‘Race day’ Duo stared out onto the dusty, beaten course that was his race-way. Somewhere in the back of his mind he berated himself furiously for getting himself and his friends into so much trouble. Heero was still throwing him glares. Quatre seemed oddly resigned. Duo was almost sure that he could fly and win the race. After all, he was infamous at his ability to fly almost anything.

 However, as he looked at the vehicle he would be flying that day the now –very- familiar feeling of impending doom descended. He had no idea how he was going to pull the race he had been challenged into flying off. More and more it seemed as if he were destined for the catwalk. ‘Now of course I’m pretty, however if I put the other guys through that, then they may never speak to me again.’ Duo stared once again into the expanse of dust that made up the track. The blue woman, Kuri was out there. She was tuning her machine, a smile on her face. Duo felt uneasiness bubble up within him like a slowly boiling pot of water. ‘I’m gonna loose.’

 Heero stepped up beside him and spoke.

“Having doubts?”

 Duo stated, finding his finger brushing the butt of his gun, attached safely to the holster on his hip. Somehow his reaction to surprise disturbed him. The way that he reacted, it was as if he was going to shoot to kill. That fact did not make him proud. Quatre walked up as well, with Trowa trailing silently behind. Out of no where in particular a thought meandered across his mind. ‘Trowa’s a lot like a puppy.’ For a brief moment Duo studied Trowa and shook his head.
‘Quatre’s puppy.’ He meant no ill toward either of his fellow pilots, however their relationship or lack thereof bothered him.

 Zander tuned his racer with loving care. His fingers restlessly brushed over the controls, which would hopefully keep him off of the catwalk. He did not want to prance around a runway. He refused. One look at his two competitors showed polar opposites of the range of emotion. The blue woman was perfectly calm and collected, a racer after his own heart. The boy with the gelled bangs and long hair seemed to be walking on needles. From one range of emotion to the other. Zander smiled. Personally he felt nothing, save the intense thrill that was soon to be forthcoming. It rested on the edge of his consciousness trying to move him forward, waiting like a caged animal; growling and pacing waiting to be free to race through his blood and heart, setting his mind afire. His mindset was of an indescribable quality that could be described simply as anticipation.

 The purple haired woman looked at the boys mischievously, her lips forming a smirk often used by those classified as smart asses.  Needless to say this did not help Duo’s composure, but instead added to his tension.

“Relax,” Zander said simply, “You’re not going to win if you stay so tense.”

Duo looked over at him, but said nothing.  It was an easy thing for him to say; he’d been in many other races with these machines.  These elite T-80’s were nearly foreign to him, there was no way he was going to pull this one off.

 The other gundum pilots looked upon Duo, praying that they wouldn’t be a part of the stupid modeling show.  Wu Fei and Heero glared at him savagely.  He had better pull this off, or there would be some serious ass kicking.

Kuri looked up from her T-80, glancing at the boys in a competitive manner.  Her eyes seemed to be screaming ‘go ahead, make my day’.

Duo groaned grimly.  ‘I’m in deep shit!’

Zander returned the competitive look, his eyes just as challenging as he hopped into the seat of the transport; she was going down.

Engines rumbled within the forest clearing, and dust flew as they departed with reckless speed.

Zander looked down at his screens; everything was in check.  Now it was time to
really get in gear.  With the flick of the switch he found himself flying at over 100 miles per hour, swinging through the trees and bushes.  There was nothing like a race to get your adrenaline going.

Duo pushed as hard as he could on the petal; plant limbs grabbed at him from every angle.  It was almost impossible to get through; he had been used to the open space and perhaps fighting in cities, but a forest? It had to be the worst place to have a race, but then it was a challenge.

The thought made him smile ever so slightly; challenges were always fun. With the gaining of enthusiasm, Duo’s attempts improved.  He’d show them what he was made of.

Zander’s eyes widened as he saw the other racer come up beside him.  Over the com unit came an excited scream. “Ha ha, just like Deathscythe!”

  “Well, Duo, I have to say, you’re pretty good when you’re not drunk off your ass!” came Zander’s reply.

  Duo smiled; his ego sufficiently boosted.  “Watch me move!” he yelled out, moving his T-80 above the trees and attempting to spin.

“Uh… Duo, the T-80’s engine depends on the friction of the ground. I don’t think it will work quite as well in the…”

“Aaaahhhhhhhhhh!”

  Wufei, Quarte, and Trowa watched with mixed expressions as Duo came crashing to the ground.  Duo had been doing a flip in the air, then fell as the T-80 became perpendicular to the ground.

Heero looked at the wreckage, and shook his head.  “Baka.”

  Zander bit his lip. Well, I tried to warn him…

  Cursing silently, Duo came out of damaged ship, and hobbled towards the other gundam pilots.  He saw the silent humor in Heero’s eyes, and cursed some more. He was never going to hear the end of this.

  When Zander looked up, he realized that the challengers were way ahead of him.
“Fuck,” he muttered.  Only one thing to do now… floor it.

  The air around him grew harsh, creating friction in the air to slow his efforts.  It was mocking him, Zander was sure of it.  Nature didn’t want him to win, and was working against him with the hardest of artillery.

  Outside of his mind, Zander snorted at the path of his thoughts.  That’s right Zan, everything’s working against you, or working to make your life the slightest bit more difficult.

  Ahead the blue-haired woman raced; her speed seeming nearly inhuman.  “I’m not going to make this one..” Zander thought.  Perspiration dripped from his face as he concentrated on every twist and curve he was forced to go by.  If only …

  “That’s it!” he whispered to himself, eyes flashing with a great and sudden epiphany.  Quickly he scrambled past the cockpit, having the computer systems take over.  Normally, he preferred to do the driving himself, (it was more of a challenge that way) however, this time he had an idea…

  Leaning over the bit of engine exposed to him, Zander carefully used his tools to switch the wires…
“Now…” he said to himself, “if I can do this right, and hook them up to the right juncture, extra energy should be given to thrusters and…”

~ VROOM ~

The twelve-year-old jumped up shouting “Victory!”  I love mechanics!

  With that, he went back to his seat wearing a proud smile.  This ought to show that he knew something of relevance.  Wait until his mom and sister saw this: he’d proved that he had been keeping up with science and tech knowledge after all.

  It had been a nice thought for Zander, however such thoughts were erased when he realized that during all his fumbling the blue-haired-woman had already crossed the finish line.

  The youth’s draw dropped in certain awe, and he almost forgot that he had to land the craft.

“Yo…kid, we lost, snap out of it!” Duo spoke over the comm.

  Shaking his head, Zander sat and brought the T-80 down.  Even as he landed however, the child’s eyes were still glazed over with shock written all over his face.

“We…lost…”

  Kage rolled her eyes.  “Kid’s speechless,” she said shrugging.  By this time everyone had gathered at the site, and were in their respective groups talking over the race and bets.

   Grinning wickedly, the purple-haired-woman made her way towards Zander, arms crossed.  Stopping once she was beside him, Kage shook him out of his trance.

  “Wha…What?..”  Zander shook his head, collecting himself.  “What do you want?”

  An elegant eyebrow raised at the boy’s tone, but nothing further was said about it when she leaned in.  “You lost kid.  Do you know what that means?”

  The boy eyed her suspiciously…he didn’t like that strange glint in her eye, nor her tone.  However he played it smoothly; cocking his head with eyebrows raised in question.  “Just what does it mean?”

  Grinning evilly, Kage swayed her hips as she began to walk away.  “Women’s clothing, boy.  Hope you enjoy the catwalk.”

  Zander gaped… “Oh shit…”

  Vaguely, the child made out enraged screams sounding: “DUO!!!!”  … Feeling suddenly angry at his predicament, he decided to join the argument…