The crowd roared in excitement at the sight of the racecars driving onto the track, the best drivers, Speed and X Racer, bringing up the rear. The brothers took their positions at the starting line as Connor, Lucy and Chim-Chim sat at their station. Spritle stood at his podium and waited for the cheers to end.
"Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the 5th annual Need for Speed Competition. Today the racers will maneuver themselves through a changing track that has three different terrains. Good luck to you all and let the race begin!"
With that the countdown began and when the light turned green, the cars shot off. The virtual track activated and the portal opened to an underwater landscape.
"Alright Speed," Connor began, "this is a new track so bare with us. The gasless engine should do fine as long as this leg of the race doesn't last longer than five minutes." Speed glanced at the projection of his friend.
"And if it's longer?"
"Uh…we'll deal with that if it comes up." Lucy's face appeared as she pushed Connor from sight.
"Speed, X, watch out for those sea urchins, they'll puncture your tires." As she said this, two drivers swerved and disappeared from the race. Speeding up, the brothers began to take the lead as the track changed into a blizzard scene.
"Lucy! Connor! It's a white out! I can't see!" cried X.
"Don't worry we'll guide you guys through the storm as best as possible. Make a right now then go straight." The brothers followed their directions and X took the lead. "Watch out and Speed get behind the Shining Star, there's an ice bridge coming up and only one car can fit at a time."
Once off the bridge, X floored it and took off, leaving Speed in the snow. Suddenly a screech pierced the air.
"What was that?" asked Speed. Connor's face went pale.
"Look out, you're being followed by a giant snow bird. It'll destroy the Mach 6 if it catches you," exclaimed Lucy.
"I'm gonna switch to stealth mode and see if I can lose this guy," Speed said, pushing the button and cutting off protests from his team. 'Let's hope this works' he thought as he squinted to see out the windshield.
Meanwhile X had reached the third part of the race, a dangerously rocky canyon, first place secured. He startled when a frantic trio appeared on his com link.
"X! Is Speed behind you?" asked Lucy. Puzzled, the older brother shook his head.
"No, it's just me out here, why?"
"He switched to stealth mode and now we can't see or communicate with him…" Connor cut her off.
"And he was being chased by a giant bird!" X slammed on the breaks and spun around, then shifted gears as he sped back the way he had come.
"Is he crazy? He won't be able to see the track or know about the rocks when he comes into the canyon. I almost hit a boulder and ran off the track. I swear he's gonna kill himself if he doesn't start to think."
Speed drove furiously away from the bird. Shooting laser blasts at it, the animal flew away screeching. The young racer laughed as he pushed on the gas in attempts to catch up with his big brother.
"Almost out," he told himself. Time seemed to slow as the track transformed for the final time. Speed reached out and pushed the stealth button to turn it off. The white snow that had blinded him turned into a giant boulder. The last thing he heard was three voices scream his name in panic.
The Shining Star burst out of the portal and skidded to a halt. X jumped out of his car and raced for the wreckage that was once the Mach 6. Lucy, Connor, Chim-Chim and Spritle sprinted at his heels.
"SPEED! SPEED ANSWER ME!" he screamed over the rescue crew's sirens. He tried to open the door to reach his brother, but it wouldn't budge. X beat the metal and glass with his fists, but the teen's unconscious form didn't respond to his shouts. Spritle grabbed him from behind with help from Connor as firefighters pried open the car door. The struggling teen watched in horror as his little brother's mangled body was delicately placed on a gurney. Lucy held Chim-Chim to her chest as tears ran down her cheeks.
"Speed please no, not my brother," sobbed X as he stopped fighting his uncle's grip and fell to his knees. Spritle knelt beside him as the ambulance sped away.
"Come on, X. We need to get to the hospital wing," he urged gently, helping the teen up. A cart arrived to drive them and the solemn group took their seats, each praying their loved one would be alright.