- Of course Maniac isn't scared of the East End: he's lived there, quite happily. But he is scared of the trouble he knows he can cause by being there.
- Before too long, Maniac runs into his old friend Mars Bar. They throw a little trash talk back and forth, and then Mars challenges Maniac to a race.
- After a lot of fussing (this is a big deal!) they're ready to go.
- Maniac knows that it isn't as simple as running as fast as he can and beating Mars. In fact, he knows that maybe it's better if he loses.
- But Maniac doesn't like to lose anymore than anybody else, so he turns on the jets and smokes Mars at the last minute. And worse than that: he turns around and crosses the finish line running backwards.
- Maniac feels pretty bad about what he does, but not as bad as Mars does.
- Maniac isn't sure what to do, but as he slowly works his way out of the crowd, he hears Hester and Lester calling him. Before he knows it, he's back at 728 Sycamore.