CAR 69
Abel slammed on the gas. The engine screamed to life when the car launched forward like a mechanical dragon. His head smacked the headrest on the driver's seat as the wind sliced through his long chestnut hair. He dived to the left and knocked a cone lining the side of the track up into the crowd of the stadium. With the opening riff to "China Grove" blaring through him, the pupils in his eyes dilated like a stalking lion as the energy coursed through his veins like a river of lava.
Austin, next to Abel, grabbed the side of the car. His head banged onto the sill with the rest of his body teetering on the edge of his seat. With his head stuck over the sill of the car, Abel swiped to the right and zoomed right to another vehicle. Austin saw the side of the car coming closer to his face. It magnified with every millisecond, and he let out a cry. Using his arm strength, he pushed on the inside of the door and rose his head up just in time for the two cars to collide.
The other car bounced to the stadium wall and smacked it's front end into a metal heap. The students in the car looked over to the Judge's table and pointed at Car 69. As they did, Abel straightened the car and tailgated behind another of the identical vehicles.
Anton screamed at the top of his lungs. Synaes leaned forward and smacked Abel on the head.
"Moron," Synaes yelled over the rushing wind. "Are you trying to wreck us."
"Sorry," Abel cocked his head back. "I can't hear you," he said, pointing at his earphones.
The scrum of cars minus one raced down into a tunnel that would lead them out of the stadium. The car hopped over the ramp downward into the earth.
Car 43
In the dead center of the pack, Moxie squeezed the leather steering wheel as her heart plummeted to her chest. The car lifted into the air from the drop off to the tunnel. She rose over her chair a few inches overcome by the exhilaration of brief weightlessness. Her upper body leaned over the wheel as the darkness of the tunnel enveloped the car.
Slam! The wheels of the car mashed the ground as the pack flew into the tunnel. Moxie twirled the steering wheel in her fingers and kissed the inside wall. Her head rocked with the tinge of metal that sparked brilliant ambers of orange before extinguishing into smoke. She kept behind one of the other cars and kept her head down. The walls of the dark tunnel were illuminated with dark cerulean bars of neon that flickered like strobes in a dance club off the sleek metal of the hood.
"Moxie," Lloyd said next to her. "Brake!"
She whipped her head around to Lloyd. Seeing the blue reflect off his face, she saw the lights flash the image of a car next to them. One with a student who was reaching out to them with two swords for arms! The boy reached up into the air with his swords and thrusted his arms right down towards the hood. The car he was in swerved and lost it's momentum for just a split second.
Moxie tapped the brakes. Sword Hands slashed at the air with the tips of the blades clanged off the concrete. Sparks flew up to Lloyd's face. He swatted them away as Moxie slammed on the gas again.
"Moxie!" Lloyd said.
"I can pass them, Moxie shouted.
She drove three quarters past the car. However, the driver inside ripped his wheel to the side. The car smashed into the side of car 43 and pressed them into the retaining wall. Sparks of amber flashed over the strobes of neon with the piercing screech of sizzling metal assaulting the students' ears. Sword Hands stood up in his seat and rose his swords up to fall onto the car again.
Drake, seeing the steel about to slice the car's hood, launched to his feet. His arm morphed into a muscular bulge of velvet red dragon skin with a thick claw protruding from the end. He swatted at the side of the twin swords and smacked them away. Sword Hands straightened himself back up and jabbed right at Drake's midsection. The Dragon Boy grabbed onto the blade, the sharp edge slicing right into his talons. Drake grimaced in pain and released the sword.
"Not so tough, Class 1-A-hole!" he shouted. He went in for a second jab.
Drake ducked down and used his uninjured human hand to grip the side of the vehicle. He lifted himself out of the car and extended his legs. In mid-air clinging to the side door, he swiped at the knees of the taunting student. He spun like a trained breakdancer and kicked the legs out from under him. Sword Hands fell back into his seat into the lap of the other kid next to him.
Drake spun himself back into his seat. He reached from his seat and flashed his talons at the rear tire of the car. His claws sliced through the rubber like a hot knife in butter, and the nitrogen inside popped from the punctures. With a destroyed tire, the car of the rival students spun back towards the center of the tunnel. The driver overcorrected and spun right towards the retaining wall Car 43 was in front of.
Moxie slammed on the gas and fishtailed the car to the right. The back end whipped right to the wall but avoided the curtailing vehicle that sailed into the wall. Leo grabbed Drake's shoulder and pulled him back right before his arm was taken off by the uncontrolled racer. Drake peered at the terrified students in the other car as the crashed into the wall. The crash echoed over the deafening echoes of the engines racing through the tunnel. The front end of the vehicle crumpled right up to the driver and skidded forward to a halt right by an emergency exit door.
Drake shifted his arm back into his human form. The slice to his hand was still bleeding while he squeezed the cut with his other palm. He grit his teeth and stared straight ahead. He hated that he had to use his powers so quickly, but he also hated that the sting on his human hand hurt much worse than the injury in dragon form. The car kept behind the inside line of other students as a bright light shined ahead.
Moxie shielded her eyes from the blinding light and felt the sweltering heat pounding her skin as the pack rose up into the surface.
Car 37
The cars hopped over the incline and landed on an entry ramp to Pacific Coast Highway. Now at the surface, the pack sprinted next to the sand barriers of the beach. The palm trees swayed with the passing cars swishing away pieces of its bark into the wind. People lined the road and cheered from the back of SUVs and minivans with a few people raising beers at the passing racers.
Even with the powerful new engine, Martel's eyes narrowed at the two cars racing side by side. Two groups of students both from class 1-C if he had memorized the roster correctly. Both of them seemed keen on keeping in front. Martel dipped to the left side, but the other car blocked him. He switched to the right. he was met with the bumper of the other vehicle.
"These two vehicles are working in unison," Martel announced. "They have trained for this through hours of useless video games."
"I got this shit," Hunter said from next to Martel. He reached out his human arms and spat out two spindly ropes of webbing. They smacked onto the bumpers of both cars and stuck to them like octopus tentacles. Hunter grabbed onto the webs and pushed them together. The two cars pulled together and smashed into each other's sides. They both lost control and spun inward and pointed right at Car 37. They were stuck together as car 37 chugged at them like a train. A narrow gap appeared between the to vehicles and quickly narrowed.
The students in the two cars screamed as Martel slammed on the gas. Hunter leaned over and thrusted the right arms on his back down onto the concrete. He pushed down and caused the car to tilt to its side. It rose up nearly vertical as they rode on the very edge of the left tires. The car corkscrewed right through the gap in the center and sliced right down the middle. AS they did, Robyn grabbed her sword from its hilt and poked a tire on one of the stuck together vehicles. It slashed the tire flat and caused the car to launch upward into the air. The two cars tumbled upward before fliping back down into the concrete right in front of the pack.
Ignoring the pileup behind them, Hunter rocked his body to the right and caused the side in the air to come down. The car plodded on all four tires and laid down the rubber to the lead.
"Cool move, Man-Spider," Blake hopped up in his chair and gripped the back headrest of Hunter.
"That's not my hero name. Bitch." Hunter shouted.
Robyn turned back to see the pack disappearing from behind. They were gaining great ground in the race. She clapped her hands together and tuned back to Blake. "Wasn't that so cool how he shot those webs out? That crash behind us looks amazing!"
"I know," Blake said. "A lot of blood and death most likely! Do you think that's the last round by the way? A fight to the death?"
"I hope so," Robyn said.
The car zoomed forward. The engine screamed down the shoreline road and pulled away from the rest of the pack.
CAR 21
Megan lifted herself off the edge of her seat. Right in front of her, two cars swerved and collided into a heap. They corkscrewed over and flipped in the center of the road. The pack of cars scattered like frightened ants around the pavement. Tires squealed and brakes screeched with hot sparks puffing out of the wheel wells.
"Hang on!" Megan yelled.
She braked and flung the car to the left. The back end pointed right at the wreckage as a few other cars slammed into the pile. as hard as she slammed on the brakes, Megan could not stop the momentum from careening the car right at the wreckage that increased in broken sheet metal and aluminum. Katsu, in the backseat, climbed out of his seat and grabbed the spoiler of the vehicle. He grabbed the back headrest with both his arms and braced his body right in front of the bumper as the car slid right into the pack.
"This won't feel good," Katsu said to himself.
Katsu closed his eyes and bowed his head right at the heap of cars.
SMASH! Katsu's body worked as a buffer as his frame absorbed the energy from the hit. The car jolted to a halt with Katsu pinned between the bumper and a mashed front bumper of an unfortunate Class 1-C vehicle. Megan's forehead slapped the steering wheel. Next to her, James gripped his midsection and tried to trap air back into his lungs. In the backseat, Helena used her retractable claws to dig into the other seat. It kept her from flying off the car as her head lolled back from the wreck.
Megan blinked and saw the pack of cars zooming towards them. A symphony of engines swerved about to avoid the wreck in the center. However, a few of them skidded across the pavement right at the front of Car 21. Just a few yards in front of them, Abel turned the other way to avoid the pile up. However, his front tire ran over a few nails left over from the debris caused by the wreckage.
"Brake!" Anton thunked Abel on the head, his fear growing from the incoming promise of pain.
"We're sliding!" Abel shouted. Even the pumped up concentration of "China Grove" couldn't stop the skid.
Megan gasped at the car that was on a collision course to hit them head on. She put the car back into drive, but the rear axels were above the ground. The tires spun in mid-air, but the car would not budge. She stomped on the accelerator, but only the whirring of the tires overcame the lack of movement.
Meanwhile, on the back bumper, Katsu's eyes opened up. They glowed a scarlet tint that shined from beyond his pupils. Flecks of amber sparks prickled over his arms and legs. The energy absorbed from the hit rumbled through his veins and palpitated his heart to slam into his chest.
James regained himself and unbuckled his seat belt. He stood up and balled up his fists. He called on his neon to his palms. Sweat bubbled up around his fingers as the lilac globe enveloped his hand. He narrowed his eyes in an attempt to time the attack just right.
Megan tried one final lash on the accelerator. The car rocked and dislodged from the wreckage. However, the bumper caught onto a destroyed exhaust pipe wedged between the pavement and the rear axle. The tires spun just inches above the surface.
Abel and Austin in the car racing towards them screamed. Anton dived onto the ground while Synaes saw the glowing spots of James and Megan outer frame growing closer and closer.
"Well, might as well die in front of everybody," she said with her cane in hand.
The car was just feet away.
Ten feet.
Then five.
Megan could see Abel's dumb eyes and hair and covered her face to brace for the impact.
James threw his arm forward. A bolt of neon blasted the concrete underneath the car Abel drove. It caused a piece of the road to jam upward like a makeshift ramp. Seeing the change in terrain, Abel accelerated and straightened up the wheel to hit the base of the ramp. James fell back into his chair and shut his eyes as the front tires of the car sailed right at him and Megan.
Then, they soared.
The tire kissed the tip of his luscious black hair and mussed it up as the vehicle rose up to the sky. It cleared the top of the wreckage of cars an flew over the pack below.
Just as Car 69 sailed above, Katsu slammed his heels down into the concrete, his body hanging just over the bumper of the car. The amber energy zapped down to the impact and blasted a gash into the ground. With Katsu holding onto the backseat headrest, he braced his muscles to hang on.
Blam!
The car blasted right through the tower of wrecked cars. Katsu's blast caused the car to rip right through the center of the pile on like a hot knife through butter. The car flipped and twisted in the air as it cut through the metal with a deafening eruption of sliced aluminum exploding around the car.
It sliced right through the wreck and cleared it to the other side. Megan felt weightlessness overtake her as her blonde hair bashed at her forehead. The world twisted around her like a splitting roller coaster. The blue of the sky melded into the grey of the ground as the pavement overtook the space the sky held in her eyes. She grabbed onto the steering wheel and lurched it to the left.
The car dismounted in the center of the road on all four tires. Megan spun it back around and straightened it out on the center line splitting the highway. Above them, Car 69 landed with much more grace akin to an airplane. It touched down just in front of Megan's bumper and took it's place in front of the Car 21.
The two cars rumbled down the road in tandem. The large wreck behind them disappearing into the bright California sunshine.
Katsu flipped himself back into his seat and wiped some sweat from his brow. James sat back and crossed his arms. Helena retracted her claws and drew out a deep breath. The wind blew through her long mane that flowed through the air behind them.
"Well, at least a lot of the competition is out," Katsu said with a toothy grin.
Helena smacked him on the back of his head.
Car 69
In front of Megan and company, smoke billowed out of the right front tire.
The tire popped into a heap of smoke. It jolted the car upward and then landed on the wheel well. A cloud of sparks showered the car behind them. The loud hiss blew over Abel's headphones and made the hair on his arms rise up. Anton felt gooseflesh break out on his skin as the car slipped towards the side barrier of the race.
Abel twisted the wheel in his hand and nursed the car to the side. Megan scooted past with a few other cars that escaped the crash swishing past like sharks in a pond of fish. The left side of the car slapped the wall. Abel jolted to the right and knocked his head into Austin's shoulder. The two boys groaned in pain as the car stopped on the curb. The students sat in shock as white smoke wafted out of the destroyed right tire.
The final car passed as they sat in a disabled car in last place.
"Great. All that, and we didn't even make it to downtown," Anton grumbled.
Synaes jabbed Abel in the back of his head with the back end of her cane. He yelped and grabbed onto the spot as his headphones fell into his lap.
"Nice driving, Ricky Bobby. What are we gonna do now?"
Abel stroked his chin. "Well, the engine is still running. Maybe the others will all wreck and we can hobble to victory."
"You expect us to be that lucky?" Anton asked.
"Fox and the turtle. Works for me," Austin said.
"Exactly," Abel stood and turned back to the others. "A flat tire isn't gonna stop us, homies. We're gonna rock and roll to the finish line!"
Abel fell back into the driver's seat. He put the car back into gear and stepped on the gas. The car groaned and creaked forward at a snail's pace. It hobbled over on it's three tires and rocked aside like a canoe in a tsunami. Smoke spat out of the exhaust as Abel reentered the speedway.
Back in the announcer booth, Dave and Bill, the commentators, stared at the screens showcasing the race.
"How fast are they going?" Dave asked.
"Uh...twenty six miles per hour." Bill answered.
Dave shook his head and adjusted his headset. "Well, the Big One took out a large amount of the field. That leaves forty-three cars remaining in this race. Forty-three. I like that numbers. Reminds me of all the baby momma's you've had."
"It reminds me of all the times you entered rehab," Bill spat back. "Anyway, up front, things are looking good for Class 1-A. Car 37, piloted by Martel Void, is pacing the field by ten seconds over the next big pack as they enter spin around Huntington Beach towards the streets of Los Angeles."
"But they gotta watch out. More challenges other than their fellow students await them in the mean streets of LA."
CAR 37
Martel kept a steady gaze as he blew past the sign signifying entry into Inglewood. The heat from the engine emanated off his fair skin with beads of sweat bulging off his forehead. Nothing else entered his mind except for achieving the objective. Within his eyes, lines of green C++ code flowed over his vision.
"So, Martel, Robyn leaned forward to the boy. "How were things in the hospital?"
"Idle conversation will not achieve our objective," he said.
"But...are you alright? It's not everyday you find out you're a clone or robot thingy."
Blake poked his head of black hair over the back of Martel's seat. "Or your mom trying to kill everyone. I mean, my mom does that on a normal basis, but usually she only tries to kill my friends on special occasions."
Hunter glared with suspicion at Martel. "So, you still wanna be a hero or something?"
"I am a human boy with aspirations just like every other person. No ulterior motives whatsoever. Beep. Boop," Martel said.
The car rounded the corner. A few blocks down the road, A giant donut from Randy's Donuts stood on the roof of the famous shop.
"Well, I'm glad you're back. You always seemed like a smart egg," Robyn grabbed onto Martel's shoulders and looked into his eyes. "Very...unique."
"Physical intimacy will not help us reach our objective."
Robyn let go of his shoulders and flashed a cheeky grin. "Uh...I wasn't quite aiming for that, but...uh...I really do like your eyes and-."
In front of them, the giant donut dislodged from the roof and rolled out onto the road. A massive thud smashed and cracked the pavement as the large prop tumbled with a gigantic groan. It stopped right in front of the track and blocked a large portion of the track.
"Shit! Turn left!" Hunter shouted.
Before Martel could do anything, Hunter spun a web to the side and pulled the car over with him. His other arms on his back grabbed the side door. He shot another web that hit a lamppost behind them and he tightened his grasp as the car skidded to a halt. Rubber tire marks etched into the pavement as the car stopped right at the base of the donut.
The car rumbled in place as Robyn turned to her left. From around the corner, the main pack of cars whipped around onto the straightaway and rocketed right for them.
"What...is that?" Hunter pointed up at the sky.
A horn rang out over the speakers placed on top of the lamppost.
"Challenge checkpoint," Deku's voice rang out with a mirthless chuckle over the speakers. "All rules suspended for the next block of the track. Enjoy!"
The speakers shut off.
"Challenge?" Robyn asked. "Why would they suspend the ru-."
Hunter tapped Robyn on the shoulder. He gestured up at the sky. Robyn looked up and gasped at the sight.
Slinking around the corner, a giant lavender mecha robot rocked the earth with every step it took. The green trim reflected the bright sunshine off its skin while its yellow eyes illuminated the orange neck that stretched with the dexterity of human skin. It grabbed the donut and rose it to its mouth. It chomped down on the giant prop with bits of plastic and plywood raining down to the ground. A massive robotic foot slammed right at the side of the causing it to bounce backwards a few feet. The car was a mouse in front of a famished cat, and the robot roared out in a deafening scream that made Robyn's eardrum quiver and nearly blow out.
Martel shifted the car into reverse and streamed the car into the pack of cars that met at the base of the robot.
Car 43
In the middle of the lead pack, Lloyd stood up as the car slowed to a halt in the center of the road. A titanic robot was eating a fake big donut, and she had many questions about the usage of the schools budget. Every step made the ground shiver with the robot's eyes targeting the mob of students that turned the raceway into a parking lot.
Another roar, and the robot jumped up into the sky and leapt forward. The shadow overcame the pack as some of the students lurched into action.
Mainly, running away.
"Take cover," A Class 1-B student shouted.
Some of the students abandoned their cars as a giant foot bashed the ground. The foot left an imprint ten feet under the road's surface and crushed some of the vehicles. It was a scene out of an old Godzilla movie with students scurrying away like cockroaches avoiding poison.
"Moxie, reverse!" Lloyd shouted next to her.
Moxie broke out of her reverie and yanked the stick shift back. The robot reached its hand down and raked it along the center of the pack. It brushed over the ground with its fingers burrowing into the road. Its hands skirted through the road as if it were water, and it tossed more of the students and vehicles like small pebbles in a stream. A rage of upturnt concrete and metal whipped around in a twister of wreckage as Moxie zoomed the car backwards.
The fingers just brushed ahead of the car and flicked away some cars and students into the horizon. The robot balled a fist and smashed the road underneath it. Metal poppped up from the debris and caused objects to sail over the impact. One such piece of debris, an exhaust pipe, blew out of a car with a destroyed front end and spun like a falling satellite dish from space towards Moxie.
The girl screamed when an exhaust pipe skittered across the road and aimed right at her face. She ducked down and grabbed her head. She turned around and placed her head into Lloyd's midsection to protect herself.
Leo shot to his feet and held out his hands. Trailing the exhaust pipe, his hands strained as the metal slowed in its rotation. The pipe halted in mid-air right at Moxie's ear. With a shout, Leo sent the pipe backwards in time as it sailed back over to its location on the destroyed road.
Meanwhile, another car of Class 1-C students bumbled over the wreckage and raced for a gap between the robots legs. The car sputtered voer the cracked concrete and, while the robot was distracted by Moxie reversing the car, the car broke underneath the robot and burst out on the other side. When it did so, the mecha turned around and looked down at the escaping car.
"Haha!" One of the students in the car stood up and flipped off all the students behind him. "Suck on that, you posers and preps!"
The robot, now turnt towards the escaping vehicle, slammed a fist down rigth by the car and caused it to sail up into the air. The car twisted in mid-air and flipped into a glass window of the building next to it. The student smacked his face into a lamppost which rang out like a drumstick on a triangle.
As it turned back towards the main pack, Drake noticed the faintest rectangular outcropping of a different shade of orange, more of a light mocha than an apricot, etched in the center of the robot's back neck. His eyes narrowed and he stood up in his seat.
"Moxie, drive," Drake's wings popped back into place at his back. "I'll handle this."
Drake grabbed Lloyd by the collar.
"Wait, Drake! What is your plan?"
"What plan." Drake commented.
He flew into the air with Lloyd in his arms. Lloyd screamed and waved his arms like a frightened chicken as the two redheads soared up to the robot.
In Car 37, Hunter saw Drake's wings with another classmate of his in tow. He received an idea and looked down at the foundation of the robot's feet. shot a web and prepared to swing up towards the head of the robot. However, just as he was about to launch, Martel spun the car around and began to drive away from the robot back towards whence they came.
"What are you doing?" Hunter said.
"Survival is important to the objective."
"But we gotta stop it."
"That is not the objective. We simply have to wait for a distraction or-."
Hunter shook his head and shot a web at the building they drove past. He rose above the field and swung himself up towards the sky.
Martel braked and spun back around. He snaked around the graveyard of abandoned cars and pedaled the gas with occasional spurts to the engine.
"We gotta help Hunter," Robyn said.
"We are," Martel said. "He is part of the distraction."
Above, Hunter flipped upward like a soaring eagle towards the head of the robot. His hair waved in the wind as the arms on his back pointed downward to brace for the landing. He smacked the nose of the robot and rose up to his feet with his other arms holding him in place.
"Hey, giant mecha guy!" Hunter waved his hands and pointed at the ground. "Look down at that car about to get past you!"
The robot pointed its head downward. Martel steered the car towards an opening by the sidewalk. The car darted towards the small opening. However, before it could move, Hunter shot two webs right at the eyes of the machine. He coated the yellow with grey webbing. As it opened its mouth to let out another scream, Hunter leapt off the nose and dived downward. The robot could not see, but it knew that the last location of the escaping car was down at the street and to the left. It reached down and made a desperate grasp at the last location it saw.
Martel whipped the car back around and sped away from the robot. It crouched down and slammed its fist into the concrete spot they were just at. A slap of concrete erupted upward and headed right for the descending Hunter. He flipped himself upside down and grabbed the face of the large slab. He ran over it downwards and leapt off the bottom of it before uprighting himself and swinging back towards his vehicle.
Drake grunted out with exertion as he rose Lloyd upwards to the back of the neck. The robot had it vulnerable and flashing the different tint of what appeared to be an entry point of some kind in the rectangular area. It appeared to be a door of some kind.
"Lloyd," Drake said. Shield your face. It's gonna get hot and spicy."
"What?"
Drake pressed down in his stomach. A strange warmth vibrated in his chest and boiled upward into his throat. He hovered above the back of the neck and burst out a ray of flames. Lloyd covered his face from the heat that singed the tips of his eyelashes. It raced towards the metal and burled fire into the softened metal of the doorway. When finished, the bright glow around the frame started to melt away the door. Drake prepared for one more burst of flames.
Then, a whisk of the air.
Drake turned and saw the robot's arms waving over towards him.
"Lloyd, brace!"
Drake flung Lloyd right at the door like a whistling discus. Then, the arm swatted at Drake and threw him into a window of one of the high-rise buildings. He disappeared into the glass as Lloyd dived feet first at the melted doorway. Lloyd closed his eyes as steam rose from the frame and began to heat up his face again. He tensed his legs and kicked out right as his feet met the door.
Lloyd burst through the doorway. He tumbled forward inside the monster and rolled to a halt right by the entryway to the cockpit. He fell to his feet when the robot's arms smashed into its own neck. The fingers tried to get into the doorway and poke Lloyd out of it, but he was too far inside. The machine bumbled side-to-side which made Lloyd grab onto the side of the wall. The short walkway to the cockpit was a dark hallway with wires and venting pipes that he grabbed onto to keep his footing.
He rushed forward at the white wall and slammed his fist on the door.
"I am here, you mechanical cad," Lloyd shouted. "Come out and reveal yourself."
The ground underneath rocked back and forth. Lloyd grabbed onto the handle of the cockpit door and concentrated to turn it into dust. His head began to hurt as his fingers began to shake from both the moving robot and the energy to turn this carbon fiber door into dust.
Sparks bursted out from the walls. A hose burst and caused hot steam to spit out into the walkway.
Lloyd grunted out. The steam singed at his back as his hands shook like a tree in a twister.
Another pop. This time from the robot's hand that clawed at its own neck. It burst through the doorway and moved away part of the walls.
Then, it broke through the surface. It was breaking through itself just to get at Lloyd.
Lloyd gasped and concentrated harder. The door began to flicker from white to the dark grey of his dust. Then, white to black. Back to white.
Flicker.
Slam!
Flicker.
Slam!
The fingers dug into the robot just feet away from Lloyd. The bright sky above was revealed from the space created just as the hand came back for one final jab. A mechanical knuckle from a fist came in to squash Lloyd into the door.
Just as it was about to hit him, the lightbulb popped in his head.
"That's it!"
Lloyd leapt from the door and pressed himself flush against the wall. Making himself as thin as possible, he closed his eyes and prayed that the robot would use its own strength against it. The fist poked through the final bit of the walkway and slammed right into the door of the cockpit. It was no match for the brunt of the robot which caused the door to be punctured. The door caved in and popped into the cockpit. An ocean of strange orange liquid gushed out of the destroyed entry plug unit and sprayed out of the hole. The sticking liquid ripped Lloyd from his spot holding onto a wire which snapped from the force of the flow.
Lloyd tried to grab onto the wall, but the wires were too slippery as he popped out of the walkway like a cork on a champagne bottle. He launched out of the doorway from the river of liquid and cascaded through the air.
Outside the robot, the cool air whipped through his face as he tumbled towards the ground. The weightlessness pounded at his gut as he turned back around and extended his arms as he fell with style.
He craned his head and saw nobody in sight as the robot collapsed backwards onto the ground.
He was falling right underneath it.
If the impact on the ground didn't kill him, then the mashing of the robot on top of his body would do it.
Is this...it can't be it. Lloyd thought to himself.
He grabbed the crucifix hidden under his shirt and closed his eyes.
Somebody will get me. I know they will.
The ground grew larger. Fifty feet.
Forty.
Thirty.
Lloyd bit his lip. His free fall grew faster.
Please. Just give me somebody.
He plummeted right to the ground, the robot above covering him in a shadow of darkness.
Then, a flash of purple.
Lloyd grunted in pain as the bolt of energy smacked his chest. The blast burned a hole into his chest as he gripped his midsection and curled into a ball. Aimed upward, the neon diminished his momentum and rearranged it forward as he tumbled forward over the road. He rolled ahead in the air as the robot collapsed onto its back just inches away from the flying Lloyd.
He slammed into the ground and fumbled like a ball of paper over the upturnt concrete of the destroyed road. His head bounded off the road as he bacame dizzy from the rolling. His back smacked the metal facade of some object on the sidewalk that stopped his momentum and caused his body to plop onto the ground.
Bruised and battered, but far from dead, Lloyd rose his head like a zombie. His yellow eyes bore back towards the object he hit. A random hot dog stand rocked on its hinges before resting upright and immaculate.
He craned his head straight towards the road. A few vehicles were already driving past and avoiding the carcass of the defeated robot and dead debris scattered about like the floor of a pre-school play area.
Car 43 drove up to Lloyd and parked right by his body. Moxie stepped out and grabbed Lloyd by the shoulders.
"Are you alright? Can you keep going?" Moxie asked.
Leo and Drake got out and crouched down to Lloyd. Drake had rubble in his hair with the knees on his pants ripped and torn. Leo was mostly unscathed but clutched his heart from the assaulting action. They all stared down at the Canadian, his shirt nearly ripped off him save for his shoulders.
"Who...who...?" Lloyd sat up and looked up at the others. Until his eyes caught onto another vehicle passing by. One with his other classmates. Car 21.
Yellow met another pair of eyes. One orb green. The other purple.
James scowled at Lloyd as the car passed by. Eventually, the pack roared back to life and started to race again.
Lloyd rose to his feet with the help of Drake and Leo. He blinked and stared at the back of James' head as they disappeared around the corner to the next stage of the race.
"Why did...?"
After a short breath, Lloyd stuck his chest out and tilted his head upward towards the sky. With the lightest of smiles, Lloyd turned back to his classmates and nodded at them.
"Let's go. We got a race to win."
CAR 69
"What the hell happened here?"
Abel rolled the car past the dormant robot with a pond of strange liquid streaming around the neck. Anton and Austin stared out at the wreckage. The black was destroyed. Building broken through. Lamp lights bent onto the road. A cemetery of destroyed cars and broken metal. A small fire by a few of the abandoned cars burned off the remaining oil as a spark zapped and popped from the robot.
"Some weird vending machine attacked the city." Anton said.
"The scent of LCL liquid from the entry plug," Synaes said. "Clearly, the EVA pilots in America aren't that talented." Synaes said.
"The who?" Austin asked.
"Just drive."
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