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)
Everyone stared in absolute shock as Kenta and Vanney were simply staring at each other amid the pouring rain. With one swift move, Vanney freed herself from Kenta's grasp and glared at Project D's timekeeper with disdain.
"As much as I hate sounding like a whiney sissy girl at a time like this… I just bought this shirt today… it cost me a lot of money… and since you've held me in place like that before I could go for shelter, it's now thoroughly soaked… so you know what… I accept your challenge, rain boy. May you have cause to regret it!"
"Wait a minute, what the heck is going on here?" Shingo demanded as he stepped forward. "You refuse a challenge from me, but you accept one from that runt? No fair!"
Vanney was already on her radio, talking to what appeared to be Simon, "Hey, there's been a change of plans… there's another race now…"[1]
"What? Another race? How come? And it's who against who?"[2]
"It's me against that annoying little twit from Project D… You know, the one who follows Keisuke Takahashi around like a little lost puppy? Yeah, him… like, he got pissed at me and just challenged me to a race right now… yeah… yeah, I'll do my best… and I'll see you at the bottom of the mountain, okay? Bye."[3] She then quietly made her way to her Evo VII and brought it to the starting line. Kenta did the same with his bright orange S-14.
"This is insane," Keisuke muttered.
"You're telling me… Takeshi is gonna get pissed when he finds out that there's another impromptu race going on…" Shingo added, then glared at Keisuke. "Besides, what the hell is up with your little shadow boy anyway? The way he looked, he looked really pissed at her… as if she'd dealt a blow to his manhood or something…"
"You know Shouji… you have the power to stop this race," Keisuke began slowly as he shook his head, purposely evading his answer, but Shingo merely grinned at him.
"Yeah, I could… but I'd rather not… besides, I have the feeling that your little rain boy might be given a harsh lesson in chivalry by the Evo driver… Besides, I'm curious in seeing what the little lady can do behind the wheel of her car." The Night Kids downhill specialist smiled at the FD driver, ignoring the scowl that was firmly plastered on his face. When Keisuke didn't respond, Shingo shrugged and went to stand in between the two cars and raised his hands, all while grinning and winking at Vanney in her Evo. She shook her fist impatiently at him in response. Kenta merely had his eyes riveted on the road in front of him, occasionally glancing at Shingo in anticipation for the countdown.
"Aniki… I told you…" Keisuke muttered to himself as Shingo began the countdown. Takumi, who had stayed at the top of the mountain pass with Keisuke, had shrugged selflessly. "Do you think Ryousuke-san knows that there's another race between Kenta and Emerald Fusion's Evo driver?"
"Well, he should know by now… I certainly doubt that whoever it was who responded to Vanney-chan's radio message didn't inform the people at the bottom of the mountain pass…"
Shingo was just finishing the countdown, "… go… san… ni… ichi…GO!" With that, both cars lurched forwards and began racing down Myougi's mountain pass. Vanney had deliberately slowed down at the start, letting Kenta assume the lead and she fell into place behind him, which only caused Shingo to frown as both drivers disappeared from view.
"That's a crock and a half… why is she letting that whiney kid win?" he demanded to no one in particular as he walked back to join the Night Kids. Keisuke shook his head as he saw the taillights of Vanney's Evo VII vanish from plain view.
"Do you think Kenta will win this race?" Takumi queried.
"Honestly? Even though Vanney-chan doesn't seem that skilled to me… I doubt it…"
---
"WHAT?! You mean there's another race going on right now?!" Takeshi raged as he heard the news at the bottom of the mountain pass. Simon kept his face impassive, as did Denis, while Nayth and Ryousuke both looked amused. The leader of the Night Kids swore aloud and started pacing around angrily. "Damn Shingo! Why didn't he stop it?"
"Well, I can't really explain Shingo's reasons for allowing the race to happen, but I suppose I could shed some light on why this race happened in the first place."
Takeshi stopped pacing and glared at the leader of the RedSuns and Project D. "For your sake, it better be good!"
Ryousuke couldn't help but chuckle. "As you probably know, Kenta is the RedSuns' rain specialist. He specializes in racing in the rain. Well… from what I understood from Vanney-chan's conversation with Simon," here, he glanced over at the men of Emerald Fusion, who merely stared back at him without saying a word before he continued, "and from what I know about him, Kenta got mad at her… and when the rain started to fall, it was a perfect opportunity for him… so he challenged her to a race."
"That still doesn't explain why Shingo allowed this race to happen…" Takeshi growled furiously.
"Maybe I can shed light on that," Nayth answered as he stepped forward. Both Ryousuke and Takeshi stared at him. (well, maybe stared is an understatement for the Night Kids leader. Glared would suitably fit the bill here). When neither man answered, he continued on, "When Vanney came back after a trip to Mt. Myougi, she'd told us," here, he gestured to Denis and Simon, "that she'd run into the second best driver of the Myougi Night Kids… who I'll guess is Shingo. She then went on to mention that he really came onto her… like… even when she'd made it clear that she had a boyfriend. From what she told us, she'd ended up punching him in the jaw just so that he'd leave her alone. So it's possible that, so that Shingo could somehow get into Vanney's good graces, he allowed this race to happen. Makes sense, ne?"
"Why does everyone keep trying to hit on my girlfriend?" Denis whined to no one in particular. No one bothered answering him either.
Takeshi allowed himself a small chuckle. "Well, at least now I know why Shingo was complaining that he got punched in the face last Tuesday. He'd said he'd gotten into a fight with a solo racer in the area, but the punch wasn't severe enough, so I was suspicious. At least now I know who really threw that punch." He chuckled again. "Oh well…" He folded his arms across his chest. "This may be an interesting ending to an otherwise dreary evening…"
---
Kenta felt somewhat elated and somewhat worried when Vanney slowed down and let him assume the lead. He was elated because he was in the lead, and that if his car wasn't as powerful as hers, at least he could block her on the way down. He was worried as well, though… simply because of the sheer fact that her Evo VII is more powerful than his S-14. Even if her skills didn't quite match his, she could certainly pass him if given enough time for her accelerator to kick in.
He quickly resolved that he would not give her that time…
Since the first part of Myougi wasn't really that curved, Kenta simply coasted along, making sure to deliberately block the Evo VII when it attempted to pass him on either side. With the rain reducing traction on the road, he managed to slightly pull away from the Evo VII as the first curve came up, but as soon as he came out of the first curve, he was faced with another curve in the opposite direction… not to mention Vanney was still on his heels and she didn't seem to be showing any inclination of letting him get away either.
In all technicality, Kenta had the advantage of the familiarity of the course, since he'd raced against Fujiwara on this very course. It was highly unlikely that Vanney had ever raced on Myougi before, so she would be racing on the track for the first time. And given that it was raining and that it was nighttime, she didn't really have much of an advantage, other than the fact that her Evo VII was obviously more powerful than his S-14.
As more constant curves met him on the way down, Kenta started to feel a little unsure of himself. His arms were getting tired of constantly jerking the wheel left and right, not to mention the persistent glare of Vanney's headlights following him after every turn.
No, he scolded himself sharply. No, I can do this… and I will do this! I will beat that stupid girl and I'll show Keisuke-san that I'm good! I'll show him that I'm just as noteworthy, if not as good, as that Fujiwara boy!
As the road started to straighten out and he was faced with less pressing curves, Kenta was able to relax a bit. Only a bit, because Vanney wasn't letting up from her position behind him.
Kenta glanced at her briefly, then tried to peer closely at her in the rearview mirror, before he abruptly turned the wheel as a short curve came up. Were his eyes deceiving him, or was she singing and grooving in her car while driving?
---
Running in the nineties,
It's a new way I like to be
I'm just running in the nineties
Come on baby run to me
We are running in the nineties,
It's a new way to set me free
I'm just running in the nineties
Yes I wanna know, yes I wanna see
Vanney was bobbing her head to the Eurobeat as she kept her car right behind Kenta's S-14. If she remembered correctly, there was a steep curve coming up soon. If she didn't pass him then, she'd have difficulty doing so later on. She then recalled Nayth telling her something about the gutters that were placed alongside the roads to catch falling rainwater…
---
Kenta let out a small sigh as he remembered the sharp curve that was quickly approaching. It was a very difficult turn to take at full speed. Last time, he nearly spun out of control at this curve, but that was against Fujiwara, who was obviously a very skilled driver. He still wasn't sure if he could say the same for the Evo driver.
He carefully brought his car out to the outside, with the intention of turning towards the inside as the curve approached him, but as he went for the outside, the Evo VII pulled up alongside him and passed him with the intention of taking the inside. His eyes widened at the car passing him. Is she insane? There's no way that she can take the curve by taking the inside… she'll end up oversteering and hitting the far wall! Not even I'm dumb enough to risk that!
He spoke too soon.
Indeed the Evo VII was approaching the curve very fast from the inside, but it suddenly turned into the corner and the nose of the Evo came very close to the inner guardrail, and rode it all the way down the curve until the road straightened out. When the road straightened, so did the Evo VII, lurching a bit to the other side while Vanney tried to calibrate her car, then it simply continued on, unperturbed.
"Whaaaaaaaaat?" Kenta cried out loud as he tried his best to drift into the curve. He succeeded, amazingly, but he was still in shock at the strange manner that Vanney had drifted into that sharp curve, not to mention how she managed to ride the guardrail all the way until the curve straightened out.
And if that wasn't already bad, she was now in the lead… and getting progressively farther as each second rolled by. There was no way for him to catch up now.
Damnit… he cursed to himself as he drove on after her. How the hell did she do that anyway?
Keisuke-san… I'm sorry…
---
Takeshi squinted as he saw a pair of headlights appearing from the darkness amid the falling rain. The others saw it too and tried to discern who was the winner.
Suddenly, Simon let out a huge whoop. "It's Vanney! I recognize the headlights of her Evo! It's her! She won!"[4] he cried out gleefully. Sure enough, as the car came closer, they could see the bright, vibrant color of Vanney's Evo VII. She simply coasted down and past the finish line as Kenta's bright orange S-14 appeared in view.
Vanney slowed down and pulled the Evo VII over to the side before she killed the engine and got out, carrying a thin jacket with her. She unceremoniously pulled it on and threw up the hood before joining the other members of Emerald Fusion, muttering under her breath. "God damnit… my new shirt is all soaked…"[5]
Denis put an arm around her. "Hey, it's not so bad… at least you won!"[6]
Ryousuke walked over to the team and nodded at Vanney while smiling. "Congratulations, Vanney-chan."
She wrinkled her nose as Kenta parked his car and came over the join them. "Thank you," she managed to answer politely.
Kenta was not so polite. "How the hell did you do that?" he demanded shrilly.
She looked at him and shrugged. "Do what?"
"That curve… you took the inside and rode it all the way out… how the hell did you do that?"
Ryousuke's eyebrows shot up. "You pulled off a gutter run? Now that's definitely impressive. On which curve?" he queried politely.
Kenta turned to face his team leader. "That sharp one in the middle of the course…" He shook his head. "I was taking the outside, and she just came through on the inside, then rode the curve out and took the lead." He stamped his foot. "Damnit, if I'd known that I could use the gutters to my advantage, I'd have used it too!"
Vanney shook her head this time. "It was a fluke… I'm pretty sure if I tried it again, I wouldn't be so lucky… Also considering, you gave me enough space to maneuver around you before that curve for me to sufficiently pull it off." She scratched her head absently. "You took the outside with the intention of shifting into the inside as the turn began... had you boxed me in before I passed you, I would've had no room to maneuver through and I probably would have ended up crashing into the wall…" She suddenly smiled. "As it is, you saved me a bundle in car insurance and my life. Thank you!"
Kenta merely glared at her and said nothing. Takeshi laughed aloud at her comment. Ryousuke allowed himself a chuckle, Nayth and Simon smirked and Denis hugged his girlfriend fiercely. The leader of Project D then pulled out his cellular phone and called his brother at the top of the mountain pass to tell him of the news.
Nayth then turned to his teammates. "Okay you guys… I think we've all had enough racing for one night… Let's all go home."
"I need to take a shower… and do my laundry…" Vanney sniffed before she faced Ryousuke, Kenta and Takeshi one more time. "Anyhow, good night to you guys." With that, she simply walked over to her Evo and got back into the driver's seat and sighed. Denis made a face and went to his own car and got in. Simon did the same.
Nayth was the last to leave. He nodded once at Ryousuke and at Takeshi. The leader of the Night Kids was the first to speak, "I gravely underestimated Denis… he's pretty lethal in that Sil-Eighty of his… guess the color's just a screen to throw people off, huh?"
"The same way Simon's Levin is a screen to throw people off," Nayth admitted honestly.
"And what about Vanney-chan's Evo VII? That's supposed to be a screen for what?" Kenta demanded, despite the sharp glare Ryousuke sent in his direction. Nayth chuckled.
"Nah, Vanney just likes the Lancer Evolution series… so she bought a LanEvo… that's all. Nothing special, no hidden skills… just a girl and her car…"
"She's pretty good for just a girl and her car…" Ryousuke commented.
Nayth turned to leave. "All I'll say is this: she certainly surprised me tonight. Good night." And with that, the leader of Emerald Fusion got into his prized Spirit R FD and drove off, the other three members following him afterwards.
"What did he mean by that?" Kenta demanded, looking at his team leader.
Takeshi chuckled. "From what I think, he means that she sucks at racing… so if you lost to her… it must mean that you suck at racing…" He chuckled again and turned away. Kenta's nostrils flared as he took a step towards Takeshi, but Ryousuke held him back.
"That's enough Kenta. You lost fair and square," the leader of Project D answered stiffly before he turned his head to stare at the mountain pass, waiting for his younger brother and Fujiwara to arrive.
---
"So… she won…" Shingo repeated for what must have been the third time as he sat across from Takeshi as they sat in a small café, drinking (invariably enough) coffee. Takeshi was beginning to get annoyed with the way Shingo kept repeating himself. Four days had already passed since both races on Myougi… and Shingo still couldn't drop the subject of the race between Vanney and Keisuke Takahashi's obedient little puppy who drove the S-14.
"Yes, she won. She pulled off a gutter run at the Grande Curve and left the little boy eating her dust. I've said that three times already. Weren't you listening to me, Shingo?" As if he ever listens to me anyway, Takeshi thought to himself sourly.
Shingo leaned back in his seat and chuckled. "I knew she'd beat that whiney little twit. Come to think of it, I wonder how that kid got into the RedSuns in the first place, anyway…"
Takeshi took a sip of his coffee. "How the hell should I know? I'm not Takahashi…" he scowled.
He merely grinned. "You know… I'd like to race that girl myself one of these days… see how good she really is…"
The Night Kids leader paused in mid-sip. "Shingo, I swear, if you do and you pull off any of that gum tape death match crap, or any of your bumper cars braking, I will beat the stuffing out of you. It's one thing to do it to someone like Fujiwara, it's another to do it to a girl who's obviously less skilled."
Shingo shook his head and chuckled again. "Oh don't worry your little head off, Takeshi. I won't hurt her. I do have certain standards in my driving, you know…"
Riiiiight… Takeshi thought to himself scornfully as he drank more coffee.
---
So that concludes Chapter 4, I guess… O_o
Original Dialogue:
[1] Vanney: "Eille… ya un changement de plan… il ya un autre race maintenant."
[2] Simon: "Quoi? Un autre race? Comment ça? Et c'est qui contre qui?"
[3] Vanney: "C'est moi contre cet osti de retarder de Project D… tse, celui qui traîne en arrière de Keisuke Takahashi comme un chiot perdu? Ouin, lui… faque, ye devenu fâché contre moi pis il m'a challenger juste maintenant… ouin… ouin, je ferais mon mieux… et je te verrai en bas du montagne, okay? Bye."
[4] Simon: "C'est Vanney! Je connais les lumières de son Evo! C'est elle! Elle a gagner!"
[5] Vanney: "Osti caliss de marde… mon nouveau chandail est toute trempée…"
[6] Denis: "Eille, c'est pas si pire que ça… au moins t'as gagner!"
AN: When I first wrote this part, I hadn't really seen the whole map of Shin-Myougi, so I'd assumed that, like Circuit-Myogi from Arcade Stage, the Grande Curve existed. So in the original version, Kenta had referred to it as The Grande Curve. Then, after having seen that part of the anime and playing Initial D: Special Stage, I realized my error and went back to correct it, although I did leave in the gutters in Myougi… (does Myougi even have gutters? O_o)
Anyhow, that's that. It is now my intention to play video games for several hours.
See you when I'm done crashing into the walls on Enna Pass. =P
~BoomChish