15. Splash Canyon
Tails swallowed nervously as he lined up with the other competitors. There appeared to be about a dozen teams represented, although he wasn't certain if all the teams had a single member in each preliminary or not; hadn't Rouge said her team had four people in it? There were no assigned starting positions, so several people were fussing at either edge of the track over who was going to get the rail position. Normally the outer rail would not be a favored choice, if he remembered correctly, but there was a grinding rail on the outer edge of the track not too far from the start. Personally, I'd rather be near the inside, since that's where the flight booster rings are, but . . . . A very large human in a G.U.N. uniform was arguing with the tall, violet swallow and another dokan over the inner position. The latter, a grey-furred flying squirrel, quickly yielded, and Tails took a position near her. I wish I knew a bit more about racing. Or hoverboarding, for that matter. Sonic is always certain he can do anything he tries, but I'm not sure a few laps around the block equates to race-winning techniques. At least I am sure the board is up to spec, in spite of what that swallow says. Wave was her name, according to the roster. His eyes flicked to the left and saw that she had gotten the inside rail position. Glancing to his right, he was pleased to see Amy beside him. Another human tried to get past her, but her glare dissuaded him quickly. She flashed Tails a grin as the man fell back. "Good luck, Tails!"
"You too, Amy," he squeaked. And blushed, clearing his throat. "Good luck," he managed, in a more normal voice.
"And to you, Mr. Fox," said the squirrel on his left, evidently thinking he was talking to her. He bobbed his head politely.
Omochao's voice floated down from above as a hot air balloon shaped like a chao's head drifted across the track. "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the second round of races for the EX Grand Prix! The first- and second-place finishers from each of these three races will move on into the Grad Prix itself! Remember, this is an anything goes race, so expect to see a lot of action on the field!
"Contestants: you have formed your start line. You may back up as far as you wish to get a running start once the line marker starts to move, but anyone who crosses the line in front of that marker will receive a time penalty - AND wish they hadn't! Ready? Begin countdown!"
Tails looked at the starting line painted on the wood ahead of them. How is it going to move? He'd barely finished the thought before a line of light beamed across the track about two feet above the painted mark, answering his unvoiced question. As the numbers appeared on the countdown clock, the light swept back, most of the racers falling back before it as if pushed. Then it began to sweep back forward. Most of the racers leapt after it immediately. Tails hung back a second then started a controlled run towards the line. He didn't hit the starting line right in time with the light beam, but neither did he get there ahead of it - the man on the far side of Amy and someone near the outer edge got visible (and literal) shocks when they arrived too soon. The human was still staggering and shaking his head as Tails leaped onto his board and rocketed across the starting line.
Three time around the track; don't get too far behind but stay back and watch what everyone else does on the first lap, he reminded himself. Amy had gotten a better start and was already approaching the grind rail - with two people on the outside of her getting zapped and three doing more shoving than racing she was actually able to drift neatly across the track and leap onto it first, skidding the board crosswise along the rail while maintaining perfect balance. She's really good! I wonder how long she's been doing this? Tails pulled his mind back to what he was doing as the G.U.N. soldier suddenly tumbled across his path. The flying squirrel veered away with a squeal of dismay as she lost control of her board, but the fox cub shifted weight and jumped over the human. Ahead of him, Wave pocketed a wrench nearly as large as Amy's Pikopiko hammer. "Note to me: don't get too close to her," he muttered. He kept as close to her track as he could though, as she took the jump-off at the end of the bridge to the boost rings, passing skillfully through them and landing on a higher walkway. Tails caught the first ring, but hadn't realized that they moved –he was out of position to pass through the second and had to swerve sharply to avoid hitting the ring itself. Denied the boost from the ring, his hover board couldn't maintain itself at that height and dropped under the walkway to skim along about twelve inches above the water below it. At the edge of the small pond was a ramp, and Tails attempted to jump from it to another elevated walkway, but missed, rattling along the lower path with about half the field. The end of this path dumped them onto a white water area, requiring careful balancing as the hover boards bucked above the churning surface. Since the boards maintained a height of twelve inches (give or take a few) above whatever surface they were passing over, the effect was that of driving a car very fast over a road that was half rocks and half potholes. At the end a waterspout - surely artificial! - flung the boards and their riders high into the air. Good thing Sonic didn't get this course, with all the water hazards. But I'd rather have this than one like his with so many drop-offs!
Another pond waited below, with a fallen waterwheel rising half out of it like a sand bar. Tails spotted the violet swallow riding up a ramp on the far side of the pond and entering another chain of boosters. A grind rail hung enticingly above the high end of the waterwheel, but his board wasn't modified to ride them. A tunnel he had noted on the walkthrough, that appeared to be a shortcut, was now blockaded by massive barrels. Tails noted two of the larger racers heading towards the blocked tunnel, but pointed his own board toward the takeoff ramp. This time, aware that the boost rings drifted a bit, he managed to thread his way through the entire chain, and landed even with Amy, a human, and a bulldog just in front of the U-turn bridge that normally lead to a scenic overlook. Wave was still in the lead, disappearing into a cave in the cliff face. Tails lost ground as he hit the turbulence generated by the boards Amy and the human were riding; the bulldog had missed the hairpin turn and crashed into the fence. Regaining control, the fox cub flashed past an emergency recharge station and plunged into the darkness of the cave. He had a vague impression of a dim glow in the blackness before he collided hard with something solid, and tumbled off his board into something wet. Floundering in the water and trying to get his bearings, he ducked as he heard another racer jet into the cavern and winced at the subsequent crash and splash. His eyes adjusted to the dim light and he spotted his board floating at the base of the faintly glowing crystal outcrop he'd crashed into. Funny, he thought as he heaved himself back onto his board, during the walkthrough it didn't look like these things would be in the way. He scooted out of the way of the next pair of incoming racers, one of whom hit the same outcrop he had. The other managed to avoid that obstacle, but hit another clump of blue-glowing crystals further into the cave. Tails paused on the narrow path by the cave wall to orient himself, then kicked off down the length of the cave. He managed a moderate jump off the short ramp leading out through a waterfall, and emerged within sight of the starting bridge. He caught a glimpse of the scoreboard as he flashed across the line ending the first lap, with his name in fifth place. Wave was on top.
No surprise there. Didn't see where Amy is, but I'm pretty sure she's in front of me. Now that he had the basic layout in his mind, the cub increased his speed. The third and fourth place racers weren't all that far ahead of him, and soon he started to feel the jolting of their displaced air. Okay, let's do this! He'd studied the techniques involved in hoverboard racing, in order to maximize the boards' performance, but he hadn't had much chance to put theory to the test. One of the best ways to increase speed was supposedly to ride turbulence left by the passage of another board. He sped up a bit more, dropping into the trough where the racers' respective wakes merged, then steered sideways. His first attempt was too sharp a turn and he nearly fell off, but on the second try he managed to leap off the top of the other riders' turbulence like a dolphin, spinning a neat circle and gliding back down into the trough and up the other side. Weaving back and forth he gained on the other racers, bouncing at last clear over number four, who turned out to be the G.U.N. soldier. The bulldog in third glanced back, saw him coming, and veered for the grind rail. He missed, but Tails had already broken off to shoot for the boost rings, which this time lifted him neatly on to the high road that Wave had taken the first time around. The end of that path dropped him onto the rapids higher upstream than the lower path did, and Tails flashed past the bulldog to join Amy and Wave as the waterspout vented upward.
"Go, Tails!" called Amy, as they glided down to the wheel pond. She headed for the grind rail; Tails followed Wave to the boost ramp. Suddenly, the swallow dropped speed. Wondering if something was wrong with her board, the cub overtook her. With a yelp he jerked aside, nearly losing his hoverboard, as the swallow swung that massive wrench towards him. He heard her laugh scornfully as she cruised up the ramp, while he skimmed past it, trying to regain control and balance. Stupid! Stupid! You saw her do that before! Growling to himself, he registered that the barrels that had blocked the short tunnel had been knocked askew, so instead of turning to retry the ramp, he ducked into the tunnel. It took some weaving to avoid a few barrels that hadn't been knocked over, but he emerged from the other end not too far behind Amy. Unfortunately, the bulldog had caught up with him in the meantime and rocketed past both the fox cub and the hedgehog. Amy matter-of-factly pulled out her PikoPiko hammer and swatted the tail of his board sideways, sending him into a spin that vaulted him over the bridge railing. A robot rose from below, holding the hoverboard and its disoriented rider in a suspension field, while the commentator's balloon circled overhead.
Tails gulped and followed Amy rather gingerly as she vanished into the blackness of the cave again. This time he remembered where the crystal formations were and avoided them, but missed his angle on the exit ramp and flubbed the jump badly. Four racers sped past him before he caught his board and got back onto it. It's a really good thing Sonic didn't get this race. I don't think I can get any wetter. He didn't bother to glance at the scoreboard as he passed the starting line this time. "One more lap. I can do this!" Flicking his tails in determination, he barreled up the track after the leaders.
He caught up enough to ride the turbulence of the closest one, the G.U.N soldier. Now that he had the trick of it, it was quite easy, cutting back and forth and doing jumps at the peak of the air flow, then vaulting over his opponent's head to land in the trail that he was riding, which also interrupted the air flow for the soldier. The cub slewed his own board with a vengeance, taking care not to leave a trail that anyone could ride to leapfrog him. The next rider tried to cut off the flying squirrel, who twisted and flared her 'wings' at him. Tails only caught a glimpse, but apparently she'd painted them with something that startled her opponent enough to cause him to weave. Tails had to flip out of his slipstream fast before the churned air slowed him down. The squirrel dropped off to the water, while the cub took the boost rings again. He passed the squirrel and someone else while riding the rapids, and shot into the air to see three figures crossing the wheel pond: Amy, Wave, and a human he didn't know.
Tails raced across the pond on a tangent, shot up the ramp and threaded the boost rings. This dropped him off only a few lengths behind Wave and actually ahead of Amy. The human burst out of the short-cut tunnel and did an incredible slingshot boost on the hairpin turn. Tails was peripherally aware of that as he pushed on after Wave. CRASH! Something slammed full force into the cub as he tried to enter the cave; he didn't come off his board but the track looked very peculiar suddenly, with the clumps of crystals pulling away from him. Amy had somehow passed him and was whacking the human with her hammer, looking absolutely furious. Tails' board spun around as something hit it from behind, and he realized he'd been going backwards. Oh, I guess he must have hit me. Dizzily he shook his head, and realized the jump ramp out was right in front of him. Leaning back, he lost his balance and stomped on the tail of his board harder than he meant to, sending it rocketing high off the ramp edge, through the obscuring waterfall. Half-blinded by a faceful of water, he could have sworn he saw the rainbow unfurl itself to meet him, his board skimming along the multihued span like a swallow. Somewhere far away, it seemed, he heard Amy holler "Go, Tails!"
He got his vision cleared just in time to touch down above the lake, with only Wave in front of him. Revving his board, he chased her across the finish line to score second place. Amy rode in behind him for third.
"Good job, Tails!" she called over the noise of the crowd and announcer.
The cub cocked his head at her. "Uh, thanks, but why were you helping me? Weren't you trying to win?"
"Nah, I've got better things to do than chase around a race course, and Sonic'll need your help. He won't admit it, but he'll be expecting you to be there."
Tails felt obscurely disappointed. "So you were only helping me to help Sonic?" he asked, ears drooping slightly.
The pink hedgehog looked at him in surprise. "Well, we're all on the same team, really. It's just you and Sonic and Knuckles have more practice at this sort of thing than Cream or I do." She glanced over his head, then caught him by the shoulder and turned him around. "Look, Eggman's waiting for you up on the platform. Go on up and get cheered; you earned it."
She gave him a shove and he went. He almost corrected her about Eggman's name, but really, he didn't trust the Doctor either, whether he was going by his real name or his nom de guerre. Well, I'm still in the running for the Grand Prix, he realized suddenly. So I'll have a chance to try to work it out, even if Knuckles and Sonic don't make it. That was a rather scary thought, so he shoved it to the back of his mind, along with his odd reaction to Amy's words. Feeling suddenly proud of his finish, even if he did have help, he tucked his hoverboard firmly under one arm and twirled his tails, flying up onto the platform with Dr. Robotnik and Wave.