"The next event will be Cycling!!" The announcer's voice suddenly appeared on the intercom again. "The contestants should report to the track immediately."
Yoshi yipped with delight as he dashed over to the track. Peach smiled clumsily. "Hey, Yoshi, hold on a second! Wait for us!"
Shadow raised an eyebrow as Sonic came to a screeching halt next to him. "I finally caught up to you!" Sonic scowled. Shadow shook his head.
"Actually, I've a race to get to. Sorry, blue hedgehog, later." Sonic sighed irritably.
"I hate that guy sometimes."
Tails breathed in and out. "OK! Ready for this!!"
The four competitors hopped onto their rides. Yoshi squeaked the horn amusingly. Espio appeared on the side of the track.
"Usually we would have let you race at different times, but we are short on time today, so you will race together. You will stay in your lane and your lane only. Any foul play will be called. Understand?"
When there were no protests, Espio stood back a little bit. He held up the starting pistol in his hand and waited until everyone was set. At the sound of the gunfire, the four were off!
Shadow, in spite of himself, found it somewhat difficult to maneuver the bicycle. He figured that it would be just like running, however, he found in much different. Shrugging it off, the hedgehog began to blast past everyone anyway.
Peach pedaled by Yoshi, giving him a friendly wave, and caught up to Tails, who was behind Shadow. She glanced at him only a moment, keeping mind to stay in her lane.
Tails sensed the princess' presence near him and assessed the situation. He began to skid to a halt.
Sonic clenched his teeth as he saw Tails losing speed. "What the heck is he doing?!" he demanded.
Meanwhile, Wario picked his nose. "Y'know, I hope Yoshi don't eat that-a fox," he told Mario. The plumber gave his doppelganger a weird look.
"You have-a twisted mind," he replied.
Tails kept on slowing down until he was sure that Yoshi was gaining on him. The fox readied his feet and gained speed a bit. Suddenly, the dinosaur blasted past him, and the turbulence gave Tails a boost that landed him a speed advantage all the way until he had caught up to Peach.
Shadow was still in the lead, though. He pressed onward with all his might. Suddenly, he glanced over and saw Peach and Tails fighting for second place. Not wanting to be outdone, the black hedgehog sped up a bit. However, that greatly reduced his stamina.
Meanwhile, Yoshi still trudged in the back. The dinosaur looked cocky, though—he looked as if he might have a trick up his sleeve.
Shadow was beginning to pant. His stamina was running out fast. He looked behind him; Peach and Tails were gaining on him quickly. However, the finish line was coming up just as fast. In a last ditch effort to win, Shadow pedaled as much as he could, then finally slowed down significantly. Peach and Tails passed him up.
Now the two were in a dead-lock for the finish. Peach had the edge to a certain extent, but Tails was doing a good job of keeping up with her. Suddenly, Yoshi began to breeze past the both of them. Not wanting to lose another event to Team Mario, Tails pulled a Shadow: he pedaled as quickly as he could, and managed to get to the finish line before he ran out of stamina. Yoshi giggled as he flew past the line in second place, Peach in third, and Shadow now in a distant fourth.
Tails gasped for air as Sonic ran up to him and gave him a high-five. Mario patted Yoshi's head affectionately as the silver medal was slipped around his neck. Sonic looked over suddenly as Knuckles and Vector carefully helped Shadow off the course.
"Shad?" Sonic asked uneasily. Shadow looked up, still gasping for breath.
"We won this event, blue hedgehog," he declared. "Not because of letting the competition get ahead of us. We won because of hard work and effort. Remember that."
Sonic glared at his rival with determination sparking in his eyes. "You're wrong," he retorted. "We'll win or lose fair and square."
However, before the two could finish the conversation, the announcer began blaring on the intercom again.