It's time for the next race.

As you all remember (if you read the last chapter), the first Survival Battle took place. Jet, Raine, and Knuckles all won their respective battles, with Raine getting an award for the fastest time on the Dual Towers arena. Also, Armand revealed to Emily about what happened to him, and then they had their first kiss. Oh, and Rector's in for it. You'll know what I'm talking about.

Disclaimer: OCs belong to their respective owners.

Chapter 10: Metal City Madness.

With the first Survival Battle over, the racers (as well as some of the others such as Amy and Emily) got on board Jet's airship to head to Future City, where the Metal City district would hold the next race. The points looked this way: Rector (17), Galeon (17), Raine (16), Wave (16), Nightscream (14), Basil (14), Jet (13), Sonic (13), Armand (12), Howl (9), Rampage (8), Knuckles (6), Axel (6), Tails (5), and Storm (4).

On the airship, Amy had started yelling at Rector.

"Listen, Rector. I heard everything you said in the arena. What's wrong with being in love with Sonic? I thought you was okay with it. You even let me go on a date with him. So why did you tell him that taking him out of the battle was because he went out on a date with me? You've never been like that before. You really need to…"

Amy went on and on. Rector knew this was coming, but he didn't know how long Amy would keep this up. So he listened, because he knew that if he tried to tune her out, she would get even angrier. Amy finally stopped when she got tired.

"Got it, Rector?" Amy asked, out of breath.

"Yes, Amy. I'm sorry for saying that to Sonic." Rector told her.

Sonic came up beside Amy.

"Actually, Amy, I'm kind of responsible as well. What I said that caused him to say that came out before I knew it did. I'm sorry." Sonic apologized.

"It's okay, Sonic." Amy said.

Just then, the ship shook.

"What the…?" Armand began to ask.

"Attention, everyone." Jet's voice came over the intercom. "We have arrived in Metal City. Sorry for the rough landing."

"Well, at least we're here." Nightscream said as he hopped out of the airship.

Gerald was waiting for them.

"Welcome to Metal City. Teams Sonic and Babylon, you've been here before. The rest of you, take a trip around. See you at the track."

Gerald then left as the racers split up. They went in different directions. It was an hour later that they met up at the track. Gerald decided to start the announcements.

"Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Metal City track, located in Future City. This track may look easy, but there is some traffic along the streets, so watch out, especially at the crossroads. We've hidden the 100-ring capsule somewhere, so look out for it, and see if you know how to get it. Well, get ready for the race. Standard rules apply to this race, so I don't need to go over them again. Well, with that, the racers can head to the starting line, and wait to begin the race."

Gerald went to the announcer's booth as the 15 racers took their places along the track.

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

GO!

The racers left the starting line within 2 seconds, leaving hardly any room for movement. They headed down the slope, one of the places where attacks were common. Two air pits were at the side, incase anyone needed to top off their tank. A ramp was coming up, and how much of a jump you got determined where you landed. There were two different roads. One up above, and one down in the streets. Most of the racers hit the top, but the speed racers didn't get up there.

"Aw, man. How do we catch up now?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know. I've never raced here before." Howl told him.

"We've got to catch up somehow." Armand said.

Fortunately, Jet remembered.

"The turn over there has a rail we can grind. If we all hit it, we can catch up."

"Then let's not waste any time." Galeon said.

Howl was the first one, followed by Armand, Sonic, Jet, and Galeon. If this weren't a race, you'd think it was a game of follow the leader. Halfway around the turn, they found a gap. Howl made it and hit the second rail, as well as Sonic, Jet, and Galeon. Armand wasn't so lucky. He missed the rail and hit the tube tunnel wall, slowing him down. The other four speeders exited the grind as the other racers came down from the top road. Armand was left behind.

"Man, why didn't I see that coming?" Armand asked himself as he regained his previous speed.

Up ahead, the other fourteen racers had just gone down a slope, and then went up another one. They found a drop-off and some headed down, while some racers managed to make it a ramp. As they landed on the streets below, Armand managed to get up the slope just to see Sonic disappear from his view.

"Now what am I going to do?" Armand asked himself.

His answer came up a short time later. Once he hit a capsule, the invincibility shield appeared around him.

"Yeah, now we're talking." Armand said to himself.

Armand boosted. He didn't have to attack, because anyone hit by the shield would spin out. He hit almost every racer when the shield gave out. Armand was now in 3rd place.

"Whoa! Armand really caught up." Sonic said, amazed.

"Thanks to the invincibility." Jet scoffed.

"Calm down, Jet. If you were him, you would've picked it up." Galeon told him.

The tunnels went two ways. One was clear, while the other had cars going through it. The power characters took the right, while everyone else took the left. As they emerged, only Rector noticed the big rig on the right. So, when everyone was going through the streets, Rector bashed his way into the shortcut. As he punched through a few cars, he found himself in second.. And he was, as when he emerged, he was behind Tails by a tail (pun intended). Literally, as he was one of Tails' tail lengths behind. A tight turn came up, and as everyone went through it, Nightscream, who was at level 2, slapped Raine with his medallion. Rector noticed this, however, and to him, protecting those he treats like a sister, such as Raine, came before winning a race. He backed off, then hit Nightscream with a level 3 attack, since he was at level 3.

While Nightscream recovered, the other racers got ahead. They were on the final stretch. As they approached the ramp, they could go one of two directions. Up, where there was another ramp, or down, where there was a pulley that they could ride up, and gain some air while they were at it. Only the flyers managed to make it. The others hit the bottom, and had to ride the pulleys up. The flyers had the lead, with the exception of Nightscream, who was in the back. They crossed the finish line to begin lap two.

As they went down the ramp, Sonic came blasting through at level 2, blazing through some of the racers in his path. They would have to take the bottom road, as they couldn't recover in time. The others, however, managed to make it. As they rode along, Raine noticed the 100-ring capsule.

"The 100-ring capsule!" She exclaimed. Unfortunately for her, Storm overheard.

"Now I can get it."

Storm saw a nearby arrow sign. He leaped on it, and his momentum, along with the direction of the sign, managed to get the capsule. The others noticed, and sped away. They knew how devastating Storm's two-handed slam was. Storm boosted, but didn't hit anyone. But he had the lead. It stayed that way until lap three.

On the final lap, Raine was catching up to Storm near the crossroads. She was at level 3, so her attack would stun Storm. She boosted, and the attack hit Storm, not only stunning him, but bringing him back down to level 1. Raine felt proud of herself. Armand came up beside her.

"That was amazing. I can see why you're part of Team Virtex." Armand called out as they rounded the turn.

"Well, I can create any virus or cure." Raine called back.

They didn't notice Sonic coming up behind them. He avoided Raine (so Rector wouldn't go after him), but hit Armand. He was at level 3, so the attack tripped Armand.

"Ow. I'll get you, Sonic." Armand vowed.

He would indeed. As he caught up, he boosted, and attacked Sonic by snapping loudly in his face. As they hit the ramp, Armand managed to hit the top road, while Sonic took the bottom. As they reached the beginning area, Armand finished first, followed by Raine, then Sonic.

"Armand wins the race!" Gerald announced.

"I won. I don't believe it." Armand told himself.

In the stands, Emily looked on with a smile.

"Armand won. Alright. I knew he could do it." Emily said to herself.

"Well, there you have it, everyone. Armand wins the Metal City race. Come back tonight, when we'll have the Night Chase track set up for the Survival Race. See you all tonight."

Gerald then packed up what he brought along and left. A hotel had been rented out for the racers and the other heroes, as well as the racers who didn't make it to the tournament, and some families of the racers. The racers chose their rooms. Couples would end up in the same room together. They would stay there until nighttime.

End of Chapter 10.

Well, that race was kind of short. But it went well. I'm sure you all liked it.

The results: Armand (+15), Raine (+14), Sonic (+13), Howl (+12), Rampage (+11), Rector (+10), Tails (+9), Wave (+8), Galeon (+7), Knuckles (+6), Storm (+5), Nightscream (+4), Axel (+3), Jet (+2), Basil (+1).

The point totals:

Raine: 30

Rector: 27

Armand: 27

Sonic: 26

Wave: 24

Galeon: 23

Howl: 21

Rampage: 19

Nightscream: 18

Basil: 15

Jet: 15

Tails: 14

Knuckles: 12

Axel: 9

Storm: 9

Read, and you may review this chapter if you want.