Chapter 1: The day it all began
In the middle of one of the world's hottest, sandy deserts lay a very large and unsuspecting rock formation. To the unknown eye the large formation was created by the elements and left in the middle of the hot, sun baked desert, but to people in the know, the very large rock was not a rock at all but a hideout for a well known man called Dr. Peter Tezla. The large rock had been hollowed out to allow not only a hideout from the unwanted spying eyes Dr. Tezla believed to be following him around, but also a base of operations for the three teams of racers he called upon for help.
Inside the rock Dr. Tezla called 'The Acceledrome' is where our story begins.
In one of the many manmade rooms inside The Acceledrome sat fifteen racers all of them in high backed padded black office like chairs; the kind of chairs the boss of a top business would sit in. Nine men and six women sat in a lose oval around an elongated table in the middle of the large room, all of them watching the man in a purple suit sitting at the head of the table. The man gave off an air of importance as his fingers drummed together in an unknown rhythm that had small mechanical whirrs following each and every movement; for some reason he was in a mechanical bio-suit that supported his whole body.
The man watched the racers before him though his dark purple glasses that hid his shining blue eyes from the room - he may have been in his late forty's but it was a contrast from his complete head of white hair showing the many years of stress the doctor had been though. All the racers knew who the man was; some more than others.
The man was Dr Peter Tezla; head and founder of the Scrim Corporation.
One by one the teams arrived and each time Dr Peter Tezla just sat at the head of the table waiting his chin resting on his interlocked fingers, it was only when the last team came into the room that the Dr moved and talked for the first time. The now silent Dr was currently thinking of a way to introduce himself and explain why he had called them all to this strange and unusual place. The room seamed to hold its breath when Dr. Tezla finally talked to the room, a single white eyebrow rising from its normal place as his lips moved.
"First off thank you all for coming and welcome to the Acceledrome" The room was quiet as the racers seemed to hang onto every word that left the mans mouth, the man in question held his arms out in welcome - he seemed to be generally happy to see them all "Some of you will know the story I will be telling you, but for the benefit of the others I will start from the very beginning. For the one's that know please be patient with me"
A few of the racers - four to be exact, looked around the room knowing what Dr. Tezla was going to talk about. Many of them looked out the large wall to wall window and towards the three large rings outside. The rings span as one single gleaming mass but if you looked carefully enough, you could still visibly see the lines that separated the three rings, the goldness seamed to shimmer in the racers' eyes as they watched the rings rotating progress
"Years ago I found a tablet that had been hidden from civilisation for thousands and thousands of years in an underground cavern. I studied it for years and after much time and research I was finally able to translate it…" You could clearly hear the pride in Tezla's voice as he talked about his find; proud of his find and the ability to translate it for people to understand "…The tablet talked about a race of super beings called the Accelerons" One racer huffed at Dr Tezla's excitement bored with this meeting.
He sat back in his large seat with a very bored expression on his face, his heavily bike booted feet were crossed as he lifted them to rest on the table. His hands were behind his head of dark spiked hair that flowed down into some mega sideburns as he fully lay back in the chair; dark sunglasses covered his eyes from everyone. His tatty clothes clung to his body; skulls and a chain hanging off them showing everyone his well developed muscles.
"They had technology…" Tezla continued ignoring the rude interruption "…that was far beyond our own; they came from a completely different plant and they lived to race. They created a realm that was solely made for this reason, it was called Highway 35 and I believe it was in a different dimension then our own" The racer with dark hair and a bad habit for huffing huffed again; even more bored with where this was going.
"I called upon some of the world's best drivers, whether they were professional or untapped…" Tezla sent a look towards one of the younger racers with blonde hair that was swept to the side and spiked; he looked out at the rings his mind seemingly in another time and place "…to race and prove they were the best. There were a few legs of Highway 35 and each leg was won by a different driver but at the end of it Vert Wheeler won affectively, proving himself to be the best driver in the world" He gestured to the blonde racer again who had a slight smug smile on his face as he absentmindedly twisted in his seat.
"Loser" The huffing racer muttered loudly as he pretended to have a coughing fit in a childish like manner.
"What is your problem?" One of female racers half asked half shouted, her vivid blue eyes watched the male's large relaxed figure in the chair. His only movement was the racer slowly turning his head to look back at her growling; the left side of his mouth moving up slightly showing her his bared white teeth.
"It could be you if you don't shut it" The racer shouted from his seat not even bothering to get up.
"I do have a name you know" The racer said as she brushed her straight brown hair from her eyes to give a better glare at the short tempered dark haired racer "The name is Hope" Hope's twin sister and team mate had her blazing blue grey eyes locked onto the dark haired racer as he looked back at Hope. Hope's twin looked him up and down assessing the larger racers muscles, seeing if she could get a hit or two in before he came down on her. The racer stood up from his seat with his fingerless gloved knuckles on the table not moving his eyes from Hope as they looked her up and down. Hope blushed slightly but hid it as best she could, it did not feel like a glare type of look but it was something she could not pur her finger on.
"Tame it Wylde" A deep voice waned from beside the tensed male racer. Wylde never took his eyes off Hope as he slowly sat back down; which took a moment for him to contemplate doing. His fists rested on the table as Hope never looked away from him. Dr. Tezla continued with the explanation after the outburst and the short pause that followed, but the room was now slightly tense from the near confrontation.
"Vert and his team the Wave Rippers…" His eyes rested on Wylde; who still had his fists on the table looking at Hope though his sunglasses "…won five million dollars each for his win but…" He looked around at everyone "…at the end Vert found something called the Wheel of Power" Wylde finally broke eye contact but never moved his body from its position. Hope gave off a small quiet sigh in relief at the broken eye to sunglasses contact; it was getting a bit to intense for her liking. When Tezla talked about the Wheel of Power he briefly looked to the middle of the table where a small hologram of the golden rings had appeared.
"When I studied it I found the Wheel had powers that could benefit the world" Tezla looked around the room, looking each person eye to subglasses apart from Wylde; it was more like eye to sunglasses "This is why I have called you. I kept it as quiet as I could but someone called Gelorum snatched the wheel away. She tried to take the wheel for herself when Vert first brought the wheel out of Highway 35 but she failed. We now know that Gelorum is a cyborg that was created by the Accelerons and she now has an army of racing droids that were made in her own image, ready to do what it takes to get what they want"
"Sounds like Gelorum needs a time out" Hope mussed looking back at Wylde for a fleeting moment as her fingers played with a stay strand of brown hair. A few of the racers in the room chuckled but they were interested in Dr Tezla to much to notice the comment. The tension in the room faded away as Wylde finally lent back in his chair, his gloved hand under his chin like he was in deep thought.
"Before the wheel was taken I was able to translate some of the wheel. As you can see the three wheels have different symbols engraved around them" He pointed outside the window and to the hologram of the wheel in the middle of the large table "I have rigged an alarm that will go off when a new racing realm opens. Each realm is unique and tests a different skill in each one. You have one hour to get to the end of the track…"
"What would happen if you don't get to the end of the track in the given time?" the leader of the Moonlight Angels asked, talking for the first time since she had walked into the room.
"To be truthful, I'm not sure what happens if you don't so I advise you just get to the end of the track as quickly as possible" Tezla paused allowing a gap for more questions, when no one talked he continued "The winner of each race will get what is called an AcceleCharger, but I'm not sure what it is" He said shrugging "That's as much as I could translate before the wheel was taken"
"So what does this have to do with us?" Another dark haired racer asked, his eyes hiding behind a pair of large orange tinted goggles. Wylde gave him a fleeting death glare before looking back out the window, the golden rings dancing in his dark glasses. "And why is the Wheel of Power out there when Gelorum has it?" He spat Gelorum's name with distaste giving off the slightest hint that they had a past of some kind.
"I have called you all to ask for your help Kurt" Tezla informed "I need you to race in the realms and stop the droids from winning the AcceleChargers, if they get their hands on all of them then they…" He looked up as he hesitated about continuing his sentence "…could take over the world" Tezla whispered.
Some of the racers looked shocked while others shivered. But only Wylde looked pleased; he cracked his knuckles looking like he was getting ready to fight "Into smaller words, the wheel out there is a powerful hologram of the original. I will not pretend this won't be dangerous to you all, some of you may come out with nothing or have inures; minor or major. I have a medical room set up with the best equipment money can buy if this is the case"
"Humans do need other things" Kurt piped up giving Tezla a penitent look also interacting they had met in the past and it wasn't on pleasant terms.
"I also have rooms for you to sleep in but you will have to share bathrooms; male and female. I have a fully stocked kitchen and a dining area, once a week some of you will have to go on a supply run but who goes will be decided then. Just down the hall is a lounge room and only a few doors from that is a games room, everything you will need is here within The Acceledrome" Tezla snipped obviously not liking to be interrupted by anyone
"As you all saw I have tools of every kind that will help fix your cars in the team garages and I have a room of books for all of your research needs, some over spilling into the lounge" Tezla looked around the room one more time "Now that I have told you everything, it's up to you what you decide" With small mechanical whirs Dr Tezla slowly headed towards the only door out the room.
"I will give you 30 minutes to decide"