[On your mark! Get set! Go!]
All the 25 contestants dashed and raced to the 500-meter mark, where the girls were waiting for them. Of course, the athletes who were active in sports clubs were in the lead and dominated the race.
Rudy was at the 6th spot on his 9th lane, running without using his powers.
‘I didn’t put enough effort in the run-up. I am not used to doing that as I can easily achieve high speed without run-ups.’
Rudy had a bad start, but that wasn’t the end of the race. He ran faster and left the number five behind, and continued catching up to the top three runners.
‘There is no need to get the band first. The only advantage is that it will give two points, but I don’t care about sports points as I am not going to participate in other activities. As long as I can reach the starting point, I am safe.
Rudy was the third one to reach the 500-meter mark and get the band. Janet couldn’t stop grinning when Rudy took the band from her, and she even thought of holding his hands, but of course, she didn’t.
Once Rudy had gotten the band, he ran as fast as possible and surpassed the number two. Around 100 meters had left when Rudy and the number one— Mason Schaar, were running toe to toe.
Either of them could come first, or the tables could turn at the last moment.
Rudy was on lane number nine, while Mason was on lane number eight. They were running neck to neck and trying their best to overtake each other.
Just like Rudy and Mason, the students and teachers watching the race were also on the edge of their seats. They were curious to find out who would win the race.
Suddenly Mason stepped into Rudy’s lane and bumped into Rudy, due to which Rudy stumbled and almost tripped on his way. While the Mason ran forward.
It might have seemed normal to the spectators, but it wasn’t.
‘If you are going to cheat, then there is no one to stop me from doing the same.’
Rudy activated 0.00000000000000001% of his power and simply pressed his feet against the ground, which gave him enough speed to catch up to Mason.
Just when Mason thought he had won, Rudy overtook him in the nick of time and won.
The audience started applauding and cheering Rudy’s victory.
In the next minute, the remaining students also finished the race.
[Ladies and Gentlemen! We have our winners! The first place goes to Rudy, and cheers for him for putting us at the edge of our seats! The second place goes to Mason, well deserved. And the third place goes to Miles!
Please welcome them on the stage as they watch and wait for the other batches to finish their race.]
Rudy raised his hand and said, “Excuse me! May I have a second, please?”
[Yes, go ahead. Do you have something to say?]
“Yes, I do.”
Rudy walked to the anchorman to get his mic and pointed his finger at Mason.
[This guy got into my lane and pushed me to the side so I would trip or stumble and lose my spot. I demand justice!]
The anchor took out another mic from under the table and turned it on as he said, [Oh, why, what do we have here? An accusation from our winner to our second winner!]
[He is no winner. Those who cheat are worse than the last ranker. I demand his disqualification from this year’s sports tournament!]
“Why are you lying?!” Mason snatched the mic from the anchorman and said, [You are lying.]
[Everyone saw how you stepped into my lane to stop me from overtaking you!]
[What are you talking about? Nothing of that sort happened. He is making things up. Even though he won the race, he is making a whiner’s excuses. I can’t imagine how he would have acted if he ranked 2nd instead of 1st.]
Rudy turned to Anthony, who was sitting at the top of the stage, and asked, [The match was recorded, right?]
“Yes, all matches are recorded,” Anthony nodded.
[Good. Can you replay the race from all the angels so the entire school can see what type of cheater Mason Schaar is.]
Mason gulped down in nervousness and said, [There is no need for that. Are you seriously going to cause all the drama for such a simple thing? What a loser. You don’t deserve to win the race or any race.
Other batches and students are waiting for their turns, but you want to make a drama for no reason. And why do you even care about that if you won in the end? It doesn’t matter, right?]
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“That’s enough. We will check the clips from all the angels and judge them by ourselves. Cheating will not be tolerated. Rather it is a school sports tournament or Olampics, cheating is cheating,” Anthony asserted.
It took five minutes for the experts to gather and compile the race clip from all angles. And once everything was set, it was played on the large screen on the playground so everyone could see it.
The recording was from five angels, and everything was clearly seen.
[As you can see, he stepped into my lane and stopped for a split second to send me into a spiral. If that’s not cheating, I don’t know what is.]
After realizing he was in danger, Mason said, [I admit that I stepped into his lane, but that happens all the time. Even in official races of national-level leagues, such a thing occurs, but that doesn’t mean you can defame them and call them a cheater.]
[True, but they don’t stop or try to get in the other runner’s way,] Rudy retorted. [They return to their lane in less than a second.]
[If anything, it’s your fault for not being cautious. I am glad that you didn’t score 2nd. Otherwise, who knows what you might be framing me for!]
“Enough!”
Anthony turned on his mic and said, [Everyone can see the clip and judge by themselves. We, teachers, have decided to refrain from judging, so we will leave it to our students. We just started the poll on the school’s website. You all can vote, and we will take it as the final verdict.]
