Hey, everybody! Ready for the start of the race? I hope so, because here it comes! Before we start, I'd like to inform you that I think I'll try a different method of writing for the race segment. That being, I'm going to switch perpectives at times, as in we'll be watching the progress of one racer, then we leave to the perpective of another, looking at what happened to them at the same time. If this description is confusing, please forgive me. Perhaps seeing the chapter itself will clear the matter up. Afterwards, tell me if it works for this chapter, or if I should just go back to the normal way of writing. Anyway, let's start!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans or Sonic the Hedgehog.

Chapter 28: Racing Riders.

"Go!"

As soon as BeastBoy heard the voice come from the headset he was wearing, he tossed it to the side and hurtled onward. Thankfully, before the race began, after separation, people came and explained the works of the airboards, which they called Extreme Gear. If they hadn't, BeastBoy probably wouldn't have known what to do, and would have ended up blasting himself into a wall.

Now, however, he sped through the empty highway, avoiding some purposely placed debris, put there to give the racers some maneuvering practice, most likely.

"Being empty like this is making me nervous, though." BeastBoy said to himself. "I better find someone to race against, or I'll freak out and get paranoid or something." he said, increasing speed on his board, which ran up a ramp, sending him into the air. "Now's my chance to impress the viewers at home!" he said to himself, spinning in the air while gripping the back end of the board. While in the air, he thought he saw something at the top of one of the buildings ahead. 'Is that another racer?' he thought to himself. He landed back on the road before he could confirm what he saw. He kept his gaze up there, and didn't notice that he was fast approaching a change of scenery. Glancing back when he saw the buildings run out, he barely turned in time to avoid crashing into a rock wall. He was now in the canyon like area outside the city, most likely the same area they first met Terra. "Man, this brings back too many bad memories..." he said to himself.

"Aw..." came a voice from behind him. Turning his head, he saw someone fast approaching him. "Perhaps the little boy should quit the race, then?" said the figure, staying a good distance from him, but moving up parallel to him, revealing himself.

"Chang?" BeastBoy said incredulously. "How'd you get out of jail so fast?"

"It was nothing for a bad man like me. I am much smarter than a few mere policeman, even in a prison for supervillains." Chang laughed, maneuvering his own board, keeping his distance.

"Well, then, how the hell did you get in the race?"

"Why, no sporting event is complete without a dark side, correct?" Chang said, grinning. BeastBoy gritted his teeth. "And this separation is quite the opportunity to dispose of unwanted opposition easily!" he said, pulling out a little energy gun from one of his pockets, pointing it at BeastBoy, and firing a shot of red energy at him. BeastBoy quickly ducked down, and his board swerved a bit, but he stayed on. "Oh, little boy...I'm sure this will hurt less if you stand still!" Chang said, firing more shots, yet still maintaining good control of his board. BeastBoy used his heightened animal senses to keep moving his body, avoiding the shots. "Grr...hold still, you stupid child!" Chang yelled, frustrated.

"Yeah, like I'm really gonna just stand still and let you shoot me!" BeastBoy said. "You just wait until I stall until we get back to the group, then you'll be sor--!" he began, but he heard a rumbling from above. Looking up and ahead a bit, he could only stare as they headed towards the path of a falling boulder...

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Although Starfire had required a little extra of her tutor's time, she was now rushing through the edge of the city with good maneuverability, avoiding debris, and using jumps to feel the wondrous rushing sensation. Of course, it was a somewhat familiar sensation to her, as the floating movement of the boards was not unlike her own way of flying. Her area of city was quickly running out, becoming a wide path inside a forest.

"I wonder where my friends are located in this event?" she asked herself. After that, she heard some shouting to her left, presumably on another path somewhere in the forest.

"Sonic! Why are you gliding away from me?" came Amy's pleading voice.

"Amy! This is a race! I'm supposed to try and be ahead of you!" came Sonic's urgent voice.

"Yeah, but you don't have to be so far! Get back here!" Amy yelled.

Starfire laughed to herself, enjoying the sound of the usual antics she'd hear.

"A little crazy, aren't they?" came a voice to her side, one she was somewhat unfamiliar with. Spinning around, she covered her fists with green energy, but upon seeing who it was, holding his hands up to calm her, she stopped. "It is you!" she said.

"You're not going to shoot me, are you?" the man said, lowering his hands.

"Of course not!" Starfire said. "You, who allowed my release? You, who helped friend BeastBoy rescue me? I would never thing of attacking you, friend Boss!" she said.

The man smiled a bit, happy at her attitude, but then he glanced over, noticing something as they glided along.

"Hmm?" he said. His eyes widened a bit, then he quickly turned his head back to Starfire. "Hey, watch out!" he said, gripping her by the shoulders, and pulling her, board and all, close to him. A second after he did so, they zoomed by a huge tree, one that Starfire would have crashed right into because of her distraction. Starfire felt the grip of the man on her shoulders, firm, yet gentle, and felt the closeness of her face to his chest, and felt her face heat up.

'What is this feeling?' she wondered to herself. 'Not even friend Robin has this effect on me...'

The man pulled her away a bit. "You all right?" he asked, concern in his voice. Starfire looked at those deep blue eyes, and felt her heart beat harder, and she couldn't find anything to say, so she merely nodded. "That's good." the man said. "We don't need you getting hurt so soon after a rescue, do we?" he said.

"C-Correct..." Starfire managed to say. The man looked back at the path they were traveling, and looked at her.

"We got a split path coming. Guess this is where we part ways. I'll take the right, you take the left, okay?" he asked. Starfire nodded. "Well, see you again sometime." he said, speeding up and down the right path. Starfire went down the left path, her eyes back on the path.

"Yes...see you again." Starfire said to herself.

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'Man, has anyone noticed the odd collection of scenery this place has?' The Boss thought to himself. After taking a path down a crossroads in a forest, an uprising of land sent him into the air, and the next thing he knew, he was on top of a rock wall, looking down at a kind of canyon. "As if I didn't already have enough with trying to ride across the tops of all those buildings." The Boss said, remembering where he started out, and also remembering who he saw while up there. "Speaking of which, I wonder where the little green kid is?" he asked himself. Riding along, he noticed something playing out behind him. Checking to make sure his path was reasonably clear, he turned his head. "Well, there he is. Whoa, looks like he's got trouble. Oh, hell. It's that old guy again. How'd he get out so fast?" he said. Wondering if he could help, he noticed something on the path ahead of him. "Huh...a boulder that looks kind of loose...worth a shot." he said, moving his board so it was angled correctly, and pushing right into the boulder, knocking it off. It was too late to change direction, though, and he went flying down, as well.

After landing, he noted something. He just saw an airboard go by without a rider on it. "Well, looks like it worked." he said, hoping it wasn't the wrong board. A second later, the green kid came up next to him, looking at him in awe.

"It's you again!" he said. "Was that you?" he asked.

"What? Dropping the boulder? Yeah." The Boss said.

"Sweet!" the kid said. "It was so funny, too! Chang smacked right into the boulder, and his board went off without him!" he said, grinning and laughing to himself. The Boss smirked, too.

"Yeah. I noticed that thing heading off on its own just a minute ago."

"So you're in the race, too?" the kid asked.

"Yeah. Only regular guy to sign up, too, from the looks of it."

"Well, nobody wanted to go against superheroes."

"Well, guess I'm just a glutton for punishment, then." The Boss said. Both turned their heads back to the path, with was opening into a wider plain, where something was seen up ahead. "Huh, guess it's another racer." The Boss said.

"Wait a minute..." the boy said, squinting. "That's Rouge!" he said. Further down, they could see something lash out to try and attack the figure, but that figure ducked. "She's in trouble!" the kid yelled, then turned into some sort of dragon, turned around, and began breathing fire, boosting him to the area he wanted to get to.

The Boss raced in silence as he watched the green kid go on. "Young love...I guess." he told himself.

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Rouge dodged low as another metal spike hurtled for her, then returned to where the other three were, sticking out of some pack on the back of a little kid. Rouge remembered that his name was Gizmo. He had caught up to her, sprouted four spiderlike mechanical legs, and started attacking her. He wasn't successful, because she was too fast, but he was starting to bug her.

'How can I get rid of this annoying kid?' she thought to herself. Then, an idea struck her. It was simple, but she was certain it would work. Just her style, too. "Aw, it's really cute how a kid like you is trying so hard to win the race!" she said to him, making her voice sound like a mother talking to a toddler.

"Hey! Don't make fun of me, you furry gut muncher!" Gizmo yelled. "I'm not a kid!" he said.

Standing up straighter, Rouge began talking again. "You're not?" she said, in a much different inflection. "Well, then, you're mature enough to see this, then, aren't you?" she said, gripping the heart shaped part of her clothes, and lowering it, exposing her womanly gift to Gizmo's view.

Gizmo's eyes widened to extremes, almost bigger than his entire body, and all he did was stare at Rouge's exposure. He was so hypnotized by the view, that he didn't realize a turn was coming, and flew off into a lake.

"Guess he's just a child, after all." Rouge said, returning the heart to it's proper position.

"Guess so." came a voice right next to her. Turning, she saw Beastie looking at her. "That was one heck of a way to get rid of the competition, Rouge." he said.

"Aww, don't be mad, Beastie." she said. "It didn't mean anything. Besides, if you want to see them, just ask!" she said, dropping the heart again, letting Beastie get a good look. Beastie's eyes widened, his face reddening as he turned his head.

"Put those away." he said. "This isn't the time for that. Save that for when we get back home." he said.

Rouge smiled, putting the heart back in position again. "All right. Just give me a minute to straighten my position. I think all that messed up my balance." she said, grabbing ahold of something to reposition herself.

"Rouge..." Beastie said. "That's not a handle on your board, you know." he said.

Rouge giggled. "I know." she said. "I think I'm familiar enough with that part of you to know what I've got ahold of." she whispered sultrily in his ear, then giggled. Both of the followed the path they were on, obviously not caring who was ahead, they just wanted to be together.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hehehehe. That last bit was mostly for some humor I wanted to put in. Anyway, there's some of the race done, with two mystery villains down already. Tell me, was this method of writing an interesting little deviation, or should I go back to my normal way of writing? Either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Tell me! R&R, and I'll see ya!