The End...

Is the begining

"GO!"

The tortured sounds of tires scrapping for every ounce of grip on the asphalt destroyed the hushed silence on the peak of Mt Akina. There were screams and wolf-whistles as the distinct yellow of the Five Fire Flame GT Four pulled away from his opponent and shamed the white car in the starting dash. Despite the power and acceleration of the GT Four, the locals seemed very confident in the driver of that white car, underpowered, outdated and rear wheel drive. The driver of that car specialised in the come from behind victory.

Kogashiwa Kai shared their confidence, if not their allegiance.

He knew of course firsthand the skill of the Gunma racers, had seen them adapt to a foreign course and beat the best of the locals using their own tricks. He silently winced remembering that detail. But this was completely different; this wasn't two amateurs racing each other. This was one world class professional driver running at his best and not a single amateur racer in the world could derail a WRC competitor when their blood was burning with a battling spirit and their technique was overwhelming in every aspect.

Not even him.

"I don't know why I've been challenged to a street race on Akina, of all places, Kai; but let me tell you something. I'm not going to hold back, not one little bit. Since I came back to Japan, I've driven with Sudou-san and Mako and Sayuki's SilEighty and both times I only showed a fraction of the driving I'm capable of. Tonight I'm going to go all out and show everyone watching what a pro rallyist can do. No strategy, none of my tricks from Todou Juku… I'm going to bury them under the best driving they've ever seen!"

Kai smiled to himself as the taillights disappeared into the inky dark. Some much for Gunma's street king then… he didn't stand a chance. Tonight's race was going to go down in the annuals of the mountains and it was going to make the name of Five Fire Flame.

Nicolas Sainz was in fifth gear, foot buried to the floor as the first hairpin quickly loomed. Rather than approaching on the outside like on a racetrack, the technical shortest line, he hugged the inside lane tightly. He braked, using the weight shift to initiate a drift in the opposite direction to the corner; startling the galleries and making people scramble for cover as the Celica veered towards the guardrail at seemingly terminal speed. As he did this, he downshifted into second and flicked his car into the corner, applying the accelerator for the first time in the whole procedure to hold his drift and blast through the corner with ease.

Thoroughly shocked faces stared at each other in utter disbelief… desperately seeking confirmation that their eyes had not lied to them.

"Di…did you see that!"

"He drifted the car without touching the gas!"

"He just used momentum from the straightaway to do a feint drift!"

"Unbelievable, simply unbelievable!"

The white car followed behind, fast, but simply not in the same league while the road was relatively level. To even begin to come close to a high-powered 4WD car it would need to be charging down a steeper mountain slope than this… and maybe pull a rabbit out of a hat somewhere along the line. Or a dragon… that would be better.

In his cabin Nicolas was able to shut out all worldly and internal distractions and run using his finely honed instincts and technique.

"This is an unbelievable course. Even on the straights I can feel the tires wanting to lose traction, this is really quite terrifying. It's been so long since I've pushed a car this hard, I've got to keep my concentration on the road ahead at all times or I really will die this time. But if anyone thinks that will stop me, they're wrong, I'm going to keep pushing and pushing until the bottom of the mountain. The worse the tires get, the more I'm going to attack the corners… I'll show everyone what I'm capable of." The Spaniard sliced through the GT Four's close ratio gears seamlessly, arms and feat almost becoming an incoherent blur on the wheel and pedals as his Celica danced through a left-hand sweeper bend and then attacked a right hand corner in third.

"I'll show you abuelo, I am your grandson and I'll prove it!"

He stole a glance upwards to his rear-view mirror, remembering for the first time that this was a two-person race. Before his attention was diverted back by the next bend in the road, Sainz could almost have sworn that he had seen headlights. No way, must have been a reflection.

Sudou Kyouichi stood at the entrance to the infamous five consecutive hairpins, as good a vantage point for this race as any… but only because he himself had no idea what was going to happen. He had so much respect for the driving ability of both racers and it was almost unthinkable to believe that either of them would lose. Normally Kyouichi would have backed the better car, the GT Four, but his own experience told him that, on this course, even a 4WD was fallible if the driver didn't manage the tires perfectly. If the front tires started to lose traction the car wouldn't turn in as quickly and an FR car could attack it in the entrance of the corner. Even saying that though, Sainz was a professional, his cornering should be first rate and he was a master of car control… no one would bet against him. But that guy… that guy always seemed to win when the odds were massively stacked against him.

He'd beaten the combination of 4WD and misfiring system before… could he do it again?

If not, no one else in Gunma could… he was the White Comet of Akagi, the godfather of the streets.

There was no mistaking it, they were headlights and they were getting closer, Nicolas refused to give into frustration… there was always a logical explanation. The car must have been tuned with more power than it originally seemed to make such headway on the middle high speed section.

"There is no way that FC has less power than my GT Four, because there is no way in hell that he's out cornering me!" Nicolas knew there were a handful of back to back hairpin corners coming up, he'd reopen the gap there, even on scalding tires he knew how to get through them faster than any amateur, veteran or not. Stepping on the brakes at the last possible minute and holding them to trail-brake into the first corner, keeping the weight over the front tires to aid turning as the car began to skate. The mountain pass was filled with the machinegun backfire of the Celica's misfiring system and then it exited in a flash of yellow thundering steel.

Kyouichi watched as his former Todou Juku classmate cornered with all the grace and skill of his prestigious grandfather, Carlos Sainz. The FC was seconds behind… seconds? In both of their races, Ryousuke had never been more than a car length behind Kyouichi, stalking him, waiting for any opening to exploit; Nicolas had him struggling to keep up. The FC finally appeared, charging down the corner as only the White Comet of Akagi could. Kyouichi waited for the inevitable braking… and waited… and waited.

"Are you insane Takahashi? There's no way your car will turn at that speed! Slow down before you kill yourself! Slow down!" Obviously oblivious to Kyouichi's concern, though it would never be voiced again, the FC damned the entire scrambling, screaming gallery and moved for the corner. There was a sound like gunshot, and the FC was gone.

Kyouichi couldn't believe his eyes, he was no newcomer to racing, but he had just seen something his mind could not comprehend. The FC had just exceeded the turning ability of it's tires, and yet had just taken the corner as though it was on rails. It didn't make sense… and what was that noise just before Ryousuke entered? Kyouichi stared at the hairpin in a daze… wondering how a retired Takahashi had once again upstaged him in driving skill. Rushing to catch a glimpse of the FC on the following corner, Kyouichi ran to the opposite side of the road, cursing silently as his new shoes came into contact with some spongy leaf litter, still wet from recent rain and lying discarded in the gentle gutter.

Gutter? No way!

Kyouichi smiled, years of unsolved mysteries fitting into place like a perfect key.

But would it be enough?

Nicolas pulled the handbrake quickly, adjusting the angle of his drift mid-corner to compensate for his baked tires. It stood as testament to his ability that he was able keep his car on the road at all, least of all at the incredible pace he had. But it just wasn't enough, not for Nicolas Sainz. Each corner, the FC was nipping a little into his lead, somehow using it's tires in a way that even the 4WD Celica GT Four could not. It wasn't the power difference at all; there was a cornering difference! Damn it! There was no way Nicolas could have known to bother with high performance tires, up to the job of holding a longer more intense race. There was no way he was going to have taken a street race seriously.

"Even if you've got some cornering method to catch me, some cheat, there's no way you can overtake me with our difference in exit acceleration, and in the next straight the FC will soon disappear." It wasn't what the Todou graduate originally had imagined, but it would suffice. "In professional racing, a win is a win, no matter where it's made."

Nicolas gritted his teeth as he depressed the accelerator with pinpoint precision, making the necessary counter steering as his car slid just a little too far. The FC was right on his tail at exit, but it soon fell prey to the higher-powered Celica. From high on the galleries a group of racers watched on in amazement as both the Celica and FC passed them within heartbeats of each other. One of them, a local team leader was overcome by the enormity of both drivers skill.

"Unbelievable… look at the speed of the GT Four, see that crazy acceleration at exit! There's no way that Takahashi Ryousuke can overcome this guy, so late in the race." Standing at his side, close enough to leave no one with any illusions to the state of their relationship, was the ever-beautiful Satou Mako. She, being of much greater skill than her companion, saw something much different. The FC was entering the corners much faster and without any understeer. The Celica was understeering and was sliding the car to compensate; it's tires were worn to slicks, even with only a few corners left it was going to be very hard for Sainz-kun to come away with a victory against such a deadly opponent.

"I'm not so sure…"

It was hard for Mako to watch Ryousuke and Nicolas race… it was almost like seeing two different stages of her life and heart. There were barely hours that she had snatched between the two, but they had both had a impact on her life and her racing. As she felt an arm slip around her for support she scrunched her lovely face into a tight mask of worry. If someone had to lose tonight, she prayed it wouldn't be Nicolas… she doubted he was ready for the shock of it. He needed some kind of fulfilment.

Beside them, a much more provocatively dressed young woman nodded in Mako's direction.

"No, this race isn't over. The Celica is moving fast, even with overheated tires but Takahashi Ryousuke is taking the better line… the same line as Akina's 86 did during it's races. He knows that there is still a small chance for a counter-attack. Only the final corners will settle this race."

"It's getting harder to control the car… the tires are nearly about to delaminate, but you're still mine Takahashi Ryousuke. There's nowhere that you can attack me… the 4WD layout gives superior traction, even in the latter stages of the race, and the misfiring system gives instant response and acceleration. The same layout as a real WRC machine."

Swinging the car back and forth with another feint drift, keeping the car on line through sheer power of will and raw automotive ability, Nicolas allowed himself to relax slightly. Two more corners and the race was over. Victory was his; one hundred and ten percent!

"Tomo-san, I don't understand why we are watching from the final corner. All we will get to see is a huge gap between the GT Four and the FC… we should have went to the five consecutive hairpins. That is were the most exciting parts of the battles have been in previous Akina races." Todou Juku was, as usual for them, out en masse to witness the driving of one of the school's graduates… even if he wasn't aware of it. Another act of some frequency was occurring… the strong, and most often loud, opinions of Ieyasu Miyoko, the school's newest student.

Before then, Tachi Tomoyuki, Tomo, had originally found her quite charming…

"Not in this battle Miyoko. With Akina's combination of short straightaways and straightforward hairpin corners, there is very little chance for the runner to leave the pursuer. The chasing car is able to steal the rhythm and line from the runner and see all the details of his driving, from acceleration to cornering technique. This corner is the best corner to attack the leading car. There is a high-speed entry and the corner has three lanes, so there is plenty of room to choose a good cornering line. Furthermore, 4WD and FR cars take different corning approaches to achieve their highest rate of speed possible so that will open pinpoint overlaps for the following car to drive through. Lastly are the tires…"

Tomo trailed off, allowing the three younger Todou associates, Daiki, Sakai and Miyoko, to formulate their own reasoning and answer him. It was clear by that confident and somewhat creepy smile, Sakai had figured it out, but was going to leave the answer to sit in the minds of the current students.

'The front tires of FF and 4WD layout cars experience more pressure on them, because they are used for both acceleration and turning. Also, FF and 4WD rely on the grip of those tires to turn in… unlike an FR. Even with worn tires an FR can turn in by generating oversteer at the corner entry. If Sainz has rushed his race to get clear of the chasing FC then his turn in will be slowed, even if he is drifting his car in response. That is the only weakness in the 4WD layout… they rely too heavily on those front tires. Sainz has competed at professional level on national and international level briefly… logic should dictate that a pro driver will defeat an amateur regardless of those conditions.

However.

'This is Takahashi Ryousuke, the man that trained Fujiwara Takumi and Takahashi Keisuke, two successful pro racers in their own right. This was the leader of Project D.

He's beaten us before.'

There was a mingled symphony of a rotary engine and the systematic explosions of the misfiring system and suddenly four pop-up headlights appeared. The FC was locked on to the tail of the FC as they attacked the second last corner of Akina's downhill. The effect upon the Todou members was electric, the students… even Sakai, one of the schools best, were clearly shocked.

Tomo smiled ruefully.

'Sorry Sainz-kun…I guess tonight, the goddess of racing just wasn't with you.'

Coming up the inside of the corner much faster than the Celica, the FC held the tight line inside and closed on the GT Four… quickly. Vision tunnelling ahead, using every ounce of coordination to hold the line, Nicolas Sainz, undefeated since his return to Japan, Yellow Thunder, was unaware that he no longer had a tailing car. With the instinct born from routine, he exited and quickly glanced up, expecting to once again widen the gap between the two cars. He saw only the utter darkness of a mountain pass at night.

His eyes bugged and, in disbelief, he shot a look over his shoulder, to the inside. He payed for his mistake with a brief slide that he quickly corrected.

That bastard!

Even with the better acceleration, the FC stayed level on the straight.

Gritting his teeth until his jaw ached Nicolas Sainz, the scion of the Sainz family legacy, took Takahashi Ryousuke to a braking duel and won it, but in winning it, played into a more complex battle for the best cornering line. Sensing his folly, Nicolas attempted to use his left-foot braking to turn his Celica in to the corner. Quickly enough the understeer slide became a full throttle drift through the corner, leaving the barest of openings right before the finish.

The barest of openings was all it took.

In a flash of white the White Comet came from outside to in… taking the lead and crossing the finish line.

He made it seem so easy.

In the cabin of the Celica Nicolas Sainz expelled the breath he wasn't aware he had kept until he felt the ache in his chest.

He'd lost?

He'd lost…

Almost unaware of his actions he pulled over and lent his head against the steering wheel. After all this time, all the training and professional driving and still, on a backwater road in the middle of nowhere in Japan, a driver that never came close to going pro humbled him.

Sometimes in life Sainz-kun, just like in life, you hit walls. Every time you climb over one of those walls you get a little stronger, a little faster. When you reach a wall you can't climb over, most of the time, that means you've reached your limit. Sometimes though, if you're stubborn enough, and strong enough and lucky enough… something unexpected can knock that wall down. That's why you never give up Sainz-kun, not as long as you're alive.

Inside the Celica Nicolas felt the tension leave his body. He was still young, and he still had a lot to learn about racing.

Nicolas Sainz had lost.

For the first time in years, he gave the world a genuine smile.

IS THE END.

It's all over... done done done.

I'd like to dedicate this crappy story to a few people... firstly of course is BoomChish; you're a good freind, and there is no way I'd have bothered finishing this if not for you. It's funny that an Evo 4's AYC got us talking a year ago, and know there are few people whom I enjoy talking to more. Thanks for all your help.

Secondly, I'd like to thank the fanbrats that can barely write, know nothing of cars, touge or racing or THE CHARACTERSand yet churn out fics at a staggering rate... all of which hurt a normal person's brain to read. Research people, if you get nothing else right in the whole story... at least know the difference between a 13B-REW and a 4G63...between racing that requires huge turbos and displacement increases and racing that requires response andwhy peoplecan't create cars that don't exist, and couldn't exist without a fortune's worth of work, NA Evo's, F1 engined FC's... things like that.

Actually that's the worst, pretending to know what you're talking about... for shame.

I miss inky, she knew a catalitic convertor from a radiator cap.

Yeash... anyways, from here on in, I'm open to projects and suggestions that take my fancy... otherwise, well...

See you and goodbye.