Chapter Text
The next day – Friday, July 30 – at Mobius Royal University, Emerald City, another racquet-based event was taking place: badminton. More precisely, Blaze and Honey were taking part in the women’s doubles event, and today would see them competing against Adabat’s Sukhon Metharom and Duangkamol Boonjumnong.
To decide who would get the first serve, the shuttleco*ck was placed atop the net with the cork facing upwards, and when it was let go, it tumbled to the ground and spun for a bit before coming to rest. The cork was pointing to Mobius’ side, so Blaze elected to serve first, while Adabat took the “south” end of the court. Blaze served from the right quadrant of Mobius’ side, hitting it to Metharom. Metharom managed to hit the shuttleco*ck over the net, but Honey hit it back, and the rally continued for a bit until Blaze missed a shot from Boonjumnong, thereby giving Adabat the first point and also giving Boonjumnong the serve since the total score was odd and she was on the left quadrant of Adabat’s side, which would’ve been right from Blaze’s perspective. When Blaze missed another shot, it appeared that Mobius was on their way to being defeated in the first set. However, Metharom missed a shot from Blaze, thereby giving Mobius a point, and with enough persistence from both Mobians, their team beat Adabat in the first set 21-13.
For the next set, because Mobius had won, they got serving privilege. Both sides changed ends of the court. This time, Honey served first. Just like the previous set, both sides had an awesome rally, and just like the previous set, Adabat got the first point as well as the one after that. However, Honey managed to get Mobius’ first point against Boonjumnong. For a time, the game appeared to be in Adabat’s favor. However, Mobius pulled ahead to break a 14-point tie, and thanks to great coordination between Blaze and Honey, Mobius won that set 21-18 and consequently won the game.
===
After the game, Honey and Blaze congratulated each other:
“Blaze, that was a tough game, but you played like you’ve been playing this for years!”
Blaze nodded. “Well, badminton is one of my favorite pastimes. Your skills were admirable too, Honey.”
“Thanks, girlfriend!”
“You know, it’s odd that you respond to me with such familiarity when we’re not very well acquainted with each other. Still, considering that we’re on the same team, I suppose it’s understandable. Also, you’re welcome.”
“No problem! So tell me, how did you and Sonic first meet?”
“It was a rather unusual story. Dr. Robotnik had created a rift in the space-time continuum, thereby permitting me to travel to this dimension for the first time…”
As Blaze explained the story of how she and Sonic first met, Honey did her best to listen intently. Even if there was a chance that she might forget a thing or two, Honey was nevertheless interested in this sort of thing.
===
Around lunchtime, Silver headed to Joey’s Pizza. Here, he ordered a small pepperoni pizza with extra cheese as well as a Vanilla Pepsi. While waiting for his food, his Hedgehog Sense tingled, which indicated that he was about to be joined by somebody…
“Hello, Silver,” said Espio. “May I join you?”
Silver smiled. “Go ahead, Espio!”
Espio sat down.
“So, how’s it going?” asked Silver.
“I’m doing quite well, thank you,” replied Espio. “And you?”
“I’m doing all right.”
“That’s good to hear. Moving on, I don’t suppose you’ve heard the rumors by now?”
Silver tilted his head. “What rumors?”
Espio’s eyes darted around briefly before he leaned closer to Silver. “According to what I have overheard, Shadow has a crush on Sonic.”
Silver raised his eyebrows. “Wha…? You can’t be serious!”
“While these are only rumors thus far, I would actually not be surprised to find out that they were true.”
Silver scratched his head. “But Shadow is Sonic’s number-one rival! Why would he fall in love with him all of a sudden?”
“Although I do not have an answer to your question, I can certainly speculate as to why.”
“OK, so why do you think Shadow would do that?”
Espio pointed his hand to the side, palm up. “I’ve seen and heard of a few cases of people who shared similar personality traits to Shadow. Outwardly, they displayed signs of antisocial behavior, but upon closer examination, a number of them just wanted somebody to love and care for them.”
“So you think Shadow might actually be a nice guy after all?”
Espio nodded. “Perhaps. I have conversed with Rouge on a few occasions, and she seems to speak rather highly of him. Although I do not share all of her opinions, I find her reasoning understandable.”
Silver nodded. “Those two work together a lot, so I guess I understand why she’d think he’s such a good guy. Still, I don’t think Shadow would have the hots for Sonic like that.”
“Things aren’t always as they seem, Silver. Learn to look beyond the thin veneer of any situation and dig for the subtleties present. You’ll save yourself a great deal of time, money, energy and trouble that way.”
Silver said nothing else. Soon enough, the waitress not only came by with Silver’s food, but also with Espio’s meal: a large Reuben with sweet potato fries and a Brisk iced tea. As he ate his pizza, Silver dwelled on the mysteries of time and space, in particular speculating on what exactly would happen if Shadow admitted his love for Sonic.
===
Meanwhile, at the Emerald City Motordrome, an auto racing stadium most known for playing host to the Mobius 500, one of the most white-knuckle, high-octane events of the Olympics was about to take place: motorcycle grand prix. More precisely, the Men’s Moto2 event was going on, and Tails had entered the event with a bike he’d built himself, which used the engine and a few other parts from a 1978 Suzuki GS750, but was otherwise custom-made. He’d made a decent showing in the qualifying round, placing third only to Johann Bambach of Tedesca and Feliciano Herrero of Madelonia. Sonic, Knuckles and Robotnik attended to him before the race, giving him a drink of Gatorade before the warm-up lap, during which a pace car followed the competitors. Tails noticed no mechanical issues with his bike, so he got back to his spot soon enough.
3…2…1…
The green flag dropped, and the race was on. Tails poured on as much power as he could, but was careful to slow down for the first turn, which was a rather tight hairpin. He’d managed to attain second here, but it was ultimately Bambach who got the holeshot. Still, Tails refused to give up. Even so, Bambach retained a rather comfortable lead for the first few turns, but when they came to the chicane of turns nine and ten, Tails paid careful attention to Bambach’s line, and with a bit of throttle and a bit of luck, the Two-Tailed Wonder just barely pulled ahead, and by the time they got to turn 12, he was eking out a good lead.
Throughout the race, Tails did what he could to maintain his lead. Having flown the Tornado before, not to mention being an able runner, the speed of MotoGP racing was no stranger to him. Still, there was something about riding a 200+ MPH crotch rocket that truly took his breath away, and he had to keep his wits about him to prevent from crashing or anything like that. While not born with Hedgehog Sense, Tails nevertheless had a feeling when an opposing racer was gaining on him, which didn’t always happen, but happened often enough that he was more than determined than ever to prove himself. On turn 6 in lap 22, Federico Esposito of Romath managed to pass Tails on his Kawasaki and maintained a good lead until turn 1 of lap 26, when he highsided and was violently ejected from his bike. With that, Tails got his lead back, but he vowed to avoid doing whatever Esposito did that caused him to crash. Fortunately, the last few laps proved quite smooth for him, and in spite of a bit of competition from Herrero, Tails won the race.
===
After the race, Sonic, Knuckles and Robotnik went to congratulate Tails.
“Tails, you were bomb out there!” said Sonic. “That was a real nail-biter, but I’m proud of ya, bro!”
“Yeah, I didn’t think ya were any good at motorcycle racing, but ya really proved me wrong!” said Knuckles.
“I agree with Sonic and Knuckles!” said Robotnik. “That was a most exemplary performance!”
Tails rubbed the back of his head. “Heh heh, thanks, guys! It wasn’t easy, but I feel better about myself the more I compete in these Games!”
Sonic patted Tails on the back. “And so ya should!”
Just then, an all-too-familiar face showed up…
“Hi, Sonic,” said Shadow.
“Hey, Shad! What it is?”
“Sonic, I just wanted to say…”
Before he could say what he wanted to say, Shadow froze up, turned around and ran away, puzzling everyone.
“What was that all about?” said Sonic.
“Sonic, I know Shadow quite well,” said Robotnik, “and if I were to hazard a guess, it seems as though he’s nervous about something.”
“Nervous?” Sonic scratched his cheek. “Hmmm…that don’t really sound like Shad, but I believe ya.”
“Although I have to wonder what he’s nervous about…” said Tails.
“Could he really be…?” Knuckles shrugged. “Nah…”
Thus, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Robotnik got on their way, putting Shadow in the backs of their minds.
