A/N: Hello again. I've uploaded some edits in chapters 9, 13-15, and 17, where I had some continuity errors. Too much to do and not enough time to do it in. I'm going to try and finish the story off this time, but I make no promises!
19. Jungle Beat
Sonic paused at the top of the ramp with one foot on his hoverboard, which Tails had named the Blue Star, and one foot on the ground while he considered his next move. Around him, massive branches as thick as a dokan was tall bore leaves that were blanket-sized or larger. Moisture dripped as if the place were a rain forest, and the humidity was nearly enough to make his spikes frizz. The last semifinal race was about to begin, which would let him put that noisy parrot in his place. "I'll show him who's the fastest thing on the planet," Sonic muttered. Motion caught his eye, and he grinned wryly as he looked up to see Shadow gliding down a nearby ramp. Speaking of who's the fastest thing on the planet . . . . But then, Shadow was a known quantity at this point - at least speed-wise - and rarely seemed that concerned about challenging the blue hedgehog. He wouldn't back down from a challenge, but he didn't seem to care about testing himself against all comers either. Sonic didn't fully understand the attitude, but supposed it came from being the so-called Ultimate Life-Form.
"Come on, Sonic!" Knuckles bellowed from below. "What's wrong? You scared of heights all of a sudden?"
The blue hedgehog blinked, then shook himself. "Better stand clear, Knuckles!" he called back, "By the time you see me, it's too late to dodge!" He shoved himself forward onto the slope, dropping his weight neatly midboard. Too far forward would flip him, and too far back would give him a speed boost. He wanted to see how much speed the drop alone would net him. As the ramp started to curl out and up, he shifted his weight back and gave himself just enough boost to pull a triple spin. The loudspeaker crackled overhead, giving the ten-minute warning as he landed.
"Hah!" he declared, only partly to Knuckles' reaction to his trick. The blue hedgehog spotted Tails beside the echidna and grinned at his 'little brother' as he flipped the board up, then himself off to catch it under one arm as he landed on his feet.
"That's cool, Sonic! When did you learn those techniques?" The cub's eyes were dancing, and he seemed in better spirits than he'd been since the start of the dream mess.
Sonic chuckled, but before he could answer another voice cut across between them.
"Not very impressive for someone of your reputation." The words were dismissive, but the tone was challenging. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles looked up to see Jet the Hawk's parrot-green form standing on a nearby bough.
"You–" Sonic wasn't sure how to respond. He saw Tails and Knuckles bristling - and Knuckles spikes further bristling as the echidna clenched his fists - but a fight would certainly disqualify the team, and he'd rather beat the parrot on his own vaunted ground –er, air.
"You know," Jet continued conversationally, sitting down on the branch, "I've checked you out, actually. Not bad; I admit you're pretty fast on your feet. But here, it's a whole different story when riding with Extreme Gear! You see, to be the fastest on a Gear, you have to become one with the wind! Without wings, well, you might as well kiss the ground and go home." Jet leapt to his feet, then to another branch, and vanished among the leaves, laughter trailing behind like a vine.
"Who does he think he is?" demanded Knuckles.
"The 'Great Wind Chaser' or something," said Sonic. "Come on, I've heard you make those sorts of boasts a hundred times!"
The echidna relaxed slightly and folded his arms beneath the white crescent on his chest. "Hmph. If you don't beat him in the race, Sonic, I'm going to beat him after it."
"Careful, Knuckles," cautioned the hedgehog, "don't get us disqualified before the grand finale. Tails? You okay, buddy?"
The young fox had been staring into the distance, his cub-like exuberance vanished. "Sorry Sonic," he said, startled back into the present, "I just need to fine-tune some things, and then your Extreme Gear will be at a hundred percent."
"Hey Tails, you always do your best, so don't worry." The cub's vehemence surprised the hedgehog.
Tails shook his head. "Yeah, but she has a point; she's a really brilliant mecha mechanic. Sonic! Don't worry; I'll unlock the secret of the Extreme Gear for us!"
She? Oh, that mechanic of the Rogues'. He's still brooding over that sneer of hers. Sonic clapped him on the shoulder. "I don't doubt it for an instant." He looked up, where the Babylon Rogues' leader had vanished. I don't think that Jet's all talk, though. I'd better be on my toes during this competition. "Best hurry if you want to make any last adjustments, Tails. I'll meet you at the starting line."
Tails scuttled off, and Sonic noticed a white shape drop off a branch to follow the cub. He started to call a warning, but Knuckles turned him toward the starting area. "It's just Rouge," said the echidna calmly. "She thinks the Rogues are up to something, and so does Shadow. I'm not sure if they're working with Eggman or both trying to use each other, but Rouge is definitely on our side right now." Then he winked at Sonic. "Or at least until the Chaos Emeralds are brought out for the final race!"
Sonic laughed. "Old Eggy'd better have a pretty good trick up his sleeve to keep her from stealing them under everyone's noses!" He jogged off, Knuckles thudding along beside him.
The starting area teemed with, well, teams. Sonic's team and the Babylon Rogues each had two entrants qualified for the final race, but for everyone else, this was their last chance to get in. Amy was there talking to Big (who had been supposed to compete against Knuckles but found a 'nice fishing hole place' on the way to the factory and missed the race) and Cream, who was bouncing excitedly next to her board. Sonic grinned at the little rabbit's eagerness; her long ears were alternately flapping as she bounced or being clutched under her chin in both hands. She was far and away the youngest of the competitors in this round, and in the prior two, only Tails came close to her in age. Not really wanting to join the noisy throng, Sonic steered for a quiet corner.
He wasn't the first one with the idea. "Hello, Sonic, Knuckles," Shadow greeted them.
"Hi, Shadow," replied the blue hedgehog. "Ready to get beaten?" Knuckles nodded at Shadow, and snorted at Sonic's comment.
The black hedgehog arched a brow. It seemed to be becoming his standard response to Sonic's jests. "By you, or by him?" A tilt of the head drew Sonic's attention to the far end of the area, where the green hawk lounged atop a wall, idly drumming his fingers on his board.
"Maybe by both of us," Sonic smirked.
Shadow shrugged slightly. "That would be unexpected." He didn't really seem to be paying attention, looking over at the other teams. He frowned suddenly as a fight broke out between two groups. As more joined the brawl, Knuckles left the hedgehogs, working his way into the crowd. Robot referees waded in to break it the fight up, and Amy pulled out her hammer to warn possible combatants away from Team Rose. Big simply planted his massive form between the fight and his teammates. "Do you think it's safe for Cream to be out there? The other racers seem to be getting a bit . . . desperate. This will be a violent race, I think."
"Are you expecting me to lose the race while guarding her?" Sonic asked, startled. Shadow was many things, but he hadn't thought dishonest was one of them!
Shadow turned back to Sonic. "That would be unethical, wouldn't it? Actually, I was thinking that you, with two thirds of your team already qualified, have the best chance to win the final, and that I could watch Dr. Eggman better from the stands than from in the race. You would tell me if you found something out about his plans, wouldn't you? That way I can keep an eye on Cream in this race. Subtly, of course."
"You certainly do subtle better than I do," agreed Sonic. Sonic himself would never willingly forfeit a challenge, but Shadow was making sense. And if Shadow kept guard on Cream, Sonic wouldn't have to feel guilty for not doing so. "And sure, if I find anything out about what Eggman's up to, you'll be the first to know." The two hedgehogs watched as several of the brawlers were escorted away by the robots. One wore a G.U.N. patch on his sleeve. Knuckles' red form was clearly visible between a couple of humans, far enough away from the scrum to be clearly not involved, but close enough to see and hear what was going on. Sonic wasn't sure if it was the fight or the gossip that interested the echidna. "Won't G.U.N. object if you don't win?"
"Well, I never actually agreed to win; I agreed to enter, because Rouge wanted a fourth team member. I'm sure she invited me expecting me to win, but that wasn't a stated condition. And," he added as Tails came running up with Sonic's board, "you may have noticed that she's shadowing youngsters as well." As he spoke, Rouge glided in behind Tails, passing over the cub's head without so much as a glance, giving no sign that she'd followed him on his errand.
"Hi, Shadow," panted Tails, "here's your board, Sonic. If they can beat it this time - well . . . they just can't. It's as good as I can make it, and you can beat anybody in a race!"
"Breathe, Tails!" Amused, Sonic looked the azure hoverboard over. Not even a fingerprint marred the finish. "Like I said, you always do your best, so I'm not at all worried about the performance of this board. I'll take on Rouge, Rogues or Eggman on this and beat the lot of them!"
The cub grinned at his friend. Omochao called over the loudspeakers for the racers to assemble, and the crowd started to thin. Knuckles, Tails, and Rouge joined the people heading for the stands; Sonic and Shadow shouldered their boards and approached the line for the start.
There were only eight contestants; apparently the others had been disqualified because of the fight. As the countdown started, Sonic kept a close eye on the beam of light that marked the start, and the other eye on Jet, who had the pole position. Sonic had taken the second slot, and Shadow had planted Cream in third, between Sonic and himself. As the green hawk started to move, both hedgehogs did the same, gauging their speed to match his. Ignoring the flash as one of the other racers mis-timed the start, Sonic and Shadow leapt on their boards in unison with each other and Jet. Somewhat to Sonic's surprise, the little rabbit was only fractionally behind, and the four dashed down the opening ramp in a nearly straight line. The other racers pulled in against the inner rail, forming a much more ragged line behind them. Sonic made it slightly ahead at the first jump and tipped the nose of his board up, flipping neatly in midair. He gained enough height to land on a rail and skid his board along it. Cream and Shadow swung past him as the huge branch that formed the main path curled away; it would double back again shortly, the rail forming a neat, bridging shortcut. Spotting the end of the rail, Sonic prepared to pull another trick that would land him neatly on the pathway. Instead, he was bowled over in midair by something that felt like a feathered baseball bat. He didn't fall too far; a net caught him and his board and then a tractor beam or something raised him back up to track level. He grabbed his board and landed running, furious at whomever had hit him. And I've got a pretty good idea who it was. I definitely saw something green.
Sonic scanned the other racers as he wove his way through the pack. As expected, he saw no one else with green gear - and certainly no one else with green feathers! One human racer had a green jacket on, but it was the wrong shade, and anyway, he was bulling his way through one of the strong-guy shortcuts that Knuckles favored. Another human competitor whipped a chain he'd been carrying around his waist and lashed the end at a petite lemur. She tossed up a mallet similar to Amy's as a shield, which prevented the chain from actually hitting her, but she lost both the mallet and her balance and went tumbling along the track with her board. The man leaped his board over his fallen foe and closed behind Cream, who had Cheese flying escort as fast as his little chao wings could flap. Sonic snarled involuntarily and increased his speed as the chain started to spin again. Where's Shadow? He said– The thought was cut short as a shadow - a Shadow - dropped out of the branches above, and as the chain whipped past over the dark head, Shadow cut so close behind the human that the tip of the dokan's board clipped the rear of the other - and chain-man went tumbling in his turn. The Ultimate Life-form tipped Sonic a wink and a slight nod as the Blue Star sped past him.
Cream called out 'Hi, Mr. Sonic!" as he caught up with her and he flashed her a quick grin before leaping his board past a screen of giant leaves to another grind rail. A flurry of sparks ahead showed clearly where Jet was grinding the same rail. There was no way that Sonic had discovered to increase speed while grinding, so he was no closer to Jet when the hawk dropped off and vanished through the mouth of a giant knothole. Sonic followed, kicking the tail of his board for more speed as soon as he hit the track.
He nearly jumped off his board as he erupted out of the short tunnel and landed on the back of a gigantic centipede. He didn't quite panic - Sonic the Hedgehog never panicked - but his mind raced to work out whether this was an Eggman trick, or a dream creature, or what. He almost jumped off it anyway, but the sight of Jet the Hawk gliding rapidly up the spiral formed by the coiled back spurred him upwards as well. Jet jumped off into another tunnel, and Sonic jumped after him, heartened to see that he'd managed to gain on the bird. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder and was surprised to see Cream was the only person visible behind him, just landing on another giant centipede. Shadow shot out of the tunnel behind her, but none of the other competitors were in sight.
Sonic snapped his gaze back to the front as he reached a hairpin turn, hitting the air brakes of his board hard as the track doubled back on itself, then surging forward into the next jump. He stomped back hard to maximize his speed burst, and hurtled up . . . across . . . and down onto a spider web as large as a circus tent. Instinctively he tried to brake, not wanting to become entangled or adhered in the inch-thick strands. He didn't stick - he bounced on it like a giant trampoline - but fumbled his board badly as he landed on a slope above the starting line and slid ignominiously down on his rear. He looked up at the crowd in the stands to see Amy, Tails and Knuckles right there in the front row. Amy and Tails wore concerned expressions, but he was dead certain that the echidna was smirking. Blushing furiously - and furious at himself for such a mistake - Sonic the Hedgehog snatched up his board and hurled it ahead, racing it for two steps and leaping to land on it with enough force to shoot it forward like wet soap.
Sonic shoved the fall out of his mind and focused in on Jet. Now he pushed the Blue Star on as fast as Tails' most recent modifications allowed, following the route he'd mapped out during the first lap. Follow the track along a massive limb, rail-grind, leap back to the track again; now the green hawk was glancing back rather nervously. Jet increased his own speed, and Sonic found a bit more power in his board. The hawk struck out at the hedgehog abruptly with a fan made of feathers on a long stick, and lost ground. Sonic managed not to lose any as he swerved out of reach of the fan, and raced through a curtain of leaves with the leading edge of the Blue Star lapping the tail of Jet's board by about four inches. The two boards veered in opposite directions as the branch split, then fell back together as the limb rejoined. Ducking through the tunnel, they entered the centipedes' cave for the second time.
Sonic frowned, noticing that it was decidedly darker in the cave this time. Several lights glowed around the edges of the cavern; luminescent fungi that currently did more to light themselves up than brighten the ir surroundings. The centipedes also were illuminated; pale blue spots marked the back corners of each segment. The tunnel of leaves and vines was noticeably darker as her doubled around the hairpin and made the next jump. This time he was expecting the spider's web and used it as a trampoline, tossing himself and his board high into the darkening sky, (getting a brief glimpse of the western sky blazing a cloudless orange,) and speeding down the final ramp to the start line in perfect tandem with Jet the Hawk. "Sky Master, huh?" taunted Sonic. "I think I've got the hang of your method now!" The hedgehog waved at Tails and Knuckles (and Amy) then kicked his board under an arm and pulled a spindash. He heard Jet's startled squawk as he outdistanced the bird and jumped for the grind rail, neatly tossing the Blue Star back under his feet. Third time's the charm, he thought, and this lap I'm going to win! When he dropped off the grind rail, however his first thought was that he'd gotten somehow lost - the previously bark-grey track was now covered in snow! "That NiGHTS hasn't turned up again, has he?" Sonic twisted, looking for the jester, distracted enough that he collided with an overgrown leaf petiole and toppled into the snow. Which was neither wet nor cold although it was very powdery. It was more like falling into a tub of flour, although the rank smell didn't encourage tasting. Sneezing, the hedgehog floundered to his feet and tried to locate his board. Sudden shouts behind him gave him too little warning, and he went down again into the white stuff as two bodies landed on top of him. One was human, by the size; the other was Jet, by the voice. Said voice choked off at once and was replaced by coughing and spluttering - apparently the dokan hawk had gotten a mouthful of the powder. Good thing I kept MY mouth shut! Sonic got his eyes clear enough to locate his board, crowded against the track rail by Jet's silver-and-green one and an unfamiliar banana-yellow. He extracted the Blue Star, and in a nod to good sportsmanship pushed the other two in the direction of their fallen riders. The human woman, wheezing and wiping her face with a neckerchief, caught hers under one foot and nodded thanks. Jet scowled as well as he could while still coughing hard and stopped his own board the same way. Sonic scooted away on his board, before anyone else could come around the bend and add to the pile up, or the dust in the air.
Along the track, artificial lights were now coming on to supplement the glowing fungi, which really were everywhere now. Slowing to navigate around a pile of false snow, Sonic caught motion out of the corner of one eye and glanced over to discover the source of the white fall. A huge mushroom was flaring its cap, not rapidly but steadily, and as it did so, pale spores silted out from the gills. Sonic put two and two together and looked up. He didn't see the underside of huge vines and limbs he'd seen earlier, but veritable acres of slitted fungal gills, all with more white spores drifting silent down. The hedgehog wished briefly for a neckerchief or a dust mask of his own then pushed the Blue Star back into top gear. If I keep my speed up, maybe I can stay out of my own dust. I hope. He rode the centipedes through a cave made almost festive by foxfire and snowy spores, bounced off a dusty spider web, and slid across the finish line unchallenged and well-smeared with ashy spores. Most of the crowd had cleared out. Big's placid form loomed beneath the cat's pink umbrella, which was liberally piled with spores. Amy and Tails looked very small as they huddled beneath the umbrella as well. Rouge was sitting on the track rail, a violet silk scarf wrapped over her head and across her muzzle. Omochao sat disconsolately in his little balloon above the track, not even bothering to comment on Sonic's win.
"Sonic! You won!" cheered Amy. Tails stepped solemnly forward and offered his friend a dust mask. He and Amy were already wearing them.
"Didn't you offer Big a mask?" asked Sonic, as he gratefully accepted it and put it on.
Tails shrugged. "Of course, but he said the spores don't bother him because he's higher up than we are.
" Most of the competitors quit after the spores started falling, and the audience left with them. Knuckles wanted to stay, but he seems to be allergic to the spores, even with the mask."
"Really?" Sonic was surprised. He looked up as three shapes appeared at the top of the ramp and headed for the finish line. Climbing over the rail to join his friends, he continued, "I'd have thought with those giant mushrooms on Angel Island he'd be used to it."
"So did he," said Rouge as she joined them. "Apparently they're a different species, and they don't spore quite this . . . vehemently." She skipped sideways, jostling Big as Jet jumped over the rail and shoved past the group. A short hard stare at Sonic was all the notice he paid them. The other two figures proved to actually be three people: Shadow carrying Cream piggyback, and the woman who had taken the tumble with Jet. She said something to Shadow - or maybe Cream, since it was the bunny who nodded - and wearily approached Sonic and his friends.
"Good race, Sonic," she said hoarsely. "I hadn't really expected to win, but I'd hoped to make a bit better showing. This is official, isn't it? The race wasn't cancelled and they forgot to tell us?" She accepted a mask from Tails, who had already handed a pair to Shadow and Cream.
"Sonic won." Even Omochao sounded raspy, toy robot though he was. He landed his balloon and looked at them with glowing yellow eyes. "Sonic first, Jet second. I can't place Shadow or Cream, since the rules do specify one board per person and one person on a board, so you get third, Clara. Everyone else was officially disqualified for failing to finish. Sonic and his team and Jet and his team are the only ones in the finals, and will compete for the set of seven Chaos Emeralds, all of which have been turned in except the two held by Sonic and the Rogues." The robot gave a small, tinny cough. "Final race will be held in the Babylon Desert Saturday. I'm going file a complaint with the robot's union against Doctor Eggman; these spores can't be healthy to breathe. Let's go before we get buried in this stuff."
Although Omochao could be annoying, no one argued the point. Big took Cream from Shadow, Amy took the rabbit's board from Cream, and they all headed for their hotels.