Chapter 25
Two sources of light streak across the road.
A black meteor and a red comet.
Within the blink of an eye, the two objects flicker into and out of view for the pedestrians.
Those passing by, regular drivers focused on the road, even heroes enjoying their vacation—all suddenly jerk their heads, startled at the vehicles that just zipped past.
While all eyes gaze in shock at the speed maniacs, Mospped—a villain who had always longed for this kind of attention—was far too busy to notice.
‘Go faster!’
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shake off that damned crazy girl in the dress on her bike from his vision. What did that mean? It meant he had never once managed to overtake her.
The speed had already reached 400 km/h. But he was scared to push it any further.
Compared to the 12,500 horsepower engine on his vehicle, this car, measuring just 4.9 meters, felt absurdly light. As soon as he hit 400 kilometers, the chassis started to vibrate like crazy, and if he went any faster, just a 1mm mistake in steering could send the car careening off!
Mospped typically only reached this speed in a straight line; he never dared to try it on a public road filled with other vehicles, buildings, and people.
But—
“─Hah!”
A laugh—one he shouldn’t have heard—reached his ears.
With a cheeky flick of her fingers, the girl on the bike seemed to suggest that all this speed had just been the warm-up and twisted the throttle even more.
The gap between them widened. Watching this unfold, Mospped felt the speed demon inside him stirring awake, raising its head.
“Alright then. Let’s die together.”
At last, Mospped grabbed the gear stick for 12th gear.
Moments later, his vehicle began to catch up with the motorcycle.
*
‘Aaaaaaaaaah…!’
Ayle, the rider of the motorcycle, rolled her eyes in panic and looked around. Using her magical vision for precision driving, but no matter how skilled she was, the speed was simply too much; she was bound to crash eventually.
Experience—lacking that was her main issue. Despite all her training, Ayle had never actually ridden on a public road before, so she had to react to every situation relying solely on her reflexes. Unlike Mospped, who could predict his movements based on experience, she had no such advantage.
And that lack of experience was now holding Ayle back.
‘An accident—!’
A crash occurred right in front of her.
0.03 seconds. She registered the accident.
0.04 seconds. She began to reduce speed.
And then, at 0.1 seconds—
The red Rocket Spider 091 zoomed past her.
‘He’s not slowing down…!?’
Did he miss the accident right in front of him? Ayle thought that for a split second, but in reality, Mospped had seen the accident and noticed Ayle slow down as well.
Normally, he would have slowed down too, but not this time. He thought it was the only chance to overtake Ayle, who was in front.
Vrrrrrooooooom—!
The engine of the red comet roared. As the vehicle accelerated even more and approached the accident zone, flames burst from under the Rocket Spider.
‘Did he just jump!?’
I’ve said it before, but the 12,500 horsepower engine of the Rocket Spider was way too much for a car! Mospped wasn’t going to let that excess power go to waste.
He modified his vehicle by mounting boosters on the underside, which allowed it to lift off the ground for a brief moment.
The boosters exploded from the left underside, lifting the Rocket Spider into the air. The car, now airborne, sped along the side of a building. Using the building to bypass the accident scene, Mospped activated the boosters again, returning to the road with a certain finesse.
Seeing that, Ayle reflexively twisted her throttle.
‘Ah…’
The instinct of the speed demon within her reacted to someone ahead speeding away.
Now, there was no point in slowing down; she couldn’t avoid crashing into anyone.
To avert a chain reaction of accidents, she needed to pull a trick of her own—like a jump, similar to what Mospped had just done.
Unfortunately, the motorcycle Ayle was riding didn’t have a jump booster. It would have been too cumbersome for a bike meant to fly. She couldn’t just make flames shoot out from beneath its chassis to jump like Mospped did.
Instead, Ayle kicked off the ground with her feet. Her unique strength as a Magical Girl propelled both her and the motorcycle into the air.
─With the core muscles of a Magical Girl, I can stabilize a bike that’s tilted at 90 degrees!
Maybe all those annoying pieces of advice from Vira during training helped. Ayle easily soared over the string of vehicles and landed right back on the road, shooting forward once again.
The race wasn’t over.
At least, not yet.
*
“Nice! Ayle! That’s it!”
“Hmm… Maybe running would be faster.”
“You beast! Don’t be such a spoil-sport, just cheer her on!”
Inside the headquarters of the Evil Organization.
Vira and Galm were glued to the screen, watching the race between Ayle and Mospped.
Some cheered, while others groaned, but either way—
This intense battle back and forth made the spectators tremble in excitement.
Of course, there was one person unfazed by all this.
“What’s with all the fuss…? Even cheering here won’t reach Ayle.”
“Eight, are you… a robot or something? You have no emotions? Ayle could lose, you know!”
“Lose? What do you mean by that… Ayle can’t lose unless she deliberately wants to.”
The scientist, Eight, said that while sipping his coffee.
The machine Ayle was riding was one he had personally modified.
Knowing the specs, he just couldn’t picture Ayle losing.
“Unless there’s some natural disaster… ah!”
Clang—!
Just then, the handle of the mug the scientist was holding shattered and fell to the floor.
With the sharp and ominous sound, everyone jumped in alarm, while the scientist casually began to gather the broken pieces.
“Was it made in China…? But there’s no China around here…”
While he collected the fragments, the scientist let out a quiet grunt. He had cut his finger on a sharp shard of the mug.
“Tss — I cut myself.”
“…Eight?”
“Yes, Vira? What is it?”
“Isn’t this all a bit too ominous? First the mug, and now you’re injured…”
“Do you believe in those superstitions? That’s interesting. You don’t look like the type.”
The scientist said this while finishing putting away the mess. As he brewed a new cup of coffee and sat down, one leg of his chair broke, and coffee splashed all over him with a loud splash—!
“─Eight!?”
“Oh, I’m fine. Thankfully, it didn’t hit my face.”
“But it splashed all over you!”
“My clothes are thick; it’s okay.”
Watching the scientist laugh off his bad luck made Vira feel uneasy. Watching someone else go through such misfortune naturally gave her a sense of dread.
She prayed nothing would go wrong… as she shifted her gaze back to the monitor. The race was nearing its conclusion.
*
‘That crazy girl.’
Mospped chuckled bitterly as he spotted Ayle leaping across cars in his rearview mirror. He began to seriously question whether she was really human like him. Who could possibly jump dozens of meters while riding that heavy bike?
And then immediately regain balance to follow right behind him? That was absurd! After showing off such a stunt, shouldn’t she have crashed and rolled head over heels?
‘─But she has a weakness.’
It was just a matter of minutes, yet Mospped quickly identified Ayle’s weak points. She lacked experience. It didn’t show much on a straight road, but every time she turned or encountered other vehicles, her reactions screamed her inexperience.
Her cornering was flimsier than even a rookie, and she would flinch and react too slowly whenever coming across another vehicle. Sure, she managed to compensate somewhat with her exceptional reflexes and the speed of the bike, but—
That part was definitely a weakness.
‘After we pass this tunnel, there’ll be a series of tight corners. That’s where this will be settled.’
By chance or maybe with intent from the start, this route was one Mospped frequently took. That set the destination in stone.
The hill that overlooked all of City D. Dragon Hills.
After finishing a rampage, he usually took a moment to enjoy the view from there.
‘─I’ll show you! The wall that a beginner like you can’t surpass!’
The moment they reached the tunnel filled with vehicles, Mospped began to ride along the inside wall.
With speeds exceeding hundreds of kilometers and a 12,500 horsepower engine, not to mention the unique skill needed to control gravity—
This was one of Mospped’s finest techniques: the anti-gravity drive!
As he ran along the tunnel’s ceiling, Mospped glanced up. Everyone was hidden beneath his shadow, except one thing that wasn’t swallowed by the darkness of the Rocket Spider.
That was the flying broom. Or rather, the motorcycle.
‘─What!?’
The bike was flying!
Not just jumping like before—it was genuinely gliding through the air.
Like an airplane.
“Shit—! What kind of bike flies in the air?!”
In disbelief, Mospped opened his mouth without thinking, then abruptly sucked in his breath and shut it. At this speed, opening your mouth was akin to suicide!
Holding his breath to normalize the pressures inside and out, Mospped looked at Ayle soaring above him and shifted gears.
His vision began to blur, and the speed was becoming uncontrollable. In his hazy consciousness, Mospped clung to just one thought.
─I have to win.
Click.
Light burst forth as the tunnel’s end came into view, and Mospped immediately engaged the booster, flipping his vehicle upright. Both he, clinging to the ceiling, and Ayle, soaring through the air, landed squarely back on the road.
Not cowardly flying but a truly fair competition on the sacred road! Good! Excellent! Mospped broke into a satisfied grin as he shifted gears.
8th, 9th, 10th.
Accelerating further and further.
It felt wasteful even to hit the brakes to drift. The tires heated up and cooled down in the rain. And then, they entered the turn.
‘Here—!’
A maneuver he had never attempted— a technique worthy of a miracle! A gamble risking his life. Mospped shifted up. 11th, 12th. The highest speed possible with 12,500 horsepower.
Reaching 1,255 km/h, the front of the vehicle pierced through the wall of air. Breaking the sound barrier, the car quaked violently, twitching furiously. He took advantage of that tremor to navigate the corner.
‘I’m in the lead—!’
An area beyond sound.
Mospped was racing in a world devoid of noise, a realm where no sound could reach him.
He thought no one could possibly catch up to this speed…
Just after completing the turn, as he spotted the hills of Dragon Hills in the distance, a pitch-black meteor streaked past him.
Mospped saw the light. A light that was pitch black.
The darkness-painted light zipped past him, surging up over the hill.
As he watched, dazed, Mospped suddenly slipped on the wet ground, lost his balance, and tumbled down the hill, rolling dozens of times before he finally came to a stop, crumpled on the slope.
“Ah, aah…”
Staring at the vanishing black streak far away, Mospped sensed it.
His joyride was ending here.
He could go no further.
Winners remain, and losers fade away. That’s the rule for speed racers.
Mospped quietly closed his eyes.
*
[Last night, the citizens of City D were terrified by the rampage of the villain Mospped…]
[An unidentified woman on a motorcycle reportedly raced against Mospped, causing a massive stir—]
[The Hero Association identified this woman as a new villain and…]
“You really did something entertaining.”
There were indeed omens hinting at misfortune.
I began to suspect that all the incidents from yesterday were foreshadowing this very thing.
Though completely unscientific, it was strangely what I felt.
“…I didn’t do anything—”
“Oh? So you’re saying Ayle did all of this alone? Dressed in a Magical Girl outfit that only you can maintain? Riding a bike whose origin is a mystery?”
“Um, Ayle asked me to…”
“Hmm—! So you valued Ayle’s request over the Boss’s wish for you to calm down? Is that what you’re saying?”
“…I’m sorry, Boss.”
I couldn’t logically counter the Boss’s words. No, I shouldn’t even try.
I lowered my head and apologized. Usually, such a simple apology would suffice, but unfortunately, this time it didn’t.
The Boss handed me a document.
“Boss, what is this?”
“If you make a mistake, you must face the consequences.”
Reading the document, I furrowed my brow. It stated clearly:
[Evilus Automotive Development Plan]
In other words, I was ordered to mass-produce those anti-gravity devices and flying mechanisms I had built for Ayle’s motorcycle.
“Uh, this is harder than it looks. To mass-produce this with our technology here, I would have to seriously rack my brain till it aches…”
“That’s great. While you’re working on that, you won’t get into other trouble, right?”
“True, but…”
As I hesitated, the Boss gave me a sly grin.
“─It seems you need to be pushed harder.”
Hearing that tone brought to mind someone I absolutely detested, and reflexively, I seized the document and dashed out of the office.
I nearly suffered a PTSD relapse.
‘Who would’ve thought the Boss would remind me of the Professor…’
But this was still better than being bullied by the Professor.
With a sigh, I headed to the lab.
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