Sean watched as everyone filled the cobbled streets, preparing themselves for the race.
Kim was the first individual to catch his eye.
She was standing, all by her lonesome, next to Dom's Charger.
Sean scrutinized her form before his lips drew back into a deep frown.
Did he know her?
The strange woman whom he met a few weeks ago at the Head Office of Abano Industries seemed very familiar
Very Very familiar.
Sean racked his brain for the possible conclusions.
The name Kim, the sole name by which he knew this woman, shared a name with Kim.
Kim Dos Santos
His older sister, Kim Dos Santos.
But It couldn't be.
The Kim he knew was still in Mexico.
She abandoned him and his siblings many years ago when she moved out of their father's house and stopped coming to check up on them.
Sean hadn't seen Kim for years.
Not since he, Shakira and Michael fled to the States.
Kim might as well be dead for all Sean knew.
He never spoke about her.
Not to Cassandra who barely knew a thing about his past.
Not even to Shakira and Michael, who deserved to know more about her than anyone else.
After all, Michael was only a baby when the three of them crossed the border.
Shakira was about four or five years old.
Heaven knows what she remembers about Kim.
Kim had been buried deep in Sean's memory through all the years.
The person to delve into the details was Sean and Sean himself.
He glanced over at the woman again.
She resembled his older sister in some way.
If he had to look very closely.
Although he never chanced himself to look too close. Dominic Toretto was a threatening individual and Sean did not want Dom to get the wrong idea. Dominic had already caught Sean staring too long at his girlfriend. And Sean caught the scowl.
Kim (whatever her last name was) couldn't possibly be Kim Dos Santos.
Any resemblance between the two, perceived by Sean, was probably over a lack of sleep.
And a lack of dwelling in his dangerous thoughts.
A lack of revisiting his memories.
Kim Dos Santos was a dead creature who seemed to be séanced by his mind.
Whenever Sean was not careful, she would creep up and haunt him.
She seemed to be haunting very often now as of late.
"Vato!"
Sean was brought out of his thoughts by the new voice addressing him. He shifted his attention from the lady who had been troubling his mind for the last few days, to two members of the Latin Princes walking up to him.
The one Latin Prince, Trigger, who wore a blue and white flannel shirt and a black bandana tied backwards on his head, grabbed Sean's hand and shook it muttering "Hey you better kill it out there, perro"
Sean winced from the tight grasp of the very calloused hand and grinned back, muttering a "You got it, homes"
Chrome, the other Prince, who had a form that was even more robust than Trigger, took Sean's hand next and shook it as Drake walked by.
Drake shouldered Chrome roughly as he walked past, mumbling to Sean with an icy side-ways glance "See you on the track, Mexico".
Sean glared back.
Chrome, after recovering from the mild bump, turned furious eyes to the retreating Endriago and yelled "What he say!?"
Trigger took a stance next to Chrome and pulled back the ends of his flannel shirt, revealing a silver glock tucked away in his pants "You better check that fool, homey".
"Oje! My Mothers Mexican!" Chrome yelled before turning to Sean and Chrome "I'm about to pop a cap esse."
"Chale Homey" Sean uttered. "Ignore the ignorro. Karma baby. He'll get what's coming to him"
"Yoh Karma don't work fast enough, dog" Trigger claimed shaking his head and patting the gun in his pants, ready to draw it.
Sean shook his head.
The Endriagos really were going to get what was coming to them if they continued to act the way they were currently acting.
They were making way too many enemies at Abano Industries.
"Hey Homes, we got some more of that stuff" Trigger said, tapping his left nostril.
Chrome rolled his eyes away from Drake and the Endriagos who were now being fauned over by a group of girls near their cars and turned to Sean with a smile. "Want some?"
Sean rolled his eyes now and folded his arms. "Come on fools. When yall going to stop messing with that stuff?"
"Never Vato. This brings in good green" Chrome said.
Sean chuckled.
"If you want in, all you gotta do is say so, my man" Trigger said.
"I don't deal" Sean said, his expression growing serious.
"Don't deal? Chale, Vato. Didn't you deal with Sonora Cartel?"
The shock was momentarily blinding.
"What you say?"
"Yeah" Chrome said, scrunching up his already bushy eyebrows as he searched through his memory "yeah, yeah. You used to deal with Sonora Cartel. And that Drug Lord-what's his name?"
"The hell you talking about?"
"Garcia! Yeah. Don Garcia! You did some work for him back in the day, right homes?"
Sean almost lost the balance off his feet as those words left Chrome's mouth.
He looked at both sides of him-left and right- in deep suspicion before lowering his voice so that only the two Latin Prince's could hear.
"Where did you hear that?" Sean asked them in earnest.
Trigger shrugged "It's the word on the street".
Sean then looked left and right again, not trusting the volume of their voices, nor the volume of the loud music that was currently pounding out of the rears of the cars.
He schooled his beating heart into a normal rhythm and took a deep breath before looking at Chrome and Trigger, alternatively, dead in the eye.
"Yall can't tell no one" Sean said. "Really."
"Is there a problem, vato?"
"Naw man!" Sean exclaimed, forcing on a grin "I just don't want folks knowing this dirty business"
"Well no one will hear it from us" Trigger said, nodding at Chrome "But its already out there. And once the street knows shit, there's no way it can unknow it"
The two walked away from Sean, leaving him staring at the spot where they stood.
His brows met in deep, troubling thought, before he was once again bothered by another voice.
"Dos Santos!"
Sean turned, putting on a face of pleasantness and sociability for Dominic Toretto as he approached him.
"You ready?" Dominic asked as the two greeted each other with a handshake.
"As ready as I'll ever be" Sean said with a shrug, forcing his friendly smile to remain in place.
"Hey, listen" Dominic said, not noticing the crack in Sean's façade "We were thinking that while we're still in California, you and your team come over for lunch?"
"Yeah?" Sean asked good-naturedly.
"Yeah. We're only a few hours out of San Diego" Toretto said with a suggestive grin "If you're willing to take the drive."
"I don't see how that'll be a problem" Sean said, accepting the challenge with a nod.
"Good" Dominic said, walking away from Sean and past Michael, clapping the youngster on the back and muttering an "Hey, goodluck out there."
Michael almost squealed at the gesture and stared, open-mouthed, at Dominic who walked away and towards Kim and his Charger.
Sean chuckled at Michael's excited and gaping mouth.
He walked up to his younger brother.
"You ready?" Sean asked him.
Michael's excited expression dimished a fraction and he nodded at Sean.
"Buena Suerte" Sean muttered "Grab this shit by the car-horns".
"I will" Michael murmured.
Sean grasped the back of Michael's neck with one hand and forced the younger man to look him in the eye before saying "And we'll talk about what you did when the race is over. I'm serious, manito. You're not excused from this. What you did was wrong".
Michael sighed, his smile disappearing completely.
"Claro?" Sean questioned with a raised brow.
Michael nodded again, shifting his attention to the floor and shuffling his feet.
Sean nodded and released his hold, but not before roughly and playfully ruffling Michael's spikes.
Michael grunted and pushed him away with a grin, walking away to join Shakira at his car.
"Get out there and make me proud!" Sean yelled after him.
He watched Shakira greet Michael with a slap-upside the head and a fussing over his clothing.
He chuckled.
If only Kim could see their family now.
She could see how well they'd all done without her.
And without their father.
Before Sean could dive into those upsetting thoughts again, a pair of feminine arms wrapt themselves around his waist.
"Hey Papi" Cassandra whispered from behind him.
"Hey Mami" Sean whispered back and turned in her arms to face her.
She smiled up at him and caressed his face in her soft hands "Is everything okay?"
Sean nodded and grinned, hiding every piece of facial evidence that everything was not okay.
Cassandra had a worrying look on her face.
That maternal worrying look that made her famous in the Fast Five house as "Momster".
That's how Michael liked to term her.
A perfect combination of Mother and Monster.
"I'm fine, Cassandra" Sean said, kissing her on the creasing forehead.
"We'll we are here. In San Diego. The place you most hate in the world".
'The second place' Sean thought to himself.
"You also kinda lost it with Michael earlier" Cassandra went on. "That was very uncharacteristic of you"
"Yeah well. Michael needs to be disciplined from time to time" Sean muttered.
"You've never disciplined Michael a day in your life!" Cassandra exclaimed with a chuckle.
Sean frowned. "He took things too far".
"That's not the reason you yelled" Cassandra muttered.
She stared at Sean, an apprehensive look setting itself in her features.
"What's wrong, Sean?" she asked with more urgency.
"Your race is about to start" he reminded.
"Sean".
"Nothing is wrong, mami"
Cassandra sighed and Sean placed a kiss on her downturned mouth before assuring her "If there was anything wrong, I would tell you".
"Good" Cassandra said, seriously "Because I hate secrets. And I hate it when people go behind my back".
"Which is why we should discipline Mike and Lydia. We'll set a curfew and take away their favourite toys" Sean said humorously.
Cassandra laughed and slapped Sean playfully on the shoulder "You deal with Michael and I'll deal with Alydia. We already know what her favourite toy is"
Sean barked out laughter at the suggestion and glanced over at Alydia who was staring at Michael with the utmost adoration.
"Its almost time for my race" Cassandra muttered with a sigh.
Sean nodded and turned back to her with a grin. "Don't hold back on them. Make sure those Endriagos taste exhaust fumes".
Shakira sighed as she bustled about Michael, pulling on his jacket to straighten it and pulling at the cords of the microphone to ensure that it was properly connected to his ear.
Michael sulked and grumbled as she flitted around him.
"Im fine, woman!" he finally managed to exclaim, just as she was adjusting the microphone, managing to mess his hair in the process.
Shakira sighed once again, a soft affectionate smile forming on her lips.
Filled with big-sister pride, and anxiety for his safety, she wrapt her hands around his neck and placed multiple kisses on his cheek.
Michael huffed in irritation but accepted the kisses, albeit reluctantly and with a big scowl.
When Shakira was satisfied she pulled back and smiled at her younger brother once more before putting on her own microphone.
"Want a kiss for luck?" Alydia asked, shifting closer to Michael.
"Sure" Michael uttered as he opened the door to his orange Nexus LFA "Except Tami's not here to give me one"
With a final smirk at Alydia's brooding face, Michael climbed into the car and drove off towards starting position.
Shakira chuckled at Alydia "When are you going to give it up?"
Alydia scowled back at Shakira. Her scowl deepened when Kim approached them.
"He seems to be quite the show-off, huh?" Kim questioned light-heartedly, gesturing towards Michael who was now revving his car and blasting loud music from his speakers.
It took a minute for the surprise to die down before Shakira cleared her throat and shrug with a "He's still a kid".
Slight tension crept back into the atmosphere as Kim stared at Shakira.
She really had grown since the last time Kim saw her.
Granted, it had been almost 15 years since Kim had last seen her little sister.
Shakira used to be a little princess back then with all the pink clothing and Barbie dolls.
She was a free-spirited and guileless little tot who seemed to float from place to place like a leaf.
She was as fragile as a leaf as well.
Who was Shakira now?
Did she still adore the colour pink.
Was she still as innocent and naïve as Kim used to know her to be?
Was she still as breakable?
"Can we help you?" Alydia asked in an extremely biting tone.
Kim raised a brow at her but ignored the ambiance "I just came to wish you both Goodluck"
Shakira prolonged her narrow-eyed stare at Kim for a few more seconds before she slowly nodded with a hesitant "Thank you".
They walked away from Kim and to Sean and Cassandra.
Kim stared after them.
Shakira glanced back a few times and caught Kim's stare with another narrow of her brown eyes.
"Why does she keep staring at me?" Shakira whispered to Alydia.
Alydia shrugged "Beats me. Perhaps she's inlove"
Shakira snorted and pushed Alydia's shoulder.
She then turned to Cassandra, whom was preoccupied with locking lips with Sean.
Alydia and Shakira pulled disgusted sneers.
"Cassy!" Shakira exclaimed, pulling Cassandra away from Sean, to which they both responded with a whine, "Goodluck Hun".
Cassandra glared irritated at Shakira before leaning back into Sean and wrapping his arms around her.
"You should wish me luck, actually" Cassandra stated "There are three Endriagos out there".
"You'll be fine" Alydia muttered "You're an amazing racer".
Cassandra glowered at Alydia for a moment. "That's a lame compliment" she said "And I'm still angry with you."
Alydia rolled her eyes. "Really? I tried so hard with that one" she claimed with a huff.
Cassandra shook her head "We'll sort it out at home."
At the finishing end, at the intersection between Paradise Hills Drive and Morningside street, Aljay pulled up in his blue Ford, following Tony's silver Mercedes Benz.
He nodded over at Tony before casting his gaze over the scene.
The main road was blocked off by various cars, stopping all domesticated life from entering.
It was a party at Paradise Hills.
Everyone who was not at La Maze was here, already placing their bets on the potential winners and ready to celebrate once the first car passed the finishing point.
An old pickup truck neared the group and a burly man dressed in blue overalls climbed out of the car and yelled at Tony.
"Hey buddy? What the hells going on here man?"
Tony turned his attention from a group of underdressed, gyrating women to the man and called out "Find another way around. These roads are closed."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" They heard the man grumble and complain as he climbed back into his car and drove away.
Aljay approached Tony, asking the group of girls to excuse them before asking "Who's keeping a look out on the cops?"
"Nobody" Tony replied with a shrug "Allistair bought them out."
Shakira sighed as she tried to adjust the microphone on Alydia's head. The darn thing kept falling off.
It didn't help at all that Alydia wasn't bothering to help.
She stood simple and gawking at the Endriagos who were now at the starting positions.
She kept gawking at one Endriago in particular.
She gawked at Drake who was leaning in and talking through one of his team mates car windows.
Their Dragon Emblem proudly marked each of their cars.
"I don't get it" Alydia mumbled.
"Don't get what?" Shakira asked, frustrated as the microphone fell off Alydia's head once again.
"How something so beautiful can be so evil" Alydia muttered, nodding over at Drake.
Shakira cast her hazel-nut eyes over at the Head of the Endriagos before rolling them.
"Drake is not beautiful" she mumbled.
"You don't know what beautiful is" Alydia countered. "I mean we hate him, sure, but we can still admit that he's hot".
"I can't" Shakira said in finality. "There is absolutely no way I can see him in that way."
"Sure you can" Alydia whined "Just look at him".
"Alydia" Shakira sighed "The biggest turn off I can possibly imagine is having a guy try to kill you".
"Would you just look?" Alydia asked, forcing Shakira's head in Drake's direction.
Shakira tried to struggle out of Alydia's grip but failed.
How could hands so dainty be so firm?
With a submissive sigh, Shakira scoped out Drake's form.
He had to be about a head or two taller than her.
Even though Shakira was of a good height herself and was taller than Alydia(who was the shortest out of the three) and a few inches taller than Cassandra.
She remembered having to crane her neck up at Drake at times when he got too close during a confrontation.
She had to admit that she felt an attraction towards tall guys.
It was one of the things that drew her to Jonathan.
Drake was of a good build as well.
Very calloused and masculine arms and hands were revealed in a black muscle-hugging vest. Calloused and masculine arms and hands that had proven themselves to be lethal.
Drake and Sean were equally matched when it came to muscle.
Drake was also a few tones lighter than her.
His complexion was bronze tinged.
Alydia once made the comment that Drake might bath in gold every morning.
And there were his eyes which he liked to hide behind sunglasses.
His eyes that were green enough to shine through the dark shades.
Sharp green eyes.
And then there was his devilish smirk that pulled his dimples tight.
A smirk that was delicious enough to make every girl in the Drag Racing System hunger after it.
But not Shakira.
Never Shakira.
Fine.
Maybe she could admit that Drake was not entirely beastly looking.
Even if he was a beast at heart.
Jerks were a no-go for Shakira.
In her mind, Shakira would cover Drake in yellow and black police tape and place him in a restricted area with the words "Do not Enter" written all over the place.
"You'll do great, mami" Sean said, giving Cassandra his final hopes before the two shared a kiss through the car window.
She smiled and waved at him as he left her to rejoin the others.
She then turned her attention to the cars on either side of her.
She couldn't see Michael's Nexus. He was on the other end of the line.
Cassandra's car was placed in the middle of two Endriagos.
All she could see was the black glare of their Dragon-Emblem Tattoos.
She drew in a deep breath as the five cars lined up to the starting position.
To Cassandra's right sat Enrique Jardim in his white Aston Martin DB9 Carbon Edition. He blew a few air kisses over at Cassandra and produced a few revving noises for effect.
Cassandra rolled her eyes in disgust and over onto her left, where Kevin Dunlop's silver Rolls Royce took up most of the view.
Kevin lowered the window and smirked, his red bushy hair falling into his eyes.
She could vaguely make out Quentin Rodriguez's red Maserati on the other side of Kevin.
'Jeez, it's like I'm in a sea of Endriago.' Cassandra thought to herself before adjusting the microphone around her head and mouth.
"I got your back if you've got mine, Michael. There's enough Endriago's out here to surround us and eat us" Cassandra said into the wired piece.
She heard Michael chuckle through her ear piece and Shakira's bubbly voice announce a "We'll be able to watch you guys on big screens! Allistair set up cameras all over road E16".
"Great" Cassandra muttered "As if the pressure wasn't enough already".
"Good luck out there, both of you" came Sean's voice.
Cassandra nodded as the count down began.
A gun shot was heard and the race ensued.
Cassandra held her breath as her foot hit the car into acceleration. She didn't dare look to either side of her to see if the Endriago's were catching up.
She was going to be sure to keep her eye on the road.
Shakira gasped as she watched Cassandra's tail being chased by Kevin's car. Quentin was catching up to them and Michael was trying to overtake Enrique who was lagging behind the rest of the Endriagos.
"Come on Baby!" Alydia screamed for Michael.
Sean watched from the five big screens above them, portraying five different points of the road.
The final screen, of course, portrayed the finishing point.
His eyes narrowed when he saw Aljay through the screen.
"Sean!" Shakira urged, nudging her older brother with her shoulder, noticing that he was quiet "Cheer for your team!"
The residential area along the street was soon awoken by the noise.
Michael watched with quick peripheral glances as everyone's lights turned on and neighbours, in their nightwear, came out of their houses to watch the scene in confusion and annoyance.
He drew in a deep breath.
It was the first time he raced in an occupied, domestic road.
He yelped into a swerve to avoid a dog that was crossing the road, and accidently bumped into Enrique's car.
The impact was mild, but it was enough to anger the Endriago into bumping him back.
"Careful Mike!" came Sean's voice.
"No-fucking-way!" Michael announced, his own temper flaring as he turned his leather-steering wheel, veering the car into a much harder collide with the Maserati.
"Michael, forget about him. Just focus on the race" Cassandra urged. She could finally spot Michael out of her rear-view mirror and witness the small game of bumper cars.
"Does this fool know how much it costs to repair a Nexus!?" Michael yelled, gripping his steering wheel.
Cassandra sighed as the group passed an intersection, skipping a Stop Sign and almost throwing the oncoming cars off of their course.
Loud honking noises filled the car.
Cassandra almost lost sight of the road due to the blaring lights of the neighbourhoods' cars.
Her own Lambongini was loosing speed and was now driving parallel to Kevin's car.
The Rolls Royce was moving fast and Cassandra had to try hard to keep her car in the Royce's position.
Everyone at La Maze gathered around the screens and gasped when Kevin's car finally overtook Cassandra's.
"Cassy, hit your NOS" Alydia said into her microphone.
"Not yet" Cassandra muttered, gritting her teeth as Enrique's car came into view from her left.
Sean sighed at Cassandra and cast his view to the final screen, where he noticed climb into his Blue Ford.
"We can see Kevin's car through screen 2. He'll be beating you both by a mile!" Shakira screamed in earnest, over everyone's loud voices.
"No use" said a familiar voice.
Shakira turned to stare at Drake who moved over to her side, crossing his arms with a smirk as he watched the screens, muttering a "She'll never get past my guys"
This was one of the few times Drake stood close to Shakira.
It was the first time she actually stood next to him.
They were usually on opposite ends, staring at each other in confrontation.
Well, him staring at Cassandra in confrontation.
She was just a side-kick.
It was weird standing next to him.
It was weird having him address her without Cassandra around.
He never addressed her or Alydia if Cassy wasn't present.
Irritating Cassandra seemed to be his ultimate goal in life.
"Can I help you?'' is what Shakira wanted to say. She just ended up staring at him instead.
Alydia and Sean did not seem to notice Drake.
Alydia was watching the race, biting her bottom lip, and Sean had his attention completely turned away from them and towards Aljay's now approaching Blue Ford.
Before Shakira knew it, her brother had left her side to go over to talk to their agent.
Cassandra gasped as Enrique passed her.
"Damn it!" She hit her hands against the steering wheel.
"What's happening? You guys are out of sight" Alydia claimed worriedly.
"I've been passed. There's two Endriago's infront of me".
"What the hell are you saving your NOS for? The time to use it was yesterday!"
"You only get one shot at NOS, Alydia!" Cassandra exclaimed.
She winced as she saw Michael and Kevin fast approaching through her rear view mirror.
"We need a plan" came Shakira's voice with a cough.
"Oh, I'd love to hear it" came another voice, although distant.
"Who is that?" Cassandra asked in astonishment, her attention on the road now cut-off by the newcomer's utterance.
"Hello Cassy" the voice said jovially.
"Is that Drake!?" Cassandra asked, almost screaming into her mouthpiece.
Alydia turned, surprised to see that Drake was standing there next to them.
Shakira shifted uncomfortably, trying to move away from Drake, who had been leaning into her to talk through her microphone.
She pulled the device off and shook it "How loud did make these things?"
Drake smirked at Shakira's uncomfortable appearance.
"Whatever plan you guys make should best be made between the two of you." Alydia said into her own microphone, eyeing Drake warily.
She knew that evil grin.
Drake had his own way of communicating with his teammates.
There was no way Alydia was going to let Drake in on their conversation, ultimately ruining their chances of winning.
"What do you want, Drake?" Alydia asked him scornfully.
Drake shrugged, feigning a look of innocence "Is it a crime to stand next to Amazing Good Looks on this lovely night?"
Alydia's bottom lip detached from her upper one and a vague smile formed on her cherry lips "You think Shakira has Amazing Good Looks?"
Drake cast a glance at Shakira's embarrassed, shrinking form and snorted "I was talking about me. Is it a crime for you two to stand next to me and my glory on this night".
Alydia shook her head, her smile converting to a glare "Asshole."
Her attention shifted back to the screen.
"We can see a Rolls Royce approaching in screen three".
"I figured" Cassandra said, irritated, before shifting up a gear, hitting her foot hard against the clutch and acceleration panel.
They were nearing Paradise Hills fairly quickly.
She and Michael had to come up with a plan before it was too late.
"What's going on, Sean? you're missing your team's race" said Aljay, squinting his brows in confusion as Sean glared at him.
Aljay hadn't seen that glare since they were teenagers.
"Is something wrong, bro?"
"Did you tell the Latin Prince's about Sonora Cartell?" came Sean's almost accusatory statement.
Aljay balked, his mouth forming a large 0 as he mouthed the word 'What?!"
"You heard me, Al, did you or did you not tell people about my past?"
Utter surprise coloured Aljay's expression.
He gawked at Sean for another moment before exclaiming "Are you serious, man! are you seriously asking me that?!"
"Lower your voice, man" Sean urged, glancing quickly at his peripheral view.
"No man! How could you even ask me that!" Aljay exclaimed in a voice a few tones lower.
"Chrome and Trigger know. And its pretty obvious that a lot of other people know too" Sean explained, trying to keep calm.
"Are you sure?" Aljay asked him.
Sean nodded once, his jaw clenching.
Aljay scratched at his head, releasing a long breath of air through his mouth.
He turned concerned brown eyes back to Sean's and shook his head.
"Man. I can tell you now. It wasn't me. I'm not that stupid." Aljay assured. "Besides its not like you did those years alone. If your name is out there, it means mine is as well".
"The Princes mentioned Don Garcia" Sean stressed "We can't let that reach Allistair's ears. Not while there's all this bad blood between them".
"Hey" Aljay announced in a sedative voice, placing a hand on Sean's shoulder "Don't worry yourself about that. Let me worry about Allistair".
Sean raised a brow at this "What are you going to do?"
"Like I said" Aljay said in earnest "Don't worry yourself. Just focus on the family. Do they know?"
Sean shook his head, looking over to Alydia and Shakira in the crowd of people surrounding the screens "And they can't find out about it."
"Then they won't find out"
Alydia watched as Cassandra's car passed the third screen, followed by Michael and Quentin.
"I can see you guys now" she said into the mouthpiece.
Michael, who had finally given up on pushing his car against Quentins, gripped his steering wheel and pushed the car forward with his foot firm on the acceleration panel.
"I'm not saving my NOS Cass, but I think I know a way to make it worth it" Michael said.
Cassandra's green eyes narrowed on the rears of the Rolls Royce and Aston Martin ahead of her.
"How is that, Mike?" she asked as she gritt her teeth, pushing her foot deeper into the acceleration panel.
"Don't freak out. I got this idea courtesy of the Endriagos" Michael announced as he sped up to catch up with Cassandra's Lambongini.
He manoeuvred his car so that it drove directly behind hers. And carefully, he attached their cars together.
"By the way, Mexi-mierda." Drake whispered, leaning into Shakira's ear "You still owe me".
Shakira cringed at his voice and wiped her ear "For what?"
"For winning your race for you. Other wise you wouldn't be here right now, would you?" Drake replied smugly.
Shakira's face drained of all color when she remembered how she passed through the Quatar Finals, with Alejandro pushing her along under Drake's orders.
"Mike, what are you doing!?" Cassandra exclaimed when she felt Michael's car push behind hers.
"Just trust me" he assured her as he opened a locked cabinet next to the gear box by typing a combination key into the touchscreen.
It opened revealing more digits and buttons, along with a red lever.
He kept his eyes on Cassandra and the road ahead before pushing various buttons and finally pulling down on the lever.
The level of speed maximised and Alydia, Shakira and Drake watched blue fire blast out of all four of Michael's exhaust pipes.
The car jerked forward and practically flew down the road, pushing Cassandra's Lambogini ahead of it.
Cassandra screamed and grasped at her seatbelt, making sure it was secure.
Vague nausea swam in her stomach from the unexpected speed.
Drake narrowed his eyes as he watched Michael and Cassandra's car fly by Enrique's.
"What did I miss" Sean asked, finally returning to them.
Shakira and Alydia did not answer. They, instead, squealed in excitement at the screens.
Michael and Cassandra were now ahead of Enrique and only had to pass Kevin to win.
Paradise Hills was fast approaching.
"Michael Tulio Dos Santos, you are an absolute genius!" Cassandra gushed into the microphone.
Michael grinned to himself.
Through his rear view mirror, he could vaguely make out Enrique attempting to pull his own NOS.
"Okay Cass, its all you now" Michael said.
"Huh?" Cassandra asked back.
"Win this for us!" Michael exclaimed, before hitting hard on his break.
His car came to a rough and immediate stop.
"Michael! What are you doing!" Alydia screamed into the mouthpiece.
"One of us needs to win. Go get 'em Cass" Michael yelled, putting his car into reverse just as Enrique's car neared.
He smashed backwards into Enrique before the man could hit his NOS.
"Idiot!" Drake yelled, his golden skin turning a flustered red as he screamed at his teammate through the screen.
Michael's Nexus cut both Enrique and Quentin off.
Quentin had to come to an immediate stop. If he hadn't his car would have collided dangerously with his own teammate.
Michael blocked the two from finishing the race.
Cassandra exhaled as her car caught on with Kevins.
She smiled as she finally locked in on her own NOS and sped past Kevin, blocking his view with fire.
She passed the finishing point at Paradise Hills a mile ahead of him.
The cheers were loud at La Maze and Paradise Hills.
No one created a louder noise of praise than Sean, Alydia and Shakira.
Drake glared with harsh green eyes at the final screen.
Thanks for reading!
Uhm...Translations?
Buena Serta- Good Luck
Manito- Little Brother
Claro?- Clear?
Oje!- Hey!
Mexi-meirda- Mexican shit
Chale- Hell no.
Vato- Dude
Perro-Dog
Ignorro- Ignorant
Ese- Something a long the lines of 'I'm telling you'...I think