Please forgive meeeeeeeeeeeh!

As you all probably know I am zzz589zzz. And yes, I know I am a terrible person!

I know I promised this update forever ago! And I know how much you guys wanted it! I'm SO SORRY!

There was just so much going on that I didn't have the time! and then when I finished I was like "..No...this isn't enough" so I wrote another two pages to make it a good length!

So now, I am happy to finally present to you The Immortal Flame! Chapter 3! ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I do not own IGPX or any of its characters/ideas. I do however own Team Berseker. So don't take them away, please?

Chapter 3

A Meeting of Fate?

"What's she doing?" one of the men on the stadium cleaning crew muttered as he looked down onto the race tracks. Standing directly in his line of vision was a young girl with long, braided black hair. Dressed in a pair of black, knee length baggy shorts and a dark red hoodie, she was crouching down on the IGPX race tracks, staring at the marked race course as if it held some type of mystical treasure.

"Forget about her," another of the cleaners mumbled as he collected the last bit of trash in the area. "She isn't doing any harm. Let's finish up here and go grab some lunch," he said, nudging the other man away from the track and strange girl. Had the two men continued to watch the young girl, they would've seen her get up and walk on the track in a circle, glaring down at the road as if it was laughing at her.

Juliet St. Marc was frustrated. In fact, she was beyond frustrated. She'd been staring at the race track for the past hour or so, and still she felt nothing. No sense of nostalgia, no warm, fuzzy feeling. Nothing.

"Tony, that dirty liar," Juliet muttered, recalling her coaches "words of wisdom" at the previous meeting that had happened the night before.

"You've got to go somewhere to focus yourself Juliet," he'd said, as the two of them faced each in the meeting room after the rest of the team had gone home. "Our next big race is against Team Satomi, last year's champions. You need to calm down and try your hardest. Why don't you try going to the race tracks? A lot of great forwards say that standing on the tracks always gets them pumped for a race."

Juliet stared at the track for a few more moments, her expression going from confused, to mildly annoyed to downright pissed in a matter of minutes.

"I DON'T GET IT?" she shouted, stomping her foot on the track in an act of juvenile frustration. "WHAT THE HELL IS SO GREAT ABOUT A STUPID TRACK? It's there! I see it!" she said thrusting both her arms out to indicate the track in front of her. The young forward continued to curse out the race track that was before her, not even noticing as a young man stepped up behind her, watching her throw a fit with a curious and lazy expression. "Damn stupid track! You aren't so special! Why the hell am I supposed to sit around and stare at you? You big piece of-" Juliet shouted as she turned, only to come face to face with her curious observer.

Standing in front of her was a young boy who looked about three inches taller than her. He had messy black hair and lazy light brown eyes that were looking at her with a mild hint of amusement. Dressed in a light blue t-shirt, red jacket and a pair of baggy beige pants, he leaned to the side slightly as he watched the confused look on Juliet's face morph into one of recognition. For a few moments the two stared at each other before Juliet's eyes widened and she jumped back, raising a finger to point right between the boy's face.

"Oh my God! You're Takashi Jin!" she cried as the Team Satomi forward smiled at her and raised a hand.

"Hey," Takashi greeted, not even bothering to acknowledge the shocked expression on his fellow forward's face.

-IGPX-

"Here you go champ, two dogs with everything on them. On the house," the hot dog vender said, handing two steaming hot dogs to Takashi, who gave the man a lopsided smile.

"Thanks man," he said before going over to the bench where Juliet sat, curled up into a ball as she hugged her knees to her chest. "Here," Takashi smiled, handing her one of the hot dogs before taking a seat next to her on the bench. Juliet stared at the hot dog with mild curiosity before she took a bite out of it.

"Thanks," she mumbled through a mouth full of hot dog. Takashi nodded, pleased with her reaction, before he took a bite into his own dog. The two forwards sat in silence, calmly eating their make-shift lunch as they stared off at the cliff side view of the city. After a few moments of silence, Takashi glanced over at Juliet, now finished with her hot dog.

"All better?" he asked as Juliet sat very still for a moment before nodding. Takashi's calm expression slipped into a smile as he turned his attention back to the view in front of them. "So, I'm gonna go ahead and guess that you were at the tracks today cause of tomorrow's big race," he said before finishing off the rest of his hot dog.

"You got that right," Juliet sighed as she handed Takashi her tin foil as he got up to throw away his own. "I don't get how you big IGPX players do it, always so calm and in control. Aren't you the least bit worried about tomorrow?" she asked as she looked over at Team Satomi's forward. Takashi put his hand into his pocket as he leaned from side to side, pondering the question.

"Well…yeah, course I am," he said, sitting back down next to her. "Everyone gets nervous. That's one of the best parts about being an IGPX racer," he said looking at her with a knowing smile. Juliet frowned at the young forward in front of her.

'What's with this guy?' she thought as she watched Takashi get up and stretch slightly. 'He's younger than me by like…a year or two. And he's only been in the IG-1 for that long. How come he gets this better than I do?" Takashi turned back to her before giving her a wide grin.

"What? Still don't get it?" he said as Juliet's cheeks flushed slightly with embarrassment. The two forwards stared each other down for a moment before Juliet pushed herself up off the bench.

"So what if I don't?" she frowned pointing a finger at him, her expression irritated. "You experienced IG-1 racers think you know everything. How am I supposed to get it if all you do is sit there and laugh at me," Juliet snapped, glaring at him the whole time. Takashi watched the frustrated racer in front of him as she breathed in and out, trying to calm her unexpected anger. After a few moments of silence, Takashi stepped forward and put his hand on top of hers, lowering it back down to her side.

"I know it's frustrating," he said as the two racers stared each other down, bright brown eyes meeting dark chocolate eyes. Takashi let go of Juliet's hand before he smiled slightly at her. "I started off being really frustrated about all this too. I mean come on, it's the IG-1!" he said looking back out towards the city. "Of course I was nervous," he sighed, putting both his hands in his pockets. Juliet frowned slightly in confusion before she stepped up next to the Team Satomi forward.

"So, how do I stop being frustrated?" Juliet mumbled crossing her arms across her chest self-consciously, staring out at the city as well. Takashi smiled slightly before looking over at her.

"You stick by your team," he said reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. "You follow your heart to what you think is the best path." Juliet blinked over at him with confusion, but Takashi had already turned to look back at the city. "When I realized I was in the IG-1, like really realized it, I totally freaked. I bombed our first race and blew up at everybody," he said with a sigh. "But that's just the half of it. Getting to the championship race was one of the biggest challenges I've ever faced." Takashi finally turned away from the cliff side view to place a hand on either one of Juliet's shoulders as he turned her towards him. "That's why you have to stick with your team. Believe in them and believe in yourself," he said before his serious expression shifted to a boyish grin. "Otherwise you're gonna have a wise cracking, know-it-all defender yelling at you with every chance she gets." Juliet blinked up at the forward before her face slipped into a frown.

"Wait….what? Know-it-all defender? What're you talking about Jin?" she said as Takashi laughed lightly and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Nothing nothing. Hey come on, let's check out the city and see what they have set up for our big race tomorrow," he said before tugging her towards the city. Juliet let out yelps of surprise and curse words as the other forward ran ahead of her into the late afternoon of the bustling city.

-IGPX-

'Man….what a weird day,' Juliet thought as she walked back to her apartment building, her hands in her pockets as she kept her head down, her hoodie blocking anyone from seeing her face. The last thing she wanted was for any unsuspecting fan to catch her out in the open and tackle her for an autograph. "I gotta stop running into random forwards who keep trying to get on my case," she muttered as she walked into her apartment building. The superintendent glanced up as he watched the forward walk in.

"Evening Juliet," he said as Juliet gave a very un-lady like grunt in response, checking her mail box across from his desk. "You've got a guest upstairs. Some interesting young man who insisted on waiting for you," the superintendent chuckled, not noticing the look of surprise on Juliet's face. The old man blinked as he watched Juliet freeze up at her mail box. "Juliet? Is something wrong?" he asked. The young pilot glanced back at him with a nervous smile.

"Nah, nothing's wrong," she said before rushing past him and up the stairs towards her apartment. The superintendent frowned as he glanced past his desk to watch her run.

"Well…that was odd," the old man muttered before he went back to reading his newspaper.

-IGPX-

"So you finally decided to come home, huh Juliet?"

Juliet frowned slightly as she looked at the older pilot who had rooted himself in front of her apartment door.

"Cunningham," she said, acknowledging him with a curt nod, which only seemed to amuse the Velshtein forward even more. "Is there a reason you've camped out in front of my apartment?" Juliet asked as she made her way over to him, casually pulling out her keys as if nothing was wrong. Cunningham watched her for a moment before putting his hands in his pockets and letting a calm, confident expression spread across his face.

"I wanted to see how you were feeling before your big match with Takeshi, that's all," he said, making a point to ignore the twitch of irritation that crossed Juliet's face. She hated that about him; that he would only pay attention to the forwards and ignore the rest of the team. Cunningham kept his eyes on her as Juliet fiddled with her keys in thought before she glanced up to meet his gaze.

"I'll have you know that I just ran into Takeshi," she said watching him for any reaction; she got nothing. Not even a flicker of surprise. Cunningham just held her eyes for a moment before nodding and taking a step away from her apartment door. Juliet took his actions as an invitation to leave the conversation, which she gladly accepted. Stepping forward with her apartment keys at the ready, she quickly unlocked her front door and stepped into her apartment. She was about to shut the door behind her when she noticed Cunningham hadn't left her floor yet; he just stood there, watching her.

"….Anything else, Cunningham, sir?" she asked after what seemed like forever, making a point to ad in the title he didn't seem to enjoy. For a moment, Juliet swore she saw the corners of his lips tilt upwards into a genuine smile, but the moment passed as he turned to leave.

"I'd keep an eye out for Takeshi's kendo moves, if I were you," he called with a wave of his hand before he disappeared down a flight of stairs. Juliet stayed at the front door, staring out into the hallway with an expression of pure surprise. There was no excuse, no explanation for his actions; yet she couldn't find the energy to chase after him and demand he explain himself. With a sigh, she turned away from the front door as it swung shut behind her.

"Stupid prick," she muttered as she went over to the laptop that sat on her small sitting room table, wondering if she could find any clips of important kendo moves online.

-IGPX-

"I don't think I've ever seen you this tired love," Aiden said as the members of Team Berserker made their way to meet with Boku for their final maintenance check. Juliet glanced up at the midfielder, who had an arm around her shoulders, before sighing.

"Yeah, I was up all night checking up on Takeshi's moves for today's race," she said leaning against him as Carmen reached over and smoothed her hair out of her face. Juliet smiled slightly over at the defender before muffling a yawn. She'd been up all night reviewing videos on kendo moves and had come up with a few ideas on how to block anything Takeshi might pull, but her lack of sleep was catching up to her.

"Everything will be fine Juliet," Carmen said softly as she gave the young forward a reassuring smile. "You will do wonderfully mon cher."

"I hope you're right Carmen," Juliet sighed as she moved away from Aiden to stretch out her arms, trying to get the blood in her veins to flow faster. As the team rounded a corner, they nearly crashed into the pilots of Team Satomi. Aiden reached out to steady Juliet as she took a step back in surprise, looking up at the opposing team with a half-awake expression. Takeshi didn't seem to notice her exhaustion; he just smiled and gave her a reassuring wave.

"Good luck today Juliet," he beamed, ignoring the confused expression his midfielder gave him and the suspicious one his defender shot at him. Juliet gapped up at him for a moment before snapping out of her daze as Aiden nudged her slightly.

"Oh, right! Thanks to you too," she smiled before side stepping the team and continuing on her way. Takeshi watched the team leave with a pleased expression before he turned and continued heading towards the Team Satomi hangar.

"Hey, Takeshi! What was that all about?" Liz, Team Satomi's defender, frowned warily as she followed after him, their midfielder Amy bringing up the rear. Takeshi glanced back at Liz before giving her a lazy smile.

"Nothing Liz, just being nice," he shrugged before he continued on his way, totally oblivious to her unusually irritated expression and Amy's confused, nervous smile.

-IGPX-

"It's about time you two got here," Jan Michael, Velshtein's midfielder, said as his two teammates joined him in their exclusive viewing area. Similarly, many of the other teams had come to the viewing room to get a better look at the upcoming race between Team Berserker and Team Satomi. Cunningham shrugged off Jan's comment as he took a seat in an available arm chair, leaving the other side of the couch Jan was on for Dew, their defender, to sit on.

"I had something I needed to take care of," Cunningham said casually as he turned his attention towards the screen as one of the reporters met Team Berserker down in their hanger for a last minute interview.

"Same, sorry Jan," Dew said with a slight smile as he paid his teammate a proper apology as he too turned towards the live interview. Jan rolled his eyes at Cunningham's response before turning to Dew.

"Oh please, you were probably off planning something for that defender you're so smitten for," Jan scoffed good-naturedly as Dew shrugged with a smile. "And Cunningham was most likely trying to dig up as much information as possible on Berserker's forward," he said glancing over at his team leader. Cunningham didn't even glance away from the screen as he watched Juliet tell the reporter how excited she was for a race against last year's champions. After a moment he turned away from the interview to glance over at his two teammates.

"Did you two say something?" he asked, although he gave them both a knowing smirk. Jan gapped at the response as Dew guffawed at the forward's cool, confident answer. Having put the midfielder in his proper place, Cunningham turned his attention back towards the race.

'Alright rookie, let's see what you can do,' he thought as he watched Benjamin Bright count down the beginning of the race.

To. Be. Continued.

And there you have it folks! Chapter 3! Man I really hope I wrote Teams Satomi and Velshtein okay! I think I might've made Takeshi a little too philosophical, but come on! He's done this twice already. I'm sure he's grown up a little.

I also hope you guys like Velshtein's little back and forth! Gotta love those guys. But, on to more important business.

Cunningham and Takeshi seem to be pretty in control of their teams, don't you think? So I'm proposing a question to all you IGPX fans out there.

Who's your favorite team forward/leader? Is it cool, collected Cunningham? Easy going Takeshi? Or even my OC, overly enthusiastic, tomboy Juliet? All of the current IGPX team forwards have been selected as possible choices. Vote on my poll to pick who you think is the best and I'll dedicate a chapter to the winner. I'll even write it from his/her perspective! So what do you guys say? Up to the challenge?

This might just be fun! Well see you guys next time on Chapter 4!

Remember, read, review, PICK YOUR FAVORITE TO WIN!

This is zzz589zzz, signing out ;)