Chapter 96: Heated
"Man, this place really is a maze," Chuck said as he was walking down the dimly lit corridors of Egg Factory to where his team's race with Team Dark was about to begin.
Just as he turned a corner, he bumped into someone who was coming from the opposite direction and was knocked off-balance to the point of falling. The other person fell as well, and once Chuck recovered he saw who it was which turned out to be Sky Albatross of all people. His medium-length gray hair was slicked back from his wide brow where small sky-blue eyes shone in the dim light, while he wore a necklace with three shiny metal pieces attached to two gold chains that wrapped around his neck and blue-tinted goggles on his forehead. His attire consisted of yellow gloves, a gray sleeveless vest that was outlined in white feathers, gray shorts and sneakers with yellow straps. Unfortunately, Sky noticed him immediately and pointed an accusing finger just as Chuck did the same.
"You!" Chuck said at the same time as Sky did.
"You're the guy who punched me two weeks ago and stole my Gear!" Sky exclaimed.
"You're the guy who helped steal a Chaos Emerald and possibly dozens of priceless artifacts!" Chuck said in response as he got up.
"Oh, yeah, and how can you prove those things?" Sky responded as he also got to his feet. "Face it, kid, you've got nothing on Team Babylon!"
"I'm no kid!" Chuck clenched his fists. "Now take that back!"
"Make me!"
Gritting his teeth, Chuck thrust his left fist at Sky who immediately got out of the way and the punch ended up landing on a red-colored robot who resembled E-10000B.
As the robot swirled around in dizziness into a nearby wall, Sky laughed. "You call that a punch? Let me give you a demonstration of a real one!"
Sky wound his fist in a concentric circle before thrusting it at Chuck, who dodged the punch just as another red-colored robot appeared behind him. As a result, the robot was punched instead of Chuck and it fell over in a heap of bolts and metal. Surprised, Sky picked up his new Gear, which looked exactly like the Gear he had before Sonny and his teammates sold it, and took off down the hallway that ran perpendicular to the one Chuck came from.
"This isn't over yet!" Sky shouted to Chuck as he ran. "I'll beat you real good if your team makes it to the Finals! That's when you'll have to race against Team Babylon, and we've never been beaten in the five years since the EX World Grand Prix started!"
"Well, maybe this year it'll be different!" Chuck shouted at the retreating figure of Sky. When Sky didn't respond back, Chuck turned away and muttered, "Coward."
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At the starting-line, Sonny was standing with his Gear in hand along with Miles. Shawn and Rouge were to his left and they seemed mildly irritated.
"Where's your new robot friend?" Sonny asked.
"Where's the knucklehead you call a teammate?" Rouge responded sarcastically.
"Guys," Miles said. "We want to bust Team Babylon just as much as you do, but it would be too risky if we just simply forfeited and let you continue to the Semi-Finals where you would be facing off against your own comrades."
"They don't care," Shawn said. "That's why we set it up this way."
"Besides, do you really think you've got what it takes to take us on considering that we practically creamed Team Hooligan, who were runner-ups in previous tournaments?" Rouge said just as Chuck showed up.
"Sorry I'm late, guys," Chuck said to Sonny and Miles. "I got lost on my way here, and then I ran into Sky from Team Babylon."
"Did he recognize you?" Miles asked.
"Yes, but he didn't seemed concerned about it saying we have nothing on his team and then he called me a kid and so I tried punching him," Chuck replied.
"Did he punch back?"
"After I accidentally hit a robot, but he punched one too after I dodged him."
"Then it's a good thing you dodged when you did," Sonny said.
"Yeah, wouldn't want my little knuckie hurt before we wipe the floor with you in this race," Rouge said as E-10000B appeared next to her. She turned to him and asked, "Where have you been?"
"Getting…last minute…repairs," E-10000B said jerkily.
"You don't sound so good," Rouge said.
"I'm…fine…really," E-10000B replied.
"If you say so," Shawn said. Then he turned to Sonny and said, "This is your last chance, Team 'Heroes'. You can drop out and save us a pointless race, or take us on and possibly lose?"
Sonny and his teammates stood firmly in their places as Omochao appeared.
"Boy, it sure is hot in here!" Omochao said as he hovered above the riders' heads. "But it's just the perfect atmosphere for the heated competition we're about to witness today, folks! On my left we have Team Heroes, who managed to beat Team Rose quite easily and dared to challenge Team Babylon on international TV! As a result, they've become popular fan favorites over the past two weeks. Unfortunately, so has Team Dark for notoriously missing the Opening Ceremony and beating the previous Grand Prix runner-up group Team Hooligan without breaking a sweat! The tensions are high, people! Which team will advance to the Semi-Finals? Let's find out! Riders…on your mark…get set…GO!"
Immediately, Shawn and Sonny took off on their Gears at top-speed while Miles followed right behind with Rouge in pursuit while Chuck and E-10000B brought up the rear. They flew up the ramp ahead of them and over the river of molten metal without too much trouble and followed the metal track around the processing plants. About midway through the first lap, Miles tried to fly over Shawn to push him back but Rouge intercepted by spinning her Gear mid-air causing Miles to nearly fly off the track. Fortunately, he steadied himself and was approached from behind by E-10000B but Chuck blocked him by ramming into his Gear.
"First lap of the race and the two teams are already at each other's throats!" Omochao announced above them with the microphone in hand. As the things Omochao was seeing were being transmitted to the holographic television screens back at the starting-line, he said, "While Chuck may have been able to prevent E-10000B from knocking Miles completely off the race-track, Rouge is still in second place as Shawn and Sonny are tied for first! Therefore, the first lap is a tie! If either team can win the next two laps, the tie will be broken. But if neither team is able to, they will have to race one extra lap!"
On the next lap, Sonny tried to ram into Shawn's Gear but he managed to avoid the blow by flipping his Gear sideways over Sonny's head and wound up right were Sonny was previously. In between the two boys appeared Rouge, who immediately rammed into Sonny's Gear. He was forced to pull back and was right alongside Miles when E-10000B pushed them out of the way with his gear and joined up with Rouge and Shawn up ahead.
"Splendid teamwork!" Omochao exclaimed. "Team Dark just pulled off what the fans are calling the Dead Man's Cross! How it worked is that Shawn switched places with Sonny, allowing Rouge to maneuver between them and push Sonny back only for him to get hit from behind by E-10000B along with Miles, creating an invisible cross between Team Dark's members by the time their maneuvers were complete. How will Team Heroes manage to compensate for this when Team Dark used this same strategy to beat Team Hooligan last week?"
After recovering from the blow, Sonny and Miles along with Chuck did a maneuver of their own. It started with Miles and Chuck crossing through the gap between Team Dark's members which distracted them long enough for Sonny to do a series of midair tricks and land back in the lead with Miles and Chuck catching up to him by the time the finish-line came up.
"I don't believe it!" Omochao said from above. "What you just witnessed, folks, is a band-new team-based strategy never-before-seen in Extreme Gear racing before! Web response is off the charts and the fans have even started giving names for it. So far, the most popular name for this strategy is…Triple Threat! An appropriate name for a strategy which consisted of Miles and Chuck crossing paths with the other riders from opposing sides while Sonny made his way above all of them to get ahead of Team Dark while his teammates caught up behind him. With that surprising move, Team Heroes wins the second lap! If they win the second lap, the race is over!"
As Shawn's group started to catch up, Chuck blocked their path by swerving side-to-side in front of them. Unfortunately, Rouge and Shawn were able to move past Chuck between swerves, leaving him to deal with E-10000B alone. Meanwhile, Miles sought to do the same thing that Chuck did, but Shawn and Rouge easily got around him with two consecutive midair flips. So Miles followed with his own series of midair flips, putting himself in front of Rouge while Sonny did the same to Shawn. Chuck was able to catch up to them, but E-10000B was still on his tail. Then just as E-10000B was about to ram into Chuck from behind, sparks exploded from his body and he started to slow down. Unconcerned, Shawn and Rouge continued to pursue behind Sonny and Miles but were continuously blocked by Chuck. By the time they all crossed the finish-line, Sonny and Miles came first, followed by Shawn and Rouge, with Chuck following last.
"Well, folks, I can safely say that Team Heroes wins this race!" Omochao said, causing all the riders to stop.
"Wait, what?" Rouge exclaimed and approached Omochao with an angry face. "Shawn and I were both in second place! Doesn't that count as a tie?"
"It would have if E-10000B didn't run out of gas and fall back several meters," Omochao said, using his fingerless hand to point at E-10000B who had fallen face-first onto the track with sparks emanating from his body. "Remember, if one member of your team loses, you all lose."
Rouge growled. "Rats! I knew that blue piece of junk would be useless."
"Useless? You practically begged him to be a part of our team," Shawn said bitterly.
"What else were we supposed to do? Drop out of the tournament completely because we were one member short?"
Before Shawn could respond, E-10000B suddenly exploded and from its remnants rose a familiar blue robot that looked human except for not having a mouth and electric red eyes. It briefly glared at the riders, particularly Sonny, as it took off on rocket-powered shoes much to the surprise of the crowd and Omochao. The robot flew to the top of the factory's domes and eventually found a smokestack to escape out of.
"Wow, that was…unexpected!" Omochao said blinking for a few seconds. "But nothing to worry, folks! E-10000B, or whatever he is now, will be caught soon enough by the proper authorities! In the meantime, Team Heroes will be advancing to the Semi-Finals of the World Grand Prix while Team Neo has their match against Team Shadow next week at Green Cave! Until then, this is Omochao, signing off!"
To be continued…