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Music, cheering and yelling were the order of the next two days as practice wound down and qualifying began. The Amazons annihilated qualifications, both posting the fastest times of the event; with only three pair left to qualify it was down to the Salaks, humans or Velopians to knock the Amazons out of the first two spots. Sidney managed to crack one of the two times which put her in second. Alice just snuck in between the cute salamander and third place. Lorain against all odds shaved a quarter second off of Anastasia's time. It was the first time the driver from the host world would start on the pole position.

Starting order would be; Lorain, Anastasia, Sidney, and Alice. Carly was back in sixth, and there was not a full second difference between the first eight cars' qualifying times. That made Alice positively giddy with excitement, everyone else was less enthusiastic. Alice was not the only one who was excited; the gathered crowd was louder than the crowds at the two previous events.

The crowd was in mass and stood waiting for an hour before they were allowed in on race day. The automotive test facility was at capacity within a half hour of the gates opening. Music boomed out of speakers as did the voices of carnival game announcers and product demonstrators.

Alice's pit crew noticed even the usually stoic little mouse was in a little more cheer than usual. As no one saw her without a smile or her tail playfully dancing behind her, nothing would dampen her mood today.

"I have never seen you this cheerful before a race." Jenny mussed as she walked into the pit after Roslyn brought her and Harley here.

Alice's smile grew. "Oh come on, this is awesome. The Velopians really know how to throw an event."

"No doubt, there is something here for everyone." DJ was also swept up on a high. Plus no one gave her and TJ hell for getting lost; even competitors gave them directions back to the right pit. Though a giant Amazon had mentioned she might lie to keep one of the two felines for herself.

The cars were staged early, with an actual stage set up for Tera to perform the opening ceremony. Alice and the other drivers got suited up and with a few pit crew went out to the cars. It was still early in the day, though a pleasant seventy degrees and only a handful of white clouds drifted by.

Tera took the stage to substantial cheers, and was not dressed quite as formal as she usually appeared on stage. She was still modest, but a bit more causal than her normal clothing. Jenny thought Tera's hair was a playfully messy cute, kind of punky. She did not have her full band behind her, as the anthem and the song she was going to perform did not need them. A dragon shaman lead the opening prayer and the anthem was a song written back at the tribal unification and all the Velopians sang along with Tera. It was a beautiful thing to hear the choir of Velopian voices throughout the facility.

For her opening song, her drummer started off slow and Tera's lyrics were light and playful. It seemed a little slow for a race, but the tempo increased and it increased quickly until it was like the thumping of the pistons in a race engine. Tera pulled the mic from the stand and starting firing off lyrics at a pace no one had heard the dainty little girl sing before. There was still an underlying Celtic tone, but mixed with speed metal, without the vocal distortions.

Full Throttle, is this newest song's title and it used all of the vocal range Tera had. Along with a chorus that had the fastest vocals she had ever preformed before. They were still playful, but they had a little taunt and mischief behind them. She jumped and pranced around the entire stage, and pumped a fist in the air. It was a song and a look, her parents would be furious with, and that brought out a sly little smile that Nodrog and Jenny both found a bit naughty.

With the crowd screaming even after the reverb died down, all of the racers were strapped into their cars. The stage was quickly removed and Tera was hurried up the gantry where the flagman was. It was the first time she was excited for a sporting event, though not the first she had sung at. Granted, Tera's girlfriend was a bit of a rebel and a speed freak in her own right; so maybe a little bad influence wasn't so bad after all.

Tera smiled as she held the microphone and was given the signal to give the command. "On behalf of big dreamers everywhere... ladies, start your engines!"

Forty engines spun to life and rattled anything not firmly held down inside the massive hanger they were starting in. Unlike the standing starts of the other two races, the Velopians elected to run a pace lap and do a flying start. Mainly to keep the field more even on the start, since some of the fast cars didn't pull off the line as well as some of the cars in the rear.

Now in the car and rolling Alice had calmed back down to her usual pre race mode. Starting third put her right behind Lorain, and that suited Alice just fine as they were on the inside line. The only intrusive thought she had the entire pace lap was making sure she got a copy of that song Tera just killed it with. It was that good of a driving song.

It was a short lived intrusive thought and Alice was focused once the safety car pulled off and they entered the hanger. Tera waved the green flag enthusiastically as Alice and thirty nine other drives opened up to full throttle. Jenny and Harley were wearing earmuffs as were most, though after a couple laps even the tough people had some kind of hearing protection.

With a few exceptions the field ran in the positions they qualified in up until the first round of pit stops. Alice was in one of the first groups to pull in; she needed a rear wing adjustment badly. The traffic and the light cross wind was playing hell with the car. She had chewed up the rear tires a lot faster than they had calculated. It was a quick adjustment, but even after everyone else had stopped, she was still mid pack.

Sydney's partner suffered a fate worse than anyone would want this early in the race, and that was a thrown rod. The engine was a total loss and it would take twenty minutes to change it out. Which would put her so many laps down, they elected to just load the car up and cheer Sydney on. It was a crushing defeat as she had finished in the top ten in both other races.

A grenaded transmission brought out the caution flag just before the second round of pit stops; which put a second car down as a DNF. Though it was the little bit of a break Alice needed, as a fast pit stop bumped her up back into the top ten. She had to fight for every position she gained and she loved every second of it. Carly was sitting in first at the moment as she had two solid pit stops and her car was running better in traffic than it had in qualifying.

Ron pulled off his headphones as a cute little Salak jogged over to Alice's pit and waved at him. "Can I help you?"

The brightly colored little salamander quickly glanced around before looking up at Ron. "Sydney needs a push if she and Alice are going to get around those two Grey drivers. She was thinking the straight after turn twenty."

Ron didn't need to give it much thought as Alice and Sydney had been stuck for several laps. "I'll let Alice know, tell Sydney she will get a push."

"Thanks" With that the little Salak hurried off to Sydney's pit.

"Alice, give Sydney a push after turn twenty and stick with her."

"Got it, do I need to signal her first?"

"Nope, she knows. One of her crew came and asked us."

"A push it is." Alice's mind mentally found turn twenty and agreed it was the best place to pull a bump draft off. Long enough to pass, and short enough to keep those Grays from sling shoting around them. She was already pretty close on Sydney's tail so Alice crept a little closer as they got closer to the turn.

As soon as Sydney starting to swing wide, Alice's bumper touched Sydney's and they hammered down. With Alice giving a little push and being a draft partner, the two could accelerate a little quicker off the turn than they could without help. They squeaked past the two Grays and into fifth and sixth.

Roslyn had to get out of her seat and out of the hanger for a bit. She was surprised to see Tera holding hands with another female Velopian as they walked over to her. The other young lady was an antelope Velopian of slightly taller stature, but rather thin build. With short chopped and messy black and red hair, dark blue eyes and a noticeably open personality. "Hey there. First thing I have to say is that song just kicked ass. I didn't know you could belt out words that fast."

Tera blushed. "Thanks, I figured you would like it. Roslyn, this is my girlfriend Edam. She actually races speed boats."

"Nice to meet you and love the hair, a friend of mine back home has almost the same style." Roslyn smiled and gave the traditional Velopian greeting which was a one armed hug.

"It's a pleasure to meet you finally. Tera has talked about you a lot. Though she didn't say you were this good looking." Edam was short enough she had to look up to Roslyn, but the raven winged otter had one of the best asses for a biped she had seen.

Now it was Roslyn's turn to blush as Edam had the same playful look in her eyes as Jaws had. "So how did the two of you meet?"

Edam looked at Tera. "At one of her performances, I got a backstage pass; and shamefully begged her to go out."

"I doubt it was that bad." Roslyn chuckled.

Tera giggled. "No it was pretty bad, but it was pretty cute."

"I'm surprised security didn't drag me out before she could say anything. Two months though and no regrets about it."

Roslyn lightly jabbed Tera in the arm. "Two months and you are just now telling me?"

"I was a little caught up in the moment of it." Tera smiled and hoped Roslyn would forgive her.

Roslyn smiled, it was hard to be mad at her for that. They talked a little and made plans for the following day before the three of them headed back to where they were watching the race from.

"That was a bit of a long walk." Nodrog teased as Roslyn sat back down.

"I met Tera's girlfriend."

"Oh, I didn't know she had a relationship." Nodrog leaned closer. "Jealous?"

Roslyn grunted and elbowed him in the side. "I'm happy for her. Hope our plans weren't set in stone, cause I made some new ones."

Nodrog laughed. "Not really, we were going to meet Mianth and Tunrog for dinner."

"We will still make that."

"So what's she like?"

"A speed freak like Alice, and just as cute. A bit wilder than I would have thought Tera would end up with." Roslyn glanced at Nodrog. "Do you remember Jaws?"

"Your dyed hair shark friend who worships your ass Jaws?"

"That one. Edam and her have nearly the same hair style and it is the same colors." Roslyn paused as the entire race field roared past before continuing. Alice and Sydney had managed to get up to fourth and fifth. "She races speed boats."

"Makes me wonder what they have in common."

"Music is the first thing that comes to mind. Or boating, Tera did enjoy the fishing trip even if she didn't fish." Roslyn had spiked iced tea. The booze had just a hint of sweet, making the unsweet tea just right. It wasn't strong booze, but it had a lemony taste without the pucker. She could drink a gallon of the stuff it was so good, and the prices weren't bad either.

Nodrog went to get them a snack about the midpoint of the race. Alice had lead a few laps, no one had actually dominated this race. The lead switched between nine different drivers by this point in the event. Which made everyone in the pits a nervous wreck. Ron and Jim were on edge the entire time. Carly's father wasn't much better as Carly had traded a little paint a few laps ago.

Alice was slightly giddy, as she followed the four cars in front of her. This race was her favorite thus far. The weather was lovely, the tack was fun and the competition was difficult. She was enjoying every moment and aspect of this race event. Though as the race ran on, Alice was mentally figuring out how and when to retake the lead.

Lorain lead with Carly in second, Sydney was third, Anastasia had managed to keep Alice from sneaking past. The Amazon had lead far more laps than she had in the other events, which pleased her. Stepping up to the next class of car was the power and performance she and her compatriot needed to actually be competitive. It was still difficult for her to relax and not overdrive the car as all Amazon drivers tended to do. The psychological aspect of having to work so hard to beat a mouse, did not help in the slightest.

Lizards, deer and other game were supposed to be fast and difficult. The Grays, were so calculating it was easy to predict what they would do. For they never took uncalculated risks. Those like the mouse behind her who could take risks, and do so effortlessly boggled Anastasia's mind. Like turn twenty three, if she drifted just a hair wider than perfect, Alice would stick her nose in and sneak past. To her, it never looked like there would be room.

A few more cautions took out several cars, thankfully with no injuries. One particular pair who had taken each other out in every event thus far. Meaning that race had never finished an event, as the two driver's rivalry just kept getting in the way. That was something many could not understand. It also would likely not go un noticed, as it cost money to participate in these off world events and the people paying for it are going to want a good showing.

While the competition on track had heated up, the off track parts had settled down and the crews and drivers were considerably more civil than the other events. Trash talking and insults didn't have much meaning if those doing it, could never back it up on track. Being the third event, it really was put up or shut up. As a few more catastrophic equipment failures proved just how hard the drivers were pushing themselves and their equipment.