The Truth That Lies Beyond The Lies

An AcceleRacers Fanfiction

By: Wings of Speed

Disclaimer: Again, this is in chapter 1.

Summary: Vert discovers whether or not the gang of racers he's happened upon are friend or foe and learns a little something about Shirako that shocks him. But is everything he's learning truth or lies made up for someone else's benefit?

Author's Note &Warning: This chapter was completely rewritten and hence that was why it took so long for it to be posted. Death is spoken of later on in the chapter as Vert discovers the fate of one of his cousins. You've been given a few subtle hints as to things that may occur later in the story, the thing is, will you be able to pick up on them and figure out exactly how things are going to play out.

The Truth That Lies Beyond The Lies

Chapter 3: Death Lies All Around Us

"Care to let me in on what you think is so funny?" She asked, allowing her agitation to add a degree of coldness to her voice.

"Just as brash and outspoken as usual, huh Trinity?" He asked and watched in satisfaction as her mouth dropped in surprise and her eyes became as wide as saucers.

Somehow, this guy knew her!

The question was: How? Was he from a rival team, sent to spy on the Atomic Winds? Or was he just a stranger up to no good and had heard about her from someone? It was a question she was determined to get some answers to.

"Listen," she said coldly, her eyes narrowing in anger and suspicion. "I don't know how you know me, let alone my name, but you'd better come up with some good answers within a coupla seconds or you're going to be saying hi to my fist."

She was angry, far angrier than Vert ever recalled his cousin being. She had always been brash and outspoken, but never this ruthless. She had never been this mean. This was a side of her he had never seen before and it was a side he was really beginning to dislike.

He turned his full attention on his cousin, noticing that the gentle sparkle that had once been in her strange blue eyes was no longer there. It had been replaced by something cold and uncaring, something that appeared alien on this girl he knew to be as gentle as a spring's rain. This was not the Trinity Wheeler he remembered. This was not the Trinity that had tagged along with him at every available opportunity until she had moved almost eight years ago.

He had seen her during those eight years and she had always been how he remembered. She had been spirited and energetic, always could be found in grease stained pants and shirt, her hair in a messed pony tail and dirt smudged on her face. This was not the girl he remembered.

This girl was cold and heartless, her eyes spoke volumes. Something had changed her and it had been something drastic. His eyes moved over the rest of the racers assembled. He spotted Courtney, her long blond hair falling to almost the middle of her back, her emerald green eyes regarding him with speculation. He did not however see Serena, Trinity's twin sister. The two were almost inseparable, except for when it came to Vert.

Serena had had an interest in cars, but not to the extent that Trinity had had. Serena liked racing cars, she just didn't like getting her hands dirty, that she always left to her sister. If it needed fixed, she'd go to Trinity, she was not one to work on her own car.

He glanced around some more, looking for Serena's Chevy Cobalt, but it was not to be found. Then again, the car Trinity was driving wasn't familiar to him either. His gaze moved back to his cousin, her eyes had darkened to almost midnight pitch. Her anger was clear.

"You listenin' to me?" She inquired, her voice as glacial as the Antarctic. A frown was etched around her mouth, her hands on her hips as she stared coldly at him. She was growing impatient and by the looks of it she was seriously debating lying him out flat.

"Where's Serena?" He finally asked. He couldn't figure out why they'd be running without her. Trinity, Serena and Courtney had always ran together, ever since they had started racing.

There was a collective gasp from the whole crew and Trinity blinked in surprise. If it was even possible, her eyes hardened even more and the corners of her lips dipped down even further in a frown.

Without warning Vert suddenly found himself doubled over, pain radiating out from his gut. She'd hit him, and hard. "You son of a b-" he heard her start to yell, her voice rising each second in her anger.

She came at him again, but her team was there to hold her back. Courtney quickly placed herself between the irate Trinity and Vert who was still trying to find his breath. He'd never realized that his cousin packed such a hard punch. He told himself silently that he'd better remember that little bit of info for a later date, just in case he should happen to piss her off again.

"Trin, calm yourself." Courtney was saying, her hands placed on her cousin's shoulders, her face just inches from Trinity's. "Trying to take this guy out isn't going to change anything, nothing at all." She turned around momentarily to throw Vert a glare, then returned her attention to her still fuming cousin. "I'll deal with him. You just go and chill out in Bass Assault for a few; I'll handle everything and then send this pompous ass on his way."

"You should just let me deal with him…" Trinity growled, her face still a mask of anger. If looks could kill Vert would be six feet and then some under at the moment.

Courtney shook her head, knowing that all reason had flown out the proverbial window. If Trinity was allowed to deal with this guy, he'd end up in the same boat as Serena had, and that couldn't and wouldn't be a good thing. "I'll deal with him; you're in no shape to now."

She gestured toward the two males of their group, indicating that they should take Trinity to her car and make sure she stayed there until this guy was gone. Even then, Trinity would be going no where, Bass Assault would be grounded for a few hours until there was no chance of Trinity attempting to follow this guy.

She watched in silence as Jon Ryder and Mikey Douglass escorted Trinity to her car, then turned momentarily to look at Leti Kwan. The Asian girl nodded in understanding and went to her own car, the yellow Mustang sitting at the end of the lined up cars. Then Courtney turned her attention to the stranger, determined that she would get answers and find out exactly how this guy knew of Trinity and Serena Wheeler.

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"I'm positive now that Vert isn't going to show up," Nolo said softly. It was nearing midnight and still there had been no sign of their missing teammate and everyone was beginning to show signs of their worry. Midnight? Nolo silently wondered, it could be past midnight for all he knew. The moon was obscured by clouds that had suddenly filled the dark skies, a storm threatening to spill its unleashed fury on those below.

Karma sighed, trying to maintain the optimism of the group, but it was something that was becoming harder and harder to do. "We have to believe that he's trying to get back here to us." Her blue eyes turned up to regard the threatening dark clouds. It would start to rain soon and they couldn't be standing here in the wide open the way they were. Some would surely become sick if they did. "Perhaps he did go to what's left of the AcceleDrome. Maybe he came here first, didn't find us and went back there."

"Maybe," Taro agreed, but even he had his doubts. If that was the case, wouldn't they have passed him on their way here? Surely they would have passed each other at some point, but then again, who was to say? It was just like two ships passing in the night, there was no guarantee on anything, and when it came to the Teku and Metal Maniacs, that rule was intensified fourfold.

"I say we head back to the AcceleDrome and wait there. Vert'll have to show up at some point. Maybe he ran into some trouble and it's taking him a while to get where he wants to be." Nolo finally spoke up and waited to see if anyone would disagree with his suggestion.

Everyone nodded their heads, being in the Sweeper at the moment would be a lot better than being stuck out in the rain.

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Courtney turned cold emerald green eyes to the stranger, her anger nearly as volatile as that of her cousin's. Serena's name had not been brought up in the past three weeks, not since the accident that had claimed her life; the accident that Trinity still blamed herself for, even though there was nothing that she could've done to prevent it.

"You've got five seconds to start talking, iffin' I don't like what you're saying, you'll be wishing you never met up with the Atomic Winds. Clear?" She asked, standing just a few feet from Vert.

Vert stared at her for a split second, noticing the changes in her as well. She was normally shy and didn't talk much, at least until she got to know you. She never use to stick up for herself, she was too timid and afraid to do so.

"Courtney, what happened?" He finally asked. "Where is Serena? Did something happen?"

He noticed the pupils of her green eyes dilate in surprise as he called her by name. Then her eyes narrowed in anger as she took a step closer to him, her hands clenched into fists. She still didn't have a clue who he was and apparently he was walking thin ice at the moment.

Neither one of them had ever been this cold hearted before. They were always happy to meet new people, challenge other racers to see who was the best. He was confused by their behavior, by their treatment of someone who they could possibly show up. This wasn't them at all.

"You've got some nerve buddy, I'll give you that much." She ground out between clenched teeth. She took another step forward so that there was barely even any distance between them. "Hiding behind that helmet so we can't see who you are, 'fraid we'll recognize you or something?"

She glanced back to where Trinity, Jon and Mikey were at. Trinity was sitting in the Lancer; the two boys were standing next to the door to make sure she didn't try anything. "I told you you had five seconds to start explaining. You've done wasted that time by asking me questions. Now my question is: You gonna explain yourself or not?"

Vert sighed, the only way he was going to get answers to his questions was to quit this game he had started. Maybe he should have taken his helmet off in the first place; it would've saved him a whole world of pain to begin with. He reached up, watching as Courtney's eyes opened wide with interest.

A smile crossed her face, happy to know that she had finally won this little game of hidden identity. Now she'd finally find out who this guy was.

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Monkey smacked the console of the Sweeper, becoming agitated with the behemoth machine; it just wasn't cooperating with him. "It won't start," he finally said as he turned around to look at Tork and Nolo.

Nolo turned around quickly and yelled down the long passage way to where the Sweeper would generally hold their cars, if they still had them. "Kurt, tell Shirako to get up here, Monkey's having some problems starting this thing up!"

Seconds later Shirako sauntered into the control area of the Sweeper, giving the impression of not being in much of a hurry at all. He glanced at the controls quickly, his dark eyes stopping on a series of switches. With a quick flick of two switches the Sweeper gave a shudder then started up.

"Thanks," Nolo said as Shirako passed by him.

Shirako just simply nodded his head as he passed by. Nolo watched him go for a moment longer then returned his attention back to the Sweeper and its controls. "How quickly can you get us to the AcceleDrome?" He asked.

"Depends how long this rain decides to hold off," Monkey answered, his eyes going up as he looked out of the windshield at the ever darkening storm clouds.

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Vert removed his helmet, his blue eyes meeting with Courtney's green. Her eyes held a look of shock in them, then she opened her mouth to say something but no sound came out. She looked like a fish, her mouth gaping open like that and he couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his mouth.

She closed her mouth, her eyes still registering her shock and surprise. She glanced back to where Trinity and the others were at, but their attention was on something else. Trinity had her small silver and purple cell phone up to her ear, her attention solely on her conversation. Courtney was surprised that Trinity actually received a signal all the way out here.

"Are you going to tell me what got Trin so riled up when I asked where Serena was at?" Vert asked, drawing Courtney's attention back to him.

She looked at him for a moment and a flash of pain crept into her eyes, "You honestly don't know, do you?" She asked softly.

"Know what?" He asked, feeling that he was going to receive another punch to the gut in a few moments.

Courtney regarded him for a few seconds before she finally spoke, her voice so soft that he had to lean closer just to hear her. "She died three weeks ago Vert. I thought you would've been told."

Vert stared at her, his mind registering shock on what he had just been told. Was this some sort of sick game? A morbid joke? It couldn't be true, could it? "How?" he finally asked, his voice almost as soft as hers.

Courtney indicated for them to go to the back of Reverb, where they could lean against the car's trunk. "You honestly don't know?" She asked as she leaned back against the blue body of the car. "No one told you?"

"No," he said quietly, "I've been gone for awhile. Today is the first time I've seen dad in a few months and we really didn't have time to talk. I was heading out as he was coming in." It wasn't totally an out and out lie. "What happened?"

Courtney sighed and wondered exactly where to start. "Trinity and Serena were challenged to a race by one of our rivals. It was raining…we'd told them not to race, it was too dangerous. You know Trinity, she wouldn't listen to reason. On that day, neither would Serena." She glanced up into the clear night sky, her mind wondering to that awful night three weeks ago.

"Serena was racing Cobalt Blue, like normal. Bass Assault was in the garage, it'd busted a piston and the part needed to be ordered in…there had been a lot of damage done to the engine." She seemed to be rambling, trying to avoid the real topic, as if not mentioning it made it less real.

She turned to look at Vert, "Trin was running Wyldfyre, it was the car's first time out…only time out. It was a complete custom job Pontiac Sunfire…she was absolutely in love with the car. Anyhow, they didn't listen to any of us when we told them they shouldn't be racing.

"It was a dangerous road, a bunch of turns and switchbacks. The slick, wet surface added to the danger, made it ten times worse. We tried telling them, but neither one would listen. They insisted their tires were made for just this sort of weather condition, in truth they were, they were aqua treads, but they weren't made for the speeds they were going to be traveling.

"The tires wouldn't be able to hold their grip going over 140 miles per hour. It just wasn't feasible." Courtney suddenly went silent, her eyes turned downward as she gazed at the dirt and gravel beneath their feet.

"They crashed?" Vert asked, fearing he already knew the answer.

Courtney looked up at him, her face contorted in anger, her eyes blazing with hate. Vert took a step back, surprised at the sudden change in his cousin.

"No, we didn't crash," he heard Trinity's voice from behind him. "We were forced off the road. Serena's car hit head on into a tree. I forced her into the tree-"

"It was an accident," Courtney spoke up, defending her cousin against her own guilt. "You had no control over your car, neither one of you did. You said so yourself, there was nothing you could've done."

"We should've listened to the rest of you, we shouldn't have been racing." Trinity said, her voice full of the guilt she was feeling once more as that night replayed once more through her mind's eye.

Vert turned to face Trinity, his arms instantly going around her as he witnessed the pain and anger etched on her face. She clung to him, her hands fisting in the fabric of his jumpsuit. "I should have listened to them, we shouldn't have been racing, at least not while the roads were still wet, not while it was raining," she mumbled into his chest.

"How did it happen? How were you forced off the road?" He asked, having to know how his cousin had died.

Trinity looked up at him, her eyes watery with her unshed tears. She refused to cry anymore, it was a show of weakness and she refused to be seen as weak. "It all happened so fast Vert, so very fast. One moment we were heading down the road, totally dominating the track. The other two cars were way behind us, they had no chance of catching us before we hit the finish line. The next thing I know, I'm spinning out of control.

"I couldn't see where Serena was at; everything was flying by to quickly. I kept seeing the other cars' headlights, then trees, then headlights…over and over. Then my car slammed into something, it was Cobalt Blue. My spinning stopped, but I was adding momentum to Serena's skid, then all movement stopped and Cobalt Blue was…" she couldn't continue, didn't want to remember that fateful night.

"She hit the tree head on, paramedics said she died instantly. The force of the blow snapped her neck, there was no chance for her to survive that wreck, her safety harness had malfunctioned and gave way." Courtney explained, her voice strained. "Trinity had to be cut from her car, but her injuries were far less serious. She got away with a few scrapes and bruises; of course Wyldfyre was completely destroyed."

"You said you were forced off the road?" Vert asked. He didn't understand how that was possible if the other two cars were way behind them.

"Yeah," Trinity said as she looked up at him, her eyes hardening. "It was like the guy was waiting for us, just sitting there and waiting for us to come around that turn. He came out from no where and nailed my back bumper. He sent me into the spin, the spin that caused me to hit Serena."

"It was a white truck," Courtney said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and closed her eyes for a moment. "We saw it blow past us a few minutes after the wreck. It was moving like a bat out of hell, a hell of a lot faster than any of our cars can manage, and ours ain't slow."

"A white truck?" Vert asked.

"Yeah, we'd never seen it before and haven't seen it since. It's like it just up and disappeared. We've asked a few of the other teams and none of them have ever seen it either. It's like it doesn't exist or something, but I know it does." Trinity said, her voice rising with what almost seemed hysterics.

Was it possible Trinity had imagined the truck, made it up to take heat off of herself for wrecking her own sister's car? Had her mind conjured it up so it didn't have to deal with what she had done? If that was so, it didn't explain why the others had seen it a few minutes later.

Plus, there was the fact that there had to be hundreds of white trucks driving on the roads. How would they recognize a single one amongst maybe thousands? He looked at his cousins, wondering if he should voice his concerns or not. They had already been through so much, he didn't need to add to it.

It seemed though that Courtney was reading his mind for him, for she suddenly looked at him and answered his question without him even having to voice it. "When we first started asking about the truck, we received basically the same answer from everyone. There's thousands of white trucks driving in the city and its outlying areas.

"This wasn't no ordinary truck though; my guess is there's not another one around like it. It's a custom job, like most of our cars."

Vert looked at his cousin, silently encouraging her to go on. If it was a custom job maybe he'd seen it at some point, though the probability of that occurring was probably astronomical; what would be the possibility of him seeing a truck that had caused an accident in Wyoming after all? He lived in California, he didn't think the odds were very high that he'd seen this truck, but you never knew.

"I caught a brief glimpse of the front end before it took me off the road. It was a solid white truck with what appeared a symbol of some sort on its hood. The symbol was mainly done in an orangish type color with shades of blue shot through. There may have been something else below the symbol, but I couldn't really tell." Trinity explained.

Courtney nodded her head, "We had a better view of it as it raced past. It was most definitely a custom job, and a nicely done one too. The truck was solid white with orange decals along the side of the door and partially up along the back sides of it. Like Trin said, there were shades of blue shot throughout the orange, but the most noticeable thing about the truck was its six speaker set up."

"You could see inside the truck?" Vert asked, surprised that they'd be able to notice the inside of the vehicle with it passing by at a high rate of speed.

"No," Courtney answered, "the speakers were set up in the back of the truck. Someone had spent time and money on this truck."

"It had a spoiler on it too, something I'm not really use to seeing on trucks. Nothing at all like the spoilers you see on the racing trucks of the Craftsman Trucks, this was a spoiler meant for street racing, one like we'd put on our own cars." A male voice said from behind him. Vert turned around and noticed that the three other drivers had joined them and were looking at him with varying degrees of interest.

"The driver was sitting on the right side too, instead of on the left like normal." The only remaining female of the crew said, her dark eyes studying him intently. She was of some sort of Asian decent Vert noticed; her hair dark just like her eyes. It was long with what appeared to be blue highlights and was up in a pony tail, the ends reaching to just below her shoulders.

Vert looked from one of his cousins to the other, his insides tying themselves up in knots. The truck they had described…its description matched perfectly to the only truck he knew built for racing.

Bassline. They had described Bassline.

But the timing of the accident, it all didn't add up. Three weeks ago Bassline was just being finished, there was no way that Shirako could've been here, let alone wrecked Trinity's car, causing her to take out Serena.

There was something missing. The puzzle wasn't complete, a piece was missing from it and until it was discovered the truth of the matter wouldn't be exposed.

Unless Bassline had a twin out there, but what were the chances of that?

And so that brings us to the conclusion of Chapter 3. I've been trying my best to keep this as in character as possible, but it's not always an easy thing to do. Trinity I will attempt to keep from stealing the spot light, which shouldn't be to hard 'cause she's not going to give a lot of the others any reason to like her. There will be a lot of antagonism between she and Shirako and she'll constantly be out…well, I can't give you to much info on what's going to happen. Anyhow, leave a review and let me know what you think. Should it be continued or do you think I should just stop with it while I'm ahead.

I hope you enjoyed and if you can figure out exactly what's going to happen or think you can, don't be afraid to toss your ideas around. If you're lucky, I just might let you know if you're right or wrong.

Now onto the thank yous:

Alexandria Scherazade- I'm so glad you like and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the last.

Luna- I'm trying my best to keep Trinity and Courtney both from becoming the typical Mary Sues, but it is always easier said than done, but Trinity has her secrets that will eventually put her at odds with the Teku and Maniacs, so I think for the most part she's not going to be a very well liked character in the beginning. I think you'll also like Ultimate Race once you get to see it, I know both my son and I enjoyed it. I honestly think I've watched it more than he has!

Angel of Forgotton Souls: Yes, Vert knows the PrimaDonna, lol, not exactly what I would describe her as, but hey, it works.

KTezla: Glad you like, and unfortunately yes I can classify myself as being an adult. Though most that know me would most definitely say I do not act my age. I kept writing so hopefully you are still reading!

KawaiiYamato: Well, I've updated and hopefully you update yours soon. Yeah, I know you just did, but I want to know exactly what is wrong with Shirako…I seem to have an obsession with him as well…it's always the quiet ones that draw you in.

Dark672: Thanks for the little info on the EDR and Sparky…speaking of Sparky I should probably incorporate him into the story at some point in time. I keep meaning to but keep forgetting 'bout him.

C-Chan: thank you very much for the compliment. I'm glad you like and I'm not entirely sure about it being one of the best, but hey, I'll take the praise if you feel like giving it. Thanks again.

Jumper Prime: Yeah, I haven't forgotten about the whole thing with Vert, the Silencerz and Sparky…I need to add him in at some point, but keep forgetting. Hopefully next chapter…hopefully.

Zero Lement: Yeah, probably right, but who knows. I know I certainly don't.

Thanks to all who reviewed, it is greatly appreciated.