Disclaimer: I do not own the song "London Beckoned Songs About Money Written By Machines." That song with the ridiculously long title is owned solely by Panic! at the Disco.

CHAPTER 12
Satomi

There they are. Satomi's mechs looked bigger, better, shinier, and more powerful than we were. The crowds were mostly a sea of yellow and blue. Figured, since Satomi was SATOMI (accompany with holy music) and we were…wait, who were we again?

The no good rookies, that's who we were.

I settled my mech into the position beside Takeshi and tried desperately to wake up. If only mechs had a place for you to plug music into or something…

Far too quickly, the multitude of screens in front of us started to countdown. The crowds beside us gave a roar that increased in volume, loud enough for me to hear clearly the "Go Satomi! Go Satomi! Go Satomi!" being chanted everywhere.

10, 9, 8…

Dear god, I really really needed to wake up.

7, 6, 5…

I was four seconds away. WAKE UP WAKE UP.

4, 3, 2…

"Let's rock this house!" Jax suddenly screamed into the communicator. And if that didn't wake me up, I don't know what else would.

1…

GO.

My hand knocked into the forward throttle at just the right time when I jumped at Jax's exclamation. I tore down the track, and Takeshi immediately dropped from my peripheral vision. "Geez, Lotus. Slow down will you?" Beckem said. I breathed out deeply, and relaxed the tense muscles in my arms.

"I'm sorry. Blame Jax, he was the one that woke me up."

I heard Jax chuckle on the communicator. "That was the point."

"Well, you got your point across real well, thanks," Beckem said sarcastically, in a way that made me know that Jax had scared him too.

Stop stalling, make a name for yourself
Boy, you better put the pen to paper
Charm your way out

The track vibrated my mech with a consistent and smooth friction. I relaxed even more as Beckem, Jax, and I circled each other. Benjamin Bright had been right. Today was a beautiful day for a race. I had just been too cranky to see it.

Although I knew that I would pay later for my alertness now by pretty much falling right back to sleep as soon as the race was over.

But for now, it was cool. All was good in the world.

"So, is anyone else nervous, besides me?" Jax asked after we had a while of silence and contemplation. We went into the last turn and started to move into formation. I shifted to the front and waited impatiently.

"Yes," I said.

"Yes," Beckem reiterated.

"Good. I thought it was just me."

"You kidding? We're racing Satomi," Beckem said. "We're racing the best. Man, sometimes I can't even believe we got here. Sometimes I can't even believe we are here. I never would have even let myself picture us right next to Satomi or Velshtein. But we are. So we shouldn't be too hard on ourselves if we screw up. There are so many other teams out there that would kill to be where we are."

I loved Beckem. Really. He could be so motivational sometimes. Despite all his annoying qualities, Beckem simply rocked.

"Which means we also have to prove ourselves," Beckem continued. We started down the home stretch. The second lap would begin in seconds. "Show all those Satomi fans and the world that we deserve this blessing we got. That we worked hard to get here, and didn't just cruise in on potential. Got it?"

"You rock, Beckem," Jax said.

"My thoughts exactly. On everything," I said with a smile, and put on an extra burst of speed to enter into the second lap.

"So here's our chance to shine," Beckem said, and all three of us turned around as one, our mechs changing into Battle mode.

"All right!"

If you talk, you better walk
You better back your shit up
With more than good hooks
While you're all under the gun

I watched the Satomi mechs change right before my eyes. The sight of their beautiful racers moving, shimmering in the sunlight, made anticipation thrum through my arms and legs. I would be sinking into those lovely metal parts, soon. I would be crushing them.

And I would enjoy it.

I waited. We all waited. The track rumbled past.

They were hanging back, I saw. They were probably conversing among themselves, trying to work out a plan. They weren't ones to have fancy attack procedures or intricate formations, I knew. They just took whatever they were given. Much like how we fought.

This would be interesting.

And then, they charged.

Start talking "a sensationalist"
Oh, he's slightly clever to just a certain extent

"Looks like it's gonna be one-on-one," Jax had time to proclaim before everything in my world became one jostled mess. Takeshi had charged directly for me with breathtaking quickness and I was engaged with him before I had time to take a steady breath. Immediately, hastily, I brought my mechs arms up and my own guard up. I had to be careful around these two-year veterans. They fought with reckless abandon, but that meant they fought hard.

"Damn it," Beckem was muttering. Actually, Jax and Beckem had both started a practically constant stream of swear words ever since they had received initial blows of their own. I skated back to avoid a vicious hook and saw that Beckem was engaged in a wrestling match with the Satomi Defender while Jax was performing a series of ducks and dodges to Amy Stapleton's quick, rapid attacks.

Then another heavy hit shook my mech's frame and I decided that it was time to start paying attention to the mech that was attacking me.

If you talk, you better walk
You better keep your mouth shut
With more than good hooks
While you're all under the gun

All three of us circled into a loop. All the while, Takeshi's strikes were quick as lightning and coming in rapid succession. I winced, trying to protect myself and find an opening. As soon as I found just one little hole, I could deliver a powerful strike. And as soon as I delivered the powerful strike, the tides would be turned and I'd get all the shots.

We pivoted around and around each other. At one point, we switched positions with him skating backwards and me driving forward. As soon as that happened though, I realized that he was trying to drive me back into my teammates. Pushing all of my mech's weight into it, I managed to swing myself back around to be skating backwards. Of course, this was a position with disadvantages; going forward while fighting was much better as you could fight and watch where you were going at the same time. But now Takeshi had put me into a position where going backwards was all I could afford.

What a sly dog.

(Panic! meet the press)
It's time for us to take a chance
It's time for us to take a chance
(Panic! meet the press)
It's time for us to take a chance
It's time for us

It was all I could do to keep my mech upright while suffering such a massive amount of blows. I still hadn't found that one decisive opening that I was looking for, and we were nearing the start of the third lap. I still needed time to find that opening, deliver the incapacitating blow, and batter Takeshi's mech severely enough to ensure that he would not catch up with Speed mode during the last seconds of the race. So far, for all three of us, it had just been a melee, a chaotic free-for-all that had no real structure and no real point except to beat the other team into a lump of scrap metal.

"Jesus Christ!" Beckem yelled into his communicator. I gritted my teeth through the violent shaking of my mech. "They won't let up. I can't find an opening!" Join the fucking club, I thought in frustration.

"I can't hold on!" Jax was screaming over the communication lines. "I'm not going to make it!"

Well, we're just a wet dream for the webzine
Make us it, make us hip, make us seen, or
Shrug us off your shoulders
Don't approve a single word that we wrote
Well, we're just a wet dream for the webzine
Make us it, make us hip, make us seen, or
Shrug us off your shoulders
Don't approve a single word that we wrote

"Oh no you don't, Jax," I warned loudly, anger flaring up with my frustration. "You aren't taking the easy way out of this."

"Then you come help me, Lotus!" Jax roared at me, his voice choppy and jerky with the shaking of his mech. It was a ludicrous command because we all knew that that was not possible. Not one of us could help the other. We wouldn't even be able to disengage in time.

"If you are so set on going down, Jax," I commanded him with a biting tone, "at least take one of these pests with you."

I got no answer; the lines were filled with grunts and moans. I wasn't really expecting an answer anyway. I was noticing that Takeshi was starting to slow up, just the tiniest bit. He was getting tired, I realized with a little relief. His stamina had almost reached the limit. I'm going to make it, I thought firmly, gripping my controls tighter.

I'm burning and I'm blacking my lungs
Boy, you know it feels good with fire back on your tongue
If you talk, you better walk
You better back your shit up
With more than good hooks
While you're all under the gun

We entered the third lap just when Jax's mech fell apart. It scraped against the track painfully, throwing sparks everywhere like a magnificent fireworks display. I could feel a wrenching in my heart as it tumbled downward. A part of me wanted to slap Takeshi off of me and go racing back toward Jax at once, to see if he was okay, to make sure he wasn't injured. But I couldn't do that, of course. I had to win this race for him.

One good part about Jax going down though, was that Amy Stapleton was also nowhere to be seen. She had been knocked out of the race as well. I managed a little smile. Jax had been blocking her spill from my view, but I knew with an unexplainable certainty that Jax had stayed true to my task and pulled her down with him.

Then, just as I re-composed myself, I found my opening. As Takeshi got more and more tired, his blows became more and more sloppy. He stopped following up his blows with sufficient covering of the spot he had to leave exposed. I squinted in concentration. It felt like time slowed and I was watching through slow motion. His fist went up in a jab and it left his right side wide open. I ducked the punch and went in with a precise strike to the opening.

I smiled. This was going to be satisfying.

Start talking "a sensationalist"
Oh, he's slightly clever to just a certain extend
Well, keep quiet; let us sing like the doves
Then decide if it's done with purpose or lack thereof

Takeshi flew back, probably in shocked astonishment. I didn't wait for him to come to me again; I went after him. Knees bent, I rocketed into him, sending him skidding back a little again. I reached out and grabbed hold of his mech's shoulder. I flung him forward and then skated forward to crash into him again. Now I was moving forward and he was skating backward, in no position to push me into my teammate. Who was panicking now, eh?

I sunk punches into him again and again. He was tired from his extended offensive on me previously and only could block a few of my blows at any given time. I was gaining the advantage. I was breaking him down slowly so that he would have no way to catch up with me. I was going to win.

Just for the record, the weather today
Is slightly sarcastic with a good chance of
A) indifference or
B) disinterest
In what the critics say

I delivered a series of impressive kicks, each one striking Takeshi in the same area, all bound to get Benjamin Bright riled up. Then I grabbed one of the arms of his mech and swung him around violently, smashing him into the guard railing. After that I pulled him in close to me and delivered more blows to his mech's body. Takeshi's blocks were feeble, his dodges ineffective, his ducks too slow.

Surprisingly, no one called in the running skeletons. I was glad for it. A break for those would disturb the flow of my attack. Plus, if a running skeleton for Satomi was going to be called in, it'd probably be for Takeshi and it would freshen him up. That'd just mean more effort on my part to break him back down again. There was no reason for Satomi not to call in the running skeletons, however.

But they weren't and I was very glad.

The end was nearing. I could feel excitement coursing through me.

It's time for us to take a chance
It's time for us
Well, we're just a wet dream for the webzine
Make us it, make us hip, make us seen, or
Shrug us off your shoulders
Don't approve a single word that we wrote
Well, we're just a wet dream for the webzine
Make us it, make us hip, make us seen, or
Shrug us off your shoulders
Don't approve a single word that we wrote

"Lotus…" Beckem suddenly shouted over the communication lines.

"Yes," I acknowledged him loudly over the rumble of the mechs and the crashing of the fighting. I performed a flawless spinning back kick and then followed it up with crescent kick, knocking Takeshi's mech's arm out of the way as it came up to attempt a blocking motion. I leaned in for a strike to his mech's body.

"…I…I can't…" Beckem's voice was crackling over the lines. I suddenly grew worried, my attack on Takeshi lessening as a result.

"Beckem? Beckem?" I repeated into my communicator, straining my ears to hear him speak. Nervousness started to take flight in my stomach. My butterflies were paying me a visit at the worst time possible.

"…own…Lotus…" was all I heard him say. Then, a burst of thick black smoke ballooned from his wobbling mech. I gasped and jerked back, startled in spite of myself. His mech immediately disappeared from my line of sight, falling back on the track. I did hear a deafening crashing sound come from behind me, though, loud enough to make me want to crane my neck back in immense worry. First Jax and now Beckem. I was on my own.

The thought was terrifying. I froze for a moment, wondering how I would even manage to stay upright until the end of the race. Panic started to seize me in a chokehold. I couldn't move my body in terror.

I was…alone.

Just for the record, the weather today
Is slightly sarcastic with a good chance of
A) indifference or
B) disinterest
In what the critics say

Then I was scared into action. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Liz Ricarro, in her beat up and crumbling Satomi mech, lunge desperately for me. Instinct took over and I yanked my hands on the controls. Immediately, I jumped back from her and she fell short onto her face. Then she was lost from my line of view as well, falling behind on the track, her mech unable to function anymore.

So Jax had taken out the Midfielder and in turn Beckem had managed to take out the Defender. It was just me and Takeshi left. This was truly the one-on-one battle that Jax had said in the very beginning of the race.

And then Takeshi reminded me of his presence by ramming into me, almost knocking me to the concrete track. I screamed in spite of myself and fought to maintain control and composure. Focus, relax, focus, relax. But I knew that my opening at been lost. The tides had been turned once again, this time for the better of Team Satomi.

Well, we're just a wet dream for the webzine
Make us it, make us hip, make us seen, or
Shrug us off your shoulders
Don't approve a single word that we wrote

We were near the finish line; I could feel it. Takeshi's blows were sloppy and desperate, but effective. I could only barely manage to squirm my way away from his initial blow before he hit me with all the strength he had left. I could feel despair filling every fiber of my body. I was going to lose the match. I had gotten distracted and because of it, I was going to blow the race for everybody.

No, I couldn't. And I wouldn't. Beckem and Jax had gone down to let me take a shot at the finish line. There are so many other teams out there that would kill to be where we are, Beckem's voice rang through my head. Show all those Satomi fans and the world that we deserve this blessing we got. That we worked hard to get here, and didn't just cruise in on potential. I nodded at the invisible Beckem. Got it.

I firmed my resolve and readied myself for the final seconds of the race.

Well, we're just a wet dream for the webzine
Make us it, make us hip, make us seen, or
Shrug us off your shoulders
Don't approve a single word that we wrote

Takeshi came at me with a new surge of strength. I was there to meet him. We clashed violently and bone-jarringly and then pulled away again. I could feel and see pieces of both our mechs flying and chipping off with our collisions, but I didn't care. Neither did he. We engaged again, this time locking and wrestling with each other for the advantage.

I'm not going to lose. The third lap was coming to a close. We were just coming out of the final loop and home stretch was dangerously close. I had to get in Speed mode soon. There was only so much I could do now. All I could do was pray that the damage I inflicted on Takeshi's mech before was enough to slow it down and that the damage he inflicted on mine wasn't enough for that same thing to happen.

I braced myself and tore away, out of his grasp. I gave him one last heavy blow across the face of his mech before I pulled away to give myself room to change modes. I wasn't fast enough, however. He had time to give me one last strike to the stomach before I got away.

Immediately I set myself down in Speed mode, hearing the tired metal of my mech screech and whine in protest. It was going to fall apart soon. Hopefully it'd hold until past the finish line. I could only pray…

Just for the record, the weather today
Is slightly sarcastic with a good chance of

We both thundered down the home stretch. I saw from the corner of my left eye that Takeshi's mech was pulling into place right beside mine. Not good. I shifted my controls and drifted my mech toward him, to try and nudge him away. He nudged back just as insistently. I set my teeth and pushed back, determined not to lose this little shoving match.

The finish line was right there. Right there. I could see it. I could see the crowds, the fans, jumping and cheering and screaming and pumping their fists. It was all too much. I gave Takeshi's mech one last little tap and then put all my effort into accelerating. It all felt too slow. I had to go faster. The finish line was right there. Right there.

I closed my eyes. And then it was all over.

A) indifference or
B) disinterest
In what the critics say

My mech promptly fell apart in a steaming wreck as soon as it slid to a stop. I popped open the cockpit and extracted myself from my pilot seat, coughing at the smoke coming from various areas of my mech and soaking with sweat. The breeze that blew cooled me down considerably, feeling pleasant and soothing on my skin. I wiped my eyes and realized that I was crying. I didn't even know how long I'd been crying, but I was.

The screaming of the fans was all I could hear. I blinked a couple of times and then carefully let myself down from my ruined mech. When I reached the solid concrete, I nearly fell over, my legs were shaking so much. I reached up to wipe my eyes again and started to walk slowly.

Then a figure emerged from the steaming wreck beside me. Takeshi was walking toward me, his mech behind him looking much like mine. His face was blackened with the smoke and he was also grimy with sweat but he was grinning. I had never seen anyone so happy after a race like that before.

"Lotus!" he called out to me and I stopped, forcing myself to take deep breaths. I wiped my eyes yet again, hoping he wouldn't see that I'd been bawling my eyes out. When he reached me, he did the most unexpected thing: he hugged me.

"That was so awesome!" he exclaimed into my ear. "It was the most fun I had in a long time racing someone else. Man, that was exciting. You kept me guessing until the end!"

"Well, I'm glad I could entertain you," I forced out with a shaky voice, smiling at his enthusiasm. He pulled away and looked at me, reaching up a hand to rub away a little dirt on my cheek, as I was sure it was covered in it. I reached up and rubbed away a little of his too and his grin widened.

"So who won?" I asked, suddenly remembering the important details. He shrugged, as if he really didn't care who won.

"I think it was too close to tell right off. They are probably going to the film to figure it out." I sighed. That meant more anxious waiting. Even if it was only for a couple of minutes as the officials pulled up the film for the whole of the spectators to see.

We started to walk back toward the finish line. When we were almost there, I could see four people running for us. When we got closer, we could see that they were our teammates. Liz and Amy were making a beeline to Takeshi while Beckem and Jax were zooming straight towards me. And both of my teammates had huge smiles on their faces.

"WHOO HOO!" Jax whooped when he reached me, practically knocking me over in a bear hug. "That was AMAZING!" I patted his back a couple of times, my smile widening into a grin as well.

"Was it really?" I asked him, looking up into his face when he pulled away. Both his and Beckem's faces were also dirtied from the broken mechs.

"Hell yeah," Beckem answered me. "You finished stronger than we both would have ever dreamed, even though your mech was obviously in danger of falling apart." He grinned at me and came in for a hug as well. I smiled as I hugged him back, remembering the terror I had felt when I had realized I was all alone. At least now I knew how to handle myself in a similar situation.

I caught a glimpse of Takeshi receiving a similar reunion with his teammates before Benjamin Bright's familiar booming voice washed over the spectators and us. "Now, ladies and gentlemen, let's see what the film has to say! Who has won this spectacularly exciting race?" he shouted in excitement.

Beckem, Jax, and I also turned our attention to one of the big screens surrounding us. I watched as the camera focused on the finish line and the tips of my mech and Takeshi's mech came into view. The speed of the film was slowed down considerably to get a clear reading. As the mechs came farther into view, I noticed how beat up both of our mechs looked. It was much worse than I had imagined it to be. I was a bit glad that I didn't know the full extent of my mech's damage then.

The audience, which had been roaring previously, was practically silent now as they waited, tense with anticipation. Everyone was holding a collective breath, watching the ending of the race re-unfold in front of them…

I held my own breath as the mechs were about to cross the finish line. I had the sudden urge to close my eyes but I resisted it. It was bad enough that I had closed my eyes when I had actually finished the race. That was the worst thing I could have ever done. So, now I had to watch even though the suspense was almost unbearable…

Then, the evidence was clear and the crowd roared in response.

Takeshi and I had crossed the finish line at the same time.

We had tied.

"WHOO!" Jax yelled again, hugging me anew and jumping up and down in excitement.

"It was a tie! IT WAS A TIE!" Bright was shouting into his microphone. "OH MY…"

The first emotion I had felt was, actually, disappointment. I had not won. I had not been good enough. I had not honored the efforts that Beckem and Jax had made when they wiped out. I had not been good enough.

But suddenly, I felt a hand placed calmly on my shoulder. I wrestled away from bouncing Jax as I turned around to see who it was. And I found Addy, looking over at the screens proclaiming and flashing the results, with a serene smile on her lips.

"You did not win, Lotus," she said tranquilly, her voice only a little above her normal volume. But I could somehow hear her clearly. Perhaps it was the fact that more than anyone else, I wanted to hear what she had to say to me. I was straining to hear her words. "You did not win, Lotus," she repeated, "but you were good enough."

My disappointment vanished like water being vaporized. She looked at me and smiled.

And I gave her my biggest smile back.

A/N: I realize the wait has been long, but this was a very long chapter, so I hope everyone enjoyed it. I have a major writer's block on this story right now, so the udpates probably still won't be very regular. Hopefully, I'll have time soon to just sit down and think this whole story out again. Then I'll write more of it. I really do want to finish this story.

Thank you to my reviewers for last chapter and my reviewers for all the chapters. A big thanks to my rockin' readers too. I hope you had as much fun reading that race as I had fun writing it.

So, anyway, until next time then, which might be in a long time, but we'll see...