"Are we ready to leave?" Tails asked happily, swallowing the last bit of his toast. He and the rogues were gathering up their extreme gear and were eating a quick breakfast before they headed out to the race.

"I am." Jet said. He stood up and took another look at his gear. He sighed. "I thought I told you to fix this dent, Tails."

"There isn't a dent!" the young mechanic literally freaked out. "I made sure of it! How many times have I said I-"

"Tails!" Jet yelled to stop the fox's rambling. "I was kidding. Chill out!"

Tails paused and let out a small laugh before getting up and carrying his plate to the sink. "Right…I knew that." he muttered.

"So, boss. You never told us where we are racing!" Storm brought up. Jet looked up from his gear. "I told Sonic that I wanted to race in the forest again like last time. Except now it won't have bad weather."

"Wait…" Storm stopped. "Isn't that on an island?"

"Yeah why?"

"I was listening to the news when I got up this morning." Tails said, interrupting Storm. "I told Storm about it. They said that the island we are racing on today had a small but not effective earthquake late last night."

"Wow…" Jet actually looked interested, but only for a few seconds. "So, what's the point here?"

"I did my research on the island. I guess it usually has another earthquake after the first one. What if there's an earthquake while we race?" Tails wondered.

"It won't matter. The ground will just shake and we're hovering above ground anyhow." Jet said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"But boss, that could still be dangerous!" Storm stated.

"Quit worrying!" the leader snapped. "The race is only 3 laps. Who says that there is going to be an earthquake while we're there?"

Tails and Storm fell silent. They shrugged.

"Okay then." Jet lead the way out the door. "Let's head out!"

Team Sonic were already on the island, warming up and practicing their tricks and skills. Mostly Wave because she had not tried out her newly improved gear. Sonic and Knuckles had already finished their warm up, and were sitting down on a large grey rock, watching the swallow practice.

"So, I think overall Wave is a pretty good mechanic, don't you?" Sonic asked with a grin.

Knuckles didn't look at the blue blur; he just shrugged and smirked. "Yeah, I guess so. Although, I do miss Tails as our mechanic." he replied.

"We won't have to worry," Sonic said. "He'll be coming back with us. I just hope things don't turn into big arguments when the race does end."

Suddenly, the familiar sound of more extreme gears was heard. Shadow and Silver had arrived for some reason.

"Hey, Sonic!" Silver waved his hand frantically. "Look! I brought the flag!" he brought out a black and white checkered flag and was waving it around.

"What are they doing here?" Knuckles asked in a low tone.

"Well, we need somebody to watch the finish line!" Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but why are both Shadow and Silver here?"

"I was asked to come and watch to see who comes in first." Shadow told him. Then he sighed. "But, Silver wanted to come along too."

"Why? To help determine who comes in first?" Knuckles wondered.

"No. He just wanted to wave the flag." Shadow sighed again. They all looked at Silver who was flying around on his gear with the flag held high in the air.

"So, uh…who's racing?" Shadow decided to ask. "You never told me. And…is that Wave over there?"

"Long story made short, us and the Babylon Rogues made a bet to see who had the best mechanic. So Wave is with us and Tails is with Jet and Storm." Sonic explained.

Shadow nodded, setting his black and white gear up against a thick tree. "I see…"

Finally, Jet, Storm, and Tails showed up. No one said a word to each other as the three walked up to them. Jet stopped in front of Sonic.

"So, we ready to race?" he asked.

Sonic smiled. "You bet!"

"Just to let you know, Tails' gear is absolutely incredible. So don't be sad if you lose!" Jet sneered.

"That's fine; Wave also did a great job." the hedgehog said back, holding up the Blue Blur. Jet didn't say anything; just glared.

"Hey guys!" Wave greeted cheerfully as she hopped off her gear. She took a look at her original team and inhaled slowly. "Hello, Jet…Storm…" she tried to smile.

"Hey…" was all Jet's reply. Storm wasn't even listening; he was talking to Tails.

"Well, let's start! I can't wait to see the look on your face when we win this bet!" Knuckles smirked.

"In your dreams!"

As the 6 of them walked up to the makeshift starting line, they stretched before preparing to make the starting run. Sonic walked over to Tails as the young fox stretched his arms.

"Hey, buddy! Long time no see!" he hedgehog said quietly. Tails looked up at him. "Hey Sonic…" he said simply.

"How've you been?"

"Good. I can't wait for this race to end." the fox chuckled.

"Me either. I'm going to tell you this now," Sonic leaned in closer so Jet wouldn't hear him. "You're coming back with Knuckles and I no matter who wins this race. And Wave will be going home too."

"So you're not mad at me?" Tails' ears perked up. "You don't think I'm a thief?"

"I know you're not a thief." Sonic corrected. The mechanic smiled before the race was now on countdown.

"5...4...3.." Silver began counting down, holding the flag up high. The others were now starting to run. "2...1...uh, 0?"

They stopped running.

"I said 0!" Silver yelled. "Race!"

"You're supposed to say go, Silver!" Sonic said slowly, sighing.

"Okay, then start over!" Silver announced. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, Go!"

"Don't add the 0!" Jet cried.

Before Silver could protest, Shadow started to yell, "3, 2, 1, GO!"

The 6 racers started off unprepared and a little uneasy but they took off and the battle for 1st place had begun. Once they were out of sight, Shadow looked over to Silver with a not amused look on his face.

"What?"

"Seriously, Silver?" Shadow asked. "Since when has there ever been a 0 after 1? It's always been 1 then go!"

"I didn't know!" Silver cried, throwing his hands up in the air. The two hedgehogs then started to argue.

Through the woods and over the river streams, the 6 racers were racing at probably 500 plus mph, and they were wanting to go faster! Sonic was in the lead so far with Jet close behind. Tails was in front of Knuckles, and Wave and Storm were near the back.

Getting frustrated, Jet hit the boost of his gear many times to catch up to Sonic, but the hedgehog just seemed to be getting farther and farther ahead in first place. The hawk was beginning to wonder what Wave did to Sonic's gear that was making it go faster than his gear. His gear never went that fast when she was the mechanic for the Babylon Rogues. They reached a hill and flew off of it, performing professional tricks and increasing their speed when they were back on the ground.

A rumbling sound caught Tails' attention. He looked up at the sky, thinking maybe it was thunder and it was going to storm again. But the sky was cloudless. Shrugging it off, the fox hit the boost to catch up to Jet and Sonic, even though the rumbling was occurring more and more frequent. As Shadow and Silver continued to argue, the racers crossed over the line entering lap 2 of the 3 lap race.

Jet was able to catch up to Sonic, racing side by side as they flew past the trees and the curious island animals that paused what they were doing to watch the race. The Babylon Rogue leader smiled slyly, gathered a strong force, and crashed into the side of Sonic. Sonic gasped in shock and was loosing his balance quickly. Jet's wicked laughter was heard as he flew on ahead, taking first place. Sonic finally lost his balance and fell from his gear. He laid there on the ground trying to regain his blurry vision, watching the others fly past him. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him up as he was still flying at full speed. He looked up to see that it was Knuckles who grabbed him. Sonic placed his gear back under his feet and was back in the race, thanks to Knuckles' help.

"You okay?" the echidna yelled over the roar of the wind.

"Yeah, thanks pal!" Sonic gave thumbs up.

"Don't let Jet win!" Knuckles ordered.

Sonic chuckled and hit the boost a couple times as he slowly started passing the others. Knuckles did the same to go faster, until he realized that the tree branch in front of him had something hanging from it. He hit it out of his path without seeing what it was first and he instantly regretted it.

Buzz…Buzz…

The echidna's violet eyes widened. Oh no…

"Bees! Bees!" he cried as he kicked the ground to speed up, not to pass the others, but to escape the wrath of the horrible bees!

Wave adjusted her glasses before speeding up some. However, she noticed Storm racing next to her. The albatross was giving her a friendly grin and he waved a little.

"Hey, Storm!" Wave rolled her eyes but with a smile.

"Wave, we've missed you!" Storm yelled over the loudness of the wind.

"Really?" Wave was actually shocked. "Even Jet?"

"We both do! You're coming back with us right?"

"Well, I hope so!" Wave laughed. Storm gave her a high five before the two of them focused back on racing. Even though talking to Storm made her happy, the constant rumbling sound she kept hearing started to make her worry. And somehow she knew it wasn't her gear that kept making that noise…

When they crossed over the line, entering lap 3, Silver jumped up and down yelling, "Go, guys, go!"

Shadow rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Now he knows when to say go…"

"I heard that!" Silver snapped. Growling, the psychic hedgehog attacked Shadow, leading to a small fight.

Tails was in second place, close to catching up with his leader. Jet happened to look behind him and somewhat smiled when he seen it was just Tails behind him.

"How's the gear working out?" Tails asked.

"Works great! Haven't lost air yet!" Jet replied back.

"Same here!"

Suddenly, he noticed that Jet started to look a little confused when he looked at his surroundings.

"What's wrong?" Tails asked.

"Was there a crack in the ground there before?" the hawk asked, pointing near a tree by the river. A long wide crack had formed near the river they crossed.

"I don't think so…" Tails said quietly to himself. Oh no…

That's when everything went horribly wrong. The entire island began to shake and the loud rumbling Tails heard before was growing louder and louder.

"Jet! It's an earthquake!" the fox cried out fearfully.

"We got to finish this race! We'll be fine!" Jet assured him, noticing that the young fox was beginning to panic. The two went faster than before.

Sonic, Knuckles, Wave and Storm also noticed the island's earthquake as well. They started to feel uneasy about being on the island now.

"I think we should leave!" Storm said.

"We have to try and finish the race first!" Knuckles yelled. "It looks like Jet and Tails are still going!"

"Plus we're off of the ground. It can't really hurt us!" Sonic informed. With that, the four of them focused on finishing the race. Coming around one of the last corners of the track, they were shocked to see that Tails and Jet weren't there. They guessed they must be far up ahead of them.

That's when the ground gave a strong shudder and was rapidly splitting up right in front of them! They yelled in fear as they used a rock to launch themselves in the air and try to make the jump over the still-splitting ground. Sonic and Wave made the jump, but when they turned around Knuckles and Storm were grasping onto the edge. Instantly, Sonic went over to get Knuckles while Wave tried to help Storm. The blue hedgehog grabbed Knuckles' extreme gear before using both hands to help yank his friend up onto the ground again.

"You okay?" Sonic asked.

"I'm fine." Knuckles replied. He groaned when he moved his muscles. "…I think." he added with a laugh. Both of them immediately went to Wave to help pull the large albatross onto the ground. But that's when the ground gave out from beneath their feet. Wave let out a horrified scream as she started falling down the gap in the earth. Knuckles was able to move out of the way in time before he fell also. Him and Sonic pulled Storm up and were now focused on getting Wave back up. During her fall, the swallow grabbed onto a loose root that hung from the side of the split ground and thankfully, it was strong enough to hold her weight.

"Guys! Help me!" she pleaded.

"Hang on, Wave!" Sonic called down to her. He turned to Storm and Knuckles. "I'm going to get Shadow and Silver! Help her in any way you can!" With that, the blue blur took off running to get the other two hedgehogs.

Jet and Tails started to slow down when they noticed that the ground stopped shaking and that the others weren't anywhere near them. The finish line was in sight.

They laughed and gave high five's to each other. "Great job, Tails! You are by far the best mechanic! We won!"

Tails just looked down. "I wonder where the others are though. They were behind us just before the earthquake ended."

Suddenly, a loud scream made Jet's heart stop.

"Help!"

The two of them stopped. Tails looked at Jet with horrified eyes. "Jet! That sounds like Wave!"

Jet stood listening to the pleading cries for help. He looked back and forth between the finish line just ahead of him and in the direction of the sound.

Nothing was said. Just before Tails could tell him anything, the hawk immediately kicked his gear back on, turned around, and zoomed off back down the track to help Wave. Tails smiled and followed close behind.

Wave was growing more scared by the second. The root was strong but it was starting to break. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Looking down, she noticed that it was pitch black at the bottom of the split earth. Who knew how far she would fall if this root breaks!

Tears welled up in her eyes as she tightened her grip. Storm and Knuckles were ripping off vines from the trees and were making a rope to throw down to her. When they were done, they tossed it down.

"Wave! Grab on and we'll pull you up!" Knuckles shouted.

"Are you sure this will hold me?" Wave asked.

"Positive!"

Wave reached out with a shaky hand and grabbed the rope-like vine. When she grabbed on with both hands, Knuckles let out a startled yelp when he realized she was heavier than he thought. He was being pulled in towards the gap in the ground.

"Storm!" he yelled. "Help me!"

"Oh! S-Sorry!" Storm apologized as he grabbed the end of the vine and helped Knuckles pull the mechanic in.

Wave held her breath as she was lifted up. She was almost up to the edge! She was saved!

Until a loud snap sounded, making everyone's heart skip a beat! The vine rope had broke.

"Wave!"

But then, Jet arrived. He didn't wait to slow down on his gear before getting off. He was still going at a fast pace when he jumped off, hearing his gear bounce off of the ground. He stumbled a little from the jump and ran past Knuckles and Storm and towards Wave.

"Wave!" he wailed, leaping forward down into the broken earth.

Wave had her eyes squeezed shut, awaiting the end. But she opened her eyes, blinking quickly, when she realized she had stopped falling.

"Huh?" she looked up and could barely contain her joy. Jet had grabbed her hand and was now hanging from another root that stuck out from the side of the ground.

"Jet?"

"You okay?" the hawk asked worriedly.

"I'm fine!" Wave grabbed onto his hand with her other free hand.

They stared at each other in silence as they started to hear the gentle hum of an extreme gear coming closer to them. They looked up to see Shadow and Sonic coming down to them. Relief flooded through both Babylon Rogues as they flew back up on safe ground.

When everyone was back together again, there was a short silence. No one knew what to say about the entire ordeal. They couldn't believe what had happened! However, Wave couldn't stand still. She ran over and hugged Jet tightly.

"You saved my life, Jet." she said softly. She let a couple of tears fall from her shining blue eyes. "Thank you…"

Jet couldn't reply. Instead, he just smiled and hugged her back.

Suddenly, they looked at the finish line that was just around a couple of corners. Sonic and Jet looked at each other and within a blink of an eye, Jet let go of Wave and he and Sonic were running to get their gears off of the ground and race to the finish line for the title of 1st place. The other's joined in too.

Around the bend, and then the other, the finish line was just ahead and in plain sight. Jet and Sonic were at a dead tie and were boosting up speed as fast as they could. Shadow had already got back to the finish line to catch who the winner was while Silver was still waving the flag around and cheering them on.

Both leaders narrowed their eyes and focused on the line in front of them that would crown them the winner.

Both crossed it and Shadow was left to find out who won. Unfortunately, the result happened so quick, the hedgehog couldn't see who crossed the line first. So he looked at his phone, in which he used to capture the results so he could slow down the speed and see who won.

Silver looked over. "Hey Shadow, who won?"

A/N: Cliff hanger! I decided to add one more chapter after this one. So, the earthquake did happen! And Jet saved Wave! Yay! So, who won the race? You'll find out soon! Thanks for reading! Review please!