On race day, Liz opened her eyes to the familiar sight of her own room's ceiling. She frowned. It was so nice to wake up with Takeshi. Of course, she could still remember her conversation with him the night before. She had said something about "having a reputation to keep".
Oh well. At least I won't be distracted while I get ready. She got up and walked to her dresser, but her computer beeped for her attention as she passed. She glanced at the clock next to her bed. "Christ, it's not even-" The clock read 11:21. The race started at noon.
"Shit!"
Jeremy Vardeman was waiting for her when she reached the Satomi hangar. Liz was surprised to see him at first, but then remembered that their hangars were right next to each other. It used to be empty, and she had just never bothered to look around. Actually, being race day, all the hangar doors were open but the main ones, so she could see right into Firestorm's staging area. Blaine Vardeman and Laura Milan were standing next to their mechs, Blaine typing on a handheld computer, Milan staring into space, apparently lost in thought.
Jeremy walked over to Liz as the door closed behind her, and smiled at the confused look on her face.
"I know it's kind of strange for opponents, but I just wanted to wish you good luck in the race, Liz."
They shook hands. "Sure, good luck to you too. I'll try not to beat you up too badly."
He put up his hands, just like he had in the cafe. Was that really just three days ago? It feels like forever. Liz thought.
"Hey, I just want a good race. But I'll be sure to warn Laura about that crazed midfielder of yours." He gave a mock shudder.
"Yeah, and make sure your brother keeps his hands off my man." She put up her fists and bounced left and right. "Or I'll have to bust some heads."
Vardeman's mouth tightened into an angry line. "Yeah, he has a problem with that." He snapped out of it when Liz raised an eyebrow. "Never mind. Well, I'll see you on the track."
"Take a good look at me now," she turned around, showing him her backside. "'Cause this is all you're gonna see for the next ten minutes."
He let out a quick laugh before becoming serious again. Suddenly, he cocked his head, as if hearing something, then turned and jogged back to Firestorm's hangar.
Liz looked over his shoulder, to see Blaine sneaking up behind Laura Milan. She didn't notice as he extended his arm, but jumped and whirled as he placed his hand on her butt, outlined by the tight-fitting jumpsuit.
She glared at him, grinning triumphantly, for a moment, before slapping him across the face.
The stinging red mark on his cheek spread across his features, as his gloating instantly turned to rage. He grabbed Laura's arm, and pulled her close. He was whispering at her threateningly when Jeremy reached the group, and put an arm between them. He spoke quickly to his brother, who just stuck up his chin at him and mumbled something back at him. Jeremy gripped Blaine's hand, still wrapped around Laura's arm, and insisted. Blaine smirked wickedly, and said something while pointing in Laura's direction with his chin. Jeremy pushed him away.
And Blaine hit him.
It wasn't a very hard punch, but it was enough. Jeremy tightened his grip on Blaine's wrist, causing him to let go of Laura, who backed up quickly. Jeremy advanced on Blaine, who had stepped back a ways and was now rubbing his wrist, glaring murderously. Blaine came forward, his arm coming around in another punch.
Jeremy caught his hand in mid-swing and twisted it down, forcing Blaine to his knees. His other fist was clenched in anger, and he brought it back.
At that moment, Laura Milan ran forward, wrapped her arms around Jeremy, and screamed.
"NO! Stop!" At the sound of her voice, Jeremy halted. He turned his head to face Laura, and whispered to her. She replied loudly. "He doesn't deserve it. If you act like him, you'll only prove him right."
Jeremy dropped his arm to his side, and released Blaine's hand. Blaine just stood there, staring daggers at his brother. He looked to Laura, and said something too soft to hear, at which Jeremy surged forward again. Laura stopped him.
At that very moment, a piercing alarm cut the relative silence of the hangars, announcing that the starting blocks were set up, and the race would begin. Blaine turned around, and climbed the ladder into his mech, muttering to himself. Jeremy was still breathing hard from his short-lived anger, but Laura calmed him down. They kissed, before climbing into their own respective mechs.
Liz didn't know what to think. She finally came to her senses when Takeshi yelled at her from his mech. She didn't hear what he said, but she ran to her mech anyway.
A quick glance told her that the Firestorm mechs were already stepping out onto the track, and Takeshi was starting up his own mechanical steed.
She finished the climb to her cockpit, and threw herself in, still deep in thought. Normally, Liz was calm and collected before a race (even though she got pretty hot during the actual thing). This time, though, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. She hoped nothing would come of what she had just seen in Firestorm's hangar. Of course nothing's going to happen. We're all civilized human beings, we have self-control.
Don't we?
As soon as the three yellow and blue mechs cleared their hangars, the crowd's cheers rose to a fever pitch. Benjamin Bright looked out over the stands from the press box, his trademark mustache curled over a broad smile. Sir Hamgra, owner of Team Velshtein, sat in his special section above the starting line, just in front of Benjamin's announcing booth.
Sir Hamgra turned around. "So, Benjamin, I hear today will make for a very entertaining race! The newest team in the IG-1, against Team Satomi, the original underdogs. A bit of a role reversal, don't you think?"
Benjamin just kept on smiling. "Quite right, my good man!" He cupped his hand around his mouth and whispered. "And I have also heard, from a very reliable source, that the two teams have gotten to know each other quite well in the past few days, and have been seen frequenting the same places."
"Very interesting indeed."
