A/N: I think I forgot to say it earlier, so of course, I most definintely do NOT own the AcceleRacers franchise or storyline, nor do I own any of the Marvel Comics property mentioned in this fic. If it's in here, it's either owned by Mattel, Hot Wheels, Mainframe Entertainment, Marvel Comics, Marvel studios, or someone who is not me. However, Mel is mine and mine alone.


Panicking, Kurt and Vert begged for Nolo to think about what he was doing, to calm down and race, but Taro and Wylde played the bad cop to their good cop; if he knocked one hair on Tork's head out of place, he was a dead man. But he didn't listen. This was it; he didn't care if it killed him, as long as Tork was punished. Nolo shut off his comm link and concentrated on Tork's extermination.


Back in the real world, Lani was seriously stressing out; first the moron twins, now this! And here she thought Nolo was supposed to be the rational one. Tezla finally walked into the control room.

"About fucking time," she hissed. "Porkchop and Monkey went into the realm in Old Smokey, but that's not important right now. Nolo's trying to kill Tork."

"What?! Oh, well that's just great."

"I've tried reasoning with him, but he closed off his channel. Is there anyway we could override the EDR system in Synkro to get him back here before he does something stupid?"

He shook his head, about to answer, but Gig cut him off. "The emergency driver return doesn't work that way. The only trigger for the portal matrix is the button in the cab."

Lani tried anyway, but the comm link crackled, the music finally ending.

"Hey, what's goin' on? The other racers look like they're drivin' on eggshells!"

"Yeah, they're being way too careful. Is something wrong?"

Lani jumped; that was it! Nothing could stop that truck, especially not a sedan, no matter how tricked out it was. Thinking quickly, the Hawaii native informed them of the situation and advised on how to proceed. The consequences weighed heavy on her mind, but they were risks that had to be taken.

Dr. Tezla smiled at her quick thinking; it was crazy, but it just might work…


Tork, meanwhile, was trying to pick the lesser of two evils. Should he let the Sweeper get him, or let Nolo satisfy himself with revenge? With the Sweeper there was a chance for rescue after the fact, but there was a good chance he could avoid Nolo all together. Man, this wasn't fair; it wasn't his fault—

It wasn't. It wasn't his fault. The realization rang true throughout Tork's consciousness; Tone's death wasn't his fault. It was an accident, nobody's fault at all. Nolo was making a horrible mistake that he was going to regret for the rest of his life, and the only way to keep him from making that mistake was to survive.

Tork was about to make a u-turn to fight back when his comm link crackled to life.

"The situation is under control. Monkey and Porkchop got it covered, but I need someone to go back for Nolo so he's not left behind."

"He's trying to kill our leader!" Wylde yelled indignantly. "Who cares if that Teku scum get's stuck here?!"

"Shut up, Wylde. Now what did you say about Monkey and Porkchop?"

She answered him, but Tork couldn't hear her; Old Smokey's horn was too loud.


"You ready, Monkey-man?" he said, pulling down on the horn. They were coming up on the Sweeper now, and it wouldn't be much longer.

As Porkchop had said before, the Maniac mechanic could get downright vicious if someone he cared about was threatened. Monkey's eyes flashed solid black with slits for pupils, but only for a moment; they did that sometimes. "Let's do this," he said, and Porkchop pulled the horn again.

He had to advance with extreme caution; if the wheel turned one inch too far to either side, they could crush the other drivers along with them. You see, they had a new target. The pair was still after drones, of course, but they were also after Nolo. It was the only way to stop him, Lani told them, but Porkchop didn't have much of a problem taking out a Teku.

Nolo was so focused on revenge that he didn't notice the plan moving forward. First, Taro, Wylde, Kurt and Vert slowed suddenly, falling back and giving them room while Tork kept his attention. The sweeper and its drone underlings focused on the only human drivers in front of it, keeping the other four safe without realizing it.

This was the end, he told himself. He was finally going to avenge his brother's death. He was glad that it was finally over, but he was scared, too.

Suddenly, a bright light twinkled next to him, and for a moment Nolo forgot where he was. But only for a moment.

"Now, what do you think you're doing?" said a sympathetic voice. "What's wrong with this picture?"

Nolo did a double take; in the passenger seat was…his brother. It was Tone.

"What?! HOW?!"

"That's not important right now, little bro," he said, firmly. "This isn't the way and you know it."

"But he—"

"No he didn't, Nolo. I drifted too far, lost it in the turn. It was an accident. Now stop this before you do something stupid."

"This isn't real," he said, staring at the road and avoiding a wrecking ball. His eye twitched a bit and he forced a smile, but it only made him look crazy. "This is all in my head. I'm hallucinating all of this."

"Maybe you are," Tone said, "but that doesn't make what you're doing okay. Don't let the rage control you, little bro. You're better than that."

He thought he caught a glimpse, but he turned to look and it was gone.

Nolo tried to shake off the confusion that was taking its hold; he had a goal here…he just wasn't so sure if he was committed to it anymore. As he finally brought himself back to reality, Nolo finally realized something was up. Where were Vert and Kurt? Or Taro or Wylde, for that matter? Glancing in his rearview mirror, Nolo saw Old Smokey barreling down on him and he swerved to the left doing 175 mph.

Time slowed to a crawl, Synkro flipping side over side in midair, and Nolo saw Tork slam off road when Old Smokey took out the sweeper in an explosion so great it rattled his fillings. It captivated him, but then he saw the wrecking ball swinging towards his car…


Two figures hit the giant cushion positioned near the portal, clouds of soot coming from their battered bodies. Monkey and Porkchop had waited until the last possible second to hit the EDR and had been very lightly scorched in places. Monkey coughed up some smoke, laughing at the whole ordeal, and Porkchop joined in; somehow, whatever didn't kill them always seemed funny as hell after the fact.

"That was so cool!" Monkey said, and Porkchop high-fived him.

"Yeah!"

They banged heads and were about to start off towards the control room, when suddenly a third figure came through the portal, landing directly on top of Monkey.

"Umm, hi!" Nolo said nervously, hurriedly getting off of him. "S-sorry about all that, guys, really, I don't know what came over me, heheheh."

The Maniacs glared at him, but shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time someone tried to kill Tork," Porkchop said.

"Just watch yourself, Teku," Monkey added, growling, and Nolo twitched. "We Maniacs are family. We don't take kindly to this kinda thing."

Nolo nodded grimly, and backed away. He parted ways with the two Maniacs, Porkchop and Monkey going to the control room while Nolo stayed behind. He had to apologize to Tork. What was he thinking? He couldn't even remember; it was all a blur.


"That was insane!" Lani screamed at them, slapping Monkey across the face, which was understandable, but what she did next made very little sense. She grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him in for a deep kiss.

"Eew! I came in here to help, not for the mental scarring of my life, thank you!" Mel whined, looking away, but she was happy for her brother. She was glad he'd found someone. Porkchop laughed in a manner that reminded her pleasantly of Santa Claus.

Finally, they came up for air. Lani rested her head on his chest, and Monkey was grinning from ear to big goofy ear, his face heating up. "Oh wow."

"You could have been killed," she said softly, and he put an arm around her. Rolling their eyes, Mel and Porkchop left them alone and went to the garage.


Kurt made it through first, winning the accelecharger for the realm, and the rest followed. Truthfully, they were all a little surprised to see Nolo there, though Vert and Kurt were also relieved he was okay. His fellow Teku eyed him with concern.

"You okay, man?" Vert asked him. Nolo smiled weakly.

"Yeah, I think so," he answered. "I did some pretty dumb shit, though. This ain't gonna help relations with the Maniacs."

"Well, duh."

Taro glared at him coldly, but Wylde just plain glared.

"You son of a bitch," he growled; he sounded almost as scary as Monkey when he did it. Wylde cracked Nolo hard across the mouth and the Teku went down like a sack of hammers. Kurt and Vert held him back by his shoulders and hair.

"Take it easy, Markie!"

"He just tried to kill our boss, dammit, Kurt!"

But it was more than that; while he was fighting with Kurt, when he joined the Metal Maniacs, Tork was like a brother to Wylde. No, more of a father. Nolo had attacked a Maniac, a member of his family, and Wylde wouldn't stand for it.

Nolo got up on his knees, rubbing his jaw. "Okay, I deserved that…"

"Damn right ya did," he hissed. "Where's Tork, man? I gotta talk ta him."

"He didn't come out yet," Nolo answered from the floor.

The Maniacs did a double take. "What?!"

"Kurt made it out first," he said. "Then Vert, then you and Taro. Tork's still in there."

In spite of himself, Nolo couldn't help but sneer a little as he said the last part. "Cutting it kinda close, don't you think?" Finally, he had his revenge.

So why wasn't he happy?

The clock ran out and thhe portal closed, and Wylde attacked the Teku leader again. This time, though, no one stopped him.


A/N: Nolo will not be a bastard forever; even he has a conscience. In fact, Nolo's conscience also serves as my muse. You met him about halfway down the page. So...Tork's gone. I wonder what possibly could have prevented him from making it through the exit portal?