A Bone To Pick

**A Bone To Pick**is the eighth episode of the second season of Rimba Racer.

## Summary

Xeno and Pike activate the former's nanobots, which have infected Meelo's systems, in order to determine what the other inventor has already learned. Meanwhile, Meika reports to the Ringmasters, though unbeknownst to her bosses the rest of the Tag Team is in her room listening in. After Sonny nearly blows things by eating while eavesdropping, Meelo breaks some bad news to the group. The encryption on the system Meika uses to communicate with the Ringmasters is partly the same as the one on the black box, but they'll need encryption from another Ringmaster operative to get the complete set.

Meanwhile, in King's office, Pike is giving orders-with obvious enjoyment-to a disgruntled King, who hopes that Tag and his friends' plans will take the wolf down a peg. In Tag's garage, Tag proposes an absurd plan to break into Pike's room, while Meelo proposes a more sensible plan of him hanging around Pike's room to sample information from the always active system while the others keep Pike distracted. Becks and Beaks announce the next race site as Okadimian Badlands, a wasteland littered with the skeletal remains of giant prehistoric creatures known as Magnaquads. In the lounge, Pike and is comrades observe the announcement, but are unexpectedly joined at their table by Tag and Meika acting the part of friendly fellow racers.

Tamira keeps an eye on them while Sonny keeps guard on Meelo, who is at the door to Pike's room, only for them both to be found by Torres and King's guards. To make matters worse, Pike gets a message from the Ringmasters and heads off to his room. Sonny manages to bluff his way out by claiming the pair were playing a game on his tablet, and the pair also manage to avoid arousing Pike's suspicion. Having successfully acquired the cipher, Meelo decides to sit the next race out in order to decrypt the black box, using his tech know-how to convince the Ark medical staff that he's too ill to compete.

The race soon begins, with Krom zeroing in on Tag as the racers travel through massive skeletons and explosive geysers. As Meelo's friends traverse the obstacles, they wonder about his progress, which is going well. Unfortunately, Xeno detects Meelo's efforts, and Pike orders him and Vyxx to abandon their previous plan and take action. Xeno employs his nanobots to destroy Meelo's computers and the black box, while Pike and Vyxx go after Tag and Tamira. Vyxx knocks Tamira's car on top of a geyser that takes her out of the race, while Xeno brings down a Magnaquad skeleton on top of Sonny's Boomboxer.

Tag attempts to elude Pike using the Thunder Strike, but Pike activates the Triple Threat and sends the Ripper flying out of control. Pike then passes Meika on the track, warning that she'd better not have been involved, while King watches the results of the race grimly. After the race, the Tag Team gathers in Meelo's secret room, where Tamira angrily confronts Meika on suspicion that she remained loyal to Pike. Meika, tearful, vehemently asserts that she was ignorant of Xeno's nanobots after Sonny comes to her defense. Tag, desperate, tries to convince Meelo to do something, but Miles is forced to convince his young friend that the Ringmasters have destroyed the only evidence and leverage they had against them.

## Trivia

* Sonny's description of the game he's supposedly playing is a clear nod to the *Pokémon* franchise, more specifically *Pokémon Go*. This includes his line "Gotta get them all", which is a parody of the *Pokémon* tagline "Gotta catch 'em all".