ACT 5 – 5000RPM 'Signs of War'

The KYOKO System – a program designed to assist a driver significantly through a situation by feeding vast amounts of calculated information on every condition directly to the driver's mind. A system designed to maintain the driver's focus at a maximum percentage to a point in which elminates all distractions and fears of the inexperienced driver, which however, causes great fatigue and mental stress. Its sole purpose is to turn the driver into the ultimate road weapon. Amidst the tide of the three racing superpowers in the region, Bu Xia De, Dreadnaught and Zui Hou R, there are currently two vessels that represent each of their own concepts into the road to establish their ultimate dominance – the NSX-R, and the 350GT…

At a time that ignores past legends and legacies alike, the future is due to be written by the warriors of the road in this generation. The local heroes and heroines of Route D1's curtains have been closed, due to Fukada Kumiko's retirement and Chuan Fu Huo's untimely death, the locals now being overthrown by the lone champion, Koda Minako, while C4 remains unconquered and F5's best had already been subdued, it was only a matter of time until the storm of Bao Fu's all new Dreadnaught had finally hit Route H3 – the Bu Xia De home course.
While limited in funds and resources, as well as the increasing lack of knowledge on his current adversaries, Hyuga, the Emperor of Zui Hou R stood by and remained inactive while the band of Street Elite drivers of Bu Xia De prepare for an incoming home invasion.

The next evening was brightly lit as Bu Xia De members littered the sections of Route H3, in preparation for the coming of the storm. Alex and Reiko sat at the starting point of the inbound section, while Sly, Jeni and Ling Luan spectated at their own individual sections of the course, as well as helped confirm of the sections being ready for racing. Compared to the conditions previously, the weather seemed rather calm.

The night was rather young, it was 9:30PM in the evening and at last, the Dreadnaught corps has finally signaled their arrival. From the horizon, the cars lights could be seen making their way along the outbound section, cruising past the rest of the galleries. The first car was no doubt their leader's ride, the silver Skyline 350GT, followed by an ever familiar strawberry-faced Sileighty. Along the rest of the crew came a black S2000 and a Pulsar GtiR.

Reiko awaited the arrival of her enemy, standing by her FD3S fearsomely without emotion. The roads were serenaded by the theme of Bao Fu ( 'Duty' – Ayumi Hamasaki) as they climbed up to meet their target. The pack of wolves parked their vehicles opposite the Bu Xia De Street Elite.

So this is their new weapon… Reiko stood in awe, yet also surprised at the sight of one of her other opponents, her very own sister in law. Bao Fu stepped out of the vehicle at precisely the same moment his colleagues did. Wasting no time, he approached Reiko and Alex and offered a handshake.

"I suppose you already know what's going down tonight, considering all this preparation," Bao Fu cut to the chase.
"We here at Bu Xia De welcome you to Route H3, as well as your own defeat," began Reiko.
"That's the same thing that the locals at F5 said. Now, they all race for me," bragged Bao Fu, "Which is what I am about to get to right now. This isn't just going to be a simple race,"
"What do you mean?" asked Reiko.
"It might not be clear to you, but our goals are not merely just supreme dominance over all courses. In fact, there is only one way that this might be possible," explained Bao.
"Go on,"
"Just like I've accomplished at F5, should my team member of my choosing defeat you, then you shall declared defeat and surrender your allegiance to me and the Dreadnaught faction. Basically, if you lose, you have to race for me as one of Dreadnaught's own drivers at any time and any opponent of my choice. But if we lose, you get to keep the loser's car."

Reiko was a little shaken by the conditions and stipulations. However, she did not want to turn down any challenge, not just for the sake of her team, but also her own. "Don't you think that sounds a little unfair? We are to lay our whole team on the line, yet all you got to lose is one car?"

"Well what else do you want? These are the only conditions we race in. You can ask for anything more, as long as your whole crew is ready to race for us when you lose," negotiated Bao Fu.

Alex had enough of the conversation and had momentarily decided to step in. Like Bao Fu, he saw this as an opportunity to expand their assets. "How about we make this a battle for superiority? One race, whoever wins claims ownership over the loser! If we defeat you, Dreadnaught will race for Bu Xia De!"

This seemed to be a perfect opportunity for Kanae, should Bao Fu lose the night's battle. She had always wanted to join up with Bu Xia De and had been a long time follower and fan for quite some time. She hoped for her own team to lose. Alex had radioed his other colleagues to inform them of the new deal.
On the other hand, Raide and Hokuto had no choice but to rest their fate on the hands of Emperor Bao Fu.

"So which one of you is brave enough to step up against us?" asked Bao arrogantly.
"I'm right in front of you," announced Reiko.
"Hey, are you sure about this, Rei?" asked Alex.
"Don't worry. I'm much different now. I'm in the best shape for racing as I've ever been,"
"Jeni and Sly trust you with everything they have. In that case, so do I. They have agreed with those conditions, but I never said that you were racing. You'd better shape up and break your losing streak," told Alex.

"I know what's on the line," claimed Reiko, "I am ready, who am I facing?"

Bao Fu stepped back and grinned. He walked over to one of his members, signaling to his enemy that he was not the one to step up this time.
"My dear, now is your chance to prove yourself," Bao Fu placed his hand softly on Kanae's shoulder, "You guessed it, you're up against her," Bao pointed Reiko out to her.
"M-me…?" replied Kanae in shock. It was one race in which she would rather not compete. It was so unexpected, as Kanae counted on Bao Fu racing the whole time.

"You don't have a choice. You'd be wise to remember that you are mine now," continued Bao Fu.
As nervous as she was, Kanae could not say anything. She felt so weak compared to Bao. Weak and helpless against him, she slowly opened the door to her vehicle.

"Hold it," cut Bao sharply, as he reached into his car's trunk. He pulled out an odd looking helmet, similar to his own, yet the design was slightly different. "Put this on," he said, as he slowly made his way back to Kanae.

"What is this?" she wondered.
"Have it on during this battle. That way, I can communicate to you during this battle through my own drive system with my helmet. To ensure your victory in this battle, I will be monitoring your techniques and provide you with some support,"

Kanae fitted the helmet on. It was dark bronze in colour and almost round in shape. There seemed to be three sections, the two sides and the central skull. The helmet only covered most of her face and the back of her head, as her mouth was still exposed to allow more air passage, as her hair hung down from the back. Bao Fu helped her switch it on.
The view was clear inside the apparatus of the helmet and Kanae was ready to go.

Bao Fu then made his way to his own vehicle and began to operate on the terminal from his helmet.
Shutting his door, he began to communicate to Kanae via the helmet system.

"Can you hear me, Kanae?" asked Bao softly.
"Um…yes. It's all clear," replied Kanae.
"We are linked closely by this device, I can see everything you do. And I can tell you, it is not a very bad view from here!"
"Um… excuse me?"
"Uh, nevermind. Just focus on the race. I'll provide you with some help, since you screwed up your last race,"
"Just don't do anything to distract me then,"

The Sileighty lined up next to the Spirit R, as Alex stood in between then to begin the countdown. For Reiko, this would be the race of her life. She continued to rev the engine madly, focusing on nothing but what lies ahead. However, this battle did not mean anything to Kanae. She could go with either winning or losing, which could very well affect her motivation in the race.

"Go!" Alex yelled, sealing his own fate.

The powerful Spirit R shot wildly from starting point with such torque as tyres screeched insanely followed by the RPS13, which followed closely right beside. It did not take long for Reiko to overpower her opponent slightly. Second out of first, then soon into third, neither driver was anything short of precision. With everything on the line, there was not a better time for Reiko to give her absolute best. Her techniques have also seemed to have a change, as she was braking less and entered faster.

Kanae was already struggling to keep up, realizing that the night's race would not be something she could get lazy on. Being overwhelmed by her sister-in-law's new abilities, Kanae had been prone to mistakes during the first section.
"What are you doing?" spoke Bao Fu through the comm. device.
"She's a lot better than I thought… I don't know if…"
"Oh don't be a fool. You are going to win, because I say so!"

Not only was Reiko powerful on the straightaways, she was also aggressive on the turn-ins, not allowing Kanae much room for attack. Reiko was in top form.
What's happened to you Kanae? Havin' a bit of road rust now, are we? You could do better than this!

Reiko was no longer paying attention to her rear-view and flew along the course, diving into each corner with such velocity that once Kanae had blinked through a corner, the FD was gone. Kanae pulled off an extreme e-brake drift around the twisting bend, then gearing her vehicle in position to meet back with her opponent.

"This isn't the best you can do. Don't give me this crap now. Do you know how much she is leading you?" yelled Bao Fu.
"I'm sorry,"

Kanae pressed on the throttle a little harder. Though not allowing her to pick up speed, she was faced by another sharp blind turn. With much understeering and swerving to the outside, Kanae had once again widened the gap a little further between her and her opponent.
Only a portion of the FD's taillights could be seen from the distance.

Meanwhile back at the starting point, Alex had received data on the current race. He had been receiving updates on each section as they pass along, as others surveyed the conditions and tried to predict the outcome. I see you've really brought your game up, Reiko… That's good to see. Come on, do it for the elites! You must come back not only as a winner, but with the rest of Dreadnaught at our disposal!

Raide made his way quickly to see the Emperor. His lack of faith caused him and Hokuto a bit of panic, as he began to knock on his window.
"Master Bao! Are you sure about this?"
"Don't worry… I will make sure of it. Even if I have to step in myself!" claimed Bao Fu.
"What do you mean?"
"Just relax. I'll find a way…!" said the Emperor in a slight state of rage, "Kanae… what are you thinking? Hurry up and catch her!"

Reiko's throttle, braking and shifting techniques and combinations were finely in tune with her style. With such precision, she did not think of anything else but the goal. She continued along further with e-brake drifts and skidding, while expressing her dominance on the straightaways.
However, there was one thing that Reiko has yet to master, though had already learned by Kanae.
Using her vehicle's raw capabilities, Reiko had lacked the mastery of controlling her vehicle's center of gravity. It was exactly why, for the last few sections, Kanae has had sight of many openings for her to take a chance. Although Kanae could have put in a lot more into the battle, there was one thing that both Bao Fu and Reiko had noticed about her during the battle.

"I expected you to try something like that," claimed Bao Fu, "You're more foolish than I thought. You've been holding back all this time!"

Kanae did not reply. She continued on, keeping up with Reiko, but at the same time, keeping just a slight distance.

"It is a good thing that I have planned for this situation," said Bao, "Whether you want us to lose or not, it's out of your hands! And I'll show you just what I mean!"
"What…are you talking about?"

Kanae continued on, matching Reiko along the curves, yet still trying to keep up along the short straightaways. She cleared the S-curves like a breeze, knowing Reiko was already giving it one hundred percent and still was not as fast as she was supposed to be.
At the same precise moment, a mild glow suddenly emitted from inside the apparatus in Kanae's helmet.

"W-what's going on?" asked Kanae.

The Sileighty dived into the corner, almost hitting the FD3S as Kanae had almost lost control of her own actions. Back at the starting point, Bao Fu remained in his vehicle, as he secretly spent his time operating on his helmet system, taking a set of keys out from his glovebox, and wiring it directly into the system. He began to work on his plan, as he started to upload a certain program directly to Kanae's drive system using the link between the helmet devices.

"What are you doing…? Master Bao…!" Kanae yelled in confusion.
Soon, some data appeared on-screen displaying a set of text;

'SYSTEM AYUMI – DOWNLOADING…'

"Answer me! Master Bao… what are you doing?" cried Kanae. She pressed on the throttle a little harder, gearing up to fourth. Within moments, vast amounts of information was displayed and fed directly to Kanae. Catching sight of Reiko's FD made her tenser, yet more focused. Just by looking at it suddenly made her feel strange.

The Sileighty continued along the S curves, almost going at a straight line, while nearly closing the gap on Reiko's FD. Kanae wanted to tap the brakes, however, there was something else in her mind that did not allow her to do so. Slamming into fifth, Kanae did not slow down at all.
She locked on to the Spirit R, her eyes reflected a slight glow emitted from the helmet.
Oh my… this program is…! Oh no…

Kanae set her sights firmly at her opponent, steering more aggressively as more precisely than she had ever done, not only in this battle, but also out of all her experiences.
Matching Reiko's turn-ins and skidding with even more velocity, Kanae had a quick glimpse of just how fast and how close she was to her opponent's car.
She had begun to experience a lot of stress, and a little bit of panic, not knowing why she had been going so fast without even realizing it. Her hesitations were gone, Kanae continued to apply the pressure on Reiko.

"Master Bao…! Please… stop it! Stop it!"

With nothing but victory in his mind, Bao Fu continued to rig the situation on his own, forcing the system to push Kanae to the infinity level. Relentlessly, he forced Kanae to endure and suffer the deep agony with the AYUMI System.

Kanae did not hold anything back, while struggling within herself to regain control. The pressure was too much for her to handle. She began to breathe heavily, as her abilities have seemingly started to increase significantly. Her potential has now been unlocked for that short moment; Kanae tapped the brakes while at such a high speed. Using the sudden shift of weight, the rear of her vehicle began to skid as a response to the jolt at the front.

"I beg you, Master Bao! Stop it! Please!" Kanae continued to cry out helplessly.
But it was too late. The system had pierced deeply into Kanae's head, toying with her mind. She continued to experience great stress, while inadvertedly attacking her opponent. AYUMI had quickly showed her just how her opponent is to be defeated, before Kanae had mindlessly jerked her car around dangerously, and almost hitting Reiko's car very closely.

The Sileighty was now drifting so close to the guardrails at such speed and angle, causing Kanae a lot of panic, yet the system did not allow her to hold back any further and suppressed her fear.
Kanae screamed helplessly. The Sileighty and Spirit R were side by side just before the next hairpin.

Kanae screamed once more, as tears ran down her cheeks and began to cough violently. She turned in hard, almost without taking notice of the other car, even before her opponent could do so herself. The Sileighty positioned its front fender almost directly at the nose of the FD3S, disrupting Reiko greatly and not allowing her to go any forward.

"Ugh…!" groaned Kanae. Her car began to skid at the same time blocking her opponent from utilizing maximum speed. Just when she thought she was about to lose it, she countersteered the car almost half a second before she even saw the exit and set her vehicle back into position. The Sileighty was now a portion ahead of the FD.

Reiko observed in shock, as her opponent pulled up in front of her, not slowing down for the next turn. Something's wrong… What's happening to Kanae?
The Sileighty took a much better line, at a much greater speed, almost without having to slow down. Reiko continued to watch in horror at the strange occurance within her opponent's vehicle. To stunned to go any further, Reiko did not give up the fight. With the attempt to use her own tricks against her, Reiko followed Kanae's line strategy very closely.

Kanae saw her opponent right behind her, as the evil program responded to this and she quickly motioned her vehicle and jerked it sideways, pulling the e-brake. The Sileighty then began to skate the straightaway at almost a ninty degree angle, slowing down, yet also blocking her opponent, causing Reiko to suddenly brake. The Sileighty almost crabwalked the straight; it was a double-edged move, with the intent of both blocking her opponent as well as setting up for the turn. Reiko slammed the brakes wildly, taking care not to collide with Kanae's car.

The Sileighty continued into the corner, while the FD had to waste time picking up speed and understeered.

"That's it! Keep going!" laughed Bao hideously.

Kanae had her sights set forward and nothing else. She continued with such incredible pace, even as her opponent continued to apply as much pressure as possible. The poor girl continued to cry out helplessly, shooting through the final section of Route H3.
"I… I… will… defeat… my opponent!" muttered Kanae.

Unable to predict Kanae's actions, Reiko had given up following her lead. However, she felt all within herself that she had not blown it all just yet. She knew exactly how the final curve was to be taken. This is it. My last chance… my only chance. If I don't make this, then I haven't made anything out of all these years!

Reiko accelerated madly, moving over to the opposite lane. Utilizing as much as her car's power as possible, she was able to gain on the Sileighty slowly but surely just before the last curve.
The Sileighty once again initiated a long drift ahead of the FD, but Reiko turned from the outside into the inside, first braking then turning in with her car's grip. Almost clipping the inside, Reiko fought her way through the apex, as Kanae continued to slide…

Almost out of the corner, the FD gained way more and more next to the Sileighty. It was clear that Reiko was about to exit at a speed greater than her opponent. Though suddenly, Kanae had noticed her opponent's quick comeback, and jerked her vehicle once again, as soon as she gained back some grip and turned into the inside, cutting off Reiko short and almost pinning her to the side just before Reiko could accelerate past.
The Sileighty then began to lose traction again, as Reiko slowed down, while Kanae spun out and slid into the finish, followed by the FD with such a short distance of mere inches away…

"It looks like we know who clearly won this battle," announced Bao Fu, calling out to Alex insultingly, as he began to drive off in his 350GT, leaving the rest of the Bu Xia De members in the dust. He continued along the course to meet with the racers of the battle, at the end of the route.
The 350GT ploughed through H3, giving the crowds another reason to stare in awe.

Several moments later, the door of the Sileighty slowly opened, and Kanae limped out of her car, leaving the helmet behind. At the same moment, the 350GT had soon came around and parked near both cars briefly taking a stop. Bao Fu stepped out of his car, as Kanae crawled helplessly toward him, crying and struggling in all her agony.
Bao looked down upon her, as she met on all fours, weeping and coughing before his feet.

"Why… why… why did you have to…?" sobbed Kanae as she continued to cough her lungs out.

Bao Fu could not look at her. You look so pitiful…
However, deep down inside him, he contemplated on whether he should help her up or not. I've been trying to rid myself of my gentle nature nowadays…
Yet, the cold and heartless Emperor somehow felt the sincerity to apologise, "I'm sorry for what I did…"
Bao Fu bobbed down, and reached for her chin and held her up, looking right at her face. "…But trust me… in the end… it's all gonna be worth it,"

The Emperor then stood up, turning his back on his guinea pig and made his way over to the loser of the match. He arrogantly stood forth, looking on at Reiko, who merely leaned onto her vehicle, speechless and motionless.
"That was quite a show. However, I do not treat this as a joke, and neither do you. But I gotta give you credit," applauded Bao insultingly.
"I guess… it's over for us. A deal is a deal after all. Please spare us the shame by holding back the insults," muttered Reiko.

"Oh don't think of it as a bad thing," cheered up Bao, "Believe me when I say, this is also what you want,"
"What do you mean?"
"We have a certain objective that both of us seem to share. Our merge has come out from it's own territories. Both Dreadnaught and Bu Xia De are to come together and unite against our own true enemy,"
"Our…enemy?" wondered Reiko.
"Yes, our enemy," explained Bao Fu, "The most bothersome and formidable enemy that we could ever have on our road to street racing supremacy – Zui Hou R!"