The energy spreads to the lockers causing them to bend or topple over. The energy spreads to the walls, which affected the electric wires connected to the lights in the room, causing the lights to overload with energy and explode. Johnny covered his head to prevent the light bulbs' shards from hurting him. Back in the forest the stone stops emitting the high pitch sound; the markings on Kevin’s body and the reiki energy around him begin to fade. Kevin’s headache disappeared and he began to hear the sound of the music and crowds from outside. Exhausted, he breathes heavily; though tired, he was relieved that the surge wasn’t enough to cause awareness as he feels his body cooling down. Johnny realized the worst was over and straightened up as he looks around to see the aftermath. He looks at Kevin who was beginning to catch his breath as he lets out a sigh of relief from expelling his reiki energy. Johnny couldn’t believe his friend had suddenly become a seirei jin halfbreed. Thoughts raced in his head trying to figure out how this was possible; he’d known Kevin since they were in kindergarten.

"What did that freak do to you?" Johnny said.

Kevin’s eyes widened nervously as he realized what had just happened; he has reiki powers and Johnny saw it. Kevin’s silence made Johnny feel uneasy, he grew worried that what he feared most would happen to those who aren’t seirei jins. The little knowledge he knew about them made his fear of them even worse.

"I knew it, I knew this would happen." Johnny says as he holds his head in disbelief panicking. "That-that freak turned you into a seirei jin."

Kevin heard Johnny but ignored him as he knew the truth, now witnessing for himself he was a seirei jin half breed. As Johnny was rambling on, all Kevin could think about was the sound that he heard and where it came from and why only he could hear it. He sat up and looked at his hands processing what he did as he remembered his dreams. He looks around to see the damage he has done as it looked like an earthquake and hurricane was in the room. He looks at Johnny who was pacing back and forth still rambling about the incident in school and how Kevin was captured blaming Stewart for what he did to his best friend. Kevin thought about him and Sara, then his family; they could be in danger because of him. Then he looked at his helmet on the ground and remembered they had a race to attend. He’s waited so long to compete in this race; he couldn’t imagine bailing out making his friends have to forfeit. He picked up his helmet and stood up as he knew what he wanted to do.

"We have to get going Johnny." Kevin interrupted.

Johnny stops in place and looks at Kevin puzzled by what he was talking about.

"They’re going to disqualify us if we don’t hurry." Kevin warned him as he headed for the door acting like nothing happened.

"Hold it, time out!" Johnny raised his voice.

He rushed over to the exit and stood between Kevin and the door leading out causing Kevin to stop in place.

"You can’t go out there, not after what happened, you need to get checked out."

Kevin just looks at his friend calmly, a little empathetic, he knew Johnny couldn’t accept the fact of what he truly is.

"If that freak did this to you, maybe the hospital or the advent guard could help you, before you become-

"Unstable?" Kevin asked finishing Johnny’s sentence.

Johnny remains silent looking away from Kevin guilty as he was going to mention that.

Kevin sort of smiles as he placed his hand on Johnny’s shoulder; Johnny winces as he sees Kevin make the move and gently flinched thinking he was going to get shocked by his hand like last time. Once Kevin placed his hand on his shoulder, Johny waited for a moment to feel pain but relaxed as he was ok; he looked back at Kevin curious to what he was going to do.

"Johnny, we didn’t get this far to stop now." Kevin reminded him. "Dude, we worked hard to get here, I even dreamt of this day when I was a kid."

Johnny fell silent as he wasn’t sure what to do. Kevin wasn’t going to leave all this to get checked, he wanted to race. Knowing this could be dangerous, he thought about calling the Advant guard, as they might help his friend but that could also mean he may never see him again. But then he was concerned as he heard that half breeds could become unstable just like Stewart. Johnny was beside himself on what to do. Kevin noticed.

"I’m asking you as my friend Johnny." Kevin continued. "Let us race... let’s win this thing. Besides, Sara will have our heads if we don’t leave now."

Then both Johnny and Kevin couldn’t help but chuckle at the remark knowing the truth. Once they stopped, Johnny lets out a big sigh; even though Kevin caused the locker room explosion, deep down in his heart, Kevin was still his friend.

"There’s nothing I can do." Johnny stated. "I don’t think I could convince you even if I tried." He extends his fist out towards Kevin. "Let’s win this but after the race we’re gonna get you checked."

Kevin smiles pleased that Johnny was going to allow him to race. He takes his hand off his friend’s shoulder and fist bumps him. Johnny grabs his helmet and the two then leave for the tracks. Back at the construction site, the tree that had the stone inside was still intact. The chainsaws the workers used were not working; each time they tried to cut the tree down, the power to the chainsaws were depleted, even those that were using gas powered saws. Their manager noticed their lack of production; after they explained their problem, the manager suggested they use bulldozers which would also speed up their progress. The field workers went to retrieve their bulldozers so they may continue.

Meanwhile, as the sun turned to an amber tone as the sun was setting, back at the stadium, the crowds filled the seats, anticipating a very exciting race. The racers' families and friends were sitting comfortably on the sidelines under the tents of their designated areas in full conversation with each other as they were waiting for the race to begin. The racers were on the tracks, each to their assigned spots. The announcers arrived at their booth as it was time for the race to begin.

“Good afternoon, racing fans; this is Douglas Katez, and welcome to this year’s WVAMA Pro Road Racing being held here in Parkersburg, West Virginia. One lucky team will make it to nationals going against pro racers worldwide. This race is going to be intense, folks I can feel it.”

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Agent Reynolds was among the crowds in the high risers. Positioning himself in the back corner, gave him the opportunity to observe Kevin from where he sat. He looked at the vendors and security guards around the stadium as they were actually advent guards in disguise to help around the stadium. He contacts them via the commlink.

“This is Agent Reynolds; make sure you are in position, stand by for further instructions, and whatever you do, do not act without my orders; are we clear?” Reynolds ordered. The soldiers replied via the commlink and continued their routine jobs while also keeping an eye on the racetrack for any suspicious activities. Agent Reynolds continued to watch Kevin who was on his bike, putting his helmet on and getting ready to begin.

“Alright, kid, show me what you can do.” Reynolds whispered to himself.

At the racetrack, Kevin and his friends Sara and Johnny were in separate designated spots. He looked across to see Johnny watching him, ensuring he was alright. Kevin gave him a thumbs up for reassurance. There were other fellow riders from different schools, and of course, Mike and his friends from school were also participating in the race. The referee stands overhead the racers on his podium that stretches to the front lines. He activated the traffic light below him that would signal racers to move. The first red light came on, signaling the racers to get ready. The second red light comes on, telling them to get set. All the racers started their engines and began revving up their bikes, getting excited and pumped to begin. The last light was green, which signaled the racers to go, and without hesitation, the racers rode off. The racers were zooming down the tracks taking tight turns each time. Those who made too low a turn ended up crashing and being pulled out of the race. In the middle of the racers, Kevin was conserving his gas, waiting for the right opportunity to speed up and gain the lead. Seeing that they were heading to another turn around the track, he decides to take the risk to move closer to first place. He turns the handle to gain speed. Coming around the corner, he makes a sharp turn putting him in fifth place as he pushes to make his way towards the lead; unknown to him, Mike was trailing behind. Mike takes this moment to gain enough speed to be neck and neck with Kevin. He then inches closer to Kevin's bike in hopes of either causing him to slow down or steer off the track and get disqualified.

Kevin noticed Mike's tactics as he was being steered closer to the edge of the track. He tried to avoid steering away from the edge but noticed they were about to head for another turn. If Mike timed it right, he could cause Kevin to fall and crash, making him lose the race. Mike makes his move, but before he can make contact, another bike comes between him and Kevin, which causes Mike to back off, making him slow down and lose momentum. Kevin quickly glances at his hero and sees that Sara came and intervened. She saluted Kevin reassuring him that she had his back and continued to focus on the race.

“I owe you one, Sara.” Kevin thought to himself as he used another opportunity to gain speed by making another risky sharp turn around the track, putting him in third place. The crowd begins to cheer even louder as they see Kevin is close to being in the lead.

Wow! The announcer shouted overhead. Number eighteen, Kevin Riley, is on fire today! This risk taker is pulling towards the lead. With the race halfway done, this could be it, folks, and we’ll have a winner shortly.

***

The two field workers returned with their bulldozers to finish the job. Each went to plow their area. One happened to make its way towards the tree with the white gemstone inside. The dozer made contact and slowly began to rip the tree up from its roots. The white gemstone reacted in defense to the tree being torn down and started to send out that high-pitched sound. Once again, no one in the area could hear the stone's high-pitch tone, and so it’s sound resounded, stretching far across the county, hoping it would reach someone that would heed its call.

***

It wasn’t long until Kevin was in second place, and they were almost coming to an end. The crowd cheered as the race got intense. Agent Reynolds continued to remain calm and watched the race, patiently waiting for the moment to make his move.

“This is incredible, folks!” The announcer exclaimed. “We’re down to the final lap, and number eighteen is gaining in the lead. Will he take first place and go to the nationals?”

The high-pitched sound made its way back to the stadium. As the sound traveled in that area, Kevin began to hear it again. It came out soft just like before and slowly began to build up in volume.

“No, not again. Not now.” Kevin thought to himself, nervous about what will happen soon.

Not taking any chances, Kevin speeds up, going neck and neck with the other racer, hoping to surpass him before the high-pitched sound pierces his ears, causing him to be in pain once more.

"It's neck and neck, folks." The announcer proclaimed. "Will it be number twenty-two Kirk Braff or number eighteen Kevin Riley?"

Kevin started gaining the lead, but the sound came over him as it began to build in his ears. With the helmet on, the sound felt as though it amplified its volume drowning out the other sounds. Instinctively, Kevin reacted by trying to cover one of his ears but remembered that he had a helmet on and couldn't block the noise. Kevin was helpless; the sound was so distracting that it caused him to swerve around the track. The other rider noticed and sped up to avoid crashing into him, putting Kevin back in fifth place. The crowd noticed and grew concerned over Kevin's performance, especially his Family.

"Something is wrong, folks. It seems number eighteen has lost control of his bike. What will he do now?" The announcer asked.

Kevin continued to try and ignore the sound; unknown to him, the Celtic-like markings returned, and his hands were once again beginning to build up with reiki energy. The other racers were beginning to drive past him, including Mike, as Kevin was distracted by the high-pitched sound. Kevin could see more racers coming from his side mirrors. Not wanting to lose, despite the pain coming from the sound, he wanted to win.

“I’m not going to let this beat me.” Kevin thought to himself. “I need to win….I have to win.”

The energy from Kevin’s hands begins to spread throughout his Bike. The bike becomes empowered by Kevin’s energy and his will to win. He then ignores the sound, and focuses on the race regaining his balance to continue. With the help of his energy-infused bike, he speeds past the other racers. Mike looks back, using his side mirrors to see Kevin gaining on him fast. Mike slows down a bit till he is beside Kevin and tries again to steer him off the track. As Mike inches closer, he notices Kevin’s hands were glowing with blue energy including the engine of his bike.

“What the.” He thought to himself.

As Mike was too close to Kevin’s handlebars, the energy from Kevin’s hand jumped onto Mike’s bike, but instead of powering it up, it caused his bike to act up. Unable to control his bike, Mike ends up crashing into several other racers causing him and the other racers to be disqualified.

“What a twist of events, folks!” The announcer calls out. “Number eighteen regains control. Unfortunately, number seven, Mike Reid, is now out of the race along with several other contestants. This could be it, folks. Can Kevin Riley take his team to the nationals?”

Kevin speeds up, trailing behind the first-place rider. He sees that he has one chance at making another risky sharp turn. He takes it, which then puts him in the lead.

Back at the construction site, one of the workers succeeded in plowing the tree down. The metal box with the stone inside falls out, landing next to the fallen tree. The lid opened wide, and the stone reacted by letting out a stronger sound. In outskirts of outer space the beam of light senses the waves of sound coming from the stone on earth, it sends its wave of sound back to the stone along with Princess Anya’s wish. The sound on Earth continued to travel towards the stadium. The crowd goes wild at the stadium as Kevin makes it through the finish line.

“He did it! He did it!” Yells the announcer over the P.A. “Kevin Riley wins, and his team is going to the nationals!”