Any Faster
"If the wind blew any faster, it would deafen the world." -Jet the Hawk
CHAPTER ONE
A quiet desert where nothing moves. A silent jackrabbit, bounding along the sandy ground, ears perked. A small lizard climbs a rock not far away. The hot sun's warmth is stored in the rock, heating up the cold-blooded creature. The lizard lays down to rest when a mighty bird of prey, a raptor, sweeps slowly overhead.
A whoosh of air. The cheer of the crowd. An announcer's voice, breaking through it all, emanating from gargantuan speakers.
"Ladies and gentlemen – Jet is closing in on the current leader, Roark!"
A hawk on an airboard rides a gust of wind left behind by a large bear on a floating bike. These are the pinnacle of racing technology – Extreme Gears. And Jet is the best Extreme Gear rider in the world... probably.
The raptor swoops in closer to the lizard, surveying its prey. The lizard, unaware, only lays there, continuing his rest.
The roar of air dies down a bit as Jet swerves to the side, leaving the wake of air Roark had left behind. There's a dash pad up ahead. Roark is too far to the right to hit it. Jet just doesn't want to. He doesn't need it.
"And Jet has missed a golden opportunity folks, that dash pad was calling his name!"
The raptor has circled behind the lizard. It has the perfect chance to take the lizard by surprise. It continues circling around to the front.
Jet has a smirk on his face. Nobody from the audience can see it, as his face is turned away from the camera. But they all know it's there.
"GEAR CHANGE!" , Jet yells. His board and feet are surrounded by a glow as the board dissolves away into the light, and when it has faded the board is replaced with something like roller skates without the wheels – another form of Extreme Gear. With the skates, Jet gains a boost in speed and shoots past Roark in an incredible burst of acceleration.
The raptor, takes a hard turn, reversing itself. It uses its wings to push itself forward with a blast of air, making up for any lost speed and adding to it. And the raptor grabs the lizard in its claws and takes off.
Jet is ahead. Way ahead. The race isn't over for another 2 laps – but he's got it already. He has victory, even though he hasn't won... yet. He won't cross the finish line to end the race for a while.
The raptor has the lizard clenched tightly in its talons and is flying back to its nest. It's a while home, to one of the few trees in this desert – but he has his dinner. And he will be full and happy tonight, even though he hasn't partaken – yet. He won't eat the lizard for a while.
What the raptor doesn't know is that there's another lizard, on another rock, not too far away. The raptor has met this lizard before. He went home hungry the first time; the lizard outdid him. There was a second time, too. The raptor still did not catch the lizard, but the lizard did not escape the raptor. They matched each other's moves exactly. And only when they both decided to stop, simultaneously, did either of them leave.