Rachel was happily skating through town. When the neighbor's Doberman Sugar chomped her old skates to pieces, her uncles and alien friends banded together to create an even better pair. She remembered her uncle saying that the skates have been installed with a Kineceleran drive unit...whatever that was.
Jealous speed demons challenged Rachel to numerous races, but it all ended the same; Rachel leaving them all in the dust. Nobody could beat her, not even Sugar!
As Rachel kept on rolling, she looked and saw she was passing the old roller rink. It used to be a hotspot back in the 80's, now it's just an empty shell of it's former glory.
On a whim, Rachel decided to hop a fence to take the shortcut home. Ignoring a few keep out signs, Rachel looked around and saw no sign of trouble, thank goodness. Giving her new skates a rest, Rachel decided to walk down the alley, but as she did, trouble immediately came.
Out of the rising darkness, skating like furies, was a pack of roller skating cutthroats bunched together like a giant fist heading straight for Rachel.
With nowhere to run, hide, or duck, Rachel was a deer in the headlights as the attackers sped straight for her.
All Rachel could remember after that was being hit with the force of an oncoming train.
"Wake up, dweeb!"
Black and fogginess slowly began to leave Rachel's mind.
"She took that slam like a sissy."
Rachel slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a trio of angry, yet powerful girls who looked like they ready for a roller derby rumble! Rachel looked around and saw dust and cobwebs here and there, she gasped as she realized they were inside the old roller rink.
"'Bout time you woke up." the girl in the middle of the group said. "You've got some nerve skating around our turf."
Rachel gulped hard. She remembered these girls, she beat all three of them in a race in front of the whole town.
And chances are, they're about to even the score.
The girls were closing in on Rachel as she pressed herself against the wall. She was too scared to move.
"The girl is mine." a voice hissed.
The derby dolls turned around, but no one was there.
Before Rachel could blink, a blue tornado started forming at high speeds, with the bullies right in the middle! They screamed and cried and begged for it to stop while Rachel looked on in shock. The girls were now high in the air, almost touching the ceiling.
And just like that, the tornado stopped. The gang fell hard on the ground. They quickly got up and screamed like scared girls should scream, skating fast out of the old rink.
Rachel just sat there, her body now trembling. "...what just happened?"
That's when something appeared in a flash in front of Rachel. When the dust cleared and Rachel got a good look, she screamed as loud as those girls.
Rachel's first instinct was scrambling to her feet and tried to keep as much distance from whatever that was. "HELP! MONSTER!" she shouted.
But a blue blur whirled around Rachel and made her spin like a top. She fell to the floor, dizzy beyond belief.
"Trying to outrun me? Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, are you?" the voice scoffed.
When Rachel stopped the room from spinning, she blinked up and gasped, her eyes full of fear.
To Rachel, the monster looked like a giant blue and black velociraptor wearing a helmet with a visor. He let out a hiss, making Rachel shudder. When the monster's face mask lifted up, Rachel couldn't help but let out a whimper when a pair of solid green eyes were staring right through her.
He folded his arms across his chest. "So, I heard you're the fastest thing on wheels. That true?" he asked.
Rachel finally found her voice. "I've never called myself that..." she squeaked.
"Well then, let's have a race and find out." the lizard man challenged.
Rachel shook her head, if he was so fast you couldn't even see him, chances are she wouldn't last two seconds with this thing. "I don't want to race you."
The monster scowled. "If you don't want to race..." His face mask closed down. "I'll make you!"
Instincts kicking in again, Rachel activated her skates as the creature gave chase. She kept skating and skating around the rink but he just kept up with her with hardly any effort.
Rachel then notice a small hole on the rink, she dodged it in time, but the monster didn't. When his foot hit that hole, he tripped and screamed as he slid across the room and headfirst into the storage closet's door. His body was motionless.
Rachel sped up to him. She carefully opened the door and saw him in a daze. "Are you alright?!"
The lizard shook his head at a rather fast pace and replied, "My head is stuck in a door. No, I'm not alright!" He tried to pull his head out, but to no avail.
"Let me help." said Rachel. She went around and reached for him, but Rachel jumped back when the creature's tail thrashed around.
"I don't need your help!" he snarled. He jerked his head around to break free, but he was stuck in that door.
"Obviously you do." Rachel said. She braced herself as she got closer. When the tail swung at her, Rachel skillfully grabbed it. At one point, Rachel's finger poked the tail, making the monster gasp.
"Let go!" the lizard demanded. He squirmed his tail around to get it out of the girl's grip, but Rachel jumped on his tail and pinned it down.
"Calm down! I just want to help you!" Rachel pleaded for him to stop.
Finally, he did. Rachel let go of the tail and settled it on the ground.
The creature growled. "You better get off me..." he warned.
Rachel looked back at him, fed up with his attitude. "What is your problem?!"
"None of your business." he snapped.
Rachel huffed as she turned away. She looked back at his long, striped tail. Curious to feel it, Rachel ran her fingertips down the tail, but it twitched violently when she touched it.
Rachel blinked. She looked back at him, then rubbed one side of his tail. It had the same reaction, but Rachel watched the monster shiver.
"C-Could you not do that?" the lizard asked.
Rachel could've sworn she heard him giggle when he said that. She smiled as she got an idea. "I think I know how to get you out of there." She moved her hands to his tail and tickled all over it.
The creature burst into laughter as he squirmed around. "Hahahahahaha! No! Please! Not my tail! NOT MY TAIL!" he cried out.
Rachel laughed as she kept tickling. "Tickle tickle tickle!" she teased.
He laughed even harder. "Don't say it!" he said between giggles. The more he thrashed around trying to get her off, the more his head actually started to loosen from the hole.
Rachel decided to give up on his tail. She turned around and began tickling his sides.
Now it was too much. With a big howl of laughter, the monster yanked his head out of the door, taking Rachel down with him as they tumbled down together.
Rachel looked over to him, watching him catch his breath."You okay?"
"Yeah..." he breathed out. He looked over at her. "Why did you help me?"
"Well, I can't just leave you like that. I do have a conscious you know." Rachel said. "What's you name?"
He seemed surprised for a moment. "Uh, XLR8."
"XLR8? That's a cool name."
Now he was even more surprised. "R-Really?"
Rachel nodded. "Mm-hmm. It fits you perfectly."
XLR8 turned his head. "Aw, thanks." he bashfully said. "And thanks for getting me out of there."
Rachel smiled. "No problem." She leaned a little closer to him. "So then, what exactly are you?"
"I'm a Kineceleran." he answered. "An alien, you might say."
Rachel's eyes shot up. 'Kineceleran?!' she thought. No wonder her skates were so fast! Her friends must have built them with alien technology.
"Cool!" Rachel exclaimed. "How are you able to move so fast?"
"It comes naturally to me. Especially when you've got wheels for feet." XLR8 lifted up his hind leg to show her.
Rachel immediately grabbed it, fascinated. She flicked her finger up and down the wheel, making it spin. "Awesome! But do your feet ever get hurt going that fast?"
XLR8 shook his head. "Nah, not really."
Rachel turned her attention back to the foot. It looked like his two toes were clutching onto the wheel. She ran her fingers over the toes, making them twitch and XLR8 break into giggles.
"Come on, stop tickling!" he pleaded as he laughed. "I mean it!"
Rachel smugly smiled at him. "Yeah? Or what?"
XLR8 snapped his foot out of Rachel's hand and pounced on her. The surprise made Rachel fall backwards. His feet pinned her arms to the ground and he sat on her thighs.
An evil grin spread across XLR8's face. "Or this..." He raised up his hands and wiggled his black claws at her.
Rachel whimpered in horror. "Please don't do it..."
"Do what? This?" XLR8 rapidly poked Rachel's underarms, she giggled and squirmed around. "Stohohop! I'm too ticklish!" she begged.
"You shouldn't have said that." XLR8 lowered his hands to Rachel's stomach. "Cause this is gonna be fun..." He began mercilessly tickling Rachel's stomach, sides, and ribs with lightening speed. It felt like her entire body was being tickled. Rachel hysterically laughed uncontrollably. She was squirming and roaring with laughter. "STOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!"
XLR8 didn't stop. "Now you know how I felt."
Rachel's laughter escalated when XLR8 tickled her underarm and stomach at the same time. "STOHAHAHAHAHAHAP! HAHAHAHAHA! PLEASE! I'M BEGGING YOU!"
She soon started coughing very hard. XLR8 had a concerned look on his face. He stopped and apologized, getting off of Rachel and rubbed her back to comfort her. "Are you okay?"
After a few seconds, Rachel sighed. "Yeah, I kind of deserved that."
Then XLR8 lifted up the girl and placed her on his back. He smiled. "How about I take you home? It's the least I could do."
Rachel gave him a big hug. "Yes, please!"
The alien's face mask came down, signaling for take off. "Hang on!" Then XLR8 and Rachel zoomed out of the roller rink and through town.
As they did, XLR8 decided to take his time and moved not too fast this time. A ride with a new friend should never be rushed.
And Rachel truly appreciated it. After all, she's had enough speed for one night.