Diana strode through the Hub, now empty after the others dispersed. She assumed that at least Spinner was likely to be in the game room and headed there.
She was not expecting to run into Tezz so soon. They almost rammed into each other, and although he was the one to round the corner so abruptly, he still looked disgruntled at the near collision. Diana shared his sentiment, though it had more to do with the fact she was still angry about what he'd done to her car.
"Of all the people to run into right now," she let out, intending for him to hear.
Tezz straightened himself up and glowered at her. "I see you are still in a nasty mood."
"I wonder why," she replied, matching his glare.
Tezz sighed and let his shoulders drop. "If it makes you feel any better, I apologize about examining your car without your permission." He'd told Vert he'd say as much, but even still, he felt annoyed at having to do it. If she didn't want them questioning her then she should have been more forthcoming.
Diana couldn't believe her ears. Not only was that the sorriest excuse for an apology she'd ever heard, but the way he said it implied that she was the one with the problem here. So many rude remarks were going through her mind, but she ignored them all in favor of keeping a decent mood for the day.
Sending him a fake smile he likely didn't recognize, she said, "Sure you do." She then drifted past him, ignoring the look he was sure to be giving her. She had other things to do than deal with him and his attitude right now.
She reached the game room without further incident and was surprised to see it devoid of the Cortez brothers. Agura told her they were out on the test track, trying out some new modifications to the Buster.
Diana saw the way Vert looked at her and couldn't have left fast enough. She emerged from the Hub just in time to catch the Buster skidding to a halt.
"That was awesome!" Spinner exclaimed, jumping out of the hatch. "Now we're tough and fast!"
"Told you it would work, big bro," came Sherman as he hit the ground. "Now if only I could get more than a single boost out of it before it needed to recharge…"
"What are you guys testing?" She hoped the smile she wore looked more genuine than it felt. She was still so wary around the others, always feeling like they were being careful of her. Sherman didn't look apprehensive, but she felt like he was. She hadn't interacted enough with Spinner to really be able to tell, but something—more than likely her nerves—told her he felt the same. She pushed it aside for now.
"Sherman hooked up a new booster to the Buster. We just went from zero to freaking ninety in like, four seconds flat!"
"Actually, it was three-point-seven seconds," Sherman corrected with a grin.
Diana whistled in appreciation. "With that kinda speed right off the bat, you could barrel through half an army of bots."
"Oh man, now that would rock. Hey, Sherm, think we could bump it up to a hundred?"
"Nah, the output would be too much for it to handle." As he said it, he looked thoughtful. It was likely he was contemplating it.
Diana was already running out of conversation. Should she ask them to help her practice more? Do a few laps herself? Maybe she was imposing on their quality time and the two brothers were hoping she'd leave soon. The more she thought about it, the more awkward she felt.
"Hey, I have an idea," Spinner said suddenly. "Why don't we race each other?"
"I mean, yeah sure, okay," Diana said to his mischievous grin.
Spinner was already shaking his head. "I don't mean on the test track. I mean out in the Flats. We can do a little relay race. First one to the rock wall and back wins."
"Now that's something I can't pass up. Think you stand a chance in that thing?"
"Bet you can't do it in the Camaro."
They fell silent.
Sherman looked between his brother and Diana, wondering if she'd caught on to what Spinner was clearly trying to do. Spinner was, admittedly, keeping up a strong poker face despite the situation. And Diana…
For a second it looked like she'd call them out on their game and bail. There a was a moment when Sherman was sure she'd throw a punch at Spinner for the suggestion.
But then her face split into a grin and she said, "You're on."
A few minutes later saw them at their impromptu starting line, engines revving. The Buster, despite its size and power, was put to shame by the burble of the Camaro's exhaust note. Only time would tell if its speed would be called into question too.
"Ready?" Spinner asked over their watch's radio.
"Get set," Diana said back, giving a good rev to the supercharged V8.
"Go!"
Both cars took off, leaving a massive cloud of dust in their wake. The Buster took the lead off the line, but only because Sherman had used the booster. Once it wore off, the Camaro began closing the distance at an alarming rate.
As it approached the Buster, Spinner leaned over to see what Sherman was doing on the dash computer. "Well? Anything weird pop up?"
"Not so far, bro." He gave the tank more gas but the jet black Camaro was still keeping pace. Within several intense seconds they were almost neck-and-neck; the Buster mere inches ahead. Sherman noted the speed at which they were approaching the rock face and started decelerating, intending to do a one-eighty and gun it before Diana could. He was betting on the booster being recharged by the time they were halfway back, that way she wouldn't have time to catch up and would really have to push the engine. If he could get some readings off the car, maybe he could use them to theorize a pattern.
They were yards away from the checkpoint when Diana took advantage of the Buster's shed speed. She dropped a couple gears, spun the tail out, whipped past their front end and was flying back towards the base by the time they'd regained traction from their own turnaround.
"Wow, she is fast!" Spinner said in awe.
Diana grinned at the blue six-wheeler in her rearview. Futuristic alien cars were nice and all, but nothing put a smile on her face quite like the Chevy. She let out a whoop as she floored it and made tracks back to base.
They were several yards away from her when Sherman activated the booster again. The Buster lurched and closed the distance in seconds.
Diana saw them coming in hot and flipped a switch below the radio. The rpms went well above red line as the Camaro's engine roared. She was pushed back into her seat as the car rocketed through the desert, the Buster becoming nothing more than a distant memory.
Sherman could only watch as Diana left them in the dust; he eased off the gas and came to a gentle stop as the Camaro skidded to a halt. He gave a final glance at his screens before nodding to Spinner and getting out.
"That was so not fair!" the elder Cortez cried as he hopped out of the Buster. "You can't just go all Fast and Furious on us out of nowhere like that."
"You mean it's only fair when you do it?" She stepped out into the sun, grin still plastered to her face and heart racing. "I recall you being awfully heavy-handed with your own turbo."
"Yeah, well, it's different when we do it. At least you knew about it."
Sherman and Diana rolled their eyes at Spinner's mock-pout.
"I gotta hand it to you," Sherman began. "You really know how to drive. That one-eighty you pulled back there was flawless!"
Her cheeks grew hot and she hoped they didn't notice. Rubbing her elbow, she said, "Yeah, well, practice makes perfect. You don't grow up with a car-loving dad and not know how to drive."
Sherman nodded. "Well, I think it's pretty obvious I've got some work to do on that booster. Can't have a classic beating me in a race. C'mon, Spin, I'm gonna need your help calibrating."
"Guess this means we're getting from zero to a hundred in four seconds flat?" he asked as Sherman climbed back into the driver's seat.
"A hundred? I bet if I beef up the coils I could get it even faster." To Diana, he added, "We'll be in the shop if you need us."
"Alright. I'll be out here running laps." She waved them off and strode back to the Camaro.
"You get anything, bro?" Spinner asked once they were back in the Hub.
"Oh, I got plenty, Spin." He scanned through the data as he parked the Buster. "With this info I bet we could figure out how her car's putting out so much energy. That was a good call back there. You even kept a straight face."
Spinner rubbed his hands together with a sinister chuckle. "Oh, practice makes perfect alright."
They got out and before Sherman could question him there was a loud pop followed by Stanford shouting in the distance. The Brit came rushing in and they had to contain their laughter.
Stanford was covered head to toe in pink, glittery goo. He was still struggling to wipe it off his face when he ran over.
"I've been ambushed!" The purple of his Shock Suit was barely visible and he was certain he'd be rinsing glitter out of his hair for days. "What kind of monster did this?!" He cleared away the goo and locked eyes with Spinner before stomping towards him. "Don't think you're getting away with this, you heathen!"
Spinner brought his hands up in a defensive gesture. "Hey, don't look at me! That's a brilliant prank and all but glitter is way too much work. And rigging it to shoot in your face with slime too? Nuh uh. One wrong move and it's pretty in pink for days. I'm more of an old-fashioned prankster myself."
Stanford looked confounded. His eyes flicked from one Cortez to the other. "But… But if it wasn't you then… Who was it?"
"Someone with some serious ninja stealth skills, obviously. Zoom was pretty upset about you embarrassing him in front of Grace, after all."
"That traitorous scum. I should've known he'd do something like this." He stormed off to go have a few choice words with the scout.
Sherman stood in shock, having witnessed the whole thing and still not quite believing it. He gave a long-suffering sigh at Spinner's wicked grin. "I guess you have been practicing, huh?"
"You know it. If I can keep this up, I bet I can start a full-on war between all the others. Then I could just sit back and watch."
"You'll have to put your doomsday prank plans on hold until after we've shown this data to Sage. And after I've already left so I don't get involved." He gave Spin a brotherly shove as they headed off to find Sage.