Smells Like Team Spirit

**Smells Like Team Spirit**is the seventh episode of the second season of Rimba Racer.

## Summary

The racers are driving through a sandy locale, with Tag carrying a holographic ball above the Ripper. Bizarrely, Axle seems to be on Tag and Sonny's side, while Meika is competing against them. In a flashback, Tag meets with Meika in the Ark lounge, where the two discuss the recent rift between Meika and their group. Meika expresses her doubts that their friends will ever forgive her, while Tag is more hopeful. Becks and Beaks then announce the next racing site: Rungatunga Basin, an old favorite RGP site. This episode totally aint a Rocket League reference lmfao

As the pair and Dira explain, this event will be a team race, in which the racers will be split into two groups who will drive their cars in a game involving a holographic ball. Remembering the last time they took part in a team event, Miles is quick to assume that the "random" selection will once again see the Ringmasters' minions pitted against the Tag Team. Where Miles recalls what happened to the Ripper last time, Sonny is more concerned about his own time spent in a coma, leading to an awkward moment where Meelo and Miles' teasing leads Sonny to turn to an absent Meika for support. Meelo encourages Sonny to forget about her before leaving to work on his car, while Miles insists that Sonny try talking to Meika again, assuring him that whatever she may have lied about, their friendship wasn't part of it.

The scene flashes back to the team race, where Axle-having received the ball from Tag-uses the Falcon Mach-1's Hyper Speed to race around the top of the arena and reach his team's goal. Back in the past, Axle joins King and Krom in attending a meeting called by Pike, where he reveals that the device Meika planted in Meelo's room was not merely a scrambler, but in fact a container carrying nanobots that Xeno has now used to infiltrate Meelo's systems. King is surprised to learn that Pike believes the device was planted without Meelo determining who was responsible, when he is fully aware that Tag and Miles know Meika did it. However, he keeps this information to himself, something that Axle picks up on as Pike continues laying out their plans.

Sonny is in his room, playing a game of *Moose Effect*, when he gets an unexpected visitor: Meika. After some initial awkwardness, the two find themselves slipping back into their old rhythms, and Meika insists they watch the announcement of the teams together. Much to the surprise of those watching, the teams are actually random this time around, with Team Red consisting of Axle, Xeno, Tag, Sonny, and Krom, while all the female racers are on Team Blue with Pike and Meelo. Just prior to the race, each vehicle is fitted with an electromagnetic field repulsion system to protect the cars during the intense clash to follow.

The scene shifts back to just after Axle's goal, with Vyxx managing to obtain possession of the ball before Tag or Krom. Sonny attempts to stop her, and manages to send the ball back to centerfield where Tamira picks it up. At Tamira's suggestion, Meelo latches the Azureus Dart onto the Lunar Shadow, and Tamira passes the ball to him before launching him at the goal while intercepting Krom. After Meelo scores a tying goal, Meika gains possession of the ball, but Xeno stops her with his car's special feature.

Krom manages to pick up the ball from centerfield, but is intercepted by Pike after the wolf has held back for most of the race. Unable to tell the real Cerberus from the false ones, Krom passes the ball to Tag, who uses the Thunder Strike to launch the Ripper over the melee as the Heavy Metal crashes into Pike's car. He is then able to score the winning goal, only to be approached by Pike acting the part of the fan boy again in the Ark hallway. Tag confronts him, knowing that Pike knew full well that his last minute maneuver wouldn't stop Tag. Pike brushes off Tag's suspicions, but warns him that his luck may run out before he knows it.

Axle meets with King in his office, with King recognizing that Pike is planning to make a move. Alluding to the intelligence he possesses that Pike doesn't-that Tag is aware of Meika's ties to the Ringmasters-King hopes to bring down the arrogant wolf and asks Axle to help him, an offer his protégé eagerly accepts. The Tag Team, minus Sonny, meet in Tag's garage to discuss their situation, also fearing what Pike is planning and having no idea how to meet it. Unfortunately, Meelo has no means of decoding the black box without the algorithms used to encrypt it, seemingly leaving them at a dead end. However, Sonny enters at that moment suggesting that there is someone who might be able to help them, before stepping aside to reveal Meika standing behind him.