"Do not take life too seriously, you won't get out of it alive." -Elbert Hubbard

DISCLAIMER: I own fuck all... except my OC's.

Garth: When you forget you have a separateNeed For Speed fic in the works so you mix it in with this story.

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The Mechanic

5 September

Thursday 3:10pm

Humphrey's P.O.V.

School just ended for the day and I meet up with Shakey outside the school. It's been a day since I accepted Garth's challenge and this race was tomorrow. Of course I still needed a car to race with so Garth (surprisingly) was thoughtful enough to recommend a local mechanic for me to visit so he can lend me a ride for tomorrow night.

"You should really stop lying about your car." Shakey tells me. "It's not mine to begin with." I give the same response for the 120th time. "You own it by inheritance, Humphrey. It's a damn shame you leave that Benz under a dusty sheet in your garage. I roll my eyes at him and hop on my bicycle. "No one cares about those cars anymore." I state. We say good by to eachother then head our separate ways from there.

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15 minutes later...

Beardsley Ave.

"Crest Autoworks"

I cycle to the entrance of the garage Garth mentioned then step off the bike. I take a minute to take in my surroundings. The place didn't look like it's getting customers from the outside but it sure did sound busy inside of the large garage.

I knock a few times on the aluminium roll up door but there was no reply. I knock again, still nothing. I start banging on the door then wait a moment until someone finally opened it up. "There's a front door, idiot." A light gray wolf with dark patterned fur says with a spanner in his hand. "My bad..." I apologize. "Mm." The mechanic hums then eyes me head to toe. "There's no doubt you're the guy Garth mentioned."

"Of course." I say sarcastically. "I need to borrow a car, just for tomorrow. Got anything here that can compete with a ZL1?" I ask him. "Look kid, I personally worked on Garth's cherished ride. You're basically asking me to improve on something I put my heart and soul into." The mechanic tells me. "Well, not something that's better in every way, really. I just need a car that I have a chance in."

"Hm..." The grey wolf hums again. He leads me to front of the garage where three cars were lined up parallel from eachother. A cobalt blue Chevrolet Corvette Z06, A black Shelby Super Snake and a scarlet Dodge SRT8. I really didn't know what to think when I first saw these cars. "Dont worry, they aren't stolen. These all belonged to clients who never paid." The grey wolf explains. 'Figures...'

"About that Super Snake in the middle, how does that fair against the Camaro?" I ask. "Did I mention these cars aren't stock? Every one of these cars has atleast one advantage over Garth's ZL1 whether it be in cornering, like the Z06's custom track suspension kit and brand new B grips, the SRT8's top end with twin turbochargers. I know how that sounds and yes, of course it's sacrificing that 0-100 clock but it could help on straights if you know your shit on the streets of and last but not least, the Super Snake with an all new block, cooling system and one hard to get aftermarket centrifugal supercharger. This won't be doing to well around corners and top speed against Garth's ride but..."

"I could catch him right off the bends... if I'm lucky and have a steady hand." I finish for the mechanic. "Good boy, you get a gold star. Now which one will it be?" He asks.I was eyeing that Shelby ever since I saw that line up because it was my favorite car as a kid but now that I know the capabilities of these cars, I had to give this a second thought. I don't know how Garth drives when he races or how his car handles. If he's smart and takes shortcuts while I'm using the Super Snake, I'm gonna have a really shitty time playing cat and mouse. I'd pick the SRT8 but there aren't many long straights around Crest to try and pass him, I'll just have to be really lucky. Now that just leaves the 'Vette. I'm not an experienced driver here but it sounds like the Z06 is my best bet with corners. Tomorrow's race is a lap around the Crestwalk, many tight bends and corners with two or three long streets. I'd say that would be an okay race. "The Corvette."

"You sure? Once it's on the street, there's no switching." The mechanic asks for confirmation. "Yeah, I'm sure. Also I have to rush 'cause I got stuff to do." I tell him as I start walking out. "Hey, I dont think I got your name..."

"That's because I never said it. I'm Humphrey." I say. "Tsk, smartass. I'm Hutch." The mechanic says and goes to the Z06. "See you around, Humphrey." He tells me as I leave his garage shop. I get on my bicycle and start cycling home. Tomorrow is when I'll see if I'm one of two wolves...

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