The Innkeeper



As unusual as it seemed, Lex's emotions were not so exaggerated that he would end up doing something illogical. The reason he ran with the cart lifted above him instead of driving normally was because his short burst speed was much greater than the cart itself.

Before long, he leaped up into the air and got back in the driver's seat, allowing the cart to fall back onto the platform. The cart swerved a bit and nearly fell off the moving train, but Lex managed to regain control.

He was nearing the end of the train, which was outfitted with a jump ramp. Lex didn't even want to think about what would happen if he jumped off the train to somewhere random - he was sure the track was planned better than this. But, just as he was approaching the ramp, he heard a sound in the distance that was easily recognizable, and stiffened his expression. He turned to look in the distance and saw a massive, blue-colored explosion! That was a specific power up that would only come out if someone was too far in the lead. Dammit, even if did end up losing, he couldn't do it without at least facing off with Gerard at least once.

Lex leaped off the train, using the ramp without regard for where he would land, and it seemed his suspicions were correct. He had barely gone a few feet away from the train when he felt his cart being pulled up into the air. He looked up and saw the racing track, only it continued underneath the massive spaceship!

Whoever had updated the track really loved playing with gravity. As much as Lex wanted to continue enjoying the track and experiencing all the interesting features that had been added to it, he could do that later. He had memorized where that blue explosion had taken place and a plan to get ahead formed in his mind.

The cart turned upside down on its own, but that wasn't an issue because he would have to flip if he wanted to continue on the bottom portion of the spaceship. This portion of the track was extremely different, as there was no 'track' per se. Instead, the carts were free to drive anywhere so long as they headed in the direction of a green portal that probably teleported them elsewhere.

As if that wasn't enough, mini-turrets would come out of the ship from time to time and shoot at the drivers. Of course, evasion at such straightforward attacks was nothing to Lex.

The moment he landed on the ship he began driving, and though at first he did not attract attention since everyone assumed he was only getting adjusted to the new track, it took only a few moments for him to once again gain the attention of the audience.

While everyone was driving towards the portal, Lex was actually heading away from it! No one judged him or accused him of being stupid, as he had proven his capabilities. So, everyone only wondered what he was up to, eagerly awaiting for him to provide them with a good show.

But he kept driving in a straight line for a minute, two minutes, five minutes! At this point Lex had lost any lead he had and was trailing in the race. Everyone, even the commentator, was panicking for him. But Lex was completely calm.

He looked up - or down, depending on the point of view, and saw that he was directly opposite to the portion of the Inn where the blue explosion had happened.

He smiled, and employed one of the new defensive techniques he had picked out for himself from the vast collection he had gotten from the Infinity Emporium. It was called 'Introverts Dream' and created a bubble around Lex, isolating him from any unnatural external influences!

While this technique couldn't protect him from any direct attacks, it had many other incredible uses. Such as…

Without breaking his momentum, the wheels of the cart detached from the ship and then, with increasing speed, Lex continued to fall from the sky!

His technique had freed him from the influence of the artificial gravity that had brought him into the sky, allowing him to fall directly towards the end of the track!

For a couple of minutes, no one noticed his descent, as they had turned their attention towards other racers who were actively competing in the races. But the moment the first person noticed a cart falling out of the sky, his excited yell alerted all the others.

"It's raining men!" screamed a little girl in the stadium as she pointed towards the screen.

"Hahaha no, not men, it's-" the girl's mother tried to correct her, but when she looked at the screen she paused. Behind Lex's cart, also falling from the sky, was Z!

How could he have believed it was so easy to get rid of Leo? He had been directly hired by the Innkeeper, after all. Z did not care about winning, as long as he made Leo lose! So he had kept an eye on his boss throughout, and the moment he saw him deviating, a gut feeling made him follow along.

Of course, there were quite a few others who also followed as well. After all, if two racers were doing something unusual, there had to be a secret, right? Since they were losing anyway, there wasn't much to lose.

The result was, as the little girl so aptly put it, a rain of men alongside their carts.

On the ground, a seemingly random guest crawled out of a tent and stretched under the light of the new day. She had gone camping just to get away from the crowds as, after a bad breakup, she just wanted to be alone. The excellent atmosphere of the Inn and some time away from wretched men did her good, and she was already feeling better. A few more days of this and…

Before she could complete her thought, Lex landed in his cart right in front of her! He had naturally employed various techniques to defend his cart from the impact, so instead of crash landing, it was as if a feather were touching down on the ground.

He spared the woman no thought as he raced towards the track. If he didn't get back on in 10 seconds, he would be disqualified.

The woman, instead, was momentarily startled by the descent of the handsome stranger. Then she looked up and saw the horde about to descend on her.