"Miss Renault! Miss Renault! You've just been caught red-handed sabotaging your partner and best friend Jun Faolan! What do you have to say in your defense?" "Get out of the way! Move aside! This is official Safety Patrol business-you're all in the way! Move!" The cloud of reporters let out a moan when the door closed. They turned as one. "Hey-it's Jun! Jun! Miss Jun Faolan! We're from the Examiner! Word has it that you were the one who caught Nadia Renault as she was stealing parts of your project! How does it feel to be betrayed by your best friend?" Jun didn't answer. She pushed her way through the reporters and walked into the headquarters of the Safety Patrol. "Jun?" Fillmore asked in surprise. Jun did not look at him. She did not look at Nadia, even though Nadia was staring at her. "Have you done everything you need with this?" Jun asked no one in particular. She was looking at the box of parts that Ingrid had taken from Nadia earlier that morning. "Pretty much," Ingrid replied. "Good," Jun muttered. She picked the box up, turned about, and headed for the door. "Jun, wait!" Nadia shouted desperately. "Please, wait! I'm sorry! I didn't want to do this! I'm sorry! Jun!" Jun did not stop walking, and she did not turn to look at Nadia. Nadia let out a soft sob and walked with Fillmore into the interrogation room. ---------- "Here. You like cocoa? Looks like you could use a pick-me-up." "Thank you. Do you usually give criminals like me hot cocoa when you interrogate them?" "OK, Nadia, tell me what's going on. Most people don't apologize if they try to sabotage someone else. Why'd you say that you didn't want to do this?" "Listen, officer, I just...I can't explain. Please, just tell me what punishment Folsom's going to give me." "She says that she's going to wait to give you your punishment. We only have proof that you tried to steal the pieces this morning. We don't know who damaged the bike two days ago." "You know that it's me. Everyone knows that it's me. I'm not going to be able to show my face anymore. Jun hates me." "Nadia, is there something you're not telling us? Why did you do this? Aren't you Jun's best friend?" Nadia did not answer. She kept her eyes to the cup of cocoa in her hands. Fillmore sighed and left the room. He went to the next room and stood at the two-way mirror with Vallejo and Ingrid. "Why isn't she talking?" Vallejo grumbled. "You can tell she's hiding something." "Maybe there's a reason she can't say anything," Ingrid sighed. "You think someone's blackmailing her to do this and keep her mouth shut?" the junior commissioner asked, only slightly shocked. "Who? Wait, her brother?" "He's definitely got a grudge," Fillmore said in assent. "Maybe since he lives with Nadia he knows something she doesn't want anyone else to know." The three stood in silence, watching as Nadia sat very still with her head low. Ingrid studied the girl on the other side of the glass for a few minutes before turning to her comrades. "Listen, let me talk to her," she murmured. "I'll take her to the holding room. Maybe she'll talk if there's just one person she can see and talk to. No one behind a mirror, you know?" Vallejo considered this and nodded. "You do know that once she steps out of this office, she's going to be tailed by everyone from the newspaper to the people that are going to hate her for trying to sabotage Jun," he said in a somewhat reminding tone. "X isn't going to be safe for Nadia Renault unless you figure out what's going on, Third." "No pressure then," Fillmore chuckled. Ingrid shook her head as she left the room and walked into the interrogation room. "Nadia, come with me for a minute," she said. "You can bring that if you want." Nadia did not take the cocoa with her, instead shoving her hands in her jeans pockets and staring miserably at the ground near Ingrid's feet. She followed Ingrid blindly and listlessly, sinking onto one of the benches in the holding room. Ingrid closed both halves of the door, locking them and sitting on the bench opposite Nadia. "Do you have any idea what's going to happen to you if Jun loses the build-off because you tried to sabotage her?" the black-haired girl asked gently. "What'll happen if you don't tell me why you said what you did to Jun?" "I'll probably be suspended or expelled," Nadia answered in a depressed voice. "If I'm not expelled, people will hate me. I tried to ruin Jun. I didn't want to, but I did! Why doesn't he do anything himself? Why is it always me? I don't want to hurt Jun!" "Who's he?" Ingrid questioned. "I can't tell you!" Nadia moaned desperately, clutching her head. "If I do, he'll tell everyone! I can't say anything or he'll tell everyone everything!" "Nadia, I'm not going to tell anyone else what you're telling me right now," Ingrid reassured the other girl. "I swear on my badge and sash. Just tell me who's blackmailing you, and what he has on you." "It's Jace," Nadia groaned, tears beginning to run from her eyes. "He's the one. He knows." "Knows what? Nadia, it's all right. Just tell me. I can help you. The Safety Patrol can help you. What does Jace know that he can blackmail you to ruin your best friend?" There was a pregnant silence. "I like Jun." Ingrid blinked once. "I was talking to my mom one night two months ago because I had no idea what to do. I didn't know if I should tell Jun because I'm so scared that I'm...gay. Jace overheard me. He told me that if I didn't ruin Jun's chances of winning the build-off, he'd send a letter to the Examiner that says I'm in love with Jun. Jun's got things going for her. I don't want to screw up her life just because I like her so much!" Ingrid crouched down in front of Nadia and put her hands on the other girl's shoulders. "The only thing that could hurt Jun is if you didn't tell her-if you didn't tell everyone the truth. She thinks her best friend betrayed her but she doesn't know why. I don't think she'll do anything to really hurt you if you tell her that you like her. Sure, it'll hurt if she...what's the term I'm looking for?" "If she doesn't swing that way?" "Right. See, there's some humor in this. But if you don't say something, then Jace is just going to hang this over you until he cheats his way into power. Were you planning on keeping this a secret forever or did you ever think of just telling Jun?" "Even if I tell her, that doesn't mean anything now. Jace will just deny that he blackmailed me. I don't have any proof." "Proof? Hmm...I have an idea." ---------- Fillmore leaned against the door of the garage. Jun sat on the floor, her back against the hydraulic lift and her eyes on the grounds. Earphones sat in her ears as she sat still, not moving and more importantly, not working. It had been at least an hour since Ingrid had taken Nadia to sspeak away from prying ears. After hauling O'Farrell away from loitering near the doors, Fillmore had gone down to the metal garage to make sure Jace Renault didn't take advantage of his sister's incarceration. He arrived to an unlocked door. Jun had been sitting on the floor since he arrived, listening to music and nothing else. The box of pieces that she had retrieved from Safety Patrol headquarters sat on a table, apparently forgotten. Fillmore was about to walk over and pull the earphones from Jun's ears and demand to know why she was sitting there when someone knocked at the door. "It's me," Ingrid called through the door. Fillmore opened the door to let his partner in, pausing when Nadia walked in first, pushing a cart of pieces of the bike. Ingrid gave Fillmore a conspiratorial wink as she closed the door for him. Without introduction, Nadia lifted the gas tank of the bike into her hands, crouched down in front of Jun, and held said item under said girl's nose. Jun jerked back slightly, her eyes widening. The gas tank, as well as all of the pieces that Nadia had been painting, featured one thing in particular. A black wolf was taking a running bound across the length of the bike, red flames rising up behind the wolf as it ran over the snowy ground. Each piece continued the fluid picture of the wolf, the flames, and the snow. The wolf translated cleanly onto either side of the bike and even to the top of the tank. It was if someone had taken multiple pictures of the wolf in its pose at every angle and placed it over the bike. Jun's eyes, however, were focused on something on the wolf itself. White paint on the top of the gas tank curved in elegant Japanese kanji calligraphy. Her eyes traced the two vertical lines of characters. She pulled the earphones from her ears, took the tank from Nadia and put it aside, and pulled the other girl close. Ingrid beckoned Fillmore to follow her out of the garage. "What was that about?" Fillmore asked. Ingrid smiled slightly. "You were right about a Renault having a crush on Jun," she answered. "That's how Jace blackmailed Nadia into sabotaging the build-off. Now that Nadia told Jun on her own, all we need is proof that Jace blackmailed her." Fillmore grinned at her. "So where does Renault work?" he asked. "In a garage at his father's tune-up shop." "And what are Jun and Nadia going to do?" "They're going to move to Jun's father's shop." "Right. Let's go see if we can get an estimate down at Renault's shop." ---------- By the time the final bell toned, Nadia and Jun had left for Jun's father's shop with all of the parts of the bike. Fillmore and Ingrid had their own agenda. Undercover, the two traveled into town to find the tune-up shop. "So what do we have to work with?" Fillmore questioned. Ingrid held up a small video camera. "It'll record the sights and sounds in the garage for an hour after you plant it," she said. "I'll distract Renault's dad. You just have to plant the camera without Renault or his partner knowing that you planted it or that it's there." "Disco," Fillmore chuckled, taking the camera from Ingrid. "So after an hour we'll come back, get the camera, and see if Renault says anything about blackmailing Nadia." "Knowing Renault, he'll probably be talking about it nonstop," Ingrid sighed. "Ready?" "Oh yeah." ---------- "Hey, my dad sent me to ask you about something. How much body damage can you fix?" Fillmore smirked slightly and slipped towards a display of brake pads. He could see a door just beyond the display with the word "GARAGE" emblazoned on the wood surface. Adjusting his dark glasses, Fillmore carefully tested the knob. The door was unlocked, much to his pleasure. He opened the door as little as he could and slipped inside. The door led immediately to the garage, but opened upon a small staircase. Fillmore glanced to his right and knelt down. A table laden with tools rose to meet the second stair. Fillmore almost grinned. He walked down the stairs and stood in font of the table. Under the pretense of picking up a heavier hammer with both of his hands, Fillmore placed the camera on the part of the table that extended under the stairs and continued along the wall. The table under the stairs was covered in dust and obviously never even considered when someone was looking for a certain tool. The camera was black, and electrical tape covered the recording-alert light. The gaps between the stairs were a perfect view of Renault and almost the entire garage. It would be impossible for Renault to find the camera unless he knew where and what to look for. "What're you doing in here?" Fillmore hastily turned the camera on and pressed the record button before grabbing the hammer and turning around. "Oh, sorry mon ami," Fillmore said in a falsetto French accent. "I was looking for ze exit, but when I saw all of zes incredible working implements, I just could not help myself!" "Get out of here!" Jace Renault snarled. "Get lost before I pound you into the dirt!" Fillmore put down the hammer and held up his hands in a peaceful gesture. "I'm so sorry!" Fillmore said in an apologetic tone, all the while chuckling in his mind. "I'll be going-sorry to have bothered you!" He quickly walked back up the stairs and back into the main store. He walked from the shop and went around the corner. Five minutes later, Ingrid came around the corner with a questioning glance on her face. "Disco," Fillmore said with a smirk and a thumbs-up. ---------- It was a sign how much Principal Folsom cared about the outcome of the build-off that she declared that the judging would occur in place of classes on a short Friday before the winter break and in the Ultra-Box convention center. Renault had arrived at the convention center shortly after the center had opened. He and his partner pushed their sport bike motorcycle onto the main stage, Renault's father having delivered the bike with his truck. The bike was impressive. Its body color was a candy apple red with solid flames of metallic gold. To those that knew motorcycles, its style seemed to follow Jesse James' El Diablo patterns. Renault stood beside his bike with hubris plain throughout his entire body. The fact that Jun had not appeared when he had made him feel that he was sure to win. "She's scared," he laughed to reporters from the Examiner. "She won't show up. My sister backstabbed her-she wasn't able to finish her build on her own." About thirty minutes after Renault arrived, someone walked to Fillmore and Ingrid. "Everything's ready, Nadia," Fillmore assured the girl. "The tape we have is ready to go," Ingrid continued to answer. "And the CD is waiting for our signal. Is Jun ready?" "Perfectly," Nadia answered. "But don't say my name so loudly. Everyone still thinks I tried to sabotage Jun on purpose." "After this, everything will be back to normal," Fillmore murmured. "As normal as everything can be here," Nadia sighed. "All right, it's time. Give whoever's manning the CD player the signal." Ingrid pulled her talkie from her sash. "Start it, Tehama." The speakers clicked on. Everyone looked up expectantly at the speakers in the ceiling and walls. Music began to play. A guitar riff started, and a solo commenced shortly after. "Tooku de me o hikarasete mezameru monotachi matte iru..." The beat was fast-no one seemed to care that they couldn't understand the words. Ingrid smirked at Fillmore's somewhat confused gaze. "Jun's mother was Japanese," she explained. "Jun's bilingual, and Nadia says this is her favorite song." "So the writing on the gas tank?" Fillmore questioned. "Kanji," Ingrid answered. "The last line of lyrics from this song. It was her way of telling Jun how she feels." "I think it worked," Fillmore murmured. A dull rumbling sound pierced the song. "And I think Jun feels the same way." The two Safety Patrollers near the double doors opened them. Jun rode in astride the completed sport bike, rolling up onto the stage and facing Renault head on. She turned off the bike, pulled off her helmet, pushed up her goggles, and grinned at Renault. The gathered crowd began to cheer at Jun's arrival. Principal Folsom and Vice Principal Raycliff stepped forwards on the stage with a microphone in Folsom's hands. "Now that our resident title holder is here, let the judging begin," Folsom said. Three students-Terra Octavia, Robert Chestnut, and (of all people) Danny O'Farrell-stepped out from the wings with clipboards in hands. They went first to Renault's bike. Jun followed them. "So what kind of motorcycle is this?" Terra asked. "The engine is a 919cc liquid-cooled inline four-cylinder," Renault said in return. "Six-speed transmission with a 10.8 to one compression ratio." In tandem, Robert, O'Farrell, and Terra raised their brows in utter confusion. "Wha' it means," Jun interjected, "is tha' it's got about a hundred horsepower. Simple enough?" Saying their thanks for the comment, the judges began to circle the bike. They examined the paint job in a rather scrutinizing fashion. At Robert's request, Renault started the bike. The engine purred in neutral. After five minutes, the judges marked on their clipboards and went towards Jun's bike. "A 998cc liquid-cooled inline four-cylinder," Jun said, almost echoing Renault. "Cassette-type close-ratio six-speed transmission with an 11.9 to one compression ratio. It has about a hundred and fifty horsepower." With no introduction, she started the bike. It purred as well as the judges walked about and examined the paint job. "This is exquisite artwork," Robert Chestnut said appraisingly. "And what are these white characters on the wolf's back?" Terra Octavia asked. "They look...Chinese or Japanese." "Japanese," Jun replied. "Kanji. The characters mean 'Hold me gently, always catch me, more and more, in order to break my heart.'" O'Farrell gave a great sniff, rubbing at his eyes. "That's so moving," he said in a whisper, clutching his clipboard to his chest. "It's so beautiful!" He scribbled furiously on his board, scurried over to Principal Folsom, handed in his judgment, and hurried back to gawk at the bike again. Terra and Robert made their final judgment as well and turned them into Folsom. "Our judges have reached a decision," Folsom said, her chronic smile still in place. "For the positions of Mech Club president-" Fillmore, Ingrid, and Nadia started towards the stage, walking as quickly as they could. "-Captain of the motocross team-" They stepped onto the stage, but did not rush forwards. "-And head technician of X Middle School, the winner of this build-off is...Jun Faolan!" The convention center erupted into cheers and applause. Jun bowed at the applause, one arm crossing her chest and the other sweeping out to the side as she bent low at the waist. Unable to hold back, Nadia rushed forwards and wrapped her arms around Jun in a tight hug. "NO!" The screaming shout broke through the applause and cheers. Everyone looked to Renault. He was ashen-faced, his teeth bared and his eyebrows tightened to a glare. "How could you have won?" he demanded, still screaming in sheer rage. "You weren't supposed to win! You shouldn't even have been able to finish your build! Nadia sabotaged you! She was kicked off of your team! How could you have finished the build without her?" "Because Nadia was still working with her," Fillmore said, stepping forwards to stand behind Renault, Ingrid at his side. "She didn't sabotage Jun." "Not willingly anyway," Ingrid continued the confrontation. "You blackmailed her into trying to sabotage Jun." "You have no proof of that!" he snarled. "Oh, we do," Fillmore replied fiercely. He lifted his talkie to his mouth. "Play the tape, Anza." The large screen behind the stage was suddenly lit with picture and the speakers echoed Renault's voice. He and his partner were shown welding pieces of the bike together. "So you're sure that Jun's going to lose?" Renault's partner questioned. Renault grinned onscreen. "Of course I'm sure," he said. "If Nadia doesn't want me to send a letter to the Examiner with her little secret, then she'll do whatever I tell her to-even sabotage Jun Faolan. And since she's too scared to ever tell anyone, she'll be my little scapegoat and ruin Jun's life!" The tape ended with Renault chuckling cruelly. Renault was staring at Nadia, his eyes burning with anger. "That's it, Nadia!" he shrieked. "I told you to keep your mouth shut and do what I said, but you couldn't keep quiet!" He turned to face the crowd and pointed at his sister. "She's-" "She's my girlfriend," Jun said before Renault could blurt it out. Her arm was around Nadia's shoulders, her eyes glaring at Renault. "I'm not sorry if you 'ave a problem with that, so deal with it, Renault." Renault's bike suddenly let out a groan. Even he turned back to look at it. "You didn't charge the cooling system," Jun said, her eyes wide as she stared at the bike. "So what?" Renault howled. At that moment, the bike seemed to explode. A metal rod burst through the gas tank and flew straight up through the ceiling. Fillmore ran to the bike immediately and turned it off. Gas dripped onto the stage from the hole in the bottom of the tank, but nothing caught fire. "You threw a rod, you git!" Jun snapped, her arms around Nadia protectively. "If someone had been near there, they could 'ave been killed!" By this time, however, Renault had given up. He was on his knees, broken. He had lost his trump card, his pride, and his bike in one fell swoop. He let Anza and Tehama escort him away. ---------- "So what happened to Renault after all of this?" Ingrid asked. The winter break had ended, and things were beginning to return to normal. "Folsom expelled him," Fillmore answered. "His parents are sending him to military school." "And Nadia?" Ingrid inquired. Fillmore smirked. "She and Jun are back heading the Mech Club and beating all the other schools at motocross," he said. "And you know what? After that shout-out in the convention center, I really thought some people were going to drop out of those clubs." "But they've gotten even more members," Ingrid chuckled. "It's really about how cool people think you are here at X." Fillmore nodded, his smirk still in place. The talkie on his belt let out two short static bursts. "Fillmore," he responded. "Fillmore, we've got a ketchup and mustard-thief on the run heading for the auditorium!" Anza's voice said. "You and Ingrid try to head him off!" Fillmore looked at his partner, who was already on her way towards the door. "We're on it!"
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