It's time for the next Survival Race.
This race takes place at Sky Road. Who will win? Read on and find out.
Disclaimer: OCs belong to their respective owners. Sega owns Sonic and co.
Chapter 22: High in the Sky Road
The clouds had cleared up in Babylon Garden, and when the weather changed, so did the track. The setup was perfect for the Survival Race. Everyone hoped nothing would happen during this survival race, as tragedy almost struck during the Babylon Garden race. Raine was almost killed as she was dropped from high in the sky off of the edge of Babylon Garden. Luckily for her, she was saved by Charmy. The race was cut short, with the current race standings turning out to be the finishing positions. Therefore, the standings looked like this: Raine (18), Rector (15), Galeon (14), Basil (14), Armand (11), Rampage (11), Sonic (10), Jet (9), Wave (9), and Knuckles (7). Those standings would change soon, and everyone knew it.
"Well, everyone, welcome to Sky Road. The clouds have cleared up, leaving a nice scene for the race. If there's one thing that everyone's hoping for, it's that nothing bad will happen. We already got a scare when Raine got dropped off of Babylon Garden. Let's hope that it won't happen again. Well, it's time for a Survival Battle, so let's get to it. Remember, to win, you need 5 points to win, or you need to have the most points in 5 minutes. Our randomizer will determine who will face off in the first of two races." Damien announced.
The randomizer started up, and 5 faces were highlighted.
"The first 5 are Galeon, Jet, Wave, Basil, and Raine. Will those 5 please report to the starting line?" Gerald requested.
The 5 racers were ready to race.
3…2…1…
GO!
The race started. Raine was out first, followed by Galeon, Jet, Wave, and Basil, in that order. They headed down the slope towards the ramp. The Chaos Emerald was near the ramp, and Raine managed to get it first. She launched off of the ramp, with the others following her. The first gate was just before the spiral, and Raine picked up the first point of the race. There was no guardrail (in the actual game, the track has guardrails in the survival race, but in this story, it doesn't), so the only option was to air slide through the spiral. It was easy though. It wasn't long before they came out of it. There was a ramp ahead, and it led to a wide expanse of track. There was a gate just before the ramp. Raine was about to go through it, but Basil bumped her to take the emerald, and he got the point. They launched off of the ramp, and landed on the track. In a normal race, there would have been a turbulence trail created by a combat fighter plane. The next gate was just ahead. It was possible to score 5 points before the first lap was completed. Basil scored the next point and sped through the slight slalom. Up ahead he saw the next gate before what looked like a sharp corner. He boosted to the gate, picking up his third point. If this were a normal race, then there would be two slabs of track gone during the third lap.
"Three points. I may just win this one." Basil said to himself.
But it was not to be. Jet boosted up and attacked, stealing the emerald. They sped through the sharp turn, and found 3 blocked off areas. One was a flight ramp, another was a power shortcut, and the last one would be a speed rail. They were off access since it was a Survival Race. Up ahead was another gate, just before the sharp turn. Jet sped through it and scored his first point. The turn had no guardrails, so the racers had to be careful. Jet took the turn with ease, but Basil boosted and attacked Jet, taking back the emerald.
"Sorry, but this race is mine." Basil taunted.
It didn't help that Basil knocked Jet off of the track. Jet reappeared on the track almost immediately, but he lost his advantage. After the turn, Basil got his fourth point by passing through a gate before the ramp. If nobody recaptured the emerald, Basil would claim the win at the next gate. Galeon was aware of this, and managed to reach Basil and attacked him, stealing the emerald.
"Now it's time for me to score some points." Galeon said to himself.
He launched off of the ramp and landed on the bottom track leading to the spiraling tower. The top area was closed off, so the bottom opening was the only one available. Galeon entered and started riding the path up the tower, with the others close behind. It wasn't long before Galeon reached the top, and he was shot out like a cannonball. He hit a billboard, landed on the bottom track, and sped towards the next gate, which was just before the finish line. He passed through it to score his first point, and sped towards the right opening. The left path held a flight type shortcut, and the middle path was a power shortcut.
Galeon sped to the hairpin spiral turn, and passed through the gate before it, claiming his second point. He spiraled down the spiral (what else would you do in a spiral), passed through the gate before the ramp to score a third point, and launched off of the ramp. He landed and started to head to the next gate, but Raine caught up to him and stole the emerald.
"Sorry, Galeon." Raine apologized. She did that to every racer that got attacked by her.
Raine then sped to the next gate and picked up her second point. But that was as far as she got. Wave reached her and stole the emerald, then sped around the spiral turn. She reached the gate to score her first point, but that would be the only point she would get, as Basil sped up to her and attacked, stealing the emerald. He sped around the turn, boosted towards the gate, and passed through it to grab the win.
"Basil has won the Survival Race!" Damien announced.
The results were: Basil (+5), Raine (+4), Galeon (+4), Jet (+2), and Wave (+1). Their points were: Basil (19), Raine (22), Galeon (18), Jet (11), and Wave (10). Things were not looking good for Jet and Wave.
It was time for the other Survival Race of the day.
"Now, will Rector, Armand, Sonic, Rampage, and Knuckles report to the start line?" Gerald requested.
Rector, Armand, Sonic, Rampage, and Knuckles took their places at the starting line.
3…2…1…
GO!
The 5 racers passed the starting line to begin the Survival Race. Rampage got off the line first, followed in order by Rector, Knuckles, Sonic, and Armand. The emerald was placed near the first ramp, and since Rampage was the first off of the line, he got the emerald first. He hit the ramp, and went real high into the air. The others followed since it was the only way to go. At the bottom of the jump, the first gate was located just before the spiral turn. It still didn't have guardrails, so the racers had to be careful.
Rampage passed through the first gate to score the first point of the race, but as soon as he made it through the spiral, Rector attacked and took the emerald.
"Sorry, but this race is mine." Rector taunted.
Rector then launched off of the ramp. The gate in front of the ramp had been removed. The next gate was up ahead, before the tight spiral turn. Rector boosted a couple of times to reach the gate, and passed through it, earning him his first point. He sped through the tight spiral and shot out towards the next gate, which had been moved from near the turn to between the power shortcut and the location of the grind rail. He passed through it, earning him his second point, before hitting the spiral turn. He sped around it, and dashed towards the gate located before the ramp leading to the tower. But Armand came up and stole the emerald.
"Catch me if you can!" Armand taunted.
Jet was in the stands nearby, and he heard Armand.
"Hey, that's my line!" Jet yelled. But Armand ignored him.
Armand reached the ramp, earning his first point by passing the gate before it. He landed on the bottom track and rode the path up the tower. He was shot out, with the others following behind.
"It looks like the second lap is about to begin. It's time to step it up!" Armand said to himself.
Armand boosted to get further ahead and saw the next gate before the finish line. He passed through it and earned his second point.
"Two down, three to go."
Armand kicked the booster again, went past the power shortcut to the tight spiral, and picked up his third point by going through the gate before the spiral. After he sped through it, he launched off of the next ramp and sped towards the next gate located before the next spiral. But he wouldn't reach it, as Sonic came up behind him and bumped into him, stealing the emerald. After taking it, Sonic boosted ahead and reached the gate, so he got his first point.
"That's my first point." Sonic said to himself. "Now I just need to gain four more to win."
"That won't happen!" Someone said from behind him.
Rampage came up and attacked Sonic, stealing the emerald. He made the sharp turn and sped towards the next gate. Since there was nobody currently attempting to take the emerald, it was easy for him to score his second point. At this point, the time remaining was 3:20. After that time, the race would end, and point scores would lock in for tournament point calculations.
"I just need to hold out for a little longer, or gain the points I need, to win." Rampage told himself.
He sped around the next sharp turn and headed for the next gate, located shortly before the ramp. As he reached it, he saw Sonic coming up behind him, and he wasn't happy.
"That was one of the cheapest attacks that have ever been done to me." Sonic yelled.
Rampage got nervous. He knew he couldn't outrace Sonic, so he had to try to get as many points as he could. He passed through the next gate for a third point and launched off of the ramp just as Sonic reached him. Since Sonic didn't have time to prepare for the jump, he didn't land fast enough. Rampage managed to charge up enough of a jump to go higher, and that allowed him to land faster. He headed into the tower and rode the rail beam up. Sonic followed. They rode the beam all the way up to the top of the tower and shot out like cannonballs. The time remaining was 2:55. Sonic chased Rampage to the finish line, where Rampage had already scored his fourth point. Sonic attacked Rampage to steal the emerald, and sped towards the next gate. But before he could reach it, Rampage attacked and retook the emerald. Rampage passed the next gate to claim his last point.
"Rampage has won his first race!" Damien announced.
"And this time I didn't cheat!" Rampage boasted.
The officials watched the race again, focusing on Rampage. It was true. Rampage had not cheated in this one.
"We checked the replays, and it is official. Rampage committed no fouls during the race, so he is awarded the win." Gerald confirmed. The crowd went wild. The results were: Rampage earned 5 for the win, Armand earned 4 for second place, Sonic and Rector gained 3 points for a third place tie, and Knuckles gained 1 point since he did not score. The standings for them were: Rampage (16), Armand (15), Sonic (13), Rector (18), and Knuckles (8).
In the starting block, Galeon walked up to Rampage.
"Good job on not cheating for the win." Galeon told him.
"Well, you told me not to cheat, so I didn't." Rampage replied.
"Well, that wraps this up, everyone. Now remember, after the Sega Illusion course, we'll find the 5 who move on to the final race. So from now until then, the racers in the last 5 positions are in danger. We'll head into the main building for the next races. We'll have to find a way to form the track. But the races aren't until this evening, so we have time. Until then, see you all!" Gerald announced.
Gerald and Damien left to rest up, and the racers went back to the airship for a little down time.
End of Chapter 22.
Basil has picked up another win, and Rampage earned his first win. The standings are as follows:
Raine: 22
Basil: 19
Rector: 18
Galeon: 18
Rampage: 16
Armand: 15
Sonic: 13
Jet: 11
Wave: 10
Knuckles: 8
Armand, Sonic, Jet, Wave, and Knuckles are in danger of being knocked out of the tournament (Look at that! OCs occupy the top 5 spots, and the only OC in danger is my OC, Armand). Will they rise back up in the standings? You'll have to find out.
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