Chapter 9: Small Window
Kurt
Kurt had just reached the other side of the wall of vines, getting back onto real track. The Hyperpod lowered its cockpit down to the track, and the front opened up. "Thanks for the ride!" Kurt said, before taking off.
Porkchop and Monkey
The two friends had just made it through the wall of vines, Porkchop laughing in excitement. Once the Hyperpod reached the track, it lowered its spoiler down, making an exit ramp for them. Porkchop got out, and continued the race.
Lupus
Lupus had finally overtaken the giant tree roots, reaching flat track. Once he was there, the Hyperpod opened its front, making a jump ramp for him. "Man, I'm gonna miss this thing!" Lupus said to himself. He drove off to finish the Realm.
Vert
Vert looked into the distance, and noticed the portal. "Hey! I can see the end of the track!" he told everyone at the Acceledrome. After hearing this Carlos smiled, but Chuck got suspicious. "Well, that was easy!" Carlos said. "Yeah. TOO easy!" Chuck said with suspicion Back with Vert, he noticed something just off the track. Once he got a good look, the black of his pupil shrank. It was some sort of wooden swamp monster. It opened its eyes and roared. Vert immediately floored his gas to get away. But a bunch of vines started chasing him. Vert was getting close, but once he was in the green part of the track, the vines caught his car, raising it away from the track. Meanwhile, RD-L1 was just entering that area. The vines started getting close, so he activated his Monument Realm Accelecharger, and became 2-Dimensional. The vines had missed his car, since something 3-Dimensional required all three dimensions in order to grasp it. With Vert, the vines had slipped into his car, and were holding his arms. He struggled, but got his arms free. He quickly activated his grappling hook, and shot it towards RD-L1's car. As soon as it sinked in, the car regained its third dimension. It was going so fast, that Vert's grappling line just tore like string. However, the vines had finally caught his car, and raised it away from the track. The Drone was outraged, and screamed in anger. Meanwhile, Porkchop and Monkey had just arrived as well. Porkchop kept trying to dodge the vines. "If we go fast enough, they won't even be able to catch us!" Monkey said. "It's no good trying to dodge the vines, Porkchop!" Lani said. "She's right." Carlos said, "They're too agile to dodge." "Drive, drive, DRIVE!" Monkey said, "USE THE NITROX!" Porkchop pushed a button under his dashboard, and activated his Nitrox². His car suddenly popped a wheelie, leaving behind two trails of orange flames. "WOAH!" Monkey said as they barely dodged another vine. "Stay in the groove, Porkchop!" Monkey said. There were two vines coming up, and Porkchop tried to dodge them. But he was caught and raised away from the track. Another vine came up from ahead quick. "LOOK OUT!" Monkey yelled. The vine hit the car, and the transmission cut out. "You did not stay in the groove, Porkchop." Monkey said in a mentor tone. "You did not stay in the groove, Porkchop." Porkchop mimicked angrily. Amy and Sonic were next. Amy tried frequently to dodge the vines, but was caught. Even Sonic wasn't fast enough. He used his Nitrox, and dodged almost every vine with agility. But he missed one from his right, and was also caught. Drone Sonic soon came in, and dodged every vine without any effort. One was coming up too fast to dodge, so Drone Sonic used his Monument Realm Accelecharger, and sliced through the vine. But as soon as he turned back to normal, another vine snuck up from behind, and successfully caught his car. Soon, a vine got in, and took his Accelecharger away, throwing it into the bog. "NOO!" he yelled in anger, "I WILL NOT LET US FAIL! Drone Knuckles, RD-T1, where are you!" "Just passing you!" Drone Knuckles said. Drone Sonic looked out his window, and saw an RD-05 and an RD-01 passing by. A vine came up and tried to strike them, but a second later, it fell to the ground, dead. This kept up for ten seconds, over and over, but one was able to catch both of them. RD-T1's crystal suddenly went red, and he showed his teeth. He wasn't going to be humiliated by a bunch of vines. He started cutting the vines that held them, but they kept coming in to keep them contained. RD-T1 knew he couldn't keep it up, so he just went back to his car. Meanwhile (I know, too many meanwhiles), Lupus just arrived. He kept trying to dodge the vines, but they were too quick, and caught him. Mina, Silver, and Blaze had gotten close to the portal, but they were swerving around too much, and got caught as well. Even Shadow couldn't make it. Lani turned to Dr. Tezla and Eggman. "The Nitrox isn't enough!" she said, "They'll have to go even faster! There's only one way." "Who do we have left?" Carlos asked. Tikal looked at her screen. "Nolo, Tork, Mark, Kurt, Shirako, Tails, Stryke, Mirage, Honey, Blizzard, Manic, Sonya, Vector, Pak, Taro, Rouge, and Knuckles." Tikal said. "Let's hope they have better luck." Chuck said. Back in the Realm, Tork and Nolo were passing through. "Nolo, Tork, you're going to have to draft together!" Lani said, "It's the only way to get more speed!" "Yeah! That's right, Nolo!" Tork said, "You could drive behind me! Where you Teku trash belong!" This made Nolo mad. He took off his necklace, and shifted gears with the chain in his hand. He attempted to pass Tork. "Nolo! What are you doing!" Lani yelled. "WATCH ME!" Nolo said. Markie came up from behind Nolo, and rammed his car out of the way. "Come on, Tork!" Markie said, "You can draft with me!" Markie got in front of Tork, and Tork started drafting with him. "YEAH! JUST YOU AND ME, BABY!" Tork said. They started gaining a lot of speed. Meanwhile with Monkey and Porkchop, the vines were starting to attack them. One of them came into Porkchop's window, and he grabbed it. Then he did the most unexpected thing: Porkchop chomped the vine! It quickly got out and left him alone. Another one on Monkey's side had torn the door off. "WOAH!" he said. He looked at the track and saw Tork and Markie speeding through. "WYLDE! Stay in the middle of the track!" he yelled. "SCRAP IT, MONKEY!" Markie yelled. "The groove is stickier! It's got better traction!" Monkey yelled. "NOBODY tells WYLDE what to do!" Markie said angrily. He kept ignoring Monkey's words, and in return, the vines caught him. Soon after, they caught Tork, too. Kurt was trying to get to the end, but he was too far into the sides of the track, and they were slowing him down. The vines caught him, too. Honey and Blizzard were passing by, trying to draft as well, but they couldn't stay in the middle, and were caught. Rouge and Knuckles were next. Rouge had finally managed to stay focused. But Knuckles wanted to get her back. Rouge was going to try to draft with him, but he rammed her out of his way. Since Knuckles was alone in his speed, and Rouge had stopped, they were both caught. "W-What's going on?" Lani asked worried, "WHAT'S HAPPENING!" "They...didn't make it, Lani." Vert said, losing his hope. Suddenly, the RD-L1 broke through his windshield and grabbed his neck. Vert had freaked out. "You're head is next, human!" the Drone said. Vert was saved, however, by the swamp ogre that was chasing everyone. It was hanging on a tree by one hand. It grabbed the bottom half of the Drone, and started pulling it apart. Vert was amazed. The Accelerons might've made the Realms lethal, but they still protected the drivers from the Drones. He was cut from his thoughts as another vine grabbed his arm again. A vineworm was getting ready to eat Tork's car. A mosquito was going to attack Porkchop and Monkey. Everyone was endangered.
Nolo's POV
Everyone was caught by the vines. It was up to me to finish this race. I turned my car back around and started driving to end it. Two Drones had started chasing me. As I drove, I looked at my brother's chain, and had a flashback. "You tryin to take my place?" Tone said, "You wanna be the leader now, little bro?" "I don't know, man." I said, "Being leader. Sounds like a heavy load." "It's like taking a curve, bro!" Tone told me, "It's not the hard part trying to find the right line. The hard part is STAYING IN IT! Just remember, bro, stay in the groove!" I flashed back into reality. "You've got the groove, Tone." I said. "NO! LISTEN TO ME!" Lani yelled, "You HAVE to wait for another car to draft with!" "If he waits," Dr. Tezla said, "the Drones will win." Lani kept going at it. "You can't make it on your own, Nolo!" she told me. "I'll MAKE IT!" I said, "...if I stay in the groove." I was going at 120. I almost got into the green track, but I quickly got back in the middle. I started gaining more speed. One of the Drones behind me started charging an energy blast. I saw the portal up ahead. "I CAN SEE THE END!" I yelled excitedly. The Drone shot its energy cannon. Lucky for me, some vines blocked the track behind me, and took the damage instead. One of the Drones was caught, and the other one was smashed by the vines. I used my Nitrox² to get more speed. I popped a brief wheelie, leaving two trails of blue flames behind me. The vines started trying to block my way to the portal, but I shifted my next gear and floored it. I made it through the portal. When I returned to the Acceledrome, I stopped where I landed. Then some small light showed up in my car, and a small chip appeared, hovering in its spot. I grabbed the chip and looked at it. I got an Accelecharger.
Normal POV
Once Nolo exited the Realm, the portal shot a giant wave all across the Realm. A vineworm was just about to eat Tork, but it pulled away, and the vines had retracted. Everyone's cars had started falling back onto the track. The giant swamp monster that controlled the vines had started losing its color, and remained silent. RD-L1's car had fallen onto the track in pieces, and the other Drones just left it there. One of the RD-S1's had picked up their deck of Accelechargers. They still only had four. They, after picking up Drone Sonic, Drone Knuckles, and RD-T1, exited the Realm with bad news for Gelorum. Pretty soon, Shirako and Tails arrived into the scene. Shirako stopped by Vert, and Vert got in. "Oh, dude, giddy up!" Shirako said. "Grr, stupid stereo-onwaves!" Porkchop cursed under his breath, before chomping on his chain bone. Everyone started exiting the Realm, and returning to the Acceledrome, safe. Vert stepped out of Shirako's car. "Hey, thanks for the lift." Vert thanked him. "Yo!" Shirako said. Soon, Vector had finally exited the Realm, still towing Banjee's former car. The portal closed, and the rings started shifting back into place. Everyone was down to where the cars had stopped. Nolo was looking at his Accelecharger when Gig came up to him. "Dr. Tezla and Dr. Eggman would like to study that." he said. "Just make sure he gives it back." Nolo said, handing him the Accelecharger. "Vector, what is this?" Dr. Eggman asked. "I found it in the Swamp Realm." Vector answered, "I think it might be Banjee's car. I wanted to take it back here for you and Dr. Tezla to look at." Dr. Tezla and Eggman came over and looked at it. "Indeed it is, Vector." Dr. Tezla said, "I am the only one capable of making this technology. This car belonged to former world-racer, Banjee Castillo." "Banjee was in the Realms too?" Kurt asked. "Most likely." Dr. Tezla answered. "There must be another headquarters that's studying the same as us." Carlos said. Suddenly, everyone heard a familiar voice laughing in the Acceledrome. "Kadeem?" Vert asked in hope. "You recognize the recording of Kadeem's voice." Dr. Tezla said, "Kadeem didn't drive for revenge. He drove because he knew the Racing Drones had to be stopped! We have work to do." "Vector, bring Banjee's car to my garage." Dr. Eggman said, "I'll start repairing it, and looking it over. There should be some footage left." Everyone started driving their cars back to their sides of the Acceledrome. But Vert just stood there, hoping that his fellow driver was alright. Sonic walked up to him. "Come on, Vert." he said, "We need to get ready for the next race. I'm sure Kadeem's fine." They both walked back to the Teku garage.
RD-L1's POV
Everything was black until I rebooted, and saw Gelorum standing in front of me. "Your memories have been transferred to a new body." she informed me, "If you fail me again, I'll erase them." "Yes, Gelorum." I said. "We cannot let the organics win!" she said, "We'll have to create something they haven't seen. Something NO-ONE has ever seen!"
To be continued...
