Chapter 12

"Is everything in place for the plan later?" Shadow asked, as his board finished its final safety tests. "Hey, let me worry about all of that. You just concentrate on the race." Rouge said. reassuringly. "Just make sure you lose enough to skip the awards ceremony, but not enough to make us look bad."

"Heh. No promises." Shadow said, starting his trek to the racetrack. "Why are you using the board, anyway?" Rouge asked. "I told you, the air shoes felt a little weird during the last race, so I switched to my board until I can get them fixed." Shadow stated, confused. "Really? 'Cause that's not how Tails tells it." Rouge replied with a wink. Shadow just grunted as he turned and continued to his starting position.

"Everything seems ready to go!" Tails said, as he finished helping the Glamor Chao check Lucy's gear. "Yeah, everything but me." Lucy replied with a sigh, as she began to put her air shoes on. "Hey, don't let the nerves get to you now. You did great in all of the practice runs." Tails said, putting a hand on your shoulder. "Besides, your parents seemed happy you even got this far. They'll be proud no matter how you do." This got a smile out of Lucy. "Thanks, Tails. I couldn't have done this without you." Lucy got up and began making her way to the starting position. "See you after the race!"

"So, Jet still isn't talking to you two?" Sonic asked Wave, as they walked over to their starting positions. "Last time I saw him was just after the last race, on the blimp. He was rambling about something or the other as he packed his bags before riding off." Wave replied, shaking her head. "Well, if he's going to throw a childish fit over a simple race, I say let him." Knuckles cut in. "He went too far, and now he has to own up to the consequences."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Sonic agreed. "I just hope he's okay." Wave said, looking off into the distance.

Off in the distance, the smaller cloaked figure watched as the racers took their positions. He'd had a few close encounters with Shadow and Rouge, but he seemed to be otherwise undetected...Exactly how he needed to be in order for his plan to work. Energy pulsated from his left palm...

The figure took a quick breath. No, he was getting too eager, too early. If his plan was to succeed, he needed to wait until the end of the race. Things needed to play out naturally before he played his hand...But the voice of the Glamor Chao over the loudspeaker broke his train of thought with an unexpected announcement.

"...And to help incentivize our racers even further, our trophy has been adorned with the seven legendary Time Stones!"

"WHAT!? Don't you guys know how dangerous those things are!?" Sonic said in shock. "Eh, yeah, but they look pretty cool on that trophy, right?" Replied a nearby Glamor Chao, nonchalantly.

"...Damn it." Rouge said through gritted teeth from the coaches' area.

"Now, Let's start the race!" A Glamor Chao said over the loudspeaker.

"3..."

"2..."

"1..."

"GO!"