Nick spent the whole night in his garage, afraid to even look outside. He knew that in his house there shouldn't be anything mentioning his new garage, but he was still constantly on edge. So much that he barely got any sleep at night.
Time was going exceptionally slow. He was hungry, thirsty, but still didn't want to leave. This was his safe space, which he didn't want to abandon for anything.
When he heard two knocks, he stiffened up, but hearing Mia's voice, he gave a relieved sigh and opened the door.
The vixen told him off for not taking care of his own car and already started working on fixing the damage that Nick made during the previous night. She said that she won't paint the damaged parts, because there wasn't any time for the paint to dry, but at least the dent was being dealt with.
Sometime later Jack appeared too, informing Nick that the Blacklister's leader is up for a race, and also let the fox know that he doesn't think he should take the challenge. Of course, at this point declining the race against them was not an option. He threw away his job just like that, so the only reasonable choice was to keep pushing.
When the rabbit realized the fox was determined to go, he just sighed and nodded. He also started explaining the details of the race. For this one, the Blacklister planned his own best track. The half-abandoned mountain road at the side of Savannah central. As for the 'Twist', he said they were forbidden to use their headlights, which was a bit underwhelming according to the fox. 'Only' no headlight run? That's a backstep after the 'Puncture both rear tires.' But of course, the easier the challenge, the better his chances were.
When the time was here, he drove out of the garage, and with the help of Jack, he found the dark road they will be racing on. The Pwudi was already there by the time they arrived.
"Are you sure about this?" Jack asked Nick for the thousandth time. Both cars were already in place, ready to be started with the race.
"Yes, I am." The fox nodded with determination. He had to take this race. He was unsure about the future, and winning the big 12 would at least give him a head start "Plus it would be pretty disappointing to leave now, wouldn't it?
Jack nodded and turned his head towards the outline of the first dark corner. "Can you really see what's there? It's pitch dark!"
Before Nick could answer, the driver of the other car 'helped' him out. "Of course, he can. Can we cut the talk? It's go time!"
"Don't worry, stripes, he is right. Evolution was kind enough to foxes to let them keep their night vision. I can see what's there just fine."
While giving one more focused stare at the corner to try seeing the outlines he finally gave up and shook his head, looking back at Nick "Give him hell, Big Mouth! See you again down here. Hopefully, I'll be able to give you his invite too. And don't go crazy, alright? I'm sure you would get an invitation anyway. Maybe you already did, you just didn't realize… I know a talented driver when I see one. So if you lose your car, just give me a call and I can lend you one of mine."
"Well… Nice to hear but… losing would be a low blow to the Quickshifters, wouldn't it? There is only one way I'm doing this, and that's winning this race. I wouldn't be 'Big Mouth' if I didn't take it."
"Alright." Jack nodded one more time and backed between the two racers. "Get ready."
"Just so you know," the panther started without even looking at Nick. "Noone has ever beaten me on this road. And I plan on keeping my win streak." He finally turned towards Nick with almost disgust. "Noone can touch me."
Nick couldn't help but give a grin. The Blacklister was actually nervous. Who would have thought? The most successful street racer sees him as a threat. He was about to boast how it will be an honor to beat such a 'big name' but Jack's countdown disrupted their word battle.
With 3 visible fingers, he started talking "3… I have just one thing to ask…" He folded one finger, in the middle of engine noises. "2… I want to see a clean race from both sides. 1…" He hesitated for a second. Anyone not knowing Jack would have thought he was doing this to raise the suspense. But he was rather thinking about stopping this whole thing. He made a quick sigh then lowered his raised paw shouting 'go'.
Both cars roared up, whooshing past the rabbit. Nick had a great start, which he was satisfied with for the first time since starting his racing career. After all this time he finally got off the better foot. He took the lead quite early, all he had to do was to keep it. However, as the Panther implied, it wasn't his first time on the track, while Nick barely knew the layout of the road. This became obvious right after the first corner. The panther took the apex like a professional, who had a lot of time driving here.
Thanks to those 'quick fox reflexes' and the fact that he learned how to adapt to various roads, he managed to stay in the lead on the serpentine road. One thing was sure. On close corners like these, he didn't have the opportunity to use the nitrous efficiently. He could have tried it but Mia's advice came up in his mind. 'Don't use it in corners, it destabilizes the car way too much for it to be effective. You can try… but you definitely shouldn't.'
So yeah… No nitro on this race, even if I'm losing... He repeated this to himself so his 'reckless' part of mind would understand too. I can even get another car from Jack. It's all good.
As he drifted across another annoying turn of the mountain road, he took a glance at the car behind, a few inches from the mustang's bumper, searching for the opportunity to pass by. The good start helped a lot. Now he can be that annoying slower car ahead that you can't overtake.
The whole road to the top was about 4 miles. The most dangerous part comes towards the middle. That was always an accident hotspot if someone was going with more than 20. That one segment will probably decide the whole race's outcome.
Until then, keep the position. He kept his right paw on the shift stick and left foot above the clutch. This mountain's road required a lot of attention with its tight roads and frequent turns. Gear shifts were more than common. Second, third, Fourth, and as another hairpin turn came, back to second. Third again and back to second. Top speed will hardly be achieved on this track, that one was obvious.
A slight left turn came, which didn't require a lot of thinking. Nick protected his inner lane without giving it much thought but saw the Panther leaning to the right side.
"The heck are you doing?" Nick muttered as he glanced into the mirror. To his surprise, the Pwudi started overtaking him which he thought was impossible. The sole fact that the panther was on the outer lane should have been enough. But it seems like it wasn't. The Pwudi got boosed out of nowhere, or what's more likely, it used nitrous
Not really thinking about it, Nick pushed the nitrous button too. The Panther thought it was safe to do so. That means this part should be long enough for one push.
The Blacklister's overtake stopped halfway through. That was a good thing. However, the slight left slowly turned into a harder one. While Nick's opponent managed to slow down in time, Nick's boost lasted half a second longer. He tried his best, but as the back of the car hit the side of the guardrail, the rest of the car followed.
The sound of metal meeting metal hurt Nick's ears, as he steered left as hard as he could. Fortunately, the guardrail did its job and didn't let the Mustang jump off into the forest. It bent painfully, showing that a bit more force and it would have broken out of its place, letting the Mustang speed off the road.
On the less unfortunate side, this little wall-riding gave the panther the perfect opportunity to pass by. The fox groaned painfully when saw his opponent already about 2 seconds ahead. He might have just given this race away for free.
"C'mon I can do this!" Nick tried to cheer himself on but even he knew that in order to win this race now he would need a smaller miracle.
To his surprise, the Pwudi didn't leave him in the dust. He managed to get into a bumper distance but nothing more. It was a nerve wracking experience, but the payout was huge. The invitation was within a paw's reach, all he had to do was make a jump for it. He didn't risk a new nitrous push. He almost killed himself once, and he didn't plan on doing that again.
He was fighting like his life depended on it. Looked for any, open doors which he could take, even though the Panther worked hard on shutting all on Nick. Then he saw his opportunity. A slow right, leaning into a hard left, with a slightly wider road. If he managed to get on the right side of the Pwudi, he could have the upper paw on the hard left. It's all about racing lines.
Maybe I could add one little nitrous boost too. The fast right should be long enough… Nick wondered and with a robotic movement, he placed his right thumb on the small button. All he had to do was push it. But once he does, there is no turning back. He has to go on with his plan.
Once again he felt like he was on the highway when he took his chance on the oncoming lane. His mind was constantly telling him to not do it. But as long as there was one tiny spark of will to take his chance he was unable to talk himself off it. He knew it was dangerous. He knew he shouldn't do it. Yet there he was, still unable to choose
The Hairpin turn into the fast right was coming closer and closer. He flicked the blue covering plastic up, revealing the little red button just waiting to be pushed. Almost like launching a nuke. He took a quick glance at the canister, then back at the road.
He finally took his paw off the can and put it onto the gearstick. He shifted back into second, rolled the steering wheel left, and felt the centrifugal force of his drift. As soon as the hairpin straightened out, he came out of the slipstream, and without even thinking he launched that nuke.
He slowly inched next to the Panther, thanks to the boost. They were almost head to head, and he was about to take the lead when he saw something unnatural. The guardrail started shining. He blinked twice thinking it was just his eyes but the phenomenon didn't change. What's more, an even bigger part of the rail seemed to shine. Slowly the asphalt was lighted too. It took Nick a second to realize what was happening, but when he did it was already too late. The headlights of the car in front completely blinded the fox who got used to the almost absolute darkness.
It was like he had stared into the sun. He panicked and stepped on the brakes while steering back behind the Pwudi. All that while trying to get back his vision. He didn't see what was happening but he could hear really well. He slammed his car into the stone wall, and the back of the car started sliding. He tried to counteract the spin but there was nothing he could do at this point.
Tires were screechingly complaining as his momentum made the car rip through the guard rail, like a bullet through butter.
He felt the asphalt disappearing from below the car's wheels. The RPM jumped into the skies too, while the nose of the car slowly started pointing downwards. He was falling into the dark forest below.