5) Game On, Mystery Club
Part 8
Back at Mahora Academy, where the sports games are being held, Negi and his students, along with Ako and her team, are waiting patiently for the next game event to start. Just then, everyone in the crowd, including Negi and the girls, heard an announcement on megaphone speakers.
"Attention, everyone! The 100-yard dash is about to start. Participant students, please head to the event immediately."
Ako grinned when she heard the announcement, "Well, it's my turn to shine. Wish me luck, everyone."
"We will," Negi said with a smile.
"Go get them, girl." Chamo followed with a wink and thumb up.
"We're all rooting for you," Haruna said with glee.
Ako smiled, and she and her team headed to the track and field for the 100-yard dash event.
Just as Ako and the other athletic girls left, Chisame's cell phone rang. She answered the call. "Hello? Who's this?" she asked on her phone. There was a moment of silence, but then Chisame blinked. "Matthew-san!" Negi and the other girls flinched.
Back at the city streets, the mystery team is on the run. They are being chased by the goons in the vans. Matt has his cell phone close to his ear as he talks to Chisame on the other end of the line. "Chisame, listen!" Matt shouted. "I need you, Satomi, and the librarians to look up any athletic profile or records of Mako Sayaka and print them out for me!"
"Okay…" Chisame said on the other line, "but why do want–"
"I've got no time to explain! We're being chased right now, and Ako is in deep trouble. I need you to do your job and get that profile. Meet me at the track and field. Tell Negi and the others girls to find Dean Konoe and Prof. Takahata. We're going to need them to help us solve the case we are on."
"Uh…but I–"
"JUST DO IT!"
On the other end of the phone, Chisame paused a moment feeling so confused about what's going on. But she shook her and responds firmly, "Alright Matt-san, we're on it!"
The two ended their phone conversation, and Matt and his team are still on the run.
"Look up ahead!" Chao shouted.
The team looked up ahead and see a T-intersection and a small brick wall that's coming up to the group. They stopped and reached the end of the intersection. The team looks over and down the wall and sees a wide city road with cars driving on it.
Just then, black vans from all directions of the T-intersection surrounded the mystery team. When the vans stopped, all the thugs came out and have their guns loaded, aiming towards Matt and his team.
Kimi came out of the van, and she smiles evilly at the mystery team. "Now then," she said to Matt and the girls, "Let's try this again. Come with us quietly back at the base, or you're going to meet a terrible fate."
Matt and his team looked at each and nodded. The team stands on top of the wall and still looks at Kimi and her minions. Kimi pondered what Matt and the girls are doing. Matt then makes a firm look and says, "You want us? You're going have to catch us."
The team all took a step back, and they fall off the wall. Kimi and the goons gasped, thinking that they did something suicidal. Kimi went to the wall and looks over and down on the streets, but she couldn't find the dead bodies. She pondered even more, until…
"Hey!" Matt shouted.
Kimi looked up, and the crooks checked out the scene with Kimi. There they saw in shock is Matt and his team on top of the semi-truck riding down on the streets. Matt and the girls waved at shocking enemies. "See ya later!" Matt mockingly shouted.
Kimi grew even more furious than ever. "GRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAHHHHHHH!" she yelled as she scratches her head in frustration. "Stop them! After them! GET THEM NOW!" The goons saluted in fright due to Kimi's angry mood, and they got into the vans and continue the pursuit.
Meanwhile, back on the track and field, Ako is stretching her legs as she is getting prepared for the 100-yard dash. Ako's teammates cheered and wish her good luck. Then Chika appeared in front of Ako, and she noticed Chika. They both grinned.
"Hey Ako, ready for this?" Chika asked.
"You bet I am," Ako replied in a strong mood. "Let's give everyone what we truly got."
Chika nodded. "Let's do this," she said with her fist raised and tightened.
Just then, the president and sponsor of the games, Jirou Kayaku, walks to Ako with a vital chat. "Ah, you're that girl that gave that wonderful speech yesterday."
Ako noticed him, and she smiled. "Yep, that's me," Ako replied.
"I wanted to say thank you so much for letting everyone to continue the games in a motivated state. I think you made the right and bold move to everyone to keep their spirits alive."
"Thanks Jirou-san. I couldn't let these games sadly go into waste, so I had to do something."
"Well, I'm very proud of you, Ako. Good luck out there."
"Thank you, Jirou-san."
Jirou smiled and nodded, and he left the scene. Ako continues to smile, but Chika makes a concerned look on her face. Ako noticed Chika's expression.
"What's wrong, Chika?" Ako asked.
"Nothing," Chika replied, "it's just that how did the president know your name in the first place?"
Ako flinched a little in realization and looked back at the president. She makes a wondered expression on her face. "Good question, I haven't introduced my name to him."
Then the two girls heard the referee calling the runners to take their places on the lane lines. "Ah, who cares if he knows your name," Chika replies with a shrug. "Let's get into our lanes and have fun." Ako nodded as the two walked over to their running lanes.
In stands, Ayaka, Chizuru, Kazumi, Sayo, and the cheerleaders see Ako going into her lane and smiled in excitement.
"Look, there's Ako," Sayo pointed out.
"Alright Ako, go for it," Kazumi cheered.
"Let's hope Ako wins for sure," Ayaka said in glee.
"Right on, Ako! Go for the win!" The three cheerleaders shouted.
Ako and Chika stood next to each other, and they stared at each other in a firm and confident look.
Back on the busy city roads, Matt and his team were still on the semi-truck as the team tries to reach their destination: Mahora Academy.
Matt turns to Chao and asks, "How much further do we have to go?"
Chao has a navigation device that tells where they are. "If we continue on this route, then we are bound to reach Mahora Academy in a flash," Chao replied to Matt.
"Alright team, let's keep our feet on the ground and we wil–"
"Matt, look out!" Fei Ku interrupted and shouted as she pushed Matt down.
BOOM!
A gunshot was fired and nearly missed Matt and Fei Ku.
"What the…?" Matt said as he got up and turns around.
In their view, the team jolted as the thugs' black vans were chasing right behind them.
Kimi sticks her head out of the passenger side and makes an angry command. "You won't get away from us this time!" Kimi yelled. "Now surrender, or we'll shoot you!"
Matt stood up, and he and his team make a firm look. "Not on our watch, you don't," Matt replied to them. The team turns around and heads to the front of the semi-truck. Then all together, they hopped onto a white bus that was passing the truck. The mystery team started to move farther away from the villains.
Kimi makes another angry face, "Grrrrrr! After them!" she shouted and commanded. The vans sped up and chase after the mystery team.
The team kept jumping from car to truck and bus to trailer as they tried to get away from the criminals. The black vans were cutting right in front of other vehicles as they tried to get close to the runaway team.
Suddenly Matt looks up and sees an intersection that they are approaching a stoplight.
Matt looks at Chao. "Chao, what do we do?" he panicked.
Chao looked up and sees the stopped intersection. She then looks back at her device as it shows the next direction. "Go left, everyone!" Chao commanded.
As soon the bus they're on came to a stop, the team hopped near the intersection. Then they jumped onto a truck that's headed towards the team's destination.
The thugs didn't want to stop, so they went on the wrong side of the roads and cut right in front of the other drivers. The crooks are back on track as they pursue the heroic team.
The chase is still going as the mystery team kept hopping onto every vehicle they jumped and tries to reach their destination. Kaede uses her Kunai and Mana uses her guns to slow down the goons. The two girls shot a few vans, making the vehicles go into a crash. But some vans are still rolling as Kimi and her cohorts are hot on the team's tail.
"Matthew-san!" Chao called while looking at her navigation device. "We're almost there, only a few more blocks."
"Alright everyone," Matt called out, "just hold on a little bit more."
The team came across another intersection, and this time, the team needs to get across on the other side. The light is about to turn red, so the team hopped to the farthest vehicle they could reach, and they landed on a school bus that just made it through the intersection before the light turned red. Right after the light turned red, the thugs were stopped as many other vehicles zoomed by from left and right, making it impossible to get around the traffic. Kimi became more furious.
The team on the bus are still on the road until Fei Ku sees the academy from a distance. "There it is, Mahora Academy!" she shouted to everyone. "We're almost home free."
"Oh no!" Setsuna shouted, "Look!"
Everyone did, and up ahead from about a half a mile away is a roadblock. Just then, the team heard vans revving their engine, and they turned to see the black vans right behind them once again. They are about to get trapped between a rock and a hard place.
"What do we do?!" Fei Ku panicked. "We're cornered."
Matt looked around his surroundings, trying to find a solution to get to Mahora and out of their mess quick. He then spots banners that were hanging from the streetlight posts. He looks at them carefully and thinks everything in his mind. After a few seconds, he came with an idea.
"Girls!" He yelled at them. The girls got his attention. "Grab the banners! Hurry!"
The girls weren't sure what Matt is planning, but they did what he said. In a flash, while the bus still is moving and coming to a stop, the mystery team grabbed five big banners. Once they have them in their possession, Matt speaks about their quick getaway.
In one of the black vans, the driver sees the team with the banners doing something to them. "What are they doing?" said the thug driver
"Who cares!" Kimi shouted as she is also in the van. "We got them now. There's nowhere to run." Kimi grabs a communicator and makes a command. "All units, prepare to fire." Every goon in their vans got their guns ready as they approach the mystery team.
Matt looked back at the goons as they are getting really close, and then he looks back at Chachamaru. "Ready Chacha?" Matt asked.
"Let's hope my rockets can hold out long enough," Chachamaru replied.
Everyone grabbed on Chachamaru tightly.
"End of the line, Oda." Kimi said in an evil grin.
"NOW!" Matt shouted.
Chachamaru immediately opened her rocket thrusters, and she ignites them. Everyone then took off into the air in a flash.
"What the…!?" Kimi said in surprise.
After a few seconds as the team are in the air, Chachamaru's rocket pack is starting to go out. Chachamaru groaned, cueing Matt Oda next phase. "Now! Let it go!" Matt shouted. Everyone quickly reacted as they took out the banners they grabbed as they all puffed up. Everyone then made a form as Matt and Kaede held the banners' ropes with one hand. Everyone held very tightly to each other, and they all floated towards the academy. The five banners they collected are then turned into one big parachute for the team. Kimi was stunned by this sight as Matt looked back at.
"Bye-bye!" Matt called to Kimi.
Kimi looked back on the road and sees the traffic all stopped up. She quickly reacted and panicked. "Hit the brakes! Hit the BRAKES!" she shouted.
The driver did, but the van was going so fast that it slips and skids towards the other vehicles.
"NOOOOOOOOAAAAHHHHHH!" All the vans tried to stop, but…
CRASH! BOOM! KA-BOOM!
The mystery team looked back at the collision and was relieved they made it out there alive.
"That was a close call," Chao said in relief.
"Too close, if you ask me," Mana stated.
The team is floating gently towards Mahora Academy as they slowly approach the ground safely. They landed near the entrance of the front gate.
"Come on! We got to hurry!" Matt shouted and commanded. The girls nodded as they race to the track and field where Ako is.
During the 100-yard dash, Ako and Chika pass the halfway point as they are neck to neck. The two kept running with all their might never giving up until it's over.
"And it's a close call as Ako and Chika as they make their way towards the finish line." said the announcer. "Who will win this 100-yard dash event?"
It is close until the two girls are about twelve yards away from the finish line.
Matt and the girls are racing with all their might as they approached the track and field. Matt Oda gave everything he got and tries to reach inside and stop Ako.
"Go for it, Matt!" Fei Ku shouted.
Matt made it to the field and stood next to the stands. He was breathing heavily and tries to look for Ako. There he sees Ako that's just about to pass the finish line with five yards away from her. Ako smiles as she was about to win the dash. Matt jolted, and then he rushes to Ako.
"Ako, NO!" he shouted.
Ako is just a few feet away from the trap and the finish line. Just when she was about to step onto the trap…
BOP! Matt pushed Ako off to the side and just saved her.
The audience, including Ayaka and her friends, are shocked by this sudden surprise. Chika, who was just inches away from the finish line, stopped and gasped in this sudden shock. Fei Ku, Kaede, and the other girls arrived on the field and see Matt and Ako on the ground.
"Matt-san just made it!" Setsuna said in relief while panting too.
Ako quickly got up and rubs her head. She then sees Matthew on the ground with his face on the grass. "Matthew-san!" Ako said in astonishment.
Matt got up and looks at Ako. "Hey Ako, you alright?"
"I'm fine, but why did you push me like that?" Ako begins to complain. "I was about to win and–"
"You were about to get killed." Matt interrupted.
Ako flinched. "What…?"
"Look…" Matt walks up close to the lane Ako was in and the finish line. He pulls out a pen and tosses it to the lane's area that's right next to the finish line. When the pen touched the area…BZZZZZTTTTT! The pen was fried. Ako and the whole audience are stunned by this scene. "If you took that last step right before the finish line, you would be well done."
Ako felt a little scared and walks up to Matt. "Matt-san, you…you saved my life."
"I didn't want to see a sweet athletic girl go to waste."
Ako calmly smiled by Matt's kind words.
The announcer came up to Matt and Ako with an astonishing surprise look on his face. "This is outrageous!" he said in surprise, "Who would do something like this?"
The audience starts to stare at each other with irritation, thinking games are cheated. Matt sees this and reacted. "Mister," he said to the announcer, "I need your mike, please." The announcer didn't understand, but with Matt's firm look, he gave the mike to Matt.
"Everyone, listen!" Matt called out as the audience turned to him, "It's no one's fault here. Not you people nor the athletes. Nobody cheated here! This whole time of the Mahora Sports Games was all set-up before the games started." Everyone on the field blinked from Matt's words. "I'm telling you all the truth. Someone here wanted to make sure that the Mahora Games would end this annual event eternity horribly. Not only that, but the mastermind I have discovered wanted to end all of Japan's Game and Sporting Events forever."
Everyone is shocked by Matt's statement. Then Ako asks a question to Matt, "But if this is true, who would do such a thing?"
"It's simple, Ako," Matt replied as he still has the mike with him, "remember those events that had the incidents with the athletes. How did the enemy manage to rig those traps? And how did they manage to get past the security? It comes down to one conclusion and the clues I've gathered so far on this mystery. There is someone who had enough power to manipulate the security forces so that their thugs would sneak inside the games and rig the traps without being seen. Also, the enemy had fake security guards so they can let the minions walk into the games with the real security people, not noticing they're frauds. And that person…" There was a moment of pause, "…is YOU!" Matt pointed to none other than…
Jirou Kayaku, the sponsor and the president of the games.
