Chapter 28

Let the Rivalry Begin!

It was the start of a new week, and Will and Taka were busy in his shop testing and giving the newly engineered parts from RPT the once over. Skuld was even present on this day, doing some cleaning for Will in his office. Although it wasn't asked of her, he thought it would be nice to have her around anyway. He wanted to test her mettle in the intelligence department, hopefully without her noticing. Taka was busy uncrating the rear end assembly for the Mustang that was in the shop. Will took a short break and headed to his office to the computer. While there he made a few errors on the blueprint for a frame modification to a car he was expecting to work on. He then made sure that he left the computer up and visible to Skuld, who was humming a sweet tune while she cleaned the top of his shop counter in his office. He then stood to leave the office and walked by Skuld, stealing a kiss and asking her to remember to clean the top of his desk "please". He smiled and headed back to the paint booth where the custom hood for a Z-06 Vette waited to be painted in the factory Yellow that graced the rest of the car. Skuld approached Will's desk and proceeded to clean, glancing at the screen, not paying any attention at first. But she soon couldn't help herself from wanting to tinker around in Will's computer. She noticed the bad math formulas that he had for the weight distribution to power ratio and also that the tie in points for the frame cross members were not properly figured with the geometric measurements in his calculations. So she corrected them without thinking, and went back to her cleaning of his office.

Will had just finished up painting in the booth, finishing the last coat of clear blended Yellow to the hood. He exited the booth after cleaning his hands. He went back to his office, noticing that Skuld had already finished and left everything as she said it would be. In fact his office had never been this clean since he'd opened the shop.

He found her in the small waiting area and asked her to come back to the office when she got a minute.

Skuld: "Yes Will? What is it?"

Will: "Um. Did you fix this on my computer?"

Skuld paused for a minute before saying anything, wondering if she should be truthful, or fib to him.

Skuld: "Yes. I saw that they were the wrong equations, so I fixed them. You aren't mad? Are you?"

Will: "heheheh. No I'm not mad. You really are very smart aren't you?"

Skuld: "Well. I just know a lot about technical stuff is all."

Will: "I think it's very good that you're interested in stuff like this. Means we have a lot more in common."

Skuld: "Really? You mean it?"

Will: "Sure I mean it."

Skuld ran up to him and hugged and kissed on him, about that time Taka came inside the office.

Taka: "AH..sorry boss. I'll come back in a few.."

Will: "No, what is it Taka?"

Taka: "It's time to uh, close up."

Will: "Oh. Right, go on ahead. We'll see you later at the clubhouse."

Taka: "Gotcha. See you there."

Skuld: "Bye Taka!"

Taka: "Bye Guys."

Will: "So you going with me to the clubhouse tonight?"

Skuld: "Sure. Who else would I go with?" Skuld just smiled at Will, giving him that patent smirk and tilted head she always used.

Will: "Well, go ahead and get cleaned up in the house. I'll be right behind you."
Skuld: "Should I keep the shower running for you?" She gave Will a sultry look with a raised eyebrow.

Will had to pause as he thought about scenario a moment and just smiled and shook his head no.

Will: "If we do that we'll never make it to the clubhouse."

Skuld: "Awww. It was just a thought." She gave him a sad, pout lip at the answer.

Will: "I didn't say NO, just not NOW." Will laughed at the expression on her face.

Skuld: "Well, ok then." She let a bit of an evil smile wash over her face when he wasn't looking.

Belldandy and Keiichi were at home after just eating dinner together, alone. To Keiichi it seemed like a really long time since they'd been alone together over the past few weeks. As a matter of fact, they hadn't. Well they hadn't much time for intimacy in a while. While it wasn't quite as hard to open up to Bell the way it had been before they reached that level of their relationship with each other, it still felt strange to Kei to have to bring up the subject to Bell. It felt cheap, and just inappropriate to him.

Bell: "What's wrong Kei? You look preoccupied by something?"

Kei: "Ah. I..It's nothing Bell, really."

Belldandy could tell when Kei was avoiding a subject, but then again a lot of people could read Kei's little nuances. Bell put her arms around Kei and placed her chin into his neck as she hugged him.

Bell: "I know, Kei. It has been a while since, you know. Can we have private time when we get home?"

Kei was a little shocked at first, then he should have known she could tell what he was thinking. But it still made him happy.

Kei: "Sure Bell. I'd love that, very much. You know I love being alone with you."
Bell: "I do to my love." Belldandy kissed him gently on the lips.

Kei: "So is Meg and Sora going to meet us at the clubhouse?"

Bell: "Yes, I think they're actually there."

Kei: "Good. Rachel and Brad are coming to hang out to."
Bell: "OH THAT'S GREAT! Oh sorry Kei. We haven't seen them much lately."

Kei: "Yeah, they've been on assignment but they came back yesterday."

Megumi and Sora were at the clubhouse as they straightened the table and chairs that had been placed in the first bay of the garage. Sora set out flyers and name tags to hand out to the new members that haven't been introduced. Megumi was busy afterwards, placing drink cups and setting up the cooler with the soft drinks they had picked up earlier in the day. Sora took a moment to set the stereo to the local pop/rock station and put it to a level, while quite loud now, would not be over powering. Megumi began dancing and swaying around to the music when Taka and his friend Kirk and Ben walked in.

Taka: "Man is this a auto club or a dance hall!"

Megumi jerked at his voice and spun around and laughed at him, an embarrassed face proved that she was busted.

Megumi: "Haha very funny Taka!"

Taka: "I was just joking! Besides you look pretty hot moving like that..heheh."

Megumi: "Oh? Do I?" Megumi, swayed her hips as she walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him.

Taka: "Sure. Something I can't do is dance. Shane sure can though."
Megumi: "Shane? HAHA! I don't know about dance, but he tries I guess. He is silly though."

Taka: "Megumi, this is Kirk. And this is Ben. I think you both met Ben at the party at your house that afternoon."
Megumi: "Pleased to met you both. Kirk and Ben I'm Megumi. Oh! That sexy young thing there is Sora! Say HI Sora!"

Sora: "Wh-Who me? Se..uh. Oh HI Um Kirk, Ben. I'm Sora."

Megumi: "She's kind of bashful guys, but she is very available."

Sora: "MEGUMI! I..oh nevermind.."
Sora only turned about ten shades of red after Megumi's comment. But Ben walked over to strike up conversation with her anyway, to try to make her feel a little less embarrassed.

Taka: "So everybody else coming?"

Megumi: "Yes. But I have a question, what on earth are they doing across the street?"

Taka: "What do you mean?" He walked over to peer out the window across the road.

Megumi: "Well, someone bought that warehouse there, but there were A LOT of hot rods and cars there earlier, I was just wondering if you knew."

Taka: "No. Does it really matter?"
Megumi: "I guess not. It just seemed odd since most of the cars were custom jobs and muscle cars."
Taka: "Somebody might have bought it for storage."

Megumi: "Maybe so."

Brad: "HELLO! Anybody here?" Brad hollered from the front office of the clubhouse.

Megumi: "Come on through the door to the right please!"

Brad and Rachel came walking through the door into the service area of the building.

Rachel: "WOW! This is really FANTASTIC!"

Brad: "Yeah I like it! Nice job here so far."

Rachel: "When are the others getting here?"

Megumi: "They should be here in a few minutes. I'm hoping some of new people that asked about the flyers come too."
Brad: "Might be a good idea to open the bay door since it's warm out. The it's hard to tell anyone's here with no light out front."

Megumi: "You are right. I'll think I'll open both doors."

Soon after the others started arriving, even a few new members showed that had only seen the flyers at the local parts stores and the grocers. Bell and Kei showed up and everyone had begun to mingle and talk amongst themselves. Shane and Urd were busy getting everyone together for the soft drinks and giving out the fancy membership cards that Bell and Megumi worked on through the week.

Everyone was talking and the music playing some were even dancing, when the rumbling exhaust note of a car with headlights pulled into the drive and continued to pull into the second bay where there was no table set up, surprising some of the members. The Red Mustang drowned out the music from the stereo, till the engine was shut off. Will and Skuld exited the car as everybody else closed in to examine the car. Will pulled the hood release and left the driver door open.

Will: "WHAZZUP!" Will shouted as another voice came from the corner.

Shane: "WHAAAAZZZUUUUP! Hahahaha!"

Skuld and the others just looked at them both as if they'd lost their minds, but Belldandy just giggled at the both of them.

Will: "Hey Taka!"

Taka: "Yeah Boss."

Will handed him an envelope.

Will: "You didn't tell me it was Friday. Don't be afraid to ask me for your paycheck. I won't bite your head off."

Taka: "Sorry, to be honest, I forgot myself."
Will: "Just don't spend it all on car parts now..hehe."

Taka: "Ok." Taka opened the envelope as Will had walked off toward Bell and Kei, with Megumi looking over his shoulder, albeit unnoticed.

Megumi: "Daaaaaaamn Taka. Ooops."
Taka: "Hey, not very nice to snoop. But yeah. Damn. I never had a check with four digits before the decimal."

Megumi: "Hey big spender, you going to spend some of that on me?"

Taka: "Of course..hehe."

Brad: "Damn Will. How many cars do you actually have?"

Will just laughed at the comment at first, as he felt for the latch in the front of the hood to open it up.

Will: "It's just one I've been doing work on. It is nice though huh?"

Rachel: "I love the color. It's so bright Red. You paint it?"
Will: "I wish, no. The guy that owns it had Classic Paint and design the town over do it. They do outstanding work."
Brad: "Wow, still a 302 huh? All motor?"
Will: "Not really. Nitrous, but he only uses it occasionally."
Brad: "Sweet ride."

Will: "Yeah Taka put the rear end in it, so I needed to drive it some and make sure it's ok. Ask Skuld, it's major ok. Hahaha!"

Skuld: "Yeah, it's ok I think. It didn't break so I guess it is."

Rachel: "Huh? You try to break it?"
Will: "Yeah, she's never rode in a manual shifted car like this one yet. Yours doesn't count."
Rachel: "And why not!"

Brad: "Front wheel drive..hahaha!"

Skuld: "He scared me, so yeah. Sorry Rachel."

Will: "Want to ride Rachel?"

Rachel: "hmm. Sure why not!"

Will: "Be back in a minute, guys."

Will closed the hood, and Rachel climbed in on the passenger side. Brad was simply laughing at her as she sat looking out the front window.

Skuld: "What's so funny Brad?"

Brad: "She's gonna freak out. The fastest thing she ever been in is her Cavalier."

Skuld: "And that's funny?"

Brad: "It is when you think about her face when she realizes what fast is, heheh!"

Will cranked the car as everybody walked out to the front of the shop as he backed out into the parkway. He edged forward, into first not driving it hard at first but laying into the accelerator enough to have the car tail to the right as the back tires spun and jerked as they grabbed the asphalt.

Rachel: "HAHA! This is gonna be fun."

Will went down to the Strip mall about three blocks and turned into the parking lot to head back the other direction. As he turned around a Blue 1968 Mustang pulled up along side him at the red light. Will immediately noticed who it was, Emilio's car. Or at least his fastest car, next to Greg's Corvette. Taka and the local street racers have had trouble running faster than them in the past. And they really did run well, but Will never really raced them in many of his personal cars. He raised the throttle a bit, seeing if he'd take the bait. "Let's see how fast his car really is.." Will thought as Emilio revved his engine, unaware that it is Will in the Red Mustang next to him. He could only notice the two silhouettes throught the tinted windows. The light still Red, Will edged up to the white line before the cross walk, and the Blue Stang followed. There was no traffic in front of them, only the club members standing out on the left of the road in the driveway across the divided four lane.

Shane: "Heh. Hey check it out guys! Looks like he found a contender!"

Brad: "Sweet, what is it? I can't really tell."

Bell: "It's a blue car it seems, I'm not good with car things like all of you, hehe!"

Kei: "Looks like a Mustang, but an old one. I dunno what year from here."

Megumi: "It's a 1968 fastback, Sweet! I saw that car at the building across the road today."

Taka: "A BLUE '68 fastback! Shit! That's Emilio's Car!"

Skuld: "Oh my! You mean that guy that slapped Regina!"

Taka: "Yep, none other than that jerk."

Kei: "He maybe doesn't realize it's Will then?"

Taka: "Probably not, Emilio's car is pretty fast. We never have beaten him straight up street race, or Greg either."

Bell: "looks like they really are going to race. LOOK!"

About that time, Emilio started doing a light burnout at the red light, giving off a huge haze of smoke. Emilio's car was loaded with a 428 cobra jet and a 4 speed trans with a good set of gears in the rear and a nitrous system, for those rare occasions that a race is too close. He cleared the motor with the throttle a few times, revving the engine freely to 6,000 rpm a few times. He smiled as looked over at the Red late model next to him.

Will: "You ready?"

Rachel:"Y-you really going to RACE this guy?"

Will: "You scared?"
Rachel: "N-no. I mean. Sort of."

Will only smiled with a smirk across his face, he flipped the switch for the nitrous system to activate, and the switch for the electrical exhaust cutouts to open. The car suddenly got louder, A LOT louder. As he watched the smile run away from Emilio's face. Will revved the motor slightly, pumping the brakes to lock the front tires with the line lock. The tires lit up as the engine roared at 3,500 rpm for a few seconds as the drag radials been to heat up and emitted a enormous haze of smoke. The car came back to an idle, erratic and choppy, more so with the open exhaust on the header collectors. The cross light turned yellow, both cars raised their idle as the light in front of them went green, both cars left hard. The red stang tailing hard to the right as the tires grabbed and lurched the car forward, the light on the tach blinked as he hit second gear. Rachel's eyes were wide open as she placed a death grip on the arm rest handle, Emilio was ahead by about a car length, but Will was gaining as they approached 3rd gear, Will reached the end of second shifting to 3rd and hitting the juice at the right moment, both cars were approaching 80 mph now, Emilio lost his lead by half a car, and sprayed to keep his lead. But as Will hit 4th gear as they past the clubhouse, he was ahead by a door and a fender. At that point he let off the accelerator as Emilio blew past him. "Who the hell is that punk anyway?" Emilio thought as he let off and slowed to see the red car making a u-turn and heading back the other direction.

Will pulled into the drive at the clubhouse, everybody cheered as they got out of the car. Shane walked up slapped his hand on Will's back.

Shane: "Hey buddy! Just like old times huh?"

Will: "I guess so, yeah."

Rachel was still shaking a little as she got out the car.

Taka: "You ok Rachel?"

Rachel: "Yeah, I'm fine. Wow, that was so cool."

Brad: "Shit. I can't believe you beat Emilio, dude."

Will: "Well, it was close enough. But I'm sure he doesn't see it that way."

Ben: "Dude, you beat his ass by a door and a fender though."

Will: "Ah hell. It doesn't really matter to me anyway. But his car isn't as fast as I thought it would be."

Kirk: "I bet your other car would wipe his ass for him though."

Will: "Yeah. I don't think I'd waste my time with him in my car. Heheh."

Skuld: "Rachel, now do you see what I mean?"

Rachel: "Oh yeah, I see now. Haha!"

Emilio rode past the group as he came back down the parkway, although Will and the others had returned inside, many others were outside talking. "New club huh? Well not for long. They want a drag war they got one." Emilio said to himself as he rode by. "That must be that club that Regina was wanting to start with her friends. I don't know where that Mustang came from, but it won't ever be that close again." Emilio thought as he headed back to Greg's house to tell him about what transpired this afternoon, and what they had planned with Donovan from the night prior.

Next Chapter

Goddess Intervention