“We can’t afford to come in anything but first and second,” ECHO said, and A11_4_ON3 knew she was addressing him specifically. “We both have to get in front of that blue pod.”
Great, he thought, I’m not part of your plan, but I still have to clean up your mistakes. Nevertheless, he pushed on the throttle and said, “I’ll get in front of him.”
He pushed his pod to the maximum speed though he noticed immediately that he was taking turns way too fast. He was coming close to the edge on a lot of them, but the extra speed was working—he was gaining on the blue racer.
They were almost at the top of the volcano. A11_4_ON3 was right on the blue pod’s tail, but the track had narrowed—it was barely wide enough for two pods to drive next to each other—and the racer kept blocking any chance to pass.
A11_4_ON3 realized that passing the blue racer may not be the best option. He could easily get bumped off the track himself if the driver decided to bump him from behind. Instead of trying to pass, he got as close as he could, nearly touching the other pod. Just as the track made a sharp right, he fired the pusher. It worked exactly as he had hoped. The blue racer jolted forward from the push and didn’t correct the pod’s position in time. Instead of making the right turn, the pod flew off the track, down into the lava at the bottom.
“Nice move!” ECHO said, but A11_4_ON3 just smirked to himself.
It wasn’t long until he saw the end. The track curved into a spiral that led to the top of the volcano. There he saw a glowing white line. He pushed his pod to maximum speed once again and flew across the line. ECHO finished right behind him. Their pods halted, and a list of the finishing positions appeared on the dashboard.
He and ECHO came in first and second place. The green team won overall, though, and the blue team came in second. The yellow team came in last, so they were eliminated—the red team was safe.