"Protect your inner lane! What are you doing?!" Mia almost shouted at the last two corners of the first race of tonight. They had a close one behind them. Nick started first, went back to second, then got pushed back to third, but he managed to come back to first with a tiring set of maneuvers. All he had to do was take the last two corners and he won. But the other racer didn't give up that easily. He was constantly trying, and even though Nick managed to block one, the other racer will definitely be a bit more of a problem. Here nobody had got left behind. Nick raced against a crew, and they kept racing together as a crew.

At the last straight, he finally pushed the button he wanted to save for the next race as much as possible. The small, red button that supposedly gave him a bit of a boost. He didn't want to use it too much, since the next race will be more exhausting than this one. But now it was time to keep his first place. He pushed it for the fourth time, and finally crossed the finish line, without anyone being closer to him than one car length.

"Well… one down, one more to go." The driver of the mustang claimed, while watching the others separating from each other after the race.

Nick was ready for this. Every inch of him wanted this race. If Bogo suddenly appeared out of nowhere, saying this undercover job wasn't necessary anymore, Nick would have just said 'Okay' and appeared at the highway anyway for a showdown.

He searched for a bit before finally spotting a Pawrshe, and a familiar jackrabbit talking to a lynx.

"So you found the place, alright." Jack said, still grinning on the thing the lynx told him.

Nick got out of the car, swapping his look between the two. "I'll take it if you two are friends?"

"Of course, Amigo!" The lynx laughed, "I have known Jackieboy since Fortune Hill."

"Fortune Hill? Now that sounds familiar. Was that the other Big 12 race?"

"That wasn't named Big 12." Jack corrected "It was The Outlaw's Sprint, If I recall correctly."

"Yes." The lynx nodded, "And in that race, I finished second."

Nick couldn't help but give a grin. It would have been a missed opportunity to not talk back. "Second, huh? Well, good to know you are already used to being in second place. I won't feel that bad when I win"

"Hahaah! That's what I like! Some fighting spirit. If you'll drive as well as you did with my crew, we're up for an interesting race. Marko said you've fought like your life depended on it."

"Big mouth, this is Mateo." Jack felt like it was time to introduce his 'Friend' "He already told you, but he was second in the previous Sponsor's race. The winner was a Wolf, named Tyler Mawrgen."

"And as I remember you were the last, hombre!"

"Yeah, well" Jack shrugged with a smile. "Wasn't going too hard on my car."

"Almost like you didn't want to win!"

"So will we race?" Nick joined, "Hope I didn't come here for nothing."

"Well, Amigo." Mateo turned to Nick, "We should go, you are right in that one. Let's settle this."

"Okay, Amigo." Nick said, as sitting back in his car. "Let's race."

"Wait, Mia!" Jack walked to the Mustang. The vixen curiously stood next to the opened door "Sorry but I can't let you sit there for this race. Unspoken rules."

"What? You think I would change seats with him in the middle of the race?"

"I trust you. Others might start asking questions."

"So what? Let them ask questions. You will know the truth."

It seemed like Jack considered it first, but then he shook his head. "Sorry, rules are rules. I'll let you sit there at any other time, but not now."

"Are you… Really? Fine." Mia sighed and closed the door of the car. "Hey, try not to crash yourself, alright?" She directed this sentence to Nick who just laughed

"Don't worry, I'll wait for you with the car crashing."

"Use the nitrous well. How many pushes do you have left?"

"6."

The vixen nodded and thought for a bit. "Use one right at the start for better acceleration. I'll leave the rest up to you. I want to see a winning race and an empty canister at the end."

"You got it, boss." He gave his two finger salute.

"Boss huh?" Mia asked incidentally, "What happened with 'Babe'?"

"You were right. I wouldn't like others to think we are a couple." As he said that he tilted his head to see the rabbit behind Mia and didn't miss the chance to wink at Jack. He just shook his head and gave an eye roll to the fox while signaling with his paws to the cars to follow him.

"Alright. Mateo, you start here." He pointed at a place in front of him. "Big Mouth, you stand there!"

Nick slowly rolled to the starting line, next to the Pawrsche and looked at the container. 6 use for this race. Should be easy enough, right? Just like counting the remaining tranquilizer darts. Sometimes they really need to find the perfect time to shoot.

"Get ready!" Jack shouted on the empty road, so Nick got pulled back from his thought train. "3...2...1...GO!" The Pawrsce bolted as fast as it could, while the Mustang failed to do the same.

Oh Shoot! I forgot the jump start. Nick slapped himself in mind and tried his best in accelerating the car, despite his poor start. It's the most important race, and I make mistakes like this… Great.

He pushed the nitrous button, as Mia told him to, and it did help him a little bit. He reached the top speed in record time, and almost took over the Pawrsche, but the missed start seemed to catch up to him. He would be in the lead if he didn't mess up at the beginning.

No! Don't think about what it could have been, think about how to turn it around. Nick thought to himself and glanced at the other driver. His welcoming, friendly smile was nowhere to be found, as he focused on the road. Now he was fighting, and Nick was his rival.

The fox looked back at the road. To their luck the traffic was negligible. There were one-two cars seen within 500 feet. Nothing to be worried about. Sure the possibility to crash was there, but it was definitely better than inside the city.

As the head to head fight turned into a second place for Nick, he quickly moved into the slipstream. Another technique that Mia had taught him. If you fall behind a bit, try to use it to your advantage by drafting. It not only saves fuel, but also helps to keep up with the car ahead and gives you time to find the perfect spot for a takeover. He also could have used a nitrous push to get ahead but that would have been a stupid idea. Sure, he would be in front… for 30 seconds… And he still had 2 laps ahead of him. It's better to save your hitting cards as long as you can.

"Alright… Alright… Keep up the momentum."

As Jack looked at the two racing cars disappearing, he nodded and hurried off the yet empty highway road.

"Will you stay too?" Mia asked, a bit surprised while sitting on a bench of the resting place. Jack usually started a race and walked away to start another one but not now.

The hare hopped next to Mia on the bench and nodded, "That's a race that I want to see with my own eyes." He explained, "Oh and sorry for making you get out of the car."

Mia raised her paws, admitting she couldn't do anything about it. "I know, I know. Rules."

"Heh yeah."

Meanwhile the police radio in Jack's pocket sounded up.

To all units near the highway! We have a high priority target, seen near the 45th milestone. I need EVERY nearby unit on this call. The suspects are in a white Pawrsche, and a Silver Mustang.

1-22 Joining the call.

1-26 Joining the call.

1-31 Joining the call. Dispatch, do we have air support available?

Air support will be available within a few minutes. Standby for confirmation.

Dispatch, this is big sky, I'm about 8 miles away from the mentioned place. I should be there within a few minutes.

Big sky, permission granted. Code 3 for the rest of the call.

"Well, that's a record time for spotting a race." Jack said in an impressed tone, "I knew we will have company, since Mateo's car is quite famous with the cops. But they started the call in less than a minute. Props to them."

"Aren't you afraid that they will see you?" Mia glanced at the police radio than back at Jack.

"Well, this place is quite hidden, right?" He said a bit unsure. "And they will be focused on a race. Two mammals sitting on a bench shouldn't draw too much attention."

The vixen nodded, then looked at the road. Upon remembering something, she opened her mouth and turned towards Jack again. "Hey... I've been wondering. What was that back at the start?"

He furrowed his eyebrows and looked in Mia's eyes. "What at the start?"

"You know." She chuckled, "That little wink from Big Mouth?"

"Ahh!" He waved. "Nothing. You know, just Big Mouth being himself. It was nothing. Forget it."

"Something with me, right?" She kept on connecting the dots.

"NO! No. I-I mean how could I know?"

"Huh…" She stared in front of herself, still wondering about something, then her muzzle curled into a smile and shrugged, "Okay."

After she looked back at the road Jack closed his eyes and muttered "I'm gonna kill that idiot."

The speedometer was pinned to 198 for the past miles. Other than a few traffic cars there was no reason to slow down. Nick slalomed through those civil cars and fixed his glare on the other racer. He pushed the nitrous again to keep up the pace the lynx dictated. He got nearer, almost made it past, but the boost was shorter, so that point never came. He glanced at his rival, who still focused on the road. Probably nothing could kick Mateo out of his rhythm.

As Nick slowly fell behind he growled impatiently "Arh not again… You know what? New strategy." He muttered and pushed the button for the fourth time this race. He finally passed nicely, and grew a fair gap between them, now with Nick in the lead. As the 10 seconds passed, the boost ended, and he had to defend his position on the 3 lane, with 2 pushes left from the nitrous. He still wasn't near the end of the race though.

He tried to use the little traffic to his advantage, and most of the time, it surprisingly worked, as the Pawrsche had to slow down in order to avoid a collision. Nick gained more and more time, and when it seemed like he could fall behind again, he used the nitrous for the fifth time, quickly growing the gap between him and the lynx, which gave him even more time. Only one push left, but he was quite ahead.

Looking ahead of him he saw as the oncoming lane got separated from the lane he was on. It was a bit of a failure in planning, as the workers didn't count on how tight the place was they were building the highway on. It resulted in having to separate the two lanes from each other, and get them back together after the space was wide enough again.

Nick really wanted to just switch lanes to the oncoming, since it was seconds faster. He could probably gain 10, even 20 seconds on the lynx and the race would be in the bag. However he shook this thought out of his head. The traffic was low, but it was still traffic. Going to the oncoming lane at 200 miles per hour is asking death for a dance. He just stayed on the trusty proper lane.

He checked on his opponent who seemed to have a hard time keeping up with Nick. He was about to finish the first lap in first place. The thing he didn't count on however, was three civil cars going next to each other. The highway reconnected with it's lost oncoming friend, so it was a bit harder to see through the entire turn. Nick spotted the cars in the last possible moment and stepped on the brakes.

Unfortunately he heard a car passing him seconds later. Now the third lane had a bit of space, and it was enough. Vroom. The Pawrsche whoosed past Nick with no problem whatsoever.

"Oh come on!" The fox shouted in an irritated tone, and hit the steering wheel with all his anger, while passing the two annoying civil cars that most likely made him lose this whole race. Without even thinking, he used the last push of the nitrous. It got him closer, but the time he lost with the braking was really hurting now. As the last boost ended, he was still, quite behind, without being able to draft. "Great…" he muttered.

Jack was constantly checking his phone. He knew the approximate time a speeding car would make on the highway around Savanna Ceantral, and it was about the point when the racers appeared. Not long after, the sound of two hard working engines hit his ears. He hurried to the iron fence to see who was in the lead, and saw the Pawrsche, seconds ahead of the Mustang.

"Big Mouth is losing by 7 seconds." He claimed in a disappointed tone and sat back down on the bench. "Maybe it was too big of a bite for him."

"Don't worry." Mia waved. "I'd bet my own car that he still has a few tricks up his sleeve."

As a helicopter passed above their head she added. "And the way I see it, this race is far from over. Cops can really change how things will turn out."

"Yeah well…Only if they will catch up to them. I don't think their car could keep up on the highway. In the city? Sure! Highway? I'd love to see them trying. The chopper might cause some inconvenience, but nothing race changing." Jack sighed.

"Wow! I thought you try to stay unbiased with races. Do you actually want Nick to win?" Mia asked

"Nick?" Jack looked at Mia questioningly.

Her face immediately changed to 'I should not have said that' grimace. "Oh… I… Ahhh... Yeah sorry. Big Mouth. Heh… Oops. I just revealed his secret identity."

"Don't worry." Jack chuckled. "His secret is safe with me." As he said that, he heard a few sirens closing in from a distance. Immediately, his heart rate rose, and he kept on looking in the direction the cops will arrive. "Okay. Calm down. We are just two mammals sitting on a bench. Act natural."

"Are you telling this to me or yourself?"

"To both of us… but mainly to myself." He admitted and made a nervous chuckle

After looking up and down on Jack Mia finally said "Kiss me." and received a questioning look.

"Wha- Why would I do that?"

"You know… What's even less suspicious than two mammals sitting on a bench? Two mammals kissing on a bench."

"No, I'm not going to kiss you just to…" He couldn't finish his sentence, as another lip completely made him even forget what he was about to say. His ears perked up as he was really surprised, but didn't move away. He bluntly heard as the cops passed them but he didn't really care. Even if they spotted them and recognised his face, he wouldn't break this for anything. After the sound of sirens died out, he finally broke their kiss, but still looked at the vixen. "I think they are gone."

"They might come back." She shrugged with a smile.

"You are right. They might" Jack said and now it was his turn to lean in for another kiss.

That's it. Nick was out of ideas. He tried pushing the nitrous button in case he miscounted it but all it did was give a 'czk' sound and didn't add any boost. He was too far away to use the slipstream, and no nitrous. His only hope was that, the lynx would make a mistake and he could take the lead again. Unfortunately that was only a really small chance. This is going the be his second loss since he started his 'racing career'

He saw a helicopter circling above them, but it was most likely because of the Night Dragon member. He will be off easily with this big name next to him. Maybe I should just abandon this race and turn off this road, so I will be home easier.' He thought to himself resignedly but his ears suddenly perked up from an idea.

"Turn off this road…" He muttered. As long as he was on the highway, it counts. Nobody cares which lane you are on… No! I'm stupid. He tried to get this idea from his head, but it was already buried deep inside.

I mean… It's stupid dangerous, and in case I do survive, Judy will kill me… However, that might be the winning move. Shorter by seconds… No! I'm not even sure I would win and maybe I would just risk my life for nothing. Then again, it can turn the table around, and I would be one step closer to the Big 12.

He finally saw his opportunity in the distance. It was so clear, only one car was on the whole part that could be seen. But there are other parts too that couldn't be seen just yet. There could be a nice big truck in the middle of the road for a crashing opportunity… or maybe 3 cars going next to each other… he shook his head.

I'm not going to go this… No… I'm insane to even think about this…

His last opportunity came closer and closer. It lured him so badly. That hope of winning the race didn't leave him. Now it wasn't for the job, or any other excuses to race legally. It was only for the sake of winning. For that sweet feeling of beating someone professional.

"No! I'm insane!" Now he said it out loud to get his mind off this. "Not doing this…" It was now or never. A quick 'don't do it' thought ran through his mind, but he was already turning the wheel and one second later, he found himself in the oncoming lane. "Okay… okay… quick fox reflexes… Quick fox reflexes..."

He didn't dare to even blink. His eyes were stuck open wide, searching the road for cars. Now he didn't care about the perfect way of cornering, all he wanted was to see the most road. It seemed to be clear, but there were some potentially dangerous cars. All of them honked at him for going in the wrong lane, but Nick didn't even hear them. He had shut down all other senses to focus on seeing. His reasonable part of mind screamed at him for this stupid move, his eyes wanted that blinking refreshment, but he kept on pushing himself to the edge.

He finally saw the other part of the highway reconnecting, with no sight of the dark Pawrsche. At the first possible opportunity, he steered back to the proper lane, and glanced at the mirror. He saw his opponent far behind. His scarry and stupidly dangerous plan worked out just fine. The smile came by itself, as he spotted the start line, which will be the finish too.

"They are coming!" Mia jumped off the bench excitedly after hearing the usual engine sounds.

"They are?" Jack asked. His perception of time completely disappeared while talking to Mia. He probably would have missed the end of the race too if it weren't for her, jumping off the bench.

"He is in the lead!" She shouted with clear joy.

As Jack curiously looked at the road, ears leaning beside the fence, he saw it too. The Mustang far ahead of the Pawrsche. "He is!" He couldn't help but give a slight smile. "Big Mouth is not only hot air afterall."

They crossed the finish line in the same order, with the Mustang ahead, Pawrsche in second and police cars sharing the rest of the places in the distance.

"Looks like we will have a new Big 12 candidate soon. At least, it's really likely." Jack said and walked off from the fence. "Need a lift? Big Mouth will probably be occupied with the cops for a while."

"How can I refuse an offer like that?" Mia laughed and followed the Jackrabbit.