Megorama II

chapter 4: At the Races

"So, where are we going today, guys?" Meg asked as the Planet Express ship was flying away from its homebase as she did some homework.

"Horse Track," Bender wrapped his arm around her, sounding delighted. "Aw Meg, I wish you were old enough to gamble... That way, if the cops catch ya, they'll go easy on you since you're a little girl!"

"Bender, stop influencing Meg!" Leela scolded like a true mother.

"Horse Tracks..." Meg sighed, then shrugged. "Well, I guess I'll do my homework later... Just as long as this isn't boring as heck."

"It might be good for you, sweetheart," Farnsworth soothed. "Look at this way, your family won't be here to embarrass you."

Meg chuckled a little. "Yeah, you're right... Maybe this won't be so bad..."

"That's the spirit," Bender beamed to her, then handed her a pamphlet. "Now let your poor old robot friend place some bets, huh?"

Meg shrugged, rolling her eyes and decided to go along with it. Plus this was her chance to see a futuristic horse race. Maybe this would be more exciting.

Meg sat with the others and it looked pretty much the same as it did in her and Fry's century, only there were laser gates holding the horses back and once they were vaporized, the horses would run with their jockeys. Hermes was very excited and active as the horses ran, hoping the one he bet would win. Meg yawned a little, thankfully she could do it in peace this time. Normally anything emitted from herself would resolve in a 'Shut up, Meg'.

'And it's a dead heat!' the announcer called after the winning horse crossed the finish line. 'They're checking the electron microscope... And the winner is... Number Three in a quantum finish!'

Meg yawned again. "Not even science can make this exciting..." she mumbled, folding her arms.

"Cheer up, Meg, it'll get better soon," Leela soothed her adoptive daughter. "After this race, there'll be centaurs?"

Meg raised an eyebrow. "I thought they were just fairy tales..."

"It's a long story, dear..." Hermes smiled to her. "Centaurs exist in this century. A lot of them live in Cornwood."

"Oh..." Meg looked back, suddenly awake. "Maybe the centaurs race will be more exciting."

"Whatever it is, it isn't fair!" Farnsworth grumbled. "They changed the outcome by measuring it!" he then ripped up his ticket, very furious.

"So, umm... Fry?" Meg looked to the older boy as he looked through binoculars. "How did your horse do?"

"I'll tell you when my horse finishes," Fry said as he continued to look, but then looked back at her once his horse finally came through, that seemed to answer the question already. "Bad."

"Hey," Meg realized someone missing. "Where's Amy?"

"She's in the luxury box," Bender told her. "You might not know this, but Amy's parents are rich."

"Oh... That's nice..." Meg smiled. "Maybe I could meet her parents someday."

"Uhhh..." everybody else seemed to hesitate.

"What?" Meg asked. "How bad can they be? My grandparents were rich and they liked me just fine!"

"Really?" Fry sounded shocked that Meg had relatives that cared about her.

"Well, mostly Grandma, but yeah..." Meg smiled at the good old days of visiting Newport.

A while later, Bender pointed out to Meg that this was the centaur race. It was a lot like the traditional horse race, but this one was where the racers were also their own jockeys. Meg was just shocked to see a centaur up close. That was something she never imagined she would dare think to be possible, then again, Fry must have been the same after being frozen back in 1999.