The next day after work, Zane pulled up to Travis' garage and parked in a lone space outside the building. After getting out he would find Amy inside, the sound of a socket wrench echoing through the room while some rock music played in the background. As he walked in, the sound of the wrench paused for a moment.

"I can hear you out there," said Amy, "I'll be right there, don't touch anything."

"Hey, it's just me." Zane piped up as he walked around Amy's Nissan NSX. "You said that I could join up with you later on to get some space so, here I am. Hope you don't mind that I'm here this late."

"Oh hey, Zane." She said as she slid out from under what looked to be a blue Nissan. "You're good but you're too quiet. Anyways, you can probably find a space over there behind you where Travis kept his other cars before he sold them off today."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Zane nodded in thanks before going back out to pull the car in to one of the open spaces. Afterwards, Amy approached him curiously.

"So, like, Travis said that you knew a thing or two about working on cars, right? I mean if you need help, I got you but like, I just got one rule:" her tone was serious, enough to give her Zane's full attention, "put any tool you need to use right back where you found it. I can't stress this enough, Zane. I've got a system and the system hasn't failed me once. You've seen the results of my system already, right?" Her head subtly gestured towards the Nissan behind her, the same one that left him and Spike in the dust.

"Yeah… I saw." He muttered and nodded, "I've been meaning to ask: how the fuck did you do that?"

"What? Beat you guys? Uhm… I practice?" She smiles and shrugs for a moment before continuing, "but really though, I try to make sure that my cars can do exactly what they need to do when I need them to do it. The right build with the right person brings in the right kind of luck. Also, I really did practice."

"Respect. So," he gestured towards the blue Nissan, "is this your newest project?"

"Oh yeah," her face brightened up at the mention of the car. "A Nissan Silvia S15, Raugh-Welt kit installed. Travis fished it out of the market for me as a birthday present." She spoke as she walked around the car, tracing her finger along the open hood until she reached the driver's seat on the right. She then reached an arm through the window while the key was still in the ignition and turned. The car sprang to life, the engine roar of the engine sounding both loud and raw, Zane could even feel the soundwaves through his chest.

"Fuck me…"

"Yeah," she said as she bit her lip slightly, "she's sounds sexy as fuck. This right here is gonna be my best project ever, my Master Build. I've worked on every car in the whole crew except Travis' and I swear it won't even be close. With this RWB kit too? Oh man, I just know that this'll get Akira Nakai's attention. Did you know he was here last night?!"

"Nakai…" Zane mutters, "I know that name. That's the dude who works on Porsches right? Like, tears them down and builds them back up in, like, 3 days while running off a pack of cigarettes, a case of beer, and a comfy chair?"

"Yes!" She said as she turned off the car and leaned against her project, "and I'm so pissed off that Travis never told me 'cause I swear he knew the whole time!"

"I swear I saw Ken Block at the club too, pretty crazy that they were both here in the same night."

"Yeah, it is. I mean, can't blame them. This is probably the most chill city in the country when it comes to racing. Rockport, Palmont, fucking REDVIEW? Shit is crazy in those places, racers legit challenge cops and like… people are lucky if they only go to jail out there."

Both were quiet for a moment. It's known all over the country that while street racing is more popular than ever, it was also even more dangerous. Accidents happen every day even without racing and lives can be lost at any second. A main reason Zane chose to start racing in Ventura Bay was because it was relatively safer and easier to come up compared to the other cities. In the underground scene, not everybody makes it and sometimes the best racers were simply the ones who survived.

"Anyways," said Amy as she cut the silence, "if I can fix this up and tag Raugh-Welt on Instagram he might like or repost it. His seal of approval will give this shop the boost it needs and, well... I just want him to see it."

"Yeah, totally." He replied, "I mean, this is your business right."

"Yeah," she said albeit with a lower voice, "yeah, the business. Anyways, you're free to get to work whenever. You got lucky with that Civic, a Type-R? That thing is literally a casual car that was made to race. Swap out the stock parts for some aftermarket shit and that thing will be a menace when you figure out how to drive it."

"What?" Zane said with a raised eyebrow, "I can already drive." Maybe he came off as defensive in his tone, but he really couldn't believe her when she said what she said. He's been driving since he was around fifteen and he likes to think that he's good enough.

"Well, no shit but like, there's more to racing out here than just having a license. It's a lot of trial and error, testing out whatever new parts you put in, tuning it juuuuuust right. After that, you're golden."

He sighed softly as he started to understand. She was right, the car needed work and he wasn't really used to it just yet. "Right, gotcha."

From there, Zane would get to work on the Civic. He didn't have too much to work with at that time since he was low on cash, but Amy was able to lend him some compatible parts to switch in place of his stock ones: a new ECU, a stronger clutch, and new tires. The Engine Control Unit was the brain of the engine and with a little work, he'd be able to have it provide a better performance. With Amy's laptop (and a few helpful tips that she provided), he could reprogram his car's new ECU to allow more air and fuel into the engine and provide more horsepower.

Next came the air filter, something that was much easier. The process was simple: take the old filter out, put the newer and better filter in. Of course, Zane needed to hear just how his car was sounding so once he was done, he turned the key in the ignition. The young man was soon met with a deeper growl from his car than what he'd heard last night. A smile crept on his face as he knew that he was getting somewhere and was eager to test it out. Amy seemed to also like the sound as she'd glanced over at him when he revved the engine, giving it a slight nod.

"Hey Amy," he called out as he was cleaning up, he'll have to continue another day. "So like, you said that you've worked on everybody's ride except Travis' right? What kind of work have you done on them?"

"Am I legally obligated to answer that question?" she asked in a serious tone from under her Silvia.

"No."

"Well, since you're curious, I really just tuned their cars to suit their styles. Spike is a classic adrenaline junkie with a dash of coke addict in him. All gas, no brakes. Easily the easiest to tune since his ECU is standalone and just needed a little push in the software. Some decent tires that help him keep his grip in the rain, so he doesn't die are there too. If he slowed down enough to figure out how his build really works, he'd so much better.

"Robyn is easier to work with. She doesn't ask for much, a supercharger to keep her boosting at low speeds and handling so she can race in the mountains. She's got a real soft touch that leads to some smooth drifting when you're in the car with her, but she looks like the devil when you watch from the outside. Her Beamer is beautiful though, probably the nicest car I worked on in the crew besides mine.

"Manu is more of a show-off. His Miata isn't hard to work on, but it ALWAYS needs some work! Like, he doesn't ask for much except for brakes and tires. Dude I swear he's here once a week to get one of both of those replaced, it's really where most of his race winnings goes to.

Zane listened quietly, soaking in the information. It sounded like the crew all had their own little things they did when they weren't racing together. That was cool and all, but he wondered for a moment what he'd be doing when he wasn't with him. What would be his thing?

Later on, the two of them would be rolling out side by side under the evening sky. The sun had set by the time Zane was ready for testing but that didn't bother him so much, he was just eager to see how his new car would fare after some tuning. Amy would be in the passenger's seat.

The drive itself was interesting enough. The Honda felt even more comfortable with the new tires and as Zane accelerated, he could feel the car push harder than it did in the past. The new clutch was working well enough when he tried to switch gears. However, he still needed to get his timing down. After a few laps around the area where the garage was, Amy spoke up next to him.

"This is pretty okay so far…" she said, "but you'll definitely need more practice with this car."

"Yeah," said Zane, "I mean, it feels better than before but like, I can do better?"

"That's 'cause you actually could. Civics are like the ultimate project car for newbies but like, I dunno. It depends on what you want from your car. Do you wanna be the fastest or the best drifter or like… just have it look good and be loud?"

"I'm not sure yet," he said, "I mean I wanna race more but that's pretty much it. I can't really drift in this car all that well so… yeah."

"No worries, Man. If I were you, I'd try to stick close to Spike and Robin, they're always on their phones looking into meet ups and races around the bay. If you're with them, you'll get more than enough practice. "

"What about you?" Zane asked, "racing isn't entirely your thing but you're like… the best I've seen in the whole crew."

"I mean, Travis is better…" she said quickly to brush it off. "I've got my own races I go to but those are for the more… finished projects? You get what I mean right?"

He felt a pit in his stomach as he heard her. It sounded a lot like she was saying that his car wasn't good enough to race with her yet. The worst part about that was: he agreed, his car was kind of trash compared to her Nissan.

"Yeah…" he said, "I get it. I just need time."

"And practice."

"And practice."

Zane thanked her for her help and decided to call it a night from there… after another drive on his own. A couple days later, Zane got just the opportunity that he needed. Spike hit him up saying that there was going to be a race later that night around 11:35. Naturally, he didn't hesitate to pull up to the spot near a neighborhood in the northeastern part of the city called Beckenholl.