Race Of His Life

Chapter 23

"Are you sure you've never taken therapy classes, kid?" Manny asked dryly.

"You think I had time for that between being poor and emo, and also training my ass off?" Jack rolled his eyes, concentrating on spinning the wheel as fast as possible.

"I'm starting to think you did after seeing you comfort so many people, including myself though it didn't really work out with me."

"Aw, you're just in denial, Manny dearest. You just don't want to accept that I managed to make quite a few dents in your heart." Jack smirked, seeing the count pass 400. "Besides, I truly never went to any therapy classes as you suggested. I just tell what I feel and occasionally tell what Elsa might have told if she were in my  place."

Waiting for a reply, Jack finished spinning the wheel and proceeded to enter the volcanic area, noticing with a sick feeling in his stomach that the heat was increased way too high to even breath properly. He controlled the temperature of his own body before flying through the smoke, using his wind powers to clear the path in front of him while staying attentive to any direction-changing-fireballs. He wasn't sure when Manny started speaking as his entire focus was on not dying but he heard the end of the sentence as he entered the next stage.

"-like Elsa so much?"

"Say what?" Jack tried hard to understand Manny as he flew away from a huge and angry whale that jumped out of the now water-filled stage of the race.

"Do you really like Elsa so much? Are your feelings genuine, Jack? Will you really protect her heart and not break it?" Manny asked in a surprisingly soft voice.

Knowing that Elsa was a sensitive topic for Manny and that he really meant what he asked, Jack gave a soft smile, "I'm pretty sure you know the answer already, old man. If me emotionally torturing you continuously at the rink didn't already show my feelings, I don't know what will. Besides," Jack smirked as he started the next lap, "I'd be an idiot to leave Elsa behind, and an even bigger one if I ever broke her heart. Let's just hope that she doesn't end up breaking mine by rejecting me after the race 'cause she might have told me to find someone else but I'm still smitten for her."

"Yeah, please don't talk all that romantic stuff about her with me of all people." Manny coughed out, hearing which Jack couldn't help but snicker, "I feel stuck between thanking you for your help and strangling you for thinking of her that way."

"Dont let Elsa know about that second part of your sentence. She might blow you up if she heard you caring about her now." Jack shook his head to himself.

"Let's just hope her feelings change after I apologize properly after all this is done." Manny sighed.

Jack just smiled and focussed back on the race, shooting a wink and a kiss to the main camera -which had the audience going wild- before entering the second stage of the race with the sea stacks.

He dodged all the sky-high pillars of rock with ease, noting how the number of sea stacks seemed to increase the closer they reached the conclusion of the race. Wondering if there's gonna be any space to move in the next and final lap, Jack continued weaving through the rocks, listening to Manny who instructed him to move in the correct directions. He noticed Hiccup and Toothless flying faster than before and Dash easily dodging the sea stacks while running on water.

They're finally racing seriously.

With a smirk, he noticed Hans behind all of them. He couldn't see his face but Jack was pretty sure that Pitch and co were starting to notice that no one was backing away, with how Hans seemed to actually put some effort into flying fast.