Joe and Knuckles walked toward Tails's workshop. To Joe's annoyance, Knuckles kept jabbing a slice of bread.
"Knuckles, for the last time, I am not part toaster!" Joe growled.
"You sure?" Knuckles asked, undeterred.
"Yes, I'm sure," Joe said sternly. He sighed as they reached Tails's workshop. "Oh, thank God we're here." Upon entering, they found the rest of the crew waiting.
"Hey, Joe, you like flying, right?" Sonic smiled.
Joe raised an eyebrow.
Sonic, Tails, and Joe cut through the air, all riding hoverboards.
"Come on, dude, you're moving like an amateur," Sonic taunted playfully.
"I am an amateur!" Joe called out. Eventually, he couldn't keep his balance any longer and fell off his board, landing in a heap in front of the rest of the gang.
"So, how was your first ride, little guy?" Knuckles asked.
"I'm the tallest guy here," Joe droned before getting up. Seeing Sonic and Tails land a few meters away, "Why are we even using these anyway? All three of us are faster than these boards, and me and Tails can fly."
"'Cuz it's cool," Knuckles answered simply. He then snatched up Joe's board and took a turn with it, "Woohoooooo!"
"Can I have a turn next, Sonic?" Amy asked, to which Sonic happily handed her his board. Right as the pink hedgehog was beginning to take off, three new riders zoomed by, just barely missing her.
The new arrivals did a loop de loop before coming to a stop in front of the team, giving them a better look. All of them were birds. The middle one, presumably the leader, was green, wore gray gloves and shoes, and had some goggles on his head.
The big guy on his left was top-heavy somewhat like Knuckles. His stomach and chest were white while the rest of him was grey. He wore a necklace, some goggles of his own, and wore purple gloves and shoes.
Lastly was the girl of the group. She purple while her clothes were green. Said clothes were some long pants with a flame pattern at the bottom of the legs, a tube top, a bandana, and some glasses with big lenses.
"Who the heck are you guys?" Sonic asked.
The green guy in the middle grinned smugly, "We're the Babylon Rogues, and we're-"
"You call that a name?" Joe asked, unimpressed. "It feels like you just stuck two random words together."
"Hehe, or maybe you just have no taste," the grey bird childishly shot back.
At that moment, Knuckles and Amy landed beside their friends, with Knuckles walking up to the grey bird. "Hey, did you just insult my protégé?" he asked angrily.
"Protégé?" The big bird and Knuckles got in each others' faces. "Don't go making up words!"
Sticks and the purple bird quickly grabbed their respective friends and pulled them apart. "Break it up, you two!"
Sonic put his hands on his hips, raising an eyebrow, "Well, that happened. So, do you guys have actual names?"
"We do. I'm Jet the Hawk," the green bird introduced himself. He gestured to his companions one by one, "The big guy here is Storm the Albatross, and the fully clothed one is Wave the Swallow."
Tails nodded, furrowing his brows, "So, then what are you doing here?"
"We were just passing by, and when we saw you amateurs riding around, we thought we'd drop in," Jet said, a mocking grin on his face.
That answer made Tails glare, "We're not amateurs."
"Yeah, only Joe is an amateur!" Knuckles added.
Joe held up a finger to protest but paused, "You know what? I already admitted to that."
"Alright, I think that's one too many taunts," Sonic said angrily.
"It was literally only two taunts, Sonic," Amy whispered to her blue friend.
Sonic continued like he didn't hear her, "So, how about we settle this with a race? Tomorrow. You down?"
"We are," Jet grinned. He nodded to his compatriots, "Let's fly."
"Was that a bird joke?" Wave asked as they sped away on their hoverboards.
Once the Rogues were gone, Sticks summed up the situation, "A hoverboard race?" she began walking away, "Eh, not really my kinda plot."
The next day, the gang, minus Sticks, arrived in the Village Center for their race.
As if on cue, the Babylon Rogues touched down right in front of them. "Well, well, well, look who showed up?" Jet taunted. "The Amateur Force 5."
"Well, well, well," Knuckles mimicked, "If it isn't, uuuhh." He trailed off, not having a comeback planned out. Joe helped out and whispered something into his ear. Knuckles smiled and said it out loud, "If it isn't Chickity China and the Chinese chickens."
Wave crossed her arms, a deadpan look on her face, "Good one. Now, are you ready to race?"
"Yeah, we are."
Both teams looked off to the side to see Willy the Walrus, Dave the Intern, and the weasel guy walk up to them, all with hoverboards of their own.
"Wait, why do you guys have boards?" Amy asked, voicing everybody's thoughts.
"All the participants have boards," Willy shrugged.
That made Sonic raise an eyebrow. "All participants?" he repeated.
Just like that, several of the stores in the Village Center shifted to the side, making room for bleachers filled with villagers.
Everyone stared in both awe and confusion. "How-When-" Tails began.
"That would be my doing," Eggman answered as he approached the group alongside the mayor. "Plus the boards."
"Why would you bother helping out with something like this?" Sonic asked, doubting Eggman's altruism.
The doctor chuckled, "So I could charge a fee as big your ego, that's why."
"Yeah, that does sound like you," Joe shrugged.
"Okay, but that doesn't explain the preparations and extra racers," Wave pointed out. "What's that about?"
Storm nodded and glared at Team Sonic, "Were any of you being a Lieutenant Loose Lips?"
That made Knuckles rub the back of his head awkwardly, "Uuuhh." When he saw the scowls his team was giving him, he got defensive, "I only went around saying that we'd be racing! I didn't invite anyone else to join in!"
Orbot, Cubot, and Eggman's brother Morpho flew onto the scene on hoverboards of their own. "Hey, Knuckles, thanks for inviting us to join in the race!" Morpho waved.
"…I'm gonna shut up now," Knuckles muttered, lowering his head.
Mayor Fink held up his hands to signal he had the floor, "Alright, everyone, here are the rules: teams of exactly three will ride one lap. If you fall off your board, you're out. Also, no attacking other racers. The teams'll start by racing through West Forest. This will lead them directly into the Hazard Jungle. After that, you'll maneuver through Coral Bay. You'll then move along the Peril River-"
As Fink went on, Joe leaned down to Sonic, "What the hell kind of geography is this?" Sonic just shrugged.
"-and after you pass through Hidden Meadows, you'll make your way back here," Fink finished, taking a breath. "Oh, and if any you were thinking you can rely on one member to speed ahead and carry your team, you have to stick together as much as you can. Everybody got all that?" Everyone nodded. "Good. Now, just make sure you've got a team of three and we can get this show on the road."
Team Sonic looked amongst themselves. Seeing they had an odd number, Amy made use her communicator. "Hello? Sorry to spring this so suddenly, but we need a favor. There's this hoverboard race. We need an extra member…You'll help? That's great. We're in the Village Center. Maybe wear something a bit more sporting for this. Alright, see you in a few."
When said few minutes had passed, a certain fox landed in front of the gang, wearing a white tank top and black gym shorts.
"Zooey?" Tails asked. "You're our extra?"
"Yep," the vixen nodded. "So, who am I partnering up with?"
Knuckles wrapped his arms around Sonic and Tails, "I call our two-star players!"
"Should we feel insulted by that?" Joe wondered aloud.
Amy shrugged, "Probably. Anyway, Zooey, that means you're with us."
"Alright. Racers, to the starting line," Fink instructed. Once everyone was in place, he threw his arms in the air, "Begin!"
All the races blasted past the starting line, being neck and neck so far.
"This is Soar the Anchorbird, here to provide commentary on this here race," Soar announced into a mic in a booth.
"And I'm his co-host, Comedy Chimp, here to provide humorous commentary on this here race."
Soar pointed to the various monitors near the starting line. "Through the use of Dr. Eggman's surveillance drones, we will be able to keep tabs on the entire race and see what our participants are getting up to."
Comedy Chimp perked up, "Speaking of Eggman, looks like he's up to something in West Forest…How'd he even get there so fast?"
The doctor in question was setting up various traps, some with vines and some with tech.
Soar tilted his head at the sight, "Traps? Seems like an odd decision. His brother's team just pulled ahead. That could affect them more than anyone else."
"Now that would be some comically cruel irony," CC grinned. His grin fell when he noticed that Eggman was gone. "Wait, where'd he go? Did he invent a teleporter or something?"
"Keep up, guys!" Morpho yelled to the bots. "The other teams are right behind us!"
"We know!" Cubot jabbed a thumb behind him, showing that the Babylon Rogues were just two feet away.
Narrowing his eyes, Jet spotted faint red line and yelled, "Duck!"
"I'm not a duck, I'm a-" As Storm crossed the line, it triggered a vine to lash out and whip him. "Ow, my face!" The strike made him fall off his board, taking him out of the race.
Thankfully, all the other racers had been quick (and smart) enough to follow Jet's advice.
The next trap was a gas bomb that went off ten meters in front of everyone.
"Everyone, slow down!" Joe yelled. He drew his lightsaber and spun it rapidly, fanning a tunnel through the gas cloud.
"Wow. Just from watching that, you'd think this was some kind of obstacle course," Soar observed. He then added, "With traps."
"You mean a trapstacle course?" Comedy Chimp pointed out.
"Right, that," Soar deadpanned.
"Well, it's way too early to relax, because they're not out of the woods yet," CC reported. "Literally. In fact, they're moving to a worse part of the woods."
Geysers in the forest floor threatened to go off, but Tails pulled out a generic sci fi gun and fired a sealant to cover them up.
Next, a massive swarm of hornets approached the racers head-on, but Jet pulled out a leafy fan and swung it, the resulting gust blowing the hornets away.
Right after that, several trees began falling onto the track. Before they could land in the path of the racers, they were knocked away by attacks from Amy, Knuckles, and Sonic.
Soar's eyes were wide in amazement, "Safe to say that the Hazard Forest isn't really living up to its name."
Comedy Chimp nodded, "Yeah. Looks like Team Sonic is channeling that survivalist friend of theirs."
"Well, now they'd better channel Sonic's agility, because now they're entering the watery Coral Bay," Soar reported.
Morpho, Orbot, and Cubot, with some difficulty, huddled on their boards as they came up with a plan. Making it even more difficult was all the metal towers they and the other racers had to maneuver around.
Knuckles sped over the water, quickly catching up to Eggman's team of lackies. "Outta my way, suckers! I'm taking the lead!"
"But how can you take the lead?" Orbot and Cubot parted, revealing another Knuckles in front of them. "When you're already in the lead?"
"Uuuuuh," Knuckles was dumbfounded.
"Knux! It's a trick! It's just Morpho!" Sonic warned.
"Oh, right. Heh, that threw me off for a mo-" BAM
In the time it took for Knuckles to realize the ruse, he hadn't noticed a tower coming up and ended up running into it. He then fell into the water, taking him out of the race.
Jet and Wave looked at each other, with Jet glancing upward. The two birds started flying straight up one of the towers.
"You guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Willy asked his teammates.
"We follow the Babylon Rogues and see if they're taking some kind of shortcut?" Weasel Guy guessed.
Willy nodded, "Bingo!"
The Lightning Bolts followed the Rogues up the tower and spotted them leaping between the towers' platforms with their boards. By jumping to lower and lower platforms, they were gaining speed and pulling ahead of everyone else.
"And away we go!" Willy declared. He and the other bolts copied Jet and Wave. Unlike the two birds, however, they became unsteady as they gained more speed and ended up wiping out when they made it to the beach.
"…Anyone notice how we didn't see any coral in a place called 'Coral Bay?'" Dave asked from his spot on the ground.
"Well, coral lives underwater," Weasel Guy explained. "Maybe that's why."
Comedy Chimp chuckled. Looking at Soar, he aimed a thumb at the downed team, "Looks like the Lightning Bolts have crashed."
"Good one," Soar admitted. "Anyway, our contestants are now making their way to the Peril River. Will they all make it through? Let's find out."
Amy, Joe, and Zooey had managed to outpace Sonic and Tails, putting them neck and neck with the Babylon Rogues.
Zooey's eyes widened a bit as she looked Wave up and down, "I don't know much about birds. What kind are you?"
"Shows what you know," Wave rolled her eyes, "I'm a swallow."
"Really? What kind? African or European?" Zooey asked, genuinely curious.
"I…I don't know," Wave admitted awkwardly.
"Can I interrupt this ornithology lesson?" Joe asked, "Anyone think it's weird that Morpho's team held back and just let us pass?"
Morpho answered from his spot in the back of the group, "Give it a minute! You'll find out!"
True to his word, a massive head resembling a monstrous long-necked dinosaur popped out of the water.
"Holy-!" Joe didn't even get a chance to finish his expletive before the dino swallowed him whole.
"Joe!" Zooey called out in shock as the monster sank back into the river.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine," Sonic assured her as he and Tails pulled ahead of everyone.
Soar and CC both flinched at what had just gone down. "Aaaand that's why people don't normally go near that river," Soar commented.
Comedy Chimp crossed his arms and lowered his head, "How ironic. One of his opponents was a swallow and he ended up getting swallowed."
Soar ignored the dark joke and continued observing, "They're now entering the Hidden Meadows, so the peril should be over now."
"Alright, guys, this is gonna be the most perilous part," Morpho explained to Orbot and Cubot. "Eggman laid a bunch of traps in this stretch of the course, so we've gotta be careful."
"Um, by that logic, should we have pulled ahead like we have now?" Orbot worriedly pointed out.
Morpho paused, "Uuuuuh."
Unfortunately, it was too late for them as laser beams and spring-mounted boxing gloves deployed. Being at the front of the group, Morpho and his team took the brunt of the assault. Before they even knew what happened, their boards were shot right out from under them, making them crash and burn.
"Man, we didn't think that through," Morpho admitted as he sat up. "Everyone alright?"
"No, I think I'm on fire!" Cubot yelled as he got up in a panic.
Orbot moved in to comfort his friend, "Cubot, you're not on fire."
"No, I can feel it! I'm on fire!" the yellow bot insisted. He started floating all over. "Aaaaah!"
Sighing, Morpho and Orbot began chasing him to calm him down.
Jet chuckled as they all neared the edge of the forest, "Well, this was fun and all, and you guys are better riders than I thought, but it's about time we take home the win."
"You wish!" Sonic yelled. He glanced back at his remaining teammate, "Tails, Combo Boost!"
Tails nodded and he and Sonic leaned sideways until they were completely horizontal. The bottom of their boards clamped together and, in an instant, they shot ahead of everyone. As they passed the Babylon Rogues, Sonic called out, "Bye bye, Babylon!" In seconds, they reached the Village Center and were the first ones to cross the finish line.
"And we have a winner!" Soar and CC declared together.
Everyone else crossed the line less than a minute later.
"I must say, that was fun," Zooey said, getting off her board. She asked Amy, "Maybe I should join you guys for stuff more often."
Rather than any major showboating, Sonic simply stood before Jet and said, "In. Your. Face."
Jet growled and turned to Wave, "Combining boards?! How come you never thought of that!?"
"We never had a need for it before now," Wave shrugged. She hefted her board in her hand, "Let's go get Storm."
Zooey perked up as a thought occurred to her, "Oh, that's right. We should go get Joe. He got eaten, remember?"
Tails put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down, "Don't worry about him. Like Sonic said, he'll fine. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he's already gotten himself out of trouble."
Back at the Peril River, Joe, in his robot form, emerged from the water, his visor turning from red back to its usual purple as he strolled onto the riverbank. He raised his laser blade in the air. "Take that, Mokele-Mbembe!" Seconds after his declaration, Cubot quickly floated by him, followed by Orbot and Morpho.
"Cubot, please calm down already!"
"I can't! I'm on fire!"
Joe lowered his sword as he watched them scurry off. "Huh."