Chapter 29: Race to the Finish

The racing holoseum greatly resembled a present-day interstate. It was a very long stretch of elevated asphalt with very urban surroundings. Tall buildings were all around, there were things going on below the race, and there were even computer-simulated cars driving along with the racers as added obstacles. Fletch didn't waste any time taking in the scenery, though. He pushed his feet quickly downwards and backwards on the pavement, feeling his computer system rerouting his reserve strength to the augmentation in his legs that boosted the pod he and Kip were on forward. The motorcycle managed to gain enough speed to begin to catch up to Jay.

Fletch had still not been able to identify what model Jay's Robo was, or even what it might be based on. It looked completely new to him, but he didn't have time to think about it.

Jay had already caught up to one of the Bighead boys who had fallen behind the main group, and the two of them were pushing at each other with their hands, each trying to dismount the other and eliminate him from the race. Fletch said to Kip, "Pull up to his other side." Kip swerved quickly to the right, avoiding a car that was driving towards them, and she moved around the back of another. Fletch boosted them forward again, and Kip moved to the opposite side of the Bighead from Jay.

Because he was still striking at Jay, the Bighead had not noticed Kip and Fletch on his other side. Fletch held onto Kip for balance, then hopped on the Bighead's motorcycle behind its driver. He immediately pushed the enormous head forward into the dashboard, then leaned back as the Bighead let go of the bars and flew backwards over Fletch and off the cycle. Fletch sat right back up and took the controls before the motorcycle could swerve out of control.

Jay commented, "Nice of you guys to stop by."

Without missing a beat, Fletch said, "Oh, we haven't stopped yet!"

The three of them maneuvered through the traffic together, keeping their sights on the group of Bigheads ahead of them. Because the Bigheads were generally heavier than Fletch, Kip, and Jay's sleeker fighting Robo models, they gained ground on the Bigheads steadily. As they approached from behind, Fletch freed one of his hands from his vehicle's controls to bring in a weapon. He said to his Robo computer, "Bomb, Standard." The visor screen came up in front of him and he could see it making the selection he had indicated. He felt the weapon forming in his free hand, and when it was finished, he fired it in a high arc in front of them. It hit right where Fletch had intended: Near the front of the pack of Bigheads. A few were blown off the side of the course to the streets below directly from the blast, others swerved to the same fall after losing control. A few just crashed and their vehicles became too damaged to continue.

Four Bigheads in front of the blast maintained control, including Tyler, and only one near the back was able to navigate through the debris. The explosion had cleared by the time Fletch, Kip, and Jay came through, and they had no trouble passing through the wreckage as well. A Bighead that had been thrown from his vehicle tried to dismount Fletch by jumping at him, but Fletch thwarted his attempt with a quick punch to the nose that knocked him away. He resumed his course, thinking all was well, but he heard Kip shout from behind him, "Ah! Get off! Rrr!" Fletch heard the sound of metal-on-metal, and he looked back over his shoulder.

Kip had been boarded by another Bighead, and she was struggling to maintain control as it tried to bring her down. Fletch quickly switched weapons, "Gun, Standard!" His bomb glowed, reshaped and solidified into a Standard gun. He couldn't shoot over his shoulder, so he called out to Jay, who was alongside Kip, "Jay, get him off her!" Fletch glanced over his shoulder to find exactly where Jay was and tossed the gun to him. He had no time to see if Jay had caught it because he had to see where he was going, but he was pretty sure Jay had gotten it just fine.

He heard a few Robo joint movement sounds behind him, then all at once, Fletch heard the weapon firing, Jay swearing, and more metal hitting metal. Then there was a skidding screech, and Fletch glanced over his shoulder again just in time to see Jay go over the edge of the course. The Bighead had seen Jay pointing the gun and had cycle-hopped to Jay's vehicle to bring him down instead.

Kip and Fletch didn't need to tell each other not to stop. They both knew it and kept going after the few Bigheads that remained. After a few seconds, Kip said, "Fletch, use your Robo's legs to speed up and catch them!"

Fletch said back, "No, I'm not just going to leave you behind."

"Oh, stop it. He said the winner wins for his team. You have a better chance if you're not worried about me."

Fletch muttered in indecision, then said, "I'll keep them occupied until you catch up." He activated his legs' boosters and sped up. The traffic began to thin out again, but the individual cars seemed to be moving faster. Almost as fast as Fletch was going with his added speed. Fletch freed his hand again and recalled his Standard Bomb weapon as he gained more and more ground on the Bigheads. Tyler, who was in the lead of the pack, looked back over his shoulder and saw Fletch preparing to fire his bomb again.

Tyler figured that Fletch had used the upgrade chip to get the weapon into the holoseum, so he wasn't quite surprised. Tyler swerved right and struck out at one of his own teammate's motorcycles, causing it to lose control and wipe out. Fletch was about to fire his bomb when he saw the fallen pod coming back at him. He hit the wreckage and he lost control of his own vehicle. He pushed off of it in a jump just before it fell over and shattered into a broken remnant. To get enough push for the jump, though, he had been forced to drop his Bomb.

In the air, Fletch activated his descent augmentation, though he kept most of his forward momentum, and was able to land himself on one of the fast-moving cars. He then found out that they were indeed going faster than the motor pods.

The car Fletch was on gained ground on Tyler's group steadily. Once he caught up to them, Tyler saw him out of the corner of his eye and signaled to the others. They understood and gathered around the larger vehicle that Fletch was on, where they started hitting at it with a free hand. Tyler had sped ahead, and Fletch felt the car start to lose control. He quickly kicked at the head of one attacking Robo, knocking it away, but then the car went into a skid towards the edge of the course.

Fletch routed his strength into his legs and pounced off the car and onto another Bighead. He grabbed hold of it's head and got his feet placed on the motorcycle as the Bighead tried in vain to reach back at him with his too-short arms. Fletch simply lifted the Robo off of the vehicle and threw him at another, eliminating two more Bigheads from the race. Only one remained besides Tyler, and Fletch was already gaining ground on it. He caught up to him, and reached out to strike with his arm. This Bighead wasn't going without a fight, though. He veered away and avoided Fletch, then came back and smashed into him.

Fletch reached out to push again, but the Bighead grabbed him. Fletch pulled away with relative ease, but was again forced to pull away from his target. The Bighead came at him from the side again and hit Fletch on the side again. Since the Bighead was considerably heavier, Fletch was forced to the side and almost off the side of the course. Fletch kept moving forward, trying to push the Bighead away, but it just kept pushing him, trying to make him go over the edge.

Fletch was about to lose his balance when his Robo computer beeped several times rapidly, which meant he was being fired upon. He took sudden realization and slammed on his brakes. The Bighead continued moving forward, but was immediately eliminated by an explosion. Kip pulled up alongside Fletch. She was holding the bomb weapon he had dropped, and he could tell by her eyes that if she were not in Robo form, she'd be smiling. "Let's go," Fletch said. They still had one more obstacle to keep them from winning: Tyler.