Moving Metal (Acceleracers) 3: Welded

I felt a sharp tug and I registered the sound of my own groans of pain. It felt like I was moving but my eyes were heavy and it took a lot of strength to get them open. By the time I managed it, I felt exhausted, like I had just run a marathon. My vision blurred a few times before I was able to make out the scenery around me. I was moving, and fast, the purple and black clouds nothing but a blur.

I could faintly make out the sound of thunder, but it was much calmer now and there was no lightning in sight. A bright light filled my vision and I thought I was falling unconscious again but the light soon faded. I was jolted again, the harness pressing tight against my chest.

With a grunt, I wiggled around until I managed to get the damn thing off. I wasn’t moving anymore.

“Jae! Taro!” Monkey’s face appeared by the window and I blinked in confusion.

Why the hell is he yelling my name?

And Taro? My eyes fell on the unconscious man next to me and I struggled to reach over to him. The passenger door squeaked open and I felt warm hands grab my arms, preventing me from moving them any farther.

“Easy there, Jae.” Mark’s soft voice reached my ears and I stopped struggling against his hold, looking at him questioningly. I don’t understand what’s happening right now.

Why is he acting so kind all of a sudden?

Why is Monkey acting so concerned?

And why the hell is Taro unconscious?

I winced when that horrid alarm started to sound again followed by a screech like nails on a chalkboard. Vert cried out and tires started to squeal. Seriously, what the hell is happening right now?

A red and white vehicle pulled up beside us and Lani stepped out, opening up the back. “Come on, let’s get everyone to the infirmary!”

“No! We have to get back in there and find Kadeem!” Vert argued.

Find Kadeem? What is he talking about?

I tried to sit up to see Vert but Mark pushed me back down and scoffed. “You can’t even find half your car.”

What kind of insult is that? I looked at him strangely. Had Mark hit his head?

“Hey, back off! Markie.”

Shit, I cursed, pushing Mark away as he attempted to keep me in the seat. I have no idea what the hell is going on and I’m tired of sitting here feeling like a damn two-year-old.

“The storm realm can’t be re-opened.” Gig explained. “The wheel of power decides which racing realm to open and when.”

I managed to push the burly man out of my way. With one hand clinging to the roof and one hand threatening to rip Mark’s shirt, I managed to pull myself out of the car and onto my feet. They wobbled like they wanted to give way but I managed to keep them steady.

“Great! One realm’s enough for me.” Monkey commented.

Kurt limped over, his voice angry. Wait, why is he limping? “Typical Metal Maniac. The Teku aren’t afraid to try again.”

“Scrap the Teku!” Monkey responded. “Metal Maniacs do whatever we want! Right, Wylde?”

Wylde left my side, approaching the group. I nearly lost my balance at the lack of grip in my hand, but my body leaned against the car and I regained my support. “Nobody scares Wylde away from a race.”

“What? You want to go back in there?” Monkey couldn’t believe it. “Look what those drone dudes did to us.”

“Look what they did to me.” Everyone’s gaze turned up towards the platform where a man stood. His face was the same as the hologram, so I knew this was Tezla. What surprised me was the fact that his entire body was covered with a metal cast, from his neck to his feet.

The drones did that?

“We have work to do.” He said before turning around and walking away.

Monkey helped Lani get Taro into the back of her Nomad. Kurt refused help.

“Come on, Jae.” Monkey reached out for me but I held my hand up and shook my head. “You’re hurt!”

“I’m fine, Monkey.” I took a deep breath, slowly pushing away from Taro’s car. Once I felt safe enough that my legs would actually support me, I let go. “I just need a minute. Please.”

He stared at me with worry, but finally shook his head and walked away. The Nomad took off for the infirmary. My eyes never left it until it disappeared from sight.

Taro… please be okay.

━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━

Everyone had begun working on their cars. I sat on a set of tires beside Monkey, still not feeling a hundred percent, but still doing better than Taro, who remained unconscious.

Kurt hit something, I’m not sure what since I was barely paying attention, but both Monkey and Mark started laughing at him like it was the funniest thing in the world.

“Nice one, Kurt!” Monkey managed through his laughter.

Vert offered to help him, but Kurt stood, declining the offer.

“You’re in no condition to keep working, Kurt.” Lani stood with her hands on her hips. “None of us are.”

“The next racing realm could open at any time.” Dr. Tezla walked up to her.

“So we skip the next realm, so what?” Kurt sounded annoyed as usual. I wanted to roll my eyes, but I actually agreed with him this time. I couldn’t stop thinking about Taro.

“The strange powers you reported.” Tezla began. “The things their cars can do. I believe they earn new powers every time they complete a racing realm. Soon, it will be impossible to stop them.”

“Stop them from what, exactly?” I questioned, more to myself. “World domination?”

If anyone heard me, they chose to ignore me, though Tezla did send a glance my way.

“It’s already impossible,” Lani complained. “The cars aren’t ready and… we’re all exhausted!”

“They are only human, Dr. Tezla,” Gig added. “Unfortunately.”

I scoffed.

“They can’t go against the drones again, not now.” It almost sounded like Lani was begging.

Monkey was inspecting something when he nudged me. “Woah, wait wait. Does anybody else hear music?”

I looked at him strangely but realized he was right. I could faintly hear a booming, like bass.

Monkey jumped down excitedly. “That must be my ride. I got in touch with Tork. Yeah, I told him what happened.”

“That’s no Metal Maniac,” Mark said, but Monkey wasn’t listening. He was right, though. That music clearly belonged to a Teku, or at the very least, someone that liked their music. We exchanged a look.

The sound grew louder as they approached the hideout and soon the sound of Teku music mingling with the sound of roaring engines and squealing tires filled the drome. Sure enough, two Teku cars had arrived, barely missing Lani and Tezla as they slid to a stop.

The first I had never seen before. He was short and wore headphones. It was obvious that the music was coming from his car, tricked out with too many speakers to count. He tapped a button on his bracelet and the music shut off.

“Yo, let’s pump up the bassline.” He said, bobbing his head to the music now playing in his ears.

The second driver was Nolo.

“You had no right to reveal the location of the Acceledrome!” Tezla pointed angrily at Monkey, who made a face in response.

“Hey, hey! I don’t talk to Teku, okay? You can drop that right there.”

Kurt, now using crutches, hopped over to them. “I told them because we need help.”

“Listen. What we are doing here must be kept secret.” Tezla demanded.

I narrowed my eyes at him. I didn’t trust this guy as far as I can throw him. And boy did I want to throw him.

“Why?” Kurt asked in a mocking way. “Who you afraid of?”

“The drones,”

“The drones are finished!” Nolo screamed. “Nobody beats the Teku!”

“You mean, ‘Nobody but the Metal Maniacs’.”

I groaned. Damnit, Mark. Can’t you keep your mouth shut for five seconds?

“I mean nobody.”

“Mark,” I slowly stood up. My legs were still a bit weak, but I had regained quite a bit of strength so far. “Knock it off.”

“Yeah yeah, whateva.”

The roar of an engine made my head whip around towards the entrance of the dome. Tork’s car came into view and I felt relief wash over me.

“Aha!” Monkey felt the same relief as he headed toward the car. “Now that is my ride! Hey, let’s get out of here, Tork.”

“After what you said the drones did to you, Taro and Jae? No way.”

I smiled as I slowly made my way over to our leader. I’m not sure what it is about him, but he always puts my mind at ease. He’s a damn good leader.

But Monkey wasn’t having it. “That’s the idea of leaving, Tork, so they don’t do it again!”

“Nobody does this to my guys!” He announced. “We’re welded.”

“Let’s just get out of here, okay man?” Monkey begged.

Nolo felt now was a good time to add his two cents. “Send this Maniac scum back to the junkyard!”

I growled, feeling my own anger rise. Monkey tried to hold Tork back and sent me a look to try and help him, but I was all for seeing that prick get his ass beat. No one talks about my brothers like that!

“Get off me, Monkey!” Tork easily picked him up and set him to the side, approaching Teku’s leader. I was next to him in a second, ignoring the shooting pain surging through my body. “You better watch it, punk.”

“Stop trying to act tough, Nolo,” I growled, my hand gripping the back of Tork’s shirt as a way to stabilize myself.

The sound of a big rig horn echoed through the dome, successfully gaining everyone’s attention.

“Is that…?” Monkey shot up but quickly shook his head. “No, it couldn’t be. He said he’d be gone for months.”

Tork helped support me as we turned in the direction of the sound. I already knew in the back of my mind who it was and I couldn’t stop the smile creeping up. I should have known that he would come the second he heard what happened.

“Did you tell him?” I whispered to Tork.

He nodded, “Of course I did.”

Ol Smokey, the name of Porkchop’s big rig, burst through a door off to the side that I hadn’t even noticed before, its horn blaring. He slammed on the breaks and the trailer slung to the side, revealing four rugged Maniac cars, one of which belongs to me.

The bulky man stepped out of the cab and Monkey approached him. “You really didn’t have to come, Porkchop.”

With a low growl, he grabbed the strap of Monkey’s bag and hoisted him into the air. “Alright… Who did this to you?!”

“Help!” Monkey cried out, his feet dangling a good foot off the ground. The Teku had grouped up now, watching the spectacle.

“They’re gonna pay,” Porkchop growled again. “You hear me?!” I shifted my weight from one foot to the other and ended up catching his eye. He dropped Monkey and rushed towards me.

I swallowed hard and attempted to back away to avoid the large man, but I ended up losing my footing – and by that I mean I moved too fast and tripped over my own foot, sending me to the ground. I closed my eyes, waiting to be jumped, but it never came.

Tork was standing between me and him.

He growled again, eyes narrowed at me. “Tell me who did this! I’ll rip ’em to shreds!”

“Stop monkeying around, Porkchop!” Tork ordered.

I cleared my throat and shifted to a more comfortable position on the floor. “I’m fine, really.”

I don’t think he fully believed me, but he did calm down a bit, muttering a ‘whatever’. This, in turn, made me calm down knowing that I wasn’t about to be squashed like a friggin’ pancake by a man three times my size.

Remember when I said Tork is the largest in our group?

Well, that’s not completely true. While he does have the most muscle, Porkchop is easily the tallest – so he not only has muscle but also height, making him someone you do NOT want to cross.

Or worry, apparently.

“Hey!” I turned towards the voice and my eyes widened. “Let’s get even.”

I scrambled to my feet, nearly tripping again as I rushed towards Taro. I must have looked like a fool, considering how many times I almost tripped crossing the distance to him, but I didn’t really care.

I slammed into him, my arms wrapped tight around his torso. He had a brace on his leg and arm, but other than that he seemed fine. I felt more grateful at that moment than ever before.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Taro,” I muttered softly. “I was really worried.”

He patted my back, not quite affectionate enough for a hug. “What about you?”

We separated and I offered him a reassuring smile. “A bit banged up, but I think you got the worse end of the deal.”

He shrugged. “I can live with that. Now let’s go, we got work to do.”