Relay Ruckus - Part 2.5

“Does everyxyn here know how a relay race works? I’ll explain - it’s simple! ♪”

While the announcer repeated the explanation they’d given Rosalia just an hour ago, the moxyn scoped out the competition. Sure, she’d signed up for this event herself, and had been theorising on potential match-ups (as well as racing strategies), but the resulting match-ups were a complete surprise to her. They had apparently been decided on the day of the tournament, to “encourage fairness and provide an exciting show for the audience”. Maybe that was why she’d been separated from her usual teammate, Lance. And why she’d been pitted against the classmate she could barely stand. That being Daphne, who, seemingly sensing Rosalia’s disappointment, turned to look down at her with a sweet smile.

“Is everything alright, Little Miss Perfect?”
Rosalia gave a polite smile, enough to look good in any photos the crowd took.
“Sure, Your Majesty.”
…which made Daphne throw her head back and laugh. Ugh. I’ll definitely get her back for this…

Putting that aside for now, Rosalia re-focused on the other racers. First up was Lance, their nice fellow knight-in-training, and a black moxyn they’d never actually seen before. This “Crowe” seemed pretty friendly and outgoing; maybe the match-up was chosen for the clear contrast between its opponents? She could hear snatches of their conversation, but not what was being said. All Rosalia knew for sure was that Crowe was running laps around Lance in terms of chattiness, while the vexyn could only respond with one-word responses - if they were given enough time to do so at all. Poor Lance. But then again, nothing really bothered them. Probably.

Taking over for the second leg were the two “superstars” the announcer had introduced. The clear favourites of this tournament, at least in Rosalia’s point of view. They were both doing warm-up stretches. The stockier one, “Kira”, was quietly focused on his own routine, alternating between stretching his paws and wings, as well as lightly striking the ground every so often to test his traction. Meanwhile, the one named “Lir”... Wait, was he actually stretching, or posing for his fans? Rosalia really couldn’t tell. Maybe that was simply how a pro flier warmed up.  Actually, she didn’t need to bother dwelling on it.

Finally, there was Daphne… and Rosalia herself. She’d been stretching and training for the race earlier, in between events, but it seemed foolish to skip out on another warm-up and risk losing against her, of all people. Daphne, however… wasn’t doing any stretches. Or rather, she’d splayed her paws out in front of her, and was checking out her claws instead of anything useful.

“I’ve been preparing for this relay race all morning,” Daphne interrupted. “Can’t I have a little bit of fun?”
“No.”
“Awww, that’s too bad.”

“Everyxyn, on your marks!”

It was already time? Rosalia stood up. Daphne, Kira, Lir, Crowe and Lance followed suit.

“Get set…”

Lance and Crowe prepared their running stances. The crowd held their breath. Astral sparkles gathered in the air, clustered together… and flared with a bang!

“And we’re off! LANCE! Versus! CROWE!” The crowd murmured loudly, the grandstands a blurry, shimmering sea of smiling xyns.

“What’s this?! Despite their difference in size and strength, the two of them are charging forward at an even pace! Neither of them are giving any ground!”

This would change soon. After building up enough momentum, Lance dug into the ground with their front paws, and launched into the sky.

“There it is! A strong and sudden takeoff from Team Diva’s Lance!”

Crowe, still charging along the ground, grinned at the cool sight. And cheerfully yelled, “Hey! I can do that, too!”

“With a hop and a skip, Team Aces’ Crowe is now hot on their tail!”

Now airborne, the two had a clear distance between them. Lance held the lead, with Crowe soaring a short distance behind them.

“Slowly but surely, it looks like Crowe is catching up! What’ll you do, Lance?!”

The vexyn made no change in their serious expression, only continuing to fly. Just until the bend up ahead…

“Oh?! With a gorgeous display of skill, Lance does a sharp turn! Just look at those powerful wings! …Wait, where’s Crowe?”

With the change in direction, Lance had obscured the moxyn from view. The audience scrambled to the railings to catch a glimpse of the disappeared xyn.

…who emerged from Lance’s shadow!

“THERE HE IS! Size isn’t everything, but when you’re a tiny moxyn, a good slipstream is all you need!”

The moment he passed Lance, Crowe turned ever so slightly to grin back at them… Then activated his wind magic, blasting off towards the next set of participants.

“What a play! But Lance won’t be beat! They’re closing the distance with a dive-bomb!”

Lir and Kira smiled up at Lance and Crowe, as a set of black paws touched down upon the ground…

“THERE! Congratulations on winning the first race…”
The crowd erupted in cheers.
“TEAAAM ACES!”

Crowe stumbled a bit as he landed, but quickly regained his balance and skipped along the track with a silly grin. Then he blinked, realising that the audience was calling his name.
“Oh my goodness, I won?! WOW! I WON!”

“Nice one!” Kira called, as Lir gave a low whistle. Then the two exchanged grins, and summoned their halos.
Lance nodded over at Crowe. “Congratulations,” they rumbled, quickening their pace.

Crowe cheerfully padded over to to his teammate, Kira. The two high-pawed, then Kira nodded, and sprinted off with the force of a torpedo. Crowe even almost lost his footing!

“Kira’s wasting no time at all!! He’s clearing two, no three - FOUR steps at a time!”

Arriving at Lir, Lance held their paw up for him to tag - but received no response. The moxyn… was still in the middle of his wing stretches, it seemed. Lance tilted their head. Surely their teammate had a plan…? Sensing their confusion, Lir shook his head with a smile.

Ohhh, you haven’t seen anything yet.

“It looks like Lir is giving himself a handicap! He seems awfully confident today!”

The moxyn rolled his shoulders, huffed the hair from his eyes, and assumed a running stance. In one smooth motion, he unfurled his wings, stretched them out in full, and…

KA-BLAM!!

A roar erupted across the stadium.

“Lir takes flight, breaking the sound barrier! What power! What finesse! Wh-- Wait a minute! Look out, you two!”

Lance unfurled and folded their wings in front of them, bracing for impact. Lir’s shockwave neatly passed around Lance, reaching…

“BWAAAAAAAAA?!”
“Crowe-!”

“Crowe’s been swept off his feet! …Literally!”

The tiny moxyn flailed about, desperate for something - anything! to grab onto.

“Oh? Team Divas’ Lance is offering a helping hand…! A wing, to be precise!”
Crowe reached out his paws, fighting the current with all of his might.

"Thanks--!"

Then Crowe slipped. Lance looked on in vague disbelief.

“Oh, dear! Crowe's just realised he's missing something important! He hasn't got thumbs, much less toes! And so… Away he goes!”

“AAAAAAAAA!!!” Crowe cried as he hurtled through the air.
“C-can someone go check on him?!” the announcer yelled in their usual, upbeat voice.

Meanwhile, Lir lifted off, surging into the sky like a tornado.

“…Anyway! KIRA! Versus! LIR! Will it be another handy win for Team Aces, or will Team Divas make a fashionably late comeback?!”

At the halfway point, Kira ran at a brisk pace, keeping his body close to the ground and his wings firmly tucked at his sides. What was all that noise just now? Had something bad happened back there? …On that note, wasn’t he supposed to have an opponent?

Right on cue, he heard it - The sound of wings, approaching from directly above him.

Kira ducked his head and charged forward. A moment later, Lir dropped right above where Kira had been, chuckled, and flew after him.

“Hey~ Missed me?” Lir taunted.
“Nope!” Kira replied with a laugh.

“Kira and Lir are neck and neck! At this point in time, this race could go to either team, I’d say!!”

Further up ahead, Daphne was contentedly preening her nails, while Rosalia paced back and forth.
“Oh, stop worrying!” Daphne cooed. “It’s not good for your fur! Why don’t you watch me win, and we can all celebrate.”
“...No thanks,” Rosalia frowned.
“Hm! You should watch yourself, dear~”
“Same goes for y--” Rosalia paused.

What’s with that smug look?!

Suspicious, she followed Daphne’s gaze…

And saw Kira hurtling towards her. The two made eye contact, sharing a moment of panic.

Kira dismissed his halo.
If he could just slow down in time…!
Rosalia summoned her halo.
Maybe if she could predict where he’d--?

In an instant, disaster struck. Kira crashed, shaking the arena and sending up an immense cloud of dust, as the audience cried out in shock and concern.

“Oh, my moons! That’s quite the collision! What’s the situation on the ground?”

The audience waited with bated breath. Gradually, the dust settled…

…Revealing Rosalia, far from where she’d been seen earlier. Astral sparks crackled around her body, as she slowly stood back up and looked around.

“Rosalia has escaped unscathed! And what of their teammate?”

Kira, in fact, was lying flat on his back, the arena wall around him broken in a spiderweb pattern.

“…Kira? HelloOoOo, Moonreach to Kira!”

A pair of Lullay Knights rushed to check on him, with one reaching out to nudge him. Slowly, the moxyn opened his eyes.

Within seconds, Kira reared back, slammed his legs on the ground, and flipped himself back onto all fours. Following this, he vigorously shook his head, and flapped his wings to rid them of rubble and chalk. Everyxyn stared at him, dumbfounded.

“Ah…” Kira took a deep breath.
“Heh~ That’s my bad!” he called, grinning sheepishly. “Is everybody OK?”
“Are you okay?!” called a distant voice. (That was Crowe, who was thankfully uninjured, but had still ended up stuck to the side of an arena flag.)

“A… An impressive recovery from Team Aces’ Kira! As expected of our triple competitor!”

Nearby, Daphne paced back and forth, her tail tip flicking impatiently. A short distance from her, Lir sat, patiently waiting. It seems he’d won the second leg, but hadn’t yet tagged Daphne to begin the third leg. Only when Rosalia and Kira began heading back onto the race track, did the taller moxyn slowly get up.

“You know,” Lir called, stretching as he did so. "I was starting to get bored~"
“But it’s no fun if there’s nobody to race with! Am I right?”
Taken by the moxyn’s unexpected kind side, the audience ooh-ed.

“What a beautiful show of sportsmanship! It’s enough to make a grown xyn cry!”

As Daphne and Rosalia took up their places on the race track for the final time, it was the vexyn's turn to frown. Just as quickly as it appeared, however, she shrugged it off with a self-satisfied smile.

“Hmhmhm… I suppose chivalry is still alive and well~ Besides, all that dust would have made it hard to capture my good side!”

“We’re up, Rosalia! And just so you know, I'm not going easy on you.”

In response, Rosalia shot a glance back at Daphne.

“I didn't expect you to,” they said, fanning their wings out.

“Now, let's finish this.”