When morning arrived Jak, his sisters, and the rest of their team discovered what the prize for winning Blitz's event was, as it was a large vehicle, similar to the Gila Stomper in terms of build, called the Howler 99, a vehicle that none of them were going to use since they were quite fine with their current setups and learning how to ride a new one would take some time that none of them really wanted to expand, so they focused on their breakfast as Rayn figured out what was in store for all of them today, even if she knew they would rise to the challenge.
"It seems that you've qualified for the second Qualifying Event," Rayn spoke up, speaking as she entered the living area that Jak and his sisters were in, while Ashelin, Torn, Keira, and the others glanced up from what they had been doing and took a moment to focus on her for a time, though what interested Twilight and her sisters was that she seemed to have a slight frown on her face as she read something, before glancing up at them, "and this time it'll be happening in Kras City, so you should be prepared for anything else Mizo will be gunning to take all four of you down."
"We're still waiting for Razer to uphold his end of the bargain," Jak replied, as the man in question had said he was going to race against them if they kept smashing Mizo's team into the ground, which he and his sisters had done more than enough since this year's KGC had started, though there was a chance that this might be the moment all four of them had been waiting for, that the best racer on the enemy team would step out of retirement and face them on the track, to which he let out a sigh for a moment, "but maybe our opponents let us get this far while hiding their true skills, to show us up in one of the Qualifying Events... time will tell, though I'm not holding my breath."
"After what we've seen, Shiv and the others won't last much longer," Cozy stated, as she knew that they didn't have a lot of skill between them, at least not against her and her siblings, so she was waiting for when Razer stepped out onto the track and faced their team for real, like he claimed he would when he came to their garage earlier, though she knew that even if more racers joined Mizo's team they had another one waiting in the shadows and she was sure that Midnight was silently watching them as she waited for some news to be delivered to them.
As it turned out there wasn't too much more news to be given to them, as Rayn hadn't been told everything during her last meeting with her fellow officials for the event, so the group finished their breakfast and headed to the transport, where all of their vehicles were being lined up so they could be taken to the part of Kras this Qualifying Event would take place in, to which they said nothing as they stood beside their vehicles and departed from their garage, leaving Rayn to figure out the last bits of information they needed like Keira's team watched the television for more news. What was interesting was that Shiv and the other two members of Mizo's team were present when Jak and his sisters arrived, so they remained still as the transport brought them to their portion of the start line and everyone moved their vehicles over to an area that let all of them make last minute tuneups before the next event started, to which Daxter hopped over to the device connected to Jak's vehicle as everyone got to work. While Jak, his sisters, and their friends worked on their vehicles, making sure each of them were at their peak since having a bad vehicle might bring an end to their attempt to win this year's KGC, they noticed something interesting, Shiv and the others seemed more confident than usual, meaning that something had happened since the last event yesterday, making Jak wonder if Razer was going to join the sport at last, since that would be a boost to the morale of Mizo's team. Of course there was a chance that another racer had been hired to take them down and it was what had caused the boost in morale that they were seeing right now, something that would make this interesting in a new way, but Jak kept his thoughts to himself as he worked on his vehicle for a few moments, seeing that Keira had done everything to make sure it was ready for anything that might be thrown at him, meaning there was nothing he needed to do right now, save for waiting for the event to begin.
While he waited, however, he and his sisters found Rayn walking over to where their team was getting ready for the next event, something that caused Ashelin and Torn to stop their work, even if they had been faking it since Keira had ensured all of their vehicles were in tiptop shape, as they turned to look at her for a time, as everyone was curious as to what she might have to tell them and what it might mean for this Qualifying Event, or possibly the rest of the sport since her news could be for whatever was after this event.
"I've confirmed that your ratings, Jak, have risen and that you are getting good points... in fact the same is true for the rest of our team," Rayn said, which wasn't unexpected in the eyes of Jak and his sisters, as sometimes people liked underdogs or newbies and focused on them, instead of the previous stars, hence why the people of Haven had seen Jak as a hero on the track, as it was better than watching Errol race, but they remained silent as everyone waited to hear what else Rayn had to tel them before the event started, "but we've heard some nasty rumors that a certain someone, no doubt Mizo, is throwing big money around, hiring top mercenary drivers to race against you and your sisters... they might be aware of your abilities as well, so I would be careful if I were you four."
"Good, Mizo goes bankrupt trying to beat us and we get a decent challenge," Jak replied, as while he understood that there might be a level of danger to Mizo hiring some of the best mercenaries that money could buy, to the point where he and his sisters might actually face a racer that might kill one or more of them, he also knew that it would be hard for such a person to actually get close enough to do such a thing.
"I heard that the new drivers are getting bonuses for kills, and I'm positive that they'll do anything, even cheat, to win and collect their prize," Ashelin remarked, though while some would think that she would be worried about such a thing, as it meant she and Torn had targets on their backs as well, she knew that Jak and his sisters would make sure the new drivers were focused on them and no one else, so she was confident in their ability to win the Qualifying Event and the rest of the KGC, all to show Mizo that his time was finally up, before she noticed something, "and it seems that we have some friends coming to chat with us."
The people that Ashelin was talking about, as it turned out, happened to be Razer, who was still smoking his cigarette like it was the best thing in the world, though behind him stood a humanoid robot that stood just as tall as him, whose body had a familiar red hue to it, the coloration of the Krimzon Guard to be exact, and looked like it was ready to tear down all those who opposed it, be it in a race or on the battlefield, though Ashelin and Torn paused for a moment, as they easily recognized the Death Bot that was walking towards them.
"Jak, I'm glad that you and your sisters are still racing, despite my earlier warning," Razer remarked, showing them that he had been expecting them to back off when he mentioned Mizo's name, since most knew what it meant and usually bowed their heads towards his mysterious boss, though he took another puff of his cigarette and blew out some smoke before he beckoned to the Death Bot that had come to a stop behind him, meaning he had to be another racer for Mizo's team, which they had been expecting at this point, "Have you met Mizo's newest racer yet? This is UR-86, the deadliest racer on the planet... behind me, of course... and he holds some of the highest records for kills in single event, a few of which you beat earlier, so he's looking to tear you down for multiple reasons."
"Finally, a worthy opponent... our fight will be legendary!" Jak excitedly said, as while he knew that Ashelin and Torn might be worried about UR-86's addition to Mizo's team, meaning he would have to ask them about him later, he was excited by the idea of a powerful Death Bot racing against him and his sisters, since it meant that they might have a challenge to face, for the first time since starting the KGC, though that was when Twilight tapped his shoulder and he saw a familiar light in her eyes disappear, causing him to grin as he faced Razer and UR-86, "And it just so happens that we have another racer joining our team as well."
As Razer started to open his mouth, as all he had been here to do was intimidate Jak's team, even though UR-86 seemed pleased by Jak's bravado and desire to race him, a dark circle appeared in the air nearby as what he assumed was a portal snapped open, causing the other racers to pause for a moment, before a dark and sinister looking vehicle, one that looked like a modified Road Blade, drove out of it and came to a stop nearby, which caused the portal to close as the drive came to a stop near Jak. Rayn stood there for a moment as she took in the material that went into constructing this vehicle, as it looked like it had been made out of salvaged pieces of the Dark Maker vehicles, such as their ship or the Terraformer that had been destroyed, as she had heard the stories like everyone else in Kras City and suspected that they were true, as in Jak and his sisters were capable of destroying such dangerous entities, though the material was smooth, like it had been made for this purpose and not reformed to suit a new purpose. A few seconds later, when the dark vehicle came to a stop, the driver pulled themselves out and revealed that it was a female based on how their body looked, though they wore a set of dark armor that made them look like a knight out of an old fantasy story, modeled in the likeness of the Precursors Jak noticed, though Razer was focused on the twisted horn and raven wings that the figure had, causing him to glance at the siblings for a few seconds. In that moment Midnight tapped the side of her helmet and it unfolded before their eyes, leaving her standing there with a smirk on her face, as she could see that Razer seemed a little worried and did his best to hide his emotions, while UR-86 didn't seem worried all that much, rather he seemed more excited to have another foe to take down at some point in time, though Jak was pleased to see that Mizo's top racer realized the power that Midnight had and was doing his best to not show his fear, to which Razer turned around and left while UR-86 glared at Jak, uttering a bit of jumbled words that made it seem like he was eager to face them on the track.
Once the pair wandered over to where their team was working on their vehicles, to ready themselves for the race, Ashelin and Torn revealed that UR-86 was an old Death Bot who loved to kill living things and that it didn't matter what he killed, as he had killed members of the Krimzon Guards, Metal Heads, and other machines, so they decommissioned him and set him aside, so someone must have stolen him and reprogrammed him to put that desire for carnage to use in tearing up all of the racers he faced off against, so they had to be a little careful when he was on the track.
With that information in mind the group, now heavy one more racer, climbed into their vehicles as the announcers quickly declared that the second Qualifying Event was about to start, where they would be racing through some of the streets of Kras City and facing off against a murder robot that not even Baron Praxis wanted to use against his enemies, which told all of them that either Krew must have stolen and sold him or Mizo's team had learned about him, stole him in the dead of night, and then figured out how to reprogram him into his current state. A few seconds later the countdown was done and the racers sped off without wasting even a single second, though as Jak and his sisters reached for the highest positions, showing off their rivalry once more, Midnight joined them as UR-86 tried to hunt them down and push passed them, which really added an extra layer to the event and caused those who were watching everything to cheer for them, even though Midnight tucked her wings in, almost making them look like a design on the back of her armor. Jak knew that Rayn would be surprised by this, as none of them had told her anything about Twilight's ability to manifest her other selves like this, or at least confirmed the tales of it since she could have heard of this power, but for now he focused on the event as they faced off against UR-86, who was a lone wolf and didn't seem to care about the rest of his teammates, as he attacked all those from Mizo's team and those on their team, or at least he tried to tear Jak and his sisters down, which was part of the challenge that they had wanted since Razer showed up. Of course the siblings were interested in what Midnight would do in this situation, since this was technically her first time racing and she seemed to be hanging back to stop UR-86 and the rest of Mizo's team from getting anywhere near close to the others, the Death Bot actually looking like he enjoyed the fact that someone was challenging his abilities, or at least everyone assumed that was the case given the fact that it was hard to tell what a robot was feeling, all while he continued to aim for smashing his way to first place.
When UR-86 made his move to pass by her, and Shiv's teammates did the same, Midnight flipped a switch on her vehicle and caused a pulse of dark electrical energy to race out from a weapon she had designed, an emp that was created to take out an enemy's racer for a short period of time, that way she and the others could pull ahead, so while Mizo's team came to a halt, and the Death Bot bumped into a wall thanks to her actions, Midnight continued after the others and joined in on the fun of racing for first place. Ashelin and Torn got out of her way when she approached them, as they knew not to mess with her and didn't want her dark power to be turned against them, choosing to focus on keeping UR-86 and the rest of Mizo's team contained in the back and not be involved with the madness that was ahead of them, though it didn't take all of their enemies to long before they were back on the track and were gunning for Midnight, instead of Ashelin and Torn, which was exactly what she was hoping for. Midnight smiled as that happened, as her plan had been to put a target right on her back and cause Mizo's team to focus on her, instead of the others, and so far it looked like it was working far better than what she originally planned, though when UR-86 and the rest of his comrades caught up to her she pressed a button as she turned the wheel, allowing her to spin her vehicle, which she named the 'Dark Maker', and face those coming up on her tail while using the reverse function of the buggy to drive backwards. Such a thing allowed her to focus her fire on the racers that were coming up behind her, so none of them bugged Jak and his sisters, though if one were to pass her, which was unlikely, she made sure it was UR-86 so he could add a little more drama to the race, but for the most part she simply knocked her targets backwards and found that it put them back enough for Ashelin and Torn to pass them again, allowing her to turn her vehicle forward as she continued after Twilight and the others, all while the crowd seemed to be cheering for all of them and did nothing for Mizo's team.
Even though the Circuit Race ended up being three laps, and they had UR-86 to contend with this time around, Jak and his sisters ended up in all of the important places and earned the gold medal for the Qualifying Event, much to the dismay of Shiv and the other Humans on Mizo's team, earning the team a few hours of rest as the leaders of Kras determined which events were next for the racers, hence why Jak, his sisters, and their companions returned to their garage and waited for Rayn to figure out what was coming up next.
"Why didn't you tell me we had another racer?" Rayn asked, speaking once the group had returned to the garage, though while one would assume she would be angry with them for keeping this piece of information from her, given that she was doing everything in her power to make sure they were ready for what the future held for them, she was mostly curious as to why no one had said that one of Twilight's alternate selves would be joining them.
"We weren't sure that she would be ready for when Mizo threw another racer into the mix, but she surprised us with being ready to go in a matter of hours," Jak explained, which was pretty much the truth in an odd way, that Midnight had gotten her vehicle ready in record time and it worked like a charm, showing off her intelligence and skill at the same time, before he shrugged for a few seconds as everyone gathered in their base of operations, "but you can't argue with the results that came from Midnight joining, can you?"
Rayn stood there for a few seconds before she sighed and agreed with him, that Midnight joining had good results, even if it came at the same time as UR-86 joining Mizo's team, though once that was done she turned and departed from the part of the garage that everyone would be resting in, allowing them to rest before the next couple of events started, once she had an idea of what they were anyway, though they were interested in putting Mizo's team in their place and showing the criminal lord that his team was nothing compared to their racers.