Episode 7

Episode 7

"The lotus blooms twice?" Jessie asked, repeating the phrase. "What does that mean?"

"The lotus," Mark said, "is a rare flower from Africa. It has two stages of bloom. One is daily, but the other, much more beautiful one, is shown only once a month. The inner one is used to catch food using a potent poison."

"Much more dangerous than the first," Andre finished.

Satomi finally understood. "We need to get one of those two out."

Ben interrupted her. "And there goes the caution. The racers are off once again."

Takashi began to accelerate on River. Andre tried to stop him. "Takashi, calm down. You're going to hurt River."

"I'll calm down later." There was a beep and the radio fell silent.

Mark pressed the button several times, but nothing happened. "He's shut off his radio."

"Exactly how dangerous is this second attack?"

"The first person it was used on," Andre said with a grim face, "spent two years in a coma." Everyone gasped. "And I have no doubt Takashi's could do much more damage."

The mechs blasted through the stadium. The fans were completely oblivious to what was about to happen.

"COME HERE, RIVER!" Takashi screamed with an evil howl.

River immediately dropped into speed mode to get away. But Takashi was already in front of him and pulled him back up. Instinctively, River fired his arm. It caught Takashi off guard and he was thrown back. But River still couldn't get around him.

Mark suddenly gasped. "The mech's hardware is rewireing! What on earth is going on?"

"The Machine Spirit is recovering," Andre answered. "The Primary Lotus drains the mech's energy and strains the limbs. It needs more fuel for the next attack."

"But what will happen then?" Jessie asked. "If the next attack is even worse, won't it drain MORE energy?"

Andre nodded. "Takashi will be lucky to make it across the finish line."

The mechs went through the far turn. They were a third of the way through the last lap. River was calculating how long he would have to stay alive.

Liz and Amy were still pounding Dimma. He was slowly beginning to weaken. "Let's go!"

Amy nodded and both girls fell back for the "Flying Dutchess." Liz took Amy's hands and began to spin. With a twist, Amy was thrown headlong down the track, punch ready.

Dimma was prepared. His arms twisted around and the ends began to spin their drills. Amy saw it and gasped. Her momentum was too great; she couldn't stop herself. The drills dug into her chest. Sparks danced across her readings and Amy was thrown to the side of the track, smoke flowing from several large holes in the metal.

"AMY!" She turned back to Dimma with a scowl.

Dimma laughed. "One little punk down, one to go."

Liz screamed and charged in.

River made his move. He threw one of his arms low in an attempt to trip Takashi. But the projectile never reached its target. Takashi moved instantly forward twenty yards and broke the energy strand with one swing, leaving River one arm short. River, shocked, slowed his mech. If Takashi was smart, he would go for the victory.

Takashi also slowed and matched River's speed. Liz and Dimma came blazing past, locked in sumo style. Liz eyed Takashi as they went past. "Takashi! What are you doing?"

He made his move. Takashi charged the thirty meter difference in the blink of an eye and delivered a powerful spinning kick to River's head.

The mech went spinning. River spread his arms to gain balance. No sooner had he done so than Takashi was directly behind him, driving a punch into the back, throwing River back across the lane. And suddenly Takashi was there again with another punch. River screamed as he was sent spinning again.

Everyone watch aghast. "How can he move so fast?"

"THIS IS INCREDIBLE! Takashi Jin is absolutely destroying River Mark. Team Sledgemama may be in trouble!"

Takashi continued gaining speed. Metal began to fall off of River's mech and litter the track. An exhaust pipe flew a hundred feet into the city. But still Takashi went faster, only appearing as glints of light as he changed directions, until even River's spinning mech was a blur. "Takashi, please!" River screamed in fright.

"Time for the kill." Takashi positioned himself in front of River, fists together. Energy danced across his arms, ready to do as much carnage as possible. The blow connected to the stomach and sent River into the air. A weakened leg flew off at the sudden change of momentum.

For a moment, River was looking into the sky. He almost mistook it for heaven. But Takashi appeared over him, bringing him back to the living hell. "HIDDEN LOTUS!" Takashi's voice seemed to come from everywhere just a moment before the attack.

The yellow mech pile drove the blue one back to the track. River's left arm hit at a strange angle and tore off. Sparks began to fly all over the cockpit.

Takashi stayed on top of River, riding his mech like a skate board. The sound of metal on metal was agonizing in River's ear. The other leg, finally worn through, fell off to bounce around the track. River opened his pained eyes once more to see Takashi still over him.

A single fist drove down and crumpled the Sledgemama mech's head unit. River's body had had enough, and he dropped out of consciousness.

Takashi finally jumped off and River's mech bounced down the track. Medical emergency teams were already on their way out.

Takashi's own mech buckled and he had to go into speed mode to stay under control. Even still, he went backwards to watch his rival finally come to a rest.

No smile came across Takashi's face. There was no joy in his heart. He said and thought nothing. He only turned and sped toward the finish line over the next hill.

An hour later, the Satomi team minus Takashi was in the council room of Satomi headquarters. Everyone's face was sullen. Jesse, glancing around at all the sad faces, tried to force a smile. "Come on, guys," she said weakly. "We did win after all. And we've got a spot in the semis."

Liz hit the wall hard. "How could Takashi do that to River? River was his team mate."

Jesse couldn't tell if Liz was angry or going to cry.

Liz looked at Andre and her face grew furious. "How could you do this?!"

Andre didn't move as all eyes turned to him. "I thought he could handle this. I never expected things to escalate to this level."

Liz got right up into the man's face. "Well because of you Takashi is a heartless zombie and River is on life support!" Andre still didn't move. Liz pulled up and walked out, the door closing silently behind her.

"Well," Miss Satomi started. "I suppose it would be best if we sat Takashi for now. Just until he's back to normal and won't harm any other pilots." Satomi watched Andre for some kind of sign of approval or disapproval, but none came. "So how do we get Takashi back?"

"We don't," he said. He said it like it was nothing, just a fact. "A pilot can only deal with the Machine Spirit on his own."

"But there must be something we can do to help?" Jesse pleaded.

Andre shook his head. The sad faces returned.

Mark stood up. "I guess I should start repairs on the mechs." He silently walked out.

"I think I'll go home and get some rest," Johnny said as he followed Mark.

Amy started to the door, but was stopped when Satomi asked where she was going. "I think I'm going to find Liz. She's going to need some comfort."

Amy walked through the building, thinking of the places where Liz might be. She decided to check in the gym first.

And strangely enough, Liz was running on the treadmill when Amy walked in. Amy could tell that Liz had been crying; wet streaks were running down her cheeks. Amy slowly walked over to stand beside the tread. "Need someone to talk to?"

"No thanks."

Amy put her hand on the side bar. "Need a shoulder?"

After a moment, Liz stopped the treadmill and stood. She softly stepped down and grabbed Amy in a hug. The moment she did, the tears started to flow freely again. Between a few wheezes, Amy could softly hear Liz say, "I'm scared."

Amy patted Liz's shoulder softly, her own tears starting to fall. "I know."

To Be Continued…

A/N: Uh-oh. Things aren't looking too good for team Satomi right now.

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