Episode 5

Episode 5

Johnny's heart pulsed. This was his dream. He was actually living it. He could almost imagine the crowd's thunderous applause as he blasted through the stadium. He instantly dropped his mech into speed mode. He had to keep his lead as long as possible.

Ben watched the race from high in the sky. "What an incredible race this is turning out to be. Usually you see the racers doing everything possible to kill each other. But Johnny Limpkin has avoided battle for almost the entire race. Edgeraid is trying to catch him, and their slowly gaining ground thanks to their drafting. Amy Stapleton is bringing up the rear.

Johnny kicked his boosters as he came out of the turn. He could feel his head get pushed back deeper into his helmet. It was even better than he had imagined. He let out a joyous "Wahoo!"

"Careful, kid. Edgeraid is gaining on you."

Johnny checked his rear view. Sure enough, the red mechs were coming out of the turn he had exited only seconds before. They were in perfect drafting formation. "Well, I hope they don't mind me joining them."

The team slowly came up on his side. Johnny moved the mech into their path. Johannsen gave a grunt and moved to the other side, but Johnny blocked them off again. "He's trying to use our draft. Split up." The Edgeraid team moved apart, forming a V-formation. The two on the outside began to move forward a bit.

Johnny saw their move and checked his position. He was coming up on a turn. They would be coming up on the canyon soon. He moved out to block Bella DeMarco. The others continued their acceleration. The turn was coming up.

Johnny hit his boosters again and threw himself down to the inside. He forced his mech as close to the wall as he dared and struggled to keep it under control. The G-forces were incredible.

Mark saw the readings. "Johnny, be careful. You're pulling too many G's." Johnny came out of the turn. He had gained a few seconds on Edgeraid. "You have to be careful or you're going to black out doing that."

Johnny laughed. "Huh. If you thought that was good, wait till you see what I do next." He could see the canyon over the next hill.

Johannsen screamed at his teammates, "Back in formation. We can't let him win." The team regrouped into drafting formation and their speed increased.

"Don't do anything stupid," Andre put in as a last minute suggestion.

"Oh, come on, coach," Johnny replied with a big grin. "That's what newbies are known for." He blasted into the canyon with Edgeraid right on his heels. Johnny tapped his boosters for a split second to gain momentum and jumped out of speed mode. He pushed off before he lost speed, shifted back into speed mode in mid air, and landed at full speed on the wall. He hit the booster as he screamed around, or up by Johnny's view, the turn. Andre, Satomi, even Takashi, was shocked at his incredible move.

Johnny shifted out and pushed off again, landing this time on the opposite wall to prepare him for the next turn.

"What a move! Johnny Limpkin is actually riding on the wall to decrease his time while Edgeraid has to brake around the corners!"

Mark looked down at the readings. The G-forces were dangerously high around the turn. "Johnny, you've got to take that turn slower or you're going to black out!"

Johnny went into the "grip" position. It was a pilot's technique to protect from high G-forces. He clenched his legs and abs to keep the blood in his head. The turn was intense. Everything in the boy's body felt like a ton. Johnny's vision was swimming as he came out of the turn. He pushed himself off the wall for the final turn. Team Edgeraid was just going through the second turn.

"One more move like that and Johnny's going to black out for sure," Mark said to no one in particular.

"Luckily this is the last turn. If he can manage this, he's in the clear."

Johnny watched the upcoming turn. He flexed his leg and stomach muscles as hard as he could and hit the boosters again. He closed his eyes as he went through the turn. His head started to spin. As Johnny opened his eyes, everything was spinning. Relying only on instincts, he dropped out of speed and back onto the track, where he once again blasted the boosters down the final stretch.

"He's loosing consciousness."

"Johnny, stay with me."

Johnny barely heard them. He could just make out the stadium. He held the turbo as long as he could before passing out.

"Johnny Limpkin is blasting it full speed down the final stretch with Edgeraid desperately trying to make up time!" Ben squinted his eyes. "Wait, it looks like Johnny's mech is losing speed! Edgeraid just might be able to make it up. Or will the lead be enough. Who will win?"

The mechs continued closer to the stadium. Johnny's mech still had enough momentum to pass over the line, but would Edgeraid catch up? All of team Satomi held their breaths as the last seconds clicked by. Johannsen was pushing his mech with all of his might. Johnny inched closer to the finish line.

"AND THE WINNER IS……………JOHNNY LIMPKIN BY ONLY A THOUSANDTH OF A SECOND!" Everything went from silent anticipation to thunderous excitement in an instant. "Team Edgeraid takes second through fourth, tying the points, but Amy Stapleton comes in way behind for the winning two points. TEAM SATOMI WINS!"

The Satomi team jumped for joy, that is until Andre mentioned Johnny. Satomi called down to the crews to get Johnny out as quickly as possible.

Johnny was found unconscious in the cockpit with no injuries. The medic checked him out before he woke up. Takashi and Liz carried him to the conference room, where everything had been prepared for a party.

Only a few minutes after they arrived, Johnny slowly opened his eyes. Everyone was around watching him intently. "Uh, what's going on?"

Several of the group stifled laughs before they showered him with confetti. "CONGRATULATIONS!"

Johnny's face lit up. "We won?!"

"You know it," Liz said handing him a drink. "Here's to your first IG-1 victory."

Johnny tapped her glass in a toast and took a deep drink of the orange soda. Music started to play and everyone began to dance.

The party went on happily. During a techno mix song, Liz noticed Takashi sitting on a chair by the wall, a drink in his hand. She moved over towards him. "Hey, man. Why aren't you partying?"

Takashi shrugged. "No reason. Just a little tired, I guess."

Andre's eyes caught the two and he watched them for a moment.

"Come on, man," Liz said as she grabbed his arm. "It's a party! Have some fun."

Takashi let out a smile. "Sure, why not?" He went with her to the middle of the room and they started to dance.

Andre watched Takashi for a moment more before turning and walking out of the room.

He walked down the still, dark hallways until he got to the simulator. He fired up the computer and looked up the records. Takashi had registered 7 hours since his race against Fire Fox two weeks ago. "Well, it's not so bad," he said to himself. "Maybe I'm just worrying too much."

Takashi and Liz sat at the poolside the next day. Liz was looking around the pool, bored. She looked at Takashi longingly wanting to get out of there. "Come on. If we're going to be here let's at least get in the pool."

"You go ahead. I'm just going to chill."

Liz stood up. "Well then I'm just gonna leave."

"Alright."

"What? You're not going to stop me?"

He shrugged. "If you don't want to stay, I shouldn't stop you."

Liz was furious. "Fine. If you don't want to be with me, then I don't want to be with you." She grabbed her towel and stormed out. Takashi wasn't even fazed as shifted into a more comfortable position.

Takashi moved in on his prey. The black mech was just going along, oblivious. He dove into his machine and spun around into an unseen blur. He bashed the other mech in the chest and dropped out of Keashin. It sprawled for a moment but regained its footing. Takashi re-entered the dangerous state and sent a lightning fast series of punches into the mech from all angles. In a final attack, he grabbed the arm and ripped it out of the socket. Takashi was out and away before the Black Egg machine was on the ground.

The simulator shut down and the chair shifted out into the light. Mark looked over the readings. "Great job, man. You've really gotten control of this Keashin thing. If you can just keep from going in it for too long, you'll be unstoppable against Sledgemama."

"Thanks." Takashi pulled off his helmet and walked out, leaving Mark aghast.

"What's with him lately?"

Johnny walked in a second later. "Hey, Mark. Is Takashi finished?"

"Hey, kid. Yeah, he just left. But if you want to use the simulator, you'll have to activate it. I need to go do some work on the mechs."

"No problem."

"Thanks." Mark put in the commands and patted Johnny's head as he walked by. "Oh, have you noticed anything weird with Takashi lately?"

Johnny thought. "Now that you mention it, he has been a little separated these past few days. I haven't even seen with Liz that much."

"So it's not all in my head. Thanks. Good luck." Mark waved and walked out.

Amy typed away at her personal computer. Luca was above her on a shelf. Amy looked up. "Our race against Sledgemama is in two days. Do you think we'll win?" Luca, who was trying to sleep, simply swished his tail. "Is that a yes?" Luca swished his tail again. "Yeah, you're right. We'll beat 'em no problem."

Takashi sat in his dojo, settling his mind for the race the next day. He had his metal sword by his side. He slowly opened his eyes. In his head, he saw River standing before him. His face grew hard and he grabbed the sword. He went into a fury of attacks which the imaginary specter dodged. Takashi drew back and came again, doubling his pace and letting out a furious scream, "RIVER!" His imagination showed him a very scared River, trying desperately to stay alive. He spun into a low sweep which River jumped over. With blinding speed, Takashi stood and brought his blade in a continuous circle and glared into his opponent's terrified eyes. He brought the blade through the final slash right at the spot where River's neck would be. He stopped, his blade still held back. His breathing was hard. He closed his eyes and moved the blade back into its sheath. Standing up tall, he glared ahead. "Tomorrow…you die."

To Be Continued…