Out of the Toxic Caves everyone raced. They were all blinded by the light of the sun since they were in an underground cave and it cleared up. The air was muggy and humid. Over the ocean the sun was setting in a beautiful array of oranges and reds with a little purple. But, there was no time to admire the scenery. There was a race to finish. Coming through the jungle once again everyone was twisting and turning, running through creeks and sloshing through the mud pits created by the rain. The air was heavy, very humid and muggy. Bugs were out in full swing. Sonic was desperately using the windshield wipers to clean bug guts off his windshield so he could see. According to the GPS, there was only 4 miles to the finish. Sonic a quarter tank of gas left, so he was set on fuel.
"We're good to the finish" Sonic told Tails. Tails smiled at this. Knuckles was far out in the lead. He wasn't worried about being passed. Both he and Sonic were far enough apart they were in leagues of their own. Down to 2 and a half miles to go. Knuckles was cruising to a first place. But, he was running low on fuel. He wasn't paying attention. After winding through the jungle, the dirt gave way to pavement. The seaside city of Yennan. A crowd the size of the one at the start was there to witness the finish. Big Red began to slow. Coming through the city square to the finish he was unable to keep his pace. Sonic came in and saw this. He used his afterburner to scorch by Knuckles for the win. Knuckles barely held on for second.
Sonic stood atop the podium, holding the trophy. He had tears in his eyes and looked out over the sunset.
"This one is for you, Dane!" he shouted. He looked out in the crowd and saw Cassandra, an aqua hedgehog girl who was the fiancé of Dane. He died 2 months before their wedding. Sonic was saddened by her presence. He approached her.
"Thank you for being a friend and good competitor for Dane" she said. Sonic was tearing up speaking to her.
"You're welcome. I still wish Dane was here" Cassandra nodded. The two embraced each other crying, in remembrance of Dane. Knuckles pulled the two apart.
"We have to run. Tommy was fished out of the jungle and he's in the hospital" he told them. He and Sonic ran through the cobblestone streets toward the hospital. Once inside, they quickly asked a nurse where Tommy was.
"Are you Sonic and Knuckles?" she asked. The two nodded frantically.
"You are the only two he wants to see. I'll take you to him" She lead them to his room, where he lay in the bed hooked up to all sorts of monitors. He looked at them walking in.
"Have a seat" he said. They sat on the chairs in the room.
"Doctor said I'm paralyzed from the waist down" Sonic and Knuckles were stunned. Sonic was the first to speak.
"What are you going to do now?" he asked, tears welling up in his eyes. Knuckles and Tommy were crying too.
"I want to prove I'm not dead. I want to keep racing" Knuckles looked up.
"I can try and replicate the setup Alex Zanardi uses. He lost both his legs and keeps racing" Knuckles told him. Tommy brightened up.
"Can you help me to the Paralympics?"
"I suppose I'll try" Sonic was trying to brighten up the optimism Tommy was displaying. Tommy wanted to come back and do something. Sonic was trying to cope with the wave of emotion he has felt over the course of the week. Knuckles looked over at Sonic.
"Go. Tails and Sticks are running the cars through post-race inspection and they want you at the post-race ball. I want to speak with Tommy privately." Knuckles had a waiver in his voice, and he didn't sound as commanding as he normally was when he spoke. Sonic stood, said a goodbye to Tommy, and left.