Episode 4

Episode 4

A/N: Italicized passages represent flashbacks. And you would not believe how hard it was to find Johnny's full name: it's not on any fan sites and is only mentioned once in the entire series.

Takashi sat at the café table. An untouched hot dog was sitting in front of him. His mind wandered back to his meeting with Satomi earlier.

Takashi sat in Satomi's office. "It's nice to see you made a good recovery," she started. "But do you understand what you've done?" Takashi didn't look at her. He didn't have to. "That accident cost us almost half a million for replacement parts. You're lucky it wasn't more serious, or we wouldn't have a mech for the next race!" Miss Satomi took a seat to calm herself. She picked up a cup of coffee and took a sip. "Take today off. You can continue your training tomorrow." Takashi had left without a word.

"What's she know?" he said to himself angrily. His body wanted to get back into that simulator. He should be practicing to avoid another accident, not relaxing.

He left some money and his hot dog on the table and went for a long jog. He was passing through the park when he saw Liz up ahead. She spotted him and waved. "Hey, Takashi. Want to go do something?"

Takashi jogged right by her. "No thanks. Maybe another time."

Liz watched him go by, hand still in the air. "Oh, ok."

He continued running as long as he could. He ended his jog at his house. He instantly fell right onto his bed as the sun began to set. His sister Yuri appeared at his door. "Wo. I've never seen you that bummed before. What's wrong with you?"

"Not now, Yuri."

"Oh, come on. You don't want to talk?"

"NO." Takashi took one of his pillows and threw it at her. It missed by a foot and hit the wall, but it was still enough to make her jump.

"Fine. See if I care." She walked out.

Takashi lay in bed looking up at the ceiling until he fell asleep.

Takashi arrived at the headquarters bright and early. He met Mark in the garage. "Hey, Mark. How's the mech?"

Mark turned to him. "Hey, Takashi. It was pretty bad, but she should be ready by the next race." When he turned back his face was a little harder. "You did quite a number on that thing. When you accelerated like you did, it pushed the propulsion system past what it's supposed to do. Are you sure you want to keep doing this Keashin thing?"

"Actually that's what I wanted to talk about. Could you run the simulator for me later?"

Mark wiped his hand on a towel and forced a smile. "Sure."

"Thanks," Takashi said as he turned and walked off.

Mark's frown returned as Takashi walked away. But he just kept his comments to himself and returned to his work.

Liz walked into the gym. Takashi was kneeling on the floor in his Kendo suit. "Hey, man. Good to see you're up and about."

Takashi didn't move. "Thanks."

Liz looked over at the treadmill, but decided against it. "Want to go get something to eat?"

"No thanks. I'm going to stay and train."

Liz sighed. "It seems like all you think about is training." Takashi still didn't move. "You want to spar?"

He finally looked up at her. "Alright."

He put aside his sword and went into his usual stance in front of her. She matched it. They stared down at each other for several seconds. "You gonna come at me or what?" she asked.

"Fine." He dropped into a sweeping spin kick that caught Liz off guard. He swept her feet out and she started to fall. Takashi quickly brought his foot back under and launched himself into Liz, pounding her into the ground with the force of his entire body.

Liz landed hard on her back. She lay for a second to let the pain dissipate. She realized Takashi was still on top of her. She quickly shoved him off. "What the hell are you doing?! You could have seriously hurt me with that move!"

"You said you wanted to spar," he replied as he stood.

"Not if it's going to kill me!" Liz stood and stormed out of the room. "I'm out of here."

Takashi watched her go. As the door closed, he kneeled back into his meditation stance. The room once again grew silent.

"Welcome, race fans. Today marks the last race of round three, with team Satomi going up against team Edgeraid. Satomi's forward, Takashi Jin, is sitting out this race on doctor's orders after taking some damage from the Keashin. Replacing him today will be new pilot Johnny Limpkin. Currently, Johnny is the youngest pilot in the IGPX and this marks his career debut. But don't expect Edgeraid to go easy on them just because they have a kiddy in their ranks.

Johnny heard the insult through his headpiece. "Who's he calling a kid?"

"Don't worry about it," Liz replied. "Ben always says stuff like that." She went through and did a final check of the mech's sensors. Everything was good.

"Just remember what I told you, Johnny," Andre said from the control room. "Don't worry about taking Johannsen out. If you get into trouble just run. The most important thing is to stay alive."

"Got it."

Luca activated her own communicator. "Hey, kid. You want to take DeMarco instead? I've been itching to get back at Sola."

"No thanks. I'll be good." Johnny gave his engines one last prep and was ready to go.

Takashi watched from his chair in the room. "Never thought I'd be watching my own team race without me."

"Well, things happen," Mark said as he ran through the mechs. "You'll be out there by the next race, so don't worry."

"We're just about to get started, folks. Hold onto your hats."

3

2

1

GO!

The mechs blasted out. Edgeraid gained a quick lead and Satomi fell back a few meters. Johnny took a moment to get into formation and began to settle in.

"How you doin', kid?"

"Pretty good, Andre. Thanks for asking." Johnny moved one finger slightly and the mech began to tilt further right. "The movement's not the same as the simulator, though."

"You get used to that," Luz replied.

The teams screamed down the track. Going through the spiral Johnny couldn't help but feel awed and slightly queasy. Soon enough, the line was quickly approaching. They blasted through the stadium so fast the fans could hardly see them.

Johnny watched the other team. They weren't breaking formation. "What's going on?"

"Not sure," Amy answered. "Why aren't they coming to attack us?"

Andre put a finger to his chin. "Maybe they just don't want to take first blood. Go get 'em."

The Satomi mechs accelerated forward and broke their formation. Liz came up on Frank Bullit, who quickly turned around and caught Liz, hand to hand. They immediately went into a sumo-style match.

Amy faked a move on DeMarco and spun around in front of her. She threw several punches, but Bella quickly blocked and countered.

Johnny was coming hot up Johannsen's rear. His mind was racing trying to come up with a strategy. He was still thinking when Johannsen spun around and came at him. He looked up at the last moment to see a punch coming his way. Without thinking, he threw up a block and countered a punch to Johannsen's chest. His mech accelerated and he pulled out in front as Johannsen recovered.

"Good opening move, kid. But do you only intend to run the whole match?"

"Pretty much."

"Well, I guess it will work, but don't expect any style points."

Johnny watch as Johannsen quickly came up behind him, preparing a backside punch. At the last minute, Johnny ducked into a ball and slowed. Johannsen couldn't stop in time and tripped. Johnny popped back up and grabbed Johannsen's leg with both arms. He went into a spin, carrying the enemy with him. He let go and Johannsen went flying. He landed right next to Bullit, who was still fighting Liz.

"Hey, Liz. Can you handle two for me?"

Liz pushed off of Bullit and punched him back. "I think so, but not for long."

Johnny accelerated to top speed. "You only need you hold them long enough." Johnny's mech slowly gained distance from the fights.

"Perhaps we should just end this," Bella said in a seductive voice. Her voice always sounded that way to Amy.

Amy saw little explosions from Bella's arms. "Watch out, Liz. They're using their strings." Amy was cut off as her mech was suddenly pulled. She couldn't stop as she moved closer to Bella, who was already preparing her punch.

"Fly, little birdie." The punch came hard. It sent Amy back a good hundred meters.

"Amy," Liz called. She moved to try and help her, but couldn't. Johannsen had already caught her.

He moved and arm and Liz spun around. "Time for the Edge Monsoon." He pulled Liz in close and punched her in the shoulder. Her mech spun back and tried to stop itself. But just as it did, Liz got blind sided by Bella. She spun again, this time into a punch from Bullit. She screamed as she was sent around and around the deadly triangle.

Amy started to accelerate in. "Hold on, Liz. I'm coming."

"No…ugh…stay back. At least one of us needs to stay alive." Liz screamed again as one last punch sent her up and away. She landed on one arm and it got torn off. "Agh…go finish the race."

"It looks like Liz Ricarro was taken out by the deadly Edge Monsoon. But Johnny Limpkin has gained a lead that may be hard to Edgeraid to make up."

To Be Continued…