Jexi, he much rather fight in an arena than race on a track."
"Yeah, I guess that's a good point." David said. "I'm going in with Jude, Fulgore, Francisca, Mayumi and Tsumugi."
"Wait, Mayumi is entering this too?" Kurochi asked.
"Originally, I wanted to bow out since I'm more attuned to piloting mechs, but then Sectonia volunteered to fill in SEALED's last spot." Mayumi said.
"I see. For my group it will be Kor, Camilla, Fefnir, Leviathan, Lin, and myself." Ace said.
"Hope we have a good race, Fulgy." Leviathan said.
"Same here, Levi." Fulgore said.
"And they're now on nickname basis. Guess that means things are going smoothly. Anyway, I doubt that Jexi is going to reveal who he's going to put up. We likely won't know until the Opening Ceremonies." David said.
"Just one team of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Vector and Rainbow." Jexi said.
"Whoa, that was unexpected!" Hope said.
"And of course for the Babylon Rogues, it's Jet, Wave, Storm, Al, Chalcedony, and Tenko." Ace said.
"With all of that settled, let's hurry and register." Himeno said.
"Well, let's go, the ceremony is about to start." Papelne said.
(Cue- Start-Up Your EX Gear!- Sonic Riders)
"Welcome everyone, to the first ever Multiverse EX Grand Prix. My name is ARIA and I will be your host for this event. Next to me is our commentator, Omacho." ARIA announced through the speakers.
"Thanks for having me, Miss ARIA. All I can tell you is that it will be an extremely awesome and exciting race for the next twelve days." Omacho said. "On each day, two players from each of the six teams will participate in one of the 12 tracks while others will also have the chance to race again. Good luck out there, this is Omacho signing off."
"Twelve days?!" Most of the group said.
"Well Omacho did say there would be twelve tracks and they're also on the flier too." Stoj said.
"And since two of us from each team will be on the track, everyone registered will race four times." David said.
"Sounds good. Let's get ready to rock and roll tomorrow!" Al said.
"Hello, heroes." A voice said as ARIA approached. "I wish you all good luck in the Grand Prix for the next few days."
"Thank you for allowing us to race in the Grand Prix, ARIA. What a sign of the times that Ultratech has changed, right?" Hope asked.
"Indeed, if not for Ace Neptune and the rest of Spirit Force arriving to help defeat Gargos, I would not have seen the error of my ways, which is why I decided to hold this event as a sign of redeeming myself." ARIA said. " Have a good night's sleep everyone." She said before leaving.
"Well now, since we're all in the tournament, why don't we take a look at the Gear Mari Made for us?" Hope said. "David, you wanna check out your Bike?"
"Certainly. Miu?" David asked.
"It's ready!" Miu said as she brought out an Air Bike that was like the motorcycle Ferric gave him with some added features.
"Now that is an awesome bike!" Aya said.
"Wow! What's its name?" Ruby said with glittering eyes.
"Ironhide. That's what Ferric called it when he gave it to me as a motorcycle, anyway." David said.
"It still looks really cool, though. I'd like to see it in action." Mayumi said.
"Please. There's no way anything built by friends of the shrimp could win this race." Wave said.
"Like we said, we don't care what you guys think." Tails said.
"You too, Tails? Man, you guys are rock headed." Hope said.
"Anyway, let's check out the rest of the gears." Zephyr said. "Mines pretty slick, and its Air Ride type. Think I'll call mine Clockwork."
"I'm naming mine Rainboom. Y'know, cause it was the name of the band we play in and all." Rainbow said.
"Mine's Fleeting Grace." Sectonia said.
"Burning Nova!" Flamberge said with a smirk, showing her convertible Bike gear.
"I think I'll call mine Diamond Dust." Francisca said.
"You named it after me and Selena's ultimate attack. Nice one!" David said.
"I'll call mine Dragon Wing." Mayumi said.
"Type 09." Fulgore said.
"Indomitable Fists. Somehow, that seemed very fitting." Jude said.
"Mine was pretty simple." Tsumugi said. "Ultimate Cosplay."
"I'll just name mine Shining force, straight and simple for me." Toma said.
"I guess naming my gear Battle Fist wouldn't be so bad either. It's just my hero name, though it doesn't mean a lot to the spectators." Kendo said.
"What about you, Alice?" Hope asked.
"Well, i was thinking about naming mine….Wonderland." Titanica said.
"What about you, Hope?" David asked.
"Hmm….. Blue Falcon." Hope said as everyone gave him looks. "What?"
"That's the exact name of Captain Falcon's racer." David said.
"You're right, thats a bit much." Hope said. "How about….Ring of Hope? Yeah, that fits."
"Yeah. That's better." Mayumi said.
"So Ace… you ready to race and give it all you got?" Hope asked.
"Definitely." Ace said.
"David, I know you're gonna give it your best too." Hope said.
"You know it." David said.
"It's obvious that we will be the ones to win. Sonic may not care about our rivalry now, but I won't lose to anyone!" Jet said.
"Better bring it, Jet." Rainbow said. "I'm not losing."
"Rainbow's really getting fired up about this." David thought. "Though, someone had to be. Sonic and the others seem disinterested for some reason. Though, I can't forget my rivalries. They define who I am as an athlete."
"My, this will be interesting, it'll be exciting to see my summoner and his friends race it out." The hooded figure from before said before disappearing into the city.