Queen-A Steel Ball Run Story

Second Stage

They all lined up at the starting line, the announcer telling them about the stage. Their goal was Monument Valley, and they were to cross a distance of 1,200 kilometers. They could take any route they wanted, travel as many miles per day as they pleased, and stay anywhere they liked, but they had to pass through the race checkpoints.

"Hey, Gyro. A lot of people are betting on Sandman, according to this paper. He's the most popular. What do you guys think about that?" Nat asked, addressing both Johnny and Gyro, but looking at Gyro when she spoke. Johnny expected that.

"Hmph. What about me?" Gyro asked in reply.

"Well...you're #9. Only because of the penalty, though. If not for that, you'd probably be first. Oh, whoa, I'm fourth! And Johnny is fifth!"

Johnny leaned over to look at the paper. He was fifth. That was pretty cool. Nat glanced at him, and he quickly straightened himself.

"Ah, those people don't know what the fuck they're talking about. That article was probably written by some idiot everyday person." Gyro said in annoyance.

"Still, if Sandman takes first again, then he'll have 200 points and 2 hours in bonuses. That'll give him a huge advantage over everyone else." Johnny pointed out.

"But can he run over 100 kilometers in one day?"

"Yeah, he can. And he is from the Arizona desert, so..he's on home turf." Nat answered Gyro's question. He looked at her. "What? I did some research..."

"That guy, Mountain Tim, is pretty popular too." Johnny said, gesturing to his right, where the cowboy stood. Nat and Gyro turned to look at him. Nat glared at him.

"Look at that weird hat he's wearing.." Gyro muttered. "Makes me want to trample all over it..."

"..and while he still has it on!" Nat finished for him. They looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

"Mountain Tim is a cowboy, so he should have poor short range abilities. But yesterday, he did follow us pretty well.." Johnny said. "He followed us, then overtook us in the last second.." Nat clenched her fists.

"I bet it's that weird hat he wears." Gyro chuckled. "I mean, just look at it. Nyohoho."

"This stage..." Nat muttered, looking down at a map. Johnny and Gyro both looked over as well. She brought it up for them to see. "This stage may turn into a battle for these watering holes. It'll be impossible to cross the desert without them. Back in 1875, there was an incident involving the death of an entire army unit, the 26th Cavalry. Not because of a war or battle...but because all known watering holes here dried up. They all died of dehydration, but..before that...they went blind, their eyes cracking up like dry clay. So we have to be careful to hit the watering holes. We should head north. After traveling 50 kilometers a day, we should reach the first hole. If we get lost...we'll die."

"That's exactly the kind of motivation we need!" Gyro announced. Nat folded up the map.

"I'm just trying to explain how serious-"

"Trust me, sweetheart. No one is taking this as seriously as I am." Gyro interrupted. She felt her face heat up.

The announcer told them they had 30 seconds left. Nat put on her goggles to keep the sand out of her eyes and stroked Queen's mane. She turned to Johnny. He nodded at her.

Moment of truth.

Instead of turning away, she nodded back, and even with the smallest hint of a smile.

The previous night, they had all stayed together in an inn, in separate rooms, obviously. But before bidding each other goodnight, she and Johnny had finally had a talk, speaking about the good parts of their past and telling Gyro how they knew each other. Of course, Johnny tried to avoid the falling out they had when he blamed her for his misfortunes, but Nat mentioned that when she noticed he failed to. Gyro yelled at him about hurting her and gave her a hug. She faked tears.