The Midnight Rider

Disclaimer: I Do not own Kingdom Hearts but I wish I did (anime tears)

Summary: The Midnight Rider is the fastest motorcyclist in all of Radiant Garden but nobody knows who he and has made a vow that anyone that can beat him in a race he will take of his helmet and reveal to them his true identity.

Thanks: to The Whimsical Dreamers for Betaing especially Ai

Chapter 1

The streets of the old town were deserted, littered here and there with garbage and dead leaves. The only lights illuminating the road were from a few barely working streetlights and blinking shop signs. A little mouse scurried onto the middle of the road, with a black cat on its tail. They didn't get far

Two motorcycles zoomed past, missing the creatures by only a few inches. The leading motorcyclist was donned in complete black whereas as the second one was wearing red.

They raced along the road, seemingly unbothered by the darkness of the night. Zack tried cutting the other several times on his XR1200 but failed. While this irked him, the Mysterious Rider was amused as he looked back and made a hand gesture that irritated Zack. When the road splits, they chose the narrow road, banking around a bend.

By then they were leaving the old town behind and heading downtown. The road had many twists and turns. Cars, branches and potholes were everywhere on this road. While Zack was busy dealing with this obstacles, his competition had apparently no trouble with them as he smoothly avoided all of them.

As a hill loomed nearer, they saw a blind turn. On a race track, racers know what lies ahead of a blind turn so they can avoid it, but here that view was blocked by a hill. Zack looked at the other rider who showed no signs of distress on this matter.

Of course, he was a newbie in this place; the Midnight Rider wasn't. He was a veteran on these streets. Zack gritted his teeth and swerved to the outer lane. It wasn't a wise choice in racing, but it was for safety. He could just imagine the smirk the Midnight Rider was wearing at the moment. Bastard

As soon as the hill was passed, Zack tried catching up. The distance between them was too much for his comfort and the race was almost finished. They could see the finish line already, an old donut shop with a large donut on the roof. He increased his speed, gradually coming closer to the other. However when they were almost level, Zack was surprised when the Midnight Rider revved up and took off, passing the finish line in a blur of black and silver.

Zack glared at the piece sign the other was giving him as they continued driving.

A stop outside a bar gave them a chance to talk. Zack parked his bike near a Sportster as his adversary dismounted his Kawasaki Z1000. He followed suit and took off his helmet.

"Hey. Nice race. You gonna take off that helmet?"

The Midnight Rider crossed his arms and leaned on his bike. "You didn't beat me."

Zack cocked an eyebrow before remembering the rumor. Radiant Garden attracts motorcyclists in particular because of the Midnight Rider, the fastest biker in all of Radiant Garden. Nobody knew his identity because he wouldn't take his helmet off unless someone beat him. Over time, he became a figure and the three pointed crown became his symbol.

"Right. Name's Zack by the way. I just moved here." When the other tilted his head to look at the bar, Zack saw the infamous crown on his helmet. It stood out against the intense black of the helmet.

The door to the bar slammed open and three guys stumbled out. One of them saw the guy Zack was facing and immediately got the other two to look. They started talking excitedly and pointing at him.

"People here seem to have taken to calling me Midnight Rider." As if on cue one of the drunks called him with that name.

Zack chuckled. "Yeah. So I've heard. Best damn rider of the night?"

"Something like that." The Midnight Rider looked back at Zack.

They stared for a moment before the black clothed motorcyclist unfolded his arms and mounted his bike. "Well then,"

"Wait." Zack called. When the other turned his attention to him, he raised a fist. "You may have defeated me today. But next time, I'll be the winner."

The Midnight Rider took note of his intense look and knew he meant it. Underneath the helmet, he smirked. "Then I'll be looking forward to it, Zack." With that, he revved up his bike and rode off into the night.

Zack stared for a while as the Midnight Rider did a Switchback, waving to Zack before disappearing from sight with a laugh. "Showoff." He muttered as he got on his Harley. Zack shook his head. The next time he saw the Midnight Rider, he'll do a 12 0'clock and let the other gape at his awesome-ness. That'll teach him about stunting.

He saw the three drunks still staring where the Midnight Rider pulled the stunt and decided to mess with them a bit. Zack revved up his engine and did a Burnout, enveloping the drunks in smoke before driving away with a satisfied laugh.

When he got back to his new home, he parked his beloved Harley Davidson Sportster XR1200 in the garage and sneaked into the house. It was dark and it doesn't seem like his sister was awake. Which was good because he could just imagine all the trouble he would have to go through if Aerith found out. She never really approved of his nightly activities.

In his locked room, Zack stripped down to just his boxers and crawled into bed. His first day at his new school in Radiant Garden would start in just a few hours.

Blind Turn- A turn in the road that is visually obstructed and prevents the rider from seeing the path of the road around the corner. This makes the rider blind to the turning radius, approaching traffic, and road condition until after the rider has entered the turn and can then see around the trees, hillside, etc

Switchback- While riding down the road, jump or climb around so that your back is facing the front of the bike and riding backwards.

Burnout- The practice of keeping a vehicle stationary (or close to) and spinning its wheels, causing the tires to heat up and smoke resulting from friction.