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“King Leopold, the one on high, please watch over all of us as we compete in your honor. Please reveal the men with evil in their hearts who would commit such heinous crimes and let the light of your love replace it. Amen.”
A tall man with olive skin and fluffy brown hair led the group in prayer. The death, or at this point presumed murder, of Tony Zepps had shaken the other racers to their core. With the prayer complete, the others around him thanked him before going their separate ways. The fluffy haired man tipped his bright red stetson towards the crowd before turning to get the attention of the suited men..
“That was a wonderful prayer Miguel. Your words have calmed down the contestants and we deeply appreciate it.”
Miguel smiled, tilting his hat again at the men.
“Of course,” Miguel replied. “At the end of the day faith must be the foundation to keep us afloat. I’ve said a prayer or two to myself on some of these treacherous stretches of the derby myself.”
“If you ask me, I bet you that York girl has something to do with it. She comes from a family of obsessed weirdos. I wouldn’t put something like this past her.” Another of the suited men spoke.
“Well to be fair,” another man chimed in, “The Yorks didn’t become a trouble until that woman got involved.”
“Honestly Miguel, you worked with her up to a year ago, what’s your opinion on her?”
Miguel let the silence hang in the air for a moment before responding, tilting his head and resting his chin against his hand as he thought.
“It’s a shame that we couldn’t work out our differences but I don’t believe she’d do anything nefarious. She’s in this for the right reasons, just like everyone else competing.”
The men chuckled amongst themselves.
“Always the gentleman Miguel, no wonder the Church decided to snatch you up and sponsor you. Your father would be proud.”
“No snatching involved,” An elderly woman spoke. “I prefer to see it as all part of Leopold’s plan.”
The group turned to find Sister Loveless walking towards them with a smile across her face. The group of suited men bowed as she approached with Miguel lowering his head and hat as well.
“Sister Loveless,” one of the men spoke up, continuing to bow. “I apologize for the mess this derby has evolved into but I assure you that this committee has everything under control.”
“All things through Leopold are possible as long as our faith is rock solid,” Loveless replied before turning to Miguel. “Now I’m sure this is all riveting conversation but I need to take Miguel through our usual morning prayer.”
After a quick “Leopold be praised”, the committee went about their way and Miguel went off with Sister Loveless. The next leg of the race was starting in under an hour and preparations still needed to be made before the starter pistol was fired.
🌱🌱🌱
The usual announcements of Dropouts were shouted over the loudspeaker. There was a brief moment of silence for Tony Zepps, during which Josie looked around and noticed that many of the competitors were looking in her direction. Even with all the recent craziness, she was still on everyone’s radar after what happened in the last leg of the Derby.
The pistol fired and the locomotives were off. Not moments after crossing the starting line, the others began coordinating attacks at Midnite Cruiser. It was the usual fair, tossing of coal and rocks to knock them off course. Anything they could do to keep them far behind. Peg did her best to maneuver around it but Josie knew what she needed to do.
After their near death experiences the day before, they agreed to tie up Willie and take him with them for the next part of the race before deciding how to handle him. He had been knocked out again and they tied him to a pipe in the back of Midnite Cruiser where Josie loaded coal. She filled up the furnace again and then leapt out to give support on the track.
The intensity of the attacks were filled with more vitriol than the previous stretch of the derby, so Josie needed to be on guard at every chance. Josie was keeping up and knocking away any debris sent her way leading a clear path for Peg to drive. Just as Peg began to think they might pull off this leg unscathed, a vehicle in Josie’s blindspot slammed into her, causing her to crash back into Midnite Cruiser.
“Hey!” Josie yelled. She leapt up from the ground and grabbed onto a pipe outside of the locomotive, close to where Peg sat.
“They just slammed right into me! That’s cheating!”
“To be honest Josie,” Peg replied, doing her best to stay focused on the road, “People aren’t supposed to be on the track. Besides, anything goes as long as no one’s killed.”
“How would they know that wouldn’t kill me!?”
Peg shrugged her shoulders and tossed Josie a couple of beans. She gulped them down and once some of her strength returned she got back into the heat of the race. Now that she had a better grasp of the rules, she could play more in her style. Josie not only kicked back debris, she also found whatever she could on the ground to throw at other racers. Large stones flew in their direction as she tried her best to slow them down. The speed Josie attacked gave them no time to dodge and the attacks knocked the competitors' vehicles into each other with ease. Josie returned to Midnite Cruiser and they sped past, making sure to kick up even more dust than normal.
They had no problem making it back to the front of the pack where Peg found herself focusing on one person. Miguel was in the back of a large locomotive in front of them, shoveling at an insane speed. Peg had such unwavering focus on the man that she didn’t realize one of the other racers had thrown a large clump of coal their way causing them to lose control and speed.
“We ok?!” Josie asked from the back of Midnite Cruiser. “I thought we were almost there, do I need to pop back out?”
“It’s fine!” Peg yelled back, gathering herself. “We’re almost there, just keep shoveling!”
Not much after that they crossed the finish line, farther back than they would have wanted. Peg still couldn’t take her eyes off her old teammate, Miguel.
🌱🌱🌱
The results were in. Peg and Josie finished in 4th place, which normally would be an impressive feat. Peg, however, knew the distraction had cost her placement in the top 3.
“I saw someone who used to be on my team.” Peg confessed as they got settled in their assigned repair bay. Each team was given their own garage instead of sharing a giant one at this stage in the derby.
“It’s ok.” Josie said, checking on Willie’s ropes to make sure he couldn’t escape when he woke up. “Like you said, it’s just the last leg that matters. We’ll be Number 1 next time for sure.”
Josie and Peg never talked much about the person she’d replaced. All Josie knew was that he had quit working with Peg in the 11th Hour after receiving a sponsorship from the Church. He accepted and the rest of Peg’s team had followed suit. Peg was thrilled that Josie had stepped in with such confidence and skill. However, after looking at the unconscious Willie, she thought back to her own fight that she was still a little shaken from. She had been prepared for challenges going through this race, but assassins wasn’t one of them.
Before the pair could settle in and start taking in inventory and repairs, there was a knock at their garage door. Josie hopped over and opened it to find a large group of men in suits. They weren’t the usual men who acted as the Millennia Derby committee. Instead these men were very large and would normally come off as quite intimidating. With everything Josie and Peg had gone through already, they just seemed to be another nuisance they’d need to deal with.
Luckily the men weren’t there to start any problems. They’d come to retrieve Willie. Of course they didn’t apologize or explain how they even knew he was there. Before leaving, they told both Josie and Peg to come to a restaurant in town called ‘Chows’ at midnight. There was no threat or ultimatum given, however the gentlemen said that all would be revealed if the ladies showed up.
Once the intimidating men had taken Willie and departed, Josie and Peg discussed the logistics of walking into what was most likely a trap.On the one hand they might die, on the other, they had so little knowledge of what was actually happening they might get killed either way. They agreed that it would be in their best interest to just go.
🌱🌱🌱
Right at midnight Josie and Peg arrived and knocked on the door of ‘Chows.’ The sounds of feet shuffling came closer and closer before the door swung open. One of the locals stood and hurriedly rushed them in, clearly making sure no one else noticed them.
They entered the dim restaurant to find someone sitting at a bar with his back turned to them. Sitting at either side of the man were two of the large suited gentlemen who had originally invited Josie and Peg to the restaurant. Once they got closer Peg immediately recognized who was there and nearly screamed.
“Miguel? What the Hell is this?”
Miguel finished his drink before tapping on the bar, summoning the bartender to pour him another. Once it was poured he took another sip, refusing to acknowledge the others’ presence.
“Miguel it’s the middle of the damn night you better have some answers!”
He raised his hand signaling for the suited men to stand and leave. Once they had exited and the bartender had shuffled off to the back somewhere, he finally spoke.
“Thank you for meeting me here, I know strange things have been happening in this race.”
“You want to know what’s strange? People tried to pay both Josie and I out of competing in this race and when we refused they used magic to try and kill us. And now you’re down here after sending what I assume are your goons to invite us to some little tea party. I want answers Miguel. Now.”
Miguel finished his drink, leaving his glass on the counter before running his index finger along the seam of his red stetson placed next to him.
“Do you remember what I told you when I resigned?” Miguel asked, his back still turned.
“Not particularly, I was too upset from you betraying me to pay attention to your bullshit speech about legacy.”
“Legacy is not bullshit!” He replied, glaring over his shoulder in their direction. “I’d think someone with your family would understand that.”
“What does sending jerks to kill us have to do with your legacy?” Josie asked, finally finding a chance to chime in.
“Do you think Legends are just born, um, Josephine was it?” Miguel replied, turning around to face them.
“My friends call me Josie, so stick with Josephine.”
“Anyhow, Legends are not born. The stories of adventures and conquest, they’re all heavily manipulated down to even minute detail. There are no mistakes when it comes to Legends.”
Miguel stood to his feet, reaching into his pocket for a handful of Leopolds to place by his empty glass.
“This race is a crucial part of my journey into becoming a modern day legend. Those jerks are just my insurance to make sure there’s no hiccups along the way.
“You think you deserve to call yourself a legend when you threaten real ones with death!?” Peg replied, still livid about Francisco. “Oh and thanks for not mentioning you had magical assassins on your payroll. You just love surprises don’t you?”
“Your insults fall hollow Peg. After I win this race and my legacy is solidified, you and your family will be nothing more than a footnote in History. A quirky piece of trivia brought up at dinner parties. I have no interest in the opinion of two people without the slightest inkling of how the world works.”
“We know exactly how the world works!” Josie said. “Bad guys get punched in the face and you keep talking like that I have two fist for-”
Peg raised her hand to stop Josie from finishing her sentence.
“Either way, what’s your plan now Miguel? Now that we know this is all your doing, what’s to stop us from going to the committee? Hell, we could go straight to Sister Loveless and The Church, I’m sure your sponsor would love to hear this. Unless, you’re planning on killing us yourself right now.”
Miguel put on his stetson and silently walked towards the two of them. Peg dug into her pocket to ready beans to fight as Josie tightly gripped her fists ready to fight. Instead of attacking, he walked right past them to the doorway of the exit.
“You clearly misunderstand your position here. There’s not a thing either of you could do or say to stop me. The force I have behind me would snuff you out like a match in the wind. Besides, no matter what happens now neither of you will make it past the finale of this derby.”
The last sentence served as his farewell as he left the two of them behind in the bar. Peg stood in disbelief, she had no idea how deep Miguel was involved in all of this. She had a hope that she could appeal to some part of them that would listen but he was too far gone in whatever madness he believed in. She snapped out of her daze when Josie punched through a nearby table in anger.
“Josie what the Hell!?”
“Miguel…” Josie said, gritting through her teeth. “I’m gonna’ kick his ass!”
To Be Continued