Canyon Chaos (8 page)

RACE 1: Canyon Chaos

...for a sneak peek of the next Robot Races adventure.

“Come on, Cabbie! You can do it!” shouted Jimmy at the top of his voice. Cabbie squealed around a corner, his back end swerving away from the road. He was going so fast he nearly toppled over the side of the narrow track into the deep canyon below. The wheels span as the robot racer tried to speed off, sending a cloud of dust up into the air.

“Well, hot dawg! If that ain’t the slyest, smartest bit of driving I seen in years!” said the American commentator on the TV.

Jimmy smiled proudly. “Watch your speed, Cabbie!” he shouted at the old, flickering television. Of course, he had no reason to worry. He knew exactly what would happen next in the race – he had been driving Cabbie at the time.

Jimmy and his best friend Max were sat on the mouldy old sofa in Jimmy’s living room, watching a re-run of the first stage of the Robot Races Championship. On the screen the plume of dust and exhaust smoke settled to show Cabbie racing along the sandy track, a heat haze rising in front of him. The camera rose to show the other contestants.

There was Princess Kako in her silver leathers, riding her robobike, Lightning. She looked effortlessly cool as she zipped along the track.

Chip, the American racer, was next in his large yellow digger-like robot called Dug. The size and weight of Dug meant that he didn’t look as elegant as Princess Kako, more like a terrifying herd of buffalo stampeding down the track.

In his deadly-looking hoverbot Maximus, Samir – the quiet Egyptian boy – swept by as smoothly as a skater across an ice rink.

Missy, the Australian tomboy, trundled along in her four-wheeled giant racer, Monster.

Finally the camera panned to show the sleek black racing-car like robot named Zoom, and Jimmy winced as the camera turned to its driver, Horace Pelly. Horace had been annoying enough when Jimmy was at school with him, but now they were racing against each other, he had hit new levels of smugness. Jimmy couldn’t believe it when Horace flipped the visor up on his helmet and winked at the camera, his gleaming white teeth reflecting in the sunlight before he accelerated off down the track.

Jimmy rolled his eyes at Horace.
What a show off
, he thought.

On the TV the racers were coming to the final section of the track and Jimmy allowed himself a grin. After all, he knew how the race ended!

“This is shaping up to be one of the most exciting finishes of a Robot Race ever!” bellowed the TV commentator.

“Go, Cabbie, go!” Max whooped in the living room, bouncing up and down on the sofa like a jack-in-the-box.

Jimmy watched as he saw himself and his rickety robot Cabbie closing in on the two state-of-the-art robots, Lightning and Zoom.

Jimmy had been watching the Robot Races for years and he still couldn’t believe that now he was actually taking part in them. Even though he knew how it all turned out, he couldn’t help feeling nervous as he watched himself speed down the home straight. With the finish line in sight, Princess Kako had opened up a gap between herself and the other two racers, leaving Jimmy and Horace battling it out for second place.

“Fire your rocket-boosters!” Max shouted at the TV, and Jimmy grinned. It was so strange to hear his best friend cheering him on in the same way that they’d always cheered for their favourite robot racers.

On the flickering screen, the other Jimmy held his nerve, waiting until the last moment to use his boosters. With the chequered flag in the air just a few hundred metres away, there was an explosion of fire from Cabbie’s thrusters. The rockets propelled him across the line into second place.

“Yes!” yelled Jimmy.

“Awesome!” shrieked Max.

They leaped up in the air and high-fived before doing a little jig together in the middle of the room. Jimmy immediately felt a bit silly celebrating a finish which had taken place over a week ago, but the re-run was the first chance he’d had to see the race since he’d taken part in it. The TV cut to the commentators in the studio.

“Well, I’ll be...! It don’t get more exciting than that! Princess Kako rockets into first place, while underdog Jimmy Roberts from” – the presenter paused while he tried to say the name of Jimmy’s town – “Smed-ing-ham in the UK, takes second. A fine performance, and we’re not the only ones who think so!”

The TV cut to a familiar face. Big Al, one of the superstars of Robot Races, stood alongside his robot, Crusher. He was Jimmy and Max’s favourite ever contender. Jimmy had posters of Big Al all over his bedroom walls. Max was an even bigger fan. He had once asked his mum if he could get a tattoo of Crusher.

“Big Al, when it was announced that Lord Leadpipe was going to run the Robot Races Championship for children under sixteen years old, did you ever think the talent would be this good?” the interviewer asked.

The large American racer laughed – a big, booming laugh that shook Jimmy’s old TV so hard that the picture frame on top of it slid off and crashed to the floor.

“We all know that Lord Leadpipe likes to shake things up, and he’s a smart guy. He knew what he was doing! The racing I’ve seen from these youngsters has been
crazy
, man! That first race was amazing!” Big Al said, almost spitting out his gum in excitement.

“Who stood out for you?” asked the interviewer.

Big Al turned to look at the camera. “Folks, you only need to remember one name in this competition, and that’s Jimmy Roberts.”

Jimmy’s mouth fell open as he heard his name being mentioned by one of his heroes.

“Jimmy’s got it all – speed, style and timing. His racing last week was outstanding!”

Back home, Jimmy could barely breathe with shock. A little bit of dribble left his mouth and plopped onto the carpet.

“The robots this year are great,” continued Big Al. “There are some sweet designs out there, but Cabbie’s the one to watch. He reminds me of Crusher years ago when I first built him. He doesn’t look all that great, but he’s got
soul
.”

Max jumped up and down on the sofa in excitement, his floppy brown hair swishing in different directions. “Big Al is a fan of
my
best friend. That practically makes him
my
friend! Jimmy, do you think he’d take us for a spin in Crusher?”

But Jimmy was too speechless to reply. He felt like he was in a dream. It was just a few weeks since he had first heard of the special Robot Races Championship for children. And on that very same day he’d learned that his eccentric old grandpa who drove a taxi for a living was actually a robotics genius. Within days Grandpa had knocked together a robot racer made out of his old taxi and some spare parts he had lying around in his shed. The next thing Jimmy knew, he was in the local time trials, and when he sped to victory, he became a contender for the championship. He was whisked off to the Grand Canyon to compete against the best young racers in the world.

Sometimes it felt so awesome that Jimmy thought he might explode.

“Well, I suppose I better get home,” Max said. “Mum wants to take me and my nan to the shops.”

“Sounds like fun,” Jimmy replied, pulling a face as he opened the front door.

“Not really,” said Max. “I’ll have to spend an hour watching them choose a pair of woolly socks. It’s nowhere near as much fun as hanging around with your grandpa.”

Jimmy grinned. Max was right: living with Grandpa
was
pretty cool. He watched Max trudge off down the street, then went and peered out of the back window. At the bottom of the garden was a rickety old wooden shed with small dirty windows. It looked like the kind of building that you would use for storing a lawnmower and maybe a couple of spades, but Jimmy knew that behind those doors lay the entrance to his grandpa’s secret underground laboratory. It had been built by the most secret department of the Secret Services, and it was where Grandpa had built the world’s first-ever robot...

The loud banging continued, followed by some horrible grinding and scraping noises. Grandpa had been down there ever since the previous day, when it had been announced on TV that the next race would be held in South America – a stage that the commentators were already calling “The Rainforest Rampage”.

As Jimmy looked at the shed, sparks came flying out of the open window, landing on the uncut grass outside. There was a scary sounding
clang
– then a roar from inside as the whole shed started to shake.

“It’s going to take off!” yelped Jimmy. He dashed out of the back door and ran over to the shuddering shack. Putting his hand on the door handle, he braced himself and wrenched the door open.

“All right, Jimmy?” said Grandpa.

“Hi, Grandpa,” Jimmy replied, peering down the slope into the underground lab.

Grandpa looked like a crazy scientist with his wild hair and brass goggles. There was soot all over his face and oil spattered on his navy-blue overalls. In his hands he held a large silver rocket which was buzzing dangerously like it contained thousands of angry wasps. Before Jimmy could move, a huge jet of blue flame erupted from it, heading straight for him!

Read Rainforest Rampage to find out what happens next!

Jimmy and Cabbie are ready for the next race in the championship – a daring dash through the deepest, darkest, jungle. Cabbie’s new gadgets might give him an edge, but will he let his fear of snakes hold him back? Jimmy’s friend Sammy and his hovercraft robot, Maximus, are right behind them, so every second counts.

With arch-enemy Horace up to his usual tricks, will Jimmy even finish the race?

Jimmy and Cabbie are off again, and this time there are three fiendishly difficult Arctic routes to choose from. Cabbie’s been fitted with lots of things to keep them toasty warm, but Jimmy’s sneaky arch-enemy Horace and his robot Zoom have got a flamethrower ... and they’re not afraid to use it!

Are Jimmy and Cabbie’s chances of winning melting fast?

The adventure through the sweltering Sahara desert is a race with no track! Missy and her huge robot, Monster, are used to racing in the Australian outback, but even they are stumped when the robots and their racers have to solve clues to find the right direction. It will take brains as well as gadgets to reach the finish line!

Can Jimmy and Cabbie surf the sand dunes and finish first?