Zane, Spike, and Amy walked around to the side entrance of the warehouse. As rain began to fall, Zane's eyes fell on Amy, from her braided deep red hair to her black leather jacket, to her somewhat denim overalls, and down to her oil-covered work boots. Just how in the world was she able to just cook him and Spike as easily as she did? She had piqued his curiosity as she was shit-talking Spike while they went inside.

The two of them led him downstairs to what seemed to be an underground parking garage where he could hear music blaring. Once they reached the main area, he saw several cars parked along with several production lights, all seemingly there for a photoshoot. He also saw a familiar short blonde woman bounding towards them with a bright smile on her face. Robyn's appearance caused Zane and Spike to lose their focus on Amy for a moment, more so Zane as this was the first time, he'd seen her in some real lighting. He had to admit that she was very cute, but he had a feeling that she brought more to the table than just a pretty face.

"Hey!" Robyn said as she moved in to give Amy a quick hug while looking over at Zane, "you survived another race against Spike! I guess I underestimated you."

"Survived?" Amy repeated as she returned the hug before pulling away, "no. Not even. Spike was struggling to keep up. Wait, no. Not struggling, both of them were just losing." She pretended to choke up on her last statement, holding her heart as if this were a tragic moment. Zane merely rolled his eyes as Spike let out a scoff.

"Oh my god…" Spike muttered, "haters gonna hate." His tone held a drop of annoyance and Zane thought he saw a grimace until Robyn suddenly circled around and jump-hugged him from the back, Spike's mood lifted a little from there Zane nodded to Robyn as Amy looked ahead into the small crowd, her eyes fixed on the large man several feet away.

"Emanuel? Emanuel! Get your ass over here!" She called out to a tall man that was standing in front of a car with his back turned and his arms crossed. He must have been 6'5 or so. The man slowly turned around, his curly hair put up multiple small buns, or were they knots? Zane couldn't tell his bearded face turning to face them as he gave a grumpy sort of huff.

"Fee. Fi. Foh…" he pointed to each on of the four, his voice remaining deep as he stared them down, his eyes landing on the new guy in the group, "fum." landing right on Zane. Suddenly, the man named Emanuel cracked a smile, "hello Ladies."

Amy and Robyn both smiled as they moved in to give him a double hug while Spike was over on the side looking… jealous?

"What?" He asked as Manu let the girls go and stare at him for a moment. "No hug, Man? C'mon."

"Eh, I don't wanna snap that skinny frat boy frame in half," said Manu as he held a hand up and kept his distance.

Spike scoffed at him, flexing his arms to reveal only a touch of muscle that could be seen through his jacket while the Zane cracked a smile and the girls laughed.

"Ohhh," said Emanuel as he saw Spike flex, "well shit. Gimme some love!" Suddenly, Spike was lifted off the ground as the larger man gave him a bear hug.

"Oh fuck!" Spike piped out as his feet dangled off the ground for a moment before he was back on the solid ground. "Phew… ayo Zane," he said as he glanced over at the new member of the crew, "watch out for this one. He looks like he can't fit into his car but he's nimble as fuck when he's behind the wheel."

"Heh..." Emanuel chuckled as he offered Zane a handshake, "name's Emanuel but that tends to be too many syllables for these fuckers. Nah, call me Manu."

"I'm Zane, nice to meet ya." At the clasp of the hands, Zane felt the slight squeeze in Manu's grip and returned it with his own. Manu must have felt that as he glanced down for a second before looking back up at him, giving a slight nod of approval.

"Strong grip. Good shit."

"Likewise, Man."

"So, you new 'round here? Not every day the crew picks up strays unless Robyn needs a new friend..."

"Anyways!" Robyn cut in, "are we gonna just stand here and dunk Spike or are we gonna head out to eat 'cause I can do either one but I'm fucking starving!"

"I don't get it, you must've had like three dinners already. You eat the way Spike should!"

"Word," said Manu, "let's head to the diner, loser takes the check."

"Well, I mean... she prolly bottom out." Spike chimed in with a chuckle as Robyn was about to hit him playfully, "you've got two seats: one's leather and the other's made of porcelain!"

He laughed off Robyn's punches while Zane, Amy, and Manu laughed with him. Soon enough they'd reached the parking lot outside where they would find their respective cars and head back onto the wet road.

Zane followed the others out into the street. He could feel his heart rate increase as the crew started to reach their first traffic light as it was red. His hands grew a bit clammy as he felt the nerves creep in. He still wasn't used to this new car and yet here he was out in the middle of the night, racing it like he's a professional. It didn't seem to matter in that moment, the light still turned green, and his new crew began to accelerate.

Zane put his foot on the gas, feeling his front wheels spin as his car would lurch forward. This was his first time in a right-hand drive car, something that was very much new to him, so he had trouble remembering in that moment that he needed to hold the steering wheel with his left hand while his right hand operated the gear shit. In truth, this is what was the ultimate factor in him getting completely dusted by the rest of the crew.

He expected them to be more experienced than he was, but he also expected to have SOME sort of shot at keeping up. There was no chance, their cars were far too fast and while his wasn't necessarily slow, even while he was slowly finding the right time to shift gears, he was far too late in catching the other four members. He felt his heart sink, even as he was starting to get a little flow in his driving going. By the time he'd reached the diner, everyone else was already parked and outside of their cars. Zane sighed, he hated losing especially when he knew that he didn't even do a bad job. Sure, it wasn't his best race but that was because he lacked experience.

"Okay," said Zane as they went inside, "nobody order anything over five bucks."

"It's a diner," said Manu, "damn near everything is over five bucks."

"Look, I'm just gonna get a cookie or somethin', I'm tryin' to get back out there and scope out some more competition."

"Seriously?" Zane looked at him as they got into a booth, even after three races they've done in one night, Spike was ready for more. Meanwhile, he felt beat but it looked like everyone else had yet to be tired.

"Yeah Man, just waiting on a location right now. You should come with, get a lil more experience."

"I think I'll head back to the club after this," said Robyn, "they won't be closing until like two at least."

"For what?" Spike piped. "The roads are slick, the night is young, and I just need a quick fill on gas before I can tear the streets up again."

"Ugh…" Amy said as she rolled her eyes. "I think I'll head back to the shop and then go to bed. I think I kicked your ass enough for one night." She would then look over at Zane who was quietly perusing the menu though he looked rather stiff. "Hey Zane?"

"Hm," Zane didn't look at her when he responded though his demeanor must have come off as a rather tense one. Fortunately, Amy was willing to cut him a little slack as her tone softened up a little.

"Lighten up a little, it's hard to win in a stock car from the nineties. You should come check out my garage, if you wanna meet me there I can set you up with some space. Travis said you'd need some to do some work on that ride."

"Where is Travis anyways?" Robyn asked.

"He's working out a deal with somebody across town," Amy responded.

"Got respect that hustle," said Manu quietly. "Dude is just buying and selling cars and parts like crazy. I swear he's black market or something like that."

"Well, I mean, the aftermarket is pretty big over here since this is a tuner town and he's got some connections in Rockport too since he first started racing there like, ten years ago."

"Ten?" Zane asked with his eyebrows raised, "how old is he? I mean, I don't think he's all that old or anything but like… you know."

"He's 35," said Amy, "started in Rockport with his uncle's old BMW and took on some of the nastiest drivers and crews up there before getting chased out. He's the one that helped me get a job here at the garage, he inherited it from his uncle. It was pretty easy for him to set up here since most people are looking for JDM parts and shit. Like I said, this is a tuner town."

"Man, Cyrus was a cool dude," said Manu, "got me in my first whip as a kid, taught me how to drift. I ain't think Travis could drive like him but Man…' the large man smiled as he shook his head, "he's better. He's so much better."

"Yeah, so I've heard." Robyn spoke up as she pursed her lips a bit, "can we lay off the Travis fanboying? He hasn't raced in like, five months? I swear he thinks it's beneath him now."

"Oh come on Robs," said Spike, "you don't even race that much either."

"Not on the streets," she said with a raised eyebrow, "you know fully well I like the mountains, Spikey. More hair pin turns and less cops to catch you."

"Yeah, and the serious chance of tumbling down a whole mountain after flipping over the guardrails!" "Spike adjusted his flatbill hat as he leaned back in his seat. "I dunno Robs, cops ain't so scary when you can outsmart them or outrun them."

"Well, we don't all have a trust fund full of bail money now do we?" Manu chimed in.

"Trust fund?" Zane asked, "oh yeah, that's how you've got a brand new M2. Those go for like 50k I think."

"It's whatever, Man. Sure it's a shit ton of money but I'm not like… flexing."

"Not as much as you could anyways…" Manu muttered as the waitress came and brought them all coffee.

As the five of them sat and chatted some more, Zane could feel himself wind down a bit. In truth, he didn't even realize just how fast he was moving with them. So much happened in one night and he was could already feel himself struggle to keep up.

"I think I'll head home for the night after this," he said at some point after their food had arrived. "I'm fucking beat."

"Seriously?" Spike asked as he looked over while cutting into his French Toast.

"Yeah," said Zane, "I mean it's not like I didn't have fun but like, Dude I just traded up for a new car, ran from the cops, and got in three different races all in one night. AND I've got work tomorrow…"

"Damn," said Amy, "that is a lot. I get it though. You can come swing by after work, I'll make sure there's space for you."

Spike downed the remainder of his coffee before speaking up, "I got like five more races left in me tonight but no worries, nights out here take some getting used to. Just don't expect anything in the daytime, this city ain't like Rockport or Redview. NOTHING happens in the daytime."

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind."

After paying the bill and leaving a decent tip, Zane waved his new crewmates goodbye and left the diner to head home. Even as he was heading home, he thought about how he was going to have to randomly call his insurance company and maybe look into his bank account to see if he could afford to pay up the tax for that random sale he just made. On top of that, this Honda Civic didn't even have a modern stereo in it. He'll need to update that, maybe get one that had bluetooth. By the time he;d gotten back home, ha dhis pants off, and was in his bed he could feel a wave of excitement nearly overtake his exahuastion. Nearly.