Page 43

Perry

The skies had opened up.The sound of the rain hammering down was almost as loud as the roar of the crowd as Arthur and Gregor pulled into the first obstacle, a winding tunnel with no flat surfaces, just a pure cylinder that forced the drivers to ride up along the sides, or even on the ceiling at times. I watched as Gregor did a three hundred and sixty flip around the tunnel, arcing around the ceiling to come onto the opposite side of Arthur. It was a completely unnecessary move. The piece of shit was so arrogant, he wastoyingwith Arthur. It made me furious, and I could see that it was beginning to get toArthur.

"Ignore him, Arthur,"I said. "Ignorehim."

"Fuck,"he said. I watched as Arthur pulled the same move, whirling around the ceiling to put Gregor back on his rightside.

"Arthur, don't,"I said. "Don't let him get toyou."

"He's making it really difficult,"he replied. "Dammit!"

Gregor had forcedhim slightly onto the side of the tunnel. Because the tunnel was perfectly round, when the obstacle ended both racers needed to be running along the bottom in order to safely emerge onto flat ground. That usually meant a game of chicken, with one rider edging the other out and exiting first. Arthur jerked his bike towards Gregor, trying to get him up the side of the of the tunnel, but he didn't budge. They were both in a dangerous position, the question was who would be the one to pull back? This was one of the moments that I couldn't do anything to help Arthur. He would have to decide on a strategyhimself.

Ichewed my lip.He was getting closer to the end of the tunnel, and was still riding side by side with Gregor. Gregor was still in the safe position, and Arthur's attempts to get him to move were not working. He attempted to pull ahead of him, but the winding curves of the tunnel were preventing him from picking up much more speed. He wasstuck.

"Come on, Arthur,"I whispered to myself. Through his cockpit feed I could see the intense look of concentration on his face, burning behind his wolf eyes. "Comeon..."

Icould seethe end of the tunnel coming up fast ahead. It was obvious that Gregor had the upper position. He wasn't going to be psyched out. What was Arthur going todo?

Drop back,I thought.Before it’s too late!But he wasn't. He continued to ride the side of the tunnel, and they were hurtling towards theexit.

Here it came!

"Arthur!"Ishouted.

At the last second,he whipped his bike in a loop around the top of the tunnel, accelerating at the very last moment before he reached the end. His bike shot ahead of Gregor'salong the ceiling, and with the momentum of the move he flew out from the exit over Gregor's bike and landed just ahead of him on the track! Smoke puffed from his tires as he landed, the back of his bike wobbling to regain traction as water exploded off the track into a fine mist. The crowd burst into a roar of applause, and I threw my arms in theair.

"Fuck yes!"

"That was close,"he said into themic.

Gregor swerved back and forth,trying to find a way to pull ahead of him, but Arthur moved with him, blocking his attempts. I could only imagine how furious he must've been right now. But it was way too early to get relaxed. They pulled into a turn and Gregor started to edge in along the left side. He was driving even more aggressively now, no longer toying around. They came out of the turn neck and neck again, hurtling towards the nextobstacle.

The narrow loopsof the Dog's Eye were even more treacherous in the rain, notorious for flinging overly-confident riders when they took their bikes too close to the edge. I reminded Arthur about this, giving him the track conditions that were scrolling along the bottom of my screen. They increased their speed and pulled into the first and smallest of the loops, flying around it without any issue. The second loop was larger in size, but the track also became narrower, forcing the bikes closer together. Gregor jerked his bike quickly to the right andactually tapped the side of Arthur's.The man was insane! He could make them both crash, doingthat!

"Son of a bitch,"Arthur growled. "Damnhim."

The second timeGregor went in for a tap, Arthur suddenly decreased his speed, dropping back behind Gregor's bike. Gregor didn't expect it, and his bike shot dangerously close to the edge of the track. They entered the loop and flew around it, and when they exited, Arthur used the slingshot momentum to drive him back forward and even the position with Gregor onceagain.

"Maybe he'll stop fucking aroundwith me, now," Arthurgrumbled.

"Don't count on it,"Isaid.

They entereda series of zig-zagging curves, and their bikes smashed through the film of rainwater sitting on the surface of the tarmac and made it jet up hundreds of feet in the air. Arthur cursed and fell behind Gregor as he pumped on hisbrakes.

"Damn controls feellike they're shaking apart under my paws. The water on thetrack..."

"You're fine,"I reassured him. "Keep your speedup."

He accelerated,coming up on Gregor's side again. Their bikes swerved through the turns in unison, like fighters exchanging blows. Just ahead was the next obstacle, The Walls, but both of our minds were on the final obstacle, The Forest. With these conditions, we both knew just how much more treacherous it wouldbe.