Ashes

I

"Come on kid! You have to be in front to win!" Wink said via comm. Phoenix rolled her eyes. "I know!" She exclaimed, and cut Wink off before he could say anything else.

Phoenix kicked the thrust and increased speed. She past the third place racer, closing in on second place. She passed the line. One more lap, she thought. The distant shot of blasts signaled her that there was going to be some trouble.

She kicked the thrust again, this time with a little more power, and flew past the second place racer. The sounds of the blast increased. Phoenix felt a slight tingle in her hands and gritted her teeth. No, not now, she thought. The tingle feeling left and she exhaled, focusing on the race again.

She took her vibro knife from its sheath and sped up. As she passed the first place racer, she dragged she knife along the engine of his speeder, leaving a long cut on it. The speeder shook before the engine burst in flames, slowing the racer down. As Phoenix passed him, he was shouting curses at her before they were cut off by an explosion.

Phoenix passed the finish line, the crowd cheering. "Winner is Phoenix Seer-say!" The announcer exclaimed, pronouncing her last name wrong. It was pronounced like Curce, but Phoenix didn't care. She tried correcting him a bunch of times, but he never listened. The crowd cheered her name as the other racers passed the finish line.

Phoenix gave the crowd her signature two finger salute before getting back on her speeder and going back to her pit stop. Wink was waiting for her there. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" The reptilian exclaimed. He clapped his hands onto Phoenix's shoulders while lightly shaking her. "No one can beat this kid!" He cheered.

"I was about to." The two turned to see the racer Phoenix had passed for first place. "Now don't go getting all sour Clado. Anything goes in Montressor street racing," Wink said. Clado rolled his eyes. "That kid cost me my speeder. She owes me," he said. Wink put an arm in front on Phoenix. "You should have known what you've gotten yourself into," Wink defended. Phoenix quietly grabbed her knife from its sheath.

"I know what I was getting myself into. Still, the girl owes me," Clado said. "Hell nah. I don't owe you anything," Phoenix said. Clado turned and glared daggers at her. "You owe me a speeder," he said. Phoenix glared hard at him with her firey orange eyes. "No, I don't," she said. It's getting really hard not to kill this guy, she thought.

The tingle feeling came back and this time, Phoenix welcomed it. Then, a metal part from a pile of scraps, flew across the room and struck Clado in the head. He instantly collapsed, blood rushing out. "What in the blazes?" Wink questioned. He then turned to Phoenix. "Do you know what that was?" He asked her. Phoenix shook her head. "Ok, well lest get out of here before people start questioning," Wink said. "I second that," Phoenix said, hopping on her speeder. Wink hopped on his and they got the hell out of there.

♧

The two arrived back at Wink's bar, the neon sign reading Ole' Winkies. Phoenix hated the name. Wink went in, seeing his usuals sitting at the tables. "Wink!" they all cheered. "Hey, hey!" Wink greeted. Phoenix entered shortly after him. "Hey kid! How was the race?" one of the customers asked. "I won, as usually," Phoenix said. The customer laughed. "Of course yer did," he said.

Wink took the place of his droid at the bar and pour Phoenix a glass of orange seltzer, her favorite. "Here ya go kid. You earned it," Wink said. "Thanks Wink," Phoenix said. She swirled the drink around before taking a sip, the fizzy orange drink leaving a bubbly feeling in her mouth.

She finished the drink and turned the glass upside-down, and walked to the back. She grabbed her satchel from one of the hooks before heading towards the back door.