Chapter 95: Rivalry
At the foot of Splash Mountain, Sonny and his teammates were walking along a path made of wooden planks when Amelia suddenly came running towards them. At first, Sonny was surprised to see her. But instead of turning away, he averted Amelia's gaze as she walked up to him.
"Hey, Sonny!" Amelia said cheerfully. But when she noticed he wasn't looking at her, she asked, "What's wrong?"
"I saw you nearly got hurt, right before my team won the race in Metal City," Sonny said slowly. "So I thought that maybe…you were mad at me, for winning without showing concern for you."
"Of course not!" Amelia replied irritably. "That wasn't your fault. Victor was just being a clumsy oaf. Besides, the only reason I joined the tournament was because I wanted to keep my eye on you which I can still do even though my team lost."
Sonny flinched in response. "But what about Victor and Crème? How do they feel?"
"Crème was a bit worried, but once she realized I was fine she went back to her usual cheerful self. Victor was a little bitter because he wanted the cash-prize, until he remembered that Espen and Charles have a chance of getting it in his place."
"Oh, yeah, they're a part of Team Shadow with that guy…what's his name?"
"Michael Armadillo, who now runs the South Island branch of the Chaotix Detectives since Victor, Charles, and Espen moved to Central City."
"I see."
"Now since I lost, I'm not going to ask you to take me on a date but I do want to know why you guys signed up for the tournament."
Sonny looked at Miles and Chuck, who nervously nodded. "Well, uh, we…think that Team Babylon may be responsible for stealing priceless artifacts and selling them for money."
"Is that so?"
Sonny looked to his right and saw a tall girl walking towards him from behind a tree next to the path. She had sky-blue eyes, long purple hair flowing underneath a white bandana she had wrapped around her head, wore a white tank-top and matching sweatpants with purple flames near the ends, gold bracelets with inlaid rubies, and a necklace with a ruby attached to it. Everyone regarded her with surprised looks, especially Miles.
"Wade Swallow," Miles said nervously.
"Yeah?" the girl responded.
"What are you…doing here?"
"I was on my way to see the next race," Wade responded, and glared at Sonny. "Now what's this about accusing Team Babylon of stealing artifacts?"
"Uh, nothing," Sonny said avoiding Wade's gaze. "Just a rumor we've been hearing lately."
Wade scuffed. "How do I know you didn't start the rumor yourself? After all, you did declare on worldwide television that your team would beat mine 'in no time'?"
"Why would I start a ridiculous rumor like that?" Sonny asked, trying to sound calm.
"To make my team look bad," Wade answered.
"Hey!" Amelia said defensively. "Sonny wouldn't do such a thing."
"Oh, and how do you know?" Wade asked sarcastically.
"Because he's my boyfriend," Amelia answered.
"Wow, really?" Wade looked at Sonny then back to Amelia. "Is that why you joined the tournament? To follow your precious man even though you and your teammates are lousy Gear riders?"
As Amelia gritted her teeth, Wade made her way over to Miles and examined the blue Gear he was holding in his hands. "So this must be the famous Blue Star Gear I've heard about. It's highly unusual in its design."
"I customized it myself," Miles said cooly.
After a few minutes of examining the bottom-half of the Gear, Wade suddenly started laughing sharply.
"What's so funny?" Chuck asked irritably.
"If you think you can take on my team with pieces of junk like this, you'll be in for a surprise," Wade said and gave Blue Star back to Miles. "That is, if you get that far. Later, losers!"
As Wade walked away, everyone glared at her from behind.
"I hate that girl!" Amelia growled.
"Yeah, what gives her the right to come here and make fun of Miles' craftsmanship?" Chuck said angrily.
"Or to accuse us of something we didn't do?" Sonny said.
"Guys, we have bigger problems on our hands," Miles said wearily. "Now that Team Babylon knows we're on to them, they might try to prevent us from winning the tournament."
"How?" Chuck said.
"I don't know, but we should be cautious," Miles said.
###
Inside a tunnel made of wood and glass, huge crowds were gathered on either side of the track where the next two teams were assembled. While Shawn was basically wearing a black undershirt and jeans with the addition of new sunglasses, Rouge wore a black tank-top and matching sweatpants with white flowers on the ends. Next to them stood a round bulky robot with blue and white paint that reminded Sonny of the robots Dr. Eggman used to invade South Island. To the robot's left, the team consisted of familiar faces. One had ash-blond hair and a purple shirt on, while the second had spiky green hair and a red neckerchief, and the third had medium-length light-blond hair and a green scarf.
"All right, folks!" Omochao said enthusiastically. "The second race of the EX World Grand Prix is about to begin, and it looks like we're in for a good one! One my right, we have newcomers Team Dark which consist of Shawn, the Shadow Blazer, Rouge, the Aerial Bombshell, and E-10000B, the Powerhouse. Today, they will be racing against Team Hooligan who include Nack the Fanged Weasel, Beanie the Dynamite Duck, and Barker the Polar Bear. Will Team Dark be able to take on Team Hooligan, who were runner-ups in previous World Grand Prix tournaments, or will Team Hooligan ultimately triumph? Let's find out!"
"Wait a minute," Chuck murmured as he pointed to the members of Team Hooligan. "I know those guys. They were the same boxers who competed in the South Island School Boxing Challenge seven years ago."
"No way," Miles exclaimed as he recognized them.
"Riders," Omochao announced. "On your mark…get set…GO!"
As the two teams took off down the track, the holographic television screens showed their progress as they made their way along seaside cliffs, through jungle-infested forests and waterfalls that led into dimly lit tunnels.
"Seems like they took up a new hobby since we last saw them," Sonny said as he watched the screens. "But what puzzles me more is why Team Dark isn't getting called out for having a robot on their team. Are robots even allowed to compete in these tournaments?"
"The World Grand Prix handbook doesn't mention robots not being allowed, so I guess it's legal," Miles said holding up a small booklet. "Yet if that's the case, why didn't Shawn and Rouge just have Omega be on their team?"
"Yeah, that does seem kind of weird," Sonny replied. "I guess they just didn't want to draw too much attention to themselves since they're investigating Team Babylon for G. U. N.."
"Well, that would explain why Team Dark is competing in the tournament to begin with," Miles said. "And the Commander didn't bother to tell us because he didn't want the enemy to know that we know who they are."
"So where does Team Neo fit in?" Chuck asked as he looked inside the booklet where images of Silva, Blake, and Omega were placed under the page labeled 'Team Neo'.
"My guess is that they are Team Dark's backup group," Miles said. Then he gasped, "But that means…we'll have to compete against Team Dark if they defeat Team Hooligan in this race, and Team Neo after that."
"Oh, brother," Chuck said shaking his head as he watched Rouge outmaneuver Beanie in the air on her Gear.
"Hey, come on, guys," Sonny said. "It doesn't matter who we go up against, whether they be friends or enemies, because we're trying to reach Team Babylon so we can incriminate them."
"But Sonny," Amelia said abruptly. "Wouldn't it be easier to just forfeit and let Team Dark and Neo deal with incriminating Team Babylon?"
"Amelia has a point," Miles agreed. "We asked G. U. N. to look into the matter, and so logically we should let them do their job without us interfering."
"I know, Miles, but I can't just stand down and let someone else take on Team Babylon," Sonny said defensively. "We said we'd beat them, and they in turn sent someone to insult us in turn. It would make us look like cowards if we backed out now. So, I say we continue to stay in the tournament whether we have to up against Team Dark or not."
"I'll second that decision," Chuck said. "Plus, us forfeiting will only draw unnecessary attention to Team Dark and Neo which might cause their covers to be blown."
"You know for once you're actually right, Chuck," Miles realized. "If we forfeit before the next race, that will make Team Dark look suspicious if they end up beating Team Hooligan. Therefore, it would make sense for us to stay in the race so Team Babylon focuses on us and not the other teams."
"Exactly," Sonny said.
On the screens, Shawn was in the lead while Rouge was busy trying to keep Beanie from catching up as E-10000B was being rammed on both sides by Nack and Barker.
"Oh, my!" said the voice of Omochao from the screens. "Despite Team Dark managing to get through the first and second laps without too much trouble, Team Hooligan is starting to get rough with Team Dark's Power-Type E-10000B. For those of you who don't know, there are three different types of Extreme Gear riders assigned for every team. First, there is the Speed-Type who is generally the fastest rider out of the group, then there's the Flight-Type who maneuvers higher in the air to either get around or block other riders, and finally the Power-Type who hits other riders in order to knock them off their Gears. So with this in mind, we have Team Dark's Speed-Type in first place while each of the teams' Flight-Types are tied for second place and third place is up for grabs by Team Hooligan's Speed-Type and the Power-Types from both teams!"
Then to the crowd's surprise, E-10000B spun his Gear in circles causing Nack and Barker to be pushed away. As a result, Barker hit cliff-face they were hovering alongside while Nack maneuvered his Gear along the edge of the seaside cliff to catch up to Shawn. Unfortunately, Rouge intercepted him.
"Wow, what a sudden turn of events!" Omochao said. "Not only was E-10000 able to shake off Nack and Barker but Rouge has also managed to prevent Nack from getting into second place. But what's this? Beanie is reaching into his pocket and is throwing what appears to be cherry bombs at Rouge!"
The crowd gasped as Rouge maneuvered around the bombs which exploded harmlessly on the ground. However, the resulting vibrations caused Nack to fall off his Gear while E-10000B was shaken up but still managed to hover right alongside Rouge as they crossed the finish-line with Shawn leading them. Beanie followed after cursing loudly to himself as he flew while Barker brought up the rear carrying Nack. Then the last thing to appear was Omochao as his robotic eyes blinked which in turn shut off the images on the holographic screens.
"Boy, that last lap sure got exciting!" Omochao said enthusiastically. "Though our races are no-holds-barred when it comes to using robots or explosives, Team Dark managed to come out on top with three wins over Team Hooligan's score of zero! Thus, it is Team Dark who will be participating in the next race which will be against Team Heroes. So, Shawn, how does it feel to win your first World Grand Prix race?"
"Fine," Shawn said bluntly.
"Anything else you'd like to say to the folks at home?" Omochao asked thrusting the microphone into Shawn's face.
"No," Shawn replied and walked away.
"But what about next week's match against Team Heroes? Do you feel confident that you'll beat them?"
"Don't worry, pumpkin," Rouge said taking the mike from Omochao's fingerless hands. "With Shawn's speed, E-10's strength, and my beauty we'll win for sure!"
Then shortly after she spoke, sparks suddenly erupted from E-10000B's body causing him to make a series of strange noises and become limp.
"It seems your robot friend is due for repairs," Omochao said as he took the microphone from Rouge's hand. "I'm sure it mustn't be easy for a robot of his size to race so fast."
Rouge didn't reply as E-10000B was taken away by a pair of robots who looked just as round and bulky as he was except that they were red in color. Shawn briefly looked back, but continued to leave the track. Meanwhile, the crowd started to disperse as Omochao said his final words.
"Well, that concludes the second race of the EX World Grand Prix! Tune in next week when two teams who've quickly become famous despite being newcomers to Extreme Gear riding take each other on inside the twisted molten maze of Egg Factory! This is Omochao, signing off!"
To be continued…