Kaoru was bound and gagged in the back of a gray Lancer Evolution V. Nikolai, her ex-boyfriend, leaned against the door as she screamed and banged against it.

"You're not getting out, no matter how hard you try…"

Nikolai was a more shady character than Shinya expected. He'd called in a bosuzoku gang (street racing gang) after his R34 had crashed, using Kaoru as bait to attract the trio of racers.

"Here he comes now…" the gang's leader, Tetsuya, looked down the road at the approaching Levin. He wore a white bandanna over his head and wore a spiked leather jacket combined with a shirt with the Rising Sun on it. "And it looks like he brought his friends along…"

The Levin had hardly rolled to a stop when Shinya jumped out, but was stopped by his friends Jotaro and Ichiro from running full-force and attacking the gang.

"WHERE IS SHE?!"

"Testy, testy," taunted the leader and the whole gang laughed along with him. "Not to worry, she's in here. He opened the back door of the Mitsubishi Lancer.

Shinya strained to get away from his friends, but they held firm.

But Tetsuya only slammed the door shut. "Cute, isn't she?"

"You touch her…"

Jotaro and Ichiro restrained their friend again. "What do you want for her?"

"We want a touge battle on this pass…under our conditions. Unless you just want to give up now…which would be very wise."

"Conditions?" Jotaro asked.

"If you win, Kaoru goes with you, we all leave and you never hear from us again, or Nikolai over here." He pointed to the Russian man. "But if we win…"

"…well, your Kaoru is back with Nik, whether she wants to be or not and we'll all have a bit of fun with her…and we'll just take that Levin…and crush it for the money you owe Nikolai for his GT-R."

"Alright then," Shinya said. "You're on!"

The weaselly leader grinned. "Alright then. Takeshi here will take the hillclimb against the R32 in his EVO V…and I'll personally deal with this Levin in my STi."

He sat down on a GD model Subaru, painted white with a carbon hood and gold wheels.

"It's only an STi, RA Spec C, the fastest STi ever."

"In the case of a draw?" Jotaro asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Tetsuya replied.

"We'll run the hillclimb first, so get the R32 ready. Takeshi, you know what to do. Are Daijin and the others ready?"

"Waiting at the checkpoints," the Lancer driver replied.

"Good," Tetsuya said. "C'mon, Levin boy…top of the mountain."

The white Subaru took off, but no one else moved.

Before Shinya could follow, Jotaro held him back.
"Watch your back around these guys. Especially that one, Tetsuya."

He handed Shinya a switchblade. "You can't be too careful around the bosuzoku."

With that, Shinya took off uphill.

Takeshi grinned maliciously. "Touge rules?"

"Yeah, I know 'em."

"I guess since we're the home team…and we're going to win, regardless, you can pick the starting position."

I'm on crap tires…I can't make the race too long.

He looked over at the gray Lancer. Plus, I have no clue how powerful that car is.

And after this left onto the hill, it's a long, long, straight.

I have only one option!

"I'll take the rear position!"

Takeshi grinned. "You asked for it."

He picked up Kaoru and put her inside another Evolution just like his.

"Alright, let's race!"

Takeshi pulled the gray Lancer up in front of Jotaro's R32 according to touge rules.

"See you later, ass."

One of the bosuzoku members walked out between them.

"Go! Yon! San! Ni! Ichi!"

"GO!!"

Both AWD road machines screamed off the line at full throttle!

Takeshi's driving skills weren't as good as his leader, Tetsuya's. But Takeshi had been picked for two reasons. One, his blocking skills were among the elite. No one ever got past Takeshi through the inside of a corner. Two, he was gifted at playing mind games with his opponent…using techniques to throw them off their game.

The Lancer Evolution was faster off the line and slightly pulled away at first, but the R32's low-end torque (thanks to its larger engine) equaled out the weight difference between the two cars.

Takeshi waited to jump into the first corner, a tight left-hander where the road narrowed to just two lanes. It was a tricky corner to take.

"I'll just block you out, R32! You're not getting past me!"

Takeshi shifted his car to the center line jumping into the corner, but, hard braking, the R32 roared into the outside lane.

"What are you trying to do, R32? You can't pass on the outside!"

The brakes clamped together tightly and the tires screeched in protest, but the R32's nose passed the Evolution's for a split second, then Jotaro pressed inside with all the force he had!

Both cars were now dead-even with each other, but as the cars screamed through, Takeshi found that he had a problem!

This guy's blocking my line out of the corner…I can't accelerate fully! But he can't either…can he??

Coming out, the Evolution was burned as the R32's side nudged the outside bank of the road. Despite the weight difference in the two cars, the R32 surged ahead, thanks to its better line and out-of-corner speed!

Dang!!! How the hell…did you do that?!

The hillclimb battle was over before it even began.

At the summit, the downhill clash was about to begin!

Gasoline…check. Engine temperature…low. Mirror…

Shinya grinned as he looked at his reflection.

Handsome dude…

Then he turned the mirror away from him.

Check.

Secret weapon?

Check.

Now let's get this show on the road!

Shinya pressed the hazards down, but not without noticing his hand shaking like a leaf in autumn!

Alright, Levin, he thought as he carefully applied throttle, It's you, me, and an opponent. We've got to smoke him!

The image of the bound Kaoru flashed through his mind and his heart gave a sudden twinge of pain.

For Kaoru!

The Nardi wheel was twisted to the right, then to the left, then right again as the Levin tailslid through the first corner, Subaru hard on his heels.

Brakes!

Shinya heel-toe downshifted and screamed through the left hairpin, rear tires smoking as they kicked sideways.

"Eat this, Tetsuya!"

Damn! This Levin!

Tetsuya downshifted and gripped the corner, but even with his AWD power, the minute Toyota hatchback was leaving him.

I'm catching him coming out…that's obvious, but in the straights he's actually staying even with me!

How is that possible? Nikolai said that the Levin was no match in straights for a bone-stock R34…

…Is it possible he modified it since yesterday???

Shinya's shoulder straps were the only thing holding him from flying forward as he rushed in, braking with full percent of the brakes. Of course, the Levin did not have ABS…so Shinya had adapted, making him an even better driver without realizing it!

Finally, he pressed down harder to make his rear wheels lock, creating a drift which carried him through the next corner, away from the Subaru.

This is gonna be tight!

He screamed through, just barely missing the guardrail.

I've gotta save Kaoru!

Sweat dripped down Shinya's face and his knuckles were white on the wheel as the Levin slid sideways through another corner.

He grabbed another gear, shifting with speeds only an automatic transmission could match even though he was driving an ancient Toyota hatchback.

Now for the corner…

He slammed down a gear and was modulating his brakes carefully when the Levin gave a scream of fury.

Shit! I went into second instead of fourth!!!

Shinya was lucky that the transmission wasn't instantly destroyed, but the Levin shuddered ominously and the Subaru easily caught up, gaining back all the ground Shinya had worked so hard to achieve.

Shinya could feel the Subaru right behind him as he took the hairpin, and as he exited…

BUMP!

"What the hell!?"

The Subaru's front bumper connected with the Levin's rear end, almost causing a spinout as the rear end slid across the shoulder.

"Aaarrghh!!!!"

He countersteered, trying at the same time to regain control and keep the pressing Subaru at bay.

Tetsuya swore as the Levin swung across the road.

Well, there's another trip to the damn shop…thanks a lot, cell phone!

It was ringing off the hook ever since the race started and had almost caused a serious crash.

He ignored it, yet again, as the Subaru's AWD sent him down the short straightaway between the next corner.

"Man, this isn't good. Tetsuya isn't picking up his phone."

"Well…the Levin's still out in front. If anyone's going to hit 'im, it's going to be the Levin."

"He's a pretty crazy driver, from what Nikolai says. Maybe they'll make it around him…"

"…and maybe they won't."

Shinya rushed into the next corner, cursing his pursuer. He slammed on the brakes as late as he could, then drifted through the corner at high speed…

…and came face to face with a truck!!!