Chapter 8: Unexpected

The opening ceremony was short and to the point; they learned that there would indeed be four rounds, each with a different objective that would be announced right before the start of the round. Each contestant would be awarded points based on how well they fulfilled the objective and these points would then be summed up with their partner's to make their team score. After each round twenty-five teams with the lowest scores would be eliminated from the tournament. Fairly simple rules.

Though, judging by how the lynx spokeswoman kept on smiling mysteriously all through her speech, Sonic had a sneaking suspicion the races themselves wouldn't be as simple. Which he wasn't against; Extreme Gear racing was supposed to be challenging and he loved challenges.

So, he was honestly looking forward to the first round, excitement buzzing under his skin restlessly as he waited for the race to start, which surely would be happening at any moment now; all the hundred teams were already lined before the starting line in four rows, one member of each team positioned in the first or the second row while their partner was positioned in the third or the fourth for the teams to have equivalent chance for the first round.

To be honest, Sonic was really surprised they all managed to even fit on the track, though how exactly they were supposed to race when they were crammed like sardines in a can already at the very start remained mystery to him. Don't misunderstand him, the track wasn't narrow—it had actually about thrice the width of an ordinary racing track—but with this many people it didn't really leave much space for maneuvering.

However, he didn't really know if the rest of the track was the same width as the start as the Accelovice clearly wanted the look of the actual track to remain unknown until the very end; there was something akin to force field blocking the view of the actual track for both the audience and the competitors, letting them all guess to what it would look like.

Though Sonic didn't believe they would see much even if the field wasn't there—as the track was right now quite literally in the process of assembling itself.

It was quite a peculiar show. If Tails were here, he surely would have had a field day with trying to figure out how the Accelovice managed to make the track pieces ignore gravity and fly themselves across the sky into their correct position to form what Sonic guessed—judging by the amount of pieces that had already flown by—to be the longest Extreme Gear racing track in the world.

And the most complicated one as well. He could spot a glimpse of what looked like a three way that was heading into a sky and then sharply back down, twisting and curling variously in all directions. Heck, the track looked more like a roller-coaster ride than a racing track.

Well, the Accelovice definitely knew how to make the Extreme Gear live up to its name. That was for sure.

O-o-O-o-O

The instruction for the first round were simple—reach the finish line in the shortest time possible. The only catch was that both teammates needed to reach it and it would be the sum of their times than would determine their score. So even if one of the team reached the finish line first, if their partner arrived much later, they could still get easily eliminated from the tournament.

However, Sonic was convinced that wouldn't be their case; he and Shadow had tons of experience with EG and racing in general; there was no way they could lose this round.

Though that didn't mean Sonic wasn't excited for the race; there was this usual restlessness in his limbs that only seemed to grow as the countdown rapidly neared zero. Not able to stay still any longer, Sonic shifted into a starting position and just as he activated his hover-board and jumped up on it, the force barrier guarding the track gave away and he, along all the other riders, barreled forward into the unknown.

Quickly, Sonic analyzed the looks of the track; as far as he could see, the track seemed to consist mostly of glass tubes similar to the ones through which he and his friends had to travel while in the Metal City, though these ones were definitely much wider and more crooked than in the origin city of Extreme Gear technology.

The track consisted mostly of turns: left, right, up, down, sometimes offering even two options at once by branching into two separated paths—all repeating in endless combinations in fast sequences, giving them all practically no chance to speed up and rush through the track even if the rider got ahead of the 'peloton'.

Though that was clearly an intended fault; this exact complexity soon separated the riders into smaller groups, the more experienced riders easily getting into the front lines while the slower racers were in the back, not blocking the path for the others.

Sonic himself had managed to go into the very front, him and Jet repeatedly changing position of being first or second, this fact affected by which of them made a more effective maneuver at that next turn, Wave and Storm a few paces behind them and Shadow strangely still nowhere in sight.

It worried Sonic a bit.

Shadow was excellent at using Extreme Gear; even though he had started in the fourth row, he should have already caught up with them—

It was at that exact moment that Shadow choose to appear from the side, emerging from another tube that Sonic would swear wasn't there when he rushed past that section.

Man, just how complex this track actually was?

Confused, Sonic stared at his team-partner, a questioning look on his face. But Shadow did not offer any explanation and only pointed forward, reminding the hero there was a race he should be paying attention to.

Therefore, the cobalt speedster quickly turned his eyes back to the track before him, once again focusing on chasing after Jet that had gotten a rather bit of a head-start because of his inattention and was now heading into another section of the racing track; they were now getting onto less crooked parts of the track that appeared to be made of asphalt, gusts of fresh air rushing past them as they raced forward, occasional speed dashes now appearing along the ground.

Time to kick it up a notch! Sonic chuckled as he aimed specifically for the dashes, the boosts of speed it gave him helping him to easily overtake Jet in a few seconds, the hawk gaping at him as he passed him; Jet had clearly believed he had left him far in the back.

"See you at the finish line, Jet!" Sonic teased him with a grin, wanting to provoke the rogue. And it clearly worked as something flashed in the blue eyes, the hawk scowling before he repositioned his feet on his hover-board and zoomed forward to catch up with him.

"Don't think I'll let you win so easily, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

The hero smiled at the remark and pushed his Extreme Gear to go faster as well, the spherical cameras that hovered above the track barely managing to keep up with them to keep track of their progress as they raced forward, now down a long slope, the finish now already becoming a visible silhouette in the distance.

"Hey, Jet, wanna make the race even more exciting?!" Sonic shouted over the wind that was rushing past them, hoping the other would hear him even over the clamor the wind was making.

And it clearly had as the hawk nodded with a self-assured smirk, bellowing his own, "Sure!"

"The loser buys the lunch!" Sonic screamed, a challenging smile on his face.

Sky-blue eyes filled with determination.

"You're on, hedgehog!"

O-o-O-o-O

"Well, that was...unexpected," Sonic commented as he hopped down from his Extreme Gear, taking the hover-board under his arm as he began to approach the side-lines where Shadow was already waiting, the cobalt hero giving a quick look to the nearby score board where more and more names were appearing as the racers reached the finish line. The first ten positions were filled with familiar names, among them even his and Jet's, of course. However, neither of them was in the first place. "I didn't really see that coming."

"Us both," Jet affirmed with a frown. "It surprised me too."

"Well, at least we know who to look out for in the next round," Sonic chuckled; Wave suddenly cutting in before them and passing the finish line as the first had been both shocking and hilarious—the latter mostly because of the face Jet had made when seeing it.

"So what are we gonna do about the bet—?" the hero started only to be interrupted a moment later.

"Considering—" a familiar voice cut in, the female to which it belonged appearing in their view barely a moment later, the now-smugly smirking swallow still perched atop her purple-colored Extreme Gear. "—that both of you have lost the bet, I believe now both of you also owe me a lunch."

"I guess that's fair." Sonic shrugged his shoulders, a grin plastered on his face. "You up for a pizza?"

O-o-O-o-O

It was only about ten minutes later that all four of them were sitting at a pizza stand, enjoying the early lunch—and a late breakfast in one, in case of certain hedgehog duo as neither of them had had the time to get a breakfast because of the hectic morning—which reminded Sonic—

"Hey, Shad, how's your shoulder? Any trouble so far?" he asked, turning to the ebony hedgehog by his side.

Shadow looked at him, briefly shaking his head in response before focusing his attention back to his own food while Sonic turned it back to the birds who were looking at him questioningly, not aware of the injury the agent had suffered just a few hours ago.

"He dislocated his shoulder earlier," Sonic offered as an explanation as he bit into the last slice of his pizza; Jet nodded in understanding while Wave didn't acknowledge his remark and instead raised her brow, her gaze locked at the ebony agent who had yet to contribute to the conversation anyhow.

"Mr. Quiet seems to be even quieter than usually," she commented, her sky blue eyes studying Shadow intently while her right hand continued to stir her drink with a red straw.

Both hedgehogs immediately looked up from their respective meals, sharing a few-second glance as Sonic urged his brain to offer an explanation Shadow could not.

"Um...he ate a bit much of ice cream so he's got a sore throat," he lied, hoping the rogue engineer would just take the lie and not prod further; he'd rather avoid any awkward conversations.

"Hmm, I wouldn't guess you as the ice cream type," Wave commented, this time directly turning to the agent.

"It was a bet," Sonic continued, taking a sip of his own drink for him to appear casual; he was no expert at lying but he knew how to pass under the radar in most cases, "between him and Rouge. You remember Rouge, don't you?"

"Of course, I remember her. She's quite an...unpleasant woman," Wave commented, a frown now marring her face. "How come she's not here? Considering what the main prize is, I'd expect her to be here."

"She's at work," Sonic replied, "Though—"

"Boss," Storm's tired voice suddenly boomed, making them all turn curiously in his direction, the clearly exhausted albatross practically dragging himself to their table while the female badger that was his team-mate was trailing after him, appearing to be full of energy unlike her counterpart.

Storm flopped down on the bench next to his fellow rogues, taking up the last remaining spot at the Babylon Rogues' side of the table, the Extreme Gears that he had been carrying both unceremoniously being dropped to the ground a moment later.

"We've made it," he announced, laying his head and arms on the table in a total exhaustion. "We are 75th but we've made it."

"...Good work, Storm," Jet said after a small pause, both his and Wave's looks alone saying, none of the other Babylon Rogues had actually expected Storm and his companion to pass the first round. "Here have something to eat." Jet pushed the box with what remained of his pizza to the tired albatross, who immediately raised his head at the prospect of food, clearly interested as his pupils immediately widened.

Sonic chuckled at the sight and turned to Shadow, planning to make a joke about vultures, only to halt when he saw that said hedgehog was—for some reason—currently having a staring match with the female badger whose name was still escaping Sonic.

But, luckily, not to Jet. "Sticks, sit down. We've bought you a lunch as well," the hawk said, pushing the only not-yet opened pizza box towards the hedgehogs' side of the table as that was where the only remaining seat was—right between the two males.

But Sticks, instead of sitting down, brazenly pointed at Shadow and announced, "I don't trust this guy," her words emphasized by her grabbing on her boomerang and by her blue eyes firmly locking onto the ebony male.

While Storm ignored the comment and instead continued with wolfing down the food, Jet and Wave exchanged a glance, a heavy sigh leaving them both just a moment later. From such simple reaction it was obvious that the rogues had to dealt with similar situations way too often; and given the fact the Babylon Rogues clearly had known Sticks for barely three hours showed how difficult it must be to deal with the female.

If the experience was anything like a three-hour long date with Amy then Sonic had an idea how they were feeling.

Time to help out a bit, he decided and turned to Sticks. "Yeah, he sometimes has that effect on people," he explained to the female and then turned to Shadow, playfully punching the ebony agent in the shoulder. "You need to smile more, Shads."

Unsurprisingly, the only reaction that earned him from Shadow was a mildly annoyed glance.

But Sonic did not let it affect him—that expression had been Shadow's default look for years now, he was immune to it already.

"You really don't have to worry about anything. He might seem like it but he really won't bite," he explained, flashing one of his trademark grins at Sticks to reassure her.

Somewhere in the back of Sonic's mind his inner voice laughed at the absurd statement.

"That's not the problem," Sticks argued, still not letting go of her boomerang as she still clearly deemed Shadow a threat for whatever reason. Most likely because of the way the agent was looking at her—it was quite clear he didn't like her either.

Sonic sighed. It seemed he needed to do a peacemaker today. Again. "Alright, I see that neither of you guys is going to overcome the initial antipathies, so I'm going to solve this simply," Sonic commented and then slid across the bench to sit right beside Shadow and leave the other end of the bench to Sticks—and completely dismissing how Shadow's body jerked when their sides came into contact, thinking it was just the agent's natural way of reacting to his personal space being unexpectedly invaded.

"Here. Have seat." Sonic gestured to the space he had once occupied, still oblivious to how tense the hedgehog next to him suddenly looked.

The female let her gaze linger at the empty seat for a moment, and then, after giving another distrustful glance to Shadow, finally let go of her weapon and sat down to enjoy her mushroom pizza; though she still occasionally looked Shadow's way as if checking he was not doing anything.

The feather-covered Mobians on the other side of the table let out a relieved sigh and gave him a thankful look.

Sonic smiled in return and then focused his sight on the ebony agent, pondering what could be the reason why he and Sticks disliked each other right off the bat.

However, Shadow wasn't making it easy for him. The agent was just sitting there, face impassive, arms as usually crossed over his chest, though this time the fingers of his hand were visibly digging into his biceps in what Sonic supposed was irritation, the agent's eyes focused on some point ahead of him and not moving from the spot—not even to look at Sonic.

The hero absentmindedly rubbed his hand over the area where his hickey was positioned at the thought.

It was strange how distant Shadow continued to be. Before Sonic would never have considered this behavior strange as that was what Shadow normally did; keep people far both physically and emotionally by acting nonchalant and uninterested. But now when there was the 'desire serum' running through Shadow's veins, this behavior was no longer 'normal' when Sonic was involved in the equation. Shadow was interested in him—the agent's previous actions had proved that—and so far had used all opportunities to get physically close to him; no matter wherever it was socially appropriate or not.

The moment they had sat down to eat lunch Sonic had expected like—you know, Shadow trying some sneaky improper touching under the table like rubbing his thigh or something. Not this; Shadow behaving all normal, keeping his hands to himself and appearing irritated by his physical proximity like he usually did—even though just yesterday the agent was all for ignoring Sonic's personal space.

Of course, Shadow's behavior could easily be explained by that Shadow had simply decided to honor his wish for personal space. Though the hero had to admit that this scenario was very unlikely; the first time he had needed to bite Shadow to get the agent off him, the second time Rouge needed to get freaking robots for Shadow to give him a break, the third time it was the moment of confusion on Shadow's part that allowed him to flee the scene and the fourth time Sonic was sure it was only a mixture of surprise and the previously stated threat of being roundhouse kicked from the building if he tried anything when Amy was around to witness it.

It was clear that whatever kind of desire Shadow felt for him was strong; so strong that the agent's self-restraint and reason showed up only if he forced Shadow to remember such things existed; if he forced the agent to think again; if he was the one to cut through the cloud of lust that was enveloping Shadow's mind.

Only if he was the one to urge out the stoic and analytical part of Shadow that normally dominated Shadow's personality but which had been forced into background by the agent's lustful side.

But why had Shadow's libido suddenly stopped manifesting itself even though it clearly was still in charge? Why was Shadow no longer initiating any kind of physical contact? Why was he suddenly avoidant again?

The moment they had stepped out of the house Sonic had expected that Shadow would try something, anything, and so he made sure to watch Shadow the whole way. But Shadow had not tried a single thing. There were no attempts to kiss him or touch him, no pressing against a nearby tree or even a lustful gaze thrown from Shadow's direction.

At the moment he had assumed that it was simply due to Shadow realizing he wouldn't appreciate delay when they had been already in rush. But then Shadow's behavior continued to stay this way even thorough the day.

Sonic knew he should feel relieved thanks to this change of attitude—no matter the reason behind it—but instead it unsettled him; seeing Shadow acting the opposite way of what he had expected of him.

Are you really complaining about Shadow not molesting you? Sonic's inner voice suddenly sounded, interrupting his inner monologue, its tone questioning and full of pure disbelieving astonishment. ...You really need to set your priorities straight, man.

Sonic frowned at the remark. It was true that this reaction was irrational; heck, he should embrace the change and just roll with it. Maybe it was just a sign that Shadow's body was finally battling Eggman's serum.

—Or maybe the sudden chance was caused by the morning tweak of Shadow's brain chemistry. Instead of stimulating Shadow's libido and partly muting his speech-center, it was now completely focused on blocking the speech-making part of Shadow's brain...

He shook his head. Not that couldn't be it. Blocking Shadow's language capabilities could not have been Eggman's main goal when inventing the serum; the crazy scientist wanted Shadow to act on his deepest and darkest wishes so he surely had taken precautions that even if Shadow's body chemistry had changed due to natural factors—like getting worked up—the serum would still stay in effect.

Therefore, the only possibility that remained was that Shadow was still affected and just choose not to act on impulse like he had before.

Was it why Shadow suddenly seemed to be putting so much space between them? Was that why Shadow had chosen to sit on the opposite side of bench instead right next to him? To lower the temptation to just reach out and touch him?

Sonic's eyes slowly moved to gaze at the hedgehog sitting next to him—it had turned to the quiet bird duo during his musings—the agent now watching the passersby, Shadow's posture just as tense as minutes ago. The cobalt hero frowned; just when he thought that he was starting to figure out the enigma that was his rival, Shadow suddenly did something that threw him for a loop.

But why had Shadow stopped trying to pursue him? All of sudden? For no apparent reason? And, most importantly of all, why—?

"All competitors, please, return to the starting area. The second round will begin shortly."

—did he even mind it?


[Last edited: 2018-07-09]