Part two of chapter 9 is served!

"Let's make a deal."

"Please, let's not."

"I think we should."

"Quiet!"

"Aw, let the boy make a deal!"

"No. As his older brother, I say he can't!"

"Speed!"

"I said no. I really don't want Pops killing me for letting you get killed."

"But it'd be my fault…"

"Doesn't matter, he'd still kill me!"

-Speed, Spritle, and Togokhan, Road to Freedom

"So…what's your name?" Speed asked, bored, as the guard continued to lead them up.

He glanced behind him. "…Marcus."

"How are you, Marcus?" X asked, doing the same as Speed and trying to make conversation.

"Uh, good. Good, I guess. Why are you talking to me?"

"They're bored," Spritle informed the man dully.

"Ah, a couple of those, eh?" Marcus said knowingly.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"You talking about us up there?" X asked, causing Speed and Marcus to break into peals of laughter.

"No duh they're talking about us!" Speed choked out, clapping X's shoulder.

Spritle rolled his eyes. "Only you, Speed, would laugh at this!" he called behind him.

Speed shrugged. "Gotta do something to keep my mind from worrying," he said. X looked sympathetically at him.

"You thinking about what I think you're thinking about?" he asked.

"Well, if you're thinking I'm thinking about what you think I'm thinking about, and I really am, then yeah."

"I do believe I'm thinking about the same thing you're thinking."

"All right, what are you two thinking about?!" Spritle cried, spinning around and causing Speed to trip. Speed grabbed X's shoulder, and he fell as well. The three ended in a tangle on the floor with Marcus looking down at them.

Marcus shook his head. "You guys are a bunch of clowns," he snorted. "No, I take that back. I've seen better break-ins by clowns! What were you thinking, trying to take on Togokhan Industries?!"

"Lots of stuff," Speed said, standing after he'd extracted himself. "We were thinking about this, obviously. Some other thoughts, from me at least, were of my girl, baby names, hope that we wouldn't get caught…"

"All right, I get the point!" Marcus shouted. "Let's-let's just keep going. Please? I really don't want to look like a fool!"

"Fine," X groaned, then muffled under a cough, "Killjoy."

"Quiet!"

SRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSR

Soon enough, they reached the office of the CEO, whom X had seen leaving the Inspector's office just-was it really just 6 hours previously? Togokhan was turned in his chair, facing a large television screen.

"The men who were breaking in," Marcus said promptly, bowing and backing out of the office.

"Sit, gentlemen, sit," Togokhan waved, still not having turned. After a minute when whatever he was watching turned to commercial, he turned and grinned at them.

"So, you attempted to break in, huh?"

"Well, when you say it like that, it sounds so-depressing. Almost like we hadn't gotten in yet! We did make it in; we even made it to the fourth floor!" Speed said, almost laughing in spite of the grave situation.

Togokhan did laugh, but it was a frightening sound. "That you did. I must congratulate you all on a job well done. Or something of that sort."

"Oh great, he's one of THOSE," X muttered.

"So gentlemen, what did you think of my building? At least what you've seen, anyway," Togokhan asked, leaning back and propping his fingertips together.

"Really nice, actually," Spritle said, plopping himself on the ground.

"Yeah, but I expected more guards," X added, crossing his arms.

"Your venting needs work, though. I'm pretty sure it's not up to code," Speed said, motioning at the walls.

Togokhan waved a hand. "Petty things," he said with a feral smile. "On a grand scale, it will make no difference. With Royalton out of the way, thanks to you two and my son, Togokhan Industries was the next biggest company, perfectly positioned to take over should Royalton screw up. And, of course, he did by attempting to use an illegal item in that race. The fool sealed his own fate, naturally. TI just…helped it along, I guess you could say." The Asian man leaned forward then, a steely glint in his eyes. "Let's make a deal."

"Please, let's not."

"I think we should," Spritle chimed in.

"Quiet!" X shushed.

"Aw, let the boy make a deal!"

"No. As his older brother, I say he can't!" Speed said, glaring once more.

"Speed!"

"I said no. I really don't want Pops killing me for letting you get killed."

"But it'd be my fault…" Togokhan said, rather confused.

"Doesn't matter, he'd still kill me!"

"Trust me, I know their father. He'd do it too," X said, backing Speed's claim.

Togokhan faked a long-suffering sigh. "Pity, they all say that."

"Who, the yahoos you hire?"

"Ah ha ha, very funny. No, the others that fool of an inspector has sent."

"You're working with him," X said, to Speed's shock. "That's what happened to the others. My guess? You needed people to test out defenses, or something. He found you the guys to do it. You were preparing it for something." He paused, then added, "Or someone."

"And when they weren't enough," Speed cut in, just before Togokhan could answer, "you decided that the best way was to take out Royalton. That's why Taejo was trying to incriminate Royalton. He said that he didn't really have information right after we'd won, that he was trying to affect your stocks. You…" Speed trailed off, eyes widening. "You trained someone, enough that they could get into Royalton Industries to get evidence, and waited for the right moment to let it out." He shook his head, applauding. "I have to admit, that's pretty genius of you. But," he added, "it wasn't quite enough, was it? I know, you've been fixing races for years. But what you needed was someone on your side to win it, but Royalton's were obviously the best. By taking out their employer, you'd get the best. Your revenues would soar. And so would the gambling ring's."

"I must admit, you are putting together a lot of evidence against me," Togokhan said, smiling again. "You've even gotten a lot of it right. But there is one thing you missed."

"Oh, I know where this is going," Speed groaned.

Togokhan didn't reply, just continued with, "You, Speed, and you, Racer X. You two are the best racers there are in this world. I want you both on my team."

Neither got a chance to reply, as Taejo chose that moment to burst in. "Oh, so I'm not good enough, am I? Going to send me off packing and hire these two losers?"

Togokhan massaged his temples. "Taejo-"

"No, Dad! I WILL prove myself to you!" He turned to Speed and X. "All right, which one of you wants to race me to show him who REALLY is a winner?! Huh?! Any takers?! Come on, don't be wimps!"

"Taejo, shut up a minute!" Speed and X practically screamed at the same time!

"We really don't want to work for your dad," X explained.

"You…don't?" Taejo asked.

"'Course not," Speed said. "What's he got to offer us?"

"Your lives, perhaps?" Togokhan said, pressing a button on his desk. Several guards burst in, two grabbing Spritle and the others guarding all exits.

"Yeah, that might be something worth it," Speed said to X.

"I have a deal for you," Togokhan said. "You both race against Taejo. If he wins, he stays, you three are allowed to go. If either of you win, both of you work for me and Taejo finds other work. But," he added, "if you lose intentionally or refuse to race, the three of you die."

DUN DUN DUN! OK, so, no, not really a cliff-hanger. Next chapter WILL BE IT FOR CHAPTER 9! I promise!