"That was the third cart! What did you two do out there?" Officers Fillmore and Third kept their composure, eyes calm against Commissioner Vallejo's rage. "Vallejo, come on," Fillmore rumbled. "We brought the guy in. Besides, the damage can't be that bad." Vallejo snarled, his hands twitching slightly as though he wanted to snatch something and smash it over Fillmore's head. "The carts are totaled," the junior commissioner growled. "The metal shop can't fix them. The engines are so damaged, Folsom's said she'll take cash out of the Patrol's budget to get new ones." "We didn't damage the carts," Ingrid murmured. "That was Jason Royal's fault." "I heard the reports!" Vallejo interrupted fiercely. "I know he drove one into the lake, another into a tree, and the last one off a flight of stairs. Folsom still held us responsible because we didn't stop him before he crashed each time." "Held?" Fillmore raised a brow in question. "You sayin' Folsom's not going to cut our budget?" Vallejo smirked slightly and went over to his cocoa pot, pouring out a mug of steaming hot cocoa. "You two are lucky," he explained gruffly. "Folsom told me this morning that she just got news that our Mech Club is finally going to start up again. Jun Faolan is finally coming back to school." A bell toned and signaled the end of the day. "Folsom's going to personally reintroduce Jun tomorrow morning in the auditorium. Be there after homeroom on stage." ---------- "Who's Jun Faolan?" Ingrid questioned. Fillmore turned to his partner as they made their way down the sidewalk. The bespectacled boy chuckled slightly as he and Ingrid pushed against the concrete with their free foot, pushing their respective skateboard and scooter a bit further on. "I'm surprised you haven't seen the articles in the Examiner," he started to explain. "The Mech Club was the top in the state for the two years it went on. A girl named Jun Faolan started it. She could fix or make anything and everything out of practically nothing. Principal Folsom was always totally calm when something was broken because she knew Jun could fix it. Heck, Jun even made that cart Folsom rides around in all the time." "So why did the club only go for two years?" Ingrid questioned. "It sounds like Folsom would never shut it down." Fillmore frowned suddenly and both of them stopped. "A year ago, just after school started, something happened," he explained. "Jun works at her father's custom chopper shop, and there was an accident. Some kind of explosion was what most of the newspaper reports said. A couple of gas tanks caught a few sparks from a light bulb when she was working on another bike. She nearly died, and she had to stay in the hospital for the whole school year." "That must have been a bad explosion," Ingrid remarked, unsure of what else to say. "So why didn't the Mech Club go on for the year that she was in the hospital? The club will have to go on after she graduates anyway." "Well, thing was, Jun had a rival in the club," Fillmore continued to tell a tale. "Jace Renault. He's got nowhere near her skills, but he always said he would beat Jun at some kind of build. When Jun was hospitalized, some of the things she had been working on-better motors for some of the carts here, pieces of bikes for her dad-started to get banged up real bad. Then one day, someone went into the garage where the club was held everyday and found Jace taking a hammer to Jun's stuff. "So, to make sure that Jun's dad didn't pull his sponsorship, Folsom closed off the garage and put Renault in eight weeks of detention. The club was put on hold until Jun got out of the hospital. So I guess now the club's going to start again. We'll just have to see at tomorrow's assembly." ---------- "One year ago, X Middle School lost one of its most promising students." The highest members of the Safety Patrol sat in the chairs behind Principal Folsom, listening as she delivered her well-prepared speech to the student body. "However," Folsom continued, smiling her close-eyed smile at the students, "after an ordeal unlike any other, that student has recovered and returned to us here at X. Now, I have the honor to reintroduce the greatest mechanical mind this school has ever seen. May I introduce to you the president of the Mech Club, head technician of X Middle School, and captain of X's motocross team: Jun Faolan!" Applause and cheers started up as a figure walked out from the wings. A tall girl strode towards Principal Folsom, and the applause reached a deafening level. She wore dark blue jeans over steel-toe boots, and a denim jacket over a black t-shirt. Her hair, oddly jagged, was black and fell around a pair of mirrored sunglasses. Folsom backed away from the podium, clapping her hands along with everyone. The girl, Jun, took her place and looked at the gathered students with a smile. "'Lo again," she said once the roar of the crowd had ceased. "Of course, it's a pleasure to be back here at X. I was never good with words 'fore I had to leave, and 'm not any better now. If you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to what I do best to make this school e'en better." Without another word, she nodded her head to the crowd with her easy smile and backed away from the podium. Applause rang out again as Folsom stepped forwards, clapping genially. "Welcome back to X, Jun!" the principal said. "Welcome back!" Cheers accompanied Jun all the way off the stage. ---------- "X hasn't changed a' all," Jun remarked with a smirk. "Though I don't remember getting a Safety Patrol escort to the garage." "You remember Jace Renault?" Fillmore questioned. When Jun nodded, he continued to speak. "He was taking a hammer to your work, your tools-everything that had to do with you in that garage. Folsom doesn't want anything else happening." "I forgot my father sponsors the school for the garage," Jun chuckled. The trio reached a door that read "Metal Garage" in the window. Jun pulled a key from her pocket and unlocked the door. Once inside, with lights on and humming, Ingrid and Fillmore took in the massive garage in silence. It was a large, white space filled with tool chests, canisters of acetylene, and numerous machines to work metal and engines. Jun heaved a small sigh, smirking broadly at the garage. "It's been a while since I've been in a garage," she said softly. "I'd almost forgotten what it's like. There doesn't seem to be anything out of place, so you officers can head back to your headquarters. 'Sides, I think I have some of your handiwork to fix up." Fillmore and Ingrid shared a slightly embarrassed glance before turning towards the door to leave. Heavy, running footsteps rang out in the empty hall and the two patrollers paused. A boy with dark blue hair, not unlike officer Anza, ran down the hall, closely followed by a girl with the same dark blue hair. "Jace, stop!" the girl shouted, trying to catch up to the boy. Ignoring both her and the stunned officers, the boy raced into the metal garage. "Eyes!" Jun suddenly shouted. There was a sudden hissing and a sharp snap of sound from welding. The boy shouted angrily in pain and fell to the floor. Ingrid, Fillmore, and the girl hurried into the garage. The boy was kneeling on the floor, rubbing at his eyes and groaning incoherently. Jun turned from a cart engine and put down the welding gun and wire, flipping her welder's mask up. "I guess you've been thrown out of the Mech Club for too long," she said disapprovingly. She crouched down and frowned at the boy. A massive scar covered both of her black eyes, spilling over slightly to the sides of her nose. Her sunglasses had hid the scar perfectly up until then. "You forgot that we shout 'eyes' for a reason, Renault," she murmured. "Why're you here?" "I demand to be let back into the Mech Club!" the boy shouted, rubbing at his pained eyes. "I was thrown out without reason!" "You were trying to sabotage everything she was working on, Jace!" the girl interrupted. "You were thrown out for a perfect reason!" "Shut your mouth, Nadia!" Renault shouted in return. "Let me back in, Faolan! You're just scared that I'll show you up like I always do! Let me back in or you're a coward!" Jun sighed and flipped down the mask. "Eyes!" she said. While those gathered covered their eyes, she continued to weld a tube to the cart. When it was safe, Renault uncovered his eyes and glared at Jun. "Tell you what, Renault. I have a lot of work to do right now. Meet me after school at the motocross track for a time trial. You get a better time than me, then you can be in the club again. You don't get a better time, then you stay away from the club from now on." "Fine!" Renault snapped with a grin. "I'll see you at the track right after school!" He turned and walked swiftly from the garage. Ingrid and Fillmore shared a look before turning their eyes to Jun. She looked at them in turn, flipping the welder's mask up. To their surprise, she was smiling. "Thanks for the escort, officers," she chuckled. "If you're desperate to keep watch on me, just head to the track after school. I'm going to be busy for the day, all right? Don't worry about all this." Fillmore raised a brow at her words. "You realize that Folsom herself made the call that Renault's supposed to stay out of the club?" he asked. "She does not want him in here at all." "I know," Jun replied, pulling off her mask and picking up a rubber mallet. She tapped at the dented door of the cart before striking it sharply. The strike echoed in the garage briefly. "Then you know that if you lose to him, he still can't come back?" Ingrid inquired. "Jun won't lose to him!" the blue-haired girl protested. "She's the best racer in the school! She always has been!" "Who are you?" Fillmore asked firmly, but without demanding. "Nadia Renault," she answered. "Before you ask, yes, Jace is my twin brother." "She's been in the club every year that she could be," Jun spoke up suddenly before hitting the door again. "She works part-time at my father's shop with me, is vice president of the Mech Club, and is a rider on the motocross team." "Nice to see you didn't get your brother's serious attitude," Fillmore chortled with a smile. "Still, what are you doing here?" "Principal Folsom said that she wanted me to work with Jun full-time for her first week back," Nadia replied, a faint hint of pride and pleasure in her voice. "My brother asked me where I was going when I didn't go straight for first period with him. I guess I shouldn't have said I was coming here. Sorry." She blushed faintly in embarrassment. Jun looked up at her, putt down the mallet, and patted the other girl on the head. "No prob'm," she muttered. "Listen, officers, 'm not trying to be rude, but my work is pretty full, so I need to get on before the end of school. D'you mind...leavin' now?" Fillmore studied Jun for a few minutes more and nodded, turning on heel and leaving with Ingrid at his side. "What do you think?" Ingrid asked as they walked in the empty hallways. "I think we need to keep a close eye on Renault," Fillmore replied. "Which one?" she questioned. "Maybe both," he answered with a frown. "Somethin' about Nadia rubs me the wrong way. Like she's keeping a secret or something." "So we're going to the motocross track?" "Man, even if she wasn't going up against Renault for somethin', you wouldn't wanna miss her riding. It's so wicked it's scary." Ingrid raised a brow. ---------- "Looks like the motocross team is getting some old fans back." Ingrid remarked with a smirk. Somehow, the entirety of the school had heard about Jun's challenge to Jace Renault. The stands around the dirt track were filled, and the sports announcers had begun to unofficially report on the event. "Well, it looks like we're all in for a big treat today!" a boy's voice boomed from the speakers. "It's been an entire year since we've had such a turnout for a motocross event, isn't that right, Lisa?" "That's right, Tom!" a girl replied perkily. "As we all know, Jun Faolan, our resident motocross star, was hospitalized until this summer and just started again here at X today." "Yes indeed," Tom chuckled. "And what a return it has been! She has challenged an ex-member of the Mech Club, Jace Renault, to a time trial to see whether or not Renault will become a member once more!" "Quite a turnout," Fillmore murmured. "You still think this is a good idea?" He and Ingrid stood near Jun, who was making a few last minute checks on the motocross bike's engine. "I think it's a bloody brilliant idea!" Jun laughed aloud, grinning madly. "The only two things I'm good at are mechanics and racing, so this is perfect for me!" "You've been out of commission for months," Ingrid murmured, her expression concerned. "Renault's probably been training to try and show you up." "Of course he's been training," Jun said, still laughing. "Nadia tol' me all about it! Came every day to my hospital room and always tol' me that he was riding around all the time on his junker of a bike." Fillmore and Ingrid shared a look, but Jun took no notice. Nadia, who was at Jun's side and working on the bike as well, noticed it and knelt down to hide her face by looking over the bolts. "You want to go first to show how crappy you've gotten?" Jace Renault said with a sneer as he pushed his bike to stand close to Jun. He, like Jun, was in a bodysuit, chest pad, leg guards, arm guards, and a helmet under his arm. "Or do you want me to go and show everyone how much better I am than you?" "Leave her alone, Jace!" Nadia snapped, standing and facing her brother. "She'll beat you!" Renault frowned at her, but didn't say anything. "You can go first if you want," Jun said. "'M not picky." Renault looked furious at Jun's lack of anxiety about facing him, but jerked his head. The two boys that had followed him continued to dog his steps as he walked to the starting point on the track. "And it looks like Renault is going to take his run first!" Tom said in his disturbingly perky voice. "Rider, on your mark!" Jace waved the two other boys away and started the bike's engine, pulling on his helmet. He revved it fiercely and shot Jun a glare before snapping his goggles on over his eyes. "Get set!" Lisa continued the phrase. He leaned on the bike with one foot on the ground, his wheel millimeters away from the painted white line. The announcers' fingers were the same distance from the timer's start button. Red digital numbers glared "00:00" on the announcers' box. The crowd waited in antsy silence. "GO!" Renault shot from the starting line like a bullet, accompanied by screams from the crowd. The track was a massive dirt field with sharp turns and large moguls. There was also one utterly gigantic jump that few people dared to take at high speeds. There had been a few accidents resulting from too-high jumps; thusly, people were rarely brave enough to jump the gap between the dirt mounds and often passed around it on the narrow strip of dirt that was there. Renault-this was one of the few, somewhat clichéd ways to put it-flew. He made loose dirt spray from his back wheel. The jumps he took were exceptional and he only wobbled three times in the seven jumps. He zoomed down the second to last straightaway, but did not try his luck with the last jump. He turned sharply and crossed the finish line. "Time!" Lisa shouted when Renault crossed the line. "Incredible! One minute and fifteen seconds! That's just five seconds above the current track record-held of course, by Jun Faolan!" "Right you are, Lisa!" Tom laughed in reply. "Now it's Jun's turn! In order for her to win this challenge, she'll probably have to equal or better her old record! Rider to the starting line!" "How do you like that?" Renault asked with a sneering grin. "There's no way you can beat that time after a whole year without doing anything!" Jun smiled at him. "I admit 'm a tad out of trainin'," she chuckled. "Nice run." Renault sneered again, his expression showing the hatred he felt for the girl. He walked away; pushing his bike as he went to the two boys he seemed to be friends with. Jun watched him go for a moment before starting to pull on her helmet. Nadia took Jun's wrist quickly as she pulled a small, wrapped box from her jeans pocket. "I got you this for when you started racing again," she said, her cheeks reddening in a blush. "Open it." Jun did as she was bid and opened the box to find large, perfectly round clear glass goggles. The goggles were split into two circles-one for each eye-and the glass was surrounded by dark gray plastic and all connected by a black elastic strap. "Nadia," Jun murmured, speechless at the gesture. "Thank you." She pulled the goggles on and smiled broadly at Nadia. She pulled her helmet on, jumped on her bike, and eased it to the starting line. "Rider on your mark!" Lisa cried. The timer was reset and Jun started her bike. The crowd went silent again. Fillmore and Ingrid glanced at Renault and the boys at his sides, but they made no move. "Get set!" Tom shouted. Jun was balancing on one foot-barely one toe as she leaned close to the bike and gripped the handles, carefully revving the engine to get it warmed up after a full year. "GO!" Jun's start was phenomenal. Her speed and reflexive jerk on the accelerator on the right-hand handle caused the bike to briefly lift into a low, fast wheelie. Dirt flew higher and farther than it had under Renault's wheels. She took corners closer to the inside, leaning sharply with each turn and blasting through each of them. Not only did Jun feel confident enough to take the moguls at top speed, but also when she was in the air, she dared to pull stunts. She lifted her hands from the handles and punched the air; she let go and leaned completely back on the seat. Jun came to the second to last straightaway and gunned the engine. She shot up the jump and flew into the air. Her hands remained on the handles, but her body lifted from the bike and rose to hover parallel over the bike. Cameras flashed in the stands. Jun landed cleanly, leaned sharply in the last turn, and soared over the finish line. The crowd swelled and roared its approval and awe at the run. "It's a NEW record!" Lisa squealed. "One minute exactly! Jun has broken her own record!" "Incredible!" Tom shouted in a commending voice. "Absolutely incredible! An unbelievable run by X's own Jun Faolan!" The crowd screamed, applauded, and did everything else they could to show their pleasure at Jun's performance. "No way!" Fillmore and Ingrid turned on instinct, stepping forward as Renault stormed over to stand before Jun. He was purely livid. Nadia stood defiantly at Jun's side, glaring at her brother. Jun slowly pulled off her helmet and lifted the goggles to rest comfortably in her shaggy hair. "There is no way that you could get better after being injured for so long!" Renault shrieked in rage. "Forget it! I don't want to be a member of the Mech Club!" "You don't?" Jun asked, her eyes lidded as if she was sleepy. "I thought you did." "Now I challenge you to a mech build-off!" Renault shouted, throwing his helmet at Jun's feet. "In two months, we'll unveil something we build in two-person teams to the whole school! Whoever wins the competition takes the positions as Mech Club president, captain of the motocross team, and head technician of X! Back down from this and you're nothing but a coward!" Jun blinked once and nodded. Renault frowned at her, turned on heel, and stormed away. "Dawg," Fillmore rumbled, crossing his arms and shaking his head. "That dude is bad news. You really gonna do this, Jun?" He and Ingrid turned when Jun did not answer. "Jun?" Jun was bone-white and shaking on the bike. She let out a shaking breath and slumped to the right. She and the bike both fell, and Jun did not move. "Jun!"
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