The checkered flag waved and Clementin crossed the line for the win. The O’s in the stands were louder than they had been in a long time, and nobody was happier than Clem. They immediately jumped over the wall and rolled over to their rowdy fans and celebrated like a youth athlete who had just won their first race. Soon Orangin and Rango joined them and some of the fans too; a scene of uncontrollable excitement reminiscent of their Season 3 team championship. Hopping up and down, rolling side to side, everyone was thrilled to see Clem finally get the first M1 win in their career.
“To all our amazing fans who stuck with me this entire time….. I DID IT!!!” Clem yelled excitedly. They rolled over to the podium with Rango, and stood proud holding the impressively big trophy. The Non-Descript soda they were given was poured on Clem by Orangin once they got off the podium, and the celebration continued all the way to the locker room.
Red Eye rolled away from the podium more upset than they should have been, given they were carrying a silver medal, two weeks in a row of falling just short of two of their biggest competitors. They had already passed Clementin, who had begun a makeshift party within minutes of the podium ceremony. What was it like to be that excited for a victory?
Nothing could ever feel as simple as their first season in Marbula One, when the Crazy Cat’s Eyes went from a team “to fill space” to a runaway champion. A party for the podium was a long-gone illusion to Red Eye – an accomplishment that didn’t need such an exuberant reaction, but was simply expected.
The heaviest crown in marble sports, the Racer’s Championship, continued to rest on their head; their expectation had been that it would never leave. All of these challengers, Royal, Cloudy, Momo; none of them had even the slightest understanding of what it meant to be the best in the world, and Red Eye was only just starting to understand it themselves. Looking around the gray and foggy landscape, Red Eye wondered what might have been if it weren’t for their Greenstone showing as the standings flashed across the stadium. Heading inside, Red Eye couldn’t wait to get away from the crowd of racers and reporters.
Momo briefly caught up with Clementin in the hallway to congratulate them, but Clem was swept away by their teammates before they could respond. In the locker room, Clementin got out their celebratory donuts and finally got to enjoy them as a winner.
“To the sweet taste of donuts – I mean personal victory,” Clementin said, toasting to their teammates as they practically inhaled their first donut. By the end of the night, janitors found only the empty donut box left in the locker room, with no crumbs in sight.
By now the crowds had cleared and the racers had been escorted away from the mountain. Momo and Mimo sat side by side on a bench, looking into the dimly lit evening, the former still buzzing from the bronze medal they had earned mere hours ago. Momo looked over at their teammate to see a different emotion. Not quite sadness, but they weren’t sure exactly what.
“Hey, is everything alright?” Momo asked. It was unlike Mimo to seem so glum after a race.
“Yeah,” Mimo replied, “I just remember sitting here two seasons ago and wondering what went wrong. It’s not my favorite track, you know that. I just wish I could get a second chance.”
“That wasn’t your fault and you know it, Mimo,” Momo said calmly, “This place? It’s a Team Momo track. Just think about it! They had to restart the whole race to keep you from dominating. I’m sure you’ll get another chance, and when you do it won’t get taken from you again.” The two looked at each other in silence for a few seconds, before Mimo looked down at Momo’s bronze medal.
“You’re right,” Mimo said, “I will get another chance. Then I’ll truly be the first reserve.”
“You always have been the first reserve. No one can take that away from you, either,” asserted Momo, gazing into the haze as dark as the night sky above them. “Remember what happened last year for me in Zuro? Go show up where I didn’t.”
Credits
- Writers: Mystic, Pesky
- Editor: Stynth
- Photographer: Jelle’s Marble Runs
- Reference: Marbula One S4 GP7 Misty Mountain RACE – Jelle’s Marble Runs
- Release: 16/06/2023
Project Marblearth 