DRIFT KINGS: SECOND STAGE
Author's Note: And it continues! Hopefully this series will turn out a little better, in my opinion, than the first. As always, no flames, but please R&R! Oh, and just a random thought: my OC's are open for use by anyone who cares. Or who doesn't, it's all the same to me. Just lemme know.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INITIAL D, OR ANY AUTOMOTIVE MAKES/MODELS MENTIONED. BUT I DO OWN MY OC'S.
ACT 1 – FADED AURA
November 17, 1999; Maebashi, Gunma:
Drew O'Brien slipped the gear knob into neutral, pulled up the e-brake, and shut off his Toyota Celica XX's straight six engine. Opening the door, he stepped out into the darkness of the Japanese early morning. Suddenly, he jumped onto the hood of his car and pulled the collar of his jacket up over his head, narrowly avoiding a massive spray of black slush sent from a brand new R34 Nissan Skyline.
Drew stood back from his car, shook the melting snow - oil, tire residue and all - from his jacket. He cast a glare back at the Nissan as it swiftly accelerated away from the stoplight that had held it up momentarily.
Well somebody's doing well for themselves. He thought, only wishing that he had the money for a new car like that.
Not that this one's treated me badly, tho'.
He patted the two-tone Toyota lovingly on the hood, then tromped through the snow piled outside the apartment he shared with Kensuke and-
"Danny! Up and out!" Drew called, rapping harshly on the Celica's passenger side window. Inside, the thin, blond man stirred, stretched, and slowly opened the door –
Only to be nailed squarely in the face by a chunk of - clean this time – snow thrown by his older brother. Drew hefted another snowball, "Coming?"
Danny O'Brien spluttered, "Was that REALLY necessary?!"
"Was it REALLY necessary for you to fall asleep in my car instead of waiting for Kensuke like I told you?"
Danny shrugged, "It's not like I-"
"Whatever. Just forget it and let's get inside before we freeze."
Danny brushed the remaining fluff from his neck and started inside. Drew looked back once more at his car and smiled. It may be old, but it sure still looked good. He was enamored enough with the Toyota, though, that he failed to really notice the fast approaching set of headlights.
This time, he was less lucky. As he turned toward the oncoming car, his legs and lower body were caught full on by the spray of snow from the street as a deep blue Celica GT-Four spun with the e-brake into position in front of Drew's Celica.
Drew stood in shock as Kensuke stepped out of the newly arrived car. Kensuke chuckled upon seeing Drew's condition, "My bad."
Drew blinked a few times, "Is this a four-wheel drive thing?"
"Heh-heh, yeah, sorry 'bout that."
"Uh-huh. That's it – you, me, Akina: NOW."
"You're challenging me over some dirty water?"
"Yes."
Kensuke grinned, "Alright, just so we're clear."
Twenty minutes later, three cars were parked behind the guardrail beneath the water tower at the top of Mount Akina. Danny's Z32 Fairlady was parked perpendicularly to the road, the glare from its headlights on the snow forming a makeshift starting line.
Kensuke's 1992 Celica GT-Four pulled alongside Drew's older model XX, its four cylinder, turbocharged 3SGTE revving loudly; a contrast to the low purr from Drew's 6 cylinder 1G-GTEU; with both engines occasionally punctuated by snap-hisses from turbo blow-off valves.
Danny punched his Nissan's horn, the sudden beep announcing the start of the race. Kensuke's four-wheel drive Celica gained an early lead as Drew's rear-wheel drive bogged down slightly in the not entirely cleared away snow. Drew kept the accelerator floored going into the first sweeping left hand corner and then through the following gentle right.
Both cars came on hard into the first real corner of the touge: a sharp right. The drivers' abilities having been hardened by nearly 3 years on the mountains, each had his own plan for victory. Drew flitted his feet over the pedals, heel and toe downshifting and sending the heavy Mk. II Celica into a high speed drift, using the cars weight to keep it centered through the corner.
Kensuke meanwhile gave a quick tug of the e-brake and let the Celica's rally derived four-wheel drive system sort out keeping the car under control in the thin snow.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
4:03. No, wait, 4:04! Danny watched the numbers tick by on his Nissan's clock. Suddenly, the sound of well tuned engines brought his attention up from his dash.
It's WAAAY to early for it be Drew back again…nobody's that fast down and back…
Danny could barely follow as two cars flashed by his windshield. He started to reach for the ignition, but then decided there was no point in trying to catch them now. Maybe Drew and Kensuke would tell him what that was.
………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Drew, still in second position, smiled as the sign warning of the upcoming corners flew by. But just as he began to set up for the first, there was a flash of headlights in his rear view mirror.
Who else could be up here at this time of night? Takumi said he had taken the Impreza to Tokyo and none of the other locals run at this hour…
Drew flipped the switch for his emergency lights, and he and Kensuke pulled over onto the outside shoulder.
"What'd you st-"
Kensuke's inquiry was cut off as two cars came around the left hand bend uphill from the two Toyotas.
It was then that they first caught a glimpse of the oncoming rivals. Leading was a white R33 Skyline, trailing: a small black and white hatchback.
"Go, Go, GO!" Drew yelled, dumping the clutch and tearing off in hot pursuit of the two as Kensuke scrambled to get back into his car.
Going into the first of Akina's hairpins, the mystery Nissan lead, the two-tone hatch second, and Drew's Celica trailing. The Celica and Nissan flashed their brake lights, casting an eerie red onto the dirty snow. The middle car, though, didn't slow at all, passed the Nissan, and then was gone around the next corner; a small trail of gray smoke from under the window visor being the only evidence that it had ever been there at all.
In a desperate attempt to catch up, the Nissan pushed too hard into the next corner and went into a flat spin, stopping just short of the guard rail, Drew stopping just short of the Nissan, and a rapidly gaining Kensuke stopping just short of the other Celica.
A tall man with dark brown hair stepped slowly from the Skyline. Upon seeing the driver, Drew jumped from the Celica and ran over.
"Andrew!"
The man turned, "Drew?! Hey! How's it been in Gunma, man!?"
"Slow, since Project D finished. How've you been? And more importantly, where?"
"Maybe we should head downhill to the car park to discuss this."
Several minutes later, the three remaining members of a former team called Aura gathered with another of their own.
"After I left our team, I was actually able to hook up with that guy Grant raced that time in Saitama. Anyway, he got me set up running Osaka Kanjou where he used to. So I wandered the highways for a while, spent a few weeks racing Wangan in Tokyo even. That was where I got this R33 Gts25. I nearly crashed it racing an old Fairlady Z,
scariest thing I ever did, too. Anyway, I narrowly miss a crash at 120 MPH only to get my S14 impounded a week later."
Drew winced, "Man, that's unfortunate."
"Yeah, well, it's not that bad. I always wanted a Skyline back in the States, so…"
"So," Danny said, "What brings you back to Gunma?"
Andrew smirked, "Takahashi Keisuke."
24 HOURS LATER: Akina touge, 4:05 A.M.
Takumi Fujiwara idly brought the wheel of his father's Impreza Type R back in line. The four-wheel drive Subaru just made driving in the snow so easy. So boring. But that wasn't what was really bothering him. No, that old man had been using the eight-six while Takumi was gone again. And not just using it for deliveries, either.
And these kids these days call themselves racers. I don't even have to put out my cigarette anymore.
Takumi shook his head, trying to will away the "when I was a racer" talk from Bunta. The old man needed to hurry up and settle down like normal 46 year-old men. Then again, Bunta Fujiwara was no normal 46 year-old man…there was no figuring him out, Takumi thought.
Now that D was finished, there really wasn't much left for Takumi to do these days. Keisuke had gone pro a few months after D's final battle.
He never was able to beat me like he promised, though. Takumi thought, smiling at the thought of his ultimate race against his best rival.
APRIL 8, 1998: AKINA, 11:15 P.M.:
Takumi's hands worked the tall shifter down into third and spun the wheel hard right, countering the centrifugal forces generated by the unbelievably high speed drift. The lights of Keisuke Takahashi's FD blazed in his rear-view mirror.
Almost as bright as that paint.
Not that the Efini RX-7 was anything to laugh at these days. Project D's work had essentially turned it into a road-going touring car. With the new RE Amemiya widebody kit keeping it firmly planted on the tarmac, there were few vehicles capable of keeping pace with the Mazda.
But this is one of them.
Takumi smiled as he rounded a sharp right, then blitzed the short straight that lead into the following hairpin left. While he greatly appreciated all of Matsumoto's help over the past year, there was really only one man capable of tuning a car for Akina.
Which was why Takumi had spent months tuning every bit of his beloved Trueno himself. He knew it was probably silly, but he wanted to know that he had truly beaten Keisuke on his own merits, not because of his father's tuning. In fact, had Keisuke not insisted that this be a near re-creation of their first match, Takumi would not have allowed the race to be held here.
But it was here.
Takumi slid the car gracefully through the sweeping left, dipping his front left wheel briefly into gutter as the corner tightened. This caused the FD to loose a scant few meters behind him, but it was quickly regained as the more powerful rotary gunned it through the following gentle bends.
Stepping hard on the brakes, Takumi turned hard to the right, again dropping his wheels into the gutter to take the corner at and incredible speed. Behind him, Keisuke kept pace, using his more powerful engine and careful pedal work to stay on the hachi roku's rear bumper.
In the FD, Keisuke worked to quickly develop a good strategy.
I can take him on the straight here, but he'll just pass me on the hairpins using the gutter. I can't use the gutter 'cause I'll bottom out. If I block the inside, he'll drift the outside...but if I wait…there won't be a good chance to pass beyond the hairpins…it's now or never! I will NOT lose again!
Keisuke feinted left, then right, then back left, slipping alongside the smaller Toyota. He took the inside around the next easy left and slowly edged ahead of the AE86. The spun the Momo steering wheel left, his wide tires and the downforce from the front and rear diffusers keeping the FD will seated on Keisuke's racing line through the sharp left corner.
He widened his lead slightly as he powered through the corners leading up to Akina's famous hairpins. Coming into the first hairpin, Keisuke feinted toward the inside, trying to throw Takumi off his line for the gutters, then returned to his own line, gripping through the center of the sharp right.
His attempt, however, failed to throw off the racing sense of the 20 year-old chasing him. Takumi's AE86 passed him easily on the inside as he used the gutter run that had defeated so many before, including Keisuke himself.
Keisuke swore as the pop-up headlights pushed past the end of his car. He fully expected to lose sight of the AE86 as it used the gutter again around the next corner…but it didn't. Instead, his line was one Keisuke had never seen used on Akina before.
That can't be right…
Keisuke followed the hatchback around the corner, then the next, and the next. Each time, Takumi's line was…unusual. This was unlike anything Keisuke had ever had to face before…but all too similar an experience for Takumi.
Ryousuke Takahashi leaned against the guard rail, waiting for his brother to appear. For once, he truly didn't know what to expect when the cars rounded the corner before him. He had analyzed the abilities of his aces more times than he could count, but there never seemed to be a definitive answer.
THERE!
Keisuke floored the accelerator, his left side wheels bouncing over the gutter onto the small flat area alongside the road. For the second time on this fifth run down Akina, Keisuke passed the two-tone hatchback as its strange line took it too wide through a corner.
Inside the Toyota, Takumi smiled.
Ryousuke looked up quickly as he heard the overlapping screams from his brother's rotary and Takumi's TRD touring car engine. Suddenly, bright LEDs shone around the bushes as Keisuke's FD3S rounded the corner. Ryousuke smiled when he failed to see the AE86 appear.
Takumi set up for his alternate line, knowing Akina well enough even without the headlights on to find his perfect entry line. He made a mental note of the white FC parked beside the road.
Ryousuke-san…are you seeing this?
Ryousuke's eyes widened as Takumi took a bizarre line through the right hander, passing Keisuke quickly on the inside, not half a meter from Ryousuke's position on the guardrail. Ryousuke allowed himself a grim smile as the Trueno's lights reappeared in front of him.
Takumi, you never fail to surprise.
Keisuke gave the guardrail a swift kick. He had lost to that eight-six for the third time. He looked up as his brother came over to him.
"Aniki, I…I really thought I had him this time."
"It's alright, Keisuke. Remember, you still managed to go five rounds on his home course."
Keisuke nodded, "I know, I know. I just don't understand it."
"Keisuke, had Takumi been driving…erratically in the final section of the course?"
Keisuke nodded again.
Ryousuke sighed resignedly, "This time, Takumi managed to pull something even I had never anticipated. I had thought he would try the blind attack, but I never would have guessed he would combine it with Joushima Toshiya's shifting line…"
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
Takumi pulled the hachi-roku into its usual position beside his father's Impreza.
"Did you win?" a gruff voice called from the door way.
Takumi turned to see his father leaning again the door, smoking. He nodded.
"Good," with that, the older man turned and went back into the building.
THE PRESENT:
Takumi shook his head. No, there was no figuring out that old man.
END
NEXT TIME ON INITIAL D: DRIFT KINGS SECOND STAGE –
The newly re-united members of team AURA set out to rebuild their numbers as a new threat looms for the Gunma touge drivers.