Chapter 17: Deadly Night
Saturday night.....
The ten cars of the Student Council climbed the steep slopes of Mount Akina. Not long after them, a single car flew up, almost catching up to them.
At the summit, the teens all got out of their cars. Touga called everyone together.
"Everyone, before we start the race. I have to show you something. This pertains to the Revolutionary Races," Touga explained as he set off towards the small shack that was next to the line of trees, a little way from the road. Curiously, the others followed him.
Utena frowned as she followed him. 'What's he up to now?' Miki came up beside Utena and slid an arm around her waist, squeezing her gently and sending her a small smile.
Touga led them behind the shack to a small cleared area beyond the tree line. He stopped at a hidden patch of bushes off to the far right.
Meanwhile...
A dark figure walked around to the front of Utena's FD. Grinning evilly, Sayuki reached into Utena's car through the window and popped the hood. Walking over to the front of the car, she lifted the hood and fiddled with something. A couple minutes later, she closed the hood and patted the FD, still grinning. "Let's see how you deal with this, Tenjou." Hurrying off down the road, she reached her own car, a red convertible and drove off, pleased at her work.
Back to the others...
"What is this Touga?" Julius asked the Council leader.
"Don't you recognize this Julius?" Touga smirked. He gestured to the patch of grass. All of them stood in the center of the circle of the bushes.
In the grass, a shape was clearly shown. Utena gasped, taking a step forward, away from Miki's protective arm.
"Ah yes," Touga looked at Utena. "Of course, you would recognize it."
"This is...this is the-"
"Yes, it is." Touga interrupted. He turned to the others. "This is the emblem of the Rose Kingdom. It has grown here for years, even before we were born. It can't be destroyed, nor can it be altered. Some kind of magical force protects this."
"Why is it here?" Keisuke asked.
"It's here to symbolize that this is the official battling grounds of the Rose Kingdom. Long ago, they raced here, before our time," Touga explained.
"All right. Enough of this." Utena said, turning around. "We have a battle to race." She headed back towards the cars.
***
"Here we go," Yaten murmured to himself as the silver FD glided to a stop next to his silver-green Toyota SW20 MR-2 G-Limited. Taking a deep breath, he turned on his car engine and gripped the steering wheel.
Seiya leaned in through the window of Yaten's MR-2. "Well, good luck Yaten. I don't know what you have planned but hope it helps you."
"Thanks Seiya. Stop worrying about me and start worrying about yourself. You're going to have to race her soon enough."
Seiya shuddered, glancing over at Yaten's opponent who was strapping the double seat belts. "Don't remind me."
Yaten grinned and when Seiya walked back to his own car, Yaten closed the window, and gripped the steering wheel, his palms already sweating.
"Racers ready? Starting the countdown!" Teiya yelled, the two opponents' engines revving. "5...4...3...2.1...Go!" Teiya dropped her hand and the two cars jumped forward, bursting down the stretch.
"Hm," Ryosuke started as he drove after the two. He was leading the pack of cars, with Keisuke in the passenger seat, which included Seiya and Taiki, Miki and Julius. They paired up so that they would only take up four cars as still be able to keep up with the racers. "Keisuke, you remember what I told you about the Revolutionary Driver knowing what you were going to do, what your usual racing technique is?"
"Yeah," Keisuke replied, looking at his brother, wondering what Ryosuke was going to tell him.
"I think Yaten figured it out. I believe he's going to try to outsmart her," Ryosuke revealed.
"Do you think it'll work?" Keisuke questioned.
Ryosuke was silent. Then he spoke, quietly, "I honestly don't know. There's a possibility, with all the skills Tenjou seems to possess, she could be prepared for it and counter it. But Yaten might be able to pull it off. Unfortunately, even though there's a slim chance that she'll miss it, it's still a small chance."
Keisuke thought about his older brother's words. 'Yaten, come on, think. You have a chance and only one chance.'
***
"Crap," Yaten mumbled as he watched his rearview mirror for the silver FD. The FD had been keeping him on his toes for the beginning half of the race. With the FD moving back and forth across the line, out of his line of view, Yaten had had to work to keep track of the FD's position. And yet again, the FD had moved to the right, pulling out of the Yaten's rearview mirror.
Yaten steered to the right, trying to keep the FD behind him. His chance would be coming soon, but until then, he had to stay out in front.
***
"Hm. Something's different about his driving," Utena said to herself. 'He's doing the same as always, staying in front, but something about is driving is changed. What could it be?' Utena studied the car. "He's almost at his line.Oh! His motion of driving hasn't changed; the air surrounding his car is what's different! What is he planning?" Utena bit her lip.
***
"All right!" Yaten said loudly to the emptiness of his car. "This is it!" He sped up even more, keeping a close eye on his opponent. His plan was put into action.
***
"What?" Utena was confused. "What's he doing?" Puzzled, she sped up too.
***
As Yaten neared the turn, he steered his car towards the inside of the turn. "Here we go!" he exclaimed, anticipation causing sweat to break out on his forehead.
***
"Oh!" Utena shouted. 'He's gonna try the gutter trick! I've never seen him practice it though!' She frowned, "Yaten what are you doing!"
***
"Check this out, Utena!" Yaten said, as if she could hear his words. The tires of his MR-2 slid into the gutter. He expertly steered the car, easing it around the turn at a high speed, but not in a drift. No, instead he countered the centrifugal force of the turn and pulled through even faster.
***
"So he has practiced it for a while.Probably before I got here. Wonder why he never tried it out in a race this past year. Oh well, let's see his reaction to this."
Utena sped up and let the rear of her FD drop far. Sliding through, she almost brushed the side of Yaten's MR-2. "Errr...damn," Utena muttered as she pulled ahead of Yaten, but not putting much space in between them. "I almost forgot how much power his car has."
Shoving the gas pedal to the floor, she flew down the stretch, her opponent losing ground ever so slightly.
***
"Ahhh!" Yaten's eyes widened when he saw the FD on the right side of him as they went around the bend. "How'd she...?!?!" Yaten was speechless as Utena pulled out in front of him. Recovering slightly, Yaten thought, 'I can't let her get away! I have to win!' and pounded the pedal to the floor of the car. 'How'd she keep up with me on that corner? I went through faster than she did! And even worse, she passed me!'
***
'Hm,' Utena thought as she glanced into the rearview mirror. 'His MR-2 doesn't have as much power as I do. He can't pas me on the stretches, but if he tries harder, he MIGHT be able to beat me on the corner, MAYBE.' Utena prepared for the next corner. 'Alright Mr. Kou, here's my move.'
***
"What?!" Yaten sputtered. His eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing. Utena had copied his move! And she had more steadiness than he had! "Who is she?!" Yaten said in astonishment.
***
"Okay, the finish line's after this next turn. I think I've got this race!" Utena smiled. Yaten was right behind her, but she could still win.
Prepping for the next turn, Utena took the outside lane. She slammed on the brakes at just the right moment and the rear dropped. She slid through the corner exactly on her line and that pleased her.
Pulling out of the corner, she smiled. The finish line was right in front of her. She also saw Kelly and Nausicaa standing alongside the road, ready to report back to Touga who had stayed behind at the starting line who had won and by how many seconds.
Suddenly, as Utena neared the finish line, she slowed on the brakes, as there was a multiple clunk. Utena was taken off guard. "What?" She looked down at the pedal. Then she knew what had happened. "My brake pads are gone!"
The finish line loomed closer and then she passed over it. Utena gritted her teeth and jerked the wheel to the right, not being able to slow down. Her car skid to the left towards the next turn but she was going too fast. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yaten's car stop just after the finish line and she saw two figures jump out of the way just as her car flipped over and rolled over twice, hitting the guardrail with a jarring thud.
Utena breathed hard, opening her eyes, she saw feet running towards her. Realizing that her FD was toppled on to its hood and par of the hood rested on the guardrail, she put a hand to her aching head.
"Utena!" a frantic voice called.
"I-I'm fine," Utena said trying to get her bearings.
The three sets of feet ran over to her and the door was wrenched open. Yaten, Nausicaa, and Kelly stared down at her with pale faces. Utena took a deep breath to calm the fast beating of her heart.
"Are you all right Utena?" Nausicaa asked her, her voice shaking.
"Ye-Yeah, I'm fine. Can you get me outta here?" Utena replied.
Yaten reached in and gently held her up as Kelly unbuckled her double- shoulder seat belts. As they hauled her out as carefully as they could, cars pulled up with screeches of their tires and doors were slammed shut.
"Utena!" Miki yelled and shot towards the four teens as Yaten carried Utena over to the nearby sidewalk and lightly lowered her to the ground, leaning her back against the fence that lined the trees.
"Oh God!" Julius ran to them, his eyes wide and fear written on his face.
"What happened?! Are you all right Utena? Are you hurt?" Miki asked quickly as he dropped down next to her. He took her into his arms. Utena held on to his arm.
"I-I.....My brake pads came loose or something and I couldn't stop. I tried to get around the turn, but I was going too fast," Utena said quietly. "The FD rolled and it hit the guardrail." She looked up at Miki. Her face had reached its normal color. "But I'm fine. Don't worry about it." Utena started to get up, and Miki helped her.
Utena grabbed harder on to his arm as she slightly swayed back and forth. "Whoa, still kinda dizzy," she explained. Utena regained her balance a moment or two later and she lightened her hold on his arm.
When the others saw that she was okay, they went over to observe the wreck of her car.
Kelly gave a low whistle. "This FD is totaled. It's amazing how the driver's side of the car remained intact while the rest of the FD was crumpled during the accident."
"Hm," Ryosuke agreed, looking closely at the car. 'This is really weird. With how she explained it, the driver's side would have gotten the most damage, especially from rolling over and landing on that side. But for some reason, there's only a lot of deep scrapes and a few dents. What happened?' But Ryosuke said nothing.
Everyone looked up the road when they heard the screeching of tires traveling down the road and after a moment, they saw Touga's orange car gliding around the turn. He pulled up next to Utena, Miki, and Julius and jumped out of his car. There was shock in his wide eyes. Clearly, the RK hadn't told him something would happen to the Revolutionary Driver.
The Council members filled him in on what happened, through Utena's account, of what she told them as Miki took Utena a little ways away from the others and wrapped his arms around her. Utena stood, leaning against him, with her arms around his waist. She could tell that Miki had been shook hard.
Miki whispered into her ear, "Utena, you really scared me, you know."
"I'm sorry Miki. I didn't realize that my brakes were gone until I almost hit the finish line. I mean, they were fine all the way to Mount Akina. I just don't understand it."
Miki tightened his hold on Utena's slim frame as he thought about what she went through. 'Maybe we aren't meant for each other. Maybe fate wants to pull us apart.with death,' he thought, closing his eyes and burying his face in Utena's hair.
"Somebody better call a tow truck!" Nausicaa called out when she looked at the car. Touga reached for his cell phone.
Saturday night.....
The ten cars of the Student Council climbed the steep slopes of Mount Akina. Not long after them, a single car flew up, almost catching up to them.
At the summit, the teens all got out of their cars. Touga called everyone together.
"Everyone, before we start the race. I have to show you something. This pertains to the Revolutionary Races," Touga explained as he set off towards the small shack that was next to the line of trees, a little way from the road. Curiously, the others followed him.
Utena frowned as she followed him. 'What's he up to now?' Miki came up beside Utena and slid an arm around her waist, squeezing her gently and sending her a small smile.
Touga led them behind the shack to a small cleared area beyond the tree line. He stopped at a hidden patch of bushes off to the far right.
Meanwhile...
A dark figure walked around to the front of Utena's FD. Grinning evilly, Sayuki reached into Utena's car through the window and popped the hood. Walking over to the front of the car, she lifted the hood and fiddled with something. A couple minutes later, she closed the hood and patted the FD, still grinning. "Let's see how you deal with this, Tenjou." Hurrying off down the road, she reached her own car, a red convertible and drove off, pleased at her work.
Back to the others...
"What is this Touga?" Julius asked the Council leader.
"Don't you recognize this Julius?" Touga smirked. He gestured to the patch of grass. All of them stood in the center of the circle of the bushes.
In the grass, a shape was clearly shown. Utena gasped, taking a step forward, away from Miki's protective arm.
"Ah yes," Touga looked at Utena. "Of course, you would recognize it."
"This is...this is the-"
"Yes, it is." Touga interrupted. He turned to the others. "This is the emblem of the Rose Kingdom. It has grown here for years, even before we were born. It can't be destroyed, nor can it be altered. Some kind of magical force protects this."
"Why is it here?" Keisuke asked.
"It's here to symbolize that this is the official battling grounds of the Rose Kingdom. Long ago, they raced here, before our time," Touga explained.
"All right. Enough of this." Utena said, turning around. "We have a battle to race." She headed back towards the cars.
***
"Here we go," Yaten murmured to himself as the silver FD glided to a stop next to his silver-green Toyota SW20 MR-2 G-Limited. Taking a deep breath, he turned on his car engine and gripped the steering wheel.
Seiya leaned in through the window of Yaten's MR-2. "Well, good luck Yaten. I don't know what you have planned but hope it helps you."
"Thanks Seiya. Stop worrying about me and start worrying about yourself. You're going to have to race her soon enough."
Seiya shuddered, glancing over at Yaten's opponent who was strapping the double seat belts. "Don't remind me."
Yaten grinned and when Seiya walked back to his own car, Yaten closed the window, and gripped the steering wheel, his palms already sweating.
"Racers ready? Starting the countdown!" Teiya yelled, the two opponents' engines revving. "5...4...3...2.1...Go!" Teiya dropped her hand and the two cars jumped forward, bursting down the stretch.
"Hm," Ryosuke started as he drove after the two. He was leading the pack of cars, with Keisuke in the passenger seat, which included Seiya and Taiki, Miki and Julius. They paired up so that they would only take up four cars as still be able to keep up with the racers. "Keisuke, you remember what I told you about the Revolutionary Driver knowing what you were going to do, what your usual racing technique is?"
"Yeah," Keisuke replied, looking at his brother, wondering what Ryosuke was going to tell him.
"I think Yaten figured it out. I believe he's going to try to outsmart her," Ryosuke revealed.
"Do you think it'll work?" Keisuke questioned.
Ryosuke was silent. Then he spoke, quietly, "I honestly don't know. There's a possibility, with all the skills Tenjou seems to possess, she could be prepared for it and counter it. But Yaten might be able to pull it off. Unfortunately, even though there's a slim chance that she'll miss it, it's still a small chance."
Keisuke thought about his older brother's words. 'Yaten, come on, think. You have a chance and only one chance.'
***
"Crap," Yaten mumbled as he watched his rearview mirror for the silver FD. The FD had been keeping him on his toes for the beginning half of the race. With the FD moving back and forth across the line, out of his line of view, Yaten had had to work to keep track of the FD's position. And yet again, the FD had moved to the right, pulling out of the Yaten's rearview mirror.
Yaten steered to the right, trying to keep the FD behind him. His chance would be coming soon, but until then, he had to stay out in front.
***
"Hm. Something's different about his driving," Utena said to herself. 'He's doing the same as always, staying in front, but something about is driving is changed. What could it be?' Utena studied the car. "He's almost at his line.Oh! His motion of driving hasn't changed; the air surrounding his car is what's different! What is he planning?" Utena bit her lip.
***
"All right!" Yaten said loudly to the emptiness of his car. "This is it!" He sped up even more, keeping a close eye on his opponent. His plan was put into action.
***
"What?" Utena was confused. "What's he doing?" Puzzled, she sped up too.
***
As Yaten neared the turn, he steered his car towards the inside of the turn. "Here we go!" he exclaimed, anticipation causing sweat to break out on his forehead.
***
"Oh!" Utena shouted. 'He's gonna try the gutter trick! I've never seen him practice it though!' She frowned, "Yaten what are you doing!"
***
"Check this out, Utena!" Yaten said, as if she could hear his words. The tires of his MR-2 slid into the gutter. He expertly steered the car, easing it around the turn at a high speed, but not in a drift. No, instead he countered the centrifugal force of the turn and pulled through even faster.
***
"So he has practiced it for a while.Probably before I got here. Wonder why he never tried it out in a race this past year. Oh well, let's see his reaction to this."
Utena sped up and let the rear of her FD drop far. Sliding through, she almost brushed the side of Yaten's MR-2. "Errr...damn," Utena muttered as she pulled ahead of Yaten, but not putting much space in between them. "I almost forgot how much power his car has."
Shoving the gas pedal to the floor, she flew down the stretch, her opponent losing ground ever so slightly.
***
"Ahhh!" Yaten's eyes widened when he saw the FD on the right side of him as they went around the bend. "How'd she...?!?!" Yaten was speechless as Utena pulled out in front of him. Recovering slightly, Yaten thought, 'I can't let her get away! I have to win!' and pounded the pedal to the floor of the car. 'How'd she keep up with me on that corner? I went through faster than she did! And even worse, she passed me!'
***
'Hm,' Utena thought as she glanced into the rearview mirror. 'His MR-2 doesn't have as much power as I do. He can't pas me on the stretches, but if he tries harder, he MIGHT be able to beat me on the corner, MAYBE.' Utena prepared for the next corner. 'Alright Mr. Kou, here's my move.'
***
"What?!" Yaten sputtered. His eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing. Utena had copied his move! And she had more steadiness than he had! "Who is she?!" Yaten said in astonishment.
***
"Okay, the finish line's after this next turn. I think I've got this race!" Utena smiled. Yaten was right behind her, but she could still win.
Prepping for the next turn, Utena took the outside lane. She slammed on the brakes at just the right moment and the rear dropped. She slid through the corner exactly on her line and that pleased her.
Pulling out of the corner, she smiled. The finish line was right in front of her. She also saw Kelly and Nausicaa standing alongside the road, ready to report back to Touga who had stayed behind at the starting line who had won and by how many seconds.
Suddenly, as Utena neared the finish line, she slowed on the brakes, as there was a multiple clunk. Utena was taken off guard. "What?" She looked down at the pedal. Then she knew what had happened. "My brake pads are gone!"
The finish line loomed closer and then she passed over it. Utena gritted her teeth and jerked the wheel to the right, not being able to slow down. Her car skid to the left towards the next turn but she was going too fast. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yaten's car stop just after the finish line and she saw two figures jump out of the way just as her car flipped over and rolled over twice, hitting the guardrail with a jarring thud.
Utena breathed hard, opening her eyes, she saw feet running towards her. Realizing that her FD was toppled on to its hood and par of the hood rested on the guardrail, she put a hand to her aching head.
"Utena!" a frantic voice called.
"I-I'm fine," Utena said trying to get her bearings.
The three sets of feet ran over to her and the door was wrenched open. Yaten, Nausicaa, and Kelly stared down at her with pale faces. Utena took a deep breath to calm the fast beating of her heart.
"Are you all right Utena?" Nausicaa asked her, her voice shaking.
"Ye-Yeah, I'm fine. Can you get me outta here?" Utena replied.
Yaten reached in and gently held her up as Kelly unbuckled her double- shoulder seat belts. As they hauled her out as carefully as they could, cars pulled up with screeches of their tires and doors were slammed shut.
"Utena!" Miki yelled and shot towards the four teens as Yaten carried Utena over to the nearby sidewalk and lightly lowered her to the ground, leaning her back against the fence that lined the trees.
"Oh God!" Julius ran to them, his eyes wide and fear written on his face.
"What happened?! Are you all right Utena? Are you hurt?" Miki asked quickly as he dropped down next to her. He took her into his arms. Utena held on to his arm.
"I-I.....My brake pads came loose or something and I couldn't stop. I tried to get around the turn, but I was going too fast," Utena said quietly. "The FD rolled and it hit the guardrail." She looked up at Miki. Her face had reached its normal color. "But I'm fine. Don't worry about it." Utena started to get up, and Miki helped her.
Utena grabbed harder on to his arm as she slightly swayed back and forth. "Whoa, still kinda dizzy," she explained. Utena regained her balance a moment or two later and she lightened her hold on his arm.
When the others saw that she was okay, they went over to observe the wreck of her car.
Kelly gave a low whistle. "This FD is totaled. It's amazing how the driver's side of the car remained intact while the rest of the FD was crumpled during the accident."
"Hm," Ryosuke agreed, looking closely at the car. 'This is really weird. With how she explained it, the driver's side would have gotten the most damage, especially from rolling over and landing on that side. But for some reason, there's only a lot of deep scrapes and a few dents. What happened?' But Ryosuke said nothing.
Everyone looked up the road when they heard the screeching of tires traveling down the road and after a moment, they saw Touga's orange car gliding around the turn. He pulled up next to Utena, Miki, and Julius and jumped out of his car. There was shock in his wide eyes. Clearly, the RK hadn't told him something would happen to the Revolutionary Driver.
The Council members filled him in on what happened, through Utena's account, of what she told them as Miki took Utena a little ways away from the others and wrapped his arms around her. Utena stood, leaning against him, with her arms around his waist. She could tell that Miki had been shook hard.
Miki whispered into her ear, "Utena, you really scared me, you know."
"I'm sorry Miki. I didn't realize that my brakes were gone until I almost hit the finish line. I mean, they were fine all the way to Mount Akina. I just don't understand it."
Miki tightened his hold on Utena's slim frame as he thought about what she went through. 'Maybe we aren't meant for each other. Maybe fate wants to pull us apart.with death,' he thought, closing his eyes and burying his face in Utena's hair.
"Somebody better call a tow truck!" Nausicaa called out when she looked at the car. Touga reached for his cell phone.