First Gear: 'Killer'
ACT 1 – 1000RPM 'A Rough Start'
It was a cold, piercing breeze, 11:30PM, a loud engine screams across
the track.
Hairpin right, then medium left.
The roaring VTEC engine of the NSX-R and the howl of the winds collided as the car flew sideways along the tarmac. Smoke covered the scene as tires screeched along the line. The stench of burning rubber filled the air and stained the leaves that brushed past.
Traction loss - 65, hard left... ERROR.
In an instant, the NSX-R spun out in the middle of the track, and it didnt take long until dead silence. It stood staring right at the apex of the curve, motionless.
"Failed... again." said the driver. He
took off his helmet, which seemed to have some sort of apparatus
inside. He shook his head around, ploughing through his hair with his
fingertips.
"Argh... my head hurts... This was a stupid
idea..." he said, talking through a comm device in the
helmet.
"The system is very faulty. You must be feeling the after-effects of the druggings right now. I don't know what happened to KYOKO, but she fucked up when you started to feel relief after the corners. Did you realise the feeling you get when you've completed a sharp turn within the ideal line? When you get mood changes during your driving, its a sign that the drugs are wearing off, or maybe the system has experienced some lag. We need to reconfigure it a bit more." said a broad, male voice through the comm device.
"Screw this program. I dont need a driver's
assist." said the NSX-R driver.
"Well, some people do.
You're the only one capable of testing the KYOKO prototype."
said the voice.
"As long as its not used for the mountain
pass..." replied the NSX-R driver.
"You're just tired.
You need some rest."
"No... True skill wont come from a
machine helping you. Besides, this is Zui Hou R..."
"Maybe
so, but this can surely speed up the process, for the slow-learners
and inexperienced drivers..."
"No taking short cuts, I'm
not using KYOKO to win my battles..."
"So be it."
the voice concluded.
The next day was slow and miserable,
but not so quiet. Fu Huo was sitting on the bar stool, munching out
on his lunch at Koda's. He sat there silently, as usual. Spoke to
nobody, as usual. Flicking through pages of car magazines, as usual.
He was a quiet man, never liked small talk, and always to the point.
Has a habit of getting things over with as soon as possible with
little delay. He wore a pair of black pants, an expensive office
shirt, expensive shoes and his leather jacket hung on the seat. He
had a medium build, and his hair was a bit long, has a combover and
is layered. Fu Huo was a 19 year old who pretty much had nothing to
lose.
His image, though clothed in class, looked as if he was half
asleep.
Away from the bar stools, were the pool tables, and square tables for multipurpose use. Koda's was basically a cafeteria and pool hall, but people basically go there for anything. The place stenched in cigarette smoke, among other things. The place littered with gangster wannabes and try-hard drug dealers who dont know their shit. Most of them were around 15-17 yr old naive kids who think highly of themselves when they are around a pack of friends.
Not too far from where Fu was sitting, were a bunch of teenagers who made their little quiet judgements about him, alongside the talk about street racing and rice boys and 'fully sick' cars. The arrogant one, who was near-choking on his smoke (obviously did it for the look), frequently acted like he knew what he was talking about.
"Haha,
man, when my dad gets me a WRX STi, I'll kill y'all with my 100-Shot
NOS." he bragged.
"Really? You're dad's getting you a
rex? You lucky SOB." said one of his suck-up followers.
Fu
sat there silently, grinning to himself as he overheard their silly
conversation.
Moments later, another customer arrived at Koda's.
A
young woman, must've only hit her 20's, stepped into Koda's and took
a quick look around. She wore a neat black blouse, a grey office
shirt, and an open sweater. She was pretty, with dark hair with
blonde tips, hair only touching her shoulders. She came in, and
looked directly at the guy sitting on one of the barstools...
"Hey
hun..." said the arrogant guy who was bragging about cars
earlier on.
"...me?" said the young woman.
"What's
your name?"
"Uh... Minako... and you?"
"Do
you have a boyfriend...?"
Mina rolled her eyes, and tried
to restrain the laughter...
"How old are you?"
"I'm
15, babe, and you?"
"I'm 20, so listen, if you stand too
close to me like that, people might think I'm your mother."
Fu
Huo, quietly listening in the background, grinned to himself once
again.
Another guy, came up to Minako, who seemed like the other
kid's brother.
"Hey babe, I'm 20 too. Can I have your
number?" he said to her.
"Um... I'm sorry, would you
please leave me alone?" she kindly asked.
"Oh what's
with you? Cocky whore! You think you're so hot that you're too good
for us, pfft. Oh, sorry, you probably have 8 other boyfriends waiting
to sleep with you, dont ya? Geez, step back, its the royal bicycle."
the guy started to diss her, as he couldnt hack being rejected so
quickly infront of his mates.
Fu called out in a calm, deep
voice,
"She's not that hot."
"Who the hell are
you?" said the guy.
"Dont worry, forget it."
"Are
you saying I'm into ugly chicks?"
"I didn't say that.
But now that you mention it..."
Minako butted in,
"H-Hey!
What...!"
"You're wasting your time." said Fu. "And
dont put words into my mouth." he said to the other guy.
"Quit
being smart, fool. I started talkin to her first." he
replied.
"Haha... like I said, you're wasting your time with
her." Fu returned.
"Would you stay outta this, fool!"
the guy killed his cigarette, and pulled out his knife.
"Are
you really gonna do that far just to impress someone like her?"
Fu said nonchalantly.
"Ey man, I think its time you be
quiet." the guy naively held the knife infront of Fu, attempting
to intimidate him.
"Aren't you going to call your
cousins?" said Fu.
"Oh, you damn right I would, fool, so
you betta watch your back."
"Hmm... how many of em are
in here?"
Outta nowhere, Fu ripped out a pistol from out
his sleeve.
"You better hope you call more than 15 people to
come bash me, coz I got 15 rounds of shut the hell up ready for
ya."
The expression on the guy's face drastically
changed.
"Oh shit, I'm so sorry man, I swear man, sorry, put
it away bro, and you can have her too."
"Stop it, idiots!" demanded Minako. She grabbed Fu by the arm and gently dragged him outside Koda's.
"What do you think you're
doing?" she yelled at him.
"Me?"
"You
always get yourself into fights like that..."
"Hmm...
funny, it always seems to be about you. And you're saying I'm getting
myself into them? Hmph..."
"Oh, whatever, I'm over it.
But I'm not impressed."
"Since when was I trying to
impress you?"
Fu lashed off, and walked around the corner
to his car. He got fed up and lost his patience. It was not like him.
Fu Huo was usually a humble, often charismatic young man, yet Minako
was one of the rare people who make him lose his cool at times.
Little to his attention, Minako followed him.
"What now?"
he asked. Why does she still keep following me?
"...Maya's
taken the GC8, she'll be using it for the rest of the day..."
Minako replied.
Fu sarcasticly sighed.
"Okay, get
in."
They got in Fu's Lancer (Evolution V GSR). It was black,
with 5 spoke Enkei rims. The foglights light up as red, and along
with neons of the same colour. Fu Huo's Lancer came complete with a
top of the range sound system, to appeal to him and his social
tastes.
With quite some patience left, Fu began to drive Minako home...
"So
how've you been?" asked Minako
"You mean, 'since then'?"
Fu replied softly.
"Yeah..."
"Nothing special.
Just the usual... How 'bout you?"
"I see... uh, well
pretty much the same... I've been trying not to think a lot."
Minako stared out the window, watching the scenery fly past her to the soothing sound of Fu's Lancer.
"I... was hoping it
wouldnt have come to this." Fu suddenly brought up.
"I
see. I'll... get over it some day. By the way, how's the racing
projects?"
"It's doing fine. Slowly, but surely, we'll
complete our goals one by one... though I'm not even sure how I'll
manage by myself."
Minako's apartment was along the top of the mountain pass, a moderately steep uphill section with mild turns and wide straight-aways on the first section, then the occasional hairpin curves along the way up. This road was known as Route D1. Many underground street racers hold fierce competitions there. Home to Route D1 mountain pass were Dreadnaught Racing, and Team Notorious Angel. Also, many beginners come to practice on this route, as the majority of the roads are wide.
As they entered
the route, Fu began to put on a little bit more throttle to it.
"I
hope you don't mind."
"Its okay, I'm used to it."
said Minako
Rrrrrr... psshh...
It was around the afternoon,
the sun was about to set, though there were hardly any sign of
traffic ahead, but Fu kept himself on 'safe mode'.
Vrrrrrt...
psshh...
"I'm gonna push it a little."
After the
few sets of straightaways, Fu downshifted to 3rd gear, and flew about
75-80kph sideways through the hard left.
Pssh...
Minako changed
Fu's fast-paced music to a slower, dramaticly soothing J-Pop music.
For some reason, she didnt seem to notice Fu's speed through the
corners. It was like normal driving speeds for her.
"Hey
Fu... remember the time when we use to go karting every Sunday with
my sister...?" said Minako.
"Hmm... yeah, that was quite
a while back..."
"Heh, yeah... you used to love it. We
always were stuck overtaking each other and struggled just to catch
up to Maya."
"Its different now."
"I
guess."
Pssh... The sun's glow shined on the Evo's black
paint, as it breezed through the mountain like a bright star.
Minako
stared at the window again, thinking to herself...
I probably wont
get this moment again in a long time... Why can't I say anything?
She looked at Fu, but said nothing. He was too busy watching
the road.
As you get faster... you're slowly pulling further and
further away. Where will I be, when you're at the peak of your so
called 'racing dream'? Would I still have to worry all these nights,
hoping you'd come back safely as you challenge yourself at the stakes
of rolling down the throats of the steep mountains...?
"What's
wrong, Mina?"
"Nothing... I'm fine."
Vrrrt...
psshh...
125kph, the Evo climbed through the next hard right, its
foglights only an inch away from the apex, slid through the curve
smoothly, through the 4-Wheel drift.
The Evo exited at around
105kph, though in no time at all, it was able to pick up
speed.
Through the corner of Minako's eye, she could see a figure
of another car up ahead, through the distance. There was a set of
hairpin curves up next, and at the rate Fu was going, he might not be
able to slow down in time to expect the incoming traffic that Minako
detected.
"Fu..."
"Yeah...?"
"There's...
um..."
"What?"
The Lancer slid through the
next hairpin, at around 80kph, while in an instant, an oncoming car
was in sight.
It seemed too late, but Fu quickly reacted gripped
the wheel and tried not to panic. He slowed down, but the other car
didnt.
The met for only about half a second, the other car
drifted straight past Fu's Lancer, while he swayed back on the right
lane in little hope to avoid collision.
The other car slid
sideways through the other hairpin that Fu just passed, and
disappeared...
"VR-4 Turbo... That's...!" Fu grunted
to himself.
"Oh my God... be careful...!" Minako called
out.
"Sorry."
From then on, Fu drove up at a much slower pace, and stayed on the right lane, obeying the rules.
"What's with that car anyway?" asked Minako.
The car cruised along the D1 downhill, not slowing down even after meeting with the Evo V. The 3000GT VR-4 Turbo glided through the turns, and flew through the straightaways like a space shuttle. Its body streamed in dark burgundy, purple neons shined along the tarmac.
"Fu... I see you're instincts on the road aren't as good when you're riding with a woman." said Kumiko.
D1's downhill was no more of a challenge to her than a
walk in the park.
Her high-grip tyres wasted no time in the
corners, she gained speed on the mild turning section. Kumiko wasn't
even using her car's full limit.
Her sandals restrained her from
those hardcore pedal techniques and wasnt bringing herself to execute
her real techniques.
Kumiko was like wildfire. It was almost as if she never slows down, only getting faster. And yet it was like she was only cruising. This truly amazing wonder of the street racing world, armed with a 4WD VR-4, known to the galleries as the 'Neon Serpent of D1'. She was a beautiful and warm individual, but longs for a game that has long passed since. Kumiko loved speed as much as her hundred pairs of shoes. Her dark brown hair blew through the wind coming through her windows, as she tore the downhill like a divine serpent.
"Damn!" Kumiko grunted.
Up ahead, was a trailing cop car, and a booze
bus at the end of the downhill. It was much to Kumiko's surprise,
they hardly set anything like that at such a location.
But Kumi
didn't hesitate. The cop car was going in the opposite direction
anyway. Must've been left behind by Fu. Kumi laughed as it came her
way.
She knew that she was going at nearly unparalleled speed, and
yet she did not hesitate or slowed down.
"10-4, I have spotted speeding Mitsubishi GTO traveling at around more than 150kph on Route D1, requesting a barricade unit along the checkpoint, over." radioed the cop.
But he had absolutely no time to turn around
to catch Kumiko, who instantly shot past the booze bus and topped it
off with a drift into the horizon, and disappeared.
Kumiko's phone
rang. She didnt have her handsfree carset on however.
She picked
up, started driving with one hand, decreased speed.
"Fukada here." she answered "Battle tonight? Route C4? Who against who? I see. I'm there. I'll bring my apprentice with me too. Laters."
Back at Koda's, the little gang were somewhat stinging about the little scene that had just took place, several moments ago.
"Who the hell was that?" said the 20 year old male, who tried to pick up Minako earlier on.
"I dunno, but he's the owner of that black Lancer that's always here." said Maya, the owner and cheif waitress of Koda's. She knew all about Fu, and basically every other customer that steps into her cafe. Though she denies almost everything she sees and turns a blind eye using tall glasses, cutlery and the kitchen sink.
"Hmm...
do you think he races?" said the guy.
"Who knows? Does
his car make him look like he does?"
"Well I've never
lost to Lancers before."
"Really? And what car do you
have?"
"I got a rexie, baby!"
"What kind of
'rexie' is it?"
"Uh... STi."
"Really? And
what WRX STi is it?"
"Um... the old one... the 98
model..."
"Hmm... okaaaay." Maya rolled her eyes.
"Well if you're gonna race that guy's Lancer, I guess you
wouldn't have too much trouble since... well you've never lost to a
Lancer now have you?"
"Yeh, man, every lil shit ct
with their VR-X's and GLi's, you name it." boasted the guy. "I'm
Ohjay the Lancer Killer!"
"Nice one, 'Lancer Killer'! I
hope you dont lose to that guy's Evolution Five." Maya
sarcastically cheered for him.
"Evo-wha...?"
"Oh,
what does it matter? It's just a Lancer isn't it?"
"I
guess so. Well, next time you see him, tell tha guy that 'Ohjay the
Lancer Killer' is lookin' for his ass! Laters!"
Nearing
the top of Route D1 uphill, Fu started to cruise at a casual speed.
"I'm jus' gonna stop by the pharmacy, ok. Won't take long."
said Fu.
"Its ok. How come though? What do you need?"
asked Minako.
"Just some pain killers... I get bad migranes
lately..."
The black Evo V double-parked its ass near the
pharmacy, as Fu was attempting to make a quick stop. Minako was
watching him the whole time along the way and started thinking to
herself again, lost in thought, daydreaming.
A few moments later,
a sudden maniac realised the scene and rushed to Fu's Lancer. The
keys were still in the ignition. With Minako staring at Fu, it was
too late for her to notice.
"Huh...? What the hell?"
she turned around and saw the maniac.
Before she knew it, the
fool was about to drive off, as Fu lashed out of the pharmacy doors
and quickly jumped on to his car, gripping the rear spoiler and tried
to climb on as his car was quickly trying to speed away.
"Stop
it!" Minako demanded to the carjacker.
"Oh shit, what
the hell are you doing here, stupid bitch! Get out the car!" he
replied.
"What? How stupid of you not to notice me sitting
here! Idiot! Pull over now!"
"Shut up, I guess I'll just
take you with me!"
The maniac swerved the car violently,
and shook Fu around on top of the car, hitting his head on the
spoiler. His legs were on the car's roof, and lower back rested on
the rear window.
Minako kept bickering with the guy, afraid to
hit him as doing so might cause the guy to lose control.
Fu struggled to pick himself back up and get in postion on top of the roof. The car swerved again. The rolled to the side, with his shoulder thumping to the side. Fu grunted in pain. The car was going about 20-30kph. Fu struggled to get around, he clipped his fingers on to the outer window frame, and motioned his body around the car's rooftop, in a spider-like position, while grabbing hold barely gripping the outer frames.
"Shit!" he complained. What the hell is Mina doing?
The car was gaining speed. Wind
blew in Fu's eyes, which distorted him a lot.
His left shoulder
is really owning him at the moment. Not to mention his head.
He
let go with his left arm, as it lost grip of Minako's window.
Another
idea struck Fu's head.
The maniac driver noticed Fu's hands on the frames. He tried to clobber em, while swerving the car intentionally to shake him off.
"What a dick." the guy called out. "Just get over it! I stole your car and your bitch!"
Fu tried to ignore the pain on his shoulder, and
reached deeply for his semi-automatic. But he could not get his other
hand to take hold of it as it was holding on. If he released, then
both hands would be free and would send him hurling down the asphalt.
Fu's left hand held his pistol. With much struggle, he reached a
bit further, and tossed his handgun through the left window.
"Take
it!" he called out to Minako.
But the maniac noticed the
pistol fall through the window.
He clumsily took a hand off the
wheel and started to wrestle Minako for the gun.
The car started
to swerve uncontrollably, as the two were hitting each other trying
to get an aim.
In an instant, Minako reached for the cigarette
lighter. The car jerked around as Fu struggled to hang on. She
grabbed the lighter and used it to stall the guy, and took the gun
from him.
"Stop the car already!" she demanded, aiming the gun to his head.
The guy attempted to gain control of the car. The Lancer spun out, and flung Fu onto the road, but landed briefly on one foot, but lost balance and fell over on his shoulder. He grunted in much pain.
"Get out of the car, damnit!" Minako pressed the gun's nose onto the guy's head.
"Okay, okay!" the guy moaned as he quickly bolted out of Fu's car and ran like a coward.
