“Don’t let Potter get into your head, Karena,” Mariton said.
“Gridtech’s strategy is just bluffing,” Nexi added.
“Just don’t get hot headed and lose, mkay~?”
Karena crossed her arms, keeping only one eye open.
“Yeah yeah, I got it. Quit lecturing me.”
Mikey handed Karena the helmet.
“No one can tell you how to race.”
Karena took the helmet from Mikey.
“Just race your way, Karena.”
Karena had a subtle lopsided smirk.
“That’s the plan.”
Some time in the future after the relay race, Cruise is asking Nexi questions in the GRS post-match interview.
“The stakes were high– it was the last stint and you were on the losing side, Nexi. How did you keep your team composed?”
“We noticed Gridtech’s weakness earlier on. Then it was just a matter of relaying that information. After that we were all on the same page.”
“Was it really that simple? Queens said that Karena was quite a problematic teammate. Did that not concern you back then?”
“No. We told her all we knew. Anything she does after that is out of my hands.”
Karena was sitting in the race car at the start line
when Potter braked hard and stopped next to her.
“Urgh, why do I gotta race you, hag?”
“Since when did they give infants a driving license?”
“Beating you wouldn’t even go well on my portfolio. Waste of damn space!”
Cruise asks Karena in the post-match interview.
“How do you feel about Potter?”
“Hate him.”
“Your philosophy in racing doesn’t match with his. Is that why?”
“No, I just hate him in general.”
In another interview with Mikey–
“You did quite well for a new GRS racer, Mikey Hale!”
“Thanks.”
“Your teammate, Karena– I heard she was quite unfriendly. What made you tolerate her more than others?”
“She’s honest. I trust a racer more when I know they won’t lie.”
Karena sat in the cockpit with a bored face.
Potter was aggressively defending.
She opened her team comms to ask Nexi.
“Where’s the antique shop braking point again?”
“Green garbage can.”
“Alright.”
Karena stomped on the brakes and pivoted the car to block Potter’s exit.
“I overtook him.”
“Great job. Keep this pace and we’ll win this stint.”
“Who’s we? Y’all ain’t doing much back there. I’m the one driving.”
Nexi massaged the bridge of her nose.
“Is that girl complaining again~?”
“No, I won’t count this one,” Nexi said.
Back in Karena’s cockpit–
“Yo moveeee. You’re slow as fuck!”
“Shut it, Potter. You are the one behind me!”
“I got a better pace. You are just blocking the way, you hag!”
Karena didn’t respond.
“Tch–”
An idea came to Potter and he smirked.
“Seems like Nexi found a dog that fits her collar…”
“Hah? What you sayin’?”
“Nexi’s telling you how to race, right?”
“No. Sh–”
“Just keep on the defensive for now. You can lose him later!” Nexi said on the team comms.
Potter grinned.
“She is, what? Why did you stop, Karena?”
Potter poked the nose of his car near Karena’s.
“Just listen to your owner and you will get a treat, right Karena?”
“Shut the fuck up, Potter!”
Karena couldn’t focus on her pedal inputs and her pace decreased.
“Don’t mind if I do!” Potter said.
Potter accelerated into a gap that Karena left open.
Bang!
Karena banged her car into Potter’s.
“Shit!”
Potter pulled back and regained control of his steering wheel.
“The race cars made contact!” the announcer said.
“You bitch!”
“Oops, my bad, Potter.”
“That shit gotta be intentional!”
In the post-match interview, Cruise questions Karena about her race with Potter.
“Was that bump intentional?”
“Is contact illegal?”
“It’s not illegal. Light contact does not result in a point deduction or DNF.”
“Then, I don’t know… Who knows? Possibly?”
Karena shrugs.
Back to the Potter vs Karena race–
“Did Nexi tell you to do that?”
“What could you possibly mean?”
“Bitch, you hit me!”
“My bad!”
Both of them went silent.
“Or did that kid tell you to do it?”
Karena’s eyes widened.
“Your owner is actually that new rookie, Mikey Hale?”
Karena didn’t respond.
Potter chuckled.
“Don’t be so ashamed to admit that the new gen knows better than you. Just admit it!”
I’ll forgive you for that bump, Karena…
I won.
“Mikey didn’t force me to do shit.”
“Huh?”
Karena accelerated into a corner instead of braking. Her car made contact with the barrier and she rode it to fling herself out of the corner at incredible speed.
“Karena makes contact with the barrier! Incredibly
dangerous stunt from her!” the announcer said.
Karena pulled away from Potter fast.
“Left wide followed by a tight right. Then brake here.
Turn in. Floor it into the straight,” Karena told herself out loud.
Mikey ran to Nexi.
“Did she crash?”
Nexi was speechless.
“The racers are almost at the finish line! Karena is two seconds in front of Potter!” the announcer said.
“H– How much lead do we need to win?”
Nexi turned swiftly to Mariton.
“We need at least a three-second lead.”
Cynika pumped her fist.
“Damn it, go go, Karena!”
“Don’t you lose now, girl~!”
Mikey watched the ongoing match on the screen attentively.
Karena could see the finish line. Potter was still behind her.
“What’s my time lead?” Karena asked Xogic.
“+2.721.”
“Keep updating me!”
“+2.824.”
…
“+2.971”
…
“+2.878”
…
“+3.013”
Karena crossed the finish line.
Scoreboard
Potter vs Karena: Karena wins
Nexon stint time gain: +3.013
Nexon time lead: +0.031
“NEXON WON THE LAST STINT OF THE ROUND!” the announcer shouted.
Yudo slammed his hands on a barrel at the Gridtech pit stop.
“Fuckkkk!”
Xavier kicked the barrel.
“They didn’t even beat us by a full second!”
“T– That shouldn’t really count, right guys?”
Kraut fidgeted with his fingers.
“Didn’t know Potter was straight ass!” Yudo yelled.
Garner grabbed Jett’s shoulder.
“A shame you didn’t get a chance to beat Nexi.”
“Yeah. And unfortunately, we are not moving onto the next round either. You won’t get to battle Rinova. How do you feel about that, Garner?”
“Like fucking shit, duh. That smug-looking Jackson’s servant gets to keep his clean record.”
“There’s always the next race.”
Jett paused.
“Truthfully, I wanna see Nexon win,” Jett confessed.
“Hah? What do you mean? You were sabotaging?”
“No. Mikey Hale. Me and him drove together, but we didn’t really ‘race’. I wanna see him race in the next round. I wanna see what he’s actually capable of.”
“Curiosity won’t get you wins.”
Karena got out of her car.
Stolen story; please report.
“Ahhh… I’m exhausted.”
Mariton smiled.
“You deserve rest.”
Mikey handed her a water bottle.
“Not gonna tell me to take it?” Karena asked sarcastically.
“Your choice.”
“Well, I need that.”
Karena grabbed the bottle.
Nexi was watching them but didn’t comment.
“Great job. Would be better if you didn’t damage the car though,” Nexi said.
“That was reckless~”
“It’s just paint scratches, jeez.”
Karena chugged the water bottle.
“You gave us a chance to race, Karena,” Mikey said.
Karena put the lid back on the bottle.
“You guys better win round two, damn it.”
GRS Relay Race: Round Two
Cruise asks in a post-match interview with Comet.
“How did round two start, Comet?”
“Catastrophically.”
“Your contribution made your team win round one, right?”
“Doesn’t make up for round two!”
Comet places both her hands on her face.
In the post-match interview with Spark–
“What happened in round two, Spark?”
“Uhhh hmm… It went the same way as any normal race– just with a slightly ill-fated start.”
Three race cars were all racing side by side on a tight road, driving at high speed.
In the post-race interview with Orion–
“It was Queens’ fault.”
Post-match interview with Queens–
“They were both being so aggressive~!”
Interview with Comet–
“I’m sorryyy!”
Comet cries.
Back to the three race cars, all side by side–
“Hey! I was in front first!” Queens said on prox chat.
Orion was right behind Queens.
“I have to overtake somehow! Could you move please, Queens?”
“I’m boxed in!” Queens said.
Comet’s car was next to Queens.
“I’m sorry!” Comet said.
Comet pulled in front of the two other cars.
“Just back away, Queens,” Orion said.
“Comet! You’re blocking my racing line!” Queens said.
“Just brake, Queens!” Orion said.
“You brake, Orion!”
“Hell no, I’ll lose my position!”
Comet braked early.
“AHHHH!” Queens screamed.
Bang!
Queens hit the back of Comet’s rear quarter panel.
Comet’s car went into a spin.
“Oh. Shit! Shit! Shit!”
Orion braked, but because of the cold tires his car slid into Comet’s side.
Crash.
Comet felt the hard impact.
“Owwwwwwww!”
Queens’s car went straight into the barrier.
The GRS red flag was raised and the safety team was sent onto the track.
Scoreboard
Winners: All DNF
Stint time gain: All DNF
Leading team overall time: No leading team yet
The Nexon race car was being repaired in the pit lane, with the pit crew and pit robots working as quickly as they could.
“I will try to get a solid lap time,” Mariton said.
“Alright, just be careful,” Nexi said.
“Is Queens alright?” Mikey asked.
“Minor injuries. She’s fine.”
The GRS organiser entered the Nexon team’s pit area.
“Apologies for interrupting your voting process.”
“We already voted,” Karena said.
“Great, great. I’m here to say that since you are a team of six and the others are teams of five, one of you will not be racing this round.”
Nexi and Mikey faced each other.
“We do not have to decide yet… We can just keep voting like normal and decide at the last stint…” Mikey said.
“Or we can vote now and not give the benched racer false hope,” Nexi said.
Mariton and Mikey looked at each other and then at Nexi.
Nexi faced Karena.
“What are you getting at?” Karena asked.
“Cynika is consistent and reliable.”
“Nexi…” Cynika said.
“Mariton is going to race this stint already.”
Karena frowned.
“Hey–”
“I can’t risk the car getting damaged again. We can’t afford a DNF.”
Karena pointed directly at Nexi.
“I vote for Nexi.”
“Nexi… she won us round one–” Mariton said.
“I’m the pillar of this team, Karena. I have to race.”
“Then, I vote for Mike–”
Karena stopped before saying something she would regret.
“Whatever. Have it your way.”
The GRS organiser interrupted.
“So– who will each one of you vote for?”
“I’m stepping out. No voting,” Karena announced.
“Understood. Yura Karena will not be racing in round two,” the organiser said.
“Thank you for understanding, Karena,” Nexi said.
Karena didn’t respond. She turned and walked out of the pit stop.
Humanoid pit robots were fixing the Forefront race car.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Rinova, but the aerodynamic systems don’t seem to be working anymore,” one of the robots said.
“Finally! That was a really annoying feature.”
“Are we going to be slower?” Hi-en hesitantly asked.
Rinova stared at Hi-en.
“You are worried that we might lose because we don’t have a flap that goes up and down?”
Rinova gestured a flap with his hands.
Hi-en paused.
“If we can’t win without this, we don’t deserve the title,” Rinova said.
“Do we vote?” Hi-en asked.
“Round one. Round two. It’s the same. Just go if you want.”
Rinova saw that Knox was still sleeping while standing up.
“Knox, you go. You need to be more.”
Rinova turned to the humanoid robots.
“My dude, can you step on the gas pedal real quick?”
The robot pressed down on the gas pedal.
The engine roared and the exhaust popped loudly.
Knox jolted awake.
In a post-race interview with Knox.
“How do you feel about the loss?”
Knox cleared his throat.
He pointed at a glass of water.
“Oh! Water– here.”
Cruise slid him the glass of water.
Knox drank from the glass.
“So– how do you feel about the loss, Knox?”
“Poo…”
At another post-race interview with Rinova–
“Honestly? It was unexpected. I didn’t know we were capable of losing back then. That made us change our internal system immediately.”
“How were you guys operating before?”
“Self-governing.”
Scoreboard
Winners:
- Jammy (Boomboom)
- Mariton (Nexon)
- Knox (Forefront)
Stint time gain:
Boomboom: +2.711
Boomboom team overall time lead: +2.711
Everyone on the Boomboom team cheered.
“Yayy!”
Spark was holding up a phone for his teammates so everyone, including Comet in the infirmary, could
celebrate together.
“Congrats, Jammy!”
“Thanks, Comet. Hope you recover super duper quickly!”
“Worry not!”
Spark cleared his throat.
“As long as we keep true to ourselves and race our way, we’ll win this relay race!”
“Yayyy!”
In a post-race interview with Spark–
Cruise taps on the table.
“You did not win.”
“Indeed we did not,” Spark responded.
“Why do you think this is?”
“Turns out optimism alone doesn’t win you races.”
The Boomboom team was fighting Nexon. Cynika
outmaneuvered and overtook Hawaiian.
“See ya later!”
“Cynikaaa!”
“That’s why I count on you, Cyn,” Nexi said on team comms.
Scoreboard
Winners:
- Hi-en (Forefront)
- Cynika (Nexon)
- Hawaiian (Boomboom)
Stint time gain:
Forefront: +3.879
Forefront team overall time lead: +1.168
Hi-en laughed out loud to Rinova on team comms.
“You’re right, we don’t need those damn flaps to win!”
Nexi handed Mikey the helmet.
“You are up next, Mikey.”
Nexi patted his shoulder.
“You don’t have to win. Just do your best…”
“You are lying, Nexi.”
Nexi chuckled.
“You’re right. Go win this, Mikey.”
Nexi’s eyes were telling Mikey that she meant it.
“I get why you’re champ.”
Nexi smirked.
Mikey put on his helmet and entered the car.
Proxy’s voice echoes from a post-race interview playing from the broadcast.
“The kid. He doesn’t belong here.”
On the track, Mikey shifted gears.
The interview replay cuts back in.
“It’s not safe for him to fight in a ruthless arena like GRS.”
Inside Mikey’s cockpit, Nexi’s voice came through the team comms.
“Clean lines. Follow Xogic. You’ll overtake both of them.”
Mikey didn’t respond.
The interview cuts in again.
“He needs guardrails.”
Back on the track, Mikey’s car was squeezed between Proxy’s and Butter’s.
“Back off from them, Mikey. It’s not safe,” Nexi warned.
Mikey kept his eyes forward.
“Xogic. Change tread pattern.”
The rear stepped out slightly. The tires had no smoke.
Far away in District 0, Cipher stared at the TV screen.
“Holy shit… the kid’s driving like Vance.”
Back on the track, the three cars thundered down the straight.
“Back off, kid!” Proxy shouted over prox chat. “You’ll crash into me!”
Butter saw the slip-driving and backed off.
“I won’t,” Mikey said. “If you tell me.”
“What?”
“Tell me when you’ll brake.”
Mikey sat right on Proxy’s bumper. The corner rushed toward them.
“You are insane!”
“Tell me.”
Two hundred kilometers per hour.
“Brake! Brake!”
Proxy slammed the brakes.
Mikey shot out of her slipstream and surged past.
“Xogic. Change tread pattern.”
He threw the car into the corner. The rear stepped out perfectly. The slide bled off speed as the car rotated through the turn.
Mikey caught the oversteer and powered out, pulling
away.
“MIKEY HALE OVERTAKES AUGUSTINE PROXY!”
the announcer shouted.
At the Nexon pit wall, the team erupted in cheers.
Nexi stood frozen with her headset on, watching the screen– her expression conflicted.
Jett nodded to himself.
“So that’s how you race, Mikey Hale…”
Rinova stood with his mouth wide open.
“That District 12 kid can beat Proxy?”
In a post-race interview with Jammy–
“Do you know that the maneuver that you and Mikey Hale did is now banned?”
Jammy smiled and placed her hands under her chin.
“I’m honoured that me and someone else got to use that spectacle move before it was banned!”
Scoreboard
Winners:
- Mikey (Nexon)
- Proxy (Forefront)
- Butter (Boomboom)
Stint time gain:
Nexon: +4.206
Nexon team overall time lead: +0.327
In a post interview with Nexi–
“I later tied with Rinova, so we won with that +0.327 seconds lead. But Rinova… I knew he wasn’t focused on the race at all.”
“Are you not happy with the win?”
“No– I’m extremely happy that we won.”
“Did you encourage Mikey Hale to try out this new way of driving?”
Nexi looks at Cruize but doesn’t respond.
After the final stint, Proxy walked straight toward Nexi.
“You are responsible for Mikey Hale, Nexi,” Proxy said. “As a team leader, a mentor, and his Nexon teammate. You should be protecting him.”
“I know,” Nexi replied.
Proxy tilted her head slightly.
“Try not to let him ruin track safety for the rest of us, mmkay?”
“I’ll talk to him about it, August.”
Proxy smiled faintly.
“Thank you, Joanna. You’re the best.”
She bumped Nexi’s shoulder with her fist and walked away.
The Nexon team celebrated their win. Cheers, handshakes, and quick hugs passed around as the team gathered near the podium. Karena was standing far away from the rest of the team. Nexi popped a champagne bottle. Mikey pulled Karena toward him and the team, and she gave a few congratulatory claps. The camera flashed, sealing the moment. The Underdogs laughed over the camera shutters.
Jett smiled and Rinova looked at him.
“Why are you smiling? We both lost, dude,” Rinova asked.
“I got to see what I wanted to see. Real racing.”
“I’m gonna go train more after this. I will beat Nexi next time.”
“Hope we are in the same team next time, Rinova.”
“No need to hope, dumbass.”
Jett dabbed up Rinova.
After the celebration died down a bit, Nexi slipped off the stage when no one was looking.
She stood behind the podium, leaning against the metal beams that held up the stage.
Mikey walked around the back and spotted her. She seemed strangely quiet for someone who had just won.
“We won, Nexi.”
“Yeah we did!”
Mikey paused, then stepped closer and leaned against the stage wall beside her.
“This race, Nexi. Was it your win?”
Nexi turned to look at him, confused.
“What? No, it’s our win, Mikey. We got this win together.”
“No, what I meant was– ” Mikey said.
“Was this the kind of win you wanted us to get?”
She hesitated before answering.
“Any win is a win, Mikey.”
The cheering from the stage echoed through the arena.
The cheering would have been for them if they stepped back outside.
But neither of them felt like they deserved it.
An imperfect win.
An unclaimable victory.
“Just curious, Nexi.”
“Hmm?”
Mikey faced forward, fidgeting with his GRS ID card.
“What would a perfect win look like to you?”