The Truth That Lies Beyond The Lies

An AcceleRacers Fanfiction

By: Wings of Speed

Disclaimer: As before, still in Chapter 1.

Author's Note: Well, another chapter up and ready for you to read. Hope you enjoy it and please be kind enough to review. I've either lost readers or people aren't reviewing as much as they use to. I only got four reviews for the last chapter, but huge thanks go to those four and I'd love to do the shout outs but we're not allowed to do that anymore so again I'll just say thank you to those who were kind enough to review. Oh, and it may be a while until the next chapter is uploaded, I'm having some serious issues with it. I had 8 pages written and after reading over them decided I didn't like the way the chapter was going so I am currently rewriting it at the moment. If anyone would care to help out, let me know…in some way, IM me or e-mail or leave a review. I would greatly appreciate any help I could get at this time.

A/N 2: Thank you to MoonRavenX for pointing out the fact that Chapter 9 was repeated in Chapter 8 and that Chapter 8 was actually missing in its entirety. I've fixed that problem, whether it was actually my fault or the site's, I'm not sure but the actual Chapter 8 is posted in its correct spot. You may want to back track and read that to understand what was occurring in this repeated chapter since I seem to have screwed up…or someone did.

Summary: The trip back proves to be dangerous in its own right as the Silencerz once again make their presence known. As if that's not bad enough, Trinity and Karma clash right off the bat.

The Truth That Lies Beyond The Lies

Chapter 9: The Path That Shouldn't Be Taken

They had been driving for what seemed like an eternity to Vert, the darkness of the horizon slowly giving way to the encroaching dawn. The tendrils of the rising sun slowly weaved their way into the blackness of the dimming night, a beautiful sunrise accompanying their crossing of state lines into California. It would only be a matter of a few more hours until he was finally home; then he could explain all that had happened to his friends and teammates and then plans would be made about where to go from there.

By all rights, they should have entered California's state lines a while ago, but they'd made several stops that Trinity hadn't been planning. Jon's Neon was indeed a gas hog and the car couldn't even make a 300 mile trip without draining its tank dry, they'd had to stop about every two to two and a half hours so he could fill the tank up. Then as if that hadn't been bad enough, Street Thunder had blown a water hose and the resulting water vapor had caused some minor damage. Courtney had been able to make some temporary repairs, but the car would have to be taken to a garage soon, the engine temperature kept rising into the red zone.

Of course that meant they'd have to stop for a little while to allow Street Thunder's engine to cool. They could travel about two hours before the needle would hit the red zone, at about the same time that Thunderhead would need refueled again. It seemed everything was working against them and Vert had said to Leti at one point that it was as if the universe was attempting in everyway possible to keep Shirako and Trinity from coming face to face.

His attention was drawn back to the cars traveling in front of him as Trinity switched her turn signal on and seconds later her car begun its quick swerve into the passing lane.

The Atomic Winds seemed to flow from one lane to the other on the interstate, almost as if an invisible cord connected them and pulled each car into the slipstream of the car in front. It was something amazing to watch, something that showed that this group had been traveling with one another for a while, long enough to be able to predict their teammates moves before the move was even actually made.

Trinity was in the lead, with Courtney following closely behind, barely a car length separating the two cars. Vert came next in line with Leti coming up behind him, behind her was Mikey and Omega One and bringing up the rear of the pack was Jon and Thunderhead.

Trinity moved Bass Assault into the passing lane; a slow moving vehicle appeared suddenly in the regular lane once the Lancer had completed its transition from one lane to the other. Courtney followed smoothly behind her cousin and Vert mimicked the move. He watched as Leti brought Powerdyne into the passing lane as well and Mikey followed her over. Jon was just starting to move into the lane when another car suddenly blew up next to him, seemingly coming from nowhere.

Jon quickly threw Thunderhead back into the slower moving lane, his headlights flashing in irritation, letting the other car know they had made a mistake. Mikey's headlights suddenly turned into taillights as Omega One was thrown into a spin, the interloper having bumped him from behind.

Leti swerved Powerdyne into the slower moving lane, giving the maniac behind her clear reign on the passing lane, not wanting to be thrown into the same fate at Mikey and Omega One.

Vert quickly followed Leti's example and moved Reverb into the slower lane and watched as Courtney did the same thing. He looked out his side window and his breath caught in his throat as he got a clear look at the car that was pulling up along side of him. It was a Silencerz vehicle.

Octainium slowed down minutely, both Reverb and the Silencerz car keeping pace with one another. The silver and purple trimmed car revved its engine; the purple tires suddenly squealing in protest as the car took off like a rocket, barreling up to almost hit the back bumper of Bass Assault. Trinity hadn't moved her car over to let the stranger pass, as far as she was concerned she ruled the road and wasn't giving an inch to some unknown.

Trinity's car suddenly swerved out of control, front end attempting to spin around to meet the rear end as the front bumper of Octainium connected with Bass Assault's rear. The Lancer did a few spins in the middle of the road before righting itself and taking off. The two tone blue car took off at a high rate of speed, leaving the rest of the Atomic Winds to wonder exactly what had happened.

"Trinity!" Vert screamed, his cousin had no clue what she was up against. The driver of that vehicle would have no qualms about taking her out and wouldn't think twice about doing so. He could very likely be watching the demise of yet another one of his cousins.

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Trinity growled beneath her breath, her knuckles turning white where they gripped the steering wheel. She couldn't believe the audacity of that driver. To come up out of nowhere like that and nearly take her car out. It took some nerve!

Her eyes narrowed as they sought out the taillights of the silver and purple trimmed vehicle. It was time for some payback.

Her teeth clenched, another growl erupted from deep within her throat, her eyes narrowing. "Oh, definitely not this time. You definitely ain't gonna win this time."

Gunning the engine and listening to the horsepower that suddenly hummed through the engine, a maniacal grin suddenly appeared on her lips. She caught sight of the taillights of the other vehicle and an almost dark laugh escaped from her throat. "Paybacks are a bitch," she said softly, a note of hysterics creeping into her voice.

She caught up to the other vehicle quickly; it almost seemed as if the other driver had slowed down intentionally. Flooring the pedal, Bass Assault power jacked itself and closed the distance between itself and the Silencerz vehicle. Without warning, the nose of her car connected hard with the back end of the other, this time throwing the other car into a spin and sending it right off the road and into a ditch. Though Bass Assault hadn't come out of the skirmish unscathed either, now the front end of the Lancer sported a nice dent and the driver's side headlight was smashed.

"Never learn, do ya?" she said softly and continued on her way. Knowing without looking back that the rest of the Atomic Winds would fall in behind her, none would stop to see if the driver of the silver and purple car was all right. As far as anyone would be concerned, they had gotten what was coming to them. No one messed with any of the Atomic Winds cars, not without expecting some sort of reprisal.

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There was something drawing him from his peaceful sleep, something enticing him to wake up. Ok, maybe enticing wasn't the correct word since he really didn't want to wake up, but it seemed to be calling to him, almost ordering him to wake up. It was like a siren's call, something just barely touching his consciousness; a thumping in the back of his mind, a tickle that just wouldn't go away.

He didn't want to heed the call, didn't want to give into it. He wanted just a few more minutes of blissful slumber, just a few more minutes to allow his mind to drown in the quickly dissipating images of his dreams.

He seriously didn't want to get up, even if the cold ground he was sleeping upon was uncomfortable as all hell. Couldn't the siren call just let him be for a few more minutes?

Apparently his wishes weren't to be answered as a sudden echoing of bass reverberated through the silence of the early morning, or was it closer to late morning? He and the rest of the drivers hadn't gone to sleep right away; it was close to four or so in the morning before they had finally decided to call it quits and try to find the best possible positions to sleep in on the cold, hard ground of the desert. Shirako had been filling them in on what he had been told by both Vert and Leti and the apparent need for revenge that Vert's one cousin felt needed to be absolved on Shirako. Trinity, he thought her name was, or something along those lines. Shirako had also explained that no one was to mention a thing about Bassline while the Atomic Winds were visiting.

The pounding bass continued to thump in the otherwise near silence of the desert, setting his teeth on edge and a light pounding in his temples was beginning to keep pace with the rhythm of the bass. He felt a sudden urge to throw the nearest object at Shirako. Even if said nearest object just happened to be a heavy stone.

Couldn't his fellow Teku driver keep his music down to a dull roar, at least so the rest of them could attempt to get a peaceful night's sleep?

The booming of the bass was growing louder and echoing fiercely though his head. Damn, it was starting to give him a serious headache! He opened one eye and closed it again quickly against the already risen sun. Yes, his head hurt and it wasn't entirely from the echoing bass in the background. It was partially from the cold ground and the rock that he had used as a pillow. A damn uncomfortable pillow at that!

His fingers searched around in the sand and dirt that surrounded him until they finally curled around a small but hard object. It was a tiny rock, but it would suffice. Granted he was a Teku and could found listening to the same type of music as Shirako, but not this early in the damn morning. Even he had his limitations.

And this was one of them!

Without opening his eyes to see where he was throwing the small stone, he heaved it into the air, in the general direction he knew Shirako was in and listened for a moment. He was rewarded with hearing Shirako give a groan of pain.

Or at least he thought it was Shirako at first.

"What was that for?" Taro grumbled as he rubbed a forming small red welt on his arm. Karma had sat up as well, her hands rubbing the sleep from her eyes, then she attempted to peer at Kurt, her eyes questioning him as well.

The bass could still be heard reverberating through the stillness of the morning and growing louder with each passing second, but Kurt suddenly realized that it was coming from the distance, not from any of them. He quickly turned, a look of surprise crossing his face as he took in the place where Shirako was still laying down, his headphones draped around his neck and silent. Then Kurt's eyes met those of Taro and Karma, his gaze questioning, "If it's not Shirako…than who…?" he turned his eyes to look in the direction that the music was coming from. Blinking from the brightness of the sun, he shaded his eyes, scanning the surrounding landscape.

Then he spotted it, a dust trail in the distance.

Taro and Karma were staring in the same direction. "Dunno," came Taro's simple answer, "But I think we'll be finding out in a few."

Kurt turned once more to look at Taro then glanced over at Karma, she was leaning against Taro and looked like she was about to fall back asleep, her head laying gently against his shoulder. "Sorry about the stone, I was aiming for Shirako; I thought it was his music."

"No problem," Taro said as he turned his dark gaze to look at Kurt. "Think we should wake the others?"

Kurt shook his head; he had feeling that the pounding bass would do that soon enough. The cars were still a good distance away yet the music was up loud enough to reach them, even this far away. He heard a groan to his left and turned to look at where Pork Chop was still laying on the ground, an arm thrown up over his head as if to ward the music off.

"Shut that damn crap off Stinku," Pork Chop muttered, rolling over onto his side, trying to face away from the oncoming music. Not that that would help much, not once those cars reached their current position.

Kurt glanced over at Taro and gave the Metal Maniac a slight grin, the briefest of smirks played across Taro's face. They both knew that Pork Chop was about to get a rude awakening and both also knew that they probably wouldn't hear the end of it for a while once Pork Chop did wake up.

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Vert could see the Sweeper in the distance, but they weren't close enough yet to see his friends, but he knew they were there. Behind the Sweeper stood the blackened remains of what was left of the AcceleDrome. One question swam through his mind: Would Tezla be able to rebuild it or would the scientist start from scratch someplace else?

The blue Lancer pulled up along side of Reverb and he glanced over at his cousin. She motioned ahead of them, toward the looming Sweeper and the still smoldering AcceleDrome. He motioned back to her that that was where they were heading. She nodded her head in understanding and fell back so that her car was driving behind him now.

The four other cars of the Atomic Winds were fanned out behind her, kicking dirt up in every direction. He suspected that his friends were probably already able to see their dust trail, but they had probably heard Trinity's pounding bass a long time ago.

He continued on, excitement eating at him, knowing that within a few minutes he would finally be reunited with his friends and teammates. Decisions would then have to be made and explanations as well. They'd have to decide exactly how much to reveal to the Atomic Winds and what to leave out. There would be a lot of questions on both sides' parts.

Would they be able to reveal everything to these outsiders or would Tezla decide on secrecy like always? Would it really hurt to tell his cousins and their friends about the Wheel of Power and the Racing Realms? To tell them about the Drones and Silencerz? To reveal the truth about the car that had tried to take them out earlier on the interstate? Would it hurt to reveal everything, now that the AcceleDrome was destroyed and there wasn't much of a chance in getting into the Racing Realms, at least not until a new base of operations could be constructed?

But the decision wasn't up to him; it would be up to all of them, if Tezla would let them explain. He remembered Tezla's anger when the AcceleDrome's location had been revealed to Shirako and Nolo and then moments later to Tork and Pork Chop. They had needed their help though; they didn't need the help of the Atomic Winds.

Now he could see small shapes in the distance. Some were sitting on the ground while others were standing up, watching the six cars approach. It appeared that some of his friends were still lying on the ground, probably still asleep. They wouldn't be for much longer, not with how loud Trinity was playing her music.

He had tried talking her into lowering it a few decibels, but that had only earned him a glare and a rather unladylike snort from his cousin. She liked her music loud and wasn't going to lower it for nobody, even friends of his. It amazed Vert exactly how much alike Trinity and Shirako were; he suspected if circumstances were different they could probably forge a solid friendship, but that wasn't possible. She'd somehow find out about Bassline then and then all hell would break loose. It would be best if she never new, best if he could just keep her and Shirako separated, which probably wouldn't be to hard to do since the Teku and Maniacs already knew about the situation.

He slowed down a bit, Trinity almost bumping into his rear fender. Then he heard her car accelerate and felt the tell tale light bump from behind. "She has a bad habit of bump drafting, probably a good thing we're all following her at the moment," he recalled Courtney telling him one of the many times they had stopped so that Jon could fill up the tank on his Neon and Street Thunder's engine could cool down.

Vert shook his head and laughed. He had thought they would make good time, he hadn't realized at the time that the Neon was such a gas hog; he'd thought that his two cousins were simply over exaggerating. It just didn't seem right for a car that small to suck the gas up the way that the car did. Then there was the fact that they'd had to stop a couple of times to eat, that hadn't helped out their time much either.

He felt another light bump from behind. In response he slowed his car down even further, only to feel her car hit his back bumper a bit more solidly. Ouch, that was most definitely going to leave a mark! Not that it was going to matter much where Bass Assault was concerned; the Lancer's front end was still messed up.

She seemed to have gotten the hint though and backed off. Now she was trailing behind him by a couple of car lengths, the rest of the cars slowing down in response to their leader.

Finally, they reached the Sweeper and Vert turned Reverb quickly, drifting the car to the left and throwing up a shower of dirt and dust onto his friends. He heard a couple cries of outrage that turned into complete shock as everyone scattered in different directions.

Apparently Trinity had decided she needed to show off as well. He turned his head to see exactly what was going on and couldn't hide the smirk that crossed his face. Trinity had forced her car into a tight spin and preformed a perfectly executed 360, almost in the middle of his friends. That would explain the sudden shouts of surprise.

The other four Atomic Winds must've decided not to show off for their cars were parked in a perfect line. Trin's car was sitting broadside, about ten yards in front of her teammates.

He watched as Nolo approached Reverb and waited for the shouting that was sure to follow. "You crazy ass!" he heard Karma shout, her hands slamming down on the front of the Lancer's hood.

"You could've seriously hurt someone pulling a stunt like that!" he heard Kurt shout, standing behind Karma.

He got out of Reverb and turned to face Nolo, "'Bout time you got here, we were beginning to worry." Nolo said, closing the distance between him and Vert and clasping hands with his teammate.

"No worries," he said. He then turned to look at the scene that was unfolding before him. Karma still had her hands placed firmly on the hood of his cousin's car. Kurt was now standing on her left and Taro had appeared on her right.

Pork Chop was just approaching the Lancer, his face contorted in a look of agitation. Though Trinity had turned her music down, it was still loud enough to make it difficult to hear normal speech. Everyone was yelling just to be heard above it. It seemed that only Shirako was unphased by it, he was standing away from everyone else, his head like normal bopping to the beat.

Vert looked at Nolo and made a motion with his head, indicating that they should go over before something broke out. Vert removed his helmet, placing it in Reverb and started walking toward his cousins and the rest of the group, Nolo falling in beside him.

"This should be interesting," Nolo said quietly, just loud enough that Vert was able to hear him.

Vert turned his head to look at Nolo, "It would be in Karma's best interest to get her hands off of Bass Assault before Trinity comes out swinging." There was a sparkle of mischief in his eyes as he said this, almost as if he wanted to see his cousin go after his own teammate. Or maybe it was vice versa, it had been a while since someone had put Trinity in her place.

They had just reached the five cars when it suddenly went deathly quiet. The pounding bass from the Lancer had been silenced. The driver's side door slowly swung open and Trinity carefully got out of her car, throwing her helmet inside on the passenger seat. Her blue eyes snapped fire as she turned to regard the woman that had enough nerve to pound her fists onto the hood of Bass Assault. "My front end already has enough damage done to it, I'd hate to have to include slamming your head into the hood amongst the damage, so would you kindly remove your hands from my car?"

The silence that suddenly descended on the group was palatable. No one uttered a word; most eyes were opened wide in surprise while a few mouths were dropped in amazement.