It's time for the next race.
In the last chapter, the tournament was temporarily halted due to Armand getting trapped in the ancient underground temple. Armand managed to escape thanks to Basil, who came up with a plan, and Emily, who actually saved Armand.
With Armand back in, the tournament can continue. And it's at one of my favorite tracks, Babylon Garden.
Chapter 21: Babylonian Heights.
After a close escape by Armand and Emily, the tournament could continue. The standings from the Dark Desert track looked like this: Jet (8), Raine (8), Galeon (7), Rector (6), Wave (6), Armand (6), Sonic (6), Basil (6), Knuckles (5), and Rampage (0).
The remaining racers were at Babylon Garden, the site of the next race. They were high up in the sky, and gray clouds surrounded the whole area. This was a setup for an intense 10-racer free for all race.
"Welcome back to not-so-scenic Babylon Garden. As you all remember, we had a Survival Battle here near the beginning of the main tournament. Now we're here for a race. The weather is intense, so let's get to it." Gerald announced.
"You all know the rules, so we don't need to go over them. Gerald told me how a race works while we were on our way here, so I don't need a reminder. Well, are you all getting excited!?" Damien asked the crowd. They gave a long, loud cheer as a response. "I thought so. Now, let's allow the racers to take a position at the starting track, and let's get it on!"
Damien and Gerald headed to the announcer's booth, and the 10 racers took their places at the starting line. In front of the starting line was something of a Babylonian dome. If a power type got the early lead, they could smash through it, no problem. Otherwise, any other type would be slowed down.
5…4…3…2…1…
GO!
The race began. Knuckles got off the line first, and smashed through the miniature dome, breaking it into bits. There would be no repairing that thing. As the racers began, there was a steep downward slope that led to a ramp. This would lead very high into the air, and it would be a long drop down to the first main part of the track. The racers launched off of the ramp, and went high into the air, performing various tricks to get a trick grade, as well as bonus air, not that they needed it. The racers started going downward to the track, and it was a long drop. Luckily, the racers managed to stay on their boards, and managed to keep their lunches they ate earlier (estimated time was about 1:30 p.m.) in their stomachs.
Knuckles may have gotten into the air first, but it was Sonic who landed first. Up ahead, they could see a sharp turn. As if that wasn't enough, there was no guardrail to save them from a fall. But for speeders, there was a grinding rail above the ramp. Armand and Galeon took it, but Sonic and Jet, who knew the track better than anybody, took the tight turn. Those who couldn't take the speed rail managed to catch the turbulence left by Sonic, who was ahead of Jet. Sonic looked ahead of him only to see that Armand and Galeon had the lead.
"No way! How did they get ahead?" Sonic asked himself. Rector, who had just gotten ahead of Jet in the turbulence trail, heard him.
"They took the speed rail above the ramp that you decided to ignore." Rector pointed out.
"Did I ask you, Rector?" Sonic asked.
"No. But that doesn't mean I can't tell you anyway." Rector said.
They didn't notice the upcoming 3-way split, and they took the far right path, which was a power type area. Sonic, who was ahead of Rector, slammed into the barricade blocking the power shortcut, and was stopped. Armand, Jet, and Galeon took the far left, which was a loop, and Wave, Raine, and Basil took the middle path, which had some flight accelerator rings. Rector, who was a power type, smashed through the barricade, and by the time Sonic recovered, Rampage and Knuckles were ahead of him. Sonic was now in last.
"Damn it. How am I going to catch up now?" Sonic asked himself.
Up ahead, Armand had taken the lead. They went through a right turn, and then a left turn, and then they saw a stretch of pathway. But a Babylonian fighter jet was closing in on that stretch, and flew over it, firing a couple of bombs to destroy the pathway.
"Emergency alert! Emergency alert! Prepare to repel intruders!" A voice echoed throughout Babylon Garden. The fighter that destroyed the pathway flew up into a funnel of swirling clouds.
"How are we supposed to get past this?" Armand yelled back.
"If I'm correct, that fighter left a large turbulence trail. We follow that out of this trap." Jet replied.
The racers hit the large turbulence. Due to it being the first lap, and the fact that the turbulence was just created, there were no tricking zones available. All the racers could do was ride the turbulence, and hope there was something waiting to save them. At the top of the turbulence (remember that they were going upward), they shot out of the clouds, above the sky.
"Where's the track!?" Rector yelled.
"There is no track. Babylonian jets should be coming our way now!" Sonic called out. He had caught up to the others while in the turbulence.
Down below, they saw 10 combat fighters flying by. They each caught one, and now it was a matter of which fighter was the fastest. It turns out that Sonic's fighter was the fastest, so he landed first to take the lead.
"Not bad!" Sonic said.
But that didn't last long. Galeon took the lead from him. He saw a grind rail over the guard rail. He jumped on it, with Armand and Jet following behind. Sonic and Raine rode the turbulence, hit a trick area in it, and busted through the track above to land on it. Not only did this lead to a max-air power up, but it also had a turn that wasn't as sharp as the one below. The power characters took the bottom path, which had a sharper turn than the top track above them, but they handled it easily. Everyone was nearly tied for a 10-way lead. As they passed a ramp, there were some flight accelerator rings. Up ahead, a combat fighter blasted a piece of track, revealing a ramp that led to a 100-ring capsule. Rector managed to notice, and jumped off of the ramp and got it, sending him to level 3 instantly.
"Boo-yah! Now it's time to really rock it." Rector said.
With that, Rector started a series of level 3 attacks, starting with Rampage, followed by Knuckles, Basil, Jet, Armand, Galeon, and finally Sonic. Because of his chivalry, he couldn't hit Raine and Wave, so he just swerved close to them, which counted as an attack. It was allowed for Rector only. And this was all within 9 seconds. Damien noticed this.
"That was amazing. Rector pulled 9 attacks in 9 seconds." Damien announced.
"That's going to be 5 bonus points for Rector's score." Gerald said.
Near the curve, the racers saw that there were no guard rails. They had to be careful here. One mistake, and they would fall to Babylon Garden below. Rector, who was in the lead, was sliding through the turn, creating a turbulence trail while he was at it. The others followed it, and seeing as how there were no guard rails, this was the best course of action. After the sharp turn, there was a ramp that led to one of two parts of the track. Go high enough, and you would land on a long straightaway that led to a ramp way up ahead. Land on the bottom track, and you would land on a long straightaway that had a power barricade after the finish line. The side paths had no advantage.
Rector, Knuckles, Sonic, Armand, and Wave landed on the bottom track, while Raine, Basil, Galeon, Rampage, and Jet hit the top path. The start/finish line was in sight. If it were the final lap, this would be a suspenseful finish. But it was only the first lap, so they would have to wait. Sonic quickly sped ahead of Rector to take the lead.
"Alright, I'm in the lead." Sonic said.
"Not for long!" Jet said up above him.
Jet sped ahead of Sonic on the top track. The 5 on the top track were headed towards the ramp. The 5 on the bottom were headed towards the 3-way split. Rector and Knuckles went through the power type shortcut, Sonic and Armand went through the right path, and Wave took the left path. Up ahead, Sonic, Armand, and Wave saw the racers that were on the top path land in front of them. They caught up and sped through the sharp turn, only to see Knuckles and Rector go through the loop. They had decided not to take the power type shortcut. Everyone except Rampage took the loop. Rampage took the power type shortcut, and was soon in the lead.
"Now I'm in the lead. And I plan on keeping it that way."
But that plan wouldn't go as planned. Rampage dropped a tornado, but the other 9 racers went around it, putting Rampage in last place, which was 10th.
"Damn it. I'm back in last again." Rampage cursed.
But as luck would have it, he got a 30-ring capsule, bringing him to level 3. He was already at level 2. He then went on a rampage (would you look at that!). He attacked Armand, Knuckles, Wave, and Sonic to put himself in 6th place. He would gain 5 bonus points as a result. He couldn't attack the others because there was the large turbulence trail coming up. The 5 racers in front were already on it, so he joined them. Since it was the second lap, there were trick areas. Rampage hit as many as possible, and managed to get to fourth before launching into the air. Raine had the lead, and one of the combat fighters was carrying her to the next section of the track. Rector was right behind her, so he could see her. Raine came up to the next track. It was time to let go. She released her grip…
But she couldn't let go of the fighter. She looked up and saw that something was keeping her latched on. She tried to break free, but couldn't.
"SOMEBODY HELP ME!!" Raine yelled. Rector and Basil noticed this.
"Raine!" Rector yelled.
"Something's wrong!" Basil exclaimed.
The combat fighter was turning away from the track. It was headed to the edge of Babylon Garden. The claw then activated, somehow grabbed a rope, and somehow started tying Raine's wings together. Galeon, who was near Basil, saw what was going on. He had already passed Rampage.
"No way! That thing's planning on dropping Raine right off of Babylon Garden!" Galeon realized.
"What!? NO!" Rector said. The other racers had stopped, and the crowd, Gerald, and Damien had seen this as well. Everyone tried to think of a way to avert this.
But it was no use. There was no way anyone could save Raine. It seemed as if all hope was lost. The combat fighter carried Raine to the edge. The claw then grabbed Raine and threw her out into the air. As if it wasn't bad enough, Raine's gear, the Graceful Wing, had somehow shut down. It looked like the end of Raine.
"No. I can't believe this is how it will end." Raine said sadly.
"Not if I can help it!" Someone in the distance said.
All of a sudden, a black and yellow bee wearing a red jacket, black shoes, and a red helmet flew towards Raine. It was Charmy Bee. Apparently he had seen the whole thing, and was on his way to help. He caught Raine in his arms, untied the rope binding her wings, and helped her get back to the track. He also carried Raine's gear with him. It wasn't long before they got back to the track.
"Charmy, thank you." Raine said.
"Aw, it was no problem, Raine." Charmy replied.
Raine then gave Charmy a kiss, which caused Charmy to fall to the ground. It was no secret that they were in love. It was also no secret that Rector didn't approve of the relationship very well. Speaking of Rector, he was on his way to where Charmy and Raine were. The other racers followed.
"Raine, are you okay?" Rector asked as he hugged Raine.
"Yes, thanks to Charmy." Raine replied.
"That's good. Charmy, thank you for saving her." Rector told Charmy.
"Like I said, it was nothing." Charmy replied.
Over at the announcer's booth, Damien and Gerald watched what was happening.
"Gerald, do Rector and Raine have a relationship, if you know what I mean?" Damien asked. Gerald punched him.
"You moron. Raine is like a sister to Rector. It's Charmy that Raine is in love with." Gerald said.
"Jeez, sorry." Damien said, kind of in a sarcastic tone.
Gerald then decided that it was time to move on.
"Attention everyone. Due to the recent incident, we have decided that the current results will be the finishing results. Whatever position you were in before the incident happened, is the position that you finish in. With that, Raine wins since she was in the lead." Gerald announced.
With that, Raine won the race. The results for this race were: Raine (+10), Rector (+9), Basil (+8), Galeon (+7), Rampage (+6(+5 bonus points)), Armand (+5), Sonic (+4), Wave (+3), Knuckles (+2), and Jet (+1).
"Well, that wraps up this race. This weather is supposed to clear up in a little while, and that's when the Sky Road track will open for the Survival Race. See you all then." Damien announced.
Gerald and Damien took their leave (kind of), and the racers headed to the airship to rest up.
End of Chapter 21
Raine almost lost her life, but was rescued by Charmy. Was the incident just a combat fighter program malfunction, or is someone responsible for it? You'll just have to keep an eye on the story to find out.
The standings are as follows:
Raine: 18
Rector: 15
Galeon: 14
Basil: 14
Armand: 11
Rampage: 11
Sonic: 10
Jet: 9
Wave: 9
Knuckles: 7
The standings have changed dramatically. Who will emerge on top, and who will be eliminated? Well, you'll just have to wait on that.
Read, and you may review if you want.