TAKASHI SPEEDWAY

Episode one: Prologue

"Takashi, are you sure you want to do this? I mean, you're still so young." He was in Miss Satomi's office discussing his future in the IGPX.

"Yeah, I know, but I think I've been around for long enough. Everybody knows my name in the IGPX and I don't want to be a glory hog. Sure, I like the sport and everything, but let's face it, I have more money than I will ever need, and I don't really want to keep collecting it for no reason."

"So you've made your decision then?"

"Yes I have. Our next race will be my last. I would have done this sooner, but I really didn't want to put the team in that position half way through the season. This way you have plenty of time to fill my position."

"Okay Takashi, if that's what you really want, but you have to promise me you won't hold back on our last race just because you know you'll be gone afterwords. It's a big rivalry match you know."

"Not a chance. I wanna leave with a bang," he held up his hand in the shape of a gun and gently blew on the tip of his finger. There was a long pause and finally they both began to laugh at Takashi's hand gesture.

"So did you hear? The last race will be on a brand new course. They haven't even named it yet."

"Really? Do you have any graphics or info on it? I want to know what I'm doing out there."

"No I'm working on that, but I'll get back to you when I do."

"Okay, thanks." He exited and headed toward home. It was well past dark and everyone was already out of the building, making it very silent.

The next day when he came to the Satomi Building, Liz and Ami were there to greet him.

"How could you do this to us? Just going aroud and leaving us without a front man!"

"I agree with Liz. It is a bit strange."

"Look guys, I just feel like my time in the IGPX is through. I've already made up my mind, I'm leaving after our next race."

"Hey, isn't that against River's team?" asked Liz.

"Oh yeah, it is isn't it?" agreed Ami.

"I bet he's all riled up and in a bad mood about it. You should try to avoid him until after the race or he'll probably get all angry and competitive. I'm telling you, that guy is the poster boy for teen angst across the world." Takashi laughed and the room was silent after he finished. He noticed the sad expressions across their faces.

"Come on guys, I'm not gone yet," he added, "We still have a whole week until our race against Team Shadow Falcon. Let's make the best of the time we have. I know, after we finish our work for the day, we can go grab some pizza." Liz and Ami showed a glimpse of happiness and accepted.

"Only on one condition," Ami added, "Luca gets to come."

"That cat hates me!"

"I don't care, he's coming and we're getting anchovies!" She glared at him.

"Fine," he mumbled.

"Then it is settled," Ami proclaimed. Liz and Ami went into the gym to run, but Takashi just stood there taking in his surroundings.

"In only a few more days, I'll never come in here again," he thought. After looking around a little bit longer, he aimed towards the study room to look at Shadow Falcon's previous races. His record against this team since River created it was 4-4-1. This was his fifth year in the IG1 and he had always had a rivalry against River. The only problem was, River created the rivalry, and it wasn't a friendly one. Takashi had no idea why River hated him so much.

"That guy takes things way too seriously," he said to open air as he began to walk away.

It was now the night before the race and the entirity of Team Satomi was sitting at their own desk in front of Andre to listen to his traditional pre-race speech.

"All right, now pay attention. This team has no real strategy, but they are very effective independantly. However, they may be alone, but if you watch previous races, River is still in charge in some ways. It seems as though they attack each opponent singularly, but they play follow the leader. They won't begin their onslaught until River does, so what I want you to do is work together and take out River immediately. This may be somewhat difficult because as you all know, River is a bit of a wildcard. You don't have to worry about any team attacks, just go after River. I know you can do this. Now, any questions?"

"There never are," they answered smugly. The three of them were about to get up when Mark sat them back down.

"Hold on a minute guys. I have a little something I need to tell you."

"Mark? I thought you were better than that? You're taking on after— Andre!"

"You know, I haven't left the room," Andre retorted.

"Anyway, now where was I? Oh yes, I needed to tell you to get out there and win. And most importantly stick to the plan." He was clearly mocking Andre and everyone began to laugh.

"It's okay Andre, I was just messing with your head a little." He turned to the others, "Okay, now go home and get a good night sleep. Tomorrow paves the way towards your next season, so naturally it's a big race." On that note, everyone wlaked out and retired to their dwellings.

Takashi was sitting at the race track as he always did before a race.

"So Takashi, is it true what I hear?" Takashi was startled and turned around. It was Cunningham of Team Velshtein.

"What are you talking about, Cunningham?"

"I hear today will be your last race and then you're dropping out of the IGPX."

"Yeah, that's true. You should be glad because you won't have to worry about me beating you anymore."

"Very funny, Takashi. So why are you doing it?"

"I don't know, it's kind of hard to explain."

"I guess I won't bug you about it then. So, how do you like this new course?"

"It looks pretty tough. I can't wait for the challenge. I noticed a few difficult turns and that loop may pose a problem, but other than that, it looks like I'm going to have a pretty fun race. I'm really amped about it."

"Good luck out there Takashi." He extended his hand, "I'll see you around?"

Takashi accepted the gesture, "you bet." Cunningham left through the main gate and Takashi remained where he was. He felt relaxed here and he wouldn't trade it for the world. He was actually sad about leaving the IGPX, but it was something he felt necessary. He glanced at his watch, and noticed there were only a few hours until the big race. After realizing this, he headed back to the locker room to join up with the team.

As he walked through the doors, Miss Satomi was there to greet him, "Takashi, I got some info on the track for you. I doubt you need any graphics because I noticed you were sitting down by the track for some time, but just in case, I got them for you anyways." She held out a folder of photographs and other minor things.

"No, that's okay on the graphics, but how about that info?"

"I found that the committee used a lighter mineral for the track. In turn, this will make the track much slicker and smoother. So you need to be careful on the turns and be careful not lose control."

"Is that everything?" She thumbed through another stack of papers just to double check.

"Yes, it looks like it. Be sure to inform Liz and Ami for me."

"Will do," Takashi answered. The two parted and walked away to prepare their own part for the race. Takashi headed toward their team's locker room to stretch and do other preperatory warm-up routines. When he got their, Liz and Ami were already stretching.

"You're late Takashi," said Liz, pointing at him.

"You know, it's rude to point," said Takashi. "Anyways, I'm only 5 minutes late. I got caught up at the track by Cunningham. We had a pretty good talk," he said as an alibi.

"Well isn't that special? Now get down here and start stretching!" Takashi was clearly intimidated and dropped to the floor to form a triangle with his teammates. In their first stretch, all of them had to place their feet together and extend them to the center of the triangle.

"One- two- three-four…" They all counted in unison. They had a series of fifteen stretches, all with a 20 count. The stretches were important to prevent injury, and every team did them.

Meanwhile, Mark was running the diagnostics checks on all of the machines and computers. He didn't want anything to go wrong during this race, and he wanted his team to make a good impression on the new course. Their race would be the first race on this course. Miss Satomi and Andre were with him to provide any assistance they could.

"Mark, how are the machines doing?"

"They are all one hundred percent Miss Satomi. You have absolutely nothing to worry about."

There was a clear look of relief on her face. After only a few more minutes, Mark looked up from the computer screen.

"All completed. It looks like we can lay back for the next hour or so until the time comes to get into the mechs." Hearing that news, everyone decided to take a nap. The stress from this race had kept them all restless the previous night, and clearly everyone had been deprived of a good sleep.

Finally, the time was approaching. Takashi, Liz, and Ami were climbing aboard their racing machines as there were only ten minutes remaining until the green light would flash. Mark, Miss Satomi, and Andre were all standing by in the onboard computer room. And of course Jesse was their to cheer them on.

"Oh, Liz and Ami, I almost forgot," said Takashi, "Miss Satomi told me that the committee used a lighter mineral on this course and that it is smoother and more slick. So be careful on the turns and stay away from the inside."

"Okay Takashi, Luca and I understand."

"Likewise," Liz answered.

As the fans were all getting settled in the stadium seats that wrapped around the entire course, the announcer started his normal stats review. "Today is a very exciting match-up. Although, both teams' hopes of the championship were eliminated by Team Velshtein, this is a huge rivalry match, especially for the two team leaders. This goes back five years ever since River left Team Satomi and created a team for himself called Shadow Falcon. As I said this match will be a big one. Each team has a record of nine wins: two losses and these teams are very evenly matched. Another exciting twist on this race is the track. In case you are new to the sport, every four years, a new course is built in a different city. In this case it is moving from Nagasaki, Japan to Hiroshima, Japan. During the next four years, this city will be the center for all IGPX activities. The racers must move to here and bring their facilities and families with them. Now that you know a little background info on the sport, let's get to the race!"

As Takashi heard the announcer, he wondered if he would move to this city as well to support his former teammates. He was not required to because he would no longer be on the team, but he still may decide to tag along for awhile. Of course, the team had not already moved because this was the last race of the season, but he knew they would have packed up and moved out here before the start of the next season.

There was now only one minute left in the race. "Hey Takashi," said Liz, "Don't get any wild ideas out there. Just stick to the plan."

"Liz why can't you ever trust me?"

"You didn't come with a warranty." Ami laughed at the joke.

"Takashi, Liz is right, you tend to change the plan quite frequently.""But it usually works out am I right?"

"I suppose so, but you should really listen to Andre this time. I have a feeling that River is going to act pretty serious like he always does."

"Fine," he replied in obvious defeat.

They all got the serious look on their faces as they always did before a race as the top light blinked on yellow, the second followed, then the third…GREEN! They flew off the starting line and the race was under way.

"Team Satomi takes the lead off the bat, Amazing!" shouted the announcer over the intercom.

"Things are starting to look good already," said Andre.

"I agree," followed Mark.

"There's still a long way to go in the race," said Miss Satomi worriedly.

"Go Takashi, Go Ami, Go Liz!" shouted Jesse in everyones' ears. She received a harsh glare from her teammates.

"Sorry."

The announcer was heard again, "Team Satomi consists of Liz, Ami, and their famous frontman, Takashi. Team Shadow Falcon is comprised of River, Spike, and Yuu. We're coming up on the first turn of the first lap. Remember, neither team has ever raced on this course before and it's new to everyone."

"Okay Takashi, once we enter the second lap we need to put some distance between their team and draw them in. Once River gets close to you, take him down," ordered Liz. She was clearly the most competitive of the three.

"Got it," answered Takashi. They were now on the final stretch of the first lap.

As they flew past the lap one mark, they all picked up the pace by about fifteen MPH. Just as they had planned, River followed, and so did his teammates.

River was now so close to Takashi, it was obvious that he intended to attack. "I've got you now Takashi!" he yelled, starting the duel between the two.

After River had attacked Takashi, Spike and Yuu began to move in on Liz and Ami, but before they could do this Liz and Ami closed in on River creating a circle around him.

"Whoa, look out folks. Team Satomi is now three on one against River. I don't see how he's going to get out of this one," the announcer commented.

"Thank you Captain Obvious!" River yelled in disgust. There was nothing he could do as the entirity of Team Satomi pummeled him to the track. His Teammates slowed to pick him up and in the meantime, Team Satomi built an incredibly comfortable lead and sealed the win. The only thing left was to finish the race.

"Yeahahaaa!" Liz cheered, "We did it!"

"Well I'll be," said Andre as he witnessed the incredible victory, "One of my plans actually worked."

"And they've done it, Team Satomi has sealed their final race of the season. Team Shadow Falcon will need a miracle to win now!"

"Well at least Takashi can leave happily with a win," said Miss Satomi in some dismay. Everyone turned and looked at her completely astounded. "You mean he hasn't told all of you about it yet? Even the annoying announcer knows about it."

"Takashi is really leaving?" asked Mark. "Are you sure? Have you talked with him about it?"

"Yes, I'm sure. He said it was something he felt necessary, but that it is too hard to explain."

Everyone in the room was clearly disappointed. Takashi had contributed so much to the team and was a positive asset. He would surely be hard to replace.

As Takashi turned for the home stretch he was already celebrating, and drifted toward the inside unknowingly. Because of the fact that he was not really paying attention, his mech slipped on the slick track and he went spiraling out of control.

"Takashi!" yelled Liz.

"Oh no!" followed Ami. The crowd looked on in awe, they were dumbfounded. They had never seen someone lose control when they were nowhere near an opponent. Mark looked on in shock, just hoping that Takashi would be alright. As Takashi's machine slowed to a stop it crossed the finish line. The second Liz and Ami crossed, they stopped and ran out of their mechs to see if Takashi was alright. As they reached his machine, Takasi climbed up out of his machine and was clearly fine. He raised his hand for applause.

"Don't do that to me Takashi, I thought you were hurt," Liz said angrily.

"Luca and I agree."

Takashi tossed their concerns aside knowing that they didn't care now that he was fine, "We won!"

"Team Satomi has done it. They've clenched their tenth win of the season," the announcer spewed. "I also am sad to say this and I've saved it for after the race. Takashi is retiring and this was his final race. Despite that sad news, the committee has named this course." He paused briefly as gasps of astonishment were heard across the crowd. Not because of the name, but because of Takashi's resignment. "This track that will be the center of all IGPX activity for the next four years will be called the Takashi Speedway!"

The crowd thudered with applause and Takashi was in awe. His favorite racer, The Rocket, was previously the only racer to have had a course named after him, and to go down in the books next to him was more than Takashi could have ever hoped for…

PART ONE

Episode two: Meet your new teammate

Andre walked into Miss Satomi's office. "So have you found the replacement for Takashi yet? Off season ends next month and we have our first exhibition match."

"No, but I'm working on it. Tryouts are being held tomorrow so I can narrow down the possibilities. It's going to be a long day."

"Are you going to need any help for tomorrow?"

"Yes, do you think you and Mark could be here to help out a little? Liz, Ami, and Jesse are already going to be here, but I think the entire team should have a say in it."

"Sure, I'll get in touch with Mark." He walked out of her office and went home. It had been quite an off season so far, and honestly he had been pretty worried. Takashi was an extremely talented forward and would be hard to replace. Everyone knew it and the choices tomorrow weren't going to be very bright. Nobody from the IG2 wanted to leave their teams and they would be limited to very pathetic hopefuls off the street that wanted a shot at the sport.

He opened up the door to his apartment and stepped inside. It was pretty messy and there was something that smelled terrible. As he walked in further, it was apparent that the smell came from rotten food sitting out on the kitchen counter top. He reached for the phone to contact Mark and tell him about tomorrow.

"Hello," Mark answered from the other end, "Who is this?"

"Hey Mark, it's me, Andre. Miss Satomi is going to need you at the team building tomorrow. We're holding tryouts to find a replacement for Takashi."

"Oh sure, I'll be there. I really hope we can find somebody."

"I know, see you tomorrow." He turned off the phone and placed it back on the charger.

By the time Miss Satomi had stepped out of her car and began to walk towards the building, she noticed a line of six people standing near the front entrance. They were obviously the candidates for Team Satomi's new lead pilot. There were four males and two females. When she had reached them she told them to step into her office.

"Welcome to the Satomi building. As you already know, we are searching for a lead pilot and hopefully it is one of you. If you are selected, you will have to move Hiroshima, Japan and live there for the next four years because that is where everyone that has anything to do with IGPX will be moving. As for the try-outs, I will have you come in one at a time to run a simulation test as if you were in a real race. You will be judged by the entire team which includes Andre, Mark, Ami, Liz, Jesse, and myself. Are there any questions?" None of them replied.

"Good, you may come first," she pointed towards a rather scary looking female who had piercings and tatoos on just about every square inch of her body that was visible. She also had a green spiked hair, and looked angry.

"That's tight," she responded.

Miss Satomi led her towards the simulation room and got her prepaired for the simulated race.

"Do you have any experience?"

"Naw Dawg."

"I didn't think so," she mumbled back.

As the girl began to race, her percentages showed on the screen, and so did her other statistics. By the end of the run, everyone watching the screen had grimaces on their faces and looked away as the girl got out of the mechanism.

"How'd I do? Am I it or what?"

"We'll contact you later if you were selected," Mark said reassuringly.

"Dat's a no," said the girl as she walked away, "You din't even ask fo my phone numba." Miss Satomi slapped her forehead as she looked at the blank application forms. She picked up a stack and walked them to the other candidates.

"It appears that I forgot to hand you your application forms. Fortunately for all of you, you have one less competitor to fret about as she was just eliminated." They all looked satisfied and began to fill out their forms.

"You will be up next just as soon as your form is completed," Miss Satomi ordered to a thin looking male with long hair. Once he finished filling out his application, he handed it to miss Satomi.

"Well Katsuro," she said reading from the papers she just received from him, "It appears you are up next."

"That's right, and I've got this in the bag!" he exclaimed entusiastically.

"We'll see," Mark mumbled, not quite convinced that this individual would have any talent at all.

Just as the girl had done, he climbed into the simulation mech, and just as the girl, he had incredibly low ratings and was shown out the door. The other five people were tested the same as everyone else had been, and nobody was very convincing.

"Miss Satomi, what are we going to do?" asked Jesse.

"Really, we can't use any of those people if we wanted to even stand a chance in the IG2," Liz pointed out.

"I'm not sure what to do. Maybe we should hold another audition, but this time advertise it a little more. Or we could keep nagging some of the racers from the IG2, but you are correct about one thing, we surely can't use any of them," she said as she pointed towards the door that all of the failures had walked out.

"I'll talk to some of those other racers again," volunteered Andre. He walked back towards Miss Satomi's office to begin making the calls, but there was a man standing in the doorway. He was sort of mysterious looking because of a mask that he wore over his nose and mouth. He also had goggles wrapped around his forehead and looked as if he were trying to conceal his identity.

"Is this where I can try out for Team Satomi?" Mark, Miss Satomi, and Andre exchanged glances.

"Um, sure, you just have to fill out this application form before you tryout." Miss Satomi told him, pushing the papers toward him. He filled all of the papers out and handed them back to her.

"Thank you…" there was a slight pause as she scanned the paper for his name, " Densetsu Keiken?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"Does your name speak truth?

"You could say that I have a little experience with this sort of thing." She again glanced at his application and noticed he was rather old. He was nearly as old as Andre.

"It says here that you are 34 years old. Are you a retired racer trying to make a comeback?"

"No, it's nothing like that I can assure you." She looked at him a little longer and finally gave him the approval to get into the mech. He stepped in and Mark started up the program. He flew through the simulation as if he had run it a million times and scored higher than Takashi had ever done. He stepped out of the mech and noticed all of the jaws lying around on the floor.

"So I take it I'm in?"

"Absolutely, you start tomorrow." He walked out of the door as though nothing had happened at all and Team Satomi stood in awe.

On the next day Densetsu showed up ready for a workout.

"Oh, hello Densetsu," Miss Satomi welcomed.

"Please don't call me that."

"It is your name isn't it?"

"Yes, but I would prefer if you simply call me Thomas."

"But that has nothing to-"

"It doesn't matter," he interrupted, "go with it."

"Whatever," Miss Satomi said as she gave him a strange look and walked away. After she had gone he found his way to the indoor training area and met up with Liz and Ami to further introduce himself.

"Hello, my name is Densetsu, but you shall call me Thomas."

"That has-"

"It doesn't matter, just go with it."

"Whatever crazy person," commented Ami playfully.

"Hey Thomas, you may be skilled when you're in the mech, but how do you fight?"

"I have a vast knowledge of the ways of ninja and I also study Kendo."

"Hmmm, just like Takashi, but you know ninjitsu also. This should be interesting, get on the mat."

"What?"

"You heard me old-timer. I said on the mat." He stepped up to her challenge and both took off their warm-up clothing. They each picked up their own shinai and took a bow. Liz was well rounded and seemed to know and understand every style of fighting. This meant that because Thomas only practiced Kendo style of fighting, he should have the upper hand.

As they stood near each other glaring down one another, Liz was the first to charge. She went for a powerful downward slash, but was easily blocked. She continued a series of these attacks and was getting a bit tired. She realized that he was merely toying with her as he didn't even appear phased at all. In desperation she soared over his head in an attempt to get behind him, but as she was in flight, he dashe out of her sight.

"Wow, he's fast," she thought. When she landed he was already behind her with his sword aimed at the back of her head. The match thus was over and Thomas was victorious. Meanwhile, Ami was on the sidelines giggling.

"What are you laughing at!" shouted Liz.

"I found it amusing how easily he was able to defeat you. He didn't even have to try." Liz went through the battle again in her mind and realized that Ami was correct. Thomas clearly had talent, but she was embarrased that Ami was laughing at her, and went off.

"You think that's funny? I oughta teach you a lesson! I could take you any day." Fumed Liz with her index finger pointed directly toward her.

"Do you really think you could beat me?"

"Huh?" Liz responded in confusion. "Of course I can, you haven't fought a day in your life."

"Then we shall see." Said Ami in a more serious tone as she also took off her warm-up clothing.

"Ok, but I'm warning you, I'm pretty tough." As Ami took a stance, Liz could tell that she would be using Ju-Jitzu,a style of kicking and grappling techniques.

Again, Liz struck first with a leg sweep which was easily dodged by Ami. Ami then countered with the same attack and hit her mark. Liz was knocked off balance by this and Ami maneuvered her way around her. In a final attempt to escape, Liz tried to jump out of Ami's grasp, but it was too late as Ami had already gotten hold of her arms.

"Teach this!" yelled Ami as she threw Liz in the air and sent her hard on her back. Liz layed there staring at the ceiling in utter astonishment.

"I can't believe I'm the worst fighter on this team," she muttered in disbelief.

"It's okay, you can just train a little more Liz. Eventually, you'll be twice as good as me if you really believe you can do it." She walked over to Liz and helped her up.

"Thanks Ami, I really needed that defeat. Where'd you get so good anyway?"

"I went to a martial arts school as a child and I have continued to practice at home. The only reason you never knew that I could fight is because I never had any wish to fight you. I suppose I just got riled up with you yelling at me."

"I always yell at everybody," countered Liz.

"Yes, but the only time it is directed towards me it involves Luca." Liz chuckled as she thought about how upset she let herself get over Ami's cat.

"Hello, you didn't forget about me did you?" asked Thomas from the corner.

"Oops, sorry," Liz and Ami turned around embarrased with one hand on the back of their heads, "Let us show you around the place," they said as they grabbed him and walked out the door. It was the beginning of a new Team Satomi.

Episode Three: Exhibition! Team Satomi vs. Team Red Bull

Check for update in a few days.