STEPHEN LOOKED OVER HIS Dyna Blades stats and acknowledged how accurate the application was. Castiel's and Maxwell's stats were quite similar. However, when he looked at Willis's and Nagini's stats, he was beyond stunned. The team asked why Stephen's stats were so low, and he explained that he had to get his Dyna Blades reset because the forums weren't able to register them for Wheels War.
Whoever this Sabretooth Team was, they made a grave mistake by not at least checking Willis's stats.
Wheels War is a system where teams can race against each other to raise their ranks and reach the top. Winning three races in a row against a team of the same rank advances that team to the next rank. There are six ranks and six different races to challenge another team. Considering Team Toris was a first-time entrant, they, like all others, started at the lowest rank: F-rank. This meant they could only participate in Sprint battles since Team Sabretooth was also in F-rank.
Stephen might have beaten Willis in a Wheels War race before, but he wasn't registered at that time. This meant his race was considered a personal one rather than an official one, so his rank remained unchanged. If he had registered, he would have immediately moved up to E-rank after his victory.
"Yo," the female Sabretooth member said, approaching them. "What are the rules?"
Being Stephen's territory, he could determine the rules if he chose. Taking out his Steller's Jay emblem, he twirled it around his fingers in a dazzling display as he explained: "It's simple. We'll be racing on the fence surrounding the school, one at a time. The winner will be determined by who can finish a full lap around or who can knock the other person off the fence."
Maxwell started mocking the other team since they were at a disadvantage. Taken aback by his sudden smack talk, the woman looked again at the status screen. She confirmed that his status was that of a rookie. What troubled her was seeing how much control Stephen had over his twirling emblem. "What the heck?!" she screamed behind her mask.
"What's the matter?" Stephen asked.
She ignored his question and decided to walk back to her group. The thing that troubled her even more was when she looked over Stephen's other record.
Longest air-time: Twenty-five seconds!
Stephen was busy stretching until he overheard the other team talking about him. "So it's true! That's the kid who was invited to Team Agartha!"
"You mean those rumors that the guy closest to becoming the sky king was this rat?!" another guy wondered.
"No way! His stats are pitifully low."
Not long after, each group decided which of their members they would send out first. Team Toris selected Willis. Both racers lined up. At the word "go," they dashed forward and then jumped onto the metal fence!
Since this was a challenge to test their individual skills, the most Stephen and his team could do was cheer from the hillside. The school was fairly large, but they had a clear view of where the racers were headed. It came as no surprise to see them grinding the fence. The Sabretooth member had taken the lead, exactly what Willis desired.
Stephen happened to notice that Willis's opponent looked frantic each time he turned around. That was because Willis looked like a bulldozing freight train, ready to run him over at any moment. And since the racer in front was catching all the wind resistance, it allowed Willis to use his opponent's slipstream. He was able to close the distance and reeled his fist back to knock the racer off.
Crash!
People cocked their heads back while the Sabretooths laughed at the sight. Willis had caused one part of the fence to cave in. The steel fence was so battered and worn down that it couldn't possibly hold his monstrous weight. The first round was easily won by Team Sabretooth.
"You fat behemoth!" Maxwell screamed.
Interestingly enough, Maxwell was a bodybuilder, weighing only a few pounds less than Willis. Stephen smacked his back to signify he was up next. Ready to finally make his debut, he began performing squats. The other team laughed because they figured the same thing might happen again.
Now that part of the fence was damaged, the racers would have to jump over it. Lining up, Maxwell and his opponent dashed to grind on the fence. The opponent's speed was superior, so Maxwell lost the lead at the start. The team, however, continued to cheer him on as he slowly closed the distance.
"No matter what, I'll have to win back our honor!" he screamed.
As he reached his opponent, he crouched down and took a leap to jump over. When he felt something off, he looked back and noticed that his other Dyna Blade had slipped off. Maxwell went tumbling to the ground as Nagini called him out for being an equally fat idiot like Willis. If he had strapped on his Dyna Blades better, this misfortune wouldn't have happened.
Two back-to-back humiliating losses for Team Toris!
After he returned, Castiel and Stephen continuously karate chopped him. The next person to race was Nagini, but he shook his head, saying, "I am the lord of the Venom Road! How could I, a lord, fight in this low-ranking match?! My Road would be dirtied!"
Willis prepared to take off his pants after remembering the conditions of the match. Kimberly herself panicked at the idea of Stephen's team disbanding. She knew she could easily win if she were to participate. Thinking of what she could do to help, she remembered that her Dyna Blades were in her lunch bag.
As her thoughts raced, she resolved to take action.
"I have one thing to say," Victoria said before Kimberly could leave the house. "Don't get too involved with Steph's team… You're a member of Lion's Den. I think you know what that means. Show off too much, and people will start to suspect your identity—according to Skytree's laws, I'll be forced to crush you."
With those words echoing in her mind, Kimberly quickly grabbed her bag and ran away. The guys were so busy making fun of one another's skills (Nagini for his prideful ways and Stephen for not taking this seriously) that they hadn't noticed her leave.
"Boss, how can you be so calm?!" Castiel asked. "We're about to lose our emblem!"
Stephen merely tilted his head, looking elsewhere. They couldn't tell what he was thinking. Waiting at the starting line was a Sabretooth rider, who began mocking them for taking so long to send their next racer.
"James 1:3 says, 'Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience," Stephen smirked.
He was telling them to be patient. The team tried to understand the scripture when suddenly a woman with a crude accent made a spontaneous entrance on the fence. She had blonde hair, a black hat with a feather atop it, an American flag worn like a cape, a bird mask on her face, and a black school swimsuit with a sticker of Team Toris' logo on her left chest. More importantly, she sported fancy white and red Dyna Blades that had stickers in the shape of stars on them.
Posing with her legs crossed, she said, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25.)
As flamboyant as her entrance was, her face was bright red. Everyone stared blankly at her due to her mismatched outfit. The silence made her blush even more until Team Sabretooth burst out laughing. Stephen immediately called them out on how this was their scheme to impair their riding with laughter.
Hearing that, Kimberly flipped off and placed both Maxwell and Castiel under her arms. She choked them, saying, "I'm the female Rey Mysterio! And I'm serious!"
A few minutes ago, Kimberly had to ride all the way to the theatre room and pick out whatever she could find in the prop section. Changing quickly, she rode all the way here before it was too late.
Dropping Maxwell and Castiel, she rode to the starting line. The two commented on how strong she was, despite being genuinely unaware that she was Kimberly in disguise. Looking toward Stephen to see if this was alright, they noticed he had his arms crossed. It looked like he was more interested in seeing what she was all about.
The moment the race started, she overtook her opponent by a huge margin. And in just a matter of seconds, her opponent had barely turned the first corner while she was already close to the finish line. Almost everyone was caught by surprise by her incredible speed. Reaching the spot where Willis crashed into the fence, she leapt high into the air and performed an impressive twirl.
Both teams were enthralled by both the trick and her vertical leap. Little did either team know that Kimberly was internally panicking, thinking she had shown off too much. A Sabretooth member quickly pulled out his phone to scan her, but she wasn't just moving too fast to get a good scan; she had also removed her flash drive!
"Team Toris takes the first win!" she announced at the finish line.
Maxwell, Castiel, and Willis cheered her on for her stupendous performance. A member of Team Sabretooth tried calling them out for cheating. But when she displayed her sticker, it was more than enough proof that she was technically part of the team. Perhaps she might not have been registered on their roster, but there was no rule against receiving help from allies.
Although Kimberly enjoyed the praise, when she saw Stephen nodding at her, her face turned a shade of red as she remembered what she was wearing. She screamed, telling them to pretend she had never come by as she dashed away. The only person aside from Stephen who knew her identity was Nagini. Inside, the boy remembered the troubling aura he felt when he first encountered her—it was the same aura she had projected during her race.
Giving off a sadistic smile, he decided not to keep what he knew to himself. Stephen appeared behind him and lifted him up by the head. Instinctively, he wrapped himself around Stephen's arm, apologizing for his pride as a Road Rider. Forgiving him, Nagini let go as Stephen looked toward the other team, confidently saying, "Looks like we've won."
"Huh?" the female wondered. "Don't get cocky just 'cause you took a round from us. There are still two races to go!"
"See, my strategy was to send our slowest riders first," he said. "I already know that I can beat anyone you throw at me… As for my pal Cast…" Stephen then pointed over his shoulder to Castiel, saying, "He's our fastest rider!"
Of all the compliments Castiel could have received, he never once dreamed his rival would ever exalt him in such a way. Running was his favourite activity. Even after entering high school, he never stopped practicing it. In his heart, he vowed to one day catch up to the one man whose back was always facing him.
"I'm ready, boss!" he screamed with vigor.
Placing himself at the starting line, his opponent noticed that his feet were shaking. They had already scanned his Dyna Blades and believed that his stats weren't impressive. Because Stephen boasted about his teammate's speed, they sent their fastest racer to face him, all to prove a point.
Castiel got into a running stance. His opponent couldn't help but mock that this was a Road Rider's common mistake. The reason people don't start races with a crouching start on Dyna Blades is that they'd fall the moment they accelerated. Willis asked Stephen if it was an okay idea to not force Nagini to race. Even though the boy was acting pridefully, that didn't mean he'd go against orders.
"Willis," Stephen answered. "You've never seen Cast's DBs, have you?"
Looking back at Castiel, Willis noticed that out of all their wheels, his was the most worn down. That was because he had trained harder than anyone else!
At the word "go," the racers pushed forward. Both their Dyna Blades skidded against the surface. Castiel had pushed himself so hard that his body was practically parallel to the ground. They all thought he was going to fall face-first until Stephen said, "Not too bad, Cast."
At those words, his opponent looked to his side, only to notice that Castiel had completely disappeared. Not only had Castiel taken the lead, but he was already grinding on the rails while his opponent remained stuck back at the starting line!
"N… No way!" the other team screamed. "If he gets that much of a lead, there's no way we'll catch up!"
Kimberly walked past the corner to see how fast Castiel was moving. It hadn't matched her speed, but it was enough to startle her. Just his straightforward motion as a beginner rider showed how much potential he held. As he approached the finish line, he closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief. Victory had easily been taken by Team Toris, tying the score at two wins apiece.