All Stars! 🌟 Start Your Engines!

Chapter 4 - Icicle Valley

The next world was Blizzard Castle. It was set in Morning Land. How could I tell? Well, for one, I've been here before (the egg thing, remember?) and another, Billy Hatcher's friends came out from the tundra to greet him.

NiGHTS was showing Opa-Opa and Ryo Hazuki their spots on the stands. It appeared as though both had pretty bad wrecks. With Ryo, it was his forklift. He had switched it out from his motorcycle, which had gotten eaten by the Kapu Kapu. With Opa-Opa though, it was his wings. That meant he couldn't fly.

The forklift was left in front of the stands. Everything seemed to be intact except for the very bottom. The wheels were torn up and scattered; the bottom and seat were in shreds. I noticed a part of the bottom of the forklift had a small black box attached to it. It looked almost like the one Tails found in that badnik earlier. Seems like it is sabotage. I would have asked Ryo but the next race was just about to start again. It may help if I keep an eye on everyone on the track. Someone else's vehicle could get blown up and I don't want this bad situation to get worse.

The fourteen of us left were already at the starting line when NiGHTS came back. "Alright racers! Welcome to Blizzard Castle, specifically Icicle Valley! Here, you will-"

"Hey! Who took my spray paint can?" Someone shouted from the stands. It was Beat.

Everyone headed over to the stands to see what had happened. A wooden monkey with a sombrero shook his maracas. Tails fussed around with his Miles Electric. I glanced over his shoulder. He was trying to translate the maraca shakes. So, I guess that's how that monkey communicates? First we have monkeys who speak backwards and now we have a monkey who only speaks in shakes. What's next, a monkey who makes you play charades?

"Okay, I think I got it." Tails started. Before he could read what he had found, however, Alex Kidd snatched up his device and read what it said.

"Amigo says he saw a blue hedgehog grab the spray paint." Alex read. Now all eyes were on me. "You did disappear just a little bit ago."

"I was looking at Ryo's forklift to see how it could have been that torn up. Besides, why would I even take his spray paint can in the first place?" I reasoned.

Alex dropped the Miles Electric into Tails' hands before walking over to me. "Maybe it's because he threw you off the track with it?

I do have to admit, that was pretty bad. If I hadn't reacted as quickly as I did, the least of my issues would be getting wet. "That was resolved! It could have happened to anyone!"

Tails stepped forward. "We already established that it was the propane in the paint mixed with the badnik explosion that knocked Sonic off the track. Not to mention the badnik he hit had an explosive in it!"

"But how do you know he doesn't hold a grudge? Or that he didn't put the bomb in there?" Alex inquired.

"Why do you think I know how to put a bomb in an Eggman robot?" I asked. To be honest, I know how to disable deadly Eggman robots. What I don't know is how to make those deadly robots even more deadly!

This time, Billy Hatcher stepped forward. "Look Alex, I'm sure there's a very good reason for this. Maybe there's someone wearing a blue costume in a crowd? It could be elaborate prank?"

Alex was about to say something when Amy shouted, "My hammer! It's gone!"

Knuckles came out too. "I know I had it on me!" He stomped over to the crowd. "Alright! Fess up! Who stole the Master Emerald?"

"You know, I told you not to bring it." Shadow stated. He was standing in the back.

Knuckles stomped over to him. "It's not like I took it out of my sight! It's been on me since we got here!" The red echidna explained.