Most of the people with murderous intent started to move which forced the assassin of shadows to focus his tracking on them. He could only trust that his companions would be able to get by on their own for he had a fight that he needed to handle. Judging by the common direction of their movements, Shinku judged that they were after their location.
Not wanting to risk more time, the assassin of shadows decided to snap out of his trance and traverse the path of the shadows to reach his targets one by one.
"Uhmmm Trey, hey where have you gone!" With her fear getting out of control, Shen'za decided to turn around to at least find comfort at his companion, only to find out that she was alone at the pit stop.
Shinku reemerged out of the shadow realm, behind an unsuspecting victim. Appearing behind a lone slender man, Shinku quickly drew his sword to stab his target from behind, through his victim's heart. The assassin then pulled the sword and disappeared into his shadow in one clean move. It wasn't that hard to deal with most of his targets however, Shinku seemed to share a common fate with his companions the moment he was met with a sudden explosion upon leaving the shadow realm to one of his targets.
Shinku's back slammed on the wall behind him, making him suffer an excruciating pain along with a few burns on his skin.
"So I've met you at last shadow walker. Did you really think all your deeds would go unnoticed?" Blurred vision of a sinister figure approached the assassin of shadows who could only wince in pain, unable to move his body. Shinku simply lay against the wall motionless, unable to do anything about the danger that slithered towards him.
Back at the race track, Apex struggled in his captor's grasp, trying to bite the man in black spandex.
Meanwhile, to Slark's surprise, the Captain Raven fellow suddenly pulled up to check on him. "Hey, that Shadow tried to run you out of the race?"
Slark frowned, his arms crossed in dismay. "Yeah, he's somehow got my friend. But of course you wouldn't care would you?"
Raven shook his head "Well if you might ask, I'm a bounty hunter so I'll help you out for now. Consider this a light partnership on the track. Come on follow me."
With his fellow racer's encouragement, Slark revved his race car's engine once again and followed after Raven.
Meanwhile, somewhere at the audience area, Shinku tried to fight for his consciousness, threatened by the view of an unknown figure that slowly approached him. His vision was too blurred to make out an exact description of who or whatever was in front of him, but his instinct told him that this being spelled grave danger.
Out of his desperation to live, Shinku mustered the last of his strength to traverse the shadow realm and escape his frightening foe.
"Oh. All I wanted was for you to stop by and talk. Oh well I guess we can talk some other time." The mysterious figure disappeared just a few moments after the assassin of shadows escaped through the shadow realm.
A bloody Shinku appeared back at the pit stop, throwing the then confused Reez into a more panicked state.
"Tttttrey? What happened?" Shen'za stuttered, upon the sudden reappearance of her bodyguard, bathing in his own blood.
"Run...go to the other teams, wherever you think it's safe. Ttthey're after you!" Shinku winced in pain, falling to his knees as he tried to keep himself conscious.
"Bbbut….hey where'd you go again?" Confused, Shen'za tried to make her bodyguard explain what exactly happened, only to witness another disappearance of the young man.
A succession of screams could be heard from the woman upon the emergence of several men with swords from the back entrance of their pitstop. Seven men came into the scene with the last one suddenly stabbed from behind by the assassin of shadows who showed himself among the men, throwing them into sudden disarray.
Finally getting their attention, Shinku decided to conceal himself yet again and then carefully made his way towards another victim. Ignoring his pain, the bloody assassin struck his blade through the heart of another man, then dived into the shadow realm. Before Shinku could delve into the shadows, one of the men was able to impale a sword at his shoulder. The pain of his previous wounds proved detrimental at his current fighting skills, that his actions became slower as they used to. He could only hope that sheer determination could get him through five more opponents.
Shen'za could only stand frozen at the scene of his bodyguard's slaughter. She wanted to scream and ask for help but she couldn't muster a single voice to release from her lips. It was a good thing that Shinku was able to throw Shen'za's assailants into confusion.
Coming from behind, Shinku struck his sword again through another victim, leaving four more opponents alive. Quickly, he swung his sword to defend himself from a sudden attack from his side. With another attack from the other side, Shinku decided to hop backwards then concealed himself again.
It was only by sheer determination that Shinku was still able to manifest his shadow skills. And if not for his stealthy skills, Shinku's survival might have been a lot lower at this rate. At his disappearance, his opponents rushed towards where they last saw him, then blindly waved their swords in his direction. The act forced the assassin of shadows to traverse the shadow realm yet again and appeared behind the men, quickly slashing down two more opponents. With the final act of desperation, he used the energy in his ring to make him able to move more agilely, then struck down his last foes to the ground. Satisfied, Shinku finally let himself succumb into unconsciousness, upon acting towards the limitation of his own strength.
"Trey…" He can only hear his made up name slipping out of the lips of his lady client before everything around him disappeared into nothingness. With her assassins now down, Shenza was finally able to snap out of her terror and call for help. Almost immediately, a couple of medics rushed their way towards the team's pit stop and carried an unconscious Shinku towards the floating island's hospital.
At the racing track, luck seemed to be peering back at Slark who enlisted the help of another racer to battle Apex's captor. It didn't take them that long to catch up with the black racer who ranked first at the leaderboard.
"Take that!" Raven yelled as he rained a barrage of rockets towards the black racer who agilely evaded all the attacks.
"Hey don't forget that my friend is on their hands. We better be careful." Slark complained, worried at his captured sidekick.
"Of course. Well, now distract him for me, I have a plan."
"Wait what?" A confused Slark inquired, followed by a surprised expression upon seeing the racer vanish. Having faith at his newfound ally, the long-eared warrior decided to step on his nitro gas to gain after the black racer, while skillfully evading some traps that the latter left for him.
He finally gained on his target and started to harass it by bumping the race car from the side. The black racer retaliated with a slam in an attempt to get Slark off the track. Fortunately, the long-eared warrior's car was sturdy enough to absorb the impact, keeping him on track. However, his luck wasn't enough to keep the black racer at bay as Shadow sped up to leave him once again.
To the black racer's surprise however, Raven's car suddenly appeared in front of him, causing Shadow to fall in disarray. The black racer's panic caused him to lose control of the vehicle, allowing Slark to grab Apex back from behind. Finally, the black racer spun out of control and crashed out of the race track.
"OH, Looks like we get a combo attack here today with Captain Raven and the newcomer teaming up for a combo of legends! And with that the Black Shadow is out of the race!"
Raven smirked slowed down for Slark "It's nice working with you, new ally but I say we have a race to finish, isn't that right, racer?!"
"Well, see you on the finish line!" With a renewed confidence, the Slark and Apex sped off toward the end of the fourth lap better and full of confidence. The fifth lap was it. This was for all the marbles. Slark finally sped up, passing racer after racer with a smirk on his face. Raven kept in league him, seeing the long-eared warrior giving it his all.
"TURN IT UP, SLARK! FULL POWER!" Apex yelled, as Slark passed more racers.
Finally, it was the last lap and still, Slark and Raven were about toe in toe in the battle for the finish line. Both could be seen seriously aiming for the grand prize. Sweat glistened as the two racers stepped on the wheels, aiming to gain distance from each other. At last, the finish line was at sight and yet, none of the two lead racers seemed to yield. Silence reigned as the audience focused on the Slark and Raven who's cars remained side by side. Not even a single breath could be heard, save for the raging engines on the race track. And finally, the two cars both passed the finish line.
Not even a cheer could be heard however, as the jury tried to review the video footage of the race. A few more moments and the other racers came, passing the finish line one after another.
"Oh my, we're all in for a surprise!… We checked the footage and all the jury agreed that victory goes to SHEN'ZA'S TEAM!"
Apex's mouth was agape when confetti started to rain on them. "Holy shit, that's a blast!"
At the side, Slark could see Raven's wide green, holding up a thumbs up for his victory. They both walked towards the winners' platform along with the racer in third place.
"SLARK! SLARK! SLARK! SLARK!....." Cheers of Slark's name suddenly dominated the colosseum like a storm. The nameless racer seemed to have suddenly gotten his face after his victory.
"Hey we won!" Apex exclaimed upon seeing Shen'za approach the stage. The lady however, seemed far from being joyous.
"What happened?" Seeing the lady's distressed face, Slark quickly ran up to her in concern.
"Trey, he protected you… me from the mobs out there.. He got hurt, injured and now he's unconscious at the hospital.." Tears started to burst from the lady who could only collapse on Slark's arms.
"Nobody dies on my watch." Before a news anchor could come near Slark for an interview, the long-eared warrior suddenly bolted out of the colosseum and towards the floating island's hospital.
Apex and Shen'za quickly followed, leaving the audience at the colosseum hanging, without a victory speech from any of them. Surprisingly, Raven himself suddenly disappeared as well, leaving the victory speech at the mercy of the third placer.
Shinku woke up, with another unfamiliar scenery. A room, painted in all white met his vision with a lady similarly dressed in a white uniform standing beside him.
"You're finally awake!" The lady greeted with such a tranquil smile, after checking on Shinku.
"Where am I?" A still dreamy Shinku inquired, his voice barely bearing a small hint of strength.
"You're in Raven Hospital. You came here in a really bad shape." The lady responded in a similar tranquil tone. Immediately after the response though, the door suddenly opened with the arrival of Slark and the others who came to visit Shinku.
Shinku was able to recognize most of them except for a stranger who was clad with a purple suit, a yellow scarf and red mask. It wasn't that long though when he was able to finally recall the stranger as one of the racers back at the tournament.
Somehow, it warmed the assassin of shadows up, who greatly appreciated their visit. He still kept it concealed in his face but he can't deny how much this current team now meant to him. He felt the warmth of Apex's fuzzy feet the moment the rodent hopped onto his chest and showed him the trophy.
"We got ourselves a trophy! This is for all of us including you, Trey!"
Shinku tried to keep his smile to the simplest he could manage as the rest of the team sent their regards.
"Your friends here did well at the race track. And for giving me a worthwhile race, I Captain Raven ensures the best care given to their wounded companion!" The purple clad racer exclaimed, offering a two finger salute at Shinku.
It was an unforgettable moment, almost the same as the final days of their clan which unfortunately ended in tragedy. He smiled, upon the team's request for a group photoshoot inside the hospital which served as a memento of their victory at the race track.
"Uhmmm...Thanks everyone. But Slark, I uhhh...still expect you to fulfill your end of the bargain." Shinku remarked still with his strength barely starting to come back at him.
Slark turned to Shinku and nodded, digging for an extra communication device and set it near the young man. "Don't worry, I never go back on my word. That extra coms has our numbers on it, just in case anything pops up. I just need an important issue resolved then after that, I'll get back to you." Slark sighed and then continued. "Oh, you still owe me your real name."
Shinku was relieved of Slark's confirmation of fulfilling their deal and on letting him keep the comms device but was surprised by the long-eared warrior's mention that he still owes the team his real name. "Of course. It's Shinku. I think I can trust you anyway so might as well let you have that." The assassin of shadows responded decisively, finally opening up somehow about himself.
Apex suddenly blinked in confusion. "Wait, Trey isn't Trey, but Shinku?!!! Slark! Did you know this all along?"
Slark raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms "So it's Shinku, for a while, you had me going with Trey for quite some time."
Shen'za then followed up. "Wait, what? Your name is Shinku?"
The assassin of shadows could only smile at his perplexed companions upon learning of his real name. "I know, my apologies if I hadn't trusted you enough. I originally thought I'd only have you guys for our deal but I never expected you to be real friends."
Shen'za then sighed "We didn't expect it would go this far. Thank you… all of you for making this a day worth remembering for the rest of our lives."
Slark turned. "Well, it was great winning it all. Our first big race in Arak'tia as a team, turned out to be the best day of all our lives."
"Oh right, uh…" Slark signs a picture of him and Apex together and gives it to Shinku as an autograph. "Just a little token of our appreciation." Although a bit hesitant, Shinku accepted the gift, placing on the table beside his bed.
As they said, all's well that ends well. Shinku was left at the hospital with Shen'za who later arranged for his return to the inn at the heart of Arak'tia.