Hectic streets. The world champ, Joanna Nexi, just announced an ID-less wildcard racer during her “apology” speech. Telelink influencer, Boomboom, was interviewing the confused people of the financial district.
A mature looking young man with blond hair in professional attire… was talking to his cellphone.
“What’s booming, baby? Today we’re in the financial district, interviewing people on the streets about what they think of this new Mikey Hale!”
A group of young ladies brightened up after recognising the famous Telelink influencer.
“Oh my god, it’s Boomboom!”
“I was just watching your Telelive, Boom– no wayy!”
“What booming, ladies? Mind if I interview y’all?”
“Not at all! We would be glad to!”
The ladies nodded excitedly.
Boomboom turned his front-facing camera toward the girls so that they could be in frame with him.
“Do you guys watch GRS?”
“Duh, everyone watches GRS!”
“What do you think about the new wildcard racer, Mikey Hale?”
“I kinda like him, he’s cute.”
“I like you more, Boomboom, you are so cool in the race car!”
“Aww thank you so much, lady, keep cheering me on in the next race, okay?”
“Definitely!”
Rinova and Jackson exited the Forefront HQ. Boomboom immediately took notice.
“Holy smokes!”
“Boomboom, can we take a picture?”
“I’m sorry, ladies, spicy content is calling.”
“Awww man.”
Boomboom gave both ladies a two-handed high fives.
“Keep doing what you do best, ladies.”
Boomboom was running toward Jackson and Rinova. Rinova noticed Boomboom.
“Oh, It’s Spark.”
Jackson turned the other way, pretending not to see Boomboom.
“Why the hell is Sicilian Spark coming toward us?” Jackson muttered.
Spark stopped right in front of them, out of breath.
“Mr. Spark, I will not give you a race seat at Forefront Racing–”
“Hold on– no, I’m not asking for a race seat this time, Mr. Cooper.”
“He’s here as his Telelink persona, Boomboom, Mr. Jackson.”
“Huh– what is that? Whatever, what do you want, Spark?”
“I’m here to ask what you think about Joanna Nexi’s apology and Mikey Hale, Mr. Cooper!”
“Define apology– Nexi clearly didn’t give one!”
“I anticipated that a childish girl like her wouldn’t bow her head that easily. I don’t care what she said, all I want to see is change in Nexon, they need to start taking responsibility.”
“What do you think of Mikey Hale?”
Rinova looked to the side.
“He’s a kid, I don’t know how he got a seat at Nexon, but I don’t see him as a competition.”
Jackson closed his eyes and lifted his hands up to talk.
“Who would let an ID-less kid who has no training enter GRS? Preposterous, only Nexon would do something so reckless.”
“Ooo… Not so positive reviews… Chat, what do you think of Mikey Hale?”
At Nexon’s HQ lounge, Salton stared at Nexi who’s holding a GRS coffee mug on a couch opposite to him. Mikey was holding in a cough, because he was waiting for some other sound to break the silence.
“So, Nexi, who is this kid?”
Salton gestured at Mikey who was awkwardly sipping on hot water.
“A GRS racer,” Nexi answered.
“Where did you find him?”
“I told this already, at the residential district–”
“You drag a random District 12 kid… into GRS?”
“He’s pretty good. I saw him drive. He drove better than most of my colleagues.”
“Kid, did you agree to this?”
“Umm… yeah, I’m happy that I got a chance to race in GRS.”
“He doesn’t have official training right, Nexi? Where did you see him drive?”
“Nope and… that ties into my next point– I saw him race in an illegal car at an abandoned race track and then he used said illegal race car to drive through the financial district to find the convicted criminal, Alia Vance, at the police station.”
Nexi sipped on her coffee and smiled innocently.
“Is he in trouble with the law? Are we in trouble with the law?”
“Don’t think so. They were like ‘ohh it’s Nexi’ and the criminal, Alia Vance, told everyone that she doesn’t know him.”
Nexi tugged on her hair strand.
“And uh… I told them that the car belongs to Nexon for evaluation and he is an unpaid external racer working for Nexon, so he wouldn’t go to jail.”
Salton placed two hands on his face.
“You are lucky the GRS likes the idea of a poor ID-less district 12 kid racing as a wild card.”
Salton showed a text conversion he had with the GRS coordinator.
“GRS said they want to be more ‘inclusive’ or something. The public seems to like Mikey as well, I watched Boomboom interview people on his stream.”
“You are too old to be watching Spark’s stream, Salton.”
Salton squinted at Nexi.
“Woah– I know Boomboom… my sister used to watch him a long time ago, he was one of her inspirations.”
“Spark inspired someone? Goodness.”
“He’s a great role model, Nexi,” Salton said.
Nexi got up from the couch.
“Welp. Thank you, Salton, for dealing with all the backlash for me–”
“Wait. Don’t go yet. You’re going to teach Mikey Hale how to operate the race car right now. I want to see how good he really is.”
Jett was trying out the new Neo-gen 1.1 race car. The flaps on the race car went up after he entered a corner.
He stepped on the brake aggressively and the car didn’t lock up.
“This is incredible.”
“ABS assisted,” Neo-gen said.
Jett floored it out of another corner.
The flaps went down completely, flushed with the car body.
The car accelerated to 200 kmph without breaking a sweat.
“Traction control activates. Refrain from driving aggressively,” Neo-gen warned.
“Huh… Neo-gen itself is the same as ever, but the car is letting me drive like I want to.”
Jett braked super late and cornered. The car stopped and changed direction almost instantly.
“Hah… Dr. King, so you do know how to make a car for a racer.”
Mikey meanwhile was in a two-seater Nexon race car with Nexi in the co-pilot seat.
“Traction control activates. Multiple rear traction losses detected,” Xogic said.
Mikey yanked his steering wheel and flicked the car into a corner.
“Yo– dude, stop. You can’t drive this car like an RX-8. Remember, Salton is watching.”
“Understood… I’ll be more careful.”
Salton spoke on the intercom.
“Something wrong with the car, Nexi?”
“Nope, nothing… He’s just getting a feel for the car.”
Nexi turned off the intercom.
“Okay… Mikey, just push it as hard as Xogic allows. You’ll still be faster than most GRS racers.”
“Okay…”
“Traction control activates,” Xogic said.
“I can’t even slip-drive?”
They crossed the finish line, Nexi turned the intercom back on.
“2:58.231”
“Was that a good time, Nexi?”
“Let’s try again, Mikey…”
In an official GRS online group call, the organiser spoke.
“Please pick the racer you want for your relay teams, everyone. Since Forefront Industries Racing team has accumulated the most points this season, their representative will pick first. Mr. Jackson Cooper, please go ahead and pick the first racer.”
“Marshal Rinova.”
“Nexon Racing,” the organiser said.
“Joanna Nexi.”
“Gridtech racing.”
“Caleb Garner will be representing Gridtech.”
The people in the call all looked confused except Garner.
“I pick Jett Cooper.”
Jackson's eyes widened. He leaned forward in his executive chair.
“Haha… Mr. Caleb Garner, Why did you pick a Forefront racer? GRS, Is Mr. Garner allowed to pick the racers?”
“Gridtech’s manager gave permission for Mr. Garner to represent Gridtech.”
“He surely shouldn’t be able to pick a Forefront racer, right? Haha…”
“No rule states that relay teams cannot pick a racer from a different race team. Gridtech is allowed to pick Mr. Jett Cooper as a team member.”
Jackson leaned back on his chair, astonished.
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Garner smirked.
“Okay moving on. Please choose your racer, AutoNavy Racing.”
A couple of days before the relay race’s team member selection group call. Jackson was discussing the strategy with his advisor, Tenet, inside of his office.
“I’m not picking Jett Cooper first then.”
“Yes sir. That would be the best move. It’s smartest to secure Mr. Rinova to be in the relay team first.”
“I will pick Jett Cooper as the second member then, perfect plan.”
“Yes sir.”
Tenet secretly pulled out his phone and texted a Gridtech Racing manager.
At the Gridtech HQ.
The Gridtech manager turned to Garner after reading the text from Tenet.
“Forefront will pick Rinova first.”
Garner gave a huge grin.
“Good. Then it won’t be personal.”
Back to the GRS online group call.
“Sovereign Mind Racing.”
“Adro Zeeker.”
“Damn it, I’m in Manju’s team,” Zeeker complained.
Manju laughed snarkily.
“Titanical Systems Racing.”
“Just call it Boomboom’s team, am I right?” the Titanical Systems Racing manager said.
“Hahaha! Yes!” Spark said.
Butter, a Titanical Systems racer, was singing joyfully.
“We are the Boomboom team! We are the Boomboom team!”
Jammy joined her singing as well.
“I joined GRS just because of Boomboom!”
“I love all of you guys!” Spark said.
“Okay, Titanical Racing relay team will be called the Boomboom team,” the GRS organiser concluded.
“We want to rename our team too,” Zeeker said.
“Yeah.”
Manju joined in.
“We are clearly the underdogs here– all in favor of calling our team ‘the Underdogs’?”
Manju raised his hands up
Other Sovereign Mind racers looked confused but raised their hands as well.
“The team’s race manager?”
The Sovereign Mind manager looked like he was just happy to be there.
“Sure, Sovereign Mind company values the voice of our racers.”
Jackson rolled his eyes.
“Sovereign Mind’s relay team will be called the ‘Underdogs team’. Finally, team AutoNavy, who’s your final pick?”
“Nile Falner.”
“Noooo, Falner.”
“What a shame…”
“Good luck guys,” Falner told Manju and Zeeker.
“Here’s the list of every relay team member.”
The GRS organiser presented a screen with every relay team member.
Forefront Industries Racing: Rinova, Proxy, Orion, Knox, Hi-en
Nexon Racing: Nexi, Hale, Cynika, Karena, Mariton, Queens
Gridtech Racing: Jett, Garner, Yudo, Xavier, Potter, Kraut
Boomboom’s team (Titanical Systems Racing): Spark, Jammy, Butter, Comet, Hawaiian
The Underdogs (Sovereign Mind Racing): Sefix, Traft, Broome, Manju, Zeeker
AutoNavy Racing: Reiji, Kells, Litmus, Holloway, Falner
Mikey is on his sixth lap on the Nexon practice track.
“2:48.550,” Salton said on the intercom.
“How did I do?” Mikey asked Nexi.
“Good. You can pull over at the pitstop.”
Mikey entered the pitstop. The car stopped and they both exited the car.
Salton walked toward them, humming the GRS theme.
“You got a great time, Mikey!”
“Yep, he’ll beat most GRS racers…”
Nexi said, with something holding back her voice.
“Was it really a good time, Nexi?”
Nexi's lips lifted but her eyes didn’t comply.
“You did good, Mikey. I got a 2:46.233 as my best…”
“And she’s the fastest racer!” Salton said.
Salton noticed how Nexi was acting.
“What’s wrong, Nexi, are you not happy?”
“No no, I am… It’s great that he’s fast enough to compete in GRS.”
Salton tilted his head.
“I did tell him to drive like this, and then he got faster…”
“Uh huh.”
“And now he drives like the rest of GRS top racers– and I don’t know if that’s actually him anymore…”
“What’s your point, Nexi?”
“Sometimes I wonder– if this really is the only way to win…”
Nexi looked back at Mikey trying her best to smile.
“It’s not like it matters, Nexi, he can race and that’s enough. He doesn’t have to be the best or whatever expectations you have of him.”
“You’re right, Salton. I know I’m being selfish.”
“Can I try driving my RX-8 on the track?” Mikey asked.
Nexi looked at Mikey, her eyes lit up.
“Yeah. Can Mike–”
Salton shook his head.
“Nope. I don’t think that would be safe, kid. I won’t allow it.”
“Mikey doesn’t need AI to drive safely, Salton…”
“Nah ah. I don’t want an uncontrolled car on this track. Safety is now Nexon’s top priority after all.”
Nexi rubbed the back of her neck. Mikey looked away.
“Just get ready for the big race. You can practice on the sim.”
GRS Relay Race: Round One
Welcome to City-zone C’s Financial District.
A tropical bay area with high-tech high-rises and a massive structure dominating it; three towers stitched together by light.
GRS racers stood in the middle of a field next to the district’s Race-zone. The sun was just starting to come up, but it was already stupidly hot.
The GRS organiser was tugging his shirt to cool himself down.
“Okay everyone get into your relay teams, we are going to announce today’s mash ups shortly.”
The Underdogs team gathered.
Manju looked like he just got out of a shower.
“It’s so hot man, I’m getting sticky!”
Zeeker's lean frame made him extra resistant to the blaze.
“Quit whining, it’s not even that bad. It’s just because you’re fat.”
Sefix awkwardly walked toward Manju and Zeeker.
“Uh guys… Why are we named the Underdogs? We rank pretty highly this season.”
Broome and Traft nodded in agreement.
“Did you guys make it to stage two of the endurance rally race?” Zeeker asked.
All of them shook their heads.
Zeeker and Manju faced each other.
“Then y’all ass!”
Zeeker and Manju laughed their asses off.
Mikey was heading toward Nexon Racing’s relay lineup when someone called out–
“Yo! Mikey!”
“Reiji!”
Reiji pulled him into a tight hug.
“You actually made it into GRS! How’d Nexon give you a seat?”
“Champ helped me.”
Mikey pointed at Nexi, who was talking to Jett.
Reiji grinned.
“Knew Nexi would notice how cracked you are behind the wheel.”
They fist-bumped.
Reiji’s smile faded slightly. “I heard about Vance… You okay?”
Mikey exhaled.
“I don’t know yet. Didn’t even get to talk to her properly. Have you seen Cipher anywhere?”
“He’s at our hideout. Pretty crushed about Vance. But when I left, he said he’d still be cheering for us.”
Reiji smirked.
“Hell– everyone in District 0 is cheering for us.”
Mikey raised a brow.
“Oh yeah? You interview the whole district?”
“Nah. They stick to their own groups.”
Reiji bumped his shoulder.
“But if Kaito and Nina are cheering, that’s enough.”
Mikey smiled.
“Then we better make them proud.”
Reiji nodded.
“See you on the track. We might end up battling.”
“I won’t go easy on you.”
“I’d be disappointed if you did.”
He gave a wave and headed back to his team.
Mikey joined Nexi and Jett.
“You ready, Mikey?” Nexi asked.
“As much as I could be.”
“Mikey Hale!” Jett greeted.
Jett reached his hand out to Mikey for a handshake. Jett raised an eyebrow while they were shaking hands.
“Have we met? I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before…”
“Oh yeah, Jett, he–”
Nexi looked at Mikey who was looking down. She refrained from saying anything more.
“Nope, we haven’t.”
“Alright, I’m curious to see what kind of racer you are, Mikey Hale!”
Jett turned back to Nexi.
“I’ll easily beat you, Joanna.”
“Please… You know you are lying to yourself.”
Jett smiled and left.
Cynika approached Nexi.
“Joanna Nexi, we are in the same team. I’m glad.”
“I saw that you can hold your own in a fight, Cynika, we need a racer like you in our team.”
“You were terrifying in a fight, Nexi. I thought you were going to pass me right at the end.”
“If only the darn car doesn’t give out.”
Queens yawned loudly.
“Why do I have to wake up so early~?”
Karena, a girl with sharp eyes barked at her.
“All you do is complain, you bitch.”
“Urgh, why do I have to be in the same team as this girl? Day ruined~”
Karena and Queens crossed their arms and stared at each other.
A calm dude, Mariton, got in the middle of two of them.
“Settle down, settle down both of you. We are in the same team now. We need to work together.”
“I’m always cooperating, boy~ she’s the problem here.”
“Urgh.”
Mikey was impressed by Mariton’s composure.
“Why do we have to get up so early anyways though?” Mikey asked.
“It’s because every stint is racing on the same track. Even though the track is short there’s still thirty two racers, so sixteen battles. That will take half the day,” Mariton explained.
“Round one and round two will take place on the same day, Mikey,” Nexi added.
“Not justifieddd~ I want to sleep, please move round two to another day.”
They heard loud chanting from Boomboom team.
“We are the Boomboom team! We are the Boomboom team!”
Butter, Jammy, Comet, and Hawaiian were singing.
“Yayyy!”
“Amazing everyone! This is a team sport. We unite. We win,” Spark said.
Hawaiian teared up.
“Wise words from Boomboom, applaud everyone!”
Boomboom team members applauded.
“What’s our motto again?”
“We win big or lose spectacularly!”
Everyone from Boomboom team cheered.
Gridtech racing overheard Boomboom team chanting.
Yudo sighed.
“All of them are idiots.”
“Fast idiots,” Garner clarified.
Jett joined Gridtech’s lineup. Garner greeted him.
“Welcome back to racing, Cooper.”
“Why did you pick me, Garner?”
“‘Cause you’re a damn good racer, duh.”
“He picked you to piss off Jackson, probably,” Yudo said.
“I don’t care about your motive, Garner.”
Jett bowed down
“Thank you for letting me race.”
Garner was amused.
“You don’t care if we beat the shit out of your mate, Rinova?”
“We are racers afterall.”
Garner turned to everyone and shouted.
“That’s the spirit– yo guys, be like Cooper!”
Xavier and Potter nodded.
“Heard.”
“Word.”
Kraus awkwardly followed.
“I will try…”
“Let’s do the stupid thing the Boomboom team does…” Yudo suggested.
Everyone chanted.
“We win the damn race or die trying!”
At the Forefront Industry’s racing team, everyone was silent.
Proxy nudged Rinova.
“What’s the game plan, Rinova?”
“I do my best. You do your best. Everyone do their best.”
“Pretty vague huh?”
“We don’t even know the track yet, we’ll plan then.”
“He’s right.”
Hi-en spat on the floor and resumed looking unfriendly.
“We got the best racers here, we don’t need a game plan, Proxy,” Rinova said.
“He’s right about that too.”
Orion did not spit on the floor, but looked equally unfriendly.
Knox was sleeping standing up.
Proxy rolled her eyes.
“No chanting motto then, lameee.”
The GRS organiser cleared his throat.
“Since everyone is now in their relay team, I will begin announcing the mash-ups. First mash up–”
First mash up: Team Forefront vs Team Underdogs
The Underdog team let out a cry of despair.
Manju gave Zeeker a monk-like smile.
“At least you won’t have to worry about me losing a stint.”
Zeeker smiled back and nodded.
“Mhmm. None of us is winning a single stint.”
They were already planning their consolation meal.
Second mash up: Team Boomboom vs Team AutoNavy
Team Boomboom was still singing, unaware of their impending mashup.
Mikey was listening to the announcement.
So, I won’t get to battle Reiji this round. Wait, that leaves one team.
Third mash up: Team Nexon vs Team Gridtech
“Oh no.”
