Eight

Babylon Garden

Jet flew his airship over Babylon Garden, searching for Eggman. " Over there! " Silver pointed at one of the paths where Eggman was riding a somesort of motorcycle. Sonic quickly jumped on the roof of the airship ready to jump off of it.

" Wait, Sonic! " Shadow appeared. " Use this. " The black hedgehog tossed an airboard at Sonic. Sonic caught it, then examined it. It looked just like the Blue Star.

" What is it? " Sonic asked.

Shadow scoffed. " Are you in your head? Or are you just plain stupid? It's a new gear I prepped up. Just in case you were stupid enough to break the other one. "

Sonic glared at him and opened his mouth to counter, but instead he said, " Always thinkin ahead, aren't ya, Shadow. Thanks! " Sonic jumped off the airship and landed on his board. Sonic rode down to Babylon Garden when he saw, out of the corner of his eye, Jet on the Wind Chaser. " Jet? " Both of them landed on the track. Jet glared at the blue hedgehog.

" You can't catch up to him! Get outta my way! " Jet sped up. Sonic stared at the hawk.

" Is that what you think? " Sonic catched up to Jet. " Take a look at that! I'll show you what true speed is! " Then and there, they decided to forget Eggman and to do one more race to see who was the fastest.

Both Sonic and Jet flew down a slope which ended with a huge ramp. Sonic did a 1080 while Jet did three backflips. They both landed infront of a huge cliff with no way of stopping or turning. " SHIT! " The hedgehog and the hawk yelled in unsion. When they thought that they were history, a path of wind appeared and acted like a ramp that took them to the upper part of the garden. Jet sped up ahead of Sonic, but before he could celebrate, a voice interrupeted him.

" Emergency Alert! Emergency Alert! Prepre to repel all intruders! "

" Huh?! " Jet looked up and saw an airplane flying towards them and it started to shoot bullets. " Oh crap! " Jet tried dodging all of the bullets, but because he was paying attention to them, he didn't notice Sonic sneaking past him. Jet didn't notice until he heard the blue hedgehog laugh.

" Better watch your competition! " Sonic laughed even harder. " They might just disappear! "

Jet stomped his foot on his board. " I'm so not going to loose to a noob! " And with that, he pulled out his fans and started fanning them towards Sonic. Sonic lost his balance for a few seconds, then regained it. Jet passed him easily. Sonic then rode another path of wind that sent him to the clouds. Jet was not far behind and after a few attempts he was right next to the hedgehog. They then jumped off the clouds and hitched a ride from a passing plane. After a few minutes, they jumped off and landed close to the finish line and Jet was in first place. Jet laughed. " Looks like I'll win another race! " Sonic smirked which left the hawk confused. " What are you smiling 'bout? "

--Meanwhile, in Metal City...--

" News flash! " Omochao announced. " A mysterious airborne object has just appeared above the site where the EX World Grand Prix is being held. Apparently, Sonic and his friends have gone to investigate. We'll try to get more details after this important announcement.

--Back at Babylon Garden...--

Shadow, Silver, and Roy landed on the garden and sped through it. Before they could go any further, Wave, Storm, and Rain got infront of them, causing the three friends to fall of their boards. " Oh man, " Roy said as he stood up and picked up the Yellow Bullet. " looks like we have company. " Strom smirked as he pounded both of his fists together.

" We're gonna rumble? " Storm asked the yellow hedgehog.

" You asked for it! " Both of them approached each other, but were interrupted by a robotic voice.

" Targeting...Targeting...Atttack! " A bunch of Eggman's robots ran toward the bunch. Silver noticed.

" Roy! " He called. " Now's not the time to fight! " Wave turned around and saw the robots.

" Smart thinking. " The swallow said. " Let's get out of here! " Rain turned around to face Storm.

" Forget the yellow mutt. Let's go! "

" Did she say ' yellow mutt?! " Roy said as he raised both of his fists. " W-why you! " The three birds flew off. Roy got on his board and chased after them.

" Hey, Roy! " Shadow called as he grabbed the Black Shot. " Wait for us! " Shadow jumped on his board and followed. Silver groaned.

" Here we go again..." Silver jumped on the Pshyic Wave and also followed. Because of this, the wind coming from the back of their boards knocked down all the robots.

--Minewhile...--

" What are you smiling 'bout?! " Jet demanded.

" I'm jus smilin' 'cause I can picture your face when you lose! " That left Jet even more confused. Sonic quickly turned into a ball and knocked down Jet off the Wind Chaser. The blue hedgehog easily passed the finish line. Jet looked up and saw that Sonic had won.

" NO! " Jet pounded the ground with one of his fists.

" See? " Sonic said. " Even without wings, I can still fly! Right? " Jet pounded his fist one more time. When he looked up again, Sonic was gone.