Chapter 7

Gracefully, Anakin shifted his podracer to the left a few feet, dodging the incoming forty foot tall rock with uncanny ease. Meanwhile, his competitors struggled to survive in the minefield of rocks as they tried to match his speed.

A part of Anakin could sympathize with them; it was impossible to think ahead or plan how to avoid a rock if they were in front of it the moment they saw it. In its essence, podracing was about who could react the fastest at the fastest speed, unless you were like Anakin and could use the Force.

Damn! That was close, the blonde thought as a piece of high speed shrapnel from an explosion left a small scratch on the window directly in front of him, protecting him from the worst of the wind.

Despite the danger, Anakin couldn't help but enjoy himself. 

There was absolutely nothing that could beat this thrill. Most of Anakin's time was spent doing menial tasks; rarely did he ever have the opportunity to use his mind to its fullest extent. It was only when he worked on machines that he felt content, or when he had to devote his whole and total concentration on a task that the perpetual fog of boredom that clouded his mind lifted.

Now, Anakin was pushed to the limit as he passed podracer after podracer in an attempt to finish first, and he couldn't be any happier for it. The only thing that truly stopped him from enjoying it were the lives that rested on his victory.

Once again he entered the ravine, smiling as he did so. The ravine and the tunnel were his bread and butter of the race. It was where the smaller size of his podracer and his superior piloting abilities came into play, allowing him to make up for the lost time he sorely needed, even if it was only by a few seconds.

However, Anakin's smile was brief as he soon came upon the biggest podracer he had seen since the start of the race. The brown podracer was as high as a fourth of the ravine's height and nearly as wide as it, with its three great engines that constantly spewed out fire like a volcano spewing lava.

Taking a deep breath, Anakin suddenly accelerated his vehicle while driving at the right hand wall of the ravine at a fifty degree angle. Weightlessness overtook him as his podracer went up the wall sideways until it was as high as the brown podracer was tall, then he suddenly jerked both steering sticks left while also accelerating as much as possible.

In an impossible display of ability, Anakin's podracer flipped twice in the air before reaching the ground right-side-up and ahead of the brown podracer; having timed his spin in the air perfectly on instinct for it to land correctly.

A mix of exhilaration and nausea did not make for a comfortable time, especially when traveling at a couple hundred miles per hours, luckily Anakin managed to regain his bearings while somewhat regretting his risky move. Nevertheless, he moved on with even more determination, not wanting his heroic display of flying to be in vain.

By the time the boy finally exited the ravine, he figured he was currently somewhere in the top third of the race.

His late start had cost him a minute or two, but that may as well have been a lifetime when it came to podracing, shown by the Force-sensitives struggle to catch up despite his superior podracer and abilities.

Anakin glided through the towering rocks like a fish in water, following the same memorized path he took in the first lap. 

Taking advantage of the terrain, Anakin started to use the rocks as shields, allowing him to semi-safely pass their podracers without them being able to block his advance. 

Currently, Anakin's trailed behind a blue podracer, of medium size with red patterns, in a silver streak. Spotting an upcoming rock directly ahead, Anakin jerked his podracer to the left while also accelerating, knowing that the alien blocking him would go to the right.

Just as predicted from using the Force: The blue podracer went left, allowing Anakin to easily pass it without having to go through the trouble of out maneuvering it.

However, Anakin couldn't enjoy the victory as he reached the entrance to the dreaded tunnel. A few seconds after entering the kriffing maw of death he was confronted with its jagged teeth of earth rising up to destroy all who entered.

Despite having gone through it once already, he was forced to slow down. Anakin was still going far faster than the others, but he couldn't say he would make it out of the tunnel alive if he had kept his previous speed.

Just as Anakin saw light from the exit, promising safety away from the cursed darkness, the Force screamed at him in sudden warning. Without hesitation, Anakin pushed both steering sticks down as hard as he could to speed as much as possible, knowing the inherent risk of such an action but trusting in the Force and himself all the same.

The sudden crunch of metal impacting rock echoed throughout the tunnel followed quickly by blinding fire. Luckily, the blonde had reached the exit just as the explosion occurred, barely escaping it. Anakin swore he could almost feel the heat on his back as he shot out of the tunnel like a starship coming out of hyperspace.

After taking a breath to regain his composure, Anakin used the Force to sense for any life behind him: he found none.

It was only then that he realized dozens must have died in the explosion behind him. Anakin was snapped back to reality a moment later when a blaster bullet struck his silver pod before bouncing off as he traveled through the desert valley. 

Anakin didn't know who or what did it; only that he wouldn't let it happen again. With uncanny accuracy that stunned the crowd watching him, he precisely dodged blaster bolt after blaster bolt like he could see the future.

A sigh of relief escaped him after exiting the valley, his grip on steering sticks loosening slightly. Using the Force to predict that many blaster bolts from so far away had been taxing and it took most of his concentration. Sweat ran down his face, mixing with the black soot on his face, making a mask of irritation that he would be forced to wear for the duration of the race.

Surprise rang through him like a shockwave, realizing that only two podracers stood between him and Sebulba, who was currently in first place.

Hardening his resolve, the prodigal pilot started to speed up, closing the gap between him and the closest podracer; knowing it wouldn't be so easy to pass the top three podracers, especially Sebulba. Still, Anakin was pretty confident, he had a whole lap to do it after all.

Just as he caught up with the podracer in third place, Anakin's eyes caught an object flying from Sebulba's cockpit into one of the turbines in the engine of the podracer in second place. It didn't take a genius to know what would happen next; the podracer imploded, causing shrapnel to fly in all directions.

Metal tore through the air, bringing up clouds of sand upon hitting the ground. Anakin could practically hear the metal whiz by as he desperately dodged.

Driven by fear, Anakin miraculously was able to avoid all the shrapnel with all the desperation of a cornered animal.

However, his victory was short-lived.

The podracer ahead was not so fortunate, and took a hit to the engine, causing it to go up in flames.

On pure unthinking instinct, brought by the desperate desire to live, Anakin brought up his hand, and formed a thin barrier with the Force, covering the entire front of his podracer. It took all his concentration and more to maintain, not only was it hard to maintain at the speed he was going, but he also had to block blitzing metal and fire.

Metal reflected off the barrier like a rock skipping over water, and fire was pushed back clearing a way for Anakin to drive through the destruction, baffling all who witnessed the impossible scene. By the time Anakin moved past where the second podracer exploded only a second had passed but he felt utterly exhausted, like he ran a marathon. 

As he traveled across the flat sandy plain after Sebulba, he spent his time trying to catch his breath and calm down, finding it very hard to focus on what was happening. Everything felt almost muted; he was pretty sure the explosion may have damaged his ears even with his helmet on, and he had to fight the urge to throw up.

He really did hate Sebulba with a passion.

When Anakin entered the stadium and completed his second lap, he was noticeably slower than before, knowing that he was far ahead of the rest of his competitors because of the explosion in the tunnel and because he knew he wasn't in the state to drive at the speed he started at.

Sluggishly, he followed the curve of the race track inside the stadium, nearly crashing into the stadium's walls due to his dazed state.

The feeling of nausea did not get better, in fact, he was pretty sure it got worse, but his ability to tolerate it slowly improved along with the speed and coordination of his podracer after he made it out of the stadium.

Pushing himself to the limits of his current state, Anakin kept up with Sebulba's giant podracer, it had a rusty red color to it, like it had been painted with blood. Knowing Sebulba, he didn't think his guess was too far off.

If at the beginning of the race Anakin was able to weave through the maze of rocks like a sandworm in a desert, now he swerved out of danger like he was the luckiest drunkard in Tatooine. Which was saying something considering its inhabitants.

Frustratingly enough, Anakin was only just starting to catch up by the time they made it out of the maze of rocks and onto the rocky plain with random holes in it, which did not bode well for the rest of the race.

Although Anakin felt like he had been beaten up, he hated Sebulba more, and he would be damned if he let that good for nothing win. With a yell of effort Anakin pushed his steering sticks down, sharply increasing his speed. If he could only keep up his pace then it wouldn't be long before he passed Sebulba.

A feeling or respite washed over Anakin as he saw his favorite part of the race came into view through his red visor: The ravine.

Just as his hope had risen, it fell, as he watched Sebulba flip his Podracer on its side so it could narrowly fit into the ravine's entrance.

Curses flew through Anakin's head, berating himself for overlooking something so obvious. It seemed like Sebulba existed for the sole purpose of getting on his nerves. It was either that or he was the unluckiest man on Tatooine. 

When I win the race, I am, so, going to rub it in his face, Anakin vowed, a pleased smile coming on his face at the thought.

Anakin focused on the race once again, ignoring his distracting thoughts. He knew that this would be his best chance to catch up to Sebulba because of his superior turning, even if he wouldn't be able to pass the Dug with the giant ass podracer clogging the way.

Relentlessly, the boy chased after Sebulba with fiery determination, like a Jedi on a mission, he would not give up. Every turn was made with the utmost efficiency, making up the distance between them as the hum of their podracers and drive echoed off the ravine walls.

With every minor mistake Sebulba made as was forced to drive his podracer on its side, Anakin smirked in amusement and gratification as Sebulba also suffered from the ridiculous size of his podracer.

Only a few feet behind Sebulba, Anakin entered the familiar glare of Tatooine's suns.

Pushing down hard on the gas, Anakin tried to pass Sebulba once again as they traversed the field of towering rocks, and once again Sebulba blocked him. The red Podracer was so big that it was hard to get past it and Sebulba was smart enough to use that to his advantage. Also, Anakin didn't want to risk colliding with that monster; it took no stretch of the imagination to figure out who would come out on top.

Numerous times, the silver podracer tried to pass the red podracer in a sudden blitz of speed. There was only so much Anakin could do, his podracer wasn't much faster than Sebulba's and the race had already sapped a lot of his previous energy; all he could do was keep constant pressure on the alien and hope for an opening.

As much as Anakin hated to admit, Sebulba was smart. 

The Dug capitalized on his stronger podracer; erratically moving from side to side and even drastically slowing down at times despite the large risk of Anakin crashing into him. It made it impossible to safely pass him or predict as he changed directions and speed at a dime, always keeping Anakin on his toes.

Frustration practically swelled under Anakin's skin, but he forced down and continued focusing on Sebulba's podracer, knowing any rash moves could kill him.

Sighting the tunnel was almost a relief, if he played his cards right, this could be the moment he took first place.

As he got closer to the tunnel, he could see ominous smoke rising out of it. Just before entering he made sure to turn his head lights on and take a deep breath.

Anakin could barely see a few feet in front of him because of the smoke but that didn't bother him too much because he had the Force. The real annoyance was the sweltering heat inside. Hoped the smoke wouldn't mess with the turbines in his engines.

Carefully, Anakin navigated through the tunnel like a beacon of light inside a sea of darkness, only slightly slowing down in moments of uncertainty. There were a few close calls, but he was able to get out with only a few bumps. 

The moment he exited a huge smile took over his face as he gasped in air, his entire vehicle including himself was black with soot. A quick check with the Force showed that Sebulba was close behind him, a beacon of pure rage.

Not taking any chances, Anakin immediately went as fast as possible while also making sure to dodge all the blaster bolts coming his way. With no one in front of him, the gap between him and Sebulba only widened as he crossed the valley of sand.

Something's wrong, he thought, frowning, the engine is slowing down. Anakin's left engine was starting to slow down as he exited the valley and came onto the vast desert plains; the final stretch of the race.

It only took Anakin a second to figure out that something must have damaged the engine's turbine, decreasing the airflow in the engine, which would cause a myriad of problems, the biggest one being the imminent threat of the engine exploding.

There was nothing he could do to fix it; he could only hope that he would be fast enough to finish first before the engine exploded.

Anakin was starting to panic, the engine was starting to smoke, and Sebulba was already a few feet away and it would take around another minute to finish the race at this rate.

Despair crashed into the young pilot as he helplessly watched Sebulba pass him. His mind raced with plan after plan after plan, but it was all in vain as he watched Sebulba get farther away with each passing second.

The Force practically screamed into his ear in warning; it felt like was being stabbed in the head.

Just like how he knew how to make and repair machines, he knew that his left engine would inevitably explode in a few seconds at most; killing him. There was nothing he could do, absolutely nothing. And now, an entire population would suffer because of him.

His finger, a moment away from hitting the ejection button, paused. A crazy, insane, plan suddenly formed in his mind, like a ray of hope piercing through clouds of despair, as if the Force itself was helping him.

Trusting the Force, Anakin let it flow through him, letting it guide him.

With his left hand he pushed down the left steering stick, causing the left engine to temporarily burst back to life. Using his other hand, he controlled the Force, making it encompass his engine and Sebulba's podracer. Clenching his hand, he formed an invisible, but unbreakable attraction between his Engine and Sebulba's podracer while simultaneously deactivating the power coupling and releasing the cable connecting the left hand engine to his pod.

Mustering all the focus he left, Anakin made his engine fly directly at Sebulba like a missile, as if it was a magnet, it followed after Sebulba with uncanny accuracy, as if connected by an invisible string.

Anakin's tired blued eyes watched in disbelief as his Engine crashed into Sebulba's pod, turning into a flaming inferno, killing him.

Barely conscious, Anakin gripped his right steering stick and made his way considerably slower towards the stadium.

Piloting the pod with only one engine wasn't exactly easy, as it wasn't meant for that, but the distance between him and his other competitors allowed him to take his time.

As Anakin passed the site of Sebulab's destruction, he didn't spare a glance, too tired to deal with the fact that he killed someone.

Even before entering the stadium he could faintly hear the crowd cheering with wild abandon.

With a quick one eighty turn, he finally came to a stop in the middle of the track; his only remaining engine finally getting its deserved rest.

He had won.