“But this is a drinking establishment!”
“Yeah. One where you’re only allowed to eat and drink things you bought here. No outside food. This ain’t a charity. You like that new fancy restaurant so much, go drink your stuff over there.”
Prepotente huffed. “I will not frequent an establishment where I’m not wanted!” He turned and stormed outside.
I sighed, turning my attention to Donut, who started flipping through the book. “What’s the secret mark?” She let out a little squeal. “Ohh, Queen. I could probably do a good Freddie Mercury! I think we have the same range.”
Carl: Mordecai, remember that potion we were talking about before? The bard one? We’re going to need some.
Mordecai: Tipid warned me. They’re brewing now, but they won’t be ready until just before the next race.
[ 40 ]
“I do not seewhy both of you must sit upon me at the same time,” Dorota complained. “You are exceeding my recommended weight capacity!”
Donut sat on my shoulder, but I was the one in the seat.
“My breathtaking princess, you should sit here,” Dorota whined. “Just you and you alone. Without you, I have no purpose. No reason to even exist. When you add the nude human, I am unable to function.”
“I am not naked,” I said.
“You are in your underwear. I worry you might get pink eye, my princess.”
“Does that thing have a mute button?” Finley asked from behind us. “It’s more annoying than the shark.”
“Dorota, do please stop complaining,” Donut said. “Nobody likes it when someone complains too much.” She turned to Olga, who was in the driver’s seat. “Anyway, can you believe that stupid gauge thing at the bar? It was clearly broken. It didn’t even move!”
I’d tried to stop her, but Donut insisted on attempting to gain entrance to the guild. She’d picked a Journey song, and shehadnotengaged her Auto-Tune. It had gone as one might have expected.
“I thought you did a fine job,” Finley said. “It was a great song. Don’t you think, Que?”
The fire fairy, who was hovering in the back of the truck, let out a noncommittal squeak.
“Thank you, Finley,” Donut sniffed.
I gave the fire fairy an uneasy look. She was acting strangely depressed. She’d stopped talking about us killing Hellik. I suspected this had to do with the conversation in the shop. All NPCs acted differently when they first came into contact with a fully awakened NPC like Akuma. She kept raising her finger, like she was about to say something regarding it, and then she changed her mind.
We had about ten minutes before the start of the race. Team Free Love pulled up next to us. Their van no longer had tires, and it now floated just off the ground, like a speeder fromStar Wars.
The large, fog-covered jungle loomed. A wide dirt track sat in front of us. The track branched just before the tree line.
We hadn’t yet spied who the new team was. Nor did we yet see any sign of the other heats that would supposedly get combined with ours.
Three new lights appeared on our dash, each indicating our three newest upgrades. The gyro that would keep us from flipping. The Bubble Buddy knockoff edition that we could upgrade to the golden edition with another regular upgrade. This was a shield that we could electrify. After we upgraded it again, we’d be able to float with it. And finally, there were resizable all-terrain tires.
The loudspeaker crackled. Zev’s harried voice echoed. Her neutral tone filled me with dread.
Hello, racers.
For this race, you will have the survival containment activated. The containment system creates a rule change, so please listen carefully.
The survival containment is a translucent, indestructible circular bubble that surrounds your vehicle or mount. You will see it as soon as this message is over. It will not interfere with any existing shields or any other systems of your vehicle or mount. Spells and projectiles will pass through. Its only purpose is to protect you and your mount from the toxic, unbreathable air of your next heat.
Different tracks have different air hazards, but in all races, if this containment is removed, you will likely perish quickly if you don’t prepare countermeasures. All races this heat will have a required pit stop where one must stop for at least two hours. You will have access to your garage for repairs during pit stops. There will also be vendors who will be, uh, selling countermeasures in case you lose your containment.
Like I said, your containment bubble is indestructible. At least for this heat. However, there is a way for you to lose it. This is the rule-change part, so please pay attention. If your vehicle is destroyed or your mount is killed, you no longer automatically lose. You will, however, lose your containment. If you can survive this and you manage to cross the finish line before another team, you can still survive. How that might possibly happen, I don’t know, but it’s the new rule.
The team that comes in last place will still lose. You still cannot pass the finish line outside your conveyance if your conveyance is still intact or if you are missing any team members.