There are two exits out from the alley they had parked James's ship in. One is positioned toward where Shadow's troops are converging, and is clearly visible from above. However, there happens to be another one that goes to the next street over, and that alley has a building above it, making it effectively invisible from above. The only slight downside is that it takes them away from the spaceport by a little bit, but with an hour to make up for that slight deficit, they should be able to make up for that.

The streets of Mute City are surprisingly free of congesting vehicle traffic, as these days, vehicles fly in a space about 300 feet in the air, leaving the ground level to be occupied by walking pedestrians, people on hover-cycles, and a few people with jetpacks just above the walking people. This tiered system makes getting around in a city of over a billion sentient lifeforms shockingly easy, and luckily for the racers, now that the race is over, the people are starting to refill the streets, with some robotic cleaning crews coming by to pick up the large sections of track that have fallen down onto the street. These droids are normally used to bring damaged vehicles back to the garage, and while they are out doing that as well, they also pick up anything that falls off the track in order to leave the area exactly as it was when the race started. This new influx of people coming into the street would help the racers blend in, but only slightly.

Mrs. Arrow looks around at the motley crew of pilots. She wears a bright red and white spandex outfit, and stands at an impressive 6' 7" (200 cm). Even in a society that has gene manipulation and prolonged space flight to lessen gravity's pressure on the body for long intervals, that height in a human female is noticeable, and her garish outfit only makes her more visible. Gazelle is similarly tall and is almost entirely made of titanium. Jody isn't quite as tall, but her big brunette hair and pale pink and red outfit would certainly turn a few heads. Zoda looks like an absolute freak show, jittering around like someone being remotely controlled but with large amounts of lag. Even the relatively normal-looking James McCloud and Dr. Clash are easily recognizable to the local passerby. Something needs to change in that regard.

She stops the rest of the crew and leads them to the side of the street where they might be less visible. "Guys, I think we might need a little change in appearance, I think Shadow's men would be able to pick us out in a second looking like this." They all look at each other and come to a similar conclusion.

Jody turns to Dr. Clash and gives him a little nudge. "Hey Doc, you think you can find us a clothing store on your hologram?" This seems to fluster the elderly doc, but he pulls his device back up and scans the nearby area for what they're looking for.

"Ummm… hmmmm… two blocks to the south, there's a decent little shopping center with some clothing store choices. Not seeing any other options between here and the spacebus station, though."

James lets out a little groan. "Dammit, that takes us further from the spaceport. If we're quick about it, we can go, but we're starting to cut it close."

The gang nods and turns back the other way, walking with a little more purpose now. Dr. Clash is trying to keep up with them, but he's a good 25 years older than all of these people and has a bit of a belly on him. He has to stop to catch his breath a few times, which slows up the progress a little.

Gazelle sees the doctor struggling and has an idea. "Hold on, everyone", he calls out to the younger racers before stepping a bit out of sight. His outer plating begins to puff out and his hands and feet retract into his torso. His arms shift downwards and the wheel-shaped disks on his shoulders expand to the size of bicycle tires. His legs bend upwards into a right angle, transforming himself into… a motorized wheelchair. "Hop on, doctor."

Clash is a bit embarrassed that he has to be aided like this, but understands that time is of the essence. "Is this ok, Gazelle?", he asks as he sits down on what are essentially Gazelle's legs.

"Relax Doctor, I'm rated to be able to carry much more than this. Plus, this gets me out of people's vision. Now they'll see an object rather than a giant racing cyborg."

"That's… a little sad to think about", Clash says in a sorrowful tone.

"Eh, it's been five years now, it's something I've gotten used to."

With Clash's mobility sorted out, he and Gazelle now lead the party, since he has the map. Everyone else is looking around for any of the other pilots, when Monique turns to Jody. "So, do we know about any of the pilots we're looking for?"

"Mmmm, not sure, I got taken out really early in the race. Thanks for that, by the way Zoda. ("Happy to do it again next season.") Does anyone else remember any other vehicles falling off the track during the race?"

Zoda scoffs at the idea of recalling anything from the race. "Jody, I was racing at the speed of sound up there, bouncing off of literally every car in the field, you think I was paying attention to who was playing the role of my bumper car buddy?", he says, keeping the fact that he caused Tanaka to fall off to himself. He can handle being in the company of one GSF officer. But two? That's a problem; better to keep him away.

The others try to recall anything from the race, but like Zoda said, things get a little hazy at those speeds. "I did see a green car falling off the track on the last lap, but I didn't catch who it was", James says after a bit of thinking. Jody's a bit disheartened to hear that color. Tanaka's craft is light blue. Still no clue about his whereabouts.

They make it to the clothing store and rush inside. Jody calls out to everyone, "Alright guys, let's get in, and get out, ten minutes max, we need to stay moving."

"And remember, we're looking to blend in, so don't get too crazy with the outfits", James adds.

Zoda runs through the shop like a kid in a candy store, "I'm gonna find the prettiest dress they have, and you can't stop me!", leaving James to roll his eyes and start looking for some civilian clothes.

Mrs. Arrow's in the tall women's section when her ears perk up and she lets out a little chuckle. Jody looks over to her and asks her what's up, and Monique simply points to the speaker in the ceiling. "Hear that music? I think that's one of Jack's songs."

Jody listens up a little and recognizes it. "Oh yeah, 'I Want You In My Life'. Isn't that a neat coincidence?"

"That's no coincidence", a low voice from the changing room says that grabs the two ladies' attention. Suddenly, the lights dim down in that section and a tall blonde man in a bright blue dress shirt pops out from the dressing room. There's a fog machine going off, and rose petals are somehow falling from out of nowhere. The little robot girl at the front counter was practically swooning over him. Only one man is that bombastic. That flashy. That completely over-the-top…

"Hey Jack", Jody says with a little wave.

"Oh, Jody, Monique. Funny running into you two here", he replies in his normal friendly voice.

"Yea, this is actually a rescue mission, we came here to look for some new clothes, but we're also looking to pick up any racers to keep them from getting taken by Black Shadow", Mrs. Arrow says as she finally finds something in her size.

"Wait… hold up… what's Black Shadow doing? I know he's a bad dude and all, but we've never needed to be that weary of him before", Jack says, trying to process what she just said. Jody tells him what's going on, and Jack's eyes go really big when she tells him about Shadow kidnapping the other racers.

"Now, when you say he kidnapped a bunch of drivers, does that include…", Jack says hesitantly before James walks by with a new outfit in hand.

"Yea, they got Kate", James says, rather coldly. Jack's feelings for Kate are a known subject of tabloids and puff-pieces, and this makes Jack go through all five stages of grief in a matter of seconds.

"You guys are going off to get the other racers? I want in."

James sees this and just rolls his eyes while paying for his clothes. He knows he can't say no to him joining their mission. After all, he vouched for Zoda, but he just knows this big lug is just going to make things more difficult for them. Jody has no such reservations against him joining though.

"Welcome aboard, Jack. We need to find some clothes that'll keep us from being spotted. So if you don't mind, find something rather plain, and put it on. We've got a spacebus to catch." Jack looks at his new dress shirt and brushes one of the rose petals off of it. The robo-clerk seems a little disheartened that he'll get something else when that shirt looks so good on him, but he pulls something casual off the rack and gets both items, plus he gives her an autograph that just makes her day.

Luckily, everyone's able to get all of their outfits without much delay and they're all off toward the spaceport. Everyone looks relatively normal, like Dr. Clash wearing a baggy Hawaiian shirt and jean-shorts while still in the Gazelle Chair. Zoda, though, is another story. True to his word, he's in a puffy red dress that shows off his midriff, and wouldn't be out of place on the elite of Magica.

However, even with this brightly colored outfit on, it at least does the job of not making him look like Zoda anymore. The same can not be said about Jack. He's an intergalactically known pop-star, and he gets legions of followers everywhere he goes, and he has no problem signing autographs for anyone that asks. And James McCloud is about to McLose it.

"Why did we have to bring him?", he asks Jody, who's walking alongside him, "He's only going to slow us down and make us stand out more. We should've left him at the store."

"Hey, you were the one who told him about Kate, besides what do you have against the guy? He's a likable chap."

This makes James scoff and roll his eyes a little. "What's likable about him? He looks like he was made in a lab, nothing about him feels real. Even his whole thing with Kate feels like it was made up by the paparazzi, and he's just going along with it to stay in the news."

"Oh come on, that sounds a little like jealousy, James."

"All I'm saying is that he's never had to work a day in his life to get to where he is, and it just annoys me that he's way younger and way more successful than me. So maybe that is jealousy. I dunno."

Luckily for James, Jack has perfected the act of walking fast while signing autographs, and they're actually making pretty decent time. They're about a block away from the spaceport with fifteen minutes to go until their flight. Maybe things will be ok. However, James looks across the street and sees something unmistakable. He sees someone with little black horns, looking across the street, right at them, specifically at Jack Levin and his massive spiky pompadour. The goon speaks something into the communicator on his wrist, and James knows they're compromised. "We need to move. Now."