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The Saturday night was busy as always; a bigger turnout for bigger wins, and from less active players no less.
“Damn, she’s hot.”
“Which one?”
“In the mask.”
“They ALL have masks.”
“Only those four. Check out the chick in the baseball cap. Wasn’t she on someone’s arm last year?”
Reki and Langa coasted through the chattering crowd.
“Seems like another prominent match,” Langa said in his usual quiet voice.
“Yeah, think Joe and Cherry are going at it again?” Reki pipped, just in front of him.
“Oh, tonight’s not about us,” a smooth voice broke out. Both teens turned to the pink haired man standing with a good view of the big projection screen at the starting line. A taller man with green hair stood beside him, who looked over his shoulder and nodded at the boys.
“Move, slimes!”
“Ahaha, it’s getting hot tonight!”
Miya and Shadow joined the other four, the former stealing a position in front of the first two men.
“I’ve never seen them skate before…” Miya immediately went serious. It prompted the same from the other three.
“Mn,” Cherry hummed, looking at the lineup of women behind the lights.
“Dunno the stakes,” Joe sighed and flexed his shoulders, “but I’ve heard about them.”
“You have?”
“What about?” Langa and Reki asked simultaneously.
“Mysterious,” Cherry interjected first.
“Those four women on the long board are skilled, good records and
scathing
reviews-.”
“Ew, Joe!” Reki whined.
“Not that!” Joe yelled back at the redhead.
“They’re as ruthless as anyone else on the track.”
“They’re making up for lost time. Enough about
us
, the ladies demand their turn. Carla.”
The AI responded to her creator, “the Femme Fatales and JoshKit have an ongoing feud. Cause: unknown. Approximate length: unknown. The stakes are usually vague as in Master and Dopey Gorilla’s beefs.”
“YOU MADE HER CALL ME THAT!?”
Cherry slapped his foot to Joe’s ass, unbothered except for his voice, “Carla is capable of learning and picking up patterns. She merely recognised one and acted accordingly.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“There’s talk they’re younger than you slimes,” Miya cut in, Reki groaned at the name, “but better than you.” Reki groaned again.
“And JoshKit?” Langa questioned.
“Ohhhh, I know her! She nearly beat me once, if I hadn’t have enough-.” Shadow was interrupted.
“U-uh, guys, are those nails in her bat?”
All eyes zeroed in on the tomboyish lady idly holding a bat upon her skateboard. All save for the founders’.
“She uses it too.” Cherry chimed, worryingly excited.
“How? And how does one pair against four!? Gah, that doesn’t make any sense! Never mind the sort of extra parameters the board would need to compensate for the extra weight-!”
“Reki, just watch.”
“Yeah. Okay. You’re right, Langa.”
Miya gagged at the mushy expression the teens shared. Joe chuckled and was about to tease when the lights began blinking and beeping. The whole track hushed.
Joe looked to his frenemy if only to see Cherry’s little smirk.
So what do they have going on anyway?
More time must have passed than he expected when Cherry, in his sultry voice, commented, “here’s the straightaway.”
“What, they gonna do a ‘kiss’ or something?”
“Don’t be stupid, slime boy, and just watch.” Miya retorted, eyes glued to the projection like Cherry’s. Reki groaned exaggeratedly.
“Oh-,” Joe smirked as the loner with the bat swung at the quartet as they came out of the curve, “didn’t even lose her balance. Damn.”
“Isn’t it something, something persistance?” Cherry remarked, side-eying him. He laughed.
Shocked whispers broke out as those unacquainted with the womens’ tactics were treated to watching the quartet’s board separate into two. Reki lost his ever-loving-mind. Cherry and Miya made comments.
JoshKit’s face twisted more in concentration.
“They’re low-clotheslining her!” Shadow guffawed.
“Wait.” Cherry stated. The whole mountain watched in awe as JoshKit jumped—but she didn’t clear it, her wheels came down on either side of the cord. The two halves pulled together.
“She surrounded herself!” Reki gasped.
“I mean, the Femme Fatales were surprisingly fast considering the weight but didn’t she just handicap herself? What possible plan could she have?” Miya wondered aloud.
“Can’t say,” Cherry said in a voice that usually meant he knew it.
“They’ll all bail on the cur-!” Reki began, clinging to Langa as he imagined a five person crash.
“Reki, look,” the soft spoken teen replied, pointing at the projection.
“They’ve only used it to gain speed!”
“YOUR BAT, GIRL, YOUR BAT!”
“They’re too close, you gorilla.”
“And if JoshKit pushes any of them off, it’d likely upset the balance enough for a crash anyway.” Miya added.
“How’re they gonna survive the factory though?”
“It’s almost like it’s happening in front of us,” Cherry retorted.
“Ho-ly hell.” Joe uttered as they watched the five women cross over into the old industrial building, managing despite everything to make it down the narrow passes.
The Femme Fatales shared certain looks with one another.
“Here it comes!” Miya declared as all three kids tensed even more in anticipation.
JoshKit prepared for an ollie but her back tires got caught on the still-unwound cord. She crashed into the finished line, half of her rivals crossing over first. The crowd around them bellowed in excitement.
One of the masked women helped her up, exchanging quiet words no one else could hear—not that the rejoicing fellow skaters around them were wanting to eavesdrop after such a show.
“That was AWESOME!” Reki leapt up and nearly perched on top of his boyfriend.
“I didn’t think we could use cords,” Miya muttered to himself.
Golden eyes locked onto his colorfully cat-eared head, “and you won’t think about it.”
Joe clapped the kid on the shoulder, “for your own safety, kiddo!”
“I was hoping for some more bat action.” Shadow pouted.