by ÆGEON DAVIS
Blackness.
VWOOOSH!
My vision returned. We were slowing down. I no time to react as we were funneled back onto the original courseway from the shortcut. When I was finally able to move my body, I scanned the horizon in horror. Proxima and Corvus was nowhere to be seen.
“We lost them!” I gurgled as I regained control of my muscles.
“Nope!” Spectra fired back. Her tone was more cheerful than I’d expected. “They are behind us!”
I checked the side-view mirrors. ‘Objects in Mirrors Are Closer than They Appear’ read at the bottom. I chuckled thinking of Jurassic Park and getting chased by the T-Rex; however, we weren’t getting run down. In all actuality, it seemed Corvus was getting smaller in the mirror frame.
I strained my eyes watching a plume of smoke roll over him and Proxima.
My gut wrenched inside itself. I hit the brakes and spun Spectra and I around. Facing the oncoming plume of smoke, I couldn’t see jack shit.
“Where is she?” I yelped.
Then through the billowing sulfuric dust, I saw the familiar stainless-steel-framed TesLorean. She was covered in dirt, looking less specular, but that theory went to shit when I realized the dullness was actual inflicted wreckage.
Her panels were dented, and the roof was sunken in like a big fucking truck had rolled over her. I felt sick. The adrenaline was gone now, and it only left me with sorrow as Proxima came to a rolling stop. Her driver-side tires were collapsing, unable to bear the weight the behemoth monster gave her. She was wrecked.
“No!” I yelled.
We gunned for her, but were taken by surprise when Corvus barreled out of the falling dust. He swerved a few times, but caught a smooth trajectory heading for Proxima. We were too far away when his large wheels met the other side of her. Crunched metal and parts were flung everywhere. Proxima was out.
In my Visor, Spectra and I were given the lead position in the race.
“Holy shit,” I yelled, whipping around the car. “Fucking go!”
We fishtailed, leaving a plume of golden dust behind us. Spectra screamed, gunning her engine to the redline. I could hear the ravenous Twinkie of a Monster Truck gaining on us, but we hit a Speed Boost Chevron just in time.
VWOOOSH!
Up and over we went, arcing perfectly to catch the next rocky island. This one was longer than the last, but seemed to meander all over the cavernous tube. It was like the Banana Peel track back home. I gripped the wheel and coaxed Spectra to let me handle her. We hit dip after dip, accelerating over each bump as went. The speed was fucking exhilarating!
“Fuck yeah!” I yelled into my helmet.
Corvus was trailing us. He swerved out and gunned himself toward us, clipping our tail end. We spun around and I tried to figure out what to do. He was close enough for me to steal his points and Nega Maid his ass, but if we made one mistake, then we were roadkill. I banked right and left, maneuvering behind him.
“You gotta’ get him now!” Spectra cried out.
I stuck my hand out, palm facing me while his stats displayed on my Visor screen.
Corvus Cauldron4
Nega Maid kicked in and she went from blow to suck. I saw his LIVE XP start to drain and get funneled into my profile. I filled up with twenty Total XP. Spectra drafted behind Corvus as long as she could until he whipped his back end around and knocked us toward the wall.
We stopped, getting our bearings, but it was too late. We looked up and saw the large truck was rushing straight for us. And, judging by our position, we were caught between a rock and a hard place, literally.
I summoned his data, frantically trying to pull down anything and everything, but it they were locked. Then a plan hit me, thankfully before Corvus did. I quickly sorted through the stats and navigated to Spectra’s profile.
“Hold on. I have an idea,” I said.
She waited the while on pins and needles. Corvus was almost to us. I grabbed my remaining XP and threw it into her MACH Levels. This bumped her MACH Levels past ten and one full cycle starting back at MACH 1. I nearly cried in joy watching her latest Special Ability get unitalicized and bracketed.
Spectra Saleen5
She began to shake under me. Two F-22A Gatling guns unfolded from both sides of her fuselage. Everything felt like it happened in slow motion when the trigger handle to control said weapons popped up into my hands. The anger filled every inch of me, and I smiled with sweet revenge.
“Die Twinkie motherfucker!” I yelled, firing the six barrel cannons, and spitting out six thousand rounds a minute.
I sawed through Corvus’s hull, ripping up anything with a Twinkie logo on it. He was still moving—still trying to reach us. I spun the cannon fire down to his thick tires and focused the onslaught there.
BOOM!
The fucker’s tire finally blew out. He wavered for a second, but then his McFly hover wheels unfolded and blasted blue energy out keeping him from stalling. My next move was to try to take out the McFly conversions, but it was too late. Corvus flipped forward, shifting in mid-air to his alien form.
When he landed, his arm converted to the largest hand cannon I ever saw. Electric blue energy pulsed from every joint. And instead of aiming it us, he lowered it down at the track. I caught a glimpse of the two other racers making their way for us.
An arctic blast manifested from his hand cannon barrel. The three oncoming racers hit their brakes just as a four-foot-thick wall formed, blocking any other racer from approaching. He backed off the beam, twisted a smile, and let his large hand cannon recharge.
“It’s gonna be ice to see this hell of a place freeze over,” Corvus said, his beady, hateful eyes fixated on us. “And both of you with it.”
Gross. Was that a fucking Mr. Freeze pun? We had a few seconds before his Cryo Freeze gun was ready again. I inched my hands over the controls to aim Spectra’s Gatling guns right at his face, but she folded the controls away.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
Corvus saw our move and didn’t hesitate to bring the hand cannon down on us.
Spectra transformed her fuselage and threw me out of it. After shifting her whole body back to alien humanoid form, she caught his blow with her forearms. I hit the ground, scurrying far enough I wouldn’t get trampled on as the alien robots duked it out. I mean, I saw my fair share of Michael Bay films.
Spectra flipped to her back, twisted her arms above her hand, and shot her legs into his rib cage in a flawless kick-up execution. He was thrown against the rock and across the track. As soon as I got up, Spectra ran straight for me. She launched herself into the air, altering her body.
Rushing exhilaration burned throughout me. My instincts kicked in and I turned around, running opposite of her direction. Her arms, legs, and head transformed, hiding under vehicular front wings, fuselage panels, and a steering wheel. She shifted around me in perfect unison, locking me into cockpit. Our wheels touched the ground. I was inside her. Mr. Asshole was already on his feet, blocking our only exit.
“Shit!” I yelled, getting her Gatling guns ready for action.
Explosions came from behind the ice. The remaining racers were firing a hellish onslaught, trying to break through the ice wall Corvus had created.
“Wait, we can use their help,” Spectra offered.
Corvus raised his Cryo Freeze cannon, charging bits of blue energy in the hollow of its barrel. Spectra hopped up and flipped her wheels in McFly mode. We hovered for a moment as two large wings swiveled outward from under her chassis. Her rear wheels turned with it, shifting into turbine rocket boosters.
You couldn’t wipe the smug expression from Corvus’s face. He toggled through his Special abilities. A series of rockets came out, red tips jutting from each of his shoulders.
Dread flooded my every being. These missiles screamed ‘heat seeking’ to my inner nerd, and I jerked us back. I quickly scrambled to lock our targets on him, tryin to anticipate his attack. Alarms began to blare, indicating he h
ad a target on us.
“What the hell are you doing?” I yelled. “He’s got Anti-Aircraft Defense Systems.”
Spectra ignored me.
“Spectra!”
“Wait for it…”
Corvus launched his whole battery at us. Three large missiles jetted toward us followed by five smaller incendiary rockets. I gulped, awaiting my death. It took every part of me to trust her and not pull up on the controls.
At the last moment, Spectra heaved us up. We dodged everything. The three larger heat seekers altered their course and travelled upward. The incendiaries kept their trajectory and reached the ice wall, destroying it. Laser fire began to pulse through, led by Asta Romani.
The missiles had reversed their course completely now, winding straight for our boosters. I readied the Gatling guns and fired. Each of the six barrels spun, spitting fire incessantly. I nailed two missiles while the third one snaked its way around my gun shot. Spectra reacted blasting her boosters hard.
We dipped up and over Corvus, then raced down the lava tube in mid-air. I stuck my head out. The rocket slammed into Corvus’s crew-powered engine. A huge explosion tore open his truck side. The last thing I looked at was an angry mob subduing what was left of him.
“Woo-hoo!” I yelled out. “Fuck Twinkies!”
VWOOOSH!
Asta Romani came flying under and past us while we were in mid-air flight. Up ahead, we examined the opening of the lava tube. All we had to do was stay air bound and we could beat Asta by flying over the jumps. I just hoped the terrain stayed the same from here on out.
“What is that?” I asked.
“It’s the last part,” Spectra said. “An old lava tube that funnels you in together. If she can fly, then we are screwed.”
As we flew closer to the tube’s opening, I could make out the familiar shiny decahedron Shuffle Crystals hovering in a light before the tunnel entrance. Asta hit first, and I hoped like hell she didn’t get access to her last Special Ability. In my Visor, her stats read out.
Asta Romani6
The entrance was coming closer. We had to lower ourselves to get enough clearance without hitting the lip of the wall. In doing so, we perfectly lined up to hit the Shuffle Crystals. We hit them and rainbow fluid sprayed onto us. Her Special Ability chimed in a chaotic fashion and cycled like I was watching The Price is Right’s money wheel.
The brackets landed on my worst fear: Mag Wheels. I felt us drop, settling on all four Mag Wheels at the foot of the cave-like tube. Spectra was not waiting to let her hammer drop and race after Asta.
“Fuck,” I said, slamming my hand on the dash.
“Ouch,” Spectra yelped. “Hey, watch it.”
The cave-like tube was no bigger than forty feet in diameter. We picked up speed, charging down the headway. Venting sulfur mounds ejected hot steam along the sides, preventing any chance of veering up onto the sloped surface to make a pass. For now, we were stuck in second place.
I saw Asta’s rear end approaching. Spectra’s new MACH Levels were exhilarating and able to push us to higher speeds. Anxiety soon set in once again when I witnessed Asta’s back end open up. My only guess was the ‘Chasm Spasm’ her Special Abilities she was stuck on. I looked to the sulfuric rocks whipping past us and yanked the wheel, veering us into them.
“What are you doing?” Spectra screamed.
“Saving our ass!”
CRASH!
We blew through the mounds with ease. Two Chasm Spasm rockets went sailing past us and down the track, igniting the raceway. I could feel the heat through my Visor. I whipped us back down to the freeway. Asta crashed her iron hull into the piles, meeting us on the curved tube surface.
She reloaded her back cannons again. Fear shot through my whole body. I yanked the steering wheel right and broke through the heaps and onto the other side. The rockets passed. For a split second a sense of glee overcame me. We were on opposite sloping sides of the tube now. Up ahead, on Asta’s side, I beamed at the absolution we needed.
A collection of Shuffle Crystals hit Asta faster than she could react. I called up her Special Abilities and watched the bracket cycle about before it landed on Mag Wheels. The thrill raced through me and shot my hand up in a fist. “Fuck yeah!”
The lower ability immediately set her speed in pace with ours. The mounds separating us disappeared. It was now a free-for-all bumper battle. Asta swerved herself at us, smashing into the carbon-fiber paneling. Specs dropped into my Visor that instantly displayed the damage and possible aerodynamic integrity.
“If we take another hit like that we’re toast,” I yelled. “Try to pass.”
Asta punched her engine and pulled ahead. We could see the finish line portal.
“I can’t pass her without her hitting us,” Spectra screamed. “We’ll be crushed into that wall!”
Crushed into the wall? A calm feeling overcame me. Looking back, I would have said it was ‘The Force,’ or maybe even my father’s will. But what I knew at that moment was all this felt familiar. The memory struck me in a thousandth of a second.
“Downforce,” I repeated to Spectra. “We have enough downforce.”
“What?”
The finish line was moments away.
I jerked the steering wheel right and up the side of the wall. The downward force of her new fuselage and higher MACH Levels held us to the roof enclosure of the tube. It was just like back in Thailand on the Wall of Death, but instead of falling, we clung to the ceiling and above Asta. A loud blaring horn sounded as I watched the finish line, upside down, pass under us. We hit the blue portal in a flash, nose to nose with Asta Romani.
18
Freedom
We fucking did it. Pit 1.
A surging amount of pride beamed inside me. It was Spectra and I. Bound to each as true teammates. We each received the choice of freedom. Part of me was a wreck thinking about leaving and heading back to my normal world. The friends I’d met here and bonded with held a special place in my heart.
I walked into Grand Casino with a sense of pride I had never experienced before. Among the crowded slot machines, card tables, and video gambling, hordes of aliens lined up on dazzling red carpet before us. On my side, the Trixies, who had been repaired, were fused together in Twin Connection and held my hand as we walked. The CarTsar’s minions had polished the Trixies up to a fine sheen, their clear-coat painted panels sparkling like diamonds in the sun.
To my other hand, Mechanica rolled on her six wheels under a beaming grin, clasping her other set of hands together. She treaded with grace, her head high and hair done up into a series of bows. Her stance was even more erect since I had granted her that favor. I gave her a wink and admired her bust. She gave a wry smile and powered ahead.
The red carpet snaked its way to the Grand Ballroom. Overarching ribs, which was made of fine iron, were lacquered over to a high luster to showcase its raw ore inside. The ribs repeated in fashion, ending at center stage that was composited of a pressed nurdle plastic that had a similar color quality to the American Flag.
And the star-spangled-banner section was where the CarTsar sat surrounded by his entourage of senate-like board members. They were the high, mighty, and elite in charge of making this Gauntlet exist. My heart sank thinking of all the racers still enslaved. Trixie, Mechanica, and the potential women from other planets that would be brought here.
They wheeled Proxima out from the sideline to the CarTsar, his hand extended in an ever-loving grasp. As she joined him on the stage, the surrounding spectators erupted in clapping. I winced at witnessing Proxima’s broken body. She smiled to me, almost teary eyed.
Guilt filled my every being. I gave a shameful nod to the CarTsar as he spoke into a large microphone. Flashes from above flickered from the hundreds of small drones.
“Everyone, please welcome the new winner of the Intergalactic Gauntlet,” the CarTsar’s voice boomed over the cluster.
The crowd applauded in a thunderous roar. The adrenaline dumped
into my veins, as I felt the watchful eyes of the spectators. I felt clumsier as the surge of energy left my body as quick as it came and countered the side effects by correcting my faulty steps. The farther we walked down the carpet, the more I noticed each alien, no matter how strange looking and different, carried a weight of emotion with them. We were champions, after all… weren’t we?
“I beg your pardon, your highness,” I interrupted. “But will they repair Proxima?”
The CarTsar snaked his tongue out in a nervous twitch. “By all means, but… it is something she has to earn.”
We reached the top of the steps. Proxima rolled toward us. In her hand she held two medallions. I bowed, receiving the medal. She then handed me the other one.
“Where is Spectra?” I asked. “This victory is as much as hers as it is mine.”
Proxima bent over, her full breasts squeezing from out from her top and she kissed me on the cheek. Before she pulled away, she cocked an uneasy grin.
“Spectra left this morning,” the CarTsar said. “She preferred not to receive the medal.”
A disparaging feeling came over me. I couldn’t hide my gloomy expression that fell over my face. I processed the thought of never seeing her again, or any of my teammates, and only felt even more bleak. I grabbed the medal from my neck and pulled it off. The crowd grumbled in surprise.
“I’m sorry, your highness, but I cannot accept this,” I said. “I can’t leave here without making the right decision.”
“What do you mean, sir?”
“My uncle once told me people use lies to tell the truth,” I explained. “All this time I felt like I was lying to myself. I don’t want to just win. I truly want to help. I am both a Racer and a Fixer.”
“Interesting… Well, then, champion, if you choose not to free yourself, then who would you prefer being freed?” the CarTsar asked.
I considered my choice. I took one more glance at Proxima’s soft, smoky eyes and said, “I choose Proxima to be restored to her normal self and released.”
