Gabatrix: The Magenta Racer

Chapter 6: A Night with the Doctor

"Oh.....she's finally here....," Serrein said with a lack of enthusiasm in her voice. She almost rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I am, sister," Cordeina addressed her back.

"Half-sister," she almost snapped back at her gritting her shark-like teeth to her. She shook her head and wandered back to her hoverbike.

"Cordeina, it is good to see you," Vala'rein said as she gave a daunting glare at Serrein.

"At least somebody from my family still has some respect for me," Cordeina replied with some sincerity. "I finally get to see my new potential mate."

Neo could see the entire scene unfurl as he looked upon the three Shal'rein women. Cordeina had let go of him as she lifted her fin-covered arms over her head. She was showing a genuine sense of gratitude and happiness from her face before she lowered her arms down again. Vala'rein was not overly expressive upon seeing Cordeina. It wasn't to say that she wasn't happy to see her, but the way Serrein had delivered her greeting to Cordeina was something almost mutually shared with Vala'rein. Regardless, Vala'rein had provided a half-smile upon the surprise of seeing a member of her family.

"Cordeina, it's good to finally get a chance to meet you," Neo said as he pulled away from her. "We need to get our vehicles brought back to the tents."

"Of course," Cordeina replied with a slight amount of enthusiasm.

There was a need and desire to keep moving forward. Neo was happy to finally see Cordeina, but they had to get their vehicles put away. The doctor's arrival was not precisely the perfect time to do so, but it was a welcome surprise in any case. The distant crowds from the track were beginning to disperse a little bit as the race was over. An adrenaline-filled track had ended with some things that everyone had to take note of.

"Agh....that was intense," Neo remarked.

"That is easy for you to say," Vala'rein replied with a lack of enthusiasm. She still seemed somewhat saddened to hit last place. Both Neo and Vala'rein disengaged the parking brakes of their vehicles as they began to push their bikes back to the shop gently. Serrein remained at a distance as if she purposely wanted to keep space. Cordeina watched Neo and Vala'rein closely. The way she walked was different than her siblings that Neo had noticed. Her tail would remain almost still, but she moved with a certain grace. Even her tone in how she spoke was just different.

"I loved the race," Cordeina said. "You all did great."

"It was too short," Vala'rein remarked. "I would have done better if we had more laps."

"I agree," Neo said.

"More laps?" Serrein jumped into the conversation. "You couldn't even beat your own mate."

Vala'rein gritted her teeth upon hearing it. It wasn't so much as an insult, but more for the fact that she was trying to reduce Neo as inferior. She said nothing but instead shook her head upon hearing it.

"No...." Neo remarked. "There is supposed to be more laps in the UWALVR. Typical races actually have five laps or more when we did it in the past.....at least.....according to the track we would race on. The reason why they are so short this time is because of the alliance."

"They don't know if we could handle it or not? Ha," Serrein laughed with a series of clicks in her voice.

"More like that these are going to be the racing committees desire in seeing if these new races will work or not."