The Art of Stealing Cars by Kara Tezla
Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the Acceleracers Characters. although I wish I did
Summary: The Teku and the Metal Maniacs go to LA to race, but what happens when their cars start disappearing?
Author's Note: I have had this story in a notebook for a while... but, thanks to Wings of Speed, I got a working account, and now ya'll can read my story! And, if any of you have read Wings of Speed's "The Truth That Lies Behind the Lies", you may reconize Kara. This story is mainly about her. Hope you like!
Chapter One: Disappearing Cars and Candy
"Have any of you guys seen Tork's car?" Asked Monkey, opening the door to the hotel room that Kurt and Nolo were staying in.
"No," Said Nolo, his eyes never coming away from the television.
"Ditto," Agreed Kurt, his head turning to look Monkey in the eyes. "Why? Is it gone?"
"Yup. All the Maniacs are looking,"
"Hey, I told you guys to put them in the garage."
"But that costs money,"
"Well, it's gonna cost a little to keep your car safe from gangs."
"Right. But Tork had a really expensive locking thingie just installed, so he wouldn't have to put it in the garages. He sounded pretty confident that nobody could break in."
Kurt chuckled. "You guys don't get it. Around here, the car thieves go to pretty extreme lengths to steal cars. Some gangs even take cars apart just to keep the alarm from going off."
Monkey's eyes got wide. "Oh no,"
"What?"
"My car is out there too!"
"Then you better go put it in a garage, Monkey!" Said Kurt, grinning as Monkey's head disappeared and the door shut behind it.
"Kurt?" Asked Nolo.
"Yeah?" Answered Kurt, turning back to the television.
"How'd he get our room key?"
A confused expression settled on Kurt's face. "That's a good question, Nolo."
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Monkey scrambled down the hallway to the elevator. He couldn't let them take apart his precious car! The elevator ride seemed to take forever as he went down to ground level, which was two stories down. During the ride down, he thought about what Kurt had said. Would somebody actually take apart his car? That seems a waste of energy to me. But Kurt has lived in Los Angeles before, so I think he would know, but do I trust him?
As soon as the elevator doors opened, Monkey was off and running towards the back door that led to the small parking lot behind the hotel.
"Oh, please let it be there, please let it be there," Pleaded Monkey out loud before bursting through the door. There, in the middle of the parking lot, sat Rolling Thunder, in all its--dirty--glory. Monkey's relief was voiced aloud with a sigh.
"Hey, you alright?" Said a gruff voice behind him.
Monkey turned around and jumped at the sight of the large man in front of him. Pork Chop. "Oh, yeah, it's just that Kurt said that Tork's car was probably stolen because we didn't put it in a garage."
"But garages cost money!" Pork Chop complained.
"Ah! That's what I said!"
"Yeah. I don't need no stupid garage! Nobody's gonna steal my car!" Pork Chop said as he gripped the sledgehammer in his right hand. "And if they do, I'll just pound 'em!" He then let the hammer drop off his shoulder and swing towards the wall. It met with a loud crunch and left a nice dent the size of a basketball in the wall.
Monkey jumped back, dodging the splinters of plaster that flew from the impact point. "I bet you would, Pork Chop. I bet you would."
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Shirako stared at Vert with growing interest. They sat on the beds that occupied the room that they shared. Shirako had his music off to hear the sound affects that came with Vert's daring feat.
"Ready?" Asked Vert, 2 small, red, candies sat in his palm.
Shirako nodded with a small smile.
Vert tipped his head back and dropped the candy in. He brushed his hands off and looked Shirako in the eyes. "Hey, these aren't too bad, Shirako. You should try some," Shirako had tried an atomic fireball before, and he didn't want to do it again. Let's just say the results that came of sucking on the cinnamon candy had left his tastebuds fried. He couldn't taste anything for days. And that was only one fireball. Vert had two.
Now Vert's face was turning red, his mouth was open a little. He started to reach for the glass of water that sat at on the nightstand.
"Don't, water only makes it worse," Shirako said, but he was too late. Vert had picked up the glass and was gulping down the contents, the fireballs pushed to the sides of his mouth. He put the glass down, sighing with relief, but it was short-lived. Once the candy had been moved back into the main part of Vert's mouth, his eyes went huge.
"HOT!" He screamed. "HOT! OH MY GOSH, THAT'S SO HOT!" He started to fan his mouth, but got no satisfaction from it. Shirako couldn't hold back the laughter that was building inside of him. He burst out laughing as Vert jumped off the bed and danced around the room.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Shirako, still laughing, got up and walked to the door. Signaling to Vert to knock it off, he opened the door.
There stood Karma; her arms were crossed and an angry look on her face. The icy glare cut Shirako's laughing short.
"Where the heck is my car?" She said angrilly. "Do you guys know--" Karma stopped suddenly, gazing over Shirako's shoulder at Vert. "Vert? Are you okay?"
Shirako was afraid to look back, but he did anyway. There was Vert, lying on his bed, moaning about how hot his mouth was. "Uh, he's fine." Said Shirako, stepping in her line of vision. "You were saying?"
"No, really, what's wrong with him? He doesn't look so great." Commented Karma, moving Shirako out of the way.
Shirako sighed. It was no use fighting Karma, because she kept on fighting until she got what she wanted. "He ate two Atomic Fireballs at once," He stated, looking back.
Karma gave the Asian a surprised look. "That was stupid, did you try and stop him?"
"Yeah, but he didn't listen. He drank a whole glass of water trying to cool his mouth off."
Another small groan came from Vert's limp body. Karma laughed. "I bet he'll never do that again!"
Shirako looked back at Karma. "What were you saying about your car?"
A dark look smothered the smile that had been on her face. "Somebody snatched both Nolo and I's cars right out of the garage!" She shouted.
"Wow. I'm surprised. Kurt said--"
"Yes! I know what Kurt said. I just can't wait to see the look on his face when his car disappears, too!" Karma's anger dropped a notch. "Well, if you find anything out, tell me. I am going to kill whoever put their hands on my car!"
Shirako nodded and shut the door. Vert was now sitting up, two round shapes in his cheeks indicated that the first layer of spicy cinnimon had passed. "You okay?" He asked Vert.
"Yeah, I'm glad that's over," He answered, falling back on the bed.
"Over?" Shirako questioned. "Oh, it's not over, yet. There's still another layer of hotness, Vert. I just think that you should spit them out while you still have tastebuds."
Vert's eyes widened again. "Really?"
"Yup."
"Nah," Vert said smiling. "I think I can take it,"
"Okay, it's your mouth you're ruining," Shirako said with a grin. He jumped on his bed, turning his music back on. Some things would never change.
Okay. So there's the first chapter. Please Review if you liked, I wanna know what you guys think.