Race 7: New York and Paris
"Hello and welcome once again to the races...oh this is getting exhausting. Next time just six days. Either way, next race is in the Steam Universe. Our races start off in New York racing to the Little Lip theater where they will then be launched to Paris where they race through its streets until reaching the finish at the Chattes Noires." Omochao said.
"Wow...Hope missed an opportunity here." Sonic said.
"Yeah. Erica and Gemini know the layout of those places. They would've gotten this hands-down." Tsumugi said.
"Well he missed out and I gain." Amy said. "(In two romantic cities with Sonic. A dream come true.)" she thought.
"Guys, I know what you're thinking, and I didn't really miss an opportunity at all. I'm glad I didn't pick Erica or Gemini for this." Hope said.
"Think about it, everyone. If Hope had us on his team, or either one of us, it'd basically be an easy win for him." Erica said.
"Yeah! Having us in this race would actually be more like cheatin'. Hope wanted to race fair and square on this one." Gemini said.
"Hmm… Maybe I could add a racing simulator onto the Galaxy King." Mari said.
"You'd have to ask for Jexi's permission for that." Maka said.
"No way in heck is she doing anything like that." Jexi called out.
"You sure you made the right call not including them? I mean...they'd see their homelands again, see how much has changed." Fulgore said.
"Well Paris hardly changed when we saw it in Furious Sports." Ace said.
"Except for when Jack and the Phantom Thieves stole our sign…." Erica said twiddling her hands.
"Oh yeah, maybe that was the only changed made." Ace said. "I hardly see any difference between the cities in the Steam Universe and the Standard Universe."
"Oh you'll see it." Sonic said as the portal opened to New York City showing several hundred pipes with steam coming from them.
"Huh." Ace said.
New York and Paris
(Cue- Opening- Sakura Wars 3- Project X Zone)
"This contest will kick off in short time." Omochao announced. "And by short time...I mean 2 minutes!"
"Let's get this steam train rolling!" Fefnir said as he revved up Scorched Fighter.
5...4...3...2...1...START!
"And our racers have taken off to New York, starting off in Central Park!" Omochao said.
"This is awesome, a universe that uses steam as a power source." Kor said.
"Yeah it's pretty awesome." Sonic said. "Just as this is." He said speeding past them and taking the lead as he grinded on some of the rails.
"Wait for me, Sonic!" Amy said as she went after him.
"Well, that just happened." Mana said.
"No you don't!" Kor said as he grinded as well.
"Crud. I forgot during our times here Sonic spent most of his time running and exploring." Hope said.
"So basically he knows everything about this place. Great." Wave said.
"What about Paris?" Fefnir asked.
"That's right… he hasn't explored that place much… so when we get there, he's at the disadvantage." Hope said.
"He doesn't...but Amy does." Toma said.
"Yeah, but she'll probably keep chasing after Sonic. Who knows." Fefnir said.
"Until she decides to impress him by claiming first for him." Wave said.
"Oh...right. We gotta catch up to them...fast." Hope said.
"Kor's probably on their tail by now." Al said.
"If you think that, then you do not know that hedgehog." Hope said.
With Sonic and Amy, the two continued to race as they went from street to street.
"Shouldn't be too long before we hit the Little Lip Theater. Just a hop, skip and a jump away." Sonic said as he grinded against a building wall before jumping.
"Aw Sonic. He's always so dreamy when he does things like this." Amy thought.
"Pardon me!" Kor called out as he zipped past her.
"Grrr!" Amy said getting her hammer out as she hit a car with it as it crashed into Kor. "Sorry...but no one gets between me and my Sonic." She said.
"Wow...never knew Amy was so hard core with this stuff." Sonic thought seeing that action. "Well...can't focus on that now." He said smirking as he saw the theater at the end of the street. "Since there's only one of these…" He said boosting as he cruised down the street just as the theater transformed into a launcher as he jumped onto it as it launched him far away.
"Yes! That's my Sonic!" Amy cheered seeing Sonic being launched.
"And Sonic has taken the lead and already headed to Paris via the Little Lip Theater. Will everyone else be able to catch up with him?" Omochao said.
"Dang that hedgehog works fast." Wave said.
"Why do I get the feeling we won't be taking first this time?" Toma said.
"Well all we can do is try." Hope said as two more people were seen being launched. These people were Amy and Kor.
"And Amy and Kor are the next people to be headed to Paris. But can they catch up? Let's take a look at things from our Paris cameras." Omochao said switching over to the Paris cam. "Now for this one...we made things interesting. With the Combat Revue's permission, we've set up the city's defense systems into a large topsy turvy maze that racers have to work through in order to get out."
"A maze huh? Fun." Sonic smirked as he soon landed and started running the maze.
"And Sonic is the first to enter the maze followed by Kor and Amy." Omochao said.
"I don't get it! Why are you showing energy now? You didn't even care about the race earlier!" Kor said.
"Yeah, true. I don't care much about Jet or the Extreme Gear thing earlier. But now...I so wanna win." Sonic said smirking.
"Damn idiot…" Kor muttered.
"Sonic seems pumped about this race for some reason. I mean, I know he's always energetic, but this is just unnatural." Tsumugi said.
"Not only that. Kor was nearly killed when that car landed on him." Fefnir said.
"Love can hurt." Hope said plainly. "Especially when it's Amy keeping close on Sonic."
"You've got that right." Fulgore said.
"Well...it'll be hard catching up with him, but if we time the launch right...we might have a shot." Hope said.
"It's worth a shot." Marco said.
It didn't take long before the racers got into the launcher as they were all launched.
"And all are out of New York and headed to Paris, where they run the maze run of their lives!" Omochao said.
"Another maze. We always seem to end up in them for some reason." Tsumugi said.
"Well it is a good challenge of time and memory." Hope said as they all touched down at the entrance and entered.
"Our racers have entered the maze but they may be too late as Sonic, Amy and Kor are just about out the exit. Sonic is still leading but Kor and Amy are in a race for second. Which is very entertaining." Omochao said.
"Guess it's time to use this as a last resort. Spiria Drive Level 4, and...boost!" Kor said as he blasted off.
"And it looks like Kor's trying to blast his way over the maze. Wonder if he'll hit the invisible barrier." Omochao said.
"Invisible what?" Kor said before hitting something invisible in the air.
"In order to make sure no one tries the maze flight trick again, we put up a barrier to make sure people follow maze etiquette. After all, mazes are for fun...not blasting through." Omochao said.
"Well, there goes my plan." Hope said.
"Yeah, same here." Toma said. "I was just gonna burst through walls but now I'm afraid to try it."
"Damn it...I will not...fall like this!" Kor said as he continued to push against the barrier till it started cracking before it shattered.
"And he actually broke through. We'll bill the Spirit Force later but it is still a sight to behold!" Omochao said.
"Looks like Level 4 Spiria Drive was too much for the barrier to handle." Chalcedony said smiling. "Well played, Kor."
"But he may be a little late." Hope said seeing Sonic cross the finish with Amy close behind and Kor landing after.
"And we have our winners of the race! Sonic in 1st, Amy in 2nd and Kor in 3rd! Three awesome racers!" Omochao said.
"I knew it was going to be Sonic and Amy, but it still surprised me." Tsumugi said.
"Well it was bound to happen at some point." Hope said.
"Still Kor, you did really great. Especially being able to smash down that wall." Erica said.
"Well, I didn't want to let my friends down. So I did what I had to do." Kor said. "Although, Amy, I get that you have a crush on Sonic, but try to be careful of what you throw at me next time." He said.
"Uh, I don't think she's going to make any promises on that front." Tsumugi said.
"She's right. Get between me and Sonic...and I'll crush you." Amy said as she happily skipped away.
"Geez, Jexi. We're seeing a lot of different sides to your guys in this thing." David said.
"Yep, a side you people rarely see." Jexi said as the results board popped up.
1st- Sonic- 15
2nd- Amy- 12
3rd- Kor- 10
4th- Hope- 9
5th- Tsumugi- 8
6th- Wave- 7
7th- Fulgore- 6
8th- Fefnir- 5
9th- Toma- 4
10th- Mana- 3
11th- Marco- 2
12th- Chalcedony- 1
Team Rankings
1st- Brave Adventurers- 120
2nd- Dimensional Heroes- 104
3rd- Spirit Force- 104
4th- Shining Hope Squadron- 91
5th- SEALED- 86
6th- Babylon Rogues- 69
"Oh, bullocks. That was terrible." Mana said.
"I'll say. But it is interesting to see sides of Sonic and the others I haven't seen." Hope said.
"It could be because of this competition. It's making us all competitive against each other." Ace said.
"I think that's why Jexi doesn't do races. Because of how competitive it gets. In fighting tournaments, I think it's different for him." Hope said.
"Strange. None of us feel any different." David said.
"And it doesn't matter to us whoever wins, as long as we enjoy it, right?" Ace said.
"Okay people! That was fun but now it's time to show tomorrow's destination: CHS and Crystal Prep!" Omochao announced.
"They're using our schools next?" Twilight said in surprise.
"ARIA must've told the principals about this, I mean CHS was used for Furious Sports wasn't it?" Roy asked.
"Yeah, and Indigo and Luffy almost won that." Jude said.
"Well I think it'll be pretty cool to race through Rainbow and Indigo's schools." Ace said.
"Speaking of Rainbow, she's probably gonna get serious on this one." Francisca said. "It would make a bad image on her if she didn't do well here."
"Oh for Color God's sake…" Ace muttered in annoyance.
"Yeah...I'm gonna dominate you guys." Rainbow said.
"Says you. We can still beat ya." Titanica said.
"Guys, don't ruin this for her. Even if she's boasting, there's a reason she has to win this next race. It's her image." Hope said.
"She has a reputation to uphold. So, anything insensitive and she'll make us regret it." Francisca said. "That includes you, Ace."
"I'm outta here." Ace said as he walked back to the ship.
"Gah… He's always like this." David said. "But don't worry, Rainbow. I'm not as insensitive when it comes to these matters. All I'll say...is that the rest of us aren't going to make it easy. Although, I'm pretty sure that's what you prefer."
"That's exactly how I like it. But I feel sorry for Ace. I didn't wanna annoy him or anything. Maybe I'll talk to him later." Rainbow said. "Nah...I gotta prepare for tomorrow."
"Well, whatever the case, he better get his act together or he'll be the one ruining it for us." David said.
"He'll ruin it? He was the one who suggested we come here. He's the one who is most looking forward to this." Jexi said.
"And look what it's doing." David said. "I know I can't stand seeing him like this, but…"
"David… don't. I think we have to figure out a way to end this race quickly. If not… I fear our entire friendship will tear itself apart." Hope said.
"Hmm. Something does seem a bit off kilter. Someone who was once our enemy hosting this racing competition. Something about this seems way off." Jexi said. "I think I'm gonna try doing a little poking around tomorrow."
"I'll go with you. I have the same feeling about this as well." Spade said.
"ARIA…. Are you trying to bring us together, or tear us apart?" Hope said.
