The Truth That Lies Beyond The Lies
An AcceleRacers Fanfiction
By: Wings of Speed
Disclaimer: As before, still in Chapter 1.
Summary: Luckily Karma and Trinity don't come to blows; their teammates make sure of that. Vert and Nolo discuss Trinity's hatred of the white truck and Nolo relives his past hatred of Tork.
The Truth That Lies Beyond The Lies
Chapter 10: The Fight That Almost Was
"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.
This girl had just threatened Karma! That couldn't be a good thing.
Karma just looked at the girl, giving her a look as if to say 'Are you talking to me?'
"Trinity," Vert said softly as he stepped up next to his cousin. She was a hot head when she wanted to be and this was apparently going to be one of those times. Her fists were clenched next to her sides and her eyes held a look of vehemence. "Trin, you promised to behave." Vert said softly, hoping to talk some sense into her before she did something she was bound to regret later.
She turned to glare at him, her blue eyes snapping fire. She could deal with people belittling her, putting her down or degrading her, but the one thing she couldn't deal with was someone trying to pummel the hell out of her car. That was something she couldn't and wouldn't stand for!
"Back off Vert," Karma nearly spat out. She was bound and determined that she was going to have it out with this girl, one way or the other.
"Yeah Vert, stay out of it," Trinity agreed. "This is between her and me; you keep your nose out of it."
Karma stepped right up to Trinity so that barely a foot separated them; the only thing between them was the door of the Lancer. Whose advantage that was at the moment was indeterminable. "You threatening me girl?" Karma asked from between clenched teeth.
Trinity allowed her eyes to traverse from Karma's feet up to her head, silently making assessments on whether or not she could feasibly take this girl or get the living shit kicked out of her while trying. She snorted and rolled her eyes, "If the shoe fits, I would have to say yeah." Came the smart remark as a comeback.
Karma literally growled low in her throat; with each passing second she was beginning to like this girl less and less. She seemed to enjoy rubbing one the wrong way. "You've got a mouth on you…and that's going to land you in a lot of trouble."
"Not the first, certainly ain't gonna be the last," Trinity responded, enjoying the game of words. There was something about this young woman that she liked, something that reminded her a lot of herself. In the end, that would be a bad thing though, their personalities would clash, they were just too similar.
"I could easily make it the last," Karma offered. Whereas Karma was growing irritated, this other girl seemed to be enjoying herself. Apparently she thrived on conflict or just enjoyed it entirely too much.
"Oh?" Trinity questioned as one of her brows raised in interest. "And just pray-tell, how do you plan on doing that?"
Vert knew he needed to stop this before it escalated any further, he also knew that neither Karma nor Trinity would back down without some intervention. Each was just as stubborn as the other. Apparently he wasn't the only one thinking along these lines he noticed as both Kurt and Taro stepped up behind Karma and gently laid a hand on either one of her arms. At the same time he watched from the corner of his eye as Courtney and Mikey cautiously approached Trinity, each knowing that surprising their hotheaded leader could land them with a couple of bruises as well as matching black eyes. Something neither really wished to experience at the moment or any other time for that matter.
"Trinity," he heard Courtney speaking softly, "the Winds are guests here, it'll do no good to start something with the locals. You know that always ends badly." A faint smile quirked the edges of her lips, "You remember the last time someone started something with one of us, the rest of us were there to back them up." She slowly glanced around at the assembled group. "I really don't feel like trying to take on this group, we're outnumbered after all. The odds are stacked against us."
Trinity's eyes casually glanced around the gathered group and she quickly figured the odds. Yes, the odds were indeed stacked against the Atomic Winds; if a fight did break out, they held no chance of coming out the victors. She allowed her eyes to linger on her adversary for a few seconds before she finally spoke and it was apparent when she did so that her words did not come easy, "I'm sorry. I allowed my emotions to rule my judgment, something I've very extremely guilty of as of lately."
Karma stared at her for a few moments, deciding whether or not she should accept the apology or push the issue. By the looks she was receiving from Vert she decided quickly that she should accept and forget about it for now. But the girl required watching, there was just something about her that rubbed her the wrong way, there was something untrustworthy about her. Or perhaps it was just that she was as stubborn as Karma herself was.
"Fine," Karma said, but she kept her voice cool and neutral, allowing the girl to know that she didn't consider the issue closed in the least. She extended a hand in politeness, "I'm Karma Eiss."
Trinity smiled but it was apparent from the look in her eyes that it was forced, though she liked this young woman and enjoyed the whole war of words, she could take the hint when an apology wasn't truly accepted. She took the offered hand, "Trinity Wheeler."
Vert released a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding, he'd been worried that for a little while there things were going to come to blows and he certainly wouldn't put it past Trinity. It amazed him exactly how much she had changed, she had never been this way before. Certainly she had loved to argue to a fault, but she'd always known when to back down before it got out of hand. Now she seemed to want the arguments just for the fact that they could result in the throws of punches.
Nolo stepped up past Vert and held out a hand to Trinity, "Nolo Pasaro, leader of the Teku."
Trinity smiled at him, an actual smile and shook his hand. "Trinity Wheeler, leader of the Atomic Winds." She glanced behind her at Courtney and Mikey. "This is my cousin Courtney Brehm and Mikey Douglas." Her eyes drifted to where Leti and Jon were still standing, just behind Bass Assault. "That's Leti Orimoto and Jon Ryder."
Nolo smiled at her then gestured toward his own teammates. He first hitched his thumb towards Vert, "I can already guess that you know Vert." She smiled then nodded at his little jab of humor. She had a feeling that she was going to really like this guy. His fingers then indicated one of the men still with a light grip on Karma. "That would be Kurt Wylde standing behind Karma." He pointed to where Shirako was standing apart from the rest of the group, his headphones on and turned up, practically drowning out the conversations going on around him. "That would be Shirako Takamoto."
Vert watched Trinity for any form of recognition or anger. She just simply nodded her head in Shirako's general direction, not even paying attention to see if he returned her nod or not as Tork suddenly stepped forward.
He extended a hand to her, "I'm Tork Maddox, leader of the Metal Maniacs."
"Metal Maniacs?" she questioned. "Interesting name ya got there."
He smiled at her, "That's Taro Kitano," He gestured toward the other guy that was standing next to Karma now. The Asian man seemed to be watching the still fuming young woman, keeping a careful eye on her just in case she decided to restart the fight where it had been ended at. Trinity nodded her head toward him then paid him no more attention.
"That's Markie Wylde," Tork began.
"It's Wylde," the temperamental dark haired man nearly snarled, but there was something hidden in his voice, as if the anger wasn't really there. Trinity figured he was going to prove to be something of interest.
"He prefers to just be called Wylde," Tork explained.
"He's related to the other one, isn't he?" Trinity questioned, throwing a hand nonchalantly toward Kurt.
"He and Kurt are brothers," Tork answered. He then indicated where Monkey and Pork Chop were standing. "That's Monkey and Pork Chop."
She glanced first at the skinny one than at the larger man; she could understand where their names came from. "Interesting names there," she simply stated.
"Some nice cars you got there," Kurt said as he sauntered up. He figured it'd be best to try and take everyone's minds off of the fight that had almost been and cars were the easiest way to do so.
Trinity turned her attention to the four cars parked in a line beyond Bass Assault. With a resounding thud she shut the door to the Lancer. "This is Bass Assault, she's got one of the best systems around." She then gestured towards the other cars. "The Supra is Street Thunder, she belongs to Courtney. The Mustang is Powerdyne and is Leti's. The Civic belongs to Mikey and is called Omega One and the Neon is Jon's piece of shit and he calls it Thunderhead."
"We call it Crash and Burn or Gas-hog, depending on the mood at the time," Courtney said as she walked up to stand next to her cousins. "That car has seen more accidents in the past two years than all our other cars combined have in those same two years."
"At least my car has been drivable after those accidents," Jon said snidely beneath his breath. He hadn't intended for anyone to hear it, least of all Trinity.
She was just the one to hear it though.
She turned angry eyes on him, "What exactly did you say?"
He turned wide frightened eyes to her. He stuttered as he attempted to reply. "N-nothing. I-I was j-just mumbling to m-myself, t-that's all." He backed up slightly, almost hiding behind Leti, as if to use the Asian girl as a shield. Not that it would matter, if Trinity wanted to get her hands on him she would, one way or another.
"Your cars any good?" Tork asked, drawing her attention back to him and the rest of the group.
"Depends on what you mean by good," Trinity responded. "Each one of our cars has a specific set up, something that that car excels at that the rest don't. Bass Assault has one kick ass system installed; her audio output far exceeds the rest of the cars. She's our rave car. She also excels in drifting."
She pointed over towards the Supra, "Street Thunder is our street car, which her name also implies. On a street track she's almost impossible to beat, as well as any circuits."
Next she gestured towards the yellow Mustang, "When it comes to races set up on racetracks Powerdyne's the car to beat. She's set up to handle the smooth tracks and tight turns."
"Omega One's our sprinter. Mikey has her set up for quick acceleration." Courtney spoke up. Trinity smiled at her and nodded.
"Thunderhead's good for drag racing and that's usually when Jon ends up hitting the nearest object, whether it be an opponent's car or something else. That's probably why we don't let our cars enter into very many drag races; we can't afford all the repair bills." Courtney explained, her cheeks tinged slightly with pink considering the way she was talking about her boyfriend. He wasn't the greatest driver, it was true.
Nolo was only partially listening; he'd managed to pull both himself and Vert away from the crowd. They were far enough away that he wouldn't have to worry about unwanted ears hearing what was about to be said. He had some questions he wanted answered and he wanted them answered now.
Vert looked at him, one of his eyebrows raised in curiosity. "What's up?" the blond finally asked, wondering exactly why his team leader had drug him away from the crowd. He needed to keep an eye on his cousin; he couldn't afford her doing something stupid, like starting another argument.
Nolo's voice was low, a hushed whisper. "What's exactly the deal with your cousin Vert? We can't afford any trouble right now, not with things the way they are."
Vert forced his breath out calmly, he needed to stay cool as he explained things the best he could, but even he didn't have all the answers to give. "I'm gonna guess that Shirako filled you in on most of everything, at least what Leti and I told him." It was more of an expressed observation than it was a question.
Nolo nodded his head.
"Here's the deal. About three weeks ago there was an accident; it involved both Trinity and her twin sister Serena. I'm not 100 percent on what happened but what I do know is that this truck came out of nowhere and whipped Trin's car around. Trin's car then slid into Serena's and piledrived it into a tree. Trinity wasn't seriously hurt but Serena was killed. The truck I'm assuming high-tailed it from the accident scene, but Trinity got a good look at it before hand. The others saw it as well." He paused for a moment as his gaze landed first on Leti than on Shirako.
He sighed as one of his hands ran through his mussed hair. "Leti recognized the truck as Bassline; the only problem is that she didn't know at the time that Bassline was still being completed. She kept the identity of the truck from Trinity and the rest of the Atomic Winds." Almost as an afterthought he added, "Shirako and Leti are cousins."
"Yeah, Shirako explained that part." Nolo responded.
"Anyhow, Leti and I are afraid that if Trinity discovers that Shirako had a truck that matched the one that ran her off the road and resulted in Serena's death that she'll try to take him out in retribution. That's why we don't want anyone mentioning about the truck, we don't know how she'd handle it or what she'd do." He glanced back towards Trinity and Courtney. "She hasn't been herself; this girl is one I don't know." He looked back at Nolo. "She was never this-" he paused as he sought a word that would describe what his cousin had become. "Ruthless? Heartless? I'm not sure on how to describe who she is now."
Nolo nodded his head, he could relate to what the girl was feeling. He'd been down that road himself. His eyes briefly sought out Tork. Yes indeed, he had been down that road at one point in time. It was something she'd have to overcome herself, something she'd have to work through on her own. But he could still understand her feelings and the changes that they inevitably created.
Vert was silent for a few seconds, allowing his friend and leader to digest what he had just been told. "We just have to make certain that she never finds out. Leti and I both know it's not possible for it to have been Shirako."
"But her own emotions will blind her to the truth," Nolo said softly. "It won't matter how much you try to tell her otherwise, she won't listen. She'll have to learn the truth herself before she believes otherwise."
Vert stared at him for the space of a heartbeat. He understood exactly what his friend was talking about; they all had seen the same attitude in Nolo until he had finally admitted to himself that Tork was not responsible for Tone's death. Once he had opened his eyes and allowed his mind to process the truth of the matter he'd returned to the person he had once been. Then he'd been able to deal with his hatred of Tork, though they couldn't be called the best of friends, Nolo was no longer trying to take Tork out at every available opportunity.
Both young men stared at where Trinity was now talking with Courtney, Shirako and Leti. Vert didn't know if he should worry about the fact that Trinity was talking to Shirako or not. She didn't know about Bassline and if he had anything to do about it, she never would.
In the next chapter we fast forward through time by a couple of days and watch the growing friendships between the Metal Maniacs, the Teku and the Atomic Winds. Things heat up as feelings start to lean toward romance for a couple of the characters.
Leave a review and let me know what you thought of this latest piece of work. It was ok in my opinion and when I was originally writing it I had a few different details included that once reading over I decided didn't quite fit in yet. Maybe at a later date I'll allow the missing pieces to fall into someplace, somewhere. Or maybe not. Anyhow, review!