"I still can't believe Jet would do that." Tails said to Shadow later, in the hallway of the racers' common area. "I mean, he's done some cheap moves in races before, but this...He didn't even have a good reason for it."

"It's surprising what some people will do in pursuit of their goals...I know that firsthand. But we have other matters to tend to before the next race." Shadow replied, carrying his air shoes over his shoulder. "Right! Sorry!" Tails said, getting his Miles Electric tablet out. "I've taken what spare time I could to find all instances of those cloaked figures being caught on camera during the races and compiled them for you." Tails handed the tablet to Shadow, who observed the fruits of Tails' labor. "Hmm...It isn't much, but I'm already noticing a pattern for both of them." Shadow handed the tablet back to Tails. "Good work. Get that data to Rouge, and maybe we can figure it out before the end of the next race. Take at least one of them by surprise."

"Alright. Just glad I could help." Tails replied, before a yell of rage was heard from one of the racer workshops right across from them. A wrench was thrown out the doorway, and quickly embedded itself deep into the wall. Shadow and Tails looked over at the wrench, and then at each other. "I'm not checking it." Shadow said. Tails huffed as he peeked around the corner.

Inside of the workshop, on her knees and crying, was Lucy, somewhat worse for wear after her fall, but that didn't seem to be the problem here. "Lucy? What's wrong?" Tails asked, carefully approaching. "It's no use...I can't fix them." Lucy said, between sobs. Tails looked over at Lucy's air shoes, the right one partially disassembled on the table in front of her. Tails took a careful look at the parts, mostly intact despite Jet's strike earlier...Except for the one part that wasn't present. Tails quickly found the part lying on the table, a smashed airflow regulator, V5s. "I don't get it...This looks fixable...But I'm not familiar with this model of air shoe. Where did you get them?"

"I made them." Lucy replied, slumping over in the corner. "I couldn't afford the pre-made ones, so I had to make my own, okay? I know they aren't that good, you don't have to tell me!" Tails furrowed his brow. "What do you mean, 'They aren't that good?' These are great!" Tails took another look at the air shoe on the table. "Almost competitive with some of my own creations."

"Yeah, well, it's not like it matters anymore. The regulator is smashed in my right shoe. Donpa doesn't make that part themselves yet, and it'd take too long to get one in from somewhere else. I'm going to have to forfeit." Tears welled up in Lucy's eyes again. "All that work, for nothing!" Tails looked over at Lucy's toolbox, and grabbed a photo sticking out from inside. In it was a much younger version of Lucy, along with a large groundhog and a bird. He recognized them from the video of Lucy's fall, showing them helping Lucy get up. Tails quickly put two and two together. "Are these your-?"

"My parents, yeah." Lucy said, still dejected. "Adopted, obviously. Desmond's one of the fastest and strongest diggers this side of Sunset City, and Bryce...Well, he's just a lawyer, but he's also able to fly." Lucy took the photo from Tails, and looked at it longingly. "They're able to do so much more than I'll ever be able to do, but they never held it against me. Always encouraged me to follow my dreams, no matter how big they were." Lucy's expression fell again. "Man...They were so excited when I got accepted into this tournament, especially after so many before turned me down for being human. Desmond even pulled the strings at his job to get me the sponsorship...But I guess I'll just have to let them down again."

"Maybe...Or maybe not." Shadow said from the doorway. He'd been listening this whole time, and set his own air shoes down on the table. "You need regulators, right? These have V4s, modified to keep my speed down to tournament levels...But they shouldn't be hard to modify back to original standards." Tails put his hand on his chin. "It'd mean a slight loss in air efficiency...But that can be compensated for. If I help you with it, we can get them installed soon enough for you to practice before the final race!" Lucy looked elated, but also concerned. "But...Doesn't this mean YOU won't be able to race?"

"I have a back-up board registered that I can use. Good luck, kid." Shadow said, before walking away. Tails pulled the wrench out of the wall. "Well, guess we better get to work!"