"He jumped!" Matt shouted into his microphone. "What is he doing? Somebody do something!"
Many spectators in the audience gasped as they witnessed Sel launch himself away from the mountain and into the open air. Mirai stood up from her seat with a start and Shibata leaned forward. Juno and Spot sat on the bar watching the broadcast that zoomed in on the start of Sel's freefall.
"Uwahh?" Racer made a shocked and confused noise. "What is your guy doing?"
"He's giving us a second chance," Hitsu replied with a proud grin.
"Come on Sel!" Enai yelled through her makeshift megaphone, "Let it rip!"
What the shocked onlookers failed to notice was that Sel had rotated his body so that his feet pointed towards the ground. With his eyes set on the top of the mountain, Sel's shoes glowed red with heat and energy.
Ida climbed over the mountain's ridge and claimed her accolade as the first to the top. She quickly scuttled over on her six spider legs and tagged her teammate, Reika on the hand. Immediately, Reika sank through the ground like it wasn't even there and disappeared from sight. As Ida, still in her spider form, caught her breath she noticed Jinsuke in the lane next to her. He was pale white and as far away from her in his lane as he could be. Ida's face changed to an evil smirk.
"Let me guess, arachnophobia?" Ida asked slyly.
"Only a little bit," Jinsuke lied. "Please don't take it personally."
Ida responded by wiggling her fingers and creeping slowly towards Jinsuke.
"Oooooh, look out or I'll get you," she teased.
"Ahh, don't do that!" Jinsuke broke. "You're terrifying and cute at the same time and I don't know how to feel!" Jinsuke's fear didn't allow him to think before he spoke as he shut his eyes in terror.
Ida stopped. "What did you say?" She asked surprised.
"Huh?" Jinsuke froze.
Before either of them had the time to process the situation they just found themselves in a thunderous noise from the uphill climb portion of the mountain demanded their attention.
FWOOSH
A monstrous amount of flames spewed from Sel's feet as he launched himself at high speeds toward the mountaintop. Runners near Enai covered their faces as light and heat from the flames burst in their direction. Enai grinned, Sel had figured out exactly what she was trying to tell him.
"I don't believe this!" Matt yelled in surprise. "Sel jumped off of the mountain so he could use his power to its full extent without hurting any of the other teams!"
"He was holding back that much firepower?" Shibata said impressed.
"Just what kind of team did you form?" Mirai asked in shock.
"A team full of idiots," Takeshi said with a smirk.
Sel soared through the air with flames propelling him like a rocket. He flew past the girl with wings and cut the flames in an instant, this ensured she would not get burned. Without the fire at his feet, Sel became susceptible to gravity's will and began to fall back towards the ground. Luckily for Sel, he was already over the mountain's plateau. Sel had angled himself in just a way that he was arcing towards his teammate. He outstretched his hand and prepared for impact.
"Jinsuke!" Sel shouted.
This pulled Jinsuke away from his awkward conversation. He held out his hand and within moments Sel's collided with it as he crashed down to the ground.
"You alright?" Jinsuke asked Sel after his hard landing.
"Yeah," Sel answered from the ground, "now go!"
Jinsuke turned and ran towards the edge of the mountain. Without hesitation, Jinsuke jumped into the air and began to fall towards the rocky surface below. The mountain portion of the track had no defined lanes which Reika and Jinsuke used to their advantage as they traveled downhill. While Reika had somehow vanished completely Jinsuke had a different idea.
Jinsuke crossed his arms over his chest and then pointed two fingers on his right hand upward. The very ground opened in the shape of a circle where Jinsuke was about to land. Within a moment he too had vanished into the rocky mountain.
"After an amazing comeback by The Voyage, we don't know who is in the lead!" Matt announced.
Spectators watched on, their eyes scanning for a sign of the runner in first place. Other teams began to descend the mountain in various ways but it was unknown what place they were really in.
"There!" Someone in the crowd shouted. Somewhere around halfway down the mountain, the long white hair of Reika appeared as she ran out of the rocky wall.
"Reika's in the lead!" Matt shouted.
Suddenly, a hole opened about two stories above Reika. Jinsuke shot out of the hole at a surprising speed.
"But Jinsuke is right on her tail!"
Noting that her lead was waning Reika quickly sank back into the mountain. Only seconds later Jinsuke opened another hole in the ground and let gravity pull him further in the race. The two continued this dance down the mountain. Every time Reika emerged Jinsuke would as well, the gap between the two narrowing steadily.
"Hey Racer," Hitsu said to his lane neighbor.
Racer was jumping up and down impatiently but stopped to engage in the conversation.
"What's up?"
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Only if you answer mine from earlier."
"That being?"
"Are you fast?"
"I'd say I'm pretty fast."
Racer bounced with excitement.
"Finally," she said with a glint in her eyes, "nobody from my town is even close to me in speed. I've wanted an actual race for so long."
Hitsu was surprised, this girl seemed to care more about a challenging race than winning the round. He thought about his own reasons for coming to this tournament, he thought about how different everyone's goals were.
"So what was your question?" Racer asked suddenly.
"Right," Hitsu said as he broke himself from his thoughts, "what exactly is Reika's power? How is she doing that?"
"Reika calls it Poltergeist," Racer explained, "pretty much she is just a cool ghost."
"I see," Hitsu said, "that's how Jinsuke is gaining on her."
"What do you mean?" Racer asked curiously.
"If I understand you correctly, Reika is simply sinking through the ground. When she comes out of the mountain she is checking her location. Jinsuke on the other hand is more attuned with the ground itself. He knows where he is in relation to the mountain and is only coming out because it gives him more speed."
Sure enough, as they reached the bottom of the mountain Jinsuke would overtake Reika. With the ground beginning to flatten out Reika could no longer sink into the ground. She resorted to running as fast as she could as the rough terrain began to turn into a hard dirt track. Upon reaching the point Reika began running Jinsuke lifted the very ground beneath him and rode it like a surfer rides a wave. This method of transportation moved faster than Reika could run. The two pushed forward as fast as they could towards their fourth teammates.
...
"Hey Sel, are you alright?" Ida asked as she kneeled next to him.
Sel lay in an exhausted pile on the ground breathing heavily.
"Yeah," he responded, "just a little sore."
"Here," Ida said as she offered a hand, "let me help you up."
Sel accepted the offer as Ida helped return him to his feet.
"So..." Ida said.
Sel looked at her at noticed her cheeks her bright red. Her head was turned to avoid eye contact.
"...This might be a little weird," Ida said quietly, "could you tell me about Jinsuke?"
...
End of Episode 62