This… is going to be an interesting plan. A plan I am not sure I approve of but I'm not going to deny them.
Or more specifically, her.
That's right. Steven and Connie decided to circumvent the age restriction by fusing together so they'd be eligible to drive Gregs Dondai. I have to admit, while the vehicle looked something like a minivan in some sense, the things specs and reputation made it on par with some more high end and fast cars. I was curious at first why Greg decided to get it used but as I saw how much horsepower it had, and could get with some modifications, an entirely new one would definitely put a small dent in his fortune. That's the thing that most people don't realize when it comes to being rich, you don't stay rich by spending your money in every which way. Becareful with it and you can stay rich indefinitely by being smart, and not greedy.
Anyway, Stevonnie snuck the keys from Greg while he was sleeping and now we're driving to where the race is going to be. She's in her car, and I am in mine with an additional passenger. "Hey Marcus."
"Yeah Lapis?" I ask while keeping my eyes ono the car in front of me.
"Why am I here again?"
"To make my car look good."
"…What?"
"What?" We both question each other. I glance at her for a second before I quickly compose myself while internally, I am kicking myself. "Mm-hm." I clear my throat as we follow behind the Dondai. "Recently, I did some stuff that has made a big impact on my life or eventually will in the future. Right now, I've decided that I want to do stuff other than preparing for war and a fight all the time. I need to actually go out and do stuff and I kind of want you to go out as well."
"Last time we went out, we were attacked afterwards, we were shot at, killed dozens of humans, I had my gem cracked, again, and I lost my form, while you suffered burns, bruises, and had your gem cracked which was even worse for you because your human."
"AFTERWARDS." I accentuate the word. "Yes, all that stuff… did happen." I hesitantly and awkwardly agree on the events she described. "But before that, when we went out, won that prize, the arcade, and then… the dance…" I smile at the other memories we made that night.
I see her smile out of the corner of my eye. "Yeah, before it was… nice, and actually fun." She agrees.
I nod my head. "See. It wasn't a total failure. I was thinking of inviting Peridot but she seemed… preoccupied with something?" I phrase what I'm going to say into a question. When I went to go pick up Lapis, I saw her reading a book while Peridot was up on the rafters watching TV.
"Yeah. I don't know what but she's been going on and on and on about this earth show called 'Camp Pining Hearts' and she's been really into it from what I can tell. They released a new episode and I'm pretty sure nothing short of an invasion by the Diamonds would pull her away from watching the episode she's raving about. I might join her in watching the show eventually, especially since she talks about it all the time."
"That's a good idea. I'm glad to see the two of you are on good terms with each other." I comment with a smile. I wasn't really conscious the first time they met but I heard about what happened, the tenseness, the conflict anger and so between the two of them, mostly Lapis. Eventually, I'm happy to see that the two of them are on good terms now and can live with each other without driving each other insane.
"It's… interesting to say the least, but nice." I smile at words as she looks out the window as we casually drive along. "So, where exactly are we going?" She asks looking at me.
"Stevonnie wants to get back at this jerk by beating him in a race and we're going as intimidation and moral support." I explain as best and simply as I can.
"Right… Stevonnie." She hesitantly says the name. I glance to her for a second as she stares out the window. I can't see her face directly but I do see the look of unease she has on her face through the reflection of the window.
"It's because she's a fusion, right?" I ask while turning my head back to the front.
"You know my experience with fusing right?"
"I know, just… not everyone has the same… trauma as you have endured Lapis." I reply.
When I say that, we delve into a small silence as we continue to drive up until we start to make it to the outskirts of the town. While I see some people and a ton of cars gathered at the bottom, I notice a couple pairs of headlights coming down the mountain fast towards the people. "You know, I'm thankful for that."
"Thankful for what?" I ask when Lapis speaks. She shifts her attention back to the car we're following.
"What you said. That others haven't endured what I went through. That they don't have the… scars that I have." I see her clench her fist tightly, no doubt at the memories of what happened.
I lay my hand on hers, instantly feeling her relax at my touch. We come upon the parking lot of cars and people and I pull up next to Stevonnie as she gets out. "Let's be real, neither of us are going to let Steven get the scars we've acquired in our time, are we?" I ask her with a smirk.
She looks right at me and returns the smirk, grabbing my hand firmly. "Not a chance." We squeeze each other's hands. It's a nice random declaration we made for ourselves right now but you know what? It's one that we're going to keep regardless, on a normal basis pretty much. We didn't have to agree on it. Just something we were going to do anyway.
"Is that a 96' Supremo?" I actually hear Ronaldo say. While I was talking to Lapis, it seems Ronaldo has taken an interest in my fusion friends ride. A quick glance around I see others I recognize and one I definitely recognize as I feel my annoyance rise just a bit as the guy stands next to his yellow Himitsu X-12. An alright car but too flashy for my tastes.
"C'mon, lets go." I tell Lapis. She nods and we both step out of my car but stay standing near behind the open doors.
"Uh… I think it's a Dondai?" Stevonnie answers uncertainly. Of course, while I may be a little reluctant to go through with her plan, she may have just embarrassed herself a little right there.
"A Supremo is a Dondai!" Ronaldo excitedly and loudly voices that both are one and the same.
"Wow, really?" Stevonnie replies in somewhat interest, even though I'm pretty sure that was already established before when Greg was showing off the vehicle.
"Are you saying you don't know the true power of the Supremo?" Ronaldo deadpans ask her, I think. He could also be simply doing one of those squinting eyed serious moments of his.
"Uh…"
"Ohhh!" Ronaldo suddenly turns on my car with an equal amount of joy as when he say the Dondai. "Is that the Ford XB GT Falcon?!" He excitedly asks, coming closer. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Stevonnie let out a breath of relief at not being under the critical eye of the guy fawning over our vehicles.
I just look at the guy confused. "Ronaldo, I've had this thing for awhile now. Haven't you seen me drive it?" I ask him.
"Well, sure but before I was never able to get this close a look at it." He answers as he examines my ride from the front.
"Ha! That's why I knew those brats at the car wash…" Kevin loudly laughs, looking at Stevonnie in a smug way, which shifts everyone from us to him. "They're you! Your whole 'two kids in a beautiful trench coat' routine won't fool me this time, so don't even try it!" He proclaims in his own way of victory. I just roll my eyes at him while Stevonnie replies.
"You don't know what you're talking about. I'll show you what I'm made of when I beat you at this race!" She states as she slaps her hand on the hood of her car, prompting Ronaldo to scoot away.
"Heh. I see what's going on here." The guy actually laughs as he seems to get what's going on.
"Do you?" My friend asks disdainly with her arms crossed.
"You've had a taste of Kevin, and now you're obsessed."
"What?"
"Oh good lord." I groan and place my face in my hand. 'Wow. And just like that, somehow this guy was able to get me to hate him even more. Same with Stevonnie from the frustration in her voice.'
Kevin for his part shrugs innocently as he talks with mock pity from what I can tell. "I get it. I have that effect on people. It's cute. But aren't I a little old for you?"
"Gah! Do you want to race or not?" Stevonnie angrily demands to cut to the chase.
"The start is at the top of the mountain. We go when the clock strikes the hour. First one to the bottom wins, but you don't have to worry about that last part." He smiles smugly at the last part of his sentence.
This makes Stevonnie growl in anger at his attitude. Kevin then enters his car and speeds off up the hill without anything more to say. His car's tires screech and leave smoke behind when he goes, making everyone cough except for Stevonnie, Lapis and I.
"That guy is going down." Stevonnie growls out as she gets into her Dondai.
"Whoawhoawhoawhoa!" I slide over the front of my car, being careful with the engine, and step to the window just as she turns on her ride. "Becareful Stevonnie. This guys had practice before and you… you haven't driven at all." I point out very clearly and very importantly.
"Relax Marcus. You taught us all that we needed to know." She states and before I'm even away from the car she puts it into gear and drives off, leaving me in the dust as I back up.
"Yeah… FOR LIKE FIVE MINUTES!" I shout after the departing car. Seriously when they proposed to beat him in the race, as their fusion, I was interested in the idea at first but as they were fusing, I came to the realization that neither of them have driven EVER. As soon as they got in the driver seat, I had only five minutes to give them the shortest crash course in terms of driving and on top of that, how to race. Because driving regularly and racing are kind of two different things. Having to know how to take corners by either drifting or slowing down and all that jazz.
While I'm all for getting back at Kevin and doing something that'll make him think for days on end, the fact that I'm letting someone who has never driven before drive in a high octane race… yeah that's pretty stupid. 'Then again, she did do alright in the drive over.' But that's not really much progress as a step up to race.
"Hey Marcus!" I hear a voice call out to me. Turning I spot Jenny walking up with the rest of her friends as she waves to me.
"Hey Jenny." I wave back. "Buck. Sour Cream." I greet them.
"'Sup man." Sour Cream and I bump fists. "Whoa man. You've been upgrading." He comments as he, Buck and Ronaldo continue to examine my car.
"Sure have." I reply and take note of what they're looking at. Since my car had taken a beating, on top of repairing, I decided to give it some performance and engine upgrades instead of focusing on more war time modifications. My ride now comes with its own Supercharged V8 engine, including a blower on top for just a bit more oomph. Plus it looks awesome. Honestly the engine was in storage in my base for awhile but never really got to installing it. Then again, having a piece of the engine sticking out at the top would not have done well in Empire City. I did add some other things to it as well but that can wait another time. Soon though, I notice Lapis still standing there behind her door, staring up at the mountain where our fusion friend has gone. "Oh. Hey guys. I'd like for you to meet my friend Lapis." I introduce Lapis to the others. I know she doesn't socialize much but at the very least I can introduce her to some close friends who are at least somewhat knowledgeable, or tolerant, to anything gem related.
"Hello." She simply greets them with one word.
"Hey."
"Hi!"
"Wicked." Buck and Jenny greet back but Sour Cream is still looking at my ride.
"So, what brings you guys here?" Jenny asks.
"Stevonnie. Our friend who just took off in the Donadi. She wants to get back at Kevin for his attitude back at the party that one time so she figured the best way to do it would be to beat him in a race." I explain. I don't see her expression as I glance to the mountain and notice that both the cars are at the top. I quickly reach under the passenger seat through Lapis's door and pull out a set of binoculars before looking through them. "Looks like they're getting ready." I say in a slightly louder tone and moving to the edge of the parking lot. Hearing my declaration of the imminent start of the race, everyone else peels themselves away from what they're doing, especially the others examining my car, and move to watch what happens.
"Hey." While everyone else is focused on the race, Jenny gets Lapis's attention away from the others.
"Yes?" She asks walking up to her.
"Um, I just wanted to ask…" Jenny embarrassingly and awkwardly asks. "Are… are you and Marcus… you know…?" She leaves the question hanging, rolling her right hand a little as a way to get her to finish what she was saying without actually awkwardly saying it.
Lapis looks at her confused. "What?"
"Come on… you know." Jenny urges some more, shaking her hands a little in front of her, hoping the one she's talking to actually gets what she's trying to say.
She doesn't. The Gem shakes her head and shrugs, still confused and oblivious.
"Ugh! Are you two together?!" She whisper yells at Lapis, her temper flaring up just a tad too much when her attempts at being subtle were futile to the gem. She also looks around frantically to make sure no one else heard her or god forbid the guy in question. Thankfully, he is still on the edge of the parking lot with his binoculars focused on the race going on.
Lapis for her part simply looks at her confused at the seemingly obvious question. "Yeeeaaahh. We drove here… together." She states in an obvious tone, which is true in hindsight. He did drive her.
"Okay?" Jenny says, expecting more to be said, although not as worried and frantic as she was before.
"Aaaaannnd… he picked me up… and brought me here because he thought I needed to get out more…" She trails off, still confused as to why she feels she needs to clarify it.
"Oh… okay."
"…"
"…"
"…" Both girls look away from each other in complete utter silent awkwardness, idly scratching or grabbing their arms. "Sooooo, I'm just gonnnaaa…" Lapis begins to say as she points her thumbs behind her.
"Yeah! Sure! I'll just… yeah." Jenny wholeheartedly agrees, anything is better than standing there in complete and utter awkwardness. They both turn around and head in opposite directions. Lapis's directions happens to head directly to Marcus.
"Hey, what happened?" Marcus asks Lapis as she walks next to him. He noticed before that both she and Jenny were talking and now his curiosity is a little peaked.
"Humans are weird."
"…" Marcus blankly stares at her at the quick and odd answer to his question that wasn't really answered. "… Okay." He relents though, finding some truth to the answer and goes back to watching the race with his binoculars.
The race goes on for a bit and even though Kevin has a powerful car, Stevonnie in the Dondai is able to keep up with him. At some points both cars trade leads with each other, not by choice of course, and his fears before of the fusions inexperienced driving flows away as she handles the driving beautifully. "Wow. Either I'm a good teacher or this is natural for her."
"Oh, my gosh. This is it!" Ronaldo with his own set of binoculars says as the race begins to heat up more, especially with a hard turn coming up for them.
"Are they gonna crash?" Jenny asks him
"Please no." Marcus whisper hopefully, not taking his eyes off the racers.
"No! We're about to witness the true power of the Supremo!" Ronaldo loudly proclaims.
"Oh…" Everyone moans at the news and keeps their eyes focused on what happens next. Lapis grips Marcus's arm tightly, worried for their friend and what might happen. While Ronaldo and he have better view of what's going on with their binocs, everyone else can still see what happens. In a beautiful turn of events, everyone watches as both cars perform a perfect drift around the bend and continue driving on without any spinouts or crashes.
"The second one. Definitely the second one. No way am I good teacher." Marcus comments to himself at seeing Stevonnie's action. Ironically since that's what the Crystal Gems first asked of him to do for Steven when they first met but then things just kind of went their own way as time went on. Still, they're doing great right now and he has high hopes they can do this. He glances to his side to show Lapis is also smiling up as well.
Things soon start to go out of control from there. As soon as Kevin pulls ahead, its expected for the Dondai to catch up, and it almost does, but for some reason it suddenly swerves out of control. People gasp, including himself at this turn of events and the cars remains motionless in the middle of the road.
"Steven. Connie." He moans worriedly as he sees their car not moving. He lowers his binocs and grips them tightly. "Fuck this. I'm going up there." In slight anger at what happened, he turns right around and begins heading to his car, intent of finding out what happened.
"Wait!" Ronaldo suddenly calls out, whether its to stop him or in general to get everyones attention, no one knows but as Marcus looks back up regardless. He watches as the Dondai speeds off again with no worse for wear. Without the need to go up, he walks back up to Lapis and continues watching.
"What do you think happened?" Lapis asks him.
He stays silent for a few seconds as he tries to process his answer for just what happened, momentarily bringing his hands down. "… I'm not sure." After voicing his unsureness, he brings them back up and watches as the Dondai manages to catch up to Kevin despite the heavy lead he got before. "But whatever is was, it looks like their good now." He smiles when he sees race picking up and becoming neck and neck for the both of them. For around a minute, that's how the race goes between the two of them. The people around them are cheering as the last leg of the race comes up for the racers. The last bit of the mountain road comes up for the racers and at first its neck and neck, but Marcus can't help but smile widely as he sees the Dondai with Stevonnie slowly begin to pull ahead. "Yes… yes…" He mumbles as everyone watches them about to win.
Or that would be the case if Kevins car didn't suddenly get a massive boost of speed and completely pull ahead of Stevonnie. Unless he were to suddenly lose control and crash, Kevin wins the race and it doesn't take a genius to see he used nitrous to win. Marcus's focus on the race at the end there was able to let him see the fire come out from behind Kevins car.
"Awww! I was rooting for you, Dondai!" Jenny moans in disappointment at their friends loss.
"He won by using a nitro booster. Why am I not surprised?!" Marcus shouts the last part loudly, making sure everyone heard it.
"Kevin is the worst! Boo!" Ronaldo also joins in voicing his displeasure at the outcome of the race. Other people around having watched also murmur and shake their heads in agreement.
"What, what? That's right! First place, baby! It's like I invented winning." And as usual, Kevin is smug happy about his victory over another. While he was busy taunting, Stevonnie manages to drive up and park right next to him without him barely paying her any attention until she's right next to him and holding out her hand.
"Good race." She says, offering him a graceful handshake for a good race.
Kevin doesn't take it immediately as he looks at her hand suspiciously. "You trying to kiss my hand with your hand or something?" This prompts Marcus to shake his head at the guy.
"You know, Kevin, you were right." Stevonnie begins to say once she sees he's not going to shake.
"I know. About what?" He scoffs at her statement before asking.
"The view from the mountain was pretty great." She tells him with a smile and a glance to the mountain.
"Hey! Don't try to teach me a lesson! You lost!" Much to Marcus and Stevonnies satisfaction, this agitates Kevin as he proclaims to them angrily.
"Second place isn't so bad… for my first time driving a car!" And just like that, Stevonnie reveals a tiny bit of critical information about her driving skills, compared to the big headed guy she was facing. She says that as she walks backwards towards her friends, who both are standing next to Marcus's car with smiles on their faces.
"Look at you. You're so obsessed with me, you're gonna walk away." Kevin begins to spout words that are hinting and bordering on the angry and distressed kind of tones. Stevonnie walks up to Lapis and Marcus before promptly high fiving the two of them. "Just look at you! Your so obsessed with me that you can't even bare to look at me!"
"Jeez man." Marcus mutters and walks closer to him, putting himself between Stevonnie and Kevin. "We get it. You won. You're the best. No one can beat you blah blah blah." He says in an absolutely bored tone, turning his back to the winner and moving back to his friends, much to everyone else's joy and subdued chuckles.
"Oh what?! You think you can do better? We can go right now! Let's go!" Kevin opens his big mouth and openly challenges Marcus right there in front of everyone.
Marcus stops walking to his friends, freezing in one spot, much to Stevonnie and Lapis's confusion as he stares at them… and smiles. "You serious? You really wanna race me?" He asks, turning his head slightly so he can see the still obsessed stricken guy.
"I said we can go didn't I? Unless your chicken then let's race." He confirms it.
The smile doesn't leave Marcus's face he looks back to his two friends he came there with. Both of them look at each other before eventually shrugging at Marcus. They already got the obsessed nature they wanted from Kevin, its just a cherry on top for anything Marcus can do. "You wanna race?" He begins to say and turns around to face Kevin. "Okay then. We'll race." A smile begins to grace the smug racers face and he open his mouth to begin taunting yet again. "BUT!" Marcus suddenly yells, stopping him saying anything else. "This time, anyone can join us in this race. Free for all… but you and I focus on each other, got it?"
"W-… F-fine!" After a moments hesitation, Kevin relents to the condition.
"AND!" Marcus begins again, deciding to spice things up some more as he slowly begins making his way to his car. "Let's make things interesting. High stakes for this race than just simply bragging rights, just between the two of us." He leans back against the hood of his car, crossing his arms in the process and smile all the while. "Between you and me, winner take all! Car… for Car!" He yells, making sure his competitor and everyone heard him as he gestures between his ride and Kevins. "Whichever one us finishes ahead of the other, gets the others ride." He pushes himself off his ride, slowly making his way to the immensely surprised and a little bit sweaty Kevin after hearing the stakes. Murmurs, whispers and conversations come up as people begin talking about the stakes the hybrid just down for them. All the while, Marcus doesn't let the smile leave his face as he walks up to Kevin and holds out his hand, a shake to signify their agreement.
For a moment, Kevin is unsure if whether he should do it or not. His own ego however heavily begins to override his common sense to NOT bet his expensive car to prove something. However, with all the eyes staring at him, his need for attention and his big mouth from before has put him on the spot to accept the challenge. Afterall, what would happen to his reputation if he refused the challenge after all his bluster.
With a loud CLAP, they grab hands and shake.
"You sure about this Marcus?"
"Relax. I know what I'm doing." Marcus replies to Stevonnie as she's right next to him, talking to him through his driver side window. With his and Kevins agreement in place, both racers immediately went to their cars and started them up. In order to make this race a bit differently and more exciting, everyone agreed to make it longer by making it into a sort of point-to-back type deal. Starting at where they are at the bottom, go up to the top, turn around and come back at the finish line in the original starting point. No one argued with the idea and both Kevin and Marcus are now side by side at the head of the pack waiting for the signal to go, Marcus on the left and Kevin on the right.
"Alright, just be careful. Kevin likes to play mind games. So whatever you do just focus on the road and ignore anything he has to say."
"Got it." Marcus nods at the information. One thing he did like already was the guys reaction to his car. His car wasn't in absolute perfect condition, still scuff marks and scratches at places around the body of the vehicle. The car still ran and worked perfectly but it just wasn't as easy on the eyes as say a brand-new car off the lot. He was starting to sling insults at Marcus's vehicle, saying how beat up it looked and all that. How it would probably conc out before it hits half the miles Kevin could go on his own car.
Of course, the look on everyone's faces when he turned it on and really revved up the engine, getting everyone an idea of just how much power he had under the hood completely shut down any complaints. That had brought a smile to Marcus's face.
"Good luck."
"Thanks." With the final luck given, Stevonnie steps back to watch. On either side of the road in front of them, both Jenny and Lapis have taken to being the signal girls to initiate the races beginning. Lapis is on the left, holding her right arm straight up and facing towards Jenny, who is on the right, facing Lapis and holding her left arm up. They both need to be there so all the racers on both sides can see the signal, and because staying in the middle between two fast moving columns of lines is a bit stupid. As they wait for the signal, Marcus glances in his rearview mirrors to see just who is other competitors.
Just like he offered out loud to everyone, a bunch of other cars also joined in the race just to make things interesting between Marcus and Kevin. The first car he sees is a Audi R8 5.2. Colored a deep dark blue as it rumbles behind him.
Next on Kevins side is a Porsche Cayman R. This one a dark red instead.
A yellow colored Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 with two black lines going from the middle front of the car to the rear trunk is what's next.
Then theirs a Mercedes-Benz CL63 AMG that's sporting a silverish-gray color scheme.
Toping it all off happens to be a Ford Shelby Mustang with a bright red paint job and a strip of white going along the side of the car.
Besides just the outlining appearances, there isn't much more information he can say about them as his knowledge of cars stems mostly of just his own. Guns, fighting and pieces of technology are his main forte. Still, he doesn't need to be a connoisseur of cars to tell these cars are fast, expensive, and look good. Seems the other racers were tired of the one on one races and have decided to join in this free for all.
Marcus and Kevin have their own wager going on, but for the others its just for bragging. And its about time to see how this plays.
Marcus grips the wheel tighter as the girls look at him and the drivers. The race is about to start. Because of this, everyone begins to rev their engines in preparation to go. Various different engine noises can be heard as all the drivers make themselves heard loud and proud, showcasing just how much power they all have… and they're ready to use them
"Here we go." Marcus mutters to himself as he watches Lapis's arm. For a second, they lock eyes with each other… and smile.
Her arms comes down.
The sound of tires screeching cuts through the air at once.
The race has begun.
[Pendulumn – The Tempest www . youtube watch?v=FcciE7rKFwA]
The racers speed forward in the blink of an eye, kicking up a cloud of dirt to everyone who was watching nearby. All the humans give off coughing fits at the action, except for two. Lapis and Stevonnie keep their eyes trained on the racers, ignoring the dirt in favoring of silently wishing their dear friend luck.
With the racers, they speed along the roads at break neck speed. They swerve, turn and do everything they can to keep from crashing into the railings or the mountain they are riding on. Marcus and Kevin try to keep pace with each other as much as they can, wanting to keep the other from getting ahead of them. At this point, Kevin would try to get in his head as he did with the previous driver he raced not too long ago, but as they come to a tight turn, Kevin has to the advantage of it going right so he's able to move faster by going along the inner lane. Marcus's position on the left means he slows just a little from the added distance. Just a little, but that was enough of an opening for the Audi speed ahead in front of him. The road begins to widen a bit more so everyone takes the opportunity to move ahead of the others. The Mustang cuts forward and passes some others before coming up to the side of Marcus. The Audi and Kevin keep to the front of the pack and the Audi begins to pull ahead of him as they get ready to take another corner. Remembering how Marcus lost his lead, the car pulls in front of Kevin, much to his annoyance and chagrin as they take the turn, rendering him unable to speed faster as he's forced to trail behind another.
The Mustang has no qualms though as he drifts around the turn, allowing him to keep pace in the turn. Marcus himself tightens his grip at his fallen behind from the front but remains calm. Afterall, its still the first leg of the race and they all still have to go all the way back down when they reach the top. He still has time to make it. Unfortunately, as they continue to make their way up he isn't able to get farther ahead of the pack. However the Audi and Kevin dip back as the Chevrolet and Mercedes take the opportunity to pull ahead of everyone else, with the Mercedes in first and speeds ahead as much a they can. However there isn't that much more distance to make now as everyone begins to make it to the end turn.
The Mercedes speeds faster ahead of the others and gets ready to make the U-turn at the very top of the mountain using a drift, further back than where Stevonnie and Connie started their race, and go back down the mountain. Unfortunately, as it goes to drift around, the driver miscalculated the terrain and didn't see the road suddenly flatten out instead of continuing up. His car catches some air and almost spins, only turning slightly as it comes off the ground. That's all that's needed before it lands and crashes right into a chain-link fence instead of a steel guardrail. The car gets tangled up into the fence and with only barely its back half still on the road, the front in a small ditch. Not enough to cause any lasting damage but the body and paintjob is definitely going to have some dents and scratches on it.
The Chevrolet having seen the front car almost total their car, he hits the brakes hard and slows himself down considerably as he turns himself around at the top. The other cars are forced to slow down as well at the U-turn in order to turn around as it happens just at the top of the hill. Too fast and they'll all lose control at the turn and either fall behind or damage their cars. Slowing down isn't usually an optimal thing to do when racing but their hands are forced as all the racers take it slow.
Almost all of them actually. Marcus comes up from behind and instead of slowing down like the others, he manages to drift unlike the others and keep his speed. His car is heavier compared to the others with all the modifications he's made over time so he doesn't go flying over the slight incline, allowing him to achieve a drift and catch up to the others in record time.
They all speed faster since they are now going down this time and Marcus manages to weave his way around the other racers. It isn't long now until he's able to make his way to the front of the pack, along with Kevin who is currently in the front. He was so focused and happy being in front, he didn't have time to spot Marcus as he speeds in front of him. "What the—?!" He loudly exclaims in surprise as he watches Marcus's Falcon move in front of him. He grits his teeth in anger and tightens his grip on his steering wheel at having been passed by his rival. He goes to the side to try and pass but Marcus simply moves in front of him. A couple more tries Kevin attempts to move out in front but Marcus continues to move in front of him, preventing him from going forward. This only angers Kevin even more as the distance to the finish line begins to shrink, just a few more turns around the mountain and a mostly straight road down. "Get out of the ay you freak!" Kevin yells angrily before putting the metal to metal. "I am NOT losing my car to a loser like you!" He yells before, out of desperation most likely, he slams his car right into the back of Marcus's.
"What the fu—?!" Marcus shouts in surprise at the sudden hit to the back of him. While his car barely takes a scratch and Kevins has scratch on the front of his car and a bad dent, the action causes Marcus to lose control and he starts to swerve out of control. Along the road he goes in every which way, desperately trying to regain control. He isn't fast enough though as Kevin speeds on by but while the other cars try to, Marcus's swerving causes him to accidentally side swipe the Chevrolet, and bump the other cars as well, and in turn them to the others, causing almost a pile up of everyone.
The screeching and burning of tires can be heard as almost everyone tries to get their cars under control. Most of the people are unscathed but Marcus grunts loudly as his car slams its side right into the guardrail overlooking the town. "Ow. Damnit." He groans and shakes his head to clear away the dizziness. He quickly looks around as all the other cars quickly maneuver themselves back onto the road and head off to the finish line. Unfortunately for Marcus, he looks over the rail and spots Kevin far ahead, going around another turn of the mountain and with enough turns he'll be on a straight shot down to the finish line. "Mmmmm." He hums as he quickly thinks on what to do now. Theirs no way he can catch up now on the road… so it seems he needs to take a bit of a detour. His eyes glide a little more to the side and he sees the finish line far off but he has a straight view of it. "Whelp, I either win, or I total my car to the point where he doesn't want it… I'll take my chances." He mutters to himself and quickly puts it into reverse, backing up on the road as far as he can until he's go a straight shot at the weakened part of the guardrail his car hit. At the same time, its in line with the finish line far off.
"Alright then, lets do this." He mutters to himself, and sets his car up.
Meanwhile, down below at the finish line the spectators are still watching the race progress with bated breath.
"Do you see him? Where is he?" Lapis asks Stevonnie, who is looking for their friend through his binoculars.
"I don't know." She replies in annoyance, not because of the worried Gem behind her but the fact that she hasn't been able to find Marcus. "I lost him during that spin out." She sweeps back and forth along the racers, trying to look carefully for just where Marcus is.
"Wait, I see him!" Ronaldo suddenly shouts. A few people collectively voice their approval at finding him, even Jenny as she asks him what place he's in. "He's… last… and he's not moving!" He voices his utter confusion at what he's seeing. Again, other people mutter in worriedly, confused and sadness at his last place in the pack.
Hearing this news, Stevonnie shifts her focus to where Ronaldo saw Marcus and does indeed find his car stopped in the middle of the road way far behind the other racers. "Marcus, what is…?" She trails off as she focus her vision closer on him. When she does, she notices a couple oddities about his ride that shows he's not in fact just simply stopped. No, first she notices the subtle rumblings of his cars engine, and second, the smoke coming off the back tires of his vehicle. She brings her binocs down for a second before looking again. "Now what are you doing now?" She asks quietly to no one in particular.
Marcus feels the massive rumbling and shaking of his vehicle as the engine goes into overdrive while his rear tires spin as fast as they can on the pavement, not gaining any traction but increasing its speed by a considerable amount. As he grips his steering wheel tightly, he watches as the needle gauges on his dashboard fluctuate as they begin to increase in numbers. While he waits for the right speed, his right hand goes to his right and begins flipping switches and turning nozzles, preparing for his speed off.
Once everything's ready, he gets ready with the gear shifter, and the red button. He breathes in deeply… and exhales.
He goes.
He presses the button, activating his own nitrous booster. He's forced back in his seat hard as his car flies forward, shifting up on its two back wheels as the tires gain traction and he speeds forward right into the guard rails.
The screeching of metal can be heard as his car tears through the metal, followed by his cars tires spinning in mid-air. He flies through the air over the edge to the bumpy grassy ground that's on a slightly lower level than the road he was just on. Before he lands, he activates a switch, making his cars tires to go into offroad mode and shift down from the car, adding shocks to his wheels just before he hits the ground.
He grunts loudly as his car hits the rough ground and he has to correct himself quickly less he spin out and completely crash on the rough terrain. When he does though, it's a long but straight shot towards the bit of road leading up to the finish line. He can feel the bumps crashing against his tires but the shocks take the brunt of it, allowing him to have better control as he drives on.
The spectators down below let out cheers after their moments of terror after thinking Marcus was just about to kill himself when he sped off the road over a small cliff. The viewers all look between two different points of interest, the off-road driver coming along from their left, and the pack of drivers coming along the winding road leading towards them with Kevin leading from the front.
The arrogant and cocky man for his part isn't even trying anymore as he drives down the road. One hand on the wheel as he comes to a relatively straight part of the road and relishes in the feeling of winning AND getting a new car from the friend of… her. 'This is going to be better than I thought.' He begins to think to himself about what to do with his new ride. 'Now what should I do with that car when I get it. It's not as good as mine, so I can either sell it for a nice chunk of cash, or strip it for parts, and then sell the pieces. I suppose I could sell it back to him if he really wants it back. Keep it somewhere safe as I constant reminder to them that I won it. They'll never be able to live that down.' "Decisions, decisions." He mutters to himself with a smile on his face. He glances over the side and spots the finish line up ahead, just a few more winding turning roads and then a small straight part right to it. "There we go." He looks back in his rearview and tries to spot his opponent among the others but doesn't seem him at all. "Hm, guess he gave up. Not surprised really." He comments with snark evident in his voice. He comes upon a tight turn and after taking it, making him look back towards the mountain, he notices something odd. "Wha…?" He mutters something confused as he tries to look closer at what's moving down the mountain… and has lights. "Oh no way!" It doesn't take him long to find out that the person he was racing just took an off-road shortcut. "I am not LOSING to you!" I groans in anger and shifts gears, making him speed faster.
Marcus glances out the side and sees the rest of the racers coming up as well. He smirks as he spots Kevin up front. "Perfect." Instead of heading straight for the finish line, he turns his steering wheel to the road, towards the straightest part of the road he can make. Because of the other racers having to go down the winding paths along the mountainous area, they were held back longer than Marcus's straight path but he was also slowed down due to the grass and dirt landscape. As the racers, and one particular yellow car, coming speeding towards him, he manages to make it to the road just a little ahead of them. The second he gets on the paved roadway, he switches his tires back to their original position. He swerves a little to get used to the change but once he does, he's driving straight towards the finish line.
And so does Kevin as he speeds up right next to him.
Just like at the beginning when they first started, both Marcus and Kevin are side by side, racing as fast as they can to pull ahead of the other and win. Both racers focus on the rapidly approaching finish line as they go neck and neck, just barely pulling ahead of the other and possibly winning the whole thing by inches or a couple feet.
That would be the case if Kevin didn't get a smirk on his face. "Sorry chump. But I'm not losing to the likes of you." He mutters and gives and evil chuckle. He then presses the button to activate his nitro… but nothing comes out. His cocky smiling face turns to dread as he repeatedly presses the button to get something to activate his car but nothing happens.
He already used his in his previous race while Marcus has a second tank. With one final button press by Marcus, he speeds forward by a wide margin compared to his opponent. Just before he speeds past him though, he glances to the side… and looks right at Kevin with his own smirk. For Kevin, the entire world falls silent as he can do nothing but watch as his opponent passes the finish line first, signifying his loss.
Marcus for his part immediately slams down on the brakes, activating the brakes on all four of his tires and making his ride come to a tire screeching halt. Having to use the nitro booster and then suddenly forced to stop forces his body to lurch harshly in his seat forward but he doesn't get hurt or anything. If all else, he's just happy to be done… and won.
Cheers erupt around me once my car finally settles. I let go of my steering wheel and let out a large sigh of content before turning my car off. Just a second later I hear the rest of the cars come up and stop around us. I glance around all the other cars and lay my eyes on Kevins yellow one. Seeing as how he's not taking off after the loss, he might just follow through with the agreement, but we'll see.
Already people are starting to come up to my car and congratulate me on the win. I go ahead and step out of my car and smile to everyone around. Ronaldo, the cool kids, and some other people as well. They aren't who I focus on though, as Stevonnie and Lapis come up to me as well. Stevonnie laughs as she hugs me and is ecstatic that I won. Lapis for her part gives me a smile at the win as well. While I hold Stevonnie, I smile at Lapis in return.
"Dude! You won! You actually won!" Ronaldo congratulates me. I nod at him.
"Yeah! And that means…" Stevonnie begins to say before she glances over to the side once I put her down. I follow her gaze and spot the yellow car that is now mine.
"That I now have a new car in my possession." I finish with a grin.
"No!" A loud obnoxious and irate voice pierces through the cheers as it is none other than Kevin. "I refuse to give you my ride when you cheated!" He yells and accuses me. Everyone quiets down as they hear this and look between the calm me and the frustrated Kevin.
"Cheated? Me?" I ask in vague obviously fake surprise. 'I know exactly what he's trying to do.'
"Yes! It's obvious you used nitro at the end there to win. If you hadn't then I would have won and you know it!" He yells at me.
I stare at him for a few seconds before I glance to Stevonnie, who looks back at me in the same way. "Really?" I ask in fake interest. 'He's really pulling this card isn't he? Okay then. Two can play that game.' "We never really established that we could use any modifications we have to our cars in order to help us win the race. Buuuuuuuuut… then, if we're not allowed to use anything like that, say nitrous, then that means you lost before." I point out to him.
"W-What?" He asks confused.
"That mean's… YOU did not win the match before, she did." I make it so everyone sees me straight at Stevonnie, who is now standing next to her car with a smug smile on her face. "Everyone saw you use your nitrous when you were racing Stevonnie at the end of the race before. If you say I was cheating because I used mine, then you cheated because you used yours." I lay it on him nice and thick. Making sure he knows exactly what's going to happen if he continues to proceed down this path, its going to hurt him just as much, probably more than me. I walk right up to him and stare right at his ticked off and teeth gritting face, a smile plastered on my own. "So what's it going to be? Did I cheat, or did I not?" I ask him firmly. This makes him take a step back and actually purse his lips as he thinks about what to say. 'If he's smart, he'd say I cheated. Why? Because then that means he wouldn't lose his car to me. Sure, he'd lose face and have to concede to Stevonnie that she won, but I think that's a small price to pay than losing an entire car to someone.' I continue to stare at him, fully expecting him to say…
"Here."
Even for my superhuman fast reflexes, I am completely caught off guard by him tossing his keys to me. I flail a little as try to grab them, bouncing them couple times before I finally grab them with both hands. I stare at the keys for a few seconds before staring at him, seeing he turned away from me.
"You won. The cars yours." He states finally. He's turned away from me with his eyes closed and his head aimed slightly higher, his arms crossed over his chest.
'… He… he's serious ain't he?' I can't help but think as I stare at him for a few more seconds in confusion before glancing to his keys in my hands, then back to him, then to my hands. "… Okay then." I finally manage to straighten up and walk past him to his ride. While I move next to him, I think I see him gripping his arms tightly, which is what I would assume to be anger. 'He really doesn't want to admit he may have lost to Stevonnie.' I'm not really comfortable with his focus on her but I don't think he can do much damage to her in reality. Normally I would assume someone would be willing to give up a little bit of pride in order to keep their expensive car, but for all I know he could rich and just buy another one.
Still seems stupid though. Regardless, I walk up to his car and smile at the fast high end vehicle. It only attained a few scratches when he hit me during the race but other than that it's still a beautiful ride to have. 'Don't like the yellow though. I'll probably change the color. Maybe black… blue?... Dark green… probably.' A dark color at some point. "Good luck getting it back without a driver!" Kevin adds one last time with a bit of a tease in his voice. Afterall, once everyone leaves here, it would be kind of stupid to leave this expensive looking car here until he were to get a ride back to here and drive it back after he drove his original car home. That would be asking for his new ride to be stolen, broken into and vandalized.
However, despite his attempt at making me realize a problem I have, I can't help but smile at an… idea to rectify this.
"Okay. So, you got the basics down right? How to shift gears, what the pedals do, how to turn?" I ask her.
"Yeah, I think so." Lapis informs me as she sits in the driver seat of Kevins, now mine, sports car. "You sure you want me to drive?" She asks.
"Relax. I'm not asking you to race this thing. All I want is for you to follow me home. Simple as that."
"Well, okay then." She replies hesitantly but nods nonetheless.
"Don't worry. You got this. Stevonnie and I will be ready to help if need be." I push myself up from the car window and go to head to my own car as she rolls the windows up. "Oh, and don't worry about damaging it. I'm pretty sure I can fix whatever scratches and bumps you obtain." I quickly inform her before I go. I don't really have anyone else I could ask right at this time to drive this thing back to my home so Lapis is really the only option I have.
I mean of course I could grab the cables, hooks and ropes I have in my trunk and simply pull the car with me…. Buuuuuuut, this seems more fun. Especially from the look I see Kevin has on his face. Just the sheer nervousness he has at the fact that a completely inexperienced driver is just about to drive his car and not me. He may have given it to me, but I can just feel the sweat and nerves permeating through him right now at what he's about to witness. I spent the better part of half an hour teaching Lapis while other people came and went with their own races. As I take a few steps back, I watch with a smile as Lapis turns on the car and I can hear its engine rev loudly. A little further ahead of her, Stevonnie is in her Dondai and ready to drive off as well, offering to be the front and lead vehicle for Lapis to follow while I trail behind and make sure everything is okay. All the while, I'm still mentally grinning at the distraught and nervous face of Kevin as he realized I spent most of the time giving a beginner driver the crash course on how to drive his expensive former car. It may not be his anymore, but I think he still has feelings for it.
Somewhere… in that… heart of his. My fusion friend told me how he acted during the race so my opinion of him hit an all time low yet again amazingly. Regardless, now its time for us to get going so while I stand next to my car, I go ahead and wait for them to get going. I give Stevonnie a thumbs up, signifying we're ready, then to Lapis. Through the window I can see her return the gesture before grabbing the wheel and hitting the gas.
*EEERRRRRRRRR*
*CRASH*
"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
… The screaming was from Kevin.
Okay, here's what happened. We may have forgotten to set the car to drive, or properly showed her how to change gears, and how sensitive car pedals are. Because in the span of a second, she hit the gas, went in REVERSE… and promptly crashed the back part of her car into a tree. Kevin then promptly fell to his knees with his arms stretched out to his former ride with a wailing cry to go along with it. Yeah, he still did like the car and I think the fact the back just about crumpled like cardboard not even an hour after he gave it up just hurt him real deep.
Meanwhile, the driver side window slowly rolls down, then Lapis pokes her head out and looks behind her at the destruction she caused. "… Oops."
For some reason, I can't help but smile and shake my head.
Well, hey there folks. This one took a bit longer than intended, but it was longer than I intended so it possibly balances out. I think. I don't know. Although I've also been playing a bunch of games lately, Metro Exodus for the most part. Fun game to play. This installment has given us a bit more freedom in how we do things and a bunch more exploration in different areas. Not to mention we get to meet some… colorful characters and people. All in all, good game but I'm not sure if I'm close to the end though.
Anyway, this was a nice chapter to write. Really wanted to have Marcus do something to really cement his ire for Kevin, and for the guy to know about Marcus in the end. Besides the added race at the end of the episode, this chapter was bit more at ease to write before moving into my own additional part for it. I'm not a major car enthusiast to be frank but I do know at least a couple people who are and gave me the names of the cars to add to the race. Again, not much there by them but just wanted to make things at least a little interesting between Marcus and Kevins race. Hope you all like the song I mentioned to listen to at the start of the race. While it may not coincide exactly with how the race went (I tried but the words just kind of got away from me) I still think the song 'The Tempest' by Pendulum is a nice racing song to listen too. Pretty sure it was in one of the Need For Speed games but forgot which. Nonetheless, I just had to do something to use the song. Kept being in my head for too long. I tried to add the link but fanfiction is a little wonky when it comes to posting links so more thank likely, just pasting what does show up in google will show you the first youtube video I intended still.
Yes Lapis didn't really do a WHOLE lot in this chapter, but in truth, I feel like her crashing Kevins car right in front of him was worth it. Don't know what you all think, but I liked it. Plus as for Kevin, I do feel like his ego is big enough that he would be willing to give up his car just so he doesn't have to admit that he lost to Stevonnie. The guys says she's obsessed with him, but he's delusional. So sad.
Reviews replies:
THE VILLAIN: Thanks. Getting to the parts with White Diamond are definitely going to be something else in terms of me writing and just the thought of getting there and incorporating Marcus into that section of the show just gives me goosebumps as to what might transpire and what I could do. While yes the sooner I get to it would be awesome, just think of it as the longer I take, the more time I'll have to come up with ideas for it. Afterall, the ending went in a direction I didn't really anticipate so while I have a general new ending to go about it, I'm sure theirs room for improvement.
Doc fossil (ch. 30): Even though the chapter was made long ago before I ever recalled Bismuth saying as such, thank you for the notice. I'll have to figure out another name instead of Serpentine and I don't know when I'll do it but that is something I'll eventually have to do. That's why I've always been worried about adding new Gems and fusions, just for the possibility of them already being established in the show eventually.
MADMatt6: Sure thing. When you get the story up, just message me and I'll check it out. Always looking for new story material to read anyway. Plus, we all gotta keep busy until the movie and season are released.
Nitro zeus: Sorry. That would be a hell of a thing for the monster to do. Not sure if I'll use it but hell of an idea. And sorry for making you, and probably others as well, impatient on the chapter update. Hopefully I can get it into gear soon.
Guest (ch. 73): I've thought about it. Probably will at some point but most likely not every single minisode.
N. Harmonik: I don't take the direct lines from the episodes and leave them how they are. I put the words onto a separate word document and use the words to keep track of what's being said and how the episodes progress and such before typing them into the finished product. I will tell you for sure though that if I didn't do that, it would take a lot longer to get these episode chapters down because I would have to rewatch the episodes, listen carefully to the dialogue, rewind to listen to the dialogue AGAIN so I don't make mistakes and so on. Having the transcript on the side helps immensely.
Berserk117: That is a hell of a review you made. The exerpts you made for this Black Diamond and all was pretty nice… and philosophical if I had to come up with another word for it. Thank you for the input and while I'm not entirely sure if I'd do anything with it or what you said, I'll keep it in mind.
xXSpades231Xx: That's a shame to hear about your story. A sad time and feeling indeed for a story to be cancelled and discontinued, both for the author and the readers. I would be lying if I said I wasn't saddened numerous times because of a few stories who had good traction going in terms of writing, plot, reception and all that, then getting the notice, for the reader, or the decision, the author, that its not going to be continued. Sure some authors will transfer ownership to another, but sometimes its just not the same. Thank you again for reading my stuff and I wish you luck in general, and when or if you decide to write again.
As for the future development of Steven Universe, we'll just have to wait and see if things will be good, better, or worse than what we had before.
Miss Tri: Of course I remember you. Having to go back and reply to various reviews, you kind of get a somewhat familiarity to some reviewers if they review enough. Anyway, its cool that you haven't reviewed as much lately. While I'm happy for the reviews and words people give me, real life should take precedence than giving me a review. If your going to review, I want my readers to be in good spirts and without stress, because I think that would transfer to the review depending on the mood at the time.
The finale was good, yes, but you are a little right. I did feel it had a somewhat undertone of it being rushed, but all in all, it was still a good finish off for it from what I can tell. Crammed a whole lot of fusions and answers for us in a really big episode that's for sure. Still, when I get to it, I'll do what I can for the episode and hopefully I can bring it to life several times over in my version. Thank you for the review and your words. You'll be on board for the rest of the ride as you said, but damnit all am I going to do what I can to make it a ride worth remembering. Count on it.
AntiPrince (Ch. 64): I'm happy you liked it. I do what I can to make it entertaining and hearing people like you voice their like and love for scenes like that that make it all the more fulfilling for me. Thank you for the review and hopefully I can continue to make things fun and exciting in the future.
This was fun and even thought we aren't exactly getting new episodes anytime soon, a bunch of different news places all practically we are definitely going to get a new season for Steven Universe eventually. Still curious how things are going to go for the movie. Excited for that.
Also, off topic, I saw the new 'How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World' movie. Fun one to match. They say it's the final installment in the franchise, and while I'm sad to hear that, I feel like they made a good movie to end it off on.
Thank you all for your words and continued support. Go ahead and fave, follow, review, whatever it is you want, but most of all everyone, have fun reading, and best of all, have a good day.
