AN: Sorry about the delay.

Motorous 5

Chapter Two

As the Nourasian ship passed overhead, Eva felt fifteen again. It was as if red dye still stained the top of her hair, and her veins still flowed with endless determination. The flaming space ship was G'dar, Prince Aikka's mount in the Great Race of Oban, and she was once again the pilot to the Whizzing Arrow.

"Move." The words came out of her without hesitation. Devin just gave her a confused look and replied with a startled "what?".

"Get out of the seat before I push you out," Eva commanded. It took a few more moments before Devin's shocked brain registered that look in her eyes, and a another second for him to bring the vehicle to a stop so he could move out of the way.

It took far too long to Eva—she was a star-racer pilot again, and to star-racers, mere moments meant everything. As soon as Devin had moved, her palm was gripping the stick shift, and her feet had the engine roaring. The poor shuttle was racing forward at a speed the manufacturers had probably never dreamed of—up ahead, the Nourasian vessel crashed into the ground with a sound so loud it made the air thick, and Eva could only wish this shuttle had a hyperdrive.

Stan was shouting at her in alarm, and trying to convince Devin to wrestle the stick shift out of her grip, but just like so many times back on Oban, Eva ignored him completely, focusing only on her destination.

The shuttle bounced as she drove them off the runway and closer to the crash site—the flames had reached a rather impressive height, and it looked like there soon wouldn't be anything left of the space ship to salvage. Devin watched in horror as Eva's left foot hit the clutch, and her right hand slammed the stick into reverse—instantaneously killing the shuttle's engine. She set the clutch to neutral, slammed on the breaks, and the shuttle's momentum sent it spinning across the rocky ground of Motorous 5, only stopping a few yards away from the burning heap.

Again, Eva ignored Stan's shouts as she leap from the driver's seat and hit the ground running. Through the smoke, she could see an opening into the hull of the crashed ship. Just like in the old days, Eva raced forward without a second thought.

It was like entering a warm house after walking miles through a blizzard—the sudden change in temperature made Eva pause for a moment. Despite how often she inhaled the fumes of burning rubber, and scorching metal at the shop, the concentration of the smell inside the wreck was strong enough to make her immediately raise a hand to cover her nose.

The inside of the ship had large and spacious pathways, which has stopped the fire from spreading too much for the time being. The heat however, should have driven her away if the smell had not; it wouldn't be long until the whole place became a giant oven. She kicked down a door and made her way deeper into the ship. It didn't take long to reach what she assumed was the control room. The place was decorated in those swirling patterns that the Nourasians were so fond of, flames, and two bodies. The first had black hair and was dressed in an outfit similar to the one Aikka had worn during the Great Race. He lay draped over the controls of the ship, with a piece of the ceiling protruding from his back. There was no doubt that he was dead.

The second Nourasian was the only one Eva cared out though. Despite the harsh light from the flames and the wrinkles that Eva didn't remember seeing before, she was certain that the man slumped against the wall was none other than Prince Aikka. Lucky for him, he seemed to be luckier than his companion—he was still breathing.

With that old determination flowing through her veins, Eva pulled the Prince's broken body on to her back and fled the ship.

If asked about the trip back to their hanger, Eva would later admit sheepishly that she didn't remember it that well. The only thing she had been focused on was getting Aikka to safety. It seemed that the Prince had not only been knocked unconscious in the crash, but also broken a few of his ribs, broke his right arm, dealt him a small concussion, and left him with a huge assortment of burns.

Thankfully, Stan knew a decent amount about first aid, and was able to set Aikka's arm and dress some of the burns. First, Stan carefully removed Aikka's armor and outer clothing so he could better treat the Prince's injuries. Eva was frozen. As the armor disappeared piece by piece, Aikka began to look less like the prince she remembered from the Great Race, and more and more unfamiliar. With his shoulder plates removed, his shoulders seemed so much smaller and less proud. With the sleeves gone, Eva noticed old scars that even the fresh burn marks couldn't hide all over his arms. With his shirt gone, Eva noticed how tight his skin seemed to fit around his ribs; she couldn't help but wonder when he had last eaten. With his head piece removed, his hair fell from the three distinct ponytails and clung to his skull like an angry bird's nest. A harsh tan line showed where the crown had once clung to his forehead.

When Stan was done, Aikka was more bandages than anything else. He looked pitiful, laying there on the guest bed, barely breathing. Eva couldn't take her eyes off him; the man she had once thought of as majestic and strong had transformed into someone so small and fragile.

Devin was the first to break the silence.

"Molly…you do realize who this is, right?"

Molly snapped out of her daze to meet Devin's grey eyes with her own harsh red orbs. She always forgot that he had never learned her real name.

"Prince Aikka of Nourasia..." She paused for a moment. "I never thought I would see him again."

Stan butt in before Devin could demand how Eva knew the sole heir to the Nourasian crown. "What I'm worried about is why he's here, in Earth's territory, and what the hell happened to him. Last time I checked, we're exactly on friendly terms with the Nourasians…"

"…He could have been piloting his ship too close to Earth territory and been shot down by one of our battle cruisers," Koji ventured, seemingly deep in thought. "But why would he be all the way out here? We're lightyears away from Nourasia…"

"The coward was running," Devin spat out. Everyone turned to look at him, surprised. "Am I the only one who pays any attention to the news? The Crogs and the Nourasians have had shaky relations for years now, and not too long ago the Crogs finally snapped and declared War on Nourasia. Not that they had to declare war to raze the place to the ground. The only way this man could be here today is if he abandoned his people to the Crogs and fled his planet with his tail between his legs."