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Location: Babylon Rouge Airship: Jet's Office
Time: 10:59 PM

"Jet, we have a problem!"
Wave the Swallow pushes open the door rather roughly, causing the picture over Jet's desk to fall. Again.
"What is it, Wave? I'm busy." The hawk asks, turning his chair to face the swallow.
"We have intruders. The sensors picked them up trying to get to the power-"
Suddenly, the lights all over the airship dim, replaced by the red emergency power lights.
"... supply." Wave finishes, annoyed.
"Where is Storm?" Jet asks.
"I sent him to try and intercept them."
"I'll take this as a sign that he was unsuccessful."
Jet sighs, irritated.
Suddenly, the 19-year-old Albatross is flung through the office door, crashing into Jet's desk. He was unconscious, but alive.
"You could say that." says a male voice.
"Do you have to be so rough?" a second voice, also male.
"Not really, but this is much more impressive."
"Who the hell are you?! How did you get on my ship?!" Jet shouts.
Coming out of the shadows of the hallway, two figures make themselves known.
One was clearly a cat, though thanks to the red lights his color wasn't certain, he was definitely very lightly colored.
The second figure was very foxlike, with the exception of the multiple tails. For a second Jet mistook him for another fox that he had met not too long ago, but this was definitely not him. This fox was much older, both of them were about Storm's age.
"Jet the Hawk. Wave the Swallow. Storm the Albatross. The Babylon Rogues. Unless I've hijacked the wrong airship."
The cat smirks. "I've got a proposition for you three. And I suggest you listen, because you three can profit greatly."
"No thank you. I've already been shafted by-"
"Eggman, right? Big tub of lard, spindly legs, IQ of over three hundred? He has nothing to do with this." The cat says, happy to anger the Hawk further, simply by cutting him off.
Snapping his fingers, the cat signals for the power to be returned to normal. The lights come on, and the cat's true colors were shown.
"You... I know you! You're that thief, Frostbite!" Wave shouts.
Frostbite grins. "So my reputation isn't lost on the Rogues, after all."
Tossing a shard of crystal onto Jet's desk, a planet is projected, along with large amounts of data.
"I thought this might interest you three." Frostbite says. "You see, I don't just interest myself in matters on this planet. I'm actually quite fond of avoiding this ball of dirt. However, the recent goings-on regarding the Colony Ship 'Babylon Garden' have interested me. So, I did a little digging, and I found this."
Shots of the surface of the planet flicker by. Temples with writing on the walls, overhead shots of towns, and more.
"This is the writing of the Ancient Babylonians!" Wave says, looking at the characters that had been isolated on the screen.
"There's no information on whether or not this planet is still inhabited, but it is giving off a large energy signature." Frostbite says. "Unfortunately, whenever I try to get close to the planet, a defense system comes up, and it tries to blow me out of the sky. I figured that if anyone could work around it, the Babylon Rogues could."
"Sounds interesting, but why do you want on the planet?" Jet asks.
"Why else? To find out what that energy signature is, and to find out if it's profitable. If you're going to leave a planet-wide defense grid after you leave, you've got to be protecting something."
"And what makes you think we can help?" Jet asks.
"Not you, specifically. Your mechanic, Wave. My last ship was blown to pieces. I managed to get out of there by teleporting to the nearest ship, and hijacking it much in the same way I did yours. So, right now, I have no ship to get back there with, and no way to contact my normal supplier without invading a military base, jacking up their communications satellites, and holding that position for a few days waiting for a response."
"So you need a ship, a way to bypass the defense grid..."
"And a crew that can defend themselves in case things get hairy." Frosty says. "On that note, meet your medic, Dustin Kigaku." Frosty says, nodding at the fox who had been nearly silent up until now.
"This was his idea." Kigaku says. "I wanted to arrange a meeting, but no..."
"So, what do you think?" the feline asks, smirking. "Do we have a deal?"
"On one condition." Jet says. "If whatever is putting out the energy signature does turn out to be valuable, we split the profit. 60/40."
"I assume the sixty is you?" Frosty asks.
"Exactly. Twenty percent a person." Jet says, nodding at Kigaku.
"What, no finders fee?" Frosty asks.
"It's an artifact of Babylon, and therefore our property, either way. You're lucky to get a share to begin with."
"Fair enough. That crystal has all the information on the planet and the defense grid that you could need. I'll get to recruiting."
"How do you plan on doing that?"
"The same way Eggman lured Sonic. A test of speed, strength, and endurance. An extreme gear competition."

One week after the first meeting, the word goes out worldwide. Hijacked television signals and radio broadcasts spread across the globe, sending out the exact same message.
"Extreme Gear Riders Worldwide. Do you think you're brave enough to take on our challenge? There are competitions being set up worldwide, all designed to find out who is the best in any given region. The best of the best, chosen at our discretion, will move on to a competition on a bit... Larger scale. The details of this endeavor will be released to only those we deem to be qualified. Even if you get first place, there is no guarantee that you will move on. Even if you were not competing, and were only on the repair crew, you could be chosen. Keep that in mind, and good luck to you all."

***

"Are you sure this will work, Frostbite?" Jet asks, watching as the cat's replicates hijack yet another signal.
"Hm. I hate to sound so cliché, but if you build it, they will come." Frostbite says. "A little faith is all I ask."

Kigaku, on the other hand, was as far away from the illegal hijackings as possible. Unfortunately, this meant that he had to watch over one of the tournaments as it was set up. Specifically, the Station Square tournament.
He had to hand it to Frosty. Even though he didn't have a cent to his name, he could definitely pull strings. The entire tournament was somehow authorized to go down over a three-day period. Construction, despite being elaborate and rushed, was going down quite smoothly. The workers had arrived in the night, and were almost finished by noon. Nobody on the outside knew how they did it. It was almost as if the workers weren't from this world.
An hour later, construction on the Station Square site was complete, and the workers clear out.
Kigaku sighs, looking at the monstrosity.
"When Frosty said it was a worldwide tournament, he wasn't kidding."
Set up at various places were spacial distortion gates that lead to other courses set up across the planet.
'What fun is a tournament with one course? Besides, this will be like a warning as to what's gonna come.' Frosty's words come back to Kigaku, and he sighs.
"Frosty, you're gonna get yourself caught one day, pulling stuff like this." Kigaku mutters.
The tournament was to start that night, but people were already stalking around outside the gate at random intervals.
Grabbing his Yacht-type gear, Kigaku uses one of the practice area ramps to jump the gate. 'I wonder how Fig is doing.'

***

"Wow...! It's so big!" Fig says. Fig was a black-and-white rabbit, only nine years old. She was technically supposed to be overseeing the tournament herself, but because Kigaku insisted that Fig not be left on her own, Wave had been stuck along for the ride.
"Will you sit still?" Wave asks. "I have to make sure these calculations are correct, and I can't do that if you're shaking the table!"
"Ms. Wave, can I go play on the course?" Fig asks.
"Do you even have any gear?" Wave asks, giving Fig a sideways look.
"Mmhm! Mr. Frostbite gave me some skate gear like his! See?"
Fig takes off her shoes, allowing Wave to inspect the bottoms.
Wave blinks, taking a closer look at the gear. It was just a customized set of skate gear, just slightly modified to add extra stability, and to add a basic 'flight' function, so that he girl could use them to fly instead of as a grinding gear.
"Exactly like his?" Wave asks doubtfully.
"Well, not exactly. Mine are store-bought and customized. He bought the top-of-the-line gears, gutted them, and practically replaced all of the insides of that skate gear. His gear is now illegal in most tourneys, because he can use them with his powers to use every shortcut on the course."
"I see." Wave says. "Well, I don't see the harm in it. Just stay to the finished part of the course. I don't want your father on my case."
"'Kay!" Fig says, slipping on her skate gear and running out the door.
"Finally... Silence." Wave mutters, getting back to work.

Kigaku smiles at the human. She seemed nervous, so Kigaku makes a mental cheque to take it easy on her. "Yes it is, Miss. I'm the single Judge for this branch of the competition. Don't ask me why... I know nothing of Extreme Gear competitions. I just know the guy who started this whole mess." Kigaku sighs. "You don't have to worry about me being harsh. When the ad said that the people who take first have no guarantee of making it through, he was referring to me. It comes down to attitude, personality, and skill in customizing your gear. To be completely honest, if Sonic the Hedgehog himself came into this branch of the competition, he would be filtered out from the 'Bonus Round' thing for his inability to customize his own gear, his bigger-than-life personality, and the fact that I've been told to keep an eye out for any of his team."
Kigaku shakes his head. "Again, don't ask why. Though, from the lineup I've seen so far, you've definitely got the best chance."
Two rather loud and obnoxious teenagers pass by, bragging about how much they were going to own in the tournament.
"As long as you don't act like those two, you're golden." Kigaku says, smirking.

***

At a third tournament location, Storm groans.
"Oh, quit your whining."
What appears to be a crystalline lifeform glances at the Albatross. It took the form of an anthropomorphic cat, like its master, but this one had a completely different personality than his counterpart, or his master.
"Why do we have to wait for everyone else to get set up?"
"Because, all of the tournaments start simultaneously." The replicate shakes his head. "Besides, this makes it easier for Jet, Frostbite and my counterpart. Get it all done at once. Watch all the monitors."
"Why did I get stuck with you, anyway?" Storm asks.
"Because, neither team trusts the other. The only ones Jet trusts not to do something to backstab him are Fig and Kigaku. And Wave got stuck with Fig because Kigaku asked for someone to babysit her."
"Why not get one of you guys?"
"Because there are only two of us, dingbat. And one of us is watching the monitors with Jet and Frostbite. Frostbite and Jet preferred that Wave focus on getting the math done, but Kigaku insisted that Fig be babysat. And Frostbite insisted that I watch you because... Well, you got your rear end handed to you pretty badly, and he doesn't think that one person here is good enough to keep a crowd in line."
"Yet that fox gets to host a tournament on his own?"
"'That fox' is a kyubi no kitsune. Have you ever heard the kitsune myths? They're all-seeing, and all-knowing, and damn close to all-powerful when they're fully powered up. They become living gods."
Storm stares. "That scrawny guy? A living god?"
"I know, right? But you haven't seen him protecting his daughter, going on the power of a few Chaos Emeralds. Scary stuff." The replicate shudders. "A word to the wise: Don't mess with the bunny. Don't ever mess with the bunny. Even Frostbite knows better than to cross Kigaku."
Storm remains silent for a few seconds. "Are you messing with my head?"
The replicate laughs. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's true. That scrawny fox has enough power sealed away to level Station Square five times over. He just doesn't use it." The replicate shakes his head. "He's a medic, he says. He prefers to heal people, rather than intimidate them with pointless displays of power." The replicate laughs again. "I tell you what, though. I'm just glad he's on our side. Rather have him healing us in the background than trying to take over the world. He could probably do it, too."
"Scary thought."

"None at all." Kigaku says, helping her back up. He could sense something was a bit off with this girl's health. "If you don't mind, I am a trained medic. I could help make sure that nothing happens with your health during the tournament. It would just take a few minutes." Kigaku offers.

Kigaku laughs. "I don't think you understood me completely. I meant right now. There's something I can do right now to make it so that your health doesn't interfere with your performance in the tournament. The last thing I want is someone crashing into a wall because they sneezed at the wrong time, let alone because of some random joint lockup, you know?"
Kigaku's palm glows a deep purple. "And just so you know... I'm not a normal medic. I can guarantee that what I do is a bit different than anything you've tried in the past."

(XD For some reason, I just feel like screaming "It's a trap!"
It's not, though. XD)