She won. It was a thrilling victory, but it felt good. Mejiro McQueen wouldn't consider this a victory "gifted" to her by her opponent's mistake. There's no such thing in a race. A win is a win. A loss is a loss. But it was hard not to feel a lingering fear. The power of ZONE had exceeded her imagination. If her opponent hadn't been Oguri Cap, she might have truly been at risk of losing.
The reason Oguri Cap lost was also clear. On the surface, it was the limitation of her ZONE. If not for that, Oguri Cap wouldn't have needed to run so conservatively. But that was just the surface. The real reason was that Oguri Cap wasn't strong enough. Oguri Cap was strong, yes, and her physical stats were higher than McQueen's. But that small gap wasn't enough to overwhelm McQueen's skills. The power of skills isn't something that can be crushed by just one or two stat grades.
So, even though Oguri Cap had the stat advantage, by the late stage of the race, their remaining stamina was about the same. And Mejiro McQueen was the one in the lead. From this point alone, it was clear that in terms of comprehensive strength, Mejiro McQueen was already stronger than Oguri Cap. Oguri Cap's only path to victory was her ZONE. It was the only move that could turn the tide. That's why she chose such a conservative running style in the end, to ensure her ZONE's effectiveness.
Oguri Cap's ZONE was indeed terrifying. It had double acceleration, an aura that interfered with the opponent's mental state, and a final technique that could "devour" the opponent's light. Its power was all-encompassing. Although it had limitations—it had to be used from behind, and at a specific distance—once activated, there was almost no opponent Oguri Cap couldn't surpass. And these effects reflected Oguri Cap's true nature. Though she was usually the team's mascot, once on the track, she had an unyielding personality.
But the key point was: In this race, her opponent, Mejiro McQueen, was stronger! Oguri Cap did everything she could. She didn't lose because of luck or anything else. She lost simply because her opponent was stronger. In the eyes of some, this was McQueen challenging Oguri Cap. But in reality, from the very beginning, Oguri Cap never saw it that way. Even Oguri Cap's trainer knew that in this match, Oguri Cap was the challenger. Because of McQueen's strength and her "Great Escape" style, she was never the challenger.
That's why they had seriously considered tactics to deal with McQueen. In contrast, Mejiro McQueen hadn't thought about that at all. The only thing she thought about was how to force Oguri Cap to use her full strength.
It looked like Oguri Cap had the absolute advantage at the end, but she was just as desperate as McQueen. Her stamina was severely depleted. Even with ZONE's double acceleration, her speed at that moment was definitely not faster than McQueen's with her skill activated. Therefore, it wasn't that she didn't want to pass; it was that she couldn't. If she had passed, McQueen would have activated her skill from behind, and the exhausted Oguri Cap would have lost for sure. So Oguri Cap had to gamble. Gamble that McQueen couldn't awaken ZONE, or that if she did, it would be within her "devour" range. And from previous races, many knew that Mejiro McQueen was already standing at the door of ZONE; she just wasn't "aware" of it. Therefore, under Oguri Cap's pressure, her awakening was almost an inevitability. Oguri Cap herself knew this. But until McQueen truly awakened, no one could be sure what type of ZONE she would have. It was an impossible situation to plan for. And so, in the end, Oguri Cap lost.
Of course, most of the audience couldn't see any of this. They knew nothing about ZONE, so how could they analyze this information? Their expressions were ones of total disbelief. They couldn't understand how McQueen could still unleash that finishing kick, or why Oguri Cap had lost speed right at the finish line.
Mejiro McQueen panted, recalling the feeling of her awakening. 'So this is ZONE.' It was the same nature as a skill. If skills were techniques memorized by the body through training, then ZONE was like a "forbidden move." You don't train for ZONE. Once you've grasped it, you've grasped it. But using it places a great demand on one's spirit. And most importantly, this move does not care about your physical condition. Even if your body isn't ready, you can still use it. But doing so will definitely leave severe consequences.
Mejiro McQueen now understood why she hadn't grasped ZONE before. It was because she knew about ZONE from the start. If she hadn't known of its existence and subconsciously treated it as something different from a "skill," she would have grasped it long ago. It was precisely because she knew about it, and always thought it was different, that she was unable to enter, despite having the aptitude. If you looked at it from an aptitude perspective, Mejiro McQueen was the type of horse girl who could have entered ZONE innately. This discovery made her feel a bit helpless. She never thought that the thing she was looking for was in her hands all along; she had just been blind to it. This made her less excited about awakening ZONE.
Calming down, Mejiro McQueen turned to look at Oguri Cap. Although her emotions were high during the race and she thought "I won't thank you," after finishing, she calmed down. If it hadn't been for Oguri Cap's ZONE being perfectly suited to her situation, she might not have grasped this power so easily. Besides, how could she take her hot-headed thoughts from the race seriously? She had won, she was in a great mood, and she was full of gratitude for Oguri Cap. "Thank you for the lesson, Senpai."
Oguri Cap: "..." She was clearly unhappy. Annoyed. Extremely annoyed. That terrifying aura hadn't vanished with the end of the race. Her sharp gaze was not that of the usual mascot-like glutton, but of a monster that wanted to devour everything. But facing Oguri Cap's ferocity, Mejiro McQueen just smiled. She had no reason to be afraid. Even if they raced again, she would be the one to win. Or rather, if they did race again, it would be her complete victory.
"Oguri Cap, that was a tough race. Let's go get a big meal." One sentence from Kitahara (Oguri's trainer) successfully brought Oguri Cap back to her senses. The monster's expression went blank for a second, then quickly reverted to her team mascot self. She wagged her tail and trotted over to her trainer. Thankfully, this was just a practice match. Oguri Cap's emotions were quickly soothed. Her mind was now filled with thoughts of a big meal.
P followed behind Kitahara and walked over to Mejiro McQueen. "Congratulations." "Mm. Thank you for getting this opportunity for me, Trainer." Mejiro McQueen finished speaking and looked up at the sky. 'The me I am now... I don't think I'll lose to any opponent.' If she had reservations before, now she had absolute confidence. Her only weakness now, compared to the legendary horse girls of the past, was probably her stats. Comparing herself to Oguri Cap, those legends probably had stats at the S-rank level. As for whether there were SS-rank horse girls... she didn't know, but she felt there must be. Or rather, she hoped there would be. Otherwise, wouldn't it be too boring? At this moment, Mejiro McQueen was very clear. She would not lose again. At least in Japan's Twinkle Series, she couldn't imagine a situation where she would lose.
At this time, her Sirius teammates also gathered. Gold Ship was noisy as usual. Narita Brian looked shocked, feeling deeply that she was still too weak. Silence Suzuka's face was full of yearning. Tokai Teio, however, looked conflicted. She felt immense pressure. She had just started learning ZONE from the President, and here was McQueen, who had mastered it in a single race. The gap was getting wider and wider.
Mejiro McQueen also saw Tokai Teio. Remembering her so-called "fated rival," her expression flickered slightly, then returned to calm. "Teio, it seems our promise cannot be fulfilled." "..." Tokai Teio looked up at Mejiro McQueen.
McQueen was not affected by her stare. She continued in a detached tone, "I can't imagine any possibility of you catching up to me now. So let's cancel the promise. You don't need to obsess over a match between us."
The group, which had been in a celebratory mood, froze. Although they mentally agreed with McQueen's words, you just don't say that! However, McQueen felt it was necessary to say. She knew how painful it was to chase an impossible goal. So this had to be decided by her. After all, she was the one who, on a whim, had made that promise in the first place. She was the one who dragged Teio into this.
"..." Tokai Teio, her face pale, ran off. Mejiro McQueen watched her retreating figure, silent.
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