Heartaches

Chapter 70

By KellyQ

Leo pulled his cell phone out and started to text message Crow when he got off his motorcycle. Luna and Rally watched for a moment as he pushed sent. Rally averted his attention to the pit stop and watched Crow pull out his cell phone too and smiled. Crow raised his hand and gave them the thumbs up.

Jack waited for a few moments for Nicolas to ride his motorcycle out and park it at the starting line. Harmann drove his bike to the pit stop, to see Nicolas was already on his motorcycle.

"I messed up huh …?" Harmann started.

Nicolas growled and gave his teammate a glare. "I'll deal with you later."

Nicolas started the engine and drove to the starting line. Jack glanced at his opponent for a moment.

"On your mark, get set, Go!" M.C's voice boomed.

Everyone averted their attention to the race. Primo glanced down at the race; Jack was the first to be a head of Nicolas. Jack wasn't too impressed with the way Nicolas handled his motorcycle.

"I'm not impressed, considering that I don't cheat just to get ahead!" Jack pointed out.

"Then show me what you have, Jack Atlus!" Nicolas challenged.

"Oh – I intend to!"

The race continued. M.C watched closely until a security guard walked up and tapped him on the shoulder. M.C blinked and turned his head. "What's up?" He asked in a hushed tone. The security guard leaned in and whispered something in M.C's ear. The race announcer blinked in shock and nodded his head. The security guard stepped back as M.C glanced at the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement to make! According the rules: if you tamper with your opponents motorcycles, you will be disqualified from the race!"

Gasps filled the arena. Hushed whispers started to travel like a sea of waves. Primo turned and started to make his way to the exit. Lester shrugged, got up and followed him out. Nicolas growled and sped up in attempts to pass Jack, but due to what happened in the last race, small patches of gravel were still on the racetrack, and Nicolas's motorcycle spun out of control after his tire came into contact.

Jack's eyes widened and veered out of the way when Nicolas's bike spun in his direction. Nicolas started to lose focus when he heard faint sirens in the distance. Jack revved his engine up, sped his motorcycle toward Nicolas, grabbed him, and pulled him off his bike just before the motorcycle crashed. Jack heaved his opponent over his shoulder and parked his motorcycle to the side of the racetrack.

A couple of motorcycle cops and one patrol car came into the racetrack. Harmann and Hans glanced at each other, knowing that they were busted. The two raised their hands and stepped out onto the racetrack. Everyone watched with awe, and it wasn't long before the crowd started to clap and cheer for Jack as Nicolas was slid off his shoulder. Nicolas managed to keep his footing as Kaz and two other officers handcuffed him and his other teammates.

"Why did you save me?" Nicolas mumbled feeling humiliated. He didn't make eye contact with Jack.

"I could just have let you go down with your bike like you did with Team Unicorn, but unlike you …. I don't do things like that to my opponents – now get your ugly ass off the track!" Jack ordered, pointing an accusing finger at Nicolas.

"You heard it here folks! Team Catastrophe is disqualified from the race for tampering with Team Unicorn's motorcycles!" M.C announced with joy, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder. He was glad that Nicolas, Hans, and Harmann got what they deserved. "Now, Team 5Ds will compete against Team Taiyo, tomorrow! See you then!"

The crowd gradually made their way out of the stadium. Kaz and the other two cops hauled Team Catastrophe out. Breo was glad that Harmann, Hans, and Nicolas will never drive again. He got up and made his way through the sea of people. Once he was out of the arena, he spotted Yusei and his friends including a few kids.

Yusei turned when he saw movement from the corner of his eye. He turned and smiled when Breo made his way over.

"Thank you guys for helping me out –" Breo said, bowing. "I can take care of things from here."

"Anytime," Yusei responded casually watching Breo turn and walk away.

"Good luck!" Crow called out to Breo as the blond-haired teen disappeared into the crowd. He turned his attention to Rally and the twins. "I better get you guys back home and make sure that Kiryu's alright."

Once Crow left with Leo, Luna and Rally, Yusei, Jack, and Bruno headed back to the condo.

"Do you want me to cheek on what Team Taiyo is all about?" Bruno asked.

Yusei shook his head. "I got the jest of who they were when we signed up for the race …" Yusei paused. "They're a group that came from the country side with one motorcycle. We're not going to have too much of a challenge with them."

"I'm going up against Yoshizo, right?" Jack clarified.

Yusei nodded his head. "Crow's going up against Jinbei and I'm going up against Taro."

Jack nodded his head, pondering how he was going to approach his opponent tomorrow.

To Be continued …