"JET THE HAWK WINS THE FIRST RACE!"

Came the announcement over the loudspeaker, as Sonic and Jet crossed the finish line. The slow-motion playback on the giant screen showing Jet managing to cross just barely before Sonic. As the other racers began finishing up, Amy breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Tails and Knuckles achieve respectable places as well, fairly high on the leaderboards. Sonic walked over to her as soon as Tails and Knuckles caught up to him. "Well? How was that?" He asked as she stood firmly. "Well, FIRST place would've landed you the winning interview, but I guess there'll be other chances for that." She said, somewhat critically. "Really? We race our butts off out there, and THAT'S all you have to say?" Knuckles replied, confused. "I'll gladly give you more credit after I'm done being your sponsored coach, Knuckles. But for now, you three need to rest up for the next race in two days." Amy said, as she started to walk away. Tails just shook his head as the three turned. "Amy sure is taking this coach thing pretty seriously..."

"DON'T FORGET TO HYDRATE!" Came Amy's voice, as the three were hit by some water bottles.

Lucy breathed a sigh of relief as she finished in 74th place. Not a high ranking, but enough to get into the next race. She looked over as Sheila waved at her, happy to see her friend was still doing alright...But also sad that Sheila wasn't able to make it to the next race due to her destroyed Gear. Lucy clenched her fist as she stopped and looked back up at her place on the scoreboard, her face filled with determination. She swore she was going to do better in the rest of the upcoming races...She had to.

"Hey! Nice job running into that wall! I'm sure it was vital for our mission to succeed." Rouge said, as she approached Shadow. "DON'T. EVEN. START." Shadow snapped through gritted teeth. "Besides, I only ran into that wall because I saw something in the crowd...Some guy in a cloak."

"Like THAT guy?" Rouge asked, pointing towards a hidden corner where a figure stood, watching the raceway carefully. "No, this one is smaller...But they may be our only lead! Come on!" Shadow said, as he began running towards the stranger. "HEY!" The figure turned as Shadow shouted, before quickly fleeing into the dark shadows behind them. They were gone by the time Shadow reached the spot, but Rouge quickly spotted them running along the roof. "We've got a flyer on our hands!" She said, flying up to where they were and landing in front of them. The figure turned to flee in the other direction, but Shadow had quickly made his way up to the roof and was blocking their path. "Who are you!?" Shadow said, prepared for any move the stranger might make. In desperation, the figure revealed their hands and, summoning some type of energy, created a bright flash, temporarily blinding Shadow and Rouge. By the time they could see again, the mysterious figure was long gone. "ARGH! We're back to square one!" Shadow shouted.

In his hiding spot, the cloaked figure was breathing heavily. He hadn't wanted to do that to Shadow and Rouge, but under the circumstances, it had been necessary. His mission was too sensitive to risk involving the heroes...ANY of the heroes. Something terrible was lurking beneath the surface of this race, but he couldn't risk making a move until he was sure what it was. From now on, he'd have to be more careful about how he observed these races.

Meanwhile, Jet was hamming it up for his winning interview. "Of course I knew I'd win! That's the only reason I entered this farce in the first place!" He boasted. "And what of your competition? Aren't you worried about any of them stealing the win from you?" The Glamor Chao in charge of the interview asked. "Oh what? Like that human girl? She won't even last past the next race!" Jet said, scoffing. "Not even Sonic the Hedgehog was much of a threat to my dominance! Why should I be worried about any of THESE posers?"

"Well, there you have it, folks! Will Jet the Hawk keep good on his word? Or will one of our lucky newcomers show him what for? You'll have to stay tuned to find out!" Another Glamor Chao said, transitioning in front of a green-screened background. "And now, a word from Jet's sponsor, Accevive! The world's SECOND leading brand for Extreme Gear!"