'eX Driver: Renegade Wheels
Disclaimer: 'eX Driver and the cars found therein are not mine. All vehicles and their company names are property of the car industries that began them. All real life locales and business names are also there own property. Any and all firearms are rightfully owned by their companies and do not promote the use of the products for terrorism and random acts of violence. All situations are fictional and not meant to directly correlate to any past or future occurrences.
1st Mile: Rumors of Europe
"Hey Lorna! Wait!"
A sleepy Lisa Sakakino hollered on their way to school. The girls were late once again to their high school class. An AI car had gone ballistic at three in the morning and it had taken an hour to chase it down and stop it. The chocolate brown haired girl shouted over her shoulder.
"Can't do that Lisa! We have that test today in Science remember?" The short haired girl couldn't believe her ears.
"ARGHH! I TOTALLY FORGOT! NOOooooooooooo!" she screamed as she reached the front gates of the school.
Finally collapsing in their desk chairs, the two girls looked and saw their friend Souichi Sugano; a smirk was on his face. He was unbelievably skilled for a twelve year old. A fellow 'eX Driver in a Super 7 and an advanced education student, he was far more mature than his age.
"What's that look for shrimp?"
Lisa wasn't in a good mood over the test she hadn't remembered to study for. Lorna sighed, it never failed that the two partners got into an argument. A nudge in the ribs startled her. Kimiko Sawaguni was looking at her with a grin on her face. The blonde girl tended to be pushy at times, but she knew a lot about what was going on around town.
"Hey Lorna, I've got some info that might tickle your fancy!"
"Oh? Then tell me, we've got some time before class."
"Well, rumors say that the two best bounty hunters in Europe are supposed to be here in Japan!"
Several heads turned and the room got quiet. Europe had been the big country for international news lately. A band of crime lords had taken a beating in the city of Berlin, Germany by a pair of bounty hunters that no one seemed to have information on.
"Really? Are you serious?" Her fellow student nodded.
Two months ago, in Berlin, Germany, one of the most feared crime lords in Europe was found in front of German Police HQ pleading to take him in for his own protection. He was known in the underground as 'The Death Dealer' for his illegal weapons smuggling all across the world.
The organization he had was elite, and their home base in Berlin was impregnable. He housed a small army there, with machine gun batteries and anti-armor guns positioned around the old castle. Rumors said that he even had anti-aircraft defenses, but that hadn't been proven.
When he had been questioned by the police, he couldn't give them exact descriptions. The only thing that he could remember was sitting in his board room with several important members of the cartel when a series of high-powered rifle rounds punctured the heavy oak door, killing three people in the process.
Two men stepped through the ravaged door, both were dressed in black; one wore a red button up dress shirt under his black leather jacket. When he had called for his guards, none came. The words that had been recorded and published to the public from the criminal's lips had been:
"Don't bother calling them, they're dead, and the rest have abandoned their posts."
The other man had a large high velocity rifle shouldered across his back, a pure white pistol in his other hand. They demanded that the crime lord and his associates surrender quietly. The men in the room mocked them with heated scorn. That's when the first hunter brought out a small device from his coat pocket.
It was a remote detonator. The pair gave one last warning of surrender; no one listened. Thus, the demolitions began.
The only thing that was seen during the explosions that took down the headquarters was a pair of gasoline powered cars driving off into the distance. The mark of an 'eX Driver.
Everyone in the class room had heard about that story in the news, but many believed that it was just some kind of hoax.
Breep, BREEP!
The trio looked at their watches, which doubled as their communicators with home base when they weren't in their cars.
"Lisa, Lorna, and Souichi! We have a renegade AI car in the downtown sector of the city. Get moving 'eX Drivers!"
"We're on it!"
The three team members rushed out of the classroom, passing their teacher, Mr. Yamazaki in the process. He sighed, knowing full well what was going on. He grinned as he greeted the rest of his class.
"Yes! No test!"
Lisa was cheering as she started the Lancia Stratos, the blue car hummed as it came to life.
The three 'eX Drivers speed through the downtown streets of Tokyo as people across the sidewalks cheered them on. No one in today's world knew how to drive gas powered cars, much less attempted to.
AI cars had been developed ages ago and with their automatic GPS systems, traffic and other safety issues associated with driving virtually disappeared. Gas powered vehicles, including ships and airlines became non-existent. It wasn't until the AI programs began fritzing and causing traffic accidents world wide did the need for gas powered, non system linked drivers and cars come back into demand.
Even then however, the numbers of officially qualified people were employed world-wide were minimal. Japan was no exception, though its small size meant for a smaller force and less cost to maintain made controlling the occasional runaways easier to manage. Still, with recent increases in the number of incidents, Lisa, Lorna, and Suicchi were being pushed too hard too often.
Still in high school, their grades were lacking, Suicchi wasn't as bad off, but the stress was wearing him out. The director of their division, Lorna's grandfather, had repeatedly sent requests to the HQ in England to send at least two drivers who weren't constrained by school or other required schedules other than being an 'eX Driver.
The work was good and the salary was great, nearly sixty to eighty thousand a year. It was mostly to compensate for the hazards they went through day in and day out stopping the strays. The three high school kids weren't being paid; they weren't old enough to officially be on a pay roll by educational standpoints. Their payment was the house they shared on the base's grounds and all the necessities.
Each of them received a small sum of credits to pay for leisure, but nothing close to a full time worker. The kids didn't complain about it though, the driving was what kept them working. It was a thrill that the majority of mankind had forgotten about over the years.
The old director looked at the two new recruits seated in easy chairs.
"Do you think you can help them?"
"Do they really need it?"
"That runaway AI car is made by The Underground."
The two drivers perked at the name. The Underground was a notorious faction of rebellious AI car makers who did illegal customs on personal AI cars and public ones, then bid them off and caused trouble for the 'eX Driver organization.
"That changes things a bit."
The other driver stood, pulling his long overcoat on, he stepped out the automatic door. His fellow driver stopped beside the director.
"Is my 'Stallion' ready to ride?"
The man laughed lightly at the nickname the driver gave his favorite car. He shook his head and apologized.
"No, the GTO's modifications aren't finished; your other car is done though."
He grinned despite the negative answer received.
"That's alright boss, the Hemi is hungry for the road and it's been awhile since I gave it a good run. Thanks."
The two rushed out of the communications room. Five minutes later, the sound of roaring engines could be heard fading off into the distance. Drawing a pipe from his mechanical jumpsuit pocket, he took a long puff after lighting the tobacco.
"I hope they make it."
Rushing down the sunny sea side interstate along Tokyo Bay, the runaway AI car, actually a transport van; was being pursued by Lorna, Suicchi, and Lisa. The team of eX Drivers had fallen into attack formation F, where Suicchi and Lisa lined up the Super Seven and Stratos on either side of the vehicle. Lorna pursued just one car's distance behind the van in the Lotus Europe model.
They continued speeding down the roads this way until an exit sign appeared leading to the Tokyo Bay Bridge, an expansive eight lane suspension bridge that stretched the entire length of the bay and curved out to meet the enormous floating port town of Kuyado-yama.
"Lisa, Suicchi! Steer the van to the bridge! We'll stop it there!"
"Roger!"
Guiding the fritzing AI van onto the forty mile long bridge, the Super Seven pulled ahead to block its path. On the right, Lisa rolled her window down halfway, throwing an adhesive magnet mine on the windshield, disabling the GPS systems in the computer.
Things were going well until the brake lights on the van lit up and began to swerve wildly while bouncing back and forth, the suspension shocks straining to compensate for the weight difference in the vehicle.
"What's with this crazy thing anyway!"
Lisa's screaming came over the earpiece microphones they were wearing while the Lancia whined as the accelerator demanded more speed. The 4 wheel drive car sped past the van as it bounced into the space the car was moments ago.
"I don't understand it either . . . AH!"
The wild fishtails of the van clipped the front driver side bumper of the Lotus, sending Lorna Endou into a vicious spin cycle slamming the cream off white, vintage sports car into the bridge's median.
"Lorna! Are you alright?"
Souichi's voice echoed in her dizzy mind. Shaking her head, she looked around at the car's condition. Depressing the clutch and moving the gear shift, she frowned as nothing responded. Killing the engine, she let a heavy sigh escape her.
"Yeah, I'll be alright. I can't say the same thing for the Lotus though."
"Don't worry Lorna, we'll stop it!"
"Alright, I'm counting on the two of you. Good luck."
She sighed as she opened the right side driver's door and stepped out; gazing in the direction they had disappeared. The sounds of gas powered engines and screeching tires made her glance back over her shoulder as a strange, dune buggy like car zoomed past her, blowing her long light brown hair like the wind. A second car came screeching to a halt in front of her.
The driver of the newcomer wore dark shades, hiding his eyes from the glaring sun. He sported a short leather sport jacket and wore a pair of fingerless biker's gloves. His wind blown hair was raven black, matching his attire. The car he was at the wheel of was a cherry apple red with black racing stripes along the side of the car's lower belly. A single midnight black rear stabilizer wing sat mounted merely five inches above the trunk of the convertible.
A similar black stripe ran across the width of the back of the car with the word 'Hemi' stamped the width of the stripe in midnight black outlined in the red. The interior was solid black leather, a small Global Positioning System computer sat on its support arm just above the glove box. The chrome in the wheel caps gleamed brightly.
The adhesive gun in the right side passenger seat along with the eX Driver logo plastered on the back just underneath the 'Hemi' was all the explanation she needed as he looked at her.
"Get in! This isn't over yet!"
As she moved the gun and took her seat, she noticed that the seat belts were modified to race spec harnesses. The gear shift was American made F-1 Grand Prix shifters. The computer system had a small Panasonic logo. The engine rumbled deeply, like a beast sitting in wait.
Finishing strapping herself in, she nodded once and her newcomer released the clutch and punched the gas as he shifted the gears to first, his right hand palm up, the lever between his middle and ring fingers. The engine pulled and tires screeched as the car peeled out; a small skid trail left behind on the asphalt.
'Amazing acceleration! So smooth too, I thought this car would've stalled out, or choked. It looks like a classic American model, a vintage at least!'
She noticed a broad array of digital readouts across the center of the dash board. A speed radar gun, HAM radio transceiver, and Mp3/Cd player were the big standouts. The speedometer read out in kilometers instead of miles, but the odometer read less than thirty thousand miles. The engine's distinct high end rumble brought her attention back to the type of make the car was. Just above the glove compartment, she saw her answer and covered her mouth slightly in surprise.
"Never thought you'd be in the passenger seat of a vintage 1971 Hemi'cuda did you!"
"No I haven't! It's amazing! The engine's so smooth and the body work is in really great shape! Is this really a vintage Barracuda with a Hemi engine?"
The driver laughed and clicked the play button on the cd player. The click whirr couldn't be heard over the wind and engine, but the numbers displayed track number four.
"Sure is! You want to see the papers?"
A heavy rock guitar wailed as the Cuda closed in on the first car that had passed Lorna minutes before. The burnt orange paint job with wide wheels and dune buggy styled frame seemed out of place on the open roads. It looked more suited for off road rampages than street chases.
"Don't worry about him. That car's a new prototype Project T from America. It can double as an off road vehicle. That's why the framework and ground clearance are like that. He's good enough to be an 'eX driver like me so we're alright!"
Static came over the radio as the music went silent.
"Hey, that little frauelen with you? You take too long with those kinds of things comrade!"
The German accent made the 'eX Driver of the barracuda grin slyly. Speaking into his earpiece headset he played heavily on the man's joke.
"Oh? And who is it that currently has a fiancé to call his own?"
"Feh, alright! Let's just stop this thing and go back, I'm getting hungry."
The rock music entered a wailing guitar solo as the conversation ceased. The engines of the two new cars reached a crescendo of power as the new eX Drivers closed on the runaway flanked on the left and right by Lisa and Souichi. Pulling out to the far left lane, the vintage model swerved to the front of the runaway van.
"Lorna! Is that you in there?"
Lisa's voice was filled with half shock, half disbelief. The oldest model gas powered car they had seen was the Lotus Europe model that Lorna drove. Seeing an American classic muscle car in today's Japan was unheard of. The van fishtailed again, forcing the other to drivers to pull away and back off. The Project T pulled into position behind the swinging van.
"Yes Lisa! Have you and Souichi blocked off the back sensors?"
"Yeah, we just can't get the front ones. It keeps flailing back and forth!"
"There are three people in the AI vehicle."
The driver's voice startled the three younger eX Drivers. Looking back behind her, Lorna held her wildly whipping hair behind her. Three people bashing the windshield in distress could be seen inside.
"Hang on Miss Endou . . . I'm making an about face."
"An about face!"
Her question was suddenly answered when the driver pulled his e-brake. The wheels locked and the tires screeched as the car hitched to the right with the sudden left turn of the wheel. The right side shocks nearly bottomed out as the car swung a full 180. Just as the car began to straighten out, he released the e-brake, jamming the clutch to the floor while counter steering.
His right hand flew to the shift as he pulled stick into the reverse position. Smoke from the burning rubber had nearly engulfed the van; making it seem like a ghost as it came out of the putrid smelling cloud. Disengaging the clutch, he pumped the accelerator and turned to look over his shoulder. Now steering with one hand and keeping the other on the shift, he hollered over the now deafening winds at their back.
"Lorna! Take the shots! You've got nothing hindering you!"
Taking the adhesive shell firing pistol, Lorna brought one of the front independent road sensors into its sights. Pulling the trigger, she smiled as the sensor was covered in the gooey bullet. Opening the breech to let the casing out, she loaded another shot. Shooting out the other sensor the AI car's emergency stop functions activated, the van's brakes squealed as it stopped. Bringing the Barracuda to a halt, he drove back up to the van before killing the engine.
Behind his shades, the new eX Driver squinted as he saw the figures load into the back of the van. A long dark objected appeared in his view. One of the silhouettes attached a box like object before pointing it at him. Lorna was unfastening her seatbelt to get out when the identity of the object became clear to him. His stomach went cold as he swiftly reached for her seat; his left hand going inside the right inside jacket pocket.
"Machine gun! Get down!"
He pulled the seat rest as he toppled over the girl, the deafening rapid fire crack of the weapon and bursting glass were the only sounds he could hear as stayed on top of her. A sharp piercing sensation accompanied by a burning flare of agonizing pain washed over him. He gasped for air, the breath knocked out of his lungs from the pain.
A high powered gunshot silenced the machine gun's fire shortly before screeching tires and another AI car sped by. Three more gunshots rang through the air as a man in a heavy looking pullover sweater with hood ran up to them, a semiautomatic with a smoking barrel in his left hand.
"Kai! Comrade! Are you hit? Answer me!"
"I, I'm alive aren't I? My right arm isn't moving though. Geez, the Underground's getting pretty bold, wouldn't you agree?"
Getting up from the awkward position, Lorna was flushed pink as a rose. The two men smirked and chuckled before Kai winced. His left hand instinctively went to his wounded shoulder. Lisa and Souichi arrived to see him raise his left arm. The glint of shining metal drew their eyes as a shining silver pistol was gripped in his fist.
"A revolver? In this day and age?"
Lorna looked at Lisa and Souichi, then to her rescuer. She didn't recognize the gun, but then again, she never was around any but her breech loading single shot adhesive pistol.
Revolvers had fallen permanently out of style in public since the invention of the AI cars. They were seen as too slow and cumbersome compared to the semi automatics and 'pocket' guns that flooded the market. A select few collectors had vouched for the positives behind the revolver, but popularity overruled the facts, and they fell by the wayside.
Lorna couldn't help but give Kai a small smile. He was a reminder of the old glory days. She was happy someone still held true to old customs and beliefs. She didn't realize just how old. Souichi gaped at the pistol.
"That's an old age Russian Nagant!"
Both the German and Oriental drivers stared at the young boy. Giving each other a confused glance, Kai holstered the weapon back in it's under arm sling.
"Yes it is; reconstructed at a painstaking cost with the newest and best materials. How do you know that information? Most people have forgotten the firearms of old due to the shock and stun weapons the world uses today. Much less do they realize just how real the two Intercontinental Wars' were, man killing man with no mercy, all to survive one madman's insane dream."
"I did a report on the second Intercontinental War in history class a week ago! Do you know how rare that gun is?"
Kai smiled as amusement danced in his eyes. It had been awhile since he talked openly with anyone interested in the old world as they now called the past. Sirens from the police and medical teams drew everyone's attention. Popping the trunk of the Barracuda, Kai withdrew a large, long suitcase and walked over to the Project T.
"Oi! Tal, could you give me a lift back? I would drive myself, but the bullet in my shoulder is not gonna let me."
The German looked at his partner and shrugged before taking the suitcase from Kai and putting it in the back of the smolder orange car. Blood dripped from Kai's finger tips as he shed the leather coat. Tal winced at the sight. The red formal long sleeve that his friend was wearing looked like someone had spilled a pitcher of red wine down his right side.
He watched quietly as the man took a long neckerchief from his coat's outer pocket and used his left hand and teeth to tie off a makeshift tourniquet. The white slowly became a tainted red as it absorbed the blood. Kai smiled, sweat beading on his brow. Despite the composed exterior, Tal knew that his friend was fighting to stay conscious. A bullet wound was terrible no matter where it hit.
From the looks of the blood loss, the bullet probably entered the shoulder through the back of the armpit; missing the Kevlar and reinforced bullet proof vest underneath the high class clothing. He knew that the medical facilities for civilians were not up to taking bullet victims. Their only chance to get the bullet out was either to do it themselves, or have an 'under the counter' operation with a 'ballistics' doctor. Tal let a sigh escape his lungs; this wasn't going to be pretty.
"Alright . . . no offense but it's not like your car is up to driving anyway."
"Don't remind me Tal, just don't remind me!"
Getting in the car, Kai was grateful for the synthetic interior of the prototype car. The blood would wash away easily, unlike his now ruined vintage. The three high school drivers were deep in conversation with the recently arrived police, reporting the whole incident. He smiled a little as Tal started the car's engine.
"Director Endou? Can you hear me?"
The earpiece vibrated slightly in response.
"Kai! Are you okay? Do you need medical help?"
"No, I'll be fine boss. You've got a good group of kids, and one heck of a granddaughter. You should be proud."
Silence reined the comm. line.
"We'll be back in three days. Formal introductions can be . . ."
Kai yawned as fatigue began to set in.
"Made . . . at that time. Oh, and see if Ogawa-san can manage to repair the Hemi. I left the paperwork and schematics in the car's spare parts container in the . . . garage."
"Roger Kai. Get some attention to that injury or whatever is ailing you."
The cool sea breeze of the bay's waters freshened him a bit before he signed off and fell into a deep sleep; the image of the bullet riddled muscle car was the last thing in his mind as they sped off to find help. The two never noticed the cybernetic bird following the car.
The video feedback from the bird was watched by a man in a stiff business suit, he laughed darkly.
"So . . . the two bounty hunters from Europe are now eX Drivers in Japan. Interesting . . . let's see how the infamous 'Blade Bullet' pair does against the wall."
The laughter grew and echoed off the ambient walls of the darkened chambers.