Chapter 11 - Mountain Race

2BIT & GeneX at the Olympic Winter Games
Chapter 11 - Mountain Race

Notes: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
Super Mario characters are (c) Nintendo. I'm sure you knew that, too.
Captain Olimar is also (c) Nintendo.
GeneX, its related fancharacters, and other original characters in this story are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator).

The story thus far:
After crash-landing in Icepeak, Copter and co. were shaken up, but Killer Kong still held the Orb of Earth! Luckily, Omega arrived and knocked the crazed ape out. However, Conquer Corp's Ray got away, and went on the hunt for Power Stars he'd buried earlier. Meanwhile, a figure skating contest was held, which Rainbow and Gemini entered. While Gemini was skating, Copter spotted Ray sneaking around and teamed up with Gator to search for the stars. An alien named Spacey also joined the hunt, hoping to use the stars to conquer the planet! Things looked bad as Ray, Spacey, Alpha, Omega, Guard and Eggman Nega got in Copter's way, but an enraged Gemini took out all the enemies and proceeded to yell at Copter for missing her performance. The group's reunion was interrupted as Gator ran off with the four Power Stars. The group had better catch him, before someone else does!
Now, on to the next chapter!

News Brief! > From here on, News Briefs will include information on GeneX characters, too!

Copter, Punchy, Rainbow, Gemini and 2BIT caught up with Gator at the peak of Icepeak. He was looking around in confusion. "Now where did I park that ship anyways?" he said to himself. Copter got a sly look on his face and tapped Gator on the shoulder. "Hey, captain. Did you hear about the OTHER treasure on this island?" he said craftily. Gator turned to him and gazed with excitement. "More treasure? Where is it?" he asked. Punchy looked confused at first, but quickly caught on. "Uh, yeah! A big treasure! The gold of captain... Olimar. It's hidden somewhere on this island." he said. Gator jumped excitedly. "Right! I knew that! And I'll find it, too!" he declared. Copter nodded. "Right, but you can't just take those stars around with you. Thieves are everywhere. Give 'em to me, and I'll take them to the ship." he suggested. Gator handed the stars to Copter quickly. "Right! Lousy thieves! I've gotta find the treasure before they do! Byeeeee!" he said, dashing off to look for the fake treasure. Gemini crossed her arms and shook her head. "You're crooks..." she muttered. 2BIT shrugged. "Gator will get over it the minute he smells a hot dog. This was probably the only way to get the stars from him, anyhow." he reasoned. Suddenly, someone dropped onto the peak from the sky! "So, we meet again, fools." It was Polar, the powerful bear the group had encountered at Polastraits. Rainbow looked worried. "Uh, oh... What do you want now?" she whimpered. Polar chuckled at her reaction. "I see you remember me. I've come with a proposition for you. I have come across this Orb that I'm sure you were looking for..." Polar held up a black Orb with a strange purple symbol on it. "The Orb of Darkness!" 2BIT said. Polar nodded. "Since we're here at the peak, I suggest a race. A snowboard race. If you win, you get this Orb. But if I win, you'll be giving me ALL the Orbs, Stars, and Emeralds you've collected!" he proposed. Copter looked a little worried. "Snowboarding... I couldn't even ski..." he muttered. Punchy shrugged. "All right, bear. I accept your challenge!" he said.

2BIT and Copter already looked concerned, and things were about to get worse. Two more adversaries approached, having overheard this conversation. "Having a boarding contest, eh?" said Jet the Hawk, who for once was not accompanied by his teammates. "I'll take any opportunity to show up those inferior experiments." said Spiny the Porcupine, who had also overheard the conversation. Polar glanced at them and grinned at his good fortune. "Very well, we'll make this a team event. You two can be on my team." he said. Copter couldn't believe their misfortune. "Wait, that's not fair! You get a professional boarder and a professional cheater, and all we get is me and Punchy?" he protested. "Would you rather forfeit now? You already agreed to this, and there's no backing out without giving up your treasures." Polar warned. "Never fear! Dogson Ruff is here!" Just then, Dog arrived on the scene carrying a snowboard. He was accompanied by Wings the blue Yoshi. "We'll even up this contest!" Wings offered. Polar scoffed at them. "Those pathetic losers? Fine, we'll take you on, four to three. You don't stand a chance against us anyway." he said. "Thanks guys, we'd be sunk if you didn't show up..." Copter sighed. "Yeah, well, now we're even for all the help you gave us." Dog replied. Polar pointed to the nearby snowboard cross starting point. "We'll meet back here in ten minutes. And be sure you have all your treasures ready for me THIS time. I'm not going through that again without killing someone." he growled. Spiny chuckled at him. "I like this guy..." he said. Jet shrugged. "At least I'll kill some time. Just try not to bore me!" he grinned. As Polar, Spiny, and Jet wandered off to get ready, Gemini put her hands on her hips. "I don't care what the stakes are. You didn't watch my event, so I'm not watching you anymore." she snapped. "You wanna compete in my place, then?" Copter asked. Gemini walked off in a huff. "Your mess, you clean it up!" she said. Rainbow watched her leave and then turned to Copter and Punchy. "Well, I'll stick around. But it's kinda boring on the sidelines all the time..." she said.

News Brief! > Copter has taken on the legal name "Arthur Prower," which he inherited from Dimentime. He still uses the name "Copter" as a nickname, similar to Tails.

Polar had already prepared his board for the race. He had other plans for the ten minute break, and was waiting on a cliff a short distance down the mountain. Soon, a creature came riding over on a broomstick. It was one of Bowser's Koopa minions, wearing a blue robe and hat. This particular variety of Koopa was called a Magikoopa. "You're late, Kamek." Polar grunted. Kamek the Magikoopa didn't bother landing his broomstick. "Well, excuse me! You know, I have other responsibilities! I had to go over some of our plans with Lord Bowser." he explained. Polar rolled his eyes. "Whatever. You know our deal, right? I need you to take care of the competition in the race. Basically, aim for anyone who isn't me. There's a porcupine and a hawk participating on my side, but I don't really need them." he said. Kamek nodded. "Right. We'll get that treasure and the Power Stars we win go to Lord Bowser. That'll be good consolation after Mario ruins our Snow Spirit plans. If only more of our troops were here, I'd be leading an attack on Mario and Sonic, but Lord Bowser says his plan is perfect... Like he always does..." he grumbled. Polar started heading back up the mountain. "Don't waste time worrying about Bowser. The race is starting in a couple minutes." he said. Kamek flew high into the sky. "Oh well. At least I can have a little fun at these Olympic Games..." he thought. In a moment, everyone was gathered and ready to begin the race. As they were about to start, 2BIT and Rainbow ran up to the starting point carrying snowboards. "Wait for us!" Rainbow shouted. "We've decided we want to compete, too!" 2BIT added. Punchy glanced at them with concern. "You? But you two... Uh... You aren't race material...." he stammered. Polar shrugged at this turn of events. "By all means, let them compete. You need all the help you can get." he said. It didn't matter to him, since he was sure Kamek would ensure his victory anyway. "Ah, six opponents... Maybe this will be interesting after all..." Jet grinned. "Naaa, it'll be way too easy." Spiny said confidently. Dog crossed his arms. "We here to talk or to race? Let's go already!" he said.

The race began, and the boarders shot out of the starting gates like rockets. 2BIT, Rainbow, and Copter were all proceeding very shakily. The others passed them right away, and somehow Punchy got the early lead. "What!? I'll show that out of date reject!" Spiny growled. He fired several Chaos Spears at Punchy, which didn't knock him over, but did slow him down as he attempted to keep his balance. "Whoa!! I knew that guy was gonna cheat!" Punchy yelled. Meanwhile, 2BIT had been proceeding along the right edge of the track, and managed to pass to the front without anyone's notice. Seeing him ahead, Polar aimed his right arm at 2BIT and fired one of his powerful beams! 2BIT jumped up and hovered in the air with his jetpack in order to land safely, but this cost him precious time, and Polar took the lead. "Sorry, but I won't be losing this race!" he growled. Wings grew angry at the sight of all the cheating. "Someone's gotta teach you a lesson! Eat tongue!" He shot out his long tongue and swung it into Polar, knocking him into a spin! "Tha wath paybath!" said Wings with his tongue still hanging out. As Wings passed to the front of the pack, Jet watched from the rear, chuckling. "I see... That's how you're all gonna play. Well, no amount of cheating's gonna beat me when I REALLY start racing!" he thought. In the back of the pack was Rainbow and Copter, and Copter was in last place. "I don't care how lame I look right now. I'm not gonna crash like I did skiing!" he said. "But at least you won that race!" Rainbow pointed out. "You can do it, Copter!" 2BIT shouted back, "It's like grinding! ...well, not really. But I figure it's close." Copter glanced down the slope and nodded. "Right... Grinding... I'll make like I'm grinding..." He crouched on his board and started to pick up speed, quickly passing Rainbow and 2BIT. The racers were now near a jump ramp, and each racer made the jump in their own way. Wings hovered in midair a moment with his wings to enable a smooth landing, while 2BIT used his jetpack. Copter was too focused on "grinding" and slid off the ramp without jumping! "Yikes!! DON'T CRASH!!!" he shouted, spinning his tails to gain some height and land safely. "Whew..." he sighed.

News Brief! > Punchy believes himself to be the true Master Emerald guardian, due to some of Knuckles's memories getting passed to him in the cloning process.

Despite her earlier words, Gemini was indeed watching the race from the peak, though no one knew it. "Careful, guys... Don't let them cheat their way to victory..." she muttered. "Yeah, that's my job..." said Kamek, who was hovering in the air above her. "Huh?" Gemini looked up and saw Kamek begin flying down the slope, clutching a magic wand. "Did he just say... Oh, shoot! He's going to knock Copter and everyone out of the race! I've gotta do something!" she realized. Looking around, she saw a snowboard had been left at the starting gate unattended. "Is that supposed to be luck? I can't snowboard..." she murmured. Looking down the slope, she clutched her wand tightly and ran to the board. "Well, I have to try! Hang on, everyone!"

Meanwhile, there was a small audience watching the race from the bottom of the mountain. It was 8BIT, Lospecter, and Jacklrankda. "I think everything is under control here. We'd best complete our final preparations. Soon, all those pathetic 'heroes' will be out of our way once and for all." 8BIT said. Lospecter squinted to see how things were going on the mountain. "Are you sure? I mean, he's not exactly a Lost One. I don't even trust him." he said. Jacklrankda raised his fist toward the mountain. "He will not betray us. He is not so foolish as to incur my wrath!" he growled. Lospecter found his seriousness amusing. "Ooooh, the mighty Jackie! How scary! Do you know Losipher?" he joked. 8BIT turned to Lospecter. "It doesn't really matter if Polar succeeds or not. But if you're so concerned, go find the cannon to the next island and destroy it. It will buy us all the time we could possibly need." he suggested. "As you command, o great lord of all evil! Or at least, half the evil here..." Lospecter said before flying off. Jacklrankda watched him leave with hate in his eyes. "Are we quite through with the henchworms yet?" he groaned. 8BIT glared at him. "Patience, Jack. It won't be long now. Just remember, you have little more record of success than any of the others. Now listen. I have a job for you..."

News Brief! > Lospecter was once formless, resembling a cloud of gas. As his power grew, he was able to take a more complex shape, possibly resembling who he was before he became a Lost One.

The racers had passed the halfway point, and were now all pretty close together. Copter had picked up speed and was attempting to pass Spiny. However, Spiny wouldn't make it easy. Every time Copter got close, he used Chaos Spear to force him to slow down. As if things weren't bad enough, Kamek had just about caught up to them. Gemini was trailing behind him, and tried to warn the racers. "Look out, guys! Someone's interfering with the race!" she shouted. Kamek glanced back at her and sent an odd spell in her direction. His magic resembled a square, triangle, and circle, which turned into a fireball as it neared the ground! Gemini barely managed to avoid it, but while she was doing that, Kamek fired more spells at the racers. One spell smashed into Rainbow's board, sending her tumbling to a stop. "Eeeeek!! No fair!" she yelled. Copter glanced back and saw Kamek heading right for him. "What the... Outta my way, Spiny!" he shouted, hoping that he could pass him and avoid getting shot out of the race. However, Spiny was trying to knock him out of the race as well. "Give it up, clone boy! You're toast!" he said, shooting Chaos Spears at him while Kamek cast his fire spells. 2BIT and Dog hurried to help, and maneuvered alongside Spiny. "Quit it, Spiny! It won't end well for you, anyway!" 2BIT warned. "Buzz off!" Spiny growled. Dog glared at him. "He asked for it!" The two of them sped in front of Spiny, moving back and forth in front of him so he couldn't see where he was going. However, it was too late to help Copter. Kamek's spells crashed down around him, and he ended up diving headfirst into the snow, meaning the race was over for him. Spiny grinned at this. "So long, sucker! Now these guys are next!" he said, shooting spears at 2BIT and Dog. Luckily, Gemini had almost caught up to them by now. "It's time someone interfered with you guys! Take this!" she shouted, firing shots from her wand at Spiny. He wasn't prepared for this, and as Gemini's magic struck him, he stumbled backwards and fell into the snow. "Aaaahhh!! I'll get you for that!!" he yelled as everyone passed him. A snowball struck him in the back of the head while he was distracted. Turning around, he saw Copter sticking his tongue out at him. "Who's laughing now, evil Sonic?" he teased. Spiny growled at him and made a snowball of his own. "I'll get you, evil Tails!" he shouted.

Another jump was ahead as the racers neared the finish line. Wings and Jet were close together at the front of the pack, with Polar and Punchy close behind. Polar kept Punchy from passing him by continuing to shoot his beam attacks at him, and he was getting annoyed by it. "I'll show you!" he growled. Upon jumping from the ramp, Punchy spun around in the air and somehow managed to land in front of Polar. "Ha ha! You're still gonna lose!" he taunted. Suddenly, Kamek approached the racers up front. "That's what you think! Now I'll finally fix one of those Yoshis!" he said, waving his wand to cast a spell in Wings's direction! "Look out!" Punchy yelled, but it was useless. The spell knocked Wings off course and caused him to crash like Copter and Rainbow before him! "Aaaaa!! Sorry, guys!" Wings cried. Now, Jet was in the lead. "Aw, too bad. Now this is too easy. Oh well, a win is a win..." Jet said somewhat disappointedly. Punchy attempted to speed up and pass Jet, but Polar continued to stop him with his beams. 2BIT and Dog were getting closer, but they'd never reach the finish before Jet. They had to stop Polar! Realizing this, 2BIT dashed towards him. "I'll have to tackle that cheat!" he said to himself. However, Kamek started hurling spells at him. "Oh, that does it! I'd rather teach Kamek a lesson anyway!" 2BIT shouted. He jumped off his board and flew after Kamek with his jetpack, ramming him in midair! With Kamek out of the way, Dog and Gemini closed in on the other racers as they neared the finish line. "Punchy will never make it... We need the element of surprise..." Gemini said, glancing at Dog. "Uh, what are you thinking about?" Dog wondered, finding Gemini's expression unsettling. Gemini slowed down so she was behind Dog, and pointed her wand at him. "Sprocketta!" This spell caused a green light to shoot from Gemini's wand, which his Dog in the back and propelled him down the mountain at high speed! "AAAAAAAAHHHH!! STOP THE RIDE, I WANNA GET OFF!!!" Dog screamed. This sudden speed boost caught Polar off guard, and he was unable to stop Dog before he passed Jet! Dog crossed the finish mere seconds before Jet, but the race was won! Gemini breathed a sigh of relief, but suddenly found herself knocked on the ground by 2BIT and Kamek, who fell on her head! "That could have been thought out better..." 2BIT groaned. "Get... off... please..." Gemini groaned.

Punchy and Polar were the only other racers to make it to the finish after Dog and Jet. Polar was furious by this outcome. "You stupid mutt! You cheated! There's no other way you could have won!" he growled. Dog rolled his eyes. "Big deal. Your team was cheating way more. Now hand over the Orb, chump!" he said. Polar glared at him and began charging energy in his arms. "I'll show you! I'll just take those treasures!" he yelled. Just as he was about to attack Dog, Jet flew over on his Extreme Gear and smacked his charged arms aside with his board! "He's right! You ARE a chump! They wouldn't have cheated if you didn't cheat first, and I would have won!" he squawked. Polar fired his beams at Jet, but he quickly flew out of the way. "Mind your own business, pest! I'll get what I came for by any means necessary!" he growled. Suddenly, Punchy intervened. "Chaos Avalanche!" Using his chaos power, Punchy hurled a snow boulder at Polar, which knocked him flat on his back! "Arrrrgh!! Curse you..." Polar groaned without getting up. "Go ahead and stay down. We'll just help ourselves to the Orb." Punchy said. Suddenly, Kamek arrived on the scene atop his broomstick. There was a look of panicked shock on his face. "No, no, NO! Lord Bowser's going to need those stars! Get up, you lazy bear!" he shouted. "You stay out of this. We won fair and square!" Dog said. Polar still wasn't bothering to stand up, and Kamek started getting impatient. "Oh, fine. I'll lend you a hand again. Stay right there!" Kamek held out his wand and started flying back and forth over Polar, dropping magic that was glowing in various colors over him. Polar slowly stood up as the magic caused him to start glowing. "What's this...? This new power...? Ha ha ha ha ha!! Now I'll crush you all!!" he laughed as Kamek's magic took effect. The spell caused Polar to start growing larger and larger. "This can't be good..." Dog muttered as Polar slowly became a giant, towering over them with a superior smirk on his face. "Look at you insects! Which of you should I squash first?" he chuckled. Just then, Wings arrived on the scene. "Oh, great... The other Yoshis told me about this sort of thing... That Magikoopa is Kamek!" he realized.

The giant Polar immediately went on the attack. He attempted to crush Punchy and Jet under his feet, but they quickly ran out of the way. Dog ran to Wings and jumped on his back. "Up, up! Get away from his giant feet!" he shouted in panic. Wings took to the air, and in moments found himself busy fleeing from Polar’s now super sized beam attacks! A stray beam smashed several trees not far away from a building, causing all creatures nearby to flee for their lives! "We've gotta stop this nutcase before he tears up the whole island!" Jet realized, using his Extreme Gear to fly above Polar's giant feet. "Go for the head!" Punchy shouted. Jet nodded and flew higher, but Polar simply glared at him. "Dumb fly. I'll burn you up nice!" he growled. Suddenly, laser beams shot out of Polar's eyes, singeing Jet's feathers as he barely managed to avoid them. "Yeow!! Was he always able to do that!?" Jet squawked. "Never mind! We'll get him!" Dog shouted as Wings carried him up behind Polar's head. "What's the plan, Dog?" Wings asked. Dog looked worried. "Me? But you're the expert on Kamek!" he protested. "Did someone call me?" said Kamek as he flew over and started shooting spells at Dog and Wings. "Yikes!! We got a bogey, Wings! Evasive maneuvers!" Dog yelped. Meanwhile, Punchy was busy using Chaos Avalanche on Polar, but it was having little effect. "Darn it, he's gotta have a weakness! Yaaah!!" he shouted as he ran to avoid getting stepped on. Just then, 2BIT, Copter, Rainbow, and Gemini finally reached the bottom of the mountain. "Holy smokes! How did this happen!?" Rainbow gasped. 2BIT whimpered hopelessly. "Polar's a giant... We're doomed..." he whined. Copter ran over to Polar and used the power of his tailband to unleash a powerful tail whip on his ankle, but Polar barely flinched. "More little bugs. I'll just have to exterminate you all!" he roared. Copter ran out of the way of Polar's laser vision as quick as he could. "Yep, we're doomed..." he said. Meanwhile, Dog and Wings were busy evading Kamek. "Steady, Wings... Aim.... Fire!" Dog said, prompting Wings to shoot out his long tongue and smack Kamek off his broom! "Aaaaahh!!! Curse you, Yoshi!!" he yelled as he fell to the ground. Suddenly, Polar swung his arms around, firing his beam all over the sky! Wings and Jet were hit, and fell into the snow! "There! Now I've got you!" Polar growled. "Rrrr, that's enough!!" Polar turned around to find Gemini pointing her wand at him. "I'll cut you down to size! Miniatina!" A bright yellow light erupted from her wand and hit Polar, instantly causing him to shrink! "Hey! Wait! Stop!! Nooooo!!!" Polar yelled as he grew smaller and smaller, until he was about the same size as the Orb he'd been carrying, which rolled away from him. "Ooops... I didn't mean to shrink him that much... Oh, well. He should be back to normal when the spell wears off..." Gemini said.

News Brief! > Gemini is a student of Divine magic who came from the future to battle the Lost Ones. Her wand originally belonged to her teacher, Fred Leo.

It was no time to celebrate, though. The Orb had rolled away from Polar, and stopped at the feet of Jacklrankda! "Why thank you, and it's my favorite Orb, too! The Orb of Darkness!" he said as he picked the Orb up. Upon seeing him, Kamek was immediately overcome with fear. "Cripes, that guy's even scarier than Lord Bowser! I'm outta here!" he said, hopping on to his broom and taking off. Polar grabbed on to it just before it got too high for him to reach. "Get me away from here! Someone could step on me!" he yelped. With them gone, Copter and Punchy went to attack Jacklrankda to get the Orb. As they neared him, Jacklrankda swiftly knocked them aside with dark magic, laughing at them. "Pitiful fools. You cannot harm me, the dreaded Knight of Power! And soon, all of you will fall to the ultimate power of darkness! The cannon to Blizland has by now been destroyed, and you have no chance of reaching 8BIT there and ruining his plans! But by all means, try to get there. I'll be waiting to destroy you all myself!" With that, Jacklrankda used his dark powers to warp away, leaving everyone looking worried. "Sounds like a storm's coming. I'd better fetch my fellow Rogues and move on." Jet said, flying off. 2BIT scratched his head. "Maybe we should have asked him for a ride to Blizland before he left. The Babylon Rogues have a blimp..." he said. Everyone gathered around the coast of the island and gazed out in the direction of Blizland. "Great. What do we do now?" Punchy wondered. Suddenly, Illusi appeared next to him in a puff of smoke! "Don't despair, Dark One. There's always hope!" he said, motioning to a ship sailing towards them. It was a green pirate ship. The Green Freedom! Gator waved to the group from the helm as the ship stopped next to them. "All aboard, swabbies! I found the treasure of Captain Olimar! Now to set sail!" he said. The deck of the ship was loaded with treasure, and Copter and Punchy stared at it with wide eyes. "Wait... How?" Copter muttered. Once everyone boarded the ship, they found Gator had assembled a crew already. Jimmy, Zeppo, Hunter, Melody, Black, Allie, and even Rosalina were aboard. "Reunited with all his friends, Jimmy not set out for the final battle! Finally, this tale would reach its tragic ending!" said the Narrator. Dog and Wings glanced up looking for the voice. "Tragic ending?" they whimpered. Gator shrugged. "He's been talking like that ever since Jimmy got on board. It's kinda annoying. So, where to, guys?" he asked. 2BIT pointed to an island in the distance. "Blizland! And hurry, Gator!" he said. Gator frowned. "Can't hurry. The engines are busted. Oh well. Set a course for Blizland, Allie!" he ordered. "Aye, captain! But put that treasure in the hold!" she insisted. Gator nodded. "Uh, sure. Everyone, get hauling!" he ordered. Everyone saluted with annoyance. "Aye, captain..." they groaned. As the ship set sail, Shadow Arcangel was flying above, heading in the same direction. "Looks like the end is near. Good luck to all of us..." 2BIT said.

To be continued...

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