Okay, standard stuff, do not own Oban Star Racers. I wrote this partly cause there isn't enough fanfiction on this show to begin with and mostly cause I love the character Spirit and was rather disappointed that he only got one episode dedicated to him in the anime. This is to be a multi-chapter story starting from the final preliminaries on Alwas, right up 'til Spirit's last race, each taking up a chapter, so this one is sort of a prologue.

Spirits of Oban

Chapter One: Spirit's Despair

The competition on Alwas was nearing an end. Spirit stood in place with the other four finalists waiting for the Earth Team to arrive. He had been to Earth ten years ago for the first Interplanetary Championship. He had been offered twice since then to make an appearance for winning the first ever instance of the competition, but it didn't feel right. He was a loser, his opponent had been winning until her racer malfunctioned, he was no champion. A ruckus by the stage drew his attention. Turning to see the Earth Team's gunner get pushed away, Spirit's eyes focused on the pilot. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. That face, those markings, it was like staring into a vision of the past. But it couldn't be Maya, she was dead, and this girl was far too young, then again, Maya was supposed to be married to her race manager, could it be that this was their child? As the girl approached he turned away. If that was Maya's child, he couldn't bear to face her now. He had in the past had a reputation as an aggressive racer, but that had changed. In a race like that of Oban, it was expected to cause some damage in order to win, but after what had happened to Maya he came to realise his ferocity on the track could easily lead to the type of accidents that claimed the Earth racer's life. The area lit up and the pillars suddenly rose up. They were announced in turn. Colonel Toros of the Crogs, Prince Aikka of Nourasia, Super Racer and eventually, himself. Spirit, Ambassador of the Fhils. The girl turned to look at him, her eyes welled up with realisation and fear to the point where he could almost feel her pain burning into his back. He still avoided looking. After the Avatar finished speaking he left hastily for his garage.

The Fhils Garage was practically empty, being your own racer saved a lot on parts, labour and space. All Spirit really needed was a good meal before each race and he was good to go, but now... He sat at the table staring into his food as his own handler hovered back and forth.

"Spirit, Spirit are you listening?" his handler's voice echoed round the room. The Fhils could speak just fine, Spirit was just very quiet and people who met him tended to take him as a standard example of his race, this tended to annoy the more talkative people around him. His handler, called Indra, was a stern fellow with angry little eyes that Spirit silently laughed at when he yelled at him, but now he wasn't laughing at it, Indra was glaring down at him and he had to respond. Spirit turned to look at him and shook his head. Indra sighed.

"Spirit, you've been out of it since you returned. What's the problem? You've never been nervous no matter who you faced, why so down now?" he asked, looking at the flyer with some measure of concern. Spirit held out his hand and Indra stared before taking it. It was a form of communication Fhils used on a very personal level, but it was the only way Spirit could get his point across without elaborate charades. Elaborate images of the Championship ten years ago and the girl named Molly at the staging area flashed through Indra's mind before he left go of Spirit.

"I see. So you still feel guilty Spirit? You can't dwell on the past, you have to look to the future, the Ultimate Prize! Can you imagine what that would mean for the Fhils, for your career?" the handler spouted, motioning with his hands as he tried to motivate his racer, but Spirit just shook his head again before pushing away from his table and heading for the door. Indra called out, but Spirit was already on his way, on his way to the Earth Garage.

Spirit stood in front of the garage, his hand reaching to knock on the large tin door when he stopped. Despite making it this far, he had no idea what he would say, would she take an notice of what he had to say, would she even touch him long enough for him to explain. He felt angry at himself, angry and terrified. He knew the Earthlings opinion of him, many blamed him for the crash, who knew what she would say to him. He lowered his arm in defeat. Turning toward the lake, he walked forward and opened his coat. Throwing it aside, he quickly transformed into his flight form and took off. Soaring out across the city, he looked down at all the people going about their daily work, several people looked up at him as he flew by. Several recognised him and cheered, others shied away at the frightening black form shadowing them from above. His mind wandered back to the day of the race ten years ago. It wasn't the defining moment of his life, it wasn't even anything people really remembered any more, but seeing the girl had shaken him, it had brought back the guilt of that day and it was unsettling him. A single stream of light blue tears ran down his face as he flew into the evening horizon. Back at the Earth Garage, Stan and Koji were wheeling out the Whizzing Arrow 2 for an engine test. As Stan motioned it forward, Koji pulled something grey from the dirt in front of the Star Racer.

"Hey Koji, its a nice coat an' all, but can we get back to work?" Stan laughed at him before Koji sighed and threw the piece of clothing aside, after all, the teams ha more to worry about right now.