Chapter 97: Forfeit
"What the heck was Metal Sonic doing at the Egg Factory?" Chuck asked out loud while he and Miles were waiting for Sonny to show up.
The three of them were practicing with their Gear in the forest near Green Cave, where the next World Grand Prix race was going to start.
"I don't know," Miles said dubiously. "But it's not good."
"Do you think Eggman's behind it?"
"Metal Sonic betrayed Dr. Eggman, remember?"
"Oh, yeah, I forgot."
"So if it wasn't Dr. Eggman, then Metal Sonic must've revived himself somehow and hid inside E-10000B's body to recharge his energy."
"Which brings us back to my original question: what was Metal Sonic doing at the Egg Factory?"
"Yeah, that does seem like the last place Metal Sonic would want to be, unless…no, it can't be, but it's a logical explanation."
"What is?"
"Hey, guys!" Sonny shouted as he raced toward Miles and Chuck on his Gear. "Check this out!"
As he reached the end of the bar he was grinding on, Sonny leaped off his Gear and flipped through the air only to land back on the Gear as he turned it in a downward spiral toward the ground where it landed unscathed.
"Wow, Sonny, that was a cool move!" Miles said as he and Chuck ran up to Sonny. "Where did you learn that?"
"Oh, I, uh, improvised," Sonny said.
A series of sharp laughs caught Sonny and his friends off-guard when they noticed someone standing on one of the highest branches in a nearby tree. It was Jet Hawkins, with his spiky Mohawk-style green hair pulled back by his yellow-tinted goggles and was wearing a green jacket outlined in white fur with a matching green shirt underneath and tight green pants with red knee-length boots. His piercing blue eyes glared down at them from above.
"For someone of your reputation, that move you just pulled wasn't very impressive," Jet said.
"What reputation?" Sonny asked in an irritated tone.
"I've looked at all the records G. U. N. has on you," Jet replied smugly. "And while you may be fast on your feet, that doesn't cut it in Extreme Gear racing. To be the fastest on a Gear, you have to become one with the wind. Otherwise, you might as well kiss the ground and go home!"
Sonny glared at Jet as he leaped off the tree-branch and disappeared from sight.
"Who does he think he is?" Chuck said clenching his fists. "Just because he's one of the best Extreme Gear riders in the world doesn't give him the right to insult us like that."
"Now I want to beat him more than ever," Sonny said.
"The fourth annual EX World Grand Prix race will be starting in ten minutes," a female voice said over nearby speakers. "Please get to your designated places whether you are participating in the race or not."
"You guys go on without me," Miles said with his head lowered. "I want to fine-tune our Gears more so they're 100% functional."
"But ours are fine the way they are now," Sonny said. "Are you thinking about what Wade said to you two weeks ago?"
"No," Miles replied nervously.
"You're not fooling us, Miles," Chuck said and put a hand on Miles' shoulder. "Don't let her words get to you. You've always done your best, so don't worry."
"Yeah, but Wade's an expert Gear mechanic and I'm not," Miles said defensively. "If we're going to beat Team Babylon, our Gears need to be the best they can be and to do that I need to unlock everything I can about Gear technology."
After a slight hesitation, Sonny nodded. "All right, do what you think is right."
"We'll let you know who wins this race," Chuck said as he and Sonny made their way to race-track while Miles went off in a different direction with him and his friends' Gears in hand.
###
"What a beautiful day we're having despite the mugginess and while Team Shadow is rearing to go, Team Neo is nowhere to be seen!" Omochao announced. "But in the meantime let's introduce Team Shadow, who are newcomers to Extreme Gear racing just like most of teams we've seen during this tournament with Team Hooligan and Babylon being exceptions. First up, we have Espen the Ninja Chameleon who serves as the team's Speed-Type. Then there's Charles the Stinging Bumblebee who's a Flying-Type, and the team's Power-Type is Michael the Mighty Armadillo. All together, they seem like a well-balanced team but do they have what it takes to go up against Team Neo? Like Team Dark, Team Neo is new to Extreme Gear racing and have a robot on their side. But unlike Team Dark's weak E-10000B model, Team Neo's robot looks much tougher and stronger by comparison."
An image of Omega appeared on the holographic television screens along with pictures of Silva and Blake next to him.
"Serving as Team Neo's Power-Type, the robot-in-question is simply known as E-123 or Omega the Dominator as he prefers to call himself. The other members of Team Neo include Silva the Psionic Bullet, who is the team's Flying-Type, and the team's Speed-Type is Blake the Pyro-Blazer." Omochao paused and then with an alarming tone he said, "We have just received word that Team Neo has forfeited the match and so Team Shadow will be moving on to the Semi-Finals without any competition!"
A series of 'boos' and angry shouts from the crowd caused Omochao to flinch.
"But not to worry, Gear racing fans, because we're going to have Team Shadow face off against Team Heroes here in Green Cave as opposed to the Sand Ruins which will be reserved for the Finals with Team Babylon!"
This sudden announcement surprised Sonny and Chuck as Omochao's camera-like eyes focused on them.
"So, Team Heroes, do you feel up for the challenge?" Omochao asked.
With so many people looking at him, Sonny hesitated. "Well, um, we—
"We accept your challenge!" Miles exclaimed carrying all his teams' Gears.
"Excellent!" Omochao said. "Now get to the starting-line and let's begin the countdown!"
After Miles gave Sonny and Chuck their Gears, the three of them made their way down from the stands to where Team Shadow was lined up. Espen wore a purple hoodie and matching pants with a dark-blue scarf wrapped around the bottom-half of his face with a ninja forehead protector on his head. Charles, on the other hand, had a bright-blue scarf and blue-tinted goggles which complemented his black-and-yellow striped T-shirt and honey-colored shorts. As for Michael, he was a little bit taller but not by much compared to when Sonny last saw him and his previously short hair had grown long with dark roots showing underneath red dye. He wore sharp yellow sunglasses, a black sleeveless shirt, red shorts and matching shoes.
"How did you get here so fast?" Sonny asked.
"I thought about what you said, and decided to head back when they made the announcement," Miles said. "Though I do wish they had given us a little time to practice since none of us were prepared to race today."
"Then do you want to forfeit too?" Charles said with a confident grin. "Though I don't think the fans will be happy about it."
"Indeed," Espen said quietly. "But Miles does have a valid point. It would've been more wise to give us practicing time given the sudden turn of events."
"Aw, who cares!" Michael said impatiently. "Let's just race already!"
"I was just about to say the same thing," Chuck said.
"Riders," Omochao said raising his free hand. "On your mark…get set…GO!"
Then with that, both teams took off down the track.
"And they're off with Team Heroes in the lead but Team Shadow is trying to catch up to them!" Omochao said as he followed.
Michael attempted to flip through the air several times forward to reach Sonny and Miles but he was blocked by Chuck. While they were engaged, Charles tried flying over the two and was about to overtake Sonny when Miles intercepted him. Sonny continued to fly down the track without paying attention to what was going on behind him when Espen appeared right next to him. Surprised, Sonny took off ahead of him with Miles and Chuck catching up to him.
"What seemed to be leading to a tie has now turned into a victory for Team Heroes who were able to finish the first lap unscathed!" Omochao said. "Now Team Shadow still has a chance to win this race if they can finish the next two laps. Otherwise, this might be another easy victory for Team Heroes!"
Angered, Michael started spinning his Gear in a clockwise direction. Above him, Charles spun counterclockwise while Espen flew between them and after a brief spin he went flying over Sonny's head and landed just in front of him. As Sonny tried to catch up to Espen, Charles and Michael pushed past Miles and Chuck.
"Wow, we're just seeing new techniques right and left in this tournament!" Omochao exclaimed. "Live feedback coming from our website seem to like the term 'Spinning Arrow' for the technique Team Shadow just pulled. In case you missed it, Michael spun his Gear in one direction while Charles flew over him and spun his Gear in the opposite direction. Then Espen flew between them, and the momentum created by the swirling air between the Gears gave him enough velocity to fly over Sonny! What an amazing feat!"
As Team Shadow crossed the finish-line on the second lap, Sonny nodded to Miles and Chuck. In response, Miles and Chuck crossed in front of Michael and Charles in opposite directions while Sonny performed the same mid-air trick he did earlier and landed in front of Espen. Then as Espen tried to overtake Sonny, he was blocked by Chuck which caused Michael to intervene. Fortunately, Chuck was able to spin his Gear hard enough to send Espen and Michael back as Miles did the same to Charles in a mid-air conflict.
"All right!" Omochao responded. "Not only did Team Heroes perform the Triple Threat technique again but they were also able to make it across the finish-line as one team! Thus, with two laps to Team Shadow's one, Team Heroes wins the Semi-Final race!"
The crowd cheered as Sonny and the other riders slowed down.
"Congratulations, Team Heroes!" Omochao said as he appeared in front of Sonny, Miles, and Chuck. "You've officially won three races in the entire tournament, which grants you the right to participate in the Finals where you'll be facing off against Team Babylon. How do you feel about it? Do you still think you can beat the champion team?"
"You bet we can!" Sonny said confidently.
"We'll be ready for them," Miles added.
"Just tell us where they'll be," Chuck said cracking his knuckles enthusiastically.
"The Finals race will be held in Sand Ruins next week," Omochao answered. Then he said to the camera, "So until then, this is Omochao, signing off!"
To be continued…