History repeated itself in a sort of loop of alternate yet reoccurring facsimiles of the same situation and the same event yet different actors. Seika's head pounded with the loud garble of noise, and the unmistakable metallic tang of blood and sweat. He mindlessly wondered how and why he had ended up in such a vortex of undefined nonsense, but that was neither here nor there as his body was jolted out of the sea of confusion it had been swirling in and was suddenly pulled through the microscopic pinhole that was reality. Finally dropped down into a seat, he wondered how he actually got his legs within the confines of the contraption without breaking them. The next thought that passed his addled mind was what the hell was he sitting in. Head twisting and turning in confusion, he regarded the others around him and had noticed that they were all in fact confined into carriage like lacrima transports. These however were much smaller and lower to the ground than what he was used too. They were also fairly colorful, each one its own vibrant shade.

The contraption that he was in was oddly stable yet had a bit of a rattle to it as it rumbled along, idling some what quietly as they sat there. Seika wondered how he had gotten himself into this mess, the buildings looked the same as the ones he had seen when he was last in Bosco. He was trying to get a better gauge of his situation before he was finally lurched forward to grab onto the wildly twisting steering wheel with a bit of force. His large hands crushed the warm black leather as he gripped tightly onto it for dear life. Looking about himself, he could see many others being pulled into this crazy ass whoopity fuck dream world along with him, but yet he didn't recognize any of them as they all rolled along. Some however did appear to be very strange, like Mormon's in the deep south. Somehow his brain was able to distinguish them as cultists, or rather individuals who were directly against him and his ability to get into or out of this fuckery.

Turning the wheel brought about a change in direction that directly coorelated to the direction he had turned it in, prompting Seika to determine that to actually steer this thing he had to move the wheel. Adjusting his feet for comfort brought him in contact with foot sized metal slabs that stuck out of the bottom of the floor diagonally. Unsure of what they were, he pressed his foot against one of them and felt the machine rumble to life suddenly. This brought about a bit of a scrunch to Seika's face however as the sensation was not pleasant at all. Too much reverberation on his body. With nothing left to go on, he kind of just sat there patiently. He didn't know how or why he had been brought here, but he had a feeling that leaving this contraption would not bode well for him.

WC 500/2500

Yugo had not expected to be in sucha  place, Nor in such a bizzare situation as he was in. He had arrived with the group of Rune Knights dispatched to help and had somehow found himself seperated from the rest of them. He had barely enough time to confirm he was still wearing his uniform and to make sure he had his pendent and His steel sword before suddenly he felt the world around him warp in a strange way. After only a few second is a weird metallic taste in his mouth he found himself in a line with various other people. However he noticed that the Zealots he had been sent to deal with had more number then the others, though he didn’t count on them being allies either. As far as Yugo knew he was alone in what ever this strange situation was. He checked once more his gear and sighed happily finding his Pendent and steel sword still in place where he kept them. He wondered what the hell was going on to find himself in such a strange vehicle.

The cart was made of pure Lacrima of various colors, however after a short second of switching between different styles and makes and models, the Cart settled on something bulky, yet with big tires that had solid grip on the ground. Its metal outside was the splendid colors of the Rune Knights and the number on the cart was the Ranking he had within the Knights. He looked around and wondered what the hell was going on as he placed his hand on the car to try to exit the cart, but a sense of danger told him that to do so would not end well for him. Who ever or what ever had dragged the Rune Knight into this intended for him to play along it seemed and he had no reason not to besides causing harm to himself. There were no Citizens around at the West Gate, and it seemed very strange that the once bustling city was not…empty besides those who were lined up with him, at least from what he could see of the city. He took his time to scan every cart and face he could to try to memories how many enemies he was up against, and how many potential allies he might have.

Yugo then looked up, to see a strange lacrima banner of sorts? Reading “Start”. Was he in a race? If he was, he was unsure of its rules or how it worked and hoped they would be explained before it began. However, Just as he was Pondering things, the race had begun! He stumbled before finding the pedal to go and with a few second of movement he had figured out the cart moved using the strange wheel he had infront of him. It was odd for no reason, jsut give him a good horse and he could have won easily as he sped off quickly.

500/2500

They say that life likes to play tricks. That some messed up asshole in the sky is bored and puts random people in random situations for shits and giggles. Requiem wasn't one of those people. She believed that everything happened for a reason.

Case in point, suddenly finding herself slamming her foot on the gas of a lacrima mobile as she raced after others on their vehicles. Of course, there was the (not so) minor problem of her complete and total inability to actually drive. Not for lack of trying, she just sucked. Like how she almost ran over her commanding officer back at the academy or right now as she clipped the corner of a building taking a turn way too tightly.

Prayers and swears mixed in a manner that either would've impressed her father or annoyed him and resulted in her being grounded until she was married as she swerved all over the place on the fucking straight line. Her vehicle jolted as she clipped another person's car and sent them into a third racer. Oops. They'll be fine...right?

Another turn caused her to almost flip over as she wrenched the wheel and righted the vehicle with the power of terrible driving and bouncing off a wall. Requiem hadn't made a vow of chastity and she had no intention to at all, but the temptation was there if that's what it would take to make it to the end of whatever was going on.

253/2500

Knuckles found in self in an odd position, he was used to pushing himself to limits when it came to traveling often on the back of a White Wyvern though this was different. Confined to a metal box that moved at great speeds was different, to say the least. His left foot pushed in a pedal as his right hand placed the vehicle in gear releasing the left pedal as his right foot slammed the right pedal.  Somehow he knew how to use this mechanical transportation worked, even a bit of information about the power source which was lacrimal gave him some insight on the matter.  

The metal machine he was in was painted in a dark red color with a black number 12 on the side, the vehicle roars as he flys across the track. It was strange even for magical ability. However, the Warrior did not back down as he shifted gears once more feeling the vibrations of the road under him. It was a lot like flying at these speeds just coasting over the ground under him.  Bosco had become a place of strange events one after the other but he could get used to this. His heart raced as his speed just kept climbing turning the wheel to adjust to the cars around him. He had no idea who was with him or who was against him he only knew he had to win to end this game.

"Alright, all I got to do is place in the top three, then I can swing my hammer around."

The Daemon felt the spike of adrenaline flow through his veins, his pupils winding to take in everything happening around him. There would be no time to play it safe and ease into this, he needed to push this machine as hard as he could. The first turn came up and he swayed the wheel soon, the car felt like it was going to tilt and roll, but somehow he managed to keep all four wheels on the ground. Screeching of the tires roared through the cabin as his and others made the turn, some better than others, his being not so lucky.  Pushing in the clutch he shifted down and let the gas pedal slam into the floorboard, the car jerking before straightening out. Around him, some cars tried to knock others off the road. It seemed he too would soon find himself in the same situation as two zealots narrowed the road each trying to rock their cars into his. Feeling the rumble that came with each hit from the other cars Knuckles gritted his teeth.  The Daemon swore out loud at them wishing things upon them that were humanly impossible but made him feel better.  As they tried again Knuckles pressed the middle pedal and left pedal at the same time slowing the vehicle down quickly then dumped the clutch as he shifted down once more revving the lacrimal engine before speeding through the opening as the two zealots parted. He was safe for now.

WC:509/2500

It wasn't every day that Azure was dropped into a world that was controlled by someone else but then again this must have been what his summons had to go through whenever he summoned them to his side in battles. It was nice seeing that he wasn't the only one that was just thrown into this rather odd world but at the same time he didn't want to be the one that lost or didn't do their share of work for this game. From what he could even tell most o the people that were with him were humans and might have been other mages that whatever his name plucked out of the air. It seemed as though everyone was in their own personal contraption but then which made it somewhat easier for him to tell them apart but the lace that he was in was unfamiliar to him could it had been a pocket world or was it some kind of abandoned capital, the number of questions that had started to form a small stack in his mind but he wouldn't have the time to sort through them and deal with them as they popped up.

It was clear to him that whatever was going on was needed them to play along to some extent, his child-like side was thrilled to be taking part in this game of sorts while his other half was just trying to make sense of it all so they could act accordingly, acting within the boundaries of the game was fine and all but it just didn't feel right to him. Not wanting to leave anything to chance the informant pressed what he guessed was the gas on the vehicle This is not going to end well I just know it he thought to himself as he felt the wind rush against his face. Having never been at controls of any type of vehicle Azure felt as though he was going to crash within the first few seconds of moving it but then again he could have also found that he was a natural at controlling whatever this thing was and had no problem what so ever. The informant followed behind one of the vehicles as they made sharp turns that nearly took him out but that was to be expected from someone that was learning on the fly as they say Okay you can do this just keep your hands on the controller and watch out for sharp turns, he thought to himself trying his best not to think about of anything that wouldn't help him in this situation. He saw that he wasn't the only one that was getting used to the controls which were currently up in the air as it gave him conflicting emotions. Following behind one of the other players he tried to keep a good distance from them but wasn't really sure about how much distance should leave between the two. Azure moved the hair out his eyes the best he could as having long hair was not doing him any favors currently.

515/2500

What was reality?

For some it was a set of ironclad rules which connected them to the environment around them. It was a solid construct, manufactured via the rules and regulations set upon them by the powers which they came to accept. The irony was that these very authorities in which they gave their trust were just a further acceptance of this reality in which was built for them. They were dropped within a world already raging, with laws already dictated and the concepts of success and failure already well defined. There were none who could truly stand against this truth; even those in resistance could only go against the tide by submersing themselves in its depths.

Or at least, that was how it had been.

Now, it seemed, there existed those who could truly alter reality; at least, to a degree. They could change the rules of common sense, the perception of the world, and the interaction with its rules. One of these beings had made their way to Bosco, and had apparently allowed their delusions to slip from the confines of their mind and into the world at large. This effected everyone within a certain radius, it seemed. Those who came to protect and fight for Bosco found themselves intermingled with the zealots who came to enact their own sense of truth, and together they were placed within vehicular contraptions.

Jove's was green. A bright green dinosaur tail sprouted from the back, tiny white spikes coming from its center. The theme seemed to be that of a dinosaur, and Jove stared at it in shock. Yet as he stared, he felt something invade his brain. It wasn't a presence, so to say, but more like a set of rules which laid out what was happening now.

This was Niko Kart, and he had been dragged into the game due to his proximity of its start. He looked around at those who were near him. Some of which he clearly did not recognize, but others seemed to have a light glow to them. He felt like this indicated them as allies. It must have been an effect of the reality warping ability used by... Well, whoever created this strange world.

Without further hesitation, Jove stepped on the gas and took off. As he did so, a flame erupted from beneath the tail of the cart which he drove. A childish sense of humor for the childish game in which he found himself in, it seemed.

Yet the flame wasn't just aesthetic. He felt the kart burst forward at ridiculous speeds, along with a robed cultist beside him. Jove didn't know this womans identity, nor did he know why she was there, but he knew that he had to make it to the end. Make it to the end- And stop her. Pulling his wheel, he'd tap into her, forcing her into a collision with a wall.

The game had now begun, so it seemed.

WC: 500

At some point or another the new reality that his body now existed within had deemed it necessary to start the festivities. The contraption that he had been forcibly placed within jumped to life as he instinctively placed his foot on the metal plate that stuck out of the floor, the knowledge flowing into his head from no where that it was called an 'Acceleration pedal'. Flames jumped from the magical beasts behind as he roared to life before shooting down the track alongside those who had started just slightly before him. He honestly couldn't put to words the excitement and terror he felt as the track turned sharply causing him to instinctively lift the contraption with his body. The force of his 'jump' was enough to send it skyward suddenly before landing in a sort of 'slide' that carried him around the corner in a blur. Holding the break pedal confidently, he finally let go once he was fully around the corner before zipping off suddenly leaving those he had caught up to in the dust as his kart rocketed forward with such speed. Now the world was truly a blur as his kart zoomed down the road before finally having friction catch up to it.

708/2500

There was a lot of ground to make up from the stunt he pulled to stay within the race.  Knux would speed up quickly as he zipped past Karts on both sides of him as they came out of the turn.  The Crimson-haired man looked around the kart as the cars blurred by, there were a few more ahead of him though he was not sure how many were in the race in full. He also had no idea what the purpose of this race really was.  All he knew is that something within his body called out to this feeling, some part of him came alive! For some reason the sounds of the motors and the speeds these karts could go. Once more he pushed in the clutch and shifting the knob once more and slammed the right pedal once more letting off the clutch, forcing the car forward and past those around him.  

Looking forward that is when he saw a series of vines that lifted up and rose into the air before slamming into the ground, each pair at different times when they would slam into the ground and lift back up.   The vines had thorns that would increase the reach of the vines and would swat whatever they landed on.

WC:724/2500

Requiem watched as the other racers had gone on past her as she swerved all over the place. Another clipped corner bounced her off a cluster of zealots as they lost control and crashed. Oops. Well, so far nothing had told her she was disqualified from the race yet so it should be fine. Then again, those giant vines certainly looked like they were hell-bent on removing racers. She charged her magic to her hand and then threw her Sting if Death. The blasts knocked the vines off course and made them miss on their downward strike.

She hit the next turn and did surprisingly well with an accidental drift that sent her flying down the straightaway catching up to the others. Two more zealots came up on each side of her and slammed their carts into hers. Thankfully it seemed like these particular guys were just as bad at driving as she was, seeing as both of them bounced off uncontrollably and wrecked whilst Requiem fought to regain contro- oh, another sharp turn. Well shit. Her cart went up on two wheels yet again as she fought to make the corner.

Why is the ground up and the sky down? Wait. Oh. Oooohhhhh......shiiiiiiiit.

The cart flipped over several times as a few more racers zipped past her. That's it, this means war. Requiem cast Danse Macabre-2nd Verse and slammed her foot on the accelerator.

241

494/2500

Spoiler:

Azure wasn't going to lose this game to anyone regardless of what would happen to them all though if he took some of them out for a few seconds to gain a lead in this race, was it a race, or was it a game of chicken? either way winning was the goal and nothing was going to get in the way of that. This game had actually started to show promise as he passed a few of the other players with ease but everyone else in front of him seemed to be good at handling these vehicles but then again he wasn't one to let others one-up him without some pushback. "Okay, this is getting interesting let's see what I can do here," he said as one of the other players zoomed past him causing him to swerve causing him to left his foot off the pedal for a moment. Their speed was amazing but at the same time was also an issue so he gripped the wheel tighter and really put on the gas in hopes that he could pass a few others that were ahead of him. He noticed that some of the cars had started to vanish one after another which raised the question of if they were removed from the game or not but the informant soon came to understand just why the other racers had vanished, it was a hit that worried him as he didn't know if the vehicle could handle it at the speed he was going.

He noticed that the person in front of him was rather skilled to some extent but that wasn't going to stop him, from what he knew due to the information being related to him pushing a car out his way wasn't against the rules. Azure was now right beside a female player as he bumped the side of her vehicle I'm not gonna lose to some chick in a race! he thought thinking of other tactics to use on the other players.

Current WC:337
Total WC:852/2500

Light began to come back into focus as Seika's eyes caught up with the reduced speed and increased pace of the road ahead of him. His stomach had finally stopped lurching violently and his back began to ache from hunching himself over in the tiny compartment that he assumed was supposed to house his frame. He couldn't quite fathom the thought that someone was naturally supposed to operate these... contraptions, but he wasn't going to continue griping about it as the ground around him suddenly dropped away leaving him with a sense of vertigo as his transport suddenly began to soar through the open sky above and leave what felt like the mortal realm behind. Behind him many other drives also would begin to feel the sensation as they all collectively hit some sort of cliff or something which propelled them all high into the air and up over a chasm. The experience likely would've drawn some sort of audible response from Seika due to not being familiar with the airspace, but currently his entire chest was caught in his throat and his hands were now flying up from the wheel in front of him in horror. This definitely couldn't be real, life couldn't be this insane. They were... flying?

The transport that he and all the others had been strapped into had suddenly transformed into some sort of aeronautical contraption capable of at the most flight, and at the very least gliding. The weighted objects definitely had some kind of drag however, the previous momentum that his object had was now lost to the ether as it simply floated on a breeze towards what looked to be the next leg of the race. Turning his head to the left, Seika could see some of the other contestants dressed in their gaudy robes and audacious face paint. He didn't know why the mere sight of their patronizing existence made him want to banish them to the ether, all he knew was that upon flying through some crazy looking flashing translucent box, he contraption unraveled a row of missiles from the side. Not needing any real explanation on how this worked, nor did he care where they came from, Seika would fire the projectiles, unleashing a barrage of missiles outwards towards his closest opponents causing them to explode violently and then plummet. They wouldn't fall too far however as the contraption and them would dematerialize suddenly from this new reality once they had fallen far enough.

This sight left Seika with a bit of pause as he glared down below before returning his gaze forward and focusing on the road ahead. He didn't know what would happen to him if he fell as well, but he knew that whatever those people had went through didn't seem all that pleasant, and he was vaguely positive that they didn't get returned back to normal reality. His kart would touch down on the ground a few seconds later, and he would speed off without ever looking back.

1208/2500

With the power of "oh shit, oh God, oh fuck, I'm gonna die", Requiem finally caught up to the others as her speed boost wore off. Good thing it ended well before the next series of tur- aaaaand there's a dip in the road. Requiem was grateful she hadn't eaten yet today or else her stomach would've emptied itself all over the cart and that would have been rather unpleasant to deal with for the duration of the race.

Good news, she could finally see other people that weren't zealots, bad news, she more. fucking. corners.

Whatever sick, twisted, demented, sadistic, evil bastard created this race course must really love sharp turns as Requiem bounced off walls trying to keep going at a faster pace with her non-existent driving skills.

New plan, stop trying to win and focus on not smearing herself all over the place.

She smashed through a weird box as more of those insane zealots tried to wreck her and found, "why does this have a picture of bananas? Wait, those a banana peels with eyes. Why? What the fuck? Am I on drugs?" She slapped the button labeled as "arm" and saw the picture vanish as three banana peels (with eyes. Whyyyyyy?) Started dragging behind her without affecting the cart's handling (as if that was even possible with h-OW! another wall). She hit the release button and a peel was left behind for some random to hit it and lose control, sliding all over the place before flying off the course over a wall.

This was just fucking weird.

Figuring that at least it was something, she hit the button two more times as she took the next turn much better and could hear the tires screeching as whoever was behind her crashed. She ordinarily would've wondered about the wellbeing of whoever she just wrecked but as a rapidly approaching cliff caught her eye and the sight of cars simply driving off and turning into gliders or something she found herself oddly lacking in the "fucks left to give" department.

Probably because she was about to drive off a freaking cliff- OH GOD.

Holding onto the wheel with a death grip, Requiem felt the cart shift and change form as the rapid plunging to horrific doom was replaced with a pleasant gliding sensation. Up ahead, someone had apparently decided to blow up other racers with missiles which, oh... Requiem bit back her disappointment as she got a barrel of oil showing up on the screen where the bananas used to be before she used them.

The gentle glide finally ended (far too soon) and she once again found herself trying to drive in a relatively straight line. Requiem glanced at the buttons and decided to try and use the oil barrel. A glugging sound from behind and numbers next to the barrel on the screen going down told her exactly what was happening as she tried her best to keep driving.

504

998/2500

Much like the Zealots were doing Knuckles looked up at the vines, there was truly something near impossible with normal magic, but was this not magic its self?  This was not even the realm of their world anymore who knew what was possible? His eyes followed the Vines down as one slammed into one of the Robed figures and their kart. Knuckles was expecting some type of boom, or perhaps even the vehicle to be splattered everywhere, though when the vine lift the zealot had only been smashed flat, then slowly started to regain his size. It was now Knux's turn to attempt to dodge the vines, Knux would slow down would keep an eye on the vine seeing his chance he would gun it full speed staying behind the person in front of him, which was seemingly giving him a boost in speed. Before his kart could slam into the cart of the zealot in front of him, The Daemon pulled to the side and zoomed past him as he felt a wave of air rush around him.  This boos to speed would save him as he felt the slam of the vine behind him and watched the rise of the vine in front of him.  He'd pass the one who had been slammed flat and pushed on towards the leaders.


Another curve was coming up, he took it with a downshift and then shifted back up midway through the curve, the drifting he had done would give him another small boost as he saw his tires singing along the blacktop. Soon they were coming up to a jump? It appeared to be just that but surely he was not expected to jump this kart off of something that high and survive?   Though as he drew closer he soon noticed that the kart would seemingly shift form slightly, from the trunk of his Kart that was styled as a Car, a parasail would erect out and soon catch the wind under it as he would allow the momentum and speeds he had built carry him towards the landing up ahead.  While in the air, he watched several fail as missiles of some type of another had been launched from one of the racers.

Knuckles watched as they seemed to fall forever before some large cloud-like thing zoomed down to them and lifted them with a fishhook?  This race was really starting to push things too far. Soon the tires met the road once more as the parasail sank back into the trunk of the Kart.  Knuckles would look to do as he did before, placing himself behind the person in from of them attempting to gain a boost from them. He was not sure how this was working, but he would not argue with it. After all, this knowledge just seemed to be within the confines of his mind reached to be reached whenever he needed to draw it out and use it to his advantage.

WC:1224/2500

After bumping into the other racer he broke away from them to try and gain a good enough lead on them that they would need to do the exact same thing he just did in order to retake their place in this race of sorts, It didn't take much to get under the childlike side of his mind's skin and this whole race was something that had started to upset more than he wanted to admit but it also helped that he really wanted to win at all costs cause losing was not on the table even though his current position didn't really have signs of helping in that matter he had to make it to the front of the pack. Azure quickly tried to tie his hair back so he could focus on getting to first or second place but mostly first place given it would more than likely give more rewards for doing so even if it was just a little bit more money than second place. From the very start of the race, half of his attention was elsewhere while the other was behind the wheel which worked for the most part but something told him he needed to get all his focus on the remainder of the race, just not now.

Even though he really wasn't really looking at his min-map that was shown on his dashboard, though it wasn't really a mini-map as it just showed him and then other blips that were randomly placed on it he saw that one of the dots had created even smaller dots that were coming his way. As they made their way to him he did his best to drift around them and their explosions the best he could without leaving any room for someone to follow his path. As the vehicle became airborne he freaked out and drove straight down but before he could even get that far something on a ship-like cloud pulled him up and placed him on the other side.

After realizing that he didn't die a lever popped up next to his seat Oh cool a random lever that couldn't possibly be anything bad! he thought to himself as he slammed on the gas once again. Azure pulled the lever in his car and his vehicle morphed into a rocket making it even faster than it was before though he did tried to steer it but it was had switched to autopilot or someone else had hijacked it in some way which wouldn't surprise him at all given the whole situation that they are in currently. It was nice that he didn't really have to worry about being at the controls for the time being but part of him did wonder just how long it would last if it had a time limit or anything. He zipped past most of the other racers as while he was in this rocket mode until he was right behind the person in second place or maybe it was there with the speed he was going he couldn't keep track of how many other racers they passed. Gripping the wheel the informant's speeds had returned back to normal which meant that he needed to really stay focused on the race to win.

1397/2500

It seemed his touch with near death had been shared with others as well, with other karts seemingly hitting the ground behind him with bouncing wheels and screeching tires. The sounds all prompted Seika to look behind himself incredulously, his bewilderment at so many others still being in this crazy death race thing that they had all been transported into. Why in the hell were they stuck in such a miss mash of random events? Who could really have this level of power to instill not only knowledge but skill on a level that was beyond insane? Seika's mind drove as fast as his kart as he dodged literal blocks of granite that stuck out of the ground in front of him.

The Track after he had landed had once against shifted landscape. No longer the bustling city where they started, now it looked more like a canyon-esque landscape full of sandy cliffsides and rickety wooden bridges. The bright blue sky ahead burned a hole into everything but it felt almost too pleasant to Seika's chocolate skin. He only wished that he could enjoy this moment in solitude, but instead he was forced back into the present by a jolt of his vehicle as one of the cultists literally slammed themselves into the side of his kart.

Frowning at the audacity of this plebian who had ruined his moment with Sol, Seika took out a rather innocuous looking weapon from the side of his kart. The bright blue and red weapon looked strange in his large hands as its small plastic frame belied a rather sinister purpose as he squeezed the squeaky plastic trigger and unleashed a horrifyingly loud BANG out into the canyon causing the infernal sound to reverberate throughout the entire landscape. The sound was followed suddenly by a ridiculously stupid projectile flying out of its muzzle. The actual projectile itself was several times larger than the vehicle Seika was driving and carved up a bit of the ground as it slammed into the kart the cultist had been driving. Seika didn't even get a chance to see what happened to the man as the bullet literally blocked his entire view of those proceedings leaving him to cruise on past the murder.

The man's body and kart would be crushed before dematerializing like all the others had leaving behind literally no trace as more cultists began to close in on Seika's kart now that he had taken a definite lead but also had drawn the ire of one too many of them. It seemed that clarity had returned to some of their brains as the ridiculousness of the scenario no longer outweighed the prospect of someone killing their brethren. Well let it be known that Seika was always down with the smoke. In fact he removed all of the smoke detectors in his kitchen just because of that. Tossing the weapon out of his window, he'd watch it bounce off the window of one of the enemy karts just before blowing it up, unsure if that was his fault or not.

1708/2500

As he started to bump his cart into the zealot in front of him KNuckles show a screen lift up from his console. It was not a large screen but a screen that showed a list of items rapidly began to spin on the screen like some type of slot machine. He took his focus off of it as he took in the change of scenery. The sun met his pale skin well the parts that were not encased within the armor. It was a pretty sight to be held but Knuckles had other things to keep his mind on as he bumped into the zealot once more, the boost he had gotten before coming back as his speed drift would engage and his car like cart shoved the other kart out of his way forcing the cart to spin out of control. The images on his screen would start to slow down as he looked behind him hearing a high-pitched wailing sound, from his mirror it looked to be a large rocket? If it was, it knocked things and karts out of the way until he caught up. Perhaps this was what the items on the screen were capable of. In front of him, he as his boost of speed would start to slow down to his normal max speed, the engine humming with the power of magic. The item he had shown some sort of mushroom-like icon, looking at how to engage the item, he noticed a red button where his thumbs had rested. Had this been there all along he wondered unsure if he had noticed it before or not.

It was now or never he assumed as he pushed the button and flames punctured out his tailpipes his kart jerking off before like it had with his drifting and when he followed close behind someone. Someone in front of him blasted another with a projectile that seemed to take the zealot out of the race, Knuckles wondered if the items had something to do with the driver or the kart perhaps or if they were just random? As if on cue, the boost he had gotten from his item had pushed him past three others placing him in 3rd place according to his map. Perhaps another feature he had yet to notice beforehand. The image was small and on the corner of his windshield enough so that it was out of the way of his main view but enough so that he could see it easily from the corner of his eye. Fixing eyes front he noticed his time was flashing and had not gone away, so he pushed the button once more and his kart jerked forward again as they came to the first curve of the rocket terrain. He had passed the granite rocked out the ground with no issue and had not even noticed them only dodging them out of luck and following the pack leaders in front.

WC:1721/2500

Requiem had resigned herself to the oddity that was this race from hell. She used up the last of the oil barrel and heard the satisfying screech of zealots spinning out and crashing. The oddly cathartic moment ended when she ran out of oil but another magic box of happy fun times gave her three more eye bananas.

This time she actually knew what she was doing with them and three more zealots found themselves removed from the race as Requiem found her groove and the crazy swerving all over the road smoothed out to a more or less straight line. Oh shit, turn.

Requiem yanked the wheel hard as the cart tipped up on two wheels and skipped. Ok, so maybe she hadn't gotten the hang of it yet. No sooner did her cart right itself than some jackass caught the back corner of her cart and spin her out like a psychotic whirlygig on drugs.

By the time her vehicle came to a stop and the world stopped spinning around her, she was way behind yet again. Unamused, Requiem fixed her hair so it wouldn't get in the way and stomped on the gas again. The cart zipped off after the rest of the racers as the city faded behind as the course became a death trap of rickity wooden bridges and canyons with boulders falling from the top.

Whoever came up with this place had way too much time and magic on their hands. Maybe they should've taken up knitting, or scrimshaw, or literally anything. Requiem most certainly did not scream as she dodged a boulder that almost hit her. She most certainly was not swearing in a most unladylike manner as she fought to regain control while avoiding the fuck you ricks falling around her. And she was absolutely in complete control when she hut the bridge at an awkward angle and launched herself into the air. The complete picture of poise and grace and Requiem would fight anyone who said otherwise.

One bumpy and terrifying landing later, Requiem heard two more carts coming up from behind as two rather large vehicles pulled ahead and opened up to reveal groups of zealots dressed like they came out of a post apocalyptic movie. Requiem turned bright red as the chanting freaks were dressed in even less than the characters from her books on her secret shelf.

The moment ended as they leapt off their carts at her, most of whom missed and vanished as they hit the ground. Three or four of these psychotic freaks managed to land on her cart and started beating on the roof with sticks.

And that's when it suddenly occurred to her, why am I driving a cartoonishly large cart? She would have to look at it when this was all over to see if it really was absurd or if maybe the half dozen times her forehead hit the wheel had finally taken its toll.

500

1498/2500

Now that he was closer to his goal Azure had to do everything within his power to maintain it until the race had finished or someone managed to knock him out somehow which would have been near impossible for them to do at this point but then again in his line of work the impossible is nearly always possible at times. As the race went on it had started to feel like he would never get out of this game or maybe it was just due to the fact that he had started to grow tired of the lack of actual interactions with the other drivers in this game. It would seem that the terrain in this space just loved to make operating the vehicle even more difficult as the race went on. The ground itself was the problem now as large bits of it had now shot out the ground which didn't do him any favors at all given he just gained and lead and he was just about to lose it. The map showed that the other players had started to gain speed on the which was fine but at the same time it could prove to be problematic if they actually did catch up to him at this point, Why did I have to open my big mouth now? he asked himself as he looked for another lever of something that would help him. Now that everyone was pulling out their power-ups he kept his eyes out for anything that could help him and just when he was about to crash a golden button with a star on it popped up on his dashboard.

Azure looked at the button and felt as though he was left no choice but to hit it when he noticed another one next to it but this one had missiles on it "Okay! that's what I'm talking about!" he shouted slamming his fist down on the button. His face lit up with delight as he saw the missiles take flight and head towards the other racers. As for the golden button, he would just save it for when he really needed it which would more than likely be sooner rather than later at this point. This whole experience was something that he would have to store in a different section of his mind in case it ever happened again down the road though if the selection was random this time around it would more than likely be another random selection once again. His focus was split once again now that he had finally become accustomed to the vehicle and nearly all of its abilities that he knew about naturally. Okay, we can do this just make sure to keep an eye out for any aggressive drivers he thought to himself as he made a hard right into some tunnel that that seemed like a good idea at the time.

487

The race had grown fierce as the number of competitors had wound down. When it all began there were so many drivers and now there were but a few. Seika was fortunately in his opinion one of the many who had survived this proverbial death race as he had started to refer to it. The powers that be had deemed that as long as he kept his wheels to the ground, figuratively mind you as he had at some points done the whole hop slide maneuver to go around sharp corners, and his vehicle out of danger, Seika had found himself on a straight shot towards the finish line. Maybe it was providence then, when he was once again assaulted by the crazy ass cultists who were just a bit pissed that he had been essentially murking them left and right on accident with a variety of wonky and whacky powers that seemed to be lifted straight from the looney toons. At one point he even wielded a god damned mallet with precision, smacking and flattening cultists like it was going out of style. Their crusade against him was founded honestly, but that didn't stop him from enacting his own brand of justice whenever one strayed just a little too close for comfort. He honestly wished they'd fuck off all things considered, he wasn't even targeting them with the nonsense, they just happened to be the closest. He had even stopped guessing his place in the race, somewhere between first and last he assumed. There didn't seem to be any cars in front of him, but there were also a few behind him that weren't the cultists. Maybe if he just threw the kart on cruise control and fired finger lasers for the rest of the race, that'd get the message across. Sadly with his luck, he knew he'd just spark another round of offensives and he really didn't want to deal with that.

2040/2500

His kart zoomed as he crept up passing taken of Zealots left and right, one man was going crazy with the blaze of the race. It seemed his boost was starting to run out once more, and he pressed the button once more as his RPM gauge red lines as the kart pushed through the curve and came out hurling like an arrow aiming for the finish. When the boost was done it left the screen as it started to rotate once more this time it found its self landing on 3 red rockets. The hood of the kart would spread open as he pushed the red button watching one of the rockets fired into the Zealot in front of him. It was then that he could hear some type of song playing from behind him. A Zealot would also rocket past him at this moment using his own boost it seemed but as he passed Knuckles Knux fired his rocket once more taking him out of the race. Now with only one rocket left and one person inform of him that was not a Zealot he would hold onto this rocket. There was little left to the race as they came into another curve, he'd shift down and drift this turn as well getting his little boost to speed as he straighten out. Things seemed to be going more than well for the players against this Zealot cult. he was not sure what they had to gain from all this but all he knew it that he found a new love for this kart and style of travel. On top of that, whoever had sucked them into this little game would soon find themselves standing against him in battle if he could even find out who was behind it in the first place.

WC: 2086/2500

Racing down a deathtrap road with clearly drugged up psychotic freaks trying to get her with sticks and why is that guy playing a flaming guitar? Requiem's eye twitched as an entire flipping band of zealots playing instruments that shot fire everywhere drove up from behind blasting some unholy mockery that could only be the most vague and bullshit definition of music. Ignoring the racket as beat she could, Requiem swerved and jinked her cart all over the place trying to dislodge the people banging on the roof only for more of these assholes to jump on and keep going.

Did the mooks and minions come with a buy one get one sale or something? A transparent box burst and Requiem found herself with a mighty and glorious... baseball bat. An ominous power radiated from it as the innocent looking "S" printed on the side enticed her to pick it up and let it all out. No one would be upset if these rejects lost the use of their kneecaps.just take it. Pick up the bat. Open the roof. Now wind up and THWACK!

The unfortunate victim of the young woman's ire found themselves vanishing into the sky with a twinkle of light marking where they disappeared from sight, "oh fuck the hell yes" she grinned as she swing again at a guy in midair redirecting his flight into one of the remaining vehicles that were slowly dwindling down. The catharsis bat vanished and Requiem (who was NOT pouting) raised the roof of her cart back up while looking for another box.

Oh joy, more eye bananas. Why? In what universe did this ever make sense? Was this Illumin's punishment for the books on her secret shelf? It wasn't like she ever actually acted on those impu-nope. Not going there. Especially since there was anot-ROCK. Requiem swerved to dodge the falling rocks and lost her speed again. Her acceleration was slow as she had to weave through a boulder field. Dropping the bananas at random, she finally found an open stretch of the course and stomped the gas pedal again.

The next box she popped gave her a single bullet that for some reason had a face and arms. Odd. She slapped the button and then quickly regretted it as the cart turned into a giant bullet and shot down the course, knocking everything and everyone she caught up to out of the way.

The bullet changed back and.she found herself within eyesight of the other racers again. Even if they were far away, she wasn't going to be in dead last (assuming any of the zealots actually finished). Actually, now that she thought about it, where DID they go when they got wrecked or smacked around? Was there some kind of-ROCK!

She... She crashed straight into it. Losing all her speed yet again as she had to back up and go around the large Boulder blocking up a good bit of the road ahead. Today just needed to end already.

513

2011/2500

It would seem that the tunnel that he took was a shortcut of sorts as he ended up behind another player though he really didn't understand why such a thing would just pop up at that current time given he was behind the pack for so long during the race but who was he to really look a gift horse in the mouth. This would be the most fun and frustrating time in his life and he's come near death nearly twice in two weeks back to back but this and that would have to be classified as two different experiences in this case anyway. The informant looked around him to see the Zelotes that he was the real target of this race but he didn't see a real reason as to why he even needed to take them out but it was whatever at this point to him, though he did think about knocking out all of them along with the other players at the end of it all he decides not to do all extra work. Racers had started to pull out all the stops at this point but he still had the one last ability left. Azure had started to lose focus once again but this time it was simply due to the fact that he was debating whether or not he should use the last power-up he has to finish the race in style or just with his own skills. If he really had to guest his place meant he would have to say that he was in second or third given he couldn't really see any other racers behind him, but this was soon to change with his luck that was. With all the sharp turns and dips in the course, it was surprising to him that but then again he wasn't really one to challenge the faiths about nearly anything at this point with the way he started the race with a bunch of thoughts of how to get out of this game but now despite all that, his adult half was all done thinking of their next course of action once they got out of this if they got out that was.

It wasn't easy learning to use all the gadgets that came along with this vehicle but it was something that he gathered enjoyed even though it came with some rather close calls it was worth it as what he could only tell was the finish line was nearly in sight. It was clear that he wasn't going to leave anything else up to chance so much like the missile button he slammed his fist down on it and his car was covered in rainbows with some type of song playing. The beat was very upbeat and cheery which wasn't something that he was expecting at all but now he had a single goal in mind and that was to kill the guy that had placed him in this trap. As he drove he rammed through some of the cars that tried to pass him and sent them rolling backward all while his own car was unphased by the whole thing. He saw one or maybe two cards ahead of him but that was nearly it though his eye could have simply gotten the better of him at this point with all the flashing lights and shockwaves that were going off around him.

2455/2500

Seika couldn't tell but the race was finally coming to a close. The track itself seemed to change before he could even fathom it as it swapped from the canyon like terrain to its original setting of the city proper. Staring behind himself incredulously, the Knight actually couldn't believe what he saw. The landscape had literally swapped from a bright sunny canyon void of life and full of wonder, to a dingy castle-scape that was bustling and filled with spectators. The crazy part was it seemed as if the people had been observing their escapades the entire time and were either cheering or screaming loudly in response to the wild and whacky things that were happening within the event. The idea that the reality shifting abilities of whoever had pulled them within this scenario were that strong baffled Seika. He couldn't actually believe that there were people out there that strong or mentally unstable to do such a thing.

Returning his body back into a forward facing position, Seika immediately focused on just winning this race. The amount of cultists around him had diminished greatly but it wasn't zero, and the further along he went, the more he realized he was actually out at front. There was no one with him except for a few who looked similarly bewildered about their situation currently. This meant that he was in prime position to actually win this whole thing. Seeing an upcoming sharp turn, he'd put a short plan into motion to make sure that he won the whole damn thing. Hopping up, his kart would drop down shortly afterwards into a slide just as he entered the turn. Turning his wheel sharply in the direction of the turn, he would begin to slide around the corner madly before coming up upon the magically filled boxes, popping several of them at once and leaving none for those behind him. Face grim, he'd wait patiently as the items slotted themselves into place before him. A grin would form on his face as he immediately activated the first power, sending down a sharp crack behind him as lightning struck every kart that remained. The only reason he knew the effects of the power was because of the fact that there was a cultist who had tried to get remotely close to him just before activating it, and the small tailspin into a bounce that followed the striking of the kart was like art to his eyes. As well as the fact that the kart had been shrunken?

Leaving that question behind, he'd strike the next power causing his kart to turn into a large golden star that then shot forward suddenly ripping past anyone who might have been in front of him. Both of these actions happened quickly enough that by time the star deposited him, he was beyond the finish line before even he knew what had happened. Shocked look on his face, he actually had no idea what place he came in, but that didn't matter. Reality began to unbuckle once again after he passed the finish line. It looked as if the world was going to return to normal now that the entire debacle was over with.

2500/2500

-Exit?-

The race had to be coming to an end soon. It just had to. If it wasn't then she'd snap and start killing everyone and everything if she had to listen to this bad taste band play their any fucking longer. She popped two boxes and found herself as the proud user of not just three eye bananas, but also three red turtle shell. She didn't even have the heart to bash her face against the wheel.as she used up all six items and let the chaos unfold. Four of the carts with 'musicians' on them flipped wildly out of control, scattering half naked zealots all over the place before they disappeared.two more crashed into each other trying to dodge the utter nonsense that was Requiem's weaponry and the last several pulled back as she hit another box.

Jackpot. Another bullet. Right before she used it the sky darkened and everyone ahead of her spun out and seemed to shrink. Or did the entire course get bigger? Nope, everyone had shrunk. The effect didn't seem to last long for her (probably on account of being so far behind) so she started zipping past other racers who, in turn, started unshrinking themselves. Another box gave her another bullet which she used up right away in case someone tried another lightning bolt. Now that she was back in the running, Requiem was determined to not end up dead last. The sudden scene shift from canyon back to city was jarring and she had to grip the wheel harder lest the cobblestone street make her lose control again.

Crowds of cheering people on the sides of the course ultimately helped. She'd feel like a prick if she needed up crashing into the spectators that she was certain weren't protected the same way the other racers were. Still, that didn't make the next couple of very sharp turns any easier to navigate. Though thankfully she wasn't bouncing off the walls anymore, Requiem had lost a lot of speed and used another speed boots she had picked up from another box to get back to full acceleration. The cheering got louder as she nearest the finish line and fewer and fewer zealots were making their appearance. Where'd they all come from in the first place? And where'd they go? Questions best saved for after the race was finished.

As long as there wasn't another turn she was fairly confident that she could end close to the top. Of course, when you hope for the best, the universe seemed morally obligated to come up with the worst possible way to fuck shit up.

Tipping up on two wheels as the cart barely made it, Requiem saw she had picked up a box that showed the image of a mushroom wearing a crown. She slapped that button as fast and hard as she could to try and finish fast.

She crossed the line and sagged into her seat with relief. It was finally over. Maybe.

(Finished...?)

512

2523/2500