Author'a note: Hello again! I want to clarify that all the sections written in italic will be marked as flashbacks, for example:

This is considered a flashback.

Anyway, I'll let you continue the reading. Please enjoy!

The family and the Nitro Squad went back to the bandicoots house in the beach after a succesful first day as heroes with their newly acquired abilities. The sun was setting in the flooded horizon of the sea, giving the beach a reddish look, as everyone was sitting in some logs in front of the house, drinking some wumpa juice and chatting about what happened that day.

Ami: "...And then I punched that thing in the face, sending it flying to Tawna and Liz's feet." She said proudly.

Coco: "That's so cool, and it's fitting that you have the brute force powers too, Ami."

Megumi: "Wish I could say the same, I wasn't able to control my powers properly." She sighed.

Tawna: "At least you didn't get hit… Twice." As she rubbed her back in a little pain.

Isabella: "Well, if we have to fight, we may get hurt sometimes, T."

Liz: "By the way, I was thinking, it's weird that these gems colours also fit our favourite ones, innit?" As she was stroking a sleeping Polar.

Aku Aku: "The gems chose you not because of the colours, Liz, but for how much you're worth for their power."

The girls looked at each other in confusion.

Isabella: "What do you mean, Aku Aku?"

Aku Aku: "Their energy is moved by how much goodness you carry inside you, along with your courage and will power. And since you were chosen as their perfect candidates, you were granted their powers."

Ami: "You seem to know a lot about this, old man."

Megumi: "How did you learn so much about these gems, Aku?" She asked with curiosity.

The witch doctor got a little uncomfortable at the scientist's question.

Aku Aku: "Someday I might tell you, children. But for now, we still have to figure your new powers out."

Tawna: "I'll continue now if you don't mind." As she got up and stretched.

Ami: "I'm coming too." As she also got up.

Coco: "Girls, wouldn't it be better to relax? It was a long day after all."

Crash: *concerned gibberish*

Tawna: "The sooner we learn to control this, the better, Coco."

Coco: "Just don't push yourselves too hard, okay?" She said with concern.

Ami: "Hey, no pain, no gain, right?"

The blonde and the green haired bandicoots walked away from the logs and got into a more open space in the beach. Everybody else watched them go as they continued to talk.

Megumi: "Tawna seems really worried about this."

Aku Aku: "She isn't used to be in the front of the battles like this, as you can see. So she wants to be ready for whatever threat she may face."

Liz: "She sure knows she's not alone, right?"

Coco: "Tawna has been like this since we met together again, she told me she wants to make amends for all this time she grew apart from us."

Aku Aku: "And that's why she takes any issue very seriously, especially an unexpected event like this."

Isabella: "Huh, thats uncommon in her…" She said thoughtful.

Coco: "What do you mean, Isabella?"

Isabella: "She usually doesn't take all the responsability to herself…"

Megumi: "...And accepts her friends help whenever she needs it." She shrugged.

Liz: "But yeah, sometimes she can be a little stubborn and worries too much. At least that was the last time we've been together."

Coco: "And speaking of, what happened between you girls? You were such a good team…" She asked with curiosity.

The question took Isabella, Megumi and Liz by surprise, and got a little uncomfortable.

Coco: "...If you don't mind telling us, of course." As she noted her friends reaction.

The girls looked at each other with insecurity at first, but then nodded and decided to gladly tell their story to the siblings and the floating mask.

Megumi: "Of course we don't mind." She smiled.

Isabella: "So, it all happened two years ago, the same time you guys were busy looking for the quantum masks…"

"...We were at the Slide Colliseum that night, the race had already finished and Ami won the trophy…"

There were almost no spectators as almost everyone left, and some marshalls were cleaning up the circuit, as power ups were common in kart racing.

In the pits, all the teams with their respective crew members, engineers and mechanics were packing everything up to move to the next race's location. In a certain garage, belonging to the Nitro Squad, Ami and Megumi were talking about the race, both sitting in some chairs at the entrance to the pit lane and wearing their Motorsport attires.

Megumi: "You did amazing today, Ami! If you continue like this, you will win the championship eventually." She said cheerfully.

Ami: "Yeah, a couple more of these and we will have this season in our pockets." As she pat the trophy resting between her legs.

Megumi: "By the way, where did the girls go?"

Ami: "I didn't see them since the podium ceremony." As she scratched her head.

Then, by the pit lane, the tall blonde and the brunette bandicoots were walking towards the garage, also wearing their Motorsport suits.

Megumi: "Oh, there they are!" As she pointed at her friends.

Ami: "Where did you go?"

Isabella: "Sorry for not telling you girls…" As she and Liz arrived at the garage entrance.

Liz: "We went to talk to Pete so we could get a VIP table at his Pub. We have to celebrate today's win, right?" She smiled.

Ami: "That doesn't sound like a big deal to disappear for an hour."

Isabella: "We ran into some fans, also sorry for that."

Ami: "Oh, that explains it." She shrugged.

Megumi: "The Pub sounds like a great idea! But we should wait for Tawna to come out of her office."

Liz: "She's not out yet?" As she started walking into the garage and towards Tawna's office. "I'll go get her, enough paperwork for today."

Megumi: "We'll be waiting for you."

The british bandicoot was about to grab the doorknob to enter the garage's back section into the offices, but the door then opened itself, revealing the team's leader with a nervous expression on her face.

Liz: "There she is."

Tawna: "Oh! Liz, d-didn't see you there." She said with surprise.

The brunette noted her friend's overreaction.

Liz: "Something wrong, mate?"

Tawna: "Well, I, uh…"

The rest of the girls saw the blonde bandicoot entering the place and got closer to her.

Isabella: "Tawna, Liz got us a VIP table at Pete's, are you coming?"

Tawna: "Actually girls, uhm…"

Ami: "Oh come on, you always work too hard, boss." Aa she left her new trophy on the ground and gave a friendly nudge at Tawna's shoulder. "Let's go have some fun."

Tawna got nervous, like if something bad was going on at the moment, and that didn't got unnoticed by her team.

Liz: "Okay, you are acting weird. What's happening?"

Megumi: "Are you okay, Tawna?" She said with concern.

The team leader then thought it would be of no use to avoid confrontation, as the girls would learn about the issue anyways, so she gathered enough courage to speak up.

Tawna: "I-I'm sorry for worrying you, but… Something affecting the team's integrity just happened."

Liz: "The team's integrity?" She asked surprised.

Isabella: "What is it? It can't be that bad…"

Tawna: "Girls… I know it may sound crazy but, we have to quit from the championship." She said in an insecure tone.

Everyone just looked surprised at Tawna, until Ami decided to speak up.

Ami: "You can't be serious, right?" She laughed a bit at her leader. "We are leading this season, we can't back out just like that."

Isabella: "Okay, first of all, calm down." As she placed her hands on Tawna's shoulders. "You look like you just witnessed a murder."

Megumi: "What happened, T? Please tell us."

Tawna: "The reason doesn't matter." As she took Isabella's hands out of her shoulders. "We have to back out, we will try again next year." As she started to walk away.

Liz: "Are you crazy? We did all this work for nothing?" She said annoyed.

The green haired bandicoot got in her friend's way, making her stop.

Ami: "Enough kidding around, what's going on, Tawna?"

Tawna: "It's not the time to talk about details…" As she tried to walk around Ami, but the brunette girl also blocked her path.

Liz: "What's gotten into you? Just tell us what's happening!"

Tawna: "I said it's not the time to talk." She said in a serious tone. "There's nothing we can do anyways. I've already reported our drop out to the championship organizers."

Isabella and Ami also got annoyed at her leader.

Ami: "What the fuck!"

Isabella: "You what?!" As she also got in front of Tawna. "We worked so hard for this, why did you do that?"

Liz: "Speak up already, for God's sake!"

Tawna: "Listen…" As she tried to get calm. "I know you are angry and think this is unfair. I know you worked hard for this and I'm sorry, okay? But it's for the best, believe me…"

Liz: "What best? Best for other teams?"

Ami: "These morons think we can't win just because we are women. And now that we are kicking their butts, you suddenly decide to throw the towel."

Tawna: "It's not like that-"

Isabella: "You are making us look like cowards, Tawna." She interrupted her leader.

Liz: "If you didn't want to race then you could just have stayed here at the garage, but now you're screwing us up…"

Isabella: "And you still haven't told us what's the reason behind all this."

Tawna got angry at her friends accusations.

Tawna: "Alright, if you want to go for that stupid championship then so be it, there's still other teams that may give you their seats, but for this season, it's over for this team."

Liz: "Stop trying to avoid telling us why-!"

Tawna: "I'm not avoiding anything goddamnit!" She lashed out at the brunette girl. "I have my reasons, okay? There's nothing I could do to get out of this shit and I had to make a choice. Is that what you wanted to hear?!"

Isabella, Ami and Liz got surprised at the response at first, but then adopted dissapointed looks on their faces.

Isabella: "I still don't get why you did this, but you just threw all our effort away."

Ami: "You didn't even ask us if it was the best choice for the team. The fact that you are the leader doesn't give you the power to just ruin our work like this."

Tawna: "Then I will let you choose which other team to race for the rest of the season if you want, because the Nitro Squad is no longer racing until further notice." She finished.

The girls standed at their place for a few seconds, looking at their leader in dissapointment, and then turned around and started walking towards the garage door, out to the pit lane.

Liz: "As you wish, boss."

Tawna looked at her friends walk out the place. As they were leaving, a wave of regrets was invading her, and her angry expression soon turned into a depressed one. Her teammates just left the team after she decided to drop out from the championship for whatever reason troubled the blonde bandicoot.

Then, she turned her head to the japanese scientist, who had been standing at the same place all this time, spectating the whole scene that involved the rest of the squad. The blue haired girl looked at her leader with a sad expression, with some tears forming in her eyes.

Tawna: "Megumi, I-"

Megumi just raised her hand, telling Tawna to save her words, as she got her head down and walked out of the garage to catch up the other bandicoots.

The blonde leader just stood at the place as she saw her japanese friend leave her too, and then at Ami's trophy, which was standing in front of the back section's door.

"Damnit…" She thought as she sighed.

Megumi: "...And I just left, as there was nothing else I could do." She said in a sad tone.

Crash, Coco and Aku Aku were surprised to hear the story of how the team disbanded, and wanted to know more about the reason.

Coco: "And to this day, you still don't know why Tawna did that to the team?"

Isabella: "No…" As she looked at Tawna and Ami while they were training with some dummies in the distance. "...But she will have to tell us sooner or later."

Aku Aku: "And what happened between you girls that made you take separate paths?"

Liz: "As we were walking away from the circuit, Ami decided that she still wanted to race, but for the rest of us it was over, as there was no reason other than our team to stay."

Isabella: "That made her angry, yes, and we ended splitting up. Besides, I still wanted to chase my dreams of becoming a renowned actress."

Megumi: "And I had my very own company to care for. Some time later I wanted to go back with Ami and join another team with her, but…" As she sighed. "...She just didn't want to see us anymore."

Aku Aku: "...Until now, as far as we see."

While the bandicoots and the floating mask continued talking about the issue that disbanded the team, at some distance from the house, Ami was putting some empty wooden barrels in line, as Tawna was getting in a fighting stance, ready to shoot some more fire out of her hands.

Ami: "Alright, that's set." As she put the last barrel on position.

Tawna: "Okay. Move aside, Ames."

Once again, the blonde leader's arms slowly began to glow and eventually lighten up on pink fire. While her green haired friend stepped away from the barrels, Tawna began to concentrate in order to hit her objectives with her uncommon abilities.

She then raised her arms and put her hands together, readying a fire burst.

Ami: "Come on, focus. You got this."

Eventually, the blonde bandicoot shot a fire burst at the most to the left barrel, and this time she was able to hit and destroy her objective, as pieces of burning wood were sent flying around.

Tawna: "Yes!" She smiled.

Ami: "Nice, but there are more of those over here." As she pointed at the rest of the barrels.

With confidence and after readying up, Tawna attempted a 'rapid fire' attack, shooting several bursts one quickly followed by another, in order to hit the rest of the targets. As she was shooting her fire bursts, she moved her hands one barrel at a time, and in a matter of seconds, she succeded in destroying every wooden barrel with this new technique.

The place where the barrels were located was smoking, as some pieces of broken wood were scattered around and some little pink fires were still lighten up at some spots.

Tawna: "Woah…" She said with some surprise, as her arms were turning back to normal.

Ami: "That was lit, dude!"

Both bandicoot girls got closer and inspected the place.

Ami: "Rapid fire? I didn't know you could do that, T!" She said with excitement.

Tawna: "I didn't know either heh heh." She chuckled.

Ami: "You have to keep working on that, just imagine once you learn to control it."

Tawna: "Yeah, well we have all the time in the world for training, right?"

Ami: "Now that we are back together, we do pal." She finished while smiling.

But the muscular girl's happiness soon faded away as she remembered the last time they were together, which wasn't as good as it was while training with their new powers. The blonde leader also stopped smiling, and an awkward silence was invading the place.

Tawna then saw Ami's face while she was distracted, and saw the patch she still had on her forehead, reminding the blonde bandicoot about her former team-mate's accident.

Tawna: "Does it hurt?" She asked shyly.

Ami: "...Uh, what?" As she was taken out of her thoughts and looked at Tawna.

Tawna: "The patch on your forehead."

Ami: "Oh… It's nothing, don't worry. It's the occupational hazards after all." As she touched her patch.

She then decided to get further into the matter, to break with the unpleasant atmosphere.

Tawna: "So… You kept racing, right?"

Ami: "Yeah, more or less… It got pretty boring since, you know." She shrugged.

Tawna: "Boring? I thought you liked being behind the wheel." She asked with curiosity.

Ami: "It's not so nice with all of the seriousness, it drains away the fun…" She said a little annoyed at her last experience with her current team. "...You always have to keep up with the objectives they tell you at every race, there are no game changers like power ups and all that stuff, and don't even question the strategies."

Tawna: "Oh, and what strategies do you say?"

Ami: "Leave positions, dumb pit stops, and even giving away my hard earned parts to this other dumbass of my team-mate."

The blonde bandicoot got surprised at her friend's attitude towards her dream job, and couldn't help but chuckle a little at her.

Ami: "What's funny?" She said confused.

Tawna: "Nothing, heh heh, it's just that I forgot that you aren't such a team player…"

Ami: "Yeah, so?"

Tawna: "Relax, Ami, I don't mean it that way…" As she raised her hands at the green haired girl. "...You are an amazing driver, no doubt about that, it's just that you hate anybody else that tells you how to do your job."

Ami: "I don't mind a little help I guess, but it checks out. I don't like being bossed around, but I can stand with the team as long as I'm left alone." She smiled.

Tawna: "The only time that happened you ended up like this." As she pointed at Ami's injury.

Ami: "What? This is called a 'souvenir', you know?"

They both shared a little laugh, and the tense interactions soon became easier for both, as their trust was being rebuilded back up. Then, once the laughter stopped, Ami decided to ask something at her former boss that troubled her the past two years.

Ami: "T, I'm sorry if this makes you feel uneasy, but I need to know-"

Tawna: "I know what are you going to ask, Ami…" She interrupted her friend, as she looked away. "...Just, let's leave it at that, okay?"

The muscular bandicoot looked confused at her friend.

Ami: "Why would we?"

Tawna: "It's not so important."

Ami: "It is, after all, whatever happened it ended up disbanding our team." As she started to get annoyed.

Tawna: "Ugh, please don't…" As she facepalmed.

Ami: "Please don't? After all this time, that's all you have to say?"

The blonde bandicoot looked back at Ami.

Tawna: "The team is history and yet you kept racing, why would you care?"

Ami: "Oh come on, it's not just the team, it's you too. We were doing so good, why did you just threw it all away?"

Tawna: "You are all doing good without the Nitro Squad too!"

Ami: "It's not the same thing!" As she got more annoyed.

Tawna: "Okay, stop it. I won't tell you anything so stop pushing me."

Ami: "Oh that's not pushing…" As she pushed Tawna away. "THIS is pushing."

Tawna got annoyed at the green haired girl's attitude.

Tawna: "Are you serious?"

Ami: "As serious as you are being this much of an idiot." As she pushed her again.

Tawna: "Stop it!" As she got even more annoyed.

The siblings, the rest of the squad and the witch doctor noted that both girls were arguing.

Liz: "What's going on over there?"

Coco: "Something is not right…"

Back with Tawna and Ami, the blonde bandicoot's arms began to slowly glow as she was waking up her powers again, as her former team-mate pushed her again.

Tawna: "Stop pushing me, I warn you."

Ami: "Make me then, because I'm not stopping until you talk."

Tawna: "I'm not saying anything, quit it or else-"

Ami: "Or else what, I push you again?"

Right when the muscular bandicoot was about to lay her hands on Tawna's shoulders to push her once more, the latter one's arms got quickly surrounded by fire and she then pushed Ami with fire in her hands, sending her to fly backwards, and then to land on her feet and slide a bit before stopping finally.

Ami then slowly raised her head to look directly at Tawna, while her black leather jacket was smoking, with several holes in it.

Ami: "Okay…" As she took off her ruined jacket. "I had enough with the patience." She said in a serious tone.

Tawna: "You just started to push me, what else did you expect?" She said in an accusing tone.

Ami: "This would have never happened if you had told us why did you made the fucking team abandon when we asked you so!" As she got in a fighting stance. "I'm sorry, boss, but it seems I will have to kick your ass in order for that to happen."

Tawna: "We'll see about that." As she also got on guard.

The tension between the two ex-members of the Nitro Squad grew as they looked at each other in the eyes for several seconds. Suddenly, Ami started running towards Tawna while her arms began to glow in her lime green colour.

The blonde bandicoot girl also activated her powers as she began to shoot several fire bursts at her unexpected opponent in an attempt to stop her, but Ami was able to avoid all of the attacks and hit Tawna on the side of her arm with a powered up kick, who slided a bit before stopping and resuming throwing fire.

The rest of the group inmediately noticed the fight between the two girls and quickly got up and ran towards them to stop it.

Isabella: "Hey, what are you doing?!"

Megumi: "Ami, Tawna, stop!"

The bandicoot girls ignored their friends and continued fighting each other. The green haired girl went for a second strike as she avoided more of the fire attacks, but Tawna saw it coming this time and prepared a counter attack. Once Ami went for the kick, the blonde leader quickly crouched to avoid it and shot another pink fire burst at her opponent, hitting her in the chest.

The muscular bandicoot was sent flying and landed on her back. Approaching the momentum, she rolled backwards on her feet and standed back up, as her opponent also got up.

Tawna: "Listen, I don't wanna do this, Ami..." She said while readying another fire burst.

Ami: "Too late to talk now!" As she ran towards Tawna again.

Coco: "Girls, stop fighting!" As she was getting closer to them with the rest of the group beside her.

Ami continued with the head on and aggresive close attacks as Tawna did her best to mantain her distance with her fire.

Eventually, the green haired bandicoot got close enough to her former leader and started throwing punches at her in quick sucession, not giving the latter a way out as she was blocking the attacks covering herself with her arms while backing up. Every punch made Tawna's anger to increase even more.

Liz decided to separate them by using her speed abilities and ran towards the muscular bandicoot's back, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her away.

Ami: "Let me go, Elizabeth!" She said in an angry tone, as she stopped hitting Tawna and tried to set free of the brunette's grab.

Liz: "Enough fighting, just stop it already!" As she kept pulling her friend away.

Liz had a hard time attempting to pull away Ami from the scene, as she was trying to break free, and thought that by doing this her blonde friend might calm down and stop fighting, because the muscular bandicoot wasn't attacking her anymore, but Tawna was already furious.

The blonde leader's arms and eyes began to glow in a hot pink, as she was preparing yet another attack towards Ami, all this while being blinded by the rage. She raised her hands, pointing her palms at her opponent and charged up for another fire burst, but instead of this, a big pink flame (like it was a flamethrower) shot out of her and headed towards her target.

Before the fire catched up on her, the green haired girl was able to set free of Liz's grasp, and when she looked back at Tawna, she saw a big fire rushing towards her, and quickly raised her arms glowing in a lime colour to defend herself from the attack, being pinned down in the process.

Liz: "Oh, my…" She whispered to herself, while slowly backing out from the scene.

Isabella: "Tawna, stop throwing fire!" As she catched up to Liz with everybody else.

Aku Aku: "Tawna, that's enough!"

The blonde bandicoot didn't listen to her friends and kept throwing fire at Ami, who was still covering herself with the help of her powers. The latter wasn't able to move away from the fire, as any attempt may deactivate her powers and therefore be incinerated, but then, she decided to try something else, as she raised her leg, charged it with her might energy and stomped the floor, causing the ground under Tawna's feet to shake with such force that it sent her flying, stopping the fire finally.

The blonde girl fell on her back as her powers rested again after such an interruption and calmed herself from the rage an instant ago. The green haired bandicoot however, infuriated by such an attack against her, charged yet another punch and jumped towards Tawna.

And suddenly…

Megumi: "Ami, stop!" As she raised her hand, which was glowing intensely.

A force field appeared in between Ami and Tawna out of nowhere, and once the muscular bandicoot touched it while still in mid-air, it 'exploded' . The resulting shockwave sent Ami flying backwards, to land on her back right at the same spot she launched herself from, next to the rest of the group, and the leader skidded on her back for a few meters as she was still on the ground, before coming to a stop.

Tawna slowly raised her head while laying on the ground to look at Ami, who was being helped by Liz and Megumi to get up, while Crash, Coco and Aku Aku were running to the blonde girl's aid.

Liz: "Can you explain to us what was that?" She said in an accusing tone.

Isabella: "Why did you started to hit each other? Are you crazy?"

Ami: "It's her fault!" As she looked back at Tawna. "It's been your fault that these two years of crap happened!"

Isabella: "What?" As she, Megumi and Liz looked at their former leader too.

Tawna: "That doesn't give you the right to harass me!" As she got back up with the siblings help. "And I already told you that this is none of your damn business."

Ami: "Why are you like this? Why do you have to be so stubborn and hide us the truth?" As she cleaned the dust off herself. "What you did affected us all, you teared the team apart and yet you can't even answer such a simple question."

Isabella, Liz and Megumi understood what their former team-mate was talking about.

Tawna: "I also cared about the team, and I felt like shit these years because of that. And believe me, if I had another choice I would have gone for it." She said as she looked away.

The squad looked at the blonde girl, again with dissapointment in their faces, expecting more negligence from their former leader. Upon seeing this, Coco got closer to her friend and looked at her in the eyes.

Coco: "Tawna, listen. I know this is none of our business, but Isabella, Liz and Megumi told us what happened…"

Tawna looked at the little bandicoot with a little surprise.

"...But whatever it caused the disband, they are your friends, they are family, and they deserve some answers too. I don't want you to fight again, and whatever it is I promise we will not judge you, but please… Listen to them." As she put her hand on Tawna's back.

The younger bandicoot girl had a point, and the blonde leader thought about it for a moment, while she looked at her arms first, a little bruised thanks to all the Ami's attacks that she blocked, and then at said friend, who had several burned spots on her arms and one on her chest.

Tawna wanted to make amends with her former team, she missed them during those two years and they finally had a chance to see each other again, even with the uncommon circumstances, but if she wanted to succeed in doing so, she had to speak first. Only then she could start rebuilding her trust with the rest of the girls.

Tawna: "It all started some years ago, when the team wasn't even a thing… And Oxide wasn't treatening our planet yet…"

The girls, surprised, looked at her and paid full attention to the answer they were looking forward to.

Tawna: "By that time…" As she sighed. "...I was dating Pinstripe."

Megumi: "What? Pinstripe?"

Liz: "So you did date him after all, huh?"

Isabella: "And what does he has to do with the team?"

Tawna: "Well, he was… Very possesive, and a bad loser too of course…"

Ami: "Yeah, we already noticed that…" She said with a disgusted expression.

Tawna: "When we broke up, he said that I would never be happy without him, as I had the chance to get everything I wanted only if I was 'his girl'. With the time, I realized the kind of asshole he was and I didn't want to continue the relationship anymore, which made him mad…"

"...And that's when all the trouble began some time later…"

Back at the Slide Colliseum, the race had finished just an hour ago and the podium ceremony already finished. The Nitro Squad leader was on her office, sitting on her desk while doing some paperwork involving the race, as formalities were becoming common in kart racing, which gained serious attention after Crash's victory over Nitros Oxide.

Tawna: "Alright, enough for today." As she got up and stretched a little. "The girls are not gonna be happy I took so long to start celebrating." She chuckled.

But as the blonde bandicoot was heading towards the door, someone knocked it.

"Hmmm… Who could it be?" She thought.

When she opened the door, two giant figures entered the room. These figures turned into two big rats, dressed as gangsters, and judging by their expressions they didn't seem friendly, which intimidated Tawna a bit, making her back off.

Tawna: "What's this? Who are you?"

Male voice: "Oh don't worry about them, 'dolcezza'. They work for me…"

She noted that this voice didn't came from the thugs, but instead from a third one, which she recognized innmediately.

Tawna: "Ugh, not you, please…" As she facepalmed.

Pinstripe: "It's me indeed, Tawna." As he showed up from behind the thugs with flowers and a heart-shaped box of chocolate in her hands. "I was hoping if we could-"

Tawna: "Whatever it is, I'm not interested, so if you don't mind…" She interrupted him, while signaling the exit.

Pinstripe: "Oh, believe me amore mio…"

Tawna: "...And stop calling me like that."

Pinstripe: "...You will be interested in what I have to tell you." He said in an unsettling tone.

One of the thugs closed the door, as they both positioned themselves behind their boss.

Pinstripe: "Please, have a seat." As he signaled the desk's chair.

Tawna: "Okay, you have to leave before I call security." She said in a serious tone, ignoring the mobster's words.

Pinstripe: "Oh well, you see…" As he left the gifts on the desk and sat down on one of the chairs in front of it. "...That's not gonna work for you now."

Tawna looked at Pinstripe with confusion and unease.

Pinstripe: "I had a talk with some friends of mine, which have many influences in the motorsports world. Including the association's president himself, of course…"

Tawna: "What? The World Racing Federation president?"

Pinstripe: "Exactly, Tawna. The same that not so long ago started hosting the kart races as an official discipline of theirs."

Tawna: "Just get to the point."

Pinstripe: "You have two options from now on then, my dear. And I want you to think about it very carefully…" He said with a sly smile.

Tawna: "One of them is dating with you again, right?"

Pinstripe: "You are as smart as you are beautiful, signorina."

Tawna: "I'm not doing that, Pinstripe…"

Pinstripe: "Oh, but you haven't heard the second option yet…" As he got up and slowly started walking towards Tawna. "...If you refuse my offer of being my girl again, you and those friends of yours will never race again."

The blonde leader didn't even flinch at the mobster's threats.

Tawna: "What, not kart racing anymore? There's a world of other disciplines, and plenty of them are not under the WRF influences." She shrugged.

Pinstripe: "Who said I would kick you out of the league?" He smiled with malice, as he turned around and slowly walked away.

Tawna: "What are you trying to say?" She asked confused.

Pinstripe: "All of your team-mates have other jobs to worry about, right? An actress, a model, a CEO of her own company. It would be a shame if they had…" As he turned to look at Tawna again. "...An unfortunate accident, right?"

Tawna got angry at Pinstripe's words, but deep down, she feared for her friends.

Tawna: "You wouldn't be so stupid to do something like that. The authorities would get your ass in no time."

Pinstripe: "But how, if they would have a occupational accident? The WRF president would confirm that story after all, if he wants to keep the federation's name clean and his family alive, or course…"

Tawna: "You blackmailed him…" She whispered.

Pinstripe: "It's the best way to make deals after all, amore mio..."

Tawna felt shivers down her spine, as she felt like she had no choice but to be with the mob leader for the sake of her friends integrity, but she didn't want to do that either. However, Pinstripe didn't finish…

Pinstripe: "...But, since I'm feeling generous, I'm giving you a third option." As he started heading towards the exit. "You can back out of the championship, and disband the Nitro Squad."

Tawna: "W-what? Are you nuts?" She asked annoyed.

Pinstripe: "Consider it a gift for you, and also a reminder about what I told you before… If you won't be happy with me, then you just won't." He stared at the blonde racer, as his thugs opened the door and started walking out.

Tawna: "Get out of my goddamn office."

Once the mobster and the thugs walked out of the office, Tawna walked towards the door and looked at them from inside the office.

Pinstripe: "Do not say a single word to anyone, dolcezza. I will know… Oh, and I will be waiting for your answer soon, no rush, eh?" He winked at the blonde girl.

Tawna: "Fuck off!" As she closed the door with anger.

The squad leader stared at the door with rage at first, but as she thought about her friends, the team, everything she worked so hard for and her future, she soon became sad, feeling hopeless and powerless to this situation. She sat down with her back against the door and covered her face between her arms, she had to make a decision.

"I guess I have no other option…" She thought. Since she was not intending to go back with Pinstripe at all or letting her team get hurt, backing out of the races seemed the best choice.

Tawna: "...And then I got up and went to the garage, while regreting ever dating that stupid rat before. I didn't want to say anything not because of the threats, but of the possibility that you would think that this is a selfish decision from me, as I could just date that asshole and keep the team instead of doing what I did…" And then she looked away. "...And you are right to think so. But I'm sorry, I couldn't do that, I just couldn't…" As she started to walk away from the siblings and further into the beach. "...You already know the rest." She finished.

Everyone else looked at Tawna go away from them, while a deafening silence invaded the scene. As soon as the blonde bandicoot got into some distance, one of the girls decided to talk.

Isabella: "...It was Pinstripe's fault after all?" She asked confused.

Liz: "We should have known, Tawna would have never done something like that to us and the team just because."

Megumi: "And it hurts to learn that she thinks that we would think of it as selfish, when she didn't have any choice." She said in a sad tone.

Ami: "Yeah, that's not selfish, what else could she do?" She sighed. "I guess I owe an apology to her for this…" As she scratched the back of her head.

Liz: "We all do, mate…" As she placed her hand on Ami's shoulder.

The witch doctor and the siblings got closer to the girls.

Aku Aku: "It would be better to leave her alone for now, children." He said calmly.

Coco: "Yeah, there's no use in talking to her now. She just wouldn't listen…"

Crash: *concerned gibberish*

Upon the family's words, the squad just looked at their leader walk away with concern and guilt on their faces. The sun already hid and it was starting to get dark, so they decided to leave Tawna alone and go back to the house. Eventually, they would have more time to talk and start rebuilding the team back up and rebuild their bonds.