The world’s best left the O’raceway after a hard-fought day on the pavement and sand. The podium finishers rolled off with their teams after bidding their farewells to the masses of fans longing for autographs and pictures. Royal and Red Eye had slowly built a history of electric battles in Marbula One, but Red Eye’s poor qualifying performance allowed Royal to finish the race relatively unthreatened. Sandwiched between the two rivals was the newcomer, Ecto. The Plasma marble made their mark on the circuit by charging to a silver medal. The three went to their respective post-race press conferences, where reporters waited patiently for the day’s star performers.
Red Eye settled themselves at the stand, setting their bronze trophy and Most Valuable Marble plaque on the table. Despite being the greatest attraction in Marbula One, Red Eye never had been terribly fond of interviews.
“So, what do you want to know?”
One reporter piped up immediately, “Red Eye! You were incredible today. Seventeen positions gained in one race is crazy! How did you do it?”
“It’s simple,” the two-time champ replied, “I refocused myself after the setback and stuck to my training. I know I’m the best, that was the time to prove it.”
“Prove it you did,” another analyst piped in, “what’s next for you Red Eye?”
“What’s next?” Red Eye repeated before pointing at the bronze trophy they had received, “I’m going to make that thing gold.”
Ecto found themselves in a huge gaggle on their way to the conference room. One race into their career and they already gained a silver medal!
“Come on Ecto, we’ve got a schedule here,” urged Cell, “I’d really rather you not be late to your first podium press conference.”
“Just one more autograph?” asked Ecto jovially.
“Fine, but I’m not taking the blame when marbles are wondering where the silver medalist is.”
“Oh pipe down Cell, I’m just messing with you. Come on, let’s get going,” Ecto replied. It took the whole roll to the conference for Ecto to truly process what was happening, the fans wanted to see them, the O’raceway silver medalist, as much as they wanted to see anyone else… “Ecto, the silver medalist,” they thought, looking at the shining trophy they’d earned, “I could get used to that.”
Royal had gotten used to the spotlight. After adjusting to being a star in the world of Marbula One, they had begun to expect good results, as is the mindset of an athlete. Who could blame them? In their last two races, Royal had taken two gold medals, one of which came by a clutch pass on the individual champion, Red Eye. They had beaten the very best multiple times now, confidence was to be expected.
“Hey, Marblearth to Royal? You still there, champ?” Coach Sapphire whispered to Royal. They had zoned out on the roll to the conference room.
“Yeah, I’m good. Just thinking,” replied Royal. They were thinking hard too. Having become such an exciting prospect in such a short time, Royal hadn’t really thought of the pressure of fighting for a title until just now. The fans didn’t just want them to win, they expected it, and Royal couldn’t bear the thought of disappointing those fans.
“Hey, don’t worry about them,” Sapphire said, as if reading Royal’s mind, “your job is to compete. Whether you get first or last, we’re all behind you. You could never let us down, Royal. Don’t even let yourself think that you might.”
“Thanks,” Royal said quietly, “I needed that. Now let’s go talk to them.”
Credits
- Writer: Mystic
- Editor: GhostDM
- Photographer: Jelle’s Marble Runs
- Reference: Marbula One S4 GP2 O’raceway RACE – Jelle’s Marble Runs
- Release: 12/05/2023
Project Marblearth 