Speed Racer: Challenge of the Prince (Part 2)
[Intro Music]
Chapter I: Speed's Plan
"Black Flag Grand Prix? That sounds dangerous, Speed." Trixie said as she drove Speed back to the hotel on Yas Island.
"I don't take well to being called a coward, Trixie. I've got to win and beat Kim and Vroom Vroom, but I've got a plan when we get back to the hotel." Speed said as they continued back to Abu Dhabi.
Later, as Speed and Trixie were waiting, a knock came to their door and Speed opened it, revealing Inspector Detector and another man behind him, "I got your call and came right away, Speed." the inspector said, as Speed let the two men in.
"Ah, this is the Speed Racer I've heard so much about." the other man greeted, holding out his hand, Speed accepted the handshake, "I'm Detective Jamil, a friend of Inspector Detector's and I work for the police in Dubai."
"Nice to meet you, sir." Speed said.
"I didn't expect you to join, inspector." Trixie said, shaking the inspector's hand.
"I had to, Trixie. Some of the racers involved with the rampant and seemingly random street races here are from the States and I've come to bring them back." Inspector Detector said.
"What about Kim? He claimed that he's above the law." Speed told the law enforcers.
"He basically is, Speed." Detective Jamil said.
"What? How could anyone be above the law?"
"He's a Prince of another land, he has diplomatic immunity. If we catch him, we can only detain him until the King of Flathill or a representative of the King of Flathill Country comes to pick him up. Then he will face consequences of his own country, but since he's the Prince, Kim will only get a slap on the wrist. The worst that'll happen is that Flathill will have to pay a fine to Dubai and that won't be difficult for them, either." Jamil explained.
"Wow, I didn't know that." Speed said, shocked by the law.
"It makes me wonder why foreign diplomats don't commit crime more often if they're immune to consequences." Trixie added.
"It's simple, any crime caused by a diplomat in a foreign land can cause ties between countries to become strained, especially if it's serious." Inspector Detector said.
"How bad will tensions between Dubai and Flathill be when Kim is caught?" Speed asked.
"It shouldn't be too bad since Kim is young and prone to having bad ideas. I'd be more worried about you and Kim's friendship, Speed." Inspector Detector thought for a moment and continued, "Speaking of bad ideas… you want to help catch them by joining the Black Flag Grand Prix tomorrow night, don't you?" Speed looked down, finding it impossible to lie to someone he and his family considered a close friend, "Speed, this race will put you in mortal danger, I can't allow it." he lectured.
"But, inspector! I know I can stop Kim, I've got to try!"
"Absolutely not. I'm sorry if I sound like Pops, but I cannot put your life in danger in an illegal street race. The Abu Dhabi and Dubai police, with the aid of the FBI will take this race down, stay out of it. Please." Inspector Detector said as he left and Detective Jamil followed.
Jamil looked back, before closing the door behind him, "Thanks for the tip, Speed. Good luck in the race on Sunday, I hope you win."
"Thank you, sir." Speed said as the two left, and Speed looked to the floor and sighed.
"I know it's hard to turn down a race after being called a coward, but you know it's a bad idea, right, Speed? Come on, let's get to bed."
Once cleaned up and in bed, Speed lied awake and was still thinking of the Black Flag Grand Prix, "If I get caught in the race, I could be disqualified from the Yas Island Enduro. But I can't let Kim get away with calling me a coward like that, so sure of himself. I can't. I won't."
The next day, Speed and Trixie took in the sights of Abu Dhabi and Yas Island, touring the city before Practice 1 and 2 started. They showed off some of the powers of the Mach 5, signed autographs and took pictures, but behind the smiles, Speed was on a one-track mindset. In the late afternoon, Speed tests the Mach 5 around the Yas Marina Circuit for the second time, "That's it, Speed. The session is over, bring it in." Speed took a slow lap before driving the Mach 5 in the pits and into their assigned garage, "You had the fourth fastest time in practice one, but you climbed to second today in practice two. We should play with the set-up more like Sparky suggested, maybe slightly more downforce would do the Mach 5 some good." Trixie said.
"The downforce is okay, it's the chicane at the end of the back-straight that keeps getting me, I need to get on the brakes earlier is all." Speed replied.
"Is everything okay, Speed?"
"Uh-huh…" Speed looked to the setting sun and continued, "...hey, it's getting late. Wanna grab something to eat? I'm hungry."
"Sounds like a plan." Trixie smiled as the two went back to the hotel to have dinner.
Hours later, when they returned, "I'm beat." Speed huffed as he sat in a chair.
"Me, too." Trixie agreed, but when she looked over, Speed was already asleep. "Wow, I didn't expect you to be that tired." Trixie commented as she went to get ready for bed.
Speed jolted awake, his subconscious reminding him that he had plans! It was already dark outside, he looked around and saw that the bathroom light was on, "Good, she must be preoccupied." Speed said as he grabbed his jacket and left the room. He made it out of the hotel and went to the garages, using his key to open it up revealing… "Trixie!" Speed exclaimed.
"I knew you couldn't turn the race down, you're a really terrible liar, Speed."
"I've gotta race him, Trixie, I've gotta prove to Kim that I'm not a coward!"
"Why are you so hung up on what he says? You're the World Champion, you have nothing to prove to him! Listen, Speed, do you really want to jump into an illegal street race over some dumb insult? Everything you built with Inspector Detector will be gone, all of the leverage you built will vanish if you do this."
Speed thought for a moment, "If I'm not gonna enter the race, I'll stop it from happening altogether!" he said, pushing past Trixie and hopping in the Mach 5, launching it out of the garage and onto the streets of Abu Dhabi.
"Speed!" Trixie called out, "Ohh, what am I gonna do with you?"
Chapter 2: The Black Flag Grand Prix
"I told you he wouldn't come." Vroom Vroom laughed.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Kim said as the Mach 5's horn echoed, as Speed drove up to the group. "Well, welcome, Speed! We were afraid you weren't gonna show!"
Speed hopped out of his car and shouted, "The race has to be canceled, the police have been tipped off!" the other racers looked surprised, "Listen to me, Kim. If you don't stop this, the police will catch you and you won't be able to race in the Enduro tomorrow!"
"I've told you already, Speed. I'm not afraid of the law, I want to be apart of the excitement! I want to live my life the way I want to!" Kim shot back before jumping into the Black Tiger, "Everyone who isn't afraid of racing like Speed, let's go! The cops are coming and I'll give more money to whoever can beat them! The start of the Black Flag Grand Prix is now!" The Black Tiger peeled out as well as Vroom Vroom's hot pink car! Other racers drove past, but most stayed.
One of the drivers walked up to Speed, "You're the World Champion, right? You should go stop him, especially with the power of the Mach 5!"
"Stay here, and if you wanna get into racing, this isn't the way to do it. Trust me." Speed said as he hopped into the Mach 5 and pursued the group, leaving the driver's that didn't enter questioning their passion as racers. The group of cars got lucky with a green light, but as Speed approached, it turned red so he slammed the A Button and jumped over the passing traffic, landing seamlessly on the other side, effortlessly catching up to the group. As he went down the exit, catching the tail of the pack, he pressed the B Button, deploying the belt tires which allowed him to go flat-out down the curved ramp. Now he caught the group, and mimicking Kim's scare tactic with the Black Tiger, he pressed the E Button, turning on his special illumination, which turned the night red, but then Speed got an idea, turning on the independent mode on the headlights, allowing them to swivel and blind some of the drivers ahead of him, forcing them to stop on the shoulder of the road and quit. "I'm glad that worked, maybe I can convince Kim to stop after all."
"No way!" Kim panicked, looking in his rear-view and seeing the Mach 5's much brighter headlights blind other racers and clean the road as the street came to a slight curve, some drivers weren't able to find grip and slammed into the median walls.
"Alright, I think the amateurs have been weeded out." Speed thought aloud, pressing the E Button again, turning the red high-beams off and drove alongside Vroom Vroom who was desperately trying to get away. Speed looked over to her, surprised she actually had her 'game-face' on, "What've you got? Sounds like a twin-turbo rotary." Speed shouted, commenting on her engine.
She looked over, "What about it, Speedy?"
Speed grinned, "That's impressive, but not more impressive than my V-12, 'Vroom Vroom'." Speed mocked.
This mockery instantly upset Vroom Vroom as she tried to side-swipe Speed, but, using his superior acceleration, Speed lightly pressed the gas and got out of the way. Vroom Vroom swerved too hard and lost control, she tried to point her car in the right direction but she ended up slamming the rear-end of her car into the median wall, bending her rear axle and putting her out of the race, "Damn you, Speed Racer! Damn you!" she screamed as the Mach 5 disappeared in the distance.
The Mach 5 entered a tunnel ahead, the V-12 note echoing through in a euphoric chorus of speed as he started to see the Black Tiger ahead of him, but then a diamond white set of headlights blinded Speed from behind, Speed slowed down, his eyes have been very sensitive to light since the Alpine Race a year ago. But then Racer X with Trixie in the passenger seat pulled next to him, "Racer X? Trixie?"
"Speed, you have to stop now! The police are waiting for Kim at the end of the tunnel!"
"Oh!" Speed exclaimed, slamming the brakes as they approached the end of the tunnel which now was lit up with the blue lights of Dubai police! Racer X stopped next to him and he and Trixie got out of the Shooting Star.
"What were you thinking, Speed?" Racer X scolded.
"I wanted to get them to stop before they got into trouble! You saw all of the stopped cars back there, I stopped them!" Speed defended.
"Regardless, you went against the wishes of Inspector Detector and Detective Jamil. You're lucky Trixie was able to call me in time, you would've been arrested."
Speed leaned against the Mach 5 and sighed, placing his head in his hand, "What a bad weekend it's been. Even when I try to do good, I'm not."
"You let your pride get ahead of you again, similar to the time we first raced, and the incident with the assassins in Japan after that. You have to control those urges, Speed. If you don't, you'll end up like Prince Kim out there." Racer X pointed to Kim who was being handcuffed and the Black Tiger being put onto a flatbed, "I understand what it means to be competitive, trust me. I wouldn't be Racer X if my ego didn't get ahead of me, you can't make the same mistakes, you must be better."
"You're right. I'm sorry I lied, Trixie." Speed apologized.
"Speed, I know you were trying to do the right thing, but it's not worth it." she said, embracing him.
"I know that now... and thank you, Rac… Rex."
Racer X smiled, "Now go back to Abu Dhabi and get rest, you have qualifying tomorrow."
"We will. Let's go, Trix." and as they went back to the Mach 5, Speed looked back at the exit of the tunnel, seeing Kim and the rest of the police drive away.
Chapter 3: Cooldown Lap
The sun rose upon the Yas Marina Circuit as Speed fueled the Mach 5 and checked if everything was functioning before qualifying, on the TV in the garage, the news came out about Prince Kim's arrest, "Royal racer caught! Last night, Prince Kim of Flathill country was caught in an illegal street race by Dubai's Detective Jamil and the United States' FBI Agent Inspector Detector. Prince Kim was let out of detention this morning and was sent home with representatives of Flathill. No charges could be pressed due to Kim's diplomatic immunity. In related news, multiple racers quit or crashed out of the race, claiming that bright red lights blinded them, causing them to pull over and stop. It's thought that Prince Kim's car, the Black Tiger is the car in question." Speed sighed as Trixie turned the news off.
"I'm sorry, Speed. I know you consider him a friend."
"It fine, Trixie. I should've listened to you and the inspector in the first place. I'm just worried, maybe he thinks I caused his arrest… and I did."
"Drivers, prepare for qualifying. Drivers, prepare for qualifying." an announcement rang over the intercoms placed in every garage.
"We'll talk about it later, okay? For now, you gotta get out there and get pole position."
"Right." Speed got into the Mach 5 and turned it on while Trixie opened the garage, "Trixie, I have a question before I go."
"What is it, Speed?" She asked.
"How'd you know Rex was going to be here?"
"He's always here Speed." Trixie smiled, Speed returned the smile and with this boost of confidence, he drove out of the garage, down the pits and to the track to begin his flying lap. As he drove down the long back straight, through the chicane, down the third straight and to the hotel portion where the track goes under the hotel, he saw Rex on the balcony of the hotel watching him qualify.
"Thanks, Rex. I won't forget what you told me." Speed said as he began his qualifying lap. More excitement and life-changing moments await Speed in the future so make sure you tune in to the next episode of, Speed Racer!
[Outro Music]
Author's note: Thanks again for reading! I hope you enjoyed this 2 parter as we move on the single part story to cool down from this one and so I can plan to future episodes where the season really begins to heat up. If you want to read more of my stuff, I have a superhero novel coming out on Amazon on July 30th called Special Defense Unit Volume I: Unite! which, at the time of writing this, comes out in a week so don't miss it! I have a DA page: .com where I have the art of the SDU characters, bios, trivia, previews for the book, and a pilot for a future book called Resident Blaq, which I desperately need reviews on. Thanks for reading and Stay Tuned for the next episode of Speed Racer!