Hello, well for those who couldn't decide between battle and a guest star... get both hehehe, I just wanted to sweat you all.

Oh for those of you who love BoomChish's work... go to her homepage to find the first chapters of her great new story, Oh Brother Where Art Thou? another Evo Prime story... it's got my seal of approval

Counter Attack.

"He's insufferable Miyoko! I've never met someone as arrogant as him! He never turns up on time and it's obvious that he barely works in the course and he won't take any advice whatsoever! He's going to fail, I know it. He's going to fail and that's completely fine with him!"

Sitting in her favourite chair with her forehead propped up by a palm Ieyasu Miyoko tried to recount the conversation she just been shackled into. Hi Mako, how are you? How's the cute little pupil? Maybe it was the innuendo that did it… damn, no quick way out now. The only option left was just to bear with the repercussions.

"How did he get as far as he did with racing? He has no will to succeed whatsoever! I don't know why he even bothers at all! Oh he's so damn infuriating!"

Why so infuriating Mako? You remind me of someone… where have I heard some other girl complain so much about another arrogant ass of a man? Oh wait, now I remember…

"You know Mako, I've never heard of a guy getting to you this much… not even that Speed Stars guy, whatever his name was. Maybe there's something you're not telling me…" Miyoko smirked silently to herself as she heard her friend's angry denial. "Why don't you tell me what he looks like… black hair, blond like Alex?" Let's see if she takes the bait.

Hmmm, brunette huh? Long hair, well that's always a plus. Tanned skin, light brown almost amber eyes, exotic, trimmed goatee, tall, well… oh Mako, you poor thing, you're doomed. There's just something about the jerks isn't there? They're just irresistible, especially when there's a real nice guy behind all the machismo.

"So… why not just tell your uncle, he'll fail him and you get your holiday back?" He he, nothing like baiting one of your friends to improve your mood. Just a slight change in tone, a slight gasp of shock or indignation, that'd make it more than worth it.

Please Mako, just a little one?

"I couldn't do that Miyoko! Everyone deserves a chance… besides… he's not all bad…"

Yes! Perfect!

"So when are you going to meet him next?" Miyoko asked, mock frustration masking a much deeper motivation. The end of the week? His lecture is today? Give… him… one week to work. Excellent!

"Mako, I just remembered I have to pick up Alex from University, his Evo's getting serviced, do you mind if I ring you when I get back… we can organise dinner Friday then okay?"

Hanging up her handset Miyoko, a card-carrying member of Emperor Prime, made for the kitchen. She did have to go to Uni, but not for anything to do with Alex, who was actually outside washing Sparky. Miyoko was making that trip for one reason… to start a fire.

Today, he'd make the plunge today. After the complete disaster at Happogahara four weeks ago he knew something had to be done to strengthen his team. Kai and Rina were now both M.I.A. on Irohazaka and try as they might he and Dysuke alone couldn't really inspire the necessary awe and respect from the locals to hold the pass. They needed reinforcements. Dysuke didn't even have his car, it was in at Ken Works with unspecified engine problems stemming from the battle with the Night Kids GTR. Originally he had thought of asking Dysuke to work on Rina's older brother Ken, but that wasn't really fair… using a semi-pro driver to prop up Five Fire Flame. Takuya knew he'd have to go the hard way and recruit more people on the street level. Maybe, he despaired, he'd even have to start accepting non-Toyota cars into the team. Bah, he thought, I'll see where today takes me and just pick up the pieces from there. So he walked into his education lecture, making sure to be at least twenty minutes late, mumbled an apology to Satou-san and made for the back of the class. In the back corner there was a few conspicuously empty chairs around one fellow student. Dysuke's target, the guy he had seen wearing racing sneakers and pit shirts from Advan and Rays Engineering. In short, Nicolas Sainz.

"Hey how you doing?" He got a nod in response.

"I miss anything important?" He got a shake of the head.

Real talkative guy, by the looks.

Takuya though, always on the ball, was determined to provoke a two-way conversation and was certain he had the ammunition to do it. Ready… aim…

"So what'd you do for Satou-sensei to let you hang out with that niece of his? The two of you engaged or something?"

"Sainz-kun, is the something wrong? You look starved for air."

In complete shock Nicolas Sainz had choked on his words, or nods, or whatever, and had begun coughing in fits. Forced to hold his side in silent laughter, Takuya was useless to help or hush him. Waving as best he could, Nicolas assured their lecturer he was… well, alive if nothing else. Engaged to Satou Mako? You must be kidding, he did have some pride. The last thing he wanted was someone force-feeding him for the next half a century… would she tuck him in to bed, fearing that he couldn't do it himself, or make sure to be in the shower with him for fear… no… bad thoughts, wrong thoughts… Sainz scowled at Takuya as if he were the root of all evil.

"No, we're not engaged, Satou slapped me with her as a parol officer for turning up late too many times." Clearly impressed, Takuya nudged Sainz in the ribs.

"So what you're telling me is to keep turning up late and I'll get to be around her all the time? Cool, thanks for the advice." Barely impressed, the gaijin rolled his eyes and stopped them on the black board with a studied expression of distaste and boredom. While Takuya made notes on anything important, Sainz's arms didn't budge from his chest where they were crossed for the whole lecture. He barely blinked, his breathing didn't fluctuate, he was still as statue and about as interesting for the entire two hour lecture. When it was over, and Satou dismissed the class, he just picked up and left with the same flippant ease. It took Takuya a moment to grab his books and hurry after… besides they were parked right beside each other.

"Small fry."

Stepping down on the gas hard, his R32 GTR Skyline rocketed forward, nearly bumping the rear bar of the ZW30. This was the first section of Happogahara with lots of consecutive hairpins and short straightaways. Although he knew he probably could overtake by tightening his exit and using his Skyline's 380 horsepower and 4WD to power past, Nakazato Takeshi waited it out. He knew the trick to overtaking now… it was all down to the perfect moment. That moment where the opponent showed a fatal weakness and there was no opportunity to fight back. It would come on the final corner before the second sector, the high-speed sector. He thought back to his last major battle on Myogi, against Iwaki Seiji and his Evo 4. He had cut the inside of a high-speed corner when the 32 understeered and immediately distanced the two cars. Takeshi had run afoul of a concrete retaining wall trying to vainly gain distance on the straight. The weakness had been presented and exploited to the point where there was no opportunity for a normal driver to recover. Oh yes, Nakazato Takeshi remembered that battle very well. It was just another lesson in perfecting the art of street racing.

"Come on Five Fire Flame let's see your cornering first hand."

She was quick, but nothing too impressive, Shingo was much faster, he wouldn't have been worried. She controlled her midship well, which was surprising. He knew a few racers with MR layout and none of them tried to drift… especially not in a battle. There was no doubt she had engaged in the dogfight either, the pace had increased and she had tried to block the GTR on the straights be taking the centre of the road. Not that it mattered, when the time was right, nothing would matter except the sound of spooling and the bellow of the RB26.

Right hairpin.

Nakazato pressured the inside, clearly giving it priority. The MRS responded with a predictable blocking line and kept the right-hand side… the dead traffic side. Grinning, Myogi's Black Lightning pressed down on the accelerator, released it and repeated the process in conjunction with precise steering control to control the 1600 kilograms of the Nissan Skyline as it pulled to the outside. The manoeuvre relied on the grip of the tires but it worked and got the Skyline on the outside of ZW30. Rina knew she was in trouble, even on such a short straight that giant GTR had to have an advantage. She stepped down on the gas and let it rev out well into the redline, hopping to cling onto at least the Skyline's doors… if she could do that then she could take the lead again on the next right-hand hairpin. Come on, what did Kai say about entering corners… brake late, shift quick and turn in!

Okay, go!

"Got you." Rina swept into the hairpin with last minute braking getting ahead by less than a car length. Takeshi's headlight's swerved from outside right to inside left as Rina cornered from left to right.

"The GTR disappeared?"

With her inexperience Rina couldn't know that Nakazato had just played her to take the inside. With her inexperience Rina couldn't know that Nakazato had styled his counter attack on the downhill attack of an eighteen-year-old school kid.

Nakazato Takeshi won the inside and with 380 horsepower being put to the ground through all four wheels he blasted by Rina's MRS as though it weren't moving.

Rina lost.

"Time for the Altezza."

Nobutachi Dysuke glanced at his rear-view mirror, trying to gauge if Rina had caught up at all in the tight first section.

"Huh?" She was breathing down his neck… no… wait that wasn't a ZW30… that was a Silvia or maybe a Skyline. What was going on? Where was Rina and who was this?

Oh shit!

Exiting the corner Dysuke stepped on the gas, trying to get some distance on the other car, but succeeded in doing nothing more than needlessly spinning his rear tires. The Skyline made a grab for the inside but Dysuke quickly managed to cut him off.

"Oh no you don't, this is my home course now and I won't let anybody push me around!"

The Altezza was lighter, but only by a little, and it was FR. The Skyline was obviously the 4WD, so it held it's weight much better, and it was much more powerful. Damn it, come on Altezza, don't let me down! Even as he thought the thought he was forced to take a blocking line down the centre of the road to keep the guy behind him. God damn it, what could he possibly do? Nothing on the straight, but weren't there 4 or 5 switching hairpins up ahead? Yeah right after each other too! He just had to thump through really good corners one after the other and he'd be able to hold the lead until the end of the course. Scare the hell out of the other driver with a completely fearless entry and it was over. Well that was something Nobutachi Dysuke could do on demand.

There was a right hairpin, although he didn't know it, the first of the four snake hairpins.

Not yet, not yet, not yet….

Now!

Swerving from left to right and quickly back again, Dysuke let the back end slide and held it, drifting well before the corner, sending up plumes of smoke. None of his teammates would have been able to tail him through that. He deliberately bogged the revs down to keep traction at the apex of the corner and then brought them back up to exit.

"Hmmm, so much for 4WD! What's the big deal then? He hasn't even hit the corner yet!"

Yellow GT4… Yellow GT4… Yellow… yes! Wow! As a member of Evo Prime she'd seen some well tuned cars, even battled the Todou-Juku demo car on Happogahara and this Celica was tuned to at least that same level. It looked intense, plain and simple, just intense, almost like a real rally car. Hang on… Kei Office? That means this car was tuned by Tsuchiya-san himself! Wow, how much horsepower would it have and how would the suspension be set up? It'd be great to see this car in action… no, not yet, after… it'd be enough fun just setting this guy and Mako into a complete head spin for now.

It would be impossible to miss him, a gaijin in Tochigi… well if it wasn't Alex, then it obviously had to be the guy. There… talking to a local racer and smoking a cigarette. Brunette alright, shoulder length hair tied back into a ponytail that just seemed to tickle the back of his neck. The tanned skin, the amber eyes, all there… Mako definitely had good taste, now that she had gotten away from that Iketani. All she needed was a none to gentle push in the right direction to keep the ball rolling. She brought her Evo VII to a casual halt, blocking off several parked cars without a thought. Plastering a counterfeit innocent look on her face she approached the pair, cursing smokers in general as she encountered a wreath of second-hand smoke and caught a snippet of their conversation.

"…not my fight. Maybe there are some good drivers around here but it's not my business to get involved in their squabbles."

"Who said anything about squabbles… we're just talking practicing and doing time trails in a friendly group environment. Is there anything wrong with that? Together as a team we can push each other much harder than someone can alone."

"Well…" as she closed the distance between Ieyasu Miyoko noticed a slight softening in his voice… as if the offer did genuinely tempt him, but the moment was gone in a heartbeat as he became aware of her presence.

Miyoko could almost feel her face split in half with an intended honey-sweet smile to lessen the young man's, and he couldn't have been more than a year or two older than her, defences. She got an indifferent nod in return.

An indifferent nod?

Not even Sodou Kyouichi, her team leader, ignored her to such a degree! She got a glare or a smile, something; this was just a look of utter disinterest seeping from his every pore. For some reason it made her feel rather small.

Unimportant.

She continued to smile regardless and made her voice as pleasant as possible.

"Hey, you're Nicolas, right. Mako's tutoring you in education right?" She barrelled on in the face of his nod.

"Oh, I thought so, listen, you know that Mako's twenty-third birthday is in a few days, right? Well I'm thinking of taking her to coffee Friday afternoon and then taking her from there to her party, so I was wondering if you could speed up your tutorial with her, she's really excited, who could blame her, but she doesn't want to be rude. You'll be at the party anyway, so…"

Miyoko noted with some private glee, the confusion and worry in the man's eyes.

Hook, line and sinker.

"Birthday?"

I didn't know anything about a birthday…

"That's the problem with drifting…" Nakazato Takeshi chuckled to himself whilst slowly pressing the accelerator down. The 4WD Attesa system worked perfectly pulling Black Lightning up alongside the white Toyota Altezza on the inside, which would become the outside on the next and, if it came to that, the inside for the final of the four hairpins. It was over.

Stubborn as ever though Nobutachi Dysuke realized on his instincts and the power of his engine for the next hairpin, but even with the inside they remained dead even through the corner and the Skyline gained a lead exiting.

Don't pass me, stay back there, stay back there!

There was one big concussion blast and a sudden loss of power…

Black Lightning left him for dead.

So much for drift then.

Well now, I hope you guys and girls enjoy it.

Seak... thanks for your review, I hope you like the new chapter, I try to put as much technical knowledge in it as possible without boring people to death so it always does my heart good when people like it. I've tried breaking the paragraphs up a bit more too, in the hope that it'll become easier to follow.

BoomChish, just so you know, our conversation the other night was very inspiring, I hope you took as much away from it as I did.

When do we get to see another chapter of your story by the way? ;-)