Nearly 24 hours passed, and at that stage, Neo and Boron were starting to get adapted to their way of life, even if they did fail to get the wrong end of the fishing rod a few times. But no matter what happened, they knew that it was better there than out in the streets in Neo's case or in the wilderness alone in Boron's case. In that time another piece of danger came to them. The sun was only just coming over the horizon, yet Neo was seen in the back streets searching through the trash cans for food...
"Tragedy, when the feeling's gone and you can't go wrong it's tragedy", Neo sang to himself before his eyes suddenly widened from his position. "What the..."
Right there, there was a peculiar looking item in the trash. As he pulled it out, he became more curious...
"Barbwire?" He gasped at the sight of it. "I don't get it."
As he tugged it out of the trash, he ended up knocking a few trash cans over and seeing a trail of the wire leading further into the city.
"And who would want to do something like that?"
He started following it through the city - through the heavy road traffic, along the streets, through a music concert (!) and through the backstage door, where he saw a nasty surprise...
Neo then gave out a gasp. "Someone's gonna kill me - or to make things worse... THE WHOLE CITY!!"
Right in front of him was a bomb. He walked right towards it and saw a handwritten message saying, "Your days are numbered" and the timer was on 10 minutes.
"I can recognize that handwriting anywhere", he panicked. "The others MUST know about this!"
And he headed back through the music concert, pushing his way through the crowds as he did so. During that occasion, he stole a nearby hippie's camera and used it to take a picture of the performers.
"Clear and perfect!" he said before tossing the camera back towards the hippie.
"Thank you!"
He soon made his way back onto the streets and onto the roads, where he climbed back into the sewers.

Meanwhile, near the underground river, Snappy was seen there teaching Boron how to catch fish.
"And you put the sinker there", Snappy said as he placed it underneath the hook. He then turned towards the wolverine. "Are you paying attention?"
"YEAH! YEAH!" Boron exclaimed while jumping.
"Well put the sinker there, then!"
As Snappy turned his back, Boron looked confused and scratched his head, before showing wide expression-filled eyes. His confusion was soon broken by… a set of footsteps from the other side.
"GUYS!"
Snappy gasped at the voice. "Wow - have you caught a deer in those trashcans?"
Soon enough, Neo arrived where Snappy and Boron were, and once there he made a sudden stop and gasped for breath.
"Bad news", he continued to gasp. "We're nearly dead meat...!"
"Take it easy, Cortie", nodded Snappy.
"Cortie..." Neo gave off a more ambitious smile. "I like the sound of that! Anyway, back to business. I found this bomb in the back allies, and I can see that Tiko has threatened to destroy everyone and everything in the city!"
Snappy gasped, with Boron screaming next to him. "YOU WHAT?!?"
"Come on - we don't have time to lose!"
Snappy gave off a devious smile. "We're right behind you!"
The gang dashed out of the sewers towards the bomb - and that meant going through the traffic, and through the music concert.
"That's my cousin!" Neo said while pointing at a girl in the audience.
Snappy pointed over to a blonde singer on stage. "That's my idol!"
They soon made their way out backstage, where they managed to walk their way straight back to the bomb.
"So", Snappy smiled, "this is where the trail ends."
"And here's where the trouble begins!" a voice was heard.
That sound caused all three of them to turn around ambitiously. Within the pack, Boron screamed and took cover behind Neo's legs.
"Who said that?" Snappy asked with a loud voice.
"I know that voice", Neo responded quietly to himself.
And yet he did - Tiko jumped out of the shadows with his siblings, all of them having cruel smiles on their faces.
"I've got one question for you - why do you want to destroy your hometown?" Neo asked his siblings with anger.
"The people in this city are dumb nuts, like you guys are!" Tiko growled.
"Look - not all people are 'dumb nuts'", said Snappy in a calm voice. "There's a rock band having a concert in the building next to you!"
"They're pathetic", Lio said while rolling his eyes.
Neo growled towards Snappy, with Boron following with a sigh behind him. "Why did you say that?"
"Er... because I think they're good people."
"Moving on to the bomb behind you", said Tiko with his voice being raised, "I bet you can never escape its blast in 2 minutes, when it goes off!"
Neo gave out a gasp. "That's it! Boron, try and disable the bomb..." He looked around. And yet, he wasn't there. "Boron?"
He soon looked behind him, and it was there that Boron was seen cowering and shaking behind a trashcan.
"OK", he sighed before turning to Snappy. "How about YOU disabling the bomb?"
"I'll try!"
"Oh no you won't, scale face!" Deksta scowled towards him.
In an instant, she performed a high jump and when she landed she pinned Snappy onto the floor.
"Look - no girl messes with him!" shouted Neo as he clutched his fists.
"May I advise you to GIVE IT UP?" Tiko shouted to him. "You've got 90 seconds on the clock, and it takes 20 to reset the bomb!"
Neo then sighed angrily. "Snappy! Kick out!"
Snappy kicked Deksta in the groin and rolled to one side. Then he charged into her, knocking her onto the backstage door.
"Ouch..."
Snappy gave out a cackle. "The bomb's mine!"
But as he was about to reset it, Hallie attacked him with the whip, knocking him down to the floor...
"OI!" Neo shouted back. "No girl picks with him! Come here..."
But sooner enough, Boron leapt out from behind the trashcans and charged her into Deksta. After the attack, he was panting like mad and growling angrily.
While that happened, Neo helped Snappy back onto both feet. "Are you all right?"
"Just a muscle stretch, but it's nothing personal."
"I am warning you guys that the bomb will go off in 45 seconds, so you'd best be quick!" Tiko scowled towards the others.
"Yeah, like, as quick as the fact that I will do this to you right now", Snappy scowled as he brought back one of his fists.
He then tried to punch Tiko, but… he ran out of the way, causing the gator's aim to strike Lio and hit him over towards the girls.
"Why did you do that?" Neo asked Snappy.
"At least it's better than nothin'."
Tiko then responded with another sinister laugh. "You have 30 seconds to escape from the blast..."
"Blast? What blast?" Neo said with a smirk. "I bet you'll never see it!"
"Well, what WOULD I be seeing?"
"You'll be seeing stars!" Snappy said as he stepped in front of the others. "Get here, guys!"
The others came towards Snappy and performed a triple (as proposed to double) team attack on Tiko, sending him towards his other siblings. Then Boron came in with another tackle and blasted them into the sky.
"At least they're doomed for sure!" Hallie screamed.
"How much time left?" Deksta asked while bringing her focus to her brothers.
"15 seconds!" Tiko responded.
"Seems like we're the lucky ones here", cheered Lio as his voice faded out.
And as the voice faded out, they were flown clear over the horizon, leaving a white comet-like trail to fall across the sky.
"And stay away from us, you good-for-nothing-excuse-for-a-big-brother!" Neo growled towards the skies.
"Yeah, but please take note of the little amount of time on the bomb", frowned Snappy.
"What?"
"The timer says that there's 10 seconds left!"
Neo panicked. "But what are we going to do about the other people? And the music band?"
"They must have finished about a few minutes ago, so they might have gone by the time those siblings were gone", Snappy broadly smiled. "Now there's 5 seconds left on the clock - what do you want to do - risk your life to save others and if we're dead we leave Tiko to take over the world, or escape it while leaving thousands of others killed?"
"And it only takes 20 to deactivate it", thought Neo. "I think we should..."

As the bomb exploded, our heroes were seen running for their life and after reaching a cactus about 200 metres from the city, the explosion stopped.
Neo gave out a light sigh. "I guess this is a case of paradise lost."
"Yeah", frowned Snappy. "I sure hope the people managed to get out of there."
In the background, Boron howled with sadness before walking his way right behind Neo once again.
"Take it easy, kid", Snappy said as he stroked Boron's back from his position. "We'll find a new home, somehow."
"And we also need to get our own back on Tiko for what he did!" Neo started to curse.
"Keep your cool, Cortie..."
"I can't keep my cool! What if he comes with an unexpected surprise?"
Snappy then sighed sadly. "I guess you're right, and I guess we're gonna have to check all of the states."
"Why ALL of the states?" Neo asked.
"Because we never know what will happen."
"Fine", Neo sighed while picking up Boron. "Looks like we're heading towards a new triumph here... or is it a tragedy?"
And so, the gang was seen leaving the ashes of the city and started heading towards the west. A dark and treacherous journey awaited them.

Four whole years passed and the three of them continued their long and struggling walk across the United States. Their figures suddenly started to change, but nothing much can be really seen through the desert sun. It wasn't long until they emerged into the quaint little town of Artesia in New Mexico and went inside a run-down hotel. The place seemed nearly empty. The only two people in there were the manager, who's looking for something, and an employee scrubbing floors. They reached the centre of the room, and we now see a more sophisticated group than before, with Snappy looking as sick as heck.
"Hang in there Snappy", Neo said to him while maintaining a deeper teenaged voice. "We'll find somewhere", he smiled while walking towards the counter.
"Welcome to the Blanco hotel, the only White House you'll be seeing around New Mexico and the one hotel in town", the manager chuckled as he rushed to the counter. "How may I help you?"
"I'm hoping to get a room that's suitable for 3, please."
"OK, looks like I'll leave the Turkish delights aside", the manager shrugged as he started searching through the drawers for something else. "As I find the guest book, how about you tell me who you guys are..."
"We're a batch of travelers", Neo started. "We've been homeless for four years now and I'm on the search for-"
"Not your profile - your names!" the manager shouted with a high pitch.
"Oh... sorry", he smiled sheepishly. "I'm Neo Cortex", he blinked as he pointed outside. "The sick lizard is Snappy Gator..."
"Hi", the alligator responded weakly. "Sorry, I've got a stomach bug", he said before coughing out a butterfly.
"And this here is..." Neo looked around the room, only to see… a near empty space. "Where is he?"
While that happened, a dark shadow was seen approaching a tropical plant next to a door saying "Private". After a slight bit of time, the monster jumped onto it and chewed it to bits...
"HANDS OFF!" exclaimed the employee with a high pitch.
"What the..." Neo gasped towards the shadow. "Boron!"
The beast turned around, showing himself as Boron, only this time he was seen dressed in a rag-like waistcoat and denim shorts, with knee pads upon his legs. And it was there that if he stood up on two legs, his head would level up towards Neo's belly.
"You got a problem with that?" the employee gestured towards Neo and Boron.
"Not really", shrugged Neo. "I often lose track of him."
"You should be a bit more careful."
"I know", he sighed. "I just don't feel responsible for him. And besides, he won't bite", he smiled towards the employee.
Boron nodded and hugged the employee gently, bringing his arms around his back and giving off a peaceful smile like that.
"See?" chuckled Neo. "He's as cute as a teddy bear!"
"Well, I guess you could be right about that..."
"It's a pleasure meeting up with you", Neo responded back with an innocent look.
"And before you call out your name, I heard it from the counter."
"Oh!" Neo exclaimed with a light laugh.
"It's all right", the employee calmly spoke back. "The name's Nitrus Brio, and I've been an employee here for... let's say... around... let's just call it 'since I was 3'."
Neo then gasped. "But... how..."
"If I've time I'll explain it to you."
"Excuse me Mr. Cortex", the manager shouted from the counter, "but we've got a problem here!"
"Hang on", Neo smiled. "I'll be back." He then rushed towards the counter. "What's wrong?"
"According to the guest book, the hotel is completely full", the manager frowned.
"But we've been traveling for months now!" Neo shouted before turning back to Snappy. "How many months?"
"Around 50 now", said his faint voice from the door.
"I can see how tired you guys are, so I'll let you stay with one of the employees."
Brio raised his face towards his direction and smiled gently. "I'll be happy to let them stay with me if you want, sir!"
"Go ahead."
"And ever since Snappy doesn't feel too good, do you have any medical care?" Neo asked the manager. "Oh, and a set of directions for Brio's home."
"You just turn right and it's the house on the end of the street", Brio responded back. "And there a fine range of medicines and treatments in the health centre/pharmacy next door."
"Thanks", Neo smiled before taking a hold on Boron and Snappy before dashing out of the building. "Come on guys - let's make ourselves at home!"
"Have fun while you can!" the manager waved back. He then paused. "Are they gone?" He paused again. "Thank goodness... they don't really look friendly and thank goodness I didn't let them stay in my beautiful hotel!"
"They were nice guys to me", Brio nodded. "They could help me out in the big race tomorrow! And besides, that's the seventh set of people that you refused to send in this month! What's wrong with you?"
"I don't want anyone to win the sweepstakes other than last year's champion, and I don't want travelers stealing the title from him!"
"You what?" Brio growled at him. "I just can't believe I trusted you... You've been fussy since the start of it all!" he shouted before leaving the building.
"OK, so you've lost an 'employee'", whimpered the manager. "Don't panic... don't panic..."
Various people were seen walking outside the hotel, and from there, an ear-piercing scream can be heard, leaving the citizens to panic and rush back the way the came.

Brio's house was set more like a slum-based home - it in itself looked like it needed repair, and everyone was on the floor sitting in a circle, except for Snappy, who was lying down on an old mattress.
"So how's your life over here?" Neo asked Brio.
"Terrible."
"What do you mean? You have everything you want - sun, smiles, style..."
"And slavery", Brio frowned.
"Huh?" Boron's eyes widened, with his ears pricking up with them.
"To be honest I am a "slave" at the Blanco hotel", Brio then frowned.
"A slave?" Neo asked with a shocked tone. "For about 20 years of your life?"
"You could be right with the lifespan. Since I was 8 I wanted to get out of this place. It was horrible!"
"No wonder the ceiling's under repair", Snappy said while looking up.
While that happened, Neo sent out a more powerful punch, bringing him up towards the ceiling, getting his head stuck. "Next time it would be to the Mississippi and beyond!" He turned back to Brio. "Is there any way of earning freedom?"
"The only way I can is to win the Artesia Sweepstakes, the next one happening tomorrow."
"Well how about you try a little harder?" Neo smiled towards him.
"I tried, but I always lose out to the 20-time champion here, to be 21 tomorrow", he frowned.
"Have you tried better machines?" Neo asked him.
"Not machines - animals!" exclaimed Brio. "We have to be jockeys in the race! Think of it like a horseracing derby, but a lot different. Even I tried a cheetah last year, but we went through the course all the way through at the wrong speed, and I crashed in a cactus near the end. I need big help here..."
"How about Boron? He's good!" he said while gesturing to the wolverine, whom was seen barking in his place.
"And don't forget the old Mr. Crocodile Shoes!" said Snappy as he cautiously brought himself back onto the mattress.
"Thanks guys!" Brio smiled while looking onto the scene around him. "I feel chirpier now..."
Immediately after he spoke, the doors opened, sending in a strong gust. Then through the doors came a ginger cat wearing Texas clothing, complete with a blue eye and a green eye.
"Trigger!" Brio gasped towards the figure.
"Well well well, if it isn't the second-place loser 10 times in a row", he started laughing towards him. "I very much doubt you'll beat me this year - you don't have the guts for it!"
While he spoke, Brio's overall appearance started to change. His brown eyes slowly started to turn a deeper red, and an eerie green glow surrounded his body.
"And besides, you're just a dumb-ass dork!" the cat finished.
"You will be dead meat", Brio growled towards him.
Bizarrely, he morphed himself into a green beast. Giving out a roar, he then stared angrily at Trigger...
"Take it easy now - I'm not dog food!"
Then he charged him straight into a nearby water trough, leaving him wet from his head down to his toes.
"I'll be back, pipsqueak!" the cat cursed. "You are gonna be thrashed come tomorrow!" And then, he left.
Neo's expression showed shock. "That monster..."
During that time, Brio morphed back to his regular form and collapsed upon the ground. That left Neo's expression to show shock.
"Oh God, all this has made me sick", Snappy panicked before burrowing his head inside the mattress.
"You OK?" Neo asked as he went over Brio.
"Wha..." he lightly opened his eyes, showing them in their regular brown color. "What happened?"
"You got morphed into a werewolf-thing."
"A werewolf-thing? Oh, not again", Brio frowned as he sat up. "I've had this problem since I was born. Maybe I ate something radioactive or something... but I'm not sure."
"Maybe you should kick the kitty's butt out of town like that and then you'll earn your freedom easier", smiled Snappy from his position.
"It's my incarnation's decision, not mine", Brio continued to frown.
"I wonder where can I find radioactive trash", Snappy smiled. "Maybe I can turn into a kick-ass monster too!!!"
Again, Neo went to Snappy and pushed him back towards the ceiling, jamming his head deeper within it. "That's a stupid idea - you could get amnesia from that!"
"I know that", Snappy responded back with a faint voice.
"Anyway, back to business", smiled Neo while turning towards Brio. "I'm thinking of helping you out in the sweepstakes!"
"You would? Excellent! Thanks a lot!"
"One problem - where do you sign up?"
"You sign up on a banner round the back of the hotel", Brio smiled back.
"Thanks a million!" Neo smiled before heading towards the door. "Boron, are you coming with me?"
Boron dashes out and it was there that the two left the block in no time. That left Brio sitting on the mattress, thinking about their decisions.
"Those two have good spirits", Brio smiled peacefully. "I've got hope in my heart right now..."
His thoughts were soon broken by the sound of a crack, with Snappy falling from the ceiling and landing on top of Brio. "TIMBER!"
"Ouch."

The following day soon arrived, and at this stage the stadium was packed full of spectators from everywhere and 10 racers with animals fill the starting grid. At one corner of the stands was a commentator's box, with two commentators - one of them look like an elderly man with a youthful voice for his age, while the other one was a normal man in a ten galleon hat.
"Hello and welcome to the Artesia Sweepstakes, where we see carnage with 10 racers in front of 2000 spectators!" the first commentator smiled.
The spectators cheered on in the background, giving off a mixture of chants and whistles to be heard for miles.
"Let's hope we have the same carnage as last year - this is what this race is known for!" the second commentator cackled.
"We very well shall do, as the bookies have been going mad overnight!" replied the first. "Do you know about any big bets?"
"I know about the biggest bet, that's for sure. In column 1 we have Trigger Tortoiseshell, the course champion for 20 years in a row, betted at 2-1! Can he make it 21 today with Breakneck the cheetah?"
Half of the spectators cheered wildly. The other half seemed to either remain silent, or attempted to throw tomatoes at him.
"Like, for over half of his winning streak", started the second commentator, "he's been having serious competition from Nitrus Brio, a slave from the Blanco hotel, over at column 5, betted at 10-1 with his alligator Snappy."
"I hope he does better than last time's cheetah imitation route", blinked the first.
"Let's hope so!"
"Also we have a highly popular last minute entry on our hands!"
"Really?" the second commentator asked.
"Yep. Enter Florida teenager Neo Cortex and his wolverine Boron at column 4, betted at 5-1. That's impressive for a newcomer!"
"Oh yeah! Like, he must have had experience somewhere!"
"But will it be enough to take on the might of Trigger?" the first commentator asked as he shifted his eyes. "Let's find out as this race goes underway!"
The crowd cheered on, while looking on at the scene below. Right there, most of the racers were brought onto the starting grid. And within the crowd, Trigger's expression was just as egoistic as ever.
"I bet I can thrash you babies any day!"
"Call us babies?" Neo asked with a short temper. "We'll show YOU babies..."
"Dorks!"
"You little!" Brio shouted as his eyes turned red.
"Keep your cool, kid", Snappy said while holding onto Brio's hand. "I don't want you to lose your temper at any point during this race!"
"I suppose you're right", he said with his eye color returning back to brown.
"On your marks!" exclaimed a female starter.
At the sound of the cry, the racers got into their starting positions quickly. While Neo and Trigger sat comfortably onto their animals, Brio was left to hang onto Snappy's back in a piggy-back motion as he brought himself into an athelete's starting point. And then, the starter brought out a gun and shot it into the air.
"AAAAAAAAND THEY'RE OFF!!!!" the first commentator exclaimed. "And immediately we have Tortoiseshell going right into the lead, with Cortex being just half of a second behind, a crowd of others following them and Brio struggling behind in last place...
The second commentator then brought himself onto both feet. "Here they come towards the first obstacle - the desert course!"
"Mmmm... Mississippi Mud Pie!"
"Not that kind of desert - we're meaning a hot, dry desert stretch!"
"I should have known about that... Hang on - there's a dragon in the road!"
Along the stretch, a small green dragon was seen walking across the road and when Trigger came along he was chased off. Then when some other racers came, it shot its flame right at a bull...
"There goes Bruno Brown... OW!" the second commentator exclaimed with shock. "There he goes crashing right into Kevin Stone and his... sheep?"
"He always rides a sheep over in these parts", shrugged the first.
"No wonder... We are now down to 8 players, and they're all approaching Mount Sharp!"
"Oh no... not Mount Sharp!"
"Stop complaining and start yakking! I'll start by saying that they're nearly at the top..."
Over there, Trigger and Neo slid down the slopes successfully and sooner enough, another rider came.
"Here comes Spike Robinson with his hedgehog", smiled the first commentator. "I don't know how he can get used to it!"
"It's all about experience..." the second commentator then gasped. "OH MY GOSH! The hedgehog has drilled a wall through the mountain! It's coming out the other side...!"
The hedgehog ran straight into a female jockey and an eagle, taking them both off course together.
"Woah... there goes Sadie McGraw!" the first commentator exclaimed towards the other. "We are now down to 6 players!"
"Here we go in the second half of the course, with 6 players left in this order - Trigger Tortoiseshell, Neo Cortex, Scott Cacti, Marina Ice, Pedro Macintosh and Nitrus Brio. Will it all change?"
"Let's find out!"
"Here comes Trigger coming towards the next obstacle..."
"You mean the Lake Cross?"
Trigger leapt across the platforms across the lake with great speed and care, grabbing hold on his cheetah as tight as his hands can take him.
"There goes the first player across - who will be next to take it on?" the first commentator asked the other.
"Here comes Cortex!"
On the track itself, Neo managed to bring Boron straight towards the lake, with a determined look upon him.
"ADELANTE!"
Boron then screamed happily, before he managed to make his jump straight towards the first platform on the water.
"Take it easy - if we're out, then I guess Trigger's gonna put us under slave work here, if that's what he did to Brio!"
Boron screamed and then hopped across the platforms faster than Trigger did when he approached it.
"Talk about considerable speed", shrieked the first commentator. "This has cut the distance between him and Trigger by 2 seconds!"
"Here come Cacti, Ice and Macintosh battling it out for bronze here - Cacti on an overgrown gecko, Ice on a walrus and Macintosh on a horse", the second commentator lightly smirked.
All three of them jumped into the water at the same time, but only Marina and her walrus surfaced... and jumped back to shore!
"Looks like those three are out - 2 sinkers and a scared seal", blinked the first commentator with shock.
The second commentator gave out a growl. "I just said it's a walrus, not a seal!"
"Oh..." The first one then gasped as he looked on ahead of him. "Here comes Brio - Gone in the water again... Oh... he's gone swimmingly great here!"
In the water itself, Snappy was seen swimming across the lake with Brio on his back in a crawling position.
"Wow - good work, Snappy - How did you do that?"
"I've been experienced at that since I was 8 - so there!" he smiled towards him.
"Hey - don't be rude... and anyhow... FULL SPEED AHEAD!"
Snappy sped across the lake and as soon as he surfaced, he dashed as far as he could and caught up with Trigger and Neo.
"There's a race here for first place!" the first commentator gasped while turning to his partner. "Who knows who will win?"
"No one does, as far as I know."
Trigger started sending his cheetah to push into his opposition, who also started pushing into him.
"This is going like chaos!" the first commentator shrieked. "The remaining three racers are on a heavy strike here!"
Then Breakneck pushed Brio off Snappy, who started hanging onto his red belt as hard as he could.
"CRIKEY!" the second commentator shouted. "Brio's on his last stand here... or is he?"
Then Brio glowed and transformed into the beast in no time at all. Then he released his grip on Snappy and charged into Boron, sending Neo flying onto his back...
"OW!" Neo exclaimed. "What was that for?"
The beast gave in a loud roar at him, causing his hair to end up blowing much more violently within the wind.
"OK, I'll be quiet", Neo smirked before pondering to himself. "Let's kick his furry butt back to where it should be!"
"We've got a change of line-up here", exclaimed the first commentator from his position. "Trigger and Breakneck are versus Cortex and Brio in the final stretch!"
Both challengers were both taking over each over in this crucial stage as the number of metres decreased - 400, 200, 100, 50... They both went over the finish.
"Come to think of it, the results seem unclear", the first commentator gasped.
"So right!" replied the other.
"Let's try a slow motion tape of this crucial stage..."
A nearby monitor started to show the last 50 metres in slow motion. Meanwhile Trigger, Neo and the Beast were here awaiting the results of the close battle.
"I bet you're going down, like I did with Brio for the past... er... I forgot how many years", Trigger shrugged to himself.
"I bet you'll lose to us!" growled Neo. "What DO you plan to do?"
"The same thing I did in the past 20 years - Send in all challengers to slavery!" Trigger laughed sadistically.
"It'll be in your dreams when that happens again - you'll see."
While he spoke, the Beast morphed back to Brio, who collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air and looking around with his brown eyes again.
"Are you OK?" Neo asked him.
"What happened?" Brio said in a faint voice.
"I'll explain later. Right now we're waiting for the results of the race."
"The results are in - and I bet the crowd will be surprised by this result", smiled the first commentator. "This is destined to be a first!"
"You guessed it - I'll be in the Guinness Book of Records before you know it!" Trigger snickered to himself.
"And the winners are..." the second commentator gasped. "The superstar team of Neo Cortex and Nitrus Brio!!!!"
The crowd went wild and from the finish line Snappy and Boron gave each other a high five in joy.
"WE DIT IT!" Neo exclaimed with happiness while hugging Brio around his chest. "WE DID IT!"
"Thanks", said Brio with tears of joy. "I would forever appreciate your gratitude!"
"WHAT? I LOST?!?" Trigger scowled while cursing at Neo.
"Stay down, kid - fame is far away from you!" Neo then sighed while punching Trigger hard enough to bring him over the horizon.
"Hey - that really packed a punch!" the second commentator exclaimed.
"And now that we have two winners for this year, how about we both hear their wishes?" asked the other.
The crowd cheered on, chanting Neo's and Brio's names within the crowd as they did so, leaving them both to smile.
"OK, let's see what they want", the second commentator smiled.
"You go first", Brio nodded towards Neo. "My wish is a surprise for the nation."
"Fine with me", Neo said while turning to the crowd. "Ever since I'm a tired traveler - well, I've been walking on foot for over 4 years now - I'm hoping for something a bit more... you know... technical... to tour the US."
"Is that what you've been doing for that time?" the second commentator asked him.
"I'm trying to track down my brother. He's trying to take over the world you know..."
The crowd remained silent for several seconds, before looking at each other… and laughing towards one another.
"We won't refuse the offer!" smiled the first commentator. "We'll come up with something within the next 12 hours."
"Thanks", smiled Neo as he turned to Brio. "Send in your surprise."
"Right", he lightly grinned back. "I demand for... My freedom!"
The crowd gasped at his decision. Surely they saw him as a slave upon the hotel, but… how can he force himself out of those kind of rough natures?
"But... why?" the first commentator asked.
"My dad was the course champion before Trigger came here. When that damn cat first won 20 years ago he wanted all challengers to give up a child and die. That's where I came in."
Most of the crowd looked on at Brio with sympathetic expressions upon their faces, before they all expressed "awww" all together.
"Maybe you should ban this sort of thing", frowned Snappy.
"Sorry, croc", Brio sighed. "I made my wish."
"Well, we welcome you into the free world!" the second commentator said with a more hesitant look.
The crowd cheered, while somewhere in there the hotel manager ranted and cursed straight at him.
"Tell Brio's manager that he's a born dipstick!" Snappy said while sticking his tongue out from his jaw.
Brio couldn't help but giggle from his position, before he walked straight towards Neo, holding onto his hand and raising it into the air with victory.
"Let's hear it for Cortex and Brio!" the first commentator cheered on.
And it was right there, that he crowd's cheering continued, and news of that event managed to spread around the town, surprising the people for most of the week.

The following day, a brand new jeep was heading through the road. As it got closer we see our heroes inside.
"Thank goodness that's over", Brio smiled with success. "Say, Cortie - you know when you told the audience about your brother - is it true?"
"Of course it's been true", Snappy smiled. "I was-"
"Ahem. Is your name Neo Cortex or what?"
"Er... nope", the alligator blushed.
"He was right, mind you", Neo frowned. "I've been having problems with him since I was 11. After he destroyed my home, I'm hoping to seek revenge on him."
Behind him, Boron started growling from his position, banging upon the back seats every few seconds or so.
"I could be a big help - I can always keep one eye on the action", Brio smiled while revealing white teeth.
All that Snappy could do was roll his eyes. "You can't even put one of your eyes on a table!"
"He doesn't mean that", Neo growled. "He means that he's got good vision for everything."
"Oh."
"Well, let's move on!" Brio cheered, with Boron roaring behind him.
The jeep headed towards the horizon and one step closer to another distant location. Where they could go next, they may not know for a while to come.
"Where are we going then?" Snappy asked the others.
"Ah!" they all exclaimed together.

-end of part 2-