Sonic couldn't believe the trouble he had gotten into. He was a nervous wreck, pacing uneasily and beginning to feel sick.

Yeah right.

Sonic wasn't even close to nervous, he was excited, impatient, and calm at once. It was just a race, some friendly competition. He was full of confidence, arrogance even. He had finally gotten Shadow to accept his challenge to a race. Sure, he was the ultimate life-form and could move at break-neck speed, but Sonic was the fastest thing alive. Right?

Shadow was calm as well. It was hard to read his thoughts, though. He seemed almost glad to race, but who knew? It was easy to see that Shadow was confident. He didn't bother warming up. Just stood at the starting line, arms crossed.

After stretching and warming up, Sonic also took his place. "May the best 'hog win!"

"Hm," Shadow replied, unenthusiastically. The two were standing atop one of the large bridge beams in the unfinished highway. Spectators had gathered around to watch, and were scattered through out the area. Tails was flying above to monitor the race and confirm the winner. Knuckles and Amy were waiting at the finish line. Even Rouge was watching nearby.

"Ready, Shadow?" Sonic asked, not expecting an answer. "How about you countdown?"

"Fine. Three… two… one… Go!" Shadow leapt to a start, just a second ahead of Sonic. They both had leapt off the edge of their platforms, landed on rails, and begun to grind. When the rail came to an end, they each leapt off at the same time.

"Yahoo!" Sonic shouted, with glee. He did a few flips before he landed. Shadow, however, spun around to land quicker and try an attack on his opponent.

"Foolish hedgehog!" Shadow said, as he struck a kick. Sonic took it before he could react and flew to the left. He did another flip to lessen the blow, then prepared for a counter-attack. Shadow had already left, though.

"What the- Shadow!" Sonic shouted, then begun pursuit.

Shadow smirked as he glided along the streets. His surprise attack had worked, and Sonic wouldn't be able to catch up. It wasn't every day that Shadow agreed to a race, but he didn't have much else to do, and was tired of wandering around, aimlessly. He had around three miles left to finish the race. It should have taken around eight minutes.

"Hey!" Sonic shouted. He was running on the side of a building next to Shadow, with an arrogant smile on his face.

"Ah. You don't give up, do you?" Shadow asked, then dashed at a greater speed. Sonic quickly followed, then did flip to the side. He landed on Shadow's head, did another flip, then dashed forward. "Agh! You'll regret that!" Shadow shouted, as he began to follow for the first time. He caught up quickly and formed an energy ball around his fist. He tried a direct punch, but Sonic easily jumped around it. In the midst of his jump, he spun around rapidly while attempting a kick. He almost hit Shadow, but the black hedgehog ducked into a somersault and avoided it.

Sonic landed and continued running, but was slightly dizzy, now. Shadow used this to an advantage by strikng another kick. Sonic was hit directly in the stomach, and sent to the edge of the road they had been running on. He landed and continued running, almost unfazed. He soon caught up and tried a punch, but Shadow dodged to the left and traveled into a separate road. Sonic knew what was coming and instantly picked up his speed. The two hedgehogs ran through two separate loops at the same time and then came closer together as both roads clashed into one. Sonic began picking up even more speed as he pulled out ahead.

Next was a completely empty building that was full of springs to help the hedgehogs go down safely and get sent on to a new path. Sonic leapt into the first spring and was rocketed to the next, and so on, one at a time. Shadow, however, came up with a better plan.

Instead of hitting the springs, Shadow leapt over it and flew down the steep drop, head first. "No worries," Shadow said with a coolly as he flew past Sonic, once again. Before he reached the next passage, he did a flip and activated his shoes. He flew out of the building, Sonic just a few feet behind. They landed at the same time, now just a quarter mile left until the finish line and Shadow in the front.

"Time to put this to rest," Shadow said. He jumped up and spun around to face Sonic, then stuck his arm out. "Chaos Spear!"

Several lighting bolts then struck in succession, but Sonic did a back handspring to dodge each. He landed in a crouch, then sprung forward and shouted, "Sonic Wind!" He moved in a blur, past and around Shadow several times. This created small tornado that hit Shadow and momentarily paralyzed him. Sonic stuck his tongue out and continued running. Shadow glared angrily, regaining his posture in an instant. He chased after Sonic with amazing speed, then rammed into him with full force.

"Oof!" Sonic gasped as he flew forward into a bridge supporting beam. The hinges of the beam groaned, then the entire sturcture collapsed. As Sonic picked himself up and rubbed his bruise, Shadow noticed the outcome of the mess. The beams had created rails that lead directly to the finish line. Without a second of hesitation, Shadow charged forward and leapt onto a rail. Sonic quickly did the same.

The two were now in a grind race to the finish. Shadow was slightly ahead, but Sonic was gaining. The blue hedgehog leapt off of his rail and flew past Shadow who moved to avoid a collision. Sonic would have flown off of the edge, but he grabbed onto Shadow's arm.

"Hey!" Shadow shouted, with disgust. Using most of his strength, he flung Sonic off. Unfortunately for him, he hurled Sonic towards the finish line. "Shoot," He cursed. He used the rest of his power to launch from his rail and aim towards Sonic. He then activated his shoes for more speed nearly breaking the sound barrier.

The two hedgehogs were now neck and neck, dead-even, as they approached the finish. Knuckles and Amy had ran out of the way as Sonic and Shadow flew towards them. The race was going to be close, several cameras positioned for a photo finish. A few feet left. A foot. Some inches. And the winner would be…