Cannonball Run 7: High Speed Heroes

by BKelly95

Co-written by The Turbo Man. The Cannonballers have returned for another race around the world for a five hundred million dollar first prize. Who will rise? Who will fall? And who will win the Cannonball Run?

18. Who The Hell Was That Guy?

CANNONBALL RUN 7: HIGH SPEED HEROES by Bkelly95 & The Turbo Man

CHAPTER 18: 'Who the hell was that guy?'

DISCLAIMER: As usual.

Tanner tried to swerve around the approaching truck and made it onto the next road.

"Whoa, close!" yelled Tobias.

"It's not over!" yelled Tanner as he struggled to maintain control and slid right off the road.

Then he came out of his hallucination.

"Oh." said Tanner. "I should have known it was just my imagination."

"What are you talking about?" asked Lazlow from the passenger seat.

"What?" yelled Tanner.

Tanner came out of his real hallucination to find them in a ditch at the bottom of the incline at the side of the road.

"Ready to rejoin reality?" asked Tobias sternly.

"Yeah. Sure." said Tanner.

In the Legion, Big Boss glared.

"Darn their luck!" he cursed.

"There will be others." Chairman advised. "And there's plenty of Asia left to go."

Big Boss put his cellphone to his ear and got ready to call a tow truck.

---

"The Cannonballers are now all headed towards the bridge to South Korea." Veronica addressed the camera.

"They'll enter the country in the port city of Mokpo and then head east to the bridge to Japan, the last port of call for Asia in this running of the Cannonball." Misty added.

"That's right. In the northern Japanese province of Hokkaido is the final bridge which will lead back to the U.S. of A, letting the Cannonballers enter in Alaska and face the final stretch of the race, which will terminate at the Del Perro Pier in Los Santos." Ron confirmed.

"And, finally, our winner will be crowned and receive his or her hard-earned reward." Lazlow finished. "In addition, the final puzzle hunt is now halfway over. Perhaps this time whoever wins the prize for it will not suffer a mishap or end up blowing the money in one night and actually reap the reward for it."

"As the British band also called Asia said, only time will tell." Ron chuckled. "And now, with some music to get the fighting spirit stirred up, are Love Fist!"

Love Fist took the stage to thunderous applause. Jezz counted down from four on his fingers and Dick started the drum intro and Percy and Willy followed on guitar and bass shortly afterward as Jezz began the vocals.

Mirrored reflections in your frames.
Your tach is racing.
10-40 weight runs in your veins.
Your heart is pacing.

Pushing to the edge.
Cut air like a wedge.

Racing the white line.
Motor man.
Speed is your lifeline.
Motor man, man man.

In a snap he bolts away.
Screamin' steam roller.
Mind and machine they're one the same.
Throttle rolls over.

Roaring pass the crowd.
Leaves them in a cloud.

Racing the white line.
Motor man.
Into the nighttime.
Motor man, man man.

Speed is his lifeline.
Motorman.
Push pass the redline.
Motor man, man man.

Hour to hour.
He scowers the plains.
Split second cruiser.
Hydraulics run in his veins.

Flesh into fiber.
Clipping the air.
Gears cam and pistons wind in to a,

Race for the white line.
Motor man.
Into the nighttime.
Motor man, man man.

Speed is his lifeline.
Motor man.
Racing the white line.
Motor man, man man man man.

-"Motor Man" by Racer X.

The audience went wild as the reporters looked impressed.

"If that doesn't get the blood up, nothing will." Lazlow smirked.

"So, the best of luck to all our competitors and Godspeed. I'm Misty..."

"I'm Lazlow..."

"I'm Veronica Corningstone..."

"And I'm Ron Burgundy. Stay classy, Cannonball fans."

---

As the Vulcano drove across the bridge towards South Korea, an urgent-sounding tone came over the comms.

Anna, who was driving, answered it.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"It's Lone Wolf. I just need to get all the other puzzle hunt entrants on the line. There was a bit of a glitch on our database with regards to challenge number three of the Asia hunt."

The other puzzle hunt teams checked in and Lone Wolf continued.

"You do still have to go to that movie theater in Tokyo, but that will be for the fourth and final challenge. The third challenge is in South Korea."

Some of the entrants groaned over the line.

"You are shitting me!" Tommy whined.

"No, I'm not. The South Korea challenge is just outside Gwangju. I'm sending you all the co-ordinates now."

"And why should we do a challenge in South Korea if we're still going to Tokyo and getting the clue to the final challenge there?" Jessie indignantly demanded.

"Well, there seemed to be a bit of confusion among you guys as to which Toho character Jet Jaguar is." Lone Wolf mischievously stated.

"He's got us there." Rob Zombie replied.

"Wasn't he the giant spider?" asked James.

"Why would a spider be called 'jaguar', ya eejit?" Nina chastised.

"Well, I heard there's a kind of spider called a lynx spider." James complained back.

"Shut up or munch knuckles, Jimbo." Jessie threatened.

"Anyway, the reward for the team that wins the South Korea challenge is that they get a picture of Jet Jaguar sent to their smartphone so they'll know what to look for in the Tokyo theater." Lone Wolf confirmed. "And anyone else who tries to peek at it will be instantly disqualified from the puzzle hunt."

"You utter creep." Giovanni growled.

"I'm gonna have to call pots and kettles on that remark." the Drake put in.

"Look, I'm sorry about the sudden change. As I said, there was a glitch." Lone Wolf apologized.

"You should sack your I.T. department." Jessie snapped.

"By that logic, Giovanni there should have sacked you and your two boyfriends years ago, Jessica dear." Lara teased.

"Maybe I actually will when this is over." Giovanni added.

"Okay, enough already!" Lone Wolf warned. "You have the co-ordinates, so get going."

"Right!" Carl confirmed as the other teams did as well.

---

In Los Santos, Batgirl's investigative team walked out of Police Plaza, looking very peeved indeed.

They had had no choice but to call the LSPD to help them out of the mess that Shawn and Gus had accidentally left them in. They were lucky to get cops who were sympathetic to their cause, but still had to answer a barrage of awkward questions at the Plaza before they could be let go.

"Those two clowns are no doubt way ahead of us by now." groaned Blue Falcon about the fact that Shawn and Gus were long gone and had a good idea of where Nightshade had hidden the prize money.

"Well, at least it means the prize money will be retrieved." Dynomutt shrugged.

"I doubt Bruce will ever let me live such a humiliation down." Batgirl sulked.

"So, what now?" asked Blue Falcon.

"I don't know about you two, but I plan to say 'screw my diet' and eat a very unhealthy meal and wash it down with an equally unhealthy soda." Batgirl answered.

Blue Falcon and Dynomutt shared a glance.

"Sounds like a plan." they chorused as they nodded.

---

"Team Bluth made their way off the bridge and into the port city of Mokpo in South Korea. However, being in the country managed to bring up a sore subject with Buster."

"So, Buster." said Tobias. "How does it feel to be in the homeland of your adopted brother?"

"Don't ever mention him." said Buster.

"Buster had a long-standing combative relationship with his adopted brother, Heh-Lo. Since he came over on the boat from Korea, Heh-Lo did his best to ingratiate himself in the Bluth family. However, there were two things the Bluths never realized about Heh-Lo. The first was that he was actually spying on them out of revenge for his grandfather."

"We're getting a little low on gas." said Michael.

"We'd better stop and get more." said Tobias. "There's a gas station coming up on your left."

"I see it." said Michael as he pulled in.

Inside the gas station, the manager talked with his wife.

"(I can't believe you signed a deal with the race officials of the Cannonball Run.)" she said.

"(It's quite a lucrative deal.)" he said. "(It's really simple. The Cannonballers stop in and fill up. Then, I present the bill to the race officials and they pay for the gas. Numerous gas stations in the South are doing it as well. The least we can do is be friendly.)"

"Tobias, you fill up while Buster and I take care of the bill." said Michael as he and Buster went to the office.

The manager stepped behind his desk as the Bluths entered. When they came in, he greeted them with a quick "Annyong!"

Buster looked at him annoyed.

"Remember I said there were two things the Bluths didn't know about Heh-Lo? The other thing was that his name was Heh-Lo. When they were first introduced to him, they mistook his greeting in Korean, Annyong, as his name. The gas station manager didn't mean to annoy Buster with it. I mean, how could he? He didn't even know."

"I'm sorry." said Buster. "You must be mistaken. I'm not Annyong."

"Annyong!" said the manager.

"Don't mention him, please!" said Buster. "I came on this race to leave behind a lot of stressful things, including Annyong!"

"Annyong!" said the manager.

"I mean it!" said Buster. "Don't mention that name again! I don't want to hear about Annyong!"

"Annyong!" said the manager.

That's when Buster jumped up onto the manager's desk and tried to strangle him. Michael ran up and pulled him off, then dragged him out of the gas station.

"Michael, apparently the Cannonballers can gas up for free here." said Tobias.

"That's great!" said Michael as he stuffed Buster into the Ambitious. "Now, let's get the (bleep) out of here!"

At this point, the Panama pulled up and the NUMA agents jumped out.

"We'll take care of the bill, Rudi." said Giordino.

"Okay." said Gunn as he took the pump handle.

Pitt and Giordino entered the gas station where the manager tidied up his desk. Pitt walked up to him and said "Annyong."

The manager cowered behind the desk in a defensive position.

---

The Kowalski sped along a highway about ten miles away from Mokpo on the way eastwards with Marge driving.

The Simpsons didn't see Yuri lying in wait behind a billboard, armed with some kind of CO2 powered crossbow. As the Kowalski approached, Yuri drew a bead on it and fired a special arrow at the gas tank.

He counted down a few seconds and the Kowalski then sputtered and came to a dead stop.

"WHAT THE CRUD?!" Marge exclaimed.

As the Kowalski stopped, about two dozen of Yuri's soldiers sprang up from hiding places along the road and surrounded the Simpsons. The family all gulped as there were high-powered rifles pointing at them from all sides.

Yuri walked over to the driver side window with a grin on his face.

"Works every time." he chuckled.

"What does? What did you do?" Marge demanded.

Yuri took another of the arrows off his belt and showed it to Marge.

"It contains a little compound my lab boys cooked up which crystallizes the gasoline in a vehicle's engine and renders it inert, bringing the vehicle to a halt." Yuri informed her. "But that's not important right now. I'm sure the Cannonball organizers would gladly give up the prize money to save one of their teams. Especially their first family of winners."

"Why should we go with you?" Homer yelled.

"It's a moot point, lard-barrel." Yuri reminded him. "We have the guns and you don't. And I doubt I have to tell you I have no qualms about killing."

"Well, when you put it that way..." Homer gulped as the family raised their hands.

"It's practically a moral duty anyway." Yuri added as one of his Floating Discs descended from the sky. "It's dangerous to drive that fast with children in the car. ESPECIALLY an infant! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"You're really going to..."

One of the soldiers stuck his gun right in Homer's face.

Homer whimpered a bit and mimed zipping his lips.

"Thank you." Yuri grinned. "We're taking your car with us as well. I'll let the rest of your friends wait a while and have their fun before we break the news to them."

---

The puzzle hunt entrants pulled into a patch of land just outside of Gwangju. There was a clearing set up with about six beach-hut style changing room stalls and also a dirt racing track which ran and looped back around the area for about one mile.

Parked at the start of the dirt trail were six black custom ATVs. The customization gave the ATVs a hot rod style appearance with the front section having a small grille, a pair of round headlights, a small blower intake, four tiny side exit exhaust pipes on each side, and a small windshield on the very front.

The rear end had a small window on the upper side, an rear-exit exhaust tip in the center and four small rear headlights. The front and sides also had small orange and yellow flames painted on them.

As the teams climbed out of their vehicles, the Drake let out an appreciative whistle as Lone Wolf and Mitzi approached them.

"Those are some bad-ass quadrunners." he beamed.

"Well, they're appropriate for this challenge." Mitzi nodded.

"Are you 100% sure this is the challenge?" Giovanni demanded. "No more last-minute changes of plan?"

"HEY! The guys have apologized enough by now." Tommy snapped. "We were always supposed to do this, but the computer glitch screwed up the order. Ain't that right, Lone Wolf?"

"That is indeed true, Mr. Vercetti." Lone Wolf confirmed. "Here, you're going to be doing an activity which is popular back in the States. Especially in the cities of Stilwater and Steelport. It's known as trail blazing."

"So, an ATV race?" Torquenstein inquired.

"Of sorts." Mitzi answered.

"Sounds like fun." Bam grinned.

"So, what's with the beach huts?" asked Joanna.

"You have to wear special outfits for the challenge." Lone Wolf let her know. "But don't worry. No chicken outfits."

"Good." Venom nodded. "So, one from each team, then?"

"Correct." confirmed Mitzi.

"WE VOLUNTEER JESSIE!" the rest of Team Rocket yelled as they pointed at Jessie.

"Wh...what?!" Jessie spluttered.

"You have some atonement to do after screwing up the last two challenges." Giovanni grimly announced.

"But I was the first to get the clue from the demolition derby!" Jessie protested.

"That doesn't excuse getting eliminated first." Giovanni shot back. "Team Rocket agents should never be so easily beaten."

James and Meowth nodded in agreement.

Jessie let out an exasperated growl. "Fine. I'll do it."

"You're darn tootin' you will." Giovanni grinned evilly.

"Alright. Everybody else pick your volunteers and we'll get started." Lone Wolf cheered as he clapped his hands once.

(line)

The Harbinger and Fleetline pulled up alongside each other on a long straightaway just outside Gwangju. Both Trikz's team and the Fleetline driver had had modifications done to their engines back in Hong Kong, and were now ready to try them out.

On the back of each car was a small box containing a parachute, like there would be on a top fuel dragster.

"Are you sure the parachutes are necessary, kid?" the Fleetline driver asked Trikz. "It's not like we're racing the salt flats in the Mojave."

"You'll see whenever you're eating my dust, mister." Trikz grinned as he tightened his driving gloves.

Both drivers revved their engines as Lana and Ty stepped out of the Reaper. Lana held a flashlight.

"Ready?" she called.

After a beat of about ten seconds, she turned on the flashlight's beam.

"GO!" she yelled.

The cars roared off at high speed. Within a few seconds, the Harbinger was leading by several car lengths. As it kept going, leaving the Fleetline far behind, it hit a slight bump in the road which caused the parachute box to get knocked off the Harbinger's rear.

"Oh shit!" Trikz groaned as he had no choice but to keep going. He began to frantically steer the Harbinger off the road and then in various directions as he tried to slow down.

As he did so, he passed the V8 Ghost and Alpha, which had been long since repaired after their encounter with Horace back in South America and were now back on their protection mission.

Mr. Incredible looked shocked and raised his CB to his mouth.

"A little help here, Hymie." he stated as he slowed and brought the V8 Ghost to a halt.

"On it, Bob." Hymie replied as he brought the Alpha to a stop.

As the Harbinger still steered wildly all over the place, Mr. Incredible and Hymie both grabbed its rear bumper as it came near them.

Trikz still steered frantically, trying to tap the brakes and avoid a crash as Mr. Incredible and Hymie hung on and dug their heels into the ground as they were dragged along with the Harbinger.

After veering wildly for about a minute or so, the Harbinger began to slow down to a sane speed as the superhero and the robot used their strength to halt the car.

Eventually, the Harbinger slowed down enough for Trikz to safely put on the brakes and stop the Reaper.

Mr. Incredible sighed in relief as plumes of steam came from the soles of his and Hymie's shoes.

Trikz sighed in relief as Mr. Incredible came over to his window. The Fleetline had now caught up and the driver had brought Lana and Ty with him.

They all gave Trikz an admonishing look.

"Sometimes less is more, ya know?" the Fleetline driver chided.

"I'll bear that in mind." a pale Trikz nodded.

---

Jessie mounted her ATV while wearing a full-body jumpsuit and a helmet which covered her entire head, face and shoulders. Her long hair was completely tucked away under the helmet. The front of the helmet was featureless apart from a slit for her eyes so she could see where she was going. The whole outfit looked very much like some kind of protective clothing.

"Okay, what you have to do is drive through the checkpoints one at a time." said Mitzi. "Whichever team posts the fastest time for one lap around the course will be the winner and then receive the clue about what to look for at that theater in Tokyo which will lead you all to the final challenge. Got it?"

"Got it." nodded Jessie. "So, why do I need so much coverage? This thing reminds me of those anti-Pikachu suits we cooked up once. I look like I should be working in a power plant."

"Well, you need the extra protection for this particular challenge." replied Mitzi.

Jessie sniffed twice and then narrowed her eyes suspiciously under the helmet.

"Wait a minute. Why does this thing smell like gasoline?"

"That's for the challenge as well." said Mitzi.

"And why does Lone Wolf have a torch?" asked Jessie.

"Oh, he's there to light you on fire." said Mitzi.

"Wait, what?" yelled Jessie.

"Yes, you're going to be doing this course while lit on fire." said Mitzi. "That's why it's called trail blazing."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME FIRST?!" Jessie furiously yelled.

Mitzi looked a bit haughty.

"You never asked." she replied as if it were obvious.

"Oh, that is WEAK!" Jessie snapped back. "Even for an alien who still needs major lessons in Earthling behavior."

"Hey, are we starting this or what?" asked Lone Wolf.

"Certainly." said Mitzi. "Ready? Go!"

Jessie raced forward nervously. "I am SO going to kick your butt for this!" she growled as she passed Mitzi.

She raced by Lone Wolf and he touched her jumpsuit with the torch. She was quickly engulfed in flames.

"AH, MY HAIR!" yelled Jessie in horror. She promptly drove into the nearest stream, dousing the flames.

Mitzi and Lone Wolf stared in confusion.

"NO!" Meowth yelled in horror as Jessie clambered out of the stream and angrily pulled her helmet off.

Lone Wolf and Mitzi now looked very stern as Jessie approached them.

"We would have put you out with fire extinguishers if you would have been bothered to do the lap." Mitzi chastised as she pointed to a group of Cannonball staff members who were waiting off to the side of the finish line with fire extinguishers ready.

"But that doesn't matter now." Lone Wolf chipped in as James, Meowth and Giovanni angrily joined them. "By going off-course like that and refusing to participate, you've earned automatic disqualification."

"I DON'T CARE!" Jessie yelled.

"Well, we do!" James snapped. "Why did you do that, Jessie?"

"Even if it's under a helmet, I'm not risking getting my hair singed off for anybody!" Jessie growled.

"What's more important? This competition or your 'do?" Meowth furiously demanded.

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response." Jessie huffed.

Giovanni's eyes blazed.

"It's looking increasingly likely that the three of you will be thoroughly looking through the want ads when we finish this race." he warned in a quiet but livid tone.

Jessie, James and Meowth swallowed hard at that.

"Okay." Lone Wolf sighed as he checked his clipboard with the list of volunteers. "Next up is Claude for Tommy Vercetti's team."

"Just a minute." Tommy warned as he came over from the stall where Claude was getting changed which still had the door locked. "He's having a bit of trouble getting the suit on."

"Well, tell him not to take forever doing it." Mitzi sighed.

"Okay." Tommy grunted in frustration.

---

In Gwangju itself, the Hellenbach sped along. Kermit tried to relax, but was not able to do so because Gonzo had insisted that Animal take the wheel for a while. To be fair, Animal handled the car well and there had been no mishaps so far.

Gonzo looked at the city as they drove.

"So, this is where J-Hope from BTS is from." he declared in an impressed tone.

"You listen to K-Pop?" Fozzie asked.

"I have an affinity for most types of entertainment." Gonzo grinned. "I'm a being of culture."

"Well, you certainly like the Running of the Bulls as far as Spanish tastes go." Kermit grumbled. "Even if you like to have it done indoors."

Animal chuckled at that. Suddenly, there was the roar of an engine and the Hellenbach got rear-ended. It was Turbo, driving the Duke O'Death.

"BAD MAN!" Animal growled.

"No kidding!" Rizzo whined. "Lose him!"

Animal grunted and put his foot down to the floor.

The Hellenbach gained ground on the Duke O'Death, but Turbo kept after the Muppets.

Animal steered the Hellenbach around the regular traffic around them, running a few red lights and managing to avoid collisions. Turbo had fallen back a bit, but was able to stay with them as he swerved around traffic as well.

At one point, the Muppets approached a red light which a police car was also waiting at.

Animal slowed the Hellenbach down and waited alongside the cop car for the light to change.

The cop casually glanced at the Muppets who smiled innocently at her.

The Duke O'Death approached the Hellenbach from behind and had also slowed to legal speed.

Turbo brought his car to a halt right behind the Hellenbach and also waited patiently for the light to change.

Turbo grinned evilly and whistled a bit of "We Have All The Time In The World" by Louis Armstrong to himself.

The Muppets tried not to freak out as they played the waiting game as well.

Eventually, the light changed and the cop car drove off on its way, the female officer oblivious to the Muppets' plight.

After the Muppets and Turbo were sure the cop was gone, Animal floored the accelerator and swerved hard to the left, causing a car going the other way to spin out a bit to avoid a collision.

Turbo reacted a bit too late and had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting any traffic going the other way.

He grunted to himself, checked his GPS, and then drove off on a route to intercept the Muppets.

Animal turned onto another street and spotted an alley he felt they could make their escape in. He turned hard right into the alley and drove down in.

The alley was very narrow and, whilst the Hellenbach was able to drive down it, it was a tight fit. Kermit looked very uneasy as the right and left sides of the Hellenbach got several dents in them.

When they had got halfway down the alley, the Duke O'Death swerved into the alley behind them. Turbo gunned his engine as he began to catch up with the Muppets in this tight spot.

As Animal approached the other end of the alley, a slow-moving street sweeper truck began to move across the exit end.

"Oh, nononononno!" Kermit whined.

Animal panicked and swerved a bit, hitting a dumpster which was near the exit to the alley. This caused the Hellenbach's front end to take a bit of damage and the car to end up turning to left and getting stuck sideways in the alley.

Kermit was mortified about the damage to the Hellenbach, but then remembered their present problem as Turbo bore down on them.

Animal tried to move the Hellenbach, but there was very little room to maneuver.

Turbo laughed uproariously as he slammed into the Hellenbach's side and began to push it towards the end of the alley.

The Hellenbach was pushed into the dumpster and began to take it with them as Turbo continued to push them towards the street sweeper's path.

The other Muppets all yelled in horror as Animal managed to start the Hellenbach's engine and got ready to make his move.

By the time they had been pushed out of the alley, the street sweeper had passed and regular traffic had begun to pass.

Animal was able to floor the Hellenbach's accelerator and slip out of the Duke O'Death's path and get free.

Animal hit the nitrous and roared off as Turbo was taken by surprise and tried to correct his steering.

He ended up mounting the pavement and hitting a parked car. The Duke O'Death flipped and rolled over a few times as the Muppets made good their escape.

As the Duke O'Death ended up landing on its wheels, saved from major damage by its armored body.

Turbo could hear sirens approaching and decided to get out of the area right away.

A few blocks away, Animal slowed the Hellenbach down as Fozzie, Gonzo, and Rizzo laughed and thumped him on the shoulder in a congratulating manner.

Kermit, however, was not happy at all about the damage they had suffered.

The left side of the Hellenbach was now heavily dented and the chassis bent slightly inward on that side from where Turbo had rammed it back in the alley.

"Look at the car!" Kermit groaned miserably. "Piggy's gonna kill us."

"Aw, Kermit, don't think like that! Be positive." Fozzie cajoled.

Kermit facepalmed himself and sighed. "Okay. Piggy's gonna kill us QUICKLY and PAINLESSLY."

"No pleasing some people." Rizzo sighed.

"Everybody relax." Gonzo reassured them as he checked their GPS. "There's a place about a mile from here where we can get fixed up. The Cannonball Credit Card will cover it."

"Okay." Animal grinned as he got ready to follow Gonzo's directions.

---

Ron had come out of his changing stall wearing his flame-retardant gear as he was third in line representing the Drake's team.

But Claude had yet to appear. Lone Wolf had had to douse his torch and light a fresh one and both he and Mitzi were getting annoyed with Claude's tardiness, as were Tommy and Carl.

Suddenly, both Tommy and Carl were clapped on the shoulders from behind.

They turned to see Claude wearing his full flame-retardant suit and helmet and he gave them both a thumbs-up.

"At long last." Carl groaned. "Lone Wolf! Claude's ready to go."

"Finally." sighed Lone Wolf. "Okay, let's get it on."

Claude mounted his ATV.

"Alright, time for your Till Lindemann impression." said Tommy.

Claude looked at him and cocked his head slightly to the left to show he was confused.

"Lead singer for Rammstein." said Tommy.

Claude nodded slowly to show he understood.

"You're up next." said the Drake to Ron.

"Don't worry." said Ron. "I've got this."

Meanwhile, Venom walked over to the workbench and picked up a nut.

"Ready? Go!" said Mitzi.

Claude took off and Lone Wolf set his suit on fire.

As Tommy and Carl watched him race off, Venom tossed the nut to the ground where Claude's ATV had been parked.

Claude sped through the course at a high clip, handling the twists and turns with ease and never losing speed.

"The guy's a natural." Mitzi remarked with admiration as Lone Wolf used a stopwatch to time Claude's run.

Carl glanced down briefly and saw the loose nut. He bent down and picked it up with shock.

"Tommy!" he yelled as he showed the nut to Tommy. "This was on the ground where Claude's ATV was parked!"

"Did this fall off?" asked Tommy.

"What do you think it did?" asked Carl. "How did we not notice this?"

"Well, he's probably gonna notice when his damn ATV comes apart!" said Tommy.

Venom walked away while chuckling.

Tommy and Carl were now very concerned for their team-mate. As they watched with horror, they were relieved that Claude's ATV did not fall apart and Claude made it to the finish line within a very short space of time.

As he came to a stop and the staff members doused his flames, Lone Wolf checked the lap time.

"Two minutes and five seconds exactly." Lone Wolf remarked in an impressed tone. "I know it's the only posted lap time thus far, but it could potentially be the one to beat.

Claude walked over to Tommy and Carl and fist-bumped each of them as the staff members went back to their position and the Drake and Venom turned their attention to Ron as he mounted his ATV and began his run.

"You have the biggest balls I've ever seen on a human being, buddy!" Tommy cheered.

Carl cast a casual glance over Claude's shoulder and then looked shocked.

"What in the...?" he began as he nudged Tommy and pointed.

They both looked and saw Claude standing in the doorway of his changing stall, wearing the flame retardant suit but no helmet. He had a look of confusion as well.

Tommy and Carl both looked at the guy who they had just congratulated, who just gave a cheery little wave and ran off without taking his gear off or letting them know who he was.

Tommy and his team all exchanged confused looks.

"Who the hell was that guy?" Tommy wondered.

"GODDAMN IT!" the Drake yelled behind them, which caused the three of them to look around.

Tommy and team looked at Ron's race through the course and saw that he was having problems going in a straight line and had a tendency to oversteer or spin out in the curves and had to constantly right himself. They could tell Ron was already lagging behind the record set by the mystery man.

"Who cares?" Carl grinned. "He could have possibly won this challenge for us."

"Are you sure nobody saw that?" asked Tommy.

"Certain." Carl confirmed as he pointed to the Drake, Venom, Lone Wolf and Mitzi. "They were too busy watching Ron start his lap, the staff guys went back to prep for when Ron finally finishes his lap. The other three entrants are still in their stalls getting ready and Team Rocket went back to their car to have a hissy fit."

Tommy smirked and turned to Claude.

"I know you can keep a secret." Tommy mischevoiusly stated.

Claude smirked and gave a double thumbs-up.

"Okay. Let's just hope everybody else has as bad a run or worse as Ron is currently having." Tommy beamed.

---

In Gwangju, Animal had driven the Hellenbach to the garage Gonzo had directed the team to. It was a large garage which had a huge statue of a smiling Caucasian man with black hair and a black beard and mustache wearing a set of denim overalls over a yellow t-shirt with one hand in a pocket of his overalls and the other holding an oversized wrench.

About the garage door leading into the premises was a round sign showing a picture matching the face of the statue and a neon sign with the garage's name next to it.

"It's an American chain." Kermit commented as he looked at the sign. "Jim Rob's, eh?"

"It used to be called something else, but it was changed to be more family friendly." Gonzo nodded. "More friendly in general, really. But they went worldwide last year."

"And they'll accept our Cannonball card?" asked Fozzie.

"Yep." Gonzo confirmed. "I called Dante and Randal and they confirmed it."

Animal drove the Hellenbach to the garage door, which opened upwards for them.

"I just hope they don't do the whole faux American stuff to bring in tourists." Rizzo mumbled.

As they pulled into the garage bay, a local mechanic dressed in the same outfit the statue wore and a ridiculously gawdy cowboy hat came over to them.

"Howdy, y'all! How y'all doin' today?" he greeted in awkward English and an even worse fake Texan accent.

"I should have kept my mouth shut." Rizzo sighed as he closed his eyes and sat back.

---

Stone Cold had finished his run on the trail blazing challenge for his team as the staff members put him out. Anna Williams and Tony Hawk had already performed the run for their respective teams. Thus far, nobody had yet beaten the record set by Tommy's team's mysterious benefactor whom nobody else had yet worked out had not been Claude.

Lone Wolf, Mitzi, Rob, and Nemesis came over to Stone Cold. Lone Wolf shook his head in disapproval.

"Not even close." he stated as he held up the stopwatch to show that Stone Cold had taken three minutes and ten seconds to complete the run.

Rob crossed his arms and gave Stone Cold a stern look.

"Maybe your reaction time, reflexes, and concentration would all have been better if you hadn't had half a six pack inside you before doing the run, Steve." Rob chided Stone Cold.

"Considering the nature of the challenge, I'd have been crazy to even attempt it sober." Stone Cold shrugged.

"Okay!" Mitzi announced loud enough for everybody to hear her. "It's official! Claude was the hands-down winner of this challenge. So, Tommy Vercetti's team will be getting the clue as to what to look for in that Tokyo theater when you get that far."

"Everybody else, remember: no peeking. Come on." Lone Wolf declaimed.

Lone Wolf, Mitzi, and the staff members all herded the other competitors over to the side and made sure their backs were turned as Tommy's smartphone chimed and the image of Jet Jaguar appeared on the screen as Tommy, C.J, and Claude went into a huddle.

"So, that's Jet Jaguar." Tommy whispered as he looked at the image.

It was a picture of a six-foot tall humanoid robot with a mostly silver body with red, yellow and blue adornments on its neck, chest, shoulders, waist, and ankles. It had a face shaped into a grin, blue light eyes, and the top of its head was shaped like a large quiff of hair. It had a "belt buckle" adornment in the center of its waist which was shaped like a bird in flight.

"Looks a bit like an Ultraman rip-off." C.J. whispered.

"Okay?" asked Lone Wolf as he looked in Tommy's direction.

Claude gave a thumbs-up.

"Right. Everybody else, get changed back into your regular outfits." Mitzi nodded. "Claude has already changed back, so you're free to go now if you want, Tommy."

"Great. Let's go, fellas." Tommy grinned as he and his team began to head back to where the Yellow Bird was parked.

In the parking area, Team Rocket sat grumpily in the Peligro. They saw Tommy's team approach, looking pleased with themselves.

Unexpectedly, Giovanni smirked to himself.

"What's there to be happy about, boss?" asked Meowth. "They got the clue, we didn't."

"Yes, but now we know we just need to follow those guys when they get to Tokyo and find the cosplayer they're looking for by following them in the theater. They shouldn't be hard to spot with their distinct wardrobe." Giovanni gloated.

"But suppose the other teams thought of that approach as well?" asked James.

"There's one thing they hadn't considered." Giovanni continued. "There's a strong likelihood the cosplayer will be Japanese. Suppose there turns out to be a language barrier."

The other three Rockets thought of that and all broke out into evil grins.

"Good thinking, sir!" Jessie cheered.

"See? You three may remain gainfully employed yet." Giovanni chuckled.

C.J. started up the Yellow Bird and peeled rubber out of the area.

Giovanni laughed to himself and started the Peligro up and began to follow the Yellow Bird.

---

The Cannonball was now nearing the end of its leg through South Korea as the Cannonballers were heading for the coastal city of Busan.

Mickey and Minnie's teams had once again decided to have a friendly competition and were racing each other along the highway leading to the city. To make a bit of a difference this time, both Herbie and Giselle were driving in reverse.

Donald drove Herbie whilst Daisy was driving Giselle. Both of them had no trouble avoiding the oncoming traffic and the traffic leading to the city and soon, Herbie and Giselle were alongside each other driving backwards as they both entered the city limits at the same time.

They had been lined up alongside each other exactly and had crossed into the city at the same time.

Herbie and Giselle came to a halt.

"Looks like we still have time to see who will be taking who on a picnic under the stars." Minnie shrugged.

"I'm sure we can work something out." Mickey replied. "Shall we get going?"

"We shall." Donald cheered as the two Disney cars turned around to face the right way and they both pulled off at high speed.

---

"The Cannonballers are now mostly in the city of Busan by now." Lazlow reported. "The bridge is there which will take them across to Japan, the final leg of Asia for this Cannonball."

"I heard that Mango's Asian tour has come to Tokyo." Veronica added. "I wonder if any of our racers will be checking out his show after he turned so many heads at the pre-race party."

"He sure does have a way of turning heads." Ron chortled. "I don't know for sure if the Cannonballers will have the time to see his show, but maybe they'll have some R&R to prepare for the final stretch."

"The last challenge of the puzzle hunt in is Tokyo." Misty reminded everybody. "I hope that someone will finally be five million dollars richer and get to keep it this time."

"I'm sure we all do." Veronica laughed. "So, the race continues. In due time, the winners of both the puzzle hunt and the Cannonball will be crowned. Best of luck, everybody!"

---

One of Yuri's guards shoved the Simpsons into a decently-sized cell.

"Here you will stay until the master is ready for you." said the guard. "You'll be fed and looked after, but don't even think you can escape. If you have any complaints, just tell the warden and you will be shot immediately. Good day."

He touched his badge to a sensor on the wall and the door opened up.

"Well, this is just great." said Marge. "Now we're going to miss the rest of the race."

"That's not even taking into account what Yuri has planned." said Lisa.

"Guys, don't you see?" asked Bart. "We're part of the Cannonball. The other racers aren't going to let bad stuff happen to us."

"Oh, you're right." said Marge. "We just have to wait for our friends to rescue us."

"While we're waiting, we should entertain ourselves." said Homer as he picked up a doll on the desk. "Take this doll for example. We can play with this...AHHHH! It's Johnny from 'The Room'!"

He held the doll towards his family. It looked just like Tommy Wiseau.

"And it talks!" yelled Homer. He pressed the talk switch.

"I did not hit her! I did not...Oh hi, Mark."

The others groaned.

---

In the city of Busan, Bugs Bunny walked out of a store where he had just bought some supplies. As he headed towards the Thunder Rodd where the rest of his team were waiting, Camaro screeched to a halt near them and raised his gun out the window.

"DUCK!" yelled Bugs.

"What?" asked Daffy in confusion. He then noticed Camaro pointing the gun. "Oh."

Camero opened fire as the Looney Tunes team all ducked down.

Camaro laughed after he had inflicted some damage on the Thunder Rodd. Behind him, Willy Wonka's team in the Averse had noticed what Camaro had done as he sped off.

"Not very nice." Willy glared. "Someone needs to be taught a lesson."

Willy put the Averse into overdrive and took off after Camaro as he turned down an alleyway to make his escape.

The alley was wide enough for two cars to drive side by side, so Willy got alongside Camaro's Camaro and tried to ram him into the wall on his right side.

"You've got some cojones, candyman!" Camaro laughed as he pushed back.

Up ahead of them was a wide clearing in between a group of buildings where four young children were playing a friendly game of soccer. One of the boy players had just passed the ball to his younger sister who was standing off to the side slightly. The kids all looked surprised as they heard the sound of the Averse and the Camaro approaching.

As the two vehicles entered the clearing, Camaro swerved off to the right and caused the Averse to be pushed off to the left.

The Averse's driver side was sliding towards the little girl holding the ball.

"CHARLIE! COMING THROUGH!" Willy yelled.

"Gotcha!" Charlie confirmed as he threw his door open and grabbed the girl as the Averse continued its slide.

Charlie passed the girl over into Willy's lap as Willy opened his door. Willy then passed the girl safely out of his door as the Averse came to a halt.

Willy sat the girl back on her feet and she stood there, still holding the ball and looking very confused.

"There he goes!" Grandpa Joe yelled as he pointed out that Camaro had gone down another narrow alleyway.

Being careful to avoid the kids, Willy turned the Averse around and continued his chase after Camaro.

Within about twenty-five seconds, they were once again on Camaro's tail down the other alleyway.

This alley was even more narrow and there was no way for the Averse to get alongside the Camaro, so Willy kept on his back bumper.

As he got close enough, Willy addressed Bill.

"Hand me that bag of exploding candy!" he ordered.

Bill obliged and handed over the bag as Willy lowered his window.

As the Averse got closer to the Camaro's rear-end, Willy pushed a switch on the dash and a short wedge shot out of the Averse's front bumper and pushed the Camaro's rear-end up a few inches.

Willy quickly threw the bag of exploding candy under the Camaro and then hit his brakes.

The candy detonated under the Camaro and knocked it up into the air, flipping it over.

As the Camaro came to rest on its roof and stopped, Willy got out of the Averse.

Camaro crawled out of his car and appeared to surrender as Willy grabbed him by the collar and lifted him to his feet.

"You've got some explaining to do, young man." Willy sternly remarked.

Camaro quickly lifted the visor of his helmet and spat wrestlers' mist spray into Willy's face, causing Willy to yell in pain.

As Willy was surprised, he let go of Camaro who quickly ran off.

Charlie, Grandpa Joe, and Bill all rushed forward with bottles of water to help Willy out.

"So close." Willy lamented.

"Hopefully, someone else will pick him up." Charlie consoled Willy.

"I'll take over driving for a while." Grandpa Joe suggested.

"Good idea." Willy nodded.

---

The CRAP cargo plane flew over the Sea of Japan. The Scarsdale, Opus, Speed Demon, Compensator, and Orange Crush were present vehicle-wise and the group had been joined by Clouseau and Cato with the BlackFin. Slater and Michaels were also present.

"Right. Bullock and Montoya are also heading towards Japan in the chopper." Banner said over the radio. "They're going to be our eyes in the sky this time. Most of the other vehicles have been laid low waiting for repairs and you guys are all we have available right now. Japan is our last chance to stop the Cannonballers before they head back Stateside. So, let's make it count. Tokyo has a huge racing scene, so expect the Cannonballers to do some outrageous shit and to have support from the locals."

"We understand, sir." Virginia nodded.

"Good." Banner replied. "The Cannonballers should be crossing the bridge from Busan to Matsue right now. You guys should get there ahead of them. You know what to do."

"Of course we do." Bender replied. "We won't let you down."

"See to it that you don't." Banner stated grimly as he signed off.

---

The Bionic Cheetah crossed the bridge into Japan. Just ahead of Space Ghost's team was Priss on the Streetfighter. Very unusually, she drove at legal speeds.

"What's up with her?" asked Moltar.

"I heard she has a reputation for speeding in Tokyo and a bit of the area south of it." Space Ghost reported. "Maybe she wants to avoid unnecessary attention so she doesn't get pulled over."

"I thought her boyfriend was a cop in Tokyo." Zorak cut in.

"Yeah, but he's too much of a boy scout to let her off without a ticket." Space Ghost joked. "So, full speed ahead."

The Bionic Cheetah overtook the Streetfighter.

"Just you guys wait until we're north of Tokyo." Priss grunted. "Then, any high speed is fair game!"

---

As most of the Cannonballers had completed the crossing into Japan, the Asp sat parked outside a heavy metal-themed clothes store in Matsue. Cole waited in the Asp as Joe and Westlake were inside buying a few things to disguise themselves with on the off chance that they would need to use the concert tickets the Guardian Of Metal had given them back in South America.

After about twenty minutes, Joe and Westlake came out of the store carrying a few leather jackets, wigs, and Limozeen t-shirts.

"This stuff should help." Joe announced.

"How do you know we'll even have to use those tickets?" asked Cole.

"We have a funny feeling that we will have to, considering how crazy things have been on this race so far." Westlake shrugged.

"Okay." Cole replied as Joe and Westlake got into the Asp and they got ready to go on their way.

---

On the highway leading out of Matsue, Mason drove the Road Lord at high speed as Spike sat in the back. The two of them were fully expecting to run into trouble on the final leg of the Cannonball, and trouble soon found them in the form of a pair of Dreadnoks.

Thrasher and Monkeywrench sped up behind them driving the customized Cobra Stinger that Monekeywrench had outfitted to form part of the Dreadnoks' Ground Assault unit. Thrasher leaned out of the driver side window and fired a blast from his laser gun at the Road Lord's rear window. Spike ducked as the window was shattered and avoided getting hit.

He then rose up in the back seat armed with an M-16 and fired a volley of shots out of the broken window towards the Stinger. Monkeywrench laughed as the Stinger's armor was able to protect the two 'noks. He then launched a couple of missiles from the rear-mounted missile pods at the Road Lord.

Mason was able to steer to avoid the missiles and they impacted on the surface of the highway, causing explosions. The two vehicles steered through the traffic and Mason turned a hard left, managing to avoid a stalled truck just ahead of them. As the 'noks made the turn as well, they mounted an embankment at the side of the highway which inclined upwards.

Thrasher managed to keep control and fired another laser shot from his gun, taking out the Road Lord's rear right tire.

"Payback time!" Spike glared as he popped back up and took two precise shots at the Stinger's front tires, taking them out.

Thrasher struggled to maintain control, but the Ground Assault Stinger went out of control due to the flat tires and being on an uneven surface. The Stinger went off the incline and sailed into the air before hitting the ground. It rolled over a few times and came to a rest on its roof.

Mason made good their escape as best as he could with the flattened tire as the sound of police sirens was heard coming towards the scene.

"We'll get going and then get that tire changed at the nearest gas station." Mason informed Spike.

"Good idea, chief." Spike agreed as police cars arrived behind them and surrounded the incapacitated Dreadnoks.

---

As the Cannonball continued towards Kyoto, Lidell drove along in a black '84 Nissan 300ZX as he listened to the remaining Killer Cars remark on their progress.

His attention was suddenly caught by a billboard above the highway showing a picture of Mango and advertizing his show in Tokyo.

Lidell hesitated for a few seconds, and then picked up his CB.

"I'll let you guys handle the Cannonballers." he announced. "I have something to take care of in Tokyo which can't wait."

"Figures." Stingray growled over the line. "Your focus has been all over the place this entire operation! What is with you?"

"None of your business!" Lidell snapped back at her. "And if that's gonna be your attitude, then the hell with y'all! Don't ever ask me for any favors again!"

He hung up the mic and shut the CB off as he drove off northwards.

A little bit behind him was the Overlord.

Ford drove and also got a look at the billboard Lidell had seen. He sighed to himself.

"Crap." he whispered to himself.

---

Farther up the highway, Frank Castle and Howard had a friendly race. Even though they were pushing the Avenger and the Wayfarer for all they were worth, they seemed to remain evenly matched and were now neck and neck.

They were both taking up one lane on the highway, but left a narrow gap between the two motorcycles. The Barbarian came up on the highway behind the two bikes.

Michael Knight hit the button for Ski Mode and lifted the Barbarian up onto its left side wheels. Timing things just right, he drove himself and KITT through the narrow gap between the Avenger and Wayfarer.

Frank and Howard were taken by surprise and both their cycles wobbled a bit. After the Barbarian had passed them and set itself back down on all four wheels, Howard and Frank were able to get their cycles back under control.

Michael put the Barbarian into Pursuit Mode and drove off at high speed. Howard and Frank looked very ticked off and accelerated the Wayfarer and Avenger to try and catch up with Michael.

---

Mason had found a gas station where he could pull the Road Lord over and now worked with Spike and one of the station's mechanics to replace the tire and repair the rear windshield of the vehicles.

Parked a little bit away from them was the Battle. Clutch called over to Mason as he gassed up.

"Problem, guys?"

"We ran into some biker acquaintances of yours." Mason replied.

"Dreadnoks?" asked Rock 'n Roll.

"That's right." Spike replied. "But we were able to put them out of action. Or at least that specific duo."

"Glad to hear it." Shipwreck added. "I hope that Mr. Yates will seriously consider DQ'ing the Cobra teams because of those grape soda drinking goons."

"We can but hope." Mason shrugged. "I just hope anybody else who meets them can handle them."

"I'm sure they will be able to." Clutch nodded as Snake Eyes also gave a thumbs-up.

---

In the city of Kyoto itself, Ethan drove the Espion as Snake navigated. They listened to a broadcast from Race Central.

"Here now to provide some more musical entertainment is Jimmy Eat World with a song by a great band from the Emerald Isle." Misty cheered as the band began the song.

As Ethan drove, Zarana and Zanya came up behind them on a Dreadnok Cycle. Zanya drove whilst Zarana was manning the gun turret.

"Looks like trouble." Ethan remarked as he spotted them in the rear-view.

"Let's lose 'em." Snake glared.

"On it!" Ethan replied as he put his foot down.

The Dreadnok Cycle kept after them as Zarana fired some laser blasts at the Espion.

I can't stop, can't stop thinking,
About you at all.
I called you up to come on round tonight.

Ethan swerved to avoid the laser fire and was doing a very good job of avoiding them.

"You need to work on your aim, Auntie Z." Zanya joyfully taunted Zarana.

"If you could handle this cycle worth a toss, I'd have more luck!" Zarana yelled back at her hated niece.

You wouldn't give a straight answer.
But you wouldn't say no.
Even though you're going with him.

Ethan went up on the sidewalk briefly and knocked some trashcans over and onto the road in the cycle's path. Zanya swerved to avoid them. At one point, she went over the top of one and the cycle went airborne.

Here comes the night.
Lead me on.

In your veins.
Warm inside.

The cycle landed back on the road as Zarana glared maliciously at Zanya and kept firing at the Espion.

Heart beats fast.
Lights are low.

I want you.
Let it go.

As Ethan continued to dodge the fire being directed at them, Snake had consulted something on a laptop in his lap.

"What are you doing?" Ethan asked.

"Otacon taught me some tricks of his trade." Snake reported. "And I'm about to put them to use. Hang a left into this parking garage coming up."

"Okay." Ethan gritted his teeth as he made the turn into the parking garage with the two Dreadnok women still on their tail.

You arrive with cool in your eyes.
And explain to me.
How he makes you feel inside.
So safe, secure.

As the two vehicles sped through the garage and around the parked vehicles already in it, Snake had managed to hack into the garage's security system. As the Dreadnok Cycle fell back a bit, he activated the sprinkler system.

Zanya and Zarana were surprised as the sprinklers came on and the former struggled to control the cycle as the surface started to get soaked and made steering a bit harder.

"Keep going!" Snake ordered as the Espion drove up an incline and towards a barrier arm blocking the way.

Later on as the night is falling,
You bring me on with violent words.
Desire and being young.

As they approached the barrier arm, Snake did a bit of hacking again and raised the barrier arm, locking it into its "up" position. Ethan drove through the open way ahead of them as the Cycle began to catch up.

Here comes the night.
Lead me on.

In your veins.
Warm inside.

As the Dreadnok women began to come up the incline, Snake pulled one last hack off and raised a heavy garage ramp up in front of the barrier, with the higher end blocking off the Cycle's way

Heart beats fast.
Lights are low.

I want you.
Let it go.

"OHHHH SHIIIIIIT!" Zarana and Zanya yelled as the latter failed to brake in time and the Cycle slammed into the ramp.

Both women were thrown from the Cycle and into the air. Zarana slammed her middle into the barrier arm and had the wind knocked from her.

Zanya flew into a nearby concrete pillar and was similarly knocked unconscious.

Here comes the the night- it is coming on.
The lights are low and our record's on.
Inside your veins and you lead me on.
Here comes the the night- it is coming on.

-"Lose Control" by Ash.

As the song came to an end, Ethan had driven the Espion out of the parking garage. Snake did a quick bit of hacking again and caused a heavy security door to close over the exit to the garage and a similar door to close over the entrance they had driven through.

"That should hold 'em." Snake grinned. "Now, just an anonymous call to the local constabulary about a couple of trapped criminal bikers from us and we can be on our merry way."

"Great idea." Ethan answered as he picked up his cellphone.

---

Vince was now driving the Rumor with Dom navigating and Brian in the back seat. At the moment, Brian had a laptop in his lap and was taking a video call from a few acquaintances of theirs in Tokyo. On the screen was a dark-haired Caucasian man in his early 20's, an African-American man of the same age wearing a doo-rag and a cheerful-looking Japanese woman with light brown hair.

The Caucasian man was Sean Boswell, the new 'drift king' of Tokyo and who had aided Dom in the past. The African-American guy was Sean's best friend Twinkie and the Japanese woman was Mirai Ozora, who was also Tokyo's resident superheroine Moldiver. Mirai had also previously taken part in the Cannonball on Lara's team a few years beforehand and had now become a Tokyo racer in her own right.

"I'm amazed you can find the time to race at all, M." Brian was saying to her. "I thought you had trouble with that Professor Machinegal guy."

"Well, things have gone oddly quiet." Mirai replied. "Machinegal seems to have disappeared around the same time Hiroshi's old mentor Professor Amagi passed away. I don't know for sure about the Dolls, but there was some talk about them going to the States to work for some crime boss called Kaplan in Las Vegas."

"Nice that you guys are getting caught up. But this ain't just a social call." Sean piped up in his trademark heavy Southern accent. "Your bud Roman's here in Tokyo and he wants to race you guys one last time to see if he can beat you before the end of the Cannonball."

"Of course he does." Brian chuckled as he rolled his eyes.

"I'm sending the meet-up address to all your phones." Twinkie chimed in as he hit the send button on his own phone. "So, get your butts in gear and be there. We look forward to seeing how this thing turns out."

"No problem." Vince grinned as he overheard. He shifted gears and the Rumor roared off down the expressway to Tokyo.

---

Night had now fallen in Japan as the Ecureil had passed through Nagoya and now drove a long highway about twenty miles out of the city.

Savo drove the car and he occasionally peeked nervously in the rear-view.

"What's up with you, man?" asked Dice.

"The last time I was in this part of Japan, I ticked off some members of the Shinohara Yakuza family." Savo replied. "I'm hoping we don't run into any of them when we're here."

"Wasn't that family all sent to prison after some huge sting operation?" Parfait inquired.

"I don't know for sure." Savo shrugged nervously.

"Aw, shit." Dice groaned as he pointed to the dash and showed that their fuel was running low.

"I think there's a gas station near here." Savo answered. "Just off this exit, I believe."

Savo took the off-ramp and pulled onto a secluded road. After about five minutes, he spotted a remote gas station and market.

He pulled up next to a vacant pump and got out of the Ecureil.

"I'll pay, you pump." he said to Dice.

"Got it. Pick up some goodies as well." Dice replied as Savo went into the market.

As Dice removed the gas cap and began to pump, he heard another engine approaching from the direction they had come from.

He looked to the road and saw a black '02 Honda NSX-R approaching and pulling into a vacant spot in the gas station's lot.

A menacing-looking Japanese man climbed out of the Honda. He wore a black business suit and sunglasses and held an aluminum baseball bat in his right hand.

As Dice nervously pumped, the man went to the side of his Honda and gave a couple of its tires a couple of dull thumps with the bat.

After that had been done, the man turned and walked towards the market.

Dice was definitely spooked by this point. He surreptitiously turned to the window of the market where he could see Savo picking a few bottles of Calpis out of the drinks cabinet.

Dice waved his hand discreetly and Dice saw the motion out of the corner of his eye. Savo turned his head to the window subtly and saw Dice point to the entrance to the store.

Being careful not to be obvious about it, Savo darted his eyes a bit and saw the suspicious man walking down an opposite aisle.

Savo swallowed hard and started to walk slowly towards the counter as the man went to the fridge and looked through it.

Savo got to the counter and laid the bottles out on it.

"(And the fuel as well, sir?)" the clerk asked as he rung up the purchase.

"(Yes, that's right.)" Savo replied as he handed over his Cannonball card.

The clerk checked the name on the card.

"(Mr...Savo. Is that right?)" the clerk asked as Savo began to get spooked as well.

"(Yes.)" Savo nodded as he cast a quick glance in a mirror above the counter and saw the mystery man approaching the counter as well with a six-pack of Asahi Beer in his free hand as he had the baseball bat slung over his right shoulder.

"(There you are, sir. All done.)" the clerk nodded. "(Have a good evening.)"

"Domo arigato." Savo nodded as he turned and went out the door.

He walked quickly to the Ecureil, where Dice had already hung up the pump and had got back into the passenger seat.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Dice frantically whispered as Savo got behind the wheel and started up the engine.

"You two are being ridiculous." Parfait scolded as Savo peeled rubber out of the lot.

As they drove past the market, the mystery man ran out and saw them go. As he and Savo locked eyes, the man ran for his Honda.

"Shit!" Savo whispered as he was now convinced that the man meant them harm.

As Savo pulled back onto the lonely road, he narrowly avoided hitting a Toyota Celica driving into the gas station.

He swerved and brought the Ecureil under control. He had failed to notice that they had gone onto a stretch of road which had a sign warning that it led to a dead end.

Dice cast a look up at the rear-view and saw headlights behind them. After a few seconds, he realized that it was the Honda following them.

"Crap!" he snapped.

"He's not gonna catch me!" Savo yelled as he floored it.

"LOOK OUT!" Parfait warned as she pointed up ahead of them.

The road did indeed lead to a dead end which was blocked off with a sturdy and heavy metal barricade.

Savo slammed on the brakes and brought the car to a halt.

The Honda had stopped about twenty feet behind them and the mystery man got out.

"Savo-san!" the man yelled.

Savo felt discreetly for the gun he kept under his seat as the man approached the driver-side window.

Savo lowered the window and turned to face the man as he and Dice tried to keep their cool. Parfait still looked exasperated at her two companions acting so squirelly.

The man reached into his jacket pocket and held something out. It was Savo's Cannonball card.

"(You left this back at the station.)" the man gave a friendly smile.

"Oh." Savo exclaimed as he realized that fact. "(Thank you very much, sir.)"

"(You gave us a bit of a scare back there.)" Dice cut in.

"(The bat?)" the man asked. "(My car's due for inspection soon so I was just checking tire pressure to make sure it's okay.)"

Dice sighed deeply. "(Of course. I feel like such an idiot now.)"

"(As you should.)" Parfait chided.

"(Are you okay to get back to the main expressway?)" the man asked.

"(If you could show us the way, we'd be grateful.)" Parfait smiled at the man.

"(No problem. Just follow me.)" the man smiled back as he returned to his Honda.

Savo sighed and started the Ecureil up again, following the helpful motorist back to the main road.

"Tu es tellement un poulet." Parfait chided as she gave Dice a withering look.

"I agree." Savo grunted.

"Sorry." Dice grumbled sulkily.

---

Bender was now on the outskirts of Shizuoka and had parked the Scarsdale by the side of the highway. He held a radar gun out of his window and waited patiently for a Cannonballer to show up.

The Destroyer drove past him, just going a little bit over the speed limit.

"Aw, the hell with it." Bender grinned as he started the Scarsdale up and put his siren on the roof.

He took off after the Destroyer as the Baroness got a look in the mirror and saw him coming.

"I didn't think we were going that fast." Destro remarked as he saw their pursuer.

"It's one of those fools from that unit with the ridiculous name, dearest." the Baroness assured him. "He's probably going to try and hit us with some trumped-up charges. You said Scrap Iron really did a good job with tuning our engine?"

"That's right." Destro replied. "I certainly wouldn't trust that barbaric Dreadnok Monkeywrench to do it."

"Well then, if a speeding car is what this Yankee fool wants, a speeding car will be exactly what he gets!" the Baroness chuckled as she accelerated even harder and got up to over 200 mph.

The Scarsdale's engine had been tuned up for more power, so Bender was able to stay on their tail for about a minute.

But as the Baroness reached an even higher speed, he began to fall back and the Scarsdale's engine began knocking and the car began to wobble on the road a bit as it was caught in the Destroyer's slipstream.

"Goddamn." Bender grumbled as he had no choice but to slow down and let the Cobra team get away from him.

---

Max drove the Black Knight down the highway towards Tokyo.

"How are you holding up?" asked Jake.

"Okay, I guess." said Max. "I think it might be time for you to take over at some point."

"Just say when." said Jake.

"Okay." said Max.

As he drove, he got passed by a Nissan X-Trail with armor on the windows and a tough-looking guy hanging off of the side.

"What in the..." asked Max.

He looked in the rearview and saw three motorcycles chasing them.

"Give me the shotgun." said Max.

"What?" asked Jake.

Max took the shotgun.

The X-Trail pulled alongside the Black Knight and the tough guy jumped onto the car. Max aimed the shotgun at him and fired.

"Max?" asked Jake.

One of the motorcycles pulled alongside him. The rider jumped onto the car.

Max aimed the shotgun at him and fired.

"Max!" yelled Jake.

Max came out of his hallucination. The X-Trail was actually normal as were the motorcycles. Max held an ice scraper in his hand.

"Maybe you should drive." said Max.

"Just what I was thinking." said Jake.

---

The Rumor drove into Tokyo, heading for the address Twinkie had sent them.

"This is the one." said Brian. "This is the one for all the marbles."

"Don't think I don't know that." said Dominic.

"Here it is." said Vince.

They pulled into a service area to find Sean leaning on a red R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R. Twinkie stood nearby next to a green Honda Stepwgn. Mirai sat on the hood of a white '91 Mitsubishi FTO.

Brian, Vince, and Dominic climbed out of the Rumor. "Hey, Sean." said Brian.

"What's up, Bullet?" asked Sean.

"Where's Rome?" asked Dominic.

"Italy." said Twinkie. "Seriously, he wanted to make an entrance."

They heard the roar of an engine followed by the hiss of a blow-off valve. A pair of headlights turned on. The headlights approached until the car stopped under a street light, revealing it to be a black '89 Toyota Supra.

Roman climbed out of the driver's seat and looked to Brian and the team. "I knew you'd show up." he said.

"What can I say?" asked Brian. "We love a good challenge."

"And we thought we'd settle for this one." said Vince.

"Hey, real funny, Hetfield." said Roman.

"It's time to settle this once and for all." said Dominic.

"I'm all for that." said Roman. "We got this stretch of highway right here. What do you say to a highway battle?"

"Sounds like a good idea." said Brian.

"Wait." said Vince. "Let me drive this time."

"You sure?" asked Dominic.

"I gotta do this." said Vince. "I need to show you what I can do."

"You're on." said Roman. "Shall we get going?"

"Bring it." said Vince.

"Alright, let's go." said Sean.

Everybody went to get into their cars.

---

The Yellow Bird was in Tokyo with the other puzzle hunt teams staying in close proximity to Tommy's team as they pulled up outside the movie theater they had been given the address of back in South Korea.

The teams all got out of their cars and entered the building.

Tommy, Claude and C.J. looked around the lobby and Claude tapped his teammates on the shoulders as he saw the cosplayer dressed as Jet Jaguar standing near the entrance to the main screen.

The other participants saw this and followed them over to Jet Jaguar.

"Okay. So, where do we go from here?" Tommy asked the cosplayer.

Even with his mask on, the guy managed to look confused.

Jessie snorted smugly and elbowed Tommy out of the way.

She bowed to the cosplayer and spoke to him in Japanese. The guy bowed back and the two of them conversed in Japanese for a couple of minutes as Tommy looked confused.

"Since when does she know Japanese?" Torquenstein huffed as he put his hands on his hips.

"It's not our fault you all assumed we were morons." James grinned.

As Jessie wound up the conversation with the Jet Jaguar guy, he handed her a card with an address on it written in Kanji characters.

"You gonna share that with the rest of us?" asked Ron.

"Not a chance." Jessie beamed as she flipped the bird to the rest of the puzzle hunt teams.

"Are you forgetting that I also speak Japanese and could follow what you were saying, Jess?" Lara shot back.

"Even so, you'll have to beat us there first." Giovanni grinned as Team Rocket ran towards the front door and the Peligro.

"Okay, wagons roll!" Bam yelled as the other teams followed the Rockets out on the way to their next destination.

---

Brodie was in his Captain Chaos form as he drove the Falcon into Tokyo.

Silent Bob rode shotgun as Jay slept in the back seat. Silent Bob casually glanced up at the rear view and tapped Brodie on the shoulder as he spotted something behind them. Brodie looked in the mirror and saw Charger and Stingray driving side by side behind them and coming up fast.

The two hit drivers pressed buttons on their dashboards and a series of foot long, razor sharp spikes protruded from secret panels on their front bumpers and their grilles.

"Hold tight, good citizen Silent Bob." Brodie growled as he sped up.

Stingray and Charger kept on him and appeared to be herding him towards somewhere.

Brodie turned into a shipyard on the wharf with the two assassins still following him. Parked in the middle of the road in front of him was AMX, who also had spikes protruding from his front bumper and grille.

AMX peeled rubber towards the Falcon as Charger and Stingray kept on Brodie's tail. Brodie narrowed his eyes as he kept on his collision course with AMX. A split second before collision, Brodie cut the Falcon's wheel to the left and shot past AMX, nearly trading paint with him.

The three mobile killers hit their brakes to avoid hitting each other as the Falcon sped on.

"DUN, DUN, DUNNNNN!" Brodie cheered as the three armed muscle cars all turned and came after him.

Charger took point in the pursuit and hit a shot of nitrous which caused him to get ahead of the Falcon and swerve in front of it. Stingray moved up on the Falcon's right side and AMX got behind it as they tried to box Brodie's team in. Brodie kept his focus as they came up on a sharp turn.

Brodie, Charger and Stingray expertly drifted through the curve. AMX didn't have the expertise to pull off the drift and ended up sailing off the side of the wharf with his car landing nose down in a pile of garbage being carried by a scow.

"GODDAMNIT!" AMX yelled in a fury.

Charger and Stingray were still after the Falcon as the three cars drove down an embankment into a drainage culvert. Stingray moved up to challenge the Falcon as they drove through a mile-long patch of inch-deep water on the bottom of the culvert. Stingray was going so fast that her tires lost traction and she went out of control at high speed.

As her car spun wildly, she nearly hit Charger who swerved to avoid her and went up the other side of the culvert. Stingray's car crashed into a pile of sand near one edge of the culvert and got partially buried as the sand slid down. As Charger's car shot over the top of the west edge of the culvert, he crashed into a collection of port-a-potties and his car was soon drenched in chemical fluid and some of the contents of the potties.

Brodie drove the Falcon towards the exit to the wharf as he and Silent Bob fist-bumped each other with their free hands. Jay began to stir in the back seat.

"Did I miss anything?" Jay asked as he stretched and yawned.

"Have we got a story for you." Brodie grinned.

---

Vince drove the Rumor down the highway. Roman followed in the Supra with Sean, Twinkie, and Mirai right behind him in their cars to make sure there were no accidents during the race.

"Alright, we doing this?" asked Roman over the radio.

"Oh yeah." said Vince.

"After you clear the next overhead sign, we go." said Sean.

The cars approached a sign mounted over the highway. Roman pulled alongside Vince.

They drove under the sign and took off racing. Sean took the lead with Roman and Vince behind him.

Twinkie quickly got left in the dust. He got on the radio and said "Uh, guys. My van isn't up to the task. I'm out of this."

Vince kept on Roman's tail.

"Watch this ramp." said Brian.

The cars took to an on ramp. Vince tried to pass Roman only to get cut off.

"Not yet." said Brian.

The cars went into a slight turn.

"Not yet." said Brian.

The turn got tighter and Roman went to the outside.

"Now." said Brian.

Vince made his way past Roman.

"Aw, quit that." said Roman.

Vince then passed Sean.

"Challenge accepted." said Sean.

Vince passed a slower car and changed lanes.

"We've got two miles left." said Dominic. "You can do this, Vince."

Sean put his car into the next gear and came up upon Vince.

"Watch this guy." said Brian.

Vince pressed the accelerator harder and pulled ahead.

"Kid's got a spark." said Sean.

Roman pulled up and passed Sean.

"Hammer time." said Roman.

Roman passed Vince and took the lead.

"Vince, he's passing you." said Dominic.

"I see him." said Vince.

"Come on." said Brian. "We've got about a mile."

"I got this." said Vince.

"You're making me work for this, huh?" said Roman.

Vince changed lanes and pressed the accelerator harder.

"I can do this." said Vince.

Vince made his way past Roman.

"You can do this." said Vince.

Vince made it all the way past Roman. They passed under another overhead sign.

"We did it!" yelled Brian.

Vince let out the breath he'd been holding.

The cars pulled into the next rest area. Vince and Sean climbed out of their cars.

"Now, that was a victory." said Sean.

Mirai and Twinkie pulled into the rest area.

"Nice one, Vince." said Dominic. "You pulled it off."

"I think I see your value now." said Brian.

Roman pulled up alongside them and rolled down his window. He looked at them for a second, tapped his chest with his fist, and flashed a peace sign.

"Great." said Dominic. "Now, can we get back to the big race?"

"Surely a victory like this warrants a quick Corona break?" Vince joked.

Dom considered it for a moment and sighed.

"Okay, just this once." he nodded.

Mirai cheered and flashed a victory sign.

---

The Peligro pulled into a parking lot next to the warehouse they had been directed to by the cosplayer. Giovanni, Jessie, James, and Meowth climbed out.

"Is this the place?" asked Giovanni.

"I hope so." said Jessie. "Because, if it isn't, those Japanese lessons went to waste."

They entered and found a table with what seemed to be several paintball markers laid out on it.

"We're doing paintball?" asked James.

"Not quite." said Lone Wolf. "This begins the maze battle."

Lara's team entered.

"We're doing paintball?" asked Lara.

"I was just getting to that." said Lone Wolf. "As I was saying..."

The Drake's team entered.

"We're doing paintball?" asked Venom.

"Did you see the other three teams out there?" asked Lone Wolf.

"I think so." said Giovanni.

The other three teams entered in the puzzle hunt entered the room.

"Before you ask, we are not doing paintball." said Lone Wolf. "Instead, you will be navigating the maze behind this door. This is a non-lethal variant of a Steelport game called Professor Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax."

"I've heard of that." Venom stated. "How do you make it non-lethal?"

"Simple." Lone Wolf continued. "The cosplayers who will confront you can be dealt with by using the guns on this table. They contain knockout darts so that you can shoot them without actually killing them. In addition, and in keeping with how popular Pokemon are in this country, we have put several electric-type and fire-type Pokemon in strategic locations to provide the electric and fire attacks which will hinder things a bit. Once again, Pokemon know how to use their attacks to incapacitate but not kill."

Giovanni grinned and turned to Rob Zombie. "So, the maze is filled with Pokemon. Well, our team happens to have much experience with the little critters."

"I've noticed." said Rob nonchalantly.

"Well, we've been on the hunt for Pokemon all over the world." said Giovanni. "We've amassed quite a collection of them."

"You don't say." said Lara, barely hiding her disinterest.

"And I'm sure in the maze will be some wonderful additions." said Giovanni.

"The boss is laying it on a little thick." said Jessie.

"Maybe we should show him that actions speak louder than words." said James.

"I agree." said Jessie. "So, this maze is full of Pokemon?"

"Right. And these guns shoot knockout darts?" asked James as he picked one up. He accidentally pulled the trigger and shot Giovanni in the rear.

Giovanni's face went blank. He muttered "Tin...roof...rusted." and fell to the floor face-first.

"Good thinking, Einstein." Jessie deadpanned to James as she glared at him.

"Don't worry. Having one person down may not be too much of a problem as all the members of the teams must go through this time." Lone Wolf chipped in. "I won't DQ you for an honest mistake this time."

"There's got to be a catch." Tony Hawk remarked as he narrowed his eyes. "You waited until the last minute to let us know what the trail blazing challenge fully entailed."

"Well spotted." Lone Wolf nodded. He took out a large garment bag from under the table, reached into it and pulled out a laser tag vest.

"The cosplayers themselves will be armed with non-lethal laser guns to make things a bit more even. In addition to your dart guns, each of you will be wearing a vest like this." Lone Wold explained. "If you get shot by the lasers, the LEDs will fade over time. They fade first to amber and then finally to red. If your vest has turned completely red, you will be out of the game and unable to continue."

"You just had to ask, didn't you?" Torquenstein groaned at Tony.

"Don't worry. There are walls and barriers set up so you can take cover and not get completely annihilated." Lone Wolf continued. "But you will have to press the advantage any and every chance you get."

Lara nodded. "That sounds fair." she agreed.

"Okay. I hope that's nice and clear. Everybody who is isn't unconscious, pick up your vest from the locker room and then take your gun from here. And the best of luck to you all." Lone Wolf cheered.

"I really don't like this guy." Anna mumbled to herself.

---

Westlake drove the Asp through the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo as Joe looked over the tickets the Guardian Of Metal had given them.

"The concert is tonight." he remarked. "Ya think we may actually have to use 'em?"

The Fuzzbuster software let out a loud buzz and Westlake looked concerned.

"Could be. There's major activity by CRAP near us." she confirmed. "Some of 'em are headed this way. Hold on."

Westlake pulled the Asp in behind a furniture van which was parked at the right side of the street and killed the lights but kept the engine running.

Cole kept listening to the scanner tuned to CRAP's frequency as the Orange Crush crossed the intersection ahead of the Asp moving slowly. Virginia shone a bright light out her window as she looked in the general direction the Asp had been in. She couldn't see the car due to it being behind the furniture van, but she did pause for a moment.

After a few seconds, she called in.

"Negative, control. I don't have eyes on any Cannonballers at this time." she reported. "Moving on."

Joe and Cole breathed a sigh of relief as Westlake waited a few more moments for the Orange Crush to be completely gone. She then upshifted, pulled out from behind the furniture van and drove off, being sure to obey the speed limit to avoid drawing attention.

As Westlake followed the route the GPS had planned for the Budokan, the CRAP chopper was hovering in the air above them. Montoya was aiming the spotlight at the road and then spotted the Asp.

"HQ, I have eyes on a red Viper. Potential Cannonballer. Do we have permission to pursue?" Montoya requested

"10-4! Don't lose them!" Baxter ordered.

The Viper Team had heard that over the scanner.

"Hang on, guys!" Westlake grunted as she sped up to over 100 mph and moved through traffic with quick reflexes.

Bullock had to turn the chopper around so Montoya could get the spotlight on the Asp again. As they were delayed, Westlake turned a hard left into a dark alley. She once again killed the Asp's lights and pulled into a spot underneath a highway on-ramp which concealed the Asp from view.

The team tensed as they waited the chopper out. After a few moments, the spotlight shone into the alley ahead of them. Thankfully, Montoya had failed to see them due to their concealment.

Westlake motioned for Joe and Cole to be patient.

"Negative, HQ. Lost sight of target." Montoya bitterly confirmed as the chopper moved on.

Once again, Westlake waited a few more seconds and then pulled out of their hiding place, making her way back to the main road. Westlake made sure to obey the speed limit once again as the Asp pulled up to a set of traffic lights.

At another set of traffic lights on the opposite side of the intersection was the BlackFin. Clouseau and Cato had noticed the Asp. Westlake caught their eyes and watched them warily.

"What are you gonna do?" she thought to herself as she recognized Clouseau.

Clouseau and Cato had noticed the Asp and Clouseau narrowed his eyes as well.

"Do you think it's a Cannonballer, boss?" asked Cato.

"I have no doubt, considering the car they're driving, my friend." Clouseau nodded.

"Do you want to call it in?" Cato inquired.

"No. This one's all ours. It will no doubt earn us more respect with CRAP if we surprise them with Cannonballers in our custody." Clouseau smirked.

As the lights changed, the Asp drove past the BlackFin at legal speed. Clouseau drove forward and then pulled a 180 whilst putting his police lights on as he came after the Asp.

"So much for that." shrugged Westlake as she put her foot down.

The BlackFin continued to chase the Asp as both cars swerved around the regular traffic.

Westlake kept her eye on the GPS as the BlackFin closed the gap. She suddenly cut the wheel to the left and drove down another street.

Clouseau was caught by surprise at the move and couldn't make the turn. About fifty feet down the street, he braked hard. He put the BlackFin in reverse and turned the key. The engine stalled for a few seconds.

"Merde!" he cursed as the Asp was now out of his sight.

As Clouseau was indisposed, Westlake kept going and approached an underground parking garage which was within walking distance of the Budokan. She turned into the garage and drove fast down the various ramps to the lowest level as Joe and Cole were putting their Limozeen t-shirts, jackets and wigs on.

In the lowest level, Westlake found a vacant parking spot and drove into it. As she brought the Asp to a halt, Joe and Cole had finished putting their wigs on. Joe's was a curly, moussed-up blond wig which looked a bit like Dee Snider's hairstyle. Cole's was a black ponytailed mullet hairdo.

Westlake pulled on her leather jacket and put her own wig on. It was black and in the style of Joan Jett's hair from the '80's. She also put on a pair of mirrored shades.

"Okay. The concert starts in about an hour." Joe grinned as he checked the time.

"We'll take the elevator up, walk to the Budokan and get our seats." Westlake nodded.

"I hope they'll perform 'Nite Mamas'." Cole beamed.

"Priorities." Joe reminded him. "We're using the concert to lay low for a few hours until the heat's off."

"No reason why we can't enjoy the music." Westlake chipped in.

"Okay." shrugged Joe.

They got out of the Asp and headed towards the elevator. A few other concert goers were entering the elevator as well and singing some of Limozeen's "Because It's Midnite".

Cole started singing with them and flashed an Ozzy salute as Westlake rolled her eyes with a weary smile.

Up at street level, Clouseau looked hopelessly around for the Asp.

Eventually he sighed and just drove off.

"Now I'm glad you decided not to call it in." Cato groused.

"Silence, you fool." grumbled Clouseau as he drove off, abandoning the pursuit.

---

Somewhere in Tokyo, Mango strutted around his dressing room. He heard a knock at the door.

"I'll be right there!" he said cheerfully.

He opened the door and Lidell shoved his way inside. "What have you done to me?" he yelled.

"You're that guy from the Cannonball pre-race party!" said Mango.

"Ever since then, I can't think straight," said Lidell "I can't concentrate, I keep having fantasies of you! Please, you have to fix this!"

"Fix this?" asked Mango. "Do you think I can fix this? The Mango can't control this. This just happens when it wants. When it happens, you had best be out of the line of fire."

"Please!" pleaded Lidell. "You have to do something!"

"Nope, nope." said Mango. "There is nothing to be done. You can try to forget. You can try to let it go. But the simple fact is that you...can't have the Mango."

Ford burst into the room. "Lidell!" he said. "Don't let him get to you! You're better than this!"

"What?" asked Lidell.

"Trust me." said Ford. "He got me at the Malibu Club back in twenty-twelve. It took me weeks to get over him. But you know what? I got through it. The only way out is through."

"How do you get through?" asked Lidell.

"It's not easy, but I can help you." said Ford.

"Please." said Lidell.

"Ah, Mr. Fairlane." said Mango. "I do remember you. Do you remember...

Ford held up his hand.

"Forget about it!" he warned "I'm over here now!"

He led Lidell out of the room.

"You're not so bad." said Lidell.

"Stay in your lane." said Ford.

---

The puzzle hunt teams (with the exception of Giovanni, who had been taken back out to the Peligro to recover) stood at the entrance to the maze, armed with their dart guns and wearing their laser tag vests.

They also wore belts with spare ammo clips full of knockout darts in case they ran out of ammo at any point.

On the door in front of them was an image of the grinning cat face of Professor Genki.

Lone Wolf, watching from the control booth above the maze, addressed the entrants over a P.A. system.

"You all see what the Professor looks like. The first team, or even first person, who knocks him out, makes it past him and to the exit will be the winner." he announced. "And thus will the winning team of the final puzzle hunt be declared and earn that five million dollar payday. Knockout time, fun time!"

A red light and siren blared and the door opened.

The teams rushed through into the maze. Ahead of them were a group of cosplayers dressed as fast food mascots, such as giant milkshakes, hamburgers, pizza slices and the like.

There were some short walls and barriers set up that the entrants could take cover behind to try and avoid taking laser blasts to their vests.

C.J. lead the charge and took out a couple of the mascots before he had to take cover behind a wall.

As he waited, Venom tried to press the advantage and took a couple of shots with his dart gun before there was a cry from a group of electric Pokemon in the walls and an electric shock barrier briefly blocked his way.

He stopped just short of hitting it and took a short volley of laser blasts from the mascots who just fired through the electricity.

Venom quickly dropped back and got into cover.

Lara and Nina borrowed an idea from the mascots and aimed carefully. They fired shots from their dart guns and took out a few more of the mascots by shooting through the electricity.

After the electric attack had faded, the teams pushed onwards.

Jessie managed to get a lead and tried to rush a few remaining mascots. She looked briefly back over her shoulder as she charged to see if James and Meowth were following her.

Just then, there was a cry of fire-type Pokemon and a flame barrier came up just in front of her.

She managed to stop herself from running full-on into it, but as her head had been turned, the end of her hairdo was lit on fire and she screamed and began to run wildly around.

"PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!" she cried, unaware that the flame barrier had lifted and a few more mascots charged her and fired laser blasts at her.

James and Meowth rushed forward to help her, taking a heavy volley of blasts as they did so.

"JESSIE! Stop, drop and roll!" James commanded as he got close to Jessie.

Jessie did so and was able to put the fire out. But about half of her hairdo had been singed off. As James and Meowth got to her, the three of them were overwhelmed by about six mascots who encircled them and fired laser blasts at them at close range.

As that was going on, Team Lara, Team Stone Cold, Team Margera and Team Vercetti all pressed forwards.

Team Drake were about to follow, but hung back as the flame barrier was thrown up again.

Ron turned around and tried to take a bead on the mascots who had Team Rocket boxed in, just in case they got tired of whaling on the Rockets and took notice of his boss' team stalled where they were.

He raised his dart gun, but it jammed on him. As he tried to clear the breach, one of the mascots noticed him and fired a laser volley at him. The other mascots noticed this and left Team Rocket alone to join in.

Ron had already taken some fire beforehand. That and this new barrage had been enough to turn his vest completely red and take him out of the running.

The Drake and Venom angrily took out the remaining mascots with knockout darts.

The attackers fell unconscious around Team Rocket. Their three vests were now completely red as well after the bashing they had taken. Jessie was also in tears of fury over her hair.

"WHERE WERE YOU WHEN WE NEEDED YOU?!" she bellowed at Team Drake.

She picked up two of the fallen mascots' laser guns and fired the lasers at the Drake and Venom, holding one laser gun in each hand.

James and Meowth also picked up dropped lasers and fired on the Drake and his bodyguard until their two vests went red as well.

"HEY!" Venom roared.

"Sorry to tell you, V." Lone Wolf announced. "But there's no rule that says they can't do that."

"Are you kidding me?!" the Drake snapped.

"Well, they were already knocked out of the running themselves anyway." Lone Wolf shrugged.

"Terrific." Venom sarcastically grumbled.

The remaining teams pressed onwards, being careful of the Pokemon attacks. A group of about two dozen cosplayers dressed as characters from Kaiju movies were now attacking them as they took whatever cover they could.

Nemesis let out a mighty roar as he rose up from cover and fired his dart gun, taking out more than half of the attackers. As he got ready to reload, Rob nudged him.

"Look down, buddy." Rob advised.

Nemesis glanced down at his chest and saw that his vest was totally red now as well. He had been so used to shrugging off most gunfire to realize he had been taking hits.

Nemesis let out a disgusted 'hmmmph' and dropped his dart gun in exasperation.

The remaining Kaiju attackers kept up the assault. In her covered position, Joanna had run out of ammo. She got ready to reload, but then got an idea.

She reached into one of her jumpsuit's pockets and took out a DrugSpy.

She programmed it and sent it flying towards the attackers. Within seconds, it had tagged all of them and knocked them out.

Tony Hawk looked disgusted.

"Sorry to say, but that's legal as well." Lone Wolf put in. "It had the same effect in that it knocked the Kaiju out."

"Are you sure you're not just making these rules up as you go?" Tommy groused.

"In the words of Mr. Woody Harrelson, nut up or shut up!" chided Stone Cold as the teams moved onwards to a central area of the maze.

The first two through the doorway to the center were Rob and Anna. In front of them was a twenty-foot tall column. They both looked confused.

Rob cast a casual glance upwards and then looked alarmed.

"DUCK!" he yelled. It was too late, however.

On top of the column was a cosplayer dressed as the Terminator. He was manning a double-barreled laser cannon and was protected by a three-foot high plexiglass shield affixed to the top of the cannon.

He hit Rob and Anna with a heavy barrage of blasts. This turned their vests red and put them out of contention.

"Careless." Anna chided herself as she snapped her fingers in annoyance.

The others had now all entered the center and took cover behind the barriers erected around the column.

On occasion, a few of them tried to dart from cover to cover as the firing let up. But the Terminator guy could swivel the cannon around and take a bead on them. Very soon, Joanna was taken out of contention as well.

As Team Margera kept low, Bam seized a brief opening he got and ran to around the back of the column where the access ladder was. Keeping his dart gun dangling from the strap around his shoulder, he climbed the ladder whilst the 'Terminator' was busy.

Bam reached the top and fired a pair of darts into the cosplayer's butt.

"Hasta la vista, baby." Bam joked in an imitation of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the 'Terminator' fell unconscious.

Lara, Tommy, Tony, Torquenstein and C.J. seized the opportunity and ran out the door leading out of the center.

Claude, Stone Cold and Nina got ready to follow. But then, they were all hit by an assault of laser blasts from above.

Bam was now controlling the turret and firing on them as he gave an evil laugh.

In short order, their vests all turned red as well.

"SUMBITCH!" Stone Cold roared.

"GOBSHITE!" Nina yelled at the same time.

Claude just fired a few darts up at Bam but the shield protected him.

"I suppose you'll tell us THAT was legal as well, huh?!" Stone Cold yelled out to Lone Wolf.

"It was." Lone Wolf confirmed. "But I agree that it was a very shitty tactic to pull."

"So nice to know you agree with us about that." Nina glared.

The remaining five Cannonballers had now moved onto the final section of the maze.

As they passed the last couple of flame and electric Pokemon traps, they took on the final group of cosplayers who were dressed as various extraterrestrials from the 'Star Trek' franchise.

C.J. was able to drop most of them as the others ran from cover to cover dodging laser fire.

C.J. went to reload, but accidentally dropped the spare clip he was trying to put in. As he bent down to pick it up, there was a loud fanfare.

"The Professor has entered the arena!" Lone Wolf declaimed as the final door opened and Professor Genki himself stepped out, holding a laser blaster in each hand.

"Huh?" C.J. looked up in confusion. By this time, his vest had already turned amber. By the time he realized what was going on, Genki gave him both barrels from his blasters and turned his vest red, taking him out of the game.

"MOTHER..." C.J. began.

"Shut your mouth!" Lara cheerfully interrupted as she and Tommy took cover and waited for an opening.

They had lost sight of Tony and Torquenstein, who were about ten feet ahead of them behind another divider.

As Tony dropped the last two 'Star Trek' attackers, Torquenstein rose up, put his head down, let out a huge roar and ran at Genki.

Genki fired the blasters at him and turned his vest from amber to red. Nonetheless, Torquenstein headbutted him in his stomach and knocked the wind out of him.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Tony charged forward and fired three darts into Genki's back, knocking him out.

"NO!" Tommy yelled.

"Bugger." Lara mumbled.

"GO TONY!" Torquenstein yelled. "RUN FOR HOME!"

Tony charged through the final door and saw the suitcase with the prize money sitting on a table with a big red button next to it.

Tony hit the button and triumphantly raised the suitcase.

"Hot dog, we have a wiener!" Lone Wolf announced. "It's Team Margera for the win!".

---

"The Cannonball is now moving through Tokyo." Ron Burgundy reported to the camera in the Four Dragons. "But one thing which is confusing us all here at Race Central is that the Simpsons seem to have gone very quiet. Nobody's heard from them for more than twenty-four hours. We all hope..."

Ron was cut off when the big screen behind him filled briefly with static and then an image of Yuri standing in front of a picture window looking out over an oval racetrack came on the screen.

"I was wondering how long it would take Cannonball Control to work out something was up." Yuri grinned. "This is Yuri here and I have the Simpson family in my custody."

The screen briefly showed an image of the Simpsons in their cell. After a beat, Yuri came on screen again.

"Those of you who know of my reputation will know how I deal with bothersome pests such as this family." he continued. "If you wish to see the Simpsons alive again, you will pay all the Cannonball prize money into this account number."

The number appeared at the bottom of the screen and remained there as Yuri wrapped up his speech.

"I am a patient man, but even a psychic's patience is limited. You have forty-eight hours to comply with my request, or the consequences will be far from pleasant for the Simpson family. I bid you das vidanya for now."

The screen crackled off again as Ron finished another story.

"And he says 'Amy, do you have a cat?'" he said.

---

In Sean's Tokyo garage, Dom's team along with Roman, Sean, Twinkie and Mirai had been watching the live feed from Race Central as they were having their brief break to enjoy a Corona beer each. They had just seen Yuri's ultimatum and looked very grim.

"So that's who moved into that place." Sean remarked.

"You know where that was Yuri was at?" asked Brian.

"Sure." Sean continued. "It's an old Karin testing facility in Hokkaido. I recognized the racetrack behind him."

"We've been there before to test out some of the rides that we've rigged up before." Twinkie added. "But we heard it had been leased a few days ago by some foreign guys."

"And it looks like we just saw who they were." Mirai finished.

Brian looked crafty all of a sudden. "I've got an idea. But we'll need back up."

Just then, Dom's cellphone rang. He answered it.

"Yeah?"

"Dom, did you see that on the Race Central feed?" Memphis Raines asked on the other end.

"I did indeed. I'm glad you called. We need to hash out a plan for a rescue. We'll need Jesse on board as well, I think."

"Got it. He saw the feed as well and texted me about it. Where do we meet up?" Memphis continued.

"I'll send you the address in a second." Dom confirmed. "Get over here ASAP."

"Ten-four." Memphis chimed as he hung up so Dom could text him the garage's address.

---

The puzzle hunt teams exited the arena warehouse. Leading the way was Team Margera with their prize money in tow.

The teams had all left their dart guns and their vests behind. Most of them were not too bothered about what had happened, but Jessie was still in a fury over her hair.

She had both her fists clenched, her teeth also clenched and was letting out a low but continuous growl.

"Chill, will ya?" Venom tried to cheer her up. "You sound like the dog in that comic strip David Lynch created."

Jessie gave him a terrifying glare.

"Cool, cool, cool." he placated her as he stepped away.

In the parking lot, a small stage had been put up whilst they had been in doing the challenge. The curtains parted on it to reveal the Bloodhound Gang.

"Hey, guys." Jimmy Pop greeted Bam and his team. "Great job."

Bam's expression suddenly turned sour.

"What's up?" asked Torquenstein.

"I just remembered what these guys did to the Job after we flunked that parkour challenge." Bam groaned. "It looks like we'll be using our prize money here to pay for it."

"Serves ya right for that crap you pulled with the turret, ya bull piss drinkin' prick." Stone Cold grinned maliciously.

"Amen." agreed Nina.

"Not exactly." Jared Hasselhoff grinned as he put a walkie-talkie up to his mouth. "Okay, Yosuke. Bring it around now."

After a few seconds, a car horn sounded.

Bam looked stunned as the Job was driven into the parking lot by a Japanese driver in a valet's uniform. Bam knew from the license plate that it was the real Job that he had driven in the previous year's Cannonball.

"You're shitting me!" he exclaimed in delight.

"Nope." the Yin spoke up. "The one that was machine-gunned was just a replica Lola and Shavers rigged up for us."

"It was Jared's idea." Q-Ball added. "He thought that psyching you out like that would make you try harder in the Cannonball."

"That is...evil." Bam groaned happily as he shook his head.

"Well, he IS called Evil Jared Hasselhoff for a reason." Daniel P. Carter comforted Bam.

"And besides, it worked." Jimmy finished. "In a way, it helped you guys win the final puzzle hunt.

"That actually makes sense." Tony thoughtfully nodded.

"So, here's a song especially for you and your team, Margera-san." Jimmy grinned as he counted down from five with his fingers and the band began to play. After the opening guitars, bass and drums, Jimmy began to sing.

Well, I'm a winner.
Yeah, I been kicked around.
I had my balls up in a sling.

I'm a winner.
When I get knocked down.
I get up again and again and again.

Just when you think that it's over.
Just when you think I've blown my load.
I hit a home run right over your f-ing head.
If you don't like it, you can go home.

I'm a winner.
Winning comes naturally to me,
I'm a winner.
And I'm a real nice guy, don't take it from me.

Don't wanna talk about losing.
I ain't got time for none of that crap.
Well, check me out, I'm a winner.
I'm on a non-stop victory lap, I'm a winner.

I'm a winner.

As the song went into the bridge, Jimmy pointed at Bam and spoke the next few lines of the song.

Look at yourself, man - you're a winner.
You're number one; don't you ever forget it.
You look good today, man.
Now go out there and show him who's boss.

Jimmy then began to sing again.

Well, I'm a winner.
Well, I never fight the man.
Well, I blew a kiss to your mama.
I'm about to tear our house down.

Well, I'm a winner.
And I guess it's my cross to bear.
I'm a winner.
If you don't like it, I don't care.

Well you can't keep a good man down (do-o-o-o-oooown)
Well you can't keep a good man down (do-o-o-o-oooown)

-"Winner" by Cheeseburger.

Most of the assembled puzzle hunt teams enjoyed the song and cheered as Torquenstein went over and put the suitcase in the Tempest's trunk and locked it in.

Team Rocket, ever the sore losers, went over to the Peligro as Giovanni had begun to regain consciousness.

"What happened?" he asked drowzily. "Did we win?"

James and Meowth nervously glanced at each other.

"You'd better not say no." Giovanni warned.

"How about instead of using the word 'no', we just say 'ten-zero." James suggested.

"Are you from the planet Gibber?" Giovanni sarcastically asked. "Because while I do speak several languages, gibberish is not and never will be among them."

Jessie let out a frustrated scream and clobbered James around the back of his head with her fan.

---

Race Central...

Brock had a video conference call with Dom's team. They had been joined by Memphis and Jesse James' teams. Roman, Mirai, Sean and Twinkie were also present.

Dom had finished explaining the plan they had hashed out to rescue the Simpsons. Brock looked impressed.

"It sounds crazy, but it just might work." Brock nodded. "You are right that Yuri's base is at that old Karin facility near Asahikawa. Hikita-san was able to trace the broadcast on our end."

"Figures that he'd want to make us suffer by putting his base on the very last leg of Asia." Tombstone moaned.

"We're gonna get our stuff together and head there." Brian confirmed.

"We're goin' to provide the necessary vehicles for this rescue." Sean grinned as he, Roman and Twinkie exchanged knowing glances

"Are you sure that Mirai should go with you, though?" Brock asked. "This isn't her fight and things could get ugly."

"Don't forget that I took part in the Cannonball, Mr. Yates." Mirai firmly stated. "I still consider a lot of the Cannonballers friends and I'm not going to let them be harmed."

"Alright then." Brock agreed. "You get the green light from me."

"Thanks, Brock." Dom gratefully stated. "We'll soon be on our way."

---

The race had now entered the Tohoku prefecture in Japan. Ranger Smith drove the Regalo through the streets of the city of Sendai. As the Wacky Racers approached a supermarket, the Fuzz Buster went off.

"Huh?" asked Huckleberry in surprise. "I don't see any cops."

"Isn't that one of CRAP's cars?" Quick Draw pointed out as they saw the Speed Demon parked in front of the supermarket. The car was empty. Ranger Smith looked around carefully and saw Slater and Michaels inside the supermarket through one of the windows. The two CRAP officers were doing some grocery shopping.

Ranger Smith pulled into a parking space, making sure to keep out of the window's line of sight.

"You got an idea, Mr. Ranger?" asked Cindy.

"I do indeed." Smith grinned as he reached down to his footwell and took out a toolkit. "You guys go inside and watch those two. I'll send you a text when I'm done here. But don't draw attention to yourselves."

"Hey, hey, hey! This plan is okay!" Yogi cheered.

Smith rolled his eyes as the rest of the team got out of the Regalo and put on Groucho Marx fake nose glasses.

They made their way into the supermarket as Smith approached the Speed Demon with his toolkit.

---

Elsewhere in Sendai, Priss was having a bit of action. After she had left the Kanto region, she had been free to speed excessively once again and had attracted some police attention. Three Sendai police cruisers were chasing the Streetfighter.

She struggled a bit, but had been able to outpace them.

There was a mighty engine roar as the Compensator came up behind the three cop cars.

LaFours looked up ahead and had no trouble recognizing Priss as the one who had defied his anti-motorcycle laws back in Taylorsville. He was determined to make her pay, no matter what the cost.

He got alongside the cop car nearest to him and sideswiped it out of the way, causing damage. As that cruiser was taken out of the equation, LaFours moved up the field and knocked out the other two cruisers with similar tactics. With them out of the picture, he was free to pursue Priss.

Priss had heard the crashes and stole a glance back to see LaFours gaining on her. She pushed the Streetfighter even farther to try and keep ahead of him.

She was able to cut between a pair of stalled cars near a large billboard for Kirin Beer and put some distance between herself and the Compensator.

LaFours swerved up the incline leading to the billboard and crashed through it, demolishing it as he did so. A few more cop cars had been approaching from the west as he landed hard on the road and righted himself. The cop cars braked hard to avoid hitting him and the lead car was rear-ended by the two cruisers behind it.

LaFours kept up his pursuit of Priss as she entered a residential area. Priss quickly turned and drove down a long alley between two rows of neighborhood back yards.

LaFours had been unable to make the turn but looked at his GPS and saw an adjacent street where the alley Priss had taken would end and steered into it to intercept her.

At his end of the alley, LaFours braked the Compensator hard and blocked the way.

Priss clenched her teeth and popped a wheelie.

"This better work, Mackie." she mumbled to herself as she flipped a switch on the left handlebar which Mackie Stingray, Sylia's younger brother, had told her to use only in emergencies.

A pair of panels opened out on each side of the Streetfighter which had small afterburners on them. In addition, a jet of flame shot out of the motorcycle's tailpipe as a booster engine there was activated. All that additional power pushed Priss up into the air in a long and high jump and she soared completely over the Compensator. She soared for about another thirty feet after clearing the Compensator and landed in another alleyway on the truck's left side and drove off down it as she let out a victory whoop.

LaFours tried to put the Compensator in gear to follow her, but about six Sendai police cruisers rushed up the street and boxed him in as the officers got out and all aimed their sidearms at him.

"(You'd better have a good explanation about those squad cars you wrecked, gaijin!)" the lead officer furiously warned as LaFours mouthed an obscenity and put his hands behind his head.

---

Back at the supermarket, Slater and Michaels were at the checkout with the chips, candy bars, sodas, and coffee they had bought which the clerk was ringing up for them.

A little way behind them, Yogi and Boo Boo were keeping watch whilst drinking some to-go coffees they had bought.

After a few seconds, Yogi's phone chimed as he got Smith's confirmation text.

He discreetly signaled to the other Wacky Racers who were scattered throughout the store and they all headed to towards the exit.

Smith was back behind the wheel of the Regalo as the other Wacky Racers got in.

They waited patiently as Slater and Michaels exited the market and got into the Speed Demon with their purchases.

Smith rolled down his window and flipped the bird to Slater and Michaels. He then did a burnout and took off out of the parking lot.

"Son of a...!" Slater growled as he put the Speed Demon in high gear and drove off after the Regalo.

Smith was able to keep ahead, but the Speed Demon was catching up.

"Nail their asses!" Michaels encouraged his partner.

"Will do!" Slater grinned.

Just then, the Speed Demon's hood popped open. After a few seconds, it came loose and was carried away by the head wind.

A few seconds later, both the front quarter panels dropped off the Speed Demon as well.

Next, both the doors came off the Speed Demon as well. Slater and Michaels were starting to get worried.

After a beat of about ten seconds, all four wheels came off the car too. The two cops grunted in anger as the Speed Demon landed on the road without wheels and skidded for about one hundred feet in a shower of sparks before they came to a halt.

Michaels went to radio for back-up but saw that the mic cable had been cut.

"Of course they did that as well." he moaned.

"Good job, Senor Ranger." Baba Louie remarked. "They didn't suspect a thing until it happened."

"Just a matter of knowing which screws to loosen." Smith replied.

"I never thought you'd do something like that." Yogi added.

"Well, I'm trying to shake the image that I'm a bit of a stick in the mud." Smith answered.

"A bit?" Boo Boo whispered to himself before Cindy gave him a dig in the ribs.

---

On a lonely road outside of Morioka, the Opus was parked by the side of the road as dawn began to break. Victoria and Masado had been waiting to chase and pull over any Cannonballers, but were having no luck.

Victoria was in the Opus and had her feet up on the dash. Masado was standing in the road holding a radar gun as he kept watch.

Eventually, he held the radar gun out as if he was pointing a real gun at somebody.

"You talkin' to me?" he quoted in the best Robert De Niro impression he could do.

He twirled the radar gun around in his hand and put it out again in a quick draw movement.

"Go ahead. Make my day." he quoted, imitating Clint Eastwood as Victoria began to get a bit annoyed.

Masado lowered the radar gun again and then "quick drew" it again.

"Come quietly or there will be...trouble." he again quoted, this time imitating RoboCop.

"Cut it out." groaned Victoria. "I think they may have gone on a different road."

"So, what you wanna do?" asked Masado.

"Some of the others could pick 'em up. I need some coffee." she replied.

"Me too." Masado added as he went over to the Opus and put the radar gun in the trunk.

He climbed in beside Victoria who pulled out a Thermos and poured two cups of coffee. Masado reached into the glove compartment and took out two Japanese Kit-Kat bars.

"So those are green tea flavored?" Victoria asked.

"Yep. There are a lot of different flavors of Kit-Kat in Japan." Masado beamed.

"What the hell?" Victoria shrugged as she unwrapped her bar and began to eat it.

As the two CRAP members had their break, there was a sudden roar of loud engines.

The Bisonte, Panama, Doomsayer, Detector, Supernova XS, Maniac 2, and Cataract all roared past them, going at well over the speed limit and trying to pass each other.

Victoria and Masado watched them pass with apathy.

"What do you think?" asked Masado.

"Meh. We're on a break. Let someone else worry about 'em." she shrugged.

"Okay." he sighed as he took a drink of his coffee.

---

The Asp was back in the race as Cole drove it over the bridge into southern Hokkaido. The team had picked up a Best Of Limozeen CD and a few bits of signed merch as souvenirs of the concert which they had actually enjoyed.

Joe played air guitar as Limozeen's song "When The Knight Moves Thru Ya" was playing on the CD.

Westlake was looking over the program which had writing in various different languages including English and had a look of curiosity on her face.

"You notice how all the band members have rhyming first names?" she asked.

"Yeah." Cole replied. "I still can't believe that one of them is actually called Mary even though he's a guy."

"Maybe his dad was going for a 'Boy Named Sue' kind of thing." Joe joked.

"They also all have the surname Palaroncini." Westlake added. "I can't figure out if they are all related or if they're just using stage names like the Ramones did."

"I don't think even Limozeen themselves know that." Cole chuckled.

"Yeah. They are a great band, but I think the fumes from all that hair product are starting to disrupt their brainwaves." Joe agreed.

"Anyway, let's get going." Westlake ordered. "We've got to make time."

"Don't I know it?" Cole grinned as he put the pedal to the metal.

---

LaFours drove through Tomakomai in the south of Hokkaido. Banner and Baxter had been able to get him out of trouble with the police back in Sendai. They were now both on the line with him.

"That was embarrassing." Banner chided. "Don't let it happen again."

"We found out that the final Cannonball bridge is in Abashiri." Baxter added. "We want you to get ahead of the Cannonballers and get ready to hit them with a surprise attack as they head north."

"We worked out a route of back roads which will help you get ahead of them without them knowing it." Banner continued. "We're sending the route to your GPS now."

"Now get going and get us some arrests." Baxter finished.

LaFours grinned as he checked the GPS and drove the Compensator towards the beginning of the secret route.

---

Butthead approached the Starlight in a parking garage.

"Nice car." said a husky, female voice from the shadows.

Mitzi stepped out of the shadows. Butthead grinned to himself.

"Hey, baby." he grinned.

"Room for one more?" Mitzi suggestively asked.

In short order, Butthead was driving the Starlight on a country road as Mitzi rode shotgun and Barry White's "It's Only Love Doin' Its' Thing" played over the stereo.

Mitzi was laying back in her seat, caressing the seatbelt and the upholstery of her seat.

"Go faster. Speed turns me on." she breathlessly whispered to Butthead, who obligingly sped up.

Mitzi moaned in pleasure and unzipped her jumpsuit down to her navel. She then leaned over and kissed Butthead on the cheek passionately. She also put her hands on his chest and caressed him lovingly.

"This is cool." Butthead grinned as he drove down to a beach and drove along the sand for a short distance.

After a while, the Starlight was parked in front of the waves as Butthead and Mitzi kissed each other with rapture as Butthead held Mitzi around the waist. Butthead closed his eyes and groaned.

Suddenly, his grip was wrenched away from Mitzi and he opened his eyes to see a furious Lone Wolf who grabbed him by the shoulders and began to shake him vigorously.

"Think you can steal my girl, huh Butthead...Butthead...Butthead." Lone Wolf yelled with his voice eventually turning into Beavis' voice.

Butthead let out a yell and came out of his dream.

He was sitting in the back of the Starlight with Beavis as Corvax drove. Beavis was still shaking him by the shoulders and yelling his name.

"Butthead!" Beavis continued yelling.

"Dammit, Beavis!" Butthead growled as he let out a yawn. "Why do you always do that when I'm about to score?"

Butthead paused for a moment and remembered the turn his dream had taken.

"Uh, actually, you might have woke me up at the right time." he mumbled. "Anyway, whaddaya want?"

Beavis held up a bag of Frito-Lay Dragon Chips and offered it to Butthead.

"Ya want some chips?" Beavis asked.

Butthead growled and smacked Beavis upside the head.

"Fartknocker!" he snapped.

"Turd Burglar!" Beavis yelled as he hit back.

"Knock it off, you two!" Corvax snapped. "We're on the last leg of the race and I don't need any distractions!"

"Okay." Butthead huffed as he and Beavis crossed their arms.

---

At his base in the old Karin facility, Yuri drove the Kowalski at high speed around the racetrack. He had had the crystallized gas removed from the gas tank after capturing the Simpsons and got regular gasoline put in. He was enjoying the ride he was having and enjoying even more the fact that the Simpsons could see the racetrack from their cell window and could do nothing as Yuri taunted them by having fun with their car.

Yuri brought the car to a halt and checked his watch.

"Five seconds off my last lap time." he said to himself, impressed. "I guess that there is something to say for Mopar after all."

"Sir!" said Yuri's second-in-command as he jogged over. "There's a group of people out front!"

"Who is it?" asked Yuri.

"They said they'd only talk to you." said the lieutenant.

Yuri walked out and found Mirai and the teams headed by Dominic, Memphis, and Jesse.

"Greetings!" said Dominic. "We are the Monsters Gone Furious."

"We are the premiere stunt driving team in the U.S." said Memphis.

"We were touring Japan when our last show got cancelled due to weather." said Jesse.

"We were about to pack it in and go home," said Vince "then we discovered your fortress here. We saw that you have racetracks and thought you might like a show."

"Very well." said Yuri, curiously. "Let's see what you can do."

Fifteen minutes later...

Brian, Dominic, Memphis, and Jesse drove around the track in identical Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII's. Dominic and Jesse, who were second and fourth in line, swerved to the left while Brian and Memphis swerved to the right. Then they all swerved back the other way.

Vince raced towards a burning wall in a Mazda Cosmo. The Sphinx clung to the hood wearing a helmet. Vince smashed through the wall and came to a stop. The Sphinx got off of the hood and gave a double thumbs-up.

Tombstone, dressed as a rodeo clown, swept off a small ramp. The Evos raced around the oval track and hit the right side of the ramp with their left side wheels. Tombstone's coat got torn off.

Sway drove around the oval track in a Toyota Chaser and headed for a larger ramp. She activated line lock and used the ramp to put the car on its right side wheels. Body Drop climbed out of the window and surfed on the door for several seconds. Then he climbed back in and Sway dropped the car back onto all four wheels.

Tombstone continued to sweep off the small ramp. The Evos raced towards it again and clipped the left side with their right side wheels. Tombstone hopped away while holding his foot.

Vince raced towards Mirai in a Nissan Pulsar GTi-R. Mirai was in her Moldiver form. As Vince was almost on top of her, she pushed herself up against a wall and raised both of her legs up. As the Pulsar was on her, she put her feet up on its front bumper and held it back with her super strength as Vince continued to gun the engine.

Vince kept pouring on the power, but Mirai still held him back.

Eventually, the Pulsar's tires were worn down to the rims and Vince killed the engine.

He got out and Mirai put her feet down. They gave each other a thumbs-up.

Tombstone swept off the ramp again. The Evos clipped the right side with their left side wheels again. Tombstone swept himself off as they drove away.

Two of the Evos spun to a stop in front of Yuri. Brian and Dominic climbed out.

"So, how was that?" asked Dominic. "Do you think that maybe we can discuss our technique?"

"I don't think that will be necessary, Mr. Toretto." said Yuri as he drew his pistol. "Did you really think you could pull one over on someone with psychic powers?"

"We thought it was worth a shot." said the Sphinx as Yuri's men surrounded them, with guns drawn.

"Wait, you're British?" asked Yuri in surprise. "And you can talk?"

---

Marge and Homer watched the stunt show from the window. Maggie played with a paperweight, Lisa sat in a chair and moped, and Bart held up the doll next to her and pressed the talk button.

"You think about everything, ha ha ha."

Bart pressed the button again.

"I'm tired, I'm wasted...I love you, darling!"

Bart pressed the button again.

"You invited all my friends, good thinking!"

"Oh, I was hoping our friends could get us out of here." said Marge.

"Great, now we'll have to find our own way out." said Homer.

"I know it's a longshot, but do you have any ideas?" asked Marge.

"A few, but they'll attract too much attention." said Homer.

"Attract?" asked Lisa. She got out of the chair and looked at the sensor the guard buzzed. "This sensor is magnetic! If we ran a magnet over it just right, we might be able to unlock the door!"

"Can you do that, sweetie?" asked Homer.

"Yes!...is what I'd say if we had a magnet." said Lisa.

"Oh." moaned Marge.

"Wait a minute!" said Bart. "There's a magnet in the speaker of this Talking Tommy!" He pressed the talk switch again.

"Hi, doggie."

"Allow me." said Lisa. She took the doll and started to pull the arm and leg in opposite directions. The doll started to rip and Lisa dug her hands into the rip and started digging through the wiring. In the process, she triggered the talking feature.

"You are tearing me apart, Lisa!"

Finally, she pulled the speaker out. "Here we go." she said. She waved the speaker over the sensor. It chirped. She ran it over the sensor again. It chirped again. She ran it over the speaker again. The door buzzed and opened.

"We did it!" cheered Bart.

"Let's go!" yelled Marge as she picked up Maggie.

---

Dom, Memphis and Jesse's teams slowly raised their hands, but Mirai did not.

"You think you're special, girl?" Yuri nastily asked. "What can a Sailor Moon knock-off like you do?"

Mirai tapped her chin with her index finger to show she was thinking.

"Well...I can do this..." she began.

She suddenly moved around the group of Yuri's soldiers at the speed of light, leaving a pink blur of energy in her wake.

She came to a halt a split second later, holding the guns she had taken out of the soldiers' hands too fast for them to see.

The soldiers looked stunned as she dropped the removed firing pins from the guns down a drain she was standing near and then threw the useless guns away.

The Cannonball teams slowly lowered their hands.

"...and I can do this." Mirai finished as she blurred around the ring of disarmed soldiers again. As she went, Jesse held out a roll of duct tape which she snatched quickly.

Within a split second once again, the soldiers were all bound together with a strong "rope" of duct tape and also had their hands and feet taped up as well.

As Yuri was distracted by this, Vince, who was closest to him, kicked his gun out of his hand and quickly caught it before it fell. He aimed the gun at Yuri and kept him covered as Mirai came to a halt and grinned.

"Sailor Moon's got nothing on me!" Mirai cheered as she flashed the victory sign.

Yuri's lieutenant, who was unarmed, raised his hands in surrender. Yuri still looked defiant.

"As if I even needed a gun to deal with you fools!" he chuckled as he took a stance and got ready to use his powers.

The Simpsons suddenly burst out of the prison.

Yuri whirled around to face them.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Yuri.

"Step aside, spoon bender!" yelled Homer. "The Simpsons are making their escape and they're taking their friends with them! And so are we."

Yuri reached towards him and concentrated. Homer's face went blank.

"Our minds are melding." said Yuri. "Soon, you will know the joy of slavery." He concentrated some more, then his face took on a dumbfounded look. "D'oh." he muttered.

Homer laughed. "The mind of Homer Simpson." he said. "Enter at your own risk."

Marge chuckled.

"Okay, now that we've taken care of that..." said Brian.

"Ooh!" said Yuri.

"Yeah, we've got a race to finish, dude." said Bart.

"But what about Yuri?" asked Marge.

"Oh, Marge." whined Yuri.

"Hey, after all that we just did, CRAP is sure to notice." said Body Drop.

"Then let's get going." said Lisa.

They ran to their cars and got in. Yuri's lieutenant was so distracted by Yuri's strange behavior that he just let them go.

"I'll make sure Sean and Twinkie get the stunt cars back after this Russian weirdo takes off." Mirai called after her friends as they left.

She then turned to Yuri's troops.

"See ya!" Mirai waved cheerily as she flew off into the air and headed back for Tokyo.

"Woo-hoo!" cheered Yuri.

"I better take the boss to his office and wait for him to recover." sighed the lieutenant as he took Yuri by the shoulders. "Come along, boss. I'll make you a nice bowl of borscht."

"Mmmm, borscht." muttered Yuri.

---

About five miles away, Clouseau took a look at Yuri's base through binoculars. He had indeed heard the engines of racing cars at the base even from this distance and he could see activity was going on.

"You have the number for your friend in the local police, Cato?" Clouseau asked.

"Yes, sir." Cato nodded.

"Good. We shall head to that facility immediately." Clouseau confirmed.

---

Wonder Woman drove the Infinito along a narrow two-lane road winding through a mountain pass about forty miles away from Kitami as the Flash navigated.

On a higher road above them, the Legion and the Ram Raider drove down a downgrade and onto the road behind the Infinito as it passed.

Chairman drove the Legion with Big Boss in the passenger seat. Buttons drove the Ram Raider. They drove side by side, close to each other. They took up both lanes of the road as they gained on the Justice League team.

Wonder Woman had spotted them and sped up as they began to get close.

"Uh-oh." the Flash warned as the Compensator rounded a corner ahead of them and drove towards them from the other direction.

LaFours had indeed got ahead thanks to the route that his superiors had marked out for him, and was determined to collar a Cannonballer.

The Compensator was big enough to take up almost the entire road in front of the Infinito.

"Just had to take the scenic route, didn't we?" groaned the Flash as the Compensator closed on them from the front and the Legion and Ram Raider closed on them from behind.

"Hold on, guys!" Wonder Woman muttered as she activated some retractable spikes in the Infinito's tires and cut the wheel suddenly to the left as the three armored vehicles were almost on top of them.

Wonder Woman mounted the bottom of a mountain slope on the left side of the road and was able to squeeze through the small gap the Compensator left on that side with the tire spikes holding the car on the uneven surface. It was a tight fit, but they made it through as LaFours looked dumbfounded in their direction as they got past him and sped off.

LaFours turned back to look in front of himself too late as the Compensator was about to collide with the Legion and Ram Raider.

Big Boss and his associates yelled in terror and threw up their hands as the Compensator rammed into the front ends of their vehicles and all three vehicles came to a halt.

The Compensator had been tough enough to get away with a small ding in one of the front bullbars. However, despite their own armored parts, the front ends of the Legion and Ram Raider were caved in.

Chairman and Big Boss groaned in pain as their seatbelts had saved them from death, but not from severe bruising.

LaFours was ticked off about having another Cannonballer escape him, but was content to make any arrest he could. He angrily got out of the Compensator and walked towards Big Boss' window with a pair of handcuffs ready.

He got to the window and signaled for Big Boss to roll it down.

Big Boss did so, and took LaFours by surprise by jamming the end of his cane into LaFours' neck. The cane had a powerful taser built in and LaFours jerked and convulsed as his mouth opened in a silent yell.

LaFours lost consciousness and fell down in the road.

"Looks like we got some new wheels." Chairman remarked as he straightened the tendons in his neck. He and Big Boss were impressed at the fortitude of the Compensator and decided to take it as payback for losing their own vehicles.

Buttons got out of the Ram Raider and stretched painfully. Big Boss and Chairman got out of the Legion and did the same.

Chairman walked towards the Compensator and was pleased to see the keys still in the ignition.

"What about him?" asked Buttons as he nodded towards the unconscious LaFours.

Big Boss contemptuously gave LaFours a poke in the side with his right foot.

"Yeah, what about him?" Big Boss rhetorically asked in a dismissive tone. "We're outta here."

---

At Race Central, Ron Burgundy and Lazlow looked very pleased as they reported to the camera.

"We have confirmation that the Simpsons have indeed been rescued." Ron beamed. "And here they are for a brief interview."

The big screen came on and showed Marge driving the Kowalski with Homer asleep in the shotgun seat.

"You had us all scared for a while, Mrs. S." Lazlow remarked. "We're glad you made it out okay."

"Well, it was thanks to Dom and a few of his friends." Marge grinned. "They kept Yuri distracted with a stunt show and it allowed us to escape. It was a really fun stunt show as well. I just hope it won't make Bart want to try and be a stuntman again after that Springfield Gorge business from years ago."

"We can but hope." Ron joked. "Well, we'll leave you to get on with the race. Take care."

"Thanks, guys." Marge smirked as she signed off.

---

Inspector Clouseau walked into Yuri's office. "I am looking for the Cannonballers." he said.

"You're too late." said Yuri, who was now thinking clearly again. "They've already left."

"Zut alors." groaned Clouseau.

"They are getting on my nerves too." said Yuri.

"Wait a second." said Clouseau. "Now I recognize you. You're that rogue Russian psychic soldier."

"Yes, yes. I am." said Yuri.

"So terribly sorry." said Clouseau. "I'm afraid I must arrest you as well."

"Oh, it's one of those situations, is it?" said Yuri.

Clouseau picked up his radio and said "This is Inspector Clouseau calling for transport."

Some time later, a police car drove towards the facility.

"The Cannonballers have been the bane of my existence for some time now." said Yuri.

"As well as mine." said Clouseau. "My history with the Cannonball is quite troublesome."

"As is mine." said Yuri. "It's a pity we couldn't have teamed up together."

"Well, you know how these situations work." said Clouseau.

The police car pulled into the base.

"Oh, the transport's here." said Clouseau.

"I guess we should get this over with." said Yuri.

They walked over to the police car and Yuri opened the back door. Clouseau carefully climbed in.

"I wish you luck going after the Cannonballers." said Clouseau. "But this is where we part ways, Inspector."

"Have a safe trip, Yuri." said Yuri.

The police car drove off.

"That was easier than I expected." giggled Yuri.

Cato stood over by the BlackFin and looked shocked at what had happened.

---

The Cannonballers had mostly made it to Abashiri and were preparing to make the crossing back to the United States.

The Falcon approached the bridge to Alaska. Jay had taken over driving for a while earlier, but now Silent Bob was driving as Brodie sat in the back seat and Jay was in the passenger seat.

"We're almost back in North America." said Brodie.

"Great." said Jay. "I can't wait 'til we get there."

The viewscreen crackled to life revealing Misty and Veronica.

"And now we have an interview with one of the lead teams, Jay, Silent Bob, and Brodie." said Misty.

"Smoochie bootchies." said Jay as he raised a thumb.

"Jay, your team is almost back in the United States." said Veronica. "Your journey is closer to an end. How does that make you feel?"

"I feel almost relieved." said Jay. "All this time on the road and I'm certain we'll attain victory. I have some ideas for the prize money."

"What kind of ideas?" asked Misty.

"I'm going to find a decent tract of land and create my own superhero city." said Jay. "And I'm going to research super powers and use them to create my own superhero team."

"Oh, and you're going to help save the world with them." said Veronica.

"Hell no!" said Jay. "These guys are going to do my bidding for my entertainment. Can you think of the kind of stories these guys could get into?"

"And what purpose would that serve?" asked Misty.

"I'll do it just for the hell of it." said Jay. "What do I care? I'm gonna be rich."

"That does not sound like a prudent use of resources." said Veronica.

"Yeah, but it's not like I'm going to hurt anyone." said Jay. "My heroes will do my bidding for the good of entertainment."

"Okay." said Misty. "Now that we've seen the depths of human insanity..."

"Oh, give me a break." said Jay. "You know what your problem is? You're too tense! You need to loosen up so much! I can help you with that right now. No extra money required."

"Oh, I don't think we need to do that right..." said Veronica.

"Come on, sing along." said Jay. He started to sing. "This here's a jam for all the fellas. Try to do what those ladies tell us. You get shot down 'cause you're overzealous. Play hard to get, females get jealous. Okay, smartie. Go to a party. Girls are scantily clad and showing body. A chick walks by and you wish you could sex her, but you're standing on the wall like you was Poindexter."

"Yes, but..." said Misty.

"Next day's function, high class luncheon." sang Jay. "Food is served and you're stone cold munchin'. Music comes on, people start to dance, but then you ate so much, you nearly split your pants. A girl starts walking, guys start gawking, sits down next to you and starts talking. Says she wants to dance 'cause she likes to groove, so come on, fatso, and just bust a move."

Jay woke up and looked around. "Wait, where are we?" he asked.

"We're crossing the bridge to Alaska." said Brodie.

"I just had the weirdest hallucination." said Jay. "I gave an interview with the reporters, detailed some incredibly outlandish plans for a superhero city, and started rapping. It must've been one of those driver's fatigue things we were told about earlier."

"But you're alright now." said Brodie.

"Yeah, I think so." said Jay. "That was one shitkicker of a hallucination. I'm glad I switched places with Silent Bob now."

"You're probably just tired." said Brodie. "Maybe you should get some sleep."

"Yeah, good idea." said Jay. He slouched down in his seat, pulled his cap over his eyes, and promptly nodded off.

Silent Bob gave Brodie a glance in the rear-view.

"When are we going to tell him that really happened?" Silent Bob asked.

---

The CRAP chopper was flying above Hokkaido as Bullock and Montoya had been sent to find LaFours after Baxter got concerned about not hearing from him for hours.

Bullock looked through his binoculars and saw LaFours lying by the side of the road unconscious near the remains of the Legion and the Ram Raider, just like Big Boss and Chairman had left him.

"We found LaFours, sir." Bullock called in. "But are you up to hearing some bad news right now?"

Baxter let out an annoyed grunt over the line. A few seconds later, Cato came over the radio.

"There's a problem with the chief inspector, sir." Cato reported.

"No surprise there. What is it now?" Baxter snapped.

"He sort of...let himself get arrested." Cato sheepishly replied.

"He WHAT?!" Banner cut in. "Is he crazy?"

"Don't you think I already ask myself that every day?" Cato sighed in return.

"Can someone give us some good news?" Baxter came back.

"I think Montoya's Japanese is getting much better." Bullock lamely replied.

"I'm hanging up now." Baxter grimly replied in a low but furious tone.

---

The Usagi had just crossed onto the bridge to Alaska. Veronica drove as Jordan rode shotgun and Buffy sat in the back. Jordan was currently taking a Skype call from Nigel.

"I know it's very late in the race, but I finally got a lead on the guy you're looking for." Nigel reported.

"At last. What have you got?" Jordan inquired.

"You remember Lucille Botzcowski, the Babysitter Bandit?" Nigel asked.

"Yep." Jordan nodded.

"Well, your perp is her brother, Lucas." Nigel continued. "He's a thief, like his sister, and also heavily involved in black market smuggling and several auto theft rings specializing in rare and vintage cars."

"Sounds about right." Veronica nodded as she listened in.

"I've been trying to find a mug shot, but the guy's careful. He's only very rarely been arrested and the charges never stuck in each of those cases due to lack of evidence. He covers his tracks extremely well." Nigel finished.

"Well, keep at it." Buffy chipped in. "We've had fun on the Cannonball but haven't forgotten that we need to collar this guy before the end."

"I'll see what I can do." Nigel nodded and then signed off.

Veronica turned the radio on and tuned it to Race Central's frequency.

"Okay, our Cannonballers are officially on their way home and also on the way to the finish line!" Lazlow cheered. "We wish them all good luck and Godspeed. Here for some musical entertainment is Papa Roach."

The team heard the sound of the audience applauding and after it had died down a bit, Jacoby Shaddix made an announcement.

"I'd just like to clarify that we're not performing this song to throw shade at the Cannonballers." he joked. "We just thought that it fit the spirit of a race like the Cannonball. So, here we go!"

The audience cheered as the band started to play.

Please, forgive me while I turn out the lights.
Watch this haunted day turn into a wasted night.
So cut me off- throw me out.
'Cause I'm reckless, I'm a reckless,
Goddamn son of a bitch!

I'm reckless, so reckless.
God, save me from this madness.
I'm reckless, oh, so reckless.
God, save me from this madness.

I'm walking on broken glass from the wreckage of my past.
I'm be locked up in a cage 'cause I'm a prisoner of my ways.
So cut me off- throw me out.
'Cause I'm reckless, I'm a reckless,
Goddamn son of a bitch!

I'm reckless, so reckless.
God, save me from this madness.
I'm reckless, oh, so reckless.
God, save me, save me from this madness.

Thank god I've got a woman with my name across her heart.
Loving me ain't easy, loving me is hard.
I'm sorry about the madness, but that's the way it's gotta be.
'Cause it takes a crazy woman to love a reckless man like me.

I'm reckless, so reckless.
God, save me from this madness.
I'm reckless, oh, so reckless.
God, save me, save me from this madness.

I'm reckless, (I'm so reckless) so reckless (I'm so reckless)
God, save me, save me from this madness.
I'm reckless, (I'm so reckless) oh, so reckless (I'm so reckless)
God, save me, save from this madness.

-"Reckless" by Papa Roach.

---

A little way back, Team Rocket crossed the bridge to Alaska. Jessie drove while Giovanni glared at James as they both rode in the back seat.

"Honestly, boss. It was an accident." said James. "You know I wouldn't shoot you." He then added "With knockout darts at least." under his breath.

Jessie kept casting glances up at the rear-view, checking her mostly singed-off hair.

"Looking at it like that ain't gonna make it grow back any faster." Meowth remarked as he rode shotgun.

"Can it, furball." growled Jessie.

"Put some music on, Jess. It could help make you feel better." James suggested.

"Fine." Jessie huffed as she turned on the radio.

She's on fire,
and she burns through the night at the speed of light.
She's on fire,
With the heat of the beat right beneath her feet.

Jessie shrieked in frustration and turned the radio off.

The video screen on the dash crackled on and showed Yucko who obnoxiously honked an air horn into the camera and cackled evilly.

"Poor widdle baby!" he taunted Jessie. "Maybe you should make sure your next wig isn't so flammable!"

Jessie gave him a death glare.

"What is with your weird-ass 'do anyway, huh?" Yucko continued. "Ya tryin' to look like Princess Robot Bubblegum? Ya like to dress up like a schoolgirl and say 'ooooh, too horny to fight crime' as well? I bet your pussy-ass BFF with the blue hair there finds that hot!"

Yucko laughed obnoxiously once again and flipped the bird with both hands.

Jessie furiously closed the screen down.

"That looked familiar." James remarked.

"What?" Jessie snapped. "Did you think his face and your ass looked the same as well?"

"No, that sign on the wall behind him. It looked like a cow skull on a red background. I think I've seen it before." James answered.

"Not even REMOTELY relevant at this point." Giovanni glowered. "After all of this idiocy, we had better pull off the big win or you three are shit out of luck."

"Yes, boss." Jessie mumbled.

Giovanni turned his head to the side and pointed to his right ear, nastily indicating he wanted to hear her loud and clear.

"YES, BOSS!" she sounded off like a soldier would.

---

Gus pulled up in front of an old Spanish fort in his Echo. "Think this is the place, Shawn?" he asked.

"Yeah, looks like it." said Shawn. "See those reeds? There were some at the crime scene."

"Oh, I see." said Gus. "After she sets up her hiding place for the prize money, she then goes to the hotel and actually pulls off the crime. Simple as that."

"Actually, I was going to suggest a bizarre cult ritual, but that works." said Shawn.

Shawn and Gus climbed out of the car and walked to the fort. Neither of them knew that DeMarco was watching with his operatives.

Shawn and Gus entered the fort and started to look around. They entered a large room.

"What is this room?" asked Shawn.

"This appears to be the dungeon." said Gus. "This is where they..."

Shawn looked at some grates in the floor and walked over to them.

"Shawn?" asked Gus. "What is it?"

"Give me a hand with this." said Shawn.

He and Gus grabbed one of the grates and lifted it open. As soon as it was halfway open, Shawn let go and let Gus open it the rest of the way.

Shawn reached into the hole and pulled back a tarp. "Hello, I believe that to be the case where they're keeping the prize money." he said.

"Hey, Shawn." said Gus. "Doesn't Nightshade usually take part of what she steals?"

"According to her file, yes." said Shawn.

"Why is this thing still closed?" asked Gus.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Nightshade as she walked into the room and trained a gun on them.

Shawn and Gus stood up straight with their hands up. Shawn noticed that Nightshade's ear and earring matched the ear print and impression on the wall.

"Uh, nice to meet you." said Shawn. "I'm Shawn Spencer and this is my partner, Gus 'Waffle Fries' Watkins."

"Oh, you're that psychic detective I've heard about." said Nightshade. "I take it you were hired to find the missing prize money."

"That's correct." said Gus.

"Well, you're better than I expected." said Nightshade.

Just then Shawn noticed a calendar on the back wall. A schedule for the Night Fox had been written out detailing his normal plotting as well as an optimal day for him to perform the heist. Under that, "strike before this" was written in red.

Shawn put his fingers to his head and said "Oh, I'm getting a vision!"

"Oh, good grief." said Nightshade.

"Hold on, I want to see where he's going with this." said Gus.

"Nightshade, I can see that you didn't steal the prize money for yourself." said Shawn. "You knew that DeMarco had hired the Night Fox to steal the prize money. But killing him would go against many of your moral codes, what few of them there are, so the only way you could prevent them from stealing it was to steal it first. I can see you were planning on sounding an alert so that the guards would be busy with the Night Fox while you made off with the rich stuff, but then the Overseer showed up and provided the distraction you needed."

"Overseer?" asked Gus.

"That's what I've heard them call him." said Shawn. "In any case, I know you don't really want to hurt us. You just want to protect the prize money from DeMarco. I can assure you that we're working with the Cannonball officials to find it." He handed her his cell phone. "Here, I have them on speed dial. You can check."

Nightshade set down her gun and checked the contacts in Shawn's phone. "Well, you've exceeded my expectations." she said. "I'm actually surprised anyone was able to track me down. Good work."

"So, what now, Shawn?" asked Gus.

"I think we should go to the race officials and tell them we couldn't find who stole their prize money." said Shawn. "However, we will tell them where it is and they can keep an eye on it until the race ends at which point they will pick it up to give to the winners."

"Now, that sounds like a great idea!" said DeMarco as he, Lester, and the Foyts entered along with ten Ugatz and ten Slabs. All of them were armed with carbine rifles which they all aimed at Nightshade, Shawn and Gus.

Shawn, Gus, and Nightshade raised their hands above their heads. Nightshade turned to Shawn and said "This? You couldn't see this?"

"Hands up, mouth closed!" Janice Foyt ordered.

"Now, we'll set about making this place really secure while we gloat for a while." DeMarco laughed. "Contact the others and tell them where to head."

"With pleasure." beamed Alice Foyt.

TO BE CONTINUED...