"Look, we made it to the last part of this run." I say looking back at Gyro and Johnny along with Stocking who was following behind us three.
Taking that shortcut had us in the lead by about two hours compared to everyone else, so I was sure we were in the lead until I squinted my eyes and looked in the distance.
"What the…. Wait isn't that Hot Pants? How the hell did she get this far ahead of us!" I shout out to which makes Gyro sprint out in front of me to speed up and catch up and hopefully pass up Hotpants.
Though Johnny doesn't speed up to go with him as winning isn't his point to this race but to learn the spin and also the power of the spiral at that, so he just keeps pace with me on my right side with Stocking on my left.
"Hifumi, your hand alright? That power you unleashed earlier…. It was terrifying to say the least." He asked me while I looked at my stitched up hand.
"That was scary, it was my first time implementing spiral and spin energy with each other, but I made the output to high for me to handle, I bet you could do it with your nails as well Johnny, but only when you feel you can or else you might lose your entire hand or arm if you don't do it properly, though this eye does make it easier to aim." I say pointing to my left eye that still had the saints corpse within it while Gyro now held onto the right eye of the Corpse for himself.
"And that plan you mentioned before, do we really have to go through with it?" He asks me while my eyes squint thinking back to before we rested for the night.
******
"So your telling me the entire point of this Race is for the President to get all the Corpse Parts and bring 'Prosperity' to the United States by having all the saints corpse brought together and kept under the capital and making this country into one that will last for well over a thousand years as a result?" Johnny asked me as we sat at the table we were at after finishing our dinner.
"But that's not everything, right Hifumi?" Gyro asks while getting used to his new right eye that was now an extension of his normal steel balls.
"Right, while if he accomplishes that lofty goal of his it will make it so no disasters happen to America but in return from how powerful this saints corpse is compared to all others it will cause devastating levels of misfortune to affect the rest of the world, Naples has the corpse of Saint Mark right Gyro?" I decide to ask him to which he nodded.
"Right, back around 900 AD from what I recall that some of the Naples Royal Family of the time had thieves go out and steal Saint Marks Corpse away from the Holy land and ever since the country has known nothing but prosperity." He says but I shake my head.
"But your royals didn't realize the consequences of their actions, tell me what happened throughout all of Europe between 1346 and 1353 Gyro." I ask him which makes him pause for a moment before sweat began to drip down the side of his face.
"You don't mean…." He says to which I nodded.
"Naples was completely unaffected from that terrible Epidemic, almost seemed like it was gods will to keep the Kingdom of Naples safe that entire time for all seven years the plague affected the rest of Europe and that was really the only major thing I could say but any war that happened to them no matter how improbable it was for Naples to win they would win it and bring glory to the kingdom, and it's all thanks to the corpse of Saint Mark, now tell me, what if a much larger country came in possession of a much more famous Saint, one who's works even after all this time has reverberated across the world for the ages, that Saint would make that country into a utopian paradise, but at the cost of the entire world…." I say making them sweat more at the thought of that possibility.
"Then…. Who does this corpse belong too?" Johnny asked me making me look at him with only my left eye open.
"Johnny I won't say his name but I will give you both a hint, he is the most famous Saint that humanity has ever known for all the miracles he made reality within his lifetime before his death, and the last hint that should make it all the clearer, look at the arm you have Johnny, look at his hand specifically, and you should have all the answers, but now then onto the plan…." I said to them as we discussed what we shall do with the saints corpse parts as we find them throughout this race…..
*******
'Though the question now stands, knowing that Marco, the boy he's trying to save, is still bound to die in a few years if the execution is cancelled.' I think to myself as we follow Gyro who is taking the path through the lake as it's the quickest way to the next finish line in this race.
And while he was able to catch up with Hot Pants to an extent he isn't a jockey by nature and by the time he made it to the lake she was already half way across it.
"He's not going to beat Hot Pants, even if he pulls out all the stops he won't be able to pass." I say as Johnny turns towards me while we begin to make our approach towards the lake also.
"…. Gyro doesn't really have that drive in him you know, he doesn't have it in him to do whatever it takes to win…. Even if that means killing someone in the process…." Johnny said as I looked at him to see a fire burning in his eyes.
"Maybe, however Johnny I want you to remember this, unless it's necessary for you to either achieve your goal or you are in mortal danger don't give into your bloodlust so easily, or else you will begin to slowly become a monster, something I can tell from experience." I say to him as we make our way through the lake with Hot Pants getting across the entire lake with Gyro not far behind.
He just looks at me and nods before racing on ahead, as even though this is a race he and Gyro are still rivals and wasn't going to go easy on him.
"So, what are we doing after the orchard?" Stocking asked me as it was clear Hot Pants was about to win.
"We will go our separate ways, the spine is north of Kansas City while the Ribcage is to the south, we go their and claim while we continue on with this race." I say as the plan I had in mind.
But I feel the understanding I need to achieve will become clear soon enough.