Raging Hearts and the Final Race
As the crowd fled the area, both Molly and Crow flew off into the stormy clouds, the energy between them sparked like two serpents preparing to lunge at each other's throats.
After being pulled out by Rush, Aikka was forced to return to his hanger 'This is going to be ugly' a burning pain came from his arm.
"Ahhh!" he hissed grabbing his arm while running back to the pits.
The Earth Team had just managed to recover both Jordan and the damaged Arrow II just before the weather turned into a monster itself "Where's Molly?" barked a wounded Jordan, trying to get up from the bench, but was held down by Rick.
"You take is easy, don't go breaking your bones kid. I'm sure Molly's alright…I hope" he muttered the last part under his breath.
Satis had finally be able to return after hearing Teto's cry for help, he found the little fox squirrel shortly after arriving and now he was rushing toward the fight.
'Canaletto, why are you forcing them to fight?' he only prayed that he had the power to stop them before they killed each other. 'Mother Oban, give me the power to save them' he prayed, knowing the planet would hear his plea.
Molly knew that she could no long deny the rage inside of her; she would make Crow regret the day he returned "You should've died instead of becoming Canaletto's pawn! You should have died Crow!" she screamed as they clashed in the stormy skies.
She would release her true power, knowing for the fact that she could become consumed by her own hatred. But she wouldn't let Crow hurt her friends, nor cause harm to the other racers.
"He gave me the chance to save you from this world, he told me of your true suffering! You kept it hidden from me, why Eva? Tell me why?" he yelled.
Both knew that words couldn't end the anger between them, so Molly and Crow allowed themselves to be consumed by the power the slept inside of them.
'Mother Oban, creator of all the planets of this galaxy I ask you to answer my plea, remove the chains that lock away the beast that sleeps deep inside of me' within moments Molly was bathed in the golden earthy light of Oban and the Creators, being wrapped inside the light felt like the softest silk.
Crow become wrapped in black and bloodied thorns of his master, and once the chains that held them back shattered, so did their human bodies.
Though they were high in the stormy clouds, once they had broken from their shells, the power blew like a tornado across the area. Many of the stronger racers wanted to see what was going on, Aikka was among them.
'My arm is burning like crazy, what is going on?' he raced back toward the coliseum in order to find his answer.
The sky above the coliseum was nothing more than a huge hole and he what he saw fighting above them all was something he had never seen before.
Two massive birds, twice the size of any space vessel he had ever seen before, both looked totally different from the other.
On one side there was a black bird that had the appearance of a monstrous demon like crow; its feathers were pure black with deep garnet blood running down them. One of its eyes appeared to be missing while the other was an ugly green color mixed with a painful red; both its talons and huge beak were ready to attack the other bird that flew on the other side.
Aikka turned to the other bird, and it had the appearance of a beautiful peacock/phoenix, its main body was the color of creamy golden light while its train of long feathers seemed to change colors based upon the bird's mood. He watched at the feathers went to a burning red for anger and hatred; both birds raised their heads high and let out a piecing cry.
The moment Aikka caught the golden birds eyes, he saw the beautiful shade of red inside of them "Molly…can this be your true power?" he muttered in awe.
Suddenly the cursed flower appeared on the golden bird's neck and Aikka watched as the black thorns cut and wrapped around its neck; though he could see the pain the thorns had caused, the golden bird stood its ground against the black crow.
Both birds charged at each other with speeding force, causing shockwaves each time they slammed against one another 'Such force, they'll going all out' Aikka was forced to take cover while the two birds raged like wild animals, it was clear to him that only one of them would come out alive.
Just when Rick had reached the roof of the hanger, it could hardly believe his own eyes.
The sight of two massive birds fighting in the stormy skies, it was like something out of a book of myths, the two looked like gods fighting for good and evil.
From the far distance, Rick caught sight of the red flower wrapped around the golden bird and he knew it had to be Molly "But who's the black crow she's fighting…I just hope they don't destroy the whole area" he rushed back through the window to let the rest of the team know what was going on in the skies above them.
Satis had reached the battle site and his worse fears had come "This isn't good, both of them have unleashed their full power; but if they attack each other too much then they could cause a black hole!"
For the most part, Molly was trying to bring the fight out over the ocean, hoping to cause less damage "Molly, the flower will have more power over you if become too weak! Transform back, you must!" he wished she could hear him, but it was impossible.
Suddenly the black crow appeared behind her and used its beak to stab her in the back, she let out a screech in pain, which caused more thorns appeared from the flower as it grew from her pain. She launched herself at him, crashing into one of the small nearby islands, once the smoke had cleared Satis spotted the white bird flying up into the air again, blood dripping from her neck.
"Molly!" the Avatar spun around and saw the Nourasian prince calling out to the white bird, suddenly he dropped to his knees in pain as he held his right arm.
"Prince Aikka, what in Oban's name are you doing out here?" he ran over to the groaning prince "S-Satis…is that flower going to take c-control of her again?" Satis saw something moving on the prince's arm, once he lifted the cloth and saw the thorns he stepped back "Aikka, how did those thorns appear on you? More importantly how long have they been on you?"
Aikka closed his eyes "It was a few days back, after Molly's race with Flint…I found her tearing a few islands apart, and she fell into the ocean, when I went to save her the thorns cut into my skin…I've been meaning to tell her, but after our race I couldn't say anything."
Satis could see the pain inside of the prince's eyes; he and the human boy were true friends to his daughter.
"Well you can't help Molly if you're in pain yourself, luckily these thorns haven't gotten to your heart…I can remove them now, hold still for a moment" Satis wrapped his hand around the thorns, and muttered a few words under his breath and pulled them out of Aikka's skin.
Aikka hissed in pain as the thorns were yanked out, Satis glared at the thorns and few them to the ground where the turned to dust. A sudden screech made the two look back into the sky, it was the white bird again, it seemed to be fighting against itself.
"No, you must change back Molly! Change back before you break!" Satis yelled.
Aikka watched helplessly as the flower began breaking his friend apart, all her defenses, and her will to live 'Molly, can't you fight it? Where is the strength I saw so many times before?' he then noticed Crow rising into the sky, doing nothing to help his sister's suffering.
This angered him beyond belief, running from Satis's side he got onto higher ground; he then yelled at Crow "You told me you were her brother! And yet you watch as your sister suffers? YOU NEVER DID LOVE HER DID YOU?" the black bird froze and fell back onto the ground, and he looked, truly looked up at his sister who was crying in utter pain.
"My…sister…" suddenly a bright light shined above them, Aikka was forced to shield his eyes 'Is it the Avatar?' peaking just a little bit, he caught sight of a slim figure dressed in a multi colored dressed and mist like hair, her eyes couldn't be seen from where he was standing.
"My daughter…my son…end this fighting between both of you" the same size as the Avatar himself, Mother Oban floated like a cloud toward the two birds.
Crow ran from her light and disappeared into the darkness, leaving only a wounded Molly behind who was looking at her mother in all her grace and beauty. Wrapping her arms around the white bird's neck, she pressed her face against the bird's slender head.
Aikka reached Satis and whispered "Who is that creature over there?" Satis didn't turn or look at him, he kept his eyes on Mother Oban and Molly "She is the being of Oban, the mother of all things…Mother Oban is what she is called" both watched as Mother Oban began spreading her power over the wounded white bird.
"Calm your spirit my child…you mustn't let Canaletto win…soon the final race shall come and you'll return back to my arms once again" she whispered softly while stoking the long neck of the bird.
Molly began closing her eyes, listening only to the voice of her beloved mother and the thought of returning home to her planet caused the flower to lose it power over her. Soon the golden light of Oban surrounded her and the only thing that she could remember was the singing voice of her mother, thought it sounded different, as she drifted off into a deep slumber.
As the sun rose on the day of final races of Alwas, Satis lingered outside of the tower talking with Mother Oban.
"Satis, you know that she shall question her true linage very soon…once today is over I know she will ask, and know what you shall do" he didn't look at her, so she continued "Are you prepared for the consequences that lie ahead?"
Satis glanced inside of the tower where Molly and Teto slept peacefully, he sighed deeply "Though I say I am prepared…my heart is telling another story" Mother Oban only nodded and began to float away "Very well…I shall await your return to Oban…I pray for you both" and with that she disappeared back to Oban.
Leaving the worried Avatar behind to deal with the problems that lay before him "Oh Molly…will you very be able to forgive me?" he was always question what she would say to him.
With the help of Flint and a few of his friends, along with the rest of the Earth Team, they had managed to make a brand new star racer, named the Whizzing Arrow III.
While Don had over looked the rebuilding of their new star racer, a messenger had come by from the judges on their final opponent. But when he had read the message, it was the worst thing he could've imagined "We'll surely lose…and Molly hasn't shown up yet."
He took the message with him to tell the others, once he stepped out onto the balcony, he saw that Molly was already with the team overlooking the ship "She's beautiful you guys!" she said, making the Scrubs and two mechanics blush, as Molly hovered over to Jordan, Rick glanced at the new Arrow III and over at the two.
"A brand new ship…for a brand new champion" he muttered while looking at Molly, while they all chatted with each other, Don walked up and began talking "I have the name of our next adversary" they all drew quiet and looked at him.
"We're up against Colonel Toros."
"B-But he's never lost a race!" said Jordan "Ever…"
"And he nearly flatten us the last time" muttered Molly, remembering the memory well.
"This team has improved tremendously since we lost to Toros" said Don, seeing that no one would say anything he continued "Fill the tanks and run the final checks right now! We'll be called at any moment now!"
"Yes sir!" said Stan.
"We're on it!" said Koji, as the two went to do what they had been told; Molly and Jordan gave each other worried glances.
"After you partner" she nodded and they headed to their spots, giving Rick and Don just a simple look, Molly closed the cockpit shield around her.
"We now call forth the Earth Team!" the new Arrow III flew out onto the center "Challenged by Toros, Colonel of the Crog Imperium!" the crowd was silent as the Crog ship flew out next to the Arrow III.
From the crowd, Rush along with Flint and Marcel watched for the race to begin, worried for what lay ahead.
Aikka was among the crowd, watching with Canaan 'Molly…I hope you stable enough to race' once the gate was down, they were off.
Toros had gotten the lead while Molly did her best to get the hang of the new Arrow III, once she had everything under control she was right on Toros 'That's my girl' thought Rick who watched as the Arrow III get right behind the Crog ship.
Toros kept spin side to side, keeping Molly back behind him but that wasn't going to stop her "Let's see what she's got" she then tried to side pass Toros, but was forced back again.
"Outta my way Crog!" Jordan began firing at Toros, but most of his shots bounced off.
Molly went on the side and while Jordan kept firing, she passed Toros and took the lead, soon they reached the water fields again, and they knew well of what could come next.
"Ok I'm having a bit of déjà vu back here" Jordan said looking around; he soon spotted Toros coming in from behind "We need some speed Molly!"
Soon Toros began charging his blades up and began barreling towards them "MOLLY!" cried Jordan, she looked behind and saw Toros coming the memory of what had done to them before played in her mind.
"Not this time Crog" she muttered, and in a spit seconds before Toros made contact with the Arrow III, she pulled up the side jump move that was her mother's best move. The Arrow III only got a small cut from the top blades.
"I've learned my lesson Toros, you can't trick me twice! Stan the hyper drive, is it fixed?"
"Roger that! Same commands as before!" Molly pressed and few buttons and the Arrow III went into hyper drive "Hang on guys!" and soon the blasted off down the path after Toros.
But Toros saw them coming and kicked up his own speed "Koji, can we make this baby go faster?"
Both Stan and Koji glanced at each other "Well, yes or no?" barked Don.
"Stan, what about the—" began Koji.
"Totally out of the question, the Arrow's hull could break apart under the thrust!"
"Hello! Toros is getting away!" barked Molly.
Stan shook his head "We haven't had a chance to test it! It's just not safe yet" Don put his hand on Stan's shoulder "Stan, please do it…we have no other choice."
"B-But Don!" growled Rick, seeing where this was going.
"I assume full responsibly!" they all shut themselves up and the mechanics had no choice but to follow orders.
"Booster drives enabled!"
Molly pressed another button that had appeared, and the tint in the cockpit went to a red color as the boosters appeared and soon the Arrow III was going faster than any racer Molly had seen before.
She quickly incased Teto in a bubble shield to protect him from the speed force that ran through the Arrow III "The hull is holding!"
Soon the caught up with Toros and he was forced to step aside as the Arrow III flew past him "By Kramm!"
While the crowd was going crazy for the Earth Team, everyone cheered for the Arrow III and even Aikka smiled before frowning again when his master gave him a stern look.
Once they had gotten far enough ahead, Molly turned off the boosters and hyper drives, and sped on ahead with Toros following in from behind. Soon he began firing at them, but for the most part the Arrow III hadn't been hit yet, the crowd watched in eerie silence as the Arrow III went into the tunnel.
Once they had gotten out into the canyon, the turret was shot and black smoke flew out from behind, while Jordan did his best to put out the smoke; Molly tried to stay ahead.
But Toros passed her as soon as they reached the beach, and used his own hyper drive to get ahead of them "Here goes nothing!" Teto closed his eyes and held on tight as both the hyper drives boosters appeared and shot them forward with great speed.
"You're gonna crash against the temple walls! You must stop now Molly!" begged Stan, but Molly wouldn't hear any of it.
"I told you all that I would get you to Oban, I'm not stopping now!"
Both ships were neck and neck with each other, and just as Toros slowed for one second the Arrow III took it chance and took the lead and Molly clicked the button just in time as she passed through the finish line and spun around to get out of Toros's way as he crashed into the wall.
Everyone was in utter shock, the cockpit pulled back and Molly was in shock as well "The winner is the Earth Team!" everyone began cheering loudly for the wining team and Jordan popped out from the cockpit hole and grinned at Molly.
"Toros has five victories and is there for qualified for Oban!"
"The Earth Team has three victories, and must there for wait for the results of the competition between Prince Aikka and Spirit!"
The whole crowd began booing loudly at this; it was unfair as the Earth Team had just beaten the best racer, the judges still weren't done yet "If Prince Aikka wins the Earth Team will qualified for the finals! A victory for Spirit would create a tie in his favor, and disqualify the Earth Team from Oban!"
"You've gotta be kidding me!" Jordan yelled, while Molly turned toward the crowd to look for Prince Aikka, but she couldn't find him.
Teto mewed sadly "I know Teto…the Earth Team is in a pickle now…Aikka where are you?"
Once the afternoon race had come, hardly anyone spoke as they all waited for the race to begin.
Molly sat with the Earth Team, seeing as this could be the last time she would see them again "You know that Aikka will lose this race on purpose so the Crogs can win. Anyway, everybody knows the Nourasians are in the Crog's pocket."
"Please don't start with that again Jordan" she said sadly.
"Believe whatever you want" she looked away from him "But I saw them together."
"We now call forth Aikka, Prince of Nourasia!" Molly watched as G'dar walked over to the center with Aikka riding him, he could feel someone watching him and looked in her direction.
Molly smiled down at him, but seeing that smile only made him feel worse 'Molly please don't look at me this way, it only makes it harder' she gave a worried look when he turned away from her.
"Challenged by Spirit, Ambassador of the Fills!" not too far away from the Earth Team, Toros and Canaan were sitting next to each other, putting one large arm around the old Nourasian Toros spoke "I hope you made things clear to your young master."
"Absolutely clear, the prince will do as you have…requested" Canaan looked sick as he spoke the word.
"I am pleased to hear this, Earth must be taught a lesson" said Toros, as he narrowed his eyes.
As the gate fell, both Aikka and Spirit zoomed off but Aikka lagged behind "Well would you look at that, the honest prince is not even pretending to race" growled Jordan.
"That's impossible, Nourasian Knights have honor. He won't let me down" said Molly, still trying to hold her faith in her friend.
Each time Aikka got too close to Spirit, he would pull back but G'dar screeched and fought him "G'dar calm down, today is not our day for victory" but G'dar only screeched at him, upset at this fact.
"I feel the same way; we are betraying our friends and ourselves" he said, hating the fact that he was forced to do this "This cannot continue" he placed his hand down on G'dar's shell.
"Un Seki G'dar Wakar!" the beetle glowed like before and began gaining speed, and this surprised the crowd greatly.
"What is this treachery?" growled Toros.
"I…I don't know" Canaan couldn't understand what was happening.
"You fight well Spirit, but today I must win" Aikka said while pulling out an arrow, as he took aim he said a spell "Um Saki Narba Saphar!" he fired the arrow which blinded Spirit and caused him to hit the ground, allowing Aikka to take the lead and win the race.
"Prince Aikka wins!" the whole crowd cheered loudly as Aikka landed "The three teams selected for the Grand Finals on Oban are the Crogs with five victories, the Nourasians with four victories, and the Earth Team with three victories."
Molly smiled brightly while the others cheered, but not everyone was happy "Failing the Crogs was a most deadly mistake, this day shall not be forgotten" hissed Toros as he left the area.
Rick glanced over at Molly who was chatting with Jordan; he could see that she was happy that the Earth Team would be able to go to Oban, he knew what it meant for him 'Guess this means I'm back to being their racer…only if Molly can cure me that is' Molly caught him looking at her and she hovered over to him.
"I'll come by the hanger later, don't worry Rick I always keep my promises" she whispered giving him a hug "I know Little Mouse, thanks a lot…guess I'll have to learn some tips from you on the Arrow III now won't I."
Molly giggled and she said goodbye to them all before going off to find her father.
Shortly after the team got back to the hanger, a few Scrubs came by to help them load and pack up their things for the trip to Oban tomorrow.
Rick mostly hung outside while they packed everything up, soon the sun would set and they would be off to Oban 'Hard to believe that we made it this far…it's all thanks to Molly' though he still wondered who Molly really was.
'She tells us that she isn't human and that the Avatar is her father…it just doesn't make sense' while going through his thoughts, a familiar voice startled him "Rick if you think too hard you'll get winkles early!"
Molly floated down holding a small ball of light in her hand "Hey there Little Mouse, is that the thing that will cure me?" she nodded.
"Yes, this is a bit of power that belongs to my mother…Mother Oban, it may hurt for a few seconds but the darkness will leave you soon" she blew at the ball of light and it appeared on Rick's forehead.
"Calm yourself Rick, and just close your eyes" though she couldn't tell if his eyes were closed, she could see that he was relaxed.
Soon the light began to work its magic, and Rick flinched a bit as Canaletto's darkness seeped out of his head; soon the light pulled away and disappeared.
"How do you feel Rick?" she asked.
He touched his head and smirked at her "I feel better than ever, almost like a feather…I'll have to let Stan and Koji know to change the seats" she laughed, happy to see that Rick was back to his old self.
"Thanks a lot Little Mouse, you've saved us, and the Earth… I don't know how we'll ever repay you."
Molly winked at him "There's no need to Rick, I'm just happy to have come to Alwas and met all the people and creatures…I'll show you and Jordan of what my home has to offer."
Just before she flew off, Rick still had to ask her some other questions "Hang on a second Molly, I still have to ask you something" she stopped and gave him a look.
"Who are you really Molly, surely the Avatar can't be your real father and Oban can't be your real mother…" she grew quiet and set herself on the ground.
"The Avatar and Mother Oban aren't my real parents…I can only remember ten years ago when my father saved me from the darkness, I am a woman both blessed to help the galaxy, and cursed to destroy all life. I made both of my parents promise me that if this flower takes full control over me…" she looked at him, and the look in her eyes scared him.
"That they must kill me before I could get the chance to destroy everything I know and love…but I am prepared to die Rick, I've always known that someday I would lose sight of who I really am."
She jumped into the air "Promise me this Rick, don't share this information with anyone…I would rather have everyone remember me how they knew me, good bye Rick…I'll see you and the others on Oban" she then teleported away.
Leaving Rick to question what the future will hold "Don't know if I should fear it…or embrace it."
When Molly returned to the tower, she saw her father looking up at the stars on the roof "Father, I've returned."
Satis turned and look at her, he forced himself to smile though he was crying inside "There you are my dear, is the Earth Team all ready for Oban?"
Teto popped out from her hood and rubbed against her cheek "Yes Father, all the racers are prepared…but we're leaving tonight, I can't wait to be back at home again!"
Satis smiled but soon frowned which Molly noticed "Father, what is wrong?" she hovered over to him; he tried not to look at her.
"Molly…so many things have happened while here on Alwas…you've made good friends and raced wonderfully" she didn't understand where he was going with this.
"Father, what are you telling me?" there were questions on her mind, but when she tried to speak again, Satis held his hand up "My daughter…please forgive me someday" and suddenly a power like nothing she had felt before surrounded her.
"N-no Father…what are y-you doing…to m-me?" she fell to the ground, Teto began running around tying to wake her up "It's for your own good Eva…I should've never had brought you to Alwas, think of this nothing more than a faded dream."