Eva sat up in her bed and picked up a notebook full of drawings. Her mood was shattered when there was a knock at her door.
"Molly," Don called.
"I'm not coming out!" Eva shouted at him. She flipped to a blank page and began drawing a bad sketch of an angry Don.
"I know we have different opinions on things, especially in the last race, but we have found ourselves at a very critical point for the selections. We have to think of the team first," Don told her. "I think now is a good time to get together and talk things over, don't you?" he tried.
"Wrong!" Eva shouted. "Now is the perfect time to stay in my room and never come out!"
"You are impossible!" Don shouted, before storming away. Eva smirked and continued her drawings, getting angrier and angrier.
"All you do is take and give nothing in return, Don," Eva growled, crossing out her drawing. "You don't deserve a loving daughter like me, and I don't deserve a father like you!" Her door opened and she growled, throwing her notebook. "I said get lost!" Rick easily caught the notebook, causing Eva to gasp. "Rick, I'm sorry, I thought you were Don."
"Yeah," Rick smiled, looking at the drawings. "Oh, what's this? A drawing of the prince?" Rick asked with a smirk. He turned the notebook around, showing a drawing of Aikka and Eva, surrounded by a heart. Eva blushed and tried to grab the notebook out of his hands.
"Give it back!" She shouted, trying to grab it. Rick smiled and threw it towards the bed.
"Don't worry, you're secret's safe with me," Rick smiled. "Now get dressed little mouse, school is in session."
"What do you mean?" Eva asked.
"I'm your new coach," Rick smirked.
"I'll get changed, but I'm not leaving," Eva grumbled, pushing him out of her room.
"Hey! Let me go!" Eva shouted. After she had 'taken too long', Rick came back into the room and dragged her out of the room. Eva grabbed onto the elevator doors, trying to get him to let go. "I'm not in the mood! I don't want to go!" Rick smirked and pulled her, swinging her over his shoulder as he walked down the stairs. "Help! I'm being hijacked!" Eva shouted, hitting Rick's back. "HELP!" Rick walked outside to the small pool that was in the center of the ring of hangars. He placed her down and smirked.
"Alright, first thing's first, test your endurance," Rick smirked, walking over to the rocket seat, which was placed there earlier.
"In case you haven't noticed, these races are not a marathon!" Eva protested as she was forced to run. To further torture her, every time Eva got next to her rocket seat, Rick would speed up.
"You gotta keep up with me and stay beside me, little mouse!" Rick shouted at her. Eva groaned and continued running.
"Rick! This isn't funny! Why am I even running, anyway! I'm in perfect shape! Besides, I sit in a seat when I'm piloting! I don't need to run!" Eva shouted at him.
"Not bad," Rick smirked, timing the pilot.
"Thanks," Eva muttered sarcastically and as she slowed to a stop.
"For a girl," he added with a smirk.
"Fuck you Rick," She growled.
"Ready for another go?" Rick asked.
"Are you kidding?" Eva shouted in a mixture of shock and anger. "I've been running circles around this damn pool for hours!"
"Don't worry, it gets better," Rick smirked. "Soon you won't even feel the pain."
"Whatever…" Eva growled.
"Go get 'em tiger!" Rick cheered.
"I thought I was a mouse!" Eva shouted in frustration.
"Wow…she's really upset," Rick whistled. "I wonder if it's PMS."
"What is it that you so desperately want to talk to me about, Toros?" Aikka asked harshly. He did not like having to meet up in a darkened alley.
"I was just worrying that my ally had grown soft," Toros responded. And Aikka hated that even more. "I doubt your father would be pleased to hear what happened during the last race. Risking it all, just for a human girl," Toros growled.
"You know I won that race!" Aikka protested.
"It's a good thing you won, but now a new question begs to be answered. Have the Nourasians found new allies?" The Crog growled.
"Alliance does not mean servitude, Toros," Aikka answered. "And Molly has nothing to do with this! We have our own agenda, not the Crog agenda. I plan to win the Ultimate Prize."
"You're still young, prince Aikka, you have much to learn. I doubt your little Earth girlfriend can teach you anything," Toros growled.
"I said that Molly has nothing do with this so leave her out of it!" Aikka shouted, shocking himself.
"I won't disapprove if you're just stringing her along. Dump her soon and you'll be better. Remember who your true allies are," Toros threatened. "Remember to answer the call of the Crogs, whenever it comes," the large alien threatened, before walking away. Jordan, who had secretly followed the prince, growled softly.
"Call of the Crogs, huh? If only Molly were here to see this," he huffed. "Speaking of Molly, why was she brought up so many times? Why did Toros bring her up so many times…and why did he call her Aikka's girlfriend?" Jordan shook the thoughts off and followed Aikka out of the alleyway.
Aikka sighed and allowed his shoulders drop once he was out of the alleyway. "How did he find out about Eva?"
"Hello prince," Jordan greeted, landing on the ground with a thud. "You and I have some unfinished business."
"Really?" Aikka asked with fake shock. "As if breaking your word wasn't enough, now you have to spy?"
"Stay the hell away from Molly, or you'll regret it," Jordan threatened.
"Correct me if I am wrong, but does not she get to choose who can be near her?" Aikka asked.
"Shut up!" Jordan shouted. "I'm warning you now, just stay away from her!"
"Says who? Her guardian?" Aikka asked with a smirk.
"Says me! Her partner!" Jordan replied, punching at Aikka. The prince easily dodged each fist and quickly jumped back, taking off his cloak. "I suggest you leave while you still can!" Aikka shouted.
"You know, I've been waiting a hell of a long time for this," Jordan smirked, tightening his fist. The two stood silent before they both moved. Jordan aimed his fist at Aikka and Aikka jumped in the air, aiming his foot at Jordan.
"AHHH!"
"AHHH!" Eva shouted as she fell off a tall pole and into water.
"That was pathetic! Try again!" Rick shouted.
"Okay, but this is the last time!" Eva yelled, swimming over to the pole and climbing back up it.
"To achieve perfect balance you must become one breathing entity with the pole!" Rick shouted at her. Eva sighed and balanced herself on the first pole, and jumped to the second pole, trying to balance herself. Despite all her efforts, she still fell. "I had a feeling that control was not your strong suit! We'll try an easy one," Rick told her.
"This is gonna hurt like hell," Eva grumbled. She swam back over to the pole and climbed up it. After she took a deep breath she quickly hopped from pole to pole, not falling off once.
"Well, would you look at that," Rick muttered,
"So, what's next?" Eva asked, before diving off the pole. After a few minutes, Rick and Eva stood on the dock, staring at the ocean.
"Alright, you've got great technique, speed, and reflexes," Rick listed off "So why aren't you doing better?"
"I'm trying my best," Eva sighed "I'm just a girl, remember?"
"Don't' give me that shit," Rick muttered. "You're a star-racer pilot. A damn good one. What's holding you back?" Eva closed her eyes and the memories of her mother's crash came back to her.
"Nothing's holding me back," she answered.
"You know its motivation that gets you across the finish line. Why did you join the team anyway?" Rick asked. Eva closed her eyes once more, visions of Don surfacing. This time, she chose to stay quiet. "Okay, then why do you race?" Rick asked. Eva closed her eyes once more and saw herself as a five year old girl running towards a younger Don. She jumped into his arms, both of them laughing.
"I do it for my father," Eva answered after a moment.
"We're finally getting somewhere," Rick sighed. "I'm sure, back on Earth, your father thinks about you all the time."
"As if," Eva scoffed "he has no clue about all the things I do for him."
"Look, this is a great race, and you've made it so far, you can keep going," Rick encouraged. "Now, are you going to give up, or not."
"No, I'm not going to give up!" Eva declared.
"Good girl," Rick smiled, ruffling her hair.
The two walked into the hangar, viewing the Arrow II.
"What this ship needs is a little TLC," Rick hummed, walking over to a wall with spray paint.
"Are you sure?" Eva asked in shock.
"Sure I'm sure," Rick nodded, ruffling her hair once more. "Think of it as your last exercise of the day," he smiled, walking towards the stairs. Molly chuckled and grabbed a can of spray paint, shaking it.
"Yeah! Here goes nothing!"
Eva raced into the locker room, smiling. "Come on, Jordan! Let's go-What happened to your cheek?" She watched him quickly put a band-aid on and close his locker door.
"I fell, while choking on a pretzel," Jordan answered.
"Hey, Jordan, about yesterday," Eva called.
"Forget about it," Jordan shrugged, walking past her. "Come on, we have a race to win." He smiled, walking to the main pit. He froze when he saw the Star racer. "The hell is that?"
"A pink bunny head," Eva answered. On the left reactor was a pink rabbit head with large, sharp, white teeth.
"Do you have any idea what Don will do to you when he sees this?" Jordan asked.
"Rick's the one that told me to do it. He said it would raise my spirit! And it did!" Eva smiled, climbing up the ladder and into the cockpit.
"I bet other gunners don't have to race in a star-racer decorated with bunnies…" Jordan grumbled, climbing into the racer.
"Man, that was a hard race," Eva sighed, staring at the sunset. The Arrow II was parked on the beach and Jordan and Eva sat on the machine, staring at the sunset over the ocean.
"Yeah, but we finally won," Jordan smiled. "Hey, Molly?"
"What?" Eva asked, looking at him.
"I didn't get this bruise from falling," Jordan confessed. "I was walking through the marketplace and I saw the frog prince. I followed him and saw him meet up with Toros. Afterwards, I told him to stay away from you, and we got into a fight."
"Jordan…" Eva sighed," What Aikka does is his business; he was probably being threatened, so had no choice but to go. And I get to decide who I can hang out with, not you."
"Funny, that's what the prince said as well," Jordan smirked.
"And Aikka is right," Eva told him.
"But…the Crogs told him to always answer 'the call of the Crogs', and to remember who his 'true friends' were," Jordan told her.
"Jordan, please stop," Eva requested.
"But Molly, I'm just trying to warn you," Jordan protested. "I don't want to see you getting hurt."
"Jordan, don't start this, because you will not like where it leads," Eva warned him.
"Fine," Jordan sighed, leaning back. "There was also another thing that Toros said that caught my interest."
"Jordan, I asked you to stop, so please just stop!" Eva shouted. Jordan and Eva remained silent for a few more minutes before Jordan sighed.
"Toros called you Aikka's girlfriend," Jordan sighed. Eva froze and her eyes widened. "Is it true, is that why you didn't want to shoot Aikka? Is it because you l-!"
"Jordan that's ENOUGH!" Eva shouted, standing up. "My business is my business, and Aikka's business is his business." She sat back down, and stared at the sand, instead of the sinking sun. "Besides…I'm pretty sure Aikka never wants to see me again."