"Are you really sure that I was needed for this?"

Sylphic grimaced as he followed Nyx into the cave, medical kit strapped to his back and canteen clanking against his hip. He had no appointments to keep, but he had errands he needed to run. Sure, they were grocery related, but even if he could survive on peanut butter and rice cakes it didn't mean he wanted to. But alas, he was at Nyx's shrine again.

"Absolutely," Nyx replied. "When I sensed him in the pool, he was horribly injured. Honestly, I don't think he should have survived…"

"Huh," Syll replied. He drew the water that fell over the inner chamber's entrance up to avoid getting both him and the young moth soaked. She seemed to be in an extreme hurry, not even bothering to remove her cloak. Whoever this person was, his health was more important.

Sylphic ran through and joined her, stomach swirling as he glanced at Aria lodged in the wall. Seeing that gem never made it easy- he'd been bonding with Stella, and it seemed like the poor girl was terrified of her older sister. Not that he blamed her- his own friends had been affected harshly by Aria's influence.

"Did you glean anything about our new arrival?" Syll asked Nyx. He opened his pouch and caressed the Sapphire he'd brought with him.

"Not much," she said. "He has severe chest pain, enough that when I felt it I nearly puked from the stress. He also reeks of… jackal, if that makes sense."

"You can smell him? That seems strange," the hybrid said.

"Well, "smell" isn't exactly correct," Nyx clarified. "I just can't think of a better word to describe it."

"No, I sort of understand, but… I guess it was just an interesting choice of words," he said. "You don't think he's one of the brigands that Rouge was talking about? She's been trailing them with a G.U.N. team since she heard tell of Ivo's recent schemes."

"I don't know if he's from that group, but I know he's not from this dimension's version of it," she said. "What I'm more concerned about is that he's in critical condition."

"Right." Syll noticed that the water was beginning to boil. "Any indication as to what sort of "critical condition" you're referring to? It's kind of a broad term."

"When I first caught a feeling that he was coming, there was this pain in my chest. It was like something was broken in there, or something had been damaged, I guess?" She knelt down as she spotted the silhouette of their arrival. "I can't quite describe it. But it was strong."

Syll unpacked his kit and began rifling through it. "Well, if it's any sort of severe bleeding, the only hope I have is to stem it. And if I can't do it by myself," he said, pulling out Stella's Sapphire, "I'll have to have a little help."

Nyx smiled. "How is she, by the way?" the moth asked. "I heard through the grapevine you were working on something to communicate better."

Syll nodded and paused before speaking. "She says things are alright. It's quiet where she is at, but she's not in any anguish. At least, not at the moment…"

"Oh?" Nyx asked.

"Well, every so often she has crying spells. I'm hoping the communications device I'm developing gives her a bit more freedom to see what's out here." He paused and pointed at the pool. "He's about to break the surface. Get ready."

As the jackal pulled his head from the water, he violently thrashed. "I can still fight!" he shouted, an anguished pop cracking in his voice. The distortion of his mask made it difficult to properly pinpoint precisely which overlayed voice was his own and which was a projection, but as he came to recognize his surroundings, Sylphic was already wading into the rapidly disappearing water.

"It's alright, sir," the hybrid said. "I'm not here to hurt you. You must be—"

"Don't you touch me, insect," the jackal said. He raised his arm before clutching his chest and coughing hard through the voice modulator. "I don't need your pity."

Sylphic frowned. "You're confused." He reached forward. "It's hard to hear you underneath that mask."

"Don't!" the arrival shouted. A strange pinkish haze seemed to eminate from his chest, right where his hand was grasping.

Nyx frowned. "No, it can't be…" she breathed.

As Syll watched his friend move closer, he saw the glint of a gem buried in his chest. "Another Eye?" he thought aloud. "It isn't even shaped like the rest, though."

The jackal lunged forward and took a swing at him before darting to the edge of the near-empty pool. He frantically clambered up the side and sprinted towards the exit, but as he reached the outer sanctum, he realized that there was a frozen waterfall in the way. His mask slammed into the ice and was knocked away, and he turned around and stared at the hybrid who'd followed him.

Sylphic placed the Sapphire against his head before pulling his hand away. "You're injured. If you keep moving, you'll bleed out."

The jackal struggled to put his mask back on. He clearly was unconcerned as he stood up and widened his stance. "What is it to you?" he asked, voice duplicated again as he covered his face.

Nyx landed beside Sylphic. "There's no way that gem is real… I threw it into another dimension."

Sylphic pursed his lips before holding his hand up. "What's your name?" he asked the newcomer.

"What business do you have in knowing who I am? Who I was?" the jackal replied. From his chest, a faint pinkish mist seemed to spill. Nyx frowned and tucked herself further behind Syll.

The medic stepped a bit closer. "Okay, I'll go first. My name is Sylphic. You came here from another dimension. You're injured and if you don't get medical help soon, you'll die."

The jackal frowned and held his hand up. "No closer, you sewer rat!" he said. His voice held a deep sense of assuredness, but also a note of fear. The mist from him intensified, and a loud droning sound hit Sylphic's ears and caused him to clutch his head.

As Sylphic screamed, he noticed how the world had gone crimson. Nyx seemed to have disappeared, as had the guest.

The world tore at its seams like a thread being pulled from a tapestry, like a broken VHS attempting to play a film. The images that made up the medic's world seemed to rip and split and shake, and for a moment, he swore he could see something happening to his own body.

A sense of dread overtook him as he held up his arms. He took a look at them as he observed the glitchy surroundings before watching as his arms flashed from violet to a washed-out yellow for the briefest of instants. The sound of an anguished yell rang through his surroundings, the sound of an enraged "I'm not weak!" that was ripping through someone's lungs like a ravenous tiger breaking free from a cage. A momentary image of bodies piled beneath rocks sent his stomach into a tailspin. But before he could even hope to explain to himself what had happened, he was plunged back into reality.

He looked at the jackal and stood up straight. "What was that?" he said.

"My powers…" the brigand said. "They're… still here?"

Sylphic took no time and quickly used the canine's distracted moment against him. "Stella!" he shouted, drawing up one of his hands.

As the jackal turned to attempt to get through the wall, he felt himself tumble over, unable to move his legs. "What the-"

Nyx frowned. "Aren't you going a little hard, sister?" she asked.

Stella, through Syll, responded. "It's only to restrain him, I promise."

The jackal gripped a handful of dust from the floor and threw it into Sylphic's eyes before attempting to break free of his grip. While his legs were free, it took the medic a matter of moments before a pair of chains shot from the ice wall and held him fast.

Bleary-eyed, Syll approached. "What was that?" he repeated, this time a bit more firm. He slowly walked forward and held his hand up to remove the traveler's mask. "Who are you?"

The jackal struggled, trying to pull his head away from the medic's approaching grasp. "Don't touch me!" he shouted. He didn't even seem to realize how badly he was shaking, but Syll did, and he retracted his hand as another flash of yellow hit his arms.

"Fine, I won't remove it. Not now." He carefully undid the jackal from the wall, but quickly took ahold of his legs. "Don't try running- the Sapphire amplifies my powers. I have control of the water in your muscles, however difficult it may be to maintain."

The jackal coughed through his mask, the split in his voice making it sound several times worse. "You think that this will stop me from running?"

"No, but I know better than to just let you slip away," Syll looked at him, clearly trying to parse out what he'd just witnessed. Why had his colors changed? Who was shouting so far in the distance? Who was buried in all the rubble? "You might be strong, but I'm stronger."

The jackal attempted to move his arms towards his chest, but Syll locked those up as well, though it took significantly more effort than he'd hoped. The hybrid began feeling tears run down his face as he focused. "Nyx," he said. "A little help here."

"What do you expect me to do?" Nyx asked.

"You said that was another Eye," Syll weakly said. The eye above his forehead began to flicker as he slowly lost control.

Nyx frowned. "I thought it was too but… this one is a fake. An imitation."

The jackal groaned and tilted his head up. "This is no imitation, you brat!" he yelled. A bright pink flash glinted, and they were sent back into a crimson-stained world of fraying visions. Nyx hugged Syll's leg again as she spotted the unmistakable silhouette of Akshi breaking apart behind the ice wall. "N-no!" she yelled, and violently threw her hands up.

The vision faded as she came back to her own aura surrounding the jackal, rendering his powers null as she struggled to maintain her grasp. It slowly expanded into a bubble,

"What the heck?" the jackal said. He kicked and stumbled about, trying to use whatever was trapped in his chest, but as he pulled the power within him his only visible eye glazed over and he pressed himself into the wall from an invisible threat.

Syll looked at Nyx and frowned. "Wow, sis," Stella spoke. "I know you were capable of a lot but it seems a little out of character for you to resort to actual torture."

"I'm not torturing him," the moth replied. "He has some copy of the Phantom Ruby, and he's using it only to have it bounce back on himself."

"The Phantom Ruby?" Syll asked. He held a hand up to his forehead. "That's enough for now, Stella. Thank you."

"I'm remembering faintly that another one of my incarnations threw the Ruby into another dimension in an attempt to keep it from causing a mess. But this one feels wrong- it has no heart, no soul." Her eyes seemed downcast. "Perhaps had I known it would cause this much of a hassle I'd have kept it here. Still, what's with that strange shape? I don't recall the Ruby looking like that."

The jackal screeched. "I'm not weak!" he shouted, still trapped in an unseen nightmare.

"Stella's right, you know," Syll said, tucking his friend back into her resting place. "This does seem a bit harsh."

"The Ruby's powers were unstable. That sister in particular did things out of fear, out of self-preservation. If someone came close, she'd curl into a ball and bear her spikes, so to speak," Nyx said. "It's not the best metaphor but it's what I got."

"If I didn't know you were talking about a moth, I would have suspected a different creature entirely," Syll teased. He set the stone in his belt and came forward. "Seriously though- at least give him some rest."

Syll carefully reached through the barrier, content that he could do so. As firmly but precisely as possible, he took a fist and punched below the jackal's chin, rendering him unconscious quickly and knocking away his mask. Nyx pulled her powers away and stood next to him. "He's really banged up," she said.

"You're telling me. The fact that he managed to move as much as he did… what sort of world did he even come from?"

"I'm not sure," Nyx said. "But you better get him help before he wakes up. It looks like he's already deteriorating."

Nyx stayed in place as Syll moved closer. Her eyes were still glancing around the area, clearly distraught at something.

"You can't come with?" Syll asked. "You clearly have a better grasp on him than I do."

"I would normally, yes, but with Concerto still loose I can't shirk my duties. What if Aria gets taken? Those two together would be a considerably difficult threat to manage." Nyx said. "Maybe when we have Concerto under wraps I would be able to but… not now. Sorry."

Syll nodded. "I understand." He unfroze the water, leaving a puff of steam as it heated, and wrapped a bunch of it around the jackal. "I'll call you later to update you. Hopefully with Stella's help I can keep him from moving too much.

Nyx nodded. "Good luck!"

Syll chuckled nervously. "Yeah," he said, reminded of the flashes he'd seen and heard. "I'll try to have that."

The stadium was empty, just as Tails had said. Bastette nervously wrung her hands before wheeling her sister inside. "I don't think I've seen a place this un-packed before. Have you?" she jokingly asked.

"Yeah, the teams must really have a rivalry going if they need this much space!" Jolt said back. "Seriously though- I don't think I'm ever gonna get over the sheer amount of empty seats here. I don't remember the stadium being this big a few years ago."

"Yeah, remember how big into the track meets you got?" the orange cat replied. "You said you wanted to be like that one guy south of the Federation…"

"Yeah, him? Yeah, I still do, though I don't think competing against him would be fair, and you know why. Though I think that seeing some of the action in Station Square might have changed my mind…"

Bastette smirked. "Oh, so that's why you kept gawking at Sonic a month ago."

Jolt frowned and turned in her wheelchair to face her sister. "Hey, when you realize your friend is best friends with a freakin' celebrity that you admire you can get lost in the moment." She settled back down. "Seriously, were you ever gonna tell me?"

"I just reunited with you and you never told me before the bomb threat," Bastette said. The mischievous grin was still glued to her face. "How was I supposed to know?"

"Fair enough," Jolt said.

Bastette settled down on a bench with Jolt facing her. "Tails is on her way," she explained. "There were a few finishing touches she needed to do on something before she arrived."

Jolt nodded. "I bet it's the fancy watch she's been designing," she said. "She said it was a very touchy project and that a wrong move could possibly have pretty serious consequences, but I always try to tell her that she's worrying too much."

"I'm sure she just wants it to be safe," Bastette said. "She's a good scientist, Jolt- she checks and double checks her work."

"More like quintuple checks," Jolt said. "I hope she finishes it up soon- it sounded super interesting from what I heard."

Bastette smiled, distracted by something behind her sister. "You have a lot in common with your idol, you know?"

"I mean, I guess?" Jolt said, not noting her sister's strange gaze through her. "Am I really that impatient?"

"Eh, impatient isn't the right word," a spry voice said from behind her. "I like to think I'm more… excited."

Jolt went pale before she turned around and stared. Sonic was striding forward behind her, giving her a thumbs up as he approached. "I-I…"

"Heh, looks like the cat doesn't have her own tongue this time," he said, sitting down next to Bastette. "Seriously, Jolt, you didn't think I wasn't gonna show for one of Tails' new toys, did you?"

Bastette sheepishly smiled. "Oh, yeah, I totally forgot to tell you, didn't I?"

Jolt swallowed a lump in her throat. "I-I… I have so many questions. I mean, I'm kinda… a big fan, I guess."

"Well, we can answer questions now if you'd like," Sonic said. "Or we can wait 'til Tails shows up so we can give you a surprise gift."

"You mean the legs?" Jolt asked. "Not much of a gift if you know it's coming."

Sonic chuckled. "That's not the gift we're talking about."

"He's right," Bastette said. "I think I understand why Tails told us to meet here."

Sonic stood and moved a bit closer. "So, Jolt, Tails said she made something that would work with your powers. I didn't know you had 'em, so…" He awkwardly scratched his head and held out his free hand. "You wanna show me?"

Jolt frowned. "Are you sure? Shadow fell over when I tried this."

"Come on, it can't be that bad!" Sonic insisted. "I've been hit by worse."

Jolt rubbed her hands together just a little bit.

Sonic frowned. "Don't go easy on me just because you look up to me, you know."

Jolt narrowed her eyes. "Okay, you asked for it," she said. Her slight grazing of the hands turned into a vigorous and frantic rubbing before she reached forward. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Bastette grimaced. "Yeah, I'll just get my phone ready."

Sonic paused before grabbing her hand. There wasn't anything. "Oh, this isn't so ba—"

An explosion of sparks danced across his fur and caused him to fall into the ground. Jolt's eyes widened. "Sonic, are you okay? I-I didn't…"

She stopped as he sat back up and clutched his head, laughing as he quickly recovered. "That was awesome!" He held his hand out. "Come on, one more time!"

Jolt's worry seemed to fade into joy as she wound up another shock. She'd never seen someone so willing to be zapped as the hedgehog was. Not that she was worried about electrocution- she knew how to keep her powers under lethal doses.

Meanwhile, Bastette was filming the moment for posterity's sake. Well, that and she enjoyed seeing her older twin's smile. A million dollars couldn't buy it or any of the joy it could produce.

"Hey, we're here!" said Tails from a distance. She'd entered from the same place the twins did, and following close behind was Shadow, who appeared to be lugging cases over his shoulders.

"Tails!" Sonic said. "Glad you could make it, pal! I was just getting some shock therapy before we begin."

"Yeah, I can tell," the fox replied. "You smell singed."

"Fair." He turned to Jolt. "So, are you ready to get outta that chair?"

"I've been out of it before, you know," she said. "I have "legs" designed for running. Though they aren't as permanent as these will hopefully be."

Sonic chuckled. "Well, I hope they're as good as two months of work can get ya."

"Knowing Tails," Bastette said, "sleep may have been lost."

"Sleep was lost," Tails replied with a grin. "But that's not your gift."

Jolt sat up straight as she saw Shadow drop the containers. "Wait, what's with the blue box? You didn't make a second pair, did you?"

"Oh no, I don't think you'll need a second pair with how well these turned out. No, this is a high speed camera," Tails said, patting the top of the blue box. "The red one has your legs."

Jolt looked down. She was seated on top of a track. "Wait just a sec…" She looked at Sonic, then to Shadow, then to Tails. "You… you're kidding, right?" she asked.

Sonic chuckled. "Nah," he said. "I remember Tails saying something about another racer here."

Jolt's grin widened. "But you two are so…"

"Fast?" Shadow asked, smirking. "Yeah, it's kind of our thing. That won't be a problem, will it?"

"I mean, do these legs even go that fast?" Jolt asked.

"Well, yeah, I added nitro mode," Tails said. "I already told you that."

"I know, but—"

Sonic put a hand on her shoulder. "We can always take it easy on you, you know," he said.

Jolt looked him dead in the eyes. "Oh ho, no. You did not just…"

Bastette frowned. "Oh, here she goes…"

"You're gonna go easy on me 'cause I'm a chick, ain'tcha? Bring it the heck on." Jolt kicked off her blanket. "Get me geared up so I can kick the snot outta these boys."

Tails smirked. "Right on it, ma'am," she replied.

As Tails helped Jolt gear up, Bastette put a hand on Sonic's shoulder. "Yeah, maybe don't do that next time. You're kinda her hero, you know?" She looked at Shadow. "And you, quite literally."

Shadow smirked. "I doubt she's that fast. I mean, Sonic and I sped down the barrel of a space laser and avoided getting obliterated."

"You're awfully sure of yourself," Bastette said. "Before she lost her legs she was the fastest on her track team."

"Oh? Can't be that bad," Sonic said.

"I got disqualified," Jolt clarified. "Because I did a mile in twelve seconds."

Shadow crossed his arms. "Alright, you certainly have my attention."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Twelve seconds, huh?"

"Yup," Jolt said. "300 miles per hour."

Sonic took both her hands. "Maybe you are more than meets the eye, then," he said, pulling her up.

Jolt rocked a bit as she got used to the feeling of her legs before grinning. "Tails, you said there was a wheel function here?"

"Oh, right. Yeah, charge up and hit the hex panels on the sides."

Jolt rubbed her hands together and examined the legs. "Outside of the ankle, right?" she asked.

Tails nodded and turned to Sonic. "Lucky you- I've been wanting to test these against some tough competition. They use a lot of similar features that my Straightwinds do, but the contact at the attachment point means that she can power them with her abilities." She held a finger to her chin and gave her friend a playful smirk. "Pretty ingenious, if I do say so myself."

"Gotta hand it to ya, pal," Sonic replied. "You've been changing lives all over the place. First 'Tette, then Jolt…"

"Hey, I wouldn't have been given the chance if I didn't have someone to show me how to be cool," she said back. She slugged him in the shoulder. "Jolt," the fox said, turning her head, "clicking your heels will enable nitro." She then turned to begin setting up the camera.

"Wouldn't wanna slam myself into a wall just yet," Jolt said. She carefully clicked her left foot to her right heel, and the whir of the boost became primed. "So boys, um…" she paused. "Is it just Sonic racing or…?"

Shadow smirked. "I'm not missing it for the world."

Tails carefully adjusted the camera before giving a thumbs up. "Should be good to go."

Jolt gently skated to the line. "Then let's get started."

Shadow frowned and looked at Sonic. "Hope you like third place."

Sonic smiled back. "Yeah? Because I'm sure you're gonna be the one sitting there."

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Please, I have little doubt that Jolt can keep up."

Sonic paused. "Hey, I never said that I had doubt. Nobody's faster than me."

"You know, for hedgehogs, you're getting over here pretty slow," the cat taunted. "At this rate I'll have to start without you."

The boys growled and sped over. "You're the slow one," they said in unison. "Hey, don't copy me," they said again.

Jolt turned around. "I hope you don't mind me showing off," she said. "Just a little entertainment for my heroes. Well, mostly for me, but still."

Sonic and Shadow looked at each other. "Wait you're going to skate backwards?" Sonic asked. "Are you trying to lose here?"

"Hardly," she replied. "Just figured I'd like to watch you choke down my dust. Dinner and a show."

Sonic smirked. "How will you see where you're going?"

"It's a standard track, not much to miss," Jolt said. "Tails, you ready?"

Shadow rolled his eyes. "I can't stand both of your personalities in the same room. It's like having an extra Sonic…"

Tails held up the prop gun and started the camera. "Alright, on your marks…"

The boys knelt down, touching their knuckles to the ground. Jolt tapped her toes against the ground before grazing one heel with the other. Bastette grinned, remembering the joy from all those years ago of watching her sister go about errands this way. It never got old feeling the wind the vacuum of her presence left whenever she had to grab milk.

"Set…" Tails smiled. She seemed to already know the outcome, judging by the looks on the faces of the boys. Though her smile disappeared for a brief second as she watched what Jolt did.

"...GO!" she shouted, after the pause passed her.

As fast as her namesake, Jolt left the finish line. The hedgehogs hesitated before looking at each other and scowling, launching themselves forward and following the jaunty cat.

18 laps in. Shadow could feel a buzz from his phone but ignored it as he moved forward, keeping an even pace with both his rival and Jolt. This has to be some sort of trick, there's no way that this is all they have.

Sonic watched as Shadow advanced past him. "Oh no, you don't…" he said, speeding up to match. "You're not gettin' past me."

Jolt giggled and looked at the boys before matching pace and skating beside them. She put one of her legs across the thigh of the other and lazily put her hands against her head. "Is that seriously all you got? Stop holding back for me, will ya? It's insulting." A brief flash of her smirk left the hedgehogs both annoyed before she turned forwards and skated past them.

The hedgehogs stared at each other before nodding resolutely, jumping forward and pulling themselves ahead.

175 laps in. There wasn't much left. Sonic had to think fast. Not that it was that hard to.

He grinned and boosted himself forward, a strong percussive blast of air left in his wake. He wasn't going to let either of them win.

A second boom came from behind, and up came Shadow cheekily shooting him a grin. "You're not being very fair to Jolt, you know," he said.

"Maybe I just feel a little—"

"Threatened?" Shadow said. "Wow, you've really been on edge since last time, haven't you?"

The comment stung a bit too hard. "Shadow, that's not very—"

A third loud noise came from behind the two of them, and they caught Jolt approaching fast. "Uh oh," they said to each other.

Shadow pushed a little bit further, as did Sonic, but as they crossed the finish line, they spotted the orange cat whizzing past them…

...and directly slamming into a wall. Sonic frowned and ran over. "Jolt!" he shouted. "Um, you okay?"

The orange cat burst out laughing. "That was great! You boys really are stiff competition. Still, there's no way you went slower. Had to be off by a few seconds."

Sonic smiled and offered his hand before hoisting Jolt up. "Well, whatever it was, it was fun."

Jolt looked at Bastette and Tails, who were both gawking at the playback of the camera. "What's wrong?"

"Um… Jolt, how close did you say you were? A few seconds?" Bastette asked.

"Yeah, why? Did I hit the mark?" she asked.

Tails pursed her lips. "You were behind, but it was less of a few seconds and more like… a few microseconds."

Shadow and Sonic looked at each other, then to Jolt. The former could see a slight blush creep over the latter's face, and he couldn't help but smirk. "Is something the matter?" he asked him.

"The matter? No, nothing's "the matter", nothing at all, just—" Sonic paused. "That call was too close."

Jolt sighed. "Better luck next time, I guess," she said to the fox. "Seriously, I broke a sweat trying to keep up."

Sonic grinned a little bit more. "Well, we could always go again, you know," he said.

Jolt paled. "Do you… mean that? Don't say it unless you mean it."

Shadow smiled and patted his rival on the back, knocking him forward a bit. "Looks like you got yourself some competition. First she'll beat you, and then she'll try to beat me."

"Don't think you aren't on my radar, pal," Jolt said.

Shadow was about to speak when his phone went off again. He reached down and pointed a finger up as if to say "one moment". "Yes, Syll, what's going on?"

There was a momentary pause as the rest of the group heard shouting from the other end. Shadow bristled and bit his lip a bit. "Look, there was an appointment I had to keep and— no, I will be there, so stop lecturing me over the phone so I can get over to the office."

Another pause, and Shadow's eyes went wide. "Yeah, okay. I didn't know, sorry for ignoring the first phone call. Where did you find him?"

As Shadow turned and skated off, still on the phone, Tails raised an eyebrow. "Wonder what that's about," she said. "Eh, probably something we shouldn't mess with. I've had my fair share of adventures for now."

Jolt chuckled. "Heh, maybe I could join you one day," she said.

"Sis, you shouldn't risk it," Bastette replied. "What we've done before is dangerous."

Jolt tilted her head. "I know that it's supposed to be a warning, but you're making it sound like an advertisement."

Tails chimed in. "Speaking of warnings," she said, "I need to talk with you for a sec." She beckoned Jolt to follow her down the track.

Bastette and Sonic looked at each other before the latter spoke. "Oh no, that's the look," he said.

"Yeah, I know that look too," the cat replied.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Tails turned to face her friend. "Are you serious? You turned off the nitro? You could have overclocked those things!"

"Tails, you know how I feel about cheating," Jolt said.

"I know, but I don't know how strong the axles are at going that fast for that long." She put a hand on her forehead. "I can't stay too mad. You didn't tell me that's how fast you could go."

"Well, it wouldn't be fair to let them have all the fun, would it?" Jolt replied. "Still, I'll take it easy for you. I know you still have a few tests you wanna run."

The fox nodded. "Thanks. Oh, and if Sonic says he wants to race again, you better bet he's gonna hold you to it."

"Oh, I know," Jolt said. "He looks like he's a little more than interested in racing."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tails said. "...You know, it's no big deal."

"What's… what's up, Watts?" Jolt asked. "You suddenly got down."

"What?" Tails said, jumping back to attention. "Oh, it's nothing, there's just been something on my mind. Something that's been nagging at me for a while now, actually."

"Heh, well, you should go tell him, then." Jolt patted her on the back. "I mean, you told him you weren't gonna hide anything, right?"

"It's not that, it's…" The fox gently put her foot down and nodded. "Don't worry, I'll handle it."

"Good, because I don't wanna be blunt for you."

Sonic raised his hands. "You ladies done gossiping? We could go grab a bite to eat if you're feeling up for it." He frowned as he held a hand to his stomach. "There's a bunch of stuff open downtown."

Jolt and Tails giggled to each other before the former smirked and clicked her heels. The mechanisms within whirred as the nitro powered up. "Alright, Big Blue, you're on. Last one to Armillo's pays up."

Before Bastette or Tails could say anything, the two speedsters were off, and the fox took the remaining cat to the air in pursuit.