Parallel: United Front

Chapter 24: The Cyclone

"How much longer, kid?"

"We're almost there!"

The teenager, who called himself Hart, groaned. He had never met anyone as frustrating as his Dayle guy. How could an adult be so impatient? It was not like the teen was enjoying this long walk either!

"Hey, get out the way!"

Dayle, Arthur, and Raines quickly shifted to the sides. Just in time too, as several teenagers and young adults zipped past on hoverboards. Dayle's brows shot up as he watched the youths. Their eyes carried equal parts, excitement, anticipation, and panic. These were not the first set of boarders to fly past. They were becoming increasingly frequent as they neared this 'Cyclone.'

Curious, Dayle asked, "This Cyclone. What is it exactly?"

Their guide grinned with pride. "Well..." He paused for dramatic effect as they rounded a corner. He then spread his arms as he gazed at the grand sight before them. "This is the Cyclone."

"Wow." "Whoa." "Seriously?"

Arthur, Dayle, and Raines simultaneously exclaimed in shock.

The riders transformed this large plot of land dominated by abandoned, broken down buildings into a racing zone. Dozens of kids zipped in and out of these dilapidated buildings, through makeshift hoops and tunnels, while performing tricks like weaving through spinning blades, or flaming rings.

The entire area was a playground for daredevils who sought the thrill of speed and danger. Currently, a significant race seemed to be going down. A massive crowd was gathered around the perimeter, cheering on the racers inside as they cut through the buildings and took dangerous shortcuts.

To keep a modicum of fairness and order, they placed checkpoints around the track. Racers could take whatever path they wanted, but they needed to pass through each checkpoint in the correct order. This led to exciting matches and decisions where runners had to choose between taking the shortest, but most dangerous paths over the longer, but risk-free paths.

Dayle whistled as he looked at the buildings. "This all belongs to Viper?"

"No way!" Hart chuckled. He led the trio through the crowd towards a building outside the Cyclone boundary. "The Cyclone doesn't belong to anyone."

Dayle looked at the men and women collecting money from gamblers in the crowd. He questioned with clear doubt, "Really? There's a lot of money here. I don't see how it functions without ownership."

Hart scratched his cheek. "I guess there are owners. But they change every three months – or they should at least." When he saw their confused expressions, he elaborated. "There's a grand Prix every three months. The first five places get to split ownership of the Cyclone and all profits between themselves. They also get to vote on any new policies."

"Quite progressive," praised Arthur. "How did you get so many people to agree to this arrangement?"

Hart scratched the back of his head. "Boarding is banned past three meters aboveground in most of the city. Hell, it's outright banned in some areas. Boarders needed a place to go wild, so the community pooled their funds to buy this land. Cyclone is the only place in the city boarders can go crazy without worrying about the authorities."

Raines glanced at an overhead screen, which depicted the boarders weaving past dangerously packed steel cables. She knew nothing about boarding, but even she could tell those maneuvers required tremendous skill, vision, and bravery. She then looked at Hart with concern in her eyes, "How about the gangs? They haven't made a move on this territory?"

"Of course, they have!" Hart snorted. A vicious light sparked in his eyes, but he calmed down a moment later. "But, so far, Viper has managed to fight them off. She refuses to let the gangs have any piece of this pie. She's got the firepower and blackmail to keep them in check, but no one knows how long that'll last. More importantly, she'll soon lose power from the inside, because the gangs are beginning to buy up many boarders. They hope to knock her out of the top spot, and then their cronies can unanimously vote in a new owner."