Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic and Co, or Maria the Hedgehog.
Once a year, the gang on Mobius held a mini-Olympics of sorts. There were usually a few events of varying seriousness, just a fun little get-together organized faithfully from year to year. This year's event, however, promised to be a real treat. The mini-Olympics were less "mini" than they had ever been.
This year, there were going to be three events: a foot race, an air race, and a strength competition. Almost everyone was going to participate in some manner. All the usuals were there, and for good measure, this was the first year Shadow, Rouge, and Omega were on good enough terms with everyone else to actually be there too. Maria hadn't even been around last year, but this year she was competing. Jet, Tails, Charmy, and Marine were going to take part as well. Almost everyone was excited beyond belief. For several days, a special place near a stand of woods buzzed with activity, as podiums and tables and crates and equipment were set up to create an event hub, where all the competitions would start and end.
On the day of the mini-Olympics, everyone gathered early in the morning, rubbing sleepy eyes and murmuring subdued, brief conversations. To everyone's mild dismay, the rain that had started last evening was still carrying on now, drizzling but cold. The ground was absolute slop. Besides even that, an argument had already started. Being such a little event, the mini-Olympics had no official rules, meaning that any anomalies had to be ironed out among the contestants. Right now, this entailed a dispute between Sonic, Shadow, Blaze, and Jet.
"Look, who asked you to start kicking up a fuss here?" asked Sonic, somewhat irate from the early hour, the wetness, and the lack of coffee. "You have a hoverboard. You can fly on it. So go compete in the flight race where you belong!"
"No! You have to let me join the foot race!" protested Jet, stamping angrily. "I'm telling you, this is a brand-new experimental extreme gear. It's way faster than your average gear, but it hasn't been tested properly! Wave hasn't even had time to give it a thorough checkup, so I don't know if it's even remotely safe to ride. I don't want to be flying half a mile up when I suddenly find this thing is a dud!"
"Then don't participate at all," snapped Sonic. "This is going to be a running race. If you can't run, too bad for you."
"Sonic, that's not fair," said Blaze calmly. "Jet came all this way, and he really wants to compete. You wouldn't want to endanger his safety by forcing him to participate in the flight race, would you?"
"Can't you see it's just some kind of plot?" growled Sonic impatiently. "This is all way too fishy! He's planning to cheat!"
"He can't cheat. There are no rules. You said that yourself, Faker," cut in Shadow, giving his first contribution to the discussion.
"But...b-but..." Sonic stamped his foot impatiently. "Fine! Go ahead and cheat! I just know you have Wave and Storm hidden somewhere to give you help!"
"Technically, that'd be perfectly legal," sighed Blaze, as Shadow nodded.
"Yeah! Besides, I do not!" scowled Jet. "They're back at our headquarters—they just didn't feel like coming!"
"Ohhh, is that it?" smirked Sonic, hands on hips. "I get it...they knew they didn't have a chance of winning anything here, and they didn't feel like coming just to watch you fail."
"You—y-you—" sputtered Jet. Clearly, Sonic had struck too close to home—and he knew it.
"Some friends you got there," he jibed.
Jet was about to explode, but he was suddenly interrupted by another party entering the fray.
"Everybody shut up!" ordered Rouge, sailing in authoritatively. "Jet, Sonic, I don't wanna hear another word. You're going to be stuck with each other's company all day, you're going to be pleasant and agreeable, and you're going to like it! Got it? Now let's hear some apologies around here."
Seizing Sonic and Jet by the wrists, she veritably threw them against each other, then folded her arms in a no-nonsense manner and tapped her foot. Shadow chuckled under his breath—seven A.M, and Rouge was already very much herself.
Meanwhile, Sonic and Jet glared each other down. However, Sonic sighed and looked away first.
"Look, forget what I said, all right?" he said grudgingly. "I...get kinda hateful if I wake up too early."
"Yeah, whatever," shrugged Jet, looking away with a scowl. "Don't see what I did wrong, but sor-ry."
Sonic's ears drooped slightly in shame as he tabulated insults. Yup, he'd started it. Seriously, Jet had come all this way, and was probably sad that his teammates hadn't even bothered to come and support him; did he really need anyone giving him a hard time and throwing accusations in his face? For shame, hedgehog. Still, Sonic wasn't about to apologize fully. Not to Jet, and certainly not in front of the others. The two rivals just shook hands stiffly and parted ways.
With that minor fracas out of the way, the contestants in the ground race started warming up. Sonic, ostensibly "testing the ground," disappeared off somewhere. Jet checked over his extreme gear as best he could, asking Wave terse questions over a walkie-talkie. Shadow and Blaze whizzed around in tight circles, getting used to the conditions.
"Are your rocket shoes working okay?" asked Rouge, as Shadow applied the brakes and slid neatly to a halt in front of her.
"It's just dry enough that the flames aren't affected," said Shadow, nodding. "Actually, I think these conditions will do very nicely."
"Seriously? It's a greaseboard out there!"
"Doesn't bother me," said Shadow, smirking slightly as he glanced off at the horizon, where the race would soon be unfolding.
Meanwhile, Silver was watching Blaze warming up.
"Are the conditions really bad?" he asked, tilting his head worriedly.
"Certainly not very good, but I think I can manage," said Blaze, accustoming herself to the strange slip and give of the muddy ground. "My fire powers are down to almost nothing because of the rain, but I won't be needing them in this race. Otherwise, it isn't so bad. After all, everyone else will be racing under the same conditions."
"Except Jet," remarked Silver. "His board doesn't touch the ground. No wonder Sonic was mad about him joining the ground race."
"Extreme gear is not nearly as fast as Sonic, Shadow, or me at full speed," said Blaze confidently. "This may be a special new model, but I still feel that we all stand a good chance against it."
"I know you do," smiled Silver.
Soon Sonic came dashing back, with the scent of coffee on his breath.
"That could count as cheating too, Faker," remarked Shadow, and rolled his eyes when Sonic stuck out his tongue at him. The racers began to circle around near the start line, trading jibes and pacing slightly in place, waiting for the signal to start.
Maria climbed onto a little platform that had been set up with a podium and a microphone. She had been designated the announcer and quasi-referee for most of the event, which meant she'd be listing the few rules of the race and calling the start.
"Hi everyone!" she piped cheerfully. "Welcome to the yearly Mobius competition! It's really great to be here with all of you. But we all know what we came here for, so let's get down to the events! We're going to be starting off with a high-speed ground race between our four contestants, Sonic, Shadow, Blaze, and Jet. Let's all give them a big hand!"
She stifled a giggle at her own theatricality, but enthusiastically supported the rest of the crowd in clapping and calling encouragement. The racers waved or nodded in acknowledgement, for the most part smiling.
"All right now, just a quick explanation of the rules," continued Maria when the noise died down. "First of all, there is no set track to follow. You have to get to the checkpoint in Caramel Canyon, punch in, and come back here, but how you do that doesn't matter. The only rule is that you must follow whoever is in the lead at the moment. The leader chooses the course at all times! We have a tracker set up right here, showing everyone's position on a map with a colored dot. If somebody strays too far away from the track left by the others, they are out.
"Otherwise, there are no rules. You're free to use any power-ups you find along the way. You're also free to create obstacles for the other racers, crash into them, trip them, pull their hair, insult their cooking, pretty much anything you want. That is, up to a point. No permanent injuries, please! You know who you are."
There was a murmur of laughter as Shadow spread his hands innocently. For Maria, he could take a joke.
"All right then, I think that covers it!" Maria resumed. "Racers, on your marks!"
"Get ready to eat mud, Spikes," muttered Jet.
"Get set!"
"Ooh, can I get fries with that?" Sonic retorted.
"GO!"
Damp earth spurted up from under three pairs of shoes and one extreme gear, as the racers took off with a blinding speed. They were gone in seconds, a rush of wind following in their wake.
"Whoo," said Maria dizzily, straightening out her hair. "And they're off!"