After winning their qualifying races, Keiichi and Belldandy race together in a three-wheeled ATV on the college circuit against a pair of formidable American racers.
Summary[]
Having managed to qualify for the final rounds, Urd declares that it should be easy to win the competition, although Megumi seems less confident due to the fact that they just barely qualified to begin with. Keiichi sees Urd fired up and becomes nervous due to past experiences with the old Goddess. Tamiya claims he feels like the future of the club is at stake, but Keiichi remains less enthusiastic knowing that the hulking man had already wasted their budget. The club director prepares to do his victory dance, but is stopped by Keiichi. Although he seems depressed by the idea of racing in the Mazda T2000 off road vehicle, Otaki calls him out on his lack of faith, instead pointing out all of the positive qualities of the vehicle.
While the others prepare for the main event, Belldandy is shown changing her clothing inside of a van reserved for crew members, silently stalked by Toshiyuki Aoshima. Unbeknownst to the Goddess, Aoshima rigged the vehicle so that it could only be unlocked from the outside, hoping that she won't be able to escape until the competition is over. Upon discovering this, she begins to panic, knowing that the event is just about to start. Back on the racetrack, one of the Auto Club members points out that Belldandy is going to disqualified if she doesn't show up soon.
As the vehicles begin pulling up to the starting line, Diana Lockheed expresses excitement at racing against Keiichi after he defeated her boyfriend in the qualifier, claiming the thought turns her on. Keiichi worries that he Belldandy won't make it on time when she suddenly appears by his side, mentioning that the door to the van wouldn't open. Aoshima expresses shock that she manage to escape and decides to use his backup plan, but Urd catches wind of his scheming and decides to keep an eye on things.
Since the final competition is a rally, the main objective is for the racers to reach the designated points at the right time while traveling the recommended speeds. Although Keiichi understands the instructions, the vehicle shakes so much that it makes it difficult for him to read the speedometer. He expresses panic due to the unexpected setbacks, but Belldandy tells him to focus on relaxing instead, prompting them to pop in a mix tape to ease the stress. As they cruise along listening to the music, Urd is revealed to have placed one of her earrings in the vehicle with them to keep tabs on the situation.
The person at the first checkpoint reveals that they received zero points, much to Belldandy's dismay, but Keiichi explains that the points represent mistakes in this case, which means they cleared the first stretch perfectly. While each racer must answer a question sheet before being allowed to continue, the woman at the gate gives them an incredibly difficult problem, having been instructed to do so by Aoshima. Keiichi compares his question to those given to the other drivers and notices the difference in challenge, but Belldandy manages to crack it in two minutes flat. Aoshima is surprised to hear this and promptly fires the woman. Meanwhile Diana Lockheed and David are shown to be having problems of their own due to their inability to read Japanese kanji.
As the race continues, Belldandy realizes that she used too much energy to escape Aoshima's trap earlier, the clairvoyance she used to navigate the rally only draining her further. Keiichi notices her sluggish behavior, but she denies anything is wrong. Diana compliments their skills upon reaching the next checkpoint, but seems confident that Keiichi's vehicle won't be able to perform as well in the cross-country segment of the race. They continue on participating in a curried rice eating contest at the second checkpoint, but Belldandy finally reaches her limit and passes out. Keiichi realizes she can no longer help him, but Urd appears in miniature form sitting on the steering wheel, claiming that the only way to wake her up faster is to give Belldandy a kiss. He seems excited by the idea, but Urd claims she was only kidding, much to his annoyance. Urd tells him to place a hand on Belldandy's breast and point the other towards the sky, an act that allows the natural energy around them to channel into Belldandy's body and revitalize her.
Once Belldandy is conscious again, Keiichi mentions that Urd ended up saving the day with her advice, and the duo easily make up for lost time. After passing another checkpoint and entering the beach segment of the race, Belldandy has them drive where cement blocks are buried beneath the sand, the speed advantage allowing them to surpass the American team and win the race. Keiichi hoists Belldandy onto his shoulder with a victory cheer, pumping a fist into the air as she holds the trophy. Although Diana wonders if they used some kind of Oriental Magic to win, she realizes what they were doing afterwards, while still believing it to be a miracle. After the competition is over, Keiichi finds out that their prize money will be withheld until they deduct the cost of the food and drink consumed by the rest of the Auto Club during the festivities, making him wonder just how much they managed to eat.
Quick Reference[]
Chapter Notes[]
- Keiichi wins the Auto Club a major race, making them number 1 on the college circuit.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
- Belldandy
- Urd
- Megumi Morisato (cameo)
- Keiichi Morisato
- Toraichi Tamiya
- Hikozaemon Otaki
- Diana Lockheed
- David Proter