You guys know the drill. I don't own Initial D, its characters or anything else pertaining to the anime/manga. Emerald Fusion is deliberately a knockoff of an Initial D: Arcade Stage group that I hang out with, and yes, those are the cars we drive in the game. :P (I know, we're pitiful). They know who they are, and they gave me permission to write this. (The song lyrics used in this chapter are the property of their respective owners and in no way do I claim credit for their creation)
Summary: Iketani sees four mysterious cars drive past him on Akina late one night. They are the gaijin group Emerald Fusion and they're in town to face the competition. Are they really a challenge, though...?
Initial D Fusion Stage
by BoomChish (boomchish@2die4.com)
King of your love,
I wanna be with you my girl, now.
Cause' I know this time,
I'll take you high
You better follow me up to the sky…
Vanney had her car volume cranked to a significantly loud volume and was singing along as she drove around Mt. Myougi one afternoon later on in the following week. Since she was considered to be the worst skilled driver in Emerald Fusion, she was responsible for scouting around and looking for the other teams in the prefecture. Not that she was trying too hard; in fact, she had only reached Mt. Myougi in the afternoon, having spent her morning checking out the various stores in the district and keeping a mental note of whether the merchandise she saw warranted a second return.
As she drove down Mt. Myougi's fairly quick winding roads, she kept grooving to the happy Eurobeat that continued to blare from her radio as she saw a rather sharp turn approaching. She still kept bobbing her head to the music as she took the outside and upon entering the curve, turned the wheel of her Evo hard so that she slid close to the inner guardrail and pretty much rode it out until the road started to straighten out again. That's when she began to countersteer to realign her car and drive off.
"Holy crap… that was pretty bad… thank god Nayth or Simon isn't here… they'd really light into me for screwing up on that turn…" she muttered to herself amid the blaring music of Dave Rodgers' Kingdom of Rock. "It wasn't even a hairpin either… god, do I ever suck in drifting into those."
Welcome to the music and Kingdom of Rock.
Take you away, baby
Welcome to the pleasure and Kingdom of Rock, babe.
Do you want to be...
Suddenly, she saw a red Honda Civic SiRII appear in her rearview mirror. At first she thought nothing of it, until she'd noted that the Civic was staying right on her tail… and flashing its lights at her.
Holy crap… he wants to race me? This ain't good… Vanney thought to herself as she eventually just slowed down and pulled over to the side and let out a huge sigh. It was only a split second later that she realized that she'd left her radio on. Sighing, she reached to turn it off as the chorus ended.
Welcome to the music and Kingdom of Rock.
Take me away, baby
Welcome to the pleasure and Kingdom of Rock, babe.
Do you want to be mine?
---
Shingo Shouji, the downhill specialist of the Myougi Night Kids felt rather proud of himself that he'd managed to scare the Evo driver just enough so that she'd pull over to see what he wanted. Takeshi had alerted him that there was a new road racing team on the scene, and he knew that the Evo driver was a girl. Not that it mattered anyway. A racer was still a racer, despite their gender. He was also a close friend of Sayuki, the navigator half of Usui's Impact Blue, and she had also alerted him to the presence of the new team Emerald Fusion. In fact, she was more accurate in her information on the team, seeing as how unexpectedly, the driver of the white Spirit R FD, Nayth, had driven over to Usui alone and had challenged them to a simple race on whichever terms they desired. As it was, they made their deliberations and went ahead with the race, but were no match for the unobtrusive leader of Emerald Fusion. He'd walked away with a victory on Usui, and it wasn't even a real challenge.
Both Sayuki and Mako Satou, the driver of the Impact Blue combination, had been very insistent that if it were the white FD that he encountered, it was best not to challenge him, because he would lose for sure. Takeshi had echoed the same train of thought, but was also of the belief that the Emerald Fusion members with the more conspicuous cars were of lesser skill and thus, not too much of a challenge and an easy victory, if that's what he was aiming for.
Which is why he'd gotten the Evo driver to pull over.
He stood next to his beloved Civic and had his hands in his pockets, waiting for the Evo driver to get out of her car. The door flew open so quickly, it seemed like it would fly right off, and the girl who emerged slammed it shut rather fiercely before she stormed over to where he was standing.
If there was one thing Vanney was good at, it was masking her fear with other emotions, such as giddiness, indifference or her personal favorite, anger. Denis, being her boyfriend, knew damn well that when Vanney was angry (or hiding her fear under a mask of anger) it was a very bad idea to confront her. It was also apparent that Shingo did not know that, or if he'd noticed her anger, he chose to ignore it. "What the hell do you want?" she snapped rather ferociously.
"You're a member of that new team Emerald Fusion, aren't you?" he asked casually.
She glared at him. "You can read, right? It says so on that sticker that's on my back windshield! What are you, blind?" she demanded as she pointed to her Emerald Fusion sticker.
"Oh, I saw it, all right. I just wanted to make sure. There's no harm in that, ne?"
The annoyance in her face was as plain as day. "I repeat my first question; what the hell do you want?" Her voice was no longer shrill and blatant; it was now calm and very cold.
Shingo didn't seem the least bit perturbed. "Well… as you know, I am a member of the local racing team here, the Myougi Night Kids. And since you're also a road racer and on our territory…"
"No," she answered firmly before he could even finish his sentence. He stared at her.
"What do you mean, 'no'? You chicken?" he taunted.
Vanney made a face. "Obviously you're not Takeshi Nakazato, so you must be Shingo Shouji. And obviously Nakazato didn't even bother telling you, since you're challenging me to a race right now… There's a Night Kids versus Emerald Fusion race this Saturday on Myougi… it's your beloved team leader versus my boyfriend Denis." She shook her head. "So I won't be accepting your challenge. Simple as that."
Shingo grinned at her devilishly. "You know, you're kinda cute."
She snorted. "And you're butt-ugly. What's your point? Besides, I already have a boyfriend. He's the one racing this weekend."
It was his turn to snort. "What, you mean that fag with the pink Sil-Eighty?" He chortled. "You must have some really low standards, if you're dating a guy who has the balls to drive around in a car like that, let alone race people and maintain some dignity."
Vanney raised one eyebrow at him. "Look who's talking. I've heard about your driving style, Shouji, and I find it hard to believe that you're proud of racing like that. Where I come from, stunts like that would get your arse kicked in by your opponents afterwards, regardless of whether they won or not."
"Well, good thing I'm not from wherever you're from, then," he answered, his smile still in place.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head as she turned around to leave. Shingo took a few quick strides forward and grabbed her arm. "Hold it, I'm not done with you yet."
"Oh, I think you are," she answered succinctly.
Shingo cocked one eyebrow. "Really. What makes you say that, little one?"
Vanney didn't say anything; she merely swung her other fist around and punched the Night Kids' downhill specialist squarely in the jaw. He quickly let go of her and stepped backwards with a grunt, holding his jaw. She simply reached for the handle of her car door and opened it.
"See you on Saturday," was her final parting shot as she got into her Evo VII and drove off. Shingo watched her go, still holding his aching jaw, a smile spreading on his homely face.
"Heh, the kid packs quite a punch… I like girls like that…"
---
"Aniki, I don't get it. Why are we going to Myougi this weekend? I have better things to do than hang around and watch those damn Night Kids," Keisuke whined as he plopped down on Ryousuke's bed, watching his brother type away at his computer.
"Didn't you listen to me? Nakazato is racing the Sil-Eighty driver from Emerald Fusion. I'm curious to see how he fares in a race. After all…" here, he paused for emphasis, "the leader of Emerald Fusion, the one driving the Spirit R FD, went to Usui and supposedly trampled the ladies of Impact Blue without even trying… If they weren't a challenge for him - and those ladies are pretty good, from the reports I've been given, then it makes me wonder about the skill level of the lesser members. Hence why I'd like to check out the race. Besides, I already asked Nakazato if we could show up and watch the race. He says it's fine, as long as we don't disrupt him. Or start a fight with the other Night Kids."
Keisuke shook his head. "I heard it might rain on Saturday…"
Ryousuke didn't even turn around. "So?"
The blonde scratched his head. "Well… if it rains, Kenta might have another ego trip and challenge someone again…"
He still didn't turn around. "So?"
Keisuke sighed. "Never mind, aniki…"
Finally, Ryousuke turned around. "Keisuke," he began calmly, "if Kenta goes and challenges someone, then it's up to that someone to accept the challenge or not. And once that is done, it all depends on whether Kenta wins or loses. If he wins, well then good for him. If he loses, then that will teach him to keep him mouth shut."
"And the loss that Fujiwara handed him didn't teach him that?" the younger Takahashi retorted.
Ryousuke shrugged. "I don't know what goes on in Kenta's mind."
Keisuke sighed and stood up. "Sometimes, I don't know what goes on in your mind," he muttered as he left his brother's room.
---
It was a very humid night when Saturday rolled around for the next race. The people who were gathered at Myougi were grumbling about the heat. Everyone had arrived on time, except for Nakazato, for some odd reason. Normally, he would be punctual, but he was late this time. Even Project D had arrived on time and was waiting for the race to start. Forget Project D; even Shingo was on time, and he was reported to be the tardy one of the Night Kids.
"Where the hell is he? He's late," Denis growled as he checked his watch for what seemed to be the hundredth time.
Vanney chuckled. "You sound like a fussy girlfriend being stood up by her boyfriend on a date."
"Hey, I never have to worry about you being late. You're always so damn early!"
"And you're complaining?" she countered with a smile.
Keisuke laughed as he stood not far from where she was, off to the side with Kenta and Hiroshi. "She got him there." Hiroshi merely smiled and Kenta just snorted and looked away.
There was a familiar engine roar and the black GT-R Nissan Skyline appeared at the top of the mountain pass and positioned himself at the starting line before the leader of the Night Kids emerged from his car looking extremely frazzled indeed.
"I'm sorry," he spoke quickly, addressing Denis. "There was an emergency at work and I couldn't leave at my usual time. Have you been waiting long?"
"Not really… but we had no way of telling whether you were going to show up or not… so…"
Nakazato made a face. "What are you talking about? I called Shingo from work and told him to tell all of you that I'd be a little late!" He glared at Shingo. "Why didn't you tell them?"
Shingo made a face. "I'm not your goddamn secretary, Takeshi."
"He's got a point there," Vanney added and winced when Takeshi glared at her. Nayth snickered, causing Takeshi to glare at him afterwards, but he covered it up by coughing loudly.
"So… are we having this race, or no?" Denis demanded somewhat impatiently. Takeshi checked his watch and saw that it was close to ten-thirty in the evening. He nodded at the Sil-Eighty driver
:You have a point. Okay then, let's get ready." He turned and went back to his car and got inside. Denis didn't do so, well not immediately anyway. He turned to Vanney and nodded once, whereupon she stepped out onto the course and stood in between both cars and a little in front.
"The rules are simple; a race to the bottom of the mountain pass, where the finish line is indicated by the timekeepers designated. The first to pass the finish line is the winner. With that done, the race will start on the count of ten." She raised her hands. "Ten… nine… eight… seven… six…"
There was a roar of engines as both Takeshi and Denis revved their engines while Vanney was doing the countdown. She continued, unperturbed. "… five… four… three… two… one… go!" She dropped both her arms and both cars sped past her, creating enough wind for her dark hair to billow like a cloud behind her. She stood there for a while as she turned around and watched them go, then she shrugged. "Well, that's that…" Then she walked over to the side of the road, where Nayth handed her a walkie-talkie and nodded.
"You keep in touch with our timekeepers and see what's happening. I'm going to go down after them at a slower pace. Simon will be at the bottom of the mountain pass and he'll keep in contact with you to tell you about the results. You'll be fine here?" he asked her.
"Oh please Nayth, I'm not some wussy kid. I'll be fine." She gave him a playful shove. "You run along now." He smiled and saluted her before he got into his FD and drove off. She watched him go off in silence, then she simply hooked the walkie-talkie onto her waistband and promptly forgot about it. She crossed her arms across her chest and let out a sigh when all of a sudden, someone's hands came down and planted themselves on her bare shoulders. She went rigid at the moment of impact and didn't move.
"So… how's the little Evo driver this evening?" came Shingo's devilish voice as he poked his head out to look at her from his vantage point behind her. "The humidity must be extreme for you, hm?"
Vanney didn't say anything, she merely inhaled sharply and slowly expelled the air from her lungs before she unfolded her arms and grabbed Shingo by the chin rather fiercely, digging her nails into his skin. He let go of her almost immediately and started whining at her to let go of his face while Keisuke and the other Project D members looked on in amusement.
"Shouji… leave the girl alone, for chrissakes. It's obvious you're bothering her," Keisuke spoke out, a small grin dominating his face. Shingo grunted and pulled away from her iron grip, rubbing his face and glaring at her. She didn't say anything; she merely snorted and shook her head. Taking the cue from the younger Takahashi, the Night Kids downhill specialist moved away from Vanney and went to rejoin his teammates, who either mocked him for unsuccessfully attracting Vanney's attention or sympathized with him for being on the receiving end of a woman's wrath.
"Thank you, by the way," Vanney spoke after Shingo was out of earshot. "I wasn't sure if I could take care of him this time."
"Ah… he's confronted you before?" Keisuke queried as he came to stand next to her, Kenta following close behind, a scowl beginning to form on his tanned face.
She shrugged. "Earlier on in the week, I ran into him while I was driving around here. Apparently, he thinks I'm cute and is rather persistent in emphasizing that point to me. While I'm flattered, I don't really like the persistence… especially since I have a boyfriend."
"Well, you know what they say… the ones who are taken are usually the most desirable," he commented before he smiled. "So… you like yellow cars too, huh?"
Vanney stared at her Evo VII for inspiration. "Well yeah, sure. I mean, everywhere you go, you see red cars, or black cars, or white cars…they're common. Yellow is starting to become common, but it's still out in a category of its own, so I picked it. I mean, if I really wanted to stand out, I'd have gotten a pink Evo VII to match Denis's pink Sil-Eighty… but that would've been too weird… especially with the Emerald Fusion sticker being green and all. I wanted it to complement my car."
"Nice choice. What about the specs for your Evo? Any mods?"
"No need. It's a powerhouse just as it is. I mean, a stock Evo VII has 276hp. That's a lot already. Why add more?" She shook her head. "Besides, gas alone for that thing is insane. No way I'm gonna waste more money on it than I actually should."
Keisuke laughed. "At least you're practical about your racing maintenance."
Vanney was about to respond when there was a crackling noise coming from her walkie-talkie. She grabbed it off her belt and answered it. "What's up?"
"Denis just passed the R32 on the big turn… Apparently, the R32 turned too wide and ended up nicking the wall. How smart was that?" the voice answered, laughing.
She chuckled. "Well… that's his problem then, ne? Anyway, just radio me again when the winner is determined, all right?" After hearing the confirmation, she hooked the walkie-talkie back onto her waistband again. "And that's that."
"Looks like your boyfriend is gonna win this one, huh? Bet you got something special planned for him," Keisuke spoke, a smile curling at the edges of his mouth as he elbowed her gently. Vanney stared at him and made a face.
"Of course I do; it's just none of your business. And of course, it's still too soon to say. He could still have his arse handed to him by Nakazato in that GT-R, if he's not careful. But considering how his pink Sil-Eighty is his pride and joy, I think he'll be fine." She yawned, then sniffed the air and made a face. "It's going to rain soon… like… very soon…"
Keisuke had seen her sniff the air; he sniffed the air as well and wrinkled his nose. "I can't tell… how can you tell?" he queried.
"That musty humid smell… it's getting stronger… When I lived back in Canada, my dad used to sniff the air and tell me that it would rain soon… and within a half-hour it would begin to pour. After he'd said it a few times, I've learned how to recognize the smell. Just watch… in about half an hour, it'll start pouring down like crazy."
He stared at her in silence for a brief moment before he shrugged. "Whatever you say."
Kenta edged closer to Keisuke and whispered in his ear; "I think she's crazy. Talking as if she can identify the weather patterns by smell alone." Unfortunately for him, Vanney heard him and she gave him an evil glare, but she said nothing. Keisuke merely moved away from Kenta and shook his head.
"But she does have a point… there is a distinctive musty smell in the air… and if she says it means rain is on the way - and it's very likely considering this amount of humidity - then I believe her." He then patted Kenta on the head like a master would to his faithful dog. "Sometimes, the weirdest explanations make the most sense." He then changed the subject. "So how long have you been in Emerald Fusion? Or rather, how long has your team actually been together?"
Vanney scratched her arm for a bit before responding. "Well… officially, as a team, we've only been together for a year… but we've known each other long before that. Like… I was the last one to get my car… when we had a gathering and I showed up in my Evo VII, they were all really impressed and all - and why wouldn't they, the Evo VII is a nice car - so we decided then and there that we should form a racing team. Now obviously, me being the last one to get a car, I'm the worst driver in the team… but they said for someone who has only been driving for a year, I'm pretty decent in my skill level."
"I'll bet it's only because of your Evo VII… I'll bet with any other car, you would be worse than you are right now!" Kenta cut in sharply, causing Vanney to narrow her eyes at him.
"My car has nothing to do with it. Granted, it's a powerful car, but it's the driver's skill that really matters… I mean, look at Simon, the second best driver in Emerald Fusion… he drives a Hachi-Roku Levin. Now talk about an outdated car… it technically should stand no chance against any high-powered car, like a GT-R, or an RX-7, or my Evo… but he's a bloody speed demon in that thing… technically on the uphill, I should leave him biting my dust, but it's the other way around…" She eyed Kenta suspiciously. "And you… what do you drive?"
He wordlessly pointed to his Silvia Q S-14, which was parked relatively close to Keisuke's bright yellow FD. Vanney took one look at it and kept a neutral expression. Keisuke watched her carefully and as her eyes met his for a brief moment, he knew exactly what she wanted to do.
"Go right ahead, Vanney-chan. No one's stopping you."
"Nani?" Kenta was perplexed.
"Before I say anything else, I just want to ask you a few things… what mods did you install in your car?" she asked, looking directly at Kenta. Her suspicious look was replaced with a look of perplexity.
"The usual… muffler change, side skirts, front and rear spoilers, rear bumper… um…" here, he paused to think, then continued, "cool intake system installed, suspension change… light flywheel… um… I think that's pretty much it." He stared back at Vanney. "Why?"
"Well… because your S-14 is a perfect example of the point I was trying to make before… a highly underpowered car can be absolutely dangerous in the hands of the right driver… and since you're a member of the Akagi RedSuns, I'll make the assumption that you're fairly good behind the wheel of your S-14, no?"
Keisuke merely snorted at that comment. Both Kenta and Vanney looked at him, although only Kenta spoke. "Keisuke-san?"
"Kenta still needs a lot of practice… so I wouldn't say necessarily that he's good… I'd say he's decent," the blonde answered, addressing Vanney. Kenta blushed a deep scarlet and his eyes bugged.
"Keisuke-san! I am good! I'll bet you that I'm better than her!" he whined, pointing a finger at Vanney, who merely cocked an eyebrow. Before she could comment, her radio went off again.
"Yeah?"
"The race is over... Denis won!!" someone's voice crackled through the walkie-talkie. Her eyebrows shot up and she brought the radio close to her mouth.
"Really? Excellent! Well, wait a bit... 'cause I'm on my way, okay?" She simply stuck the radio back on her waistband and turned to leave, but Kenta took a few strides forward and grabbed her arm. "Hold it!" he cried out. Everyone around them turned to look at them. Keisuke then grabbed Kenta's wrist.
"No, Kenta," he spoke firmly. "Leave her alone."
"Keisuke-san," he answered in between clenched teeth, his glare never leaving Vanney's unperturbed gaze, "stay out of this."
Vanney cleared her throat. "Um… a quick question… why are you holding on to my arm like that?" she demanded. Just then, there was a peal of thunder and rain started to fall on them in sheets. Kenta continued to glare at her amid the falling rain.
"What perfect timing," he murmured quietly before he let his voice rise loud enough for everyone to hear, "I challenge you to a race right here, right now!"
---
Well, that's the end of Part 3/Chapter 3/whatever you want to call it
AN: Since Denis, Simon and Vanney are actually French Quebecois (or in Vanney's case, is able to speak French Quebecois), I'd initially put some of the dialogue snippets in - you guessed it - French Quebecois, but since I doubt everyone here can understand that, I translated it into English. In future chapters, they will be translated as well, but I will also include the original dialogue at the end, simply because I just find that I lose their characters a bit if they speak it in English. (particularly in Simon's case, since his real English isn't exactly picture perfect) =P
Anyhow, I'll keep updating as soon as I can.
Keep watching the skis... I mean skies! (god bless those Simpsons)
~BoomChish