Chapter 12: Thrills and Excitement
Lovelace, Left and Rosey were in the back of the pack, struggling through the blizzard, trying to follow the tire tracks of the Mach 5 and GRX so they wouldn't have to stop. Lovelace and Rosey, who were both locked in an intense battle, they went to each side of Left Roardon and passed him, Left backed down so he wouldn't become a part of a possible accident. "These girls have gotta be more careful." Left commented.
"Ms. Lovelace, please back down before it get's too dangerous." Halfdollar suggested.
"I can't, Halfdollar. I…" Lovelace stopped as she saw a huge orange glow and got distracted. The GRX had come equipped after all, blowing fire from the front of the car with dual flame throwers. As her focus faltered, becoming fixated on the fire, her car drifted right into Rosey's, catching her left-front tire on the sharp corner of Rosey's car, tearing it to pieces! "Ahhhh!" Lovelace yelled as her car swerved to the left, she over-corrected the swerve and ended up spinning out of control! Lovelace's blue, white, and orange #1 slammed into a huge snow bank on the side of the road, causing the car to flip end over end in the snow, Lovelace's bright orange headlights shining beams of light in the air as the car flipped and spun.
"Lovelace!" Left shouted as he stomped the brakes to avoid the debris left on the road, sending his car into a slide as well. Left was a veteran, though and he grabbed his hand brake and was able to control the car without hitting anything and bringing it to a complete stop. "Lovelace!" he called out again, leaving his car to look for his opponent. Next to the wreckage, Left found Lovelace unconscious and thrown from her car, which was crumpled and in pieces yards away. "Don't worry, Lovelace. You'll finish this race, car or not." Left promised as he picked her up and brought her back to his #24, continuing on the snowy road, now cleared by the GRX's flame throwers.
Up ahead, Speed and Trixie's lead had grown exponentially, to the point where the GRX was out of view, until they saw the glow from the flames in the rearview mirror. "They put flame throwers in the GRX?" Trixie said, in disbelief as the GRX gained ground and passed the Mach 5, not having to actively fight against the fresh snow. "Why didn't they use that before?" Trixie asked.
"Probably because it has limited fuel for the fire, and it was waiting for the perfect moment to use them. It must mean that we'll be out of the storm soon." Speed replied, pulling the Mach 5 behind the GRX, and following it closely.
"Speed, look! It's Rosey Blaze!" Trixie notified, seeing the silver car in the side view mirror.
"Huh? What happened to Lovelace and Left?"
"I hope they're alright." Trixie said as the top three ran in single file behind the GRX, in last was Left Roardon, who was quickly approaching Rosey Blaze's #33, who's car was too old and slow to really be able to compete. Left put his cars nose right behind the aircraft-like, pointed rear of Rosey's and gave it a bump, throwing the triangular car slightly off-balance.
"Come on!" Rosey shouted as she fought her wheel, trying to stabilize her car when Left gave her another gentle bump which pushed the car ever so slightly off the trail that the GRX was blazing. The right side of her car ran into the snow, throwing the traction off and causing the car to spin. Left backed off until Rosey spun out of the way, being able to slow down her car fast enough that she gently slid into the snow. Rosey got out of her car and watched the others get away, she turned around and slammed her fist on her car in frustration and anger. But she bottled it up, and tried to get her car back out onto the road so she could re-join the race.
Back in Anchorage, Oriana and Trick continue to watch the race, "Wow, Oriana. You have any more surprises packed into that car?" Trick asked.
Oriana chuckled and puffed her cigarette, "That depends on how far Speed Racer will go to win the race, he's already seen the GRX-2's blinding ability and now it's flamethrowers; but I guarantee you, there's a few more."
"I can't wait to see it." Trick Idler smirked as he looked on.
"Speed, I think we can try and pass now." Trixie notified. Speed pulled out to the left of the GRX and began to gain ground. As he did, Trixie noticed that the GRX's interior wasn't glowing green anymore and she could see through the green tinted windows. She didn't see a driver, but she saw that the entire passenger's side and middle of the car was computers, the only seat being the driver's seat. "Speed, there's no one in the GRX!"
"Huh?" Speed looked over and saw all of the tech packed into the car. "Oh! I've never seen anything like that before."
"How is it possible? A car that drives itself with accuracy like this?"
"Now that I think of it, it makes sense." Speed said.
"How? What do you mean?"
"Well, think of it, Trixie. From the day we came up against this new GRX, it has used the perfect driving line, no matter who or what was in front of it. The computer has been calculating every move this whole time. Every turn, every pass, every time it revealed a new ability, it did so for self-preservation."
"I wonder what else it's hiding."
"Same, and I wonder who's behind all of this." Speed stepped a little more on the gas as the snowfall went away and the road became clearer. As the Mach 5 pulled out to pass, the GRX blocked the way, "Come on, I gotta find a way to pass it!" Speed thought. He aimed the Mach 5 behind the GRX, but kept accelerating as it bumped the GRX to throw it off, but it didn't work. This time, Speed bumped it again, but moved the Mach 5 slightly to the left in order to get the GRX's rear wheels loose and it worked! Speed moved along-side the GRX and the two had a drag race along the road.
In Left's car, Lovelace began to wake up in the passenger's seat, "Where am I?" she asked, looking around to see Left driving.
"Your car was smashed off the road by Rosey Blaze." Left said.
"Why did you just leave me in the car?" Lovelace asked.
"Because your car was smashed to pieces and on fire; I don't know about you, but that wouldn't be very comfortable for anyone." Left explained.
"Well, thanks for saving me."
"Of course, I'm not a bad person." Left chuckled as they came into view of the Mach 5 and GRX drag racing. "Wow, they're really going at it, huh?" Left commented.
"Wow." Lovelace gasped, wide-eyed, watching the two cars get further and further away.
"I can't gain ground on it, no matter what I do." Speed said, getting frustrated and looking over at the GRX.
"Speed, look!" Trixie pointed out as a train crossing was coming up and the lights on the crossing began to blink.
"This is it. This is our opening." Speed said, really pushing the Mach 5 to it's absolute limits. The freight train began to pass by as the two cars approached it, "It'll have no choice but to stop for the train." He added as the cars came in closer and closer until it was the perfect distance for Speed to press the A Button and the Mach 5 vaulted over the train! But to their surprise, the GRX blasted air under one side of the car and attempted the thread the needle by going sideways, in-between train cars! The train was going faster than the GRX and as the GRX went mostly through the hole, the train ended up hitting its rear, causing the autonomous car to skid on its side and spin when it came through as the Mach 5 landed safely. It also damaged the rear of the GRX greatly, the car's taillights and rear panels being torn completely off by the speeding train.
"I wonder what happened to it, I thought the car was supposed to be perfect." Trixie said.
"Maybe they made it too smart, Trixie. To the point where it may have second-guessed itself." Speed replied.
"Maybe it's not so invincible after all." Trixie said with confidence as the Mach 5 sped onward, not far away from the finish.
"What was that? I thought you said that the GRX was unbeatable!" Trick raised his voice.
"To be honest, Mr. Idler, I don't know what happened. It's like the car second-guessed itself which should never happen." Oriana answered, flabbergasted.
"Well, what do you think happened?" Trick asked, pointing at the GRX's wreckage on the screen.
Oriana pondered this and then answered, "I think when it saw Speed Racer make the jump, it decided that Speed's plan was better and last second it decided to follow suit, but it was too late." She said.
"How could some punk kid like Speed Racer outsmart a computer?"
"I don't think he did, I think his action was something the computer didn't consider since not every car has the ability to jump like that. Seems to have just been a coincidence." Oriana said, looking on.
"Well, was that the GRX's last trick?" Idler asked.
"No, there's two more that it hasn't used. I hope it won't have to use the last one." Oriana prayed as she looked at the TV, seeing Left Roardon pass her car.
The GRX had been badly damaged, the paint was scratched, the body was dented, and the rear of the car was almost totally gone. But as it laid on its side, it's wheels steered over to one side and tipped the car over on all fours, it sat there a moment before turning itself on, sending the gravely GRX engine back to life, and setting back off full-throttle back towards the other racers. The GRX was very angry and was on a mission to get back to the lead as it caught up to Roardon and Goldminter.
"Oh boy, it's coming back." Left sighed, moving out of the way of the GRX that passed them seamlessly.
"I think we're going to have to settle for second place." Lovelace added as the black, silver, and green car passed them in a blur.
"Speed!" Trixie called, looking into the side-view mirror.
"Oh!" Speed exclaimed as the GRX began to catch them. "I'm gonna give it a taste of its own medicine." Speed said, moving in front of the GRX to block it. The GRX was trying to make ground, but it was struggling to pass the newly modified Mach 5; Speed slid the Mach 5 in front of the GRX as scrap metal and debris flew out of the GRX's rear and onto the road.
"Jeez!" Left said, having to dodge all the metal to keep his tires safe.
The GRX hit the Mach 5 very hard, jolting Speed and Trixie, while putting a triangular dent in the rear of the Mach 5.
"My car!" Sparky cried, watching from the hotel.
"Your car?!" Pops exclaimed, staring Sparky down as the young mechanic shrunk back and gave an embarrassed chuckle.
"It'll really stop at nothing to win!" Speed shouted, looking back.
"We need to figure out a way to put it out of commission for good, Speed!" Trixie said.
"I have a plan, Trixie, hang on." Speed said as he moved out of the GRX's way and backed down, allowing the car to pass. Speed grinned and got very close behind and pressed the C Button, deploying the cutter blades. The blades let out a high-pitched whirring and whining noise as they sped up to the point where they could cut trees instantaneously with barely noticeable power loss. "Let's see it get back up from this." Speed said as he moved the Mach 5 forward, cutting into the rear of the GRX until it reached the tires, shredding the rear tires, brakes, brake lines and even the rotors and rims! Sparks and more shrapnel and debris flew everywhere but before they could damage the Mach 5, Speed activated the auto-jacks once again, jumping over the GRX which had caught fire because the sparks set the fuel aflame! But as the Mach 5 landed, Speed and Trixie noticed that a huge piece of the GRX was launched in the air and as it fell to the ground, it unfolded and deployed two wheels and continued towards them!
"What happened, Speed?" Trixie asked, not being able to process what just transpired.
"It had a motorcycle hidden within it ready to go in case of a crash that incapacitated the normal car!" Speed answered.
"Well, it can't possibly have an engine as big as the GRX on-board, so it can't pass us, right?"
"That may be true, Trixie but now it's lighter than we are, and I'm not sure it'll let us even get close to it with the cutter blades now, so I don't know what else we're going to be able to do." Speed replied.
Oriana Flux then became very angry and walked over to her briefcase, "What're you doin'?" Trick questioned.
"Setting the bomb on board the GRX-2's motorcycle. It's not powerful enough to win, so if I can't win, no body can." Oriana informed, setting the bomb and then grabbing her silenced pistol.
"Wait, what's that for?"
"I'm tired of the racers meddling in all of my plans. It ends tonight." Oriana said, walking out of her room, gun in hand as Trick looked on in fear of what was about to transpire.
"The money doesn't matter anymore if she's going to fly off the handle and do this!" Trick thought to himself, quietly following Oriana out of the room. She stood by the railing on the third floor and looked down to the lobby where the Racers were all watching the race intently. She aimed the gun at Pops Racer, but before she could pull the trigger, Trick Idler hit her in the back of the head with a serving platter, sending her over the third-floor railing and to the hard lobby floor below. Everyone looked in shock as Trick made a quick getaway via the stairs leading to the roof and then a fire escape.
The people in the lobby looked shocked and Pops pushed passed the others and saw her, "Hey, this is Oriana Flux!" then he looked over and saw the gun, "No wonder, she must have seen the GRX doing badly against Speed and planned to take us out!" Pops exclaimed.
"That's right, Pops." Inspector Detector came in behind them. "Oriana Flux was also the one who killed Mr. Van Ruffle in Mexico City." He said.
"How could you tell?" Pops asked.
"Oriana was more business savvy than someone who would carry out a hit. We found her finger prints in Mexico City and the ballistics matched her gun. We knew she had to be somewhere, but unfortunately, we were too late to get confirmation to move in before this happened." Inspector Detector explained.
"But what happened? That's the million-dollar question, from the looks of it she just fell." Pops said.
"She couldn't have." The inspector looked at her and noticed bruising on the back of her head. "She was hit over her head and fell over the railing up there. Let's go to her room, Pops. I want you to consult me on this investigation just in case anything you're an expert on any technology discovered."
"Okay, let's go!" Pops said as the two men quickly made their way to the third-floor room of Oriana Flux. As they arrived, they saw the laptop and they ran to it, "I've never seen a personal computer so small!" Pops exclaimed, marveling at how much it must've cost.
"Do you know what it's saying, Pops?" Inspector Detector asked.
Pops inspected the computer and looked around it's screen with live updates on the GRX's status before seeing the line 'Admin Pass: 041967. GRX-2-ARMED' scrolling through the screen, Pops reeled back in horror, "We have to warn Speed and Left, I think the car's got a bomb!"
Only miles away from Anchorage, night was falling again, and the Mach 5 was able to stay a good distance ahead of the GRX, "It seems like we are beating it." Trixie said.
"Good. I hope it doesn't have anymore tricks like that." Speed huffed, really wishing that the GRX would be gone for good.
"Speed, this is Pops, I need you to pick up right away, son!" Pop's voice crackled over the radio which was cutting off due to the cold weather.
Speed picked up the radio, "This is Speed. What is it, Pops?"
"Speed, I need you to use all of the power you have and don't stop once you cross the finish line. The GRX has –" the radio cut off at the most in opportune moment.
"Come in Pops, I didn't get the last part."
"The GRX –"
"The radio keeps cutting out, but I think I know what you're trying to say, Pops. I'll figure out a way to stop the GRX from doing anything." Speed responded as he put the radio back on the hook.
"What do you think he was trying to say, Speed?"
"I think the GRX has a bomb, and if that's the case, I think I know how we're gonna stop it from causing too much damage."
"Attention, racing fans! The Mach 5 and the GRX are coming to the finish! Get your cameras ready to take a picture of this historic moment!" the announcer's voice rang out. Everyone looked in the distance, seeing the yellow lights of the Mach 5 and the green lights of the GRX quickly approaching! The crowd cheered as the Mach 5 crossed the line first, taking the checkered flag with the GRX following behind! "The winner of this year's No Limit World Race, for the second and consecutive time is the Mach 5! But wait… the two aren't stopping or even slowing down, they're headed to the coast! What's Speed thinking?" The announcer shouted as the confused crowd looked on.
"Hang on!" Speed warned, pressing the A and F Buttons, throwing the Mach 5 into the icy Alaskan waters, whilst activating the underwater mode. The GRX, set on destroying the Mach 5 and Speed followed, the autonomous motorcycle smashed through the stone and metal guardrails that separate the land from the water, and as it became submerged, it detonated, sending a massive pillar of water up stories high! The Mach 5 was jolted and due to the extreme damage that the car was already facing, it began to leak in multiple places, ice cold water touched Speed and Trixie's feet as Speed waited for the car to stabilize so he could get it back to the surface on time.
"Speed!" Pops called out as he and the rest of the team ran to the water where the Mach 5 leapt. As they did, Left Roardon crossed the line and he and Lovelace also left the car.
"What happened?" Left asked.
"Speed and the GRX both jumped into the sea and the GRX exploded!" Pops said, a worried expression came over him as he realized the amount of damage that the Mach 5 sustained may have caused breaches, making it unstable under water. As the Mach 5 continued to sink, the bits and pieces left of the GRX floated down with it, Speed looked around as icy cold water continued to leak into the car.
"Speed, are you alright? We've gotta get outta here!" Trixie called, as her boyfriend zoned out from extreme exhaustion, having driven the bulk of the race and almost all of the third stage from Calgary to Anchorage without rest.
"Huh? Yeah, let's go win." Speed slurred, his exhaustion beginning to get the better of him. The Mach 5 hit the floor and Speed put the hammer down before activating the jacks, sending the Mach 5 through the surface and the hole in the wall and rails that the GRX left behind. The soaked, scratched, and torn car landed on the road and screeched to a halt in front of spectators and EMT's as Speed passed out and Trixie pressed the F Button to deactivate the shield and oxygen. Trixie helped the EMT's get Speed out of the Mach 5 as Left and Lovelace looked on; Rosey Blaze passed the finish not long after to see Speed getting carried into the ambulance. But instead of staying, Rosey turned around and drove away.
Sunlight came through a hospital window, softly landing on Speeds face; the light came through his eyelids, waking him up. His eyes fluttered, adjusting to the light. Speed jolted up in bed, not knowing where he was or how he got there, but then he looked to the foot of his bed and next to a vase full of white roses from his mother, sat the huge No Limit World Race trophy along with his helmet. Speed grinned, but then suddenly flinched, now feeling the aches and pain from the last leg of the race and allowed himself to gently lay back down. But as he did, Trixie came in a noticed that he was awake, "Pops, Sparky, Speed's awake!" she called out as the other two rushed over to Speed's bedside.
"How're you doing Speed?" Pops asked, relieved that Speed woke up.
"Everything aches, Pops." Speed groaned. "Where's Mom and Spritle?"
"Mom and Spritle went back home, they want to throw you a victory party." Pops smiled.
"Where's the Mach 5?" Speed shot back up, looking at Sparky.
Sparky rubbed his arm and looked to the floor, "You really beat that car up, Speed. It was completely destroyed; Pops and I are going to have to start from scratch."
Speed looked down, dejected, but Pops put his hand on Speed's shoulder, "Rebuilding the Mach 5 is going to take time, son. I'm going to have to do everything from scratch, the chassis, body, the engine, all of it."
"We could always move up a number and make something completely new, Speed." Sparky winked.
"No, the Mach 5 is my car. I don't know if there'll ever be a Mach 6…but it won't be mine." Speed explained.
"You got it, Speed. Do you have any requests before Sparky and I get to work on the car?" Pops asked.
"I had a list of things, but I only remember one."
"Well, what is it? Anything for our driver." Sparky nudged.
"The all-white paint isn't doing it for me anymore. I think the car would look better with a blue under-belly, I have it all drawn up back home." Speed said.
"Well, I guess I can't expect you to remember anything too technical in this state. But we'll get the paintjob done, Speed." Pops chuckled.
"I'm just glad you're alright, Speed." Trixie said, taking Speed's hand.
Speed smiled, "Not even a moving bomb could keep me away from you, Trixie."
"Ohh, no. We'd better go before this get's any worse, Pops." Sparky whined. The group laughed together, reveling in their victory against Oriana Flux and the GRX.
Looking through binoculars on a hill across the way was Racer X, he put them away and thought to himself, "I'm glad you're alright, Speed. Even if Rex Racer can't return, I'll always be there in the nick of time. Always." Racer X then turned around and jumped back into the Shooting Star, driving off into the distance.
Speed and Trixie have survived the return of Oriana Flux and the GRX, as well as the return of some of their old enemies that they've met in races in the past year. Our heroes prevailed in saving Anchorage, Alaska but at the sacrifice of the fabulous Mach 5. But that doesn't mean that the Go Team's adventures are over. Join us next time for more thrills and excitement on the next episode of, Speed Racer! [Outro Music]
Author's Note: Thanks for reading my first fanfiction, and I hope you enjoyed it! It definitely wasn't something I envisioned myself doing, but here I am. If you enjoyed this, perhaps you'll also like my original series', that I post on deviantart and wattpad under the username: Southpaw-Comics. They're superhero stories, still early drafts, completely original, and are my true passion project; it'd mean a lot if you checked them out and spread the word. Otherwise, stick around for the duration of this Speed Racer Season 2 solo-project! Next time, I bring up a car that has NEVER been seen in the Speed Racer mythos across any medium, but does exist because it was mentioned merely twice. Stay Tuned…