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[Lethalbiscotti]

This is my first time writing a story...If there's any suggestions or constructive criticism that you want to share, please feel free to comment.

I have a friend who is a former street racer in Vancouver. During the late 90s where there weren't a bunch of buildings and industries in urban areas such as Richmond, my friend would usually drive his tuned S14 around a few highways and such. He tells me interesting stories about his racing life and I later put his stories into my own story.

The main character is called Hiro Nakashima. He's one of your typical simplistic teenagers who finds nearly everything troublesome, but deep down inside he has many complicated issues that go beyond relationships, family, and future plans. He is also an extreme car enthusiast as he knows the ups and downs to almost every car; but despite his import fandom, he usually does activities that do not suit the racing style such as breakdancing and heavy metal. He is, however, tachophobic. Meaning that he fears speed, which is pretty ironic for a soon-to-be street racer.

The story may feel a bit long, but I will try and improve on the plotline later on.

Without further ado, here's the story:

Pure Throttle

Arc 1: Grade 12: Third term

Phase 1

VRRRRROOOOOOOMMMMMmmmmmm......

The Nissan S14 was at its limit. The driver knew it was futile to catch up to his opponent. At any second the SR20DET engine was about to overload. The guy knew it...but what else could he do? Deep down in his heart, he never wanted to race. But under drastic circumstances, he got pulled into the world of racing. Because of financial troubles, he raced. Because of relationships, he raced. Because of almost everything...he raced. The traffic was crowding up more and more and all the driver could do was brace for impact. Why did he choose to race? Was it because of the money? Was it because of the girls? Was it one of those crude desires everybody else craves for? No, it was to settle business. For fame? Nah...not when he's in a rut. What was he racing for besides business? The S14 was about to burn out...all he could do was embrace the light coming towards him...

"Wake up Hiro! You're gonna be late for class!"

A woman's call from downstairs could not wake the sleeping boy. Even with an aromatic breakfast scent coming from the oven, the boy couldn't get up.

"Uggh...it was just a dream...ma...give me a few more minutes..." Hiro groggily replied.

"No more time! You're gonna miss the bus!" Hiro's mother yelled back.

"Ma...I don't need to take the bus...I can drive for god's sake."

"You still have one more day before you're ungrounded. Then you can drive your damn 240SX or S14 or whatever you call it." Mom opened the door to Hiro's bedroom, "Now get up!"

"Uggh...."

"Argh! That's it" With one ladle on her right hand, the mother brought hell to Hiro.

"OW! What gives ma?"

"I told you to get up, now look at the time!" The mother hits Hiro once again.

"All right, all right! I'm up! Please don't hit me anymore! It's child abuse, didn't you know that?" Hiro bawled.

"What the hell is that bumpy thing between your legs?" The mother questioned. To Hiro's perspective, it was definitely his inevitable erection. Even to an extent if he were to cover it, it wouldn't help avoid his mother's eagle eye, "AH! Nothing ma!" Hiro answered blushingly.

Unconcerned, the mother bluntly said, "Once you're done easing your thing, go get cleaned up and get your breakfast."

Hiro reluctantly grumbled, "Yes ma." And he was off to finish his sanitary activities. Just as he finished washing his face, Hiro looked at the time, "Oh shit, I am late."

Without a moment to spare, Hiro quickly changed to a plain white t-shirt and dark blue jeans. He then bolted downstairs to get his sandwich and black school sling bag and rushed out of his house, "Bye ma!"

Right when Hiro was about to arrive at the bus station, the bus already left. "Crap! Now I have to run again." And so he did, sprinting with all his might.

While Hiro's sprinting, a Red RX-7 Type RS appeared behind him. The driver of the RX-7 caught eye of Hiro and drove to catch up to his speed.
The driver yelled to Hiro, "Hey! Still can't drive yet Hiro?!"

"No man! Got one more day before I'm ungrounded, Kyle!" Hiro shouted back as he catches out of breath.

Kyle Clarusso is one of Hiro's good friends. Everybody calls him fatso because he grew a beer belly after many drinking at uncountable parties and eating chips. Nevertheless, he is a Mazda fan and loves buying parts for his RX-7. Aero, wheels, whatever you name it. He's that rich. He does overspeed often, which causes some people to be doubtful of his so-called professional driving.

"That sucks man!" Kyle said. A Toyota Corolla appeared behind Kyle's RX-7; the Corolla driver was honking because of how slow Kyle drove. "Aw shut up!" Kyle bellowed as he allowed the Corolla driver to overtake him.

Kyle continued, "Why don't you hop in my car instead?"

"Dude! I'm not going in your car! You drive like a nut!" Hiro affirmed.

"Aw come on! I'll drive slow this time!"

Hiro conformed, "Fine" and he opened the passenger door. "You know, I still don't get it. You're fat and you weigh more than 200 pounds. How the hell do you manage to fit in your FD?"

"I got skill" Kyle proudly implied, "and speaking of skill...let's see if I can break a few minutes to school."

Hiro knew Kyle couldn't keep his words, but he was too late to say anything. Kyle immediately shifted from 2nd gear to 3rd gear. He then stepped on the gas until he was driving at 250 km/h.

"Dude! You're overspeeding again in broad daylight, I knew I shouldn't trust you! Is this what you normally do when you're drunk?" Hiro panicked.

“Hell no man, I totally obey the rules of street.” Kyle proudly exclaimed

“Well you’re not obeying the rule of over-speeding!”

“Is that even a rule?” Kyle happily stepped on the gas and the car zoomed all the way down the street.

Hiro, however, was in a state of mayhem, “AAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!” The frantic yell of fear struck the hearts of many citizens as the raging RX-7 rushed like a bullet to school.
Even the driver of the Toyota Corolla happened to notice the scream coming from behind, “Yeesh, kids these days.” The driver sighed.

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RRRIIIINNNNNGGG goes the school bell as the high school students prepare to go to their destined classes. Some, unfortunately, are bound to be late just like our two fellows while they creep up the street horizon at 150 km/h. Kyle then brakes and shifts down to 3rd gear. He finally hits the hand-brake and does a 180 degrees drift way down to an open parallel parking area nearby the school. Poor Hiro never stood a chance.

“Uggh…” Hiro groaned, vomiting outside after total pandemonium in Kyle’s small RX-7, “What the hell did you put in your engine man…”

“Oh a bit of this, a bit of that; especially the special Garrett 60-1 Turbocharger I managed to buy off a bargain store.” Kyle proudly answered.

“I will never get in your car again. Let’s go to physics class, Mr. DeRosa is gonna get mad.”

“Hold on, I can’t seem to get up. I think I’m stuck.” Kyle claimed as he struggled to get out of the driver’s seat. Hiro was frustrated, “I told you to lay off the beer and chips. You never listen!” Hiro had no choice but to help his obese buddy.

Kyle didn’t seem to care, “Hey, these two are my lifelines. If I don’t have them, I’ll die.”

Hiro was trying to be sincere, “You’ll die if you indulge them even more.”

“Hmpf, so you say. But it will be me who is going to laugh when all of the world population gets fat, especially you.”

Ignoring Kyle’s words, Hiro used all his strength to get Kyle out of the puny red RX-7, “Let’s get our textbooks.”

“Right behind you.” Kyle replied.
As the two rush through the school corridors, they arrive at their dreaded destination. Little did they know what was going to hit them.

“Nakashima Hiro, Kyle Clarusso! Please elaborate on why you two were late.” Mr. DeRosa questioned with immense pestilence.

Mr. Phillip DeRosa is the Physics and the Automotive Engineering Teacher of the school. A short, bald man in his fifties, he is the strictest teacher in the whole school campus yet the most fair of all teachers. He gives marks he believes what is right; and acts as a sub-counsellor. Truth is, he was also a huge car enthusiast and racer back in his time. Somewhere deep down the auto shop, there lies a special black 1967 Plymouth Barracuda. Only Hiro and Kyle knew how unique their teacher’s car was.

“Uhh…we were calculating the g-forces of our RX-7 and measuring the maximum force…to…get the uh..best results of racing…something like that.” Kyle mumbled.

Not buying Kyle’s answer, Mr. DeRosa continued, “You do realize we have a test today on electromagnetism. I assure that both of you have properly studied right?”

The two both replied, “Yes, Mr. DeRosa” Hiro was firm, but Kyle was unsure of what he said.

“There’s two desks at the back of the classroom. Get out your pens and calculator now.”

And so Hiro and Kyle did. Once they received their tests, only Hiro knew all of the questions while Kyle was struggling with the first question on the top of the test. An hour has passed by and the school bell went RRRRIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGG once again.

“Class, once you have finished checking your answers, bring your tests to me. You’ll get them next class. Mr. Clarusso and Mr. Nakashima, please see me at lunch. I want to talk to both of you; Kyle first.”

“Gulp…yes Mr. DeRosa” Hiro answered.

As Hiro and Kyle exited out of Mr. DeRosa’s pressurizing atmosphere, a blonde-haired boy approached the two, “Guys where the hell were you?” the boy answered.

“Long story, Ryan.” Hiro replied.

Ryan Mathewson Blake is another of Hiro’s friends; a tall, lanky American teenager who loves European engineering. Fan of BMWs, Ryan drives an E92 BMW M3. He is rich and also knows how to tune his car just as Kyle does with his RX-7. Ryan however, wants everybody to drive a European car because he thinks Japanese engineering is crap.

“Whatever man, I still can’t believe that you manage to fit into your RX-7 even though you’re really fat, Kyle. I think you should ditch your RX-7 anyways man…go for a BMW sedan, or maybe—“

Kyle immediately cuts off Ryan, “I will never ditch my RX-7. Period.”

“Suit yourself man, I still go for BMW any day man.”

Hiro joins in the conversation, “Let’s go to Auto class now. We’re gonna be late.”

“Damn…we have to deal with Mr. Baldy again.”

“I heard that Kyle!” Mr. DeRosa suddenly shouted.

Kyle began to sweat, “Shit! Let’s just go to class and wait for him.”

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After tampering with 4-cylinder engines in the Automotive Engineering class, Hiro and Kyle stayed behind to hear Mr. DeRosa lecture. Of course it's not one of those stereotypical lectures where the teacher acts like a mother or a father, nor it's one that would be made by a counsellor. Kyle had it worse as he dealt with Mr. DeRosa's plump red face. With all the rants made by The Rose (Hiro claimed it as a nickname for Mr. DeRosa) saying, "You are too old to be fooling around!" or "Why the hell did you even pick my class!" or whatever The Rose could be thinking of. Sometimes Hiro wondered why Mr. DeRosa gave up racing.

As it was Hiro's turn to be lectured, Kyle whispered to Hiro, "I'll meet you at the food court."

"Mr. Nakashima. Please, sit down." Mr. DeRosa began. He continued, "As far as I'm concerned, you love cars more than I do. So do your friends, especially the fat rat." Of course, he was referring to Kyle, "...but tell me. What do you want to do in your life?"

Hiro honestly answered, "I...don't know. I just love cars."

Mr. DeRosa, unsatisfied with Hiro's reply, said, "I quit racing because I had to take care of my family. Right now, my Cuda is itching to race...but I can't take it out for a proper spin."

Hiro said nothing.

"You know your grades matter right? Even when you're acing every test I give out, you're always late. Your attendance will surely affect your score."

"Yes, sir...."

"...Tell you what, let's go to Delta. There's an official drag racing competition and you can explain your reason there."

Hiro was confused, "Wait...I thought you don't attend races anymore."

"Yea well...it's always nostalgic to return to the racing world. Just go eat your lunch, we'll meet here at 6:30 pm"

"Thanks Mr. DeRosa...I don't know what to say..."

"Don't mention it, my treat."

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The cafeteria was crowded with students as Hiro arrived, a voice cried out, "Hiro! Over here!" It was Kyle. "So how was the talk with Mr. DeRosa?"

"Oh it was ok...nothing much."

Ryan joined in, "Man, Mr. DeRosa didn't scold you or anything man?"

"Nah."

Kyle: "Dude, there's Chizuru Mashiro sitting right next to Jack."

Hiro: "Yea so?"

Kyle: "Aren't you gonna stop him? I mean he's with your girlfriend!"

Hiro: "Correction: ex-girlfriend. We broke up a few weeks ago."

Ryan: "That's bogus man, I mean look at her. She's got the hots a man could ever want! Nono, lemme rephrase that: YOU could ever want!"

Hiro: "What do you mean?"

Kyle: "He means beautiful appearance, big boobs, sexy hips, the perfect gluteus maximus...etc."

Ryan: "Yea, I totally want to fondl--"

Hiro became enraged, "say that one more time to me about my ex and you're dead!" The whole student body heard Hiro, especially Chizuru who completely blushed at Hiro's defence.

Ryan calmed Hiro, "Ok ok man, chill bro. I didn't actually mean it."

"Let's not even go there." Hiro concluded, "Let me get my pasta."

So far, Hiro's relationship troubles still haunt him ever since 10th grade. How Hiro broke up with Chizuru remains a secret for now. It seems that Hiro will not go out with any girl, no matter how voluptuous and beautiful she is. Consider it post-traumatic stress disorder; Hiro will always have his heart set on street cars.

As Hiro went back to his chums' table, Kyle was jabbering about a drag-racing competition happening tonight, "So me and Ryan were talking about the epic racing event at Delta. Hundreds of people are going to attend the competition. You going?"

Hiro remembered what Mr. DeRosa said to him; he then replied, "...maybe...but I can't drive my S14 yet. I'm still grounded...And don't think about driving me there! You seriously drive like a nut! Ryan, are you going as well?"

"Yea man, but I don't think I can drive you to the location since I only got a driver seat installed. Nothing else."

"Crap..." was all Hiro could say.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The afternoon hours of school were a total waste of time in Hiro's perspective, except Music. Hiro loved to play on the drum set. Even as a car enthusiast, Hiro loved to listen to heavy metal music, which was totally avant-garde if you put racing and metal together. Hiro would play drum fills, progressive rhythms, and even imitate the double kick pedal beats even when there wasn't a double kick pedal. Meshuggah was his all time favourite band.

"Hey Hiro, I'm locking the music room. You gonna leave soon?" the music teacher said, annoyed with Hiro's extreme music.

"Oh sorry, I'll put everything away." Hiro replied, continuing to headbang to New Millenium Cyanide Christ by Meshuggah on his MP3.

Hiro waited for Mr. DeRosa at 6:30 pm. The auto shop is still open but the teacher was nowhere to be found. To his extreme curiosity, Hiro approached to the teacher's Cuda. As he decides to open the driver door, Mr. DeRosa quickly noticed and squealed, "Don't touch my Cuda!"

"Aah! Sorry Mr. DeRosa, it's just interesting that a guy like you would notice the attention coming from the racing scene."

"Yea well, I used to be a legend here in Vancouver. Back when there weren't a lot of buildings and industries booming, I used to be known as The Rose."

Hiro was astonished as he heard Mr. DeRosa's nickname.

"What? You thought you're the only one who made the supposed pun for me? You're too naive Mr. Nakashima. Now hop in; call your mother while you're at it."

"Sure Mr. DeRosa."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At 7:30 pm, the two arrived at an open wheat field near a farmhouse in Delta. Unfortunately, the whole place was deserted. There was nothing but a supposed 2-mile highway strip with a farmhouse landscape surround by wheat fields and nothing but wheat fields. Hiro was concerned with Mr. DeRosa's reliability of finding the exact location, "Are you sure this is the right place Mr. D? It just doesn't look right..."

"Aah just wait." Mr. DeRosa assured, "My friend will be coming soon. In the meantime, let's talk. So kid, what do you like about my Cuda?"

Hiro was surprised by his teacher's unexpected question, but Hiro gave his honest opinion, "Well...so far I know that your car engine is the 273 cu V8. One of the first engines for the 2nd generation Cuda, sport-wise. Kind of well-balanced for a muscle car; the power isn't considered too weak, yet not considered too strong. However, there is something weird about your Cuda..."

"Hmm?" Mr. DeRosa was intrigued by Hiro's explanation

"Your 273 seems to be overworked. The power output has been galvanized for some reason, I can't seem to figure it out but your engine surely got bored over. The sound should tell the difference between a normal Cuda engine and an overworked Cuda engine, but the mufflers you put in as well as replacing your exhaust completely covers the car's internal electrical problem."

Mr. DeRosa, amazed at what Hiro said, gave his own explanation, "...it was at this place did my car start to feel weird. The last time I raced with this Cuda, I was competing with Valner Douglas. My Cuda...and his '65 Mustang. Little did I know that Valner was a conniving son of a b*tch. I was 100% sure that he did something to my Cuda that I wouldn't be able to fix...by the time we were up at the starting point, my engine went ballistic...so I lost the race. And that was the last time I ever raced with my Cuda."

"Valner Douglas...isn't he Jack Douglas' father?"

"He is, and he's also my enemy. I came here to see if he would show up. Right now I'm getting the premonition that his son will crash the competition. Oh! And there's my buddy, Hey Bryce!"

Up came a Shelby GT350 roaring down the highway. Hiro was amazed to see that Mr. DeRosa and his friend were both muscle car fanatics. As the GT350 came to a stop, a tall, tanned man with dark leather boots, cowboy jeans, and a Ralph Lauren Polo shirt came out of the car. Mr. DeRosa greeted the man, "Hey Bryce, long time no see! Haha! How's your wife and kids?"

Bryce Williams is Mr. DeRosa's long-time friend. They were both racing buddies in the 70s. Driving a Shelby GT350, Bryce is a fan of Ford Mustangs. With a slight southerner accent, Bryce replied, "They're doin pretty good I should say. Who's that fellow over there?"

"Oh that's one of my students, Nakashima Hiro. He's a car enthusiast as well. Hiro! This is my friend, Bryce. Bryce, Hiro."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Williams." Hiro politely bowed.

"Oh please, call me Bryce. I see that you're a good race car driver."

Hiro was trying to be humble, "Oh I'm not that good. I fear speed, to be honest. I always get into my friend's RX-7 on unavoidable occasions; he drives like a madman. "

"Hmm...I see tremendous talent in ya though...don't waste it."

Not understanding what Bryce said, Hiro could only say, "Thank you."

Mr. DeRosa began to interrupt, "Hey Hiro, let me have a chat with Bryce for a few moments, k?"

"Sure thing, Mr. D"

As Hiro was off to sightseeing the uninteresting wheat fields of Delta, little did Hiro know that Bryce and Mr. DeRosa were talking about him behind his back.

"...he even mentioned what you said about my engine problem without having to look under the hood! That guy is something!"

Bryce, however, had other things in mind, "I'm pretty sure that Valner's son is going to challenge him. Only time will tell how good Hiro can be."

Over the other end of the highway, Hiro overheard the two men talking about him. Yet realistically Hiro only said to himself, "I'm not fit to be a racer..."

"Hey Hiro!" Bryce shouted, "Come over here!" As Hiro approached the men, Bryce kept taling, "Tell me...what are some extreme things you can do?"

Hiro scrambled his brain to find his other talents, "Uhh...I can skateboard...I can breakdance...I like playing heavy metal on the drums...?"

Bryce was amused, "Huh...kind of avant-garde and balanced at the same time...anyways...when you started doing these activities, was it scary? Did you have a sense of fear?"

"Sometimes when it came to skateboarding and breakdancing. I always feared of breaking one of my limbs, but soon after I didn't think of anything else but to execute that special move."

"That's the exact thing you should be feeling when street racing. Do me one favour: I would like to assess on your skill by participating at least one drag race. It doesn't mater who you're competing against. Just find a competition ok?"

"Wait..but..."

"Just do it. The guy has his reasons." Mr. DeRosa butted in.

Hiro knew he couldn't escape the ominous favour. Bryce's setup crew was about to arrive any second and Hiro couldn't say anything but a mere, "Yes sir..."

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Dusk fell at 9:30 pm, lights were set up, DJ was pumping the beats, a whole lot of racers arrived at the location and so did the vigilant police. The model girls were doing their thing to attract the many young virgin boys who had their cars parked down the highway. The announcer was up and ready, "Welcome to the 30th annual drag-racing competition! Here at Delta, British Columbia! I'm your host, Marc LaRousse and join me as we experience the heart-pumping, racing action today! We got imports and muscles ready to be revved up and racing..."

Hiro was completely exasperated after hearing the person on the microphone, "God this is just too cliche. That guy should be an announcer for NASCAR."

"Tell me about it." Mr. DeRosa added. Bryce, on the other hand, was not in accord to Hiro's reference to NASCAR.

"Oh I see Kyle and Ryan. Let me see what they are doing." Hiro said to the two men.

On the other side, Kyle and Ryan were in a fight with another person. "Hey hey! I didn't mean it man! I wasn't talking about your girlfriend! Honest, man!"

"You better not be! Or else I'll beat you to a pulp, hippie!" A man about 6'4, muscular guy with wide shoulders was intimidating Ryan, "And I want fatso to apologize as well!"

"What the hell! I totally didn't say anything!" Kyle blurted out.

"Jack please! They're good friends of my...friend! They don't mean anything bad." A woman pleaded. The soft voice sounded familiar to Hiro as he approached the group.

"What friend? You mean your ex? Hell, I'll beat him up as well if he--"

"He does what, Jack?" Hiro forcefully interrupted. Hiro caught eye of Chizuru looking at him, only to scorn at her.

"You!! You little piece of sh*t, I'll tell you not to butt into my conversation." Jack abrupty charged at Hiro. Fortunately, Hiro was able to counter by tripping Jack and locking his arms, leaving Jack humiliated. Suddenly out of nowhere, the announcer hears all this commotion, "Hey hey! Break it up, we can settle it with one drag-racing competition! The person who wins gets 3 grand and is eligible to enter in the next race in the semifinals!"

"Hiro doesn't have a car!" Kyle affirmed. Hiro, however, wasn't ready to give up, "No, I have one. And it's gonna be that RX-7" Hiro points to Kyle's car. Kyle went nuts, "Are you crazy? Nobody drives my car but me! I know the ins and outs of my car better than you do!"

"Kyle, I'll give you half of my share if you let me." Hiro implied

The greed overtook Kyle, "Deal...but what if you lose?"

Hiro smiled, "I won't"

"Ok...on one condition! You let me in the passenger's seat. I'll have to supervise you!"

"Fine, whatever you want."

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As the announcer was concerned in dealing with two bickering racers, Hiro, the 1st racer, was even more concerned with Kyle's RX-7. Is he able to win with an overtuned RX-7? The FD is meant to be adjusted to lighter settings rather than adding whatever the hell Kyle could find in a really suspicious bargain store...or auctioning on . But it's a damn FD nonetheless; Hiro should criticize Kyle's choice of tuning: The blow-off valve is too loud, meaning that it is too big; the turbo kit is too strong for a mere RX-7; the huge wing spoiler brings too much weight and flair; the suspension is too low; the body-kit is...Hiro could only shudder what Kyle's definition of beauty is. It's not just about horsepower...well maybe it is for this drag-racing competition, but Hiro can't brace the fact that someday the rotary engine is going to overload...and when a rotary engine overloads, it's gonna be hard to fix or even replace it. Hiro began to doubt if he's able to carry the horrendous amount of heavy junk and win at the same time, "Kyle, I got something serious to tell you. Go see a sport garage mechanic."

Kyle was confused, "Why?"

"Because once I win this race, your RX-7 may not function the same way as you tuned it."

"Wait but...!"

The announcer called both Hiro and Jack up to the stage, "No-name vs. Brute Force, please line up on the starting point to get your engines revved up. Winner takes all. I repeat, winner takes all. Let's get this show on the road!"

"Oh god...I can't take all this suspense...I'm gonna pee."

"Kyle, for the last time. Lay off the chips as well as the soda."

"Ok I will NOT, but really...Jack's got his Saleen S281 Mustang and I don't think my RX-7 has bigger horsepower than Jack's Mustang..."

"This is why I told you to go to a local sport garage. And dude, horsepower doesn't mean you'll achieve the top speed you want." Hiro suggested

The announcer, once again, spoke on the loudspeaker, "Racers, get your tires revved. This will be a head-to-head match! What will await us, the victory of the RX-7? Or the victory of the child of the former legend, Valner Douglas!"

Hiro facepalmed, "That guy is totally not enthusiastic enough to be an announcer."

Kyle, though, was completely nervous, "Dude...you sure you're gonna win?"

Hiro reassured Kyle, "If I said I won't lose, I won't lose. Besides, Jack's Mustang also has problems."

"Really? How can you tell?"

"I took a look at his Mustang while he was fighting with the staff. His two rear tires are flat--The Mustang is a Rear wheel drive don't forget--, which means that Jack is gonna have a hard time accelerating. Plus he over-revved his tires."

"Aren't you supposed to rev the RX-7's tires as well."

"Nah...I got a special trick up my sleeve. I'm gonna force Jack to over-rev some more." Hiro smirked.

Finally, the race is beginning; as the alpha model girl shows up at the middle of the highway, Hiro held the manual transmission to 2nd gear without stepping on the clutch. Kyle was shocked, "Whoa whoa whoa! What are you doing to my drivetrain?!"

"You'll see." Hiro grinned.

Jack, on the other hand, felt ready to pummel Hiro. He opened his window and cajoled at Hiro, "You're going down!"

Hiro was unmoved, "Ah what a bugger." As the model girl gave the countdown, Hiro was anticipating for the right moment. 3; "Oh god, I'm seriously gonna pee." Kyle muttered. 2; Hiro stayed calm even when he could only hear Jack's Saleen exhaust. 1; "It's time." Hiro said and right when the model girl was halfway through signaling the startoff, Hiro immediately stepped on the gas and the clutch at the same time. Shifting back to 1st gear, Hiro stepped on the clutch again as the RX-7's chassis went up causing the car to "jump". Jack's reaction to the strange movement of the RX-7 caused him to accelerate frantically, but to no extent did the Saleen Mustang move one bit. All the Mustang did was rev, rev, and over-rev until the car's tires were worn out. Jack panicked as he sees the RX-7 move further away from him, "Piece of junk! Move goddamnit!" Immense smoke was coming out of brake pads and rotors and Chizuru could do nothing but watch her boyfriend admit defeat, yet at the same time root for Hiro as he wins the competition.

Once Hiro returned back to the starting point, Ryan, Bryce and Mr. DeRosa ran towards the RX-7. They were amazed at how Hiro pulled it off.

"You ready to get off Kyle? Want me to help you?" Hiro suggested as he remembered about Kyle's obesity problem.

"...Nah, it's...ok..."

"Dude. Lemme guess. You peed."

"Yah."

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Meanwhile, somewhere around the upper side of Vancouver, a group of shady racers were watching the drag competition on the Speed Channel. Their eyes focused on the new contestant, which was Hiro. The man with the white shirt refused to take part in the next match, "I only came here to settle some business. That's all. I have no means to race other people. Whoever is competing against me wins by default anyways."

"That guy is something." The 1st racer said.

"Heh, I'd like to defeat him one day." said the 2nd racer

The 3rd racer was infatuated "He's cute, too cute. I wanna just..."

"Save your temptations, we've got other things to take care of." The 4th racer spoke in reality.

"Aww, but I seriously wanna just make him mine~."

The 4th racer ignored the 3rd and spoke to the last racer solemnly, "Mr. Douglas, you going to do anything?"

Valner Douglas replied, "Let's see what the kid's got. Then we'll make our move."

To be continued...

This post has been edited by Lethalbiscotti on Nov 23 2010, 04:51 PM

[The Stig]

Okay man, I'm not much of a overpraising kind of reviewer, but I can say that you're on the right track. Your formatting is more than passable, and you can do enough in the composing department. Your story flow is also quite good, and your description of racing and automotive terminology is quite a pull towards new readers.

Now for the painful part.

First, I find Hiro a bit into Gary Stu/Mary Sue territory. For starters, he sport a wholly Japanese name in the middle of Canada, a small but quite telltale sign of Mary Suedom. Most Japanese-American lose that after a few generations. Second, he has too many strong points. He can drive well (but you put a flaw there, which is good), he can play drum rather well, and he do breakdance and skating well enough to get to 'the difficult moves'. This is just too much diversity, and once you run out of skill to use on, your character will fall into impasse or will inflate in power the way Goku did. The way I see it, I can get much more development from Kyle the fat guy. Moreover, your world is a bit like a kitchen sink of elements, but this is poorly explained. Why would a Hiro and Chizuru would fit right into a 'western' community? Did they have a strong Japano-Canadian community? You didn't (or have yet to) touch that, and in my opinion it should be addressed.

That's all for now. My comments may be heated, but I hate flames as much as you do. Keep on improving

This post has been edited by The Stig on Nov 9 2010, 06:52 AM

[Lethalbiscotti]

Thanks Stig for the feedback. Now when I think of it, I am making Hiro too fictional...almost too perfect. I guess I was so into the character establishment that I don't know when to stop. Although I do disagree that there are a few Japanese-Canadian communities here in Canada (one is really well-known where I live and I will dig further down the next phase) I know one of my friends, who is Japanese, decided to keep his heritage name even when he immigrated...so I will try and talk to him about a few experiences and such. I will try and keep Hiro's skills to a minimum.

All right here is Phase 2. Again, any suggestions or constructive criticism is much appreciated.

Phase 2-Arrival of the S14

“Aah Kouki...how I missed you.”

Hiro was reunited with his S14 (240SX) on a bright Saturday morning. The stock Silvia is the only car Hiro finds enjoyable. Silvia series are usually affiliated with drifting because of how well a Silvia slides. Sometimes even grip racing comes into play, but nothing beats drifting in Hiro’s opinion. “Completely tests your control of speed, and your control of steering.” Hiro would say, “Unlike drag racing, where you know that one mistake of over-speeding can leave you and your car scarred for life.” Of course, people might find it controversial, but Hiro doesn’t seem to care; he needed the balance and symmetry just like Death the Kid from Soul Eater.

Guerilla Radio by Rage Against the Machine began to play on Hiro’s Iphone as Hiro realized it was his mom calling him, “Hello?”

“Hiro, I’m gonna be out for a day. Can you buy groceries for me?”

Hiro, reluctant yet again, said, “Same old?”

“Same old.”

“Ok.”

As Hiro hung up, he opened his garage door and hopped on to his S14. The sound of the engine drove Hiro into sheer excitement as he accelerated into 1st gear and then 2nd. Hiro missed the pure enjoyment of driving his Silvia down the streets. Driving at 100 km/h, Hiro felt satisfied as he drove down to the T & T Supermarket at Metropolis. Parking down B2 of the Metrotown parking lot, Hiro entered Metropolis: Burnaby’s heart of entertainment.

--------------------------------------------------

“Eggs…Soy Bean Paste…Fish…Meat…Milk…aw damn it! $3.00 for a ramune drink? Stupid Japanese soda prices…” Frustrated as he can be, Hiro only complained to himself how stupid Ramune drinks have been priced. Just when he took the last popsicle box from the dairy freezer, Hiro caught eye of Mr. DeRosa. “Mr. DeRosa!” Hiro called out, “How are you doing?” Mr. DeRosa waved back and approached Hiro with something in mind. Mr. DeRosa started talking, “Hiro! Great job on the drag race! You showed Valner’s son who’s boss!”

“Gee thanks.” Hiro replied

“Bryce was talking a lot about you as a skilled racer.”

“Mr. DeRosa, I only raced because Jack was threatening my friends. You should understand the morality between me and my pals.” There was a short pause, “If Mr. Williams has anything in mind, tell him I’m glad to hear what he has to offer.”

Mr. DeRosa felt guilty, “Ah yes, I’m sorry for what I said. I should’ve known better. Please forgive my rudeness. Hmm…oh right! The fact is, Bryce actually has something in mind. He wants you to come to his garage tonight at 9.”

“Will do.”

“Oh by the way, I switched to a 3rd generation Cuda.”

“Really? I thought your 1967 was fine besides the electronics…”

“Nah, The Rose needed a new change after all.”

“I see; I hope you enjoy your newer version of your car.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you next Monday, don’t forget that the final exam is coming up soon. Study hard!”

“I will!” As Mr. DeRosa left the conversation, Hiro proceeded to the checkout.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“God…why does it feel so heavy? What’s with this fish anyways? 10-pound halibut? Jeez…” As Hiro put the groceries at the trunk of the Silvia, Hiro decided to check the arcade. CHQ, it was called. The arcade used to be Playdium but now it moved to Ontario.

The arcade was bustling with teenagers and young adults. A variety of machines such as Tekken, Street Fighter, Mario Kart, etc. was all there in the one and only arcade in Metrotown. Hiro was appalled by the crowd of people near the Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 DX+ machines, “Huh…tournament going on?” Hiro wondered, “I’ll check it out.”

Hiro hated the humidity inside the arcade, “CHQ didn’t even plan to install more ACs” he thought, “or maybe they don’t have the necessary budget to buy one.” As Hiro glimpsed at one of the MT screens on the right side, an RX-7 named “Ph4Ts” and an Evo VIII named “*KEI*” were duking it out on the screen.

"Huh...I know these two...could it be Kyle and Chris?" Hiro pondered as he struggled through the jammed crowd, "Huh...yes it is and it looks like *KEI* is taking the lead..." The Evo VIII was in 1st place, beating Ph4Ts RX-7 in C1. Just as they were about to reach the C1 Divider (or more known as the enforcer), *KEI* won with a whooping distance of 150m aparat from Ph4Ts. "Hah! That's why I win because I have more control of my car than you Kyle!" a boy with blonde-black hair called out. Of course, it's just a game.

Kyle was in rage, "Damn you Chris, I want a rematch!"

"There will be no rematch for you guys" Hiro butted in, "There's a mob waiting with their MT cards placed on your machines and none of you even considered to give them a chance to play you douchebags."

Kyle and Chris caught glimpse of Hiro and the angry crowd, "Hiro!" They both said, and Hiro dragged the two out of the arcade.

Takehiro Chris (Keito) is the blonde-black haired boy. A childhood friend of Hiro, Chris is usually considered a rival because they always compete for everything. Just like what he drives in MT, Chris has a tuned white Lancer Evolution VIII. "Hiro! Haven't seen you in ages man! How's everything with you and that sexy chick?"

In three words, Hiro answered, "We broke up."

Hiro knew Chris wasn't stupid and didn't always try to act like a ladies man as Chris reacted in silence, "...I knew that you didn't do it. But the NAJC had no right to arbitrarily judge you like that. Let alone kick you and your mom out..."

The National Association of Japanese Canadians was something Hiro detested for their supposedly stubborn community. One of the leaders of the Vancouver branch happened to be Chizuru‘s father. It was true that the leaders kicked Hiro out of NAJC for a crime that he did in 10th Grade, but Hiro claimed relentlessly that he was just a victim or a bystander, "...let's put the past behind us Chris."

"All right."

The memories creeped into Hiro as he started having flashbacks:

[Two men were in front of him, interrogating.]

["Did you do it."]

[Silence still wavered]

Further back, Hiro could reminisce the police siren:

[WEEEEWWOOOOOOOO~]

["PUT YOUR HANDS UP IN THE AIR"]

["I didn't do it! I swear!"]

[A person was lying on the ground, half-dead]

Through his memories, a symbolic knife with the kanji character "Death" came clear to him.

"Hiro...Hiro...HIRO!!!!" A voice struck through Hiro's ears. Hiro realized he spaced out. It was Kyle, "Hey Hiro, I'm going to Sakura Media to buy a plastic figurine. You coming?"

"Wha? Oh! Sure...wait a minute, are you gonna buy a skimpy figurine?"

"Yea...?"

"Dude...not only you're fat, but you're also an otaku. Really! I'm pretty sure that you're gonna become a hikiko mori...I should be the otaku here!" Hiro couldn't bear Kyle's impossible requests, "Whatever man, I'm gonna buy MG Hi-Nu gundam anyways."

Kyle was completely focused to Hiro's granted reply, "Thanks man! You're the best!"

"What about you Chris?"

"I see Chizuru nearby Kawawa Ramen; I'm gonna go say a few things to her if you don't mind."

Hiro granted Chris permission, "Yea, go ahead. She's my ex so it doesn't really matter. Just don't get on her recent boyfriend's nerves."

"Who's her new boyfriend."

In two words, Hiro replied, "A Jock."

"Wow...that's kind of stereotypical."

----------------------------------------------------------

A few moments later, Kyle was in glee that he bought a Lala doll (To-Love Ru). Hiro, on the other hand, realized that Hi-Nu was out of stock. Meanwhile, Chris was talking with Chizuru about serious matters, "It's inexcusable. You told Hiro a few weeks ago that you were involved in that crime. You gave him the knife. Tsutoshi would never accept this! Ever!"

Chizuru was crying, "I know I did the wrong thing! Please you have to understand! What else could I do?"

"Tch!"

All of a sudden, Jack appeared as he saw his girlfriend crying in front of a man he did not know, "Hey punk! What did you do to my girlfriend?"

Chris, unmoved, smugly talked back, "Settling some business. That's all"

"Your business is now my business. And my business tells you to scram!"

"Businesses don't talk."

"Yea well...er..."

Chris thought, really stereotypical.

Hiro finally approached Chris and Jack. One second Jack noticed Hiro, Jack quickly grabbed Hiro's neck and lifted him up, "That was just a fluke Hiro!" Jack became enraged, "I didn't defeat you yesterday, I will kill you now!"

Even though Hiro is choking bad, he still had the energy to fend off Jack's grasp. By swinging his legs back and forth, Hiro manages to push off Jack with his legs. He then does a hand backflip to catch his breath, “Chris, go call security. This guy gets unstable when he fights. Kyle, accompany Chizuru. I'll try and stall him with my moves."

Both Chris and Kyle replied, "Yessir!"

"All right...time to go Mugen on this guy."

And so Hiro did. Jack landed the first blow to Hiro, but misses as Hiro commences the top rock movement: The Apache step. "Piece of shit, stop moving around!" Just as Jack was about to kick Hiro, Hiro commenced the Windmill and tripped Jack, making him fall down his face. Jack became extremely cross and decided to grab Hiro by the legs and land a blow to his face. Hiro, fortunately, was able to shift his weight to his body and maintain another hand backflip in order to create a backlash to Jack as Hiro sends Jack flying. “Jeez, the guy is nearly invincible. I didn’t even make a scratch on him.” Hiro said as he tidies up his clothes, “Oh well here comes Chris and the security guard. Lord help me as I am about to get my ass kicked.”

Jack charged like a bull enticed by a red curtain. Once Hiro tried to avoid Jack’s rampage, Jack decided to land an arm takedown to Hiro’s face, “Shit!” Hiro blurted as he got pummelled everywhere. Heh got me there, Hiro thought out loud as he started seeing stars and whiteness.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Hiro's dream, another flashback appeared with his mother and a 6 year-old boy immigrating to Canada. The 6 year-old boy was having a tantrum, "I don't want to keep my name as Hiro! I want something cool in Canada! Can't I have a name like Henry?"

The mother replied back in Japanese, "No! You will keep your Japanese name! Henry is too normal."

"But when I make new friends, they will laugh at my name!"

"No they won't. I gave you the name, Hiro, because I do not want anything left behind Japan. Not even our names. Our family suffered too much. Your grandfather was a victim of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He was one of the few survivors and he was glad to have survived. You, on the other hand, are complaining about small details! Be proud of what you're called!"

"..."

"Hiro...I know it's tough to leave your father and grandfather behind. I know it's tough to start anew. But I know that someday you will do good to the Japanese community. That I'm sure." The mother smiled.

"Ok...mom" The 6 year-old smiled back without knowing a single bit what mom said at the end.

------------------------------------------------

The sun set at 8:00 PM. As Hiro opened his eyes, he realized he was back in his Silvia while the CD player was playing, "What is Love" by Haddaway. Hiro became annoyed and turned off the volume, "Stupid Chris! He knows that I hate party music! Oh? A note…” It was a paper placed on the steering wheel saying:

You should’ve seen the look on your face when Jack beat you up! It was hilarious! But anyways we sent you to a medical centre nearby Metropolis. You didn’t suffer any brutal injuries whatsoever, except maybe a black eye--
Hiro checked his visor mirror. His left-eye endured a huge black spot, “Damn it man!”

--…We later found your Silvia and I drove it down to the centre; Tune your Silvia man! Stock just ruins the enjoyment…well…besides all this shit I’m teasing you, you MUST come to Squamish tonight. 11:30 pm-sharp. We got trouble.

-Chris

Hiro knew what Chris wrote was serious. At this moment, all he can do is just get back home to get cleaned, “I still have an hour left before meeting Bryce…Mr. DeRosa gave me Bryce’s address.”

Rewinding the time of events back to T&T Supermarket, Hiro questioned, “Mr. DeRosa, I don’t know Mr. Williams’ address.”

“Here I’ll give you it.” Mr. DeRosa replied.

Mr. DeRosa wrote the address on a note. He later hands it to Hiro. Hiro confirmed, “Will do.”

Returning to the present, Hiro checked the small note again. It’s now 8:10 pm, “All right…6530...Street…got it.” Hiro marked the address on his retro Burnaby map, “In the meantime, home first…”

-----------------------------------------------------

9:00 pm fell as streetlights began to switch on. Hiro arrived at a local garage a few blocks away from Metropolis. At the back were Mustangs parked everywhere. 1st generation to 4th generation; Roush to Shelby. Hiro was amazed at the monstrous steed quantity, “Damn…lots of Mustangs…no wonder why he prefers muscle.” Hiro then mooned into the garage to see what was going on. What Hiro saw completely changed his view of Bryce, “Is that…drifting?” A black-and-white picture with a car skidding on a clean track appealed him. The car in that picture was not even a Mustang at all…it was a Holden Torana! “I used to compete in one of these cars back in Australia where the Australian Touring Car Championship took place.” Bryce spoke as he came from his dim office, “That Holden Torana was my first pal in the racing scene, but I never had the chance to win one of those trophies. All I have won were local tournaments, sometimes national.”

“That’s too bad, Mr. Williams.” Hiro felt down once Bryce said his words.

Bryce added, “…yet there was one race that wholly determined the legendary status of my team…”

“What?”

“…but that’s in the past, the reason why I wanted you to come here is because…I want you to pass down the legend of my team, Gespenst. This used to be Valner’s team, until he betrayed us. Right now, I’m pretty sure he will dominate and take over the racing scene…will you please help me?”

In one word, Hiro answered, “No.”

Bryce felt dismayed, “Why?! You have the knack of racing! You should not waste it!”

“Listen old man, I didn’t come here just so I can race and be famous. I can’t race for SHIT! All this talk about speed, boost, or horsepower disgusts me! If this is all you have to ask, then I might as well leave.”

Bryce couldn’t say anything to simmer Hiro down. Hiro hopped back to his Silvia and drove off. A ring went off Hiro’s cellphone as Bryce texted him:

If you ever change your mind, I’m always here.

Hiro felt guilty, but his refusal to race overcame his emotions. He stepped on the gas to remove his worries away as he drives down to Squamish.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was one and a half hour drive from Burnaby to Squamish as Hiro handle the mountain terrain, “Why did Chris tell me to come to Squamish?” Hiro wondered. The roads here aren’t meant for racing partially because the pavement is perilous. One bad action and your car will hit the rails or the crag. If this was a race, it would be the same as the roads in Shomaru Pass where Takumi faced Wataru in Initial D.

Once Hiro arrived at the Shell Gas Station where Chris was waiting, Hiro decided to fill his Silvia up with gas. Across the street, Chris was standing with his Evo VIII parked beside him. Chris ran up to Hiro and shouted, “Hey! Stock boy!”

Hiro was exasperated, “Wow Chris, way to give me a name.”

“Dude have you realized?”

“Realize what?”

“Kyle is also here and he is racing against a pro!”

“You’re kidding me.” Hiro responded in astonishment.

“No I’m not, haven’t you heard the engines roaring out there?”

“No I--”

A loud engine sound began to increase the noise, bRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR…

“Ok now I have.” Hiro conformed, “I know one the engines is Kyle’s rotary…the other is…a Nissan 350Z?”

“Right on! How’d you know?”

“Dude…I’ve been listening to engines in my sleep.”

Chris was dumbfounded, “That’s not true…”

“Whatever you wanna believe man.” Hiro smirked.

Soon enough the engine sounds became unbearable tire screeches. “Holy crap! What was that!” Chris asked in terror.

“I’m guessing Kyle learned his lesson not to overspeed.” Hiro replied monotonously.

A few moments later, the red RX-7 and black Nismo 350Z broke the dark horizon with their headlights. The Z was in 1st place while the RX-7 was way behind. As the drivers got out of their cars, Kyle was fatigued as the other driver kept his cool. Hiro pitied Kyle’s recklessness, “Dude, what happened?”

Kyle was practically speechless.

“You nearly crashed” Hiro guessed.

Kyle nodded his head.

Hiro had no choice but to be didactic, “Dude…when will you ever learn?”

Sooner or later, a Honda CR-V showed up with a outraged driver, “Who was the guy that nearly crashed into me?!”

No one said anything.

“WHO WAS THAT MOTHERF**KER THAT NEARLY CRASHED MY CAR!!!!!!”

Kyle confessed, “…It was me, sir.”

What happened next became personal. Hiro spoke, “A buffalo fears tigers. A baby buffalo doesn’t. Kyle will soon become the mature buffalo.”

“Dude that’s pretty profound.” Chris implied.

“Yea well, it’s something the author taught me.”

“What???”

“Nothing.”
Besides Kyle’s situation, the driver of the 350Z approached the two teenagers. The Z driver wore a blue Nismo Jacket and Levi-Strauss Jeans. His appearance looks clean and his hair looks clean-cut, “So I’ve heard you fought with Jack, Hiro.” The guy began.

“Wait how’d you know my name?” Hiro was in confusion.

Chris interrupted, “Ah! Sorry I left out the details Hiro, here’s what happened after you fainted.”

Rewinding the time of events back to Metropolis, the security guard managed to restrain Jack’s frenzy. Hiro was beaten up terribly, but Chris decided to take a picture of Hiro. All of a second, a tall, brown-haired guy showed up trying to understand what was going on, “What happened here?”

“The tall Caucasian with the football jersey fought against my friend, Hiro” Chris responded.

In one short pause, the brown-haired guy thought, Hiro? That guy? He finally spoke, “Tall Caucasian guy…you mean Jack?”

“Yea.”

“Huh…I see…my name is Grant Robertson. I’m Jack’s cousin.”

“Takehiro Chris.”

“I apologize for the trouble my cousin brought.”

“It’s all right, we’ll be sending him to the medical centre soon.”

“Can you do me a favour, I would like to have a race with your friend once he recovers.”

Chris turned aghast, “What? Hiro races?”

Grant turned serious. He whispered something in Chris’ ear, “Don’t play dumb with me, Hiro won against Jack during the drag race back in Delta. I was given orders to take revenge of Jack just because of this mere race.”

Chris was terrified, but couldn’t say anything.

“Tonight, 11:30 pm. Somebody race me, I’d recommend Hiro. But I’m willing for any other challenge. You guys better come.”

A mixture of confusion and horror swept Chris as he knew something bad was going to happen.
Back to the present, Hiro was shocked, “You took a picture of me beaten up?! What the heck man!”

“Forget that, we got Grant to deal with!”

Grant: “So how about we get this show on the road?”

Hiro: “…”

Chris: “I swear man, don’t do it…your Silvia isn’t powerful enough.”

Hiro: “Did you come here because Valner Douglas told you to?”

Grant: “So what if he did? Does it matter?”

Hiro: “Nah, I accept your challenge.”

Chris: “Awww man! You’re gonna regret it!”

Hiro: “Don’t worry, this isn’t a bet or anything. I’ll win some way.”

Grant became satisfied, “All right. We play by Initial D rules. The challenger loses if he cannot keep the gap distance of his car and his opponent’s car in less than 6 meters. Any overtake before the finish line also counts as a win. Any crash or engine failure will result in default loss. Got it?”

Hiro affirmed, “Sounds good to me.”

--------------------------------------------------------------

The black S14 lined up first, followed by the black Z33. Hiro as usual analyzed his opponent’s car, “Since Grant likes Nismo parts, I’m pretty sure that he installed only Nismo stuff. I can tell by the front and rear body. But I can’t find any weaknesses in his car at all! I guess I will have to wait until the race begins.”

Chris gave the countdown. It was a merciless match between Grant and Hiro as the two revved their engines. Chris announced the startup, “All right, racers ready? In 5!” Hiro gripped the steering wheel, “4!” Grant focused his eyes only on the Silvia, “3! 2! 1! GO!!!!”

Hiro utilized his Silvia engine’s acceleration, “I know from my Silvia that the engine is supposed to be made for trucks. High torque, low horsepower. If I can’t win in speed, I can surely win in handling.”

Hiro was dead wrong. Even though he was in the lead, when it came to the first corner, Grant suddenly decided to drift his way. Hiro became appalled, “Crap! I don’t know how to drift! I thought this was supposed to be a grip race!” The Nismo 350Z was catching up to Hiro’s S14. Just at the second corner was a tight right turn; Grant kicked it up a notch by speeding and overtaking right when Hiro pumped the brakes to slow down for the harsh turn. Grant then, did another drift to which Hiro felt despondent in winning.

Hiro reconsidered his decisions, “Was it necessary to race him?” Hiro questioned himself as he tried to keep up with Grant’s Z, “All right, I’m at the back…I can still pull it off. Time to analyze Grant’s movements once again.”

The next part of the road was a long curvy straight. Grant’s Z had shaky movement even when he was trying to hug the walls. An epiphany fell on Hiro, “Grant didn’t put stabilizers below his Z. Today is a very windy day…If I can get it right at the next left corner, I might be able to win this!”

Hiro accelerated down the straight in order to catch up with the Z. Just as the S14 closed the gap between it and the 350Z, the two cars approach the next corner with ferocity. Hiro then executed his planned action, “At this time of night, there are no incoming cars around this long corner. I am able to switch lanes and hug the left wall. Grant won’t be able to do a perfect drift. I can overtake him!”

On the other side, Grant realized Hiro’s intentions. Just as Hiro made the risky move in switching to the opposite lane, Grant decided not to drift and follow where S14 is. Hiro looked at his rearview mirror, “Damn it! He’s not drifting! The last few roads is all about speed!”

“Heh nice try kiddo. Good race.” Grant murmured as he felt fulfilled in winning the race.

Because of Hiro’s tachophobia, Hiro could only close his eyes as the finish point was a few kilometers away. The Z was beside his S14, and there was nothing Hiro could do but cower in fear of the threatening velocity coming from him and the Z.

Hiro blacked out as he returned to the Shell Gas Station.

Chris was not satisfied, “Dude…I told you that you shouldn’t race against a pro.”

“…” Hiro stood in silence.

Grant sighed as he looked at Hiro in pity, “You managed to find a flaw in my car, but it wasn’t enough. Come back next time when you can properly race me. I will be waiting here for your preparation.” Grant then drove off in his Nismo Z back to Vancouver.

Chris and Kyle also left, leaving Hiro alone with his S14. Hiro looked at the dark sky and then his Silvia, “Kouki. That was…pathetic.” A tear came out of his eye as rain started to drizzle.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12:30 AM

RRRIINNNGG! RRRIINNNGGG!!!

“Hello?”

“Mr. Williams, I want to help you.”

Bryce smiled as Hiro was about to come back.

To be continued...

This post has been edited by Lethalbiscotti on Nov 11 2010, 12:54 AM

[The Stig]

Now that you mentioned about Canadians of Japanese descent having well-rooted communities, that assures me that you have some facts backing the story.Adress that in the story and one of your problem goes poof.

[Lethalbiscotti]

Phase 2 is out! Enjoy!

[Blakout]

Woot this story is epic. Are the people you mentioned in the CHQ part people you know?

[Lethalbiscotti]

nah If I were to mention people IRL, I could stir up problems...unless people IRL in Vancouver give me total permission. Thanks for reading Blakout

This post has been edited by Lethalbiscotti on Nov 11 2010, 09:24 PM

[Blakout]

NP. D (EDIT: that's supposed to be a smile with a mustache)

This post has been edited by Blakout on Nov 12 2010, 08:10 AM

[Lethalbiscotti]

All right, here's phase 3 readers

Helpful comments are always welcome


Phase 3-Perspective Velocity Shift

Clek--clek--clek--

“Oh my god…oh my god…oh my god…”

Clek-clek-clek-clek-

“Oh my god, oh my god!!!”

Clekclekclekclekclekclekclek

“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!!! AAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

“Jesus Christ! That’s the 10th time you’ve been on the PNE Roller Coaster and you still ain’t got what it takes to manage speed!” Bryce shouted as Hiro was on the PNE Coaster. It was a sunny day as the crowds kept lining up for entertainment. Summer at Playland has begun and the admissions started to lower their prices for many children and adults who love the thrill and excitement brought in Vancouver’s amusement park. The old man, however, was vicariously enjoying Hiro’s unbearable sense of fear of speed on a vintage roller coaster that happened to be the beginning of Hiro’s madness. After Bryce’s irritation, he later broke into laughter seeing as how Hiro was flailing his arms and screaming when the coaster came to a stop, “Oh god, you’re ridiculous Hiro!”

The staff had a few problems with the poor guy, “Sir, you can get off the coaster. It’s over now.”

Hiro wasn’t buying it; he was still in delirium, “AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGHH!! AAAHHHHH! HOLY SHIT! HOLY--”

It was a wild day for Hiro.

Back a few hours ago, on a very early Sunday morning when Hiro decided to meet Bryce again for the “special” assistance, Bryce told him all about Valner’s new and dangerous team, F9, “When Valner raced Phillip, I knew at first things were about to go upside down. I couldn’t tell Phillip the problem because I had no idea that Valner officially abandoned us for good. I was too blind to admit it, but…Valner was actually a rat. After the race, Phillip and I decided to disband the team. It wasn’t right without Valner, he would decide all our battles and we would mostly win without a doubt…the three of us. I was called ‘The Iron‘, Phillip--as you may have already known--was called ‘The Rose‘, and Valner was called ‘The Ghost.’ ”

Hiro was curious, “Why did Mr. Douglas betray you two?”

Bryce gave his fullest answer, “Because he hated being stuck in this place. Greed brought Valner chaos and he paid the price. We didn’t want to race the outside world because we knew the regulations if we were to import our cars to different areas. Now the regulations are much different, but back then Valner wanted to break that rule. And he did it with an angry passion. I don’t what happened, but he…switched to European Cars instead of American Muscle. Now it is all BMWs, Benz, Porsche, whatever for him.”

"What does the F stand for?"

"Forsakened, I think."

“Huh...there are 9 members total...so what is Mr. Douglas up to now these days?”

“Recently Valner is building up on his team. Right now I know there are four drivers who are considered the elite out of the group.”

“What do you mean by elite?” Hiro questioned further.

“The four drivers are not just your typical professional drivers. They are experienced drivers who came out of international racing leagues. Two of them are prodigies at racing, the other two are beyond skilful. Unfortunately, all four of them had violent racing pasts. Their former teams had to kick them out because they were just too dangerous.”

“Do you know their names?”

“I can’t say for sure, but I think one of four happened to be Valner’s nephew.”

“…Grant Robertson.” Hiro said out of the blue.

Bryce was dumbfounded, “You know him?!”

“I raced him yesterday. He was beyond my level…” Hiro admitted in disappointment.

“By lord, you must have had the guts to race a guy like him…he was the captain of Team Nismo Vancouver and a member of Team Nismo International. Although he had the chance to bring greatness to his team, he was bewitched with the sense of victory. When his team lost the FIA GT1 Championship in Germany a few years ago, he was furious at the humiliating loss his team had suffered…and until then, no one has ever mentioned his name after that one race.”

“I see…no wonder that guy was being so vindictive.”

Bryce wasn‘t finished, “You, however, hold something similar to Grant. I can just tell by the look in your eyes. Those sharp eyes of sheer determination. You don’t like losing as well, but with your skill and the performance of your car, you’re not ready…not yet.”

“When will I be ready?”

Bryce smiled, “I will introduce another friend of mine who is an adept import mechanic. He lives in Coquitlam. Once we talk with him, then the fun will start.”

Hiro looked at his Silvia, “All right then…”

“Shall we go?”

Hiro drove off to Coquitlam; Bryce in the shotgun seat. The fun begins…now.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8 AM crept up on digital clock on the Silvia’s Ice. The two arrived at Coquitlam where traffic has begun to condense like peas in a pod. Bryce was using Hiro’s phone since the driving laws enforced no phoning or texting while driving, “Hey, we arrived. We’ll meet up with you soon ok? K, see ya my friend.”

“So who was that on the phone?” Hiro asked Bryce while looking at the driving landscape not to hit his beloved Silvia.

“The same friend you’ve been asking me for six times.” a hint of annoyance implanted on Bryce’s face.

“Oh…sorry.”

“Ok! Right there Hiro! That’s his garage.”

“Holy crap! That is huge!”

A tall, humongous industrial box building lay before the two as Hiro parked his car down the visitor’s aisle. The entrance said, “Watanabe’s Auto Garage.“ Hiro was amazed, “Wow, your friend must be really rich…”

Bryce smirked, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

As Hiro and Bryce entered in a door at the left of the building, a man appeared expecting them to arrive, “Bryce! Over here!”

“Ah! Genma! There you are!”

It felt like a reunion; two long-time friends that have not been able to contact each other. Hiro could only smile at them. Suddenly, Bryce and Genma started to become younger. Their faces became more lively as they talked; Bryce's hair became livelier with brown and Genma's hair became jet black; they even talked like teenagers. Hiro was bewildered, “Am I seeing things? Why do Mr. Williams and Watanabe-san look so…young?” Of course, in the perspective of the old men, Hiro was surely spacing out. Bryce forced Hiro to snap out of it, “Hey! Kid! You awake there, air-head?”

Genma was chuckling, but was also concerned about Bryce’s insensitivity towards people, “Bryce, lighten up. I’m pretty sure the kid’s attracted by what’s inside my building.”

Hiro finally came to his senses, “Ah…oh…” Red filled his face as he looked down the floor. He takes a deep breath and resumes what he wanted to say, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Watanabe-san.” Hiro immediately bowed to him, showing his pure politeness.

“Ah, Hiro-kun is it? Bryce told me about you as a racer…you seem to know your opponents and their cars well If I’m not mistaken. I heard you raced against the fourth elite member of The Forsaken.” Genma then lighted a cigarette and smoked for a while, then he continued, “Was it much of a challenge?”

“It was bad. Grant was an expert drifter, and he knew what my intentions were when I raced him on the windy roads of Squamish.” Hiro felt depressed, “I…thought I could win. Turns out that I couldn’t handle the speedy straight…”

Genma was in deep thought. He approached Hiro and stared at him. Hiro was confused. As Hiro was about to say something, Genma interrupted, “Hiro-kun, I believe you can control your fear of speed. There might be way to turn your disadvantage into a reliable racing tool.”

“Oh?” Hiro was curious, but soon turned negative, “But…my car won’t be able to keep up with me.”

Genma eased Hiro’s worries, “This is why Bryce called me. Follow me.” Genma led the way inside his building, “This is my garage.” Genma turned on the lights.

There were a few Nissans lined up on one side of the garage, Subarus, Hondas, Mitsubishi, Toyotas, and Mazda. Hiro felt the thrill inside his body as he was blown away by the array of tuned cars Genma had in stock, “Watanabe-san…are these cars really yours?”

“Yep, cars dating back from the 70s to now. I tune them for hobbies, can’t say my skill has rusted though from the new technology car companies have been making.”

“You have a 1973 Datsun S30Z, no wait…two of them! A Lancer Evolution I…a Toyota Supra with a Top Secret Bodykit? Holy shit! Oh! Even you have the recent R35 and…an R34! What do you do with these cars?”

“Usually people come to me for car repairs, but this building is actually an JDM/US import store that I have established over the many years I’ve worked with Bryce. I sell these cars to people all around the world who love the spirit of racing…I can make wonders with a car like yours Hiro-kun, but lemme ask you this: do you want you to race?”

Hiro had second thoughts, “…”

“Lemme ask you again: do YOU want to race?” Genma’s firm voice shattered Hiro.

In one word, Hiro replied, “Yes.”

After one hour, Genma finally managed to check the specs of Hiro’s S14, “All right…so you didn’t do anything to your car at all…hmm…I can make your car powerful as the way you want it. Almost the exterior and the structure of your car needs changing, but I can change it to what you prefer. The only issue I’m having is the KA24DE engine. The mileage is too high, your car needs an overhaul. I would say an SR20DET engine should do the trick.”

Hiro was joyful, “That would be awesome Watanabe-san! Wait but…aren’t SR20DET engines old as well?”

“I’m gonna order an S14 Blacktop SR20DET. That engine has VTC rather than an ordinary SR20DET, which is essential to Silvia racers…Hiro, I will make you love your car even more. I will also make it formidable…but the power I will install will come at a price.”

“Whatever it is, I’m willing to pay for it.”

Bryce was glad Hiro accepted Genma’s offer, “Well there you have it! Your special top-notch mechanic!”

Genma appreciated Hiro’s acceptance, “Hiro I need you to help me on what you want on the exterior and interior…”

************************************************************************

As Hiro’s S14 was about to get a new facelift, Kyle was still in the dumps as his RX-7 was lying in the garage, “God I’m starting to hate being called fat…after Grant humiliated me with his excellent drifting skills.” In his mind, all he can think are the things Grant jeered at him, “A person like you isn’t fit to be a racer. I despise your choice of tuning on the RX-7. Don’t ever race me again…fatso.” The one word, fatso, is starting to strike Kyle down his heart. “I hate to admit it…but Grant is right. Maybe it’s time to lay down the junk food and start exercising.” Kyle got up from his bed, he was tired of staring at his Japanese figurine dolls all the time…even his recent Lala doll couldn’t rouse him up any way whatsoever. Once he left the room, Kyle decided to change into his fitness gear that hasn’t been touched for decades, “All right, time for a jog.”

Down the sidewalk as Kyle jogged for 100 meters, music started playing down the street. It was Rocky Balboa’s Theme Song as the trumpets started doing the fanfare while Kyle began running. Just when the music got louder and so began the infamous melody most of the people all around the world know, Kyle cracked, “RYAN! Stop it with music!”

“All right, all right man.” Ryan went nuts as he broke into laughter, “I surely haven’t seen you jogging for like…ever! Why’d you start man?”

“Cuz some expert racer told me to…?”

Ryan turned curious, “Was it the race at Squamish man?” One second Ryan said Squamish, Kyle leered at Ryan, “Never say the name, I will never race there again.”

“All right man, continue on with your jog…while you can man!” Ryan smiled. As Kyle was about to leave him, Ryan managed to take a picture of Kyle’s butt sticking out of his sweatpants, “This’ll be really good for yearbook.” Ryan said with immense satisfaction.

30 minutes later, Kyle returned back to his home sweating buckets, “Hah…hah…oh my god…that was the worst 600 meters of my life…hah…hah…” All of a sudden, Ryan shows up, “Here, drink this.”

“Thanks man.”

As both the buddies drank their Nos, Kyle started to talk about Hiro, “Hiro raced the guy I raced as well.” Ryan looked at him with surprise, “Really man? I bet Hiro pummelled the guy. He’s all like analysing his opponent and stuff, which really gets on racer’s nerves while they’re racing…even a guy like him wouldn’t lose wouldn’t you say man?”

Kyle was blunt, “Hiro lost, Ryan.”

A long pause erupted when Ryan heard the shocking report. A few cars zoomed by breaking the silence as the two stared at each other. It was only when a tuned 1st Gen Honda Civic Type-R completely broke the daze, Ryan began to feel terrible, “It can’t be…Hiro would never lose to that Z guy…the only way Hiro lost was because his car specs were all stock…right man?”

Kyle had to break Ryan’s bubble, “Squamish is a road in which you need full of skill and control. Specs can impact on your car performance, but it is always the expertise of handling a rugged course that counts. Ryan, snap out of it. Hiro had NO chance against that guy. The Z driver is a freaking professional! He was just toying with Hiro in order get his own sense of achievement.”

“What have I done…?” Ryan stuttered, “I never should have forced him to go with Japanese cars.”

In a flashback about a year ago, Hiro was deciding on which car he would buy. Ryan was with him when they came to a small dealership down Richmond. The dealership also happened to be an import garage. Ryan at that time was pretty sarcastic. Hiro loved European cars at that time, but Ryan disagreed with Hiro’s point of view, “C’mon man, European cars don’t suit you. You need a Japanese car. It’s in your blood to race one since you come from Japan man!”

“But dude, I can’t find anything good about Japanese cars. Their engineering is a bit too technological for my tastes. I wanna go for a BMW like yours.”

“Dude, don’t copy me.”

“Fine, fine.” As Hiro conformed, something gleamed at his eye, “Hello…? What might this be? A 1997 S14? It looks like this is the latest revision model of the S14 era…Kouki.”

An import mechanic appeared and started featuring the S14 to the two, “Ah this is a pre-owned 240SX. The specs are still stock and we haven’t started tuning this car yet. We can sell it to you for…3.8 grand-ish with tuned engine parts.”

“No need, I want it stock.”

Ryan was startled, “Dude, are you serious? You could do more with a tuned sports engine man!”

The mechanic nodded to Ryan’s words, but Hiro made up his mind, “Listen, I’m not here to race. I just want a car for ordinary life, that’s it.”

The final words brought a conclusion as the mechanic accepted Hiro’s offer, “All right, we’ll talk business in my office…”

Back in the present, Kyle changed to a casual set of clothes after taking a shower. Ryan waited for Kyle outside. When Kyle was about to go down the storeys of his highrise building, Ryan pulled his M3 up the side of the street. The white colour the BMW was portraying completely caught Kyle’s eye as he approached the car. The BMW was a mess, Kyle thought, “Dude…I can’t believe you removed all your luxury car apparatus just to put in a roll cage. I mean removing the passenger seats is feasible, but you didn’t have to remove the armrests, side cushions, and even the shotgun seat.” Kyle went exploring inside from the M3 window, “Fortunately you kept the GPS. If you didn’t, your car wouldn’t run properly.”

“Yea, I know. I wanna make my car lighter man. I can do without luxury, but I do agree that I need a shotgun seat. I’ve been trying to find another Bride GIAS Gradation Bucket Seat for the shotgun side. So far I haven’t found one yet that costs reasonably well enough.”

“How much were you looking for?” Kyle asked, “Better not be anything cheap. You know car products don’t come cheap.”

“Yea well, I don’t spend my money on useless bargained power parts that can’t do anything but damage your car.”

“Hey! Those were actually useful!”

The two bickered for a moment, saying who’s car is better. Of course, it’s all up the person’s speculation on whether European cars beat Japanese cars or the other way around. Most of the people in Vancouver usually affiliate European cars as the best performance, but there are a few common Japanese cars that are slightly tuned. The pure racing imports only arrive in the brink of night. A Lamborghini Gallardo happened to drive by the two chums arguing. Ryan immediately swerved his head to see the orange blur pass by, “Aah, that Gallardo sucks.”

Kyle disagreed, “Are you kidding me? I’ve seen the Gallardo many times, and I have yet to be bored by its engine sound.”

Another pause emerged after barely any cars zoomed past the M3. Kyle felt exhausted and looked up at the sky, “Hey Ryan…” Kyle began, “You think we should make a racing team? With you, me, Hiro, and Chris?”

“I don’t see why not man.”

“Yea…but we all suck. All we know how to do is just tune our cars, and we can’t even do a good job doing it…” Kyle looked down, “And besides, Hiro refuses to even tune his S14. We should just go back and play MT…”

Ryan refused to give up, “I know that we can become great racers here, Kyle. We got the right paraphernalia man. Don’t forfeit what we want, continue doing it for the sake of enjoyment. Whether someone burns or crashes, we all burn or crash.” Ryan got out of his driver seat and approached Kyle and patted on his shoulder, “We can all become skilled racers in Vancouver. We will find teachers, mechanics, anyone who can help us. We will own the streets here. This I’m sure man.”

“Ok man, I believe you.” Kyle felt pumped, “Hey, why don’t we go for a spin down the roads?”

“Yea, I don’t think that’s gonna happen man. Our cars will be easily caught in daylight, and who knows what the police are going to do when they confiscate our vehicles man. Right now, the laws are as tight as hell!”

“Hmm…why don’t we check on Hiro to see what’s he doing?” Kyle suggested, “I’ll get my mom’s car.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Driving his mom’s X5, Kyle drove to Coquitlam at full throttle down Lougheed Highway. Ryan understood how Hiro felt while Kyle’s driving, “Now I know why Hiro can’t stand your driving.”

“What?”

“Never mind. I’ll call Hiro man.”

Ryan pulled his Iphone 4 out of his pocket and speed-dialled Hiro’s number. After 3 standby tones, a voice picked up from Ryan’s phone, “Hello?”

“Hey Hiro! Where are you man? We’re driving down to your place.”

At Watanabe’s Garage, Genma was ordering the parts Hiro chose for his S14. Hiro looked at Genma, “Hey Watanabe-san, should I tell them where I am?”

Genma looked back at Hiro, “Sure, are they friends of yours?”

“Yea, and they race as well.”

Genma grinned, “Well the more the better!”

Hiro asked one more question, “Should I tell them about my S14?”

Genma shook his head, “No! I wanna keep the tuning unnoticed. This S14 is gonna be your secret weapon.”

“All right then.”

In Kyle’s X5, Hiro replied on the phone, “Sure, I’ll be waiting for you guys. I got someone special to introduce.”

Ryan and Kyle felt excited, “Who is it? A new girlfriend?” Ryan joked.

Hiro got agitated, “Hell no!”

“All right, chill man. I was just kidding. Just tell us the address and we’ll arrive in about 30 mins…”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kyle and Ryan arrived at the same tall industrious building. One second their eyes arrowed down the various truck-sized garage doors, they were enlightened by the hidden cars that were awaiting for them. Hiro went out to greet the two, “Hey guys, like this building?”

There wasn’t any need for thinking; both Kyle and Ryan gave their simple answer, “Yes!”

Hiro smirked, “Then you should meet the owner of this building, Watanabe Genma-san. He helped an old racer/friend named Bryce Williams during the 70s. He is also a highly skilled mechanic since he can fix Nissans, Toyotas, Subarus…etc.”

“What about BMWs?” Ryan asked.

“Bryce knows how to tune American and European cars, you should ask him.” Genma came out of one of his garage’s doors. Genma and the two shook hands with each other. Kyle was in glee as he praised Genma’s expertise, “Mr. Watanabe, I am so thrilled to see that you have such a huge building just for tuning and repairing cars. If you ever have the time, do you mind if I bring my RX-7 here someday?”

Hiro whispered something to Genma, “He’s a speed fanatic; he drives like a madman I tell you. Even his RX-7 shows that he is completely mad. Wait ‘till you see Kyle’s FD, it’s total hell.”

Genma could only smile at the incoming challenge, he soon looked at Kyle, “Nah, I don’t mind. In fact, I would love to have a look at your RX-7.”

“Yippee!!!” Kyle screamed like a little girl. Ryan, on the other hand, was a bit saddened, “Where is Mr. Williams by the way?”

“Oh he should be inside, let’s all go see him.” Genma replied. As the men went into the garage from the scorching weather on the late Sunday morning, Bryce happened to look at the two boys. He then smiled, “Well, well. If it ain’t Hiro’s fellas! What brings you here?”

“We came here to see Hiro, Mr. Williams.” Ryan began, “But Mr. Watanabe told me that you specialize in American muscle and European sport cars.”

Bryce raised an eyebrow, “Why yes I do. Why’d you ask son?”

Ryan felt relieved to see the old man sipping his coffee, “Mr. Williams, do you mind if I bring my BMW to your garage? I’m quite a fan of European sport cars, but I feel that I need guidance.”

Bryce got up from his seat and looked at Ryan. He then smiled, “Nah I don’t mind, bring your BMW anytime. Although I do specialize in American muscle, I can always get back to my European touch.” Bryce gave Ryan his business card, “Anytime you need help, just call me.”

Ryan felt exhilarated, “Gee thanks Mr. Williams! I really appreciate it! There’s so much that I want to learn!”

"Yea, well before you do anything but race...find another bucket seat!" Bryce chuckled as he imagined Ryan's car missing a passenger seat.

Ryan was in astonishment. Hiro came in the conversation and explained to Ryan, "Heh, I told him about your M3. You should seriously get another bucket seat."

"I would if prices weren't so high!" Ryan bawled, "Been trying to find a Bride GIAS for days at a reasonable price!"

Bryce questioned, "How reasonable son?"

"Uh...$400"

Hiro and Bryce fell silent. Bryce blinked twice and said, "Ryan, never in my life will you ever find a seat that cheap."

The group of guys kept talking about their cars for 2 hours. Until it was time for lunch, Kyle decided to go to Playland, "Hey guys, why don't we have a bit of fun at Playland? Let's keep our excitement going with some familial speed thrills!"

"Oh no, I'm not going there...you know I hate roller coasters Kyle!" Hiro refused, "I'm not going there! Nuh-uh! No way!"

Hiro shook his head like there's no tomorrow. Kyle, however, talked it out with the group. Genma thought it was a good idea, "I think Hiro should learn a thing or two about speed." Bryce thought of the pure entertainment he was about to get, "Heh, this'll be a good laugh." Ryan was pretty much--in surfer language--stoked; he loved roller coasters, even the ones that don't even seem exciting at all. Kyle just wanted to go for the food.

Kyle: So...how do we convince Hiro to go with us?

Ryan: Correction, how do we force Hiro to come with us?

Genma: I’d say let’s have someone lift him up and someone else grab his limbs. That way he’s nearly immobilized.

Kyle: Yea but…Hiro is actually pretty tall for an Asian to tell the truth. He’s like…6 feet and is pretty much muscular due to his breakdancing routine and fitness.

Bryce: Shucks, we got Ryan. Ryan should have no problem right son?

Ryan: Nah Mr. Williams, I may be taller than Hiro, but I don’t have the strength to carry a guy like him.

Genma: Hmm…I wonder if this’ll do…

Genma crept up to Hiro, who was standing outside looking at the garage down right where his Silvia is parked. In one moment, Hiro fell unconscious from a Ju-Jitsu blow to the head made by Genma himself. Bryce grinned at the solution Genma made, but Kyle and Ryan had it worse, “Holy…Mr. Watanabe has moves…I’m scared.” Was all Kyle could say. Ryan agreed, “Man…I wouldn’t want to be Hiro man…” Genma returned to the group of guys, “So, now we can lift Hiro up.” Kyle and Ryan nodded their heads.

And after that begun Hiro’s madness.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dusk fell as the Kyle, Ryan, Bryce, and Genma exited out of the amusement park with content. Hiro was paralyzed completely, so Ryan had to carry him back to the X5. Bryce and Genma bid their farewellls to the trio, “All right fellas, we’ll be off now.” Bryce commenced. Ryan replied, “See ya Mr. Williams, I’m gonna bring my BMW in a few days if that’s ok.”

“Anytime son, just bring ‘ur Beemer and I’ll do ma magic.”

Suddenly far away down the streets came an Acura RSX and a Honda S2000. The engines of these two cars sent shivers down Kyle’s spine, “Hey…those cars are up to something…”

Ryan concurred, “Yea…it’s strange…how could an RSX and S2K be roaming down here?”

Soon after, a beat down Nissan Skyline R32 crept slowly down the road until it stopped at Playland’s parking lot. The R driver struggled to open the right-side door and soon fell out of the car, injured and bleeding. Kyle knew it was bad, “Ryan! We gotta call the ambulance!”

Ryan was already vigilant enough to understand the situation, “Right behind ya man!” He put Hiro down on the pavement, then called 911 and asked the bystanders to seek aid. Kyle started to dial tow truck services when Genma showed up. Kyle was surprised, “Mr. Watanabe! I thought you left!”

“Bryce and I heard all the commotion. He decided to take the bus back home instead. I can tell this is an illegal race, just look at how broken down the driver’s R32 is. It’s a mess.”

“So…what are you going to do?” Kyle looked at Genma while Genma looked at the driver.

“I’m gonna bring his R32 back to my garage and fix it myself.”

Ryan went back to where Kyle was and saw Genma, “Mr. Watanabe! You’re back!”

“Sure am” Genma replied.

“Kyle…I got bad news. The injured guy is my friend, Marcus Hong. We were martial arts buddies for a long time.” Ryan felt frustrated, “Damn it! Those sons of b*tches! They’ll pay for what they’ve done to my friend man! I want justice done upon them!”

“Ryan, there’s a time and place for everything.” Kyle implied, “Right now we can’t do anything because our cars are back in our garages. All we can do is just wait for the ambulance to arrive…”

Soon after, 911 did arrive. Paramedics emerged out of the back door and carried the stretcher. The people who have done first aid on Marcus were relieved out of their efforts in order to keep the man alive. Everyone was terrified about the sudden incident. Police have arrived to witness all this commotion. They took notes, evidence, and eye-witnesses who probably gave their utmost experiences. Kyle could only brace the gruesomeness of that dying man. Ryan and Genma were explaining the situation to the cops. All that’s left is a continually paralyzed Hiro lying on the ground with his eyes gazing at the ambulance tires and footsteps of people.

WEEEEE-WOOOOO….

That siren still haunted Hiro.

[hah…hah…hah…]

The 16-year old was running from a group of guys chasing after him. A knife with the symbolic kanji character of death was being held in hands as the adolescent was shivering in panic and fear. The blanket of snow slowed down the kid’s speed, but the gang was still on full pursuit. Blood was dripping down the blade of the knife as every drop left a small imprint on the snow.

[Don’t let him get away! After him!]

The kid ran frantically until he exited out of the small alley where 2 police cars just so happened to stop by. The kid knew it was over as the police activated their flashy red and blue lights. He fell to his knees in despair. A few more breaths kept the gang away as another light smothered the flashback.

************************************************************************

“*GASP*” Hiro awoke from his paralysis and happened to be back home lying on a couch with a blanket. It was 10:00 PM. Hiro’s mom left him some soup and another small note:

Kyle and Ryan returned you back home. I left you some miso soup to get you warmed up. I’m going to be working overtime, so don’t expect me to return. I see you left your 240SX…S14...--

There were scribbles all over the page covering the confusion Mom made with Hiro’s car.

--…at a friend’s garage. I think his name is Watanabe-san if I’m not mistaken. I know what you’re up to, but I will allow you to race. Just don’t do anything stupid like the time 2 years ago.

-Ka-san

Hiro drank the soup raucously and continued reading the note.

--P.S. You should find Kyle and Ryan, they have trouble.

Hiro knew what Mom meant, he panicked at the second that Kyle and Ryan were about to race. A hunch tells Hiro that their opponents are members of the Forsaken, “Those idiots! They don’t know who they’re messing with!”

Hiro decided to wear his black D&G jacket and phoned Kyle. In a few standby tones, Kyle picked up, “Hello?”

“You guys are dumbasses! That RSX and S2K are owned by drivers from a notorious team! Do you know who you’re dealing with?”

“Yea, but we got into this mess and we’ll have to sort it out by ourselves. My RX-7 and Ryan’s M3 should be able to handle this. Our enemies don’t have much installed in their cars, so we can pretty much pull this off.”

Hiro couldn’t accept Kyle’s obstinacy, “No! Your car will break down during the race. Ryan’s M3 is gonna tip over because the interior’s unbalanced. If you two decide to drift, you guys are screwed immediately!”

Ryan took Kyle’s phone and concluded the conversation, “Sorry man, but it’s do or die. And this I will take into account for my friend’s accident.” Ryan quickly hung up.

“F**k! This is bad…” Hiro rushed out of the house and ran for the bus.

************************************************************************

Back a few minutes ago, Kyle and Ryan took out their race cars for a spin. They happened to stop by at a restaurant downtown. Kyle was slurping his Italian spaghetti while Ryan munched on his Angus Beef Burger.

Kyle: Hey, I haven’t seen Hiro’s S14 today. He isn’t even driving it at all.

Ryan: Yea I know man. Seems like he’s not racing for good.

The two drank their cola. Outside the window, the same Honda S2000 and Acura RSX happened to show up parking. Out came two punkish drivers wearing blue jackets with the letter F at the back. Once they arrived at the restaurant’s entrance door, the waiter quickly escorted them to their seats way beside Kyle and Ryan. Somehow, Kyle knew that the waiter shuddered once these guys arrived. The two with blue jackets meant business.

Kyle: It’s them!

Ryan: Those assholes! I wanna beat them up so bad man!

Kyle: Let’s wait for them to heat up problems, then we’ll make our move.

And so the two boys did. Once the blue jacket punks got their meals and looked at the bill, the expected problem arose. The 1st blue jacket punk shouted at the waiter, “Hey miss! I’d like to know why I have to pay so much for this shit!”

The waiter was pressured, “I don’t know sir, I don’t make up the prices. The manager does. And he’s not here.”

“Well you can tell your manager to kiss my ass, because I’m not paying for some low-quality food here!”

The second punk added, “How about a bargain?”

Kyle and Ryan could only watch the waiter being scandalized. Ryan couldn’t help but get up and put the blue jacket punks to their right place, “Hey! Why don’t you pay the bill you jerks? It’s just food.”

The 1st punk wasn’t in the mood, “Hey kid, who told you to butt in our conversation.”

Ryan felt enraged, “I did, and you are a cheapskate!”

The 1st punk decided to punch Ryan in the face. Fortunately, with his mixed martial arts expertise, Ryan dodged and dragged the punk’s arm to the table and slammed his head on the tabletop. The 2nd punk managed to put Ryan in a shoulder lock. Ryan was in trouble, “Shit! Not good!”

“How’d you like that.” The 2nd punk grinned wickedly.

As the 1st punk recovered from a slight nosebleed, Kyle interrupted the fight and calmed everyone down. He said to the 1st and 2nd punk, “We can settle this in a race guys.”

1st punk: Race? You got a car fatty?

Kyle: Yea you scandal, I saw you gang up on one of my friends in an afternoon race. I won’t accept your actions!

2nd punk: Heh, do you even know who we are? We are members of F9!

Ryan managed to elbow the 2nd punk after he loosened his grip.

Ryan: I don’t care if you’re in a team or not, but I will beat you guys down!

2nd punk: Ouch…that’s foul play dude!

1st punk: All right you losers, we’ll race. Place your money, whatever you have counts…all of it. We’ll be playing with no rules held, Fast and Furious style. Those who burn and crash will suffer, those who win will take all the glory. Team-up or no team-up, winner takes all. Got that schmucks?

Kyle & Ryan: We’re ready to kick your asses.

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The circuit in Downtown is a square-circular track starting from Seymour Street. Then taking a left at West Hastings Street and another left to Burrard Street and then back to Seymour. There are 5 laps total. The total sum of cash deposited in the race is 600$. Ryan’s M3 and Kyle’s FD are placed on the left side of the road. The punks’ RSX and S2000 are on the right side of the road. Hiro just managed to arrive at the racing scene, where he consulted with Kyle about the feisty decision, “You…know the consequences…do you?”

Kyle was now the one to ease Hiro, “If I said I won’t lose, I won’t lose. That’s what you told me…right?”


“Heh…way to copy me, you jerk.” Hiro smirked, “Take this with you. It’s a headphone walkie-talkie for you in order to contact Ryan. I’ll give him one as well. Good luck guys.”

“Right!” Kyle smiled, “We’ll be sure to win.”

The punks were impatient, “Let’s get this show on the road!”

Hiro was the announcer for this race. His face doesn’t show it, but in his mind he has a lot of worries whether Kyle and Ryan would win the race. At this evening, a few civilian cars may come by. Because Seymour and Burrard are slightly narrow streets, Kyle might have the advantage but Ryan likes to tank it up. Hiro commenced the countdown, “5! 4! 3! 2! 1! GO!!!”

Ryan took the advantage by charging first. The S2000 and the RSX are behind the M3 while Kyle stayed in last. Ryan shifted the gear to 3rd as the M3 reached 100 km/h. A Honda Civic happened to be at the front of the road, so Ryan managed to pass the Civic. So did the S2000 and RSX. Kyle intended to wait in 4th place in order to make his move, “Heh, this’ll be good.”

The cars reached their first turn to West Hastings. Ryan, taking Hiro’s words into note, decided not to drift because Hiro was right after all. The M3 was definitely not in symmetry on the inside. Ryan approached the junction as he would in a grip race circuit: hug the wall; in this case, sidewalk intersection. The RSX and S2000, however, drifted to their delight. The punks were sure that they were going to win this race. Kyle was still on lookout.

This continued on for 3 laps until the tables have been turned. Just as the cars rushed through the Burrard Straight, the punks decided it was time to show Kyle and Ryan who’s boss. The S2000 crept up the M3’s left side, the RSX on the right side. Ryan felt something ominous as he was between two rampaging cars. It was definitely a sandwich attack. Ryan stepped on the gas as the M3 accelerated to 250 km/h. He finally managed to stay in the lead, but not by a small distance between the M3’s tail and the RSX’s nose. Ryan knew they did the same thing to Marcus, “Those bastards think they know what they’ve got eh? Don’t worry Marcus, your loss won’t be in vain.”

Kyle felt disgusted as he drove behind the two cars, “I’m pretty sure they will do the same thing again…” For every lap the four cars roamed through, less and less cars steered away from the heated track. This meant less danger to the racers. All the racers were driving over 280 km/h, nailing every turn at Seymour and Burrard. The drivers were about to get dizzy and ecstatic. The 1st punk couldn’t handle all this pressure and decided to do the same trick again; soon after the 2nd punk followed him. Ryan got mad, “Again? Jesus, I gotta think of a strategy to counter this.” Ryan activated his walkie-talkie, “Kyle you there man?”

“Loud and clear” Kyle replied.

“All right, I'm in red tape again. So I need you to do something in order to win this race. The punk with the S2000 always likes to ram me first, I will probably use my brakes at this time but if we can get the right timing, you will have to take the lead."

"I got ya, I'll see what I can do. What about you though."

"Remember when I said if someone burns or crashes, we all burn or crash? Well this time I will probably burn out, but I can't let you burn out with me. Your the only hope left."

"Heh, fine. Playing the fair hero eh Beowulf?"

Ryan smirked, "Where'd you get a name like that? Literature class?"

"Yea."

"I don't deserve to be called Beowulf...yet." Ryan said as the cars were about to finish the 4th lap. Ryan suddenly notices the quirky movement of the RSX on the left side of his M3. He finally figured that the 1st punk was trying to stabilize his Acura from all that supposed drifting. Ryan snickered, “Stupid guy, the RSX is a FWD. FWDs are prone to burn out easier than RWDs.” Little did Ryan know that RSX was about to ram him, but just when the 1st punk decided to make the violent move, Kyle attempted to pass the cars with his FD in the last kilometers of the race. Ryan braced for impact as he struggled to hit the brakes down Burrard. The RSX driver was too late to falter his moves, which nearly led to a crash between him and his goon buddy. The S200 driver was alert enough to swerve away from the RSX, which burned out completely. The 2nd punk was in fury, “All right you losers, have a taste of my nitrous!”

One second past and a high pitched engine sound came from the S2000 exhaust. The 1 km was about to decide it all; Kyle in the lead, the S2000 in 2nd and Ryan in 3rd. Kyle decided to retaliate, “Oh no you don't!" He soon shifted to 5th gear and accelerated to 290 km/h, but it wasn't enough. The S2000 hit the RX-7's tail, in which Kyle experienced whiplash. Ryan, fortunately, overtook the S2000 driver as he hit the RX-7's trunk. The 2nd punk was in panic after seeing the white M3 passing him; he soon attempted to crash the BMW as well, but the M3 was too fast for him. In the end, the S2000 driver wiped out in the 500 meters. Ryan and Kyle felt amazed after winning. Ryan gloated, “We’re awesome.”

“Tell me about it.” Kyle called back on the walkie-talkie.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“All right, give us our money you scumbags.”

“Here’s your f**cking money. Happy now?” The 1st punk said in frustration.

Ryan wasn’t satisfied, “Actually no, why don’t you two stop causing harm to other people. Ever heard of playing nice? If you can do that, then I’ll say yes.”

Both of the punks retorted to the reply, “This ain’t over! We will come back!” The two punks retreated after a long battle. Ryan smiled, “They won’t be coming back.”

Kyle was confused, “How so?”

“Look.”

The cops saw the broken down RSX and S2000.

“Oh…”

“Let’s celebrate our victory.” Ryan concluded, “Hiro, you coming with us? We’re going to a bar."

"Nah it's ok, we've got school tomorrow...but it seems like you guys don't even care." Hiro answered from across the street, "Nice race though. I didn't know you guys had it in ya."

Kyle felt proud, "Yea well, it's teamwork and fair play. Ryan said so, and he seemed to like the name I gave him right, Beowulf?"

"Heh, adds a nice touch." Ryan remarked.

Hiro turned ambivalent, "Beowulf eh? Well I gotta go home, see ya later Kyle and...Beowulf." Hiro then smiled at Ryan's nonchalant reaction.

The last bus to Burnaby managed to arrive at midnight. As Hiro bid his farewells to his friends, Kyle and Ryan started to drive to the local bar when all of a sudden...

BOOM!

The RX-7's rotary engine overloaded. Kyle turned provocative, "SHIT!"

"What are ya gonna do man?" Ryan looked at Kyle's FD with pity, "I think you should call Mr. Watanabe."

"Yea I think I should call him, though...it's a bit late."

"Doesn't matter man, you can't leave your RX-7 like this. Police are gonna know what's wrong and sooner or later, they'll find out that you have a race car." A hint of 'I told ya' came to Ryan, "Should've trashed your RX-7 man. Go for something Euro--"

"Ryan, how many times must I tell you: I won't trash my FD for something European!"

"All right, all right man! Just call him to tow your car. In the meantime, your the first one to experience pain inside my car!" Ryan made a thumbs up and an 'awesome face'.

"Oh right...shit."

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1 PM, Kyle and Ryan were wasted. The Vancouver traffic scene is desolated with nothing but darkness. Even though there is the priority rule of drinking and driving, the two didn't seem to care because they were drunk. How drunk? 10 bottles of beer.

"He-hey Ryan man...oouu...you...you sure you can drive?"

"Yea........yea, I can drive. I...uh...can see better than jooooo."

Yep, indeed they were wasted. Both of them can't walk straight, nor even talk straight. They were getting nowhere. As Ryan managed open the driver door sluggishly, Kyle had another hard time getting in the shotgun seat as there was no proper seat for the poor fat guy. Out of luck, Ryan inserted his car key into the ignition slot and drove off like a ignorant drunken man driving. Problem was they had an obstacle blocking their way, which was a road-chain fence. Ryan was too drunk to notice it, so he kept going until a huge sound brought the two back to their senses.

CRACK!

The sound was frightening, but none of the boys were able to see what was going on. Kyle decided to get out of the car; he soon later found out the chain broke the front window. Ryan was tangled up.

"Dude...pull back..." Kyle claimed.

Ryan pulled back.

"No I mean...move front..."

Ryan moved front.

"Pull back..."

"Dude...I'm still stuck. What exactly are you trying to say?"

"Move front, man."

Ryan moved front, but it did nothing because he was still stuck to the chain. This went on for half and hour until Kyle slightly came back to his senses and said, "All right dude, just stop." Kyle removed the chain Ryan was in, "Now you can move front."

"Finally..."

The two drove away in the BMW with the completely broken BMW window. Ryan was still not feeling it, "Is it just me...or is there like...someone touching my face."

"I don't know...must be mother nature. She's also touching...my face as well...and throwing bits of stuff at me..."

Of course, it was the wind and gravel.

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Monday morning: 1st class with Mr. DeRosa...again

"Mr. Blake, Mr. Clarusso. Why are you sleeping in my class?" The bald man questioned.

"Shut up...baldy..." Kyle murmured in his sleep.

The two were definitely in a hangover, which Mr. DeRosa didn't know. They'll be expecting detention soon. Hiro snickered at the pathetic sight of his two chums.

Meanwhile, in another place the F9 are in a discussion with the leader.

Grant began, "Mr. Douglas...two of our members, Darren and Tristan were arrested yesterday after racing against two opponents. One with a dark red RX-7 and one with a white M3."

"Huh...those two? They're nothing, I have better replacements for them. They're not worth even my time."

"But sir," Grant pleaded, "The police will know our motives as a racing team!"

"Not on my watch. Grant, you may leave. I got some business to attend to."

"Yes sir."

Grant left Valner alone. Valner spoke to himself, "I will find those racers who have been tampering with MY racers...and show them who's the boss around here."

A silhouette of a Porsche appeared inside Valner's garage.

To be continued

This post has been edited by Lethalbiscotti on Nov 29 2010, 09:20 PM

[Blakout]

are you gonna continue this story? cause i like reading it..

[Snow]

i bet you my life you didnt even read half of it.

[Blakout]

i've read it.

[Lethalbiscotti]

Hey, I appreciate your patience Blakout. There's really no need to be aggressive here guys, go take it somewhere else.

I've been busy for a while doing college applications last month so I wasn't able to write another phase, but I finished. This time I will be doing in parts in order to maintain a realistic lifestyle.

If any chance, please also read Gunma's 34 fiction. I know he has worked much harder in writing racing stories than I work. His fiction is called Speed Legend, and I would suggest working your way up to the links I posted in order to catch up with his story:

Speed Legend Prologue
Speed Legend Infinite-Akiyama Chronicles
Speed Legend S
Speed Legend Z

All right so here is Phase 4, enjoy

Phase 4-Training Days/So begins the conflict [Part 1]

The same darkness hit again, with that terrifying glare of the white S14. It was certain that the driver was tremendously fatigued. His eyes were red, his arms agonized with nervousness, and his feet overtook the driver’s mentality. He couldn’t race anymore; the SR20DET produced the light in order to send the driver away to death. Midnight struck as, all of a sudden, traffic starts hit up again. That white S14 vanished…and was never seen again.

“Hiro! Wake up! Again, you’re late!”

Mom’s yell finally got through to Hiro, but it was actually his dream that caused his uprising, “Aah…that same dream again.” With immense recalcitrance, the Wednesday morning brought him a new start with his S14...well at least not yet. The daze still kept Hiro paused for a moment, thinking, “That white S14...I completely know its specs. It’s just like what I want Watanabe-san to order for me…” An analog clock on the wall happened to have its minute hand pass the 6 while mom charged upstairs again with the ladle in her right hand. Fortunately, Hiro managed to avoid the wrath of his mother when mom saw that there was nobody on the blue queen-sized bed. One step of independence for Hiro, one step of relief for his mother. Because Hiro managed to get up earlier than his mom expected, he got a full meal breakfast and a punctual time to catch the bus. “See ya mom.” Hiro said. Mom was in bewilderment to how her son changed abruptly this morning. It was never like that since all Hiro does, in her mother’s eyes, was just hang around.

Kyle and Ryan were on the same bus as Hiro. The RX-7 was still in repair after an engine malfunction, and the M3 was still in Bryce’s shop for refinement. Hiro couldn’t help but grin at the two idiots sitting at the back of the bus. They were out of it. “You guys were f**ked up so bad.” Hiro commenced with jest.

Kyle was not amused, “Oh you can stick a sock in it.”

“But seriously, it was just one race and you guys went out binge drinking after a mere victory? I mean that’s just lame. You guys gonna do this every time you race?”

“Nah, we learned a lesson. Besides I’m having Mr. Watanabe fix my RX-7. How ‘bout you Ryan?”

Ryan kept looking outside the bus window, making no eye contact whatsoever, “Mr. Williams had a nice laugh…he just happened to see us wasted down Seymour Bridge.”

Jack’s Saleen Mustang happened to pass by the bus the three chums were in. Clocking at 100 km/h just in 2nd gear, the furious horse caused the students to become terrified except for the 3 racers. Hiro, especially, was feeling the adrenaline in his body when his S14 was still in heavy modification, “I wonder what Watanabe-san is up to now…”
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Watanabe’s Auto Garage: an auto place of wonders. The man who is in complete charge of parts, dyno, and performance, is being surrounded by tons of boxes. Large and small didn’t matter, what mattered was the inside that could change Hiro’s S14 into something devastating. One light was only beaming down the old man in an isolated garage. Since he had an assistant helping him repair Kyle’s unusual RX-7, Genma was alone pondering his thoughts about all the aftermarket parts Hiro chose. The boy’s choice of performance was similar to that of…

Bryce happened to come into the garage, “Them stacks of boxes for the S14?”

Genma nodded, “Something’s peculiar about Hiro in a way that he chooses his parts. Bryce, you remember…”

“…oh you mean him…”

“Yea, that guy…after the fateful race against Grant.”

“Wait a minute…you don’t mean…”

“That’s right, I think Hiro is that S14 driver’s reincarnation. The glimpse wasn’t for nothing Bryce, you should know it as well.”

“Yeah…I had a talk with Phillip once, I was too dumb to believe but you may be right…”

“Hiro is reserved though…I remember that white S14 driver was really outgoing towards people.” Genma took out a picture from his wallet, showing the old man slightly younger and a boy who’s appearance was completely similar, or more so: same, to that of Hiro. Sudden flashbacks started to hit the old man as he saw blood, gore, and bits of human skin lying around that white S14. Genma felt nauseous, “I feel uneasy…Bryce take me outside.”

“Sure thing.”

The two went outside for some fresh air, leading to a breezy May morning outside where the tremendously green trees sway away. Genma looked out the horizon and said, “He does look familiar though don’t you agree Bryce?”

Bryce nodded at Genma’s solemn question.

“It’s just like déjà vu…”

A conversation of two men started commencing in Genma’s flashback:

[Hey Grant, how ‘bout we settle this once and for all?]

[You and your S14? Why don’t you take another few years before racing a professional like me?]

[I bet I can win down the Squamish mountain road in a few minutes!]

Time quickly jumps to the result leading to a SKRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE and a major crash.

Genma shuddered as he remembered the police driving by, “Gee…I bet he would shudder at the sound the siren as well.”

“Heh? Whazzat?” Bryce was beside Genma, looking at him with deep curiosity.

“Oh it’s nothing…I wonder what Hiro, Kyle, and Ryan are doing…?”

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Lunchtime at Burnaby High was pretty much bogus for the fellows. They were sitting outside baked and parched under the sun. Hiro forgot to bring his lunch; Kyle forgot to bring his money; and all Ryan had was a peanut butter jelly sandwich.

Kyle: Ryan, can you please share that I’m hungry…

Ryan: No! My sandwich!

Kyle: Pleassseee???

Ryan: No! It’s my sandwich! Back away Kyle!

Kyle stares and pouts at Ryan

Ryan: Hiro! Kyle’s being a b*tch!

An exasperated Hiro left the two alone, “Ryan, stop being Cartman and give him the f**king sandwich.”

“But Hiro…”

Hiro glared at him sternly.

“But HIIIRRROOOO…..”

“Oh god, I can’t take this anymore. What do you expect me to say? ‘Looks like Kyle’s gonna be sleeping with someone tonight?’”

The faltering sound of a vinyl disc was abrupt after that awkward speech. Hiro squinted at the DJ who happened to pass by saying, “Sorry guys, mah bad.”

Meanwhile, a blonde-haired Japanese boy waved at the three stooges.

Kyle: Hey…it’s Chris! Hey Chris what are you doing here?

Chris: I came to see what you guys were up to! I have a Pro-D day today!

Ryan: Aw lucky you man!

Chris: Hiro you stock boy! How’s it going with the S14?

As he produced a scoff, Hiro replied, “Eh…you guys won’t probably see me driving it for a long time.”

Chris: How so?

Kyle interrupted, “He trashed it, I suppose.”

Hiro, taken aback, was about to hit Kyle for his stupidity. He controlled himself after realizing that the S14 itself will soon hit all of his friends right in the face when Watanabe-san tunes it into perfection. Hiro turned his head towards Chris, “So what exactly are you doing here…besides a Pro-D day?”

Chris happened to unload his bag full of paper with print. One of the sheets had vital information about the team, F9. Chris began, “I came to give you some info of what you racers are dealing up against. Kyle, Ryan, I assume you raced two members from the F9 team right?”

Both guys nodded their heads.

“Well…it seems that F9 got its name, and a nefarious one to be exact, from the Mac OS X keyboard functions where the keys F9, F10, and F11 are used to utilize the Exposé program.”

“And what might that be?” Hiro questioned.

Chris, Kyle, and Ryan took glances at each other and then at Hiro.

“What? I haven’t used a Mac before…”

“Get one, it’s convenient.” Chris suggested.

Ryan rebuked in haste, “No way man! Don’t listen to that Japanese blonde, PC for the win and you know it!”

“Hey! Screw you and Bill Gates!”

“No, screw YOU and Steve Jobs!”

Hiro was left exasperated, “Yare yare…” It was becoming more of a Kyon moment for him as he couldn’t watch the fastidious argument.

Kyle finally stole Ryan’s leftover jam sandwich; with bread crumbs all over his mouth, Kyle said, “Let’s go to class. I have a Literature test to do today.”

“Same here” Ryan added

“All right guys, we’ll meet at CHQ all right?”

“Deal.” Hiro concluded.

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After school, Hiro decided to talk with Mr. DeRosa in his auto shop. The 1967 Plymouth Cuda wasn’t in the garage anymore, Mr. DeRosa really did sell it for a newer one. It was coloured blue instead of red…there was no such thing as a blue rose anyhow, Hiro thought. “Wait a minute…something’s weird about this Cuda…” Hiro said to himself, “The Cuda’s got…an 6.1 liter Hemi…, TREMEC TKO500 transmission, 4 wheel disc brakes, RMS front suspension…and a rear end spoiler! It’s a HemiCuda!”

“Sure is. You like it?” Mr. DeRosa popped out of his office.

“How did you afford this kind of tuning?”

“Let’s just say, I got my parts from a really good friend of mine…” Mr. DeRosa smiled.

“I bet he’s rich.”

“You bet he’s rich, he owns a few Ford GT’s”

“Wait…Ford GT????”

“Yep, Ford GT.”

Hiro’s jaw was left wide open as he imagined that American exotic into place, “Do you know your friend’s name?”

“Nathan Archibal, remember it. He was the one who won against a special GT-R driver during the Vancouver Touring Car Championship.”

“You’re kidding me…why didn’t I know this until now?”

“It took place 2 years ago. I happened to be spectating the match along with Bryce and Genma. We all knew Nathan back at the time. He was called The Knight if I’m not mistaken.”

“Wow…was he a legend just as you guys were?”

“He didn’t plan to join us, we were fine with his decision. But his title wasn’t a coincidence. He happened to thrive beyond our level and participated in international races back in our time. We all envied, yet admired him in some way. It’s a good thing that we still have connections with each other.”

“That’s wonderful Mr. DeRosa, I wish I could meet a guy like him.”

“I believe he’s in Vancouver right now, in his vacation.”

“Do you know where he is?” Hiro faltered just before he ran out the door.

“You should ask Bryce, Nathan happened to call him recently.”

“Thanks Mr. DeRosa!”

“Happy racing--I mean afternoon!”

************************************************************************

“Hey Kyle, it’s Hiro.”

“Oh hey, where are you? We’re at CHQ waiting for you.” Kyle was on his cellphone talking.

“Tell them that I won’t be coming because I just realized I have to do something after school.”

“All right then, we’re about to buy a few stuff in Metro anyways. Gotta get another model figurine!”

“Damn it Kyle! You don’t need to tell me your fanservice obsession!”

But in actual truth, the three fellows were actually in the food court discussing about the team, F9.

Chris commenced, “All right, so where did I leave off?”

Ryan: The Exposé program or whatever…

Chris: Right, you do know that Mac can exclusively allow you to run multiple programs on one screen?

Ryan: Can’t PC do that?

Chris: No dude, that’s Ctrl + S and that doesn’t count.

Kyle: So what’s the big deal?

Chris: Think of it this way. In all over Canada, F9 actually controls the racing scene without the police or any other law enforcement organization noticing. They’re that sneaky. It’s pretty much because some of the members are actually professional and legal racers, which covers most of the machinations. It’s just like the Exposé program, you control multiple programs. F9 is like the user, and all other racing teams are like the programs.

Ryan: So why should we care man?

Chris: F9 is like a terrible user that mainly controls every racing team. In all honesty, F9 has done many illegal stuff and a lot of criminal activity. I’ve heard that they’re like the Italian mafia and Midnight club put together. A few murders were mostly caused by this team here and Ontario.

Kyle sipped his cola, “So…we’re dealing with a bad team. What do you want us to do?”

Chris: Stop them.

Both Kyle and Ryan spewed food out of their mouth, “Seriously?” Kyle retorted, “Last time we won against two members of F9, we were pretty much lucky. You expect us to beat the whole team for justice? That’s unreasonable compared that we have less experience on the asphalt rather than F9.”

Chris shook his head in grief, “I know you two, during last summer, went to the US for a racing school. You guys have a solid foundation of racing rather than what Hiro and I have.”

Ryan doubted himself, “Yea man. But if we were to make a racing team, Hiro wouldn’t join because he wouldn’t dare to race.”

“He could act like the analytical leader for us, just like Ryousuke from Initial D.” Chris implied.

“Hey…that sounds like a good idea.” Kyle agreed, “Let’s hear what Hiro has to say.”

************************************************************************

“A leader?” Hiro was in shock, “Me???”

Chris happened to be on the phone, “Yea man, you don’t need to race or anything. You just tell us what to do and we’ll do the work. It’ll be like Ryousuke and Project D but on both the highway and the touge.”

Hiro hesitated, “Eh…I’ll have to see about that.”

“Just give us a decision when you’re ready.”

-BLIP

“So who was that on the phone?” Genma questioned.

“Oh just another friend who drives a Lancer Evo VIII.”

“Oh? He races?”

“Yeah.”

Genma was doing the ECU tuning for the S14. The ECU was made by A’PEXi. While working on the wiring and dyno, Genma asked, “Hiro, you wanna take a break? I’m almost done with the ECU, we just need to lay the S14 low a bit in order to keep engine fresh after managing the engine system.”

“Sure.”

All of a sudden, a ring came from a nearby telephone. Genma managed to pick the phone up, “Hello?”

“Genma, how is it been!”

“Nathan! It’s been 2 years, how have you been doing?”

“I have been doing well. We just happened to arrive back at our Vancouver mansion for a slight vacation. Dorothy, Magarette, and Nathan Jr. are also here.”

‘Nathan!’ Hiro thought aloud.

“Well do you mind if we come over? It’s been so long since you participated in that Vancouver tourney. We were pretty much rooting for you at that time.”

“I don’t see why not! I would love to meet the three of you again.”

“Sorry Nathan, Phillip is too busy with something else. Bryce is at Calgary right now. But…can I bring someone else?”

“Hmm? Who might that be?”

“A racer…”

Hiro felt appalled by Genma’s words. Genma winked at Hiro and mouthed, don’t worry.

“Sure Genma.” Nathan said, “I’ll see what he’s got.”

“Just to tell you…”

“…Oh…I see…well bring him to me. I’ll probably train him.”

Hiro was curious. Genma said something mysterious that Hiro didn’t quite capture. “What did you say to Nathan?”

“Oh, it’s nothing…I’ll probably tell you some other time.”

“Mr. Watanabe, I need to know.”

Genma was serious, he wasn’t ready to tell Hiro, “I said I will tell you someday. Not now.”

A pause was between the phone and the typical need-to-know conversation. Genma forgot that Nathan was still on the phone when he broke the silence, “Hello?”

“Oh sorry Nathan, we’ll be there in a moment.”

“All right my friend, I’ll see you in a moment.”

-BLIP

Hiro felt outraged by what Genma was hiding, “Watanabe-san, this better be good.”

“Hiro, I said I will tell you someday. Not now.” Genma repeated with an even more serious look, “Let’s go.”

“All right boss.”
And the two drove off in Genma’s Delica, onward to Nathan’s Vancouver mansion.

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Southwest Marine Drive, where most of the rich houses are located. Prices for these mansions range up to 5-20 million dollars. Including a kickass Lamborghini/Ferrari/Maserati, you’re basically set for life. That’s what Nathan has done when Hiro began to view the extravagance outside the grand entrance towards wealth. “I think this topples your business building.” Hiro said.

Genma smirked, “Wait ‘till you see inside, it’s unbelievable.”

Genma rang the antique doorbell hung beside the vintage oak door. A man about the same age as Genma, wearing a cardigan sweater, opened the door, “Genma! So good to see you again!”

Another reunion started as the two shook hands and hugged each other in a brotherly fashion. Nathan, an former all-time international racer. Genma, a widely known import mechanic. Together, it seems that they pretty much pose an unstoppable feat.

“Nathan, I would like you to meet my apprentice, Hiro.”

“Apprentice?!” Hiro blurted.

“Hiro, how nice to meet you. I’m Nathan Archibal Sr.” Hiro and Nathan shook hands. Of course, Hiro would prefer bowing. It was more polite and refined rather than doing it the American way of greeting. Nathan, however, seemed to read Hiro’s mind and smiled.

“I’m Nakashima Hiro, pleased to meet you.”

“Let’s come into my mansion, we’ll talk more inside.”

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5:00 PM, Archibal’s Vancouver mansion.

Hiro admired all the antiques, furniture, and decorations inside the house. The interior felt as if it was made for a suited gentleman like Nathan Sr. Genma was sitting on a recliner that happened to be even more expensive than that of Ethan Allen. Hiro stared at the grandfather clock nearby the foyer, “Something tells me this isn’t what Nathan’s got. I bet he has a lot more in store for us.”

Genma grinned and sipped his Earl Grey tea Nathan brewed, “Oh he’s a guy that you’ll be terribly amazed at. He also has a bigger mansion, which includes a 100-acre garden--”

“WHAT!”

“Yea, 100 acres. With delicate bushes, intricate fountains, even a mini-golf course as Nathan would put it. I’ve been there before with Bryce and Phillip.”

Hiro was about to faint from imagining another mansion, bigger than this one, Nathan resides in, “Too much extravagance…”

“Indeed” Nathan laughed, “Hiro, I would like you to meet my wife, Dorothy Archibal, and my daughter, Magarette Archibal.”

‘The wife is so young! She looks like she’s in her 20’s!’ Hiro thought, “Please to meet you!” Hiro immediately bowed in order to cover his red face.

The daughter giggled at Hiro’s naïve politeness; she approached him, stood on her toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Hiro turned even more red. “Eheh~ Mommy, I like him. He looks like a nice person.”

“I’m sure he is; Pleased to meet you to, Hiro. I’m Dorothy.”

Genma and Nathan laughed, soon followed by Dorothy. Hiro was confused, but soon started to laugh. Hiro felt as if one person was missing, “Isn’t there another relative, Mr. Archibal?”

“Apparently so, I think Nathan Jr. is doing a bit of photo-modelling work in his room. Nathan! Come down here!”

A voice upstairs replied, “Just a minute, let me get this photo done…all right coming!”

The door opened and out came a blonde-haired man who has a similar build to Ryan. He greeted Hiro with a solid handshake, “My name is Nathan Archibal Jr. What’s yours?”

“Nakashima Hiro, pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Nathan Sr. was glad to have his family introduced to a newcomer, “All right, let’s all have a seat and we can have a friendly chat near the fireplace, shall we?”

Hiro was eager to begin asking Nathan Sr. about the Vancouver Touring Car Championship hosted 2 years ago.

“That tournament right? Well…it all started with a special person called Tomogashi Kistumoro…”

Note: Nathan’s story is referred back to Speed Legend S; Chapter 36

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“…Wow, Kitsumoro-san must be an amazing person…” The story left Hiro thrilled with excitement. Nathan Sr. sipped his tea after a satisfying reminiscence. Genma smiled at Hiro’s fascination with this peculiar tournament. Nathan Jr. begun to ask Hiro, “Do you have a girlfriend Hiro?”

Hiro’s eyes turned sharp the time Nathan Jr. mentioned the word “girlfriend”. It was the first time Genma and Nathan Sr. saw Hiro like this, they knew something must be terribly wrong with Hiro’s love life. Hiro noticed the fright he caused with his cold eyes; he then looked down to Magarette and relieved himself from his enigmatically entangled relationship.

“I…used to have a girlfriend, but there was time when everything turned for the worse. I don’t want to remember every single bit where I had that one…”

“One what?” Dorothy gently asked.

Flashbacks started occurring as Hiro holds his emotions in.

[Hiro-kun…]

[Hai? Mashiro-chan?]

Both were at the NAJC Vancouver Branch Centre, outside with snow piling all over the streets.

[Please keep this…]

[What? A knife?]

Hiro opened the blade, and saw the kanji letter for ‘death’ printed on both sides of the blade.

[Why are you giving this to me?]

[I…don’t know…all I know is that I’m unsafe to be near…]

[Nani?! Why?!]

[I…don’t know…]

Time rushes to the moment of crime, or at least Hiro calls it: his doom.

[You! Give me that knife!]

[Why? Is it yours?]

[I said give me that knife, you brat!]

Hiro was facing a thug down in an unknown alley. It was certain that a gang was nearby.

[It’s not yours!]

[Give me it! NOW!] The thug held a 9mm handgun towards Hiro’s forehead. Hiro was in no position to fight back as the thug clicked the barrel.

Hiro took out the knife and gave it to the thug, when all of a sudden a bullet skimmed the right side of Hiro’s head and hit the blade of knife. It soon came flying out of his hand. The knife in mid-air later stabbed the thug right at his heart.

[Oh shit…] was all Hiro could say.

Time comes back to the present as Hiro spaced out once again. It was about time Genma should take Hiro back to the garage to work on the S14.

“Hiro, you ok there?” Nathan Sr. asked.

“Yea…I’m all right.”

“Were you feeling uncomfortable?” Dorothy looked at Hiro with concern

“I just had a horribly bad moment, but everything’s fine. Thank you Mrs. Archibal.” Hiro reassured everyone.

“Well we better be going, Nathan you coming with us?”

“Who me?” Nathan Jr. responded

“Not you!” Genma laughed, “Your father!”

“Yea, be there in a second!”

Genma felt worried about Hiro as he looked as if he was in regret, “You all right Hiro-kun?”

“Yea…let’s wait for Mr. Archibal, we still have my beloved S14 to finish…”

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“Hiro, how’s the S14 feeling for ya?” Genma was on the computer board while Hiro was in his car doing some dyno tuning.

“It feels great. I can definitely feel immense acceleration kicking in 2nd and 3rd gear. The 4th gear needs a bit more work in my opinion…it feels a bit too…”

“Uncontrollable?” Nathan suggested. Genma smiled, “Don’t worry Hiro. I tuned the ECU into what I want out of the S14. We still got the parts and some of which you chose can actually turn your car into a phenom.”

“Ok Watanabe-san, I trust you.”

Nathan was concerned, “Genma, are you sure this won’t turn out like the Squamish incident 5 years ago?”

“I have faith in this kid, he wasn’t like…who just waltzed his way into racing and chose an S14. This kid actually has the potential, and I fear it may be deadlier than your driving style or mine.” Genma finished the dyno, “All right Hiro let’s strip the S14 body and work on the rig all right?”

“I’m ready.”

It took more than 5 hours to overhaul the rugged KA24DE and install parts and turbochargers onto the Blacktop SR20DET. Especially the GReddy platform with its intake manifold plenum made from pure cast-aluminum. Genma and Nathan had their hands full while Hiro helped them work on the engine. “Nathan, get me the Tomei Procam camshafts.” Genma called out. Most of the equipment were still in the boxes; HKS material such as their widely known cam gears, fuel rail, and fuel injectors. Nathan worked on switching the stock cylinders to some aftermarket parts. New spark plugs were installed. Genma added an A’PEXi intake and head gasket. Hiro managed to bring in a Koyo N-Flo radiator out of a huge box. With an updated engine head; new cylindrical parts with aftermarket pistons, valves, valve springs, and retainers; new down pipe; new motor mounts, all that’s left was to put the engine inside the car and fine-tune it with additional, but necessary, items. “Get me a new fuel pump made for the R32, Hiro. I’ll work on adding the Megan-Racing exhaust. Nathan will do the additional touches to the turbo kit. All that’s left is the intercooler, oil cooler, coil pack cover, and cooling plate.”

11:00 PM was about to hit as the engine was finished. There was only a piece of metal with an extremely upgraded engine installed. “Is Watanabe-san gonna add in the seats and sound system?” Hiro turned to Nathan, to which he replied, “Pretty much yes. The boxes on the left corner are still untouched I’m presuming.” Inside those boxes were two Bride Zeta III bucket seats, Takata harnesses, Sparco steering wheel, A’PEXi meter gauges, and Project Mu pedals and shift knob. There were a few hub and quick releases to choose from, so Hiro decided to choose something efficient. Ice wasn’t much of a big deal since Genma ordered a decent sound system made by Kenwood. The roll cage and safety bars were added in last.

What’s left is the body and interior of the S14. Hiro loved having carbon on his car, in which Genma and Nathan carried 2 Seibon Carbon Fiber doors, a Carbon Fiber Hood, and a Carbon Fiber trunk. Fenders increased to another 100 mm in size as Genma placed the Origin Racing Line body kit onto the S14 exterior in order to make it look heavily GT styled but light at the same time. Taillights were smoked out; all windows were tinted. Drivetrain was made by Exedy, with a bit of Cusco and Cs’. Suspension corroborated with DG-5, Tein, Suspension Techniques, ARC, Kazama, and Do-Luck. The Sway bars and strut bars made a huge difference. Project Mu brake calipers, pads, rotors and lines were added. A bit of calipers made for the 300ZX were also added to the S14. Wheels were Enkei Black RPF1s as Hiro preferred. Tires: Falken ZE-512.

The S14 was finished.

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“All right, you guys ready?”

“Yeah, it’s this place right? You said a Benz, but you didn’t give the exact details…”

“I did my survey and research, one of the guys from F9 always come here. If we happen to win over that person, F9 will surely boot him out. If we win over all the F9 members, that notorious team will be eliminated.”

“Man, why did you put us here in the first place?”

“Because the way I see it, street racing here is just…not street racing. This isn’t about ‘you’re going down!’ or ‘I will win, and you will lose!’. It’s now…gunshots or racer elimination to death just like the Fast and Furious. I don’t want that, I want the good old days where racing was just pure enthusiasm.”

“True…”

The three boys, all with their cars, planned to attack one of the F9 members into pursuit. What they didn’t know this time that the driver is actually one of the elite members. All this meant trouble as Ryan would put it. The F9 driver, however, knew that this race was coming.

[Duke, be warned that someone will be waiting for you when you get to that store.]

[Yes Mr. Douglas, but do you know who might it be?]

[A novice racer, I leave the work to you. I still have to run profit.]

[Understood.]

Chris didn’t get the chance to find out what the F9 driver was doing in that 7-11 convenience store as he views the 11th avenue. Midnight brought showtime as only lights flooded the scene.

Duke Wellingham, the 4th elite member of F9, noticed the apparent white Lancer Evo VIII sticking out of the darkness. “Hmpf, someone’s following me eh?” Duke said to himself just as he was about to turn on the Benz SL65 AMG. So did the Evo, RX-7, and M3. It was definitely an ambush attack.

Kyle activated his walkie-talkie, “Hiro, are you close by?”

“Yea, I see you.” Hiro was somewhere at the top of the building about to watch the racing scene, “Chris, you know what you are doing right?”

“Yea…I got it all planned out, don’t worry.”

“All right, the there is no traffic, but around your area there are certainly homeless people strolling around. Be careful when you’re about to approach them. They do not have the reflexes to avoid a single crash.”

Ryan got the message, “We got it, man.”

“Let’s rock and roll!” Chris shouted.

The 3 vs. 1 fight begun in a whirl of frenzy.

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The track included 4 streets. The cars start off from the nearby 7-11 store upwards until they turn left to West Broadway. There they turn another left to Granville and then another left to King Edward Avenue. Until they reach the intersection between King Edward and Cambie, the road will involve a completely straight track southbound until Cambie ends.

Because this was a cold start, Hiro wasn’t there to provide the countdown. Only Duke, the elite F9 member, knows when Chris was shining his headlights, which he did. One second hasn’t even passed and the SL accelerated like mad as it was about to turn left to West Broadway. “Shit!” Chris got agitated and accelerated too. Ryan and Kyle still had to manage the new tuning Bryce and Genma created after smashing their cars. There was a 700 metre distance between the SL and the 3 cars. Chris in 2nd, Ryan; 3rd, and Kyle 4th. Fortunately, Hiro could immediately analyze how this F9 driver works the engine, “Huh…AMG has really outdone themselves haven’t they? That 6.0 liter V12 is pretty much giving the driver not much of a problem. The gearshift though…isn’t manual. Rather it’s mostly a 7-speed automatic transmission set to act like manual, but easier. Just like the Lamborghini E-system…that driver though…it looks like he doesn’t really need--Oh…shit! Chris! You there!”

“Yea! Still struggling to catch up!”

“Once you get to Cambie, you’re gonna lose if you can’t catch up to him. I realized that the SL has a biTurbo system from the noise it’s making. If you don’t catch up to him in time, the race is over!”

“Wait, Cambie straight down?” Ryan added.

“Yea! This race isn’t a pushover guys.”

It was certainly not a pushover. In Duke’s eyes, all he sees are tiny little bugs waiting to be crushed, “Run…run…as fast as you can…you can’t catch me…I’m the Mercedes man.” Duke grinned as the car was in 4th gear clocking 260 km/h down Granville and then soon to King Edward. Mercedes used to be a big time sponsor to Duke Wellingham as he participated in the DTM Championship back in Shanghai, China. Until he purposely crashed into another car, which led to disqualification…and his downfall in reputation.

Kyle was having a hard time controlling the RX-7 Genma repaired. Or more like it wasn’t a repair at all, but like a power needed to be unlocked…just not now. “Kyle, you better not fall behind! I got girls watching this race, and right now you’re a small setback.”

“Jeez, it’s not like you’re a gigolo or anything Chris.” Kyle pouted.

Chris managed to keep up with the SL right in King Edward, but just as they were about to hit Cambie and turn right, the SL was at full throttle after just 3 seconds. The SL’s 300 km/h left the 3 to dust. “It’s over.” Chris muttered as he hit his head on the steering wheel in despair. Suddenly, a ferocious sound came from another 400m away from Kyle and Ryan…a black S14 roaring tremendously. Even Duke himself heard it, “What the hell? A new racer?”

That same S14 has been modified to the nightly standards of racing. The lights glared with vigor as it signals for a race. Chris, Ryan, and Kyle thought it was Hiro driving it…but…

Chris: Hiro…are you driving that S14?

Hiro: No…I’m not.

To be continued in part 2

[Blakout]

Great, can't wait for part 2.

I'll read speed legend in the meantime.