From inside the spaceport, a disguised figure in a black trenchcoat watches as the bus containing all the racers heads off into the sky, with several henchmen jumping out when they realize they can't get in. He lifts his wrist up and talks into his communicator. "Hey, just missed them. They just left the spaceport, about six or seven of them. I'll try to follow them, but they might not be going where the departure board says they're going. Alright, keep me informed. Out."
The flight from Earth to the warpgate is a long one. Everyone on the bus spends most of the flight looking out the windows, searching for if they're being followed by a swarm of Shadow's men's ships. Or worse, the man himself. James is going as fast as this old spacebus can go, but there's only so much this old thing can do. There's silence on the bus, deathly silence. No one wants to say anything that might distract the others from looking for incoming vessels. Even Zoda is cooperating, since he wants to save his own skin as much as anyone.
They finally get to the teleportation gate, and James selects the destination for them, the Sharkfin Galaxy. James left his mothership there with the rest of the Galaxy Dogs, and it should still be there, even if they left for their own mission. "Hey Jermi, if anyone asks…"
"Anywhere but where you're going. I know the drill, McCloud", Jermi replies without ever breaking eye contact with his tablet. James sends him the toll money, and a little extra on the side for his cooperation. With as little movement as possible, Jermi hits a couple buttons, and pulls a big lever, making the teleport gate start whirring and glowing. From the outside of the transport ring, a circle of green light with little waves of orange expands until it's a flat circle that their ship can easily fly through. James gives Jermi a two-fingered wave, which he reciprocates, again without looking away from his tablet.
They enter the warpgate and their ship is surrounded by the trippy lights of the tunnel enveloping them. Everyone relaxes in their seats, except for James. Despite using these warpgates more than anyone else, the strange lights and sounds induce headaches in the pilot. He grabs a couple of pills from his pocket, swallows them, and rests his head on the steering wheel. As long as the vehicle goes straight, it'll reach the exit before long, so he just puts it on autopilot, and tries to ignore the lights. Before too long, they're out of the tunnel. Clash looks at his hologram to confirm. Sharkfin Galaxy, they made it, and now everyone can really relax, and assume that they're safe.
After a bit of silence, someone finally says something everyone's thinking. "Can we get something to eat?", Jack asks, "I'm starving".
James instantly picks up his head from the steering wheel, and starts driving the bus again. "Oh my god, yes we can. Didn't realize I hadn't eaten since before the Grand Prix. I'll find us something on the way to the mothership", James says as he punches in some coordinates, and starts heading for the nearest rest stop.
This helps liven the mood of the ship, and make everyone a little more at ease. People start chatting with one another, or simply enjoy the view of the cosmos. "Excuse me, Doctor", Gazelle asks Clash, sitting next to him. "Can you do anything with my arm before we stop to eat?"
"Absolutely, let me take a look at this. I don't have my proper tools on me, but I might be able to at least get this back to some usability", he replies, taking a look at Gazelle's injury. "It looks like a simple dislocation, I should be able to re-slot the arm back into place, but I might need to replace some of the tubes that popped, and I won't be able to do that until we get to James's ship at the earliest. Sorry by the way for causing this, I've never been able to keep myself in the best shape, especially since I've gotten older."
"Maybe I can help you with that", Gazelle says with a bit of optimism. "Before the accident, I was a bit of a bigger guy as well, but I was working on losing that weight. Now look at me: 0% body fat!", he says, getting a good chuckle out of both of them. "And to be honest, I've devoted myself to the racing league so much these last five years, I… I really have nothing left. I could really use something to do in the offseason that isn't just reviewing old race tapes and practice laps in the simulator."
Clash smiles as he manages to slide the arm back in its slot, giving him at least some mobility. "If we both make it out of this thing alive, you've got yourself a deal, Gazelle."
Meanwhile, at the front of the bus, Zoda is looking out of the airlock, where those goons had nearly broken in. "Not trying to tell you how to save our lives, McCloud, but I would've left them in there."
James is a bit confused by that statement. "Left them in there?"
"Yea, trap a couple of the baddies in the airlock, bring 'em with us up into space, and then once we're out of the atmosphere… *mimics the sound of the doors opening*, let them explore space without a helmet. Show 'em we aren't gonna let them fight us without consequences."
"Bad idea, Zoda. Really, really bad idea", James replies while shaking his head.
"Well, maybe if you weren't such a big cub scout about it…", Zoda says while rolling his eyes.
"Ok, let's ignore the moral aspect of it. ("Ooo, I do that all the time.") If I lock those goons in there, and head into space with them, they're gonna figure out that their only two options are either get inside the craft or die. You ever see those times when a mom lifts a car to save their trapped child? People can do some wild stuff if death is at stake. And if they succeed, and they have those orbs, we're in trouble, especially if we're worn out from holding the doors closed and running."
Zoda tries to retort, but James just made some really good points. All he can do is shake his head and lean against the dashboard. "See, this is why people like me need people like you. I need more smart people around me who can be like 'hey, here's how what you're doing could backfire', ya know? I'd probably get way more stuff done that way."
"Honestly, that's probably why Black Shadow keeps Blood Falcon around. I mean, Captain Falcon's a smart guy, and if Blood Falcon's as good of a clone as they say he is, I bet he does that sort of thing for Shadow", James says, agreeing with Zoda, and hoping that he finds some people to make him do less evil things.
"How much would it cost to make you the voice of reason for my operation?", Zoda says after a bit of thinking and a devilish little smile.
James scoffs at first, but sees that he's serious. He's about to instantly say no, but he never turns down a payday without thinking about it. "You can't afford me, that's why I mostly do government jobs. They pay the big credits."
"Oh is that the only hang-up? Money can aaaaaaalways be made…", Zoda says as his eerie smile only gets bigger, which makes James get a little nervous.
"Hey, Jody. Can I talk to you for a second?", asks Mrs. Arrow.
Jody had been daydreaming out the window of the bus, and this catches her a bit off guard. "Oh, yea, sure Monique. What's on your mind?"
Monique sits down and gets close enough for them to whisper to each other. With Monique being a good foot taller than Jody, it's a little awkward, especially since Jody isn't a huge fan of physical contact. "It's about Zoda. You know we can't trust the guy as far as we can throw him. ("I bet you could throw him pretty far.") But we can't keep bringing him with us, and let him lead us into some kind of trap. We have to think about ditching him."
"Honestly, Monique, I don't think that's a good idea. For one, if we ditch him, that'll give him all the more reason to hunt us back down and get revenge. We already have Black Shadow on our tails, we don't need two supervillains trying to get their hands on us. And two, if we keep him occupied with this whole thing, he's not building bioweapons or mutant super-soldiers or whatever it is he does in his free time."
"I guess that's true", Mrs. Arrow says back to her as she watches Zoda chat with James. "I just can't shake the feeling he's plotting our doom behind our back. He and my husband have fought for so long, it's impossible for me to believe that he's just gonna help us for no other reason than fighting the other big bad."
"You're probably right, but the busier we keep him, the slower those plans materialize. Besides, once we get to the ship, I'll get in contact with the GSF. Maybe I can arrest him before that happens."
"Honestly, that would be amazing. Just gotta hope the charges stick this time."
"Alright, boys and girls, food time. Let's get us some gourm", James says as they reach a quaint little diner inside an oxygen bubble. They open up one end of the airlock, fly inside, wait until the side opens up, and head into the parking lot.
"Oh wow, they built an X's and O's out here? I love the one they have near Aeropolis", Clash says as his belly starts to rumble. They come to a stop and disembark from the bus, heading into the diner. It's a quiet little joint, the kind that would be good both to take someone on a first date to, but also a place to go in the middle of the night when looking for a hangover cure.
The booths are big enough for four people if they get a little close, so Jack, Clash, Gazelle, and McCloud sit on one side, with Zoda sandwiched between the two ladies on the other. "Oooooo, isn't this a fun little sandwich", Zoda quips before getting an elbow to both sides of his ribs.
"Well howdy there folks, welcome to X's and O's, what can I get for y'all tonight? Oh hey there, Jamie. Almost didn't see ya squeezed in the corner down there."
"Hey, Olivia. Glad to see you opened another one of these places, best diner in the galaxy. Is XB-12 here too?"
"No, the Mister's back at the original place. Gets a little tough splitting time between the two diners, but we make the time. What can I get for you?"
"I'll take the Red Star Breakfast, make it all crispy."
"Breakfast for dinner kinda guy, I love it. How about you, Big Silver?"
"Ummmm, can I get the Triple Deluxe Neptune Burger?" Olivia starts writing that down, while most of the table looks at him in confusion. "What? I have a bioreactor in me, and artificial taste buds. I can still eat regular food", Gazelle says, trying to get the attention off of him.
"Yea, we get cyborgs in here all the time, it's more common than you think", Olivia says while nodding at the titanium figure.
"I'll have the Olympia Taco Salad", Clash says before Gazelle chimes in.
"If you don't mind, put it on as small of a plate as can hold it, he's trying to watch his weight."
"Oh best of luck with you on that." Olivia then looks over and sees Jack, and starts to look puzzled. "Now, where in the galaxy do I know you from?", she says while rubbing her pen against her chin.
"Well, before I was a racer, I used to be a singer."
"Oh my stars, you're Jack Levin, ain't ya? My granddaughters listen to your music all the time. They think I don't listen to it, but I gotta admit it's a bit of a bop."
"You're secret's safe with me, ma'am, though I am gonna have to take some points away from ya. There's no way a woman like you's a grandmother", he replies with a little wink, which makes her get all blushy. "I'll just have a Protein Smoothie, raspberry please."
"Same here, but I'll take mine in aeroberry", Jody says while putting the menu down in front of her.
"Do you guys still have the Giant Island Supergreen Salad?", Zoda asks.
"All day every day, hun. And for you in the back, miss?"
"Ummmm, kangaroo steak, all the trimmings please."
"Nooooo problem, guys. That'll be on the conveyor belt, lickety-split", she says as she takes everyone's menus.
Gazelle turns and looks at James. "Do you know everyone in the galaxy, 'Jamie'? Feels like you're on good terms with everyone you meet."
James just shrugs his shoulders and smiles a little. "When you fly around the cosmos as much as I do, you make a lot of contacts. I'm just good at remembering people."
"Ahem, excuse me", says a voice coming up to their booth. "My name's Phoenix, this is my partner Q-3. We're with the Time Police, can I talk to you all for a minute?"
