Same goes as before, and it's still a work in progress. The more feedback I get, the more and quicker I'll update! Enjoy the next chapter.
AcceleRacers: Third Wheel
Chapter Two: A "Wylde" Challenge
About an hour later, the small group of cars pulled into the city limits, "Okay, I don't want you to make your cars anymore noticeable, that means music off, extra lights off, and no going over 60mph." Doctor Tezla said over the communicator.
Shirako flicked his music off, as well as Nolo and Kurt. Porkchop sighed, "Silence never sounded so good."
"Follow me. If someone gets caught at a light, we all pull over. I want us to stay together." Doctor Tezla ordered.
"Man what's with this, it's like we're little kids back in elementary school or something. Doesn't he know we can take care of ourselves?" Wylde mumbled under his breath.
Kurt just sighed and shook his head. He wasn't about to have another bout with his brother, not in the city, not when they were trying to behave.
Suddenly a base was heard, a deep beat track of music, playing loud into the night. Kurt rolled his eyes, "Shirako, he said to keep it down."
"It's not me, my music is off." Shirako replied over the communicator.
"What? Then who is it playing that mus―"
Just as Kurt was saying the word music, a black car with blue and red flames and dark tinted windows drove right beside him, its base pounding his car. Kurt and Wylde turned their heads and stared at their reflection in the other car's window. Kurt's eyes narrowed, trying to peer past the darkness when the tint disappeared, giving both Wylde and Kurt a clear look inside the vehicle.
The inside was silver and black, with large speakers behind and beside the driver, who wore a tight black shirt covered with a black jacket, and baggy black pants, and a black, full-faced helmet and dark tint hid the driver's face. The blue lights from the car's system reflected off the helmet as the driver's head bobbed up and down to the beat of the music.
The car's engine revved, the driver was obviously challenging Kurt to a race. Kurt's foot was about to hit the gas when Doctor Tezla said, "No Kurt, don't race him. We need to stay together."
Kurt looked at the driver, whose head was now turned towards Kurt. Kurt shook his head, and the driver just shrugged, re-activated the window tint, and speed off, leaving the other's behind.
"That punk! He probably is laughing at us right now. He doesn't know who he's messing with though!" Wylde said as he clenched his fist.
"Just let it go," Kurt said.
"No I won't just let it go. That punk made a fool out of us! We are the best! If I had my car I would have shown him!" Wylde continued to yell.
"Markie, stop it. I said let it go." Kurt repeated.
"Let it go Wylde. We've got to do as Doctor Tezla says." Tork said over the communicator.
"Argh you guys are just a bunch of wimps." Wylde said, but he didn't mention the other driver any more.
"But did you see that car?" Monkey said, "It was awesome!"
"That car was good look'n, but why did they have to go mess it up with that noise?" Porkchop asked.
"Did any of you get a look on the inside? Who was driving it?" Nolo asked.
"I got a look inside, looked almost like it had the same technology as we use. Definitely a Teku grade system inside, and the paint job isn't half-bad either." Kurt replied, "As for the driver. I didn't get a real good look at him. His helmet was too dark to see, but he did have style, I can tell you that."
"His car looked more like one of us Metal Maniac's car." Taro said, cutting into Kurt and Nolo's conversation, "Definitely not Teku grade."
"His car was too clean and shinny to possibly ever belong to a Metal Maniac." Nolo said.
"Yeah, it could use a little more character." Porkchop added.
"I thought that his car was unique. Don't see many that have controlled tinting. Pretty advanced technology, wouldn't you say so?" Karma said.
"Way cool," Shirako agreed.
"We're here." Said Doctor Tezla.
The drivers looked around as they pulled their cars into the parking lot of a car garage.
"Why are we at a car garage?" Wylde asked.
"This isn't just any car garage, this is the place where drivers come to show off." Doctor Tezla said, turning off his car and climbing out, "It's just recently been built too, so it should be rather nice inside."
"Yeah, that may be, but why are we here?" Wylde asked again as Kurt parked his car and climbed out.
"I need to buy a few extra parts. I'm building something and I need this part ASAP." Doctor Tezla said, watching as all of the drivers climb out of the cars.
"Why did we all have to come then?" Wylde growled.
"In case another realm opened I didn't want any of you going in while I was gone." Tezla replied.
"We wouldn't have gone in." Wylde said back.
"Maybe not." Tezla said with a shrug, "Let's go."
The group started to walk forward, towards the entrance of the garage, when a familiar sound echoed in all of their ears. The black car with blue and red flames that had challenged Kurt to a race zipped into the parking lot, and skidded to a halt right next to Battle Spec. The driver opened the door and stepped out, helmet still on, and looked around, "Funny running into you here. I thought this place was for drivers. Not cowards."
Kurt gritted his teeth, but didn't reply to the driver's jab. He and the rest continued to walk up to the garage and the driver called after them, "I'm calling you out. But if you drivers aren't good enough―"
That was the final straw for Wylde. He snapped around and looked at the driver, "I'll take you, any time, any where."
Kurt rolled his eyes, "With what car?"
"No, I want to race the other good looking one." Replied the driver.
Kurt and the others looked around, "I think he means you Karma, or maybe you Lani."
"No. Not her, I mean you." The driver pointed towards pointed towards Kurt.
Wylde laughed, "Look at that. You go from drones to dudes. Can't say I like your taste, but whatever suits you."
Kurt grabbed Wylde, "Shut up." He turned to the driver, "Listen buddy, I'm not like that. So go find someone else to bother."
"But I like bothering you. You're car is hot, I like it and I want to race it." The driver replied, leaning back onto the car.
Kurt glanced at Doctor Tezla, "Let me race him, please, I want to show him that he can't talk to me like that."
Doctor Tezla sighed, "Fine, go ahead. I think I'd like to see this race. Make sure your cameras are on."
"Thank you." Kurt said as he got back into his car, "Come on buddy, you set the track.
"Alright, you know the City Limits sign in the direction you came in? Take any route you want to get there, but just make sure you beat me back here if you want to win." The driver said.
Kurt nodded his head as the driver got into the other car, "Doctor Tezla, give us the green light."
Doctor Tezla nodded his head as both cars pulled around and lined up. Doctor Tezla raised both hands and then dropped them, and both cars sped past him and out of the parking lot.
"Look at them go!" Nolo said as the cars pulled out onto the rode and zoomed out of sight.
Kurt zipped past several slow moving vehicles and then turned a corner. He knew these streets fairly well and knew several short cuts, but no matter what turns he made he couldn't loose that punk of a driver.
For a while, whatever he did, the mystery driver would copy. When Kurt ran a red light, the mystery driver did as well. When he jumped a curb, tore thru on coming traffic, and then merged with traffic, the driver stayed right on his tail, coping everything perfectly. It was if the driver was trying to learn Kurt's style, trying to somehow gain an advantage. But Kurt couldn't see how that would help out at the moment. If you stay behind someone, you'll never be able to win a race, Kurt knew that, and by the way the driver talked, it should be obvious. Even if it meant that the driver wouldn't pass him, it still annoyed Kurt, like flies swarming around the back side of a cow, but unlike a cow, Kurt had no tail to swat away this pesky fly.
"Get off me!" Kurt growled.
The driver turned off onto a street and left Kurt, "See ya buddy!"
Kurt raced on to the edge of the city, and finally made it to the City Limit's sign, but as he neared it, the driver zipped past him, heading back to the city, "What the? How did he get out here so fast?" Kurt said as he drove a loop around the sign and also headed back into the city. It was going to be his turn to play copy cat. But when they reached the traffic, he lost sight of the driver.
After a while he returned to the parking lot of the gym, looking around for the driver's car, but it wasn't anywhere to be found. Kurt jumped out of his car, "Yeah, I won!" He pumped a fist into the air.
"Not quite," said a familiar voice. The mystery driver walked up to Kurt, "I said you had to beat me back to win, but I got here first. You lose."
"What?" Kurt looked around, "Where is your car."
"Yeah," Nolo said, "We've been waiting here for almost an hour, and your car hasn't come in yet, so where did you come from."
"Oh, my car is here." The driver replied, opening one of the car garage's doors "seems as though I've won."
"What? How'd you get it in there?" Nolo asked.
"Simple, I came around the back way." The driver replied.
"What do you mean, the back way?" Kurt growled.
"Meaning I took another road to get here." Kurt could just imagine the smirk on the driver's hidden face.
"No one saw you get here, how do we know you actually beat Kurt?" Nolo asked, stepping towards the driver.
"I see you're not very friendly are you?" The driver asked, meeting Nolo half way.
"You trying to start something punk?" Nolo asked, his voice raising.
"Yeah, I am. I don't like being called a liar." Replied the driver.
"Well I don't trust anyone that won't show me their face." Nolo growled in return.
"What does it matter what I look like?" The driver asked, taking a step back from Nolo. Kurt wasn't quite sure if it was a step back of caution, or if it was a step back in case of the need to escape quickly.
"How did you get in? It's late and the shop keeper is in there talking to―" Nolo started to say, "Doctor Tezla. He's in there. He'll be able to tell us if you really were in there or not."
"That old guy is Peter Tezla? As in the Scrim Corporation Tezla?" The driver said, obviously shocked.
"What do you know about the Scrim Corporation?" Taro asked, crossing his arms, and looking at the driver with curious eyes.
"Nothing really. Just that he's supposed to be really rich, that's all." Said the driver in an unconvincing voice.
"Why don't you just tell who you really are?" Kurt said bluntly, "There's no point in lying to us."
"I really am no one of importance." The driver said, "Now, please, go ask Tezla if I was in there. He'll say I was. Or rather, he won't realize I was there, so you might as well just talk to the shop keeper."
"What do you mean, 'he won't realize you were there,' how could he not?" Nolo asked.
"Simple, I was dressed differently." The driver shrugged, "I didn't have my helmet on, so I doubt he would have realized I was me."
"But the shop is closed, you must've been the only on it there."
"Wrong again, the employees are in there. I'd have just blended in." Said the driver.
"Then how would the keeper have seen you?" Asked Nolo, glaring at the driver.
"Easy, he knows me, and he knows what I do. No one questions the best."
Kurt had been waiting for Wylde to lose his temper, and that final remark had done it.
"You think you're the best punk?" Wylde growled, "You haven't raced me yet."
"And I suppose you want to take me on, here and now?" Replied the driver in an almost bored voice.
"Yeah, I'll take you on, and I'll beat ya too." Wylde said, tossing his head sideways as he took a step nearer to the driver.
"Hmm, sounds like a fun challenge. Or rather, just an easy one. There's no point in racing you if your head is clouded with anger. All you're going to do it be a hazard on the road. There are other people you have to watch for ya know." The driver seemed to want to push Wylde over the edge, like a cat toying with a snake.
"What?" Roared Wylde, now heading full force over to the driver.
Monkey gulped and hid behind Porkchop, he'd almost been on the receiving end of Wylde's temper once, back when he'd taken Spine Buster into the Metro Realm, and had lost it to the Drones' new Sweeper. If it hadn't been for Tork, Monkey wasn't sure what he'd have done.
"It's alright Monkey Man, " Porkchop said, "it's that driver over there that should be hide'n."
"Y-y-you don't know what it's like. I kinda feel sorry for the guy." Monkey whispered, afraid that Wylde would hear him and change course.
"You really picked the wrong guy to mess with." Wylde said, cracking his knuckles.
"No, it seems as though I found someone fun to mess with. You take things far to personal." Said the driver, goading Wylde on.
"Stop it Wylde, you're just doing what he wants." Tork warned.
"Don't tell me what to do anymore Tork. I'm gonna take this punk out, and I'm gonna do it now." Wylde lunged at the driver.
The driver jumped out of his arm's length, "Hmm, you've gotten slower eh?"
Wylde looked at the driver, "Gotten slower?"
"Yeah, just a minute ago you were all quick to action, and now your motions seem hesitant and unsure. Could it be that you are afraid of losing to me?" The driver asked.
"You little ―"
"Mark, stop it. Settle down." Doctor Tezla said, holding a bag.
Wylde looked at Tezla, there was no way he was going to risk being able to race in the realms, more importantly, race Kurt, just because some punk was trying to make him look like a fool.
"You got lucky this time punk, but next time we meet, you're going down." Wylde said, pointing at him.
"I look forward to that day. I'm always up for a challenge, oh but when you come, please have tried to have matured a little. I hate fighting kids." The driver said, getting into the black car and driving off.
Kurt clenched his fist, "That jerk will pay."
"It'll have to be at a later time. While you all were waiting for Kurt to return, I slipped into the garage and bought the piece I needed. Let's go." Doctor Tezla said, "And just to please all of your curiosity, that driver did get here before Kurt.
Kurt looked at Tezla, but didn't say anything, other than Kurt's reaction,all that was heard was agroan towards Tezla'sremark, but everyone left without further complaints.
Once agian, Monkey shoved his head into his hands, it was going to be a long ride back.
I should get the next chapter out quickly, but I'm also going to be starting a new AcceleRacers fan fiction in the near future, so once that happens I'll alternate updates. I like to update once or twice a week, depending on how much I get to write. As always, I love feedback. I really do read the comments, and they really do mean a lot to me. Makes me want to write and update more! Thanks to those who've already commented. I hope you liked this chapter as much as the first!