Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 460: Waterways Circuit: Final Lap
Jace tried to pass him during the 'U' ramp but he just followed Jace up. Which was a detriment to both of them since they both slowed down. They then continued for a bit longer until they came up to the downward turn.
Jace began slowing down until he could feel the wind resistance. As he did heard the announcer who was focused on the front runners a moment ago. "HOLD UP. IT LOOKS LIKE JACE THE SPECTRE IS UP TO SOMETHING. HE SLOWED DOWN AHEAD OF THE DOWNWARD TURN. THEY HAVE AN ASTRONOMICAL LEAD ON THE OTHER RACERS SO HE DOES NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT BEING PASSED. BUT STILL- WHAT IS HE UP TO?"
Jace took a deep breath and followed the others as soon as the downward turn happened. As he entered the tunnel he pressed a few buttons and the hoverbike flew straight down on the side that would become the roof at the bottom while the others were slowly rotating to the other side. He then leaned forward and pushed the handles forward.
The loud whistle as he picked up speed appeared again. Just as he passed by Batrone. Barely missing the corner of the roof of his vehicle. As he passed him he flipped him off.
"I DO NOT BELIEVE IT! IS HE SUICIDAL? IF HE STAYS ON THAT SIDE HE WILL BE COMING OUT ON THE ROOF! IT SEEMS BATRONE KNOWS THAT AS WELL! HE IS MOVING TO BLOCK HIM FROM SLIDING BACK TO THE RIGHT SIDE! BUT IT LOOKS LIKE JACE DOES NOT CARE! HOW IS HE DOING THAT! THE GRAVITY SHOULD BE SLOWLY PULLING HIM TO THE OTHERSIDE! LET'S CALL AND ASK!"
A moment later Jace burst into laughter as he received a call and answered. "Yes, this is Jace." He could hear his voice over the circuit wide intercom.
"JACE, HOW IN THE WORLD ARE YOU RIDING ON THE ROOF?"
"It is a facet of hovertech. But before you ask. Gravity is still affecting my actual body. I am just strong enough to hold this position while upside down. Now, if you will excuse me. I have to go and take second and then first place." Jace then ended the call as he started speeding up. Once he was far enough forward he started catching up on Bessy's vehicle which was trying to pass Azel.
"THAT IS INCREDIBLE BUT IS SUPPOSE THE CREATOR OF HOVERTECH WOULD KNOW BETTER THAN ANYONE ALL OF ITS FACETS BUT WHAT IS EVEN MORE IMPRESSIVE WAS THAT HE WAS OR IS ABLE TO HOLD ON! BUT CAN HE CONTINUE THIS FEAT? WE WILL BE SITTING ON THE EDGE OF OUR SEATS AS THIS TURN COMES UP!"
She was trying to sneak around the side while they were going downward. But stopped as she stared up at him in surprise. The helmeted form of Azel did the same as Jace waved at them before leaning forward and getting ready because the turn was coming up. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
He double checked the actions he would have to take as he tightly gripped his bike. The turn arrived and he felt a heavy amount of Gs pull him down. Enough to make him grunt audibly. But he was still flying forward at a ridiculous speed. The forward motion of the hoverbike was successfully converted into another direction thanks to the hoverplates. Although he was surprised he was not more painful. But he had not tested the upper limits of his evolved body just yet. So he did not know how much damage he could take.
The end of the tunnel came up and he flew out like a bullet out of a gun. But upside down.
As he flew through the air he flicked a switch and then pulled the handles of his hoverbike in opposite directions. Spinning and flipping around until he was facing the right way just before 'landing' on the ground. He immediately shot forward with a high speed as the gold shield formed around his hoverbike.
He was out of range of Batrone's weapon this time. In fact as he landed he was parallel with Azel and Bessy. A moment after he landed is when the real part of the race began as Bessy activated her booster. Then Azel did and Batrone who pulled up to the other side of Jace.
Jace's booster activated and he shot forward. As he moved the metal floor shimmered with heat and slightly morphed due to the damage.
Batrone clearly planned to cut him off again. But before he got a chance to pull in front of Jace. Jace passed him like a rocket along with the others. Gaining a massive lead as he went right through debris instead of dodging it. While the others had to move around it.
"HE HAS DONE IT! JACE HAS TAKEN FIRST PLACE! NOW THAT HE HAS PASSED THEM HE CLEARLY PLANS TO CREATE A LEAD FOR HIMSELF! BUT WOULD YOU LOOK AT THIS VIEW FOLKS! IT IS SHOWING THE DIFFERENCE IN THE POWER OF THEIR BOOTERS! JACE'S BOOSTER IS CLEARLY SUPERIOR AS WE ARE ALREADY GETTING REPORTS OF DAMAGE TO THE CIRCUIT! NOT TO MENTION THEY JUST ENTERED THE SHIPYARD FLOOR AREA AND HE IS ALMOST ALREADY OUT! ALTHOUGH IT LOOKS LIKE AZEL IS PUSHING THEIR OWN VEHICLE TO CATCH UP!"
The whistling of the vehicle got louder as he was almost at the corkscrew climb. He had to turn off the boosters. Even if he could harness the energy to fly up the corkscrew climb he was getting indicators of the boosters overheating which is not something he wanted. So as he came up to the entrance of the corkscrew climb he disabled the boosters.
He then entered the narrower entrance of the corkscrew climb and the whistle grew louder. He moved up to the side wall as he climbed and could hear screeching as the bottom of his hoverbike scratched against the side of the corkscrew climb. The indicators showed only minor damage. Nothing critical. They could take damage like this for a few minutes.
"JACE HAS ALREADY GAINED A LEAD ON THE OTHERS BUT NOW HE MIGHT START LAPPING THE OTHER RACERS WHO ARE STILL IN THE RACE AND ARE GOING THROUGH THEIR SECOND LAP IN THE PILLAR AREA! THIS IS INCREDIBLE FOLKS! I THINK JACE AND AZEL HAVE ALREADY SHOWN HE SUPPERIORITY OF HOVERTECH IN THIS RACE ESPECIALLY KNOW THAT AZEL HAS GAINED HER OWN LEAD IN SECOND PLACE!"
Jace came up to the exit of the corkscrew tunnel climb and as he came out it was like gunfire as he shot forward. This time his speed was a bit too high as he bounced off the side of a pillar he tried to fly around. He slowed down a bit as he cut around the pillars. Soon pacing over the back runner of the ten racers that were left. Flying through the pillar area still at a high speed.
A minute later he was out of the pillar area and climbing to top speed as he passed a few more racers as he approached the finish line. He could hear the deafening crowd as he approached the finish line.
The moment he crossed it the crowd began losing it as Jace slowed down and then spun to the side. Heading toward the area he had for his nonexistent pit crew.
"LADIES AND OTHERS! JACE THE SPECTRE HAS DONE IT! SETTING EVEN MORE FIRST RECORDS FOR THE WATERWAYS CIRCUIT WITH HIS HOVERBIKE! NOW I KNOW YOU ARE TEMPTED TO STORM THE FIELD BUT WAIT UNTIL ALL THE VEHICLES PASS THE FINISH LINE!" The announcer reminded them but they were being drowned about the roaring crowd who were causing things to shake with their chanting.
"JACE! JACE! JACE!" They yelled in unison.
Jace parked his hoverbike and then climbed off giving a wave to the crowd to acknowledge their chanting. Doing a quick check of his hoverbike. By the time he was done, Azel passed the finish line and then pulled to their own pit crew. He then watched as Bessy came in third and Batrone in fourth. Barely managing to pass Batrone at the end.
Then the rest of the racers slowly trickled in over the next ten minutes. After the last one arrived the entrance to the field opened up and a vehicle carrying podiums came out to the middle of the field. While Jace received instructions to pull up to the front of the podium with his vehicle before climbing up to the top spot.
As he moved over he heard the roar as the crowd flooded through the entrance of and started swarming the racers. He stood on the podium and the announcer ran through his list of firsts while Mistress White handed him a medal along with a medal for the second and third place winners.
They then got a bunch of pictures taken of them and their vehicles. Then one with all of them together. Batrone even joined them for a few, bursting into laughter as he congratulated them and discreetly asked Jace about hoverplates and their uses. Both Azel and Bessy listened in on their conversation.
But Jace just told him to get the usage rights and to figure it out himself. It would be detrimental to their creative process if they just copied him. As it was Azel was using a completely different method and could probably have won if Jace had not used his own booster.
