A/N: Does anybody even still read this?
"Go-Karting could be fun." Serenity said as she let Breanna brush her hair. She looked at the flyer Quinn had given her.
"I once went go-karting. Although it wasn't as extravagant as this." Breanna said as she put the brush down.
"Did you have fun?" Serenity asked,looking herself once more in the mirror before going downstairs to meet her Selected.
"It was enjoyable. Although this might be more fun considering the courses they have." Breanna said, eyeing the flyer.
"Well, it's not like I had any else planned, I mean we probably could have done something else. Go karting it is!" Serenity said as she stood up and exited her smiled as she put the brush down and went about tidying Serenity's room.
Serenity walked down to the men's parlor to find nobody. The men's parlor was empty and it looked like nobody had been there.
"Your boyfriends are in the gardens, Peace kicked em out there." Quinn said as he passed by, startling Serenity.
"You better catch up before they get their asses kicked by mom." Quinn said and then left, probably headed to the kitchen. Serenity headed towards the garden where the Lioness stood on a stone platform, wearing some light armor instead of her queenly raiments. She had a rapier in one hand and the other was tied behind her back. Surrounding her were three of Serenity's Selected. Each of them holding swords. Off to the sideline were six more of Serenity's selected, each nursing a minor wound or looking defeated.
Serenity noticed that one Selected in particular was pinned to the floor with Pearce holding his arms behind him and digging his knee into his back. It was Hasani, the ground next to him looked cracked.
"He lost and got mad." Pearce said cooly as Hasani weakly struggled. He didn't look angry, to Serenity he looked like he was enjoying himself. Serenity turned her attention back to the Lioness who dodged and parried every slash and thrust the Selected made. It looked like a marvelous dance to Serenity.
"Come on boys. Are you going to fight or just going wave those sticks around. You hard boiled turtle slappers." The Lioness laughed as she artfully dodged an overhead swiped and knock one of Selected off his feet,where the Lioness tapped his shoulder with her rapier.
"Azrael, OUT!" Pearce said as Azrael grumbled. The young man walked off
"You're open!" Hikkori shouted as he dashed to the queen with quick stride. The Lioness side stepped and tapped the small of the kitsune's back with her rapier.
"Hikkori out!" Pearce announced. The Lioness made quick work of the last remaining Selected who struggled the queen's quick thrusts. Once he was out the queen laughed as she let Pearce cut the rope from her wrist. She ran a hand through her hair and handed Pearce her rapier.
"C'mon boys. 10 of you face me head on and not one of you landed a hit on me. How do I know that you'll protect my daughter if an assassin attacks her?" The lioness said as Pearce sheathed her rapier.
Serenity stepped on the stone platform and everyone turned to her.
"Two things. First some of you are going home. It's been a little over three weeks since you all came and I'm sorry but it's clear you have no interest in me."
"And that means the Selection is over. Everyone go home!" Quinn shouted from a window. Serenity looked up at him with a glare. She sighed as she continued, trying to keep a straight face
"4 of your will be escorted out by Captain Pearce. I am truly sorry. Now then another 4 of you will be picked. Hikkori, Jinnar, Remus and Maxim… You have been selected for today's date. Jinnar let out a small sigh of relief, Hikkori and Maxim gave a slight chuckle and Remus stayed silent. Serenity awkwardly smiled and nodded her head.
"We will be going go-karting so get ready and meet me in the foyer in an hour." Serenity said with a curtsy and left. She wanted to stay and chat but had to get ready. She wouldn't be able to wear a dress this time. It would probably get caught in the wheels or something similar. She wouldn't want to ruin a dress or worse, get tossed onto the track.. She called Breanna up to assist her.
"High tops and shorts?" Serenity suggested as she laid out some shorts with a sleeveless shirt and a flannel shirt over it.
"I wasn't aware the princess wanted to look like a hipster." Breanna teased as she dug around the clothes pulling out a pair of leather pants and a black and red striped t-shirt. Breanna then grinned.
"Well you shouldn't be dressed in some big dress. So try that along… these." Breanna said. Handing Serenity a leather jacket and motorcycle boots, Serenity looked at the ensemble, it was certainly different. She wasn't even certain if these clothes were hers.
"You want me to look like a punk?" Serenity said as she tried on the jacket, it fit well. The lingering scent of roses told her this was a gift from Delilah.
"Just want to make you look different, Serenity. Especially if you're going to be racing around some courses. Serenity looked at herself in the mirror, she looked like she came straight out of The Outsiders. She didn't hate the look, but she was worried what the others might think.
Serenity stood nervously in the foyer, Pearce quietly by her side. Justine sat nearby, her nose buried in a book forbidden love.
"I don't think that they're coming." Justine offhandedly said. She might have been right 5 minutes had past and none of the selected had arrived yet. Serenity looked down at her boots and was about to tell Pearce to cancel when Hikkori came running in, wearing a biker outfit. Something the surprised both Serenity and Pearce.
"Sorry I'm late! I lost track of time." Hikkori paused when saw Serenity. Serenity looked away.
"Wow, Serenity. You look… different. It's good!" Hikkori said flashing a smile, Serenity felt relieved Hikkori took a seat as they wait for the rest.
Jinnar came next, dressed more casually than Hikkori and Serenity. His long blond hair tied up into a bun. He smiled shyly at Serenity and stood next to her. Serenity noticed that Jinnar kept his smile.
"Excited?" She asked him. Jinnar nodded excitedly.
"Yeah!, I've never been go-karting. It sounds like it'll be fun. I don't know how well we'll get to know each other though." Jinnar said. He was right, how would Serenity get to know her Selected when they were each trying to outrace each other.
"Although actions speak louder than words so this might be better." Jinnar said. Serenity was confused for a few moments when Pearce announced that Maxim and Remus has arrived.
Maxim was dressed rather stylishly, a stylized hybrid of fashion and biker wear that stood out against Remus' simple outfit.
"Maxim! You look really good!" Serenity said. Maxim chuckled with a good-natured smile. The compliment was unexpected.
"Thank you, Princess, you look good too." Remus coughed loudly. Serenity turned her attention to him.
"Remus! I'm glad that you came! " Serenity said. Remus looked away and murmured.
"I'd be eliminated if I didn't and if I'm being honest. I'd rather not go home this early." Serenity was a little surprised by his reply. She chalked it up to the competitive nature of the Selection. Everyone had a reason for joining, unfortunately none of them seem to be there for her.
Pearce and two palace guards escorted Serenity and the boys to another luxury car. Serenity groaned again. Pearce shook his head and merely said something about Delilah. Serenity sighed as she entered the car. Serenity stay silent for the most part this time, instead she chose to listen to her selected chat. All of them seemed a little awkward for the most part only Maxim spoke, trying hard to get the others to speak. Eventually Hikkori joined him in speaking about some of the sports he partook in. Serenity gave a soft smile hearing Hikkori speak with enthusiasm.
The ride took longer than they expected. When they arrived they were a fair distance away from the city. Serenity stared out. There was a fairly large, beige building in front of them. Followed by several stretches of black road, and a few stretches that lead to a dark tunnel that seemed to go into the ground. There was a large, neon sign above the door that read "Red Hot Roy's Red Hot Racing." On the sign there was an image of a young boy in a go kart with flame tracks behind him.
"What's with the redundant sign?" Pearce asked, still wearing his motorcycle helmet. Serenity shrugged. Her selected stared out at the track.
"Looks simple enough." Maxim said
"All those turns! This is gonna be fun!" Hikkori chimed in.
"Let's hope nobody gets hurt." Jinnar said, eyeing a particularly sharp curve.
Remus stayed quiet, observing the track.
Once they were inside an angel with black dyed wings sat behind the desk reading a magazine. He looked up.
"Oh! You must be Quinny's sister. He told me all about you!" He said,wings fluttering, dropping a few black feathers.
"Quinny's? Quinn… um yeah we're here for-" The angel stopped Serenity..
"Yeah, I know. Quinny told me." The angel whistled loudly and in entered another angel with gold dyed wings.
"Zach, I told not to call me while I'm- Oh customers, welcome!" The gold winged angel said.
"They're the one Quinny told us about, Archie." Zach said, leaning on the desk." Archie smiled at them awkwardly.
"Ah so you're here for a date. What a fine selection of fellas you have! Alright follow me, I'll show you around. Quinny went ahead and chose the courses for you, he said he knew what you'll like." Serenity groaned and resisting the urge to facepalm out of fear of fracturing her skull.
"When will I EVER get to decide anything? For an event surrounding me I never get to make any choices." Serenity said. Maxim patted her shoulder, with a comforting smile.
"Just wait until you start to have 1-on-1 dates. You'll be able to choose where to go and what to do… at least with me." Serenity nodded, she couldn't help but smile.
"Thanks, Max…" Serenity said as she walked to the karts, her mind drifted for a bit so much so that she missed a part of Archie's explanation.
"...so there is a bit of magic in the kart, but only so they don't get completely totaled. Before each course we cast a protective barrier spell around you so you don't get majorly hurt. If your body can't handle magic or is heavily magic resistant then you can hang onto one of these talismans." Archie then pulled out a small stone octagon with a small carving of a dog running around a cross on one side.
"They're not quite magic, more of a condensed form of divine intervention." Archie explained as he pocketed the talisman. "Regardless. There will be four courses, all of these special courses are made with magecraft and illusionary magic. That being said if you stay on the actual course you should be fine. Try to go out of bounds and you won't get very far, but you're all big kids. Now for the fun part. The courses." Archie said leading them to a room with a large screen.
"Alright as I said before Quinny chose these courses. Your first course is going to be Moonlight Highway." The screen lit up to show what looked like a city, throughout the city was a wide black road with various kinds of cars and trucks driving on them.
"Moonlight Highway makes you feel like you're driving through a beautiful city. The only real hazard here is driving into those cars, trucks and bombs. You won't die if you hit them but you're almost guaranteed to land in last if you hit them." Archie explained. The screen flickered and changed to a large pinball machine.
"I know, I know. This is just an ordinary pinball machine, right? Nope it's an actual course, stylized as a pinball machine . You might not be the ball so watch out for that, be sure to steer clear of the bumpers or you might just find yourself bouncing around." Archie said as the screen switch to an image of a toy box with a red colored road.
"Toy box, the road is cloth so might be a bit trick but it's a fairly simple track. Unless you whack your head on the giant jack-in-the-box you should be fine."Archie said as he moved one.
"The last and my personal favorite, Castle Siege. In here you'll be dodging cannon balls, driving around flamethrowers and finally being shot out of a cannon to a castle." Archie said as he showed images of the half destroyed castle and cannon.
"Uh… Is that cannon safe?" Serenity asked. Archie looked at the cannon then back at Serenity.
"Probably not." Archie said. That wasn't the answer Serenity was looking for. Archie then turned off the screen.
"We have quite a few carts for you lot to decide." Archie said as he guided the group to a garage. Several stylized karts haphazardly parked all over.
"First up, we have you standard race kart. It's even all around, perfect if you like it plain." Archie explained. It looked rather plain, with the only thing of note being a large bumper and a pair of golden wings spray painted on the hood.
The next couple of karts looked was a long thin one, with racing looked more like a racing kart than a go kart. Another which looked like a cadillac, one that looked like a jeep and one that was simply a plane on wheels. Serenity and the Selected listened with rapt attention to Archie as he talked about the kart. The way he spoke and the charismatic attitude had their attention, for a moment, Serenity wondered if he had signed up to join the Selection.
"Alright, that's all of them, take your pick." Archie said with a bow. Serenity walked carefully eyeing each kart, she was only half paying attention so she wasn't entirely sure which kart was the fastest. Serenity looked at a kart that looked like an old car she had once seen in Aunt Delilah's social media pictures. The front was long, almost comically so. Despite it being a go-kart it had headlights. Serenity smiled as she decided to take this one. She hopped in and go ready.
Remus didn't like the design of many of the karts, they looked too uncomfortable. Remus then saw one that looked like it was just a simple box with a fearsome faux wolf on the front. Remus walked over, touching the sides and the head. It was definitely fake The werewolf would have quit and stormed out if it was real. He had heard rumors of werewolves being hunted for sport, even if was illegal. He climbed in and revved it's engine, carefully maneuvering around the other karts.
Hikkori look around for a few moments before he raced over to a kart that was simple a chopper-motorbike. He asked Archie if it was available, the angel nodded explaining that it was new and should be on even footing with the other karts.
Jinnar looked at the karts, there were so many interesting ones. He spent a good time feeling each one. The checkered cadillac interested him, but there egg shaped one looked very interesting. Jinnar took a look as some of the more interesting ones such a one shaped like a dragon's claw. He looked back at Hikkori and Serenity's choice. If they were going to go with something that looked like a normal car he probably should too. The cadillac was big and imposing, If Jinnar couldn't win by speed he'd probably be able to ram the others off course.
Maxim had a bit of a hard time picking a kart. A lot of them weren't all to pleasing to the eye. Archie's explanations didn't help. He wanted something that would make him win but also look good. He looked at a kart shaped like a shooting star. It was a gaudy yellow and white, but looked nice. He asked Archie for a quick run-down and found out it was quick. Speed was everything in these races, right?
Once everyone was settled in Archie called Zach over to help him cast a protection spell on each of them. Serenity felt a tingly feeling as what appeared to be a light blue translucent sheet phased through her. Archie then quickly explained how to drop out if they decided that they had enough and asked them to follow him as he escorted them to the course. The angel flapped his wings a few times and gently glided ahead, beckoning the other to follow.
"Just to let you all know, you won't get any brownie points for letting me win." Serenity teased.
"Good, I don't intend to lose, princess" Maxim teased back and grinned.
"I love a good competition, don't cry if you guys lose." Jinnar said playfully.
"No way am I losing to you guys." Remus said quietly, glancing at the other then at the wolf head of his kart.
"I'm here to have a good time but that doesn't mean that I intend to lose!" Hikkori yelled, clearly excited.
They followed Archie through a dark tunnel that led out into what appeared to be a highway, that dipped and headed through a forest. A cityscape was behind them, Everyone seemed impressed, Archie chuckled.
"Pretty cool right?, This is Moonlight Highway,a simple two lap course. Line up" he said as he flew over to a low street light and pulled out a checkered flag from a holder in the light. Once the karts lined up he held up the flag.
"Alright, get ready." he said and kicked the stoplight which started on red, then turning yellow.
"GO!" Archie yelled waving the flag as the light turned green. All of them took off, following the track into the forest. Serenity was taking the lead quickly, although had trouble turning when the road shifted, onto a bridge heading over a large cliff, letting Hikkori take the lead. Remus was falling behind but managed to gain a lead as he hit a ramp that launched him over the cliff. Remus gripped the wheel tightly as he flew landing, in front of a toll booth, the bar rose and he quickly drove onto a four lane road, hoping to gain a significant lead on the other.
Maxim was competing with Serenity for second place, both occasionally bumping into each other's car. The both lost focus for a second as Jinnar zipped past them. Let out an airy chuckle. Serenity recovered quickly and past Maxim who focused on the road and sped up, trying to catch up to Serenity and not land in last.
Remus grinned as he looked behind him and saw nothing but the checkered cadillac of Jinnar in the distance. He was winning!" His grin turned to a look of shock when he turned his focus back to the road. He was on the wrong side of the road! The werewolf tried to swerve out of the way, hitting one of the bomb car. Remus flinched as he felt the explosion. He opened his eyes and patted himself.
"I'm alive?" He said, suddenly remembering the spell Archie and Zach cast. As he started up his kart again Jinnar past him, followed quickly by Serenity. Remus gathered his bearings quickly and sped off before Hikkori could pass him. .
Hikkori was enjoying the feeling of the wind in his hair, only half caring about the race. But he certainly didn't want to be last. He was content being in third but figured he could do better. He noticed that bumping certain cars sped his bike up. He leaned toward a car covered in arrow stickers, lightly tapping it with the side of his bike. Hikkori kart zipped forward and bumped into the back of Serenity's kart. She flinched and looked at the sheepish face of Hikkori.
"There are easier ways to get my attention, Hikkori." She teased as she switched between facing him and the road. Hikkori chuckled, before he saw a chance to pass her.
"It's not to get your attention, it's to distract you." He said awkwardly. Serenity tilted her head turning back to the road where she collided with a truck, allowing Hikkori to pass her. That was just pure luck, but Serenity didn't have to know that.
Archie announced that they were on the last lap with Jinnar in first, Hikkori in second, Serenity in third, Remus in fourth and Maxim in fifth.
Hikkori was gaining speed on a Jinnar who kept his focus on the road ahead. Jinnar grit his teeth as he decided to take the bridge over the cliff instead of risking the ramp. In the corner of his eye he saw Hikkori fly off the ramp and performing some trick midair and landing past the toll booth. Jinnar had to admit he was impressed as he drove. After he reached the toll both he tried to get his lead back. Weaving through the cars, he managed to catch up when a bomb car rear end him, launching his right into a truck. Jinnar saw stars from the force he hit the truck.
Maxim was fighting Remus for 4th. Both had wound up in the end and Maxim hadn't even taken the lead yet. Maxim pulled away from Remus and tried to nudge the arrow cars. Noticing Serenity doing the same. His eyes scanned the cars, steering clear of the bomb cars. He spotted an arrow car and speed up towards it. He leaned trying to gain the boost. Maxim missed by a few inches and watched as Remus hit the arrow car and zipped forward. Maxim wasn't going to let Remus take his place. He let the arrow car rear end him and sped forward.
Serenity was a little disappointed that the boys were more focused on outdoing each other. They almost forgot about her. She kept slipping between second and third. She spotted Jinnar behind her and wondered how he ended up behind her. Wasn't he in first? Serenity shrugged as she now had competition and tried to stay ahead and away.
"FINISH!" Archie announced as he saw Hikkori cross the finish line while doing a wheelie. Followed by Remus who managed to bounce off of arrow cars and into second. Serenity then arrived in 3rd. She stopped to watch Jinnar and Maxim speed down. The road both intend on beating the other. Serenity carefully maneuvered her kart out of the way just in time to see Remus beat Maxim by a tiny margin. Serenity chuckled awkwardly as she stepped out of her kart to them both.
"You did good." She said to both. Maxim looked disappointed in grumbled.
"We still got 3 more courses to go so don't beat yourselves up over it, okay?" Serenity said before getting back in her kart and following Archie as he led the others out of the highway and to the next track.
Archie led them through another dark tunnel. The tunnel slowly lit up with neon lights and the sounds of classic video games.
"Welcome to Pinball. Yes you'll be going through that tunnel, and descend down the course, watch out for the balls!" Archie said as the racers took place. The familiar lights appeared where Archie sat
"And GO!" He shouted
Everyone took off and entered the neon tunnel which made a sound like a slot machine. Exiting the tunnel everyone raced down a small track that lead down to the playing field. Serenity managed to come in first, quickly surpassed by Remus then Maxim and then Hikkori who smiled madly as he passed the three, not noticing the ball that had dropped behind him, knocking him to the side.
Jinnar stayed behind purposely, waiting for the three in front of him to fight for first. He spotted an opening when Serenity and Remus bumped into each other. Jinnar stepped on the gas and passed both. He smiled as he entered the main field where he swerve and turn to avoid the severe boulder sized pinballs and bumpers. He barely noticed Maxim passing him as he drove passed the bumpers.
Hikkori kept hitting the bumpers, letting out small curses as they spun and struck him. He had barely managed to catch up to Serenity as he crossed the start to start the final lap. He speed up going neck to neck with Serenity. As they exited the neon tunnel a pinball rolled down the track, in front of Hikkori forcing him to slow took the chance to sped past Hikkori.
Meanwhile down in the playfield Jinnar, Maxim and Remus drove erratic to avoid the bumpers and each drifted to reach the end. Each boosted towards the end,Maxim past first followed by Jinnar then Remus. Twenty seconds later Serenity came in with Hikkori not too long afterwards.
"FINISH" Archie said, showing the result of the Race. Hikkori grumbled but recovered soon after, he wasn't going to let this get to him. He decided to keep going. Archie smirked and led them to the next course.
The course made everyone feel as if they were shrunken. The area looked like a child's toy box, with toys, wind up soldiers and jack and the boxes everywhere. The red road was the only indication of a road.
"Toy box. A fairly simple course. Although I did kind of lie. You see… while you shouldn't have any major issues like the last two courses. You will get shot at by the toy soldiers. This course goes through a castle, a fortress and a space observatory. In each of them you'll get shot at. So try your best not to get shot, Those bullets will launch you out of the stratosphere oh and uh… feel free to run over any foot aren't real." Archie explained flying up to a stack of blocks.
"GO!" he yelled and everyone took off. The road was mostly straight, each kart passing each other slightly until Serenity noticed gates open, leading them into the first castle. The walls were white brick. She steeled herself when she interior was nice. Princess dolls and heroic action figures walked around. A princess doll pointed at Serenity then at the others. Then from the castle wall a toy soldier with a rifle popped up. He loaded his rifle and aimed at Serenity and barely missed the shot. Her eyes widened as she saw the shot created a small explosion, like a miniature version of the bomb cars. She hurried through the castle as the soldiers shot at her and her Selected. A quick glance back told Serenity that each Selected was trying to be a man by not leading the bullets to other Selected. Serenity couldn't care less about her Selected being better men right now her only concerned was escaping the crazed castle. At last she reached the end and the soldier stopped firing, the road changed colors to black as the next part, came into view. The Fortress, with black masonry and a dark glow.
Jinnar was glad he managed to get out of the castle rather unscathed. Hikkori and Maxim both got caught up in a small explosion. The guards seemed to forget about Jinnar halfway hoped it would remain the same for the Fortress, he was trailing behind Serenity and Remus was a fair distance behind him. From his point of view Serenity had already entered the fortress and was quickly weaving around the explosions that followed her. Jinnar braced himself as he entered the fortress. He immediately heard a roar and saw several guards men run around the area. Jinnar accidently hit someone of them, he apologized. They then disappeared in a puff of smoke. Jinnar felt a few bullets hit his kart but wondered why there were no explosions. Then he saw the flaming arrows and barrels full of what he assumed was gunpowder. The arrows were pointed at him. He'd have to be crafty and avoid the barrels. Everything was going well until Hikkori caught up to him. The guards began shooting at both. Jinnar tried to keep his distance but Hikkori's erratic driving caused Jinnar to get caught up in 2 explosions, costing him his place. The only person behind him now Remus. Still Jinnar knew he could reclaim his place as he exited the fortress and into the Observatory.
Hikkori was excited as he managed to capture second place. Serenity was still in front of him. He didn't mind but he wouldn't let her stay in first for very long. Instead of taking first place from her he followed her to see what dangers the Observatory held. He had a bit of trouble with the castle and fortress but he wanted to see if he could prepare for the dangers. Instead of facing them head on. He was surprised to see Serenity kart bounce off the track and slowly descend, steering away from what looked like shooting stars.. Hikkori looked surprised but figured it would be easier for him, having a smaller vehicle. He went ahead and was shot up when he hit the observatory's floor. He looked around him as he slowly descended and leaned sideways to avoid shooting stars. Hikkori tried to angle his landings, testing to see what worked. He had hardly realized he gained first place only realizing when he hit the ground for the last time. Hearing Archie call out the final lap. Hikkori took a quick look behind him to see Serenity chase after him.
Remus tried to remain calm as he drove past the guards shooting at him while maneuvering around the explosions and avoiding the small craters the explosions created. Remus felt himself panic as his eyes darted around from the arrows. Something primal inside of him rocked him to his very core. Fear, he didn't know where it came from but he knew that it spurred him further. He felt like a wolf running away from hunters. The explosions behind him sounds more like shaking cart sounded more like the machines hunters had with them. Remus had hardly realized he had passed Maxim and was halfway through the fortress.
Maxim looked surprised as Remus passed him with a look of fear on his face. Maxim sped up, trying to keep his place. He tried to overtake Remus, blocking him off but the werewolf quick swerved and dodged the hail of bullets and flaming arrows. Maxim and Remus drove right into barrels of gunpowder, spreading it everywhere. They wiped gunpowder out of their eyes as they managed to escape the fortress. Both looked back at the fortress. The last section was entire on fire, no doubt thanks to their crash. They both almost stopped when they saw Jinnar escape the inferno, his kart burnt. Jinnar himself was unharmed, looking a little shaken.
Serenity grinned as she bumped karts with Hikkori as headed towards the finish line. They bounced and Serenity forced all her weight to bump Hikkori a little further as he kart dropped and past the finish line.
"Finish!" Archie yelled as Hikkori drove a few seconds after,followed by Remus, Maxim and finally Jinnar.
"Your kart is a little banged up, Jinnar. Give me a sec." Archie said as he chanted something in latin and slapped the hood of JInnar's kart, causing the dent and burnt metal to reshape.
"That's just a quick fix. Alright onto the next race." He said, leading them to the final course.
They started at the edge of a castle. A crumbling tower behind them. Large cannonballs were being shot out an airship and hitting the wall below the racers shaking them.
"Pretty simple track. One last minute change. Some of your karts are a little more banged up than I anticipated. Serenity's got a broken light, Remus' box is busted, Hikkori's chopper looks like it's going to fall apart and Jinnar's… well the point is that this is gonna be one lap. Make it count." Archie then flew above them, holding his flag.
"1… 2… 3… GO!" He yelled and everyone immediately took off.
Serenity, tried to stay still as she dodged cannonballs, they impact of cannonball to the stone wall rattled her, stopping and slowing her movements.
Hikkori dodged the cannonballs by skidding downward, barely ducking the cannonballs. They were smaller than he imagined.
Remus drove carefully. It was true, his kart was a hair away from breaking. He avoid the other drivers and only turned when a cannonball flew towards him.
Jinnar felt beat from the last course. He had been caught in explosions and a burning fortress he just wanted to get the course over with. Noticing that the cannonball flew directly at his head, Jinnar ducked his head only peeking out to see where he was.
Maxim was somehow able to outmaneuver the cannonball and land safely on the platform below them that lead to the next section.
After the cannonballs everyone turned to a ramp that lead onto the airship. As soon as they boarded a wrench flew and hit Remus' head. He turned to see a mechanic throw a hammer at him, hitting the head of the wolf on his kart.
"Invaders!, Intruders!" The mechanic shout, causing a few more to appear from window and other's to come up from the manholes on the floor of the airship.
"Get them!" The mechanics shouted as they threw various objects at the racers.
Serenity twisted and turned, avoiding the flying wrenches and screwdrivers. Hikkori behind her ducking and passing her. Remus growled at the mechanic who seemed to pelt him with various tools. He had finally managed to pull ahead, still in fifth. The other drivers had already entered the ship and Remus picked up speed, not letting himself be beat.
The first room of the ship was filled with boxes, which when hit turned out to be empty; much to the relief of Jinnar. He plowed through them trying to catch up to Hikkori who had managed to snag first. Jinnar thought he had caught the league when he almost drove into a flamethrower. The second room had a fem flamethrowers spurting out fire every now and again.
"What the hell kind of race track does Quinn go to!" Maxim shouted as he tried his best to dodge the flamethrowers. He thanked his stars there were only two going off at a time.
Serenity wondered why she was driving down a long hallway upwards until she saw the large cannon she dread. She stopped for a moment, wondering if it really was safe. It wasn't until HIkkori entered the oversized cannon that she managed to go in, beating Jinnar by a few seconds..
She screamed as she flew through the air. If she wasn't wearing a seatbelt she mostly certain would have flown off of her kart to certain doom. She fet dizzy as she drove down the spider design of the crumbling tower. Finally reaching the broken bridge of the castle. Serenity groaned as she avoided them. She heard Archie yell finish and looked ahead. HIkkori grabbed first place, which means she would get second. Jinnar followed a few second after followed by Maxim then Remus.
"Right I think that was enough fun." Archie said as he lead them out and back to the garage.
"Just park the over those blue spaces and Zach will see you out." Archie said as he pulled out a large tool box and a roll of duct tape.
"I saw the races, you guys were awesome." Zach said, watching the tired racers come out. Even looked thoroughly beat.
"Archie says that we don't really do winners and losers here, but I have an arbitrary point system I made! So this is count your overall points. The orange kitsune came in first, followed by Princess Serenity then the werewolf, the elf and finally the human." Maxim bit the inside of his cheek, learning he had come in last.
Outside, the sun was setting and Pearce was playing cards with the driver. He looked up to the Serenity and stood up.
"We'll finish this later, Dave." Pearce said as he packed up the cards. He smiled at Serenity and the others.
"Had fun?" He asked. Serenity nodded.
"Yeah… but just uh take us home." Serenity said, watching her Selected enter the car. She stopped Maxim before he entered. She smiled at him, he looked confused and a bit defeated.
"Don't beat yourself up over it, consider this a prize."She said, leaning up to kiss his cheek. Then hurrying to enter the car, leaving Maxim with a small smile on his face.
A/N:...I had to throw a kiss at some point. Right? I had fun writing this but also hated writing it. Writing it between my laptop, phone and a tablet was a pain! Expect the next one... when inspiration hits.