RISING PHOENIX ACT SELECT

CHAPTER 12: HIGH VELOCITY

Marco ran down the stairs after Octane as fast as possible, with Brianna running right after him. A shocked Glenn once again stayed behind and watched them run after him. On the stairs, Marco jumped over the last few steps to get to Octane faster, and did it again near the bottom of the staircase. Octane dashed through the empty ASTB hall as Marco quickly thought of a plan.
“BRI…!” he yelled, which she heard.
“Go there!” he said as he motioned over to the front entrance of the ASTB with the turnstiles. Brianna understood this and ran out the glass doors.

Meanwhile, Marco chased Octane through the corridor housing the Infinity, Optimum, and Frontier Lab. He could already feel himself losing his breath from running so fast, but he continued to push himself as Octane was still a decent distance away from him. As he ran out the back entrance, the turnstile reminded him to “Please slightly move forward”. Marco leaped over the granite stairs and made a hard left, still chasing after Octane. From the distance, Marco saw Brianna coming from the left side and getting in the way. However, Octane just shoved her out of the way again and ran past her.

Marco jumped over Brianna and chased Octane through the BLOB. Brianna quickly got back up and started running again. As he was exiting the BLOB, Marco noticed a black go-kart with its engine at the back. It was parked in The Oval for a SCALE class later that day. He also saw something else that chilled him to the bone - Obsidian. He stood there in his black coat and red bird mask, staring at Marco all the while. Marco could feel everything fade away as he locked on to him. After a few seconds, Obsidian reached into his coat and pulled out 4 small, transparent orbs with a clear liquid in them and some sort of mechanism at the top. He gave them to Octane as he ran by him and began making his retreat. Octane jumped into the go-kart and began to start it.

Marco knew this was bad. He couldn’t chase both of them at once. He quickly looked back and saw Brianna running right behind him. “Get him…! I’ll get the go-kart!” he called out to her as he pointed to Obsidian. He ran over the grate, jumped over the ledge, and ran to Octane before he could get the go-kart moving. Meanwhile, Brianna followed his orders and began chasing Obsidian into the mini-forest beside the boy’s dormitory.

As Marco inched closer and closer to the go-kart, he could feel his heart racing. He’d never ran this fast in his entire life. Just before he reached the go-kart, Octane started it and took off, belching a cloud of gray smoke at Marco’s face. Marco refused to give up and kept running after the go-kart, which was clearly too fast for him to catch up to. By the time he reached the section of the asphalt in the middle of the Kala Lane, he was completely out of breath and stopped on the spot, leaning on his knees to get even an ounce of energy back. From the corner of his eye, he saw Darren with his bike at one of the tables, much to his surprise.

“Darren…?” Marco asked as he panted heavily.
“What…are…you…doing here?”
“I just snuck out to fix my bike before SCALE started…what is going on?” Darren answered.
“Can’t…explain. I…need that…bike!” Marco told him.
As Marco finished speaking, he noticed the go-kart drift hard, doing a 180-degree turn in the process. Confused, he stood back up, having regained most of his energy. He looked over the distance and noticed the go-kart getting closer…and closer. Marco quickly realized he was about to get run over, and at the last second jumped off to the side, barely dodging it. He rolled on the ground before Darren caught him in his arms.
“Thanks…” Marco told him sheepishly.
After reaching the end of the Kala Lane, the go-kart did another 180-degree turn before driving off once again. Seeing this, Marco realized he needed that bike quick.

“Hey…what are you doing?!” Darren exclaimed as Marco began to take his bike. The go-kart zipped by as Marco was getting the bike upright.
“Sorry…need to borrow this for a while,” Marco explained before getting on and biking off to chase Octane once more. Darren ran out to the asphalt and watched Marco chase the go-kart on his bike, being both slightly annoyed and incredibly confused.

Meanwhile, Brianna followed Obsidian into the forest but quickly lost track of him. As she entered, her shoes crunched the leaves strewn around the area. She looked around and couldn’t find any visible footsteps. Carefully, she looked at all the trees to see if he was hiding behind one of them. None of these are big enough to hide a whole person, she thought to herself. She quickly began making her way to the giant cotton tree in the middle of the forest. Walking slowly, she looked behind the tree and was surprised to find nobody behind it. Suddenly, someone grabbed her by the arm.

At The Oval, Marco pedaled with all his strength trying to catch up to Octane, who was once again a good distance away from him. As he made it to the curve of the oval nearest to the drop-off, he made sure to avoid the concrete slabs placed near the entrance, which Octane had simply driven over. Marco made sure to stay on the asphalt to avoid the risk of getting stuck in the grass. As Octane looked back, he was surprised to see that Marco was gaining on him. As they both neared the grandstand, Octane picked up one of the clear orbs Obsidian gave to him. He bit down on the top part and ripped it off with his teeth, releasing a hissing sound. He then chucked it behind him in the direction of Marco’s bike.

Marco saw this and was puzzled. The orb landed on the road and rolled a few times before exploding into a cloud of smoke. It was a smoke grenade! Startled, Marco biked through it, nearly losing his balance from the temporary loss of vision and coughing. Octane looked behind again and saw that Marco was still in pursuit, much to his annoyance. Octane drove over the rocky entrance to The Oval, which bumped the go-kart around. He managed to pass it though, making his way back onto the road. Marco quickly followed, but not before noticing Obsidian run out of the forest with Brianna nowhere to be seen. He quickly realized what had happened - she was outmatched. He soon managed to make it onto the road, still pursuing Octane.

Octane grabbed another smoke grenade and bit off the fuse before throwing it at Marco. Seeing this, he quickly swerved away from the explosion and managed to avoid the cloud of smoke. Octane turned hard to the left, which Marco also managed to do with his bike, but not without nearly falling off of it. Octane thought of something quick - as they passed by the gymnasium, he jerked the steering wheel to the side, making it do another 180-degree turn. He quickly pulled the reverse lever and brought the steering wheel back to the middle. He was now driving backwards, ready to hit Marco with another smoke grenade. He armed another one and threw it right at Marco’s face. Marco reached his hand out in front of him and - caught it with his bare hand.

Octane let out a gasp as Marco held the orb in his hand, chuckling. He threw the smoke grenade back at Octane, which promptly blew up in his face. While in a fit of coughing, Octane turned the go-kart back around before the next hard turn - the one leading to the drop-off area. He turned just in the nick of time, creating a lot of smoke from the tire friction. Marco expertly navigated the corner before beginning to bike straight towards Octane. Worried, he threw another smoke grenade out, which Marco simply swatted away. Marco began to get closer and closer to the go-kart, which began to freak Octane out.

As they were exiting the drop-off area, Marco saw the construction near the flagpole area once more - the one he first noticed at the beginning of the quarter. Looking at it more, he realized that it was very ramp-like. Looking at the angle and estimating his current speed, he used his physics knowledge to determine that if he rode over it, he would end up on top of Octane. Plan in mind, he biked onto the sidewalk behind the flagpole and focused on the ramp. It got closer…and closer…and closer. Octane looked over and was confused at what he was doing. Suddenly, Marco turned right and rode over the ramp, sending him flying in the air.

It was as if time slowed down for Octane as he saw Marco fly towards him. Marco lost grip on the bike handlebars and braced for impact. SLAM! In an instant, he landed on the go-kart’s engine and fell into the cockpit with Octane, damaging it and making it start to overheat. Meanwhile, the bike’s front wheel landed on a part sticking out of the engine, which left it hanging off the back of the go-kart. Octane quickly took a swing at Marco, which landed amidst the chaos. Marco blocked his next punch and punched him back, making Octane grunt in pain. Seeing that they were near another turn, Octane jerked the steering wheel to the left with one hand, making Marco fall onto him. He used the other hand to try to push him off to no avail.

“Stop this go-kart!” Marco yelled out, which Octane ignored. He saw that they were heading straight into the blue-barriered construction site behind the ASTB, which Marco hadn’t noticed yet. He slammed onto the gas pedal, breaking it and leaving it perpetually pressed. Marco turned his head and noticed they were about to crash, which gave Octane the opportunity to deliver a hard blow to his chest. He tripped and fell into the cockpit backfirst, allowing Octane to climb onto the engine and towards the bike that was hanging on. He walked onto it and began stomping the back wheel several times.

Meanwhile, Marco managed to get up and saw Octane kicking the bike wheel. Before he could grab him, Octane threw his whole body onto the wheel, resulting in it breaking off and landing on the road with him curled up on it. He had gotten away - now Marco was piloting a go-kart that was about to crash head-on into a wall. With just a few meters before collision, Marco barely had any time to think. He climbed up the left side and quickly jumped off right before the go-kart crashed. He hit the sidewalk hard while the go-kart slammed into the barrier, creating a fiery explosion that sent go-kart pieces everywhere. Luckily, none of them hit Marco or damaged any of the few cars nearby.

A few moments later, Marco managed to muster the strength to get up, using his arms to lift his torso off the ground. He looked over and saw the fire from the crash burning strong, which made him sweat a little from the heat. Moreover, he saw Darren’s bike in pieces, which made him feel extremely guilty. As he looked to the end of the road, he saw the bike wheel that Octane used to escape - but he was not on it. Suddenly, he was struck in the face with a metal gauntlet. He was knocked unconscious before he could see what - or who - hit him. As Marco lay on the ground, a student wearing a bird mask adjusted the gauntlet on his left hand.

“I told you it would work,” the student told Obsidian, who was standing right beside him.
“Good job, Overclock…” he complimented.
“Your job here is done. Both of you, go back to the gym,” he told them. Overclock walked to Octane, who was standing nearby, and removed both the mask and the gauntlet. As they left, Obsidian knelt down and looked at Marco’s unconscious body.

“The Rising Phoenix always wins, Marco. Always,” he said before getting up and leaving.