It was the day of the race. A crowd of almost 100,000 people were hand to watch the start of the race. Sonic and Tails were standing by the Blue Blur, signing autographs for the fans and doing TV interviews. Knuckles was running Big Red on the Dyno to see where it stood and to make any last second adjustments. Sticks was there, amazed by all she was seeing.
"20 minutes until the start of the Jungle Run" a German accented voice said over the loudspeaker. Tommy went out around and learned he had no second gear, so he bought a spare transmission off another team.
"I see The Thief isn't working" Tails said to him. Tommy looked out from under his car.
"Shut up and let me work, dammit" he said. Tails walked off.
"15 minutes" the voice said over the speaker. Knuckles revved the engine. It turned over normally.
"The gauges are checking out. Big Red ready to roll" he said. Tommy finally got the transmission to work and regained second gear. Sonic was fitting the afterburner on the Blue Blur and Tails was getting hounded by ladies saying how cute he was.
"10 minutes. All press and fans clear the garage area" the voice said. Sticks was disturbed by this.
"Who is this bodiless voice who controls us?" she asked. Knuckles calmed her down and pointed to the press box.
"He's in there. Now get ready" he told her. Tails was putting the race tires on testing the adjustable suspension. A lot of last second activity was going on in the garage.
"5 minutes until the start of the Jungle Run. All drivers move into starting positions now" the voice announced.
"Alright, let's go" Knuckles proclaimed. Sonic and Tails put their driving suits on and got in. Tommy put his helmet on. It had a checkerboard pattern. He waited until everyone else was in position. An official stopped Knuckles.
"Hey, buddy. All ride along mechanics have to have a helmet" he told Knuckles. A member of another team walked over and handed Sticks a spare helmet.
"We were going to have a ride along mechanic, but he didn't show" the man said. Sticks took it and put it on.
"Thanks" she said. Knuckles floored it and pulled into his starting spot. Sonic and Tails were comfortably in their spot. The countdown clock read 1 minute.
"Ready?" Sonic asked, looking over at Tails.
"As ready as I'll ever be" he replied. 30 seconds. The flagman was perched on his stand, ready to drop the flag when the clock struck zero. 60 engines were purring at the line. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5... then the clock struck zero. The green flag dropped and the Jungle Run was underway. The crowd disappeared quickly and the paved streets soon gave way to dirt roads in the jungle. Sonic began making progress. The car was handling well on the roads, still damp from the morning dew. Knuckles squeezed his way up through two cars and was on a charge for the lead. Sonic was conserving his afterburner for later.
"Slow down! Sticks is not used to this!" Sticks was yelling as Knuckles motored his way into the lead. He began laughing loudly.
"Welcome to racing!" he shouted back. Sonic was running well. He and Tails were gliding along smoothly. Tommy was fighting his way from the back to the front. The field took a small jump over a creek. Sonic felt like something was happening. Tails looked up.
"Sonic, get ready. We're going up Mt. Safety" Tails told Sonic with a concern in his voice. Sonic quickly adjusted the suspension and ran a radio test. They knew there was turning back once they began up the mountain.