From the starting gate, it was all-out, full-throttle chaos—a reckless, kamikaze strategy to anyone watching. Yet, she was so overwhelmingly, impossibly dominant that she tore through the field, far ahead of the pack.
"DOKKAN TURBOOOO!!"
At the 300-meter mark, the gap to the second-place Uma Musume was staggering—over ten lengths. She's bound to fade soon, the other debutantes thought. No one can keep that pace in the final stretch. Even in a 1400-meter sprint, no one could possibly maintain that breakneck speed without a moment's pause.
"FULL TURBOOOO!!"
"No way… how is she still accelerating!? What's going on!?"
Their assumptions weren't wrong—normally, such a pace would collapse. But this Uma Musume ran with a single, pure desire: to lead from start to finish because it felt right. That's why she'd joined Canopus, training relentlessly to catch up to her teammates, Metjiro Rampage and Ikuno Dictus.
"Unbelievable!! A total domination—an absolute rout!! Twin Turbo claims a crushing victory with a jaw-dropping thirteen-length lead!! Canopus has unleashed yet another phenomenal Uma Musume in a blazing debut!!"
"I did it!! Did you see that, Ran!? From today, Turbo's the ace of Canopus!!"
Her bold declaration carried the weight of truth after such a performance. Twin Turbo bounced with unrestrained joy, her victory a testament to the grueling hours she'd poured into training. The results spoke for themselves.
"Alright, here we go!!"
In a different race, this one 1800 meters, another Uma Musume made her move just past the halfway mark, at over 1000 meters. With 800 meters left, her early sprint stunned the field. She surged forward, accelerating relentlessly, overtaking the pack and seizing the lead in a breathtaking charge.
"No way she can keep this up!" her rivals thought. "She'll burn out!"
A long sprint with so much distance left should've been suicidal, but she kept accelerating. With light, almost dance-like steps, she conquered the hill, then barreled down the slope without losing speed. The centrifugal force pushed her outward, but she harnessed it, turning it into even more momentum.
"Still got more! Way more!!"
Her rivals panicked. She didn't falter, didn't slow, and their hesitation cost them. Misjudging their timing, they couldn't catch the Uma Musume streaking ahead.
"She's in!! Nice Nature storms through with a long sprint from over 1000 meters, claiming a commanding seven-length victory!!"
"Could've kept going, but thanks for the cheers~!" Nice Nature said, waving to the crowd with a cheerful grin. Her easygoing demeanor won fans instantly, but it also sent a chill through the audience: Canopus was growing even stronger.
"Twin Turbo's runaway triumph!!"
"Nice Nature's relentless long sprint!!"
"Is Canopus set to be next year's powerhouse!?"
"I get that you're excited, but… how many of these did you buy!?" Rampage groaned.
"They wrote about Turbo so big and bold! How could I not buy them all!?" Twin Turbo shot back.
"Show some restraint, you dummy!!"
The Canopus clubroom was buried under a mountain of newspapers, all trumpeting Twin Turbo and Nice Nature's debut victories. Canopus was riding a wave of momentum, so the media frenzy was expected, but Turbo's enthusiasm had gone overboard—she'd bought every copy she could find.
"That's… a lot of newspapers," Rice Shower said, eyeing the stacks. "All about Turbo-san and Nature-san."
"So cool~! I wanna be in the papers like that too!" Winning Ticket chimed in.
"Yeah, but this is too much…" Ikuno muttered.
Rice and Ticket admired the coverage, aspiring to reach the same heights, but even they couldn't ignore the sheer excess.
"How much did this cost you?" Rampage asked, exasperated.
"Uh… no idea~!" Turbo said with a grin.
"Here's the receipt," Ikuno said, holding it up. "She used her debut race prize money for this."
"Why would you spend your prize money on this!?" Rampage groaned.
Sure, debut races came with prize money, but blowing it on newspapers instead of, say, new running shoes? It was baffling.
"Anyway, congrats on your debut wins, you two," Rampage said, shifting gears.
"Ehehe!" Turbo beamed.
"After all that training with Monsny-san and Ramone-senpai, this was nothing," Nature added with a shrug.
No one could argue with that. The intensity of Monsny and Ramone's training camp had been brutal, but it paid off. Turbo and Nature had been running alongside Rampage and Ikuno long before the camp, honing their skills in competitive race formats. Their stamina and speed outclassed their peers, and the camp had only sharpened their edge. Winning their debuts was almost inevitable.
"Enough about us," Nature said, her tone shifting. "The Shuka Sho's coming up."
Her words sent a ripple of tension through the room. The Shuka Sho—the final leg of the Triple Tiara—was looming. Rampage aimed for an undefeated Triple Crown, while others, including Ikuno and Flora, were determined to claim the crown for themselves. To many, it was Rampage versus everyone else. Her narrow victory in the Rose Stakes only fueled doubts about her invincibility.
"You okay, Onee-sama?" Rice asked, her voice soft with concern.
"Don't worry, Rice," Rampage said with a determined grin. "I showed my weak side in the Rose Stakes, but not this time. Right, Minami-chan?"
"Absolutely," Minamisaka replied. "The training plan is ready. We'll drill everything we learned from the camp until it's second nature."
"Thanks," Rampage said. "Let's do this."
As they headed to the track, Rampage glanced at the sky, feeling her true self waiting there.
"…Sorry, Flora. I almost used you as an excuse. But you're a part of me, too. So, this time… let's run together."
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