The road became winding and twisting. Up the side of Mt. Safety everyone went. This is what separated the real racers from the wannabes. Sonic heard some screeching and looked in his rearview to see a horrible crash. He winced at the sight and quickly turned his focus back to the race. Tommy was still stuck in the middle. He dodged the accident and began a hard charge up the mountain. Knuckles was comfortably maintaining his lead and wasn't worried about being passed. He looked up and saw dark clouds rolling in.
"We're going to be driving into a storm" he said to Sticks. There was a loud crash of thunder that had the sound of a thousand drums.
"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Sticks asked.
"Just hold on tight. I got this."
"I wish I was back in my burrow!" Knuckles floored it and charged headlong into the thunderhead. Sonic and Tails were busy drafting with another car up the mountain. A loud boom rang out. Then, the rain came. It came slowly, but began picking up speed. All drivers were advised by the Race Supervisors to take caution. The Race Supervisors sat in a large room at the International Racing Legion offices and oversaw every rally, with onboard cameras in all the cars. Sonic and Tails began weaving in and out of the large rocks in the middle of the road. Sonic had to keep his speed up because of how steep the incline was. Tails could only sit in the passenger seat and hope there wasn't a crash involving them. He was the ride along mechanic, after all. Tommy was in a desperate attempt to get to the front. He quickly rammed another driver into a rock, and narrowly avoided a spinning car.
"Wooo!" he exclaimed. Near the summit, of which 49 of the original 60 cars remaining in the race were racing towards, there was a chasm up near the top, as Mt. Safety is a dormant volcano that hasn't erupted in over 200 years. Many drivers chose to race around it, but a few daredevils usually attempt to jump it. There were several mud pits near the top, as nature has taken its course and several trees have grown up near the top. Knuckles looked in his rearview and noticed a couple cars gaining on him.
"Oh no you don't" he said to himself and he punched it. He moved down to block, but got stuck in a mud pit. He ended up losing his lead. He groaned at this. Lightning flashed across the sky.
"Sticks, I want you to hop out and push the car" The badger got out of the passenger and began pushing. Knuckles put the car in gear and began driving, turning the wheels to try and get it loose. Finally, after losing several spots, Big Red got unstuck from the mud. Sticks fell flat on her face as soon Knuckles yanked the car out. She quickly got up and scrambled back into the passenger seat. Tommy caught up to Sonic, and both of them caught up to Knuckles. Thunder and lightning added to the pouring rain and the sense of tension the descent down the mountain was making.
"I can barely hold on to this thing" Tommy said. Sonic looked over at him as more lightning danced across the sky.
"Just try your best and keep your eyes on your line" he said in response. There were couple of other cars mixed in with them. Down the side of the mountain they raced, trying not to slip. One flash of lightning crashed across the sky. Tommy got a little loose but held on to it. Sonic and Knuckles were drag racing down the side of the mountain. Tommy was in front of another car. Then, a flash of lightning and a loud crash of thunder occurred. The lightning struck right in front of Tommy. He slammed on the brakes and skidded into the car next to him. He was thrown from the car and a mass pileup ensued. Flaming twisted metal was falling down the side of the mountain. Tommy went sliding down to the base of the mountain, unconscious. Tails and Sticks looked behind them, scared of what they were seeing.
"Is Tommy alright?" Tails asked. Sonic tried to contact him.
"There's no answer. Something must be wrong" Through the woods the remaining drivers raced. Then, they began their descent into the Toxic Caves.