Speed Racer: The Secret Plan (Part 2)
[Intro Music]
Chapter 4: Preparations
As night turned to day, Speed and Sparky continued through the Central African Republic and into Chad, but unbeknownst to them, there was a plot brewing underneath the unassuming country. "The cars have crossed the border, sir!" a henchman informed as Mr. Diamond stood on the balcony looking at his secret weapon.
"Good, make the final preparations, we deploy this afternoon!" he commanded as the henchman ran back down. Mr. Diamond chuckled to himself as Mr. Silver and Mr. Bronze walked in and stood next to him.
"So, this is really it, huh?" Mr. Bronze commented.
"Indeed, this is 'it', Mr. Bronze. It's time we took Africa by force and made this entire continent better for everyone. No more warlords or weak dictators, only us; our culture, and our rules." Mr. Diamond grinned, his teeth glistening under the lights.
"How was your sweep for any CIB listeners, Mr. Bronze?" Mr. Silver asked.
"No one knows about us, even Mr. Gold is clear of any infiltrators since I checked on him as well."
"Very good, Mr. Bronze. We don't need the Central Intelligence Bureau knowing about what is about to commence."
Just then the lead henchman walked up to them, "Its ready, sirs. We can deploy whenever you need us to."
"Soon, soon we'll get our due! Soon we'll take Africa, and then maybe…just maybe, we'll take over the world!" Mr. Diamond laughed maniacally, unable to contain his excitement.
Meanwhile, Speed and Sparky were making up a lot of ground as they trekked along the savannah. "…and that's the news, here's special guest commentator Left Roardon with an update on the Trans-African Grand Prix."
"Well, it's definitely been an exciting one here even from just the booth, some of the pack has just entered Chad, but most of the cars were slowed down by the bad weather and muddy terrain in the Central African Republic, but not the fan favorite Mach 5, which was able to traverse the terrain with relative ease. Lovelace Goldminter wasn't too far behind, although she was also bogged down by the mud and has lost ground since."
"Do you see her being a valid contender by the end of this race, Left?"
"I don't know, she needs to shake off all of that mud and junk from her car if she wants to gain any ground, but she hasn't really stopped for anything besides fuel, I think Speed has this race on lockdown."
"Thank you, Left, enjoy the race. That'll be your mid-race update, now back to our scheduled programming." Sparky turned the radio off.
"It looks like we have this one in the bag, Speed." Sparky smiled.
"Don't be too sure yet, Sparky."
"Huh? Why not, Speed?"
"Just call it a feeling. That scuffle back there was nothing, I feel like there's going to be more to come." Speed answered gloomily.
"Aw, come on, Speed. Don't sound so glum." Sparky said.
"I'm not, look, they're here right on cue." Speed pressed the D Button to deploy the deflector shield as two pick-up trucks with turrets mounted on the beds flanked the Mach 5 and began to shoot at the canopy.
"What? Are you serious?" Sparky shouted as bullets bounced off the car.
"It's alright, I've got a plan." Speed huffed as he stood on the brake and swung the Mach 5 to the right. The car's three large front prongs slammed into one of the ratty old trucks, sending it careening off path, and into a dirt pile. Speed swung the Mach 5 back around, hitting the rear of the other truck with the front of the Mach 5, causing the other truck to spin and flip over and over. Speed then got back on course and kept racing, "Someone is sending these guys after us…but who?" Speed muttered.
"I dunno, Speed. But I feel like I'm in a movie right now or somethin'." Sparky commented.
In the secret base, Mr. Silver looked over and said, "Send in the drone team, the Mach 5 can't make it outta Chad, or our plan gets put in jeopardy!"
"You got it, boss." The henchman said, pressing a button that lit up.
Speed and Sparky continued on as three red and silver cars appeared behind them, Sparky looked, "Huh? Who are those guys? I don't recognize em' from the start."
"I don't either, Sparky. We'd better watch out because they might be with those headhunters." Speed replied. The red and silver cars then got closer to the rear of the Mach 5 and suddenly, the noses of the cars went flat like ramps and massive circular saws deployed and began spinning in the middle of the cars! "Oh!" Speed and Sparky exclaimed as Speed pressed the A Button, allowing the two cars to pass under him as the Mach 5 leaped into the air, landing behind the cars, Speed pressed the C Button, taking out the new and improved cutter blades.
"What're you gonna do, Speed?" Sparky said.
"Where's Trixie when you need her?" Speed sighed, knowing Trixie and Spritle were refueling the helicopter and wouldn't be there for some time. He pulled closer to the cars and hit one in the rear, shredding the tires, rims, and rear axle. Speed did the same with the other one, and then there was the final headhunter car that he needed to take down, he made his approach, but to his surprise, the car spun around to face the Mach 5!
Sparky was shaking in his chair, "Speed, please don't fight this thing! I've never seen a circular saw joust before, but I feel like it's not going to end well for either of us." Just then, the other car changed gear into drive and ran at the Mach 5! Speed was taken by surprise as he pressed the A Button to evade; the Mach 5 mostly made it over the car, but the headhunters saw was so large that it was able to tear the Mach 5's right rear wheel completely off and shred it in two! But as the Mach 5 landed, Speed didn't stop, instead, he turned around on three-wheels! "Speed, what're you doing?!" Sparky screamed.
"I've seen Racer X do this before, I don't see why I can't do it."
"Was Racer X fighting cars with saws? No! No, he wasn't!" Sparky covered his eyes as Speed rushed the headhunter, with the cutter blades still deployed. But just as Speed got close, he let the Mach 5 fall on its missing wheel, causing it to swing to the right, nearly dodging the big saw and allowing speed to cut the other car in half from front to back! The Mach 5 ground to a halt.
Speed gave a big sigh and got out of the Mach 5 to check on the headhunter car, "Sparky, get the spare out and change it, I have to see what was going on with that car!" Sparky gasped for air and gave Speed and thumbs up as Speed ran over to the headhunter car before stopping dead in his tracks, "It was a robot!" Speed exclaimed, looking at the ruined pile of technology in front of him. Just then, Speed heard a helicopter and looked up to see Trixie, who quickly descended to make sure that everyone was okay.
"Speed! Sparky! Are you guys okay?" Trixie called out as she got down from the helicopter. Speed nodded his head and Sparky managed to give another thumb up as he grabbed the spare wheel from the underside of the car to change it. "Well, how about you boys rest up after the wheel is changed and we'll have lunch? I packed a big picnic basket and Spritle hasn't eaten all of it." She winked.
"I haven't eaten all of it yet." Spritle corrected and the friends laughed as Mr. Diamond, Silver, and Bronze watched through their screen.
"Deploy the weapon." Mr. Diamond seethed as a door to the base opened to nothing but sand. The weapon screamed and roared as it burrowed itself in the sand and went along its projected path.
Chapter 5: Destroy the Weapon
The team watched some other drivers go by as they chowed down on their sandwiches, salads, and snacks in the middle of the savannah. "How do you guys do that all the time?" Sparky asked.
"What do you mean, Sparky?" Speed asked, taking a bite from his sub.
"I mean, that." Sparky motioned over to the wreckage of the drone car.
"Oh. I dunno, it just kinda happens. I'm not gonna lie to you, Sparky, it's made me a little paranoid like Pops sometimes is." Speed answered.
"Sometimes?" Spritle countered.
"Touché." Speed chuckled.
"It's just that, that had me really scared for a moment, Speed." Sparky continued.
"I know, Sparky. You've gotta get used to it if you're going to ask to be my navigator all the time, though. That kind of danger comes with the position after you've done all Trixie and I have. Everyone is gunning for us nowadays." Speed explained.
"Yeah, I guess so. I really underestimated the job." Sparky sighed.
"Don't be discouraged, I know you can be a good navigator. Maybe not as good as me, but you'll get used to it." Trixie smiled.
The radio then crackled, startling the group, "Breaking news concerning the Trans-Africa Grand Prix. To all drivers, navigators, and spotters alike, be cautious, massive sinkholes are beginning to appear in the savannahs and the desert. Be vigilant, some cars have already fallen into Mother Nature's clutches."
"We'd better get going before the sinkholes get worse." Speed said.
"Alright, let's move. Thanks for the lunch, Trixie." Sparky said.
"Yeah, thanks, Trixie! Keep us informed of the situation and be careful!" Speed waved, getting strapped into the Mach 5.
"Alright, you guys be especially careful." Trixie waved back as the Mach 5 sped away.
"I worry about my brother sometimes." Spritle said, watching Speed and Sparky disappear in the distance.
Speed drove the Mach 5 as hard as he could through the other countries without fail, from Cameroon and Nigeria to Mali and Mauritania, the two took few breaks, continuing to pass drivers, especially as the savannah turned into desert. "Alright, Speed. We've managed to avoid all the sinkholes. There isn't much between us and the finish-line in Casablanca, just the Western Sahara." Sparky said.
"ETA?" Speed asked.
Sparky looked at the map and calculated the time in his head, "Well, accounting for rest stops, it should be about 20 hours." He said.
"20 hours in the desert…great." Speed sighed.
"Don't worry, we'll be in Morocco in no time! We're sixth place, so we should be catching the leaders very soon, especially with the upgraded grip tires." Sparky said confidently as they raced off into the night, and when day broke, with only 10 hours left to go, Trixie's voice came through the speakers.
"Speed, turn back! We can't continue this race!"
Speed grabbed the radio, "Why? What on Earth is happening?"
"It's hard to say, Speed, but people are saying that there's a monster right behind you!"
"Huh?" Speed looked behind him as the ground began to shake wildly. The sand rose behind them as a silver metallic monstrosity burrowed through the ground and landed on the sand!
"What is that?!" Sparky shouted. The machine had eight huge wheels and it had a head that looked like a dinosaur with glowing red eyes and extremely sharp teeth! It raised its head and gave a mechanical roar as it snorted flames and charged the field!
"It's some kind of weapon, I don't know exactly what to say about it. It's like a mashup of multiple things that I've come across before!" Speed examined.
Mr. Diamond grinned and chuckled to himself, "Bye bye, racers." The monstrosity rolled up on the cars that were a little slow and opened its mouth, effortlessly scooping the cars up in and crunching them with his teeth! Some drivers stopped and ran away as the thing ate their cars and breathed fire from its nostrils!
"I dunno if we can fight this one, Speed!" Sparky said.
"I don't know if we can outrun it, either!" Speed replied as the machine gave another excited roar.
"Look!" Sparky pointed at fighter jets in the sky, the jets shot missiles and dropped bombs on the desert dragon and the missiles and bombs did nothing to slow it down as it snorted fire and roared again. One jet was about to bomb the thing and flew low, but the dragon sprouted an arm, grabbing the plane in its pincer! The dragon looked at it with its red glowing eyes before eating the plane, too! Burning jet fuel leaked from the dragon's mouth as it continued to rumble down the field, consuming everything in its path!
"I'm invincible!" Mr. Diamond shouted with glee as he sprung up from his chair and began to laugh. "Deploy the dummy tanks to show the dragon's power!"
Tanks arose from platforms in the sand further away, so no one would notice. The dummy tanks rolled up and began to shoot shells at the dragon. The Mach 5 sped passed the tanks as their tan shells bounced off of it; the dragon roared and spat fire at the dummy tanks, melting them both before gobbling them up to fuel its destructive rampage. "Oh! It's unstoppable!" Speed shouted.
"Speed, you need to get out of the Mach 5! Save yourselves!" Trixie called.
"No, I'm not going to surrender the Mach 5, Trixie! There's no way!" Speed shouted back before stopping the Mach 5. Sparky, go quick, get somewhere safe!"
"But Speed…"
"No, I need you with me 100% on this. Save yourself, I'll find a way to stop the dragon!"
"Alright, Speed. But be careful." Sparky said, getting out of the Mach 5.
"Trixie, Sparky is gonna need a pickup, I'll take care of this thing." Speed informed before switching off the radio. He whipped the Mach 5 around to face the dragon that snorted fire into the air haphazardly as it had devoured the entire field except for Speed and Lovelace, who sped passed in the opposite direction as fast as she could, seemingly having little to no trouble with the thing.
Lovelace looked behind her and thought aloud, "Speed Racer, I hope you know what you're doing." Before continuing to Casablanca. Speed pressed the B Button, and the new belt tires sprouted over the tires and then the car lifted slightly and slightly pushed the wheels outward for wider grip on tough surfaces, this helped immensely with the desert sand. He followed by pressing the D Button to shield him from any shrapnel of the cars or jets and tanks that the dragon had eaten.
"Alright, let's test this." Speed brought out the new diamond-tipped cutter blades as he got closer and closer, feeling the heat from all the burning fuel inside of the dragon. The dragon brought its pincer down to grab the Mach 5, but Speed faked it out by hitting the A Button and colliding blade-first with the arm, cutting the arm clean off! But Speed knew that was the easy part since it was the spindly part of the dragon that had to retract back into the body every time it was attacked by military-grade equipment. The Mach 5 landed and turned around, Speed was testing the dragon as if he was sensing that it has something to hide. The aimed the blades at one of the eight huge wheels and hit the dragon, knocking one of the wheels clean off! "Oh!" Speed exclaimed, getting a look under the dragon. The huge wheels were fake things to make the dragon seem imposing, but really it was being moved by a series of large rollers on the underside of it, which is how it moved so smoothly. Speed cautiously maneuvered the Mach 5 under the dragon and hit one of the rollers with the cutter blade, the blade cut the metal sphere creating a significant gash. But just then, as if it was reacting to pain, the dragon jumped extremely high into the air and burrowed itself underground.
Speed turned on the radio, "Trixie, Sparky, I know how the dragon works! It uses a series of rollers under it, the wheels are fakes!"
"But how're you gonna beat it, Speed?" Trixie asked.
"I have to gunk up its systems somehow. The machinery needs to become clogged with something, but I don't know how I'm going to do that yet!" Speed called as he followed the dragon passed the border of West Sahara and Morocco until they reached Marrakesh, where the dragon emerged from the ground, head held high, spitting fire everywhere as it whipped his head around and began to pick up cars with its remaining arm! "Here goes!" Speed shouted, pressing the A Button, and using the same maneuver he used earlier, cutting off the Dragon's other arm! Speed turned around and muttered, "Your back seems to be a weak spot. But not as bad as your belly." Speed pressed the C Button and ran the Mach 5 under the dragon once again. He then pressed A and launched himself through the belly of the beast! The dragon roared and screamed in anger as it moved at full speed through Marrakesh, smashing and eating everything possible. When inside, Speed saw the huge workings inside the machine, it wasn't the most advanced thing he'd ever seen, but since he sought to jam up the beast, he grabbed his gun from the glove compartment and meant to shove the gun in a cog somewhere, but the machinery was so large and powerful, that the gun would be crushed, and the dragon would be back up again. He had to find another way. Speed put his gun back in the car, and took a deep breath, "I just got this car, don't break this car." He said to himself as he went over his plan in his head.
"How could this happen?" Mr. Diamond slammed his fist on the table.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Diamond, we weren't prepared for this level of failure."
"Well, boys. You know what we think about second chances." Mr. Diamond hissed, the henchmen tensed up. "You all deserve them." The henchmen then loosened their shoulders until Mr. Diamond pulled out a machine gun! "You all deserve them in another life." He unloaded on the henchmen and left the room.
"Was that necessary, Diamond?" Silver asked.
"Who cares? Blow the place up, we're outta here." Mr. Diamond growled as the underground base soon exploded and Diamond, Silver, and Bronze got away to scheme again.
Meanwhile, Speed was standing in front of a pile of munitions, the dragon's mechanical digestive system spat out shells, bullets, and bombs so they wouldn't go into the fueler because the dragon would explode. Speed snapped his fingers and gathered all of the munitions he could carry and began loading them in the slot that was after the munitions dump, surpassing the sensors manually. As the explosives made their way to the fueling station, Speed sprinted back into the Mach 5 and pressed the F Button, activating the underwater "Frogger" mode so the shield would still protect him, but he would also be able to breathe in the smoke and hopefully, the periscope would help him see. Outside of the stadium where the drivers of the Trans-Africa GP would take a final drive around a banked turn and cross the line, the dragon emerged from the ground and its main body exploded, smoke billowing from every crack. The machine opened its mouth and vomited fire and molten metal as it's speakers allowed it one last dying scream before the Mach 5 blasted out of the dragon's maw and into the stadium, around the final banked corner and across the finish line! But that last bit of motivation is all Speed had left as the Mach 5 stopped abruptly after finishing, Speed opened the door and clambered out, rolling onto his back, so he could breathe some fresh air.
The helicopter landed and Sparky and Spritle ran out, "Speed, talk to us, buddy." Sparky shook his friend.
Speed opened his eyes and asked, "Did I win?"
Sparky and Trixie helped him to his feet, "Lovelace Goldminter won the race, Speed. But since the other drivers in front of you bailed out, you finished in second!" Trixie informed.
"Lovelace?" Speed then stood under his own power, looking for Lovelace, "Where is she?" he asked.
"I don't know. I think she was escorted away because of that machine. She didn't even stay to receive her trophy, she just crossed the line and left from what I've heard." Trixie answered.
Speed looked on and thought to himself, "What has been going on around here? It seems like everyone has had it out for me, but why? I've gotta talk to Rex. I bet he'll have the answers I'm looking for."
Speed and the gang have another mystery on their hands and must try as hard as they can to find Racer X for some answers as to who is targeting them. But their hunt might be futile because no one knows where Racer X went after Hank saw him last. There are many answers to be found on the upcoming episodes of, Speed Racer!
[Outro Music]
Authors note: I had a ton of fun with this one, guys! I wanted to do something a little crazier that was still in the vein of Speed Racer and I think it turned out pretty good and I can't wait to do more! As always, I plug my usual stuff, my main passion as far as writing is concerned is comics and superheroes since I can get a little more adult with those stories and I have more than a few original series up on Deviantart, Wattpad, and Fiction Press. The main series I work on is called SDU: Special Defense Unit, but take note, that the Fiction Press version is behind by 25 issues, but I'll be updating those each week (starting again this morning actually). Currently, I'm working on a novel of that series right now, so if you wanna check those early drafts of SDU, go to any of the sites I just mentioned and search for the user: Southpaw-Comics. We also have Facebook and Twitter pages if you wanna get updates and follow on there. But if not, if you just want more Speed Racer, stay tuned here because there's plenty more to come!