Chapter 47
Torn managed to be the winner of the race in Kras City as I could tell that Blitz looked a little bit perturbed on the screens when he had to deliver the news of UR-86 being eliminated from the competition due to him being killed by a powerful assassin. And Maria smiled widely at that comment that he made.
"You hear that, daddy? I'm powerful!" Maria smirked widely.
"That you are, hon," Jak smirked at her as I went to pet her head... and only then did I notice that the robot did manage to hurt her a bit, as she had three bruise marks on the sides of her head from when the robot picked her up on the temples.
"That robot was a piece of work... who even made him, though?" I asked in confusion as Ashelin then scoffed.
"Who on earth knows. It certainly wasn't Praxis and the robots that Maia created were mass-produced to take over quickly, so I doubt she'd bother making a more powerful variant... it had to have been Mizo, but why is the question," she said with curiosity as the next events were laid out for us to do, me seeing that there was a Rush Hour event on the Timberline Track and a Death Race in Spargus City.
"What's the Rush Hour event?" I asked.
"It's where you go down the track for a set time and try to ram your car into as many fragile drone cars as possible to destroy them. Green cars grant one point, blue ones grant 2, and red cars will hurt your car and give no points," Rayne said, me smiling at that as the others then decided what they'd do.
"I think Sammie and I will do the Rush Hour event. It sounds like fun!" Minnie smirked.
"And I'll do the Death Race to get us some more points," Errol said with his usual frown as he then left the room and we then saw that Blitz was on the screen and started to speak all his pompous words as Tess then smiled.
"How does he get that sheen in his hair? I must know..." Tess frowned, me not wanting to ruin her question by saying that Blitz wore a wig.
"Looks like the tracks next will be a Turbo Dash and a Death Match," Keira said.
"Oh joy. I tell you that Blitz fellow gives me the creeps. The smarmy blighter's even worse in person... oogh, if only he were-" Rayne was about to say before the man came from behind her.
"Hello, newbies! I just wanted to see how you're all doing," Blitz said, me smirking at him. "People are betting big. They're saying it's going to come down to you guys, Team Osmo and Mizo's dream team.. ahaha!" Blitz smirked like the snark he was. "Still, the odds makers say that your team falls short," Blitz said as a couple of people then came in from behind him.
"That's because most fools haven't figured us into the mix!" said, get this, Sig and Marigold!
"Sig!" I gawked at him.
"Mom!" Jak said with excitement.
"Grammy!" Maria said with even more joy.
"Is my camera out of focus? It appears that the great Sig and Marigold Muse have entered the event! This is going to be... better than I thought! But if you'll excuse me, I have some REAL interviews to do," Blitz said, me smirking at how he wasn't a big fan of us still.
"Yeah, you do that," Marigold said with a frown. "Sorry I couldn't show up sooner, guys, but I couldn't just sit idly by when my city is one of the main racing venues, so I decided to join you guys in your little racing gig," Marigold smiled.
"And we heard about Krew's little potion from Keira. That's why I never drank on the job. My advice, never trust a dead man. Don't worry, cherry, I'll help you get that antidote," Sig said to Rayne, her smile being on her face at that.
"Easy for you to say. Your lives aren't on the line," Rayne spoke.
"For my friends... it is," Sig said.
"And I'm just in this for the fun factor... also, I wanted to see my granddaughter again, since it's been a few months since I last saw you, my little lady," Marigold smirked, Maria rushing over to her and giving her a big hug, which I smiled when she turned into her Muse form so she could give a more proper one. "Now let's see about this so-called competition. What do we have to do today?" Jak's mom asked with a wide smile.
"Well, there's a Turbo Dash event at the Loading Docks of Kras City and there's a Deathmatch in the Mar Coliseum... odd that Mar would have an influence outside of Haven, huh?" Keira asked, me smiling at that.
"Well, Mar was a very popular and prestigious ruler," I said with a smirk.
"I think I'll go do the Turbo Dash alongside Sig and you, mom," Jak said with a smile.
"And I think I'll do the Deathmatch with Sammie, Minnie, and Keira. Time to show them Mizo boys that we girls can hit with some powerful force," Tess smiled, me nodding at that.
"And if you can get a gold medal in each of those events, we should have enough for the Grand Prix event tomorrow morning!" I smiled widely.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go and kick some tail!" Keira said with a wide smile.
"In some cases, quite literally," I said, poking at Marigold and Tess specifically.
"Haha, very funny," Marigold smirked at me while sticking her tongue out.
Both of the events were won by our group and we then got the chance to get some shut-eye, which we were more than prepared for after a long day of racing and blowing up cars. We made sure the locks were in place and that we had Kiki in charge of watching over us while we slept, as she only needed a half hour of sleep at most. We woke up the next morning at 7 AM and got some breakfast before we then looked at our racers for the first Grand Prix race.
"I think I'll race in this one, guys," I said with a smile.
"I will, too. I need a race for a change," Errol said with a smile.
"And I think I'll join in as well," Rayne said with seriousness, me smirking at her.
"Are you sure, Rayne?" I asked, her nodding at that.
"You guys are fighting in these races for me, I get that, but I want to help out as well, since I got you all into this mess," Rayne said.
"Okay, then," I said with a smile as we then signed up for the race and then got a news clip of Blitz and Pecker.
"Hello, race fans! This morning will mark the end of the Red Eco Cup and the start of the Green Eco Cup with the Grand Prix event! The racers are all waiting in the wings... except for UR-86, who tragically lost his life at the hands of a ruthless assassin," Blitz said on the screen, Pecker smiling at that, as we'd talked to him previously.
"Huh, I would've thought a 5 year old girl with Dark Eco powers would be less of a challenge for a walking war machine," Pecker said, Blitz looking at him in confusion at that.
"What are you talking about? Do you have any proof that the assassin was a female?" Blitz asked.
"Why yes, yes I do. Sasha Nell told me that her 5 year old daughter Maria, after being assaulted by the robot in her hotel room, attacked and dismantled the robot with ease, thanks to being born with Dark Eco in her blood. Kind of a big blow to Mizo's pride, eh?" Pecker smirked, Blitz nodding at that.
"I agree, Mizo is sure to be angry at hearing that bit of news, hahaha!" Blitz said as I noticed something off about him. His eyebrow twitched at Pecker's statement and he looked a little bit perturbed.
"You think Blitz may have some kind of cahoots with Mizo? Because that's what it seems like to me," I frowned.
"That may be the case, but we can't prove anything right now. We should get going to the track," Rayne said, me nodding as I then got in my car and off to the race track to start it off, that being Kras City's mean streets. And our group was up against Fridgion, Taryn, and two of Mizo's racers who looked at me angrily. We then got the green lights and we rushed off the starting line, me and my group getting the lead early and making sure to use the turns wisely, considering the track was quite narrow. But that also made it quite easy to get some damage dealt to some of Mizo's cars with some fire trails, though I did notice that the weapons were much sparser on the track, which I guessed was because we had 3 races in one... either way, I managed to destroy on of Mizo's cars by the time the race ended with me in first and Taryn in second, Errol third, Fridgion fourth, a racer named Shiv in fifth, Rayne in sixth, and a guy called Cutter in last.
After that race, I then got into the next two and, once again, I got first in those events and, at the end, all of Mizo's cars were all beaten by getting blown up and the Southern Tour was won in first, second, and third being me, Rayne, and Taryn in that order, meaning that I got the gold medal and Taryn's group got the silver medal, me looking at them with a smile.
"Sorry Taryn, but that's the game," I said, her smirking at that.
"Well, hate to break it to you, but it isn't over until a team happens to win all four different Cups. Only then will the champion be crowned. And if your team happens to lose any of the upcoming Grand Prix events, then the team that gets gold in them will get all the trophies you have. So good luck, because our team will be the winners at the end of this," Taryn smirked as she then got back through the teleporter ring and we then followed after her with smiles, arriving back in the garages to see that we'd gotten the trophy delivered to us somehow, me looking at the screens to see Blitz and Pecker talking again as I went to the hotel room.
"I've found out some new information about the underground super bet, G-man! Someone is manipulating the sport," Pecker said, me smirking at that as Blitz then growled angrily.
"You know, I've been covering this sport for decades!" he said as he then started to do something else, me needing to cover Maria's ears for what came next. "Do you HONESTLY think you can come onto my fucking show and make me look like a goddamn fool?! Well fuck you, motherfucking monkey cocksucker!" Blitz exclaimed, Maria looking at me in confusion.
"You know I could still hear him, right mommy?" she asked, me frowning at that.
"Just know that it's bad to swear, okay?" I said, her nodding at that.
"I know, mommy," she smiled as we then looked at the racing venues again.
"Now we've got a Circuit Race at the Beachfront Drive in Spargus's streets and outside wastelands. This race has 6 contestants with 2 racing for each team," Ashelin said.
"I'll race with Tess in this one. Ottsel power in the his-house today!" Daxter smirked widely.
"You bet, hon! Let's go show those big Mizo boys that size isn't everything," Tess smirked as they then went off and we decided to watch them on the screen.
"If they can get a gold medal, we'll be able to get into the first of the Grand Prix qualifiers for the Green Eco cup, that being an Artifact Race," Rayne said with a smile.
"Sounds like a plan then," Torn said with a smile.