Post by Fiona McFly on May 30, 2016 2:44:29 GMT
Episode XIII
“LET THAT BE YOUR LAST BATTLEFIELD”
“LET THAT BE YOUR LAST BATTLEFIELD”
30 July 1994 – 7:30 PM
Under a cloudless Central Texas sky, we find ourselves basking under the bright lights of Fredericksburg's Battlin' Billie Stadium, the converted football venue that serves as the home for the town's summer racing series. Under crystal clear conditions, a crowd of nearly 7,000 spectators have gathered inside the stadium for the annual running of the town's annual summer go-kart race; it is where we find young Fiona McFly, proudly standing alongside the Mach Five, her racing machine, on the dirt track along with a field of seven other young and eager racers including Scott Farkus, who stands next to his all-black kart, grinning from ear to ear as he gazes his eyes upon the cheering gallery.
MR. SHEPPARD (voice): GRRRRRRRRR-EETINGS ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the 1994 Battlin' Bille Kannonball Kart Klassic—part of the 75th Annual Fredericksburg Summer Festival! We've got a field of eight talented kart racers from all corners of Texas...and beyond!
Fiona looked on with pride as fireworks boomed overhead, and red, white, and blue balloons are released high into the air as the driver introductions get underway. The fans go wild as the field of eight is introduced by the booming voice of "Mr. Sheppard," a former Fredericksburg High School English teacher who has served as the stadium's public address announcer since its opening in 1962.
MR. SHEPPARD (voice): Taking the pole position tonight, two-time defending champion of this event and always looking scary in that Darth Vader double-zero kart, Scott Farkus!
For the most part, the crowd gives off a mixed reaction of yays and boos as the town bully pumped his fist, raising his arms into the air and pointing to his legion of diehard supporters in the stands. At the rear of the pack, the 12-year-old girl--the only female driver in the field--simply closed her eyes, thinking about what was going to happen within the next few moments.
And then...the venerable announcer called her name with gusto.
MR. SHEPPARD (voice): ...and last but not least, taking the eighth place provisional, young Fiona McFly from Northern Ireland! This l'il lady might be smiling now, but when she hops into that powerful #5 machine, she'll be all business!
The onlookers in the bleachers greeted the foreigner with a mix of cheers....but also laughter, due in no small part to Fiona's leaf-green and silver racing attire not matching the red-white-blue color scheme of the #5 machine. Yet Fiona could only silently nod her head, remember the lessons she learned from her mentor Regina Kimble, the ex-Beckham Elementary School kindergarten teacher who helped her restore her confidence after her mother, Katherine McFly, betrayed her months ago.
Now, as young Fiona put on her silver racing helmet, she couldn't help but nod her head, turning her gaze toward Miss Kimble, who sat front and center in the main grandstand. She hopped into her go-kart, along with the other racers, and waited for Mr. Sheppard to give the most famous command in motorsports...
MR. SHEPPARD (voice): Drivers...start your engines!
...and with that, eight 150cc motors started in unison. Fiona could no longer hear the cheering fanbase inside the stadium, for the cacophony of engines roaring to life drowned out the ambience. Yet she pulled down her visor and looked straight ahead, toward an red-shirted official holding a starter's gun high into the air.
Fiona's eyes were focused.
Her ears were clicked.
As flashbulbs from cameras popped around from all corners of the old sports stadium, the starter's gun sounded, and all eight karts took off on cue.
The race was on!
********
FIONA'S JOURNAL
Date: 24 May 2016
FIONA'S JOURNAL
Date: 24 May 2016
My dear lovelies...the time has arrived.
After a year's worth of toiling away through the muck, listening as other people constantly kept telling me that I wasn't “good enough” to be able to compete in the IWF, I stand before you, the masses, on the precipice of something very special. To be a part of Night of the Immortals, to be co-headlining Imperial's biggest showpiece as your Iron Maiden, is truly one of the most magical things that I've ever experienced since I first signed up to participate in this very sport. Yet on a night where new friendships can be born, or where new enemies will be made, I will be walking onto the Chicago Soldier Field—one of gridiron's most hallowed grounds—with a chance to prove to the entire world that I am not a fluke, that nothing happens by accident.
This is my moment to shine.
This is my opportunity to become the Diamonds Champion.
Yet to be fair, none of this would've been possible had I not learned a few things along the way—things like learning to grow, to evolve into the person I am today. This night would not have become a reaility for me had I not looked back toward last year's event, when I competed in Landover against Firenze Everett for the old Ruby Championship. I might've been cheated out of that title on that very night, but in retrospect...I felt quite underconfident about my own abilities. After all, I was still relatively new to the Imperial landscape and, in the interest of fairness, I needed more time to discover what it took to be successful in this gig.
Yet I almost never got the chance to be an IWF Diamond in the first place.
None of this would've actually taken shapee without learning a valuable life lesson.
********
The initial stages of the race began as all eight drivers immediately jockeyed for position going into the first and second turn at speeds of 25 miles an hour. Fiona took the inside lane, passing by the #47 "Creamsicle Orange" and white kart to gain a spot, moving up to the seventh position. The creamsicle-hued car tried to make a move on the outside coming out of the second turn and into the backstretch, only for the young Northern Irishgirl to put the block on, causing her to be pushed forward by the draft caused by the aerodynamically constructed racing machines.
MR. SHEPPARD (voice): Welp, looks like the field is jockeying for position early on! Hopefully, the new aerodynamics on these machines will help create a karting experience unlike anything I've ever seen before!
At this moment in time, Fiona is able to hear the old P.A. announcer's voice and glean from his commentary; as the field transitions into turns three and four, Fiona found herself driving into a pack of three karts, led by the fourth place driver in the number sixty-nine Dallas Cowboys-themed silver and blue machine and trailed by the sixth place driver in the #9 "victory green" and white kart. Using the racing tips she picked up from Miss Kimble, Fiona utilized the draft to her advantage, quickly moving toward the inside lane and passing the #9, moving into the sixth position.
MR. SHEPPARD (voice): Well, well...looks like Miss McFly's picked up a few spots since the start—she's now in 6th place and looking for more!
The old, rickety go-kart made its way toward the start-finish line as she immediately switched back to the outside as the eight go-karts completed the first circuit, bringing her alongside the victory green-colored kart as lap two commences.
**********
For those who are getting to know me for the very first time, I was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
As a child, the prospects of being able to live out an honest life were quite dim—for my Belfast was considered to be one of the scariest places to live in the world because there had been an ongoing civil conflict. My father, a proud, hard-working officer in the Royal Navy, would often take me to one of the local pubs in the darkest areas of the city, allowing me to listen to ghost stories of days past. On one of those days, me and him were singing together over piping hot mugs of Earl Grey...when the unthinkable happened. A vengeful anti-Republican mob stormed the pub and took away the one thing he swore to protect with his life.
His manhood. His dignity. All gone in the blink of an eye.
And the worst part of it...was that I could do nothing to stop my father from being emasculated in front of me.
As I grew older, there was a part of me that wanted to feel ashamed of being from Northern Ireland. There was a part of my well-being that wishes I'd have nothing to do with my native land. A half of my very soul, my conscience, was telling me to give in to the hatred that mob showed toward my father and allow the seeds of violence and unholiness to consume me. Yet...even through the darkest moments of my life, my mum made me realise the most important thing I've ever had to learn. That even in the darkest of cities, the scariest of hellholes...there were beacons of light all around, shining upon the darkness and bringing joy and happiness to a world that, quite frankly, needs it more than ever.
That helped me to change—to evolve into the person I am today.
Now...I can say, without fear of being laughed at, that I am very proud to call Belfast, Northern Ireland. I am honoured to be a beacon of light and deliverer of hope and smiles to my countrymen and women. I am thrilled to be able to walk into an IWF arena—or anywhere else—and wave my Ulster Banner with grace, dignity, and pride. I am eternally blessed and grateful to be able to represent my country with humility and respect for all the peoples of the planet.
And I don't plan on letting anyone down—not on this night.
**********
~LAP 2~
At the start of the second lap, Fiona found herself side by side with the #9 go-kart as she continued her march toward the front. She is able to get behind the #72 purple-and-white hued "Plinkomobile" that is being driven by Robert Barker, a 13-year-old game show nerd hailing from Austin, Texas. Yet instead of trying to pass him, however, Fiona stays closely behind him, opting to give her fellow competitor a push toward the front and, in the process, allowing her to take in the draft.
MR. SHEPPARD (voice): Would y'all believe this?! Miss Fiona has apparently found herself a tag-team partner in Robert Barker, but will that alliance crumble? We'll never know 'til we find out...
The Mach Five gives the Price is Right-themed racing machine a slight nudge in the back bumper, but the alliance holds true as they go into turns one and two. As the two drivers turn into the back straightaway, they take to the inside lane, passing the black-and-gold #33 and the red-white-black Chicago Bulls-themed #23 as they field continued down the backstretch.
Now Robert and Fiona were in 3rd and 4th place respectively as they approached the third turn at top speed. Breezing by the #24 Seattle Mariners-inspired racing machine, the unlikely duo now found themselves in 2nd and 3rd place. Fiona gave her partner the go-ahead to pass Farkus, who has lead throughout the entire race so far in his all-black #00, and the Belfast native watched in front of her as Barker used the momentum of the draft to his advantage, blowing by the 16-year-old town bully to take the lead.
But it didn't last forever.
As Barker was driving on the outside lane, Scott Farkus gave him a good shunt, sending the #72 car spinning toward the inside retaining wall! Fiona, seeing the spin happen in front of her, quickly moved out of the way--but this nearly turned her sideways in the fourth turn as welll! Amazingly, Fiona is able to correct the skid and keep on racing, but the damage had already been done.
MR. SHEPPARD (voice): OH—WE GOT TROUBLE! BIG CRASH IN TURN FOUR...
Robert Barker's spin had caused the entire field to crash into each other, sending karts spinning in all directions. The crowd gasped in shock and horror as the #72 flipped after being struck, causing the 13-year-old Austin boy to flip onto his head. As Farkus and Fiona exited the turn and headed toward the start-finish line to conclude the second lap, the marshal waved his red flag into the air. Instantly, Farkus and McFly came to a stop just short of the line.
The young preteen girl, angry and hurt, breathed heavily and gritted her teeth. "How DARE he..." Fiona muttered to herself, eyes wide open at the chaos her rival had caused--for it was very reminiscent of an accident which took the life of the town mayor's son, Bobby Joe, one year ago at this very same venue. Yet somehow, someway, it only managed to strengthen her resolve to not only beat Darth Vader double-zero at his own game...
...but to win the whole damn race.
**********
Eternity, it's between me and you.
And I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
In so many ways...you remind me of me when I was a child. We were both traumatised by some tragic event. We were once wayward souls, lost as the violence of our fateful moments in time tried to consume every fiber of our own well-being. And as we got older, we both had to give it everything we've got in order to be considered worthy enough to be successful in the IWF. W've won the Iron Maiden—yours in 2014, mine this year—and we, on our own, strived to compete at the highest possible level every single week.
But there's one thing that separates me from you—and that's the mind.
Whilst you lack things like humility and respect, I strive to preserve those tenets of life in the only way I can.
I could ramble on and on, calling you a bunch of ungrateful names to help me describe just who you really are. I could talk all day about how many people you've managed to bring down to your level through your endless need to satisfy your own personal demons. I could sit there and tell the entire world about the mind games you've constantly played on the other Diamonds, about how you're mentally unfit to be even CONSIDERED for the Diamonds Championshp much less hold that rophy in the first place. I could sleep all dway whilst thinking about the fact that you are, indeed, a compassionless and tortured soul who merely cares about perversion and the desire to hurt other people psychologically.
But I won't do that darling—for I will be playing into your hands and not on my own terms.
For unlike you...I am one voice. One mind. One conscience.
And you...have neither one of those things.
**********
Forty-five minutes had passed since the accident, but the race finally resumed. The two bitter enemies, Scott Farkus and Fiona McFly, took off as the green flag waved to start the third and final lap.
"Now," the Northern Irishgirl thought as she got behind the all-black go-kart. "Let's settle this--once and for all."
The Belfast native quickly drove up behind Farkus' machine, giving it a slight nudge as the two drivers entered turns one and two. As they headed toward the backstretch for the last time, Fiona took to the outside lane--only to be blocked by Farkus. She switched to the inside--but again, she only found herself blocked by the more skilled 15-year-old! Fiona gritted her teeth, angered that her biggest rival would resort to blocking and cheating tactics in order to win a race. But as the two karts exited the straightaway and headed into the final two turns, the Northern Irishgirl's scowl turned into a wide smile.
She wasn't about to let herself be consumed by anger or hatred.
She had to beat the bully--but on her OWN terms, not his.
Fiona took to the outside land as she and Scott entered the third turn! The fans in the bleachers went wild, taking pictures as the two enemies were side by side heading toward the finish line!
MR. SHEPPARD (voice): That l'il lassie from across the pond is outta her Vulcan mind--they're side by side!! It's a drag race between the double-oh and the number five as we head toward the finish!!!
Realizing that Farkus has no qualms about bumping her off the track like he did to Robert Barker, Fiona placed her right hand upon a small lever and closed her eyes; as time seemed to slow down in her mind, the Belfast native sighed to herself upon hearing the final piece of instruction given to her by her mentor...
..."now, LIVE in the moment!"
Nodding her head warmly, Fiona pushed the lever forward, causing the Mach Five to quickly gain more speed, passing by the Vader-themed go-kart to raucous cheers and leaving Scott Farkus in the dust! The stadium spectators rise to their feet as one, popping their flashbulbs as Fiona saw the checkered flag upon crossing the finish line!
MR. SHEPPARD (voice): GOLLY, SHE DID IT!! YOUNG FIONA HAS TAKEN THE CHECKERS!! GO CRAZY FOLKS--GO CRAZY!!!
Fiona slowed her kart down, humbly looking around and peering her eyes toward the ecstatic audience. Yet she could only breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that the race was finally over and done with. Tears of joy and happiness began streaming down as stopped her kart in the middle of turns one and two and hopped out of her racing machine.
She won the race for the boy named Jack Gaither, whose life was torn apart in a manner she couldn't have imagined.
For Regina Kimble, who moved to the dusty, old town of Fredericksburg in order to seek redemption after falling on hard times.
For Mayor Joe Carey, whose son was taken away from him in a senseless racing accident.
But more importantly...young Fiona McFly won for herself.
~TO BE CONCLUDED~
**********
Now Eternity, I want you to listen VERY closely.
You might learn something.
I could've lost that wonderful Northern Irish temperament of mine the very moment you decided that you wanted to play all those mind games with me. I could've easily struck you right in the face the very moment you decided to cut off my iHeartRadio whilst I was enjoying some peace and quiet. I could've sat there and beat the living piss out of you after you personally caused me and Jack to lose that match. I could've easily stooped to your level of dispassionate, compassionless, cold-blooded behaviour throughout these past few weeks, and you...quite frankly, would've been quite overjoyed at seeing another puppet being swooned into your charms.
Well I've got a newsflash for you—I did NEITHER of those things. Had I done so, I would've forgotten the very things I had to learn ever since I was a child—things like evolution and growth as a human being in a modern civilisation that wants to eat me alive.
I don't play mind games...for I am NOT your puppet.
I am the FUTURE of the IWF women's division. I am the beacon of light that will shine upon you and expose you for the remorseless living soul you truly are. I am the deliverer of hope, bringing joy, smiles, love, and pure happiness to all the children and people of the whold whilst you bring nothing hatred and suffering in order to satisfy your own perverse, demonic pleasures. I will be the one who will overcome you when all others have failed to do so...
...and become your brand-new IWF Diamonds Champion.
Cheers!
Well howdy there pardner.