The Truth That Lies Beyond The Lies
An AcceleRacers Fanfiction
By: Wings of Speed
Disclaimer: As before, still in Chapter 1.
Summary: More lies become evident as Technetium and Accelium show that they're still alive and going strong. Vert briefly witnesses the return of Trinity as he remembers her, but it's not to last long. He also meets Fluffy and Maximus and discovers that life is indeed sometimes for the dogs.
The Truth That Lies Beyond The Lies
Chapter 8: Fluffy and Maximus
The road was deserted for as far as could be seen, there wasn't a single vehicle on its blacktop; the only noise was the chirping of the crickets, but soon enough even they would submit to the near total silence. In the far distance two sets of headlights appeared seemingly from nowhere. With the swift approach of the two vehicles the chirping of the crickets suddenly ceased and all became quiet save for the thrumming of the approaching engines.
The lead car seemed to be all curves and smooth angles, roof scoop giving way to an exotic spoiler that seemed to just melt from the car. It was almost completely silver save for a few purple accents. A solid band of pearlized silver ran up the center of the hood to bisect the front windshield, disappearing just before reaching the roof scoop. Two racing stripes of purple ran parallel with the silver band, melting into the purple of the windshield. There was a strange purple shaded V tilted on its side on what could only be called the doors of the car, the upward sweeps of the V giving way to a strange molding that ran to the front wheel wells. Within the space created by the V and strange moldings were slate gray detailing that appeared neither as letters or pictures, just strange markings that gave way to nothing.
The vehicle following behind it was even stranger in its appearance, like nothing that any sane car developer would ever dream of creating. It was all sharp angles and gave the appearance of a predatory animal, watching for its next meal. It looked like the head of a mutated Triceratops, three horns and all. Twin horns, tapered and blunt in their appearance, sprouted from above the front wheel wells. A strange hump was positioned just behind the driver's cockpit, looking reminiscent of the main nose horn of a Triceratops or the bump that was positioned on the head of a Brachiosaur. All in all, the car was a strange sight to be seen. It was silver like its companion with the accents of purple.
Within seconds, both cars were gone, leaving the road deserted once again and after a few minutes the crickets returned to their night serenade.
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"What's the time?" Technetium's filtered voice asked over the communication frequency. Both of the cars were traveling at a high rate of speed, their cloaks down not caring who seen them or who didn't.
"Fifteen after four," Accelium's driver responded.
"Good," came the response. Without even giving a warning the rally-style racer turned onto a back road, no turn signal or anything to give coming traffic a clue that the car was about to turn. Not that it mattered; the two Silencerz vehicles had the road to themselves, at least for the moment.
A few more turns were made, each without an indication that the silver and purple vehicles were turning; there was no visible signs on either car that they were equipped with lights to indicate that they were about to turn. After a few more minutes of driving on a winding back road they came into the outskirts of a small town, a town so small that if you were to blink you'd more than likely miss passing through it.
Another illegal turn and the two Silencerz vehicles stopped in front of a large garage. The sign swinging back and forth in the gentle breeze read 'Moon's Parts and Repairs'.
"Activate cloak and park in an inconspicuous place. We don't want to be seen." Technetium ordered.
"Copy that," Accelium responded.
With a crackling of energy both vehicles suddenly disappeared, seemingly to melt into their surroundings.
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"Everything's ok then?" Trinity asked as she started Bass Assault up. She glanced up to look at Moon, his darkly tanned skin glistening in the overhead lights of the garage. His face was smeared with grease and dirt, but his dark brown eyes were sparkling.
He nodded his head, "Whatever you did to her, it was extensive. Sorry it took so long on the repairs, but that engine was shot. You took one of the pistons right through your oil pan and apparently the oil pan had gas in it…the added mixture of nitrous didn't improve the problem any."
She gave him a sheepish smile, "Guess it was a good thing I'd ordered in that new engine, I think I'll like the power increase and this trip will let me test exactly how much of a power output I've gained."
He leaned against the door, an arm propped on the space created by the retracted window. "It was just a good thing that the new engine got here when it did. I wasn't expecting it until sometime next week." He glanced back towards a darkened area of the garage where several other cars sat in the dimly lit darkness. "If the engine hadn't come in, you could've always taken Bass Reflex out, she's not completely set up but she's ready to run."
"You don't have the system hooked up yet," Trinity responded, making a disgusted face. "I can't very likely be taking her out when she's not completely set up, now can I? Everyone within a hundred mile radius knows me for my systems, if I'm driving a car that can't crank the audio, it ain't a true Wheeler ride, now is it?"
He smiled at her, "No it isn't." As he stood up he smacked one of his large hands against the side of Bass Assault, "Now I don't expect to see Assault back in here for a while, understand?"
She nodded her head, "Understood and don't worry, I don't plan on having her back in for a quite a while. I just got a bad batch of oil, I'm gonna be watching what goes into her from now on and if it's not something you approve of it ain't being fed into my engine, that's something I can most definitely guarantee."
Again he turned his gaze to look back at the four cars that were sitting at the back of the garage. "I've almost got Wyldfyre restored, there's just a few parts that I need to get in and then finish on her paint job. But the damage was extensive, you should've just allowed me to just junk her, I think she's going to be more of a headache now." He paused for a few moments, then continued, knowing that Trinity was not going to like what he was about to say. "As for Cobalt Blue, she's beyond repair. The damage from the fire…and the structural damage…there's nothing I can do for Cobalt, she definitely should be scrapped."
He watched the play of emotions as they crossed his friend's face, knowing without her speaking what was going through her mind. He knew she was angry, and she had every right to be. Cobalt Blue was the last thing that she had of her sister and she had made plans to restore the car at any cost. There wasn't really any sense in telling her that it wasn't possible, she'd spend a couple hundred thousand on the car's carcass if it would bring back the ride that Serena had loved most in the world. It would make a lot more sense to take another Cobalt and modify it in the image of Cobalt Blue, but he also knew that that wouldn't make it Cobalt Blue, there was only one of them and it was sitting in a twisted heap of metal in the back of his garage.
"No," Trinity finally said, allowing some of her anger to dissipate, she knew he was only telling her what his opinion was and she had always trusted his instincts, but this one time she wouldn't allow herself to do so. "No, Cobalt Blue can't be scrapped. I have the utmost trust in you Moon and I believe that you can bring that car back to her former glory. You know I don't care how much it costs, I just want her restored."
Moon nodded his head, his bandanna slipping slightly down onto his forehead. "I know and I also know what she means to you and I'll try my best. It's going to require a lot of work and most everything's gonna have to be new. I think the only thing that still might be good on her is her frame, but even that's not a guarantee."
"I trust you," she simply said.
"I'll do my best, you know that."
She smiled at him, "And you've never let me down in the past, I don't suspect that you'll start now."
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There was a small light blinking intermittently within Accelium's cockpit, a light indicating that there was a problem. Accelium's driver glanced over the gages that gave readings and warnings at a glance, everything checked out fine. Every gage was reading in the green zone, there were no indications of any trouble, but something was causing the small red light to blink.
A silver gloved finger traced a slow path over each of the gages, watching for even the slightest waver in needles. Everything seemed fine. No wait, the battery gage was fluctuating slightly. The needle moved ever so slightly from left to right, then fluctuated back, indicating that there was a power drain somewhere, that something wasn't right.
With a quick flip of a switch, Accelium's driver put the car into diagnostic mode. The main computer of the car would locate the exact problem and if it were something that could be solved with a few rerouted circuits the car would fix itself. If it was something far more sinister, something that would require maintenance, then it was something that wasn't going to be fixed right away.
Accelium's driver glanced up just in time to see the two tone blue Lancer pull out of the garage.
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Courtney walked up to her cousin's car, watching as Trinity put the Lancer into a neutral gear and allowed it to sit there for a few moments idling. "All ready now?" she asked and watched as Trinity turned to face her. "Assault's not going to decide to blow a piston or something three hours into the trip, is she?"
"Nah, Moon's given her a clean bill of health. She's ready to rock n' roll. Engine's purring like never before and she's giving the impression that she's ready to rip the road apart." Trinity smiled and gunned the engine, her grin spreading as the car responded. It suddenly backfired and Moon came running.
"What happened?" He questioned, fearing the worse.
"She just backfired, guess I don't have all the additives worked out of her yet or there's still buildup from the old engine." Trinity explained, watching as the almost horrified expression slowly left the mechanic's face. "Everything's all right, she's purring like the lioness she is."
"Didn't know lioness's purred, I thought they growled and roared," Courtney pointed out.
Trinity made a face and stuck her tongue out at her cousin, "I can't very likely say she's purring like a kitten, now can I?"
"Guess not," Courtney agreed. "You ready to go anyhow? The others were expecting us over half an hour ago."
"You called Leti and told her we were running late, didn't you?" Trinity asked, giving her cousin one of those 'You're-an-idiot-if-you-didn't' looks.
"Yeah," Courtney answered. "I also told her that you managed to blow the engine."
"Gee, thanks."
"Always glad to be of service."
"Just get in your car so we can get going!" Trinity mocked yelled, adding just a bit of force to her voice to make it seem real. She always enjoyed the pretended arguments between her and Courtney, it almost made things seem normal, like the past three weeks had never happened.
"I'm going," Courtney responded, a grin slowly lifting the corners of her lips upwards.
With a wave goodbye, the two Atomic Winds vehicles tore out of the parking area of the garage, scattering dirt and stones in every direction. Moon shook his head as a smile appeared on his face, "I wonder about those two sometimes." He said as he turned back around to go into his garage. There was no way he'd be able to go back to sleep now, he was wide awake and he'd use his free time to see if there really was any hope for the charred and blackened Cobalt.
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Behind the garage, still hidden beneath the stealth of their cloaks, the two Silencerz vehicles sat. No one was the wiser to their presence, that they were sitting someplace where they shouldn't have been.
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Nearly an hour over due, the last two remaining members of the Atomic Winds finally pulled up in front of the old farm house. Both Trinity and Courtney left their cars running as they hurried up the steps of the porch and entered the house without even knocking.
Sitting in the kitchen, a cup of coffee in hand, Leti turned her dark eyes to regard her two friends. "I was beginning to wonder if you were going to ever show up." She glanced toward the living room, where a loud crash was suddenly heard and Vert's loud yell of pain echoed through the house.
"What the?" Trinity questioned.
"Vert's playing with Fluffy and Maximus," Leti explained.
Trinity nodded her head, suddenly understanding. Fluffy was Leti's Australian Blue Heeler and Maximus was the bigger than he should be chocolate Lab. "And exactly how many times have Fluffy and Maximus drug Vert to the ground?"
Leti looked at the clock on the wall, "In the last fifteen minutes or the last hour?" She questioned, a grin slowly erupting on her face. Her dark eyes danced in merriment.
Trinity's mouth gaped open for a minute, then she giggled slightly.
Courtney stared from her cousin to her friend, a feeling of normalcy spreading through her; it was good to actually see Trinity laugh. It had been a long while since she had truly allowed her mood to brighten, even slightly. "How 'bout we go for the last fifteen minutes?" she questioned.
Leti paused for a moment in thought, "Well, let's see…I've heard him howl in pain at least four times and heard him yell at the two 'lumbering giants' as he so eloquently put it, to get off of him about six times."
Trinity burst out into fits of laughter and soon both Leti and Courtney joined her.
Vert entered the kitchen to see all three of the young women almost literally doubled over in laughter. Trinity was holding her side, Courtney had tears streaming down her face and Leti was trying to catch her breath while still laughing. "Can I ask what's so funny?" He asked, his lips turned down in a frown, "And don't you dare tell me that you're laughing at my expense."
Trinity began to laugh even harder, her face flickering between pain and glee as she held even tighter onto her side, the pain starting to radiate upward towards her ribs. She caught her breath and tried to control the laughter that still threatened to overwhelm her. With a partially contained giggle she responded, "Ok, then we won't tell you it was at your expense!" With that said she broke out into a new fit of giggles.
Leti and Courtney started to laugh harder as Vert's lips turned down even more. "I'm so glad you guys think its funny," his gaze turned to regard Leti, "Your two beasts were trying to eat me for a midnight snack and you three are in here laughing at me. Someone could've come and saved me, ya know."
Leti grinned at him, enjoying the little game, "They wouldn't have eaten much."
Courtney gasped for air, "Just a few nibbles here and there!" Then she broke into laughter again, the tears once more streaming down her face.
Vert threw his hands up in the air, "You guys are impossible. At least I know never to trust you three to have my back. You'd let whoever take a few nibbles out of me here and there!"
Trinity straightened up, her expression turning serious, but there was mirth in her eyes. "Hey, after they got a taste of you they'd spit you back out!"
Vert rolled his eyes. Then a smile very gradually appeared on his face, this was the Trinity he remembered; one full of life and laughter, always finding something good in everything, no matter how bleak things may seem. Then his smile faded; how long would the old Trinity remain? How long until the unfamiliar one reappeared?
The three young women must've caught the change in his mood for they suddenly quit their laughter and stared at him in concern. "What's up Vert?" Trinity questioned.
He smiled sadly at her as he walked over to draw her into his arms and whispered in her hair, "It's just good to see you this way. This is the way I remember you, not the person of the past couple hours bent on revenge. I like this Trinity a lot better, I like her happy and carefree."
She looked up at him sadly, the tears turning her eyes into liquid pools of blue. "It felt good to actually laugh again, to be free of the quilt and anger for a few moments."
His lips didn't leave her hair, "Then why don't you let it go? Just let your revenge go and forget about it."
She lowered her eyes, her gaze shifting to his chest and her words were nearly inaudible. "I just can't Vert. It's not that easy, there's a killer out there somewhere and he has to pay for what he did. You can't tell me you wouldn't do the same thing if you were in my shoes."
That was something he just couldn't answer. He didn't know if he'd feel the same way she did, if he'd be bent on the idea of revenge the way she was. Willing to take the law into his own hands and possibly paying the ultimate price for it. He just didn't know.
She pushed away from him; her eyes hardened again, her mood once again set as it had been for the past three weeks. The unfamiliar Trinity was back. She glanced around the room, "Bass Assault and Street Thunder are out there running, we're ready if everyone else is. Let's hit the road."
"I'll go get Jon and Mikey," Leti offered and didn't even wait for a response as she quickly left the room, heading toward the steps that led upstairs.
Well, there's the completion of Chapter 8 and I'll be happy to inform you that Chapter 9 is complete as well. I have a feeling from the end of Chapter 9 that Karma and Trinity aren't going to get a long very well. I think in the end, Trinity's not going to get a long with any of the Teku or Maniacs…she's just to unpredictable at the moment.
Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this little chapter, even with all its little twists and turns. I probably just keep confusing you with the way things keep playing out, but there is a method to my madness and it will be revealed in the end.
And now onto the shout outs…
KawaiiYamato: By the end of this story Shirako is going to be doing more than just talking, he's going to be yelling his head off…of course it'll be at Trinity. At which point she'll more than likely be ready to punch him squarely in the face. You know, I've already got the sequel for this story partially planned out and a working title for it as well…what do you think of 'The Lies That Shroud The Truth'? It seems that for every lie that discovered within the original story there's about two more that were created to hide the truth even more. Now I hope you understand that I do expect you to update as soon as is possible, even if it requires threatening your computer. I threaten mine on a daily basis, but it's not working as much as it use to. But I also understand that technology is a touchy thing and if it don't want you to update that's ok, I can wait, even if it won't be very patiently.
Tristar: This is where things get sticky, there's no guarantee that the Drones are still involved since the whole scene with the destruction of Technetium and Accelium was completely fabricated on the two Silencerz parts. It's all truth that lies beyond the lies and everything is not at all as it seems, which is apparent with the appearance of the two destroyed Silencerz vehicles. Confused yet? I know I would be if I didn't know exactly what was going on.
Dark672: At this point I would have to agree with you that it is still good. I'm finding myself delving more and more into the plot and all the twists that keep popping into my head.
Dragoneian: I'm glad you thought the chapter was great and I try to update as much as is possible but sometimes life likes to get in the way. You should be happy to know that Chapter 9 is already completed. It'll be posted in a few days, once people have had time to digest what's occurred in this chapter. I hope you continue to read and thank you so very much for your support.
MoonRavenX: Yes, Shirako is innocent, but you'll be amazed once you learn who really was behind the crash that claimed Serena's life and changed Trinity into what she is now. It's true that the Silencerz were behind it, but it's who was driving the car that created the accident that will shock you and there will be other things that will be revealed that I'm quite sure no one is expecting.
Southernlady: I know what happens! Sorry, couldn't resist I'm in a strange mood at the moment and am finding humor in the simplest thing, like the fact that Trinity threatens to bounce Karma's head off of Bass Assault's hood. No, you didn't miss that in this chapter, it's in the next one. I just gave you a sneak peak! Again, I'm laughing for no apparent reason…ignore the author who is about to fall off her chair.
KTezla: I think I'm just gonna start calling you Kara from now on, if you don't mind. I read minds? Wow, cool, a power I didn't even know I had! You know, I kept checking and checking my e-mail to see if I'd gotten an alert that you'd reviewed and finally, there it was! I'm all happy now. I bought Ignition and The Speed of Silence for my son and I think I've watched them a lot more than he has, in fact I've watched them quite a few times while he's been at school. I also taped The Ultimate Race and I have got to say that one of my favorite scenes is where Shirako uses the jump jets on Bassline to take care of some of the Drones. It was awesome! Yeah, I hope the Administrator gets back to you soon too. From what I've seen the place seems pretty cool, though I don't have much experience with places like that. I normally stick to IMing people and writing fictions for my favorite shows, this will be something new for me! I hope you get your own e-mail soon too and when I do IM you I'll just say it's me Wings so you'll know, cause I will definitely be IMing you at some point, you can count on that. I checked out your Xanga site shortly after I got the alert of your e-mail, reminds me of my live journal, might have to sign up for one of these things too. Hope to hear from you soon and hope you've enjoyed this chapter, it was definitely something to write.