I'll prove I am good enough

A BIG RACE UNFINISHED

As the sun shone relentlessly on the X-Zone. Riders from different teams started appearing. The first were Makoto and Kenji, soon joined by Kakeru. A little while later Kyoichi stepped on the rock with his hands gripping his knees, he was panting and exclaimed " I guess, I made it! Just in Time". The Samajima brothers appeared next. The four kings too appeared, running, a little later. As Gabu spoke to his brother, he noticed Sho was missing, so he said " If he doesn't appear, I'll take it he lost and this ground will belong to us" and continued his conversation with his brother.

While Makoto, Kenji stood worrying, Kakeru inspected the track. " Darn it, where is he?" expressed Makoto with frustration. "Don't worry, Makoto. He'll be here. Sho never throws in the towel" consoled Kenji. "If he doesn't then I'll race" stated Makoto. At this statement Kenji turned towards Kakeru, who lifted up his shoulders and gave a faint smile.

" Doesn't seem like he's coming, eh Gabu?" said Taiga.

" Seems so, but I know Sho wouldn't give up that easily" replied Gabu.

' I see Gabu's looking forward to the race, he really believes this race might be an interesting match. Well that's good he won't be overconfident. I've seen Sho race before, he may be amateur on the outside and inside too, perhaps, but in the race he puts up a good show. He might actually stand a chance' thought Taiga.

In the meantime....

Sho was enjoying his sweet sleep. When in his dream he saw Makoto screaming on him and with an " Aahhh" he woke up. " I am late! She's gonna eat me raw." He continued screaming gibberish as he dressed, which woke Ayumu. " It's 8am and a Saturday, what woke you up? Brother"

"Sorry, Ayumu, I have a big race today. See ya later. Byeee" screamed Sho as he ran towards the stairs and gradually fell.

" It's not yet time for you to wake up, Sho but since you have, you better help me at the store today" said Sho's mom.

" Sorry mom. It's race day. How about tomorrow ?" said Sho almost escaping.

" You aren't going to the hills again with that bicycle of yours. Are you?" replied Masumi.

At this Sho stopped and replied "It's not a bicycle mom, it's a MTB. You were here when dad was making, can't you tell the difference?"

" Don't you dare try to escape Sho and don't you dare to mention MTB in front of me. I heard your tools clanking, late at night. You escaped from your room to tune that bike, didn't you?" stated Masumi with anger.

" A...I... a... See ya later mom, byeee" said Sho as he rode off.

" Unbelievable... yet then again I guess he's got all those character traits from his father." Masumi stated, looking towards his father's image inside the frame. Beside those were countless medals belonging to Sho's father and finally his image with a trophy in his hand. She looked at the image with sorrow hidden by a smile and then returned to her work.

" Woohooh... let's do it Flame Kaiser!" exclaimed Sho with excitement. ' I believe in you Flame Kaiser, today we'll race for the track and definitely win. With you Flame Kaiser we'll ride to our destiny!' thought Sho has he jumped over the rock and landed straight on the X-Zone.

" You finally show up, Sho" screamed Makoto, " We were almost having to forfeit."

" Well that's Sho for you, Makoto but he sure made an entrance" said Kakeru with a smile.

" Well, what do you know he finally shows up" stated Taiga, folding his hands. "I didn't think he'd show up, actually"

" I'll make you a offer Sho Yamato, surrender now and become a part of Team Shark Tooth, that way you can use the track and it will spare me this waste of time. However, you can use the track only with my permission."

A moment of silence. 'Gabu knows well that Sho wouldn't agree to that, then why make such a futile offer' thought Taiga ' I guess he's just taunting Sho'. Kenji stared at Sho curiously for that matter actually everyone was staring at Sho, including Kyoichi. However less cared Kyoichi seemed he too was looking forward to the match and Sho's answer

" That seems like a bad idea to me. You may be in the same class as me yet your leader of your team" said Sho breaking the silence

" I don't understand the point of your ramblings, Sho. Why don't you just get on with the race" interrupted Taiga.

" What I am saying is, you may be better than me but that won't stop me from racing you. I'm gonna race you , Gabu... and I won't hold back" said Sho.

Gabu was a bit taken aback, but after a few seconds he smirked and said " We'll see if we can break that confidence, won't we". Then Kenji observed a little staring session and finally he stated " Let's get started then"

A few moments later both riders were ready. Taiga came up and proposed that he should race instead of Gabu as Gabu's team leader and Sho's just an amateur. " Nah...Taiga... you want to take my chance of humiliating him, Taiga. No way... he's all mine." After this Gabu looked at Sho and noticed his MTB. It looked like a classic, hand built, downhill bike yet in some angles it looked a little more advanced than any normal MTB. Gabu was on a top-class downhill bike too yet he thought that he can expect a few surprises from Sho's bike.

" What kind of an MTB is that?" asked Gabu.

"It's a Flame Kaiser" replied Sho. " A Flame Kaiser" repeated Gabu with a little amazement in his voice, then he replied " Are you trying to scare someone with that name?" " Anyway, our track is down this hill then across the track to that shed over there, you got it?" stated Gabu. "Yup" replied Sho confidently.

With Makoto's count down and announcement of the rules by Taiga the race began.

The two riders rushed past, Gabu took the lead with Sho daydreaming behind as it seemed atleast. Sho was thinking about his father when a scene from his past flashed up, " Flame Kaiser will take us wherever we want, whenever we want"

'That's right,father. I believe in Flame Kaiser and I know I can do this' he thought as he screamed aloud " Let's do it, Flame Kaiser" and peddled faster

. As Gabu saw Sho catching up, he accidently jumped into some dark fog and a shrieking cry was heard. "What the hell is that?" asked Sho and was soon consumed by the same fog. The same fog appeared below Kenji's feet, by sheer instincts perhaps he jumped towards Taiga, while Makoto and Kakeru were devoured. Kyoichi was running towards Kenji, when he heard Team Shark Tooth screaming, he quickened his pace fully aware that Kenji and Taiga will soon be gone and wished he could run faster. He reached out his hand as he came closer, Kenji's finger touched his palm and sliped out. Before Kyoichi could realize, the dark smoke consumed him and he cried out "No". The X-Zone was emptied so quick that no one could guess there were people there.