Disclaimer; I own only my original changes, material or characters. Need for Speed Carbon is property of EA Games...

Prologue

*Five years ago. Palmont City.*

Five hundred thousand dollars.

Even in Palmomt city, one of the world's largest centers of street racing, that much money was quite a bit for a single sprint. And if it's that big of a jackpot, then it would attract some racers. Only the best would enter though, the rest would be weeded out or too timid to enter.

And Kyle Knight fit the bill. An upcoming racer, he had managed to make it to the race. Raw talent, pure determination and several heats had clinched one of the for spots for him.

His car sat in an alleyway out of sight of prying eyes as other racers and spectators trickled in to watch. Kyle frowned as he ran the last minute checks on his car, his pride and joy. The heats had taken a toll on the car and he wasn't sure it'd make it through the race.

Suddenly, two cars pulled in and the driver of the first car hopped out. The first was a man in a red jacket and a black hat, with a smirk on his face. He slammed his blue car door shut as the second driver got out.

The other was a woman in shorts, a blue t-shirt and long black hair tossed behind her shoulders. She carried herself with confidence, perfectly aware of her beauty. Kyle turned and leaned on his car as the drivers got out. "Nikki! Darius. You guys are finally here."

"Kyle, I'm the starter for the race." Nikki said with an eye roll but still gave her boyfriend a quick embrace.

"And of course I'm going to support a good friend." Darius said before dangling a set if keys in his hand. He shook the ring, so the light glinted off them. "That car won't make it through the race. And I happen to have a spare."

Kyle looked at the keys and a smile split across his face. "Really? Thanks-"

"Just don't disappoint me, Kyle." The keys flew through the air before Kyle caught them deftly out of the air. "And you'll owe me one."

"Right," Kyle ran a hand through his blond hair, walking over to Darius' car and running a caring hand over it. "I owe you one then. Sweet ride."

"Well, race is starting is starting soon, see you at the start line." Nikki flashed the men a smile before walking over to where the green staring flares were being set up, red bag slung over his shoulder.

Kyle's, or rather Darius', car slid into the starting slot. The light danced blue car's silver streaks as it pulled in between two other racers. The driver did a quick surveying of the competition while he waited for Nikki to start the race.

The sneering driver next to him was Kenji, in his black and green tuner. Another driver, mug like Kyle, trying to gain a piece of Palmont. The cocky competitor had even formed a fierce crew that went by the name of Bushido. Kyle gave h a friendly nod but just got a snort and a glare in response.

To the other side of Knight, was a more senior racer. Leader of the 21st street crew and temper to match, was Angie. Her grey with orange muscle, paired with her aggressiveness made her a dangerous opponent. When he gave a tentative good luck wave, she just spat in his direction. Wonderful.

And finally, in his silver and blue exotic was Wolf. The guy easily had the most racing experience on the streets of Palmont and his TFK crew weren't ones to be crossed lightly. He gave an slight inclination of his head at Kyle's 'good luck' gesture.

"Start her up," Accompanied by a tap on the window drew Kyle's attention away from the other racers. Nikki walked past, starting flag in hand, the bag of prize money swinging over her shoulder. Kyle smiled at her and thought he saw her wink back.

Then she was all business, quickly showing off the bag. As soon as she finished, the flag rose Ito the air, hanging in the air for a second like a lost cloud...

Before plummeting to the ground like a hammer to an anvil.

Instantly, all of the racers shot off, Angie's muscle taking the muscle at the start, with the others hot on her tail. Kenji ripped the lead from her as they tore around the first turn, managing the sharp twist of the road with expert skill.

Kyle and Wolf raced to take the lead at the strait-away, Darius Exotic neck to neck with the more senior racer. They were evenly matched, both cars and their drivers refusing to give an inch to the other. Kyle risked a quick glance into his blindspot but nearly collided with a civilian car for his troubles, ending back in third.

The four cars tore through the city, the leader changing constantly with the others hanging on their tail. Each car was weaving in and out through traffic, vying for that spot ahead of the other three cars.

As the final turn appeared, Kyle made his move. He threw his car into the next gear, floored his gas petal and activated his nitros, slingshotting around the curve. The other three crew leaders followed closely but with the finish in sight, Kyle knew he had the win clinched.

Suddenly, blue electricity arced out from an alleyway. Kyle slammed on the breaks, spinning his car around in a practiced movement...

To see chaos. The other racers' cars were shut down, cops quickly materializing out of nowhere, making arrests.

Wolf had two cops placing handcuffs on him...

Angie was struggling to break out of one if the PCPD's grasp, fighting and kicking...

Kenji was already cuffed and being led to an awaiting police cruiser...

More polices swarmed out of alleyways and hiding spots like ants, suddenly everywhere...

A spotlight from a helicopter scanned the area, causing all the spectators to start fleeing...

It was chaos.

"Nikki!" Kyle screamed, spotting her getting up from the ground, knocked over by another fleeing person. A cop spotted her running and took off after her. Nikki spotted the policeman and sprinted, red bag and long black bouncing and swinging. "Get in!"

She reached the car but was just as quickly pulled away by the cop. And suddenly the red bag was in his car, as Nikki yelled one desperate cry.

"Go!"

Kyle flattened the gas, car accelerating away like a bullet. Spotting an alleyway, he charged through and barely avoiding a collision.

His car flew away into the night, leaving the sounds of the street race and the bust behind.

One ring...

Ring, ring...

Two rings...

Ring, ring...

Three-

-click-

"Hello?"

"Darius, it's Kyle. What's going on?!" The frantic driver was already to the other side of Silverton, trying to avoid being seen by police cruisers and choppers.

"No clue. The cops just appeared, they're arresting everybody." A moment of silence punctuated by both members heavy breathing. "Kyle, get out of town."

"What? But-"

"Go. Between the heat of the crews, you're gonna have to walk away. Take my car. Go, get outa here."

"You sure?" Kyle's car faced the highway out of town. One road and the bust would be history...but so would Nikki. "What about Nikki?"

"I'll take care of her, Kyle. Just get outa here, the cops are swarming everywhere. Get out while you can," The sound of a care starting up and the screech of tires were heard over the phone. "Gotta go... Good luck, Knight."

Kyle's car pulled onto the highway as Darius line went dead. The man could handle himself and he'd helped Kyle out of a jam. So time to skip town...

'I've heard Rockport's nice this time of year...' He mused.

Author's Note; There you have it! The prologue to A Knight's Quest, thanks for reading! This story will follow the story of NFS; Carbon (With me taking some creative liberties to make the story better) and I hope you enjoy it! Now, this is my first un-beta'd story so I hope it's not to horrendous. And a final warning, since this is my third ongoing story, unless it becomes insanely popular and gets rave reviews, updates won't come real often, unfortunately, sorry. Until next time, thanks for tuning in, Baldore out!