Chapter 7: 4x652+1580Battle!
Ryuu stepped out from the small grocery. He had bought some food and stuff, since earlier this morning he had noticed that all his fridge kept inside was light, and even that was bit dim. As he stepped out with the bags of food, he noticed a small paper note under his cars windshield wiper.
"Tonight at the pylon's parking lot , at 11:30. We'll wait you there with gallery."
Cheetah Brothers
And underneath their names was a paw, that had rotary rotors as toes and palm. Ryuu couldn't suffocate amused snort. "Right.." he put the note into his pocket and returned to his apartment. He had some other arrangements to do as well.
Few hours later he was at Hideaki's garage. He noticed that there was a pile of parts that seemed to belong into some 4WD machine. Some electronic circuits were scattered on the table nearby too, so it couldn't be much else than ATTESA from old Pulsar Gti-R, updated with wrecked R34 GT-R's ETS PRO-system. "My oh my.. Katashi, why are these things scattered here like this? ETS Pro circuitry, ATTESA-drivetrain.. unless..?"
Older Hideaki just glanced at him with a wicked grin. "Same deal as earlier. Win and you get them installed for cheap price. Lose and you have to pay full price plus the work." Ryuu bit his lip. The stakes were high indeed. But he decided to play old mans game for a change.
"If I win, you install these into my car.. but if I win by.. say, 4 second margin or more, you'll add free reinforced and lightened carbonfibre driveshafts." Akira dropped the screwdriver as he heard that, but older Hideaki just grinned. "Willing to gamble already, hmm?"
Akira didn't know what to say. Obviously his friend had gone nuts, but if his father would agree, then he wouldn't be sure which one was nuts. The carbonfibre driveshafts would cost almost as much as the drivetrain and electronics together. The silence ended as the older Hideaki cleared his throat, lighting a cigarette. "Four seconds or more and you'll have those fancy driveshafts. Under four seconds and you'll let me have the car for few weekends when I'll go to see girls at the town."
Akira's mouth hung open. "That filthy old pervert! Always thinking of girls!" Ryuu laughed. "That'll be fine by me, as long as you don't burn the clutch or wreck the car otherwise, old man. We have a deal then?" Katashi nodded and Ryuu shook hands with him.
"Okay, now that we've dealt with that, we need to think if there's need to change the setup for this race", Ryuu said. Akira nodded weakly, still dumbstruck by this sudden, unexpected gamble. "In the last race, the tail was still bit too loose. I think we need to adjust the rear toe out slightly in order to make the rear bit more steady. The damper's rebound needs to be faster and anti roll bar needs some adjustment too.." Akira nodded and started to work with his father and Ryuu. They had enough time to complete the setup and check the rest of the car before the night.
After finishing the check-up, Akira did some searching in the forums of WTCR-mag. He found out that the reward from beating the fourth team of the area was twice as much as the one Ryuu got from defeating the Three Katana's. He told this to Ryuu, whose eyes lit up from enthusiasm.
"Damn, I could buy another KP60 and install the Wangan stuff into that! No more need for swaps then.." Akira agreed, he had thought of that as well. Katashi walked behind them as well, peeking to the screen. "Nearly 4 million yens? Not bad, not bad.. but you'll get more than 10 times as much when you'll be pro."
Ryuu nodded slightly. Maybe after defeating all teams of this area.. but there was always someone faster. Usually he was the one who was faster, but he knew that this couldn't keep going on forever. He sighed a bit. He noticed that there was some coffee left, so he took freedom to pour a cup for himself.
He sat on the hood of his car, spacing off to distance, wondering what certain girl was doing at the moment. Maybe she was blasting down a mountain pass in her JGTC NSX replica or something.. but then he shook his head and sipped his coffee, listening the discussion between Akira and Katashi. They agreed that it would be more practical to get two cars for different purposes. It would save time and such a lot.
"Say, kid, you gonna buy another car for Wangan runs?" Katashi asked from Ryuu, sitting next to him. "It has crossed my mind. If I win this one, I'll probably do that. Akira could start searching for possible victim via Internet." Older Hideaki nodded, looking at the young man next to him. He certainly had those qualities what proper racing driver needed. He had tactical eye, he knew what would be efficient and understood how the car should be set up for different tracks and purposes. He also had fighting spirit and cunningness. "I'll be at your disposal in this project. But I'm not sure which one will be more famous: The original Midnight Dragon or it's future brother.." Ryuu chuckled. Sometimes the old man was bit too sentimental.
Yuuka watched how the darkness fell on the mountains, and the lights ignited, illuminating the dangerous, cold roads. His brother, Nori, was pulling last breaths from his cigarette as the clock crept closer to half twelve. Yuuka knew that his brother was nervous. He was anxious too, after he had heard that Midnight dragon was also known on Wangan as well. He was intrigued by the rumor that on Wangan, the Midnight dragon used Rotary engine instead of normal piston engine.
"Where is he.. it's freezing in here." There was soft murmur in the gallery, and suddenly someone yelled. "He's at the bottom, coming up fast! Midnight Dragon is here!" The atmosphere electrified instantly, and Yuuka forgot his discomfort. Finally the race would begin!
Ryuu saw that there was lots of people on the edge of the road and on top of the walls, cheering at him. He felt kinda funny because of that, and annoyed. "Wait few years, please.." He muttered to himself. The road was moist here and there. He knew that these wet patches could determine the result of the race.
Nori shivered as he heard the odd sound of the engine. For a moment, he thought that it really was some mythical beast that was crawling up the mountain, hissing and snarling at him. Finally, the headlights climbed on top of the crest. There she finally was in her dark beautifulness. The engine was left idling as Ryuu opened the door and stood up, grabbing a thermos bottle and sipping hot coffee from it. Yuuka and Nori walked up to him.
Nori hardly heard what his brother and Ryuu talked. This was the beast that had chased down Ryoichi's normally aspirated, 300bhp 20B powered RX-8 with ease. For some reason, he felt that this car was looking back at him.
He jumped a little as his brother slapped him on the shoulder. "Man, you're really jumpy tonight. What is wrong with you?" Nori didn't answer. "Anyways, he'll lead the first run. Come on, let's get ready." Nori kept looking at the little Toyota. He felt it's gaze on him, it's aura. He was certain that the car was haunted somehow. And still.. He shook his head and followed his brother to their cars.
They lined up on the starting line. Ryuu noticed that Kohaku and some other members of WTCR-mag were there too, writing and taking pictures for an article. The previous numbers, especially the one with DVD about his run against Three Katanas had been practically torn from their hands. He shook his head. This run would probably sell even more magazines than that.
The countdown ended, and the cars took off. Ryuu's lighter KP60 had advantage in acceleration, but soon, the rotary brothers were right on his heels. They entered the first corner carefully because of the moistness, powering out from them bit more aggressively. Ryuu kept an eye on his mirrors, seeing that the Cheetah Brothers were still on him. He grinned and increased his speed, dashing towards the the damp, cold darkness.
Yuuka and Nori followed him tightly, copying his lines as well as the slippy surface allowed them to. Their RX-7's were light, but that Starlet did weight almost half a ton less. Nori cursed as he felt his tires slipping. "There's some leafs on the road too.. Great.. Just great!" Yuuka was struggling too. His car did it's best to use all the grip it had, but laws of physics were against the rotary rockets this time.
Ryuu felt how his car wiggled slightly every time when some of the wheels lost traction. Cold sweat was running down his back, as he urged his car to run faster. He saw the headlights behind him, about few seconds away. "Bit more.. Just a bit more.. DAMN!" He cursed as the rear tires slipped more than he had intended. Thanks to the Starlet's short wheelbase it was easy to recover from that.
"I have no choice.. Here we go!" He arrived on the longest straight of this downhill, and hit the boost scramble. The rear tires skidded a bit before the weight transferred to the rear, pressing the tyres to the cold tarmac and forcing them to grip harder. Tiny Toyota accelerated fiercely towards the end of the straight, followed by the RX-7's.
"What the..?! He wasn't that fast back then! Does he have nitrous oxide or something?" Yuuka growled, pressing the throttle harder and chasing the Starlet with all his skill, followed by Nori. "Midnight Dragon.. That's not a car, it's a monster..!" Nori thought as he followed his brother closely.
Ryuu braked sharply, swinging his car into the corner aggressively. He knew that he'd lose traction sooner or later, so he decided to give up on the useless fight for traction. All he knew was that if he'd lose control now, he'd roll over again and again as he'd go hundreds of meters down the hill. Every single of his nerves and senses were out there, and he could almost feel the road before the tires did.
Nori felt that horrible chill again as it ran down his spine. For a second he thought he saw a midnight blue dragon vanishing behind the corned ahead of his brother. He blinked his eyes quickly, but the apparition was gone. "What the.. oh damn.. that's the last corner! It's up to second run now.. so.. that thing will be behind us then?"
Indeed it was so. Ryuu passed the finishing point way ahead of the brothers, and stopped his car. He blinked his eyes. The last few minutes of the race had been a blur of dark scenery. The RX-7's stopped right next to him as he took the thermos bottle again. The brothers got out from their cars as well, looking at him. "It was clearly your win. Next run will start 15 minutes after you've arrived on top of the mountain."
Ryuu nodded and sipped some more coffee. He still wasn't sure what had happened. He walked to the kid who had the stopwatch, just to hear that he had reached goal almost 5 seconds before the others. Ryuu's insides jolted a bit. "Those parts will be mine if I can keep up with these two!"
Within thirty minutes, Ryuu was back on top of the mountain, lining his car behind two RX-7's that would be chased this time. He felt very confident about this run. He needed and deserved those parts, and somehow, he thought that his car knew it too. It had been running very smoothly, without any shudders or spikes in the engine's performance. Or then the new parts had just settled into their places and finally started working smoothly.
Ryuu noticed that Nori looked bit pale, and walked to him. "Are you ok? You look bit pale." Nori shook his head. "It's nothing. I must be tired and imagining things.. But I can drive, if that's what you're worried about." Ryuu looked at his own car.
The carbonfibre parts made
it look like it would have really flexible scale-armor on it, hence
the name Midnight Dragon. "She's really running well tonight. Maybe
the cold air has something to do with it.. What do you think?" Nori
shrugged. He glanced shortly at the car, feeling uneasy. "I guess
so. Shall we get ready?" Yuuka was already sitting in his car,
looking determined. Ryuu agreed and returned to his car, sitting on
the bucket seat and closing the door, and started the engine.
Nori knocked to the window
of his brothers car and Yuuka lowered it. "Say what you say, but
that car is a monster, and so is the driver. Can't you feel it?"
Yuuka was silent. He felt something, but he thought that it was just
normal pressure from the race. "It's just the tension from the
race, Nori. Concentrate on your driving and don't look back." Yuuka
said, closing his window. Nori nodded uncertainly and stepped into
his own car. He looked at the menacing Starlet, that purred softly on
idle. "It's just a car like others.. but why do I feel
intimidated?"
The countdown reached zero again, and three cars blasted off from the starting point. Cheetah Brothers were determined to win this run, so they pressed hard into the corners, relying on their ABS to prevent spinning while braking sharply. Two rotary powered cars accelerated smoothly out from the corner, followed by small Toyota's sharp snarl.
"They're faster this time.." Ryuu muttered to himself as he saw Cheetah Brothers getting distance to him. He started to apply more throttle, feathering it as he felt the traction vanishing. Slowly but certainly he started to reel those rotary rockets in. Corner after corner they were closer.
Yuuka and Nori used
different methods in the corners. Yuuka usually went out-in-out,
whereas Nori did the opposite. It had been proved to be effective
method against fast opponents that would otherwise try passing in the
corner. Suddenly, Nori felt that cold, threatening tingle on his skin
again, and he glanced the mirror. The Starlet was right on his tail.
"What the.. when did he
sneak that close?!" Nori asked from himself. He knew that this KP60
was fast on corners, but the last section had been quite straight and
not so steep either. But there it was, snarling right at his heels,
urging him to run faster, taking the chance of crash or worse. "He's
out of his mind!" Nori had to increase his speed to avoid being
tailgated. He got closer to his brother, who had also increased his
speed after noticing that their opponent was right at them.
"The hairpin chicanes.. I have to attack there, because that's the last thing they'd expect." Ryuu thought. He was within meters of the Nori's car in front of him, copying it's driving lines smoothly. He grinned. "What do you say, old buddy? Few squeezes more and you'll have a brother." Ryuu floored the throttle, and pressed the boost scramble, placing his car right next to Nori's RX-7, claiming the inside line for himself.
"In a place like this?!
Doesn't he remember that the hairpins are next?! " Nori yelled,
then grit his teeths and tried to gain some ground from the KP60 that
had stolen the driving line from him. But it was too late. Yuuka
braked already in front of Nori, and Nori had to slam on the brakes.
KP60 didn't have slightest intention of braking yet as it charged
towards the corner.
Yuuka saw from his mirror
that Ryuu was coming in too fast for him, and he had to slow down,
keeping the outside line while the Starlet used Nori's
in-out-in-line, passing him with ease. Yuuka and Nori could only
watch in awe as the lighter hatchback used it's advantage fully and
without a flaw in the termination of this daring move. After that,
the brothers had no other choice but do their best to keep up as the
midnight blue Starlet cleared the hairpins without a clue of
struggle.
After the race Ryuu had opened the hood of his car. The engine ticked as it cooled off slowly. Ryuu felt light-hearted. "At least I don't have to borrow you to that old pervert now.." He looked over his shoulder as he heard steps closing in. it was Yuuka. "Daring move back there, Ryuu.. and flawlessly executed one too. You did spank us almost literally.. As you must know by now, there's a reward you get from defeating a team, and it doubles up every time. So.. here you go. Use it wisely."
Yuuka gave him a bank note. Ryuu looked at it, nodding. " I will.. Is Nori okay? He was pale back then." Yuuka laughed. "Who wouldn't be after trying to run away from this little beast of yours? Keep going like that and you have to go to Gunma to find some challenge. Even though you might not go head on with Project.D, there are other teams."
Ryuu chuckled at the thought of him trying to run against Project.D's twin aces. "Fat chance.. but, I gotta go now. I have a little project going myself, and I need to kick certain pervy old man back to his garage tomorrow. Laters. " Yuuka nodded, shaking hands with him after Ryuu had closed the hood.
Few hours later
Ryuu was almost knocked off from his feet as overjoyed Akira leaped on him. "YAAAY! No more swaps, right?!" Ryuu laughed and nodded, showing him the bank note. "4,5 million yens waiting to transferred to my account." Akira did a small victory dance on the yard, until his dad slapped hid head once again with the hand that had the ring.
"In the morning you'll call to that dealership and book that car to us. Ryuu, you'll go to bank and transfer the money onto your account, and then come with cash to the dealership, okay?" Ryuu nodded. He saw that the custom made driveshafts were there already. "You never cease to amaze me, Mr. Hideaki. Only few hours from the race and you already have these?"
Katashi just smirked. "I have my connections to certain places.. Now, go to rest, you've deserved it. Tomorrow the brother of Midnight Dragon will fly." Ryuu didn't disagree with that, so he headed home.
In the morning, Ryuu leaped out of the bed right before the alarm went off. He quickly went through his morning rituals, eager to get on the road. Today, he'd start doing attacks on the Wangan.
He just got out from the bank as his phone rang. It was Akira. "You have to pick me up. I'll drive the car to here." Ryuu said that he'd be in front of their house in ten minutes. "What, in ten? You're not gonna break speed limits again?" Ryuu grinned. "Nah.. I'll just slip past them without breaking them." Ryuu could hear a sigh at the other end as he finished the call and jumped into his car, blasting off at high speed.
Soon Akira was aboard of the
car, giving Ryuu directions where to drive. The traffic was mild so
the trip didn't take too long. Ryuu drove on the backyard of the
dealership, spotting many classics here and there, more or less good
shape. There was even Toyota 2000GT and few European cars too.
Then he spotted the car they
were here for, a yellow KP60. Ryuu and Akira got out from his car and
walked closer, looking at it more closely. The note in the windscreen
said that it had been owned by single person since it was sold, and
been driven under 30 k miles.
"It looks like almost factory new.. look, even the cigarette lighter is there." Akira said, pointing at it. The doors were unlocked, so they took a closer look inside. Only small scratches here and there, and worn pedals told that the car was used. At that point the salesman joined them, and Akira started long, yet skillful haggling while Ryuu did more accurate inspection. After some time, he and the salesman got into agreement about the price, and Ryuu followed them in to write the papers and pay the price.
After drinking a cup of coffee at the dealership, they went to the cars. But unexpected problem occurred.
"What do you mean it doesn't start? Haven't you driven a car that has carburettor engine before?" Ryuu asked from ashamed Akira, who just nodded. "Sheesh.. See that small lever there? That's choke. Try it and behold." Akira followed Ryuu's advice and after few tries, the car started. "Remember to push it back when the engine has warmed up." Akira nodded and waited that Ryuu sat in his car, before he drove off from the dealership.
Katashi was already waiting them outside. Akira drove the car straight to the garage, where it would be stripped to shell and re-assembled as totally new beast. It would be wider and lower than his current car, and it would also have similar underbody as he had now, and all parts that he had tried back on the Wangan run.
"You know, Mr. Hideaki, there's a small blind spot in Akira's training. He might know everything about engineering, but.. He couldn't start carburettor engined car without assistance."
Akira muttered something rude. Katashi just laughed. "Ah, right, that.. There's a simple reason for that. We haven't had carburettor engined car since early 80's, and that was way before he was born. So, all he knows is injection engines.. Well, I think he knows now how to deal with carburettor engines too.. don't you, son..?" Akira just nodded, pouting and kicking dust.
"It ain't that bad. Just study some stuff from Internet and you should be sorted out. The design isn't that complex after all." Ryuu said. "But, let's get on with the work now, shall we? Some of the parts haven't arrived yet, so let's do as much as we can while waiting." Both Hideaki's agreed about that and they went into the garage, starting to strip the car into a shell.
In the somewhat small
offices of the WTCR-mag, Chief of the magazine looked closely at the
pictures Kohaku had taken last night. "So.. he defeated the Cheetah
Brothers as well?" The older journalist asked from Kohaku, who
nodded. "It actually wasn't even a race, each time he had multiple
seconds lead, even when he had the chasers role." Older man just
grunted, looking at the pictures that showed how Ryuu had snatched
the drivinglines from the brothers. "He outbraked them, it seems..
Well, the next challenger will put up a good fight. Unless Midnight
Dragon hasn't revealed all of it's weapons yet, this will be huge
event."
Kohaku nodded, grinning and
taking the pictures. "Ah, right, chief.. I have one question. If we
can find room for a small leaderboard in the mag, I'd like to take
care of it. It would include rumors and knowledge about newcomers in
the scene, have pictures like this and such."
Chief of the magazine
laughed. " I see where you're aiming at.. I'll consider it. Now,
you have a job to do, so get going and I'll see what we can do."
Few hours later
At Hideaki's garage, the work progressed well. Ryuu had received few calls from the shops which had been selected to deliver the parts they needed. Ryuu could almost see how the money flowed out from his hands, but he didn't care. This was his hobby, and without using money, he couldn't fulfill his dreams.. like this insane machine for Wangan. They had reinforced the chassis by welding the seams completely shut. Body panels and doors were replaced with lighter, stronger materials, and suspension was changed to modern one for adjustability.
Clock was slowly creeping towards evening, but they had already fitted the drivetrain and connected it with the engine. Battery and few other things had been relocated to the boot, and flat underbody plate with diffusers had been installed as well. Ryuu was astounded how much faster the parts had arrived when Katashi had ordered them. Obviously the old man still had some respect around the scene.
Hours rolled by as they kept tinkering on the car. Ryuu went to pick up parts from the shops every now and then. There were few minor changes, like getting separate oilcoolers for the differentials and gearbox. Rollcage was installed too, with some other safety measures. Ryuu wasn't happy about the weight, but he knew that it would probably save his life if there would be a high speed crash.
Suddenly they heard a screech of tires from the yard. Ryuu looked up and saw that Akane had came in for a visit.
"Hey there! Still tinkering with the new car, eh?" Ryuu grinned, but didn't hug her since he was covered in oil. " Yeah, he's almost ready to hit the road. After finishing up with few things we'll take it to the Wangan for test. Luckily, Pink is out of the game as far as I know, so there shouldn't be any trouble." Akane giggled and looked at the Midnight Dragon's brother. "He does look quick.. but, as much as I'd like to stay and help, I have to go. My sisters cars have been repaired finally, and we got few challengers to deal with. I'll see ya later.. stud.." She said with a wink before returning to her NSX and driving away.
" 'Stud', eh..? What have you done with that girl, boy?" Katashi asked, smirking at Ryuu's embarrasment. "That's none of your business, old man. Now get back to work.." Ryuu mumbled, reaching deep inside the engine bay to hide his blushed cheeks. Older Hideaki just cackled and straightened his glasses.
As they had tightened the last bolts and adjusted the suspension, Ryuu noticed that they still had some time to spend. "Hmm.. I wonder if the bodyshop is still open. This thing needs to be painted."
Quick call to Arata confirmed his plans, and he hopped into the car. "We have time and money to get this thing painted before the run. And don't worry about the paint, it'll dry in few hours. New special paint he got earlier this week.." Rest of his words were drowned into the throaty growl of highly tuned twin turbo-rotary as he drove off.
Officially, the paint/body shop was already closed, but Arata was willing to do an exception for Ryuu. They quickly prepared the car for the paint, covering the glasses, lights and tires, and removing the parts that didn't need paint. "Hmm.. Let's make this red-to-black, shall we? " Arata nodded and went to mix the paint, while Ryuu finished the preparations. Arata returned with the paint and started spraying it. Ryuu went outside, since the fumes from the paint were slightly hazardous and he didn't have a mask.
The paint dried in record
time, and soon they had attached the parts that were taken off. Ryuu
looked at the car for a second. It looked just as fierce as it was.
Red-to-black complimented the body nicely, and added quite a lot
menacing feel into the cars looks. Ryuu walked to Arata, and shook
his hand. "I'll come over tomorrow and pay full price, Arata-san."
Arata nodded and patted his
shoulder. "Get going, you got new road to conquer." Ryuu grinned,
jumping into his car and drove off.
He returned to Hideaki's to pick up Akira and the laptop. "Wangan, here we come! Oh, and I filled him up with high octane, so it'll be 920whp this time." Akira grinned and put on his seatbelts. Then the horrible realization struck him. "You mean we're already on high boo-YAAAAAAAAAHH!!!" There was no burnout, just small chirp from the tyres and tremendous grip as the ATTESA-ETS PRO distributed the power to the wheels, creating huge weight from the acceleration that pressed them against the bucket seats as Ryuu lifted the clutch.
Ryuu drove somewhat calmly
around the town for a while so Akira could calibrate the programs on
the laptop. "Those turbocharger vanes are now linked to the
throttle like you asked back then. And after we've finished with the
electronics and installing the circuits etc, you'll be able to
control the engine and drivetrain as you wish from your seat."
Ryuu nodded. This car
wouldn't need to be ashamed when running head to head with the likes
of R34 GT-R or 4th gen Supra. He could challenge more
sleeker and fast cars like NSX in terms of speed and handling.
Finally Akira said that the programs had finished their calibrating
themselves and the real test could begin.
They arrived on the nearly empty highway. Ryuu just grinned and floored the throttle, tossing in bigger gears as the shift-light flashed accompanied by warning buzz. He could tell the difference to the previous runs already. The car was more stabile as the speed kept rising, and even the corners were cleared without any drama. The scenery flashed by, bit like if they'd be riding on Shinkanzen-train. Ryuu concentrated fully on driving, trying to feel and listen for every slightest hint of trouble or mechanical failure. But there wasn't any clue of those, as the rotary powered hatchback roared forwards.
Ryuu knew that long straight would be next. "I'm going to try the high boost.. It's quite possible that we'll hit top speed this time!" Akira looked nervous, but nodded anyways. They cleared the corner and Ryuu shifted to sixth gear, pressing the boost scramble button. "210.. 215.. 225.. 230.. 235.." Akira kept reading the numbers as they passed the supercar ground and entered the realm of hypercars like Bugatti Veyron, Koenigsegg CCX and McLaren F1. "..240.. 245.. 250! No.. 255 MPH!" The car shook and howled like tortured soul in hell. Carefully Ryuu slowed down, easing off the throttle gently. He was sweating and panting. He had felt how the car had squirmed underneath him as it fought against the forces of drag and downforce, not to mention acceleration that had tried to lift the nose up. "255mph..? That's enough for me.. But add one thing to the 'To do'-list.. Active aerodynamics. The nose almost lifted to air.." Ryuu said. Akira looked pale as he realized how close of losing control they had been. They had passed some other cars that had been doing more than 150 in a flash. Ryuu knew that there would be some new rumors going around again. He glanced at the meters and noticed that the top speed run had made the Midnight Dragon's brother thirsty. "I think that we pull over at the next fuel station. We need to fill him up. And I'm pretty willing to believe that tires didn't like the stress either." Akira nodded, picking up the phone and called to Katashi, telling him the results.
As they were refuelling the red-to-black beast, three cars drove to the gas station, and parked near Ryuu and his car. They were obviously Wangan racers, since their bodykits actually seemed to be functional. Ryuu looked at the matte black GTO, that seemed to belong to the leader. Something in it caught his attention. Maybe this was a Wangan team?
The owner of the Mitsubishi GTO stepped out from his car. "Yo.. That was quite a pass back there. Midnight Dragon, right..? My name is Masami, and this is my team." Ryuu nodded and introduced himself.
"This is actually Midnight Dragons evil twin.. The original beast prefers the Touge more, so I adopted this one after claiming spot number 4. This guy here is Akira, my assisting mechanic. We're just testing the new mods."
Masami nodded. "KP60, huh? Nice to see that these old beauties are still running fast. How fast you were doing back there? We were accelerating around 180 when you passed us." Ryuu laughed. "Well, you won't see that speed again very soon unless you'll race against Veyron.. We were doing 255mph when we passed you. The tires didn't like it at all." Masami and his team looked positively shocked.
"255 miles per hour.. in a Starlet? " Masami looked doubtful. Ryuu gestured him closer and opened the hood. "That's 920 horsepowers at wheels, in a car that weights about third as much as yours. Add modified ATTESA ETS-PRO in to the mixture and there's very few cars in the world that can keep up on high boost, be it on corners or straights." Masami almost drooled. "VGT's.. on 20B.. and it's tuned by RE Amemiya? Wow, those must have cost a fortune.. What a beast.. but.. the tires?" Ryuu and Masami went to the side of the car. The tires were quite sad sight. They had melted slightly from the friction. "they're good to 230mph, but after that they give up rather quickly. I need to find better tires, or ask custom tires from Michelin or such.. if I win in the lottery." Masami laughed at that.
After finishing the refuelling, they talked bit longer. "So you're gonna attack Wangan soon? Cool.. But mark my words; there are insanely fast rides out there. Pink and the likes are insignificant amateurs when compared to them. You might be able to challenge them after getting proper tires ,but until that, you have to start from the bottom." Ryuu nodded, agreeing with him.
After that Masami and his gang drove off, leaving Akira and Ryuu alone. They decided to have some snack before heading back to the Hideaki's to finish the work.
"So, what do you think, Akira? Do I have a chance against the Wangan specialists?" Akira thought of this while munching his meatpie. "I believe so, at least when you finally have gotten used to these speeds and traffic etc.." Ryuu nodded. Quite soon after that short discussion they were back on the road, heading home.
Next chapter is dedicated to Katashi Hideaki's evening adventure. But what kind of car he has? That'll be revealed in the next chapter, when certain arrogant punk who drives a certain yellow FD RX-7 notices that he never should underestimate slow old man in slow, old car.
