Ready for the next race?

This next race takes place in Splash Canyon. This isn't one of my top favorite tracks in the game itself, but it's a really nice track.

Disclaimer: OCs belong to their respective owners/authors.

Chapter 12: Splash Canyon Speeding.

At the end of the Night Chase Survival Race, these were the results: Rector (31), Raine (31), Sonic (31), Armand (30), Galeon (26), Wave (25), Howl (25), Rampage (22), Tails (22), Nightscream (22), Basil (19), Jet (18), Knuckles (17), Axel (12), and Storm (12). If this were a team race, Team Virtex would be in the lead. But it wasn't.

The racers were in Jet's airship, heading to Splash Canyon. The race would be in the afternoon, so they had plenty of time.

"Man, a three-way tie for first? I'm starting to feel the pressure." Rector said in the main room. It was basically a recreation room. It had everything that you would expect in such a room. Everyone was doing his or her own thing.

"I know how you feel. I feel like the tie will never be broken." Sonic agreed.

"Actually, that tie will be broken after today's race." Armand told them.

"It's true. A tie never exists for long, especially with 15 racers fighting for the top 7 positions." Storm agreed with Armand.

Wave hit Storm upside the head with her wrench.

"You dumbass. The top 5 go on, and two others from those teams that lost the preliminaries will enter." Wave said.

That cleared that up quickly. As soon as Wave cursed, everyone stopped doing what he or she were doing.

"Uhhh, I'll take my leave now." Wave said as she slowly left. She ducked into Jet's room, where Jet was looking outside the window.

"Jet, I need your help." Wave said nervously.

"What is it, Wave?" Jet asked.

"I…uhh…said…something I shouldn't have." Wave told him.

"And what might that have been?" Jet asked.

She told him.

"Aw, don't worry about it, Wave. There's nothing wrong with that." Jet told her.

"But, I never say things like that." Wave said, worriedly.

"Wave, come here." Jet said. Wave did so. "There are things that we all regret doing. But after a while, you'll forget that you said that, and everything will be okay."

"Are you sure?" Wave asked.

"Sure." Jet told her.

"Thanks, Jet. I now know that I have you to come to when I'm in trouble."

"That's not all you'll have me for."

They drew close. Their hearts were beating fast. Just as they were about to connect…

"HEY BOSS!"

Storm barged in all of a sudden, causing the two lovebirds (see what I did there?) to fall over. They weren't too happy with that.

"Storm, hasn't anyone told you to knock before entering a room?" Wave asked angrily.

"Sorry, but we're entering Splash Canyon now. We need somewhere to land." Storm apologized.

"Then go find somewhere to land." Jet told him.

"Yes sir." Storm said.

"Oh, and if you disturb me again, I'll do "it" to you."

"No. Not that! NOT THAT!"

"Then GET OUT!"

Jet then kicked Storm out. He then turned his attention to Wave.

"Now, where were we?"

Jet and Wave then turned to each other again. They drew closer to each other. As they were about to connect…

BOOM!

The resulting vibration knocked down Jet and Wave.

"Sorry for the rough landing, everyone, but we have landed in Splash Canyon." Storm announced on the ship's intercom. Jet was extremely ticked.

"Three, two, one…" Wave counted.

"THAT ALBATROSS IS A DEAD BIRD!" Jet yelled.

That was a signal to get out of the way. Jet came dashing through with his paper fans out. Everyone got out of the way. Nobody dared mess with Jet when he was this ticked. He rushed to the control room, where Storm was cowering with fear.

"Uh, I'm…sorry…boss." Storm tried to apologize.

"YOU'RE DEAD, STORM!" Jet yelled.

Gerald saved the day.

"Uh, guys, we're here. Get to the starting block." Gerald told them. Jet calmed down.

"I'll let you off this time. But if that happens again, you're dead. Got it?"

"Got it, boss."

They headed to the starting gate.

"Welcome to Splash Canyon, one of the most frantic places to race in. With waterfalls, rapids, and lakes, this is a disguised Extreme Gear trap. Luckily, all boards will be given water-resistant covers to resist the water. The rules remain the same as all of the normal races so far, so good luck, and wait for the gate to disappear."

Gerald finished his announcements, and headed to the announcer's booth. The racers got into position as the countdown started.

5…

4…

3…The racers started towards the gate.

2…

1…

GO!

The racers left the wooden bridge over the water and dashed down the catwalk above the river. Up ahead was a left turn that led to a drop-off ramp. There was a speed rail nearby for speeders. Sonic, Jet, Armand, Howl, and Galeon headed towards it. The others had to take the drop-off. Those who managed to jump it could hit an upper pathway. Flyers could hit a couple of flying accelerator rings to land up there. But Rector just dropped off. Why?

He saw something behind one of the miniature waterfalls. He went behind it to find…a 100-ring capsule. Rector couldn't believe his luck. He picked it up, and went to level 3. Everyone now had to watch out. Except for girls, whom Rector couldn't hit.

"Alright. Everyone, watch out. Rector's coming through." Rector said to himself.

Sonic was in the lead, and he had just landed on the top track after the ramp. This led to an earlier ride on the upcoming rapids. Some of the racers managed to make it to the top track, while the others hit the bottom path. Wave was one of those racers. She saw a waterfall to the left, and saw something behind it. She went through, and found a secret path of flying accelerator rings. As she went through them, she saw a rapids waterfall. She landed on it, rode down, and entered the main rapids. She landed ahead of Sonic, putting her in the lead. But knowing Sonic, he would take the lead back soon.

Back at the path just before the rapids, Rector was in dead last. Raine had fallen behind to 14th place. Armand had just entered the rapids.

"Oh, what do we do, Rector?" Raine asked.

"We'll just have to race our best, Raine." Rector said. "Let's catch up to Armand. I'm sure he has a plan."

It turns out he did. As they entered the rapids, they saw Armand swerve to avoid some rock outcroppings. They did the same, and saw him ascend a waterfall. Actually, he launched up it. Rector and Raine did the same, and caught up to Armand.

"Yo, Armand. Got a plan?" Rector called out.

"Actually, yes. This should get us back up to at least 5th. Rector, see that blockade on the left? Smash through it. Raine and I will follow." Armand replied.

In the area they were at, there was an abandoned ship steering wheel serving as a ramp to a speed rail, there was a flying ramp that led to flight accelerator rings, and the path that Armand mentioned was blocked with barrels.

Well, it was before Rector came barreling through (no pun intended). Raine and Armand followed up. They were now in 4th through 6th.

Up in the lead, the Babylon Rogues were rounding the sharp turn. Jet had the lead, followed by Wave, and then Storm. They were heading into Splash Canyon's Crystal Cave.

"Jet, is this Crystal Cave?" Wave asked as she raced through with Jet and Storm.

"It sure is. Once this race is over, we should come back here." Jet replied.

Behind them, Storm had an armful of crystals.

"Hey boss, look what I got."

"Storm, put those down. We'll come back later."

"Okay…ow."

Just then, Sonic decided to do a little bowling. He dodged Raine, Armand, and Rector, and hit the Rogues. He was at level two, so he just bowled on through, bringing him from 7th to the lead.

"Alright, I'm in the lead."

"AH-CHOO!"

That lead didn't last long. Jet recovered, then sneezed on Sonic.

"Aw, man, now I'll need another bath." Sonic complained.

Jet launched off of a ramp at the end, and landed on a hill-like rock. He sped down it, only to see Galeon pass by. He managed to reach 2nd in the cave, and went high enough to hit a rainbow path. He took the lead, and shot past the start/finish line. He headed down the starting slope.

"That bird has done it." Jet said.

Jet caught up and sneezed on Galeon. That didn't end too well. Rampage came barreling through, followed by Axel and Storm. The racers who weren't doing so well in the past races were dominating. Those who were dominating were falling behind. That was the way it would remain for the remainder of the race.

During lap two, Rector managed to make it to 5th place, but he got slowed down by hitting a wall. Axel bumped him into it near the rapids. Armand was attacked by Nightscream near the same area. Sonic fell back after misjudging his leap and falling into the lower river, located off-course. He was put back on, losing a lot of ground. Basil caught up to Wave, but was attacked by Storm. Basil recovered, but Storm had gotten away.

Those who had dominated were slipping. The tournament would surely be close after this race.

On lap three, Jet managed to get far ahead of the others. He was about 10 seconds in front of the 2nd place racer, which was Axel. He finished that way as well.

"I don't believe it. Jet wins by a long shot." Gerald announced.

About 12 seconds later, Axel came across, followed by Storm, Basil, and then Knuckles.

"Axel finishes 12 seconds after Jet crossed. Jet will get a 5 point bonus for finishing at least 10 seconds before another." Gerald announced.

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

Armand was depressed, but he knew Emily would be with him to cheer him up.

After the race was over, Wave ran to Jet and hugged him.

"Jet, you were great in the race."

"You didn't do so bad yourself. Then again, it was your knowledge of Extreme Gear that helped me win."

Wave smiled at this. They both knew it was coming. They drew closer until…

"Way to go, boss!"

Storm ran up to Jet and embraced him, nearly crushing him. Jet wasn't too happy about being interrupted, but Rector knocked Storm away. Sonic nodded to Wave. She knew what that meant.

As Jet was trying to hold himself back from killing Storm, Wave grabbed Jet's shoulders, turned him around, and kissed him, beak to beak. Jet was shocked at the sudden action, but he didn't care. He returned it.

"Get a room." Gerald said.

Jet and Wave broke the kiss. They knew they would be together.

"I love you, Jet."

"I love you too, Wave."

They turned to the other racers. They were all giving some kind of congratulations. Some of the crowd was cheering. Gerald broke the noise with the next announcement.

"Alright everyone, we're bringing in the construction crew. The track will be redone in order to allow the Survival Race at the Red Canyon track. Come back at sunset, everyone."

Gerald ended the announcement, and left.

Everyone decided to take some time off. Jet and Wave went on a triple date. Sonic and Amy went with them, as well as Armand and Emily. Team Virtex, along with Storm, the rest of Team Berserker, the rest of Team Sonic, and Team Dynamic decided to help out with the "reconstruction".

They all looked forward to the next Survival Race.

End of Chapter 12.

Now that that's over, here are the results:

Jet: 38

Raine: 37

Rector: 36

Sonic: 33

Galeon: 33

Howl: 33

Nightscream: 32

Armand: 31

Tails: 31

Basil: 31

Wave: 29

Knuckles: 28

Axel: 26

Storm: 25

Rampage: 25

The standings have changed dramatically. Jet is now in the lead. This should keep you all looking out for the next chapter.

Read, and you may review if you want.