53-Rage Bait

Editing in Progress…

Chapter 53

Noah approached Aban, fully aware that he would not control his anger and would probably fuck things up for them all.

"Now, Now, let's not get too hasty. We are here for a race and not a brawl," He calmly interjected. 

Yet again this annoyed Jake because why can he as expressive as Aban? Let him display his expression on his face. 

Noah placed an arm on Hugo's shoulder. The latter stared at the arm on his shoulder and immediately slapped it away without a cause. Noah, rather than get angry or upset, placed it back on his shoulder, this time much harder than the previous. 

"It would be in all our best interests to calm. The. fuck. Down" He said again, but ‌it didn't come as advice to them, but a warning mixed with a threat.

Hugo's eyes turned slit as he maintained his gaze on Noah. "I see. I will stop. So get your hands off me," he said, sounding as dark as ever.

"Ops, ops, ops. Forgot I still had it there." He said, smiling. Still maintaining his stance between both men, "Since we are done rage baiting each other, why don't we get back to our positions?" he offered his two cents.

Hugo's eyes trailed from Noah to Aban, then to Jake. It settled on Jake for a while for shifting and pulling a fake smile. "Of course." 

He took two steps away from the men as he spread his arms, far and wide. "After all, everyone is here is seen experts race and rage!!" He shouted, garnering cheers and applause from the crowds. 

Soon the crowd began chanting his name as he bopped his head to the tune of their praises. He pointed at Jake, and spoke directly at him, "I look forward to the outcome of the race" he smiled as he left to talk to some other people, probably also instilling fear into their hearts. 

🌟

The horn blew, signalling the racers to get ready. The race was finally about to start. Jake turned around without hesitation, making his way to the starting line. He didn't bother to wave or wait for his managers to say something as he left.

Noah stared at his retreating form. He furrowed his eyes at Jake's back, as if he was trying to gain some satisfaction from his pending suspicion. 

This sudden glint of suspicion didn't go unnoticed by Aban, and he nudged his friend with his elbow, "Is something wrong?"

Noah didn't know if he should speak out on his suspicion, or was he just reading too much into the word? He opted for the former, as he was a big fan of trusting his guts and his gut feeling was giving him a rotten vibe. "Did you find anything weird from Hugo's interaction with us?"

Aban furrowed his brows, looking at his friend, expecting more explaining to it. "No. Why?"

Noah shrugged nonchalantly as he maintained his sights on Jake's side. 

"It felt weird and unnecessary"

"Unnecessary?" Aban asked, earning a 'hmm' response from Noah. 

Noah looked up, pointing to the watch billboard above them. To the screen it showed twelve participants, but the number of racers at the starting point were five, which was more than half of the expected participant. 

But then again, this wasn't a shocker nor a new thing, as a person was bound to drop out at the last minute. Despite that, it just didn't sit right with Noah.

"But really think about it? Why pick fights with the managers when you can easily go for the player themselves?" Noah voiced out his suspicion. 

Aban shrugged, still not understanding the point Noah was driving at, "Maybe to get the manager suspended"

"Yeah, sure that would make sense, if and only if the manager's suspension will equal to the racer being disqualified," he reason. And it was as if something had finally clicked in his head. Aban somewhat understood his suspicion, but he let him continue. 

"So if you look at it from my perspective, Hugo has zero reason to come to us. At the very least, he would come after the end to rub it on our face if we lost".

"So why did he come here, then?" 

It was supposed to be an answered question, but simply hung in there with no meaning like a rhetorical statement.

Noah sighed as he folded his arms, "And then we have the statement he made towards Jake, 'I look forward to the outcome of the race' The fuck does that mean?" he asked, this time expecting a response. 

"Geez, man, I don't know what to think." Aban said, placing a calming hand on his shoulder before adding one, "Let's watch the match and hope for the best and favorable outcome"

"Hopefully"

🌟

The crowd buzzed with anticipation as the commentator pulls a loud yell, inciting more cries of joy from the crowd, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to another night of epic skating!! Our contenders stand poised at the starting line with their board in hand. Let's meet them one more time!"

Noah and Aban watched as the screen zoomed close to the skaters.

"First up, we have Jake and as usual he is looking calm and very much collected. He doesn't seem too bothered about the other participants. Now moving to the only girl in the line-up Gabriella, looking graceful and beautiful at the same time, she has being on a winning streak from other racing arenas". 

"Next we have Theo, and from the records, it looks like he is just a newborn on the scene. Will he be able to grab as many attentions as possible, or would he fail and never show up again? And let's not forget Mark, his daring tricks that never failed to impress the crowd, especially the females," And once the commentator said that, the female audience squealed and Mark threw them a flirty smile. 

"As you can see, he definitely got the girl's wilding. Last, but certainly not the least, we have Hugo!!! The man of the hour!!" "Hugo, a seasoned skater, known for his daring tactics that amusingly leaves racers injure and in suspension, will he continue his tactics or will he double down and win fairly?"

The camera screen returned to the commentator. He dramatically waves his arms around as he spoke, "Without further ado, let the race begin!!" 

Immediately the sound of a gunshot rang through the air and immediately, skates screeched against the rough concrete as the five racers bolted forward, the sound of joyful cheers and screeching blades echoed through the areas.

Hugo hangs back for a moment, assessing his opponents before making his move. He targeted Mark first, deftly cutting him off and sending him plummeting into the rocky wall. 

Mark, being an expert. He balanced himself back into position.

"I guess he is starting his tricks now," Noah said.

Aban scoffed at his statement, "He doesn't even let people enjoy the race before being stupid" Noah smiled as they kept on watching on the screen.

"What the hell was that?! Hugo deliberately tripped, Mark! This isn't looking good, folks…" The commentator shouted with a shocked voice. 

 Hugo made an annoyed snorting sound. He was hoping to get rid of him. After all, he was getting more attention from the crowd. He wanted all the attention to himself. Both good and bad. He wanted it all. 

But this Mark of an asshole is hugging all the attention to himself. His initial plan was to take out Gabriella first, since she was the weakest link here, or so he thought. But seeing the attention and cheers Mark got from the female fans had him switching from Gabi to him. 

Mark pulls his unique skill, Phantom slide.

"It looks like Mark is about to pull one of his skating tricks, and by the looks of it, it seems to be the phantom slide!!" The commentator yelled in excitement. 

Mark slid to the side, away from Hugo. He slowly began gaining speed as he skated on the straight path. With this speed, he was able to pass Jake, giving him the third position. He shifted his weight to his dominant right foot as he lifted his other foot slightly off the ground. 

He extended his left foot out for balance. Mark slowly slid the board to the right as he used his left foot to maintain his balance and speed. 

He was soon reaching the slide, where he would complete his trick. As he neared the slides, he lifted his right leg and gave the board a stylish spin in the air.

His aerial trick soon began losing momentum, and he could see that he was at a substantial distant away from Theo.

"Mark, watch out!!" A voice from the crowd screamed out to him, but it was too late. Hugo, who had tailed him, stepped into the space he was supposed to safely land on. Forcing Mark's board to collide with the end of Hugo's board. Mark tumbled backwards, his legs slipping from the board. 

He crashed into the rocky mountain wall.