Sonic's house
A few weeks had passed since the events at the mill and the team's "introduction" to Cosmo. Now, Tails was working to send the interloper home, while the others helped her adapt to her new surroundings. Sonic had spent most of the previous day showing her his favorite hangouts - some of them being on whole other continents. After that, he returned home and slept for most of the morning. He woke up to the sound of the TV.
"Are you ready to get EXTREEEEEEEME?!"
The voice not only woke him up, it knocked him to the floor. Rubbing his head, he found some robotic critter on the screen, with various graphics surrounding it.
"It may be autumn, it may be spring, but the only season that matters here is a new season of Extreme Gear Racing! We're gonna have an extreme start in two weeks, you have no idea!"
"Hopefully it's less extreme than the damage to my hearing," remarked the blue hedgehog, even though the host couldn't hear him.
"The prize for this first race is gonna rock your socks off. Whoever wins will get TWO! CHAOS! EMERAAAAAAALDS!"
This got Sonic's undivided attention. Two Chaos Emeralds? From a race like this?
"Entries end a week from now, so get your butts in gear if you wanna chance to go EXTREEEEEEEME!"
The blue hedgehog wrote down all the necessary details, had some quick breakfast, then zipped away to go tell the others.
Tails' Workshop
Sonic's first stop was to see Tails, finding his twin-tailed friend looking over several different notes. He had no idea what they were meant to represent, and he had a feeling Tails didn't either.
"Oh, hey, Sonic. What's up?"
"I saw something on TV just a second ago. There's gonna be this Extreme Gear race, and the prize is two Chaos Emeralds!"
This caught Tails' attention. "Really? Two emeralds for just one race? Sounds like a trap."
"Could be, or maybe it's genuine. Besides, I'm sure those emeralds could be good for your inter dimensional portal thingy."
"Yeah, I'll definitely need some serious power for my portal," agreed Tails. "I'd enter, but-"
"Relax, buddy, I'll enter, give you more free time to work on your thingy," said the blue hedgehog.
"I'd appreciate it if you stopped calling my invention a 'thingy'."
"Why's that, Tails? Don't like it when I call your thingy a thingy?" The fox laughed and playfully shoved Sonic's shoulder, the two of them smiling. "I might call up Nicole, see if she can help you out."
"Yeah, I was hoping I could have had something by now," sighed Tails, his shoulders slumping.
"Don't sweat it, pal, you're only Mobian. I'll go enter, and you can worry about getting our extradimensional friend home."
As Sonic departed, the fox put a hand to his chin. "Your friend, maybe. She's always avoiding me."
Racetrack, a week later
Sonic set his gear down as he approached the stadium where the race would begin. A few of his friends had come to watch, and he went to go talk to them before the race began.
"I'm surprised to see you here, Knuckles," he remarked.
"This race seems like the perfect place to steal two Chaos Emeralds," replied the echidna. "If that happens, I'd just like to stop them from going up to stealing the Master Emerald."
Sonic shrugged, that seemed accurate. Amy was also there, and so were Maisie, Tails, and Nicole. "I'm surprised you guys are here too."
"I wouldn't miss this for the world," replied the pink hedgehog, her tone making the blue one roll his eyes. "I'll always be here for you, Sonic."
"Amy had extra tickets, and Tails agreed to take a break," added the red rabbit.
"And I'm here for Sally," the holo-lynx finished. This surprised Sonic, who turned to see the chipmunk standing there in a jumpsuit.
"What? I'm here for the same reason you are, Sonic," she said. "I'm getting the Chaos Emeralds for Tails' thingy. If there's two of us, that doubles our chances of winning."
"It's a shame that zero doubled is still zero." The group turned to find a very familiar trio standing there. Jet the hawk took center stage, the two other members of the Babylon Rogues behind him. "I hope you're hungry, because I've been waiting a long time to make you eat my dust again!"
"Jet. I see you haven't changed," said Sonic, unamused.
"Actually, I have. After you vanished, I began training to be even faster than I already am. Neither one of you stands a chance!"
As the trio left, Sonic turned back to Sally. "Well, you look great."
"Absolutely, those colors really suit you," agreed Amy.
"Y-Yeah, what, uh, what they said," added Nicole, although it seemed like she was trying not to look at her friend.
If Sally noticed, she didn't say anything. "Thanks, guys. Now let's win those emeralds!"
At the starting line, Sonic and Sally stood between the Rogues and three other racers they didn't know. Two of them looked pretty normal, but one dressed in a concealing cloak made them both suspicious.
"Helloooooooo to our audience!" cried the announcer, the racers wincing from their very loud voice. "Let's make some noise for our gals and boys!" The applause from the audience wasn't nearly as loud as the announcer. "My name is Peppy and I'm just as excited as you are. This race is gonna test the mettle of our contestants, who will have to race faster than turbocharged Motobugs! When the lights turn green, get ready to get EXTREEEEEEEEEME!"
The racers winced, a few of them missing when the lights turned green and needing to make up for their lost time. Naturally, Sonic and Jet were among those who started off first, neck and neck as they made their way along a coastline. The blue hedgehog glanced at the nearby water apprehensively, doing his absolute best not to lean over and fall right in. The green hawk on his left sneered as he saw this.
"Still afraid of water, Sonic?" he mocked.
"Hey, I'm not afraid of it," retorted Sonic, doing his best to be witty. "I think it just doesn't like me."
The two were too caught up in their verbal sparring to notice that the cloaked racer was almost about to pass them, but then all three were overtaken by Sally.
"Sonic, don't get distracted. And keep up, feather boy!" she called out, Jet growling as he was swiftly left in fourth.
"I'm not a boy, I'm a hawk!" he squawked indignantly, before giving chase after the leaders.
In the stands, Sonic's friends observed the race on the screen. "Sally's got this in the bag," said Nicole confidently.
"Are you joking? She's hardly touched one of those things, there's no way she'll get higher than maybe third," retorted Amy.
"Whatever you say. If Sally wins, though, you have to ask Sonic to dinner."
The pink hedgehog's face went red, but she countered, "Fine. But when Sonic wins, you have to ask Sally to a movie."
Now the holo-lynx "blushed," her hologram glitching slightly. "W… What?"
"Come on, you'll look at her like… hey, Maisie, you're a writer, what's a good metaphor?"
"You look at Sally like she's a shining light in a sea of darkness," responded the red rabbit, the others chortling.
"Hey, I don't like Sally-not, y'know, like-like her," Nicole tried protesting. "We're just friends."
"Yeah, very good friends," teased Tails.
"No, not just friends, they're 'gal-pals'," added Maisie.
Nicole began glitching further, being relieved when Knuckles chimed in with, "Okay, you guys, stop teasing her." Finally, somebody on her side. "She'll tell Sally how she feels when she's ready."
"Let's watch the race!" snapped Nicole, the others wisely deciding not to press the subject further.
For the racers, the first two laps went by without further issue, but it was around lap three when things really got interesting. Sonic had a very comfortable lead, but Jet and Sally were closing the gap. But as they passed by the coast once more, the cloaked figure reached under said cloak and pulled out a device. Aiming it towards Sally's board, they pressed a button and suddenly the chipmunk's gear came grinding to a halt. She spun off course into Jet's path, leaving the two of them to fall behind as the cloaked figure moved ahead. Sonic could hear the commotion behind him and looked back. Unfortunately, this meant his eyes weren't on the course, and as the cloaked figure passed by, he was shoved off his board and over the cliff!
"Sonic!" cried Sally, running over to help. Jet looked ready to lend a hand also, but when the chipmunk moved off first, he elected to try and win the race back from the cloaked figure.
As Sonic was rescued, Jet used every trick he could think of to close the gap between himself and the mystery racer. They were neck and neck, and Sonic's friends were ready to get out of their seats to help him, when they saw Sally climbing from the water with the blue hedgehog in her arms. The two leaders approached the finish line, Jet only just pulling ahead as they crossed.
"And the winner is... JET THE HAAAAAAAAAAWK!" screeched Peppy, everyone present covering their ears as a long whine of feedback followed. The audience cheered, but Sonic's friends were rather dejected that one of their own hadn't won the race. "And it would appear that rrrrrrrrracer Haretech has used an EMP on two other competitors, so he is diiiiiiiiiiiiiiisqualified!"
Surprisingly, by the time the announcer had said his name, the cloaked figure had all but vanished. Jet grinned confidently as he was handed a trophy as well as two canisters containing the yellow and green Chaos Emeralds. Sonic was being seen to nearby; he was alright, but the medical crew just wanted to be sure. Sally and the others had come down to see how he was.
"He's gonna be okay, right?" The group were surprised that the question came not from one of their own, but from a nearby Storm. He and Wave had apparently also been concerned.
"I got him out of there pretty quickly, so he'll be fine," responded Sally.
It was then Jet walked up, the hawk holding the Chaos Emerald, when Knuckles stopped him. "Wanna hand those over before I make you?" he huffed.
"Relax, I'm handing them over willingly," said Jet, setting the canisters down. "I don't like my races to be won for me. Sonic, you better not get sick, because I expect a rematch!"
At this, Sonic stood up and walked up to the hawk, a confident grin on his face. "Oh, you'll get one, Jet. But not too soon after breakfast, because you're gonna eat my dust."
Seeing how close the two were standing to each other, Maisie leaned over to Wave and whispered, "Are they flirting?"
"No, they're not. Jet's just obsessed with beating Sonic, so much so he forgets what personal space is," the swallow sighed, clearly talking from experience.
"I know what flirting looks like, and that's not flirting," added Sally, not noticing Nicole's expression.
Eventually the standoff ended, with Sonic taking the Emeralds and Jet leaving with his team and trophy. The hawk smirked as his team congratulated him, although their praise was for different reasons. "Great job, boss, you sure showed that hoodie guy!" cheered Storm, the albatross patting his leader on the back.
"Yeah, you were almost responsible out there," replied Wave, the hawk twitching slightly.
"What did I say about using the R-word?" he muttered.
"I'm just saying, Jet, one day you'll have to settle down…"
"Wave-"
"Cut back on heisting…"
"Please-"
"Wear pants…"
"Stooooooop!" he squawked, covering up his ears.
Tails' Workshop
With the Chaos Emeralds in his possession, Tails could now make some form of process on making the portal. Nearby, Amy and Nicole sat on the couch, thinking about their previous bet, while Sonic took Maisie home and Sally had just changed into her regular clothes.
"So, neither of us won the bet, did we?" asked Amy rhetorically. "So… what exactly do we do now?"
The holo-lynx thought about it, looking up to see Sally stepping in. Steeling herself, she stood up and walked over to the chipmunk. "Hey, Sally, I know you didn't win the race, but… s-since it still worked out and all, wanna go see a movie? As-As a treat?"
"Really? Well, if you say so!" replied Sally, not noticing how estatic her companion looked. "We've got nothing on the schedule for tomorrow, so we can go see one in the afternoon."
"Whatever's best for you," agreed Nicole.
Sally said her goodbyes and went back home, plans with Nicole arranged, and once the door clicked shut the holo-lynx could barely contain her excitement, hopping in place and squealing with glee.
"Nice one, Nicole!" cheered Amy.
"Yeah!" agreed Tails, before a cheeky grin appeared on his face. "Now it's your turn, Amy."
"W-What? But-But I-oh, fine." Amy pulled out her phone, dialing Sonic's number to ask for a victory snack.
Central City
In a dank alleyway, the cloaked figure pulled his cloak down, revealing a hare with a metal left ear and eye. He pulled out a communications device, a hologram of Levi popping up.
"Well?" the hologram quizzed.
"Sonic was at the race, and I almost secured the Chaos Emeralds," replied the hare.
"You almost secured them? That means you didn't." The hare's face fell, the robot's hologram reaching out and gripping his chin. "The good doctor does not tolerate failure, Haretech. If you fail again, then Eggman will have no further use for you."
"I… I understand. I will not fail my lord again."
The hologram faded away, the hare pulling his cloak back up so he could continue to carry out Eggman's orders.
Hoo boy, what a year. But at last, it's almost over, and hopefully we can use the next year to improve ourselves and the world we live on. Next year will be my last semester of college, and I'll probably get a job around that time, but here's hoping I can post an extra thirteen chapters then.
This will be the last chapter of 2020, so I'll go ahead and wish everyone reading a Happy New Year!