Chapter 5: First Victim
The races had started off fairly slow, the drivers getting used to the course as they wound their way through the mountain pass. Some blow-outs (both tires and victory margins), some close calls (both crashes and victory margins) and some angry drivers, but everything seemed to be going fairly smooth.
Towards the end of the first round, it was finally Mike's turn to line up.
"Damn man, I feel like I can win this. With your touch under the hood and the power to back it, there's no way I can lose."
Eric smirked and put a hand on Mike's shoulder, shaking him lightly.
"Don't get so confident, any number of things could go wrong, things I could have missed. As much as you'd like to think otherwise, I'm not perfect. Also, the GT is NOT made for mountain racing, and all that power might do you in."
Mike shrugged off the warning,
"No worries, I got this in the bag."
Eric sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to get through to Mike when he was like this. He only hoped he would wise up before his opponent showed.
"C'mon already, where's my opponent? I'm ready to go here!"
Almost on cue, headlights appeared off in the distance behind the red 3000 GT, slowly approaching from behind.
"Finally, now we're talking. So what am I up against? An 180SX? An S13?"
Eric could only stare, mouth slightly agape at Mike's misfortune.
"Yo, earth to Eric, what am I racing?"
"The 86."
Mike laughed, "Ha! Oh man, what luck! I get to race the rolling heap of junk! This'll be easy."
Eric again shook his head, "I'll just wait here at the top. The entire course is downhill, giving the 86 a great advantage, plus there are enough sharp corners that, if that 86 is tuned as well as I think it is, it can dance all over your 3000 GT in the turns. No, the winner of this has already been decided, sorry Mike."
The 86 lined up against Mike's machine, waiting for the signal. Eric moved off to the side, but then had a better idea. He walked up to the passenger side of Mike's car and knocked on the window.
"What is it? We're about to start."
"Let me ride with you."
"WHAT?! Are you out of your mind? You'll throw off the power to weight ratio!"
"No, I won't and you know it. Besides, with me, you'll have a bit of added traction."
"Well, you got a point there, but why do you all of a sudden want to ride shotgun?"
"I want to see this 86 in action."
"You'll only be watching him through my rear-view mirror."
Eric stood there, silently staring at Mike.
"Alright, get in."
Eric opened the passenger door and climbed in, closing the door and putting on the racing harness.
"10…..9…..8….7….6….5."
"You sure you're ready for this, Mike?"
Mike nodded, "absolutely."
"4…..3…..2….."
Eric looked past Mike and into the 86 where he saw Takumi, but he was different somehow.
"1…..GO!"
Mike slammed the accelerator down and they were off, the 3000 GT smoking the 86 off the line.
"Ha! I TOLD you this'd be easy!"
Eric looked in the mirror and saw the 86's headlights getting smaller and smaller as they neared the first corner.
"'Bout time he saw how we race here in America."
Mike hit the brakes and gripped the corner, powering out after the apex.
And then the 86 reappeared in the mirror, right up Mike's tailpipe.
"What the fuck?! It's a clunky 86! How was he able to close the gap?"
During the second small straightaway, the 86 started fading in his mirror again.
"He can't keep up with me in the straights, I got this."
Eric sat motionless save his eyes which were going between the road in front of them and the 86 in the mirror.
Mike braked again and took the second corner, gripping hard. Eric looked into the mirror again in time to see the 86 understeer.
"Looks like you caught a break Mike, the 86 just ended up understeering."
Mike gave a whoop of victory, "I knew he couldn't keep up!"
Mike's second whoop was choked off as the 86 once again reappeared in the mirror, still on Mike's bumper.
"But…..I don't…..how…..if he was understeering, he should not have been able to…."
Even Eric was slightly surprised at the 86. Once it began to understeer, it should have dropped back, and that's even if the driver was able to regain control, but this Trueno just kept coming. He didn't have much time to think on this before the next corner came.
"Mike, I think I know what's he's doing."
"You do? How?"
"There's only one way you can gain ground while understeering….keep him close in the corner, I want to see this."
"But Eric, I can pull away-"
"Do it."
Mike sighed, taking the corner at a decent clip, but enough to keep the 86 in view. What happened next confirmed Eric's suspicions.
As Mike hit the apex, the 86 feinted left into the turn, purposefully inducing an understeer, and then he shifted the weight right, causing the 86 to drift, an honest to god four-wheel inertia drift.
"I haven't seen a car drift that well since I raced Ryosuke; that was a PERFECT drift. So THAT'S how he's gaining in the corners."
"That's great," Mike said, a bit perturbed, "so how do I counter it?"
Eric looked over to Mike and spoke rather flatly.
"You don't. Not unless you yourself can drift, and you can't, my friend. Unless there's some rather large straightaway on this course, I give him two more corners, maybe three, before he passes you. At that point, it's game over."
Mike shook his head, staring ahead in disbelief.
"No way. You really think he's gonna take me in three corners?"
"Think? I know he's gonna take you in three."
Mike did his best in the upcoming turns, but the 86 would not be denied, staying with him through the turns, until that third turn that Eric mentioned came up.
"Eric, you think I could try to cut his line off? If I force him to the outside, he shouldn't be able to drift that close to the guardrail."
Eric froze, remembering how he'd cut Ryosuke's line off, and what had happened.
"I'd advise against it."
"Tough. I don't have much of a choice, either I cut his line or I lose, and I refuse the latter."
Mike slowed down slightly, getting to the inside and gripping with what was left of his tires, keeping the 86 from getting the optimum angle for his drift. Right after they entered the turn, Mike looked into his mirror, only to not see the 86 in it.
"Huh? Where'd he go?"
"Game over."
Mike turned to Eric, "What are you….oh my god…."
The 86 had managed to not only pull beside the 3000 GT, but drift from the outside. It happened in a flash, one moment the 86 was next to them, then it was in front of them.
Mike slammed down on the gas as they exited the turn, but it was too late, the finish line was right after the next corner, and the 86 would probably only gain even more ground.
"I can't believe it. How did a clunker like the 86 beat me?"
Mike pulled to a stop just as they crossed the finish line.
"Easy, besides some precision tuning under the hood, the driver's a monster. He's on a level none of us can even think about racing on. He may be all cool on the outside, but once he gets behind the wheel, he's a totally different person. I don't think anyone here can compete with that kind of raw talent, save maybe the Takahashi brothers, and even then, Ryosuke lost to it."
"Think you would've been able to take it if you were still racing?"
"Honestly Mike, on my best day and his worst, I don't think I could take him."
Mike's eyes widened slightly.
"You really think that 86 could've beat you?"
"Yeah, it could've easily beaten me."
The ride to top was a silent one. They parked off to the side, Mike slowly climbing out of his car.
"I didn't think the difference between both of us was going to be so much, well, so much in his favor anyways."
"Goes to show that what's under the hood is only half of what matters," Eric said, leaning against the door as the next pair took off.
"Where'd he go anyway?"
"Who? The 86?"
"Yeah, he didn't win and spin, did he?"
Eric shook his head, "probably went to make a few adjustments or some such thing."
Eric turned, walking back to the parking lot.
"Hey, where're you goin'?"
Eric turned his head back toward Mike, smirking slightly.
"I'm going to see if I can get a peek under the hood of that 86."
Interlude: Bridging the Gap
Eric strode into the parking lot around one in the morning, just after the first round ended. He looked around, seeing more than a few dejected and disgruntled racers, even more smoking hoods, and one lone kid, his head stuck under the hood of a beat-up Trueno.
"Need a hand?"
Takumi nearly hit his head on the hood as he jumped, startled at the sudden voice.
"Oh, it's you. You know anything about 86s?"
"Yeah, a bit. Had a friend who owned one once, used to tinker with his. What's wrong?"
"I'm not sure exactly, it's been making this clunking sound since the second to last corner of my race."
Eric moved his head under the hood, making a quick assessment before letting his hands work, checking each piece individually.
"Here's the problem, one of your head gaskets came loose. If I had a few simple tools….," Eric looked over at the car next to them, asking to borrow a wrench and a few other minor pieces.
"There, that should do it," he gave the wrench a final tug before handing it back over to its owner.
"I'm surprised the engine hasn't blown, it looks almost as old as the car."
Takumi just shrugged, "lucky, I guess."
Eric got out from under the hood, wiping his forehead with his sleeve.
"Hey, thanks. My old man's the one who usually tunes the car, I think. I just drive it like I normally do."
"Well," Eric said, suppressing a laugh, "you've got one hell of a normal way of driving. I was shotgun in the car you beat, and I've never seen anyone drift like that since I raced Ryosuke Takahashi."
Takumi only shrugged, "For five years, when I make the tofu deliveries in the mornings, my old man gives me this cup filled with water. He told me that as long as I don't spill a drop, the tofu will be fine, so I just drive to make sure I don't spill the water."
"He can drift like that and not spill water from a cup in a car cup holder? Unbelievable."
"You got a pen and paper, Takumi?"
Takumi blinked, "Uh, yeah, hold on."
He went into the 86 and opened the glove compartment, taking out some loose paper and a pen.
"Why do you need the paper?"
Eric took the pen and paper and scribbled down his name, phone number and address.
"In case you ever need a mechanic."
