The roar of the crowd was a physical force, vibrating through the hull of Kai's hydrojet and into his very marrow. As he crossed the finish line of the GP Circuit, a wall of water exploded behind him, a victory plume.
He was at the top of the world. He was " King of the Canals" the rising star, the untouchable.
But as he slowed his engine in the cool down lane, a jagged, black-and-yellow machine drifted into his path. Draven Slate, known then as Apex, flipped up his visor, his eyes burning with a resentment that no trophy could ever soothe.
"You ran a pretty good race today, Squid," Draven sneered, the term 'Squid' dripping with condescension. "Of course, it should've been me up on that podium. But hey, luck counts too, I guess."
Before Kai could even respond, Nyx Vale, racing under the handle Viper, slid her blue-and-white machine between them, acting as the buffer she had always been. "You got beat fair and square, Draven. You just don't want to admit he's the better rider."
Draven's lip curled. He ignored her, fixing his gaze entirely on Kai. "You gonna let your lackey here talk up your game? Or are you going to prove it? Ain't no crowds around now. Just you and me. Off-circuit. The Old Canal."
"Wait a minute," Nyx interjected, her posture stiffening with sudden anxiety. "Kai, you're not doing this, are you? Off-circuit racing can get you both suspended! Permanent bans!"
Draven chuckled, a cold, hollow sound. "Sure it can. If you get caught."
Kai looked at the neon-lit ruins of the Old Canal in the distance. He was young, arrogant, and fueled by the adrenaline of his recent win. He didn't see the trap. He only saw the challenge. He turned his handlebars toward the shadows.
The race was a blur of spray and sirens.
They were neck-and-neck, weaving under low-hanging bridges and through narrow alleyways where the water was choked with trash. Kai was pushing his turbine to the redline, his heart racing in sync with the 15,000 RPM of his engine. He was winning. He was going to humiliate Draven twice in one night.
Then, the sky turned red.
A massive Peacekeeper hover-drone dropped from the clouds, its searchlights blinding. The siren was a deafening wail that echoed off the concrete walls.
"It's the cops!" Nyx's voice screamed over the comms, panicked and distant. "Get out of there!"
Kai slammed on his brakes, looking for an escape route, but the canal was a dead end. He looked over at Draven, expecting to see the same panic.
Instead, Draven was slowing down, a calm, sickening smile spreading across his face. He didn't look surprised. He looked satisfied.
"Uh-oh..." Draven said, his voice mocking over the open channel. "Someone must have phoned in a tip that there was an illegal race happening."
Kai froze. The realization hit him harder than a wave. "You..."
"I wonder who woulda done such a thing?" Draven laughed, a dark, jagged sound that would haunt Kai for the next two years. He banked his hydrojet into a hidden maintenance tunnel,a route Kai hadn't even known existed.
Just before he disappeared into the darkness, leaving Kai to the approaching sirens, Draven's voice crackled one last time over the radio.
"Heh-heh. Catch you later... Squid."
The searchlights locked onto Kai. The handcuffs followed. And just like that, the King of the GP was gone.