Letting Loose

With each second of this race that's gone by, Nar has slowly become more, and more comfortable in his place at the front of the pack. Ever since Ruby and Sapphire had their crash earlier it's seemed like everyone else was keen on being far less reckless in their racing. At first, Nar was pacing himself, saving his energy until the last stretch, where he could pull ahead by a mile, and win the race. However, with his nerves calming, and excitement rising, the habits of his casual skates around the city were beginning to show themselves. He had begun to speed up on straightaways, and was slowing down less on corners. On top of that, he had pulled off a few jumps in order to show off some of the many tricks he knew. While it was exciting for the fans, it was starting to aggravate Asuka. She's been watching the race unfold from the EMS SUV as it slowly makes it's way down to the trees where Ruby and Sapphire had crashed. She knew her brother, and it wasn't hard for her to tell he was starting to get cocky. He'd been at the front of the pack for practically the whole race, and he was starting to use it just to show off to the cameras. Granted, he was making for good television, but it also meant he was using more stamina than the others. Sure, grinding rails, and doing flip tricks off of ramps looked cool, but it also was pointless in a race like this. Though, in all honesty, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Nar could only skate for so long before he started getting too into it. Well, at the very least, he wasn't nervous anymore. As the SUV slows to a stop, Asuka adjusts her First Aid satchel, and opens the door to do a quick examination on Ruby, and Sapphire. Farther down the track, the pack of skaters nears the halfway mark of the track. A large, concrete pillar features simple graffiti of the word "Half" to tell the racers they were halfway to the finish. From here on, the track would be a series of tight, winding turns, tunnels, and steep declines. Far more dangerous than the straightaways, and wider roads of the first half. After passing the halfway marker, Nar turns his head to look back at his competition. It looks like Juno has caught up to Ryuji, and the two are battling it out for second. Juno seems to be taking the lead around corners, but Ryuji is a fair bit faster on the straightaways. They've been trading between second, and third for some time now. When Nar's eyes look to the back of the pack, he sees the black dragon, Steeltrap, not far behind the other two. At first, he thinks nothing of the chained dragon. He's been slowly inching closer, and close to third for most of the race, but it's only now that Nar can hear the noises he's making. The sounds coming from behind his solid steel muzzle could only be described as 'bestial', and in all honesty, they were really starting to weird Nar out. The guy wasn't right in the head, that's for sure. So why would Dragonautica even keep him around? Much less let him race. He thinks about shouting to ask Ryuji about it, but something else catches his attention. A small, green droplet drips down from Steeltrap's muzzle, onto his chains. On closer inspection, Nar can see two holes in the muzzle. One at each corner of his maw. On top of that, it seems like some sort of green bubbles are forming from within, which appear to be eating at the holes. When the bubbles pop, they leak green droplets onto the chains, which also begin to eat away at them. (https://youtu.be/qgf4gLYGWoo?si=hiX32w5AbEXaMIsM) Steeltrap's growls, and snarls get louder, and louder, as the holes in his muzzle slowly grow. A link in one of the chains appears to snap. Steeltrap's torso begins to violently wiggle in an attempt to break free of the chains. Acid froths from within the mask, causing the muzzle to weaken, and acid to fly down onto the chains below. Metal begins to screech as it begins to shear. Chain links begin to snap  with increasing frequency. There's one final scream from the metal muzzle before it is torn in half, and a guttural roar escapes Steeltrap's maw. He gives one last flex, and the chains burst, falling to the ground as the beast is now free. "Finally!" The black dragon begins. His voice is frantic, but eager. "I can be free! Free to skate! Free to breathe! Free to MURDER!" From ahead, Ryuji utters a panicked "Shit!" With a swift motion, Steeltrap barrels between Juno and Ryuji. He knocks Juno to the side, who only barely manages to maintain his balance. Ryuji, however, grabs on to Steeltrap, trying to keep him in place. He attempts to shout to Nar, but Steeltrap slashes at his face with a jagged claw. "Come on!" Steeltrap screams to the leader of the pack. "You're holding back on us! I can tell! Show me more! Show me this world is worth something! Show me your best, or I'll MURDER YOU!" Another slash, this time to Ryuji's chest. The attack rips scales from Ryuji's chest, and tears the flesh below. Hot, red blood gushes from the wound for a brief moment, before Ryuji's body begins damage control, and the bleeding quickly slows. The attack is enough for Steeltrap to break his grip, and break out into a sprint towards Nar. Then, Nar rounds a corner, followed closely by Steeltrap, and Ryuji loses sight of them. Juno pulls up alongside him shortly after, and the two match pace in order to converse. "What the hell was that about?" Questions Juno. His voice full of concern, and confusion. "I don't know. Your friend must have done something that got Steeltrap riled up. I've never seen him this rabid before, but I can tell you, your friend is in huge trouble. Steeltrap isn't joking when he says he'll murder your friend. I sure hope your friend can go a lot faster than he has been going, because if he doesn't he's going to die." A claw swung at his back signals to Nar that Steeltrap is not simply playing things up for theatrics. That swipe wasn't calculated, or missed on purpose. Steeltrap was genuinely aiming to claw Nar's back, and injure him. Another swipe comes from his left, which Nar manages to avoid by ducking, and leaning hard into a turn. When he looks to his left, Nar only sees the frantic eyes, and frothing maw of a dragon with only one thing on his mind. Murder. The motors in Nar's skates whine, and he gains a sudden burst of speed. He needs to make some distance between him, and Steeltrap, but the sharp, winding turns of the track are making it difficult to do so without risking getting off-balance, and becoming a red stain on the road. When the two finally emerge into a relatively short straightaway, Nar picks up speed even more. This is no longer a race. It's a chase. Street lights become a blur, as Nar begins to speed up well beyond what he had originally planned on going. Ahead, a tunnel approaches rapidly. Behind, Steeltrap lets out another bestial roar. A thick spray of green acid surges forth from Steeltrap's maw. Thinking quickly, Nar rides up onto the side of the tunnel, barely avoiding the noxious acid that forms noticeable holes in the asphalt it lands on. He manages to maintain his wallride just long enough to avoid the new holes in the asphalt before coming back down to the road. Steeltrap begins to shout something to Nar, but it blurs together with the wind in his ears. Farther ahead, there looks to be a curve outside of the tunnel, with a sudden drop on the other end. Thankfully, there's a railing at the end of the curve. Nar can hear the crackle, and bubbling of acid behind him. Steeltrap is getting reach to spray more acid at him. If he takes the turn on the road, there's a good chance he'll get caught by the spray. However, if he hops up onto the railing, he might just avoid it entirely. He'll have to be extra careful to maintain his balance while going at such a high speed, but he's got the experience to do it. From father back on the track, Juno can just barely make out the figure of Steeltrap within the tunnel ahead. Looking further beyond, he thinks he can see Nar, exiting the tunnel. He appears to hop up onto a railing, then Steeltrap lets loose a spray of acid. The trajectory of the acid appears to be aimed somewhere out of Juno's view, and he can't quite make out exactly where it lands. Then, there's the sound of a metal railing snapping. Nar seems to try to adjust to hop off of the railing, but he's going far too fast. One second, Nar is in view, then, he simply tumbles off of the railing, and out of view. Juno just barely hears half a second of a panicked "Shit!" from Nar, before he passes into the tunnel, and the echo cancels out the noise from ahead. The moment Juno and Ryuji exit the tunnel, they spot the curve, with a part of the railing on it's edge having snapped off. The two come to a quick stop, and peer over the railing to see a dense patch of trees on a steep, rocky slope. Neither see any signs of Nar, but they do spot Steeltrap screeching to a halt on the road below the slope. He appears to shout into the trees a few times before becoming quiet. Terror grips at Juno's heart. Without thought, he takes off down the track, with Ryuji quickly following after him. As Juno rounds a corner on a decline in the road, he hears a cry echo from Steeltrap ahead. "I thought you were stronger!"