Chapter 4: The Other Racers

It was a couple of days as Mike flew the plane through a fog with Gwen and Cameron sitting with them. The trio is on their way to New York right now where the first part of the rally will take place from.
While Cameron reads a book marked 'Navigators for Morons', the trio arrives at the city at last, looking amazed.

New York, New York City, come on.
New York, New York City, come on. (Yeah)

"Ah, the big apple," Mike said as the trio looks amazed at New York itself.

New York, New York singing your song (uh-huh)
And you don't stop, that's why.

"Ugh, guys, this song is lame. Let's see what else is on." Gwen mumbles as she turns the dial on the radio due to the fact that the girl can't stand what is playing right now. Soon another song plays, making her grin a bit.

I'm back, back in the New York Groove
I'm back, back in the New York Groove
I'm back, back in the New York Groove
Back in the New York Groove, in the New York Groove

"Very much better." Gwen said with a grin. Mike chuckles, shaking his head a bit.
Just then the radio screeches as a voice came out of it, "Break, break; Air number 7, air racer number 7. Do you read me? Kennedy approach, over."
Mike nods, taking the mike as he speaks into it, "Yeah, I'm Mike and my friends are I are looking for JFK airport."
"Mike 7, you are supposed to be on the visual for Carnice. Turn further left, heading 1-9-5." The trio looks out a window to see some lights nearby, seeing a plane flying off. Looks like that's where they have to go. "Maintain, 1,000 feet. Intercept the 22 right localizer; you are cleared for the ILS 22, right approach."
"Right, Roger."
"Heavy is sectored in behind ya."
"Wait, mind repeating that," Cameron ask the voice, puzzled by that statement.
The voice explains to Camera more clearly, "Just turn further left, heading 1-9-5. Maintain 1,000..."
Of course the trio is almost to the landing area. Mike calls out, "Never mind. I got it. Thanks."
Two workers glance around in the landing station, looking for any signs for Mike's plane on the radar. The first one asks, "Do you see him?"
"The radar does but I don't see squat." The other worker commented to his colleague with a shrug.
The two looks at the binoculars and eventually spot Mike's plane that land on the ground. Gwen smiles as she calls out, "All right, we're here in New York!"
"Yeah, check out this pavement, guys!" Cameron exclaims to his friends, glancing at the runway in amazement.
"Right, nice, it's so smooth." Mike remarks with a smile. Nothing can ruin this moment.
That is until the voice spoke once more on the radio, "Mike 7, you just passed the Foxtrot. Turn left onto Charlie and hold short at 22."
"Wait, huh? I thought..."
But then Mike, Cameron and Gwen turn and yell in alarm as they saw a plane about to land onto him. A pilot pokes his head out the window as he shouts angrily, "Get your butts off the runaway!"
The trio screams in alarm as Mike quickly turns his plane to dodge the other one. They sighs as the group dodges being hit in time, "Whoa," Mike's plan zooms away as the airport plane lands right where they were. That was intense.

Once Mike lands his plane, he uses a device that Audrey made for him so the boy can carry his plane around without the unnecessary problems. The trio walks around the area, looking for the pit row.
Some of the pilots from the other planes honk angrily at them due to them being in their way. Cameron sheepishly apologizes, "Sorry about that.
"Go back to Jersey, you bums!" A New Yorker man snaps at the trio in annoyance.
"Geez, sorry," Gwen snaps in annoyance. Looking around, the Goth girl speaks up in hopes to find some help, "Hey; Anyone? Where can we..."
Mike's group yelps as they dodge a worker who almost ran them over in a lift. He scowls angrily at them, "Hey, you mind?! I'm working here!"
"All right, sorry!"
Another pilot in a plane passes as two women looks at it in amazement and awe. One of them comments to her pals, "Nice guy but way too much baggage. Got my drift?"
Gwen spoke to Mike in precaution, "Better stay close. Things are different here in the city than back in Pilotwash Junction." Then a car zooms past them very fastly as Cameron clings onto Mike, "Hey, why don't you watch where you're going, Mac?! We're walking here!"
The driver scowls back at Gwen, "Me, why don't YOU watch where YOU'RE going, numbskull?!"
Gwen shakes her head. As Cameron lets go of Mike, she adds, "See, I'm telling ya, Whackos!"
Then a familiar Warner pops out of nowhere. Wakko smiles as he asks, "You called?"
Mike's group then yelped in surprise. The boy said in alarm, "Don't do that. What are you even doing here anyway?"
Then two other familiar Warners pop out with Yakko chirping, "A very brief cameo, that's what."
Then the three siblings run and leave the group, much to their confusion. Then Wakko surprisingly comes back as he said eagerly, "Oh, and one more thing."
Wakko then kisses a confused Gwen full on the lips, before leaving. Then, much to their further confusion, a familiar security guard chases after the three siblings.
Cameron blinks as he comments, "That was weird, and pointless."
The group continues walking around before a cloaked figure stops right in front of them. He spoke, "Hey, kid."
He then whips their cloak in front of them. Gwen yelps in shock, "Whoa, whoa." Anything but that! However it is revealed to show a bunch of clocks in the man's cloak, and the man was a salesman.
"Wanna buy a clock?"
"He's not interested." Cameron said as he, Mike and Gwen passes him. Speaking to his friend, Cameron said quickly, "Come on, let's keep moving."
Soon the trio finds a boy named Carl motioning to a plane that a female Alicorn named Princess Celestia is piloting. Mike waves to get his attention as he calls out, "Hey, pal! Any chance you could tell us where pit row's at?"
"The pits; Yeah, that's easy." Carl said to Mike with a smile. He begins pointing directions while explaining, "You would want to go down this way towards the fire station."
"Okay." The trio said with a nod, getting it so far...so to speak.
"Then taxiway alpha forks off to the left."
"Right."
"But make sure not to go that way." Carl said to the trio in precaution. His instructions are getting a bit confusion. "If you end up going to the orange barrels, you have gone too far. So..."
"Oh brother," Celestia said as she roll her eyes. Better step in or these three will never get to pit row. "Just go straight ahead and head to the right."
"Thanks! Oh, nice paint job you got there." Mike said nicely to Celestia as he and his pals on their way to their destination.
"Hey, thanks!" Carl exclaims, thinking that Mike was speaking about his clothes. "I'm proud of it, kid!"
"Actually, he is talking to me." Celestia points out to Carl with a chuckle.
"Shows what you think!"
Mike and his pals arrive at a tent area which is marked 'Welcome Racers'. The trio looks amazed as they saw a lot of pilots doing some activities while their planes are worked on, repainted and the whatnot. This is definitely the right place.
"Whoa!" The trio exclaims eagerly. This is it, the big time!
And the mouse who helped them get here is standing around and saw them. Mickey came over, smiling as he laughs, "Well, look who's here; The Canadians!"
"Hey Mick," Mike exclaims with a smile to Mickey.
"So miss your home town?"
"Well, uh..." Gwen begins to say, but Mickey chuckles, cutting her off.
"Well, not to be mean but I don't. I just about blocked that memory from my mind. And unfortunately, you trio brought it back with that..." Mickey sniffs the trio and wince, covering his nose. "Wow! That nasty Vita-mina-stink stuff; I'm used to the smell of cars and engines when I was running Disney/Square Enix."
"Oh yeah, I thought you look familiar." Cameron said to Mickey, recognizing him as the owner of Disney/Square Enix. "Did you lose it all or something?"
"Nah; This thing involving the rally is something I volunteered to do. I already deal with cars, I decided to see how planes would work. It allows me to keep my old job and do this one. Anyway, your tent is the last one on the left. Where's your plane?"
"Right here," Mike said, holding up his plane. "We used a device to shrink it so I could carry it around."
"Well, carry it over there, come on." Mickey insists to the duo who nods as they head on off to their tent. "Oh, and the power wash is on your right." Mike's group looks at him for that remark, "Just to offer."
Cameron sniffs himself and almost gags. He yelps, "Whoa, he's right! Better get cleaned up before the big rally tomorrow."
Mike and his pals continue onward. They notice the glares or mean looks from the other pilots that the trio is passing. The boy comments to Gwen, "Gwen, they're giving us those looks. I don't like it."
"Relax, Mike. In contest history, the underdog is the one who is underappreciated but eventually he always end up on top at the end." Gwen assures to Mike with a smile. It means that even if some folks don't appreciate him now, they will later.
"I wish they shared your POV." Mike remarks. He then gasps as he saw a fat yellow man fixing his plane while some of his crew was working on his Duff beer, "Whoa; Homer Simpson; From the Springfield Cup; The Big Fat Man? Awesome! Oh, I saw you do this unbelievable awesome high-G vertical turn once! I mean, impossible; how did you even do that?!"
"Oooh, so you want to know? Well, I guess I could tell you." Homer remarks sarcastically to Mike. "Hey, I got an idea. How about I tell you all my racing secrets?"
"Really," Cameron ask Homer hopefully.
"No and by the way I was being sarcastic!"
"Well, duh." Gwen remarks bored to Homer. She can already tell that the fat man was sarcastic.
"Look, kid, don't know how things work from where you came from, but this is a competition." Homer points out to Mike with a frown. "It's every pilot for himself, got it? Goodbye."
"Right, sure." Cameron remarks with a frown as he and his pals leave, "Geeez, what a jerk. I hope he loses."
"Come on, Cameron. Homer will turn around...I hope." Mike said to Cameron with a smile. Okay, so Homer isn't one of the pilots who likes the newcomers but who knows? During the race, that could change very soon. "Anyway..."
Suddenly without warning, the trio saw someone from out of nowhere, making Mike yelp and trip, causing him and Gwen to fall right onto cans of oils that are stacked nearby, knocking them all down.
"Whoa!" Mike exclaims, groaning while feeling his head.
"Geez, who did that," Gwen ask with a groan of annoyance as she got up, helping Mike up as well.
Mike gave a sheepish look to see whom he almost ran into that giggles at him. It's a red hair girl with a red sleeveless top, brown khakis, a black neck collar, a flower clip to hold her hair, and hi-heeled sandals. She, right now, is wearing her clothes underneath a red outfit and is wearing a helmet. She is known as Zoey.
Mike blushes a bit. He knows this girl already...and she is beautiful. The boy chuckles while holding the oil can, "Whoa! Hey, hang on. This is AeroShell 100! Hey, pal, I ordered the DT-2380!" Mike was yelling at a worker on the last part. Turning back to Zoey, he continues, "Sorry you had to see that."
"Are you all right?" A black haired boy named Trent asks as he came over to the group. Trent has seen the accident and came over to see what happened. Turning to Gwen, he smiles while asking, "You okay, miss?"
"Oh yeah, sure. Why wouldn't we be?" Gwen asks, blushing while moving her hair out of her face. Wow, that boy is handsome.
"So you're the crop duster and his friends who made it through the qualifier." Zoey said, smiling as she recalls where she herself had seen Mike and his pals before. "I'm impressed."
"Thanks...and you're the Pan-Asian Champion and Mumbai Cup record holder, Zoey!" Mike exclaims with a smile. He knew Zoey from her successes. "You and your navigator Trent rocked in that championship."
"Well, most folks just called me 'Zoe' or 'Zoey'."
"And I'm glad some folks give recognition to some people." Trent remarks to Mike's group with a chuckle. "So who are you?"
"Oh, I'm Dusty...err, my name is Mike. I'm not actually dust, I'm really clean." Mike said, blushing to Zoey, acting like a complete fool.
"And I'm Gwen." Gwen said, smiling to Trent. He smiles right back. Wow, his smile is hard for her to resist.
"Wow, nice to meet you, 'quite clean' Mike." Zoey said, chuckling a bit at Mike's name.
"And nice to meet you, Gwen," Trent said, shaking Gwen's hand. The girl almost froze right there. He actually touch her hand! Wow!
"Right, nice to meet you too, Zoey." Mike said to Zoey with a smile. He hopes that the two become good friends...or more during this contest.
"Hey, you forgot me!" Cameron exclaims in concern, feeling left out.
""Oh, this is my own navigator Cameron...the Bubbleboy Brainiac."
"Mike, come on!"
"Nice to meet you too, Cameron the Bubbleboy Brainiac." Zoey said to Cameron with a smile, making the African geek groans a bit. He should've picked a different name.
"Zoey, come on. We got to get going." Trent said to Zoey, reminding her that they need to get going.
Zoey nods as she and Trent leaves with their crew to get to work on their plane, working on the propeller. Gwen smiles happily while commentating, "Wow, look at that propeller."
"Yeah, I know, and the thing on the plane looks awesome too." Mike remarks to Gwen, getting the wrong idea of sorts.
"I meant Trent."
Just then, the trio spots an area where Scott is being given a back massage by one of his crew members. Courtney is reading a machine while her boyfriend mumbles, "Oh yeah, a little over there. Not too much pressure, got it?"
"Uh, excuse me, guys? Pardon me." Mike said, making his way to Scott and Courtney. Gwen and Cameron follow their friend, making their way through the crowd as well.
"You sure what you're doing is a good idea?" Cameron asks Mike in concern. "I don't think Scott and Courtney would want to see us."
"Come on! We may as well introduce ourselves to the competition, right; just to be friendly."
"Yeah..." Scott said with a sigh. Just then, the boy spots Mike's group coming closer, making smirk cruelly, "Hey, Courtney. Look who's here. It's crop dusting boy, his geek and the Goth girl."
"Hey." Mike and Cameron said, waving to Scott meekly.
"Hey Courtney; Long time no see," Gwen said to Courtney sheepishly, making her frown. "I haven't seen you..."
"Since you stole my boyfriend and became the new 'Heather'?!" Courtney snaps to Gwen angrily, reminding her of what causes the friendship breakup.
"Courtney, come on! Duncan came onto me first!"
"Oh whatever. At least the good part is that I got all this fame and a boyfriend who once run into the first brat who comes along; Makes me forget all about you."
"Wow, someone feels hurt." Cameron said in concern. Gwen never told her friends the full details of her friendship breakup with Courtney. Now he and Mike know.
"Courtney, relax. Let me handle it." Scott remarks to Courtney with a smile. Turning to Mike, he continues, "Kid, I gotta tell ya. Having you here is going to make one interesting story. A small-town farmer makes it to the big time."
"Yeah, sir," Mike said with a smile. The pilot is relieved that the champion recognized the story here.
"But unfortunately he crashes on takeoff."
"Wait, what?"
"Oh yeah, and Wings around The Globe Winner, Scott and Courtney, makes a eulogy for the unknown hayseed, his geek friend and the back stabbing dragon by scattering their remains over a cornfield." Courtney remarks cruelly, making Gwen worried. Her former best friend apparently doesn't care if she dies alongside Mike and Cameron if they crashed. Anything for revenge, "Ratings will be through the roof."
"Okay." Mike said awkwardly.
"Courtney." Gwen said, hurt by what Courtney just said.
"Yeah, you losers go ahead and lose if you want. We're in it to win. Good luck." Scott taunts the opponents evilly, making Courtney chuckle a bit awkwardly. Mike's group begins to leave, "Farm boy and losers!"
"I think Courtney spend too much time with Scott." Cameron said to Gwen with a sigh.
"Tell me about it." Gwen answers in sadness. Her former best friend is not the girl she once knew.
Suddenly music begins to play as someone calls out, "Hey everypony!"
Everyone turns to see someone standing in the middle. It is a male Pegasus pony with moderate emerald green eyes, a dark grayish phthalate blue mane, a very pale cornflower blue coat, and a yellow lightning bolt with wings for a cutie mark. The pony is also wearing goggles on his head. He appears to be holding a red cape. His name is Soarin'.
"Right, the hero of the ponies has arrived! Ha ha ha," Soarin' exclaims eagerly to everyone. Of course, as he poses, they just look stunned at him.
"Whoa, isn't that Soarin' from the Cloudsdale Wonderbolts?" Mike ask his friends in amazement.
"Yeah...minus the Wonderbolts," Gwen said, noting that only Soarin' himself is here, minus the rest.
"What? You folks never heard of the great Soarin' of the Wonderbolts?" Soarin' ask most of the crowd in amusement.
Some laughter is heard as the crowd only looks stunned. Of course, a boy named Link glances as he spoke, "Hey; isn't that what comes from clouds from sucks fuel from small vehicles; Wonderbolts?"
"No, no, no. The Wonderbolts is a stage name for my group to strike fear into the hearts of me and my allies' opponents; Growl!"
"Cool! This guy is the greatest cloud and indoor champion of all of Cloudsdale." Mike remarks to his friends with a smile on his face.
"And when he isn't using a plane, the guy got fastest wings to spare as well!" Cameron exclaims with a smile. It's awesome to be in the same race as Soarin', a champion of Cloudsdale!
"Indoor racing," Homer ask Soarin' in disbelief.
"Aaaaand hey," Soarin' chuckles as he twirls around eagerly. "As well as number 1 recording arts, telenovels and one hay of a romance novelist."
"Oh, sorry. Did you say 'Wonderbolts' or 'WonderDOPES'?" Homer asks making a joke. Most of his crew chuckles in amusement at their boss's joke. Soarin' needless to say gasps, looking upset. He didn't find that funny at all.
"Oh, you make a joke at me?! You think it's funny?! Well, my friend, you leave me no choice!" Soarin' exclaims sternly to Homer. He twirls, swirling the cape on his shoulders. "I swish my cape at ya! Considered yourself shamed!" The Pegasus pony left as if making his point clear.
"Ooooh, sure hope I can get over it. Wait...I just did; Ha ha!"
Homer chuckles a bit at his own joke. Gwen comment, "Very smooth; Looks like we aren't the only ones here to get disrespected by the other racers, well most of them."
Mike's group decided to head over to speak with Soarin', perhaps to befriend. Mike spoke, "Hey. My friends and I saw you race on the Hub last year. You were great."
"To be honest, it was in a different language so we didn't understand everything." Cameron admits to Soarin' sheepishly. "But you were great though."
"Well, I am flattered, friends." Soarin' remarks as the four passed by a few workers, almost colliding with some. "So have you three done a lot of these long distance rallies?"
"Well, to be honest, this is my first one." Mike admits to Soarin' with a smile.
"What do you know! It's my first time too!" Soarin' laughs while hugging the trio. It's great to meet other first timers other than himself. "Awesome! We're going to have a lot of adventures! We will laugh, cry, we will even dance!"
"Err, okay." Gwen said, uneasy about the dance part.
"Well, not with each other of course."
"Of course." Mike said to Soarin' with a meekly smile.
"Well, I will see you three in the guys! Later! Ha ha ha," Soarin' laughs as he twirls around and left. Mike, Cameron and Gwen chuckle a bit. He's a weird pony but at least Soarin' become a good friend.
"Wow, amazing." Cameron remarks in amusement.

A news flash logo appears marked 'RSN'. Jet's voice comments, "Race fans, get ready! It's that time of the year again!" The logo appears as he continues, "Welcome to the Wings around The Globe."
In the studio, Jet smiles to the cameras, preparing for another big rally. He spoke, "Hey, Jet Hawk here. This is the flagship event of the world's fastest sport next to car racing where only the best of the best compete to win!" The landing marks are shown where each plane will arrive and leave at. "Each leg will bring a new challenge, testing agility, navigation and endurance. But after all is said and done, the name for this game is speed!" Jet smiles as he stood near the shcreen that shows someone. "Ha! Our very own Moltres is standing by live from JFK Airport; this Pokémon got the best seat in the house; so big guy, how's the view?!"

Moltres grins to Jet at the race. As she speaks, we see scenes of Scott and Courtney crossing the finish line in a strange yet awesome style, "Jet, the scene that you see below is very electric! As you all know, we got racers from all over here today. But here's the real story: who's coming to second to three-time defending champs, Scott and Courtney. Both are seeking to becoming the first four-time winners in the Wings Around The Globe."

At PIlotwash Junction, Mike and Cameron's friends watch the TV that shows the scenes of each racer. Moltres is heard speaking, "The racers are heading to the runway right now."
The gang saw Cameron trying his best to get into Mike's plane before an annoyed Gwen has to pull him in. Audrey calls out, "It's Mike, Cameron and Gwen!"
"Yeah, all right," The Mole laughs eagerly, jumping up and down.
"Awesome," Rob 64 exclaims with a smile. It's good to see his pals there in the race.
"Okay, everyone, get your Mike bobbleheads here!" Owen exclaims as he and Vinny pulls a cart near them. It's full of Mike merchandise that the two has made during the time that their friends left.
"Oh yeah!"
"We got oven mitts, hats, bumper sticks...oh I also ordered a thousand commemorative whistles."
Rob 64 whistles in surprise, that is a lot of stuff. Joshua comments in concern, "I hope you got permission to do this."
"Relax; Mike isn't a big time star just yet." Vinny points out to Mike with a scoff. "If he ends up losing or getting blown up, not a total loss; financially speaking. Hey, Rob! Think you could help us set up a website?"
"Does a giga bite?" Rob 64 asks Vinny with a slight smirk.
"Not unless you pet him nicely." The Mole joke, making him and some of the boys laughs a bit.
"Boys," Audrey said, rolling her eyes at this.

The reporters begin snapping pictures of Mike's group in the plane. Braeburn called out, "Mike! Mr. Mike!"
The crowd shouts as the planes are being tows. Once they're done, they head to the exit so that the race can get under way.
"136 nations are complete but only 21 pilots and navigators are chosen." Jet's voice said to the audience. "Folks, this is indeed a step into history once they first step onto this field."
As Mike's group came out with their plan, the crowd cheers wildly, making them grin while saying, "Whoa!"
"Holy atoms!" Cameron exclaims at the cheering crowd. People cheers onward as some familiar faces from Townsville Springs shout and cheering wildly.
Moltres in the sky looks below as he spoke, "Also, here's a first time ever, folks. We got a crop duster joining this race!"

The Hylians, well, some of them, looks rather unimpressed. They look concerned in a pub, wondering how three people in a crop-dusting plane would ever make it in this race.
"A crop duster," A Hylian man ask a friend, shaking his head at this.
"Well, that boy is going to die." A Hylian woman said with a sigh. "Maybe not him, but his geek pal."

Author's note
This is it, folks, the big race to determined who will be the champion. In the next champion, Soarin' meets Rainbow Dash and falls in love with her. Then the race gets under way as Mike and his pals has some difficulties in the first leg. After some advice from Peppy and friends, they continue in the next leg where their actions in helping another racer win them respect. Read, review and suggest.

The arrival has references to Hercules, Animaniacs and The Great Muppet Caper.

Carl is Johnny Bravo's sidekick on his show.

You all know who Princess Celestia, Soarin' and what a Moltres is by now, right?

Mickey was referring to his role as Tex Dinoco in my first Cars fanmake.

Link is in the role of LH 86 Special. Yes, I know he didn't make it into the Top Five in the movie but I have to put Link in somewhere, right?