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Rideback: Fire and Water

Chapter 3

And There's The Flag!

The following Saturday morning (race day) Rin and Shouko show up and the rideback clubs garage where Okakura, Tamayo, Haruki and Dota are all loading up the truck getting ready to head off to the race.

Tamayo, standing on the back of the truck noticed the two big bags Rin was carrying and said "Watcha got there? Didja pack us a lunch ballerina?"

"No, I just bought myself a riding suit and helmet so I don't have to keep borrowing yours."

"Really? Well lets see it."

"Rin set the bags down and pulled out her black riding suit with the red flames and the matching helmet and held. After putting the helmet on her head she just took the shoulders of the riding suit and held them against her shoulders so Tamayo could get the full view.

"Wow, flashy." said Tamayo.

"Well, I thought it would match Fuego better than the yellow and black one. I bought one for you too. Come and take a look."

Tamayo jumped down off the back of the truck and said "You bought me a riding suit? You know I have several right?"

Rin handed Tamayo the second bag and said "Well I think this one will match Agua nicely."

Tamayo pulled out the black and blue riding suit and with one hand held it up against her neck letting it unfold down her body. "So, you bought me this so I could make a fashion statement?"

"I guess that must seem pretty girly and silly to someone like you huh?" said Rin.

"No no, I guess it doesn't hurt to look good while winning. Thank you." said Tamayo. "You gonna wear yours in the race today?"

"Yeah of course. You?"

"I guess I will if you are. Sure."

"Tamayo caught sight of the manufacturer on the tag and said "Hey, this pretty pricey stuff. How did you afford all of this?"

"Oh actually the shop owner gave us a really good deal. In fact come to think of it part of the deal is that I promised I'd ask you if you wouldn't mind going down there someday when you have time and give him your autograph."

"So you got a discount by promising my autograph?"

"Hey he wanted Rin's autograph too you know." said Shouko.

"No not exactly. The discount on this purchase was just for promising to ask you. If you actually go down and give him an autograph then both of us get forty percent off all future purchases." said Rin.

"Forty percent? All future purchase? This could be useful. Parts and gear are expensive. Nice score ballerina."

"Thank you." said Rin.

"Would you stop calling her ballerina. She has a name you know." said Shouko.

"Right, sorry Rin." said Tamayo. Wow, she's getting awfully protective. I gotta remember to watch what I say around her.

"That's okay. I've gotten used to it." said Rin.

"Okay, that's everything. We're all packed up and ready to go." said Dota.

"Okay, Lets head out then." said Haruki.

~RB~

Dota, Haruki, and Shouko are in their assigned stall setting up and doing some last minute checks on Ballon and the RB-Z when Shouko's heart skipped a beat at the sight of Rin coming from the changing room in her new riding suit. "Oh no. Total backfire. She's even hotter in this one. Crap! Quick, think something else. Dota. Yeah, Chubby little Dota aaaand Okakura. Dota and Okakuraaa... kissing. Oh god yuck. That worked. That worked a little too well. Oh gross."

"Shouko... Shouko! Are you alright?" said Rin wondering why Shouko wouldn't look at her.

"OH uhm. Yeah I'm fine. heh heh" said Shouko.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"I asked you what you think of the new riding suit. How do I look?"

"Oh Looks great Rin." "Holy crap this is getting so hard. Damn this phase better pass soon. I don't know how much more of this I can take."

"Rin come here a second." said Haruki.

"Yeah?" said Rin as she walked over to where he was working.

Whispering quietly for fear Okakura might be lurking around any corner Haruki said "I'm gonna have Balon's ACS system disabled right from the start this time. I figure if you at least get a decent finish in the prelims then you won't have so much ground to make up in the race and you won't have to go all out. So maybe not only will you not blow the engine but maybe you won't arouse Okakura's suspicions either. So just take it easy and get a good finish okay. Don't worry about winning. Besides Tamayo would never forgive you if you beat her in the race anyway."

Rin chuckled a bit and said "Yeah you're right about that. Okay, Thanks Haruki."

Just then Tamayo came out in her new riding suit. "Well, How do I look?"

"Very nice." said Rin. "Fits perfectly." she added.

"Oh yeah, How did you know my size?" asked Tamayo.

"Well you're yellow one fit me so well I just figured we were the same size."

"Oh yea, right. good thinking."

Shouko looked at Tamayo in her new riding suit and thought "Tamayo does look good in that. So why am I not attracted to her too?" She looked back and forth between the two. "Nope, Rin's definitely got the cuter butt. And those great legs. Oh no, Dota and Okakura. Dota and Okakura. Dota and Okakura."

"The prelims are gonna be starting soon and Balon and the RB-Z are ready to go so you two might wanna head over to the starting grid.

"Okay." said Rin climbing onto Balon. "See ya later Shouko."

"Go get em Rin!" cheered Shouko. "whew, as long as she's out on the track I'm okay."

~RB~

The Prelims have just finished and Dota, Haruki and Shouko are listening to the commentators announce the results.

Commentator A: "And Tamayo Kataoka takes first place in the prelims. No surprise there but what is a surprise is her teammate Rin Ogata taking second place."

Commentator B: "Yeah I'f I remember correctly I think she finished dead last in the prelims last year."

Commentator A: "Yeah but she was making a come back for the record books in the race until she blew her engine just meters from the finish line."

Commentator B: "That's right. She might just be a force to be reckoned with this year. We'll have to keep an eye on her."

Commentator A: "Well she is the legendary rideback girl after all. And that's no surprise either if she's under the expert tutelage of the rideback princess Tamayo Kataoka."

"Everybody keeps getting the wrong idea about her. Tamayo isn't the reason Rin is so good." said Shouko getting bent out of shape.

Just then Tamayo and Rin came riding up on their ridebacks and came to stop next to each other.

Tamayo took off her helmet and bumped fists with Rin and said "Nice going Rin. I'm glad to see all that practice paying off. I wanna see you in my rearview at the end of the race too."

"Thanks but at the end of the race if you don't see me in your rearview look in front of you." said Rin confidently.

"Hey hey, those are fight'n words. I'm not gonna let you have it that easy." said Tamayo.

"Good. I wouldn't want it any other way partner." said Rin.

"uh, Way to go Rin." said Shouko trying desperately not to sound to excited for fear some one might get the wrong idea or worse the right one.

Haruki expecting a ton of work to do before the race hesitantly said "So how did the handle. Anything need changing?"

"I can't think of anything specific. How about you Rin?" said Tamayo.

"Nope. Balon handled just fine."

"Just give them both a thorough once over and replace anything that looks like it might break during the race." said Tamayo.

"Sweet. You got it." said an overjoyed Haruki.

"Well Shouko, We've got two hours until the race starts. Want to go get something to eat at one of the food stands or something?" said Rin.

"Oh man, two hours with Rin in that riding suit. This is gonna be rough." "Yeah sure. I could eat something."

~RB~

Finally at about ten minutes to race time Rin and Shouko return to their pit stall.

"Rin! Finally you're back. It's almost race time and there's a few things I want to go over with you before the race." said Tamayo.

"Okay?" said Rin ready to listen.

"We'll be starting first and second which is good but as you know those Cobra brothers are always trying to knock me out of the race and with your performance in the prelims they'll no doubt be gunning for you too so we'll need to try to get a commanding lead right away. They'll have to catch us before they can try anything."

"Right, I gotcha." said Rin.

"And if they do catch you?" asked Tamayo.

"Well, if the GGP robots couldn't take me down I don't think I'll have much trouble with the Cobra brothers." said Rin.

"That's what I wanted to hear. Good girl." said Tamayo. "Okay let's get over to the starting grid. It's almost time." she added.

Moments later the race starts with out a hitch and Tamayo takes a commanding lead as planned. Rin however didn't get off the line as quick and is lagging just a bit behind. Tamayo only occasionally catches glimpses of Rin coming around a corner just before Tamayo disappears around the next.

"Rin, What happened?" said Tamayo through the helmet radio.

"Sorry. I guess I should've practiced those fast starts more."

"Well, hurry up and catch up and don't expect me to wait for you."

"Don't worry. I'm coming."

But before Rin could catch Tamayo the Cobra brothers caught up with Rin. They set up their usual attack by pulling up along either side of her planning to crush he between them and just as they got into position Balon leaped straight up and in mid air Rin went into spread-legs form and did a three hundred and sixty degree flat spin knocking both cobra brothers off their ridebacks in one move which made the commentators go crazy.

Commentator A: "Oh my god Rin Ogata just took out both Cobra brothers in one fell swoop!"

"YES! You go Rin!" shouted Shouko. "God I love her."

Commentator B: "Yeah, They should have known better then to pick on he legendary rideback girl. I'm sure they'll think twice before trying that again!"

Having seen the whole thing go down in her rearview Tamayo said "Oh my god Rin you gotta teach me that. That was awesome."

"Do you have about thirteen years to kill?" said Rin.

"I can see why Shouko likes her so much. She is pretty incredible." "I'm getting the feeling this race is going to be a piece of cake with you back there watching my back." said Tamayo.

"Yeah, don't worry about a thing. I gotcha covered." said Rin.

"Just make sure you keep up. Remember I want to see you right behind me when I cross the finish line."

"No promises. I might be in front of you."

"Still think you can beat me huh?"

"You think I can't?"

"Well, I guess we'll see."

Tamayo and Rin get through the next few laps with out incident with their only real competition having lost so much time with their foolhardy attack on Rin. Their charge was so unhindered they're about to start lapping the slower riders on the last lap.

Coming up on the slower riders Tamayo glances at the splashes of blue color on the riding suit Rin bought for her and thought "Agua huh? Water.. Yeah okay. I can be the water. Cause water flows through everything." as she started flowing through the slower moving traffic like flood water flowing through a low lying city.

Just then the commentators are going crazy again.

Commentator A: "Oh my god there's a hug pile-up of ridebacks! What a mess. There's gotta be a dozen riders at least involved in that wreck."

Commentator B: "Yeah, and what's worse is Tamayo Kataoka and her teammate Rin Ogata are lapping the slower riders and coming on this pile-up fast and there's no way through. The wreckage is blocking the whole track!"

Tamayo still unaware of the disaster ahead is just a turn away passing slower riders thinking "Water flows through everything." and then the wreckage comes into view. "Except damns! Shit!"

Not being denied Tamayo uses the same trick she saw Rin use to jump over the deer in the road and launches her RB-Z into a flip over the wreckage and so focused on getting through it she hadn't noticed that Rin had pulled up right along side her around that last turn and Rin used Balon's arms to launch herself into a backflip over the pile-up.

Just while Tamayo was feeling kind of proud of herself in mid air upside down over the wrecked ridebacks she glanced to her right to see Rin's upside down smiling face passing in the opposite direction and Tamayo grimaced and said "Show-off."

Both Tamayo and Rin land safely on the other side of the wreck and are now neck and neck with just a few more turns to go and again the the commentators are going nuts.

Commentator A: "Oh my god! Both Tamayo and Rin Ogata both made it past the wreckage by doing flips over it! and one of them was a backflip!"

Commentator B: "Yeah, It kinda begs the question who's really teaching whom here? Is Kataoka teaching Ogata or is Ogata teaching Kataoka?"

Commentator A: "Good point. I'm not sure myself anymore!"

"Finally they're starting to get the idea." said Shouko.

With the wreckage having consumed most of the other riders and blocking the rest it's just Rin and Tamayo and no one between them and the finish line.

"It's all or nothing now. Do or die time." thought Tamayo as she dropped into spread-legs form and opened up the throttle pulling away from Rin.

Coming around the last turn Rin saw the finish line and Tamayo dead ahead and thought "She's not gonna let me pass so easily. I'll have to time this perfectly... NOW" as she dropped into spread-legs form and accelerated towards her partner and just before she was about to collide with the back of Tamayo's RB-Z she launched Balon into another flip to pass over Tamayo.

As Tamayo crossed the finish line she noticed a shadow moving over her and she looked up to see Rin smiling down at her and she thought. "No way!"

Rin's rear wheel in mid air and Tamayo's front wheel both seemed to cross the finish line at the same time giving the commentators something else to get excited about.

Commentator A: "Oh my God Rin Ogata just flipped over her own teammate right at the finish line!"

Commentator B: "I can't even tell who won! Is that even legal? Does it count if your wheels aren't on the ground when they cross the finish line? What does the rule book say?"

Commentator A: "Well folks, This is no doubt going to take some time while the officials review the footage and the rule book for that matter and figure out who won."

Tamayo and Rin rode back to the pit stall to await the official results and as soon as they parked and removed their helmets a thrilled Tamayo said "Oh my god Rin that was awesome. I don't even care who won at this point. If they give it to you I'm happy for you. You earned it." Then Tamayo wrapped Rin up in a big hug and Shouko witnessing this suddenly lost it and in a fit of jealousy ran over and tried to pull Tamayo off of Rin while saying "What do you think you're doing! Get your hands off of her!"

"Shouko! What's gotten into you?" said Rin

Realizing what she had just done Shouko turned beet red and said "Oh my god. I'm so sorry." and ran off mortified.

"Shouko!" Shouted Rin as Shouko disappeared into the crowd. "What was that all about?" she added.

Tamayo looked at Rin and said "Still think I was way off base when I mentioned how she looks at you?"

"Oh my god Shouko." said Rin running off to chase after Shouko.

Dota and Haruki looked at each other completely dumbfounded and Haruki said "uhhh... Should I even ask?"

"No. Don't ask. Really." said Tamayo. "Poor Shouko. I hope she doesn't think I actually have a thing for Rin."

"Okay, I guess I'll start packing up the truck then while we wait for the results." said Haruki.

A few minutes later Rin came back with out Shouko.

"Couldn't find her?" asked Tamayo.

"Well, No I found her but by the time I caught up to her she was getting into a cab and got away." said Rin.

Just then the commentators voices are heard once again.

Commentator A: "Sorry for the delay folks apparently it was a really tough call and it seems by just about the thickness of a tire tread the winner and still reigning champ is Tamayo Kataoka!"

Commentator B: "Well she sure couldn't have picked a better teammate than legendary rideback girl Rin Ogata."

Commentator A: "You can say that again. Man, I can't wait to see what happens next year."

"Wow, I actually won." said Tamayo surprised by the news.

"I guess I just didn't have enough momentum after launching Balon into the air like that." said Rin.

"Well, don't beat yourself up over it. You put up an awesome fight. That was a great race." said Tamayo.

"Oh I'm not. It's not that..."

"Worried about Shouko?"

"Yeah. I hope she's okay." said Rin.

"I'm sure you'll find her safe and sound when you get home. She's a big girl. Come on. Lets finish packing up and head home."