SONIC RIDERS: ZERO GRAVITY
Disclaimer: I do not own the Sonic characters
Note: This takes place between Sonic the Hedgehog: Solaris and Sonic Heroes
Chapter One: Wish Upon a Star
It was one month since the Solaris incident, but for one bird, it has been four since his shameful defeat. For Jet the Hawk everything was going great. His had his best friend, Storm, his girlfriend, Wave, and was the leader of the greatest band of thieves in history. What more could he want? He would give only one answer: his pride. Ever since his defeat at the hands of Sonic the hedgehog, Jet no longer had a passion for racing. He even abandoned his title of Extreme Gear Master. Storm and Wave were becoming worried and tried to figure a way to cheer him up. That when Wave remembered the rumor of a great treasure called the Ark of the Cosmos. And that is where our story begins.
The Babylon Rogues mastered their way through one of the most challenging tracks of their lives: The Gigan Rocks. Legend has it that a shooting star that grants wishes rested in the center of these mountains and that no one has ever made it alive. Try telling that to Jet. Jet, Wave, and Storm easily passed the obstacles and made it to their destination. Deep in the mountains, the found a stone wall with a painting of Babylon Garden. Just below it, a chalice holding a green stone ring stood atop a pedestal. The ring was the Ark they were looking for. They knew the chalice was bobby trapped, but Jet handled it.
"Well, that takes care of that trap." Jet said proudly.
"Be careful, Jet." Wave warned. "This thing may have more then one trap."
"Aw, quit your worrying. I can handle it." Jet proclaimed.
At least that's what he thought. Jet was shaky as he tried to reach for the Ark. He was nervous that anything he might do would kill him. He touched the Ark. Slowly; he raised it out of the chalice, checking left and right before completely taking it out.
"S-s-see I t-told you there was n-nothing to w-w-worry about." Jet said shakily.
Wave could resist the urge to chuckle as Jet was literally quaking in his boots. Wave looked on to the night sky and then noticed a shooting star passing by. Wave brought her hands together and closed her eyes.
"What are you doing?" Storm asked.
"Making a wish, idiot." Wave said rudely. "They say if you make a wish on a star before it disappears, it will come true."
"That's stupid." Storm laughed. "How old are you. How old are you, right boss?" unfortunately for him, he found that Jet was also making a wish. "I feel so lonely."
For Wave, she didn't need the wish. She had everything she wanted. But it wasn't for her, it was for Jet.
"All I want is for Jet to be happy." Wave wished.
"Give me back my honor." Jet wished. "Give me the power to beat Sonic."
Storm, not wanting to feel left out, also brought his hands and closed his eyes to make a wish and as the Albatross' luck would have it, the star he wished on crashed into the mountains next to them. The sudden impact caused the ground to start shaking. Jet noticed that the pedestal that held the Ark was starting to sink into the ground.
"Oh no, the trap!" Jet exclaimed.
"Boss, look out!" Storm yelled.
Jet turned around to the wall painting and noticed two huge boulders headed straight for him and his team. Thinking quickly, Jet raised the hand with Shahra's ring.
"I'll take care of this!" Jet shouted. "TIME BRA..." but Jet was cut off when the Ark in his hand started to glow. Suddenly, the rocks stopped falling. After a moment of confusion, Jet found himself floating in the air. "Wha?! I know I'm a bird, but I don't think should be doing this! Get down!"
"What's happening?" Wave questioned as she and Storm started to float too.
"Look at me, I'm flying!" Storm yelled like a child. That was until Jet bopped him in the beak. "Sorry."
When he was right-side up, Jet then figured out that this was all thanks to the power of the Ark of the Cosmos. The Ark slowly moved down Jet's hand and became attached to his wrist.
"Hah! Look's like my wish came true already!" Jet cheered.
Jet turned the group towards the track and suddenly, the Babylon Rogues were shot forward down the track with tremendous speed. But they weren't out of danger yet. People have made it into the Gigan Rocks before, but they never made it out. As they reached farther down the track, the power of the Ark had finally worn off. Jet, Wave, and Storm tossed out their Extreme Gear and landed before touching the ground.
"What was that?" Storm asked. "Did you do that with that magic ring, boss."
"Defiantly not." Jet said. "I know every ability of Shahra's ring and it defiantly can't do that."
"Maybe it has something to do with the Ark." Wave concluded.
Jet stared at the stone ring on his wrist and wondered what other powers it could contain. Suddenly, Jet inched back enough to avoid being killed by a stone spear. The rogues looked back to see three statues on ancient versions of Extreme Gear chasing after the Rogues.
"Uh oh, they look mad." Storm said.
"How can you tell? They don't have faces." Wave said.
"Who cares? Let's scram!" Jet yelled.
Jet and his gang set it to high gear and ran for their lives into one of the tunnels. Since these ruin were made by the Babylonians, the entire mountain was one big track. Jet, his gang, and their pursuers exited on the other side of the tunnel and came up to a ramp. Getting up to an excellent angle, the Rogues quickly shot off the ramp and onto another level of the track.
"Looks like we lost them." Wave said.
"That was a close on, huh, Storm?" Jet asked. No response. "Storm?"
Jet and Wave looked back to find that Storm was no longer following. Apparently, the large Albatross' girth weighed him down and was now being chased by all three of the stone guards.
"Ugh, that idiot!" Wave exclaimed.
"Looks like we have to save him...again." Jet rolled his eyes.
In another area of the track, Storm was hastily making his way through a field of tall crystals. Storm looked back to find two of pursuers and found that they were actually crashing through the crystals.
"Oh, come on!" Storm complained.
Storm returned his eyes forward and saw a gigantic crystal in his way. Taking a chance, the Albatross raised his fist and threw it a the crystal. The crystal shattered on contact. One of the shards was sent flying toward one of the statues and cut off its head to destroy it.
"Take that!" Storm boasted. He then noticed that he was headed for another ramp. "Oh boy."
Storm was sent sky rocketing and accidentally slipped off his Gear. One of the statue guards came up from under him and entrapped him by his arms. Storm squirmed around, but even the Albatross' strength was enough. The statue tightened his arms to suffocate the bird until Jet and Wave came flying out of nowhere. Jet held his fan and Wave held her wrench as they dived for the statue. Unfortunately, the statue swung around and kicked Jet and Wave back while still maintaining his hold on Storm. Jet landed back on his Gear as he watched his friend being taken away.
"Don't worry; we'll save you, Storm!" Jet shouted. "Wave, any ideas?"
"Just one: HELP!" Wave screamed.
Jet looked back as a grey and purple blur passed him. The missing statue was actually following Jet and Wave from the start and now had Wave trapped within his arms. Jet didn't know what to do. His weapons didn't work and with his confidence still in pieces, Jet couldn't rely on his speed. But this was his best friend and girlfriend he was thinking about. He couldn't give up that easily. Jet zoomed forward and followed the statues to the final leg of the track. It was a giant room filled with gigantic Babylonian statues. Jet tried to catch up, but the statues were too far ahead.
"I can't lose. Wave, Storm, I can't lose you." Jet told himself. Suddenly, without realizing it, Jet and his Gear started to lift off the ground. "I can't lose. I'm the fastest creature in the universe!" the Ark started to glow. "GRAVITY DIVE!!!"
A black hole appeared before Jet and moved forward to pass through it. The black hole sucked in Jet and spat him back out at speeds that would make Sonic jealous. He was move so fast in fact, that the gigantic statues in the room broke off the walls and started flying across the room. Wave, Storm, and the capturers could feel the sudden change in the atmosphere and looked back. Jet grinded along the flying statues to increase his already god-like speed and zoomed past the four. The aftershock cracked the statues from the inside and released Wave and Storm. Jet grabbed the two and their Gear before zooming away from the mountains. After a while, Jet and the others collapsed on a nearby hill.
"Whoa! Talk about your rush hour." Jet said dizzily.
"Boss, that was awesome!" Storm started shaking Jet. "You were like flying and went zoom and POW and..."
Wave ended Storm long and hyperactive monologue by whacking him in the beak with her wrench.
"Well that shut him up." Wave said. Wave turned to Jet. "Jet, how in the name of Babylon did you do that? You were faster then the speed of sound, maybe even the speed of light!"
"I...have no clue." Jet said honestly, smirking at Wave's comments.
"Maybe..." Wave held out her necklace and projected an image of the wall painting from earlier. "Maybe it was the Ark of the Cosmos. Legend did say that it did contain great power."
"Really now?" Jet asked. Jet fell back to rest his head on his arm. Jet held up the arm with the Ark and stared at it prideful. "I don't know what this thing does, but I like it."
Jet's gaze transferred to the starry sky above. Just then another shooting star passed by. Jet would make a wish, but he didn't make one. He already got it. Wave noticed that for the first in a long time, Jet was happy. Looks like her wish cam true.
"Look out, Sonic." Jet thought. "I'm coming at ya with full speed." Jet held up the Ark again. "And this time, I won't lose."
Meanwhile, Storm also saw the star and decided to make a wish.
"I wish for a triple-decker cheeseburger." Storm wished. Storm opened his eyes and found nothing. "Hey, that's not fair!"
The scene changes to a city far away to west. It was a city that far more advanced the Station Square, Soleanna, or Central City combined. The city buildings were lined with chrome, the signs were laser made, and it was entirely powered by one tower owned by the company known as Meteor Tech. everywhere in the city, strange silver robots acted as workers for the city. Since it was night time, all the robots were shut down for the night. All except for one.
"So, this is the city of Megalo Station." Metal said in wonderment. Metal was cruising around the city, testing out his newly acquired Neo form. Metal had already convinced Recter that Sonic was the enemy and now he needed to find Eggman to complete his plans. "Now where could he be hiding?" Suddenly he could feel something in his circuits reacting. "What's happening?"
Metal looked towards the sky and found a meteor show that somehow seemed to be affecting his circuits. But just then, one meteor broke from the rest and was headed straight for the city. But suddenly, it stopped and emitted a ray of light. The light transformed into a purple stone ring just like the one Jet has. The ring rolled onto the ground and stopped in front of one of the Meteor Tech robots. The robot suddenly became active and was followed by all the others. The one robot marched forward to lead the other on a rampage and only Metal was there to witness it.
"What's going on? The robots have suddenly gone haywire." Metal said. Metal then noticed the leading robot holding the stone ring. "It's that stone, but what is it?"
"It's called the Ark of the Cosmos."
Metal turned back just as a dark portal appeared on the ground. A figure arose from the portal and took the form of Nazo.
"What do you know about that stone?" Metal asked suspiciously.
"Nothing, but my friend, Erazor, knows quite a lot about them." Nazo smiled. "I am to guess that you are the one called Metal Sonic."
"What of it?" Metal asked dangerously.
"I have watched you over the years and I must say I am impressed." Nazo chuckled. "You have proven to be Sonic's most dangerous foe of all. I could use someone like you."
"Use?" Metal asked.
"Become my servant and join the Dark Rulers." Nazo offered. "With you at my side, conquering this planet will be a breeze."
"Forget it." Metal turned him down. "If there is anyone who will control the world, it will be me."
"If that's the way you want it, then I'll have to destroy you." Nazo smirked as he moved to a fighting position.
"Bring it on." Metal mimicked Sonic's usual phrase as he moved to a fighting stance.
The two titans of evil clashed, but the sounds of their battle were droned out by the sound of the Meteor Tech robots rampage. And so a new challenged has arisen that would decided the fate of the whole world. And it all started with a wish and a single star.
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