-Chapter 194-

A Show of Power

Pit Stop

At the pit, Eggatha and Metal Sonic were doing maintenance on Robotnik's Extreme Gear.

"Fancy meeting you here," came Hope's voice.

They turned to see Hope alongside Team Dark.

"Hope, hey!" Eggatha greeted.

"Wasn't talking to you, Cuz."

Shadow, Rouge, and Omega all flanked her as they stared down at Metal. Metal vented as if sighing.

"I'm the pit crew, not a racer," he told them. "I haven't even done anything."

"We require information," Omega said. "Word on the street is that Dr. Robotnik is being backed by MeteorTech. What is he after?"

"Right," Metal deadpanned. "I only recently got re-promoted to field agent, and I'm gonna lose it by telling you the doctor's stake in the race? Yeah, not a chance."

"Sorry guys, but them's the breaks," Eggatha added.

"I warn you, we have ways of making you talk." Omega said ominously.

He cocked his wrist-mounted gun for emphasis, but Eggatha was unintimidated.

"Oh, just stop," she said. "I'm not afraid of you."

Omega was about to aim the gun at her, but Shadow grabbed his hand.

"Okay, seriously," he sighed. "Why is it whenever we can't get information or find something, your first instinct is to shoot up everything around you?"

"Because it's fun," Omega said matter-of-factly.

"Once a Badnik, always a Badnik," Metal remarked.

"Falsehood!" Omega snapped.

"Okay!" Hope quickly got between the two. "That's enough."

"Agreed."

Team Dark turned, their jaws dropping at the sight of a new robot approaching. The robot had long, metal dreadlocks, and a pair of thick, sharp knives sticking out of the boxes that served as its hands. Its eyes were green, and it lacked a mouth, like Metal Sonic. Within minutes, they recognized it as a Metal Knuckles.

"My friend is in the middle of his duties," it told them. "Leave him alone."

"Metal Knuckles," Omega remarked. "I see the doctor finally got around to finishing you. I recall you were put on hold while he worked on the Shadow Androids."

"I was, but now I am in working order," Metal Knuckles answered.

"Honestly, it's nice having a bruiser on my team," Metal mused. "I can see why Sonic keeps his Knuckles around."

"Aside from the fact they're actual friends?" Rouge shot back.

"Oh, boy…" Hope sighed. "I'm just imagining Tails' reaction. He's gonna be pissed that Eggman still hasn't made a robot him aside from that creepy Tails Doll."

As if on cue, the Tails Doll popped onto Eggatha's shoulder, giving a strange, trilled chirp as it does. Hope immediately let out a yelp, while Omega reeled back, about to bring out another weapon.

"Kill it with fire!" the Goodnik shouted, bringing out a flamethrower.

"Hold it, stupid!" Shadow snapped, grabbing his arm and wrestling with him.

The Tails Doll let out a shrill chirp, diving into the wild mane of Eggatha's hair.

"Will you knock it off?!" she snapped. "TD is my new protector."

"Aggie…" Hope began. "you actually kept one of those walking tanks of nightmare fuel?"

"Hope, relax," Eggatha insisted as the Tails Doll poked its head out cautiously. "It won't be turning into a monster again any time soon. There's only one left, and Uncle Ivo doesn't care for repeat performances."

"Metal Sonic's continued existence refutes that," Omega said simply.

"Not relevant," Eggatha dismissed. "He's just a doll with tracking software, surveillance equipment, and a crude A.I. that gives him the mentality of a cat."

They took that in, slowly relaxing.

"Now, can we continue preparing for the race?" Eggatha requested. "Or are you going to keep pestering me and my team with questions you won't get answers to?"

After a few moments, Shadow nodded. "As you were."

Team Dark walked off as Eggatha let out a sigh, pulling TD from her hair and petting him.

"The race will start soon," she said. "Get ready, MK."

Metal Knuckles bowed. "Yes, of course."

As they headed back, Rouge sighed.

"Well, that was a bust," she remarked. "What now?"

"For now, keep an eye on Omochao's com link," Hope replied. "I ordered him to tell us the second he has something on Von Koiti. In the meantime, I gotta help Kat get ready for the next race."

Back with Team Thorndyke, Kat was readying some skates, Wave's feathers now artfully weaved into her hair. Hope hurried up to them, the group looking up at her arrival.

"Any luck?" Keith asked.

"Aggie and Metal wouldn't talk. Though Omega was certainly keen to make them," Hope sighed. "Trigger happy lunatic."

"He scares me sometimes," Kat admitted.

"Kat, at the minute, all robots scare you," Chris deadpanned.

"I've gotten better!" Kat defended.

"Well, you're gonna hate this," said Hope. "There's a Metal Knuckles now."

They perked at that.

"And one of the Tails Dolls survived. He's Aggie's current protector with Metal on pit crew."

Off to the side, where Team Sonic was, all three immediately turned to Hope.

"That thing's still active?!" Sonic demanded.

"Relax," Hope soothed. "Its current AI is no more advanced than a Mobini cat. All it has is surveillance gear and GPS tracking. As Eggatha put it, Eggman 'doesn't care for repeat performances.'"

"And now there's a Metal me," Knuckles sighed. "Great. Just great."

"How is it that even Knuckles and Shadow get actual Metal counterparts, while I get a scary doll thing?" Tails demanded. "That's just insulting."

"Racers!" Omochao's voice cut in. "Make your way to the starting line!"

"That's our cue," Kat said. "C'mon, Tails."

Splash Canyon

The racers all lined up at the starting line of Splash Canyon, a canyon course filled with water ranging from rivers with strong currents to big waterfalls. As with Metal City, there were grinding rails and dash rings for flight.

"Good thing Sonic's not on this round," Tails said to Kat. "He'd have a bird going through here."

"Agreed," Kat nodded. "Not bad, though."

She looked around then her eyes fell on Wave. Smirking slightly, she walked over.

"Hey Wave," she greeted casually.

Wave scowled. "What the hell do you want?"

"I just wanted to say sorry," Kat replied. "I crossed a line when I called you a fat turkey. No hard feelings."

She patted Wave on the back.

"Stuff it, kid," Wave snapped rudely.

Kat shrugged. "Hey, was just trying to extend an olive branch."

She skated off in the opposite direction. Metal Knuckles rolled up to Tails' opposite side, riding an Extreme Gear similar to a windsurfing board, but without a sail and with the mast and board joined together.

"You will lose," he warned.

"And you're gonna be scrap metal," Tails shot back. "If not by Kat, then by me."

Omochao floated overhead, microphone in hand.

"Hey hey hey, racing fans!" he cheered. "Here we are at round two of the EX World Grand Prix! Which of these racers will be able to brave the raging rapids of Splash Canyon?"

The crowd went wild, jumping to their feet and clapping loudly.

"Now, time to introduce the racers of the second round," Omochao said. "And yes, I'll be doing this with each new round."

He cleared his throat. "Starting us off, we've got the brains of the Freedom Fighters, the figure behind almost every gadget and gizmo, the hero of Station Square, the two tailed wonder, Miles 'Tails' Prower!"

Tails stepped forward as the crowd cheered. As with Chris', his parents in the stand made the most noise.

"You've got this, son!" Rosemary cheered.

"Next up is the muscle of Team Thorndyke. The fiery redhead, the wild child extraordinaire, Kathryn Winters!"

The crowd roared as Kat stepped up, Keith more so than others. Kat turned to him and blew him a small kiss. What really caught her attention was the cheers of Lara-Le in the stand, waving a flag with a Knuckles-head insignia on it.

"You can do it, Kathryn!" she cheered.

Tails blinked. "Knuckles' mom is here too?"

"She came down to support us," Kat explained. "Locke is taking over our duties so we can participate."

"And for the Babylon Rogues, a racer, inventor, and mechanic almost on par with Tails!"

"Hey!" Wave objected.

"Wave the Swallow!"

Cheers were interspersed with laughs as Wave fumed.

"You have no idea who you're dissing, you stupid wind-up toy!" she warned.

"Oh, I know. I just don't care."

The crowd laughed harder as Wave grumbled under her breath.

"And last, and very much least, a mechanical knock-off of the strongest Freedom Fighter, Metal Knuckles!"

The crowd booed and jeered as Metal Knuckles looked up at him.

"For that, you will be recycled." he warned.

"Hey!" Kat cut in. "I'm gonna turn you into a lamp!"

They were minutes from coming to blows.

"Now, now!" Omochao piped up. "Let's save the rough stuff for the actual track, shall we?"

The racers took their positions.

"You're lucky you don't have a mouth, tin-can," Wave muttered. "Because all of you will be eating my dust."

Omochao held up his free nub, counting down.

"Three! Two! One! GO!"

Everyone took off. Tails and Wave took flight, trading insults.

"You really think you can beat me with that rusty, steam-driven pile of junk?" Wave taunted.

"Why don't you ask my tails?" Tails retorted. "That is, if you can catch 'em!"

He spun around, striking Wave in the face with both tails before boosting ahead. Wave rubbed her beak with a growl.

"Get back here, you freak!"

"Catch me if you can!"

As they faced off, Metal Knuckles was targeting Kat, trying to put a spiky fist through her skull.

"Whoa!" Kat yelped. "You should really trim those!"

"My Knucklaws will shred you like paper!" Metal Knuckles declared.

"You have to hit me first, gruesome!"

His claws glowed, and Kat was suddenly pulled to him by her helmet and skates.

"Oh, did I forget to mention they're also magnetic?"

"Oh you…"

Kat cracked her knuckles and let herself be pulled, using her momentum to hit Metal Knuckles. As he reeled from her punch, Kat put on a burst of speed and skated away.

Before long, the finish line was in sight. Seeing Tails about to cross the finish line, Wave smirked, raising a small red button in her hand and pressing it. Suddenly, her own board exploded, and she was thrown back. She shrieked as she crashed to the ground, Kat and Metal Knuckles zooming past her.

"What?!" she screamed. "No!"

To add insult to injury, Tails came in first, the crowd going wild. Kat followed in second, then Metal Knuckles in third. As Wave shuffled across the line, she stormed over to the victorious Freedom Fighter, looking absolutely enraged.

"How is this happening?!" Wave demanded.

Kat smirked, leaning on Tails' shoulder as she shot Wave a vindictive smirk.

"How's our dust taste, ya fat turkey?!"

Wave's eye twitched as Tails slipped his board under his arm.

"And to answer your question, you didn't really think we wouldn't double-check my board after you had your hands on it, did you?" Tails questioned. "We found your little bomb... and Kat stuck it to yours during her olive branch offering."

Kat grinned widely as Wave's eyes went wide.

"Ya sabotaged yourself, clucky," the red-head mocked.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Wave's rage was replaced by terror as Jet stormed over.

"What's this about a bomb?" he demanded.

"Uh, well... nothing," Wave stammered. "Must've been a fused ion duct or something that blew my board. Minor glitch."

"Or it could be the bomb that you tried to slip onto my board before the race," Tails offered. "Either or."

Jet looked confused, then Kat smirked, taking off her helmet. Jet's eyes locked onto the purple feathers in her hair, something that made Wave go pale.

"Wave... aren't those the feathers you claimed to have lost to turbulence during your test run?" he asked ominously.

Kat waved. "Hi. I'm Turbulence."

"I-" Wave stammered. "I-"

"Get your mechanic under control," Kat said to Jet as she and Tails began to walk off. "Or the next bomb goes on the rider, and not the gear."

Jet's face darkened. "Wave, we need to talk."

He roughly grabbed her by the arm, dragging her back to the pit where Storm sat and shoving her in a chair.

"Jet, c'mon!" Wave objected. "I did it for you. So we could win the race and get the Chaos Emeralds to find Babylon Garden. Don't you want that?"

"Only if we win on our own merits and skills, idiot!" Jet snapped. "The Babylon Rogues are above cheap, rotten tricks like that!"

"But-" Wave began.

"No, Wave!" Jet cut her off. "The one thing we don't screw with is competition. We win by our own skill or not at all. The next time you pull shit like this, you're history. Outta here. Fired. Do you understand me?"

Wave swallowed hard. "Got it… Sorry..."

"Good," Jet nodded. "I'm glad we understand each other."

Author's Note:

Yeah, quick revision. Here, Wave stuck the bomb to Tails' board rather than Sonic's. I like to mix it up. Keeps you on your toes.

And yeah, some aspects of Sonic R here. Metal Knuckles' Knucklaws are taken from Archie's Mecha Madness arc, when Sonic and Knuckles were roboticized.

Please R&R. Until next time!