Chapter Three. With more than three years since the last chapter of this story was released, I'm not surprised if the readership for it has died out, but I since it got a lot of good responses back in the day, I'm determined to finish it, if for no other reason than completing it.
Chapter Three: Rush's Will
Spirit had finished the previous day in a good mood, but the following morning was hellish as Indra loomed over him and practically dragged him from his bed. Accomplished racer or not, there was very little he could do to stop his handler from hounding him every chance he got. Sitting bleary eyed at breakfast, he raised a spoonful of local cuisine to his head. Being a polymorphic being, his form was less than rigid, so proven when the lower half of his head split wide to reveal a gaping maw full of jagged teeth before swallowing the spoon whole and returning to normal. The sound of chewing and crunching metal grated on the nerves of Indra, but Spirit was too tired to care. Lifting his bowl, it too disappeared swiftly into the blackness of Spirit's mouth.
"Okay, today's race is against a man named Rush from Planet Byrus. From what I've seen he's not as fast, but he's powerful. If you get hit, you're going down hard." Indra explained simply. "You have to get out of the gate first and maintain a steady lead. Provided he can't catch up it should be an easy win. Understand Spirit?" he continued, looking over his notes before turning to stare at his racer. Spirit stared back half awake and nodded. This race seemed straightforward enough, provided he kept his focus it would be another win for him, but his mind was currently elsewhere. The previous day the Earth Team had Colonel Toros for their opposition and their Star Racer had been sliced clean in two. That kind of defeat could weigh heavily on an experienced racer, let alone an amateur and despite his own attempts to focus Spirit wondered how Molly was going to handle the next round.
After finishing the cutlery, Spirit and Indra made their way to the stadium. The first race of today was the Earth Team verses Prince Aikka and Spirit was interested to see how this would go. It wasn't long after they left the stands and the Earth Team's gunner was trying to get a lock on the Prince. That alone made Spirit wonder. A pair of laser cannons against an insect seemed like an unfair contest, of course, in all that he had done up until now, he didn't actually know what kind of racer Molly was, if she was as honest as her mother, or if she would do anything she could to obtain the ultimate prize. It was very strange though, every time the gunner had a shot the racer veered to one side breaking his line of fire until the turret stopped appearing. Now it seemed the race was on an even keel, neither racer was attacking and the lead varied regularly. It was a nostalgic feeling, but Spirit finally realised that he was witnessing an all out race. No guns, no tactics, a race for speed. Spirit could've given the racers a standing ovation for such an admirable idea, but as the two turned into the final stretch several things happened all at once. The Earth Team had the lead and their turret suddenly launched to one side. The racer rolled and two solid beams of energy flew by, barely missing the Prince and his mount before he returned fire. One arrow into the reactor was all it took to down the Earth Team. Aikka crossed the finish line and took the point while an altercation broke out between Molly and the gunner before she stormed off toward the stadium. The Earth Team had lost again and while it obviously did nothing for their chances, it especially didn't do anything for his spirits as he had to race next.
After stepping out into the stadium, Spirit raised a hand to block the dust kicked up when the giant ship of Rush's pulled up to the starting line. Looking up at the impressive machine, it seemed to have a lot of power, but as Indra had said, it didn't seem to be very fast. Spirit regarded its pilot with intrigue. Unlike Earth or Nourasia, Spirit had very little knowledge of Rush's home planet Byrus, but from what he had heard it had once been a beautiful world until the Crogs invaded and stripped it of every resource. This made Rush Toros' enemy as much as the humans or the Fhils, but just because they had a united enemy, didn't make him an ally. Spirit shed his coat and transformed as the Scrub Elders began the count down. Three, two, one. The gate dropped and Spirit shot into the lead. His heart was pounding as he cleared the gate ahead of the other racer. Rush's monstrous vehicle could do nothing to keep up. Surely today he could earn an easy point and be one step closer to Oban.
Most of the track passed easily, Spirit maintaining his lead throughout. Coming into the final stretch, however, Rush was on Spirit's heels.
"I'm sorry Spirit, but this victory is mine!" he heard the man from Byrus bellow. Suddenly, his massive ship lurched forward, accelerating right on top of the Fhils racer.
"Spirit, look out!" his radio shrieked as he dodged to the side. Despite the sudden boost in speed, Rush's ship was still only drawing level with Spirit, so long as he could pull ahead, he had nothing to worry about, or so he thought. A loud clanking arose from Rush's vessel and before he could dodge, a long metal drilling arm disengaged from the side and collided with Spirit's face. With a painful crunch of what passed for his bones, Spirit dropped behind, tumbling into the sand.
Laying there for what felt like an eternity, Spirit felt his body slowly click back into order. There was still pain and damage, but the advantage of a polymorphic body meant that you could get up and move with either. As the medical team surrounded him, they loaded him onto a stretcher and hauled him off for treatment, a process that normally resulted in a lot of head scratching for species unlike the Fhils. Sighing to himself, Spirit lamented his loss. He had allowed Rush to surprise him and it cost him a victory that should have been easily taken. Now he would have to deal with Indra's complaining, but worse still, the fact that Oban was growing into an ever distant dream.