"So, what's the sitch? You find anything at the Raceway?" Michael asked their security escort, as they hot-footed it in that direction.
"You bet I did! Seems like whoever's behind this has given up on being subtle. There's a full on tunnel leading down under the track now! I have no idea where it came from. It's like it just spawned out of nowhere! S.T.A.F.F. bots keep flowing in and out of it, like an anthill. Not sure what the point of it all is, but someone's also taken the liberty of giving the bots a bit of a – redesign," Vanessa explained to them.
"What do you mean, redesign?" Nicole wondered.
Vanessa shot her a grimace, appearing unnerved.
"You'll find out soon enough," she offered hesitantly.
"And we're going back towards all this, why?" Nicole then questioned skeptically. "Shouldn't we be trying to find a new place to hide?" she reasoned.
"Hiding isn't going to work. The corrupted S.T.A.F.F. bots are scouring the building as we speak. If we want to have any hope of getting out of this in one piece, we've got no choice but to find whoever is responsible – and put a stop to them!" Vanessa declared with determination.
"And what makes you think we're gonna have any chance against a whole army of robots?" Michael shook his head in protest.
"Well, for one, we at least have Freddy on our side. But also, I think I might have an idea that'll level the playing field," Vanessa offered.
She turned to survey the area as they moved, spotting Freddy and Mirabelle lagging behind by several feet. The girl had her head down, eyes glued to the ground as she trudged ahead. Meanwhile, her animatronic companion had his optics locked on her and was sporting the goofiest, most captivated grin she'd ever seen on him. The whole scene was rather strange, to say the least.
"What's with those two?" she couldn't help but wonder.
"Oh, don't mind them. Just a little drama. I'm sure they'll work it out, eventually. . ." Michael trailed.
. . .
Despite all her attempts to ignore it, the sensation of the bear's unbreaking gaze on her was causing Mirabelle's heart to race! She was fidgeting and shuffling nervously, praying he wouldn't bring it up. But of course, she should have known better!
"Mira?" The sound of his voice made her jump. "I – can sense you don't want to discuss it, but – I can't help. . ." he trailed off, rubbing at the back of his head. "Are you really expecting me not to ask?" he questioned intently.
The longing in his voice was evident, and Mirabelle knew she was going to have to give him a reasonable explanation at some point. She wasn't going to be able to just pretend he hadn't heard what she'd said. Not to mention, it wouldn't be fair to him either. Even so, she just couldn't seem to bring herself to go there, at least, not right now.
"No, I just – was hoping we could possibly – postpone this?" she pleaded uncomfortably, unable to look at him.
"Mirabelle, please? I need to know. Did you – mean it?" he asked hesitantly, sounding almost nervous as he did so.
"I – I'm not. . ." she trailed, her mind scrambling to try and collect her thoughts. "I mean, the others kept egging me on, and I just – I don't know, maybe?" The word slipped out before she could stop it, and she flushed as she watched him light up out of the corner of her eye.
"Maybe sounds – promising, right?" he hinted hopefully.
Mirabelle scowled, shaking her head.
"Promising for, what? It's not like it – means anything for anyone," she attempted to reason.
"But it does! At least, it does to me," he justified fervently.
This only caused her scowl to deepen, and she groaned, gripping her head with both hands and squeezing her eyes shut.
"Come on, Freddy! Can we please just talk about this later? I really need some time to think," she implored him.
Freddy's expression fell, his ears drooping as he lowered his gaze.
"Alright, I understand," he reluctantly agreed after a long moment, making Mirabelle's heart lurch around painfully in her chest at his tone. "But will you, let me know, as soon as you're done, processing?" he requested carefully.
The last thing in the world she wanted to do was hurt him. However, Mirabelle wasn't sure she could give him what he was looking for. She wasn't even sure what any of this was to begin with! The fact that they were growing attached to each other was obvious, but she still hadn't the foggiest idea of what she was supposed to do about it!
"Yeah. Once this is all over, then we'll talk," she assured him, and was glad to see that it perked him up a bit.
. . .
The Raceway felt unnervingly empty and quiet as the group pushed their way through the large, glass doors. All eyes nervously peering around for any signs of movement, that is, until Michael finally broke the silence.
"I thought you said this place was crawling with S.T.A.F.F. bots?" he reminded Vanessa.
"It was, until they apparently all got dispatched to hunt us down. I'm guessing they weren't expecting us to come here willingly," she surmised.
"But, I don't see a tunnel, either," Nicole added.
"Oh, they were trying to be real clever about it, hiding it behind a 'Staff Only' door," Vanessa explained, gesturing towards the corner behind the race track. "Now let's just hope we can make it over there without running into –"
Vanessa was suddenly cut off by a loud, maniacal cackle reverberating around the room, the echoing making it difficult to pinpoint exactly where it was coming from. The group immediately halted as everyone began frantically searching for the source. Mirabelle going so far as to back her way straight into Freddy, who placed a protective hand around the back of her neck.
A moment later, and the menacing she-wolf herself dropped down from out of the rafters, right in front of the party!
"– Roxy!" Vanessa declared like an accusation, finally getting to finish her statement.
The wolf bot flashed them a smug smirk, crossing her arms defiantly.
"Well, well, well. What have we here? You didn't really think I was gonna let you go any farther, did you?" she questioned them skeptically.
"Actually, I was kinda hoping you would have given up by now," Mirabelle commented nonchalantly, stepping out in front of the others, feeling braver now that she could see that it was just Roxy, and knew exactly where she was. Not to mention, their bolstered numbers didn't hurt. "But of course, you just can't bring yourself to admit defeat, can you? Because heaven forbid you're not 'the best'," she taunted.
Roxy humphed back at her.
"You know, I would be angry, if I wasn't impressed you all managed to find each other. We thought for sure Music Man would stop anyone trying to free those two," she motioned towards Mirabelle's friends. "So much for our leverage," she seemed to sigh.
"Roxy, enough! This has got to stop! People are not leverage!" Freddy lectured at her. "Tell me what he wants with Mirabelle!" he demanded.
"That doesn't matter! All that matters is who has control, and I'm not about to let you, or anyone else take that away from me! And if I have to rip you all apart to keep it that way, so be it!" she shouted and began to advance on them.
Freddy yanked Mirabelle back while Vanessa simultaneously pulled Nicole around behind her. Meanwhile, Michael managed to miraculously stand his ground, and surprisingly didn't appear to be particularly intimidated. And if Mirabelle knew her friend, she realized that could only mean he was concocting some kind of harebrained scheme!
"Whoa! Easy there, tiger! You know it's five against one, right? How do you expect to take us all on at once?" he pointed out casually.
"You might have been able to put the others out of commission, but you won't be able to take me down as easily. But, if you insist, I can always wait for the S.T.A.F.F. bots to return," she threatened.
"I don't know. I'm pretty sure we can get you decommissioned before then," he continued to provoke her.
"Not before I take several of you down with me!" she snapped back, sounding slightly less confident.
"Mikey! What are you doing?!" Nicole hissed at him from around Vanessa.
"Relax, I've got this," he muttered in reply, before turning back to the snarling animatronic in front of him. "Do we really have to resort to violence? What if I told you that I have a better idea? One that I'm pretty sure even you'll go for," he offered temptingly.
"I highly doubt you have any ideas I'd be interested in," she scoffed back snarkily.
"Don't be so sure. After all, I've heard through the grape vine that you like a challenge," Michael told her, dangling the word like a carrot on a string.
To the others amazement, his statement appeared to have had some affect! They watched as Roxy slightly dropped her guard, her ears perking with interest.
"So, how 'bout a race? Just you and me, one on one. If I win, you let us go," he presented to her.
"And, what about me? What do I get after I completely demolish you?" Roxy wondered in a haughty boast, crossing one arm under the other as she studied her painted claws.
"We'll give you Mira," he replied with a casual shrug.
Everyone else, however, reacted very violently against the idea! All collectively flinching, before whipping their heads towards the boy in shock. Even Roxy seemed a bit surprised at the proposition.
"What?!" Mirabelle demanded with outrage.
"Mikey! How could you?!" Nicole distressingly wondered.
"That is not going to happen!" Freddy declared sternly, tightening his grip on the girl in front of him.
"Yeah, you might wanna think this through, kid. Roxy's no joke on the track. She's been upgraded to the point where she basically can't lose. This doesn't sound like the best idea," Vanessa warned him in a hushed tone, and he turned to address them.
"Come on, guys! Can't you see that this is our only option?" he muttered lowly, so as to try and keep Roxy from hearing him. "Even with Freddy, Roxy's gonna do everything she can to get to Mira, and then ultimately she'll just end up taking her anyway. At least this gives us a fighting chance," he tried to reason, but Mirabelle just fixed him with a skeptical scowl.
"Hey, have some faith in me. I mean, I almost beat her before. The only reason I lost is because there were other people around and in the way. This time it'll be just me and her, and no staff to make me follow the rules, right?" he presented to the security guard.
Vanessa shrugged, clearly not caring to contradict him.
"And besides, I've been itching for some payback all night! Trust me, I can do this," he assured them with determination.
Mirabelle considered his words for a long moment, until ultimately coming to a conclusion with a curt nod. "Okay."
"Okay!?" Both Freddy and Nicole exclaimed simultaneously.
"Mira! Are you nuts?!" Nicole snapped at her.
"There's no way we're agreeing to this!" Freddy added with a head shake.
"Well, I mean, he's kinda got a point. We're at a bit of an impasse, and I don't want anyone else getting hurt, because of me," she confessed regretfully.
"Mira. . ." Freddy trailed, his countenance falling. He leaned down so that he was at eye level with her. "You don't have to do this," he stressed, trying to ease what he perceived to be a lingering guilty conscious.
She returned his words with a halfhearted smile. After all, he wasn't entirely wrong about her motivations, but she was still concerned about her own friends too.
"Don't worry. Mikey is actually a pretty good driver. I know he acts like a big dork, but he's been my best friend since we were little. I know he cares about me and would never casually risk my safety. He wouldn't be making this bet if he wasn't sure he could win. It'll be okay," she assured him, sounding more convinced than she actually felt.
"But, that isn't what I –" he attempted to argue, until she stopped him by placing a gentle hand over his mouth.
"I know," she answered simply, before turning and giving Michael an approving nod. She felt Freddy sigh in defeat, knowing he wasn't going to be able to change her mind.
Meanwhile, Michael beamed at his friend's confidence. He flipped back to find the she-wolf was beginning to grow impatient, and so stalked over in front of her.
"Seems like we're all in agreement. So, what da ya say? Do we have a deal?" he proposed slyly, stretching out his hand towards her.
Roxanne smirked before grasping at the offered hand. She yanked Michael closer so that his nose was now only inches from hers. The others tensed as she belligerently bared her fangs.
"Yeah, we got a deal," she agreed in a low tone. "Ya might wanna say goodbye to your little friends while you have the chance, boy. Because after I mop the floor with you, none of you will be getting out of here alive," she threatened harshly, before releasing him and heading towards where the go-karts were parked.
"We'll see about that," he muttered after her. "Hey, guard lady!" he called towards the blonde.
"It's Vanessa," she corrected him irritably.
"Fine, Vanessa," he repeated, in the similarly snappy tone. "You know how to work the karts?" he wondered.
"Yeah, I can get them turned on for you, but don't say I didn't warn you if this whole thing goes south," she reminded him.
. . .
Lined up along the starting line, the spectators were gripping the edge of the track wall nervously as the boy and the wolf took their respective seats in the front two karts. Climbing into the operator control booth, Vanessa fired up the engines, before hitting the gate release to removed the security barrier. It swung open and the two competitors pulled out side by side onto the track.
"Vanessa," Roxy suddenly called out over the rumbling engines. "Disable the speed limiters," she ordered ominously.
"But, Roxy. You know this track isn't built for top speed. You'll end up flying over the railing," she reasoned, attempting to discourage her.
"I don't care! Just do it! Or I'll rip out your vocal chords!" she shouted back, sounding like a child throwing a tantrum.
Vanessa gave the others a rather pained look before heaving a sigh of compliance. She hit a button that caused a red, alarm light to flash and a voice to play out in response.
"Warning – tampering with go-kart speed controls could result in permanent injury to guests or even possible loss of life. Please re-enable the speed governors before resuming operation of karts," it told them.
However, not appearing phased by the message, Vanessa simply scanned her badge along the console, and the alarm light stopped flashing.
"Override accepted," the voice chirped.
Great, this sounded like it just got a whole heck of a lot more dangerous! Mirabelle realized with dismay.
"Do you really think Michael can pull this off?" Nicole wondered hesitantly, probably feeling just as worried as Mirabelle, if not more so.
"If anyone can, it'd be him. I wouldn't count him out just yet," Mirabelle encouraged, attempting to sound more sure than she actually felt.
"Try not to cry when you lose, little boy," Roxy taunted, as Vanessa initiated the countdown sequence, yellow lights flashing along to the beeping.
"I could tell you the same thing," he shot back boastfully, not acting the least bit intimidated.
A second later, and the lights flashed green. Both racers immediately floored their gas pedals, taking off in a roar! However, as they quickly pulled up to the first corner, Michael suddenly realized that Vanessa was right about the speed. He was going to have to slow down if he wanted to make the turn without slamming into the wall! He never knew go-karts were actually capable of going this fast!
Roxy was wearing a smug grin as she pulled ahead out of the first turn, already being accustomed to these speeds. Not to mention, having the track completely memorized. She felt like she could do this race without the need for her optics at all, let alone the enhanced ones she was currently equipped with.
Even so, Michael wasn't about to take that lying down! He'd had some practice on this track as well, after all. Regaining some speed, he managed to pull up right along side the she-wolf. They were neck and neck for a bit, Roxy growing increasingly aggravated the longer he managed to keep pace with her.
After another minute of her unsuccessfully attempting to pull ahead, Roxanne suddenly perked with a devious glint in her eye. Whipping the wheel hard to the left, she slammed the side of her kart straight into Michael's! It connected hard with the wall, throwing up a shower of sparks as it skidded along at the high speed. Michael let out a yelp in surprise, the spectators throwing their hands over their ears in an attempt to block out the horrid screeching.
She didn't stop there though, reaching out and taking a swipe at Michael's head with her claws, while simultaneously trying to keep him pressed against the wall. He barely managed to duck in time, focusing more on keeping control of his kart.
"Hey! You can't just attack me! That isn't fair!" he barked out in protest.
"You said no rules, remember?" she hollered back, taking another swing at him.
He ducked again, and before she had time for a third strike, slammed on his breaks. Roxy shot ahead of him, hitting the left wall before she had time to correct her steering. She swerved back and forth a bit before regaining control, and now that he was out of the way, refocused on keeping ahead of her opponent.
Coming around for the second lap, Michael was now attempting to regain ground. He managed to creep up just enough so she couldn't cut him off, but was still keeping back slightly, wary of getting plowed into the wall again. He felt like the damage his kart had taken was already affecting his speed and driving precision.
Meanwhile, Roxy was keeping a very close eye on the opposing kart, doing everything she could to keep him from overtaking her. Although, maybe it was a bit too close of an eye. Forgetting her exact position for a moment, they came up on a turn that she almost took too late!
She hit the wall, her kart bucking in protest, but she just managed to keep it from clearing the railing. Her over-correction ended up making her swerve violently back the other way, smacking into Michael's kart again and causing him to lose speed. He realized at this point that trying to match her stride was proving to be too dangerous, and so opted to back off, for now.
That didn't exactly help the other's anxiety though, having to watch him tail her into the final lap. They were practically biting their nails in nervousness, but for some reason Michael didn't seem the least bit stressed. He wasn't falling behind, keeping right on her tail, but he wasn't trying to pass her anymore either.
It made Mirabelle wonder what the heck he thought he was doing, until it suddenly dawned on her. She at least knew enough about racing game mechanics, to recognize drafting when she saw it. Now, she realized, that he was just waiting for the opportune moment.
Which finally came at the last turn before the finish line. Using the speed advantage he gained from riding her slipstream, Michael suddenly boosted forward – straight into the left, rear tire of the wolf's kart!
Since she was in the process of turning, the karts connected at a sharp angle. The momentum forcing Roxy's kart to continue it's turn, far more sharply than she had intended, until it completely spun her out! The go-kart was now facing the entirely wrong direction.
The she-wolf howled with rage, attempting to pull a U-turn to get herself back in the race, but of course by then – it was far too late. Michael crossed the finish line to the triumphant cheers of his adoring fans! Well, the people who were watching, anyway.
Thoroughly enjoying the moment, he decided to pull around for one more victory lap. Whooping, pumping his arms, and generally making just as big a deal over his win as they'd witnessed Roxy doing earlier that evening. Meanwhile, the others piled onto the track, ready to offer their congratulations once he'd pulled back around.
Too bad for them, Roxy was an even worse loser than she was a winner. Not planning on taking this sitting down, she literally rose up from out of the kart, before rounding on where the others were gathered. She then set her sights on Nicole of all people, suddenly charging towards the unsuspecting girl!
"You might've won the race, but you can't stop me from taking out your little girlfriend!" she exclaimed in a fury.
A good thing too, because it gave everyone a chance to figure out what was about to happen!
"Freddy!" Mirabelle shouted once she saw the wolf. It was all she had time for, but it was enough.
He only had to take one glance to realize what was going on as well. Acting with reflexes no one would normally have thought possible for animatronics, Freddy immediately scooped Nicole up into his arms and out of danger.
At the same time, having heard her loud and clear, Michael suddenly drove onto the scene. Knowing he wasn't going to have time to finish the lap, but simultaneously remembering that he didn't actually have to. Flooring the gas pedal, he managed to hit the wall that separated him and Roxy at top speed! The kart bucked hard, before zooming up and over the divider – aimed right for the shocked she-wolf!
Both Freddy and Mirabelle managed to dive out of the way just in time, as the front of the kart smashed straight into Roxy! It hit her with so much force, that they went careening completely through the far wall, skidding along the ground in a blaze of light, until finally coming to an abrupt halt once the mass of metal collided into the side of a merchandise booth, Roxy first!
The she-wolf struggled for a moment to heave the heavy kart up off of her, since it currently had her pinned to the wall of the booth. However, she was not successful, finally running out of power and going limp beneath the still smoking shrapnel.
"Whoa! That was awesome!" the rest of the room suddenly heard the shout coming from back on the track.
Recovering from their tuck and roll, Freddy and Mirabelle rose from off the floor, Vanessa rushing out of the control booth to join them a moment later. All eyes turned to find Michael brushing himself off, a giant, excited grin plastered across his face. It was clear now that he must have bailed from the kart right before it'd hit Roxy, and thankfully he didn't appear much worse for wear. That didn't stop Vanessa from stalking over to give him an earful, however.
"Awesome!? Are you kidding me!? That has to be the single, stupidest and most dangerous thing I've ever seen! Do you have any idea how lucky you are to be standing here right now?! I swear, if you ever –" she continued to rant for some time, Michael not acting particularly phased by it as his eyes lolled around in his head.
In the meantime, seeing as how her best friend turned out to be fine, Mirabelle brought her attention back to her cousin, who was still clutched protectively in Freddy's arms. He also peered down at the stunned, trembling girl.
"Nicole, are you alright?" he wondered in concern.
"I – I think so. . ." she hesitated for a moment, finding her bearings. "Thank you, Freddy," she told him sincerely.
"You are quite welcome. I am happy to hear that you're unharmed," he offered back, giving her a sweet smile.
Nicole's face lit up like a traffic light under his gaze, and she suddenly seemed to find the floor rather fascinating.
"A-anyway, c-could you – put me down – now – please?" she managed to stutter out, to which Freddy was more than happy to oblige, setting her down on unsteady legs.
After regaining her footing, she turned to find Mirabelle fixing her with a shit-eating grin. She lobbed an annoyed glare in response.
"Yeah, okay. I get it," she admitted, albeit rather reluctantly, waving her off.
Even so, the most important thing was that they all managed to make it through yet another incident intact. The final mystery now being, what was waiting for them under the track? Guess there was only one way to find out.
Man this chapter was a slog! Why are action scenes so hard to write? I am so glad I managed to get this done though. I really wanted to put in a racing scene, since the game wasn't cool enough to give us one. We were all excited for it too, but no. You get to play laser tag, and they even included a mini-golf game, even though it's not required to play it. But then, did we get a go-kart mini-game? Nooo! Steel Wool is just like - eh, here's just a cut scene instead. Oh well, I just hope I did it some justice. Anyway, as always, until the next time, Bye Bye!