THE TWO RIDERS GATHERED by the school's entrance. Willis had already set everything up. For this Obstacle challenge, the first rider to grab the American flag waving at the school's flagpole wins.
"No time limit," Willis said. "We can only attack each other while both of us are moving. Fair enough?"
"One more thing," Stephen said. "Let's have a clean race. It's my first official Wheels War, after all."
Rolling next to Willis, he offered his hand. Being that this was a competition, Willis grabbed Stephen's hand with all his strength. He was stunned upon feeling that Stephen's grip was just as strong as his. He let go and got into his respective lane.
On top of a building that had a clear view of the school, Maxwell pointed out to Castiel that he could see Kimberly on the opposite side. Castiel asked him what she, of all people, was doing there. Little did either of them know that she was, in fact, a Road Rider herself. Stephen had done a great job keeping his promise not to tell anyone at the school.
"Who's that next to her?" Castiel wondered.
They both noticed a guy who looked oddly like her. He had red hair and freckles. Grabbing a pair of binoculars, they got a closer look at him. He was wearing a blue coat with white feathers around the neckline and had on two cyan-colored earrings shaped like water droplets. They sadly couldn't see his feet to tell if he was a Road Rider or not.
Planning to tell Stephen later, the two turned their attention back to the race. Both riders had taken their starting stances.
"Ready?" Willis's voice boomed. "Go!"
Like an obese man on a trampoline, Willis shot forward, easily taking the lead. He was more like a fighter jet than a tank!
In front of him was the first school building. The two had to clear at least three of them to reach the flagpole. Students watched intently as Willis performed an outrageous combo. While moving forward, he first crouched, then bounced off the ground, flipped forward to grind on the wall to the right, spun back into the air, grabbed his feet as if doing a split, grinded on the wall to the left, and then did a fourteen-hundred-forty-degree spin to land on the top!
He was like a sumo wrestler that just took flight. The crowd marveled at how such a large young man could move so effortlessly in the air.
Rather than continue forward, he stopped to look down at where Stephen was, saying, "Been hearin' a lot about you lately. People were sayin' that you'd take this win easy from me when they found out. Well then, brother… Show me your tricks!"
The spectators heard Willis's screams, eager to see how Stephen would respond. Stephen's wheels started skidding off the ground, leaving smoke behind. He then dashed forward with incredible speed. To their amazement, he didn't do a fancy trick to reach the top; he broke through the first-floor window!
Not just the spectators, but even Willis's mouth dropped. Before they knew it, Stephen busted through another window to travel through the hallway and take the lead.
"Hey, wait a sec!" Willis screamed. "Now that's just… Gerrr!"
A few seconds later, Willis managed to catch up in the same hallway after jumping down. The two were spotted bursting through various windows and skidding across a science room until they reached the school's auditorium.
"The school's funding's gonna go down the drain after this," Castiel commented.
Stephen looked behind him to notice that despite all those obstacles in their path, he had not once lost Willis. It wasn't just his size that was monstrous; his speed was incredible too. To shake him, he stuck his fist out to break through the glass of a fire alarm just as he rode past it. The school's fire shutters were activated one by one.
Knowing this was the last shutter to come down before the whole building would close off, he skidded so low to the ground, barely passing to the other side.
"Later, fat boy," he stopped to comment.
When he noticed that Willis wasn't slowing down but accelerating, he turned around to dash forward. It hadn't taken him long to know what Willis was going to do next. Like a bulldozer, he flexed his shoulders, placing them forward and screamed like a madman, crashing right through the shutter!
"Is this guy the Hulk or something?!" Maxwell commented.
At the school's nursery, the two were spotted leaping over the many flower pots. Because Willis's wheels were structured like tanks, he was able to skid across the soil and take the lead.
"Looks like ya memorized the school's map," he said, looking back. "I did, too, ya know!"
Stephen kept a straight face. Just losing the lead wasn't enough to deter his focus.
Reaching the third and final building, Willis used a lot of leg strength to perform a wallride. Twisting his body, he performed an eighteen-hundred-degree spin until he reached the roof. At this point, the students were convinced he was some kind of superhero. That was because he did that all without falling or losing his balance.
Willis's Dyna Blades had round traction heels. High-tech equipment used for four-wheel drive prides itself on its high output. With the right amount of rotation rate and friction produced, ascending and descending a vertical wall was more than possible. That's what made certain Dyna Blades so special.
Turning around, he simply stared at Stephen. The look he gave him was one of disappointment.
'You know,' Stephen thought to himself, as if time had slowed down. 'Before wearing DBs, people always looked at me as if I were special. But you—you're the first person to give me that sort of look!'
The crowd watched as Stephen shifted his direction from the wall to a nearby pole. Jumping to it, he spun his body and grinded up. When he reached the top, he backflipped forward.
"He's about to clear a forty-foot building!" Castiel yelled.
Willis's eyes widened. Panicking, he turned around and jumped off the building. The moment he crash-landed, he jetted forward. A few yards in front of him was the flagpole, and he was still in the lead.
Grinding up the pole, he felt this unnerving pressure. All he could hear were people screaming out, "Go, Steph! Go, Steph!"
But why? Willis was already near the goal. So why were people chanting his name? When he peeked behind him, he was stunned to see what looked like a giant bird with wings so glorious that they reflected off the moon's light.
But it wasn't a giant bird at all; it was Stephen soaring through the skies on his Dyna Blades. By the time Willis's vision cleared, Stephen swooped right past him and took the flag! He then gracefully landed on the ground, holding the flag high in the air. The crowd erupted with cheers.
Growing up, Willis had always been teased about his weight. He hardly had any friends, but he made the most of things by not letting rude comments get to him. Some of the kids he grew up with left unwanted snacks for him to eat on his desk. His response? He saved them to give to the poor.
No matter how many people made fun of him or thought he was just some abnormally large, gluttonous boy, he never once laid a hand on them. Not because he would hurt them, but because he knew it wasn't the right thing to do.
Castiel used his binoculars to see that Kimberly was crying tears of joy. In just a few seconds, people ran down the stairs to congratulate Stephen on his victory.
"That was insane, bro!" a male student said.
Many other students gave him the same compliments. All he could do was grin at the achievement.
"What trick did you use to fly like that?" Willis asked upon approaching the crowd.
"Honestly, I just jumped off like you did."
"Eh…?"
During their race, after Stephen reached the rooftop, he found a rail to grind on. Using the accelerated momentum, he boosted forward and leapt as far and as high as he could. No spins, no tricks. Just a simple forward jump to reach the flag.
Willis looked back to see how far the distance was between the building and the flag. No matter which way he looked at it, there was no way Willis could have made that jump.
"If you really wanna fly so badly, why waste your talents on the ground?" Stephen said. "I'll ask again, fat boy: Join my team, and I'll show you what the sky really looks like."
Willis marveled at the person in front of him. Stephen wasn't even half his size, and yet he couldn't think of a word to say to him. All he could do was lower his head. For this was the first time someone had earned his utmost respect.
The two then shook hands, acknowledging the outcome of their race. However, some of the students wondered if they were going to fight or something. That was because neither of them was letting go of the other. The way their biceps flexed made it seem as if they were squeezing the other's hand more intensely than what a simple handshake was supposed to be.
"Brother Willis," Stephen said, releasing his grip. "I hope you know I never made fun of you for being an E-rank rider."
"Huh? What're you talking about?" he asked.
"Before our race started, you yelled something about me making fun of you. Did I mishear or…?"
"Ah! That wasn't directed at you, Steph, bro!"
"Then who—"
Before Stephen could ask, everyone heard a popping noise. It sounded like a bubble. Turning, a man with a blue, open coat was seen falling from a building. The moment he landed, he did a half-spin, sliding across the ground and then lightly hopping to finish the spin whilst leaving a trail of rushing, crystal-clear water behind. He then performed the smoothest spin-turn Stephen had ever seen, coming to a halt only a few paces in front of him.
Never before had he seen Dyna Blades being able to produce water. It rained down on everyone in the area.
"I have to admit I'm impressed," the man said in an English accent. "I didn't think you'd beat the odds and win."
Some of the other students had their palms out, wondering why it was drizzling without a single cloud in the sky. They clearly couldn't tell where it was coming from. The only person not dazzled by the sudden appearance of this man was Willis. He was looking to the side, as if not wanting to look him in the eyes.
"And you're telling me you only had a peek of your Road?" the man asked.
Stephen looked down to see bubbles gradually releasing from the man's Dyna Blades. There were so many surrounding this rider, and they were each reflecting the moon's light to make him look gleaming. In a lax tone, the man said, "Entertaining me like that, mate? I think you've earned the right to know the truth: There's more than one Road to the top."
Behind the man, Stephen noticed Kimberly approaching. For whatever reason she was there, he had the strange feeling that she came with this mysterious rider. And he didn't like that thought. It was upsetting, so he asked with widened eyes, "Who the heck are you?"
"My name is Caspian, like the sea," he said, pointing at himself. "I'm the lord who commands the power of the Flood Road…"
'Flood Road? Just who or what is this guy, and why do I feel so off.'
Caspian was on a whole other level—a completely different level. Compared to all the riders Stephen had seen thus far, he had never been shaken up like this.
"You know, mate… There's a legend about a guy who was just like you once. He used hardened wax to make his wings and thought of flying too high. You know what happened to him?" All the bubbles then simultaneously popped, leaving trails of water vapor behind. "I washed him back to the ground."
Caspian was sizing him up. How he would respond could determine if another battle would break out. Before he could say anything, Kimberly ran by his side and smiled to congratulate him. Stephen, however, hadn't taken his eyes off Caspian.
"There are eight lords of the main Roads who are symbolized by a different emblem. Those who collect all eight of our emblems are worthy to be called the king. So, little bird, are your wings made of wax? I wonder…"
Before Stephen could respond, a large bubble formed under Caspian's feet. It then popped, splashing water on everyone as Caspian shot up into the sky. Many people covered their faces due to the wind pressure. All that could be heard apart from the water running was Caspian yelling, "I wasn't the only one who saw this battle, mate!"
Stephen looked up to see an array of different riders of various sizes all flying off one of the school's buildings. The students on the ground were amazed at how many Road Riders had gathered in one place. Not a single one of them had noticed their presence. And among all the riders, Skyler stood out the most.