I don't own Battle Angel Alita. I didn't create it. I'm not making money
off this.
I hit the concrete again. It stung, but that's irrelevant. Pain through
neural connections always is. They feel removed, distant. I didn't care
though. If the pain was ignorable, that was one less thing to distract
me during the race.
I was on my feet after only a second or two but that was enough. Even
swerving and dodging to avoid the two other remaining racers, Grigg was
almost a hundred yards away from me.
After him instantly, I zig and zag myself. When We came through here
only a few minutes ago, on lap two, Grigg and I took out the entire lead
group. That was glorious.
Now, Grigg was slowly loosing his lead, though number 34, Zak, was
lying on the track in seven different places. Looked like his brain was
intact though. That almost brought a smile to my face. Zak was a great
player, and I enjoyed the challenge he presented.
No time for that now, I chided myself. I have a race to win.
By the time Grigg was finally free of Fliss, number 12, we were halfway
through the lap and approaching the Canyon. The track was especially
narrow here and the cement walls on the side rose almost thirty feet up.
Laced with twists and turns, it was the most dreaded part of the course.
More people crashed here than on the whole rest of the track combined.
I wasn't worried though. I was riding a wave of control that defied any
attempt to make me crash. I could do no wrong, and I could not help but
win. Grigg was simply carrying the ball for me, and I hoped he knew it.
I caught up to him about halfway through the Canyon. He was riding with
his head down and arms tucked, the motorball infront of him to reduce
wind resistance. He was fast, my mental guess putting him at one fifty
mph. I was faster though.
He noticed me out of the corner of his eye right as we went around a
curve to the left. Never one to waste time, Grigg swung his flail arm at
me. I jumped it and landed with my blades on the wall. I rode it around
the corner, my angle and speed driving me almost twenty feet up.
Griggs flail hit the wall where I wasn't and bounced back. A second
later he risked a glance over his left shoulder, checking to see if her
had me. When he didn't see me, me must have assumed I was either down or
had been forced to slow down. It was enough.
I hopped to the other wall, and rode along that through a tunr in the
reverse direction. When my blades next hit the ground, we were in the
narrow, straight part of th Canyon. I decided this was perfect to launch
my attack.
Catching him totally by surprise, I drove my finger knives through his
right leg. I could feel the jerk as they ruptured his power conduits,
making him swerve to the right. I assisted this by pullling my claws
down and out.
He slipt sideways and for a moment was grinding against the uneven
wall. He pushed off though, using the heavy armor on his left forearm to
prevent any damage. At the same time, his flail came straight at my
face.
I skidded slightly and lost almost twenty mph of speed in a second. I
knew I wasn't as good as him in a straight fight, so I had to rely on my
greater manuverability. But here in the death trap, that should work out
just fine.
Grigg was racing in front of my now, only a few yards away. We were
only moving at about a hundred, a crawl for this sport. I knew he was
waiting for me to get close, he knew I knew it. But there was nothing
else to do. There was only about a mile of track left and I had to act
fast.
Abruptly accelerating as fast as I could, I was only five feet behind
him as we transversed the final series of zigzags. He swung his flail at
the exact same time as a back kick, hoping to catch me either way.
It didn't work though. I Grabbed his leg and lifted it, wrapping the
flail around his calf. Unable to move, he was easy prey as I swept past
him and shatered his arm with a back fist.
The shift in mass was enough and he twisted wildly to the left, his arm
swinging like a whip. I shoved him as he went, breaking his right arm
simultaneously. He crashed into the wall at almost full force.
I emerged from Canyon a mere hundred yards from the fnished line,
motorball raised high. I slowed down and crossed the line cockily.
The audience was stunned that I had taken out Grigg, ranked seventh, in
my first fight. When They bombarded me with questions, I only had one
answer for them.
"I am Jashugan, Number 13. And I will be the King of Motorball."
My Fics at http://www.execulink.com/~stryker
Stryker's hosting me. Nice guy, Stryker.
Finish TWiL Max.