(Disclaimer: The author's knowledge of cars is based on a couple of hastily done internet searches so the author apologies in advance for any auto-motive mechanic gaffs. Also the stunts you're about to see has been done by a trained 11 year old boy. Do not attempt these at home!)
Multiple squares of what looks to be Lincoln's colors dance around in place as it's traveling along a pipeline filled with streaks and zeros. The environment then stops at a grid like area as Lincoln's squares assemble and forms in the air.
Upon completed assembly, Lincoln falls from the air and then promptly land on his behind, thankfully with no major harm. He then gets up and wonders where he is.
*CLICK!* *Buzzz!* "Lisa to Lincoln, are you there?" Lisa sounds out from the background of Lincoln's whereabouts.
"Lincoln here, I'm okay." He responded as he looks around. "So Lisa. Any idea where this is?"
"Lincoln, I thought you would know this stuff by now." Lisa pointed out.
"Lisa, I don't. Just because I've been there twice doesn't mean I automatically know where I am."
"Huh, Noted." Lisa said making a mental note before continuing. "Hmm, my best guess is that you're in the main motherboard. Though it's hard to tell as there's nothing to discern it."
Lincoln frowned from that lack of information as he continues standing. It's until that he starts walking around that Lisa took notice. "Brother unit, what are you doing?"
"I have a hunch," He replied. "Last time I was here I was lead to the tomato kingdom by a tomatoling. Maybe if I look around to see if I can find another person lead me to the next world or a door or something."
"Brother unit, this featureless space looks to be around 600,000 cubic feet if not to expand to infinity. A way forward isn't going to suddenly appear in front of you."
Suddenly, in front of Lincoln, some wireframe of a thing appears.
The wireframed objects are quickly rendered revealing to be arrows on the sides of a two paved road.
"Speak of the devil." Lisa said.
"I guess we have to follow the road to get where we need to go!"
"I suppose so, stay vigilant."
With that, Lincoln follows the road trail as the trio anticipates what's next. The road twisted and turned a bit along with a few bits of sign following but eventually Lincoln comes to the end of the road as indicated via a at a stop sign.
As soon as Lincoln stops, the stop sign along with the road and arrows disappears. Almost immediately, three more wireframe objects takes it's place. This time the objects are completely different to the one's before.
"What are they?" Lisa wondered as Lincoln gets a closer inspection to the objects. The objects in question are huge as they have what looks to be wheels on the bottom and have what looks to be doors. And above the objects is a bar which says "Loading..."
"It looks to be cars." Lincoln said as he gets a closer look observing the objects "But what are they doing in the middle of nowhere?"
"Surely they have a purpose for something considering the signs leading up to here." Lisa wondered as the bar keeps going. "We'll just have to wait to find out." She says as the bar gets close to full.
Not soon after the bar fills up and says "Loading complete"...
"Helllooooo, racing fans!"
A booming voice sounds out and like a flick of a light switch, the environment changes and music (of what seems to be electro pop) plays causing Lincoln to stumble a couple of steps backwards before falling on his behind from shock, Lisa to jump a bit in mild shock before adjusting her headset and glasses, and Lily giggling in response.
The grid like environment that Lincoln was surrounded in along with the road he was walking on, snapped into a black and white checkerboard pattern that is now moving downwards in a wave-like motion. Despite the wavy motion, Lincoln's position from this spot remains unaffected.
As both Lincoln and Lisa recover, the voice continues.
"Get ready for a most exciting race! Do you have what it takes to make it to pole position? Well, Lets find out!"
Suddenly, the mystery wire-frames renders to it's actual forms. As deduced, it's a bunch of cars with varying models. Suddenly, an arrow hovered above the car to where Lincoln is facing.
"Choose your Car!"
The announcer spoke as Lincoln went on and looked at the cars as the arrow weirdly followed his face towards his selections.
The selection has various models to choose from; big, sleek, stylish, small, bulky, not so stylish. All good cars to be sure but eventually, Lincoln pointed to his choice. "I choose this one."
"Terrari Rerosa!"
"Whoa!" Just then, Lincoln flickered from his standing position and is now sitting in the driver's seat of the car. "And now I'm inside the car." Lincoln says looking around.
"Lincoln, do you have any idea what happening?" Lisa wondered.
"I think we're in a racing game? Whoaaa!"
Suddenly, the car he's in quickly spins counterclockwise around a bit as the background fades to black and the music too fades out. Thankfully for Lincoln, the spinning was short as it finally stops. A couple of seconds later, the "sky" in the background turns blue and the ground turns grey, yellow, and some bits of green, brown, black, and white before the textures fully load in. This environment has sand to both his left and right which seems to go on for miles. To Lincoln's center is a three lane paved road which also seem to go on for miles and to the sides of the road is a bunch of rocks, palm trees, and a occasional billboard. And up above his view point is a banner with the words "START".
And upon looking at the rear mirror that he noticed his new costume! This wear is an orange racing outfit with white stripes along with some finger-less gloved hands and a white racing helmet.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Start your engines!"
The announcer sounds as a stoplight lowers itself from above an unknown space as it counts down.
"Hey, this is a racing game!" Lincoln said as he gets into driving position.
"Lincoln, do you know how to operate this vehicle?" Lisa says as she's watching Lincoln's viewpoint in a third person.
"Sure! I've playing bumper karts at Dairyland and taught Leni how to drive. This'll be a cakewalk in comparison!"
"On your mark!"
The light shines red.
"Get ready Lisa, Lincoln is gonna show you the need for speed!" Lincoln says as his hands gets a firm grip on the steering wheel.
"Get set."
The light turns yellow. His foot eases at the gas pedal, making the engine purr in increments. He is so ready to tear up the track!
"GO!"
The light then goes green as it the stoplight disappears and the cars goes off the starting gate. Lincoln floors the gas pedal as the Terrari's engine roars to life with the car rocketing out of the starting gate!
.
..Or tries to.
Lincoln's car frame can only move slightly up before it goes down from a loosened gas pedal.
"Lincoln? I thought you know how to drive." Lisa asked.
"It's..um..kinda bit different from how a real car works. Don't worry I got it."
Lincoln tries the gas pedal again and again with the same results.
"Lincoln."
"Lisa, I got it... I'll..just tell you when I need help."
Lincoln then tries pressing various buttons and knobs on the car. He turns the wheels, activates the windshield wipers, flicks the bumper lights on and off, and also a car alarm before turning that off. Good to know that the game version of this car works like a normal car, now all he needs to do is to get the car moving. After a bit of fiddling, Lincoln does an audible sigh before he finally speaks.
"Lisa. Help me."
Lisa huffed. "I thought so. Look to your right then look down. Tell me what you see."
"I see a..stick that look likes it only goes up and down with a bunch of numbers and letters on the left of it."
Lisa blew a sigh of relief before continuing. "Ok, grab the stick and put the lever in D." Lisa says which Lincoln proceeds to do so.
"And all that's left is to press the gas pedal." Lisa finished leaving Lincoln a bit shocked on how simple that was. Nevertheless, Lincoln slams the gas pedal and this time, the tires screech the pavement as the car finally moves out of the starting line! Despite having trouble with getting the cat started he easily gets to grips with the car.
"Lincoln, what are you doing?!" Lisa blurted out. "You're gonna shorten the life of those tires!"
"Sorry Lisa. Gotta go fast!"
"But aren't you worried about tire conditions, slamming into a tree, checking your suspension, have the air bags properly inflated, getting the proper car insurance, your mirrors are-"
"Lisa." Lincoln interrupted her tirade before he gets full control of the car. "These are video game cars, so you don't have to worry about making sure the car is okay or how to handle it...well minus starting up the car part.."
"Of course..." Lisa sighed. "Then why is it imperative that you need to go at this speed?"
"Lisa, I told you, it's a racing game."
"Racing game?"
"Basically, in this one you have to get to the finish line as fast as you can. Think of it like the tomato kingdom world except it's a competition against other opponents."
A few moments after the boy's explanation, Lisa remembered. "Oh now I get it! It's racing but in it's vehicular nature!"
"Yeah! You got it!"
"Well, I have been familiar with this act of racing though no thanks to Lola and Lana hall monitor duties after being told I was racing in the halls and I had to research what racing is." Lisa paused before continuing. "Hmm, so this is the car racing world. Despite some minor prefects, rules are grounded, and this environment is within it's place. Looks like we got ourselves a normal game world!"
Indeed things are so far normal but Lincoln has to pull the safety net."Lisa, not to burst your bubble, but I'm pretty sure that we may encounter..some...video game-y stuff later on."
*Gehhhh!* Lisa growled making Lincoln tense. She replies back. "It's okay... we'll just see what this world can throw at us and act accordingly." 'And try to keep my sanity while I'm at it.'
"Thanks Lisa." Lincoln said relieved to hear that,
..
And a few moments of driving later, a bunch of cars come into view.
"And here they are!" Lincoln says.
"Then lets go and get past them, brother unit!"
With that, Lincoln proceeds to speed through the cars occasionally weaving left and right. He overtakes the cars no problem as the cars don't pose much of a threat.
"Go go!" Lily cheered.
As Lincoln's position meter ticks down to near first, a different colored car is in view. It's a blue car and with an arrow on the bottom spinning saying "Rival."
"Lincoln..." Lisa says taking notice.
"I know. I'll watch this guy." Lincoln says as he prepares.
Upon waiting for a move, he changes lane to pass through, but the blue car changes lane with him, blocking his path. "Move out of the way!" Lincoln says as he tries another lane change, but again the lead car isn't having it. Feeling frustrated, Lincoln then slows his speed slightly, so he can keep his cool. Hopefully, a less aggressive option will present him with an opening.
Eventually, The car was slow enough for a lane change and Lincoln took the initiative to speed through. But right before he passes, the blue car taps it's bumper causing Lincoln to lose control of the wheel. He attempts to correct his position as he veers into the sand but it's wasn't enough as he hits a loose rock.
Lincoln's car then vaults high in the air, barrel rolling before bouncing on the ground before doing another barrel roll. The barrel roll repeats for about 3, 4, 5, 6 bounces until the final crash, landing upright.
"Lincoln, respond!" Lisa says as the cars speed by as Lincoln's car remains stationary. A couple of seconds (but feeling like minutes) pass of no response until the car slides itself to the middle of the track like it's on a conveyor belt. Lisa gets weirded out by that phenomenon until he hears the car reactivate. "Wow, that was crazy!" Lincoln responded not a few seconds later before resuming driving.
"Brother unit! H-have you suffered any injuries are you hurt?"
"Yeah, I'm okay."
"How did the car not suffer any damage? Based on that crash, this car would've been mangled!"
Lincoln can only exhale. "Lisa, that's another point where we thank video game logic for this one."
"Good point." Lisa said deciding not looking a gift horse in the mouth. "I figured that the rival car won't let you pass as easily based on how it aggressively acted." She says as the final few cars pass through the still accelerating car.
"*Grr!* And thanks to that I'm now in last place! If only there was a way to quickly catch back up.."
Suddenly on top of Lincoln's windshield and from Lisa's screen, a sign appears with an arrow pointing to something in the distance. It says "Get that power up!"
As Lincoln gets closer, the arrow points to an object that's slightly levitated and slowly spinning. Upon even closer inspection, it's some sort of yellow box with a red question mark in the middle.
"The indicator says it's a power up," Lisa says. "But what exactly does it contain?"
"Lets find out." Lincoln says as he drives towards the supposed power up.
Upon touch, suddenly he hears heavy whirring from behind. "BOOSTER DEPLOYED!" Lincoln's windshield says.
From Lisa's point of view, Lincoln's car bumper suddenly sprouts two long tailpipes from the side. "Booster deployed?" Lisa read the saying that just popped up a bit confused.
Suddenly on Lincoln's view, a button on his steering wheel flash from with it's row of buttons.
"Lisa, what just happened?" Lincoln said.
"Two tailpipes have sprouted from behind your car and based on the recently acquired power up this may grant your car a boost. Though what kind of effect does it entail?"
"Well, got nothing to lose but to press it!" Lincoln says pressing the button before Lisa protests.
Upon activation of the booster, the boy is suddenly pushed to the back of the seat as the car's tailpipes spew flames propelling the car forward. In no time at all, he speeds past the enemy cars like a blur in it's wake. Eventually, he lets go of the boost button seeing that he has caught up with the rival car.
Lincoln goes for a lane change but as expected, it changes lane along with him. Lincoln could try to slow down to do and try another pass but he doesn't want to risk another crash...
Suddenly, Lincoln spots another power up box. Lincoln wastes no time on grabbing it. This time, the car front bumper slides off then raises a held missile ready to fire. "MISSILE DEPLOYED!"
"Whoa!" both Lisa and Lincoln say as the aiming reticle appears on Lincoln's windshield.
"Guess there's no introduction on how this'll play out." Lisa said as Lincoln bears a grin.
Lincoln takes aim at the rival car before pressing the button highlighted on the wheel. The missile speeds at the car before making contact! The enemy car pops up in the air from the explosion before landing and slowing down behind Lincoln, giving Lincoln the pass.
"Now your status screen says you're in first." Lisa says.
"Yes, we're in the lead!" Lincoln said ecstatic. "Now it's just a straight shot to the finish line now that we have no other cars to worry about."
Suddenly on Lisa's point of view, the bottom of the screen has an arrow saying "RIVAL" and it's blinking faster and faster. "Lincoln, you may want to look behind you."
Lincoln checks his rear mirror and indeed the car is right behind him.
And catching up fast!
The enemy car bumps Lincoln's bumper causing the racer boy to lose control. Luckily, he re-centers avoiding another crash. Fearing another crash, Lincoln presses the boost button to boost away from the aggressive car, but it's only short lived as the boost runs out. It's only a matter of time before the car closes in and makes another attack.
As the enemy car closes in, another power up box appears upon Lincoln's viewpoint. "Come on, give me something that can slow down the car!" Lincoln says as he goes for the box.
Upon touch, the windshield reveals "OIL SLICK DEPLOYED!"
"Oil slick? What am I gonna do with oil?" Lincoln responded bewildered.
From Lisa's view, the tailpipes grow again from the bumper upon that power up. Lisa notices this and gets an observation. "Lincoln, do you know how oil works?" Lisa says before Lincoln's confusion. "Concerning Oil's viscosity and it's API gravity is 31.1 to..."
"Lisa, short version!"
"The game is telling you to use oil slick on the enemy car. Line up behind it and the oil will cause the opponent to lose control and possibly crash."
"Good thinking Lisa!" Lincoln says as he watches his opponent get close from the rear mirror waiting for the right time.
As the enemy car speeds up and goes for another bumper tap, Lincoln takes the shot and presses the oil slick button. The oil spews from the twin exhaust to the road, leaving the enemy car to tread the oil. The blue car begins to skeet left and right before veering hard into the sand and crashing into a billboard.
With that, Lincoln can sigh in relief with no further opposition from the rival car. Eventually, he reaches the finish line.
After crossing, his car automatically slows down until it comes to a stop. A nice little musical jingle plays as a banner floats down from midair saying "Congratulations. You win!" which brings the cheers of Lincoln and Lily and a satisfaction of Lisa.
Suddenly, the announcer from before chimes back in to deliver an announcement.
"Nice job racer, but things are only going to get crazier from here. So stay sharp as you move on to the next round!"
The announcer ended as a sign suddenly appears pointing towards the road saying. "Next race!"
"Alright! Let's get going and continue racing." Lincoln says.
"Hopefully, our next sister isn't too far behind." Lisa said as Lincoln confirmed before driving off.
...
The blue car nears the finish line as it slows to a crawl. The racer inside watches in frustration as Lincoln drives off in the distance. "How dare this racer cramp my style?" The mystery racer says in disgust, eyes squinting. "Hmph, no matter. I'll just take em down like the rest of the trash." The mystery racer then drives off.
Had to at least get this out before the end of the year. Phew.
...
SalsaSAUCE Neo: Huh, he is 11. Oops. Thanks for the support.
(Final answer from Who Wants To Be A Millionaire plays for Just4Funfiction)
Tristen: Yep.
EliteSlayer103: Thanks, there's more to come.
rmacano321: Thanks.
They are fun.
Yep.
Thanks.
I won't.
They're crazy.
You know Lisa.
Thanks.
Relatives?
You know Lisa.
You know Lincoln.
One sister down.
Watch Devon run.
How many chapters? Idk but maybe something under 100?
...
If you don't want to be like Lincoln having trouble starting up a car, Bring in your comments/critique. Constructive Criticism and Comments will help improve this author's writing and possibly bring out another chapter faster.
And hey, if you like what you are seeing, Favorite and or Follow. Until next time, have a safe and happy holidays!
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