Grand Prix Part 1

"Ah, glad that you can make it!" Mr. Spigelmann's welcomed the maplers. Everyone had gathered at the Square. Mr. Spigelmann can be seen on the center of the square. Aran could see Aidan the white haired Mechanic, Luka the red haired Battlemage, Belle the blond haired Wild Hunter and even Vlad the purple skin Demon Slayer. She could also see Empress Cygnus, Nineheart and the five chief knights. She also saw Athena Pierce the elven Bowman Instructor, Dark Lord the Thief Instructor, Grendel the Really Old who is the Magician Instructor, Kyrin the Pirate Instructor and.. an unknown man in armor.

Who is that man? He looks like an Adventurer. A Dark Knight perhaps? She thought. But among them, she could also see... a girl and an armored figure. The girl had a pink hair with a pair of... horns? She wore a sleeveless white top and a purple skirt. She had a pair of shiny wings. The armored figure have dark horns and wings. The figure wore red armor that looks like a samurai and the helmet that looked like a dragon. It had a... tail?

"Great, what's going on? Who are those guys?" Aran asked her fellow heroes while she pointed at the two figures. Evan turned his head towards where Aran was pointing at.

"They looked like dragons! That's so cool!" Evan said excitedly. Phantom had simply shrugged his shoulders, implying that he does not know. Mercedes and Mir observed them with interest. Luminous somehow looked uninterested.

"Mr. Spigelmann sure attracts weird folks. I guess we'll know soon enough" Mercedes stated.

"Ladies and gentlemen! The first event shall now commence! The event for today is..." Mr. Spigelmann's voice shouted. Right after that, everyone in the square had disappeared.

Everyone who disappeared found themselves in a... stadium? No, more accurately, a racing circuit? There were spectators all around them, cheering and clapping around.

"Whoa? Where are we? Are we gonna race here?" Hawkeye asked.

"Precisely! Welcome to MAPLE GRAND PRIX! In this event, each participant will represent their respective faction except the Heroes where ALL of them must participate. Choose your representative and step out to the garage!" Mr. Spigelmann's voice said through megaphone.

"Whoa? We're racing? You're kidding me!" Ark shouted in disbelief.

"A race? This is getting weirder!" exclaimed Aran.

"Race? COOL!" Oz jumped excitedly.

"Race? YAY! Lumi, you'll be joining will you?" Lania's eyes was sparkling. Luminous who was initially not interested started to work up. He can't say no to Lania can he?

"Hmph! Weak! When did you fall so easily under a GIRL?" Luminous' dark side said in his mind. "You wasted 500k mesos in that store alone for the girl! All those money which could have spent on buying better scrolls for your rod for BETTER KILLING!"

"Shut up!" Luminous hissed.

At the same moment, the armored figure was talking to the girl who accompanied him.

"Hmm. A race. Was there ever one back in Grandish?" The armored figure asked.

"Nope. So, you're joining?" the girl replied.

"Why should I?"

"Because you're better in racing, Kyle!"

"Despite the fact I NEVER raced before? And didn't we agreed not to call each other's real name outside Grandish? Well, as if I even know your real name..."

"Err...Oops! Sorry, Kaiser! I'm not interested in this racing thing."

"I don't see any relevance in racing... But since we're here, why not?" Kaiser grinned inside his helmet.

"I didn't know you're in this sort of stuff."

"At least its better than dancing and singing! Angelic Burster!"

"I am offended by that!"

"Maybe we should stop arguing, we already attracted enough attention as it is" Kaiser stated while glancing at a certain group. Their Nova characteristics have already attracted enough attention, especially with their tails and horns.

Meanwhile, the Adventurer group were discussing about who should race.

"So, who do you think should represent the Adventurers?" Athena asked.

"I am too old for this, leave me out." Grendel said.

"Racing didn't involve stealth. Not my specialty." Dark Lord said.

"Don't even pick me. Warriors aren't build for speed." Ark said.

"Hmm. I wonder I can remodel those cars to look like ships! That would be nice..." Kyrin stated while in deep thought. The other four glanced at each other. They know Kyrin will NOT be interested in winning. She would just have fun and show her mighty 'ships'. Worse, blow every racers on track with her cannons.

"Speaking of speed, aren't thieves are meant for speed?" Athena stated. All of them looked at Dark Lord.

"Wait what? No! Our speed only applies of FOOTS! Not CARS!" Dark Lord retorted. "If it were anything, Kyrin should go!"

"I don't think that's a good idea..." Ark said. Kyrin glared at him. "She would just show off her car-turn-to-ships and blast everyone with her cannons. Like a pirate she is."

"Hold it young warrior! I am certainly not THAT barbaric! Pirates have pride of their own!" Kyrin countered

"Then WHO should go?" Athena said.

"In my opinion, the young warrior should go. In racing, the heart of racer is what matters. And Ark's young heart will definitely ignite with young blood." Grendel suggested. All eyes turned to Ark.

"Yes, you're the youngest of us all! You will race!" Athena nodded in agreement. The other instructors also nodded.

"Wait, I object! I don't know how to race!" Ark tried to protest. But it was too late. The other four have already gave his name to Mr. Spigelmann. "Tch, this wouldn't have happen if Dances with Barlog was here..." He mumbled angrily.

"And so! Each participant will pick a car of their choices! Step to the garage and press the button!" Mr. Spigelmann said. The participants were as follow:

Adventurer: Ark

Knight of Cygnus: Hawkeye

Resistance: Aidan

Nova: Kaiser

Heroes: Mercedes, Aran, Phantom, Luminous and Evan

Ark was the first to press the button. Shortly after that, a car emerged from the garage. The car looked like a spear, its front have a design of a Fairfrozen. It was blue in colour. The two tires in the front were small while the back ones are large. In short, it looked like a Formula One.

"Cool! This whole race may not be so bad after all!" Ark smiled at the car.

Hawkeye was the next to press the button. His car emerged with a.. mast? The car have the designs of a sail ship. However, there are obvious yellow shark paintings on the car. Its tires was just the same as Ark's car. It was yellow in colour.

"Yeah! Now that's awesome!" Haweye said excitedly.

Aidan pressed the button. The car that emerged looked like his mech. It was practically in Missle Tank mode, except it doesn't have cannons. The tank was brown in colour with gold stripes on its sides.

"When did my tank got so deformed!" complained Aidan, clearly not pleased with the removal of the cannon. He felt.. unsafe without it.

Mercedes pressed the button. Her car have elvish designs. Its body was silver in colour. It have leaves twirling on its sides. The car looked very nature-friendly. The car have also looked very elegant and it looked like as if only nobility could own it.

"Hmm.. Fitting for an elven Queen." Mercedes complimented.

Aran pressed the button. The car that emerged looked very... simple. No, TOO simple. It was a bamboo car. Its tires were the only ones that aren't bamboo. It was obviously green in colour. Everyone wondered whether the car could even HOLD the bamboos together when it raced.

Aran didn't say anything, she never cared about the whole race to begin with. She wouldn't have joined if Phantom, Evan and Lilin didn't persuade her.

Phantom proceeded doing the same process. The car that emerged looked very stylish and expensive. It was the same car that he used for his mount. It was light blue in colour with gold linings along the body.

"Isn't this is the same car that you always used when mounting?" Mercedes asked in a rather annoyed tone. Phantom was standing beside his car proudly.

"I don't need a new car. My current car is always in tip top shape and very versatile too. I always make sure that my car is always serviced and... polished." Phantom said proudly. Mercedes, Aran and Lumious rolled their eyes.

Evan's car looked like an Onyx Dragon. It have golden horns ad wings on its sides. The front looked like Mir's head. It was black in colour with gold stripes on it.

"That car looked like me!" Mir exclaimed. It was true. It DID looked like him. Evan only gazed at his car, his FIRST car that he would drive for the FIRST time. Phantom and Mercedes had wondered if that child even know how to drive a car, let alone racing with it.

"Don't worry, the car was automatically set to follow the racer's will. A child will have no issues with the car." Mr. Spigelmann assured them.

Luminous pressed the button. His car emerged from the garage. The car have shiny colour on its left side while dark colour on the right side. Each sides have very different designs. The light side have wing patterns on it while the dark side have a tattered wing patterns on it.

"Why does my car have DARK colour on it!?" Luminous complained.

"And why does the car have LIGHT colour on it?" Luminous' dark side's anoyyed voice screamed in Luminous' head.

Lania, who was watching from a distance was awed by the car's design. Her eyes were glittering. Everyone who looked at her would definitely be caught by her adorable face. Why would the girl was only awed by Luminous' car and not Phantom's nor Mercedes' was mysterious. Did she have a thing for the light and dark things?

"Wow... Lumi's car is so cool~ I wish I can have one.." She muttered.

Kaiser stepped out to press the button. The car that emerged looked like a dragon. It has horns on its top with wings on its sides. The front have the shape of a dragon's head. Its tires were large and spiked. It was mainly red in colour.

Kaiser didn't comment about his car, only nodding in satisfaction.

"I still can't help but wonder, who is that red armored dude?" Hawkeye wondered. They have never seen the armored figure anywhere, even the armor have a very unique culture in it. Just how did Mr. Spigelmann managed to invite them is a mystery. No, even this whole carnival was mystery.

Ark can't help but feel suspicious of Mr. Spigelmann. During his adventures in Monster Park, he encounter several suspicious documents, which contained very suspicious pictures. Some of the picture featured Mr. Spigelmann taking pictures with Von Leon and some of it also featured him with Zakum. Right after that, he immediately interrogated that man. The man give some answer which doesn't make much sense but later he decided to pay some coins for those pictures. That man is a total enigma to him.

"Now that everyone have picked their cars, let the race begin! All participants please prepare for the race!" Mr. Spigelmann's voice shouted throughout the circuit.

"This had better be good.." Ark mumbled as everyone took position on the track.

Sorry for that the cliffhanger. I think the characters might be abit OOC... I just don't have that many time on my side. Updates will be rather slow as I lived in boarding schools. I only have soo much time to spend on my computer. I hope everyone enjoyed it. The real fun will be on the next chapter. Reviews and insights will be very appreciated!